T minus 11 days!

Last week was my final high volume week of training...~13 1/2 hours.  I have to admit, I am glad that those weeks are over. 

I.am.tired.

Hallelujah, taper has begun!  This week's schedule has a mere 8 1/4 hours of training and next week requires only 4 1/2 hours leading up to the race. 

Last week's schedule left me tired, but at the same time it left me feeling optimistic about race day. 

The Running
Saturday, I ran with Woodlands Fit.  We had 14 miles on the schedule and I was a bit nervous, because I missed the 13 miler from two weeks before.  Also, I haven't run more than 13.1 since 2011 before the great hip blip of 2011/2012.  Thankfully, Mother Nature felt she had punished us enough the week before, because she graced us with temps in the 60s at the start!  As an added bonus, a cool front came through during the run which dropped the temps by about 10 degrees.  It was heavenly!  And, it was an awesome run!

The Biking
I have been nervous about the hills on the 70.3 course for awhile now.  Even though I survived our hilly ride in Chappell Hill a few weeks ago, I still wanted to ride the course and know exactly what to expect.  I put out a call via Facebook, text messages and email to some of my tri peeps to see if anyone else wanted to ride the course.  Not only did I have 3 friends who wanted to come, but they also had friends who wanted to join in the fun.    We ended up having about 8 women ride the course!  It was freaking cold...around 48 degrees.  Yes, I am a pansy.

Bikes, bikes and more bikes!

Most of the group decided to ride 40 miles of the 56 mile course, leaving out an out and back section (according to the Hubs, that section is pretty flat).  Yes, the hills sucked - they seemed like more of a gradual incline that took forever to get up!  But, they were definitely do-able.  While I don't think my ride will be fast by any means, I know I can survive the hills. I told the Hubs that the course wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be....thank God! 

Most of us had a brick workout on the schedule, so we needed a place to run.  Unfortunately, there really wasn't an awesome place to run nearby, so we headed over the the parking lot of the shopping center across the street and did laps.  There was no traffic, since none of the businesses were open yet.  Still, I'm sure we looked like a bunch of goofballs lapping that lot!

The Swimming
Later on the same day, a few of us went out to Lake 288.  I've been there many times, but it's been about 2 years since my last visit.  The lake is used for triathlon training, paddle boarding, and scuba practice. It's a bit of a drive, but well worth it!  The only downside....the vegetation!

When we arrived, the person working the entrance explained that there was quite a bit of hydrilla in the water and pointed out the areas to avoid.  Our first question, "Ummmm, what's hydrilla?".

This, my friends, is Hydrilla...and it is not my friend. (source)

A Plant.  That's what hydrilla is, a plant.  We figured a plant wouldn't harm us, so we donned our wetsuits and entered the lake.  There were already a handful of people swimming and a few people on paddle boards.  I was trying out a new wetsuit and hoped that this one would work better for me than the one I had been trying to use.  And, I had borrowed a friend's wetsuit just in case the one I bought didn't work out....gotta be prepared!  The wetsuit was a bit tight in certain areas, but it felt pretty good overall.  I started to swim and was happy to not feel any of the anxiety I felt during my last open water swim attempt.  None.  I proceeded to make my way across the lake.  I felt comfortable swimming and comfortable in the wetsuit. 

Until I found the hydrilla!

Ack!

Looks peaceful and pretty, right?

It turns out that hydrilla is an annoying plant.  It was growing in patches all over the lake and reached all the way to the surface.  It was not easy to swim through and just touching it made me freak out.  It wrapped around my hands, touched my face and neck...I tried to speed up to get through it faster, but that didn't work. Finally, I turned over and backstroked my way out of it.  When everyone made it back to shore, we strategized about the path of least resistance hydrilla...we swam it and didn't deviate from that path.  Overall, we swam about 1,300 meters.  And other than the hydrilla encounter, there was no freakout at all!  Wooohoo!

See?  We're smiling...even after the hydrilla!

So here I am, almost to the big day.  I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I was scared shitless a little nervous.  But, what's life without some big hairy audacious goals (a.k.a. BHAGs) thrown in?  And it it wasn't a lot little scary, then the goal might not be big enough, right?

What is your next BHAG?  What are some BHAGs from the past?

2013 Ten for Texas Race Report

I wasn't exactly sure the best way to run this weekend's Ten for Texas.  One one hand, I wanted to at least attempt a PR.  I haven't PRed this race since 2010 (1:44:41)!  In 2011, a friend and I ran 10 miles before  the race in order to get in our 20 miler while training for the NYC Marathon.  We finished in 1:53:56...respectable, considering it was warm and this was miles 11 - 20 for us.  In 2012, I was just happy to be running this race at all...after the hip blip of 2011/2012, I was pretty much just run/walking and hoping not to make my hip angry.  I finished in 1:47:17 and was pretty pleased.

On the other hand, it was my recovery week and my scheduled run was only 1:30.  I know I have bigger races on my plate right now and it sorta made sense to just treat this as another training run.  And, I also wanted to run the race with the Hubs, who was running the Ten for Texas for the first time.  The Hubs had already decided to run the race as a training run.  And let's face it...I haven't exactly been training to PR this race.

The problem?

It's hard to run an actual race, without actually "racing" or attempting a PR.  Is it like that for everyone, or am I just a weirdo?

We met up with the Woodlands Fit peeps before the race and took our annual group picture.  For some reason, right as we were heading to the start, I really needed to visit the porta-potties...even though I had just gone in Luke's Locker.  So, the Hubs patiently waited for me while I stood in line for what seemed like an eternity.  We finally made it to the start as the national anthem was starting and we were off!  When I say it was warm and humid, I mean it was WARM and EXTREMELY HUMID! We're talking around 75 at the start, with 187% humidity.  Nasty!

The Woodlands Fit crew, ready to race

At the start I still hadn't committed to a strategy - race or training run?  I started out as if I was going for the PR for the first few miles.  At mile 4, the Hubs wanted a walk break to get his heart rate down.  At that point, I thought I was going to keep up the race pace.  I took a couple more walk breaks with the Hubs and then got going again.  But, about midway between mile 5 and 6, I decided to hang back and run with the Hubs.  To be honest, this made the race much more fun.  The conditions were just plain ugly.  I remember seeing the sun break through the clouds and seeing the hazy, foggy look in the air.  It was more like swimming that running.

The hubs and I took a walk break at the mile markers / aid stations.  I knew that the conditions were rough when we saw a runner on the ground with a volunteer helping stretch out a leg cramp.  The miles ticked off pretty quickly and before I knew it, we were heading over the bridge at Northshore park...less than a mile to go!  Before the bridge, we saw a runner lying on the ground with people around her trying to render aid...another victim of the crappy conditions.  We made it back to Market Street and rounded the corner to the finish.   As we crossed the finish line, the runner in front of us collapsed into the arms of a volunteer.  I knew it was warm, but jeeze it was worse than I thought.

After the race, the Hubs and I made our way to the food tent, followed by a stop at the beverage tent.  (Yes, this race has an option for the non-beer drinkers like me....Mike's Hard Lemonade in assorted flavors!!!!)  As much as I've hated the weather at this race for the past few years, the post race party makes it almost worth it.  The race is practically in our backyard, so it tends to be a mini-reunion of running friends every year.  We ran into friends from running groups, tri clubs, work friends, childhood friends, etc.  This is why I love this race!

