Julie tagged me a while ago, asking me to list 7 interesting things about myself. I guess I’ve been procrastinating because I really consider myself a boring accountant. I wish there was some exciting, secret life going on outside of what you are reading about in this blog, but actually this is about as exciting as it gets for me. I’ll leave out the “interesting” part, and just give you 7 things.

1. I don’t really like to cook. Why? Because it makes a mess. I would much rather clean all day and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich than spend all day cooking in the kitchen. The exception to the rule is baking. I make some awesome chocolate chip cookies and consider desserts worth the hassle.
2. When I was on the track team in high school, I ran the two mile event for our team because I was the only person that was willing to run that far. I went to an all girls high school and track was not a glamorous sport. My fastest mile was 7:40 and I usually came in close to last. I wish I could run that pace now for even a few minutes.
3. My favorite food is peanut butter.
4. I’m sad to say that I have a foul mouth and am not offended by bad language. There are enough actions and attitudes that offend me that I can’t get myself worked up about some curse words.
5. I’m an introvert but I try to be social. It’s an effort, though. My natural tendency is to go my own way and do my own thing.
6. I listen to my iPod when I run and race even though everyone says it’s bad. Sorry, everyone. I know I’m supposed to be listening to my body, but my body is usually screaming at me so I’m trying to drown it out. I promise you I’m safe and careful and I won’t run into you.
7. My two favorite movies are “About a Boy” and “Love, Actually”. Hugh Grant is in both of them, but that is just a coincidence.

Quite a list, eh? Don’t you wish you could be as interesting? Can you sense the sarcasm?

Apparently, I am not the only person trying to plan their race calendar for the 2010 season. I had confidently listed a triathlon in June on my race schedule, only to find out while I was out of town this weekend that it was already full. After a minor fit, I got myself together and decided I better get serious about what races were important to me and get myself registered. My credit card is a little tired.

The first order of business was to sign up for the Disney Half Marathon 2011. Mike wants to do the Goofy Challenge again and it fills up quickly. With my heart set on running the NYC Marathon 2010, doing the full marathon at Disney two months later is not feasible for me. Running the half marathon will give me some motivation through the holidays. After running half of the marathon in 2009 and not getting a medal, the Donald Duck Medal will be a welcome reward. I still have getting that Mickey Medal on my to-do list, but it’s going to have to wait until 2012 or later.

Next, I did some homework and found a replacement for my now-full June Triathlon as well as a sprint tri for July. For June, I signed up for the Lake Waconia Triathlon on June 27th. With a .5 mile swim, 20 mile bike, and 4 mile run it is longer than a typical sprint race. It will be good incentive to get the tri training in early in the season. I’ve been in the pool a little bit, but I haven’t had any time on the bike. I better load it up on the trainer and get going.

The other races on my list are either not open for registration yet or I’ve already signed up. I can’t believe it’s only mid-January and I’ve already had to figure out what races I’m committed to. I’m sure I’ll add some smaller road races along the way. I had wanted to try another Olympic distance triathlon this summer, but with training for a fall marathon I’m going to hold off. If everything is going well and I can sneak one in, then I will. For right now, though, I want to leave my schedule light enough to concentrate on getting the miles in for the marathon.

Besides freaking out about my race schedule during the weekend, Mike and I did get in some lovely skiing as well as a beautiful snowshoe hike. Here I am with our friend Cyndi on our last day of skiing. Cyndi just ran the Disney Half Marathon which was her first half marathon. Yeah, Cyndi! I’m hoping that I sufficiently nagged her into doing it again next year.

This is Mike and I at the start of our snowshoe hike:

I took a little pit stop with Marie and Buddy. Buddy is in the middle in case you couldn’t figure it out.

It was a wonderful weekend in the mountains with a great group. Now that the holidays and our ski trip are over, it’s time to settle down and get to work to get ready for the season. The Frozen Half Marathon is still on my schedule for this weekend. The temperatures look promising but the forecast is calling for freezing rain. I don’t mind running in the cold or in snow, but I may have to draw the line at freezing rain. I’ve decided to wait until race day and make the call as to whether I’m going to go over for the race.

