random thoughts that didn't fit into the last post

1) I apparently needed more recovery from the half marathon than I had originally thought. Sunday I went to the animal shelter & after walking the dogs for an hour and 20 minutes I was extremely exhausted & had to go home. Monday I tried to go to the gym to do some lifting but I settled for an EASY 3 mile run instead & then took the next two days off. I felt good on my run today though.

2) I have joined the my work's walking club. We get together once a week at lunch to go for a walk. I think I might do that a couple other times a week just to get outside while it is still super nice out.

3) I also joined my work's softball team. After watching my brother's games for two seasons, I am excited to test out my skills. My brother and I went to the batting cages last week, and 14 people showed up for our first softball practice on Wednesday. The season is long though so it'll be interesting to see who's still there at the end.

4) I might be going to London for work for two weeks, including memorial day. I am really excited because I wanted to go on my own but with all the triathlon stuff my vacation/money is all gone. 3-day weekend in Barcelona?

5) My newest music obsessions are so bad they're bad (or extremely good). One Direction (the british boy band invading america) and "Call Me Maybe" by the canadian teenager signed by Justin Bieber. They are quite catchy and it's about time we had another good boy band since we are in the era of 90s nostalgia.

6) A good CD you are probably missing (like really actually good, not so bad it's good) is Jake Owen's CD - Barefoot Blue Jean Night. There is only 1 song I don't like on it.

7) You should also check out Hunter Hayes. There is not a single song I don't like on that one.

Trails, Heels, and a credit card rejection

Did you all know that there is a limit to the number of times you can swipe your credit card in a single day before they cut you off (regardless of $$ amount spent)? Neither did I. I learned this the hard way on Saturday.

First though, this weekend was my last pre-Ironman training weekend. I made sure to enjoy it. Friday night I met up with Hillary and Christy to plan our Austin trip! We are going at the beginning of April. Austin is the number 1 place I have wanted to visit for the last 4 years and now I finally am! This is also the first time I've really "planned" a trip. Typically, I am more "go with the flow." Luckily, my bike trips have all been with MIT grads who love to plan so it has always worked out. Thanks to suggestions from a friend-of-a-friend and our friend Valerie, we have a laundry list of things to do and tentative plans which leave room for spontaneity. I am excited for good music, food, and day trip to San Antonio. I might also try to do a local group bike ride because one of the things I have heard about Austin is how great the running/biking is.

Saturday morning I woke up at 7am and couldn't go back to sleep. Luckily, I used that time to FINALLY go with to the Dog Park with my brother's dog. I have heard stories for the last couple of years but I have never gotten up early enough to go. It was a fascinating study in social behavior.

After that, I went on my semi-annual shopping spree (hence the credit card debacle). I HATE shopping. So 2-3 times a year I go on a massive one day extravaganza to get everything I need for that season. Usually, I drag a friend along but since I thought it would only be a 2 hour trip early on a Saturday. 4 1/2 hours later, I walked out of the mall. It was quite successful - I got everything I needed (with only a couple of splurges), and because I went to the Outlets I got great deals. I also made a surprise purchase (to me) of a pair of heels for work! Other than boots, I have worn flats to work and hate high heels. But as my time in spandex increases, so does my desire to be girly. Don't worry, I will bring my flats with me to work as well. My fashionable coworker is going to FLIP, based on her reaction to the dress I wore last Monday.

Then, in order to get ready for Texas, my friends and I made a trip to Hill Country BBQ in DC after a failed attempt to see the Cherry Blossoms. I think the pictures below speak for themselves.

"The Pitmaster" - 1/4 pound brisket, 1/4 chicken, 1 pork rib, and 1 beef rib
It was paying for this that my credit card got declined (lucky swipe #13). The piece of chocolate I bought to soothe myself after 4 1/2 hours of shopping really pushed me over the edge. And don't worry, at least 4 of those swipes were less than $7. I took advantage of the sales! Luckily I had just enough cash to cover the delicious dinner. (Not pictured: Banana Pudding & Apple Crisp).

Then this morning I woke up at 7 again. I had so much fun at the trail race a couple of weeks ago that I decided to volunteer at this morning's race. It was at Prince William Forest Park (the most amazing little gem of a national park down I-95). I was stationed at the final food aid station & spent all morning ensuring that everything was stocked, especially the trail mix/M&Ms. I was shocked and horrified to discover that the trail mix went MUCH faster than the M&Ms. It was a lot of fun & I met another person on the Team doing Ironman Wisconsin. To make up for all the munching I did while manning the aid station (I had to test the M&Ms to make sure they were still good), I decided to go for a run at the park. My initial plan was to stick with the road but that lasted 5 mintues before I veered onto the trails. Luckily I did because I was rewarded with the following:

Luckily it wasn't too muddy.

