Gotta start somewhere

After the original race I had planned on racing was nonexistent, I decided to open up my season with a meet that's held the day after Christmas. Little did I know when I came to this decision that this meet was condensed to only sprint events (400, 200, 60, 60H)  from the previous full bill of years earlier. At any other point in my training I probably really wouldn't have cared but I did not want to open with anything short, and honestly it wasn't in my plans. I want indoor to be concentrated mostly on the longer endurance part of training, over distance training.

Needless I had bend my plans because I also did not want to open in January. I opted to do a 400/200 double and told myself to treat it like a really hard workout. Unfortunately in my head I can't detach myself from the word race or meet. As much as I want to treat this like a practice, it still looms in my head and I manage to get myself all worked up. Then you can guess what happens I under preform and get frustrated. My 400 was about 3 seconds slower than I know and my coach knows I'm capable to hit at this part of my training. Grrrr. I finished up with plenty left in my tank to repeat that same interval at that same pace with little differential. Oh and wait that's exactly what I did in the 200, split the exact 1st 200 split of my 400. Seriously not impressed. 

I know that it is the season opener and it is used as a cobweb shaker. I can't really expect to be in peak form since the last time I raced was back in July and I did just come off of a crazy work schedule that kept me up weird hours and on my feet for long hours. BUT I did expect to come off a little bit faster than I ran. 

Ok fine for the positive plus side that I need to find in every race, since I did have extra gas left in my tank after the 400, it means I can absolutely go faster. It also means that I'm strong and my 800 should be looking not too shabby. 

Now I'll carry on to the new year and other races.

KISS

I really came up short this week with trying to figure out what I wanted to accomplish as far as goals. I could have kept the same board as last week, or reverted back to weeks 1 and 2, but they just didn't call to me. As of Monday I could muster up was a weekly mileage of 27. And today I threw in 2 lifts. I guess I'll stick with the good ole acronym KISS: Keep It Simple Silly. I'll let you know later in the week how that goes.

Check marks the box

Snow

Week 3's goal board was pretty extensive and a little more specific. Now that indoor season's on the verge of starting up and I will likely be racing my first race of the season in 4 or so weeks I'm starting to go into crunch mode. One of the big things I want to get in check is my weekly mileage. I've never really been one to fret over how many miles a week I'm doing, I'm a sprinter it doesn't really matter as much. But my plans are changing and that means I need to make changes. I really want to concentrate on going a little longer indoors, and improving my 800 tenfold, this all to hopefully help out my endurance for the hurdles outdoors. I had a great improving season for my 8 last year but I want to continue that. Even though I'm a 400-800 800 runner (for those who don't know what that means, it basically means I train better with speed than with volume. I'd go deeper into the nitty gritty of training of the half mile but it's pretty complicated) I realized that my 5-10 mile a week regime probably isn't going to cut it to go much faster than my 2:19 PR.
First goal up 24 miles for the week. Although that might sound like a paltry number, it is quite the task for me to hit. My track workouts at best hit 3000m which it's only 1.89 miles, usually only one of my days of 3 hit that high, typically the rest are between 1000-2000. Combine that with a 1 mile warmup and 1 mile cooldown I'm ranging from 2.5mi to 4mi, times 3 that doesn't add up to be much. I have 2 rest days that leaves me with 2 days to make up a lot of miles to get to 24. I can take away one of those rest days but still quite a bit of ground to cover and as I get older my recovery time lengthens so that 2nds day is often necessary. All logistics (or we could say excuses) I need and will find a way to get it done.
Lucky for me funky weather has had it's eye on NYC (not so lucky for those still out of power and such from the hurricane that hit only a week ago. My heart aches for them). Wednesday threw in a Nor'easter with a dumping of snow. What do I love more than running, running in crazy weather. I've said it before and I continue to say it, I'm weird. This helped my mileage out for the sake that Wed was one of my off days and Tues track workout was super fast super short stuff (no real mileage there). I ended up going for a 3 miler in the snow, getting me closer to my goal.
By the time Sunday rolled around my days had added up perfectly for the 7 mile long run I planned (the 2nd goal) to equal out my 24 miles. The 7 miles def was no easy feat either, by my lonesome nonetheless, but I proudly chomped through it.
As for the rest of my goal board, I faired pretty well. I missed another stupid lift day, still mad at myself for that and really it's just me being lazy. The nutrition end I missed 8oz of water the 1st day but then rallied back the rest of the week never missing my min mark. And my sweet tooth got me an extra day. Overall I'm not too disappointed with my week. Baby steps to progression.

Week #3

I decided to bump up my goals this week to get a little more specific and also add in some nutritional aspects that I have trouble with.

