Bike, Run, Strength

28 February

Bike: 7 mi (30 min)
Run: 7 mi
Strength: legs
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Bike--Easy recovery spin. Still need a new saddle.

Run--Wed night track with MCRRC. Unfortunately 100m of the track was completely iced over, so we did 300m strides/100m jog through the ice for 60 min. None of us kept track of the laps, but it was great nonetheless. My legs feel much fresher because of this workout!

Commute--I LOVE SPOOKY my mtn bike! The roads and bike path are cleared off enough so I can commute on SPOOKY again! Holy cow, I am SOOOO happy! Riding that bike is beautiful. SPOOKY is going to become hot pink glitter in a few weeks after I finish the rough draft of my thesis (motivation comes in many forms).

Food--Artwork and aesthetics. My meals must be colorful and flavorful. I cook almost every night. Leftovers are golden, esp for breakfast!

Salmon, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, corn and couscous--YUM!

Run

27 February

Run: 20 mi
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Run--5:30AM on the treadmill at the gym, 8:38 pace (2:52:50). Slower than where I should be, but whatever, another deposit in the bank of marathon. Then I had to rush to be on time for a lecture at the hospital! It was wonderful to visualize running in the race, slapping hands of people, conquering the hills, and being in great shape. Maybe another Boston qualifying time is on the horizon...? 7 more weeks and I'll find out. Ok, time to "run" to another appointment... The party never stops!

Run

26 February

Run: 6 mi
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Run--J FSFJ90 )#)r )i)(#)$&@)#*@_ U403 FEA FDSFDAFDSAF 09FI09IA0 KF32!!!! BAH! I wanted to do a long run today since yesterday was snowed out, but it just didn't happen. I ran to school and the hospital the morning to get some work done, and then ran home. Then I continued on through the neighborhoods. My stomach and head felt like garbage, and my shoes and socks were soaked from the melting snow. It was just very frustrating.

Motivation--I need to pull my head out of my ... I am running the Boston Marathon in a few weeks, for crying out loud! I love running, so it's really, really weird that I had such a crappy running day today.

Run

25 February

Run: 45 min (5 mi)

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Run--45 min in wet, sticky, thick snow. I came in only because my gloves were soaking wet and my glasses were covered in snow. It was fun though. I wonder when it's going to stop...

No Race--Race was cancelled this morning due to weather. Kudos to the race director and the MCRRC listserv for sending out that info really early. I was surprised the weather went downhill so quickly.

No IKEA--Too much snow to go to IKEA. Can we say bummed?! At least this is a great day to work on some thesis! And drink tea and hot chocolate!

Needless to say, I was surprised to see this in the morning

My snow angel!!!

Bike

24 February

Bike: 30 mi (2 hr)
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Bike--Watched The Devil Wears Prada while on the bike this evening, lots of spinning in the small chain ring. Yes, LUCKY flatted AGAIN while on the trainer (it's 10 tubes now since January). He certainly is living up to his name.

Sanity--Unfortunately I didn't make it to IKEA this evening. Shabbat ended around 7:00 or so, the squeezed in the bike, then the store closed at 9:00. Maybe tomorrow??

Race--Hopefully the race tomorrow will not be postponed or cancelled due to freezing rain! I'm ready to run these legs off!!! What happened to the groundhog's prediction of early spring?!?

Strangling LUCKY with a flat bike tube

Run, Bike, Core

23 February

Run: 8.5 mi
Bike: 32 mi (2 hr)
Core: 25+ min
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Run--Windy but beautiful! I will take sunny and freezing over cloudy and warmer temps anyday! I decided just to run for the sake of running. (Time was 1:09, or 8:12 pace, though.)

No Cancer!--I had a few tongue biopsies, and the first few didn't turn out so great. So they cut some more off, and they got it all. Whew, because I was afraid they were going to keep cutting until there wasn't much left!

Thesis and Reward--I wrote 50 pages of my thesis over the past few days, in addition to finishing my last two final exams for this masters program. To celebrate, I am totally going to IKEA tomorrow and eating a cinnamon bun!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!

