The first 50 I felt like Dara Torres, (just double the time in this video and add a lot of stroke imperfections hahaha) and by 75 yd mark, my left shoulder was aching and I was already "feeling the burn". Unaccustomed to any form of rythmic exercise, my upper body muscles were screaming "wtf do you think you are doing moving through water????" as I struggled to find some semblence of a partially decent stroke from years past. Key words: 'years past'.
Well, not quite years, more like many many months (August actually) but it certainly felt like years since I last swam with any regularity. Suffice it to say that my body is much happier moving through air these days versus water but I am hoping to turn this around in a matter of a few weeks. I swam 1000 yards (that sounds soooooo much more impressive than "20 minutes" except if you are a swimmer and then that's your warm up!) and I probably could have swam a little more but I touched the wall at 1000 and decided that 20 minutes was enough for the first time out. The cool thing about swimming is this: it's like I swam for an hour. I left the office at the lab at 1:02, by the time I got out of the building and across the street to the pool it was 1:12 when I walked in. By 1:17 pm I was in the water and at 1:37 I was out and in the shower. At 2:02 I was unlocking my car. That's an hour.... that is also the horrible thing about swimming, when I am finally back up to an hour of swimming in 4-5 weeks, thursday night with Sam at a masters class, it's 2 -2.5 hours out of my day.
While I was swimming the one and only "speed" that I could, I was telling myself that all swim workouts through April 19th would be for recovery purposes so I might as well focus on stroke techinique and I spent the better part of the 1000 yards doing some skills and drills and trying to get maximum distance per stroke. I decided that maximum distance per stroke would be my focus on the way back to swim fitness.
I ran 4.5 this morning on the treadmill while it continued to pour cats and dogs here in the Northeast and no sooner did I finish running and quickly headed out the door to work did the water table hit its limit in my driveway, I now have a lake in the basement. Good thing Dave got the most important things off the floor: bikes, computrainer, treadmill up in the air on the 15% incline. I do not want to look in the laundry room... it is not going to be a pretty site. It looks like I am getting my wish to get back into moving through water in more ways than one.
It's official: I am three weeks out of the Boston marathon today.
It's been a long winter, very long.
Finished my last 20 yesterday, it's a really good feeling, I think. I don't think I have quite mentally digested my preparation leading up to the race in three weeks. I think I know the reason for this. Being the chronic over-achiever that I am, my preparation for Boston should have been a mileage ramp up, a progression in miles tolerated, a significant build towards the race. Due to medical complications this year, that didn't happen. I should consider it a miracle that I could maintain mileage that resembled my build for the fall marathon. A mess of 13's-14's. 16. 17. 18. (2) 20's, another 16-17 next weekend before I officially taper down. Certainly enough long runs. Some really good tempo runs (not a fan) but I did them. A solid half marathon with a PR last weekend, so what am I crying about? I did the work, somewhere within however, I am wondering if it enough. This is normal I suppose. On the brink of taper I have consoled many an athete that their preparation was as it should be and the race will be solid and they will be physically ready. My long runs were not done with the same zeal. I didn't get as many fast finish long runs in, nor mid week longer runs in the 10-12 mile range (work getting in the way of training haha) and I'm nervous. Then I scold at myself for being nervous. The goal was to get to Boston. The goal was to become a better runner, my goal should be to show up at Boston with a smile on my face at the start line, ready to embrace whatever mother nature throws at me. I have had a lot of success over the past couple of years with running. Am I afraid of failure? What does that mean for me really? I need to start get excited about this race. It seems kind of unreal to me, qualifying and breaking 3:45 seemed almost impossible a couple of years ago. Today, I am very comfortable running 8:30 pace for a race for an extended period. Last week taught me that, I was comfortable at 8:18's holding back in the Park. I think the fear comes from not knowing what to expect about the race course itself in Boston. You can't really count on the weather. It could be cold, it could be cold and windy, it could be cold, windy and rainy (and I should be really comfortable in these horrible conditions after this winter!) or it could be totally warm, uncharacteristic 75-80 degrees and I'll be completely unacclimated. It could be perfect (50's and sunny with a tailwind!) I hope!!!! Control what you can, let go of what you can't. I do not have any control over the weather, just my attitude on that day and leading up to it. This is what I am working hard on now.
Yesterday's 20 was done on the greenbelt trail from Hecksher Park to Vets Hwy and back. M.E. and Mike graciously met me for the first half. Originally, they were going to run the second half with me but only running those trails once, I wasn't comfortable with the route and after starting out, I definitely would have gotten lost on my way out of the park. I am also more comfortable suffering alone. When I hit the pain cave, I can't talk, not that they would have minded. If you run and run long, you know the mental state you slide into when you are suffering. When racing I have to get through this state alone so I like to mimic that in practice as well. We ran the first 9.5 comfortably- the trails were a bit ravaged from the major storm a few weeks ago but the back half was great heading out. Lots of runners yesterday on a chilly overcast day. It was nice to run somewhere totally different than the loops around my house. Sometimes you just need to do that. Running back I hit a nice rhythm. I had no idea what my pace was, I charged the garmin the night before but when I turned the computer off, somehow the garmin powered on so I had a dead battery Sunday morning. I was old school with the watch and that was fine. Pace is always a little slower in the trails but it's also a little easier on the joints. The first 3 and change went by pretty quickly, I hit the house in Connectquot Park and did my second gel at mile 13 and I knew from running out that I had 6.3 to go to get back. The next three went by pretty smoothly, the last three I was in the cave. Wind in my face, legs tired, pushing through. I knew that if I ran for 3:15 I would get the twenty. By 3:10 I was ready to call it a day but I pushed through and finished that last bit to hit 20. Mission accomplished.
