Yesterday morning marked another morning of waking up exhausted. I kept blaming my crazy workout schedule and life on constantly being tired, but figured I needed to do something about it. A quick google search showed tips on how to get a better night sleep. What did I have to lose? After returning from Crossroads, I stuck to what I had read.
Step 1. Don't shower right before bed as it heats up your body temperature. I gave myself about an hour before hand to allow it to cool back down.
Step 2. Make sure your room is around 62 degrees. Man does that sound cold, but on goes the ceiling fan.
Step 3. White noise will allow you a better night sleep. The ceiling fan was already on to keep the temp down, so I figured it could count as my white noise as well.
Step 4. Switch up your routine and sleep on the other side of the bed. This one was easy as it meant just crawling into the other side of the bed.
Step 5. Make sure you are sleeping in the dark with no visible light. By sleeping on the other side of the bed, the alarm clock light and all other lights were now far away.
The results: I woke up at 6:45 sans alarm clock rested and ready for the day. New take away is that I can no longer blame the exhaustion on my workouts and I really do need to set a bed time routine. Excited to see if it will work tonight before conquering the hills of Wellesley tomorrow.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Speed Demon
I was texting with my dad early Tuesday morning only to find out that he was going to be in town that evening. As my parents live across the country, I live for these visits. Once upon a time, my dad lived in NYC and working for the same company which meant seeing him more than once a month. Years have passed and now I see him 4-5 times a year. Don't get me started on how rare it is to see my Mom, sister and Mom-Mom. Anyways, knowing that I would miss track practice to see him, I realized I needed to get it in before dinner. I also realized that after a full day of meetings and his plane landing at 5:20, I really only had 70 minutes for the speed workout. On deck for the evening was 6-8x1000 with a 400 recovery.
Looking at my schedule and the time allotted, I realized my only option was to crank out the run as fast as possible. With a very quick warm up, I started my first 1000 and ended up finishing it about 2 minutes faster than normal. Thinking this was a fluke, I let myself take time to recover with the 400. Surprisingly, the 400 even "slow" was now at my normal 10k pace. The next 4x1000 felt very similar. The 6th one was getting more and more difficult, but I couldn't break my streak! I ended up finishing it even faster than my first 5. With a cool down run at my 10k pace, I was now officially done with my run. The best part, I beat my goal of 70 minutes by 5 minutes.
I won't lie that it was the hardest run I have done in years. I pushed myself beyond my limits and realized I could survive. I'm pretty sure, I will not be able to repeat that unless I have a hard stop to meet a parent like that night. Yet, despite it all, I learned that my body is much stronger and faster than I give it credit for!
Looking at my schedule and the time allotted, I realized my only option was to crank out the run as fast as possible. With a very quick warm up, I started my first 1000 and ended up finishing it about 2 minutes faster than normal. Thinking this was a fluke, I let myself take time to recover with the 400. Surprisingly, the 400 even "slow" was now at my normal 10k pace. The next 4x1000 felt very similar. The 6th one was getting more and more difficult, but I couldn't break my streak! I ended up finishing it even faster than my first 5. With a cool down run at my 10k pace, I was now officially done with my run. The best part, I beat my goal of 70 minutes by 5 minutes.
I won't lie that it was the hardest run I have done in years. I pushed myself beyond my limits and realized I could survive. I'm pretty sure, I will not be able to repeat that unless I have a hard stop to meet a parent like that night. Yet, despite it all, I learned that my body is much stronger and faster than I give it credit for!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Racing the T
A few years ago, I invented a game to play called "Racing the T" in which I, as it sounds, race the T. It all started when I would go visit my friends who lived about 1.5 miles down the road. As us locals know, the T can be spotty due to traffic and often take 10-15 minutes to show up and then another 20-30 minutes to get me that 1.5 miles. In an effort to get some exercise in, I would start my walk and then hop on when the train/bus would get close. Often times I would be about 3/4 of the way there and thus just continue on to my journey.