Bike

22 February

Bike AM: 30 min (8 mi)
Bike PM: 30 min (7 mi)
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Bike--The AM session consisted of 10 x 1 min spin EZ/1 min >100 rev/min in higher gears (pyramiding up and down). Man, was I sweating! I rode while watching Sister Act II, one of my favorite movies! That first sentence doesn't make sense, does it...

Grad School--I finished my last final for my graduate program!!!!!!!! Now the only thing standing between me and my MSPH in Health Physics is this THEEEEEESIS!!!! WOO HOO!

Bike, Run, Strength, Core

21 February

Bike AM: 28 mi (2 hr)
Run PM: 10 mi (hills)
Strength: legs
Core: 15 min
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Bike--2 hrs in the morn on the trainer. I need a new saddle. Enough said.

Run--1 mi WU, 8 x THE HILL, 1 mi cool. THE HILL is just over 0.5 mi, and it's tough! I decided to run THE HILL instead of the Wed night track workout with MCRRC. Last time I checked, Boston has hills.

Strength--The huge blow-up exercise ball is the greatest piece of training equipment ever invented. I LOVE this thing. My legs are destroyed after using this ball.

Race--The running clubs in the MD/VA/DC region are holding their championship this weekend, a 10 miler in Columbia, MD. The website warns of hills! This is my first real race of the winter/spring 2007 season. It's a practice session for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race.

Splits
1 mi WU, 9:16
0.5 mi up/down, 3:52/4:26
3:45/4:38
3:41/4:44
3:47/4:48
3:40/4:53
3:43/4:44
3:39/4:53
3:29/3:43
1 mi cool, 8:41

Some of these should be donated to science (only 8 pair of running shoes!)

PLEASE call me out--this mileage isn't going to cut it...

Run

20 February

Run: 5 mi (45 min)
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Run--It was so wonderful just to go out and run--no prescribed route, no prescribed time, no schedule. The opportunity presented itself, and I seized it!

Weather--It's raining!!! YAY! Melt all that ice!

Karma--I helped cars #5 and #6 get out of the parking lot today as most everything is still incapacitated by the ice. The boiling water trick really works! Do good (and bad) karma points exist??

X-Train

19 February

X-Training: 3 hrs skiboarding
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X-train--Skiboarding is so ridiculously fun. Again, I went with my youth group teens, and we spent the majority of the time on the green slopes. That didn't stop me from shredding it up in the half pipe though (no flips, only grabs). Ski Roundtop has a few terrain parks too which are pretty fun. I need to practice going off rails. Much fun!

Rest

18 February

Rest
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Rest--Spent the day driving the teenagers in my youth group to their different activities on the mountain: paintball, skiing, tubing, the works. It was great to see them having a lot of fun!

Run

17 February

Run: 20 mi
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Run--20 mi on the treadmill at the base gym in 2:48:37 (8:25 pace). Walked a mile to the gym in the sunshine and walked a mile home. It was great recovery, actually. Things were starting to melt!

Stupid--For those of you who are wondering, I did NOT log my "x-training" hours from yesterday! I was just being goofy! It was a great back workout though. I can feel it today.

Weekend--Time for some weekend ski boarding in PA!

X-Train

16 February

X-Train: 2 hrs

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X-train--Yes, my car is FREE from the icy grips of winter!!! It only took 2 hours, 20 pots of boiling water, a bag of salt, 2 ice chippers, and 4 people! I immediately drove to the story to buy anti-icing stuff and a heavy duty ice chipper. Of course, there is no anti-icing stuff for about a 300 mi radius, and the hardware store jacked the price for the ice chipper up to $40! No way man! But clearing out a parking spot in my lot was necessary (as I am leaving tomorrow night to take my youth group skiing for the weekend, and I MUST get out). I ended up paying over $40 for a big bag of sand, a shovel, and a weird hand-held garden tool thing. I spent another 2 hours hacking away at the ice in a parking space so it was completely asphalt. My work here is done.

Weird garden tool

Expertly demonstrating proper smashing technique

Bike

15 February

Bike AM: 15 mi (1 hr)
Bike PM: 30 mi (2 hr)
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Bike--Garrison Keillor is the best way to endure any trainer ride.

