Change of plans, psychoanalysis, and Mid-Year Resolutions

So lately I have been thinking about how to approach training and racing from perhaps a bit of a different angle. After all, they say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result....so maybe I should stop doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result.

I keep training logs, and have since my sophomore year in high school. As incredibly nerdy as that sounds (I am pretty sure that as a sophomore in high school I was supposed to be writing in diaries about boys and aspiring to be a cheerleader. But I didn't.), it can be awfully handy at times. Not to mention when I'm feeling a little sentimental I can look over various entries and sigh and remember all those great (and sometimes not so great) runs and workouts and all the ups and downs and what lead to what and so on. But anyhow, I've been looking over the last four to five years in particular--since I would think of those as the years where I think I most developed as a runner and also experienced a vast array of differnt training approaches--to try and figure out where some of the glitches are and what I can do to turn things around and stop getting de-railed every three months or so by some silly hang-up. Since I always wrote down what I felt like and a lot times what I thought about, then it's easy to pick up on where the mindset was at the time too (that's the psychology degree talking right there).

In that regard, the biggest change has been that somewhere along the way there was a switch from basically having the willingness to charge headlong into anything without really wondering whether or not I could do it (which only occasionally proved to be not very advantageous), to having almost too much trepidation and hesitation and doubt in regards to being able to accomplish a certain goal or to tackle a certain training regimen out of fear of another poor outcome (which has never really proved to be very advantageous). Basically a mindset of feeling like that one greek guy Sassafrass or Sisyphus or Syphillis or whoever, who was in Hades doing all that work rolling that giant rock uphill for all eternity even though he knew it was going to roll down again as soon as he got it to the top, and he'd have to start all over at the bottom (I will accept compliments for that freaking awesome metaphor in the comment box below).

That's the first huge piece of garbage that has got to go.

As far as just looking subjectively at training, I'm no coach or exercise physiologist, but I think my main focus is just going to be mixing things up a lot more. More things at different speeds for the most part. I think I have kind of gotten it in my head that I can do less than I used to be capable of and don't do certain things well, so I don't do them. As the great Dr. Jack Daniels says, until you get old and start to decline the human body does not get worse, it only gets better. Well I'm not old so logically I'm getting better. Training though is always a process of trial and error, so I think those pieces will fall into place once things get back on track from where they are now.

As for getting back on track, things are going in that direction. I've gotten some okay runs in over the last week and a half, so hopefully I'll be able to keep weaning myself off of the bike/pool and get more solid workouts in on land. As for races, I've decided that if I can get at least four solid weeks of training in, then the Bix 7 Miler (U.S. 7 mile championships) will be next on the list. Anything in between will be icing on the cake.

Till then, best of luck to anyone competing in the Garden of the Gods 10 miler this Saturday! I'll have an eye on the results.

Super Kara

I have officially started the next phase of the progression of me turning from master shuffler and compensator to "Good Kara" as Jon kept calling it today. In my mind, though, I will call the new me "Super Kara", and I will be able to recover faster, run more miles, run faster than ever before, and maybe even fly! While all that may happen (well probably not the flying part but everything else) I am going to have to work hard to get there first. And the worst part is while working hard I am going to have to endure the giggles of the professionals around me as my body tries to forget old habits and learn new, proper ones. Today, I started doing a few drills and while some my body will never forget from the college days (like the good old grapevine) the others I looked foolish and had to listen to the laughter of Jon and his wife, Kim, while I attempted to do the drills. Jon and Kim both had to show me how they were done and I am sure neither has done any of these drills in years, yet they were both models of perfection. They would search for ways to describe what they were wanting to see in an effort to trigger some spontaneous reflex where I would immediately start doing them correctly. Unfortunately that didn't happen and I have a lot of work ahead of me to get it figured out (shocking, I know). I also made a trip to my physical therapist today to let him know what I had observed in the morning, what Jon observed and some revelations I had after looking at some photos of me running. So, I again endured laughter and sarcasm as I attempted the progression of exercises that we will use to help reinforce proper mechanics. I was sarcastically offered a helmet due to my propensity of losing my balance and was also laughed at by the PT and the person shadowing him. We did discover that the lack of balance and control with my left leg and my core is astounding but I feel like I can only get better from here.

