Mom versus the Marathon

courtesy of our sole intent

So after my wonderful weekend, I woke up Monday morning and started to get ready for work. I was sipping my morning coffee, perusing my FB feed, reading all the positive comments and love I got after my Zooma race. Just feeling really positive. I kept hearing the floor squeaking in my youngest son's room. I started to worry because this kid sleeps like the dead. So I peaked in this room and saw not one but 4 heads. Stunned, I let them sleep and headed to work. I sent him a text, asking him to call me when he woke up. When I asked him about the boys in his room, his response was, "why were you looking in my room?". REALLY? Long story short, he snuck out after my husband and I went to bed Sunday night, met up with his friends and decided to have a sleepover about 1130pm. Why didn't he ask, you might be wondering? He told me that he knew I'd say no.

Was it worth it? He's grounded for a week now....

That night, I got ready for bed earlier than usual. I had an 8 miler on the plan, and needed to get it in before I left for work the following morning. I was excited because it was time for me to break out the new shoes! I mean, really, what gets a runner more excited than new shoes? Especially these babies:

I love black running shoes and the pink accents and laces made them just perfect!

I got the shoes ready, laid out my running clothes for the next morning, and settled into bed with the dog. Into the deep sleep phase, I woke up to my phone vibrating. In a fog, I answered it. It was my oldest son. He told me he and his friend had been in an accident, that he was ok, and I needed to pick him up because the paramedics wouldn't let him leave without me. I asked him where he was and it took a few times for me to figure out where I needed to go. I threw on a sweatshirt, thinking I'd be back to bed shortly, and headed over to the accident.

When I turned onto the street where he was at, I saw a slew of flashing red lights--2 ambulances and 5 police cars. The car was totalled, head-on into a tree. I saw my friend, the mother of my son's friend. She told me Tom was ok, but he was in the back of the ambulance. I walked towards the ambulance and was stopped by the paramedics. I told them who I was.

In a strange twist of irony, one or the paramedics recognized me. From the bicycle accident 2 weeks ago! He asked me if I had been out running. Haha. I wish.

After looking at the lacerations on my son's face, I made the decision to take him to the ER. He argued with me about that. "I'm fine", he kept saying. Because, after all he does know everything. Needless to say, I prevailed, and once we were done, he was happy to be sewn up. After getting home about 1 am, I could not fall asleep. I decided to bag the run and try to at least get enough sleep for work the next day.

Exhausted, I started my day with a full schedule of patients. Lots and lots of school physicals. It's that time of year. My second patient, a teenage girl who wanted acne medicine, also needed her 2d chicken pox vaccine. The visit was uneventful, and the mom told me I was a "10" because I explained everything so clearly to them. I felt great hearing that. I was in the hallway as they left when I heard a thud. My patient was face down on the floor. I rushed over and turned her on her back. All I could think while attending to her was REALLY? I'm a "10" and now my patient faints? And how much more could I take? We revived her, gave her IV fluids, and sent her home.

Somehow, I pushed through the day and got it all done. Truth be told, I don't know how I held it all together yesterday. Maybe it was the exhaustion? I kept a straight face when one mom told me her son and his father have farting contests and sometimes the fart isn't just a fart. It felt like I talked about poop a lot yesterday. Yep, living the dream...

Do you remember that scene from National Lampoon's Vacation? The one where Chevy Chase loses it in the car?

That's how I felt yesterday when I was driving home, reflecting on one the most stressful 24 hours of my life. Marathon training? How is that happening? It was easier to train when the boys were younger! What was I thinking? Well, guess what..it's no longer training...it's a quest! Or as Clark Griswold put it:

......It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. You're gonna have fun, and I'm gonna have fun... We're all gonna have so much fucking fun we're gonna need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles! You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of your assholes! I must be crazy!..

And no, I don't need an aspirin. Wine? Maybe....

