That Time I Tried Something New...

...And actually liked it.  Who would have thought?!

For anyone that knows me, I can be... "fussy" about trying new things.  I am all about trying something new and will go at it 100%... but that doesn't mean there won't be some complaining and judging beforehand.

I don't like not being good at things.  I don't like not knowing what I'm doing.  When it comes to exercise, I don't like having to think about what's going on.  That's why I run.  Lace up the sneaks and go.  The most tedious thing I need to figure out on my run is whether I want to snot rocket at this corner or the next one.

Anyways, Becca has been trying to get me into yoga class for a few weeks now.  I've done yoga before and each time has been a disaster.  I don't find it relaxing, I don't find it motivating and my body just isn't meant to move and jive like that.

So, yesterday morning I finally bit the bullet and ventured into yoga class at the Y.  I figured I'd give it another shot.... really just so Becca would stop nagging me about it.  And, shockingly... I enjoyed it!  The instructor was awesome and helped us adapt the poses at our own pace and ability.  It was challenging and definitely not 60 minutes of full "zen" - but it was by far the best yoga experience I've had.  Dare I say I'll be back again?

After yesterday's success, I joined Becca tonight at the Y yet again for a new-to-me class.  The official name of the class was "Power Performance Boot Camp" -- yeah, way out of my comfort zone.  Give me cardio all day long but strength training... not really my jam.

Dr. Dan would have been SO proud of me for doing this class.  I haven't lunged and push-up'd and mountain climbed and crunched and high knee'd so much... ever.  It was hard, I felt like I was in high school gym class, and it kicked my butt.  BUT... I enjoyed it!  It was fast paced and doing it with a friend made it more fun and bearable.

So would you look at that.  Two days, two new experiences, and two positive outcomes.  Who would have thought.

awkwardly taken picture trying to capture the YMCA in the background. we are so cool.

How to Survive the Black Plague

Nine whole days out of commission and I've learned a thing or two about how to (mostly) survive being knocked on my butt by the flu.

Lesson 1:  Don't freak out that you missed an entire week of running and working out.

Week one of training is a wash.  No getting around it.  Embrace the week of the black plague and put a big ol' X thru week one on the calendar.

Lesson 2:  Rely on your friends!

Obviously I didn't learn lesson one on my own.  These three ladies below have been the lifelines keeping me sane.

Freaking out about missing a hill run?  Text Steph, she'll calm me down.  Going stir crazy because I can't leave the house?  Call Emily, she'll take me to get some fresh air for a few hours.  Having a conniption thinking that missing one week of training sabotages my whole marathon plan?  Speed dial my therapist Becca, she'll bring me back to reality.

Lesson 3:  No mater how old you are, you're never too old for mom's sympathy.

Not as good as homemade soup and mama bringing you meds, but daily phone calls letting me cry and complain somehow makes me feel just a little bit better.

Mama! Obviously sporting a Molly's Miles shirt!

Lesson 4:  Don't let your boredom get the best of you.  

You can only watch SVU marathons and read running blogs so long until your new favorite game Bejeweled starts calling your name.

No big deal, right?  Until you play it for nine days straight, and you start to see the jewels when you close your eyes.  And you are SO bored that you even debate paying real money for extra coins.

Do people actually pay for this junk?
I WAS ALMOST ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE.

Lesson 5: When you start to feel better, EASE back into the physical activity.

This may sound pretty DUH, but it was really tempting today to lace up and go out for a run.  Today was the first day I woke up without feeling like a mack truck was sitting on my chest, so I knew I wanted to get some physical movement in. 

I hit the gym and forced myself to walk -- not run yet -- on the treadmill.  I even brought my iPad so I could watch my new favorite TV show on NBC.

Please disregard my pile of dirty tissues in the cup holder

I set the incline to 1% and the speed to 3mph and I was on my merry way.  The two girls on either side of me were running all speedy and I tried not to give them jealous dirty looks.  I walked my way through 35 minutes and let me tell you... I was tired at the end of it!  My body hadn't walked more than 100 feet in the last week and a half and here I was walking for a half hour.  Yeah, nap time happened when I got home.

1.68 miles on the week!  Woohoo!

SO moral of the story is I am well on my way back to health.  Definitely not 100%, but making enough progress to move off my couch and stop playing Bejeweled everyday.  I may not have logged any running miles my first week of training, but man was it a lesson in my mental toughness!  I've got 18 weeks ahead of me, and enough lessons learned this week thankyouverymuch that these next 18 weeks should be a breeze, right?!

