Tri tri again...

I have tried and failed at this blogging thing several times, and each time I have just given it up. So I make no promises this time that I will be a dedicated blogger but for the last week, I've been itching to blog, so I figured, what's one more try. 

Since I've blogged last I did my first Olympic Triathlon in South Beach! It was amazing and I LOVED it, but it was also incredibly difficult. I promise a full dedicated post on that event eventually...but not today. Today I just want to share how I felt training today and my plan going forward.

So, I meant to run 10 miles either on Friday or this weekend but it didn't quite pan out that way.  For one, I went out to dinner drinking and woke up super hungover on Friday morning--so clearly no 10 miler there. Then, after a week of a few double workouts (Mon-bootcamp, Tuesday-cycle, run, Wednesday-bootcamp/swim, Thursday- cycle/bootcamp, Friday-swim) + drinking, my body was just not interested when I woke on Saturday morning afternoon.  And, since recently I've been taking a new approach to training where I listen to my body and rest when it's tired, I had to do what my body asked me to. So on Saturday I slept 12 hours, got up to eat and watch tv around 1:30 pm  (yes, not kidding...I did actually sleep until 1:30pm), and then caught a movie. On Sunday I had a long bike ride with Alanna and Terrier Tri coach Kyle. Alanna and I just finished up Kyle's 2 week cycling clinic so it was really exciting to use the skills we learned to ride across the GW bridge and on 9W. I definitely fell trying to make the very very narrow turns to go around the pillars on the GW bridge, but the progress I've made on the bike is so incredible, that the spills I took were totally worth it! At least that's what I tell myself when I see the black and blue marks all over my legs...

So that brings me to this morning. Finally my time to do my 10 miler had run out. I've been a real slacker with my running in general recently. I usually get in at least a long run and one shorter run per week but my obsession with Warrior Fitness Bootcamp along with my need to improve my cycling and swimming has gotten in the way of me logging a ton of miles. Anyway, I got two of my running friends, Shebna and Rachel to meet me at 6am, with the hopes that they would inspire me to get through a long run. Thank God I did, because there is NO WAY I would have made it on my own. From the first step, my quads were super achy. I should have known that was coming since they were achy during my ride the day before. Basically my legs only felt good for about 3 miles in the very middle of the run. We did two 5 mile loops, cutting off the northern (evil harlem hill) end of the park. Runs like these make me realize how much running/cycling/swimming or whatever your sport, is so mental. If someone asked me at the beginning of my run today whether I could have done 10 miles, I would have most certainly said no. But, having 2 buddies alongside me, I just kept telling myself to go one more mile and somehow I made it through the whole run.

So now that's out of the way I can look forward to a WFBC filled week :) My plan for the week is as follows:

Today: 10 mile run
Tuesday: BC
Wednesday: 3 miles + BC & swimming practice with Mike
Thursday: easy ride +BC
Friday: 3 miles + BC
Saturday: off, if I decide to do the Broad Street run on Sunday
Sunday: Broad Street Run or long run or ride

I think part of the reason I've been struggling with blogging is I have SO MUCH to say in one post, when sometimes I can just leave some of it till the next day. So, I'll leave with that and hope to be back tomorrow with more!

Today's Workout: 10 miles at 9:15 pace

NY Marathon Countdown...what's up with these nerves?

So the marathon is rapidly approaching--just 1 week and 3 days to go. The thing is---I am soooo nervous.

Never before have I been this nervous leading up to race day but, I guess never before have I set such high expectations for myself. My goal this year is to do the race in 3:50--that would be a 12 minute PR from last year, which is HUGE. Really, I'd like to do it in 3:48, but I think that may be a little unrealistic. A 3:50 marathon would be an average 8:46 pace and a 3:48 would be an 8:41. *sigh*

So, let's talk about training, my race history, and whether I can do this. At the very beginning of marathon training I did a half marathon in San Francisco in 1:50. I was, by no means rested for this race--the Saturday before I did my first triathlon. I followed up the tri with a 4 mile run and bootcamp the following day, speedwork that Tuesday, bootcamp that Wednesday + a run, an easy run Thursday and hills that Friday. I then hopped on a plane to San Fran and ran the race that Sunday. All that to say, I'm thinking maybe I could have had a better time than 1:50--1:48 perhaps. Plug that 1:48 into running times race calculator

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=6765

and it says I can do the marathon in 3:49. I'm going to hang my hat on that. I also was a very dedicated trainee this season. While I did not make all the Tuesday practices, I made up the speedwork the days that I missed (except when I was suffering from post-race soreness) and did all of the tempo runs and hill workouts. I also did all of my long runs just the way Spencer prescribed. There were about 3 long runs where I did between 6-9 miles at race pace (8:35-8:45) and was able to finish them strong. After both my 20 and 21 miler I felt just fine, like I could have kept going for sure. I went to bootcamp every week and even cross trained with swimming once a week. So, I should be prepared right?

