Snow Blows.

I remember three- and four-week-long snow days, and drifts so deep a small child, namely me, could get lost in them.  No such winter exists in the record, but that's how Ohio winters seemed to me when I was little - silent, silver, endless, and dreamy. -- Susan Orlean

So.  Snow.  Snow sucks.  And snow days when there is no snow sucks even more.  I've been a little tied up trying to meet a deadline, all the while wondering why my children are off school for an inch, maybe two of snow.  Monday was MLK day; Tuesday we waited for the snow to come -- all day; Wednesday the 1.5 inches of snow was here; Thursday the snow was still here; and Friday, heck, I don't know why they cancelled school any of the four days.  Needless to say, it threw me a little off my game.  My apologies for length between blog posts.

That being said, I ran my 18-miler in the "snow" on Sunday.  It kind of sucked too.  However, I made it 15 miles without walking and then walked the last 3.  My speed was fairly slow, in part because it was cold and in part because I was dodging the ice and slick spots on the sidewalks.  But I got it done - and then proceeded to go to a tough Masters swim a few hours later.  That was pretty stupid too.  :)

One of my goals is to blog more regularly as I head into my serious training for the upcoming season.  I think that it helps keep me more accountable to let folks know what I'm up to and what I'm thinking about while I train.  So hopefully you'll see me around here a little bit more.

Running Through My Mind

I find significance in all kinds of small details when I run; I'm hyper aware of my surroundings, the sensations in my body, and the thoughts running through my mind.  Everything is clearer, heightened. -- Kristin Armstrong

Today I ran a 15K race; I ran the same race last year and today I chalked up a PR by over 15 minutes.  Instead of finishing at the back of the pack, I was squarely in the middle.  In fact, if this were a math problem, I'd be above the median...19 out of 38 in my age group.  I'm pretty proud of myself.  I also got to spend 90 minutes thinking...so here is some of what was running through my mind.

• #megsmiles.  A local woman was killed while running this week, run down by a drunk driver.  I never met her, but we were members of the same (large) running club and we must have run some of the same races.  (She was fast - training for Boston...)  There was a nationwide movement to run for Meg yesterday.  I didn't run yesterday, but today I ran for Meg.  There was a moment of silence for her before the race and most of the runners were wearing blue, Meg's favorite color.  It was really cool to see all over the race course.  And really sad to think about her.
• Runners are cool in other ways too.  The sound system (iPod) cut out during the beginning of the National Anthem.  The race director said (I think jokingly?) that we'd just have to sing it.  And we did.   It was neat to see how nearly everyone participated.
• I love running.  Today's run felt good - I felt strong, I ran good lines, I charged up the hills like a mountain goat.  I was passing people all the way until the end.  It was awesome.
• I think part of why I like running is that growing up, I had good coaches.  In junior high and high school, when I ran cross-country, I really truly liked who I was running for.  Now I have an idiot for a coach, but I still like running.  Before you think I'm bashing someone, remember the adage about the person who represents themselves in court - he has a fool for a client and idiot for a lawyer.  ;-)
• It's a lot more fun to be in the middle of the pack than at the back.  I need to remember this the next time I feel like being a slacker with my training.  Clearly it's paying off, I just need to keep it going.
• Did I mention I ran like a mountain goat?

Sitting Pretty

I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring. -- Dodie Smith

I've been busy the past few days with work.  Work that requires sitting.  In fact, this entire spring and summer my work will require extensive amounts of sitting.  It's only a few weeks in, and I can tell you, I'm tired of sitting.  And not just the sitting itself, but also where.  This week I've alternated between my dining room table (where I write at home) and my office at work.  But I have a feeling that isn't going to work for the long term...I need to find new places to sit.  Panera, Starbucks, the local library...here I come.  Maybe sitting in places where I've never sat before will inspire me and my work.

I also hope to be inspired by a new place to sit on my tri bike, Freyja.  I finally decided (after conversations with hubby) that I didn't like the stock saddle that came on her.  So today I went to the local tri store, Endorphin Fitness, and bought a new saddle.  It's a Cobb 55 JOF - let's hope my long ride tomorrow morning will be more inspired than my last ride on Freyja...I cut that one short because I just didn't feel like sitting on that bike another minute.

Here's Freyja (hanging in the garage) with her pretty new saddle.  I need to move her back into the stable tonight - still not nice enough for outdoor riding in my opinion.  (We had snow this morning!)

