RUNNING, TRI-ING AND LIVING

Top 3 running books of 2011

2012-01-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

Nr. 1 Ironwar by Matt Fitzgerald

Yes, I know this is not a running book per se, but I think runners can get a lot out of it. Matt Fitzgerald is an amazing writer. He is able to combine the story of 2 of the greatest ironman triathletes Dave Scott and Mark Allen, with science on running form, running efficiency, mind-body connections as pertaining to running. I absolutely loved the conclusion of his book. Yes, the mind is important, but the ability to push through and suffer is somewhat determined by your genes. This is not to say that life experiences (e.g., childhood struggles) and training experiences (how much you practice suffering) are not important; they are, but not as much as what you are born with. It's a bit like the nature-nurture diathesis - we are born with a range of "suffering ability" and we can get to the top of that range by practicing, but we can't get further than that.

Nr.2 The Runner's Body, How the latest exercise science can help you run stronger, longer, and faster, but Tucker, PhD & Dugas, PhD, with Matt Fitzgerald.

This is a 2009 book, but I reread it during this past year. I love reading and understanding the science behind running. These guys present great info and clarify some of the misconceptions about running (e.g., cramps are caused by dehydration or lack of salt, we need a lot of fluids when running, etc). The book is much more than that, however, and I think it is an important one for all serious runners.

Nr. 3 Tapering and peaking for optimal performance, by Inigo Mujika, PhD

This is a great book about tapering, and provides research on the psychological and physiological effects of tapering.

Short recap and looking ahead at 2012

2012-01-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

2011 was a breakthrough year for me. I PRed all but one of my running races, and I raced A LOT. My approach was simple. Run as much as you can, and run hard. I certainly surprised myself at the 5K and HM distances. I fought with the marathon, like I always do (hardest distance for me and one that I run slower than what the calculators say I could do) and won. I was injury free the entire year until my muscles said no more and forced me take it easy for a bit.

Most special races:

5K Ras Nah Hereim March 2011: 19:26

HM Quincy Half 2011: 1:28:46

Baystate Marathon 2011: 3:14:29

*****

Moving into 2012 my goals are a bit up in the air. My muscles are still not @ 100% so I am riding the Boston train(ing) and kinda playing the waiting game. I will take the next couple of weeks to see what happens before making any decisions here.

My main goal for 2012 is to focus on strength, diet and health. As I move closer and closer to the big 40, strength will be of utmost importance if I want to keep running. I eat a very healthy diet already, but I would like to eliminate some of the unnecessary eating that we are doing over here in the evenings. This is a common goal that Chris and I have, so we will close the kitchen doors @ 9pm every night. The "health" goal refers mostly to continuing to keep an eye on my sleep and doctor check-ups (really bad about scheduling those yearly visits).

All knotted up but getting loose

2011-12-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

Oh boy, it's been a while since my last post!

I hit a few bumps in the road, and am not one to write about those. Not that there is anything wrong with writing about bumps in the road, it's just that acknowledging the bumps makes them real, and typically I am not ready to do that until I got a hold on the bumps. Probably none of this makes sense. So let me explain.

After my last 5K and crazy fast speed I developed a lot of knots in my hamstrings, than quads which made running difficult. I managed to keep running but with a shorter stride, and a much slower pace. Although I hit 73 miles last week, they were all slow. I ran a 20 miler last Saturday in over 3 hours, with stretch breaks. I ended up seeing a PT who confirmed that I am all knotted up (better than knocked up, I suppose:). Apparently I have weak glutes and a weak core, so my quads and hamstrings are doing more work than they should. He has me on a strengthening program which is great, but obviously makes my running more difficult. My legs/butt/core are sore which is unusual for me. I am also getting massages, which help a ton. The PT told me to keep running, which is great (gotta love a PT who tells you to keep running!). Things are getting loosened up and I even managed to do some speed this week, at a rather pathetic speed, and most of it on the treadmill, but I take it for now. This is not a major bump in the road, but it is one that left me thinking a bit about what running means for me, about my goals, and about how I am going to do things differently after Boston (meaning, I will take a full week off of running and also do a 6 week strength program before my next training cycle).

As far as some introspections, realizations during this semi-injury phase? Running even slow is better than no running. I can adjust to running on the TM, doing 20 loops on a 1 mile trail, running tempos on the track, you name it. The elliptical machine is an amazing exercise for running. Some smart coaches agree on that, too:)

Running benefits my marriage, my mothering, and my friendships. Enough said:) There are other things in my life that can take the place of the competitive element of running. This makes me happy and content that putting so much time into running over the years has not left me unbalanced as a person (just left my body muscles unbalanced, LOL). I am not good at receiving empathy when it comes to my "bumps". Please don't tell me you are sorry, or that I need to take it easy; I know you mean well but really that does not help. You can tell me I am going to get my speed back soon, that will make me feel better:)

On other news, we had a lovely Christmas, filled with lots of plastic and wooden toys for Petru, that are currently taking over my living room.

I am having a few days off before the new year, and it is lovely. Oh, and I got to do speed again this week, did I mention that?

Hope everyone has a happy, happy, merry, merry 2012! No injuries, lots of PRs, and lots of growth:)

A load of happy!

2011-12-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

Feeling pretty happy right now.

My left hamstring was very unhappy after my last 5K, to the point where I limped out of the bed several days this week. Thankfully I diagnosed myself well with a hamstring tear, and was not terribly worried. I took the entire week easy, running a lot but only easy miles, stretching, icing, rolling, and by Thursday morning I was walking normally again. The runs were fine the entire week, just a little limp the first couple of miles. Now, I can say I am 90% better. The last 10% will take a few more days, but I can deal.

I am running pretty good right now. I tested the hammy yesterday and ran for 10 min effortlessly at what used to be my 5K pace last year around this time. My form has changed quite a bit. I think I am much more efficient, finally being able to do that ankle lean that I kept reading about. I've been looking over my training logs, and realizing that I dropped 30minutes from my marathon in the past 2 years. This makes me pumped for my next training cycle.

And what else makes me happy? I made the Brooks ID team along with these 3 fasties. Super excited to represent a company with great product, support for the environment and for the overall running community! Thank you Brooks, very grateful I am!

Impromptu 5K

2011-12-03T09:19:00.000-08:00

So I ran a 5K this morning. The initial plan was to run one next weekend, but it looks like next Saturday we will have to be away; so, last night I frantically searched for 5Ks and found the South Boston 5K, $20, 10am. Perfect.

Woke up @ 7, had my oatmeal and coffee, watched "Busy Town" with Petru and headed out to South Boston. We got lost but made it there on time so I could register, get some awesome swag including a cool race shirt, and warm up for 2 miles. My L hamstring has been bugging me for a week, but I knew that the pain would be gone once I warmed up. It did.

I wanted to run sub 19. I did 5x1000ms with 1 min rest @ 5:20-5:45 on Monday and felt pretty strong. Based on this run, I could have broken 19. The gun went off and I was taken by surprise so ended up running the first 200ms a bit too fast, but settled into a comfortably hard pace. First mile was 6:09. Second mile felt fine and I was passing people (6:09). One woman was in front of me but I was getting closer to her. Third mile was hard. I honestly think I lost it mentally here. It is hard to plan for moments like this, sometimes I can push through, other times I can't. Today I did not. Maybe I did not believe enough, but I know for sure that I did not want to feel more pain. So I ran a 6:16. In spite of slowing down I got closer to the woman who was in front of me. That was the plan, get really close and surprise here. Except that someone yelled at her that I was coming, and with 200ms to go she got her kick in on the uphill toward the finish line and she smoked me. I ended up second, but got a nice $50 gift certificate which made it worth my time.

Oh, and no official PR.

Official results: 3.1 19:32, 6:16 pace.

Garmin results: 3.15 19:32, 6:12 pace.

Oh, and the winner was 16. Happy for her but darn pissed bc I know I could have done better today. Even though I ran 77 miles since last Saturday and I was not tapered, mentally I did not push enough during mile 3. It is OK though. Less than one year ago I was happy to celebrate a sub 20 5K. Now a sub 20 is not enough and I want to celebrate a sub 19, particularly since I truly believe this is a realistic goal for me.

Now, off to run my long run. It's marathon pre training, after all.

Return to Fresh Pond RR and running confidence

2011-11-26T10:02:00.001-08:00

After 2 days of complete sloth (aka too much food), I was so ready to run hardish today at the Fresh Pond series race. This is a nice little race I did all through last winter. It is free, small and low pressure. I always win it, so yes, it is not competitive:) I had no idea what to expect today mostly because I only did one real speed and tempo work, all this week, so I probably did not benefit from those at this race. After having gotten only 4 hours of sleep on Thursday night (by choice!), I collapsed @ 9:55 pm last night and slept until 8am when Petru walked me up in typical fashion, by screaming in my ear: "It's 8am mommy, you have to wake up" (I love that he wakes up and entertains himself while his parents sleep in...raised him well, LOL). After my typical oatmeal and coffee (which I ate 1.5 hours before the start of the race, which I would never do for a 'real' race), I ran 4.5 miles to the race. Got there @ 9:55 for the 10:00am start. The weather was gorgeous, high 50s, sunny, with a nice breeze. I checked out the field and did not see any of my winter peeps. One woman looked really fast -from the back I thought she was a guy, bc she was boy skinny and had very short hair, and she indeed passed me @ 2.0 mile, but she did the 2.5 mile race not the 5 miler.

We started on the "go" and I fell into a nice rhythm. I really did not know what I could do and frankly did not want to push myself all out. I though HM pace would be nice but I ended up going slightly faster. The first loop was controlled. The second hurt. My legs lost power, which makes sense because aside from this week, I have not run this pace since Baystate training. I ended up with a 30:26, which is my Fresh Pond PR. The course registered as 4:65, for a 6:32 pace, which makes me super happy at this point in time. Nice effort considering that I ran the second loop all by myself (I was first overall men and women - guess the fast guys stayed at home today!).

This is how the course looks like...and also what one has to zig zag around....today I had to jump over an off leash little guy (this would piss me off in a real race, but here, well, dogs are just part of the course)

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On my run back home I did 3x15 secs and 3x30 secs hill sprints, and thought a lot about running and racing. I can say I am a confident person in the main aspects of my life: family and work. My confidence in these areas is mostly stable. However, when I don't race for a while, I get really intimidated by paces that I used to be able to hit, or that I would like to hit. Sure, I can reframe those thoughts but there is nothing like a little behavioral experiment (aka race) to get that confidence back up. I think part of the reason why I had such a great 2011, is that I had these confidence boosts often. Sure, there was a physiological effect there too, but the mental boost was what helped the most, I think.

So here I am, 20 weeks from Boston, getting a little confidence boost from the good old Fresh Pond! So happy I raced today and so excited to get back out there this training cycle!

Running, racing, a great podcast and running music ideas

2011-11-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

Running:

Really good running week for me. I feel pretty good about my short distance speed and about my endurance. I've surprised myself with some pretty awesome running which felt easy for the pace I was at. Sweet. I am constantly worrying about not slowing myself down enough, but if I go by effort, I am where I need to be. I ran 65 miles this week, including a 20 miler broken down into a 16 miler in the morning fastish, and a 4 miler in the afternoon slowish. My feet felt the mileage increase as I hopped out of bed this morning. I think my body is pretty resilient, but my feet have been my weak link for the past year. I've managed to keep things at bay, and will just have to continue doing so, hoping that they will toughen up. I have really skinny boney, no padding type feet, probably not the best for running, but what can you do? I also managed to get my first arch blister - no idea how it happened as I did not wear new shoes or socks - and it hurt like a mother!

Next week I will drop my mileage to 55 to give my body a break, as I have been building mileage for the past 3 weeks. I plan to get a swim in, and maybe even some biking. The weather is gorgeous in MA, and I am hoping to be able to continue running in shorts for a while.

Racing:

With so many friends racing, I got a bit of a case of FOMO this past week, ha! I managed to restrain myself from registering for a race, but am considering a Fresh Pond baseline race this Saturday, if we are around (plans still in the air). I managed to walk slowly away from the computer and distract myself when I was getting really close to signing up for a 5K. I can't just go race one and training for one now does not fit my long term plan. Still, no guarantees that I will not just go do one before January.

A great podcast

I am getting into the ultrarruner podcast with Tim Waggoner (Lucho at jog hard). Great info for runners, very laid back and cool guy, super knowledgeable and NOT boring! Check him out:)

Music

I am bored with my running music. What's good on your playlist?

Pictures, running and bribery works!

2011-11-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

I rarely post pictures on this blog, mostly because it is a PITA to download them and upload them on the blog. I don't use any of those fancy blogger programs, so I do everything manually and it takes time. But I like blogs with pictures, and so I decided to see about putting more pictures on mine. I am also flirting with the idea of a photo blog to document my training/life during Boston training. Anyone knows how to email pictures from an iPhone directly to the blog?

These are pictures taken on the Reservoir Trail which is about half a mile form my house. It goes around the Arlington Reservoir, and is about 1 mile long. I have been doing most of my runs here lately, as I recover from Baystate, and absolutely love it.

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Running is going well. I will finish this week with 60 miles, mostly easy. I did have some fun at the track with some super fast (for me) 30 and 45 secs repeats. And today I ran 14 hard and hilly (and fast, for me) miles in the morning, and 4 slug miles on trails in the afternoon. I am loving doubles, by the way. I know that running 14 +4 is not the same as running 18, but for me right now this is a safer way to build mileage back up, and also much easier mentally.

On a different but related note, I found out that I was not the only parent who got a call that her kid was misbehaving at chess. On Thursday evening ALL the parents who normally take off, were sitting nicely on chairs observing their kids. I ended up going for a run because I had talked to the teacher about my bribery plan with Petru, and we both agreed to give it a shot. It worked! Petru was an angel. As soon as we got there he placed himself 2 sits away from this little girl who apparently got him in trouble last week by kissing and hugging him to much. "I had to tickle her mom, she would not stop". Oh, how things will change in a few years.

Good luck to all the 5K racers this weekend. Run HARD, the pain is short lived:)

A little bit of this...

2011-11-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

I finished last week with 55 miles on good legs! I had my first taste of speed after 2 week of very easy running, and realized once again that running easy all the time does not fulfill me nearly as much as running fast. Right now I am focusing on building mileage a bit and running mostly general aerobic (7:43-8:05 on 3 runs when I have my Garmin with me) or just super easy, with a lot of hills and fartleks here and there. I am keeping my schedule open and am doing pretty much what I feel like doing, changing my mind and not putting any pressure on myself. I will be mostly resting and building with no actual races for a while.

I watched the New York City Marathon on Sunday and was very touched by the story of Mutai and the kennian runners. Pretty sure the kennian supremacy has a lot to do with the lifestyle, communal type training, and poverty. When you race for your entire village and not only for yourself, you can train and race at a different level. Obviously, things are not as simple as this, but I do believe that all this emphasis on the best supplements, coaches, recovery this and that does not appear to be the way to success. Yet, of course, I am, too, buying into all of these, ha!

Training plan is almost done, on paper. In reality, things will most likely be very different, bc, hey, I know myself enough to be realistic about my tendency to run what my schedule says based on how I feel.

In other news the chess teacher called me saying that Petru was all over the place last Thursday during class (I have a little clown on my hands) while I was running, and it might be better if I stayed and observed. Grr! Since I need to get that second run in, I now have a deal with Petru that if he has 5 chess classes in a row with good behavior (per teacher), he gets a little treat or 10 kindness cubes toward our Coco Key Water Resort family reward (which he picked) this winter (we need 100 kindness cubes for that). Oh, the things that I do to get that second run in. Wish me luck!

Super excited for 3 speedy friends racing this weekend. Go, go, go!

My first double, finding my legs and Lucy's 12th birthday!

2011-11-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

Since my marathon almost 3 weeks ago, my body has felt wonky. The soreness was gone after a few days, but my R leg (hip) and my back (R side) have felt tight and off. I managed to lift my R leg about half the distance I could lift my L leg. Grr! After sitting, my entire leg would have shooting pains. Double grrr! Even sitting on the toilet, darn it, was uncomfortable! I had no discomfort running, though, and I slugged along on short runs, knowing that my body needed more time to recover.

Since I am planning on running doubles during Boston training, I decided to try and see how a double would fit into my Thursday schedule. I ran 8 easy miles in the morning with 8x30 secs sprints, and then ran again in the evening, 4 miles, while Petru had chess class at the Library. It felt wonderful to run a few fast intervals in the morning, and my legs loved that. In the afternoon, my legs did not want to slow, which was the plan. All the discomfort is now miraculously gone, and my R side of my body and I are friends again. Welcome back, legs!

So what do I have to say about running doubles? Thumbs up! The only con? Having to take 2 showers (though if I did not have to work, I would only take 1).

+++++

I don't do much advertising on this blog, but I could not resists telling you that "Lucy" is having a birthday sale (25% off) on Saturday all day. If you don't know about Lucy, you should. I first learned about them last year, when I read about the birthday sale on a running blog. I checked out the sale and purchased one pair of running tights (propel tights) which are my favorite by far. They are very similar to Lulu (e.g., flattering waist band, thicker material with a bit of compression) but less expensive (about half with the birthday sale discount). I now own 2 pairs of the Propel tights, and can attest that have been holding off wonderfully for about a year now. Check them out! You'll thank me later:)

Running, training plans, doubles, oh, my!

2011-10-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

I spent this past week reading, researching and playing with excel, trying to create my training plan for Boston, starting next week. No, I will not start training per se on Monday. Rather, I will be getting my body completely recovered and ready to train when the time comes. This requires planning, too.

So what I am doing differently this time?

1. More miles. Since 2009 when I ran my first marathon peaking at 30 miles (don't laugh, I ran a 3:44 Boston then!), I increased my running frequency and mileage with each training cycle. This worked well for me, and I believe a slow progression over the years is the way to go in terms of improving year to year and staying healthy. With A LOT of luck, I managed to stay injury free and PR most of my races. During my last training cycle I had one peak week @ 80 miles. This time I will see if I can go to 90 miles during 3 of my training weeks. In order to do this, and because I want to have one non running day/week, I will need to do doubles. I am a bit excited about doubles. Aside from a 20 miler gone bad, where I stopped at 15 and ran 5 later, I have never run twice a day before. I don't know how my body will handle that, and I am wiling to give the second run up if I need to. The second run will always be recovery (aka slug pace) and will follow a key workout. I will try doing a recovery run after my long run, if I can pull this off with my family's schedule (actually, training for a marathon even when running 90 miles/week will be overall less time consuming than HIM training; Chris is doing the happy dance in the background, LOL).

2. More races. Last winter I had a ball racing Fresh Pond almost every weekend. I am excited to go back. Also, I am considering 2 HMs, Hampton and Quincy, Derry 16 miler which I will not race all out (since it is in January and a tough course), Eastern States 20 miler (though I might skip it since it is flat), and maybe the Ras Ha Nhereim 5K in March (even though I will not be in 5K shape). Boston will be my A race, so I don't expect the PRs I had last year, but they might actually happen. I am also prepared to "not race" a lot of these races, if I feel too tired or burned out:)

3. Hills and plyos and pilates. Obviously I need to do hills for Boston. I do not dislike hills, and I have plenty around (I live in Arlington HEIGHTS, people). I think my problem with incorporating hills in my training has a lot to do with the fact that I slow down on hills (of course) and my average pace ends up slower. Of course. This time around, though, I will not allow myself to avoid hills due to such a silly reason. I don't plan on doing any strength training rather than pilates and ploys and hills, which are not strength per se, but I believe they will make me stronger and more efficient. Maybe I'll lift a dumbbell or to, to get my arms stronger, but maybe not.

So all this schedule making and planning made me appreciate how nice it may be to have a coach. And how hard coaches work. I do think that it is easier to create a plan for someone else than for yourself - at least it would be for me. Anyhow, all coaches out there, hats off to you all!

In other news the back pain I acquired last week is almost gone. I am still not 100% recovered after Baystate. My R leg/hamstring is still stiff and has decreased range of motion compared to the L. Hopefully a few more weeks of easy, mostly trail running, hot baths and streching/rolling will make them feel better. If not, I plan on being patient.

******

Just a little disclaimer here. This is the training that I think will work for ME. It may not work for YOU. It may injure YOU. Hire a coach, be patient, read and think about what is going to work for YOU based on where you are now, your running background and injury history.

Back to life, bullet point style

2011-10-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

#Ah, life after the marathon! First week post marathon I was all excited about sleeping in, running less, being unscheduled and free to bounce around. By Thursday all the soreness was gone and I found myself lethargic and unmotivated to get things done. Some people are very good at resting, I am not one of those people. I am the prototype of the "if you want something done give it to a busy person" saying!

# Chris and I went to New Hampshire for an overnight to celebrate his birthday. We did an 8 mile run/hike up to Mt Chicoura and had a blast. I've done this hike before, and it is not easy; you go up and up and the last mile you climb on rocks. Yet, I have never felt stronger. Being the type A that I am, I insisted on carrying the backpack the entire way, and managed to get a back strain, which really only means that I have a weak core. No wonder, I have not done any abs since I don't even remember. Hence..

# I started doing Pilates. I have a 20 min Winsor pilates tape that Chris does daily. I did it this morning and I can already feel muscles that I did not think I had.

# I am somewhat back to running more mileage, all easy, all on trails. The weather is gorgeous and it feels so good to be outside and run.

# I am also working my training plan in my head and have a bit of a vision of what I want to do for Boston. More quantity, more quality, the usual! I have a bitter taste in my mouth from my 2010 race there, and would love to smash it with a sub 3:10. I think I can do that but it will not be easy on that course. I have some fast ladies to virtually train with, which makes me even more excited about working hard! Anyone in the Boston area who wants to run long with me?

Moving on, but first race photos

2011-10-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

OK, so not the best pictures but good reminders of how hard I had to work for this PR.

This one is very close to the finish. I know that because I ditched my fuel belt once I got to 26 miles.

These is taken probably around mile 24.5, when we go over the last bridge.

And this, a bit after, I think.

#Recovery is going well. Physically I am almost there. All the soreness is gone now. I ran about 16 miles total this week, only trails, some with Chris, and it has been nice. Chris and I are going away this weekend to celebrate his birthday and do a little hiking/walking in New Hampshire. I am so excited about this.

#I am enjoying not having a schedule, but truth be told, I am much less productive in other aspects of my life, as a result. This is fine for now but come November 1st I am going back to probably 50 miles/week running until January when I start training for Boston.

#And what am I mostly looking forward to now? Reading everything running, analyzing my training log, looking up races and creating my training plan for Boston. This will be vicarious serious running for me for the next couple of months, ha!

#In other news I learned that I can't trust Chris with Petru's school projects - one of the pics he sent in for the "me and my family project" was taken right after my bike accident in 1999, and I was sporting a huge bloody bump on my forehead; I was grateful when the teacher sent that picture back. Kinda made me laugh bc this is so typical of Chris, ha!

#This is old news for now and don't hate me, but I am really excited about the new qualifications for New York. I am not really interested in running this race - I heard it is a nightmare in terms of logistics, and also very crowded - but I am very interested in qualifying. What seems weird to me is that a 1:27 is equated to a 3:00 marathon. I know plenty of people who ran a 1:27 but could not run a 3:00 marathon. Even McMillan says that a 1:27 half equates to a 3:03 marathon. So what's the logic, New York?

Baystate Marathon 2011 RR aka You do not need to feel good to run well

2011-10-16T12:57:00.001-07:00

Driving back from the race Petru asked me if I liked the marathon. I answered that I did not. Not this time. In fact, I am honestly not sure that I ever liked marathons. What I like about the marathon is being able to say that I did it, PR-ing (when that happens), and maybe the last 100 yards.

Today it was one of those days where I felt bad from the first mile. This was new to me. Typically in the marathon I feel good up to mile 20. Then I have to do work. Today I had to do work for 26.2+ miles. That can make one not like the marathon:)

Lets back up for a bit though.

My plan for going into the race was to run even splits. I wanted to run the first few miles slower than pace, and settle into pace (7:20) by mile 5 or so. This is a good time to mention that I do not believe in running negative splits in the marathon. I think this is a good strategy for beginner, but I think for more competitive runners (I am no elite, but I consider myself fast:) if you can run a negative split, you could have gone faster. If you look at the splits of the first few people in any marathon, you will see that they slowed down toward the end. I did not plan on slowing down, but I also knew that I did not want to have anything left in my tank at the finish. I was prepared to suffer and to fight. Two dear friends, two solid, strong, no nonsense women that I was lucky enough to have met through this blog sent me some pretty inspiring notes which I used a lot during the race. Which brings me to another issue that has been on my mind lately (this is getting long, just scroll down to see my results if that is what you are here for). Running IS NOT 90% mental and 10% physical. I am not sure what the percentage truly is, but if running was 90% mental, then anyone could run a sub 3 marathon, ha! Sure, the mental part of the game is important, but you need to do the work and you need to gain the fitness in order to run well. ANd it gets harder and harder the faster you get. Going into the race, I knew I had that. I always toe the line having done the hard work. That is who I am.