Training Day One

According to my almighty training plan that I spent hours slaving over (just kidding, my buddy Hal did all the work for me), three glorious miles were supposed to be on tap to kick off marathon training today.

I had dreams last night of waking up this morning feeling miraculously better and galavanting through the streets for three miles this evening.  Sadly, the black plague is still inhabiting my body and I still feel like I got hit by a bus.  After begrudgingly listening to the advice of my older wiser running friends, I sacked my run today and logged a grand total of zero miles.

It hurt my heart a little bit to trade in my gatorade and clif bar for OJ and meds.  

The closest I got to running today was reading Runner's World magazine.  I thought maybe it would be a good second best, but it really just made me more depressed reading about running when I was sick on the couch.

What else does a sidelined wanna-be marathon runner do when they can't run?  Oh, read more about running.  After I read RW cover to cover, I spent the next portion of my afternoon checking up on all my favorite running blogs.

...Because reading about other people who are enjoying their runs today while you're on your deathbed is a sure-fire way to spiral yourself into full on "woe is me" mode.  And you know what happens when your endorphins are just waiting to fire and you're too sick to move?

You register for another race to add to your training calendar.  Because reading about other people running and registering for races is a great way to train for a marathon, right?

That's what I'm telling myself for the time being so that I don't have a full blown anxiety attack.  Training aside, I think I'm realizing how much I take running for granted... Five days without a run and I am going stir crazy - mentally AND physically!  

In the mean time, USA network knows that the second best way to calm me down is with a Law and Order SVU marathon.  Focusing on Elliott Stabler for hours on end makes it a little easier to forget about not running.

It's taking all my might not to gear up and go out and wing it for a run.  But I still have 4 months worth of training that I need to be 100% healthy for so for once in my life my self-control is superseding my impulsiveness.  Mom, look how grown up I am.

So for now, I'm keeping myself in quarantine and letting myself get better.  Hopefully I will back in working order this week so I can get some miles in before week one is officially over.  Time to pull it together, immune system!  This marathon ain't gonna run on it's own!

It's MARATHON Time!!

After a brief blogging hiatus, I am back and ready to jump into marathon training 2013!

2012 was quite the year.... I ran and biked a total of 1,257 miles, participated in 23 races, ran my first half marathon and set a new 5k pr.  Never in a million years would I have imagined I would accomplish any of those things.

...And never in a million years would I have imagined that I would starting off 2013 by training for a marathon!  I've been building my base mileage the past few weeks and am ready as I'll ever be for training to start today.

Now what would a good training cycle be if it didn't already get off to a rocky start?  I can tell you one person who is not on board with my training plans: my immune system.  Yep, I've spent the past 72 hours rotating between my bed and my couch, with this being my scenery:

Good thing training today starts with a rest day.  Best training plan ever.  Hopefully this nice weather stays around for a while, because the snow can seriously cramp my style.

You know you have great running friends when, instead of helping you up when you fall, they stop to take pictures.  Thumbs up.

My goal is to update this at least once a week so I can document my miles, my laughs, and inevitably my tears and frustrations, to 26.2.  I had such a blast documenting and reliving my half marathon training, so why not continue it for marathon training?!  Here's to the next 18 weeks on the road to Buffalo!

Running for a Memory

As I'm sure you've noticed (because why wouldn't you be checking my blog everyday), I've been pretty MIA the past couple of weeks.  The craziness of the holidays has made taking Garmin pictures and writing about myself the low man on the priority totem pole.

I've been keeping up the miles and even got a race in, but just haven't had time to sit down and write about it.  Today, I debated doing a big ol' recap to get up to speed.  I debated doing a big picture smorgasbord to show off my miles.  But all of that just didn't seem right, given the significance of today.

December 28.

One year ago today, a life was lost far too soon.

One year ago today, a soon-to-be bride learned that she would never see her husband at the altar.

One year ago today, our family lost someone who we did not have nearly enough time with.

It was this tragic event that was the underlying motivator for my running journey this year.  The slap-in-the-face realization that life is short.  Why put off something until tomorrow when you can do it today?

My jump into 13.1 was inspired by someone who always lived life to the fullest and enjoyed the great outdoors.  What better way to honor him than to dedicate my journey, my miles, my race to him.

