5K Summer Series, #5 FINAL

There are 5 races in the summer series.  The worst race is dropped.  For me, this was race #4 since I missed it due to the triathlon.  I also had that bad race for race #2.  Those two races balanced out my two wins - and I was tried for first place for the series.

If I won this race, I would win the series.
If I lost this race, I would come in second.

Historically, I do not perform well under pressure.
I tried to convince myself that second place was still very good, but I could not shake off something my elite runner friend/mentor said a few months ago:  Second place is the first loser.  It sounds harsh.
But it is also true.

The night before the race I was watching the Olympics' Mens 5K Final.  It is interesting watching track events because they run directly next to their competition for most of the entire race.  I usually have no idea where my competition is unless they pass me.  In the spirit of the Olympics, I decided to try something new.

On the start line, I saw the girl who was racing me for first place.  She is a nice girl, I like her.  I stood next to her and said, "I am going to run with you today."
Her response?  "Bring it."  It made me like her even more!
We friendly chatted until it was time to race.

These 5Ks always have a fast start.  And this was no exception.
I knew right away that this was not a sustainable race pace so I let myself fall behind.

But by Mile 1, I had caught up. I heard my Garmin beep - I had it set to auto-lap every mile.   I did not look at it.  There really is very little to gain by looking at the Garmin - unless it is the perfect number, it can send you into a mental tailspin.

Mile 2 included a large uphill.  Hill running is my forte and it did not faze me.

At the turn around, I realize I had a substantial lead.  Now, I just had to to sustain it on the downhill.

The downhill was relatively easy. My Garmin beeped again.

Mile 3 rehashed the rolling hills in the beginning.  At this point, I became uncomfortable.

For some reason, the balls of my feet were burning.  Perhaps my shoes were too big but this did not happen at my last race?  My stomach also started to feel alarmingly unsettled.

The nice thing about the last mile is that you can remind yourself: It's the last mile.

Anything is tolerable for just one mile.

I was relieved when the Garmin beeped at Mile 3 but the finish still seemed far away.  I believe this course was closer to 3.2 miles than 3.1.  My feet and stomach were begging for the finish line.

When I asked my Dad (post-race) if it looked like I was running fast, he said no.

But when I turned the corner and saw the clock, I did sprint the last the few steps.

Chip time = 19:10,
Gun time = 19:13.
Mile 1 = 5:58                     
Mile 2 =  6:10
Mile 3 = 5:56
.21 = 1:35 (because I forgot to stop my watch for about 1 minute.)

In 90 + degree weather, I am proud of this performance - it was good enough to win the series.

It was also good enough for another gold medal to bring home to Brenna.  She immediately put it on and did her poses.

I promise I am not priming her for Toddlers and Tiaras.  She developed these poses completely on her own.

She is simply a natural in front of the camera.  Here she is a week earlier:

I also promise that I did not pick out that outfit.  She also did that completely on her own.

Duathlon Training, Week 3

Monday - Long bike, FAIL.
I noticed that it was quite windy before I began the ride. I didn't want to ride in the wind, but I thought to myself, "real cyclists don't wuss out because of some wind."   At first, the ride was rather pleasant.  Even though it was windy, it was a cross-wind.  But as it progressed, the wind picked it up.  At one point it was so strong that I had to stop because it kept blowing me out of the bike lane.
The road has a median that is difficult to cross over so that encouraged me to go all the way to the end of the road (about 10-12 miles) so that I could turn around.  Once I turned around, I was greeted with a cloud of dust that limited visibility.


It's not safe to drive in these conditions and its really not safe to ride your bike, so I pulled over for a bit so I could think about what I should do. And then I got a flat tire, which made that decision really easy.

On a normal day, the road would be filled with cyclists kind enough to help me (this was my first flat tire so I am not experienced in changing them).  Apparently though, real cyclists check the weather report.


Anyway, I called a friend who saved me.

