Life Lists

Current Obsessions:
-Veggie Chips
-Watermelon
-Wifebeater tank tops
-Swimming
-Interval workouts
-Burpees

Things I Am Not a Fan of:
-Getting the mail
-My New Directiosn water bottle that finally bit the dust the other day
-Zucchini
-Delayed Onset Muscle Fatigue
-Thunderstorms that lead to cancelled shifts at the pool


Weekly Accomplishments Thus Far:
-Finally returning all of my libary books... only to realize that I left one at home..
-BEST SWIMMING WORKOUT IN TWO WEEKS
-Outlining a long run plan to get me through mararthon training without 1. boredom or 2. burnout


Things I Still Have to Do:
-A 3 and a half hour ride and 40 minute brick run (get ready for major a$$ soreness!)
-Baking my brother the breakfast cake I promised him so he doesn't come home at Thanksgiving looking so string-bean like
-Laundry. Massive. Amounts. of. Laundry.
-New running shoes! And socks! And shirts (because at UDel you can't wear tank tops to the gym...)

7 Year-Old

Today was another day of prancing in the woods, albeit at a slightly slower pace than yesterday's run. I headed up to a local trail near one of the nearby running stores. It's a beautiful trail, especially in the fall, and when I was little my Mom used to take me on walks there all the time. I thinks that's partly why I am such an active person now- my parents were always taking us on walks and bike rides, and were really supportive of all of our athetic ventures (hello stints with lacrosse and ice hockey).
     I ran for about an hour today, and while I was feeling old and creeky early this morning when I woke up, by mid-afternoon when I did the run, I was feeling fairly okay considering yesterday's effort. The trail was REALLY technical, but it flattened out about 2 miles in and made for a nice easy shakeout run. It had poured earlier today, so the trail was completely flooded in some parts which meant wet socks, shoes, and feet. Unforunately, I had thought it was a great idea to not wear a shirt while running, since it was quite humid out, but I forgot that wooded areas have these things called tree branches that often wack you unexpectedly, especially when you are going 7.0 mph. I wound up with some pretty nice scratches, but I am getting used to being scraped up, since every other time I mount my bike, some part of the chain, pedal, or wheel cuts me (why yes, I am an idiot when it comes to bikes! How did you know!?). I also managed to wack my right knee with my left while jumping over a fallen log, so I have a lovely grape-sized bruise that is slowing deepening to a nice mauve-brown color.
      Now, I am off to take a nap before doing some easy spinning, a lot of arm work, and some jump squats and burpees. Fun fun!

WINNING

  This morning was my first of two races today,and as with every race, I woke up with just enough time to walk out of the house, forget my trail shoes, go get them from my basement, (where they have rested since last March), and hop into the car and onto the Beltway. The race was in the middle of bumfrick nowhere religious campground, and since we had to park in an actual pasture, my running buddy Jon and I thought we would be economic, environmentally friendly, and, in my case, lazy, and drive together along with two of his HILARIOUS friends who were also doing the 10k with us. As much as I pride myself on being a mature 18-year old most of the time, it's nice to be around people who don't mind talking about one-hit wonder songs like "Detachable Penis" and discussing the merits and disadvantages of peeing standing up. It made the long car ride devoid of good music (because apparently radio satellites don't work in farmland?) quite enjoyable.
     The actual race itself was fantastic but BRUTAL. The first mile involves a hill so massive that people were walking, muttering expletives, and sweating like pigs about 4 feet in. And the thing was AT LEAST a quarter mile long. With that kind of a start, I knew I was in for it, so I settled in behind my friends Jon and Ari and tried to keep on their tails so I knew 1. where the heck to go and 2. what the heck to do, since we came up against some extremely technical trails. The ascents on grass weren't too bad, but on the trail, they were so steep that EVERYONE walked them. One of the race directors was kind enough to warn us of the worst ascent, dubbed "Dead Man's Hill". I felt like I was suspended in mud while walking up it- I was moving so slow, and the massive rocks and crevices that littered the path didn't help. Luckily, that was the last of the uphills, but the downhills were just as steep, though so much more fun. The great thing about trail running is that it takes you back to the roots of running, when you were a kid sprinting through the woods. That is exactly how I felt on those downhills- like I was a 7 year-old again, flying down a hill with all my friends chasing after me.
      By the end, I was totally spent, but one of the guys I ran with pushed me to the finish. I was starting to pick it up with .25 left, but then two of the other girls in my age group started to come up behind me. One yell of "GO EM! THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" had me kicking it into high gear, which eventually lead to, wait for it, an age group win!!!!!   
      A fantastic way to start the day, which will be filled with shopping, sleeping, and another race tonight. Ya heard.

