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A Wintery Half Marathon

It is just nice knowing that you have friends out on the race course... it doesn't matter whether or not you eat their dust.

It is just nice knowing that you have friends out on the race course… it doesn’t matter whether or not you eat their dust.

I admit that I often complain about the weather.  It is either too hot, too cold, too windy, too rainy, too snowy or too humid.  It is never perfect.  In the days leading up to this half marathon I found myself complaining once again.  It had been so nice (almost perfect) all week long and it was suddenly going to drop in temperature, increase in winds and dump snow just in time for the start of the race.  I mean, really, I should have totally expected this a month ago when I signed up for the race!  It is not like I hadn’t been training in these conditions already.  Sometimes I can be such a baby!

Well, maybe it helps to be all whiny and complainy (I’m sure that’s not a word, but I like it).  I approached the starting line with thoughts about having fun and doing this as part of my triathlon training.  I didn’t expect to get anywhere near my Personal Record (PR) even though I had a goal of completing it in under 2 hours.  At least that was a reasonable goal because I have been running 10 to 12 miles every Saturday at a decent pace.

My friends and I stood at the starting line in anticipation.  And then they all took off while I slowly meandered through the crowd.  Sure, I would’ve sprinted to keep up, but I know myself too well (one great thing about having a bit of half marathon experience).  If I started off too quickly then I would die before I even made it to the finish.  “Run at your own pace” is what I often tell myself during these races.  It usually works very well in my favor.  We strolled along the creek on a trail that I was quite familiar with.  I knew what to expect around mile 6:  the start of a gradual incline that would lead to a steeper switchback at around mile 7.  I wasn’t too worried, but I did do something that I NEVER do during a race.  I grabbed one of the gels that were being passed out.  One that I had NEVER tried before.  I put it in my pocket and continued on up the hill.

I just love when I pass someone and then they pass me a quarter of a mile later and then I pass them again another quarter of a mile later.  When someone is coming up behind me I glance sideways and take note of who it is: “Oh, it’s that dude in the gray pants suit again.  He was walking when I passed him and now he decided to start running again.  There he goes.  I bet I can pass him on the hill.”  Or: “It’s that guy again.  He is the one who elbowed me when he passed me before.  I better steer clear of him this time.”  Of course there is always: “Oh no, that chick might be in my age group.  I totally can’t let her pass me!”  This is the kind of stuff that keeps me entertained during a race.  Seriously, the miles just fly by!

It was real annoying when I had to be ultra conservative while running on the ice-covered patches.  As time ticked by, those patches became slushy and even more slippery.  I couldn’t risk slipping.  No way would it be worth hip replacement surgery at my age!  I let people pass me on those stretches and then I kicked it up an extra notch when I reached the dry pavement.  Do you ever watch how the person in front of you runs?  At one point I was marveling at a girl who totally runs just like me.  She had the whiparound legs that flapped out to the side as she ran.  I suddenly became very attuned to my running form and I reigned my own legs in.  During the long incline I was stuck behind a guy with very bright shoes who was running at my pace.  I stared at those shoes the entire time so that I wouldn’t know how much further it was before I finally reached the top.  Next thing you know, we were there!

That switchback hill was not fun.  Not fun at all.  But, it wasn’t as bad as it looked.  It took everything I had not to slow down.  I kept pushing for my pace to overcome it.  And that I did.  When I reached the top I just wanted to lay down in the snow, but I knew that wasn’t an option.  I still had 5 more miles to go.  What did I do instead?  I closed my eyes (well, maybe not completely, but they were partially closed).  I know it may sound funny, but I almost fell asleep.  I was at peace for that short moment.  And then I remembered where I was.  I looked around at the amazing view and I pumped my legs faster as I flew down the hill.  I had to play catch up for lost time on that uphill battle.  Yet, I couldn’t overdo it.

At that moment I realized that it was probably very dumb of me to push it so hard.  That seems to be a common scenario.  I kept thinking about how I needed to do my swim/bike workout the next day.  I couldn’t put that off just because I wanted to finish a fast half marathon.  My triathlon was more important than this race.  But then you just get in the racing mindset and there is nothing left to do but push as much as you would in any race.  My legs were tight, my hips were out of tune and my lower back was cringing, but it was nothing that warranted a slower pace so I continued on.

As I neared the bottom of the hill, I thought about that gel in my pocket.  I knew I was going to need more fuel than what I had, but I wondered if it was worth a possible gastric attack.  If I was going to continue at this pace, then I would need more fuel.  I opened it up and swallowed.  Hmm, not too bad.  I always wondered what those tasted like and they weren’t bad at all.  And it must have agreed with my stomach.

