Mini Big Day

This weekend was an interesting one for training.

My shins splints have been coming back with a vengeance, I think thanks to running bridges. And I LOVE running bridges, so I'm bummed about having to nix that part of the routine, but also frustrated that I've gone 9 months without them bothering me, and they start to act up so close to the race. I've been running for years now - why do I still have this problem?

Needless to say, after feeling the pain start up again at the beginning of Saturday's long run, I shut it down. Didn't see any point in exacerbating them, especially since I'm going into a rest week on my training schedule. Fingers crossed, with lots of ice and compression and rest, they'll heal up a bit.

So instead, Sunday became a "Mini Big Day." During E's 140.6 training last year, his plan called for two "big days" where he basically mimicked the race, with slightly shorter distances and some rest periods in between. It was a good way to test out fitness, nutrition and race routines. So he suggested I try a mini big day - start out with a 35 minute swim, and follow it with only a short break with a 2-3 hour ride.

Sunday Breakfast Routine

We used the pool in my dad's neighborhood to start the day, and I got in 1500 yards in 30 minutes, with a 200 yard warm up. Then we hopped in the car for the short ride to where we park for our long rides, though this time we opted for Mickler's Beach instead of our normal Jacksonville Beach parking. After a quick change and a quick snack, I took off.

I've been using Hammer Fizz as my electrolyte/sodium supplement on my rides, but tried NUUN lemon tea tablets this time, my first time trying them. I'm in love. The mix tasted great and kept me moving. I alternated between the NUUN and plain water, and used Hammer Perpetuem as my fuel source. I'm still not sold on Perpetuem, but since I use gels on my run, I"m not sure I want to take them on the bike too. I'm worried about how that much sugar would affect my stomach.

I did 35 miles, and finished feeling great. I had planned on a solid three hours, but as I'm still breaking the new saddle in and *ahem* experiencing some discomfort, I decided not to push it.

I'm really happy with where my training is right now. I've really made significant progress in the last few weeks, and I'm feeling much more confident about the race.

I also signed up for a race my nerdy heart is super excited about - the Rocketman Triathlon. It's next May, and it will be the first sporting event ever held at Kennedy Space Center. The bike course is designed to take athletes around space program landmarks like the shuttle launch pads, and some other great areas. I'm STOKED.

How I Found Running

My first marathon! E and I ran it together.

I recently was asked how I found running, and I gave the short answer, but giving that short answer made me think about the long answer, and how much running changed my life.

Cliche as it is, I came to running on the heels of a really bad breakup. Prior to that, I had been a gym rat, logging hours on the stair stepper, using weights to work out my upper body and dutifully knocking out a series of crunches and pushups daily. I worked out to get in shape and stay fit, but it wasn’t for the love of it, it was just the healthy thing to do. I was still in college then, pretty poor and splitting my time between my classes and a job assistant managing a bookstore.

When the breakup happened, I was devastated. It was unexpected, and I was heartbroken, angry and needed an outlet for all the emotions that seemed to crowd out everything else. My time of the stair stepper no longer cut it; I needed to move.

At the time, the closest thing I owned to sneakers was a battered pair of Chuck Taylors that I wore to work and to punk shows. Poor college student that I was, I took myself to Target and bought the cheapest pair of shoes I could find, a $20 pair of Champion brand sneakers. I pulled on the only workout clothes I owned, which were leftovers from my brief stint as a shot-putter and discus-thrower in high school, hit the trail.

There was a park next to my house that had a .75 mile paved running trail, so I started going there every day, morning, noon and evening, wherever I could fit it in. I was a pack-a-day smoker then too, so speed and consistency were hard to come by; I walked far more than I ran. And really, I knew nothing about running. All that mattered was to keep moving, to break a  sweat and work out some of my angst. And it worked. I didn’t get significantly faster nor even increased my ability to run for periods of time, but I pushed through.

I was working part-time as an office assistant at a law firm by then, and I started going out at lunch with one of the girls. We’d run/walk the bridges, meandering through the downtown area where we worked. It opened a whole new world for me; I didn’t know what it was to explore a place like that, learning the area from the ground up.

Eventually, I moved up slightly in the world by purchasing a pair of New Balance from Kohl's, when the Champion brand sneakers started to make my knees and hips ache (I knew I couldn't afford running store shoes, so I purchased New Balance based purely on the fact that they were on sale, and the fact that they were the brand of choice for my dad, also a runner).
I started doing yoga too, and between the two, found a sense of salvation. I ran my first 5k, and then a couple more. Eventually, I started dating again, and eventually met E. He was training for a marathon when we met, a distance that I barely knew existed, and one that I couldn’t fathom ever completing myself or even wanting to complete. I quit smoking and started running more, really running, and ran my first 10 mile and then my first half marathon, and finally my first marathon. I was hooked. It was (and is) something that's wonderful to do together as a couple, and also something that I have found that can just be for me.