Two-a-Day

So since I am getting back to the roots of why I run so much, I thought it woud be a spectacular idea to sign up for two races in 1 day. 12.2 miles. 2 trail runs. In 12 hours. But don't worry- I get free food and a tech t-shirt, so it's totally worth the fatigue and possible leg pain (because I haven't run that long in 3 weeks...).
    In other news, Coach SuperW called me today. She actually didn't move to Colorado, but she did get a new job, so we decided after a nice, long, coach-to-athlete conversation that it would be best for both of us if we took a couple months for me to refocus and for her to work on her new position as the Sales Tech Rep of a running shoe brand that I am not going to name drop. She was so understanding about the whole thing, and I feel so lucky to have had such a good Coach to guide me through my first few months as a semi-competitve runner. I learned so much from her, and I will be using her oddly brutal but ridiculously fun track workouts for the rest of my life!
     We even had a chat about the effects of LSD training vs. interval training, and realized that 1. I love intervals, 2. I hate LSD runs, 3. I like going fast (insert Ricky Bobby quote) and 4. Life is too short to being doing something you hate. So, I am going to race when I want to, and keep in mind that, as my high school track career showed me, I have some speed in these legs, so I best use it!

Absentee

So I have been a bit absent lately from my blog. Why, you ask? Well, apparently going to college actually involves, gasp, SHOPPING. And that, on top of working like a mad-woman, working out like a mad-woman, and falling asleep every time I sit down has led to me ignoring my blog in favor of rest/watching Sex In the City in my downtime.
   This summer has taught me more about time-management than 5 AP courses and 60 miles per week ever did, and want to know what I have learned? I. NEED. TO. STOP. Take a break, sleep in, eat pancakes, watch TV, read a book, see my friends, and remind myself I am a normal person for 5 seconds. Which I did last Wednesday when, get ready for it, I didn't go to swim practice. Straight up skipped. Was it good for my training? Probably not. Was it good for me mentally? OH YES. Though I consider swimming to be my least-stressful part of training, I needed a break from sets, times, intervals, and constant motion. I needed a day to re-evaluate why I do all the training I do. Is it for fitness, my figure, or because I love it?
   Want to know what I figured out? It's because I love it. I love running. I love swimming. I love strength training. I love intervals on my bike (notice I didn't say long rides. I said intervals. That's right, cyclists, you can shove your 5-hour rides where the sun don't shine; this chick ain't a fan). But I need to step away from the obession of it all. I need to run for fun, I need to bike because I genuinely want to, and I need to lift when my muscles are begging for my dumbbells.
    Luckily my Coach was way ahead of me on this, and decided to move to Colorado without mentioning it, which saves me having to find an excuse for telling her I need some space. Because I do. I need to learn to coach myself. Will I mess up sometimes? Probably. But will I be happier (and, since I won't be shelling out $50/month) and richer? HELL YEAH.
   So this week I threw out the schedule. I ran, biked, and swam when I wanted to, and had the best workouts of the summer. I had the best run of my life on Tuesday. After a summer of struggling to get my bum out the door and onto the pavement, I hit the streets at 8pm that night with hill repeats on the brain.  4 miles and 8x240m hill sprints later, I felt refreshed, renewed, and remembered why I love running so much. I am not one of those people that looks forward to the feelings after the run- no, I look forward to the feelings during the run. The feeling of speeding up, slowing down, pushing myself, enjoying the scenery, and getting this much closer to a goal(s). Wanna know what I did when I realized this? I went another .5 miles. And saw jet-blue lightening in the clouds near my house. I stood still watching for a few moments, and when I looked down at my "Baltimore Marathon In-training" shirt, I saw a glimpse of me a few months from now, crossing that finish line with a smile on my face, because I did something for me, that I loved, that I dreamed of, and that I allowed myself to do without obsession, without overtraining, and with a large dose of FUN.
   I am done with all this scheduling. Life happens while we are planning other things, and no way am I missing out on events because I am chained to some piece of paper that tells me "lift Tuesday, rest Friday." This week signified my journey to end my overtraining and my quest to once again love my running shoes, swimsuit, bike shorts, and dumbbells. Really love them. Look forward to dates with them. Dream about them. Part of this thinking came after my Open Water Swim on Saturday- it was a BLAST, and something I had been so afraid of. What if I couldn't finish? What if I was last? What if I got scared of the dark water and had to quit?
     I was able to conquer my fears in that race, and I know I will be able to conquer my other anxieties in life, too. I am done being afraid of getting out of shape, getting fat, getting slow, or not PR'ing. I am never going to be a professional athlete, but I might be coaching them someday, so I might as well enjoy what I do, no?

