Sometimes the bear eats you..

Well, in keeping with the "whah, whaaaahhh" theme, here goes my night marathon report.. So as I mentioned before, I kinda knew going in to this race that I may or may not be able to complete the full distance for this run, but I did want to give it the old college try and see how things went. Well, where to start. The first section of the trail was, for the most part, pretty good and the weather was about as good as could be expected for Indiana in late January.. It hovered around 30 degrees, maybe dropped a bit.. Cold, but really could have been much worse. The run started ok, but I quickly found myself alone out there in the woods..and then I also quickly realized that my headlamp was useless. Luckily I had my hand held light, but after following that for a while, I started to get really dizzy and nauseous (my current state of early pregnancy might have contributed to that), so that was no good. In preparing for this race, I only focused on trying to make my stomach handle the later running time, which is typically difficult for me. When you are used to early running, your body can really revolt against a big change, like trying to run on a belly full of a days worth of eating.. So that's what I tried to work on. Just simply running at a later time, but some of that was on a treadmill, some was in my neighborhood, NONE of it was on a trail and NONE of it was very long distances. Also not on my list of things I did to prepare.. test out my equipment!! Again.. I think I just really underestimated how hard it would be to run in the woods at night.. for a long distance.. in the cold.. I just thought, well, I can run a marathon and I can run a marathon on a trail.. how hard could it be to do it at night?? So I was pretty ill-equipped.. I can admit that. I think it also would have been more fun to run with another person or people. I tried to talk someone in to joining me for the full, but looking back, when I failed at that, I should have just committed to doing the half with a friend of mine. I don't know for sure if I'd have had a different outlook and if I'd have wanted to do the full half distance, had I made that mental change at the start of the run, but it's something to think about.. though a totally moot point because it's all said and done. Anyway. So there I was, dizzy and nauseous.. alone in the woods (most of the time.. except for when I passed slow quarter runners, none of which seemed to be enjoying their experience!), worried about what would happen when my flashlight went out.. then my stomach started hurting.. and then.. I hit the LOOooonng stretch of un-runable, ankle-deep, slick, cold, unavoidable mud. That was enough to seal the deal that I would not be heading out for another loop. It just wasn't meant to be. As much as I hate bailing on a race, there was just no part of me that wanted anything to do with another loop (or 3) of that. I think it's a cool concept and I'm not ruling out another go of it.. But I would definitely train better for it. I would need to get some friends together and hit the trails at night at least a few times for a decent distance to really get a good feel for it. I'm pretty sure folks said that the state parks would be legal for night running.. and they're actually working on changing the laws to make night running in the parks around the city legal.. so maybe by next year, I'll be all set to go. I did notice that the folks that were more experienced and in it for the long run had MUCH better headlamps and lights.. They'd run up behind you and you'd be like "wow.. so that's what it's supposed to be like!.. can I run with you for a bit, kind sir??". I'm sure that my knowing of my pregnancy probably didn't help my desire to push through all the discomforts that I was facing.. But there was also the issue of safety.. and I had said even before the 'bun' was known that if it wasn't fun, if the trails were too slick to be safe and run-able, that I had no shame in bailing.. So I'm not sure that really changed much.. except the nausea might not have been as bad & my stomach might not have been hurting as much.. I was also crazy tired, which I know was because of the early pregnancy stuff.. I had rested pretty much all day, so normal circumstances I would have been fine, but I was almost falling asleep on the drive home and it was only 8:30?! Imagine If I'd been trying to drive after a FULL marathon after midnight? yikes. But I think the best part of it all was when I went to explain to the race directors/timing guys that I would not be completing the run that night.. I just said I wasn't feeling great and that I had learned of my pregnancy, so knew I may or may not be able to have a great run, etc, etc.. I tried to give the cliffs notes version and not bore them with ALL the reasons.. One of the guys was very nice and just said congrats on the pregnancy and gave me a medal saying that it would be to remind me of the good news.. The other fella, however, decided it was a good time to inform me about pregnancy.. because, obviously, he's been through it before.. He said "actually, they say that if you've been running before you become pregnant, it's good to keep running".. the nice (smart) fella kind of patted his overweight, chatty buddy as if to say "you really don't want to do this, man".. I just smiled at him and said "there's some other effects of early pregnancy that are making this run difficult for me, not just the fact that there is a baby growing in me" (ie: the nausea, GI stuff, sleepiness). He IS right, however ill advised his advice was at that time.. BUT, the number one rule in taking on exercise while pregnant is you must LISTEN.. and not only listen, but respond to what your body is telling you. Sometimes it's good to push through pain and discomforts to come out the other end a stronger person, but since a healthy baby is more important to me than any athletic achievements, pregnancy is not that time. SO. My run totals dropped down to 20 miles last week.. So far I'm at 3 miles from last evening's lovely 50 degree sunset jog through the 'hood. I had also done a 40 minute spin that morning and did a crossfit workout. I was starting to feel the effects at crossfit a bit more this week.. more dizzy, out of breath.. It was a box jump, kettle bell, double under workout, so I guess cardio was involved.. but I had to slow a bit to keep my HR/breathing under control. I did have a major 'double under' success yesterday, though.. connected 25 for the 1st time! So that was exciting and took the sting out of not being able to perfom as well in the workout. Today I got a decent swim in this morning.. long set day, so 300 warm-up, 4x100 kick/swim set, 3x400's descending, only got through 2x150 descending before I had to get out to head home.. Not a long swim, but felt pretty good. Now I'm off to crossfit and I may or may not play my last soccer game for a while.. it's at 9:40 tonight, though?! So we'll see if I can hold it together for that late. I do want to play because it's the last game of this session and I don't think I'll sign up for next session. As much as (I'm sure the heavy fella from the race would tell me!) I know I can continue workouts through pregnancy, there's just too much gray area with soccer.. too much that I can't control.. getting pushed, kicked, hit with the ball.. just probably not the best idea.. SO. I think that's all I have to say about that!