Running has become more to me than just pounding the pavement.  It has become my way of celebrating life, and honoring those who can no longer celebrate it themselves.  And while I often times get caught up in the vanity of it, running is something that has come to have so much meaning to me.

So today as I somberly lace up my sneakers and head out on my run, I am running for you, Matty.  Thank you for being my inspiration.

Doggy Paddle for the Win

After a super low key week, I amped up my game this weekend with back to back races.  More on the best weekend ever later.

I took it easy during the week since my leg was still bothering me and I was feeling a little under the weather.  I went for a nice solo walk on the canal on Monday and strolled along into the sunset.  18 minute miles for the win.

On Tuesday, Fleet Feet had a yoga for runners class that some of the girls and I did.  We were anticipating running a few miles beforehand, but when you take bad weather and throw in 3 unmotivated attitudes, you don't have a very good outcome.  Instead we hung out with our FF BFF's inside the warm store for 40 minutes before it was time for yoga.  Can't win em all I guess.  

Since I am terrified of my train wreck of a leg sabotaging my upcoming marathon training, I called up my buddy and paid him a visit.

home away from home

Dr. Dan stretched me out and did some work on my leg (aka dug his elbow in my entire lower left extremity for an hour).  We chatted a bit about my training and he gave me some tips and advice that will help me re-vamp my training schedule to (hopefully) avoid any training cycle disasters.  He also assured me that it's okay to come see him during training for a "tune-up."  You better believe you'll be seeing me in a few months, Dr. Dan.

Thursday and Friday was back to back nights of good food and (a little too much) good wine.  On Thursday we celebrated my sister's birthday with a big ol family dinner.  Can't believe my little babies are all grown up.  Friday night was my work Christmas party and let's just say that Friday + good work friends = I am not waking up for a long run on Saturday morning.

sissys and co-worker bff's

After pulling a college move and sleeping until 1pm, it was time to get my butt in gear and get ready for a festive 5k!  The race, It's a Wonderful Run 5k, is an evening race in Seneca Falls.  The whole event is based on the movie It's a Wonderful Life.  Hint: in order to understand the coolness of the race, it might have helped if I had seen the movie.  Good thing we had a long car ride for the girls to explain it to me.  Also helped distract me from the college-style hangover I was rocking.  Woof.

There were over 3,000 people at the race and the whole course was festive and decorated.  People were outside their houses blasting Christmas music (and also Bruce Springsteen) and cheering for everyone.  I've never ran a race at night and it was so cool to have all the Christmas lights light the way!

After taking eight days off from running, my legs seemed to be a little confused about what was going on.  It wasn't until about mile 2 that they remembered what they were supposed to do and once they woke up I went flyin (you know, relatively speaking).

The race was a blast and obviously we went and got dinner afterwards.  A good run + Blue Moon + a burger = best hangover cure ever.  Tis the season!

Once I got home it was right to bed because this morning was race day #2.  I was really intimidated about this morning's race and not particularly looking forward to it, so enter my new race morning alarm tone:

If Eye of the Tiger doesn't make you want to be a beast then I don't know what does.  My race this morning was an indoor triathlon and the local Y.  I had seen a flyer for it a few weeks back and thought it was the coolest thing.  15 minutes each of swimming, biking and running.  

When I initially registered, I was all "oh I can totally learn how to swim in the next couple weeks."  Buuuut that didn't happen.  So I awoke this morning throwing a Hail Mary to the swim gods to keep me afloat.  

here goes nothin

Steph and Coach Rob showed up to cheer me on which turned out to be a huge help.  I also know one of the volunteers and the three of them helped make my disaster of a swim a little more bearable.  Let me tell you, just because you are "in shape" in the world of running, does NOT mean you are at all in shape to swim.

The swim was SO. HARD.  I did two laps and almost wanted to die when I saw the clock telling me I still had 13.5 minutes left to swim.  My front crawl quickly turned into a kinda-sorta breast stroke which turned into some side stroke shuffling which eventually turned into some water jogging and doggy paddle.  I was a train wreck in there.  Longest 15 minutes of my life.

Swim - 20 laps in 15 minutes

After the swim we had 5 minutes of transition time before the bike.  Naturally, I forgot to pack a towel so had to dry off with my tshirt after the swim.  Since I was still pretty much soaking wet, trying to get my capris on my wet legs turned into a 4 minute fiasco.  I ran over to the bikes and heard "30 seconds!"  Wait.  I'm still barefoot.

