Dedicated to Corky and Jules

Last night's workout was around 5 miles, and included 4x1 mile repeats. Our course included running around the Agricenter. I had a volleyball game at Hope at 8, so I didn't want to get there early and go home, only to leave shortly after. So I got to the workout at 6 and it was already getting dark. While running, I realized how the workout was symbolic of what the next year will bring me.

When the 1 mile loop first starts, you just run around the parking lot, and its about .35 miles long and you end up where you started. Sometimes training is like this...you feel like you are just running/biking/swimming in circles. But you keep going.

Next, the loop starts to go around the building. Its well lit and there's a lot of things to look at. Again, training is like this. You can see where you are going...you see whats up ahead. You are very aware of what's going on around you. This is a comfortable part of training.

The loop ends by going around the other side of the building...where all the lights outside the building are burnt out (or not on) and you can't even see your hand in front of your face. A good portion of the run is on this side of the building. You can't see whats on the road in front of you. I'm sure most people have experienced training like this: You have no clue what you're doing or where you're going. You could run right into a hole and twist your ankle...but you take that risk. You kind of want to just stop and say "what am I doing? I can't even see where I'm going". But you don't. You continue, because you trust your training, even though you have become distracted and can't see your goal up ahead of you. This isn't a fun part of training, but I think many (if not all) people experience it at some point.

Training for an IM, so I've heard, is one of the most difficult, time consuming, and trying times in an athlete's life. You have to dedicate so much time, energy, and feelings to this one race. You could feel like you're running in circles, like you're not going anywhere or gaining anything from all the training. You could feel like you're running in a well-lit area and everything is going so well in your training. Or you could feel like you're running in complete darkness and you can't see where you're going or what you're doing...and you just want to stop and give up. But something....something keeps you going. That drive and determination that endurance athletes have to race a ridiculous distance is unlike any other. Sure, all athletes have that will and want when it comes to athletics, but the desire to keep going, when you've already gone 100 miles, and you still have 40.6 miles left....THAT is pure passion for the sport.

Good luck at IMFL Corky and Jules!!!

I've got the itch

No, not an itch that you wake up wondering "where did THAT come from?" By no means...I'm way too boring of a person these days to go out partying so hard I don't remember the night. So don't worry parents, that's not it.

THE itch. The Ironman itch. The training my *ss off itch. Yeah, I'm training right now. For a marathon. JUST a marathon. No big deal, right? I mean in 306 days I'll be doing a marathon... after swimming 2.4 miles, and biking further than anyone in their right minds would care to. Which is why I'm itching to train. I think its far too early to start killing myself on a regular basis, though. Court and I were talking this weekend and we decided I should look for a 30 week training plan. Which would put me starting "official" training February 3rd, or somewhere there abouts. But with Court and Jules competing THIS Saturday in IM Florida, I feel like I should be right there with them! But alas, I'm a year behind. I can't lose weight to save my life right now. I'm maintaining, which is not bad, but I'd like to lose a few more pounds. I'm just not training enough. I have my long runs, and my weekday runs, and I try to bike once a week. Still haven't made it back to the pool. I just don't want to get burnt out by, say, June.

Needless to say, even though I'm JUST training for a marathon, I'd rather be training for my IM. Oh well, I guess I should live it up until February 3rd...looks like Cheetos and bon bons on the couch for the next 3 months?

Walls are tall, impenetratable, and they SUCK

Today, I hit probably my first major wall while training. Hard to imagine it took me this long. I mean I've had workouts where I'm like "I don't really want to do this", but I always do and it's not too bad.

Today was so different. Usually, I take in calories like clockwork...every 45 minutes. I have to or I die. Only a few times have I not followed this routine, and it was for much shorter workouts, so there were no real effects. I ate a cliff bar for breakfast and took a gel before we ran. Since many people we run with only eat when we stop, this can be anytime really. I keep my gels in my pocket of my camelback, and its hard to reach around and get them unless I walk and take off the camelback. I just did not realize that I hadn't eaten in over an hour and a half! About mile 7, I hit this thing (see picture) hard....I mean running headfirst into it without a helmet...twice. All I wanted to do was sit in the middle of the road and pout.