Well, for some reason, despite spending that whole last paragraph convincing myself and hopefully you that I can do this, I'm still very nervous. What if I go out to fast? What if I go out too slow and can't make up the time? What if there's a terrible rainstorm, or it's super hot out that day? So many variables. So much to be nervous about.

So, instead of being nervous, I'm going to focus on what I can do to make this goal work. Starting today, I'm getting 8 hours of sleep, every single night, if not more, until race day. Also, starting tomorrow (after my office pizza party), I'm going to eat very clean--no cake, french fries, etc. All the bad stuff that makes me feel bloated and crappy is out. For the taper, I'm going to follow Spencer's rules to the letter. No extra running. No extra swimming. No bootcamp. Just rest and easy runs. Oh, and no alcohol. It's going to be a boring week.

So, in case you're wondering how my training has been going, since really that is the purpose of this blog, here's a bit of an update. This week actually started pretty poorly. Saturday and Sunday passed by and I didn't get my 16 miler in. On Sunday night I was seriously freaking out about it but still couldn't motivate myself to do it. Finally, on Monday AFTER A FULL DAY OF WORK, I hit the streets and did it. What a relief! I managed to get all 16 miles at a very respectable 9:30 pace with no water and just one gu. Tuesday, I decided to chill...after all I didn't get finished with my long run until 9pm. On Wednesday, I had another struggle of a day. Instead of getting up and doing my 6 miler in the morning, I woke up a tad hungover and flaked on my running buddy. I then, instead of going to run immediately after work, decided it would be a better idea to go get a burrito from Dos Toros (which btw, is DELICIOUS). Finally, I got home around 8:30pm and watched Biggest Loser, waiting for my burrito to digest. By 11pm, I felt good to run and then ran a cool 6 miles at what my garmin calls an 8:41 average pace but 8:13 average moving pace. Normally, I wouldn't bother including this "average moving pace," but it is important in this case because I had to stop at A LOT of corners waiting for lights. I couldnt run in the park because it was so late and so had to deal with other pedestrians and traffic---LAME. I managed to keep my heart rate at an average 164 for that run, which I think is pretty good. Finally, today I did an easy 4 mile recover run on the treadmill during lunch. I didn't want to get stuck doing another run after work b/c I have terrier in the morning and want to be rested.

So, what's on tap for the next week of tapering. Tomorrow we have a fartlek. We throw some speed into what would otherwise be an easiest run. Runners world is always a good resource for learning about this stuff:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263--12081-0,00.html

On Sunday, I'm going to be down in DC with my friend Consuelo who is doing her first marathon. YAY!!! I'm going to do the last 10 miles with her, and this will be my final long run before the marathon. Then next week, I have 3 super easy runs. One on Tuesday with Spencer (as a side note, as much as i whine about getting up early to go to speedwork, I'm going to seriously miss Friday practices with Spencer. I've actually grown to like the hills and tempo workouts. So freaking odd right!) and then a 30 min run Wed and 20 min run Thursday. I don't even know if I know how to run for just 20 minutes!

Well, that's of my chatting for now. Hopefully I can put all of this nervous energy into something productive!

Sleepwalking to Swim Class

Yesterday was a holiday when you work for the federal government, but not for many others. Columbus Day, to be exact. So, you'd think that I would have taken the opportunity to sleep in, maybe grab a late brunch, and run some errands. Well, I got to the brunch and errands part, but no sleeping in for me--I was off to my 7am swim class at 6am.

Every time I get up to go to swim class and take the 2/3 train down to 14th street, walk up the stairs, across a long tunnel, down some stairs and back up some stairs, get on the F train to Delancey Street and then walk about 10 minutes before I arrive at the grossest pool I've ever swum in, I wonder, why am I so crazy?!! Yesterday, I think because it was supposed to be a day off AND I had a ton of Sangria the night before, I literally felt like I was sleepwalking to class. I nodded off on both trains and then when I arrived 10 min early, sat on a bench for like 8 minutes before changing into my suit. But as usual, it was worth it.

