Catching Up.

Hello there.

I have been so quiet that I'm not really sure how to just jump back in without sounding like a weirdo who has been pretty bad at blogging lately.

{Nutshell - My Life}

Work, Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years, New Babies (and baby showers), friends/family in town, running, celebrating our 3rd Anniversary, volunteering at my 1st Ironman (whoa), preparing for the Holidays AND thoroughly enjoying them (parties yes please), making new goals, a trip up North to a haunted hotel, marathon training in full effect and eying some more races), running a 10 mile race and a half marathon...which resulted in a new PR, booking some trips (oh boy!) and embarking on one amazing one....life.

So yeah...all that. I won't spend the time going back through the details. I was sick on and off about 3 times over the Holidays which is never ideal but I am 100% now and feel great. My running took a bit of a hit with all that and I am noticing it quite a bit in my speed, endurance and my lung capacity. That's OK, I feel healthy and injury free so I'm content with that.

Coming up...

February 2nd - Desert Classic Half Marathon (training run)
February 17th - IMS Arizona Marathon 

The last few weeks at glance, in numbers:

• 43 miles
• 47 miles
• 34 miles (setback week, whew)
• 46 miles
• Current week (tapering) 12 miles

I am extremely sore today from a couple of new HIIT workouts the past 2 days, so I skipped today's run in lieu of rest so I have 2 full days before my half on Saturday.

Looking forward to:

•  The Phoenix Open this weekend. Party time, excellent.
•  Super Bowl Sunday!
• A night in Sedona to celebrate my Dad's 65th Birthday...it's a surprise, shhh.
• Girls Weekend in San Fran.
• Our FIRST trip to Europe. I.cannot.wait.
• Working on my race calendar and trying a new to me distance, gulp!

How about a mini photo bomb?

What's new with you?

Boom. 2-a-Day

{AM}

Yasso 800's on treadmill + full body circuit

(5 miles total)

                                                     

{PM}

10k Pace *whoops* outside in the rain.  

(4 miles)

I had to put a filter on my "self portraits"...no one needs to see that,

9 miles for the day, like a Boss. Foam rolled, iced, compression'd up for a nice long run tomorrow. Looking forward to running with the cloudy/rainy weather!

What Day Is It?

Man oh man has work been NUTS. My business comes in waves and it is crazy right now, which is a blessing in my field...I had a mini meltdown on Tuesday night and woke up Wednesday with my husband's cold that I had been avoiding the past 2 days. Nothing like getting sick when work is busy and you have a race the following weekend.

I was popping Zinc like it was my job, so I think I got the easy version of what he had but it sure is dragging on. A bit of a bummer because with a new running game plan, it forced me to hold back a bit and shuffle some days around.

Here's what I have:

Monday: 5 miles easy + Legs/Abs

Tuesday: 6 miles

Wednesday: 6 miles, speedwork (3x1600 @7:50 + warm and cool) <---- nailed it. 

                     + Upper body (still sore, ouch)

Thursday: Sick

Friday: 5 miles easy

Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: Long Run Hmmm

Total for the week: 27

I had fully intended on a long run today, but with this cold now in my chest and not feeling really great, I reluctantly skipped it and will run it Monday am. Good times.

A very smart little blogger planted an idea in my head after I posted my San Jose RnR Recap. Her major points:

1. If you want to get faster, run more miles
2. Don't add more speedwork (1x/week is plenty, you will just get injured)

So simple, yet not. 

We exchanged a few emails and chatted about HOW I could do this and if it was realistic...and it is. It really got me thinking about how I feel when I run more per week vs. per less. And really...I feel better running more. I feel stronger, faster, more confident. I run between 30-35/week consistently (give or take depending on my current happenings) and she suggested I bump up to 40-50. A little scary but I think I can handle it. And really, full marathon training IS right around the corner, so it should work out nicely.

So there ya have it. It's not science after all. (well I suppose it is)

The weekend has been pretty great! A dinner date with Wade and a Sun's game on Friday night, lunch al fresco on Saturday, homemade soup and a movie last night. It's been lowkey and laidback, my favorite kind of weekend. Off to enjoy the rest of my WHOLE WEEKEND off, thank you Real Estate Gods.

Hills = Make You or Break You

Hello from the Mountains!

