Moved!

I'm officially running away from blogger....made the big move to wordpress y'all!

193 Miles Over Two Days

Yup. I'm in. I can't believe I forgot to post about this but I'm going to be doing the Ragnar Relay in September! I know!! I was asked by a couple of friends to join their team and to be honest, had never heard of the Ragnar series. They had to fill me in that it is a 11-person relay race that starts in Cumberland, Maryland and ends down in D.C.....193 miles people!

Each participant runs 3 legs ranging from 4 to 8 miles each. It's supposed to be a ton of fun so I'm really looking forward to it. Here is a little blip about it from Ragnar's site:

This 193 mile adventure-fest will push you and 11 pals through the stunning scenery of the Potomac River Valley. Starting in the Appalachian town of Cumberland, MD, your team will head east along the C & O Canal as it snakes along the Potomac, around night fall you'll get off the trail and run through the quiet streets of many charming historic Civil War-Era towns, ultimately passing within the shadows of the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The race (and your stamina) wraps in the heart of the nation's capitol.

Also, Active has a good article on the Utah race here. I'm all jazzed about it, I think it will be a really good time and certainly an experience I wont soon forget! Anyone ever done one of these before?

In training news, I had to miss track last night because my husband had a business dinner to attend so I did a 6.8 mile tempo run after my strength training class instead. It was a really great run that I finished in 54 minutes so I was happy with that. The fact that the weather here in DC has been damn near perfect lately certainly helped. I can't imagine any other July when I would have been able to go out for a run of almost 7 miles at 1:00 in the afternoon and be comfortable during it!
I'm either going to do an easy 3-miles today or just a dvd of some kind because tomorrows long run calls for 10-12. I will get up and run with the group at 6:30am! I will!!!

I leave you with my little man in all his glory hitting the sprinkler fully clothed last night. He just couldn't resist and was so stinkin' happy that I couldn't say no!

Week One of Marathon Training in the Books!

My first 'official' week of marathon training is in the books. Well, it was actually in the books after my long run last Saturday but I'm just now getting around to recording it. It was a pretty good week. Speed training at the track didn't happen because the coaches were out of town for the holiday but I did get 3 quality runs in, 3 days of strength training and then my long run on Saturday (which by the way, I kind of slacked on as far as meeting my running group...my alarm went off at 5:45, I laughed, turned it off and went back to sleep. I have to get up this Sat though; the miles will be so much easier running with happy people). Hopefully, tomorrow night at the track will go a lot smoother than the first night since I've picked up my training a few notches since then. Anyway, total miles for last week was 25 - 6, 6, 3 then 10. This week, I've done a tempo run of 5 miles, and a great hill workout for 5.5 miles plus 2 strength training days. Tomorrow is another strength day followed by track then I'll put in 3 on Friday. The schedule calls for 10-12 this weekend, I'm hoping for 12.

As far as strength training goes, I've been able to attend the Tuesday/Thursday class at the rec center with the help of a babysitter (I wish I made that much money when I was a babysitter!) and a helpful mother-in-law. For the 3rd day, I've been doing a Jari Love dvd. Have you seen this chick? Holy crap balls. She is seriously kicking my ass. Yes, it's a dvd workout but yes, I swear, it is so tough but in a really good way.

I got her 'Get Ripped' dvd from Netflix to try it out and really loved it. It's non-stop weights with bursts of cardio mixed in. My heart rate was way up and I had to quit 40 minutes in (of a 60 minute workout!) the first time I did it. I went on Amazon to buy it but saw 'Get Extremely Ripped' and thought, "well shit, if I'm getting ripped, I outta just get extremely ripped" right? So I bought that one instead. I tried it out on Monday for the first time. I made it through 45 minutes of the 60 minute tape before I had to quit. I could have made it all the way through but I had a 5-mile run scheduled for that evening and she was trying to kill me with the squats and lunges so I figured I'd better call it a day. In that 45ish minutes, I burned (according to my Polar HR monitor) 358 calories which isn't too shabby. Also, my legs were feeling quite the burn the next day thanks to that and a run. Having said that, I think I preferred the plain 'ol 'Get Ripped' version more. It's actually harder in my opinion because of the cardio bursts. She does a lot of pylo moves which we as runners know are fantastic for building up leg strength. It's crazy hard and you are cussing and dripping with sweat while you are doing it, but it seriously kicks ass.

Ok. So that's about it on the marathon training front. I've been keeping busy taking my kids to and from swim lessons and now this week, golf camp. Summer is flying by. Today, I actually said yes to woopie cushions from 5 Below. Some things never get old. I was laughing like a 9-year-old boy in the store. What was I thinking?

Marathon Training Officially Begins July 6th!

