Monthly Archives: July 2011

I’m going to be out of town for a few days, and will be posting irregularly until I’m back at my desk. But I wanted to pass along the workout I did before skipping town—the workout that left me confident I’m ready to push myself to swim a quick 1,500 meters as part of the Killer Honey Badgers triathlon relay team at the Luray International Triathlon upon my return.

1,500-meter time trial: 24 minutes. Obviously, I’ll be slower in a lake, without the benefit of walls to push off of every 50 meters. But this was the first time I’d tried to swim any distance quickly for quite a while, and I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

15X100 free on 1:45. The first time I did this set, I was scrambling to complete each rep by the end of it. But yesterday, I only got faster as the reps wore on, and still had a good 10 to 15 seconds rest after finishing each 100. *Major* confidence-booster.

What fuels speedy sets in the pool? Fresh blueberries from my beloved CSA and farm stand, of course.

I usually polish off a pint of these delicious blue flavor-bombs with a big bowl of steel-cut oats in the morning.

I also usually top that bowl of oatmeal with blueberry sauce, or blueberries heated with a tiny bit of maple syrup and cinnamon.

I eat them throughout the day, too, on top of salads and mixed into yogurt. Those dishes mysteriously disappeared before I could photograph them.

I know blueberries won’t be in season forever. Luckily, their replacements—fresh peaches and plums—are waiting in the wings …

Don’t worry—I’m not going all P90X on you.

But I have to admit that Tony Horton, the guy behind the super-expensive workout videos, is onto something. You may remember that back in April, I stumbled upon a story about Horton in Men’s Health in which he said something that really hit home for me: “The more you dread doing something, the more value it holds for you. So if you hate stretching or intervals, that’s probably because flexibility and speed are your weaknesses.”

This week, as I knock out a series of hard sprint workouts in the pool as a pre-race tune-up ahead of the Luray Triathlon, which I’ll compete in as part of the Killer Honey Badgers triathlon relay team, I’m reminded of how good it sometimes is to do something you’re really bad at. For me, that’s sprint freestyle, which I’ve been whining about for weeks, and actually doing something about for the last few days. I’ve been doing variations of the workouts you guys suggested last week, and holy moly, are they kicking my butt!

I start pretty much every workout by swimming 1,500 meters, with the first 500 at warmup pace and the last at “I am being pursued by a shark” pace. On Friday, I followed that with 15 X 100 longcourse meters on 1:45, thanks to suggestions from Katie at Run This Amazing Day and Allison at Runner in Progress.

This was pretty much the first time since high school I swam anything resembling intervals, and that’s exactly how the set felt. By the end, the perfectly reasonable 1:45 felt impossibly short, and I even had to roll right into the last 100, because I had zero time to rest after taking so long on the previous one. But when I heaved myself out of the pool, I was instantly grateful for the wake-up call to my shoulders, letting them know it’s time to get in gear again. I felt the same way earlier today, when I did a set of 250s suggested by Victoria at The District Chocoholic.

My inner monologue looked like this, from start to finish:

Pre-swim: NO! NonononoNO!

Early-swim: I’m gonna kill this swim. Look at me, going so fast after so much time!

Mid-swim: Gaaaaarrrghhh! (This may have been not-so-inner, but rather screamed into the water).

Post-swim: Awesome. I am awesome.

So this week, I’m motivated by the joy and excitement that follow the completion of a real challenge—and the feeling that I did something that really, truly made me stronger.

What’s motivating you this week?

What a shame that just as D.C. weather gets really nice, I’m stuck swimming in a climate-controlled indoor pool rather than running outside, huh?

I am ducking, to get out of the way of the things all you runners are throwing in my direction right now.

Obviously, it’s 9,000 degrees in D.C., and I am loving the crap out of the fact that I have a good reason to eschew all workouts that don’t involve immersing myself in a body (or pool) of water. And now that I’ve looked at a calendar for the weeks leading up to the Luray Triathlon, which I’ll compete in as part of the Killer Honey Badgers triathlon relay team, I’ve been able to fine-tune my training plan.

The only race on my calendar involves me jumping into this. Don't be jealous!

Basically, I’m counting on my training for and finish of the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim on June 12 as my base here. I took a few weeks to cross-train and rest my shoulders after swimming the Bay, and am hoping the swim gods look kindly upon that rest period, followed by about a month of tune-up training. I’ve got three weekends and two weeks of training left (third week is taper week)—that should be enough to wake up my arms and remind them of all that swimming I did in May and June, right?

