24:47

Well well well… it’s been a little while since I last posted BECAUSE I got a little discouraged.  I was so focused on training and my family life going at a zillion miles an hour I just felt like something had to give.  And that something was this.  Sorry about that.  Things here are still super busy, but with the Mudder right around the corner I wanted to keep up to date with training so at the very least I can look back at how much I have accomplished this summer.

2 weeks ago I ran a local 5-K.  It was super small and raining really hard up till 5 minutes before race start.  I was in my car freaking out that I would have to run without headphones/music because it was too wet out.  Thankfully the rain stopped and I had my music.  I would be okay without it, I just never train without music so it would be like entering a foreign land.

praying for the rain to stop

As I was walking to the starting line I saw a reflection of myself in the school window and I remember thinking, “what the heck am i doing here?  i don’t look like a runner.  i’m not made for this.”  I can be so hard on myself sometimes.

I had been told by a friend who ran this course in 2009 that it was pretty flat and there would be pizza at the end.  So that was exciting.  All I could think was, “PR. Followed by pizza.  Awesomeness.”

Mile 1 held true to word and was pretty flat.  I ran it in about 7:20.

Mile 2 the rolling hills started.  This was NOT what I would call a flat course!  8:32

Mile 3 (+.1) finished the rolling hills and went back to repeat part of mile 1’s path.  8:51

When I rounded the bend at mile 3 and saw the finish line & the big digital clock ticking UNDER 25 I was SO PUMPED.  I have been training SO HARD for a sub-25 minute 5K and to think it could actually happen was kind of a big deal to me.  So I kicked it out and finished in 24:47.  I was so proud.  And it really got me thinking – if the race really had been flat… could I have hit a 23-minute time?

The other surprise was there was no pizza.  I don’t know if it was because of the rain or because things change year to year, but no pizza.   And the bananas were so green they were actually crunchy.  Gross.  But nothing could hinder my joy though of breaking under 25 minutes AND getting a new PR.

So I’m standing by the crunchy banana booth and a girl walks over for a snack and I notice she too is wearing ProCompression socks!!!  I had chosen black for the race, she was in neon pink!  So I said, “nice socks :)” and we got to chatting.  Turns out she’s a mother runner and lives about 25 minutes from me.  We have a tentatively scheduled run date planned for some future weekend.  Also turns out that I placed 2nd in my age group – and she placed 1st.  I chalk it all up to our awesome socks.

2nd place in my AG & a new PR!

So all in all a great race.

Aside from that, I’m still in 2/day workout mode 4 days a week getting ready for the Mudder on the 24th.  I’ve begun attempting monkey bars (which I should have started trying to do months ago) but better late than never.  That’s really the only obstacle I think I’m going to have troubles with.  More about that next time.

Called Out

So last Thursday’s morning outdoor boot camp consisted of hill sprints.  We had 3 minutes to sprint less than 1/10 of a mile and then jog or walk back down.  Then at the bottom we had to patiently wait until the 3 minutes expired and then do the next sprint.  We did this ten times.

Unfortunately (for me) the day prior was spent at a local amusement park where I accidentally (I swear!) was tricked into eating a big tray of french fries topped with cheese and BACON.  I am salivating just remembering the feast.  However, I spent most of boot camp thinking I was going to hurl.  Actually, when I first got out of bed that morning my first thought was, “holy hell, what did I drink last night?!?” then, “why would I drink a night before boot camp???” then finally realizing, “holy crap I didn’t drink – this must be a FOOD HANGOVER!”  I was fighting the urge to pull over and throw up the entire drive to the gym.  And these sprints weren’t helping.

