Running Fast is Hard

With my intercostal muscle and foot finally fully healed, I have been loving every step of running.  I have not managed to find the willpower to find myself at the pool – it’s cold in the morning and in the afternoon, well, I rather run. I always tell myself, “Run today and swim tomorrow instead.”  And then the following day, I simply repeat myself.

I had an itch to race but resistant because I am not in my best shape.  When I saw my friend Angie last week at the trail race (as mentioned below), I thought it was really cool that she could just run a race for fun.  She is nursing school so not in her best shape either (last year, she won that race - this year, she chatted with me for the last four miles).

I love racing.  I also want to be able to separate the fun aspect from the competitive aspect.  I cannot always be in tiptop shape but that doesn't mean I need to sit at home.  Octoberfest seemed like the perfect event to pull off a "just for fun race."

My original plan was to do the 5 mile race as a tempo run.  I cannot even recall my last tempo run.  But after a chatty 45 minute warm-up with a friend, I missed the start and switched to the slightly later 5K.  And also, 45 minutes to me is practically an entire workout on its own.

                

As always, I felt great during the first half mile but I cautiously kept myself from sprinting ahead.  I was guessing I was running a 6 minute pace.  I started to feel tired around Mile 2, which is typical, so I looked down at my watch.  I was surprised to see I was only running a 6:20 pace.   And then we reached the stairs.   Stairs?!?!    I took them two at a time, which in hindsight, was not the best approach.  It made my legs feel really heavy when I attempted to run fast again.  I looked at my watch – 6:27 pace!

I ended up with a 19:36, so not horrible considering the lack of training. And because of the convoluted local race schedule, I placed 3rd and got a plaque.

It made me re-realize how hard it is to run fast  (if that is even considered fast).  But, it was fun, and that was the point.

Next weekend is another race.  It is a kid race.  Like me, the kids have done minimal training.

Brenna, who literally follows in my footsteps (since I do not let her cling to my leg), is eager to run to run like mom.  She even sticks out her tongue deep in concentration.  Her short legs are surprisingly quick.

 

Hayden, on the other hand, is not only realizing how hard it is to run fast, but how hard it is just to run.  After a few seconds, he pretends to fall.  And after a few falls, he is exhausted.  This is the result of too many summer afternoons watching My Little Pony because it was 120 degrees outside.  

I don’t want to force him to do something he dislikes, but if up to him, he would only play with Lego and trains all day.  So, I do not know if he will do the race – that’s for him to decide – I can only encourage him to be healthy and remind him what I remind myself:  It’s all about having fun.

Feeling a Bit Burnt Out

I don't know if its the summer heat, or just lack of giving myself a substantial break, but I am feeling rather burnt out.   Nik, maybe that is I did not update for a full week - my facebook feed is full of people who are always training for a half Ironman, if not a full Ironman, so it seems a bit wussy to be burnt out from doing 5Ks and sprint triathlons.

My body is not encouraging me either because I pinched a nerve in my lower back.  It either happened from not properly getting out of full-camel position, or during my nightly attempts at chin stands.  I was feeling pretty awesome about being able to do a chin stand, but just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.  At least without learning the proper form first.

My yoga teacher used the term "over-compressed" so my chiropractor has since "decompressed" me twice.  But, my low back still feels weird.  However, when I was image Googling chin stands to find a picture, I found a bunch of other poses I want to try so clearly I have not learned my lesson.

So, the solution to feeling burnt out seems rather simple - I should just take a break, right?  But my life is so compartmentalized:  my family time - my work time - and my hobby time (with also is my alone time and my social time).  If I don't have my hobby, I have a void.

But it's not so much that I don't WANT to run, it's that I don't want to HAVE to run.

Recently, my son has been obsessed with my Garmin.  Every day, for a few weeks, he has asked for a "running watch that he can put on his bike."  I finally found a stop watch that could fit his little wrist.  It's not a Garmin, but it has stop and start buttons...the only two features he cares about.

It's not unusual for me to feel this way during this summer.  And although it has been awhile, it is not unusual for me to give my Garmin a break and run just to run.   I am considering temporarily trading watches my son.  My only hesitation is can I trust him to not put my Garmin in the toilet?

