Sunny San Diego & New Plans

Back from another weekend away, this time to North Texas/Oklahoma for Dan's cousin's wedding. While I am able to get my long run in early Friday morning before we left and a shorter treadmill run on Saturday, I am pretty sure I still came away from the weekend a few pounds heavier. These weekends away are killing me! Weddings aren't the best for nutritious fare -Mexican on Friday at the rehearsal dinner, and Chicken Fried Chicken/Steak on Saturday at the reception- and coupled with traveling with a husband who convinced me to go to Chimy's for lunch on Friday and Buffalo Wild Wings on the ride home Sunday (I wanted Subway, but he twisted my arm), well, I could definitely feel it in my workouts yesterday. But, we had a good time. That's all that matters right? Below is a picture from the reception on Saturday and proof that we do actually have nice clothes to wear.This is a 3 day work week for me and then we leave for Sunny San Diego on Friday! I.cannot.wait! We're racing on Sunday (I'm running the full marathon, Dan's running the half), but are hanging around until Tuesday. It's a much needed vacation, and I am counting down the minutes until we leave for the airport.

And, speaking of the San Diego marathon, sometimes even the best laid plans get thrown out the window.

When I hopped off the Ironman train back in January, I knew that committing to specific goals was what I needed. I decided to make the San Diego Marathon my ‘A’ race and shoot for a sub-3:10 goal and a top-15 finish among women. Seemed like a great idea. You know, so I can report back and share what I learned and experienced along the way.

Well guess what? The San Diego marathon is now less than a week away and – let’s face it – my running is no where near where should it be at this point in my training to go sub-3:10. I knew it was time to give myself a reality check. I’ve decided to kibosh my goals.

Uh oh. A failure detector should start going off now, shouldn’t it? Goals are meant to be achieved, are they not? To-Do lists are meant to be crossed off, yes?

Well, as I spend more time talking with my husband, listening to my own thoughts and instincts, and learning from like-minded people, I’m discovering that’s not necessarily the case.

Goals are meant to be exploratory and motivating. They’re meant to encourage us to ask for more for ourselves and our lives…for no other reason than we deserve it. But goals also represent a point in time. They were established and embraced on a certain day, with certain thoughts and feelings and assumptions as context around them. So when those thoughts, feelings and assumptions change – and they often do – our goals might end up feeling a little less worthy of our effort.

That’s exactly what happened to me. My goals worked well for the shape I was in January, months ago, but they don’t fit so nicely with the shape I am now. I'm not saying I'm not in shape to run a solid marathon - I am. I'm just not in shape to run a PR, let alone a sub-3:10 marathon. Too many weekends away, random aches and pains, diet/nutrition fail and general lack of adhering to a specific training are to blame (actually I'm to blame). Life got in the way. And, that's okay with me right now.

So, instead of wasting time chasing after this accomplishment that I wouldn’t even enjoy or feel inspired to complete, I’m bailing on it. I want to enjoy this vacation without stressing out about the race or letting a number on the clock ruin my trip or experience.

I’ve run a 3:10 marathon before. And I’m confident that I will again some day….in fact, I already have plans for running one in next January in Phoenix. I enjoy the challenge, the stretching of well-used leg muscles, the discipline of training, and the adrenaline rush and exhilaration of running among a crowd. But right now, I don’t need another challenge.

What I need is to swing my pendulum from the “over achiever” side into the “easy come, easy go” side.

Then, and only then, will I learn how to settle somewhere in the middle, playing the ambitious role sometimes and the chilled out role other times.

Right now, something inside me says that listening to yourself is better than telling yourself.

So, on Sunday, I’m going to cut myself some slack and just go with the flow. I'm going to line up with the 3:15 pace group (oddly enough there is not even a 3:10 pace group) and run a solid race.

Whether the clock says 3:15 or 4:00 doesn’t make a difference. I will not let the clock dictate my measure of success or ruin my vacation.

I feel so much better now. San Diego, here I come.

Beach to Bay Marathon Relay

We had a great trip last weekend to Corpus for the 36th Annual Beach to Bay Marathon Relay. Despite the 4 am wake-up call Saturday morning and the 100% humidity, we managed to knock out a good race and most importantly have a lot of fun!

Leg 3 of the relay

Team 'Striding from Here to Beer'

We don't take ourselves too seriously...

Team Dinner @ Kikos!

Birthday Celebration at Blue Marlin...not pictured: Sidra's and my karaoke performance :)

Off to the exciting town of Muenster, Texas this weekend for a wedding. Hoping to find some place to run while I'm there!

Dear Humidity...

Dear Humidity,
96%? Seriously? You are terrible. Please go and take your friend excessive heat with you.

