Likes to write his name

 Calvin loves writing his name. This is his latest creation; he did it all by himself, unprompted. I thought it was pretty darn clever!

sleep-deprived stupidity

I really should get more sleep. This morning, I drove the Rav4 up to my weight training class, and got there about 10-15 min early so that I could racewalk to warm up for class. When I pulled in, my instructor was just getting out of his car, and I was distracted because he was dressed up in a shirt & tie. I was asking him about it and re-arranging my car keys at the same time. I meant to put my Rav4 key in my shorts and put the other keys in the car. However, I did just the opposite, and then locked the car. I did not realize what I'd done until I was 1-2 min into my racewalking, when I heard my keys jingling. "That's odd", I was thinking. I reached back and grabbed my keys and realized what I'd done. Major bummer.

Fortunately, I live only 2.9 miles (just under 5k) from the U, where the class is. I racewalked home (all downhill!) in just under 28 minutes, grabbed a quick shower and my husband's keys, and went to switch cars. I couldn't have him just drive me up there, because we have the kids and the Buick has no car seats. So I drove up there and switched the cars, and drove home. Meanwhile, he showered and dressed the kids. I got back and we piled everyone in the Rav4, and took Loren up to get his car. He drove to work from there (less than a mile) and got to work early. I took the kids to day care and made it to work about my usual time. I guess it could have been worse; I got my workout (not the one I'd planned) and it all worked out OK. Still, I think maybe more sleep would be good.

6 miles at marathon pace

6 miles @ marathon pace was the task for this morning. I did 6.15 miles (just under 10K) in 1:04:41, for 10:30/mile. It was downhill for the 1st mile, uphill for the last mile, and mostly flat in between. Average heart rate 142 (low for that pace!). Still not sure I can do the whole marathon at 10:30; probably 10:40 is more realistic, but I'll train hard and see what happens.

Been staying up too late these days, so I am going to sign off and get some sleep now, before it's too much later.

Hills in City Creek Canyon

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn (really!) to do hills in City Creek Canyon. I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed, and I was dreading the workout a bit. But I was out the door by 5:35; I took Copper with me in the back of the Rav4. She was so excited to go for a ride! We arrived at the canyon mouth at 5:50 and started up the hill.

The schedule said 7 miles (11.25km) of hills, and City Creek is nothing if not hilly. It is pretty much UP, UP, UP for 6 miles to the top. However, dogs are only allowed up the first 2.9 miles (4.7 km) from the gate (because of the watershed), so I turned around at mile 2.9, headed back down 0.6 miles (1 km) to mile 3.5 on my Garmin, then back up to the watershed signs, and finally down all the way to the bottom.

[Side note - I remember the first time I went up this canyon - it was on a bike, about 7-8 years ago, with Sarah and Bryan and Loren. I was SO slow and out of shape, but everyone was very patient with me. I wonder how long it took? I have the feeling that I racewalked it today faster than I biked it years ago! WOW! What a cool thought!]

The weather was gorgeous this morning. It was 55 and clear, and in the canyon it was probably 5 degrees cooler (50F or 10C). My hands actually got quite cold in the first 1-1.5 miles, and I wished I had gloves! Even my legs were a bit cold. Hmmm, maybe it was only 45? Perfect weather for a hard workout, though, as the chill makes it so much nicer when you start sweating.

It was a hard climb for the first 2.9 miles, but not as bad as I was imagining last night when I was thinking about this workout. I tried to do it moderately hard, and that was a good decision, as it felt great. I did the first mile in 10:54, and the second mile in 10:53. Not too shabby for the incline, and ave HR was 143 for the first mile and 153 for the second mile. After that I didn't really do splits for each mile, though my split through halfway (3.5 miles) was 36:45 for 10:30/mile (6:31/km).