I went to bed last night with the plan to try that run again in the morning. Smiled at my new shoes that were just waiting for me. I also needed to do a yoga session, so I got up early to get both done before I needed leave for work at noon. Both boys were home last night and for a change, I slept well. The alarm went off at 5 and I got up and out the door by 6. I had a wonderful 8 mile run and maintained a nice pace of 9:10 mins/mile. I was breathing comfortably, enough to sing along with some of my songs. Yep, I'm that runner. But it was a good run, the one I've been looking for. I need my miles. Regained my sanity. Got my confidence back. I can do this. I'm going to conquer it.

Marathon training week 3--finding my mojo

This week was all about getting back on track after a rough week 2. My goals for this week were to focus on pacing and getting my timing under control and to get my head in the game. I don't know how well I succeeded at either goal, but at least I'm aware that I need to continually work on both! I did get to run in a beautiful place, and that is always satisfying.

Monday: Crossfit/Tabata with Becky: As usual, I warmed up on the rower, then she had me do Tabata intervals (20 seconds of activity--as many as possible (AMRAP)-- with 10 seconds rest x 8 reps)--burpees, slam balls, step-ups (on a box), and air squats. Then I did supermans, holding each side for 20 seconds.  At the time, it didn't feel like a super tough workout (except for the burpees), but ha! fooled me. I was really feeling it the next day. My youngest son and I drove up to northern Wisconsin to spend a few nights with my parents, and the 5 hour car ride probably didn't do my hammies any favors. I packed my foam roller and did some work on that before I went to bed.

Tuesday: 5 miles at race pace. I was excited to run to the county park which overlooks the waters of Green Bay. Fortunately, I was able to get a signal on my Garmin and I headed off. There is a very steep hill I have to climb at the start of the run, and I have yet to make it to the top without stopping to catch my breath. After that, the run is pretty flat and very scenic. The entire route ended up being pretty close to 6 miles and my average pace was 9:07min/mi. A little faster than race pace, but much more consistent.

This was the destination...

Wednesday: yoga. I went to a yoga class with my mom and her friend. I've taken yoga from this instructor before, and normally I like a little more flow than she does. But lately I've been doing more asana and holding the poses longer to stretch and release my muscles. This class was perfect, and I left feeling really good. Later that night, tho, I had some pain in my lower back, my L sacroiliac joint. I don't know if I did something at the yoga class to aggravate it. I had pain there last week too. Luckily, it was gone the next morning.

Thursday: Speedwork--mile repeats x 5. I had to find a flat, straight road and I did. I fired up the Garmin, and about 1/4 mile into my first mile, I noticed that it had stopped recording. Ugh. I based the first mile on time, about 8:15, and stopped to walk and restart the Garmin at that point. You can see the first mile below, and no, really, it wasn't 14 min/mile. The rest of my miles were uneventful and fairly consistent! I was really happy with this session. Because I was away from home, Becky gave me some homework to do: 50 lunge steps, 50 good mornings (forward bends with a bar behind my shoulders), and 50 sumo deadlifts--all, as she requested, slow and controlled. Since I didn't have exercise equipment, I used a pool cue for a bar and a bottle of laundry detergent for my kettlebell. 'Cause that's how I roll...

Ignore mile 1--it's when my Garmin quit on me.

No, this isn't where I did my speedwork! 

Friday: back to work--rest day

Saturday: Zooma half marathon--which I planned to use as a training run. You can read all about it here. All I can say about that is that it is really challenging to do a training run in a race environment. But I'm glad I did it and finished, all with a lot of help from some awesome running friends! I was really tired that night and sore. I did some stretching and foam rolling, and went to bed early.

Mile 13! Just 200 yards to go...

Sunday: recovery bike ride. I was really dreading this, after that tough run! But Becky had told me to take it easy and I was more than happy to do that. The first mile or 2 was tough, but once my legs loosened up, I felt really good. I love riding my bike and was happy that this was my recovery activity. I did 16 1/4 miles in 1:08. Not that slow, but I felt great after. Later, I rewarded my feet with a pedicure.