On a side note some major life changes have happened for me: I officially finished up my master's degree--I got my diploma in the mail yesterday!!, I was offered a job (contingent on my passing my board exam), I turned 30 (back in April but I am just coming to grips with it), and I can do pull ups and chin ups again!!!!! Well, that last one might not be a major life change, but I felt I had to share. I am so proud of myself. I haven't been able to do them since college but thanks to rock climbing my upper body is actually semi-strong now. Although I am sure no one can tell that I have any strength at all since I don't really build muscle (see attached picture).

That is all for now, hopefully in the next blog post I will have some more news about my transformation into a super hero.

Bolder Boulder

What to say about the Bolder Boulder...it's a race that has unpredictable outcomes and each year brings a different element. Some years its been wind, rain, or blazing heat, others years its been a stomach ache or being placed in the wrong heat. This year's element...surprise!! I knew I was in good shape, I was excited to compete, and I was prepared to fight for one of the top three positions in the citizen's race. I surprised myself, and a few others, by winning!!

Here is a summary of the race...
I started back a few rows to let the many young guys that want to win the first half mile go for their dream. For once I went out conservative and at the mile Russ (husband) and David (coach) were screaming that I was in 3rd and the other girls were within reach. I told myself to get them by mile 2, sure enough I did and hoped for some help with the pace. No such luck, so I moved on ahead and kept trekkin. There was plenty of guys to catch and a good group of guys running with me. At mile 3 I realized "I'm in the lead and I can win this." The crowd was amazing and boosted my adrenaline and confidence with each cheer. With a mile and a half to go a guy next to me, who had been with me for a few miles, turned and said "girl you are very inspirational." I was shoked to hear this and it gave me the final boost I needed to keep the pace. Russ and David cheered me on with a mile to go. The last hill...it got me again, but I held on tight and picked up the pace in the stadium to finish with a smile and excitement.

I think the best part was that my dad, stepmom, and Russ' parents and friends were all in the stands to be a part of a wonderful day. Some years I detest the BB, this year everything was just right.

No Marathon for Me

Yesterday I emailed the elite coordinator at Grandma's and pulled out of the marathon. It was a hard email for me to write because once again I failed; I didn't reach any of my short term goals and again didn't finish a training cycle. But pulling out of the race was the only choice I could have made. I have shown up at races not completely ready to race and not sure if my body would allow me to compete at the level that I wanted and have had mixed outcomes. Occasionally I would surprise myself and run well but more often than not the race ended in disaster and I would be left feeling broken and discouraged. Interestingly enough, it is very similar to how I am feeling now! The last 4 cycles I have started have all ended in me having to abort the cycle and take a little bit of downtime (either a complete layoff of running or easy jogging). The first I stopped because of low ferritin, the next one I was having hamstring and hip flexor issues from slipping on ice, the 3rd cycle was cut short due to adrenal fatigue and now this one.

I have been thinking about the cycle so I could figure out what went wrong, what I can change and also what my plan should be. And I can't figure it out. I keep a training log for this reason, among others; but even looking back there is nothing that I can pinpoint that I did wrong. And to be really non-creative--it sucks! So in the near future, I will be running really easy/slow runs, working on my mechanics and trying to get the hamstring under control. I hope my little plan works!

In one of my earlier blog posts I wrote about my curse with cars...and yesterday the curse struck again. I was driving home from a run and really wanting an ice cream cone. I happened to look down and see that the temperature gauge was registering the temp as past Hot. So, I aborted my plans (temporarily) and pulled the car off the main drag and into a parking spot. I called my husband, who asked me some questions and then told me to go ahead a drive it home and we would deal with it later. So, I decided that meant I could also get my ice cream cone but would do something quick and one the way home instead. So, I turned into the McDonald's drive-thru and my car started making really funny noises. So, I pulled up to the order window, ordered my cone and then turned the car off so it would cool down while I waited. I made it home thankfully with my ice cream cone (!!!) and was able to drive it to the mechanic this morning. He discovered a melted radiator cap (I saw him discover it, very interesting) and a non-functioning radiator, interesting, since the day before it worked! The mechanic worked his magic and presto 4 hours later and only $58 spent my car is ready for me to pick up! I realized after hanging up with him that like my car needs a good, reliable magician (errrr, I mean mechanic) I need one too.

