Shamrock Shuffle 10 miler

This Sunday was the Shamrock Shuffle in Rio Rancho.  This course is always a good course when you need a good hard challenge!  I was however pretty nervous for this one as I decided to switch from the 10k to the 10 miler at the last second!!  I had told my coach I wanted to do the 10k so she built it into my plan but then I saw 5 miles before the 10k and said I'll just do the 10 miler since misery loves company! :-)  My long hilly runs had been super slow and I was getting very discouraged I was running on average about 11:00 min miles.  So I thought if by some miracle I want to make it in time to run the Kids K with my son I'd have to 10 min/miles!!!  My husband said so that means I'm running the kids K with him?  Challenge ACCEPTED!!!  I finished it in 1:34 (9:26 min/mi) and was super happy with my finish time on this hilly course!!  99 OA out of about 200 and 11 in my AG not sure how many in that...

But apparently the second my son spotted me coming up the last half mile uphill to the finish he started bawling uncontrollably!  We don't know why.  So as I crossed the finish line I was handed a crying slobbering child....  We headed over to the start of the Kids K and was still crying.  I said we don't have to do it if he didn't want to.  But of course everyone around us probably thought he was crying because we were "forcing" him to do it, haa!  I walked the first few hundred feet carrying him and he saw someone in the distance with their dog walking up a steep sandy hill and said "I want to go there!!" I said if you finish this first I'll take you there.  So he started running.  Then half way through he walked again and I said if you go through that "rainbow" the finisher's shoot you get a shiny medal like moms so he ran it in to the finish.  We got our matching finishers medals and you better believe he didn't forget about that hill.  So sore hips and all I walked up that hill with him.  Of course we had to finish it all off with a play session at the park.  Don't forget the dog had to be walked later that afternoon too!  And my husband wanders why I'm always so tired! :-)  Hubs was a trooper going out there with our son to see me finish and suffer through the cry fest.

I had a great weekend and got to get myself and my son all decked out in my favorite color.  The day before the race I got to do a 26 mile bike ride and am getting use to my new bike.  I'm no longer in pain but it will still need a few more tweaks to get it just right. 

Happy Training!!! and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Mental Toughness and the 40% Rule

Mental toughness is a collection of attributes that allow a person to persevere through difficult circumstances (such as difficult training or difficult competitive situations in games) and emerge without losing confidence.

After many years of triathlon training including a few long course finishes I had always felt I had the mental toughness thing conquered.  But I'm finding out quickly that I don't!  I'm not sure I agree with the definition above because even if I endure something through mental toughness doesn't necessarily mean I didn't lose any confidence in the process.

I've always been able to endure the "pain" of many things such as training with various applications of mental toughness methods.  Like during a long run taking yourself out of your body, have you ever had that experience where it's like you're floating above your body looking down, like you know you're there going through the aches and pains of that long run but you've managed to take yourself outside of your body so that you aren't fully experiencing the pain?  Or if I am having extreme pain I focus on something else so narrowly that I don't allow myself time to experience the real pain,  like biting your arm to take your focus away from the excruciating knee pain that crept up out of nowhere (yes, I realize that is an extreme example).

So what changed?  Why do I all of a sudden feel like I need to go back and work on my mental toughness?  Well I changed my training plan completely.  And I became a mom.  I only have time to tackle one of those right now...

There are different types of mental toughness.  I was good at setting a main overarching goal and busting through that.  Like a weekend long run, go out and run 12 miles.  I knew how to do that, wear a hat that I kept pulled down low, never look up, concentrate on incessant forward motion, one foot in front of the other, mental block, karate chop any thoughts of pain, fatigue, boredom etc and just get it done!  

What I wasn't good at was having any kind of structure to my training.  Like go run 5 miles, warm up for 1, tempo run for 2, 1:00 min. sprints with 2:00 jog, etc.   Or swim  300 warm up, 8 x 75s free descending, 12 x 50 evens drill odds fast free, 200 easy etc.  I was better at, get in the pool and swim 1500 steady and nonstop.  So what did I do to fix this?  I got a coach!! (more on that later) and told her I need structure!  Well she gave me structure!! And what I have found is that now at the end of each workout not only am I physically fatigued but I am mentally fatigued!!  The mental fatigue is something I'm not use to and need to work on my mental toughness in that area to improve.  What I find myself doing on days that I'm exhausted in general and lacking motivation is falling back on old habits.  So if I have a 4 mile run planned for that day with lots of stuff to do during it but I just don't feel like it I say well I'll just go out and run the 4 miles and forget about the structure.  At least I'm getting it done right?  Well, what that's going to do to me is put me right back into my old ways of I'm just training to finish not training to improve!

