I think that next to the actual run itself, my favorite thing about doing races is picking up my bib and packet. It's so exciting. I love seeing what kind of fun schwag is in the bag, what the shirts look like and going to the expo and feeling the buzz and nervous energy of all the runners around me. Granted, this marathon is kind of a small one, comparatively speaking. There are only about 450 people doing the full marathon, another 400 doing the half marathon and 300 or so doing either the 10K or the 5K. So that means the race expo is actually just a few vendor booths, but it's still fun. One of these days I'm going to do a big race - like Los Angeles or something.
Anyway, after picking up my packet, complete with a sack of Idaho potatoes, we took Sophia to get her cast put on. While we were driving to and from our different locations this afternoon, the clouds were swirling overhead and by the time we got home it had started to thunder storm.
We didn't get a ton of rain, but looking at the weather forecast for tomorrow, there's still a 40% chance for more storms tomorrow. It figures. We've had one of the driest summers ever, and the one day it's finally supposed to rain - yep, race day. Oh, well. I can run in rain. The tricky thing might be if it's too warm to wear a rain jacket, then I'm just going to have to deal with my clothes being wet. Yuck.
I've got all my stuff laid out and ready to go for the morning.
I really have a good feeling about this race. I have had a great week of low-impact workouts and rest, getting to bed at a decent hour every night, healthy eating and I'm feeling good. My plan is to fuel during the race starting out earlier and more often than I usually do. I'm kind of notoriously good at under-fueling while on long runs. I feel like I have to force myself to take something because I don't have an appetite while I run, even sometimes a mild stomach ache. But I know that I would feel better towards the middle and end of the run if I fueled better. I'll be putting that to the test tomorrow.
Tonight is another early night; my husband will be driving me up to catch a shuttle to the starting line at 4:30-5am!
It's been another successful couple of days. Yesterday morning I did a little Yoga with Jillian Michaels in the morning, followed by a 4.8 mile run/walk at the park. Actually, I should probably call it a walk/run, because I mostly walked, but ran a handful of short bursts for about 1/5 mile each, just to really feel loosened up.
Today I went to the gym with Chris and while he did "our usual" classes (spinning, weights, Muscle Fusion X), I walked for a little over an hour on a treadmill, did 20 minutes on a recumbent bike and then hit the pool for a little over a 1/4 mile swim and a soak in the hot tub. I won't say I wasn't jealous of my husband doing the higher intensity stuff, but I am grateful to be feeling good and ready for Saturday's race.
Tonight Chris and I spent an evening together eating a pre-race meal at one of our favorite restaurants. I can't really argue that it was for purposes of carbo-loading, because I've been eating lots of good carbs for the past couple of days and especially yesterday, which is supposed to be the most important day (3 days prior). But it's kind of a tradition, I guess, for us to go out to eat sometime within the couple of days before a race, and since Chris has to work tomorrow night, we went out tonight.
After our dinner, my only other request was that we "splurge" on some fro-yo. I love this stuff but haven't had any for quite a while, since I've been "cleaning up" my diet. So I kept my splurge about as clean as it can get: sugar-free vanilla with strawberries, nuts and a drizzle of honey. It was SO good!
After that, we decided to drive part of the marathon route because it's on the way home. We got lucky again and spotted our friends, momma moose with her young one. We just sat and watched them for a few minutes before finishing the drive home.
And here are a couple more pictures of the view on the route. Don't these images make you want to come and run this marathon with me?!
(That's my runner-friendly version of the old saying!)
The time has come to announce the winner of the signed copy of the new, revised edition of Running the Edge, by Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano:
After loading all the entries into a random number generator, the winner is ... BILL FINE!! Bill, message me with your shipping info and I will get that book sent off to you ASAP! Congratulations, Bill! Happy reading and running! :)
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. Stay tuned for my review of the book to come (hopefully sometime next week, after I get this marathon done on Saturday)!
