Old Habits Die Hard

YEARS ago, one of my uncles told me that exercise was the hardest habit to get into and the easiest habit to get out of - and I continue to prove that true time and again.  I have again fallen into the habit of skipping my workouts.  Despite my great run and dedication to my workouts through the fall, the time off for injury has really impacted my 'gotta wanna'.  Since being cleared to hit the gym again in early January I've only managed a couple of odd workouts and a couple of runs.  I've enjoyed them each and every time, but I've just not been consistent.  I've got a lot of lofty goals for 2013 and an intense race schedule so it's time to get back to work!  In three weeks I'll be in NOLA for my first race of 2013....so tonight, I'll be back in the gym!  Time is short, gotta prepare!  Here's to getting back into a good 'old' habit...training!

2013 is "Shaping Up" nicely

...back to training...the body is getting back into shape...
....back to planning...the 2013 Tour Schedule is seriously taking shape!

I started back training this week.  I'm not going to lie, it's been a little rough.  So far I've been pleasantly surprised to find I have lost MAJOR ground.  My lifting workouts and ab workouts have left me pleasantly sore but not ridiculously so.  My first run back I surprised myself by running a little over 30 second per mile faster than I thought I would and while my heart was pounding, I wasn't dying.  I have, however, been REALLY tired and not very motivated.  I know I'm not fueling properly and have been working on that.  I tend to gravitate towards fresh fruits and veggies and while I eat a LOT of them throughout the day, they are very low calorie and just don't fuel the activity levels I maintain.  I have taken steps to add extra protein this week, but I know I'm still falling short on protein as well as carbs to power my workouts.  I'll keep working on it.

As for the Tour Schedule....I have now registered for nearly all of my 2013 races!!  And I've booked my flights for all but 3.  I am currently waiting to hear back from a particular race in New Mexico.  They haven't announced their 2013 date yet, but if it falls on the same weekend as previous years I will be doing it as a triple weekend.  As soon as I hear back from them I will be booking the airfare for that weekend as well.   As of now, here's the Tour Schedule:
- 2/24 RNR New Orleans
- 3/3 Little Rock
- 3/16 RNR USA
- 3/17 New Bedford
- 3/30 Lexington Bluegrass
- 4/6 Dorchester Crab Run
- 4/27 Nashville Country Music half
- 5/19 RNR Portland
- 6/7&8 Bear Lake ID & UT
- 6/9 Run the Caldera (tentative/awaiting confirmation of date)
- 6/22 Mayor's Midnight Sun
- 7/14 Shipyard Old Port (not registered yet)
- 7/21 RNR Chicago
- 8/4 RNR Pitt
- 9/1 RNR VA Beach
- 9/15 RNR Philly
- 9/16-20 Center of the Nation Series (ND, SD, WY, MT, NE) (not registered yet)
- 9/22 Biggest Loser Racine
- 9/29 RNR Providence
- 11/3 Manchester Half (not registered yet)
- 11/9 RNR Savannah
- 11/24 Route 66 (not registered yet)

With most of my registrations and reservations complete, the Tour is really taking shape!  Now to continue working on shaping up my body so I can pull this all off and reach my goals!

A New Year - New Goals

I don't make New Year Resolutions...I never have.  I constantly look for ways I can improve myself and when I see an area that needs attention I start paying attention and work on it.  It's not a once a year declaration that I'm going to do XYZ to better myself, it's an ongoing process to keep growing.  I do, however, set running goals for each year.  After such a huge running year in 2012 I have set some pretty lofty goals and I am excited to tackle them!  I will begin running again next week.  I've wanted to for a while, but it's been so long I am going to be starting back at the drag your butt out the door and hate the run stage for a while.  It's ok though...my foot doesn't hurt anymore...and I know it'll get better and do me good.  Last fall I'd decided my goal for 2013 was going to be speed and I'd targeted the Lexington Bluegrass on 3/30 to break 2 hours for the first time.  Then I blew that away in the fall without even trying for speed.  As December wound to a close I'd decided my goal for 2013 was going to be to hit Sun Status in the Half Fanatics as it is for 365 days vs. a calendar year so all of my fall doubles would help out.  I laid out a plan of how I could do it without breaking the bank.  Part of that plan included repeating some states I'd previously run (but not within the last 365 days) to save on travel costs.  That fed a second goal...if I had to repeat states I would pick Rock N Roll series races as 1) I LOVE the series and always enjoy the events & 2) I could also go for my third Rock Idol in 2013 and therefore be Legacy Rock Idol. 

