When

I had some pretty big goals at the beginning of this year.  Last December I felt like last year kind of blew for a lot of reasons.  So I convinced myself that this was going to be the year, MY year, of unrelenting success.  In everything.  

I'm sure most of you can imagine what happened.  Little by little life sort of whittled away at me and the goals that I set for myself.  Both the goals and I crumbled.    

The big goal was that I was going to run 2015 miles in 2015.  That is averaging 39 miles a week for the entire year.  It seemed doable since I ran 1500 each of the last two years.  I joined a cool group, got a shirt, a Facebook page that was just for us.  It was all good.  Until it wasn't.  I was staying on target thru June.  And then suddenly I wasn't.  Oddly enough going out West for the Grizzly Double (another big goal) was the beginning of the derailment.  It is kind of hard to run nearly 40 miles a week when you are driving all day, or hiking all day or sightseeing all day.  Then I ran the relay leg of the Door County Half Ironman and it took a week to recover.  Then I was gone for a long weekend in Bayfield swimming.  Then a week in the BWCA.  Then most recently a 4 day trip to Canada.  It's hard to be in catch-up mode when you are just getting farther behind.  It's damn hard to be in catch up mode when catch up mode is more miles than you've ever run in a week...repeated for the rest of the year.  So sometime after the BWCA trip, I quietly, but quite bitterly, let it go.  

I was going to run three marathons this year.  So far I've done one (Muscle Shoals Alabama), had to change my plans for August, had to miss one in September because of the stomach flu and am just now fully realizing that I am in no shape to run a marathon in 2 weeks.  No matter how much I want to put #13 under my belt (or hang the medal for it on the stair railing), it just isn't going to happen. My marathon mojo done left me this year and I am just going to have to accept that.    

I had a great Point to La Pointe swim this year as well as decent showings at 2 other open water races.  So I added to my goals late (why not??) that I was going to jump into the pool for Masters Swim this fall and just nail every workout and crush my PR's and set the pool on fire.  The plan was to bring in some kick ass times in open water next year.  But that has really fallen apart now as I will be out of swimming till after the new year.  I can't wear my goggles to be in the pool and I am having a lot of shoulder issues.     

Because my body, my brain, my psyche, karma said "When".  You know that saying...Know when it is time to say when.  And even though I didn't consciously know it was time to say when, I think everything else ganged up on me and made it pretty clear that "When" was now.  

It was Monday October 5th and I was out running my usual 8 -10 miler for a Monday.  I had driven to Olbrich Gardens and parked there thinking I would do the Lake Monona loop or some variation thereof.  I actually dislike the part of the Lake Monona Loop that goes along John Nolan Drive, so I looped back and did a real estate tour of Monona and was heading back to Olbrich at about mile 9 when I tripped.  And fell.  Over nothing, not a crack or stick or rock or weed or shadow.  Nothing.  Maybe I was just dragging my feet because quite frankly I was tired, maybe even exhausted.  And when I say "fell", I really mean crashed.  I went down hard and broke my fall with my face, my left elbow and my left knee.  Fortunately I turned my face to the side or I would have broken my nose and/or knocked out my front teeth.  I now know exactly what it means when people say they saw stars.  I might have seen an entire constellation or even a meteor shower!  I laid there for a minute hoping that no one had seen this act of grace.  Then I picked myself up, dusted myself off and walked to the corner.  That was when I felt something running down my face and when I brushed it away I discovered that I was bleeding at a pretty good clip (head wounds!).  I was in a bit of a daze but knew I needed something to put over my eye since I was still 1/2 mile from my car.  So I took off my shoe, took off my sock and held the sock over my eye.  I put the shoe back on and sprinted to my car.  I went into Olbrich and went into the bathroom to check my eye.  I scared the women at the desk half to death but decided that Urgent Care was my next stop.  BTW, the drymax sock worked great to soak up the blood and it even washed out after a soaking in cold water :)

The end result was 2 stitches and a ferocious black eye that still isn't completely gone (stitches are gone, I took them out myself), a really stiff and sore shoulder from hitting my elbow and jamming my arm into the shoulder socket and a big, painful lump on my eyebrow (hence no swimming on all counts).

