Hope this is me someday!

Saw this on Eric's blog, "The Runner Inside." Hope it inspires you like it does me!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

If it seems like I'm writing often...

...I am. This week I'm finally feeling like me again, after several months of feeling like not enough butter on toast. My dad's doing really well, and life is returning to normal, where I don't feel so stretched. So yeah, I'm writing more.

You know, I've kept a weblog now for nearly four years. It started when I was getting ready to compete in the Women's Tri-Fitness competition in Las Vegas. I'd lost weight and decided to take the plunge and do something I would NEVER in my wildest dreams have thought I'd ever do. And since it was so unusual, I let my friends know if they'd like to know what it's like getting ready for a fitness competition, I'd be happy to send them updates. From there I started a weblog -- someone mentioned the word "weblog" and though I'd never heard it before, I did a little research and decided it was for me!

So I kept a weblog for about a year and a half (as Fortysomething Fitness), but ran into some family issues as a result of the blog. As a strong statement about my loyalty to someone I love, I deleted the entire blog. (I regret it a little, but it mended the relationship.) A few months after that, I started this.

I write when I have something to say. If I have nothing to say (or more likely, something to say but no time to type it), I don't write. So there's no rhyme or reason to the quantity of my writing. Well, there is one pattern. When I'm feeling good (and have the time to write) I write a lot. So multiple posts are like a mood barometer of sorts.

Finally, I'm so appreciative when someone reads what I write. I actually have no idea who reads this, except for the very cool Blogger "Follow this blog" tool. Confession here: I am subscribed via Bloglines to more than 150 blogs, in subjects ranging from fitness and running (or course!) to food and parenting (well, duh!), with a little homemaking, simplicity and humor thrown in. Do these people know I read what they write? Probably not. My theory on commenting is the same as on writing -- I only comment if I have something to say. Maybe I should change this, as I often read something and think nice thoughts about the author -- perhaps they'd like to hear this from the source? (Having said that, maybe I need to comment more often!)

So to sum it up, it's feast or famine here, with zero predictability as to what you'll find. But if you do stop by, I really do appreciate it.

BREAKING NEWS

I emailed the RD for the American River 50 and asked if I could still do the training run. She emailed back that she'd just opened 9 more spots for the race, and if I got on it, I could register. So (deep breath) I'm signed up (and paying!) to run FIFTY MILES on April 4th! More to come...

Rainy run

My house is warm and dry. And I'm about to go out and run 13 miles in the rain. Does this appeal to me? Heck no! I'd rather stay cozy and dry. Why am I telling you this? Because I'm setting myself up to succeed. Tim knows I'm running this morning. Now you know. And I really am big on doing what I say I'm going to do. So here I go...

Why I workout

Image courtesy of Kelly K. on dailymile.com.

dailymile

I've found a running site that I LOVE! It's called dailymile and it's a forum for runners, bikers, and triathletes. The design is clean and visually appealing, and it's fun getting in on a site that's relatively new but could be something big. If you're a runner or biker or tri-person, I highly recommend that you check it out. And if you decide to join, be sure to add me as a friend (I'm leslie g over there), ok?

Six words about tomorrow

Regardless of air quality, I'm running.

(Inspired by my new book "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs".)

Sidebar changes

To increase my accountability, I've added a Workouts list to the sidebar. Here I hope to stay consistent with both activity AND rest.

I've also changed my Run list. I used to track vertical miles. Why? Because I wanted to! And I got to more than 20 miles straight up, which I think is cool. But now I'm working on speeding up. And trying to log more vertical miles while getting faster is just a recipe for injury and burnout. And hey -- it's MY goal, right?

Just got back from a 5 mile run in 90 degree heat. After running in Hawaii's heat AND humidity, today's run was not a problem -- hooray!

Tagged by Irene!

Irene tagged me on a running meme -- thanks, Irene -- this was fun!

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago? At that time, my kids were 4 and 2, and running was what enabled me to stay sane. Tim could come in the door after work, take one look at my face, and say, "YOU need to go running" and he would be right. (My kids were wonderful, but I kept myself very isolated and made staying home harder than it needed to be, for the record.) Also, 10 years ago was the first time I ran 1000 miles in a year, something that I'm shooting for this year as well.

2. Best/worst running experience. Best -- every single race I've run, because I can't believe that me, the last picked for everything, is running in races! Probably my best BEST race was Wharf to Wharf (Santa Cruz to Capitola -- about 7 miles) in 1994, when I was 4 months pregnant. I had a shirt made that said, "Running for Two" because I didn't really look pregnant yet. :)

Worst -- in our first house, I was running at dusk through our neighborhood. I ran past two men and heard one say to the other "Do you want to rape her?" SCARY! We moved just a few months later.