Our coach started class by laying on top of a table and showing us what our body position should be like while we are in the pool. Abs in, chin tucked in, chest pressed down. He then made us practice on benches and tables--whatever was available. Felt kinda funny to practice swim positioning and a hard table. Then he showed us that we should be kicking with our legs straight, from the hip, knees not bent. At that point, I knew it was going to be a tough class for me. I SUCK at kicking. You'd think it'd be my strength because I do have strong legs, but my form is terrible. After we practiced on our hard surfaces, we hopped in the pool and got started on drills.

For the first drill, we were supposed to keep our chins tucked in, neck long, abs in. I could handle this one. For the next drill, we were supposed to keep our arms by our sides and just kick, coming up for air when necessary. This, as I anticipated, was very difficult for me. After the first few times across the pool, instructor John told me that I need to keep my legs straighter. I tried that. Still pretty slow going across the pool. Next he pointed out that I need to kick from the hip, as opposed from the knee. I tried again but really don't know that my kick got any better. Later he told us that when we reach with our right arm, we are supposed to be kicking with our right foot and had us do a drill to practice it. Again, failure. I pretty much gave up on getting that drill right--Some things I'm just not coordinated enough for. (For example, please refer to my post on climbing the wall at WFBC)

We pretty much did continuous drills for the remainder of class with little time to stop and rest. I ended up pretty tired from all the swimming! I was also a little irritated that the water is not the cleanest and is a bit cloudy so it's difficult to see the line at the bottom of the pool. I'm terrible at swimming straight so I hit the lane divider SO MANY TIMES. Grrr! It really messes up your rhythm.

After class I chatted with the instructor re: missing classes around the marathon. I planned to skip class the Monday before the race and then the Monday after the race. However, my swim instructor thinks I should go the Monday before. He says I won't be swimming particularly hard and so it will keep my legs good and loose. I haven't decided yet whether I agree. Also, for the week after, I discussed going to his Tuesday evening swim class in Brooklyn. (Oh yes, I now plan to venture to Brooklyn for swim class) He thinks an easy swim Tuesday evening post marathon will help with recovery. Again...I'm going to take this under advisement.

Staten Island Half Marathon +6

Today was the Staten Island Half marathon. I planned to get there early to pick up my number and run 6 miles before the race started. Unfortunately, I hit sleep on my alarm 4 times to many. So, I finally left my apartment around 6:35 hoping to maybe make it on the 7am ferry but definitely making the 7:30. No such luck on either. The 2/3 trains were running local and so it took FOREVER to get downtown and then there were so many people in the ferry terminal that the 7:30 ferry was full before I could board. So, I ended up on the 8am ferry and didn't end up starting the race till about 8:50am! (the race started at 8:30!)

So, off I went. It was unseasonably warm--lovely for hanging out and lounging in the park but not so lovely for a 19 mile run. My plan was to go out at about a 9:30 pace then speed up after mile 5 and do the last 8 miles at around race pace. Spencer told us to do 7 miles at race pace but last year he had us do 10 on this same run so I figured 8 would be okay. Then for the last 6 miles I'd take it super easy and just finish up as strong as possible considering the weather.

By mile 3 I was sweating profusely. I tend to sweat more than normal people--ask my fellow warriors. So I was concerned about getting dehydrated. Then, I also did my run today sans heart rate monitor b/c it's on the fritz. So I was also concerned that I was going to go out too hard and not be able to finish strong. But, I pretty much stuck to the plan. here are my splits:

1: 9:26
2: 9:13
3: 9:31
4: 9:30
5: 8:55
6: 8:32
7: 8:37
8: 8:58
9: 8:28
10: 8:33
11: 8:44
12: 8:36
13: 8:26
14: 9:36
15: 9:37
16: 9:51
17: 10:04
18: 9:29
19: 9:38

I felt pretty good about the pacing. Mile 8 was really tough b/c of a long steep uphill so I didn't quite hold the pace there but I made up for it on some of the other race pace miles. As you can see, after i crossed the finish line of the race, I slowed down considerably--at my slowest I did a 10:04 mile. I'm not sure why that mile was so slow, except that at this point it was after 11am and approaching 80 degrees and there wasn't very much gatorade left on the course. (I doubled back onto the course for my last 6 miles which invited comments from folks on the street that I was going the wrong way and then when I turned around one guy yelled not to cheat...I yelled back, actually i finished 30 minutes ago!!)

