Big PR! Dang that hurt!

I raced the Cap10k this morning. Thankfully I woke up with minimal aches and pains from the 23.4 miles from yesterday. My ultimate goal for this race was 44:51 (7:15 pace), but I gave myself an acceptable range from 44:51-47:00.

With tired legs, the hilly Cap10k course was brutal on my legs. I'm not a friends with uphills and there were many, so I didn't really worry all that much about being slow. My legs felt like bricks at mile one. I sucked it up and ran with all the effort I could give. I squashed some negative thoughts during the race and finished well.

Chip Time - 45:38.8 (a big PR of almost 2 minutes)
Overall place - 570 out of 18,000+ if you count the untimed people.
Age Group - 13th (really 14th because the overall ladies winner was in my age group)

I'm super proud of my time. I'm also proud of Chad, who broke 40:00 for the first time ever. Congrats to all of my Team Rogue teammates who ran today, even after running 20+ miles yesterday. Awesome!

24 with a close

A short update on the first of this weekend's runs...

24 this morning - First 10 with Dionn (who gave me a shout out in her blog, thanks!) on the Eastside loop. We ran pretty conservatively to be sure to have energy to finish. Next, we added the St.Eds loop. I did the 13.4 mile version to make my total 23.4 for the day. I have to admit that I was jealous of Dionn doing 20 when she turned off to head back to the cars, but not jealous about the super long bike ride she has to do tomorrow for her ironman training. Good Luck!!! I finished the run today with a faster close...miles 19-22 were 7:40 or faster.

The numbers...

10 miles, 1:30:54 (9:05 pace)
13.4 miles 1:55:27 (8:37 pace)
Total 23.4 miles 3:26:21 (8:49 pace)

3 bag ice bath - 5 minutes sitting in the tub while it filled with cold water, 20 minutes with 3 ice bags, 5 minutes letting the water drain. BRRRR!!!!

Tomorrow...racing the Capitol 10k. I've got a goal. Hopefully my exhausted legs will cooperate with my mind.

Non-running updates

Sorry for all of the long boring posts! Here are some non-running updates.

My handy husband tuned up the lawnmower and got it working on the first pull this past weekend. While he mowed the front lawn, I reorganized the garage to make it possible for him to park his truck inside now.

We got the weedeater/edger working only to have it die after a couple of minutes. No biggie...we went to Lowes and got a sweet super-powerful electric edger that I can use much easier than our old gas model. Yup, I edged the front yard and flower beds. I'm handy, too.

Chad also opened our new leaf blower and made good use of it clearing our decks of the multitude of live oak leaves and cleaning up our driveway after I edged.

I cooked a yummy dinner on Wednesday night that was supposed to be for my dad and Rose. As it turned out, the hailstorm kept them from making the drive to our house, so we were able to share it with Chad's mom (who lives in the neighborhood). I got all of the recipes except one from epicurious.com (which Karen introduced me to), and I think they were a hit. I would make any of them again. The recipes are great when followed exactly. Sorry no pics...we ate it all too quickly.

Mixed Greens with Tangerine and Fennel
Salmon with Sesame and Orange-Ginger Relish
Lemon-Scented Quinoa
Ginger Ice Cream

Sleep, glorious sleep

Background - After my meltdown a couple of weeks ago at the Soulbuster workout, I have made an effort to try to figure out why my body was so damn uncooperative. I was swollen (over 5 lbs heavy), fatigued, muscles ached, and just all around grouchy. I suspected it might have been my thyroid levels, but that turned out to be wrong. At the suggestion of my endocrinologist, I went to Dr Hutchens to see if there could be another explanation for the swelling. I blogged about suspected food allergies (food intolerances, actually), and Dr Hutchens suggested this as well at my appointment. I didn't even mention it to him beforehand. So here's what I've been doing...

• I write down everything I eat (dr hutchens order).
• I log my weight every day. (dr hutchens order).
• I take my basal body temp every day (dr bledsoe order)
• I take my resting heart rate every so often (sisson order)
• I've been limiting the amount of wheat that I'm consuming. (voluntarily)
• I've been vigilant about taking my prenatal vitamins (lots of b vitamins and iron).

For those of you who watch The Biggest Loser, a lightbulb went off for me a week or so ago. Tara had seen little to no weight loss for two weeks in a row, despite working out like a monster. At the weigh in, her trainer Jillian told her she had been overtraining. LIGHTBULB!!! I might be overtraining. So, I've implemented a few more steps to start feeling better.

