Circuit drills at the track today

Today was a departure from the last two track practices (which were basically just timed short runs). I welcomed the change, just because I feel like I've been doing a lot of running and walking lately, and was glad to have something a little different on the horizon.

Rudy, a mentor and fill-in coach for today since Coach Al is in Alaska with the spring run team, said that the point of today's exercise was not only to help us find and keep our pace, but also to help build up the core muscles, particularly the abdominals.

So the practice went like this: Warm up 1-2 laps, stretching, run a lap, 15 squats, 15 crunches, 10 push ups (girl pushups ok for the girls), 15 more squats, run another lap, 10 supermans (lay on your belly and arch your back so your legs and arms are raised off the ground and hold for 2-3 seconds - called the locust pose in yoga if memory serves), 10 push ups, 10 one legged squats for each leg, then repeat both sequences and end with a final 1-2 laps.

It was tougher than I expected it to be. I forgot how much things like crunches, push ups, etc. can really get your heart rate going, and since it was already going pretty well because of the laps, I found myself pushing a little too hard in some places, particularly in the laps.

However, I was able to repeat last week's accomplishment of running an entire lap without having to drop into a walk. I was very happy about that. I kept my pace nice and slow in my warmup lap, and lo and behold, I was back to the starting point before I realized it.

All in all, I feel pretty good about how today went. It would have been nice to not have my heart rate quite so high or to have my running endurance on the laps between the calisthenics be quite so limited, but since this is the first time I've ever done something like this, I have to cut myself a little slack.

The nicest part was when I was finishing up my final lap, one of the gals on the team walked back up the track to meet up with me and run with me to the "finish line."

I can't say enough about how wonderful it is to be supported in this adventure by people whose names I don't even know yet, and whose faces I'm only just now beginning to recognize. I don't think I would be doing nearly as well as I'm doing without this essential team aspect that I sort of overlooked when I first signed up to do the half marathon.

Go, TEAM!

(and now back to your regularly scheduled Advil...)

The trick is to keep breathing...

Wednesday is yoga day. My teacher, Laura, just got engaged this weekend so we spent a few minutes before class chatting and examining the ring (read: Rock Of Gibralter) and talking about how her fiance proposed. It was a nice opportunity to get to know her a little better, and also to start to redirect my mind from the day's irritations to the calming practice that is yoga.

We did a lot of balancing poses again today, spending time in the tree position, the eagle position (similar to the tree but more like a pretzel), and a couple of triangle positions where we were balanced between both feet and a hand, or one foot and one hand. While we were in these poses, she reminded us to keep breathing.

One of the things I've noticed about myself is the tendency to hold my breath when I'm thinking about something or focusing intently. I've had several people, at many times throughout my life, ask me what the sigh was for when all I had done was realize that I was holding my breath and breathed deeply to get everything restarted again.

In fact, I just realized I'm doing it right now, as I'm thinking about what I'm going to type. It seems odd to need to be reminded to breathe, but for whatever reason I seem to need that reminder.

What do I get, I wonder, out of not breathing? Is it anticipation? Is it that I'm truly so eager to see what's going to happen next? Or is it a symptom of a lack of body-consciousness? Maybe something else entirely?

Breathe, Erin. Breathe.

Finding my pace!

I decided to do an experiment today. Remembering how the coached run went on Saturday, I was thinking about my running pace and the suggestion that Mama Lisa made about running even slower.

In order to be semi-organized about the experiment, though, I decided I would spend my Tuesday evening on a treadmill instead of at the normally scheduled Buddy Run (which I still have yet to actually get to on any of the Tuesdays).

I took the pace that I averaged from Saturday (18:10 per mile) and figured out that was 3.3 miles per hour. So instead of doing my normal run/walk bit where my walking pace is between 2.5 and 3 miles per hour on the treadmill and my running pace was 3.9-4.2 miles per hour, I consciously dialed the running pace back to 3.3 miles per hour and left it there, dropping into a walk of 2.5 miles per hour during my walk breaks.

And I'll be darned if that didn't work like a complete charm!!!

I'm totally stoked.

Instead of spending about 70% of the time walking and the remainder running, I pretty much flip-flopped it so 70% of the time I was running and the remainder I was using as walk breaks. My heart rate didn't get quite as high as it normally does on the coached runs, but that's actually a good thing because on the coached runs it was going up a little too high.

The best part about it was that I was able to get a couple of nice long running stretches. I know that at least one of the running stretches was 7 minutes long, more than double any of my previous running segments.

Party, anyone???? I might actually learn to run a mile yet!

How cross does cross-training make you, anyhow?

I've debated with myself about what the best way to handle Mondays is, and to be honest I'm still not sure I've figured it out. I do know one thing, though - whatever it is, it had better be a relatively regularly scheduled item. I seem to be doing much better with targets where there's a consequence to not showing up at the appointed time (like, no one's there cause they're all out running! you get the picture...).

