At Last...

I once had a friend (who was a runner) ask me why I liked to run. I don't remember what I told her then as it was years ago, but I realized recently that over the past couple of years I had forgotten what it was I liked about running and that I had begun to discover this love again. Everyone is different, but for me the turning point was just enjoying being active and pushing myself again. I did this with a different sport all together, rock climbing. I have spent the past few months really working hard to improve my upper body strength, my balance, and technique all for climbing. I was still running but I was really living for climbing.

To me climbing and running seemed so different and I tried to separate them in my mind and my life. So, the one day climbing reminded me of what I loved about running sort of blew me away. One day at the gym we decided to work on our endurance, so my climbing buddies and I picked a relatively easy route to top rope and did it as many times as we could without stopping. I climbed up and came down a lot and while I was doing it, instead of thinking about the wall in front of me all I could think about was how much I loved pushing my body and doing this type of work on the track not on the rock climbing wall. It was strange but this one endurance workout I got made me miss those countless hard workouts I have done over the years on the track--doing 800m, 1000m or even mile repeats with short recovery and feeling my body getting more and more tired with each interval yet feeling strangely energetic,strong and invinceable. This was a turning point for me. From that point on I slowly started taking running into consideration when I was planning climbing days. I began doing the little things again that need to be done, but I don't always find the time for (like taking ice baths). And my focus went from improving my climbing ability to getting ready for this marathon that I have committed to.

And now this past week I finally really felt like I had my first really successful week in my marathon build up. My mileage was higher, the hills and tempos were faster and I felt stronger. After my scheduled runs for tomorrow I will have put in 78.5 miles this week (I know not a ton, but if you looked at my training log over the past year you too would be excited) and run 2 pretty decent workouts with a long run Sunday. Thursday though was what got me motivated and ready for Jon (my coach) to bring it on. The workout wasn't much 2x3 miles with 5 mins recovery between. But I went into the workout feeling tired and not sure if I was going to be able to run the pace that was on my schedule, on the warm up I was nervous knowing this would be a turning point either way--a good day or a bad day was going to tell me a lot. Thankfully it was a great day. My pacing still needs some work as I seem to run very inconsistent splits which is unlike me (I have been called the metronome), but I was able to run controlled, relatively comfortable and still quick. I did my 2nd 3 mile 10 seconds faster than the first and it left me feeling like I could do more. I love that! So, now I just have to get through the next 11 weeks and I will be on the starting line in Duluth ready to run!

Aqua Jogging 101

Running is the most fickle sport.

Well I fell off the BRC Blogging Wagon for a while but to tell you the truth there hasn't been much to tell lately. Training has pretty much been up and down and back and forth and all over the show for the last three weeks. After Jacksonville, I decided to just put in miles over the course of the following week before getting back to throwing in a couple workouts a week and going back to the more structured stuff working up to the Cherry Creek Sneak 5 mile on April 25th and then the Bolder Boulder 10k on May 1st, maybe something in between those two as well. Surprisingly I felt pretty good the week after the race. My first workout back I opted to do a 35 minute tempo run and was just going to go out and back from Colorado College. I ended up doing the run at 5 a.m. that day, so needless to say it was dark. I was heading south, looking all cool in my headlamp, got about 10 minutes in and hit a rough patch of ground going under a bridge by the Tent City, stuck my foot in a divot that I totally didn't see and found myself flat on my face in the middle of the trail. So I got up real fast to make sure no one saw that (if they did I was just going to pretend like it was totally on purpose....plyometrics or something), cussed out the divot, and kept going. It was actually a really good run minus the fact that falling in a hole isn't what I like doing first thing in the morning. Over the next couple days my hip/low back/quad/groin felt pretty crappy but I figured as long as stuff felt good by the long run on Sunday then no matter. There's no such thing as pain-free running anyway, it's a total myth--contrary to what Runner's World may tell you. The long "run" that Sunday with Kevin Bacon and Coach Klubousky was probably the most counterproductive thing I did the whole week (which is saying something) and I threw in the towel after 60 minutes of hobble-dom and feeling ridiculously off-kilter and like my hip/low back might break in half, and was in the pool for a couple days before starting running again, which went well for another couple days before inexplicably going downhill again so for now it is back to my three BFF's: Elliptical, Bike, and Pool. Primarily Pool. And let me tell you there is nothing better than having a lifeguard stare at you non-stop while you're doing intervals with the aqua-jogger on at 6 in the morning. Seriously like you're going to drown with a flotation belt on. It's almost enough to make you want to drown yourself.

