Gaining some confidence

Husband was off riding long with a friend Saturday morning.  He's preparing for a 100 mile ride over two days in northern New Mexico in a few weeks.  My normal running/riding partner had to go into work early. So it was just me and my shadow off for a short bike ride.  It was a pleasant morning.

Me & My Shadow

Later that afternoon, went for packet pick-up for Sunday's race.  Early registrants got technical shirts.  They seem like nice quality.  Unfortunately my shirt is all wrinkly right now and this photo didn't turn out very well. The race is a half-marathon and a 5K.  Husband and I were doing the 5K.  My running partner was signed up for the half marathon.

Nice technical t-shirt for early registrants

I was second guessing the decision to do this race when the alarm went off at 4:45.  From past experience, we know that we need to arrive at the venue early to get parking.  The half-marathon starts at 6:30, those participants fill the parking area up quickly, and it's a bit of a drive from our house to the venue.

It was a nice morning, and I felt pretty good on the run.  But wait, there's more!  I guess the fast people didn't show up, because somehow I managed to snag 1st in my AG with a 28:40 finish time.  Husband also placed in his AG (3rd).  I am super excited about this.  It isn't so uncommon for him to get an AG award but it happens to me very infrequently, so it was a big deal for me.  Woot!

3rd M50-54, 1st F45-49

Next up is Live.Love.Tri in two weeks.  Stay tuned!

Hmmmmm

I've tried the following distances/events:

• Running:  5k, 8k, 10k, 15k, 20k, & half-marathon
• Cycling: quarter century, half century, metric century
• Triathlon:  sprint, Olympic

Of these distances, my absolute favorite is the half-marathon.  One small problem though, I have moderate arthritis in my left knee and have a hard time running past 7-8 miles.  I've resigned myself to shorter distances, but I'm disappointed that the half-marathon just doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Lately I've been wondering if I might be able to one though, if I planned up front on walking about half of it. Maybe something where I alternated running and walking each mile.   I'm not sure if my knee can handle being used for 13.1 miles even if half of it is walking, but then again, I'm not sure that it can't either.  I'm also not sure if walking half of it would make me feel more disappointed than just skipping out on it all together.  So for now I'm contemplating this as a possibility.  

Any thoughts?

July tally

Numbers:

• 40.9 miles walking
• 41.1 miles running
• 112.4 miles cycling
• 3700 yds swimming
• 1 5k race
• 1 new bike seat
• 1 injured shoulder
• 1 injured toe
• 1 massive storm causing flooding
• 2 weeks resting/icing shoulder and counting
• 1 daughter engaged!

Thoughts:

• The month started off great, but then injury and other issues got in the way of my planned training. It is what it is...
• OMG, I now have a future son-in-law!  The proposal was very sweet, he did it in the airport shortly after arriving.  They have two weeks together and then he's off to his next duty station.

Plans:

• A 5k race and an all women Sprint tri later this month.  

WDF 5K 2013

This morning was the 27th running of our local Women's Distance Festival 5K.  For me, it was probably about the 4th or 5th time that I've done it. I love this event because it's so supportive and there are always several first timers running it.

I haven't been running very much lately and didn't expect to have a particularly good race, but I figured I could probably finish in the 29-30min range.

As it turned out, my finish time turned out to be 28:30, and I was pleased with that.

Love the race swag too.  They gave us a women's technical t-shirt and a small bag with reflection on it.  At the finish, we received a carnation and some chocolates.

I didn't stick around too long after the finish; I wanted to get home so I could get cleaned up and make it to church (which I did).  They have't posted the official results yet, so I'm not sure of my exact age group placing. I'll be interested in that detail.

Update:  Official results are now posted.  I was 8 of 17 in my age group, 52 of 163 overall.

Next up for me is another 5K in a few weeks.  And then the women's triathlon that I haven't been training much for due to my shoulder.  It's going to be an adventure, if nothing else...

Too much of a good thing...

Oh, hey.  When we said we needed rain, we didn't mean THIS much.  We've been lucky at our house in Corrales, there was a makeshift river running through our backyard leaving debris behind, but no standing water and no mud.  Some friends of our haven't fared so well.  Needless to say, I didn't go running this morning.  Although swimming may have been an option...

Rain floods Corrales | New Mexico News - KOAT Home

do run run run

I've been a good girl and giving my shoulder a lot of rest.  I've cut back on icing and anti inflammatory meds.  It's feeling better, but not 100%.  I may try a short swim next week.

I have been running, though. I've done 3 four mile runs this week.  All at an easy pace.  I've actually got a 5k on Sunday, but I'm still planning to run 5 or 6 miles easy on Saturday.  

Then I have another 5k a few weeks later.  Then the Sprint tri which I'm not able to train for properly because of the shoulder and I'm not even sure that I'll be able to do that event.  I'm just taking it one day at a time.  At the end of the day I need to remember that this is just a hobby and a way to stay in shape.

Caption This!

Guess I'm getting a little slap happy from sitting around with a cold pack on my shoulder.  Oh, and I now have two cold packs, this white one and a blue one.

Help me out and share some thoughts on witty captions for this photo. Here are a few of my ideas, but surely you can do better:

"Hey, I've got quite a chip on my shoulder"

"Arrrr Mateys!  Someone swapped me parrot with an ice pack!"

Putting it into practice...

How interesting that I posted on having a good day yesterday.  It was a challenging day to put it into practice, but I think I was successful in finding the positive in each of the challenges that came my way.

Challenge #1 - Shoulder injury

• The bad - I've been having significant shoulder pain since July 4.  I'm not sure what happened exactly.  I've seen the chiropractor twice and talked to the doctor.  They both suspect impingement syndrome, tendinitis, or bursitis.  Initial cousre of treatment is rest, ice, anti-inflammatories.  Rest for the next 3 weeks includes anything that requires me to lift/extend my arm past a certain point.  This includes both cycling and swimming and I have a triathlon on my schedule in just over a month. Uggh.
• The good -  I had it checked out early enough that the conservative treatment of rest/ice/anti-inflammatories *may* be sufficient for healing.  Fingers crossed! 