As previously discussed, my training will consist of three 3,000-meter swims per week, with more sprints than usual built in. My go-to sets will be:

• 1,500-meter time trial
• 3X 300 free, first six strokes of every 50 sprint
• 1,800-meter pyramid set on :15 rest: 1×50 > 1×100 > 1×150 > 1×200 > 1×250 > 1×300 > 1×250 > 1×200 > 1×150 > 1×100 > 1×50
• 4×25 sprint freestyle on :45, then 4×25 no-breath freestyle

Have you trained for the swim portion of an international-distance triathlon—or any other 1,500-meter event in calm water? If so, I’d be much indebted if you’d share your favorite speedy sets—I resist sprint/interval sets with all my heart and soul, and could really use some ideas on how to make them more fun.

Photos of Lake Arrowhead, where I’ll swim 1,500 meters on Aug. 13 as part of the Killer Honey Badgers triathlon relay team, courtesy of Jenny Ruley Photography, via the Luray Triathlon website.

I came, I jogged, I conquered!

My Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K results: 46:53, or 9:26-minute-mile pace; 358/1074 women; 76/193 women in my age group

You may be wondering why I’m motivated by such seemingly lackluster race results. While a super-fast race is inspirational and motivational for all the obvious reasons (i.e., if I can do that, what *else* can I do?), I’m actually pretty pumped that with minimal running-specific training, I was able to easily, comfortably complete a 5-mile race at a perfectly respectable pace. My legs were tired the last mile—I tried to accelerate in the last stretch of the race, but my quads respectfully declined to do so—but overall, it was just a good, fun workout followed by a cool block party with a live band and free beer, leaving me with a general feeling of: “Again! Let’s do it again!”

What’s motivating you this week?

Editor’s note: The editor apologizes for her recent overuse of alliterative titles. The popular “faith not fear” mantra just seemed like a great title for today’s post, and, well, it’s Friday. Feel free to throw tomatoes in my direction for too much cuteness.

Editor’s note No. 2: The editor was a lifeguard in high school and college who has great respect for the ocean, and was not the only person swimming at Virginia Beach yesterday. Just so you don’t think the editor has completely lost her mind.

I spent the past couple days in Virginia Beach, Va., to accompany Steve on a work trip. That meant working at a lovely independent bookstore and cafe called Prince Books during the day, and hitting the beach in the late afternoon and evening.

When I showed up at the beach on Wednesday evening, the water looked calm and lovely, perfect for an easy 30-minute swim:

When I showed up at the beach yesterday morning, though, the shoreline looked like the middle of the ocean, with huge whitecaps colliding with each other before they reached shore. The red flags posted on the lifeguard stands were billowing in the stiff wind, and the riptide was rumored to be something fierce.

I ditched the idea of going for a real swim (as if I could have if I’d wanted to!), and decided to get in and splash around. Instantly, the riptide knocked me sideways. I decided to take advantage of the conditions and swim into it (riptide=even better than an infinity pool for Great Chesapeake Bay Swim training), but ditched that plan when I literally didn’t go anywhere for 10 or 15 minutes (I was swimming hard, but the tide kept me in the same place).

Finally, I gave in, and decided to try to ride one of those crazy, disorganized waves back into shore. Between the huge waves barreling into me from the front and the riptide pulling me sideways, I was getting whipped all over the place as my feet stayed stubbornly planted in the sand …

Whoa. Feet planted, knee moving every which way with force? My knee!

I spent about a minute hyperventilating in fear at the idea of ruining my newly minted ACL graft, then realized: My foot stayed in the same place, and my body got whipped around all over the place … and I was *fine.*

I’m not planning to test my luck again anytime soon, but playing in rough water proved to be an important step for me in overcoming my post-ACL-tear fears. At my physical therapy graduation on Monday, we talked about how in the end, it’s just going to come down to getting out there and *doing* stuff. Yesterday, I did just that.

Not long after that, I spotted the perfect wave to take me back into shore. I waited until it was just about to crash on me, took a deep breath and flung myself in front of it, instantly propelled forward by its force. The wave was still strong and fast as I approached the shore, and I rolled quickly to my side to avoid being body-slammed onto the beach. I ended up flat on my back in ankle-deep water, giggling in exhilaration, unfazed by the dude with the boogie board standing a few feet away.

“Looks like you had a good ride,” he said, amused.

Well … yeah!

Have you ever worked your way back to normal activity after rehabbing from an injury? What were you afraid of, and how did you overcome that fear?

Ever since I got back into swimming in 2008, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of participating in a triathlon relay with some of my running buddies. It was my answer to the natural question that arises when I mention I participate in endurance events involving running and swimming: Oh, so you’re a triathlete?

Short answer: Nope.