I'm trying to slowly get back to running 3 days a week at least plus starting that long run on the weekend thing. I ran 6 on Monday, 3 yesterday, and plan on running 4 this evening. According to the handy Runners World schedule, I should be jumping into official marathon training next week for the Marine Corps Marathon. Yup. And so it begins. I'm trying to get my girl-positive hat on but honestly, getting back into already seems mighty soon. I was just getting used to being 'run whenever the hell I feel like it' girl.

Tomorrow evening will be week two at the track and I have my fingers crossed that I wont have that overwhelming feeling that I want to barf like I did last week. Then on Saturday, our group long run calls for 6-8. I do like that we are starting off with such low mileage, that's for sure. In addition, I'm trying to keep up with my twice weekly strength training class because I really enjoy it which is most important but secondly, I really feel like the weight training helped with my running when I was training for Shamrock.

Speaking of running and strength training and being as big a bad-ass as you can be, have you ever heard of Tracy Anderson? She is Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow's trainer. And apparently, she wants us all to have the body of a 12-year old, pre-pubescent girl. She just launched a new gym in New York where the membership will only run you $900 a month. But for that small fee, you too can have a 'teeny-tiny body', a 'Victoria's Secret butt' and 'absolutely not have cellulite!'. She is big on using either no weights or very low (2lb) hand weights and doing a bajillion reps - 60 - 100 - of your standard exercises such as bicep curls, squats, etc. Oh, and you have to dance a lot too. Ok, fine. To each her own. If you are into that, more power to you. I'm an advocate of people moving, period. Do whatever feels good to you but just do something. Having said that, I hate that she constantly tells us to go for that 'teeny-tiny body' and that bulk (um, you mean muscle?!) is ugly. And that she bashes certain forms of exercise that work for a lot of people, i.e: yoga and Pilates and running. Yup. Running too. She says plain and simple regarding yoga and Pilates that 'they don't work' and that she has 'banned' Madonna and Paltrow from practicing yoga. And if you don't move for at least 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week, it isn't going to be effective. Period. Really? Is that really the message you want to give people? I'll stop now. I could go on and on about this for way longer than necessary. I'll just leave you with this quote from a recent interview with the Telegraph UK. "...running gives you an ugly butt – 'because, as with every other type of exercise, using the same muscles again and again will build too much muscle in certain places and bulk you up, and a bulked-up bottom is not a pretty one’." She can kiss my bulked up ass. Oh, and then give each of my bulked up biceps a peck too.

Yada Yada 6-miler Yada Ya....

Today my kids started swim lessons. I have tried multiple classes with various instructors and yet I still have two kids who can't swim. This year, I decided to bite the financial bullet and sign them up for private lessons at the rec center where I work out. This morning, imagine my surprise when the instructor walks up to us. She is none other than the chatty spinning class chick!!! I swear! No lie! I about fell over. I didn't even know she was an instructor there. This explains why the spinning instructor doesn't say anything to her when she and her friend talk through entire classes! And I am now glad that I didn't say anything nasty to her after the spin class...I need her to get my kids swimming!

I managed to sneak in a 6-miler today. The running group I meet with at the track on Thursday's started group long runs on Saturday but we were out of town at a wedding so I didn't run. The schedule only called for 6 which I was happy about because it was easy to make it up today. I ran it super slow though. My plan is to get up early tomorrow and hit the treadmill before my husband has to work and do a speedy 3 or 4 miles. I'm laughing as I type that because getting up super early to run is something I seriously hate but with the kids off of school, it's the only choice I've got! Besides, I've got to get used to it...they meet at 6:30 on Saturday mornings. Yikes.

Oh and one last totally unrelated story. Tonight I took my boys out to see my husband play softball. We haven't made it out to a game all season and this was the last one. Anyway, imagine my delight when some dude on his team popped his Achilles!! Ack! First of all, it just makes my stomach turn to see someone go down like that and the pain he was in was so obvious. All I could think of was how long I'd be down if something like that happened to me while running. But besides all that, my boys were completely freaked out by it. Swell. They'll never play ball again.

Back to the Track!

Last night was the first group speed workout at the high school track. It was a lovely 87ish degrees and sticky out there. We did a mile warm up followed by some strides. The workout was then a timed mile (6:58 which I was rather disappointed in because I just lost a lot of steam toward the end) then 2x800s and 6x400s. It was tough. I didn't feel good at all. I think part of the problem was that I haven't done much running lately, I've been a bit of a slacker in addition to being sick. Prior to Run Amuck, I had only run once in 18 days and that was a slow 3-miler on the treadmill. The other issue may have been that I had gone to my strength training class that day too. You forget just how much speed drills take out of you. I don't think the two a days will continue to be an issue once I get used to it (and I don't know how often I'll even be able to make it to that mid-day class) but yesterday I was totally exhausted.