Challenge #2 - Dental appointment

• The bad - I'm an extremely anxious dental patient as it is and have been having sensitivity issues on bottom front teeth.  My normal dental hygentist is no longer at the dental office, so I had to see someone new who doesn't know me or my anxiety issues.  I told her about the sensitivity and anxiety and she used a topical numbing solution to allow her to clean those sensistive teeth.  She also applied a de-sensitizing agent to try to help long term.
• The good -  I brought up my concerns right at the beginning, and the appointment went very well.  I dont' have to go back for another 6 months!

Challenge #3 - Water problems still not completely resolved.

• The bad -  Our irrigation system is still not working right.  Everything is getting water at the same time though, and the garden should be separated from the rest of the plants in the yard.
• The good  - The water well/pump problems were resolved on Friday, it's just a matter of getting the details of the irrigation system sorted out. We no longer need to hand water outside or deal with a big hole in our backyard where they were working on the control valves.

On having a good day

I told my husband this morning that I was determined to have a good day. Within two hours, things weren't going as well as I hoped and I told him it wasn't working.  He quickly reminded me "but you said you were DETERMINED to have a good day.  So do it."

Which brings me to a very important point: what happens to someone is not within their control, but how they respond to it is.  Or as the wise Abraham Lincoln once said "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

This is relevant to how we respond to our workouts as well. Lots of time I hear people talk about how they had a bad run or a bad swim or a bad day at the gym.  Maybe it was a race, maybe it was a training event, but somehow they judge their performance as not up to par and end up unhappy.

I think it's important to remember that even a "bad" experience can have good results.  Sometimes the bad experience is rich with learnings for the future. Sometimes getting out the door is an achievement in itself.  Sometimes a run isn't up to performance expectations due to a pending injury and listening to your body is just what you need to prevent a significant injury.

I hope everyone who reads this will choose to have a good day today. :-)

Craptastic Friday

Ever have one of those days?

Well it started off with a planned 5 mile run.  For some reason my shoe was bothering me. When I took off my shoe I realized why.  Apparently the back of my shoe had rubbed the back of my ankle raw.

I have not had that problem before and not really sure what went wrong.  But now I have a Bandaid on that spot and it seems to be healing up.

I turned on the water to take a shower and get cleaned up when....no water.

We live in a rural residential area and have our own water well and pump.  I tried hitting the reset button on the pump, but the tank pressure stayed at zero. No water means no flushing toilets, no watering the garden, no taking a shower, no washing dishes, no cooler, etc.  We are really dependent on it!

Long story short, about 12 hours and a lot of $$$ later, we had water again (along with a new pipe, pump, panel, water tank, etc).  We went out for dinner as we had missed a concert that we were planning to attend (couldn't leave the house until the guy was done and he wasn't done until after 8pm!).

In the midst of all this, we were having a problem with the irrigation system.  It couldn't be fixed until the water situation was resolved.  So even now that we've got water again, we've been having to manually irrigate until we get the irrigation resolved.  Hopefully that can happen early in the week.

Getting Somewhere

Serfas RX on top, Forte Contour XFC on bottom

Bet you're getting tired of me blogging about my saddle woes. Yeah, well me too. But short of telling you how I ran in a downpour yesterday (with a bit of hail thrown in for fun) and skipped my swim this morning because of a sore shoulder (not related to the hail), I don't have much to blog about.

So more saddle discussion it is.  Sorry

I decided that I should at least try out this Forte Contour saddle that I bought last weekend before taking it back. Looking at it more closely, I realize that even while it isn't much narrower in the front part of the nose, it's a bit squishier on the sides than my current saddle and it is a bit narrower further back on the nose.  Plus it's visually appealing, which is always important for something you put your butt on, right?  Ha. But seriously, I do like the looks of it.

My bike sporting the Forte Contour XFC, sans saddle bag

Well, this morning I went ahead and stuck it on my bike and gave it a test ride (9 miles). Initial impression: I may have been too quick to dismiss this one.  And that's actually a good thing, because it means this one may actually be a keeper.

I stopped about midway in the ride and adjusted the saddle position a little.  After that, I forgot about the saddle and just enjoyed the ride.

I think I'll test it out on a longer ride before I make a final decision, but so far, so good!

Saddle Woes

So I mentioned about the problem I'm having with the nose of my Serfas Women's RX being too wide for my comfort in my last post, right?  Well, it's really bothering me.  A lot.  Enough that I don't always like sitting on my bike.  And I like everything else about the saddle from a comfort perspective.  Just not the nose width.  It was a real problem last week when I rode three times in 6 days.  Not as much of a problem if I only ride once or twice a week.  But if I ride more often than that or longer distances, I feel almost like I have bruising where the outside edge of the nose contacts my body.  Ouch.

Well, I decided to try a women's saddle by Forte from Performance bike store.  It had decent reviews, isn't too expensive, and looks similar to the saddle that I have.  I had talked with customer service and they gave me measurements that led me to believe that the nose was significantly narrower than the saddle I already have.  So, I picked it up yesterday.  But after bringing it home and comparing side by side, it's basically the same width!  They must have measured the very front part of the nose not the mid section of the nose.  Anyway, this is not going to solve my problem, so it's going back.

Back to the drawing board.  I decided to email Serfas  and explain my problem.  They suggested that I try the Serfas Niva which they say is similar material, similar back, narrower nose.  I see that they carry it at our local REI, which is right across the street from performance.  I'll stop there when I go to return this other saddle.  But this time I'm bringing my tape measure!!!  I'm not buying it if it's not significantly narrower.  I'm starting to wonder, is it just me?!?  Is my build that much different from other folks??  Or maybe I'm just narrow in the pelvis and should consider a men's saddle?

There's one more that I'm going to look at while I'm at REI, if they have it in stock, the Selle Italia Lady Gel flow.  This one has good reviews for long distance riding.  I don't know what the dimensions are though.  Again, I'm bringing my tape measure so I can check a few things out before I buy.

This whole saddle thing is so confusing.  I hope I find something that works for me!

Staycation

Upon returning from Seattle, took some time off this week for a bit of a staycation.  Feels like our time off is almost over, but it's Friday evening and we still have a weekend to enjoy.  Here are a few things that we did while we were off.

Got in a couple nice bike rides this week.  Also stopped to get some new tires, but I haven't put them on yet.  I'm toying with the idea of getting a new saddle.  I have an older ladies Serfas RX which I like a lot EXCEPT that the nose is a bit wide for me which causes discomfort especially with back-to-back riding.  Any suggestions for a comfortable ladies saddle would be appreciated.  Btw, I'm thinking of trying a newer serfas rx.  The design looks a bit different, but I can't tell if the nose is narrower or not.