EEEEEK - Hill. Yep, that's vertical.

My FAVORITE. Beautiful. It was such a calm, peaceful run. I am so happy I found a local place to really test out trail running. I think I will definitely mix it into my training, especially recovery weekends where I could do my bike ride, switch shoes, and get in a trail run.

Tonight I have Swim Clinic #3. Should be interesting.

Happy Sunday! How was your weekend?

A half marathon, and a PR!!!

Today was an awesome day! I ran the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon in DC. Last week, I briefly mentioned that I was hoping to PR. Going into the race today, I was very nervous because I had looked up my best time and it was a lot faster than I had thought (2:12, or 10:22 minute pace). That was back in November of 2009. Since then, I have focused more on running longer, not faster. I have done 3 marathons and a half marathon where you run slow to run far. While I have done some shorter distances, they are typically with my dad and I run his pace (slow). I love running with my dad, but I was really excited to see what I could do. When I signed up for the Ironman, I briefly considered trying to change to the full but then I realized there would be plenty of time to build up the run during the summer. I am quite happy with that decision!

After the Marine Corps Marathon, I was running pretty darn slow. I signed up for this race just to have something to train for, not even really thinking about trying to run it fast. Then I got my heart rate zones tested and have spent the last month and a half running much faster than I had been. That's when I got the idea in my head that maybe I could just push it and see how it goes. I only briefly mentioned it in my blog, because I didn't want to be disappointed if it didn't happen. My "plan" going into the race was to push it conservatively at the beginning and just see how long I could hold it. Honestly, I don't really know why I make plans because I usually change just make it up as I go along.

I was feeling pretty good until this week, when my first trip to the dentist in four years (I know, I know, shame) had me riddled with anxiety. I went to do a shake out run (just a 3ish mile run the day before to loosen up) during lunch, only to realize I had left one of my sneakers at home. Luckily, my coworker came through and I managed to get in a decent run which felt pretty good. That made me more confident heading into today.

I met up with my friends from high school Liz and Kim on the way to the race at 6am. I haven't seen Kim in a LOOONG time so it was great to see her again and catch up. Her dad was with us and had his spectator plan all detailed out. He knew the course better than us! We got to race around 7:30 (the metro was pretty slow because of the crowds) and managed to sneak in a bathroom run before heading to the start line with about 3 minutes to spare. That was much better than marine corps when I made it after the race had started.

Kim and I decided to run the first bit together (Liz was waaaay ahead of us, finishing with about an 8 minute mile pace). We also randomly met another Team Zer who introduced himself to me and will also be training for the Ironman with me all summer. I love the random connections that come with being on a team.

I knew I was doing well when our first mile, the one that is typically slow because of the crowd at the start was 10 minutes. Our next 4 miles ranged from 9:06-9:36 and I was feeling good. Unfortunately Kim was not (her knees were killing her) so we parted ways at mile 5 and I was just determined to hold onto that pace as long as possible, despite the heat that was building. I just kept thinking, if I blow up at mile 7, I can run 10 minute miles and PR. Then after mile 7, if i blow up at mile 8 I can run 10:30 minute miles and PR. This went on the whole race, but luckily the blow up never happened! And trust me, in two of my 3 marathons it definitely came.

I crossed the finish line after a strong, sub-9 minute mile in 2:02.43!!! A TEN MINUTE PR and a 9:22 minute/mile!!!!!! I was so happy that not only was I able to start off strong, but I finished strong as well. And I can promise you, I was quite happy not to be running 13 more. The half course was awesome, traversing through dupont circle, adams morgan, and around howard which provided some different scenery than just the monuments. The Rock'N'Roll series signature is bands at every mile, and they had a good mix. It was just overall a really fun race. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and the crowd support was awesome. The race, and my performance, really have me excited for the coming season.

Oh, and I was also super excited when my mom called me after the race and offered to bring me chinese food for lunch! What a surprise treat!

Below is a picture of Liz, me, and Kim at the finish. We all had fun and it was a great way to celebrate St. Patty's day.