Yesterday was spent soaking up the weather....I actually wore sweats and long sleeves!

 I had 11 miles on my schedule for this weekend's long run and naturally I hydrated with 3 beers yesterday and a tasty chicken burger.

A vision of running and health right there.

When I run up North I typically run the same route each time, out of comfort and because the roads are very confusing and winding up here.  Knowing me I would get lost. But running down the Highway is boring, so I decided to take a different road for part of my usual run. I knew what I was getting into this morning and I was actually excited.

Hills will make you or break you. 

Today, they made me. I walked a few, but that's OK. I felt good, strong and confident. And it was fun...I actually said "WEEEEEEEEEEE" while running down a really big one. (ya know, because I ran UP it on the way out)

I think my right arm is sore from all the waving I did to the passing cars. I got a lot of honks, waves and thumb ups. People are super nice here. Or they just think I'm weird - not a lot of runners up here. 

Change of scenery. Solid idea.

I came back and took myself through a decent all-over weight circuit and know we are off to Oktoberfest, that should be interesting!

Confession(s)

I live in Arizona. It's hot. Waking up at 5:00 am every.damn.morning to throw myself onto the nasty concrete streets got old.

Confession.

The treadmill has become my friend.

Who am I?

Oh ya know...just driving to go run. Makes sense.

I blame working out at the gym in the mornings, and being on a schedule to meet someone at a specific time...if I wasn't already there, then maybe it wouldn't be so tempting to hop on that treadmill and fall into an easy and comfy pace and the luxury of having a water bottle, Pandora and a bathroom all within reach. The past few weeks have been sprinkled with far less outdoor running (minus San Diego) and way to much indoor running.

I mean having giant commercial fan blowing on my back and plenty of people watching to push my through my runs makes it kind of awesome, right?

Confession.

It makes me feel guilty. Like I'm not a "real" runner. Which is really really stupid. But I miss the streets, the coyote encounters, the hot air balloons just above the desert floor and the fact that I actually run faster outside than inside.

So I took it the streets today. No excuses. No reasons. No expectations. And I was slow. And sweaty as fuck. But I felt 100% times better after 5 mile shitty miles than I do after 5 treadmill miles.

If I want to get fast, I need to run fast. And in order to run fast...I need cooler temps. I need natural hills. And I need the pressure of not looking like a total douche walking and not running from the cars passing by. 

I gave myself permission to use the treadmill on the 2 days I train with Naydine, because it's easy and it makes sense. But once September hits...watch out streets, I'm comin for ya.

NRD

I know I know....EVERYONE is posting about National Running Day today, hell, I even acknowledged it on Facebook so I guess I ought to give it it's own post, right?

Wade and I woke up bright and early and were out running by about 5:45....there was actually a chill in the air when we walked outside. Rare but I'll take it as it typically feels like Satan's House about this time of year.

I ran 7 glorious miles in the form of a tempo run. The first 2 sucked ass, and then I settled into a nice pace of about 8:25/mile to finish it off. My legs are still sore as shit from my gym workout on SUNDAY. (I'm.so.weak)

Geez.

We hopped into the pool, drank coffee and made breakfast....all before 8:00. Sweet.

I am meeting with a personal trainer today (hold me). Normally, I wouldn't pay for a trainer, but I got a few free sessions when I joined back at my gym, so what the hell, right?


Is everyone running today?!

Lead Legs

Marathon was last Sunday.

Come Wednesday I was yearning to run. To burn some energy, to test my legs, to work off some of the food and drink I had greedily been indulging in.

So I laced up my sneakers and set out to do a little recovery run down the beach path of Newport. How could that possibly suck?

It didn't. At all.

My legs were confused. Heavy. I felt really stiff the first .50 miles. Strange aches and pains. But I hung in there and 3.25 humid miles later, I stopped. I smiled. I realized that running makes me happy, makes me feel good.

Yesterday was my first run back in AZ. Ugh. 5 miles of heat and sweat. I felt barfy at the end, but it's not going away anytime soon.....so suck it up Linds.

Soooo, when's the next race?

I did it & I didn't die!

I did this...

And then this...

And then I murdered this....sorry little black beans....

I survived and honestly, it wasn't even that bad. I'm gonna go drink a beer.

