Back at it...

So, yeah, December has been a nothin' month...

All the various levels of crazy converged to make it such that the only runs I could make happen on a regular basis were our Saturday-morning-with-the-Math-Teacher runs.  There were a couple others spattered in there, but yeah... not much.

But all told, I do not in any way consider that to be a failure.  Given that my usual pattern of the past several years would have been to stop running sometime in October and not begin again until, oh, March, I'll call a few single-digit weeks a rousing success in the "maintaining consistency" department.

But... after that zero-mile week last week, enough is enough.  I got back into it with a Monday morning "Saturday" run with tMT and her lovely daughter (aka the speedster).  Easy three miles, no big deal.  But I'd forgotten that it would count for Kiley's Christmas Virtual 5K!

So.  Pretty pleased about that.

Took yesterday off (I don't think I got out of my pajamas yesterday).  Today I'll get in a few miles while the kids swim.  I've got several weeks of base-building to get in before starting my training plans for a May half-marathon and the Portland Marathon in October (yep, those are my A-races for 2013). 

So.  Back at it...

So much for that...

Seems I picked a bad time to declare a running streak.  The general craziness of life added to some low-grade ick combined to kill the streak this week.  I got a full week in - and then I got to 9pm Friday and realized that I hadn't been on the treadmill.  And I didn't have it in me.  I didn't have it in me on Saturday either (six hours standing at a swim meet will do that).  So the streak was thoroughly busted at that point.

This morning I woke up to a break in the rain and a house of still-sleeping people. I got dressed and headed to my favorite path to catch the sunrise, all ready for a great run.  Except... that great run didn't show up.  The five miles turned into a painful 1.5 out and a walk back to the car. So, counts for a run in December - but not much else.

Coincidentally, I forked over the cash for Portland Marathon entry yesterday.  Great day for a bad run.

Obviously, something's up.  Not sure what, exactly - could be a bunch of different things (flu season, work stress, poor sleep, REALLY poor eating choices...) (oh, gee, maybe the combination?  Smart, I am.)  Hopefully I'll be able to sort that out over the next couple weeks so this blah-streak doesn't last into the New Year.

Streaking past forty...

So, I turned 40 on Black Friday.  Pretty darn perfect (in a good way), if you ask me.

Thursday morning, as the Math Teacher and I were getting out for our unofficial Turkey Trot, we talked through how we're going to keep going through the holidays.  Lots of kid activities, holiday stuff, messed-up schedules, and other craziness are certainly getting in the way.  However... MT's turning 40 next month too.  (I think she's relishing these two weeks where I'm nominally older than her.)

After a little counting, we realized that from Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve this year is 40 days.  So, why not run each day?  So that's our plan.  We're running at least a mile each day from last Thursday to New Year's Eve - and then probably adding New Year's Day too. It's like birthday candles - one for each year, and one to grow on.

I'm making it a little easier on myself, though.  Friday, while my husband and daughter were out doing the Black Friday thing, I stayed home and in my pajamas all. day. long.  It was wonderful.   I found myself down in the playroom, which is crammed with stuff and stuff and more stuff, working my way to the stash of Christmas presents that need to be wrapped (we're actually pretty darn close to done shopping for the kids, just need to figure out one or two more things for the boy).  I had my music, I had my peace, I had plenty of time.  And next thing I knew, I had two corners of the room fairly well organized - the one with the presents, and the one with the treadmill.  I'm not joking when I say it has been YEARS since that treadmill was available for use.  It was cold and wet, and I didn't want to go outside, but neither did I want to abandon the birthday run streak on day two, so I changed into my running clothes, sent a child to get the fire extinguisher (just in case), and plugged it in.

It worked.  Miraculous!

So now I have a backup plan against the crazy wet cold weather the Pacific Northwest tends to deal out this time of year.  No better way to start the next decade of this wonderful life.

Getting my mojo back...slowly...

