August 17, 2011 - 5 miles

Aaaaaaand my quads hate me. Especially my right quad.


Nothing better than running, or trying to run 5 miles the day after a stair workout. I felt as if I was dragging a lifeless limb behind me. To sum up, this run was miserable. Here are the highlights (I'm using that term loosely...)

• Major muscle groups will go on strike
  


• Hydration belts are cool, dehydration is not
  I did not run with my hydration belt today, and I paid for it. It was humid. I also did not stop at the half-ish way mark and get water at the library. Dumb move
  


• I thought about stopping in at the psychic, mainly for the air conditioning. I'm pretty sure as soon as a walked through the door, the psychic would take one look at me and say "Your quad hates you", and I already know this
  


• When running with a limp, there's no need to worry about an unleashed German shepherd (who answers to "Dog"). I thought he may be territorial, but he was coming over to see if I was dying
  


• A half finished Gatorade, abandoned in the middle of the sidewalk with 1.5 miles remaining of a humid, dehydrated run, is just cruel
  


• Despite everything wrong with the run, it still felt good to finish
  
  

August 16, 2011 - 2,400 stairs

1,200 stairs up
1,200 stairs down


Matt played basketball tonight. I wanted to run, but didn't want to run on the treadmill. So I came up with the brilliant idea to walk up and down my basement steps. Because I have no shame, I solicited for my children's help.
"I'm going to walk the basement steps for 30 minutes tonight. Isabelle, you can count how many times I go up and down. William, you can watch the clock for me, okay?" [big smile]
Isabelle seemed pretty into the idea. "Let's see if you can go a hundred times!" she responded.
Excellent. I instructed her to count one up and one down as one cycle. I would do that one hundred times. William decided he would just watch and cheer me on. As I said, I have no shame. What's the point of having kids if you can't use them as your cheerleaders?!

10 laps in and I already wanted to stop. This is where my shameless act of creating a fan club backfired.
"I think I'll stop after 10 minutes," I huffed.
"No. You can do the 100. Just stop at the 100, even if it's not 30 minutes," Isabelle said matter-of-factly.
"Okay," I puffed, dejected.
William contently settled into his spectating with a chorus of "growing, Growing, GROWING. SHRINKING, Shrinking, shrinking..." as I went up and down the steps.

In the end, I completed 100 laps. It took 26 minutes. My quads were trembling and I'm fairly certain the treadmill was mocking me.

July 31, 2011 - Park Center Triathlon

Tri-tastic


That is how I would describe my first venture at a spring triathlon.



Also, tri-mazing, tri-mundous, tri-bulous,... okay, okay, you get the idea.



All in all, this first attempt went as well as I hoped. And as always, running and competing has their lessons for me. Here are the highlights:

1. "You're never as strong alone, as you are with friends"
   
   Part of what made this so memorable was that I competed with my dear friends, Beth and Tina. Together we are Team JET. We competed as a relay team last year at the Leaning Tower Y Triathlon...and won! Tina and Beth have both competed as individuals before, so I was able to learn from their experiences. Beth worked with me a lot leading up to this race, specifically with the swimming. She taught me swimming drills, prepared me for what to expect, walked through what I would need for transitions, and what general transition practices have worked for her. Race day, Tina checked my transition area for me. And since she and I were seeded together for the swim, it was great to have someone waiting with me in the swim line and alleviate my nervousness! I was especially nervous about the swim.
   




2. "Train. But train the Plan B as well."
   
   The swim... I am, by no means, a swimmer. I don't pretend that I am. My go-to statement about swimming is that I know enough to save my own life, but not anyone else's. As I said, Beth was gracious enough to go with me to the pool to practice. Good things about this triathlon are that it's a sprint so the swim was only 300 yards, and that the swim is in a pool that I can stand in if needed. These two things are especially good because I'm not a fan of drowning. On my final practice, I went for the 300 yards without stopping. And discovered that I couldn't keep up with the free stroke that whole time. I hadn't practiced enough to get my breathing right, although I was improved. So I also practiced a hybrid side-swim-hopefully-somewhat-streamlined style. I'm glad I did because come race day, I resorted to this for the majority of the swim. My goal for my next tri is not to need this, but it was nice to have it as an option.
   




3. "Sometimes, you fumble the transitions."
   