So WHEN already.  

Had I been smart enough back last December I would have realized that the goal(s) should have been a lot more realistic, much better thought out and flexible enough to deal with life's little (or big) oops,  Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of big goals.  But those bigs goals need to have medium sized and little steps along the way that are goals in and of themselves so that you aren't left empty handed or hearted at the end of the year.

Because all things considered, I accomplished a hell of a lot this year.  Looks like I'll hit 1800 miles. It ain't 2015 but it's 1800 more than that guy on the couch!  And 300 more than I did last year.  I did 1 marathon (it was a hilly beast), 8 half marathons (two in horrible conditions!!), and a 20 k.  I completed the Grizzly Double!!  I paced a half marathon.  I swam well in three open water events including a first and a second in my age group.  

I watched a You Tube video and learned how to take out stitches.  

I saw stars.  

I learned when to say when.  

Zero Tolerance

I started thinking about this post more than a week ago.  Even wrote a draft that will linger here at Blogger.com.  I've thought the topic through.  I've rethought it.  I swear I even sideways thought it and I still came to the same conclusion.  A conclusion that probably won't make me popular with many of my friends.  I guess I've thought about it enough to not care.
Around about this time of year, Ironman WI draws near.

And the crowd goes wild!  Well, some of them do.  Others not so much.
As peak training for Ironman comes upon us, the Ironman WI bike course is clogged with would-be-Ironman riders.  These are rural roads with few options for go arounds.  Narrow with almost no options to pass.  Occupied by locals and now invaded by cyclists.
And "Share the Road" has just come home to roost.  Or should I say fester.
We all know what happens.  Words are exchanged, fists and fingers raised, rules defied, single lines ignored, gravel spewed and smoke rolled.
And the endless lament of "How do we get past this"?
What I am going to say no one is going to like.  And I don't care.  Because someone (probably a cyclist) is going to die.  And someone (probably a driver) will have to live with being a killer for the rest of their lives, along with a jail term and the destruction of everything they are and could be.    Unless a few things change.
Let's start from the top becuase there is room for everyone to grow here:

1. Get off the Ironman course.  If you are a cyclist find someplace else to ride.  Don't ride this course more than once or twice a season.  It's a road.  It has hills.  It's black with gravel shoulders.  There are 1000's of miles like this in WI.  Find one or twenty and get off this route.  Seriously?  Go piss off or inconvenience someone else.  
2. Residents, you know it's this whole Ironman thing.  I know you didn't sign up for this when you moved out here 20 years ago.  But things change.  You know people will be out here on this route.  Allow a little more time to get where you are going.  Find another route if you can.  Be respectful.  
3. Cyclists AND residents.  Zero tolerance.  I'll say it again.  Z-E-R-O tolerance.  That goes both ways and internally as well.  Residents, I'll start with you.  If you see a group of cyclists ignoring traffic rules or just being a-holes in general don't call them out.  Call the police.  Report them.  At the very least note the id on their jersey's and call out their team or training group leader.  Make them an example.  Post it on Facebook, send it out on Twitter.  In the tri community in Madison everyone knows everyone and everyone who is visiting.  Put an ad in the paper, write a letter to the editor but do not let people who break the rules get away with it. But it has to be a specific complaint against a specific group or it does nothing other than fuel the cyclists versus the world battle.  Same goes for your own.  You see someone run a cyclist off the road, you stop and you report it.  You know the kid who drove too close because he lives 6 farms down, then go talk to him or his parents.  Cyclists the same goes for you.  You get run off the road or have an unpleasant encounter, get a picture.  Report it.  Even if all you have is a half plate number based on the geography the cops can find them.  Don't let it go. Vent on Facebook with a partial.  Public shaming works.  The same is true of your own group or other groups you might see.  Are they riding correctly?  Are they following the rules?  Do not let people be in your group if they won't follow the rules.  I have friends who bike that I won't ride with because I don't like that they don't follow the rules.  Zero tolerance is zero tolerance.  Zero.  Don't promote it, don't encourage it, Don't accept it and lastly...
4. Don't forget to live by it.  Ask yourself every single time you get on the road to drive or to bike or run or just take a walk.  Am I doing the right thing?  Did I just cross the street without looking?  Did I just blow through a stop sign?  Am I paying attention to where I am at all times and who is around me.  Don't be complacent.  It isn't just one time.  Every single time is an example to others and to yourself.  (Iron) Man up and do the right thing...everytime.  

