To Race or Not To Race, That is the Question!

In a hair over two weeks I have a 10-miler on the books, but I am not sure.  It is a very hilly course, and my knee is still not happy. I can run on the treadmill with no issues.  The question is do I take the risk? I would lose $25, but that isn’t really a big deal.  I have a 10K scheduled for the following weekend that is part of a series (I really want to do the whole series).  I see my new rheumy next Friday and I am sure telling him my knee is hurting but I am running a hilly race won't be the best way to win him over. 

This race was a ‘sure, why not!’ so I wouldn’t be completely heart broken by not doing it, I can cheer on everyone!  I think I will need to talk to the coach tomorrow and see what she says

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Colorado Half Marathon (VERY LONG REPORT!!!!!)

So my race training run was a complete success! I went in with a plan and a goal, I stuck with my plan and met my goal! 

Saturday morning we got all packed and loaded everyone in the car (yes, this included the puppies). I drive a bug! The suitcases and my running bag all went in the trunk (surprising spacious) the boys and the computers went into the back seat (I had homework I had to finish so the computers had to come) the puppies were told to go in the back seat too (Charlie can fit between my boys and Freddie sits wherever).  My sister got in the from seat and put her crap bag down by her feet.  Had had two stops before dropping the boys off at the doggy hotel, Walgreen, Cuervo needed more meds and the bank (we were running so late that had we dropped the boys off first the bank probably would have been closed and my sister doesn’t use an ATM card).  Freddie loves riding up front and if my sister is there he is even happier (he props himself on her chest). He is also a huge fan of the “roof window”.  Charlie had no problem sitting in back while we were at Walgreens then he felt it was necessary to come upfront for rest of the trip.   My poor sister was being squished the entire time (we also had to stop and get gas).  Luckily from the gas station to the bank is a fairly straight shot but it was very entertaining.  My bug is a standard and Charlie was sitting on the stick for part of the time.  When I told him if he doesn’t move I might change gears using one of this body parts he climbed even further onto my sister! The bank was interesting (my sister’s wallet was in her crap bag at her feet!).  We had a two second drive to the doggy hotel when we finished at the bank.  Finally the boys were unloaded! They were excited to be there (as always) we didn’t even get any good bye kisses.  Finally it was time to hit the road!

We made it to Fort Collins with no issues, got to the host hotel, again with no issues, parked and went in.  The expo is improving each and every time.  I got my bag to put all my stuff in, grabbed some of the goodies (the goodie bags were not pre-packed), picked up my bib and then got my shirt.  I made sure I stopped by the Country Financial table to say thank you! And we joked about not doing the marathon, the whole week and a half notice thing…  Of course I had to stop by the official merchandise area, picked up body glide (couldn’t remember if I had packed it so we figured better safe than sorry [I had packed it]), gloves, a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, compression socks (first pair, man do I love them), another pair of toe socks, and I want to say something else, but I don’t remember! Checked out the other booths (very small, but in a good way).  Found a booth with a shirt that said “Pain is only a state of mind” so I had to get it.  After that we headed out.  Found the hotel with minimal issues (I couldn’t remember the name of it for a while).  Then headed to dinner, but first had to find the parking area for the morning.  Found it, off to Olive Garden.  I ordered the eggplant parm.  The nice waiter brought me extra pasta (hey, there wasn’t very much pasta!!!). After that we stopped by King Soopers (Kroger) to get my breakfast and other misc stuff.  Then back to the hotel.  I laid out my stuff and realized I forgot my knee band.  My wonderful sister delaired we would zoom up the street and pick up new ones.  She knew if I did not have them I would need them.  And last weekend my knee buckled a few times.  So we flew to Sports Authority and picked up new knee bands (Shannon you are a very wise woman!!!!).  Got back, took a bath watched TV and went to sleep (had a wakeup call, my sister’s phone set and the alarm clock set).