   Ah, the transitions. Putting on socks and shoes went still wet from swimming is a challenge. I had checked to make sure my biking gloves were right side out, but one still wasn't. In the bike-to-run transition, I ran past where I needed to rack my bike, not even thinking about the fact that the racks were organized by race number. I had to double back. But I laughed about it and just kept moving. Sometimes that's all you can do.
   




4. "Friends are there, even when you feel out of their reach."
   
   Beth finished ahead of Tina and I. But instead of resting, she went back out to the turn around spot for the 5K to cheer us on. And I needed it. It was a hot day. Fortunately, I had run on some of the hot days, so I didn't feel totally unprepared. But still. Support from a friendly face is always nice. Plus, our significant others were also there. Matt got up early, made sure my bike was ready, took pictures, and got to as many spots as he could to cheer me on. His pride in my accomplishment made the day all the more special, too.
   




5. "When you think you have nothing left to give, dig deeper. Although to dig deeper, you may need a swift kick in the pants..."
   
   The finish is a blind finish. Beth and Tina know this. Beth warned me of this prior to the race. She and Matt were at the stretch just before the turn. It can be difficult to want to dig deep. I was tired. I was almost done. And I had given it just about my all. But this is where Beth came in, demanding more. "Sprint Julia! Leave it all on the course!!" I picked up the tempo a smidge. "I mean it Julia!" she yelled. "SPRINT!!!" So I sprinted...well, for me, it was a sprint. After I received my finisher's metal, Matt (who was beaming) came up to me and asked me how I felt. "Tired," was my response. I had competed at my best. I had finished strong. And I left it all out on the course.
   




6. "It doesn't end at the finish line."
   
   The thing about working towards a goal is the journey doesn't end once the goal is achieved. Weight lost doesn't stay lost if you go back to old eating habits. Fitness isn't retained without continuing to exercise. We are continually growing, learning, and, hopefully, bettering ourselves. It was nice to take pride in accomplishing my first sprint triathlon. But it doesn't stop there. There are new goals out there. New races to run. New challenges to tackle. It doesn't end at the finish line. The finish line is just the beginning.

A new challenge to Tri

I have officially registered for my first sprint triathlon!

I may die...

But I'm betting on a full showing of AWESOMENESS!

"Run" can be a four-letter word

I wish the run was always easy.
But it's not.
Sometimes the run can be a challenge.
Sometimes the run can be painful.
Sometimes I'm not sure I want to run at all.
But that's precisely when it's time to dig deep and run anyway.

Soldier Field 10 Mile

Awesome, awesome, awesome race.
12,000+ finishers.
Nice cool temperatures, although 100% humidity.
And I paced the probably the best I ever have. Nice smooth splits. Strong legs. Even, easy breathing. No tiring. I even ran the second 5 miles a *smidge* faster that the first 5.
But the best was the thrill at the end. Running through the tunnel at Soldier Field where the Bears run out. Crossing on that beautiful, lush green grass. Seeing the runners displayed on the big screens. I couldn't help it, I raised my arms in victory for the last 25 yards. I'm still enjoying the runner's high from this perfect run.
I may have "finished on the 50", but racing season is only just beginning...and I have a lot of run left in me.

Okay everyone, find your buddy

I enjoy a solo run as much as the next superhero, but there's something to be said about running with a buddy. A few case studies to prove my point:

Case #1 - Cinco de Miler, May 7th: A Running Buddy You Don't Know

The Cinco de Miler was my first race of 2011 and was five miles along the lakefront. Let me start by saying I had not run over three miles for about 6 months. Let me continue by adding that I had also not run more than, um, 1-ish (maybe) day(s) a week for about 6 months. So I did not wake up excited about this race. My run a week prior went well. I needed it for a multitude of reasons, but I hadn't run since then. I like to think it was to save my knee, but the week also just got away from me. It had been a long week and the alarm going off Saturday morning didn't make it feel any shorter.
I was not excited about this race. This was the first race I'd registered for all on my own. The first one I'd run on my own and attended on my own. No one with whom to bide time before the race starts. No one waiting for me at the finish line. I arrived at the race start line a full hour and ten minutes prior to the start. Initially it was peaceful. A mariachi band was playing and there were a few dozen early arrivers like me. The lake was absolutely beautiful, so still and so blue. The temperature was cool, but not uncomfortable. I thought, "I should do this more often. It is good for me to be alone and center myself." While this may be true, there's only so much "centering" I can do. (And so many bathroom breaks I can take.) I strolled around, stretched some, and people-watched (one woman was dressed as a taco! Note to self: race in more costumes). But in the end, I was lonely and not looking forward to running by myself. The extra time also gave me too much time to think and worry about how the race would go. As I said, my knee had been bothering me and I was totally untrained for this event. My goal for this race was simple. Finish. Secondary goal...run the whole way. I wasn't positive how well I could accomplish either by myself.
Finally the race started and we were on our way, sort of. Apparently the race organizers thought a stagger start would be best. They were right, because some of the lake front path had runners going both directions, so we could only run two across. However, without knowing that at the start, it was quite annoying to wait for 40 minutes to start. It didn't help my nerves, and I was more worried about pacing. Once I got started, I was careful to not go out too fast. The treadmill running does help with self-pacing. About a mile into the run, I noticed a "heavy stepper" close behind me. Normally heavy steppers frustrate me, but this time I realized that he may be the only person going my pace. I decided to run with him. This is where I am unsure of "running rules". Should I have asked him if I could pace with him? Should I introduce myself? I spent, oh, the remaining 4 miles wondering about this, never actually talking. I figure if he really didn't want to run with me, he could either slow down or speed up. And since he had his headphones in, I figured he didn't want to talk. So we just ran. We would pass people and end up side-by-side again. At the water stops, I always grab some water but he didn't. He didn't get ahead of me either. Having him as a running buddy made my race go well. My knee hurt, but didn't get the better me, and I ran the whole way. He got me by a hair at the end. I guess he didn't want to be beaten by a girl... As we went our separate ways, I simply said "Thanks for the run." Sometimes running buddies are people you don't know, who are there just when you need them helping pull you through. Having a running buddy is about strengthening resolve.

Case #2 - An Online "Running Buddy"

My next race is the Soldier Field 10-miler. I was not trained for the 5-mile race and I'm not well trained for this upcoming race either. There's some general guidelines for how quickly to bump up your weekly mileage, and I am dutifully ignoring them. I have somewhat of an accountability partner at work though. One of the divisions has a running team that are competing in a fall half marathon. I know one of the women on the team and she invited me to join. I'm a runner that needs goals, so I agreed. The team encouraged us to sign up for a program called "Exercise Across Abbott". I didn't want to join, but didn't want to be a Scrooge. I signed up on the last possible day. After signing up, I looked for this team only to realize that they didn't have a team, they were encouraging us to join any team. I didn't want to join just any team, so I didn't. I also ignored all future emails reminding me to join a team. Well, apparently Exercise Across Abbott had other plans for me. A week later I received an email from a team leader reminding me, and the others on the team, to log our week one minutes. Odd, I thought. Seems like Exercise Across Abbott automatically signed me up for a team when I didn't choose my own. Fine. I will log minutes. I only ran once in the last week (being the Cinco de Miler), but I will right it down. I logged into the system to see to what team I had been assigned. Not only does Exercise Across Abbott sign me up for a team, it has a sense of humor about it and signed me up for the team "Working Off Our Abbotts". Thanks, Exercise Across Abbott, for saying I have a big "Abbott". Nice. On the plus side, having this program forced on me has been a good thing. It's given me an accountability running buddy...even if it is electronic. Having a running buddy is about strengthening commitment

Case #3 - May 16th recovery run: A Dear Friend as a Running Buddy

In an effort to make sure I'll survive my upcoming 10 mile race, I ran a 7.7 mile loop on May 15th at the local forest preserve by my house. I was sluggishly slow, but able to run the whole thing. I would have been perfectly content to not run for the next couple days, but I had already made plans to run with Bethie. Bethie has been on injury reserve for the past 4 months and just getting back into running. We decided that a nice 2 miles would serve us both well. With her injury and my general laziness we have not run together in quite a while. It used to be a regular occurrence for us and I've missed it. We used the time to catch up on the past few months and have some fabulous girl time...okay, there was one boy, Duke, but I don't think he minded our chatter. He may have minded our pace though. :) I read an interview with a celebrity trainer wherein she said that if you can have a conversation while your exercising that you're not working hard enough. Maybe that's true, but I think that on certain runs, if you can't hold a conversation then you're missing the point of running with a dear friend. Those runs aren't really about the "run", they're about the friend. Having a running buddy is about strengthening the spirit.

Most of my training runs may be solo runs, but to scatter some runs with a running buddies makes running more than just strengthening muscles. It's about strengthening my whole self. Thank you to all of my running buddies out there! I <3 you! Looking forward to our next run. :)