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2月27日 Crazy or Stupid?Question of the Day: Am I crazy, or just plain stupid? If stupid is as stupid does, then I'm not feeling too optimistic. Judge for yourself: One vote for CRAZY: I went to the pool and swam for an hour after my long run on Sunday. I think I was just too tired to fight with myself.
One vote for STUPID: I misread my calendar and instead of increasing my long run by 15 minutes, I made a 30 minute increase this week. I felt all fifteen extra minutes. I'm still feeling them. One vote for CRAZY: I was feeling sassy because not only was I wearing my favorite ORANGE and YELLOW visor, I also caught GREEN lights at all eight signal crossings on my run! One vote for STUPID: I forgot to put on sunscreen and now my chest is very, very RED. One vote for CRAZY: I signed up for an Ironman. One vote for STUPID: I waited until Jan 1 to start training for it. Essential Tools for the Crazy and/or Stupid Crazy or stupid, I am at least prepared. Here are some things that make Crazy/Stupid Land bearable: This thing has five sport-specific workouts for running, biking, swimming, golf and tennis. SUPER DUPER! The foam roller. It'll stretch you, massage you, even give you a little core workout. I spent all of Sunday evening hobbling around the house. Monday morning, I did three passes on each IT band, and I was good as new. Kinda wish I thought of it Sunday... Check this out!
An epsom salt bath is one of the best reasons to run (or garden, get splinters...it even cures constipation. I'm not kidding!) There you have it. I may be crazy. I may be stupid. I may even be irregular. Either way, I am equipped to handle it. 2月23日 Option 3: Celebrate the Chase!This week's epiphany: I need the chase. I have recovered from Monday's meltdown, and you know what? I need to chase after something. A neme-sissy I may be, but the chase is good.
So today's entry is a celebration of THE CHASE. Here's my Top Five:
5. Smokey chases The Bandit
You've just GOT to love Fred -- I think I found a boyfriend for Boots.
Wisdom: "It's not where you're going that counts, it's who the hell's in back of ya."
4. Mr. Rooney chases Ferris Bueller
(a la Terminator -- it's worth the two minutes)
Wisdom: "Surrender? Never!"
3. Bullitt chases Bad Guys
Billed as one of the best car chases in movie history, I think all you need to know is captured in the moment when Bullitt's Mustang appears in the rearview mirror (chills, I tells ya). Also, Steve McQueen is a dreamboat.
 Wisdom: "You work your side of the street; I'll work mine."
2. The Police chase Jason Bourne
How does one improve on Bullitt? Throw the whole thing into a tiny little Cooper, then add a staircase and Matt Damon. BTW: When I'm an old lady, I'll be the crazy old professor driving around a college town in a Mini Cooper wagon filled with miniature wiener dogs. Hmm...all I really need is the Mini and I could do this tomorrow!
Wisdom: "Do you take care of this car?" Well, do ya punk?
(I need to get my bikes tuned up!) 1. Coyote chases Roadrunner
And what happens when he catches him?!
Wisdom: The chase IS better than the reward!
2月19日 Back to the GrindstoneLong story short: we cancelled our trip to Chicago. So lieu of freezing my tushy in the midwest, I snuck out of the movie I was showing my Saturday class, went swimming and lightly toasted my tushy instead.
 Tell me again why I'm going to leave New Mexico... The weather was so good, once I got home I ran right back to the university (about 9.5 miles). In the process, I sort of lightly toasted my tootsies...I got a blister on my left foot and foolishly ran on it for the last two miles rather than calling Colin to come get me. (I didn't want him to think I'm a _quitter_). It took exactly two hours, with walk breaks to get water from the store (the fountains on the trail weren't working) and to contemplate what to do about my foot. And last night, I got on the bike trainer for 3 hours (Forrest Gump + 20 minutes of Forrest Gump with director's commentary). I read somewhere that an hour on an indoor trainer is like 1.5 outside...and like 5 in your head.
As a matter of fact, I would like a cookie, thank you very much.
Me and My Big MouthWelcome Athena Diaries Readers
My real "mortal enemy" is myself. Notice how the initials spell M.E. That's no coincidence.
All I wanted to do was give a fellow athlete an "AttaGirl" and a "See you at the races." Once I published the blog entry referencing X-Athena (Misty), I realized my fatal error: I had just invited public comparison and pressure to perform at races that we both enter. "Oh dear," I thought. "Now I've done it." Where I had previously been motivated just to keep up, I am now motivated by fear (other people will know how I finished in relation to HER). Fear and shame are not healthy motivators, but at least I could enjoy/endure my shame in private.
Perhaps, though, I have just done us each a big favor. Will we now be less likely to cheat on our training plans knowing that others are paying attention? I can make excuses with the best of them, but in reality there are very few legit reasons to miss a scheduled workout. (Misty: "It's too nice out." That's some solid excuse-making.)