My marathon build up has had some pretty rocky patches especially considering I am usually very consistent and healthy. But this build up has been plagued with illnesses and now injuries. A couple of weeks ago I was running a short, anaerobic type workout to propel my body into a half marathon and I hurt my hamstring. What should have been a few days easy has turned into 2 weeks of frustration and inconsistent training. The hamstring itself healed quickly, it was a pretty minor strain, but then the muscle kept feeling the need to protect itself and so the muscle was TIGHT! I couldn't hobble faster than 9 min pace and it was getting to me mentally. But my team of magicians pulled through and today I ran an hour with no pain, no tightness and at a normal pace of 7:30s and just 4 days ago I ran 15 mins at 9:20 pace. I worked with my physical therapist to correct a slight mechanics issue that likely lead to the injury; my massage therapist who helped relax the muscle, stretch it out and get rid of all the other gunk in there; my coach who had to wade through the endless emails and figure out the best approach with training, and finally my husband who kept reminding me that using a shovel to work on my vegetable garden probably wasn't the best way to help heal the hamstring. But with everyone's help I think I am back and hopefully will be running strong soon. As far as the marathon goes, I have lost 3 weeks of training to a cold/flu and the hamstring injury. Those 3 weeks were right in the most important part of the cycle--when I would be doing miles and some pretty challenging endurance style workouts.

Now with 4 1/2 weeks left, I am feeling unsure whether I should toe the line for this race or if I should figure out a new plan that will allow me to continue building some fitness, get comfortable racing and propel me into a fall marathon. I'll keep ya posted!

Winter's Last Hurrah...

At least I hope so. I got up this morning to go out for a run...in the snow. Not horizontally-blowing-massive-drifts-to-plow-through type stuff but white stuff falling from the sky nonetheless. What the heck. I am ready for sweltering runs where you end with a lovely crusty salt layer of lost electrolytes coating the skin. There is something weirdly satisfying about finishing a run in that state. Ah, but there is never a dull moment during springtime in Colorado. But enough about the weather.


Training has been going fairly well lately, not too much to tell at the moment though. A couple of weeks ago I hopped into the Take 5 In the Garden race totally spur of the moment to get an idea of where I was at fitness-wise, and to mix things up with some competition since sometimes racing myself in workouts doesn't always give particularly legitimate feedback. In this race there was the option of either doing a 5k on the roads that snake through the Garden, or you could branch off at a point along the 5k course to do the 5 miler. I didn't actually decide to do the race until that morning about an hour before the race started, and I didn't decide to do the 5k until I was in line to register at the race. I thought a 5k would give me a better indication of the kind of shape I was in and I thought it would be great to roll out a quick race--silly me...I didn't anticipate that eight tenths of the race would be uphill. At the same time I felt pretty decent throughout the whole race, good enough to even consider veering off of the 5k course at the branching point to the 5k versus 5 mile courses (about 1.5 miles into the race) to follow the folks doing the 5 miler. I was feeling good, why not tack on another couple miles? Then I realized that I had a 5k timing chip on my shoe and that I just couldn't bear to look at the finishing times and see my time in the 5k results with some time in the mid-30's. I don't have much of an ego, but that'd be rough. Still, it was a good up-tempo type workout and it's a great race to run if you're looking for something hilly and challenging combined with some awesome scenery. Plus it kind of re-lit the competitive flame that was kind of flickering for a while. So I would say it was worth doing for sure. It was also good to see some of the BRC crew there--Wendy, Amanda, and Christy-Marie, who turned up to do the five miler.

Right now I am gearing up for the Bolder Boulder that is going down in a little over two weeks. I am very excited given that I've never actually run the race, but have watched it half a dozen times, so I'd say it's about time I got in there to mix it up. Till then, the miles ain't gettin' any shorter so just keeping the nose to the grindstone and enjoying every day of it, and hoping to see a good pay-off in a couple weeks.

Year of Having Fun

It's been too long since I've written on the blog, sorry. First, congrats to everyone on the team for the amazing race results everyone has had.

