cross-training; 6K fartlek

Monday: 1 hr elliptical followed by a delightful soak in the hot tub at the gym. It was our Labor Day holiday, so I enjoyed the day off. Slept a bit later, and even got a nap, too. I needed the extra rest badly with all the house stuff.

Tuesday: still pretty tired; lots of house negotiations with buyers. Looks like things are moving along well though. But I was too mentally out-of-it to manage a hard workout, and besides, I only have 3 workouts per week right now to maintain fitness until the house stuff is over, which gives me added flexibility. So I opted to bike to work and do the elliptical for 30 min. That was a good choice, as I felt much more up to a hard workout today.

Today: Got to the track about 6:30am and it was pitch black out; the moon and a planet (Venus probably?) were out and were beautiful (see photo at left). Fall is definitely here, though at least the weather is not too cold yet. It was 57F (13.8C) at the track by my car thermometer, with about a 10mph breeze from the east (16kph). The wind wasn't a problem, though, and didn't make me cold. I did a 1600m warm-up with strides in 10:12, and my left piriformis (or maybe another muscle in that area) was acting up a bit. It continued to bother me throughout the workout though it did get better as time went on. I stretched thoroughly before starting the fartlek and also after my workout. Definitely need to get in some strength training, though the when of that is problematic right now.

Anyway, I got started on the workout and just told myself not to think too much, because my mind is busy putting forth negative thoughts about a lot of things. Not thinking was easier than I thought it would be; I just focused on staying in the moment and relaxing and thinking about technique. I didn't judge my performance (much), which is good because it wasn't stellar, but that is completely irrelevant at the moment. My body is only going to do what it's going to do given the current constraints, and I pushed hard and worked hard, so I am proud of that.

My first km was 5:49.7, and then my fasts were all about 2:54 except the last one, which I pulled out in 2:52. The medium effort 500s were 3:07-3:12 which isn't great, but again, no judgment. It's what came out, and I was working hard, as my average HR was 161 for the workout. Total time was 36:16, which isn't bad considering I haven't done a 6km fartlek in a while. 
Garmin data here.

Thursday-Sunday: rest, x-train, 5K, 14K

Thursday: was supposed to do a 6K fartlek, but work on the house had kept me up late, AND the kids brought home some stomach virus on Tuesday that made me nauseated Wednesday night and weak on Thursday morning. I bailed and took a rest day, which was a good decision.

Friday: cross-training - biked to work and did the elliptical at the gym at the Student Life Center.

Saturday: was going to do 14K, but took Calvin out for the first 5K and my legs and body were really tired from the week's accumulated house stress, work stress, etc. I'm not going into detail here about everything but let's just say that a lot of physical labor and related stress does bad things to one's body. The 5K was laborious but it was nice to be out with Calvin. Garmin data here (though the satellite didn't kick in for 100m so it says 4.9k but it was 5.0k); 33:01 for 5K - sloooooow but done.

Sunday: after feeling mad at myself for not doing the 14K, I determined that I would do it today. And I did! And it went all right! It wasn't fast, but I felt pretty strong until about 12k and then that last 2km uphill was tiring but I still had some spunk left in me to kick it in gear, and I finished well I think. I made myself NOT think about house stuff, NOT think about work stuff, NOT think about whether or not I'd be able to train and go to Perth for WMA next year. Just stay in the moment, and enjoy the crisp fall weather. We had a cold front come through and it was so nice and refreshing out this morning. Saturday morning it was 22.8C (73F) for my 5K, but this morning was a huge contrast at 8.9C (48F) for my 14K. It was delightful!!! Calm, clear, and beautiful. I tried to really enjoy it, and mostly succeeded. Total time 1:31:33 for 6:32/km with ave HR a nice low 142. Garmin data here. 

tired 8K; cross-training

My legs felt good and recovered after Portland-to-Coast; Sunday there was some muscle soreness of the garden variety but by Monday I felt good and did the elliptical and biked to work.

Yesterday I ventured out for 8K, and it was warm out at 72F (22.2C). My legs felt tired and sluggish, and I was slow; the last km was particularly heavy and tired. Well...it's done. 52:59 for 6:37/km with ave HR only 138. Garmin data here. 

As part of work yesterday I had to drive to BYU in Provo to pick up a plasmid we need from a lab there. I really don't enjoy driving, and there's a lot of construction on I-15. The drive went fine, and my legs felt totally fine (yay!) but I think it wore me out some more.

Did a bunch more stuff on the house yesterday after work, and stayed up too late doing it. Feeling it today, but still managed to bike to work and do elliptical on the way up. I have a 6K fartlek tomorrow and hope to do it well, but I confess am concerned that my body is a bit worn-out from the race, the travel, and the house stuff/stress. I'm doing pretty well with the stress management compared to a week ago, but it's still not easy. Hanging in there.

Portland to Coast 2015

I was on the winning team again this year; first to the coast of 400 teams! I went in a bit undertrained and it showed on the last leg, but the conditions were adverse so it's hard to know what would've happened otherwise. Regardless, all my teammates put forth astounding efforts and despite a storm for the books, we arrived at the beach only 5 minutes past our predicted time, in 22 hr 19 minutes. Now that's amazing.

Leg 14 (my first leg; the 2nd leg of Portland to Coast). I'd done this one once before, back in 2009, and found it challenging because of the length (6.04 miles) and the gradual hill the last 2 miles for a total of 40m elevation gain and 32m elevation loss in the distance according to my Garmin (though they've changed the leg because it was 5.49 miles in 2009). This time I had someone to chase, as Ashley, a fast 31yo RW that Carmen is working with, got a 30 second head start on me. I narrowed that gap a little to about 20 seconds, but then couldn't hold the pace and ended up finishing about 2 min 30 sec behind her. Still, I'm pleased with my aggressive effort. My HR was quite high for much of the leg (>170 for the last 30 min or so) and it was warm outside and sunny (only 18.9C at the start of the leg, but I am sure it got a lot hotter by the end) and uncharacteristically humid for Portland. I finished in 59:35 (pushed start on my watch a bit late) for 6:08/km (assuming distance as marked in race handbook). The last ~4km were a very hard effort, harder than I'd have liked because of my unpreparedness, but Garmin data here. 

Leg 24 was a new leg for me, but I liked it. Mostly flat, 4.87 miles (7.84km), and I started at 7:30pm when it was a bit cooler out. Still humid, still warm, but not too bad. I felt pretty good for the first 6K, and only the last 2K were difficult, and I was able to go a bit faster at 6:02/km (assuming the distance was as marked in race handbook) with average HR only 160 this time; smaller hills and cooler weather helped a lot (though oddly enough Garmin says it was hotter...22.8C...maybe it was, but no sun and some breeze was great).  Garmin data here. 

In between 24 and 34: a little nap (2 hr), some spaghetti and meatballs, and some digestive upset (not too awful, but a few porta-potty visits required). And a storm came in...

Leg 34. Yeah, leg 34. I'd done this one last year a lot faster. But the conditions were perfect last year, and were horrific this year. Yes, horrific. The temperature was OK, but it was raining sideways and the wind was a steady 32kph or 20mph with gusts MUCH stronger, and oh yeah, it was a headwind. And there were hills. And my legs were done. And I found out about an hour before doing this leg that the buyers we were under contract with backed out and the house is back on the market. Long story...but if you know anyone who's looking in the area, have them contact our realtor, Elaine, at 801-573-4109. So I was NOT in a good frame of mind, and when I hit the first difficult hill (and there were 30m of elevation gain in this 5.59km leg) and my 500m split was about 3:30 I just determined I'd finish and hold on for dear life. Actually, though, given the conditions, I think in retrospect that my time was pretty good. I went 35:50 for 6:27/km, which was only 1:02 slower than my predicted 34:48 (I knew I'd be tired for that last leg). So to only lose 14 sec/km with a 32kph headwind I think is pretty good, especially given my mental state. I cried when the van gave me aid but kept pushing as hard as I had stamina for. I think I forgot to wear my HR monitor, because I have no HR data! Funny, that...the weird stuff you do at 4:30 am on 2 hr of sleep and poor mental state. Y'know, I'm actually proudest of this leg because I stuck it out and didn't give up, and put in a good performance given the poor conditions. Garmin data here. 