When I got home I went straight for my bed and actually slept for a full hour! Napping rules, why hadn't I done that before! I felt soooooooo much better when I woke up. Showered, ate, got ready for Charlie's farwell party. Enjoyed some great sushi, a few brews and some great company last night sending "the mayor" off to the military. Charlie is leaving for the military on Wednesday and will be gone for the better part of two years. I will miss him severely, he is a truly good friend, like a brother to me. For 10 weeks at basic there is no contact other than snail mail. I will write. It will be so weird to not have him here for all of our outdoor adventures and family gatherings. I will miss calling him on my way to work at 7 am (who else can you talk to at that hour?) and shooting the breeze over training and life. Good luck Chaz Rey, get through the brutal special ops training and get your arse back home!
One of the largest hurdles people have in committing to exercise is finding the time. This goes for the novice just starting an exercise program to a more veteran exerciser that is contemplating a first ironman or a fourth ironman (yeah, I'm still contemplating and I and contemplating the time committment). The key to being successful in accomplishing your goal (weight loss, a first 5k, 10k, half or full marathon, triathlon or ironman) is to plan your time so that you can accomplish your goal. This requires a weekly effort. Time management is not a skill that everyone picks up on right away, in fact, I find that most people manage time in the least efficient way possible and I can honestly say that because I have literally met with thousands of people in my experience as a physiologist, trying to help them to make exercise a priority in an already busy life.
Everyone is busy.
"Not having enough time" is an excuse.
Stop making excuses. It really is as simple as that.
If you are honest with yourself about the goal that you want to accomplish you will make the time to incorporate better eating habits and exercise into your daily life. In fact, when I first prescribe an exercise program to someone who has not been doing any regular exercise for an extended period, I spend the first 10 minutes with the person managing their time for them to incorporate exercise into their daily lives with the least amount of disruption as possible. As a coach, I manage endurance athletes' time for them by setting up a training schedule that works best with career and family commitments. Recently, I had to snap a long time athlete of mine back to reality concerning training and working. This highly motivated overachiever fits workouts in daily, yet everytime I read the feedback on the training schedule I provide, workouts are flipped/ switched around and/or doubled. There is flexibility in a training schedule but there are also limits. If an athlete is constantly having to flip days, stack workouts, miss workouts and/or try to make things up there is no plan. It's haphazard training and that's not something I can take someone's money for. I point blank told this athlete that every Sunday night, he needs to send me his work schedule for the week so that on the days where he has late nights or long meetings, I can schedule the workouts so that quality workouts are not missed and speed days are not stacked together negating recovery. Of course this requires communication, lots of it, but thats what you pay a coach for, to figure out the training schedule to help lead you to where you ultimately want to go. It's a rare person that can see and coach themselves objectively, sometimes you need someone to really bring your weaknesses to the forefront. No sugar coating. This particular athlete has been with me for over 5 years now and the reason he has stayed with me for so long is number one- I helped him accomplish many life long goals and secondly, I tell him like it is. Sometimes it's not what he wants to hear but I wouldn't be a good coach if I wasn't honest.
I'll share with you some of my time management hurdles.
I work three jobs, literally. I teach full time and I work part time as a physiologist at Brookhaven National Lab and I coach endurance athletes on a year round basis. With the advent of the spring/summer/fall racing seasons, my coaching clientel picks up significantly. I love it all. I am extremely lucky that I love everything I do on a daily basis. My teaching colleagues often wonder how I have the energy to go to the lab and work after work, but it's really not work to me, I fully enjoy my time helping people to accomplish their goals. Sure, I'm tired some days- I have to fit marathon training and racing into this schedule and I am the mother to a very acitive 8 year old and the wife of a very successful CPA and triathlete. Never do I use work as an excuse to miss training. I also don't miss anything that my son or husband need to do, family is extremely important, the most important. I work the exercise around it. I am considering starting a PhD program in science edcation next fall and I will still train. How?
I look at my schedule for the week and then I compare it to the training I need to accomplish. I then fit the training in during the hours that are most convenient, even if it's not the ideal time for me (like early mornings). Sometimes you just have no choice.
First, figure out the days where you have the most time to exercise, these become the longer endurance days and for the career minded, that usually falls on the weekends. Long rides on Saturdays, long runs on Sundays. Lots of times I like to take Monday off to have my legs recover but sometimes I can't, you have to take that into account too. Tuesdays I run while Van is at his gymnastics class, I have an hour fifteen minutes. Wednesdays are free in the afternoons. Thursdays are rough, I work an 11 hour day so I get up early, very early, because I have to. Plans on friday afternoon, yep it's another early day and will I get up early? YES- the only other option is to not train and that is not an option for me.
Here's your homework: look at your work and family schedule for the rest of the week. Write down the time of day that works best for you to train. Lunch hour? Before work? After? the time of day doesn't matter, what matters is that you do it. Write it down in your agenda, make an appointment with yourself and stick to it. You'll feel a ton better that you accomplished this little goal and doing it week after week will make it a habit and less like a chore, you might actually enjoy yourself!
Now get out there and train!
50's at the start and clear, you can't ask for better running weather! Had a great week of training leading up to the half:
Monday: 10, last 2 at goal pace
Tuesday: 5 easy
Wed: rest
Thurs: Yoga, 5 easy
Friday: 3 and change at goal pace
Saturday: 40 minute easy spin to flush the legs out and get the circulation going
Sunday: Race! 13.1 in 1:49:01. FINALLY broke the 1:50:00 barrier and I felt AWESOME!