The irony in all this is I just agreed to get coached.  This was my first week and I blew off 75% of the workouts.  Even though my mind wants to be motivated, I just cannot fake it.  Or force it.

So, despite the fact I do not want to write this, I declare July a recovery month.  In August, I am doing Hood2Coast and I will end the season with one last triathlon in September.

Even though the heat has made me officially surrender, my kids are handling it better than they were a few weeks ago.  We have been having fun at the pool.

And the movies.

And Hayden discovered that if he wears his hat and his sunglasses, the sun will stay out of his eyes!

It's Summer Time, Part 3

Same post, different year.

In 2011, I made this post in May.
In 2012, I made this post March.

At least this year I held out until June.  Either we have had a gentle transition, I am miraculously tougher, or I was just being wussy in previous years.  Today the temperature has already hit 110 degrees.

But. the heat has yet to have a huge impact on my performance.  In fact, yesterday I went on a 10am bike ride for 1 hour and covered 21.1 miles -- perhaps my fastest ride to-date that did not happen during a race.  And then I ran and felt just fine.

It's the after-effect that has hit me the most.....that moment when you stop moving and your body starts gushing sweat.  Serious sweat.  And it does not cease until you gulp three cups of electrolyte induced ice water, stretch, eat cottage cheese, stretch again and take a bath.  And yes,  that is my post-workout routine. Only then I can finally take my shower.

I may be here patting myself on the back for being such a trouper this time around, but I can't say the adjustment has been as effortless for my kids.  For the past month, any mention of "park" or "outside" has had an adverse reaction (screaming, crying, frantically looking for a place to hide).  I've tried to help them out with hats (but they will not wear them) and sunglasses (but they will not wear them).

I've introduced the Slip-and-Slide but Hayden was not a fan.  Don't ask me how this is possible.

And so....we've returned to the gym daycare.  They seem to like it just as much/little as previously.  And just like before, I treat them to lunch afterwards.  They always tell me they are "very very hungry."  

I ask them what they want.
Hayden always says he wants eggs.
Brenna always says she does not want eggs and throws a tantrum.
Then I order them the same stuff I did years ago:  An egg burrito.

Then Brenna eats all of the eggs that she so loudly originally insisted she did not want.  

At least it's predictable and I am able to pull out a treat out of my purse and make a silent deal with Hayden by kicking his foot and looking into his eyes with slightly raised brows.  He allows me to slip the treat next to his plate, give Brenna his remaining eggs and shoves the treat into his mouth when she is not looking.

We're definitely figuring things out.  I am sure we will figure out how to handle the summer heat, too.

Park, Milk, Knock, Dark and Cake

The kids have finished their first year of preschool.  I think they liked it - I know I certainly like dropping them off.

The year ended with a formal graduation ceremony.  There was a fancy program listing the ceremony events using a cursive font.  I was very impressed - we didn't even distribute programs at our wedding!  (I like to keep people guessing, why spoil what will happen next?)

First, they did awards.  Hayden got the award for the Kindest Heart.  He does have a very big heart.

Brenna got the award for the Pinkest Princess.  She does wear a lot of pink.

If I knew about this beforehand, I would have dressed her to fit the role.  There are not enough opportunities for Brenna to wear her collection of princess dresses appropriately.  Plus, almost everyone else dressed up.  The other moms wore makeup!  Instead, Brenna and I had on our matching shorts that we bought a few months ago.

After the awards, we had delicious and delectable cupcakes sprinkled with gold flakes.  Even the cupcakes at our wedding did not have gold flakes! Not that there should be any doubt, Brenna had a pink cupcake. (And so did I).

Hayden did not have a pink cupcake nor did he care.  I don't think he even noticed that there was frosting , nonetheless gold.

But the real highlight came six hours later when I took Brenna to speech therapy.  Brenna has been working hard on her speech.  It was decided that she did not have Apraxia, but instead Dysarthria.  So we have been doing things to strengthen her face muscles, like blowing horns and blowing bubbles.  The part we struggle with most is the last syllable of any word - Brenna likes to keep people guessing, too.