Hey, guys. I just thought it was time for me to give an update as to how things have been going so far this week. I have mostly been doing well as far as keeping my high-intensity workouts to a minimum. Yesterday morning when I woke up I did 30 minutes of Pilates before getting the kids ready and off to school. Once they were gone, I went to the park and walked for a little over 4 miles.
Later in the day we received a call from the elementary school that our daughter (9 years old) had taken a bad fall while running out at recess and that her arm looked "distorted". Yes, that's actually the word the teacher used. Chris and I took her to the doctor where an x-ray confirmed a break in the radius bone. It was too swollen for a cast, so they will see her again on Friday to put the cast on. In the meantime, she has a splint and a couple of pretty cut up knees. :*(
She looks way too smiley in this picture for a girl with a broken arm, but that's totally Sophie.
Once we had her home, settled and resting, I left Chris with the kids and a couple of homemade pizzas while I went to the gym for an evening spin class. Before going to the class, I had it in my mind that I would go to 3 spin classes this week: Monday evening, Tuesday morning and Thursday morning. After last night's class, I have changed my mind. I felt pretty wiped out, and I realized that if I want to do well on Saturday, I need to be smart about this. I don't think it would serve me well to use up as much of my energy stores as is necessary for spinning. Spinning is off the table for the rest of the week. I'm also not going to do any additional weight training this week. I read somewhere that the amino acids and glycogen stores in muscle tissue that are depleted when you do an especially hard workout take 4-5 days to replenish.
So this morning while my husband attended a spinning class, I hopped on a treadmill at the gym and walked at a nice 3.0mph pace while reading "Running the Edge". I got in a little over an hour of walking. Tomorrow my plan is to do some Yoga or Pilates and also do some more walking outside. I knew this week was going to be tough for me, especially mentally. I have a hard time taking things easy. But since I am doing this with hopes that it will all be worth it come Saturday when I feel great on my run, I think I can get through a week of laid-back workouts. But next week, watch out! ;)
As far as my nutrition goes, with only a couple of exceptions, I've been keeping things "clean"! My friend Holly brought over some cookies and muffins for Sophie yesterday and I splurged on a cranberry orange muffin, which although she said were "fat free", I'm sure they contained some sugar. I've also been steering clear of carbonated drinks and instead drinking tons of water. Just got stocked up on some more fresh produce today and the fridge is now full of fresh carrot, spinach and pear juice, and little containers with lots of wise and easy choices: steel cut oats, already cooked and ready to be warmed up and topped with honey, berries and nuts, cut up veggies, homemade potato soup with red and sweet potatoes, kale, broccoli, onions, carrots and garlic, and of course my sweet, little peanut butter and oat energy balls. Now if only I could get my kids to eat all of that stuff, too. (Not much trouble getting them to eat the peanut butter balls, but the soup with broccoli and kale, eh...not so much.) Tonight my husband rolled his eyes at me as he watched me cook myself some white fish to go with my potato soup, as opposed to the turkey burgers and fresh corn I made for the rest of the family. :)
And hey, don't forget to enter my giveaway, if you haven't already! I can't wait to see who wins this awesome book on Thursday!
Truth be told, I was negligent this week and failed to line up a post from a guest blogger. So, today you're stuck with some of my thoughts - get ready for lots of them. :)
I have been going through some crazy swings in emotions the past few days. Race week is always like this for me. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a common thread among runners and triathletes. One minute I feel confident in my training, I have in mind a goal to just finish the race having done my best and feel content knowing I may not be that fast, but I'm fine with that as long as I can still walk when I'm done. The next minute I find myself with thoughts circulating around ways I can be sure I'll PR - by a lot - why I'm not okay with being slower than all the other women I know who are also running this race and what I could have done differently in my training.