Met Jenn, Mike and M.E. at our favorite park and ride at 5:15 this morning, hello 4 am wake up call! Jenn was gunning to break 1:37 to automatically qualify for NYC marathon. Mike, 7 weeks out of meniscus surgery was happily running M.E. pace and M.E. knowing and stating that she was feeling in 1:48 shape. That's an awesome thing. Number one, knowing herself so well that she can accurately predict what she'll run that day and Number two, stating her goal out loud. That's really important, that confidence in training, preparation and racing strategy is incredible, and it's always down to the minute. Example:
me: "what time is sunrise? 7 am?"
M.E.: "6:58"
me: laughing hard because she is so damn precise in her preparation for training and racing that not only can she accurately predict what time she will run that day but her data stretches out to accurate sunrise times as well. LOL... classic M.E.
My goals? To run well. I knew I was at least in shape enough to hold 8:30's. I figured, start out at 8:30's in the park, and if still feeling good after leaving mile 8 from the park, pick up the pace for the last 5 miles. Looks like the dreaded tempo runs are paying off, the park felt easy, I had to hold myself back! M.E. helped to reconfigure my garmin so I could see my average pace. So helpful! Garmin read 8:18's for the first 8 miles in the park (I have a 5-7 sec lag so really it was like an 8:25 avg for the first 8. Knowing my garmin tends to over shoot the distance by .3 miles (this is all the time.... 6.2 is 6..5, 13.1 is 13.4) I use the regular lap split watch on the other hand so I can see what my real miles are:
8:17
8:26
8:27
8:33
8:21
8:37 (can you tell where the big hills are? haha)
8:17
8:28
8:20
8:10
8:10
8:04
and the 0.1: 8:52
Heart rates averaged 165 through mile 9 then climbed to 174 over the last 4, yeah, I pushed it. I wanted that sub 1:50! Breaking 1:45 on a flat course in the fall is within my reach! I have accomplished a big chunk of life goals for running in the last year:
Qualify for Boston- check
Build confidence in my running- check
Become a better runner- half a check (still working on this but as M.E. says, I'm "out of the dog pound")
I still have a long way to go, I think I can run faster. I am going to suck up the experience of Boston and enjoy running 26.2 from Hopkinton to Boston as much as I am able to, whatever the day throws at me I'll be fine with. The goal was to get there, everything else is just icing. Less than 4 weeks!
Recap for the crew:
M.E. and just out of surgery Mike: 1:48
Myself: 1:49 and a PR
Jenn: 1:34! Freaking AWESOME, what a runner, so talented!
K.B.: 1:37
Smiles all around.
Congratulations everyone!
Sunday:
11 am, actually 12 noon after procrastinating all morning I was dressed for the crappy weather and ready to go out for 3+ hours of running. I went to bed last night by 9 pm and I slept for 12 hours.... holy cow I don't remember the last time I did that! Had to go out for coffee this morning, we lost power for a good 24 hours after the wicked nor'easter on Saturday, read a little bit, bantered with Dave about which one of us was going out to train in this nasty weather first. It was still raining but more drizzle and mist and the wind wasn't hurricane force today. I stood on the deck with my hip pack attached, gels ready, extra bottle to plant, strapping my garmin on when I turned around and looked at my son on the couch. Bored out of his mind, disappointed that I would be gone for 3 or more hours and also knowing I would be good for nothing when I came back. I took the garmin off, unstrapped the belt and said to him: "Want to go to the aquarium?" his face lit up, I knew I made the right decision.
I spent three hours at the aquarium with an excited 8 year old boy that loved petting the sting rays and feeding them, gawked and marveled at sharks and penguins, and we had a great time. Why do I feel so guilty then?
Am I that much a slave to the exercise I do? How much of life am I missing while I am running 3 hours every weekend? (not really but I haven't run less than 2 hours on a weekend since I can remember).... I think maybe there were two or three weekends where I was sick that I couldn't run long, other than that I have been doing this since..... last May. I expect these feelings in a way, I have three to four more weeks of hard and long miles but I still don't feel like I'm putting in the same anount of training that I would be in July/August(*duh...because I'm not riding 150 miles per week or swimming three to four days on top of marathon training*). The miles are there, I guess that's what counts. I've never gone into a long endurance race like a marathon with a non-priority attached to it. It's weird. I just go as fast as I can and I am confident of the miles and training I put in, I'm not sure about this one, especially since seeing "race weight" may not happen until August! Note to self: DO NOT get on the scale 20 minutes after eating dinner!
Grumpy.... I'm definitely grumpy. Maybe I need a day off....maybe it's good the electricity was out because I would be on the treadmill or the trainer out of guilt for not moving and because I think I am tipping the scale a bit too much for my own liking. Early to bed, early to rise, I'm running by 4:30 am on Monday.
