Seattle Mom Blogs

Quick fly by here at the blog.  I’m off in a couple of hours to run the Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage relay race. 

The Ragnar is “you and 11 of your closest friends running day and night, relay-style, through some of the most scenic terrain North America could muster. Add in live bands, inside jokes and a mild case of sleep deprivation. The result? Some call it a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. We call it a Ragnar Relay.”

The Northwest Passage course description reads: Skagit, Deception, Fidalgo, Whidbey. Unusual names, killer places to run. This adventure-fest will push you and 11 pals through 187 miles of stunning Washington scenery. Starting in the seaside town of Blaine, your team will head south through farm country and along the coast, ultimately crossing over Deception Pass. The race (and your stamina) wraps up on the southern tip of Whidbey Island. 

So, why am I doing this you may be asking?  Well, I’m on the verge of turning 40.  In fact, my 40th birthday is Saturday and I will be the runner crossing the finish line…. on my 40th birthday.  I saw an ad for this race last year and really wanted to do it but schedules didn’t allow it nor did I have time to put a team together.  But when I thought about what I wanted to do for my 40th, this immediately came to mind.  So, I got my husband, Jenny from Jenny On The Spot and Anthony from The Pursuit of A Life plus L, my running partner, and a few more friends and we will spend approximately 24-28 hours running almost 200 miles.  Yep- that’s my version of a blow out 40th birthday party!

Wish us luck…

So for years I have always been convinced that I hate spinning classes.  I took a class a few times about 8 years ago and I would spend the whole class watching the second hand tick over every second for an entire hour.  But slowly over the last few weeks, I’ve been more and more intrigued by the idea of trying a spin class again.  One of the trainers at the gym is this very French, very intense man.  I tried to joke with him one time about how his is so much meaner than my trainer.  Yeah, that did not go over so well.  But he’s know around the gym as The Feared French Cyclist.  So, if I’m going to take a spinning class, I’m going to go big and take his class.  That’s just how I am.  No easing into anything.  No doing anything the easy way.

So spinning with Seby is now my new Wednesday noon workout and I love it.  I know.  I’m just as surprised to you.  I guess all that was needed all these years was a hot French cyclist in front of me and I would have tried spinning a long time ago.

So it was the weekend of the Seattle R.ock N R.oll again.  This time, 27,000 runners registered for the sold out race.  As usual, most of the runners registered for the half.  L and I were all set for the full 26.2 miles and made plans to meet downtown at 5 am.  Which meant I got up at 4 am.  Let me repeat that- I voluntarily got up at 4 am on a Saturday to go run 26.2 miles.  Cra-zy.

There were some glitches with the shuttle buses and lack of adequate port-a-potties for 27,00 runners plus volunteers.  The race started and our corral (#8 which was a HUGE improvement over corral #24 from last year) already crossed the start line while we were all still standing in line for the bathroom.

L and I jumped in with another corral as it approached the start and we took off.  It was so crowded and hard to find a good pace for miles.  I hate to say it but there were too many racers.

Oh and let me back up- on the way down to the shuttle buses, L told me she had decided to run the half instead of the whole.  I had to understand as she had been sick twice and had been traveling which had left her very little opportunity to run in the month leading up the race.  So I already knew she would be leaving me when the groups split at mile 9.2.  Instead, we ended up splitting at mile 5 as she needed to stop and deal with some issues.  Damn.  21.2 more miles to go and now I’m alone.

I kept my eye on my Garmin to keep my pace about 8:35-8:45 per mile (going for a sub-4 hour finish!) and hit L.ake Washin.gton Blvd.  I love the stretch along this road from Seward Park to Madison Park.  At mile 9, in Leschi, we ran up the on-ramp to get on the express lanes of I-90.  At that point, my Zune quit on me.  Dead.  Totally dead.  Now I am looking at 17.2 more miles with NO ONE TO TALK TO AND NO MUSIC.  This sucked pretty bad.

