February recap and tagged

A good month for me!

RUN: 196 miles
SWIM: 12.25 miles
ABS:800
Push-ups:240
Lunges:400
ITB and knee strength exercises: 12 sessions (15 min each).
Core ex: 8 sessions (20min each)

Bike: 0 - I will change this in March.
Injuries: 0 - I hope NOT to change this in March.
PR in running mileage: 52 miles last week!!!!

***
OK, Julie tagged me to write 6 things that you may not know about me. Hm, sometimes I wonder how much you do know about me. I often feel like I can read between the lines in various blog posts, and I am sure you can too. But, here are 6 things that you surely do not know:

1. My father was Romania's champion at ski jumping in the early 70s.

2. My husband and I met on a blind date. One month after our first date I told the friend who introduced us that I will marry him. We got married one year later. We will celebrate 10 in July.
Oh, and I had purple hair when we first met.

3. My husband and I have dark hair and brown eyes. Petru has blond hair and blue eyes. I was asked on many occasions if I were the babysitter.

4. If possible, I would go back to school and stay in school forever.

5. The older I get, the better I get along with my mom. Sometimes I feel I don't deserve her!

6. I think time is precious and I have little tolerance for wasting time.

I am going to tag everyone who follows my blog! Common, share a little!

The foot in the door technique

Chris and I woke up at 8:30 this morning (Petru slept 'till 9, by the way - don't envy me, though, he went to bed at 10pm). The plan was for me to get a ride from the boys to Mile 6 of the Boston course. When I looked outside and saw the snow coming strong, and later learned that snow will become rain in a couple of hours, I decided to run close to home. I am not the most flexible person, and it was a bit tough for me to change my mindset, or maybe I am just bored with my long running route.

I made it out around 9:45. Legs felt heavy and my mind was not into the run. I found a more entertaining podcast, and plugged along. The goal for this run was again to be consistent, and also to keep all miles below 8:00 (again ignoring my training plan which told me to do this run @ 8:06). I cheered up when I saw some new runners, parents of Petru's friends jogging on the path. I also realized that it was fun playing the skip the puddles game, and that made the miles go by quickly. I ran loop after loop around Fresh Pond, nodding and saying hi to runners who were doing the same thing, and also trying not to give dirty looks to the dog owners who happen to sit in large groups in the middle of the path, letting their dogs jump on me and other runners (I do like dogs, but don't like some dog owners). I started to feel good around mile 6-7 and my pace got faster. The weather turned out to be gorgeous. It was sunny, and it snowed on and off (mostly off). I dreaded running the Belmont hills, so I gave myself 2 choices: 1) run 20 including the Belmont Hills, or 2) run 22 sans hills.
Yes, I picked choice 2, and all of a sudden I was happy. I had a few small inclines on my route, and the last 4 miles on a slight uphill, so not all fast and flat. My pace @ 15 miles when I picked up the path again was 7:42. Ooo, so close to MP.... So I plugged along, my legs getting a little heavy. Around mile 18 I started thinking about how I did not do hills this week because of the crappy weather, and I really should be doing hills. So what if I add 2 miles of hills on Gray street? I could run them as slow as I wanted, and they would not count toward my average pace (can you tell how attached I get to my average pace???). Decision made. I ran mile 19 at 7:10, for 20 miles @ 7:40, took about 1 min rest, and started the 2 hilly miles. I ran the first mile @ 8:02 and mile 2 @ 8:14. Mile 2 was a killer, with steep hills and little downhill. Good thing I did not have a heart rate monitor because I would have gotten scared by the number. I was breathing so heavy, and was all of a sudden so hungry (usually one gel is enough for me, but not today) that I worried I might not make it home. I took a breather in the middle of this second mile, and then, yay, I did it. The 20 miles were honestly not bad, hard at times, but manageable. But those last 2 hilly miles were very tough and of course I did not let myself slow down too much! But it was worth it because I think running on tired legs will benefit me in Boston. Will see.

So there you have it, the foot in the door technique. I typically use it with my husband, but hey, it worked wonders on me today!

