what have I gotten myself into?

After my successful ab challenge in October, and then 30 runs in 30 days in November, I thought about giving myself a new challenge for the month of December to close out the year.  Then I realized that January is going to mark the beginning of my Ironman training.  I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'm going to pick up my swims to twice per week, and work really hard to make every workout, even get in the boot camps and yoga sessions.  So, I thought, I would just take December easy, hit the workouts that I can and enjoy my last month of off-season.  Uhh....

The month started out easy enough, with my first day plan calling for "Run 20-30' Z2 or OFF" .... I chose OFF.  Then, I woke up at 4:30 on Tuesday and promptly reset my alarm for an hour and a half later... I can swim on Thursday and make my once-per-week goal.  I was off to a fantastic start of the month...

This month marked my first outdoor winter ride -- I really thought my toes would never warm up!
Also, holy hills.. I walked a lot of them b/c my heart rate got so high
(also lots of stop signs, hence the super slow pace).  Thanks, Jen M., for the photo.

Enter Tuesday's spin session.  I fell off my trainer.  That's right, I feel off a stationary bike!  Don't worry, Xena is a little traumatized, but we are both OK.  Thankfully, I have been doing my spin sessions on my own in the privacy of my house, so nobody witnessed this!  I jumped back on the bike and kept going, 1 minute left of the Z4 section and then 3 x 2 min Zone 5b... I thought I was going to die on the first one.  My heart just about jumped out of my chest.  Two more?  Really?  Talk about a demoralizing workout. 

Next up, Wednesday morning track.  The world must really be testing me this week because it rained on us pretty much the entire time!  And... mile repeats!!  I'm supposed to run multiple miles in a row?  With increasing heart zones, mind you!  And this is when it hit me, this isn't even Ironman training yet.  This is winter training!!  I've got nine months of even harder workouts to look forward to?  Starting with next week's track workout which includes 1.5 miles.. that's one POINT FIVE!!

My hand looks like a kindergartener's hand after coloring class!

And then..... I decided to go for my PMP certification for work.  I was confident I wouldn't miss any workouts and was even brainstorming where to take a shower after track practice (turns out Fairfax rec centers allow showers for only $2..good to know!).  Turns out, the course was so intense that I did not make one single workout the entire week.  Hell, I didn't do anything that entire week except study study study.  I realized that I am not going to be able to do things like that during Ironman training.  It's one thing to miss workouts now, in December, but it just can't happen once training really ramps up. 

It's a little overwhelming when I start to think about how life is going to change as training really picks up.  I remember being exhausted last summer when I'd hang out with friends after a morning ride...and we're talking only 30-40 miles.   I went with Jon and Darcy to a concert one Thursday night earlier in the month (think it was the week I fell off the bike trainer) and the band didn't go on until almost 10:00 PM.  I actually went out to the car to take a nap because I was just so tired, and then Jon and I left after only 3 songs.  I suppose these are just the sacrifices one has to make when they have Ironman dreams... guess I'll have to stick with day drinking??

One little update is that I re-joined Arlington Road Runners (ARRC) for the winter session.  Since joining Team Z in March, I made it to exactly one weekend run, and I ran by myself the entire time.  Honestly, I have been running by myself at ARRC also, which is fine, but it is nice to be able to see some old familiar faces from my marathon training days.  Also, I just love running around DC versus the boring trails out in the suburbs.  And as a bonus, Paula lives just across the bridge in Georgetown and so it makes it super convenient to meet up for brunch or to tack on some extra mileage when my plan calls for more than the run group is doing. (disclaimer: I actually skipped an ARRC run to go to my 2nd-ever Team Z [hash] run... 10:15 start vs 7:30am?  that's a no-brainer!)

So here we are with just a couple weeks remain in my "slacker" month and then the new year will be here and and Ironman training really begins.  Under 300 days!  Seriously.... what on earth have I gotten myself into??!!!!  The next 9 months are certain to be an adventure, that's for sure.

100 *Miles* in 100 Days

My summer of running!

I've never been a good runner.  I'm a solid back-of-the-packer and I'm comfortable in that spot.  That said, I know I can become a *better* runner.  How do I do that?  Run more!  And that's what I set out to do, along with several members of ARRC and the Mamma's Fools.  100 runs in 100 days.  The rules are simple:

• A run must be 1 mile and 15 minutes long
• Multiple runs per day are allowed as long as they are 1 hour apart

Got it, Ok, let's roll.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." 

