May - By the Numbers

I think I'm officially a multi-sport athlete after this month. I also think that my mileage may be unnecessary for an Oly distance tri in July. Would it be terrible if I confessed to fantasizing about a HIM in September???


Swim 32,200 yards, 10 hours
Bike 29 hours 8 minutes - all indoors
Run  93.5 miles, 13 hours 45 minutes
Other - 4 hours, miscellaneous elliptical, weights, core, walking

I'm quite pleased with both my swimming and cycling totals for this month. If I am able to continue with this amount of both, I'd be thrilled. In the coming month, after moving to Boston at the end of the week, I hope to take my cycling "to the streets" and start logging a lot of those hours outdoors. Then I'll have distances not just durations for my rides. I'm eager to see where I'm at in terms of speed given that I had done so much indoor riding over the past few months but have only been out on a real bike one time. I'm also pleased with my swimming. I think after the last few swims I have finally come around to wanting to get some pointers from a swim coach. I had been telling myself that I'm a natural swimmer; it comes easily to me; I can go for a long time without fatigue; I'm confident that my form is actually good; and my pace seems on par with the beginner triathletes' blogs I read...but after a few swims when I've watched "real" swimmers swim, its clear to me that there is a whole other speed at which swimming can happen and I'm not there. I'd like to see what I can do. I'm not a huge fan (or a fan at all) of drills (or strokes other than freestyle) but think I'd be willing to give it a few months to see if I have any untapped potential in the water. What do you think -- should I do this now or wait until the "off-season" to try to work on my speed/power.

My running has actually been relatively good this month. Was hoping to cross that 100 mile mark for the first time but I missed 2 runs which made it impossible. 93 miles is a new high for me anyway, so I'll take it. My posterior tibialis has been grumpy but no big problems (knock on wood). I had a distance PR this month of 14 miles and another solid 10.5 mile run this past weekend (both faster than my HM PR pace). I've had three days of swim-bike-run (one was swim-bike-hike, but I think that counts) and each one was more awesome than the last.

Overall, I'm really digging this HARDCORE. Cannot wait to race this July and make an honest triathlete out of myself.