Frozen--I usually go to masters swim practice on Thursdays, but my car was literally frozen to the parking lot asphalt. I have no idea how to pry my car free, which makes me somewhat paranoid. I can't even back my car out because the wall of snow left by the plow is rock solid and will crush my bumper. That stuff isn't moving. Gotta love ice-on-snow-turned-to-ice-and-then-covered-in-sleet. Tomorrow I'm taking boiling water to the ice to free the tires and hubcaps, at least. Maybe I can find some sand or dirt...

Wheels stuck in the ice-snow-ice-sleet-snow-ice

You said it! (from this website)

Run, Strength, Bike, Core

14 February

Run: 8 mi
Strength: legs, triceps, lats
Core: 10 min
Bike: 30 min (8 mi)
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Run--1.2 mi WU, 6 mi tempo (tempo time 43:38, 7:16 pace), 0.8 mi cool on a treadmill. I started out running 3 mi at 7:30 pace, then just tried to pick it up.

True Love--Yes, it is Valentine's Day, and I did receive the most amazing valentine from my Valentine in AZ. He is an amazing man! But I LOVE A Prairie Home Companion. There will always be a special place in my heart for Garrison Keillor. You will not find a bigger fan of the show. Every show completely blows my mind away! Holy cow, the show I was listening to while riding my bike blew my socks off! This yodeler was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! Wow, I am just blown away by these performers. I really hope they come back to DC this May!

Motivation--I pulled my head out of my butt today. My focus this season is consistency, and I have been anything but. Strength workouts have gone by the wayside, and 60-80 mi per week on the bike is NOT enough. The Boston Marathon isn't going to run itself, and none of these goals are going to happen if I don't shut up and get the job done. As I ran, I thought of three things:

1) "Even the Kenyans warm up at 9:00/mi"
2) "Run your own race"
3) "Add a brick to the temple of body today"

A classmate of mine from the Air Force Academy ran his first marathon at Houston a few weeks ago and missed the Olympic marathon trials qualifying time by ~1:30. I don't want to miss a goal by 1:30. I want to obliterate my goals. What we do today can put us on "1:30" on either side of what we want most to do. Sometimes it sucks, but I don't want to be 1:30 on the wrong side of qualifying for the Olympic marathon trials (figuratively, of course). Put the rubber to the road, slacker!

One More Thought--Attitude is everything. Tempo runs are always so daunting, but for no reason! Today my goal was 7:30 pace, which in my mind was scary. 7:30?! For 6 miles?! Then I started running the warm-up distance. And felt good. Then it became time to ramp up to 7:30 pace. And it was... easy! But I exercised patience and waited 3 miles before bumping it up. Then slowly but surely 7:30 pace became 6:53 pace by the end. For the last half mile I turned it up to 6:18 pace, but my brain couldn't handle that. I know I can run 6:18 pace for a half mile, but my brain totally short circuited! I did turn it back down to 6:45 pace for a little bit and then back up, but it just goes to show how important the mental component of athletics is. Tempo runs are NOT scary, nor is 6:18 pace for such a short distance. "If the furnace is hot enough, it will burn anything." ~John Parker, Once a Runner

Bike, Core

13 February

Bike: 7 mi (30 min)
Core: 10 min
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Bike--Rode LUCKY before class this morning. It's snowing like CRAZY right now! And tons of ice! The weather is kicking my butt.

Core--Whoa, pushups are now high on the priority list for the April fitness test. OUCH!

Rest

12 February

Rest
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Rest--Only because a friend and I managed to become SUPER lost and end up halfway to Pittsburgh on our way home from York. Pittsburgh is NOT anywhere close to Bethesda, MD. Or York, PA. Oops... We drove 60+ miles the wrong way. Maybe I shouldn't be admitting this to everyone on the WWW!

Bike

11 February

Bike: 20 mi (1:45 hr)
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Bike--LUCKY on the trainer while watching Talladega Nights on DVD. I also put some pretzels, tortilla chips, and a cheese stick in my Bento Box while riding on the trainer! Ha ha. Practicing nutrition, right?? It's all about the salty snacks. Still feeling ridiculously tired, but MUCH better than yesterday. How weird...