I slowly dropped back from the group, and they seemed like they were holding a 5 min/mile pace. I was sooooooo frustrated, but I knew that wasn't going to help the situation. So I walked and took a gel, took a good drink of water, and started running again. At this point, the group was ahead of me by about two tenths of a mile (0.2). I ran thru one walk break and closed in on them, then we got to a downhill and I basically sprinted down the hill and finally caught up to Jim, Alissa, and Jack. I stayed with them until the end of the 6 mile course, and then Jim went on with the other group who was running it again. We had already run 4 miles before the 6 miles course, and including the 1.25 running to the course, we had gone about 11.5-ish. Running back to the cars would have only given us about 12.5-ish, so we ran around the neighborhood behind Lowe's. I was still dying. I think once you get behind in nutrition, you're screwed. And I was. We got in about 13 today, which we needed about 14 so not too shabby.

Lesson Learned: EAT EAT EAT

Running in the rain

Apparently the rain Gods do not read my blog.

It was still raining last night, and I had to get my hill workout in. Couldn't save it for today for a few reasons:

A. I would not have done it, because I would have found numerous excuses not to.

2. I have a long run tomorrow and it would have affected that.

Thirdly, Friday is my lounge around day = no run!!

To endurance athletes, and any type of athlete for that matter, I am considered completely normal (see picture below...see, completely normal!) for doing my workout even while rainy and dreary.

But to the "normal" population, those who think "yes, its raining! I don't have to go run!" or those who don't even work out...I am considered completely and utterly INSANE (see below).

Back to last night.... I drove down to Lowe's, only to see very few cars from the MIM run group. Usually, people are there early and run over to the course to get started. I ended up running to the course by myself. Not a big deal. It's 1.25 miles away...really good (LONG) warmup. I noticed only a few water bottles, so there were only a handful of people on the course somewhere. The workout was to run up the big hill, jog back down, run up again, then run around the course where you run up two more hills. We did this twice. So, I ran up the big hill and jogged back down. I felt AWESOME. Almost like I was tapered. My legs were fresh, I had the energy..it was great! I guess I'm FINALLY recovered from halfmax...gee only took SIX WEEKS. Ridiculous.

When I got to the bottom of the hill, I found the others who had been out on the course. Too bad they were finished! Luckily, Jack ran the course with me again. It was nice to have someone to run with! The second time up the big hill, it was definitely not as easy as the first, but still not bad. After the first loop, more people had shown up. I ran the second time with Karla.

Long run tomorrow morning! wooooooo!

Enough already!

I'm kinda sick of the rain. I do not enjoy how we had a total of, what, 3 days of fall? That's it? Come on Memphis!

Ran in the rain last night. This is pretty much verbatim of how it went.

Had to run a one mile test...basically go as fast and as hard as you can, without dying (still have energy left at the end). After a longer warmup, I was ready. Of course, mind you, it was like 50 degrees and rainy..not enough the steady type of rain, but that annoying and cold misty rain. I'm over it. So, I start the one mile run. I was going hard..my HR was probably about 85% of max...I thought to myself... "This has to be a world record mile run!!! I'm going so fast!" Not to mention, I felt like yacking the whole time because I was anaerobic for so long.

When I got to the end, I looked down at my split time only to be extremely disappointed... 9:04!!!!!! WTF?!?!?!? I swore I was going a 7:30 mile. DANG. That was disappointing. Oh well...guess it gives me a goal for next time? Like, to shave off two minutes?! Is that possible???

Also, check out the funniest commercial on T.V. right now...I can't stop laughing at it!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcZRgUHesDo

What they say is true

I've turned into my mother. Last night, I found myself washing the dishes (while the dishwasher is running with an entire load, mind you) at about 10:30. I had a hand towel draped over my shoulder, which I can picture from my earliest childhood memories of my Mom. I was thinking "Do I need to send out invitations for people to put their dishes in the dishwasher...or empty it when its clean so I don't have to wash dishes at 10:30 at night??" Then it hit me.

Oh God, I've turned into my mother.