3 weeks in review

As some of you may know, I'm more of a "glass half empty" kind of person. I get easily mired in negativity, self doubt, and the like. When 3 weeks ago I came down with some sort of weird but very painful throat condition, the glass and my training were more like 1/4 full, at best. I took off 3 days that week. Didn't swim or run at all for a whole week. Just barely made it to the gym to get on the elliptical or bike to do something with my body. I haven't slept so few hours in a long long time. It was demoralizing. It seemed go on forever, but really I think it was the sleep and workout deprivation that just made me lose track of my usual sense of time and order in things. I am also trying to finish up my dissertation in the last then 6 (now 3) weeks before I move and start my new job. Writing for me is a painful (and generally not so rewarding) activity. Writing without a way of blowing off steam...really quite difficult. On the 9th day of sickness I was feeling well enough to try out a run. James and I planned an easy 6 miles. It was not meant to be. It was hot, humid, sticky, and horrible outside. Not a great return to running - my lungs were burning, eventhough we were crawling along at a 9 minute pace. We even cut the run short and walked the last 2 miles home.  I decided it was better to take it easy than my system any more than it was already. Monday morning I woke up to an email from one of my dissertation committee members saying that he was no longer available on the day we had all agreed would be my Defense date (August 20). As I scrambled to get in touch with my mentor and start working on a plan (its surprisingly difficult to get 4 faculty members into a room for 2 hours during summer) a fantasy came to mind: If I finished writing this week and could only convince my mentor to read a draft in the following week, we could push the date up to June (before I start my new job). Although a stressful idea, there was a part of me that wished this would be the outcome. It was not. Mentor couldn't commit to reading that soon. Another member didn't want to meet in June before our big annual conference. Blah blah blah. But it pointed out to me that this dissertation is close to being finished. There is no reason to wait. I need to JUST DO IT. And this changed things. I wrote 3 times that week. I didn't back off when it got painful, when I got negative, when I wanted to scrap the whole thing. I finished a draft. And somehow, in the midst of that I started an awesome stretch of training. Workout after workout, better and better. My lungs returned. My energy returned. I started to have that "I could be a triathlete" feeling. Notes on workouts M-F below: 5/3 60minute spin - solo Whole hour in the saddle at 90+ rpm, riding moderate to moderately heavy gears. legs felt better at the end of the ride than when i started. love that. 2500m swim first mile in 26:42 whole swim felt great. glad to be back in the water and having my lungs cooperate 5/4 65minute spin, 3.7mile run (BRICK) Nothing special but glad to have my running legs back. 5/5 60minute spin (solo), 3200m swim 5/6 60minute spin, 7.2mile run (BRICK) 9:20, 8:18, 7:27, 8:41, 7:42, 8:22, 8:30 first 10k in 51:20 w/last mile in 8:40 7.2 mi in exactly 60:00 5/7 2400m swim James left town for 9 days. Up early to see him off Energy really low going in. plan at least 1600m easy pace first 1600m in 29:00 then another 800 easy with bilateral breathing last 400m Then came the weekend. By this point my draft was complete and I was feeling pretty good. I was playing with various ideas about long training days this weekend and next. With James out of town I figured there would be more time in the day and less structure. What better way to fill in than with long workouts. Saturday I did my regular 2+ hour ride. It was solid and I felt very good afterward. Spent the afternoon and evening at a wedding where I consumed more alcohol (I'm not usually much of a drinker) and sweets than necessary. Sunday I woke up and couldn't quite get going.  Thought about running with a friend but couldn't quite decide. Finally after much procrastination headed to the gym. It was 40, raining, with 25mph winds. In the winter running in that kind of weather might make me feel hardcore but I just wasn't into it. I ended up having my longest run ever. On the treadmill!?! 14 miles in 2 hours. I even ran the first 13.1 in 7 seconds faster than my half marathon finish time (is it a PR if I've only run one HM?). Is it a PR if it comes on a training run? Is it a PR if I was on the treadmill. Regardless of what it was. It felt awesome. Started having fantasies of Half Ironmans in my future. In an effort not to get too caught up in that fantasy (one that I am not, SHOULD not consider until 2011) I started planning for next weekend's workouts. 2hr bike/1hr run on Saturday, 1hr swim/1hr bike on Sunday is where I landed. Funny how this is so much less that I see all the hardcore triathletes doing on a regular midweek training day, yet in the endorphin rush of a good run it left me feeling pretty good about myself that I can plan something like this. Did some excellent recovery eating Sunday afternoon and evening. Wore my old man diabetic recovery socks all afternoon and generally enjoyed my "single" self. Monday I woke up feeling pretty damn good. I was totally incapacitated after my half marathon in December. Stiff, sore, tired, hobbling. This was quite a difference. Admittedly, this run was not in 30 degree weather, or run on miles of slippery snow/ice. But I gave it to myself - my training is coming together. I can do a training run at faster than my previous race pace. This is a good thing. I can workout the next day without undue stress. This too is a good thing. I will be ready for the Oly come July. My Monday workout was good. Quite good. I was amazed at the freshness of my legs.  Tuesday and Wednesday things started catching up with me. See notes below. The fervor I mustered on my dissertation also had a little back slide. Thankfully James cheerleaded me through the darkest patch. 5/10 60minute spin (solo), 2500m swim very nice solo spin in the morning (8:20am) 10min warmup (easy gears), 15min moderate gear 6 x [2min standing hill climb, 3min mod gear]  - with hills 2,4,6,8,10,12 gears of moderate 5min in "aero" dropping gears and increasing speed 5/11 60minute spin, 4mile run (BRICK) Think the big week of workouts started to catch up with me. Regular gears felt very heavy during spin class. Posterior tibialis/achilles slightly grumpy during my run and pace was slower than past BRICKS - 8:50 pace instead of 8:30-8:35. Decided not to push it given my long run on Sunday. 5/12 2400m swim This workout was kind of crappy. I had wanted to do 4000m but totally psyched myself out. By the time I got to the pool I just wanted to make sure I did something. First mile in 29:40, not so good. Last half mile, slower than I would like to admit. This was also my first time wearing a swim cap. It made my head hurt. Yesterday I wanted to get in a quick short BRICK. I had a dissertation hangover in the morning but took myself to the gym. My ride, 40 minutes was okay. My legs were feeling better after the swim only Wednesday but when I started my run I could feel that my posterior tibialis was cranky. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday (Saturday)...is every other day. Post tib does not like every other day running. Post tib wants me to run every third day. This may have been pushing it. So I just did 3 miles. But felt grumpy afterward. Made a deal with myself that I'd come back later and ride some more. That was a good idea. Felt great on the second ride, 60 minutes.  Today I am resting. Off days stress me out. But its a necessary evil. Or so they say. Big plans for the weekend: Over distance BRICK workout on Saturday - 2 hours ride followed by 1 hour run. Sunday - Swim/bike brick. First of the season, have been riding before swimming up til this point. Legs tend to feel heavy after I swim want to start working on getting them moving in spite of that.

