2016 Top Posts

Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay

As the year draws to a close, I thought I would go through my blog stats and find out what my most popular posts were this year.  And there were definitely some surprises.  Interestingly enough, these weren’t necessarily the posts that got the most traffic through the year – I’ve got some older posts that remain popular thanks to the Googles.  Maybe I do occasionally write some interesting stuff.

Race Report – 2016 IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta

This was my most popular post this year and it’s definitely no surprise.  I think I talked about the fact that I was racing a 70.3 to everyone who would listen.  If I put it out there in the world, it would happen, right?  Right.  (Well, and I had to do all that training.)  This was definitely my biggest personal accomplishment this year and something I will forever be proud of.

Drama at the Princess Expo

This was actually a pretty short post, but people love runDisney drama.  A better read along the same lines is Why I’m Not at Princess Half.  I will forever love runDisney races, and it was the Princess Half that got me into distance running in the first place, so this race will always have a special place in my heart.  That said, PEOPLE!  Get over yourselves.

A Review of the Swim Bike Fuel Nutrition Plan

(Okay, so I wrote this post last December, but it was late in the year, so I’m counting it.)  After years and years of trying to find a “diet” that worked for me, and years of watching my weight creep up, I tried the Swim Bike Fuel plan and finally, I found something that worked.  There’s no magic here.  In fact, I’m not sure that there was a ton of stuff in the plan that I didn’t already know.  It works because of how the plan is setup, the support you get from the other participants, and the knowledge that this isn’t a diet.  It’s a general way of looking at food and deciding what you should be using to fuel your body.

The Internet Bullies are at it Again

While I wasn’t the one getting bullied, there’s a real problem with internet bullying.  You would think that this is something that teenagers do to each other. And it is, but a lot of adults are no better.  I don’t understand the need to cut down a stranger.  You can think whatever you want about another person, but keep that opinion to yourself.  And if you spend your time putting someone else down in order to build yourself up, well, maybe you need to take a closer look at yourself.

Stolen Water at the London Marathon

This one was kind of a surprise.  But in many ways, it goes along with the internet bullying post.  People saw something happen, made assumptions, and decided to publicly shame without knowing the facts.  Interesting that this made the popular posts.  I guess we all love a bit of drama in our lives.

 

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2016 Accomplishments

Image via lumpi / Pixabay

There has been a lot of talk about 2016 being an absolutely terrible year.  And to be honest, a lot of not so great things have happened.  And it never helps when the year is capped off by the deaths of beloved celebrities.  But there have also been many awesome things that happened this year.  So I thought I would go through my list of accomplishments.

I completed my second year on the Coeur Sports Ambassador Team and was welcomed back for a third year.  I absolutely love being on this team.  Obviously I love the products that Coeur makes (if I could live in the joggers, I probably would) and I would be racing in their gear regardless of my affiliation with the team, but I truly love the beliefs behind this company.  Their kits are made in the US.  They support athletes of all shapes and sizes and are working to increase their size range.  They aren’t just about the elite triathlete or the age grouper who ends up on the podium time and time again.  And the team is made up of incredible women.  At first, I was intimidated because I’m not a fast racer, but it quickly became clear that it didn’t matter.  It’s about what you bring to the team.  Sure, it’s great to see Coeur up on the podium, but it’s even better to see ladies in Coeur cheering each other on and being a positive force.  Being part of this team has made me a better athlete and a better person.

Of course, the big accomplishment of the year – Augusta 70.3!  I completed my first half ironman and it was everything that I had hoped and more.  I spent the summer training like it was my job (well, not really, since I had an actual job to do so I could pay for my racing habit) and the work paid off.  I beat every single one of my time goals, and know that in better conditions, I could race even faster.  It certainly wasn’t a perfect day but I have no regrets about how I raced and I’m proud of what I accomplished.  More importantly, I had family and friends come down to cheer me on, and that made those last miles even more incredible.

I also raced a few great half marathons and pushed through some less great triathlons.  Now that I think about it, my triathlons this year were all in not-so-great weather.  Let’s hope for a change in 2017.

My niece was born this year.  So really, that trumps everything.  And I got to spend a lot of quality time with my family.  I think I saw more of them this year than in many previous years, something rare since I moved 700 miles away.  Not sure if I can make that work again in 2017, but it’s always fun to try.

 

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Post Natal Progressions Workout: CARiFiT- Vern Hill

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Wednesday Workout Recap

This poor cat is very cold.

Here it is!  My return to glory.

Except not quite.  Whoops?  There’s glory in the attempt, right?

Monday – Rest day.  I went to my choir holiday party, something I have managed to miss for the past 7 years.  It was fun, but part of me wonders if getting a bit more sleep would have also been fun.

Tuesday – Got my annual skin check at the dermatologist.  She said my skin was boring.  This is a good thing coming from your dermatologist.  But given the pale pale color of my skin and the number of hours I spend outside, it’s worth going to make sure nothing weird is happening.  That evening, I went back to Team Fight swim.  It was rough.  I’ve still got a lingering cough from my cold (as do many) and it’s clear my lung function was down.  I was just tired.  (Note: this could have also been from singing 3 Christmas concerts over the weekend.)

Wednesday – Trainer ride plus some weights.  I haven’t been great about the strength work, so it’s good to be getting back to it.

Thursday – Strength and ab work.

Friday – Shannon and I went to see Into the Woods.  I still don’t love the second act in its entirety, but this production was awesome.  Very minimalist, small cast doubling parts, cast doubling as orchestra.  Definitely impressive.

Saturday – I was supposed to join the local Coeur girls for a workout and brunch, but the roads were icy and my road wasn’t salted by the time I needed to leave, so I missed the workout, but showed up for brunch.  Because clearly I’m not going to miss out on friends, fun, and food.  Got in a 2 hour trainer ride later that day.

Sunday – Scheduled 8 mile run, got in about 3 and my body was just done.  Zero energy.  Not going to worry about it.  It was a busy week.

 

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Everyone Needs a Break, Right?

brenkee / Pixabay

I feel like December has been a total wash in terms of fitness. I ran a half marathon in late November, then went on vacation. Came back and went straight into rehearsals for our holiday concerts. All totally worth it, but I was starting to feel like a slug. (The gross congestion that has lingered all month thanks to the dry air isn’t helping the slug feeling either.)

So this past week, I wanted to get back on track. Turns out that jumping right back in after a few weeks off and still dealing with a lingering cough doesn’t work out so well. And then comes Christmas vacation, where I will get in some workouts but inevitably miss some as well. However, after Christmas, it’s on. Not after New Years. I’m not waiting that long. I need to get back to it. Race season is coming soon and I always feel better while training. Also, I have put on a few pounds since my half IM and I would like those to go away again, please and thank you.

Mostly, I’m just feeling the need to get back into a routine of working out, eating well, and tying to get enough sleep. I’m never perfect, but I feel so much better when I try.