In situations like these, I usually allow myself a 48 hour "Grieving" Period, where I mope around and feel sorry for myself and make bad decisions and drown my sorrows in Guinness and watch soppy movies and act like someone shot my dog and am just a generally miserable person to be around and I wouldn't blame anyone for shaking me. This is followed by a 24 hour Brow-Beating Period where I get mad at myself for feeling bad for myself (neurotic much?). Then I get a life and I pull my head out and get back to buisiness. And so it goes, it is the price for aspring to studly-ness! You gotta take your knocks.

So for the time being I'm doing interval stuff in the pool and doing the elliptical or bike on alternating days. Usually it's like 70-90 minutes worth of stuff in the pool, but I have a vivid imagination so time passes pretty quick. Usually I just pretend to be chasing some enormous doped-up Russian chick in some cross country race or something. Special. And I'm trying out running easy every couple days or so to see when things get to a point where I can train through the rest of it and still have it work its way out. Things are making progress so I'm not terribly worried. Been there and done that about a million times. In my spare time I'm working on this 1,000 piece puzzle that I've been piecing together intermittantly since 2006. It's supposed to be this kitten and puppy cuddling in this basket of yarnballs but I'm only about 30 pieces in so you can't tell yet. It really is quite adorable. But in any event, I'm still going to "nut up," as it was so quaintly put to me the other day, and do the Sneak in 3 weeks. It'll be my first time doing that race--I've only ever watched it and it looks like a fun one and is a great distance.

Anyways, I think it was Green Day who sang the words "Do you have the time/ to listen to me whine?"
And on that note, I'm out.

Hope everyone's training is going well, and for everyone's who isn't I hope you'll be on the up-and-up soon!

Happy Easter to everyone.

Injured but happy

Well I am really injured and finally going to take a real break and let everything heal. But I am very happy I was able to squeeze out a last hurrah today in the Shamrock Shuffle.
Running might not have been the best idea I've ever had but to me it was worth every second. The last couple of weeks I've been a cross-training boot-wearing you know what. Just ask David. The thought of being able to do this race was keeping me going as I pulled out of jacksonville and gave up any hope of doing boston.
Walking over to the warm up area I didn't think I would be able to run since it really hurt to walk. I even told the elite coordinator this morning that it probably wasn't going to happen. But I had to at least try and warm up. It didn't hurt that much more to run so I figured I would go for it. I put a 20 dollar bill in my shorts in case I would need to take a cab back. I also looked ridiculous with my big pain patches up my achilles and down my IT Band. (I have fluid around my achilles. and wearing the boot and xtraining gave me an IT band issue.) But hey....whatever it takes.
I actually felt semi-ok for most of the race and was able to pull of the win. I tried to really appreciate every moment of the race and breaking the tape has never felt so good. I'm in a lot of pain and looking at 4-6 weeks off but I am just so thankful I was able to race today.

Can't wait for Spring

This week has had crazy weather and has made me too excited for Spring. It started with snow on Sunday, but was nearly 70 degrees on Wednesday and I even saw a butterfly and some ladybugs. It was so nice to run in shorts and tank. All was bright and sunny until yesterday. Now there is 8 inches of snow outside and its freezing...back to the tights today.

Its been a while since my last post so lets see if I can sum up my life. Its been a bit busy: I'm working nearly full-time, training really hard, and studying for my Professional Engineers license (an 8 hour test of all 5 areas of civil engineering that I learned in school and don't use daily). Needless to say I'm exhausted, but still running quite well.

I've had some great workouts and good mileage. My mile at Air Force was better than I thought. I ran a 5:10 and left the college girls in the dust, not that I was that fast, but they just didn't come with me. I ran a 3k at CSM for a workout and then a 10 mile tempo in the Snowman Stampede. Shout out to the director and volunteers of the Snowman Stampede...they were awesome and put on a great race. As Tera mentioned there was a few icy spots, but I had more issues with the wind that wanted to knock me down. I ran very well and averaged 6:07 over a hilly course...huge improvement from 6 months ago. I agree with Tera, everyone should do this race, its so much fun.

Last weekend I raced the Runnin' of the Green 7k. I had a great day, not as fast as I hoped but felt wonderful and raced well to first place. I guess I expected the course to be quick since it was in the City (Denver), but it was rolling hills the entire way. Luckily the weather held off till after the cool down and then it started snowing.