Today was not one of those well-oiled, well-scheduled days. I worked later than I meant to at work, so then I only had about an hour and 45 minutes to go, do my work out, come home, shower, eat dinner and leave for Berkeley for my evening appointment. Ugh. I hate being rushed.

Fortunately, I didn't dither about whether or not I was actually going to go because I knew I didn't have any time to spare on dithering at all! I tossed on my workout clothes and headed to the gym.

When I got there, the next question was what to do. At first, I thought maybe I'd do some stair-climbing. I was all hyped earlier today because I zipped up a flight of stairs at work that normally kicks my butt and leaves me panting at the top landing. But I didn't see anything I recognized as a stair climber.

Next option? Elliptical trainer looked good (although a little closer to walking than I wanted) but the machine that was available didn't seem to be working. Umm... okay....

The third option was a bike. Biking isn't my favorite, but it's OK. But the bike didn't seem to be working either. Argh!

Some very helpful (read: annoying) fellow came up and told me to try getting on the bike and pedaling before trying to turn it on. That worked, which was good because it meant that I was in fact able to do something for my workout, but I was super embarrassed at the fact that I apparently couldn't figure out how to get the machine to work on my own. And of course I found out as I left that the elliptical trainer works the same way. Sigh...

The workout itself went fairly well, although I think the next time I go bike I'll use a recumbent instead of a regular bike. Maybe I'm just not used to a bike seat, or maybe it's not padded enough, but for whatever reason, by the end of the allotted 30 minutes I was very ready to be done - not because I was tired or worn out, but because my bottom wanted to be off that bike seat! Or maybe I'll just bring a nice fluffy pillow. :P

Do the damn thing!

Today was an easy run day. Easy enough, right? Hah.

Even though yesterday went quite well, and I didn't feel nearly as poorly after the run as I had felt after the run two weeks ago, I still wanted to take today as a rest day. And according to the schedule, that would have been OK. Sundays are your option - easy run (which for me really means walk because there is no such thing as an easy run yet) or rest day. Oh how I yearned to be lazy!

But there was part of me that kept thinking about Brenda, and what she's going to have to face tomorrow, and how taking a walk wouldn't really be all that hard. Plus, there's the fact that my dogs haven't been out for a walk in about 3 weeks - that's partially my fault just for being lazy and focused elsewhere, and partially it's because one of my dogs got very ill 3 weeks ago and I didn't want to push her too hard.

So I thought to myself... I could be lazy. I could just spend my evening sitting around doing nothing. But then tomorrow I'd still feel guilty for not taking the dogs out. And is taking a walk really that hard? Really truly?

So I got out and did the damn thing. Eat your heart out, Coach Al!

Changing to the Nike Women's Half-Marathon!

I'm sure Maui in September is beautiful. I'd love to see it - but not this year.

I've decided to switch to the Nike Women's Half-Marathon which will be held on October 22nd in San Francisco instead of doing the Maui Half-Marathon on September 17th.

When I signed up to do Team In Training in the beginning of May, I had initially wanted to do the Nike Women's Half-Marathon. However, there was a trip to Europe on the schedule at the beginning of October which would have taken two weeks out of my training and only given me 6 days to recover before the big day.

Since the Europe trip has been moved to the spring, it seemed obvious to go back to my initial choice and take advantage of the extra month of training. Also, switching to a local race will give any family or friends who want to come cheer me on a chance to do that without having to travel across the ocean.

Maybe I'll do Maui next summer.... :D

Coached Run at the Iron Horse Trail

Today's coached run started out with a clinic on proper shoe choices for running. It was very informative, although I knew most of it already because I had read up on shoes as part of my own personal preparation a couple of weeks before training officially began. The part about keeping track of the mileage you put on your shoes was a good reminder because that's the best way of knowing when they need to be replaced.

Once the shoe clinic was over, Monica (our team manager) talked about the outpouring of support she's received in her email for Brenda and her family as they deal with her having to go back into treatment. It was really amazing and touching to realize that all of us were supporting her and thinking of her in our own way. In fact, when we checked in for the run Monica gave us small laminated pictures of Brenda that we could pin to our shirts as we trained, which the vast majority of people did - myself included. We took a group photo with Brenda that she could keep with her at the hospital, then gave her lots of hugs before getting started on the run.

The beginners, or "Kenyans" as Coach Al likes to call us, got a 3 minute head start before the intermediates and advanced folks were allowed to go. That was kind of nice, because it gave me a chance to get out and get my pace going before having the pack envelop and then pass me.