Randomness

This is one of those weeks when I wish there were a couple of me to handle all that there is to be done. The home front is always going smoothly, but work is just super busy right now. I feel like I am holding my breath this week, and will be able to exhale deeply on March 1st, when I get to turn my grants in! I could exhale now, but I really need all this adrenaline to carry me through so that I can get everything done. Thankfully, I really like my job.
#
I am still running strong and swimming strong. Chris sprained his ankle playing basketball on Friday, so now all he can do is swim, which he hates. He thinks my advice of convincing himself that he indeed loves oh so loves swimming is BS. Regardless, I love when we swim together. He swims effortlessly and fast, while I ...keep on trying not to sink (though I proudly swam 700m nonstop last week, onto 1000 this week). Since I am competitive, I push a little harder, which I love.
#
My little guy is a natural runner. He has such a great stride, lifts his knees, lands on his forefoot and pushes with his big toe! He's got my competitive spirit as everything needs to be a race with him these days. Love it!
#
I got myself a pair of Nike Frees. I found them with $29 at Nike outlet. Wow, they are amazing, super light and super flexible. Going up the hills on them is much easier if you run on your toes, and don't have a useless heavy heal pulling you back! I am taking it easy with them, though, only 10 miles/wee thus far!
#
Nothing really interesting to report on. I am so scattered that I commented on a few of your blogs while logged onto the blog I keep from my son. A run would help, I guess, but will have to wait until tomorrow!

Yay for long runs

This is the best time of year to be a runner in the Boston area. The weather is turning, and runners flood the streets. It seems like everyone is training for Boston. I felt the energy for the first time this year during my long run on Saturday. We had 45 degrees and the sun was shining. I ran my usual long run route on the bike path down to Alewife, then loops around Fresh Pond and back up to Arlington Heights via the unforgiving Belmont Hills. My legs did not show up for the first few miles. I felt tired (someone stayed up way too late watching Big Love and eating Belgian dark chocolate and oranges) and achy (even though I don't run on Fridays). My morning coffee was having all kinds of issues in my stomach.

I felt a little concerned, given that I had to run 18 miles, and the first 4 miles or so are on a slight downhill. Just as I was entertaining such negative thoughts, the Dana Faber Boston runners started flooding the path. I love greeting other runners and being greeted by them. It's like instant friendship, without care for the speed and pace. It feels great to be part of this large community.

After a few miles my legs woke up and I felt energized. I worked hard to keep the pace over 8min/miles, which was not easy given the slight downhill. My plan was to run a similar pace as last week, but be more consistent, rather than running crazy fast at the end of the run. I got to Fresh Pond in time for their weekly race. I have never participated, but I plan to, one of these weeks. Most of the racers are very fast and look the part. It's wonderful to watch them fly by, very motivating. After 12 miles, I got ready for 4 miles of hills before some downhill and flat for the last 2 miles. I refilled my water bottles at a gas station, changed from podcast to music, and was on my way. My pace slowed down a bit but I worked hard and got it back. At 13 miles I started cresting up the .3mile Belmont Hill. Every time I run up it I remember my first attempt at it, about 3 years ago, with a few Runaway Mom's friends. I had such a hard time, and almost puked by the time I got to its top. I still struggle with this hill, mostly because it gets steeper and steeper, but my pace is much faster at this point in time (still 30 seconds or so slower than MP, though). I completely lost my legs on these hilly 4 miles, and slowed down some, but I was OK with that. I strive to maintain my pace on hills, and sometimes I get in trouble with that and want to stop. It is a bit of an all or nothing approach where I feel I'd rather stop and rest than keep going up and seeing the pace on the Garmin slowing down. So my new rule is not to look at my watch while going up hills.

More runners showed up as I was struggling with the hills. Their encouragement pulled me up those hills. Next, the downhill section where I flew down at a 6:30 or so pace and got my average pace down to where it had been before the hills. Finally, the home run, 2 flat miles up to the Starbucks, and a .5 mile walk home while enjoying a tall vanilla latte.

Next week, my 3rd 20 miles, on the Boston course! Yay for long runs!

Thanks so much for your comments to my last post. I am so lucky to have such smart and perceptive and encouraging readers!

I have been thinking EVEN more about my training and racing strategy. I have mentioned this before, but I think we approach training and racing similarly to how we approach life. At least this is what I seem to be doing. I have a cautious personality. You may not guess that since I came to the US at the ripe age of 20, with 2 large bags and no clear idea as to how I could find my way into some scholarships and finish school. But, you would surely guess that if you looked at my retirement account, which is way, way too conservative. I have also always been a bit of a nerd. I have always overprepared for exams, read everything or as close to everything, and genuinely liked the process of school. I have never taken a test unprepared, never "pulled an all nighter" and can't remember ever failing at something that I chose to do (probably because I chose things that I knew I could do well).