HurrIcan(e)

My stormy run

This week started off with a (for lack of better description) bang, New York City and the eastern coast were set to be pummeled by Hurricane Sandy. With the subway shut down, carless, on a tight budget that does not allow cabs, and friends not living close by I was stuck in my house by myself for the duration. I might add I don't sit still very well and LOVE storms. I'm that crazy person that wants to be outside experiencing crazy mother nature, I envy the weather people. I'm weird I know this. I think I make a lot of people worry because of my fascination with awry weather, but I am not completely reckless in thinking I'm invincible from the wrath of MN. Anywho around 1 pm I couldn't take the sitting and waiting so I turned on the tv to check out the prognosis of where and when this hurricane was supposed to hit the NYC area the hardest, it was still 6ish hours away. I couldn't take it so I weather proofed myself laced up the kicks and journeyed out for a run. It was pretty windy, not as wet as I thought. On my journey to crazy land, I learned I was not the only screw loose person out for a run in the madness (this even more solidifies runners are a different breed of people). I stayed on the high line route of the Hudson (see I used my smarts and didn't sneak under the police tape to go down near the water) and went with an out and back 4 miler with a brief stop to capture a quick photo to catalogue. The 2 miles out I had a huge tail wind, so much that mile 2 was a blistering 5:50, I was flying. Mile 3/4 brought me the head wind, a few times with the gusts I thought I was running in place. Then when I was done strangely the rain and wind stopped, seriously, it was an eerie quiet calm. I took that moment to stretch and enjoy it since I knew after that point I'd be stuck in my house again.
The rest of my week just kinda went by. Tuesday I went on a walk/jog to survey the damage, upper manhattan was spared, from the look of news and photos lower manhattan was not. Wednesday parks were still closed which meant tracks were closed, though I stumbled upon Riverbank track open when I went for my run later in the evening. I stopped mid run went into the track did some drills in the infield then did a couple r150's then went back to my run. I was having track withdrawls since I hadn't done a track workout in almost a week. Thursday Columbia was back in the game so I went up there to do a workout by myself with the mid distance folks in the background. Then my schedule kinda went awry. I picked up a few extra shifts at my restaurant, since no one could really train due to transportation being uber limited. Of course the more hours I work there the harder it is to get my own workouts in, standing 6-8 hours holds unconducive to training. Going before leaves me in pain during, going after it's either too late or my body is completely shot. It's my best excuse and I fell trap to it. Sadly it left my board missing a link. One run shy, one lift shy. I will give myself credit for procuring a 6 mile run in my mix bag week. On to a new week of goals

No frills

Week 2, took off a race and decided to keep it simple and attempt the same goals from week #1.

It's a wrap

I finished up my first week of goals, one down many to follow. I also FINALLY got a preseason race in (yay! only took almost 2 months).
First order of business, the goal board. I am missing 2 checks on my list, not entirely thrilled about that. I guess I could technically check off the last run in conjunction with the race, but I had intended to get in 5 run workouts plus the race, though I may have overextended my expectations. I will let that slide, only because I need to gradually build back in and not injure myself. The one I can't let go is the lift, there is no good reason for me to not have lifted twice.
Now that the depressing part of my post is done, I can rally with the semi exciting. March 15, 2009 was the last time I raced a 5K, the last preseason I raced was 2008. It's been a long time coming and I've been dying to get a distance PR. I finally broke down earlier in the week when I received an email from USATF for a race at Ichan Stadium that they were offering $10 off the $35 registration fee. I peeked into the race info to see if it suited me, and of course what caught my eye was *prize money*. I like prize money. The next round of business when prize money's involved is looking at past results to see if you could possibly vie for the loot. Of course that is not always indicative of whether you can get it but it gives you a clue as to at least know what kind of comp to expect. From the past 2 years' results if I was in the shape I think I am/should be I could at least pick up 3rd. Ok I'm sold, $50 wins back my entry fee plus a little extra. A couple clicks, a credit card number entered, I'm signed up, entry is paid, I'm in, no excuses. Saturday rolls around when I get to the stadium I have 2 things on my mind a stellar 5K PB and 3rd place prize money. As I pick up my bib peeked down the list and spotted one of the distance girls. Rah-roh hopefully she's the only one, if not I can kiss the PM goodbye. I scan around but see only a couple guys from the team, I might be ok. Then I go into the stadium to stash my bag while I warm up and get a huge surprise. Nope it wasn't distance girls it was the sight of a Brand spanking newly resurfaced track!! I'm pretty sure I looked super silly jumping up and down and squealing like a little kid. Yes I know that makes absolutely no sense unless you've raced on Ichan's track in the past couple years, more however if you've ever raced a 100, 200, or 400 in those outside 7 lanes in the past 2 years. Horrible and atrocious, seriously I'm not kidding. I sort of got lost in the splendor of this surprise that I almost forgot I was racing. Focus. After I finally composed myself and warmed up it was time to go down to the start of the race (on the track! Yay! Oh my gosh I get to be one of first to run on the freshly minted track! Um sweet! Doh focus!). I happily only saw the 1 distance girl teammate I spied at the registration pickup table, 3rd place might not be off the table, though I had I feeling I'd definitely have to work for it.
The gun went off and I had to control myself from taking off especially with the start on the track. I eased into a comfortable cadence as I watched my teammate breeze ahead. Mile 1 6:26, ok good on pace but need to hold onto pace, place 2nd female. Turnaround point is a little over halfway, as I round the bend I can see whose behind me, and what do I see 2 girls running side by side way too close to me for comfort, if both pass me no PM for this chica. Plan now holds on for dear life to place. Mile 2 split 6:47, yikes fell way off pace PB now likely out the window, still holding 2nd female but afraid to look behind me to see how close those girls are to me. The last mile was a blur my legs and lungs were on fire, it was taking a lot of taking to myself to push through. Mile 3 split 6:45, at this point I'll take it, the last .12 finished on the track. The sad face part was I was 40 sec off of my PB, gah bummer. The hip hip happy face part of it, I finished 2nd female overall! Woosah! 1 place higher than I thought I would and that meant my first ever winning of prize money! Let's hear it for some PM! $100!!! Super duper stoked, made not hitting my time goal sting a little bit less, only a little bit. Yeah I know makes no real sense, but it's my real feelings.

