A Tale of Two PRs

I had the opportunity last week to run two races in within three days, and it was fun stuff.

The first was Day One of my ill-fated run streak:  The Turkey Trot in Appleton, WI. 

I lined up for the five miler on Thanksgiving morning with my friends Matt, Brian, and Lori, and had no plans for the race. 

I had been rushing around trying to get registered until just moments before the gun went off, and my buddies were teasing me about my lack of preparation.  I sort of forgot to eat or drink anything in the morning, I didn't bring water to the race, my running clothes were a random cotton assortment of lounge-wear from the depths of my dresser, and I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. 

I ran for a bit with Matt at an easy 10ish pace, and felt like I was holding myself back too much to have fun.  I sped up a bit and my first mile was just over 9 minutes. 

The course weaved through pretty neighborhoods with big old houses, and the crisp air and sunshine put me in such a good mood that I was consistently laying down miles in the 7:30-7:50s.

I crossed the finish line feeling great and actually sort of refreshed in 40:19, which was more than two and a half minutes faster than my PR. 

Three days later, I drove to De Pere to run the Noodleini 15k thanks to the kind heart (and checkbook) of my sweet sister-in-law Kathy. 

This race was pretty hard.  The roads were covered with icy slush, the course is not very scenic, and it was a gray and dismal day.  I'd never run that far on a slippery surface before, and that shit was difficult.  Every time I pushed off to take a step, my back foot slipped back an inch or two, which made for pretty slow going. 

I took my time, talked to a ton of other runners, and finished up in 1:20:44, a 26 minute PR.  (The last 15k I ran was in 2007 dressed as a hobo with this girl)

 

Noodleini 15k

1:20:44

8:39 pace

So there you have it.  Lesson of the day - PRs are equal parts lack of preparation and mild dehydration.  I should write a running book filled with this gold.

Have you ever raced more than one race in a week?

Are you still streaking? 

The death of a run streak...

...looks something like this:

 



And feels something like this:

 

Sigh.  Run Streak 2012 is officially done for me.

I made it nine days, and it felt good.  Until it didn't.

I thought I'd make it longer, but I sort of hit a wall this weekend.  I just started a new bartending job, and I had four shifts in a row from Thursday-Sunday.  On Saturday, I was exhausted, my feet were swollen and painful, and my legs felt worse than after my marathon - seriously. 

I haven't run at all since Saturday, and I have no desire to.  The balancing act of being a mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, personal trainer and chipper bartender while trying to find time to run, exercise, and not collapse in a mountain of dirty laundry is a work in progress.

To all of my fellow streakers, streak on.  I'm proud of you guys. Especially you, Momma.  :)

Operation: Get Off My Ass

The 2012 Holiday Running Streak. 

 At least one mile a day from Thanksgiving to New Year's.  

Who's with me?

My run motivation has been next to nothing since Tyranena, and even with a race (or two) this week, I can't seem to get my ass on the treadmill.

I expect a certain amount of waxing and waning of motivation and mileage between seasons, goal races, etc., but I am ready to get back on the horse.

Even my mom is in on it!  She may have had a beer or two in her when she enthusiastically committed to it, but now it's on the internets so she has to.  Right Mom?

Oh you think so, don't you?
 

 She's going to be running her third half marathon in May, and what better way to kick off the training?

My mom is cooler than your mom.

As for me, I've never been able to run through the winter (pregnancy, injury) and I really want to set myself up for some great, more aggressive training in the spring.

Run Streak 2012:  Are you in? Have you ever done one before?  I haven't done one, and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can keep with it.  Although I have a sneaking suspicion I'm going to have to fight so that my DailyMile is not exactly seven miles a week.  Ha.

What's the next big race you're training for?  I don't have another big race til April, and I think that is part of my motivation issue.  Running in the USA, here I come.

Ugly Duckling Syndrome

Hey guys.

So, I started a new job recently, bartending at a nice sports bar pretty close to my house.  We need a little extra money, I love tending bar, and I was really lucky to get hired right away.  Win, win, motherfucking win.

But things took a sharp dive into self-loathing when I walked into the bar on my first day.  I was full of confidence (with a  few nervous butterflies), and then I noticed the girl behind the bar.  

I don't want to exaggerate, but this girl was gorgeous.  Beautiful waist length blonde hair, super cute clothes, model-perfect features, blindingly white teeth... you get the picture.

I looked down at my ill-fitting jeans, my running shoes, and my long sleeve t-shirt that a half hour before had been "cute" and "approachable" and now was screaming "schlub".  

Shit.

I haven't exactly "let myself go" since I became a stay-at-home mom, but I was feeling a little like this:

Over the next few shifts, I met some of the other bartenders.  Some were guys, some were girls, all were gorgeous.  Mother of God.

I'm not all "oh woe is me, I'm so ugly" most of the time, but damn.  My inner freshman in high school was coming out as I nervously tugged at my clothes and looked at myself disgustedly in the bathroom mirror.  "wahhh I'll NEVER get elected to homecoming court!!!"

So anyway.  I decided to get my brassy straggly hair cut and colored in an attempt to restore a little self-confidence.  Because really, I can't change this:

That shit is here to stay.

But, with a small fortune and the skilled hands of an expert, I can change this:

Make it better here, and here, and here....

Several hours later, I emerged from the salon with a head of shiny brown, much shorter hair.

Yes, I always look this tired, thanks for noticing.

Pretty hair makes me ANGRRRYY...