I took these personality characteristics and tendencies into my training and racing. I am cautious when I race. I overprepare, read everything I get my hands on that is running related, and genuinely like training. I am growing to love racing, but the truth is, races are like tests for me still. I like the process of training (or taking the test), but not the pressure of doing well (which I still feel). I like best being able to say that I have raced, and the excitement surrounding my future races.

I believe in personal growth. I also believe in acceptance (which I don't equate with giving up). I believe it is important to be comfortable with who you are, with your quirks and overall personality style. So I may lose some money long term bc I choose a conservative retirement account. So I ran a 3:29 when I could have ran a 3:20. And maybe I can run faster than a 3:20. But the truth is, maybe doing things differently would disturb the balance I have right now. My cautious personality likes to train harder than my plan, because I like the extra cushion in case of bad weather, or who knows what on race day. Perhaps this extra cushion helps me sleep the night before a race, and run confidently. Perhaps that extra cushion would allow me to push harder should I feel like I am having a spectacular day. Who knows?

I think a lot of time we tend to push ourselves toward perfection: as parents, as runners, as partners, etc. We also try to mold ourselves into these roles, rather than change the roles based on our personality. I am all for pushing limits, personal growth, and becoming the best one can be. But that needs to be balanced with being comfortable with one's self at any moment in time.

I also think that it is easy to become impatient, at least when it comes to getting faster. I have certainly experienced that impatience when coming back after an injury. However, as much as I like getting faster right now, I know that with every marathon I am getting closer to my athletic limit. I still believe that I am eventually going to be able to run a sub 3 marathon, and perhaps sometimes I dream of even more than that. But the truth is, if I could wave a magic wand and be able to run a sub 3 in Boston, I would not choose that. I like the small improvement increments that come after months of hard work. I am not sure whether I would be able to race if I stopped seeing improvements. So for now, I really like to take my time and enjoy the journey.

Running worry

For the past few weeks I have been feeling fear sneaking in. Running fear. Injury fear. Training is going amazingly well. I am learning more and more about my running persona. I feel more and more confident in what I can do with my running. And swimming. But the fear is mainly running related. And I need to put it behind.

I wrote my training plan for a 3:20 marathon goal. Although I do follow the plan's schedule, I am waaay ahead of the paces I am supposed to run. Ex. My first 20 miler was supposed to be average 8:38. It was 7:55. My 13 miler this weekend was supposed to be average 7:53. It was 7:33. My tempo was supposed to be 6 miles average 7:24. It was 7:08. The only workout where I am sticking with the time provided by my plan are track workouts, and even there I am always a few seconds faster.

Although I love these times, and they are in no way all out efforts, I fear injury. I do my part to avoid it - sleep, nutrition, icebaths followed by hot showers, calcium, strength exercises galore - and so far so good. I had the same issue when I trained for Baystate, but the discrepancies between planned and actual paces was not as large, and it started happening later in the training cycle. I still have 2 months of training left, and am wondering whether I am running too fast too soon? My mileage is fairly low (sub 50), and I am feeling great (I am looking forward to every run, as I always am), so I don't worry about "overtraining'. What are your thoughts? Slow down, keep it up, share your wisdom with me!

Learning to swim

The past 2 weeks I have had some breakthrough with my swimming. Since October, I have been working hard at teaching myself the crawl. It's been tough, mainly because progress has been limited, and for a long time I managed to swim only about 100ms without stopping.

This past Friday before the swim, I sat myself down and thought a lot about swimming, and what was holding me back. Obviously cardiovascularly I was fine. Lung capacity was fine, too, as I managed to swim one pool length while taking only one breath. In thinking back at past swim sessions I realized that: 1) I panicked when I was getting out of breath, 2) I forced myself to swim every 3 strokes, even though at times every 5 would have been fine, and at other times I needed to swim every 2 strokes, 3) I had moments when I forgot to kick, and felt I was sinking; in these moments instead of slowing down, I would speed up, get out of breath, and need to stop. So I decided to swim relaxed, breath whenever, breath more when I sense panic, slow down when I want to move faster, and think of the water as my friend. And it worked. On Friday last week I swam 400m crawl without stopping in about 9 minutes. Today I swam 2X500ms in about 12 minutes each (I use the pool's clock, and it is hard to get a good look since it is placed perpendicular to the length of the pool). I was not out of breath after these intervals, and I could have gone faster. I started a schedule that will help me become able to swim comfortably 1.2 miles in 12 more weeks. Can't wait!