My prize and plaque 

The newly resurfaced track!!

Dreams don't work unless you do

A lack of entries is haunting my training log yet again. And again it has nothing to do with me forgetting to record my workouts, nope it's me not being consistent in my training AGAIN. I can come up with all the excuses in the book but in the end when I'm frustrated with my races, those excuses aren't going to console the disappointment. I needed something to jump kick me back into reality.
 I copied the post title from a believe I am poster, when I saw it it lead to some serious motivation to add to my inspirational blackboard . The saying really resonated with me and the blank spots that were accumulating in my log/book, and that was the catalyst to my new weekly goals in addition to season goals. As a personal trainer I understand the need for smaller goals inside of the bigger goals for clients, it helps keep the moral up to reaching the big one (Often times I forget to apply what I preach to others to myself).
I decided to start by taking just a few simple goals and chalk them up on the blackboard every week for "weekly goals". Getting a preseason race in was one that needed to be on that 1st weekly lineup (after all 2 of my preseason goals were race time goals).  Then of course consistent running/workout days were absolutely necessary. I figure if it's in my face I'm less likely to slack. I mean the blackboard is hard to miss at 4' x 4' and one of my most satisfying things to do besides killing a monstrous workout is checking things off on a "to do" list. Then of course to keep myself honest I would share it here and in the social media world. With 500+ "friends", 100 something followers, one of them my coach, many my teammates, someone should be bound to call me out if I slide, and yes please don't hesitate to call me out. Also if you have any ideas for rewards/punishments (I use the word punishment incredibly loosely) for for completing/not completing goals, I'd really like to hear them.

The start of week 1

Let's get dirrtty

There is this new wave of obstacle and mud runs that have been popping up all over the place. It's almost as if it's the new marathon. Usually I pay them no mind, since most that people want me to do are either in the spring or are too far of a distance both no gos for me. They're also astronomically priced. Then it happened I found myself signed up with a team to do a 5K mud obstacle course. I guess it was only a matter of time. This one happen to be for the Special Olympics so I guess it was hard to say no to that, and it was in the fall so it wouldn't interfere with my training or racing.
So Saturday morning I commuted my way to Brooklyn to meet up with my team and do this. I had no idea what to expect, not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Either way I warmed up as I would a cross country race, lined up at the start and then took off. I did have in my head that I wanted to be the fastest woman. The first couple of obstacles where meh and there was a lot of running, thought this isn't so bad. I had 1 guy in front of me and no one really behind me. Then came the another round of obstacles which included 10ft tall walls to climb and the mud pit. I thought I'd like the mud, I was wrong, it literally stuck to my hands like a glove and wouldn't shake off and to add was FREEZING. As I was running to the next part of the course I attempted to wipe it off on my already muddy clothes but it didn't work so well. Most of the next part was trail running and 2 of the hardest things of the course. 1st the low pipes to crawl through, I'm a relatively small person and I thought I was being swallowed by the pipes. Then came a 30lb or so sandbag run towards the end, I wanted to die. I managed to muster through it to last few things and crossed the finish line fairly unscathed as the 2nd person in my heat. Then later to find I was the fastest overall female! Woosah! and I helped my team to first place.

A very muddy bootay

The Team

Now that I have done one and know what to expect, would I do another? That's TBD but it's not off the table.

Yay! I did it!

Be Inspired

Most every athlete I know if not all has a someone or something that inspires them. If not why else would you grind through workouts, games, meets, etc. I know my love for the sport is fostered by inspiration. Olympics are definitely one of the big ones, mantras and quotes. I even taped a 4'x 4' section of a wall in my apt to paint a blackboard to keep myself inspired (go big or go home?)