• I have been really trying to get more sleep - at least 7-8 hours a night.
• I take naps when I need to.
• I've lowered my mileage to 67-72 mpw on the hard weeks and 45-50 on the easy weeks. I don't feel pressure to squeeze in miles if my legs are too achy and I'm exhausted.

The result? Over the past couple of weeks I've been feeling much better. Day by day my weight is coming down (5 pounds since soulbuster). I feel rested. My poop is back to normal. My temps and heart rate are normal. I'm not as grumpy. My muscles are feeling better, too. I'm also able to hit my times better at workout.

Sure, two weeks is not enough time to say I'm 'cured' from all of the medical things. I will, however, keep doing what I'm doing to keep feeling better and better. Ahhh sleep, glorious sleep, you are my friend.

Hailstorm

...and this one is not the largest one in our yard. It's just the one that I could get to without risking getting my head hit by incoming hail.

Warhurst revisited

It is now three weeks since the last time we did the Warhurst workout. Last time we ran it, we started from Barton Springs, warmed up 1.25 miles, and ran in very cold temperatures (I wore tights). I did 5 repeats and all five of my 'mile sections' were slow. I was bummed that my efforts did not yield a faster mile split.

Today it was a balmy 70 degrees and humid when we started, so I was wearing shorts and a tank top. We also warmed up 2.5 miles. I think it is obvious that I am not only stronger today than I was before, but that I run better when I don't have to wear tights and when I get a slightly longer warmup.

Oh...and I had a total dingbat moment today. I missed the part about the mile section being at tempo pace (or HMGP). I thought it was MGP, and kept freaking out that Michael was running so fast (and dragging me with him) when his goal time is a little slower than mine. He couldn't figure out why I kept talking about MGP.

Here is the lowdown -

Mile sections
Previously, Today
7:57, 7:26
8:08, 7:26
7:53, 7:31
7:50, 7:38 (I wasn't dying. I was just mistakenly trying to calm down and get to MGP.)
8:00

Today, I didn't do a 5th repeat to be sure that my hip does not flare. It was feeling pretty tweaky going around the track. Overall, my hip is actually feeling better.

1200 Track sections
Previously, Today
5:29, 5:29
5:28, 5:27
5:28, 5:27
5:26, 5:25
5:28

So, I think it went pretty well. I'm jazzed about maintaining my effort through all four repeats, especially because the mile sections were much faster than last time. I know I gave it a good effort going up the hill on Veterans Dr. I wish I wasn't such a dingbat and knew that it should have been tempo pace instead of MGP. I wouldn't have slowed down on purpose.

Now I'm working, drinking my water, wearing my compression socks, and trying to stretch the rest of the day.

Much respect for the Warhurst. Good work everyone!

Running Faster

Ask me how my run went this morning. C'mon, I know you want to know. Well, it went really well, thank you very much. I have to admit, I was a bit scared at this little progressive pace run on the schedule. I think my goal MGP (7:38) is tough. The 10k pace that goes along with a 7:38 MGP is something that I've never even thought about doing in a real 10k. I was shooting for a 7:15-7:20 10k pace today, which is a faster pace than my standing 5k pr (7:29 pace). Really, I have struggled with speed in the past.

Here's how it was supposed to go. The first column is the 'ideal pace structure' as set up by coach. The second column is what I thought I could do. (I wanted to give myself slower early miles to warm up better.) The third column is what I did.

Ideal I'd be lucky Actual
to hit these
mile 1 8:35 9:00 8:58
mile 2 8:25 8:45 8:00
mile 3 8:15 8:30 8:00 (split 15:59 for miles 2-3)
mile 4 8:05 8:15 7:55
mile 5 7:55 8:00 7:50 (split 15:44 for miles 4-5)
mile 6 7:45 7:45 7:48 (there was a little uphill)
mile 7 7:35 7:35 7:24
mile 8 7:25 7:30 7:21
mile 9 7:15 7:20 7:16
mile 10 fast! who knows? 7:07!!

I'm so excited that I felt strong enough to hit times close to the 'ideal workout'. Even with the fast early miles, I was able to hold on.

Woohoo! I got the biggest runners high from this run. I'm confident that my ultimate goal is a good goal for me. Even if I don't actually run 3:20 in Nashville, I'm confident that I can at least train for it and get faster overall as a result.