 By sticking to our plans (even if out of fear or shame), will we each be more likely to reach our personal goals?But I've injected this competition thing into the mix. Remember when I wrote that this activity is about finding the best in oneself? Is it too late for that now? If she completely smokes me at a race even though I may have done my personal best, will that still be good enough for me? Will I allow myself the space to enjoy the personal accomplishment? Or will I let myself get too hung up on the comparison?
Late last week Misty and I began exhanging e-mails. She's a great gal. We have a lot more in common than I could have imagined. (Perhaps this is her strategy...to soften me up. *Welcome to a new level of paranoia and anxiety.* Wow, she is good.) But let's face it: one of us has to cross the finish line first -- even I'm not namby-pamby enough to hold hands and cross it together.
So I have two options:
1. Drop the whole nemesis-competition thing. Be friends. Don't mention times or rankings. Stick to supportive public commentary--but keep track privately.
-OR-
2. Go for cartoony super-drama. Post "Nemesis Series Standings." Talk trash. Make the backs of these races worthy of SportsCenter.
I think the latter would make more interesting reading, but would probably lead to a nervous breakdown (or two or three). It would definitely suck a great deal of fun out of the whole season for us. So for now, the gloves are still on and the hunt is still off. I'm sure there's an Option 3 out there that combines what's healthy about Option 1 with what's fun about Option 2...I'll keep ya posted.
I will say this: Like Misty, knowing that someone might be paying attention has made me re-evaluate my training (and excuse-making) habits. In the grand scheme, competition is the red herring. Winning and losing is for show and depends on who else shows up. One's personal best...well, that comes from a habit of honesty with oneself about time, effort, discipline, and desire. 2月15日 So what you're saying is...Food is fuel -- and NOT the key to happiness? Tell me more.
When I noticed this change in my thinking, I knew I was making progress. In the past couple years, I developed an addiction to cheese and bacon (even AFTER my dad had a heart attack). Now that the training is really underway, I actually feel the consequences of a bacon bender. I have left my cheese-bacon-hotwing ways behind! (Okay, that's a lie -- but I really haven't abused these in a long time.) I'm even able to resist donuts (on most days).
That being said, Colin made the fatal error of leaving the last Ham 'n' Cheese Hot Pocket unsupervised in the freezer...I ate it while he was taking a nap and he hasn't spoken to me all afternoon.
 Better than Shrimp on a TreadmillI got myself all gussied up to go run -- a speed session at last! The view out of the east side of my house:
 Gorgeous!The view out the west side of my house:
 The doomiest, gloomiest clouds I've seen this side of Oz. I only have to run for 30 minutes -- can I beat them? Maybe, but not today.Here's the thing: I've had to finish runs in the rain before. Sure, I run faster (which is the point of today's session), but mostly I'm wet and miserable -- unless it's July. But it's not July, it's February. And yes, I realize that if I had gotten up and out of the house earlier, this would not be a problem.
What it means, however, is that I'm going to have to do this workout ON A TREADMILL. O the humanity!
With any luck, it will be this much fun:
But experience tells me it will be more like this:
2月12日 A Word About CompetitionI realize I ended my last entry saying that this sport is about finding the best in oneself. That is true, and it is why I do this (lord knows I'm not winning anything). But last summer I stumbled upon the blog of a woman I'll call X-Athena, and I've been comparing myself to her ever since.
At the 2005 Polar Bear Tri, she and I leapfrogged briefly on the bike and then on the long incline back to town, she easily left me in her dust (I am worthless on anything that's not perfectly flat or downhill). The next summer, I saw her family at a couple of races. She had been training. I, of course, had not. Again, she dusted me on the bike at Milkman and Stealth. She then became Mortal Enemy. (I say this completely tongue-in-cheek. After reading her blog, it's clear that she's my kinda gal. If we lived in the same town, we'd probably be friends or even training buddies.)
When I saw the Stermer Du on her race schedule, I was eager to see how my own training might finally pay off. I guessed that we were still fairly evenly matched on the run, but GOSH DARN IT, she was NOT going to leave me behind on the bike again!
MUST LEARN THIS LESSON: DO SPEED WORK!!!
She stayed about 10 yards ahead of me on the run, though I pulled ahead briefly at the turn around. Here's where my head gets in the way. She really wasn't that far ahead of me, but all I could think about was how she is more disciplined in her training and has been at it longer than me. (I've been running occasionally for two years -- not exactly a training plan.) I kept repeating to myself how she clearly "wants it more." I'm not sure what the "it" is in that sentence, but whatever "it" is, I was convinced on that run that she was going to get it, and I would be left with nothing -- forever.
