Hill repeats on a summer day AKA how to kick my own butt

        Today's Training:  I am getting into the habit of workouts at the cross country course. I have started seeing the same people almost every time and it is always cool to go there. Today I did have to kick my own butt a little! I have had quite a week and so was feeling kind of run down today. Said to myself "I will do my hill workouts tomorrow night instead of the group run."  
     Then I said to myself: Heather! You will say you will do your hill repeats tomorrow and then tomorrow you may find a reason not to do them. And I remembered how I feel during and after my workouts. So I got on my bike, rode back to work and hit the course. It was VERY HOT as I usually go right after my early morning training but today I went at 1pm. Sun bright and burning down.
   I jogged down to the fence, put my water bottle and headphones down and do what I usually do which is stand at the bottom, take a deep breath and GO!! I don't stop until I am past the grass. Then I turn around and jog back down. Usually it is easier but today the air was very humid and I felt like I was drinking the air. So I walked back down and thought I would only do a few. Then I thought again: You got all the way here dressed and ready do at least 10. You have to do at least 10!
  I decided to run like heck all the way up and then walk/jog down and take long enough to truly catch my breath before starting the next one. There was one woman there I think I had seen before and she was jogging up the hill. I took my deep breathe and ran up past her. When I turned around to head down she said "Nice work! I wish I could do that!"
   In the end I did 10. And I was glad i kicked my own butt and got out there. Now I can look forward to casual run Thursday!

                                                             LOVELY DAY!!

Whole30 DNF: not a good fit for me

       Whole30: I tried it and it was not a good fit for me. I am so happy for my friends that have found success in this meal plan but I was having trouble with it and so I listened to my body and decided to place my pride aside and DNF this diet.
      One of the main things was I don't have a large food budget and some of the things that they wanted me to eat regularly were pretty expensive for me. Fresh berries, meat, coconut oil, dates, avocados, olives were kind of expensive. Oatmeal, beans and peanut butter are filling and cheap. I felt I needed to be able to take my Gu's when I was doing long runs. I felt hungry all the time.
    My diet before Whole30 was pretty good. I had a larger breakfast with some complex carbs, protein, fruit and yogurt. Lunch was usually salads, quinoa and some veggies. Dinner was Tofu stir fry, veggies, milk. I have been off processed foods for years. No boxed stuff, no mac and cheese, no TV dinners. I had bought frozen veggies, Tofu, yogurt, skim milk, whole grain bread usually with flax in it, flax seed cereal, oatmeal. Very simple and did pretty well for me. I did find out I can do with much less wheat and carbs and it will help me feel better so that will continue. I will not be having bread, cereal, bagels, etc....on a daily basis. I have found I can do without those most of the time. I feel I needed my Quinoa. That has been a staple for me for quite some time as have soy products. I wanted my protein powder.
   Another aside: Whole30 DID show me I can go without so much sugar which is very good for me to know. As difficult as it was, conquering the sugar beast was a good thing to do and that is something I will take with me.

As I said, I believe Whole30 is great for some and perhaps not as useful for others. Deciding to call it quits so I can feel less hungry and have enough calories to manage my physical workload every week is a good decision I think.

MORE POWER to my friends who have made this work for them though! Major impressed!

