Weekly Wrap-up!

It was school vacation, so I knew this week would be tricky trying to get in all my workouts with the kids at home!  I skimped quite a bit on my biking, but I did manage to get my swimming and long run in.   As you can see above, my daughter decided to decorate my favorite  racing visor for an art project :)

Monday 4/21: 6 miles of hills and I nailed it! Woot!!

Tuesday 4/22: 2,100 yard Interval Swim

Wednesday 4/23: 12 miles on my bike trainer

Thursday 4/24: 2,200 yard Endurance Swim

Friday 4/25: 17.65 mile run...went very well!  Now, it's taper time!!

Also, tried to get in all my freggies!  This was my delicious Spinach Sauté.  Very simple: Fresh baby spinach & whatever veggies are hanging out in the fridge sautéed in Coconut oil.  I sprinkle  a little goat cheese on top before serving.

Hope everyone had a great week!  Next week is the last week of the Spring Booty Buster Challenge, so grateful for the support of this group over the past 7 weeks! #sbbc #bestfoot 

22 Miles

My last long run before the Marathon was this past Wednesday.  The night before, I ate my typical pre-long run meal: Salmon burger, salad, & sweet potatoes.  I got plenty of rest that night.  I woke up early to frigid cold temperatures and a fresh blanket of snow covering the ground.  What?  It is mid-April!  I was actually angry and very frustrated!  It was the only day I could do the long run and I just could not bear dodging snow and ice again.  

As I was getting my kids ready for school, I contemplated running it on the treadmill.  "22 miles on a treadmill, am I crazy?" I said out loud.  My 8 year old son replied, "Mom, it's just a little snow!"  Ok, yes, he was right!  As I went to walk him out to the bus, the wind was whipping the branches of the trees around and our driveway was covered with crunchy ice.  What to do?  The "feels like temperature" on the weather report said 17 degrees!  However, it was supposed to start warming up by 10am, but the high winds were not going away.

After many conversations with myself, I decided to "just do it!".  I waited until 9:30am to head out.  I was dressed in my running attire that I typically wear in January.  The first 2 miles were very cold, but once I warmed up, I felt much better.  There was a lot of ice to navigate around though, so I decided to not even look at my pace (of course I did anyway!).  I just wanted to get through this run without twisting an ankle!  By mile 4, I had really warmed up.  The sun was out and the sky was clear and beautiful.  I ended up taking off my hat and gloves and hiding them behind a bush to pick up later.

Initially I was glad I did this, but the wind started to really pick up as I got closer to the ocean.  Below is a picture I took around mile 7, you can see all of the white caps in the water. I was being blown sideways a bit here as I snapped this shot and my hands were freezing cold!  I ended up tucking them in my sleeves for a bit.

I continued to plug away, and despite the high winds & cold, I really felt good.  My legs felt strong and I was surprised at how quickly the first 12 miles passed.  I was not running fast, but my pace was good considering the wind and hills.  The route I was on was so beautiful!  Here is a picture on the way to Little John Island:

I turned around here and headed back home.  At this point, I had a fairly steep hill to climb up, which was the beginning of the pain.  I made it up turned the corner and came across quite a bit of ice on the walkway that I typically run on.  I ended up running on the road, which has no shoulder.  Next, I reached the bridge from Cousin's Island to Yarmouth.  At this point, the cross winds were horrendous.  It took me what felt like forever to get across that bridge.  I held onto my sun visor so it would not blow off.  My pace had slowed down  a whopping 2 minutes per mile as I crossed the bridge!  

I was hoping the winds would die down when I got off the bridge, but they did not.  Next, I had a long moderately steep hill to run up.  This was mile 14 isn and I started to really struggle here.  I felt like I was being pushed backward!

Once I made it up the hill, I turned down a side road and finally had the wind at my back!  Thank goodness!  I tried to pick up my pace again and was able to do so, but I was starting to hurt now.  Unfortunately, quite a bit of negative self-talk started: "How am I going to run 26.2 miles, if I hurt now at mile 16...10.2 miles to go here...What am I thinking?  I should just stick to half marathons!"  It went on for about a mile, until I refocused: "This is a training day, look how far you have come, you can do this!  Most people would not dream of running in this wind!"  "Run the Mile You are In Now!"

I made it to mile 19 with positive self-talk and distraction.  I kept my pace up, "I can do this!"  Then, at mile 20, my joints began to really ache. "Oh my God, 6.2 miles from here on race day, what am I going to do?"  I kept looking at my watch: 20.4 miles, 20.6 miles, 20.9 miles, "Stop looking!!"  I made it to my driveway with .3 miles to go to make it to 22, so I ran back and forth until I hit it!  

22 miles solid.  Ok, I can do this!  I had made it home just in time to shower & head to pick up my kids from school and take them off to their extracurricular activities.  Of course, I could barely walk as I headed into my son's school &  my hair was still wet & I had a ring around my head from my sun visor, but I was happy!  I finally felt ready to tackle the 26.2 miles that await me on Mother's Day!

Back to the Pool!

After an inexcusable amount of time, I finally hit the pool today!  Of course, this was done after a series of arguments with myself: "I need to swim today"..."No, I can squeeze in the swim tomorrow between work, my daughter's ballet class, & my dentist appointment."  The plans went back and forth in my head, until I realized that I was making ridiculous excuses and it needed to be done TODAY!  I say *need* as I am training for a 2.4 mile open water swim that takes place in early July. Now that 2 + weeks have gone by that I have not made it to the pool, I Need to swim!