Doesn't show my saddle.  I wasn't thinking of it when I took this shot

(have a bike photo to upload, but having problems with blogger.  Will try later)
 Got a couple swims done too.  No photos for that.  But one of the days that I swam, we also went to the Isotopes ballpark to have someone show us club level seating (you can't get up there on game day without tickets).  I got a nice shot of the ballpark getting dressed up for the 4th of July game (star on the field, Isotopes painted red,white, & blue).

Isotopes Ballpark getting ready for 4th of July

Ran a few times too.  I have a red/white/blue shirt from Patriot triathlon from a few years ago.  I don't wear if very often because it fits tighter than I like, but figured it was good to wear for a 4th of July run.  Probably won't wear it again until next year this same time, but maybe I can cut the emblem out and put it on another shirt.  Has anyone ever tried doing something like that with a race shirt?  

Squinting because I left my sunglasses inside.

Also started painting our great room.  Ran out of paint ( I knew I would ), but I don't particularly feel like going to get some more right now so I guess I'm done with that for the day. Hoping to get it wrapped up by end of the weekend, but we'll see how that goes. 

Enjoy your weekend!

June Tally

Numbers

• 81.4 miles by feet (36.6 run, 44.8 walk)
• 94.5 miles by seat
• 1 new waterproof ipod
• 5400 yds in the pool
• 2 upper body strength workouts
• 1 trip to Seattle
• 1 bike event (quarter century)
• 1 run event (8k race)
• 1 infected bug bite
• 10 days on antibiotics

Thoughts

• A fairly well balanced month for a change.  And I swam! 

Plans

• Focus on tri training for upcoming sprint.

Areas of Focus

I think it's important for everyone to understand where they need to focus at any given time so they can devise training plan that works for them.  Depending on your goals, your areas of focus are likely different than mine.  But here's where I'm at right now:

Running Focus: injury prevention & base building

• I have a chronic problem with my left knee.  My goal is to be smart about running choices (surface, distance) so that I can extend the time between treatments.  It's been 7 months and I'm hoping to make it close to a year before I need to go back in.  This means running on soft surfaces, distance no longer than 8 miles, and ensuring plenty of rest days between runs.

Swim Focus: getting to (and staying in) the pool

• Successful swimming requires me to get up early (5am) so I can get to the pool while it's not too crowded and be done with my swim before work.  I have a bad habit of saying that I'm going to go, but then not doing it.  The waterproof ipod has definitely helped quite a bit by reducing the boredom. 

Bike Focus: base building

• I've been cycling about twice a week.  Just trying to get my base back right now.  In another month, I may start focussing on speed.  But for now, it's about time in the saddle.

What about you?  Any specific focus areas that you are working on right now?

a Little of This, a Little of That

Sometimes it feels like I don't get much done in my spare time outside work.  But when I look back on what was accomplished, I realize that I'm more productive than I sometimes realize.  It's just that it seems to be a little of this and a little of that, not a lot of anything.  Here's an example of things that I did last week:

• Got my waterproof ipod all set up
• Swam three times (with music!)
• Rode my bike once
• Finished two books
• Dropped off the recycling
• Got my handlebars wrapped with new tape
• Ran twice
• Set up internet & wireless at Daughter's apartment
• Did a bunch of work in the garden
• Walked the dogs nearly every day
• Did some upper body strength exercises
• Signed up for a couple of 5Ks
• Made a hotel reservation for upcoming trip to Seattle
• Participated in community service event whereby we assembled 500 sack lunches for the homeless
• Won $25 gift card in a drawing related to ongoing wellness challenge at work
• Visited the doctor for an infected bug bite, and started a course of antibiotics
• Went to a local minor league baseball game
• Got a pedicure

All in all, I'd have to say that it was not a bad week!

First Impressions

Yesterday afternoon, my AudioFlood waterproof shuffle arrived.  The package included a 5th gen iPod shuffle that had been waterproofed by AudioFlood, a set of Pyle waterproof headphones, a bonus swim cap, and a small piece of Velcro (not pictured, it had fallen on the floor).

The first thing I did was charge and register my shuffle.  Then I uploaded a genius mix from iTunes.  That part was pretty simple.

Next I messed around with the headphones to find which ear piece seemed best.  I went with the small round ones and removed the over-the-ear things. I spent a little time bundling up the extra cord, using a twist tie to tie it up.  Then stuck the velcro around that. Tested it out with my goggles - clipped the iPod to the back and decided to stick the extra cord bundle under my swim cap.  This whole process took a bit of time, but once I had it set up, it seemed like it would be easy enough to get going in the morning at the pool.

Tested the whole thing out in the water this morning.  Two words:  LOVED.IT.

I started off with a timed 400 and the result was 20 sec faster than last week.  Not sure if that's related to the music or not, but it certainly didn't slow me down.  I also lost count of my laps at some point.  I know I was swimming for~ 25 minutes, so it was probably about 1000-1100yds simply based on time. I could have easily kept going, but since I hadn't eaten before I left for the pool, I was getting hungry.

Swimming with music was so enjoyable that I'm actually thinking of getting up early to head to the pool again tomorrow. Who knew?!?

Monday Miscellany

• I hate summer.  And we are fully in the midst of it right now.  This past week was a scorcher, hitting 100 degrees most days during the week.  And our cooler has been acting up.  Husband was up on the roof during said 100 degree days trying to get it working properly.  It seems to be mostly okay now, but I still hate summer.
• I especially dislike running during summer.  Instead of a long run, my running partner and I decided to go for a bike ride Saturday morning.  It was lovely.  Maybe it's just the heat, but I'm getting to the point where I prefer riding my bike over running.  Go figure!
• I swam 4 times last week: Sun, Tue, Thu, Fr.  I'm pleased with myself for that.  But I didn't go at all this weekend or this morning.  I'm hoping that tomorrow I get up early and have the energy to go at ~5:30am. I went at different times of the day each last week, and from my small sample experiment, that seems like the best time to go.
• Speaking of swimming, I decided to go with the AquaFlood waterproof ipod shuffle with pyle headphones.  The total cost was $140 and it should arrive today.  I looked into other options, including a case for my existing ipod, but my ipod isn't working very well and I probably would have needed to replace it anyway.  Anyway, I'll be sure to share my experiences with this new toy once it arrives and I get to test it out.
• Watched two movies this weekend via Netflix that ended up being a bust.  The first was Frankenweenie, which made me cry and ended up being an unpleasant experience for me. I honestly didn't expect that reaction, but that's what happened. Then yesterday we watched The Tree of Life, which was just plain weird.  
• You may remember me blogging about apartment hunting for Daughter a month ago or so.  Well, we found something that seemed perfect for her, applied, and got it.  It was available beginning the middle of this month, Saturday we did the official paperwork and got most of her stuff moved in. 
• Last night I made hotel reservations for our upcoming trip to Seattle to visit Son.  Looking forward to it!
• I didn't end up doing anything yesterday because I wasn't feeling that great and it was hot. I think today is going to end up being another rest day. Hopefully will have my energy and enthusiasm back tomorrow. 

