Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

I don't know what it is about the treadmill, but completing 3 miles under 30 minutes has been impossible since I started running almost two years ago. Maybe it's the monotony of running in place, the scenery not changing. More likely, it's my mindset sabotaging any attempt at running faster than the comfortable 12 minute mile. Let's face it--12 minute miles are quite easy and very doable. I'm living proof of this. I've been doing them for nearly two years now. The thing is, if I'm going to truly improve my sprint tri time, if I'm going to truly improve my overall fitness, I have to go outside my comfort zone. Even now, as I think about leaving what I'm comfortable with and expending more effort, a feeling of dread fills me. It's like a shot of adrenaline coursing through me, making me hesitate and ask why do this if I don't have to? I have no answer to this question other than I need to prove to myself that I can accomplish more, that more ...

This past week I upped the mileage with both cycling and running to the point that today, as I was running my second mile, I was toast. The fatigue set in and I just couldn't find the gumption to do the third mile. On the spinner, I hit mile eight and called it quits. From there I went to the weight circuit, completed one lower body round, and said enough. To finish up the day, I got in two sets of ab exercises. At that point, I had nothing left in the tank. Now, as I look back over the stats for the past four weeks, I understand why I'm tired. This past week I managed 51 miles between the running and the spinning. The closest I came to this kind of mileage was four weeks ago with 27 miles. The week leading up to the stair climb I only had 5 miles since I was focusing on using the stair climber and the elliptical. I also got away from my six meals a day this past week. I returned to the three meals simply because I had a lot on my schedule with work and it was just easier to ...

When I finished my last climb Saturday and returned to the basement to give the chip to the timing people, Hubby asked me how many climbs I finished. I said 7. He gave me that little smile that says I'm doing some wishful thinking then replied, "I think you only did 5." I was devastated. I really, really wanted to have finished 7 climbs. I wallowed in my sadness for a few minutes, thinking maybe I goofed up on my counts, but to have added two extra climbs in was just more than my fairly logical brain could handle. Could I have been that off? After showering and packing up to head home, we returned to the ballroom to get something to eat and to check the results. What was posted on the bulletin board made me a little happier. I was listed as having completed 6 climbs. Part of my disappointment dissipated upon seeing this, and during the drive home, I made some peace with not having accomplished my goal of 7 climbs. All day yesterday I waited for the official results to b...

Now that the stair climb is over, my thoughts are turning to the next event on the calendar, a 5k. And I'm actually looking forward to it. Since December, I've been working on the my mental state more than I've been working on my physical state. The physical is in a good place right now with being able to run a 5k without any trouble. The form is improving, the endurance is increasing, and the speed is there to tap into. The mental state, though, has a tough time seeing all of these things as positives. I did a lot of self-reflection through November, even taking the month off, and made one big decision. That decision is I will participate in 5k events, sprint tri events, and cycling events, but only for personal enjoyment, not to try and prove something to anyone, especially myself. Being a perfectionist as well as highly competitive, this was a difficult step for me to take. Getting back to training in December, I started slowly, running and cycling on the trainer alm...

The afterglow of having participated in an event with hundreds of others, everyone smiling, laughing, encouraging each other on, and generally just coming together for a cause never ceases to amaze me. It's such a good feeling, and I just want to wrap myself in it for days. The Hilton: 32 Floors of Pain I was ready well before my 8 am start time, so Hubby and I went to the check-in desk. Even though my stomach was churning from nerves, I forced myself to eat a banana and drink some Powerade. I've been working on the eating and drinking before and during my workouts, and I've seen such improvement in my performance that I didn't want to let the nerves change that for today. I knew I probably hadn't eaten enough with just the one piece of fruit, but I couldn't do any more than that. I was able to continue sipping water, though, and I made sure to continue drinking the entire event. I used to be really bad about this, so I'm happy with this aspect of my st...

Yesterday, around 2 in the afternoon, I was checking my email, not really paying attention to the one I opened as I was talking to Hubby at the same time. We were chatting, my eyes scanning the opening of the email, and all the sudden I saw the word submission . My mind went on alert status. I went back to the beginning of the email to read it through slowly. The first three lines were the usual Dear JK, thank you for your submission to, we appreciate you thinking of us. The next line then said the words all authors want to hear: your piece has been selected for publication. At that point, I threw my hands in the air and waved them around, telling Hubby my happy news. The next paragraph, though, is what really warmed me through: "We have received a large number of amazing submissions for this issue and the selection process was very challenging. Your entry stood out as a high quality creation. Kudos for a job well done. " How nice is that?!? Nothing else in the world ma...

So I had no clue what real stair climbing was going to be like. A girl has the right to be delusional every now and then, doesn't she? I climbed real stairs today, and rather than do the parking garage, Hubby took me to the newest hotel in town, the one with 9 floors. The stairwell was a balmy 68 degrees, so I didn't have to bundle up, and after a kiss for good luck, I began stairclimbing while Hubby went to take the elevator to the top floor. One minute nineteen seconds later, I was at the top. I beat Hubby to the 9th floor landing by a good five seconds. We took the elevator back down, walked to the stairwell, and I set off again. This time I pushed it a bit more to see if I could better my one-nineteen. At the 9th floor landing I punched the stopwatch: 1:10. Once again, I beat Hubby by a good margin. We repeated this process three more times. The third time I slowed down to see what my time would be if I mimicked somewhat the pace I use on the stairstepper. I reached t...