I was still feeling pretty good when I got to the watershed signs the second time. All the same, it was great to be headed back DOWN the hills to the car. I did pick up the pace quite a bit and finished in 1:09:26 for 9:54/mile (6:10/km) with an average HR of 150 for the whole workout. Wow, that is really very fast for the incline! From 0.0 to 2.9 miles the elevation increased from 4700 feet to 5260 feet, or 560 feet (171m). I'm not sure how much I went back down from mile 2.9 to 3.5; it looks like about 100 feet (30m) or so. Of course, then I went back UP that part, so I probably climbed something like 660 feet (201m) through mile 4.1.

That's not as much as the 900-1000 ft I have to climb in my hilly leg of Portland-to-Coast, and it's about 80% as steep. Holly (our team captain for PTC) has me down for 11:15/mile on my leg. I think I'll be ready. Yes, the hill is steeper and longer than what I did today, and some of it is gravel road, but I was a lot faster than 11:15/mile, and I could have pushed harder had it been a race situation. I'm getting excited - less than 7 weeks to race day (Aug 28)!

And yes, I did stop (very briefly) a few times on the way down to get some pictures. Here are the other photos.

Monday long racewalk

Today the schedule said 13 miles easy (20.92km), so off I went. I had no problem keeping it very easy; in fact, I had trouble for the first half pushing my heart rate much about 132-133. Not sure why, but it was just one of those days when I felt sluggish or something. I did manage to pick it up a bit about 7 miles (11.27km) in, when I was done with the hilly part (I started on some hills and then did a flat part). Ave pace for the first 2 miles (very uphill) was a quite slow 11:42/mile (7:14/km). Anyway, I just felt tired today, and I know I really need to get more sleep. I'm just not sure how to fit it all in. Y'know, work, training, being a mommy, doing laundry & housework & cooking, etc. Sleep seems to get the short end of the stick a lot.

Overall, 10:59/mile (6:50/km), 13.00 miles (20.92km) in 2:22:52. Ave HR was 135.

No pain, though my R piriformis is still a bit tight. It's getting better, though.

***

Oh, and yesterday I did an easy racewalk around Sugar House Park (3.65ish miles?) in 39:17.

Michelle stuff

Sadly, Michelle spiked a fever just before we were to hand the kids off for 24-hr of kid-free time yesterday :(. And the friends who were to watch them can't do it again until August 21st :(. Oh well, I guess the delayed gratification will make it that much better?

***

On the funny side, I talked to Michelle today:

T: What's your favorite store?
M: Costco.
T: Why?
M: Because I can buy samples there.

:) She meant that she gets free samples there :). The kids love going to Costco and tasting whatever they are handing out. Very cute.

TNT workout; RW form

TNT workout this morning. Did 10.7 miles (they were doing 8 or 7); about 1.5 running, maybe 6 walking fast, and the rest walking moderately or slowly. Had a great time taking photos of the team and analyzing walking form for some of them. I plan to get pics of more of them next week along with some of the runners. Everyone did very well today and finished just fine.

 At the end of the workout, I had Danielle get some shots of me so that I could see where my form is at. It's looking improved from last summer; arms are better (though still chicken winging a little) and for the first time EVER I have some shots w/both feet briefly off the ground. This is legal as long as the human eye can't see it, and just the teensiest bit of lifting like I'm doing is probably a little more efficient gait. I'm still overstriding just a little with my L leg, and will have to keep working on it.

More pictures of the team members and of me here.

quite tired

I was SO tired after the lack of sleep the past 2 nights. I really was quite a wreck at our small group meeting last night :( but thankfully everyone was good to put up with me. In any case, I had planned 6 miles at marathon pace for this morning, but decided I would sleep as late as my body would sleep (I am a morning person and don't sleep in well).

I woke up at 6:10 am, and felt decent but only had time for 4 miles before work. I went around Liberty Park (~3.9 miles) in 41:16. Good pace, and I felt great - was so glad I went.

Hopefully I can get in a good weight training workout tomorrow.