But, as if she understood she just surpassed a milestone in her short little life, Brenna stood for the occasion by conquering a new sound.  A sound that we have been working on for many weeks:
the very important "CK!"

You can't say "cake" without it.

Queen of the Mountain

There are a lot of mountains in Arizona.

On a good weekend, I find myself on top of one of them.

On a great weekend, I find myself on top of multiple of them.

Saturday started off with a 4-mile trail race.  It was a small (100 participants) and free(!) event.  Aside from its price tag, there were a few other selling points:

1) Everyone was allowed to run in a test pair of trail shoes.  As many of you know, I have a thing for shoes. 

2) It was a trail system I had yet to explore.

3) The fastest woman would be named, “Queen of the Mountain.”  I have always wanted to be queen of something. 

Like most trail races, the race started with a sprint to a single-track trail.  The first mile was a slight uphill, with a little dips to keep you interested.  At Mile 2, there was sharp turn and a huge increase in grade.  The trail, a series of switchbacks, steeply continued all the way up the mountain.  When we reached the peak, the trail quickly brought us back down.  Fancy footwork was required.  

I love running up mountains and had little doubt that I would be dubbed queen.  I got a gift card but unfortunately, no royal sash.

  

"My" mountain is only a few miles away from where I grew up – although I have very little memory of that early in my life, I do recall my parents taking me hiking in the surrounding areas.  I sorta remember whining and complaining.  I also sorta remember having fun.  I definitely remember the time we climbing up a mountain and a naked man came running down.  I am so glad that my parents made me climb mountains when I was small because it helped enable me to run up mountains today.

I pay that forward to my kids, especially Hayden since he inherited my love for mountains.  Or, maybe he just loves all the dirt.  But regardless, I took him up his own mountain later that day.

The next day, I found myself on the bottom of a different mountain - in a lake, to be specific.  It was gorgeous.  At least at first glance.

But, the water was cold.  And choppy.   

It made my nose and ears hurt. It made me really dizzy.

After surviving the swim, I reluctantly remained with my group for the bike ride.  The only place to ride our bikes was on the road – up the mountain.  For 10 miles, we slowly rode our bikes up a hill that never seemed to end.  Eventually, the pavement ended instead.

I like uphills.  

But unfortunately, what goes up must come down….and I hated every second of the down hill.  At one point, I got off my bike and decided to walk.  But then I realized that would take hours.

I feel like I have the most control over my bike when peddling.  The issue on a steep downhill is peddling makes me go faster, which I know most cyclists love, but I start hyperventilating at 30mph.  I lose focus, as well as any confidence in any cycling skills that I possess.  I start to scream profanities into the wind and develop a rage for every deceiving blind curve that deludes you into thinking you are almost down.  But then you descend around the corner and discover -- you are not.  You are not even close.

My bicep starting to ache from riding my break - Who even knew that breaking required bicep strength?  My forearm hurts, too.  It hurts to type this.

This ride did confirm something I already knew about mountain though:

I love going up them.

I hate coming down.

Oh. Taper.

My next race is an Olympic triathlon and it is next weekend.
Things have been going really great with training... I have been having a lot of fun, doing group workouts, and feeling unsurpassably strong.  In the past three weeks, I have a done at least:
- 12 mile run (with 10 miles at tempo pace / 6:50)
- 13+ mile run x 2
- 43 super hilly bike ride
- 37+ bike ride bricked with 4 miles x 2 
- Cycling intervals on the power-meter x 3
- Track x 2 and speedwork directly off the bike
- A few bikes rides bricked with my favorite running partners:

And then, on Wednesday, I was reminded that I should perhaps start my taper.

My response:  "Already????" 
I felt sorta bummed.

But then I woke up Thursday to meet my friend for what normally would be a tempo run.  But instead, we just ran.  It wasn't fast.  It wasn't far.  But yet, it felt hard.  My streak of feeling stronger every workout was over.  I felt tired.  Or, at least I convinced myself I was tired so I would abide by my  taper.

The taper is an important thing for me.  Not only is it an opportunity to recover, but it is an opportunity to swim, do yoga and get caught up on my errands -- so far, I have two massages and a facial scheduled.