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Pilates Body Power Booty Workout: Gabrielle

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Calling out Cheaters

tswedensky / Pixabay

In the running community, there’s a pretty popular blog that calls out marathon cheaters.  The guy who runs it does an impressive job of reviewing race results and calling out course cutters and people who have someone else run with their bib so they can get a Boston Marathon qualifying time.

But sometimes I think that maybe the site goes too far.  Recently, he called out a bunch of people at the Honolulu marathon.  He pulled up race times and looked at people with Boston Qualifying times (not people who registered for Boston, just people who ran a BQ) and then reviewed whether timing mats had been missed.  Apparently, the course was pretty easy to cut, so a number of people just skipped chunks of the course.

Now, in general, we don’t know why someone course cuts.  Maybe they are under trained or injured and just need to stop running.  I’ve seen races where there is a sign during the marathon that says something along the lines of “If you can’t continue, turn here for a quick route to the finish.”  It prevents the race from having to pick up too many stragglers in a vehicle.  Plenty of people show up to marathon start lines unprepared and are unable to finish.  It’s not a great situation, but it happens.  People underestimate what it truly takes to run 26.2 miles.

The people who were called out on this post did one other thing – they posed for “finisher’s” pictures with their medals, taken by the official race photographers.  I’ve talked before about how I feel about wearing a finisher’s medal if you don’t finish a race.  I don’t love it, but a number of races give them out to people who are swept, and I’ve just decided that I can’t let someone else’s actions affect me.

So yes, what these people did wasn’t awesome, but is it really something we need to get worked up about?

Of course, if these people then used those ridiculously fast marathon times to register for Boston, that’s an issue.  They’re taking a spot away from someone who actually did qualify and deserves to be there.  (Note – I think that there are some checks done, so someone who misses all the timing mats on the second half of the course probably won’t actually get into Boston.)

I just don’t know how I feel about publicly calling out these people.  What’s the point?  We don’t love what they’ve done, but is public humiliation really the best answer?  They lied about finishing a race, but in the whole scheme of things, is that something we want to focus our energy on?

A few years back, I got called out in a public forum for possibly having someone run under my bib at Space Coast.  The first year I ran the race, I had a terrible race.  I woke up with a killer headache, but walked the race anyway because it was the first year of a five year series.  The next year, I had an awesome race.  Still slower than my PR, but a good race. I cut over 30 minutes off my time from the previous year.  So obviously I had cheated.  Except that if anyone looked into my race times (I do have an Athlinks account), they would see that the slow race was the outlier, not the fast one.  I pointed this all out and the guy shut up pretty quickly and then deleted the information upon my request.

Now, I’m not saying that’s what happened in the Honolulu marathon.  There were enough missed timing mats that it’s clear people cut the course.  But I just think that maybe we spend too much time worrying about what other people do when the net effect it has on us is really minimal, if at all.

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Reframing

During a conversation with some of my Coeur teammates, we were talking about back of the pack racing and I went back to look at some race results to figure out if I had ever actually been the last finisher in a race. (The fact that I didn’t know shows you just how much I care about my placement.)  But in doing so, I also went back to read my recap of my worst race this year, the General Smallwood International. This race was technically the slowest paced, though in my mind, it was the worst because of the weather.  It was cold and rainy and just miserable.

But I also remember being pretty miserable about being so far behind in the pack.  The run was a looped course and on the second loop, I didn’t see anyone. Just me, running through the woods all alone.  At least by then the rain had mostly stopped and it was just insanely wet.  I remember wanting to quit, but being much too stubborn to quit.  After all, it wasn’t like I was hurt or sick.  I just wasn’t having fun.  That’s not a reason to quit.

When I went back to look at my race report though, I was blunt about how disappointed I was in myself for how I had performed in the race.  Before I read that, I just felt proud that I gutted it out and still finished.  And I’m still proud that I finished.  I haven’t forgotten the misery, but with time, I’ve been able to reframe that bad race.  The conditions were terrible.  I stuck it out anyway and I finished.  My splits weren’t that bad given the weather.

So while it’s definitely still my worst race, I see it differently than I did in the days following the race.  And I guess the lesson is that time does heal and reframing your situation can always help.  Maybe you had a bad race.  But did you stick it out and refuse to give up?  That’s what counts.  (Of course, if you’re injured, please stop – doing the smart thing and knowing when you’re risking worse injury takes a lot of guts and it’s worth it in the end.)

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Fat Burning Strength & Sculpt Workout: Body By Becky

2016 Holiday Newsletter

Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay

Today’s Holidailies prompt is to write a version of the holiday letters people send out in their Christmas cards.  I always love this prompt!

(As an aside, I had big plans this year to send out a funny holiday photo card.  Maybe something with the cats, and then something from my 70.3.  Guess who didn’t find the time to do that?  Yeah, that would be me.)

So, 2016!  Big year!  You might have seen the news, but some huge things happened in the United States.  However, we’re not going to talk about that, because everyone has had more than enough politics for the year.

2016 was a pretty big year for me.  I set out to race a 70.3 and I finished!  For those of you who aren’t insane triathletes, a 70.3 is a triathlon consisting of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run for a total of 70.3 miles.  Yes, it’s insane.  Yes, it was awesome.  I’m not sure when my next will be because training took up a lot of time, but I’m definitely glad I did it and I will be doing another one in the coming years, I’m sure.

As part of my training, I did a couple of metric century bike rides.  That’s 100 km.  100 miles is a little out of my reach right now, but 100 km (62ish miles) is a pretty awesome challenge.

So yes, I’ve become an athlete.  Those of you who knew me in high school still can’t figure out what happened to me.  I still can’t figure out what happened to me.

2016 was also awesome because my niece was born.  So take that, terrible things in 2016.  Babies being born outweighs all the bad stuff that happened.  (Though I still can’t figure out when my brother became a responsible adult.)

The cats are still cats.  Pippin and Cadu turned 12 this year.  They are turning into grumpy old men, but they’re still very sweet.  Pippin is not a fan of the cold weather, but he seems to be enjoying laying in front of the heating vents or burying himself underneath the electric blanket on the bed.  Cadu is impervious to the cold and sleeps in his spot on the couch and will not be moved, no matter what.  Do not take his spot.  Or else.

All in all, it’s been a pretty good year.  Here’s hoping 2017 is even more incredible.

 

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Holidailies: Snow or Rain?

For many years, I’ve participated in Holidailies in December.  The idea is to post daily through the month, using optional prompts if you so choose.  Clearly, this year I’m a bit off schedule, as it’s December 8 and I’m just mentioning it now.  I blame vacation.  But it’s definitely a project I enjoy and you should check out the portal to view some of the other writers who are posting.  There’s a lot of great stuff out there, and perhaps you’ll discover some writers you otherwise wouldn’t have found.

My random prompt for today is:

Talk about snow.  Did you grow up with it?  Do you prefer snow or rain?

Okay, who prefers rain to snow?  That person is crazy.