1 mile up

Looking UP at the 3 mile point on my walk yesterday; same route as my ride today.

I did some cross-training today. Had to get up early again because Loren had his dentist appt today and he had to leave at 6:45 am, so I had to be back by then. I normally have my weight training class on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:20, so obviously that was out of the question. But after 10 miles on Monday and 6 miles of hills yesterday, a day of rest from racewalking was in order.

So I hopped on Loren's hybrid bike (more gears than mine), complete with bike light and rack for carrying stuff, and up the hills I went. I decided to do the same route I did yesterday racewalking, only I wanted to go farther up the hills. I biked up as high as I could going that way (a road I thought I could take was actually private and gated, with no access), which turned out to be 5280 feet = 1 mile up (1.609km)! OK, so I didn't actually bike up that far...I started at 4350 feet, but still, that is 900+ feet of elevation gain. Not too shabby on a heavy commuting bike (someday I'd like to get a real road bike, but it's kinda low on the priority list at the moment).

Photo looking down when I started down the hill yesterday on my walk (same route as bike ride today).

It was about 3.3 miles up, and then I went on more level roads up there for a bit, and then I biked home (fast... very fast... topped out at 31 mph = 50 kph). Total workout was 7.59 miles in 43:46; ave speed 10.4 mph and ave HR 135 (ave HR going UP was more like 142, and going down it was about 115).

I felt great when I got home, and now I have piano students in 5 minutes.

Zebrafish

Today I immersed myself in the world of zebrafish research. I learned quite a lot for my first day: how to breed fish, how to collect eggs/embryos, how to do whole mounts of embryos on slides, and how to remove a yolk sac from 72-hr embryos. Oh, and I also learned (the hard way, with accompanying laughter) that the water pressure on the hoses in the fish room is rather high! The boss, J, is a patient teacher and all-around nice guy. Co-worker E and student C are easy to get along with as well. I think I'm really going to like this job :).

Pain-free hills :)

I decided to do a hard hill workout today. I had to get up really early because Loren had a dentist appt at 7 am (which later turned out to be a false alarm...it's tomorrow not today, so I get to get up really early again tomorrow), and I was out the door by 5:20 am. It was light, though :)! Love summer!

I went UP UP UP the hills today. Started at my house (4350 feet elevation; 1326m) and over the course of 3 miles I walked uphill almost to the Bonneville shoreline (SLC used to be a giant lake, Lake Bonneville, which receded thousands of years ago) to reach 5100 feet (1555m). Took me just over 34 min to do the 3 miles (just under 5k) up that very big hill; I was pleased with my 10:47 pace to the top. Then I walked back down (much faster, of course!), and my overall pace was 10:13/mile (6:21/km) for the 6 miles (9.65 km). Average HR was 147 for the whole workout. On the 3rd uphill mile (the steepest), my HR was 155 on average. I could have pushed a bit harder for the first 2 miles, but I was tired and it took me a while to warm up to the idea of working hard :). But I'm glad I did this workout - it is pretty similar to the steep leg of the Portland-to-Coast relay, which has 900 feet of elevation increase in 4 miles. I plan to do this one again, and go farther next time!

Oh, yes, almost forgot - I had no IT band or piriformis pain on this workout. My R hip was a little tight but that was it. YAY!

AWESOME photos

This will stretch the budget, but I LOVE these photos. They remind me why I coach. I just love the finish line thing with TNT participants. My fave this time was sprinting with Gwen - the photos get us laughing and are just perfect. Have got to buy these, somehow...

Racewalk with a friend

This morning I did 10 miles or so on the Jordan River trail with my friend Sue. It was pretty warm (68 to start at 6 am, and 75 when we finished at 7:50 am), but quite lovely by the river, which keeps the air a bit cooler.