3. Why do you run? Many reasons. Biggest one -- it helps me to stay on an even keel emotionally. Also I love that I can eat more than the average woman, and still be comfortable in my clothes and in my own skin. Also because my birth father is a runner, and running makes me feel connected to him.

4. Best running advice? Remember that the first mile is always hard, but it does get better. I NEVER like that first mile, but remembering that it doesn't stay hard like that the whole time makes it easier to push through it.

5. Something surprising about me that not many people know? I have all sorts of idiosyncrasies and oddities. But one that not many people know? Gosh, I feel like I share nearly everything here, so it's hard to come up with something. Irene -- it's going to seem like copying, but I promise it's true -- I can still do cartwheels! In fact, when I was pregnant I continued to do cartwheels into my 9th month, and I'm convinced there's a connection between that and the love both of my sons have for gymnastics!

Validation!

Don't you love it when you have an idea or an opinion, and then you see something in the media that backs up your way of thinking? Well, in the July/August issue of Running Times, the article titled "Not Just Half a Race -- Getting the most from the Half Marathon" (isn't that a great title?) reads:

It sometimes seems as though the half marathon is the forgotten stepchild of distance running. It's popular, but you're unlikely to hear it hailed as the queen of distances, perhaps because it's not got the glamour of the marathon and there isn't an equivalent race in the Olympics like the 5K and 10K. At best, it's promoted as a way station en route to a marathon.

Then there's some stuff about recent half marathon records (a sub-1:00 half marathon???? Yes! Crazy, huh?). The article continues:

Perhaps all of these will bring more attention to what is actually an elegant racing distance. Long enough that you can't just race it on a whim, the half rewards serious training. But it doesn't beat you up as badly as a marathon, freeing you to run it a lot more frequently.

Amen to all of that!

My running has been going well -- I'm at 21 miles per week, on average, for the year, which took some doing to get to, as I didn't set my running goal until early April. (Note -- I was running and was tracking the miles, but with no clear idea of what I was shooting for. So I had several 30+ mile weeks in order to catch up.)

Ok, no time to wrap this up, as family is ready to head out the door, and I AM wearing makeup today. More thoughts soon...

Melange

• Wife Swap was really boring to me. I think it's because I was expecting a healthful vs. junk food showdown, and that wasn't what it turned out to be. Oh well...
• I am in love with my Vita Mix. It's quieter and more powerful than my $29 Costco blender (well duh, right?) and I'm looking forward to making all sorts of yummy things with it.
• This is my first week of no boxing camp, and it's so much easier to get my running miles in. The great thing about doing boxing camp for five months is that I'm now a confirmed morning exerciser, something I'd always wanted to be. This morning I was up at 5:30, out the door running by 6:00 and had 6 miles done before it was time to get the kids up for school -- sweet!
• I'm having another hungry day, but at least my choices have been good ones.
• Three weeks from today we'll be in HAWAII!!!
  

I DO still exercise!

Haven't had much to say about workouts these days. Today was my last day of boxing camp (end of May session) and I'm looking forward to finding a new challenge. Don't know what it will be yet, but I'll be sure to let you know about it when I figure it out.

So this week, workouts have looked like this:
Monday -- boxing camp, swings with clients
Tuesday -- 6 mile run
Wednesday -- boxing camp
Thursday -- boxing camp

I plan to do some longer runs this weekend and maybe the P90X yoga dvd or Art of Strength's Providence kettlebell DVD.

In a few minutes, my boyfriend (actually husband, but boyfriend just sounds and feels like a lot more fun!) will be home from a 5 day golf trip in Oregon. I can't wait!!!

Run is done!

Races are getting easier for me emotionally. I don't get as frightened beforehand and that's really nice. Today I drove to Lodi, leaving at 6:10, and ran my race. A few thoughts:

• Headsweats hats are fantastic. The race included both a t-shirt (boo -- it was a man shirt!) and a Headsweats hat (yea!). I changed hats before the race, and the new hat is amazing -- it doesn't even feel like you have a hat on. I'm a believer, for sure!
• Getting stuck behind a smelly man (not all men are smelly, I'm talking about a specific one in the race) is tremendous incentive to speed up.
• Running when it's 20 degrees warmer than it was 2 weeks ago feels tough.
• Lodi is flat, which is nice for those of us who run where it's un-flat!
• I don't have race results yet (had to drive right back home after race) but I think I did about a 1:57. At the very end, a 20-something girl and I had a sprint to the finish. She won (darn it!). But I was grateful for the push at the end.

