more cross-training

Another day, some more cross-training. Wheeeeeeeee. Well, on the bright side, at least I can still do that. I did 40 min on the video bike, chasing down the pacer in his yellow shirt. Then I did 25 min on the elliptical.

Tomorrow: more of the same, plus weights, plus foot PT.

My foot isn't hurting at all any more. While that's good, it's probably only because I'm not racewalking :(. Yeah, I'm in a kind of down mood. Please don't tell me to just cheer up and focus on the positive. I know what I SHOULD do, but it's not so easy, OK?

Here's my Garmin data from this morning, if anyone cares.

biking

Originally I was supposed to do 15K w/2x12' fast segments today. But my foot intervened, and so I was re-assigned to cross-training for 2 days. Bummer. I'm icing it right now, and have already iced it once today. It doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday, which is good, but I can tell it's still not so great.

So I went biking this morning. It was warm enough that I dared to bike outside; we've been having a warm September, and it's been glorious weather. I am grateful for it! It was 55F, and that is shorts and T-shirt weather for racewalking, but not for biking. I did wear shorts, but opted for a long-sleeved shirt and brought along a jacket and gloves for the downhill part. I needed them!

As I biked I noticed the km splits - I was biking uphill, but they were still pretty slow. Good thing I'm a racewalker, not a cyclist! And granted, I do have a very heavy road-mountain bike hybrid, good for commuting but not so good for racing. I wasn't even going as fast as a good runner, going up the hill anyway. Coming down was much quicker.

Uphill 40 min, downhill 18 min. Total 58 min. Ave HR 131 (that includes the downhill, so not too bad!).

Garmin connect data here.

foot is achy

My left foot, the one I injured last summer, is aching again. It's the peroneus longus tendinitis acting up. It's not hurting a lot, but it's definitely noticeable again, even when not racewalking. I noticed it once or twice during the last week but wrote it off, thinking it was nothing. Last night it was bugging me and I thought it was the shoes I was wearing or something. But this morning on my walk I was sure it was the tendonitis :(. So, after 4K of a planned 10K I turned toward home and only completed 5K. Then I went to the gym and did the elliptical (which doesn't aggravate that injury) to finish out the 1 hr 5 min it would have taken me to do 10K. I followed that up with a bunch of my PT exercises for my foot. I'm not sure what to do now, but I'm hoping that if I do the PT exercises faithfully again and take some anti-inflammatories that maybe I won't have to scale back too much on the racewalking. We'll see. I'm not a happy camper right now at all. In fact, I'm pretty upset.

Garmin connect data here.

12K kickdown

This kickdown was MUCH better than last week's 10K kickdown. That was a relief. It's still a hard workout, but it felt a little less horrible today! It just felt hard, instead of wishing-I-was-dead hard.

I was to do 12K in four segments of 3K. The first at 6:30/k, the second at 6:20/k, the third at 6:10/k, and the fourth all-out.

I felt pretty good for the first 6K, and paced myself well, except that the 3rd km was a bit slow (10 sec) and the 4th a bit fast (10 sec). It didn't get too hard until about 8km, when I started to notice I was a bit tired. Of course, km 9-12 were painful, being all-out. But at least I was fast today!

Here are my splits (the watch rounds down, so it doesn't quite add up, but close enough):
6:28
6:26
6:42 (19:36)
6:10
6:19
6:20 (18:49)
6:08
6:12
6:12 (18:32)
5:48
5:41 (!)
5:52 (17:23)
Total 1:14:25 (new PR for 12k kickdown, though only by 4 seconds; and I've only done one other one, but still, it was a good one today - on my other one the last 3K was 17:43, so this is much better!).

Notice that my last 5K was 29:47!!! Pretty good after doing 7K! And the last 3K in 17:23 is pretty nice, too. I was very happy with this workout. I seem to be on an upward swing of better workouts. Finally!

Garmin connect data here.

cross-training...sort of...

I was to cross-train today. I thought about biking but I had book club this afternoon at 4 pm, so decided biking was out because that would be too much stuff in the afternoon (we were at my parents' house to watch football as well). I could have biked this morning I guess, but I thought it might be chillier than I'd like. So I decided to do an aerobics/light weight lifting video this morning instead. It's by "The Firm" and I've done it many times before, but it's been a while. Like a long while. Several years? Well, I discovered that said video is now waaaaay too easy for me. I did spend 45 minutes doing it, but the aerobics segments got my heart rate up to 125 at best, and the weight training segments, though harder, were too easy as well. I think my max HR was about 135 even on the hardest part. At least I got moving, did some toning, and the video does have a decent abs/core workout. Still...I think I'm going to have to come up with something different for cross-training. That one's not going to cut it anymore! Kind of a good feeling, but sad, too - I liked that video, and it's convenient for bad weather. The gym doesn't open until 10 am on Sundays, so that makes things tricky.

Going to bed now. I have a 12K kickdown in the morning!

20K

Today was awesome. I felt great! I love the long ones when I feel good. I knew after about 4km that it was going to be a good one, as I was fast and felt like I could go that speed forever. About 15km I did start to feel tired, but didn't slow my pace much at all.