The Hubs with his new ride!  (He wishes!)

Me with Rachel, friend and Woodlands Fit Coordinator

So no, it was not a PR.  Not even close.  But, it was fun and I was happy to spend the morning running with the Hubs...something we rarely get to do!  Watch out though...next year, we're going for a big PR!

Me and the Hubs post race...we're a hot mess, but still having fun!

How was your weekend?  Any workouts or races?

Peas in Pants

As I mentioned in my previous post, Coach graciously removed the swim and bike workouts from my schedule this week. Yes, I feel like a slouch, but it’s so much better than being an over-stressed mess. And, I know I mentioned my uncertainty with the heart-rate training, but ultimately I’ve decided to trust the Coach.

I headed out on Monday’s 4-miler in the evening and stayed within my Zone 2 heart rate like a good girl. While I was running, I noticed that the upper part of my right leg felt kind of tight and stiff, but I just figured it was because 1) I was wearing my Brooks shoes and they may be getting up there in mileage, 2) Since it was nighttime, I was on the sidewalk which at times can be a little uneven and wonky (there’s more traffic at night than at stupid-thirty) and 3) I was trying to count my strides and get to ~22 per 15 seconds (I am still trying to get used to this and it doesn't quite feel comfortable yet). I only made it to ~3.5 of the 4 miles, because I could see lightening in the distance and it seemed to be getting closer. I noticed that my hip was sore not long after my run, but I dismissed it thinking it was just a flukey thing that would go away by the morning.


Tuesday was supposed to be a rest day, but it’s slow at work due to the holidays, so I snuck off to spin class during lunch. The hip was still bothering me, but it didn’t seem any worse after spin class.

Wednesday, I was up at stupid thirty for my 6-mile tempo run. Hooray for tempo runs!!!! I *heart* tempo runs! And, my friend Julie was meeting me for my final 3 miles, so that was nice. The hip felt sore at first, but once I got going, I just kind of forgot about it and focused on staying in my tempo pace race (9:59 – 10:15). But, once I made it home and started getting ready for work, the hip was feeling bad. I took an Aleve and went on about my day. Then, I had to run a little to catch the bus home…I think the Aleve had worn off, because I definitely felt the hip after that. After I made it home, I grabbed the bag of frozen peas and stuffed them into my sweat pants! Sometimes frozen peas are a girl’s best friend!  And yes, the kids looked at me like I was crazy.  Maybe I am.

Last night we had some crazy rain storms, complete with thunder and lightening. While I can often sleep through these storms, my kids cannot…and when the kids are awake, Mommy and Daddy are awake! When my alarm clock went off, I could still hear the rain and thunder, so no 7-miler for me. This is probably for the best, because the hip is still feeling sore and I am thinking I should rest it until Saturday’s 18-miler.

And, speaking of Saturday's 18-miler...everyone I usually run with (a/k/a the people who also run as slow as me) are running on Friday.  I have to work on Friday, so I won't be able to run until Saturday.  My original plan was to run 8 on my own on Saturday, then meet up with my running group peeps for their scheduled 10-miler.  Now I am thinking that I might just run the 18 in my neighborhood. It's boring, but I know I can get it done!  And, after 18-miles, I should be able to eat as much as I want during our Christmas Eve celebration with the Hubby's family!

How are your workouts going during the holidays so far?  Are you going to try to get a workout in on Christmas Eve?

Ye of Little Faith!

Yesterday's workouts went well. Actually, I did Tuesday's run (the EASY! 3-miler) and Thursday's swim...I had to rearrange a few workouts in order to make time for family stuff. Hey, whatever works, right?

First, I started the day with the easy 3-miler. Again, coach's instructions were to keep this at an "EASY!" pace and in zone 2. The result? 3 miles at an 11:52 pace with my average heart rate at 129. After work I went to the pool and did my 2,000 yd workout. As part of my warm up, Coach gave me 8x50 "your choice", which means I could do any stroke, kick, whatever. This was the perfect opportunity to try out my new toys! I used the new kickboard and pull buoy, but the best part was using the fins. Holy cow, I could propel across the pool at warp speed (or close to it) with the fins on! Fun times. Even with the new toys, I don't love swimming, but they certainly make things more interesting. And the workouts have been challenging, but fun. Last night, I actually had a few brief moments where I felt like my swim was starting to come together - I felt like I was actually propelling myself forward, instead of barely crawling down the lane. Again, brief moments. Very. Brief.

This morning I set out for my 6-miler. This time I was allowed to run at my "Marathon Pace". According to McMillan, marathon pace should be around a 10:59 minute/mile.

This is where my faith kind of falters...

I'll admit, I started this run slightly faster than my marathon pace, but it was a pace that was pretty easy to me a few weeks ago. And today that pace felt hard. Maybe it was because it was freaking warm outside (~70 degrees with 100% humidity), maybe it was because I was soooooo tired this morning and barely made it out of bed (must go to sleep earlier!), or maybe it was my lack of stellar nutrition the past couple of days (not horrible, but I had some sweets I wouldn't normally eat), but I felt slow and my legs felt heavy. Naturally, I also questioned whether it was because I've been running so dang slow lately. What if I forgot how to run faster? I was frustrated during this morning's run. I wanted to toss the heart rate monitor in the nearest trash can.

I know a lot of people who swear by heart rate training. I know you have to be patient with it. But, I couldn't help wondering if all this slow running was going to screw up my chances of having a good, strong race at the Houston Marathon. Then I had to remind myself that Houston is not my "A" race. I don't have to PR. Yep, I told myself this, but deep down it's hard not to try to do better. I want to finish knowing I did my best. And yes, despite what I keep telling myself, I do want a sub-5 (if the weather is just right and I feel good on race day!). I run because I enjoy it, but I have a hard time running a "race" just for the sake of finishing it regardless of my time. Part of what I also enjoy is the internal competition with myself.

I hear Coach's voice saying, "be patient" and "trust the process", but with only 1 month before Houston, it's hard not to just go back to what I was doing before. Patience is not my strength!

Have you or people you know had success with HR training? Do you really run "EASY" (aka a much, much slower pace) each week? Do you run slower to run faster -or- run faster to run faster? How competitive are you with yourself?

Vacation time to get away...or run errands

Happy, happy, joy, joy! I used a vacation day today and that always makes me happy. What doesn’t make me happy is being given large window of time for a repairman to come (i.e. sometime between 8 am and 5 pm). Yes folks, don’t get too excited – this was not a “fun” vacation day, this was a “sit around the house waiting for the GE dude to show up” day. Part of me wanted him to take his time getting to my house – that would give me an excuse to sit around and relax (something I rarely do). I mean, the house was clean, the dishwasher empty, the laundry done…I really could just do nothing.

Right.

I am super sure I could have come up with 150 miscellaneous projects – for example, I still need to address Christmas cards, the Kiddo has a mountain of art projects that I need to go through, I could have organized the playroom, blogged, wrapped Christmas gifts, worked on our budget, etc. Unfortunately (and fortunately), I never had the time to be lazy or start a project, because GE dude was at my house by 9:30 am and I was out running a zillon errands before 10 am. Really, a zillon.

