An introduction

So I'll acknowledge that it's been a while since I've graced this blog with my presence.  Do I miss it or am I missed?  I don't know.  I owe you a race recap of the Triathlon I completed  on Sunday, but I want to include some pictures, so there's the hold up.  In the mean time, I have an introduction for you.
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Life gets full.

filled with things that are wanted, and some not so wanted.

and somehow the things you love slip.

... and you find it's been 7 years since you've been camping.

but one day you dust off your camping pots, buy a tent and somehow cram a camping trip into an already full weekend.

why?

maybe it's because life is always about figuring out new priorities

maybe it's because it finally just worked out

... or maybe it's because you met someone who is just as crazy as you.

3 years later

3 years ago - I ran a 5K for the first time.  It was the start of something good.

It would take me a long time to tally all the ways that my life has changed since then, but suffice it to say Running is not the complete list.  So much of it I have shared in this space already, so today I give you numbers and pictures.  

My goal today was to finish in less than 30 minutes, with a dim hope that maybe I could PR too.  The last 5K I did was very flat, so I wasn't sure if I could improve.   I set my garmin up to pace 9:40 (for a sub 30 finish), but my splits were 9:15, 8:54, and 9:11.  I guess 9:40 was off  :)

I ran my first 5K in 36:52 for an 11:53 pace, Today I completed the 5K in 28:32 for a 9:11 pace, meaning I've shaved 2:42/ mile from my original abilities.   I don't think it always works this way for everybody, but to me that 2 minutes and 42 seconds represents a life that's been re-claimed.   I was 75th out of a total 1,242 female participants, which means I'm in the top 10%, that was neither true for me nor something I cared about 3 years ago.  

Some have asked what I've done to get faster, and to be honest I can't put my finger on it completely.  However, all of these things have been done and are likely related.

-I've run more frequently and longer equating to more miles/week
-I've done some strength training
-I've lost nearly 10 lbs

I should probably say that all of these things required me to change things, but those changes were relatively small, and have lead to pretty dramatic changes in my pace.  Which is to say that, never underestimate what you can do with a little things - they add up! 

Feet are ready.

Have to take this picture every year. 

Photo Proof

Delusions of Grandeur

Are you familiar with the strengths finder?  You should be!  It's an awesome tool to help you understand what you excel at.  I bought the assessment for my whole family one Christmas; a gift I'm sure they cherished (well maybe).  The creators realized that people spend more time being told what their weaknesses are then their strengths and perhaps ironically people do better when they focus on their strengths instead.

Mine are:

1. Ideation
2. Strategic
3. Input
4. Significance
5. Adaptability

All of these fit me... but I only want to talk about the one that caught my attention recently.  Significance.  What's that?

People who are especially talented in the Significance theme want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.

Okay so when I first read that.. ah, so I'm full of myself? that's a strength?! but I read more.

Because of your strengths, you set definite goals for yourself. These performance objectives allow you to exercise control over the events in your life. They also influence many of the choices you make. It’s very likely that you are determined to be in charge of your own destiny. This is your life. You intend to be the ultimate decision maker regarding personal and professional matters. Instinctively, you seek jobs and assignments that allow you to influence people to do whatever needs to be done. You are eager to be in a position of authority. By nature, you definitely desire to be an influential person. You want to be put in charge of important groups or projects. You pay close attention to the behaviors, processes, or plans you need to perfect, upgrade, or simply do better. Driven by your talents, you understand the proverb “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Instead of choosing the easy and obvious path, you challenge yourself to overreach your goals. With courage and perseverance, you dare to produce exceptional results. You seldom ask for guarantees of success. Instead, you boldly forge ahead toward your desired goals.

Ok, so that sounds better.

There are so many sound bites in this paragraph that I resonate with or have a story for... but I think to sum it up - tangible specific goals work well for me... and I do well under pressure.

So that brings me to running,( like you didn't see that coming?? ) When I first started running... I thought it was pretty awesome that I was exercising period and that I finally found something I could stick with.  I've pursued other sorts of exercise in the past because I thought would be fun: yoga, rock climbing, badminton, and roller blading have all been given a fair shot, but fun doesn't really keep me motivated.  I still like to do those things on occasion still for social reasons and sometimes just to mix it up - but none of them get the attention that running does.  I think the reason is that none of these 'fun activities' drive me, is that at the end of the day fun doesn't really motivate me.  I'm actually sort of wondering if fun motivates people at all really?

