Breakthrough moment

I have hairy sasqatch legs at the moment so I opted to wear some long workout pants and a new tank (my prize for winning the Healthy bodies contest ) to the gym tonight. This is not my usual attire so I didn't feel 100% comfortable (which is kind of funny because I usually wear a lot less but I guess with different fabric and fit it made a difference to me). As I was gathering up my things and heading out the door I started to ask my husband, "Does this make..." and then I stopped myself. Well, of course he wanted to know what I was going to say so I told him, "I was going to ask you if this made me look fat." But before he could roll his eyes I followed up with, "I know I'm not fat and I don't know why I was going to ask you that. I am not going to ask you that stupid question anymore because I'M NOT FAT!!!" And his response, "Good, because I wouldn't tell you even if you did". I love that man! He loves me for me.

For the majority of my 32 years I have felt fat or less than good enough. Why? I always excelled in school, had lots of friends, and have pretty much been successful at whatever I tried. I'm not sure when this self deprecating began but I do know when it will end. RIGHT NOW!!! I am smart. I am a good daughter, mother, wife & friend. I am a good cook. I am strong. I am an attractive woman. I am a fierce competitor.  I am a marathoner. I am a triathlete. I am healthy. I am bad ass.

Just look at the bad assness!

I had an "aha!" moment today. I hope that if you struggle with self deprecating ways that you too have an "aha!" moment. We are all bad ass in our own way!

Post Race Funk

I was, and still am, ecstatic about my PR on Sunday. However, yesterday and today I have been in a post race funk. I'm sure it's due in part to me eating everything and anything in sight regardless of whether it's whole and nutritious or not. I've also been pretty uncomfortable physically, Sunday the pain was in my left knee and right calf, Monday I was super stiff and the pain was in my hips, quads, and calves, and today I am just slightly sore.

I am itching to get out there and move! Sadly, both my boys are home sick so there won't be any running or gym time until my hubby is home this evening. It's only been two days and I already don't know what to do with myself. I miss my training schedule. Sure, there's plenty of laundry, dishes, and other household chores I could be doing, not to mention preparing for Christmas. But all I want to do is get out of my house and run! I feel like I might just be a tiny bit crazy. I wonder if everyone feels like this when their "A" race is over.

Am I putting too much emphasis on training? Or is it that it's become such a part of me that I don't know how to fill the time otherwise? 

I will be starting half IM training in January, which isn't too far off, but it seems like forever. Sigh...

RunGirl 13.1 Race Report

Race day started early with my alarm going off at 4:30 a.m. My first thought was, "I need COFFEE!" I drank my Community Cafe Special and played on the computer for a while so that I could wake up. I like having extra time to slowly come alive in the mornings. Then it was time for my pre-race meal. I ate scrambled eggs with olive oil, yellow bell pepper & scallions, avocado, blackberries, banana, and strawberries. Since I was up so early I had plenty of time for my food to digest.

Pre-race meal

Pretty peppy for 5 a.m.

Then it was time to get dressed. The weather forecast was 44 degrees warming to about 49 degrees, overcast, winds up to 10 mph, humidity around 55%, with a 10% chance of rain. I really had a hard time deciding what I was going to wear. I didn't want to be cold but I also didn't want to be too hot. I ended up deciding on capri running tights, long sleeved tech shirt, ear warmers, a vest, and light gloves.

I headed out to the race at 6 a.m. I arrived at the race site an hour and a half early, doh! I didn't want to be late and I sure wasn't. I had plenty of time to drink my 20 oz bottle of water, visit the facilities (twice) and take a few photos. However, I spent most of my time sitting in my car where it was nice and warm. I went over and over my race plan in my head. My plan was to take a gel 10 minutes before race start and then one every 45 minutes and to just take in water on the course. Plan for pace was to start out at a 10:30 pace and work up to a 10:00 pace through the race. Ultimate plan was to run my race and not worry about what everyone else was doing.

Hiding out in my car until race start. I was SO COLD!!!

