Tuesday Thoughts

• My favorite summer Olympic sport is swimming.  Love it.  Even if the results have been spoiled before I get to watch it on TV.  Having said that, the women's cycling Sunday morning was pretty cool to watch as well. Not usually a fan of bike races, but I really enjoyed watching that one.
• Have I mentioned my sabbatical* on this blog?  No?  Well it starts next Monday. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. This may be the longest workweek ever. 
• Project "Rock the Silver" is progressing rather well so far. Of course I only have about an inch of new growth so far, ask me again near the end of the calendar year and see how I feel!  At this point, I'm much more bothered by the faded/brassy color growing out than by the salt & pepper growing in. 
• My running partner is on board with the idea of doing a hilly trail 10K in early September in the foothills of the Sandias here in Albuquerque.  I need to see how my knee holds up to some hill running before I sign up, but this sounds like something fun to me! 
• My baby girl is on a roadtrip to New Orleans. I'm both excited for her and a bit nervous. She's been staying in touch often so that I know she's okay (whew!).  A few weeks after she gets back, she will be moving on campus for her freshman year of college.  The empty nest begins... 

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*We get an extra contiguous 8 weeks off work every 7 years in additon to our normal accrued vacation. How cool is that?!?!

Workout Woes

I have a sprint tri coming in up 5(?) weeks and really need to start including swimming and cycling in my routine more regularly. Unfortunately, I a hard time hitting my intended workouts during the middle of the week due to poor planning on my  part combined with bad weather.

I *know* this time of year we are prone to afternoon thundershowers.  I really should plan to do as much as possible in the morning, but I hoped to do a few things in the evening Tuesday-Thursday and the weather just got in the way.

And just for the record, lately I've been walking my dogs almost every day in the morning.  I count this in my workouts, but it isn't always planned.  But that's why there is so much walking in the mix.

Here's how my actual workouts compared to the plan:

• Sunday: 800 m swim, Actual: 800 m swim :-)
• Monday: 2 mi walk, Actual: 2 mi walk :-)
• Tuesday: 3.1 mi hill run/ 800 m swim, Actual: 1.5 mi walk :-(
• Wednesday: 2 mi hill walk/8 mi bike, Actual: 2 mi hill walk :-(
• Thursday: 3.1 mi hill run, Actual: 2 mi hill walk :-(
• Friday: 2 mi run/2 mi walk/800 m swim, Actual: 2.4 mi run / 2.5 mi walk /800 m swim :-)
• Saturday: 7.8 mi run, Actual: 7.6 mi run / 1 mi walk :-)
• Sunday: 3 mi run, Actual: 4 mi run / 1 mi walk / 8.1 mi bike :-)

What, if anything, did I learn?  For one thing, I really need to plan on doing more in the morning.  This week, I'm still hoping for an evening run on Tuesday with my running partner, but I'll plan on morning running on Thursday even if that means I'm running alone.  I'm also going to *try* to get up early and do some short (8-10) mi bike rides on Mon & Wed.   It always sounds like a good idea until the alarm goes off, though.

[updated Monday morning to add: I actually did it! Got up early for a short bike ride this AM. That actually wasn't too bad. Worst part was hauling my butt out of bed when the alarm went off.]

How was your workout week?

Two down, thirteen to go

As I mentioned near the end of Friday's post, I bought a 15 visit punch card pass for the pool.  It now has a grand total of two punches so I have thirteen to go.  Yes, that means I've already been back to the pool.  Went on Sunday afternoon.  It was much more crowded than I expected, but I still managed to get a lane to myself.  Also did another timed 400 at 8:46.  Nice!

Monday was not such a good day.  Husband is out of town on business. No problem.  I took a long meeting from home and intended on going into the office.  Only my car wouldn't start!  Dang it!  Of course this happens when I'm home alone.  I contacted a work colleague who is also a friend and he offered to come by later in the afternoon and try to jump start it.  So I ended up working from home instead of going to the office.

He was able to get it jump started.  I left it running for a while, then drove it around a little, then went over to his house to turn it off and see if it would start again.  Again, wouldn't start.  Jumped it again and this time I went over to the battery store.  I told them what happened.  They checked the battery and it was low, but they weren't sure if maybe it just hadn't charged enough.  They suggested that they jump start it again (using their little booster pack thing) and I leave it running for another hour.  They would check it one more time and if still low, I definitely need a new battery.

Only this time they couldn't get it started.  I could have called my friend and had him jump start it for the third time, but he'd have to drive over to where I was.  Also, it was starting to rain.  I just decided to get a new battery and at least that way I could get my car running and get home and rule out the battery itself as the problem.  I may not have actually needed a new battery, but there are worst things than having a new battery that you don't need.  At least the battery itself should last for another 3-6 years.

Anyway, with all this hoopla, I did not get a chance to do much else Monday evening.  Assuming I don't have car troubles today and the weather holds out, I am planning to meet my friend near the pool for a run/swim.  And no matter what happens today, I *will* go back to the pool on Friday.

Oh, and I have a give-away planned for sometime over the next week.  Stay tuned!  

Week so far

I took Monday as a rest day after the 5K race / 28 mi bike ride on Sunday.

On Tuesday, our running group met up with the Hot Chocolate folks.  They were still in the area promoting the race and sponsored a "fun run" Tuesday.  If these guys come to your area doing the same, seek them out!  They served up chocolate smoothies, had music, and gave away two free entries to the race, & gave away about a half-dozen hats.  It was a lot of fun!!  They took this photo of the those of us who stuck around afterwards.

Is my yellow shirt bright enough?  Ha!

Then on Wednesday, we ran again.   At that time my running partner & I devised the following plan for the rest of the week:


Plan A:  Swim Thursday evening, Long Run Friday morning, Short Run Saturday morning.


Looks good, right?  But she texted me Thursday afternoon to say that she couldn't meet to swim that day after all. Could we swim Friday after running instead?   Resulting in:

Plan B: Rest Thursday, Long Run Friday morning followed by Short Swim, Short Run Saturday morning.

Okay, that seemed reasonable.  After all, we *are* training for a triathlon (which is only 6 weeks away, eek!) so a run-swim workout makes a lot of sense.