Another measly 5K and I would be there.  It wasn’t until I got to this point that I realized I would definitely finish in under 2 hours.  There was even the chance that I would be very close to my PR of 1:49:57.  There were a few times during the last 5K that I considered slowing down, but I forced myself to stay on pace.  Every little hill seemed harrowing, but I set my mind to passing people (a little competition always gets me motivated).

I made it a point to sprint to the finish even if it made my finishing picture look very bad (if it isn’t bad then you are obviously not working hard enough).  I finished in 1:50:05, just 8 seconds more than my PR from a very flat, very sea level race back in Jacksonville.  I really don’t know how it happened, but I do know this:  if someone says they are probably going to have a bad race day, are complaining about the environmental conditions or say that they haven’t really trained, then they will most likely kick some serious butt!  Don’t believe a word of it!

And the best part of it all:  I had fun!  The weather didn’t scare me, the trail conditions didn’t scare me, the competition didn’t scare me and I didn’t scare myself (well, not too bad).

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Top Ten Most Annoying Things That Happen During A Bike Ride

Biking on a country road without a shoulder can be scary if drivers decide that they don't want to give you a wide birth.

Biking on a country road without a shoulder can be scary if drivers decide that they don’t want to give you a wide birth.

Okay, so when I first started riding my bike on the road I was a very passive rider.  I realized that I was the idiot who didn’t know anything about cycling.  I did my best to stay out of everyone’s way: cars, pedestrians, other cyclists and even stationary objects (those seemed to suddenly pop up out of nowhere).  I couldn’t even stop and get my feet off the pedals without falling over.  I tried to find roads without a lot of traffic and I only road during times of the day when traffic was lightest.

Now I have no choice but to get out there and ride whenever I can and wherever I can.  I actually enjoy riding and I am definitely more confident about what I am doing.  I am even to the point where I get annoyed by the little things.  Here is my list of the top ten things that annoy me.  Obviously this is based on my personality so you may or may not agree, but feel free to comment and share what annoys you the most.

#10:  Thinking you are prepared to ride for a certain temperature until you get on the bike and actually start pedaling.  Lately, I have been underdressed for freezing wind.  I think it will be fine after I ride for a mile or two, but then after 10 miles I realize that I should have gone back for warmer clothes.

#9:  Realizing that you forgot something halfway through your ride.  I almost always forget to bring tissues and I really need those during this time of year.  My gloves are the tissue replacement so they are covered in snot by the time I am done with the ride.

#8:  Dropping your water bottle mid-ride.  Yeah, they don’t exactly make it easy to put your water bottle back in the bracket while you are trying to keep your eyes on the road.  A few times I have had to stop and go back for a dropped water bottle (luckily they have managed to stay intact and avoid being run over).

#7:  Following a nice road with a nice bike lane that suddenly ends and turns into a road with no shoulder.  I have to make the last minute decision to either continue on and let cars go into the oncoming lane in order to avoid me or just turn around and find another bike-friendly road.

#6:  Crappy roads.  Bumpy roads are not good for biking.  Cracks are hazardous and hurt my rear.  And who had the idea to put manhole covers in the middle of the bike lane?

#5:  Dogs without leashes roaming the neighborhoods.  They may act like they are going to stay in the yard, but not when they see some fresh meat cruising by.  Hey, if I crash into your dog it ain’t my fault.  I was just trying to defend myself.  The same goes for squirrels.  They really do like to play chicken.

#4:  Pedestrians that insist on taking up the whole width of a multi-use trail.  Besides having to yell loudly, I usually have to slow down because of course it will be my fault if I crash into them.

#3:  Drivers who insist on getting as close to you as they can even if no one is in the oncoming lane.  Come on, how hard is it to move over??  I always give a wide birth to cyclists!

#2:  Street sweepers that push the gravel and salt into the bike lane instead of all the way to the curb.  Then drivers get upset if I am not riding in the bike lane because of all the rubble in the bike lane.  Either I ride next to the bike lane or you get a rock flying from my tire to your windshield.

#1:  Stoplights.  Most stoplights are not bike-friendly.  Meaning that if you sit at one of them for a very long time they will not change unless a car is present.  This is soooo very annoying to me because people expect you to follow the rules of the road like a vehicle yet they force you to get off your bike to push a pedestrian button!   Screw that, especially when I am in the left hand turn lane.  I am not getting off my bike and walking over to the sidewalk just so I can get across the road.  It is just my luck that I go through all of that trouble when a car suddenly pulls up out of nowhere and the light changes before I can even get back on my bike.  I just stop and look both ways.  If I don’t see any cops in sight, then I bike through the red light to get to the other side.