Tuesday -  50 minutes on the trainer, followed by 45 minutes of blind speedwork:
                      -10 min 30 seconds "fast" (5:48 pace), 6 min RI
                      -6 min 15 seconds "fast" (5:53 pace), 4 min RI
                      -4 min "fast" (5:49 pace), 90 sec RI
                      -2 min "fast" x 2 (you get it, 5:50ish = "fast")
                          -12 more minutes on trainer - one foot drills
                             -20 more minutes running, this time on hills, with 3 more minutes "fast"
Some thoughts:  I really had no idea when I took my first step out of the door what I was going to do.  That is why I like these blind workouts...there is no plan, so there are no expectations, pressure or disappointment.  But there is also no structure.  I ended each interval when I felt tired.  IF I knew that I was close to running two miles at a 5:48 pace, I would have pushed for the extra 70 seconds or so to make it two miles.  But on the other hand, I may have also told myself that I just ran my two fastest miles ever and thus too tired to do more intervals.  I would have missed out on 2 additional miles worth of fast running.


Wednesday - Long bike, FAIL #2.
This just had to with a change of plans that required me to ride my bike at home.   Riding at home means riding in a lot of traffic, not ideal when only have a certain amount of time.  Ended up doing 22 miles bricked a 3.5 mile trail run.

Thursday - 50 minute run with the stroller (6.7 miles, nothing fancy)

Friday - 13.1 miles in 1:36:02.  I didn't initially intend to do a half marathon, but when I arrived home and saw I ran 13 miles, I decided to run to the street to make it 13.1.  Although the pace is just fine, the run itself was not pleasant.  It was very windy (yet again) so I decided to play with the wind and not look at my pace.  The "game" was to take it easy in the head winds and push in the tail winds.  The problem (that I realized after-the-fact) is it's impossible to "take it easy" in a head wind that strong.  So basically I had to push the entire run.  Also, I wore socks that I never ran in before which gave me blisters, and I ate lunch beforehand which gave me a stomach ache.  I realized 45 minutes into the run that it was not feeling good, but I refused to make excuses and determined to finish what I started.
Really, I have bad runs so infrequently that I didn't know how to mentally handle it!


Saturday -  2 mile trail run, 31 mile bike ride that included 8 miles up a mountain, .5 mile trail run.  I realize .5  miles is barely worth mentioning, but a brick is a brick!  I must say, I felt wonderful for that brief 3:30 run...but I had to get home to my kids.  That is the problem with cycling - it is so time consuming!
However, I do get to ride with the most excellent of folk:


Sunday:  20 minutes on the trainer, followed by a 40ish minute run.  I did not wear a watch because this run had no training purpose - it was purely for fun!
It was a beautiful sunny day, although a touch warm - over 80 degrees.  It makes me sad to think that the days of sleeping in past 5am and running in the afternoon are coming to an end.

I also took the kids out to enjoy the day.


Perhaps it is the way her her arms are erratically flopping flaunting to her sides, but I think I see myself in Brenna.  Now, if only I could find such an adorable tutu running dress.

Jogging Stroller Sessions #3 and #4

This is my first time using Blogger's new interface. So excuse me if I get a little excited over some of the NEW things that I can do without having to bust out my college HTML book.

Jogging Stroller Session #3: Speed Intervals (800/1200/800/1200/800/400x2), 7 miles
800 #1 - 3:22 (still warming up)
1200 #1 - 4:55 (6:34 pace)
800 #2 - 3:15
1200 #2 - 4:57 (6:36 pace)
800 #3 - 3:16
400 #1 - 1:36 (6:24 pace)
400 #2 - 1:35 (6:24 pace)

I need a sub 6:42 pace in order for the kids to PR.   So on paper, these paces look spot on. But in my head, I feel rather done. Tired. Burnt out.

I want to train. I like training.
But the pressure to constantly do better is exhausting.

