50K Training Week 12

It was quite a week for me. A couple of people have asked me recently how I “do it all”. I answered quickly and without hesitation, “I don’t.” Let me clarify. If I am able to “fit everything in” it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m doing it well. Don’t get me wrong, I love it all, every single bit of what I’m doing, but don’t for a second think that I have it all figured out. I wish.

When I happen to have a tough or high mileage workout week the same week I have a special event or (10 things going on at once- total exaggeration but it sometimes feels like it), I’m usually not doing so great on the home front (husband,  toddler, dog, and house being neglected). I’m thankful that not only is this coming week a drop back mileage week, but it is also vacation time so I’m sure that by Wednesday, Jim will be absolutely sick of seeing and smelling so much of me. So, to make sure that I balance things out, I should be rock star wife and mom this week, but totally suck at work and at my workouts. You get it? It’s all about balance, friends.

The numbers

Miles Run: 57 miles

Strength Workouts: 1 puny one.

Yoga Goodness: 3 solid workouts

Dishes left in the sink unwashed: a cringe worthy amount, sorry Mom.

Badass Moments: 1 – read below to find out when

Monday- 6.02 evening miles in 50 minutes (8:17 pace) After having a couple of beers on the patio with Jim, I was impressed that I went out at all for this run. Beautiful sunset jog.

Tuesday-6 miles super easy in 53 minutes (8:42 pace) + Strength Workout. This run never felt good. I never could get a rhythm. Glad I went out but glad when it was over. Wanted some hard evening miles but couldn’t quite work it out.

Wednesday- 7.5 miles in 1:02 (8:20 pace) + 60 minute Yoga class. I took Stella out with me for my morning miles and she was one happy dog. My Yoga class felt so so awesome!

Thursday- 11 morning miles at The Bluffs in 1:33 minutes (8:25 pace). I love running the Bluffs. It has gorgeous views and rolling hills. It’s just great. I had a fun work event this evening hosting a Lacrosse Ability Clinic for kiddos with disabilities with the Denver Outlaws. Some of their players taught the skill stations, the dancers were cheering us on, and their mascot Stix the Raccoon visited with everyone too. Big fun for everyone. Even Noah.

Friday- 60 minute C2 Yoga at Core Power Yoga Studio. We did half of the class using our Yoga blocks so we could work on some cool stuff. Felt awesome.

Saturday- 22 miles. This was on the North Fork 50 race course so this was such a treat to get to run this, especially with a buddy. Lil Megan and I both were going into this run, well, dreading it. We were tired and we knew that this was going to be a tough run. So that’s what you do as a runner. You make a running plan with your buddy and then you have to show up so you’re not a total flake. Accountability. It works. It was a great day out and Megan and I ran it really well. We walked when we had to (some miles we averaged a 15:00 minute pace – how’s that for an ego check; and others we got to a sub 9:00). Our bodies ached so much we longed to dip our sore ankles in the cold ass river after the run and we did. ****INSERT BADASS MOMENT***As we were pulling out of the parking lot having just finished our last big run, I turned to Megan and said “I kind of feel like a badass after that run.” And Lil Megan said, “Uh, yeah, we’re totally badasses.”

Badass Me

Badass Megan

Sunday- 4 mile stroller run with no watch. I don’t know who I think I was thinking I was going to get in a 7 mile run the morning of a travel day. Silly girl. I was able to manage 4 miles with Noah. I had full intention of hitting up the hotel gym once Noah went to bed, but that hotel bed was way too cozy and I was pooped, so, oh well.

Upcoming Week Workout Plans

I’m totally going to have to wing it this week and fit things in when and where I can. Scary as that might seem for some (and kind of for me too), it is just going to have to be that way.

What was your badass moment this week?

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50K Training Week 11 Recap

Happy Memorial Day! Wave our flag proudly and hug a Vet! Thank you for all you have done and continue to do. I am truly honored to be able to serve our service men and women!

It was definitely a drop back week. I embraced it in all it’s gloriousness! I made sure to take it easy if I felt the slightest bit of discomfort in my hamstrings. This week will be another big ramp up week. No marathon in the works, but Lil Megan and I have some mountains to run up and down.

Last week’s numbers

Miles Run: 46

Yoga Classes: 2

Strength Workouts: 1 full workout at the gym and 1 home workout for 30 minutes

Bottles of Wine consumed: 2, but not in one sitting, I swear!!

Here is the breakdown of my workouts:

Monday- rest day. 

Tuesday- 4.11 miles in 33 minutes (7:55). Morning miles with Stella. I followed that with my strength session at the gym. It felt good to get back in there. Couldn’t quite fit in my evening workout. Bummer.

Wednesday- 10 miles in 1:27:25 (8:44 pace). I ran up to Daniel’s Park and back. My hamstrings hurt. Bad. I had to walk up the hills. I went home and made a massage appointment for that night. I went to a Yoga class that evening and it felt great. I almost bailed on it because of my hamstrings but decided to just do what I could do. Jim totally convinced me to go (he knows how cranky I can get when I miss a class). That night was pretty painful with the massage therapist. Like a glutton, I will be going back for more.

Looking down on the burbs from my trail run to Daniel’s Park.