Whah, whaaaahhh

My big run streak ended rather unceremoniously last night.. It's ok, though. It was a good streak of good running and I do think it's helped my run quite a bit (you know what's not going to help my run? Gaining 15-20# all in my belly..hint, hint..), so all is not lost. I bailed on my run last night (I had planned on a late evening treadmill run, since my quest to become an evening runner is coming to a close tonight!) for several reasons.. 1 being that I do need to rest up a bit to be able to take on the night marathon with 'fresh' legs, so my workouts friday morning (swim and crossfit) will be the last before saturday night.. I also have been extremely exhausted (see above hint as to why that might be) lately. I've been stretched a little thin with all the extra gymnastics teaching and the start of my TNT Tri Coaching duties, so a little extra rest is much needed. And 3.. it just seemed like 'doing an extra run just to do an extra run'.. it was just a treadmill run and it's not going to make or break my night run experience.. so again, a little extra rest seemed to make much more sense. So that's that. I made it almost all the way through January with running every day.. even if it was just a short run on some days.. I think the experiment went well, but given that I'll be scaling back on everything for a bit, I think I'll make my run goals something more along the lines of 3-4 runs a week with an average of maybe 20 miles per wk? That might be cut to more like 15.. we'll see.. So for this week, I'm sitting at 12 running miles thus far, so if all goes well at the run tonight, I should come to about 38 miles for the week (yes, that means I DO plan to have my 1st rest day in a LONG time on sunday), so that would be about..let's see.. carry the one.. 165-ish miles of running for the month of January? Not bad.. not bad.. Nothing extreme there, but a solid start to the year. There's been a... I'll call it a 'rash'.. I'll go there.. A rash of youtube video's coming out centered around 'sh*t runners/cyclists/triathletes say' (I don't think they've hit swimmers yet?) and I'm trying hard to avoid sounding too much like the cliche, but sometimes.. you just gotta admit that you're just as big a dork as everyone else.. But anyway, I was going to say that I'm thinking the next few months will be much more swim and bike centered than running, though I fully intend to continue to include short runs on most days.. muscle memory, folks!.. for as long as I can. But we'll see.. This month has almost been a 'crossfit and run' centered training month because I was thinking about doing a competition with the crossfit crew, but that's out for this year. I still plan to keep up my crossfitting, but on a much lower intensity level, so not always going for that lowest time or the highest wt I can push. I think it'll be hard to cut back at first (as I found out yesterday.. it was a 'Fran' workout, which was my 1st time doing it & I had been informed that it was 'kind of a big deal' in the crossfit world to know 'what's your Fran time'.. maybe they should make a 'sh*t crossfitters say'.. Anyway, I tried not to go too hard, but still found myself a little more winded than I think I maybe should have allowed), but as things progress, it'll make more sense. I just want to stay healthy, strong and fit.. for myself, for my sanity, and for the health of my wee one. There's a paltry amount of good research on exercise during pregnancy and what is out there basically says that everyone is different, which makes sense, so it's impossible to give a blanket guideline of how everyone should do it. So yes, I plan to run a marathon tonight.. will I go all out? push my heart rate to an uncomfortable place? careen over trees, rocks and people to set a coarse PR? No. But do I know that I can listen to my body and continue on as I have been these past few months, enjoy the experience and have some fun? Exactly. So. Rest is in order for today.. then on to some fun night time running tonight!