While this entry sounds quite boring, the reality is I am trying to show how easily the little things add up. Those 8-10 miles hardly go noticed and yet I find myself more on time for things and happier when I get there. As the weather gets warmer for spring and summer, I do hope I can continue this trend and work towards bigger distances such as meeting people in Harvard Square for drinks or Back Bay for dinner. While these little miles won't equal a marathon, they add in exercise to my daily routine without feeling like it.
As the marathon training keeps getting stronger and stronger, I find myself playing race the T way too often and not just with the T. The other day, I chose to walk 2 miles home from a friends as it was easier than waiting for the bus. Another day, I chose to walk a few short miles in order to avoid switching lines from red/green. I also find myself parking in the first spot I see and choosing to walk to do my errands. All in all, it is adding up to about 8-10 extra miles per week that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Rolling Hills
Saturday marked the day of the longest run to date, 16 miles. I pushed my speed on Friday and got a good pace going for 4 miles thinking this running thing was actually quite easy. Follow that with an early morning wake up for the run in Waltham at Healthpoint. Oh the memories of Healthpoint!
When I was a sophomore in college, I met a guy who was 2 or 3 years older than me living in Natick. The relationship was going strong, so we decided to take it up a notch and spend the summer living together in Waltham. We were still in that puppy love stage and living together was a blast. In fact, it was so much fun that one night we decided to throw a small dinner party on our spacious deck. Luck would have it that the porch was never securely fastened to the house and it collapsed. I ended up tearing my labrium in the fall and needed extensive PT. Living and working in Waltham at the time, the closest place to go with the best reputation was at Healthpoint. That place became like a second home and once PT was over, I hadn't gone back.
Video of Porch Collapse
Pulling into the parking lot Saturday morning was like returning to a good friend that you neglected for new cooler friends. Nothing had really changed in the place which was nice. The normal intro was given and away we went. Despite spending ample time at the gym, I had never turned left out of the parking lot as my life and job was to the right. Today we were to turn left. I plugged away down about a mile of nice hills thinking that I was flying. And then the amazingly beautiful rolling hills started. Vermont is filled with rolling hills and in my running of that race, I realized that was my favorite way to go. This course followed a similar path of not to steep hills. I was trucking along at a slow pace, but at a pace in which I was having a blast. The first water stop at 2.5 miles came faster than ever before. I stopped to chat and then hit up the next bit of the road to route 2 with a turnaround and back to the water stop. Running down the hills through Lincoln Center with an awesome volunteer crossing guard to the next water stop. Onwards to the next time I made contact with route 2 and back to the water stop. About a mile or so after that water stop, a teammate/coach came up behind me and told me I was limping and favoring one side. I felt no pain and was tempted to keep going the 3 miles back to the club, but his words rang true that there is no shame in bailing out as the season is still young. At about 13 miles in, I hit the next water stop and sadly defeated listened to him and asked for a ride back.
The act of quiting is not something I am good at and I was bummed for a bit. Then reality sunk in that if I was limping it meant something was up even if I wasn't really feeling it. I ended up making up a mile later on in the day just to eek out the mileage at 14 and felt good again. This is for sure a time of experiments in which I am learning a lot about listening to my body and knowing when to quit while I'm ahead!
When I was a sophomore in college, I met a guy who was 2 or 3 years older than me living in Natick. The relationship was going strong, so we decided to take it up a notch and spend the summer living together in Waltham. We were still in that puppy love stage and living together was a blast. In fact, it was so much fun that one night we decided to throw a small dinner party on our spacious deck. Luck would have it that the porch was never securely fastened to the house and it collapsed. I ended up tearing my labrium in the fall and needed extensive PT. Living and working in Waltham at the time, the closest place to go with the best reputation was at Healthpoint. That place became like a second home and once PT was over, I hadn't gone back.
