Adventures at the gym, hills, & Rocky sighting!

First things first: a new banner for a new year/decade!  The picture is from this race, my first foray into the 3000m/"long distance" track events.  In case you were wondering, the girl in yellow tripped me ~600 m into the race and I went down hard, but don't worry, I later lapped her. :)  Anyway...I don't really know, I was just kind of bored of my old header and there's a fun photo editing program on facebook so I was like...woo hoo I'll make a new one!  So there it is..enjoy!

So a few weeks ago, I joined a gym in the hopes of being able to rehab my stubborn IT band issue and have a place to be able to cross train throughout this marathon training cycle, especially if my knee problems start to flare up.  To be honest, gyms [and the people who frequent them] generally freak me out...I feel like I'm of such a different mindset than people at gyms who work out just for the sake of working out [as opposed to training] that when I see someone like...doing like 15 seconds of abs and being done, or talking on their phone while meandering on the elliptical it kind of bothers me....yes...elitist running attitude talking, sorry :)  But lo and behold, while some of the people are irritating and the whole "gym" concept is still bizzare to me, I can't lie - I really like it.  Some things that I have been enjoying/adventures that I've been having:

-personal training: so I get 2 free sessions with my new membership, and I was initially SUPER skeptical - I've heard stories about people going to trainers who are like "don't run so much, running actually isn't that good for you, blah de blah".  But it actually was kind of cool!  I get the impression that most people who sign up for personal training are really out of shape, because the girl seemed perplexed as to why I wanted to try personal training [because it's free, DUH!].  In my first session I learned a couple things to strengthen my glutes [which apparently are the weakest part of my legs, fail!] and some pretty killer ab exercises.

-yoga class: ummm I'm really nerdily excited about this one.  Yesterday I swam 2000 yards [which was pretty ballin' and I was proud of myself, hehe].  There was a random yoga class starting 15 minutes after I got out of the pool and I figured why not?  I do enjoy working out for multiple hours a day....well WOW I am totally on the bandwagon.  It was so fantastic....I feel like I actually know a little bit more about yoga than I thought I did, because I actually knew quite a few of the poses.  It was relaxing at points, but also felt like a bit of a strength workout too - and it was pretty hilarious to see the strength imbalance between my right and left legs...something that I didn't know existed, ummm yeah, it's there.  We were doing all these lunges/balance poses and on my right leg it was like..yup, no problem! On the left leg? I was falling over and failing and it was just ridiculous.  So...no wonder I got ITBS in my left leg only?  Anyway - I really enjoyed the class, and I think I'm going to add it to my weekly routine.  Yay for non-dorky group fitness! [sorry Zumba fans, that is sooo not my style...]

-swimming: pretty self explanatory, but the fact that the place had a pool was a big factor in me going there instead of a cheaper place. Swimming is my second favorite cardio activity after running, and I figure I might as well start off my base for my triathlon future now, right?  The best thing is when I was younger, I SUCKED at swimming.  I didn't get to move up to the next level of swim lessons when I was like 8 because I wasn't good enough [the instructor, Tammy, was also a beeyotch!]  But I guess I figured it out somewhere along the line!

-fun toys:  there are lots of fun toys to 'play' with at the gym - medicine balls, exercise balls, bosu balls, etc.  But my personal fave is [surprise surprise] the magical, all-powerful FOAM ROLLER.  Seriously, sometimes I feel like it's worth my $79/month membership just to be able to go there everyday and foam roll the crap out of myself [yes, I realize I could also buy one for like $20...whatevs].  It has worked wonders on my IT band, and I've also been enjoying experimenting with it on the rest of my muscles after a run...it just hurts so gooood.

As far as running is concerned - 4 days in to Boston training and I am so freaking happy - I actually am starting to feel like myself again, as opposed to like my body has been hijacked by a slower, injured, fail-person. On Tuesday I had my first "workout" of the cycle - 2 mile warmup, 6 x 1 minute hill repetitions @ 3K effort, and 2 mile cooldown.  So which hill do I pick? Obiviously the MASSIVE one near my house with what I found out is a 10.6% grade...why do I do these things to myself.   The workout sounded pretty easy on paper, but a minute lasts a REALLY long time when it's being taken up by running at 3K effort uphill, gah!  I used my power hour playlist to keep track of time so that was kind of fun and prevented me from looking at my watch every 4.6 seconds.  I also think I may have been scolded by an old man for doing a farmer's blow into a snowbank?  Haha I have no idea actually what he said [loud music], but he looked disapproving lol. I actually hit the same pace [6:40] for all the hills and I am amazed by the fact that a) I didn't slow down over the workout and b) that's actuallly vaguely close to my 3K pace! Rockin'.