When we arrived in Seaside just a couple hours later, the weather had worsened enormously. The tents at the beach finish were in near-ruins, and the finish was moved onto the promenade and then later onto a street in town because of the danger of the blowing sand (I got sand in my eyes, mouth, etc. - nasty!). Despite all the horrid conditions of the last 5 legs for our team, we were only 5 min off our predicted pace of 22hr 14min, finishing in 22hr, 19 min. We were first to the beach (as we advertised on our van :)!) and got our photo with Bob Foote, the race founder, and a few TV interviews. It was cool. Oh, and did I mention I am the youngest on our 10-person team at 45? Everyone else is over 50. Coolest and strongest bunch of "Antiques and Collectibles" (our team name) that I know. I'm proud to have been a part of this team.

Photos here. 

3K fartlek

Yesterday: elliptical

Today: 3K fartlek. Skip the *** section below if you don't want to read a semi-rant about buying and selling homes.

***

Let me preface today's workout commentary by saying that I am giving myself a gold star for doing this one. Yesterday was a freakishly stressful day. The roof repair guys came at the same time as the buyer's home inspector, which in a way is good because they can see that we care (a lot!) about selling a quality home. I want it to be the best it can be for our buyers (not that they are likely to see it that way, though since I don't know them personally I can't say for sure). But this whole home selling process is very difficult, because your home is so personal and everyone is tromping through it and criticizing everything that you have done or not done to make it what it is, when they can't know and don't see all that you have done. Our home is SO very much better than it was 13 yr ago when we bought it - it was a very ugly granny-decorated home (think wallpaper, waterfall in basement!, severely damaged hardwood floors, 70s shag rug and paneling in basement) with only 1 bathroom, and now it's a lot better. But like I said, no one can see that.

I have just felt so raw and vulnerable during this time, and so has Loren. Add in the stress of clearing out for the home inspection, and then returning (after they said they'd be done) to find they needed more time, and well, it was a lot. Add in a very whiny 9yo daughter, and ensuing freak-out by husband which involved some profanity, followed by freak-out by daughter, followed by husband walking away from restaurant we were having dinner at (on the patio...so we could have the dogs there, because they had to be out too), and well, it was not a peaceful evening. Thankfully, said husband apologized later to said daughter and I think all is well now.

Now we wait some more, in a hot home because they are doing radon testing (which we DID 7 yrs ago and it was fine, AND we told them that!) and we have to have the swamp cooler OFF and the windows SHUT for two days. TWO DAYS. Then on Friday they are scoping our sewer. Geez. I feel like I'm getting my own personal colonoscopy, without anesthesia.

The consolations are this: 1) we will (hopefully) soon be moving into our new-to-us home, 2) some friends have been very supportive and understand that it's a stressful time and have pitched in a lot to help, 3) some friends from farther away have been encouraging on Facebook or other ways. Not so consoling: my parents have added to the stress by their critical response to my stress. It's not helpful to call for a listening ear when the result is someone telling you how poorly you are managing the situation. Like I said, it's a raw and vulnerable time, and I am just going to have to surround myself with supportive and helpful people and ignore the negatives. Somehow.

***

3K fartlek - as mentioned above, I get a gold star for doing this workout at all. Let's just say that after yesterday it's a miracle I got up and went to the track. I did go to bed early, which surely helped. And guess what? The high school track is OPEN again!!!! YAYAYAYAY!

It was warm this morning and humid, as a storm is coming through; 22.8C (73F). I did a slow warm-up (first lap very slow, as I wasn't feeling it) but sped up as I went and did the 1600m with strides in 10:33. My 100m strides felt good in about 32-33s each. I stretched a bit and got going on the fartlek.

It went reasonably well. Here are my times: 2:52.8, 2:53.0, 3:08.9, 2:51.3, 3:09.8, 2:49.3. Total 17:45.0 with ave HR 160, max 173, and 2 min recovery 122 (good!). That's not fast, but at least I'm able to train and despite the stress my HR is not going crazy. My resting HR has been up a bit (54-56 via fitbit) but not alarmingly so. I will keep monitoring it.

Garmin data here. 

6K

Good news - we are now under contract on our house. One step closer to moving :). It's been crazy, and there is still more to come, as the house has to be inspected and negotiations with buyers over what should be fixed follows. Hopefully the buyers will be reasonable people and we will get through all of this with a minimum of stress.

***

This morning, I did 6K. Portland-to-Coast is this Friday & Saturday, so I am taking it easier this week in preparation. The 6K went fine; I felt much more relaxed than I have because I was less worried about the house business :). I took both dogs, though, and Powder was dragging her feet as usual. I probably would've been 5-10 sec faster per km if not for dragging her part of the way when she got tired. I should quit taking her, but she needs the exercise, so I try to take her on shorter walks.

Total time was 39:20 for 6:33/km with ave HR 143.

***

Oh, and today was the first day of school. Such cuteness on my FB feed from lots of friends. Here's my kid spam...

14K

Today was a bit of a slog, but I got through it. It's been a stressful week, and I'm doing everything I can to keep it at bay, but it's just one of those unavoidable things in life: selling a house and buying a new one is stressful. I'm a bit overextended and tired, but I am still doing my workouts as I know they help provide sanity.

I knew by 5K that this one was not going to be pretty, as I was already at 6:32/km and I could feel that I wasn't strong today. But I was determined to finish. I saw a friend at 4.4km, and chatted for a few minutes; went on and at about 7km stopped for a drink at the Liberty Park water fountain, and talked to a couple runners training for their first marathon. They are planning to do Top of Utah! I gave them some insight into the course from my experience, and then went on.

The weather was delightful at least, except for the smoke from all the Western wildfires. It was 17.8C (64F), calm, and clear and sunny.

I finally made it to 14K in 1:33:32 for 6:40/km (yeah...I know...I'm sorry coach...doing my best). Ave HR was 144. I felt OK, other than being a bit tired.

Garmin data here. 

5K fartlek

There's still been a lot of stress re: house selling efforts, but I'm mostly handling it pretty well. Mostly. My resting HR has remained at 52-53 which seems decent, so at least that's something. But it's hard having strangers tromp through your house and dealing with all the stuff that comes with selling a house. 

I didn't get enough sleep last night and wasn't feeling much like a workout but I'm glad I did it. Not that it went well, because it didn't really, but because I did feel better after I did it. 

The warm-up was a bit sluggish but not too bad, with a few strides thrown in. I had to do the workout on the road (mostly but not totally flat) because the gym was closed until 4pm for staff training (the U undergrads start next week, so they are preparing), so the indoor track wasn't an option. The outdoor track is close to being ready to use again (a week or two more?) but it is still not an option either. 

I started off and in the first km I knew it wasn't a good day. My first km was 5:51.5 (2:56, 2:56 essentially...) and it didn't get better. But it didn't get much worse, either, which is good. I was supposed to do a 6K fartlek, but when my last km was 3:09 (medium effort) 2:58 (very hard effort on slight uphill) I called it quits. I wasn't discouraged but wanted to be sure not to overdo. Am still feeling fine about things, and just figure that today was an "off" day. I can live with that.

My average HR was 165 during the workout, which is pretty high; 2 min recovery was 130, also pretty high. I have to keep an eye on this and see where it trends. It's a bit concerning. Stress reduction is needed, so will try to take good care of myself. 

Garmin data here.

Good news: the scale is moving! I've been tracking carefully with Fitbit and it said 154.0 this morning and it hasn't been that low in at least 18 months. I'm pleased, though I suspect some of that will come back on as water weight in the next day or two. Still, it was 165 this winter, so it's definitely going in the right direction :). 