3:45 came EARLY! I hit snooze! J Next BEEP! BEEP! I got up.  I got dressed heated up the water for the oatmeal, said goodbye to everyone and headed out the door with my sister making sure I had everything. I get half way to the parking garage and realize I did not put on my RoadID, crap.  Get even closer and I don’t have my gum, fine, I will just go to a gas station and get more,  I finally fine one that is opened and pull in to park and realize I don’t have my purse. The only thing I have with me in my driver’s license.  DAMN! I remember that I usually keep gum in my car, somewhere!  So I go to the parking garage, I am still about 10 minutes early for the half marathon busses. I get comfy on the bench and wait.  The busses finally start to load and up we go.  I try to get a little more sleep, but the gal next to me keeps messing with her iPod and the light from it keeps waking me up.  We get up to the waiting area, first thing is first, POTTY!  I start eating my bagel and meet this local gal, Becky, who is running her first half and we stand around and chat.  Start time is getting closer so I get back in line for the potty.  I find a comfy area to start stretching and find Becky again and we continue chatting, the emotions are flying with this poor gal.  She can’t believe she is really doing this and we all know how it is!  I let her know it is an amazing course, there is really only one hill we have 5 hours to complete it in and so on and so forth (not downplaying the magnitude of what she is about to do but putting her nerves at ease a little).  We get to the start and all of a sudden people are running! WHAT? No BEEEEEEP!? No nothing! I step off to the side because all my electronics weren’t ready! I am finally ready to go and off I go.  I had planned the first two hours I was going to run two songs and walk one.  The third hour walk one, run one and anything after three hours I will listen to the same two songs over and over and over and over until I do finish (my goal was 3 hours!).  Mile one, was wonderful, my lower back was a little sore at first but then came around.  Mile two… Hey, there’s Ted’s! Woo-hoo!  Ok, there is that damn hill, hmm, according to the music I will be running part of it.  Up the hill, no issue! Thank you Judy! You are a wonderful woman I will never grumble around training runs in Garden of the Gods again! Hey! I am halfway done.  Oh! Look more marathoners are passing me.  Yay! There is the first female! WOW! I am at the bridge already, and I am running across it!  5K left, alright! Hey, I might just make my 3 hour goal!  Everything is still feeling fine, ok, I have still having issues with hydration.  One mile left! Yay! I am around the corner and there is the finish line! I will run, ooo, not feeling so well, I will walk until the stop sign.  HERE I COME! I AM DONE WITH TIME TO SPARE!!!!! Faster, so close to the finish line, even faster. Come on Sammie, you can sprint the last little bit… I’M DONE!!!!!

I start coughing and gagging, uh-oh! No, no, no.  There are no trash cans, there are people everywhere, can’t do this. NO! coughing more, no, no, no.  I managed to leave the finish area with dignity intact, but still no trash can, oh look! A cute dog.  Went over squatted down and said hi (with permission of course).  Feeling better, ok, I am fine now.  Grab by bag from the bag drop, found my sister and my kids got hugs from my kids (they are very kind little guys). Finally found my car and re went back to the hotel.  My left foot was hurting in a weird way, left hip flexor was sore, second toe on right foot will probably fall off. Other than that I feel good. I took a nice LONG shower (that hotel had some amazing water pressure!) check out time was noon we turned our keys in at 11:57 (ish) and hit the road.  We made great time coming home.  Picked up the boys (there were happy to see us), my sister and Cuervo cheated, they went to the store next door while Jose and I brought the boys home.  Grabbed the truck, picked up my sister and Cuervo and did our weekly grocery shopping.  Finally we made it home and I crashed!  I am sure I was asleep before 9!  I slept well having my boys on either side of me (yes, I share my bed with my fur kids). 

The weather was perfect, cool, but not cold.  Mostly cloudy (I had 100 spf on, but I still reacted to the sun that was out), all in all I am very proud of the run! Good training run!

I have to say, none of this would have been possible if it weren't for my sister.  Shannon, you are the most amazing person!

What a day off!

On Friday I took a much needed “ME” day.  Thursday night was filled with “Mommy, my science project is due tomorrow!” Friday morning we slept in until 6 (I know, talk about late!). The boys were funny, when I woke up Jose I head “but you said we would get to sleep in” ‘Babe, it is 6:00’ “oh”.  Cuervo, on the other hand (always takes his shower first)… ‘baby, time to wake up’ “Tyler can go first” ‘sweetie, he has already taken his shower’ “oh, fine, I’m getting up” Once we were finally out the door we had to make a few stops, I even bought them breakfast.  Dropped them off where they need to be and off to Manitou I went! I found a parking spot, paid my $5 and, for once, started at the VERY bottom of the Incline! About an hour later I finished my first mile of the day! Once I finally made it to the top I took a few moments to enjoy the view and a snack.  Then it was time to head back down.  Once I got to the trail I was able to run most of the way down, but getting to the trail can be a little dangerous (I slept once, but didn’t get hurt). One the way down my knee buckled backwards a couple of times but I was fine.  Got to the bottom of the trail and then it was time to get to my car which was about another ¼ of a mile of downhill.  As soon as I got to my car I chugged 2 bottles of OJ and ate a Rice Crispy Treat (hey, it is what I keep in my trunk) and headed back to town.  I had no blood sugar issues so YAY!!!! I swung by the house got changed and went and had lunch with a friend.  All in all I would say it was a wonderful day off!