Mile check!

I'm a lil behind on my recent goal to track my miles on here..go figure. So last weeks runs included: Monday was a 7mile trail run, Tuesday was..oh, shoot.. I think it was a short treadmill run & then I had a soccer game, I think I tallied it as 4 mi, wed was speed day, so only 2 mi, but we did tabata intervals, 2 rounds of 8 (20 seconds all out, 10 seconds recover), thurs was a 5 mi treadmill.. Lots of treadmill lately.. Ah, forget it.. It's all pretty boring treadmill stuff except for an attempted trail run on Sunday. I say attempted because the trail was a sheet of ice and pretty dangerous, though we still managed to hang in for a 2 hr run, so not all was lost. I think I counted a total of 40 miles for the week, along with my usual swims, bikes and crossfit workouts. Now into this week, I'mresting a bit more and cutting back the miles a touch, since I have that night marathon on Saturday! So far just a 4 mile varied treadmill run after a spin yesterday ( while watching the bachelor, of coarse), then today was a 1 mi hill challenge, again, after a short spin. I'm not quite sure why I've relied so much on the 'mills lately. I think it's because it's been so UGLY out! I mean, it's one thing to bundle up for a sunny, cold run, but add gloomy and rainy? Guess I'm getting soft in my old age.. Well. Here's hoping for good trail weather for Saturday!

Gettin cold out there..

