"Just a Short" Race Report

Pre-Race Face!

On Saturday I ran "Just a Short" half marathon in Pittsburgh. We were so lucky, the weather was perfect and I busted out the short sleeves, Capri's and gloves. It was running weather at it's finest.

Megan, a good friend and fellow masters swimmer, was nice enough to let me stay at her house the night before and even cooked a wonderful dinner of pasta, salad and asparagus. It was so sweet and really set me up to have a great race not by not having to get up at the crack of dawn to drive in that morning.

I really had no expectations for this race other than to run hard. I hadn't run hard for such a long time and I just wanted to cut it loose and see what I really had in the tank. Many of my friends and fellow YMCA members from Pitt were there so it was so fun to start the race alongside so many familiar faces. I wanted to do a great job pacing. However, with a heart rate monitor that fails to really do splits (and I shouldn't say it doesn't, it's more than I haven't learned to use that feature because I am waiting for a new monitor to arrive in the mail - any day now!) the pacing was going to have to be internal. More on this later.

I started out the race hanging with a girl who seemed to easily pull away and go off the front. The first mile has a pretty substantial hill, and the rest race just rolls up and down while you run through the park twice to finish in the same place as the start. When we came through our first mile at 6:05 I thought, "ok, a little faster than I wanted, I'll try to slow down now, get things in check." Did the talk work - Nope. I kept slightly behind her through the second mile (6:05 again), and then the third (about the same). As we came up to the third mile we were alongside the finish line for all of the other races (5k, half marathon & 30K), I noticed her starting to sprint as we neared and I thought.."Oh no, this is not a good sign" Just as I suspected, she was winning the 5k, and peeled off to finish at 19:05. Well, there goes pacing for the first three miles, I guess I need to concentrate on the other ten I have left I thought.

After backing my heart rate down where it needed to be I ran the rest of the race strong and trying to keep my cadence high and consistent. I had no idea about my mile splits from that point on (I don't do that kind of math!) but I felt like it was going decently well. There were men around me and I would try to run with them, but it seemed like no one was really on my pace so I just did my own thing.


Lot of great people cheered and it was just fun to be out there pushing myself and enjoying the sound of my feet on the pavement. At mile nine I started to feel the fatigue setting in, but I just tried to push it out of my mind.

Almost to the finish and very excited to see if maybe I can make it under the 1:25 barrier! In the last mile my left hip-flexor felt it was going to tighten up and fall off so I was grimacing in this picture! I think I was dragging my left leg a bit behind me! I was sort of close, but not really - 1:25:44, and first women which was a nice surprise. All in all, it was a great day and I was so thankful to race and be out there among great friends and other racers!

Krista, my friend from PSU cross-country, had a great race back, and was third women overall at the Cook's Forest Half Marathon! I was so proud of her and she had a great comeback race. Way to go my friend.

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend of training and thanks for the encouragement and support about my calf. I nursed it back to health for the race and it was fine that day so thank you!

Great. Just Great.

This has been me today..twice. For some reason my calf and Achilles have been paining me ever since my run this morning - of 20 minutes I might add. Who knows. I took some Advil and I've been icing so I guess we will hope for the best tomorrow. No wearing of the newtons which I am bummed about but Coach Luis said "NO WAY" with this issue plus the fact that I hadn't broken them in like I should have. Well, it's off to run my half marathon. So excited! Hope everyone racing at the Cook's Forest Half (aka my friend Krista) does Awesome! So excited for your first race back!

Just In The Nick of Time

On a rainy day like this one, it could be tempting to think something negative. It started raining last night, and hasn't stopped since.

I swam in the morning yesterday, and then turned around to do my moderately long bike (2 hrs) on the trainer last night. I must have been really jamming because it really did go pretty fast and I was pleased with my heart rate and how I did for the first time all week. It's been a tough week motivation wise. There's been too much going on in my head to keep the training at the forefront (not to mention lack of sleeping and eating like I should).