I ran out across I-90 to Mercer Island and made the turn around to head back to Seattle.  We rejoined the half marathoners in the express tunnel and ran together for about 3 more miles into downtown.  I think they were on miles 9-12 and we were on 12-15 at that point.   I was slowing down to 9:15-9:30 minute miles which wasn’t going to get me my sub-4 finish.  I had a really hard time dealing with that.

I was struggling with pain in my pelvis from an injury I suffered a while ago.  I had a groin pull which led to an inflammation of my pubic joint and I have not been able to completely heal from this.  The pain in my pelvis led to a change in my gait and then my right calf started to try and cramp up.  The muscle would seize but not quite be able to cramp.  It was momentarily painful and highly annoying.  It was tempting to just cross over to the half marathoners and run their last mile with them and be done.  But I stuck with it and hit the on-ramp to 99.

Last year, the long stretch up to Fremont, back to way south of downtown and then up the hill back to Qwes.t Field was really hard on me mentally.  For some reason, this stretch wasn’t as hard for me this time.  Maybe because I had already had plenty of time to have my mental breakdowns from mile 5 on?  Who knows.

By mile 21, I was in so much pain that the pelvic pain and pain in my feet was all relative.  Everything hurt.  But everything always hurts at this point in the race.  I found my determination that had been missing since about mile 12 and managed to get my splits down closer to 8:50-9:00 minute miles.  The sub-4 finish had slid out of my grasp at about mile 19 and I knew there was no getting it back.

I managed the final turn around between mile 24 and 25 and headed back north to the exit to Qwest and the finish line.  Down the offramp and around the corner and the finish line is less than .2 miles away.  I sped up but was unable to actually break into a sprint to cross the finish line.  Chip time was 4:24.  Disappointing.

Sunday morning I finally faced the inevitable and looked up my stats:

Only 4,010 of the 27,000 ran the whole. That means I at least ran twice as far as 23,000 other people.  I was in top 40% of all marathoners; top 30% of all women and top 25% of women my age. I may not have gotten my sub-4 but maybe that’s OK.

I’ve been trying to be OK with this result but it was hard when I ran into my trainer at the gym this morning and he was so excited to hear about the race.  I felt like I was disappointing him when I told him I didn’t finish sub-4.  I’m sure he was just disappointed FOR me but still.

So: moving on to the next race.  The Ragnar Relay Northwast Passage to celebrate my 40th birthday.  Less than 4 weeks away…

Well, times and places were finally posted and I eagerly (naively) checked to see how I had done.  Ouch.  My overall time was no improvement over last year.  The course was not identical to my very first triathlon last summer but it was close enough to be comparable.  And I was almost 2 minutes SLOWER overall.  And you know what?  It was the stupid bike leg that killed me.  Yes, my swim time was a little slower but I was ready to accept that.  Both of my transition times were faster- that’s good.  But I was SIX MINUTES slower in the bike leg.  I am still trying to process how that happened.  Clearly I must have been out for a Saturday morning stroll on my bike while everyone one else was in a race.  Sigh.  The good news is that I kicked ass on the 5K at the end, numb feet and mud and everything.  I posted a 21:34 for the 5K which means I averaged a 6:54 mile for all 3.1 miles.  So, while I was top 1/3 for my age group, my overall results were not at all what I expected or wanted.  Time to get some bike training in.

I got up at 5:30 this morning and was out at the lake by 6:30 with my stuff.  As I looked around, I quickly realized I was one of maybe 4 or 5 people without a wetsuit on.  In fact, many of the people had on wetsuits, booties AND neoprene hats under their swim caps.  Uh oh.  Water temp was 59 degrees.  I was in trouble.

I was the only woman in my wave that was not wearing a wetsuit and I got a lot of sympathetic looks and comments from the other women.  I waded out to the start and pretty much went instantly numb.  Which at the time I thought was pretty OK.  The gun went off and we all took off.  There was the usual jostling for position and trying not to kick someone in the face or be kicked in the face yourself.  The water was cold but not too terrible except on my eyebrows which were really cold for some reason.  I rounded the first buoy and then trouble hit.  I started getting really tired and kept thinking it might be a good idea to stop.  Then I started thinking that taking my goggles off would be a good thing to do.  At that point I realized I was not having rational thoughts and I may be starting to get a bit hypothermic.