My first winter in the DC area was miserable.  It felt like it was always 35 degrees and raining, and there is no more miserable weather.  I don’t care how cold it gets, you can always bundle up, and once you’re inside, you can take off all those layers and be nice and toasty warm.  When it’s cold and rainy, the dampness just gets through everything.  Your feet end up all wet and as a short person, the bottoms of my pants always end up wet as well.

I much prefer the snow.  Of course, no one knows how to drive in the snow in this city, so that’s fun.  And I mean snow flurries.  Three flakes fall from the sky and cars start crashing into things.  So I just stay home.

There’s something magical about the snow.  Even when it is feets and feets of snow, like we got last year.

Someone is not a fan of the snow.

It just makes everything look so pretty.  Yes, it involves shoveling, but even that isn’t terrible.  I love the silence after a snow.  It’s like all the sound gets absorbed and the world is quiet.

So count me in for a snow lover.  All the way snow.  I can’t wait for the first snow of the year.

(As long as it doesn’t hit just as I’m trying to fly home for the holidays.)

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Race Report – 2016 Space Coast Half Marathon

I love this race.  LOVE this race.

For the fourth year in a row, I ran the Space Coast Half Marathon the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  It’s become part of my holiday tradition.  Stuff face on Thursday, fly to Florida on Friday, visit Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, race on Sunday.  (Then gallivant around Disney.)

This race is so well organized and so much fun to run.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt that a good number of the people running have raced before so they know what’s going on.

The race starts and ends at a park.  The race provides transportation, but we’ve found it easier to just drive in and park.  This year, Liz drove us in and dropped us off which was a huge perk.  As per usual, met up with friends and waited for the race start.

Pro tip – there are indoor bathrooms.  Avoid these.  Just go use the portapotties.  The indoor bathroom line is ridiculous and by the time you get through the line, they will be just as gross as the portapotties, if not worse.

One thing I love about this race is that it’s an out and back.  That means that if you know anyone else running, you’re all but guaranteed to see them out on the course.  It also means that you get to run by some fabulous spectators twice.

The residents in this part of Cocoa have to deal with their road being pretty much shut down thanks to the race, and many of them handle it quite well.  There are a lot of people out in their yards, watching and cheering.  And some of them get really into it, cooking breakfast and providing all sorts of drinks for the runners.  I’ve never seen so many different alcoholic options on a course before.  Very impressive, Cocoa residents.

As for my race, it went surprisingly well.  I wasn’t sure how it would go since the race is often terribly humid, but this year was a bit cooler than normal, which made me happy.  I wanted to run a sub-3 if I could.  My training hasn’t been stellar, as it’s technically my off season, so this race was just to see what happened.  And I ended up with a course PR – 2:55:14.  Not by much – only a minute or so.  But it felt awesome and I had a great time, so I’ll take it!

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CARiFiT: Post Natal Foundations Workout

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans!  (And happy almost-Friday to everyone else.)

2016 has been an… interesting year.  But I’m sure we can all find things to be thankful for this year.

I’m thankful for my family.  The more I talk to people, the more I realize just how lucky I am to have family who I actually like spending time with and who seem to like spending time with me.  And this year, I got a new family member with the birth of my niece.  That makes 2016 one of the best years ever.

I’m thankful for my friends.  I have some of the most awesome friends.  This year, I haven’t had as much time as I would have liked to spend with my friends, but that’s definitely changing in 2017, and I’m looking forward to the trips and events we already have planned.

I’m thankful for my health and my ability to run and bike and swim and complete ridiculous athletic adventures.  I’m not sure what drove me to start these challenges – anyone who knew me in my teens and early 20’s is probably completely confused as to how I turned into this person.  But I’m glad I did and I’m glad I can continue.

I’m thankful for my job.  It might not be perfect all the time and who knows what the new administration will bring, but it’s a pretty great job with a solid paycheck that allows me to have my house, my pets, and pay for these ridiculous adventures.

Oh, I’m thankful for my cats too, except this morning, when I could have slept in but someone decided he needed breakfast at 6am.  Furry little jerks.

 

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Wednesday Workout Recap

skeeze / Pixabay

I have to admit, today doesn’t feel like a Wednesday.  It’s my last day in the office for the week, so in my brain it’s Thursday or Friday.

On to last week’s fitness activities:

Monday – Rest day

Tuesday – Swimming!  I was exhausted, so this could have been better, but I showed up.

Wednesday – Biked.  Supposed to also lift weights, could not convince myself to do so.

Thursday – Biked again because I knew Friday wasn’t going to happen.

Friday – Went to the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler kickoff.  Always a fun time, though I was bummed to not win an lottery exemption Going to have to volunteer this year so I don’t have to stress about the lottery next year.

Saturday – Biked for an hour and got a TON of stuff done at home.

Sunday – So much housework, plus a 6 mile treadmill run.

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Things are Busy

Larisa-K / Pixabay

Over the weekend, I took a look at my calendar and realized just how crazy the rest of the year is going to be.

This week is Thanksgiving and then on Sunday, I’m running Space Coast.  That’s followed by an epic Disney trip that culminates in a short holiday cruise.  I have been looking forward to this for months and will absolutely be taking a ton of pictures.

The weekend after I get back is choir hell week, followed by a weekend of three concerts.  It’s always a lot of work, but I’m so glad I do it, and if you’re a DC local, consider coming out to hear us (the Cathedral Choral Society) at one of our concerts.

The weekend after that should be calm, and I’m looking forward to brunch with some of my local Coeur teammates.  Apparently we’re pairing that with a workout, which is slightly terrifying, but it still should be fun.

The weekend after that is Christmas.

The weekend after that is New Year’s.  And then it’s 2017.  I’m still not sure what 2017 holds.  I’ve decided that it doesn’t hold a 70.3 this year due to some scheduling issues, but that’s okay.  I think I want to try to bust out some awesome olympic distance races and hopefully volunteer at a bunch of events as well.

 

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Full Body Sculpt & Burn AMRAP Workout #12: Ciara- 10 Mins

It’s Race Week Again!

Surprise!  Race week is here.  On Sunday, I will be running the Space Coast Half Marathon.  Am I trained?  Well, sort of.  I did two twelve mile runs in preparation.  And not a lot else.  Well, I’ve been biking a lot and swimming a little bit. That’s got to count for something.

I’ll probably make it though.  The race has a 7 hour time limit.

I really like this race.  It’s the fourth year in a five year series, and I can’t decide if I’m looking forward to it being over or if I’ll be sad when it ends.  It’s pretty awesome to go down to Florida in November and hang out with a bunch of friends.  And the race course, while simple, is also a lot of fun.  It’s just an out and back along a really pretty route, and that means that I am pretty much guaranteed to see all my friends on the course, no matter if they’re ahead of me or behind me (let’s be honest – most of them are ahead of me).  Because the marathoners do a loop in a different direction first, I often see my faster friends as I near the end of my race too.  And watching other runners gives you something to look at as you make your way through the miles.

