26.2 with Donna Expo

We arrived in Jacksonville this morning and were able to check in early, so we dropped off our luggage and walked over to the expo. Even though we were in as soon as they opened the doors, packet pick up was already a bit chaotic. We got our bibs, our sweet goodie bags, race shirts, and more freebies as we explored the Expo. I couldn't leave without my financial contribution, so I bought a new bondi band and a hydropouch (pictured below) to do my part to go green at this race. I'm looking forward to trying it out on Sunday.  I never did find the pacers, but hope to do so tomorrow. When they announced there would be corrals based on our estimated finish time, I got worried because I could not remember what I put and I needed to start with the 5 hour pace group. Turns out I had nothing to worry about because I had put 4:45 Ha! I'm actually in a faster starting corral than I need, so I plan to move down one to start with my pace group. Is it Sunday yet? :)

Three Things Thursday: 26.2 with Donna Edition

Last Taper Run - I woke up and wasn't feeling it. I really just wanted to go back to bed, but I got out there and ran and an easy(ish) 3.5 miles with Shameika and Julie. I was aiming for a 12ish pace, but the cold weather (and Shameika) made us run a little faster. It was good though. Now I just have to take it easy and stay healthy until Sunday. I'm so ready for this race weekend to begin! 

Sunday's Weather - I wanted cold for this race, and I may get more than I bargained for. The temps keep dropping, and the current forecast calls for a high in the low 50s. One site says the high at noon will be high 40s. This is really great running weather, but this Floridian isn't used to it and will freeze at the start. But I am prepared with my mylar blanket outfit :) 

Outfit - Despite the unexpected weather, I think I'm going to stick with my original outfit -- matching skirt sports pink (super hero print) tank top and running skirt with black knee high compression socks -- with a few additions: arm warmers, leggings, gloves, buff, headband/skull cap, and I made a top and mini cape/shoulder wrap out of the mylar blankets so I don't have to wear a jacket. These will be so much easier to ditch or store if I get too warm, and they have the added benefit of being waterproof. I'll also need to pack and check a gear bag for after the race in case it rains and I need to get out of wet clothes in a hurry. I'm up for the challenge! :)

Mylar blanket top and cape/shoulder wrap. 

I'm wearing a matching tank top underneath and 

tucking the corners of the blankets under the tank top straps.

Marathon #4 - Recapture the Joy

I race a lot, and sometimes that means that I don't fully enjoy the experience or that I take it for granted. My first marathon was an amazing experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of that entire weekend. The next 2 were a bit anticlimactic because I didn't go to the expo (they didn't have much of one), drove up the morning of, then promptly left after I finished to refuel at a restaurant. The third was better than the second because I focused on fun during the race, but still didn't feel as magical as #1 -- will any really will? ;) This weekend I hope to recapture the feeling from my first marathon and really enjoy the journey. Yes I have a goal, a very aggressive goal, but that doesn't mean that I can't also have fun.

Friday: We are driving up in the morning and spending several hours at the expo. I want to meet the pacers, hear the speakers, get KT Tape applied by the professionals, buy a new bondi band for the occasion, take silly photos, and just take it all in.

Saturday: After spectating at the 5K and visiting the expo a bit, I'll be in a Galloway meeting all day, which I'm actually really excited about. It will be great meeting other program leaders and learning more about the program I love so much. I'm going to the pasta dinner after the meeting to mingle with other Galloway leaders and hear from some amazing speakers.

Sunday: It's show time! We'll take the shuttle to the start early and head to the Galloway tent to stay warm while reconnecting with everyone and taking group photos, then we'll head to the starting corrals to find my pace group. Racing with a pace group will be a new experience for me and I'm really looking forward to it because they'll be using the Galloway run/walk/run method. I ran my first marathon alone, and it worked great then, but I've been training with a group and I've enjoyed racing with others. I look forward to sharing this experience with a group with the same goal, and hopefully having fun while we work together to achieve it. I want to bring my camera to capture this like I did #1, but I really don't want to carry it. We'll see what wins out on race day. Since it's looking like it will be quite cold, if I wear my jacket I'll bring it. Otherwise, I may have to make do with the iPhone.

