I'm back!

So it's been a tad busy since I got back from Europe so I'll start there.

I arrived back to Pullman on Friday night, and recovered over the weekend (sleep-wise) but had a hard work out weekend planned, since the following weekend was ChelanMan and then 2 weeks after that the Juneau Marathon!

Saturday I biked with Kerry then swam, Sunday I ran 11 miles, and Monday flew out to Portland to interview at Western Oregon University for the Director position.

Tuesday were some intervals on the track, Wednesday was a 4 mile run, Thursday I swam about 1000 yds total, Friday was off and we drove to Chelan.

Saturday was Chuckledoodle's Olympic Tri (that is my awesome brother who flew home 20+ hours on Thursday night from being on a mission overseas for 3 weeks, turned around and drove to Chelan on Friday). He did great despite being dehydrated and jet-lagged, I think he was only 3 minutes slower than the first time he did ChelanMan 3 years ago, and he did cramp pretty significantly during the bike and run I believe. Still he did awesome, as usual. Rachel ran her first 10k (my sis-in-law) since before the kiddos were born and she did amazing, she PR'd and looked strong and fit, so proud of her. She loved being back competing and I loved it because Denise (nana), Kerry and I got to babysit for a few hours and cheer on Mommy and Daddy! Well Sam played on the iPad but Annabelle stayed awake to watch!

That afternoon Denise and I put on our wetsuits and did a little practice swim, this was Denise's first time in a wetsuit and she panicked a little (as did I the first time in CDA) and was a tad worried. After a long pep talk by Charlie and Rachel (who swam all her life and in college) who told her that that was normal, they both freaked out the first open water swim they did, she decided she would go through with the race on Sunday.

Saturday night was long, I just wanted Sunday to get there, I was so nervous and anxious about the swim portion since it was my first Triathalon. Slept actually pretty well, got up and had a great power breakfast (yes it included one unfrosted pop-tart plus some other healthier stuff, but mentally, I gotta have that pop-tart.....) We were fortunate to rent a condo literally right across the street from the park where the Tri was so we walked our stuff down to transition (had put our bikes in the night before) and Charlie walked us through how to set up our transition area, then we headed back to the condo to put our wetsuits on and get ready!

The start of the Tri was awesome, the gal who runs the show really made everyone feel safe and comfortable, they had lifeguards on paddle boards, treading water as well as kayakers the entire way and the water is so clear there that you could see the buoy line the entire way of the swim, it was so reassuring. The swim was decent, I panicked once and had to go on my back for a bit, and only had to do the breast stroke once for about 10-20 seconds.
I finished the swim in somewhere around 7-8 minutes, I had absolutely no time I was looking to get, I honestly just wanted to FINISH the swim! So I was happy with that :-). Got my bike stuff on, headed out on the bike and for some reason I could not shift out of the second lowest gear so I was using my legs a ton the entire 13 miles which was frustrating. I still did okay on that portion and got through the 2nd transition and headed out on the run. I averaged 7:14's (I had forgotten my watch so didn't have any idea how I was doing pace-wise, but again, it was my first Tri so I am actually glad I didn't have my watch, just went on how I felt).
I had a blast, I finished 5th female and 1st in my age group, 13th overall, but most importantly to me, was that I finished and had so much fun. I see why people get addicted to these!

After ChelanMan I took Monday off, ran 6 miles on Tuesday and then started some taper workouts that week for my marathon and made a tough decision on whether or not to leave WSU for WOU. In the end, for my career I decided to take the Director of Sports Performance position at WOU. It was so hard to think about leaving Pullman, the people there and the friends I've met have been incredible and as hard as it was, I know I still have the best of friends 5.5 hours away from my new home.

That next weekend, the weekend after ChelanMan, I biked a hard one with Kerry on Friday night, got up and ran 10 miles on Saturday, then Sunday we swam down at the river which was great (especially because unbeknownst to me someone would talk me into doing the Danskin Sprint Tri on August 7th.....). Then began the best week ever, TAPER WEEK!!!!!! Monday I ran 4 miles, Tuesday I ran 3 miles in intervals, Wednesday - off, Thursday - off and Denise and I flew to Juneau!! Friday we ran 2 miles and Saturday was the Marathon and 1/2 Marathon!