Since the last post I have had some wonderful workouts and races. At ASU I raced a 5k at 10k pace and hit 16:42 (goal was 16:40). It was such a fun meet with a college-basketball-like atmosphere with music playing, t-shirts being thrown to the crowd, and a golf cart driving around the track to videotape some of the events. Back here in Colorado I race a couple 1500m races during the most windy days we've had. Then last weekend the best thing happened, I hit the 'A' standard time for the 10k to qualify for USA Nationals. It all happened at Stanford along with Nicole and Ali. I feel so blessed to have met this season goal that I thought was a bit of a reach since I've only been training seriously again for one year. I knew I'd do it eventually, but not so soon. It's been an incredible ride and I need to give much thanks to those around me helping each step of the way.


I have been fortunate enough to truly be having fun during all of it. In the past there were some many times my running was a chore and I looked forward to it being over. There were so many times running wasn't fun and I wanted to quit, but I continued on for variety of reasons. This past year has made me realize why I really get out there every day and enjoy each step I take, even when it seems torturous. I do it for the competition, team atmosphere, testing of limits, traveling, and fitness. But ultimately I do it for fun, to spend time with Russ and Chubbs and friends, and to grow spiritually. I've learned to love the journey as much as the destination. Ok, enough of my sappy-ness, it's been an emotional week and weekend for me so don't mind me.

Other random things to blog about:

• Yesterday I ran at Three Sisters in Evergreen and it was one of those runs you hope never ends. If you ever want a beautiful place to run go to this park, it's wonderful and links to other great trails. The air was cool and crisp, the trails were snow-free, and the landscape was turning green. I could run these trails everyday.
• I'm going to be an aunt for the first time!!! One of my younger brothers' (who is in the Marines) wife is 7 weeks pregnant. I'm super excited and wish they lived closer rather than in LA. I'm going to have to go buy a running and soccer outfits to be sure the correct influences are occuring.
• Took my PE Exam and now I get to wait until July to learn if I passed or failed. It was mulitple choice, not sure what takes so long to send out results.
• Next races...1500m next weekend and then Bolder Boulder!!

Marathon Runner through and through

So you know you are a true marathon runner when you run a 5k at only a slightly faster pace than your half-marathon/marathon. Yep, that was me today. After running the Platte River half-marathon two weeks ago, I ventured down to the 5k this weekend. I got up this morning at 5:00am to head to Boulder to race at the Boulder Distance Carnival. It was a great morning for a race with the sun shinning and a mild wind. I was pumped to start the race! The race started and I was feeling pretty good. As I came up on mile one I looked at my watch and was relieved and shocked all at the same time. Whoo, only 2miles to go-not 12 or 25.2- but man I'm running slow (6:20) I better pick it up. So, I start moving up passing a few people and ended up leading a small pack into the wind through mile 2. Sorry to those of you in that pack. I know there wasn't much to draft off of seeing as I'm only 5'2''. With about 800m to go, I was able to see this guy in red about 150m ahead of me and I started gunning for him. I had a flash back to college and imagined he was from Western State -GO Adams!- Anyhow, I made some ground on him going up a hill with about 300m to go but then he turned it on. My small marathon stride just couldn't keep up. I crossed the line and looked at my splits. Well, I ran pretty much even between 6:20 and 6:30 for 5k, just like a true marathon runner would. Although 5k was a bit of a stretch for me right now with my longer training and miles, it was a fun race to run. Boulder Running Company did a great job putting the race together and all the people there were very supportive in cheering for their fellow competitors as they came through the line. It was nice to pretend to be a 5k runner for the day, but I should probably stick to the half-marathon/marathon:)

Paralysis by Analysis...

What a nasty affliction...like leprosy or something. I like to think that I know how to make good decisions as far as training and racing are concerned, but I feel like if I use more than 5% of my brain during any decision-making process, nothing really gets done. I know you should listen to the Inner Voice of Reason, but I hear several Inner Voices of Reason. They go like this:

"Hmm....I should do workout X tomorrow."
"But I did the last half of my long run yesterday waaaay harder than I was planning to. It was basically an AT run tacked onto a long run. It was awesome."
"Hmm...well then I should do workout Y tomorrow, so it'll balance out."
"But I can't change it! I already wrote it down as The Plan for this week!" (Frantic tone).
"Um...hello? It's PAPER. It's not carved in stone. I could change it. I bet I won't even get struck by lightning for it. There probably won't even be a plague of locusts. Or frogs. Remember all that you have been taught. Use the wisdom bestowed upon you. Think long term. Tsk tsk."
"But if I change this week I'll have to change next week, and the week after, and the one after that...all the way till the Apocolypse..."
"I think I'm over-analyzing things. Perhaps this is not rational."
"I concur!"
"Seriously, don't get your spankies in a wad."
"Get a job."
"Hmm...I should do workout X tomorrow."