Monday:
By 1:10 on this song I'm out of bed. The Joshua Tree is my favorite album of all time, nothing tops it and the lead in to this song is the perfect alarm wake up, subtle and I can ignore it until it really starts to kick in around 1:18. If I make it to "I want to run, I want to hide, I wanna tear down the walls that hold the insides..." I'm really in a coma and by then David is all "get up, what the heck?" and I'm all stumbling out of bed trying to shut the thing off but somehow managing to just crank up the volume. Anyway, knowing I am getting out of bed at 4 am, I was hitting the "off" button by no less than 20 seconds in. I creep out of the bedroom to realize that David is already up, I see the light on in the office, somehow knowing he has been up and working already makes me realize I don't have it so bad. Clothes, toast, coffee, headlamp out the door by 4:30 am. It's dark, what else is new? It's drizzling, of course! No wind though, there's that. And I'm not totally freezing my arse of in the rainy dark of the early morning, there's that too. My original plan was to split run today. Run as much as I can in the am then run some more in the pm. By mile 5 I realize I can fit 10 in and by mile 8 I'm starting to realize that 10 is enough and I will not be running in the afternoon so I crank it up and finish the last couple of miles at just shy of goal pace (8:38's- It's 4:30 am when I started this run, gimme a break alright?). Shower, get ready, get Van ready, make lunches, get in car, speed off to work, realize 5 miles down the road that I forget my lunch on the counter and I've got no cash, realize also that I forgot the morning meds... figures. Feeling good that I got 10 in early and it was quality and I want to save my legs for Sundays NYC half marathon. I just ran 20 long the weekend before, 10 now, half on Sunday hard, still leaves plenty 'o time for a mega 21-whatever the weekend after and then blessed taper, I think. I thought that last fall too and then I ended up running 13 at marathon pace and 5 easy after it 2 weeks before but I'll once again trust in Kel and my running buddies M.E. and K.B. who have listened to me whine and bitch more this winter than I think ever. How the freak do y'all do this sh!t every winter? hahahahahahaha, I have to laugh, it's either that, or over the edge to insanity. Want to go to the aquarium?
Rough day at the office. Lab spill behind me, student squeezes bottle too hard, splashing hydrogen peroxide up into a kids face who had goggles on his forehead but not over his eyes, use the eyewash, try not to freak out, send kid to nurse, call mother, try to keep her from freaking out. Then freaking out about the kid and the parents and what more I could have done to prevent that. Me and 28 kids, thinking maybe it's too many to do real science and thinking that if that's the way, then I'm out of teaching. Throw another kid out for being way too fresh, I don't tolerate any form of back talk or disrespect and I think this was the first time all year I had to give a student the heave ho. Finish review eigth period, clean up, lock up, wait, where are my keys? Turn the room inside and out.... no where. Did one of the students steal my keys???? HORROR- really bad feelings... hoping the lab aide has them but really thinking that I just experienced some retaliation for managing adolescent behavior. Grumpy, day 2. Thinking back to my childhood, in tears, looking for something lost and not finding it and hearing my mothers voice: "say the prayer to St. Anthony to help you find what you lost and then let it go". I thought about this before I went to sleep, said a short prayer and immediately drifted off.
Tuesday:
I woke up with a much better attitude and mindset. Testing day for biochemical processes. Haven't graded them yet but I have a good feeling the students got it. Add a few plus signs and a yield sign in and use the word "equation" and all hell breaks loose, yet ask them what a plant needs to survive and what it gives off to the atmosphere and keeps for itself and they know the answer. Mind boggling. Thank God I don't teach math!
Labe aide comes in at 12, "did you find a set of keys?", she checks her lab coat pocket, 2 sets, one is mine. Thank you St. Anthony! Hydrogen Peroxide student is AOK, mother not worried, ejected student apologizes and was wondering why the dean's were asking him if he had a set of keys..... Mrs. G had a good night's sleep, finishing the day with my community service Interact students who are totally gung ho about the clean up and plant in and walking out the door to a beautiful 60 degree day. Recovery run in the park, dead legs but nice and easy, no agida tonight!
Actually, what the researchers consider to be new, exercise physiologists have known for years out of practice. However, if you are a reference hound, I can give you a few more:
The main goals of the many individuals that come to me for an exercise plan are to lose weight and increase stamina. Typically, when a person comes in for a consult with me and wants to lose weight, the first thing I show them is this:
The five pound fat model. With the average person needing to shed 15-20 pounds, it's quite startling to hold the 5 pound model, to see how much it actually is. Then I tell them to burn 1 pound of this fat, they need to shed 3500 cals per week, then I discuss exercise, the typical recreational workout burns 250 -300 cals in the 30-40 minutes and if they only workout 3 days per week, roughly 750 cals, the eyes go REALLY wide because 750 cals leaves 2750 cals that must be changed through diet modification to lose that one pound of fat, it's an eye opener. While exercising 5 days per week will burn an additional 500, there is still much left to be changed throughout the week concerning eating habits, so basically the more frequently you exercise the better.....5 days of cardiovascular exercise for 30-40 minutes, leaves 2250 cals divided by 7, roughly 320 cals worth of diet changes and for most Americans that equates to getting rid of 2 soda drinks per day. It's doable.
When I prescribe an exercise program I always include 2-3 days of interval training, even for a recreational exerciser that hasn't worked out in a while. Why? It's aerobic intervals and secondly I explain that they will burn more calories in the 30 minutes doing some interval training than they will just exercising "comfortably" for 30-40 minutes. Using the RPE (rating of perceived exertion) method is best. Fairly light exercise is for warm up, a pace and effort that can be held for an hour easily. You should gradually build pace and effort over 5-10 minutes to a "somewhat hard" pace, and effort that is challenging but you can finish/hold it for 20 minutes. The last 5 minutes serve as a warm down, working backwards on the pace/effort scale to return to "fairly light" by the end, workout completed. For many people that haven't exercised in awhile, holding a somewhat hard pace for 20 minutes can be difficult. Enter aerobic interval training. Examples:
10 x 1 minute fast/harder; 1 min easy in between
5 x 2 minutes harder/1 minute easy in between
4 x 3 minutes faster/2 minutes recovery in between
Aerobic intervals will burn more calories and vary the workouts to keep them from getting boring. Intervals also help with progression of exercise in that the more fit you get, you can accomplish more work during the intervals than you did before, still challenging yourself to greater fitness. A major mistake many recreational exercisers make is sticking with the same exact routine and intensity year in year out. The human body is extremely adaptable, the same routine and intensity will become quite efficient for you after 6-8 weeks, it's time to progress or just plan on plateauing and staying right where you are.