Love,
My Hair

Ironman Thoughts

I have about half a day of work left, then tomorrow morning we are headed to the beach (Corpus!) with friends for a lot of fun and a little bit of running. We're doing the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay (6 person team) on Saturday morning, then planning to spend the rest of the weekend enjoying ourselves.

I am so happy to be getting away for the weekend. See, Saturday is my birthday. It's also Ironman Texas, which I signed up for last June, but pulled out of in January. I had many reasons for the decision - and knew it was the best one for me this year - but I can't help feeling a little sad this week as others were getting ready to tackle Ironman Texas. It's bittersweet for me, and I wish everyone the best. It's such an incredible experience, and I would be lying if I said there is not a part of me that is sad I won't be toeing the line on Saturday. So, this weekend will be a nice diversion to keep my mind off of Ironman. I did not wanting to be sitting at home wallowing in whether I should or should not have done the Ironman.

I've done a lot of reflecting on my decision to forgo Ironman, and how my life has been without the high Ironman training volume for months and months.

I seem to have found more patience. I can sit quietly. I can wait until a piece of software opens up on my computer without impatiently switching to some other task. I'm not so short with Dan at the end of a long day. I have more time to spend with friends and family and my beloved dogs. I have my weekends free again to do what I want.

Even though I gave up Ironman this year, I never plan to give up triathlon. Sprints and Olympics are certainly fair game, and maybe a half-iron will still make it on my race schedule from time to time.

Best of luck to all competitors. This girl is beach bound!

The Ranch 30K Trail Race Pics

I was excited to receive the link that pictures from Sunday's Trail Race were posted...until I clicked on the link and saw my pictures. Yikes! Super cool, though, that we got to download them for free (included in registration).

Race Start. Feeling hunky dory...and, starting out way too fast.

Race Start.

Crossing the finish line. I look evil. Or pissed. Or both.

The Ranch 30K Race Report

Sunday was the Ranch 30k trail race out in Burnet at Reveille Ranch. It would be my fourth trail run ever and my second trail race. I haven't been doing much trail running lately, unfortunately. Actually, I haven't been on the trails since my last race in early April. Oops. Admittedly, I was a bit over ambitious in signing up for the 30k (18.6 miles); the 10k would have been a better choice. But, it was only $5 extra to sign up for the 30k, so I (il)logically did. Of course.

I was not prepared for the extremely rocky and rugged terrain. Perhaps a hard 10-mile run the day before was not the smartest decision either. Needless to say, I am hobbling around like a 70 year old lady today.

This was an interesting race. Interesting because everyone got lost. I don't know anyone who ran the distance that they were supposed to. People were either short or long. Thankfully, I was on the short end (17 miles); no way in hell would I have wanted to run longer. They did not do awards since so many people got lost. They ended up giving us all 1/2 off entry for next year's race. Fine with me. There was one jackass man who was irate about getting lost and throwing a complete temper tantrum but everyone else was pretty cool with it. It happens.

I started out way too fast. Of course, me being me, went into complete race mode when the gun sounded and the race started. I started out at a 6:50 pace and was about to die by mile 1, when I got my act together and reminded myself that I don't even run that pace on the road for 18 miles. After that, I calmed down, slowed way down and just tried to enjoy the scenery.

Mile 3 seemed to be where everyone got off track. We all kind of stopped, unsure which direction to go. We finally picked a direction and went with it, figuring everyone would follow. I think that must have been where we cut the course short. From there, I was very careful to pay close attention to make sure I was following the course markings. Apparently, a volunteer mis-directed the front of the pack later on, and they ended up running 20+ miles. Sucks to be them.

This was a tough, tough course. Most of the terrain was jagged rocky surfaces, and I was terrified I was going to twist an ankle. For a large portion of the race, I was alone. Every once in awhile someone would come up from behind, and I would hang with them for awhile. Or, I would catch people and enjoy the company before pulling ahead. But, the majority of the race it was just me and my thoughts.

Besides focusing on not getting lost, I have two other goals: not to fall, and not to have any encounters with snakes. Goals met.

I ended up crossing the line with 17 miles under my belt in 2:47 (9:49 pace). I felt like I had just finished a marathon.

My super sherpa Dan was there waiting for me, and we hung out with some friends who had done the 10k. They had beer, food and festivities at the finish line; it was a great time. The race shirts were really nice, and we get the professional photos that were taken for free. The Ranch was absolutely beautiful, and the weather gorgeous. It was a great Sunday!

My Nice Little Weekend

TGIF. For reals.

Friday has been good to me so far. I got to sleep in a little since today is my rest day. Then I registered for this, and also got to have lunch with my husband. All good things to start the weekend, no? Now, I am just waiting for the clock to strike 5 pm....c'mon clock.

I am looking forward to going home, sitting on my couch, cuddling with my bassets, watching Friday Night Lights, and eating cottage cheese spaghetti for dinner (sounds gross, but it's totally not).