It was nice cool weather - 50-52 degrees F (10-11C) and calm. I think that helps my pace a lot. I feel I do much better when it's less than 55 degrees; less than 60 is OK too, though 50-55 is just about perfect. I wear shorts and a T-shirt if it's above 50, and if it's 45-50 I usually bring gloves and might wear a long-sleeved shirt. Less than 45 finds me in capris, a long-sleeved shirt, and gloves for sure. Anyway, today's weather was wonderful, which helped quite a bit. In addition, I turned off the light at 9:15 last night, and slept like a rock until 4:50 am when my alarm clock went off. I felt pretty good when I woke up!

My friend Sarah joined me for the first 10km, and it was wonderful to have someone to talk with, even if we only overlapped for about half that time (she does Galloway run/walk and I would lose her when she walked but she'd catch up on the run). She set a new PR for 10K this morning - it was 1:04:27 or something; my 10K was 1:03:46 (actually 10.06k on Garmin) but that's because 1) I messed with my watch 0.8km in and stopped it to do so because I wasn't walking, and 2) I also stopped my watch briefly when I dropped a water bottle.

Forgot to turn on the auto lap until 0.8km and so then it was a bit off, but you can still see the splits :). The slowest one was 6:31, and the fastest was 6:10. I kept being surprised by how speedy my splits were, as I didn't feel I was working THAT hard. My HR did show that I was working, though, as the average for the whole workout was 149.

I had pretty even splits: 1:03:46 for the first 10.06km and 1:03:13 for the second 9.94km.

Totals: 20km (12.43 miles) in 2:06:59 for 6:21/km or 10:13/mile. Nice! It's good to have more iron, and thus more oxygen to the muscles :).

Garmin connect data here.

You never know what to expect

I woke feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. I was so tired, and hadn't slept well at all. I figured my workout might not be so great, and didn't want to get started. But surprisingly, it went very well!

My muscles were sore this morning from my weight training yesterday. Triceps, glutes, and hamstrings were all a bit sore, and quads too. However, the sore glutes actually helped my workout - I knew when my form was good and when I was using my glutes more because of the soreness!

I was to do 12K with 2x12' fast segments (threshold pace; about 6:10/km or @ my threshold HR in the low 160s) and 2x12' recoveries (6:50/km or so) and the rest normal speed (6:30/km). I started out downhill pretty fast, but my heart rate was under control, so I figured it was fine. I did the first 2K in 12:29, with ave HR of 140 (lap 1). The next 3 laps (2-4), I did the 12' fast, pushing lap at each km to gauge my pace. These were FAST, but my HR was low for the speed, so I figured it was OK. I was SO surprised when I pushed lap for the first km and it said 5:45!!! My ave HR for that lap was just 157, and I was feeling fine, so I continued, and the next km was 5:52, with ave HR 161. Then I had 24 more seconds of my 12 min, and continued the same pace (ave HR 162).

The first recovery segment was next (lap 5) and I did 6:36/km with ave HR of 149 for the segment. I was feeling rested when I started lap 6, which was to be a normal speed (6:30/km) for 1km before starting my next fast segment. I did 1.02 km in 6:32, for 6:25/km, with ave HR of 152 (lap 6). Then it was time to kick it up a notch again for 12' fast. I did the next km in 6:02 with ave HR 159 (lap 7), and in the remaining 5:58 (lap 8) I managed 0.97km with ave HR 162, for 6:09/km. Pretty good! I was pleased!

I finished my workout with a second recovery segment (lap 9) at 6:47/km and ave HR 150, followed by a return to "normal" speed on the last uphill, with 6:27/km and ave HR of 155.

Total time for 12K: 1:15:49, for 6:19/km. Nice speedy workout :) and I felt good. It just goes to show that you never know what to expect. Sometimes when you feel rotten you have a good workout anyway. Sometimes when you feel good (like I did on Wednesday) you have a lousy workout. So, the moral of the story is that you should get out there and do your workout. You'll never regret doing it, even if it doesn't go well, because you'll feel better for having exercised.

Garmin connect data here.

optional day

Today was an optional day. I opted for no cardio. I felt I needed a rest after yesterday's disastrous kickdown. I did, however, go to work at 6 am, work for an hour, then go to the gym and lift weights for an hour, then returned to work.

Tonight I'm a bit sore from lifting - mostly hamstrings (did ball curls) & triceps (skull-crushers). I'm also tired. Off to bed so I can sleep 8 hours before my 12K with 2x12' fast segments tomorrow.

how NOT to do a 10K kickdown

I was feeling good and ready to do this workout. My hamstrings were a bit tired this morning, but I think it was from the one-legged bridges more so than from racewalking. Other than that, I was ready to go. Too ready.

I went out too fast, and then my pacing was irregular and awful. I felt like I settled in during the second 2.5K, but I was still going too fast for the most part. Then I paid for it. By 6.5K I was hurting, and by 8.5K I pretty much mentally gave up, but finished the workout as best as I could.

Chalk this one up to a learning experience. It was not a kickdown, but rather, a butt-kicking. And I did it all myself.

I wish I'd done this on a track, because I have to wonder about some of the GPS splits. They just seemed off - I had one 500m split of 3:23, and it seemed to me there was NO WAY I was going that slow. Problem is that I'm a bit reluctant to use the track because the Army guys have been there a lot and it's been very crowded. Still, maybe I should have done that.

Like I said, chalk it up to a learning experience.