Intervals are traditionally thought as workouts geared towards athletes but that isn't true, of course all athletes benefit from interval training at the right time, the same plateau in fitness applies to anyone not challenging themselves and moving out of the comfort range. The only problem with intervals and athletes is that the "more is better" philosophy creeps in, more isn't better- 3 days of intervals equates to one swim interval workout (although swimming, supported by the water will allow you to interval each time you get in the water vs. cycling or running), one bike interval workout and one run interval workout, the rest should be steady state, intervals require recovery and you need to allow your body time to do that to adapt to the exercise. See the pacing guidelines link on the right for more information on this.
In summary, interval training will definitely vary workouts, decrease the amount of time you spend a couple of days a week and improve your stamina and glucose tolerance (for those with borderline diabetes), steady state exercise must also be incorporated as well, for enhanced fat metabolism and improved lipid panels (1). You need the best of both worlds: 2 days of intervals, two-three days of steady state aerobic exercise. Now get out there and train!
Yeah, I've got a thing for the Black Eyed Peas lately, whatever gets me going when I don't feel like it. My conscious will not allow me to slack and take a day off when I have a run scheduled but I almost did today. Had a stressful couple of days yesterday and today, and don't I know it that the running relieves the stress like nothing else but occasionally I get stressed out about the running as well so it adds to the stress of the day. Today was one of those days. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that I skipped a run however, so at 7:05 pm, I dragged my arse down to the treadmill for the scheduled easy 5-6 miler with 6-8 x 30 sec strides at the end. Having just eaten dinner an hour before, the first 25 minutes were not entirely comfortable, it took me 30 minutes just to warm and loosen up and by then I knew I had less than 2 miles left. By 7:48 I was off the treadmill having finished the last few minutes with 8 strides at 8:00 minute pace and they finally kicked the endorphins in, that and hitting replay on "Let's get it started" a few times, love this song. Love this video too, although no matter how much I run, I can't quite get myself to match Fergie's body. First, the closest I came to having a chest like that was when I was nursing my son as an infant and that only lasted a few months. I know, I know, "be happy to be me", I do have a fit, extremely low fat body, particularly around race time and back in the early 90's I had another body role model:
Linda Hamilton in Terminator
I was lifting alot of weights then and I did sculpt my body to look as close to this as I could get. Even now I visulize where I want to be physically and this image pops up in my head (not the real guns- although she does look like a BAMF), for me, being asthetically fit is important, especially now that I'm rounding on 40. For some men, I imagine the cut muscles aren't really their thing but Dave always liked it. I guess I'm thinking about this alot because I am heading for a peak race in 5 weeks and I don't actually feel like I am in peak fitness, I feel like I am in peak fatness right now. The running is consistent but what's absent is the triathlon fitness. For the last couple of years I went into a fall marathon off a spring/summer season of swimming and biking like a maniac while running alot and I am not currently doing any swimming (I really have to hit the pool soon!) and I only bike one or two days for cross training purposes. You would think that running 35-45 miles per week would keep the extra fat off but I'm a good 5-6 pounds heavier than my race weight. With Boston so close now I can't suddenly start adding training hours to get the extra fat off so I can race as lean as possible, a three hour ride tomorrow will screw up the long run on Sunday, mostly because I haven't really ridden all that much. Plus, I am looking forward to running mileage taper in a couple of weeks which circles my thoughts back around to my current weight. Sigh, I'll really have to start paying attention to what I eat. Not that I eat poorly, but I have to cut back on the portions, hidden calories and snacks, just a bit to burn the extra 500 cals per day needed to lose a pound per week or slightly more to drop 5-6 pounds by race day and yes, I have it to lose. So, no junk, 5 weeks, no guiness *gasp!!* have to cut back on the extra calories there too, no 1/2 and 1/2 in the coffee and I'm cutting back the coffee too. Time to get real and feel better. Let's get is started in here...
Get over yourself (I kind of like this one best, but I guess it can be obnoxious)
I was trying to think of a good title for this post today but I just kept coming up with these idioms. Most of the time I have a fairly flexible schedule but lately, with Van's after school activities increasing and the demands of work, additional work and family, I am struggling to find the time to fit everything in. Consequently, my time management skills are being put to great use but what I find is that I am left with little choice (read chance to procrastinate) certain workouts during the week.
Sunday's 20 left my legs pretty tired. I took Monday completely off but my legs didn't feel too bad. On Tuesday, I had roughly 40 minutes in between dropping Van off at gymnastics and having to get back to work for my Interact Club's freshman orientation so I hit Indian Island Park for a quick loop. There was nothing quick about it. My legs had nothing, zilch. So I cruised around the park easy, got 4 miles in raced home for a quick shower and back to work. Normally, Wednesday would be a riding day and Thursday a tempo run day but I had to change my schedule a bit and now Thursdays have become a 10 hour work day so that leaves Wednesday as the only day to run tempo this week. Friday is a no can do, not if I plan on running long and well on Sunday again, I learned my lesson last week!
I wasn't sure what my legs would have today and I decided to leave the HR strap at home. I didn't want my HR to dictate pace today, I wanted to run a certain pace for 5 miles and I didn't want to slow myself down based on HR. I cruised out easy for the first mile, legs not too bad, but already I was wondering if I was going to make 5 miles between half and full marathon pace today. It doesn't sound that bad but my half marathon pace is pretty close to my threshold these days and I have to concentrate. It's a hard workout, not a lung busting 10k effort that leaves you napping for the rest of the day but hard enough that you feel worked. Sometimes The majority of the time, I fear that work.
