Category Archives: Running Experiences

Personal Running Experiences

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Track Workout

My blog basically tells a story.  It discusses my fitness endeavors.  I have always used a story format in my blog, but now I am starting to think that I should add a bit more technical information.  Once I obtain my personal trainer certification I can even include more fitness tips and workout ideas.  However, I am still in the learning period of this blogging.  I know I have written this blog for quite some time, but I have not figured out ways to add data, pictures and videos.  I think my next step will be to figure that all out and if you have any tips, then please feel free to share!

So, today I will be sharing some data.  One way to motivate yourself is to post your goals and accomplishments for others to see.  When you do so, you feel more obligated to hold yourself accountable.  I have a friend who just started discussing her 10K training in her blog.  She mentioned that she would run that 10K on her birthday no matter what!  Now, it is beneficial that I know because I can occasionally ask her “Hey, how is training going?”  She doesn’t want to be embarrassed to say that she has been skipping workouts, so she will make more of an effort to do that evening run.  Yes, peer pressure still works wonders even at our age.  The best part about it is that I will feel like I am part of her cheer squad from afar and I will be excited for her when she crosses the finish line.

I need to keep myself motivated and hold myself accountable.  Not only that, but I would like to share my experiences with others so that they can learn from my successes AND my failures.

Today was my second track workout here in windy Colorado.  This track stuff is a new challenge for me and I have no experience in working with intervals and splits.  I barely knew that 400 meters equals one lap around the track.  I know that is a surprise for most of you because I consider myself a runner, but I always kind of feared the track for some reason.  Probably because I would just drop my jaw in bewilderment as I tried to interpret something like this:

2 X 400 r=200, 8 X 300, r=100, 2 X 400, r=200 

??????????  Looks like a bunch of math formulas  to me!

Yes, that was our workout for the evening.  And NOW I actually know what it means (for the most part).  To sum it  up for you:  warm-up with a few easy laps, run 400 meters FAST, jog 200 meters, run 400 meters FAST, jog 200 meters, run 300 meters SUPER FAST, jog 100 meters (do that 300/100 8 times), go back to the 400 meters FAST (twice) and then run an easy mile to cool down.  Now, I won’t even mention the whole @5K pace or @10K pace because I am still trying to figure that out.  For now, I just run FAST and SUPER FAST when required.

Great stuff…. really.  It is only 300 meters that I have to run SUPER FAST (well, 8 times), but I feel like I am going to PASS OUT during the last 100 meters because I am pushing so hard.  Then they tell us to do it again and AGAIN.  Oh, maybe I should mention that 400 meters would equal .25 miles.  That would make 300 meters around .19 miles.

So, during each of these sprints we were timed.  These are called splits.  It is great if you can run each one consistently (in this case, all 8 for the 300 meters).  It is even better if you can run each one FASTER than the one before.  Those would be considered negative splits.  I was so thrilled during the Goofy marathon when I found out that my buddy and I had run the second half of the marathon FASTER than the first half.

Here are my splits for today’s workout:

400 meters : 1:40, 1:43, 1:51, 1:50 (sort of consistent, but I obviously hard more energy during the first one)

300 meters: 1:14, 1:14, 1:15, 1:14, 1:13, 1:16, 1:15, 1:14  (not bad for consistency)

After all the FAST running, SUPER FAST running and jogging, I realized I had run a total of 6 miles.

I’m not sure if it good or bad to run with people who are faster than you.  I love being challenged, but I think I about killed myself!

Somehow I have to get my poor body out of bed tomorrow morning at 6:00 am to go swim in a lake and follow it up with a bike ride.   Yes, I love torturing myself.

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Sometimes you just gotta say “yes” and see what happens…

If someone invited me to a party full of strangers I would be the kind of person who responds with a polite “no thanks.”  The thought of walking into a crowded room where I don’t know anyone scares me.  Sparking up conversations with people I don’t know is not a natural process for me.  However, I have realized that I seem to become friends with these type of people.  Probably because they approached me first.

My husband and I were in the pool the other day and we were sharing a lane.  As I came up to the wall I saw that he had stopped and was having a conversation with the woman in the next lane.  She had inquired about his Ironman bag.  All triathletes know what an Ironman is and they can’t help but be impressed when they meet someone who has completed an Ironman.  I stopped and introduced myself.  She continued to talk about training for a half Ironman and talked about the recent event she completed last weekend.  I just kind of nodded and was actually hoping to continue my swim workout, but I didn’t want to appear rude so I just stood there and interjected myself into the conversation whenever I could.  I think I said something like “I don’t know much about triathlons, but I did complete my first sprint tri in June and I am training for one more next month.”  It just seemed like such a minor statement in the scheme of what this woman was talking about.  She was discussing “real” Ironmans.  I am just in the minor league.