10K

Yesterday: elliptical and lots of casual walking to and from picking up the kids - from one end of campus to the other; hilly and a good distance.

Today: 10K racewalking. Nice weather!!! It felt cool and fall-like out this morning; 61F (16.1C) and sunny and calm. I brought Sugar along for the walk, and ran into my friends Jude and Andreas while I was out. Stopped to talk with them for a few minutes, then resumed my walk. My legs were a bit tired-ish this morning, but I still was able to walk pretty well, and didn't fall apart at the end.

Total time 1:04:17 for 6:25/km with ave HR 152.

Edited to add: rode my bike to work afterward. Lots of great exercise today!

I'm back.....3K Pacific Association USATF Grand Prix

In brief: trying to sell our home and under contract on another a block away. VERY busy preparing home for sale, so training took a back seat; did 10K last Sunday slowly (6:32/km-ish?) and cross-trained a few days this week but no RW. Drove to Carson City, NV on Saturday with Jim and Stevie Berry (Stevie is a 16yo RWer from Orem, UT, and Jim is his dad) and then raced this morning and drove home. Crazy, as it's a 10-hr drive! But it was fun, and I needed the break getting out of town.

The race was at 6280 feet of altitude, which is 1914m, and is 1930 feet (588m) higher than where I live, which is definitely significant. I felt it, too, especially in the last km (a slow 5:59 with a very high average heart rate of 182 for the last 500m!), and my time was a slowish 17:35.8; but altitude-adjusted via a spreadsheet that Alex Price of the PA-Association came up with, my time was a respectable 17:05.6. Not great, but lots better, and more representative of my training.

Need some sleep so won't upload Garmin data now, but have a few pictures.

10K

Sunday: rest day

Monday: was supposed to do 6K + 5x200 but mixed up the workouts in my head and woke up a bit late so I cross-trained instead (biking, elliptical). It's been busier than usual around here because we might buy a larger home a block away and we've been crazy looking at homes, talking to realtors, etc. etc. etc.

Today: got up on time and did my 10K, darn it!!! I was to try for 6:10-6:15 pace, but I only managed 6:18. I tried really hard, but just didn't have the legs for it today. I was at 6:15 at 7.5km but then slowed down and just couldn't hold it. However, 6:18 is still pretty good. I left my heart rate monitor chest strap at work so I just had my Fitbit and manual HR counting, but it was mostly in the mid to upper 150s and even low 160s at the end, so I was trying plenty hard. I am obviously feeling the effects of various life stresses upon returning home from vacation, and am working to manage it better, but it's a skill that is going to take some time. Work is insane because we are moving the lab this Friday, and there's a lot of pressure to do experiments because we have two papers under revision. Home is insane because of the whole possible house purchase. But I'm actually holding up pretty well and don't feel too anxious most of the time. I'm trying to stay in the moment and just go with things.

Garmin data here for the 10K.

learning from mistakes

Yesterday: biked to work (~25 min) plus 40 min elliptical on the way up at the Student Life Center. Then work was crazy; lab move postponed most likely until next Friday because they cannot get the occupancy permit before then as they are running behind schedule. But of course they couldn't be bothered to tell us that until we'd already packed half the lab. Grrrrr.

Last night: had a very nice dinner out with Loren at Fleming's. Drank some wine and ate a bit more than I probably should have. Then stayed up too late watching TV with him. This was all relaxing and excellent and probably OK in itself....but....then the dogs barked a lot last night and I had to get up in the middle of the night to put them downstairs so they'd stop, and I had terrible, restless sleep. My Fitbit said that I was restless/awake for 30 min, and 16 times. I believe it.

Today: I woke up feeling just awful. Decided I'd try to walk anyway. It was ugly...I was to do 15K, but I started out with 6K of hills around SugarHouse Park and I just had nothing in the tank. I was very slow (~6:45) and when I got home I wisely chose to listen to my body and stop. My resting HR was up a bit this morning (probably because of the crappy sleep) and though I am 95% sure the crappy walk was due to poor sleep plus overeating a bit last night (plus the wine?), the 5% uncertainty that maybe it's not just that made me stop. That was a good call. I'm really sleepy now...had to go in to work a bit this morning, and I think I'm going to nap later. My legs feel fine. Will talk it over with my coach and see if I should try to do 15K tomorrow instead, or just stick to the schedule.

10K

Yesterday: Was to cross-train, but all I could do was give my friend Holly a RW lesson (fun! see video of her above - she got it really fast! The top video is the first one, then some more pointers, then the bottom video, in which she is moving better); no gym or hiking really possible as we had to drive home from Carson City, NV. I did get in about 5K nice and easy (about 8-9 min/km pace).

***

Today: 10K, at 6:15/km if possible. I was so tired after the trip home but it wasn't as hard as I thought to get up. I took Sugar with me and she was happy to be out; I think she missed RW. My legs did well through 7km and then they were definitely quite tired, but I kept up the pace enough to do 1:02:20 for 6:14/km with ave HR just 149. It was one of my usual 10K routes at home, mostly flat but a slight downhill on the first 2km and slight uphill on the last 2km with 34m total elevation gain. I did have to push myself a bit to keep that pace but it wasn't too hard until the end, when my HR was more like upper 150s to low 160s. The weather was lovely at about 61F (16.1C), calm, and clear. I love summer.

Sorry for the short post but work was quite busy on my first day back and I ate lunch during lab meeting. Our lab is moving to a new building on Monday so it's crazy trying to do experiments and pack stuff up.

Garmin data here.

8K; 5K fartlek

I need to go on vacation more often. The stress relief has apparently been much more than I anticipated; my HR is lower (resting and training) and my RW performance has been really very good. Much better than at any time since getting sick in the spring of 2013. So the challenge when I go home tomorrow is to make sure that I somehow keep my stress levels lower.

***

Yesterday: 8K with my brother, Alex. He and his girls joined us at Clear Lake for some camping. Gorgeous weather - hot in the day time (up to mid-90s) but cool at night and perfect RW weather in the morning. Alex pushed me to go a bit faster than I normally would and I did the 8K at 6:14/km with ave HR 152. Alex usually runs 8:30 miles for an easy pace, so he slowed down quite a bit for me, but he didn't mind and I really loved the chance to work out with him.

Today: 5K fartlek, alone. Warmed up with Calvin, who was to run a mile for soccer (coach's orders; they have a tournament Thurs-Sat) but then did the fartlek alone. The campground we were at was mostly flat but on the Garmin it shows a bit bigger elevation change than I expected, at 51m for the whole thing. I'm not sure that's accurate; I'd have guessed more like 15-20m but who knows? Regardless, it was my best fartlek since Sept 2014 when I was on vacation in Alaska with my mom and did a 28:35 at sea level. Hmmmm, vacation + relaxation + low stress = good performance. Yep, lower stress is good. Anyway, I did a 29:07 for today's fartlek with ave HR 162. My fast 500s were 2:46-2:50 and medium efforts 2:59-3:08. Nice. I'm very happy with this progress and have to ensure it continues when I go home.

Garmin data here for 8K and here for 5K fartlek.

hiking; 15K

Yesterday: the only cross-training I can realistically do right now is hiking. Running gives me IT band problems, I don't have a bike with me, and don't have access to a gym. So that leaves hiking. Which, fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to do. Plus it's making my glutes work hard and get stronger, which is fantastic. Yesterday we hiked to Bumpass Hell. Yep, you read that right! Back in the late 1800s a guy with the name of Kendall Bumpass (!) was showing some tourists the area, and cautioning them not to step in certain spots, when he broke through the thin crust, burning his leg severely. It's a volcanic hotspot and has all kinds of geothermal activity. Really very interesting place; a lot like a mini-Yellowstone, complete with vile sulfurous odor (Grace hated it and claimed she was sorry she came on the hike! The rest of us didn't like the odor but the place sure was fascinating). It was a total of about 5K with 178m elevation gain, so it was a good hike. Garmin data here. 