Thursday- 10 miles in 1:23:05 (8:18 pace). My hamstrings felt a little better on this run. I was able to push through it without having to walk up the hills. Did a little workout session at home with some dumbbells. Nothing fancy, but it was something.

Friday- rest day. Wanted to get to a Yoga class, but couldn’t quite time it out right with work stuff. So be it. It was probably best for me to give the ol legs a break.

Saturday- 16 miles. Ran with Nina and Lil Megan. We were all feeling the sluggish dead weight of our legs from the marathon last week so we took it pretty easy on the run. We ran the Bluffs and East/West Connector Trail (not a flat course) and faired pretty well posing for Yoga poses along the way.

Nina Machina and Lil Megan running strong

Me in Dancer’s Pose, Nina upside down in Crow, and Lil Megan in Tree Pose

That afternoon, our neighborhood cul-de-sac had a “Smoke Off” Contest. It was a competition among the men in the neighborhood of who could smoke the best meat. We had ribs, brisket and pulled pork. Plus all the sauces. It was pretty amazing and I ate, A LOT! Shocker, I know.

Weekend BBQ with the neighbors: Top left- Ed and Noah, bachelors on the prowl, top right- the smoke entrance each competitor had to run through (it was hilarious), bottom left- Jess entertaining the girls, bottom right- the Smoke Off judges

Sunday- 6 miles in 1:09:29 (11:35 pace). Tough, tough run for me up Bergen Peak Trail. 1,686 feet of elevation gain. Running up, I knew certain spots were really steep (I had to walk a lot of them), but even on the way down I still had to slow way down or walk them because of how steep it was. I’m going to try this route again in a couple of weeks to see if I can do it without walking. Tough run, but man it was gorgeous out!!

Colorado, you don’t suck to look at!

Stella looking regal on the trail

My Week Ahead

Monday- 6-8 miles

Tuesday- 8-10 miles + Strength Workout

Wednesday- hill repeats 10x600s + Yoga

Thursday- 8-10 miles + Strength Workout

Friday- Yoga

Saturday- 22-24 miles

Sunday- unsure yet. This is a travel day for us. So I will try to fit something in.

In addition to ramping up my miles again, I will be eliminating sugar from my diet. Yikes! So watch out, friends! But in all seriousness, it is tough to do (especially if you have a wicked sweet tooth like me), but I’ve done this before and I can do it again. For me, the key is to get it (bad food) out of the house and make sure I have plenty of fruit around. I also drink tons of water and make sure I’m within a few feet of a bathroom at all times. Jim prepares by removing all sharp objects from the house

Wish us all luck!

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50K Training Week 10

This was a big week for me. I was tired physically. I was tired mentally. Just what a good training plan will do to you. Any sort of endurance running is tough and part of what makes you tough come race day are these high mileage, high stress weeks. I dread and look forward to them. So, here is a look back at the past week’s training and some lessons I learned.

The numbers

Miles Run: 61.2

Strength sessions: 1 (I wanted 2 for the week, but by Thursday my body felt pretty hammered so I eliminated that workout)

Yoga classes: 2 classes plus 1 15-minute home session

Cupcakes eaten: Too many to count this week. I did refrain from eating one the morning of the race – man, that was tough.

So, here is the breakdown of last week’s training.

Monday- 6 miles in 47:54 (7:59 pace). I took Stella Nutella out and it was a warm one. Phew. But I will take it for as much as I have complained on here about Colorado snow.

Tuesday-10 miles in 1:21:48 (8:10 pace) + Strength Workout. This was a late afternoon/early evening run -not my favorite time of day to run, but it was when I could do it. I didn’t really have it in me to incorporate any strides or any sort of speed work. After Noah went to bed, I hit the gym for a puny workout, but at least it was something. I eliminated a lot of my exercises that had to do with my hamstrings (they hurt and are sore so I didn’t want to wake that bear) which then eliminated a lot of my routine. So, like I said, the workout was puny, but it was something.

Wednesday- 5 easy miles in 42:54 (8:34 pace) + Hot Vinyasa Flow class. My legs felt heavy on this run, but I was really happy I went for the run. By the end, my legs felt much better. Stella went with me, so she was happy too. I took a Yoga class from a new-to-me teacher and it was really great. I will try to make his classes again when I can. It was a tough workout and I knew I would be sore. I liked it!

Thursday- 10 miles broken into 2 5-mile runs. I woke up sore from Yoga. I grabbed Stella and we went out for an early morning run of 5 miles. I could not quite make my body fathom 10 miles all at once so I opted to break my 10 miles for the day into part one and part two. Nothing spectacular, but that evening 5 miler was slower than my morning 5 miler. Oh and no strength session for me today. My body hates me!

Friday- 4 miles in 32:40 (8:09 pace). I think my watch was wrong for this pace because my legs did NOT feel like they were moving at this pace… more like a 12:09. It wasn’t a tough run or anything, my legs just felt really heavy.