Start of project blackboard inspiration

Final product

Then there are your idols, mine growing up were Jackie Joyner Kersee and Flo Jo, and as I came into high school Steve Prefontaine. My list of athletes that inspire me grows as I become more immersed in my sport. They don't just include the tip top of the track chain gold medalists, they now include athletes that go beyond their performances on the rubber oval to what they give back to the running community. Lauren Fleshman has stood out as one of the front runners (no pun intended) of inspiration in this new age. Though I've never met her and only follow through track news, twitter and get picky bars from one of her entrepreneurial endeavors, she exudes a level of connectability that goes beyond her athletic ability (which is stellar by the way). This so much that if I coached a group of girls or had a daughter I'd make sure they knew of her. There are definitely boundless amounts of amazingly captivating athletes that I follow through their careers, hoping one day I may be standing next to them calling them my competitors or teammates, or at the very least an inspiration.
What inspires you?

Knowing better

What happens when you're notoriously late and think that a  half bitten warmup before you do some starting block work is sufficient?? Then continue to muster through the prescribed workout with the sharp nagging pain?? You end up on on the couch for an undetermined amount time. Yep totally knew better than to try to do fast stuff not properly warmed up and absolutely knew better than to " run through" the pain. So now for my ignorance I sit with an ice pack strapped and funky colored tape stuck to my thigh and am confined to a 5 by 15m 4 foot deep area filled with highly chlorinated H2O with everything I do going in slow motion. Oh the lap of luxury injury

It's raining men

Torrential down pours for a lovely Saturday morning hill workout.

Oh so you thought...

Pre-season:
I had it all planned out, 3-4 weeks of nothing, absolutely nothing, week 5 start my cross training/lifting, week 6 start adding a run or two into cross training, week 8 pre-season begins. Then the daunting email from coach at week 4 that changed it all, practice begins Sunday August 11. Wait what?! That's week 5, 3 weeks before I planned to start practice. Eyi ie eyi!  Can I pretend I didn't see that and show up at the end of August?  I'm not ready to start running at that point especially workouts.
I bit the bullet and showed up on Aug 11 to Van Cortlandt Park, for hills nonetheless. It most certainly wasn't pretty and I won't lie I didn't (couldn't) finish the intended workout but I officially started my 11 months of training. Let the good times roll and the pain begin.

It's getting hot in here

Being in the mid west for Nationals I expected it to be hot, Kansas was hot, I did not expect it to be as brutal as it was. I especially wasn't ready to run 3000 meters with an excessive amount of barriers (35) in that heat. One would think that since Day 1 started in the early evening that some of that hot mass would dissipate, others would also assume since I'd be running through a water pit it wouldn't so bad. Here's the reality, 101 degrees at 7p not including the heat index, stifling humidity, and not so conditioned mid-distance runner are not a great mix.  The good news the 4th girl dropped out. Sweet deal for me meant unless I didn't finish, which I wasn't going to let that happen, I would get 3rd place, can we say score!  It wasn't pretty, well the 1st lap was, can't say so much for the 6 that followed, but I buried my head down and gritted it out. I finished no where near the other 2 girls as well as no where near my PB, BUT from what I was gathering from the seasoned longer distance runners all of their times were about a minute plus from their usual times, which in turn would have produced a PB in optimum conditions AND I scored my first ever individual medal at Nationals. Not too shabby for this hurdler.

SCORE!

Finding that silver lining was what I had to salvage from the meet because I underestimated how much it would tax me and the next day I completely busted my real race running my slowest time all season. Most definitely my most unproud moment of what was procuring to be the best season(s) yet. I managed to try push that disappointment out so that I could contribute my leg for 4x800, in which we secured the W.

 As a team we swept the women's, men's, and overall titles, and I can say that I lent a hand with the 10.5 pts I scored. Would I do things differently if given the chance, I'd like to say yes but probably not. Instead I'm going to look forward to the next 8 weeks of rest and recovery and to the upcoming next season, making what necessary changes to my training. Until September.

Kiddie pool ice baths at a track meet because it was so hot

Blogsphere vacation over

So again I have not been so great  about keeping up with the blog. In between my last post and now so much has transpired that I really just lost every bit of motivation that came along with keeping the writing up, I was excited, stressed, joyed and uninspired all at the same time.
Fast forward three ish months and now I'm ripped and roaring to share my thoughts and adventures that have transpired and are currently going about.
When I last left off I was getting ready to get my outdoor season rolling. I was beyond excited, I was coming off of the high of the best indoor season I had ever had, I thought as long as I stay healthy nothing could stop me from blowing my outdoor season away. While I did stay healthy and injury free that over the top season certainly was not quite the outcome. My opening race didn't happen until the very end of April beginning of May, which was a month later than it was supposed to. This was the start of the frustrations, and almost walking away from the sport. (Since I chose to have my blog public and I have since moved on from the incidents, I will not recant the stories that go with it). Thankfully I was saved from making a rash decision by a few of my super awesome friends and teammates. Unfortunately because of the prior stresses my training fell apart and so did my mental game which translated into mediocre races at best. When I was finally able to get myself grounded I was playing catch up and found myself behind schedule.