It's All Mental

Thought I was referring to myself didn't ya?

While I was ticking off the miles on my run on Sunday, I was having a typical conversation with myself. You see, I try to keep my mind busy while I'm out there because really, what else is there to do?I struggled a bit on Sunday and I suppose I can chalk that up to being rusty, being sick, coming off an injury and being worried about the goal of 26.2 miles looming ahead of me in the very near future.


"How the HELL am I going to run for 20+ miles and not go insane?"


"How the HELL is my body going to hold up if I'm not in tip top shape?"


"What the HELL am I going to think about for 3+ hours?"


Those were a few of the worries that raced through my head on Sunday...and throughout random times throughout the days. So I need to put it on "paper" and tell myself to let go of things I can't control. My body. And wrangle the things I can control. My head.

Here is what I have come up with:

1. Run with a friend. I am trying to convince my buddy Trent to run that 20 miles with me. It will be distracting, it will be different and having run several full marathons and ultras, he will whoop my ass into gear when I start crying and whining. (come on Trent, you know you wanna do it)

2. Pick different routes. Change it up. Take the long run somewhere else besides my neighborhood and my everyday running paths. 

3. Download new music. Music is HUGE to me. I know this. Music gets me through my runs, picks me up and motivates me. Of course, having something new to get me pumped up will help.

4. I remind myself how many people have done "the marathon". People that are slower. People that are older. People that aren't as "in-shape" as me (funny). Hell, people that have prosthetic legs, injuries and life threatening illnesses. If "they" can do it. I can.

5. Be excited. I am going to work on thinking back to how amazing I felt the first time I ran 5 miles, 10 miles, my first half marathon. The sense of accomplishment and pride. The elation. Isn't this the same thing? Except bigger and grander? Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

6. Lower my expectations. I know that's a shitty goal...and maybe a bad outlook,and I don't mean to set myself up to fail. But if my body CAN'T hold up, I will drop to the half marathon and I will NOT beat myself up over it. Nothing is more important than listening to your body. It's the boss of my mind after all.

7. Be grateful. For my legs. For the lovely Arizona weather that allows me to run outside every single day. That I can afford the luxury of running in a race and traveling to do it. I never take this for granted. For every time I think I suck, that I'm slow, that I'm not good enough....I think to people who are bound to a wheelchair, plagued by sickness or simply struggling to put a meal on the table.

So I'm pretty sure I just motivated MYSELF with all this talk. I'm gonna strap on my shoes and bust out my 7 miler on this glorious Wednesday...because it's fun. Because I can. Because I have my eye on the prize.

I'll leave you with this gem...and remind myself of it when I start acting like one....

Yoga, a run and pizza...

Quick recap.

I had a super weekend mixed with friends, fitness, food, and a little bit of work of course.

Highlights:

• Friday evening "Ladies Night" with some of my favorite girls...Japanese and a glass-o-wine.
• Saturday morning yoga in the part led by my great yogi friend, Erin. 
• Saturday night date night with my cute hubs at a new restaurant, pizza included.
• My first attempt at a "long" run since Ragnar. Rough. Cold. Slightly painful. 
• >----Insert work here----< 
• My delicious Tuscan Kale and Salmon dinner. Sunday Night dinner at it's finest. 

I also managed to squeeze in some shopping. I am still on a shopping strike, and I technically didn't spend any money because I had a credit at a cute little boutique/resale store where I had sold some items. SCORE! My favorite "buy", which I think will be a good summer staple to my wardrobe. Brand spankin new and by Nine West.

I worked at MAC yesterday and picked up some several essentials while I was there...and a couple new fun things.

I have issues. I realllllly needed 2 new lipglosses. I did. Swear. 

___________________________________________________________________

So on the topic of my "long run". I wasn't looking forward for this for 2 reasons.


1. Rain was in the forecast.
2. I'm STILL sick.

I was also sore from my killer yoga session the day before, but I think it helped loosen up my tight hips.

Bonus.

I sucked it up and set out, all alone, on my trek. I was aiming for 8-10...hoping for 10, would be satisfied with 8. Still frustrated that I should technically be running 18. But moving along... It was freezing cold, (yet I still wore shorts WITH compression socks and long sleeves, der) very overcast, and I was just praying to beat the rain. And it was clear...for 7 miles.