Today: I asked the KOA campground hosts where a good place to run was (I rarely try to explain that I'm a racewalker...too much trouble) and they pointed me to a subdivision a mile down the road from camp that had all the infrastructure built when the recession hit, so then no homes were ever put there. It was a good place to walk. Paved roads, and no cars, with just a few dog-walkers out there with me. It had some rolling hills, but nothing around here is flat, so you get what you get: good training for Portland-to-Coast. Guess what though? It went great!!! I felt pretty good except for a bit of GI distress, which was solved for the most part by pausing to allow my innards to settle and drinking some water. But nothing severe, and my legs held up well, tiring a bit in the last 5k but definitely keeping good speed. I worked a lot on my posture especially when doing the hills - a good chance to think extra about form. On the last 5K, I really tried to book it up the hills, figuring that I'd get a rest when I was done and that I needed to push and see what time I could get. A good one! First 5K was 31:16, second 31:27, and third 31:13 for total of 1:33:57. Yup. Faster than 15K nationals in May. Happy me! I really hope this holds up so that I can keep training well. I am excited to get back in shape again :) :) :).

Garmin data here. 

***

After that, made breakfast (french toast) for the family, and then we went to Kids' Free Fishing Day at Grace Lake. Yeah, there's a lake named for our girl ;). It was challenging for the kids at first, but there were lots of people there to help them ('cause I don't know anything about fishing and Loren knew a bit more but not too much either!) and they caught 3 fish (Calvin) and 4 fish (Grace). Plus the people next to us gave us some of theirs; they like to catch fish but don't eat them. So we now have 15 smallish trout for dinner. Yum!

hiking; 10K

Yesterday: cross-training - hiked Garfield Peak at Crater Lake with Calvin. It was an amazingly beautiful hike; Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the U.S. and it's so vividly blue. It was formed over 7000 years ago when Mt. Mazama, then 12000ft tall, blew its top in an eruption 100 times greater than Mt. St. Helens in 1980. The mountain collapsed all around the caldera, and then the resultant hole filled up with water over the next few centuries. Now it's a beautiful lake, though still geologically active (there are hydrothermal vents on the lake floor). Someday it could become explosively active again, but in the meantime it's a great place to visit. The hike was 6km round-trip, with 412m elevation gain according to my Garmin. Calvin and I made it to the top in about 45 minutes, at a moderate hiking pace, and we thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Garmin data here. 

Today: Jim wanted me to do 10k at about a 6:15/km pace. We are now camping in Mt. Shasta City, which is at about 3600-3800 feet of elevation (a bit lower than at home), but there is nary a flat spot in the city. I knew this one was going to be tough with the hills, but I figured it'd be good training for Portland-to-Coast next month. I set out thinking that if the hills were too tough I could just work hard and get my HR a bit higher than I usually would and that would be good. But guess what? I hammered those hills! I was able to do the 10K in 1:01:57, which is the fastest 10K I've done in a LONG time at 6:11/km. The total elevation gain was 108m over 3 large hills. I am proud of how well I did those hills, and my legs were even a bit sore (just normal DOMS) from yesterday's hike. YES!!!! My ave HR was 152 according to my Garmin; that seems lowish as it felt like it was in upper  150s most of the time, but I did stop a little here and there to consult my map so that might be it.

Nice weather; a bit warmish at the end but it was 17.2C (63F) to start and probably 68F when I finished.

Garmin data here. 

5K fartlek in Sunriver

We drove to Sunriver, Oregon yesterday to stay at my aunt and uncle's home. It's absolutely beautiful here, and in conjunction with our volcano theme we drove very close to Mt. Hood yesterday, saw the Three Sisters, and also Mt. Jefferson. Today we're going to go to the lava fields near Sunriver and also have some pool time :).  The photo below is of 3 deer I saw on my warm-up this morning. The high desert here is full of life.

This morning I did my 5K fartlek. There are great paths here for running/walking/biking, but it's like a maze, and I got lost at the 2km mark and had to spend a minute to get oriented (and was still a bit messed-up!). But other than that, the workout went well. My legs felt heavy on the warm-up and a bit tired from yesterday. The terrain here is mostly flat...sorta. Gently rolling hills in spots have a way of messing with the fartlek times. Garmin says that I had 10m elevation gain throughout, which I believe.

Everything was great through 3km, and then I got a bit tired, but was able to push reasonably hard and finish decently. The first 500m (nice downhill) was the fastest at 2:44.9, and the slowest was the last at 2:54.0. Medium-effort 500s are getting faster; they were 3:03-3:09. Total time 29:33, which I am happy with considering that my legs were tired from yesterday. Average HR was 159, which is also good. My resting HR according to fitbit has been going down as well, probably due to the relaxation effect from vacation :). It has been about 49-51 since going on vacation.

The elevation here is about 1270m (4200ft) which is very close to the same as it is at home; a bit lower. I didn't notice the altitude (that was a joke...been close to sea level for a couple days, which is not enough to become unaccustomed to altitude).

Garmin data here. 

8K in Cascade Locks

Beautiful weather at 61F (16C) and a bit of a breeze. It's been HOT here in the day but the mornings are delightful. Yesterday we took a train ride on the Mt. Hood Railroad, complete with great views of Mt. Hood, of course. My legs had a bit of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) yesterday from the 14K, but just a bit, and considering that I sat immobile in the car for 6 hr after doing the 14K that is pretty good in my book.

Today I was a bit sluggish to start, and the route had rolling hills at the beginning and then steeper hills in the middle. Vacation means not being sure of a good route in the area, and so sometimes it's potluck. And sometimes the best you can get is, well, hilly. But I embraced it as good hill training for Portland-to-Coast next month, and so it was all good.

I did feel a little tired today, but I performed well and completed the 8K in 51:15 for 6:24/km; that with 74m elevation gain/loss in the out and back route, and average HR was 149. I took one photo but then my phone battery died; too bad, because the scenery was great. Cute little town and beautiful bridge over the Columbia River Gorge. I'll try to take some photos today when we pack up camp and drive through town.

Garmin data here. 

14K

Did 14K on the greenbelt in Boise, Idaho. We are on vacation, having left home and dogs in the capable hands of our live-in house sitter Luke, who was more than happy to have a piano to play and a cool basement to sleep in while we're gone (he lives in a converted attic - HOT!).

The greenbelt here in Boise is amazing, meandering along the Boise River right through the heart of the city, including past the stadium and Boise State. It's impeccably maintained with mile markers every 0.1 mile, restrooms, and water fountains. There were a couple races going on this morning but I was out early enough that I didn't run into them, thankfully.

The 14K went very well. I felt great until about 11km when my legs got a bit tired, but I was still able to finish strong with good splits. My coach is happy with the way things have been going, and so am I. Hopefully with more training I can increase my leg speed and get back in very good shape again, barring unforeseen relapses of the mystery illness.

Of note - lots of Canadian geese with their offspring, which were super cute. Also, some random runner high fived me as he went by :). That was fun. People here are very friendly and I enjoyed the gorgeous scenery and weather - 55F (12.7C) to start, clear, and calm. Gorgeous.

Total time: 1:29:55 for 6:25/km; was about 1:04:00 for 10km. A good, solid walk.

Garmin data here. 

more cross-training; 5K fartlek

It's been one heck of a week. Work has been crazy; lots of experiments, a graduate student in our lab had a dissertation defense, SDB was last weekend so very little rest. Personal life has been crazy (example: washing machine broke last night; piano getting repaired today; Grace had a doctor appt yesterday that didn't happen because we got scheduled with a doc who doesn't do kids (they couldn't figure this out on the phone?!?)). Not enough sleep.