So I took a different approach with Session #4: Hills.
I have gotten into this very nice routine of doing playdates on Thursdays at this adorable place called Toy Town. It's very similar to Imagination Ave (aka the Imaginarium) except that it has very cool rules:

It's kind of nice to have other "mom" friends. And the kids play independently for hours.  Hayden loves the train-set:

and Brenna loves being a 1950s housewife.  Trust me, she has never seen me in the kitchen wearing high heels!

The icing on the cake is that Toy Town hugs the base of South Mountain.  After the kids get worn out, I put them in the jogging stroller for lunch. It's perfect.  But it's hilly.

One nice thing about the Garmin is that you can choose what information you want to see, and what information you dont want to see.  If you are like me and enjoy intervals, sometimes its nice to just use the stopwatch and not stress about your pace.

It still records that information if you want to look at it at the end. And yes, that is sparkly text!

Anyway, here the workout:
12 minute warm-up
4 min @ tempo pace x 4 (1 min RI) up a long gradual hill
5 min of hill repeats
2 min @ 5K pace x 4 (20 sec RI) of rolling hills
10 min cool down
= 55 minutes, and 7.2 miles...not too shabby for a bunch of hills and a slight breeze!
and I must say, I loved doing the whole run without knowing my pace.   I see more of these in my future.

As for Blogger's new interface, I cant say that I love it.  But then again, I never love change.

Showing my Kids my World

When I was younger (still a kid myself), my mother exercised at gym inside of a resort. At the time, it was called The Point. These days, it’s called the Arizona Grand Resort. It's at South Mountain, which is an awesome stretch of mountains that run along the entire south border of Phoenix.

For a while, she dropped me off in the small child daycare. I remember once, she dropped me off with a huge bag of pink jelly beans. That made me very happy.

As I got older, the daycare became boring and I explored the exercise machines that surrounded the aerobics floor. I dawdled on the Stairmaster, elliptical and treadmill as I watched my mother do her step-aerobics.

These machines were rather boring, but it was fun watching my mom take her step class. If step-aerobics was a competitive sport, my mother would be an Olympian. When most people used one, or two steps, my mother used three. When most people stepped onto the step, my mother sprung. When most people hopped over the top, my mother leapt.

This was back in the day when people wore spandex. And to make it worse, wore leotards over said spandex. If it wasn’t her amazingly high kicks, or her undisputable enthusiasm that made my mother stand out, it was her unconventional, hippie-inspired and non-existent method of hair removal.

So at a very young age, I learned 3 things:
1) Standard gym equipment is boring
2) If you are going to jump, you might as well jump the highest and not care who is looking
3) I was going to shave my arm pits

At some point, my Dad started joining us. We would hike the trails at South Mountain while my mother dominated her step-class. As we became more efficient, we started to run stretches of our hiking path.

Running made me tired; I could not go for very long.
But I have been running those exact same trails ever since - so around 18 years. I became even more familiar with the park during high school cross country, since it hosted our home course.

As much as I love the excitement of the triathlon,
or embrace the challenge of road running,
my heart and soul belong to trail running. I am first, and foremost, a trail runner.

It is my drug,
my therapy,
my identity.

When I am trail running, I feel like ME. And for that hour, everything is right in the world and everything makes perfect sense. I guess it's the combination of adenaline and mother nature at its best - it makes you feel life.

Anyway, in all my years of trail running, I have seen ONE jogging stroller. And of course, ever since that moment, I have been dedicated to one day running the trails with my own kids.

I have never seen a double stroller but I wasnt about to let that stop me. I knew my BOB Ironman could handle at least the most modest trails. With the durability of my stroller, and my knowledge of the trail system, we went out and conquered nearly 6 miles of beauty.

Along the way we saw one mountain biker. It was very quiet, the only sounds were my breathing, and my kids squealing with delight. To them, this was a rollercoaster.
To me, it was perfection.