We met Friday early morning for the long run and both had remembered to bring our swim stuff.  About two miles into our run, she said that she just wasn't feeling the run today, could we possibly cut it short?  I figured that would work, we could just push the long run out until tomorrow.  So that left us with a new plan:

Plan C:  Rest Thursday, Short Run Friday morning followed by Short Swim, Long Run Saturday morning.  

We ended up cutting our run short at 5 miles which was fine with me.  The big question was, would we actually get to the pool and swim this time?!?  By golly, yes we did! I'm happy to say that I managed an 8:50 400 even though it was my first time in the pool since December.  I've always thought that the phrase "it's just like riding a bike" is a bit deceiving (bike riding isn't so easy when you take a long break), instead it should be "it's just like swimming laps."  


While I was there, I bought a 15 visit punch pass (good for 3 months) to try to FORCE myself to get to the pool.  After all, I need to be my money's worth, right??  


Now the only question is: will we actually do the long run tomorrow or will be be onto Plan D?  Guess I need to wait until tomorrow morning to find out...


[updated to add:  Yes, we *did* do our long run on Saturday morning.  Plan C for the win!]

WDF 5K Race Report and Mid-Month Tally

Women's Distance Festival 5K Race Report

Today I ran the local WDF 5K.  This is one of my favorite events in the area.  I love seeing all the women encouraging each other plus we get a technical t, chocolates, and a flower at the finish line and it's a flat, fast course (most races in this area are hilly).  Last year I had my all time Personal Best 5K on this course.  I really didn't think I was in shape for a PR this year, but I hoped it would be close (and much faster than the 5K I ran in May).

Registration Tent

Start time was 7am, and since I hadn't gone to packet pickup the day before, I needed to arrive at the site early enough to get that taken care of.  Luckily, it's a relatively small race, so there wasn't much of a  line at the registration tent when I arrived at 6:30am.    

Cute shirt!

I had a small panic attack when I realized that they had me registered as a walker.  Um. Can I change that, please?  No problem! Since the race wasn't chip timed anyway, all they needed to do was cross out the "W" that was next to my name in the racers list and on my bib.  Low tech, for the win!  

Oh, and the hot chocolate race van/motor home was there (trust me even though my photo didn't turn out well, it's the hot chocolate race van). They were there to serve up some hot chocolate icee thing after the 5K and register folks for their 5K/15K at end of September. Got to see the jacket that come in their race bag. They seem like a fun crew. Can't wait to run that one.

Neither my running partner nor I were feeling very confident about a fast race today and decided that our target today was to get in under 30min. That seemed doable to me.  We figured our best race plan was to start out at a reasonable pace and then kick it in and go as fast as we could when we were half a mile from the finish line.  Of course, that plan went out the window when the gun went off.  I checked my Garmin a quarter mile in and we were running WAY too fast.

My post-race happy face

At the 2 mile marker, I told her that the new goal was to get in under 28 mins.  I guess that's all the motivation she needed because she sped up  from there and I couldn't catch up.  She crossed the line at 27:15 (yay, her!).  I, on the other hand, just barely missed this new on-the-fly-goal and crossed at 28:01 (approx a 9:02 mi/mi overall pace).  Turns out to be my second fastest 5K ever, so I'm quite happy with my time, just not over-the-top-thrilled like she is with hers. 

I may be slightly crazy, because I figured it was a good idea to do a 28 mile bike ride afterwards with husband.  ;-)

Mid-Month Tally

July seems to be shaping up to be a great month for me:

• Walking: 20.0 mi
• Running: 38.9 mi
• Cycling: 162.8 mi (yeah, baby!)
• Swimming: nada (swimming mojo has gone missing)
• Races: one 5K

There are 16 days left in the month, but only two more weekends and no holidays, so I don't expect the back-half of the month to be able to match the front half.

TTT - Slacker, Race Ready, Transitions

Slacker - That's how I feel compared to last week!  Of course, I had a long 5 day weekend last week whereas I'm working today, but still, I feel like a  total slacker with my workouts.  It didn't help that it was pouring down rain yesterday after work when I had been contemplating a bike ride (which didn't happen, because of course I might just melt in the rain).

Race Ready -  That's how I hope to be on Sunday!  I'm not really all that confident, as I haven't been doing much speed work lately, but I have a 5K on Sunday and I'm hoping to do well.  Not necessarily a PR, but in the ballpark.  It's an all women's race which should be fun no matter what. 

Transitions - I have made the decision to grow in my grey (or silver as I prefer to call it) hair.  I don't want to be coloring it forever, and now just seems like the right time to rock the silver.  I was trying to calculate how long this would take.  Get this:  the longest hair in my current style (shoulder length bob) is 13 inches.  Assuming my hair grows a half inch per month and I don't change hair styles, it will take 26 months to complete this process.  Yikes!  That's a long time.  Um.  I have a feeling the color transition over the next few years is going to be "interesting."

So Far

This is what I had planned as of Tuesday.  Wanted to check in on how I'm doing so far.

• Bike ride Wednesday ~28-32 miles - I ended up riding 31.4 total, but it wasn't quite the bike experience I had hoped for.  You can read more about our cycling woes that day in a previous post.  
• Long run Thursday 7.8 miles (weird distance, but that's how far the route is, so that's the plan) - Ran 7.8 per the plan.  I was exhausted afterwards for some reason, but otherwise it was a good run.
• Easy run Friday 3.5 miles - Ended up running closer to 3 miles, but walked 2 so it's in the ballpark of the plan
• Bike ride Friday ~30-38 miles depends on how things go Wednesday. - Rode 32 miles and no flats this time!  Yay!
• tbd Saturday (If I was smart, I'd plan to swim!) - Ended up meeting one of my running friends for a 5 mile run.  Still no swimming, so I guess that means that I'm not smart!
• Bike ride Sunday ~30+ miles hopefully - TBD.  I'm writing this early in the morning, but at this point we are still planning to go out. [updated:  We went out this morning for 34.6 miles on bike.  Yay!]

In summary, I'd say, so far so good!  Also, it's worth noting that I've ridden my bike nearly as much this week so far as I did all of June.  [updated: Adding in today's ride, I've surpassed June's bike total in the first 8 days of July.]