My inspirational photo of the morning. I was going to cross that finish line and hopefully with a PR!

Finally it was 8:00 a.m. and I lined up in the starting chute with 873 other women. I positioned myself in the back of the 10:00 pace group. It was a sea of pinks, purples, and other vibrant colors. There was a quiet excitement hovering over the crowd. And then we were off!

In the starting chute

It took a couple of seconds to get going but then I was moving! I looked down at my Garmin and I was going at a sub 10:00 pace, not the plan. I tried to slow it down but with the adrenaline and all the runners around me I just kept going at that pace. I was feeling great! At the 10k point I had run my fastest 10k ever! Again I said to myself, "You've got to slow down. You're going to burn out!" but I kept going.

Around mile 7 or 8 my left knee and right calf started to bug me. The knee is a long standing issue so I just tried to ignore it. The calf is a more recent injury that I'm pretty sure I got while  doing speed work which was way too fast for me. The pain wasn't so bad that I thought I might really injure myself so I kept on trucking!

Sometime during mile 9 or 10 I decided that I was going to drop the hammer the last two miles. I knew I was set up to PR but I wanted to do the best I possibly could. I wanted to put every ounce of effort my body contained out there on the course. Those last two miles were painful and I remember grimacing and grunting quite a bit. Then I saw the finish line and I sprinted the last tenth of a mile.

I had done it a new PR! I finished in 2:08:36. That is 22:30 faster than my previous PR! I ranked 51 out of 161 in my age group and 254 out of 874 overall. My splits according to my Garmin: 9:49, 9:53, 9:58, 10:02, 10:09, 9:40, 9:38, 9:59, 10:03, 9:50, 9:52, 9:13, 9:09, 7:39 (.19 mile).

I stuck to my nutrition plan which worked and even though I didn't stick to my pace plan things worked out in my favor. Perhaps I got lucky or maybe I underestimated myself. I guess I'll find out the next time I race a half marathon. But for now I'm just stoked about my new PR! 

My awesome post race pic provided for FREE by RunGirl 13.1!

After the race I headed over to the post race festivities and ate almost everything in sight. Paleo went out the window and I had this rice and meat concoction from My Fit Foods, an egg and bacon burrito from Juan's Big Burrito, a banana, hot chocolate and my favorite a mini lemon bundt cake with cream cheese frosting from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Then I took advantage of the free photo at the Flashbox booth, so cute! Finally I had a massage provided by Koala Health & Wellness. That massage hurt so good!

Once my belly was full and I'd perused all the goodies I decided to head home. When I got there my husband came outside and gave me a round of applause. He is so sweet. My boys congratulated me too, although I'm not sure they understood how excited I was about my PR. They did comment on what an awesome medal I received.

RunGirl 13.1 finisher's medal with removable charm

After all the congratulations it was time for the dreaded ice bath. I prepared a steaming hot mug of cinnamon spice tea and headed to the tub. I sat in the ice bath for about 10 minutes then took a hot shower and got into some sweats.

I spent the rest of the day lounging around in my CEP compression socks and icing my knee and calf every two hours. My husband was very accommodating and got me anything I needed and kept watch of our boys. I love that man! This morning I woke up a little stiff and very sore but my knee and calf pain have diminished some. I'll probably hobble around most of today but it was totally worth it!

Me me me me me me me

I'm feeling a bit guilty. Yesterday my husband called and asked if I could pick him up from work early because he was nauseated. My first thought was, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! You better not have a stomach virus!!!! I have a race on Sunday!!!!!" My second thought was, "Oh, my poor husband". Anyway, he came home and seemed to be doing better last night. This morning he got up and dressed for work and I thought, "Whew, I dodged a bullet!" (<---see that there, yeah I'm selfish). I even gave him a kiss thinking that we were in the clear. Then he vomited in our backyard on our way out to the car! Ugh, poor husband. Possibly poor rest of the family, we'll just have to wait and see.