Massages and facials may paint me as the lady of leisure I would love to be, but aside from this exact sentence that I am typing right now, "leisure" and "twins" are simply two words that never find themselves together.  Just the fundamental task of keeping my kids alive keeps me very busy........nevermind trying to keep them happy.

When we are not doing things, their default activity is fighting.  Brenna is usually the antagonist, but at least once a day, I catch Hayden slowly extending his hand towards Brenna's ponytail as if he just cannot resist the temptation of pulling on it.  This is one reason Brenna's ponytail never makes it past lunch time.

It is hard to be "doing things" all the time, especially with two three-year olds in tote.  So, I have continued separating them a few nights a week.  This makes doing things a lot more easier.  For example, this week, I took them each to a little carnival.

I walked Brenna through her very first funhouse:

And a few days later, I accompanied Hayden on his first flying elephant ride:

I was real excited to find out he was tall enough to ride the tilt-a-whirl...I used to love that ride!  But, he was not interested in anything that daring yet.  I was not surprised considering he is scared of practically everything in life unless you have ice cream.  And I had no ice cream.

Time and Trains

Perhaps one of the biggest intricacies of being a mom, nonetheless a mom of multiples, is time. It just takes so much more time to do anything – leave the house, prepare a meal, clean up after said meal, run an errand…. Even a simple task, like responding to an email, requires a ridiculous myriad of steps.  First you must distract children by turning on the TV, settle the impending dispute over which episode of My Little Pony to watch, fill two water cups, blow a nose, clean up a water spill…and finally 15 minutes later you can slither into the office to perform a five minute task.

Between juggling time, racing and working, it should not have surprised me that I only did one long run (12 miles) during the entire month of February.  Before I had kids, I did not even categorize a 12 mile run as a “long” run. 

Committed to push myself past 5Ks, I jumped at the chance to do a 12 mile weekday run, with 9 miles of tempo intervals.  I cannot even remember the last time I did a tempo run.  Running a little longer, and a little faster, made me feel a lot better about my running.  It brought about a sense of relief that I still can double-digits at a decent pace- but it came at the expense of Masters swim – a reminder that I simply cannot do it all.

If I run as much as I want to run, I do not have time to swim.  If I swim as much as I should swim, I do not have time to bike.  If I bike as much as I am told to bike, I do not have time to run. And that is simply the conundrum of balancing twins and triathlons.

The only solution to this is acceptance and to appreciate everything I get to do – be it a run or a bike ride, or a picnic at the park.  Or should I say train park.

Hayden seems to get scared of things very easily, if not irrationally, and the best solution thus far is placing heavy-handed in situations he will not place himself.  For example, the aquarium. Initially, he was terrified – as evidenced in this family portrait:

But, shortly after being exposed against his will, we had trouble keeping him out of the fish tanks:

In an effort to employ the same strategy, David took Hayden back to the train park.  Hayden freaked out, his nose started bleeding, and they returned home in red-spotted shirts.  A few days later, I made the same attempt but added a new element: ice cream.   My kids will do just about anything for ice cream.  In fact, their love for ice cream is so overwhelming that their minds cannot process any conflicting emotions.  Ice cream cannot co-exist with sadness or pain or fear.   No one in line had any clue that Hayden did not want to ride the train.

I let him pick where we sat.  Of course, he chose the little cage - it wasn't even guaranteed that I would fit.

But luckily I did.  Barely.

Although he acknowledged he had fun, I was worried that the fear would irrational return.  But the following weekend he asked to ride the train at a small carnival at the ostrich festival.  This train was faster, louder, and more expensive - so I opted out.  He didn't even notice.

And yes, we have an annual festival in Arizona that is focused on one of the ugliest creatures - the ostrich.  I don't know how this festival came to be, or why this bird is deserving of such a thing.

At the ostrich festival, we watched ostrich races and ate an ostrich burger.  Despite the ostrich's ugly appearance, this festival is quite popular so lines were long.  I started to space out while waiting in line for our ostrich burger.  In the background, I heard a woman gasp, "Oh my gosh!  He is peeing."

I blinked my eyes.

And then my Dad, standing next to me, said, "Oh my gosh, he is peeing!"