Speaking of pace, I did the first mile in 17:14 (the fastest yet), and really felt like I was starting to get a rhythm down. Dad came and ran with me today, and he commented on the fact that he could really sense a stability in my pace that wasn't there when we ran together two weeks ago. I told him that today I was focusing on running slower than I normally do, as I had on Thursday at the track practice, and the slower pace had enabled me to keep running for longer stretches.

Our Assistant Coach "Mama" Lisa ran with me for a while as well, and suggested that I run even slower (!) than I when started out. I played with that a little bit and it felt pretty good, so I'm going to keep experimenting with that idea and hopefully extend those running stretches more and more.

By the end of the run (3 miles in 54:30, or a pace of 18:10 per mile), I think I truly was starting to comprehend the "run slower to go faster" concept. And, unlike the first training run, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out when I got home. I actually felt pretty good! Of course, that didn't keep me from taking a nap this afternoon anyhow, but it was a very nice change from the coached run two weeks ago at the Berkeley Marina.

Week Two Recap

Ahhh... it's rest day again!

This week has turned out to be a very good week for my training, despite a crummy cold at the beginning. Although I didn't do anything on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, I was very proud of the fact that I got right back on the wagon as soon as I felt well enough, and didn't use the missed days as an opportunity to give myself a guilt trip -something I'm a little too good at, sadly.

Of course, I'm curious how the training might have gone if I hadn't been sick, but one of the things I've realized this week is that I have a tendency to push myself to the edge - and then stay there. While that's good to be able to do once in a while, doing it too often is bound to have negative consequences. I'm convinced that's how come I got sick in the first place because I'm not normally prone to illnesses.

In our track workouts on Thursdays, one of the things that coach Al is really encouraging us to do is find our pace and stick with it. He's specifically talking about running pace, but I need to remember that it applies to the overall training pace as well.

On a sad note, we got the news today that one of our honorees, Brenda, has come out of remission and is having to go back into the hospital on Monday to begin a new round of chemotherapy. Her doctor has also told her that she's in need of a bone marrow transplant soon - although she doesn't have a direct tissue match yet. What a profound reminder of the cause that TNT is training and fundraising for.

And also, what a profound reminder of how blessed I am to be able to undertake this project to improve my own health, without any major obstacles like the one she's facing. Why do I run? Because I can.

Small victories

Today's track workout was tough - already I'm feeling sore. But it was SO worth it.

You see, today for the first time, I RAN an entire lap of the track.

Woohoo!!!

Last week, the most I was able to run in one stretch was about half a lap. Maybe a third. So to run a whole one (and not absolutely collapse dead at the end, I might add) was quite an accomplishment! My overall time didn't improve, but I couldn't care less because

I RAN A WHOLE LAP!!!

I'll take the victories where I can get 'em. :D

Wednesday = Cross-Training Day

I've always wanted to like yoga. I've liked the idea of it for a long time. I even took yoga classes for a couple of months when I was living in Texas. But for some reason, the idea of yoga and the reality of it never meshed for me.

Last week, though I went to a yoga class at the YMCA and for the first time I really enjoyed participating in the class as much as I had hoped to. It was challenging without being too much for me to handle, but it was also relaxing and revitalizing as well. I don't know if it's the teacher - Laura's a very sweet, soft-spoken young lady with a figure I would kill to have - or the student. Probably a little of both.

The great thing was, when I went to the class again today I enjoyed it equally as much as I did last week. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much more flexible I am than I thought I would be only two weeks into the training program. As a reward to myself for being back on track with my workouts after being sick, I went and splurged (a whopping $4.32) on a new combination lock for my locker at the YMCA. It's blue and so pretty! It's the little things....

Given the happy results of the last two weeks' classes, I'm tempted to make my Monday cross-training day be a yoga day also. I'll have to see if there's a class that fits my schedule. So far, I don't have a great track record for Mondays (with one being a flake out, and one being a sick out), so maybe a scheduled class would be a better option than the nebulous blotch it currently is on my Monday calendar.

Tomorrow's the track workout, and once again I'm a little apprehensive. Although I feel back up to par, I'm still fighting this cough (one more day of this and I'm getting that antibiotic prescription filled, I swear!) and I'm worried it will create problems tomorrow. To combat any last minute hesitation I might have, my gym bag is already packed and my mental plan is already mapped out: change into my workout clothes right before my voice lesson at 4:30, then sprint off to Dublin as soon as 5:30 strikes.

Wish me luck!

Back in the saddle again...

I'm still not quite back to 100% today. I have a cough that looks like it wants to linger for a while, so I went to the doctor today and got some antibiotics. She suggested that I hang on to the prescription for a couple of days to see if the cough stops on its own, so I'll endure for another day or two and see how it goes.

