Vacation!

i have been having a really nice time on my few days of vacation in Seattle...day one was a run along the bay...a doughnut at top pot...an exploration of pikes place market...a lunch of delicious oysters at elliott's on the pier...wandering around shopping....a moment at the spa...drinks at zig zag with an amazing bartender....and a drink called the pengu...apparently from WWII...it was so delicious...discovering gin that is not clear....a delicious dinner of grilled octopus with chickpeas to start and tagliatelle with mushrooms as an entree...yum!

day two has brought more exploring...spent some time on the bike in the hotel gym this am...then off to a local bagel shop for breakfast...a quick walk through the market just to get to the other side...and then to the aquarium...where i watched the sea otters play for a long time...and totally dug seeing into the waters around the Puget sound...giant octopus! weird....then to pioneer square where i just wandered around and found the utilikilt store....i totally want one...then to sitka and spruce for lunch...i had clams with cannellini beans and swiss chard..wow...super awesome...now just a little chillin at a local coffee shop...maybe some space needle....then sushi...

i'm loving all of the food explorations...and walking...and of course loving the fact that it has been sunny the whole time here... :D

hard to believe

it's hard to believe i am in my last week of classes for my program...at the beginning of the semester i never thought i would make it to the end of this...for more than one reason...but here i am...friday marking the last day of classes....with my last final exam on the 14th...and since every emotion manifests in the same way for me...it kind of makes me shed a tear...because i am so very happy to almost be practicing in the real world...very exciting

oh dear

i may need to be seriously restrained from signing up for IMAZ tomorrow...

E.S.Y (east side yoga)

i have been pushing my body hard this year...i started last January training for IMCdA in June...took two weeks off and trained for MCM from July through Halloween...i know that lots of other folks out there are doing multiple IMs and marathons...but with my schedule of school and internship and well actually wanting to get some sleep i know i just can't push it much past an IM and one marathon...but really the first week of November i was tired...really bone dead tired...

each night i slept hard...i slept 8-9 hour...and would wake up feeling like i had about a 10 minute nap...Starbucks was my friend...i stopped several times at the one on campus just to get me through my classes...and i am so not usually needing more than my morning coffee...and did i mention food...i was ravenous...

it was pretty amazing how abrupt the change to recovery mode was...and man i could tell...so i decided to make a change...i scrapped the race that i was going to do in early January...and joined east side yoga...which is about 6 blocks from the house...it was time to try and open up some of these muscles that have been so tight...and time to just listen to the racing of my mind...and time to breathe...

i joined the second week in November...and went every day the first week...i had forgotten how much i love yoga...and how absolutely restorative it is to me...i'm in my second week and have totally felt the difference in my whole body....my mind is more calm, clear and focused...i am more relaxed...i have been able to say no to things because i know that it will make me feel frantic again...i have more flexibility and openness in my hips...and i feel like i have restored my normal organ function with some of the deep twists i have been doing...

in one class i did a hand stand...all be it assisted by my teacher...but wow...i can tell you it's going to be amazing when i can get that into my practice...i know that i am going to start training again but i really am going to be diligent about keeping yoga a part of the mix...it is as good for my mind as it is for my body

MCM Race Report

i'm sitting here, staring at the blank screen trying to figure out what it is that i want to say about my race...i want to grab details of the day that lead logically to the end, but i can't really grasp those details...there are days when you set out on a run, a ride, walk on stage to perform, clear your throat to give a presentation and the magic just happens without you even having to think about any of it...j has described this as flow...you get up...load your power point deck...then an hour later you are getting asked brilliant questions and people are engaging with your ideas...yet you have no idea what it is you actually said...it just worked...

while there is flow...there is also its mirror image...it's a run, a ride a performance that just doesn't go the way that you practiced it ten thousand times before...there is not one catastrophic event that happens to throw the day off course...it's again some sort of magic that shifts everything a bit out of favor...you cannot point the finger at one thing...and yet it's not a total blow out either...it just doesn't work...and really you wish there was a particular reason...

i wish i did have a particular thing that i could point my finger at...i have a feeling that i can look and look and never find it...

the day began well enough....mom and dad and i walked about a mile from my hotel to the race start in the chilly dark...it was great to spend pre-race with them...watching the sun come up...watching all the runners wander in from different directions...comparing the start line with chicago last year...just seeing how the day begins...i was squished in the corral and ready to go...it all started out just fine...really slow crowded first mile...totally expected...saw michelle! wow...she passed me...and i just wanted to make sure i didn't exert too much in the beginning...hit mile one just about 9.30...ok not horrible...but also not great...there were some hills in the first section of the course and i had planned on being a little slow through there...and hopefully making up for that in the end after mile 20...

but well...it all just started to add up on me little by little...felt good through those first hills...then hit a road block at mile 6...it was a pace group...and a one lane road...literally no where to go...on the right was a wooded hillside on the left was a 4 foot tall stone wall...totally beautiful area to be running in...leaves changing....trees...park...totally pretty....but all i could do was get frustrated...and more and more pissed that i couldn't get around this group....finally made a big right turn...up a hill and i could get away...really...that really made me that upset...i was so happy to be less packed in...through a really pretty neighborhood...and recognized a few places from having driven around the day before...made up some time on a few of the down hills...and was coming up to the half feeling okay....and then i hit the half and something was going on...

i wish i knew what it was...but we were out on a point...along a road that was not shaded....sun was up...but it was in the 50's maybe at that point...but i started getting really hot...by the turn at the half i could feel myself not keeping a straight line while i ran...i knew that i was in trouble...but i kept saying it will pass... i did have a thought out there that i was going to either fall over and have my first DNF or was going to get tossed in medical after i crossed the line...