TTT: Bike Woes, Long Run, Lazy Afternoon

BIKE WOES - Yesterday Husband& I celebrated Independence Day with an intended 28-30 mile bike ride.  Before we even left the house, I had to put in a new tube due to a front flat.  Once we were on the road, he told me that his rear tire was really low when he was adding air, but he didn't change the tube (no, I have no idea why he didn't change it).  I was certain that it wouldn't be long before he had a flat.  About 3 miles in, we stopped to change the tube.  Then about 11 miles later, his rear tire was flat again.  Again, a tube change.  About 3 miles farther and flat again.

Fixing the *first* flat

At this point we decided that something was wrong that he wasn't figuring out on the road.  Rather than put in (and waste) another tube, we decided that I would turn around and head home to get the car.  Unfortunately, at this point we were 16 miles away from home, so it was going to take awhile before I got back to him.  I rode as fast as I could and got home in about an hour.  Grabbed my purse, made a pit stop in the bathroom, and took off to go fetch him.  Driving out to him seemed to take forever, but it was probably more like 40 minutes.  I seemed to catch every red light possible. At home, he seemed to get his tire situation sorted out.  We're going to try again on Friday.  *fingers crossed*

LONG RUN - This morning I met my running partner for our long run.  Normally we do the long run on Saturdays, but her daughter is having surgery tomorrow and since we both took some time off around the holiday we decided to bump up our long run (7.8 miles) to Thursday morning.  It went pretty well, but I was exhausted afterwards (probably more from doing it after yesterdays bike adventure).  I wasn't going to run at all on Saturday, but now I'm thinking I'll do something like 4-5 miles, essentially swapping days. It all depends on how I feel after tomorrow's ride.

Which leads me to LAZY AFTERNOON - While I'm typing, Husband is napping on the couch, the dogs are napping on the floor, and the cats are napping in another room.  I'm thinking they are onto something; I am ready to join them...   ZZzzzzzz

Best Laid Plans

Okay, the title sounds like something is going to go awry with the plans.  Which might happen.  But at this point, the plans are the plans until the plan changes.


Here's the deal:  Wed is a holiday and I am taking off the back half of the week to make it a 5 day weekend!  So is Husband, (er, I guess maybe, now he's not so sure they will let him go). 

So the plan is:

• Bike ride Wednesday ~28-32 miles
• Long run Thursday 7.8 miles (weird distance, but that's how far the route is, so that's the plan)
• Easy run Friday 3.5 miles
• Bike ride Friday ~30-38 miles depends on how things go Wednesday.
• tbd Saturday (If I was smart, I'd plan to swim!)
• Bike ride Sunday ~30+ miles hopefully

I'll check back in later to see how well I was able to adhere to the plan.  What are YOUR plans for rest of the week??

June Tally

Digits

• 115.9 miles by feet (65.9 running, 50.0 walking)
• 83.0 miles by seat 
• 10 hill workouts
• 0 races completed
• 2 race registrations sent in
• 0 swimming
• 1 weekend getaway to visit son.

Thoughts

• All in all, a very good month. 
• I'm amazed at how much walking and running I got in. Yay me!

Plans

• Maintain run base
• Build cycling base. Get in more than one ride per week (d'oh!)
• Women's Distance Festival 5K
• Stop procrastinating, and get into the water!!

This and That

I ran in a skirt yesterday for the first time this summer. I don't know why I was wearing shorts every time and not skirts.  I guess I forgot how much I like running in skirts.

Sunday we rode 32 miles on bike.  I think I hit the wall at 27.  Those last 5 were not fun.  I suppose part of the problem is that I continue to ride only once per week and really need some mid-week rides to get my cycling fitness up to a decent level.  The other problem may be that we rode at the HOTTEST part of the day.  Next week I have an extra long weekend, hoping for some extra riding to help on both fronts.

Had another good 7 mile run on Saturday. Really looking forward to going 8 this coming weekend. But to balance things out, I had a total failure of a run today.  And by failure, I mean I turned around 3/4 mile in and called it quits at 1.5.  Energy was low and I was experiencing some pain near my right hip (IT band?).  I figured it just wasn't my day.  I'm hopeful that Thursday's run will be better.

I seem to be a bug magnet.  Even though I live in the desert where there are few mosquitoes, and I put bug spray on before running by the river, I end up with new bites practically every time way more than anyone else that I run with.  It's making me crazy! Is there something else I could do to make them leave me alone? [updated to add:  I've been told it's probably the sand gnats that are getting me, not mosquitoes.]


I have the worst tan lines ever.  Sock lines.  Bike shorts lines.  Running shorts lines.  Running/cycling shirt lines. Cycling glove lines.  Eee gads.  It's not at all sexy.  Please tell me I'm not the only one with this problem!

Three Things Thursday - Fire, 15K, & Beating the Heat.

FIRE:  The latest New Mexico wildfire sprung out very close to where I live. This is the view I had from our hot tub patio shortly after the fire started.  A little too close for comfort. Luckily they were able to get it contained over night.

15K:  I signed Husband & I up for the Hot Chocolate 15K at end of September.  I know this race had issues in DC, but it seems to have gone well in other locations.  I've never run a 15K, and I'm excited about it!

BEATING THE HEAT:  It's been freaking hot out. Running in 95+ deg temps just isn't my cup of tea. I finally bit the bullet and started running in the morning before work. Speaking of which, I've also decided that I am *not* doing the Sunday evening race that I mentioned earlier.   

Monday Miscellany

Thursday I had a good 4.0 mile run with a couple of friends.  But man, it was hot!  I really need to think about running in the morning during the week.

Friday morning I was scheduled to run with my friend, the new runner.  She hadn't had breakfast and just wasn't feeling it.  We ended up walking instead.  She tried again Saturday (after having breakfast) and had a good run.