Run

10 February

Run: 13.6 mi
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Body--I went to bed at 9:30 Fri night and didn't wake up until noon on Saturday. I feel completely fine except for this completely overwhelming fatigue. It's scary because I have never felt that tired before in my entire life.

Run--Needless to say, the run didn't go very well yet again. Managed to run 8:01 pace (total time 1:49:05), though the target was 7:45. Maybe next week? First, I need to figure out what in the heck is causing this extreme tired feeling.

Run

9 February

Run: 9.3 mi
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Run--This was the first time that I didn't wear enough warm clothes during a run. I froze the entire time, and the run was miserable. All day I was completely exhausted for no apparent reason. It was awful and weird. Then I decided to do my "long" run (the FIRST plan calls for a shorter long run this week), and I just couldn't make it the whole way. Oh well, I'll try again later.

Training--As I was running I was thinking about the benefits of high running mileage vs. this program I am trying right now. Those super high mileage weeks really strengthened my legs in a crazy way. I am seriously wondering if running only 3 times per week is going to provide the strength my legs are going to need after pounding pavement for 20+ miles during the marathon. That's something x-training can't help with, in my opinion. Thoughts?

Bike, Swim

8 February

Bike: 8 mi (30 min )
Swim: 4200 yd
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Bike--A quick spin on LUCKY on the trainer while listening to Garrison Keillor's Joke Show from last week. Hilarious! Small chainring, spin those legs!

Swim--IM until our arms fell off and then some great breaststroke drills.

Bike, Run, Core

7 February

Bike: 28 mi (2 hr)
Run: 7 mi
Core: 10 min
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Bike--Rode LUCKY on my trainer while watching Nacho Libre. I LOVED this movie! Very cute, yet unusual, story. Lots of grinding in the big chain ring.

Run--Yup, Wed night track workout in 22* temps and snow! Actually, there were only 5 or so icy patches and 100m of snow on the track, otherwise most of it was clear. There was a pretty "chilly breeze" too. Brrrr! The workout was 10 x 400m (400m recovery)

Splits for 10 x 400m
1:34
1:32
1:32
1:31
1:26
1:26
1:27
1:27
1:27
1:23 (YIKES!)

Swim

6 February

Swim: 4000 yd
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Swim--The pool is open again! It was pretty darn chilly though (70*). Just motivation to swim faster. The sets include a long aerobic freestyle set and a back/free kicking set. Of course, there were some drills and some IM thrown in for good measure (my favorite). The shoulders were pretty stiff, probably from some more vaccine shots I had this afternoon. Just makes me tougher!

Weather--When I left my apartment this morning, the temp was 10*. It was cold. And I was on my bike. It's also supposed to snow tomorrow, but the temps are supposed to rise a bit. Outdoor workouts are going to be more of a challenge this week!

Thesis--Here's a photo sent to me last night in honor of my thesis work from another USAFA grad. While we were cadets at the United States Air Force Academy, we engaged in some pretty wacky shinanigans. This was taken right before final exams.

Some cadets at USAFA were very bored! My alma mater!

Rest

5 February

Rest
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Rest--Just a regular old rest day. A major headache in the AM and freezing temps sidelined a tempo run, but no worries. The running gods left me a sign, and I paid attention. I'll make it up later this week.

Nutrition--I will admit I haven't been following my food guidelines very religiously at all lately, which is weird because I really like those foods. But I'm back on the horse. If I follow my guidelines, the rest of my nutrition and healthy habits fall into place by default. A recap of my guidelines, which can be used as a stepping stone for healthy eating habits:
1) Serving of fruit before noon
2) Serving of dairy before noon
3) Salad of raw vegetables (2 servings) with lunch or dinner

Swim

4 February

Swim: 1000 yd
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100IM--PR! I swam a 1:29 for 100yd. I think I can swim even faster though.