Yesterday I was supposed to do the 5K fartlek that I didn't do Tuesday. Well, it didn't happen, mostly because work and personal life took over. I had to drive a cake up to the lab before working out, and got up too late because I was too tired from all the other stuff I did on Tuesday (much running around and errands and kid stuff). I'm not one to make excuses. I know if I want to be competitive I have to prioritize training, but I'm also a mom and a lab manager, and sometimes life happens. I'm trying not to STRESS about it because that makes things much worse. So yesterday I just did the elliptical and that was the way it went. On the way out of the gym a guy said, "there goes the walker!" and smiled at me. I felt so lame for not doing my 5K fartlek then! I was thinking I wasn't much of a walker...but then I reminded myself that life happens and that I need to not stress.

Today I made up for all of that. I was up until midnight trying to get the washing machine to limp through the last few loads of laundry (ugh!) and then woke up BOING! at 5:30 wide awake. Crap. Too much on my mind. So I figured I would go do the 5K fartlek. Why not? I had time. So off I went to the gym.

I did an unremarkable warm-up 5 laps in 9:17 with the last lap a nice fast 1:41, alternating slow and fast bursts. After some dynamic stretching I started the workout. Remember, this is at the indoor 292.6m track, as pretty much all of my speed work is right now (and that's working out just fine, though I do wish I could work out outside when the weather is as nice as it is now in the mornings). When I got going, I felt good and did well :). My total time was 29:32 for 17 laps (4974m) which equals 29:41 for 5000m. Not fast in comparison to what I used to do or in comparison to what my competition is doing...BUT for now it's awesome. I'm just happy to be under 30 min for a fartlek in my current shape.

Even better, my medium effort intervals were faster than they have been, and that's where the increase came from. I'm apparently in OK shape; just need to get some leg speed back. The 17 laps are 4x(2 fast, 2 medium) and 1 fast. The 500m equivalent times for those are 2:52.0, 3:02.8, 2:53.3, 3:04.3, 2:52.9, 3:04.3, 2:54.6, 3:05.4, 2:50.5. Like I said, my fasts were not so fast, but at least the medium effort intervals are improving.

Average HR was 159, max 170, and 2 min recovery 124. That all seems very typical for this workout,  which is great. Hoping the evil mystery illness stays away for a long time.

Garmin data here. 

8K; cross-training

Yesterday: A nice fast-ish 8K. Was supposed to do that on Thursday this week, but my legs felt really good, so I just went with it. 8K in 50:34 for 6:19/km with ave HR 142. This is really good and makes me feel more optimistic. However, later in the day I was super tired; I have this feeling it's more work stress/home stress than the workout though. It's been a bit crazy here. Nothing bad, just busy. Garmin data here. 

Today: Woke not feeling right. Stressed and just feeling off, so decided to do the planned 5K fartlek tomorrow instead. I think I am learning to be more flexible with myself when I need to be; if nothing else, my illness is teaching me how to slow down when I have to. Unfortunately, life doesn't slow down for training. Not when you're a lab manager with 2 kids. So, I did a warm-up of 3 laps, wasn't feeling it (glutes a bit sore-ish?) and switched to elliptical instead, and rode my bike to work.

hilly 12K

My poster session at the SDB meeting was until 11pm last night; thankfully, Matt covered the 10:15-11pm part for me after I covered the early part for him (the poster belongs to both of us). Still, by the time I drove home from Snowbird and got ready for bed and read for 15-20 min, it was 11:30 pm :(. I woke up and got out the door by 6:15 am because a friend needed us to watch her 3 1/2 year old starting at 8 am. Life is a bit crazy! Anyway, after not very much sleep I had to hit the road so I could be back in time. It was a lovely morning and it was great to be out; 18.9C (66F) and calm and clear.

I took the dogs, figuring I'd drop Powder, the slowpoke, back home after 6km (around Liberty Park). She annoyed me so much this morning! She was lagging badly by 3km and I exerted a lot of extra energy to drag/cajole/convince her to go faster. I still did the first 6km at a 6:32/km pace, so that was OK. By then I was SICK OF DOGS, so I dropped both of them home and went out all alone. Ahhhh...alone....as a mom and a lab mom I don't get enough alone time. I decided to do SugarHouse park for my 2nd 6km, as it's hilly and I need hills to get ready for Portland-to-Coast. My legs were a bit tired by 8km, and that combined with the hills slowed me down to 6:37/km overall for the 12km with ave HR 147; total time 1:19:23. But right now speed doesn't matter; that will come back again eventually.

I'm feeling OK now. Tired, but that's because I didn't sleep enough. Legs are all right; no weird soreness or any other problems. Like I said, they were a bit fatigued by 8km, but were never "dead" feeling and it wasn't a death march to get home. Even had a little extra for a faster downhill 500m at the very end, so I was doing OK. Hopefully after some good sleep and a rest day tomorrow I'll be good to go for next week for a bit harder training. My resting HR as fitbit calculates it is up a little from 54-55 to 57; not sure if that is stress from the conference (since my poster session was last night and I was a bit keyed up about presenting our not-so-great data, though we did get a few helpful suggestions), lack of sleep, or natural variation. It was 57 yesterday and today so far. I will keep monitoring it. At least the recovery HR was good during yesterday's 3x1km, so I'm not too worried about this and suspect it might be natural variation or minor conference stress that should go away after tomorrow.

Garmin data here. 

elliptical; 3x878m

Yesterday: 45 min elliptical. Legs felt totally fine and well-recovered from Tuesday's 3K fartlek.

Today: 3x1km was the assigned workout; however, since I am doing most speed work on the indoor track it ended up being 3x878m. I felt good this morning and the warm-up was smooth, and probably the fastest warm-up I've had in a while. I did 9:12 for 5 laps for 6:17/km. The last lap was a nice fast 1:40, and that was alternating fast/medium efforts on the straights/curves.

I did some dynamic drills and then got going on the 3x878m. Everything felt smooth, and I tried really really hard to focus on my technique, particularly my posture. I know I need to be straighter so that my hips are free to move more readily. I concentrated hard on this throughout my workout.

Taking the first interval conservatively, I cranked out a 4:59.4 (1km equivalent = 5:41.1). Then I ratcheted it up a notch and had a nice 4:56.5 (1km equiv = 5:37.8), and finally still had enough for a 4:58.4 (1km = 5:39.9). I'm still not super speedy, but at least I'm not ridiculously slow. Maybe after some more training my leg speed will improve. I've been saying this for 2 years, so who knows if it will really happen, but I'm more hopeful now.

2 min recovery HR lows: 104, 108, 107. Super happy with this! Obviously I'm feeling better. I want to keep it that way.

***

I'm at a conference for work (Society for Developmental Biology), local, but still a conference. It's up at Snowbird ski resort, and it's very beautiful up here (see photo at left). The down side is that I'm really really busy with work stuff, balancing with family stuff, and still trying to work out. I'm trying to stay relaxed and calm though. Can't let stress get the upper hand. So far so good. I got our poster printed for the poster session tonight, which is very late at 9:30-11pm. Ughhhhh that will play havoc with my schedule for tomorrow since I plan to get up early for 12km. At least I might get a brief nap today :).

3K fartlek

I recovered well from the 10K yesterday. My legs felt a touch heavy on my warm-up today, but after a few laps I felt better and was ready to go.

I was at the indoor track again because the outdoor tracks are still out of commission, and I wanted the flat surface. So I did 10 laps = 2926.1m; 2 fast, 2 med, 2 fast, 2 med, 2 fast.

Total time was 17:14.6 which works out to 17:40.7 equivalent on the track. Not great, but not terrible either. About what I've been doing; maybe one of these days after I train more I'll be in better shape again? My HR recovered to 120 by 2 min afterward, which seems normal for this workout. Resting HR from my fitbit is still hovering at 54-55 which also seems normal; remember that that is not my lowest HR of the day but rather an average of the resting portions of my day with some fancy-schmancy algorithm they have developed. My actual lowest HR upon waking is still running mid-40s, which also seems normal.