This is not a bad thing (I love you Mom - she reads my blog)...I just thought I could be the only female in America to escape this fate....I was wrong.

This late-night dish saga made it all worth it, though, when I woke up to a clean kitchen this morning. I didn't have to scrub last Thursday's breakfast off a spoon before using it. So, I guess I cannot complain that I'm mimicking a woman who raised me right.

I mean, there are worse things. My mom could be a mass murderer who escaped prison to join the circus as the "Bearded Lady"...........

A few things accomplished...

Thesis Proposal...........................................................check.
Recovery Run last night............................................check.
A call to Gram.............................................................check.
Figuring out what to do once I graduate.................ok, not yet.
A good night's sleep....................................................check.
Pumpkin Spice Latte..................................................check.
Swim Workout.............................................................probably not going to happen.
Figuring out what to do once I graduate..................still nothing.

Just.....be.

What a fantastic day I had! Way too many reasons why, but just believe me :)

Tonight, however, I was so tired. I didn't sleep well last night, and didn't nap because Wednesdays are my late work days because of Bible Study in the morning. I got home, and the last thing I wanted to do was get on my trainer. There was only about an hour of daylight left, and I still had to get ready and air my tires. It was getting pretty cloudy and I knew rain was coming... "Great, my excuse will be its going to rain". Checked the radar...Not for a while! Well, can't use that excuse!!

So, I thought to myself....what would an Ironman do?? GET ON THE FREAKIN BIKE AND RIDE!!! That's what an Ironman would do. So, I sucked it up, realizing in the next year I'll be this tired (or more) many, many more times, so I better get used to it. What else was I going to do? Lay on my bed and watch Oprah...and fall asleep for way longer than I should. Then I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. So, I thought I should use my time wisely and train.

I started out and though I'd try to get a solid 45 minutes in, probably between 10 and 12 miles. I'm definitely in the IM thinking of "That's not even worth putting on my bike clothes and getting on my bike!" But, I knew that I needed to. I told myself I'd ride once a week until the marathon is over, just to stay cycling-active (I'm not sure you can hyphenate those two words...oh well, its my blog, I can do what I want....So, don't judge me!). Anyway, getting off track...I rode and after about 25 minutes, and with it getting darker and more clouds coming, I thought I should turn around and head back. Although I felt great. I've had so much running through my mind today (just ask my bible study ladies - I just starting spewing out stories/info/questions today!). It was so liberating to be on that bike, in perfect weather and not have to think about things. That's one reason I love to train...its MY TIME. I can get away from all the worries of the world, and just be.....

You know, I was trying to think of a good word to describe how I feel when I'm training, but it is "be"...when I'm hammering on the bike, or only hearing the sound of my feet on the pavement at 5am....that's all I am. So, try it...Just BE.

Pictures and more

Well, Junior survived his haircut in the ghetto yesterday. Although he looks kind of ridiculous, but he needed it all cut off. Here's the cute pup (although he looks really pissed at me).

Recovery run this morning... 5.5 miles at lower than 75% HR. It was kind of rough because my joints were still sore from running 20 on Saturday. Oh well. What are you gonna do?

Oh yeah, this is "old Junior"...actually he destroyed a ball I bought him...stuffing was flying everywhere, and this is him oblivious to the stuffing on his face. Oh I love this little guy!!

What a weekend!

Friday:
I did what I always do, but never want to do: fell asleep after work. As great as it felt, and as much as I tried to avoid it, I slept for about 2 hours. So that meant I didn't fall asleep Friday night until about 11:30, and by 11:30, I mean midnight. Next thing I know, my alarm is going off at 4am Saturday.