This snapped me out of my daze and I glanced down to find my son creating a yellow puddle right there in the grass.  Unsure of what to do, I apologized to those surrounding us.   And he must have really had to pee because it was a very long pee.  And a very big puddle.

Apparently after David showed him how to pee in the backyard, Hayden assumed that the world was his toilet.  This world came to crushing end.  I told Hayden that he must always pee in a potty.

There is always enough time to find a potty.

Training and Trains: Then and Now

It's time for my annual duathlon.
The one that routinely chews me up and spits me out.

In 2011, I trained for a little over a month.
In 2012, I trained for only weeks. They also increased the bike course to 30 miles.

I almost wrote it off this year because I just don't have time for 30 mile bike rides with bricks.  My Achilles heal each year has been endurance -- specifically around the 121st minute.  But then I read that the bike course was changed again to 24 miles and gifted an entry.  It is hard to turn away a trail race - it is impossible to turn away a free trail race.  It is hard to turn away free anything.

You know those two-week old, nearly-stale cookies cookies that the grocery store will pile into a huge bowl before throwing them away?  And then everyone, even the man who just picked his nose, reaches into the bowl to select a cookie?  I love those cookies.  I even once proudly collected them in a cookie jar.

Something for nothing always is better than nothing.  Even if this race beats me down again, I have nothing to lose.  And that logic is what suddenly spiraled me into training mode for eight days.

Day 1:  Presidents Day.  The token long workout:
26 minute trail run at South Mountain, 1 hr 25 minute bike ride (lots of hills in the last half hour), 34 minute trail run - scoping out all available hills.  3.3 mile run / 28.1 mile bike / 4.3 mile run = 2 hours, 25 minutes.  An entire hour longer than my normal "long" workout.

Day 2:  Track.  My legs were tired from that extra hour the day before but I didn't want to blow off my running partner.  800 x 4 in 3:00...it felt like we did five...in other words, did not feel good.

Day 3:  Power meter bike ride.  1 hour ride (20 miles) with 8 minutes at "race pace" x 3.  I actually was not allowed to view the numbers so I am not sure what that pace was.

Day 4:   Mid-distance run.  Easy 9.1 miles.

Day 5:   Trainer bike ride.  64 minutes easy minutes .  Why 64 minutes? Because that is how long it took me to read all my favorite blogs.

Day 6:  8 Mile trail race.  Described below.  Hill training?

Day 7:   Complete rest day.

Day 8:  Long easy workout. 28.5 mile easy bike ride bricked with 4.1 mile jog = 2 hours.

I went to Tuesday track but received a taper exercise - only 400x8, a little faster than 5K pace (mid 1:20s, 90 seconds RI).  I also went swimming a few times this week but that is irrelevant.  I will taper until race day (Sunday).

In retrospect, this is what President's Day week looked like last year - 40 mile bike rides!   5:50 miles!   12.5 mile runs!  I have not done any of those things in quite a long time.

I may have had more speed last year, but this year I have more experience. And wisdom.
This year, I WILL NOT RUN THAT FIRST RUN TOO FAST.

Continuing retrospection, this time last year I took the kids to the train park for the first time.  I thought Hayden would love the train park because, well, he loves trains.  His reaction was unexpected - he screamed and cried until his face bright red - refusing to ride the train.  Here is a never-seen-before photo of us last year.  Ironically, he is wearing a Thomas shirt:

I decided it was time to try again, but his dormant trauma awakened as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. I took him out of his car seat and he flung himself on the gravel ground, kicking and screaming as if I was trying to make him eat brussels sprouts.

I promised him that I would not make him ride the train.  Partly because I want him to trust me, and partly because I don't want my 45-pound three year old to realize that he can overpower me.  So, we had a nice lunch and looked at the train.

I guess just like one does not get magically faster, little boys do not magically lose their fears.  But, I was hoping maybe they would outgrow them!

In need of something else to do, I convinced him to ride the carousel.  It was faster than the train, and louder than the train, but I think he was just so relieved that it was not the train, he overlooked these facts.

 He refused to ride a horse so the kids had to sit on the boring bench.   I always wondered if anyone ever chose to sit on a bench, so this answers that aging question.