I looked at where the rescue boats were and they seemed so far away.  And then I thought about how humliated I would feel if I quit.  Fortunately, I had kept moving while weighing my options so by then I was close to the final buoy.  I put my head down and swam towards shore.  I was so relieved when I touched lake bed and stood up to run out of the water.

The bike leg was an exercise in humility as usual- people passing me left and right.  I did manage to pass a few people myself and just powered through until it was over and time to run.  After slogging through the mud in the transition area, I racked my bike and headed out to the run course.

I took off with two completely numb feet and legs that felt like bricks.  (Hence, the name for bike + run training intervals- bricks.)  Unfortunately I had forgotten my Garmin so I have no idea of my pace- 7:30 minute mile, 10 minute mile- who knows?  I managed to pass quite a few people, even when running through fields that were so muddy that people were coming close to losing shoes left and right.  I started to get some feeling back into my feet by mile 2 and was able to open up a little bit and work on passing some of the men that had passed me earlier.

I waded through another field of mud in the fnish chute and hit the finish line.  Woo hoo!  I was covered in mud and had seaweed (lake grass?) dried all over my arms and legs but I was done!

It’s been a while.  Are you even surprised at this point?  I know, not really funny.

Let’s see… I ran the Seahawks 12K last month and had a pretty good result.

Time: 1:00:14 so I missed beating the one hour mark by 15 stupid seconds.  Sigh.

Age group – 1st of women; 9th out of both men and women
All women- 41st out of 471
Of all racers- 184th out of 883
Beat course overall average 12K time by almost 10 minutes

And then this morning I ran the Kirkland Half Marathon:

I finished in 1:53:59 which is 6 1/2 minutes off my april 2009 half marathon time and 4 minutes faster than my fastest 1/2 marathon split which was during the 2009 Portland Marathon.

So marathon #1 of 2010 is in the books.  Finished in 4 hours and 13 minutes.  Same as my personal best at Portland last fall.  Can’t seem to push past that time.  I think I actually would have been a lot closer to 4 hours except for a brutal hill at mile 22 that went on for a mile and a half.  And was steep.  And did I mention it went on for a mile and a half?  It killed me.  I did manage an 8 minute mile on the downhill side so my legs were still functioning after the hill but, as soon as it flattened out and went back to rolling terrain, my legs were shot. 

The marathon course was absolutely gorgeous.  We ran along the Yakima River, through a canyon for about 95% of the run.  It was the most low-key marathon I’ve run yet.  They had a record turnout yesterday… of almost 600 runners.  I know!  But you know what?  It was perfect.  The start line was literally a line chalked on the road- no chip timers, no start waves, no pacers.  We shared the road along the river with traffic but the traffic was fairly sparse. 

It was about 34 degrees at the start but warmed up to almost 60 at the finish.  Sunshine the entire way.  I actually have a little sunburn.

The course was rolling terrain that was downhill overall.  There were 3 major hills; the first two we managed to keep a decent pace for the entire hike up.  The third hill, well I already talked about that beast.

I do have to say that my legs are stronger.  Thank you Sven for your awesome workouts!  I think my stamina has gotten better as well.  I can’t wait to meet Sven on Thursday and talk about his take on the changes I noticed from the last run to this run.  I know Sven has been working to increase my maximum lactate threshold so it will be interesting to hear what he has to say on whether he thinks that was a factor in this run or not.

Next marathon is the Rock N Roll Seattle in June.  Goal is to hit the 4 hour mark or go just below it.  Not sure if that’s possible but I’m setting the goal anyway.  Wish me luck!

So it is no secret that I’ve been struggling with my weight the past few years.  Well, actually my entire life but you’ve only been around the past couple of years.  I finally sucked it up and went to a nutritionist recommended by Trainer #1.  So, after tweaking my diet so that I eat extremely clean, on the 40% carb, 35% protein and 25% fat breakdown every day and removing alcohol from my diet, I watched my weight go up and down within a 2 pound range for over 2 months.  I hit a breaking point about 6 weeks ago: I AM doing everything in my power to change this.  I workout 7 days a week and I workout HARD.  I eat as clean as humanly possible and as directed by my nutritionist.  Why won’t my body let go of the damn weight?