I also really love the post-race gathering.  At the finish, you get your medal and a towel, which is perfect.  You can use it to keep warm if it’s cool out or you can sit on it in the grass in the sun and eat your pancakes and eggs.  Yes, that’s right.  There’s a post-race breakfast.  There’s also usually pizza too.  All super healthy stuff.  And delicious.

I don’t know how this race will go for me.  Last year, I pushed too hard and hit a wall near the end.  My goal is to not do that this year and just run my own pace.  It’s very likely going to be humid during the first miles before the dampness burns off as the sun rises, so I should do my best to conserve energy there, then push through the finish.  But again, my training hasn’t been run focused, so anything can happen.

Either way, it’s guaranteed to be an awesome race and I’m definitely looking forward to it.

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De-Stress | Calming Meditation Routine: BeFiT Trainer Open House- Lauren Roxburgh

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Christmas is Coming

Couleur / Pixabay

Guys.  Christmas is coming.  It’s super soon.

Okay, maybe that’s just in my world.  It’s actually over a month away, but this weekend, I took a look at my schedule and it is pretty darn full up until Christmas with racing, travel, holiday concerts, and a few big work deadlines.

And yes, we have Thanksgiving first.  Which I am also not ready for.  Gotta figure out what side dish I’m cooking.  A bag of chips and some dip just isn’t going to work.

I get a David’s Tea advent calendar every year and this year, I’m drinking the teas as a countdown of workdays left til Christmas.  Today, I opened day 9.  DAY 9!  So few work days left! (Thank you, vacation.)

I am NOT READY for Christmas.  I did start putting my tree up this weekend, but there are still many ornaments in a pile on my table and boxes of other decorations that need to be unpacked.

My Christmas shopping has been haphazard.  I need to figure out who I still need to pick up things for.  Gifting is my favorite part of Christmas.  I love giving little gifts to all sorts of people in my life.  Unfortunately, this year, I’m not as on the ball as I would like to be.  But I’m sure I will get there.

Are you preparing for the holiday season?  What’s left on your list?

 

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30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 30: Soft Finish- Final apacible

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30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Days 19, 26: Getting Stronger- Volviéndote más fuerte

Wednesday Workout Recap

geralt / Pixabay

I always seem to struggle with the beginning of the week, then rock out the end of the week.  I need to work on this.  I think I just need to be better about prepping for the week on the weekend.

Monday – Rest day and late choir rehearsals.

Tuesday – Supposed to go to swim, but ended up watching the election results and not getting much sleep.

Wednesday – Bike ride and lifting.  I was so tired I gave up on the lifting about 5 minutes in because I was afraid I was going to hurt myself.

Thursday – Ab work and lifting.  Rocked this one.

Friday – Bike and lifting.

Saturday – 12 mile run.  It was definitely a weird run, but it went okay.  Pace was improved from last week.

Sunday – 2 hour trainer ride.

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Energize & Uplift with Yoga Workout | 20 Mins: BeFiT Trainer Open House- Laurel Erilane

That time I called 911 on my run

This weekend, I had a 12 mile run on the schedule and it turned out much differently than I anticipated.

I do my training runs as an out and back on a local trail.  It’s safe, pretty, and easy to get in the mileage.

I was just about to my turnaround point when I passed an older man in a light jacket laying curled up on the ground in a pile of leaves.  I looked at him as I ran past and saw him moving.  Okay, not a dead body.  That’s good.

I stopped and asked him if he was okay.  He just grunted at me.  So it was a response, but not much of one.  Looking at this guy, he was relatively well dressed, though not really dressed for the cool weather.  We do have a number of homeless people in the area, but they typically have their things with them.  This guy was just laying there with nothing else around.

I ran on to the next major intersection and debated.  Finally, I called the local police station who directed me to call 911.  So I did, and they said they would be sending an ambulance and asked me to wait so I could point out the guy.

As I waited, another runner came up and stopped to talk.  She was the first person who stopped, and since I had been standing there, at least five others had glanced down at this guy and continued on.  I told her that I had called, and she asked if I minded if she waited with me because she was also worried about the guy.  (I think she had asked him if he was okay and got no response.)

So we waited and she helped me flag down the ambulance, and we watched from afar.  The paramedic team talked to the guy for a while, who looked up, sat up, and finally even stood up.  So that was a good sign.  Finally, the team left and the guy remained on a park bench.  Turns out he was just enjoying a nice nap in the sun.  In the 40 degree weather.  The paramedics agreed that we did the right thing and warned the guy that if he did this again, he would likely get the paramedics called on him once again.  Because let’s be honest – it’s not normal to just lay down in a pile of leaves next to a trail to take a nap.  If he had been laying on a picnic blanket, that would have been different, but this was just odd.

So the other runner and I high-fived and resumed our run, opting to not run past the guy, just in case he was mad at us.

Even though it turned out to be nothing, I’m still glad I called, and the paramedics were very careful to tell us that we did the right thing by calling.  I would hope that if I were lying on the side of a trail that someone would call an ambulance for me if I wasn’t responding.

So all was right in the world, my run just got extended by about 30 minutes.  But I’m so glad that was the worst part of it.  Well, and some guy got his nap interrupted.

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Another Amazing Year with Team Coeur!

Last week, Coeur Sports announced their team for 2017, and I am so excited to be on the team for the third year.  Coeur’s “motto” is “Heart and Courage,” and I have learned so much about heart and courage from my fellow team members.

Coeur Sports is an incredibly inclusive brand.  Their triathlon kits run what I would call true to size, and I was excited when they increased their sizing to 2XL.  No, that still isn’t all encompassing, but they’re a small business, and they have to move a bit slower than people would like, but they’re doing their best.

They also show this by embracing ambassadors of all shapes and sizes.  I’ve seen some chatter online recently after both Coeur and Smashfest announced their teams.  And both have women of all sizes.  Coeur was openly accused of only having skinny, model-sized ambassadors, only the fast people who land on the podium every race.  And do we have super fast athletes on their team who have abs that I covet?  Absolutely.  We also have mid-pack athletes, back-of-the-pack athletes, and team members wearing XS to 2XL.  No one is ever going to call me skinny or super fast, and while I have landed on the podium, it’s definitely a rarity.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty awesome the way I am, but I’m not going to pretend I’m something I’m not.

The thing about this list of women?  They (well, we) do our best to motivate and encourage everyone.  We want everyone to get involved in running or cycling or triathlon, and we want everyone to do it to the best of their ability.  If that means you’re on the podium, you’re awesome.  If that means you’re the last finisher, you’re awesome.  If that means you never race, you just enjoy running or biking or swimming, you’re awesome too.  It’s about getting out there and doing something for yourself, about pushing yourself through tough times, and about pride in what you’ve accomplished, no matter how great or small.

So I’m excited to be back on the team in 2017, and I hope to see you all out on a race course.  I look like garbage when I race, but I try to have a smile for all the other Coeur ladies I see out there.  I promise, it’s not a grimace.  It’s a smile.  Really.