Well, I just wanted to do a quick 'mile check'. You see, I've tried to log my miles/workouts on the 'daily mile' website, but I'm already finding that to be too taxing.. and I feel silly putting my workouts on there.. I suppose I could just put my run stuff in & leave the rest out.. I really don't typically keep track of my miles or anything, unless I'm training & have been given workouts by a coach or something, but I DO think it would be cool to keep track & maybe know at the end of a yr how much I've run.. So I'll try. I thought since I have this blog & check in to it fairly regularly for right now, maybe I can just track my weekly miles on here.. So here goes.. Last wk was a big one for me. I know this b/c I tracked it on that website.. and then accidentally misled my fellow trail runners on how much I had run that wk b/c I had misunderstood the way it tracked.. Anyway, long story short, I ran 50miles last wk. This wk we're clocking in quite a bit less at only 35mi, but I'm OK with that. The runs I got in were good runs AND I put up with a lot more cold than I had been faced with previously. I'll get used to it & I hope my running buds do, too, because running in the cold with friends ALWAYS makes you feel more sane than braving the ice/snow/cold alone. Yesterday I had to settle for just 1 loop instead of the 2 7-ish mi loops that I wanted to do.. A large group from Indiana Trail Runners met up at Eagle Creek to do a preview of the coarse for the night marathon coming up.. It was nice to be able to check it out and a big eye opener to a) remembering what it's like to run in the snow.. made it feel quite a bit slower/longer than a usual 7-ish miles.. and b) I really need to pay attention out there! I tend to underestimate the trails at eagle creek because they are quite a bit more 'tame', for the most part, than the other trails that I prefer, such as Tecumseh, Brown county, etc.. But leave it to Planet Adventure to find some good obstacles for us out there! As if running in the snow in the dark in the woods isn't enough.. now we can add balancing on the edge of a steep drop-off into the lake, climbing down steep hills and over large trees.. and many other fun things to think about! It'll be fine.. So that was my run for saturday. Then today I met up with a few pals to take on the mt bike trail out at Ft. Ben. I was right in thinking that it would be a fun run.. Previous mt bikers, however, were wrong in thinking that biking when the ground goes through freeze/thaw is a good idea.. the rutting was pretty bad in parts & to be honest, I'm not quite sure why anyone would want to slip slide around on ice on the edge of a hill on a bike.. I guess I'm not quite 'there' yet, as far as mt biking hard core-ness.. But if those bikers were trail runners, maybe they'd think twice before tearing up the trail like that..Quite the ankle rolling situation! Oh, well. For the most part it was a good run. Did have a bit of GI issues.. not too atypical for me. Here's a lesson for ya.. 'Cookie Dough Zone Bar'.. NOT a good pre-run option.. at least not for me. You'd think I'd learn. I actually did pause just for a moment before I ate it.. 'do I need this? (yes, you need the calories) is it going to settle alright? (uhhh..maybe??)' I have a failry finnicky tummy (that's an official MD dx, by the way), so I usually have to be pretty careful about what I eat before a run. I ate this exact same bar before saturday's run & started to feel a little 'tummy issues' coming on toward the end of that run, so I should have known. But now, after 2 failed uses with this bar (they're so tasty, though! but I guess when the 1st few ingredients are all variations of sugars and other strange things you can't pronounce, it's not exactly shocking when the body revolts.. I know I revolted a bit when I actually took the time to read what I had eaten), I will officially take it off the list o' things to eat before a run. I've had it lots of times.. I guess usually before a swim, or after a swim on the way to crossfit.. both of which involve less time being out & about & less 'jostling' of the tummy tum.. so I can continue to use it for that (did I mention they're really tasty?), but I think pb&j's, even clif bars seem to work better for running. Anyhow.. never too late to learn something new, is what I always say (by default, of coarse. I'd love for it to be the time I no longer have to learn new things.. but I'm just not there yet..). So there we have it. My mileage check for the week. By my count, we're at 85 runnin miles for the year thus far! (so long, dailymile.com. No offense, but I'm just not cut out for the daily logging of my every move). Here's to getting out for some more cold weather running! Lord knows I have the stylin duds to do so (I hit the sales items at Dicks.. let's just say they were most likely on sale for a reason, & it wasn't because they were feeling charitable & wanting to pimp out their finest pieces..)

snow in my eyes!

