Day 4.

Assigned Workout: None. "Rest day."

Wednesdays are my days off from work and I'll be darned if I'm going to rest!

So I got some household chores done, then packed up my road bike and took "him" down to the beach with me. I had told a friend I'd meet him down at the Bay (as in the Chesapeake) for an open water swim. All of my friends are doing ironman races this fall. I was registered for one too and should be training alongside them. But, I have deferred my registrations this year. Next year will be my year. In the meantime, I will keep my base, train up for Boston, and be ready to kick it into high gear next year as a triathlete.

I got down there a little early… shopped for some new open water goggles and Bonk Breaker bars, then hopped on my road bike for an hour solo spin before the swim.

My legs were complete toast. The strength exercises and intense spin intervals... which included squats, jumps, and various other meat shredding moves... completely fried my thighs. Every pedal stroke burned and my pace sucked.

But it's okay. I made it onto the bike today. Happy with that.

My first brief stop at mile 8: The "Narrows"

Second brief stop: Atop Great Neck Bridge

It was only 17 miles or so, but just enough.

Then it was onto the Bay.

Open water swims always get my heart pounding when I see waves and swells. It was choppy out there, no doubt. But I went in.

My view before I went in the water. I know it doesn't look like much. But it was rough!

Here's the weird thing about open water swimming: so I'm a bit frightened and freaked out about the possibilities of disaster: getting stung/bitten/chomped/struck by wildlife or boats or debris, getting overtaken by a rip current or mega wave, or getting lost from disorientation and meeting my watery grave in the depths of Davy Jones locker.

But at the end of it… even after swallowing a bit of salty water from swells slamming into my face, and getting a bit off course and having to figure out that shore is actually in the OPPOSITE direction… I come out of the water unfazed.

I never work hard enough to get myself exhausted. I always swim "comfy." Hmmmmmm.

Night-time sunset yoga on the paddle board:

Kind of got lost on the way back to shore in the dark. Mosquitoes attacked. 

#YOLO

Day 3.

Assigned Workout: Speedwork. 1 mile easy warm up, 6 X 800m @5K pace (2:30 recoveries), 1 mile easy cool down.

Morning Weigh In: 140.2lbs

Weather: 69 degrees. Is this even August?

Location: Mt. Trashmore, Virginia Beach

It's 4:30 am. I am so tired. But I have to get up this early to get to the venue for my coach's group run. The last group run I attended, he was supposed to run with me. I forgot to text and ask if he'll be there. Whenever he isn't at these runs I tend to get a little ignored. And managing 400's and 800's on a pathway around a lake is hard for me. They're supposed to set out cones. But they're never set up when I'm there. I prefer the high school track so I know my distances. But my coach does not like the track. He specifically says he wants me to stick to road or trail. I've never asked him why.

 I could set my watch to beep after 800's but that is beyond the scope of my ability right now. Maybe one day I'll look that up.

He's not there this morning, of course.

So I start my run. Sluggy start. After a mile I try to start my first 800. There are no cones to indicate where I am, I run hard for a bit, try to look at my watch in the pitch dark and I cannot see whether I've run a half mile or not. I squint at the watch while I'm gasping for air. It's a pain in the ass. And true to my form, I get grumpy and just keep running and say internally "eff this" and tell myself to run 5 miles at a faster pace than usual. There. There is your speedwork, dagnabbit.

If I were in one of my typical moods, I'd be horribly disappointed. Every run in this training process is supposed to have a purpose, and Ryan has reminded me several times that these "intervals" are the staple of my training. I essentially ran a tempo, which was not the goal for today.

But I am not going to spend time being upset about it. It is what it is, was what it was. I ran faster than the last couple of runs, so I worked on speed a little bit. I'll try again on Thursday. On a track. 

There really are some benefits of getting up before dawn, if you're obsessed with the sunrise and sunset like I am. It was a gorgeous morning. I must be getting old. I just gaze up at the sky and the cloud formations and it fills me with tranquility, peace, and grace. The feeling doesn't always last throughout the day, so in these moments I soak it in and breathe it, let it fill my lungs.

After the run I wet to the gym and attended my first spin and weights class in AGES. It was challenging enough. The instructor was new and not a toughie, but that's what I needed to break myself back in to the spin thing. Lots of bicep and triceps curls, and dips. Ugh!