The Races on My Schedule List looks long over on the right side. I can’t wait to start checking them off of my list. I’m hoping to meet up with a lot of friends along the way and have a lot of laughs and smiles. I’m sure there will be some aches and pains as well as some disappointment as well, but running has taken me on a great ride so far. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

After my last post, everyone had a lot of great race suggestions. Thank you! They all sound like so much fun, it’s hard to pick which ones to run. I have to admit that I’m kind of enjoying this pause in my schedule. Ever since I signed up for my first marathon, I’ve had at least one marathon on my schedule. This is the first time in over 2 years that I haven’t been registered for a race. Once a big race is on the calendar, it eliminates so many other choices. Having just about every race as a possibility makes for fun daydreaming.

Even if I don’t get into NYC Marathon 2010, I’ve made up my mind that I will do a fall marathon in 2010. Besides planning races between now and then, I have a few things I need to work on to get ready for marathon training next summer. Here are the big ones:

1. Strength training. I’m already strength training a couple times a week, but I need to train more specifically to my needs as a runner. My hope is that stronger legs in the spring will decrease the likelihood of injury next summer.

2. Improved flexibility. Touching my toes is not even a remote possibility for me. I’m lucky if I can touch below my knees. My stride is abnormally short and my back gets unbearably tight after a run. I’ve been practicing yoga once a week for the last 6 weeks and, although it’s embarrassing, I think it’s helping. I’ve also enlisted the help of a professional for some ART work and I am spending a lot of time each day stretching. Hopefully, devotion to becoming more flexible will keep injury and back pain away.
3. Better nutrition. Have I mentioned that I don’t really cook? I am capable of heating, but not really cooking. I just don’t have the patience or the know how. As a result, my whole family is not eating as nutritiously as we should. There have been many runs when I ran out of energy and I know that poor nutrition is to blame. Previous attempts to work on this area have failed miserably, so it’s going to take some solid dedication to improve.

Of course, I also want to keep swimming, training on the bike, and roller skiing/cross country skiing throughout the winter. How am I going to have time to do all of this and keep the house clean, the children cared for, the husband happy and the pets alive? I haven’t figured that part out yet!

What a crazy week this has been. I had mentioned that after the race I didn’t feel well. It turns out that the kids and I had H1N1. We had all of the symptoms including a very high fever, but we all made it through okay. The kids missed some school but didn’t have any complications. I had to go to the doctor with a sinus infection that I developed along the way. After some antibiotics I’m feeling like myself again.

This morning, I woke up and there was a dusting of snow on the ground. I couldn’t believe it! I know this is Minnesota, but come on. I had overslept and had to rush to get ready to meet a friend to run. This was my first run since the TC 10 Mile and since I had been sick, so I was excited to get back out there but also a little nervous about my energy level. I quickly threw on my twenty degree weather uniform: my trusty running tights, a technical short sleeved shirt and a quarter zip top. We ran an easy 5 miles and enjoyed the snow covering the trees still showing their fall colors. Strange! The cold air felt surprisingly wonderful and I ran just fine. While I like running in the winter, I hope fall returns for a few more weeks.

The wrapping up of my race schedule and the changing seasons has me thinking a lot about what goals I’m going to set for myself. As I mentioned, I’m going to try to get into the NYC Marathon 2010, but that is very far away. I want to roller ski and cross country ski, but I want that to compliment my running this winter, not take away from it. Usually, I lift weights twice a week but I haven’t been very consistent about that the last couple of months. I would like to work on that so that my legs are strong enough to pick up the marathon training when it is time.

All of those plans are great, but I need a race close enough that I can plan around. I think I need a half marathon on my schedule. Maybe a race in December like the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon? Doesn’t that sound like fun? Or maybe an early spring half marathon? Any suggestions?

I’m home from our two state juggernaut which included 26 hours of driving, plenty of family visiting, and way too much junk food. Finding time to write has been difficult because I also was able to fit in several workouts and now I have post workout chores to do.

Usually, I like post workout chores because they give me an excuse to sit down for a little while when I am tired. The primary chore is to download my workout from my Garmin 305 to Training Center, the software that comes with the Garmin. If you don’t have a Garmin, now is a great time to think about getting a 305. The newer models are out and the 305 is a bargain. A few weeks ago Best Buy had it on sale for $120. Amazon.com usually has a competitive price for it. Add the bike kit which gives you speed and cadence and you have the perfect workout companion. It records all of your workout data and then transfers it to the computer.

After I download my workout and either pat myself on the back for a great performance or lament the poor showing, it’s time to record the info in my log. Log? Training Center is a log in that it lists all of your workouts in date order. A simple click on the date gives you all the details including a map of the route and a heart rate and speed chart. Good enough, right? Uh, no.