Saturday was group run day.  It was chilly, but I had a thick shirt on, some sleeves and a jacket.  I found out that the Incline kicked my butt more than I thought it had (oh, my legs!!!!) and the crud in my chest isn’t a cleared up as I had thought.  I only completed a little over half of the miles I had planned on doing.  I was walking hills but when I got to the top I could not catch my breath, I was unable to take a good deep breath in.  Since I do have a long run next weekend (I am not calling it a race because I am not racing it) I didn’t want to push myself to hard.  I was happy with the miles I got in. Sunday before starting Easter activities I was going to try to get a few more miles in, but my legs were so sore it wasn’t even funny! (oops, felt good though).

This week, I will put some good miles in the first half of the week, the second half is rest time!

Pictures from my day off:

Coming back down the trail

Looking up the incline (you can't see there is even more that you can't see)

Looking east (you can see the lower part of the Incline)

At the top of the Incline looking down on the city)

Getting ready to come down the trail

Coming down the trail

10 more days!

Yesterday between work and Weight Watchers I managed to get a second workout in. I had planned on doing an additional three miles but I got out of work later than I had expected so I had to settle with 1.5.  I wanted to get weights in so I did ½ mile then a set of weights. Before I knew it was supposed to be at my meeting and I had only finished my upper body and 1.5 miles, put my mileage yesterday to a little over 5 miles.  I felt great! Since I was the only one in the gymlet I had the chance to think.  The past year has been pretty rough, but I have made it through with my head held up high.  Winning that entry into the Colorado Marathon made my entire month!  It was four years when I ran my very first full marathon and it was the Colorado Marathon. I went back the following year to complete my 5^th marathon in a 12 month period (hey, it squeaked in by one day so it counts!). Due to my race schedule last year (and injuries) I was not able to run it. This year I really wanted to but it sold out to fast.  This weekend I have an 8 miler on the books, but I think it will be bumped up to a 10 miler, but I have been putting in some good miles on hills, plus I have 5 hours to finish.  “A participant has 6 hours to complete the marathon and 5 hours to complete the half marathon. Walkers are welcome. No baby strollers or wheeled conveyances are allowed.” I would have almost 23 minutes per mile!!!!  I think I will do just fine! Because I am coming off the crud my plan is to do a nice run/walk I am thinking 4/1, but I am not sure yet. I will see how my runs go between now and then.

Tonight I am on full mommy duty “Mom! I have a science project due tomorrow!” We are doing the egg in the bottle experiment! We are going to see how small of an opening the bottle can have while keeping the egg intact! We are also going to see what happens when the egg still has its shell!!! Tomorrow I am taking a ME day! I plan on hitting Pikes Peak after dropping my boys off, going to lunch with a friend and who knows what else!

Saturday is another run in Garden of the Gods – gotta love hills!!!

“You're So Vain” - Carly Simon

Ok, not really, self conscious, absolutely, vain, not so much! But I will get to that shortly!

Friday I got off work early and I had every intention to take my new outfit out for a bike ride but I had two problems… 1) It is a little (very) windy out and 2) I couldn’t get into my garage where my bike has been hanging out (literally) of late. So I played with the puppies and shared my lunch with them and waited for my sister to come home so we could go to the movies. She finally made it home (my boys went up to Denver with my parents) and off we went. We saw Sucker Punch talk about a waste of money! The previews made it look a lot better than it actually was. After the movie had to go to a Red Box and rent a good movie to make me feel better. Case 39 awesome movie!!!! But I love psycho thrillers!