Winter has decided to come on back to say hello.. After several days of crazy, nice weather for this time of yr in Indiana.. I knew it was all going to come crashing down sometime soon, & I think we're seeing the start of that today. Just as I was heading out with a tri-friend of mine.. who, despite having several yrs on me, is still much faster than I am, the snow started coming down. I tried to think of all kinds of reasons for me not to run with him today.. I'm tired. I'm sore from all the crossfit stuff. I don't want to chase him up and down hills today. It's yucky & cold out.. BUT. As I've mentioned, I'm trying to improve on my run.. part of that improvement includes getting faster & the only way to get faster is to.. you guessed it.. run faster! So I'm doing that with the shorter speed-work things, and hills.. But I also really need to get back to running with people/groups that are just a little faster than you are.. making their comfy, easy run where they want to just chat & chat.. your tough, tempo run where all you can muster is 'yeah'.. or the always insightful 'ok' in response to whatever it is that they're saying (hard to hear through your wheezing & all). So that's just what I did today! We took off on a hilly out & back.. 3 out/3 back. It started with a few random snow flakes & then about a mile or 2 in we were in a pretty steady snow. Now I love a good snow-globe run. So peaceful! But when you add wind & make that snow wet.. those flakes can blind a fool! Like this fool. Especially on the way back, we were running right in to it & I could hardly see. Luckily, my running partner, Alan, had glasses on (is it uncool to wear ski goggles to run? I thought that sounded like a good idea), so I ran behind him for a bit & he blocked most of the flakes.. Why did they ALL want to land right in my eyeballs?? Sheesh. But we were able to maintain an 8:15min/mi avg for the whole hilly run, which is good for me! I'd still love to get to where I'm in the 7 min range.. but we'll keep working on it! Going back to how last week ended up, we did get a lovely 15-ish mi run in down in Brown County. Such a good day for it. Pretty much all of us just wanted to run and run and run.. so that's what we did! I think there were 7 in our group? We split up a bit throughout, but we all had a great run and had lots of fun. Lots of BIG trees down in Brown County?! Like.. full grown trees out from the roots. I guess the wind must have gotten to it? But pretty crazy to see. 1 such tree (well, several, but this 1, in particular) was lying across the trail & darn it all.. it jumped right up & grabbed me! I went over.. HARD, but it was too funny to even realize that I was pretty banged up & bloody. Other than that, though, big success on the day, for sure. This week has been good. I have continued to work on the ol run. Monday was treadmill hill sprints after my basement spin & then back out at night to continue to transform myself in to a night runner. I came to a few realizations.. 1st.. an 8 lumen flashlight IS, indeed, sarcasm. Why do they even make such a thing? "it's going to be dark.. & I want to see.. but not clearly.. maybe just enough to make out shadows? perfect" I also learned that I guess I make circles with my hands when I run? Oh, boy.. pretty sure that's not a good thing! But what I really learned is that I do, physically, like running at night. It feels good to kind of shake things loose at the end of the day. Mentally is more difficult. It's hard after a long day to get all dressed up for running when all you want to do is sit down & have dinner with your family and relax a bit. I did still have dinner with the fam. I just do a quick night run & then we sat down together.. But still.. it's just nice to get your workout stuff done early & not have to think about how/when/where/etc you'll get your evening workout in. But alas, a few more weeks and then I can go back to forgetting about all this night running business. Tuesday.. ah.. opted for the fartlek run! It felt good. It actually helps a lot to make the run feel faster when you're always either plotting your next sprint/pick-up, currently IN your sprint/pick-up, or recovering. Wednesday was back to the short spin/speed-work on the 'mill. This time we went for 2min sprints w/ 2 min recovery.. good times! Which brings us to thursday's hill tempo run (while being blinded by snow). In addition to all this run fun, I've had a couple good swims. Did learn, however, that I have poor posture in my swim & I need to work on yet another new thing in my swim! I really appreciate the coaches at Indy Aquatic Masters. Even though it's sometimes hard to think of all these little things while you're trying to just keep up, I do know that each time I finally 'get' one of the changes, I see huge improvements in my swim.. So keep 'em coming, coaches! I'll eventually figure this thing out. It's also been a pretty tough week of crossfitting. I got to learn to climb a rope! wow. I don't remember it being that difficult.. or that technical back in my gymnastics days, but I made it up.. 5x in 6min. the goal was to make it up 10x, so didn't quite make that.. maybe next time! We also had a real doozy of a workout with 100 thrusters(75#), which is a whole body lift.. deep squat up to an overhead press, I guess is how you'd describe it.. But 100 of anything is pretty tough to do.. add to that that every minute we had to stop the lifting to do 5 burpees. At first, this wasn't so bad, but man did those minutes get shorter & shorter. My 1st set of 13 quickly turned to 6, then 5, then it was all I could do to get more than 3 lifts in that minute before it was time for more burpees! But I did finish that beast.. just under the 30 min time cap.. YIKES. That was a good one. I'm also back to teaching gymnastics this week.. and back at it, indeed. It appears that I'll be the only 1 teaching classes this session.. usually I have someone to help me, but no such luck this time. So it's pretty busy, but I really do have fun with it. And I really can't wait to get started with triathlon coaching.. So bring it on, winter! Lots of fun still to be had

back to hill country!