Anyway, a couple years ago I got it in my mind that I would run a sub 30 5K... it seemed like a good way to legitimize what I was doing with running and I knew it would be hard too.  (at that time my best 5K was around 33 mins, with the average being closer 35).  I've been making a serious effort, but my PR remained 31:30 .  Anyway, a few weeks ago my work sponsored a 5K and I really only signed up for 'social and professional' reasons.  However, after my stellar 10K - I knew this could be it..... and it was!  

So I started off running really fast in the race... and my self talk was like "you are not going to be able to hold this - you need to slow down", but then I just kept telling myself ... "it's only a 5K... you don't have to go much longer"  Final time: 28:42  (9:15 pace)

Initially, just completing a 5K was unfathomable.  Considering I was far from an athlete in highschool and the farthest I was expected to run before this was a 1.5 mile run for gym class... A run which I vaguely remember having a slower pace than 12 min mile pace.  But I did that, and then I wanted to overcome longer distances and now I've done a marathon (well 2 actually).  Then I wanted to add in other sports and did a Tri.  When I finished the Tri at a better than expected pace... it occurred to me - that I could be fast (mind you I was still in the back half at this point).  I did well time wise at the Women Rock too and at the TC marathon I beat my first marathon time by over 40 minutes.  And then, this spring at the Securian 5K - it was the first time I finished in the front half for my age group.

So I've achieved all these things with running... and now you know what it makes me want to do - acheive more!  It's like I can't help it.  The next big goal:  'beat Oprah' in the marathon.  That would be a time of 4:29:20.  Race predictors have me coming in 10 mins slower based on my (new) 5K time, so it's a challenge... but I think that's my whole point.

To reiterate my initial sentiment, I strongly encourage you to learn about your own strengths.  The discovery has proved a powerful directive for me.

Thoughts down River Road

Yep, still alive and still running.  Blogging has fallen off my radar lately, and suffice it to say it hasn't totally been missed.  I don't have a plan or prediction on what I'll do next on the blog - so I'm just letting it be and seeing what comes of it.

My rather belated news is that Tony and I's relationship met it's expiration date (about 3 months back) and I think the writing was on the wall some time before that.  Unlike my ex-husband, there aren't any scathing stories to report and it sounds a little trite in my opinion, but I simply think we weren't a very good match - no matter how good of friends we made (and for what it's worth - still make).

It's fair to say, I'm more of a numbers than a words person, but I've always appreciated those who are crafty with the latter.  I don't fancy myself 'a writer', but I like poetry and have made a few stabs at it in the past.  As I was out on my bike today... the words for this came to me, and without giving too much away... the ideas here aren't concise to one person or place. Oh and perhaps at the inspiration of my Grandma Sharon - it rhymes.  


a path I've come to know is

down the river road

it's familiarity meets me strangely

which makes all the motion slowed


a life has its trials

and my feet remind me I'm able

to press on through many things

to find what is stable.


there are men on the path too

running with their tops unclothed

and of course I'm free to look

but it's not what I want showed


my demands are proving too high

though what I hope for isn't perfection

and so I'll tell you with a sigh

I guess it's called a connection

Two new 10s

10 mile trail

I ran my second ever 10 mile race on April 13th this year.  It had snowed beforehand the trail was not cleared; it was more like a 10 mile trudge.  40% of the registrants didn't even show, not sure I blame them.  The good news is that it was still a PR for me... the bad was that it was no where near where I would want to be for this distance.. my half marathon PR is still at a better pace... but conditions as they were I'm pretty proud of myself for just showing up.  

Also, on deck, was my first ever 10K.  I ran the popular Get in Gear: Rite of Spring on April 27th.  As opposed to two weeks earlier, it was a perfect day.  On my 28 for 28 goals list - I wanted to have a sub 60 10K.  Perhaps an odd goal, since I've yet to get the sub 30 5K.  For this race, I would have been satisfied with anything under 1:05.  Anyway, my finish time was 60:36. - for a 9:46 pace!!  Last year, I ran Get Lucky  7K at an 11:10 pace... which means I've shaved 1:24 off my overall pace in the last year for a similar distance.  Now I just need to figure out how to shave those last 36 seconds, which is less than 6 seconds per mile.   One thing that wasn't good about this race, is that my splits were somewhat uneven.  Mile 2 was a 9:00 mile, Mile 3 was a 10:22 mile.  Basically, I paid for that 9:00 minute mile.  I think if I can just even out these splits I might just find those 36 seconds, so here's to that! 