Longer answer involves my bike making my hip cranky, and me being unwilling to spring for a reasonable, good-fitting bike to solve that problem. Longer answer also involves my being about as interested in cycling as in squash, and in it feeling really arbitrary to take up a sport just to participate in a certain kind of event.

I swim …

And I run …

… but I don’t bike.

I’m proud to announce that I’m participating in the Luray International Triathlon at 8 a.m. Aug. 13 in Luray, Va., with two of my favorite running girlfriends—one of whom is bravely taking up the bike! Guys, I am SO excited about this! The swim portion is 1,500 meters—not even a mile—in a lake. Easy-peasy.

At least it *would* be easy-peasy, if I weren’t part of a team of fit, motivated ladies who are totally inspiring me to try to swim it quickly, or at least as quickly as I can.

Here’s how this race will push me out of my comfort zone: I’m a terrible freestyle sprinter. In high school, I once clocked a 50 freestyle split during a 200 IM that was *slower* than my preceding 50 breaststroke split (It was a pretty darn fast breaststroke split … but still). So to train, I’ll actually focus on short intervals during my tri-weekly 3,000-meter swim workouts, rather than the 1,000-meter reps I did while training for the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim.

Our team name: The Killer Honey Badgers. Why? Because we’re fierce. If you’ve seen the viral YouTube video about the honey badger, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The video isn’t exactly work-appropriate, so I’m not going to embed it here. But if you’re at home, and aren’t offended by some bad language, check out this link. You’re welcome.

Have you done a triathlon relay, or participated in the swim portion of the Luray International Triathlon? If so, any and all advice would be appreciated!

I’m a sucker for milestones. If you’re reading this, it’s likely you are, too (why else do thousands of adults gather at road races on any given weekend, if not for the sense of accomplishment that comes from crossing an actual finish line, then having someone drape a medal around your neck?). And I’ve got a big one at lunchtime today: My last-ever physical therapy session!

Happy graduation day to my knee!

More than five months after tearing my tearing my ACL in January, I am finally celebrating my knee’s “graduation” from physical therapy. In February and March, PT meant regaining use of my right quad, which had “fallen asleep” after surgery, and regaining my strength in said quad (it’s hard to get stronger when you’re napping). In April, PT meant working on agility exercises, which have helped me not only get physically ready to ski again, but to mentally get over my anxiety about doing so, which proved to be a great reason to keep up at least occasional PT appointments (once ever couple weeks, with additional workouts on my own).

I will leave PTSAC feeling quicker and stronger than before my injury, and feeling motivated to start living a new beginning.

What’s motivating you this week?

So, ‘member when I complained a couple months ago that I was suffering from goal overload leading up to the Bolder Boulder 10K and the 4.4-mile Great Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim because I’d failed to consider how much time I’d need to train for both events, plus continue my post-ACL PT routine? And ‘member how last month, I was all self-congratulatory about my advance-planning skills, having plotted my race calendar for the foreseeable future to avoid another training crunch?

At the Bolder Boulder finish line, I thought: Never again will I run a race on so little training. Oops.

I’ve been looking forward to the Rockville Rotary Twilight Runfest 8K for months, so it’s unclear how it crept up on me. It’s like when you forget a close friend’s birthday—you know their birthday is on June 1, or whatever—you just didn’t realize June 1 is TODAY. I knew the 8K was at 8:45 p.m. July 16. I just didn’t realize July 16 is next week. Oops …

Backpacking: Not running.

What have I been doing instead of running since the Bolder Boulder 10K in May? I did the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim. I rested. I focused on strength and agility, knowing my knee still isn’t 100 percent. I backpacked for three days. I traveled. I skied.

Skiing on the Fourth of July: super-duper awesome, but also not running.

It’s too late to go back in time and add a few miles to the easy, 3-mile trail runs I’ve been doing a couple times per week. What I can do at this point: manage expectations, and focus on not judging where I am at this moment in time. Last year, I remember being kind of disappointed in my finish time of 41:12, which meant my average pace was something like 8:18. This year? I’ll be lucky to cross the finish line without walking, and that’s OK.

So my goal for the race is to chill out and go easy on myself. I’m going to run through the sprinklers, high-five kids on the sidelines and eat my weight in watermelon at the post-race party. It’ll be like the Earth Day 5K, which I ran weeks after being medically cleared to run again—I’ll jog and chill out for most of the run, and “race” the last mile if I feel like it, or just keep jogging if I don’t feel like it.

Hamming it up for the camera at the Earth Day 5K.

How do you approach races you haven’t trained your hardest for (or simply haven’t trained for at all)? Do you shift your time-based goals to process-based goals? Abandon all goals? Fill your CamelBak with beer and try to forget the fact that you ever had goals? Let me know by posting a comment below!