And at mile 7...the sprinkles started falling, my leg started hurting and then it hailed. Funny thing is...it took me that whole time to get into my groove.

Oy.

I limped through the last couple miles....walking several times and stretching out my cold legs. I made it to 9 miles and headed in. I was cold, hurting and sick of being sick.

But I'm glad I did it...shitty runs like that make good runs SO much better. I'm hoping for one today in fact. I'm also hoping that it's a good sign that my leg stopped hurting immediately and hasn't bothered me since, whereas before, it hurts for a few days afterwards.

Baby steps.

A Breakthrough

Sunday was the day I told myself I could run again. 2 weeks off. (except my shitty 5 miles a week before)

3 little miles.

3 PAIN FREE miles.

Was is my shoes? I guess I'll never really know...but I'm 99% sure it was. Wade and I set out early Sunday afternoon to run. I was so scared...but as I got going, with a big smile on my face, I knew I was OK. I did a little more googling (yes, it's a word) on Sunday and I'm convinced it wasn't even my IT band, but some sort of muscle strain/shin splint in my upper shin.

Lesson Learned: Stop listening to everyone other peoples idea of a "diagnosis".

Now I just need to ramp up the training, carefully and slowly, to get to that 26.2 miles on May 6th. It's a long road ahead, but I think my little 2 week break gave me a renewed sense of hope, and I have a new appreciation for my training.

Game on.

Lessons of A Rookie

Let's face it. I am CLEARLY not one to give advice on anything running related....getting faster, what races are cool or fun, how to PR, what ratio of carbs to protein to eat for ideal race weight, blah blah blah. What I CAN tell you is how to be a total moron, and learn a lesson. Sometimes.

Fact: I have an injury.

Duh. I decided to be the smart little "runner" (I use that term very loosely, let's be honest) that I am, and rest. For one whole week, And I did it. And then I ran up North last weekend. And I hurt again. And I ran without my insoles because I left them in my other shoes at home. And instead of stopping immediately when I felt a twinge of pain...my stubborn-ass brain MADE me run until I hit 5 miles. Cause' I like things to be even and stuff. Mental case, I know. 

So I decided to take this week off as well. Give it a rest. Better to rest now than to rest 3 weeks pre-marathon, right? Right. So here I am resting. Riding my bike, doing weird at home workouts.

I had an epiphany yesterday when the UPS man dropped off my beautiful new/old Brooks Trance 10's. You see, I immediately tore open the box, hugged them and put them on my feet. Skinny jeans and all - I'm a real class act. And then I marched my butt upstairs to do some "scientific research". And for the record Brooks, I think it's a little rude of you to not make these for me in pink, a little rude.

I know, I'm special.

First, I put my shiny new Brooks Trance on my left foot (source of gimpiness) and my Saucony Craptastic (nothing against Saucony, just sayin) on my right foot and had a light bulb moment. It was like a Christmas MIRACLE. They are 110% different in the arch, the padding, the toe box. WHY did I stop wearing this shoe? I pronate. I roll in. I pull my IT band every single damn time I run, strike and roll in - with no support.

I called my husband. I texted my running friends to tell them my news. Share my excitement. I skipped on my walk last night. Of course, I haven't ran yet, because I'm not a total idiot and I really am resting....but I am secretly hoping that when I lace up Sunday, I feel no pain.

I'm a God Damn genius I tell you. OK not really. It was SO obvious I'm kinda mad at myself for turning my cheek to the whole potential shoe issue.

Oh well. Lesson learned. Don't eff up a good thing. Don't recreate the wheel. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

It's a Miracle

Yesterday was one of the best days I have had in a long time...I mean, I have good days a lot, but this one was super rad. And yes, I'm bringing the word rad back. Eating sweets and decadent food with ZERO guilt kinda helped push it over the top in terms of awesomeness.