When the mail came though, it was all smiles, ear to ear. I had no idea what was in store but it was the best present anyone could get. It was letters, from the kids! I had about a hundred letters all written by the 5th & 6th Graders at North Strabane Elementary School. They were colorful, and funny, and there were pictures! It was just awesome! I had no idea they were going to have all of them write to me, but what a gift. I can't say there is anything that would have made my day better than this!!

I also got my Newtons, but those were old news compared to these.. (sorry Newtons - I do love you, you are great shoes, you will get love tomorrow on the blog, today is for the kids!).

So, I have some to share with you. I wish I could share them all, but that would be way too much scanning. These are just a few of my favorites. God must have knew I needed a pick-me-up. This sure did the trick.

I loved this one - a real bike (well, with a basket etc.) but close!

Young Kyle even has the M Dot Symbol (which I did not show in the talk so he must have looked it up, I like to train them early)

If you are looking for an example of what to eat tonight, just look above Hayley has it all mapped out. Strawberries with steak - hum, interesting choice, but balanced none the less!

We gave the kids Super Donuts (which our company makes - better for you donuts, less fat, fortified etc.) and Emma did a drawing of one! How cool!

I just liked this one because it was girly!

Love the Bike, Run, Swim example here, especially those socks. I'm going to look for those, maybe they are compression!


I think this is a picture of me. I must have had good hair that day, high volume!

Last one, very nice to get letters like this one and know something we do can make a difference. Thanks Kids.. you made my day just in the nick of time.

Ironwoman

Ella & Eve, my good friend Krista's cuties pre-Ironman Hawaii with a Good Luck Message

Has it really been since October since I raced! How is that possible! Do I remember how!? I hope so, since Saturday I will be running my first running race (half marathon) of the season. It's called "Just a Short Run" located in North Park/Wexford area of Pittsburgh. No big taper for this girl, just pretty much training strait through it.

With the Pittsburgh Marathon back on for the first time in years, runners are amped up in Pitt. I have seen some pretty dang fast times this spring and I am impressed with the level of talent that continues to show up so Saturday should be no exception.

What I'm really looking forward to is "the push". What is the push you ask? Well, for me its the battle between mind and body. Certain people are born with more of this ability than others. However, make no mistake, the push is a learned skill. We practice it on a daily basis in training, but we never really get to reap the fruits of our labor until the race begins. It's a controlled push, a smart push, but a push none the less. It's knowing that during the last three miles of a thirteen mile race you will be all but spent and then will have to drop the hammer to squeek out every last little bit. It hurts, but I look forward to it immensely. The running push is something I have been practicing for a long time, I can't wait to see what it brings on Saturday (which I have honestly NO idea about what pace or time I will run, just that I will run hard, end of story).

I'll never forget all the support I received right before the Ironman. People came out of nowhere to send letters, pins, emails, books, leave voicemails. It was just awesome. It really did bring me to a level where I wouldn't have been without those things. Knowing I had everyones' support was so uplifting and a driving force when times got tough.

I'm thankful that I have such people in my life, who love me for who I am, not what I do or what I accomplish, but regardless. It's such a blessing. I know they will be there today and tomorrow, no matter what it brings. I'm a lucky girl.

Happy push everyone!

Faith

Faith is belief with strong conviction; firm belief in something for which there may be no tangible proof; complete trust; opposite of doubt.

I once heard someone say faith is taking the first step on a staircase we cannot see or touch.

Faith means different things to different people. To me faith is not some blind leap that we take without thought or examination. Faith is using all of our intellectual faculties to look at the evidence (which may or may not be physical), make a determination, and believe with all of our being that the determination we have come to is true. With that said, we must be willing to follow it with action. I may see a chair, touch a chair but how do I know when I actually sit down it will hold me. I have to trust that the people who designed this chair thought about structural integrity, that they knew what they were doing and designed it with me in mind. So I sit, and it holds. Without action, faith is meaningless and hollow.

I had faith I could finish the Ironman, but it did not mean I did not train. I trained like my life depended on it. Faith without preparation is also a lost cause.