Wednesday was an XT day, then today I had 8 miles on the schedule.  Once again after a 7.5 hour workday, I was sooo not in the mood to run.  But since I'm now officially a slave to the training calendar, I had to get out there [color coded calender = best idea ever...I swear it looks at me like that money with eyes in those Geico commercials...all I need is that song haha] And it was such a great run! So....I managed to sort of jack up my OTHER knee over the weekend [I may or may not have jammed it when I slipped in the snow while chasing a dog down a hill at work...true story, ugh] and I was a little worried about how it was going to respond to 8 miles, but it didn't bother me while running...and honestly, if it doesn't hurt when I'm running, it's all good!  At one stoplight, I looked across the street and there was this guy in grey sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt bouncing around and doing like...boxing punches while waiting for the light.  I almost burst out laughing...he just looked awkward, but then all of a sudden I thought ROCKY! and it made me giggle even harder haha.   All we needed was someone to drive by playing "Eye of the Tiger" and we would have been set.  My attempt at running slow failed...7:51 pace overall...which is even more of an indication that I'm finally getting back to my true running self. :)

Well I was going to do one of those "decade in review" deals that everyone seems to be doing lately [I totally forgot it was a new decade, then again I DID write my year in review post in a state of extreme sleep deprivation/caffienation so who even knows what I spewed out haha] but this is already pretty long...so I think I'll save that for tomorrow. Happy Friday & Happy Running!

1000 Awesome Things #601: Getting Through It

1000 Awesome Things #601: Getting Through It

I just read this, and I absolutely love this post...

Your dreams are still focusing and your passion is growing. Your energy is still bubbling and your story keeps going.

Hard to believe it's a new decade already. I have so much to be thankful for,and it's been a wonderful year...2009 was for sure one of the best I've ever had...and I'm hoping 2010 can live up to it!  Happy 2010 to all, and to all a good night! :)

show me your he♥rt

I tried to do this little game thing like a month ago, but couldn't get the formatting right...but I decided in honor of 2 awesome years with the BF, I would try to make it work today. :) the name of the game is:

with as much creativity as you can muster, show your he♥rt in: a picture, poem, a song (or piece of music), a phrase (or quote), an item of clothing, a place, and (just for fun) a disney princess.

So...here we go!

Picture:

This pic was taken ~2 days after the BF and I started dating, and to this day it's still one of my favorites of the two of us. I worked a little photo editing magic on it last year so it brings out the other heart in the picture...Badger red!

Poem:

"The Song of the Ungirt Runners" by Charles Hamilton Sorley
We swing ungirded hips
and lightened are our eyes
the rain is on our lips
we do not run for prize
we know not whom we trust
nor witherward we fare
but we run because we must
through the great, wide air

The waters of the sea
are troubled by the storm
the tempest strips the leaves
and does not leave them warm
does the tearing tempest pause?
do the treetops ask it why?
so we run without a cause
'neath the big, bare sky

The rain is on our lips
we do not run for prize
but the storm the water whips
and the wave howls to the skies
the winds arise and strike it
and scatter it like sand
and we run because we like it
through the broad, bright land

Song: "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey [at first I thought this one was going to be hard, and then I realized it was a TOTAL no brainer! :)]

Quote: "Every passion has it's destiny." ~Billy Mills

Clothing: My Wisconsin Track Club jacket that I designed and distributed out of my dorm room as a freshman...such a ridiculous undertaking, but I adore that jacket. And the WTC! You can also just ignore how ridiculous I look in this picture...it was at a very cold XC meet...

Place: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI

I decided to make this one NOT involve running...there is nothing in this world like BADGER GAMEDAY!

Disney Princess: Jasmine! Mostly just because I was her for Halloween...and she's pretty badass :)My friend's cat was "Rajah"...the BF was Aladdin...obviously :)

So there you have it...that was fun! Anyone who actually reads this blog and hasn't done it already...go ahead, it was a good time. :)

In other news, I ran for 35 minutes today with NO KNEE PAIN!! After my endless frustrations the past couple of weeks, I decided to take a few days off, and then just start running every day and adding on a little time each day, seeing how much my leg would take. I also vowed to STOP if I started feeling any pain at all because obviously that would just make things worse. I started out with 20 minutes, when that was cool I moved up to 25, then today I mean to go for 30 minutes but it...uh...*accidentally* turned into 35. I took it pretty easy but I was thrilled that I had zero signs of the problems I've been having lately. I'm still cautiously optimistic and am going to try to rein in my glee this coming week and keep things to 45 minutes or so and easy...but I think as far as I can tell...I'm Back! With a stretching and massage regimen to add to my training fun. :)

I was actually thinking about it, and I realized that the last time I had IT band problems, it was in a similar situation - right after XC season ended, so I had just finished a pretty hard training cycle with a lot of miles, and I was just running suuuper easy...then it flared up! From everything I've read on it, ITBS generally flares up when you increase mileage too fast...not decrease it...so either I'm some kind of mutant or my body just really, REALLY loves running lots and lots of miles...I think I'll take the latter. :)

I was lucky enough to celebrate 2 years with the BF last night and it was just perfect. Last year we went out for dinner at a super expensive restaurant, but obviously this year we're slightly poorer haha. So we decided to go out to dinner at the Sunset, which is a bar/restaurant that we've been to to drink [cuz...ya know...like 500 different types of beer!] but never to eat. We got dressed up even though it's kind of a casual place and had just a wonderful time sampling a couple of beers [including a blueberry ale that came with real blueberries in it...YUM!], eating, and then coming home and just hanging out and watching some episodes of Lost. Pretty low key, but wonderful.