The race made me feel pretty confident about my ability to race the NYC marathon well. I felt strong during the race pace miles despite the heat and felt like i could have kept up that pace for a while. Just one last week of heavy mileage and then it's time to taper!!!

As a side note I also had 2 good workouts on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was a solo 5.5 miler and Friday we did repeats on the 59th street bridge. Felt super strong on both :)

On my workout grind...

Since I last blogged I've gotten some great workouts in and I've been feeling pretty awesome. Here's a quick rundown:

Sunday 20 miler
Monday swim class
Tuesday 6x800 m repeats + core work
Wednesday 4.5 mile run + Warrior Fitness Bootcamp

Let's start with the 20 miler. Last week when I had to run 18 miles alone, I seriously dreaded it then struggled through it and wished I had some running company. This week, for 20 I actually really enjoyed the solo run. It started a little rocky though. I walked out of the door and IMMEDIATELY it started pouring. Meanwhile, it had been lovely out all day but I had procrastinated from hitting the streets. Luckily it only lasted the first couple miles. Then, I had to stop at a portapotty at mile 3!!! Between that and the rain I was pretty irritated. But then, post portapotty it all came together. A nice easy smooth 20 mile run, which took me down through battery park city, across the brooklyn bridge and then home in about 3:10. The whole time I was running I was thinking...hmm, I should blog about this, and this, and this... But now it's Wednesday and I've blogged about none of it. Whoops! Maybe next time.

Swim class
I was pretty concerned that finishing up my run at 8:30pm on Sunday might make my Monday morning swim pretty difficult but for some reason, I felt great. Must have been the 3 advil I took right before bed. We continued practicing our breathing and rotation and the instructor ACTUALLY COMPLIMENTED ME! I was elated. Apparently, I'm good at not taking my whole face out of the water when I'm swimming. I'm hoping if we continue moving along slowly, I will improve and learn and keep getting compliments.
The other wonderful thing about swimming class was that afterwards I felt amazing! No soreness from the run at all. I'm truly convinced that swimming is the best cross training there is for running.

6x800s
Ugh! So I normally like interval training...when done outside,in the morning, with my team, with Spencer encouraging me to keep going. Now, on the other hand, doing the exact same intervals on the treadmill in the evening after work is TERRIBLE. I truly do not understand how people manage to work out at night. I had no energy at all and strugged to do the 800s at a 7 min/mile pace. I got through 6 though ranging in pace from 7 min/mile- 7:16 min/mile, which I guess isn't too shabby. The cleaning lady said she was tired from just watching me do them. LOL. I honestly felt like i was going to die the whole time...I almost wonder if the treadmill was calibrated correctly!! I did some thorough stretching afterwards as well as some core work. Spencer would have been proud (if I hadn't slept through practice that morning)

4.5 mile run and WFBC
Again, I was concerned this morning b/c I did a hard workout last night and had another hard workout this morning. I took the run super easy though, which was nice. I ran into Claire and one of the fast guys from Terrier in the park before I headed down 5th avenue to get to class. And, of course, class was amazing as usual. Strangely, it was the best WFBC class I've had in a while. I didn't feel exhausted from marathon training and actually had some speed in my legs. It Got over the walls just fine. (Not the rope though...I will get there one day) It was nice to not feel like a slacker for a change.

So, it got me thinking, what was so different that gave me so much more energy. I came up with a few things. I slept in yesterday (got 10 hours of sleep...amazing!) and have been doing a MUCH better job of stretching and foam rolling which I think helping my recovery. Also, on Sunday after my long run, I had a protein shake immediately. Before I started my run, I had a slice of bread to fuel my workout. Finally, I've just been eating MUCH better. For a while, I was eating and drinking all of the wrong things. Fried things, cake, ice cream, wine--very little fruits/veggies. The thing about marathon training is to an extent you can eat a LOT and not gain weight BUT, you feel so much better if you fuel up with healthy nutritious stuff. Unfortunately, b/c I changed so many thing at once, I'm not sure where the change came from but I do know I felt lighter and fitter and great. I am gonna have to keep this up leading into the race :)

So all and all a great 4 days. Let's hope I can keep this up! :)

Miracles Do Happen

Today was our biweekly tempo run. Per usual, I had been dreading this run all week, especially after getting killed at WFBC on Wednesday. I woke up with super sore hamstrings, quads and abs (Ruben really did a number on me this week) and hit snooze until about 5:50am. Oops! Finally, I got myself together and hopped in a cab (I know...I should not be dropping dollars on cabs but sometimes it's just necessary for those 15 extra minutes) at 6am and made it down near our meeting place at 59th street and the west side path around 6:10. I jogged over the 2 blocks from where the cab left me to the west side instead of the 1 mile I had initially planned to warm up.