I was also supposed to swim (yes, I said SWIM) with a friend of mine, but she cancelled.  I could have gone by myself, but I did not.  Another lost opportunity and nobody to blame but myself.  Instead, I came home and started the process of re-purposing my son's bedroom.  I want to remove the dresser and clean out half the closet so I can move my sewing stuff in there.  I put the clothes from the dresser into plastic bins for now.  Got the dresser cleaned out, but that's as far as I made it on that chore for now.  Oh, and I found a whole mess of pocket change in his drawers.  Too funny.

Saturday was a 7 mile run with friends.  It was AMAZING.  I felt good the whole time.  We started picking up the pace at mile 5.  And really kicked it up for the final quarter mile.  Gotta love runs like that!

Shady Rest Stop

Went on a "Father's Day Bike Adventure" with my husband on Sunday.  We went in the afternoon.  There wasn't much wind, but again it was HOT.  We ended up doing 30.3 miles which was about 5 miles past the point where I was ready to be done.  I really need to be more consistent with my riding and pick up some mid-week rides.

Thought about running again this morning, but decided that walking the dogs was a better idea.  I think my legs need rest.

I'm contemplating doing an evening 5K this coming Sunday, mostly for fun.  Weather report shows a high of 96 with partly cloudy skies.  Hmmmm.  To do or not to do, that is the question.

Happy Monday!

Weekend Wrap Up

Met a running buddy and other friends for a 4 mile run only to realize that I wasn't wearing my running shoes.  Yes, you read that right.  How does that even happen?  Yeah, it's a long story.  Anyway, my running buddy agreed to follow me home and run from there rather than wait for me to do the round trip or cancel entirely. Run salvaged!

Friday, another friend & I met with a new runner who has been doing the couch-to-5K plan.  This was her first time to try running 25 mins straight somewhere other than a treadmill.  She didn't think she could do it, but she did great!  So exciting to watch the progression of a new runner.  Glad we could help her out.

Saturday, I had 6 miles on the schedule.  Met the group again (this time actually wearing my running shoes - go me!).  My running partner actually did it as a progressive, each mile slightly faster than the one before.  It was the first really good run that I've had for a long time.  Next week, we're aiming for seven.  Go us!

Before the ride, thinking I could do it. Hah!

I also attempted a 25 mile bike ride with my husband later afternoon.  However, the wind was fierce, and it was just too much for me.  I decided to bail 4 miles in.  So I turned around, cutting it short at 8.  Blah.  Then on Sunday, I attempted a 16 mile ride with hills.  Went much better than Saturday's ride, but again I ended up cutting it short.  This time because my left hamstring was bothering me, not the wind, and I did make it farther than the day before  (a 12.4 mile ride).

It probably goes without saying that I'm not feeling really good about my cycling progress (or lack thereof) right now.   Tomorrow's a new day though, right?

It strikes me that I have a sprint tri in about 2 months.  Maybe it's about time that I add some swimming in, ya' think?

May Tally, Running Update, & Life

Numbers

• Cycling - 64.8 mi
• Running - 47.5 mi
• Walking - 50.3 mi
• Hill workouts - 12 (mostly walking though)
• 1 5K race early in the month 
• 1 daughter graduated from HS
• 1 son visiting for just a week

Thoughts

• Did a lot of walking!  And enough of everything else to make it a good month.
• Life is changing.  More on that below.

Plans

• Possible 5K fun run this month.  Maybe not though.
• Try to ramp up long runs to 7 miles each, knee permitting.

Running Update

• Didn't run at all last weekend, but walked a ton.  Ran at the track last night and did 8 400s.  My Garmin died so I don't have all the data for it, but it was a good workout.

Life

• Since Son is staying in CA over the summer, we make a whirlwind trip this weekend to SF&Berkeley to visit with him.  We were on the go the whole time trying to pack in as much as possible over a weekend. I feel like I need some down time now, but it was so nice for our little family of 4 to have some quality time together. 
• Son got an internship in CA, which is why he's not coming home.  It's been difficult for me to come to grips with the fact that he's only going to be visiting with us from now on.
• Daughter registered for her fall classed at UNM last week. Then yesterday she signed a lease for student housing.  I think it will be good for her to live on campus (vs. the long commute from our home), but the reality of the the empty nest when she moves out this fall hasn't quite sunk in yet.
• I was sad thinking about all these changes; they are growing up and moving on. But then I saw an absolutely beautiful sunset the other night. I think it might be a sign that everything is going to be okay. :-) 

3 Things Thursday: Cycling, Running, & CFB

CYCLING - Sunday we went on a 9 mile bike ride in 25+ mph winds.  I had wanted to go farther, but the wind was horrible, so we called it a day after 9.  Made up for it on Monday with a 30.2 mile ride.  Took a different route than usual, so it was more of an adventure.  It's nice to mix things up sometimes.  Experienced our first roadside flat of the year, on my bike no less.  Luckily, it was the front, so it was easy to take care of.

RUNNING - Monday morning I also met my running friends for another 5 mile run.  And followed it up with 2 miles with the dogs, walking half and running half.  This was before the bike adventure.  Tuesday was scheduled to be a track day.  I did show up at the track, but when mentioning to Coach about what I did on Monday and the fact that I was feeling sore all over, he suggested that I skip the track workout for active recovery instead.  So I went home and walked the dogs again.  I think that was a good call; I felt much better the next day.

CALCIUM FRUCTOBORATE (CFB) - I've been doing some research on supplements that might help my knee.  There has been a lot of recent press about CFB having a positive impact on knee osteoarthritis, so I've been taking it for about a week now.  There are some other exciting benefits about this form of boron, namely an increase in Vit D levels without taking more D.  It seems to improve absorption.   It is widely known in the scientific community that developed nations are experiencing boron depletion in the soil.  What seems to be a new finding is what effect the boron depletion has had on our bodies, and the positive impacts of supplementing with it.  I recommend everyone looking into this and consider whether you might benefit from it.

Retail Therapy

On Thursday, I had lunch with my running partner. Afterwards, we decided to stop in at Dick's Sporting Goods for a little retail therapy. We ended up buying matching Nike "Running Wild" shirts with the intention of wearing them at an upcoming Women's race.

When I was putting it away, I realized how well the "Wild" matched one of my new pairs of Puma shorts.  Decided it was too cute not to try out, and got it in my head to wear it Saturday for our group run.