Super Rad Ways to Have a Super Rad Day:

1. Wake up feeling rested and good.
2. PRESENTS from my sweetheart.
3. Find a little heart sticker on your steering wheel.
4. Find cupcakes & chocolates on your desk at the office.
5. Have a very productive workday, cleaning and organizing of files included.
6. Grocery shop like it's nobodies biz.
7. Bake cupcakes.
8. Work more.
9. BEST THING EVER RIGHT HERE!!!
10. Make fancy dinner with husband.
11. Eat fancy dinner while drinking fancy wine with husband.
12. Eat cupcakes from #7

So in between baking cupcakes, working and making fancy dinner, I ran. Big surprise, right? Not really? OK, fine. I had this run planned into this specific time spot all day...and my body was ready for it. I know that sounds weird, but I really felt excited to run, like I needed it. My knee had felt totally normal since Sunday.

It was cold as balls last night, so I busted out my leggings and long sleeve t-shirt and off I went, without my husband who insisted that it was too cold and needed to light a fire and sit by it. God, what a wiener.

From the moment I started running I knew I was going to have an epic run. And I did. I mean, for me anyway.... but I really really needed that. Mentally and physically. I needed to move my legs fast and breath hard. And I did, with ZERO knee/IT/leg/whatever pain at all. I felt a small twinge around mile 5.5, but wasn't to concerned with it. Running the past 2 weeks over a 9:00/mile was hard on my ego.

I don't want to jinx myself, but I think my issue has been miraculously resolved. I feel good today. No soreness whatsoever. It's so crazy that one day I can feel like a damn sloth, heavy and slow and the next run, I feel like a goddamn gazelle.

Happy.

I walked in the front door with a shit eating grin on my face and when Wade said "how was your run babe?" I told him...It was fu&*$% amazing.

I showered and got my butt in the kitchen. And I ate a lot. And that was my rad day.

Pep Talk

OK, so after my glorious post yesterday and being happy and excited (insert unicorns and sparkles) about my training, I went for a run....and it all came crashing down...

I waited for Wade to get home from work so we could go together, we started out laughing and talking...getting into the groove and then honestly, I don't know what happened.

My IT band started hurting me, I felt naked without my Garmin, I felt fat and turtle like, my stomach was gurgling (please don't poop my pants was racing through my mind for approximately 2.76 miles) and I literally felt like a dark cloud was hovering over my head. I walked 3 times and the last mile was painful.

When we hit our 6.25 miles we started walking. Tears formed in my eyes. I don't know what my deal was...I'm not a crier, I don't get discouraged easily and I certainly don't act all crazy for nothing when life hands me lemons. I prefer lemonade. With vodka.

Wade actually said to me "you can't be all negative babe, it's not you"...which I quickly snapped back "yes I can, I never act like this so give me 5 minutes to be pissed off".

 What he said next stuck with me...


"You have years to get fast, lots of races ahead of you and you will be injury-free in no time, stop freaking it, it's OK".

I'm usually the pep-talker in our relationship. This was odd. He reminded me of the time he was in so much pain he had to turn around mid-run. He healed and got over it. And I must remember, I'm not an "athlete", this isn't my job, I don't NEED to run. It's just hard knowing you have races on the horizon that you are excited for...and need to be running for.

I had my 5 minutes and got over it. Sack up.

Be Patient

I ran yesterday. It wasn't epic or anything. But I ran.

I had 5 on my schedule and I planned on running 5 unless I felt pain. I was actually excited to run...the weather was gorgeous, I was excited to get a few miles in and I was excited to start being consistent with my weekly mileage and of course, running pain free. I started out with a slow pace (I think, I was running garminless) and was running with a huge smile on my face when I realized I was feelin good.

I was secretly fist pumping in my head.

And then I hit about 1.75 miles and I got a dull pain in the same spot I had last Saturday...I brushed it off and then had a little pep talk with myself:

Bad Me: It's fine, just shake it off
Good Me: Turn around, danger

This went back and forth for a few seconds. Good Me won. I kicked it in reverse and headed home. I walked a couple times and worked on running really slow. It wasn't an awesome run, but it was something...and learning to take things slow is something I am learning in this "sport" of running. It's supposed to be fun, not painful.

I'll try again today.

On another note....my official race time from Saturday was 1:53:45 - average pace being 8:41.

4 seconds slower than my official PR, which is nuts considering this course was much tougher, uphill and I was hurting. One reason running with a watch kinda sucks.....however it is a confidence booster - I CAN be faster and I WILL be faster ;)

P.S. Wade and I went to dinner with a good friend last night...Mexican food. It was delish but man I felt like I had a salty taste in my mouth when I woke up. Blech!