Saturday morning I got up (more willing than usual) and headed off to Garden of the Gods to me up with the BRC FIT team. I love hills, I love hills, I love hills! (I figure if I keep telling myself that I will eventually believe it!). In all actuality it was a good run, I was sucking wind coming up some of the steeper hills, but it was still enjoyable. Afterwards I was a great little sister and fur kid mom and stopped and picked up breakfast, I got my sister lox and bagels and the puppies got doggy bagels. After getting cleaned up off we went. “You’re so vain” I wear sunscreen (100 spf) when I go out because of the stupid lupus crap. But it is still affecting my face and part of it is looking all cratered and then I get the rash and well, I can’t stand it. I try to cover it with makeup but it is obvious that I have painted my face on and yuck! My sister came up with a brilliant idea of going to one of the stores that have makeup counters and seeing what they can do to help. We ended up in Macy’s (I love their tights) at the Shiseido counter. The nice lady used face cleaner (no burning), and then moisturize and blah, blah, blah. Next thing I know, my face is no longer bright red, the craters (which aren’t really cratered into my skin, it just looks like it) are gone and WOW! (I am not really big about posting pictures of me online, but here I am! I have not felt that good in a very long time! When I washed it off that night I did not need a chisel to get it off! The face wash (again, no burning) made it come right off!

Sunday, when I got up IT HAD SNOWED! And it was icy so there went my plans for Sunday morning, so I rolled over told the puppies to shut up and go back to sleep and tried to get more sleep. They listen as well as my two legged children do! So we continued my Criminal Minds marathon! Finally My sister and I were up and moving, we started our grocery shopping, stopped and got lunch, visited Lynne from On the Other End of the Leash to pick up my winnings! For the record my puppies were trying to figure out the point of an empty cookie jar! My boys fought over who got the t-shirt only to find out it didn’t fit either one of them!!!! When I lose more weight it will actually fit me! SUCKERS! After getting home Sammie’s beauty shop opened and I did my hair and then my little assistant helped me do my sister’s hair (coloring).

Good news, I got all my miles (plus some) in last week. And my lower body didn’t start feeling the hills until I got out of bed yesterday, my hips were NOT happy!!!! (bit in a good way). Spring break for my monkeys is over and it is back to the grind stone. I have one more week until I return to school.

Here is to another wonderful week! J

Day 7 - Taking a day off

Here we are ¾ of the way through the weekend and I have to say I am not doing so well on my 30 day challenge. I didn’t not hit play on Friday, instead I was outside trying to shovel water away from my driveway. There was just the right mixture of snow, ice and water that I could see having some major issues Saturday morning. Saturday I didn’t hit play either but I did make it to spinning and let me tell you I was so happy to be there. It was great to be on a spin bike again (I can’t wait until I am on MY bike again). Today, well, I am just tried so I am taking a day off from workouts. My water intake has also slipped over the weekend. I am excited to report that I did go down 6.6 pounds at my Weight Watchers weigh in yesterday. I was wishful thinking a 7 pound loss, so when I was the 6.6 loss I started doing the happy dance!

I picked up my bike from the shop on Saturday, hopefully the warm weather we are having will make it possible to hit the roads sooner rather than later. Either way, she is home and ready to go!

Tomorrow morning is back to waking up and getting my 30 minutes in. Tomorrow is also a stationary bike day, I think it will be hills.

Well, tomorrow is back to work, even though I could use about another three days of sleep!

OH! I signed up for the Denver Marathon today. I think that means all my races for the year are now paid for.

30-Day Challenge

11 – 12 Feb 11

Ø 76 oz of water every day – got it in for Friday, but not quite on Saturday

ü TV off no later than 10:30 (Still doing well on this one!)

ü Down size Startbucks (I am sitting in Starbucks right now and have my tall next to me, I didn’t have any yesterday!)

ü Logging intake – haven’t writing down yet, but that will be easy to do.

Ø 30-day Shred – nope! L

Day 3 (10% done!!!!)

When I got home last night I was COLD! Cuervo was curled up in his chair and Jose was on my bed and they were watching TV, my poor sister was in her room sick as can be. She came up to greet me and told me my boys had been really good all day. They watched TV and when they needed something they would come talk to her, otherwise they left her alone (they are amazing at doing that). Before I did anything else I got changed and hit play! The first round of jumping jacks I realized my calves for one heck of a workout on Monday! Freddie and Charlie tried to help me again. This time Freddie figured I need help staying up so he stood under my upper chest while I was trying to do push-ups. My sister came and rescued me! I was able to finish my workout (my knee played nice, thank goodness). Then it was dinner time. Quesadillas! I did have two, but I measured everything out. I only had a little bit of fat free cheese, and I did stack on the lettuce and cilantro, some no salt black beans and some other stuff. I thought I had made good choices, that is until I figured out the calories! According to Body Bugg and entering in everything I did eat yesterday I still came out without any issues. I was just shy of my goal calories in for the day. Monday it looks like I was way lower than I was supposed to be. I can now see where I am falling to short or going to far over. I figure 100 calories either way is manageable.

