"So When Are You Going to Do One?"

It was that day of the year again - perhaps my favorite day of the year - the day of the local Ironman.

This is a day that I immensely enjoy....a day that the entire city is immersed and obsessed with my favorite thing.  The triathlon.  All day people are swimming and cycling and running....and my neighborhood is packed with people who love swimming and cycling and running as much as I do.

My day is very active as I cheer on my friends.  I even drag my kids and husband with me.

  

But.......I get spared from the lake waters, eat real food for lunch in lieu of gels and relax on my couch instead of tackling headwinds on my bicycle.  I feel very satisfied with my choice to not subject myself to such self-inflicted misery, although every year, I am routinely asked:  So, when are YOU going to do one?

Even my husband asked me this, to whom my answer was:  When I am 50.

OK, so 50 is pretty far away.  Maybe I will be grandma.
However, I still consider myself still fairly new at this sport.
I have never used a coach or even a training schedule.  I have never tried a tri-bike or long sleeved wetsuit. I have never raced in a different state or swam in the ocean.  I have never found my footing during an Olympic triathlon nonetheless felt ready for anything longer....

I obviously have a lot to learn.

When I returned to running post high-school cross country, our city was having its inaugural rock and roll marathon.  Despite having very little experience with distance running, I actually did quite well and was quickly enamored with the marathon.  It was challenging.  It was prestigious.  It was undisputedly hardcore.

Anyone can run a 5K...but 26 miles?  You have really love running to run 26 miles.

But the marathon came at a price.  I suffered through an endless array of injuries.
Shin splits.  Tendonitis.  ITBS.  Sciatica.  Pulled hamstring.  Stress fracture.

My scoliosis, an annoying and unsightly 25-degrees curve in my spine, makes me prime candidate for pretty much any injury.  Each injury was unique in its own terrible way but they all shared one common thread:  They made me depressed.  And how does a runner deal with depression if they cannot run?

The marathon just wasn't worth it.

Over the past 7 years, which includes running for 30-weeks during my pregnancy, I have learned a lot about myself as an athlete.  There is so much more to running than just distance and there is so much more to recovery than just taking a day off.   My body will perform in amazing ways, but it requires a little more work and a little more patience than perhaps other bodies.

So while the marathon, a lost love, is still waiting for me to return, I am in no rush this time.  I am enjoying the path...filled with 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons and trail races.  I have won races I never thought I could win and have set PRs that I never thought possible.

I am going to do a marathon again one day, but I am not going to limp and hobble away from the finish line in defeat and depression.
So until I can get my body to that point, there is no reason to even contemplate an Ironman.  Until then, I am going to enjoy the journey and seek successes that may be shorter but that are also followed by breakfast and sunshine.

And, of course, I will continue to celebrate the day of the Ironman while cheering on my friends, who are amazing and admirable athletes, while at the same secretly happy that it's not me out there.  At least, not yet and not any time soon.

Marathons and Minutes

Even though I do not enjoy running marathons, I do enjoy spectating them.  I guess it's similar  to the experience of watching the Ironman:  I cannot help but think to myself, Thank goodness that is not me.  Even though the rest of my Sunday schedule was rather bland (laundry, house cleaning, grocery shopping), at least it was not running 26.2 miles.  It made the day seem grand.

I live right in the middle of the Rock and Roll AZ courses - the half marathon skirts the right side of my neighborhood while the marathon brushes the north side of my neighborhood, loops around, and then goes down the left side.

At first, the kids were not excited about the environment - a lot of music, a lot of yelling and a lot of people.  But they have been doing this since they were babies so they quickly adjusted.
  =


I volunteered at us a water station and the kids were willing to help.  A few people took water from Brenna, but in general, I think they were a little short and overlooked.

After observing hundreds of runners, Brenna requested to change her shoes.  She wanted to run!  I normally do not encourage bandit-ing (running without a bib), but I think pre-elementary age kids are an adorable exception.

Luckily for me, there are enough 5Ks, 10Ks, 5 milers, 10 milers, half marathons, trail races, duathlons and triathlons for me to do in the absence of the marathon.  I haven't picked out anything yet, but I also haven't done a lick of speedwork since the last time I made that claim back in September.

I returned to my haphazardous training method where I have no idea what the workout is until I am at least three intervals deep.  I don't look at my pace at all and focus on my perceived exertion instead:

On the way out (a very slight downhill, hardly noticeable)
- 4 minutes "fast" (5:52 pace)
- 4 x 1 minute "faster" (5:33 avg interval pace)

On the way back (a very slight uphill, hard not to notice)
-  4 minutes "fast" (6:02 pace)
- 4 x 1 minute "faster" (5:40 avg interval pace)

Only 16 minutes / 2.83 miles of actual "speed", but it's a starting point.  Now I just need to select an endpoint.