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Too much exercise

Yes, I did count the one hour of ice skating as a workout because I was holding our 4-year old just like this for the entire time! I nearly passed out with exhaustion!

Yes, I did count the one hour of ice skating as a workout because I was holding our 4-year old just like this for the entire time! I nearly passed out with exhaustion!

Is it really possible to exercise too much?  Yes, I think so.  I answer this question based on my own experiences during the month of January.  You see, my number one goal for the month should have been to focus on my triathlon training.  Instead, I was sidetracked by a little competition.  I tried to do both, but my need to compete always seemed to overpower logical reasoning.

The competition involved tracking your total number of workouts for the month of January.  Of course these had to be real workouts that lasted for a minimum of 30 minutes.  I only considered real workouts those that involved an elevated heart rate.  As mentioned in my last post, I couldn’t even succeed at a simple walk.  Luckily for me, my triathlon training involves running, swimming, cycling and weight training.  So, I focused on those 4 types of workouts for this competition.

Typically, my training does involve more than one workout per day.  For example, on Mondays I always follow-up an interval swim with a bike ride.  On Wednesdays I need to do a ride followed by a run.  On days that I go to the gym, I always do at least 2 workouts because I have 2 hours (thanks to childcare) so I typically do a swim or run followed by weight training.  However, there are days that I will do my long ride or my long run and may  not include another workout.  Additionally, I am SUPPOSED to take one rest day.

Well, there were times during this competition when I only did one workout in one day.  That was not sufficient for my competitiveness so I was forced to do three workouts on other days.  Usually I would add-on a weight training session on these days.  During the entire month of January I NEVER took a day off.  I didn’t want to have to play catch up on another day.  And, all of a sudden, my goal changed to beating the number of workouts  of last year’s winner: 60!  I wanted at least 61.  But 61 didn’t seem like a lucky number so I opted to aim for 62 if I could.

So, I did it.  I got my 62.  Not sure what that means.  Some people think it means I am a bit of an overachiever or maybe just slightly crazy.  It sure as heck doesn’t mean I am hardcore.  If anything, maybe less smart than usual.  I did sign up to complete a 1/2 Ironman in May and I nearly overtrained myself.  Worse case scenario, I could have injured myself.  Stupid competitive nature.  Why can’t I be a soccer mom and find solace in bringing the best snacks to the games or driving the most fabulous minivan?  Okay, I know you are laughing now.  I would never own a minivan.

Oh, and I have no idea whether I even made the top 5.  I know I don’t really win anything, but bragging rights would actually make this all worth it.  Okay, there is always March Madness.  Yeah, I better not even mention that right now.

You know what pisses me off the most about all of this?  I didn’t even lose more than half a pound!  Seriously people.  I must have consumed whatever calories I burned.  And that’s a lot of freakin’ calories.

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The Art of Walking

I had a pleasant walk/jog while it was snowing today.

I had a pleasant walk/jog while it was snowing today.

In all seriousness, I am truly amazed by people who can walk a marathon.  26.2 miles is a looooooong way to walk.  It takes a very loooooooong time.  I am the most impatient person I know.  I wouldn’t be able to walk for that long without going nutty.  I find it very difficult to run with someone who needs to stop to walk.  Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against walking AT ALL, but I have such a terrible urge to start running. I am a very bad walking buddy.  I am totally enthralled by those folks who can walk freakin’ fast.  For the life of me, I can’t walk that fast.  I just have to break into a jog in order to keep up with them.

So, I know I have mentioned this January competition before.  We will soon find out who has completed the most workouts for the month of January.  My only goal is to at least beat last year’s winning number.  That doesn’t mean that I will be the winner this year, but I figure that is a good goal to shoot for.  Well, after my swim and ride today I knew that I had to squeeze in another workout.  I thought about doing a weight training session because that is what I usually do when I just need to add on a workout.  Then I thought about walking to pick up my daughter from school.  Usually I take the little ones and I don’t count that as walking because it is more like shuffling your feet and stopping every minute to say “come on or hurry up”!  Today I had the opportunity to walk alone.

I knew it would actually be a workout because our neighborhood is all hills.  I never considered doing a walk as one of my workouts because I don’t really consider it a workout (I know it is a workout to speed walkers and people who don’t run… but not to me because I am a purebred runner).  The hills are the only thing that made it more of a workout so I figured that was good enough.  Of course it started snowing as soon as I put my shoes on.  That never stops me and I actually welcomed it this time because it made the walk more challenging.