Work killed me and didn't get home until 9 pm.

No yoga tonight, but I am stretching enough.

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Day 2.

Monday again. How I love thee.

Assigned Workout: Run, 4 miles, easy pace

Morning Weigh In: 140.6 lbs. Guess that 14 miler dehydrated me pretty darn well.

Weather (at 5 am): low 70's but humid.

Location: the "hood"

I didn't have to start this run at 5 am, but I had the lofty goal of swimming at the rec center afterwards... all before a long ass day at work.

Yeah, that goal was a bit too lofty.

The run this morning in the pitch dark was sluggish. A lot more sluggish than I expected. My legs were tired. And that was that. 

I came back home, decided I needed to take the time to fuel with a huge fruit and kale smoothie and head to work sans swim workout.

Good thing too. I got no lunch break and was on my feet alllllll day. It's 7 pm and I'm still not home... Typing this on my phone in my car while waiting for soccer practices to end so I can FINALLY eat something and call it a day.

Tomorrow is speedwork. I'm already panicking.

More yoga from last night on the golf course. 

Day 1. 238 To Go.

Day 1. 238 to go. So it begins.

Assigned Workout: Run 10 miles, steady pace (goal faster than 8:30/mi, minimize positive splits).
Morning Weigh In: 142.6 <- possibly the highest in a long while. :(
Weather: GORGEOUS morning, 78 degrees, 78% humidity, but windy as hell.
Location: Virginia Beach Oceanfront north to First Landing State Park and back.
Pre Run Fuel: 2 cups black coffee and a banana

So I drove down to the oceanfront for my solo long run. As I got out of the car and fired up my Garmin the battery read DEAD. I had it on the charger but I guess the connection didn't engage. I went into a mini panic but realized my Strava app on my phone had GPS capability and a workout recording mode. I'd never used it before, but how difficult could it be. Crisis averted.

I hit start on Strava and off I went with a climb up Rudee Inlet bridge. At the crest I had to pause and glimpse at the beautiful sunrise. I am obsessed with sunrises and sunsets these days.

As I approach mile 1 I have another crisis. For whatever reason I decided to try wearing compression socks this morning. They were basically cutting off blood supply to my calves and feet and I was miserable with numbness. So I hit the pause again, plop down on a curb, and peel off the socks and stuff them in a nearby trash can. I start off again northward into the wind on the boardwalk.

I had a beautiful view to my right.

Somewhere between miles 3 and 4 I look down at my phone. It says I have only gone 0.9 miles. Apparently I did not un-pause the app when I re-started my run. @#$!

Third crisis of the run. What now? I need to show my coach I ran 10 miles. I need data.

So 10 miles it will be. I hit start and continued on to the park.

I felt pretty good. My pace wasn't stellar, but faster than 8:30/mi. Took a Honey Stinger gel and a few sips of water at mile 5.5 and continued on.

Entry to the trail

I hadn't planned on going on the trail, but I gad to add some distance to get my 10. So I go down the trail for a mile of two, and turn back.

Just as I was about to clear the park, my FOURTH crisis occurred.

KABOOM.

Down I go after tripping over a root.

Lovely.

Ouch.

Fortunately, it was a minor fall, and I scraped my knee a bit but felt fine. My ego was bruised more than my body. Awesome.

Finished up on the boardwalk.

Something was wrong with the app on mile 9. A 6:59/mi pace? In my dreams. No way. Ha ha!

Almost 14 miles today! The longest I've done in a while.

Post Run Fuel: a mango, coconut and orange smoothie I bought for a million bucks on the boardwalk.

Finished up my day with some sunset yoga on the golf course. Yeah, the GOLF course. No one was playing.

Finishing up with squats, push ups, and sit ups before bed.

Week 7 Begins.

Attempt #3 at a useful blog that documents my journey to the Boston Marathon in 2015. This will be a fancy training log of sorts. And a photo album. An attempt to keep myself motivated through documentation. I will try to refrain from endless banter and pointless bitching and moaning. It doesn't help.

The quick version of the "history." 44 years old (gulp). Wife and mother of three VERY active children, ages 14, 13 and 10. Small animal veterinarian. Taxi driver. Maid. Not a cook.