And I still am. I have found a passion for running that has stuck with me; I read about it, write about it and have even been lucky enough to work with a couple running and triathlon companies in my other life as a freelance writer.

I look forward to aging as a runner, and exploring new places and new cities from the ground as I run through them. I've found favorite running spots in places like Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, and some little backroads we explored on a recent trip to Lake Murray in South Carolina. As I began to do triathlons as well, I feel that my fitness journey is only beginning.

New Kicks and Finding My Running Mojo

As much as I enjoy triathlon, my first love remains running. I took a lot of time off after my marathon in January, and when I started back up, I was a little appalled at how much fitness I had lost. It was really rather crushing, and I spent a fair amount of time, both running and non, moping about it.

I’m happy to report now though that I seem to have gotten to a better place. Finally - finally - my times are improving again, and I no longer feel like I’m crawling, trying to keep my heart rate down while struggling to get in some distance.

So, as a reward, I finally used my coupon to BorntoRun.com and bought the Merrell Dash Gloves that I’ve been eyeing.

I’ve started to run the vast majority of my runs in my Nike Frees, and that now includes my 10+ mile runs, so I feel like I can justify treating myself to the pair of minimalist shoes that I’ve been so excited about.

I know I won’t be able to log many miles with them until after the 70.3, but I look forward to at least getting a little bit of time in them. I know they are going to be an adjustment, but it’s a challenge I look forward to!

Trainer Days

The training plan that I’m using to train for this 70.3 has be on the bike on Wednesdays and Fridays, with my weekly long ride on Sundays. So far, Wednesday’s are proving to be challenging to get outside to ride, so I’m spending a lot of time here.

This also means I’m logging a lot of t.v. time. All I can say, is thank god for Netflix and Hulu, and for Arrested Development and Top Gear (U.K., of course.)

A New Addition to the Family

Happy new bike day! I’ve been doing triathlon for a few years now, and while my road bike, Bella, has treated me extremely well, the time has finally come for me to invest in a bike that’s going to be with me for the long haul.

I’ve done a lot of research, debating how much I wanted to spend, what was important to me in a bike, where I could find the best bang for my buck.

There were 2 major things that informed my search:

1) I knew that I wanted a women’s specific bike, which narrowed down my options pretty significantly. I’m fairly petite, and finding a bike more suited to my proportions seemed like the way to go.
2) I was comfortable spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000-$2,500. I don’t need more bike than that, and that’s already a pretty significant investment!

So I started looking around, and made up the small list of bike companies that produce women’s specific tri bikes. Ultimately, my search narrowed down to a tie between the Felt B16W and the Cannondale Slice.

Both sport a great set of components, carbon frames and (insert girly moment) are sharp looking bikes.

The more I researched though, the more I decided that the Felt was the bike for me. I called my local bike shop, Champion Cycling, and it felt like fate: they had a size small B16W on order that would be in the shop by the weekend.

I had the great plan that I was going to go in, do a test ride, then leave and think about it; no impulse purchases.

But then I took her out for a ride, and I just knew: we were meant to be together.

All thoughts of leaving went out the window. E tried to subtly suggest that I make sure to take time to think about it, because I asked him to make sure I didn’t just jump right in.

And what did I do? Jump right in.

But I love it. Happy to be a Felt girl!

Walt Disney World Marathon 2012

Marathon #2 is in the books!

When I first started training for this, my goal was a finish time of 4:30.  But, as these things sometimes go, my training wasn't everything I wanted it to be, and by the time marathon weekend hit, I had changed my goal to "below 5 hours."  And I made my goal - barely.  My final time was 4:57.  But I'm ok with that.  This marathon taught me a LOT, and while I think I'm going to wait awhile before I do another (this was my second in a year) I know next time my time will be even better.

While one of our friends and my dad ran this race as well, we all ran separately.  While most of my long runs for this training were on my own, I was looking forward to knowing I could get through all the highs and lows of the marathon by myself, and I'm really proud that I did.

E and my stepmom provided awesome support crew duties for the race, and we all went down Friday night for the Sunday event.  It was fun going to the Expo together (though holy crowded) and spending some time relaxing the day before the race.

I'm not very good at doing things like sitting still, relaxing and staying off my feet, which are rather important before a big race, so E was amazing at getting me to stay put.  I couldn't ask for a better support crew/coach/running advisor.