This morning I was back on schedule. I figured out how to get out of bed and Cuervo decided it was necessary to sleep in my room again (I think he just likes sleeping in his chair [it is one of those big round ones] and Charlie has no issues climbing up into the chair with him!). When I got out of bed Cuervo had packed up his chair and got it out of my way so I was able to get right into it. I hit play and again my calves started asking me what the heck I thought I was doing! This time during push-ups Freddie came over and started giving me kisses every time I came up. Then he decided it was play time with Charlie so they went outside. I have been doing the 30-day shred without weights, I am hoping to get to the store to pick up some dumbbells tonight. I don’t think I will need anything more than 3 – 5 pounds (for now). With my shoulder not back to 100% yet, this workout is great, it is not to strenuous on it but it does work out.

New bike pants (don’t worry, I did laundry Monday night) + running skirt (put on backwards [oops]) = perfect combo. My boss was in the gymlet today and I was so glad I had my skirt on. I am sure he wouldn’t have cared, but I would not have been able to get a good ride in trying to fix the back of my pants (they don’t go WAY down, but they are further down than I am happy with). After chatting with my boss for 5 minutes I got into my ride. Little hilly (nothing like what I am going to need for Elephant Rock – stayed between levels 5 – 9 with RPMS between 87 – 95).

30-Day Challenge

8 Feb 11

ü 76 oz of water every day

ü TV off no later than 10:30 (I have been falling asleep before my TV even think about shutting off!)

ü Down size Startbucks

ü Logging intake

ü 30-day Shred – Every day!

Oh my love, how I have missed you!

First I have to admit the 30 days without soda thing has gone a little off track! The end of last week was one of the weeks I wanted something sweet and my Diet Dr. Pepper hit the spot perfectly!
I am in my final week or so of pain and torture. To make sure everything is going the way it should be my doc told me to go ahead and hit the pool (something I have not done in a long time). Cuervo had soccer practice last night (an hour and a half long) so while he was getting ready for practice, I was getting ready to hit the pool. I told myself no more than a half hour. I had looked at the local pool schedules and saw the Y only had one lane opened for lap swim during that time so I figured I would go to 24 (yes, I have two gym memberships, the Y has the better spinning and yoga classes, 24 has no kids!). I dropped Cuervo off at practice and off I went. I couldn’t even find a parking spot at 24 so I headed to the Y. I found a spot and there were lots of people heading out! I went in, grabbed my swim stuff and headed to the pool. To my surprise there was one person in each lane and there were three or so lap lanes going. So I asked a gentleman if I could share his lane (you never just jump in, you always ask) and he said sure. As soon as my body hit the water I felt everything just relax; I put my cap on; grabbed my goggles; damn, no ear plugs (I get ear infections so fast it isn’t even funny). I don’t care, I am here I am in the pool, I am going! I did a whole half mile, took me about 20 minutes, and man did it feel good! My shoulder felt great, it was wonderful getting out of the pool, pulling my clothes on over my wet swimsuit, putting the towel on my car seat so it would get wet and driving to pick up little man soaking wet!
Last night I even pulled out my triathlon book and started reading it again. I am blaming all this motivation on John! He just finished his first Ironman (which is awesome) and I realize my first one is still about a year and a half away but I figure it is never really too early to start getting ready. I haven’t been in a pool in God only knows how long and going back last night nothing else existed while I was in that pool. I am looking forward to buying new bike shoes and a helmet this spring (my bike made it out of the garage for its tune-up this year and nothing else). I am getting my running legs back (very slowly) and enjoying every step of it (ok, I might be singing a different tune tomorrow after my 6-miler on the treadmill tonight). I know that I have to take all this at a much easier pace than I had been. I want to remember my journey as something I have loved, not something I forced myself to do.
My race plans for next year consist of two marathon (one in January, one in November), two half marathon (one in January, one is September), a century race (June, I think) and a half ironman. All of these are not “races” they are training. The half ironman to see where I am at compared to last year (didn’t do to bad considering I had been on almost a week of bed rest due to a stomach bug the week before the race AND I was not permitted in still water for the previous two weeks because of getting a HUGE gash on my nose that had to be glued shut). Century race good way to see where my biking is lacking, I know I need to work hills! Marathon and half marathon – well I need to take family vacations at some point!
This week – I have
Monday – Cross training (hit the pool)
Tuesday – 3 miles (will most likely be my 6-miler – treadmill)
Wednesday – 6 miles (3 miles during lunch)
Thursday – 3 miles (3 miles on elliptical unless 6 miles wasn’t done on Tuesday)
Friday – zzzzzzz
Saturday – 6 mile pace (not running neighborhood, I think I will hit part of my trail)
Sunday – 8 miles (gotta love pull back weeks!)

