Time to start planning the 2012 Clendaniel Mile

Well, I caught a bug.

Sore throat hit me on Sunday morning.  Extremely painful for 3 days.  Yesterday it lessened in intensity.  Started to get a bit of a cough.  Today it still hurts but isn't as bad as it was.  Still have the occasional cough, which just makes that sore throat feel lovely.  I've been doing my best to get extra sleep, extra fluids and extra vitamin C.  I don't know if it's helping, but at least it makes me feel like I'm doing something.  8 more days to get better.

I had a great run yesterday.  The Heart Run is this Saturday.  My friend talked me into doing it.  It's a 5k.  He asked me what I thought my time might be, to see if maybe we could run together.  I had to think a little.  How fast can I run a 5k?  I guessed 27 and then said maybe if I pushed it I could do 26.  So for my short run yesterday I ran a mile warm up to the coastal trail, then 1.5 out to the mile marker just past that first parking lot, so you have to go up the earthquake park hill and up a little bit past it.  Turned around and bombed back down the 1.5 and jogged the last mile super easy.  So it wasn't a full 5K because I'm missing the .1 or whatever...but my time was 25:35.  Never ever ever would I have thought I could run at that pace.  It was super hard.  I was breathing really heavy, huffing and puffing in my asthmatic way.  But it felt good.

It may not look like much to some, but that's a significant improvement over the last year.  I don't think I've ever broken 9's for more than 2 consecutive miles.

And today I weighed in at 147.6.  Which is just about where I was last week.  Which is great.  I was trying to hit 145 before the race but this is still a lot lighter than where I was in February.  So I am very very pleased.  And the body fat% said 25. The lowest it's ever been.  Which means I've actually lost some fat this go around.

And I've officially lost 60 lbs since 2007.

60.

There are people I meet now, that can't imagine that I ever weighed over 200 lbs.  "But you're so active!"  Well, I didn't used to be!

Our family should be getting ready for the Clendaniel Mile pretty soon.  An annual running event our family does.

This is me running it 3 years ago.  Probably at about 195.  I had lost quite a bit between 2007 and 2009, and then I went back to school.  And gained a lot back.  A lot.

For many runnings of the Clendaniel Mile I would be extremely happy if I could get my time close to 10 minutes.  For one mile.  I think Joyce and Zareena are about to lap me here.  

Last year I ran it just under 8.  And I just about cried with joy.  

No clue how this year will unfold.  I'm more fit, I weigh less, but my breathing still holds me back.  The legs are willing, the lungs are not.

I'm doing things I've always wanted to do.  I have always wanted to be someone who ran regularly, who bike commuted instead of driving.  I always wanted to be someone who hiked up mountains for hours.  I never really shared that much with anyone.  You look at someone who's pretty overweight and not active and you don't think that there greatest desire is to run a marathon.  

I know that I really need more time to fully prepare myself for my Ironman.  Another year of training and I'd probably do fairly well.  Especially on the bike.  But I don't know when I'd have the opportunity to do one in the future.  The timing was right for this fall.  And even if it takes me 16 hours and 59 minutes to finish, I'll have finished.  And I'm going to finish.  

And I'll be broke.  I won't have a job.  And I'll be heading out on a new life adventure.  They say doing an Ironman changes you.  Let's hope it's for the best.  

On a side note...I would really appreciate little notes or letters to open up and read the morning of my race.  I won't have any of you with me in person, but a few words would be very welcome.  Don't have to write much, just a little.  Hand it to me in person this next week (I leave super late on Wednesday night) mail it to me, or email it.  I can't think of a better way to start the morning.

The Last Long Brick

I stayed out late last night.  That's right.  I didn't get home until 11pm.  Sometimes I really wonder about the person I've become.  Is this who I thought I'd be when I was back in high school where I'd stay up past 1 and wake up at the very last minute to get to school and then sleep 11-12 hours straight on the weekends?  Is this who I thought I'd be when I was in college and waking up before 10am was an extreme challenge and the night life didn't start until after 10 pm?

I never would have dreamed that I'd be asleep at 10 almost every night and up before 7.  Saturday and Sunday too.

I'm not complaining, I love it!  As I sit here at 7:30 in the morning after a leisurely hour of drinking coffee and goofing around on the internets I am perfectly content.