Back in the Swim of Things

This morning I went to the pool AGAIN.  Yes, that's the third time this week.  Since I ended up paying for a monthly membership at the gym, I'm trying to get my price per swim down to a reasonable level.  Ha!

I know I've asked this before, but does anyone have any advice about waterproof mp3 players / headphones?  I'm seriously looking at the Waterfi Ipod Shuffle.  I can get it from amazon for about $155 including headphones and shipping and could have it by Monday if I order before noon.  It has a 2 yr warranty, and would be familiar.  But is it worth it?  That's the big question.

There's another one that I'm looking at as well, by Audio Flood.  It's a little cheaper, different headphones.  Same 2 year warranty.

I have never like running on a treadmill because it's boring.  That's why I always run outside.  But lap swimming is equally boring and I don't have any other options for swimming, so I need a distraction.  I think music would help.  Any advice would be appreciated!

A New Favorite

Key hole cut out in back with contrasting trim

I found and fell in love with a Marika technical shirt with a key hole cut out in back and contrasting trim at Marshalls.  I searched for it online and now have it in three different colors!

It's a great summer weight, is longer than the average running shirt, and super cute.  To see what it looks like from the front, check out the photo I posted in my post about the Kenyan Run (I was wearing a purplish one).  I wore one of the other colored ones last night and tried taking an over the shoulder, in the mirror, shot of the back (which by the way is not as easy as it seems! LOL). Anyway, it's cute, right?

So other than the fact that I'm going to have some interesting tan lines from this shirt, it's perfect!  It's super cute with a skirt, but you'll have to trust me on that since you can't see my bottom half in this photo. Best part, I'm a bargain shopper and probably paid $55 total for all three shirts!!!  Woot!!

How about you, any new favorites lately??  Do you bargain shop like I do, or do you tend to pay full retail price for name brands?

p.s I swam again this morning.  I rock!!

Run-Bike-Swim

By golly, I actually had a weekend that slightly resembles triathlon training!

Saturday morning Run:  Chose an out and back trail route (7.8 mmk) for Saturday morning. This turned out to be good for two reasons. First, it was partly shaded on a hot morning.  Second, when I felt like quitting at 5.5 miles, I had no choice but to keep going to get back to the car!  There's a reason I chose routes like this: one way or another, I *will* get my intended mileage in.

Saturday afternoon Ride: I had grandiose plans of a medium distance hilly ride with Husband.  However, it was crazy hot (90+) and I was feeling it. This time we had a route that doubled back close to home a few time, giving me an option to bail.  And I took it.  At 9.5 miles, I was done.  He, on the other hand, continued riding for another 30 miles.  I guess I'm a hot weather wimp.

Sunday afternoon Swim:  I actually got into a pool and swam!  Not without a little drama though.  The two best options for swimming based on where I live are a gym with a pool that requires monthly membership for access, and a community aquatic complex that is significantly less expensive, but non-ideal hours.  Well, I tried going to the aquatic complex yesterday afternoon, but was turned away because they were at capacity.  Doesn't matter how cheap it is if I can't get in to swim, right?  So I headed straight to the gym and paid for a month so I could use the pool.  I even got a lane to myself!  So now to make it more economical, I just need to get over there and swim more often.  And you know what? That might just be the motivation I need to swim regularly.

Side note:  Still no rain!  More closures in the bosque and foothills due to extreme fire danger.  *sad face*

Edited to fix typos.  I oritinally edited this on my tablet which did some interesting word substitutions.  Note to self, blogs are best created wtih a keyboard!

Friday Five

1. Until this morning, I hadn't run since Sunday.  Yes, I confess, I didn't run on National Run Day.  
2. I bought some meal replacement shakes with the idea of having something quick / easy for days that I don't get a lunch break at work.  I'd rather eat a meal but I figured this was better than nothing.  As it turns out, I've been having one most days with breakfast (meal augmentation vs replacement) and they seem to be giving me more energy and curbing my appetite so I don't reach for unhealthy snacks as often.  Not how I expected to use them, but it seems to be working for me.  I bought two flavors, chocolate and vanilla.  I don't care for the vanilla on it's own, so I've been mixing half and half and I add them to a half/half mixture of milk and water.  I may blog more about this after giving it a bit more time.
3. Rode my bike Tuesday and encountered the biggest and most disgusting gnat cloud ever.  Must have gone on for a quarter mile.  I don't know what was up with that, but it was gross! 
4. I've been running almost exclusively in running skirts lately.  I go through phases on this, but right now I am enamored with running skirts.  I've even been wearing them when I walk the dogs.
5. My knee has not been bothering me lately.  I seem to have found the magic combination:  right shoes, right stretches, right trails, right distances, etc.  I hope it stays like this for a while!

My Weekend in Reverse - Saturday's Ride

Yesterday I posted about the Run with Kenyans.  Today I will tell you about the Tour de Cure experience.

Ride Info:  This is a ride to raise money for the Diabetes Association.  My father had diabetes and diabetes runs in his side of the family, so it's something that hits home.  Each riders needs to raise a minimum of $150 to participate.  The event offered full century, metric century, quarter century, and a "family fun ride".  We chose the quarter century.  If they had offered a half, we would have chosen that, but a metric was too far for me at this time.

Pre-Ride:  Packet pickup was on a Wednesday evening, which was not all that convenient for us.  We arrived to find out that we had not raised the minimum according to their records, but we had!  Called the office the next day to get that straightened out.  Signs of things to come?