Video of Porch Collapse
Pulling into the parking lot Saturday morning was like returning to a good friend that you neglected for new cooler friends. Nothing had really changed in the place which was nice. The normal intro was given and away we went. Despite spending ample time at the gym, I had never turned left out of the parking lot as my life and job was to the right. Today we were to turn left. I plugged away down about a mile of nice hills thinking that I was flying. And then the amazingly beautiful rolling hills started. Vermont is filled with rolling hills and in my running of that race, I realized that was my favorite way to go. This course followed a similar path of not to steep hills. I was trucking along at a slow pace, but at a pace in which I was having a blast. The first water stop at 2.5 miles came faster than ever before. I stopped to chat and then hit up the next bit of the road to route 2 with a turnaround and back to the water stop. Running down the hills through Lincoln Center with an awesome volunteer crossing guard to the next water stop. Onwards to the next time I made contact with route 2 and back to the water stop. About a mile or so after that water stop, a teammate/coach came up behind me and told me I was limping and favoring one side. I felt no pain and was tempted to keep going the 3 miles back to the club, but his words rang true that there is no shame in bailing out as the season is still young. At about 13 miles in, I hit the next water stop and sadly defeated listened to him and asked for a ride back.
The act of quiting is not something I am good at and I was bummed for a bit. Then reality sunk in that if I was limping it meant something was up even if I wasn't really feeling it. I ended up making up a mile later on in the day just to eek out the mileage at 14 and felt good again. This is for sure a time of experiments in which I am learning a lot about listening to my body and knowing when to quit while I'm ahead!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Life meet running
While I like to keep work and my outside life completely separate for obvious reasons, yesterday was an exception. Our work had a get to know your coworker event for our floor. One of my lovely colleagues convinced me that I had enough hobbies to showcase them in a booth. While he wanted me to bring my bike, I opted to instead highlight my running of the marathon. So I packed up some of my medals (yes, there are surprisingly a lot to choose from), my running shoes, and my DFMC banner and was prepared for no one to show up. What happened yesterday instead made me proud to work with such awesome people.
The turnout and interest in the event was beyond belief. First and foremost I was impressed with every one's hobbies. We had fisherman to martial artists to collectors and photographers. I was stationed in the sports section despite still feeling like a sham all these years later. Secondly, I was impressed with the interest people showed in what I am doing. A lot of people came over to discuss running and triathlons in which they participate in. Others talked about how they want to get into sports and were asking about it. Finally there were those whose lives were impacted by cancer. I often forget the survivors we have walking around coupled with spouses, parents, grand kids and the like. People were quick to thank me for what I was doing and to share their stories of their survivors and memories. As I run day after day, my thoughts often go to Mom-Mom and how I am running for her. They usually start to venture over to my grandfathers, Kay, my step mom's mom Helen and others that I have grown to feel connections with. The more stories I hear, the more these people touch me to the core and I find myself tearing up on the runs. Each mile reminds me of the people that I hear about and how awful of a disease it is. So, as I finished up my show and tell time, I was given more than I ever thought. I was given the strength and motivation to run that extra mile and work twice as hard so these stories are somewhere down the line less of a norm. I'm thankful of the time I was given to hear from people and excited/saddened to add many names to the people I run for.
With an aggressive company match, I have just been able to add an additional $100 to my total. All in all a good day!
The turnout and interest in the event was beyond belief. First and foremost I was impressed with every one's hobbies. We had fisherman to martial artists to collectors and photographers. I was stationed in the sports section despite still feeling like a sham all these years later. Secondly, I was impressed with the interest people showed in what I am doing. A lot of people came over to discuss running and triathlons in which they participate in. Others talked about how they want to get into sports and were asking about it. Finally there were those whose lives were impacted by cancer. I often forget the survivors we have walking around coupled with spouses, parents, grand kids and the like. People were quick to thank me for what I was doing and to share their stories of their survivors and memories. As I run day after day, my thoughts often go to Mom-Mom and how I am running for her. They usually start to venture over to my grandfathers, Kay, my step mom's mom Helen and others that I have grown to feel connections with. The more stories I hear, the more these people touch me to the core and I find myself tearing up on the runs. Each mile reminds me of the people that I hear about and how awful of a disease it is. So, as I finished up my show and tell time, I was given more than I ever thought. I was given the strength and motivation to run that extra mile and work twice as hard so these stories are somewhere down the line less of a norm. I'm thankful of the time I was given to hear from people and excited/saddened to add many names to the people I run for.