I've generally been in a much better mood this week than the past couple...finally starting to get over this injury has helped a lot...seriously, being able to run does WONDERS for my personal happiness. :) I'm also excited about the gorgeous fall weather that we've been having...I LOVE crispy weather between like 40 and 55 with the leaves falling and just that fall smell! I feel like I've taken so many stupid internet surveys over the years that ask "what's your favorite season?" and I could never decide, but I think I can definitively say now: I LOVE FALL!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Marathon on my radar

I'm running a marathon in 5 weeks, didn't you hear?

I put up that stupid little countdown box on the side of this today, and all of a sudden it was like...crap, am I ACTUALLY running a marathon in 1 month and 6 days? That isn't possible! I'm not ready! I won't be ready! I haven't really been training for a marathon...have I?

Oh, wait...

I guess when I started off on this marathon training business, I thought it would somehow be fundamentally different from all the other training I've done in my life. But really, it hasn't been. I mean, yes, I've been doing more mileage and longer runs and not racing as much and keeping the easy peasy short runs to a minimum...but essentially, I don't feel like I'm doing much different than I would have done in any summer of base training...a little higher mileage obviously, but the basic fact of just throwing myself out the door 6 days a week and getting my run in remains the same. So I guess maybe this is why I'm feeling kind of apprehensive with only 5 weeks to go...it's like, I KNOW I've put in the training, but I don't feel like I have? Does that make any sense? I just don't feel like I've done anything earth-shattering and in a way I feel like I should have, as I'm trying to conquer this ridiculous distance. Or maybe I just feel this way since I haven't done a LONG long run in awhile thanks to moving...perhaps 18+ miles on Sunday will change my mind...:) Either way, the marathon is now officially on my radar [and I've also had the Britney Spears song of the same name in my head for some reason today, hence the title of this post].

Speaking of which, I MIGHT hit 60 miles this week!! If not, something very close like 58. And it's ridiculous, because that will be my highest mileage ever and my legs are feeling freaking awesome this week...so I really don't know what's going on there. Training finally starting to pay off? Who knows. I also had a really great run today with an old WTC friend/coach at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, which I think is at the top of my list for favorite places to run here so far. It's a 1.5 mile loop around the reservoir on a dirt path [yay for not running on cement] and it's pretty and I loooove it! We did a fartlek sort of thing, doing 5 minutes at around 10K pace, 5 minutes easy, and for the first time in I don't even know how long, I felt fast! And strong! It was like...uh...excuse me? Where has this been the past few weeks? Maybe it's the cooler weather, or maybe it's running at 8 am [yes, I dragged myself out of bed...impressive I know] but I was feeling good! So that was nice, who doesn't need a little confidence boost once in awhile? It was also just fantastic to see a familiar face and have someone to run with...I'm doing my long run on Sunday with her and another woman and I can't WAIT to actually have people to run with [and talk to, and keep me from running at suicidal paces] on a long run!

And finally, on a non running related note, the BF and I discovered a bar here that has 112 beers on tap, and 380 bottles. No, you didn't read that wrong. Over 500 different types of beer. Plus amazing pizza, and lots of specials. I was pretty much speechless when I walked in...you would think with Wisconsin being a state known for its beer that they would have created a place like that by now...but nope, here in Boston is where it exists. Sadly, the only 3 Wisco beers featured were Leine's Sunset Wheat, Leine's Berry Weiss, and Miller Lite - not a very good representation, I would say. :P But there are more than enough amazing looking options to keep this bar as my new #1 place to go for...uh..."recovery" drinks. :)

Well, I may or may not be doing another early run tomorrow morning, because I need to get my 5-7 miles in before noon...Badger game kickoff! Thanks to the glory of the UW Alumni Association, we have a bar to meet at and a place to watch the game!! GAMEDAY: still the best thing ever, even when you're 1000 miles away from Madison. :)

I'm here!