Seriously, it can't be nearly a month since I posted.  And yet... it has.  Yikes.  Long, boring story short, it's just been nutty around here.  The running's been up and down - twenty miles one week (including the Cupcake Classic, that was fun!), then eight, then a big fat zero.  But that ended today with a slow-and-sloppy three-miler.  Yea!

Tomorrow - I'm jumping in at the last minute on a local 10K race.  This is the first time I've ever done anything off the cuff like this - it's exciting!  I'm picking up my friend at 7:30 - a wholly civilized time, especially with the extra hour from daylight savings - and heading to the local trail to register for a 9:00 am start.  LOVE it.  This ought be fun.

One last thing - Amy at Run Mom Run is hosting a giveaway - Yurbuds earbuds.  I TOTALLY want to win this (might make the treadmill a touch more bearable, eh?), so please DO NOT feel you have to go enter. :)  Or, y'know, protect your own interests and enter.  Could be fun for you.

I will get back to this.  I need to give you a recap of our fun Cupcake Classic, this race we'll do tomorrow, a fun evening run with Christmas lights in October and a "for rent" sign on the cemetery... and whatever else comes up in the next few runs.  Until then, friends...

That which comes next...

Realized this morning that I haven't written anything in two weeks.  It took a while to find my groove after the race - and I was floundering there for a bit.  Once I realized that the "oh, sure, I'll keep this up with no structure whatsoever" plan wasn't going to work (like it ever would with me), I realized I needed an actual plan.  And some actual structure.  And maybe some actual goals.

Toward the end of the last training cycle there were a bunch of things I wanted to add, but I didn't want to screw up the race by adding something novel and botching it, or injuring myself, or... whatever other convenient excuse was easily backed up by all my reading (there's a stack of running books and magazines on the bedstand).  Now would be the time to add them, right?  What I've got on the list:

• Cross-training - pretty much anything other than running. Cycling or swimming are obvious potentials.
• Strength work - whatever it may be, machines at the Y or kettlebells in the living room.
• Flexibility work - oh, yeah, I need this in a bad way.  I have never in my life been physically flexible (the other kinds of "flexible" don't come easily either, but I'm pretty set in those ways).
• Nutrition - every so often I have to re-focus on what I'm eating in relation to what I know about nutrition (quite a bit, actually).  Usually that time to re-focus comes when I realize I'm not in any way following what I know.

So guess what happened?  I looked at this list and got completely overwhelmed.  I don't have any legitimate excuse to not tackle any of this - I have gear and videos and knowledge and even the gift of time (three and a half lovely dedicated hours per week at the Y when the boy has his swim practice).

It's not coming easily, though.

I have managed to get started.  Mostly by setting aside all that stuff up there.  I looked at a couple training plans and just picked one to follow, even though I'm not planning any big races until next year.  I'm reinventing my running schedule, and my only goals right now are running at least 15 miles and at least 3 times per week (achievable, but requires planning).

Once I get settled again, I'll work on adding to this.  But for now, this is enough.

Training recap – September 17-22

Oh, that race was a BLAST.  I’ve been on a high all week.  I even turned my finisher medal into my keychain charm.  But I was ready for a break – no thinking about training, about mile counts, about remembering to take my antihistamines at night so I could run the next day.

The plan was:  absolutely nothing.

The reality: 

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – ZILCH

I started the week in rest mode – at least for exercise, because everything else (aka work) was nuts.  I wasn’t nearly as sore as I thought I would be (gee, could I have run faster on Sunday?  Guess I’ll have to do another and find out, huh?), just a bit of tightness in the quads going down stairs.  By Tuesday it had nearly dissipated and Wednesday I felt completely normal.  And I was so very much done with resting.

Thursday – 3.0 miles, 28:14

By now I desperately needed to run.  But I realized on the way over that (a) I still don’t have the eating-in-the-afternoon-for-an-evening-run thing organized and (b) I’d been giving my body a break from the antihistamines that keep me from itching on a run.  So… this was going to be interesting.

