Let's Keep This Thing Rolling!

Let's see--my last post was on Friday. A lot has happened since then! On Saturday, I ended up running on the treadmill for 2:10 and covered just over 12 miles (so nice, easy pace), and then I walked 6 miles in 1:20. I had fun while I was on the treadmill at my YMCA, and periodically had visitors, so I asked one guy to snap a picture of me:

I think I ate everything in sight once I was home! My legs were sore, but I expected that!

Then on Sunday, I went to Greene Valley so I could do my second long run in the flats and then end by walking up and down the big 1-mile hill. Only I really ended up more or less running up and down the hill! My flatness running time was about 9.5 miles in 1:30 and then I did another about 5 miles up and down the hill in :57. I had a great time on Sunday, too--the weather was great, and I tested out some other equipment that I might use in my 50k this month--I forgot I had the awesome trail hat. It has a skirt, but I didn't need it on Sunday. And I wore the arm coolers--not sure I will need them, but they felt nice on a cool day. And of course the Fuel Belt loaded with Infinit. Here I am all decked out:

The above pic is while I was running in the flats. Here I am at the top of the hill. I ditched the Fuel Belt and just carried a 12-oz. bottle. What a gorgeous day it turned out to be!

So for the weekend, I put in a total of about 32 miles on my feet. Just over 50k! A FANFUCKINGTASTIC RUNNING WEEKEND!

On Monday, my legs were predictably trashed, but I still managed some good training. I swam 2900 yards in the morning, and it felt great. I did 10 minutes of water running when I was done, and that felt great on my legs. After I ate something (it seems I am always eating something!), I decided that actual running was not in the cards, so instead I walked 4.5 miles in just over an hour. I enjoyed it! I was dressed as if I were going to run, and I'm sure it puzzles people to see me just walking dressed that way. Then, just after lunch, I did 30 minutes of strength training. I need to stay on top of that!

On Tuesday, my legs were still a bit rough, but I figured I'd be good running as long as it wasn't the treadmill or pavement. I did 21 minutes of strength training in the early morning, then I did about 1.5 hours of yard work (cutting down perennials and bundling the stems), then I suited up to go running. I headed to Greene Valley again (I LOVE that place!), and parked at the Dog Park and ran from there. The objective was to run for 50 minutes, but I ended up going for 55 minutes because I made a wrong turn at one point, which made me laugh! My legs were a tad sore but nothing bad. I got home, ate something (AGAIN!), and then I headed out to bike on Death Machine for 1:30. I don't think I rode very hard, but I sure was happy to be on a bike again!

Yesterday I was scheduled for a 2900-yard swim, a 1:30 run and an hour of walking. That's a lot for a day, and in retrospect, I should have used Infinit on the run. Keep reading!

Here is the sky in the morning. Beautiful! It portended a great day, and a great day it was!

I did the swim, and it went quite well. Every swim I do I use paddles for at least 1200 yards. It keeps me strong. After I swam, I was really hungry, so I had a Hot Pocket. My body feels very revved up now--I am just moving A LOT! Then I mowed the lawn. Even though it's not what I consider exercise to mow, my body is in the mode that ANY MOVEMENT IS A FUCKING WORKOUT, and in retrospect I should have eaten more before I ran. But I drank a Coke next.

Then I headed to Waterfall Glen. In the back of my mind, I was thinking if I felt good enough I could extend the run to 1:45 which would mean I could run less on this Saturday, but that didn't happen. I did an out and back to Mile 3, and when I was just 2 miles in I felt light-headed. I did a body check--am I sick? NO. Am I dehydrated? NO. Must be lack of calories. At least I knew it. When I got back to my car, I ate a gel, drank half a bottle of water and chugged more Gatorade. Then I headed back out going clockwise (backwards!) and was going to just run 3 more miles, but I got motivated to get some of my walking done during this stretch. So I ran out for about 1.5 miles, then I walked about a mile out, walked about a mile back, and then finished running. Finally, I walked another 2 miles. During the second stretch, it got quite warm out and the sun finally came blazing out! As it was, I got some more suntan, and it felt good! All in all, I covered 9.2 miles running in 1:30 (a nice, easy pace for me) and just over 4 miles walking in 1:01. A good day on the feet!