What I find interesting is that there is a lot out there about mental toughness but not a differentiation on different types and why we may be good at some and not others.  Also there is a lot about mental toughness for business folks.  What the heck?!?!! I've never needed to practice mental toughness at work that made me laugh.  :-)  Maybe these folks should just go out and do a triathlon and work will seem like a piece of cake! ;-)  Just kidding!!!!  kind of...  At work I just have to fight procrastination so as long as I come in in the morning and get my most dreaded tasks out of the way immediately my day and week go much better.

There were also a lot of military articles on this for obvious reasons.  My favorite was finding out about the 40% Rule and this being the theory behind why so many marathoners while they usually hit a wall around mile 16 or 18 can still finish.  
“He would say that when your mind is telling you you’re done, you’re really only 40 percent done"  http://thehustle.co/40-percent-rule-navy-seal-secret-mental-toughness

So when you think you're done just remind yourself nope your body and mind can probably really handle about 60% more!!!! Happy Training!!!

Sometimes you need to eat a little bit of pavement!

My first official day of training for my upcoming triathlon season was yesterday.  Leading up to it I was so excited I was counting down.  My lunch workout went well did some strength training and a 1 mile run.  I texted my husband that I could take the dog out that night since the weather was bad so he wouldn't have to try to do it with our son in the stroller.  This would also ensure I got out for my 3 mile easy run.  The plan said easy fairly relaxed 3 mile run with a negative split.  I thought to myself well I can do 3 miles but since I'm going to have to do it at night, with my dog I'm going to go for convenience and run from my house.  But the 3 mile loop I do from my house is mostly downhill on the way out and mostly uphill on the way back.  My thought was well I won't get that negative split but at least I'll be getting the miles in.

As I put my son to bed and sang him horribly out of tune songs assuring him he'd have nothing but sweet dreams and a spectacular nights rest, I silently checked off the list in my head of what I had to do to get ready the second I closed that door behind me so I wouldn't get lazy and skip my run.  I put on 3 layers (it was blowing cold wind and snow flakes were trying to squeeze out of the sky) yes I was dreading this run, I put on my gloves, hat and headlamp and my dog happily jumped and skipped at my feet as I walked around the house getting ready (yes I swear my dog skips when she's excited) I envisioned getting the dog mom of the year award.  I felt tough and ready to conquer and proud for not going to the treadmill or trying to cut my run short.  My head was pretty full of myself.  Then all that came crashing down as the sidewalk some how jumped up and grabbed me and next thing I knew I was on the ground with my dog trying to make out with me!!!  It hurt so bad I fell on top of my keys and cell phone that was in my pants pocket, my gloves were both torn and my dog was tied to my waste so as much as I wanted her to stop licking me she wouldn't no matter how much I pleaded!!  I wanted to get up before anyone saw me.  I couldn't tell if she was licking me so furiously because a) she was worried about me and thought licking me would heal all my wounds or b) she was scared that I might turn around and just go home and she wouldn't get her run in and she thought licking me would revive me and convince me to keep going.

Sometimes my dog decides random things are about to attack us

I kept going but it was pretty slow because it took longer than I thought to shake it off.  So in the end I got my negative split but not intentionally.  Now I have a knot in my leg the size of a baseball and my ego has been put in check!  Thank goodness today's workout is a swim!  I can do this indoors and in daylight and hopefully I won't drown.  Here's to a great triathlon season and hopefully the worst is behind me ;-)

Sometimes we need to eat a little bit of pavement to bring us back to reality!

Torn glove

Happy Training!

Another day in paradise...and I might be an introvert...

I took the day off yesterday from work so that I could take a day for myself to go skiing.  I drove by myself, I skied by myself and the few times I had to ride up the lift with someone I only spoke enough to acknowledge their existence.  It was GLORIOUS!!!!!!!  I let my skies take me where they wanted I didn't plan each run and have to worry about meeting someone or leaving someone behind, I stopped to take pictures when I wanted I stopped for a quick snack when I wanted.  I didn't have to hear "I do it"  "mom do it" or "where's my __insert annoying item here"  I didn't have to pretend I was interested in hearing about every detail of someones day or their last fight with their so and so or their job.  So maybe it comes with old age or with becoming a mom I find myself feeling like I might be an introvert even though many years and tests have told me I'm an extrovert.