Seriously, I sit and think about what I will do better for the next marathon after this one, before I've even run it! What the heck? Then I get down on myself for getting down on myself. And over and over the cycle repeats. Oh, and throw into the mix all the turmoil I feel regarding what the appropriate training (or lack of) would be for this pre-race week. My husband suggests I do nothing - like, literally no workouts, other than maybe 1 or 2 spin classes and some walking - for the whole week! I honestly don't know if I can do that, but I know that I would probably feel full of energy stores by Saturday morning if I could force myself to follow that advice.
The fact is, and I'm being totally honest here, ever since I lost the majority of my (post-pregnancies weight, 60+ pounds), I've become just a tad obsessive about exercise, in case you haven't picked up on that. ;)
My daily workouts and all of my runs are fueled not only by my love of the sport and how good it makes me feel, but also by my determination to never gain that weight back again. On the outside I am a completely different person than I was 5 years ago, and I am grateful for my progress. But inside there is still a dorky, shy, wall-flower of a girl who just wants to please everyone around her.
When I first started running and training for marathons, I was pleased with any and all progress I made because I was starting from scratch. I was new to running and new to training, at least training like you have to train in order to be successful at the marathon. I was just happy to finish and proud to tell anyone that I had "finished a marathon". The details didn't matter to me so much. My speed didn't matter because I wasn't comparing myself to anyone then - I had only been a runner for a year and a half when I completed my 3rd marathon and that's awesome, right?? Things are different now. As we have been spending a lot of time at the gym with other fitness enthusiasts and hard bodies (there are some, trust me) and as I have become more "social" on the internet through this blog, Facebook, DailyMile.com and other venues, and as I have been more involved in local races, I have met and become friends/acquaintances with so many other runners and athletes. Now I can't escape the talk that inevitably ensues whenever anyone finds out I run marathons. It seems there is an automatic assumption that I must be fast, or else why would I bother "killing" myself with distance running. I frequently come away from these conversations and come home from the gym feeling pretty inadequate. I know it's all in my head, and I am the only one who can change my way of thinking, but it's that little girl rearing her nerdy head! Go away, nerdy girl!
Of course, I really don't know what other people are actually thinking about me and all my endeavors, but I let my insecurities take over more often than not. The other day when I was going through one of these "moods", I was talking to my husband about how I felt, and I made a reference to feeling like Liz Lemon from 30 Rock. I can totally relate to Tina Fey's character on this show:
I guess all I can do for now is try to relax this week and plan to have a great race day, no matter what my time is or who finishes faster (or slower) than me. But just a little warning, you may be getting an ear/eye-ful this week from me on this blog. I was told recently by someone who shall remain nameless, ahem...that my blog would be much more interesting if I wrote more personal stuff and got down to the nitty-gritty of things. Apparently people don't just want to read about other people being totally amazing and tough all of the time, who knew?! ;)
Anyone willing to send me some pre-race tips, I am all ears. It never hurts to hear what works (or doesn't work) for other people gearing up for a race.
I am beyond excited to do this giveaway! I was somehow lucky enough to get copy from the authors of the new revised edition of Running the Edge, Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano! Besides the fact that you now have the chance to get your hands on a copy before the September 1st official release date, it is also an exclusive signed copy! Yes, someone is going to totally score!
For those of you who may be less familiar with this book and it's authors, here's a little info:
Olympian Adam Goucher's running career has it's roots in Colorado, where he was a national high school cross country champion and winner of several NCAA track titles. In 2000, he was on the US Olympic team, for the 5000m distance. He is married to Olympic runner Kara Goucher and together they live with their son, Colton in Portland, Oregon.
Tim Catalano was teammates with Goucher in college while running with the University of Colorado Buffaloes. For over 15 years he has worked as a Psychology teacher and coach and has an avid love of running.
They brought together their love of the sport and their combined 40 years of running experience to produce this book. Running the Edge is not merely a how-to of running, but more a guide to finding greater meaning and depth of daily life through the spirit of running and fitness.
