Weight

I am currently at the lowest weight I've ever been for the low mileage that I'm running.  Generally, this is the weight that I'll hit during the last couple of weeks of marathon training.  But, this time around, I'm there with just 10-15 miles a week.  My mileage is going to be going up as Helvetia training starts in earnest.  It'll be really interesting to see what my weight does this summer as my mileage increases. 

I have been eating really, really well lately.  Now that I'm in charge of preparing all my food, I'm eating a ton more veggies.  I also tend to cook lighter fare with fewer sauces and added flavors.  I like my food pretty darn simple and I'm sure that's cut a lot of fat and empty calories out of my diet.  I'm also just eating a bit less since I'm making my own portions rather than being served portions sizes that are more appropriate for a 200+ pound man. 

Tryon, My Savior

Life, it is a changin'... 

I haven't run at Tryon in probably at least a year.  I first discovered it back when my then-husband was traveling every week for work.  The first time Onya and I ever ran there, it was a wet, rainy day much like today.  It may have even been in March.  We raced up and down those paths and we both had mud splattered from head to toe.  We were both beaming by the time it was done. 

Today, all I could think about was getting out on those muddy trails.  I obsessed all day at work.  After too much time off and way too much time since I've been on a trail, it seemed like the most wonderful idea I've ever had.  Knowing that it gets ridiculously slippery with all the amounts rain we've had lately, I decided that we'd just go two miles.  Sadly, Onya has aged about three years (not that I haven't...) and I was just recently informed by my vet that she's overweight.  Needless to say, there wasn't nearly as much racing up and down the trails...  but we did have a great two miles. 

We splashed.  We slipped.  We waded through the parts of the trail that were like small creek beds.  I reflected on how drastically everything can both change and stay exactly the same.  Onya is my love, my rock and my inspiration.  The trails feed my soul, calm my mind and remind me that I am strong.  As the rain washed away my tears, I realized that I've been off course for too long.  It is time for me to put one foot in front of the other and see just how far I can get on my own. 

I have a feeling that I'm going to look back on this time in my life and know that Onya and Tryon were driving factors in my grief, sadness, healing and ultimate recovery. 

Oh Noes

I didn't end up getting to run today.  I had a haircut at 3 and then I had to meet some people about a thing.  They were late, then they wanted to buy the thing tonight so they had to go get their truck and come back.  Which took another half hour.  By the time I got home, it was dark out and Ty and Onya were already back from their run AND showered. 

Which means that I'll be running AND biking tomorrow - my first brick!

The key to getting your workouts in can sometimes be simply staying flexible.  And that is certainly much easier when the mileage is low.  It can get a lot more difficult to reschedule workouts when you're above 20 miles in a week. But, luckily, that is not the case for me at this point in my training. 

Daily Burn Tracker

Over the years, I have periodically used Daily Burn Tracker to track my calories, nutrition and weight.  It is a super nifty like program that has most standard foods that you might eat out OR make at home.  And it has a lot of organic brands...  which I really appreciate.  Since I started training again, I thought it would be a good time to check in with my nutrition and tweak it as needed. 

As you can see, I've actually GAINED weight this week.  Which is incredibly stupid but totally normal and predictable.  Since I used it last, they've added a handy 'dashboard' at the bottom.  You can toggle it between daily (where it lists how many exercise calories you've burned today) and weekly. 

Every single time I've gone through this exercise, I've found that I am heavy on daily calories and fat and always, always, always light on protein.  Since my New Seasons Market quit carrying my favorite brand of greek yogurt (milk is challenging for me so I'm super duper picky about these things or else I'll just gag), I've started eating organic instant oatmeal every morning instead.  I guess it's time to find another supplier of my yogurt (please, please let the new Zupan's going in mere blocks from my house carry it!!!). 

If you're looking for a tool like this, I totally recommend the Daily Burn Tracker! 

Telecommuting

I'm working from home today which is something that I love and wish I could do more often.  I was at my desk at 5:45 this morning and worked away until 8.  Because I have a much better set up at home, including dual monitors, I am significantly more efficient.  At 8, I took a break to take the pup out for a quick 2 miler (gotta love the low mileage early in a training plan!!).  She was actually really well behaved and, if she's really lucky, she'll get a second 2 miler when her Papa gets home from work this evening. 