Post-race: I plan to take full advantage of the post-race festivities, including all the yummy food, silly photos, and free massages! We may not make it back to the hotel in time for late checkout, but we can clean up and change somewhere before driving home. Jason will be running this one too, so it will be fun to compare notes on the drive home. I really don't want to rush through the celebration of this accomplishment, and really want to soak in every last drop this weekend has to offer.

Dining Out Less

One of my goals for 2012 is to reduce the amount of restaurant food I eat. On the surface, this seems like a financial goal. While that is one reason, and a nice side effect, this goal is more about eating healthy than it is about saving money. We always eat healthier when we eat at home because we know where the food came from and how much salt, sugar, etc went into it. But it goes even deeper than that. My theme for this year is to be mindful of the choices I make. For this specific goal that means that I want dinner (or lunch) out to be a treat and not the norm whenever we feel is slightly more convenient. I want to make those times count.

I'm budgeting for this in dollars as well as frequency, because spending my money wisely is always a goal of mine. Initially I was not going to count the snacks and sweets, only restaurant meals, but the random snacks are probably the splurges I need to control the most. When we eat a meal at a restaurant, it is often out of perceived convenience, to socialize, or to celebrate something. But walking across the street from work to buy a smoothie or a cookie is not really a convenience issue, is due to poor planning or more often because I am craving sugar. So I amended my goal to include both in the $80 monthly gap, with $20 of that being in sweets/snacks. I'm still shooting for only eating 8 meals per month at restaurants, which still seems high to me since I always pack a lunch to work; I would prefer if we only went to a restaurant once a week or on special occasions. For now, I am not going to set a limit on the snacks/sweets outings and see how I do with the $20 cap.

I thought it would be interesting to analyze the reasons I go out to eat. In January, we ate 8 of our meals at restaurants, not include random snacks/sweets purchases. Here's the breakdown:

• social: 4 
• just because: 2 (we had a groupon) 
• celebration: 1 (lunch after marathon #3) 
• convenience: 1 (after flying home from vacation) 

I'm pleased that only once it was due to convenience. Socializing and celebrating are obviously big reasons why many people go to a restaurant, and we are no different. Ever since I lost the weight and started eating healthy, I've been trying to redefine the equation that celebration = food, but it's so ingrained in our culture that it's a bad habit to break. I'm not saying we need to break the habit entirely, just be mindful of it. I want to start focusing on sharing experiences with friend instead of food. I want to get our place in shape so we can start hosting game nights again, do that iron chef party we keep plotting, and start a dinner club where we take turns hosting a monthly potluck to try new recipes and not miss out on the social aspect of dinning out. Let's see where this little adventure leads :)

Further Reading: The Chain Restaurant Is The Worst Deal in America & 4 Easy Ways to Stop Eating Out

Bruised Wrist

This morning I slept in instead of doing yoga. This wasn't by choice -- I actually woke up at 5 am and went back to sleep for another hour. My wrist has been bothering me for a while now, but I thought it was getting better. Something I did yesterday afternoon made it worse or re-injured it -- I may have slept on it during a nap or something.

It saddened me to not start my day with yoga, and made me a little cranky, but I figured rest was best because there is no way I can do a downward facing dog right now. Almost every routine I do includes that pose because it's so versatile, and I really like doing it. While I recently discovered that I can substitute dolphin pose, it is not the same, but maybe I just need to get used to it. I know there are plenty of standing or sitting poses I can do, but I felt a little lost without my go-to poses this morning. I knew I would just get frustrated if I tried to wing it and then couldn't do many poses, so I stated in bed instead. I'm going to look through my yoga book and try to put a routine together I can do without putting pressure on my hand/wrist because I do yoga for sanity as much as flexibility.

