by | January 11, 2010 · 1:50 pm

Motivation Monday: The well-earned sleep edition

The car ride was taking forever.

I was exhausted from what felt like hours of gymnastics (in reality, maybe it had been an hour? Memory is tricky that way). My quads ached. My triceps screamed. Not that I knew what those muscles were called at the time — I was only seven.

Once I got home, I whined to my dad in between chomps of pizza: I was soooo sore!

He smiled. “But isn’t it such a good sore?” he said. Well …. yeah!

I found myself the best kind of sore after last weekend’s shift at with the Mountain Safety Team at Whitetail, which marked the real kickoff to my 2009-2010 ski season. The skiing was spectacular, the snow fluffy and perfectly groomed, and I enjoyed three or four solid hours of hard skiing both Saturday and Sunday in between my duties. For reasons outlined in this blog, I thought I was in pretty decent shape. My quads begged to differ, and I left on Sunday afternoon feeling divinely sore and ready for bed by 9 p.m. That “good sore,” plus a well-earned sleep after hours of physical activity outdoors, is motivating me to work out inside the rest of the week. Here’s what else is motivating me this week:

My new ski boots. I skied what I’m pretty sure will be my last day ever in my 13-year-old Langes on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, I finally got my custom insoles made for my new DalBellos. My shins are bruised from breaking them in all day Sunday, but my ankle was no more sore at the end of the day than it was at the start. Hope is motivating, and these boots are chock full of it.

Hip hikes (video here), those unbelievably boring hip strengtheners my new physical therapist reminded me I should be doing, are also giving me a lot of hope. Because the very idea of running or skiing without any hip or ankle pain is highly motivating.

An appointment with that new physical therapist on Wednesday. He says he can help make sure I don’t reinjure my ankle, and to make sure my bum ankle doesn’t affect my hip like it usually does. I’m all ears, and can’t wait to find out my marching orders for the next month or so.

Larabars. I won a small box of these in a giveaway before the holidays, and it was waiting for me when I got back to DC after my own holiday travels. I’d been spooked by the nutritionals previously — though the whole-food ingredients are delightfully simple, I was skeptical those tiny bars would be worth the 200-plus calories. Turns out, those whole-food ingredients actually keep me full for a long, long time. The Cherry Pie flavor is my favorite so far, and I love knowing I can pronounce all three ingredients: dates, almonds, unsweetened cherries. How simply perfect!

A new toy in the works. Your helpful comments have convinced me that the Garmin 305 is the way to go, and I’m shopping around for one now. I feel pretty certain it’s going to revolutionize my training.

What’s motivating you this week?

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by | January 7, 2010 · 4:38 pm

Motivation Thursday: The catch-up edition

Motivation Thursday lacks the catchy alliteration of Motivation Monday. But since I missed a few weeks on vacation, I thought I’d play catch-up by giving you a dose of mid-week motivation. Here’s what’s motivating me this week:

  • Getting out in the cold. For real! I almost didn’t head out for my group run on Tuesday night, in part because of the cold snap that’s hitting Washington, D.C., this week. But it wasn’t so bad once I bundled up and headed out. Plus, I’ve had fun telling people that it’s not blush reddening my cheeks; it’s a badge of honor proving I’m hard-core for getting out there in all kinds of weather. For tips on braving the cold comfortably, check out this great guest post from my friend Amy, who lives in Minnesota.
  • Easing up a bit. Last October, after a painful and disappointing Marine Corps Marathon, I was chomping at the bit to tackle another 26.2. I set my sights on the National Marathon in March, and mapped out my route to redemption. My attitude about completing another marathon this year can be summed up this way: Meh. I could take it or leave it. The good thing about this: I’m taking cues from my body about what it’s up for, rather than expecting my body to get with whatever program I’ve decided is best for me. I may do a fall marathon. I may not. I’m finding that this attitude is far better than setting myself up for disappointment. Somehow, this feels motivational.
  • A few interesting possibilities for my 2010 race schedule. Marathon notwithstanding, I’ve got a whole bunch of interesting possibilities race-wise. I’m definitely planning on the Blue Ridge Parkway Half-Marathon in April and the 1-mile Chesapeake Bay Swim in June (I sort of accidentally-on-purpose missed the deadline to register for a spot in the 4.4-mile swim. $250 was just too much to spring on one race for me). Other possible additions include the Five Points of Life Half-Marathon in Gainesville, Fla., on Feb. 14, and the Pensacola Aquathon on May 23.

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway Half-Marathon course.