Well, the first part of it we decided to address with an elimination diet.  I took EVERYTHING out of my diet: soy, wheat, gluten,corn, citrus fruits, dairy, eggs, corn, peanuts, you name it.  All I had left was some proteins, vegetables except corn (which is in everything by the way) and fruit except for citrus fruits.  Yep- and after 2 weeks, I had lost a grand total of 1.25 pounds.   I’m in week 6 now and have found out that I cannot have milk and may have an issue with soy.  This week I am going to try adding egg whites and then yolks to see how that goes.

The second part of this is something that has taken me a long time to come around to believing.  For all my life, despite all the information to the contrary, I have operated on less calories is better.  I have gotten to the point where most days I don’t even eat 1,000 calories.  Every week, the nutrionist would implore me to eat more, choose some lean proteins instead of always choosing the extra lean proteins.  She started on a goal calorie intake of 1,500 calories a day.  (Remember, I burn between 800-4,000 calories a day working out, depending on the workout.)  She modified the goal as it became more and more clear that I just could not break through the mental barrier to eat more than 1,100 calories a day.  Then one week, I finally realized- this is NOT working.  Maybe it’s time to just believe I can eat 1,200 calories and not gain weight.  So, for the next week, I tried.  My daily average was still closer to 1,100 calories but I had more days closer or just over 1,200 than not.  And I lost several pounds.  Same with the next week.  My trainer (Sven the best trainer in the whole world in my unbiased opinion) even mentioned that I looked leaner.  I think I’ve lost just about 10 pounds and I think all of those pounds must be pure fat.  So, progress is finally being made.

During my exasperation with this process, I also called my doctor and went in and talked about my frustrations.  She and I went over my food intake and calorie burn.  Other than being scolded for not eating enough, she agreed that there must be something else going on.  So a referral to an endocrinologist was made.  I had that appointment 2 days ago.  The endocrinologist went over my history and current issues.  She then looked me in the eye and said that she knew something was amiss and that not only would she find it, she would fix it.  I almost broke down.  Really?  Maybe the fact that I’m not thin is not 100% my fault after all. 

And just so it doesn’t come across as if I’m looking for an excuse (and I fear that it does), I am doing everything in my power to make my body thin and strong.  OK- the increased calories have been hard for me but I’m trying and getting there.  But the workouts, clean eating, modifying my entire diet, etc.  I am already doing all of that.  If the solution was purely to take in less calories and burn more calories, then I should be 100 pounds and a size 0.  Damn it.  I HAVE been working the eat less, move more model for years and it hasn’t worked for me.

Whew- clearly I have some resentment around this.  In reality, I’m just feeling a bit of relief in knowing that medical professionals know that something is amiss and are confident it can be fixed.  Please.  I just need a little boost.

So weekly updates didn’t last too long, did they?  Sigh.  I’ll just plead life and know you all understand.  This will be a quick one but here’s what’s been going on:

Sven the trainer is still awesome.  Last week, I emailed him and told him I was game to up the intensity of the workouts. He answered that with a workout yesterday that left me in a sweaty puddle on the floor at times.  It was one of those intense, push yourself to the limits workouts where you are so fatigued yet have a huge grin on your face because you are enjoying every minute of it.  It truly was awesome and I look forward to what he has in store for me next week.  And, the workouts are working.  I have muscle definition in my shoulders and back  for the first time that I can remember.  If I could lose the excess pounds around my middle, I have a feeling there are some toned ab muscles under there.  I can see a hint of the muscles so that’s exciting.  Muscles in my stomach?  Who would have guessed!