Not the short stuff, no way. I love seeing 400's and 800's on my schedule. Even mile repeats. Staying power or ability to hold the pace for a sustained length of time has always been a limiter for me so of course I don't look forward to the 5 mile tempo effort, that's a long way to go in practice, pushing hard, all by yourself, at least for me. This is what I was thinking about that first warm up mile. Then I saw my shadow. Saw myself cruising along during warm up at 9:20 pace and my shadow looked effortless, then I decided that my shadow was too slow, time for turnover, the garmin clicked off the first mile and I picked up my pace.
During that second mile I started playing the head games...."maybe I'll just do 5 x 1 mile at this pace, still 5 miles and I'll get a quarter mile rest in between"....."how about 10 x 800's?" nah.... how about 2 x 2 miles with a half mile easy in between then the last mile faster for the 5 miles?", I turned into the wind on Sound Ave. heading east. My shadow, looking rather slow and sluggish on my left, have to turn those feet over more and that's when I just decided to let go. The second mile turned into the third mile, up and down the hills on the oil field road, slowing up to 8:45's going up, speeding up to 7:50's going down, another half mile and then turn around, another half mile and it's 4 miles then it's just 2 fast back to make the 5 tempo, then I realized I could do this. I could run the 5 strong. "Got this" ~ that's my mantra when I hit the last 4-5 miles of the "twenty mile smack down" as M.E. puts it, and it was my mantra over the last 2 miles today, "Got this" still convincing myself. Wind at my back for a very short period of time, turning left back towards Van's gym, half mile to go, then I can slow down. Half mile to go of pushing. Garmin hit 6.0, made it, chance to run easy, comfortable again. Breathing slows, HR coming down, endorphins fully kicking in. 7 miles stop.
I was afraid of this workout, I could have cheated around it and not done it but I would be cheating myself. I did what I find most difficult to do outside of a race situation. I raced myself today and I won.
** I have decided that this training report will count as my "Global Warming, My Ass!* 6.66 Mile Run". I just finished my mid week runs with a 5 miler tonight, easy, with some strides at the end. I have 22-23 to run this Sunday: Boston is 5 weeks out, NYC half marathon one week out. I decided it was not a good idea to run another 6.66 tempo run before the long run this Sunday and if you read my report above, I willed myself through 5 tempo on Wednesday. SO, this is the way it will play out for me: last Sunday's 20 miler finished with the last 2 miles progressive to goal pace. I am taking that last mile (8:30 pace) and tacking it onto the 5 mile tempo workout above where I averaged 8:20's AND, the .66 will come from the strides at 8:00 min/mile pace I did tonight at the end of my 5 easy. So there you have it: 8:20 pace/55:30 for the GW,MA*6.66 Mile Run. :)
I have to admit that I had a healthy fear of the long haul today. I've been mentally gearing up for it for the past two weeks, especially after the sick, body meltdown of an 18 two weeks ago. The fear came from uncertainty as to whether or not my IT Bands (and my glutes, MAN was I arse sore the past 2 days from Fridays workout!!!) would choose to hold up today. I had great runs all week so I was willing to take the twenty on the road and I really wanted/needed to get in a solid twenty. When the ITBs kick back up, the soft surface of the trail and the constant lateral movement adjustments take the pressure off them. Since it was such a beautiful day, low 50's (what!!) I took my first jacketless, gloveless run since November down Peconic Bay Blvd. for a favorite out and back run. It was so nice to actually be hot during a run for a change!
I mentally broke the 20 miler into 5 mile chunks. Started out with a bottle of water and my unflavored hammer gels. Did a gel at each 5 mile mark but it wasn't quite enough today. Ran out of my favorite Heed drink so I had to make do with the water and the gel. Felt a bit bonky at the 14 mile mark and pit stopped at a deli. I never drink gatorade, harsh on my stomach but let me tell you, that orange syrupy G2 was like the best drink I ever had. Felt some zip back in my legs (and a bit of sloshing in my stomach and that stupid drink makes me thirsty because of the excess salt but I can't drink anymore because it's sloshing around) but it was enough to allow me to cruise the last 5 miles home. The "boss" called for an easy 20 miler today. (Is there such thing as an easy 20? I don't think so), a 'don't worry about the pace just get the miles in' kind of run, so I didn't worry about the pace, I just ran what was comfortable and theat ended up being 9:30's.
The hilly run I did friday and the strength training that didn't seem like much then came back to bite me in the ass, literally. Saturday, my butt cheeks felt like cinder blocks. While having arse cheeks as hard as cinderblocks seems like a fine idea in the tight rear end department, it's not so good for general movement. Luckily, I didn't feel them as much while running today but I am sure they contributed to some level of fatigue. In any case, I'll be stronger for it in a couple of weeks so it worked out well. HR's were a bit high today... lungs? Fatigue? Slightly dehydrated? Probably all three but the 163 average HR for the pace I was running was a bit high, that pace is more like a 145-150 bpm run normally so, whatever. My body has not been responding on the norm that much this winter, so I'll keep an eye on it and an eye on a good recovery. Hopefully my new drinks and gels will be in and I'll have to do some better bottle planting for the next long run, which, according to my schedule is only 7 days away, but I'm being flexible with that, have to listen to the body (but I don't want to wuss out either). Too bad it's not summer, where I can take a leisurely swim in the lake and then just park my arse at the beach all day for some honest recovery. No, I have to be on my feet at work all day tomorrow. 20 miles in the summer is way way different than 20 in the winter when I am working full time. For all of you full time workers out there that are full time training for the big events. Give yourself a huge pat on the back, it's freaking hard!