It was fun to stay out with my friends though.  I hadn't joined in on post-climbing revelry in quite some time.  Partly due to trying to stick to the budget, partly because I have a hard time not eating too much pizza and screwing up my nutrition/diet, and partly because I just get tired and am ready for bed at 9:30.  And also because I'm not really drinking these days and it's hard to sit there with a pitcher of absolutely delicious beer in front of you and abstain.

But it was worth it.

And so was waking up early even though I wanted to keep sleeping.  Because I am soooooooooooo slow getting started in the mornings, I can waste hours with my coffee and computer and slowly getting my act together for the day's workout.  And I had a very important workout to get in before 3pm.

30 mile bike followed with 8 mile run.  The last long workout before the taper.  A chance to test out the nutrition plan and to see how everything is going.

I'd spent some time on Friday mapping out 30 miles that wouldn't be super flat.  It is a challenge to find decent hills that aren't crazy with traffic.  It's hard for me to get over to the hillside where the good hills are, and I always feel a bit nervous while riding on the roads up there anyways.  So I ended up with the ol' standby of the road to Kincaid and the last bit of Dimond that winds around past the Jodphur parking lot.  There was more flat than I wanted but it wasn't too bad.  When I got home it turned out to be 31 miles.  Oh well.

I also mapped out 8 miles of running that would get me a few hills.  There aren't a whole lot of hills from my house and I wanted to be able to put my bike in the garage.  So I ran around in circles and went up and down the same hills a few times, but it wasn't so bad.  Up the hill from the coastal trail to Forest Park twice, up west high hill twice and up from the lagoon to the Parkstrip once.  It ended up being a bit over 8.5.

The time I was hoping to make for the bike was 2 hours.  Avg of 15 mph.  I nailed it almost spot on, finishing the 31 miles in 2:03.  Spent 4 minutes transitioning (bathroom break and putting bike in the garage, so I feel ok about that time, a little long but not too bad.)  The time I was hoping for my run was 1:30.  Crushed it with 1:23.  And that was even with the extra half mile.  I was feeling good enough that I was able to push the last half mile pretty strong and even "sprinted" the last quarter mile.  Total time 3:30 which was exactly what I was hoping for.

So yeah, I feel pretty damn good about myself right now.

And it was windy.  Gusts at 22 mph.  It slowed me down from 22 mph to 14 mph on one particularly flat stretch.  (I think maybe the wind was at my back for that 22....)

Oh yeah, I installed my new bike computer so I have data again!  Which tells me that my slowest speed was 6.8 mph while going up some hills...and max was 35 mph while going down.  The wind seemed to always be pushing against me when I was going down hill.

My stomach did alright.  I followed the plan I'd mapped out for nutrition.  A couple twinges of the stomach but it settled down and didn't really bother me.  Mostly it would be if I drank a bit too much water at once.

My neck gets super sore after about 20 miles of riding :(  Not sure what I can do about that.

My legs finally settled in to feeling like legs on the run and not like stiff rods that I was trying to bend and move as if they weren't actually part of my body.  Only took 35 minutes.

I have no concept of my speed when I start out.  It feels like I am running slower than slow.  The whole time I felt that surely I was running 11 minute miles or even slower.  I was hoping I was close to the pace I wanted but it feels so slow.

And my feet!  There is only one thing that I am looking forward to from the heat on race day.   My toes not going horribly numb from the cold.  It does not feel good to run on frozen feet.  At one point it felt like there was something in my shoe, so I stopped and took it off.  Nope.  Nothing.  Just those weird sensations you get as your feet slowly start defrosting.

So pleased with how this workout went.  When I finished and was walking it out a bit before heading in for my shower my legs felt so much better than they ever did after one of my long runs for my marathon last year.  I'm starting to feel that maybe I'm making a bit of progress.  And I slept ok instead of tossing and turning from being so freaking sore.  My legs are definitely groaning this morning as I tackle the stairs, but it's not unbearable.

So now I just have to take those distances, almost double them, and swim for 40 minutes first.

Piece of cake.

Maps for this brick workout....bike map and run map

Enough With The Whining Already!

I was supposed to do my benchmark ride last weekend.  But I wasn't too thrilled about trying to find 50+ miles of pavement to ride in Anchorage, and there was no way I was going to try and put almost 5 hours in on my trainer inside. 

