Hill Training and Life

We've lived here nearly 4 years already.  It is no secret there are hills in our neighborhood.  Lots of 'em.  I get my fair share of hill training here.  It prepares me for races for sure, and I hate 'em, but I'm pretty damn good at 'em!

I think today's run reminded me that life it hilly sometimes too. You can think you're prepared, and then you think, maybe not.  I've had my share of difficulties throughout my adult life, we all have.  

Uphills remind me of harder life issues.  Ones that change a family.  Issues that take time and patience.  

Downhills remind me that I have to pay attention because life goes by so fast, I don't want miss something.

Lately we've had to think about our future here.  I guess you can say we've come in contact with a hill.  Right now we are at the base of the hill, it's not a huge one, but our future depends on it.  We are prepared.  We've trained for this before.  It's been a while, but kinda like hills, you don't forget how to train for them.  Life it full of unexpected surprises, sometimes good, sometimes not so good.  And change.  Change can be scary.  Change is good.  Change is necessary sometimes.  

I took some pics of the hill I ran today.  It's a big one, it's long, and it's hard (sounded totally dirty there!!  Ooops!).  But I stormed right up it.  I owned that hill today.  I made that hill my bitch.  I needed to.  I needed a long hilly run to remind myself I can do it.  And that I'm pretty freaking awesome. 

Weekends are meant to be fun!

This past weekend has probably been one of the best weekends in a while.  It wasn't that we did anything spectacular, we just all hung out, which is fun, because, well, we're fun!

Saturday morning I slept until 8:00!  Woo Hoo!  I woke to a cool 19 degrees, with a wind chill of 12.  Yep.  12.  BRRRR!  I bundled up and headed out. I went alone (first solo run in a month!).  I knew Oscar would be disappointed, but I also knew we'd run on Sunday together.  I ran a easy 6 miler on trails, and to my surprise saw many fellow runners doing the same!  Even with the cold temps, they were out getting their run on too!

See the sweat frozen on my headband?!?! 

When I arrived back home, I had to take the hubby to my school so he could take a proctored exam for his school (make sense?).  I agreed to go along, knowing I needed to get some school work done too, I just hung out in the library until he was done.  (Actually what I really did was work on my paper a little, then read some blogs, and commented on a few, checked to see what everyone else was up to on Facebook.)

After the test was over, we drove downtown to a little hamburger joint.  I don't eat red meat, but I knew they had the AWESOME-EST veggie burger I've ever had!  So the boys got their red meat, and I got their "No Bull Burger", which is ahhh-maz-ing!!!  After we ate there, we went to Luluemon Athlectica.  I had no idea until the night before we had one here in town!  It was on the mall downtown, so we had to hit it up...I mean we were already downtown....  I've been on the search for a running skirt with shorts under that don't ride up, and Luluemon was my answer.  Their shorts don't ride up because they have a rubbery band around the bottom of the shorts, kinda like biking shorts.  I tried the skirt on, which is super cute, and knew it had to be mine....they also have lots of other cool stuff at a price of course, but the skirt was amazing, so that's the only thing I bought.  (Since I have a job and all, I can justify a $60 skirt!)

Not my bootie, not my skirt, mine is black.  Super cute, though, right?

When we got home I helped the hubby do the second step of his beer brewing.  This will be his first batch, and he's super excited!  Too bad it takes six weeks to do it!  By March we should have beer on tap!

He called me, "Sexy Beer Wench"

After all that fun, I chilled on the couch and caught up on my DVR recordings.  Again, awesome...

Sunday morning, Oscar knew it was on.  I had on my warm running gear, and there was no way he was gonna let me run without him today!  To my surprise when we stepped out, it was snowing!  He's never ran in the snow before!  He was so excited, trying to eat the snow as it fell from the sky.  I laughed at that crazy dog the entire time!  It was a little slick in spots, so we had to run a little slower, but Oscar's SLOW was a 9:30 pace today!  That dog is speedy I tell ya!

So now this afternoon, the hubby and I both have papers due this week, and I have a test, so we'll be studying.  Of course by 9pm tonight, I'll be tuning into my show, Downton Abbey.

I do love this show!  It's so different than anything I've ever watched!

I did a lot this weekend, but I think the difference is, I wanted to do all of those things!

What did y'all do this weekend?  Was it a lazy weekend, or crazy?

January Training

As promised, this is my monthly training post, I decided to do this so I can be accountable for doing my body good.

This month I've focused on cross training, and training Oscar to run with me.  Wanna see how it went down?

Running- 48.5 miles
Biking- 72.8 miles
Rowing- 21,404.3 meters (13.3 miles) <----------  WOW!

I did LOTS of brick workouts, which were so hard at first, but I've grown to love them!!!  My running mileage is low, but higher than November.  I ran with Oscar most of that time, and I've added speed work in the mix as well (although some of the runs with Oscar could be considered speed work!!).  I rowed ALOT this month, way more than I thought!  I have lifted weights at least three times a week too, it's not my favorite part, but it has to be done.

