Flying Through The Air With The Greatest of Ease...

or how I was a spaz & fell while running today!  I was going to call this post "I know I'm a runner now because I now own Body Glide" but after I did my Superman impression followed by a stuntman-worthy rolling landing I had to set that aside.  So yeah. I went out for my long run today. A 14 miler.  Was feeling pretty good, legs felt good, was being an uber-dork counting how many sips of half water-half Gatorade I was taking every mile, and then at 9.8 I went flying....I think I may have actually tripped over my own feet.  Have you ever fallen while running?  This is my first time and it was weird - very slo-mo...there was a moment when I realized I couldn't stop it. I was going to go down and thought 2 things simultaneously: I don't want to be a trauma at my own hospital (not because it's not good, but because it would be weird to have colleagues do primary/secondary survey on me) & second 'aim for the grass'. Someone was watching over me today because after I stopped rolling I lay on my back for several seconds doing an inventory of myself and I was stunned to find that I was fine & able to get back up and carry on.  Really, not a scratch or scrape.  Just a little sore where I landed on my right arm & leg but not enough to slow me down.  PHEW! I was able to continue on and finish.  Just over 14 miles done.  As I walked up the hill towards home I met Thing 2 just finishing his 3 miles.  I told him what happened & he laughed and said he fell too today.  So I started to add up the family mileage for today and we are at 21.5 miles with Thing 1 yet to go...and he says he has 6 miles on his calendar for today. I gotta say I'm impressed...27.5 family miles on the books today!

Oh, and the Body Glide....yeah, more running-dork fun facts ;).....I actually detoured on the way home after working 12 on 12 off for 4 days to buy body glide because I knew I wanted to get my long run today and I didn't want another chafing experience...bad move because there was a running clearance sale & I left with a bag full of running gear too :s .  I may need a 12 step plan.  My wardrobe is about 40% work uniforms, 40% running gear & 20% regular clothes.

Happy Running!

Run vs. Mancave

Sorry guys, today is not a guy post. Today is about the lone XX chromosomes inthe family regaining her quiet space. Get lost XBox & endless teenage boy/Dad cartoons on tv...you are once again banished underground. Today was the day...FINALLY, after almost 4 months of listening to Halo, NHL 11, & my fave (not)Assasins Creed the last of the end of February flood repairs were completed when the carpet was installed. I was going to do a brick workout today & even got as far as the garage with my helmet on but when the skies opened up I did not fight the "I did 12 miles yesterday" mental justification & went back inside to direct Thing 1 & 2 with more furniture rearranging....hee hee....sometimes it's goooooooood to have teenagers. I made them move LOADS of furniture around! It was awesome! And the best part...Thing 1 is watching the NHL draft right now & I don't hear a bit of it! More wine...why yes, I do believe I will ;)

Cadence...

The word of the day is cadence...as in steps per minute running or rpm's on the bike. Why? Because I took Thing 1 (who is doing his first sprint Tri in 2 weeks) to a triathlon efficiency clinic at the gym tonight. It was AWESOME! Triathlon Tom took us through each leg & transition (including a rather hilarious demonstration of how to & how not to put on a wetsuit!). Some of it was more technical than I'm interested in (though thanks to Michael @ Slowly Tri-ing I at least knew what clip less pedals were!). What I immediately took away was Triathlon Tom's recommendations on cadence: 90-110 rpm's on the bike & 23-25 steps/15 seconds on the run. Gotta conserve those legs. Short fast steps were emphasized...so even though I am a reluctant workday runner (8-12 hours of med-surg nursing takes it's toll) I figured I wasn't going to waste a trip to the gym & a beautiful temperate evening so set out for a little 5K loop using those short fast steps that Triathlon Tom called controlled falling...sounded like what I've been reading about in Chi Running too. The result: overall 9:59 pace .... Which btw is smokin' fast for me on a good day with fresh legs. But after work, with dinner still digesting, I am simply amazed. I didn't even feel overly tired (or nauseous). I'll definitely be paying attention to form and short fast steps on my long run Friday. I'm curious to see how it works over 10 miles.

So how do you run? Are you a long loper or do you use those short fast steps?

Happy Running!

Good Morning! Hot Enough For You????

I ran 2 mornings in a row.  This is out of the ordinary for me as I do NOT like getting up early on my days off.  It's bad enough I have to rise at 0500 on workdays.  So this definately cuts against the grain.  However, given the weather the past few days it was either get up early or not run since running midday in 90% humidity & 90+degree weather is not particularly compatible with life.  Interestingly, I have had a couple revelations....

I have discovered that

1. Morning people are happy people.  REALLY happy.  Seriously happy.  They are all grins & "Hey! Good Morning".  I am a grunting, point me in the direction of coffee morning person ;D
2. Morning runners comment on the weather.  "Hot enough for ya?"....uh no, please crank it up a notch would ya? 
3. Crap! I like that my 9 miles are done & I have the rest of the day.  Damn...I didn't want to like it.  Maybe it will cool off soon.

So, what are you?

4 Weeks of Marathon AND Triathlon Training...oh boy!

My almost 15 year old wants to do a triathlon.  I believe he thinks it's going to be a breeze since he runs XC/Indoor & Outdoor Track.  I found him a nice small tri & told him I'd do it with so as to assure myself that he would not drown during the swim portion.  800M swim/12 mile bike/ 5K run....a little lighter on the bike side than the one I've done in the past & (most importantly for the paranoid mother in me...a smaller race with the swim portion in a nice calm man-made lake).  Unfortunately, this tri is July 2nd, which gives me a 4 week ramp up to it.  Not good, I know.  But I'm hoping that since I'm in half-marathon shape & that I've been cross-training on the bike for the past month that I'll be ok...we'll be ok.  Well, Thing 1 is a teenager so feels invincible....I know I'm not.  This morning, of course because it's my saturday off & I can sleep in....my body is up at 6:45.  I had a couple cups of coffee then decided to rattle Thing 1 out of bed.  He was thrilled to see my happy shiney face announce that we were going for a bike & a swim. Bwahahahahahahaha ;D

Good sport that he is, he actually got up and followed basic commands....get out swimsuit, put in bag. (you have to talk in short basic sentences to the groggy teenager & don't make any sudden moves ;)). I took him on an easy 14 miler, with a couple stops to drop bags at the pool & a couple lessons on using your gears to work with you.  I was impressed. He stuck with me the whole way.  So on the way home we stop at the gym.   I have him park his bike and tell him to run a lap around the building on his jello legs (I forgot how crappy that feels...yuk!).  He thought jello legs were funny.  "You know, I you were to just run faster the jello legs would go away quicker"......yeah. Thanks for the advice son.  Now I get my revenge....we hit the pool...500 easy yard.  I lapped him x 5.  I figured I'd just let him go as we were the only 2 in the pool with 2 gaurds on duty.  We're going to have to do some stroke work.  He did it, but it wasn't pretty. 

I think he'll be ok & I'm glad we'll be able to do it together. 

As for the marathon training....Thing 1 looks at my training plan on the fridge when we got home & says "Are you really going to do a 12 mile run the day before the triathlon?".....OMG! I'm not quite sure how I will do this.  I can move it up a couple days I think & hope for the best. 

Anyone else combined marathon/triathlon training?