The morning of the marathon I was ready, or so I thought........
It started off well, beautiful morning, felt good but my GPS watch wasn't working so I had no idea of pace so I just went on how I felt. I ended up running from Mile 2 through Mile 15 with a little gal who ran track in college back east and was working up in Ketchikan in the summers. We were running 7:35's-7:40's and at halfway I felt awesome and was 1:39:30 at Half. But then at Mile 15 I started feeling a little cramping in my ankles and feet which was really weird. By Mile 18 every 2-3 steps when I'd pick up my feet my arches, toes and ankles would cramp so severely I thought I might fall. I had to stop every mile and stretch them, which made me so frustrated. At one point I saw my Dad and Boo and almost quit, but when I told Dad I was cramping he said "you're doing great, keep going!" I said "okay, then go to the finish and don't stop along the way to watch me because I might jump in the car with you"! Mentally it was just so hard because it wasn't super painful, just annoying and scary because I never knew when it would cramp and if I would fall flat on my face or not. About Mile 23 I knew I'd be able to finish but wasn't sure how I'd do. At Mile 15 I was on pace to finish around 3:22 but by Mile 22 I knew that wasn't going to happen. However, I said before I did the Marathon that I'd be happy with under 3:32 so I needed to remember that.
With 200 yards to go, there was a slight downhill and both hamstrings seized up, it was not pretty and it was painful, but I finished. I ended up finishing in 3:30 and 3rd female, and qualified for Boston by 15 minutes which was what I said I wanted to do, DONE. It was fun though, I really enjoyed the race, enjoyed the training for it much better than 6 years ago when I did my first and only marathon. I hope to do Boston, regisration is on September 12th so hopefully I get in!!

Denise did great in her half, she cramped a bit too and I think the problem for us was that we simply did not take in enough electrolytes, we drank a ton of water the days before, but no Gatorade and I didn't supplement. I had salt on my arms, abs and legs, which is not normal for me, so I knew I didn't prepare correctly. Sometimes you get a bit cocky in yourself and your fitness levels and forget that running for over 3 hours is very stressful on the body and not anything to be taken lightly. I know for next time now!

The rest of the trip in Juneau was wonderful, Brady flew in, we bbq'd that night with my aunt and uncle, did a lot of sightseeing, went on a wonderful whale watching trip and just enjoyed Alaska.

Getting back to Pullman after that was hard, I knew I had moving in my future and a lot of hard goodbyes. I took two weeks pretty much off after the marathon, packed, worked a lot, and just spent time with friends and family. The week I was moving to Oregon, Lori so kindly says to me "well you should do the Danskin with me on Sunday!" Of course I had no excuse not to, it would allow me to see them again, it was a short 3 hour drive from Oregon, and I had been wanting to do a sprint Tri this season so I did it!

I wasn't sure what to expect since I had only done 1 open water swim since Chelan, not been on my bike and hadn't run in 2 weeks since the marathon........
I ended up doing pretty well, finished 59th overall out of over 3100 females, LOVED the swim, did okay on the bike and finished 11th overall on the run portion so was thrilled about that!

The new job in Oregon is taking up A LOT of my time and energy, there's a lot of work to be done, I mean A LOT. It's exhausting but very fulfilling and I feel blessed to have this opportunity and to help these athletes get better! Already they are seeing how great it is to have a structured program and are starting to buy in, which is great for only my 2nd week. I love my job!!!

I'm staying with a wonderful couple, she was actually my 4th grade math teacher, and her husband Gene, out in Dallas, OR in their beautiful new home they built on 5 acres. As I tell everyone, it's wonderful getting up in the morning, having coffee made and breakfast, then getting a hug before I leave for work! Just be careful Becky and Gene, I just may never leave............. Kidding! I am moving into my new house on Labor Day weekend so I have plenty of room if anyone wants to come down to Oregon, train with me and go wine tasting!!!!

For now, my workouts are consisting of whatever/whenever I can get in. I'm trying to get at least 30-45 minutes of quality work in 5-6 days a week right now, and just not stressing about it. I love having fresh fruits and veggies available to me, and I went down to Trader Joe's this week to grocery shop, so awesome!! I have been making some healthy meals with Becky and forcing Gene to eat "chick" food, so I feel good at least about my nutrition.

I hope everyone is doing well, I miss all my Pullman peeps, but I'll be back for a farewell luau on Saturday night!!!