Now back to the race...

There is something about starting a marathon race and feeling pain in your legs. Maybe some of you can relate, but until today, I could have not. I did not panic, as I knew that often in training I need a few miles to get my legs, so I plugged along.

Mile 1: 7:27

Mile 2: 7:22

Mile 3: 7:22

The pain did not go away, even after eating a Gu at mile 2.

So my mantra for the day became: "You do not have to feel good to run well".

And off I went

Mile 4: 7:15

Mile 5: 7:20

Mile 6: 7:22

Mile 7: 7:17

The splits are uneven because this marathon has rollers and more rollers.

Something else this marathon had this year? Wind. Strong headwind. I did not feel it much at the beginning, but it became an issue toward the end.

So I was plugging along, unsuccessful at making friends on the course (I typically try to listen to conversations, or find a couple of buddies to help pass the time). By mile 7 I passed the 3:15 pacer, a very sweet and young lad, who later on I heard that dropped out around mile 10 or so.

Also around this time I started to run shoulder to shoulder with this young woman. I worked hard at running tangents and several times I apologized for moving from one end of the street toward the center, but she did not say anything. I think she really wanted to be in front of me.

Mile 8: 7:20

Mile 9: 7:18

Mile 10: 7:20

So that girl and I kept running in front of each other for a while. I did not like this a bit, because I would have preferred to feel a kinship here (I was not racing for a place here and neither was she!) but she did not give me the friendly vibe. OK then. She eventually went in front of me.

Mile 11: 7:18

Mile 12: 7:13

Mile 13: 7:20

Half time: 1: 36:XX

Chris met me at the half point and gave me some GU and some water bottles for my fuel belt. It was great to see him and I made sure to have a smile on my face for him.

The wind really picked up after the half, as we turned to do the miles 3-13 again. I started slowing down a bit, my legs really heavy now, and I knew I needed to focus on the pace, or I'd lose it.

Mile 14: 7:23

Mile 15: 7:14

At this point, I started thinking about mile 20. Get to mile 20 @ 7:20 average, and then you can slow down and you will still PR.

Mile 16: 7:22

Mile 17: 7:17

Mile 18: 7:22

Mile 19: 7:18

Mile 20: 7:20

Once I got to mile 20 I had a 7:18, and I felt happy. The wind was really picking up, and I literally started to feel like it was pushing me back. But whatever, everyone races in the same conditions, so suck it up (I am usually nicer to myself, but sometimes I need a little tough love). Then I started thinking about this great friend who ran a recent race and ran well up to mile 19, but then she got sick and had to slow down. I was not puking and did not feel sick. So I decided to run the last miles for both of us. Which meant I could not slow down.

Mile 21: 7:26

Except that I did.

So I set a range of paces goal with 7:30 as the high margin.

Mile 22: 7:34

Oops, I guess that did not work.

Lets try again

Mile 23: 7:33

A little better, but man, my legs are like jello. I don't have a "push". Every god damn part of my body hurts. But I am a container, and I can contain all the pain. The more pain, the bigger the container.

Mile 24: 7:24

Better. This container metaphor works well. Will use that again. Nice when work and marathoning can merge successfully. Ha!

Mile 25: 7:24

Here I passed the young chick. I asked her to come with me, because really I though we could push each other, but she did not.

With the new course, after mile 25 you go uphill and around all these little streets. At this point I noticed that my upper lip was completely numb. OK, just don't think about it and just run. (I never like to say you are almost there, because really, you are not; here is the point where I break the mile into quarters or shorter, just can't think of running a mile - too long).

Mile 26: 7:34 BOO

As I rounded toward the end I switched my watch to time and saw that I could come in below 3:14. Hell yes, I ran hard with a grimace on my face (early on in a race I fake-smile, bc it really makes me feel better, but when I actually push at the end, I look like I am about to either kills someone or...something)

.39 7:21 pace - this is the brain letting go in action, but also clearly shows that I had no legs..usually this is a 6:XX end of marathon for me:)

Garmin stats: 26.39, 7:20 pace, 3:13:59

Official results: 26.2, 7:25 pace, 3:14:29

(Me thinks I pressed start too late, or my Garmin was acting up, or something.Whatever, I always go with official results).

Stats: 7th woman out of...I have no idea. There were 1000 people in the marathon, so who knows.

Interestingly, the times for this year were slower than last year (female winner last year went 2:46, this year winner was 2:55), which makes me think that the wind made everyone slower.

2nd AG (30-39).

I am super happy with this race. It is in fact the race I am most happy and proud about. It is nice to know that I can push and work hard even when I feel like crap from the beginning of a LONG race. I have no doubt that I can get a 3:10 next time (probably today in better conditions, but no regrets and I was not even trying for that. I did not train for a 3:10, I trained for a 3:15, and I am the nerd who believes in doing the work). This will be hard to accomplish at Boston, but I know what I need to work on. It is clear to me that aerobically I am very strong (I was never out of breath in this race, OK, maybe toward the end). But, my neuromuscular system needs more work, and this will be my focus moving forward. Also, I think I need a longer taper. Or not running the biggest mileage week 2 weeks before the marathon. I don't like to over think things as I always believe that the decisions we make are the best decisions we can make given the information we have available at the time, but I have lots to think about moving forward. What is important is that I feel confident that I can design a plan that will make me feel stronger before Boston. And I can taste the sub 3:00 marathon sometime in 2013:)

As far as liking marathons? I will probably always like saying I have done them more than actually doing them, but I hope that my next marathon will give me at least 13.1 miles of feeling good. If not, well, I know I don't need to feel good to run well:)

****

Thank you thank you thank you thank you infinite + 1 as Petru says to Jenn and Raina (you've made this training cycle really special and exciting), Chris (for shedding a tear when I crossed the finish line AND confessing that you did that!...and other stuff, too), Katie (for running those long runs with me and pulling me along every single time), and to my little imp of a Petru (for making me feel that I can do anything when I think about you)! And thank YOU for reading:)

****

A day in the life -just for fun!

2011-10-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

Saw this somewhere and decided to play along. Tapering is in full here...

6:00 UP

6:45-3:00 Work-clinic all day; some grant drama which thankfully got solved quickly.

4:00 run 7 easy miles on trails w/ 4x10sec hill sprints.

5ish say a long "hi" to the lovely neighborhood twins on my way back.

5:30 get Petru from after school

Play game he made up yesterday, over and over.

6:30 Chris comes home, warm up dinner.

7:00 run upstairs for a couple of short work calls.

7:15 Chris leaves for drumming.

Watch Wheel of Fortune with Petru.

Draw with Petru.

8:00 Stories with Petru (Alvin Ho, if you care!)

8:30 Finish notes from morning.

Respond to a good friend's email.

Make lunch for tomorrow.

Pick up around the house.

Watch TV while foam rolling/stretching.

Marathon prep

Write note to Chris to be quiet and not wake me up!

10:00 Bedtime

Good night!

P.S. This is really my hardest day of the week, so don't think I am super woman over here, k? I know how to sit and do nothing, in fact I am very good at that, OK, not really but I am trying:)

Tapering

2011-10-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

Oh, taper! I am really enjoying it! This week I am cutting down my mileage to 58-60. Every run is shorter than its counterpart from last week. This cut will represent a 30% decrease from my highest mileage week. Next week I am cutting down 60%. So far, my legs are pissed. I think they are not really getting what is going on, they are not used to not running double digits every single day. Ha!

And along with taper came hunger! I am starving. My stomach wakes me up in the morning with the noises it makes. Weird and interesting and scary (not really!).

We are finally getting some cold weather which means that I can wear compression socks under my pants at work, which is awesome! Unfortunately, we are also getting a ton of wind and rain. I feel prepared for any kind of weather on marathon day. My last 4 runs have been in pouring rain, last one in rain and wind, and the entire summer I ran in humidity and heat. So, bring it! Whatever that might be!

So what have I/will I be doing with the extra time? Lets see...I purchased a mac (birthday present from my mom and my MIL - yes, I am loved!) on Saturday and have transferred and organized all my files. I caught up on work somewhat (I have learned a long time ago that I will never be caught up on work). I slept in. I am planning on going through all my clothes and finally bringing at least 50% of them, which I have not worn in over 3 years, to Salvation Army. I've made a behavioral chart for Petru with his schedule written down in bullet points with a time attached to it for every school day (so that he can keep track of what he needs to do before school and before bed; he can read clocks so this works well for him). If he does everything including a few things that are a bit hard for him (e.g., sitting at the dinner table for at least 15 minutes) he gets to go to bed 30 min later, gets to watch Wheel of Fortune (he got into it when my mom visited), etc. Works like a charm. Those behaviorists know what they are talking about:)

So, about that marathon...legs say they are going 7:20s. The rest of us are still working on buying into that idea, but let me tell you, those legs are very persuasive...See ya on the other side!

Taper

2011-09-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

...is here after my biggest training week ever: 80 miles with about 37 at or sub MP, including a 20 miler with 14@MP. I feel good!

This morning my thoughts are "elsewhere", so you'll have to deal with bullet point

#My legs feel fairly good, too. I had a massage on Thursday and it was encouraging to know that there are not trouble areas; she was able to release all the knots (small!). This was my first sports/deep tissue massage and loved it. It was amazing to see how she would find a knot, press on it hard, and then I would go from excruciating pain to relaxation as the knot got released. I am a believer!

#I decided to trust my plan and follow it without last minute modification. A 2 week taper worked for me in the past, and this is what I am doing. I tend to lose fitness quickly (and gain it quickly) so a longer taper would most likely not be good for me. There has also been some talk on competitor.com about shorter tapers being the "new trend" which reinforced my decision (coz I like to be part of the trend, ha!). On the other hand Paula Radcliff takes 3 days off before her marathons, so really this is all individual.

# I figured out my nutrition for the race: Pineapple Roctane and Vanilla, my stomach approved choices. Now I need to figure out my outfit!

# My big grant is in! Now, the waiting! Grr!

# I am feeling a bit sad to start the taper. Sure, it will be great to be able to go do a run that is shorter than 10 miles, but there is a discipline that training hard gives me, and a sense of accomplishment, which I am going to miss.

# Time to work on my mental game, catch up on old work and home projects, and plan my post marathon get away with Chris!

Almost there!

2011-09-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

...to the TAPER, that is!

Another 74 mile week and I can feel my legs starting to rebel a bit. It's like they are screaming at me to rest them a bit. I will, I will, just one more week!

I recovered pretty well after my 24 miler, and Monday ran a 10 miler with 6 miles progression from MP to HM to 10K (7 average). Felt great! But then on Thursday when I had my next quality run, my legs were toast. It was very hot and humid (while Monday it was cool) and I had a hard time doing 4X10 @ HM pace (OK, I did them all at sub HM pace, mostly bc I like to push the pace at the end of each interval). My Garmin would not locate satellites, so I got tired of waiting and ran the first interval by feel. I had no idea what pace I was going. I am clueless without the Garmin (something to work on, I suppose). I am pretty sure the first 10 min where more like 10K pace, bc in the second interval (with Garmin), my legs turned over a little slower for a HM pace.

Saturday I ran again with Katie. Running with her has been so good for me. It is fun to chat and the miles go by quickly. Also, Katie is an awesome runner who has been pulling me along in the last 3 long runs. We were blessed with another hot and humid day (100% humidity at 7am, don't you love it?). The first 13 miles were great (7:40 average), but then my legs were done; I had no power, I could not push and my toes where just dropping onto the ground. I knew I would slow down, so I told Katie to run, that I will have to stop and stretch. She did not. Finally, at mile 17 she did for a bit (but then she came back!), and I put my headphones on. I realized that one problem with running with someone is that when things get hard, talking messes up with my breathing. Katie had no problem with this however, which again speaks to how great of a shape she is in (are you reading this Katie????). Also, I realized how much music helps me and also how when things get hard, I need to concentrate and go into my "special place" to deal with it. I ended up putting my headphones on, and dialing in toward the end, and managed to make it to the finish (taking advantage of all the red lights for short rests..what, they don't have those at the marathon?). I gave it my all, which was not much, for the last mile (7:20), for a 7:43 average. Happy with it. Thanks Katie!

So I am tired. I realized that I can be fairly inconsistent with my long runs. I've had some excellent ones and I had some hard ones (put pushed through and got them done, that's what matters, right, right???? My legs will get some rest (and pampering) soon. Now I have to decide if I am going to run 80 miles this last week before the 2 week taper, or cut back some of the mileage for a 3 week taper. Will let you know what I decide. Need to look over my old training logs and figure this out, as well as the type of taper that works for me!

Happy running!

Feeling confident!

2011-09-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

Another marathon week in the books and I feel great. These past 2 weeks have done wonders for my confidence. Between my race last week and this Saturday's 24 miler....I am READY to kill it on October 16th!

Lets back off...

I was in rough shape after Sunday's race and honestly a bit worried. So I ran easy around and around this 1 mile loop close to my house, 8 miles on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday I planned on running 12 with last 6 moderate progression. My Garmin died, legs did not feel good, so I decided to just run moderate by feel and finish strong, with no pressure for pace. On Thursday I had 13.5 miles with 10X1K @ 10k/HM pace. It was hot and these were hard. I ran them on the road because doing so many repeats on the track is annoying to me right now; I allowed myself to quit several times, and, of course, I did not. I managed to run sub HM pace, but I was toast after. I swam on Friday and it felt so good. Our town beach closed late August and my body misses my daily swims.

Saturday I had 24 miles easy on the schedule. I decided to set my Garmin to show only distance, and run the first 20 by feel, pushing the pace toward the end. Then, I planned to do 16X400m repeats at sub MP, with 30 sec recovery (Ryan Hall/Matt Dixon inspiration here). I started a little before 7am in 36 degree weather. I loved it. I started slow and comfortable and my legs felt good. I listen to music and really enjoyed myself. I looked at the pace (changed screens) @ 10 mile and saw 7:58, great (with an 8:38 first mile!). I kept running and ended up with 7:48 average for the 20 miles, last 4 miles sub MP, last mile 6:49. And feeling great! I started my 400ms and immediately my pace went down to low 6s. I immediately decided mile repeats sounded better, and ended up running 4X1mile with 1 min RI, at 6:55, 6:50, 6:50, 6:45 (last one on slight uphill and I won't lie, it was all out). Wow! Total average for the 24 7:37. Very happy! The rest of the day was spent driving to Storyland and running around with Petru (Chris went for a hike) for a few hours (surely ran at least 2.2 miles, to bring my total to 26.2 for the day). Nothing like going on rides for 2 days (we stayed overnight)...Petru is not 49 inches yet and he had to have an adult with him. Still, we had a ball! Sunday I ran 6 easy before the family got up, for a total of 71.5 miles for the week! Two more hard weeks before my 2 week taper. One more week before I turn my big work project in to Research Management. I don't know what am I going to do with myself when all is said and done:)

Nahant 30K race report

2011-09-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Since I only ran 76.5 miles last week (insert sarcasm here), I thought I would go and test myself in a little race close by. My plan actually called for a HM, but running a non PR HM right now would be bad for me mentally, so I figured a 30K at MP would be a better challenge. Plus, Nahant is supposed to be flat, right?

Nothing unusual about the race prep. My tennis obsessed mom and husband stayed up late to watch prerecorded games, while I went to bed around 10pm. I had a race plan: start slow, see if Pineapple and Vanilla GU make you nauseous, and eat a bigger breakfast than usual. Yes, about starting slow, I never really follow race plans...

The race was small but well organized. We started at 8:30 sharp and immediately I felt my legs very heavy. My calved were hurting. Red lights went on in my brain, but managed to take some deep breaths and tell myself that maybe my legs will warm up and start working for me. They did, at mile 4 or so..right where the hills started and never stopped until mile 17.5. There was no flat between these miles. They had long hills, steep hills, short hills, inclines, but no flat. Once my legs warmed up I actually liked the hills. Why, because for every uphill there is a downhill. And I would fly on the downhills, watching my pace drop into the high 6s. I liked seeing that pace. I even ran a 6:30 mile somewhere in there. I felt really good between mile 4 and 12, so I allowed myself to run several high 6 miles. At mile 12 I started to enter the hurt zone. At that point, I kept telling myself that I needed to make it to mile 16, and that was all that matters (26.2K). I also reminded myself that I had zero nausea, which made me happy!. I was just beginning to lose power in my legs. When this happens, it is easy for me to slow down unless I concentrate hard on the pace. I was also running way below MP average by this point, so I was happy with that. Once at mile 16, a .5 mile uphill almost killed me. My legs were jello. I kept thinking about mile 17.5 when the flat would return, and once there I managed to get back to my previous average pace. Final push but no sprint left in me and hurray, finish line and a "good job girl" from the RD.

So here is the thing. My Garmin had me running 18.35 @ 7:05 pace. But I am listed in the results as 2:09:35, 6:58 pace. I did not run 6:58 pace. I have also ran less miles than the 18.6, and the course if certified. I do not really care, since this is a funny distance, but it is a weird discrepancy. Who cares, I am happy! Oh, and 15 out of about 200 racers (with men) and 5th woman out of who knows how many. Happy!

Now I need to recover. I can barely walk! Happy training!

Doing work!

2011-09-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

Work has been my main activity this past week in both my job and training. I have a big work deadline looming over my head and have been putting in lots of hours toward this project. Fingers crossed that it will work our for me, k?

Training has been work, too. I was completely trashed after my Monday 5X1000m (5:40 6:03 pace) and Wednesday's 9 miler with 5 @ 6:38. Every single bone, muscle and tendon hurt in my lower legs; you could have diagnosed me with R ITB, R plantar fasciitis, L foot tendon issue and nonspecific groin/pubic pain on the R side. Thursday's 10 miler with 8 moderate by feel and 2 @ MP-15secs was hard but after 5 miles my legs loosened up. Friday I was brand new and happy about it.

Today I met Katie for 22 miles on the course. Since mom is visiting and she stayed with Petru, Chris conveniently scheduled himself to play tennis with a friend close to the marathon course. He dropped me off, met his friend, and then picked me up.

The run was hard. My Garmin showed 7:44 at mile 4.4, and then proceeded to die. When I noticed I turned in on and the pace for the rest of the run (without the 4.4) was 7:47 on my Garmin. Katie's said 7:48 for the entire run, last mile 7:07. I had serious nausea after I took a Blueberry Roctane GU at mile 10, and it stayed with me for the rest of the run. I had some mental demons here, but Katie talked the entire time and that helped. Legs felt horrible around mile 13, but then I got a second wind after a short stop for water. Still, Katie totally pulled me through and did not go ahead even though she could have ran faster. The only miles over 8 that we ran were those immediately after I took that Roctane GU; everything else was high or mid 7s.

Super happy with the run. I will finish this week with 65 miles, which is pretty good. I think I will do my long runs on vanilla and pineapple GUs, like I have done so far for marathons, and hope I will be OK. A huge thank you to Katie for being such a rockstar! She always gets sick before her marathons - she BQed sick; I think she could easily run sub 3:20 if healthy! So excited for her!!!

Off for some mini golfing with the family!

Cautiously optimistic

2011-08-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

If you read this blog you know I have been struggling with my long runs. No, they have not been bad, yes, one of them has been great, but overall they did not feel as smooth as my speed and tempo runs. I know I am built for shorter distances, both mentally and physically. I can put up with a lot of hurt for a short amount of time. I get intimidated by long distances. I have strong muscles which are now popping out from my legs when I walk or run. I do not have the zero body fat like fast marathoners (I am not complaining here, I like what I have!).

Yet I am one who perseveres. I do believe that hard work makes runs easier, even the long runs. And today I've got a bit of a reward.

The run went like this: 9 miles steady @ MP, 1 mile easy, 4 miles with 5X3 min @ MP-10/25secs, 3 min easy; 3 miles @ MP +5secs. It was very humid this morning, and the initial plan was not to run this fast. But I felt good, and, even though I had a challenging week of training (some 800ms on Monday, a 12 miler with 6 miles @ MP-10 on Wednesday, 1 tempo with 3X10min @ HM/10K pace on Thursday, and an easy runs with hill sprints on Tuesday), the overall mileage has been lower, so I trusted that my body could handle the run. Was it easy? No. Was is hard at the end? Yes. Did it help that I had a small window of time to get the run done? Yes. But the point is, I ran hard long. My body does not feel trashed right now. I convinced myself that I could handle the run, when, at mile 2 of the first 9 miles, I remembered how I hit the wall several weeks ago when I started the run too fast, at a pace that was much slower than today's.

So I am feeling cautiously optimistic about my marathon. There is still work to be done, but I see things coming together even for this unnatural wanna be marathoner!

Grinding it!

2011-08-21T13:28:00.001-07:00

I finished another 70+miles, and am excited for a few weeks of fewer miles. I am hoping that with the decrease in mileage I am going to be able to bring the quality up. My 2 key quality runs, the 20X400m and 2X10 min @ HM/10K went great. However, the rest of the miles were easy and my legs did not allow me to add some MP miles to the 15 moderately long mid week run.

I ran my first 22 miler this Saturday. We camped on the Cape and I ended up running on the Cape Canal on super flat terrain. It was a hot and humid morning even @ 6am when I got started (cooked my oatmeal and bought a Starbucks from a store over 20 miles away the night before - the only store around was a Dunkin Donuts and I can't drink their coffee). I ran strong for 15 miles (7:49) and then I melted. My Garmin kept losing its Satellite which gave me an excuse to turn it off around mile 15.5, which lowered the pressure for me a bit and allowed me to finish the run (I did slow down and took a few breaks for water but the pace was not terrible, maybe mid 8s?). Aerobically I felt fine but my legs and mostly calves hurt a ton. I think it is harder for me to run on 100% flat. Back at the camp the boys were waiting to go mini golfing - a little boy is now obsessed with it - and I spent another 2 hours on my feet walking the course. By the time that was done I was starving (a banana with peanut butter after 22 miles is not enough) and ready to jump into the freezing ocean. I was the only person swimming and by the time I got out my arms were numb. But, my legs felt super fresh this morning, nothing like after last weekend, and the easy 8 miles felt great. Post swim I amazed my husband with the amount of food I consumed: almost an entire cantaloupe, a salad with chicken, a yogurt and a fruit popsicle.

I am SO ready for next week! Less mileage, more pace miles, more intensity but not pushing below 5K pace anymore as there is too little gain for the amount of leg damage as far as the marathon is concerned. Less than 8 weeks 'till Baystate! Bring it!

I get knocked down....

2011-08-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

...but I get up again, you never gonna keep me down!

That was the theme of my 20X400meters today!

I normally run easy on Tuesday because it is the hardest workday for me. However, since I killed my legs on Saturday, I needed 2 easy days to recover. Hence, track today!

I have not gone to the track in a long time. I have been running all my speed intervals on the road, using my Garmin, as our track gets very hot in the summer, and there is no shade. However, I knew that I needed the track for the 400ms.

I got there around 4:30pm, super happy for cooler temps. Some dudes were playing lacrosse in the infield, a couple of girls were running on the grass, a couple of mom were walking on the slow lanes. I felt ready to tackle the workout.

The plan was to run the first 10 @ 10K pace, then rest, and then run the last 10 @ 5K pace. Except if you know me, you know I am greedy and I never manage to run the pace I am supposed to. This was no exception.

First 10, 1 min RI in between
1:34 (6:10) - slowed myself down
1:34 - do not run faster
1:30 (6:00) - this is easy! Had to slow down to avoid getting hit by a lacrosse ball!
1:28 (5:55) - sub 6, I like this.
1:27 (5:54) - this is getting a little hard
1:29 (6:04) -you can't slow down now! Had to slow down to avoid getting hit my a lacrosse ball!
1:30 - this is getting harder
1:26 - almost done
1:27 - almost done
1:28 - DONE

I decided to jog 400 easy for recovery between sets. As I strolled around, I suddenly felt a sharp pain and got knocked down to the ground. Mind you, I am not a little person. I have muscles, I am strong, I am fairly tall. The darn lacrosse ball got me in my pelvis. I honestly thought I broke my pelvis, this is how sharp the pain was. Luckily, I am fine, and only have a massive bruise over there (and no, you will no see it!). I seriously think those guys did this on purpose. Either that, or getting almost hit 2 times and hit once makes for some weird coincidences!

Pumped with extra adrenaline, I commenced my second set:
1:30
1:27
1:26
1:24
1:25
1:18 (5:25)
1:25
1:25
1:25
1:16 (5:20)

V happy with this run. V pleased with my legs. They are back!

Back home Chris was pissed about the lacrosse guys, and was about to go over there, which made me smile bc he is the nicest, least aggressive person I know. But he was pissed. I am amazed that I was so civil with them (even after they called me ma'am!). I guess I was too concerned with whether I would be able to complete my workout.

So the morale of the story! The track is a dangerous place for me (brings out my addiction to speed) and for my pelvis!

Good things!

2011-08-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

This is how I felt after my 20 miler with Katie!
When I jumped for the camera, which was the day after, well, I felt like my body was going to break into smithereens!
I guess running 20 miles @ 7:45 with last mile @ 7:22 would do that to you, particularly when you are in the middle of several 70+ miles!