Ah.. I really did miss all those crazy hills.. Today I went down south a bit to run a 10mi trail in Morgan Monroe State Forest with a new trail running bud! Always good to have more & more of those.. that way you have a better chance of talking someone in to joining you for a jog! It was a fantastic day for it, so that was great. I got off to a bit of a rocky start.. as is tradition with me & new trails, I like to get right in there & fall down! This time I rolled my ankle pretty good in about the 1st 15 steps of the run.. ya dummy.. It didn't really hurt during the run, but I must admit, she's a bit tender at the moment. Oh, well.. I'm icing & anti-inflammatory-ing this, too (in addition to my back, which also decided to make a return appearance today, though I didn't let THAT slow me down, either!), so hopefully I'll feel good enough for another great run tomorrow down in Brown County with MORE of my new trail running buddies. I'm not sure who all will be there, but I know I'm hitchin a ride with my fellow southside trailee, Brenna! Big bonus to not only have someone to run with (& she's pretty much always up for a run.. love that!), but to also be able to carpool! So as far as my run mileage this week.. it's up there, for me.. I think, all said, I'll be around 60miles for this week? I'm kinda proud, though, because not only can I actually say they were all quality runs.. they were also all different kinds of runs! we had the mile hill on the 'mill, the night-ice-road tempo, the cold rolling hill repeat, the speed-work 'mill, the 8mi rolling trail, the trail hill repeat (made it to 6 this time! even with the start/end being treacherously slick..), and then 2 (1 is yet, undone at this point, but I'm looking ahead to tomorrow already) long-ish, hilly trail runs to cap the week off! Good stuff. Now I'll have to use the ol' noggin to come up with some more varied types of runs for next week.. fartlek? mile repeats (ooof.. did I really just say that?)? maybe I can talk some of the fast road guys to let me tag along & chase 'em down for as long as I can hang.. that's always good for the ego. Not much else to report, I don't think. I've decided to take on the muscle up at crossfit this week.. If you don't crossfit, you probably won't know what the heck I'm talking about. If you do crossfit, you either feel my pain, or have already conquered the beast & think I'm a big weenie for not yet being able to figure it out.. But I'll stick with it & figure it out... eventually.. Always good to have something to work on! though there's plenty other things there I need to work on.. double unders, anyone?? sheesh! skipping rope, for heaven's sake.. should be such a joyous occasion! Instead, leaves me cursing & covered in whip marks. Lovely. Swimming was pretty much business as usual this week. I'm feeling pretty good about my swim, for right now, & am excited that my 100 pretty consistently comes in in the 1:30's.. which is fast-ish, for this 'adult-learning tri' swimmer.. but I'm sure I'm doomed to constantly chase the 'real' swimmers.. and I'm OK with that! I would also like to add that Mason is quite the little dancer these days! He loves his new wii kids dance game. He has a few songs/dances that he prefers & has those moves down pretty darn well! He's so funny with it.. thinks it's a race or something "I'm too fast for them"! Of coarse, the point is to stick WITH the dancers to get more points.. Oh, well! Pretty sure the point is also to have fun, so keep on keepin on, little man!

Think I'm Thirsty??

This is just fresh on my mind b/c I just got in from my chilly run & I grabbed a water, chocolate milk (double chocolate? oh, yes, I did!), AND a 'life' water and have already downed most of them. It's just harder to carry water when it's this cold out.. Today was the 1st 'real' cold run that I've been on this winter (it's officially winter, right?? pretty sure we had the solstice.. sure feels like winter!). It's been pretty darn mild out & it's actually supposed to warm all the way up to 50 by the weekend, but as of now.. it was 20 degrees out, but with the 'wind chill' factor, it registered maybe 7 or 9 degrees? That's pretty brisk. This was the 1st time I really had to layer up.. though I may have over-layered a bit.. but there were still some spots where it got chilly.. Anyway.. this just in.. it's winter & it's cold out.. Great observations, aye? Well, my plan for today was to do this rolling hill repeat.. it's a little over a mile away, then it's a mile 1 way to run up and down the hills, then turn around... and.. repeat.. All said, I did just under 7miles today & I felt pretty good! Coupled with yesterday's 'hill challenge' on my treadmill.. which consisted of setting the 'mill about 3min slower than my 'fastest mile'.. sadly, my 'fastest mile' right now is probably a touch over 7min.. so I set 'er at 5.7mph and the incline at 5% and the goal was to go as long as I could.. I made it a mile w/ some warm up and cool down.. Of coarse, this was after an 'at home WOD' full of burpees, squats, box jumps and mt climbers.. AND.. of coarse, I had also spun (spinned? rode? whatever.. I rode my trainer) for about 40min doing leg isolation drills, so my ability to run uphill at this point was iffy at best. Later that night, I decided I really need to start working on this whole night running thing.. seeing as I'm going to be running a marathon at night in just a few weeks.. So I went out for a brisk 3.5mi run that night.. with my headlamp.. in the ice.. shockingly, did NOT run in to anyone else out there?! wonder where everyone was.. But I'm feeling good about how this week has started out. My back still has it's moments. I'm trying really hard to keep the swelling/inflammation under control as that, understandably, helps with the pain. After my failed swim workout (it started fine.. did I already blog about this?.. anyway, after a set that pushed my speed a bit, my back hurt so bad to breathe that I actually had to cut the workout short.. probably the 1st time I'd done that in a LONG time) on sat, I was able to make it through the 'super tuesday' workout today, which was 5 sets of 1 x 300, then 6 x 50.. good times! But I felt pretty good.. Then I made it through the crossfit workout of the day.. hurt a little bit on the overhead squats, but overall, it went well.. So, though the workouts have gone well, I'm pretty sure this calls for some ice! I hope things continue to go well with all these workouts. No soccer tonight, but I'm lined up for some fun speedwork w/ friends tomorrow morning! And as the week goes on, as I mentioned, it's supposed to warm up a bit.. so may be a while before I have another brisk one like today.. I think I'm OK w/ that! I'm sure there's plenty more layer days ahead..