Since I was a little girl my mother took me to church. I learned many verses and prayers. I was taught about right and wrong but I was also taught that we are merely human and humans make mistakes. Trusting the truth and meaning of the words and lessons I had learned was often times more important than how I actually felt (although if I did feel guilty it was often because I truly did do something wrong).

We will all make millions of mistakes throughout our lifetime, we will hurt those we love without even trying, we will do things we never dreamed we were capable of doing, both good, and bad. The beauty of faith is that I believe with all my heart, at the end of this road (life) that I will be the person I was intended to be, all the good, the bad and the ugly lessons all wrapped up into one being. The hard lessons will be shared with those who are younger, who may or may not listen, but that hopefully will learn from my mistakes.

Becoming who we are supposed to be is a process. Having faith during the hardest times is what makes us grow and re-affirms that there is in fact more to this life than we can see and touch. Looking back at my life I know the factors that were present were not circumstance or haphazard. Each person, experience, or lesson was placed there for a reason to prepare me to be who I am today, sitting here, writing this blog.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Without faith during times like these I would be lost (and most of the time I'm lost anyway).

A blogger friend once took the time to share verses with me when she was going through a rough time and they helped her. I share them with you now in hopes that you may find something that speaks to you. I've been reading them every day for the past four months.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

If indeed we share in his sufferings, in order that we also share in his glory. Romans 8:17

Whenever I am afraid I will trust in you. Psalm 56:3

You are the God who performs Miracles. Psalm 7:14

Thank you for sharing friend, you're faith has shown an example of getting through the tough times. Your caring and action makes your faith real.

I leave you with pictures from my talk last month, a day where I was so honored to have the opportunity to share with these kids. Trisha and I are still keeping in touch. She taught me the word-

Ner-cited. It's a cross between nervous and excited, which she was before her spelling bee this weekend. I hope she did awesome!

In the Mood For Food

It's a bit like "the need for speed" except, well, not so much.

Let me start off by saying I DID manage, for the first time since I started training again, to get all my workouts in last week. Yippeee. Last year this might not have even made mention in a blog, but this year is a new story and a new game. It doesn't happen that often, so let us celebrate small victories. I did cut a pool workout short (see blog entitled "Pool Mayhem"), but I was in there, so it counts.

With that said, my appetite (or the beast as I so affectionately refer to it) has been picking up slowly but surely. We are not quite at Ironman training or say, beast level four. Oh no, that is an endless stream of being hungry and consuming by shoveling everything in sight within arms length. However, we are at the "I just ate dinner at 8pm, but by 10:00 I think I need a snack or something else, more like a snack-meal before bed." Last night it was cereal. I'm pretty sure I have to up my game though, cereal won't be cutting it soon.

All in all, my goal of really working to eat the right type of foods, not just any and all food that comes my way, seems to be working out rather nicely. It still is a struggle at times, I'm not minimizing it! However, I've been doing better due to consistency, having a plan and making sure the right foods are on hand at all times. Baby steps people...baby steps.

Case in point:

Typical Lunch from last year: Lean Cuisine (not because I was trying to loose weight, but because I liked a couple of their meal types and all the girls at my office ate these like they were going out of style), banana, yogurt, triscuits and cheese. Looking back on it, it was probably only around 500 calories which is not nearly enough for what I am doing on a daily basis.

Typical Lunch (or like more standard daily) from this year: two whole wheat tortillas with hummus, cheese, pieces of pre-cooked chicken, and spinach or lettuce, banana with peanut butter (notice the change there), sun chips, almonds and a glass of milk. So in essence, more calories, a bit more protein, a whole wheat component (tortilla & sun chips) and both a fruit (banana) and a vegetable (lettuce or spinach).

13 grams of fiber.. can you say.. REGULARITY!

Spread Sun dried tomato Sabra hummus like so - see below

I always have dessert too around 3pm which is usually a girl scout cookie or two (with milk). Just as a side note, we drink around one half gallon of milk between Kyle and I PER DAY. Seems like a lot doesn't it? It does to me also, but hey, I'm getting my calcium and vitamin D!