Feeling much better right now after 8 miles of 9+min/miles on trails.

My reward for the 20 miler? Baking and decorating this cake for Petru's party! He drew a picture and I had to copy it! There is a road, going over a bridge, and a railroad crossing and a train, and the gates are down so the train can go safely! It was a hit with the kids:)

And since I had my "Betty" on, I made this cupcakes for Petru's class. He is obsessed with clocks these days! And that's my baking for the year! Nothing else until next year on the baking front from me! There will be lots of running, though, including, hopefully more fast long runs with Katie!

Focusing on the positive

2011-08-07T16:35:00.001-07:00

I've just tallied my miles for July: 282! Wow! A record for me.

So I have noticed a pattern with my runs: good speed, OK easy, good hills/progression, awesome progression/sub MP, rough long, rough easy and back again! Hm, maybe I should stick to short distances...

Maybe not.

I think I just need to be more patient and less greedy when it comes to my run. Patient in the long runs - understanding that I have not run long in about one year, that I need to start slow (darn ego!), that I am still at the beginning of my training cycle. Less greed during speed/tempo/hills - understanding, for ex., that I don't need to run 10+ secs under MP just because I can and because it feels good. So I'll keep trying.

Next week I will do my first 20 miler! I will be running it with Katie on the marathon course. We will be running 8:20s and I might pick it up to MP for the last 30 minutes if I feel good (or maybe Katie will!). My goal is to get a solid long run in, the first 20+ out of 6! I am also super excited to run with Katie. I like Katie. I admire Katie. She is so nice and tough and strong and she never complains. I like that.

My legs feel good right now. I though I completely trashed them after Saturday's long run, but they recovered! I am grateful that my body can handle as much hard work; I know it is still adjusting to the higher mileage, which will toughen me up for the marathon. I am so happy to be able to take off and run for 90min to 3hours almost every day. I am enjoying the process and I know that if I focus on it rather than only on a specific time goal, I will be OK.

Happy training, that's what's all about:)

Marathon week 5, some good, some to be learned from

2011-07-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

This week will end with the most mileage I have ever run: 72 miles!

The week started with a 12 mile progression with last 6 at a little below MP. I felt awesome. Tuesday I did 10 easy without the Garmin, and felt good, but tired. I work from 7 to 3 on Tuesday, no breaks, so I do my runs in the hotness of the afternoon. As someone said to me recently, a hot run is my reward after a crazy busy non stop kind of day. Ha!

Wednesday I had a tough hill workout, 10 miles with some 5X3 min @ 5K effort on hills. Did I mention I hate hill workouts? I do about 3 miles of hills on all my easy runs, but sprinting up them for minutes is not my favorite thing. I did not carefully plan and ended up with a 400m hill, too steep, and had to add a bit of flat and slight incline after (each interval ended up being .4 miles). The pace was slow, but my legs felt the workout.

On Thursday I had 14 miles with 8 @ MP, but somehow my legs surprised me and I ended up going way below MP, and feeling great. The cool temps helped a lot, I ran @ 6am.

Friday I was exhausted, though, and ended up taking a 2 hour nap after work, and going to bed with no problem thereafter. No running, but I did some easy spinning on my bike for about 60 minutes.

All good things have to end, though.... Today's 18 miler sucked. I made the mistake of making a superfast playlist, and was unable to slow myself down during the fist miles of the run. I ran the first 11 miles @ 7:40 average, and then my legs rebelled. The suffer-fest started and I managed to complete 17 miles of the 18, allowing myself to walk the last mile sipping a can of diet pepsi. I am OK with this. The last 6 miles ended up slower, with 2 of them @ 8:10 and 8:07, but I recovered with a 7:31 as a last mile. I have been compressing my legs and will go for a swim later, in hopes of getting rid of the lactic acid. Eight easy miles tomorrow, and then another big week! I think I learned my lesson and will start the run with some slooow music, ha!

This week confirmed how much more I enjoy running mid distance fast paced, and how tough longer distance runs are for me. Hopefully this will change by the end of this training cycle, and long runs and I will become friends. For now, I am grateful for these legs.....they are doing great work for me!

Oh, and there was some biking (2 hours) and swimming (3 miles) going on. Swimming and sleeping are my 2 best recovery strategies! So far so good!

And if you want a story of inspiration, head to Mary Iron Matron and read her Lake Placid Report! Even if you are not a tri person, I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed!

Marathon training week 4 and stuff!

2011-07-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

This was a great week of running. I rationally know that the first few weeks of marathon training are hard, and soon enough I am going to feel stronger, but nonetheless, it is hard to "feel" like that will happen. This week I turned a corner, I think.

I played around with my week some. I mostly had easy runs on the plan, as I increased mileage (65 this week) and there was some recovery in there post my race. But since it was hot, I could not run hard at the race, so I did not feel sore or tired after. Monday I did 10 miles with some hill sprints. Those are hard for me, but I stick with them because I believe they help. Tuesday I ran very slow without a Garmin, after work, in 90+ degree and who knows how much humidity. I had a bunch of podcasts downloaded and slogged along. Wednesday I had 10 miles easy with 12X30 secs fast, which I turned into a moderate paced run with some fast intervals. I felt great. Thursday I had 12 easy, and ran them a bit faster than I wanted bc of lack of time, but nothing sub 8. Today I had 13 miles with 12X 60 sec @ MP. The temps were cool at 6am, and it started raining when I was 3 miles in. Loved it. I ran sub MP for 10 miles feeling great, and then did the 60 sec intervals; I tried to stay @ MP with them, but it was so hard bc they were so short and my legs wanted to move faster. I will have another shot at this in a couple of weeks. I understand the importance of keeping the pace MP not 5K (oops!) for these intervals, but it did not happen for me today. Ten miles easy tomorrow with some hill sprints and week 4 is done. I feel giddy. Arch pain is completely gone, along with all other weird pains I had for a while there. Hurray! Oh, and this was the first long run in this marathon cycle when I came home and was actually able to talk:)

I swam again every single day this week. I love my H2O audio interval 4G which allows me to listen to music while swimming (and block out the noise of all the kids at the town beach) - review coming soon (Thank You H2O audio). Swimming with music is so much fun. Just like with running, I swim faster and better with a good playlist. Only 1 hour biking, boo, but it has been so hot and swimming was much more appealing this week.
*
In other news, we, like most of the country (except the lucky Portland folks) have been dealing with crazy heat. 101 degrees yesterday, WTF? We do not have AC for environmental reasons, and I was very close to giving in and getting a unit installed this past week. Petru hates the fan and ends up in our bed, on top of me while I am about to jump out of my skin. Chris has been smart and sleeping downstairs, though last night I sent Petru there for some daddy bonding and managed to get some glorious sleep. Looking forward to cooler temps tomorrow. I am in the "give me snow and cool temps" club, but am thinking all this training in high temps is going to make me feel like an animal come the cool October days! Lets hope so!

Good luck to everyone racing Lake Placid! Kill it Mary and Emily! So excited for some vicarious IMLP racing!

Back to Fresh Pond and marathon training week #3

2011-07-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hudson likes to get his marathoners used to racing, and I completely get his point. He called for a 10K today, but darn, 10Ks are rare in this part of the country during summer time. All I could find was some trail 10K 1 hour away, no thanks! And then, ding, ding, ding, Fresh Pond. I could run 5 miles there, race the 5 mile course (more like 4:65-4:75), and then get a ride back home (since this is a cut back week).

I love Fresh Pond. It's beautiful. I have gotten used to the off leash dog rule (and really good at dodging the little ones who, when they see you, get squirrely and have no idea which way to go), and the lovely people who have not seen each other in so long and thus start conversations in the middle of the path. What I did not get used to? The heat. The race is at 10am. We had 91 degrees, 95 feel, 57% humidity this morning at 10am. But, I checked my ego at the door (so to speak), and decided to go for it. Hudson would want me. Petru wanted me (he really wanted some good uninterrupted train time with daddy and then some donuts since I was to get picked up at a Dunkin Donuts). Chris wanted me (heck, as long as I am not HIM training, he just goes with the flow).

So, I put my trusty Lulu shorts and a sports bra on and left the house at 9:10, just as the entire street was outside, kids playing, parents chatting. I jogged progressively to the race and got there all sweaty and ready for some faster miles. And holy batman! The race was packed. There were some 25-30 people, which is double, triple what I was used to in the winter. And I knew no one! This race must have a winter crowd, and a summer crowd. The winter crowd has the "real runners" - no water, skinny as hell, tough, wearing racing flats, fairly intense. The summer crowd is more varied: shape, sizes, outfits, age. No one was stretching or sprinting, aside from a woman who spent over 20 minutes sprinting and stretching. I started talking to a few people, Tufts cross country graduates, and all of a sudden was very happy about leaving my ego home. ha!

And we are off. I feel good. I am running 5:45 at .25. Eventually I slow down to HM pace, which is what I want to run. I keep it there, and then go a bit faster. I pass people, and then I am alone. I am feeling good until I start lap 2, when I start feeling the nausea. But, what can I do? I keep going. This is the beauty of races. The nausea gets more and more intense and I slow down a little. This is where I wished there were other women around me, I needed some competition. Without it, my brain had good arguments to not push "that" hard. I mean, I was winning! So I ended up with a 31:13, which is not my worst (31:31, on my first FP) or my best (30:01on my last FP) on this course. I feel OK about the effort. I could have pushed harder, but alas, I pushed hard enough. I know I run much faster in cooler temps (in fact, I had some faster workouts in this training cycle, in early am cooler temps). And a win is a win. Feels good. Always. Though remember, my ego stayed home:)

And the rest of week #3?
Easy peasy! I had a 15 miler easy, which I ran early in the morning, at a comfortable pace and finished with a few faster miles, lots of easy runs with harder yet short efforts sprinkled in, and a 4X6min @ 10K run, all which went well. I have 8 easy miles tomorrow and will finish the week with 57 miles! I also biked 2 hours, and by Sunday I will total 4 miles of swimming.
I feel great!

I had so much fun at Fresh Pond that I am really working on how to incorporate the race into marathon training. I can't "race" it weekly like I did in the winter, mostly because that would be risky and actually not helpful for the marathon. But, perhaps I could run these races at the end of some of my long runs...Thinking out loud here...Will see!

Bits and pieces

2011-07-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

Summer time and the living is easy...when you are only marathon training! Gosh, I love being only a runner! I feel so happy with my decision to enjoy summer with my family and only (mainly) run!

And since I am running long, I am back to listening to podcasts on my easy runs. I have recently discovered Radio Lab, a New York Based public radio podcast which I love. Two recent podcasts are relevant to racing/training. The first one is about "human limits" and features Julie Moss (a newbie who placed second in Kona, losing with 15 feet to go, and finishing while crawling; she did minimal training for this race, ate nothing during it, and had never done a triathlon before) and a bike racing experiment (which included a group of experienced cyclists and newbies biking around US on only 1 hour sleep; when cyclists got to the point of hallucinating, researchers actually agreed with their hallucinations and reinforced whatever the cyclists believed; some ended up going weeks after weeks with little food and only 1 h sleep/day). The second one is about a woman who turned to running after developing epilepsy, eventually had lobotomy and became one of the most accomplished ultrarunners (100 to 300 miles!); one of the side effects of the surgery was that she has lost the ability to keep track of time (or better, gained the ability to stay in the present!) such that in races, she has no idea how long she has been running for. How awesome is that? One of my biggest problems with long races is boredom. What if my brain had no idea how long I ran for, would I get less tired? I think so! Can I get some of "that"? Can I somehow achieve the "stay in the moment, don't check the mileage" type mindset? Not sure, but I will start trying!

Have you read any good running books lately? Would love to know. I read Kara G's book and Run like a mother, and I found both superficial and boring (sorry, just my opinion!). Darn, that Matt Fitzgerald better get off his A$$ and right another book!

Training is going well! I am supposed to do a 10K this weekend, but there are none around. I am thinking of doing the Fresh Pond 5 miler, and then continue on for another mile. I will most likely do that although the race is at 10am, and the temps will be super high. Plus, that stinking blister is still giving me issue, though when I run hard I sort of forget about it.

I have changed the email associated with this account. I have been having some problems sending emails out, so switched to gmail, and set myself up with receiving emails in my inbox; hence, I will be better able to respond to comments.

OK, happy summer!

Blister in the sun and other thorny running issues

2011-07-10T17:26:00.001-07:00

Marathon week nr. 2 ended with 63 miles! The legs held up and my arch pain gradually diminished. I think my feet forgot how it feels to pound the pavement for long amounts of time. Now they are remembering. Anyway, don't do what I do, it may not work for you:)

I learned a few lessons in running this past week:
1. Running 4 quality days out of 6 means 2 of these are in a row, and that is tough. Next week I will have only 3 such days and only 57 miles to get a bit of rest.
2. Running early in the morning is not hard if I manage to go to bed at 9:30. Last week this worked out very well bc Chris is teaching for 3 weeks and he is super tired at night so we go to bed together. I always try to read a bit, but my eyes close after a few pages.
3. Going to bed at the wee hours on Friday night and sleeping in the next day means running long in hot temps. Not fun! I got lots of worried looks from people as I ran by splashing water all over the place (even though I ran in little shorts and a sports bra).
4. Wearing a new pair of running shoes for 18 miles without breaking them in can lead to blisters starting at mile 9, and getting as big as your heel by the end of the run.
5. Popping a huge blood blister in front of your 5.5 year old leads to lots of "Wow, that is cool mommy". Desinfecting that SOB leads to "F$%(&S^S" in your head and lots of lip biting since the said 5.5 y old is curiously watching.

So yes Saturday's run ended once again with me collapsing on the ground and not talking for a few minutes. Petru is actually used to this and does not even react anymore, ha! Still, few things are better than the feeling I get after a long run. And even though I push my body out of its comfort zone, I am not "done for the day". In fact, Saturday I spent the afternoon at the beach with Petru, even swimming about 400m with him on my back. Then we hosted game night and went to bed very late. Thank you body!

Marathon training week 1 in random fashion

2011-07-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

Stats: 62 miles (planned for 58, but I think I'll get Petru to add my miles next time, ha!)

Runs: 1 MP (5), 1 tempo (3@ HMP), 1 interval (8X2min @ 10Kpace), 1 long (16), 2 easy.

My foot has been bugging me. Some tendon in the arch needs to behave.

I gained 3 lbs since before the taper for the HIM.

I suck at running long. I struggled through 16 miles this past week.

The heat/humidity and I need to find a way to get along, meaning I need to start running super early in the morning.

I am loving just running (OK, I do bike and swim a bit, but no more 3-4 hour bike rides and I do not miss them).

Running fast and short (relatively) is easier for me then running long.

I need longer and longer warm-ups.

I plan to go back to Fresh Pond Races in August. Right now, it would be rather sad...

I have no idea how I ran a 6:46 average pace for 13.1 miles. Or a 6:16 average pace for 3.1 miles. Running 2X15 min @ HM pace was not easy for me today in 94 degrees. Blah!

Seriously though, I am super excited to train for this marathon. This is early in the game and the hardest part of training in some sense. So thankful and happy to be running!

Happy 4th!

7.1.11, 11 years of marrige

2011-06-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

Time flies. The older I get, the faster time goes by. I couldn't be happier with where I am in life right now. I am in the right place!

Marathon training - ON

2011-06-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

Getting excited over here! It's marathon training time! I haven't raced a marathon since October last year! I enjoyed training for the half marathon over the winter, but I feel ready to tackle the big 26.2 (or 26.4, as it always works out to be). Training plan is penciled in, new running shoes ordered, new music playlist done, new podcasts for the easy runs downloaded!

I had several questions about my training plan. I am using Hudson's level 3 as a template, making changes based on my weaknesses. It is obvious that I need to build my endurance. So, there will be 6 20+ milers in there, either as progression runs, or easy runs with some MP paces in. I am playing it by ear in terms of the MP. I need to see how I feel and will go with a range of paces for now. All I know is that between tapering for the HIM and recovery last week, I lost a lot of fitness. It always amazes me how hard it is to build fitness and how easy it is to lose it. I do know that the fitness is not lost for good, and in a few weeks I will feel strong again. Patience, yes, that is so important.

Something else I am going to work on is keeping my interval paces where they should be. I have a tendency to run way faster than prescribed. While this works well when training for short distances, I don't really need a lot of VO2 max work for the marathon. This is very hard for me, and it was a major fail today when I had a simple 8X2 min intervals @ 10K, and did all of them at 10sec/mile+ below this pace. I know faster paces are harder on the body, and I need to be strong and durable. So, AM, just slow down!

I am loving the extra time I have now that I am mostly only running. Summer is finally here and we are going to the town beach almost every evening for a swim and a picnic. We made a family list with all the things we want to accomplish this summer. I am really excited to do some of the fun things Petru asked for, like going to a water park, taking the Amtrak somewhere just for the fun of it, making a lighthouse cake for his birthday. I can say I do not miss tri training at all. I am sure I will eventually, but for now, I am happy only running.

Did I mention that summer is here? June has been 75% rain - one of the few hot days was my HIM day (ha!)- and everyone is ready for some sun!

Recovery, pictures, and what's next?

2011-06-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

This week so far has been interesting. I had minimal soreness which is now completely gone. However, I have been super tired since the race, and a little blah about any type of physical activity. My stomach has been finicky and if I don't see a gel the rest of my life I am going to be happy (I know this will pass, but for now, no gel talk).

I took an easy swim on Sunday @ Walden, and that helped loosen up my legs. It was nice to swim, rest on my back, and just enjoy the water, with no pressure. Chris joined me for a bit, and he almost got hypothermia (no wetsuit and zero body fat will do that to you) so we had to go home quickly so he could take a warm bath (he kept shivering for at least 1 hour, scared me a little!). On Monday I hopped on my bike to spin the legs for a bit. On Tuesday I attempted a run without the Garmin. Legs felt fine, but my breathing was heavy, sign I need more rest. I ran again today and had a nice cool run. Everything felt great. Just what I needed:)

I am trying to figure out what my next move should be. I am registered for Baystate and this will be my next A race. McMillan says 3:06, but I would be happy with 3:15. I have been getting 10+ minute PRs at Baystate for the past 2 years (3:29 from a 3:45 for my second ever marathon, and 3:19 last year). I feel I am a better short distance runner, with HM as my best event, and I have always ran marathons 5 min slower than what McMillan predicted based on my HM time. Right now, though, I do not have any desire to train, so will probably just play around for the next couple of weeks, and get myself excited by designing my training plan. I am also going to fit some no pressure tris for the summer. Biking and swimming have kept my body healthy, so I will continue enjoying them regularly until August, and then I might cut them down completely, or just keep swimming, will see. In terms of mileage, I may try 70-75 peak, since last year I had a couple of weeks of 65, so not a huge mileage jump. I want to make sure I get to enjoy summer with my boys!

Here are some pictures from the race.

Barely keeping my balance at the end of the swim...Man, that thick wetsuit is darn flattering..ha!

Patriot Half Ironman RR

2011-06-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Prerace:

I went into work early on Friday, had a few appointments, a couple of meetings, and was home by noon. Chris met his mom and dropped Petru off (Thank you, Margaret!) for the night (which ended up being 2 nights!). We packed the car and were out the door by 12:30pm. I wanted to get there early to do a short swim to get my eyes used to the murky water, in hopes that my brain would not go all red lights on me on race day. But, after spending time getting myself inside my wetsuit (which has a big huge whole the Xterra folks did not have enough time to fix before the race) I saw a man running toward me with his hands up in the air yelling; "no swimming, we have signs everywhere". We both looked around and saw no signs. He did put one on later. So, I ended up swimming at a boat ramp a mile away. The water was calm and I felt so comfortable. Good.

We stayed at the Cathedral Camp for $50. Loved the place. Clean, simple, quiet. I watched a bunch of trash TV on my i-phone, had some soft icecream, and turned the lights off at 9pm. I kinda slept and was up and ready @ 4:30am. And got my period. Problem solve and adapt. Luckily, I was prepared. Oatmeal, chat with other triathletes while cooking, coffee, clothes on, walk to the transition area. Here, the silliest thing: one huge line to get body marked, before going into transition. Some smart folks body marked themselves and cut in. Ha!
In transition I saw my friend Mary and chatter a bit. Several bathroom stops later and I had my wet suit on and was ready to go.

SWIM: 41:52 (GRRR).
I got kicked in the head the moment I put my head in the water. OK, then. Again, problem solve and adapt. I moved on. I felt really strong in the water. My swimming has improved a ton this year, which is funny bc I did a 35 min swim at last year's HIM, and I had no pull then. I had 2 problems with this swim: 1) I could not stay on anyone's feet, as I could not see bubbles. The water was so murky, I would see some bubbles, follow them, but end up on the other side of the person. 2) I could not sight. The buoys were so far apart, and there was a current, so I zig zagged like crazy and got a bit discouraged at some point, but pulled myself together. I felt smooth in the water and my catch and pull were right on, but I just went off course too much. Out of the water and Chris said 38 something, which I thought was reasonable given the zig zagging. Well, turns out we had to run to the mat, and I almost fell (dizzy) so I walked. Still, whatever, I moved on.

T1: 3:58.
I'll let you guess what slowed me down here..

BIKE: 3:00:51; 18.67 MPH.
On the bike and I felt great. Except for the back pain. But, I was prepared, and took 2 200mg ibuprofen with every gel (8 gels = 800cals). That helped dull the pain a bit. I passed a lot of people on the bike, and I did not get tired at all. My average HR went from 170 when I hopped on the bike to 152 for the 56 miles. Right where I wanted it to be. This is a 12 minute PR for me. Given that I was in aero for maybe 10 min, this makes me happy (and yes, I need to stop being a chicken and get in aero). The bike was uneventful other then me seeing a woman on the ground at mile 30sh. Two racers where already there with her, so I went ahead and alerted the volunteers. I really hope she is OK. Another event was a funeral, which caused a traffic jam where a bunch of us had to slow down, really slow down (that mile was a 15.4MPH, my only mile this slow) and were going wheel to wheel for a while. Ha!

T2: 2:52
Same deal here...had to change:)

RUN: 1:57:11, 8:56 pace
I started the run feeling great. I wanted to run a 1:38, which is 10 min slower than my open HM PR. It felt doable given that I have been doing bricks since January, including a 44 mile+8 mile @ 7:35.
My HR was 175 to begin with, and I decided to start the run @ 7:38, to give myself a chance to bring it down. But, it was HOT, and my HR did not go down. It went up to 192 average by mile 3, and I could not breath. My legs, on the other hand felt great. I started putting ice in my bra, and drank some coke at the mile 3 aid station. And then it all came out. Repeat 5 times (water, gel, coke again, water, gel) and then at mile 8 I decided no more. Obviously I could not hold anything in. My pace kept creeping up and up and I honestly felt so bad, nauseous and with chills, that I did not think I would finish. I though of Jenn racing her marathon, and pushing thorough. It worked for a bit. Then I had to resort to splurging $XXX at Lululemon if I make it under 2 hours. No doubt the toughest run of my life. Not sure if it was the heat, or a combination of ibuprofen, gels, heat. I have a pretty tough stomach, but I know racing in the heat is very tough for me. Regardless, this was a very very bad run for me. I never run this slow, not even in recovery runs...

But, done, done, done!

Total time: 5:46:52, 4th/30 35-39 AG. Placing 4th in my AG makes me feel better. In fact, this qualifies me for the National AG Championships in Vermont, which I need to decide if I am going to do.

Afterthoughts:
I felt proud crossing that finish line. I've had an amazing winter/spring running season and although I felt happy getting PR after PR, I did not experience the happiness I felt when I crossed the line this past Saturday. I did not work half as hard for those PRs. I asked myself several times if I could have ran faster, walked less at the water stops. The answer is a strong no. I feel good about this. Now I rest up for one week and then move on.

I discovered what is going on with my back. This morning I woke up with my R side (back and leg) sore. My L side is fine. I think I am using my R leg much more on the bike. I need to have someone analyze my biking.

My legs felt strong on the bike and on the run. No heaviness, not even at the beginning. This makes me feel good about the training and one week taper.

I absolutely loved the bike, even with the back pain. I felt confident and strong.

I met Tami and Kim, who both had great races! Kim just killed it on the bike. I need tips, Kim:)

Thanks for all your support. I felt the love during the race:)And as always thanks to Chris, the best sherpa ever!

The hay is in the barn!

2011-06-12T07:42:00.001-07:00

Phew! I survived the last weekend of training in spite of crappy, crappy weather. Yesterday I had 72 miles on tap. I woke up to pouring rain. Accuweather told me I would have a 2 hour window in the morning, so I hopped on the trainer for 90 min, and then headed out for the rest of the ride. Except that 5 miles in, it started pouring again. I forgot to mention that it was cold, and my feet got numb. I ended up home after 20 miles, frozen and covered in dirt. After warming my feet up with the hairdryer, I hopped on the trainer and finished for a total of 4 hours. I did not feel like going out and skipped my t-run (I know, shocker!). Today I ran 12 miles, in the rain, by the ocean in New Hampshire, and though I was going to die coming back home with the cold wind hitting my face. Next, a 2000 yard swim with some short intervals, lots of foam rolling and stretching, and voila, training is done.