Coming up this week: increasing running miles. I'm glad because I'm ready to get some long runs under my belt. The race on Saturday showed me that I need it. All the while working on pacing and toughness.

Zooma half marathon

Truth be told, I didn't really want to run this race. I signed up last spring after my 2 friends became ambassadors for Zooma. I figured it would be fun to run it with them. But even with the ambassador discount, the race fee was expensive--the most expensive half I had ever signed up for, including Disney.

As part of my marathon training plan, Becky included this race as a long run. We talked about using the race as a training run, to work on pacing. Pacing has been a big problem for me--in the past and currently--as I tend to go out too fast and crash and burn at the finish. My strategy was to run about 9:30 at the start and go with what the rest of the race brought me.

A bigger concern was that I hadn't run any distance farther than 8 miles since my 10 miler in April. I had planned a half in May, but was sidelined with that foot fracture for 4 weeks. I biked and still worked out with Becky, to maintain fitness. I knew I could run this distance, because this was my 10th half marathon. But how well?

I woke up at 4:00 this morning to get ready. Sara, my friend who has a FB page called Cheesy Runner Mom, was meeting me at 4:30 to make the drive to downtown Chicago together. The logistics of the race had me a little stressed out. The race was on the south side of Chicago, at the lakefront, but the parking situation was a little dicey. Zooma had arranged for shuttle buses to drive the runners from a downtown hotel to the race. Sara and I discussed it and we decided to go with that option. We parked the car at the Millenium Park garage and came out into the bowels of the city. Sara's GPS located us, and told us where we needed to be, but we had no idea how to get to the upper level where the street was. We went back inside the garage and took the elevator up, which got us to the street and the hotel where the shuttle buses were located. The ride down to Burnham Park was easy and uneventful.

When we got off the bus, we noticed the portapotties. Or lack thereof. We counted 7 total at the start line. We figured we had better use them before a line formed. My tummy had been funky before I left the house, and this was my 4th trip to the bathroom so far. Not a good omen.

The sun started to come up over Lake Michigan, and we took in the view of the Chicago skyline. Spectacular!

While we were taking our photos, Karen, from Trading in My Heels, found us. She and her friends got in line for the portapotties, which by this point had grown substantially. Michelle, from This Momma Runs, also found us. It was great to see our running friends!

Group shot in the portapotty line!

We lined up for the race. Sara, who is speedy, lined up at the front with the 1:50 pacers. Michelle, Karen, and I lined up with the 2:00 pacers. My first mistake--hello 9:30 pace? We took off, and Michelle ran ahead of us. Karen and I planned to run 9:15, which was a little faster than what I had planned. As we ran along, we both noticed that the humidity was affecting us. My tummy was not happy. My legs kept trying to go faster, but Karen kept pulling me back. Meanwhile, the race took us north towards McCormick Place and Soldier Field. The Chicago harbors were full of boats. Truly a great place to run. At 3 miles, we turned around and headed south.

I had planned to stop to gel at mile 5. I told Karen to go on ahead, because I felt like we were running a little faster than I wanted. Actually, I felt pretty bad. I stopped to use the portapotty (again). Funny thing, I thought I locked the door, but apparently I didn't because a man swung that door wide open while I was doing my business. Hello! I slammed it shut. And hey, isn't this supposed to be a women's race?

There were men running the race--I'm not sure how or why. There weren't very many. I found it odd.

Anyways, I took off again, slowly, about 9:20min/mi pace. After a few minutes, I found Michelle waiting for me by the side of the path. She told me she turned around to come run with me because Karen told her I was struggling. I was stunned. I mean, seriously, WHO DOES THAT? I almost started to cry, I was so touched. I really wanted to quit with the 10K runners, but I guess that wasn't happening...nope, Michelle kept me going. She wanted me to tell her some funny stories, but I was having trouble breathing, much less talking. Too bad, because I had some good ones!