Okay, so here's the scoop, folks: To enter this giveaway, become a follower of this blog and leave a comment telling me that you did and why you'd love to have this book. Or head over to my Facebook page and 'like' it and leave a comment letting me know that you did, with your reasons for wanting to win the book. (You can do both, if you want to!) Oh, and if you are already a follower of my blog and Facebook page, just leave me a comment telling me and you will be entered into the contest!
And don't forget to make a stop at the guys' Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/RunTheEdge! Like them and you will receive daily inspiration, motivation and fun running stuff straight to your FB news feed, even if you don't win the book! :)
The giveaway will be open until Thursday, August 30 at which time I will use an online generator to randomly choose the winner from all of the entries. Enter now - your chances are excellent ~ seriously!
Also for those of you not fortunate enough to win the giveaway, watch my blog for my review of the book. Then you will surely be motivated to go out and grab a copy for yourself!
I was supposed to run with a new running friend today, but she had to cancel due to some family stuff. When I went to bed, I knew I would be going alone on my run, so I was feeling at ease. I had a little flexibility so I told myself that if I woke up and was really tired or sore, I would just sleep a little more and just go run whenever I woke up. The alarm went off at 5am and I woke up feeling pretty okay, despite my arduous workouts yesterday, so I just got up and started getting ready to go. I was out the door at a little after 6 and it was actually pretty chilly out there! I kept thinking it would warm up as soon as the sun came up higher, but it never really did. I did a 12.4 mile loop leaving from my house and the route goes through a rural area I lovingly refer to as "the wind tunnel" because it's a place where there is a valley, or gap, between two big mountainous areas and it is ALWAYS windy. (It's the area you can see behind me in the above photo.)
Anyway, my run went well. I did a 4:1 run/walk ratio and I was surprised at how minimal my soreness was from that insane class I did yesterday afternoon. That is, until I got home from my run and all of a sudden my legs pretty much stiffened up and I could feel every single muscle in them. After I took a warm shower, I felt a little better, so Chris and I decided to take the kids to the gym so they could swim and I could, ahem...take a spinning class. I had the same instructor that I had for both spinning and Muscle Fusion X yesterday, and said she was surprised I was there for another spinning class after such hard workouts yesterday and running 12 miles this morning. The first few minutes I was on my bike, I was beginning to see why. My legs were SO tired! But it's kind of funny how after you just get going again, that tiredness lessens and you're able to just push through. In my mind I kept saying to myself, "Pain means change!" Change is my goal, so I'm well on my way!
After the class, I went swimming with the family for a bit, which felt very relaxing. My biggest challenge is now coming up this week. I have a plan to take it easy the next two days, by just doing some walking tomorrow and then taking a full rest day on Sunday. But after that, I will be taking things day by day. Obviously I don't want to deplete all my energy stores during the week before the marathon, but it is SO hard for me to not do anything! I just read recently that it takes a certain level of maturity to know when to pull back, take it slow or easy, or take extra rest days, especially when you feel like you can do more. For a successful run next Saturday, I know I should do less than usual this week, but it's so hard to find a balance - at least for me. My husband says I'm over-zealous, obsessed and that I don't know the meaning of happy medium. I like to call it being committed to something. At any rate, I am still loving these beauties:
Just looking at that picture makes me want to go for a run! :)
Aahhh...the life of a stay-at-home mom who's children are in school all day Monday through Thursday...
I may be enjoying the freedom just little bit too much. But before I go out and do something rash, like get a part-time job or something, I might just let myself enjoy this time in my life a while longer. :)
Chris had the day off from work, so we went to our second home - the gym, of course. ;) Before we left, I was looking at the class schedule and saw that there was a muscle fusion class at noon that I've been wanting to try out. I asked Chris if he would be up to it, even after doing our strength training and the 8:30 spin class. He denied me, but I went with it and didn't argue my case for more exercise too fiercely. Soon enough his work schedule will be changing and his days off will be different and I will be (even more) free to take whatever fitness classes I want. Haha!