I decided to keep the pace easy, so as not to trigger the itchies, and just got going.  It felt pretty good – it actually felt odd, like my body was made of stiff parts with no give, and clompy, as though I’d forgotten how to run.  But I’m getting used to this feeling being my “oh, you took a few days off? Silly you” feeling and am gaining confidence to stick to it with the hope that it will dissipate.  Which it did, pretty shortly.

But here’s the thing – what feels like an easy pace now has dropped to 9:15-9:30 miles.  Again, when did this happen???  Yet another reset for my head this year (there’s been a LOT of those – I love it, but I know intellectually this can’t continue forever).  Got a tiny bit of itchies on my legs about 2.5 miles in, but I walked for a bit and it faded quickly, so then I finished out the 3 miles and walked in the last few hundred yards.  That 2.5 mile point is also when my body decided it was hungry.  And I mean HUNGRY.  I found myself craving french fries as I walked back to the car… and since there were 45 minutes until the boy was done with his practice, I jetted out to grab burgers, fries and a chocolate milkshake.  It was SO YUMMY – not at all healthy, not at all good nutrition, but a nice treat all around.  And I TOTALLY made the boy’s day when he got to the car and saw a sack with burgers and fries – “oh, Mom, I LOVE YOU!!!” “You love me anyway.”  “Yeah, I love you more. Nom nom nom”

Saturday – 3.16 miles, 34:38

Back at it with the Math Teacher.  She was cranking on speed and feeling good!  Me, I was pretty tired (read, nutty week at work) and ran out of steam as we approached the 3 mile split.  I told her I was stopping when my watch chirped, and she went all Coach on me – “oh, no you’re not!  We’re making it to the finish!  Let’s go, step it up, woman!”  I truly think she enjoyed it, with a lot of schaudenfraudic glee.  She was also talking about the next run, suggesting a local race in early November.  I may have to commit to that – she did, after all, indulge me on You Go Girl, least I can do is repay the indulgence.  We might even get our kids to run that one too – if we can fit it around their swim training.  Lots to determine in the next several days.

Planned for this week:

 

If – big “if” – I commit to the Turn Back the Clock run, I need to start training for that – it’s six weeks away.  So this weekend’s task is to find an appropriate 6-week training schedule toward a … 5K? 10K? I suppose I also have to decide what distance to run, and whether anyone (ie son, hubby) intends to join me.  So… likely a few short easy runs and some decisions.

Race recap: You Go Girl!

Third time’s the charm – what a blast!  All the anticipation and training paid off, and I crushed my break-2:20 goal with a  2:11:50.  And so many other sweet bits to the weekend.

PACKET PICKUP – I’ve actually been planning this day for awhile now.  Little girl and I had haircuts early in the morning, then headed to Tacoma for pickup and lunch at her fave place – Olive Garden.  It was a sweet morning.  I’ve mourned my son’s growing up (seventh grade this year was harder than his first days of childcare, no joke) but almost overlooked my daughter’s transitions as she moves to third grade.  She’s just – more herself.  She’s always been incredibly talkative, but her conversations have a new depth. Her mannerisms are older. Spending a morning with her with minor, shared distractions (can’t get to no distractions, that’s just about impossible with us) was sheer joy.

Our morning started early, as it usually does on haircut days.  Starbucks is a must, and carefully planned into our timing.  Haircuts are always fun – since my head is under the dryer I have no idea what she and Miss Diane are talking about, but what is clear is that she’s motoring on and Diane’s cracking up. 

All done up, we headed toward Tacoma; got a little turned around, but found the place (I need to remember, it’s by UWT. how hard could it be? I’ve spent enough time in my life on that campus).  Nice little expo, got all our goodies.  Little girl took care of her own packet, thankyouverymuch, then helped me carry the additional six bags around.  (Really, I didn’t intend to play packet packhorse this year.  But six is way better than the twenty or so I had last year.)

