Welcome to the Puke Party

#andI'llbringthecupcakes

During the 50th minute of our hour track session last night, those were the words uttered through our cold freezing heavy breathes (sounds like a 50 shades blurb, huh?!) before our last 400. 

(I had to partake in a cupcake tasting @ work for a retirement party just hours before meeting @ the track.  Big mistake, huge!  I held it all in, but just barely.  I really need to lay off the sugar these days.  :))

I invited several gals to join me in my track session last night, b/c misery loves company, right?  I had just come home from ~10 days in the HEAT and it was 20 degrees come track time, and well speed work is almost  always hard.  I needed reinforcements.  I had 2 gals take me up on the pain.  I think my FB invite read...

"Track session 5:45 @ LHS.  It will HURT, but you'll thank me after your next race..."
 

and I wonder why only 2 showed...;)  One is a BSC athlete, so that didn't surprise me and the other is on a quest for a BQ in the fall, again no surprises that she showed up either. 

It turned out to hurt, and hurt pretty bad, but when it was all said and done, we had run some of our fastest 200/400 splits...EVER.  That's pretty freakin cool!  The thoughts and feelings of pain were immediately replaced with "hell yeah's" and "holy cow, that was my fastest 400 ever".  Good times.

I told my athlete to take the intervals @ ~ 5" more than what we were doing as she hasn't been doing much speed work this winter.  But guess what?!  She ran right with us.  Yup, no bitchin, whining, nada.  BEASTMODE.  Super proud coach.  Check out these splits.  Talk about descending...she pretty much nailed it.

1:54.9
1:47.5
1:46.9
1:46.8
1:47.4
1:43.5
1:40.4

This is what she had to say in her comments in TP...

"That was hard but fun.  Thanks for sending out the invite.  Sometimes I forget the advantages of group workouts. Good stuff."

 

So the point of this blog is to get out of your comfort zone!  Just SHOW UP.  Seriously, try it.  It will totally pay off.  Pain is temporary....yes, it's scary, yes it hurts, yes it's uncomfortable...but listen, 9 x out of 10 it ISN'T as bad as you think it will be AND it ISN'T as painful as you may think (and if it is, it goes away pretty fast!).  While in the 'moment' imagine finishing your first marathon, or PR'ing that 1/2 distance you've been working so hard for, getting that BQ you want, nabbing that Kona slot, or whatever you are in this for!  Mentally imagery WORKS!  Your body CAN & WILL override the negative thoughts in your head.  Believe in it and take care of it...it WILL get you there if you just show up and do the work!

STRESSSSSSSed

Life is CRAZY sometimes.  This is my life right now.  I've recently moved (from a dual household to a single one), I've been sick ~3 times this winter (including a MAJOR case of food juice poisoning or at least that's what I think it was), work travels, work travel delays and the worst case of the WINTER blah's, maybe EVER.

I'm currently battling between beating myself up for missing SO MANY WORKOUTS and being nice to myself and limiting the stress or at least not adding any more to my shoulders. 

This is the hardest thing for me to do.  I had such high expectations for my early season races and I see those goals heading from a Class I rapid to an out of control Class V and maybe VI if I don't get my head out of my ass moving.  I am slowly starting to realize that my body cannot handle both the mental/physical stress of my crazy life right now and me beating myself up over missing a workout (or 10).  It's a vicious vicious cycle and if I don't get off the train soon, I won't be training/racing at 100% anytime soon.  I am so fortunate I have the opportunity to race and train and if that means I have to take some time for a little clarity, work, travel, LIFE, well that's the hand I've been dealt and I will take it on the chin, rest up, get healthy (both mentally and physically) and move on....

I know I am not the only one experience stress and the winter blues this year (right?) so I wanted to share some *remedies* I've found lately.  Maybe I'll try a couple of these this weekend....or something similar. 

**STRESS
snake massage - uh, no thanks...I'll get a regular massage on Sunday
beer bath - whaaaaa???!?!?! I'll drink it instead, K?...what a waste to bathe in it!
ironing - I ONLY iron to make running costumes or most recently...the family Kona UPR outfits
drink more OJ - PASS...considering this is what made me produce projectile vomit
spend quality time with a TWO canine(s) - done
shut up and smile - aw, alright...
talk with your hands - does *****dancing ****hands**** while running count?