The event site said that the quarter century was starting at 11:30.  Husband, running partner, & I were all riding together.  Running partner arrived early and found out we could start before 11:30.  We were still en route to the event, but figured we could get rolling by 11am.  In general, the earlier the better.  It gets hotter and hotter as the day goes on.

A reminder that this ride was held to raise money for the ADA

Ride:  Husband checked us in and they told us to "get on out of here" - meaning that not only were they allowing early starts, they were encouraging it. I forgot to print a map.  I took a photo of the course map that they had set up at check-in.  Good thing, because it turns out that I would need to reference it.

Photo of course map that I ended up referencing while riding

The ride started on a fairly busy street, which was a little scary, but then moved to a dedicated bike path for a while and a road with a bike lane.  We went through some scenic areas. The volunteers at the aid stations were enthusiastic.  The course itself, however, was not well marked.  We also *never* saw any SAG vehicles even though they were supposed to be our there. And since they didn't start everyone together at one, we were pretty much on our own to find our way.  We missed a turn or two on the way back.  Didn't see any any course markers for the last 4 miles or so.  We knew in general where we were going, so we eventually found our way.

At this aid station, they even mentioned that other riders were complaining about lack of clear course marking

I would also like to add that my running partner isn't a very experienced cyclist.  We decided that I would ride up front to set the pace, she would follow me, and Husband would sweep from the back to make sure we were both doing okay.  I wasn't sure she would be able to keep up with me, but she did pretty well except for an uphill section.  Other than that, I only had to stop a couple times to let her catch up.  Husband was helping her better understand how/when to shift her gears.  After this ride, she feels much more confident on her bike.

Husband, Running Partner & I 

Post-Ride:  They had hamburgers and hot dogs with fruit cups for us after the ride. I was hot and sweaty and sunburned.  We needed to rush off to packet pickup for the next day's running event. I couldn't wait to take a shower.  Hahahah!

Post race food

General Thoughts:  I'm not sure I would do this event again due to issues with course marking/support.  Being out there with Husband and Race Partner made it much better experience than it may have been otherwise. I should also mention that it was a successful charity event (just over 200 riders participated and in total we raised almost $50K for the ADA) and the volunteers were awesome.

After the ride, Husband explaining more to Running Partner about shifting gears 

My Weekend in Reverse - Sunday's 8K Run

I have a lot to share about the weekend after having done the Tour de Cure on Saturday followed by Run with the Kenyans on Sunday. Decided to post about it in reverse simply because the photos from Sunday are handy at the moment.

Race info:  My running partner, my husband, & I decided to do this race.  Race proceeds benefit global health initiatives in Kenya (medical supplies, training, etc). They were collecting used shoes to take to Kenya as well. In addition to a cotton race t-shirt, participants receive hand carved giraffes made in Kenya.  Several Kenyan elite runners participate in the event, so it's a chance to run with them (or be left in their dust which is more accurate, ha!).  They had two distances available:  5K and 8K.  We chose the 8K.

The giraffes Husband & I received.  Nice!

Pre-Race: Prior to the race, we were treated to a few songs by Kenyan performers.  They also opened us with the national anthem.  Then the runners lined up, and they introduced the elite athletes.  The only one that I was familiar with was Mbarak Hussein, a long distance Kenyan athlete who resides in Albuquerque.  I believe he's the one who organized the event to raise money for health initiatives in his native country.

Kenyan performers.

The Race:  The gun went off and both 5K and 8K runners started at the same time.  The course is mostly flat except for several under passes.  This was the second event for me that weekend, and I could tell that I wasn't on top of my game.  It wasn't too bad on the way out, but the uphills on those underpasses were a struggle on the way back.  My finish time ended up being 51:04, a 10:16 pace.  I'm happy with that under the circumstances, but I really would have liked a slightly faster time.  As a side note, I actually finished about 12 seconds ahead of my running partner.  We're generally pretty well matched, but usually she has a stronger final mile and ends up finishing a little ahead of me.  In any event, running with Kenyan elites sure makes me feel slow - the lead male finished in 24:15, a 4:53 pace!!

Running Partner & I post-race

 Post Race:  They served some Kenyan food after the race, played Kenyan music, and were selling more crafts (proceeds to the same cause).  I didn't care much for the food, it was mostly fried balls of dough with various fillings, but it was fun to sample it.

Kenyan food post-race

General Thoughts: Overall, I really enjoyed participating in this unique event for a good cause.  I will highly consider doing it again next year if they have it.  Preferably *not* the day after a cycling event.  ;-)

May Tally

Numbers

• 115.9 miles by seat (cycling)
• 84.2 miles by feet (48.9 running, 35.3 cycling)
• 1 race (run for zoo - 10k)
• 5.5 hours gardening before I stopped tracking
• 1 week with *both* college kids at home
• 1 kid off to Seattle for an intership 
• 1 kid looking for off-campus housing near UNM
• 1 wellness challenge started at work

Thoughts

• It was a good month!

Plans

• Two events the first days of June - already completed, need to write up posts about those
• Need to start swimming.  Really, this time I mean it!
• Visiting Son in Seattle at end of month

House Hunters - Student Housing Style

Do any of you watch the TV show House Hunters?  It shows people looking at three different locations to live (each with pros/cons) and then having to make a decision. Well, I felt like I was living it over the past few days, helping my daughter search for a place for a place to live next year near campus.  This past year she lived in the dorms, but she's ready to move on to something else.

The first place we looked is a large apartment complex that had three different floor plans.  It wasn't as close to campus as she would like and I was a little concerned about the area.  Between the two of us, we didn't agree on which floor plan was the best (we looked at a studio and two different 1br options).   However, it did have nice amenities such as laundry on site and a few pools.  While they didn't have anything known to be available at the time she wanted, but she could be put on a wait list.  They were flexible on lease lengths, 6-12 mo options.

The second place was closer to campus and in a safe area.  It was a cute 'super studio' with a separated sleeping and living space.  After viewing it, it was my favorite and her second favorite.  One of the drawbacks was no laundry facilities on site.  The apartment was available now, although ideally she'd like to move in closer to early/mid July.  Fall semester starts beginning of August.  It would be a 1 year lease.