Saturday- 0 miles plus C2 Yoga at Core Power Yoga. I took Barbara’s class at Core Power Yoga. It was perfect. Just what I needed. Went to the Rockies game Saturday night with the fam and some friends. Big fun! It was Lil Megan’s birthday! We talked some more about marathon strategy and she said that she really wanted to go sub 4:00 (and was briefly considering trying to push for a BQ – which I quickly tried to discourage because she has a crazy tough 50 miler soon and there is no need to push it so hard in a marathon right now. She WILL get her BQ this Fall, no doubt). So, we compromised on a strategy of 3:50 pacing.

Rockies baseball game fun!

Sunday- 26.2 at Colorado Colfax Marathon in 3:46 and some change. 

Me & Lil Megan at the start. photo courtesy of Ryan (thanks)

I am pleased with the race. Megan and I started super conservatively (like waaayyy behind the 4:00 pace group in the back of our Corral C) and gradually picked up the pace when we felt good. My main focus was getting Megan to a sub 3:50. I knew what time we needed to be at Mile 5, Mile 10, Half Marathon and Mile 20, but I did not check the time other than that. We just ran based on feel. The only thing I was a little disappointed in was my nutrition. I don’t feel that I ate enough during the race, but I did drink enough and never felt bad so that’s good. Megan finished under 3:50 like a champ!

Megan looking strong at Mile 18ish!

For you runnerds who love their numbers:

Finish time: 3:46:50 (8:39 pace) 

Overall place: 244 out of 1206 and 44th out of 510 female finishers

Division place 30-39: 16 out of 164 

Running for SunRype!

After the race, I hung out with my work peeps (Erika busted out a huge PR of 1:42 in her Half Marathon and Tony was a nut, running a 3:09 for the marathon). So fun! Once back home, it was typical Sunday afternoon stuff of groceries, house cleaning and hanging out around the house and playing with Noah.

Looking ahead at this week.

Other than typical creakiness after a long run, I feel good. I was just telling Jim that it is crazy to think that I ran a marathon yesterday because I really feel good. And that makes me feel awesome because I know that I will be ready for this 50K. I will be strong! But, I’m not gonna lie, I’m looking forward to this drop back week.

Monday- rest day.

Tuesday- am easy run + Strength Workout + pm run (hopefully some speed work)

Wednesday- 8 miles. + Yoga

Thursday- 10-12 mile run (hill work) + Strength Workout

Friday- Yoga

Saturday- 16 miles + Strength Workout.

Sunday-6-8 miles 

So, what are my lessons from this week?

1. That I am a run by feel kind of gal. Sure I enjoy looking back at the numbers, but I truly enjoy running and I don’t want my watch to dictate if my run is considered “good” or “not good”.
2. Yoga and Strength Training have added so much to my running. I know they get compromised a lot when I run out of time in my day, but they need to be just as much of a priority for me in this last home stretch of training.
3. Speaking of stretch, simple stretching is not relieving my hamstring soreness and tightness. I hope to get into a massage therapist a few times between now and June 29th. Thanks to Christmas gift cards, this is a possibility (Thanks Laura and Steve)!
4. I need to sharpen up my diet. Food is fuel and I need to fuel my body right if I expect it to perform at it’s best. Will you still see me eating a bacon cheeseburger? You betchya. How about cupcakes? Duh, yes. Just maybe not every other night now.

teaching the kid proper nutrition: big warm cookie, vanilla ice cream with fudge on top. YUMMO!

You would think that this was after the marathon, but no, it was like a Tuesday night or something. And it was after my 3 fish tacos. See? I soooo need to sharpen up my diet.

 

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50K Training Week 9

This was a crappy week, folks! I’m not gonna lie. I feel like I do a pretty decent job of giving you a good idea of my training on the ol’ blog here, without giving you only the “highlight” reel of my life. I try to share with you my ups and downs when it comes to training and how I am able to get through them and carry on or adjust for those changes or whatever it is. I know that one of the things I enjoy reading about others is how someone overcomes difficulties and maybe learn a thing or two along the way. However, if you are only interested in my training, scroll all the way down to the bottom for that stuff. Otherwise, read on and hopefully learn something valuable that has nothing to do with running but greatly affected it.

So… for the past few months I have been dealing with Identity Theft. It is no joke. Someone gained access to my social security number (how I don’t know), opened up accounts using my ssn, charged things to these accounts and then did not pay the bills, thus racking up a couple of thousands of dollars in bills and then those accounts were sent into collections. The person knew enough about me (but not everything). I had prefect credit, friends. I’m talking a score of 820. Well, as you can imagine that score plummeted to 610. I was notified this past February about the drastic change in my score. Since my life is pretty boring and I knew I hadn’t made any outrageous charges or tried to open any new accounts, I investigated and that’s when I found out someone was using my ssn to open new accounts.

Not cool!