Oh, yeah? How slow was I? Well, the first 5K was 31:41, when it should have been 16:15+15:50 = 32:05. Then I paid, because my total time was 62:20. The last 5K should have been in 15:25+15:00 or less = 30:25 or less, and it was 30:39. Not good at all.

2.5K splits: 16:01 (supposed to be 16:15), 15:40 (supposed to be 15:50), 15:33 (supposed to be 15:25), and 15:06 (should easily have been under 15...but not with how stupidly I did this!). The 0.5K splits are too awful to put here. Go to Garmin connect if you really must see them, but if I were you I'd skip it. (And here I was proud that I figured out how to do Auto Lap on my Garmin. UGH!).

The good news? I'm not injured, I still got in a good hard anaerobic workout, I felt good when it was over (haha), and I get to try again on Monday with a 12K kickdown. And to be kind to myself, it's been quite a while since I've done a kickdown, and I have only done 4 others total, so I suppose there is going to be a bit of a learning curve. There are lots more this season to practice on. I'm pretty mad at myself for this.

Note to my coach: don't get all worried. I'll be fine. I just need to be mad for a bit and then I'll move on and will do better next time. It's behind me now.

12K

I was a little tired this morning, mostly because I stayed up late watching the Saints-49ers game. At least the 49ers made a game of it, but sadly, they lost.

I started off pretty well, doing 12:30-12:50 for my first three 2K splits, but then I slowed down. Like I said, a little tired. Some of it was probably from yesterday's hard workout. I hope I recover well enough to do another hard one tomorrow. I'm scheduled for a 10K kickdown. I think I'll be ready.

I finished in 1:17:45 for 6:28/km on average, with ave HR 146.

Garmin connect data here.

***

Then I did some weight training and abs with Lisa. Nothing too remarkable; one-legged bridges, calf raises, hip abductors, lateral raises, bench press w/dumbbells, row.

My boss was on the front page today

My bosh Josh was on the front page for a study he did re: H1N1 flu and neurological complications. The bottom line? Get your kids vaccinated!!! Flu is not something to mess around with.


http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50299401-76/flu-neurological-seasonal-utah.html.csp

8K fartlek

I worked hard to get myself psyched up this morning. I was genuinely happy to be able to do a hard RW workout, though I will admit that I do still dread the pain of the hard ones. (I had some great comments on a FB post I made about that - very interesting, and a relief to know others feel the same). However, the pain is tempered by success, and this morning was pretty successful I'd say.

I was to do 1K hard then alternate 500m medium/500m hard to 8K total. The usual. I was hoping for sub 2:50s on the hard and about 3:10 on the medium; I had to settle for sub 2:53s on the hard and most of the medium (except for 1) sub-3:11. Still, for me, this was very good compared to earlier in the spring. My total time was 47:58, which was almost a minute faster than my previous best 8K fartlek (48:49). To make it sweeter, the previous best 8K fartlek was a 500m/500m/1k/1k/2k/1k/1k/500m/500m, which has more fast segments than the one I did today. So I was considerably faster today! The best part was that I was quite consistent. I even managed a 2:47 on the last 500m, though my HR did hit 177 (yeah, I really went for it).

I felt pretty good for the first 5-6km, and definitely tired on the last 2km. Now, at lunch time, I'm a bit stiff, so I know I really worked hard. It didn't seem as brutal to do as I'd imagined last week, when I was in a funk about hard workouts. Yeah, it hurt, but I really made an effort to give it my best positive self-talk (a Weight Watchers technique!), and I thought about how strong I felt, and how I was lucky to be able to be out there uninjured, and how good it feels to be able to push yourself. I thought about my dad, who is having back surgery on Thursday for stenosis of his spine, and how he can barely walk 10 feet. That made me feel extra grateful for being able to do it, and I think it really motivated me. I know he's really proud of me for losing the weight and for my racewalking accomplishments; yesterday I told him more about the 50K and he seems so happy that I'm able to do it. Thinking positively today was a huge step in the right direction for this fall's training.

Garmin connect data here for 8K fartlek.

***

Oh, forgot to post about yesterday's workout. I was to cross-train, so I took a bike ride with Dorothy. It was very hot Indian Summer here yesterday - 90F (32C)! But I didn't feel too hot on the bike, because it was also WINDY. Very windy. Really windy. Get the picture? ;)

Dorothy and I biked from the park-n-ride at 3500 East (about 8100S) on Wasatch Blvd down to where Wasatch meets 1700E in Draper. It was a hilly route, but fun. I didn't push very hard, and my ave HR was about 131. It took us 1 hr 27 min to do the very hilly 24.1km; slow, but hey, I'm no cyclist and we were just out there for enjoyment. I hoped that wasn't too long to be out in terms of wearing me out for my hard workout this morning, but that turned out just fine, happily!

Garmin connect data here for bike ride.

vacation #5 - Zion NP

The most amazing part of the vacation for me was my solo hike to Observation Point (all the photos above except the last two). It was an incredible hike, long and challenging, but not too hard for me and fabulous views the ENTIRE way. It was 8 miles round-trip, with 2100 feet of elevation gain (and then 2100 ft of loss coming back). Absolutely the best hike I've ever taken! That's maybe not saying too much since I have been a couch potato for a long time, but I always did enjoy hiking even if it was in moderation due to my lack of conditioning.