One minute you are curled up on your left side, down comforter and blankets molded to your body, head perfectly postitioned on your favorite pillow, in the bliss of a really good dream and the next, your shoulder is being shaken and hot breath right by your face is squeaking out "Mommy, mommy, mommy wake up, I don't feel good". Left eye slighly open I glance at the clock to see 2:02 am. Oh noooooooooo...... I don't remember signing up for this part, it's the extra fine fine print on the parenthood commitment.
From 2 am to almost 6 am there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping going on, there was a whole lot of running to the toilet going on for my little guy and a lot of moaning and hugs in between. I was holding out hope that it was a quick thing after the first round and that he would be alright and we would be able to continue with the normal Friday scheme of things, but by 4:30 am, reality set in that I was in for a long day of this and the sick call went into work. Normally, Dave would be home but today he was in the city for a hip follow up with a new physiatrist, so that left me, such is life for those with young children.
I don't like taking off from work, it's actually more work for me. I've lost a day, lost the flow of the lessons, supposed to give a big quiz on photosynthesis/cell respiration. I am sure the students were absolutely psyched, no Mrs. G- particularly after I almost lost my patience with a couple of classes. Someone reminded me that it was a full moon...I wasn't the only teacher complaining that the kids were off the richter yesterday and it's very rare I get pushed to the limit of losing my patience. You know it's a rough day when at 11:30 am you are thinking about red wine. For some reason, the 14-15 year old brain has a really difficult time wrapping their heads around these two codependent concepts. It isn't hard, truly. When you ask a student what a plant needs to live and what it gives off to the atmoshere they can name the substances. Start using the words "raw materials", "end products", throw a few "+" signs in and an --> and all hell breaks loose for the average Joe/Jane. The concept of studying doesn't go very far either, at least not for the students of my low income school district with the exception of a few per class. Then I get this message on FB today from one of my colleagues that teaches my third period lab class:
Not....a....clue...... I write it on the board in bold colors with astericks, I remind them at the start and finish of each period, I REVIEW the day before, I post it on schoolnotes.com, I use all the tips, tricks and masterful teaching I have stored in my "teaching toolbox" and yet there are the few in LA LA land "we were going to have a quiz????". Some days I want to scream at the top of my lungs "WAKE UP KIDDIES!!!! LIFE WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THIS EASY!!!!!". Where is that red wine????
Little man finally fell back to sleep around 5:30 am or so and he woke me up at 8:45 am, not much sleep. Pounding headache from being three hours late with the caffeine intake (can you say addicted to coffee????) and lots more hugs and cuddles. Around noon he felt better and I finally had enough coffee to feel ready to move the groggy body and we headed downstairs to the workout/play room. The treadmill beckoned. It was no planned 5.5 mile run in the trails of Sag Harbor with my good friend Sinead but it was a really good workout and I wanted to share what I did with you so that if you are stuck in the house on a day you didn't plan to be, you could get some enjoyment out of it like I did.
I felt like some hills today so I picked a harder program on my Tmill. It starts out at 0% then cycles through a 2% hill for a minute, a minute at 1%, then 5 minutes of 4%, 5%, 3%. Flat for 1 minute then 5%, 3% for 2 minutes before starting over again. So while the treadmill took care of the elevation, I played with the speed. Warmed up at 6.0 mph for 5 minutes, then decided to do 5 minute intervals at 6.3, 6.5 and 6.8. Today was supposed to be an easy 5-6 miler so I didn't want to be running anywhere near threshold at speeds over 7.0 mph at a 5% elevation. I thought of today at "aerobic hill training" and I felt great! After the first 20 minutes, I repeated the same speeds at 4 minute intervals, then 3 minute intervals, then 2 minute intervals. It was a great rolling, hilly workout for 6 miles, the time flew by and I enjoyed rocking out to Audreye Sessions, and Coldplay today.
With a relatively easy day today (although 8:45's and a 5% hill is not exactly easy, that particular interval didn't last too long) for running and a recovery spin tomorrow before the long haul for 20 on Sunday, I strength trained as well and it was a good quick workout with a mix of regular and functional strength.
Seated chest press to fatigue
Plie' squats with upright row
One legged squats
Bent over row on one leg
Hip drops
Box jumps
Single leg pelvic lifts
Side lying leg raise to fatigue
Slow motion bicycle crunches
Hip raises
Then I did my favorite dynamic running stretches, many of which mirror the poses I posted a few days ago in the Runners World video and a few extra favorites to loosen up my ever tight hips.
Day 2 of running this week and I feel GREAT, the runners high is back, my legs are back, confidence creeping back too. I went to my allergy doc today and had a PFT (pulmonary function test) and a general check up. I was supposed to start allergy shots today but after I told him about the events the last four weeks, he was unsure whether to proceed. Lungs were clear, O2 saturation back up to 100%, I feel well.... so he said let's test and compare to your norm. Once again, even though my results were WNL, my FEV1 was .5 Liters lower than normal so while I feel 100 times better, I am not quite there yet. FEV1 is the amount of air that can be forcibly expelled from the lungs in one second. It is a very important value in diagnosing obstructive or restrictive diseases of the lungs. I fall into the 'restrictive' category and since my FEV1 was just at the cusp of normal at 80%, it still wasn't the 3.5-3.7 L I normally am and if my doc wasn't comfortable with injecting me with minute allergens today to begin desentitizing my immune system, then I was perfectly fine with that as well. I would also like my vital capacity back to my norm too so hopefully by next week.