Somehow sometime around sprint 7 my stomach miraculously settled down.  I thought I’d given the last few sprints my all.  But the instructor was on to me… and maybe it’s something he’s been watching closely for a while now and only just decided to call me out on it… but he came to me while we were waiting for our 3 minutes to expire and said, “are you treating this like a marathon or like an all-out sprint?” I laughed and said, “marathon, I guess.”  The thing is his classes are HARD.  And by the end of the week between that and all I do on my own and teaching my own spinning classes, I’m pretty fatigued.  But I’m never on the floor dying.  I’m never puking (unless I’ve eaten the cheese fries).  I’m always near the first to finish our activities and I pretty much blow through everything like it’s no big deal.  But here’s the deal – last year I was ONLY running (because I was training for a May marathon) and the first weekend in June I ran a 5-miler.  Finished it in 42:12ish.  This year I only ran the half in May and had been doing spinning and weight lifting (not bootcamp) all winter/early spring.  Same June 5-miler.  45-minutes and a lot of change.  I was expecting to be closer to 40!  Yes, it was an extremely hot, humid and muggy morning, but still.  It was my second slowest time since I’d started running the course back in 2010.  I was embarrassed and disappointed.  So needless to say, after my response that I wasn’t giving the sprints my all, he began following me up the hill, sprinting and taunting me the entire way to push harder.  Welcome to my life.

So I’m wondering if it’s me not believing in myself.  Or is it something I’ve learned from marathoning / distance running about pacing myself because you just want to finish.  But I know I’m not giving 100%.  I’m not sprinting as hard as I can every single time we sprint.  Even if I’m beating everyone else, I’m still not beating myself.  And I know it.  And I need to push through it.

It was right for my instructor to tell me my barrier to breaking through this plateau is mental, because it 100% is.  I want to be a sub-25 minute 5K runner.  For all intensive purposes, I ought to be!  I want to be thinner, stronger and faster.  But I’ve been doing all these workouts:  boot camp, running, lifting, spinning, and seeing almost no difference in my race times.  Granted, I haven’t raced all that much up till now this year, so maybe this fall will bring some great new times, but that aside I know I have some work to do to break through to the other side of my capabilities.

I’ve coincidentally come across some good & related articles the past few days about this very subject:

http://www.thehybridathlete.com/why-you-suck-and-look-the-same/

http://www.runnersworld.com/sports-psychology/how-to-break-a-running-plateau?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-RunnersWorld-_-Content-Training-_-MentalBarriers

Have you ever “hit the wall?”  What did you do to push through it?  

Amused

So I thought I’d make this a little more about family, a little less about me (WHAT?!!?) LOL!

Yesterday was our community amusement park day. Amusement parks are often a great excuse to gorge like a disgusting pig. So, if you’re a health-conscious family (or striving to be) HOW can this be avoided?

– pack a meal This is the most important step in my opinion. Check the park’s website and make sure you can bring in your own stuff. Usually you can keep your cooler in a pavilion – or if you’re like me I just use a small cooler lunch box and it fits perfectly in my kids’ wagon. I’m not saying don’t enjoy your favorite food the amusement park is known for, I’m just saying if you’re going to be there all day, pack a meal and get your favorite meal later as a snack to share with others. Then you get the grease and/or sugar you really want but also get to keep your trim thighs. And you’re making your kids memories of sharing a snack together, not pigging out on greasy schmorgasboards.

– drink tons of water Avoid sugary drinks. Don’t let lemonade suck you in. While delicious, it’s still not healthy.

– get to know the food areas in the park I’ve been to our local amusement parks long enough to know, but I try to research the parks we go to enough so that once I’m there I have an idea of where healthier food options are. Anything with “Grill” in the name usually is a good bet for a “grilled” chicken sandwich!

I let my kids have unhealthy snacks, but they share them. For example, where we went yesterday has amazing fist-sized pieces of fudge. They all got to partake BUT from the same piece split 3 ways.

It does stink to feel like you’re saying no all day to your kids but they want everything and that’s not what they need, nutritionally. I know… it’s just one or few days a year, so what’s the big deal, right? Well, I do believe that starting little good habits can have a big impact later in life. I wish my family had been more nutrition-conscious growing up, because I don’t eat to live and I battle that daily. And I don’t prefer healthier foods or snacks either which means I have to work out so much harder to maintain my body. I just want to teach my girls to be healthy and not to deprive themselves but to learn junk food in moderation is okay.

Don’t make your trip to the amusement park about food. It’s about fun. Family. Friends. Love. Togetherness. Those are the things that I believe will build a foundation of happy and confident kids. Not the food court.