-- Aristotle

Well, 100 runs didn't actually happen.  I was on a good track until about July when my back really started hurting.  But.. I got back on track and realized at some point that while 100 runs was out of reach, I was on track to hit 100 *miles* for the summer..... with the new goal now in reach, I really set out and had a great experience with running towards the end of the summer.  I had a trip to Montana planned with Mom and Heidi T, and so I knew I had a few less days than in the plan, and picked up my runs toward the end...

5/21	94 days
Jen
53 runs	100.1 miles

And I DID IT!!!! Reached 100.1 miles after my 53rd run of 2.3 miles on August 23!!!! Sure, most of my runs were only about a mile, but 1 miles > 0 miles, right?? Anyway, I'm psyched... WOO HOO!!!!

Jim McDonnell Lake Swim

OK, so the official lake swim event was DNS, I did participate in the 1-mile practice clinic on the day prior and thus am doing a write up of the event.

The day actually started with a 7AM run with ARRC... 5 miles on a 1/2 interval schedule... yeah, that is super slow but I created a schedule for myself to become a runner this schedule, and as slow as that seems, it is one of the steps... and so there you have it.  Shari actually agreed to do these intervals with me as she had done 2/1's with Nelda the week before and wanted to slow down a bit.. worked out perfectly!  Having Shari with me made me do the walk intervals faster than I would have, and so even with the slow intervals, we managed about a 15 min/mi, which is faster than most of my shorter runs.. huh.  Anyway, but I digress.

I went straight from Arlington out to Reston for the swim clinic.. the clinic actually started much earlier so I only got there for the tail end question and answer session.  I sat down at the Team Z tent and hung out until it was time to get ready for the swim.  I saw a couple buoys out in the water, but wasn't sure I was seeing the entire mile, so there must be another one further out that I couldn't yet see.  Lined up in the waves for the start... the water was WARM and nice.. and off I was..

Got to that first buoy that I had seen from shore and was all set to make my way to that 2nd buoy, which was still the furthest out I had seen... and then we made a right turn.. THERE were the rest of the buoys... UGH.  I felt like I was going soooo slow.. wasn't wearing a wetsuit (by choice b/c that's where I need the work).  Sun was up on my right so I was forced to breathe mainly on the left.. this swim seemed long.. we kept rounding corners, and I was thinking that eventually the current would be going in my direction... nope.  Finally I turned and started swimming back to shore.. this was really a painful swim.  I finished in 47:25, which I think is on par with what I did in Florida, but geez..

Got out, handed in my number (which they had us store under our swim cap), and was met with some Team Z cheerers.. everyone was so nice even though I barely know anyone from the team yet.  Definitely glad I decided to join.. nice to have people to talk to after an event, even ones I don't take my own cheer squad to!

The rest of Saturday was exhausting as Mom came over to help me put in plants in my front yard... all those hours in the hot sun, I went to bed at 9:30.. woke up at 5:00 AM and decided I just didn't have it in me.  Turned off my alarm clock and rolled over until 10:30... went for a short run and to the Nationals Game.. no regrets for skipping the actual swim event.

VA Run Turkey Trot 5k

It was good to get out and run -- I was afraid that given my history of blowing off races, if there was rain, I'd just roll over and go back to sleep.  I mean, if I can pass up $300 race fees (think Rhode Island 70.3 in 2009) than I could certainly let a mere $27 entry fee go... but I didn't!  I got up despite the radio weather reports saying there was rain in the area.  I threw on my clothes and drove out to Centreville where there were actually a lot more people than I expected.  Parked about a half mile away from the start and ended up finding myself in the start corral about half hour before the race started... unfortunately that also means I was probably lined up incorrectly for my anticipated speed, but without great organization, I just went with it.  I looked around for Sloan who I found out was doing the race also, but with so many people it was impossible.

Finally the race was starting and we were off... I was worried I was a little over-dressed, but didn't think about it and actually ran the entire first mile without walking in about 10:53.  Overall, I only took 3 walk breaks and finished with around a 12:40 pace, which isn't great, but made me happy.  It's not like I was expecting any kind of PR given that I haven't run in such a long time, let alone 3 miles... that will change though since ARRC winter season is right around the corner (and 3 miles is the lowest mileage that we do).

It was cold so I decided to forego the after-party at the community center and just walked back to my warm jeep.. stopped at Starbucks (why are NO other breakfast places like Panera or bagel shops open -- there are so many turkey trots that you'd think they'd get a lot of business) and made my way home to shower, relax and get ready for Thanksgiving at mom's!  Glad I decided to get out there and run!!