2011 Highs and Lows

So as 2011 ends & we look in to 2012 (which is not exactly off to a bang.. more on that in a bit), I'm going to copy a topic from a facebook page.. why not! Way to try something new in the new year, me! So the topic was.. what were your highlights and lowlights of the year (original.. right? why couldn't I think of that?) So a year goes by pretty quick & I think we're often quick to say that 'not much has changed'.. Any time I talk with friends that I haven't seen in a while, I always say "there's not much new with me".. but yet, if I really think about it, if I haven't seen that person regularly, there's definitely 'new' things, right? I'd hope so. So I'll try here to dig a little deeper, be a little more accurate, and truly take a moment to appreciate all that has been.. the year 2011 (as I've lived it anyway).

A major highlight of the year is that my son has grown SO much in just a year. Mason's now a VERY big (according to him.. & I guess most folks that see him.. I guess he's tall? w/ nothing to compare him to, I just have to take their word for it), very opinionated, sometimes 'sassy', but always sweet & fun at the core of it all. It's hard to be specific about what, exactly has changed, but he can now occupy himself quite nicely with puzzles, stickers, his little computer game, pretending to play a guitar or a piano (to Zac Brown songs most of the time.. kid's got good taste! His faves are Zac Brown, Ben Folds (yikes that guy can swear!.. never noticed before! lots of diversion, inserting appropriate words loudly over the song, turning down the song.. I guess I could just put wiggles on or something, but that's no fun..), Barenaked Ladies.. Lots of good stuff), lots of time playing with cars. He's very in to helping.. even when it's not so 'helpful'.. but don't tell him that! He has real friends that he cares about & looks forward to seeing.. not just someone to play along side of that mom linked him up with through a mommy group or something.. but honest to goodness 'can AJ come over to play' kind of friends.. very fun to watch.

I'd be remiss to mention a minor 'lowlight' being that I was cut back to 'as needed' (PRN) at the Charis Center, so I haven't been working much in my field of choice.. dietetics.. I'm planning (resolution spoiler??) to get things going again with figuring out where I am with sports nutrition and get in to some individual counseling, which I already do some of, for free for friends.. but it's time to make it official!

But on the plus side of that, the cut back in time spent working has allowed me much more freedom to focus on athletics.. not that I needed much help with that, but the reduction of hrs at the clinic coincided nicely with my decision to take of my 1st full ironman.. so I guess it all worked out!

The ironman was, of coarse, a huge highlight of the year for me, but more than just the physical achievement, what I really think about when I look back on the year is how much love and support I received from my family and friends. Having Matt support me through all the long hours of training, racing, traveling to events.. I can't even begin to explain how big a role he played in getting me to the start line of the race. People ask ALL the time how I find time to train and compete while having a 3 yr old.. there's lots of little things that play in to it, but it really boils down to having an amazing, supportive husband to make it all work. Mason is also a huge support to me.. his little face.. his demand (yes, demand..) for 'a kiss & a hug' when he sees me at races.. I thrive on all that. When things get tough, I can think of him & know he's waiting for me and then all I can think about is figuring out a way to get to him faster. I also had a lot of great friends, training partners, & coaches that kept the long season rolling and I can't thank them enough for being there. I'm sure there will be times that I do long trainings on my own, but boy was it nice to have folks to hang with on those long rides! I also appreciate the support of my parents, siblings, in-laws.. though they often think I'm nuts for the racing and training I do, they always think to ask how things are going and to lend their well-wishes. Having my dad at the ironman was a great feeling, too. I don't think my dad had been at a sporting event of mine since probably freshman.. maybe sophmore yr of college gymnastics, so even though he had NO idea what he was in for with this race (he asked what all the '140.6' stickers were on cars.. I said 'that's the distance of the race we're doing tomorrow'.. he says..'in miles??!!'.. yeah, dad.. gonna be a long one!), he was there for support.. AND to entertain the young'un, which is just as important. My mom really wanted to be there, but she actually had to come babysit the week after for us while we took our 'recovery trip' to Playa Del Carmen (I should do more of those races if they all end like that!), so her duties were needed elsewhere.. But she was there in spirit and, again, we can't thank her enough for hanging with little man while we took off on vaycay.