As far as personal life goes, it's been a little crazy in that department too!

- I started a new job, that I LOVE!  (I even have my own desk AND computer!)

- I started the nursing program this month too!  I've met some cool peeps, all 7 of them!

- I've made an effort to be more present.  This is hard sometimes, but I'm working on it!

- We've been forced to think of the near future, and that makes me nervous to say the least.

- It has snowed several days here, which I get super excited about!  Although running in snow is hard!

What's coming up in February?

Well lets see....

- I'll be doing my official weigh in and measurements on February 7th, that will be one month exactly.

- The hubby and I will be celebrating his "being home for 12 months in a row!!!"  WOO HOO!!!!

- I'm going to make a conscious effort to eat better.  That is not going to be easy, but it needs to be done.

- I'll continue to work on cross training, eating well, and being more present.  I'm a work in progress to say the least.

- I'm going to try and get my running and biking mileage up a bit, and rowing too.  I can literally feel myself getting stronger, inside and out.

Running Buddy Wednesday

On our run a week ago

Before the 4.5 on Tuesday

After the 4.5

This month I've focused on my cross training, speed, and training Oscar to accompany me on my runs.  He's up to 4.5 miles so far, and I'm sure we could've ran 5 on Tuesday, but we ran out of routes!  All of my routes with him MUST have a sidewalk or trail, and I'm pretty limited on my side of the main road.  In order to get more miles in, we will have to drive across the main road, and I see that in our near future!

I used to prefer running alone, but I've grown pretty close to my new partner.

I would love to find a human to run with too, but I haven't met anyone that shares my love of running!

Who do you run with?

Already disappointments...

At the beginning of the year, I posted goals for 2013.  I can already scratch some off that are not going to happen.

MCM series events are not going to happen.  They are just too pricey for the budget.  How pricey?

Run Amuck $45 - per person, my husband and I do this together, that's $90.

Historic Half $75 - I just cannot justify a half marathon that costs that much.

17.75 - that one sold out in under an hour

MCM - hasn't opened, but I'm already out.  I just don't wanna.

As much as I LOVE the MCM events, how they are run, the support, the everything, I just cannot pay that much for a race.  There are several local races close to home.  There is a half at the end of April over the mountain that's $50, and another trail half in May that's $38.  Now these are small and local, but I think I'm going to give them a go.  I knew this year that there would be a tight budget on races since racing is kind of a "luxury" thing.  I still NEED to race, so I will, I'll just race close to home and sleep in my own bed the night before.

I'm super sad and depressed about the whole thing.  I really wanted to race these events, especially the Historic Half since it's always the week of my birthday.  But you know what?  It's going to be okay.  I'm getting stronger and stronger with all of my cross training, and I'll focus on more of the shorter distances.  I just think long distance are out for this year.  And may be forever.  Who knows.

So this is me, all depressed and sad.  I'll come out of it I'm sure, and it's not making any difference in my day to day, so don't worry too much.  I'll be happy soon.

Too much of a good thing?

I have been battling some swelling in my hands and feet for quite some time.  Months actually.  I notice it most right before bed, then when I get up in the morning.  I can hardly close my hands to make a fist some mornings (not that I need to punch anyone...well not usually).  I will notice the swelling around 7-8pm, but it's not ever too bad.  In the mornings though, I really have the issue, it usually only lasts until I get moving around, then it goes away.

I went to the doctor for some other issues last month, and I mentioned to the doctor about the swelling.  She ordered an echocardiogram to make sure it wasn't my heart.  My ticker is very healthy, actually she said, "you have the heart of an athlete" and that made my day!!!  Oh and the echo was by far the COOLEST test I've ever had done.  The tech that did it was so awesome, she was pointing out all of the chambers, valves, my aorta, seriously cool!!!!  Nurses are weird.

On Thursday night, I had an epiphany.  I thought, what if I'm drinking too much water during the day.  Sounds crazy right?  Well I made a note of all the fluids I drank for that day (the ones I could think of anyway) and it totaled around 140oz for the day.  That's a lot of fluid!  I drink all day long, I drink when I'm bored (thank goodness I'm not a hungry bored person!), I drink when I study, when I get in the car, when I'm at school, when I'm at work, I drink all damn day!!  That's a lot of fluid!  I don't like salt at all, I actually don't eat many things that contain salt, because I just can't stand the taste.  Salt and water go together, and they kinda counter balance themselves.  I know enough about physiology to know it wasn't salt that was making me swell up, it HAD to be water!  (I also know that having low blood pressure can make the body conserve water and sodium so the kidneys will work properly, but I'll spare you those details)

Since I cannot control my low blood pressure, I had test my water theory.