This is how you know it's time for a new pair of Fingers!!  My poor little toes were so cold this morning as they splashed through puddles and slipped in the mud.  Currently, at rei.com, you can get the slate/palm colored Sprint Fingers for only $55.93.  Combined with my dividend and free shipping, I should have a new pair by the 9th for less than $18 - YAY!!! 

Okay, enough with the blogging...  back to the grindstone!! 

Planning

A big part of successful running is planning.  Whether that's planning the day's meals to planning to bring running clothes to work to planning for one race to planning for a year's worth of events, the daily training runs and events definitely go better if you've got a plan. 

I've consistently been pleased with Hal Higdon's training plans for pretty much every distance I've ever raced.  I particularly like that he has various levels of plans at each distance.  I just print up the appropriate plan, figure out the race date and work backwards from there to put the plan on a calendar.  I use Yearly Calendar Maker to design a custom and free calendar that I can then print either in color or black and white.  You can see the result on the 2012 Training Calendar tab on this blog. 

If you have any planning tips, I'd love to hear them!! 

Good Morning!!

This morning, on my way into work, I found myself in a fabulous mood.  Awake, cheerful, excited to get busy at the office.  I 100% attribute this to getting back on a schedule with running.  And, by back on a schedule, I mean running at all... 

I know that regular exercise makes me a happier person but I guess that I sometimes manage to blow that fact off.  It's nice to already be feeling a mood improvement after just three weeks back on the trails.  I'm hoping that I'll also start sleeping better soon.  My energy level is definitely feeling higher too. YAY! 

Biggest Loser

I've been a huge fan of the Biggest Loser since the very first season.  I love the idea of helping people learn proper nutrition and how to exercise.  The people on the show are obviously on the extreme end of the health/weight spectrum.  Although I consider myself to be reasonably fit and to generally eat right, I still find inspiration from watching the contestant's struggles and I do learn little tidbits from each season.  But, I have to say, I do have one major issue with the show and that is how they portray the act of running a marathon. 

First of all, that 26.2 mile course featured in the episode looked like the worst marathon course of all time.  Totally flat, totally boring, loops in the desert.  No cheering crowds, no variety of scenery and only a handful of participants.  Sounds incredibly tedious and painful to me. 

Second, these people all seemed to be wearing brand new gear.  NO veteran runner of any distance would run their first marathon in new clothing.  Heck, I will only break in new clothing on runs of less than five miles.  New clothing often brings uncomfortable chaffing and blistering and is totally unrealistic in a long distance event. 

Third, there appeared to be absolutely no aid, water or energy supplements consumed along the way.  I saw only one brief glimpse of one contestant running with a water bottle.  I fear that this gives a very false and glib impression that one can run a marathon without any hydration or electrolyte replacement.  For those of you who have never run long distances, this is a sure way to become dehydrated, have a horrible racing experience filled with muscles cramps and, worst case, even suffer from serious health issues like heat stroke.  I have run three marathons and each had an aid station roughly every mile.  An aid station is more than just medical support - they are generally staffed with a dozen or more volunteers handing out water and a Gatorade product at a minimum.  Some stations will also have easily digested snacks like gummy bears and popsicle sticks loaded with Vasoline. 

There are so many more details that go into running a marathon but these are my three main 'beefs' with the Biggest Loser marathon.  Their representation of the event as something where you put on some brand new running gear and run loops in the desert without any shade, water or Gu is ridiculously inaccurate.  It could even be incredibly dangerous should someone decide that their glib portrayal is correct and attempt something similar themselves. 

Training...

Okay, I'm officially training again!!  Six months off was simply too much and I've got to get my ass back in gear.  The people in my family seem to have a very bad habit of dropping dead in their early 50's and I simply don't want that to happen to me. 

Last night, I logged an easy two miles with Ty and Onya.  Over the summer, my backpack was stolen...  and I lost several of my most treasured running gadgets including my Garmin.  I've yet to replace it so I'm currently running routes where I know the milage and not worrying about or tracking my time at all.  It's actually kind of nice considering that I know that I've gotten super out of shape! 

One of my goals for this week is to map out a training plan for Joss and I to follow as we train for Shamrock, Helvetia and, ultimately, the Portland Marathon;).  2012 will be a much more successful running year than 2011 has been! 