This woman started to get really excited about getting together to do some training.  I figured it might be something that Ed would be interested in because I was definitely not at her level.  I just kind of nodded my head respectfully, but I naturally assumed that we would never meet up to do anything.  I don’t know why exactly, but you know how some people talk about getting together, but then never do?

Boy, was I wrong.  Two days later my phone rang and I didn’t answer because it was an unknown number.  When I listened to the message I realized that it was the woman from the pool.  She was asking me if I wanted to go for a bike ride the following morning.  As I was listening to the message, I was already formulating how I would tell her “no thanks.”  I had just gone for a bike ride and a run that morning, so that was one excuse.  I had already left Ed to take care of the kids one weekend morning, so that was another excuse.  There was no way that I would be able to keep up with this woman and her friends, so there was excuse number 3.  I was scared of riding up and down hills and on busy streets.  There.  That should be enough excuses to get me out of this one.  As soon I mentioned it to my husband he told me that I should go.

All of a sudden a light bulb (in my head) came on.  How are you going to make friends if you always say “no thanks?”  How are you going to challenge yourself if you always think that you aren’t good enough at something?  For crying out loud, just take a risk already!  Really, what is the worst that can happen?  You have awkward conversations?  You tell them to go on ahead without you?

I called her back before I could change my mind again.  I told her “yes.”  I did not call back to say that something came up.  I did not ignore my alarm.  I got up and did just what I said I would.  Granted, I did have a weird dream about having a flat tire on my bike and not being able to fix it before everyone decided to leave me behind.  I just kind of ignored that thought and made sure to check my tires as soon as I walked into the garage.  They were perfectly aired.

I arrived at the house and she started talking about her wheels and how she needs to get a new pair.  I just kind of nodded because I don’t know anything about bike wheels.  I looked at my bike and was just grateful that I at least know how to ride it (for the most part) and change the tire if necessary.  Don’t ask me anything else because I haven’t got a clue.

The friend showed up and she also seemed nice enough.  It was time to get started and I just kept telling myself to go with the flow.  I was nervous about riding on the main road, but we were only barely cruising.  At that point I wasn’t worried about keeping up, but then I reflected back to last week’s track workout and I knew that I couldn’t really be sure of their “real” speed yet.  They mentioned going up Dinosaur Ridge and I remember that place very well.  We took my parents and kids up there a few weeks ago.  We decided to ride the tram because it is a very steep climb.  I remember seeing the cyclists going up and down the road and I thought that they were crazy.  Now I was going to be one of them?

Before getting to the crazy incline, we went down a rather steep hill that helped me pick up speed… too much speed.  I kept putting on my brakes even though they told me to get as much speed as I could so that it would help me go up the incline.  I didn’t listen to that advice.  I just kept picturing myself hitting a rock and flying 100 feet into the air.  No thanks.  I opted to have less power at the start of the climb.  As we started going up, the super Ironwoman flew past.  I didn’t try to keep up.  I stayed with the friend.  I was actually relaxed and we were able to have a conversation all the way up to the top.  I felt great and I knew that I really didn’t have anything to worry about.  I was ready for more hills.  And we did find a few more, but they provided amazing views that made the effort well worth it.  We stopped a few times to admire it all.  On the way back, I took the lead with confidence.

By the end of the ride, I was so grateful that I had finally opted to say “yes” even though I was a little bit nervous about taking that first step.  Seriously, you never know unless you try!  That is my new motto.  Now I have new friends who are already talking about the next ride.  I have more confidence and maybe I have gotten rid of a little shyness.

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The Quest for New Running Buddies

Most normal (I don’t know if that is the right word… what is normal anyway?) people who stay rooted in one place all of their lives don’t realize how difficult it is for military families to move every 2-4 years.  They might assume we love it and that we get to enjoy endless adventures, but it isn’t always so much fun and definitely not so easy (especially in the beginning).  Besides all of the obvious packing and unpacking, there is the relocation to a new area where you most likely don’t have any friends or family to lean on.  It is easy to understand that kids might have difficulty adjusting, but the parents also have to learn a new place and find new friends.  Granted, some military folks are good at adapting and very extroverted so they instantly make friends with everyone on their block.  But, what about us introverts? We have to face more challenges in that aspect.

Of course, as a military family it is usually easy to get connected with other members who work with the military spouse.  Yet, we appear to be in a very unique situation here because my husband will not be working.  Instead he will be attending school.  A school where there is currently only two other military members assigned to our service.  I guess that doesn’t really matter to me much because I have always tended to befriend more of the “outsiders” (the people not affiliated with the military) so I am used to reaching out in different directions.