Other big news -

• I set a new PR for my 5k today between miles 6 and 10. Pick any 3.1 mile stretch between those mile markers and I smashed my old PR. I estimate my last 5k of the run was 22:28 (:54 faster than my PR)
• I also PRed my 10k. My average pace for my old PR was 7:40.7 per mile. Pick any 6.2 mile stretch after mile marker 3 of this morning's run and I set a new PR. I estimate my last 10k of the run was 46:21 (1:23 faster than my PR).

Looking Forward

I'm still counting down...

• 12 more days until the Capitol 10,000
• 37 days until we leave for Nashville, 39 days until I race.
• 53 days until we're on the beach in Maui!

Aside from the countdown, I'm really looking forward to April 25th after the marathon. Do you know what happens then?? I get to sleep in every single morning if I want to!!!! No more waking up early to go run!!! This early morning running business does not agree with me one bit. I don't like waking up before 6am, much less before 5am. It's just wrong.

La Vie en Rose

La Vie en Rose is the song that I walked down the aisle to (a string quartet played it). I picked it because of both the lyrics and because Chad and I would be going to France for our honeymoon. Every time we heard this in France, I would well up...it was incredibly romantic to get to relive the emotion of walking down the aisle throughout our honeymoon. The great thing about hearing this song in France is that it is so stereotypically 'French' that it has been remade so many times with so many different instrumental versions. I picked it out several times as 'elevator music' or from local street performers during the trip.

The version playing is the Edith Piaf version.

French Lyrics
Des yeux qui font baisser les miens,
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,
Voilà le portrait sans retouche
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.

Il me dit des mots d'amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.

Il est entré dans mon cœur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause.

C'est lui pour moi. Moi pour lui
Dans la vie,
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie.

Et dès que je l'aperçois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon cœur qui bat

Des nuits d'amour a ne plus en finir
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place
Des enuis des chagrins, des phases
Heureux, heureux a en mourir.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.

Il me dit des mots d'amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.

Il est entré dans mon cœur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause.

C'est toi pour moi. Moi pour toi
Dans la vie,
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie.

Et dès que je l'aperçois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon cœur qui bat

English Translation - (In some parts it is a literal translation. In other parts it captures the meaning of what the French lyrics were intending. There is an english version of the song, but it is not even close to the same in my opinion.)

Eyes that make me lower mine,
a laugh that dissipates on his lips,
this is the unretouched portrait
of the man to whom I belong.

When he takes me in his arms,
he speaks to me softly
and life seems perfect. (I see life in rosy hues.)

He utters words of love to me,
everyday words,
And it touches me inside.

He has brought into my heart
A happiness of which I know the cause.
It's him for me, me for him, all our lives.
He told me so, swore it, for all our lives.

And the moment I laid eyes on him,
right then I felt inside me
my beating heart.

Nights of love that never end,
a great joy takes hold.
Annoyances and sorrows disappear.
Happy, so happy I could die.

No Thyroid for me...

As an update to Friday's post...I did not get my thyroid medication upped. I saw my TSH level, and agree that it is within the 'normal' range. As long as it is below 2.0, my doctor is not going to adjust my Synthroid dosage. I don't go back for 6 months, so it could be a while before it is adjusted again. Hmmm....

She suggested that I follow up with my primary care to look for vitamin deficiencies (B vitamins, iron), so I have made an appointment with Dr. Hutchens this Friday. I will go fasted so they can run bloodwork if they need to. I really doubt I have a vitamin deficiency. I take a prenatal vitamin with iron at least 3 times a week (because I'm too lazy to take one every day).

I'm also going to ask about a referral to an allergy doctor. After this year's cedar season and suspicion that there is a food allergy that is affecting my 'swelling', I'd like to talk to a specialist about it and possibly do some testing. In the meantime, I'm going to start cutting back my intake of coffee, dairy, wheat and soy, as they are known food allergens or foods that I have started to regularly incorporate into my diet since I've started gaining weight and feeling swollen.

Soulbuster II

If you witnessed my run on the track today, you know it wasn't pretty. It finally took a breakdown followed by more running followed by Steve telling me 'You're sick' for it all to register. Here's the short (but thorough) recap.