  • Ben Beach, a Boston Marathon “streaker” who’s keeping up his track record of running the race every year despite overwhelming physical challenges. Beach, 60, of Bethesda, is aiming to finish his 43nd consecutive Boston Marathon this year — only one other runner holds a longer “streak.” Beach suffers from dystonia, a neurological movement disorder that has warped his gait, making training difficult and racing harder. Read about his journey to Boston here.
  • The promise of a Garmin Forerunner! That’s right — in addition to a dweeby reflective running vest, I also got a gift card for Christmas meant to help me purchase a Garmin! I’m still deciding what kind I’ll get, and would welcome feedback. The 405 isn’t really in my price range, but I’m still hesitant to buy a 305 without hearing more positive reviews of it. I’m also curious about the 205, which is cheaper yet. Thoughts?

What’s motivating you this week?

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by | January 6, 2010 · 2:55 pm

How traveling dismantled my workout routine: adventures in the pool, on the beach, and in the weight room with college football players

Traveling never fails to maul my workout routine.

However, that can sometimes be a very good thing, as evidenced by my holiday travels to Florida and Colorado.

In Florida, I ran on the beach, running on decidedly unpacked sand and taking in a gorgeous Gulf view.

My Gulfside run in Florida.

I also swam in an incredible outdoor pool near my parents’ house. I’ve avoided breaststroke, my specialty in high school, because it was hurting my hip for a while. But with my ankle being all cranky, it turns out breaststroke kicking is awesome again (butterfly kicking=not so much).

In Colorado, adjusting to high-altitude training left me a wheezing, exhausted mess halfway through my first hill run. I never fail to underestimate how thin the air is there. That’s got to have some benefits now that I’m back at sea level, right?

I enjoyed beautiful views while I wheezed.

Better yet, my trip to Colorado let me seriously shake up my lifting routine. My friend Mike is the offensive line coach for a Denver-area football team, and is a former lineman himself. He invited me to come work out with him at the high school’s gym, along with a bunch of his former linemen who are now playing for a few separate D-2 colleges in Colorado. Ummm, yes, please!

Mike took me through his workout, which included power snatches, squats (the kind with a bar, which I found to be an entirely different animal from the ones I’m doing with a medicine ball, a wall and a resistence band now), some stuff with a kettlebell and a few more familiar arm and shoulder exercises. It kicked my butt in the best way possible.

The coolest part: The college players lifting with us did a series of exercises they refer to as “the gauntlet.” You start standing up, with a bar loaded with weights at your feet. You lean down to grab the bar, then roll it in front of you until you’re in push-up position. You do one push up, then roll the bar back to your starting position. Then, you roll it back out and do two push ups. They told me that even the team’s head coach, a former college player who could once squat 600 pounds, couldn’t make it to 10. Clearly, I had to try.

Turns out, the gauntlet of core exercises I’ve been doing for the past several months have paid off: My whole body was shaking by the end, but I made it to 10. Mike looked on proudly, and told the guys, who were standing around watching by that point, that I was pretty hard-core for a little lady. Did it help that my body weight was a whole lot less to lift than theirs? Sure. Am I still pretty proud of myself? Heck, yes!

Finally, shaking up my workout routine made me deeply grateful to return to it when I got home last night. I got back to my apartment at 5:30 p.m. after flying from Denver to Milwaukee to DC. I was drained, both emotionally and physically, after two weeks of holiday travels, but I headed to meet my running group without thinking too hard about it. As always, I’m glad I did. I was stiff and sore and a bit travel-sick, but still managed to crank out 8:30-minute miles through a hilly 5-miler. I alternated between talking about my trip and shutting up and attacking the hills, and went out to dinner at Adega with the gang afterwards.

Plus, in the “you know you’re a running geek when” department, I got to try out the super-cool reflective vest I got as a present!

A fine pair of running geeks on Christmas Day.

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by | January 4, 2010 · 3:32 pm

Vacation time!

Amy will be on vacation until Jan. 6. Expect lots of exciting posts about her holiday travels from D.C. to Tampa to Denver when she returns.

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by | December 23, 2009 · 2:18 pm

A red and green (and white!) run to end 2009

It’s so easy to stay inside.

I ran through Silver Spring wearing this, causing at least one passerby to say: “What the … “

If not for the promise of costumes at Pacers Silver Springs’ “red and green fun run” on Tuesday night, I may have done so.

I would have missed such a beautiful adventure!

We left from the store wearing Santa hats on our heads, jingle bells on our shoes and a variety of other interesting holiday fare in addition to our reflective vests and fleece jackets. We did the uber-hilly 5.1-mile Grubb Road Out-and-Back out-and-back, which I usually run in 41 minutes or less, in 44 minutes — and loved every minute of it. We dodged snow drifts as high as we were, slush piles as deep as our ankles and pedestrians trying to dodge these things themselves.

I giggled through the whole run, and I wasn’t the only one taking the “fun” part of this run seriously. The fastest runner in our group, who usually runs sub-7-minute miles on routes like this, turned around a few times to shepherd the gang along. Steve, who’s usually a good 30 seconds per mile faster than me, stuck with my group, running slowly enough to make sure his Santa hat stayed in place.