I started at 6:15 am, and it was still pretty dark at the trailhead. Soon it was light enough to see, and the sunrise was gorgeous on the red rock. As I ascended, the views became more and more phenomenal. I think I'll stop explaining now, and just say that you really must do this hike!

After that, I hiked the Lower Emerald pools (waterfall photo) and Court of the Patriarchs (last photo).

The rest of our photos from Zion:
Driving through on hwy 9
Photos from the campground
Morning racewalks in the park
Frog photos!
Deer and view from Natural History Museum
Observation Point hike
Temple of Sinawava & Riverwalk

vacation #4 - Zion National Park

I realized I never finished blogging about our vacation. Oops! Here's the rest.

We drove from the Grand Canyon to Zion 2 days before we'd planned, because of the torrential rain that was swamping our tent. Zion was beautiful, if somewhat thunderstormy, for the first 2 days we were there. Still, it didn't rain as much as at the Grand Canyon, and our tent didn't leak.

The kids slept through the drive through the east part of Zion. Calvin cleverly had his puppy (stuffed animal doggy) hanging up in the car while he slept. The views were breathtaking, of course! That evening the sunset at our campground was terrific, with very beautiful lighting.

The next day, Calvin caught a small frog at our campground, and observed it for a little while. We then let it go in a mud puddle, where it swam around happily. It rained a bit on and off until 10:30 am or so, at which point we left to take the bus up the canyon and hike the Riverwalk at the Temple of Sinawava. Very cool! Lots of hanging plants on the rocks, lots of red rock, and beautiful scenery all around.

Oh, speaking of rain, that morning I racewalked a bit in the park and got caught in a serious downpour. I was soaking wet within minutes! It actually felt good because it was quite warm, but my shoes did take a while to dry. Fortunately I had another pair and I was able to wear them the next morning, and took pictures of the same scenery but with contrasting lighting from the gorgeous sunny morning.

Soccer Mom

I'm officially a soccer mom! More pictures here.  

20K

I wasn't well-rested, as I did this on only 6 hours of sleep. I did go out to eat the night before, though I was relatively careful about the amount I ate, and I ate only small amounts of dairy. I still figured it could end in disaster. Read on to find out what happened.

Sarah suggested that I do laps of Liberty Park, because that way I'd be near a bathroom and water (there's a spring-fed water fountain at the SE corner of the park). I thought that sounded good, because at 2.25km/lap, it's about like doing a racewalking race of 2km/lap, and it will get me used to the type of race I'm going to do when I do the 50K.

Speaking of Sarah, she said she'd meet me there sometime during my 20K. I told her I'd be there from 5:30-7:40 or so, since I wanted to go to my Weight Watchers meeting at 8:00. She showed up right after my first lap, about 5:45 am. It was pitch black outside, but it was nice and warm (58F? ~14C) and calm. Perfect temperature for a workout! I was so glad Sarah was there, because I knew this workout was going to be challenging after the first km. I had trouble getting going for some reason. I did do it in 6:34, but it felt slow and I was sleepy. Note to self: really must get more sleep the night before long workouts! I tried last night, but our dinner reservations got shifted later because Loren's PT appointment (for disc trouble in his back) took longer than expected, and then the whole evening was late. My brain was not working well due to lack of sleep. Sarah was doing 5 miles, and for some reason at one point I told her 3x around the park was 4.8 miles. DUH! It's 4.2 miles and I totally KNOW that, but like I said, my brain was not cooperating.

While Sarah was there we leapfrogged each other. Each time Sarah walked she'd get behind me, but then would catch up when she ran. She could have run past me but chose to go my speed for the rest of each run segment so we could chat. It was awesome to have her company :)! She left when I'd done about 10K or so, and then I was on my own. I felt a bit tired and sluggish from lack of sleep, plus my body just didn't seem to be in the groove this morning. Still, I'm proud of how I kept pushing just enough to stay close to 6:30/km. I didn't push hard, as my coach doesn't want me to do that on the long ones, but I did push a little. Most of my splits were just over 13:00 for 2K, and at the end they were more like 13:15. I did focus on keeping good form, but am not sure I was successful. It will come, with time and practice.

The one negative about not carrying water bottles is that I did have to stop (briefly) for water twice, at 12K and about 16K. I ate some Clif Shot blocks as well, and that seemed to work for me. Thankfully the GI troubles were minimal today, with just some very minor crampiness. I remembered to take an Imodium before my walk and I'm sure that helped. I wish I knew better what is causing the problem, but the Imodium does seem to help enough, along with avoiding dairy and excessive fiber the day before. Also of note - minor chafing under my right arm. Usually this is under the left arm, so that was weird. The distance was short enough that it was a non-issue, though. I also got a small blister on my 2nd toe on my right foot, which is typical for me and nothing to worry about.

Workout summary: 20K (12.43 miles) in 2:10:50 for 6:32/km; ave HR 147. Not bad, considering.

Garmin connect data here.

the fast workout that almost wasn't (5K fartlek)

I was to do a 5K fartlek today. That's a pretty short hard workout, as they go, but it's still hard, and I was NOT in the mood. Add to that a load of people at the track, and I almost left and went to the gym instead. But I didn't. I figured if I warmed up maybe some of the people would be done by then. The Army guys were there (about 30 of them) and the East High x-country team was there too (about 20 of them) so it was crowded. I warmed up in lane 6 for the most part, and by the time I did my dynamic flexibility drills, the x-country team was off running x-country and not on the track any more, and the Army guys were doing push-ups, etc. on the football field. I pretty much had the track to myself then!