I found out some other interesting information with the ongoing asthma saga. Seeking out complentary medical treatment, one of my new docs suggested N-acteylcysteine as a supplement to reduce and thin out some of the mucous I tend to build up as a result of the chronic inflammation in my lungs. Not knowing much about it, I researched its efficacy and then started thinking about some of the other supplements I take. When I saw the new doc a week ago, he asked me what was new in the last year or two, I couldn't think of anything at the time. Researching the efficacy of the new supplement started me thinking about the efficacy of some others I take and if there may be any conflicts. I typed in "asthma and glucosmine and chondroitin" and check this out:
WOW.
WHOA.
Direct quote from one of the links reviewing the contraindications of Glucosamine and Chondroitin in patients with diagnosed asthma: "Asthma. Some cases of worsening asthma have been reported after taking glucosamine and/or chondroitin supplements. Asthma patients should not take these supplements except under a physician’s supervision, according to the Natural Standard Research Collaboration (NSRC)."
Good to know. Now.
Just so you know, all my docs know I have been taking this supplement. To be fair, there really isn't much research outside of a few case studies on single individuals that show that glucosamine and chondroitin can exacerbate asthma. Researching like I do, I found one specific case study, an interesting article touching on a possible contraindication and one other for a possible biochemical mechanism. The full text in this article, sites the one specific case study I sited. So there really isn't much research, yet. To spare you the scientific jargon of the mechanism they think it works like this: Glucosamine and chondroitin boost cartilage formation. Excess of either will travel to parts of the body where cartilage is plentiful. Good for knees, backs, hips, but guess where you find a whole lot of cartilage? Ribs and lungs. Asmatics tend to naturally secrete excess chondroitin sulfate within the inflammation of restricted airways. So while I thought I was protecting my joints from the pounding forces of running, I have actually been poisoning myself by adding MORE of cartilage based sulfates to my lung tissue. EFFIN GREEAAAAATTTTTTTT.
Why was I taking G & C for the past two years? Dave started taking it for the osteoarthritis in his hips. There is tons of research that shows the efficacy of doing this to protect the joints and weakening cartliage. G & C is also considered to be a natural anti-inflammatory. I thought by taking a natural anti-inflammatory, I could cut down on the NSAIDS I was taking after long rides/runs to cope with the tissue breakdown and I did but at a cost. Who knew? Not me! Not my docs certainly and why would they? There isn't much medical research on it, yet. There will be, why? I pursued this train of thought with my asthma doc today and while he agreed that there isn't much research, many of the recommendations in the medical community occur because of case studies like mine, or the one linked above. I will pursue this with my new internist and my primary doc and any other medical/allied professional that will listen. Upon reading the links above and researching what I could find, I immediately stopped taking the glucosamine/chondroitin supplement that night. Since then, 2 days ago now? NO CHEST TIGHTNESS, no wheezing, no inhaler use. I feel good for the first time in a really long time. Coincidence? Maybe, but I'm not taking any chances.
As athletes or healthy people just looking to stay healthy and optimal, dietary supplements are a big part of many peoples daily fitness routine. From now on I'll stick with the fish oils to reduce the inflammation and keep it simple with the Vitamin's E, C, my multi and a few other bonafide asthma related supplements that are supported by the NIH. I have a feeling that Vit D will be added as soon as my latest round of blood work comes back as a D deficiency can lead to autoimmune disorders like asthma. If I wasn't always curious, I never would have stumbled across valuable information like this. Always be your own advocate, research everything, never stop learning.
This is where I ran today, beautiful right? If you live where I do, it's about a 10 minute drive. Sometimes I run the three miles there, loop the park and run back, other times like today, I park at Indian Island and loop the 3 miles a couple of times. The snow was gone, the trails were clear, the day was longer! Longer!!! I noticed the extra light last night when I took Van to basketball practice, we pulled in the school parking lot at 5:55 and it was still light out! After months of running in the dark at 4:30 it made me so happy to realize that when I ran today, I would finish the entire run in the light, sometimes it's the small things that make the biggest difference.
Today was supposed to be an easy 5-6 miler. I went out without the garmin, no pace, no HR, just run easy right? Wrong. Apparently I need the data the reign myself in. Halfway through the first loop I realized that I was running A LOT faster than easy pace but you know what? For the first time in almost 4 weeks I actually felt good, I could breathe! What an amazing thing oxygen is! I passed a fellow runner clipping along in the opposite direction and wondered if I would see him along the three mile loop again. Running past the water, through the trees to some really good music, I held onto the pace. First three miles 26:30. Whoops. I slowed myself down, relaxed the muscles into the run, IMMA BE pops on and I'm running fast again, slowed up for Admiration by Incubus, sped up for Crystalised by The XX, then I passed 'other runner in the opposite direction' again at the same spot and realised I was running pretty much the same speed anyway. Hooking a right turn out of the mile loop section I spotted runner number 2, clearly a very quick high school XC runner heading into the mile loop.... yeah I didn't slow down, in fact I'm pretty sure I sped up. Why? For the same reason I do it when I am ahead of Dave and Larry on the bike (not that this happens very often), it's a "I know they are going to catch me but let's see how hard I can get them to work to do it". It's the competitiveness in me, I just can't help it! He was clearly running well under 7's when I saw him, you can just tell by looking at certain runners and how fluid and effortless they look running fast, that was this kid. I just had the feeling that he was pushing himself to catch me, he did, about three quarters of a mile later and he went by me like I was standing still and it was awesome to see and equally awesome to work hard to stay ahead that little bit longer. Totally fun, endorphins were flowing, hit the second three mile split at 26:00 minutes flat and cruised the last six back to the car to warm down. An unexpected tempo run today but welcome and even better, I don't need to do the 2 x 3 mile goal pace efforts I had planned on Thursday now, mission accomplished 2 days earlier. I will be wearing the garmin tomorrow however, to keep the easy 4-6 miler easy!