So what's a girl to do?

Ride somewhere else of course.  

So I packed up my bike in a brand new too-expensive-why-do-I-keep-spending-money-on-my-bike bicycle case and flew to Kodiak for a weekend with Kevin.  

And I was blessed with beautiful weather.  No wind, no rain, and the sun was shining.  Perfect conditions for heading out on a 62 mile bike ride.  And I needed something to do while Kevin was working anyways.

It was hard, it was fun, it was painful, it was liberating, my neck hurt, my back hurt it was the hardest physical test of my body that I have done since those last 6 miles of my last marathon.  And it was wonderful. When I finish one of these things I can't describe how amazing I feel.  

My first metric century.  100 kilometers.  4 hours and 40 minutes.  Which brings me to an average pace of 13.3 mph.  Nothing to write home about but not too bad for me.  And I was still pushing 15 mph on the flats as I came back in to town at mile 55.  I had a low cadence, not sure what it was but it felt comfortable and my heart rate felt good.  I'm trying to come to terms with being a grinder.  

The elevation profile isn't quite as challenging as Wildflower.  Basically I need to double the elevation gain, but stretch it out over more miles.  But I think it was a pretty good test for what I'll be facing in 3 weeks.

And my new cassette seemed to be ok.  I had some challenges with it when It was first installed, made some weird vibrations but it's running smoothly, except for in one gear, but whatever.  I can deal with it and it's not hurting my bike in any way and having the bigger range for going up those hills was absolutely critical.  At times it was still really really hard to keep pedaling but it was much better than how it used to be.  Definitely very happy about that.

And my ass is feeling pretty good.  Hooray for expensive saddles.  

My only mistake was leaving behind some of my fuel!  I think I could have had a much better time if I'd been properly fueled!  I didn't bonk, but I could feel myself dragging.  I did at least get a whole lot more liquid than I normally do, thanks to my aero bottle.  Another yay!

So.  Really.  Overall I have to say it was a great ride.  

And I was well overdue for a post that was almost whine free.  About damn time for some positive.

It's two days later and I'm still riding the high of having accomplished this challenge.

(This photo does not do this hill justice.  A mile long.)

(The clouds rolled in for the second half of my ride.  Sunshine and blue skies on the way out, clouds and then rain on the way home)

(oh yeah!)

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should

I worked extremely hard on my eating this last week.  And now I'm embarassed for my ranting and raving last Tuesday. 

I am now under 150.  Not much, but there.  Yesterday it was 148.4 and today 149.6  I'll even it out to 149 and call it good.  (I should be strong again and not hop on the scale until next Tuesday, I think it's doing me good.)

I should be more pleased, excited, ecstatic.  But I'm kind of just meh about it.  I think because I'm working so hard and it doesnt appear that I'm losing any fat.  My body fat % (according to my scale) when I was 160 was in the 26 range.  10 lbs lighter I am still in the 26 range.  Did I lose 10 lbs of muscle?  Or just 10 lbs of boobage.  (Yes, the girls are definitely smaller.  I was filling out a 34 B well, but I'm seeing a little gaping now)   I shelled out the money for an expensive scale so that I could try and measure my body fat %.   But if it doesn't work what's the point.  I feel a bit slimmer at 150, but not that much difference from 155. 

It's just numbers, it really shouldn't matter much.  I should be focusing on how my body is feeling.  And unfortunately, it's feeling a bit worn down.  I made a big error last Wednesday. I went to a core conditioning class at the rock gym.  One of the exercises in the circuit was pull ups.  Well, I can't do a pull up, so I did let downs.  Too many of them.  My arms are still recovering.  Although I believe they are still recovering because I continued to rock climb on Friday and Monday.  Not only are they still recovering, but I really screwed up the inner part of my left elbow.  I could not swim Monday night, it hurt too much.  I almost wanted to cry.  I can't be dealing with this now.  24 days to race day.  I think it is feeling a little better today, but it is hard to tell, as almost all motions throughout the day don't bother it.  I will not try to swim until next Thursday (A week of no swimming!).  I did test it on the bike yesterday for a short 30 min spin because I really want to get my super long bike ride in this weekend while I'm in Kodiak seeing Kevin.  It doesn't seem to hurt.  So I'm still packing up my bike (a good test run of flying for the race and reassembling) and we're finding long stretches of ice free road. 