    So what's on the agenda now that I am on my way to being a less-obsessive SuperWoman? Well...
-Delaware Diamondman in September
-Charm City Run 20 miler in September
-Possibly a trail 13.1 in Charlottesville in September
-Baltimore Marathon in October
-Delaware Distance Race in October
-NCR marathon Relay in November
-Possibly pacing a friend in the JFK 50
- KICKBOXING CLASS AT UDEL
-Club swimming

    I am experimenting with a Crossfit approach of working on intervals and strength more so that I have more power. So I can deck people blow it up on my next 5k.

Quick and Dirty

It's late, I have to go order my brother's birthday present, and I have 7 words for you:

 I SIGNED UP FOR THE BALTIMORE MARATHON.

Get Ready for Some Mush

This weekend's brick went..well? I had to do my 2:30 ride inside because I got home from work at 3:30 and collapsed on the couch for 2 and a half hours. After my date with the trainer was over, I hit the treadmill for an awesome 30 minute run. The next morning, however? I. was. sore.
   Yes, I know that doing a 3 hour straight cardio workout that works all different muscle groups is going to leave me sore. But I didn't just feel sore- I felt crappy, too. So crappy that my swim times were off. Morning and evening.
   So crappy that I still didn't swim well today. THAT, to me, is a red flag. To re-evaluate, to stop exercising, to hold the phone and take stock of what the heck I am doing. Because I love running, swimming, and I am growing to love biking, and I don't want a training schedule to diminish those loves for me.
    I may have done most of this re-evaluating while lying immobile on the couch, so sure it could be skewed, but hey, most of my thinking is done during kinetic movement, and I think that is the opposite of what my body needed today.
   See, I have always been an energetic person. I've been active and bouncing off the walls since I was little, and I feel more productive, more inteligent, and more organized when I am healthy and in-shape. The negative side of this, of course, is a body that is used to constant movement. A body that hurts when it doesn't get to run, swim, bike, or lift. A body that knows it needs rest, but still craves pavement and water and dumbells even when all it really needs is a pillow and a nice, warm blanket.
     As I lay on the couch this evening, watching the clock tick from 4:45 to 5:15 to 5:45 to 6:00, and then finally the definitive 6:15 that means I missed my track workout, I found that I couldn't make myself move. As much as my legs yearned to get up and go run, and my self-image yearned to burn off those extra calories from peanut butter, pancakes, etc., my mind knew I needed a break. Because gues what I realized? I haven't had a day off of exercise since June.
    CRAZY, right? Sure, I've had "easy" days, but I haven't had a single day off to be non-moving, to sit and watch TV, to read, to go to the library... my whole summer has been:
5:30 am: wake up, get ready for swim.
6-7:30: swim
10-12: swim lessons
12-3: break
3-on: next workout, either teach a swim lesson or lifeguard
9:30: crash into bed.

Not. Fun. And that other night when I went to practice after getting only an hour of sleep? It was awesome. I felt like a normal teenager. Because that's what I am, a teenager. Not a professional athlete, not a coach (yet), just a normal kid who only has 2 years left before she is out of her teens and into those scary 20's.
   So what am I doing from now on, you ask? I am letting go of my coach. I am signing up for the Baltimore Marathon. I am waking up tomorrow and going to swim practice. And then grabbing my shoes and my iPod and hitting my favorite loop for a seriously overdue thought session on my feet. Life shouldn't be worked in and around a workout schedule; it should be the other way around.