The third place is a small complex three blocks from campus.  I'm not sure about the safety of the area, but since the parking area is literally around the corner from what would be her door, there is  at least no long walks from the car at night if she drives. No frills, but it does have laundry.  It's available mid-June. And it's around the corner from where her best friend just moved in (we didn't realize that until later, an added bonus though). It turned out to be the one we both liked the most.  So she plans to call the guy today and drop off application and fees to reserve it.  If she gets it, she probably will spend the end of June getting set up, and will actually begin living there early July.  It's a 6 month lease, month to month after that.  If she hates it, she can move out during winter break.  If she loves it, she can stay through the end of spring semester.

We have a few more places to view if this falls through, but hopefully we're done!  The rent will be similar to what she was paying at the dorm, but no additional expensive food plan to go with it.  She will, however, need to acquire (beg/borrow/buy) some furniture and pay for internet.  And she will be gaining life experience by living more on her own.

Side note, my son just moved to Seattle for the summer for an internship.  Because he wasn't able to do a house hunt like this, he took a corporate housing option.  Very convenient!  

Have any of you recently had to search for housing for yourself or a family member?  Also, what did you do when you were in school?  I had to move every three months for three years because I was in a co-op program.  I went back and forth between cities for work and school.  Each time I needed to find some place that would let me stay for just three months.  What a pain that was!

On the fitness front:  Tour de Cure is today!  And my first 8K race distance run tomorrow!  WooHoo!!

Mid Week Miscellany aka Bullet List Brain Dump

• I don't know what I dislike more, running in the hot sun or running solo.  Yesterday my run ended up being both.  Double Ick!  If most of my runs were like that, I'd probably give it up in favor of some other exercise.
• Packet pickup for Saturday's Tour de Cure ride is this evening from 5-8.  Not exactly convenient...
• I still have no idea when or where packet pickup is for the 8K that I'm running on Sunday.  That's not good.
• I joined an 8 week 10,000 steps challenge at work.  The idea is to be part of a team and do a bunch of walking  (hence the steps) for wellness.  But they allow you to convert minutes doing other significant things  (biking, running, etc) to estimated steps as well.  So now I'm converting my running/walking/biking mileage to minutes so that I can convert to steps to enter daily on a site that is tracking them for this challenge.  The kicker...at the end, they normalize this all back to miles to help people internalize the significance of the steps!   In any event, it's good motivation for me to kick it up a notch for the next 8 weeks.  Accountability is a good thing.
• There's a guy that we regularly see on the bike trail that we ride that is out there riding with one leg (he doesn't have the other leg).  Every time I see him I feel like a slacker.  It's definitely motivation though.  If he can be out there with one leg, surely I can be out there with a bum knee.
• I've run enough in my Saucony Kinvara 4s to say with confidence that I like them.  I think I may get another pair in another color.  Because, you know, you can never have too many pairs of running shoes.  Or something like that.

Long Weekend Workouts

Not sure about you, but I was able to enjoy a long weekend.  My weekend technically started on Friday, but I'm counting Thursday evening in there as well.  Just because I like to think of weekends starting the evening prior, don't you?

From Monday's cycling adventure

• Thu: 4 mile run with Running Partner after work. 1 mile walk with dogs. It was hot!  Seems like we bypassed spring and went straight into summer.
• Fri: 4.2 mile run with my Friday run buddy.  Also 4.1 miles walking (mostly the nature walk with Son that I blogged about yesterday).
• Sat: 7.5 mile run with Running Partner.  .3 mile recovery walk.  
• Sun: 25.0 mile bike ride with Husband.  1 mile walk with dogs.
• Mon: 19.4 mile bike ride with Husband.  1 mile walk with dogs (the day's not over yet and I may take them out again!).

That's a total of 44.4 miles cycling, 15.2 miles running, 7.4 miles walking.  Not bad, if I do say so myself!

Happy Memorial Day!  Remember that it's the Land of the Free because of the Brave.  My sincere gratitude to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice serving our country.

Photos from the Bosque

Son & I went on a nature walk in the Bernalillo county Bosque (one of the areas not yet closed for fire danger).  Thought I would share a few photos.

Non-native Salt Cedar.  Came in as an ornamental but is now invasive & destroying the natural habitat.  

Rio Grande River with Sandia Mountains in the distance. 

Charred area from a previous wild fire.  So Sad.

Not sure why this tree is missing some bark.

Tumbleweeds piled up against the brush.  

TTT: Closures, Garden, Cycling

The bosque in three counties is closed due to fire danger.  This includes Sandoval county, where I normally run.  Bernalillo county (Albuquerque) bosque is not yet closed.  This likely leads to the question, "What is a bosque and why do you care if it's closed?"  The simplest description is that it's the wooded area by the Rio Grande. You can learn more about it here. Remember, I live in the high desert in central New Mexico.  Think hot, dry, sunny, no shade. The bosque is special because it offers a dirt (sand) trail that is partly shaded because of the trees.  For now, I can still plan to do my long runs along the Albuquerque bosque, but I have a feeling that area will be closed soon too. We really need some rain.  Sigh.

My veggie garden is coming along.  Every year I'm amazed that I can get anything to grow in my 18'x24' fenced in plot of dirt that I call a garden.  Of course, I have to water it daily (it's on a drip system) and every year we try to enrich the 'soil' by tilling in some compost.  Having said that, it's still primarily sand and it gets way more sun than most plants can tolerate.  Yet, I have had success getting things to grow!  Tomatoes, chiles, basil, and watermelon seem to do pretty well. Strawberries, cucumbers, cilantro, carrots, not so much.  Through trial and error I've learned what grows well and what does not.  I've adopted the philosophy to keep growing what works, and avoid what doesn't.

My running partner & I went for a bike ride on Monday.  The wind wasn't too bad when we started, but got worse and worse and our ride went on.  I wouldn't have gone out if I had known how much the wind would pick up (30mph-ish with gusts at about 40mph), but since we were already out there, we had no choice but to keep riding to get back to the cars.  It wasn't a lot of fun, but it was good training!

Do you find your favorite running trails often closed during certain times of the year?  Are you growing veggies?  What are your feelings about biking on windy days?

Catching Up

Thursday evening, I met my running partner at a hill route that we sometimes do.  It was crazy hot, sunny, and generally miserable.  Hard to believe that we were shivering while running two weeks ago on a cold race morning; summer seems to have arrived with a vengeance.