Kids Train, Round 1

Last time we trained, I kept things pretty simple. Run.

But then on race day, when the gun went off, the kids did the opposite of running.  They sat down.

So, this time we started off by learning the basic mechanics of racing:
- There is a start line.
- You wait on the start line, ready to run.
- You do NOT run until you hear the words, "go."
- There is a finish line.
- You run until you get to the finish line.

We started off with a very short course:


And then gradually moved the start line back:

And, similar to last year, Brenna dominated each distance.

Our next lesson was proper pacing.

We started off together so I could lead by example. They eagerly waited while sucking on lollipops.

  

About .4 left of a mile away from home, they removed themselves from the stroller and started to run down the street, waving their sticky, gross lollipops.   

Brenna's beautiful stride gave her an edge - but she found herself on a small segment of sidewalk:

Although I commend her for following instructions to always use a sidewalk, it was not a good racing strategy as it quickly left her stranded.   In an unexpected turn of events, Hayden took the lead!!!!!!!

Thrilled with being in front, he sprinted as fast as his little, uncoordinated legs would move:

And for the first time he crossed the finish line first.  His lollipop was now not only sweet with sugar, but sweet with victory.

Looking the Part

I've told myself over and over again that I would stay out of the little girl's section at Target.  But the fact of the matter is that their running shorts/skirts/shirts are identical to those in the Women's section except for 1) they come in more colors and 2) they are half the price.

Perhaps that justifies it but I have no excuse when I find myself selecting two of the same item - in opposite sizes.

 I know, I know, I should not be dressing like my three year old....so, I only buy us stuff when they are on clearance.   These blue spandex pants, which really no 31-yr old should be caught dead in, were only $3.

But, a three year old, with legs like these, and a race in 18 days, should absolutely wear these pants.  I am just thankful that she is too young to be too embarrassed by me.  I know the day will come.

To clarify, I do not discriminate against genders:

Sometimes I cannot believe the stuff I admit on the internet.

Our last run of 2012

Distance:  7.1 miles.

Pace:  8:30.

So, it wasn't our fastest run and it wasn't our longest run. There was a point in the beginning of the year when I knew, by instinct, that I would probably never push the stroller far nor fast again.  But, this was perhaps our most productive run.  In fact, we ran all our errands.

Our first stop was Costco for free samples:

And to pick up something from the pharmacy:

We also had our infamous lunch of pizza AND hotdogs:

Next, we ran to Walgreens to pick up some digital pictures and Christmas stuff for 50% off.  We got Christmas lights, candy canes and whatever else we could cram into our stroller.

And then finally we ran to the grocery store.  This would have been better if we had more room but we got some Christmas coffee peppermint coffee creamer for $1, yogurt and popsicles:

OK, so I understand that a play-by-play of our run is not the most exciting entry, nor am I closing out the year with a rooted deep-thought or retrospective post.  But, this run is a good summary of what our life has been like this year.

1) We ran.  I ran a lot.

2)  We went to Costco an embarrassing amount of times.

3)  We ate food.  A lot of food.  

4)  We went to the grocery store because you just don't need 20000 servings of mustard. 

5)  We bought junk because it was on sale.  I confess, when my three year old tells me that he needs to have a blue cup that lights up or My Little Pony bubble bath, I agree with him if it's under $5.

We are ending this year happy and healthy (aside from a brutal head cold) and my only resolution is to do everything possible to ensure that we are just as happy and healthy in 2013.

From a running perspective, it was good racing year, probably the result of staying uninjured.  My main accomplishments were winning the 5K summer series and placing 2nd and 3rd overall in triathlons despite my lack of swimming skills.  I don't really have any athletic goals for the next year except to continue to train my weaknesses.

This year found out Brenna has Apraxia but she has not let this stop her - both kids are flourishing in preschool and becoming little independent people.  Like right now...it's quiet because they off playing together.  Hmmm, or because they in my room taking all my socks out of the drawer.  Or because they have discovered the boxes of Powerbars in the pantry.  Or because they found a Sharpie and are drawing imperfect circles all over the living room walls.  Or because they have turned on the bath and poured an entire bottle of bubble soap.  

And that is my queue to end this post.