Do you have any self-confidence boosting rituals that pump you up before you are forced in to be in the presence of unnaturally good looking people?  In college, my roommate and I would take shots and dance in our underwear to "Get Low" before we went out to the bars.  Classy.

What makes your self-confidence waver? In this situation, I wouldn't feel so down on myself if I was really confident in what I was doing.  But new job = being suckier than everyone else = sad face.

Panty Raiders Half Marathon Reunion

Before I give you the play-by-play of this glorious race and even more glorious drunken debauchery, let me first say:  Run a Ragnar.  

Running Ragnar Chicago was actually a pretty big frustrating mess with bright shiny moments of hysterical laughter and team spirit interspersed throughout.  It was one of those things you don't really appreciate until a few weeks out - far enough out the disappointment doesn't sting so badly, but not so far that you can't remember the raunchy inside jokes and the little things you learn about someone after sharing a cramped, panty-strewn van for 36 hours.

The reason to run a Ragnar, however, doesn't have anything to do with the race itself.  It's this:

Linda, me, Kimba, Amy, some ho-bag, Lisa, Amy Zyn, Falon, Amy Zem

Sigh.  I love these women so, so much.   I can only hope at our next reunion we'll have all 12 of us!

So anyway, the race.

We ran the Tyranena half marathon, which is awesome.  It's pretty small, incredibly well-run, and just beautiful.  The course has rolling hills for the first half, an unofficial beer stop (be still my heart), and enough scenic diversity to get your mind off of the task at hand.

Something I should mention here:  I was SICK.  Sick sick.  It started on Thursday, and when I woke up on Saturday morning, my throat was on fire and my sinsuses felt like they were going to explode.  

I wasn't sure I was going to run, but I got such a boost of energy from seeing my girls and the race hoopla, I lined up with everyone else at the start.

Rachel and I made a quick decision to run together - we both wanted a buddy and I didn't want to be tempted to start racing when I got out there. 

We were only a couple of miles in when I realized our pace would put Rachel really close to a PR.  Hmmm.

She ran an awesome race right up until the end when she surprised the hell out of me with a seriously fast finishing kick.  We held hands (because we're secret lovers) when we crossed the finish line and it couldn't have been cheesier.

OK, we might have held hands at other times besides the finish line.  Don't judge.

We finished around 2:00:30, which was great for a somewhat difficult course.  So proud of Rachie - she fought the whole way.

As for me, the race felt like an easy long run.  At the risk of sounding boastful, I have no idea when a 2:00 hour half became easy for me.  It makes me reassess my running goals for sure.

So that's that.  I'm still a little sick, but hopping back on the treadmill today to try to run the last of it out.  

Have a super Thursday everyone.

Christmas Elves and Tiny Foam Rollers

Hey, good morning.

You guys have heard of "Elf on the Shelf", right?

Basically, it's a tiny elf that prepares your child for a life of constant criticism and ubiquitous surveillance.

Oh, what I meant to say is it's a fun holiday tradition that involves putting a tiny overpriced elf in different places in your house to remind your children not to be naughty, or the elf will report back to Santa when it makes its nightly flight back to the North Pole.

So anyway, the idea has evolved into putting the elf in naughty situations around the house, and people get pretty creative with this thing:

Elf knows how to partayyyy

Oh yeah.  Get some you smily little bastard.

It was the wine.

It's a rough life.

So, anyway, we don't do this tradition, mainly because I can scare my children adequately on my own thankyouverymuch, but also because hell if I'm going to waste an entire bag of mini-marshmallows on a sink bath for a creepy little doll.

But, I nearly reconsidered as I was spending some quality time with my foam roller the other day and saw a piece from the kids' foam block set:

If I had an Elf on the Shelf, you can bet my kids would be waking up to him working on his IT bands.


Had you heard of Elf on the Shelf?  

Do you have any ridiculous holiday traditions?

Oh, Hello Winter Blahs

You're a bit early this year, yes?  Where are we, the second week of fall and you've already made your grand arrival?

It snowed yesterday, just a little.  My kids freaked out - they don't remember the snow last year and they were pretty pumped.  Also, I've been sick.  I had the pukes yesterday on top of an annoying cold I've had since Monday.

So, I've been feeling a bit under the weather... and sadly my 31 day workout streak took a big shit.  Because I don't work out when I'm sick, usually.  That whole "If it's above the neck, it's ok to run" bullshit is so stupid.  Pretty sure you should not be running through migraines and sinus infections, but whatever.

I like to run when I'm just on the tail end of a sickness...  like several  an IPAs after a bad day, it seems like it helps me get over it faster.

So, I have a plan to fight the winter blahs, and I'm pretty excited about it.  Last winter, I was awesome at getting up super early and getting to the gym nearly every day, and I'm ready to do it again.  Plus, a new session starts at the Y on Monday... ahhh serendipity.

Want to see it?  I know you do....

Monday - 6am - 7am - Power Vinyasa Yoga (because it is the best thing ever and it's easy to get out of bed for a 90 degree studio).  Later on, an interval run on the treadmill while my babies nap.

Tuesday - Easy run in the a.m.

Wednesday - 5:30am-6:30am - Bootcamp class at the Y with a crazy badass instructor that reminds me of Rose

Thursday - Tempo run baby.  Best day of the week.

Friday - 6:00am-7:00am HIIT class at the Y, then swim swim swimeroo for a half hour or so.

Saturday - Long run.

Sounds fun, right?