My fast lap times converted to 500m were 2:50.5, 2:51.1, 2:51.3, and medium effort were 3:04.3 and 3:06.7. That all seems decent, I guess.

The next few days are going to be a bit crazy, as I'll be at the Society for Developmental Biology Conference up at Snowbird on and off for work. It should be interesting and I'm looking forward to some of the talks and posters, but it's going to be busy, and that I'm not looking forward to. I am already too busy! Oh well...life goes on. Now to stay relaxed in the busyness, if possible.

Garmin data here. 

I'm a bit sleepy/tired now - the speed work always takes a bit more out of me, even if it's short. I need to try to go to bed early if possible (hahahaha!). Otherwise, I feel fine. No weird soreness, no excessive fatigue.

10K

Sunday: biked to church; otherwise, rest day.

Monday: 20 min elliptical + biked to work (hard uphill).

Today: 10K racewalking. Nice weather!!! Finally cooled off a bit and was 68F (20C) when I went out this morning. It felt pretty good; a bit warm, but didn't impair performance. My legs felt decent, getting a little tired around 8km (was 6:29/km by 8km) and getting to 10km (slight uphill for 2km) at 1:05:20 for 6:32/km with ave HR 151. I focused very hard on my posture. I knew I wasn't going to be fast today and was tempted to get upset about it, but remembered that I need to 1) stay positive, and 2) be less anxious. So I set a goal of getting to 10km with good form and to heck with the time. That worked out pretty well. I had a bit of a scare at 1.5ish km, tripping on a sidewalk crack, but I caught myself and didn't fall. Then I slipped on some wet plant material in a gutter, but again caught myself. Crazy. All in all, I'm glad to be feeling good and hopefully training hard again soon.

Garmin data here. 

Murray Fun Days 5K

Happy 4th of July!

It was REALLY HOT this morning. 82F (27.8C) and overcast, and then the sun came out about 2K into the race. Ughhhhhh. I drank a bunch of water before the race, a sip or two during, and dumped some over my head before, during, and after. But the heat slowed me down. That, and lack of training. I was pathetically slow. This race is never fast, as it has a few hills, but it's not usually THIS slow.

Even Calvin was slow - he was 4 min slower than last year (reflects lack of training on his part too). At least I was only about a minute slower than last year, I think.

The good news? My heart rate was not that high - in fact, it averaged 158, so obviously I had a bit more to give (if it hadn't been so hot). Clearly I'm recovering from my latest bout of fatigue and perhaps things will be looking up.

Pep talk to self: I will not remain slow. I'm feeling better, and hopefully can begin training hard again and do well at Portland-to-Coast.

I did enjoy the race; it was fun being there with Calvin and with my friends Diane, Dawna, and Nancy from the Wasatch Walkers.

Total time 30:39 (official). Sad.
Garmin data here. 

YES! Back to normal!!! 3x878m

SO EXCITED! My heart rate is back to normal. I don't know why, but it is; perhaps it was the stress of planning the 50th anniversary weekend events, and now that it's over I'm better? Or maybe stress plus the underlying mystery illness? I have no idea. I just know that I am better.

I went to the indoor track and warmed up. I wasn't feeling super energetic or motivated and was slow to start (1:56-1:57 laps (292.6m/lap)), but after a few laps I felt better and finished with a 1:44 lap, accelerating on the straights. My coach wanted me to do 3x1km, and the closest to that on this track is 3x878m, so that's what I did. My times were 5:03.1, 4:59.7, and 4:58.9 for a 1km equivalent of 5:45.3, 5:41.4, and 5:40.5. The times are good, though not great, but the heart rate was wonderful. Average was in the low 150s for the first interval, then it got down to 101 (!!! YES !!!) during my 2 min rest. Then the next one the average was mid-upper 150s, then 104 during the 2 min recovery :). Finally, on the last one the average was upper 150s-low 160s, then 109 during 2 min of recovery. Perfect. Compare that to the workout I did on May 25 (an interval workout, with longer intervals) and you can see the vast difference in the recovery HR. That workout had recovery HRs in the 130s (yikes!), and that totally cued me that something was wrong, as even during a very long and hard interval workout my HR usually recovers into the upper 110s or low 120s at the very most.

I'm really hoping this holds and that things are going to be back to normal. Oh, and my fitbit is showing resting HR at 56 average (including daytime) vs. 60 earlier in the week.

After my workout I biked to summer camp with the kids and then to work. Legs feel good. I'm a bit sleepy, but I didn't get enough sleep last night because we have houseguests, so that's not surprising.

Garmin data here.

cross-training

I was supposed to do 3x1km today. I felt OK, but I'm still recovering from the weekend and woke up late and grouchy. I managed to do the elliptical for 20 min instead, and also biked to work. Overall my fatigue levels are much better, and my resting HR appears to be trending down, according to my fitbit, but I'm just being cautious. I will do the 3x1km tomorrow and then I have a 5K race on Saturday to get in some more speed work.

My motivation has been low - I'm afraid of feeling worse, and heck, even when I'm feeling good, I'm not that good. Of course I tend to compare myself to the best women my age in the world. But I know some of them, so it's hard not to. I'm trying to just feel my way back right now. Today, the elliptical was all I had the mental energy for (kids were horrid this morning...there was a party last night, which always wears me out...etc.). But I haven't given up.

Hot 6K

By many standards it wasn't hot this morning. But it sure felt hot to me. It was 27.2C (81F) at 6:30am. Yep. I think that's the hottest morning I can ever remember here; the cloud cover last night prevented it from cooling off much. Add in 39% humidity (quite high for here; cloud cover again) and it was pretty miserable. I'm sure it slowed me a little, but not too much I don't think. More significant might be my tired legs from yesterday's hike. They didn't feel too awful, but were definitely a bit heavy.

Add in tired pooches and it gets more interesting. As usual, Powder was lollygagging and I was practically dragging her at a few points. I might have to give up on taking her on training walks. I hate to do that as she needs the exercise, but she has to learn to keep up or she'll be relegated to slow walks with me or the kids or Loren later in the day.

I also messed up my Garmin when stopping in the park to pick up after Powder, who decided that the park sidewalk would be a nice place to do her business. Sugar is never that untidy. Sigh... but I lost about 2.5 minutes that way. My total time was approximately 39:30 for the 6K, which isn't too bad at 6:35/km, considering the conditions and my slightly heavy legs.

The fatigue overall seems to be a bit better and now that the big anniversary weekend is over, I'm hoping that I can get back to training hard, if my body will let me. We will see.

Garmin data here (for what it's worth, given the error).

cross-training bonanza!

Sunday: rest day

Monday: elliptical 30 min, then hiking! Took the day off work (will work Friday instead; Friday is the observed Independence Day holiday) and hiked with my uncle, his wife, and my mom. Awesome. We hiked from Alta ski resort base up to Secret Lake, which is at 3011m (9878ft) by my Garmin; the start of the hike was at 2647m (8684ft), so while it wasn't a huge elevation change, it was a good amount. We did go very slowly, since I am the youngest by 17 years! We saw amazing scenery, a mama moose and her baby, lots of wildflowers, and of course the lake. Total distance was about 8.4km.

6K

Yesterday: was going to cross-train, but family activities and stuff I had to do for my parent's 50th anniversary celebration this weekend kind of took over. In addition, I played a wedding in the morning - fun way to celebrate our own 22nd anniversary (yes, we got married on my parents' 28th anniversary). Busy day.

Today: I was supposed to do 12K, but I woke up a bit late (stayed up late working on more 50th stuff for the big dinner tonight) and so I allowed myself to sleep a little later. Well, then it was hot. Quite hot. It's supposed to get to 102F (39C) today; it was 75-80F during my walk (24-26C). I'm not used to that at all (Nyle - insert laughter here) and so I was dragging. Plus my legs felt heavy and tired. I decided that 6K was enough given the conditions, and the fact that I want to get better again not worse. I am OK with this. Baby steps, I guess. Thanks, coach, for being patient with me for a bit as I navigate getting out of the relapse.