Since February, I put a fraud alert on my account, and I have written numerous letters to the collectors, credit bureaus, the places where the accounts were opened. I have a detective assigned to my case and have a ginormous folder that I keep copies of all of my letters, forms, etc that is associated with this sort of thing. Now, as of April, my due diligence was paying off and my credit score was creeping back up into the 700s. I was feeling better about things. That was until Wednesday when I received a notification saying that my credit score took another nose dive, but this time when I opened my credit report I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach and left me unable to breathe: This person’s name was now listed under my name as AKA (also known as) and I had now assumed ALL of her debt. All $50,000 of it in collections and now associated with me. I was pretty devastated as one could imagine. How was this possible? How was she able to do this? What was I going to do now? Where do I start? Trying to see the forest through the trees, there were positive things that came along with this new information:

• I now had a name. Before we just assumed it was an alias.
• I had her last 3 known addresses and phone numbers.
• Some of the new debt would make it incredibly easy to track this person down
• I had to get all of this new information to the detective asap so he could hand it over to the other detective in the state that the fraud was taking place in

I needed lots of help this go round so I took the day off from work and headed to my bank. Jim had to go with me to interpret for me since I was a blubbering mess and couldn’t form a coherent sentence. They set us up with fraud protection (should’ve done that the first time back in February) and they put me in touch with a identity theft specialist. This person proved to be my most valuable asset. He told me exactly what to say when I called each credit bureau. He walked me through everything step by step with lots of hand holding. You see, up until this point no one believed me (or at least it felt that way) because I was the one who was now having to prove who I was to these collectors and credit bureaus and I guess they were just skeptical, but now with the help of my identity theft specialist, people were starting to believe me and things were starting to happen. I’m happy to say that as of now, all new 18 items have been expunged from my credit report. I’m one happy yet emotionally drained chick!

Now, back to running. As you can imagine, this took it’s toll on me mentally so it was just about all I could do to go run.

Last Week’s Unspectacular but Happy it’s Something Workouts

Monday- off.

Tuesday- 6 miles in 47 minutes (7:45 pace). It was hard for me to get moving today. Didn’t want to go to track, didn’t want the treadmill so I just took it outside on the trails.

Wednesday- 6.2 miles in 48:23 minutes (7:48 pace). Ran up to Highlands Point with Stella dog and so happy I fit it in early in the morning since the rest of my day turned to shit quick.

Thursday- 6 miles in 49:10 minutes (8:10 pace). This run was rainy, sloppy, hailing, and soggy, but actually quite fun. I wanted 8, but the hail was starting to hurt.

Friday- 9.5 miles in 1:19 minutes (8:19 pace). Today was supposed to be my long day of 16 miles (drop back week), but I was exhausted. I talked myself into just running 6 miles, but was able to pull out 9.5 miles so I was happy with that and called it a day. We took Noah to Monkey Bizness that night to wear him out. Big Fun!

Saturday- 5 miles no watch. These were early early morning miles, but I got it in before heading up to Boulder for the day for my RRCA Coaching Certification Course. My plan was to run that evening as well, but wow I was beat! Off to bed early for me. Took this picture for my mom for Mother’s Day on top of the Bluffs where I run a lot.

Sunday- rest. Have you ever woke up sore from just being tired? My alarm went off at 4:30am and I just couldn’t go for a run. I couldn’t do it. It hurt. I hurt. I needed that extra 1 1/2 hours of sleep. So I did. Then it was off to Boulder for the second day of my certification. I really enjoyed the class and met some really great people. The class is jammed packed with information and I loved every bit of it, but definitely hated that it fell on Mother’s Day. Jim and Noah met me after class up in Boulder to hang out and grab some dinner and celebrate Mother’s Day.

Yes, buddy, there are some weird people in Boulder.

THIS WEEK

Monday- 4-6 easy miles

Tuesday- 8-10 miles (I might have to do some mile repeats in here) + my strength workout

Wednesday- 4-6 miles + Yoga

Thursday- 8-10 miles + strength workout

Friday- 4 miles easy + Yoga

Saturday- off

Sunday- 26 miles

This will definitely be a better week than the last (it HAS to be) so that’s something. Lots of fun things to look forward to this week. This will also be my biggest mileage week and I’m pumped to see how my body will handle it.

Core & Stability Workout

Several of you have asked what sort of strength program I follow. Ask and you shall receive (eventually). The following workout was developed with my ultra trail marathon in mind (It’s coming up on June 29th). So all of the exercises are very specific to the run and trail running. Developing good muscle balance and core stability to stay injury free throughout my ultra training was of #1 importance to me.

This is one of three workouts that I rotate through. All workouts focus on leg strength (for climbing those big hills, core and stability training (for ankle and knee stability and a strong core- abs, hips, and back), and shoulder strengthening (my shoulders tend to get really sore on my long runs).

Core & Stability Training

Warm Up: 10 minutes on the Step Mill or the Row Machine gradually increasing my speed until I am sweating.

I perform Exercise 1 for 10 reps, then Exercise 2 for 10 reps, then Exercise 3 for 10 reps. Repeat for a total of 3 sets.

Round One: 3 sets of 10.

1. Step Ups with a Knee Lift- I perform the Step Ups one leg at a time and really drive the knee up. I do this exercise fast but controlled. I use no weights.
2. Wide Arm Push Ups- My eyes are forward and not looking down.
3. Ball Plank-Pike- I perform this exercise with my hands on a platform (usually the one that I just did my step ups on) and my feet on the ball for the added difficulty.

Round Two: 3 sets of 10

1. Lunges on an Upside Down Bosu – I hate this video, but you will get the idea. This was an exercise that I really struggled with at first because of my poor ankle strength. My feet would cramp up like crazy. I would perform this series of exercises without my shoes on and I felt like I was more stable.
2. Single Leg Deadlift with a Dumbbell Shoulder Press- I use at 15 lb db for this exercise. I really feel this sucker in my hammy’s!! I perform all 10 repetitions on the right side, then 10 on the left.
3. Side Plank with a Twist- I perform 10 twists on one side then 10 on the other.