This also means I had to give up on the Burpees Challenge, but that's ok. I shouldn't be starting a new routine so close to race day anyway. I'm going to keep focusing on staying healthy this week; I can always pick up extra yoga and core/strength work next month when I'm fully recovered from the marathon and whatever I did to my wrist.

Recap: Week 5 2012

This was a great week. I'm in awe that I walked so much, and pleased that I got out on my bike on 3 different occasions. It's a good thing too because I'm not sure I'll get on my bike this week while tapering and then traveling for the race. I didn't do as much yoga as last week, mainly because I slept in today and didn't do my usual Sunday hour. I needed the extra sleep, so that's ok.  I'm not going to set any specific goals for week 6, other than to listen to my body during my last 2 runs and play the rest by ear. The main focus is on getting enough rest, eating well, hydrating, and staying healthy for race day. 

Week 5: Jan 30  - Feb 5

• Ran 17 miles; avg pace 11:42
• Walked 21 miles
• Biked 29 miles (3x)
• yoga - 2.5 hours
• Burpees challenge

Final Taper Week to Marathon #4

This morning I ran my last long run before Marathon #4 next Sunday. The run went ok, not great, but we had a blast celebrating Omar's birthday and trying to remember the 8 mile route that looked so unfamiliar in the daylight. Since we had low millage, and it's supposed the winter, we started at 7 am. We usually run in the dark, so everything looked very different. We enjoyed looking at the gorgeous houses in Winter Park, listening to Omar's trivia, and Julie quizzing us about what we would name our own 5K race. Although the air felt cool, it was in the low 60s and pretty humid, so I struggled a bit at the end and my legs felt heavy (probably because I biked 5 miles to the start). Now it's all about taking it easy and staying healthy to make it to the start line in one piece. I have two more easy runs this week, then I head to Jacksonville on Friday! The weather is looking favorable for a PR, but I'll post more about that as it gets closer and I can trust the forecast.

Birthday boy Omar begin a good sport wearing his birthday crown

Recap: January 2012

January was an awesome month and a great start to 2012. I have no doubt that February will be just as good. I'll let the stats speak for themselves, with a bit of commentary along the way. :)

Stats & Goal Progress (8%)

• Run: 101 / 1000 miles (10%) - 3rd time ever running 100+ miles in 1 month, and that means I'm ahead of my goal. w00t! I'll probably be under my goal of 85/mo next month since I'll be taking it a bit easier after the marathon, but we'll see how things shake out. 
• time: 20.5 hours
• avg pace: 11:25 
• Walk: 54 / 500 miles (11%) - monthly PR as far as I can tell. I've been really focusing on walking as active recovery and because I really enjoy it, and the weather is perfect for it. I need to take advantage of it while I can before it gets too hot to walk to the bus without bringing a change of clothes to work. 
• Bike: 43 miles; 4 / 52 times (8%) - no PRs here, but glad I got out once a week as planned. I think this will go up throughout the summer because I'll be helping my group do some brick workouts, and I may even try a duathlon or triathlon before year's end. 
• Yoga: 10 / 120 hours (8%) - right on target! I've been enjoying this a lot, but I may have to slow down a bit in lieu of sleep and so I don't over stretch muscles, but I may just vary the routine a bit more to target different areas. 
• Core: plank a day (40m total) - So glad this is over lol I'm take a little bit of a break, but plan to keep doing it a few times a week. 
• Drove: 622 / 6500 miles (10%) - A little more than planned, but not too bad considering the circumstances. I'll write a separate post about my thoughts on this goal later. 
• Dinning Out: 8x; $91 / $80 - A little high, but not too bad. I'll write a separate post about my thoughts on this goal later. 
• Restaurants - $60 / $60 
• Snacks/Sweets - $32 / $20 

January Accomplishments

• DeLeon Springs Half Marathon (#12)
• Marathon - Ocala Marathon (#3 - PR)
• Plank a Day Challenge - 1:20 PR
• Restarted Daily Challenge and on 24 day streak
• Challenge for a Change