• I didn't sleep all that well. I woke up heavier than I have all season and very swollen.
• I did my normal routine this morning...eat, drink, poop, pee. Nothing out of the ordinary.
• When my bladder ached 5 minutes out of Gateway, I knew it would be a long day.
• I had 6 pit stops total during the run today, four of which included #2. I pooped in the restroom at Russell's Bakery, Burger King, Mozarts, and the Austin High Tennis courts. (sorry for the TMI, but I was definitely feeling sick)
• The 20 pre-track miles were fine otherwise. My left hip is still sore. The hills were a little much for my legs today.
• On the track, I nailed MGP for my first two miles. After a lap of trying to go faster, I had a breakdown because I felt horrible in my guts.
• Steve told me to run 800 really easy and give him one more mile at MGP. He wanted me to get out of the 'emotional' part of my breakdown.
• I nailed my MGP mile after the breakdown, went straight to the port-o-potty, had nothing left in my intestines or bladder but felt like I had to go so bad. Instead I just sat there and sobbed.
• Steve had good words for me and made me realize I really was actually sick and probably very dehydrated. It was okay to stop running at that point.
• I have taken a three-bag ice bath. It was so cold that I still had big ice cubes left in the water after 20 minutes.
• I lost over five pounds during the run in 40-50 degree temps. Five pounds after drinking water throughout the run, eating 3 GUs, and post-run half of our anniversary almond croissant.

Thanks to those who were out there and cheered for me. I will run strong again on another day.

One Year Ago

Our official anniversary is tomorrow, March 15, but I thought I would share some of my favorite Saturday memories. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend. (Credit for the pictures goes to Amelia Tarbet. We have compressed the images to hopefully be on the safe side for reprinting/copyright issues.)

This one is of the ladies going for our pre-wedding pics.


Chad and I walking out of the chapel as husband and wife.

Whew, the party can start!

Posing in front of the 'groom's house' that we used as the bar for the evening. The building is the old Bee Cave store or post office or something like that.

Cross your fingers for me...

Gosh I'm blogging a bunch these days. Please cross your fingers for me. I have an endocrinologist appointment in 30 minutes and I'm really hoping that my bloodwork shows that I need my thyroid dosage upped. That or perhaps the Dr will have some other explanation of why I'm sluggish and gaining weight (8 pounds) despite running 70 miles a week and eating a balanced/restricted diet. Please please please let this appointment go well.

Anniversary Weekend - Rehearsal Memories

On Sunday, Chad and I will celebrate our first wedding anniversary. It is crazy how fast time passes, but it also seems like forever since we said 'I will'. (The answer to the question wasn't 'I do' :)). One year ago today (Friday) we were setting up for the rehearsal dinner and hoping for good weather. It was 80+ degrees and breezy as I remember it.

The set-up went well. Thankfully, we had friends and family come out for some hard manual labor to set up tables and chairs early in the day. The rehearsal and dinner could not have gone better.

Here are some pics from the rehearsal and dinner that night. Our dinner was delicious - salad, main course, and dessert paired with family wine at each course. It was such a treat. It is awesome to go back and look at the pictures to remember how much fun it was with our closest friends and family.

Tea Weather

Yesterday during my massage, Lisa said that this is 'tea weather'. I totally agree. Even though I've been downing a cup of coffee for 5:30am runs, I'm finding that tea really hits the spot throughout the day. Do you drink tea? What brands/flavors?

Here's what I've been drinking -

• Tazo - Wild Sweet Orange - This is a perfect cider replacement tea. If you don't want the sugary sweet taste of hot apple cider, but you still want a warm fruity taste, this is the ideal tea. I love this tea with a spoonful of sugar...I could drink it all day.

• Tazo - Passion - similar to the Wild Sweet Orange in terms of satisfaction and drinkability, but with some hibiscus/passionfruit notes.




• Two Leaves and a Bud - Mountain High Chai - My absolute favorite chai blend. I don't need milk in this one because it is so smooth on its own.




• Tazo - Organic Tazo Chai - not as good as the Two Leaves and a Bud, but still a satisfying, spicy blend. I'm drinking a cup of this right now.





• Yorkshire Teas - Red Breakfast Tea - Yummy strong black tea.

I'm a little stuck on the Tazo brand, only because I like their variety packs and their consistent flavors. In the past, I have been known to branch out and try new brands and flavors.

As a wedding gift, we got a tea kettle that I LOVE! It works well for tea or oatmeal (which I eat regularly). I also got some tea diffusers and tea balls for loose leaf tea, so I'm excited to try bulk teas.

It is certainly tea weather.