Wish me luck!

update

Once again its been weeks (a month?!?) since I've blogged. I've been keeping up with others' blogs but just don't seem to have the motivation to write. Triathlon training has been going to pretty well. I am trying to be good about putting my workouts into google calendar at the bottom of my blog if you want to see the skeleton version of my workouts. It has taken a while for me to actually get up to 3 runs, 3 rides, and 2 swims per week. The biking has been great and easy. I even invested in cycling shoes which make such a huge difference. My posterior tibialis has been finicky so many weeks have ended with only 2 legit runs (and maybe a third of under 3 miles - or a few walks). In addition, about a week ago, I had a crash bang boom with the pool wall which left me afraid I had broken a bone in my foot. I didn't run for about 5 days and didn't do much of anything for the first 48 hours. Thankfully, besides dislocating two of my toes, it was just a deep bruise and some angry soft tissue throughout my foot. I'm feeling 90% back to normal now.

I have noticed that overall the cycling (spinning, for now) has been way better than I expected. I am starting to feel this sense of my legs like pistons; I like that a lot. My swims go well as long as I don't play mind games before. Although I'm not clear whether I am getting faster on swims, I've had a number of good mile long swims/legs of swims in under 29 minutes. I am still not having great runs. I feel tentative and fearful a lot of the time. Strangely, the BRICK workouts I've done in which I spin then run have been awesome. Every one of these workouts has given me a lot of hope about the actual triathlon. This past Tuesday I even extended my run portion beyond the 2-3.5 miles I had been doing and ran 5 miles with negative splits. I also did my first swim-bike BRICK this Monday. I must be kicking much more than I can feel because my legs are always fried after swims. Will need to work on this before July.

This was the first week that I didn't totally bonk in terms of energy on Thursday and Friday. Either I'm adapting or the singles on Th and F were just what I needed. My 2 hour spin this morning didn't feel great but that could have been due to the bad food/drink I consumed yesterday with a friend/colleague visiting. Outside of training things have been pretty stressful. I am full on in dissertation writing mode. 11 weeks until I hope to have it off to my advisor. This week I hated every word written and was very busy doubting myself and feeling frustrated that I don't know more. *sigh* oh well. A little time and distance and things tend to come back into focus. Also, there is a potential house in West Roxbury that we were hoping (but doubtful we'd be able) to move into in June and more and more it looks like it could happen. My mother visited yesterday and the pics she took show the place to be gorgeous! All the things we could want. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, washer and dryer, dishwasher, garage, backyard, hardwood floors, crown molding, etc etc etc. Even if its out of our price range, I think we may have to do it. We are going to Boston in 2 weeks to see it in person. Also, its Patriot's Day weekend so I am hoping to convince James to stay through Monday so we can watch the marathon!!!

That's all for my all to brief catchup post. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wed Mar 10			1600m swim
Thu Mar 11			5mi run
Fri Mar 12			30min arc, 30min total body circuit
Sat Mar 13			20min ellip, 2:05spin
Sun Mar 14			7.5mi run
Mon Mar 15			spin (double)
			50min circuit w/cardio
Tue Mar 16			3-4mi run
			2mi walk (recovery)
Wed Mar 17			3mi walk
			weights (am)
Thu Mar 18			2.5mi walk (pm)
			BRICK
Fri Mar 19			40min ellip
			2mi walk
Sat Mar 20			2:05 spin
			1.5mi walk
Sun Mar 21			6.5mi run
Mon Mar 22			2mi walk
			1mi wu/cd jog
			2700m swim
Tue Mar 23			(pm) 1mi walk
			3.5mi run
			55min spin
Wed Mar 24			2000m swim
			1mi wu/cd walk
			55min spin (easy)
Thu Mar 25			35min total body weights
Fri Mar 26			35min ellip
			2mi walk
Sat Mar 27			2:25 swpin
Sun Mar 28			50min ellip (EN2)
Mon Mar 29			1600m swim
			55 min spin
Tue Mar 30			5mile run
			60min spin
			1mi walk
Wed Mar 31			1:18 spin (pm)
Thu Apr 1			3.1m walk
			3.1m run
Fri Apr 2			2600m swim
			1.5mi walk