This week is going to be super light training wise. I am planning on making a race plan, catching up on work and enjoying not running around in circles all day long! I am actually happy to taper. I think I pushed myself to the max this training cycle in terms of juggling everything going on in my life. And, I just realized that I will only have one week of rest before starting a 20 week marathon training plan, and trying to keep up my biking and swimming for an Olympic and maybe a couple of sprints!

Some days are rough

2011-06-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

I had a bummer of a day workout wise today!

I woke up early and it was thundering and raining. I had a 44 mile ride, which I knew will not happen outside. I changed my back tire, put the bike on the trainer, and biked for 90 min before the sky cleared up and accuweather assured me that the sky will be thunder free until the afternoon. I changed the tire again, and went for a 20 mile ride @ race pace. All well, except that on Tuesday I got a nasty yeast infection, so you can only imagine how being on the bike with that was. I filed it in my mind as "lesson in mental toughness". And Chris learned that he is not to talk to me, ha!

In the afternoon I had 9 miles with 2X15 min @ HMP. I ignored the thermometer which said 95 degrees, and headed to the track. By the time I got there (2.5 miles) my clothes were completely wet, and the water in my fuel belt was hot. I started the first interval - I typically do these @ 10K pace even though they are prescribed for HMP, since they are so short) and made a deal to stay @ HMP. I did, except that when I stopped my entire body was so hot and I just could not make myself do the other interval. I don't remember when was the last time I skipped an interval, but I did today. I ran the rest of the miles slow and took several stops on the 1.25 mile patch of steep hills that got me home. A little bummed about this...

The good news is that the weather for the Patriot is looking good so far, rain and cold temps. Honestly, I am not concerned about rain, I just want cool temps and no thunder.

The real taper starts next week. Stay tuned for phantom pains (so far I am SO thankful for how my body managed to hold up to this amount of training), mood swings, weight gain, nerves and excitement. For now, I am READY to decrease the load...

Weekend!

2011-06-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

Whenever I start dreading my workouts, taper knocks on my door! Good timing!

I celebrated the weekend with 70.5 miles (66bike + 4.5 transition run) on Saturday, and 14.7 (13 run + 1.7 OW swim) on Sunday.

Every time I start a long ride I feel mojo-less. I really don't want to go. I did not have much time to dilly dally on Saturday because we had a packed day and I needed to get home to give Chris a break (who again gets the "best husband" award for showing Petru SUCH a great time while I was on the bike. I am convinced the neighbourhood moms are terrible jealous as I never see another dad spend as much quality time with their kids as Chris does; OK, gotta make sure Chris reads this post:). In typical fashion, after 10 miles I started having fun; except the M%$%S F%&$# back pain showed up and had to take several stops. Still, I biked 56 miles in a little over 3 hours, with a HR of 139, so kept the pace very comfortable. Back home I grabbed a turkey burger and headed for the run. My meat craving is through the roof! I ran Garminless, amazed at how tough my stomach is. Lucky! Back home I had 1 hour to fill up on food, take an icebath and splash water all over me (no time for a shower) and take Petru to t-ball. Back home, one more hour and barbecue with friends. In bed after midnight.

The fatigue hit on Saturday after my run. I did 13 miles with 11 progression ending with 5 miles sub 7:15. I could barely walk when I got home. Petru and I kicked Chris out of the house and had some quality mom/son time before dropping him off at a bday party. Then I took a glorious 30 min nap before heading to Walden for a swim. My arms hurt like hell during the swim, but when I got back Chris told me I swam 10 min faster, so now I know why! Evening was spent working and watching basketball with Chris.

Today I did the crazy brick session again. I biked for 30 min tempo, then put the bike on the trainer and ran 2K @ 10K pace, than 30 min on the bike with alactates, than 2k @ 10K pace, than 30 min on the bike with alactates, than 2K @ 10K pace, than 30 min on the bike with alactates, than 2X2K @ 5K pace. Then I ran 2.5 mile with 1.25 hill home. This workout sounds hard, but it really is not. Part of my issue with races longer than a HM is that I get bored and have to work hard to keep focus. This is actually a reason why I do marathons and HIMs:) In a workout like this I never get bored. Sure, it is hard at times, but I know I can handle that pain since it won't last long.

This week I am tapering the run, but keeping the swim and bike up. I am getting excited but also SO nervous for the race. I googled my back pain and it is clear to me that it is due to my bike position. I am not comfortable in aero so I ride the handle bars and sit like a scaredy cat, as opposed to pushing my pelvis out. I will work on that:)

Such a great weekend of racing. I loved tracking everyone at Mooseman and Honu, and cheering virtually on marathons and other races. Some had awesome races, other did not reach their goals, but this is the beauty of racing; just like life, anything can happen on race day!

Fun training day!

2011-06-02T14:46:00.001-07:00

I took the day off and headed to Freetown with Chris for a day of training.

Plan: swim, bike, run, and have fun!

We got to the Cathedral Park and immediately got greeted with a "this is private property, you can't swim here". Oops. Nothing on the race site warned about this. Apparently the HIM has license for the weekend only. We took off and found a boat ramp less than a mile away, and I got a 25 min swim in. It was windy, the water was choppy and dark. I managed to get into a groove after a while and I think I can actually have fun swimming in choppy water, if it is clean! Moving on...

I changed quickly and Chris and I started riding. Again, the wind was strong. For the first 5+ miles I felt like I put in a ton of effort but going really slow (like 15-16 MPH). I stopped and noticed my L brake was rubbing onto the tire. I fixed it and wow, things fell into place. We rode 28 windy miles @ 18MPH (including the first really slow 5+ miles) in the wind, and I was pleased. My HR was 141, so fairly low effort. My legs felt great. My back, on the other hand, was on fire. I have been having back pain on the bike when my speed goes over 17.5-18MPH. It sucks big time and it worries me for the race. After the 28 miles we did 12 more before I started on for my run.

The run was awesome. My legs felt great. I ran 8.5 @ 7:35, HR 172. I had planned for 7 miles, but I got lost...

I feel pretty confident about my training right now. I feel strong and fit. If something goes wrong come race day, it will not be because of lack of fitness. I need to figure out the back situation, but otherwise, I am very happy with my fitness right now.

On Monday I plan a repeat of the quadruple brick (which was a lot of fun, by the way) then a couple of longer rides in the next week before taper! Excitement building up over here:)

I am looking forward to lots of fun races this weekend: Mooseman, Honu, Newport marathon! I hope everyone has a great race. Go tri/run FAST!

Big training weekend!

2011-05-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend I changed things up a little. I typically run and swim on Saturdays and bike and run on Sunday. But this weekend we decided to go to New Hampshire on Saturday, so I did my ride and run before we left (awesome hubby does not complain about a late start and a morning filled with all the neighborhood kids - somehow all the kids end up at our house playing together or separately, searching for snacks and living countless plastic cups all over the house. Love 'em all, though).

I had a great ride on Saturday: 60 miles @ 18.2, HR 141, and 5 miles run with no Garmin (bc I want to keep the pace easy). I believe my ride was successful - I never felt tired, my HR did not spike, my legs did not hurt - partly because of mega caffeine intake: 32 ounces of coke zero, 2 caffeinated gels, plus one huge mug of coffee before leaving the house. Caffeine is awesome, how did I not know that? The run started out great. My legs did not have any of the usual lead-type feeling. However, it was super hot and I felt hungry and tired. Still, probably one of the easiest off the bike runs.

Today I did a hilly 14 miler with lots of race pace miles. Even in New Hampshire and running by the ocean, it was super hot. I forgot to take my E21 pills with me and ended up eating some salt packets that I grabbed at a cafe along the way. My legs felt tired from yesterday, and it was harder to hold a normally moderate effort pace, but things never got too bad or difficult. Happy with that! I realize, however, that if the temps are going to be this high on race day, I am going to have to be smart and run slower. Next, it was a swim, which got cut short to 1.25 miles (instead of 1.75) since I had to get home. I swam in a salt water indoor pool and absolutely loved it. Plus, no sneezing and no stuffy nose for me this afternoon! Oh, and how could I forget the icebath I took with Petru in the ocean, and the pleasure he took in splashing me with the ice cold salty water!

Tomorrow I am changing my plan and will do one of those multiple bricks I read about on some of the super fast triathletes' blogs. I am going to ride 15 miles, then run 3K @ HMP, then put my bike on the trainer and bike for 30 min with some alactates, than run 2K @ 10k pace, then bike 30 min with alactates, then run 1K @ 5K pace, bike 30 min with alactates, and then run easy 4-5 miles. This should be about 2+h biking and 10 mile run. I am excited to see how I am going to do. There could be a lot of suffering, as we are supposed to have 80+ degrees tomorrow. I'll bring my E21 pills, and lots of caffeine and enthusiasm!

What a difference a year makes and other random happenings

2011-05-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

* Yesterday morning Chris and I headed to Walden with different priorities. I set out for my first OW swim of the year, and he set out...his yoga mat! We were the only people there, it was warm and sunny and just perfect. Do you know those fleeting moments in life where everything feels like it is just the way it should be? Yes, I felt that as I set out for my swim and said good bye to a Tree-posed Chris!

Except that a few minutes into my swim my shoulders were killing me. I had a hard time keeping my elbows high. WTF? Fortunately after about 10 minutes the pain went away and i fell into a groove. I decided to swim around the pond. I have no idea how long the perimeter of the pond is. It took me exactly one hour to go around and I was very happy since last year it took me almost 2 hours (including breaks, which I did not have to take this time). The bath house was locked which meant I changed clothes behind a tree (by the time I was done there were people around), put make up on on the beach, and went to work with my wet hair in a ponytail. Both Chris and I agree that we will make this our Wednesday morning routine.

* I had my first bonk on the bike today! I had 36 miles with 3X9 (which I did continuous) @ race pace. I had zero food with me and during the last 6 miles I felt loopy and hungry! I can easily run 20+ miles on no food (usually I take 1 gel at 10 miles), but I need lots of calories on the bike. This has to have something to do with metabolic efficiency; my body is used to running but biking is still relatively new to me.

* My HR is about 150 when I go @ race pace. I wonder if during the race I should push the HR up a little or that would completely mess my run up. Thoughts?

* After wearing compression socks at work the entire winter, I was sans them yesterday and noticed a huge difference in how my legs felt at night: sore, swollen, unhappy!

* A day like today reinforced why I never complain of coldness in the winter (I may complain of snow, but not of cold). I had a 10.5 mile suffer-fest this afternoon. I was to do 3X3 miles @ 7:15ish, and managed 2X3 before almost puking. It was hot, humid, and I am obviously not used to running in these temps. Even if I were used to these temps, I am much more of a cold weather type runner and am not looking forward to marathon training in the summer. Biking and swimming in the heat are much more enjoyable!

* We are in the mist of a tax override campaign here in Arlington, MA, so if you read this blog and live in Arlington, please vote "Yes".

Back at IT!

2011-05-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

So I am going through a blog mojo-less phase. Things are a bit rote here in terms of training. I also feel that only a handful of triathletes read this blog, and runners are mostly not into reading tri stuff, so....am feeling a little boring these days. No worries, though, life is really good over here.

I finished a week of recovery and it was lovely. Aside from getting a little sick, and having idiopathic pains first in my L arm, then my neck, then my groin, I've enjoyed sleeping in, catching up on work and on life. I even cleaned the dining room and living room which says a lot!

I've continued to feel strong in the water. I feel my stroke getting better and better. My elbows stay high even in the water (I think, I need a video!), and I feel very relaxed when I swim. I do struggle with the short, all out intervals (25m, 50m, even 100m) but love the longer swims where I can get in a groove. I also love racing other swimmer. Yes, I said that!

I am seeing progress on the bike for sure. I am still scared of aero, but am doing better with it. I am also much faster than last year, and much more confident in my biking skills (turns, cornering, etc).

I've enjoyed running on fresh legs (I only ran 42 miles last week). What a difference! It was a struggle to keep the pace slower than 8 min/miles and I had some killer tempos, speed and long runs, which made me confident about my fall marathon.

Three big weeks before my HIM, with 3 long rides, including a 72 miler (I've only done one ride this long in my life). In 2 weeks I am going to East Freetown to swim, ride and run on the HIM course again. It would be interesting to see how I do on the bike course compared to last time.

Happy training and racing!

Much ado about nothing

2011-05-16T15:47:00.001-07:00

#I just realized I have not posted in more than 2 weeks! Wow! The thing is, without any races, there is not much to report. Life goes on. Work is busy. Training killed me last week - I put in 19 hours, including a 14 mile progression run @ 7:22 + 1 mile swim on Saturday, and a 4+h ride and 2 mile tempo transition run on Sunday. I am thrilled to have a recovery week. My body has been holding up great except that for the past 2 weeks with an increase in time spent in the pool I have developed a reaction to chlorine. Every time I spend more than 1 hour in the pool I have a stuffy nose and I sneeze the rest of the day. I think all this training is probably lowering my immunity. This week I am going to do my long swim at Walden Pond, assuming that I will survive in the 60 degrees water with my wetsuit and 3 caps. Ha!

# I am officially faster on the bike than my husband. This does not mean, unfortunately, that I am a fast biker. Rather, it means that he is slow! Still, this feels good.

# My husband keeps shoving his 10K PR in my face. He ran a 39:XX about 15 years ago. He challenged me to beat his PR. This would mean running 2 back to back sub 20 min 5K. I think I can do it, actually! So, after my HIM, I am thinking on working on this before I start marathon training. I love the track and I know I am going to miss it by the end of HIM training, since there is really no point right now to try to do track workouts faster than current 10k/HM pace. Now I just have to think of a good reward for this challenge. Hmmm!

# My son had his first professional (aka nonmommy) hair cut this weekend. Chris took him and he called me to warn me that I might not recognize him. His hair is now very short, and he looks so grown up. Still, I can't wait for his hair to grow. I love long hair on boys.

# Today my son asked me where did the first people on Earth came from? And who were they? And how come there are "all of a sudden" so many people on Earth? I am not ready for this kind of conversations.

# I purchased a pair of Saucony Kinvaras and I love them. I am now officially wearing only light minimalist shoes (Brooks Launch, Saucony Kinvaras, Pearl Izumi Streak's, Nike Free's V5 and Nike Frees 7). My feet feel great and I am running strong.

That's it folks! Enjoy your week!

On skipping workouts and life

2011-05-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

I was on the phone with my husband this afternoon and mentioned how I did not feel like doing my 12 miler. He told me matter of factly not to do it, but I told him I had to. He said something about me not having to be goal oriented in everything I do, and I explained that this has nothing to do with goals. It's more than that.

The thing is, I never skip workouts. I may change them around, but I never skip them. My reason? Fear! To me, skipping a workout is like walking in a race. Once I give myself that option, there is no turning back. Starting back up running after you walk is hard, and all I can think about is walking again. So I never do it. This is one reason why I carry my own water in races. I don't want to walk or slow down. So yes, skipping a workout would open the door for more skipped workouts. Unless I have to stay late at work, or my family demands me, or we have scheduling issues, or I am sick (like really sick), I get out there and do the workout no matter what. This is also why I rarely entertain thoughts about not doing a workout. These thoughts feel to me like a waste of time, since I know I will get out there anyway.

So today was a bit of a struggle. Training and work are at their peak, basketball games are going late and we often have people over for these, so I end up working late while watching basketball and going to bed late . I wake up early for me (6am) and get into work around 6:45 (I perfected the 10 min morning prep and 5 minute train makeup), to get a head start. I pretty much go, go, go until midnight. I do get in a couple of 10 minute naps, and sometimes a 20 min nap on a mat in my office, but that is not enough at this point. I used to nap in the weekends, but I can't really justify to myself doing that when I am gone for 4 hours biking and running every Sunday. I am certainly not complaining, I love my life and I choose to do what I am doing. I also know that I am in the last week of a big block of training, and I am supposed to feel tired. Next week is recovery, so I will be doing almost 50% less of what I am doing now (training wise, work will stay busy).

So yes, I could be doing only the work thing, or only the gym thing, but training gives me much more than a focus on health, or on how my body looks (though it does come with perks in these areas). I have always believed that it is important to have something that is yours, aside from the 2 pillars family and work, something to stabilize the other 2, like the 3rd leg of a 3 legged chair. The chair would lose its balance if it only had 2 legs, and so would I. And this is why I dragged myself out there today and really suffered through 12 miles on heavy legs. And I feel better for it!

Week in review and Mother's Day, too

2011-05-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

Training is moving along nicely. I am really excited for a recovery week the week after next, though. I feel so much stronger in the pool and on the bike. I am running intervals faster than ever now, tempos are going well, but longer runs are hardish and not fast. For example, Saturday I did a 14 miler with 2 miles rolling downhills, 10 miles progression starting with an 8:15 mile that ended up @ 7:34 average, and then 2 miles rolling uphills. Aerobically I was fine, but I had a ton of lactic acid accumulation. My transition runs are the opposite. My legs seem fine but I feel depleted at the end of them (I mostly keep them at 5 miles). This is most likely nutritional but I just don't want to make myself take another gel. Funny thing, last week I grabbed a turkey burger (bunless) after my ride since I was craving meat, and I had no trouble digesting it. Anyway, this will not be an issue during the race, when I will make myself eat the 800 cals on the bike and 400 on the run.
Relatedly, I absolutely love what triathlon training does to my body. I no longer have skinny arms, people, and I love that. My arms are so strong, and they balance me nicely. And my legs are super strong. Love that!
#
Mother's Day was low key over here. Flowers and kisses, then 60 mile ride+ 5 mile run for me while Chris and Petru visited all the neighbors for playdates, then a quick lunch and 3 lovely hours of t-ball in the sun (for some reason all the kids kept wishing "Happy Mother's Day" to each other!), and then dinner with the inlaws with lots of chocolates! Yum! Yesterday the boys took me to Lululemon and let me loose in there while they visited the Lego store. I ended up with some speed shorts and headbands. I was not impressed with the other running shorts they had, however, and overall I wished for more color.

Hope everyone had a nice day. In my book every day should be Mother's Day, and I made sure to mention this to Petru several times today. I hope he wishes me Happy Mother's Day tomorrow as well:)

Weekend and winner

2011-05-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

Things are crazy busy. Crazy busy. I am resorting to planning everything to the minute from the moment I wake up to when I go to bed. It's the only way (for me) to keep stress at bay and feel that I am giving the proper amount of time to all my responsibilities. There is little time for blogging right now, but thanks to the I-phone, I can keep reading all your blogs on my way to work and back.

We've survived the circus this weekend. Poor Chris got a headache from all the noise, I had my heart in my mouth watching people do crazy things and fearing for their lives, and Petru was much more entertained by the change in lighting than the actual acts. Yes, we will not do this again. We did have a blast at T-ball. If you have a bad day, go see 5-7 y olds play an organized sport. I don't remember the last time I laughed continuously for 2 hours. It was also a great opportunity to watch Petru in an unfamiliar social situation. He made me proud. He kept working on what the coach wanted him to do, introduced himself to the kids, started a cheering theme for every kid who was at bat, and used his connection to an older kid (future jock) when introducing himself to others. Aside from a bit of boredom when he and another kid started making sand castles while in the infield, he managed to do a good job staying focused. I am excited to watch him next week.

I had a great weekend of training. Saturday I was a bit tired, so I skipped the 1.5 hour bike and just ran 13 miles w/ 3X2.5 race pace, race pace-10 sec/mile, race pace-20sec/mile. I really wanted to go to the track, so made up this workout for myself, and then added 1.25 miles hills at the end. Loved it. Plus, I got called a "hottie" by a 13-14 y old lacrosse boy. Made me feel like a true Mrs. Robinson. I also managed a 2600 meter swim after that and my legs felt like new. I think swimming is the best recovery method. Sunday I did a 56 mile bike ride, nice and easy, followed by a 5 mile easy run with 1.25 hills. I felt strong and the run got better and better. I am learning a lot about the bike, changing gears and such. I am still not comfortable in aero but I am resigned to the fact that I am v cautious and it will take me a while to be able to ride aero. I am OK with that.

I did some soul searching while on the bike for 3 hours or so. I know now that I don't want to do an ironman in the near future. I know I could do one if I wanted it, but I like to be competitive, and I would not be able to train like I would need to in order to be competitive. I can barely do it for the HIM distance. I love love training, but balancing everything is hard right now. I don't think I will do another HIM this season, most likely will do olympic and sprints before training for my fall marathon. I am OK with that. The ironman will be there when I am older and slower. LOL.

OK, so the winner of the E21 giveaway is Aimee at I tri to be me! Congrats! Email me your address and I will do my best to mail your stuff shortly. I have 2 other packages to mail, please don't lose patience, I am doing my best here!

Tricks and life

2011-04-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Another big week of training is almost completed. I have 2 big days tomorrow and Sunday, which are a bit intimidating but also exciting, so the use of "completed" is just a little trick to get myself to think that the work is done. I do that a lot. In fact, this week was the "trick myself" week.

I felt super tired and a bit sick on Thursday this week, so I lowered the pressure and allowed myself the option of bailing the workouts. And then, I did not want to do that. In the morning I recruited Chris for the HIM pace bike ride. I had 32 miles and he agreed to do 20, then 28 (he says I am v good at convincing him to do what I want him to do....I say I am not convincing him, he sees that my ideas are good!). The ride was awesome, until the last 8 miles, when I felt like I was working super hard but my speed was getting lower and lower. WTF? I pushed the last mile all out and only managed a 19.7 mile on a slight downhill. Can you say WTF again? I got off the bike and realized what the problem was. I had a flat. Duh, AM! Well, this explains it. I can't believe I had no awareness that I was biking on a flat. This was my first flat ever, but still. This reminds me of when I got my first flat driving about 9 years ago (bear in mind I learned how to drive 10 years ago, being that I did not grow up here) and pretty much drove on that tire until someone told me I should not. Yup, true story. And you thought I was smart! In the early evening I went to the track for 2X15 min at 10K pace with 1 min recovery. It was hot and muggy and I made myself take a hilly route to get there, on top of the morning ride. I was tired. I did one interval and called it a day in my head during the last 400 meters, knowing all to well that I was going to do the last 15 min no matter what. I started the second 15 min interval and told myself I can stop when it gets hard. When it got hard, I kept telling myself to do one more minute, and so on, until I ran sub 10K pace. Super happy about that. The hurdles were on on part of the track, and I attempted a jump...5 times until I finally did it. Wow, what an amazing feeling to jump a hurdle. So freeing!

Today during my swim my goggles got super foggy after about 800meters. I was doing an 1800 meter interval and did not want to stop to defog them. At some point during the interval I felt someone touching my leg; I was sharing a lane, so I did not think much about it and kept on. Eventually a woman literally grabbed my leg. Apparently she had tried very hard to get my attention that she wanted to jump in and circle swim, but I did not see her. Ha!

We are going to the circus tomorrow. Nothing like seeing people clapping while animals are basically tortured. Petru learned about the circus at school and so, we are going. I will keep a positive attitude for him and hope for more trapeze work and less animals.

Petru is starting tee-ball on Sunday. I am so excited. I am surely going to turn into one of those moms who screams her lungs out when her kids touches the ball...or whatever you do in t-ball, I guess I better learn.

I need to work tonight, as well as both Saturday and Sunday night, so that I could fit my workouts and everything else in. Not complaining, probably Chris will choose a movie, I'll work and get my feet rubbed. Not a bad deal, not at all!

Good luck to all the racers! Spring is upon us, finally!

Random happenings

2011-04-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

Oh, bullet points, how I've missed you!

# My legs have been tired after the mega weekend. In fact, Monday I ran 10 slow instead of 10 with 8X50sec hills sprints. I tricked myself to get out of the house on Tuesday by telling myself that I will run a few easy miles, and then once I was out I made myself do the hill sprints. Gotcha!

# Who knew that my arms could actually get sore? I started doing short pool intervals on Wednesdays (I hate them but I am telling myself that I love them), followed by paddle work, and my arms feel heavy up to Friday, when I swim again!

# I am considering joining twitter.

# I started watching "Desperate housewives" on the trainer. I never thought I would like that show, mostly bc I can't relate, and I was right. Still, I have a feeling starting next year I am going to be able to relate at least partly to the mommy dramas, as we embark onto the public school journey.

# I have not gotten a haircut since January. I need one desperately but I somehow choose to not make the time.

# We had 70+ degrees today. It was hot and muggy and I really did not like it one bit. Call me nuts, but I am going to miss running in the cold.

# We put a big sign in the living room "No Bad Language". It was meant for my little sign devil, but somehow it has helped ME tremendously.

# Speaking of language, I may have come across the best children's book ever written. Check it out, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Reviews, homemade arm warmers, giveaway, training...oh, my!