Things I already adore about Boston:
-Basically the city itself. It's BEAUTIFUL, so many old buildings, green space everywhere, cute neighborhoods, history, but still a big city feel...basically, everything I could ever want in a city. I love it!
-My apartment. I'm pretty sure that the BF and I have more space in this 1 bedroom than we did in any of our previous places. The living room is enormous, as is the kitchen, and I have an entire HUGE walk in closet all to myself, which has become essentially my haven for all of my running stuff, since I'm sure the BF wouldn't be thrilled with my race numbers and medals and other crap cluttering up the rest of what actually looks like a "grown-up" house.
-The fact that I can go on an easy 6-8 mile run and be downtown halfway through. Where have I ever lived where it's like "oh, I think I'll just go run downtown" like its no big deal? And there are runners EVERYWHERE. I can't wait to explore more running routes by the river/ocean.
-Oh, did I mention I live within running distance of the OCEAN?! Amazing.
-The subway/rail system...it is so easy to get anywhere and everywhere.
-The fact that I can be running downtown and see tourists all over the place and realize that I am not a tourist, but I LIVE here!
-Etc, etc, etc.

So basically, Boston is awesome already. Minus the fact that looking at pictures from the first WTC XC meet gave me a little pang of nostalgia, I love everything about this place already. The 18+ hour drive straight here? Not so much. Staying up for 30+ hours straight, spending half of that time driving a 16 foot truck, and eating nothing but coffee and whatever fast food junk could be found at travel plazas off of the turnpikes of various states was not the most amazing experience of my life. You know you're doing something ridiculous when it's 4 in the morning and you're dancing in a bizzarre caffiene-induced haze [I kid you not, 24 oz coffee + 12 oz coffee + 20 oz coffee + 2 Mountain Dews + caramel frappuchino = I'm not liable for anything I do] to Miley Cyrus somewhere on the Ohio turnpike, laughing at road names such as "Fangboner Road". Yes, it's a real road - look it up - apparently it's in Tremont, OH. Definitely a highlight of the trip, along with the giant semi truck that simply said JESUS in huge red letters on the side. Yeah...I really hope that's the last cross country drive I take for quite awhile.

The plus side of leaving at 6 pm on Friday was that I was able to get my run in on Friday, so I only was forced to take 2 days off this week and somehow managed to squeeze in just over 42 miles. Not a great showing of mileage, but all things considered, I'm pretty proud of myself. I got in 2 pretty strong workouts early in the week, and I had pretty much written off Thursday-Sunday, so the fact that I got in 3 runs during that time I'm pretty impressed with. Alas, that damn long run has been suffering. I need, need, NEED to get in at least 18 miles this weekend. Luckily, the one person I know here is doing 21 miles on Sunday, and while I'm not sure if I'm quite at that point yet (though I just might have to try, since, hello, marathon in like 6 weeks) it will at least motivate me to do my damn long run. By that point unpacking should be pretty much done, and if I've spent the next several days job hunting like a fiend I won't feel too bad about spending 3 hours of my Sunday running.

OK, well, I haven't done this in awhile since my internet the past few weeks have been questionable, but I'm FINALLY done living like a hobo so I can give the weekly rundown of my running!
Monday: off [planned]
Tuesday: Yasso 800s x 10 [total mileage: 10.2, average interval time 3:36]
Wednesday: 8.1 mile progression [7:26 avg] + 1.2 mile easy cooldown
Thursday: 7 miles easy [7:39 pace]
Friday: 7.25 miles easy [7:39 pace] - actually didn't realize until now that my pace was the same both days, sweet!
Saturday: off [spent the entire day driving, unpacking, and then passing the hell out after being awake for 36 hours. If that doesn't deserve a day off idk what does :)]
Sunday: 8.5 miles easy [7:30 pace] - I honestly was so enthralled by running through the city that I completely forgot what I was doing
Total miles: 42.2
Days off: 2

And also...August rundown! Not quite as good as July, but considering the circumstances I'm pretty impressed that my overall monthly mileage didn't drop that much.
Total miles: 181.3
Days off: 9 [I can only IMAGINE what my mileage totals would look like if I hadn't had to deal with moving/vacation and had been able to stick to my 6 days/week schedule...damn]

So onward to September! A new city, new running routes, and a month completely devoted to marathon training madness. Let's go!

All that you can't leave behind

Well it's been awhile again since I last posted...life has been relatively crazy with attempting to work, train, and get ready to move all at the same time. By far the worst part of that equation is moving - UGH what a pain. On Saturday (before the BF moved out) the two of us plus our other (cool) roommate spent the day making the kitchen, stairway, and bathrooms look cleaner than they were when we got here...and seriously, we succeeded! Buuuut problem with that is, now we have no shower curtains, not to mention I don't want to take a shower in the tub that I spend 2 hours cleaning...and all of my cooking stuff is packed away. So I've been living off microwave meals and showering at the SERF (campus rec center)...aka I am not a happy camper at the moment. Plus I am alone in my house, with random crap lying around from my other 3 roommates who seem to have moved out but left half of their stuff sitting in our living room and haven't cleaned anything...but wait! That's not what this blog is about! It's about running...so let's talk running. :)