Dilemma

When I eat carbs (fruit, whole grain bread, cereal, etc) I have awesome energy and awesome workouts. I can definitely go longer, farther, and harder. However, when I eat carbs, no matter how much I workout I cannot seem to drop weight. To perform at a higher level I truly believe I need to be lighter. Cut carbs and I am able to drop some weight. But my energy lags too. Whats a girl/triathlete/endurance junkie to do?

long overdue

Wow, its been a really long time since I posted. Again. Things have been hectic to say the least. On February 22 we found out that we (James and I) both got jobs in the Boston area. James will be a fellow at Brown Medical School and I'll be at Cambridge Hospital (of Harvard Medical School). Both are very exciting positions that we were psyched about when we interviewed and have outstanding post-doc opportunities. The only downside is that we will both have long commutes - likely an hour each way for both of us. James is going to have a long drive on the highway and I am going to have to skirt across the suburbs of Boston to get to Cambridge and then either walk or take a bus from the commuter parking lot to the hospital. These sorts of things are stressful to me. I'm not very good with change. I like routine. And flexibility. Its going to be a super busy year and the next few months leading up to the move are looking packed as well. The first week following getting this news ended up being kind of a mess. I got off my training plan. Still hit the gym and pool every day but gave up on my planned doubles and didn't lift or run diligently. I did save the week with an awesome double spin class (for a total of 1 hour 50 minutes) on Saturday morning and my first painfree 10k run on Sunday morning. My eating however, was a mess through the whole week. I told myself I would get back on track on March 1 (last Monday) but it didn't quite happen. After a bad swim the previous Thursday (before a stressful dissertation meeting) I basically avoided the pool all of this past week. No swims at all. Something about it now being a requirement or feeling some pressure about good swims, splits and all that got the better of me. I did get in a few more short (5 miles or fewer) runs without pain and a whole mess of spinning. I never thought I would get the spinning/cycling bug but I think it has begun to creep up on me (more about that later). I also got to play personal training to a labmate of mine who is trying to get back in shape and wanted some tips on cardio (intervals) and weights (supersets). On Saturday I again hit up the double spin class. Somewhere around minute 75 I started feeling really good. Like, I never want this workout to stop good. Like, maybe my life isn't so bad good. Like, maybe things will all be fine good. Then I started fantasizing about turning my long spin into a brick workout. Oh, what a glorious fantasy! At the end of the class I was miraculously still feeling awesome and I ran upstairs and jumped on a free treadmill. The treadmill and I don't tend to get along very well. It tells me I'm slow. I tell myself I'm out of shape. I tend to average nearly 1:30 slower per mile on the treadmill than outside. This was different. All I wanted was that brick experience. So I didn't care about pace. I started at a nice turtle's shuffle (6mph) and increased by .1mph every .1miles. At the start of my second mile I got my rhythm going and again had that feeling that I could continue for ever. I listened to reason and ended at 2 miles. Awesome BRICK.  Felt like a rockstar. Scratch that, felt like a TRIATHLETE. Sunday morning I was kicking myself a little for the treadmill chaser, as it was a run day and one thing I'm pretty clear on from my half-marathon training this past fall is that running on consecutive days is not so good for my feet/posterior tibialis. James and I decided to go for a recovery paced 5 miler. Hit up the spinner for 25 minutes while doing laundry later in the day too. Yesterday I did some arc trainer intervals and chest,back and core weights in the morning and had another solid hill ride in the mid afternoon. This morning I was supposed to skype with a colleague who is traveling in China right now but things got messed up with schedules and I found myself able to hit up Tom's 8:30 spin. I got there a little early and did 15 minutes on the elliptical, then his class + 25 minutes extra steady state riding, followed by some shoulders and arms. I love spring break. Tons of work to be done, but hardly any time/scheduling restrictions. Came home, did some work, ate some lunch and couldn't resist going outside. We have had crap rain and snow for so long, now the Sun gods are blessing us. Its 55 and sunny right now. Ran a slow little 5k then lay out basking in the sun for a few minutes.