I caught the tail end of group stretching and then Spencer let us know that we would be doing 8 miles at tempo pace or what he and running magazines like to call a "comfortably hard" pace. 8 miles is a loooong time to maintain a "comfortably hard" pace, especially when I mostly feel the hard part. Spencer also advised us to take the first mile a bit slower and that it should be our slowest mile. I, along with many others in the group tend to have a problem with overrunning the first mile despite Spencer stressing that we not every single week.

So here's the miracle you've been waiting for, "I DIDN'T HATE IT!!!" Now, please don't be confused, this was no easy run. While felt like I could have kept going at the end, which I suppose is the hallmark of comfortably hard, I certainly did not want to and I definitely wanted to slow down the whole time. At the same time, I felt pretty strong being able to hold an 8 min/mile pace give or take a few seconds for the whole 8 miles. And, unlike the last time I did a tempo run, I didn't have a middle mile where I felt like I was absolutely going to die--my times were generally pretty consistent. Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 8:07

(I was a good little runner and followed Spencer's advice, plus he's been riding his bike to the mile markers and calling out our times for us, so I knew he'd know if I overran the first mile)

Mile 2: 7:58
Mile 3: 7:56
Mile 4: 8:04
Mile 5: 8:03
Mile 6: 7:59
Mile 7: 8:01
Mile 8: 7:39 (for .97 miles allegedly so the pace was 7:55 min/mile)

For those of you not familiar with tempo runs, here are some interesting articles that describe this particular brand of running torture.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--11909-1-1-2,00.html

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=5615&PageNum=1

So now, we have just one more tempo run before we taper. The marathon is approaching so quickly...just 5 more weeks to go from Sunday!!

OUCH!!!! but damn I love WFBC

So I had really planned not to go to bootcamp this week. I have a 6 miler, 10 miler (8 miles tempo), and 20 miler for the next 3 days. But, the thought of not going to boot camp for 2 weeks was so sad to me, that I decided ehhh, I'll rearrange my workouts, suck it up and do the thing I love. So I did. I ran 4 miles down to class and then spent some quality time getting tortured.

So I arrived like a minute late, and Alex denied me water and gatorade because apparently, I need to get up earlier and get there on time. Now, you would think I'd get some points for running down to class and doing more than the class has done by the time I arrive. Not with these crazy marines. No sir--despite the fact that if I just took the subway down I would have arrived on time, I deserved punishment for putting in my extra 4 miles. *sigh*

Today Ruben was teaching class and he, per usual showed no mercy on me for having super sore legs. We started by running laps around the room (no freaking jumping jacks even) then up to 12. When we returned, Ruben had bars for us to run around with and then back up the stairs with. He gave me a gray bar, which is one of the heavier ones though I have no idea how much it weighs--enough that it's no fun carrying it up any stairs or running around the room with it. There was hopping around the track on one leg after that. More laps, more stairs, and finally some jumping jacks. I thought I was in the clear.

Nope, now it was time for the ab set from hell. Crunches, jack knives, leg lifts, hold the legs 6 inches off the ground, repeat. repeat. repeat. OUCH!

More laps, more stairs then finally water. By this time I was sooo thirsty. After all, I starting running over an hour before and it was crazy humid out! After our very brief water break, I was in Ruben's group for the smaller group workout. On deck--squats with a kettlebell (75 of them I believe), deadlifts with the kettlebell, more laps. Repeat. Throw in some skullcrushers. Repeat entire circuit. More laps. More OUCH!

Finally we finished up our sets and went back to do our planks and standard warrior call outs at the end of class. As usual, I was soaked from head to toe like I had jumped in the shower with my clothes on. Oh no, that's just sweat. Clearly, I'm super sexy sweaty during WFBC.

So, could Ruben have picked a worse day to wage war on my legs? Not likely. My mileage over the next few days is the highest it's been so far this season. Do I regret choosing to go to boot camp? NOT A CHANCE!! Only sad part is I have to wait a whole week to see my 6:30am warriors and Ruben and Alex again!!