Besides all the other stuff, this past week has not been the greatest on the running front. My one "quality" workout day turned out to be not-so-quality due to a late lunch that caused some major stomach issues on the tempo portion of my run [aka, nearly puking on the side of the bike path...lovely!] Afterward I was feeling better enough do do some circuits with one of my WTC buddies, which also turned out to be an awful idea as I was ungodly sore for 3 days afterwards and ended up taking an extra day off as a result - FAIL! None of the other runs from this week were particularly notable with the exception of my long run - another 16+ miler, and while this one was a bit slower, it was a morning run [ugh] and I may or may not have stayed out a bit too late the night before. Also, it poured the ENTIRE time which I wasn't excited about at the outset but turned out to be pretty fabulous. Running with my friend Claire for 12 of the 16 miles was great...it was such a nice change from just being lonely! Highlights of the run included being forced to climb under a fence to get to the trails we wanted to run on because they had been blocked off for a beer festival, and people trying to ID us as we just wanted to use the bubbler. Yes, sir, we are trying to break into a beer festival 3 hours before it starts wearing sports bras and shorts and soaking wet...obviously!

So anyway, here's the rundown of the week...not great, but whatever. We move on.
Monday: off (planned)
Tuesday: total miles was 7.65 with a 30 minute tempo run in the middle [giant fail thanks to my stomach. I was maybe rocking 7:30 pace during the tempo? So not good.]
Wednesday: 6.7 easy (7:25 pace. I don't really know if that's right though..) [oh yeah, I totally forgot I ended up cutting this run short too. Apparently I hadn't eaten enough on Tuesday or Wednesday because I felt dizzy and like my legs were shaking underneath me by mile 2. Unfortunately I didn't realize how much this would eff up my day until I was beyond the turning back point, but luckily there was a cutoff I could make to shorten the run at least by a mile or so. Still, a pretty worthless run.]
Thursday: off (unplanned = FAIL}
Friday: easy 8.5 (7:36 pace) [finally, a non suck-fest! I was planning on doubling this day but ended up doing all my miles at once because it was raining and I like rain :)]
Saturday: 16.6 long (8:23 pace) [marathon goal pace, hello!]
Sunday: 6.3 easy (7:38 pace)
Total miles: 45.7
Days off: 2 (FAIL)
Suckfests: 2 (Tues/Wed combo platter)

So the plan for this week, especially since last week kind of failed, is that its going to be a HARD week. I'm going up north with the BF next weekend and running a half marathon the weekend after that, so long runs are going to get a little sketchy with how long they actually are. This is fine, since I'm still plenty of ways out from marathon day, but nevertheless I want to put my miles in when I can. Yesterday was my day off of running, but I decided to take to the pool and swim a mile...which turned into a mile and a quarter because I was feeling that good...without stopping! I really, really enjoy swimming. It's such a nice change, especially when its hot out, to just be in the water, and I feel badass when I just keep going and going and going as people around me keep stopping for breaks. Thanks, distance runner's cardiac system!

Today I did a 9 miler which was kind of rough, due, AGAIN, to stomach problems...seriously, my tummy is soooo finicky about what it will accept before a run. Any other time, no problem, but if I'm going to be running around its going to eff me up if what I ate wasn't fantastic. So today was also my last day at my job, and my managers got a cake for me [which was one of about 7 different things that almost started me bawling]...pretty sure the massive dose of frosting, combined with my crappy Bowl Appetit lunch, wasn't sitting so well. But anyway. As if it hadn't been an emotional enough day, I came to realize that this was most likely going to be my last run through the Arboretum. For those who've never been to Madison, the UW Arboretum is a gorgeous, gorgeous place with tons of trails and a 10K loop that goes through it that is extremely popular with runners and cyclists. The first time I ever ran this loop, I was about to be a college sophomore, and my freshman year housefellow was a runner and invited me to come run it with him. At the time, I was not all about distance running - 5 or 6 miles seemed like a long run to me - and so this 7.5 mile epic journey was just ridiculous in my eyes. I can't even count the number of times I've run through it since then...long runs, summer runs with Nicole, lonely runs when I just needed to think or get over a bad race...anyway. Sentimental value lies on that road for me, to say the least. As I ran I found myself thinking about all this, and suddenly 'Baba O Riley' came on my ipod and I had to fight to keep myself from just crying, again! Well then I started to hyperventilate and needed to stop and it was just absurd. But I really don't care...it's another one of those things that "normal" people just don't understand. The memories, and the sweat and tears and rubber worn down from your training shoes that lies on these trails that we come to know as runners are hard to leave...especially when its in a place as beautiful as this.









I really suck at putting pictures up on here...oh well!



So yes - hard week this week. My plan for tomorrow is to do 10 miles with the first 2 at goal marathon pace (8:20), next 2 at HM pace (~7:45-7:50), next 2 at 10K pace (~7:20-7:30), then back to HM, and finally marathon again. Sounds like a fun little progression-ish run...I kind of made it up but it sounds good to me. I don't have much of a solid plan for the rest of the week other than that I think I'm going to attempt 17 or 18 miles when I get home, just because I know I won't be able to do much longer than 10-13 over the next couple of weeks and I want to get a really solid long run done before that. Soooo we'll see how that goes! I'll probably get lost...I haven't run in Tosa in like 2 years...ooh well!