Swimming always tends to bring out the 'Excuse Monster' in me.  I really do enjoy swimming, but it is something that I am all into and do loyally or not at all!  Unlike biking or running (when I am not training for an event), I may skip several days or even a week without it, then just go for a run or bike. No excuses or talking myself into it, etc.

So today, as I was following my swim set, I contemplated why I had come up with so many excuses not to swim. My conclusion: It boils down to time efficiency and guilt.  I have such a tight schedule between work & 2 young children  involved in a variety of activities.  I have every hour of just about every week day (and sometimes weekends too) planned out.  I have to schedule a minimum of 1 hour 15 minutes of time for swimming no matter what.  If I'm doing a short swim, say 30 minutes, it still takes an hour + by the time I drive to the pool, put everything in my locker, then get in the pool and swim, shower afterwards, etc. I find myself rushing and feeling guilty that I am there instead of...cleaning, cooking, doing laundry,etc.  Not that this does not occur when I am on a long bike or long run, but for some reason swimming brings out the biggest guilt in me!  

And how about those goggle marks?  I am not an overly vane person, but I typically look like I have 2 black eyes after a long swim.  Recently, I hopped out of the pool & showered with just enough time to make it to my son's school for volunteer day.  As I was walking in, I saw a parent friend that quickly asked me: "Are you ok?  You look like you have been crying."  "Uggh, couldn't be better, just had a great swim!"  This does not deter me from getting in my swim time, but it can be a nuisance explaining my raccoon eyes to everyone!

What about you?  Any suggestions on making the most of my pool time?   I wouldn't mind a tip or two about the goggle marks either! :) I would love to hear from you!

Strength vs. Stupidity

(My view at the 4 mile mark)

Their is such a fine line between the two: Strength vs. Stupidity (or Badass vs. Dumbass).  How do we know for sure when we are being strong or just plain stupid?   I am pondering this question after my failed 20 mile run on Friday.

I had just returned home from a fabulous, but extraordinarily busy 5 day vacation with my family on the Wednesday evening before the run.  I had to get up at the crack of dawn Thursday for work and was "running" all day until bed time.  I did not feel well Wednesday night when we returned home and that carried over to Thursday.  In fact, I felt horrible on Thursday.  I was not sure if I was just exhausted, coming down with a GI bug, or needed my gall bladder removed!   

I had my 20 mile run scheduled for Friday and there was really no where to move it too!  I had been looking forward to it and the weather was finally going to cooperate.  I woke up Friday morning feeling a little better, but still had an upset stomach and was a little achey.  I contemplated skipping it, cutting it short,  trying to move it to Sunday, etc. but nothing really worked.  I was worried if I "chickened out" of this run that I would really upset my training plan for my upcoming marathon.  

After wrestling with all of these thoughts, I decided the best thing was to just "Do It".  I headed out to Cousin's Island, it's a 10 mile loop from my house.  I planned on doing this once, then doing another 10 mile loop along the beautiful Foreside Road to complete my distance.  I love these routes and this was the first really nice Spring day here!

I felt ok for the first 5 miles, but I was pretty tight, nothing out of the ordinary though.   I got to the turn around at 5 1/2 miles and kept plugging away, "Ok, over 1/4 of the way done!"  It was a great day, sunny and in the high 40's.  This is my view at mile 7:

I was doing ok here, then had to climb a bit of hill and managed up it when I hit mile 8.  At this point, I had not taken in much fluid, except a few sips of water.  I knew I needed something more, so took a small sip of my coconut water (what I always use during running).  This did not sit well and I started to get a bit nauseated.  In general, I just felt like I was tanking.  

I made a quick decision not to run back by my house because I did not want to have the option to not finish the run.  Stupidity was rearing its ugly head!  I turned around and headed back toward the beach (the lovely view pictured at mile 4).  I was running slow, but I was running.  At mile 10, I took in a few Honey Stingers.  I had been avoiding anything solid, as I did not want to upset my digestive tract.  At mile 11, I was DONE!  Nausea, massive abdominal cramping (different from running cramps) and just exhaustion.  I was so upset I had to stop and walk, which I never do.  I planned on walking a 1/4 mile, then running again.  As soon as I started running, I felt horrible again.  I was several miles from home and was not sure what to do.  Was I being a baby?  Should I force myself to run anyway? After all, my 16 & 18 mile runs went well, despite terrible weather.  I definitely have the cardiovascular capacity to do this run, why is this happening?

I decided to walk/run.  I alternated running & walking between telephone poles.  My belly hurt, I was looking for places that  I could dash off into the woods, if necessary.  I kept at it, then would wonder if this was psychological.  "Clearly, it's physical. I'm sick!"  And so the conversations in my head went back & forth for a few miles until I made it home.  

Even as I hit my driveway at mile 15, I was not sure if I had done the right thing.  Should I have pushed myself more?  Did I give up too easily?  The answer to this unfolded pretty quickly, as I got into the house and continued to feel miserable with a GI bug for the next 24 hours.  

(My dog Gus- he thinks whatever I do is awesome! :) )

I am feeling better now and I am glad that I spent the weekend resting as much as I could.  However, there is a part of me wondering if we will ever know for sure if we are being Strong or Stupid?