2011-04-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

REVIEWS
About a month ago Outside PR gave me several products to review on this blog. Thank you, Outside PR, I enjoyed using some old favorites and trying some new things out!

1. GU gels- I think every runner/triathlete has heard and used this product before. I have tried other gels in the past, but Gu is my favorite by far. In fact, it is the only gel I use. Some of the GU flavors I received I had used in the past - Vanilla was my go to for all my marathons thus far due to its simple flavor and ease to the stomach; Chocolate Outrageous was my preferred snack for the bike, and I've been known to open up a pack in the wee hours while watching a movie or working; some of the flavors I was sent I had never tried before - Lemon Lime, Mandarin Orange -taste OK, but not my favorite flavors; espresso love - a bit bitter for me; and triberry - nice flavor which I will use again.

I was also sent 3 flavors of Gu Roctane. This is a regular GU with histidine, which is an amino acid and "helps with muscle recovery and prevents acid buildup in the muscle". I knew and have been in love with the Pineapple Roctane for a while. This stuff is delicious and so easy to digest. But, I am a caffeine gal and the other Roctane flavor I had tried in the past, Vanilla Orange did not taste good to me. I was sent 2 other newer flavors of Roctane GU, cherry lime and blueberry pomegranate which have 2X caffeine. I love them both and will most likely use a combo of these 3 Roctane flavors in my next HIM and my next marathon.

2. Road ID - I was very excited to be able to try a new road ID. I had purchased one several years ago, but since then we changed our phone numbers and we moved, so the old one was useless. There are several types of road IDs out there, some for the wrist, some for the shoe. I chose the Road ID elite, which looks like this.

On it, I have my name, address, 2 phone numbers, a play on words combining my work with running (feel free to guess!), and "go to MGH", which is the hospital I want to go to in case of emergency. If you have an illness, or allergies, you can write those things instead. The ID is super comfortable, and much needed on the run, but even more on the bike. It is nice not to have to carry my driver's license with me any more. You can read more about the various types of road ids here. In my book a road ID is a must have for athletes. You never know what can happen and who wants to be a John/Jane Doe?

3. Ryder glasses - OK, so I used to make fun of runners or triathletes and their sun glasses. I still do when I see them with sun glasses in the middle of winter when there is no sun:) When I first looked at these glasses, I thought they looked cheap. When I put them on, I realized that my first impression was driven by the fact they are super light. There is no "consistency" to them. Then it dawned on me that they are supposed to be light, since they are meant for running and riding. A little slow on the uptake here. I wore them on a ride and on a run. They fit perfectly, they stay put, and are very comfortable. They are also on the less expensive side, at $39.99 for the pair I have. You can read more about the Ryder sunglasses here.

HOMEMADE ARM WARMERS

Meet my new arm warmers. They used to be socks. I had these socks for over 2 years, and have worn them twice. A few weeks ago I could not find my arm warmers, and I came across these socks while looking for them. And then the though came to mind. Just cut the end off, and they can become arm warmers. They are super comfortable and way cheaper than regular arm warmers. Plus, they are so much more fun, don't you think?

GIVEAWAY

A few of you asked questions about the E21 recovery pills, so I was given permission to do a giveaway with this product. You can read what others have to say about the pills (and do it much better than me) here and here and here. Let me know in your comment if you want to be entered in this giveaway. If you want an extra entry, leave another comment letting me know that you went here and read more about this product. Simple! You have until May 1st to enter. I will select 3 winners. The winners must be willing to write a short review on their opinion about this product on their blog.

TRAINING

I am exhausted. Being a triathlete is hard work. Running and using swimming and biking as cross training are much easier.
Today ended my first week of serious training aka build. I had a monster weekend (for me), which included a 1.5 hour ride+13 mile T run with 5 sub 7 miles in the middle and 1.5 miles hills at the end, and a 1.5 mile swim with 3X500m at race pace. The run was done in the pouring rain and I came home frozen. Today I had a 48 mile ride where I pushed the pace to an average of 18.1 MPH (I know this is slow, but it is the best I have ever done, and I used my aero bars for less than half of the ride, so I am happy) + 8 mile T run easy. The weather was beautiful and I had a blast. I keep having epiphanies on the bike, like how much more stable the bike is when I go faster! Then I tell Chris these things at home and he is like, duh!!!

HAPPY EASTER

In honor of Easter we painted toenails in our household. I painted Petru's, Chris painted mine, and Petru painted Chris's. Chris was opposed to this, but Petru and I made him go for it. I resisted the dots. Here we go. We also painted a few eggs, and then our hands, and faces, and...Chris left the kitchen and Petru and I did some coloring experiments. The Easter bunny came this morning, and we've been eating candy ever since.
The family toes! And yes, Petru's toe nail painting skills are in evidence here.

Training, working and shopping

2011-04-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

On Monday I started my 8 week mesocycle/build period. It's basically what I used in the summer, except I am changing it up a bit. I used to be so nervous about changing plans around, now I rarely follow one. I call that confidence.

Swimming is the same, speed, tempo, long, paddles, and it goes from 5 miles/week to about 8 miles/week toward the end. I am changing the run such that I run 5 times a week, do 3 bricks, one run focused (short bike, long run) and one bike focused (long bike, short run). I do another open easy recovery run (sometime with a bike before), and then a speed and a tempo, one immediately after the bike, and one before the bike. As far as biking goes, one is speed+big chain on trainer, one is tempo (outside weather permitting) and one is long which will go up to 72 miles. I also do 1-2 other trainer workouts, one before my long run, one at some other time, if I get a chance.

Hm, that might not be that interesting for runners, or maybe it is? I love reading about other people's training. It is motivating and sometimes I learn little tricks or workouts which is fun.

I am also using triathlon talk tonight as to not think about work. I just got home 20 minutes ago (8:40pm), right in time to give Petru a kiss, after a frustrating day at work. Politics, I hate politics. That's all I say.

And how is this for random? I realized that the only socks I wear outside running socks (when I run) are my 2 pairs of compression socks (white Lululemon and black Cep). So, I ordered another pair today, Sugoi because the price was right and I heard good things about them. While I was there, I got some GU Roctane Cherry Lime and Blueberry Pomegranate (I was sent a few samples a while back along with a bunch of other flavors, and will do a review on all shortly), which taste awesome and have 2Xcaffeine. I used them on the bike last weekend and wow, I really felt the jolt. I love the jolt. I also put a few other things on my cart, but then I saw the price and took them off. It is so interesting - just the act of putting those items in the cart (even though I took them off) made me retail fulfilled:) I wish this would work with the Lululemon shorts. Good thing the speed shorts are no longer available on line!

OK, I bet you're all riveted by this! Ha! Bedtime for moi!

Endorphin coma

2011-04-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

We've had a great day today in East Freetown Massachusetts. I skipped the morning swim so that I could have uninterrupted cuddle time with my husband! Wow, it's nice not to have a little 5 year old imp wake us up at the wee hours. The weather was supposed to be bad in the morning, but it cleared around 9am, so we packed the car up and drove one hour to the Cathedral Park where Patriot's Half Ironman will take place on June 18 (did I say I am going to do Mooseman, no, I don't think so).

My goals for the day were: 1) have fun with Chris, and 2) get in a great workout. In order for nr. 1 to happen, I needed a plan for Chris. You see, he bikes daily to work, and takes weekend short rides, max 25 miles. If he was going to have a good 60 mile ride, he needed help in the form of: 1) bike shorts - the guy rides in jeans and is overall anti gear; enter my E21 bike shorts which I can't wear (I can only wear Terry bike shorts); 2) food - the guy is tall and skinny with a metabolism of a 14 year old kid; I needed him to get at least 1000 cals on the bike; enter gels, 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Flying Pig bread, and 3 Z bars; 3) electrolyte help - the guy does not take anything but water and he is also plagued by cramps during hard efforts; enter E21 pills.

The ride was a huge success. The course is pretty flat, but the winds today were so strong, such that I was at times at close to 45 degrees angle on the bike and tensing up like crazy in fear that I would fall. We got lost during the first loop, and a bit during the second one, but we laughed, we played catch on the bike, and admired the beautiful scenery. We also got to talk uninterrupted, adult, endorphin induced open talk; the best! Chris did amazing and loved the ride. No cramping, no bonking! My strategy worked!

After the ride I headed out for a 6 mile run on the half marathon course. I felt wobbly during the first half mile, and ran a slowish first mile, but ended up with a solid 6 miler at 7:20 pace, HR 165, last mile at 6:55. I take it. After the run I took an ice bath in the Long Pond, which was uneventful other than me tripping on a rock in the middle of the Mary J Blige/Bono remix of One, and falling face in, Garmin, Ipod and all (still functioning!).

Back at home and I feel great. Last year I felt so trashed after workouts similar to this one. But today? I felt only the endorphins! Amazing. I ended up unpacking, cleaning up my closet, doing laundry and picking up the house for our basketball party tonight! My body is certainly stronger, but I also think I know how to take care of it: sleep, recovery tights, more food on the bike, icebath and E 21. I am amazed at how much my body can handle these days.

Tomorrow we pick Petru up. He's been having a great time with Grandma and he might not want to come back home, where he is not the center of the universe 24/7. Ha!

I am super excited about tomorrow. I will be glued to the TV and computer. Good luck to all the Boston runners!

My Boston predictions!

2011-04-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

The weather is predicted to be amazing on marathon Monday. Cool, overacast and a 14MPH tailwind (yes, pushing you forward). I am so excited to follow everyone! If you are not on my list or I don't have your number, send it to me! I want to run Boston vicariously through all of you.

And in the spirit of fun, here are my predictions for your finish times. I hope everyone will take these lightly! If the time I predict is too slow, PROVE ME WRONG! If you run faster than I predict, I will mail you a congratulatory present! How is that for an extra incentive?

Here we go, alphabetically!
ADRIENNE - 3:35; first race post baby. You've got this.
ARON 15714- 3:39; She did a ton of 20 milers, she's been running strong. This is a tough course and the only reason I don't predict a faster time.
BETH (SUAR) - no clue. This girl was injured and she is just inspirational for toeing the line.
BETHANY - 3:45. Only because she has been working a ton and not running much. Plus, Boston is a nemesiz for she and I. RYAN -no clue:)
EMILY - 10698 3:19; She is in a great position to get a present from me. She is likely to do way better. She has been training for this time for a while, her body is used to a 7:30 pace, she's been PRing like crazy, she is on a roll.
KERI 11535- 3:30; She's been sick and planning her wedding. I hope to send her a present, too.
KIM - 3:45 - I think I will send her a present too.
KRISTINA - 3:30. She's been getting faster and faster.
MARY 7986 - 3:09; She will get this even if she will end up in the medical tent. She's that tough.
MEG - 3:20; She's ready. She's been training for this for a while, this is her year!
PETRA - 3:40. I think I will send her a present:)
RAINA - 3:30? Only because she was injured for a long time, otherwise, she'd go much faster.
SPIKE - 2:59 - yes you can rest after!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

+++
1.5 h bike + 15 mile run today. Off to a movie and dinner in my Zoot compress RX recovery tights. Tomorrow 1 mile swim+ 60 mile bike+6 mile run on my HIM course with Chris, then basketball party, coz I am a good wife! 2 hour bike+10 mile run on Monday will end a 3 day big training block. My legs might fall off:)

Do you fight or do you flee?

2011-04-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

Most of us have heard of the fight or flight (freeze) response to stress. In simple terms, it represents physiological changes in the body in response to stress such as increase muscular activation, increased HR, blood going away from organs and toward the big muscles, etc. Although the physiological manifestations of the "fight and the "flight" are identical, the behavioral elements are not. Behaviorally, "fight" is manifested in aggressive behaviors, while "flight" is manifested as fleeing threatening situations. Simply put, the "fight" means doing something about the situation, dealing with it, while the "flight" means escaping and withdrawing.

How does this relate to racing?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, as I have pondered over past races, over how I behave now as a runner, and how I view myself as a triathlete. When I first started running I lacked confidence. I set low expectations, and was paralyzed by the desire to flee. (Research has shown that women have a tendency to flee - escape, turn to others for help, diffuse the situation - while males tend to fight-respond with aggression). I have worked hard at this over the years, and I can now, for the most part, push the "flee demons" away, channel my aggression, and race hard. It is much harder for me to do this in triathlon. I am still very intimidated. I need to work much harder for my inner aggressor. But I tend to find it, usually. I remember how terrified I was of the HIM swim last summer, and how I rehearsed being aggressive in the water; i ended up having a great swim, and no terror, which was rare for me last year.

So my point is, if you have a tendency to flee, if you get intimidated in races, try to channel your inner aggressor. It is quite amazing the difference that can make. Women tend to have a hard time with aggression, we are socialized to be nice, but if being nice is something that is important to you, be nice after the race. During the race, be aggressive and use the adrenaline to fuel your speed!

###

My knees are doing better. I look like I got a beating, but I am fine. I had a great 50+ mile bike ride this morning followed by an awesome 5 miler run and mile swim. I looked rather frightening with one of my knees purple and double the size of the other one, but I did not care. I had no pain, so I was happy! So mom, yes, I really am FINE!

Oops, I did it again!

2011-04-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

Remember how over the summer I slipped on my bathroom floor and ended up with a bruised back bone that lasted over a month? Well, I did it again!

I woke up early this morning in order to attempt to trash my legs during a 60 min high gear trainer workout, before heading out for a 14 mile run with the Fresh Pond Race in the middle. The ride went well, I transitioned quickly into shorts, tank top and arm warmers (65 degrees today!!!), and headed out. I was happy, listening to music, thinking about the fun day we had planned for today. About 1.5 miles in I tripped, landed on my knees and hands, and rolled on my shoulder. Five people ran to me to help, which makes me feel good about living in this neighbourhood - people care. I was actually fine, except that my R knee was bleeding badly, and my L knee looked purple-ish. I also had some road rash on my R leg, shoulder, and both my hands. I really did not care about these, though. I was concerned with my run. I moved my legs, jumped on them, and they seemed fine. I washed my knees up (beauty of carrying my own water), and started running. In the next mile I decided that I was going to finish the run, but would skip the race - my L knee was tight. At mile 7 I turned around and took a look at my knees. The R was bloody, the L was swollen and looked like it grew a baby knee on top. Funny how I had only some tightness in my L knee until I saw the swelling. After that, I started having pain. Funny how powerful the mind is, don't you think? I convinced myself that I was fine, nothing was broken, and the swelling was due to bleeding inside my knee, and was fine getting home. I did take some pics once I got home, but they are really disgusting, so no need to post them:) I took an ice bath and Chris was sweet and let me sit on the couch with my feet elevated until we had to go to a party this afternoon. I think I am going to be fine. The L knee is still pretty swollen, but I am hoping to be able to ride long tomorrow morning. It is kind of funny how I have not gotten a running injury in so long, but I somehow manage to hurt myself in the funniest ways, on fairly regular basis!

Hope your weekend was less eventful:)

Busy

2011-04-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

It's been super busy over here. Between work, extra work every single night, parenting and training, I had no time to blog. I do read all your posts on my phone - and look forward to their company on my morning T ride - but have not been commenting much. I'll do better next week:)

Training has been going well. I have been running mostly easy since the HM 2 weeks ago, but managed a sweet tempo, almost effortless, @ planned 10K pace. Nice. Tomorrow I am back racing at Fresh Pond. Don't expect a PR, as I will be biking for an hour before. My goal for the next few weeks is not to get faster; rather, am working on getting my brain used to running on tired legs. Typically my brain wants me to slow down when my legs get heavy. But in triathlon I will start to run on tired legs, so I need my brain to get used to that and let me run like I know how.

Swimming is going swimmingly! I am getting so strong, thank you paddles! I love, love, swimming with paddles and no kick. I am convinced that swimming with paddles has made me not only faster, but also more efficient by improving my form. I am also swimming 4 miles + a week now, with one long swim of 2 miles (for now). This is not much for triathletes, but it is a lot for me.

Biking is also getting better. I had my bike adjusted and it feels much better. No saddle pain. I am excited for a long ride this weekend. My rides outside are more challenging, but also more fun. I am having a hard time going into zone 3 on the trainer, but no problem going on zone 3 or higher while on the road.

That's it, folks, nothing that interesting! Looking forward to tracking all the Boston runners! Post your nr so I can find you!

Here we go

2011-04-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

We are having a spell of rain over here, but the weekend was gorgeous. I ran and biked in shorts and it was wonderful. I am still taking it easy with my runs, but I finally feel I am getting my running legs back. I have been doing a lot of biking and am getting used to my tri bike. I am falling in love with tri training, and am working out my racing season. There is so much I want to do aside from my upcoming half ironman. I want to do some trail races, I want to do a few sprints and olympic triathlons, maybe another half ironman, a 10K, and of course, my fall marathon! I am not sure I am going to be able to fit everything in, mostly because I want to take lots of trips in the White Mountains with Petru and Chris. Petru is old enough to hike now, and I am excited to show him the beauty of the mountains. I have been hiking since I was 4, took my first 3 days hiking trip with my dad in the Carpathians when I was 6, and have always loved climbing mountains. Petru is not the most athletic kid - he'd rather watch or read about what makes traffic lights and clocks work - he has shown interest in hiking and has enjoyed little adventures in the Fells and Blue Hills. It's time for more! So these adventures with him will take priority this summer, though if I plan them for August marathon training will fit right in:)

I am yet again struggling with my athlete identity. Runner? Triathlete? I am competitive as a runner, and obviously this motivates me. But, I get burned out when I just run. I've enjoyed training for my fall marathon up to the point where I stopped biking and swimming; then it became much less enjoyable. I am not competitive as a triathlete and am not confident I will ever be. At the same time, swimming and biking make me happy, make my body happy, and have helped me stay injury free (I think). Biking has also made hill running much easier as I have developed strong quads. Swimming has given me strong core and arms. I know I am new to triathlon so I should not put limits on myself, so I won't. And I can certainly do what I have been doing, train for half marathons/5ks in the winter, while building a triathlon base, race triathlons during the summer, and then train for a marathon while doing more running races. Eventually, I'll settle in a rhythm!

Off to read "How things work" to my little guy! I tell you, I am learning a lot in the process:)

March by the numbers

2011-03-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

March went by so fast. It gave me a few PRs, but it left me tired and heavy legged.

RUN: 232 miles
BIKE: 25hours and 40 min (includes one week of no biking to taper for the run)
SWIM: 12.75
STRENGTH: 2 hours
PLYOS: none (boo!)

##########
Last week I switched gears toward triathlon training. I am cutting my runs to 5 instead of 6/week, increasing my biking to 4-5 instead of 3/week (will see how my privates will hold up to that, so far 4 has been manageable), trying to ride outside as much as possible (it is much harder for me to ride outside, and I am very slow!), swimming a long 2 miles+ session/week (this has become one of my favorite things), swimming with paddles (I am so much faster with them, and if I cheat with a pull buoy, I feel unstoppable).

I had an encouraging ride outside today. I managed to get down in aero, but it was very hard. I am going to take my bike to the shop and see if we can change the aero setup to make it less aggressive. I am currently set up to be very aerodynamic, but I doubt I will be able to take advantage of that for now. I need to lift the bars up a bit to make it easier to use them. Today I forgot to take my underwear of when I went for a ride, and it was pure torture. I will not make that mistake again.

I am so excited to go away with Chris in a few weeks. Although sad to miss some of the Boston runners, I am excited to go away and spend some quality time with Chris. This winter it's been mostly me working on the computer and him watching basketball in the evenings, in the same room, but not really interacting. We did not have any time for ourselves since the summer.

It's snowing in Boston. My back yard is already white. For some reason, this is not driving me crazy!

Tuesday Thoughts

2011-03-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

* Can someone please teach me how not to be stupid? After running nice and easy (and little) last week to recover my running legs, I put myself back on a plan of 5 (instead of 6) runs/week (to have more time for swims and bike rides). Yesterday it was speed day, 10 miles easy with 8X30 seconds @ 3K-10K pace. I went to the track. The track is dangerous. The track pushes my buttons and makes me run fast. It is really the track's fault that I ended up running 8X 200 meters @ 4:30-4:50, with 200 m easy running in between. They felt great! My cadence was very high and I used my arms for a change (I never use them). But, today reality hit. MY a$$ is on fire and my legs are sore! I ran 12 miles easy this evening but even an 8:56 average pace did not seem slow enough for my tired legs. Live and learn.

* I am not picking my son up early anymore. We end up waiting around for 20 min for his best friend's mom to arrive so that they can leave together. I also must learn to eat a big snack before picking him up as we end up staying at the playground with his little friends way over dinner time and I get cranky when I am hungry.

* I biked for 10 hours last week. Not much for most, but a lot for me. 95% of it was on the trainer, though:)

* I biked for 2.5 hours on Sunday, ran 5 miles (in shorts, and froze) and then Chris and I went outside to bike for a bit. This was my second attempt to riding my tri bike outside. It was windy and I really felt the push from the wind. I almost made it in the aero bars - half way - and managed to shift. I call this progress. I was mad, however, and told Chris to try the bike and see how unstable it is. He got on my 51 cm bike, all 6'1'' of him, and proceeded to ride in aero laughing his face off. I love him, but I hated him then. Here is the thing, as a kid, I ran everywhere - after the bus, away from my brother, etc and raced the boys on the street for fun. I was fast. I did not bike (or swim) so I don't have that comfort on the bike that someone like Chris, who grew up biking and has been bike commuting all his life has. But, I will get there! I learned to swim and am quite comfortable in the water now. I can certainly get comfortable on my tri bike. This is my new challenge!

* Chris and I will take advantage of the 3 day weekend coming up in April and drive to New Hampshire to ride the bike course of Mooseman. I am so excited! This means that I will track all you Boston contenders on my phone, so you better post your numbers when you have them. I'll most likely run Boston next year again.

* I am starting to fantasize about spending some long hours on trails this summer in between my half ironman and the beginning of marathon training. I always want to run trails but somehow that fails to happen.This year I'll make it happen and also build endurance and build a nice base for my fall marathon.

I get it now!

2011-03-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been thinking a lot about my running. I still can't believe that I managed to run such fast races this winter. My brain is yet again a little slow in its ability to process what my body can do. And letting the body lead has been the trick this year, I think. You see, I have always been a cautious runner, as I have always been cautious in my life (no regrets, it has served me well:). I have always planned my training in a way that I thought would bring me to a goal. For a marathon, that meant running at least one 20 miler at MP. For a half, 10 miles at close to HMP. While this strategy was successful for the most part - it gave me confidence and control over my race - it also put limits to what I accomplished. I see it now.

Before I move on, I need to say that I do not believe in intuition. I think intuition is one of those overused and misunderstood pop psychology term. Intuition is so popular because our brains tend to remember the situations when our "intuition" was right, as opposed to the many other situations in which it was wrong. That, and Oprah!. I am very analytical. I like thinking. I like formulas (to the point where I even tried to convince my husband that he should create a formula to help him remove the random error from his picks in his fantasy basketball - to which he rightly replied that I should get my own team).

So when I heard many experienced runners and triathletes talk about throwing the Garmins away and running by feel I thought (silently) all of that was crap. My formula worked, my Garmin 2/3o5 never let me down, so why change things? Plus, running by feel seemed a bit like letting your "intuition" tell you what to do, and you know how I feel about intuition.

But then something happened this winter. With all my racing at Fresh Pond, and this horrible snow, I did not run my 10 miles @ HMP. I was a ball of nerves before the first HM race, had low expectations, and just went with it. I let go off the control. Shut my brain down. And I surprised myself. Then, I did the same at Quincy. Heck, my PR at Quincy was on a 6:46 average pace while my PR at Fresh pond was on a 6:40 pace for 5 miles! That would not have happened had I not let go.

I am not sure how to call the "let go", how to conceptualize and frame what I am trying to say. Perhaps this is the "running by feel" method. What I know is that my body gets fit quickly and my brain can't keep up with that. Sure, I can try to help my brain catch up to my body, and I have tried that strategy successfully for Baystate last fall. But I think what I did this winter may work even better: letting my body decide the pace, checking in with all the systems (breathing, strike, etc) that the pace is something that I can hold, and then convincing the brain to let go. As I write this, I see that I am trying to make this concrete and 'thinky", but it is not. It is a state of flow perhaps, where my body moves through paces based on terrain, checks in with all the systems and adjusts without conscious control. I can replay my last race in my head, and it is amazing that: 1) I listened to music but have no memory of the songs, and 2) I don't remember really pushing or thinking positively, or encouraging myself like I normally do in races. I remember that I just ran.

So the lesson here for me, is to let go, to think less and give my body control over the run. The body knows best. This does not mean that I am not going to run with my Garmin. I think the Garmin is very useful. However, it is a secondary tool. My body knows better! I get it now!

Pearl Izumi Streak II - I am in love!

2011-03-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

I was asked to review a pair of Pearl Izumi Streak II running shoes and was happy to oblige. However, deep down I was a bit skeptical that I could find a shoe I'd like more than my Nike Frees and Brooks Launch. Little did I know...