Round Three: 3 sets of 10

1. Power Knees with Cable- I perform this exercise (minus the jabs in the video) one leg at a time. Just like with my step ups, these are done at a fast but controlled pace. My resistance is set at 12.5 lbs.
2. Box Jumps- Instead of stepping back down as demonstrated in this video, I hop back down.
3. Plank Hip Touch- I start in forearm plank, then lower the right hip to the ground and then back up to center. Then lower the left hip down to touch the ground and back up to center.

So, there you have it, my fun little strength routine. Give an exercise or two a go and tell me what you think of it. Any good exercises you like to incorporate into your training?

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50K Training Recap: Week 7

It was one of those weeks with some high highs, but low lows. I’m super proud that I found my way back to a daily practice of Yoga at home. I practiced at least 30 minutes every day this week. However, I didn’t make it to the gym once this week for strength training or Yoga. At first, I was pretty frustrated about it (lack of motivation and just bad time management of my day) but I truly think that it was the best thing I could’ve done. I was having some hamstring tightness that I just couldn’t relieve. Plus, I had some elevation I would be running on Saturday so I really didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that training run. I chatted about it with my trainer friend and he agreed that I needed a “back off” week.

My Stats
Run Mileage: 41 miles

Yoga Classes Attended: 0, but I did do 30 minutes every day of arm balances and various flows.

Strength Workouts: None

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies Eaten: Don’t Ask!!!

Week Seven:

Monday- off. I missed my Yoga class, dang it.

Tuesday- 4.5 miles in 38:42 (8:36 pace). This was a snowy run (yep, snow. Again). I ran this in my Yak Trax and winter gear. Have I mentioned that I seriously want to burn all my winter gear??!!

Dear Colorado, I love you; I really do, but this weather… well it sucks! And you’re making it hard to love you. I don’t mind snow, really I don’t. I know how much we need the snow and how important it is for our water supply. Plus, it can be lots of fun; so October through March, I accept it. However, it is not acceptable to snow every week in April. And now May 1st too?? Not okay. 

Wednesday- 6 miles in 48:23 (8:03 pace). This was one of those runs that I never got in a groove and never felt good. Normally, it might take me a mile or 2 to get in a groove, but not today, I never found it. This doesn’t happen often, thankfully. One of those low, lows.

Thursday- 10 miles in 1:22:13 (8:13 pace). First day in shorts and a t-shirt. Woo-Hoo!! I ran a hilly route and took it easy. I was just out enjoying our awesome weather and loved being out every minute. One of those high, highs.

Shorts and t-shirt weather!! Finally!!!

Friday- off. 

Saturday- 17 miles in 3:03 (10:45 pace). The North Fork 50K/50 Mile Race Director organized a group run for us on part of the course this past weekend and it was going to be my first look at the course and get a good feel for this trail running thing. It was perfect (dare I say, a little hot) outside and we were all so happy to be out there. We started at a conservative pace and then each found our run groove. I fell into pace with 3 guys who run with the Denver Trail Runners each week. We ran together for the entire 17 miles and had a great time. We each took turns leading the run and had steady conversation. We all agreed that we should try to run some of our bigger runs together again since we ran so well together on this day. If nothing else, it will be a huge morale boost to see each other race day when we are hating life at mile 27. We might’ve had a celebratory beer afterwards…

My running buddies for 17 miles: Stu, Adam and Jason

we made sure to walk up the hills, at least halfway. I’m telling you, it takes practice for road runners or marathoners to figure out that you HAVE to walk during an ultra. No shame in that game!!!

The Columbine girls screaming down the trail. They must’ve heard we had beer waiting for them.

Kelly, Adam, Me, and Melissa. Post run celebration. I’m not flexing, by the way… I’m holding onto all my food – very important stuff- beer (Java Stout), tortilla chips, pretzels and a chocolate chip cookie.

That afternoon, Noah and I had a big time at the park. I pushed that kid on the swing for, I swear, 30 minutes. We went to the pool for a bit and then settled in for a movie on our sleeping bags.

Sunday- 3.4 miles in 30:15 (8:53 pace). I pushed Noah in the stroller. Man, I forgot how tough that is. Phew. I am out of stroller shape. I would liked to have gotten in some more miles, but it just didn’t work out that way. So instead, Noah and I ran some errands and then went for a little hike in the gorgeous weather!

That’s one cool dude, folks!

Looking ahead to this week, I would love to fit in my strength workouts and Yoga classes to my running schedule. I feel such a big difference when I am consistently cross training! However, I struggle each week with finding that family/exercise/life/work balance so I have had to learn that flexibility is the key to  my training. So, here are my goals for this week’s training: wish me luck!

• 3 Strength Workouts
• 2 Yoga Classes or 5 days of home practice for at least 30 minutes
• 1 day of Speed Work
• 20-22 miles – I don’t know if this will happen Friday, Saturday or Sunday. It depends on my work to-do list, how long I will be volunteering at the Columbine Classic Saturday morning, which day is the least annoying to the husband, and what the weather will be like (snow or no snow, 90′s or 50′s).