The Bike Stable

Life is like a ten speed bicycle.  Most of us have gears we never use.  -- Charles M. Schultz

I am grateful for triathlon training, because I think it is forcing me to find gears that I don't regularly use.  I need to push myself harder in some of my training - harder than I would typically make my body work - and that is awesome.  But also, especially as my distances increase, I'm finding it necessary to slow down too.  And that's good, because sometimes I'm on such a high speed with life in general, having to deal with a long, slow run or ride can bring me back to a neutral speed...and that's just what I need.

Of course, in my crazy-awesome triathlon family, not only do we have more gears than we need, we also have more bikes than is normal.  :)  Check out the lunacy that is our bike stable, er I mean bonus room:

Who doesn't keep 4 bikes on the 3rd floor of their house?  What we really need is another trainer so we don't have to keep rotating the bikes on and off...especially since Freyja is so tiny and requires major trainer adjustment before and after every time I ride her.  That's a purchase on deck for spring when the local bike/tri coaching shop sells off their used ones, I think.

Speaking of the tri coaching shop, we went last night to the banquet for my daughter's tri training team.  It was so cool and inspirational to hear about all the fantastic athletes in town and see some of the folks I swim with wearing real clothes...2 piece suits (and I don't mean bikinis) and without goggles.  I really enjoyed it and daughter was pretty jazzed afterwards too.  I'm glad that, at least for now, she has found her activity.  The only concern I have is where we're going to put her bike in the 3rd floor stable if she keeps this up!  :)

Flexibility

You must always be able to predict what's next and then have the flexibility to evolve. -- Marc Benioff

My official training plan for IM Louisville (by way of Raleigh 70.3) kicked off this week.  I have a 20-week plan to Raleigh (with an extra week built in for vacation in April), followed by a 12-week bridge plan from HIM to IM, both from Beginner Triathlete.  (Of course, all of this is spiced up with my marathon training plan until mid-March, but that's another post altogether.)

Wouldn't you know it, there are already flies in the ointment.  Unfortunately, with weather and kids, it's nearly impossible to "predict what's next."  Last night was single digit temps here, with sub-zero wind chill (cold for my neck of the woods).  No biggie about my training, since last night was Masters and today was a trainer ride.  The problem was that my kids had a 2-hour delay for school starting.  I managed that fine, but now there is a 2-hour delay tomorrow as well, which is kind of getting in my way.  See, I was planning on going to morning Masters, then to work, then to a meeting at work, then running at the Y.  But because of the delay, morning Masters isn't really going to work out.  Or morning Masters will be fine, but work will be a scratch.  So I need to figure out how to be flexible and still git'er done.

Interestingly, an article about the parent-triathlete balance crossed my inbox this morning, with the following quote:  "Sometimes life gets in the way of training, yes.  But being fairly inflexible about the actual workout--and more flexible with how and when you complete the workout--is key."  So I need to get the workout done - somehow, some way, whenever possible.  I owe that to myself.  And so dealing with tomorrow morning?  I have some ideas that I need to run by the hubby, but I think I can get my training sessions in without totally scratching work.  And that would be a win.

There's also that other flexibility thing.  Like touching your toes kind of flexibility.  Not my strong point, but as the training volume ramps up, I really would like to keep my body at least a little bit happy with me.  I've started doing core workouts a couple times a week, and now I'm trying to commit to doing some yoga-type exercise as well.  A while ago I bought this Yoga for Runners app - I like it a lot and just did one of the sequences tonight - the first time in a long time.  One reason I like it is that it isn't all freaky-deaky hippy-dippy yoga.  That's not my style.  It's straightforward, "do this stretch because it will open up your hips" kind of yoga.

Flexibility - I need both kinds.

Personal Bests

I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep to keep on doing so until the end. -- Abraham Lincoln

I ended 2013 and started 2014 with a bang!  Yesterday, on New Years Eve, I swam the furthest I ever swam in my life, and today, I got a personal best for a 5K run, beating the time I had set four years ago when I was at my fastest and fittest.  2014 is going to be a great year.

Yesterday was the 100x100s fundraiser through my Masters group.  I didn't do all 100 - and I wasn't planning to, but I was able to swim 50x100 in around two hours.  Yep.  I swam a 5K yesterday.  Crazy talk.  So I decided to follow it up by running a 5K this morning - the First Day 5K.  And I set a personal record by about 30 seconds.  Now I just need to bike 5K and I'm golden, right?  :)

Happy New Year!  I plan to keep doing the very best I can from the beginning of 2014 until the end.