*I am not a dietician & am simply sharing my common-sense approach to being healthy

Vacation wrap-up

Whelp for it being a vacation week I think I did pretty good running-wise. I covered 24 miles and the temps were always 79*+. Even at 6:30am. And often I felt my sweat was alcohol-infused from the margaritas I had enjoyed poolside the night before. But I ran them. And it was fun.

I also did several workouts from PumpsAndIron.com. I had packed my running gear, my jump rope & my 20-lb kettle. And that’s really all I needed to keep fit despite all the vacation calories I was happily consuming.

Had some first-time experiences, like running in two states in one run.

For the record, the Maryland side is much better for running. As soon as you hit Delaware the sidewalk disappears! Welcome to Delaware my butt!

Also my husband found a new love of running outside. He probably did it 4 times, used my garmin watch and had a great time seeing the sights from a runners perspective. Best of all he wants to continue outdoor running once we return home. Juggling his new love with my long-time love won’t be easy since we can’t go together (thanks, small children) but we will figure it out 🙂

We also did some other cool things on vacation – rode a bike built for 5, collected seashells, took old-timey photos and flew kites to name a few. The kids had a blast. My husband and I got to relax. That in itself is priceless.

When we get home I’m excited to throw myself back into Tough Mudder training. I feel refreshed (& slightly plump from all the great food & drink here!) and ready to start kicking butt again.

Salt water

So it’s been tough to carve out time for blogging because I have been on VACATION (insert glitter-throwing and unicorns here)!!!

Saturday was my “last chance workout” where I logged 6 miles around my ‘hood. Then I packed for 5 people and cleaned the house (there’s nothing worse than coming home to a messy house). That was a whole other workout in itself!

Sunday was travel day. We got up at 3am and were on the road by 4. My husband joked that he couldn’t believe I didn’t get up early to workout before we left. I somehow mustered the strength to not clobber him. That saying “obsessed is what the lazy call the dedicated” certainly holds true in my house. Like I’m the crazy one for exercising half an hour a day and caring about my health? Yeah, ok.

Monday was my first morning to workout on vacation. 5 mile run, 2.5 on the beach (which I’ve never done before) and 2.5 on concrete.
I smartly packed my Brooks Cascadia’s which were great for the sand portion of my run. I dumbly wore ankle socks which got sand in them and that sucked. I should know by now to always stick with ProCompression!

my beach route
After the 5 mile run I did the Double Ladder Workout from PumpsAndIron.com. Yes I packed my kettlebell on vacation. And my jump rope. So sue me.

Tuesday was a brutal 6 mile run. I left at ~6:30am and happened past this sign

91*. Awesome. And I still had more than 3 miles to go. When I hit mile 5 I was passed by this guy

and he inspired me to pick up the pace. I’d been averaging 9.5 minute miles till he passed me, I picked up the pace to 8.5 minute/mile to keep up with him. I tailed him easily the last mile by about 15 feet and it made me realize if I could pick it up like that for the last mile without pain then I’m not running hard enough at all. I need to re-evaluate my effort levels for sure. Also I need to find a running partner who pushes me.
Once I got back to the room I did 20 bicycle crunches (w weight), 20 mtn climbers, 20 kettle swings with a punch, 20 kettle figure 8’s… Then 16, then 12 before my family interrupted me.

Today I ran 3 miles. When I got back to the hotel I ran up the 18 flights of steps to our room. I had hoped to do the steps several times BUT I had to go to the bathroom really bad so that was that.

Oh yesterday I was noticed by our hotel maintenance man in the elevator he said, “hey I saw you out running!” I said, “oh yeah?” And he said, “yeah I recognized you by your socks.” ProCompression, baby. Making coast to coast fashion statements, LOL 😉

sweaty and i know it

OK so lately (the past 2 weeks) I’ve had several people make mention of my sweatiness when I work out.  Seriously.  I’m totally confused.  I mean it is 80*+ outside and the muggiest summer I’ve ever experienced in my running life.  How is anyone NOT sweaty?!?  Am I some kind of sweaty freakshow and I never realized it before???  Or, since having my 3rd baby, did my hormones change and make me a sweatier person?  If only 1 or 2 people had said something, I probably wouldn’t think much of it.  But since I fielded my 4th comment in the past 2 weeks this morning at boot camp, I’m starting to wonder…

This week’s training has been tough.  We go on vacation next week, so this is my last week of 2-a-day workouts until we return.  I will workout while I’m gone (I *love* running on vacation!) but I am ready to be more like a normal person exercising instead of a morning and night exercising psychopath.  I’m taking the Tough Mudder training super seriously, sometimes I fear more seriously than the rest of my team, but it’s paying off for sure.  Also I volunteered to cover two extra spinning classes this week (I already teach 2, one Tuesday and one Thursday), so it puts me at 4 classes for the week, one daily Monday through Thursday.