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Suelta y relaja- 30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 13: Release and Relax

30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 15: Side Strength- Fortalece los lados del torso

Aumenta la flexibilidad de caderas, ingles, espalda y hombros- 30 Day Healthy Back | Days 10,23,28

30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Days 11,21: Entrenamiento de cuerpo completo

30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 8: Safe Start & Relax- Inicia con seguridad y relájate

Energízate- 30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 17: Energize

Weekly Workout Recap

DigiPD / Pixabay

When this posts, the election will be over and we can go back to the important things on the internet – funny cat videos.

Also training.  I should really get back to training.

Monday – Halloween!  Rest day!  Unless I count the number of times I got up to answer the door and hand snacks to children.

Tuesday – Skipped swim.  Didn’t sleep well the night before, opted to just ride my trainer for an hour, plus my Cowbell Wrist was still bothering me.

Wednesday –  Trainer ride and lifting

Thursday – Skipped my workout to get my haircut.

Friday – Skipped my workout to go to happy hour.  Yeah, this wasn’t my week.

Saturday – Hey!  I did my workout!  Two hour structured trainer ride.  Except I forgot to lift weights.

Sunday – 12 mile run.  This hurt more than it should have.  Probably because of all the missed workouts.  Good job, self.

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Post Pregnancy Cool-Down Stretching Routine: Healthy, Fit, Happy Mom

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The Big Chop

Once again, I have chopped my hair off.  Every two years (or really a little less), I chop my hair off and donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.  They only require 8 inches of hair, so the chop is pretty darn easy.

People say “Oh, it’s so nice that you do this.”  And I guess it is.  But it’s also because I’m super lazy.  Until last week, I hadn’t gotten my hair cut since January of 2015.  Because I don’t dry it (lazy), my hair stays pretty healthy, so I don’t have to worry about ends getting frayed.  It probably doesn’t hurt that I’m good about taking vitamins.  Apparently proper nutrients help keep your hair healthy too.  I can tell that the ends do get a bit dry, so I’m going to try to be extra careful about getting moisture into my hair.  I’m sure all the time in the pool doesn’t help.

So. Much. Hair.

By the time I’m ready for a cut, I’m ready for a cut.  My hair gets so unwieldy.  And big.  And I end up just wearing it up in a bun most of the time, but it gets so heavy that it gives me a headache. I know, my life is so hard.

It kind of amazes me how much hair I have when it’s all chopped off.  It’s hilarious to watch the stylist try to cut through the giant bundles.  I know my hair is thick, but I always forget just how thick it is.  Also, it looks kind of pretty all bundled up.

As always, I love the new cut.  My head feels so light, my hair dries so quickly (well, comparatively speaking, anyway) and it’s so much less work to deal with.  It does mean that I can’t just pull my hair in a messy bun before work anymore, but I think I can deal.

I’m also weirdly excited to find out how easily it fits into my swim cap.

Ignore the giant bags under my eyes. This was Friday morning and I haven’t taken another pic since.

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Cardio Cheer Sculpting | Full Body Workout: BeFiT Trainer Open House- Lauren Boggi

Anxiety Relief | Why do we Worry? Health Hacks- Thomas DeLauer

30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 2: Back Stretch- Estira y alinea la espalda

Debating the 2017 Season

For the first time in a long time, I’ve hit November and don’t have a big race planned.  Don’t get me wrong, I have a few races already scheduled (Donna, Rev 3 Williamsburg Oly) and a few more that I’m hoping to get into (Cherry Blossom, Army Ten Miler), but I don’t have a goal race yet.

I’m up in the air about doing a 70.3 this year, and a big part of that is scheduling.  I want to pick a good race, but I also want to make sure that it fits in with the other things I already have scheduled (family trip, and a friend’s wedding, date TBD).  I can race anytime, but big events and trips definitely come first.

I really enjoyed the training this year.  It was hard, but I liked it.  It wasn’t like marathon training where I just felt like I was running all. the. time.  It did take up a lot of time, but it wasn’t time I dreaded.  I just wished I had more time for the other things I wanted to do.

Now that I know what I’m doing with a 70.3 and how my body will react, I can really set goals.  I can really work on improvement.  Before this year, I think my longest bike ride was about 50 miles, and it was a day long adventure with a lot of breaks.  This year, I topped that many, many times.  Suddenly, a 40 mile ride was a stepback week.  So mentally, I think the next season will be easier.

But having a rebuilding year wouldn’t be so bad either.  Step back, really work on short distances, focus on dropping some weight and improving my speed.

So it’s something I’ll have to debate over the next few months.  A big part of it is just going to be scheduling.  I’m not just going to do any race – I want it to be the right race with the right timing.  I have some ideas.  We’ll just see where I land.

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30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 5: Back & Glutes- Fortalece espalda y glúteos

30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 4: Twist & Roll- Tuerce y Rueda

30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 6: Low Back Tension- Fortalece y relaja la espalda baja

30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 1: Safe Start- Inicia con seguridad

30 Day Yoga for Healthy Back | Wai Lana- Day 3: Back Care- Cuidado de la espalda

Wednesday Workout Recap

kolibri5 / Pixabay

I have got to get my you-know-what into gear.

Monday – Choir rehearsals.  Yay.  “Rest” day.

Tuesday – Swim practice.  This is going to be tough to get back into, with two late nights in a row.  But I did it and it is done.

Wednesday – Trainer ride plus weights.  Not with weights.  Two different workouts.  I would fall off the trainer if I tried to do strength work while pedaling.

Thursday – Ab work and strength work.  My core is terribly weak and it is my own fault.

Friday – Trainer ride plus weights.  And a massage and early voting.  It was a productive day.

Saturday – 10 mile run.  Lovely as always.  Picked up a new fiction podcast – The Bright Sessions.  Definitely recommended.

Sunday – I was supposed to have a long trainer ride but by the time I got home from cheering and visiting with awesome friends, I was exhausted, dehydrated, and starving.  It was not a night for riding, so this workout was 100% missed.  Not good, self.  But worth it.

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Total Body Tone AMRAP Workout #9: Ciara- 10 Mins

Cheering Report – 2016 Marine Corps Marathon

Huge congrats to all of the Marine Corps Marathon and 10K runners!  This race was no joke this year.  Ridiculously warm temperatures.  I think it got up to 81 degrees out there.  Considering that we had our first frost earlier in the week, that’s just insane.  And definitely tough on the runners.

Yes, I was the girl handing out SunRype on the course.

This year was definitely a bit different.  Normally, we’re out early, catch the majority of the 10K racers and then wait to cheer on the marathoners as well.  This year, because of the Metro work, the 10K course was completely changed and we ended up just cheering the marathon.  It meant I could sleep in!  Thanks, Metro?

It’s definitely always a balance as to what to bring and how much.  This year, we had Twizzlers, beer (and cups), a few Cokes, SunRype bars, cookies, donut holes, candy, and tons of pretzels.  And we definitely ran out.  We always try to save for the 13+ minute milers, because we know how tough it is to be later in the race and have spectators already gone, so we make a point to be there and to have snacks.  We also did a lot of handing out ice from our cooler.  People were dying out there.  It was just so warm, and coming off the 14th Street bridge, where there was no shade, people were melting.