Today went great. I did the first 1K in a nice fast 5:32, surprising myself with the speed and with how smooth I felt. I think I am really starting to get the whole using-my-glutes-more thing. My form is not perfect I'm sure, but it's improving anyway. Then I was to alternate medium 500m/hard 500m. The first 500m recovery was a fairly quick 3:08, and followed by a fast 2:47 500m. So far, so good I was thinking - 2K in 11:28! For me, that's fast. I continued, doing a 3:09 and 2:48, arriving at 3K in a very fast 17:26. Now I was thinking this could be a PR 5K fartlek, and wondering if I could hold on for the last 2K, since I was working pretty hard (HR was averaging 171-172 in the fast segments). I did a 3:11 and 2:49 for the 4th km, getting to 4K in 23:27. Now I thought if I could just hold on I'd have the record for sure, and I also realized I could possibly do all my fast 500s under 2:50! I gave it my all and did the last km in 3:17 (slower - getting tired!) and 2:47 for a total of 29:33. Awesome. I was really glad I'd stayed!

Garmin connect data here.

***

Then I went to meet Lisa at the gym. I didn't feel like doing weights, and wanted a real cool-down, so I did 20 min on the elliptical and then some core work with Lisa. We did a good hard set including a 2-min plank, lots of ball crunches, hip-ups, oblique crunches on the ball, & back extensions.

lots of cross-training

This has been a nice easy week, workout-wise, for which I'm glad, because it's about to get much harder.

I cross-trained yesterday; bike 30 min, elliptical 15 min, then weight training. Today was an optional day, and I decided I'd feel more awake if I did a short workout, so I went to the gym for 20 min bike & 20 min elliptical.

Tomorrow is a 5K fartlek, and then I have 20K on Saturday. I might have to go a bit easy on the 20K after the fartlek, because though my coach had a day in between with 8K scheduled, I had to switch my long days to Saturday instead of Sunday, and this was a good time to do it, since the 5K fartlek is a short workout, even if it's hard. The reason I switched my long days? Because in the winter when it's too nasty to do 30K (18.6 miles) or 35K (21.75 miles) outside, I have the option of training at the Utah Olympic Oval on their 442m track, the largest indoor track in the state. Yeah, it sucks to do 35K on a track, but it sure beats the alternatives 1) do it in the snow, or 2) do it on a treadmill. The Oval is open early on Saturdays (5:30 am) but not on Sundays, hence the switch.

***

I'm still not getting enough sleep. I have been doing better on the food (much better!) but not so much on the early bedtimes. Last night I watched a movie with Loren instead of going to bed, and now I'm paying. Yeah, I'm tired. Tomorrow I only work in the morning, so maybe I can squeeze in a little nap. Or better yet, I should go to bed on time tonight. Hahaha...that's probably not going to happen.

a Calvin classic

First, a photo - Calvin sleeping under the dog bed at my parents' house. We told him he had to nap (he usually doesn't but really needed it on Sunday), and he chose to sleep under the dog bed. Funny!

Classic comment from Calvin to Michelle, overheard by my mom on Friday night, "I'm going to go poop. You can join me if you want." :) Gotta love the funny things kids say!!! :)

Utah State Fair

My mom and I took the kids to the fair yesterday. It was a blast! They rode the ferris wheel for the first time, went on lots of other rides, saw the cows, sheep, pigs, pigeons, and rabbits, ate fish and chips and deep fried snickers and chocolate bacon, watched the pig races, played with science-oriented toys, looked at the home arts (quilting, sewing, canning, baking), watched a cake-ball-making demonstration (& got to try some!), saw antique tractors, got a close-up of a working beehive, looked at giant vegetables, and saw a sculpture of cows made out of butter. Wow. That was a lot! No wonder I was so tired when we got home. It was SO much fun for all of us, though. They are finally old enough that it's more fun than chore to go places like this together.

Oh, and I did NOT eat too much :)! I brought some of my own food from home, and just had tastes of all the good stuff. It worked perfectly!!!

Here are the rest of the photos.

10K

This is an easy week (ahhhhh!) so just 10K today - nothing too hard. The weather was lovely this morning, as it was sunny and in the low 60s. September is great here, and I'm soaking it in because I know what is coming.

I started off nice & fast, doing the first 4K in about 25 min. Then I slowed a bit but still kept a 6:30 or less, finishing the 10K in 1:04:15 for 6:26/km. I felt good and was focusing on using my glutes more. My right piriformis was bothering me a bit so I suppose I'm still not doing it right. That's frustrating, but I'll just have to keep working on it and hopefully one of these days it will click a little better.

I had my phone with me (I usually do, in case of emergency), and someone called about 8.9km - I looked out of curiosity, and it was my coach! That was funny! So I picked up and told him to call me back in 7-8 minutes, that I'd be home by then and could talk later. I think he thought it was amusing that I'd pick up my phone while training, but since it was just an easy 10K, I figured I should at least tell him to call back soon. He didn't, so I guess we'll chat later.

cross-training

Today I cross-trained. I did 30 min on the stationary bike and 30 min on the elliptical; I opted for indoor because of the morning chill and also because I wanted to read. I read my Weight Watchers magazine and also Scientific American (yeah, I have diverse reading taste!). Then I did weight training: 3 sets of each - dead lifts + chest press (machine), one-legged bridges, holding 30 sec each leg + row (machine); military press (standing) + one-legged squats; then abs, including 2' plank, side plank, crunches, and rowing (for lower abs).