This shoe is marketed for training and racing. I have never owned racing shoes before; I always thought they would not feel comfortable, and that was the case with a couple of pairs I tried in the past. However, this was not the case with the Streak shoes. The shoes are comfortable, and fit like a glove. They are light (6.8 ounces for 8.5 women's) and mold to the foot. The moment I put them on I did not want to take them off. So I ran a half marathon in them without having ever taken them on a test run. Oops! But, they felt amazing. I have a midfoot strike, but in this shoe I was on my toes much more. Running on your toes means running faster, and faster I ran:). When I got back to my "other" running shoes, my midfoot strike returned...

The shoes are very flexible, there is almost no heel drop, and these two factors make you feel like you are running barefoot but landing on soft yet springy foam. The shoes are very soft, the heel cup is tight, and the forefoot is roomy but can be tightened with the laces to fit ones foot width. The upper is seamless which I love because it allows running sockless without fear of blisters or hot spots. I have not tried this yet, though:)

I absolutely love these shoes. I hate reviews that are super positive, but really I am having a hard time finding anything I don't like about this shoe. Oh, yes, the price...They are a bit expensive @ $110, but found them on google shopping with $85, which is the same as the Nike Frees and cheaper than Launch. If you are interested in a neutral, cushioned, light racing/training shoe, this one is a gem. If you don't believe me, go to your local running store and get a pair out of a stroll. You will most likely fall in love, like I did!

All the technical details from the manufacturer could be found here.

Thank you, Pearl Izumi, for giving me these shoes to review!

Welcome to tri training!

2011-03-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

I confess.
I am sad.
I already miss not running a race almost every weekend.
But my running legs need a rest. They worked hard. They delivered. They gave me 2 of my best races ever.

Here is me concentrating on passing this woman who kept speeding up every time I would try to pass here. This was only mile 4 or so, what was she thinking? (I cut her out of the pic).

On Sunday afternoon we went swimming. I got in the water to swim a few laps while Chris got Petru ready. Ten minutes go buy, and then 10 more....I get a bit worried but I keep swimming. After a little over a mile, I see Chris and Petru through the pool's glass wall...Petru found some kids and decided that he did not want to swim. I tell you, if it were up to Chris, Petru would be doing everything he want all day long. Ha!

On Monday my legs were trashed. This was a bit of a surprise, but running the last mile of a half at your 5K pace will do that to you. So I biked...for 3 hours, mostly easy with about 30 min on the big chain. I first took my tri bike out for the first time. Go ahead and laugh... I was so nervous that I first rode it up and down the street 10+ times. Then I rode to the bike path and rode for 5 miles before my hands froze (it snowed on Monday!) and I moved to the trainer. I tried to get into aero but was too nervous. That's OK, baby steps. I'll get on it during the weekend. I need to make falling a goal!

On Tuesday I took my legs out for a slooow 10 miler. This run was harder than my half on Sunday (OK, not really, but close). My legs were heavy up to about mile 8, when they loosened up and started working properly.

Today I did my longest swim since my half iron, a 2 miler! It felt awesome. I did 400 warm up, 4X400 with 3 belly breaths in between, 400 4X (50 free, 50 breast), and 800 with paddles. At some point we had to give up a lane for the swim team and I was asked to lead a lane of 3 since I was "the fastest". Really? OK then (disclaimer, I am still slow...fast is relative).

More biking and swimming, and a bit of running for the week. I am still debating whether I should do the Fresh Pond race on Saturday. I don't care about my time, I just miss the folks over there. How weird is that I am feeling a bit uneasy that I have worked my body so hard and I am not injured, while some of my favorite blogger who train less than I do are currently injured. I know this is silly and am restructuring the heck out of such thoughts. The thing is, I had my share of injuries in the past (though none since 2008) and I know how tough it is to not be able to do what you love...

On other news, we are supposed to get 3-4 inches of snow tomorrow! The only happy thing about that is that I'll have to delay practicing riding my bike in aero...Any tips on making the transition to aero easier?

Quincy Half Marathon RR OR how Ana-Maria went sub 1:30

2011-03-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

Stats:
1:28:46; 6:46/mile; 4th woman overall/ maybe 400?; 3rd AG 1-39 (seriously, is this an AG?)
BTW, for everyone needing inspiration, the winner was 40+ and went 1:25!

Here is how it went down;

Mile 1: 6:53
Mile 2: 6:54
Mile 3: 6:50
Mile 4: 6:59 - last .25 start of a .78 mile hill
Mile 5: 7:00 - ending that hill
Mile 6: 6:43
Mile 7: 6:48
Mile 8: 6:50
Mile 9: 6:46
Mile 10: 6:50 - 1 .25 hill
Mile 11: 6:53 - 1 .25 hill
Mile 12: 6:44
Mile 13: 6:20 - last .5 downhill
Last bit: 4:56 - downhill

My secret goal for this race was to average a 6:52, which is what McMillan told me I could do after last weekend's 5K. I also wanted to start a bit faster than normal, and get on pace right away. The race was not chip timed so I placed myself in the second line, after warming up for 1 mile. Immediately I saw Mary about 100 feet in front of me, and decided that I would try to keep her in sight. The first 2 miles were rolling and windy; my legs felt off. I told myself to keep going and that my legs need to warm up. I ran the race in a pair of Pearl Izumi Streak II shoes which I received on Friday from Outside PR, and loved so much that I decided to wear without testing them on a run before. They are awesome (review soon).

Back to the race. Miles 2-4 were flat. I started feeling better, and just maintained the pace while getting closer to Mary. A tough hill about .75 mile long started at 4.5 mile and I felt great on it and started going on my own, passing a few people. I always though hills are not my strength as I have a butt and it feels like is dragging me down. But recently I have been feeling awesome on hills. There was a nice downhill thereafter and I pushed the pace hard. I love the downhills and I can run them very well. By mile 6 I started to feel great. Miles 6-8 were flat and I knew that, so kept plugging along without worry that my lap/mile pace was faster than I wanted it to be. I ran with a couple of women for a while, one had passed me before the hill, and the other one faded by mile 8. I took a gel before mile 8 (took one before the race as well), as I knew there will be a series of short but steep hills up to mile 12.5. In my head, I decided the races ended at mile 12.5. From mile 9 on, I had periods of time when my legs felt tired, and then periods of time when I felt great. At mile 10 someone told me I was the 3rd woman. I could see one woman in front of me, about .25 ahead, and decided to see if I can catch here while not going way too fast. I knew by this point that I could break 1:30, as the course was accurate, if not a bit short (it is certified though, and I did run all the tangents). I caught the woman at mile 12, and I sped up. Last year I ran the last mile @ 6:40 (it has a good downhill from 12.5 to 13) and this year I wanted to go faster than that. Plus, once I passed that woman, I wanted to go super fast as to not have her fight back. So I pushed hard and ended up with a 6:20 mile. Happy. As I approached the finish I saw the clock and could not believe my eyes. Happy, happy, happy!

And now the challenge is going to be to get really excited for triathlon training. Chris is a bit skeptical that I am going to stick with triathloning so I have to prove him wrong:)

At the end of the race I got a chance to talk to Mary and Kristina who both PRed (and who have great blogs, by the way!)

And now, I rest my running legs for a bit!

Moving on...ramblings

2011-03-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

# Thank you for the lovely comments on my race report! I have been on cloud 9 since the race. It was only a 5K, but it feels so good to accomplish a long term goal! But life goes on and I need to change focus to my last big running race on Sunday. I raced almost every single weekend this year, putting in 45-65 miles/week, and my running legs are in serious need of rest. I am actually feeling fine, but sometimes I think I am like a ticking bomb and if I don't rest soon, I won't be able to train well for my June HIM. One more race, legs!

# No soreness post race. E 21 + 5 mile easy running back home + 1 mile swim post race = happy legs!

# Today I did my last key run before Sunday, 6 miles w/ 3X 1 mile @ 10K pace. I ran in shorts! Although I do like winter running and race best in cold temps, I am truly excited to show off my pale legs and arms. The run went well, though it was a good reminder that I really need at least 3 miles warm-up in order to run well. Hence, my first mile repeat was rough and the last one ended up as a 5K pace mile. Now, the tough part, I rest.

# I am not nervous about the race on Sunday. It's like I am already giving myself permission to have a bad race. Don't get me wrong, I plan to race hard, but if my legs don't show up, I won't be upset (I think!).

# A lot of people asked me how I gained so much speed in so little time. My first half marathon was a few years back, and I ran a 2:06. I personally think consistency and hard work are the most important factors associated with improvement in running. Consistency implies not getting injured, or catching injuries early on so that you don't have to take too much time off, and hard work meaning having a few miles every week where you feel like death, however that may be for you (for me it is getting close to or actually vomiting). I don't think racing success is in the training plan, although having one that fits your style and schedule is important. OK, I don't mean to sound like an expert, because honestly I am not, just my opinion here!

# On Monday I will switch to tri training only. I have this vision of having mega weekends where on Saturdays I do an hour or so on the bike before running to the Fresh Pond race and doing the 5 mile race as a brick. Then I'll swim in the afternoon with the family. On Sunday I plan for a mega bike ride, 3hours or so, followed by a short 3-5 mile run, and a swim with the family in the afternoon. Not sure if this is smart, but I know my body will let me know and I'll make changes if I get pooped. I am getting excited about tri training, which makes me happy!.

# Wish me luck surviving this taper week. I did not use to believe in taper, but now I do and will stick to low running mileage, almost no biking, and, gasp, a full day off on Saturday! I think someone out there should market an exercise anti-withdrawal pill! In the meantime, I am hitting Lululemon in Harvard Square after work tomorrow!

Ras Na Heireann 5K race OR how Ana-Maria finally broke 20!

2011-03-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

Garmin stats: 3.12, 19:26, 6:15 pace.
Official results: 19:26, 6:16 pace.
1st 30-39 AG.
8th/2599 women
82/5029 with men

I was thinking about doing another 5K for a while now, but the thought of puking AND failing to meet my goal kept me back. Lets face it, I have been chasing the sub 20 for almost a year now, and have been running courses that are too long, or too hilly, or accurate but I would vomit and have to slow down. So when Jenn emailed me to wish me luck, I really had no idea if I am going to do it.

This week I went about my training as usual. I ran 55 miles, after 2 weeks of 60 miles. Sometimes yesterday I decided that I would do the race, and ran only 5 miles easy as prep. This morning I woke up with shaking hand. Literally. I did not feel nervous but obviously I was.

Chris and Petru drove me to Somerville for the race and left for Petru's drumming class. I warmed up for 3 miles (not on the course since I got lost...) at a slug's pace (as Katie suggested!) of 9:45. I never run this slow these days!

I lined up toward the front. This was a 6000 people race, with many elite runners (the course record for women is 15:59!), so I did not feel like going right in front. Plus, the race was chip timed. That was a mistake as there were tons of slow people in front of me, that I had to go around...or maybe this helped my race.

Mile 1: 6:28
I got a bit worried as I got to .5 and my pace was 6:47. Really? WTF? We took a turn and found some clear path and pushed the pace a bit to get to the 6:28 average. Much better. I did not feel great in this mile, my legs were a bit heavy. The entire mile was a false flat going up which I did not think off when I ran the race, even though I had seen this on the course map.

Mile 2: 6:14.
This was all rolling, and I pushed hard on the downhills. Here I started to think about when the puking feeling will start. It did not. I was passing people left and right. It felt great. I felt great. This was the best mile for me.

Mile 3: 6:13; .1 @ 5:20
I kept waiting for the puking feeling, but it did not come. The hurt did, but I was prepared. I had this song on twice and played it in my head, modified version.

" You know I know how
To stop em stop and stare as I go by
The ~~club~~ RACE can't even handle me right now
Watching you watching me
I go ALL OUT
The ~~club~~ RACE can't even handle me right now"

I felt amazing, passing people, feeling the flow. We ran the last .5 mile on a bike path and it was nice to see the finish so early on. There was a young girl in front of me and I tried to pass her, but she put up a fight. I let her go, but passed her in the last 100meter. Not v nice of me, but I do have a nice problem in races that I need to get over, so this was good practice!

So no puking. I had some nausea, but nothing that bad, really! I think all the racing I did at Fresh Pond got my system ready for harder efforts. Funny how, in retrospect, my best races have not felt like the hardest efforts.

Since the race was so large and had so many elite runners, I knew I probably did not place (WRONG!), and ran 5.5 miles home ending the day at 11.5 miles. I stopped at a bakery and picked up a diet coke and a muffin only to get home and see that Chris got me the same. He knows me well.

It is amazing how a little 5K can make me feel so good. It's the things that you work hard for that matters most!

And now, off to chase a sub 19, because I have no doubt I CAN DO IT!

Random thoughts

2011-03-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

* My eyes are closing and it is only 7:30pm. Tuesday is my toughest day, but pretty soon I am going to head into bed with "Unbroken".

* I came home from work today and the house smelled like fresh bread. Except the bread had 25 more minutes to get done, and I had to go for a run. I opened the bread machine and ripped a chunk of crust. It was delicious!

* At some point I would love to run a marathon in another country. Anyone interested?

* I almost wore shorts on my run today. The weather was beautiful, though it looked warmer than it was. Runners are coming out of hibernation in Boston! It's a great time to run!

* I may be running a 5K this weekend. I have not decided yet. I worry that my legs will fall off. Two more week, two more weeks!

* My son asked me which state would allow him to marry more than one person. Apparently he wants to marry 2 boys and 5 girls! He is pretty serious about it, teachers say...He also wants to marry me, by the way, but once we are married I will not be allowed to tell him what to do!

* My husband and I started a competition where we set out about 10 goals each for the week (household stuff that we have been procrastinating on) and the winner (person who accomplish the most) gets a prize (not to be mentioned here!). Guess whose idea this was? Unfortunately, I think I have been using most of my competitiveness for running...

* I think I finally beat that awful virus! Hurray!

* We saw The Black Swan over the weekend. I loved it! It reminded me of how much I love ballet! It also reminded me why I did not want to get into ballet when I had the opportunity!

* I read a blogpost the other day about goals and resolutions. It made me realize how content I am with my life now, and how I really don't have any major goals or things I want to accomplish. My first 35 years have been filled with goals, now I am mostly content with being content! I like that!

A taste of things to come

2011-03-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

My typical Monday includes running, biking and work.

I typically run early in the morning, and bike in the afternoon.

Except that today it rained hard, and at 5 am I decided to bike first, in hopes that the rain would go away. I biked for 1:45 min, with some big chain intervals and some sets of high RPM. By the time I was done, the rain was gone. Then I realized I still had some time and I could actually do my run, too. Except that I had 5X2000m @ HM/10k pace and I did not know how my legs would react. But I gave it a try. And all was well. I did the intervals @ 10K pace, and managed to do the last .25 of each interval @ 5K pace or better. Pretty happy with that! Maybe I am going to run off the bike better than last year?

Recovery tights on and off to work. Legs screamed at me for a bit, but now they feel pretty good.
Except that I am really tired!

We have been skimping on sleep over here, and we decided to go to bed @ 10 pm every night this week, except Wednesday and Sunday when Chris goes out to watch sports with friends ~~and wakes me up when he returns bc he can't wait until morning to tell me the interesting happenings of basketball~~. Will see how that goes!

In other news I am working on getting excited about switching gears to tri training. I am surprisingly not nervous about my half in 2 weeks. If I do get nervous, I'll just read Jenn's email again:)

Week in review and Fresh Pond Race take..who knows?

2011-03-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

This week was another heavy mileage/intensity one. On Monday I start tapering for my half in 2 weeks.

Since my half I have been having a cold, on and off. I've also been feeling super tired. I've read about this on other blogs, so I think something is going around. My workouts have been going well, however. Work,on the other hand, was a drag for a few days in there. In good news, today I am feeling like myself again, so maybe I won the bug war. Will see.

Monday I had to run on the treadmill because we got snow and then rain again, and I really wanted to hit my interval paces. I suck at running on the treadmill. It was so hard to hold a pace I have no problem holding on the road. I even had to hold onto the rails a couple of times. I was pissed. I ended up adding 4X400meters @ 6 pace at the end, just to make up for that. My legs did not like that, and I was sore the next day.

On Thursday I ran 13.5 miles, with a 5k @ 19:50 at the end. Yes, I can run a sub 20 5K in training, but am yet to run one in a race! It felt pretty good, actually, but it was on a flat to slightly downhill (I think) terrain.

Today I had 2X 4 miles @ HM pace. I ended up running 1 mile easy, 3.25 @ 6:50, than .75 @ 7:50 to the race site, then the race (I only had time to pee, so little rest) 4.75 @ 6:46. The 5 miles home easy on the hilly route sucked big time. I am super happy with this effort. I ran the race 6 seconds slower than my PR, but given a hard effort before it, I think I did well. We had lots of people today, since it was a relatively warm day. However, we also had lots of dogs. I started laughing at some point as one little dog literally climbed up a runner, and would not get away from him, while the owner was obliviously talking to someone. I did not laugh when I had to literally jump over another dog while the owner started yelling that I should run on the track. Seriously?! Lets just say that she got a $%%%%&*& from me and from other runners!

I am still biking and swimming a bunch (biking more than swimming, though my swimming has definitely improved a lot. It just that swimming is a little....boring, but so good for my mind, I think!)

I have 2 more weeks before my running season sadly ends, and I switch gears to more biking and swimming. I'll probably start biking 5 times a week for a bit and do all my hard runs off the bike. I will also have to switch gears mentally. Running is going well, so of course I want to run more... The tri training will be a nice change, though, and I will be back to mostly running in the summer, when I'll train for a fall marathon! Now if I could stop being nervous about riding my tri bike outdoors....

ABCs, play with me!

2011-03-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

I've enjoyed reading some of these, so thought I'd play along. You should, too:)

Age: 37
Bed size: King (and since we are here I have been known to push my husband out of the bed in my sleep...lets just say I like to migrate)
Chore you dislike: All (they are chores, right?)
Dogs: none. I have a kid, that's enough for me.
Essential start to your day: kisses from my boys!
Favorite color: red.
Gold or silver: gold.
Height: 5'7''
Instruments you play: unfortunately, none, but Petru is teaching my drumming!
Job title: worker bee!
Kids: a 5.5 y old little imp!
Live: Arlington, MA
Mom's name: Ana-Maria (we ran out of names in my family:)
Nickname: Nonurs
Overnight hospital stay: post delivery.
Pet peeves: drivers picking their noses at traffic light stops (seriously!)
Quote from a movie: let me ask Chris...
Righty or lefty: righty
Siblings: one brother
Time you wake up: 6-7:30 in the winter, 5-7 in the summer.
Underwear: not all the time.
Vegetables you don't like: none!
What makes you run late: things outside my control.
Xrays you had: teeth and legs
Yummy food you make: don't!
Zoo animal favorites: partial to turtles.

February by the numbers

2011-02-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

February was another great month for me. I ran the Saturday 5 mile race 3 times, and had a PR in a cold and windy half marathon. My running confidence is UP!

But I did not only run, I also swam and biked.

I feel more comfortable on my bike, and can wear tri shorts for rides 2 hours or shorter. I have been doing a lot of big gear, lower cadence intervals as well as low gear superhigh (for me) cadence intervals and my legs have gotten really strong as a result. I also watched more TV than I thought possible, but for some reason I can't read on my bike, and I save my "good music" for my runs.

I also feel better in the water. I have been doing some interval training, mostly ladders and 300 or 400m repeats. I am not timing myself because my goal for the swim is not necessarily to be faster, but to swim the same pace I swam in August, with less effort. I know this is not the best strategy, but it is what I choose to do. I don't flip turn, I don't push from the wall, I swim continuously from one end of the pool to the other. One thing I need to work on is my kick. I forget about it and barely move my feet.

Most importantly, I still LOVE LOVE training!

The numbers:

RUN: 214. 5 miles (including a low week of 40 miles as taper)
BIKE: 20 hours (including a week of only 2 hour biking as taper for my half)
SWIM: 12 miles
Strength: 2 hours
Plyos: 6 sessions....skipped on a few
BRICKS: 3
* 2.5 hour bike+5 mile run
* 2 hour bike+ 4 mile run
* 3 hour bike + 5 mile run

March will include a few running races, before I switch gears to triathlon only for my June race. I am hoping to be able to ride my bike outside - I am really nervous and hope that riding my tri bike outside will be just as much fun as it has been inside. I also hope I won't break any bones during the multiple falls I know I will take. Any tips about tri bike riding would be much appreciated!

Back at it!

2011-02-26T09:04:00.000-08:00

Things are back to normal after my HM last week. Oh, how I missed the normal. I am finding that the more my body gets used to longer training hours, the harder the taper is both physically and psychologically. Paradoxically, I did enjoy having more time, and being able to do things I don't normally do (well, more like enjoying having done those things rather than the actual process).

I noticed a few things about my tapers: 1) I always get sick (mild cold), but that does not affect my performance; 2) I always gain weight but it goes away after I go back to training; 3) I race best when I am about to get my period (I complained about feeling yucky to my mom before my last race and she told me she used to perform best before her period; then I checked my training logs and noticed that all my PRs are in races where I got my period either during the race (oh, yes, lots of fun!) or a couple of days after); now I wonder if there is any data on that, hmm, must check that out*; 4) taper works for me when I keep the training schedule the same, but reduce length of workout (rather than give myself full rest days).

****

I had zero soreness after the HM. I think this was a function of my fitness level, and the little help from my trusty E21. I don't remember ever having a race where I felt so good the day after, and managed to run some tough workouts the week after the race.

Back to normal means hours in the saddle, laps in the pool, miles on the road and, of course, going back to Fresh Pond for the weekly race. We had a bigger crowd today, but conditions were bad, since we got lots of rain, little snow, and then chilly temps yesterday. I ran 1 mile easy and 4 miles @ @ 7:25, and then waited around about 5 min for the race to start. I felt good from the beginning and raced a bit with 2 other women I had not seen there before, but easily passed them withing a half mile from the start. And then, I had to walk. Not because I was tired, but because there were about 3 50 meter areas within each loop with shiny ice that were non runnable. I was a bit pissed because my pace would slow down on these sections, but ended up feeling OK with no getting a PR. I ended up running 30:50, which is 20 seconds slower than my PR over there.

After the race I started talking to the second woman and realized that we work at the same hospital and we live in the same town. She told me about the Liberty running club at Harvard (geared toward women) where she trains, and invited me to join. I am really excited about this because unfortunately all my running friends are a bit too slow for me to run with now, and they are not really interested in training and improving. I am planning on joining the club after my last half marathon (in 3 weeks).

On the way home from race I bonked really bad, and ended up in a coffee place drinking coke and eating a blondie. I felt amazing after (of course) and managed to run the last 2 miles of hills back home at a pretty good clip.

Happy Saturday!

* looked up the research, and it is a bit inconclusive (of course). However, apparently luteal phase (preperiod) is beneficial for endurance running (high estrogen favors fat burning for fuel and lower lactic acid accumulation); the follicular phaze (starting with first day of period) is beneficial for short distance, fast running (low estrogen).

Pictures

2011-02-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

A couple of pictures from the Hampton Half, courtesy of Capstone Photography. They were both taken toward the end of the race.

Check out my heel strike! When I get tired my form collapses, still. Must work on that! And yes, I carry water with me in races (it was hot water for this one!)

This is right at the end, after crossing the mat. Check out the required "I am going to puke now face". It means I worked hard.

These are pictures taken by my friend Sue! Thanks Sue! After the race I managed to find one of the advertised empty hotel rooms and wash up and change into my warm fleece pants!

Nr.1 male, Nr 2 female, me and Nr 2 male. Nr. 1 female who ran a 1:21 did not stay for the ceremony! Part of the prize was a 6 pack of beer, which made Chris's day (I don't like beer!).

Petru and Chris came to pick me up after the race. Petru had a hard time in the room bc "It stinks in here". Yup, not everyone got a chance to take a shower like mommy!

Hampton Half Marathon 2011 RR+PR

2011-02-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

It was cold and super windy, flat with rolling hills!
I hear the course was pretty - I wouldn't know, all I saw was the butt of the person in front of me, luckily I had a lot of variety over the course of 13+ miles. Yes, I passed a lot of people!

Stats:
GARMIN: 13.29, 6:58 pace, HR: 184; 1:32: 42 (PR by 14 seconds)
OFFICIAL: 13.1, 7:04 pace, 1:32:43 3rd woman overall/850

Garmin splits:

Mile Pace HR
1 7:07 180
2 7:07 180
3 7:07 180
4 7:07 177
5 6:46 181
6 6:48 182
7 6:58 183
8 6:56 183
9 6:55 181
10 6:55 185
11 7:04 185
12 6:58 185
13 6:52 183
.29 5:23 186

So how did it go?
I ditched my race plan from the start. I felt strong, and I went for it from the beginning. I asked myself whether I could hold that effort for 13 miles and I felt like I could. I am glad I did not look at my HR, it was v high, as you can see (my resting HR is below 60 and my HR in a recent 5K was 182!), and had I known that, I would have slowed down. I feel I ran the race in fear, waiting to crash and burn. This winter I had a hard time doing long tempo runs and felt unprepared. However, it seems that my weekly races at Fresh Pond, on ice and snow, were enough to get me to run 8 sec/mile faster (Garmin comparison) than last year in March (my old PR).