And most of all, good luck with your race.  Make sure you remember the residents on the bike route. They might deserve that award as much as you do.  

Double the Trouble and Twice the Fun??

The Double Grizzly (which has now faded in my memory...oops very late on this post) was everything it's name implied.  Grizzly.  And Double.  And I am not even referring to the running part of it!

Let's get real....put 4 women in an SUV (a pretty good sized SUV) for nearly two weeks driving some 4,000 miles and sometimes it is gonna get a little ugly. And silly and downright squirrely (golf ball sized hail anyone?). 

There were many things we could have done better.  I suspect that you learn a little with each trip (I'll share those thoughts with you below).  And in the end, if you can account for everyone you left with and no one had to go to the emergency room, I am gonna call that a success.  I like to think that I am practical about human nature, not just that I have low standards.  And in the end if you can ask yourself "Would I do this trip again?" and you resoundingly yell out "HELL YES".  Then it is all good.  And it was all good.  I'd go again...maybe not specifically to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, but I'd double again and I'd road trip to do it.  Er...Grand Canyon/Zion/RMNP/?? here we come??

The thing is to have your expectations screwed on right.  You are embarking on a two week road trip to unfamiliar terrain with more people in tight spaces than you have probably ever had to deal with (or at least not since the freshman dorms).  When we weren't in a hotel or house we were Suburbanites out camping (okay, we had good/great equipment but you are still in a tent and nearly on the ground).  So add in some pretty serious sleep deprivation.  And weird food.  Weird animal encounters.  And probably more adult beverages in two weeks than you've consumed since college (back to that dorm thing).  Everything is different and nothing is the same as home sweet (or sour) home.  Trust me, this is not how the elites do races away from home. 

As for the races themselves...I learned there is no oxygen in the air around the Grand Tetons or in Yellowstone.  If anyone says there is, they are lying to your face.  You will not acclimate to the lack of oxygen in 5 days no matter how optimistic you are or how much you (legally) encourage your blood cells.  So your second race at even higher altitude will hurt just as much and maybe even more than the first.  If you are a mid-pack runner at sea level, you will be a mid pack runner at elevation.  If you don't do a lot of trail running and you then run a trail race, you won't be good at it.  It is a different skill set to bomb downhill on a trail of loose rock and rubble than it is to do repeats on the biggest hill in your paved neighborhood.  Oddly enough, this is one thing I was good at in the Yellowstone race.  Go figure?  Must have been that 50k relay I did in the mud!!  Although this was a bit dicier footing.  I swear I saw (and heard) someone step in a hole that was camouflaged by grass and break their ankle.  I do know I heard "a lot more than a few" 4 letter words.  Honestly tho, I didn't say any of them.  I was too busy trying to find some oxygen for my sad little red blood cells.  Correction, mad little red blood cells.

In the end tho...oxygen or no...it was a great time...as the swag clearly shows...

If you are thinking about doing this type of trip (extended, in the car, multiple people) let me suggest the following:

1. Don't forget to actually sign up for the races.  No one in our group did this, but I know others where this has happened!  
2. This is only for if the trip is long enough and you have cooking facilities such that you won't be always dining out (see #9).  While you make the meal planning and food list together, only one person purchases and packs the food.  No one else is allowed to bring food.  This includes coffee/tea.  Anyone who needs anything special submits a request to the food person. The food bill is then split by the number of people period.  No nit picking for special request/flavors and brands.  Hash it out before it's bought and then let it go. 
3. Said food person packs the cooler(s).  Nothing else goes in the coolers.  
4. Each person is allotted a number and size of bags.  Nothing else goes.  Period.  
5. Everyone should have at least a valet key to the vehicle.  Should meet ups after the race go awry or someone be seriously injured, everyone needs to have access to their phones and personal belongings.  This is a challenge in light of today's expensive hi tech car keys.  Alternately a key needs to be stashed with the vehicle.  This is a race, not a Walmart parking lot in a shady area of town.  No one is going to steal your gluten free crackers.  And if they do, meh...maybe they will choke on them. 
6. Discuss, understand and agree upon the rules of the use of electronics prior to the trip.  Some people can't live without their cell phones.  Some people barely live with their cell phones.  Some people need to be connected to home and some people want to disconnect from home.  You need to know and understand these things ahead of time.  
7. Have everyone in the group's contact info in case of an emergency.  Again, we didn't need it, but had we needed it I am not sure we could have found it, or at least not found it easily.
8. Understand each other's medical conditions whether that is everyday medications or serious allergies and reactions.  Again, we didn't have any serious problems, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.  
9. When you go out to eat (and you will) have everyone pay their own check.  No buying appetizers for the table or splitting.  99% of restaurants will do this for you and save you a a lot of  grief.  
10. Once you get it all together, just go and let it go.  Will the world end because you didn't have the exact coffee you wanted?  Hey, you had coffee.  This is supposed to be fun, so just put it all behind you, enjoy the time that you have and let all the rest go.  

As if...

I am just back from our Grizzly Double Trip (and it was freaking amazing) but I have something else I feel I need to float out here before anyone can really understand how things went over the past few weeks.

As if.  Yep, As if.

I started reading a book titled "The As If Principle" by Richard Wiseman a couple of weeks back.  I'll be honest, I have only read the first chapter or so but I have to say that it has already had a profound influence on my thought process.  Maybe this means I am weak minded?  Although I prefer to believe  I am open minded.

Anyway, the primary tenent seems to be that if you embrace the physical aspects of an emotion, then you will feel that emotion.  This is subtely different than pretending you feel an emotion until you actually feel it.  This is the "plaster the smile physically on your face until you feel happy".  I'm sure I am not paraphrasing this well at all (sorry Richard).

I had a chance to try this out a few weeks ago at a trail race in Appleton WI.  This was a 50 k loop relay where each member did a 7.7 mile loop.  I was runner number 4 (technically number 3 because we had a psychotic runer who wanted to do two loops...bless him).  This was a patched together debacle of a team trying to fix the complete meltdown of a 4 person team of which only one member (not the captain) remained.  I ran as a favor to a friend of a friend.  I don't really do trail races and I didn't really need this on my plate while I was trying to get ready for the big event.

But off I went at the butt crack of dawn to drive 2.5 hours to the race start.  About an hour out it began to rain.  And rain.  And rain harder.  And continue to rain.  On top of the night's worth of rain they had already gotten.

I found my recently elected team captain almost by accident.  We awaited our team mate finishing his second loop and chatted.  None of us were thrilled and I began to longingly dream of a fleeting hamstring injury.  No such luck, he was in and she was off and the wait for the last loop began.

Tick tock, tick tock.  I actually got to spend a bit of time talking with the psychotic team member that ran the first two loops.  Turns out he wasn't psychotic at all but rather nice.  With a pair of kids and a nice wife to boot.

Given the fact that we were well out of the medals and that others had done it, I was encouraged to head off for my loop before my other team member came in.  Conditions, it seemed, were deteriorating rapidly.  Off I went.  The next 7.7 miles were completely and totally awful.

Except that they really weren't.

By mile two I had already stepped multiple times into water that was cold and mid-shin deep.  By mile three I had already slid down a hill of slick mud and nearly crashed into a tree.   Within the next mile I would summit a hill only to slide all the way back down.  My crankiness was up and my mood was seriously down.  This had all the makings of a disaster and I intended to wallow in the horribleness of it.

And then...As If came to mind.  What could it hurt to try?  Other than missing an opportunity to be a snarling grouch at the end, I didn't really see a downside here.  It isn't as if (ha ha) I don't have other opportunities in life to be grumpy.  So I plastered that smile on, smiled and said hi to everyone I saw and forced myself to giggle through every water-logged and mud coated section (trust me, there were many).