Enough with the stream of conscious rambling. The things that are actually on my mind mostly revolve around my dissertation analyses and our upcoming move. I had been hoping to commit to and register for a triathlon once I knew where we'd be moving...but now that the finances of the move and the cost of living of our new city are in my full awareness I am struggling to decided on a race. I had been thinking that I would do a sprint distance to start. Thats the logical thing to do. However, I don't think I can justify the expense of 2 triathlons this summer and a part of me feels like if I can only do one, shouldn't it be the Oly distance that I'm shooting for and training for? [[This is a moment when I wish that more than halfdozen people read my blog, so I could get some feedback...]]  Another nagging thing is that I don't have a road bike. I've been sort of going on the assumption that I would co-opt my father's hybrid when I get to Boston (my parents live there)...but that seemed more reasonable for 13 miles than it is for 26... And where am I going to get the money for a bike? And cycling shoes? And all the other gadgets...  and so the downward spiral begins and I lose my mojo to sign up for a race.

boston

we are officially moving to boston. oh boy.

wish i could see the light at the end of the tunnel, there must be a bend in the track...

A little belated but, we matched. We will both have jobs next year. We'll find out where on Monday.

Lot of stress this week and only the first half of the week had any really good workouts.

Monday - morning spin followed by a nice short run
Tuesday - awesome 3000m swim. really feeling it. love my new suit.
Wednesday - shoulders, arms and abs in the morning, spin in the evening
Thursday - tried out a road bike for the first time (was pretty freaked out by the kind woman who let me try her bike. made me worried about the whole triathlon thing. remembering my brothers' multiple falls back when he was a serious cyclist didn't help any. nor did frayed laces' recent accident) and then went for a crappy swim before a stressful meeting (dissertation related) which put a damper on the rest of my day.
Friday - was up all night waiting for the news of whether james and i were matched to job sites. was so tired during the day and went home on the 3 hour break i had midday and instead of working out i slept. made it for a 2 mile walk and a 30 minute elliptical later in the day. but it sucked. and my eating sucked. hoping to right myself on monday when my future feels more certain.
Saturday - didn't sleep last night either. dragged myself to spin this morning before a saturday at work. spinning was actually pretty good. we did an olympics themed ride. it was fun. not hard, but fun.

Hope to be back on the horse on Tuesday.

a solid week in purgatory

Monday 2/8  Chest and Back, Ab X in the a.m.
                     30min spin in the early afternoon

Tuesday 2/9 4 mile run in the a.m.
                    1200m swim at lunch - trapped in a lane with a splasher/flailer = not fun = short swim

Wednesday 2/10 Shoulders and Arms, Ab X in the early a.m.
                           Cardio (arc trainer) 30 minutes in the evening

Thursday 2/11 60min spin - group class - lots of hills in the saddle, not my favorite thing. good news, my lady parts seem to be getting used to the saddle.

Friday 2/12 Legs and Back, Ab X in the a.m.  (only body weight exercises)
                   Couples Valentine's weekend Power Yoga in the evening with James

Saturday 2/13  weather holding up so James and I went for a 5mile snow/trail run. Had that uncanny experience of being unable to believe that only 2 months ago I ran a half marathon and now feel like a blog of painful un-fitness.

Sunday 2/14  couldn't wait for the pool to open at 2pm for scheduled 2400m swim so pushed up tomorrow workout         Chest and Back, Abs.  first day without cardio all week.

I need to think about the current plan I'm working. For the past 2 weeks, by the time the weekend rolls around I feel tired and unmotivated. These are the days when I have the time to really go for it... Not sure what to cut from my week. 3 lifting days, 3 run, 2 spin, and 2 swimming is feeling like a lot. Hmmm... maybe it will feel better when all of these activities don't have to take place indoors. These blizzards have been really making the outdoor workouts hard to pull off.