En route to Nebraska

Wrapping up this season I have yet to hit any of my goal times I set for myself. I'm sightly down on that but with that I have set all time personal bests in the hurdles & open 400 and outdoor best in the 800 so I can't be too down. So here I am on a plane to Omaha, Nebraska to the last meet, I have one last go to hit my goal time in the hurdles and a chance to hit a PB in the steeple chase (explanation to follow).
The steeplechase story...Originally I had planned on doubling at Club Nats with the 800 and the obviously the 400 hurdles. As I was entering myself in those events I couldn't help but go through the other entries for all the events to see who was there, right below the hurdle entry is the steeple. Curiously there was only 1 entrant at the time, let it go. Then as the week progressed  and the entries were about to close I kept checking my events to see what I'd be up against and of course couldn't help peeking down, now the tally was up to 2 women for SC. Interestingly enough none happen to be team members, so my curiosity peeked and I decided to send an email to the distance coach and infer if we had any girls that would be entering. With that the words that I typed  in addition to to  who's running question would set me up for my crazy ploy, because of course we in fact did not have any girls set up to enter.  After a few exchanges of emails I now was no longer racing the 800 but instead the 3000 m steeplechase AND my intended hurdle race. Mind you I have experience in SC which is the reason why I offered my "services" but I have certainly not been doing any where near the mileage for that race. Yep solidifying my craziness. But hey I was guaranteed to score at least 5 points with 4th place as long as I finished.  Taking one for the team.

In my uneventful down week this is all I have for you, but it works, take it and run with it.

Blame it on the sugar

That's what I'm going to start using as my excuse for anything crazy & off the wall I do. I'm just going to blame it on the lack of sugar in my diet making me do insane things. I mean you have to put the blame on someone or something, right?
I thought that I ended my season on Monday and though technically I did, I found myself lining up on a line to "race" on Thursday. For some reason unbeknownst to me I thought hoping into a 1500m race was a superbly brilliant idea. What sprinter in their right mind thinks that a mile is a good idea, seriously I don't know any. Also what runner who's weekly mileage amounts to about 10-15 miles a week decides to run a distance like that. See lack of the white stuff, mmhhmm. Originally I was going to the track to join a leg of a the ridiculous relay I did last year that went into the wee hours of the morning, because I hadn't gotten a chance to get to the track to do my workout earlier in the day. It was promised this year that the same thing would not happen by only hosting 1 open race beforehand. I'd do the relay as a workout 5 200's with about 3-4min rest, just 1 200 shy of what I was supposed to do for my workout. No problem. Then somewhere during my day I said to myself I should do the 1500, just to see. Really not so sure what I wanted to see, but alas I saw. I jogged up to the Armory, paid my fee, with 10 min to spare being late per usual, chatted with a fellow teammate. Beyond the look of what in the world are you thinking, she asked if I'd pace her to 4:48. Sure since I of course ran through what splits I needed to hit to go about 4:50 (yea I was being a bit ambitious but if I was going to do it may as well attempt to go for it). I may have scared her when I told her what I was going to go through for the first 800, but she figured that she would stay a few lengths behind then take over after. I went through the first 400 exactly what I aimed, then fell a little short on the next 400 where she took over, then in true unconditioned mileage I fell off in the the 3rd quarter. Held on for the last 300m. Clocked in an impressive 5:02.5, making a 7 for 7 races all personal bests. Sweet deal, considering my lack of endurance. On top of it was able to help my teammate procure a PB as well, not so shabby for not planning to race.
Race out of the way I had a little break before the relay while the rest of the women's heats and men's heats went off. Once all the races finished up low and behold the 1st heat of the relay went off at 8ish pm, there'd be no Friday morning at the race. Nice. I managed even after a hard race an hour before to churn out some decent but painful 200's in 29-30-30-31-30.  A second faster in every 200 than last year and I didn't run anything before that one (granted it was pretty late).
Some serious strength going on right now, hope I can hold on to it (*knock on wood* injury free) for the next couple months. Good things, good things...ok so maybe the lack of sugar isn't sooo bad.

Sugar High

In my newest resolutions section I mentioned that I wanted to monitor my diet a little better and cut down my sugar intake. For those who don't know me I have an insane sweet tooth, and I don't mean some sweets here and there, I'm talking I've eaten an entire cake in one sitting without blinking an eye then going for something else sugar laden, this is on a semi daily basis too. Not good, especially when I'm trying to take my training to the next level. I can honestly say if the rest of my diet wasn't fairly healthy, I drank and I wasn't as active as I am I'm sure that I'd be severely overweight. 