Normally, I do my long run (long being relative) on Saturday morning, but that wasn't going to work this week. I ended up doing my long run (long is relative, for me it is 7 miles) Friday morning.  I was meeting a friend for a 3.5 mile run, so I decided to arrive ahead of her and run 3.5 miles before she showed up, then the 3.5 with her to achieve my 7. Mission accomplished.  This was also my second run in the new Kinvaras and so far I'm quite pleased.

Later that day, I met Daughter for lunch while she was on her break from work.  I'm happy to have her home for the summer.  It's nice to be able to spend more time with her.

Husband  & I went for a 28 mile bike ride Saturday morning.  It turned out to be a really nice morning, slightly overcast, not too windy, perfect temperature.  It was also the best I've felt on a bike ride in a long time.  Good stuff.

Later that afternoon, we picked up Son from the airport.  He's only home with us for a week in between school (in CA) and his summer internship (in WA).  It's nice to have him home for a week.  It's a short visit, but I'll take what I can get.

About the only thing I did Sunday on the fitness front is choose my race for the double weekend.  It will be the flat 8K.

How was your weekend?  Get your workouts in?

TTT - New Helmet, Double Weekend, New Shoes

New Helmet - So here's the story.  I have a older helmet that was a grey-green color.  I decided at some point last year that I wanted a pearl white helmet.  I don't even remember exactly why.  Husband decided to help me out by spray painting my helmet with a pearl white paint.  Nice thought, but it turned out sort of a mint green.  It probably needs multiple coats of paint.  Fast forward to this weekend, and somehow he suggested that I look at helmets at REI.  Lo and behold, I found one that is pearl white with some greenish flowers.  It's girly, but not too girly, and will look good with my bike.  Score!

Double Weekend? - Tour de Cure is in 16 days; we are doing the quarter century.  The day after Tour de Cure there are two running events that I've been looking at and are seriously contemplating:  a flat 8K and a hilly 10K.  At this point, I'm leaning toward the flat 8K.  If I sign up for one of those running events, it will be only the second time that I've done a double-event weekend.  Stay tuned!

New Shoes - My friend (and former running coach) opened a new running store on this side of town.  Stopped by on Monday to pick up a pair of the new Kinvara 4.  Haven't tried them out yet other than in the store, but I'm excited to have them.  For what it's worth, this black-pink color combo isn't one that I would normally choose, but it's what he had and I like it better than I expected.  However, If it turns out that I *love* them, I will buy a second pair in another color online.

Thursday Three

GETTING MY CYCLING ON:

Since I signed up for the live.love.tri in August and mentioned that more cycling was one of my plans for this month, Husband went ahead and signed us up to ride in the Tour de Cure which is in 4 weeks.  We're only doing the quarter century distance, but it will get us out on the bikes.  Should be fun.

In addition, I met my running partner at the trail head for an easy cycling path (aka - flat) after work on Monday and we went for a ride.  We didn't go particularly fast or far, but we rode and that's a good first step. I enjoyed it; she enjoyed it; I think there is more of this in our future.

LET THE GARDENING BEGIN:

I was feeling either brave or stupid earlier this week and went ahead and planted my veggie garden.  It's a fenced-in 18'x24' area.  About one half is planted from seed, the other half from plants.  Anyway, checked on the little tomato transplants yesterday and the leaves are turning white.  I'm fairly certain that's sunburn!  I realized now that I skipped a step.  These little tomatoes were raised indoors and I forgot to 'harden' them by putting them outside in a partly sunny area for a few days before sticking them out in the sunny garden.  I hope they survive.

DEMON KITTY:
Yesterday afternoon I took my cats to the vet.  The older one has lost a bit of weight and has flaky skin. They needed to take blood to see if they can determine what is wrong with him.  He went all pyscho kitty on me when they did this.  He ended up in a little kitty straight jacket with a vet tech holding him down while the vet tried to get the blood sample  Vet said this extreme reaction was most likely another sign that he isn't feeling well.  Expecting results this morning.  Leading suspect is a thyroid problem, but we'll see. [Update:  His test results all came back normal.  Which I guess is good, but it also means that we don't know what's causing the weight loss, etc.  Hmmmm]

Run for the Zoo 10K - short version

Not sure if I'm going to write a more coherent race report or not.  This is pretty much just a brain dump.

• It was overcast, cold, and windy at the start.  This is May, right? It felt more like March.

  

  Running partner and I shivering at the start

• We lined up with the 10min/mi group, but ended up getting boxed in at the beginning of the race.  Took a lot of jockeying for position just to pull off a 10:30 for the first mile.  After that, we were able to run at a pace of our choosing.
• My running partner and I were averaging just under 10:00 min/mi for miles 2-5.
• Then the wheels fell off the bus for me.  I think part of it is mental.  But I just felt like I ran out of steam during that last mile. Had to let her go on up ahead. 

I'm not kidding when I say the wheels fell off at mile 6 

• At least I had enough energy to pick up the pace for the final stretch once the finish line was in sight.
• Not going to be happy with my 10K performance until I can master that last mile.  More long runs!  I'm going to keep trying until I get it right. 
• Will probably do it again next year, but will line up with the 9s just to get a better start.
• It's worth noting that my knee did not bother me at all.  Yay!
• Went into the zoo for about 45 mins afterwards.  Got to see the baby rhino (that I love!) and a new baby giraffe.  
• Got a photo of peacock strutting his stuff for us.  Loved it!

  

  Pretty Peacock. How cool is that?!?!

• Official time:  1:03:02.  26 of 57 women 45-49.  Not sure about my overall placement, but the zoo site says that the 'average' time for the 5K was 01:05:00 for women and 00:57:00 for men, so I'm guessing somewhere near the middle, which is a good enough place for me.
• My Garmin measured this course a little long and has my avg pace calculated at 10:03 (vs 10:02 at the race 2 weeks ago).   Maybe I should consider it to be a more a comparable race performance than it appears based solely on the finish time?

