Am I going to hunt prey? Run a 50 miler? BQ?

No, none of that.  Well, not yet (the 50 miler is next year's goal).  I'm not going to suddenly become competitive in my age group, train for a sub-4 marathon, run blistering track workouts or wear a running skirt (I don't know what THAT has to do with anything).

What the hell do I need a coach for?

I've been asking myself the same question ever since I originally had the idea, about 6 months ago.  I certainly don't need a coach.  I'm not a talented runner.  No matter what I do, how hard I try, I think the best I can ever be is mediocre.  I've been running now for 5 years; it's not rocket science.  We're made to do this.  Put one foot in front of the other.  If you want to run fast, run faster; run long, run longer.  Eat well.  Drink consistently.  Prepare to get your poop on.  Change your shoes regularly.  Wear good socks.  Don't increase distance by more than 10% a week, or distane and tempo together.  Run regularly.  Wrap your toes in duct tape to prevent blisters.  Tuck and roll.  Take rest days.  Cross train. Listen to your body.  Keep moving forward.  If you just want to go running, really, I think this is all you really need to know.  It's all I know, and it's served me just fine.  I run road, I run trails, I run mountains, I run flats, I run 5ks and marathons and ultras, I run in sunlight and darkness and have run (mostly) pain free, and recover quickly when injured.   I've read a ton about running and have it dialed in -- I know what works for me.

So, what the hell do I need a coach for?

Well, I don't need a coach.  But I want one.

Why?

Well, what if?  What if I ran consistently, and followed a training plan?  What if I didn't roll back over and go to bed when I didn't want to go for a run?  What if I ran paying attention to pace?  What if I run at a pace that's uncomfortable for me?  What if I hit my target milage?  What if I'm accountable to someone other than myself?  What if I really have a good base of fitness?  What if I toe the line of a race and know that I have adequately trained for it, instead of doing just enough to get by?  What if I stop calling myself a loser?  What if I expect more of myself?

What am I capable of?


?


For three months, I'm going to try to find out.  I need help doing so.  After three months, I very well almost certainly may go back to my just-get-by lazy ol' ways, because hey! it's worked for me so far, and I think it's pretty awesome that I'm a runner at all.  But for three months I just want to see what I can do.  My goal is simply to be consistent, and serious, about running.  That's it.  No massive changes, no I'm gonna run sub-10 miles, no crazy track workouts.  Just be steady, and challenge myself a little.  Within that consistency, challenge and dedication, what am I capable of?

?

Stay tuned.

So here's a couple things you may or may not know about me.  I'm so very much not a natural athlete.  I did not start running (or really doing much at all, fitness-wise) until the year I turned 40.  I was not a total couch potato, but I couldn't have run a mile if you held a gun to my head (not EVEN if you said there were jalapeno potato chips and cokes at the finish).  Yeah.  I started running because I got a bee in my bonnet about doing triathlons.  I was all, Let's see how long this idea lasts!  None of it came quick or easy.   I started the C25K program in January, 2007 and remember staring at my watch, counting down the seconds, dying for the :90  run portion to be over.  I could barely run for 90 seconds.  The first time I ran for 20 minutes without stopping (something like 3 months later, man it took me a long time to get there!) is one of the most memorable moments in my running memory.  I did a couple of triathlons and then, typical for me, I lost interest.  

But the running thing, somehow, stayed with me.  

At times I ran a little, at times I ran a little more.  A few years passed and I find myself running a marathon.  And then some more.  During this entire time, I don't really pay much attention to my pace.  Or my schedule.  Or the amount of miles I run a week.  Or any of that stuff.  The only reason I pay any attention at all is because I'm obsessed with my Garmin and the way it keeps track of all my nice crunchy numbers and it effortlessly puts it all into a pretty calendar that I can look at and marvel, Wow, I RAN ALL THAT SHIT!  Plus I had some sort of training schedule to reach the marathon distance, a schedule I followed a little more than half of.  Three years ago it took me 1 hour to run 5 miles (on the road, on a good day, minus all of the pee, tie my shoes, look at the grass moments), it takes me the same amount today.  I'm happy with that.  It's nice and round and makes long runs easy to calculate.  It's a nice easy pace.  Sure I've run a marathon, which I was about three-quarters trained for.  Sure, I did an ultra, which I was maybe a little more than half prepared for.  I'm a lazy runner.  I lack discipline.  When all you folks are forcing yourself out of bed first thing in the morning, talking yourselves into going out for that 7 mile tempo run in the rain and earning well-deserved accolades for your ballsyness and commitment to yourself, your body and your sport, I'm rolling over and never even waking up.  And that's fine by me.  Different strokes.  And different speeds.  I have no athletic ability whatsoever and am probably made up entirely of (really, really) slow-twitch fibers.  I have come in DFL in at least 5 races, and deep, deep in the back of the pack in the all others.  Happily, I truly couldn't care less (except maybe it would be nice to finish earlier, you know, when there's still food available. Or people there.  But that's all).  Basically, I am the slowest, most undisciplined, laid-back and unconcerned runner I've ever heard of, with a little asterisk there signifying that, ok, she does run long distances.  Other than that, bleehhh, really, I suck.  I run because it zones out my brain and lets me eat a lot of food without getting fat(ter), I race because that gives me (some) inspiration to run, I keep track of my pace because I'm a little gadget freak.  I'm slow, I'm lazy, and I just don't care all that much.  

