Racewalking video

Cool video of some technique drills ... it's in Spanish, but who cares? I just liked getting some new ideas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kknArA_TrWo&mode=related&search

Ewwwww

We're still working on putting mortar on the leaky spots on our fish pond. Today I was out there doing another round of mortaring, and noticed something icky in the pond. Couldn't tell what it was, as the pond has a lot of algae at the moment... but flies were landing on it. I figured one of our fish had died. So, I got a small rake and scooped it and some of the algae out of the pond. It was a dead RAT. UGH! Really really disgusting. Ewwwwww.

On the bright side, I'm hoping the new round of mortar takes, and that we can actually run the water where it's supposed to go :).

Sweet workout

Today I decided for my lactate threshold workout that I would do a mock 5K along the route of the 5K I'm going to do in just over 3 weeks. My goal for that race is under 30 min.

So, after doing a 15 min easy warmup (racewalked at an easy pace to Liberty Park), I did the 5K. I pushed pretty hard (could it have been harder at points? maybe...but the end was all-out), and finished in 29:23!!! Now, to be fair, I did have a few (3-4?) 15-30 second rest breaks waiting for lights to change, as the race course is in the city. And I think the real race might be slightly farther (does it cross 4th South?) but only by a few meters (10?) I'd guess.

The net result is this --- I'm really close to being able to do under 30 min. I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can. We'll see.

After my workout, I cooled down with a pleasant easy racewalk back home.

By the way, my dog Copper is getting fast too. She kept up with me the whole time! (I didn't bring Sahara today because she tends to poop on the sidewalk, and I didn't want to have to stop to pick it up. Usually it's OK, but today with the mock 5K I didn't want to be bothered).

new website!

Wasatch Walkers now has its own website - www.wasatchwalkers.com

Check it out! I'm very pleased with the way it's looking. I put our Ogden Marathon Relay results up there, as well as some links to pics of us walking.

Ogden Marathon Relay photos

Here I am on my leg (about 5.7ish miles) of the Ogden Marathon Relay with the Wasatch Walkers.

@#$(*& SPRINKLERS!

Memo to whoever does the sprinklers at the East High track: SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO WORK OUT AT 6 AM AND WE DO NOT LIKE GETTING WET, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS 42 DEGREES OUTSIDE! IT IS @#$&%$ COLD!!!

Yes, nothing like doing intervals through sprinklers when it is freezing cold. Would have driven to another track, but I didn't have time before work. It was really frustrating. I still went pretty darn fast, though. I can do intervals at 5-10 seconds under my desired race pace of 6 min/km for the upcoming 5K, but I'm not sure I can sustain that pace for the whole 5K. Today I did 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 1K, 400m, 200m, with 200m recovery inbetween each. I wanted to do 800m and 600m on the way down, but ran out of time. Some of my intervals were a little more than the above due to going AROUND the darn sprinklers. It was windy, so they were watering the track more than the grass. ARRRGH!

A busy but great day

Today was very busy, but very good. I started off the day with an 8-mile racewalk, slow and easy. It felt pretty darn relaxed and wonderful. My time was slow (ave 11:16 mile), but that was fine, as I wanted to take it easy and just get in some miles.

Then it was quick quick shower, feed the kids, and off to church. Enjoyed chatting with some new people after the service.

A fast stop at home to change clothes was in order, and then it was off to Home Depot with the family to pick up some supplies for our weekend project (more to come).

Got home, fed the kids lunch and left them in their daddy's capable hands for their nap, changed into my workout gear again, and made a sandwich. Then I was out the door and drove to Dorothy's for a ride up Millcreek Canyon. We started halfway up, at the gate, both to avoid the traffic and to have a shorter yet still challenging ride.

After the ride, I headed home and the kids had just gotten up from their nap 30 minutes prior, so my timing was pretty good. Then we started in on our project. We re-routed the incoming water from our fish pond (fed by a natural spring) around the edge of the pond and then bailed water out to lower the pond level. I mixed the mortar, and Loren applied it to the corner that was leaking horribly. Michelle and I went back in to make dinner (well, she played with the pots and pans and the measuring cups while I made dinner), and meanwhile, Loren and Calvin pulled out a bunch of ivy that we didn't want.

After dinner, we went back outside to finish the job. We lined our stream with black PVC sheeting, and put beautiful little red rocks in it. I must say that it is looking 100% better. Tomorrow we're going to tackle the horrible weeds around the fish pond, but for now, it's off to bed! I need the rest, after my busy but good day. Below are before & after pics of the stream.

Small World

Tonight we went to a neighborhood bbq in the alley near our house. I met a woman there who lives down the street w/her husband and twin boys. She is a molecular biologist, too, and she worked at Myriad Genetics until she had her twins in December. She used to work with a friend of mine that I know from working at the U. Her husband is a dermatology resident at the U. And, she plays the piano. How weird is that? We have essentially the same career, and both like music. Our husbands are both in medicine (well, Loren WAS in medicine, and still sort of is, since he's doing informatics). I hope we'll get more chances to talk and hang out. She's pretty busy with her boys, so she doesn't get out much. I suppose I'll have to go down the street and say hello one of these days! It really is a small world.

Wasatch Walkers!