Monday night I sprinted 2 miles then taught spin and THEN hit the last half hour of boot camp.  Back to back to back.  Major mistake.  It was a zillion degrees in the gym and the workout was TOUGH.  When I got home I seriously fought off urges to throw up.  That’s about the only thing less sexy than my mega sweat problem.  Tuesday was an hour of morning bootcamp followed by my hour long spin class.  Bootcamp was outdoors and consisted of carrying/dragging 10 random objects (eg:  car tires, ropes, kettles, sandbags) up a quarter mile hill.  It sucked.  Spinning was spinning.   Wednesday morning I woke up, hopped in the car and started driving to my favorite track. Halfway there it started terrential downpouring on my car so I turned around and just ran 3 in 25:00 on my home treadmill.  Had another hour spin that night and did not make it to the last half of bootcamp because I got caught up in convo with one of my participants after class.  I wasn’t too sad to miss though 😉  This morning was another hour long bootcamp.  Thanks to the rain it was WAY too muddy to play outside so we were inside in the gym.  It was a partner workout – I run a suicide while my partner does 10 burpees.  Then she runs and I do burpees.  Then I run and she does 8 burpees.  And so on.  Once you get down to 0 the activity changes… maybe a suicide up and a side shuffle back while your partner does ball slam burpees.  For the entire hour.  It sucked.  I still have one more spin class to get through tonight.  Typically Friday is my day off, Saturday is a long run and Sunday is a shorter run, but since we will be traveling most of the day Sunday I know I’ll miss my workout so I’m debating not taking tomorrow off since Sunday is 100% an off day.

Aside from all this working out, today is my wonderful husband’s birthday ❤ and I’ve gotta spend most of the day today packing for all 5 of us for our trip!  Can’t wait to get my toes in the sand…

What do you do to adapt / make it through humid weather running?  

Firecracker 5K recap

OK I wanted to write a quick recap about the Firecracker 5K I ran this past July 4th. As I mentioned in my previous post, it was a HOT and HUMID day. I had originally planned on wearing this super cool and lightweight Saucony tank and New Balance running skirt I recently bought at Fleet Feet, but when I realized on the Fourth of July I should be rocking red, white and blue I had to make some last minute outfit adjustments.

I decided on a blue Nike tank top. I don’t really care for the tank for several reasons, for one the fabric is surprisingly heavy for a tank. Also the shelf bra seems kind of short and I have to physically pull the shelf down with some effort to get my “girls” contained (and I’m a normal sized person, not huge or anything up top). But since I don’t own any red tanks or any other blue ones and wanted to stick with the Independence Day theme I had to deal with this top. I stuck with the NB running skirt because I wanted to rock it in a race in the worst way. Finally, I went with some Nike socks for the simple fact that they were red. They were a little thicker than I like to run in but since it was only a 5K, sock thickness wasn’t gonna be an issue anyway. And since I had already spent a ridiculous amount on compression socks in June I couldn’t justify buying the super festive ProCompression red white and blue pair just for one race. Oh and of course I was rocking my Mizuno Wave Riders.

firecracker race outfit

On to the elevation. As I mentioned in my last post, this course was rolling hills. I mean NO flats.

course elevation

It was an out and back, with my brother and his girlfriend stationed at the turn-around point cheering me on and my husband and the kids at the start/finish line. When my brother saw me he told me I was looking rough (that’s a brother for you ;)), and my husband’s only remark was that I “looked REALLY hot” (not in a sexy way, but a sweaty way). And I was – the temp for that day actually got up to 86* plus the high humidity. It was probably 80* at the start of the race. I didn’t stop for any water stops (maybe I should have and just dumped the water on my shirt) and I was HOT. When I was about half a mile from the finish line the sun came out (it was kind of overcast that morning) and when the sun hit me on top of the heat I just felt the energy sap out of my legs. I preach in my spin classes all the time that nobody quits when they see the finish line – that’s when we all turn it up so our family’s can see us running our best at the end. But I wanted to quit. I was overheated. I dug deep and pushed it out. When I crossed the finish line, that’s the closest I’ve felt to throwing up after a race in a long time. I finished in 25:29, not a PR but not a bad race considering the hilly course and the weather.