One week remains before my stair climbing event. The nerves are starting to kick in. As this event will be the first of its kind for me, I have no idea what to expect. I've been stairstepping, but the machine can't truly prepare me for actual, most likely concrete, stationary stairs. I need real stairs this week to get a better sense of what's in store. I lamented my need for real stairs to my friend, and she suggested I run the stairs in one of the parking garages here in town. Brilliant! Why hadn't I thought of this? And from where I was sitting across from her at the coffee shop, looking out the window, I saw the perfect parking garage. Tomorrow its stairs shall be mine. I do think I've made fitness gains training for this event. I was able to go 40 minutes today at a speed I couldn't do four weeks ago. From the stairstepper, I went to the elliptical for an additional 20 minutes, getting in 1.7 miles, the farthest I've been able to do in a 20 minute per...

The Hubby has had a cold that makes him sound like someone's trying to use a chainsaw to cut down a flagpole. The Middle Child has had strep throat, so badly that he has to spit green, gooey gunk into a bowl by the side of his bed, except before said bowl was placed by his bed, he spit said green, gooey gunk onto the carpet as he became too dizzy upon sitting up to make it to the bathroom sink. Being amidst all the coughing, sneezing, nose-blowing, and green, gooey gunk, I've made sure to wash my hands often, disinfect surfaces, and even hold my breath at times to avoid becoming ill myself. Unfortunately, I feel the beginnings of something in the works. My throat and chest have the tell-tale signs of what I'm hoping is merely a cold. I did manage to get a workout in this morning, and it wasn't too shabby a workout given the circumstances. A little over four miles running and a little over eight miles on the spinner brought on a good sweat, so maybe I can purge whateve...

Timothy Noakes' Law 12 in The Lore of Running suggests, "It may be that success in running is ultimately determined not so much by training the body as by training the mind." Speaking for myself, I truly believe this to be true. For nearly two years, I've been experiencing improvement in my overall fitness level. I started out barely making it through 10 minutes of a 45 minute workout DVD. At the end of my first 90 day period, that same DVD was cake. Then I started running. I worked my way to three miles and completed my first 5k. I wasn't in love with running, but I liked the health improvements I was experiencing because of it. After the 5k, I turned to training for a sprint tri. While training, I realized I absolutely love cycling and began cycling as many days a week as I could, racking up the miles. It didn't take long for me to dream of finishing a century ride. For some reason, though, I still want to be a runner, and running continues to torment me ...

Annoying or okay? Too much for a blog or a nice touch if it doesn't overwhelm and play constantly?

Since I usually fix a meal for myself that is different than what the rest of the family eats, I've been trying some new creations. This afternoon, I decided to try sushi. I gathered up the rice, the sweet potato, the cucumber, and the avocado and went to work. First Sushi Attempt Being a sushi newbie, I found I didn't have a couple of things on hand that are needed to create sushi rolls. Seems a really important tool is the bamboo mat. I improvised by using a clean dish towel with a piece of plastic wrap on top. I also didn't have enough rice vinegar, so I had to use a bit of white vinegar, which I don't think made all that much difference in the end. Working with what I had, after making two rolls, I decided to save the rest of my wraps for another go in the near future, after I purchase a bamboo mat. In all, the sushi turned out okay. Though the rolls were on the loose side, the ingredients were delicious. I'm eager to try other ingredients, so I'll de...

After digging out our driveway, which was actually fun since all of us were outside, taking turns at shoveling, I finally put on the snowshoes I bought two years ago. Yes, two years ago. I've longed to get out and walk across snowdrifts, but the previous two winters, Mother Nature decided snowdrifts weren't a part of the plan for where I live. This year, since November, I've been asking Mother Nature to please, please, please let this winter be the winter I could finally wear my shiny pink aluminum snowshoes. The lovely Crone, and I say that in all honest adoration, must have heard me, for snowdrifts and snow piled high from the snow plows are now mine for the walking. I fastened the snowshoes to my boots and set off across the street to first conquer the long drift against the building used to store desks, chairs, and other miscellaneous items for the school district. The drift was about five feet high, and from the front looked very packed. Upon reaching the top, howeve...

I bit the bullet and signed up for the Boiler Sprint Tri . I found this event late last year, bookmarked it, and waited for the site to update to show this year's event. A few weeks ago, all the info was posted for the April 2, 2011 sprint tri. Today, as I'm sitting home from work because of the blizzard currently raging outside, as I'm thinking of warmer days, springtime, and flowers, I thought the time was perfect to register for the tri. I now have my receipt in hand. Going back to my alma mater for a sprint tri, the first one for the season, will be a hoot. On a more serious note, a fellow cyclist/runner/athlete needs our help.If you scroll down the page a bit, you'll see on the right-hand side " Donate to Help Alison Delgado ." Ms. Delgado is recovering from a very serious cycling accident, and to help defray medical costs, a fund was created for those who wish to donate. This year, I decided I'm going to make donations to causes I truly believe in....