Through the miles, I suffered bad stomach cramps (which I never get), though I was lucky enough to be fighting this experience at one of the spectator points.  I saw E and he ran with me for a few minutes, and gave me a much needed mental boost.

Once I got my cramps to subside, I dealt with exploding blisters on my toes around mile 16, and an annoying side stitch and nausea in the last few miles of the race.  Ah, marathoning. The differences between my reaction to this race and the last one though, were huge - I really learned to run through pain and discomfort, and to push myself, in the last year.

It's funny how all those things seem to not matter when you cross the finish line.  This race was a practice in the art of positive thinking for me.  I simply didn't let myself have negative thoughts, I kept my eye on the prize and took the race mile by mile.

Things I liked:

• Despite heavy race morning traffic, the process of driving from our hotel to the event and parking was pretty stress-free.  Disney provided good directions, lots of signage and kept people moving once they got to the parking lot.  Of course, I wasn't the one driving, but I think E would agree.
• The process of picking up our numbers and goodie bags was pretty easy, and the volunteers were all helpful and friendly.
• Disney handled the huge crowds really well.  I mean, 20,000+ people ran this race, and the only time I was uncomfortably aware of the number of people there was at the Expo itself, which was hard to enjoy because there were just so many people jostling to look at the same displays.
• The post race areas and medical were set up really well.  I was able to find my family quickly, and when I went to get my feet wrapped from my exploding blisters, the medics took me right away.
• I loved that they set off fireworks to start each wave.

Things I wasn't crazy about:

• The course had a LOT of bottlenecks.  You'd find a good rhythm, only to have to slow down when the course would funnel everyone onto a sidewalk or narrow walkway, sometimes as slim as two or three abreast.
• The water stations seemed a bit oddly spaced.  There were several times I was really wanting water, without a water station in sight.  I guess I was spoiled by the Donna, which had more water stations than you could shake a stick at.
• It got pretty warm, and the course was pretty much entirely without shade.  While Disney can't help this, I didn't realize that going in, and was wishing for more sunscreen, and sunglasses.
• The walk to the actual race start was long, around a mile, so by the time we parked, walked to the corrals and waited to start, we had been on our feet for two hours.  It was in the upper forties, and my feet felt cold and stiff when the starting guns went off.
• I had this sort of idea that I would see and talk to fellow marathoners.  I didn't wear my ear buds the whole race because there was so much music on course and I wanted to experience the atmosphere.  I was disappointed to see that pretty much everyone else who was solo was firmly in their own world of earbuds and music.

I'll post more pictures later.  I still have to gather off various cameras and scrape off various internet sites.

Marathon Countdown & Blogging Breaks

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?  I don't think I've stepped away from my blog for quite this long since I started writing it over two years ago.  It's been a busy couple months.  I left my old job as digital marketing manager for a downtown association for a position with a local ad agency as a copywriter and digital content specialist.  Worlds apart, let me tell you.  But change is good, and I've been adjusting to different hours and new routines.  Between that and some wicked shin splints, my marathon training really took a hit.

So, training.  I'm 28 days out from my second marathon, the Walt Disney World Marathon.  I'm nervous, a lot more nervous than I was for the Donna earlier this year.  I'm running this one by myself (well, my dad and one of my friends are running too, but we're not running together), and I'm starting to fret about my nutrition, my pacing and my stamina.  Of course, if I wasn't nervous right now, it would probably mean I didn't care enough about it.  I also went through a period of a couple weeks where I just felt burnt out.  I messed up a couple of my long runs, and really struggled mentally with getting through more than five miles.

I've also been pondering the training I've done for this marathon as compared to the previous.  I've really focused on heart rate training this time around, and based on the half marathon, 10k and 5k I've done in the last  few weeks, it's really paying off.  I'm finally getting faster, which is ridiculously exciting.  I've always been a back of the pack runner, but I'm finally approaching mid-pack!

It's been fun being on the same training plan as my dad and our friend, Bdub.  We've all been able to check on each other, since we know what distances we should be running when.  E has been a great support crew, and I know he and my stepmom will be wonderful cheerleaders at the race.

So I'm looking forward to it, but I'm just nervous.  I received my "final race instructions" email this weekend, our hotel is booked, and I'm starting to think through race day strategies.  I know I'm a much better, stronger, faster runner than I was last time around, so I think I'll do ok, though I've had to readjust time expectations.

The new job also means I've switched my running schedule to the morning, so during the week I'm ending my run when the sun is coming up.  Training for the marathon this time around has definitely taught me to be flexible with my training.

And now I'll stop boring you all to tears.  This is just a catch up - we'll return to our regularly scheduled programming shortly!