I didn't go to the Buddy Run this evening because I was leery of adding any more triggers (aka pollen allergies) to my current cough/breathing problems so instead, I went to the gym since I was feeling well enough to go out and do a workout of some flavor. When I started jogging, my brain couldn't wrap itself around the idea of running so I settled on walking instead, and made up for the lack of "speed" by doing a little more distance than I usually do. The final result was about 3.5 miles walked in about 70 minutes (including warmup and cooldown). Hey, at least I got off my butt and did something. I seriously considered not doing anything at all, but I know how slippery of a slope that is, and I'm not ready to start sliding down it just yet.

I also rejoined Weight Watchers today. For like the billionth time. Official starting weight: 253.0. Blech. Oh well, gotta start somewhere - just like the "running." The meeting topic today was milk servings - what constitutes one (it's apparently not just the calcium) and how much of various dairy products it actually takes to satisfy the daily 2 milk serving guideline. Did you know it takes 2 cups of cottage cheese to make up a milk serving? Who in their right mind would eat 2 cups of cottage cheese???? It's a good thing I like to drink milk.

Being sick is no fun

I've spent the last 3 days in bed, sleeping and chugging Robitussin, trying to get rid of this cold that's gotten a hold of me. I'm feeling better this evening, and I think tomorrow I'll be able to go back to all my normal activities.

I'm nervous about getting back out there for the buddy run tomorrow night, knowing that I didn't do anything on Saturday, Sunday, or today. Who knows? Maybe the rest time is what I needed in order to get over the cold as well as restore my muscles back to happiness, and maybe I'll see some improvements in my time and/or stamina when I get out there tomorrow. That would be nice. More likely, though, it'll be a little step backwards.

On a positive note, it looks like my trip to Scotland in October has been posponed (and probably relocated to Spain as well, but that's another story), which means if I need more training time, I can switch to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. I have about a month and a half before I need to make that decision, so hopefully by then I'll have a pretty good sense of how I'm doing.

Week One Recap

As of yesterday, my first official week of training is complete. And I have to say that I'm both encouraged and discouraged.

The good stuff:
I've managed to do my workouts every day this week except for Monday (Memorial Day). Yeah, I loafed. Specifically, I went to "X-Men" instead. Oh well. I got right back on track on Tuesday, with a run at the gym since I was too late to attend the scheduled Buddy Run for that evening.

I learned a very cool trick about controlling my exercise-induced asthma. So far, it's worked on 4.5/5 tries. (The most recent one was complicated by the fact that I didn't get to my inhaler fast enough, and also because I was coming down with a cold.)

People in general have been very encouraging and supportive. I haven't heard any sarcastic or demeaning comments about my weight or apparent level of fitness. My coaches are definitely among that number, with a very strong "start where you are" attitude.

I did a couple of weeks of pre-training before the "official" beginning of training season, and I'm glad for it. I had a good idea of where I was starting out, so the first coached run didn't take me completely by surprise.

Since beginning the pre-training, my two mile pace is down from 40 minutes to about 36 minutes. That's mostly walking with some jogging interspersed.


The not-so-good stuff:
Ummm... ouch. That translates to: I'm sore. Have been off and on for most of the week. It's not unexpected, just not the most fun. Fortunately, I've been stretching pretty well and so the soreness isn't as bad as it could have been.

On the coached run, I pushed myself a little too hard, I think. In my pre-training workouts, most of my time was spent in a gym, on a treadmill (to avoid allergy complications), and this workout was on a real pathway with dips and hills and everything. When I was finished, I was shaky and tired, and when I ate lunch (about an hour and a half after I was done at the run) I felt pretty nauseated so I laid down and ended up falling asleep for most of the rest of the day. Oops!

My body isn't used to keeping up this level of effort, so I've now gotten a cold. I'm hyper-sensitive to anything involving my throat or lungs, and so of course this cold is exactly that. I spent the day today recouperating, and hopefully tomorrow feel well enough to get back on track again.

Of my team, I am the slowest. Someone has to be, and I'm not all that surprised really, but it would be nice if there were at least ONE person slower than me. I think I'm also the heaviest, but there's no way to know that for sure.

Thoughts about balance

I was struck yesterday at my yoga class, and then today at our track training, by a thought I had when we were working on our balance. In both cases, we were doing the tree pose (one foot on the ground, the other foot on your calf or thigh depending on how comfortable you are with your balance and flexibility), and as I watched both my teacher and my coach, it occurred to me that balance is not the ability to stand without falling.

Instead, I noticed the minute adjustments that my teacher's ankle went through, and my coach's, and observed my own ankle's adjustments - more pronounced, but still keeping me from falling. And it is precisely those adjustments that creates balance. It's just that for some people, their balance is so fine-tuned that the adjustments are almost imperceptible to anyone observing them.

It seems to me that the same thing could be said about life. Keeping things in balance isn't a static thing, where you set a schedule and it's done. Something always changes, or gets in the way. It's holding to the principle of what you're trying to achieve, and then making minute adjustments along the way to keep you on the path where you want to go.