Process repeats. It gets very tiresome.

A very wise teacher once told me to approach anything confusing in life in the same way that a dog would: If you can't eat it or play with it then it's probably not good for anything so just take a leak on it and walk away. That's not at all applicable to this situation, but I wanted to find a way to tuck that little gem into here somewhere. You can thank me later.
Back to the issue at hand.
So at present I'm overanalyzing the possibility of running the Cherry Creek Sneak on Sunday. Owing to some unforeseen, untimely, and very much unappreciated circumstances arising from an incident several weeks ago involving a tempo run, a moonless night, and a hole in the ground (I don't want to talk about it), training has been anything but great for a while, although things have certainly started to come around this past week. Of course it's only a five mile race/fun run, not exactly the Death Valley Ultra, so really it shouldn't take that much thought, right? Oh but it does. I really like to go to races to actually compete, and get all serious, even if there's nothing on the line, and to compete like you should you have to be relatively confident. Confidence stems from preparation. Preparation at this time is virtually nil. At the same time though I don't think I have much to lose just by doing it and who knows? It might be the best ever. Plus it's always looked really fun. Plus I haven't raced since Jacksonville and that was ages ago. And I kind of think I should just take a leaf out of Delaney's book and just go for it despite feeling underprepared (plus this race is 21.2 miles shorter than his was sooo...). But I'm still juggling with the idea of nixing it and just training then finding some other rinky-dink race the next week to do for fun and just gear everything after that to the Bolder Boulder. I have no idea. My friend Hafer told me to decide by midnight tomorrow. That's the deadline, well it is if I want to bum a ride to Denver anyway. So hopefully I'll figure it out by then. I'll let you know.

Another Half Marathon

After my failed attempt at a half marathon effort at Platte River, I decided on Wednesday that I really needed another chance at a hard effort in a race environment. I really, really wanted to make sure that I was still on track for the marathon-bad races (despite the reason) always seem to make me question my fitness and also make me worry that all of the sudden my body is no longer adapting to the miles.

So, after last weekend, even though I was trying to be upbeat and positive most of my emails with Jon (my coach) over the past week went something like this:

Me: The run was good today. My legs felt good, my stomach is feeling better but still not 100%. Do you really think that I am ok?
Jon: I really think things are ok. You are on track.
Me: Good. I hope you are right.

Me: OH MY GOSH…the marathon is only 10 weeks away. Do you think I will be ready?
Jon: Yes. Things are ok.
Me: Are you sure?
Jon: You might not run a PR but all we are looking for is a strong effort, a respectable race and actually getting through a training cycle without having to pull the plug.
Me: OK. You are right…

Me: 9 weeks left!! OH my gosh…I haven’t even started much work yet.
Jon: You are driving me crazy. My opinion isn’t going to change. Stop reminding me how long it is until the marathon, I have it on my calendar. Have I ever not had you ready for a marathon? CALM DOWN!!!!

Well, maybe he didn’t respond that way on the last response, but I am pretty sure that is how he was feeling!

Anyway, I decided that I needed to prove to myself that last weekend was a fluke, I am not going to get sick every time I race over 5K and that things as Jon put it are ”ok”. So, I decided to run another half marathon. I have lived in Fort Collins for almost 7 years and have always vowed never to do the race I ran yesterday—the Horsetooth Half Marathon. Hills are one of my biggest weaknesses…I am just not a big strength runner so throw in a couple of well placed or ill placed hills and the course can kill me! So even despite some big hesitations, I decided to go for it. I had a plan in mind and I executed it very well…I hoped to run the first 2 miles in 15 minutes. YES, I did mean to type 15 minutes…you should see the course profile! So once I got through those 2 miles in 15:05 I was pretty sure the rest of the race would be ok and thankfully it was. I crossed the finish line 8th overall and the 1st woman. I was very pleased with how I felt during the race, how my body didn’t let me down the last 5 miles and that I didn’t need to stop in the last 5K to find a bathroom! =) So it was a success and I think Jon was happy because my freaking out emails probably won’t start up again until I realize I only have 8 weeks left!