Funny how my goals grow, huh? 

Well, after putting together my spreadsheet and tweaking it several times I realized that with the schedule laid out I would finish 2013 with only 2-3 states remaining.  The last few weeks I have tweaked my spreadsheet even more and while I haven't completely committed to the goal I'm leaning HEAVILY towards finishing all 50 states plus DC in 2013.  I'm starting to get anxious about wanting to attempt a full but I want to finish all of my states first.  I'm also starting to think I'd eventually like to work on time enough to BQ.  (long term goals here)  So, this past weekend I spent registering for races, booking flights, hotels, and cars, and coordinating with running friends for various races! 

My 2013 Tour Schedule:
- RNR New Orleans 2/24 - registered
- Little Rock 3/3 - registered
- RNR USA 3/16 - registered
- New Bedford 3/17 - registered
- Lexington Bluegrass 3/30 - registered
- Dorchester Crab Run 4/6 - registered
- Country Music 4/27 - registered
- Portland RNR 5/19 - tentative
- Bear Lake Idaho - plan to register this weekend
- Bear Lake Utah - plan to register this weekend
- Mayors Midnight Sun 6/22 - plan to register this weekend
- Shipyard old Port 7/14 - tentative
- RNR Chicago 7/21 - tentative
- RNR Pitt 8/4 - tentative
- RNR Va Beach - registered
- RNR Philly - registered
- Center of the Nation Series - plan to register this weekend (flight already booked)
- Biggest Loser Racine - registered
- Providence RNR - tentative
- Brooklyn RNR - tentative
- Savannah RNR - tentative
- Manchester - tentative
- Route 66 - tentative

Additionally I will be picking one of the following New Mexico races (awaiting feedback from one RD):
- Albuquerque 4/20
- Shiprock 5/6
- Run the Caldera 6/9  (date tentative, not yet announced)
- Albuquerque 8/11

My longest streak in 2013 will be Philly (9/15) through Racine (9/22) during which I will run 7 1/2s in 7 states in 8 days (had to travel Saturday...no way around that). 

I'm also considering potentially using some of these runs for fund raising for charity.  There are a few causes I'd really like to support and I'm weighing those out mentally over the next few weeks. 

As this year progresses I intend on additionally working to get my time down even further, but I haven't set any time related goals as I know it will take me a bit to regain the strength I had in the fall and I need to see how the foot holds up.  That said, a major goal for the year is to stay healthy!  So there you have it folks...hold me accountable! 

Michelle's 2013 Goal's are:
- Run healthy
- Rock Idol
- Sun Status
- complete all 50 States + DC
- set a PR

What are your 2013 goals?  No one plans to fail...they just fail to plan!

Me Too...

There are as many different reasons to run as there are runners; and there are seemingly just as many reasons not to run - until you do.  Often times people hear about my running (or sometimes even ask) but instantly counter with "I hate running" - well, me too; or "I have bad knees" - me too; "I'm too busy" - me too....the list goes on.  You've got to want to get out the door for one reason or the other - and that reason is different for everyone - but once you give it a shot you'll discover so many more reasons to run than there are not to run. 