Up the hill I went.  I was passing other parents who were walking to school.  I even sped by the sidewalk that leads to the school because I had an additional 10 minutes and I needed to make sure I would get a full 30 minute workout.  I couldn’t count on my daughter to walk home fast.  After climbing uphill for quite some time, I started going down.  It was too much for me.  I couldn’t walk down the hill.  I started jogging down the hill.  So, there I was in my jeans and puffy jacket jogging to the school.  It felt more natural to jog.  It was EASIER to jog.

I don’t think I get the art of walking.  I am terrible at it.  I drive my kids (and husband) crazy  with my impatience during our walks together.  I don’t know why I always feel the need to run, but at least I resist the urge when I am in the mall.

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My favorite core exercises

If you want to strengthen your core, then you need to know how to do a plank.  To put it simply, rest your elbows on the floor beneath your shoulders while raising yourself up on your toes.  Your back must remain flat.  Do not stick your rear up into the air and do not sag your tummy!  If you need to modify, then do it on your knees.

Once you have the basic plank down then you can try:

1.  Putting your feet up on a BOSU ball or step.

2.  Rocking front to back on your toes.

3.  Lifting up one leg at a time.

4.  Raising your elbows up off the floor with your palms flat on the ground (keep your arms straight, but don’t lock your elbows.

5.  Lateral plank walks (with your arms straight): Move your left foot out sideways and then your left arm.  Repeat with your right side.  Do this for 10 steps and then return to the starting spot.

Side plank

Side plank

6.  Plank on your side.  Lie on your left side and then bring your body up onto your elbow (it should rest directly below your shoulder).  Keep your body (back and legs) straight! You can rest your feet on top of each other or one in front of the other.  Hold as long as you can and then repeat on the other side.

Once you have the hang of the plank, then you can try my favorite core exercise.  It is my favorite because I find it challenging and I can really FEEL it working!

Swiss Ball Jackknife

Swiss Ball Jackknife

Swiss Ball Jackknife:  Get into a plank position with your shins on the ball (remember to keep that back straight throughout the entire exercise)!  Roll the ball toward your arms by bringing your knees to your chest.  Then return to the starting position.  The challenge is keeping your back straight!

I also like the Swiss Ball Mountain Climber:  Place your hands on the ball like you are preparing to do a push-up.  Keep your back straight (of course).  Lift your left foot off the ground and bring your knee up to your chest.  Repeat with your right foot.  Maintaining stability during this exercise is challenging!  But the more you challenge your stability, the more you are strengthening that core!

Then there is the Russian Twist (I am not sure why it has that name… you could also call it a seated twist):

Russian Twist with weight

Russian Twist with weight

Sit on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.  Lean back so your torso is at a 45 degree angle (keep that back straight and not hunched!).  You may use a weighted ball or dumbbell (or nothing if you need to practice the technique).  Hold out your arms straight (with the weight in your hands) and twist as far as you can to the left.  Then repeat with the right side.

When is a good time to do core exercises?  Well, most people tend to do it at the end of a workout.  It is best to keep the core wide awake during most of your routine and not fatigue it until the end.  This decreases the risk of injury since (as I mentioned in my previous post) the core is VERY important in keeping you injury-free!  With that said, I will incorporate a few core exercises in between sets for my other muscle groups because I am not the kind of person who likes to sit still during a workout.  If I want to give my biceps a break between sets, then I will either do some lunges or bicycle crunches to keep my heart rate up.  However, I will save the most exhausting core work for the end.

How many types of exercises should you do?  How many sets should you do?  Well, it all depends on how long it takes for your core to catch on fire.  Sometimes I spend 10 minutes doing core work, while other times I try to spend 30 minutes.  It is always good to add variety to your workouts, so choose a few exercises to do during each session.  Then you will have other options to try during the next session.  Of course if you have favorites (like I do) then you might choose those ones more often.  I typically turn it into a circuit where I will choose 3 exercises and then rotate between each for at least 3 sets each.  Each set will consist of 12-20 reps depending on how tough the exercise is.

Anyway, these are just a few of my favorite core exercises.  If you are a beginner, then you should really have an experienced fitness guru demonstrate the exercises and then they can watch you to make sure you are doing them correctly.  It is very important to perform these exercises with a straight back.  If you are slouching or sagging, then your body is obviously fatigued and you should stop and try again later.  Happy core strengthening!