So, we spent 30 or 40 minutes lifting weights before heading into spin class. When class was over, the instructor invited us to her noon muscle fusion class. I told her I wanted to but that Chris wasn't too sure, and it took all of about a minute for her to convince him it was a good idea. We went home so we could eat and change into some non-sweat-soaked workout clothes and then headed back to the gym.
Here's the description of the class:
Muscle Fusion - 60 min. barbell class designed to work all muscle groups by incorporating isolated exercises such as squats, lunges, dead lifts and more. Guaranteed to burn calories, tone muscle and shred fat!
Muscle Fusion”X” - Just like Muscle Fusion, this 60 min barbel class is designed to work all muscle groups; however Muscle Fusion X adds bouts of tabata style intervals and bonus sets aimed at strength!
Yeah, we did the "X" version! ;) I am not kidding you, it was no joke! I actually think I may have sweated more and burned more calories than I do during spin class, and I didn't think that was possible. It was non-stop cardio using a step, barbell and free-weights, ending with several minutes of core work. There was no standing still in this class. We were either skipping, stepping, sliding, shuffling, kicking, lifting, punching, lunging, squatting or jumping. We even had to run laps around the track in between a couple of weight intervals, and that felt like the easiest part to me. :) (I was actually worried about tripping on the step at some points because my legs were shaking! Thankfully I made it through the class without embarrassing myself...too much.)
Yes, this is exactly what I looked like. :)
Anyway, it was an awesome (hard) class. It's only offered once a week, but I think I'm going to add it to my workout routine. I want quick feet!! By the time we got home I totally could have laid down and taken a nap. Of course, that never happened and now it's 11pm and I'm still up. What's wrong with me? I'm running 12 miles in the morning. I should totally go to bed now.
This morning I was feeling the need to "work out" some of my sore muscles. So after the kids left for school, I put on a new Yoga video and did an hour of stretching, toning and deep breathing. It felt great. I don't do Yoga often enough. Then I packed a bag and headed to the gym.
I started out by doing 10 minutes on an elliptical, just to get my heart pumping. Then I did 30 minutes of weights (shoulders and traps) before going to a spin class.
I chose not to run today because I am trying to be more kind to my body during this time for tapering. If I felt perfectly great, then maybe I would be logging more miles on the road right now. But since I still have soreness and pain in my hamstrings, I am using my favorite cross-training activities (spinning, weights, etc.) to maintain a higher fitness level without putting additional stress on my legs. I do have a 12 miler slated for Friday, and then next week I plan to do very minimal running. We'll see if this plan benefits me on race day...
Today the kids were all back in school, so instead of leaving for the gym at 7 like I typically do on Tuesdays, I didn't leave until about 7:45. That meant I only had about 20 minutes to fit in some strength training before it was time to go to spin class. I still got in a decent amount of weights, especially since today's focus was on biceps and chest. It's easy to do a bunch of dumbbell curls, chest flies and bench presses in sets of reps, right?
Not a whole lot else to report today. After the gym, I made (another) stop at Wal-Mart, then came home and tried to maximize my time left before the kids came home. I roasted and pureed a bunch of summer squash to put in the freezer, I made a homemade chicken and vegetable soup, filled with tons of clean and healthy carbs - broccoli, kale, corn fresh from the cob, red and green lentils, brown rice, sweet potato cut into cubes, carrots and garlic, and ground some wheat to make pizza crust for dinner. I also made some of my new favorite thing: these yummy, easy and healthy little balls of goodness!
I basically made the recipe up by starting with the dry ingredients and then adding the honey and peanut butter until I got the right consistency. I put one cup of the oats, 1 scoop of the protein powder and about 1/4 cup of the milled flax seed in a mixing bowl. Combine them together then add about 1/2 - 3/4 cup peanut butter and 1/4 - 1/2 cup honey, starting with the lesser amount and gradually adding more until it starts to form into a dough-like consistency. Scoop it out by the spoonful and press into bite-size balls, then refrigerate. Makes approximately 12 balls. Perfect little balls of energy! :)