Final Results:

2:02.43

Overall: 5,409 out of 16,291

Division: 877 out of 3,025 (top third!!)

Gender: 2,657 out of 10,707 (still top third!!)

Pie-Luck & new running adventures

This weekend was fantastic but not filled with sleep. It started out Friday night with walking my brother's dog who was quite rambunctious. After that, I went to book club where only 3 of the 10 people there had actually attempted to read the book. (I was not one of them and I honestly still don't know what book we were supposed to read). Regardless, it was a good chance to get together with friends and I found a game I really enjoy playing (I usually really dislike games).

Saturday I woke up early and met up with Sherry and a new person (to me) Amanda at Prince William Forest Park. That place is truly a gem. It's about 30 miles south of DC (and about 25 minutes from my house) and is easy to get to for a day hike (which I would definitely like to do). This is where Team Z does it's time trials because it has a BEAUTIFUL 7 mile loop that is low-traffic & has a good mix of hills and flats. The three of us did the loop 3 times, 2 times the normal way we've done it before and once backwards. We learned that the glorious downhill the normal way is a GIGANTIC hill going the opposite direction. It turns out Amanda and I have a lot in common. In order to determine if we were true kindred spirits, she asked the two questions triathletes would truly appreciate: 1) How do you feel about peanut butter? (Obsessed.) 2) How do you feel about Dairy Queen? (Who doesn't love a blizzard?) From that moment our friendship was sealed. It was nice to do the loop without trying to push as hard as we could go because it was even more enjoyable. I think I will keep that ride in my pocket for recovery rides this summer.

After lunch with the family and some time at the animal shelter, I was ready for the main event of the evening. In celebration of a nerd's favorite holiday (Pi Day, 3/14), my friend Christy hosted a Pie-Luck at her apartment. When I woke up Sunday, I swear I had a pie-hangover. There was quiche, pizza pie, pecan pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, lemonade pie, carrot cake whoopie pies, lemon-tart, sugar cookie shaped like a pie, and an apple sour cream pie. My contribution was this amazing chocolate-hazelnut-banana pie. It was SUPERB & contains nutella. With that combination there is no way I could go wrong. Kraft has some pretty awesome recipes. BTW, when I tried to explain to my coworkers that I usually find out about Pi Day and National Pie Day (two separate days) from Runner's World, they were confused about the connection. Don't most runner's run to eat pie (or cake, or cookies, or pizza)?!

Unfortunately, I had to leave the party early (and full to the brim) because I had signed up for EX2 Backyard Burn 5 mile trail run. This was before I knew it was daylight saving time. I have always wanted to do one of these but the timing is usually around marathon training & I haven't wanted to risk injury. I have heard great things about trail running and while Burke Lake is an intro, it is more family-friendly than true trail. This race was at Wakefield & is one of a series of 4. Luckily for me, this was the less technical/hilly race of the series. The run when great and I really enjoyed it! There was a lot of single-track trail so I hung with some other runners through most of the race and managed to finish the 5.6 mile (gasp at the deception!) run in 56:54 which is a pretty awesome time for me, considering that you usually are slower on the trails. I tried to keep in Zone 2 but it did not always happen (such as when I felt sick from the pie & realized my heart rate was about 5 beats from hurl). At least my average heart rate was in zone. EX2 throws some pretty awesome events and is staffed by great people so I am looking forward to doing more with them. Until then, this will be a good run to throw into my recovery run mix.

Tonight I am heading to class 2 of 4 of a foundation swim clinic I signed up for. I am truly hoping that I will learn to dislike swimming less if I improve my form. The first class wasn't too bad & I think it will really help. I also bought an underwater music player to help with the boredom. Despite my dislike for doing things Sunday night, I think it will be worth it.

Overall, this was a truly relaxed/fun training and social weekend. I am exhausted but it was worth it. I am doing the Rock n' Roll half marathon next weekend so this week will give me some ability to sleep in due to less working out (taper!). I am excited for the race because I have been running fast lately & I am hoping to push-it and see if I can get a PR (personal record) on Saturday. The race report will come next week.

One last note: I might have the opportunity to spend up to a month in London this spring for work. What is the first thing I did when I found out? I googled bike rentals & triathlon teams to see how I could fit in my training. Bike ride in Bathe anyone?

Personal Training

By the end of training for the Marine Corps Marathon, I was feeling very burnt out. I had spent most of the summer running four times a week, fitting in a spin class and potentially one TRX session at my gym each week. So once the MCM was over, I embarked on a "winter workout shakeup" to try to get over the burnout.