A couple years ago, before I had a Garmin, I started recording my workouts on a bare bones, free workout tracking site. Less than 50 people use it and its run by a guy out of the goodness of his heart. He posts monthly and yearly running mileage totals and tracks your monthly average speed. When I started, I went back and recorded several months of previous workouts, so I have a lot of workout history on this site. When I was marathon training, it was great to be able to go back and compare runs to previous training cycles. After each workout I log my stats here so that I have a continuous record.

So, that should be plenty of data recording… for your average person. But, I am not average in this department. I started to get worried that the guy who maintains the bare bones site would get tired of it and shut it down, so I decided I better have a back up. Starting a couple months ago, I also record my workouts on Training Peaks, the free version. Is anyone using the Premium Version? The upgrade to the Premium Version is $20 a month, so I haven’t given that a try. THAT would seem excessive, as opposed to what I am doing (sarcasm). I’ve been slowly going back and uploading my old workouts to Training Peaks so that I’ll have plenty of history there. If anyone loves the Premium Version, let me know. Given my obsessive tendencies, I could be convinced to give it a try.

As you can see, since I was able to work out several times while I was on vacation, I’ve been very busy downloading, logging, and re-logging workouts. That along with washing the mountains of smelly laundry created by myself and my Ironman training husband has left me with little time for much else. I am happy with the track workout, long swim, 40 mile bike ride, strength training at the gym, and 5.5 mile hilly run I accomplished while we were gone. I’m a little sleep deprived since almost all of these occurred in the early morning hours, but I’m still thankful I got them done. If I could have only passed over the chocolate pie, hamburgers, fries, pizza and multiple servings of ice cream, I may have come home in a little better shape than I left. Instead, I am 2 pounds heavier. Thank goodness I haven’t gotten around to tracking my weight. That would be crazy!

Just like other athletes, I like to talk about this or that race. Races help give focus and motivation for training. They are the extra little push out of the bed when the weather is nasty. They are the end date of the training schedule to count back from to plan workouts. They are a yardstick to gauge efforts. Races, though, aren’t the reason why I run, bike, swim, lift, or do whatever else I choose to do each day. Staying healthy to live a full and active life is my goal, as I’m sure it is for all of us that have come to accept that there is no Olympics in our future.

Crossing the finish line is fun, but the true reward of training comes in both everyday and extra-ordinary activities. Being able to carry laundry baskets up the stairs, playing with the kids, and having the physical stamina to clean house all day and still walk the dog at night are some of the ways that I put my physical fitness to use everyday.

This week I’ve been lucky enough to do some extra-ordinary things. I’m getting some quality time with the family, and for our family that usually involves lots of outdoor fun. We’ve been mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, and riding a zip line. During the steepest steps of the climb, standing on the pedals of the mountain bike up the trail, and paddling down a long river, I was truly thankful for a fit body.

Taking in the views of beautiful mountains, paddling the river with beavers, and sighting bear tracks on the banks were all part of my race today. Sharing the journey with my smiling kids and husband is a greater reward than any race medal. This week has been a reminder for me to not get caught up in whether I beat my race goal or what place I finished. I am reminded that getting out the door for that run is more important than what what pace my watch reads at the end. I hope I have many more races like the one I had today. In the meantime, I’ll keep training for the rest of life.

Until I started marathon training in the Fall of 2007, I had never run with anyone else. I was lucky that my husband met Jenny through a run club and introduced us. She ran a few long runs with me during that training cycle for Fargo 2008. I remember that I was struggling with the higher mileage, and she told me about buckets. She said that running fitness was like a bucket with a little hole at the bottom. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to fill up the bucket the first time. Once the bucket is full, it’s about consistently filling the bucket a little at a time to compensate for the little hole at the bottom.

Before the Fargo Marathon 2009, I felt like my Running Bucket was pretty full. After the marathon, my bucket was a little low from the effort, but nothing to worry about. Shortly after, I took my Running Bucket and dumped some fitness into a Swimming Bucket and a Cycling Bucket. My running fitness helped me jump into both of these sports and enjoy them from the start. I feel strong when I am doing them, and am not struggling the way I did when I first started running.