Best of all, the route took us past some of the most beautiful holiday scenes around: Rock Creek Park with a thick blanket of snow, the stark trees casting eerie moonshadows across the white. Christmas lights made soft-focus from a veil of snow in the bushes. Christmas trees glowing like beacons in the windows of beautiful, stately homes in the Colonial Village neighborhood. And finally, the Bishop’s House, a home on North Portal Road with more Christmas lights than you’ve ever seen in a single yard (trust me – you don’t know from Christmas lights until you’ve seen this baby).

It left me with a sense of peace I’m hoping to carry through the whole holiday season, not to mention 2010.

*Editor’s note: This will be my last blog post of 2009. I will return with running-specific New Year’s Resolutions, my 2010 race schedule and photos of my awesome, runner-friendly Christmas gifts ((crosses fingers)) in 2010.*

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by | December 22, 2009 · 3:25 pm

Can a Santa hat boost running performance?

The darkness of the winter solstice, the looming deadlines and the two feet of snow blanketing Silver Spring all My most important piece of gear for tonight's run.suggest a quick treadmill run might be the safest and most comfortable option for today’s run.

But if I run with my group at Pacers Silver Spring, which is holding its annual “red and green” costume run tonight, I get to wear a Santa hat. Easy choice, right?

We’re running the historic Seminary loop, which is one of my favorite routes, even without the Santa hat. And this may be my last chance to see my running buddies before Steve and I start our holiday travel extravaganza, which will take us from DC to Tampa to Colorado, not to return until 2010.

So in a continuation of Motivation Monday, I will admit that today, I’m motivated by the idea of running in a Santa hat. Really. That’s all. It’s the little things in life, right?

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by | December 17, 2009 · 2:30 pm

Running metrics that matter

We runners love our numbers: our PRs, our heart rates, our weekly mileage, our minute-by-minute pace. I have been inordinately proud of what I perceive to be a fast pace for training runs (8-minute miles for a normal five-miler) and deeply disappointed in what I perceive to be a heartbreakingly slow marathon time (4:39) given my pace for long runs (between 9 and 9:30-minute miles).

At my annual physical yesterday, I got a reminder of some metrics I should probably be more focused on and proud of: My cholesterol (low for the bad stuff), my blood pressure (112/76), my resting pulse (46!). When my doctor ran through the standard list of questions about my medical history and current habits, I felt a rush of gratitude that my problems are relatively trivial running injuries rather than major disorders or diseases. When she brought up stress management and its role in curbing health problems, I nodded vigorously and told her I believe endorphins cure all ills.

I’ll be heading out with Pacers Silver Spring’s running group tonight, and we’ll be running a pace-ruining hill loop.

But rather than focusing on how fast or slow I’m running, I’m going to focus on how much stronger and healthier the hill work makes me, and how much a good, hard run can do to erase pre-holiday stress — accomplishments that seem much sweeter than any PR.

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by | December 16, 2009 · 12:44 pm

A carrot, a stick, a lovely swim and a sweet reward

I woke up yesterday morning dreading my scheduled swim.  This tea provided one sweet bribe to swim on a cold winter day.

So I revisited an idea I’ve been experimenting with recently: outright bribing myself.  At the grocery store the other day, I’d spotted a box of Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Herbal Tea, but held back from making what I saw as a frivolous purchase. But I’d acquired a Celestial Seasonings coupon since then, not to mention a task it could serve as a worthy reward for.

Here’s the workout that earned me the sweetest cup of tea ever:

All freestyle is done with a pull buoy.

1,000 warmup: alt. 250 free, 250 back

Pyramid set, freestyle, on :15 rest, moderate pace that you can maintain (goal is to hold your pace the whole time): > 1×50 > 1×100 > 1×150 > 1×200 > 1×250 > 1×300 > 1×250 > 1×200 > 1×150 > 1×100 > 1×50 (1,800 total)

4×25 sprint freestyle on :45

4×25 no-breath freestyle

My body felt so good and loose and happy afterwards, I didn’t even need the tea (though you’d better believe I drank it, anyway)!

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by | December 14, 2009 · 12:41 pm

Motivation Monday: the happy stomach edition

Last week, I asked for suggestions for what a girl can eat to make sure her stomach doesn’t act up on long runs, as mine did

Who knew something as simple as a piece of banana-pumpkin bread could provide motivation?

during the Marine Corps Marathon in October. You delivered, providing dozens of awesome and varied suggestions, and I’ve been happily sampling new pre-run meals ever since.