Saturday:
Yep, definitely had the voice going "what the hell are you doing?! It's Saturday, and it's 4am...the only people awake right now are those working overnight and those coming home from the bars. GO BACK TO SLEEP." Of course, I ignored this voice, just as I always do, and I got up and started getting ready for the longest run to date: a 20 miler. I got to Lowe's to find a nice crowd of people. This should be fun! I'm so glad I am running with MIM because otherwise, I would have slept until about 9, and I wouldn't have ran! We got about 4 miles in until we went back and picked up the 6am group. Man, were there a lot of people this week! I'd say about 35-40 people were running. That makes for a large, chaotic long run! But so much fun! I ran with my girl Katrina for most of the run. She was doing 18 and I was doing 20. Everything was going pretty well (although I have to say mentally I was not in it to win it this week...I hate that!), until about mile 12. I started getting really tight in my hamstrings, which made my lower back extremely tight. Every few miles, we stopped to stretch and that helped, but it wasn't too far down the road and I'd tighten up again. This didn't make me too excited to run a marathon in 46 days, not to mention a freakin' Ironman next year! The miles slowly but surely passed, and soon we came up on Lowe's again. Ah! Freedom! I'm done with the longest run of my life (so far)!!

*SIDE NOTE* Remember how Katrina was doing 18? Well, we hit mile 18 in the middle of the trails...she ended up going 19...yeah girl! YOU ROCK!

We get to Lowe's and our mileage is right at 19 miles. Time wise, we had been running for about 5 hours and 5 minutes. But that wasn't good enough for Bill, Daniel, and me. We decided to hit that 20 mark. So we ran around Lowe's twice to add another mile. After some painful stretching in the back of Mark's truck, I was DONE.

*Thanks to Daniel and Bill for getting me to finish that last mile!!*

I went home and showered, fell asleep for an hour, then it was off to the St. Jude Dog Expo with Junior! He had so much fun! I felt like a parent with a child at a carnival for the first time. He wanted to run around and do everything and play with every dog there. I made a donation to St. Jude and he got to run this track like greyhounds do when they race. He chased a ribbon around on this zip line. The first run he was just trying to figure everything out. The second time, he was determined to get that ribbon! Well, turns out, he did! The zip line broke, which meant the ribbon stopped. He grabbed that thing and ran it all the way around the track and dropped it at the dude's feet. He had a look on his face like "Look Mom I won I won!!!" It was priceless. (I'll post pics when I get home, don't have my camera with me!)

Went to the Men's Soccer game Saturday night. They beat UK!!! Yeah! I definitely fell asleep Saturday night at 9:30. I'm such a winner!

*Also, Ironman World Championships at Kona were Saturday. I watched the coverage on the Internet off and on all day Saturday. Congrats to Liz and Chris, and everyone who raced for that matter!!

Sunday:
Normal Sunday. Woke up at 6:30, went to Church to volunteer in the nursery during 8am service, then went to the 9:30 service. Came home and napped, and was extremely lazy the whole day. Just how I like it!

Good 'ol hills

There's nothing better than a hard workout. That feeling of accomplishment at the end. You know the one...the "I just kicked that workout's ass" feeling. That was last night for me. It's an endurance week (yes Mark, I know that means LONG workouts) and Thursday are hill workouts. We park at the Lowe's and run to the course for warmup..its about 16 miles to get there. Kidding...but it really is 1.25 miles..quite a warmup if you ask me! Our workout was to do 4 circuits of running up a long hill, walking down, running back up then around the block. Each circuit was about one mile long. After the cooldown, of 16 miles (haha), our total workout ended up being 7 miles.

Most people would feel quite accomplished to do a 7 mile workout. Not the MIM'ers! That didn't matter so much. For me, it was the pace I was holding. Yeah, hills kick my ass (see October 5th post), but I was actually holding really good pace times (for me). I was holding about 10:30-11 mi/min going uphill, and then on the flats I was actually holding 9:30's! My old pace time was back! Now, I probably couldn't hold that for any length of time anymore, but I was just happy that I felt good holding that pace!

After a nearly 2 hour workout (and a 16 mile cool down), we were back at the cars. I was S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G. I got home and chowed down - on a protein shake, crackers, and salad..mmmm! Oh the life of an endurance athlete....

20 miler tomorrow at 5am....to be continued.................

Definition of Memphis drivers

Idiotic (id-ee-ot-ik) adjective

1. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an idiot.
2. Senselessly foolish or stupid.
3. Driving style of Memphians.

Memphis drivers are idiotic.