The Running Bucket, however, has paid the price. It is very, very low. It’s pitiful. I’m still struggling to run 4 or 5 miles without walking. I was going to run 6 miles today, but needed to walk the last 2 miles. There were moments in the run today, though, that I felt like my old self. For the first time since I started the tri training, I think I’m making headway in filling the Running Bucket. My legs are feeling stronger and my quads and hip flexors are complaining less. I’m starting to feel like my body is adjusting to the increased training hours and the different activities. I’m not there yet, but I think I just need to keep at it and not give up.

The Rochester Triathlon is only 12 days away. On the one hand, I don’t think I’ll be ready for the Olympic distance in time for the race. The 6.2 mile run after the .9 mile swim and 24 mile bike is going to be a challenge. I’m predicting that I will have to walk some of the run, particularly if it is at all hot or humid on race day. But on the other hand, I know that I wouldn’t be pushing myself to get my run back together if I had just signed up for the Sprint.

For now, I’m going to try my best to fill my bucket. I don’t know long it will take until it’s brimming again, but I feel fortunate that I have the good health and time to find out.

I usually take craptastic race pictures, but this one from Fargo isn’t too bad. Since I paid good money for it, I’ve decided to get the most out of it and post it.

If you look really carefully, you’ll see that both of my feet are off the ground at the same time. The guy who took this must be a real professional, because this is a state that is rarely seen when I am running. I look happy and that’s what really counts, I guess.

Somehow, Minneapolis has skipped over Spring and we are straight into Summer. It was 80 degrees today and yesterday and it’s been very blustery. Luckily, it is still pretty cool in the mornings when I run. I got out this morning for an easy 4 miles and the weather was perfect.

My legs feel strong but there is still a lingering tiredness from the marathon and probably the new bike training. I’m keeping the running mileage pretty low for the rest of the month, just running 4 days a week and 5 miles or so at a time. Once I get acclimated to the addition of the biking and swimming, I’ll try to pick up some more miles.

I must go and obsess about the weather now.

I got a question from Virtual Runner about my training plan. I love to drone on and on about every aspect of my running, so an open invitation to talk about my training plan is like a dream come true! Let’s dive right in because I can hardly wait!

Ideally, I would be running 5 days a week. I would have one long run day followed the next day by a short recovery run. Then I would have a speed work day, a medium distance day, and another shorter run. Because I’ve had plantar fasciitis and shin splints in the last couple months, I am using a four day running schedule. For the fifth day, I am riding my bike on a trainer for 30-60 minutes. To complicate things, I do weight training three days a week and have started swimming one day a week to get ready for my summer triathlon.

So for me, I do speed work on Mondays and a medium length run on Tuesdays. On Wednesday I lift weights and try to swim afterwards (I just swam for the first time in a long time this week. I hope I can keep it up.) On Thursdays I do my long runs and on Fridays I do a recovery run and lift weights. Now that the running season is really getting going, my lifting on Fridays will probably just be core work. Saturdays I try not to do anything, and Sundays I ride the bike and lift weights.

If you are new to marathoning, Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield is a great place to start. It covers everything you need to know and has several training schedules to choose from. RunnersWorld.com also has training schedules that you can generate by putting in information such as: how hard do you want to train, how many weeks, etc. I have also used the McMillan Calculator to figure out what pace I need to be doing my speed work and goal times for races.

I’m very lucky that I have time to train while my kids are at school. My husband works full time and travels a lot with his job, yet somehow he manages to fit his training in. Sometimes it seems like all I do is keep the kids alive, the pets fed and get my training done. I have so much respect and admiration for people who train and keep their personal lives going while they work at the same time. I know I’m very lucky to be able to put a lot of focus on training at this point in my life. I’m certainly trying to enjoy it!

One of my favorite things about racing is getting the race t-shirt. Maybe after I’ve run a hundred races I won’t care about it, but right now I still love getting the race tee. I would prefer a finisher’s shirt, but I’ll pretty much take any shirt. I’m running a St. Pat’s race in a couple weeks and was checking out the pictures of the shirts from last year. Not too bad! On the registration form, you actually get to pick if you want a long or short sleeved shirt and if you want it in cotton or a technical fabric. This is my kind of race!

I know it’s not the most attractive shirt ever, but it goes with jeans in the winter and khaki shorts in the spring and fall. I wore it to clean the house today and it reminded me of how proud I was to cross that finish line. Now I just need to score the perfect short sleeved shirt before summertime!