My new favorite: banana oats before a morning run, or a banana with a packet of Justin’s Nut Butter in the afternoon before an evening workout. Quaker slow-cooking oats were already a breakfast staple for me, but the pumpkin and flaxseed I usually mix in aren’t quite the easy-to-digest quick carbs I was looking for. Not only were the banana oats easy on the tummy, I like the idea that oats are healthy and hearty even as they’re light, making them perfect both before a long run or for a breakfast any old morning.

This week, thanks to the new eats and some training tweaks, I’m motivated by feeling like I have some control over my body. If I have a bad stomach day during a marathon, I can mess around with my diet to reduce my chances of it happening again. If I have trouble with the 10K, I can add a faster, shorter tempo run or long lactate-threshold repeats to my workout schedule to try to nail my goal pace (thanks for the suggestion, Megan and Lindsay!).

Plus, it’s just exciting to try new things, which I’m doing both in training and in the kitchen. Along with my goal of finding safe, dependable pre-run meals, I’ve also set a goal of sampling one new in-season vegetable per week. Two weeks ago, I tried kabocha squash, sometimes called a Japanese pumpkin. I roasted it with brown sugar and spices, and learned that it tastes like a cross between a sweet potato and pumpkin, smooth, sweet and almost creamy. Last week, I mixed kale leaves into soup. Yummy, though I feel this is a bit of an acquired taste. This week, it’s Swiss chard and ambercup squash, a bright-orange pumpkin cousin. I’ll let you know how they work out for me.

I’m also finding motivation in looking to what’s worked in the past. On two separate occasions last week, I tried a slice of banana bread (the recipe I’m using right now involves pumpkin and oatmeal, plus some of my own tweaks — less sugar and oil, more pumpkin) and a latte (one shot of espresso, a tiny bit of nonfat milk) pre-run. Not sure how this combo will hold up on 15-milers, but it really does work like a charm before shorter workouts.

I also looked backwards, in a good way, when I revisited one of my favorite topics, sports psychology and motivation, in a guest post for the cool, helpful Web site Treadmill Reviews last week. I reminded myself of some of the tips I tried to master last summer, and I’ve had some luck getting my mind back on track already — turns out, I have control over my body AND my mind (who knew?).

What’s motivating you this week?

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by | December 11, 2009 · 6:04 pm

How to run a fast 10K (I have no idea)

I’ve been running 10Ks since 2002, when I made my first attempt at “distance running” — at least as I saw it at the time — at the Oxford Day 10K while I was living in Easton, Md.

I was running 30 minutes or so a few times a week, in addition to other workouts, but didn’t train, per se, and felt like death the whole second half of the race. I don’t even remember my time, which is probably a blessing.

Now, even with two marathons and a bunch of half-marathons and 10-milers on my running resume, the 10K continues to stump me. I’m faster and smarter now, but still, I have a sneaking suspicion I should be turning out faster 10Ks than I have been.

A typical 10K time is about 52 minutes for me. I say “typical” because that’s how fast I ran my last two. Sure, they were hilly courses, and yes, one of them was sullied by some stomach issues. Still, 52 minutes and change is pretty far from what the McMillan Running Pace Calculator predicts I should run for a 10K — a 49:08, or slightly faster than 8-minute miles, which truly seems to make sense given my other race times. I understand why my marathon times don’t line up with the rest of my PRs — 26.2 miles is so long, any number of factors can change the course of the race. But a 10K? If I can run a decent 5K and a good half-marathon, why can’t I figure out this strange little middleman?

I don’t think I’m being unnecessarily hard on myself — 52 minutes means I’m running at a pace that’s slower than my best half-marathon, and also slower than my 5- to 6-mile training runs, which are usually right around 8-minute miles.

So what am I doing wrong?

I have played around with the pace at which I start a 10K without any definitive results. I’ve had a few races where I’ve started around 7:30-minute-mile pace, only to slow down the second half. But when I start slower … well, I just sort of stay slow. I just have a hard time wrapping my brain around how much I should hurt if I’m running the race right. I understand that during a 5K, I basically will feel like I’m running hard the whole time. I understand that during a half-marathon, I want to constantly remind myself to push the pace any time I feel too comfortable. I guess I don’t understand how I should feel in a 10K, and waver between going too hard and going too easy.

I’m had planned to run the Jingle All the Way 10K on Sunday morning, but scheduling conflicts intervened. But I’m thinking a fast 10K might be my next short-term running goal.

So who knows how to race a 10K rather than just run it clumsily and unevenly? Tips would be much appreciated!

In other news, I’ve started experimenting with new pre-run breakfasts, the first frontier in figuring out how to manage my stomach while running. This morning, before a rather intense lifting and core workout, I tried my typical slow-cooking Quaker oatmeal with banana slices rather than pumpkin mixed in. Delicious, and didn’t bug me a bit while working out! Trying something that worked made me feel like I learned something about how my body works — part of why I love running to begin with.

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