The quest for better nutrition and staying with it now needs to be extended to dinner. We are usually on the - Kim makes a huge pasta dish containing some cheese and meat on Sunday and we eat it Sunday through Thursday - plan. I would like to mix it up. Although, it sure is nice to just use the microwave during the week as your primary cooking device! We make a vegetable (usually those steam in microwave kind) and ta-dah!!..dinner is served!

Let me master breakfast and lunch first, then we will work on dinner variety!

Luckily, I've had some good role models for eating MORE, which is something I sometimes don't do because I'm busy, or I'm lazy, or I just don't grasp how much I am really working out (between 300-1500 calories worth per day). They get on me when I don't stay with it, and frankly I need that. I know what to do, now, this year, I'm going to do it. With practice, and consistency, I will prevail. I'll keep you posted. I love food, and this year is the year where I take our relationship to the next level. It's the least I owe my love, considering all it does for me!

I hope my lunch gives you some ideas.. please share if you have some other good ones (that are easy, and do not contain too many ingredients or long amounts of cooking time since when I'm finally ready to eat, it needs to happen in the next 5-7 minutes max!)

Big Training

Last night was a monster..don't worry, I slayed it.

After an hour and a half of biking, and 50 minutes of tempo running I was toast. For some reason I decided to wear my Capri's instead of my long tights (anticipating the warm weather that is supposedly coming this weekend perhaps?) and I was freezing by the end of the run! It was getting quite dark and I was watching my heart rate but at certain points all I could think about was getting back so I was busting it out a bit more than I should have. The crazy part was my legs felt spectacular actually. It was my overall system that was tired though and I was ready for my day off today.

I have a good feeling about my half marathon in a week or so. I'm excited to see what I can bust out in an all out race. It's been quite awhile (October!) since my last hard effort so I guess I'm ready to race again.

Work today was tough. I tried to concentrate, I gave it all I had, and somehow it still just didn't happen. Try as I might.. I just wasn't in it to win it. That was for sure.

Goals for the weekend:

Swim tomorrow & ride my 2 hrs 30 mins outside

Long run Sunday

Finish my website content

Finish my pictures for everything I will be selling on Ebay so it can get out of the living room!

If I can accomplish all that with a little R & R I will be one happy girl.

I leave you with this video of Jason Maraz. He always makes me smile. It's the live version so it's pretty cool. I needed a little smiling today. Have a great weekend my friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYhrYHmUPn0

Swimming Mayham

Last night was just another chapter in the crazy situation I call swimming in Knox,PA. I was all set to swim at Clarion. Unfortunately, my link to the pool situation (Jason, the cross-country coach) was unavailable to text because he was at the National DII Indoor track championships. It usually goes something like this "Hey Jason, how's it looking for tonight - will there be swimming in my future?" His response "Yeah, just saw a few people in there so you should be good. My negotiated time is 6:30pm, after the swim team has left but prior to the average pool go-er at 8pm.

So, I drive over at 6:15 and waltz into the locker room all hopped up on my new bathing suit attire ready to break out 3000 like a rash. I try the door AFTER wetting my hair, nope, locked.. I walk out into the hallway, in my bathing suit, no towel, wet hair, and weave my way around the volleyball team who is stretching to the other door in hopes of getting in the main door not attached to the locker room. No dice. The crazy part is I can see the lights on and some guy in there swimming with his young son. WHAT? Who is this dude? Why aren't the doors open? I can see there is no lifeguard present which is not a good sign and I've been told not to swim without one because of liability. I try again, pull hard, thinking he might get out and just let me in. Nope, ain't going to happen. I walk back out with a disgusted look, put on my clothes, and walk back out.

It is now 6:45pm. What to do? Oil City YMCA is a good 40 minutes away. Well, I drive, or I don't swim. I say no more. No more missed workouts, no more.