I was so impressed with all the people running.  People really did their best to push through some pretty tough conditions.  And it was awesome to be out there and feel like I was helping, even a little bit.  If you haven’t spectated a marathon before, I really recommend it.  It’s a lot of fun.

Even if you do end up with a tendinitis flare afterwards because of all of your cowbell ringing.  Only I can injure myself cheering.  Cowbell Wrist.  It’s a thing.

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Abs Builder Workout: 10 Min- BeFiT GO

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Time to cheer at MCM!

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have already seen this, but it remains one of my favorite race cheering moments.

This weekend, the Marine Corps Marathon is here again.  While I have never run the marathon and probably never will (I am a retired marathoner), this race is always on my calendar for one very important reason – Race Cheering.

I love cheering at this race.  No matter the weather.  It’s always a ton of fun.  MCM is a bucket list race for a lot of people.  It’s a race that immediately fills up and that people sometimes try for years to get into.  And it’s not an easy course.  It’s got a required minimum 14 minute per mile pace, and there are various cutoffs you have to make on the course.

My preferred cheer spot is just after one of those cutoffs – right after the 14th Street Bridge.  This is late in the race.  This year,  due to the route change, the end of the bridge is around mile 20, usually it’s closer to mile 22.   Having run the bridge in other races, it’s a tough part of any course.  It’s over a mile long, there are no spectators allowed on the bridge (though often one or two manage to sneak on), and because the bridge ends with a downhill, you can’t see the end.  It just seems to stretch on forever.

From our cheer spot, we can see the faces of people as they realize they’ve made it over the bridge.  They’re into the last miles of the race and they’re past the cutoffs.

The big thing that we all insist on doing when we cheer is that we wait for the very last runner to come through.  I’ve been at races where I’m late in the race and it’s a tough experience.  You can tell there were spectators there cheering, but they’ve mostly cleared out by then.  Just when you need that emotional push from a stranger, there’s no one there.  So we make a point to be there for all of those people coming through at the end.  It’s fun to see their faces when they realize that we’ve saved them snacks (because of course we hand out snacks).

It does sort of make the day anticlimactic.  “Was that the last person?  Yep, that was the last person.  Okay, let’s go home.”  But it’s a lot of fun, and I’ll have my cowbell out to cheer for each and every runner racing this weekend.

 

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Wednesday Workout Recap

PublicDomainPictures / Pixabay

I’ve noticed a lot of people track their annual mileage.  I used to track my run mileage, but I’ve definitely fallen off the wagon on that one.  I think for 2017, I’m going to use these recaps to add up my swim/bike/run mileage and see what I’m actually doing throughout the year.

Last week was definitely not a perfect week.  The downside to not pushing towards a big race is that I’m less motivated to get in my workouts.  But I did pretty well, I guess.

I also got some work done on my blog over the weekend.  Finally got my Race Reports page updated as well as my sidebar.  It made me realize that I’ve done a LOT of races.  And I think this is the first time that I’ve gotten this late in the year without a real plan for the next year.  Best work on that soon.

Monday – Rest Day.  I’m also back to choir rehearsals.  These are a little weird, since our director passed away unexpectedly this summer, so we’re working with guest conductors.  I definitely enjoy being there, but Monday rehearsals from 7:30-10 are tough.

Tuesday – Scheduled swim, but since I knew Wednesday’s workout was going to be a miss, I opted to get in a trainer ride and some lifting.  It also meant I got to bed early.

Wednesday – A good friend was in town, so we met for dinner.  No workout.

Thursday – Lifting. Lots of lifting.  I’m so glad to be back to regular strength work.  I never want to do it, but then I realize just how incredible it makes me feel.

Friday – Trainer ride and strength work.

Saturday – Oh, the joys of flexibility in my schedule.  I flipflopped the weekend’s workouts due to the weather.  So this became a 1:45 trainer ride.

Sunday – Gorgeous 8 mile run.  We’re having perfect running weather right now.  I know it’s not going to last, but I’m going to enjoy every single minute of it.

 

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Post Pregnancy Butt Shaper Workout: Healthy, Fit, Happy Mom

Yogalates Soothing Stretch Workout: 10 Mins- BeFiT GO

My home repairs are done!

Almost four months after I discovered a water leak in my office, the project is done!

(Okay, there’s some organization I still have to do and boxes I have to deal with, but it’s 95% done and that feels darn good.)

Let’s go back.  So back in July, I discovered a soft spot in my wall and some evidence of water leakage.  After ripping out some carpet, things did not seem good, so I called some repair companies.  Everyone figured the leak was due to some improperly placed nails outside.  No big deal.  Just some simple repairs.

Then the mold abatement company (because you always call a mold abatement company when you have water in your walls for a long time) came in and started the work.  And it turned out to be way worse than expected.

This photo is from after the mold abatement.  The white paint is all part of the abatement process.  But see that weird shape behind the third beam from the left?  That’s rotted away wood.  The white behind it isn’t paint.  It’s the wrap on the outside of the house.  Yes, at this point, all that is keeping the outside out is a piece of plastic and some improperly installed siding.  This was not awesome.

Oh yes, and to do this, I had to take everything out of my office.  You know what an English major with a law degree owns?  Books.  Lots of books.  So many books.

This is only half of the boxes.

So many repairs.  So much time.  Such poor time management from one of the contractors.  And, of course, this was all going on as I was training for Augusta.  There’s nothing less relaxing than coming home after a hard workout and being faced with all of those boxes.

But finally, the exterior work got done, and the week after Augusta, the interior work was done.

And then my office looked like this for a few weeks because I was busy.  I’m a social gal, after all.  I just had to sand and paint, but getting two coats of paint onto the walls took two weekends.  I also had to buy and assemble a new desk (the old one got damaged by the water leak and was no longer stable).  While I was at it, I picked up the filing cabinet that I’ve been thinking about getting for a few years.  I’m a grownup.  File boxes aren’t cutting it anymore.

But this weekend.  This weekend I finally finished it up.  The room isn’t perfect.  I wanted to put in better flooring.  I just have an indoor/outdoor rug that I bought a few years ago placed directly on the concrete floor.  It’s not quite the right size, but it works and I already owned it.

I’ve got to deal with a few things, hang up a few more items on the wall, and deal with the stack of filing that I’ve been ignoring.  I also need to go through all my files before I put them into the filing cabinet.  I’m a bit of a paper packrat and I think there’s some shredding to be done.

But the boxes are out of my living room and dining room.  My house looks so big now!  It’s a much nicer place to hang out in now!

Which is good because thanks to all of this work, I’m broke.

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Rebounder for Weight Loss Workout: BeFiT Trainer Open House- Lauren Roxburgh

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The One You Feed

There is a popular Cherokee parable that I’m sure you’ve heard.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.  “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.  “It is a terrible fight between two wolves.  One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorry, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”  He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.  The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person too.”