Here’s what I accomplished on my day off:

Kroger - What can I say? The only reason I stopped here was for the Starbucks. Bad news - the line was super long, not sure what was up with that! Good news - I had a a coupon for a free drink - yay me!

ACE Hardware – I needed stamps and they have a post office in there with an uber-friendly worker. Bad news – they were out of stamps. Good news – they have an awesome gift area and I found gifts for the Kiddo’s teachers. Bad news – I spent way too much time looking at all the goodies. Good news – hey, the teacher’s gift is done.

Alterations place – had to pick up 2 pairs of pants. One pair needed a new zipper and one (brand freaking new) pair was coming apart at the seam in the rear (not good). Good news – I made it in and out of the store quickly. Bad news – I realized this morning that they did not repair the seam in that one pair of pants…grrr!

Dry Cleaners – Not much to say about this. Bad news – this particular place is expensive. Good news – I had a coupon (yay me!) and they do a great job!

Wal-Mart – Had to take back a pair of cheapie sweat pants I bought for the Munchkin. They were perfect for leaving swim class on cooler days, but they were too small. Bad news – they were out of his size. Good news – I managed to get a number of other items I needed (but probably didn’t really need...maybe this falls into the bad category, too?)

Swim Shops of the Southwest – Oh my gosh! This was my 1st time visiting this place and it’s paradise for all things swim. Since I am actually using a coach and doing “real” swim workouts, I figured I needed to get my own swim gear and stop trying to borrow the Hubby’s stuff. (Sharing doesn’t work so well when we need to swim on the same days.) Good news – I walked out with fins, a kickboard, paddles, and a cool new TYR bag (LOVE IT!). Plus, I picked up my tri-team technical shirt and swim cap! I can’t wait for my next swim workout! Well, almost. Bad news – I spent way too much time and money on said swim gear, when I really only went there to pick up my team shirt/cap. Good news - I have some new toys and there is less and less for the Hubby to buy me for Christmas.

Isn't this bag AWESOME? I *heart* it!

• THE MALL – I feel like those words should be followed with some really suspenseful music, “dum, dum, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum”. In my opinion, anyone braving THE MALL this close to Christmas is just plain crazy. And yes, that includes me. I am quite the list maker and knew exactly what I was going there to pick up – gift for one nephew, gift for sister-in-law, pick up bracelet being repaired (for me), find Christmas dress for Kiddo. Oh, and do not stop at the Great American Cookie Co. Good news – I accomplished everything except for one thing, I did not leave with a dress for the Kiddo. I decided I’d rather take her along and let her pick out what she really wants. Bad News – I have to go back to the mall with the kiddo.

• Kohl’s – this was just a last minute stop to see if they had any cute holiday dresses in stock or if their holiday decorations were on sale. Good news – I didn’t buy a single thing. Bad news – I didn’t buy a single thing, because the lines were extremely long and I just wanted to get home.

Once I was home I hopped on the bike trainer for my 1 hour ride. I had rented a movie, Larry Crowne, just in case I was stuck at home all day waiting for the GE dude. So, I watched the movie while I rode the bike. Oh, and I forgot to mention…I still woke up pretty close to stupid thirty to get my 7-mile run out of the way. It was only supposed to be 3 miles (with my 7 miler was scheduled for tomorrow), but I decided to take advantage of not having to rush home to get ready for work and do the longer distance today.

So much for a relaxing day at home! Oh, and I still need to address Christmas cards, go through the Kiddo’s art projects, organize the playroom, wrap Christmas gifts, work on our budget, and buy stamps! Who am I kidding? I like to be on the go and constantly busy...maybe that's why I like training for races so much. Of course, a little break now and then is always nice.

Do you manage to find time to relax and take it easy? Or, do you feel like you are constantly on the go?

Brrrrrrrrrrr....part II

Hard to believe it, but it was actually COLDER this morning!

It was 28 degrees and there was frost on the rooftops and cars. I headed out for my 5-mile TEMPO run a little after 4:00 am (yes, not stupid-thirty, just stupid). With my slower paces, I have been running late in the morning, which makes for a stressed out Runner Mom - running all over the house, hurrying everyone around, driving myself and the kids crazy, and well, that's just not fun. So I decided to lose a few minutes of precious sleep and get out there a little earlier.

My McMillan pace for a tempo run is supposed to be between 9:59 and 10:29...YIPEE, I was allowed to run faster than a 12-minute mile today! I started out too fast, which is easy to do when it's freezing outside, and then reigned it in a little and held steady around a 10:14/10:15-ish pace. I ran 2-miles and then met up with my fellow-insane-to-get-out-in-the-cold-this-early friend, Julie for another 3-miles. Julie is obviously crazy dedicated, because today is her birthday and she STILL got up early to run! In the cold!

Tonight, I brave the cold and head to the (indoor, heated) pool. For some reason, I have a major lack of motivation getting to the pool in general. But when it's cold, it's 100 times worse. And, when coach saw that I was finishing my 1,800 workout in around 45 minutes, she told me that was great and that I was ready to move to 2,500. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) But hey, with all the upcoming holiday parties (meaning temptation to eat bad stuff), I gotta get the workouts in and stay focused.

Is it hard to maintain your focus this time of year? How do you stay motivated?

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

It’s mighty cold here in Texas right now…well, cold for us anyway! Some of you folks up North will laugh at me when I tell you that it’s 30 here with a “feels like” temp of 25. But, this is cold for us, especially this early in the season! I’m not complaining, because it will soon be 100 degrees with 100% humidity. The Kiddo is super excited about these temps. She gets excited anytime she sees the temps in the 30s, because she wants it to snow. Unfortunately for her, there’s not precipitation in the forecast. :-(

I managed to make it to spin class yesterday. The class is only 45 minutes, but I had a 1 hour bike ride on the schedule, so I arrived a little early to get in some extra time. I do enjoy spin class, but sometimes it’s hard to break away from the work stuff to go.

This morning I put on my Nike capri’s, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt and some gloves and headed out for a 6-miler. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get in the entire 6-miles at my new super duper slow pace, especially after my Garmin had to take forever to locate satellites (about 6 minutes…standing in the cold for 6 minutes is not fun!). I ran almost 2 miles before meeting up with my running peep, Julie. During my 1st 1.75 miles alone, I maintained a super-fast 11:47 pace and stayed in zone 2 with my HR. However, I really didn’t want to subject Julie to this super-slow pace, so we ran our normal pace for the next 3 miles. My super-genius self forgot to start my Garmin again, so I have no idea of our pace or my HR during that time. I remembered to turn the Garmin back on for my last 1.25 miles …it seemed to take awhile to get my HR back into zone 2, so that last bit was super slow. My overall pace for the 3 miles I did record was a super -fast 11:58 minute/mile. I know you’re envious of my speed.

After my run, I took a quick shower…I was running late and didn’t want to make the Hubby late, too. Normally, I would linger in the warm water and try to warm up a little more. When I got out of the shower, I realized that I was freezing! I put on my warmest fuzzy robe and just could not seem to warm up. That’s when I decided that I was going to get back under the warm, cozy blankets in an attempt to get warm. I stayed there for about 10 minutes and finally felt warm enough to carry on with my normal morning routine. Oh, and after all this hurrying around, I realized that the Hubby was taking a vacation day…doh! Not sure why it took so long to get warm…probably just because it was colder than normal outside, or maybe I need to add a lightweight jacket or a warmer long sleeve shirt. I dunno. Again, not complaining about the cold temps…just need to prepare a little better.