Which brings me to a couple trips of 2011 that were highlights.. Playa Del Carmen was wonderful. We've been 3x now, but I think this time was the best.. I was fully recovered by the wednesday after the race & I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the pampering we undertook that week. We also got to travel, thanks to Matt's work, to a Club Med in Florida. Those places are really more my style.. lots of activities to do.. usually I have to figure out where to run or cram in to some tiny, out-dated 'gym' when we travel, but these places have all kinds of workouts to do.. they're even encouraged! Too bad, though, that I was still recovering from my knee scope when we went..

Which would bring me to another 'lowlight'.. tearing my meniscus and having to undergo my 4th knee 'surgery' (this one was only a scope.. I don't consider that a real surgery, though it did knock me on my butt a little more than I thought it would!) was not a great thing.. The fact that it happened right before I was about to get to do a marathon.. I was really well trained for this puppy & I was ready to BRING it!.. The rest of the season was fine.. I got to do my race & all was well, but MAN did my running take a hit this year. Hence why I'm trying to run lots and lots to get myself back on track.. I'm sure I'll figure it out!

I guess that reminds me of another highlight.. a new found love for trail running! I think this has always been something I wanted to get in to, but never really got after it. But this fall.. I knew I wanted to keep running, but also knew I needed some time off of splits and tempos and pace madness.. so trail running just seemed to fit the bill! With the help of some new trail running friends, I've really gotten after it and think I'm probably just months away from my 1st 'ultra' race.

Another highlight that came from a lowlight.. again with being cut back from my work as a dietitian, I was able to take on more hours as a coach and have found I really enjoy it! Right now I'm coaching/teaching gymnastics 2x/wk, plus picking up extra private sessions. I'm also looking ahead to coaching the tri team for Team in Training/Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.. I'm really looking forward to that and, again, hope to have discovered a new passion.

I'm also very excited and grateful that I started up with CrossFit this year! I've been going just 2 months now, but I really enjoy it and hope to continue for as long as I can fit it in to whatever else I have going on.

I'm sure there's lots more that I'm not thinking of right now.. I feel like it's been a good year! Some struggles, for sure, but mostly all good things are what comes to mind. I have an amazing family and really great friends and hobbies that I love to do. Career-wise, I could use a bit of a swift kick in the arse to get things moving.. I have all kinds of ideas.. I just need to pick a path and run with it. As for how 2012 has decided to come in?? What the.. Um, 2012, just a thought, but most folks like to make a good 1st impression? start w/ your best foot forward and what-not? Are you sure you don't want to re-think your entrance?... because last time I checked, whipping winds, rapidly dropping temps, menacing clouds, a light pelting of rain right as I was heading out for my 'welcome 2012' run.. not really the way I'd go.. but maybe that's just me.. So my 1st day of the new year, though I had lots of good times with family & friends, was pretty much a wash as far as my workout.. After my failed attempt at an outdoor, sunrise run.. which I suppose I could have stuck it out, but running through 25+mph winds, cold and rain isn't really a good time.. especially when all you really wanted was a nice, leisurely romp through the 'hood. So the decision was made to do a spin and a run on the 'mill after a lovely breakfast w/ my guys.. The spin went pretty well, but my back stuff was acting up by the end of my ride, so my 'rolling hill' run was cut short due to pain while breathing.. really not an ideal way to run! So.. not exactly an awesome start with working out.. But it's no big deal.. I'll get back after it tomorrow. As long as my back behaves.. I should be all good! So a happy new year, 1 and all. Next on deck is the night trail marathon.. so I have to real quick become a night runner! ..no problem, right??