I feel like there is a ticking time bomb in my house right now. I'm waiting to feel the pangs of nausea hit or for one of the kids to vomit. This is torture! I have trained for 12 damned weeks and I want a PR on this race. No pressure, right?

Selfish me, I'm the one putting all the pressure on myself. ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME!
Well, I've put in all of the training hours and it's my goal so I feel like I can be a little selfish right now.

On a side note, I did go and get some soup and crackers for my ill husband. I do care about how he's feeling. I just pray that he keeps his funk to himself!

Mental Toughness

Today I went to the Y to run on the dreadmill treadmill because my boys didn't have school and I was NOT pushing all 85 pounds of them for a tempo run. I warmed up by walking for 10 minutes and got my music going and got settled in staring at the blank wall in front of me. I started my 30 minute tempo run at a 9:30 pace got up to a 8:30 pace (which is a little fast for me), then I slowed it down and ultimately ended at a 10:20 pace then walked for 5 minutes to cool down.

I have to be honest, I was ready to get off the treadmill about halfway through my run, not because I was tired, it was because of how extremely bored I was. To top it off, the lady next to me was bouncing all over the place and hanging on the treadmill while she was running. You'd think that would have cut through the boredom, but no it just made me want to stop even more. Oh, and to complain about something else (it's just one of those days), it was HOT as Hades in the cardio room. I was sweating like a pig, sweat dripping all in my eyes and off of my elbows! I'm sure I was slinging it all over the place.

So here's where the mental toughness comes in...I actually said to myself, "Lea, stop it! You are not getting off this stupid thing. You are going to finish your planned workout. When RunGirl gets tough you're not going to quit so you're not going to quit now!" Sometimes I just have to give myself a talking to. If I'm going to compete in endurance sports I have to be tough both physically and mentally. It's so easy to psyche myself out. I'm learning more and more that you have to have the mental toughness and the heart to succeed in endurance sports. Sure, a super athletic body would help too, but it's not the end all be all (thank goodness).

We'll see how tough I am when 70.3 training starts, eek!

House of Pain

Went to see my chiropractor today to have him work on my knee. My runner's knee is acting up because of the longer distances I've been running lately. My half marathon is on Sunday so I wanted to get all the kinks worked out. 

My chiropractor practices A.R.T. (active release technique) and the Graston method.

• "The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements." http://www.activerelease.com/what_patients.asp
• "The Graston Technique® incorporates a patented form of instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization that enables clinicians to effectively detect and treat scar tissue and restrictions that affect normal function." http://www.grastontechnique.com/FAQs.html 

I've gotten good results from both of these techniques, but it can be very painful during treatment. Today while I was being tortured treated with the beauty there on the bottom in the photo I thought I might pass out! I didn't pass out, I just breathed through it like when I was giving birth. My doc said that the professional athletes he treats nicknamed his office the "house of pain" so I feel like I'm pretty tough.

This tough girl came home with some foam rolling and stretching torture homework. I'm hoping this along with the past 12 weeks of training will help me achieve a PR at RunGirl 13.1 on Sunday! 

Inspiration

 On two different occasions this past month I have had the honor of witnessing elderly athletes compete. I was a volunteer timer at a Master's swim meet and got to see many elderly swimmers, 65+ in age, kick butt. Seriously, I think some of them could swim circles around me!

Another time I was running a trail race, The Big Dog Ultra Trail Run (5m, 10m, 20m, 50k options). I ran the 10 mile race. Out on the trail I passed an elderly and exchanged pleasantries, me: Hi, how's it going? man: Just enjoying life. I'm pretty sure he was the 76 year old who finished the 50k!

What he said stuck with me..."Just enjoying life". I am going to make an effort to not get wrapped up in my training schedule and competition. I can be very competitive and sometimes am very hard on myself when I don't perform as I'd like. I need to remember the feeling of joy that running, biking and swimming brings. I am a much happier and healthier person since I started exercising and I want to remain that way until I'm grey haired and elderly.