Happy Training All!

July 5 - July 11, 2011

The end of the trip thr0ugh the Baltic States with Dad was amazingly beautiful and relaxing. We stayed on Muhu Island, off the coast of Estonia for two nights at a place called Padaste Manor. It was fabulous.
Tuesday July 5th - I did a long run but only got 10 miles in on the island since I didn't know the area and didn't want to get lost, which I was pretty bummed about, I really had wanted to do 11-12, but oh well!

Wednesday we headed back to Vilnius, which was about a 7 hour drive, had a great dinner in old town, then flew home on Thursday. It was a rough trip back, 30 hours of total travel time, and I was exhausted to say the least. Friday I got in at 12:30 a.m., slept until 5:00 a.m., thought I was going to get up and go to work, but decided to sleep a bit more, so slept until 8:15 a.m.
I headed into work just to get into the routine and was proud of myself for feeling pretty good. Then........................... it all hit me. I went down to Lewiston to get my hair done around 4:00 on Friday and could barely stay away, don't really remember the drive back up to Pullman, oops. I had planned on biking with Kerry that evening but that wasn't to be. I headed to my couch, fell asleep by 7:00 or so after a Swilly's salmon dinner brought to me by Brady :-)
Saturday morning I slept until 9:22 a.m., I was shocked! I had a raging headache but knew I needed to get up and ride and swim that day. Luckily Kerry texted and she was ready to go!

Saturday - biked 14 miles, napped, then swam about 800 yds

Sunday - Ran 21 miles!!! It was perhaps one of the hardest runs I've ever done, but I got through it, thanks to Kerry and Denise (who did 10 miles by the way!!!) I was doing okay, mile 16 & 17 (which were mostly uphill) were very tough and it was hot out, then the last 2.5 miles Kerry came back to check on me and I told her I needed company the rest of the way which she did and that helped tremendously. But it's in the books, my last long run before the Marathon on July 30th!

Monday - OFF, my feet are killing me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm excited for this weekend's triathlon and nervous at the same time, just about the swim part. I hope I do okay.

As for food, the Baltic States had some interesting stuff!!! My favorite meal of it all over there was their Cold Beet Soup or Cold Borsch, Rugile's Mom made it for us and OMG it was heavenly! Here is the recipe if anyone is interested, as you know beets are full of antioxidants!! I use 1% milk with lemon juice to curdle it, to cut down on the calories, but it's just not the same...

1 lb. RED BEETS
2 CUCUMBERS
3 HARD BOILED EGGS
2 C. SOUR CREAM
4 C. BUTTERMILK
2 SCALLIONS
FRESH DILL
SALT

Cook whole beets, cool and peel them. Peel and grate coarsely. Peel cucumbers, cut into squares. Chop hard boiled eggs and scallions.
Mix everything together and pour in the buttermilk, then add the sour cream and salt to taste. Stir well and refrigerate until cool.
Traditionally this soup is served with cooked young potatoes sprinkled with some dill and salt (I add fresh garlic to it as well!)

Yummy!!!

Happy Training All!

The last 2 weeks in the Baltics....

Well to say it's been a great trip is an understatement, it's been amazing. I got a couple of 3, 3.5, 4.5 and 5 mile runs in while in Vilnius and Alytus (where conference was) but it's been hard, we've been sightseeing so much and running around, getting runs in has been hard, BUT I've done it and am happy with that.

These countries are beautiful, the day after the conference, Rugile, Saulius and Arimas took us all on a kayaking adventure down a river outside of Alytus, it was a 5 hour kayak trip and it was fun, buggy, and beautiful! I was sore the next day!!!

Rugile's family hosted us twice for dinner at their summer house and that was so much fun, we ate great food, told lots of stories and just had a great time.

On Saturday morning, Erica and Lindsay left and Dad and I drove from Vilnius to Palanga, Lithuania, where we saw the Amber Museum and the Sea. From there we drove to Riga, Latvia and stayed overnight, it's a great city full of history, museums (went to the WWII Occupation Museum, very sad but worth it to see). We ate some Latvian food and drove off to Tallinn, Estonia. That is a great old medieval city but OMG, DO NOT DRIVE THERE!! We had some adventures driving through it (3 times...) and trying to find our hotel. Finally I told Dad to just stop, park and I'd walk into Old Town and find it, that worked better....