The first step of the shakeup was switching gyms. I love my old gym and the people there, but the morning classes weren't plentiful and a new reservation system made it so if you didn't call for a reservation at 5am the day before a spin class, you were out of luck and couldn't take the class. My coworker kept talking about her gym in tysons, with tons of classes and a pool. It is also five minutes from where I work. I realized that if I got up 10-20 minutes earlier in the morning, I could get to the gym by 6/6:30 and avoid rush hour traffic, and then work out til 8 and still make it to work by 8:30. I went for a free trial in November and officially made the switch.

The gym is known as the "fancy gym" in Tysons. It's expensive, but it has a ton of different equipment (including TRXs and kettlebells on the floor) and classes. By the time I paid extra at my gym for the TRX classes, I probably was saving money by going to the new gym. Part of being a fancy gym is a HUGE emphasis on personal training. There are probably about 40 trainers on staff and they are always busy. There is also one always on the floor for anyone to use for a spot, a stretch, or a tv channel change.

I'd been thinking about getting PT sessions but it's always been too expensive for me to take the plunge. Finally, in November I decided it was worth it and bought a 24 pack. With my focus on cardio the last two years, my strength training routine had become extremely stale, short, and uninventive. I needed help shaking things up. And unfortunately, unless I gained another 100 pounds, there was no chance I could qualify for the Biggest Loser to get beat up on by Bob or Dolvett for free (minus the lost wages).

For the last 12 weeks, I have met with my trainer, Paul twice a week. I have found that I am MUCH stronger than I thought I was. I never said no to any exercise (unless I had already tried it and found it to be ineffective/uncomfortable) and learned a ton of new moves. My trainer told me my sessions were among the hardest of his clients because I constantly wanted to be challenged. In fact, in the middle of our 24 pack I was getting annoyed with him because I didn't think he was challenging me enough. Luckily, he then began mixing things up a bit, adding in kettlebells and balancing, and by the end we were back on good terms. The biggest measure of my strength growth was assisted tricep dips (where you use weights to counter your body weight for doing dips). I went from needing to counter 100 pounds of my weight to 52 in the 12 weeks. Progress!

Thursday was my last PT session of the package I bought. We tested body fat percentage at the beginning and the end (along with push ups, weight, and flexibility). When I signed up, my trainer said he could help me lower my body fat percentage by 1% a month. While I have not lost the weight I wanted (I need to get my diet back on track), in three months my body fat percentage reduced 6%!!!! I went from being slightly above average to well within the average range by their charts, and less than 1% from "athlete" according to some other charts I found online! I am pretty pleased with that news and it put some extra pep in my step this week.

I am happy to have some more flexibility in when I do my strength training (I was starting to get nightmares about missing the standing appointment) so I am ready for the sessions to be over. However, I would definitely say the sessions were worth it and I would consider buying more sessions next winter (if I can watch my $$). I feel stronger and have a lot more exercises I can do now. I can't wait to continue training on my own and Paul is going to give me my program to keep following so I can keep getting stronger.

Important Life Lessons

Friday I took the day off of work, did a 14 mile run, and then headed up to Philadelphia. Sadly, we had two deaths in the family this past week, one expected and one completely unexpected. While I wasn't very close to either person, I went up to support the people in my family who were, including my grandma and my aunt. Unfortunately, I have been averaging about one piece of tragic news per week in 2012 involving people young and old which has reminded me of how important it is to live in the moment because tomorrow is never guaranteed. The person who was unexpected was only 62 (my 86 year old Grandma's cousin somehow), and is only 2 weeks older than my dad. They grew up together, even going on a double date to prom (her with her husband of 42 years). All of this bad news has got me thinking about two different things.

First, one of the main reasons I am so anal about working out and trying to stay in shape is because I am fighting against my gene pool. I would like to say that my grandma's cousin was the first person in my family taken from us too soon, but that is definitely not the case. While my mom's family tends to live into their 90's, my dad's family tends to have a shorter life span and a history of diabetes and heart trouble. While a lot of our problems have to do with diet (Philadelphia is not the best place in the world to eat healthy), I have inherited more of my dad's genes physically as well as his love of sweets and food in general. From the time I was in second grade, I have been battling weight issues. If I hadn't committed to going to the gym in the morning after my first year of work, I am positive I would be a perfect candidate for "The Biggest Loser." As much as I want to train with Bob, this weekend reminded me that it's incredibly important that I keep challenging myself physically and watch my diet to keep myself from having the same fate as a lot of my relatives. Luckily for me, my dad lost 90 pounds in high school and has let me keep signing him up for races (completing his first half marathon this year at 62!), so he has provided a good example for me to follow.