Goals for February

• 26.2 with Donna Marathon (BMC), #4 in 5 hrs
• Burpee Challenge (# burpees = day of the month)
• Continue Daily Challenge streak
• Challenge for a Change
• Virtual 12athon

TTT: Burpees, Taper/Recovery, Juice Fast

Burpee February Challenge - I've started another crazy challenge this month, courtesy of Maddy. The challenge is simple: do the number of burpees that corresponds to the day of the month. February 1st, do 1 burpee, February 2nd, do 2 burpees ... all the way to February 29th: 29 BURPEES! So far, so good! But it will be interesting when I have to do 12 on marathon day lol If I wasn't running this for time, I'd do one at each mile marker for the first 12 miles. It should at least be a good warm up before the race :) It's not too late to join the challenge, just do 3 today and jump right in. Here's a video showing you what a burpee is and a beginner version.

Taper/Recovery - This is a weird time because I'm recovering from Ocala and tapering for BCM, so I'm trying to take get in quality workouts and really listen to my body when it tells me to take it easy. Tuesday I woke up with a bit of pain near my hip/glute. I warmed up and it felt ok, so I did a speedy 3 miles at 30s faster than race pace. I didn't think I had that in me, but somehow pulled of a 10:52 average pace with perfect negative splits. I wore my compression capris under my jeans to work and iced on the bus and at work. It was angry most of the day, and I felt a bit run down, so I slept in Wednesday and skipped my typical yoga routine to give everything a rest. I did yoga on the bus, but that's mostly upper body with a few gentle seated hip openers. This morning I felt much better, but I skipped the track just in case in favor of an easy 4 mile run on the road. It was a little tough because I'm not used to 2:30/1 intervals, but I busted out an 11:20 pace, 7s faster than race pace. It was a beautiful morning, so that surely helped. I chatted a bit too long with Laura so I did not have time for yoga before heading to the bus, but I did it at the bus again. I love that!

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead - We saw this movie last week as part of January's Challenge for a Change - Healthy Eating. It was an interesting movie, and seeing the transformations in such a short time was incredible, but I could not shake the feeling at the end of the film that it was just an hour and a half long commercial for the juice fast. Not to mention that anything that shows loosing that much weight that fast scares me. It causes people to expect that as normal weight loss when losing more than 1-2 lbs per week for most people is unhealthy and borderline dangerous.

Leadership Challenge

Today was day 1 of the Leadership Challenge, a 4 week leadership training program I'm taking for work (we meet 4 hours once a week). When we got there, we chose a name tent with a quote in the back. There were lots of really good ones, but I chose the one pictured above ("A smile is the shortest distance between two people.") because I thought it represented me the best. The other two I really liked and almost chose were:

Be yourself;
everyone else is already taken. 
- Oscar Wilde


I can change me.
I can change how I relate to you.
I cannot change you.

Our first homework assignment before we even got there today was to write about our personal best leadership experience and then share it with the group. That is a tall order. In case you had not noticed, I'm a joiner; I always have been. But I can't just join something; I need to be an active participant and jump in with both feet, which usually means taking on a leadership role. When I was in High School, I belonged to a ton of clubs and was an officer of most of them. In fact, I was an officer in the officer's club. I belonged to the LEAD Scholars program in college, where once again I was an officer. I even helped start a few clubs at UCF. I've been the lead of two different teams at work for over 10 years. But for the exercise, I chose my most recent experience: being a Galloway group leader. It has been so rewarding, and I hope I've helped them as much as they've helped me. 

Maybe during this challenge I can reflect on why I do this so often. Probably has something to do with my OCD tendencies and being a bit of a control-freak ;) I really do enjoy it though because I love motivating others and it feels natural to me. But every good leader knows that we can always improve, so I'm looking forward to this opportunity to identify the areas where I need to improve to become a better leader.