Michelle is my hero! (My camera was all sweaty)

We kept plugging along, stopping to walk to catch our breath. Michelle has been struggling a little with her running too, ever since running an ultra this spring. So it was really nice to have company and not feel guilty when we needed to walk. She kept pushing me to the next mile marker. We walked a little each mile. And the miles passed. When we got to the turnaround, at mile 10, I actually thought I might do this thing! But my stomach continued to cramp. I gelled again at mile 11. At about mile 11.5, I stopped again, and told her to keep going. This time she did, and I walked a little longer, praying for a strong finish. By mile 12, I caught up to another woman in a really cute Lululemon skirt and top. She told me to run with her, and I did. We finished together, and strong. 

Thank you Yolanda, my new friend! Michelle teased me about "ditching" her and making a new friend. We all laughed because runners are all friends you haven't met yet, right? Sweaty hugs all around!

I look slightly deranged--or maybe it is the dehydration. My legs were covered with salt crystals!

Chip time 2:14:30. Mile splits average 10:14. I think this could work for my marathon, but I sure need to do a better job of running consistent splits! Still, I'm glad I finished strong, in spite of feeling pretty bad. This race reminded me so much of that half I ran in Florida last March--the conditions were pretty similar, with high humidity. Clearly, humidity is not my friend. Word to self: must run slower!

Thoughts about the race itself: 

--The course was beautiful. No doubt about it. The Chicago Lakefront is hands down one of the best places for running. BUT it is a public path, and there were all these cycling studs riding through the clusters of racers at top speeds. It was a little dangerous...imagine if you stepped to the side without looking over your shoulder...
--The finish line amenities were a little sparse. There were boxed lunches (which I took a pass on), muscle milk, water, and bananas. Oh, and wine! Which my stomach would not have liked, sadly.
--While the course was beautiful, I wasn't a fan of having to take a shuttle to get there. I get it, there was Lollapalooza going on this weekend, and so the race couldn't be held downtown. But having to be on the shuttle by 6am was tough. Especially coming from the suburbs.
--The cost was high. The goody bag was awesome, but since I didn't want to trek downtown to pick mine up (and pay again for parking), I had it mailed, at an additional cost.
--The race was well organized. There were water stops about every 2-3 miles and mile markers for each mile. No timers though. And even though there were course marshalls, it would have been easy to turn around early to cut some time off your finish time. Not that the thought ever crossed my mind.

--I thought an all womens race would be full of princesses and tutus but I was wrong! Everyone who ran it was nice and supportive. There were tons of high 5s and thumbs ups along the course.

And my final thoughts? I have the nicest running friends you could ask for. Even though the race didn't go as well as I had hoped, I had fun and ran with some amazing women. Lucky me!

Marathon training Week 2: Things get real

Last week I was so excited and optimistic about jumping into marathon training for the Chicago Marathon October 12. Then came that tough 10 miler on Sunday. That run set the tone for the week, unfortunately, forcing me to do a little tough talking to myself. So here's how the week shook out:

Monday: Crossfit intervals at 6 am with Becky. It was a warm morning and she had a little station set up for me outside, complete with rower, slamball, medicine ball, kettlebell, and a mat. She also brought out the whiteboard, which I've seen her do in her CF classes but never with me. I was thinking this was not a good thing. Here's what I did:

In between each set I rowed 250m. You can tell that I don't love burpees. Slam balls? Yes please! Exhausting but very satisfying. Hello endurance!

Tuesday: I had a 6 miler planned, but I no sooner had gotten a signal on my Garmin, left my driveway, and headed down the street when I came up on a bicyclist lying on the ground in a pool of blood, his bike broken in half. A victim of a hit and run accident. I stopped my Garmin as I approached, and when I checked today, I ran a total for 44 seconds before I saw this. I stayed with the guy until the police and paramedics left. I decided to run but after 2 miles, my adrenaline ran out, my mind was reeling with what had happened, and I walked the rest of the way home. I've had some weird stuff happen to me on the run, but this really shook me to my core. 