Now, here I am.  I have taken some initiative already since I have done years of research into finding my niche.  Anything that deals with running is always a good start.  Therefore, I opened up my laptop and started a search for local running clubs.  Hmm, I was surprised to see… hardly any in this area.  I didn’t type in “cycling club” but I have the feeling that over a hundred options would pop up if I did that.  But wait, I did find something that said “running and cycling” club.  I guess that is better than nothing.

I kind of thought about the club for a couple of weeks before actually getting up the nerve to attend a track workout.  You know, it is always hard to force your way into an already established group of people.  People naturally tend to stick with those that they know (unless they are extreme extroverts I suppose).  That’s not to say that people aren’t friendly, but you kind of just want to stick with what is most comfortable.  I know that I do.

So, I showed up at the track 15 minutes early (of course, because I am naturally punctual thanks to my VERY strict curfews as a teenager… I would get grounded if I was even 10 seconds late).  I watched the football coach on the field yelling at his little team of boys and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.  I was thankful that I wasn’t doing their workout.  But, then again, I had no idea what I was about to partake in.  Club members started staggering in and I tried to remember names, but it is almost not fair because they only have to remember one new name.  They all seemed really nice and the one thing that I noticed is that they actually asked me a lot of questions.  That always makes a new, introverted person feel more at ease (take some notes here!).  The coach arrived with his two stopwatches around his neck and I was starting to feel excited about this whole track thing.  I had never really trained on a track before and I suddenly felt like some kind of Olympian.  Then he started talking about 400’s and 800’s and 1200’s and I had to turn to the guy next to me and ask “400 is one loop around the track, right?”.  Fortunately, I didn’t feel like too much of an idiot for asking that question because I was already pretty comfortable with the group and I kind of played it off like this track might be different from other tracks (I mean, it was gravel and there were weeds growing on it).

So, we started off on a warm-up and I ran next to a girl that I enjoyed 2 laps of small talk with.  I remember thinking that it seemed like a great speed to me and that it should be easier than I had anticipated.  Well, then all hell broke loose when we started our intervals.  “Run this at your 5K pace” said the coach.  Okay, sure.  I am just going to run with these guys.  It appears that they run at my pace.  Yeah, they run my pace during the warm-up!  I was huffing and puffing and working so hard to keep up during that first lap.  I finally realized that there was no way that I was going to keep up during all of these intervals because my energy was waning.  I played off the altitude thing.  “Yeah, I just moved here from sea level.”

Needless to say, even though I thought I was about to keel over at the end of those 6 miles, I had a good time through all of the pain.  I love challenges and that was definitely a challenge.  I bid my farewell and promised to return to another training.  That night I received an email from one of the members asking me to run some extra miles during the week.  People asking me to go for a run?  Now that is a friendship in the making.

Funny thing before I close.  I just got a phone call today from a lady my husband and I met in the pool at the YMCA (we started talking about triathlons).  She called to ask me to go for a ride tomorrow.  Granted, I have never been on a group ride.  I am also very slow.  Not only that, but I have a fear of going up and down hills.  Yet, I responded with “sure.”  This will be another new challenge that scares the crap out of me!  I will let you know how it goes.

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Hello Golden, Colorado!

Well, it has been awhile since my last blog entry but I think I have a pretty good excuse.  I have been moving my family across the country from Jacksonville, FL to Golden, CO.  We are still not completely settled, but there has been a lot of excitement surrounding our inquiry of the new area and all that it offers.  Let me tell you, it offers a whole lot!

However, as a runner in Golden, CO I kind of feel out of place.  I have been on an 8-mile run that afforded me the pleasure of encountering about 5 other runners.  That may seem like a lot, but I must admit that about 50 of my human encounters involved people on bikes.  I quickly learned that Golden is a biking town.  Oh, they are friendly enough and will often wave or nod, but I get the feeling that they might think I am some kind of nut.  I mean, who runs up these insane hills when you can bike up them and then sail faster than the cars as you glide down them?  As a runner, it takes work going up the hill and, whether or not you believe me, it actually takes some work going down them.  Then again, I would only fear for my life if I were on a bike.  I have yet to attempt that because I am still mustering the courage.  I just nod back and silently call those cyclists “crazy.”  Yet, everywhere you look in the quaint little downtown you see a bike rack (and oddly enough, they are actually shaped like bikes).