Totals: 39:09 for 6:31/km with ave HR 148; I did take a few water/stoplight stops and a couple other brief rests.

Garmin data here. 

Wedding photos:
My parents, married June 26, 1965

Our wedding, June 26, 1993

cross-training; 3K fartlek

Yesterday: 25 min elliptical and bike ride up to work for 35 min hard cardio and 15 min easy.

Today: 3K fartlek. Went to the indoor track and did a 5-lap (each lap = 292.608m) warm-up. Felt really, really tired and sleepy. Ugh! Too much going on this week - it's been completely insane. But...the warm-up went OK and my legs were feeling decent, so I did the fartlek. On the indoor track I do 10 laps, 2 fast, 2 medium effort, 2 fast, 2 medium effort, 2 fast, for 2926m. I did 17:08, which converts to 17:34 for the full 3km. That's faster than my 3km race last weekend...sigh...but it is also flat, and Liberty Park is not flat. Regardless, my intervals of 2 laps convert to 500s of 2:48.7, 3:03.5, 2:49.6, 3:06.7, and 2:50.0. That seems decent enough. BUT also of note: my average HR was very high at 168 and my max was 182. Yikes! Plus, after 2 min my HR was still 136; usually it is more like 120ish after that time. Just data, but a bit alarming.

I've been very tired the rest of the day, but it's impossible to know whether this is from my breakneck pace this week or the mystery illness or both. I need some rest. Hopefully after this weekend it'll happen. Until then...well...I'm hanging on.

Garmin data here.

8K

Sunday: rest day.

Monday: rest day....was up until 3:20am working on an important project. So let's just say that racewalking didn't happen yesterday. I did make it through the day at work OK, but crashed out at home for a couple hours. I know in my current state of tiredness that this was a bad idea, but I didn't really have a choice, as there was a hard deadline on this project.

Today: 8K. Stopped my Garmin to chat with a friend in the park (met Henry, who introduced me to Brant (Brent? Geez I'm bad at names!) and Norma, who I've seen before - she's a cute ~70-80yo woman who carries doggie biscuits in her pocket to hand out to canine friends at Liberty Park on her morning walk/run) and then forgot to start it again. Oops. Missed about 750m, so when I got to 7.25km on my watch I called it quits.

My walk went fine; I was nice and fast to start on the slight downhill to Liberty Park, and then evened out at about 6:30/km, but then about 4.5km Powder (new dog) got tired and I had to pull pretty hard on the leash to keep her going...needless to say, my pace slowed a lot. I stopped to let her rest for a bit at 5km, then got her going a bit farther, then had to stop again. Oddly enough, I think she knows which way home is, because when we turned for home she perked up a bit and I was able to go faster again. So my walk was a bit slow, but it would have been faster w/o the dogs (I'm guessing about 6:25-6:30/km w/o the dogs?). Hopefully I can get Powder in better shape, or I will have to circle back home mid-walk to leave her so that I can go the pace I want with Sugar, who is a good endurance doggie.

My pace was 6:36/km with ave HR 150. Garmin data (missing 0.75km) here. 

I'm feeling OK now, though I am quite sleepy. I think I'm not all the way back on my normal sleep schedule, so if I'm tired that shouldn't surprise me. Hard to say if it's the mystery illness or not. Legs feel fine, thankfully - no weird soreness. I will have a better idea of how this affects me tomorrow, I suspect. A good night's sleep tonight will be critical, so I am going to make sure I'm in bed earlier.

adventures in fatigue...but getting better?

This week started out lousy, but has improved. Sunday = tired, tired tired. Monday = so tired and brain fogged (like jet lag, almost) that I called in sick from work and took a long nap. Tuesday = tired; left work an hour early. Wednesday = felt a little better; managed to do the elliptical for 30 minutes; got brain fog around dinner time, which is better than morning or midday. Thursday = rode bike to camp with kids then to work; felt decent.

Friday I felt like doing some racewalking, so I did 5K in 31:56 with the dogs. It was nice to be out, though I could tell I was a bit rusty, especially in the first km. It felt awkward.

Today: club 3K race (photos: judges, at right; participants, below). Last thing that I wanted to do, honestly. I didn't want to suck, was afraid of how bad I'd be, and was/am afraid of possible aftermath of a hard workout even if it was short. But it went OK and I'm glad I did it because it was fun to see everyone, and though I was slow it could have been lots worse. Liberty Park is NOT perfectly flat, and I figure I'd have been 15-20 seconds faster on a track, so I'm OK with my slowish 17:37. My heart rate averaged 168, and it was a whopping 181 at the finish, so I know I was pushing it hard. Garmin data here.  The 500s are NOT accurate; the only accurate splits are 1km and the finish, which were both measured on this certified course. Somehow I missed the 2km split so that's a guess too.

Someday, maybe, I'll be able to train again and will be back in shape. I am glad I'm feeling a bit better the last few days and am hoping maybe the fatigue will go away? We'll see.

Utah Valley Half Marathon

I've wanted to do this race for a long time, and finally signed up in March...before I knew I'd feel fatigued and have another relapse of the mystery illness. Add in that I promised my friend Alex from NYC that I'd do the race and drive him down there with me, and I was doubly committed. Fortunately, though I've been fatigued, I was still able to finish the race. It's too bad I haven't been feeling good, because this would've been a great full marathon to do. Nice downhill but not too steep, great scenery (canyon, forest, waterfall), well-organized, nice finish area, good medals. 

The one down side of the race was that we had to get up really, really early. It's a 50-55 min drive to Provo, where the buses were loading to the race start, and I had to be there by 4:30am; Alex had to be  at his start by 4:15am at the VERY latest. We decided that arriving by 3:45ish would be good, so we left at 2:55am, which meant getting up at 2:30am. I drank a bit of coffee thinking that'd work OK since I'd have time to use the ports-potty before the race, and that worked out well. It was a bit chilly at the start, up the canyon - maybe 50F? (10C). I found a couple friends, Diane and Marj, who were doing the race, and enjoyed chatting with them for a bit. They are in their 70s and still doing half-marathons and marathons - I love that! 

Pretty soon we threw our gear in the truck for transport to the finish, and the race was on. I tried to start off really easy and kept my HR in the 130s for the first nice downhill mile. I kept it a very easy effort until 7km, and then allowed the effort to get a bit harder until about 15km. Then, my legs pretty much gave up, and though I kept going, I stopped pushing the pace and kept my HR about the same, slowing to the finish. My last 5K was a quite slow 34 min, but I'm OK with that; let's face it - I wasn't at all trained to go more than 15k and I was just happy to know I'd finish. I tripped during mile 11 and almost went down, which scared me a bit. My right shin was very tired and I think I just didn't keep ground clearance well with my right toe. Thankfully, I didn't fall, just was off-balance for a few steps and recovered. It frightened me into being a bit more careful for the rest of the race. 

Recovery has been good so far. I haven't had any weird soreness, just the usual post-race stiffness. I have been tired, but not devastatingly so (yet). I took a 90-min nap this afternoon and that refreshed me quite a bit. Hopefully after a good night's sleep I'll feel pretty good tomorrow. We'll see!

Total time: 2:19:09.6 (official, from website). Yeah, that's slow, but most of the slow was the last 5K, so I'll take it. I'm just glad I could finish today. Average HR was pretty high for that speed at 156, but that just reflects being a bit out-of-shape for the long ones right now, I think. At least I'm not signed up for anything long for a while, so I can recover and maybe start some serious training again. Next race is a 3K on Saturday, then maybe a 3K in August in South Lake Tahoe, and then Portland-to-Coast in August. 

Garmin data here. (12th mile marker was off so that split is wrong).

cross-training...tired...

Yesterday: rode bike to work, slowly, after riding bikes with kids to summer camp.