Wednesday: After a really poor night's sleep, I was grateful to do yoga. I needed to stretch, but most of all I needed to relax. I did the same video from last week, the Seawheeze 2014 video. Not too taxing, but hits all the high points. Namaste. 

Thursday: Speed work, in the form of mile repeats x 5. The first couple of miles, I ran too fast again. I kept my Garmin screen set on "pace", so I could watch my speed, but it really is easier said than done. Mile 4 was when things started to get hairy for me. I was breathing really heavy and felt nauseous. I couldn't even complete mile 5. You can see where I fell apart: 

Then I went to see Becky for another CF workout. We talked about my bad speed session, and what had happened earlier in the week. While she validated what a terrible experience it was, she really stressed that I needed to get it out of my head and move on. Then she worked me hard. I did back squats, 3 sets of 65#, 5 reps each set. There was a box for me to sit on, which something new and kind of nice! I also pushed the prowler for 4 laps, and did kettlebell deadlifts 20# each hand alternating with front bar lunges x 2 sets. The kettlebell deadlifts were way harder than the ones I do with the bar. It was hard not to put the kettlebells down on my feet. And there is definitely less stability lifting the kettlebells than the bar. I felt it in my hammies and glutes. All good.

It should say "a runner's best friend", I think!

Friday: normally a rest day (because I usually work), I had the day off, so I did some more yoga. This time was Eoin Finn, In Pursuit of Happy Hips. This is a great video, set in British Columbia, and I felt great when I was done. Here is a clip from the DVD, which you can download from his website:

Saturday: I had a 4 miler on the plan, but decided to do 6 because mentally, I needed it. It was really humid and hot, and I got a late start. The park fieldhouse was closed and I didn't have any water with me. I started out way too fast for the conditions and paid for it. At mile 4 I was ready to quit, but I forced myself to slow down (this is a recurring theme here!) and finish the 6 I had planned. My mile splits weren't too bad but I felt kind of yucky when I finished. But I'm glad I pushed myself to finish. That's what I'm talking about!

Really, really sweaty!

Sunday: I have several bike rides on the plan, and I argued with Becky about them, because they take the place of the long run. She told me to trust the plan. Today, I was grateful for a bike ride. When I woke up, it was 72F and 90% humidity. A long run would have been torture today. As a matter of fact, while riding my bike, I came upon a lot of runners and not one of them looked at all happy. Most of them looked ill, and no one was moving very fast. I admit that I love riding my bike. I smiled pretty much the whole 30 miles. I ran into my friend, the former cop, who works the traffic lights at one of the busy intersections near a super church. It is always great to see him. A big plus for me too, because there was some creeper behind me on his bike, and he had no choice but to keep going once I stopped. He came back, saw me still talking to Mike, turned back around, and that was the last I saw of him. The wind started to pick up, but when I turned around to head home, it was at my back, and gave me some great mile splits. 30.5 miles in 2:01. I'll take it! And like I said on my facebook page, endurance is endurance, right?

Goals for next week: I'm going out of town for a few days, so I get to run in a different, pretty place. I'm going to get that speedwork under control! I'm hoping to get some kayaking and SUP in as well. Next Saturday is a half marathon, but I'm planning to use it as a training run and work on pacing, trying not to get caught up in the race. My ongoing challenge: I will continue to work on mental toughness too. My most difficult challenge!

Getting out of my head

I started running in my late 20s to help me work through anxiety and depression. I didn't want to take medication, and I soon learned that running did so much more for me than just help me with those symptoms. As began to run longer distances and faster times, I found a self confidence that I never had before. Committing to myself to run 4-5 days/week made me more apt to keep commitments to others. I found an outlet for my excess nervous energy and drive to succeed. I often say that running saved my life and I truly believe it.