So, here is runner me gasping for air at 1.2 miles above sea level (yep folks, Golden is higher than Denver… and my neighbor just had to warn me about the fact that we get double the amount of snow during the winter).  Let me remind you that I just moved from flat, sea level Florida.  Granted, the sweltering heat and humidity totally SUCKED, but I am thinking that this altitude really STINKS.  Not to mention the fact that an onion I purchased at the store today nearly jumped out of the back of my SUV which was slanted at 45 degrees in our driveway.  If I wouldn’t have caught the darn thing then it would have literally rolled all the way to the end of our road and then down to the bottom of the valley.  What does an onion have to do with anything?  Well, my point being that we live on a freakishly hilly hill (if you think there is no such thing then I cordially invite you to visit my home). When the training plan says “rest day” I can pretty much throw that to the wind because no day is a “rest day” when you have to climb 200 feet up a hill.  Unless I can run down the hellish thing and persuade my husband to pick me up at the bottom.

Well, it has obviously been an adventure.  The adventure lies in finding a flat place to run, but I have yet to find any such place around here.  Since I should just consider myself screwed, my plan is to run like crazy here (I don’t even have to leave the boundaries of my neighborhood) and then make a trip to a lower, flatter location and run like nobody’s business.  I am sure I will make some kind of world record.  It’s all about making a positive out of a negative, right?

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Goodbye Jacksonville

It took me about a year to adjust to living in Jacksonville after spending 5 and a 1/2 years in San Francisco (and California is my home state).  When my husband found out he was being transferred to Jacksonville, I cried… and then cried some more.  Not only did I despise the idea of moving away from home, but I also really despised the idea of moving to Florida.  Really, could we move any further away from the west coast??  The heat and humidity scared me (and I already knew about it because my husband was a prior resident of the state).  The big bugs were also a bit frightening.  Oh, and snakes too!

It was not easy driving ALL the way across the country to a new world (yes, it was a bit of a culture shock). The one thing I was looking forward to was finally owning our own home!  And it just so happened to be double the size of the house we were currently renting.  However, it was not a short 10-minute walk from the beach.  And it was not a short 10-minute walk to the local coffee shop or brewhouse.  But it was a very nice house in a very nice neighborhood with a very nice community pool.  I tried to remain positive throughout the whole moving experience, but it doesn’t help when you are packing up your home while you are extremely sick with the flu.  At least the drive was nice… if you like 110 degree weather and Interstate 10.

So, we finally arrive in Jacksonville and I don’t find my niche right away.  All of the Coast Guard families are very friendly, but most of them were from the south or east coast.  Nothing wrong with that, but I kind of felt like the odd woman out.  I’m the type of person who likes to have a couple of really good friends instead of a hundred acquaintances.  I’m also very shy and find it hard to make small talk.  A year went by and I still didn’t find what I was searching for but I went through my third (and final) pregnancy with a happy little bundle of joy at the end.  That cute little bundle of joy kept me busy and so did my final year of my Master’s degree program.  Finally, though, enough was enough and I needed to find some friends.

I thought about Team in Training and how I had met some amazing people when I was a part of the program in San Francisco.  I knew that running a marathon was on my bucket list and I also knew that I needed to lose the baby weight and the only way I could was through running (the best weight loss program I know of).  6 weeks after giving birth I joined the local team.  Through the 4 month experience I made really good friends, lost all of the baby weight, gained confidence and finished my first marathon.  I was hooked.  I couldn’t stop there so I decided to stay involved as a coach and then eventually signed on as a participant once again.  Even though it sounds crazy, I loved getting up at 5:00 am on Saturdays to run with the team and meeting up on Tuesday evenings to push ourselves over the bridges.  I knew I had finally found my niche in Jacksonville.

Training and working out became my passion and a big part of my life.  I enjoyed getting a break from the kids by dropping them off at the gym daycare (and they loved the social aspect of it).  I looked forward to the classes offered by very personable instructors.  I began to set my sights even higher and ran a marathon and a half (in 2 days) at Disney World with one of my really good friends.  I even tried my first triathlon and loved it!  I overcame (well, not completely yet) an injury  that set me back from achieving my fitness goals.  Through that, I learned a lesson on determination.

I have learned and endured so much since moving to Jacksonville.  I just can’t believe that it is already time to move on to the next place.  I will truly miss all of my friends, my house, my neighbors (the most awesome cul-de-sac ever!), and the Jacksonville running community.  I will not miss the summer weather, but I must admit that it was kind of nice wearing shorts and t-shirts during most of the winter.  I will look forward to having all of the seasons, real mountains and being closer to the west coast.  I am sure that I will have many new adventures and that is what keeps me going through all of this.  I am definitely never bored.

So, goodbye Jacksonville!  Tomorrow I start my next journey across the states!