Melange

• Filthy fifty makes you sore. Where? Everywhere! More specifically lats, pecs, abs (surprising because of all the ab stuff we do at boxing camp), glutes & hams, calves (also surprising cuz of the hill running). I think the explosive nature of the exercises (burpees, thrusters, etc.) accounts for a lot of the soreness. Both of my girlfriends did great, but I'm hoping I'm not the only one who's sore today!
• Has anyone seen "Dan in Real Life"? It's an ok movie, but it has some really neat music that's great for listening while writing, cooking, or relaxing.
  
• Also speaking of music, I refound two of my favorite songs and added them to my running playlist: Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode, and Plush by Stone Temple Pilots. And a new favorite is Capital G by Nine Inch Nails. These songs are the opposite of Dan in Real Life!
  
• Tim drives a LOT for work and listens to audiobooks. Recently he recommended The Pillars of the Earth as something I'd enjoy. I don't read much fiction. But I decided to give it a try. I got halfway through the 1000+ page book and decided to stop there. Why? I was tired of really bad things happening to good people! The book really is a good book -- the characters are well drawn, the writing style is fantastic -- but it's just not the book for me. I may have to go back to my all-time favorites for yet another reading: Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic books (and especially The Undomestic Goddess). Yes, it's chick lit, but it's light and fun and perfect for summer!
• I had some bloodwork done this morning and decided to see how no caffeine felt. Verdict? No caffeine, at least at this point in time, makes me feel awful!
• I still want to write about Green Smoothie Girl and green smoothies, but the Cliff Notes version sounds something like this: I've been drinking green smoothies twice a day for the past two weeks, and I feel fantastic, and my skin looks better, and I really look forward to each and every smoothie I make!
• Final thing: I'm running my second half marathon tomorrow. This one is just to get another race under my belt on my quest for six of them this year. The run is in Lodi at a winery, so the scenery should be nice. And I'm happy the temperatures are dropping this weekend -- today is supposed to be 100 degrees, and tomorrow's forecast says 96. Those are hot temperatures, to be sure, but those few degrees can make a BIG difference!
  
• One more final thing: I wish there was another name for the 1/2 marathon. To me, it's the perfect distance, and is complete in itself, and calling it half of something implies that it's not complete. I do have a sticker on my car that reads "13.1. Because I can." But another name besides half marathon would be nice, don't you think?
  

Caught up!

As of today, I've finally caught up with my running goal for the year! Although I've been running all year, it wasn't until March (I think) that I set the goal of averaging 20 miles per week for the year. I had been tracking my mileage, but didn't have any sort of running goal, so when I started I was at 15 miles per week average. So I've had some high mileage weeks (I think the most was 35) in an attempt to get caught up. And with my Mother's Day 6 miles (and yesterday's 8 miles and Friday's 6 and Thursday's 5) I'm at TWENTY!!!

Recent workouts

Thursday: boxing camp (am), run 11 miles (pm)
Friday: boxing camp (am)
Saturday: run 10 miles (am)
Sunday: P90X chest/shoulders/triceps (am), Art of Strength Providence (pm)
Monday: boxing camp (am), swings with client (pm), Providence (pm)

At dinner I was saying that I'd done boxing camp and a kettlebell workout today, and Austin said I was crazy. That's a normal comment from a 14-year-old, but I was thinking about it last night, and decided to talk to him about it.

Me: I have a response to your comment about me being crazy because of my workouts.
Austin: Wow -- it only took you 2 hours to come up with a response?! (he's sarcastic like that, and it was said with a smile, so it was ok)
Me: You skated (skateboards) yesterday for 5 hours with your friends, and that was play. Well, the workouts are my play. Only it's tough to find friends to play with, which is why I do boxing camp, or DVDs. But if you think of it like that, it won't seem so crazy.
Austin: You're right.

Honestly, I see the physical stuff I do as playtime, pure and simple. Sometimes it's tough play, but it's still play. This morning I ran 7 miles with a girlfriend. We both started the run tired and it felt like the wind was in our faces no matter which way we ran. So it wasn't an easy run. But guess what? It's done. And we had a great time doing it, even when we were coming up Backside (for those who are local and know of this hill -- it's a killer!) and talking about how hard it was -- yeah, it was hard, but WE DID IT! And that feels fantastic!

Race Saturday

So my first official half marathon of the year is Saturday. It starts and finishes about a mile from where I grew up, and I think my dad's going to come see me at the finish line. Tim and the kids will be at the finish line too. My goal is a sub-2:00 half, and I think that's doable. Two years ago I ran a half in Folsom and finished in 1:47, but I was doing a lot more speedwork then, so I'm not shooting for anything that fast.