Level field

The other day my older son had his first cross country meet. As I was walking up to the meet I noticed an insane looking ramp right at an eighth of a mile before the finish (according to http://www.mapmyrun.com/ it is only a 3% incline, but it looked a lot steeper). It was a nice hilly course. I was talking to (I am assuming) a coach of one of the other teams about the course. She showed me the map a I made a comment about that ramp, the way she responded was a very true statement but I never really thought about races that way. It is a leave field; all the kids have to go up the same ramp, everyone has to run in the same heat. Well, #1 I know at races everyone is running the same course, but I never really thought about it like that. #2 in that particular race, yes, all the kids ran in the same heat (temperature), but in a marathon (since I am a slow poke) the elites are not running in the same heat that I do. The gun went off to start the race (yes, I am still VERY jumpy when it comes to certain sounds and a gun is definitely one of those bad sounds, fireworks are another…) it felt really strange just standing there, the race started and I was not racing! After the start of the race (luckily the 6th graders went last) I cheered Kiddo on and then followed rest of the parents to another area to cheer on the kids. Kiddo struggled up the hill and I cheered him on, knowing his approximate pace I stuck around for rest of the kids (I think I was the only parent who did that) cheering them on no matter what school they attended. I was telling them stuff like the ‘hill was almost over’, ‘where there is an uphill there is a downhill’ – a young lady who was walking responded with ‘that is why you walk up the hill and run down it!” (I had to give her credit for that comment!!!!!) After all the kids had gone by I returned to that stupid ramp. Some kids decided to run up the stairs instead of dealing with the ramp. I told Tyler to try taking it on his toes. I finally saw him coming up the sidewalk, so I started cheering even louder! He started walking up the hill but then tried to run it. He got back up on the track (1/8 of a mile remaining) started walking again, but the final stretch he did run. He finished in 18 and some change (1.5 miles), I am so proud of him! He is really starting to enjoy it.
Tomorrow is a nice easy “long run”, ok, so there is a pain in the butt hill at the beginning (mile 2), but once I am over that, I am good to go! Now, I am not 100% sure how far I will go yet, I will let my body dictate that, since I am running the road it won’t be hard for me to call my sister and say, ok I am done. For better or worse there is MAJOR road construction going on along this route, but I am making sure I stop before that (the farthest I can go it 9.5 miles IF I make it that far, I can wait for my sister at Starbucks!!!!) Come to think of it, there is a Starbucks at miles 6.75 (ish) and 5.75 (ish) too! Mmmmm, a nice iced latte and some fresh fruit, Yum! Sunday I think a nice swim is in order – that will depend on how my neck/back is feeling (actually all my physical activity is completely dependent on my neck/shoulder). (Oh, and I didn't get my run in yesterday, I was just to tired. I did take Freddie for a walk so he could meet as many people as possible [and he got weighed in at 9 pounds!])
Oh! Yea, I went back to my doc for my follow up, he has decided it is time to pain and torture, I mean physical therapy. He was happy to hear I had started running again (especially since my neck and back started to relax during the run), he told me I can keep doing physical activity as long as I listen to my body and if says no, then don’t do it!
Here is to a great weekend!