Fingers crossed. I had to leave work early Monday to pick up Noah from his little school because of an eye infection. We got some eye drops from the doctor but… have you ever tried to put eye drops in a 2 year old’s eyes?? Wow, seriously one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I had to hold him down with one hand while he was screaming and thrashing about and with my other hand pull open his eye lids and try to squirt the drops in. Terrorizing for both of us. I hope he doesn’t have nightmares about me now. He’s doing better, but I did keep him home from school today. So, we’ve had plenty of play time today. Now, Mommy needs a run!!

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When PMS invades your workouts

Sorry male readers! Proceed with caution.

source

It wasn’t until Monday night, after I had a frustrating Sunday and Monday filled with a roller coaster of emotions (things that normally wouldn’t bother me are now bothering me), plenty of eye rolling and just general annoyances, gobs of starchy food, spoonfuls of peanut butter topped with chocolate chips, that I realized what was happening.

My workouts this week have been less than desirable and it has taken just about everything in me to just get a run in, let alone a good one. And extra workouts? Nope. Not feeling it. What am I feeling? Peanut butter and chocolate, pasta, mashed potatoes, holding down the couch, biting your head off. So I did a little digging.

I read a few articles about PMS symptoms and how it relates to running. What I discovered was pretty interesting. Below is a snippet from a Run the Planet article called “How Your Menstrual Cycle Affects Performance”. You can find the link below.

The fluctuation of your energy levels

Your menstrual cycle is composed of three phases. The first phase, generally days one through thirteen (the first three to seven days being menstruation), is called the follicular phase and is marked by relatively low levels of estrogen except for a spike near day fourteen. The next phase, called ovulation begins on day fourteen. The remainder of the cycle, days fifteen through 28 of the average 28-day cycle, is called the luteal phase and is characterized by moderately high and stable levels of estrogen. Estrogen levels are important because estrogen is the key hormone affecting not only your cycle, but also the type of fuel available for your working muscles. Studies have shown that low levels (in the follicular phase) favor the breakdown of quick energy stores (muscle glycogen) whereas high levels (in the luteal phase) favor fat-burning, lower lactic acid levels and glycogen sparing.

OOOOHHHHH!!! That’s why!! I thought I was done paying attention to all this stuff. When we were trying to get pregnant, I knew all about this world (painstakingly so – it took me over a year to get pregnant). I knew my temps, my phases, how food affected me, how travel, stress and exercise affected my luteal and ovulation phase. I just never thought about it from this angle and how to potentially use it to my advantage.

I will really start to pay attention to this from now on. It helps me better understand why I will hit a workout one week but not the next. And that it might not have anything at all to do with overtraining or under training. So, before I burn my training plan and heaven forbid, over react, I will be mindful of this.

You will be happy to learn that I’m moving out of the miserable bloating, cramps, I-can’t-take-enough-Midol phase and into the low estrogen level- I-Am-Wonder-Woman Phase so I would expect big things from me in the next week

Now, if only I could control that appetite thing…

How Your Menstrual Cycle Affects Performance

How Menstruation Affects Your Running

How to Run with the Flow of Your Menstrual Cycle

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Race Recap: Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon

The week leading up to this race was a blur. A I feel awful-did-I-really-just-drive-to-work-because-I-don’t-remember-how-I-got-here kind of blur. I was so sick.

Monday I left work early and went to bed. I think I managed 3 miles on a treadmill on Tuesday because it was once again snowing and sleeting. I followed that with a wimpy strength workout and then realized that that was stupid and went back to bed. I finally went to urgent care and was diagnosed with strep and then sent on my merry way with some merry drugs. I slept and was quarantined in my room for the next 2 days. I made it to a Yoga class on Thursday evening but no running. Friday was a travel day and again no running. I really was trying to save all my energy for running my 18 miles I had on the schedule for that Saturday. You know us long distance runners and our long runs. We will do whatever we can to preserve those days!

So, the race was held on Saturday April 13th and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Nice and cool. I chose this race because my friend Jill is the race director and it’s southern California. No brainer.

Neat little tidbits about the race:

• Race is held on base at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside CA and is an off-road race.
• Kids Race, 5K, 10K options as well. Kids race was adorable!
• When they played the National Anthem and the flag was high, I have never been anywhere that it was so quiet and everyone stood so still. It made my heart swell with pride. Go Marines!
• They did a waved start. Military started 10 minutes ahead of the civilians.
• Such a pretty course. Truly.
• Water and gatorade stops every other mile. I didn’t have to carry water. Love that.
• This was NOT a flat course.

For this race, there was really no race plan for me other than to start slow and finish strong but save enough for 5 more miles that day (I had 18 miles on my schedule for the week).

The race started on time and I settled in towards the back so I wouldn’t get too caught up in the mad dash of a start of a race. The steady climb started within the first mile. I took some water from the Marine volunteers at the top of the hill. One of the men smiled and yelled at me “Little girl is killing it!” I thought, thanks for the water and I’m like 10 years older than you, but whatever. I smiled at him and said thanks for being out here.