AAARRRRGGGGGG

This is going to be hard...  but, after too long of a hiatus from running, it's time to get my ass back in gear.  Feel free to join the journey as I resurrect this blog! 

Flooding

The last two weeks, the Willamette river has been the highest I've ever seen it.  On today's run, not only did it deluge on me the entire way, but the path was actually covered in water in three places.  Granted, one of these flooded spots floods so regularly that the path splits with one path going close to the river and one going up above so that the upper path is still open.  But the other two spots have never so much have had the water close to them before...  much less covering the entire path.  Makes you wonder what more rain and snow melt will do to the river... 

Naysayers...

We all have naysayers in our lives, whether it's in the realm of running or other aspects of our lives, there are those people who just don't seem to get it or can only make themselves feel good by making others feel bad (or at least trying to).  When it comes to running, it is fairly common for the people in our lives not to share our passion and, therefore, not really understand it. 

Recently, a friend completed her first half marathon and, when talking about it to co-workers, was meet with an overall apethetic response.  SHE'D JUST RUN HER FIRST HALF MARATHON, people!  This is and should be a huge deal to anyone who has done it! 

In my life, I've been told things like 'how many times can I say good job' and 'I'm not going to support you running your first marathon because that would be boring'.  When it has happened to me, I've been incredibly hurt and taken aback...  and wished I'd known what to say in return.  Both of those happened over two years ago, when running was still a relatively new thing in my life and I really needed support. 

The good news is that I now know that I run only for me and that I don't need anyone else's support to enjoy it.  I've run marathons where I've had a handful of supporters with signs cheering me on and one where I had not one friendly face to look for in the crowd.  I can't recall anyone coming out to support me in a shorter event than a marathon.  Yet I've managed to finish them all because I run for me.  That said, the marathon with the most supporters was my fastest time and most enjoyable marathon experience overall. 

But, the point is, I don't run so that others will be impressed or make me signs or fawn over my accomplishments.  Those things are nice and I do value them very much...  but I can't let them interfere with how I feel about myself and how proud I am of my running 'career'.  For me, this has been a huge lesson in running but also one that I desperately needed to apply to my real life too - and since I have, I've been happier and more fulfilled on both fronts! 

If you've been running for any amount of time, I'm sure you've had a similar experience.  What insights can you provide for how you handled the negative emotions that resulted?  Feel free to share your experiences and thoughts in the comments. 

Scheduling

One of the biggest challenges with running and training can be finding the time for it.  I regularly run at 2:00 and have for the last couple of years.  I eat my lunch around 11 and then take my actual lunch break at 2...  by the time I get back, in only have an hour to an hour and a half of work left before I can go home and shower.  Some days, due to recent co-worker scheduling changes, I have to take the deposit to the bank or write up the deposit.  These things happen right around 2 and they, obviously, take priority over running.  Some days, I have meetings or social events after work - which is fine because I do have a shower available at work.  BUT, taking time to shower cuts even more time out of my work day that I need to make up.  Sometimes that means I cut my run a mile or two short so that I don't have to worry about staying late to make up the time. 

I've toyed with running after I get home from work...  but that's been a miserable failure.  Typically, Ty takes Onya out on the two park 3.5 mile loop after work.  But, when it's a family run, 75% of the time, I get lazy and talk him out of his run too.  I'm not sure why or what happens mentally in that 20 minute drive home but I am far too good at talking myself out of running altogehter. 

I'm generally not a morning person but I'm actually considering moving my daily run to BEFORE work...  I could just take one shower at the office a day.  I could still run my favorite path - the Waterfront - but getting up, throwing on workout clothing, heading to the office and running before work.  I could shower at work and be all ready for the day.  I already keep travel size face wash, shampoo, leave-in conditioner and body lotion in my running bag.  I could just add toner, moisterizer and deodorant.  No biggie.  The biggest challenge will be my unending and overriding morning laziness. 

Today, I'm running at 11 so that I can swing by the sandwich place (that's conveniently located a block-ish away and also just happens to mark exactly 3 miles on my regular loop) on my way back.  I have to take the deposit at 2 plus I have a cheese making class tonight so that just seems to make the most sense.  After I eat, I'll take my shower and be ready to face the afternoon at work:).