On another note, I went to the doctor yesterday to get my flu shot. I am happy to report that despite my 3 weeks of consuming food like a human vacuum after NYCM, I am still at my pre-NYCM, cleaner eating weight. Yay me!!!! The goal is to stay there through the holidays and then work on shedding the last few pounds between the January 1 and the 70.3.

So, how are you liking this winter weather? What's your normal running attire for these temps?

Yada, Yada

The post-NYCM workouts are going pretty well, I guess. I will admit that my 14-miler on Sunday was tiring and I didn’t feel quite as energetic as some of my previous long runs. But it had been a pretty busy week and the weekend was filled with activities like a work holiday party on Friday and an evening with some friends on Saturday, so I have a feeling that may be partly to blame. I did enjoy getting to go for a ride with the Hubby over the weekend. The kiddos were at my parent's house, and we rarely have a chance to workout together! I had a 1 hour bike ride on my training schedule, so we headed to a local neighborhood for our ride. We even explored a few new roads along the way. And got lost.

Here's the Hubby checking our location on his iphone (a/k/a trying to get us un-lost).

Me, in my not so matchy pink and white helmet and lovely orange shirt (high visability is key on the bike!)

Luckily, on Monday I only had a swim on the schedule, so that meant I could sleep in! (If you call sleeping until 5:15 AM sleeping in.) I headed to the gym right after work. The Kiddo and Munchkin have swim lessons on Mondays and getting to their classes in time to see them swim for more than about 10 minutes is next to impossible, so I take advantage of this time to get my swim done. Last week, the heater in the pool at the gym was not working. It was pretty warm outside and the water in the pool wasn’t too cold, so I managed to get most of my workout done before the gym decided to close the pool for the day. This week, it was 40-something degrees outside, so I decided that if the heater was still broken, I was not swimming! The heater was working, so that meant I had to swim. I am enjoying following new workouts from Coach. Having various sets to do always manages to break things up and make swimming not seem so boring. (Yes, I find swimming boring.)

This morning I ran my scheduled 3-miler (EASY!). Coach would be proud - my heart rate was right where it was supposed to be in Zone 2, which gave me a 11:57 pace…be jealous of my lightning-fast pace! :-) This running slower stuff is awkward, but it is getting easier. Sort of, in the awesome cooler temps we're experiencing right now, running this slow can be more difficult than running faster. I am thrilled that I have a tempo run on the schedule for Thursday…finally!

Huge kudos to everyone who ran the LaPorte Half Marathon, Rock and Roll Vegas and Dallas White Rock over the weekend! And a HUGE shout out to my fellow wine-drinking-runner-mom, Shae, on her BQ in Vegas! I was hoping she’d see Kate Gosselin and accidentally-on-purpose trip her, but Shae was much speedier than Kate and left her in the dust!

How was your weekend? Any races or holiday parties???

Quickie Re-Cap

I am going to start re-capping the previous week's workout each Monday. So here ya go...

Monday, 11/28 - Easy Run (Zone 2, 3 miles)and Swim (1,400 yds)
Tuesday, 11/29 - Endurance Ride (45-minutes)
Wednesday, 11/30 - Endurance Run (Zone 2, 6 miles)
Thursday, 12/1 - Swim (1,900 yds)
Friday, 12/2 - Run (marathon pace, 5 miles)
Saturday, 12/3 - Endurance Bike (1 hour)
Sunday, 12/4 - Long Run (14 miles)

Spin and a Sssllloooooooooowww Run

Monday night I had to dust off my bike trainer for my Tuesday morning ride. I had considered going to spin class during lunch on Tuesday, but I had a meeting scheduled during the class time. So, I had to resort to the trainer. While I don’t think I could do more than an hour on the trainer, overall it’s not too bad. Honestly, it’s the only time I have to sit and watch the news uninterrupted. The trainer is a little noisy and I don’t want to wake up the rest of the house, so I turn on the closed caption and spin away! 45 minutes on the schedule in Zone 2 with my cadence at 85+…unfortunately, I just ordered the cadence sensor for my bike and I still hadn’t figured out the whole heart-rate monitor thingy, so I had no idea of my zone or cadence. Ugh!

Lucky for me, the Hubby helped me figure out the HR monitor before my run this morning. (Yes, I realize it's not exactly rocket science!) I was hoping my Wfit peep, Julie, would be meeting me for at least a portion of the scheduled 6 miles….but, she couldn’t make it, so it was just me and the roads. (That and several rabbits, stars, the newspaper dude and a few other crazy early-morning runners.) This was another “easy” run, or as Coach typed into Training Peaks, “EASY!” run. My heart rate was supposed to be in Zone 2 (126-146) and I was supposed to maintain my easy pace per McMillan (11:29 – 11:59). For some reason, I have no problem running slower in a marathon, but I have been running my shorter runs much faster for the past couple of years. Part of that “to run faster, you have to run faster” mentality, I guess. Yes, I had easier days, but those runs were rarely over an 11 minute/mile pace (unless it was 100+ degrees outside with 100% humidity)and usually in the low 10s or maybe even the high 9s. Yes, I know you have to also run slower to get faster, but this is sooooo new to me – forcing myself to go slower than slow – and it’s hard. I had to take a couple of walk breaks to get my heart rate down and to slow my pace a bit. Overall, I never got under an average 153 HR or an average 11:28 pace. I guess I need to keep working on this. Can I just say that I am sooooo, soooo happy to have a Tempo run on my schedule next week? It's the little things!

I am soooo looking forward to getting my cadence sensor for my bike! Also, this weekend I am going to buy fins, a kickboard and some paddles – yay me! Next up, I am finally going to get a new saddle for the bike. I am still using the factory saddle and it’s time to upgrade to something more comfy! Yes, this is exactly why I am never at the mall buying trendy, cute new work clothes – all my extra $ goes toward miscellaneous tri stuff. :-)

Do you follow the suggested paces from McMillan? Do you train using your HR? How slow are your "easy" runs? Or, do you use other methods for training?

Shiznit

I tell ya, yesterday was my 1st "2-a-day" in months and to be honest, I just didn’t have my shiznit together. Like the “about me” on this blog says, sometimes I can juggle everything well and some days not-so-much. Yesterday was a not-so-much day.

First, I went to bed much later than I should have on Sunday night. Here's the deal - in order for me to wake up and workout at stupid-thirty, I typically have to go to bed at grandma-thirty (a/k/a 9 or 9:30). Sometimes I can survive with less sleep, but after a hectic long weekend, I think I just needed the rest. So, for the first time in a long time, I went back to sleep and didn’t run at all in the morning. Instead, I packed a 2nd bag with my running clothes to take with me to work (I already had a bag packed for the pool). One awesome thing about where I work is that we have an on-site fitness center. And, that fitness center not only has several treadmills, but it also has a pretty nice indoor track. I decided to run my easy 3-miler on the indoor track. Trust me when I say that I’d rather run outdoors, but I don’t have time to shampoo and re-do my hair afterwards and I don’t want my co-workers to smell me from 3 offices away because I ran outside and didn’t shampoo.