So we had a good dinner, walked around the square which was full of street performers and tourists, got some ice cream and went to bed. Woke up and ran almost 4 miles through Old Town, got some breakfast, walked around a bit more and then proceeded to TRY to get out of Tallinn, it took us 90 minutes to go roughly 9 miles, yikes!

From Tallinn we drove 2 hours to Virtsu, Estonia, where we got on the ferry to Muhu Islands! It's truly a beautiful place here, we are staying at Padaste Manor (a simple luxury hotel) on the Baltic Sea, and it's amazing, a great end to our trip. It's so much like Southeast Alaska with more sun, it's crazy.

I'm about to attempt to run 11-12 miles so wish me luck! After I get back, Brady will run the Missoula Half Marathon, then I have my first Tri about 10 days after I arrive back in the States, then two weeks after that is my full marathon! I hope I'm ready, but I wouldn't have traded this trip for anything. If I bonk though, please remind me that I said that........

Happy Training All!

Europe

So Erica, Lindsay, my Dad and I are heading to Lithuania where us 3 coaches will speak at a Swim Conference, then my Dad and I will head out to Estonia and Latvia to travel! However................

the first day we drove from Pullman to Seattle with my roommate Chelsea and got to Sea-Tac with plenty of time before our 2:05 p.m. flight. Good thing too, because it is now almost 24 hours later and we are still in Sea-Tac. Papa Ron had to fly to Warsaw by himself, then eventually to Vilnius by himself where Rugill will pick him up and we'll arrive (hopefully) about 14 hours later!

Our trip has been delayed but we are still in good spirits and unfortunately the only place my new version of my same running shoes has seen is this airport. But I look forward to many new roads they will run on and hike through!!!

I hope you all are getting more training in than I am.......

Happy Training All!

Lately......

Whew, I can't believe it's June 19th already! Today is my dear friend Chrystal's birthday and Hazel's 1st birthday was yesterday! Amazing how time flies, it seems like it was just the first of May and now it's middle of June! At least the weather is still the same as May 1st though........ I have to admit, I'm getting frustrated and gotten a case of the blahs with this weather. But we persevere, not much use dwelling on things we can control now is there???

So I'm off to Lithuania on Wednesday to speak at a swim conference there during the Lithuania National Swim Champs so I'm looking forward to that. My Dad is going with me and after the week in Lithuania him and I are taking off for Latvia and Estonia and I am SO excited! I never thought about going to the Baltic States but now that we are, I have heard such good things about traveling over there, especially with my Dad being such a history buff, it's going to be a great experience.

As for workouts, it's been a crazy summer with work, I'm back working with football so I"m up bright and early everyday now!! It kind of cuts into my energy levels for workouts but such is life, I absolutely LOVE working with football in the summer and have really missed it these last 2 years, thankful to be back with them.

My little brother, his wife Nicole and my beautiful niece Hazel visited last week and we had a blast, walked down to Farmer's Market, walked to Black Cypress then Licks, and walked Kamiak, above are some pics from their visit. Even Hazel loves my turquoise shoes!!! I absolutely love her.

I have been doing a lot of swimming, cycling AND running, but getting a ton of work in. I was going really hard for about 3 weeks and then last weekend, just crashed. I was exhausted and hit a wall, could barely run 10 miles last Saturday, then to top that off I headed up to CDA to swim in the lake and whew that was tough and I cramped like a son of a *itch. Rough first open water training swim but it was a good experience.

Some of my greatest workouts have been:

Swim workout:

Warm up 2 x 100

3 x 25/1 x 75

3 x 50/1 x 150

3 x 75/1 x 200

Rest

2 x 25/1 x 75

2 x 50/1 x 150

2 x 75/1 x 200

1 x 100 Cool Down

That one was tough but really fun and felt great to achieve it, the most yardage in the pool I've done in one practice!

Another day, the day before I ran 10 miles, I cycled for 18 miles, then got off and ran 2 miles hard, averaged 6:46 minute/miles so felt good about that. Then I totally bonked the next day during the 10 miler but oh well.

Two weeks ago I did a 17 miler while Michele did a 12 miler and I felt good, I averaged 8:05's and it was hard but good. I ran from my house to the Chipman Trail, took that all the way out past Eastside Marketplace, turned around and ran back to the U of I soccer fields and met my roommie who drove me home.