And an amazing thing happened.  By mile 4 I WAS smiling and laughing and outright giggling.  I thought of the times when I was a kid and my mother would yell at me for getting dirty and wet in the all too common spring rains and floods.  And it occurred to me at some point in time that I was doing something I had always been told not to do.  And that, my friends, made it genuinely fun.

I finished my loop in a not great, but respectable time.  Laughing and gigling the entire last half.  I was filthy, exhausted, drenched and starving.  The recently appointed team captain met me at the finish line and rather quickly asked me if I would do it again and without even batting an eyelash I enthusiastically and loudly said "Hell Yes!!".

As if they could stop me.... :)

Right on Target

My experience as a pacer at the Madison Half Marathon was really incredible.

The heavy rain held off and the sun stayed tucked behind the clouds.  Running in a humid swamp on that hilly course was not on my to-do list!

We had quite a few people that stayed with us the entire time but kind of remained in their own space.  I think in future pacing efforts I would make more of an effort to introduce myself to the people that line up with us versus letting them introduce themselves.  Some may not want to make that effort or feel it is some kind of commitment, but I think I should have been the first to open that line of communication.  Lesson learned for the future.

We had one young lady who ran with us the entire way and set a new personal best by a good chunk of time.  It was very exciting to be a part of that.  She really did all the hard work, we just added a few boosts in confidence.  Never once did I doubt she could physically make the time, but by now I know all too well that the body only goes where the mind wants or lets it to go.  And sometimes the brain needs a bit of convincing that things are possible.  Confidence is a hard thing to muster when you are approaching the 2/3 mark of any race...where it gets tougher to keep the pace, the mind starts to waver and doubt begins to creep in.  The smile she gave us after we crossed the finish line was worth more than nearly every medal I have ever gotten in a race.  That is a feeling I could seriously get addicted to!  Maybe I can trade that for a different, bad habit?

And we were right on target to where we wanted to be.  We aimed for 2:19:59 and came in at 2:17:58 (my chip time).  So we had a little bit to spare, but as first time pacers, I think we done good.  We did a pretty good job of keeping each other in check and it was only because we didn't lose as much time in the water stops and then on that last stinking hill that we came in early.  I'm proud of us!  And I'm excited to do it again.  And really happy to have gotten the opportunity to do this through my friend David at the Berkeley Running Company.  Count me in for next year!!

This morning I went for a 6 mile run after a couple of hours of work.  My legs were a little tight and my left hamstring was a bit crabby (it WAS a hilly course) but it all worked out within a mile or so.  I feel ready for the Grizzly Double coming up in less than TWO WEEKS!!  But I'm glad I'm not leading a pace group for any of those races!

A Change of Pace

Are you registered for the Madison 1/2 Marathon tomorrow?  I am registered and I am really excited because I get to be a part of something really neat.  I will be a member of a pace team!

Okay, so I might have lied.  I am not just excited, I am beyond excited.  I am super excited.  I am climbing the walls excited.  This is something I have always wanted to try because I love to get other people excited about running.  I just think it is such a great sport and activity that is and can be embraced by so many people.  It really is very accessible to nearly everyone.  And I do mean everyone.  We got 4 minute mile people all the way up to 15 minute mile people.  And it's all good.  Sure, there are a few elitist types out there.  But I believe those people really are few and far between...I've been running for nearly 9 years and I've only run into a handful of them.  When I do run into them, I just walk away.  I've found that life is difficult enough without letting someone steal your joy or rain on your parade.

Anyway I am especially excited because I get to pace the 2:20 group.  Which means that we could have some newbies or people who are just starting to set time goals for themselves.  This is where I get them to drink the kool aid!  No, no...just kidding.  This is where some encouragement and support from us (my pace partner and myself) can make a big difference in how someone's race goes.  In some ways this "assignment" terrifies me.  Obviously we need to stay on pace.  We figured we need to run even 10:30 minute miles so that we can walk briskly through water stops and still hit our overall 10:40 pace that will bring us in at 2:19:59!  It is a tough course and we will have to help people manage the bigger hills, but most importantly we need to help them keep their spirit up and their confidence engaged.