A Letter to My Leg

Dear IT Band and Wonky Knee,

I have iced.
I have stretched.
I have foam rolled like a mutha fu&*#.
I have pumped you full of Ibuprofen.
I have yoga'd.
I have rested.

Today I shall run and I will need you to help me. You see my dear little leg, we have a schedule to keep and a really fun few months of running ahead of us and we need to work as a team.

For most of my life, I have always hated you. You are too big, too short and not shapely enough.

But now that I have discovered running...I appreciate you (and your twin sister, my right leg) and all the miles you carry my body through...but I need you to cooperate and work with me here. I promise to be good to you...to be more consistent in my training....to up my mileage slowly and to thank you every single day.

And I'll try to shave you more often, cause ya know...it's going to be getting warm soon. And I'm working on making you skinnier after seeing last weekends photos, sorry bout that.

Much love,
Lindsay

Nerdy Runners Unite!

Tonight was my 3rd "official" social activity with the Arizona Road Racers. No pressure or expectations seeing that every other event has had a showing of about 10 people in the past. But I plan on taking my job as serious as I can (and if you know, I'm not too serious) and getting our numbers up and making our social events an actual event vs a pathetic showing of a few random people.

As the biggest and oldest running club in Arizona, we have a pretty decent number of members and have several great and well attended races throughout the year, I'm proud to be a part of it. 

I just got thrown into this mix recently, so I am basically doing what they have done in the past just to get myself comfortable...but once I do, I want to start being creative and doing some fun club events.

That's the point of belonging to a club, right?

Tonight we honored our volunteers and invited all of our members out to announce the winners of our 2011 Grand Prix (year long competition, pretty rad...more to come on that)...and to eat pizza and be nerdy and talk about running.

Last year we had about 10 attendees....this year about 45-50. I'm pretty happy about that.

And my buddy Raj from this post...it was was special day for him, so of course he got a cupcake. 

I have an AMAZINGLY fun weekend ahead of me... my BFF is running her first full marathon so she is in town...something that involves 10+ miles of obstacles (I'm not part of that bad boy) mixed in, and my 5th half marathon....stay tuned!

Flashback

Apparently, I think I'm 21 again
 
Friday night was date night. Actually, double date night with our fun friends....we met up at Zinburger, dined, wined and laughed. 7 hours later...I was drinking a chocolate shake at Denny's and my husband was wolfing down an Omelet. Classy class.

Best part? We got home at like 4am. Kill me.

However, we had a REALLY REALLY fun time. I can sleep when I'm dead right?

After sleeping in until 9:30am, we got productive and spent some time outdoors, running errands and being adults. We crashed pretty early knowing Sunday was our "long run" day. After being a moron and signing up for RnRAZ last week, I figured I needed to bust out a decent long run. It's been a month since I ran over 7-8 miles, awesome.

It was decent. The weather was perfection. (seriously, who gets to run in a tank and shorts in January?) Wade joined me for part of it so it was helpful to have him alongside. It wasn't my fastest...but it wasn't my worst. I just need to tell myself that this one is for fun. No PR's to achieve, just fun.

We showered and hopped on our cruisers to ride over to Cyn and Jeff's house for some BBQ and football. It was a great day full of things that I love; being active, friend filled, food and beer consuming, and laughing.

Time to sit on my butt until tomorrow. Ugh.

Because

There are no tricks. Run because you have to. Run because you love it. Run because you want to be fast. Run because you want to be skinny. Run to find some quiet time. Run to sweat. Run to eat. Run to hear your heart pound in your ears. Run because you're a runner. Run because you gotta keep the streak. Run because you don't know why the hell you're running. Run because you fought with your partner. Run because your job is shitty. Run because you got no money. Run for the sunrise. Run for a race. Run because it's impossible. Run because it's easy. Run instead of doing the laundry. Run instead of watching TV. Run because no one else understands. Run because the cool kids do it. Run because you're tired of talking. Run for numbers. Run for feel. Run to prove something. Run because it f***ing hurts. Or don't run. If you got something better to do.

- Jeff Edmonds The Logic of Long Distance