I've always known this, but yesterday was one of the worst riding experiences yet. I decided to go for about a 20 mile ride, just to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. I rode a pretty normal route for me, which entails riding on a pretty busy road. It was probably my mistake to ride at 5pm, but I would only be on the busy road for a few miles. I had probably 3 cars beep at me to tell me to get off the road...awesome. Not to mention people buzzing past me in the SAME lane going about 50mph. Neat. Ok I deal with that kind of stuff all the time. So I said a little prayer and kept going.

Well, the real kicker was when I reached the point in my ride where I get to ride in a bike lane. There aren't that many in Memphis, so I get pretty excited when I don't have to fear for my life as much. Again, the traffic was a little heavier than normal because it was rush hour. Let me reiterate that I was riding in a bike lane. This is a very residential neighborhood, so there are side streets every few hundred feet. Well, an older woman comes up behind me and has to drive past me (as I'm in the BIKE LANE) to turn onto a side street to my right. She comes up right next to me so we are side-by-side coming up on a side street. I just thought she was slowing down because she was riding next to a cyclist. NOPE. Of course not. This is where the definition comes in...She turns onto the street anyway, and narrowly misses me by about 2 feet! She HAD to see me because she came up from behind me! I threw my arms up in the air and yelled, only to realize it didn't do any good. IDIOTIC MEMPHIS DRIVERS. I was so frustrated I held a 23 mph pace for the next 3 miles. So in a way, it was good, but not really because I almost died! *sigh* do I have a target on my back when I ride??

Idiotic
1. Driving style of Memphians.

I am NOT a bug

I was slightly angry this morning during my workout. Actually, the anger started last night when I was supposed to go meet Memphis in Motion for the workout, but it was raining, and I had a volleyball game. So, I decided to wake up early and do it this morning.

It was speed/pace work, which in itself is not the most fun, especially by my lonesome. I didn't feel like filling up my fuel belt, so I just took a water bottle down with me (I was running on the street that my apartment is on. Its a little over a half mile long, so perfect for this workout). I set it at the end of my street, which has a huge circle and a business sitting at the end of the circle. I began my workout, and each time I came back to where my water was, and took a drink...obviously.

Well, where I became angry was I had 2 one-mile circuits left, and I saw a pesticide truck (they were spraying the grass for bugs I'm assuming?) and the dudes looked DIRECTLY at me while I was taking a drink from my water bottle. Ok, nothing to worry about. They saw this is mine. Boy, was I wrong. I even moved the bottle away from the grass. So I go out for my second to last one-mile run, and on the way back, because it was 1,000% humidity, I was sooooo looking forward to a huge drink of icy cold water. I come closer to the end, where my bottle is sitting, and I see the pesticide truck sitting right next to it. I think to myself "surely, they did not spray near my bottle, or they at least moved it." WRONG WRONG WRONG! I pick my bottle up, to see beads of liquid - the prettiest shade of blue. NEAT. They sprayed frickin' pesticide ON MY WATER BOTTLE!!!! Even though they SAW me drink from it. Awesome. Spectacular. What a great start to my day. Then I realize, I have another one-mile interval left. FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC.

I don't know if those dudes realized this...but I AM NOT A BUG. Thank you very much!!

A long run with Sponge Bob.

Three things I realized by 9am:

1. (5:45 am) One of the top three reasons I race ridiculous distances is simply for the sticker to put on my car....because you can never have too many ridiculous distance stickers, or RDS's for short.

2. (8:00 am) I find myself finishing a 12 mile workout solo, and also find myself with the "Sponge Bob Squarepants" themesong on repeat in my head, but only one line of it: "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea SPONGE BOB SQUAREPANTS!!!" Do not ask me where it came from....but for the last 6 miles, that's all I had.

3. (9:15-ish) As I walk...let me re-phrase: SHUFFLE thru Kroger looking for bisquick because I had been craving biscuits since mile 10, I realize that 14 miles ALL on pavement makes you hurt...A LOT. I never thought I'd want to run on trails so badly.

And now for my annual laying around on a Saturday afternoon...

OH SNAP! KU just intercepted the ball against K-State with only 1:12 left...YEAH!!!!! Ok time to watch the domination!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea.....