My quads are still a tiny bit sore from Saturday, but other than that I'm feeling better. The GI system is feeling good...hopefully it will stay that way!

My coach gave me my new training schedule. I'm excited! It's got some very tough workouts though...20km kickdowns! I'm sure I'll be ready when the time comes.

rest day

I took a rest day today. My GI system is still feeling somewhat off; last night I was up late because it hurt, and this morning up early for the same reason. Then I couldn't fall back asleep :(. I had to go in to work for 45 min this morning, and between that and not feeling very well I decided to rest. My coach instructed me to cross-train today and take an optional day tomorrow, so I'm just switching the two. I'll either bike or do the elliptical + stationary bike tomorrow; probably the latter, because it's dark and cold in the mornings now and I'm a wimp about riding my bike outside in the cold. Then I'll lift weights. That's the plan anyway.

***

So on my rest day, other than going to work and then church, I'm actually resting. I was tempted to nap, but I want to be able to go to bed early tonight so I skipped the nap. Instead I've been watching football (our team, the 49ers, is getting pummeled, sadly...), ordering prints for Michelle's scrapbook, picking out some wrapping paper to buy for Calvin's school fundraiser (if you want some, let me know - I'll send you a link), and other miscellany. It feels good to relax - I really needed it. My gut is still not super happy, but at least I'm resting and hopefully recovering.

Little Grand Canyon Half Marathon

Sarah and Jessica invited me along for their first half marathon! I felt privileged! Sarah wanted a destination event close to home that was a bit out of the ordinary. I suggested the Little Grand Canyon 1/2 Marathon, because some friends of mine did it and loved it. It's in the San Rafael Swell in rural Utah, near Huntington. Very remote, and the race is limited to 400 people. Awesome! The scenery is incredible, and there are even Native American pictographs right on the race route.

Here are all the race photos - do check them out, because you won't want to miss the videos and the scenic shots.

It was only about 36 degrees this morning at the start, but it was supposed to be 81 for a high, so I wore shorts, a T-shirt, and a long-sleeved shirt on top. I figured that way I could take off the long-sleeve and tie it around my waist when I warmed up. I also wore gloves, which I could tuck in my waistband when no longer needed. That turned out to be a perfect choice. The first 10 minutes were a little chilly, but after that I was fine, and by mile 5 I had tied my long-sleeved shirt around my waist. The sun warmed us quickly once it was up!

This was quite an interesting workout/race for me. Sarah and Jessica do Galloway's run:walk intervals at 4:1. Their running speed is about 6-6:15/km, which is speedier than my usual long effort (though not speedier than race pace, depending on the distance). But then they walk for a minute after 4 minutes of running, so it was kind of like a very long interval workout. For me, that was more tiring than racing continuously at the same speed, but I was more than willing to do it to hang out with them and enjoy the conversation and their first half marathon. I really did feel pretty good until about mile 9 or 10, when I started to have some intestinal cramps. At first they were mild, but then they progressed and miles 11-13 were quite painful at times. In addition, Jessica and Sarah decided to run the last mile w/o walk breaks, and they ran it slightly faster than the rest (they did have good negative splits!). Jessica was gung-ho to finish strong and she led the way, pacing us for a 9:38 last mile (5:55/km, and about my 10K pace!). It was tough to do 10K pace for the last mile of a 1/2 marathon, but I am proud to say that I hung in there for the strong finish, and it was a great workout at the very least. We crossed the finish in 2:23:12 according to my Garmin, though that may be a bit faster than our gun time. My Garmin connect data is here.

I'm so proud of Sarah and Jessica - they looked so strong, and never faltered. They were well-trained and didn't seem to be hurting at all. I admit that I did whine a little at the end when my lower abdomen felt like it was tied in knots and I was going at 10K pace...but they were fine and didn't complain at all! They did a great job and had a speedy time for their first 1/2 marathon. Sarah is already talking about doing the Ogden 1/2 with me next May and wants to train for the Top of Utah marathon in the fall next year! I will do it with her, most likely :).

My coach is happy that I have a good base now, if nothing else. He's writing my new training program right now, and I'll have 2 long ones each week, he says. Should be interesting to train for a 50K.

There is so much more about this race that I could say - the other runners were great fun, the uncrowded course, the snow cones at the finish and the amazing tasting watermelon, for starters. But I need some SLEEP now, so will have to stop here.

return of the GI problems :(

Today's 10K was not that great. I was very tired (had to get up early to make it to work early to leave early to take Michelle to Kindermusik) and my legs were fatigued from yesterday. I kept to 6:30/km pace anyway, for 8K. After that, the GI issues surfaced again and just getting home was all that mattered. I only did about 7:00/km for that last 2K. Granted, it's a slight uphill, but still...not my best. I was just glad to get home to the bathroom :(.

I think I might have some kind of virus. Usually, racewalking-induced GI stuff gets better within 10 min of stopping. Not today. I felt rotten for at least 2-3 hr. Loren said he heard something was going around.