So I start to speedily make my way and arrive at 7:25pm. By 7:30 I'm heading into the hot pool when I see all the little kids getting out of the pool..great I think! This is awesome, they are all leaving! Wait? WHY are they leaving.. Then the trouble starts.

This women who looks more like a drill Sargent (and is wearing a whistle I might add) starts to come toward me. She looks at me and says in a loud domineering voice "You weren't thinking of swimming laps were you?" Yes, I reply politely. "Well, we have fitness aerobics from 7:30-8:30 and we spread out, you can't swim." I make a very small space with my hands and say ever so sweetly, "I won't even take up this much room." She gives me some talk to the hand motion and grumbles about not being responsible if someone hits me.

The ten or so ladies spread out along the pool horizontally - why couldn't they form two lanes I think...this is insane!! I try to squeek through but after only a 200 she taps me on my way by, "We just got two more people, you have to swim acrossed the pool in the deep end, no more laps." While she's yelling and blowing the whistle before every set "LEG CIRCLES LADIES" I'm trying to get my workout done. So, I do that for another 20 minutes or so and call it a night in the pool. I go lift sort of mad and just sort of defeated. All that dang driving and STILL no full workout.

So, that was my night. This morning I arrived at the hot pool early and luckily no drill Sargent and my full 3000. FINALLY! So, it's off to bike and run, I had better get to it!

Next time I think I'm bringing a whistle too... I'll just blow it and announce what interval I will be doing before I go - "100 FREE on 10 seconds rest!!!!" GO!!!!

Thankfulness

Sometimes life it tough. No way around it.

I know many of you have picked up on the fact that it's been an interesting ride over the past five months or so, and seems to continue to be just that. Every week I hope to get in my workouts, and don't. Every week I hope for a bit of normalcy or the feeling I used to have around all my friends at the gym, and I don't get it. Every week I keep praying I will feel more comfortable in my surroundings and find new and interesting things to do or experience, sometimes I do, more often I don't.

So that's that. It is what it is as I say quite frequently. One thing I've been thinking about so much lately is thankfulness.

My mother, on many of our llloooonngg conversations about what's going on in my mind and how I can stay positive and my usual upbeat self, reminded me to list things I am thankful for every time I start to get on a bad track.

Mothers, they're wise you know. This isn't a new concept, but it's one that you have to be reminded of every once in awhile that you really do have so much in your life to be thankful for so you might as well think about that and not all the things that aren't so perfect. Yes Mom, I'm working on it.

Just when things seemed rather bleak with a crazy week of travel to DC last week and an even crazier weekend... I get a big surprise to be thankful for by a fellow blogger. How lucky am I? How could someone know it would make my week, my year and my millennium to get such a wonderful, thoughtful, heartfelt, hand-made gift. Well, she did, and I couldn't be more thankful for the time she spent making my day and week and year that much better.

This beautiful work of art was done by Jen and it is just awesome. She's not even a painter, and I don't know that I agree because if you would see what I would do to something like this, it wouldn't even be legible.

God must have been looking out for me, knowing I needed something to smile and look at on my office wall every day when I felt a bit alone.




If that wasn't enough, I FINALLY got two TYR grab bag bathing suits in the mail after ordering them almost two months ago. I've been swimming in the same suit forever and it is pitiful. I had all sorts of size issues and discontinuation issues and THEN address issues (sent to the old house) before these two beauties finally arrived. They fit like a dream and the price of around 18.00 per suit is right!!




Cute Flower Extreme Close Up

I'm so excited. I really think my color is blue. Everything seems to be point in that direction, my bike, my Mark Allen Team, my new website. It must be my signature color so BLUE it is!


Hope everyones' training is going well. If I can swim more than zero times this week I will be doing better than last week! I do have much to be thankful for, family, enough money in the bank to buy groceries, a roof over my head, good friends, and even the time to train for triathlons.. Have a great night everyone.

Me Myself - Please Vote!

I've entered this adidas contest and I would really appreciate your vote. You can vote every day from now until March 22nd so help a sister out! Thanks!