7:37, 7:49, 8:20 (steep hill), 7:29.

I found a girl to run with that matched my pace. She and I kept passing each other so I just stayed with her for a while. Once I crested that big hill, I was greeted with an amazing view. It was so beautiful and I just kept thinking “Man, I love running!” I felt good. We cruised on the downhills. She was better at the downhills than me (no surprise for me there).

7:05, 7:06, 7:07

From miles 8-11 we climbed back up that Heartbreak Ridge. It was here that I realized how much I have improved on hills. I tried to keep my cadence high, lean forward and stay on my toes. We passed military vehicles lined up on the side of the road. At one point, I saw about 6-8 men dressed in camouflage coming out of the tall grass and bushes. Kinda freaky in any other race I suppose but no big deal for this race. There were Marines racing in their boots and full 30 lb packs – hard core!

7:39, 8:07, 7:47, 7:45

I lost my running companion around mile 10-11 on the hills and just tried to not trash my quads on the remaining downhill. The same Marine that handed me my water at the top of the hill earlier and called me little girl handed me my water again and told me that there wasn’t many girls in front of me. I liked that guy.

7:12, 7:17, 7:04 (my .1 pace)

Chip time: 1:38:55 Gun time: 1:39:05 Click HERE for the results.

I placed 3rd overall female finisher!!! I was only 3 minutes from the top female finisher and just seconds away from the 2nd place finisher. How the race was set up, I really had no clue where I was in the standings since the civilians started 10 minutes after the military. They also started the 5K and 10K after the Half Marathon so we would all finish around the same time so I didn’t know where I was. I did feel like I would finish in the top 5. But 3rd place – pretty sweet!

me accepting my award

My award, by the way is the bottom of those missiles. The General, whose hand I am shaking, laughed when Jill told him I had to get that thing on a plane. He said “oh, they’re going to check your bag.”

my saving grace with keeping this award was that it had the race series and my place etched into it. Phew.

I hung out for a while waiting on the results and award ceremony and got pretty cold. So, I opted to do my 5 mile run later that day. It was slow, but at least it was done. It’s hard to hate life looking at this.

Oceanside beach run

Sunday, Jill and I headed out for SUP’ing (Stand Up Paddleboarding). It was crazy windy out on the beach so we opted to give ourselves a fighting chance of staying out of the ocean by going into the Lagoon in Carlsbad. It was still windy, but manageable. It’s quite the workout in the wind but I can see where it would be really relaxing when you aren’t fighting wind in every direction. I enjoyed it a lot!!

Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Look at that technique!

It was an awesome weekend! So much fun!!

Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon is part of a race series called Hard Corps Race Series. Some of the events included are: Hell Fire Fat Tire, Heartbreak Ridge Run, World Famous Mud Run, Semper Tri/Devil Dog Duathlon, Water Warrior Beach Festival, and Tour de Camp Pendleton Bike Tour. If you are in the area, you should check it out. Very well organized and a good time!

 

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• Weekly Recap: Nailed It (kandjcolorado.wordpress.com)
• Run – Part 1 (runlaxlove.wordpress.com)
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Weekly Recap: Nailed It

I hit all my workouts. Amazing, but I’m tired. Really tired. Like I think I’m coming down with something, kill me now tired. But man I had a good week of workouts!

Miles run: 46

Yoga classes: 3 one-hour classes

Strength workouts: 3

Monday- Hot Power Fusion Yoga class at Core Power Yoga in the evening. It was a light class and gentle on my body. It felt good.

Tuesday- 10 miles. Got in some morning miles with Stella dog. 4 miles in 32:16 (8:03 pace). Changed clothes, grabbed Noah and off to the gym we went. I did my strength workout routine for an hour then splashed around in the pool with Noah for a while. He has gotten much more adventurous in the water which is fun to see. Normally, he is a pretty cautious kid.

That evening as the temperatures dropped and the rain/sleet started to fall, it made me awfully cranky to think about going to the track for our speed workout. So, I bailed on the track and took the workout to the treadmill- I can’t believe I actually chose the treadmill over an outdoor workout, but I’m just so over the cold weather. Anyway, it turned out to be a really great speed workout.

1.25 mile warm up, 5 sets of (2x200m @ :45 (6:15 pace) w/ 200m recovery jog, 1x400m @ 1:30 (6:15 pace) w/ 400m recovery jog), .5 mile cool down. 6.05 miles in 45:20 (7:29 pace). I was a sweaty mess after this one.

Wednesday- 4.8 miles. Core & Stability session with a personal trainer. I was sore this morning so he spent about 10 minutes rolling out my hips and legs (it hurt while he was doing it, but loosened me up a lot afterwards).

I was suposed to do a hill workout but after last night’s speed work and this morning’s strength, I was toast so I settled on an easy jog. But this easy jog felt hard. 4.8 miles in 42:20 (8:47 pace).

Thursday- 8.4 miles. My goal was to run for 75 minutes. I knew I wanted to do a hilly run so I went to Green Mountain Trail for 8 miles of gorgeous weather and scenery. Last time I was here, Nina and I had frozen faces with ice crystals on our cheeks and eyebrows from running in sub zero temps. This day was much much better. No worries about pace just wanted 75 minutes of hills. 8.4 miles in 1:20 (9:37 pace). Here are some pictures. Yes, I’m bragging, but man it was a gorgeous day!