**WINTER BLUES
get outside within 2 hours of waking up - easier said/read than done when it's feels like  MINUS 7* but I'll try :)
make your bed - again...UGHHHHHHHHH
get social - easy peasy...DONE.
limit your caffeine intake - as I sip my coffee....
take vitamin D supplements - I will go tan...I know, I know, I really don't want to hear how bad it is for me...
take a winter vacation - DONE...Austin - > Scottsdale 7 days and counting...yesssssssss
EXERCISE - That's the whole GOAL right?

Here's to surfing those waves!!! 

#hangloose

Aaaannnnndddd we are running - Kona 2013

Off the bike and into T2.  I really don't remember much about the transitions except they went pretty smoothly.  Transition is LONG on the pier.  You have to run all the way around...tip - WEAR SOCKS.  AstroTurf can get hot. (tips like this is reason #400 why you hire a coach ;))

On to the run.....Lets do something different and let me briefly recap mile by mile (or something like that).

8:20 - "Yahoo!  I'm off my bike!  I'M FEELING GREAT!!  All these people are cheering for ME!!  I live for the applause, applause, applause....  YAY!!  Great pace!!  Can you keep this up another 25 miles?!?!?...maybe you are running a bit too fast...

Nice heel strike...ugh, no wonder my feet hurt so bad!

9:31 -  Maybe I slowed down just a bit too much.  Or maybe this is where I saw coach and slowed down to chat with her?  And when I say chat, I mean, Me: I am HURTING ALREADY.  Did I train AT ALL for this race?  Michelle: YOU'RE RUNNING ON ALI'I DRIVE...PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE!

9:12 - Still running pretty ok at this point.  The pain is setting in though.  My feet felt like they had stress fractures.  broken.

9:37, 9:37 - Just barely hanging on.  Way too early in the race to be saying this.  I had to stop to pee. Every porta potty had a line so I found some lava and sat down.  I hope I didn't piss off Madame Pele...or on.  Damn.  Cursed.

10:06, 10:14, 9:56, 11:09, 9:54 - Still on Ali'i drive really trying not to break down into tears.  Michelle found me again out here and got me to smile for a couple of photos.  Such mixed emotions out here.  I wanted so, so badly to feel better and to have fun out there.

Forced, but hey it's a smile :)

11:20, 10:24, 10:44, 10:41 - At this point I had reached the Queen K.  This is the 'calm' before my storm.   Still feeling like crap, but had made a friend from Brazil and she kept me busy by asking me how many kilometers we had already ran.  Hmmm, folks who know me know I am NO math major.  Totally different kind of pain for me.  ;) This distracted me away from the pain in my legs and feet for a bit anyway!  They closed the roads to the spectators way earlier than in years past and it's a black asphalt highway in the middle of lava beds.  Needless to say, it's HOT.  It was the biggest mental battle I've ever faced.  It's you and your mind out there and if your mind is not right, you're in BAD COMPANY.  See mile 15. 

13:16 - Ah, mile 15, this will be forever known as the BREAKDOWN IN THE PORTA POTTY MILE.  I'm not even talking about shedding a couple of tears now.  I'm talking full fledged I'm a 5 2 year old having a tantrum.  Full fledged SOBS.  I mean seriously?  What was I doing?  I was so disappointed ANGRY in how I was running I was willing to give up a few minutes and get it all out.  Silly, SILLY girl.  I had just had enough.  FINALLY, I was able to get over myself and get back out there.

On the way back to the finish.  Was I about to puke???  Notice the 'shuffle' going on here.

11:38, 10:45, 13:44, 11:42 - Oh fun times...we reach the infamous NATURAL ENERGY LAB.  NEL for short.  Oh baby everything you hear about this place is the truth.  Why?  Terrain isn't that bad, you have the ocean to look at and you can geek out looking at all the solar panels...so why is this place so dang hard? I have no answer for ya.  Better get your mind right.

11:21, 11:09, 10:44 - Running out of the NEL, you run up a pretty good hill.  It's as if the NEL was saying 'it was nice seeing you!!!  don't let the door hit ya on the way out'.  Double bonus...when I left, the volunteers were hollering 'you only have a 10k to go!'  Uh, wait a minute...I'm no math major (see miles 11-13) but a 10k is 6.2 miles.  We are not at the 20 mile marker.  That doesn't make the mind right.  Heading back into town the sun was starting to set.  They had started passing out glow sticks.  Michelle reminded me earlier in the week that if I got a glowstick, NBD.  I would be fortunate to GET a glowstick.  Truth?  I didn't want the glowstick.  No one ever does I know.  Just keep hanging on....one foot in front of the other.  I could do it.  I could get there in time (sans glowstick).