But that isn't to say that running works for me all the time. Case in point, this week. If you follow me on facebook, you know that I experienced a very stressful event and as is typical for me, I'm having trouble moving past it. Initially, talking about the trauma of finding a cyclist after he was hit by a car was helpful for me. A day and a half after the incident, I started to feel better and wanted to let it go. But this morning, there it was again. My mind started rolling the film. My speed work session was less than stellar as I fought with my mind to focus on the run and push those other thoughts out of my head. And then there was that other runner, the guy who said something to me as he passed me. I couldn't hear it because I had my headphones in and of course, I immediately thought he said something negative to me. Because that's how I roll. The more I ran, the more my mind dragged me down.

When I went to work out with Becky for my crossfit training, I started talking about this. She sternly lectured me about needing to push these events away. "Yes, it was terrible, what happened to the cyclist," she said. "but it's over and you have to move on. You have to let it go."

I know. How many times have I heard these words. I haven't even seen the movie Frozen, and I know there is a song with that very title.

But how do I do that? How do I shut off those thoughts that run through my head?

Over 2000 years ago, Buddha described my very issue as "monkey mind".  Buddha described the mind as full of monkeys, all jumping around, clamoring for attention. Have you ever laid down to go to sleep and a million thoughts are running through your head? Or go out for a run and find your mind wandering? Do you have trouble focusing on your pace, your breathing? Sound familiar? How do I tame my monkey mind? And can we call it something else? Because I really don't like monkeys at all. Although they represent the perfect metaphor for how my mind feels when I can't settle it down.

There is meditation, yoga, breathing exercises; all calming activities for sure, but what if you can't shut off your mind to focus on these activities? I turned to my favorite resource for all things running: Runners World. And yes, they had an article on this very subject. The author takes some of the principles of meditation and applies them to running.

For example, by focusing on your breathing and your feet hitting the pavement, you can get yourself out of your head. I've actually done this before when I've worked on breathing through a side stitch. I count to 4, while inhaling and exhaling. Because I usually get side stitches on the right, that 4th breath is timed so I exhale on my left foot . I usually experience side stitches because my breathing is ragged. This breathing technique has helped me many times to get my run back on track. I have never thought about using breathing while running to calm my mind.

Another technique to calm down and get your head back in the run is to check in with your body. Are your fists clenched?When I notice this, I shake out my hands and arms.  Is your jaw clamped shut? This always reminds me of my prenatal classes. The instructor was teaching us breathing techniques and she said that you can't clench your teeth and relax at the same time. This is advice that has stuck with me for all these years. Some runners hunch their shoulders. Sometimes your legs get stiff and you can feel your feet slapping the ground. It is ok to stop and stretch, by the way! Take a few deep breaths and get your heart rate under control. Sometimes that is all you need to do. I've done this and it really helps me to refocus. By consciously relaxing, you shift your focus to those areas that need attention and out of your head.

While I'm writing this, I keep thinking about my Rodney Yee yoga video and the words of wisdom he imparts throughout. "Consciously letting go" is something he says, and every time he does, I let out a sigh and relax. Maybe I need Rodney to go on a run with me! Another bit of yoga wisdom I've heard over and over is to "be present". What does it mean to be present?

To me, being present means being conscious and focused on the moment you are in. Being present means if you are running, you are focused on that activity. Breathing, pace, stride, and generally overall how you are feeling--that should be your focus. If you notice your mind wandering, acknowledge it, and focus back on the activity at hand. Try to shut those negative thoughts down.

Negative self talk does no one any good. We all know that. Yet the very nature of the runner is one of a type A, perfectionist personality. I don't know about you, but one bad run and I'm beating myself up. Just this morning, I started to berate myself for not being able to stay on pace. Seriously. I need to catch myself doing that and stop it! I have found that listening to music while I run, especially music with a positive message, can help me when my energy is flagging. I like to listen to music with a driving beat, and so I tend to listen to rock and rap. If I can lose myself in the music--hey, isn't that an Eminem song--yep, on my playlist--I tend to have really great runs.