When I was back at my car the final time, I finished the bottle of water, chugged some more Gatorade and ate a piece of string cheese I had in the cooler. I got my bottle of Endurox R4 out of the cooler for the drive home.

On the way home, I stopped at Brookhaven Market to pick up some salmon caviar that I have become addicted to. When I was on my way in to the store, a man going to his car saw me and I heard him say, "What the hell!" I think he was just reacting to my mirrored sunglasses and the neon green hat that are in the picture above from Sunday's run. It made me laugh. I suppose I looked like some kind of alien being! Either that or I looked like the biggest badass that man had ever seen. Honestly, I think there are times when I DO look like that! I guess I wasn't smiling much at the time because I WAS FUCKING HUNGRY! Never get in my way after I've been working out for hours and I'm hungry.

I finished the Endurox R4 on the way home, then I showered (BEST SHOWER EVER!), ate some caviar and then a Lean Cuisine and had a beer. Then I did some more light yard work after donning compression tights. While I felt overall tired, my legs did not feel too bad! And they don't feel bad at all today! They were a little stiff when I first got out of bed, but there is no quad soreness!

I'M A GODDAMN FUCKING RUNNER AGAIN!

Today I just have a 1:30 ride, and I will probably ride LGL if it's nice outside. If not, then I'll do a Sufferfest video on the trainer. I will do :30-:45 of strength training and get organized for the weekend.

On Saturday, I'm scheduled for a 2 hour run and 1.5 hours of walking, but then I'm driving for hours, so I think I'll walk 45 minutes today so I only have to walk 45 minutes on Saturday. I signed up for this virtual run where the entry benefits bone marrow recipients. I get a bib (below) and a medal! I want to get this done on Saturday, so however long it takes me to run 13.1 miles is what I'm going to do!

I will wear the bib while I'm running whether it ends up being on a treadmill at my YMCA or outside somewhere. If I run outside, I suspect I'll go back to Waterfall Glen so I can get in another dose of hills. I LOVE FUCKING HILLS!!! Well, not really all the time, but I try and alternate flat and hilly. And yesterday had some hills, but I NEED MORE HILLS!!!

I seem to be in a training groove right now--at some level, I can't believe I'm able to do all this--but on another, I've been going at it for years, so I should be able to do this. I won't really know the outcome of any speed improvements until next week when I actually race another 1/2 marathon--that will be interesting! In the meantime, I just need to keep eating constantly to fuel the machine! Time to eat again!

All the Eggs Are in the Basket

As you know, I've selected my target races for the 12-month period over which I intend to:

• Qualify for the Boston Marathon
• Qualify for Kona (Ironman Hawaii)

I officially began training for these things on September 5. Yesterday was the first race I did for the period. Races will calibrate where my actual fitness is, which then is used to plan my training and ensure that I am capable of meeting my goals.

The Naperville Trails 1/2 marathon was well run and took place in the Danada Equestrian Reserve, which is not too far from my house. I met my friend, Matt, there. The race started at 8:30, which was a bit late for our liking, but nothing you can do about it. The race was 100% on crushed limestone except for the last about 1/2 mile, where you run in on the grass horse track! There were some rolling hills, but nothing I would call "hilly."

My last 1/2 marathon was 4/12/2015 in Denver and I went 2:20. Yesterday I went 2:13. Not great for me, but the good thing is that my right foot didn't hurt one iota! In fact, yesterday was the first 1/2 marathon or more where my foot hasn't hurt since 2011! So actually I was ecstatic about my result, especially since I didn't taper and I went in with sore legs from last weekend's biking festival (50 miles fast with the A group of my bike club on Saturday, then 3 hours of Sufferfest videos on Sunday) plus 2 duathlon workouts last week. So to expect my best run would have been foolish. Still, I did visit the hurt locker, but it was nice in that Matt ran most of the way with me as did a 2:15 pacer girl. How great that was! I basically had my own personal pacers! Here are Matt and I before the race:

Now as to the eggs thing, after I raced yesterday (and I was 4/15 F55-59 by USATF age group classification, but if they used USAT age groups, I was first in 60-64 by 17 minutes!), I drove up to Madison, Wisconsin to cheer at the Ironman while spending time with one of my best buds, William. Here we are eating at the Badger Grill in the Doubletree Hotel, where we both have stayed previously and I already reserved for next year:

I think we met in 2003 originally, but William argued with me about that. William is an uber-ultra athlete. He's done a Triple Ironman. I love him and we try and spend time together whenever it's possible. That's really why I went up to Wisconsin, since I don't see him very often.