I was shooting for a 11:00 pace, but as usual when with Sue, I went faster. She's a runner, and her natural long distance pace is probably a 10:30, so she is usually a step or 2 ahead of me. I am too competitive to back off much and I really like her company a lot, so I just go with it. Today we did the 10 miles at a 10:44 pace, and it was great. My IT bands did not bother me at all, which was a relief because they were pretty sore on Sunday. Rest and anti-inflammatories did wonders.

I love racewalking with friends. I rarely get to do this because I'm too fast for most walkers and too slow for many runners. Sue is actually a very talented runner (she BQ'd a few years back) but likes to take her long days nice & easy, and enjoys the company. We had a great time chatting it up about all sorts of things. She will be out of town next Monday so I'll have to walk alone, which is not nearly as fun.

We mapped out some mileage on the trail, which was super for future TNT workouts. All in all, a great way to start the morning.

Some good news :)

I got a new job :). I've actually known about this for a month or so, but I didn't say anything until all the relevant parties knew about it.

A couple months ago my previous employer, S, called me and asked me to come work for him temporarily, as he had some $ for a quick project. My first day back, I was cryosectioning and just shooting the breeze w/a tech in the C lab when she told me of a part-time position in another lab for an experienced tech. I was quite interested and gave her my info. She passed it on, and later that afternoon, J came and talked to me about the job. I interviewed the next week but left things up in the air, wanting to wait and see because S had 3 pending grants, and I loved working for him. Well, long story short, after discussing for a long time with Loren, we agreed that it was best for our family if I went back to work PT, and that I had better jump on this rare opportunity. So I told J I wanted the job for sure, and he was quite happy to arrange things.

I start tomorrow, and will work Tu & Th all day and F mornings. I'm excited, and the kids are very happy to be going back to "school" again to see all their friends. I really do think PT work is the best of both worlds. I miss the lab and am eager to get my feet wet again :)!

Canyonlands 1/2 Marathon

 Finally caved and bought this pic of me in the Canyonlands 1/2 in March. That was such a gorgeous course & I loved it; didn't have any pics during the race so decided I just had to have this one.

More Saturday stuff

My brother and Erica (in photo, at The Red Iguana) left this morning after church, and I was sad to see them go. It's been a busy day but I did squeeze in a nap before I had to do dinner prep (mmmm grilled pork tenderloin with strawberry salsa!) and menu planning for the week.

Finally, I have a little time to complete blogging for the weekend, so here goes.

Forgot to mention that at the end of Saturday's hike, while going downhill, my right IT band was acting up a bit. Then later, while walking to Sugar House Park for the fireworks display, it was bothering me a little too. I took a rest day from walking today (Sunday), but am a bit nervous about my planned 10-miler tomorrow. It's a flat route, so maybe if I take my anti-inflammatory (which I've been doing since last night) and stretch on the foam roller I will be OK.

After the hike, I taught a piano lesson and then we were off to the Red Iguana for dinner. I love that place. As usual, I consumed large amounts of food, but didn't feel a bit guilty because of the 14 miles racewalking plus 5 miles of hiking :). Gotta love exercise! Alex & Erica enjoyed themselves immensely; every time Alex is in town he wants to go there. The food is really outstanding - best Mexican in SLC, IMO.

We returned home to pack up a few things and then we walked over to Sugar House Park to hang out and watch the fireworks. We got there a couple hours before they were slated to start, and we enjoyed relaxing, playing Scrabble (travel set Alex has; I lost badly), and watching the kids get excited about the fireworks.

During the fireworks display, Michelle was SO cute. She kept saying "GO FIREWORKS! YAY!" and was clapping a lot. She really loved it, though she did tire by the end; she took a 3.5 hour nap this afternoon! The video here (all sound and zero picture --- it was DARK!) is her doing just that :).

Fun weekend

Friday: After an easy 3.6ish miles around Sugar House Park in 39:xx, I took the kids to Liberty Park Friday for some serious play time (2 hr!!!) with my friend Ye and her son Adam. The sprinklers were on and Calvin ran around in them, getting pretty wet (fortunately, it was warm and sunny and he dried quickly).