Dietbet recap

As I mentioned in an earlier post - I decided to commit to a dietbet.  I did so with some reservations, as I'm not a huge promoter of dieting per se.... but I did need to kick my healthy eating into gear and this provided the motivation that I was looking for.  For the record I was 0.3 lbs shy of my goal on the final weigh-in day... which was annoying to say the least, but obviously I still achieved the more general goal of losing weight.  Also, it's a week late, but I did step on scale yesterday to see that I had lost those additional 0.3 lbs (plus some).  I still have a couple more lbs I would like to lose before I'm 'done', but I'm under no strict timeline for that and don't intend to dietbet again anytime soon.

I appreciated the push (or shove?) provided by dietbet though.  At first I was attempting to micro manage my caloric intake but this was not something I loved and admit-ably after one week of strict calorie monitoring, I gave up on it and focused on more generalized healthy eating.  I know this practice doesn't work for everybody, but I felt the hyperactive monitoring was driving me batty.   Though, I did establish some monitor-able tasks for myself.   I've found that goals are best achieved when there are steps to take.  I only dined at a fast food establishment once and drank a lot more water.  I avoided alcohol by keeping it strictly to social outings.  I ate until I was satisfied but not stuffed, and I tried to make the foods I was filling up on more healthy in the first place.  I made a point to have healthy snacks available and ate more frequently throughout the day so that my electrolyte level didn't drop, which usually ends in a desperate need for Taco Bell :).    I also ran and exercised but this is consistent with what I normally do.

That being said I have mixed feelings about it and not just because I didn't win the money.  Because this was (thankfully) my first experience with dieting...I've never truly been aware of how hard it is too lose weight.  I tip my hat to anyone who has lost consistently for much longer than a month.  Maintenance is soo much easier by my account.  While I've seen my friends have both big success with weight loss, I've also seen disappointment (sometimes by the same people.)  I'm not an expert on any of this by any means, but  I do think the disappointment is often related to perceived external pressure (such as dietbet) which could very well be an unnecessary part of the equation.  Also, I think the problem with dieting is that it doesn't feel very natural.  I want to eat what I want to eat... I don't want to put it on a scale or scan it on my phone first.  I'm beyond thankful my body is generally very good at telling me when I'm sated and that through practice I find myself craving vegetables and water as opposed to wine and cheese... or at least I can balance it.  I think the pressure of the world is fierce and often clouds from truly knowing our authentic self.  I think if we could sidestep externalities, we would all hear our bodies more clearly... and find that they are wanting nutrients and movement... as opposed to chemicals and carbs.

Okay, and one more thing.  I hope it's a given, but just in case it's not I firmly believe there is no universal rule on what weight or dress size you should be, and that while bmi might be an interesting formula it is up to you to decide what your desired weight should be.  That being said there are many health concerns linked to obesity and anyone who wants to move away from that deserves a few words of encouragement.  Though in saying that it is still the individual's choice to want or not.

Racing and Pacing

Racing

So I completed my first race with the MDRA.  I joined the Minnesota Distance Running Association earlier this year when I learned that I could save money on races.  I paid $25 for the membership, and thus $0 for the race entry to the Lake Johanna 4 Miler.  I could run another 'free' race tomorrow, but I think I'm going to cool it... much to much to do.   I will still be running, but it's much easier to start a run from my house.  

No BIG recap here, but there are some highlights!

-FIRST race of a 4 mile distance (largely because it's the only one I know of with this distance)

-FASTEST race ever, had this been a 5K - I would have PRed.   The official clock malfunctioned, but my garmin time was 40:39 (4.05mi) which results in 10:02 min/mile average pace.

Ran pretty fast towards the finish line!

-HILLS were many on this course, and I'm happy to say my splits were still pretty even in-spite of it: (9:58, 10:12. 10:00, 10:03)

-MET @steveinaspeedo who was MDRA Grand Prix winner last year and blog's here

Pacing

As I mentioned in an earlier post - I will be pacing my first race.  For those of you who might not be familiar  pacing it means running the race at defined finish time allowing for others to follow along so they can achieve their desired goal.  I will be pacing the Eau Claire Half marathon at the 2:30 finish time.  A 2:30 marathon translates to 11:27 min miles, but since most people run farther than 13.1 miles in race I will be averaging 11:22 (as to do 13.2 miles).  When I allow for room to take walk breaks at the water stops, I need to be running at a 11:06 pace.  I've used a spreadsheet to figure all this out (nerd alert!).  Anyway, I tried to do a 'pace run' and it was surprisingly challenging to adjust.  I actually was 'too fast'... which is naturally better than too slow, but I will have to keep figuring out how to adjust.  I plan to do a similar but longer 'pace run' this weekend.   Again, any advice on the pacing front is welcome!