On a different note, I did suffer an injury 2 weeks ago.  L and I had a 2o mile training run scheduled and she had to cancel at the last minute.  I was dressed and ready to go so I figured why not, I’ll go alone.  I hadn’t taken a day off in over a month and was achy and tired when I started out.  About 8 or 9 miles in, my back started to hurt.  By mile 16, I was in agony and had to quit.  By Tuesday, I was unable to get out of bed because I couldn’t sit up or roll over due to the insane pain.  I was unable to bend over and put my shoes on.  But, you know me, I still went to run. I gritted my teeth through the first 30 minutes and then slowed to a walk.  After another 30 minutes, that was it. I couldn’t move another step. The next day I tried to walk a mile just to loosen the muscles and then went and iced it for 20 minutes.  I worked out with Sven on Thursday and managed to get through the workout but was in a lot of pain when I was done.  (And, yes, when I told Sven yesterday that I had hid the pain from him, I was in trouble.)  I took a couple of days off and pounded ibuprofen and by Sunday I was able to run 13 miles and am almost off the ibuprofen now.   Thank goodness.

And now for something exciting! I was able to put together a team of 12 runners and we all signed up for the Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage Run.  We’re running 187 miles over two days from Blaine to Langley.  I am psyched!  And the relay race ends on my 40th birthday.  How exciting would it be to run the final leg and cross the finish line on my 40th?

Next time: An update on the relay team and I’ll fill you all in on what’s been going on regarding the diet and nutrition side of all this training.

I’m back from the week out of town.  I packed my running gear and workout clothes and started off with a bang.  The first morning I got up and my mother in law took me to a fantastic trail in the mountains.  I ran 8 miles on a snow covered trail, along a river and loved it.  I had forgotten to bring my Zune so I ran to the sound of the river and my shoes on the snow.  The 2nd day, I went with my mother in law to her “gym”.  Interesting.  I’ll leave it at that for now.  But I managed to decent strength workout and was feeling like I had a handle on the workout while traveling deal.  Then it went downhill from there.  Day 3 I spent 7+ hours in the car driving to a wedding of a close friend of mine.  Day 4 was spent driving the 7+ hours back.  No exercise and lots of sitting in the car.  And then we got up on the next day and headed to NYC and to the airport to fly home.  Again, no workout.  But, by being very careful of my diet, I did manage to lose 1.5 pounds while gone which I was happy about.

Workouts with new trainer are going well.  He is perfect for what I wanted in a trainer. I can’t say enough good things about him. Turns out he has a masters and I love “talking the science of working out” with him.  Generally, I ask a question and then he provides me with a fascinating and relevant discourse on the subject.  Of which I retain about 2 concepts.  And then I email him and ask for the information again.  He’s nice enough enough to take the time to write it all out so I can read it and understand it.  Yesterday, we talked about the different methods of fatigue and my goal is to work out to volitional fatigue this week.  Last week, we talked about how to increase my ability to workout at a high intensity level without hitting my lactate max.

Of course, it’s not all lectures.  We also laugh a lot.  Last week, while I was working on a set of abs, he sat down on a stability ball that, unfortunately for him, was on top of a dumbbell.  He literally rolled straight backwards and fell off the ball, head over heels.  Since  he’s 6′3″ and all arms and legs, it was one of the funniest things I had seen in a long time.  AND, he got up and totally laughed at himself.

I had my last physical therapy appointment today.  Yes- I’ve been released!  My knee is healed and my shoulder issues are improved to a point where I can work on the shoulder myself at home.  Fortunately, the physical therapist is willing to answer any questions over email and I can make an appointment with him at any time for a follow up to check on any soreness that may arise, if it does.

So, what’s next?  My running partner and I are starting to increase the mileage on our long weekend runs.  The last 2 were 12 miles each (I missed the weekend in between) and this weekend we’ll run 18 miles.  The first marathon of 2010 is coming up in about 7 weeks so it’s time to get some distance in and start thinking about race strategy.

I’m also considering adding a spinning class to my schedule now that I am done with physical therapy.  My bike still has its triathlon number on it from the race at the end of September.  Yes, that is the last time I got on it and rode.  Sad.  I have made a friend through dailymile and we’ve talked about him joining L and I for a weekend run for him to work on his running and he’ll take me out on a bike ride as he is a biking fanatic.  I need to do something if I plan to improve my sprint triathlon times and compete in an Olympic distance triathlon this summer.

But, wow, no matter what I do, I can only seem to find 24 hours in a day.