Though we came into transition together, I managed to leave before her. I was sure, though, that she would pass me before the turn around. It didn't happen. At one point, I saw a woman who resembled her heading back from the turnaround. A moment of panic: surely I would have noticed her pass me! It wasn't her. At the turn around, she was three minutes behind me. I thought, "Wow, she must've had a picnic in transition...this is so unlike her. She'll probably pass me on this uphill section." Again, it never happened. She finished twelve minutes after I did.
Though I knew I was having a pretty good day and I had clearly made some improvements, I knew that she must've been having a bad day. She TRAINS, for crying out loud! There's no way I could have bested her with that much of a gap.
I was right. I read her race report and, as I suspected, she was having the worst of days. Between a suspect latte and riding with HER BRAKE ON, this twelve-minute "victory" was empty, indeed. I want to send a big kudos her way, though, for sticking with it and for having the good sense to get off her bike to see what was going on. (I rode 56 miles in Lubbock on a mushy front tire without ever thinking once to check it out.)
WHAT THIS ALL MEANS:
Stermer Duathlon Results 1:52:40For the record: last year, my dad beat me by 4 or 5 minutes. (Happy dad?)
Alright, with that out of the way...I had a FANTASTIC day! At last, I got to reap the benefits of training!
Some triumphs of the day:
There is so much that can go wrong on race day, and I was lucky enough to avoid all of them.
Things I did right:
So when all was said and done, I completed the race exactly seven minutes faster than last year. Sure, I was 4th of four in my age-group and 4th from last overall, but this sport is really about knowing and finding the best in yourself. I think I got a little closer to that on Saturday. 2月5日 It's All in How You Look At ItYou mean to get faster I have to GO faster? (Duh)
 A neighbor and co-worker of mine is a bona fide triathlete, so I like pretending I'm also a triathlete by chatting with her about training and racing.
Today I wondered aloud to her why my time hadn't changed for the Super Bowl run even though I've been training. She said that unless I do speedwork, I won't get any faster. Now, I have read this in plenty of places, so I shouldn't have been surprised. Since I have only done one speed session in the last three weeks, what could I reasonably expect? But she did ask me one thing that put the time issue in perspective: how did I feel this year? BETTER!
I had a lot more air this year. I'm not sore this year. Okay, maybe my knees were a little sore going down the stairs at work this morning (the course has a lot of pounding downhills), but at least I can WALK today. Last year, I was barely-moving-sore for a week.
I guess this means that right now my improvements are mostly invisible. That is, I won't necessarily see them on the clock. I know how to take care of my IT bands (the muscle on the outer part of the leg) so they aren't pulling on my kneecaps. I know how to prepare mentally and physically at the starting line. I know what to eat before and after the race. I have a mental strategy. These are probably the biggest improvements I have made in the last six months, and I should give myself some credit for them. Welcome to the Slog Blog SLOG BLOG!I can't imagine why anyone would be interested in this, but I'm going to use it to keep me honest in my training. (I am notorious for big plans and little follow-through.)
My biggest plan right now is to attempt a full Ironman in April. (It's a good thing I waited until January to start training for it -- see what I mean about big plans?) Mostly this means four months of slogging through slow, endless miles (hence the name).
Enjoy. 2月4日 'Barn Sour' is My Race StrategySuper Bowl Sunday 10K Run -- 1:15:20
When my dad and I used to mountain bike together, he'd say that I was like a barn sour horse because I would whine and complain the whole way out and as soon as we started back, I would turn on the turbo all the way home. So it was in today's race.
Last year, I finished with a time of 1:14:45. I had hoped to do as well or better today, but I came in about 30 seconds slower. (Isn't that just as good?)
 It probably isn't since I have actually been training this time around.About 1/2 a mile into the race, I caught up to a woman who seemed to be going at a good pace. I ran with her for another half mile and I thought I would do well to stick with her...then she ditched me once the trail went off-road. The second 1.5 miles is this hilly, sandy mess...she pulled away from me here and stayed about 2-3 minutes ahead of me until mile 5.
 When we returned to the sand bogs on the out-and-back, I caught sight of her again. She was still 2:00 ahead of me, but I thought I might try to catch her in the last two miles. So I kicked it up a notch. With one mile left, I had shrunk the gap to about a minute.
With half a mile to go, she caught a guy ahead of her, but I was slowly closing in. I was still pretty far behind her, and I wasn't sure there was enough race left for me to catch up. I sped up...just short of a dead sprint. I still had 400m to go, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep up that pace for that long -- especially with a rough 9.75K already on my legs. But then I thought about how lame it would be to run that hard and still not catch either one of them.
 Time to get serious.With 50m to go, I blew past both of them and got to the finish chute first.
 When I say first, what I mean is seventh from last. YES! IN YOUR FACE! (Nothing like ridiculous trash talk from the way back.)SO...being barn sour worked out pretty well for me today. Turns out my finishing kick is fully functional. Now to get the rest of it going. |
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