I don't typically get to run with a pace group as I usually do smaller events where "extras" like that are just not needed.  I did run with an amazing pace group leader when I ran the Des Moines Marathon. The guy was amazing, clicking off 9:09 minute miles like a metronome.  Although I fell off the pace group at mile 22, I still finished close enough to my target to qualify for Boston.  Had I been self pacing, I probably would have blown up at mile 16.  I've tried other pace groups in races and have had so-so luck.  In one race I let them go because I wasn't in the shape I had hoped I was in (nothing like an honest pace to teach you that at mile 9 of 13.1).  In another I zipped ahead and away from the pace group because I couldn't stomach the thought of another cheery, like you know, like bubbly pep talk from our "cheerleader" pacer.  Sometimes less IS more and silence IS golden.  I hope I know where that line is.  I also hope that if I cross it someone tells me so I can back off.

I think I am actually more nervous than excited.  I can't remember the last time I was truly "nervous" about a race.  The advantage and disadvantage of doing a lot of races.

Here's hoping it goes well and that we stay on pace, that I don't get decked by a disgruntled runner and that I remember that sometimes silence is golden!

Centered and Balanced

A few years after I started running I happened on a yoga class that was offered through Dean Health.  On a whim I signed up (who couldn't use a bit more flexibility??).  I stayed in that class off and on for 2 years and then it ended as did my formal relationship with yoga.  Oh I still indulged in a pigeon pose or two when my legs felt incredibly tight (every freaking day) but it ended up being a bit out of sight (aka not easy to accomodate), out of mind.

And then a yoga studio opened here in my little, mostly redneck, home town.

And something changed.

No, no...not that.  Well, with enough straps and blocks I could do that but I sure wouldn't look like that.  And my hamstring would seize about 20 seconds into the pose.  And then it would just be really, really bad.

But change I did, because after awhile it wasn't just about "Can I still touch my toes?".  It became about "I know what I CAN do, but what can I try to do?".  So I take myself off to that studio here in town at least once a week to see what I can do. Some days it is the same old, same old and I am not overly ambitous.  Other days I am astounded.  As a runner, my forays into pretzel shapes and supple bends and twists are somewhat limited.  Also being a swimmer puts a serious damper on my ablity to find any type of mobility in my shoulders and upper back.  Approaching the big 5-5 isn't exactly helping my cause either.  But I have progressed with certain poses and not so much with others.

I don't know that I can scientifically say that yoga has specifically helped my running, although I feel it really has, it certainly scientifically hasn't hurt it (except for maybe that one summer solstice class!!).  If you would like a little intro, check out the Yoga for Runners video's at runnersworld.com or better yet, bust out those Groupons and check out some classes around town.  Nearly every studio in town would welcome you with open arms.

However today I took a big step outside my safety zone.  On the suggestion/recommendation/encouragement of one of my favorite instructors I thought I would step outside my running/swimming physical activity box and attend part of a yoga workshop.

It doesn't really matter where the workshop was or who taught it or what we did (there were no pretzel poses for the part I went to...yaye!).  I felt like this was a huge thing for me because I ALWAYS encourage people to run or at least try running...no matter where they start, what their speed, what they look like or what their goals are.  Who knows what it could lead to?  It could be AMAZING.  And here I was...trying something new and what the heck?  It could be AMAZING. I should take my own advice?!

And honestly?  Maybe amazing is a strong adjective, but it was certainly enlightening.  And I am not much into the spiritual side of things (running, yoga...whatever) but these words made sense to me and I felt like they could entice me to at the least look in a new way in a new direction.  And that my friends is not such a bad thing when you are physically stiff and sore and tired and mentally stretched thin.  That 5-5 thing too.

In any event (or workshop) apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks.  Although I'd prefer to say you can expose an old cat to new good habits! Doesn't mean they'll all stick.

Moral of the story...GET OUT OF THE BOX.  The box will just end up being a coffin so put that off as long as you can.

Next up, I (and my pacing partner Mark) pace the 2:20 group at the Madison Half Marathon.  I am looking forward to this, but I am also very afraid that I'll do something stupid and ruin someone's race! If you are running it (or spectating) and you see our group, give us some high 5's!  We might need it!