OK, well I really think this post is long enough now...maybe if I would post more than once a week, this wouldn't be such a problem!

Thank you, MJ

Sometimes, I swear my iPod knows I'm running. 3 times in the last 2 weeks, I've been struggling through the last couple miles of an 8-9 miler, and suddenly, the sweet sweet sounds of Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, et al pop up singing "Ease On Down The Road" from The Wiz. [Disclaimer: I'm a giant musical nerd. I acted/sang/danced from 6th-12th grade and The Wiz happened to be one of the musicals that fell into my repitoire...don't worry, I was a tornado dancer/crow/winkie/emerald city person. I kicked ass. But yeah, that's why I own the soundtrack :)] Anyway, the first time it happened I thought it was funny because I totally forgot I had that song on there, but today I was really struggling, as I've been sick with a God-awful sinus infection for the last 2 days and have been able to do essentially nothing, so my nose/lungs/head weren't feeling that great on today's 8 mile excursion. And suddenly, I'm about a mile and a half from home, slogging up this stupid, neverending hill...when all of a sudden I hear...

Ease on down, ease on down the road
don't you carry nothing that might be a load
come on, ease on down, ease on down the road...

And I literally broke a smile in the middle of this endless hill, and looked straight ahead, and was like, yes, I will finish this run.

Cause there may be times
when you think you've lost your mind
and the steps you're takin'
leave you three four steps behind
but the road you're walking [running?!] might be long sometimes
you just keep on steppin' and you'll be just fine

I'm a nerd. Don't judge. :P

8 miles - 7:26 pace [As it turns out, my favorite 8 mile route runs through an off-leash dog park..and I was wondering why there were random fences in my way! Good thing I work at a freaking dog daycare, and I don't feel threatened by 95% of dogs who come dashing up to me...and I also have to just hope that people with aggressive dogs don't bring them to an off-leash park...]

I've decided if I can run a 16 miler before I move out on August 13, then marathon here I come....and let's face it...since I told myself that's what I have to do to sign up for the marathon, it will probably happen like, next week. Who am I kidding here? The more ridiculous, the better...story of my life.
http://www.baystatemarathon.com/

Ease on down, ease on down the road

HM Training Recap - Week 2
Monday: Off (planned)
Tuesday: 6.6 easy (7:35 pace)
Wednesday: 8 easy (7:05 pace)
Thursday: 6.2 easy (7:19 pace)
Friday: 8.4 easy (7:47 pace)
Saturday: 4.3 easy (7:46 pace)
Sunday: 9.4 easy/last 10 minutes moderate (7:26 pace)
Total miles: 42.8
Days off: 1
Crap-fests: 0! :)

R-O-C-K in the USA. That's how I feel about this week. It was such a strange and ridiculous turnaround from how I felt last week because seriously, every run, I felt fantastic. Wednesday's 8 miler was definitely a highlight, I found this new route that I am completely in love with. Basically, its a loop (bonus points right off the bat) that combines bits and pieces of all my favorite routes, plus it can be lengthened really easily to be a longer run. Because I love pain, there's a big hill at ~mile 7 no matter what you do, but the rest of it is relatively flat. Sweeeet deal. So I knew I was cruising, but it felt so easy that I really wasn't quite aware of how fast I was running. 7:05? That might be a little excessive. The next day's 7:19 pace was also a little ridiculous, and I paid for it on Friday when my legs decided they weren't interested in continuing with this whole "running" business around mile 7 of my 8.5 mile run. Saturday was pretty rough as well, I ran a mile with a dog at work (we take them on walks which are a mile long...this little lab puppy wanted to run, so I said OK! My co-workers were like wow, I never would have done that hehe) and then only 3.3 miles later, during which I felt pretty crappy, but that's what happens when my legs are beat up from running fast earlier in the week. My long run was great, it was my longest since, well, the half marathon, which was over a month ago...and I felt really good and relaxed throughout, and was obviously running at a decent clip, which was once again surprising. Hello, if I could do THAT in an actual HM race...but anyway. So, a very good week, and I managed to work it all around my 40 hours of work - planning is the name of the game.