Eminem does say it best:

"You better lose yourself in the music, the moment

You own it, you better never let it go

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime"

and

"Success is my only motherfucking option, failure's not"

and

"So here I go, it's my shot

Feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got"

and

"you can do anything you set your mind to, man"

-Eminem "Lose Yourself"

Staying positive and confident is tough. Life interferes with our ability to stay focused on the task at hand. This week taught me that I still have a lot work to do with letting go and moving on. Besides letting go of everyday nonsense, I have to let go of that bad 1st marathon. I have to trust my training. I have to trust my trainer. If I have a bad run, I need to move on to the next one. I've got it in me to do this and do it well. I just have to believe it.

Training for a marathon is so much more than the physical work. And I'm a work in progress.

Marathon training week 1

It's no secret that I'm late to the Chicago marathon training party. If you haven't been following me, to bring you up to date, I found out 1 1/2 weeks ago that I won a free entry to the Chicago marathon. Which, of course, I'm extremely excited about! Prior to this, I had been talking with my trainer, Becky, about marathon training and decided that if I would do another marathon, I would let her train me. She promised me that we had plenty of time to get ready, since I already had a good base and we just finished 6 weeks of very heavy lifting. Becky made a marathon training plan for me, and week one is in the books. Here's how it fell out:

Monday: crossfit interval training with Becky- she had me start out on the rower doing progressive distances: 100m, 200m, 300m, 200m, 100m. These were done as fast as possible, with a short rest in between. The rower always kicks my butt--makes my heart rate soar. After that, I did 1 minute kettlebell swings alternating with 1 minute jump roping; 30 seconds rest in between. Three rounds. I couldn't finish one minute without stopping to catch my breath each time. Wow. That was tough. Think you're in shape because you run fast? Or far? Here's something to humble you. Every. damn. time.

Tuesday: 5 miles at race pace. Which race pace I was supposed to run at wasn't specified. I averaged 8:46, which is somewhere between my 10k and half marathon pace. Definitely not what I'm shooting for during the marathon! It was a good run and I felt great after. Hello, runners' high!

Wednesday: Yoga. Due to scheduling conflicts with my son's football camp, I haven't been able to go to the studio much this summer. I have been practicing yoga at home. This week, I did the video developed by Lululemon for Seawheeze 2014, which is an amazing post run workout.

Thursday: Speed work aka speed play aka mile repeats x5. This was fun! I love to run fast, and this was a blast for me! I wasn't quite sure how to pace myself, because I've never done this before. Becky recommended 15-30 seconds faster than race pace, but if I used my marathon timing for that, it wouldn't be speed work. LOL! So I just went all out and here are how my splits fell out:

Becky told me the goal is consistency, so it looks like I need to slow down a little bit so that I can make 8:10 my target pace on every mile. This would again be based on my 10k or half marathon pace. 

Friday: rest day. I worked 9 hours--doesn't really count as rest. I did go for a walk at lunch because it was so cold in the clinic! 

Saturday: 4 miles, slightly faster than race pace. I killed this run! I was tired too, so I don't know what got into me. But my average pace was 8:24 min/mile. Maybe it was the speed work? We took a ride up to Lake Wisconsin to do some waterskiing. I took one turn around the lake. My legs felt good but tired. 

Sunday: 10 miles, long run. I got up early and had my pre-run meal of cheerios and a cup of coffee. I was a little nervous for for this run, which is unusual for this distance for me. But we were in Wisconsin, I had to run on rural roads, and there are a lot of hills here. I started off fairly slow, first mile was 9:23 min/mi, which I was pleased with. But in spite of my best efforts and all those hills, I increased my speed. I felt good, so I didn't think I was running that fast. Miles 4 and 5 were sub 9 and that isn't where I want to be when I'm running 26.2. I even walked part of some of the steeper hills, and still wound up with an average 9:09 min/mi for this run. I was exhausted at the end and that isn't good. I had a few other issues during this run: my yurbuds, which never give me trouble, kept falling out of my ears. Spotify, even though I set the playlist to play "offline", would stop mysteriously every couple of songs. Those 2 issues should be non-issues in my book, and I need to figure that out, quickly. I had to carry water (I added Nuun energy) which I never do, because at home I run where there is water available. I will say the Nuun energy added a little boost about mile 6, when I really started to struggle. I used my handheld amphipod. It was a little awkward at first. I haven't used it since the last time I trained for a marathon--3 years ago! I just can't do the fuel belt--I hate stuff around my waist. And filling those little bottles seems like a major pain to me.