Anyway, it was not the best workout. 1:06:11 for the 10K, for 6:37/km.

My IT band felt fine though it did bother me a bit later in the day walking out to my car from work. I think it's on the mend, though.

Tomorrow is a cross-training day, and Saturday is the half marathon with Sarah! Yay!

Garmin connect data here.

stupid, stupid, stupid...

I did something very stupid. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant last night - very nice. I ate a good amount. I had dessert. Then I did a hard workout this morning. I paid the price.

I warmed up well; 10:12 for 1600m (1 mile). Not bad. But my intestines were already a bit crampy. I was concerned. But what could I do? So I did some dynamic flexibility drills & got started on the 8K fartlek I was supposed to do.

I was slow today. 2:51 and 2:52 for the first two 500s, for 5:43 for the 1K. It got worse from there. All the fast intervals after that were 2:54-3:00, and the slow 3:11-3:17 except the last slow one was 3:21 (I was in severe distress). After the 6th km, I almost stopped. Well, I did - I stopped my watch and walked around for a minute or so and almost left, but then I felt a little better and decided I could pull out the last two. I did one more, and then I KNEW I had to stop RIGHT THEN. I got in the car and drove to the gym and I did make it to the bathroom, thank goodness.

Total time for the 7K fartlek was 43:03; I was about on pace to do 49:20 for the 8K, which is not that good, surprise surprise.

My splits are here, if you care...I don't care at this point. I'm just mad at myself for being so stupid.

***

Speaking of stupid, I've managed to eat way too much crap again. Regularly. Despite my vow a couple weeks ago not to do so. It's not good. I was 153.2 lb this morning. I'm really upset about it but can't seem to get in the groove again.

I'm sure a lot of the food issues are related to lack of sleep/rest/down time. I've been running like crazy since Calvin started kindergarten and the schedule is killing me. I think it's just that I've had a lot of unusual stuff going on in addition to the schedule change. I am hoping after a couple weeks things will settle down a bit. That's probably not realistic, but one can hope.

Sorry this is kind of a downer post. I'm really OK, just need a little rest.

Not sure what my workouts are for tomorrow & Friday. My coach and I will have to chat tonight. I do know that I have a half marathon on Saturday with my friend, Sarah, and I am woefully undertrained. Thankfully I'm not racing it, but I am accompanying her and I would like to not slow her down!

back to racewalking :)

This morning my coach had me do 10K instead of the planned 8K fartlek, because we're a little unsure about my IT band. I think that was a good call; my knee felt fine for the most part during the 10K, but is still twingeing (is that a word?!?) slightly here and there if I sit for prolonged periods and get up, etc.

So - the 10K. The knee was about 95%, I'd say. Maybe it's in my head, but there were a couple times that I thought it was on the edge of hurting, but I can't say it actually did hurt. I know that sounds weird, but that's how I felt.

Other than the knee, it was a fantastic workout. I focused a lot on the form suggestions Erin had for me when she was here, and I think it's starting to click. I felt strong this morning and good! I did the 10K in 1:02:43, 6:16/km, with ave HR 149. Pretty fast :).

Splits (2K):
12:24 (downhill)
12:23
12:33
12:38
12:42 (uphill)

A good workout. Garmin connect data here.

I had a nice endorphin kick afterwards, and felt so much better. Ahhhh...I love racewalking!

I am definitely getting fitter and faster. Compare this to some 2Ks I did at the track on March 30th: 12:16 and 12:29! Of course my HR was MUCH lower doing similar splits today. It's nice to see progress.

I'm planning on the 8K fartlek tomorrow. Hopefully my leg is up to it. If I feel any pain at all I'll stop; I have a half marathon on Saturday with my friend and I definitely want to do it!

rest day

Today was a rest day. I needed it!!! My poor IT band is still a teensy bit sore. My original plan called for an 8K fartlek tomorrow, but my coach recommended an easy 10K instead, so that's what I'll try. Hopefully the leg will be OK.

***

Though it was Labor Day, I worked today, because I didn't work on Friday. I love having a job with such flexibility! Work went well - an antibody stain that I've been trying to get to work was successful, and I found out that we got a transgenic fish line that I thought I might have to re-inject (and wait 3 months for the fish to grow up!). Things are busy at work, but going pretty well. I really like my job :) lucky me! :)

plans altered due to IT band: cross-training!

Today I was going to RW some more, but my right knee was still somewhat tender, so after consulting with my coach we decided to make today a cross-training day. I did do a nice longish (1 hr 10 min) workout since I'd been planning on a decent RW workout.

Our church had a s'more-a-thon (our annual tradition) at Church Fork picnic area up Millcreek Canyon. I decided I'd bike there, as I knew it would be a nice challenging ride up the hill. Loren brought the bike rack in the car so I could just ride home in the car, as it would be dark and chilly-ish by the time we finished eating and making s'mores over the fire.

I thought it might take me an hour and a half to bike up there, but it was only about an hour, so I biked a little farther up the hill to get an extra ten minutes or so. It was a good ride! Total of about 573m of elevation gain in 17.25 km, and lots of fun :). It was enjoyable, but I am looking forward to racewalking again soon, assuming my ITB recovers enough to do so.

Tomorrow is an optional day. I might just rest and go to work early (I switched working tomorrow for Friday so that I could hang out with Erin and Dave while they were here) so that I can get home earlier and ease Loren's burden of watching the kids all day alone. He's not used to it! I am used to it, but they still can get to me, so I want to make it a bit easier for him.