My legs are also feeling a bit worn down.  I'm supposed to run today, but I think I'll give myself a rest day.  It's the hardest thing to do, but I know I'll be stronger in the long run (no pun intended) if I let myself recover from these hard workouts.  I haven't missed a workout in a long time.  I may have shortened some, but I've still done a little for each scheduled day. 

So here I am.  24 days to race day and feeling a bit burnt out.  Wonderful.  But we'll muddle through it all somehow.  I'll take these next two days for resting.  Ride Friday, finish through this next week strong and then I'm letting myself take the 2 weeks of training before my race at a low intensity.  I'm not going to gain anything by going hard, I'll only wear myself out.  I hope it helps. 

It's Like the War on Terrorism. A Futile Struggle And No End In Sight.

Kevin and I made a deal last Tuesday.  No weighing for a week.  I'm an obsessive compulsive scale user.  So this was a challenge.  We're both trying to slim down, and we thought it might help not to be burdened by the numbers during the week and just focus on eating right and moving more.  I have the number 145 in my head.  It's probably not a magic number, but it has to be better for me to be lighter right?

I've been waffling between 150 and 160 for the last 6 months.  I'll get a few good weeks of being in control of my eating and I'll lose 3-5 lbs.  Then I'd have a breakdown and gain it back, maybe with a few extra.  The second week of February I was up to 160 again.  I'd been so unhappy for months.  I was trying but everything was hard.  From all outward appearances I was doing everything right.  Exercising very regularly.  Hardly drinking socially at all.  Seeing friends.  Going to work.  But inside I was a wreck.  Christmas was spent in tears.  January was a struggle to get through each day.  I wanted so hard to beat it on my own.  From age 16-22 I was on Zoloft.  I look back on those years as being one big blah.  (One big FAT blah.)  But I'm sure they would have been worse without.  I felt like I'd won when I went off it and was doing alright.  The last two years have been tough though.  The winters being the worst, but even last summer had it's struggles. On Valentines Day I gave myself the gift of happiness.  My doc wrote me a script for Welbutrin.  A little more than two weeks later, I just about cried while driving to work. I realized I'd been happy for over a week.  The longest I'd felt that good in a very, very long time.  And for the last month and a half I've been doing better with food.  I haven't been perfect.  I've still had the occasional binge, but it's been better.

And so last Tuesday when Kevin and I made our deal I was at 152.4.  (My scale also does body fat % but it changes from one minute to the next so I'm never really sure how accurate it is.  But it was on the high end of 26%.  I can't remember exactly.  26.7 or 26.8?).

My training volume this last week was 11 hours.  I ate well balanced healthy meals.  My snacking was in better control.  I've had plenty of water.  I've had no chocolate (chocolate is one of my vices, so I'm trying a chocolate fast) and no Ice cream (I gave it up for Lent) and I had 2 sips of beer at game night on Thursday.  I've been trying to avoid sweets and anything that's pure junk.

I know I should be happy about all of that.  And I should be happy with the results.  But I'm so disappointed.  I pulled the scale down out of the closet.  151.8.  (25.6% body fat).  A .6 lb loss.  I should be happy.  I should slap a smile on my face and say yes! I lost this week!  I didn't gain and I was doing healthy things for my body!  I can be a great cheerleader for others, encouraging them, making them see the positive in what they've accomplished.  But I downright suck at doing it for myself.

I am trying to remind myself that I ran 9:45 min miles on Sunday for a 2 hour run.  I'm trying to remind myself that I got 2 core workouts in this week.  I'm trying to remind myself that I climbed three 5.10's on Friday and almost finished a 5.11A yesterday.  I'm trying to remind myself that I went on my longest bike ride on Saturday and felt pretty good after it.  I'm trying to remind myself I swam 2200 yards in 37 minutes last Thursday.  I'm trying to remind myself that there were many opportunities for me to break down and eat cookies or donuts and I stayed strong.  And I'm trying to remind myself that this is the longest I've gone without Chocolate since I attempted to give it up for Lent 3 years ago and only made it a couple weeks.  

And I'm trying to remind myself that it's worth it.

The scale goes back up in the closet until next Tuesday.