Some good things happened on the run, too. No tummy issues at all! I did spot a few portapotties along the way, so there was a safety net just in case nature called. And the route I ran was spectacular. For every uphill, there was a downhill. Still, I'd love a do over, but I've been told that isn't going to happen, and so I will move on.

Summary: Even in spite of my less than stellar long run, this week gave me a lot of confidence. I can see how strong I've become, just by looking at my split times. My legs feel strong, and one thing I have noticed, especially on the hills, is the power I'm getting from my glutes and hamstrings. In 20 years of running, I have never felt this before. It actually feels like my legs are pushing me, not the opposite. To me, that's really amazing and a testament to the work that Becky is having me do. She may not be a runner, but she's making me stronger and this is making running really fun again!

Coming up: Week 2: Tomorrow was a scheduled rest day, but I don't start work until 1, so Becky and I trying to coordinate another CF interval session.  Tuesday is 6 miles at race pace, Weds is yoga, Thursday is speed play again, Friday is a rest day, Saturday, 4 miles slightly faster than race pace, and Sunday is a bike ride. No long run, which is a little scary for me. 

But everyone tells me to trust the plan. So I will! Because:

Running for my life

Today while I was at work I received a text from my mom. My dad, who has been suffering from back pain but has gotten much worse recently, saw a specialist in Chicago today. The news was not good. Per my mom (who is not a medical person), he has 2 crushed vertebrae, a bulging disc--basically a mess in his lower back. He will need surgery, which they were hoping to avoid, most likely a spinal fusion. It will be his second go round with back surgery.

My dad has had physical problems for quite a while. His first hip replacement was at age 55, twenty years ago. He had a spinal fusion about 10 years ago. The other hip replacement about 7 years ago. A knee replacement 3 years ago.  All these surgeries were the result of severe degenerative joint disease, or osteoarthritis. A "normal" part of the aging process, although I do believe he's having it worse than most.

My motivation for staying in shape has changed over the years. When I was in my 30s, I ran to outrun anxiety and depression. In my 40s, I ran to help me cope with the stress of child rearing and a career. And wanting to keep up with my boys. Now, in my 50s? All of the above. But more importantly? I run to stave off the aging process.

Yep, I'm running from old age.

I look at my dad and see what could be. Is this my destiny? Or can I slow the inevitable process of getting old?

Apparently I can! Science backs me on this. A large study in 2013 demonstrated that running significantly reduced the incidence of osteoarthritis and the need for hip replacement surgery. This includes participation in marathons! The researchers thought this may be due in large part to the reduction in BMI. Another study investigated why runners get less knee osteoarthritis than non-runners. Something to do with peak load and hitting the ground...apparently running has no more impact on the knees than walking. Best of all is a study that found running 3 times per week prevents premature aging in every organ in the body. Of course, the study was done in mice so say what you will about that....

And then there was this awesome study that shows how exercise can reverse skin changes due to aging...I'm all over that! Although the mirror tells a different story...

Now my dad has always been active, but not an exerciser. He always carried a couple of extra pounds around his waist. I have no doubt that contributed to his back problems.

Ironically, when I told my parents that I was running another marathon this year, they were both very concerned. Worried that I was going to hurt myself.

More than my dad is hurting? I hope not.

So yeah, my big toe pain is probably some arthritis. My knees crackle like Rice Krispies when I walk down the stairs. But they don't hurt. The first joint in my right hand is sometimes swollen and tender. And I've got more gray hair than anyone except my colorist will know about. But as long as I can, I'm going to keep on moving.

This is my motivation now.