I never crashed and burned, in fact, I feel I could have gone faster. The wind was certainly and issue (the cold never bothers me); more than that, it was scary to see a few miles of 6:4X so early on (mile 5), as that used to be my pace for 5 miles total at Fresh Pond, and I'd feel like death after. Next time I might not look at lap pace...

I can't think straight, I am super happy. This is a small PR by official results. However, my last PR was on a course that registered as an exact 13.11, while this one was 13.29. At this speed 8 sec/mile improvement in a race is huge! Most importantly, I do not feel trashed, and I know that in March I am going to start out a little faster, and hopefully do even better with better weather (no wind) on a more accurately measured course.

###
In ending, I want to thank Jenn for her support going into this race. Who needs a coach when you have someone who knows exactly what to say and when to say it?

"Yes-everyone is going to expect you to run fast because you DO run fast and you CAN run fast! I expect you will run QUITE fast but regardless of what the clock says, my opinion of you and my belief in your abilities would never change! Bloggers and friends are great accountability as long as one doesn't allow them to become stressors instead of encouragers. (I'm more speaking for myself here-you seem to have this together!) Have a great race, run for yourself-BALLS TO THE WALL!" J

Thanks Jenn!

Defining a good race

2011-02-15T16:09:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking a lot this week about my past races, good and bad. I remember my first half marathon, running it on an injured hip, finishing with a facial expression that Chris read as "I am in the worst pain ever". After that, I remember running with friends and not pushing myself nearly enough. Then a breakthrough race where I actually suffered and ended up running a 1:46, slow by my current standards, but a PR by over 5 minutes at that point in time. It's been about 3 years since my first half marathon, and I have gotten so much faster. Sometimes I wonder if I am getting closer and closer to my physiological limit. Other times I wonder whether I should try to take baby steps with my training, rather than huge jumps, like I have been doing this training cycle. I have come to believe that the body needs time to adjust to a certain pace, a time that is longer than the typical 2-3 months training cycle. But most often I realize that I am not racing hard enough, early enough. I read an article today about pacing in a race. The author talked about how she starts out fast and then she just hangs out. She said that if she starts slower, than she settles into a pace that is slower than her actual ability. A pretty fast blogger I follow talks about how if at the half point of a race she does not feel like quitting, she is not running fast enough. Unless it is a 5K, I never get to that point, which makes me thing that I may be getting closer to my physiological limit, but not to my psychological limit, my true ability to suffer and hurt in a race.

I am going to try hard to have a good race on Sunday. Here is what are the elements that would allow me to feel like I had a good race:
1. Starting the race warmed up (1-2 slow miles).
2. Starting the first mile slower than HM PR, seeing how that feels, and taking it from there.
3. Hanging out with the hurt for at least 10 miles.
4. Hanging out with the real hurt from mile 10 to the finish.
5. Hanging out with pukie (sp?) not earlier than mile 10, but surely for mile 13.
6. Racing with an average HR over 175, more like 180 (I will not check HR during the race).
7. Not giving negative thoughts power, letting them flow by.

If I manage to do 1-7, I am going to be a happy camper regardless of the result. It's going to be 30 degrees and windy on Sunday, and we are running over 5 miles by the Ocean. I am pretty nervous for a half, but also excited to see what I can do.

Tapering, Fondue party and blurry pictures

2011-02-13T18:19:00.000-08:00

Somehow I thought I was tapering last week, but ended up running 57 miles. This week is going to be withdrawal as I will be running 20 or so since I have the half on Sunday.I will also be biking very little...see a pattern here, really trying to put myself into the best position to PR (or not allow any possible excuses if I crash and burn).

Good thing I did not run as little as I though I was, since we had our annual chocolate fondue party at our good friends Charlie and Sonia's house. All kinds of chocolate for dinner, yes, yes, yeeeeees!!! I secretly look forward to this gathering the entire year. I think it is amazing that C & S allow us all to come over with our kiddies (2-8 y olds) even though they don't have any, feed us french chocolates and champagne, and clean up the mess made by the kids. This was the first year the kiddies "got along" - my rule is always noone is crying, lets not interfere - and had a blast. There may have been some cat terrorizing going on, but maybe the noise was coming from one of the kids...who cares, us adults were all high on chocolate and champagne.

I dressed up for the occasion. These pictures were taken before we left, and are very bad, bc someone (ahem, Chris) can't keep the i-phone strait when taking pictures. Anyhow, since I NEVER wear a dress, I figure I might as well document the occasion.

Love this picture - not sure if you can see that as I "pose", Petru sticks his tongue out! And in the other picture, he is trying to "escape".

And how do you like the "signs" on the wall? I managed to remove about 50% of them, but there are still some that Petru refuses to give up...and I learnt to pick my battles.

Hope you all had a great weekend! And tomorrow, eat all the chocolate you can! I started on Saturday so you'll never catch up to me:)

Friday randomness

2011-02-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

I really love to read other people's posts on random things, so here it goes for me

# Training: I am swimming a bit more this week and next, and biking and running a little less, to make sure that I don't run my half in 2 weeks on overly fatigued legs. I am still uncertain about what pace I should try to run at my half - I typically build up to about 10 miles close to pace for a half but was unable to do this due to weather (or unwilling to go run on the treadmill, which is a more accurate statement). This is going to be interesting for me, and I may crash and burn, but I promised myself that I will not be disappointed if that happens. I know that eventually I will reach my goal, even though I do not have the evidence that I am there yet. Hopefully by the end of March, for my second half, I am going to be closer to where I want to be. And hopefully the weather will cooperate and I will be able to do more pace runs on pavement. On the bright side, I am a pro at running on ice. On Thursday I had a longish run with 2X15 min @ 10K-1/2 marathon pace; I ran these intervals on the Fresh Pond Loop, which had portions completly covered with ice. My pace slowed down by 1-2 secs only on these portions, which looked like mini ice skating rinks, and I did not fall at all! If only we'd have races on ice, I would surely be the winner, LOL.

# Food: We have been having some awesome meals these past 3 weeks, though all will end soon as my mom is leaving on Saturday. You all know that I don't like to cook, right? We enjoyed lots of vegetable stews, and baked beans, all dishes that are baked for hours at end; also yummy desserts with recipes that call for as much flour as 3 eggs weigh (yes, I will never make those things). And then, there is Chris's bread...yumm! Good thing I have been putting in a lot of hours of swim/bike/run, and can justify these meals as fuel!

# My little guy has been getting lots of time outs at school lately. He is super cute when telling me the reasons why - "I was too far away from my friend at nap time, so I could not help myself and got up from my mat to go talk to him", or "I could not help myself and rang the bell in dramatic play", or "I told the teacher that NO, I WILL NOT move up in the Jumping Lovehearts reading group because I want to stay a Fun Firefly". Sometimes it is hard to stop myself from laughing when he tells me these things. He is really stubborn and we have few rules at home (since he is an only child and I believe in being flexible as a parent) and he makes decisions about how to spend time, what to eat, etc, etc (for the most part), so it is a bit hard for him at school where they are getting really strict about rule following. My favorite part of parenting is talking with Petru and getting an insight into how his young mind works, how he makes sense of things, how he learns, why he thinks we have rules, why would be important to follow them, what would happen if we did not have rules, etc. Chris is the pro at the playing part, I am the pro at the talking part (of course:).

#Sleep. I have been skimming on sleep lately. We do not have a TV in our bedroom - we made this decision when we got married as we did not want to watch too much TV - but on Sunday evening I brought my computer in and watched Hulu until midnight when Chris came home from the Superbowl. Then I did this again on Monday. And then I stopped and am not allowed to bring the computer into the bedroom at night. Still, I have been tired all week, and struggling with a cold, and my research is picking up with grants I have due in June. Sleep, I need to make it a priority. TV, boo, where are the times when I would think that watching TV is just wrong? Oh, yes, those were the everything is about self improvement and evolving, my prePetru years!

How's the randomness in your life?

The treadmill and I

2011-02-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

It's quiet humorous that I ran outside this entire winter, through snowstorms and freezing temps, yet Monday when the temps where in the 30s I found myself doing repeats on the mill. Why, you ask? Because the bikepath where I normally run was still covered in ice and snow.

I had 12 miles or so, with 2 easy, 5x2K @ 10k pace with 3 min easy in between, 2 easy. Except that in my haze I thought I had to do 6X2k, which is what I did. I know you are supposed to put the resistance up to 1, but after doing one repeat at 1% incline and almost falling off the thing, I stuck with .5% which felt manageable. The first couple repeats where the hardest, because all I could think about was "hell, I have X many left?". Plus, I could not find my stride. For me, treadmill running is v different than road running. My stride remains very short even when I run fast, and my knees are much higher than when I run on the road. I got into a groove after the first 3 repeats, it's like my body finally realized how to run on the treadmill. Interestingly, my HR is much lower on the mill versus the road. I also don't get the nausea that I get when I run outside, which makes me think that I run harder when outside. This may have something to do with the incline, and perhaps had I set it @ 1% things would have been different. I ran the last repeat starting @ 6:22 and ending @ 6"07 just for kicks and to show the mill who is the boss! Not a bad workouts!

It was interesting to be in a gym again. I don't remember when was the last time I was there. People were looking at me like I was nuts, as I was dripping sweat all over the treadmill (it felt like summer time as my shorts and shirt where drenched after the first couple repeats, and I drank 2X24 ounces of liquid).

My verdict is that I could probably get used to running on the treadmill. It is really not that bad. It works great for repeats because you are locked in a pace and forced to keep going. I am still in owe of those of you who can run marathons on the treadmill, though. That's a talent I do not posses.

Change of perspective

2011-02-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

A little sunshine, a lot of sleep, a run on pavement (rather than ice), and my mood is much improved. Last week I lost confidence in my running. I felt tired and my pace was slow with a high effort and HR. Deep down I knew this had to do with the conditions, but I am such a numbers person that what I saw on the Garmin somehow ended up carrying more weight in my mind. Bad runs, or workouts can easily lead to more bad runs or workouts. It is easy to feel slow, stop trying, resent the suffering inherent in a key run. Last week I worried about that.

This morning I had a 2.5 hour endurance bike, mostly zone 1 and 2 with pickups and I felt amazing. I dreaded the 5 mile run that I had to do after, but got myself transitioned quickly and went out. The bike path was frozen, so I decided to run on the road. We had a beautiful day today, the sun was shining, and even the drivers were happy - no swears or splashes for me today:)

I wanted to run the post bike miles by feel, at a comfortable pace. I am very far from my HIM, so no need to run fast post bike so early on. I was surprised to be able to run a 7:50 average pace @ HR 158, and feel like I was running so slooow. This is not a fast pace or anything, but it is pretty good for an easy pace after a 2.5 moderate bike ride. This is clear proof for my mind of how important the running surface is.

So now I am starting my week excited about my runs! I'll use the mill for the intervals tomorrow, but am hoping to be able to run outside the rest of the week.

Happy training!

Tired

2011-02-05T11:38:00.001-08:00

It's been a busy week and my runs have been hard and slow. My bike rides and swims have been stellar, though, so mentally I am focusing on them, to help me get over the rough runs.

Back to the runs. Monday I rocked 5X1000m @ lower than 5K pace, on packed snow. Tuesday we got hit with bundles of snow and I risked my life running along with the cars. I got home covered in sleet, and carrying lots of swears (I bet) for annoyed drivers who had to stop so I could go by. In retrospect, stupid, and I won't do it again. In fact, a couple of teachers from Chris's school saw me and reported back to him that "your wife is nuts!". Yup! Not proud of this one. Wednesday there was no way I could run, heck, I could barely walk it was that icy. The sleet and ice froze over the padded snow, so that Thursday early morning the Fresh Pond path (which gets plowed frequently and is my go to place when it snows) was heavily sprinkled with ice large cubes. I had 14 with at 10K @ HM heart rate in the middle, and it was a mess. I tried to keep the planned HMP, but my HR was up to 190 after 2 miles, so I had to slow, I had to stop, I had to swear, I had to consider giving up, and eventually modified the workout and made it 2X2 miles and 2X1 milers, so that I could keep a manageable HR and pace. I was mad. I was disappointed.

On Thursday evening we went to our favorite upcoming folk band's (David Wax Museum) new CD release at the ART's Oberon stage. We dressed up (OK, I dressed up). We had JPlicks. We had a ball with our friends. Instead of sitting with my legs up (recovery people!), I danced for a few hours. We got home at midnight starving and happy, had bowls of cereal and spent quality time with our computers -me checking blogs, Chris checking his bball fantasy standing.

We went to bed at 2 pm. I had my first patients at 7 am on Friday. I felt surprisingly good up to 3pm when I crashed. I made myself get into the pool, and felt better after.

This morning I woke up with Petru on top of me. He made his way into our bed due to a "a bad dream", wide awake, and chatty. It seemed harder to get him back to his bed (plus I really like when he sleeps with us) so he slept with us. This morning I felt tired. I did not want to run. I did not want to have a bad run. I did not want to do the Fresh Pond race. I did not want to suffer on ice and run a crappy pace. But I made it out. And the race was canceled, due to ice. I ended up running 2 loops, starting at an 10ish pace as I walked a path of ice, and finishing with a 7:28 due to multiple walking breaks on the icy parts, but average HR was 180, so I was happy (I guess the HR stayed up during the walk breaks, must have been scared of an imminent fall). Back home, ice bath and all, family time, and then shopping with mom. I absolutely hate shopping. I do most of my shopping on line. I have a few staples for work, and accessorize a ton, but I buy mostly running/tri items. My sweet mom makes me buy (and most often buys them for me) dresses, and pant suits, and other such things. She really enjoys both the process and seeing me with new clothes. Anyhow, we walked the mall for over 4 hours. My legs are done. My mom makes fun of me that I don't have 'shopping endurance', and she is right.

A few more hours of family time and then game night with our friends, and an amazing dessert made by mom. I wore my compression socks and tights all day today, and I am not changing. Tomorrow will include a brick, a short swim, and Petru-fun from 1 pm on - Chris has a few superbowl parties - no interest in that for me - and mom and I will watch a movie after Petru goes to bed. I'll recharge my batteries and have an awesome running week. I decided to do my speed and tempo on the mill next week. I have not solidified my plans for the half marathon, but I feel I need to get a few faster miles in and see where I am. I think my March half will be a better PR shot for me, but you never know.

Hope you are having a great week.

Swimming and signs

2011-02-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

Another snow day, and I could not make it into work this morning. It was a research day with only 2 patients, with whom I talked on the phone, so it was not that bad. The snow day meant that later in the day we went to the Y and I had an awesome swim.

After my last post, I realized that I need to kick it up a bit with the swimming. I have learnt that when I feel like I am improving, I get excited to do more in the particular sport (eg., mega biking and running in January). Also, although I know that even though swimming is the shortest part of a triathlon, it is very important because it sets the day up, etc, I still feel I can skimp on it (I know I don't really, but by comparison with my running and biking I do).

Today I was determined to have a hard, good, long swim. No, I did not feet like getting in the water. My mom and Petru dropped me to the Y on their way to toy shopping, and I told them to give me 70 minutes, which meant that I was going to either swim more than my typical mile, or wait around. I hate wasting time, so I knew right away I tricked myself. Ha, ha, ha!

I warmed up for 400m (50 free, 50 breast) and then did the main set, a ladder 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400 with the first 1/2 of the interval slower, focusing on form, and the second 1/2 faster, keeping form. I took 3-5 yoga breaths between intervals. Then I cooled down with 200 back stroke, for a total of 1.5 miles!

I felt better and better in the water, and swam amazingly well for the 400meter interval. I am always surprised as to how I get stronger and stronger the longer I swim. I was probably slower in my first 50 meter interval than in the last 50 meter of the 400meter intervals.

So swimming in on! I feel I am getting better and I take that as a sign that I am going to enjoy getting in the pool for longer swims!

Speaking of signs...please, please let it NOT snow any more. No more snow days! Petru is obsessed with signs and today he made over 50 of them which he placed on the walls of not only his room, but also the living room, dining room, kitchen....

Bye bye January!

2011-02-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

January was a good training month. I started out with not much of a plan for my swimming and biking, and settled into a pretty nice routine for both. In running, I continued my training for my 2 upcoming half marathons.

I raced a 5k and was 10 seconds slower than my PR, on a longer course, with some nasty stomach issues.
I ran/raced the Fresh Pond 5 miler (more accurately 4.6er) 3 times and improved my time by 30 seconds each time.

I ran in snow, a lot of snow!
I got used to my new bike!
I made strides in the pool.
I managed to do plyometrics 2 times/week for 15 minutes (after 2 key runs).
I managed to do abs and pilates 2 times/week for 30 minutes.
I started using swim cords.
I started training with heart rate.

The stats:
RUN: 254 miles
SWIM:10.5 miles - I know, way too little but have skipped lots of swims since mom arrived...
BIKE: 560 miles (approximately since I've been on the trainer) OR 31 hours

Great months for running and biking mileage. Not so great for swimming. I plan to bump up swimming a lot once I finish my half marathons and decrease my running mileage. Until then, I will do my best to get in at least 3 one mile swims each week. Can I do it? Will see!

BIKE

Fresh Pond 5 miler, take 3, RR

2011-01-29T10:39:00.000-08:00

I think I have a new Saturday morning routine. Sleep in until Petru wakes up (today it was 7:45), snuggle with Petru and Chris, eat breakfast, drink coffee, and run 5 miles to do the Fresh Pond race, then run 5 miles back home. I'd like to say that taking an icebath followed by a hot bath while watching Grey's Anatomy and eating lunch is part of the routine, but unfortunately it only happened today as Chris took Petru to the Aquarium to meet an out of town friend of his and his kids!

The plan today was to run 7 miles @ HMP as part of a long run. I ran 5 over there @ MP/HR 160 and waited for about 5 min while watching firefighters simulating rescues of ice cracking victims. We had a large crowd today and I got to meet some people. Really nice folks, some of whom come from over 1 hour away just do to the race.

My plan for the race was to not go faster than 6:45. I wanted to have enough juice to do some extra mileage for a total of 7 miles around HMP. I felt incredibly good during the first loop. The pace was right at 6:45 as I crossed the finish after the first loop. I started to suffer a bit around mile 4, but nothing really bad. I got a little competitive toward the end as I wanted to beat my time from last week, and ended up running a 6:43 pace for the 4.6 course (not a 5 miler as it is advertised), in 30:39, which is 22 seconds better than last week. I told the RD my name, ate a bit of a gel, and started my 3rd loop. This was hard. My legs felt weaker and it was harder to push with my big toe. I had to stop a couple of times as to not bump into 2 large dogs with oblivious owners, but ran the loop @ a 6:53 pace, which is a more realistic HM pace for me anyway (I'd be thrilled to run this pace in 3 weeks!). Overall, good workout and I did not feel trashed thereafter. Initially I though Chris would pick me up from the race so that I would not have to run 5 more miles home (I don't really need these long run for a HM), but we had to change plans so I ended up running 5 slow miles home, for a total of 17 miles.

I'll be on mommy duty from 2 pm on, minus 40 min for a swim later on. We have game night tonight with yummy food, friends, and likely a late night, which is fine, since I slept in today. It's so funny that 7:45 mean "sleeping in" for me these days:)

Happy weekend!

Learning to suffer on the bike

2011-01-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

For a long time I thought that running is way harder than biking. I know it is like comparing apples to oranges, but I tend to automatically rank and compare things in my mind.

A little way back I started training with heart rate. I have been working mainly in zone 2, but today I had some zone 3 and 4 intervals. Holy Batman! First, it took me about 5 minutes to get in zone 3, and once there, sweat started pouring off of me (despite the fact that I had turned the heat down and there were 54 degrees in the room). I had a couple of repeats in zone 4, which meant that I had to work the big gears at an over 90 RPM to get there. I can't imagine ever going into zone 5. Time moved so slowly and I could not concentrate on watching TV because my pace and HR would slow down.

I also have never experienced a trainer induced endorphin kick, but after 2 hours this morning, I felt invincible! I think this HR stuff is very good for me. It makes me work the bike, something that I don't think I really did before! And, amazingly, my 3x10 (1.5 miles) @ 10K pace this evening hurt, but did not kill me. And I managed to stay away from the treadmill. Thank you, Arlington, for plowing the bike path!

Bullet point randomness

2011-01-26T14:43:00.000-08:00

# I've had a frustrating day at work. I think time is valuable and I have a hard time adjusting to other people's lax timeline. I like efficiency. I think most meetings are unnecessary.
# In turn, I had an awesome swim. My swims have been great lately. My L arm is catching up. I think I swam the entire last year with only my R arm.
# My mom drove with me to the Y this afternoon so she could watch me swim. How sweet is that?
# Since my mom arrived, I have been eating the most tasty Romanian dishes. Everything gets baked in the oven for hours. Yes, not something I would ever do!
# We are in the process of getting more snow. I need to do 12 miles with some HM pace work tomorrow. I think I might have to get this done on the treadmill. Not excited about it. I also have 2 hours on the bike. I am excited about that!
# Chris caught me crying while on the bike watching Grey's Anatomy. There is something really wrong about this.
# My hammy is at 100%:)
# My mom dyed my hair last night, a bit too dark for my liking, but a nice change. #I love to change my haircolor.
# Last night I gave haircuts to both Petru and Chris. I always do that. I love it and Chris pays me in massages. I charge a lot!
# I am addicted to muffins.
# I tried and tried to eat protein powder. I put it in smoothies, oatmeal, etc, etc, but I still hate the taste. I also entertained the idea of making those green smoothies that are so trendy in the blogland. But then I realized that I love spinach and eat a ton of it anyway!
# Gotta go. We got a bosu ball and I am cracking up watching Chris trying to balance on it!

Ironman vs Ultrarunner

2011-01-25T19:03:00.001-08:00

Oh, the bike!

2011-01-24T16:35:00.000-08:00

My bike and I are clearly bonding up. We spend at least 6 hours together every week. If I have a tough workout, I watch Hulu TV. If I have an easy one, I can read your blogs.

Looking at this picture I am reminded how ~~I am flat chested~~ when I first got the bike I was worried that I am going to be super uncomfortable on it. Well, I am not. The aero position feels great. I have zero back pain, or any kind of pain. And the more tucked in I am the more power I generate.

By the way, the front of the bike was placed on about 10-15 inches of books, to simulate a long hill for my muscular endurance 2 hour ride this evening.

Mom is visiting for 3 weeks. I already skipped a workout (swim). There will be more skipped workouts since otherwise I won't have any time with her. If I did not like my mom this would not be a problem, but my mom is amazing and I like spending time with her. Everything will be fine as long as I don't skip any runs since my first HM is in less than a month!
Have a great week!

Fresh Pond 5 miler, take 2, RR

2011-01-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

Last night I made the decision to not race Derry 16 miler this year. The timing was just not right. Petru has his first African drumming lesson tomorrow at the same time the race starts and I want to go with him; Petru has a tendency to make up his mind about whether he likes or dislikes something in one minute, and Chris, albeit the best father ever, will do anything to avoid conflict. Plus my mom is arriving from Romania today!

So, in lieu of the Derry race, I decided to run 16 miles, 5 to the Fresh Pond race start, then the 5 miles (actually 4.75) race @ HMP, then 1 (actually 1.25mile) @ HMP for a total of 6 HMP miles and 5 miles home. My hammy has been feeling good as I took the entire week easy, so I was ready to roll. When I got to the race site, there were few runners. The director said that there will be no race, as the woman who typically does the timing thought it would be too dangerous to race (ice and cold), but then someone else decided to do the timing, so the race was on. At the start, the director asked whether anyone wants to do the 5 miler, and about 5 of us raised our hands (I think I was the only woman).

I felt pretty good from the beginning. I had run the 5 miles to the race start @ 7:45, HR 160, so was well warmed up. The path was very slippery and there were 2 occasions where little dogs jumped at my feet, but otherwise the run was great. I ran mostly by feel, with the goal of not going all out. My breathing got a bit heavy toward the end, but I managed 4.75 miles in 31.01, which is 30 seconds faster than last time (as the winner of the male race mentioned as they announced my time - cracks me up that he remembered). Average pace on Garmin was 6:45. After spelling my name to the RD, I headed out for 1.25 miles at HMP, and then did the 5 miles back home at a super easy pace.