Man I missed that

As I keep saying, the schedule for this week is insane. Full of mommy duties (which is fine), running every which direction, very difficult to do what I need to do for me (that is fine). Yesterday morning it occurred to me, I get off work, I can’t pick up Kiddo #1 from cross country for about another hour… So, I went home during lunch I was a good mommy to my fur kids; after work, I went down stairs and got a nice easy 3 miler in. I picked up Kiddo #1 and then #2 we got home and I felt great! I was relaxed (I was hungry), I was calm, I wasn’t stressing when my boys weren’t doing as I asked them to. 3 miles, that was all I did. 3 miles at a nice sllllloooooowwwww pace, I didn’t even touch my inhaler! I ran two songs walked a song.
This afternoon I have my follow up doc appointment (will find out if I am going to be sent to PT), Kiddo #1’s first cross country meet (I am so proud of him), Kiddo #2’s fist soccer practice of the season, Weight Watcher’s meeting (I have a good feeling this week), some time in there have dinner, get ready for tomorrow (I have to dress up like an adult, I think the teal tights should work nicely) and get some sleep.
Starting next week soccer practice will be used for running (that area is HILLY!!!!!), I will be attending a different day of the week Weight Watchers (like Saturday, depending on what time it starts).
Tomorrow both boys have their activities at the same time which means… OUTSIDE RUNNING!!!!!!!! I am, not exactly thrilled about mile .75 to 1.5, but hey, what doesn’t kill me only makes me strong, right?

Fickle!

As most endurance athletes can attest to, we are very fickle about the products we use (right down to our underwear sometimes). I personally am an Under Armour, Nike, CWX type of gal. Now, when I first started racing 3 years ago I bought myself a pair of Oakleys. Over the past 3 years I have abused them every way possible and they kept loving me and treated me well. Sadly, I recently put them into retirement (the lenses are scratched beyond all get out, the frame has been bent a million and one times). I bought myself a pair of Half Jackets when I walked out of the store I put them on and fell in love. Last night I did my hill training (good thing about living here, no matter where I go, I have no issues finding a hill!) and the weather was a little off (springtime in the Rockies) the glasses were great. They did fog up when I finally finished, but I did not have any issues while I was running.

As far as the run went last night. I did 3 miles, still trying to take it a little easy. I did my warm up with Kiddo #2 and then went to hills and then a nice cool down. I wanted to take a picture of the weather I was running in and apparently Kiddo #2 wanted me to take a picture of him. Don’t ask!

Due to insane Thursday nights, I think we are going to officially make Thursday “Subway night”. I am working with Kiddo #1 on how to make better decisions (I do not want him to fight the same weight battle as everyone else in my family). So we looked to see what the lower calorie subs were and he picked a Black Forrest Ham and put spinach on it. I was so proud of him. Ok, he also had 2 cookies, but we are not going to change him over night.
Tomorrow I am planning on hitting the incline in place of my “35 minute fartlek” run, no iPod, no Garmin, nothing. I am just going to go and enjoy a good, hard workout. Sunday, my Mother’s Day gift to myself will be a nice run before going to a Mother’s Day brunch for my mom (I really do hate brunches).

10 Years

Last night during my run, which I will get to later, I let my mind wonder (can get very interesting!). I started thinking about the last 10 years of my life. In the last 10 years the following has happened… Kiddo #2 was born, I realized I was in a bad marriage, decided I wanted to do a triathlon, lost a lot of weight, re-entered the military, got divorced, fell truly in love, went to a war zone, had my heart broken, got hurt, got medically discharged from the military, started smoking somewhere in that mix, got horribly out of shape, packed on way to many pounds, quit smoking, started training for triathlons, completed my first 5K, signed up for my first triathlon, signed up for first marathon because a friend was going to do it (but she never did), completed my first triathlon (and second and third all that summer), completed my first half marathon (and second that same year), did 5 marathons in a 12 month period, lost a bunch of weight somewhere in that time frame, put most of it back on (but differently), completed my first half ironman and the list goes on. Looking back over the past ten years, I realize #1 this cannot be done alone. All my successes (and failures) in racing I could not have even thought about attempting without my sister. If I want her at a race, she comes! There are 4 races she has not come to and that is only because I used them as training runs (ended up getting a trophy from them [3rd place Athena] but she did come to the awards dinner). As far as the military goes, my parents stepped up to help me with that (hey, I was a single mom to two little boys). The smoking, my boys helped me quit. The broken heart, friends helped me (and are still helping me) through that. By the time I finished my run I realized how lucky I have been. Yes, I have been through some VERY trying times, but all in all, I am very proud and happy with the way things are working out.
On to Training!
Yesterday was my ”easy” run, right? Yea, ok! Like I have said before Kiddo #2 has soccer practice in “hill country”, so I guess there really is no “easy” run in that area. I will say without a shadow of a doubt when I can actually run that entire way without stopping I will be so ecstatic! I run the first half mostly non-stop and feel great! The second half, well, that is a whole other story! This is the elevation of the entire run…