I don’t have another 5K planned until September, when I have two on back to back weekends. One I know for sure is flat, however I help organize the race and may end up volunteering to help at a water stop or something and not get to run it. The other I’ve also heard is pretty flat, except I have a friend who ran it and at one point it crosses train tracks and he got stuck waiting for a train to go by, LOL! So from here on out I’m 100% focusing on endurance and cross training for the Tough Mudder next month.

Did you get a run in on the Fourth of July?

There was a time

Tonight for “family movie night” we watched Brave. It’s definitely not one of my favorites but at the end, when the bad bear is about to kill Merida and her mom “the good bear” sees it all go down and goes bananas on the bad bear to save her daughter it always sets off my waterworks. The ferocity of a moms capacity to love and want to protect their children is like none other. And I think, in some regards, being a type-A older sibling to a type- who knows what younger one yields some form of the mama bear protector feelings from time to time.

You thought this post was about my kids? Wrong. It’s hardly even about the Firecracker 5k I ran yesterday. It’s about someone else very dear to my heart, my little brother.

A few years ago my brother was battling a disease. It had gotten so bad I literally once allowed the notion that he may not survive or if so never live a normal life again and I sobbed. I wept like a baby. I was unable to care for my home, my children, my husband, my job or my friends. My entire life fell apart. Thanks to the unwavering love and support of my husband I was able to pull myself together. And thankfully, he didn’t die. Thankfully, his life now is quite normal. He’s having a baby with his girlfriend this fall and he came to my 5k yesterday – the latter of which I never in a thousand years would’ve dreamt of happening. But it did – I have proof!

Before the race when I’d imagined writing this post I thought I’d hover on the “important to a runner” details – how it was 77* & humid 45 minutes before the race even started. How the course was a constant rolling hill, no flats AT ALL. Or how I wore a running skirt to a race for the first time. But really, none of that matters. What matters is next to me in that picture.

Yes, I fought hard for my time of 25:29 in that awful weather and the course was tough. But my brother has fought a harder battle. His battle taught me a strength, tenacity and endurance even marathon training couldn’t teach. Because its about more than a PR, it’s about facing death and walking away from it.

Even though it wasn’t a PR I’m pretty proud of myself. I ran good in those circumstances. But look at that pic again. My brother is the real winner and I love him and am thankful for him and am proud of him every single day. I protect and cherish him just like the mama bear in Brave. And yesterday, I ran for him.

Recap

Since I haven’t given any updates in a few days I thought I’d go ahead and do that now.

Friday night my husband and I had a disagreement over whether it was fair for me to get to work out first Saturday morning. When I said, “I should probably go first because I need it to be cool out,” regarding Saturday’s workout being my distance run, he responded, “oh yeah you’ve been getting to workout whenever you want for years you definitely should get to go first, that’s fair.” His workout was weights in the basement. Mine was a 9 mile run in the heat & humidity. His wasn’t bound by temperature & time, but mine was. He later said he understood why I wanted to go first, but what do you think? Is this a problem in your relationship? Regarding the 9-miler, I couldn’t seem to get myself under 9 minute miles which was frustrating but my last mile was actually the strongest and was sub-9 minutes. Made all my frustrations dissipate instantly.

I ran another 3.1 miles on a track Sunday.

I got my hands on some pics taken at boot camp and I thought I’d share them.

I’m off the two a day workouts this week because I’m running a firecracker 5k race Thursday and I’m trying to actually make it to Thursday with a little gas still in the tank. Typically by Thursday I am near exhaustion.

I see this car every day at 6am boot camp and it makes me actually LOL every darn time. This is the kind of old person I hope to be for sure…

Finally, my favorite cheat snack from Friday…… So delicious…..