5 days til our fate is sealed. 8 days until we find out where we will be moving!

rockin' the triathlon training

I've gotta say...I'm loving triathlon (-style) training. This week had rocked so far. On Monday I started the day with P90X Chest and Back lifting workout in the morning, followed by Ab Ripper X (and it does truly rip up your abs - often even causing strange digestive phenomena). I then went about my normal day. I cut out of work at 4 and went to a spinning class for an hour before returning refreshed to work for another few hours in the evening. On Tuesday I had my first run without significant pain since the half marathon in the beginning of december. I kept my pace pretty slow and switched over to run/walk combo after mile 3 when my post.tib. started barking a little. I had only planned to do 2 miles so I nixed my tentatively planned Plyo workout and just enjoyed my nice day at work. I almost went to the pool when I finished up with my last patient at 6pm but got sidetracked and didn't leave the department until after 7 and then it was a little late for me. In addition, my upper back, shoulders, and chest were pretty rocked from the combo of heavy lifting and spinning the day before. Yesterday I woke up still significantly sore through the shoulders but diligently dragged myself to the gym at 6am to do P90X Shoulders and Arms workout. I only made it through half of Ab Ripper before calling it quits, vowing to do more core later. Made it back to the gym to spin (solo) around 5pm. Kept the cadence high and resistance low. It was just what my legs needed after that first run back. Today I knew what I had to do. I had to put Dissertation before Training. I have a tendency to do whatever I do between 7am and 12pm really well. And take great pleasure in it. But then the pleasant sense of accomplishment tends to facilitate this weird and frustrating stagnation in the afternoon. Today it was more important that I actually make some headway with my dissertation analyses than getting in a double workout (despite have a run and a swim on the calendar). Miraculously and finally (and I do mean finally - like 6 months finally) I got down to business. After 3 hours of up and downs, fits and starts, frustration and elation I actually got through the step of my data analysis that I have been stuck on (read: avoiding and paralyzed by) since August. And it was only noon. You know what that means? I drove to the commuter lot, parked, and ran over to the Natatorium pool just in time for lap swim. Every lane had someone in it, most were already doubled up. A young man (cute, with a slightly stocky swimmers build) offered to share his lane. As I did my first few hundred meters of warm up, he repeated flew by me. So much for a pleasant and non-competitive swim :-)  I told myself that dealing with his wake would be good practice for open water swim (not the same, i know). Then I realized what was going on. He was doing very short drills. 50m, rest, repeat. Also, he was doing flip-turns. I was not. So I let it go. After about ten minutes we fell into a pattern. I was swimming continuously and he was doing 50m's on the :00's. It actually ended up being great for the next 20 minutes and I swam :57 50's through 1600m. He left the pool around my 1500 mark. Too bad though, as the pool emptied out and after I took a 1 minute breather after 1600m my pace fell markedly. I mean seriously, I don't know what happened. how does :57 turn into 1:03-1:05. I decided not to worry and just plugged along until 2400m. By this point the pool was empty and I was able to even practice my flipturns a bit before toweling off and running back to my car. I probably only ran 1.5miles. Can't decided whether I should make it a true double and get back out there after my afternoon meetings. I guess I'll decided after some lunch. I need some serious fuel right now.

4 miles in the time it normally takes me to run 5. i'll take it.

more on triathlon/p90x madness after some stretching and breakfast.


4.1miles 38:11min

past, present, and future

in the past 8 weeks:

• 10 cities
• 27 interviews
• 182 rank ordered pairs of job sites (for the crazy matching process that is about to take place)
• 10 lbs of pure fat, frustration, and impotent rage
• 1 nagging foot injury

in the coming 12 weeks:

• February 3 - Rank order list due to National Matching Service
• February 19 - James and I find out if we matched
• February 22 - James and I find out where we matched (and hence where we will be moving and when)
• Dissertation analyses must get done. Thursdays are about to become protected stats time. Must make this happen.
• P90X (round 2) begins today Febuary 1
• Triathlon training begins today February 1
• After the match I will find and register for a sprint and/or olympic distance triathlon in the vicinity of my new job!!!

In the meantime, I'll be working on not having a nervous breakdown. Wish me luck...

in the midst of hell its nice to remember when things were better

This arrived in the mail today. Team Manic Defense!!! Good times. Good times.

Now if only I could get my life back in order.

Google Calendar

A few weeks ago someone put a google calendar into their blog to show their training schedule. I can't seem to find that awesome blogger now but would very much like to do it. Any suggestions about how to sync my google calendar with my blog? Or perhaps one of the kind (and few) people who reads my blog and is part of the larger running blogging community might remember who it was who did this and I can follow up with her... Thanks!

ok, so this isn't me swimming. but my swim was awesome and this picture is awesome. amazing what you find when you google image search something as simple as "swimming"...