"I hate running."  I've completed 46 half marathons in 34 states since March 2010 and to this day I still have trouble dragging my butt out the door for that first step of a run.  I can lay my clothes, iPod, and Garmin out, pack a gym bag, set my alarm, and go to bed with ALL the motivation and good intentions in the world to run early in the morning - and 9 out of 10 times I wake up in the middle of the night, think "oh, that ain't happening!" and reset that alarm for my normal time.  Running in general is hard work and in this day and age where we seek to make things easier/more comfortable most people "hate" things that require work.  You will get sweaty, you will find it difficult, you will get sore...you will work.  It's easy to hate working.  But you'll also discover an endorphin rush, increased cardio fitness, a host of health benefits, and likely a firmer lower body to boot - all of which are equally easy to love!  As with everything else in life you have to take the good to get the bad...you may hate disciplining your kids, but you love that they are well behaved (most of the time); you may hate your morning commute, but you love being able to pay the bills; - so, hate running...just do it anyway. 

"I have bad knees."  At 19 years old I was told the only way I'd ever get relief from my knee pain was an experimental surgery with a 10% success rate.  I declined.  I knew "this" pain and could live with it.  When I first started running I didn't need a Garmin...I knew INSTANTLY if I did over 3 miles...my right knee told me and then reminded me for days not to do it again.  I'm not a doctor and I'm by NO means advising anyone to do something that causes them pain; but often times, the most comment knee pains don't come from the knees.  Take the time to find out why your knees (or whatever else) are hurting and you'll likely be able to run without the pain.  It took me YEARS to discover that a combination of tight IT bands and a weak right glute were actually what caused my knee pain and guess what - no surgery required and my knees no longer hurt!  A foam roller ($15) and a little added attention to the right side in the gym and I have to check the Garmin to know how far I've gone.  So, your knees hurt...start with having a running store fit you for shoes (HUGE difference when you run in the right shoes...I could do an entire post about that alone), do some stretching and foam rolling, see a chiropractor, or ask your doctor for his input into possible causes - likely the knee pain is a symptom of an underlying problem, not the problem itself.  Bottomline, don't just shrug and say it hurts so I won't do it, find out why it hurts.

"I'm too busy."  Sorry, but cry me a river...aren't we all too busy now-a-days?  I work full time.  I have four kids.  I cook, clean, shuttle kids to practices, show up to cheer them on for games, attend awards banquets, schedule and run meetings, attend social events with friends/co-workers, ANDDDDDD.....I surf, quilt, scrapbook, workout, and run!  Bottomline, you make time for the things that are important to you.  If you want something bad enough you'll find a way to make it happen - so be busy...just go for a run anyway. 

Running is about so much more than pounding the pavement and offers so much more in return than the race medals.  You may start out of curiosity or to lose weight, maybe just to clear your head; but chances are you'll find new friends, improved health, and a host of other benefits that keep you coming back - me too.   

The Hardest Part of Training

What is the hardest part of training? 

When I first decided to sign up for a half marathon, even with all of my motivation and enthusiasm, the hardest part was often getting out the door.  The training plan I chose dictated 5 days of running each week with Mondays and Fridays as rest days.  The first Tuesday was no problem.  Wednesday I was not overly excited, but headed out.  By Thursday my shins were sore and the tiny muscles in my feet were tight, but I headed out knowing I got a break the next day.  Saturday came all too quickly and I forced myself out the door for "an easy three miler" knowing I'd almost completed a full week of training without missing a workout.  Sunday I got out easier, simply looking forward to mentally checking the box on the week.  As the weeks piled up it got harder and harder to make myself hit the road.  I used every trick in the book, but it required extreme motivation and constantly reminding myself of my end goal to keep going.  I'm one to be motivated by progress so I maintained an elaborate spreadsheet of my training runs with as much data as I could think of - date, distance, pace, time of day, temperature, type of course, average heart rate, etc.  Seeing my pace go down, distance go up, and heart rate go down was sometimes what fueled me.  I was always glad I did, I eventually began to enjoy my runs, but even then just getting out the door was the hardest part of my early training.

After I completed my first event I knew I wanted to run more so my training needed to continue.  I even signed up for future events so I had the goal in sight.  I soon found the hardest part of training was maintaining motivation and consistency.  Thoroughout the next two years I cycled through periods where I would buckle down and train for a specific race or goal, only to be inflated by the end result to a point that I found it easy to slip into complacency.  By the fall of 2012, even with 32 half marathons complete, the hardest part of training was still just getting out the door. 