My brother Alex and his wife Erica arrived later that afternoon, and I made paella to feed us all, and peach cobbler for dessert. The kids were SO wound up that night because of the excitement of having guests over.

Saturday: Early morning (6 am to beat the heat) TNT workout from the State Capitol, featuring 10 miles through City Creek Canyon (hard uphill for 2 miles!) and the Avenues. It was a gorgeous morning, though it did get quite warm by the time my walkers finished at 9:15 am. I'm glad we changed the workout time to 6 am, even though it did mean an early morning for everyone. I ended up doing 14.12 miles in 2:49 for 11:58/mile on average, including the time I spent with the walkers. Not too bad.

I'm still trying to figure out how best to get in my own long miles, but I think Mondays are working pretty well for me so far. It's just not quite the same to coach a TNT workout as to do long miles at my own pace; with TNT sometimes I run a little (I ran probably 1 mile on Saturday), sometimes I racewalk fast, and sometimes I racewalk slow, and sometimes I just plain walk. Yes, it's mileage, but not the same as doing it alone.

TNT workout photos here

As soon as I got home, I ate some Kashi Go Lean Crunch with vanilla soy milk & berries (one of my favorite breakfasts post-workout) and then packed a lunch for a gorgeous hike to Lake Catherine w/my brother and his wife [photo at L is us at Lake Mary, on the way to Lake Catherine]. We averaged 25 min/mile over the 5 miles, but keep in mind the elevation (8750 to start) and elevation gain (1200 feet - to 9950 ft). We were also NOT in a hurry and enjoyed a moderate pace, not pushing too hard. It was a gorgeous day for a hike.

hike photos here

More later when I have time - of course we did see fireworks and I have photos but I want to hang out w/Alex & Erica right now :)

What is an athlete?

This is spurred by Ollie's post on Facebook, in which he remarks that he considers himself a "faux" athlete. For those of you who do not know Ollie, he has done countless 5Ks & 10Ks, numerous marathons, and even several 24-hour (or more) walks. He trains hard with racewalking, running, swimming and yoga. He does care about his finishing times and has specific goals he sets for himself. However, because he is not fast enough to be winning or placing in his age group in running races, he doesn't consider himself an athlete.

Now, for some more background: I never considered myself an athlete until a couple years ago when my friend Sara from church remarked that I was an athlete. When she said that, at first I rejected the idea, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided she was right. I was training hard, wanted to compete, and was engaging in physical activity for more than just staying in shape.

Here's the definition from Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry:
ath·lete
Pronunciation:
\ˈath-ˌlēt, ÷ˈa-thə-ˌlēt\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Latin athleta, from Greek athlētēs, from athlein to contend for a prize, from athlon prize, contest
Date:
15th century

: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina

Notice that it says "trained OR skilled". You can be trained without being particularly skilled. I personally think that people who train to compete are athletes, regardless of skill.

What do you think? Comments please.

Would you count it?

So, some of my racewalking/running friends and I were chatting about when you count a marathon. Some argued that 26.2 miles in itself is not a marathon; they said you can only count it if you raced it on an approved course. That excludes what I did in Seattle and in April in SLC, because 1) I did not RACE either one (I was coaching, which meant that speed was variable), and 2) I did not do the whole course. Both times I did 26.2 miles, though.

I feel like anytime you do that many miles it oughta count. But that's just my 2 cents.

Would you count it? Why or why not?

ouch

Not sure why this happened, as I have never had trouble with it before, and I always buy my shoes 1/2 to 1 size too big to prevent it. I have the dreaded black toenail. Well, in my case, it is more like purple toenail. My big toenails have been bruised and purplish since the race on Saturday. It wouldn't be so bad, but my children and dogs STEP ON THEM at least 3x/day. Michelle just did it and it hurt SO much. Ouch.