During the workout, I was slightly frustrated with how high my heart rate got during the one minute intervals.  This, of course, meant I required longer recovery.  But, I was also slightly satisfied when I reviewed the numbers after my cool down.  Anything faster than 5:50 is very fast for me - a minute, even though such a short increment of time, can feel very long if you run fast enough.

But, here is the thing...you can endure anything for one minute.  No matter what, that minute is going to end in less than 60 seconds.  The only time you can say that with certainty during the marathon is after you run 26.1 miles.  And that is a lot of miles.

2nd Week of Training

Monday - 7 mile trail run at South Mountain

Tuesday - 7 miles w/ the jogging stroller

Wednesday - 4 miles - very short speedwork session to see if my fast-twitch muscles were working:
400 x 2, 1 min RI @ 7min/mile (1:28, 1:26) + 1 x 800 (2:52 - not sure how I ran so fast, and the crazy thing is that it didn't feel hard!) followed by 1 hour of hot yoga.
Side note: I am undecided about my feelings on yoga. I don't dislike it, and I think the stretching feels good. On the other hand, I get bored after 30 minutes.

Thursday: 6 miles w/ the jogging stroller in the wind

Friday: 2 miles at South Mountain, downhill to the u-shape canal.
6 x .44 miles (odd distance but that is the length of the canal). Alternated between 6 min/mile pace (tail wind) and 6:20 min/mile pace (headwind), 1 min RI. Then ran 3 miles, all uphill, back to the car.

Saturday: Watched the Marathon Olympic Trials! I even let Hayden skip his nap so that he could watch, too:


Sunday: 12.5 mile run at the local Rock and Roll race. First I cheered on my friends who were running the half marathon, and then I cheered on (and ran along side) my friends who ran the full marathon. It was a lot of fun..............but I am glad that I was a spectator, as opposed to a participant.
First, I got to sleep in and spend a lazy morning with my kids:

I didn't have to leave my house until 8:20! By then, the sun was up and it was no longer cold outside. I also didn't have to wait in line to use a stinky porta-jon.

I felt a little badly that I did not take the kids, especially when Brenna got into the stroller,


Watching the marathon is something that we have done every year. In fact, 2 years ago, was our first outing with the jogging stroller!


I just knew that they would lose patience after an hour, and I would want to stay longer. I ended up being gone almost 3 hours - they would have been miserable.

Watching the marathon re-affirmed my decision that it's a distance that is simply not for me. Everyone looked like they were in so much pain! Don't get me wrong, I am not pain-adverse; pushing yourself past discomfort is what makes someone a better runner. But I prefer to be in pain for less than 3 hours, and recovered by the time breakfast is over. I think it's almost intuitive to want to do a longer distance after conquering a shorter distance - for example, it almost seems natural to do a marathon after completing a half marathon. But why go longer, why not go faster? I think that will be approach for the next few years - it just seems easier!

But for now, I am concentrating on the 12 mile trail race.
After 2 weeks of training, I am already in the taper.

To marathon, or not to marathon

That is the question!

I am 75% sure that I am going to run the Tucson marathon at the end of the year. But, I keep wavering. It has been 4 years since I ran the Portland marathon in 2007. Since then, I have been busy having kids and decided that the triathlon was my preferred sport.

But I just have this uncontrollable itch to run the Boston marathon before I retire as a marathoner. So, I need to qualify. Qualifying, at one point, was a piece of cake...I can run a 3:40 pretty easily. Under the new standards, I need a 3:20 in order to get in. That is a lot harder.

So - the positives:
- I will get to do a bunch of long runs, which I enjoy
- I will get to experience the post-marathon high, which is something I love
- I will get to train with my friends

And - the negatives:
- I will have to put some of my other athletic goals (ie sub-20 min 5k) on the back burner. I will be able to do my September triathlon, and I will be able to squeeze in one half marathon, but that is all I can fit in. That means no more triathlons for the rest of the year.
- I dont have a good track record with marathons, they tend to lead to injuries.
- The commitment. After all, I do have a job...and you know, twins:


We've been staying busy with our usual grocery shopping, running, family outings and playing. And,
we have made some great progress in the pool. We are now to the point that they do not scream when they see the pool, nor do they cry when they go into the water.

We also have upgraded to fancy re-usable swim diapers. I like them because they look like speedos:




I think its about time to start swim lessons!