So here’s where I didn’t have my shiznit together – running on the treadmill and indoor track can be really boring.

I forgot my ipod.

When I run outdoors, I'm kind of a zen runner – I love the sound silence (well, that and my footsteps and my gasping for air) and don’t want the distraction of music. But indoors, give me music! Also, Coach said that I needed to follow the pace listed on my McMillan pace calculator for an easy run (11:29 – 11:59) and keep my heart rate in zone 2 (126-148). I have never done any heart rate training, so I don’t really know how to use my Garmin heart rate monitor. As a result, I couldn’t get the damn thing to work. So, I just tried to focus on my pace. Running at an 11:29 – 11:59 pace in a 3-mile run is hard. My 1st mile was somewhere around 10:30 and I thought I was practically walking. So, I slowed it down. The next mile was around 11:00. So, I slowed it down more. My final mile was more like 11:22…better. Coach says to trust the process, so I will go with it.

After work, I headed to the pool where I realized many things:

• I left my brush at the gym, so I would have to leave the gym with crazy matted hair.


• I forgot my watch, so I can’t let Coach know my 50 and 100 yd times.


• I left my pull buoy in the car and was too lazy it was too cold to go get it.


• I forgot to write down/print out my workout earlier in the day to bring with me to the pool.

And to top it off, I still need to buy fins and it was cold outside (never mind that I swim in an indoor, heated pool). I actually considered just going home. But then I realized that I wouldn’t have a workout to enter into Training Peaks and Coach would know that I blew off a workout ON MY FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF TRAINING! I decided that I could live without the brush, the watch and the pull buoy, but I could not live with the fact that I was a loser who couldn’t make herself go to the pool. So, the Hubby sent me my workout via cell phone (justification for why I need to upgrade to an iPhone!!!) and I did my workout the best I could. And, I actually enjoyed it! 1,400 yds done!

Moral of the story? We can’t have our shiznit together every minute of every day and it’s no big deal. Really, it’s okay. But, we can decide that little setbacks aren’t going to stop us from getting things done…afterall, no one else is going to hold us accountable, right?

Also, check out the latest post from Run Bike Mom’s blog – I loved it and just had to share!

Randomness

This post is filled with lots of random stuff…

The Decision:
I have made my decision and informed the Coach – I am going to run the Houston Marathon and do the Texas 70.3. Going back and forth trying to make the decision was painful. Once the decision was made, I was happy as a clam again. So…things are going to get very busy between now and April 1, but that’s okay. I am ready for the craziness challenge!

The Workouts:
Here’s what I’ve been up to since NYC (because I have to keep track – I am OCD about that):

Saturday, 11/12 – 6 miles – 11 min pace
This was my 1st run since NYC and it was a slow, painful run. I felt like someone beat me up, or at least my legs. Everything was a bit sore and creaky – my left hip felt weird, my right IT band was achey and I just felt all blah. Guess that’s to be expected, right?

Sunday, 11/13 - 30 minute Bike
Just easing back into the biking and loosening up the legs.

Monday. 11/14 – 3 miles – 10:45 pace
Just keepin’ things slow and easy. Felt better than Saturday’s run.

Wednesday, 11/16 – 4 miles, 10:20 pace
Legs feeling better and I met up with runner peep, Julie for 3 of the 4 miles.

Thursday, 11/17 – 3 miles, 9:57 pace
That’s more like it. Cooler temps helped a lot too!

Saturday, 11/19 -10 miles, 10:50 pace
Warm, muggy and just plain nasty running weather. The 10 felt pretty good otherwise, but slow.

Sunday, 11/20 - Bike, 1 hour (15 mph)
It felt great to be back out on the bike. I forgot how much I enjoy biking. However, it's been awhile and that was very apparent in my endurance level!

Monday, 11/21 - Easy run, 3 miles
Taking the advice from Coach, I ran this 3-miler super easy. At least I think it was, I forgot to charge my Garmin so I have no idea of the pace. Very warm, very muggy - yuck!

Tuesday, 11/21 - Easy run, 2.25 miles, 10:40 pace
Almost as soon as I started running, it went from light drizzle to actual rain drops. Luckily, it eased up pretty quickly, but would continue to alternate between drizzle and actual rain the entire time. I was carrying my cell phone and worried that it would get too wet, so I cut this run a bit short.

The Food Challenges:
I typically fall off the healthy eating wagon for a week after a race. In this case, it’s been over 2 weeks and I am still not back to it. Ugh, we made a dessert when my parents came over for dinner recently, then the Kiddo’s birthday party was on Saturday and we had a lot of leftover cupcakes, and now Thanksgiving! Ack! And, it doesn’t help when I come to work ready to eat my Greek yogurt and fruit and a co-worker says, “I brought you a muffin” or “I brought us some breakfast tacos”. Ugh, damn you co-workers for being thoughtful and nice! And, my kiddo’s birthday actually falls on Thanksgiving, so on top of all the other bad stuff on Thursday, there is also going to be more CAKE! I may need an intervention next week..you know, someone to get in my face and tell me to back away from the crap food. Either that or a serious detox.

The Anniversary:
I just want to say Happy 14th Anniversary to my awesome, amazing Hubby! He is a great hubby and a wonderful father. He puts up with my type-A personality and my triathlon/running obsession and should get a medal just for that alone. He’s the best!

New York State of Mind

Quickie update to my workouts since my last post:

Wednesday, 10/26 – 4.5-miles
I woke up too early and had time for some extra mileage before meeting my friend at stupid-thirty.

Thursday, 10/27 – 3 miles

Friday, 10/28 – Rest

Saturday, 10/29 – 6 miles
Last "long run" before NYC! I had a great run with my WF peeps and enjoyed girl talk over coffee afterwards.

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! We carved pumpkins and went to a couple of Halloween parties with the kids, then took them out trick or treating on Monday – fun times!

Holy cow, just a few more days ‘til NYC!!!

In honor of the upcoming trip to NYC, I give you NYC-inspired music:



There are things people don’t tell you when you are training for a marathon. Things I had forgotten since running my last marathon FIVE YEARS AGO!

Phantom Pains
Things like phantom pains. In fact, I even blogged about it here before I ran Chicago in 2006. Yep, last week I did P90X Ab Ripper X and the very next day I started to notice hip pain at the top of my right hip. It wasn’t excrutiating, but it was annoying. It was so strange, because I've done this workout hundreds of times and never had any issues (other than sore abs!). When I ran my 6-miler on Saturday, I noticed the pain afterwards and it got more intense as the day went on. Finally, I took an Aleve and that seemed to help. I still feel it today, along with some unusual aches in my lower back on the same side.

Phantom pains?

Who knows? But what I have noticed that during race week of any big race is that I tend to feel unusual aches and pains. I don’t know if these feelings are amplified because of the anticipation, stress, or adrenaline..or if it’s just paranoia. Whatever. I am taking Aleve and will try not to think about it too much. Needless to say, I will not be doing any moreP90X until after NYC!