Dan is going to midget wrestling tonight at our local sports bar. I shit you not. And, that's what they're calling it - midget wrestling - not even being PC about it and using the term little people. And, he paid money to go see this. Thank the lucky stars my cousin's husband volunteered to go with him so I did not get dragged to it.

Tomorrow morning is n early a 10 mile run with my normal Saturday morning crew, followed by a 30k trail 'race' Sunday in Burnet. I have not run on the trails since my last trial race in April, so it should be interesting.

Happy Weekending everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

Probably not the best thing to be eating at work when I have a race tonight....but, they're so good!

Re-focused

It's a long, hard road and it's going to have its bumps; there are going to be times when you fall and times when you don't feel like going on anymore, times when you're just crazy tired but it takes focusing on that one step you're taking. That's what I'm trying to do with the marathon; I don't think about the miles that are coming down the road, I don't think about the mile I'm on right now, I don't think about the miles I've already covered. I think about what I'm doing right now, just being lost in the moment.
- Ryan Hall on running a marathon

My sentiments exactly Ryan Hall.

After a rocky few weeks, I'm back and focused. I'm looking forward to returning to racing this weekend (trail race) and next weekend (Beach to Bay Marathon Relay). I know to most people, I race a lot. But, I always find there is a correlation between when I have consecutive weeks of not racing and losing complete focus, which has happened to me somewhat the past 3 weeks. I'm like a rabbit who constantly needs a carrot dangled in front of her face to stay focused, which also would explain why I get bored easily (evident in many areas of my life - i.e. several job changes, moves, etc). I'm always looking for that next challenge.

I was ready to throw in the towel the beginning of last week with San Diego. I wasn't hitting my workouts, and each bad workout would leave me more and more frustrated. What I needed was a break. I took two complete rest days last week on Thursday and Friday, and in turn feel much better. I was able to get in my long run Saturday without any foot pain, and follow up with a strong run on Sunday. Today's speed work felt great. The combo of ice and change of shoes seems to be helping my foot issues, as I've not had pain after my workouts.

One of the most valuable things I have learned is that I need recovery weeks every 3-4 weeks. I cannot ramp up over and over again, week by week, until race day and expect to reach the start line not fatigued and over trained. You have got to pull back and rest to become stronger. I will always have to pull myself back and not overdo it. The only way that I will be successful at this is by holding myself accountable.

After spending a great weekend with family in from out of town, one important thing that I am learning is that people come first. We usually don't go out on weeknights (or weekends really) so that I can be bed by 9 pm sharp to get enough sleep for my morning run - nothing was allowed to break this routine.

But this past weekend was another story - we were having a lot of fun with out-of-state family. As it got later and later Friday and Saturday nights, I started to feel more and more anxious about the situation - thinking if I don't get to bed now, there's no way I'll get enough sleep to get up and run. But, you know what - I reminded myself that there is nothing more important than family, and choose to stop being so anxious about such a silly thing. I even managed to get up early and get my runs in (maybe I don't need as much sleep as I thought!). Totally worth it, and it was a great weekend.

Saturday night on 6th Street in Austin

Ryan Hall on running a marathon

I'm Falling Apart

I'm about a month out from the San Diego Marathon, and my foot/plantar fasciitis has been acting up (again), my piriformis muscle is super tight (again) and all the foam rolling in the world doesn't seem to be loosening my legs.

Not cool legs. Not cool.

I have no idea what's going on with my foot. It started feeling really achy the Saturday before last after my long run. I've dealt with plantar fasciitis in that foot before, and it's come and gone through the years. But now I've got a plantar fibroma on that foot. I know because I web md'd that shit ASAP. So, last week I iced, stretched, massaged and babied that foot. By the end of the week it felt back to normal, only to bother me again after a long(ish) run on Sunday. After a crappy run this morning (due to just being tired in general), I'm hoping that with extra foam rolling, stretching and rest this week that I will feel back to normal next week.

Or maybe it's phantom pains I'm feeling. That would be ideal.

Anyway, I have company (brother, his fiance, cousins) coming into town for the weekend, so it will be easy to rest and not worry about running. I've decided I'm going to have to push my bedtime up to 7:30 pm the next two nights though, in hopes of getting enough rest to keep up with my (younger) company who likes to stay up late. I'm guessing we'll be eating dinner late and staying out late. So late in fact, I suspect it will actually be my bed time before we even ORDER dinner. And, by the way, I what I consider late is probably different than what most people consider late. MIDNIGHT is super late for me people. Especially since my internal alarm clock wakes me up by 5 am no matter what time I go to bed.

Wow, I sound like Debbie Downer in this post. Sorry about that!

Well Hello Monday...

While I was running (uphill and into the wind) early this morning, a jeep drove by and flicked their lit cigarette at me. Well, good morning to you and hellloooo Monday!