This is the elevation of hill #1 (I have made it all the up without stopping!)…

Hill #2 – I swear at this hill and have to stop and let my HR going down twice (better than last time, I thought I was going to die trying to walk up the stupid thing)…

I really wish I had put my blood sugar tester in my bad, but I was starting to crash and it would have been very helpful to know what my number was. Luckily I had OJ and Cliff Shots in the back of my truck. After a bottle of OJ and two cubes, I was ok (Kiddo #2 happily ate rest of the cubes after soccer!). I told my sister it must have been a great workout! It took all of about 10 minutes sitting in my truck after my workout for this to start happening!

Oh yea! And my stupid Nike+ sensor must think it is funny! This is the second Monday in a row that is decided it didn’t want to recognize my shoe sensor so it didn’t track my run. >( Thank goodness I had my Garmin with me!

Monday – 4.11 + Strength

Tuesday –

Wednesday –

Thursday –

Friday –

Saturday –

Sunday –

Week total: 4.11

April Total (since starting this blog) 21.23

Things on the don’t do list

Lunges (hurts right knee)

Sidewalking (hurts right knee)

Kick the soccer ball (hurts left foot)

I love hills!

I love hills! I love hills! I love hills! I love hills! (I will keep repeating this until I believe it!).
Last night we got to Kiddo soccer practice and since Coach wasn’t there yet Kiddo and I kicked around the ball, well I have to be careful with my left foot because it really hurt when I hit it on anything (the side of it at least). I used that time as a warm-up since Kiddo is still working on aim! When the other boys started showing up I kept an eye out for them, Asst. Coach showed up and was working with his boy, then Coach showed up and once he started practice I headed out. I have a nice little one mile route in the neighborhoods of the practice soccer field (this is a fairly hilly area). Last night was hills!

"Today's workout is to run 3 hill repeats, about the same length of time for each as it would take you to run a fast 400 on the track. In other words, if you run 400 repeats in 90 seconds, your hill repeats should take about that time too. Warm up before and cool down after. Because hills vary so greatly in their length and pitch, don't get too fussy about the precise details of this workout. More important is the application of energy you bring to hill training during the first half dozen weeks of this program. Finding a hill to train on is not always easy, particularly if you live in the flatlands. Jacksonville, Florida, where I have my winter training base, seems flat as a pancake. Runners there do their hill training on the high and steep bridges that cross the St. Johns River downtown. You can also do your hill training on a treadmill, if necessary." (http://www.halhigdon.com/spring/springinter2.htm)

As I was doing my warm-up I figured I would run this one particular section of the route, I would have more than a mile of warm up with hills included. I completed my warm-up and started up the hill. I knew the incline of the hill was pretty good but I did not realize I would have all that purple! By the third repeat I think I was telling myself repetitively “I LOVE HILLS!”

I finished up my hills and besides my heart trying to jump out of my chest and my lungs trying to disown me, I felt pretty good! Right as I hit my 3 mile mark it started to rain. I had enough time to get back to my car (parked over the practice field) and take my running shoes off before practice was called on account of the weather! My workout had a nice verity of greens and oranges. I am still having to run/walk (some of those hills are just to harsh (see the purples above!)

We got home and thank goodness dinner was made (my sister and Kiddo #1 were at home) so Kiddo #2 and I were able to eat as soon as we got in the door!

Now I keep reading blogs talking about the 3 Changes in 30 Days Challenge (or something like that)… When I got home I had 2 sodas (diet and caffeine free) which meant I went through a case in less than a week! WHAT????? so I started thinking about the 3 Change thing. Here is what I have come up with…
#1 – Sodas – I have one sitting on my desk which I will drink, but I will not buy anymore for the next 30 days.
#2 – Stairs – I think I love stairs about as much as I love hills! I will take the stairs up to work at least once a day (I work on the 5th floor) and down at least twice a day (assuming I go down stairs more than once)
#3 – Starbucks – I refuse to give it up all together! But I will decrease the size. And no brownies!
Those are my goals for the next 30 days! Wish me luck!


Monday – 4.04 + Strength - did lunges - HUGE mistake!
Tuesday – 3.14 - Did sidewalking - mistake!
Wednesday – 4.34 + strength (hill training)
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –