Shipping off to Boston, Kale Muffins and Learning to Adjust to What Life Deals You

I am not relly sure where April went.  I cannot believe that the More was almost a month ago and Redbank, my first entry into the real triathlon world is only three weeks away.  Yeah.....i am not starting to panic just yet!    I did try to do my first brick the other where you bike then run right after.  It was not too bad but I could have been a little smarter and chose a little easier of a bike workout.  My legs were dead for the run, it was like I was running but I did not feel my legs for the first 10  minutes.  

Heres an update on the crazy weeks of April

Boston:  I went up to Boston last weekend for the first time in  about 7 months, my previous trip being right before I started Slim and Strong and really my change in life style.  Before that, I was heading up there almost every few weeks since I moved the year before.   The break was self imposed to force myself to create a life in NY rather than hybrid life that I was living.

I will admit I was pretty nervous last week not knowing how my friends would react to my new life style and how I would react to being back in an environment that involved drinking, eating, and going to bed later than I was used to.I was concerned that somehow during the trip I also needed (well wanted) to make sure I got a long run and long bike ride in.  At home I can stay structured but going away, I lose a little control so I worried how I would do

Turns out that my worry was for not....going back was like going home.   Nothing changed and I was so happy for that.  I fell in step right away and it was like no gap at all.   I learned that my friends will always be my friends and even though I changed, they'll accept it and support it. 

I was pretty psyched, I was able to fit it all in.  Thats a lunch at Staples, Red Sox game, 35 mile bike and experiencing my first flat tire, Pizza and Peroni, Beerworks, drive to Bristol RI, 6 mile run and finally lunch with Cat.   I did have to pull over and take a 45 minute nap on my way home  but other than that the weekend was great.    I hit a great balance of being able to relax with my friends and making sure I got some sort of workout in.

Kale Muffins:  Most of you know my obsession with kale.  I absolutely love it and eat it at least 5-6 times a week.   Sometimes I will eat it for lunch and dinner.  I have tried to get my family hooked on the veggie but to no avail.  I made kale chips for Sunday dinner over the winter thinking they were the greatest thing.  The only one that ate them was my little 5 year old niece.  So, when asked what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday, my sister joked, 'how about a kale cake'.  I was all over this and thought it was a great idea and challenged my mom to make one.  God bless her, she came up with something even better, Kale Muffins.   These little suckers were fantastic and I had one a day for a week straight. I even got Lauren hooked on them.  She had three to take home and rationed them over several days.  Even better than that, she found the recipe on a blog called 365 Days of Kale.   Now I can read about others that enjoy this green as much as me.  Heres the link if you want to check it out.  They have some pretty cool recipes:
http://www.365daysofkale.com/

Just Got To Deal:   Funny how things in your life make you realize how lucky you are.  I will be the first to admit sometimes (well most of the time) I run around so much that I do not take the time to appreciate as much as I should.   A few weeks ago, something happened to make me realize how freakin lucky I am.

I spoke a few entries back that I lost my voice while being sick.  Well, my voice never fully returned, and after several doctor visits and more tubes up my nose than any person should experience, I learned I had unilateral vocal cord paralysis.  Basically my right cord does not work properly, making my voice hoarse all the time and barely audible when out.    It was caused by the virus I had when I was sick and there is a 50/50 chance I will recover. 

I spent the first 10 hours after learning what I had feeling sorry for myself.  I got extremely frustrated when I was out or in a meeting and everyone said 'I cant hear you or WHAT'.  Though I was healthy for a few weeks I still got comments that I was still sick and needed to take care.    So all I could think about was how unhappy I was during these times and I was going to have that all the time...ugh.

Finally around 5 that night I was reminded of a pep talk that I heard before one of our running classes.  It was about learning to appreciate what you had.  When you have a bad day....remember that there are others out there that worse off. You will get through those days and be back to youself.   That thought snapped me out of my pathetic sorriness.  I realized that holy crap, I am so lucky.  Things could have been much worse, I could have full paralysis and no voice or the cause of why this happened could have been much worse than the virus.  In the end...all that is wrong is that a weaker voice. Many have called this my new sexy voice.

The best thing from thing is that I just started to look for ways for me to adjust.  For meetings, I have been booking rooms with microphones so I can facilitate, I bring paper or my phone when  I am out, always ready to write something down, I have cool ways to turn my head to be louder, and realized that I have support all around me to speak up when I cant.

Maybe because I have needed to constantly look for ways to adjust....this has followed over to everything else that I am doing.  My mindset for everthing has be deal.  Figure out a way to adjust.  Instead of stressing because I am not following my training plan to the T, I have been saying 'what else can I do, how can I do things differently.'    Every day things change now rather than the rigid structure I was trying to follow.  And, god its nice!    A lot easier to be relaxed and enjoy all of this than always concerned I was off or missing something.  

Recapping the MORE

I still cannot believe that half marathon is done or that I actually ran mK it.  I cannot believe I am saying this but I still dont feel like my body is ready to run a half but I already did.  Crazy how your mind will play games with you.

The whole experience was fantastic and I loved that I had a group of friends to share it with. And, I did it, I truly honestly did it!  I met the goal of running a 1:54 for my first half marathon.  I should say that I did this by a hair, my true time was 1:54:52 and I full on sprinted the last tenth of a mile but I freaking did it.   I averaged a 8:47 pace and was the 928th runner out of 7500 that had their time recorded.  Supposely there were 10,000 overall runners.

What makes this more special to me is that the week leading up to the race I pretty much gave up on this time.  I had had pretty crappy training sessions for the 3 weeks leading up to it and I thought I really had hurt my chances by being stupid and pushing myself when being sick.   I was 99.9% sure that I would never be able to keep up this pace and started to prepare myself to not be upset if I did not hit it the first time.   But all things aligned and I did it.

The pre race started off pretty hectic.  We all met about a half an hour early to have one last pow wow.   My plan was to run with Lisa and Susanne but they went to drop their bags off and in a sea of 10,000 people, I never saw them again until the end.   Then Lauren and I made the mistake of waiting til the starting line to go to the bathroom. We got in line at 7:40  we hit the front of the line at 7:58 for a 8:00 race start.  Thankfully Terence was waiting for us and brought is to an opening in the front where we squeezed in.  It was here that I met Sara, a girl that told me she ran a 8:40 mile.  That was what I needed to average to hit 1:54 so Terence said....stay right next to her.

So off we went and holy cow, I never have run in a race with that many people.  Sara and I were dodging people left and right.  Finally we made it to the outside where we had a little space.  The first few miles were great, I felt good and I was on the start of the race high.  It was right after the large hill next to the Harlem Hill at mile 4 that I realized we were running 8 20 miles not 8:40.  I did a uh oh in my head.  I was supposed to start out slow and pick up speed, not the other way around.  My head started to play games and I got worried that I was not going to finish.  I suddenly started to get tired too.  So I waved to Sara and told her to go head.  She left me at mile 5 but I tried to keep her in my site for the next .5 mile.  I slowed down to what I thought was a 8:50 pace but really was a 9:10 pace when I got to the next marker.  I picked it up again to get the next one around 8:40.   It was around here that I was like 'I am done, I just dont want to do this'  My legs were starting to hurt, especially the side of my hips.  I got to the Harlem hill for the second go around and slowed to a crawl.  I tried to say to myself I got this hill but it slowly reminded me of its power.  It starts with a slight incline and keeps going.  Thankfully alll my hill training kicked in and I got to the top where I smiled.....i had finished what I thought was the hardest part of the course.   The next few miles between 102nd and 72nd tranverses were good.  The crowd started to fill in and I fed off of their encouragement. 

Finally I hit mile 12 and everything started to go down hill.  I started to get cramps in both sides and was in a lot of pain with my legs.  I just wanted to stop but I just kept saying, 1 mile, you've run this piece so many times (end of race was where we normally train for class).  I also knew from the 12 mile marker that there was a chance to hit 1:54....so I put one foot in front of the other and just kept on running.   When I got to mile 13 I looked at the clock and it was 1:55. ( I knew I had at least an extra minute from when I crossed the start line initially).  I am not sure what came over me but as soon as I knew there was a chance to hit the 1:54, I took off and sprinted.   All the pain went away and I just ran up the last part of the hill.  Crossing the finish line with 8 seconds to spare and Lauren waiting to take my picture.

Wont go into detail on how I felt for the next few minutes after I stopped running but lets say it took me a while to readjust.  Was not ready for the tightning of my legs so quickly.   Lauren I walked around for a little bit, then met up with Lisa, Susanne, and Ellen.

After the run Lisa, Lauren and I went to our favorite brunch spot, Georgio's where we had a well deserved meal of protein omelets, extra spicy bloody marys and coffee.   Nice way to finish off the day.

Result Are In

We all kicked major ass yesterday. The weather was great, the race was fun (and hard), and I enjoyed myself for 85%  of the time.  Only three times did I question what the hell was I doing.

Here's the results, more on the race later.   One thing to note, I actually hit the goal I set about a month ago. 

Lauren: Blazing 1:48:32
Me: 1:54:52, got the goal by 8 seconds and that includes a full on sprint at the end
Susanne: 2:05, awesome for first time
Lisa: 2:05, personal record
Ellen: 2:30, again awesome first time, she was already looking for another race to run this am.
Kathy: 3:01, personal record

MORE is Coming

My first half marathon is tomorrow.  Surprisingly enough, I have not been nervous or anxious. I think that it may be the two beers (my Strawberry beer!) that I had for our late lunch or the grilled pizza that has put me into a little bit of a food coma.   I knew that I potentially would start to stress out so to keep my mind occupied I invited Lisa, Susanne, and Lauren over for a late pre run lunch.   We got to take some time out and enjoy ourselves before the race.   We lucked out with the weather and hung out on the porch, ate some pizza, steak and kale chips, and I got Lisa and Lauren hooked on my strawberry beer.  It was a great way to kick off preparing for the run.

I am sure when I try to close my eyes, I will start to get excited and have one of those restless nights.    For now, I am taking time to relax and reflect on all the hard work and time I have put in to get in shape to do this.    I thought it was fitting for this entry to talk on three people that have helped me get to where I am today.  Something that I never thought would be possible.

My Running Buds - Lisa and Susanne:   I used to never want to run with anyone.  I always used the excuse that I liked to listen to my music and let my mind wander.  Really I was afraid to keep up with others or to be pushed faster than I wanted to run.  At the start of my first running class Lisa and Susanne discussed trying to run on that Sunday for the long run (6 miles at the time) we had to do.  Apprehensive at first, I decided that I was going to join them.  This run formed our friendship and running bond.

For the next several weeks the three of us started to run with each other every Sunday, 9:30, starting at Columbus Circle.  We have run through the freezing cold, snow, and pouring rain. We show up because we know that the other ones will be there.   If it was not for them, on the days where the weather was crap, I am not sure that I would have gone for my run otherwise.  At the end of the runs we head out for brunch and reward ourselves with a nice breakfast and spicy bloody mary (mimosa for Susanne) or sometimes to grab lunch at Wholefoods.

We have made a good group, each of us working to get better in different areas: Lisa on hills, Susanne getting faster, and me, learning how to pace myself and run longer.   On the days when one of us is not in the running mindset, the other two are there to pick them up and push them to get the run done.  We spend the runs chatting about our week, our stresses/joys and pointing out every possible bathroom on the 6 mile route around central park.    These Sunday long runs that used to be boring and I could not wait to be done with have turned into something I started to look forward to and enjoy.   I know that I have two buds that I can count on to be there to support, challenge, and push me, and have made me a better runner.  Thank you guys, you rock.

Taken on a rainy Sunday run.  We were completely soaked at the end of the run.

My Running Coach - Terence:  What can I say about Terence?  Until him, I had never met someone who right away knew how to push my buttons and say the right things to get the best out of me.  He is the one that originally coined that I thought I was 'Superwoman' - never wanting to tell him when I was tired or pushed to my limit. His actual words were for me to 'Take the S Off My Chest, I don't always have to be a super hero.'  I did deserve this a little bit since I teased him alot that he may be over confident at times ( my words may have not been as nice as this).   I am sure you knew what this comment did to me.....other than piss me off a little, it just pushed me harder to show him that I could run. 

I owe a whole lot of how far I have come in the past few months to him.  He taught me how to run like a runner, think like a runner, and train like a runner.  He is the one that got me excited to run and want to look forward to class, to see how much farther I would get.  Along with coaching he has been there to hear me vent on anything and everything, especially in the last few weeks when I have not felt myself and my frustration had got to a boiling point.  He listens and then offers his bits of advice and support that have helped me calm down, not stress out as much, or made me just relax.    Plus, he is now my personal DJ, supplying me with all the running and commuting music that I person could need.   Thanks Terence for being you and helping me become a better me.