11:05, 11:11, 10:55 - Shuffle, walk through the aid stations. Repeat.  Head down chin up.  Holy cow, we are almost there.  The excitement was starting to build.  I was ready to stop running.

8:49 - One last turn onto and down Palani AND.here.we.go.  It was finally THAT time.  The moment had been plastered in mind for almost a full year....and I was about to live it in REAL TIME.  My chest started to get super tight as I was choking back the tears.  All the blood, sweat, and tears (many, many tears) was all about to be 'worth it'.  Hell I'm crying now just thinking about it.  This is what we live for.  It was my turn.

My almost ugly cry face.

The buzz is indescribable.  Hands down the BEST BUZZ EVER.  Spectators are lined up 2 and 3 deep.  EVERYONE is hollering/cheering like crazy.  High fives everywhere.  I sounded like I was having an asthma attack...I couldn't breathe, I was literally all choked up.  The moment is hard to describe. Photos are worth 1000 words, right?  I'll let them speak for me.

High fives to the family!

Add caption

oh, here's the ugly cry face.

Funny how the finish time in the photo is different than my 'official' time...

Check out those crazy fans...how fun is this photo?

The finish is uphill, funny, IM, very funny.

My photographer was a Mizzou alum.  #rockchalk

I am so incredibly blessed.  I am so, so thankful for this experience.  It really takes a village and I have the best.  To all my family who took the time to go Hawaii, I love you forever for it.  Michelle, you're the best...I cannot thank you enough for all you have done (and endured) for me. Team BSC, thank you for accepting and supporting me as one of your own as quickly as you have, I am proud to be a part of this crazy family.  To all my training buddies, thank you for suffering with me....so thankful for the time.  To all my friends and loved ones thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the generous support.  My FB feed blew up on October 12.  So forever grateful.

Head Down - Chin Up

4 weeks and counting

Training has been tough lately.  A LOT of hours but I know the end is near (bittersweet).  I am not sure I've been this dedicated to my training, like ever.  Everything I do (well almost) is geared towards Kona.  Eating better foods, limited booze (how I miss my vino), early to bed, early to rise, etc, etc, etc.  If this is the only shot I get at this race, I want it to go down with no regrets, no 'what ifs'.  I'm sure this is all added stress I'm putting on myself but so be it.  I may only have one shot.  

I've had the BEST support from my family and friends, so a big mahalo to everyone who has reached out to me.  It's overwhelming the amount of support I've received.  It's so greatly appreciated and means more than I can describe in this blog.  Just know that I am so appreciative and incredibly grateful for this experience and I hope I don't disappoint come race day.  :)  Thank you thank you thank you.   Please bear with the tears, emotional doesn't even describe the array of feelings right now. ;)

I read a blog today that talked about people being nice to people...just because...and how much of a difference you may make in someone's day, week, month, hell even life, because of a hello, a hug, words of encouragement or even just a smile.  I am not sure we realize the impact we make on each other.

So reading this blog today was ironic cause this happened last week...

Out of the blue, I received a message very unexpectedly from someone who I hadn't talked to in years (the power of social media).  It happened to be just about when shit was hitting the fan.  I was exhausted.  I was in the thick of training and nothing was going well (or so it seemed).  I even cried in my ice bath (not because of the cold but b/c in my head that run was that bad, although looking back, it really wasn't ;))...the wise man said this...

...be like a chicken.  think about what they do all day long, they put their head down and focus all of their energy of what's in front of them at that moment...

That's the goal for the next 4 weeks.  Head down, one workout at a time, one errand at a time, one day at a time, focus on the now...the later will come soon enough.  This sport is so empowering yet will strip you raw.  It's funny how life is, when I needed to hear this the most, it was said.  Reading it now again brings tears.raw.real exhausted.emotion...told ya

So smile to the random walking down the street, give a hug, reach out to someone who you haven't in years...you may make someone's day, week, month just that much better and brighter (and easier to manage :)).

head down - chin up...4 weeks, I got this. 

Mahalo

What will be your Space Jam???

Everyone needs a pep talk every now and again.  This made my night and I wanted to share.

'You were made to be awesome.'