Yesterday I ran 20 miles, the first time I've run 20 miles in 6 years and I felt incredible. Michele ran 15 miles and she killed it, I was so proud of her, of us, it was a GREAT day. Amazing how conquering a hard run can just make you feel giddy, we both were, it was awesome! Then friends took us out to Swilly's that night and we had a great time, talking to Lori and Dan about their 4 weeks in Italy, talking about my upcoming trip to Lithuania, and just catching up in general. Great food, even greater friends, thanks Rob, Sara, Zach, Michele, Dan, Lori and Brady!!!

So those are just a few of the workouts I've gotten in, nothing too exciting but it feels good to be feeling this good, especially when I said I would NEVER RUN ANOTHER MARATHON! Now I"m running the same one I ran in 6 years ago and I won! I think I will PR though, on this 20-miler I ran 12 minutes faster than my 20-miler 6 years ago, 34 seconds faster per mile!! I was really excited, it was a hilly run and I felt good. My last 3 miles were 7:57, 7:52 and 7:29! That made me feel the best, that I had negative splits.

So despite the blisters (which I have WAY too many to count, and they look disgusting), I have no pain in my back and that to me is a miracle. So blessed.

Happy Training All!

May 2011

The beginning of May was a bit busy and stressful and hectic with the end of school and starting teaching summer school so I won't talk much about those workouts. I got some good ones in, some not so good ones in, but it was a good break for my body and mind.

May 9th - 11 miles on the trail in the wind and monsoon-type weather we had. It was my first longish run since Whitefish 1/2 Marathon and after my first set of neural ablations and SI injection and I had NO pain!!!! I ran most of the miles around 7:40-7:55 min/miles so felt good about that.

May 10th - Swam!!

May 11th - Track Workout: 1 mile warm up, 4 x 800 with 400 recovery

May 12th - 3 miles moderate

May 13th - OFF: We drove to Hood River (Willard actually, woo hoooooo)

May 14th - 14.2 miles!!!!!!!!!! It was a beautiful run, I felt great and I averaged 7:45's and felt like I could keep going. That was great for my confidence, at about Mile 8 it suddenly dawned on me that I did not have any pain in my back/SI joint and I almost started crying ;-) The best part though about the day was that Ms. Cyndi did 5 miles, Chelsea did 7 miles and Michele did 9 miles! Great great weekend, we had a lot of fun and I was very proud of the girls.

May 15th - OFF: Headed back to Pullman

Good week of training, excited to be feeling good with my running and other workouts.

Some More.

First I want to say CONGRATULATIONS to one of my closest friends for getting engaged last week! I'm so happy for Jen and Greg and thrilled they found each other.

Thursday P.M. - Swim workout earlier in the day, then ran 3 miles easy on Thursday night after personal training. Felt really good.

Friday - Since I'm training for my first Tri (and it's a small one but I'm still doing it and SO excited) and I'm not able to run back to back days yet (or not supposed to, I'm not going to say it doesn't happen every once in a while.....) my awesome brother has given me some great cycling workouts.
Warm Up - 10 minutes 85+ RPM's
30 minutes - Hill 30 sec/Ride 1:30
Cool Down - 5 minutes
Stretch

Saturday - BOOT CAMP!! 75 minutes of circuit madness as Ficer says :-)
15 stations
Treadmill Hill
Treadmill Speed
Ab
Treadmill Speed
Ab
Treadmill Hill
KB Squat w/Upright Row
MB Drop Squats
DB Step Up w/Shoulder Press
Push Up + Close Grip Push Ups
Cable Overhead Tri Ext.
Pull Up/Dips - 8 of each, repeat
Plate Bentover Back Rows
Elliptical - 9 incline/90 resistance
Squat with Bicep Curl
45/60/75 sec

Sunday - 8 mile moderate run, heavy legs from Boot Camp on Saturday (and maybe a bit too much wine at hospital gala Saturday night......) but this was my first longish run since my ablations and it felt great, not much pain and it wasn't a struggle. Mile times were good, finished strong.

Cleansing this week, feeling hungry but good!

I hope everyone had a very Happy Easter and enjoyed the sunshine this weekend!

Happy Training All