I wasn't in primo spectating mode, as my legs hurt like mofos from the race, but I did the best I could. I would ask people looking a bit shattered if there was anything they needed. I had brought gels, salt tablets, candy and HTFU. One guy said, "Albuterol." And I said I have it! I really hope that giving that guy a couple of puffs from my inhaler enabled him to feel better and get moving again. I know how awful it can feel when your lungs feel like they just can't work properly.

I stayed overnight with a friend, Emily, that I met 2 years ago at Tyranena Beer Run, another 1/2 marathon where I went 2:10. So I know I can go at least that fast (and maybe faster). I need my 1/2 marathon pace to be about 2:07 to really lock in on that Boston qualification. That's only 2 VDOT points from where I'm at now, and I've been that fast, so I feel confident in achieving the BQ. At Disney? Who knows? But if not there then certainly at Los Angeles marathon.

I have to admit, every day when I wake up, this BQ and KQ stuff is on my mind. Sometimes I say to myself, "Don't do anything stupid." But much of what I do is on autopilot, for example, driving fast in the left lane on a highway. But I've learned to give focus to whatever I'm doing, so when I'm driving, I'm driving, except when I need emergency McDonald's so that I don't starve to death:

OMG that was good. I was so happy to see that the McGriddle is back! But I digress.

Just because I've done so many triathlons and trained so hard for so many years doesn't mean I don't get nervous about races or goals looming on the horizon. I am already visualizing my finish at Ironman Wisconsin 2017. I signed up for it today, and I got the chills doing it:

There has been only one other time when I thought I might be able to get a Kona slot--it was in 2006. I was very well trained for Ironman Brazil. I was in fantastic shape. But then my Mom died a month before the race, and I still went. And I bawled my eyes out in transition before the race started. I felt so lost and alone. And I had caught a sinus infection and I was dizzy standing on the beach before the swim start. And then I got kicked in the face during the swim and didn't know until I was finished that my nose was bloody and my eyes were black and blue. But I finished, and of course, there was no Kona slot that day. The next year my Dad died, and after that I sort of just put the whole Kona thing on the back burner. I did a bunch of NothingMans, enjoyed that, and then I did Ultraman Canada in 2010 and am still very proud of that accomplishment--I was the oldest female finisher!

So it's not like I had given up on stretch goals, but early this summer I decided it was time to reach for the stars once again, and so here I am and it's fucking scary. I yell at my brothers to pay attention to their health--I don't want anything bad to happen to them in the next year. But you never know what life has in store for you!

Does that mean it's folly to put all your eggs in the one big, fucking basket anyway? NO! If you don't dream, you don't achieve. And even if you don't accomplish the dream, it is always worth the journey to have tried. Each time I do a major race, I learn something new about myself and find new satisfaction in doing it. And I absolutely love sharing my own knowledge with others. Over the years, I've mentored people who became faster than me (which is as it should be since they are younger than me!), and am truly happy for them. But I've had helpers along the way, too--people who have pushed me when I needed it--people who have stood by me when I've suffered emotionally, and people who might not be close friends, but they are always there to notice when I've done something good. And that's what this stuff is really all about.

So whether or not I cross the Ironman Wisconsin finish line in first place in my AG, I can say it will have been well worth my time and effort to give it a go. I am so lucky to even think about this! I am so unbelievably happy how all of this has come together for me, and honestly, I get all teary eyed at least once a day lately. Does that mean I'm weak? I don't think so. I think it means I really appreciate my life and fitness.

So when you get a bunch of eggs, PUT THEM ALL IN ONE BIG FUCKING BASKET. Your basket may just be to finish an Ironman or to get a degree or to get in better shape, but at some point you have to go for it. You will not regret it!