However, we had smokey skies on Friday due to a wild fire in southern New Mexico, and the group cancelled.  Drat!  It seemed the debut of my cute running outfit was going to be postponed

I texted a couple of my running friends because I really didn't think it was that bad. We decided to meet anyway.

I felt great on my 5 mile run despite questionable air quality. When I got home, I got the leashes so that I could take the dogs for our regular 2 mile walk and actually decided to run about half of it!  Haven't done that (run with the dogs) for a *long* time.  

Moral of the story?  Never underestimate the motivational power of a cute running outfit. 

Evening at the Track

As I mentioned in a previous post, I never used to like track workouts, but they are growing on me this year.  Went back last night and had a pretty good workout.

Started with a warm up of about 1.3 miles, then went into 400s with 200 walk in between.  Holy Buckets, that was tough!  I didn't really know how fast I was running until looking at the data afterwards.

Looks like the best one was at a 7:20 pace and the slowest was 8:30 pace, averaging somewhere around 8:00 min/mi.  For me that's pretty darn fast, a pace I cannot maintain much past a quarter mile. It's probably good that I didn't look at my Garmin while I was running, I probably would have pysched myself out.

BTW, those shorts I posted about last time are awesome.  I actually found some in other colors on clearance online.  Just waiting for them to arrive. Score!

Mid-week Miscellany

Went to Marshall's the other day and scored two pair of Puma "Lincoln" shorts (see photo).  I haven't had a chance to try them out running, but I like the colors, style, and fit.  Has anyone tried these?

This weekend we were originally planning to do the Santa Fe (half) Century.  However, that's now off the table.  This week is busy with commencement activities for my daughter.  Last night, the Seniors Honors Assembly.  Tonight the Commencement itself.  Sunday (day of Century) is the Graduation Ceremony at church.

My son is home from Berkeley for the week.  He goes back Sunday evening.  Sure was nice to have both kids home on Mother's Day.

Track Workouts

Last night I did an actual structured workout at the track. The format was as follows:

• 3/4 mile warm up
• Drills (an assortment)
• 8x200m with 100m walk between
• Reverse direction walk around the track cool down

It felt good to do something structured, and I was happy to be able to put in my best 200 at the end.

Here's how it looks from my Garmin (I turned it off when we were standing still getting instruction between drills, otherwise, I just left it running the whole time):

I don't normally enjoy track workouts, but this time I did.  How about you?  How do you feel about track workouts?

Run for the Zoo 5K Summary

Preface

• My training hasn't been going well.  I was having problems with my knee that kept me from training the way that I wanted to. I've been running conservatively and my knee seems okay at the moment. However, this past week I started having problems with my back.  
• I told Husband that I wanted to come in under 31 minutes, preferably closer to 30 minutes.  That's quite a bit slower than those ~28 minute 5Ks that I was doing last year, but seemed doable under the circumstances and I just really wanted to finish without pain, finish strong, and have fun.

Inspiration

• "If you don't like something, change it;  if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."  - Mary Engelbreit

The Good

• I started, I ran, I finished.
• As usual, this is a well organized race with lots of volunteers.
• No knee pain, no significant back pain.
• Officially placed 41 of 111 F45-49, 1065 of 2175 total participants.  Sounds pretty much middle of the pack to me.  Nothing wrong with that.

The Bad

• My Garmin says 31:53, exactly the same as my Garmin read last year at this race.  Last year I ran this after several months off, so I was happy with my time.  However this year, I've been running (albeit not very consistently) since mid-February, and for that reason I'm not so happy.   [Official time: 31:48 10:12 pace.]
• Last year it was cold and windy for this race.  This year it was sunny and warm.  It was definitely more comfortable this year, but I wish it had been a bit cooler. 
• I wanted to finish strong, and while I did run the last stretch quite a bit faster than the rest of the run, I never really pushed it the entire time so it was more of a relatively strong finish rather than an actual strong finish.  
• I am disappointed.  Logically, I should not be unhappy with my time because I treated this more like a training run than a race, but I still find myself feeling disappointed.  It's not so much that I'm disappointed with how I executed the race, I'm disappointed that I'm not where I want to be because my body isn't cooperating.  

The Ugly

• Other than my attitude right now, nothing.

More Inspiration (because I need it right now)

• "To be upset over what you don't have is to waste what you do have." - Ken S Keyes, Jr.  

April Tally

Numbers

• 43.2 miles walking
• 24.9 miles running
• 95.2 miles cycling
• 11 workouts included hills

Thoughts

• I feel like my running isn't doing very well because of my knee, but I'm pleased with my cycling and walking volume and so is my knee.  My back decided to act up at the end of the month as well.  Sigh. Trying to be happy with what I can do, and not lament what I cannot.

Plans

• Run for the Zoo 5K
• Santa Fe (half) Century 

Was out of town for about a week.  Back now.  Lots of blogs to catch up on...

Two for Tuesday

...both unrelated to running, we'll see how well this works...

365 Photo Project - I've mentioned a few times about joining a 365 photo group that started on March 1.  The idea is to post one and only one photo taken each day.  At first I tried to find interesting photos to share with others. That didn't work out too well. I've since learned that it's best to stick with what I know:  just take photos of subjects that are interesting to me, and try to learn how to better use my camera in the process.  I'm much happier with the results now that I'm staying true to myself.  Here are a few of my photos from the past few weeks: a pretty sunset, one of my cats napping, and a flower starting to bloom in our back courtyard.

Santa Fe Century - I also mentioned that Husband & I drove up to Santa Fe to check out the 50 miles routes for the Santa Fe Century.  To be clear, we drove the loop and I captured it on my Garmin; we did not ride our bikes.  As far as I can tell, the half-century loop is pretty close to 50 miles.  The marker in the center is the turn point for the out&back, which is also described as a 50 mile route.  On the graph, that one would be from the end, to the marker, then back.  From my measurements, that route looks more like 42 miles.  My conclusion was that the loop is definitely more scenic, the stretch in the center has some rolling hills that are a bit intimidating, and the climb at the end will be a struggle no matter which route we sign up for.  Its also worth noting that the *starting* elevation is ~6000 ft above sea level.  Aye carumba!