As I hustled to get my socks and shoes on, this happened:

In the whirlwind to get situated and on the bike in time I tore a huge hole through my sock as I was trying to put it on.  And then apparently forgot how to tie my shoelaces.  "Three seconds!"  AH!  Sock ripped, shoes half tied, GET ON THE BIKE!

After my less than relaxing transition, I pedaled my little heart out on the bike and felt much more in my element.  I was still soaking wet, but I was on dry land.  And doing something that I actually knew how to do.  With no possibility of drowning.  Despite my flustered start, I was in my zone.

The bike went by the fastest and even though I had zero resistance (call me a cheater, I don't care) I was definitely working my wet, flustered butt off.  

They had music blasting and the volunteers (along with my personal cheerleaders) were cheering and so encouraging the whole time.  It was great!

Bike - 7.04 miles in 15 minutes

The "transition" to the run was much less chaotic than my first transition and I was ready to take on 15 minutes of the dreadmill.  I started my speed at 6.0 and that quickly faded to 5.5.  I surprisingly didn't get (that) bored during the 15 minutes.  Usually I want to peel off the thing after about 2 minutes, but between the race atmosphere and Rob and Steph cheering me on, I was in the zone the whole time.

Because I'm a wuss, I dropped my speed down to 5.4 with 5 minutes to go.  The second I touched the screen to slow down, Steph yelled at me encouraged me to pick it up.  "You can do anything for 5 minutes!"  So I picked it back up and ended up running the last 2 minutes at 6.5.  My average pace for the 15 minutes was right around 10:30; not bad for tired legs!

Run - 1.43 miles in 15 minutes

I seriously had so much fun this morning!  It was really well organized, the volunteers (and my cheerleaders!) were fabulous, and I felt really good about the whole experience.  Despite my less than successful attempt at swimming, I loved the entire event!  I would absolutely do one again and it got me really excited about cross training and incorporating biking (and maybe swimming?!) into marathon training.  

Overall a fantastic weekend! :)

Big Things Poppin

I've got some big things poppin over in this joint but before I get to that let's recap my completely sub-par week of running.

I had three weekday runs scheduled but it turned into two and this is what it looked like:

Low mileage, but high quality so I'll take it.  Tuesday was hills as usual and yet again it was kind of an "eh" run.  Hills just aren't my thing and I don't think they ever will be.  One of these day they have to get a little easier though right?!

After a rest lazy day on Wednesday, I was looking forward to track party Thursday.  Even though these are hands down the toughest runs of the week, there's something about the variety and the challenge of them that makes me look forward to it.

On tap this week was 400m repeats, 8 of them.  My goal was to keep each repeat in the range of 2:19-2:32.  The verdict?

Boom.  Mission accomplished.  Let me tell you though, you don't realize how long one lap on the track can be until that is all you are focusing on!  Some of those 400's were the longest 2+ minutes of my life.  

That running club of super fast runners from last week was there again this week, running circles around us.  Their coach was there calling out times for their laps and every time we passed he told us "great job ladies" "you're working hard" "looking strong."  It was some nice encouragement, although I don't think he'll be recruiting us anytime soon.  I'll take him as a cheerleader every Thursday though!

The past week or two I've noticed a little niggle in my IT band/hip/knee area and it started to get pretty bad towards the end of this week.  It was so bad when I woke up on Saturday morning that it bothered me to even walk.  As much as I (surprisingly) wanted to do my long run yesterday, I called it off and decided to dust off my exercise sheet from Dr. Dan.

Yesterday and today have been full of lunges and squats and stretching and foam rolling.  I'm trying to nip this re-occurring annoyance before it gets too bad and benches me from running again.  After having a minor freakout about it, I emailed Dr. Dan because I've got some very important training coming up that I need to be 100% for.

What is this very important training for you ask?  Oh just this little event in May:

Yup, my first ever MARATHON!  I am officially registered and plan on running the Buffalo Marathon on May 26.  Training officially starts January 14 and I'm a whole slew of excited/nervous/scared shitless.  

Emily & Steph will be training with me (Emily is running Buffalo, Steph is running Cleveland) so I will have people to commiserate with, laugh with, cry with, and sweat with for the 19 weeks of training.  I still can't believe that I am doing this, but my "life is short" motto gave me the push to dive right in.  Why wait right?!  

I'll be working the next 6 weeks on building my base and getting in some more speed work.  Once January 14 is here, you'll be seeing a whole lot more of me as I document my journey to 26.2.  Buffalo, see you in 174 days!!!