2008: started running (er, rather, "shuffle jogging"). Basically this was my way to deal with pressures of life. I'd go outside and speed walk for a mile. Then I started to shuffle. Then I started to "run." Total therapy. I started my love affair with it from there and it sucked me right in.

Fast forward to present. Running became my drug of choice, which metamorphosed into triathlon. It seems I must always be obsessed with something in order to stay sane and not want to run away to the wilds of the Colorado mountains to live in a shack of isolation (well, maybe occasionally I still consider this option). Competing in races has brought me pride and health, but it has also taught me about the negative aspects of my true obsessive nature.

Life is a balance, so they say.

Enter yoga.

I started attending yoga classes earlier this year to augment my athletic training. But in yoga I found so much more than flexibility exercises. I found a philosophy and belief system that I needed more than I ever could have realized at this point in my life. I will probably infuse a lot of Buddhist philosophy into this blog. I can't help it. It's helped me deal with some very deep personal issues I've faced over the past year or so, and so I use it when I can.

So there will be lots of yoga pictures on this running blog. Why? Because yoga is prettier and possibly more inspirational than running pictures. I look ugly when I run. I am sweaty, grimacing, and trying to just make it. That's not to say I don't love it. It's just that I'm ugly while doing it and I don't like to see pictures of it. Swimming is waaaay worse.

Also: I like photography, so I like pictures. I like to edit them, and make them artistic. I think yoga is beautiful. Well, some poses, that is. I force friends and family to take pictures of me in poses to see if I'm getting better. I am not a narcissist. I just like yoga and I like nature and I like photography.

I've also just developed a love for anything active outdoors. Life is short and I've wasted too much of it sitting on my ass being unhealthy. I'm in love with cycling, swimming (did my first ironman last year), and most recently: stand up paddle boarding (aka "SUP"). I just bought my very first used board and have been taking it out in the evenings on the calm waters of a nearby river. It is everything I need it to be: a way for me to practice balance, get some upper body work in, and allows me to appreciate nature and everything my beautiful coastal hometown has to offer.

But back to the purpose of this blog. I qualified for the Boston Marathon in October last year. It was my dream for over a year after I realized consistent training paid off and actually made me a better runner. And I squeaked in. I register the first week in September and I hope and pray to secure a spot.

I had a catastrophic marathon last March. I basically quit about mile 20. It wasn't due to any serious physical setbacks. It was purely mental. I lost my focus, and let pure weakness and mental breakdown overtake me. Over the past few months I needed a step back to reevaluate many, many things.

I haven't run more than 12 miles in one stretch since.

But running and triathlon have became a part of who I am, and I became just sadder and sadder without it. I needed to get back into it. I just needed a goal.

6 weeks ago I hired an official running coach. I've watched him from a afar the past couple of years… he is a phenom. I met with him in a coffee shop and I basically said I wanted to go to Boston as the best runner I can possibly be. Could he help me?

He looked at my stats, my PR's and my history. He said: yes, he could help me. So I wrote him a hefty check and here we are 6 weeks into the process.

Truth be told I need to step up my game. I have some very big goals and it's time to stop making excuses. I've been tired, I've been a little disoriented and depressed, I haven't given it 100% in these first 6 weeks. At the start of week 7, I vow to change. I want to be a disciplined, good athlete. I think I NEED the structure and the dedication to help me keep me busy and focused.

Time to get serious.

This upcoming week's plan:

SUNDAY: run, 10 mile steady pace

MONDAY: run, 4 mile easy, swim

TUESDAY: run, 1 mile WU, 6X800 (5k pace), 1 mi CD, spin, yoga

WEDNESDAY: cross (bike, swim, yoga)

THURSDAY: 5 mile easy

FRIDAY: bike (leaving for vacation so we'll see…)

SATURDAY: 12 mile steady

Side note: will also address nutrition. I have been a vegan for approximately a year (for health reasons), and was a vegetarian before that. As a vegan, I gained too much weight by relying too much on grains. I'm rethinking my approach a bit and have decided to go back to the pescatarian way (just adding eggs and fish) with MOSTLY plant-based fuels.

Onward.