i started grabbing multiple waters and powerades at the aid stations...to make the sloppy run a little better but i ended up feeling sloshy...but just for a few minutes....then i would feel better...so that makes me think something was off with my hydration...odd for me....but i can happen...all the while i was telling my legs to pick it up...but they were not listening...and i am not one of those people who just gives up because it hurts...i was really trying to make my legs turn over but i just couldn't...i resolved to let go of my BQ...and hope that maybe the third time i try will be the lucky time...

by 16 i knew it was done...i was not even going to PR...and i just needed to stick it out and complete the race...no matter what the time was...so that is what i did...at this point miles slip by...in and out...i am aware of some...and not of others...there are a ton of spectators along the mall...but i am not looking around...i am looking at the ground...just shuffling along...waiting for the bridge from hell...and sticking with the nutrition plan as best i could...

saw jessica just after the mall...she was looking happy and spritely...i was happy that she was having a good day...i know how much she wanted a BQ...and she was going to get it...i thought to myself at that point...do i just not want it enough?...and i decided that was not the reason that i was not having a good day...and just kept running

the bridge is as bad as everyone says...not only is it like 2.5 miles long...it's up hill for  a lot of the way...and there were literal...2 marines on the bridge in the middle cheering...i did not allow myself to stop running...i kept running....and people were dropping like flies around me...finally got off the bridge and in to crystal city...

i was so happy to see something other than a bridge...and i knew i was about 4 miles from done...so i started to get a little bit happy again...i was waiting to see the pentagon...ben i thought of you as i was running on the bridge just past the pentagon...it made me smile...finally made the turn into arlington cemetery and the marine memorial...and up the "hill" at the end...yeah it's up...but it's not anything to be worried about...and then finally crossed the finish line...in 4.11...10 minutes slower than my first marathon...but much much more of a mental toughness day than i have experienced in a long time...

made my way through the masses of people back to my hotel and my family...can't thank my family enough for all of the support over the weekend....Bec and Josh had a brunch on saturday...big family dinner saturday night....then everyone was out there cheering all day for me...mile 10...16...right before the hill at the end...you guys were great...and i really could not have done it without you...it's nice to have the carrot of family at the end of the race...

so...it's been a week since my race...and all i have been doing is sleeping and eating...sleeping 10-12 hours a night the whole week after the race....makes me think i have been running on fumes for a bit now...i have been putting a lot of stress on myself for the last hmm...year...but this last three months or so have been especially bad...but i really didn't slow down to notice...again i can't put my finger on one reason why i didn't have the day i wanted but i have to give a nod to the pressure i have been under...i know that, at least, was a little contributor..

for now...i am officially not racing until 2011...time to finish the semester...exercise when i want for how long i want...and just try to give my body and my mind some time to heal and restore...a BQ will come...just not this year.

one week to go!

as i posted on FB..this time next week i will be in DC making final preparations for race day...i have gone over my race plan with my coach....i know what i am going to wear, eat, drink and think on race day (and before and after)...i know how i am going to feel before, during and after the race...i know that i am going to be supported not only by the huge crowds at the race, the Marines....and my family...both my mom/dad/bro/sis-in-law/2 nephews AND my husband's mom/dad/sis/bro-in-law!! woot! thanks guys!!

i am having a bit of a hard time getting my head around the fact that it is so soon...however i am getting excited...did my last long run this morning...it just happened to be HUMID and warm...but that is okay...race day will be what it is...and that is all i can ask for...

one way that i know i am ready...and ready to be done is how i keep thinking about mornings when i won't have to set my alarm...i know it won't last long but i hope to have a few weekends of that before i start training again..

and the pressure is slightly less in terms of Boston qualifying too...i am still going for it...for absolutely sure...but Boston is already sold out (it sold out in 8 hours)...so this is for 2012 :D

medium crappy run

(my shoes)



thursday is medium long run day...for me this means waking up at 4.15am...feeding cats....making coffee....checking email/school stuff...packing my lunch...hopefully i have packed my change of clothes the night before...getting running clothes on leaving the house by 5am and driving over to Barton Springs to get in my 6 ish miles plus 3x10 push-ups and 3x30 second strides...soak in the springs for 10 minutes...shower/change/drive home...hop on my bike and be on campus all before class at 8 am...

i really love my thursday runs because they habitually have been on my own...in the dark...and quiet of pre-dawn austin...lately though my runs have been noisy...only due to my silly overactive brain...but this week...i finally had a much more quiet mind...however...my body was speaking up loud and clear...and in totally random and weird ways...

my head hurt....i've had a headache for like a week...everyone says it's allergies...idk...my throat hurt...also attributed to allergies (i have never had allergies before but again everyone says you get allergies in austin)...my right ankle hurt (wtf...really? why!?)...i had to take my hair down out of my normal really every waking minute of the day hair style because it felt wrong?!!!...sorority girls in nike shorts and date dash t-shirts were passing me on the trail...i felt sluggish...and on and on...

my whole run i was thinking about coach amy's post about the pre-race melt down...i've not had mine yet.. (hang on baby it's coming i know)...but i kept thinking that this was the pre-race meltdown in run form...and i guess all in all i am much happier to have it now...than on race day...and to feel crappy and slow...and still pull out 9ish minute miles feeling like sh*t...but still the run in this form is no fun...

however, as i posted on FB thursday after said run...sometimes even the bad runs are good for something...and they are...for me it's about metal toughness...i could easily have cut the run short...stopped...walked it in...but no...i didn't...i did what i set out to do...and that was a good thing...

so even a medium crappy run can get you one step closer...