2000m in just under 40 minutes. had to actively not get competitive with the very fast and trim woman in the lane over from me. but the water is so soothing that i was able to let most of that stuff go, most of the time.

tri plans are on. i only wish i didn't live on a grad student stipend so i could afford a new bathing suit and a pair of padding cycling shorts. i guess thats what birthdays are for...

an actual run

for the first time since January 1 i actually got out for a run. in order to be extra kind to my ailing foot/posterior tibialis i drove over to the Toftrees Trail and did the whole things on the soft macadam and mud. it was the slowest run i've been on since september but i was a run. 5 miles, just under 50 minutes (with a stretching break at the turnaround at miles 2.5). truth be told i didn't have a ton of pain. more like a nagging sensation and some increasing tightness in my left arch. the biggest thing, which i was somewhat aware of while running then acutely aware of when i finished and did a nice walk cool down was the degree of hypervigilance and fear i was experiencing the whole time. not exactly a relaxing way to run ;-)   

but it was a run. and i was glad to be out there in the 40 degree drizzle. i'm also a big fan of mud crusted sneakers...

i seemed to have missed the boat on 2010 resolutions but i have been slowly devising a plan for the coming year... in part all of my life decisions (including training possibilities and races) are having to wait until february 22 when i will find out where i will be working/living next year so there is no real use in trying to make plans until then. but, just between you and me -- i have my sights set on a triathlon. went on an awesome swim a few weeks ago and am planning to hit the psu pool this afternoon or evening. if i enjoy this swim as much as the last one (or even half as much) then i think i am going to set the wheels in motion. i have a training plan all mapped out in  my head. if the swim goes well, i'll post it here tomorrow.

lemonade

evil posterior tibialis. evil. perhaps i should be scolding the evil spiked heels i was wearing that caused the injury, not my poor foot for being abused. regardless. very little running going on in these parts. went for a 5 miler with james on new year's day before settling in to watch football. have at this point been on 8 of my 14 interviews and james has been on 7 of his 13. next week we have 5 total - me at Yale, U Wisconson Madison, and Temple University; james at U Wisc and Brown. Gonna be a hectic week. With workouts kind of at a minimum and lots of continued bad eating (feels like the holidays never ended in terms of food) I have been making a point to do a lot of walking. Have been getting in between 3 and 6 miles a day. So hopefully despite the lack of good running or long running (both sorely missed and needed) I'm still making my way toward 1000+ with Mel and her crew. (1000 mile club details).

Tomorrow we are off to New Haven. Am hoping to get in a run or hike in Madison on Tuesday if the weather cooperates. Otherwise I'll be powerwalking in the airport terminals...

bad blogger

i haven't blogged in forever. i also haven't run in forever. i'm a bad run blogger :-(

interview traveling has been pretty crazy and with 4 interviews in a 9 days, during which time i wore spiked heeled boots for 8+ hours at a time, i royally screwed up my left foot. serious posterior tibialis issues. bad scene. no running. ginger walking at best.

sunday was the first day i was able to go to my gym (we're back home for 6 days before heading back out for more interviews) and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my 75 minutes on the elliptical. yesterday i had what seemed like my first good workout in ages. 40 minutes on the arc, 40 minute crazy circuit of chest, back and legs. this morning i went to the Y with james and (after a 3 week long itch to do so) i finally went for a swim. 2000m in 40 minutes. felt awesome. its been years since i swam laps. don't know why i don't do it more often.

ankle is flared up a bit this evening (unfortunately from kicking while swimming i fear). hope it doesn't get any worse.

year in review?

very little running has gone on this week. i've been "recovering"... well more like i've been hitting the gym for weak-ass workout, complaining, and stressing about interviews/travel. yesterday james and i finally hit the road, drove to boston in the crazy storm, dropped off the girls (kitties) and turned around to drive back down to west haven. right now i'm sitting in a starbucks about a mile from the VA where he is interview this morning. although starbucks NEVER has free internet, conveniently the friendly's next door's signal is reaching in here just enough to allow for some nice blog reading. as i caught up with all of my blog-stalking, i read Mel-Tall Mom's inspirational post. i am not completely decided on my  goals for 2010. but it is good to think about what has happened this year. if i count back to this day last year (rather than 2009 calendar year) there have been many excellent things that i accomplished and that i had the good fortune of happening to me. 1) I got married! - December 14, 2008. I can't believe this Monday will be our anniversary! 2) I shared my favorite place in the whole world with my new husband - Honeymoon - December 15-22 in Sugarbush VT.  3) My first first author paper was published. 4) I completed P90X and was the fittest I have been since high school. 5) I finished collecting my dissertation data. 6) I put in 20 applications for Internship next year and am in the midst of a whirlwind tour of the northeast with my beloved as we interview for more than a dozen of these positions. 6) I took up running and in 12 weeks went from zero running to a 1:52 half-marathon.