One of the thing I love about this race is running into friends all over.  Coordinated an impromptu get-together with two of my besties-with-daughters; caught up with T while S and Little Girl played in the plaza, then found C and K (they got lost too, it wasn’t just me!) and we headed back into the expo.  Little Girl took S and K to get their packets (wow! Big girls taking care of themselves) while T and C did their own packet-packhorse duty.  Once all the packets were in hand and daughters were securely reunited with mothers, Little Girl and I took off for our lunch date.  Got lost (again! Seriously, I’m not so directionally-challenged as all this may lead you to believe), got sweet parking, carbed up while we chatted.  We definitely got our money’s worth – never-ending pasta bowl plus kids-eat-free coupon made for a lovely, HUGE lunch.  And truly, this child knows how to carbo-load: Fettucine alfredo and mashed potatoes with chocolate milk.  Kid’s definitely an endurance athlete.

Got home, sorted through packets to pull out my own stuff, laid out gear, confirmed my ride, showed D where to park for the finish line, found camera, munched potato chips, craved chocolate cake, found gels, took nap, ate pasta leftovers for dinner (see? Definitely got money’s worth) with wine for pre-race dinner.  Spent.

RACE DAY – wasn’t an early wake-up by any stretch, but it was hard to get out of bed.  I eventually convinced myself that it was time, by golly, and thankfully all that laying-out-of-gear made for a no-brainer morning.  The only thing that required thought was to go to the pantry and choose a jam for my PB & J (the apricot jam I opened earlier this week hadn’t gelled – so it’s more aptly a lovely dessert sauce, not for sandwiches). 

My darling husband drove me to get a mocha and meet up with the Math Teacher and her daughter, Miss M, who chauffeured me to the start line after a pit stop back at their house for an errant hat.  Easy parking, and early enough that there was no line for the potties (yea!!!).  Then it was time to set about finding our buds, especially A, the one whose chip and bib I was holding!  As sometimes happens, as if by magic, our group began to coalesce, introductions were made, and soon it was time to line up.  A and I took our place in front of the 2:20 pacer – her foot has been hurting, so she chose to start back at my super-slow-for-her pace (thank you, A!).

Mile 1: 9:07 -  love the downhill start, it felt soooo easy!  But we knew we were moving out too fast… but it’s downhill, it’s easy, what can we do?  A’s foot felt good and she seemed quite happy to pace with me, so we settled into our rhythm.

Mile 2: 9:44 – Miss M caught up with us right before the first mile marker, having left her mother in the dust.  She settled in with our pace and we chatted about hair, boys, stuff…  Still moving strong, out to the first turnaround with another downhill respite.

Mile 3: 10:03 – The long uphill slog – I just kept chatting, and hoping not to horridly annoy everyone not involved in our conversation (yes, I’m THAT runner, I distract myself and everyone else with all my mindless chatter).  At one point the 2:20 pacer played traffic cop to let a local resident get her car out of the stream of runners; one person snarled “well, I’m  not stopping!” and she and her cohorts barreled in front of the car.  Seriously???  Holding up for ten seconds is going to blow your time goal in the third mile?  Perspective, people!  Races run on the goodwill of the folks we’re displacing and annoying – lacking respect for that just gets our races canceled.  And I like this one too much to get it canceled. (stepping off soapbox now…)

Mile 4: 10:17 – So you hit a water station right before the third mile marker, turn a corner, and are confronted with a steep hill worthy of San Francisco fame.  Holy heavens.  It’s four blocks STRAIGHT UP.  But, it’s only four blocks, and then you have a lovely stroll around gravel paths in a beautiful park.  This is my favorite part of the course – AFTER the four-blocks-straight-up part.  I started to get a side cramp and had to walk briefly, but powered through. 

Mile 5: 9:38 – what goes up, must come down… and the long, lovely downhill is a blast!  Passed the water station again, and this time took advantage of the pit stop opportunity (darn morning bladder).  A's foot was feeling better and speed was calling, so she kept going when I stopped, but Miss M waited for me (thanks, sweetie!).