What are your experiences or thoughts on choosing who goes first when both you and your significant other want to get a workout in (& can’t do it together / at the same time)?

Pushing Mediocrity

I look at fitness, running specifically, like a sliding scale, measured by the amount of effort I am able to exert.  Since that’s tough to quantify, we can look at it in mph (treadmill-style).

When I first started running, maintaining a 6.0 pace (10-minute mile) was really tough.  My race goal was to finish a 5-K in under 30 minutes.  Also, I thought 3.1 miles was really, really far.  I’d show up and run as hard as I could, and I am happy to say that only once in a race nine years ago on a day that was 20* and snowing did I finish over 30 minutes.  As I’ve become more interested and dedicated to  running these past five years, my scale has been directly correlated with how long it’s been since I’ve last given birth or how many weeks I have until I next give birth.  I’ve been pregnant almost as much as I’ve been not pregnant.  So my scale has slid between 8.0-8.5 when I’m furthest away from giving birth / early in pregnancy to a 5.0-5.5 when I’m over 30 weeks pregnant / just given birth.  While none of those times are elite status I realize I’m not made to be an elite runner, I’m just a regular person, a regular mommy, who loves to run my best.

My best is something only I can define.  And my limits certainly are defined by pregnancy, along with age, injury status, weather, time of year (and ability to get outside for runs), and my kids extracurricular activities that season sucking up my time to workout.

Earlier this month I ran a 5-mile race I run every year for the past four years.  It’s a super hilly, very challenging 5 mile race through the countryside in the town where my mom grew up.  And it  honors a girl who was hit and killed by a car that my cousins went to school with.  Last year I had my best run on the course to date, finishing in 42:32.  I had been running really well this spring and was hoping to beat that time this year.

Lo and behold comes race day.  Race starts at 9am and it’s already a muggy and humid 80*.  Also I made the poor choice to eat 3 pieces of stuffed crust pizza for dinner the night before.  In normal running conditions (65-70*) my diet’s never really been a factor. But in the heat, it’s like the pizza was being re-baked in my stomach again.  Disgusting.  5 miles later and I finished the race in 46 minutes.  My 2nd to worst time ever (my slowest time on the course being the  year I ran 4 months after giving birth).  And I only barely beat my slowest time.  It was disappointing.  But it was also a learning experience.

Lesson 1:  Pay attention to the weather.  If it’s going to be really hot or really cold or really rainy before your race, eat, hydrate and dress appropriately.  I shouldn’t have had all that pizza.  And I should have brought my carry along running water bottle.

Lesson 2:  Even when you feel you’re at your strongest, race day doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to translate into a PR.  This year I had more friends at that race than I’ve ever had at a race before, and the pressure of knowing they all look to me as the “real runner” because I’m so into fitness and working out definitely added pressure.  It’d be a lie to say I didn’t think I cracked a little bit under the pressure of knowing I was expected to beat them all to the finish line.

Lesson 3:  Find a way to have fun.  I had all these friends there.  But because of the heat and the pressure, I had zero fun.  My husband had my kids there for their first 1-mile kids fun run and they were miserable in the heat.  I was worried about them.  I was worried about running fast in the heat.  I was worried about my oldest daughter who wasn’t with us because she had dance practice.  I wasn’t focused on things being just me and the road.  And I wasn’t having fun.

me and my first-time racers

Watching Monsters University with my kids earlier this week got me to thinking…  Mike Wazowski wasn’t the best scarer.  He wasn’t even scary, not even a little bit.  But he worked hard and made himself into the best he could be and he ended up having fun and making a lot of friends along the way.  He never gave up on himself no matter what others told him.  That’s all I can hope for on my running journey.

I know I’m not elite.  I’ll never be.  But now that we are pretty sure we are done having kids (I guess you can never say never, which is why I put that semi-open ended) I want to work on pushing my mediocrity.  I want to see how far I can slide that scale until I accomplish some of the goals and dreams I’ve had since I started running seriously 5 years ago.  Every time I’ve gotten within seconds of breaking under 25 minutes for a 5-K I’ve gotten pregnant and watched my scale slide back towards slow and safe for the baby.  I don’t regret that at all.  But I’m ready to reach for full potential.  Whatever that might be.