Weather Obsession
Another thing that I had forgotten was the obsession with the weather. I am being much better about it this time around, though. I’ve decided that I’ve made it through this hot as hell summer (including a 20-miler in less than ideal conditions), so I can pretty much handle whatever Mother Nature throws at me on race day. Although, I was a little freaked out to see snow in NYC over the weekend. Whatever. I have only looked at the forecast 2x in the past week, when normally I would be checking it daily. Here’s the deal – I will bring an outfit for effing cold weather and one for warmer weather. End of story. Right now, it looks like the temps will be in the low 40’s in the morning and the mid-50’s by noon with increasing cloud cover throughout the day…I’m thinking running skirt and short sleeves will be perfect.

Taper Madness
One other thing I forgot about is the taper madness. One of two things tend to happen to me during taper – I either lose motivation and don’t wanna run –or- I feel like such a slug for only running about 10 miles during the week and running single digit runs on Saturday. This year, I am feeling like a slug, especially since I axed the ab workouts. Thankfully, I only have a few more days of feeling like a slug.

I am a total type A personality - I have created a checklist for packing, a list of cupcake places to check out (with addresses, phone numbers and recommended flavors to try), I have a couple of groupons for restaurants to try, tickets for the Met, MoMa and the Guggenheim and a list of other things to see this time around. :-) Can't wait!!!!

A little of this, a little of that

Yahoo, it’s taper time! Here’s a quickie summary of my workouts since my last post:

Friday, 10/21 – Swim
Just a quick 1,200 yd swim. At this point, nothing I do on Friday is going to help my swim on Sunday, but I did want to get in the pool one more time anyway.

Saturday, 10/22 – Run, 10 miles
Okay, so I only had 8 on the schedule for Saturday, but because I missed last week’s 14-miler, I felt the need for one more double digit run. I ran 2 miles before meeting up with WF for their 8 miler. We took this one at an easy pace (10:58) and just decided to enjoy the lower mileage.

Sunday, 10/23 – Oktoberfest Tri (relay – swim leg) & Ab Ripper X
As I mentioned a few days ago, I decided to do the swim leg of a triathlon relay – not because I love to swim or because I rock the swim, but because I suck at the swim and need the practice. Once again, this was a humbling experience. I decided at the last minute to wear my wetsuit, since I didn’t have to worry about my transition time (in a relay, you only have to exit the water, run to transition and pass the timing chip to the person biking). I’ll do a race report later, but let me just day that I did not have the experience that I had at Bridgeland! I also managed to fit in Ab Ripper X later in the day. It felt great to work the core again!

Monday, 10/25 – Run, 3 miles 2 miles
I don’t know what was wrong with me on Monday, but I felt tired and run down. Even my muscles were sore – legs, abs, even my arms and I had a sore throat. Maybe just a case of the Mondays? Or maybe I was feeling run down…since I’ve had the back and neck issues, I have had a hard time getting comfy at night and I am not sleeping as well as usual. I dunno, but I cut the run short and took an Emergen-C, just in case.

Tuesday, 10/25 – Rest
Well, except for Ab Ripper X. :-)

In other news...
Last week was a bit wilder than usual – and I am not just talking about losing our family pet and the ongoing visits to the chiropractor. I don’t usually blog about work, but this news was pretty huge and took us all by surprise - the company I work for announced last week that it was being sold. And, the portion of the company that I work for is going to be sold to a 3rd party so that the buyer can pay off debt from purchasing the company. So, the future is uncertain and things will be interesting to say the least!

On another note, this is my 3rd week of my attempt at getting back to clean(er) eating and things are going great! I am really working on eating less sugar and processed foods, and I am actually down 7 lbs! I will blog more about that later….

Less than 2 weeks until NYC!!! My sister-in-law and I are nailing down our agenda for the trip…if we left it up to the guys, we might end up sitting in our apartment watching TV the entire time we’re there. Or, in a bar watching sports. :-) More on what’s in the works coming soon!

This week so far...

First of all, I just want to say thanks for all the kind words regarding our loss of Jake. I appreciate it!

Here's what's been going on in my world this week:

Monday, 10/17 – 6 miles & a swim
Still warm and muggy, but not as bad as summer, so no complaints from me. This is my 1st run since last Monday, thanks to the neck/shoulder issues. I was really determined to run my scheduled 14 on Saturday, but was persuaded to follow doctor’s orders and not run until Monday. I’d rather miss a long run to recover from this mess, than make it worse and be out another week. Technically, I think the doctor wanted me to wait until after my appointment to run. Details, details. It was much cooler in the morning, so that’s when I headed out for my run. Sorry, doc! I managed to get in 6 miles (10:30 pace), because I was taking a vacation day – yay me!

Also, for some unknown reason, I signed up to do the swim portion of a tri relay on Saturday. (STUPID!) Because of this, I thought it might be a good idea to get back in the pool (DUH!). I had every intention of getting into the pool last week, but the neck/shoulder thing prevented me from this (because it does help to be able to move your arms and head while swimming). Actually, I know why I volunteered for this…it’s because I hate the swim. And, because a certain coach once told me that the only way to overcome my swim issues is to get back out there and race. So, I didn’t want to risk falling off my bike or tweaking an ankle during a 5k race, so I decided to follow the coach’s advice and get more experience racing the swim via this relay. Lord help me!

Tuesday, 10/18 – rest day
“Rest from what?”, you might be asking. I was asking myself the same thing after not running for an entire week. But, I knew I’d rather run on Wednesday and Thursday when the weather was supposed to be much cooler, so Tuesday was my rest day.

Wednesday, 10/19 – 5 miles and swim
Okay, so Wednesday is normally my mid-week-short-long-run day. That was true until 4 weeks ago when I began traveling for work. Then last week, well, it was the freaking neck/shoulder thing. So this has been where I’ve cut my mileage during the week– I usually run 5-6 in the morning and then 2-4 (depending on the schedule) in the evening. I know this is not ideal, but seriously people, who has time to do 7 – 10 miles midweek and work and have quality time with their family? Once again, for the 5th week in a row, I ended up only doing the morning portion of my runs do to other priorities...I have this pesky swim coming up and for that I needed some more practice. My morning run was done at a 10:15 pace, my after work swim – 1200 yds

Thursday, 10/20 – 3 miles
Okay, okay this was supposed to be 4 miles, but the darn snooze button got the best of me! And, since I had overslept, I had to haul booty – 9:32 pace thankyouverymuch cool weather!

I am a bit bummed that, due to the shoulder/neck issues, I have not been able to do my usual strength training. No P90X (i.e. push ups, chin ups, weights, abs, etc.). I am hoping that at the very least, I will be back to at least doing Ab Ripper X between now and the marathon.

Now I need to decide what to do this weekend. I feel guilty about missing my 14-miler on Saturday, but I think I will stick to my planned 10 this week and 8 next week. Only 16 days 'til NYC!!!

Long Run Update

Well, I survived my 18 and 20 miler. Both were runs that I wasn’t sure would even happen…why, you ask? Allow me to explain….

I woke up the morning of my 18-miler feeling good. I went to the kitchen to put my pop tarts in the toaster and made a pit-stop in the bathroom. TMI, I know, but as I was sitting there I started to notice what my Grandma would call a “crick” in my neck. Then, a few seconds later, the muscles in my shoulders began to tighten and the pain I felt was excruciating. Seriously, I wasn’t sure if I could get up. After a minute or two, the tightening began to subside, but my neck and shoulders were still sore. I could barely get dressed and turning my head from side to side was near impossible. But, being the busy runner mom that I am, I went ahead and met up with some friends for a 6 mile “pre-run” before meeting with Woodlands Fit for 12 more miles. I knew if I didn’t fit the run in then, I might never find another time. Somehow, someway, I made it through all 18-miles without any back or neck pain. In fact, after making it home, I told the Hubby that the run almost seemed too easy. I felt great!!! (Well, other than the neck issues.)