After James finishes with his interview in a few hours we are going to try to snag some Pepe's Pizza before heading back to Boston. It gave me a swell of pride (joy?) to think that we, in the next 2 days, will go on a 9 mile run called "3 Ponds", and that I will be able to run the whole thing. Over the summer (the last time we were visiting my parents) we went on this run and, while James was a great sport about it, I had to do way more walking than was cool with me and it took us over an hour and a half to complete.To me, this is the beauty of running. An accomplishment (or progress) is measurable and I am able to give myself some credit for it. This is hard for me in other areas.

Will think on those 2010 goals and get back to you... :-)

Race Day - Nittany Valley Half Marathon

My first half marathon is in the books! Unofficial time was 1:52:00. The snow/ice was only an issue for the first 2.5 miles and then on the steep downhill at 7.5-9 miles. I felt pretty great for the first 10 miles and then slogged for the last 5k. Having told the race "story" to the 3 people in the last 3 hours, I'm a little tired for a full race recap. Here are my splits:
mile 1 - 8:05 - trying not to fall on ice
mile 2 - 8:04 - still trying not to fall (watching others do so)
mile 3 - 8:09 - james handed me water and gushers at mile 2.9. having a support team rocks
mile 4 - 8:24 - this is where the 3 mile long ascent began
mile 5 - 8:45 - still climbing
mile 6 - 8:20 - second wind? still climbing
mile 7 - 8:19 - crested the hill at 6.25 where yuko was there to take my jacket, give me more water and gushers and generally cheer wildly!
mile 8 - 7:55 - steep downhill, trying again not to fall or lose complete control of my legs
mile 9 - 8:05 - actually still feeling pretty good, still going downhill :-)
mile 10 - 9:04 - 3 hills in this mile - legs starting to feel very heavy, just pushing through
mile 11 - 8:47 - a little bit of a flat - legs a little numb, grabbed water at a stop and hands got very cold
mile 12 - 9:06 - just holding on - can't feel legs, can't increase turnover - into the last big hill
mile 13 - 9:42 - all straight up hill - holding on for dear life - vowing not to walk
mile 13.1 - 1:07 (7:27) - could not see finish line so didn't know when to kick, kicked late. oh well.

Afterward, huffed and puffed, gave back my timing chip, drank water, then more water, got stiff, stretching, felt faint, then returned home. Felt generally calm afterward but not elated like after Spirit of Pittsburgh. Race could not have gone better. 1:52?!?!?

Here are some pics from the race

race face (according to james)

now this is what i call a race face. a chilly race face...

my butt and ugly stride - at mile 1.5

sucking wind at the finish line (while removing earbuds)...

trying (unsuccessfully) to capture the crazy dried salt on my face and neck.

post-race smiley thumbs up. not quite as attractive, but hey I just ran a HALF-MARATHON!!!













No finisher's medals or bibs for this race but I intend to wear my race t-shirt to work tomorrow as proof of my accomplishment.

Thanks to James and Yuko for being my awesome support team!

t-minus 12 hours

There was definitely more snow than anticipated today. I'd say at least a few inches. The first 2.5 miles of the course (on a gravel track around a large field) are going to be messy, slushy, and wet. I hope the roads thereafter are better.

 

With the weather being what it is I'm feeling even less confident in my time goal. But I guess I will put it out there for the record... I would really like to break 2 hours. I know that on a first race my only goal should be to finish (and with these conditions maybe thats a pretty reasonable goal), but I really want to go sub-2:00. On a flat course I think I could go much faster, but these hills intimidate the hell out of me. I basically sat around today eating carbs (soft pretzels, fruit, pasta) and not doing anything physical. So hopefully I'll have lots of glycogen for those hills tomorrow.

Gonna try to relax now and get some sleep.