Friday Five

1. SOLD OUT:  The Run for the Zoo is sold out! I've been registered for quite some time, so it's no big deal to me.  However, this is a large, popular event in Albuquerque and I'm sure there are some folks who waited too long and will now be disappointed.  Events hardly ever sell out here.
2. UNDIE RUN:  Last night, Daughter joined Husband & I for an Isotopes Game on a chilly evening  It was great to have her there.  She had to leave early though because she was participating in an Undie Run at 9pm.  I had never heard of this before and had to look it up.  Let me just say, whoever thought this up is brilliant.  They are apparently popular at college campuses.  The students run in their underwear, after stripping off new or gently used clothing to be donated to a local homeless shelter.  It's perfect for college kids needing to to blow off steam on a Thursday night the week before finals!  And apparently, it was quite a success despite being a rather chilly evening. 
3. SHORT RUN:  This morning I met with a friend for what should have been a 5 mile run.  She started feeling nauseous at about 2 miles in, so we turned early and walked for a bit.  I wasn't too surprised, because she told me she wasn't feeling well the day before either.  At least we got out there.
4. TRI TRAINING:  Now that I've signed up for the live.love.tri, I'm getting serious about putting a triathlon focused training plan together. Stay tuned!

5. HALF-N-HALF HAIR:  It has been 49 weeks since I last colored my hair.  I still have over a year to go before the grey is fully grown in given my current hair style (shoulder length bob).  This is a long, painstaking, process.  Right now is probably the worst stage, half-n-half hair.  Bleh.

April Summary

Numbers

• 96.2 miles by feet (55.6 running, 40.6 walking)
• 25.4 miles by seat
• 8 hrs painting (aka upper body)
• 4 hrs yard/garden work (aka lower body)
• 3 dog interval runs (aka fartleks)
• 10 workouts involving hills
• 2 chiro appt for IT band
• 1 race (10K)

Thoughts

• Better month than March, but way behind on cycling compared to where I wanted to be.  Last year I was more disciplined about mid week cycling.  I need to get that back.
• Seem to be managing my knee fairly well.  Must continue that. 
• Yesterday I ran with some different people.  I helped them go a bit farther than they would have otherwise and they helped me go a bit faster than I would have otherwise.  It was a win-win.  

Plans for May

• Run for Zoo 10K this coming weekend
• Figure out June races. I have two 10Ks on my watch list, but haven't signed up for either (yet).
• Decide whether to do Live.Love.Tri in August or not.  Sign up if decide that it's a go.   (This particular item is now a done deal, I signed up last night.  Woot!)
• More time on bike!
• Continue to be smart about knee.

Unconventional Training Entries

I keep track of my workouts in my trusty rusty notebook.  I was flipping through it to see how the month was shaping up and noticed that I had some unusual entries.  Theses that will show up in my monthly summary.  They are activities that I thought were worth tracking, but it's not necessarily obvious how they link to training:

• Dog intervals - That's what I call it when I end up taking the dogs for a run/walk.  I consider this to be a form of speed work because it's essentially a fartlek run. We sprint when we run, with periods of walking in between.  The distances end up determined mostly by the dogs.  BTW, this is actually a good exercise for the dogs too (The inserted image is about dog intervals on a treadmill.  We run outside, but the benefit to the dogs remains).

• Painting - I spent several hours painting a section of the interior of the house. I consider this to be a form of upper body exercise.The part I was painting required using brushes, not a roller, and took a long time given the actual dimensions of the walls.  I definitely feel it in my arms afterwards.

• Yard Work/Gardening - Right now I'm working out the kinks in the irrigation system. In a few weeks I will be planing my veggie garden.  Then there will be weeding. I consider this to be a form of lower body exercise because it requires a lot of squatting.  

Do you log any unconventional training activities as workouts?

Saturday Stuff

Looking over this past week, my running plus fitness walking mileage isn't bad.

• Sun:  1.0 walk
• Mon: 1.5 walk + chiro appt with focus on IT band/knee issues
• Tue: 4.8 run, 0.5 walk
• Wed: 1.5 walk
• Thu: 3.4 run, 1.0 walk
• Fri: 3.5 run, 2.8 walk 
• Sat: 7.7 run, 0.5 walk

That adds up to 19.4 miles running plus 8.8 miles fitness walking for a grand total of 28.2 miles by feet. Woohoo!!  Not a bad week.  And of course, the best part is that my knee is behaving.  I think walking, stretching, and having the chiro work on my IT band is helping.  Plus running only on dirt and avoiding hills.  It isn't a recipe for fast racing, but it does seem to be a combination that is keeping me running without pain.

Side note, sometimes I find running to be, at best, calorie neutral. Why?  Well, here's an example. This morning my running partner and I ended up on the topic of baking while we were running.  I ended up stopping at the store for some blueberries and the next thing I know I'm making over-sized blueberry muffins with a cinnamon crumb topping.  I wouldn't doubt it if I undid the caloric benefit from running by consuming a few muffins. Oh well.  What can I say? I like baking!

How was the past week for you?  And are you baking anything yummy?

Mid week miscellany

Mostly non-running related.

• Son is finishing his junior year at Cal in Berkeley. He landed a software engineering internship in Seattle over the summer. At this point, we are hoping he comes home to visit for a week before he starts his job. Planning to visit him there one weekend this summer as well. I'm happy that he's doing well, but I really miss him. 

•  Daughter is finishing her freshman year at UNM in Albuquerque. She'll be back home this summer.  She's focusing in on what she wants to do for a career and needs to change her major. We had a very good talk last Friday, and now she's got an appointment for academic advisement this afternoon to explore a new option. I'm really proud of her for working through this.  It's tough (and can be discouraging) when you start college a bit unsure of what you want to do with your life.

• This weekend I need to check our irrigation system.  Every year we start the growing season with lots of irrigation issues that need to be fixed, so this is not a fun chore.  But it will be time to plant our veggie garden in a few weeks when the threat of frost has past.  For now, I have Green Chile Bobblehead watching over my little tomato plants on the window sill while they wait to be transplanted to the garden.  

• My running partner and I had a really slow run after work yesterday.  No I mean REALLY slow.  It took us almost as long as it did for the entire 10K, but we only covered 4.8 miles.  Granted, it was really windy last night (30+mph).  But still...   

• Have I mentioned that I despise spring?  Allergies are kicking my butt, and I am so over the stupid wind.  

• I'm a huge fan of our AAA baseball team, the Isotopes. I spent all winter counting down to opening day. We've been to three games so far.  Going again next Thursday.  Woot!

• I'm fairly certain that this recent round of knee issues has been IT band related rather than my normal knee arthritis. That's a good thing.  I've been doing a lot of rolling and am back in my old running shoes (Kinvara 2s).  I'm going to try the Kinvara 4s when they come out.