My 20-miler was actually supposed to be 2 weeks after the 18-miler, followed by a 12 miler and then followed by a 22-miler. But, I have some running peeps who decided to delay their 20-miler by one week and run 10 miles before running the local “10 for Texas” 10-mile race. The idea was that running the last 10 miles with the crowds, the cheering and water stops would be more fun than running 20-miles on our own. The thought of changing up my training schedule made me nervous…I really wanted a 2nd 20+mile run. If nothing else, having two 20-milers would be a good confidence builder. But, I decided to run with my friends.

Wouldn’t you know it, on the date of my originally planned 20-miler, we had amazing 58-degree temps and zero humidity. However, on the date of the 10 for Texas, the temps were in the 70s and humid as heck! Figures.

The reason this run almost didn’t happen? Tummy issues. (TMI again) Seriously, I spent more time in the bathroom before the run than I did getting dressed. I debated taking Imodium, but decided against it since I’ve never used it before a run before. Fortunately, by the time I made it to our designated meeting place and made one more stop in the Market Street bathroom, I felt better. Not 100%, but better. The 1st 10-miles felt pretty good. My stomach felt off, but it didn’t get any worse with my Bee Stingers or Gatorade. Then, we had just enough time to freshen up a bit – change shirts, cool off with icy cold wash cloths, etc. – before we headed to the start of the 10 for Texas.

The race went well, although I was definitely not racing. I have PRed two years in a row, so that did make it a little hard to not want to go faster…not that I could at that point! I’ll admit, the warm temps really got to me and at mile 16 or 16.5-ish, I really started to feel it. Instead of walking for a minute at each mile, I began to take a quick walk break every ½ mile. I did this until a little after mile 18, when I got my 2nd wind and could run more. I even charged up the bridge at mile 19. Honestly, I think I was just happy to be almost done! I finished at a pace of 11:24…not fast by any means, but actually 1 second faster than my goal pace. Given the conditions that morning, I will take it! And, the best part is that my legs felt great afterwards! I know I could have run another 6.2, but of course I didn’t want to. J

So compared to the training for my last marathon 5 years ago, I feel stronger both physically and mentally. The me 5 years ago would have been a pansy and walked the bridge at the end of the race or beaten myself up about those few extra walk breaks. This year, I feel like my recovery is faster as well. It’s a great feeling!

It's Just STUPID HOT!

Note...I am borrowing the phrase "stupid hot" from Susan. Really, there's just no other way to describe what most of the country is experiencing right now!

Monday, August 1 - Rest day
I started to type July and then stopped...holy crap it's already August! Monday was a rest day. And I'll be honest, my legs were pretty sore from the 11-miler the day before - the left quad was feeling tight, the right shin was feeling sore...ugh, and that was only 11 miles. The fun is just starting! :-)

Tuesday, August 2 - Run & Abs
Normally, Tuesday would be my speedwork day, but my legs were still a bit achey and I have a race this weekend, so I decided to just run 3-miles fairly easy. And, for whatever reason I just didn't feeling like running in the dark at stupid-thirty, so I opted to use the indoor track at work during my lunch break.

The track is on the 8th floor of a building in downtown Houston. Yes, the loops are mind numbing, but it's in the a/c and at least I get to look at buildings and the action on the street below. And, this is one of the only times I actually listen to my ipod when I run (well, here and on the dreadmill). It's nice to have options.

Once the kiddos were in bed, I did Ab Ripper X for a core workout. I have done this workout so often, that I can do the entire workout without watching the P90X dvd. So, I did the entire workout while watching The Wonder Years, lol. I forgot how cute that show was.

Wednesday, August 3 - Run and Swim
Instead of pushing my snooze button too many times, I actually forgot to set my alarm clock. Doh! Actually, I did set an alarm, but it wasn't mine...it was the Hubby's alarm (we have a clock with dual alarms). Fortunately, I have an internal alarm clock and it woke me up at 4:18 am. Double doh! I knew I wouldn't quite have time for 5 miles, but I decided I'd run as far as I could in the time that I had to work with.

Before I headed out for my run, I let the dog out so he could take care of business. Ugh, I could feel that wave of warm, moist air the minute I opened the back door - YUCK! When I set out on my run, I was trying not to complain, but damn! It was a sauna. I struggled managed through my miles - 4.89...yes, I should have run that last .11, but I was now late getting into the shower and I was already back at my house. It probably didn't help that I stopped for a minute or two to talk to my "friend". He didn't get into Houston for the 1/2 marathon for the 2nd year in a row and was majorly bummed. Prior to the lotto, he had run the marathon once and the 1/2 marathon 6x. So instead, he is doing The Woodlands 1/2 Marathon in March and maybe the USA Fit 1/2. It's good to have a "friend" out there running at stupid-thirty. And, when I made it back home, I learned from the news that it was 82 degrees outside with a "feels like" of 90. At 4:30 am! Anyway, I have got to get better about getting out the door in the mornings in a timely manner. I know as the runs get longer, I will eventually need to split up the mileage, but it does help to get a large chunk of the mileage out of the way early!

After work, I headed to the gym for my swim. The kids have swim lessons on Wednesday nights and I absolutely hate to miss that, but by the time I leave work, take the bus to the Park & Ride and drive the 20 minute drive to swim class, class would almost be over. So...I've deemed this my swim day - I can get in a shorter swim, then make it home a few minutes before the Hubby and kids get there which gives me just enough time to get something going for dinner. My swim - 45 minutes, 1,600 yds.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to set aside some time for a short bike/run brick. I just bought a new pair of tri shorts, so I want to try them out before Sunday's race....nothing new on race day, right?

Speaking of the heat...which do you prefer for running/training - the hot, humid summers, or the icy cold winters?

Pot smokers and Stupid-Thirty

In my circle of running peeps we often use the term “dark-thirty” when referring to our pre-dawn group runs. Usually, those runs begin at 5:30 or 6:00 am. With my training/work/commute schedule, I am forced to get out the door anytime between 4:00 am and 4:45 am in order to be back home by 5:15 am to get myself and the kids ready for the day. From this point forward, I will now refer to this time as “stupid-thirty”.

Why?

Because it’s just effing stupid to workout at this time. Really.

And yes, that really is my alarm clock!

But yet I continue to do it. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, and all that malarkey....it's either stupid-thirty, do mind-numbing loops around the indoor track during lunch or treadmill during lunch or after work. (And let me tell you, I got a lot of crap about attempting speedwork on the dreadmill a few years ago.) All of the options can work, but for me it's just easier to get out there 1st thing in the morning, because crap happens throughout the day that sometimes makes it hard to get in a quality workout later.