Then on Sunday we went for a 38.4 mile bike ride, almost the distance of the out & back, but no climb.  We don't need to sign up quite yet, but right now I'm learning toward the out & back simply because it's shorter and the event is only 4 weeks away.

Finding my way back

Earlier this week I was contemplating quitting two things:  running and blogging.  Running because I suck at it and I can't confidently train for anything because I never know when my knee is going to act up. Blogging because without running, I seem to have nothing to blog about.

I still might quit blogging, but I probably won't be so fast to give up running.  I just need to find my way back to my happy place.  I'm frustrated because it seems that I take two steps forward, then one step back.  I'm not seeing the progress that I want.  But I think if I can measure success in some way other than speed or distance, I may be on to something.  Generally, my goal at a race is to finish with a smile on my face and feeling strong.  I think I need to take the same approach to all my running right now. Keep the pace and distance reigned in so that I can finish strong.  Choose my routes to maximize smile time.  Things like that.

Well, I had my first bit of success with this approach on Saturday morning.  Rather than run the crazy hill route with my friend, we choose someplace where we haven't run for awhile.  It's mostly flat, rather than crazy hills, and partly shady, rather than relentless sun.  We also shortened the route and went 4 miles instead of 6. The result was astounding.  I *almost* enjoyed it.  Plus we managed negative splits (granted we started at a fairly easy pace), which allows us to finish strong.  That, my friends, is how you turn a frown upside down.

Later in the day, we went up to Santa Fe to check out two of the 50 mile route options for the Santa Fe Century (more about that later).  While we were there, we stopped at the Nike outlet.  If I hadn't had such a nice run earlier in the day, I probably wouldn't have even wanted to walk into the store.  But since I did, I decided to do just a little bit of shopping.  I came away with a black featherlight cap which I already love, and blue dri-fit shirt with reflective bits. Score!  Now I have something to wear on my next "fun" run, right?

Hopefully I'll be able to find my way back to my happy place with running.  I wouldn't exactly say that I'm totally there yet, but I think I'm headed in the right direction.

How about you?  Have any of you had to reset expectations and/or totally redo your training plan to find your way back to the love of the sport?  Or maybe a little retail therapy to help find the mojo?  

Excuses and walking buddies

Not sure what was going on exactly, it might have been the weather (seriously, I think I have a barometer knee), but my knee was not happy on Tuesday so I ended up skipping my run.  If nothing else, I have learned to listen to my body.  I also didn't run on Wednesday (same reason) or Thursday.  Thursday's excuse was that my running partner bailed, and I was too lazy to head out on my own.

But I *did* walk a good 3.5 miles on Friday and ran a measly 3.2 on Saturday.   It was supposed to be longer, but my running partner has that insane uphill race today, and I convinced her to save her legs for that.  Again, I could have gone longer, but was too lazy to run on my own after that.  Yes, there seems to be a theme.

Side note/rant:  Wanted to go out on a bike ride yesterday, but the winds were CrAzY. Seems like it's going to be the same problem today. Uggh.  Why is it that the weather can be beautiful during the week and then the weekend comes around and the weather straight up SUCKS!?! 

Anyway, decided to go for another walk today.  This time on the two mile hill route that I like to do with the dogs.  Thought I'd share a couple photos from the walk.  As it turns out, with one hand busy holding the leashes, trying to get a decent photo from a cell phone camera with the other hand is no easy feat.  But I did manage to get a couple of photos worth sharing.

This next one needs some explanation.  Right before we get to the base of the hill, we pass a house with three things that always do the same thing as we walk by. The white dog (far right) barks at us as we walk by.  The brown dog (also right), barks at the white dog.  The puppy (center), uninterested in all this barking,  runs around with some sort of stuffed animal in his mouth.  Here they are doing their thing.  It totally cracks me up!

In the final photo, we're back home, right outside the front door.

So, it wasn't a great training week for me.  But it wasn't a total bust either.  Granted, I may have some motivation issues running solo, but I have some great walking buddies that don't complain about the weather and have *never* once turned down the chance to head out with me.

I wish I could take them out running with me. I've tried on several occasions, but Stymie runs too fast and Bandit doesn't have the stamina to go more than a couple of miles.  So they are my walking buddies instead.

Double Trouble

If you read my previous post, you know that I ran 6 hilly miles Saturday morning as part of the jelly bean virtual race (and it you didn't read it, you missed out on one of my more colorful posts).

Well, decided to follow that up with a bike ride with Husband later in the afternoon. We had a 28 mile route on the agenda.  It was my first double workout in 2012.  Go me!

Felt pretty good on the bike.  Afterwards, however, I was tired and sore. 

On Sunday, decided to go for another short ride.  The goal was a 16 mile route with 2 hills.  I guess that was too much for my body, because I pretty much ran out of steam heading up hill #1.  Ended up calling it at day at 9.5 miles, skipping hill #2.  

I was bummed out about cutting the ride short, but in the end I realized that I still managed to get in over 37 miles by bike for the weekend. Plus a 6 mile hilly run.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Today, however, I am REALLY sore.  Good thing it's a rest day!

jelly beans!

This week I completed three events as part of the Jelly Bean Virtual Race, sponsored by Jess.  For each one, I choose a jelly bean color from the virtual race logo.  This resulted in an orange jelly bean 21K bike ride, purple jelly bean 5K run, and green jelly bean 10k trail run.  A mini race report for each one is summarized below.

ORANGE JELLY BEAN 21K BIKE RIDE

Actually, this is just a portion of a longer ride that Husband & I did last Sunday.  I actually went 19.5 miles (was supposed to be 20 miles, but apparently I turned a little early).

We were riding into the wind on the way out.  Uggh.  But we had a tail wind on the way back.  Ahhhh.

My bike computer says that the average speed was 15.1 mph. That works out to 52:03 for the 13.1 mile jelly bean portion of the ride.

PURPLE JELLY BEAN 5K 

Ran this on Wednesday with my running partner on a mostly flat dirt trail.  We were originally going to run on Tuesday, but her son had a baseball game.  That was fine with me because it actually snowed on Tuesday and was cold.  What's funny is that weather was absolutely beautiful the next day.  Mother Nature doesn't seem to be able to make up her mind!