I ran 11 miles on Thursday, and then did 10 on Saturday. This week I'm doing 6 today and maybe 4 on Thursday and calling it good. Of course I'll still be doing boxing camp and kettlebell play on my "off" days, but I think my plan will have my legs fresh enough to do well. And if I don't meet my goal? Well, then that's information to use as I prepare for my next half!

Run? Done!

This is my last week of 5 days of boxing camp and I think that's good. Yesterday I was up at 4:45 for a particularly grueling workout that included lots of lunges and jumping lunges. And I wanted to do my last long run before next weekend's race. So I went out and did 11 hard miles, using every trick in the book to keep myself going. I don't know what anyone else does or thinks to keep going when they want to stop, but some of my devices include:

• thinking of my feet as Pac Mans (you know, the video game from the 1980s) eating up the pavement
• focusing on doing just one mile at a time
• telling myself that I can walk or stop anytime I want to (strangely, this makes it less likely that I'll do either!)
• thinking of Lance Armstrong and a particular story where he does like a 3 hour mountain climb on his bike in the rain, and then, because it didn't feel right, does it AGAIN!
• thinking of ultra-runner Dean Karnazes who ran 50 marathons in 50 days
• thinking of the ease I have with food and the ease I have in my clothes when I run

Today was boxing camp and it was especially brutal, not because of yesterday's run, but because only 2 people showed up, so the ratio of trainers to victims was 3:2. Seriously , I was drenched in sweat and very happy when it was over. And tomorrow I'm running 10 with 2 girlfriends who want to do 10 but have never run more than 8 at a time. They are in shape to do it and I think they're going to feel fabulous once it's done.

So that's it from me for now. I have two more clients today, both of whom are really fun. And the weekend will be filled with kid sleepovers (at our house, different kids, both nights!) and end of season gymnastics banquet (tonight) and maybe a trip to the dog park.

Finally, the next time I write it will be in response to and with appreciation for all comments that have been left here. Be a good one, everyone!

Finding some balance

I will respond to the much-appreciated comments in the next few days, but thank you to my smart friends who think I'm overtraining. You're right and I plan to do something about it.

I don't know exactly how I'm going to handle scheduling workouts, but I think I'm going to drop boxing conditioning for May. That will drop me to 3 days a week of boxing which should make a big difference. But conditioning is fun, in a crazy sort of way, so I'm tempted to keep it. But my 1000 miles of running is important to me, and it supports my 6 half marathons for the year, so it makes sense to go to 3 boxing days.

This morning I ran 11 miles and it felt great. I would have gone further but it was super windy, and I was ready to be inside after 11! Got home, cleaned up, took Tucker to Tae Kwon Do, and then he and I headed out to lunch and to Petroglyph where I painted yet another pig and he painted his second gnome. We have fun painting together -- it's very peaceful and sweet.

We're off to church, then heading home to watch one of my all-time favorite movies, The Terminator, as a family, with much popcorn and snacking -- hooray!

Gassed or whatever you call it

What's the word for when your body goes, "Nope. We're not doing another single thing today!"? Gassed? Smoked? Finito? Well, whatever it is, it's Friday afternoon and I'm there.

I'm needing to reevaluate my goals because while alone they are all fine, when viewed all together as belonging to the same person (me!), they may not work well. Here's the weekly goal list:

boxing camp 5 mornings
run 20 miles
one 1000 kettlebell swing workout
cell regeneration treatment (with 24 hours of rest afterwards)

Today I got up at 5:15 for boxing (today is conditioning, which starts at 6:00 which is why I get to sleep in), and I was TIRED! But once I got going at boxing I was fine. Workout was hard, but they're all hard. Came home, knowing I wanted to run 14 miles today. Got cleaned up. Trained 2 clients. Had a "window" where I could do part of my mileage, so I went out and did a fast-ish 7 (1:02 overall time). Trained another client. Laid down intending to rest for 30 minutes before doing the other 7 miles. Slept through alarm. Woke up really tired. Decided (with sane husband's help) to not run the other 7. Then I thought, "Well, I can do my swing workout!" Got ready. Did 100 swings. And knew that nothing else was happening.

Although it may sound like I'm obsessed with workout out, I'm really not. Nor do I have freaky body image issues (just normal ones like most women!). I just really want to hit all of my goals and it's getting hard to fit it all in.

So the plan for tomorrow is to go out early and run 10. I'll let you know how it goes.

A super-quick hello

Retreat was great. This week is going great. But I'm super busy and have not had the time to sit and write. Usually when I'm not writing, it means I'm stuck in depression, but not this time (hooray!).

Time to get some miles in, so gotta run -- literally!