 

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

 

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

 

werner22brigitte / Pixabay

There is a lot of negativity in the world right now.  The U.S. elections definitely aren’t helping anything, but this isn’t just about elections.  It’s also about people who think body shaming or race finish time shaming is okay.  After all, if you’re doing it from behind a computer screen, who cares?  It’s not as if you’ll ever meet that person.  Heck, you can even do it with your real name on Facebook and get away with it.

But even if you can get away with negativity – why?  People often say “If you put negativity into the world, you will get negativity back.”  Now, I’m not saying that you should look at life with rose colored glasses.  There is a lot of stuff out there to get angry about.  And I’m certainly no blissed out hippie walking around emanating peace, but it’s not a bad idea to take a look at your reactions to what’s going on around you.  You should also look at where you’re spending your time online.  Do you frequent sites that mock other people?  Maybe that’s not the best place to be spending your time.  You only serve to feed the angry wolf inside you.

I agree that there are some people out there who I think are ridiculous, who perhaps I would mock if given the opportunity – but I try to rise above those urges.  Humor at another person’s expense really isn’t funny, and even if the other person doesn’t know, by giving into that sort of humor, I’m really only hurting myself by letting that sort of negativity in.

I’m not recommending some drastic life change.  Just maybe consider this parable.  After all, it’s popular for a reason.  And consider which wolf you are feeding in yourself.  Maybe that evil wolf is getting a little too chubby for his own good.

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The Internet Bullies are At It Again

So it’s Wednesday, which is usually a workout recap day for me, but something happened on the internet yesterday that I wanted to talk about.  The internet bullies came out in full force.  I wasn’t their target, but that doesn’t make me any less angry and disappointed about what happened.

To briefly summarize:

A woman who ran Augusta 70.3 (who I had “met” in a Facebook group and who seems pretty darn nice) posted in a Facebook group about an experience she had.  She was wearing her Augusta finisher’s gear and a stranger came up to her and told her that it was inappropriate for people who didn’t do a race to wear finisher’s gear.  She considers herself a “bigger triathlete” so I guess this person didn’t think she had the right look to have finished a 70.3.

Does this look like a triathlete? Yes, because I’m finishing a triathlon.

That’s a feeling a lot of triathletes have.  “I’m too big to do this.”  Sure, it’s easier to bike up hills if you’re carrying less weight.  It’s part of the reason I’m working to drop some pounds – I want to get faster.  Does it mean that I can’t do it at my current weight?  Nope.  Does it mean that I couldn’t do it 20 pounds heavier?  Nope.  So this woman wanted to share her story, share her frustration, and also her pride at having finished the race.

For the most part, people were friendly, congratulating her for having a good comeback to the guy, applauding her pushing through and finishing.

Then someone decided to go look up her finishing time.  (This is an a**hole move to begin with, let’s be honest.)  Turns out, she was an official DNF at Augusta.  Different race companies have different rules, but for IRONMAN races, if you finish over 8:30, you are officially a DNF.  They still let you finish, they still give you your finisher’s hat and your medal, but you just don’t have an official time.  Did you then finish the race?  I think so.  Maybe you’re not official, but you covered the distance.  It’s a very different situation from races where they give you a medal even if you get swept.  I suppose technically, you’re not a finisher, but you pushed through, got to the finish line, and now you have a goal to beat.

(As an aside, my personal opinion on this has more to do with what you put into the race.  Did you follow your training plan?  If you got sick or injured and had to miss some training, that happens, of course.  But if you put in the work, and on race day, things just didn’t go your way, you deserve that finish.  If you didn’t train, thought you could just rest on your laurels, and showed up and got an official DNF, well maybe you shouldn’t be getting all the accolades.  Heck, if you didn’t train and finished within the time limits, you probably shouldn’t be getting all the accolades.)

This guy calling her out on the official DNF didn’t stop there.  While plenty of people were still saying she had every right to wear the gear, others started to pile on the negativity.  And then it got worse.  Someone created a Facebook group to make fun of her as well as others, using her finisher picture as the header picture.  But this wasn’t just a private group.  No, they actually invited people they wanted to bully to the group.

People.  How old are we?  This is incredibly childish (actually, I think it’s an insult to children to refer to these idiots as such).  What is the point?  How awful must you feel about yourself to bully someone from behind a keyboard?

The fact that this was happening got shared in a few different Facebook groups I’m in.  And people were supportive and angry at the bullies.  But what makes me sad is that even though there were all these amazing voices out there, those mean voices are still going to cut through for a lot of people.  And some people who are new to triathlon, who are just considering their first race are going to end up stepping away because they don’t look like a “typical” triathlete and don’t want people making fun of them.

The thing is, 99% of the triathletes I have met are AMAZING people.  They don’t care how fast or how slow you are.  At Kona, it’s pretty much tradition that the winners come back out late in the evening to give the last finishers their medals.  You see it happen at other races as well, and it’s not unusual at any distance to see finishers cheering on the people still racing.  Because we all run the same race.

Don’t let the mean people scare you off.  And don’t let the mean people suck you in either.  Making fun of another person is not the way to feel better about yourself.  We’re all better than this.

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Total Body Sculpt AMRAP Workout #11: Chelsea- 10 Mins

Booty Maker Pilates Workout: BeFiT GO- 10 Min

Once again, back to reality

I found this slide while out on my run. It looks like it belongs in 1985.

This weekend, it was back to reality.  First weekend of normal training since Augusta 70.3.  At first, I thought I had a 12 mile run on the calendar, but was delighted to discover that it was only 8.  Of course, those 12s are coming up soon, with Space Coast on the horizon.  While that’s rarely a goal race for me just because the early morning humidity usually kicks my ass, I think this year, I’d like to really push it, see how strong I can run.  Of course, that means training.

I also decided to see what this Pokemon Go addiction is all about, so I had the app on while I ran.  I think I get it.  Collecting virtual creatures is strange, but also kind of fun.  And hey, if it motivates people to get out and get moving, I’m all for it.

I also had an almost two hour trainer ride on my schedule.  Yes, for the off-season.  I know that the place where I have the most room for improvement is on the bike, and so my goal is to pick up at least 1 mph on my average pace.  It helps that I really enjoy structured trainer rides, at least for now.  I can turn on the tv or listen to an audiobook or a podcast and just focus in on my workout.

This week, I’m back to normal Monday night choir rehearsals.  I didn’t sing our last concert because too many rehearsals conflicted with big 70.3 training days and I knew that I had to prioritize or I was going to burn out.  I’m definitely excited to go back, but I’m wondering how I’m going to make this all fit.  I leave for work at around 7am (usually a little earlier, as traffic has gotten heavier everywhere with all the construction on Metro) and on Monday nights, I won’t be getting home til about 10:30.  Tuesday nights are team swim (moved recently from Thursday), which means another late night where I’m out til about 9:30.  The big priorities are going to be making sure I get as much sleep as possible and don’t let my exhaustion mean I’m eating a bunch of junk.  For whatever reason, when I’m exhausted, I just want unhealthy snacks, which we all know aren’t going to help the tiredness.