I wish I could say that I ran this fast, but fast doesn't seem to be in my vocabulary at the moment.  Our average speed was 10:36 for the four miles that we ran. This works out to 32:51 for the 3.1 mile jelly bean portion of the run.

GREEN JELLY BEAN TRAIL 10K

I added the word trail in the title because this one wasn't flat.  We ran a hilly, sandy loop twice to get the full 10K distance in today (see my recent post "Running" Hills if you want to know what kind of hills I'm talking about).

I did pretty good on the first loop and didn't need to stop at all.  But on the second loop, the hills got to me and I had to take a few walk breaks.

I'm actually quite happy with the end result, 1:07:54 for 6.2 miles.  Not bad at all given the terrain!

A big THANK YOU to Jess for hosting the virtual event!!

My latest dilemma

I *still* don't have any events on my calendar other than the Live.Love.Tri in August.  I'm hesitant to sign up for the Run for the Zoo until I know for certain that we will be in town that weekend (good chance we will not).  I was hoping to sign up for the half or metric century at the Albuquerque Century but it seems we might be out of town that weekend as well (go figure).  But I did find something that has my attention: the Santa Fe Century in late May.

Mind you, I have no intention of doing the full century.  However there are two routes that I am interested in, a 50 mile out and back and a half century loop.  Both have roughly the same amount of climb (1500ft).  I am unfamiliar with the routes so not sure which would be more interesting for us to ride.  Husband & I are thinking of driving up there to check it out to help make a decision.  This one is definitely on my radar.

Side note, there is something about this event that I find interesting. They charge for an entry fee.  You can pay extra for a t-shirt if you want it (I don't).  You can pay extra for a jersey if you want it (maybe).  I like the fact that the t-shirt cost isn't automatically included; I wish more events were like that.

In other news, I've been counting some of my recent training as part of the Jelly Bean virtual race events sponsored by Jess.  I'll be writing up a virtual race report for the bike ride (21K), 5K run, and 10K run this weekend.  All I can say right now is that it's a good thing prizes aren't based on time or I'd have no hope of winning anything.  ;-p

Week, Month, & Book in Review

Week in Review:

• This week I completed one bike ride, three runs, and two walks.  Not too shabby.
• For the run on Saturday, we did the same crazy hill route that we've run several times before.  This time, however, I took 2.5 minutes off my time from the previous week. Woot! This was not accomplished the easy way (picking up the pace a little bit over the whole run).  Instead, I got mad at the freaking hill and took it out on the last mile, picking up the pace from conversational pace to run-til-you-almost-pass-out pace.  All in all, it was a good workout.

Month in Review:

• 16.5 miles by bike - Way under what I hoped for.  The weather was horrible on the weekends this month which seemed very unfair given that the weather was pretty nice most of the time during the week, so I only got out on my bike once!  April started off with a nice ride, hopefully will see better weekend weather and therefore better cycling numbers this next month.
• 19.2 miles walking - Not bad, but a little short of  what I hoped for. 
• 49.8 miles running - Lots of progress here.  Started off gingerly running 2.5 miles at a time to test my knee and ended the month with some crazy hill runs (still not too long in distance) without knee pain.  
• 0 swimming - I decided that I didn't want to swim and so I didn't.  That's all I have to say about that.
• 31 photos - I started a 365 photo project on March 1 and got through the entire month with one photo uploaded to Flickr per day as planned.  334 days to go!

Book in Review*:

• Had the opportunity to read a free kindle version of "The Ultimate Beginner's Running Guide: The Key to Running Inspired" by Robert Ryan, which is available for purchase through Amazon.com. Overall, I feel that it is a good "how-to" book for beginning runners.  It has information that anyone new to running ought to be considering such as how to avoid injury, how to pace yourself, how to properly stay hydrated, etc.  There are even some training schedules to get you started.  
• There are a few things that I wish the book included, such as some photos or diagrams and a bit more peppered throughout about staying inspired, however, I still think this would be a helpful resource to anyone new to running.   

*I was given a free version of the book to review, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

6 min video from Daughter's Haiti Trip.  Please turn on the sounds and listen to the music while you watch it and leave a comment afterwards.   P.S. That's her at the very end.

What are you training for?

I get asked this question a lot.  In years past, I've almost always had an answer.  But right now I don't.  It's kind of weird not knowing what I'm training for.

I have a few ideas of what I'm NOT training for.

• I'm not training for a half-marathon.  Even though that is my favorite running distance, my knee seems to do okay up to about 7 miles, then it gets cranky.  I'll stick with 10Ks or shorter. 
• I'm not training for Worlds Toughest 10K.  My last few hill training runs have confirmed that for me.
• I'm apparently not training for a triathlon as I haven't been swimming in months (oddly, the only race I've actually signed up for so far this year happens to be a sprint).
• I'm not training for a relay race.  Several folks from my running group are doing one up in Colorado. I've opted to pass on that.

There are also a few events over the next several months that I'm thinking about, but I haven't committed by registering for any of them.

• Coyote Caldera Sprint Tri (late April)
• Run for the Zoo 5K or 10K (early May)
• Albuquerque Century Tour de Cure half or metric century (early June) 

What about you?  Is your training aimed at specific events or are you in limbo like me?

Winter Excess

Over the winter, I was busy packing on some pounds.  You know, just in case we got snowed in or something and I needed to live off my own body weight for some extended period of time.

Now that I'm running again, it's time to shed the excess. Because let's be honest, nobody wants to carry around an extra 10lbs while running.  Especially when running hills.  It's simply too much work.

Boy howdy, it's so much easier to put it on than take it of!.  But I think I'm finally making some progress.  Over the winter I was routinely seeing numbers in the 130-135 range when I stepped on the scale. Lately, I've been consistently seeing numbers in the 125-130 range.  I'll be at my desired race weight when I find myself settling in the 125-130 range.

How about you?   Are you also trying to shed the winter excess?  