And the second best part of the day, I won the gift card raffle.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Taking a break from it all
From the title it sounds like I am taking a break from running and yes, that is correct. Wednesday night I had an hour workout on my schedule. I woke up Wednesday morning and a quick glance around my house gave me the heebie jeebies; it was a disaster! I live in 800 square feet which is usually easy to maintain, but also easy to show chaos. Running has surprisingly become like a second job. I wake up, go to work, go to run or the gym, grab a quick dinner and am in bed. Lather rinse and repeat and you've got my life. Of course, being a girl about to turn 30, there is social stuff mixed in, but that is becoming more and more rare, reserved for weekends or nights with nothing going on.
After realizing the state of affairs my house was in, I knew I had to do something right away. Finishing work at 5ish, I made an effort to spend the next 4-5 hours cleaning my house. Laundry was done and then done some more while the fridge was cleaned out and dishes done. Add to that a good bathroom cleaning, so sorting the mail bin, putting away shoes upon shoes and making order of a counter covered in stuff and I was done. Luckily, it did not take the full 4 hours allotted, but enough time to show that I wasn't getting my workout in that day. At first I felt guilty, but then it dawned on me, running is more mental than physical. When my mental health was going nuts because I felt my house was a disaster, I for sure would have been a mess working out.
After having a clean house I realize it is important for me time. From now on, I plan to take one day a week (most likely my rest day) and use it to catch up on the little things that slip away.
After realizing the state of affairs my house was in, I knew I had to do something right away. Finishing work at 5ish, I made an effort to spend the next 4-5 hours cleaning my house. Laundry was done and then done some more while the fridge was cleaned out and dishes done. Add to that a good bathroom cleaning, so sorting the mail bin, putting away shoes upon shoes and making order of a counter covered in stuff and I was done. Luckily, it did not take the full 4 hours allotted, but enough time to show that I wasn't getting my workout in that day. At first I felt guilty, but then it dawned on me, running is more mental than physical. When my mental health was going nuts because I felt my house was a disaster, I for sure would have been a mess working out.
After having a clean house I realize it is important for me time. From now on, I plan to take one day a week (most likely my rest day) and use it to catch up on the little things that slip away.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Stumbling Blocks
Last night marked another evening of track workout. After last week's dismal failure, I was determined to not let injury take over. I ended up at the track on time in my old shoes. Luckily, this past week's run was at the running store in which they taught me how to properly tie my shoes. Yes, apparently I missed out on Kindergarten as I needed a lesson!
On the books for the practice was 8-10x800s at 10k pace with a 400 recovery. We all got started and it became obvious I was getting lapped. This is now super normal for me as the track is 200 yards and I run a good 3-5 minutes slower than a lot of these folks. Yes, you read that right, some of the team happily runs sub 7s. I can only stare in awe as I know I will never see sub-10. Heck, running a solid 10 minute mile would be amazing.
So, as a few groups were half way done with their 10, I realized that there is no way I would finish in time if I did all of mine. I started making excuses and decided I would skip out after 6. No one would know the difference and I would finish around the same time as those doing 8s. Something then hit me, if I cheated those 2, I would really only be cheating myself. I am so afraid of being the slow runner that I forget that I am an equal member and participant. I need to take just as much accountability even if it takes me double the time. After my mental break through, I realized that I put these hurdles in front of me that are only for my eyes to see. No one else cares that I am slow, they are just as supportive. I can almost guess too that they don't go home and make fun of the slow kid. In fact, they are probably in shock that the big kid on the team actually can run any distance. I need to take ownership of myself and my actions! With that being said, I muddled on for the remaining 2 sets and finished just in time for stretching. And you know what, it felt awesome!
On the books for this weekend is 16-18. While I don't think I am quite there, I will proudly do my 14-15 miles no matter how long it takes. Of course, I will also bring a thank you gift to the lady who checks us in to not feel guilty for making her wait for me.
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