Another thing I think was a big contributor to my success was my amazing discovery of something that has been sitting right under my nose for the past 6 months...GELS! Seriously, how did I never try this before? I consistently have problems with nutrition before runs...I either seem to a) eat too close to when I go running, so I'm full but have stomach problems or b) don't eat enough, am starving, and feel like crap (lately, the latter has been occuring much more frequently, no thanks to my idiotic job schedule). I have a hard time eating much within about an hour of running, so if I need to get off work and get my butt on the roads ASAP, there really isn't time to eat. Enter: gels. I have a whole box of PowerGels that I got after volunteering at the Ironman in September (working the 7-11 shift definitely had its perks). I tried one, didn't really like how it tasted, and figured I had basically no use for them, but kept the box anyway. On Wednesday it occurred to me that I needed to go running, I was sort of hungry but didn't want to eat anything...and then as I was hunting for my shoes, I happened to glance at the box of gels sitting under my desk. I figured it couldn't hurt to try one, so I washed down a Double Latte one with some water, and off I went. Now, maybe it's just a placebo effect of me just thinking that trying something different was going to make my run better - but it was GREAT! I didn't feel hungry, but my stomach wasn't rebelling as it would have if I'd eaten something solid. I've been taking them before my longer runs this past week and I seriously am a believer. I think when I get up to 13-14 milers I might bring one along, just because I'm so confident in the boost that it gives me. So yeah, gels...win!

Lately I've taken to running with my Ipod...so maybe I'm not a purist, but sometimes I need a little extra something to get me out the door and music is it. During my long run yesterday, I seriously think it somehow knew I was running, as I heard "Marathon" and "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" back to back, a live version of "Born To Run", and of course, finishing off the run with "Ease on Down The Road" - classic. Much as I love running with tunes, I'm excited to run with some WTC girls this week...and also this week is the inagural WTC Beer Mile! My first race of the summmer (hah ;)) Actually, I am finally starting to get my racing schedule figured out, assuming it all works out with work. I'm racing the Capitol Mile on the 26th, a 5K on August 6, and then a half marathon at the end of August (I'm not technically racing that one, but its a training run for the real deal in October - which I need to sign up for this week..eek!) I've downgraded my expectations for the BF to run a 5K since I'm having a hard time getting him to stick to a training plan (not that I blame him haha), and since I actually LOVED the triathlon I figure I won't torture him too much, so he's going to do the Capitol Mile...since we know he can run a mile. :)

Today was my day off, which was nice since my legs are definitely feeling the somewhat sudden jump in mileage/intensity. But I'm looking forward to getting back at it tomorrow, and that makes me happy - that I'm looking forward to running. It feels like since the end of track season that's been a hard feeling to find, but I think I'm finally starting to get it back. So yay for that! :)

Tri-fecta

It feels like its been a really long time since I updated about anything much...but for some reason I feel like I've been crazy busy lately. So in honor of my upcoming triathlon, I have 3 random topics to ramble about today! Warning: this post is LONG! [You can tell its been awhile since I last wrote :)]

Triathlon training:
Apparently normal people generally give themselves more than 2 weeks to get ready for one of these...who knew? Although in all seriousness, I'm going to go ahead and say that coming off of a 5 month track season/half marathon race, I'm probably starting off in better shape than most people I guess. I think the hardest thing about the past couple of weeks has been dealing with the fact that I just don't have time [or energy!] to run as many miles as I'm used to when I'm also trying to get in swim and bike workouts. I'm such a mileage whore...I love nothing more than seeing my weekly mileage go over 50, and to be honest I feel like I'm slacking if it's under 35 or 40. But I just have to keep telling myself that running is NOT what I need to be worried about in this triathlon - that's where I'm going to rock everyone's socks off because that's what I do [running that is, not rocking off socks...although I do that on occasion :P] - it's what I've been doing for the past 8 years. So I've been trying really hard to work on my swimming [mostly] and biking [less than I should] so I have less time to make up on the run. Swimming has actually been going a LOT better than expected, especially today! When I got in the pool 2 weeks ago, I was seriously concerned that I couldn't actually swim 400 meters without stopping. But then I went with my friend Nicole, who was a swimmer in high school, and she was talking about some drill they used to do for freestyle to get the proper arm form -like, you're not supposed to windmill your arm around because that just wastes energy. Well seriously, once I figured that out, it changed everything!

So today I went and was like...I am going to do 400 meters of freestyle without stopping [the past few times, I've only made it to 300, and I've had to go to breaststroke in the middle which I'm soooo slow at]. And I did it - 3 times! I got into a really great rhythm and just focused on my breathing and staying relaxed, not worrying about speed, and I honestly felt awesome. I decided to time the second 2 [I did 3 x 400 with 2 minutes rest] and the second one was 8:16, the third one was 8:07 - and that's with having to turn around. That's SO much faster than I thought I would be! Obviously open water swimming is a whole different ballgame, and I'm going to get my wetsuit Tuesday so hopefully I will get out in the lake before the weekend - but since the swim was what I was most worried about, I'm feeling so much better/more excited about everything now!