I used to think that I depend on running to much. That was before the biking and the swimming. I would be afraid of getting a running injury, because running was the only form of exercise that I truly enjoyed. Now I feel much more in control, knowing that if I can't run, I can certainly swim and bike. And I can't wait to see how much I can improve in all three sports!

Random thoughts

# I loved Katie's response to my previous post on pain and suffering. Her take is that of the really awesome athletes, who talk about being able to be in the zone while racing, fully concentrated on the task at hand, without pain and suffering. I remember reading about Jack Fultz's Boston Marathon win and he describes a similar experience. Joan Benoit Samuelson, too. And many others that I don't remember. I wonder how one can get there? Is that a function of being completely unafraid of pain, able to fully concentrate on the run and block everything else: life, other runners, etc, and just be, yourself and the run. Is that a function of not entertaining and mental chatter about how much more you have left, what is coming ahead, and being focused only on the task of running. I have never been able to do that. How about you?

# I love, love my long runs. The longer the better. I love to run them alone now. I love to be able to listen to my podcasts, music, etc, be anonymous, able to observe or space out!

# My training plan works. I am getting faster. My comfortable pace is getting faster. It's happening again before my brain can fully understand this, and I feel a bit shocked to see my times on the Garmin. Gosh, last year around this time I was thrilled with 20 milers at 9 min/mile pace. Now I am running them sub 8, with less pain, minimal or no muscle soreness. Last year around this time my knees and feet were killing me, and now I am pain free. I guess my body is getting used to the load... Feels great.

# I love winter running and racing. I love not having to wake up at 5am to run before it gets very hot out. I love that my face is tanned in the winter and people keep asking me whether I just got back from somewhere warm. I love that winter does not get to me. In New England, most people I know get tired of winter by February. I don't. I love when my cheeks get red from the cold, when I smell fresh cold air, and warm up with a grande latte afterwards.

# I did not make it into the Half at Hamptons Half marathon. I did not register on time. Bummer. I wanted to run a flat and fast half, but I'll have to wait until spring/summer. I did register for the Bedford Half marathon. This one is hilly, but perhaps a better prep for Boston. I am still planning on PRing there.

On runners' language and pain

I keep thinking about a conversation I had at the Derry race with a woman I had briefly met before. We were talking about our goals for the race, and I said that I wanted to push myself and suffer. She raised her eyebrows and said, "Well, I just want to have fun". Then she turned to our common friend Mary and said: "She wants to suffer, I want to have fun. Suffer, have fun". I did not make much of it, until later, when Mary apologized for her, saying that she is going through a tough time. Mary was concerned I was offended. I was not. Honestly. This is not because I have thick skin (which I do, if I don't know you or you don't mean much to me, you won't offend me, no matter what you say). My take on this was that she did not get my language. For her suffering meant a bad thing, so understandably she was puzzled. For me, suffering meant a means to an end, a good thing, something I want to master, something that will make me a stronger runner.

Runners (and here I mean those who race, as opposed to those who run for fitness) speak a different language. Runners have different meanings and perceptions of words and emotions. A typical person is repulsed by pain - evolutionary, we are predispose to overreact to pain and avoid it, because typically pain means something life threatening; why would anyone want that? Runners have a different meaning for pain. Pain means I am running well. Pain means I am pushing myself. Pain means I am giving my all. The only pain I don't like is the pain from an injury. That's the pain I give in to (I did not use to, but I know better now). Instead of avoiding the pain, runners (try to) embrace it!

I was told many times that I must have a high threshold for pain. I actually don't think I do. Yes, I have been known to ask my dentist to do a filling without anesthesia bc I wanted to be able to go back to work and talk thereafter, but in many parts of the world people don't have the luxury of anesthesia or pain control, so I don't think that is a big deal. I don't think the issue is pain threshold. The issue is attitude toward pain and fear of pain. If you fear pain, you are giving it power and you are going to have a hard time with it in life or in running. Fear makes the body to tense up, your biochemistry to change, thoughts to get more negative, sensations (pain ) more intense. The vicious cycle starts and ultimately you slow down. Or give in. Or avoid. Or convince yourself that you can't take it instead of trying to prove yourself that you can.

Running lets us explore pain and learn to master it in a controlled situation. And that is a good thing, because if there is one guarantee in life, that is ....pain.