200 Fly--DQ, but I am not disappointed. I was so incredibly nervous before my event, but I stepped up on the blocks and took off. My arms stayed on, and even felt good! Too bad I flutter kicked 30 feet from the last wall! Oh well, a goal for next time. I am NOT intimidated, and that swim was a great lesson.

Steph at the meet

Run

3 February

Run: 18.5 mi
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Run--Oh, the sun was beautiful today! Still freezing, but very sunny. Also, today was the maiden voyage in the new shoes (Reebok Road Plus III). The insole gave me a mini blister on my right arch, but the shoes are like running on a cloud. Perfect for those who need medium amount of support with a LOT of cushion. We'll see how they fare a few hundred miles later. Right now, I'm happy.

Nutrition--I need to eat more food in smaller intervals. Last night I was so freezing, so I drank some tea and ate some soup (with about 1/2 bag of frozen veggies added) and went straight to bed. Then I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and a small handful of dried fruits and veggies in the early afternoon. Then I came home and ate 1/2 a potato. That is definitely not enough food to sustain an 18+ mile run. I haven't been running with gels either. Saturdays are hard because services are so long. Major bonking almost happened today.

Perfect Day--After the past few weeks of bad news and doctors' appointments, it was nice to have a perfect day. Here's what a perfect day looks like: Yom Shabbat -- wake up without an alarm, movie in the AM (A Mighty Wind), leading the Torah service and chanting the longest Haftarah of the year, learning in a Pirkei Avot class, long run, hot shower, sushi, reading, bedtime! Yesssssss!

Freak out!--Tomorrow is the SWIM MEET! Time to (hopefully) knock out a goal!!!

Splits
1.7 mi, 14:35
3 mi, 26:21
3 mi, 25:59
3 mi, 24:00
1.5 mi, 11:54
1.5 mi, 12:35
3 mi, 24:48
1.8 mi, 14:13
Total time 2:34:28, total pace 8:22

Run

2 February

Run: 9.4 mi
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Run--Wow, it is FREEZING out there. During my run snow/sleet/hail/rain were all falling from the sky. The temp was 33*, so the clouds couldn't decide what they wanted to drop on us. It wasn't too windy, but enough to make you wish it would go away. I also wore my bright blue trail shoes since I wasn't sure what the footing looked like. I didn't wear my glasses, which made the run incredibly difficult. I need to find a solution; drops on my glasses is worse than not wearing any. But another tempo run done! Time to defrost...

Splits
1.8 WU
5 mi tempo, time 35:52, pace 7:10
2.6 cool

January in Review

Swim: 17150 yd (9.7 mi)
Bike: 179.0 mi
Run: 126.0 mi
Strength/Core: 5
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Swim--The pool closed in mid-January, and it's STILL not open! I'm scared to death because my only swim meet this season is this Sunday. My goal is to finish the 200 fly without DQ-ing, and it would be nice to have some more time. Oh well, crunch time is here, so let's do it!

Bike--This is my focus area for this season. This is WAY more time than I normally spend on my bike, so yay! This is the first time my bike miles have exceeded my running miles. I am still learning more drills, and the trainer isn't boring at all. LUCKY is still tempermental (flats, adjustments, etc), but this relationship may work after all.

Run--The FIRST training program started off pretty rough, missing some workouts here and there. But thankfully my focus isn't speed, but consistency. I really surprised myself already; I managed to break my mile PR 4 times and my 800 PR more times than that. The few sub-7:00/mile pace tempo runs really shocked me too. I have learned so much in the past year. It's fun to apply those lessons to something new and even more challenging.

Strength--Just need to do more. But I can definitely feel my efforts have been paying off out on the track. Pushups will likely become the focus over the next few months as our annual physical fitness test is coming up in April. Shooting for that 100% again! Aim High!

Bike, Core

1 February

Bike AM: 45 min (12 mi)
Bike PM: 2 hr (30 mi)
Core: 15 min
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Bike--Most of the riding was spent in the big chain ring grinding away. Must build up that leg strength! I really like riding on my bike trainer. I am STOKED to find a triathlon to race this summer!

Core--12 x 1:15. Hip flexors, I know you're there! Yowza!

Steph and LUCKY become one!