Green Mountain Trail Loop in Colorado

Friday- Today was a cool treat because I got to take 2 yoga classes from 2 of my favorite instructors. After a morning trip to the library, Noah and I went to the gym so I could take a yoga class from Daniel. He always has a different style flow and will give you the chance to work on arm balances (today we worked on Peacock and Flying Pigeon). That evening, I took a C2 class at Core Power Yoga from Venus. Love her. When she has you holding a pose so long that you don’t think you can hold it for one second longer, she will say in such an encouraging and sweet voice – “Yes You Can”.

Saturday- 16.5 miles. I met Nina for 10 miles and then ran home for another 6 miles. I finished up with 16.5 and felt good. The weather was great and I had no tummy issues so that was even better. Jim and I headed off to the gym later in the morning. I attempted to do my workout from Wednesday but I was rather uninspired. I finished it, but it was nothing spectacular. I just wanted the couch.

Sunday- 5.8 miles. After volunteering with some of my fellow Colorado Columbines (so fun cheering for everyone) for the Platte River Half Marathon, I ran Deer Creek Canyon. I have been wanting to do some running with a significant amount of elevation and this was certainly a good step for me. This climb offered me a little more than 1,800 feet of climbing. I felt like I was moving pretty good and required no walk breaks. This will not always be the case with these types of runs. I feel like these Sunday runs will teach me a lot of a walk/run approach to the ultra trail running. I did 5.8 miles in 1:03 (10:50 pace). Pieces of the trail were still snow covered and required you to be very careful (I actually did walk through some of these spots now that I think about it). I ran up to Plymouth Mountain and was greeted with such amazing views of Chatfield State Park.

silly snow, so stubborn. why are you still here???

the views from the top: Chatfield Reservoir

This coming week I will be in week 5 of my 50K training plan. Here’s the pdf.  50K Training Plan (1-6). On Saturday I’m running in the Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon that my friend Jill is organizing. It’s in Oceanside, CA near San Diego (twist my arm). I have 18 miles on the schedule for the day so I will probably squeeze in 5 miles later that afternoon if my body isn’t beat up too much. I’m really trying to not race this race and just use it as a nice trail training run with some hill climbing, but we will see how that works out for me Jill has also convinced me to do some kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding in the Oceanside Harbor so I’m going to call that my cross training for Sunday. Pretty excited to see, smell, and hear the ocean!!!

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Weekly Recap

I am 3 weeks into my 50K training and haven’t yet had a week where I hit all my workouts. That’s frustrating. Granted, I was a battling the stomach funk, but still it’s frustrating. I’m trying not to take all the fun out of my training by taking it way too seriously, but still I know I’m not performing to the best of my ability. I’m determined to make this upcoming week a winner! So far so good! I’ve already had some really great workouts and it’s only Wednesday! So, here is what last week looked like.

• Total Miles: 31
• Yoga Classes: 0
• Yoga at Home: 2 days
• Strength Workouts: 1 day

Monday- rest day. No cross training.

Tuesday- 9 miles. Went for an easy run in the morning 3.94 miles in 33 minutes (8:18 pace). Changed clothes then Noah and I hit the gym. I did my Core and Stability Workout that I love (and must post about soon). That evening was my track practice with the Colorado Columbines. It was a different type of workout. Coach Brian told us it would be a 20 minute fartlek style workout of fast and slow where he would blow the whistle and we would go fast (our own fast) and when he would blow the whistle again, we would go slow (our own slow). He would repeat this for 20 minutes. We had no set pace to hit and were each running for ourselves (no groups like we normally do). Then he told us all to take off our watches and to go by feel. This was a tough workout because you had no idea how long you had to go fast or how long your recovery was. He said that it was designed to help you pace yourself based on feel and not on time.

I really enjoyed this workout! It was tough mentally and physically. I covered 12 laps in 20 minutes (that’s 3 miles). I jog a mile before practice and a mile afterwards for cool down for a total of 5 miles that evening and 9 miles for the day.

Wednesday and Thursday- had a stomach funk. No workouts. I felt pretty lousy and truthfully didn’t care that I was missing my workouts.

Friday- 4 miles. I was feeling better and ready for a little run. 4.06 miles in 33 minutes (8:16 pace). The weather was great and I was happy to be outside enjoying it!

Saturday- 14 miles. Nina and I started a little later in the morning than usual for our 14 miler and it was a gorgeous clear blue Colorado sky day. My Garmin died around mile 9 so I don’t know what pace we averaged, but we both felt really great afterwards!

Sunday- 4 miles. 4.02 miles in 32:40 (8:07 pace) for a sunset jog.

Not running on Wednesday and Thursday killed my mileage for the week, but I will take those 31 miles I did run and be grateful for those. The other thing I hated was not getting hardly any yoga or strength training in. My body really feels the difference. So, heading into this week will be a game changer. I will make it a priority to fit this stuff in!

My goals for this week:

• Continue to rock the Sugar Detox!
• 3 yoga classes
• 3 strength workouts
• Run some hills, hard!
• 16 miles

I love this quote!

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