Garmin data here.

I should know better by now...

Running = stupid. My running form has some serious problems. When I run, I get IT band pain, especially when I run fast.

Yesterday, my racewalking friends Erin and Dave were in town. They had a 15K kickdown workout (hard!) and I was to cross-train. They invited me to jog along on the track. I figured that would be fine; after all, I ran with Sarah last weekend. However, I did not run as FAST. I started out slowly enough with them, at about 6:15/km pace. That was fine. But when I went faster, my right IT band started hurting a lot, pretty quickly. I did stop running and did a little racewalking, but after a while I knew I had to stop that too.

The rest of the day we did tourist stuff, touring the Utah Olympic Park and the Bingham Canyon copper mine. My right knee was quite painful even just walking around, and I wondered if I'd be able to do the 15K we had planned to do together on Saturday (today). I did ice it and stretched my hip and leg a LOT, using the foam roller, etc. I also took anti-inflammatories. All of that probably helped, but resting helped the most I think.

I woke up this morning and had a little tenderness but was able to walk without pain, so I decided to try the 15K. We set out at about a 6:35 pace, and that was totally fine for the first 2k or so. We picked up the pace a little, and averaged 6:29/k through 10.4k, at which point I had to stop because it started to hurt, despite stretching periodically. That was better than I expected! I was on the far side of Liberty Park, though, and so Erin and Dave continued around the park again while I walked slowly back to the corner where I'd meet them to exit the park.

I racewalked home without much pain, albeit at a slower pace. The total workout was just over 12K. I'm glad I got that much in. I am going to consult with my coach about what I should try tomorrow; the knee is still tender but does seem improved a bit. Hopefully this won't set me back more than a couple days at most.

It was great to RW with Erin and Dave - they gave me lots of good technique pointers, and kept me from RW when I was hurting. Plus they were wonderful company. I wish I could train with people more often!

Garmin data here.

feeling stronger every day

A while back, I wrote in one of my posts that the Chicago song "Feeling Stronger Every Day" came on at the end of one of my workouts, and I felt it was mocking me. But now, I think it's coming true. I am thinking my iron levels must be better, because I really am feeling stronger. I felt really good during this whole workout, despite waking up tired and with a slight sore throat (which may be just due to dry air?).

Today I was to do 12K with two 12-min fast segments (6:05-6:10ish), followed by two 10-min easy segments (6:50ish), and the rest around 6:30ish/km. Last week when I did this workout, I did the fast segments too fast. Jim (my coach) said afterward that he wanted a threshold workout (~15K pace) not an interval workout. Oops! So this time I promised him I'd keep it to 6:05. I tried to keep my promise today, watching my HR so that I'd stay in the low 160s during the fast segments, which is around my threshold HR. I did that - but my pace was still 6:00/km for the fast segments! I guess I am getting fitter, or I just had a really good day.

I'm still working on my technique and trying to focus on using my glutes more and getting more toe push. I think it's going well; Erin and Dave will be here again tonight and tomorrow night and we're doing 15K on Saturday together, so I'll get their opinion on how it's going. I feel like there has been some improvement. At least I'm getting faster...but that could just be the iron kicking in.

Here's the workout in a nutshell; data on Garmin connect (click link):

lap 1 - 2k - 12:45, 6:22/k, ave HR 137 (downhill)
lap 2 - 1k fast - 6:02, 6:02/k, ave HR 156
lap 3 - remainder of 12 min fast - 5:59, 6:00/k, ave HR 160
lap 4 - 10' recovery - 1.49k, 6:42/k, ave HR 150
lap 5 - 1k at normal (6:30) pace - oops, too fast 6:15/k, ave HR 152
lap 6 - 1k fast - missed the split so this is for 1.02 k - 5:59, 5:50/k pace, ave HR 158 (fast pace, but low HR for that pace!!!)
lap 7 - remainder of 12 min fast - 6:00, 0.98k, ave 6:08/k, HR 161 (this was the only one at the right pace...)
lap 8 - 10' recovery - oops, did 10:28 (watch doesn't show seconds after 1 hr - will have to change that!) - 1.6k; 6:32/k pace; HR 150
lap 9 - 1k at 6:30 pace - 1.01 km in 6:37 for 6:31/k - ave HR 155 (uphill)
lap 10 - rest of the 12k at 6:30 pace - 5:55 for 0.9 km for 6:36/k - ave HR 155 (uphill)

Total: 1:16:02 for 12K, 6:20/k, ave HR 152.

First day of school

Yup, Calvin is officially in kindergarten! And Michelle started at a new preschool too (close to my work & Loren's work - very convenient!). They both had a good first day at their respective schools, and came home happy. Yay!

More photos here.

8K

It was Calvin's first day at school today and I'm beat from the new schedule. Sooooo, briefly:

I did 8K this morning at about a 6:27 pace. I am too tired to upload the workout right now. I felt fine, and there wasn't much remarkable about it. OK, one thing - I actually did 7.87k because I miscalculated the route a bit and was late and in too much of a hurry to double back for the last 0.13k. I think my coach might understand.

Off to bed for more of the same tomorrow. Whew! I think this will be great once I get used to the schedule. For now, it was a very hectic day.