Although I still think that my planned HM pace is a bit too ambitious, it was nice to be able to do 6 miles at this pace today, on snow and ice (and to not fall, LOL). Plus, my name will be in the Boston Globe again tomorrow, which I KNOW is going to be the best present for my mom:)

Legs felt fresh for the entire 16 miles, no lactic acid accumulation, which is probably because of the strength I developed from all those big ring bike intervals. It was also so nice to run pain free. I'd lie if I said I was not concerned about my hammy pull. In the back of my mind, I still feared a stress fracture, even though there was not a discrete painful spot, I was able to jump on that foot pain free, and the pain would be present only when standing up or during the first couple of minutes of a run or walk. I personally think that injuries are part of the sport, and if you race hard enough, no matter what precautions you take, there will be injuries. I mean, elite runners always get injured, even though they have the best coaches, and that is because they push hard enough. Having said that, I do believe that babying the little aches and pains is the way to go. This week I skipped my run on Tuesday, and ran super slow, at a 120-130 HR the rest of the time until today. Plus, I am becoming a true believer in compression socks and wear them all the time now.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Love heals

2011-01-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

My pain was diagnosed as a butt pull. OK, hamstring pull, but butt pull makes me laugh, so that's what it is:). Apparently it has something to do with running on ice and skidding every so often. And it already feels better, the more I walk, the better it feels. I'll take the day off, though. Really, it is snowing out so being indoors is much more appealing anyway (OK, lie here, but let me create my own reality, will you?)

Thanks for all your nice comments. You guys know what to say to make one laugh or feel better. I do want to clarify that I am not a crazy woman and don't train like this every day (I would if I did not have to work this much!), though I do have to pack more training into the weekends bc of my work schedule. And you'd think I'd be tired all the time, but I really am not. I think my secret is lots of food and daily 10min power naps (including those on a yoga mat in my office when patients cancel).

Back to the love, though.

Thanks Amanda for my first package from my HBBC win. Is it bad that the first thing that came to mind when opening the package was to hide the candy from my son? I won't, no worries, my superego already repressed that thought!

And of course, thanks Chris (who never reads this blog, by the way, or any blog that is not basketball or tennis based) for my gloves (I have been complaining of cold hands during runs) and Ritter chocolate (one of the best), and for the chicken curry you made (still cooking)

And thank you little guy who told me this morning: "Don't worry mommy, I will make you feel better!". Love the peacefulness when he sleeps. I may or may not have recorded him on my i-phone while he was sleeping last night.

Can you tell I am happy? Really life is good!

A thin line

2011-01-17T14:34:00.000-08:00

I am a true believer that the longer you've been training hard in a sport (lets say running or triathloning), the less chances that you are going to have a major injury (e.g., stress fracture), or any injury at all. This is likely a combination of getting wiser (hard a$$ runners tend to get stress fracture early on because they, we, want to run hard all the time, and even use running harder to get over a hard but not so good run) and physically tougher (I read somewhere, I think in Lore of running, about how it takes about 1 year of running for the muscles to get stronger, 2-3 for tendons, and 4-5 for bones).

So why am I thinking about this today?

I consider myself wiser at mind and tougher at body, at least as compared to my 2008 "nothing can break me, I am going to run fast every time cause the faster I run the faster I race" self. My 2 stress fractures were fairly traumatizing, and it took me a couple of years to go from running only 3 days, to 4, to 5 and now to 6. I went from megalomania to insecurity in a matter of 2 stress fractures.

Since then, I have been injury free and running double the mileage I peaked at for my first marathon. I am also swimming and biking a ton. I learnt about alternating hard and easy days, and I am religious about it for the most part. The "most part" is where the trouble is. I am getting pretty lax in this "most part". Take this weekend, 15 fairly hard miles (my unrealistic HM pace is really more my realistic 10K pace), 3 hours muscle endurance+speed skills bike followed by a 4 mile MP run, a mile swim, and 30 min strength. Then today 10 miles with 4 miles of speedwork, and 45 min bike. Do you see what I see? Three hard days in a row!

My butt hurt me during the run this morning. The pain radiated from the butt to the calf, and it stopped when I ran, but returned when I slowed down for recovery during intervals. The pain was more of an ache, and it is most likely overuse (dah!!!). I foamed it, iced it and stretched it and it is much better now. Still this is a reminder that I really, really need to have hard and easy days, and stop overloading the weekend, even though the weekend is where I have the most time. My body is tougher, but it is still a body, it can get injured. And my mind needs to stay wise and keep up the megalomania-insecurity balance that has kept me healthy for the past 2 years!

Adventures in snowland

2011-01-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, New England was hit with bunches of snow on Wednesday. My clinic got cancelled and I got to spend the day with my family trying not to stress over how I was going to fit 3 days of work into 2. To take my mind off of this, Petru and I attempted sledding in our backyard. We bundled up, but once outside realized that poor Petru was covered in snow up to his neck. I made a path for us, sled a few times to make a sledding path, and then the fun began. Chris, then the neighbors joined in and it was a blast! I love to behave like a 5 year old, and I am very good at it, since you asked! After a while everyone went inside for lunch and I escaped for my run attempt. I had 6 easy miles and was determined to get them in. The bike path was covered in snow, so I ran the miles on the road, which was actually not bad bc there were few cars aside from the snow plows! Score! Running was more challenging on Thursday, when I had 10 miles with 15X90 sec fast. I got stuck at work late, and the roads were busy, icy and narrow. I ran v slow having to stop a lot to let cars go by. I ended up finding a parking lot to do the repeats, but I called it a day after 10 repeats. I was pissing people off, and I got the message. By the time I got home I was a mess, covered in slush from head to toe (there was slush in my hair from the careless Boston drivers).

Today I wanted to make up for some lost mileage this week and planned for 15 miles. We are in New Hampshire at my in laws' house for part of the weekend, which means I had to run by the ocean. Pretty but cold. I wanted to run some HM pace miles, so I planned on 5.5 easy, 4HMP, 5.5 easy. I ended up running 5.5 @ sub MP, 4@ HMP, and 5.5 sub MP, with the last mile at HMP. All in all, a pretty decent average pace. There were a few breaks, to tie my shoe laces, to get some hot water from a bakery (since my water bottles froze), but I take it! I call this run the foot in the door technique run, where I give myself permission to go slow and once I hit a certain pace I am almost there so really, I should not slow down. It works. I think I run better when I don't put pressure on myself to hold a certain pace, and just let myself run.

So not a lot of run mileage this week, but I did put in a lot of biking, so that should be good. We've also been dealing with a head cold that comes and goes, v weird, but like Chris says "you never let a cold slow you down". We are off to a lovely dinner with a Tunisian theme. I am not a foodie, but am excited for the company. And dessert, of course! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Update, bullet point style

2011-01-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

I feel like posting this evening, but I don't have any organization to what I want to say. I am posting anyway, because, really, I can do whatever I want on this blog. That's only one of the sweet perks of blogging!

* I am putting in a lot of swim/bike/run hours. I feel they are paying off. I feel I am a much stronger swimmer. I am not swimming much, only 3Xweek for 1 mile, but I have been using swim cords as well, and I feel they help a ton with form and strength. I am also more consistent in the water, more confident, more secure. I am not sure whether these will translate in speed, but for now I am happy. In February I will start my official HIM training plan, and my swimming mileage will go up. I am also feeling both stronger and more comfortable on the bike. I have been doing a few 3 hour rides, and yesterday I had my first brick of the year, 3 hour bike followed by 4.5 mile run, both comfortable, like I could have kept going. My legs felt great on the run. Not sure if it is the new bike, or the strength I have gained, or that maybe I am going to easy on the trainer? Who knows. For now my bike workouts have been focusing on force, speed skills and endurance. This week I will incorporate muscular endurance as well. I am doing a lot of big chain, low RPM stuff, as well as low gear high RPM. And did I mention I love my bike? And no saddle issues? Yup, even when I use tri shorts. On the other hand, I am a bit scared about riding outdoors on the tri bike. I am happy it is icy out and I have an excuse not to ride outside. I know I'll adjust, but I am terrified of accidents. Boston drivers are, hmmm, famous! And running, I have no idea how running is going. Seriously. Some days I feel fast, but other days I feel that my HM goal pace is a bit unrealistic. I won't worry about it now, though, as I am really enjoying training and racing low key. I also realize that as much as I love this blog, I really should not be concerned with what you guys think of my race times. And I am not for the most part, but sometimes I am, and I need to change that. Do I have unconditional acceptance from blogland? LOL.

* Last week I discovered NPR's "All songs considered", and have downloaded some pretty awesome music, like one of Wilco's concerts and Liz Phair's 2008 anniversary of "Exile from Guyville". Really good stuff!

* This Saturday I watched a swim meet at our Y. It was amazing. Did you know that little kids breath every 7-8 strokes? And their little hands are moving so fast! No fear for those youngsters. The 5 year olds were absolutely amazing. I wanted to hug each of them. With the older kids, you could really see how technique makes such a big difference, but with the little kids it was all guts!Inspirational!

* My name was in Sunday's Boston Globe, a friend saw it and called me up. I felt a bit guilty bc they posted that the race was 5 miles and my time was 31:31. The time was correct but the race was short. Something not right about that. But, I was not the only woman who raced the 5 miler, the paper prints the name of the first 5 male and females, and there were 4 other women behind me, so at least 1/5 (LOL). Will go back there on Saturday, I think.

Not much else. Looking forward to a huge snowstorm on Wednesday (jk!).

Saturday snowy run

2011-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

I had a plan to run another 5K today, but we got snow and I did not think going sub 20 in these conditions would be possible. Good thing I did not preregister. Instead, I did something I had wanted to do for a long time. I ran the 5 mile race in Fresh Pond. This is a low key, free weekly race. I did not treat this as a race, mainly because I did not want to run a slow warm up. So I ended up running 5 miles @MP to the race site, went into the little visitor center to peel a layer or two (I love to be cold when I race), and looked around me. Everyone seemed so hard core. Everyone had zero body fat. There were only a couple of women, and they were both stretching in various cirque du soleil type movements. Oh, and I showed up with my ipod and water belt. Yes, noone else had any of those. Seriously. I felt so out of place.

At 10 am we all went outside. It was snowing pretty hard by that time. My plan was to run planned HM pace and not exceed 185 average HR. The course is a 2 loop around the pond. The course is short. I finished (per Garmin) in 31:23, which was only 4.65 per Garmin (not 5), 1 minute below HMP, 185 average HR. It was a good effort, negative split, lots of nausea during the last mile but somehow I managed to keep my breakfast in (this time I ate cereal and coffee about 2 hours before the race, so, yeah, well deserved!). Good effort, and I was not trashed like I am after races, which means I could have easily ran faster. Good. I was the 8th person overall and first woman (probably the other women did the 2.5 race), so 1 out of 1, very impressive, lol. Oh, and I ran the race entirely alone. There was a pack of young men who I only saw for a minute or so, and the people behind me were far away.

After the race I dragged myself home and ran 5 really slow miles not allowing myself to go over 160 heart rate. The icebath was the last thing I wanted to do, but my hamstrings have been tight lately and so I ended up going in. And the spinach and laughing cow cheese omelet with homemade bread never tasted this good. I love winter running. And I have a feeling the Fresh Pond races are going to become part of my Saturday run.

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-05T15:56:00.001-08:00

I am one of the few who has not posted any New Years goals. The truth is, my life is pretty good and if I could keep things as they are now I would absolutely do it. I love my work. I love my family.

I love this little guy. I wish he could stay 5 years old forever.

And I love my husband, (especially when he makes whole wheat bread like this).

And I like who I am. I am comfortable in my skin. I don't need to be better, more of this or of that. I don't need to live life for someone else. I see how fragile, uncertain, and difficult life could be, every single day in my work. I am lucky and I don't take that for granted. Of course at times I wish my legs were smaller, or that the frown line I developed from running hard or worrying over this and that would go away, or that I could move to San Diego, but are these really things to stress about? No, not worth it!

So maybe a goal is to keep life as is, keep up the balance of work, family and running/triathlon. And of course I want those PRs, and I want to move closer to those goals on the right hand side of this blog. But I am in no rush, despite the fact that with every year that passes it will get harder and harder to get faster. I know the body needs time to adjust, and I know you can't push things too much too soon. I really enjoy my training, learning about how my body responds to training, developing a feel for the water, holding a sub 7 pace for longer than I have ever held it before, even spending 3 hours on my trainer early on a Sunday morning. So it's all good over here. I feel I am in the right place!

Lowell First Run 1.1.11 5K race report

2011-01-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

Stats:
Garmin (official results not posted yet).

Distance: 3:18
Time: 20:23
Pace: 6:26 pace
Average HR 182
Place: 1st woman overall!

I was v nervous going into this race. I spiked a fever Thursday afternoon, and felt out of sorts Friday, too. The 3 of us went to Lowell on Saturday morning, and I felt fine. We got there early so that I could run the course as a warm up. I have been reading a lot about how important warm ups are in 5ks, and I think it made the race easier for me. Part of the reason why I wanted to run the course, was to see the Garmin mileage. I was pleasantly surprised to see that miles 1, 2, and 3 were right on with my Garmin. I was thrilled. But then the .1 turned into a .19! I was pissed. I talked to a race official who was hanging around the finish, and he confirmed that they had to add to the 5K so that the finish would be out of the way of the 10K race, which was 2 loops of the 5K...

After a few minutes of pity party I told myself to just go and run. The weather was gorgeous. I was wearing shorts. The course was the flattest possible, only 2 small hills in mile 1. It was 1/1/11. My boys were there with me. How awesome to race on such a day!

And off we went..

Mile 1: 6:24
I felt really good on this mile. I wanted it to be comfortable and I did not push the pace, even though lots of people were in front of me. I passed a woman on a hill, but otherwise, I was surrounded by men. It was....kind of fun:)

Mile 2: 6:17
I continued to feel great. I only looked at the average pace, which turned into 6:20 by the end of this mile. I ran step for step with a young men, and that made it fun.

Mile 3: 6:33
As the mile started, I felt great. My watch continued to tell me 6:20, and I knew that if I maintained it, I would be close to breaking 20 min even on a 3.2 course. But around 2.5 mile, I felt this awful nausea, and withing a minute I vomited chunks of oatmeal that I had eaten for breakfast 5 hours before the race. I continued to gag and vomit for the rest of the race, and slowed down in the process.

.17 (funny how it was .19 when I first ran it, and .17 in the race): 6:50
The gagging continued but I kept telling myself to just run, not overreact, because, really, nothing bad can happen. Right as I finished mile 3 I saw 19:02 in the official clock, but after that I stopped paying attention to the pace or time. I wanted to be done. As I turned the corner, with less than .1 to the finished, I slipped on ice and fell on my side. I immediately got up and ran to the finish, while hearing the announcer saying that I was first woman overall.

So I am not disappointed I did not break 20:00. On an accurate course, a 6:26 pace would have meant 19:56. I know only official results matter, but for me a Garmin result is just as good. Of course, I will continue trying to get an official sub 20, and I know I will. I am v close:)

What frustrates me is the nausea and vomiting that plague me in 5Ks. This time I ate 5 hours before the race, and that clearly was not enough. Aerobically I felt fine. My legs felt fine. HR for the first 2 miles was 175, which is about 10 beats below what my average HR is when I run hard. The higher HR for the last mile (182) and the last .17 was probably a bit of anxiety bc of the vomiting and gagging. So I am fit enough to get a sub 20:00, but my stomach is not. Suggestions? Thoughts? Should I run on an empty stomach (no breakfast)? Should I warm up even longer than 3 miles with strides?

2010 in review

2010-12-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

2010 was good to me!
* I ran, biked and swam a ton.
* I raced my first Half Ironman.
* I ran 2X65+ mile weeks.
* I got over my water phobia.
* I swam over 2+hours/time in open water by myself.
* I had my longest bike ride to date, 77 miles.

Total:
RUN: 2,278.17 miles
BIKE:2,929 miles
SWIM: 133.45

And now the month by month roll...

January 2010
RUN:199.1 miles
BIKE:0 miles
SWIM:10.25 miles
Highlights: I ran the Boston prep Derry 16 miler, one of the toughest races I have ever run (if not the toughest), and had a blast. I'll be back there this year.

February 2010
RUN:192.5 miles
BIKE:0 miles
SWIM:12 miles

March 2010
RUN:218 miles
BIKE: 50 miles
SWIM:9.75 miles
Highlights: I ran the Quincy Half Marathon, and finished 3rd woman overall with a 1:32:56, a 7+ minute PR.

April 2010
RUN: 119.57
BIKE:90
SWAM:15.5
Highlights: I ran Boston 2010 and had my first race that did not go as planned. I've learned a lot during this race, and I no longer take good races for granted.

May 2010
RUN:166.2
BIKE:545.5
SWAM:15.75
Highlights: I ran MOM's 5K, did not break 20:00, but managed to finish in 20:12 on a hilly course, good enough for 3rd woman overall. I tried again at Mystic 5K and finished with the same result on flat but long course.

June 2010
RUN: 182.1 miles
BIKE: 398.5 miles
SWIM:19.5 miles
Highlights: I raced in the Tri the Lake sprint triathlon and finished as 3rd woman overall with a 1:15: 23.

July 2010
RUN:234.5 miles
BIKE:465 miles
SWIM:16.7 miles

August 2010
RUN:181.25 miles
BIKE:520 miles
SWIM:20.50 miles
Highlights: I raced the Vermont Half Journey, my first 70.3, and finished in 5:35:30, good enough for 2nd place AG 30-39.

September 2010
RUN:222.35 miles
BIKE:0 miles
SWIM:3.25 miles

October 2010
RUN:152.1 miles
BIKE:65 miles
SWIM: 6 miles
Highlights: I raced the Baystate marathon and finished in 3:19:32, a 10+ minute PR, 5th woman AG 30-39.

November 2010
RUN:189.5 miles
BIKE: 350 miles
SWIM:13 miles
Highlights: I purchased my tri bike Cannondale Slice 4!

December 2010
RUN: 221 miles
BIKE: 445 miles
SWIM: 11.75 miles

Happy New Year! I'll be back in January with a race report!

Christmas

2010-12-26T15:06:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas away from home, in good old North Carolina, with Chris's brother and his family. We did not really do much aside from hanging out, and playing games (from 5 y old games to preteen Xbox games). We even had a kareoke night - that was the only ab workout I did the entire vacation, all from laughter:)

We've had some amazing, simple meals, lots of desserts and chocolate (of course), and even a few presents. I mentioned this before, but we do a really small Christmas, mostly kid focused. I don't want a special occasion in order to get something that I want, and I don't want Christmas to be about presents. I also don't want Petru to be presents crazed:) We all slept in until 8am, had huge mugs of coffee and slices of Panettone and watched the kids get excited opening up their presents. Petru got the marble set he wanted and he was super excited. I feel a little funny about the Santa thing...he asks lots of questions over and above what a 5 y old should ask (e.g., does Santa have kids, what happens if Santa dies, how come Santa can be in so many places at once, etc, etc). I get the magic of it, but I dislike the deceit that comes with it. Anyway, we got away with it for the year.

As far as my workouts, there weren't that many. I did not bike at all. I only swam 1 mile with my niece. I ran every day and quite a lot. I felt rather slow and heavy during those runs, but I got them in and actually enjoyed them. I feel that my biking is making my stride too short (probably in my head!). I am super excited to get back on track this week. I missed my bike. I can't wait to get on it. Except schools are closed tomorrow and I work crazy hours Tuesday and Wednesday, so I doubt any biking will happen until Thursday! But I am excited for some sledding tomorrow and seeing some of Petru's little friends running around the house!

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

NC workouts

2010-12-23T17:25:00.000-08:00

I did the run today. In shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. No hat. In December. Yup, it's called Charlotte, North Carolina. Temps were in the low 40s this morning, but since I like to run cold, I was very comfortable during my run today. It was a bit funny because I got a few looks from other runners who were bundled up with hats, tights and jackets.

I took yesterday off from exercise due to work and then traveling, and I expected the legs to feel fresh. They did not. They took a lot to warm up. I ran 2 easy miles and then started my 6 miles @ planned HM pace. The first one was really hard, 6:57. The second was still hard but I managed to kick the pace down to 6:45, where it needed to be. The third almost killed me, HR was 189, and I decided to take a 1min rest (3rd mile 6:39). Fourth mile felt OK, 6:30, fifth mile OK, too, 6:44, and sixth mile was once again rough, 6:42. 2X3miles, average 6:46, HR 181. I am happy with my decision to take the break. I think it is more important for me right now to develop a feel for the pace, rather than run more miles at a slightly slower pace.

I finished the run with 2 easy miles (faster than my warm up miles but much easier effort-wise).

Not sure how to feel about the run. It was hard, much harder than I expected. My legs felt tired. My breathing was labored at times. Part of the reason, I think, was that the course was all rolling, no big hills, but constant climbs. The other part is that I obviously am in no shape right now to run a sub 1:30 half. There is still time, and I'll be working on it.

In the afternoon I went to the pool with my sister in law and my niece, who at 13 is a uber swimmer and runner (ran a sub 23 5K last summer). She kept giving us workouts and drills the entire time. We had a blast. The swim was much needed since I did not swim this Saturday, and boy did I feel slow and heavy in the water.

I am having a ball here celebrating a low stress Christmas holiday with family! Hope you are having a great one, too!

Off to North Carolina

2010-12-21T17:44:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we are off to North Carolina to celebrate Christmas with Chris's brother and his family. I am really excited to see them, and to watch Petru play with his older cousins.

This trip came at such a good time. It's cold in Boston and we got snow yesterday. My easy 10 miler this evening was..hard. I am finally understanding the importance of having a stiff stride. I was sliding all over the place and an 8:40 pace seemed HARD. Also, my legs are trashed. I have been biking a lot lately. A lot for me. A lot on the big ring. Probably more than I should at this stage, but I have the time now and won't have it later, so I am banking some biking miles. I've been getting on my bike almost everyday lately, and have also banked a couple of 3h rides. I am really enjoying "Workouts in a binder" and am really never bored on the trainer. Trash TV helps too, of course. And Slice is becoming more and more comfortable:) But all this biking on top of running and swimming has left my legs sore and tired. So 4 forced days off of riding are going to be great for me. Unfortunately I will not be able to swim at all this week, but it's all good. I'll be refreshed by the end of the week.

Thursday is a big test for me. 10 miles with 6 at my overoptimistic half marathon pace. I am nervous. I'm never nervous about training runs, but I am this time. Silly, I know.

Happy Holiday! And my Secret Santa recipient, please let me know if you received my little gift!

Heart rate and Thank you Jenn!

2010-12-19T17:34:00.000-08:00

Last week I started using the heart monitor that came with my Garmin. I wore it on Thursday for my 10 miler with 2X15 @ 10k/HM pace run. It was very cold, the run seemed harder than it should have felt. My HR average was 184 and 186, with 188 peak! Wow! On Saturday I ran 13 with last 20 min hard, and HR average was 182. I did not push the hard, and I knew the HR would be lower. Now I know the idea of using a heart rate monitor is to make sure you don't blow up. But how about building tolerance to sustain a high HR? Would practicing to tolerate HR of 180-188 for extended periods of time be helpful? I am really excited about my upcoming 5K because I want to know what my HR will be. I am a nerd for numbers. Interestingly, when I did my testing in the pool this week (3X300m, average the time) my HR was only 144-150, even though I was working hard. Hmm...
___________

On Friday I came home to a big red box from Minnesota. Inside I found these presents from Jenn. Now, Jenn is one of my favorite bloggers. I admire her dedication, her no excuse type attitude, and her honesty. She knows who she is and does not try to be who she is not. She is super smart and a super fast marathoner. And did I mention she is hot, like really hot? She writes a funny blog and you should check it out!

OK...so Jenn hand wrote little funny notes on each of the presents. We always do this in my family, Jenn, how did you know that? I love, love, love the presents, Jenn. Thank you so much! The chocolate is gone (of course), and I wore the shirt today - love it! I've never tried Accelarade or Power gel, but I tried and love Pumpkin spice cliff bars. And the headphones...too funny!
And Jill, who organized this gift exchange for over 80 bloggers, double thank you for the best Secret Santa:)

E21 triathlon team, update on saddle issues, chocolate & liqueur

2010-12-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

E21 triathlon team rocks, and I am I part of it! How awesome! I am really excited about this for many reasons, some of which being:
* I believe in natural electrolytes and you can't get more natural than E21 pills (unless you want to carry with you bananas, salty pretzels, and a ton of other fruits and veggies).
* Although I get a lot of support from blogland, it will be special to be part of a triathlon team to share training stories and advice.
* I get free stuff, I love free stuff.

Saddle issues are much, much better already. I think I am passed the initial shock. Chris was a little concerned when I told him about my problems last night...lets just say he wondered how this will impact..."things" (he knows my priorities!). I was a little concerned myself given that the bike was rather expensive. But today I managed to spend 90min on Slice, relatively pain free, all but 10 min in aero. I like quick progress. Slice and I are all good now!

Chocolate & liqueur
Those who know me are aware that I rarely drink alcohol. I never drink wine or beer. I don't like the taste. So last Friday our good friends brought these for dessert and left them with us.

.. After trying Grand Marnier, cognac, rum, ..,(yes, one or two per day) I am convinced that I did not like alcohol in the past because it was not paired with chocolate. Alcohol + chocolate = divine! Happiness in a chocolate bottle! Unfortunately I am down to 2 bottles of wiskey....hm, I hope Santa brings some more!