Second, it has reminded me of how important family and friends are and that I need to be careful to not let training take over my life. Even without training for a big event, I find myself just going through the motions of gym, work, sleep and all of a sudden will realize that I haven't seen some of my best friends or family in a several months. When I am training for a big event, this problem can get even worse as I will turn down social events or avoid going out of town due to long runs and bike rides. While I will have a lot on my plate training-wise this summer (an Ironman is no joke!) and it's important to put a lot of time into training, I need to be more flexible this summer and still make sure I make time for friends and family because nothing is more important to me than them. I have tons of friends who like to bike and rather than do a team Z ride one weekend, I can do my training ride with some of them. Also, every third weekend is a "recovery" weekend where the training schedule calls for a short run and bike ride (or race). I need to be aware of when these weekends are and can plan more events with friends or a trip to Philadelphia to see my family. With my grandma being 86, I want to make sure I get up there on a regular basis because who knows how many more visits I will have with her. I want to make sure we have as many conversations about the crazy Kardashian's as possible.

So please, remind me this summer to stop being a loser and to make sure I take time to come out of the Ironman bubble. Life is not worth much if you don't make time for family and friends.

Heart Rate Training

This week I did two VO2 max tests, one for the bike and one for the run. Basically, aVO2 max test figures out the heart rate "zones" that you should train with and tells you your VO2 max score, which is an indicator of your aerobic capacity and your endurance. There is a ton of science surrounding heart rate training and while I was resistant to it during my half-ironman training, I realized that I need to get with it if I plan to complete a full ironman.

The test basically consists of running/biking on a treadmill/trainer while hooked up to a mask which measures the chemistry of your breathes. Every minute the test gets harder, by increasing the speed/incline on the treadmill and the resistance on the bike. The tests typically last 15-20 minutes and you go to FAILURE, the point at which you can't go any further/harder for a full minute.

Typically when people take the test, they get zones which force them to slow down. There are five heart rate zones for exercise, Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (a,b,c). Most of your training is done in zone 2 to build aerobic capacity, with intervals done at zone 4 (longer periods of intensity) and 5 (shorter periods of intensity which you can only hold for 30 seconds to a minute) to stress your body & create improvements in speed/strength. Most people train in Zone 3 if they've don't follow heart rate training because it's comfortable and you can go a decent amount of time at that heart rate. However, zone 3 requires a longer recovery without giving you much of a return over zone 2.

For Christmas, I got a heart rate monitor and I have slowed down significantly, trying to hit an arbitrary number in my head of where I think I "should" be. Fortunately, the test on Wednesday showed me that I had actually slowed down TOO much and was training at or below Zone 1 and I can actually speed up (which is thrilling news). My heart rate is just naturally high. This result is NOT what I expected given what I had heard from others.

I also found out that my VO2 max (aerobic capacity) is 45.3, 67% higher than what you would expect of a person my age, weight, and height and is considered "superior" for my age. This basically means I have natural ability which if I can get my form to be more efficient and get the hours in training, I can go significantly longer at a higher intensity than most people. Based on my past races/result, this makes sense to me because I have never been fast, but I can go far and the longer the race, the better my overall positioning is in the results.

All of this good news was caveated with a warning that my running form is "horrific" and I have a lot of work to do to avoid wasting energy and overtaxing my muscles. The coach/tester was awesome and gave me a ton of tips/advice on top of my test results in order to improve my form and overall performance. She was also super impressed with my bike test, saying "I don't have many people who come in here and do that. You're heart/lungs didn't give out and your legs could have kept going, you just hit your limit." I am still not sure what that meant but I like it!

Basically, what I learned this week is I have really great cardiovascular strength and a lot of potential. My body will give out before my heart is overstressed. If I spend the next 8 months working on bringing my body up to speed, I will not just finish the Ironman, but I will finish it well!

Oh, and I also found out I need to eat more while biking/running, but the thought of just eating gels is too much for me. Does anyone have any tips on food (non-clif bars) that is easy to prepare/eat on the bike that doesn't cost a ton of money or have too much fiber?