But most of all my body hurt at the end of the day in a good way and my heart felt like it might explode a few times but in a good way and even though I had to take some advil I found great peace in the snow capped trees and great pride in the limits I tested that day!  There is no greater silence than that of a ski run through the trees and as you pause for a minute to take it all in the only sound I heard was the soft powdery fall of some snow off a tree limb that just couldn't bare the weight any longer.  As I went down a run that felt a lot harder than the last time I took it aver 2 years ago and had to grunt with exertion as I prayed my legs would bring my skis around from one side of the mountain to the other then let out a whoohoo as I realized I was still standing and not face first in that boulder or tree I felt the heart pounding exhilaration that has always drawn me to the sport.

I hiked to the top of the highest peak they let you ski down and way off in the distance I could hear the beep beep of a construction truck backing up and I thought how great is it to be up here right now surrounded by nothing but nature and blinded by the snow.  I love my life and I am grateful that I have a job that allows me to live it and a life to come back home to that is so hectic and loving that it makes me appreciate these few moments I get alone.  On my drive back as I blasted music that I may normally be embarrassed

to play otherwise I smiled because I new my son would be waiting for me to give me a big hug and rush me off to "play with toys" and my dog would be jumping on me for attention and hubs would be trying to talk louder and louder so his story could be heard over my sons gleeful shouts.  So here's to my alone days that may be few and far between but glorious and make me appreciate the zoo that is my life otherwise.  For one day I didn't have an employee crying in my office or someone asking me where their paperwork was.

I have some pretty great news for my upcoming tri season and I just want to have everything in place before I talk about it but pretty soon skiing will be taking a back seat to some new training!

My favorite day of the year!

My favorite day of the year because I get to celebrate without feeling any guilt about being selfish! :-)   It also means there is usually a ski day somewhere around the corner because that's my favorite way to celebrate.  My son woke up at 1 am crying and wanting to be comforted and as I got out of bed my husband says "he just wanted to be the first to tell you happy birthday!"  :-)   I have great things coming my way with a new bike, signed up for a half iron distance in May (my first big event since my son being born a little over two years ago) and putting on a summer track meet!!!!  I was a little sad to have to come back to work after winter break because my son and I had such an awesome time hanging out together but I also feel lucky that I have a job that allows us to do the things we want and enjoy doing.  Actions, experiences and travel bring me way more joy than any material things ever could.  So yeah I have cabinets and light fixtures from the 70s in my house that could use some updating but right next to that I have a photo hanging of my husband's first marathon of the two of us running together and my son always says mom, dad, running and near that I have a photo of us being goofy hanging my son upside down and he laughs when he sees that. So I am looking forward to another year of fun experiences no matter how challenging it will be to get there!

I was hoping for a snow day to spend my birthday at home with my two favorite guys playing in the snow but we only got a dusting.  But I did come in to this:

Looking back on some old memories from this day on different years:

January 5, 2015 at 9:39am · My son's favorite place Explora!

 

January 5, 2013 at 1:45pm ·

At Popejoy about to see Rock of Ages with hubs!

Surprise Birthday Party! — in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  January 5, 2013

I have the most awesome husband, family and friends!!

January 5, 2012 at 10:36am ·This was only as far back as 2012?  Maybe I should revisit this haircut!

January 5, 2012 at 8:13am ·

I was so excited to read an e-mail this morning from a good friend to see that she said I was the one that inspired her to start running, that is such a good feeling and she is so talented I'm glad she became a runner!

 

January 5, 2011 at 8:23am ·Awww when Lexi was just a puppy:

1st day of puppy training classes yesterday learned all about clicker training. When we got back Lexi was in heaven with all the treats and thought we had been replaced by some nice strangers...
 

 

This is what I looked like in Jan 5, 2011: 

 

 

January 5, 2011 at 8:46pm ·Indoor Soccer

Scored a B-day goal!! We totally shoulda won that game!

January 5, 2010 at 6:30am ·Having Winter Break end right before your birthday:

Yesterday was brutal that's what is bad about taking time off but that's ok I only have a half day today!