It's official! The Wasatch Walkers had our organizational meeting tonight, and we are getting the club off the ground. Diane Teece, our organizing force, led the meeting and we had about 15 walkers attend. I am going to be creating a website for us soon, so stay tuned. I'm very excited to be a part of the club, especially considering that until Dave's clinic a month ago I didn't know ANY other walkers in SLC. We already have workout times and get together for training, and we plan to add in some other informational sessions on topics such as racewalking, cross-training, nutrition/weight loss, etc. We are going to be participating in some races together as well - next on the list is the Art Attack 5K on June 23rd.

Toddlers and ice cream, part 2

Toddlers and ice cream, part 1

Confidence somewhat restored

Last weekend, my racewalking frustration was running high. I had Loren videotape me walking, and I swear it really looked like I was "creeping" (bending my knees as they passed under my body). I worked hard all week on improving things, and today at the Ogden Marathon I had a chance to have Jennifer, a super-fast local racewalker, take a look at my form. She said it looked good to her - no creeping! There were things I could improve, of course, but at least she didn't think I was creeping. I had fellow Wasatch Walker Kathy also take a look, and it looked good to her too. Phew. Big relief.

So, I did the Ogden Marathon Relay today with 13 other Wasatch Walkers. We were on 3 teams of 5 each (except Jennifer's team, which had 4, because she wanted the first two legs). I was to walk a 5 mile stretch for the 3rd leg. Well, I got to what was supposed to be mile 5, and lo and behold, no one was there! I had paced myself to do 5 miles and no more, so I was pretty trashed, but kept on going. Finally about mile 5.6-5.8 (the Garmins among us varied), I found the relay finish. Despite the pacing issues, I did the leg in 58:43, which is a 10:08-10:29 pace per mile, depending on whose Garmin you believe :). Considering that it was HORRIBLY hot out there, and I had a good uphill stretch, I am pretty pleased with my time. It was a good day.

Got a nod

Loren entered me in this contest (One Stylish Mother), and while I didn't win, I got mentioned in the first paragraph of the article.

Check it out

A blast from the past

I can't believe it... but tonight we saw one of these in the parking lot near Shopko in SugarHouse. Yes, a 1983 powder blue Yamaha Riva 180cc scooter. The EXACT model that I owned from 1989-1991, my last 2 years in college. I drove it all over San Diego and now have dirt permanently embedded in my knee after my front tire blew out driving on "the 5" as it is affectionately known in California. Wow, did it bring back memories. The cute little glove compartment where I kept a spare spark plug (hey, it only needs one!) and a screwdriver, the nifty rear view mirror, and the amazing blue color. I remember cruising along the beach near Del Mar with Loren on the back, enjoying the ocean view and the fresh air. I remember the really cool black leather gloves, my denim jacket, and the white helmet w/the red and blue stripes. I also remember how scary it was to get back on after the accident... and how glad I was to finally buy a car when the scooter was stolen on the day of my last final in college - how weird is that?

Non-racewalking news

Enough walking stuff. Other news lately:

1) Got a new cell phone because my old one had some serious problems (buttons weren't working). I got a Nokia 6126, and it rocks. It has a sweet color screen and a very nice 1.3 mp camera.

2) Work has been somewhat stressful with a grant deadline approaching. I'm surviving though. I got a few extra hours in and made a little extra money, but it left me pretty tired last week. This week has been better, mostly.

3) I stink at Super Scrabble. My dad and my brother have beaten me every game this year. ARRRGH!

4) Nice husband is trying to spoil me for Mother's Day weekend, so I need to go hang out with him :). We went to Baskin Robbins tonight and I had a Kissables Sundae. Pretty good, but probably not worth the 21 points, all in all. At least I had saved up so it was legal :).

Next race

By the way, I resolved my dilemma about what race to do next. Found out the Utah Summer Games race is NOT a judged racewalk, so I'm just going to stay here in SLC and do the Art Attack 5K on June 23rd (Michelle's birthday). The race is in the morning, so I can still have the whole day with my little princess :)!

I'm hoping to do under 30 minutes --- we'll see! I think I can do it. Last week I did a workout of 6K and finished in just under 36 minutes, so I expect I can do the 5K faster. However, race day brings jitters, adrenaline, etc., and that might slow me down. Plus I'm trying to fix my stupid bent knees problem, so I may not be able to go that fast legally. Hopefully things will come together in the next 6 weeks for me.

How serious am I?

How serious am I about racewalking? I need to consider this. I started doing it as a way to get more exercise w/o the impact of running. But now I'm realizing that IF I manage to learn to improve my technique a little so I'm really legal, I could have some potential to actually do well in races. I have NEVER ever been good at anything athletic, so it's tempting to consider.

The dilemmas?
1. Most races that are judged are NOT held anywhere near Utah. It would be expensive to travel to enter some of them.
2. I really need to fix my technique. I am still "creeping" a little - my knees are not quite straight when they pass under my body. I am working on it, but it's hard w/o a real coach. There really aren't any coaches in Utah, either, though there is at least one walker in Ogden who might be able to help me out a little.
3. I should probably lose another 10 lbs if I want to be competitive. I can do this easily (I think), but I'm not sure I want to. Then I'd have to buy all new pants again, too.
4. It might be hard on Loren if I started to train more seriously.

I am thinking that maybe I should consider losing a little more weight and working a bit more on my technique with the help of videotaping and perhaps a little coaching from wherever I can get it. I could see how I'm doing after that and see if I am still into the whole thing.

Maybe I should just forget about it, though... I have been told that I have potential, so that makes me want to do it, but is it just my competitive nature rearing its ugly head? Or is this something worthwhile to pursue further? I just don't know.