I got home from the track at 8:15, jumped in the shower then stood in the kitchen looking at the fridge waiting for something to magically appear cooked and ready to eat. Since it didn't, I fell into bed and passed out by 9:00. I know, I really need to eat something after such a big workout day but I just wanted to sleep.

So. I believe I've got a lot of work to do friends! It was good to get out there though. I know that despite how tough these Thursday night workouts can be, they really help shave time off your races.

Run Amuck Race Report!

Run Amuck was so much fun, I can't even tell you! I guess I'm not all that surprised that I loved it so much - my inner tomboy was in heaven!

We drove down to Quantico on Friday evening and went straight to the base for packet pickup. Did you know that on base, they have an entire building and and staff for the MCM race events? Obviously the marathon in October is their biggest but now with the half marathon in the spring and various smaller events, coordination is a full time job! Anyway, we got out packets and watched about 5 minutes of video from last years race (which I'll admit, freaked me out a bit) then on our way out, found a very helpful (and large) Marine who pointed out where all the obstacles on the course were. Sufficiently scared, we headed to our hotel. As I was prepping my gear for the next day, I grabbed my shoes to put on the d-tag only to find that I had no soles in my shoes!!!! The shoes I wore for this race were the same ones I wore for the Shamrock Marathon. After that race, I bought new shoes. When I did, I pulled my orthotics out of the Shamrock shoes and put them in my new ones but obviously never put the cushioned soles back in the old pair. So. I had to run this thing with no soles and let me tell you, you can feel every little pebble when there is no cushion in your shoes. I doubled up my socks but I'm not sure that helped much.

Saturday morning, I rode to the base with two friends who were also running. They were so excited and super chatty but for some reason, my stomach was doing flip flops. I'm really not good at facing the unknown and this race was about as unknown as it gets. I had no idea what to expect and it was really getting to me. We were in different waves - I was in wave 6, they were in 12 - so I quickly got up there and waited for my start.

We started by doing a half lap around the track then we hit the streets for about a mile and a half. I wanted to run the street portion quickly because I was assuming there would be a lot of walking once I got into the woods. It was really humid and I was still coughing quite a bit from this chest cold so I only managed a 7:40 for that first mile.

There was a water stop at the edge of the woods then you hit the trails. We have gotten so much rain in Virginia lately that the trails were essentially mud. It was challenging because it was so sloppy and slippery that you had to really pay attention to each step. We hit a few hay bales then two sets of tires. Then the hills started. I can't even describe these hills. You would literally run straight up - and it was rocky and slippery - then once you got to the top, you could see the next one straight ahead. It was like a roller coaster - yes, seriously! Downhill was a bit tricky again because of the wet surface. I was able to run....ok, jog....most of the hills but there were a few that I only made it halfway up and had to walk the rest. One of the hills was so steep going down that they had ropes that you were to grab on to and go down backwards. That was really hard for me because I was so worried about falling.

In between these hills were a few more interesting obstacles. The first mud pit we hit after climbing over a short, a bit higher than waist high, wall. I took a step in and the water was up to my waist. No problem, I thought. I'll just walk through as quickly as I can. Just then, my left foot landed in a hole and I went down. The water came up to my neck! I (along with everyone around me as you can see in the picture) started cracking up at that point. It was one of those moments when you are thinking, "Why the hell am I doing this??"

They also had fake barbed wire in the form of caution tape cris-crossed across the trail. You had to do a full commando crawl under it and I swear they hosed down the mud you were crawling through because it was the sloppiest, nastiest mud ever. We also had to go through these giant tubes. They were big enough that I didn't have to get down on my hands and knees but I did have to stoop over pretty far.

The race was so physically demanding. Just totally exhausting. The miles seemed really long too. After we hit mile 3 and there was no end in sight, a woman behind me said, "These must be Marine miles!" When we thought we couldn't do any more hills, we got slammed with another mud pit that you had to crawl out of because you had to go under a cargo net (hard to see in the photo but that black thing is the net you had to go under)...up hill. Trying to get enough traction to pull yourself out while on your hands and knees was so hard. Then once you get through the cargo net, you have to go up this steep hill which they had ropes criss-crossed across so you could hold them and try and pull yourself up.

After that hill, we were out of the woods. We ran through a fire hose then back down to the track where we had to run only a quarter of to the finish. Once I crossed, it took me forever to catch my breath and my husband said, "You look way more exhausted than you did after the marathon!" And it was so true. I felt it too! But I'm so going back next year. It was so different and so challenging. I just loved it! (And can I just say, I'm only posting the photo at left as a public service announcement. Please, please, please, when you cross a finish line, do not stop! Do not slam on your breaks! Move to the side! That woman just came to a dead stop and as you can see, I slammed right into her. Seriously people. )

When we got home and I looked at the results, I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw I came in 3rd in my division. Never saw that coming! I wonder what my prize is...a jar of mud perhaps?