Coming up...a 1500m at Greeley (that will be interested) and 5k at the Arizona Sun Angel track meet. It will be the first 5k on the track for me for the last 3 years!! I'm super excited, but nervous of how fast I will run. I'm hoping to be close to where I was in college, but I now I still have a long way to go with training to truly be there. Maybe I'll surprise myself and run amazing or I'll struggle to break 17 min. Either way it will be good to see where I am and what I need to do to get to where I want to be.

Congrats to everyone who raced in the St Patty's Day races and Gate River.

Adventures in Jacksonville

Well the 15k Champs were....interesting....as stated a few posts down. On the plus side of things, it was a great course, we had a great crew, Richard Fannin and co. did a fabulous job with the organization of everything, conditions were pretty good on race-day, no glitches in travel aside from a slightly delayed flight on Air Transvestite (as Paul refers to it) getting there, the spectators at the course were great, we had a lot of fun, I met like a million famous people, and of those Leanne who works for USATF is arguably the coolest lady in the history of Ever, and how many people can really say they've met the coolest lady in the history of Ever?

The race itself on the other hand was a bit of a wash. Summary: I was pretty nervous going into it (what else is new?) and kicked around till about 2 a.m. the night before, got up at 4:45 and did a shake-out with Adrian and Nicole at 5 and force-fed myself a banana, then we took the ferry to the course. Warmed up and such, I got lost on the way to the starting line with Colleen De Reuck and Sara Slattery (we were in the bathroom line when they took everyone to the line), got there, gun went off, and I pretty much fell of pace somewhere around the 5k (I really don't remember where), passed the 5k in like 18:40-something and remember thinking that sure felt dadgum difficult for not being too quick. But I dismissed that thought pretty fast (negative thoughts in a race are a no-no) and I just tried to break the race up in my head into 5k segments but by this time was getting passed by some gals who were initially behind me as well as some of the leading guys who started 5 minutes after us. Since there were groups passing me then I tried to go with some of them and tried to stick with Adrian when she passed, but to no avail. I told myself not to panic because there were a couple really good hills coming up where we go over the bridges and I'm generally stronger on hills than on flats, so I figured I'd catch plenty there. That didn't happen either and instead I pretty much got owned. That basically sums it up. Since it was my first 15k though, at least I can say I ran a PR--however ugly it might have been. Maybe I forgot to pack my Mojo.

At any rate I got a lot out of the experience. Getting to be around the Most Elite of the Elite in the running world, I got to see what they do. If anything else I figured out that the "Little Things" that you do outside of running get to matter as much as the training itself once you are at a higher level. Once you get there, EVERYONE is just as dedicated to running (and just running is the easy part) and EVERYONE wants to be good. Just plain doing the work and being committed isn't quite enough, everyone's doing that. So basically you have to live it all the time--they're all really careful about what they eat and doing all the seemingly tedious things in addition to training (the drills, the strides, the core work, etc.) and those things add up HUGE over years of training and ultimately separate the Good from the Really Good, so I gotta focus on those things more than I have been and make some training adjustments in the process. I mean okay they all cut really loose at the after-party but you get where I'm coming from.

Okay this is getting waaaaaay too long. Great job to everyone who competed around the state at all the various St.Patty's Day races--hopefully no one drank too much green beer. And of course thanks to the guys and gals (Adrian, Nicole, Jason, Greg, Paul, and I guess Tommy) who went out to Jax for making it a fun trip. Never a dull moment.

And special thanks to Dan Browne for unknowingly bearing the brunt of oh so many jokes. He really is a swell guy.

Gate River and Beyond!!!

Gate River Run (15k) was ok, but a little disappointing, in the fact that I felt pretty good after the first mile and I ran a 4.38. I should have been with the lead pack through the first mile and hung on for dear life as long as I could. Well that was the plan at least. The one thing I can take out of the race is that I know I'm ready to race up front with the leaders now at US championships... well at least for the first couple of miles. I have to execute my race strategy, because you never know when it's a good day or bad day! I wasted a good day to run really fast... that feels way worse then those days you just feel like crap and you can't do anything about it.

However, the race was crappy, but man is our team awesome! I know for a fact that most teams were a little jealous of how much fun and extremely cool we were! hahaha well great time and great friends! In any situation, all I have to say is WWAD (What Would Art Do) and we would do the most bad ass thing you could think of!!!

"Beyond"

I just got 2 emails back from race directors, I'm going to Crescent City 10k in New Orealins the first of next month, Bloomsday 12k in Spokane, wa, the end of April, and then Boulder Bolder 1ok! I'm soo ready for the Crescent City 10k! prefect timing to race really fast out of Gate River.

Oh, happy late Pie day!! or Pi day or π day - I had cherry pie!