"Running" Hills

Since my friend is still trying to talk me into doing World's Toughest 10K with her, we decided to "run" some hills on Saturday.  I use the term "run" loosely as there was quite a bit of walking involved on my part on some of the long uphills.  This is the elevation profile for the route we choose:

The whole thing was somewhat challenging, but the section from mile 4 to mile 5 was super intense.  Since we essentially did an out and back, I should have seen it coming based on the downhill from mile 1 to mile 2, but I didn't realize just how much the elevation changed until it was time to head back up.

Given that Worlds Toughest is pretty much like mile 4-5 throughout the entire route,  this was probably a  good route for some training.  However, it certainly left me with a lot of doubts about my ability to do that other course.

We'll probably go back to this same spot next weekend.  I hope it gets easier.  If not, I might become her cheerleader on race day rather than a participant myself.

Happy Monday!

You want me to do WHAT?!?

Last year I talked my running partner into doing the Live.Love.Tri with me.  At first she didn't want to do it because she wasn't really a swimmer, didn't have a road bike, etc.  But eventually she warmed up to the idea and did it.  We had a blast.

This year she's trying to talk *me* into something.  It's a race entitled "World's Toughest 10K."  Can't say for sure if it really is the world's toughest, but it promises to be tough; it starts at an elevation of 5100ft and ends at an elevation of 6500ft for a total elevation gain of 1400 ft elevation over 6.2 miles.  *gulp* The whole thing is uphill (with a shuttle taking you back down....or to the hospital...after you finish).

Oh, and did I mention that is is ONE MONTH FROM TODAY?!?!?  Aye Carumba!

We're meeting in about an hour to go run some hills.  There's a method to my madness.  I'm hoping that after we do that, one of two things will happen:

A) She'll remember that she doesn't like hills and get this crazy idea out of her head

-or -

B) I'll remember that I *do* like hills & it won't seem like such a crazy idea after all

Stay tuned!  This may become *very* interesting...

[Update post hill run:  The run we did this evening was 250ft elevation gain.  It about killed me.  Also, I learned that there is no convincing her not to do it; She already signed up!  It's just a matter of whether or not I join her which is still up in the air.]

Daylight Savings Time

I'll admit that it felt a little bit like a train hit me Monday morning when the alarm went off to wake me for work.  At that particular moment, I wasn't a fan of Daylight Savings time.  I was, however, a bit fan of the snooze button.

Fast forward to this afternoon.  It was beautiful outside.  High of about 72 degrees, sunny, no wind.  Suddenly Daylight Savings time was my friend.  Thanks to the extra hour of daylight, I was able to run after work for the first time since October, and it was glorious!

So I guess I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Daylight Savings time.  How about you?

While I was travelling this week

...I realized that my drivers license was about to expire.  It was a good catch, actually.  I probably wouldn't have noticed until being denied something due to it being long past renewal date.

...I ran three times on that trail that I posted about.  I don't normally run three times during the workweek (and then again on the weekend), but last week I did.  MAybe it was the extra oxygen.

...My daughter left for Haiti.  I was super bummed to be gone the entire week leading up to her departure, but seems everything went okay.  I pray she has a wonderful experience and that the whole group can really make a positive impact for some of the people of that impoverished country.  

...I struggled to get good shots for the 365 project that I'm working on.  Have I mentioned about this?  I'm part of a group that is taking and posting a photo a day for a year, something that I've learned is not so easy while away with a tight schedule while on work travel.  Kind of like running, some days are better than others. Oh, and now I'm lusting for a new camera.

  

...My husband spent a lot of time on his bike(s).  Came home to find his road bike on the trainer in our bedroom, which is a good thing.  What is interesting is that while he was having some problem with his front tire, he decided that it would be easier to temporarily replace the entire wheel with the one on my Giant rather than figure out why the tire was flatting.  Clever solution.

...I had a hard time trying to catch up on blogs.  The internet connection at the hotel was slow and poor and the work days were long.  I'll try to catch up this week.  I mean it.

...My wonderful husband decided to greet me at the airport with a bouquet of beautiful & colorful flowers.  It's great to be back home.  :-) 

  

Running while on Work Travel

I'm happy to report that my running clothes are doing more than just taking up space in my luggage.  So far, I have managed to get out both on Monday and Tuesday in the early morning  before work for some running.  

This trail ends up going down by a lake.



On Monday, I went exploring in a few different directions.  Found a paved multi-use trail, a dirt trail, and a hill that would be suitable for repeats.  It was sort of a an ADD run, because I did a little bit of each. 



Tuesday morning, I met a colleague and we decided to take the trail.  It ended up going down by a lake, which was very pretty with the lights reflecting off of it in the early morning hours.  The dirt path eventually ends and merges back with the multi-use trail.

This morning we were actually going to meet again, but she's getting a sore throat and wanted to postpone for a day.  I thought briefly about going out on my own this morning, but decided to take a rest day instead; don't want to overdo it with my knee.

It's worth mentioning that I notice a huge difference in level of effort required while running at a lower altitude (remember, I live about a mile above sea level).  I didn't bring my garmin, so I'm not sure if the extra oxygen is materializing to faster running, but definitely makes it easier; I feel like superwoman, running up those hills without gasping for breath!  One of these days I really need to run a race down at lower altitude and see what I'm truly capable of pulling off.

One last note:  The internet in the hotel is slow and the work days have been long, so I'm having trouble catching up with your blogs this week.  Sorry about that!

Getting my Run on

Yesterday morning, the group was meeting across town.  Most of them are running much farther than I am at this point.  My running partner & I decided to just meet at the regular location and do our run separately from the rest of the group.  This also allowed us to run mostly on dirt.

Decided to go five miles.  Other than the fact that it was cold and a bit more breezy that either of us like, it was a good run in comparison to the run on Wednesday.  On Wednesday my knee decided to be a bit cranky for the last half mile or so.  But yesterday my knee was fine the whole way though.  I think the difference may very well be related to running surface.  Dirt is definitely my friend.

I'm traveling on business for the week.  Hoping to get a few days of running in during the week.  It looks like we're going to be putting in some long days and the only time to run will be in the early morning.  It was a pain trying to cram everything into my carry-on bag; if I don't end up using my running stuff, I will be frustrated!  Who knows, maybe that's just the motivation I need to make it happen...