I then set new goals and a new training plan.  I still struggled at times to get out the door, but not nearly as much as previously.  As the next few months rolled along and I plowed through 14 additional half marathons I found the hardest part of training to be finding the time for everything else in life.  I'd finally gotten to a point in my running where training was a priority and did not seem as much of a burden!  And then injury set in...

Now, the hardest part of my training is that I can't.  Sidelined by injury, it has been nearly five weeks since my last race and nearly ten weeks since my last training run.  I've put in three weight lifting workouts in the last nine weeks as well - again, sidelined by injury.  As I recently complained via social media about my inability to train a comment by a fellow runner really hit home.  He encouraged me to view this as part of my training - the mental part - reminding me that putting in the time to rest now would result in improved health and abilities over time vs. ignoring the doctor and plowing through workouts which will inevitably cause further damage down the road.  So now, the hardest part of my training is no longer getting out the door...it's not being able to get out the door.  As my friends wind up their 2012 race calendars and post their exploits at various races I have a twinge of jealous, as I reflect on my times from the fall and know that with each passing week they are slipping further away I have a bit of pain, and as the stress of daily life piles on with the holiday I have an overwhelming desire to leave it all on the road/track; but in the long run this is all a part of my training - right now the hardest part - and I have to respect that. 

Whatever you find to be the hardest part of training at the moment, do what it takes to push past it...even if just today...it may still be hard but you'll be glad you pushed through. 

Buyer/Runner Beware

Prior to signing up for any USRA event, please take a moment to Google the man in charge, Dean Reinke.   After reading a bit of what you find, make your own decision as to whether to run the race or not.  I am currently dealing with the man with regards to a past event and suffice it to say I know what my decision for future events will be. 

I'm not out to 'bash' anyone; I just wish someone had given me this advice before the event and I would be remiss if I did not share. 

Perhaps a Little Over Zealous...

I quit hitting the gym in late October and focused on healing the foot/ankle while knocking out my remaining 2012 races.  I stopped running with the exception of my races at the same time.  After Miami, I took some time off entirely to heal.  I'd intended on going back to lifting for upper body and doing some swimming and elliptical to maintain cardio while the foot healed.  The fall/injured wrist squashed that.  So, last week I realized I felt horrid and NEEDED to work out, but didn't want to further injure the foot.  I decided to get my lifting sessions in and just be careful that leg day did not do anything to injure the foot.  Well, the week got crazy and before I knew it Thursday rolled around and I hadn't hit the gym at all.  Thursday evening I headed for my gym and knocked out a killer back, bi, and shoulder session followed by a double abs session.  It felt great to be back and I was surprised at how well the wrist held up.  I'd lifted lighter than I previously would but still heavier than I thought the wrist would allow and I was ok.  I intended on getting in my leg session on Friday...that didn't happen.  So, Saturday, determined to make sure I hit all of my workouts for the week, I headed down to the gym and tackled a killer leg workouts.  As with Thursday, I lifted lighter than I usually would, but it'd been so long I knew I would feel it.  My abs were still hurting from Thursday, but I knocked out what would have been Friday's ab session anyway.  Nearly spent but determined to get in my chest and tri session, I headed upstairs and sucked down a GU, then went back to power through the rest of my workout.  I finished feeling great and headed upstairs to shower.  I knew I was in trouble when my arms wouldn't lift high enough to wash my hair without a great deal of effort.  I'm typically a person that DMOS doesn't set in until Day 2 after a workout...this was minutes after the workout!  Sunday morning everything was tight...today...well, let's just say I shouldn't sit still for long, I will be stretching a lot this evening, and I'm not so sure how I'm going to get in tonight's back, bi, shoulders, and ab session - but I will do it!  Perhaps I won't be quite so over zealous with this workout though....not that I'm complaining!