4 weeks left...

Thank goodness there's only 4 weeks left before I can start running! Sadly, I've now taken more time off than ever before and that's including while pregnant and after I had Allie. Hopefully, I can say now: lesson learned.

Last week I was able to start walking on the treadmill, which has been surprisingly hard. To be fair, though, I'm walking at 12% incline...still. It's slightly pathetic that I can get my heart rate up to 120 walking. All I can hope for is that the walking and soon-to-be-commenced NordicTrack skiing will help me shed some of the fat suit by the time April 17th comes around! 4 weeks to go...so excited! After watching my husband and teammates run at Mt. SAC that week, though, I know I'll have to remind myself to take it slow. Here's hoping that I actually listen to myself! Hope everyone's enjoying running in the awesome weather this week!

Talent?

Well, the Gate River Run was...interesting. None of us did as well as we necessarily wanted to, but I still think it will be a positive thing for my track season and I think everyone there would agree we had one hell of a time.

Some highlights...in no particular order:

• Shannon telling me that she was going to bodyslam me.
• Talent?
• Any of the various Dan Browne jokes
  
• Before the race, taking the ferry across the river to the starting line, I asked Tommy if the Florida Panthers were based out of Jacksonville and he turns to me, his face a weird shade of yellowish green looking like he was going to cry/puke and mumbled, "I don't watch hockey."
• Watching "The Life and Times of Tim" with Tommy
• Snuggling with Tommy
• Eating Japanese food with Greg
• Having Greg and Jason harass me about eating 3 plates of pasta
• Leanne. What a sweetheart.
  
• Tommy mooning Richard Fannin's children
• Teaming up with Tommy to beat Greg and Jason at foosball and a weird version of shuffleboard
• Finishing the race and being put out of my misery

I've always been an 8/15 guy....

So it has been awhile since I last blogged. My apologies. Here is a quick recap of my indoor season:

1. Ran a 3k at Mines in which I was going to go after the fieldhouse record. Got on pace, and after about 2k, died a horrible death. Was running like 5 minute pace the last few laps. Ran 8:45 and got second. Still, a good experience to learn from.

2. Next, we went to New Mexico, and I paced the DMR the first night with Art, Greg and Dahlberg. Split a 3:01 and it felt pretty good. Still, not having worked on speed much, it was a little too fast to feel compfortable. Ran the mile the next day and Braun, McNiff and Bogatay put the hurt on me the last 300 meters. Still, ran a 4:09.23, which I was decently pleased with.

3. Ran the 3k at Grand Valley. Started out too aggressively (2:06 through 800) and ended up paying for it. Struggled from about 1500 to 2600 to stay on pace. Ultimately ran 8:04.85, which isn't great. But I've been putting in the most miles I ever had and we don't have a track up here, so I have to be realistic.

I guess that's about it. Some decent races and a great block of training to build off of going into the outdoor season.

Now it is off to Jacksonville with a solid BRC crew. I am so excited! The joke I have been making is that I have always been an 8/15 guy. However, that used to mean 800/1500. Now I guess it means 800/15,000. It's funnier in person. Or maybe not. Anyhow, I hope everyone is training really well and here is to many great races this Spring!

Paul

Here we go!

Last couple of weeks training is complete back to normal. Which is a great thing! Last week I ran 120 miles with 2 solid workouts. 3 x 6min, 1 mile with 2 min rest- miles were 5.01, 4.53, 4.51. my 6 min on i started on the track and did a road loop and finished on the track. my 6 min. were right on pace and my last mile was a little slower then I would have like to finished up. My fitness is really starting to come around which is good for Gate River 15k next week. My other workout last week was a 10 mile progression starting at 6 min pace and dropping to 5.10 pace. It was a little icy out, but i was able to drop it down pretty good. So I hit 6.00, 5.57, 5.47, 5.48, 5.34, 5.40, 5.23, 5.18, 5.21, 4.59. I didn't quite want to drop that last mile so fast, however I was hurting and i wanted to hit under 5.10 pretty bad so I pushed it pretty hard.

Last week was a great week of training going into Gate River 15k and this week has been pretty good as well. tuesday- 10x 3min on, 1min. off which was pretty good and yesterday I did a 4 mile threshold- 5.04, 4.56, 5.12, 5.56. there was a 10 mph wind for the first 3 miles. I will also hit 120 miles this week as well.

In other news! March madness and major league baseball starts soon! my picks are Kansas Jayhawks win national championship!(that's an easy pick) and the Royals have a winning season and make it to the playoffs! thoughts, concerns...