Training log: doing the discipline thing

       My training is beginning in earnest now. I do not officially start ultra training until the end of June but am already trying to get in good habits like the back to back weekend runs, hill repeats and sticking to a running schedule (doing it even when I don't feel like it). So far my runs have been fairly shortish (maybe 6 miles or so) but I am at least starting to develop habits of discipline that every training athlete must adopt in order to achieve their goal. A quote I like is "The future is purchased with the present" Now I must do stuff other people won't so that later I can do stuff that other people can't.
   My schedule is roughly thus:  running days are tuesday, wednesday, thursday, saturday and sunday. Wednesday including hill repeats at the cross country course if I can find the time to do so. It's good for me to do my intense work on the soft grass. Plus i LOVE running up that long, grassy hill. Mondays and Fridays are rest/cross-training days. I also have been adopting a habit in the last 6 months or so of weight training. That usually includes a bench press day, squat rack day and deadlift day  with supportive lifts of dumbbells, barbells as well as cable, kettlebell, weight machines and bodyweight exercises such as TRX planks/pikes, pushups, squats, lunges/walking lunges, planks on the mat, tricep dips and other as I see fit that week's schedule.
    I try at least once a week to get in an alternative workout: rowing, HIIT workout, tabata, core only, medicine ball, pretty much whatever comes into my head that will add alternative movements to my muscles. There is an important element to training which is specificity. That means if you want to run you have to run. That's it. However if you only run you use the same muscles all the time which means other muscle groups get or stay weak therefore increasing the chance of muscular imbalances and injury.
                                                So MIX IT UP! 
   I have also started a really strict diet a couple of weeks ago which I am loving! It is the Whole30 plan and leads to some amazing benefits. I can already feel that I am lighter, faster, more energy and in general feeling amazing! I feel so much better and my body is taking to my training better. Last week I did hill repeats and I felt so much faster and running up the hill seemed easier.Still hard but better!

      I signed up for my full marathon which according to what I have read of ultra training it is good to get a full under your belt about a month before your ultra. This one is about a month and half before but the schedule that weekend is for 20/10 so I can adjust to get pretty much the right mileage just adding on a bit on Saturday and cutting Sunday a bit short.


So there you have it:  Training is good stuff. Even if you don't want to really do that workout or say no to those cookies and ice cream when you are on that course for the distance you can look back and say
"if it weren't for those sacrifices I wouldn't be here or able to do this."

                         So have gratitude for discipline. It will get you where you want to go.

It's okay I ran today

 

  I had a difficult couple of days. Especially today when I found someone had decided to sabotage my only transportation by flattening my tires. I was feeling crappy about it, frustrated..maybe a little bitter. But then I decided to take back control: I fixed my tires then laced up my running shoes and went for a run. 

  As I ran the entire incident just disappeared from my mind. My feet guided me over to Bryan Park and I ran over the grass and just took in the sweetness of the day. I felt better. Better than better. GREAT!

People can't hurt you if you decide not to accept the hurt. I am going to keep doing what makes me happy, fulfilled and feeling good. Run. Best decision you will make all day!

Love. Whirled peas. No problem. I am not choosing to accept this negativity. I toss it to the winds and let it get swept away. The only person this is going to hurt is whoever chose to do this to me because they must be having an awful life to feel this angry. I deflect it like a mirror. I choose happiness. I choose to run.

Rockford Half Marathon

     I had signed up to do the Rockford Half Marathon a few months ago. I wanted to do this one primarily as it was in the region where much of my family was so it could possibly involve a family cheering opportunity. I had been very excited about it. When I ran the last DINO race and irritated the fascia on my heel I was worried I could not do it. I switched down to the 10K and then got ready to go see my family.
   The trip up was good. The friend I was traveling with was a good companion and we had a nice time on the trip. I got to my aunt's house and spent the night with her. I had heard my mother was unwell and had been placed in the hospital so she was not able to make my race. I felt grateful, though, that I was already up there so I  could spend some time on Saturday up in Madison with my mom. I don't always get to see her when she is unwell due to travel difficulties. She will be alright though...just needed some extra help. We had a very nice visit too. Drew pictures together and talked a little. She was happy I was doing the race and I said I would make a picture of me at the finish line for her.

         My mom has always been my biggest fan!

I was up in Madison overnight and then my aunts got up at the crack of dawn to get me down to Rockford for the race. I decided on the way down to switch from the 10K to the Half Marathon distance. I figured that if I did the heart rate training and took my time I would do alright. I also now know that I can DNF if need be so I thought I would rather try to do the big race I had intended to then get to the end of the 10K and feel I could have done a few more miles.


Since the 10K didn't start until 7:15 but the Half started at 7am we cut it a bit close so I hustled over to the packet pickup and exchanged bibs, hit the bathroom and jogged to the starting line.