Today: Was supposed to try 5K fartlek. Overtired. Woke about 30 min late and only had time for 20 min elliptical; besides, was so tired I couldn't imagine a fartlek. Discouraged. Annoyed. Wanting to give up, but also realizing that I might feel better soon. Can't imagine that as I'm so tired right now. After 20 min elliptical I rode my bike to summer camp and work. Legs heavy and tired, but no weird soreness at least.

Half marathon on Saturday? Hahahaha. Well...maybe I'll feel better by then. I can hope.

cross-training

I was in a bad mood last night. I was so very, very tired, and a bit discouraged. I know I'm getting better overall and that my relapses are not as bad, but when I'm tired it's impossible to keep perspective. Well it feels impossible, anyway. So...yeah...I ate stuff I shouldn't have eaten, and allowed myself to pout and feel sorry for myself, which is silly because I have a good life and ought to be grateful.

This morning my pity party was over and I had to figure out what to do next. Rest up, and hope I can do the 1/2 on Saturday. I rode with the kids to summer camp on the new-to-them bikes I purchased for them this weekend. They had outgrown their old ones and were ready for the new ones, which they were so excited to ride this morning! I got out my husband's bike, because it has lower gears than mine, rode with them, and then up to work from there. The hill from camp to work is much steeper than home to work, hence the lower gears. I took it so very, very easy on the way up here, using the granny gears to ensure than my legs were lightly used. I didn't wear my HR monitor but am sure it was pretty low; probably 110-120 most of the time.

Tomorrow or Wednesday I'll do some speed work, and then not much else until Saturday besides light cycling and elliptical. That should be OK.

10K ... tired... :(

Friday - took a rest day because I felt "off". Sleepy by 2pm; hung in at work until 4:30 and came home and crashed. Napped for 45 min. Then of course had trouble falling asleep and woke at 6am Saturday with a bad stomach :(.

Saturday - was supposed to do 15K but between lack of sleep and bad stomach opted for 40 min elliptical instead, which felt great, actually.

Sunday - excited to do 15K this morning. But...my legs begged to differ. I just felt "off" and could only manage 10K in 1:06:40 for 6:40/km. I *could* have gone to 15K, but felt I would end up paying later, so I stopped. Don't know if that was the right call but it probably was. Was tired by 2:30pm and felt horribly sleepy from 4pm onward until now. Going to bed soon.

Now I'm worried about the fact that I'm signed up for a half marathon on Saturday :(. I am very worried I won't be able to do it.

Garmin data here. 

5K fartlek

Yesterday: I felt good, so I did 50 min elliptical. Legs felt quite recovered from the 12K on Tuesday. I did feel a bit sleepy by about 5pm-ish, but that's better than last week when it was more like ~2pm. The fatigue is still there but it's better, I think.

Today: I woke feeling refreshed and ready to go. It was extremely windy this morning and I also didn't feel like working out on the street, because it's not flat. Picky, picky! So I went to the indoor track at the U (292.6 m/lap). I did 5 laps for a warm-up, felt good, and did some dynamic stretching. I felt a lot better today during the warm-up than on Monday, when I abandoned the workout. I was about 20 sec faster on the 5 laps and my body just felt good rather than tired.

When I was ready, I got going on the workout. 17 laps is 4974m, so I did (2 laps fast, 2 medium effort) x 4 and finished with 1 lap fast. My times started off pretty fast, but got slower and my HR was extremely high for the effort this morning. I felt like it was a very hard effort, but didn't feel like it was THAT much effort - ave HR was 166 instead of the usual ~160-161 for this workout. My max was 179 (!) and that seems quite high. I felt reasonably strong, though I was tired for the last ~1.5km or so; I don't know what to make of the high HR, since I felt decent enough and have had no weird soreness at all today. I am a bit fatigued/sleepy tired and hoping to make it through lab meeting without nodding off :) but otherwise feel fine. In addition, I let my watch keep going for 2 min after the workout, and my HR only got down to 133 after 2 min. That also seems high for 2 min recovery, even given my current fitness level.

Total time: 30:04.2 adjusts to 30:13.6 for 5km - slow for how high my HR was. Intervals were 2:49-2:55 for the fasts and 3:07-3:14 for the medium effort, adjusted to 500m. So it was an OK workout overall, and I feel pretty good now, but I am a tad concerned about my heart rate. Seems like I'm not back to feeling good yet, but at least I could do speed work :).

Garmin data here. 

12K

I wasn't sure I had 12K in me, but I did :).

At first I decided I'd go for 6K with the dogs, and then stop by my house to drop them off and re-evaluate how I felt. My dog Powder, the new-to-us-dog, is still not super good on a leash, and she also gets tired after about 6K, so I figured that'd work well. I also woke up a bit late, so I knew I'd also have to check on the kids and make sure they were good to go for school.

I opted for a hillier course because I love SugarHouse Park and really wanted to go there this morning. It was a gorgeous, sunny morning with temps about 16.1C (61F), which feels so warm to me right now. Good thing I don't have any hot races coming up! I decided to just go slowly and not worry about it and just get some distance under my feet. The first 6K was at 6:40 pace but with the hills that seems OK; I did the same course in 6:31/km just before the 15K race and given how I'm feeling this week 6:40 seemed reasonable.

When I got home from the first 6K I dropped off the dogs (Powder was indeed ready to quit!!!) and checked on the kids. Grace needed some help with her outfit for school; they are having a chalk party and are going to get their clothes all covered with dust (something like the Color Run) so she wore an old shirt that had a hole that needed to be safety-pinned :). Calvin needed help restarting the computer because it had crashed during his morning Minecraft time (we allow him 30 minutes before school if he has eaten and made his lunch). After I took care of the kids, I headed out again.

I decided to do the last 6K around Liberty Park, and hit both parks in one morning. Lovely :). I still felt good when I started; around 9K I got quite tired and it was a bit of a slog getting home, but not too awful. It wasn't a death march, and I was so happy to be out doing 12K and enjoying the morning that I didn't mind the tiredness too much. Actually, my last 6K was faster than the first 6K, as I finished at 6:38/km overall.

I had some GI distress for the last ~1km or so but it wasn't too bad. Could have been those cherries I had last night in my protein shake :).

Total time: 1:19:40 for 6:38/km with ave HR 150. No weird soreness after, though my legs are tired and I'm a bit sleepy.

relapse; The Great Inflatable Race

Saturday: not good. Legs off from just riding my bike casually with Calvin to and around SugarHouse Park on Friday night; only 6K with minimal hills (by bike standards). I managed 5K racewalking at a 6:35/km pace and called it quits. I had intended to do 15K. NOT. Then at least some fun awaited; Calvin and I did a 5K called The Great Inflatable Race, with bouncy house type obstacles. It was pretty entertaining, and Calvin absolutely loved it!

Garmin data here 5K RW
Garmin data here TGIR 5K

Sunday: rest day. A bit of DOMS from the inflatable race, but very minor. My triceps are sore, haha! Took a nap, which felt great.

Today: Jim said to try 5x1km if my legs felt good. I did a 5-lap warm-up at the indoor track (~1.5km) and they did not feel good. They felt tired and heavy. I don't think I'm having any weird soreness now, which is good, but I decided it wasn't worth trying it today. So after warming up I did the elliptical for 20 min to get 30 min total of cardio. Have to do SOMETHING or I will gain back the weight I lost. It's a battle.

I'm a bit irritated that I'm having a relapse, but at least it's not as bad as the last one in November. It's been 6.5 months since then, which is longer than I went last time (by a few weeks?) but the relapse isn't as bad. I'm not as sore as I read that I was in November (it's hard to remember so it's good I wrote down how I was feeling).

Oh well. I just need to get good sleep and eat right and hopefully it'll be gone soon. I might try the 5x1km tomorrow if my legs feel better. Or something else if Jim thinks something else is a good idea.

I just want to feel better. Soon.