To Hell with the Trifecta

My Facebook status this morning read 'Sadie Jones has decided that a 4:30 wake-up, 40 degree temps and rain are the perfect trifecta for her to stay in bed...but she is gonna run anyways.'

I meant it. I really wanted to stay in bed. I am not a morning person. I hate running in temps below 45. I really hate running in the rain when it is cold. If it wasn't for horrible peer pressure and my complex to try to be one of the 'hard core' members of the team, I would have loved to cuddle up under the covers for another three hours. Damn, now that I re-think it, three hours under warm covers would have been so nice.

Thanks to Mike for posting this radar image on his blog. I'm stealing it. This is right about the time we started our warmup. Seriously, when I found out we were going to the Eastside track instead of Austin High, I almost had a meltdown. Mentally, I had prepared to run west, and it was all I could do to grin and bear it through a rolling hilly warm-up in a part of town we used to visit on the tour of our student neighborhoods when I was a teacher.

One good thing about this morning...I was so distracted with the weather conditions and my preparations to avoid the discomforts of the cold rain that I forgot to wear my watch. Oh well! I wasn't able to take my splits for the track workout. It was probably a good thing. My clothes were soaked and I was running in lanes 3 and 4 because of the huge puddles on the inside of the track. I can guarantee you my times would have been slow because of all of the extenuating circumstances, not because I wasn't putting forth the effort.

My Facebook status now reads "Sadie agrees that 'there is a fine line between hard core and stupid.' She will only admit to the hard core bit." The quote comes directly from Glenda when she walked in after her workout. I laughed a little when she said it. Then it hit me....

I drove safely. I wore proper rain gear to minimize the suffering through the cold rain. I ran the workout to the best of my ability. None of those things are stupid. Ever. Though I would not call people 'stupid', those who stayed in bed this morning (without a valid excuse like being sick) missed some of the mental toughness that I gained this morning. And yes, I could have slept in and run the workout on my own at lunchtime to avoid some rain...not an excuse on a group coached workout day.

Rock on...10.9 miles in the cold, cold rain and wind. Tough as nails. Hard core. However you want to put it...

Countdown

The weather change today got me thinking about a particular upcoming vacation. I'm ready to shove my toes in the sand at the barefoot bar at the Hula Grill, to drive down the coast with the top down and smell the ocean water, to admire an afternoon rainbow above the hills over Kaanapali Beach.

I've started some countdowns...

4 days from now Chad and I will celebrate our first anniversary!

18 days from now I'm racing the Capitol 10,000 the day after a really long run. Should be 'fun'.

29 days from now I'm taking off on a road trip with my darling to check off an item on his 'bucket list'. More on that in a later post.

43 days from now we fly off to Nashville to run fast. That sounds closer and closer, especially since some of those days will be recovery weeks or tapering. yay!

59 days from now we'll be on a plane to Maui to vacation for a week. Yay, yay, triple yay!

Headwind

Tara and I almost missed the rain today. We made it over halfway into a muggy, hot run before we heard the cold front about to hit us. We could see the trees shaking and heard the steam train sound of the leading edge of the front. Ten steps later, it was twenty degrees cooler.

The leading edge of the front was awesome. I know exactly where we were when the first cold breeze hit. The winds howled and knocked brown leaves off of all of the Live Oak trees in the Pemberton area. It was a shower of leaves for five minutes before the actual rain started to fall. Mist became sprinkles, became rain, became a near downpour before we made it back to the house.

We ran through a complete change in weather forecast this morning...awesome!!! So glad we got six miles in, because I'm not so sure I'm going to do any more later today. We're gonna need to bundle up tomorrow morning!

Music Change - Right Round

One of the songs on my running mix right now is 'Right Round' by FloRida. It samples 'You Spin Me Round' by Dead or Alive (which should be playing as you read this). If you want, feel free to scroll to the bottom and play 'Right Round' to hear the difference. That, or enjoy the oldie but goodie and let the more contemporary version play automatically afterwards.

Either song is fun to run to.

Yikes - Sucky Running Weather ahead!

The forecast looks like it is going to suck starting tomorrow. Yes, running in the rain can be fun, but running in thunderstorms does not work for me at all.

The plan is to get in all of my Wednesday miles in the morning and suck it up to do the team workout on Thursday as long as it is not too awful. Thank goodness I get a rest day on Friday and have the luxury of running when I want on Saturday (when I'll likely only need 6-8 miles to fill in weekly mileage). Soulbuster looks to have decent weather so far.