A message to my gluteus maximus

Dear Gluts,

Yes, we had a hill workout last night. I thought it was going to be worse than it was, but I was surprised. It was not easy, but I definitely expected worse considering how terrible I am at hills, whether it be on a bike or on foot.

This morning, however, I did not appreciate waking up to the sound of "What were you THINKING?! Why don't you just continue to be bad at hills, so we only hurt like this a few times a year?" Well gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus...oh man especially medius...I am standing up and reminding you of all those races where people passed me as I was walking up a hill...and I say:

"NO! I will not stop trying to be better at hills. So deal with it! Suck it up! You are, after all, Mr. Gluteus Maximus, the biggest muscle in the body!! So gather your brothers (Mr. Medius and Mr. Minimus) and help get my ass up those hills!! LITERALLY!!!"

Sincerely,
Robyn

My Personal Top Ten

Robyn's Top Ten Reasons of How You Know You are a Triathlete:

10. 6:30am is sleeping in.
9. You can't remember the last time you went out, mostly because you have an early workout the next morning.
8. A Clif Bar is a perfectly acceptable supplement to Lunch.
7. You feel like you are constantly eating, yet always hungry.
6. You spend more money on a sports bra than a regular bra. Wait, regular bra?
5. You ride to work and knowing you have to ride home, you just wear your bike shorts around all day.
4. When asked what your favorite smell is, you respond "chlorine".
3. Dressing up for you is jeans and a shirt that you do not work out in.
2. You take your bike rack off the car for the winter and think your car now makes you look unathletic.
...and the number one reason:
1. You think about purchasing something (i.e. dress clothes, school supplies, new sheets after your dog chews up a pen and there is ink on them, etc) but you quickly realize what you could buy related to triathlon training, and buy that instead.

Not that I've EVER done ANY of these......

marathon...check!

Finally signed up for the St. Jude Marathon today. Thank goodness! I'm not as nervous anymore for it. It's like "26.2? Meh. I'm going to do a freakin' IRONMAN! That's nothing." Catch me at about mile 20 on Dec 1st though, and I may feel a little differently. Also, ordered new shoes, so now hopefully I won't hurt as much after runs.

Let's see...nothing really new this week. Probably hop on the trainer for about an hour tonight. Hill workout tomorrow...gooooo. Not looking forward to that, even though its really good for my training. Friday, swim. And Saturday, long run!!!! Weeeeee! Way too excited about that.

Well, here's a photo for you:

This is the girls who competed at Halfmax with Sister Madonna Buder. She's a 77 year old nun/triathlete. I just googled her, and found out she's done over 200 triathlons, including 13 IRONMANS!!!! Her most recent one, was at the 2006 Kona race (LAST YEAR) where she became the oldest woman (age 76) to complete the race, just one minute shy of the cutoff time.

WOW. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is.....

What is the world coming to??

Last night as I was going to bed, I had the news on. I hear coming in as breaking news that someone had been shot and killed on my campus, not too far from my building. Neat. Well, I tried to stay up to hear about it, but I failed.

This morning I woke up as normal, thinking its a usual Monday morning. I got all ready (even got dressed up cute!) and left. Just after I turned out of my complex, I hear on the radio that classes are cancelled at school today. I figured it was about the shooting, so I called my boss. Sure enough, they cancelled classes because it had been a football player and they were highly investigating the incident. Realizing my bulletproof vest was being drycleaned, I decided to head on back home for the day. Definitely took advantage of this day off and went back to sleep!

I have been receiving text messages all day asking if I'm alright, seeing as how shootings on university campuses have been happening more often. Everyone is saying "oh I'm so sorry". Well thank you. It's sad and my condolences go out to Taylor Bradford's family. But what REALLY worries me, is how unaffected I am by all this. I heard about it last night, and after the initial shock, it was like "ok, what next". It's so sad that I feel this way, and that's what upsets me the most. Recently, the city of Memphis won something. A number one ranking in the nation for most violent crimes. I guess the hoodlums in this town are trying to show the rest of the world how proud they are for this "achievement".

Meanwhile...back to training tonight. Shorter technical workout scheduled for this evening..then volleyball!