Mile 6: 9:22 – More downhill.  Caught up with C, whose husband had run ahead.  We all ran together for this mile.  Miss M wanted to take off toward the finish, C was hurting a bit.  I worked on keeping a steady pace, making sure I didn’t lose sight of C.  Miss M sprinted a touch too early and was walking off a side ache when we caught her; I told her to pace C into the 10K finish, and off they went.  I almost blew off the water stop, for some reason I thought there was another one just over the hill, but realized they wouldn’t place them that close – so I stopped, choked down a gel and washed it down.  

Mile 7: 10:25 – My husband and son were waiting at the 10k/half fork, both with cameras.  Such a sweet surprise!  I hadn’t expected them until I was closer to the finish line.  But man, did it feel quiet as the bulk of runners peeled off toward the 10K finish.

Mile 8: 10:24 – Ah, now there comes the return pack.  The leaders started passing us – looking very determined.  I am amazed by their speed and strength.  Also, it’s just so fun to have people to cheer for as they pass you!  I do a lot of yelling encouragement toward others to stay out of my own head.

Mile 9: 9:36 – Still looking for all those people I knew were ahead of me – saw several, including Mel of Tall Mom fame, yea!  I recognized Mel’s shirt coming at me just behind the 1:50 pacer and shouted at her as loudly as I could (sorry, Mel, couldn’t resist!).  It was like a little celebrity sighting. J

Mile 10: 9:46 – It felt like the turnaround came quicker than last year – a pleasant surprise.  The volunteer at the cone was yelling, “You’ve got this!  Just a 5K to go and you’re done!”  I LOVED that!  Reframing the effort – and just what I needed.  I can knock out a 5K in my sleep on a bad day, and this was way better than many of the “bad days” I ran through this year.

Mile 11: 10:03 and Mile 12: 10:23 – felt good, but I was slowing down a bit.  I began counting footfalls, counting people ahead of me, trying to keep one foot in front of the other.

Mile 13: 10:11 – When the twelfth mile split chirped on my Garmin, I hit the wall. That last mile seemed sooooo long, and I just wanted to be DONE – a sentiment echoed by many of the other gals on the course near me!  I allowed myself one more walk, picked my spot, and started running again.  I tried to pick up a fellow runner as I caught them, encouraging them to join me in that last little push, but they just returned the encouragement and pushed me ahead.  I’m not yet at the point where I can pass gals at the end of the race without just a little bit of guilt.

As I hit the overpass on the last bit, I saw my son sitting on the jersey barrier with the camera.  I hollered his name, he jumped out of his skin – apparently I wasn’t quite yet expected!  He ran ahead playing papparazi, catching pictures of me with a huge grin on my face.  At the turn, my daughter jumped up and down yelling to me.  I called her out and she ran to join me, so we could run through the finish chute in our matchy-matchy skirts.  The picture of us crossing the finish line, holding hands, is one of my favorites ever.

Mel was sitting on the hill near the finish chute, chilling and watching folks kick it toward the line.  We chatted a bit, actually introduced ourselves IRL, but slowly my group seemed to camp out next to her spot.  Sorry if we crowded you a bit, sweetie, but it was fun to meet you!

We waited for the Little Girl’s race to get started.  My girl was so excited for her first race.  She lined up at the front, took off hard, and pounded up the hill.  When we saw her on the return she was still running hard, stuck her tongue out at her brother for a picture, and chased along.  I couldn’t quite figure how to get to her, but her brother had run with her all the way through the finish so he was able to coordinate everyone.  We took our leave and headed to the car.

On the ride home, the kids told me their funniest moment of the day, when the finish line announcer called out: “There’s a line at the Naked truck for free shirts…” whaaa???

RESULTS

overall place:	207 out of 487
division place:	45 out of 92
time:	2:11:50    (Garmin read 2:09:33)
pace:	10:04

 

I didn’t even really think about crushing my goal – I’d recognized that at the turnaround.  I even allowed myself to think that 2:05 was within reach, and then shook that off – there is no reason to take a smashing success and in any way turn it toward a defeat.  I am super-happy with what I accomplished today, and for what it represents – the accomplishment over the summer of actually training, sticking to it, and following through on my stated goal.