      I had the pre-race jitters. Ready to get moving! I had also downed a 5 hour energy shot so that was working it's way through my system. My heart rate is supposed to be 135 and under on the Maffetone training but I went ahead and added a few points due to race jitters and the 5 hour energy so I tried to keep it 143 and below. We started out and I went slow...in fact for the first mile or so I walked a lot of it. I had to keep my competitive edge toned down as I saw people passing me by and think "long-term...long term...i want to be able to do this for a long time.....save my foot.....chill" And actually it wasn't too hard to relax. I had a nice time just getting to see Rockford. I hadn't spent much time there that I remember. It's a very nice town.
    It was a very well-run race too. Some points I really remember:   The icy cold sponges they passed out at mile 10; the ice chips at one of the aid stations; the guy on a bike handing out strawberry banana gu's; the awesome volunteers; the pretty course.
   I met some people along the course too....that's what happens when you are not doing it for speed. You can take some time to get to know your neighbors. I saw an older guy just chugging along and he had a sign on his back that said "1,000 Marathon Larry". He had a Marathon Maniacs hat on so I said I knew Jen and he said he knew her too! I said she was a great runner. I met one lady who was starting to bonk around mile 6 so i gave her my last Gu so she had some nutrition. Then I was glad when the gu guy came around and gave me one at mile 9 when I was getting tired. My body felt pretty good. At mile 8 or 9 my right quadricep started to cramp a little. I took another salt tablet as I was probably sweating out all my electrolytes. I had taken two before the race but figured I would just go ahead and take another one. I met a guy who had run the Eagle Creek marathon. He said "you picked a heck of a race to be your first marathon!"


   And when I came to the finish line there was my Aunt Donna aiming her phone at me, Aunt Gay with her camera, Aunt Melissa and my cousins Grace and Emily just cheering away for me! I felt like a million bucks to accomplish this with my family there! I ran up and hugged all of them in succession and then hugged a lady standing near them just cause i was that happy. Then over the finish line and Done! Yay! Did the whole length, no pain, had fun and finished strong!

                      

Let go of expectations: Rockford Half

  

    I have decided to go ahead and do the Rockford Half next weekend. It is the only one that my mom will be able to attend I think. Also much of my long-distance family can make it.  However before I alienate everyone who loves me with what you may view as a reckless choice of action let me tell you what is different.

   I am going to let go of expectations. This will be a "training walk" to start working on further training. I let go of expectations that my foot will feel great the whole way, everything will be magic and rainbows and I will end up doing a PR and surprise myself and everyone else. That is a movie ending in some coming-of-age and overcoming obstacles Hallmark channel movie. Life doesn't work like that. 

                                     

                                       "Hope for the best but expect the worst"

   So I will take the approach of toeing the line at the starting line and hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I will remember the good advice I have not taken from my good friends and listen to myself, not run through pain, and remember the bigger goal of Flatrock and not sabotage myself for the sake of a less important race. 

    Let go. Let go. Let go. And remember no one will think poorly of me for having to DNF should it come to that. They will be happy I am paying attention to body signals. I have proven to myself that I am capable of incredible things when I work hard for them. I have nothing to prove. 

   

   

..........patience Prudence..........

        I keep telling myself to have patience. What is patience? I believe it is the above remark. To have patience is to realize everything is not in my total control. I must have patience with myself most of all. I must realize that although I am not doing things right now doesn't mean I will never do them but if I push a square peg into a round hole I could end up never getting to do the things I dream of.
       Sometimes you just can't push and shove and get what you want when you want it. That's okay. I have been patient before and I can do it again. Life is a beautiful thing when you let go. Breathe. Enjoy the things around you every day and don't dwell on what you cannot do because all of us are capable of great things....as long as we take the time to do them well.
    I can have the things I want.....eventually. I can do the things I want..eventually. And meantime...i have so much to do and look forward to. I'm getting a new Yobe which is a spin disk that I can whip around and it is a great upper arm workout plus WAY FUN!
    Patience Prudence. Things will happen when they happen. Take the right steps. Count each little victory as it comes.And treat myself gently like I would any good friend. PLUS it gives me an excuse to be there for my spectacular friends who are doing such amazing things! What a great gift to get to be a part of that!

I am looking forward to next week when I work the Dances with Dirt race. Yes I don't get to run the half like I wanted BUT I can be there for my friends who are doing it and I can jump, cheer and be a fool for them to help them accomplish their goals! Go Go Runners!