Tuesday, July 26 – Run (speedwork) and Ab Ripper X
As always with me, the word “speed” is relative. It really means, “still slow, but not as friggin slow as usual”. I don’t have access to a lighted track in the early morning and typically can’t make it to the track until after dark in the evenings, so I usually do my speed work around the neighborhood with my Garmin set to beep at whatever intervals I want to do. This time around I decided on 400s, mainly because it’s been forever since I’ve done any type of speedwork. 400s seemed obtainable. I also decided that rather than venture throughout the entire neighborhood, I would stay in our little block. This would allow me to stop and grab water as I passed our house and to not have to carry my hand held bottle.

Overall, I think the workout went well. I hit my goal pace during my speed intervals, but the only problem is that I was so freaking winded that I felt inclined to walk a bit after each one, instead of just slowing down the pace to a slow jog. The result was pretty much the same overall pace that I’ve had for my regular runs.

Oh, and on my second loop around the block, I noticed that there was now a car parked along the curb in front of a house. Hmmmm, that wasn't there the 1st time I ran by....and, there were two teenage guys sitting in the car, Judging by the looks on their faces, I definitely startled them. And I smelled a little sumfin’ funny as I ran by…seriously dooooods, it’s 4:30 am for pete’s sake! I guess anytime is a good time to get your party on, lol! It kinda reminded me of these dudes:

After the kiddos went to bed, I did the ol’ Ab Ripper X. All part of my master plan to get a ripped core.

Do you do speedwork? Do you do it on a track, on the dreadmill? What's your favorite interval?

Workouts this week...

This Week's theme is "flexibility"...sometimes things don't quite go as planned with the workout schedule, so you've got to be flexible. That can be hard when you're a type A.

Monday – 7/18, Run- 6 miles
I had the day off, so I despite the tired legs from the previous day’s ride, I decided to head out for a run. I had two choices – 1) wake up before 5 am, so I could be back home before the hubby left for work or 2) sleep in and go for a run after taking the kids to school.

Can you guess which option I chose?

Even though it meant I’d be running in warmer temps, I opted for #2 – sleep in. Although, with my kiddos that means I get to sleep until 6 am. It was warm and muggy, but overall it was better than my last 6-miler!

Afterwards, I spent the day with my mom to celebrate her upcoming birthday. We had lunch and cupcakes and just hung out. Fun times!

Tuesday, 7/19 – Rest Insanity
Okay, so I was going to rest, but it was a stressful day and I needed to blow off some steam. I decided to do Insanity’s Cardio Circuit and it did the trick. It’s hard, but you definitely get out the days stress and frustrations!

Wednesday, 7/20 – Run and Swim Run again
I had one of those mornings where I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed. I had 5 miles on the schedule, but after hitting the snooze button too many times before work, I only had time for 3 miles. Then, I was limited on time after work, so opted to finish up my mileage in the afternoon heat rather than swim.

Thursday, 7/21 - Spin and Swim
Thursday’s workouts did not go as planned. I had plans to go to spin class during lunch, but I ended up meeting with someone that I needed to talk to at work…hey, work comes first…afterall, it pays for these races, right? So, I decided rather than swim after work, I’d ride my bike. Then, I’d swim on Friday, which was supposed to be my rest day. Well, as I travelled home it started raining. With thunder. And lightening. So much for a ride. Instead, I headed to the pool for a 50-minute swim workout. Better than nothing, right?

Friday, 7/22 – Rest
Ahhh, a rest day at last! Gotta get ready for 9 miles tomorrow in the heat and humidity. Ick!

So, how flexible are you with your workouts? Do you go with the flow, or freakout when your workouts get derailed?

Little bit of this and that...

Well, another weekend come and gone. I love my weekends! So here’s what was up:

Thursday, July 7 – Spin class & Swimming
I’ve discovered that Thursday spin classes are actually a little tougher than the Tuesday class…I like that and think I’ll keep going! It was grueling, but fun. After work, I headed to the gym to swim. This swim was much better than my Wednesday swim! Much smoother, much less effort...I did some drills and then a ladder. Overall, I swam 1,200 yds.

Friday, July 8 - Rest

Saturday, July 9 – Bike ride and parties
I joined my biking homies for a nice, new route. This route was along some pretty country roads about 30 minutes from my house. It was definitely more challenging than our usual, flat route – this ride included some nice, rolling hills and less protection from the wind. We had some views of the countryside, some views of a lake and even some flowers…naturally, we had to stop and enjoy! We did a little over 40 miles. It’s nice that 40 miles doesn’t seem too bad, even on the more challenging route. Although, I have to admit that the last few miles were tough mentally - by that point, I was sick of the rolling hills and felt like I could barely make it up the last couple.

Taking a little break...

Yes, we took time to stop and smell the flowers...these were growing on the side of the road! So pretty!

Later, after doing the grocery shopping and some laundry, we headed to a friend’s house to celebrate their daughter’s graduation from high school. Crazy, because I remember this daughter when she was just a baby…and now she’s graduating…kinda makes me feel old! The Hubby and I debated on whether or not we wanted to bring the kids along, and we’re glad we did. They had an awesome time playing with all the other kids and just being silly. Great food, great friends, great fun…

Sunday, July 10 – Run and swim
Sunday I had the option – get up at 4:30 to run, or wait until 7 pm in the evening. The Hubby was planning to meet up with his tri training group for their weekly run at 6:15 am, then we’d head to the lake for a swim after…this meant that I either had to run and get home before he left for his run, or I’d be running later in the evening. With the “feels like” temps in the 100s, there was no way I would be running in the middle of the day! After waking up before 5 am for 6 days in a row, I decided to sleep in. The Hubby enjoyed his group run and we still had time for breakfast together before dropping off the kids at my parent’s house and heading to the lake.

We were surprised to see such a large number of people out at the lake. Then we realized that there was an open water swim clinic being held. That group had already finished their swim…this made me happy, because I hoped they’d already scared away any snakes or other creepy crawlies out in the water. LOL! This was the hubby’s 1st open water swim and he did great! He was actually in the water before I finished putting my swim cap and goggles on. I was pretty proud of myself too…I had absolutely no anxiety whatsoever. After having a handful of really crappy open water swims in the spring, it felt good to have a good ows! I swam a little over 1,000 m, so it was a pretty decent workout!

Here's the lake where we have ows practice...looks nice and serene, huh?

Once we were home, we hung out with the kiddos and finished the laundry…exciting, huh? Then, it was finally time to head out for my run. I wasn’t really feeling it…I started to get a sore throat earlier in the day and just felt kinda crappy. Plus, my quads were sore from the bike ride the day before. Plus, it was hot! I really didn’t want to run.

Did I mention it was hot?

I had a horrible time. I walked, I whined, I cursed, I walked some more. Let’s face it, I am a morning runner. It’s about 10 degrees cooler and the sun doesn’t glare down on you at 4:30 in the morning. I know a lot of you out there run in this stupid heat and deal with it…and I don’t know how you do it. I am sure I need to get acclimated to it, but ugh, why? I’d much rather run in the morning. I don’t think I felt really good until I got to mile 5…by then the sun was low enough for me to be in the shade. At least there was a breeze. So anyway, it is what it is – a horrible, slow, walked way too much and I hate running kinda run.

I am kinda bummed that I am calling 6 miles a *long* run! Before the whole toe incident, I was easily running 8 – 10 miles, heat and all. And now, well, I’m a pansy.

It’ll get better, right?

I hope so.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!