Today I also attempted to see what running is going to feel like after biking. The consensus: not fun! I first have to sidetrack and say: to the inventor of the Expresso exercise bike, you are my hero. Finally, someone has invented an exercise machine that keeps me entertained! Basically, its an exercise bike with a normal bike seat and handlebars that resemble a road bike. But the amazing part - you have a screen that gives you a 'virtual' route, complete with a pacer set to whatever time you want to do the ride in. I only wanted to bike for like 10 minutes, so I chose the "Evening Bliss" route...2.37 miles at sunset through a lovely town. There's stuff with stats for the elevation and you can see when you're going up hills, change gears, etc. SO ENTERTAINING! I can't even explain how amused I was. It reminded me of this thing I did at Disneyworld when I was like 9. I mean, I'm not all about stationary bikes or biking in general, but I am seriously so entertained by this thing that I might go to the Nat once in awhile to do it. But anyway, fun times aside, I did the bike thing which took not quite 10 minutes, and then I went out to run what actually ended up being about a 5K. The first couple minutes weren't fun, my legs felt like crap and I was still breathing really hard. But once I told myself to relaxxxx, everything started to feel a lot better, and I got through it just fine. As I said - not really worried about the run. I'm not sure about pace since I didn't have my watch, but I'd estimate it was in the 7:30-7:40 range, which I feel like is just fine for that point in my day. :)

Who knows...I might actually LIKE this triathlon business?? Insanity.

Magical runs:
So running itself hasn't been all that great lately, mostly just because I haven't had a lot of time for it due to being much more concerned about the other triathlon things, and when I have run its generally been crappy. I've been going back and forth on whether or not I like the shoes I got for free for winning the Black Tie 5K (Etonic Kendari's). It seems like a waste to buy a new pair of shoes when I got this pair for free, so I'm really really trying to like them. The first few times I wore them they felt really heavy, and I'm still not completely sold since sometimes my arches hurt a little bit after I run in them, but I went for a run on Saturday that made me feel like at least they have potential.

What a glorious, glorious run. You know how sometimes you really don't feel like going running and you keep on procrastinating and finally you just throw yourself out the door, convincing yourself that you'll keep it short and take it easy? That's basically how my Saturday was. I wasn't feeling that great [I think I had a sympathy hangover from the BF, even though I didn't drink Friday night, haha] and I just wasn't in the mood, plus it was like 50 out, which is just not June weather! Oh wait...except for 50 degrees is my favorite weather to run in...I'm not all about running in the heat. So I started off and was feeling pretty good. I was running on the bike path near my house that practically could have footprints worn in it just from me, that's how much I run there. We did a lot of higher intensity tempo runs there during track since it's flat and there are markers every 1/10 mile [this is the site of the infamous 6:10 :P], and I like doing longer runs there because its flat, pretty, and there are 5 roads to cross, each of which is a turnaround for a different distance - 2.5, 4.2, 5, 6.2, and 7.5 miles - so you can go further if you're feeling good, less if you're feeling bad, without having to completely complicate your life and change your route.

So I planned to go out to the 5 mile road, but was feeling good so I continued on to the next marker past the 6.2 road. [I kind of wish I had a Garmin or some other fancy gadget so I could see the exact distances...mapmyrun.com is all I've got :)] I started running back and was still feeling awesome...there was hardly anyone on the road because it was a gross day and I just felt like I was flying down the path. At the last street before the end of the path I decided to take a detour and run down a long hill to the lake and back, just to add on some miles. Even as I was running back UP the hill, I was still feeling great! I got home and figured out the stats: 7.75 miles @ 7:15 pace. Best run I've had in SUCH a long time!

It's runs like these that remind me why I do it. Sure, there are races and PRs and all of that is amazing - there's no feeling I've found in my life that compares to the high of running a PR. But there's also no feeling like cruising down a well worn path, feeling invincible, free, like you can fly. Like you ARE flying. And knowing that no matter what bad days you have, how tough your workouts have been, how tired your legs are...you will have that feeling again. You just have to remember those incredible days that make it all worth it. The runner's high...it's not a myth, I'll tell you that.

Super fast people:
My work shift on Sunday ended up getting extended from 7-11 to 7-2:30 [trust me, dog hotels are a busy place on Sundays!] so I really didn't get to watch as much of the Pre Classic as I had wanted to...sad day. Thank goodness for sites like flotrack and runnerspace that let me watch the videos online! So - women's 1500 meters - absolute insanity. Jenny Barringer ran a 3:59.90 to a) set a new collegiate record by a TON, b) get second place by .01 second, c) become only the 4th American woman ever to run under 4 minutes. INSANITY! I've been enjoying following professional running more and more lately, but its funny because I remember reading an article about her maybe...my junior year in high school? in some random magazine they gave out to the track team. She was already really impressive back then, and I remember hearing about her in steeplechase awhile after that, but seriously? She is ridiculously good. Sometimes its fun to watch really, really awesome people run. Super inspirational, for sure!

OK, well that will wrap up my mega-post for the day. Today is a day off after my triple sport fiesta yesterday...tomorrow will most likely be a run/swim combo platter. I really need to get on the damn bike again but I would so much rather run than do that...exciting virtual reality bike, I need you now! :)