Well in the spirit of Lent beginning Wednesday, what better way/day to sacrifice/give up a vice for an extended period of time. Obviously this is not just a 40 day thing it will hopefully spill over into the rest of my daily life but I sadly needed something to hold me accountable. I've attempted many times before but success rate is not very good for more than a few days. In the past I've given up baked goods for Lent but made sure to keep a loophole so I could still indulge in my sweet tooth. This time I decided I to give up all desserts! Eek! Oh but I couldn't just stop there in my typical over the top way I decided that I would throw in no refined sugars for good measure! Cut the white stuff out. Natural sugars are ok like honey, agave nectar and fruit.

 A serious undertaking to say the least. I went through my cabinets and cleared them out from all my goodies, read EVERY single label and had to rid of more than I thought. Then to the grocery store to restock the cabinets I emptied. I may have pulled out some hair during that excursion. On a normal basis I read labels, I make sure that I can read all to most of the ingredients in the products I consume. Now I was reading labels to see if there was sugar in them, and let me tell you it is amazing how much sugar is in the things you wouldn't think have sugar. I would pick up an item that I thought was "safe" only to have to put it back because of that five letter word. I did eventually cave in make an exception for cane sugar since technically it's not refined but I tried to not pick up too many things that had it, so not to defeat the whole purpose of cutting back on sugar. I thought my training was hard this is going to take so much more dedication. I know it's for the greater good as an athlete and I hope to bring more awareness to the things we put into our bodies. I look forward to  sharing the awesome things that come from this and like I said before carry it on after Lent ends. 

To a sugarless 40 days...

Goals: Take 2

As an earmark to the end of the indoor season and a way to make myself into a better athlete not only in body but in mind and spirit as well, I have started compiling my new season goals/resolutions.

Resolutions for Outdoor 2012 Season:

1. More consistent weekly mileage. Aim for 20-30miles/wk
2. Keep lifting consistently throughout the season not just the beginning
3. 1-2 days hurdle work in addition to regular Tue and Thur team workouts
4. 1 day additional track/speed workout if not doing 2 hurdle days
5. Monitor diet a little more closely. Mostly my sugar intake
6.  Sleep more.

These are all no brainers, but I need to remind myself about them on a regular basis, and the key for me is staying consistent.

Goals for Outdoor 2012 Season:

Race-800
Outdoor PR-2:24.81
Last Season Best-2:27.??
Goal #1-2:18.5
Goal #2- 2:17.2
Goal #3- 2:16.4

Race-400 IH
PR-71.05
Last Season Best-71.05
Goal #1-68.5
Goal #2-66.3
Goal #3-64.1

Race-400
Outdoor PR-64.14
Last Season Best-64.03
Goal #1-60.5
Goal #2-59.3
Goal #3-58.1


Race-200
Outdoor PR-28.98
Last Season Best-29.87
Goal #1-28.5
Goal #2-27.9
Goal #3-27.3


Eventually I'll break these into the index cards like I did for indoors. I also decided to use outdoor PRs instead of overall PRs because there is a difference between the 2 tracks (not to dismiss my most awesome season that I just completed). Last season also refers to the outdoor 2011 season. Oddly too I realized that previously almost all of my overall personal bests were made indoors, besides the hurdles only because they're not run inside. Quite bizarre since typically most run faster on an outdoor track. Hopefully that will change this time.

Let's hear for the olutions...

Resolutions, revolutions & evolution... 
At the very beginning of the 2011-2012 season I resoluted (yes I made that word up) that I'd blog once a week no matter what. While I admit I don't always post in immediately, I have held up my end and successfully had at least a post a week since October. Then by the beginning of the indoor season there was a new revolution to openly share my goals, something I've never done. Now at the completion of one season I feel like not only the physical changes in my training, but my attempt to vanquish bad old habits by adding new healthy positive habits have sincerely evolved me into a more round athlete. Of course there is always room for improvement but I know that I'm on a greater road to success now.

An end to the beginning

And a sad goodbye to another indoor season ending, like in the past I will continue to train inside until I my membership ends April 15th since I paid for it I'll milk every last bit out & it's still a bit cold outside. I say sad because I feel like I just started to get rolling and poof it's done, only racing a total of 5 times, 6 races, the entire 3 month season (a personal worst & I wasn't injured either). I set my goals and was only able to actually cross 1.5 of them off. The .5 goes to the 500 since technically I ran a half second off from the 1:20.0 I set for myself. I was so amped after my 1st race that I just wanted to see cross marks at least across the set #1 for all the goals, and the 2nd goal for the 800. I will admit that all of my goals were a good couple seconds faster than my previous personal bests (most made back in 2009), but I did feel like my strength in my training made them very much plausible and attainable. That being said not racing as much does make it harder to tackle goals. And just clarify any confusion I'm absolutely always stoked when I PR, even though I will account it as a bad race, it's more the way the race unfolds that gets me down and not happy with a race. Minus my little disappointments here and there with not executing the races to quite what I know I'm capable of and hitting my effervescent goals, I will give myself a big pat on the back because out of all 6 races I did set a PR every time. I'm in the best and strongest shape I've been since I hopped back onto the track in 07. I will continue on into the upcoming outdoor season with maybe a little more gusto and more PBs.