How was everyone else’s weekend?

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Motivation, or Why I Race

PublicDomainPictures / Pixabay

While my race season certainly isn’t over for the year (I still have Space Coast in November), my triathlon season certainly is.  And already, I’m feeling my motivation wane.

This is a big part of why I race.  Don’t get me wrong – I love racing.  I love the sense of accomplishment.  Augusta 70.3 was so incredibly hard and yet so incredibly worth it for me.  I’m proud of what I accomplished and I’m looking forward to improving on that accomplishment in the year to come.

But really, I schedule races throughout the year so that I have something I’m training for.  If I don’t have a goal on the schedule, something I’m determined to succeed at (or at least not fail at), I’m hard pressed for motivation.

Yes, I know exercise is good for me.  Yes, I know it will help me lose the weight I’m perpetually trying to drop.  But some days, I just don’t want to.  Not for any particular reason, just because I’m feeling lazy.  And if I don’t have a race I’m working towards, I have that much less incentive to actually do the workout.

Over the summer, I stuck hard to my training schedule and it paid off.  I did miss workouts when I wasn’t feeling well, but those were few and far between, and they were when skipping the workout was the smartest thing to do.  But now, my next triathlon is months and months away.  Do I really need to go to the pool?  No.  But I should go anyway.  It’s good for me and I actually enjoy it once I’m there.

So this is a big part of why I race.  I need the added motivation.  I wish I could be one of those people who exercise every day because they love how it makes them feel.  Nope.  I just don’t want to embarrass myself at my next race.

Hey, whatever works.

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Wednesday Workout Recap

My diet needs to look a whole lot more like this. Except my home will never be this fancy. jill111 / Pixabay

Well, it’s back to real life.  Back to training, and possibly more importantly, back to eating like a normal person, not like a person who is training for a 70.3.

Monday – Rest Day.  This was actually a big day.  The repair work in my office finally got done, so now I can paint and then maybe I can finally get all the junk out of my living room and back where it belongs.

Tuesday – Team Fight Swim.  Tough as always, but a lot of fun.  It’s hard to convince myself to swim when it’s cold, but I need to keep showing up.

Wednesday – Trainer ride followed by a weights workout.  Yes, I’m finally getting back to strength work.  This has been my biggest failing and I need to step it up over the winter.

Thursday – Ab work.  Apparently, my core is stupidly weak.  This is terrible all around.

Friday – Trainer ride

Saturday – Rest Day

Sunday – Army Ten Miler!

One more race left for the year.  I can’t believe how quickly things seem to be flying.  I guess that’s what happens when you’re busy all the time.

 

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Race Report: Army Ten Miler

On Sunday, I ran the 32nd annual Army Ten Miler.  This was my 8th running of the race.  Considering that I’ve only lived here 9 years, that’s a pretty good record.

What can I say about this race?  I love it.  I always enjoy the ten mile distance, and this race has exceptional atmosphere.  It’s a big race – 35,000 people – but if anyone can handle organization in a race that size, it’s the Army.

Of course, in a race like this, there is a ton of patriotism.  Lots of people running in honor of fallen soldiers.  Lots of Wounded Warriors participating in the race.  Lots of people running carrying giant flags.  It’s a really positive atmosphere.

This year was a bit more complicated since Metro isn’t opening early for races.  Shannon and I drove and got to the parking garage around 5:30.  My wave didn’t start til close to 9am, so we were definitely there earlier than we needed to be, but with the closed roads and large number of people driving in, I don’t regret the decision to get there so early.

It was actually raining in the morning as well, though it stopped before the race started.  I wonder how many people stayed away due to Metro and the weather.  Looking at the results, it looks like about 24,000 people finished.  Last year, there were 26,300, and around the same in 2014 as well.  So the numbers definitely were down.

While it didn’t rain, it was super windy.  I’m not sure how the people carrying giant flags handled the last bit of the race without blowing over.

My race turned out spectacularly.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, just two weeks out from Augusta.  (I have to admit, Augusta feels SO long ago at this point.  I can’t believe it’s been just over two weeks.)  My coach warned me that it was going to suck.  Surprisingly, it didn’t.

A bit part of that was that my friend Tricia and I ran into each other, so we ran the race together.  I don’t see her very often, so it was awesome to catch up and chat for those ten miles.  Made them go much faster than I expected.

Finished in 2:14ish, which I can’t be disappointed by.  I would have liked to be under 2:10, but given what I was coming off of, I think that was probably overly ambitious.  Either way, I finished, had a great time, and felt great.

Unfortunately, the next day I was super sore, likely from being so very cold before the race.  I wasn’t really warmed up when I started.  Ideally, I would have started slower, but who can manage that in a race?  I think I was more sore after this race than I was after Augusta!

Now, on to the next adventure.

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Off-Season Training Plan

Peggy_Marco / Pixabay

First off, definitely thinking about everyone in the path of Hurricane Matthew.  Stay safe, everyone.

Now that my triathlon season is officially over, I’m into the off season and getting started with my off season training plan.  It’s not that I’m not racing, of course.  I’ve got a ten miler this weekend and two half marathons over the winter (both in Florida).  So there will definitely be plenty of quality time on my treadmill this winter.

But I also need to seriously focus on my biking, and more importantly my strength work and my diet.  Like a lot of runners and triathletes, as my race training really picked up, both strength work and proper meal planning really fell by the wayside.  I ate well about 75% of the time, though the meals weren’t anything exciting.  Lots of randomly throwing together protein and veggies to make a meal.  And when that’s happening, it’s so much easier to make an excuse to eat out and perhaps not make the smartest choices.

Don’t get me wrong – cookies will always have a place in my diet.  Just not as a meal.

Strength work is something that most of us forget when it comes to training.  I’m already swimming, biking, and running.  I need to find time to lift weights too?

Yes.  Yes you do.  And you don’t need a fancy gym membership to do it.  There are plenty of body weight exercises you can do, and picking up a few hand weights isn’t terribly expensive.  My weight system involves a series of hand weights I’ve picked up over the years (ranging from 5 pounds to 15 pounds, though I’d like to need something heavier by the end of the winter) and some exercise bands.

And since we live in a time of awesome technology, you can find all sorts of weight lifting videos on YouTube.  Plenty of great instructional clips out there to help you figure out what to do with those weights now that you’ve got them.

I picked up the weights Wednesday night once again (I’ve been doing some minimal stuff, but not a real quality workout) and it’s clear how much strength I’ve lost by redirecting my focus.  I figured it was possible, but didn’t realize just how hard the workout would be.  So it’s good that I’m back to regular lifting.  I need to make it a goal to continue strength workouts during the heavy training, especially core work, which will help prevent injury.

Do you include strength work in your routine?  How do you manage to fit it all in?  What are your favorite strength workouts?

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