So the next day (Friday) I tried to only drink around 60oz (everything I read said 64oz was what you need) of water total for the day.  I had a hard workout in the morning, but I typically don't drink much, I always put a Nuun tablet in my 16oz water bottle, and usually only drink 80-90% of the bottle.  I paid more attention to my pee on Friday.  If my pee was light yellow and clear, then I knew I was hydrated, if it was completely clear, like water, I'd had too much.

Saturday morning I weighed myself, and I was down 2 pounds from the day before.  Now I wasn't completely not swollen, but I was way better than the previous morning.  And it could've been due to the hard workout the previous day.  So my thinking is I will try to limit myself on the drinking for several days.

I'm not sure how everyone feels about drinking less water, I always thought more was better.  I drink constantly, and it's super hard NOT to drink all day.  I walk by the fridge, and think I needed a drink, but when I asked myself if I was really thirsty, most of the time I'm not.

So far it's been 3 days, and I'm down 3.5 pounds.  It has to be water weight.  I've been more in tune with my body and thirst, and each day it gets a little easier.  I'm still drinking, but I'm trying to keep it around 70oz a day.  (I read several places that you should drink half your body weight in ounces per day).  I'm going to keep this up and see if this is my issue.  Each morning my swelling is a little better, so hopefully I'll be all better and not wake up like a swollen cow each morning!

How do you feel about lowering your water intake?  Have you ever monitored your water intake?  I was surprised by mine, you also might be surprised if you've never done it.

Wordy Wednesday!

I know, I know, you've probably only seen Wordless Wednesday but since I missed Tuesday Tidbits, I need a Wordy Wednesday!

I started official nursing school last night!!  I had a bit of a confidence booster when I could do "dimensional analysis" and basically no one else could.  (I learned quite well in my Chemistry class last semester how to do it!  Chemistry is already paying off!)  Well maybe one person, who I've chosen to be my "partner" for the year.  Yeah, seriously, she's pretty awesome.  I know we've only known each other one night, but you know, sometimes you just know!  So my nervousness has calmed a bit since I've met some really cool peeps that are in my classes.  There are only eight of us, and I'm pretty sure the dude that was in there dropped, since he didn't show up to the second class...his loss.  I'm pretty stoked to get the semester going!  Nurses are weird.

yeah, for real.

I've been doing some SERIOUS cross training.  Like for real.  I've been working my butt off for the past two weeks.  I'm so sore, but I keep on going.  I needed to add some cross training/strength training in my routine.  I have to get stronger and leaner.  I have only about another month before I start training again, so I need to get a good solid routine down that way I can incorporate it into my training this time.  I was a bit worried about my running since it's slowed down a bit, but after talking to the hubby and besty (they are my "go-to" peeps) they both agreed (without knowing they agreed) that I should work out as much as I want this month and at the end of the month take 2-3 days off and run for time to see if I've made any improvements.  That's why they are my peeps.  They are so smart!!!

That's gonna be Pam on the left, me on the right...AKA Kara and Shalane

One reason my running has slowed down is because I have a new running partner.  His name is Oscar. You've met him, he's quite handsome!  He never complains.  He smiles the entire time, and he'll go as long as I'll let him.  He also has four legs.  But he's totally normal.  Because he's a DOG!  Oscar is our beloved boxer.  He LOVES to run!  He's up to 3.5 miles already with negative splits!!!!!  I feel safer with him, although I've never felt like I wasn't safe.  Well there was that one time, that's why I carry mace (need a whole other post about that morning run).  No worries now, my dog will eat 'em (but I still carry the mace, just in case)!

Oscar is one of those dogs who is a one master dog (if that makes sense).  He was is my husbands dog.  But since we've been running buddies lately, he's been a little more "my" dog.  I think because we get to run together, he's my little man now.  This is what I get when I study...

Who can get ANY studying done with that cute face looking at you?!?!

Oh and I got a new job!  I got a part time job at a OB/GYN clinic.  Some would say I'm weird but I've always been super interested in women's health.  So now I'll get the chance!  On Wednesday my husband found the job, emailed me the link and on a whim, I emailed the office manager my resume.  Within a few hours I got an email asking when I could interview.  I went for the interview on Thursday, and they offered me the job on Friday.  They are super awesome.  I loved the rapport I had with the staff.  I knew when I walked out I wanted the job.  It works perfect with my school schedule for the spring and summer, and they are fully aware of my school, and totally supportive.  How cool is that?  I also knew I was in when she told me the turnover there is next to nothing.  The only reason people leave is because they have babies (Ummm, NOT gonna happen to this girl!!) or they get married and move off (already married, with NO plans of moving any time soon).  I know it's a big deal in the real world for low turnovers, and it's HUGE in the nursing world.  In "our" world if you treat us like crap, we'll move on, they are too many jobs out there for us to hang around in a crappy job.

So lots of things going here, lots of changes and lots of cool stuff!  This year is off to a great start!!  (I hope I didn't just jinx myself!!!!)

How do you deal with change, are you accepting or hesitant?