Ahhhhhmazing

All in a week's work

Definitely been an eventful week chock full of experiences. My workout/racing load was on course to being one of the more intense, a few heady back to back practices (one even in a jock strap! yikes) and 2 races. Also been trying to hustle a little more at work to build up my client base. Didn't realize it was tornado season just yet.

Last minute early on the week I found out that my team was going to run a "B" team for the DMR at the Millrose Games and I was a leg. Of course not knowing this ahead of time is a serious disadvantage for me since my 2nd job is weekend nights and I have to put in for time off 2 weeks prior and I had originally taken the Sat off the weekend before to run a relay that was nixed. Anywho I had to really shuffle back and forth and to and fro about what I wanted to do since not working the weekend before put me a bit behind on the finance side. The relay was the very 1st event to go off so I could potentially run, literally step off the track after my leg and race to get to work (late but not too late), but then I'd miss the great meet filled with spectacular athletes to follow and be ridiculously exhausted standing on my feet in uncomfortable shoes for the next 6-8 hours. It took a lot of reasoning then realized that I could find a way to make the money back but I wouldn't be able to get back the experience of taking in a historical meet and enjoying myself.

With that decision made I faced another...I'm thinking I might invest in a Magic 8 Ball to start making up my mind for my indecisiveness...did I want to get one last 800 race in before the end of the season to get my 2nd goal for that distance, 2 days before I race a leg in a relay?? I fought this one for a large number of reasons, one is even though I'm in great shape I've really been pushing in practice so I'm not so sure how my body will recover from back to back races (though this is something I need to be able to do). Second is since I gave up that shift I'd be shelling out $20 to race. Last is because the meet I was considering is such a low key meet the field may not be as fast as I need to race what I want (this was the biggest factor...I didn't want to spend money on a mediocre result). In the end I chose to race, it made sense, and of course when it came to seeding the heats my concern with the field not being "up to speed" was there. At that point I couldn't turn back I had to make do with what I could. When the gun went off I got out, and when I say I got out I mean I got out. As I rounded the turn to the 1st 200 at about the 155ish mark I could see the clock and it read 22!! Yikes I was about to hit my 1st 2 in 30, WAY too fast. Where I should have just went with it and let my body naturally slow down on its own I braked so I came through in a reasonable but still fast 32/33. Kept pace through the halfway mark at 66ish, running completely alone then I tried to stay focused with 1:43 through the 600 but by the last lap which is typically strong I lost my drive and fell a little bit apart. I saw the clock as I passed through and thought that I saw 2:18. Second goal?Yes?Maybe? Results said not so much 2:19.1. A little bummed, only a single stride to break the second mark, but another PR which makes all my races thus far PBs, 4 for 4, can't be too down at that. I know that I shouldn't rely on others but I believe that I can run faster with the right field. I always thought leading out of the line was my strong suit but now I'm learning that that's not the case, I need to be a better strategic runner in the 800 if I want to become better. Outdoors it's on.

Now back to the Millrose Games. My 1st large stage indoor meet and my 1st 400 leg in a DMR (by the way for any non track people that stands for Distance Medley Relay 1200m-400m-800m-1600m legs). I've run many DMRs but I've ALWAYS run the 800 leg, always.  I've mostly been racing 800s this indoor season so I was stocked to see what I had for my speed. It was definitely a fun time but unfortunately no one was able to get splits for the "B" team so I wasn't able to actually see my time. Beyond that snafu it was an exciting experience. I got to watch Bernard Lagat set an American record in the 5000 and see other truly amazing athletes perform. Worth every lost penny of not working.

And here we go again

Yet again I find myself in a challenge, actually a bet with a boy. My sassy mouth got the best of me this time. I'm not a gambler by nature, if I do getting into any betting wars it's usually with some crazy act, I work too hard for my money to just throw it to caution.

This bet was with a fellow teammate whom I already have a standing bet for a race (another post on that at a later date). This was running related but was sports related...the Super Bowl. Back story we've actually been bantering back and forth with football since Jan 1, he's a Giants fan, I'm a Cowboys fan. That crucial game that sent the Giants to the playoffs and the Cowboys home left me a bit bitter, so naturally I was against them for the entirety of the post season. Then comes the Super Bowl, which just so happens to feature my secondary team the Patriots (I'm from New England so it is only natural to default to them). I had no doubt in my mind that the Pats weren't going to let a repeat of the prior SB game to happen again. Halftime Pats are up and I get a text message 'We need an outrageous bet I just decided'. Sassy Miss here says ok what are the terms. It's halftime I should have known better than to make a bet in the middle of a game and on my secondary team at that. Terms the next practice Pats win he wears a tutu for his workout, Giants win I wear a jock strap over my shorts for my workout. Of course we all know the turnout of that game....Doh! Yep I was burnt. Let me tell you that might have been the most uncomfortable thing I have EVER worn and I'm a woman we wear uncomfortable things all the time. At first I was completely mortified then I just made the best of it, I made my bed so if I'm going to lie in it may as well make it fun. Here's the hilarity at the track:

Laugh away, I certainly am

What should have been

Though my racing this indoor season has been on par to being the best season I've ever raced, it's been quite dismal as well. I only say dismal because this is the least I've ever raced. Up to date not including the race I'm about to recap has only been 2 and it's the end of January which in turn is closing on the end of the season. Usually by the end of December I've got 2 races under my belt coming into peak for February. Granted December going into the beginning of the New Year was super crazy for me with the whole move and whatnot, so I'm not too surprised.
Race #3 brings me to Boston to the very meet that started this blog BU Terrier Invitational. Though I'm in a very different stage in my running career than then, I still get stuck in those same disappointing reveries sometimes. This race in my mind turned into a bomb (some will disagree with me). I think that the lead up to the race was most likely what the "downfall" was. My day didn't quite start off in the most relaxing way possible and everything I usually do beforehand didn't happen. I didn't make matters any better by getting anxious & not sitting still the hours leading up to my race. My execution definitely was far from how it should have gone and though I ended with a PB, I didn't feel good about how it panned to be (this is where the disagreement is). I'm trying not to be too hard on myself because yes a best is a best, BUT I know that my racing shape should have put me at least 2 seconds faster. I'll leave it at that because I really don't want to hark on what should have been. Lesson learned staying consistent with pre-race rituals and relaxing the mind & body beforehand are key to performance. On to the next...

To all the non believers

For most of my athletic life I've come across so many people that have little faith or underestimate my abilities. I won't lie, there were times that I let others non belief in me hinder my potential. But on the counterpoint there were many times that it has fueled me to push myself even harder. I try not to let either be the driving point of my ambitious ways, because it's not healthy, mentally or physically.  Doing something because you want to prove someone wrong is not a way to peak performance, as letting someone else's lack of expectations is not a reason to take a blow to your own confidence. Of course it's finding the equilibrium of the two extremes.

Right now I'm fighting an opposition from someone that should be supporting me. I know that I'm physically in the greatest shape that I've ever been in my running career and clearly I've proven myself but yet that opposing force is still there. Thankfully as I learn more about myself and limits this season, I am able to find my calm and that inevitable middle ground (having 2 encouraging coaches and great teammates make it a whole lot easier). I will not let this person get the best of me and I'll be sure to continue to thank those people that make it all happen. I will drive myself to be my best.

Breaking barriers

After the past couple weeks being all about getting my new apartment, piecing it together and putting all my energy into only that, I wasn't quite sure how much of my training had plummeted from it. Practice had been ho-hum, and the relay leg I ran on the 6th was dismal.

Finally a week and a half later my apartment was livable, and my spirits began to lift, I decided I could put myself to the test and race an open race. One the table, another 800. I made sure I was seeded in a fast enough heat that I couldn't sit I had to push. I was confident but still a little weary from my sporadic training. There was no turning back I had to do it. I stuck with my same game plan as the 1st 800, my splits at 33-34-35-35 and not lead the majority of the race. Stepped on the track, runners take your mark, bang, I was off. Tucked my self on the lead girl's right shoulder and surprisingly held myself there. I was stepped on after the first 100 then again at the 250, which tends to happen due to the nature of my stride but rather than it deferring me it only fuels me to pick up my pace and get out of it. Went through perfectly again for the 200, and 400. Then something happened that has never happened racing an 800, I didn't loose my cadence in the 3rd lap, I came through in a 36. When I saw the clock at the 600 at 1:43 I knew as long as I didn't fall completely down a hole I was good. I pressed through, didn't kick like I had wanted but when I looked up to see my final time my fist pumped up and a super wide grin came upon my face. After years of chasing a sub 2:20 half mile, I had finally broke that barrier! Not only was it another PR it also was my goal #1 for the distance for the season. The best part that makes me giddiest of it all is, it's just the beginning and I have so much to look forward to the rest of this indoor season and most definitely the outdoor season.

It's only been since 08 I've been trying to get to this point (not that I've been counting )

When one doors closes another opens

It never ceases to amaze me that I still manage to do things big and with a huge bang/hurrah. And always last minute, like my new apartment that I sit in right now. Barring a roller coaster ride of being scammed, dealing with financial craziness and finally signing for a place on Dec 29th, when I had to be out of my place on Jan 1. In the end it all worked out but it certainly put me on edge, to a point where I put my running on the back burner (something I promised myself I wouldn't do). With it all said and done I knew it meant for new changes that I was in need of.

So here's to a 2012 opening more doors for not only me but my family & friends as well.