So, guess what I did?  I went out and got myself an honest-to-goodness running coach!  Oh yes indeedy, I've signed up for a couple of months of coaching from none other than SUAR.

Why Beth?  Because I personally think she's just awesomeness personified, a totally inspiring and talented runner, she's an actual coach who's as funny as they come and can probably dish out the appropriate can -- and brand -- of whipass that I need, she shits in trees, leaps massive hurdles, runs with freakin' Dean whatshisname, AND she GUARANTEED me that after three months of following her training plan I would have arms and abs just like hers!!*

*She didn't.  I won't.  But wouldn't that be awesome?

Why a coach?  for, ME?  And what do I hope to accomplish?  and , yeah, um, WHY? That'll have to wait for the next post, because I've got dinner plans and Pam's comment from the last post made my laugh like crazy in the yoga parking lot and I hate to think of her dying because of my lack of follow through.  

Is this thing on?

Ahem, yes, hello there.  I'm back.

There has been so much stuff going on!  Let's get up to date, shall we?

Guess what?  It's been snowing in Tahoe!  Endless sunny days for six weeks, lovely but not the best for a ski town, sunny sunny then this week? Snow. A shitton!  Like, something like 6 feet(!!) in three or four days. It stopped snowing, finally, sometime Saturday.  So. Much. Snow.  Shovel shovel, snowblow, ski in powder up to my chest, my chest you guys!, shovel shovel, snowblow, repeat repeat repeat.  What a week!

Our front door.  It's there, somewhere.
(from the railing in the distance, the ground is about 12 feet down)

The view from the sliders to the side deck.

Guess what?  I've been running.  Running running.  5 miles at a stretch.  A couple times a week.  Painlessly.  I have not had knee pain in weeks and weeks, and today was Officially Discharged from PT.  I'm back!  I'm ready!  I'm running!  And I have some really wacky news in the running department, something one really wouldn't expect from me, totally out of character, something that really rocks my socks.  Something you can read about in the next post.  

Meanwhile, I've also been trying to master (in my feeble, feeble way) skate skiing.  I'm starting to get the hang of it, just a little bit, and hopefully will not implode when I debut my skills at the Great Ski Race 30K on March 5.  It'll be an adventure!

Guess what?  Remember my henna party?  I got totally inspired (in a very different way than Tom did, but that's besides the point) and decided right then and there that this was something I needed to learn more about.  So I got myself some henna and a couple of weeks ago I did this on Tom's shoulder:

And I thought, hey! This is cool!  And I read some more and got some more stuff and learned a little bit more about the whole technique and last night I tried out all of my new skills on myself.  Here's me with the henna paste still on my skin (it took about an hour to apply):

I taped it all up for safekeeping, then 10 hours later removed the tape and the paste and here's my dyed skin:

It should get darker over the next 24 hours, and lasts a couple of weeks?  We'll see.  I'm really intrigued by this henna thing . . . I think I'm going to henna everyone in reach!

Progress!!!

I ran (well, ran/walked) for 45"! on a treadmill! before PT today, and then went right up for my appointment.  PT Joe says . . . I am recovering very, very well!  I ran mostly pain-free, with just a little achey-ness in the joint and a touch behind the knee, but none of that ouchy! oh shit! ITB pain.  The ache represents lingering inflammation and is to be expected.  Considering I skied (downhill) for a couple hours this morning, then the run on top of it, Joe says I am doing wonderfully well.  He then proceeded to rub and ice and rub the knee some more for like half an hour.  Oh, how I love PT . . .

He's given me a become-a-runner-again schedule, one that I am totally psyched about: run/walk intervals of 3" x 45" three times a week for two weeks (being really sure to ice afterwards, and stretch the quads in the middle), and if I remain mostly pain free, then drop the walking.  Then see him again.

So what this really means is, if all goes well, by mid-February I should be running/no walking and then can get back to base-building or milage building or whatever I want, don't look back, oboy I might be a running runner again in just a couple of weeks!  WHOPPEE!

(I sooooo feel like I have really dodged a bullet here, I read of other folks that struggle for months and months with the same injury, and here I am looking at getting back in real action in just a couple more weeks.  I know I shouldn't be counting my chickens yet, but I really feel like I am over the hump with this and I'm just very, very pleased.)

100 Pushups . . . omy, this makes me laugh . . .

. . . at myself, for sure.  I've never really been able to do a pushup (a chinup is waaay out of the question).  I'm not sure why, because I have these huuuge broad shoulders that once (ok, 20 years ago) could row a little boat a long long way.  I guess the issue lays with my arms, which are puny and a little on the flabby side, and with my determination, which is sadly lacking.  I get down to the ground ok, and then when I start to push UP, I make it about 2 inches and then whooosh! my form collapses and I'm kissing the floor.  This is a basic truth.

"Waaah!  I can't do a pushup!  Pushups are haaaaard!  Pushups are for dudes, or really fit people, not normal(questionable) people like me.  You'd have to be craaaazy to want to do pushups.  Only obsessive people do that.  There's something wrong with them."

This is pretty much the way I feel about pushups.  Swap "pushups" for "running" and that could've been a direct quote from me say, five years ago.  Now I can run a marathon, and even further.

So when I read this post by Cyndi, I thought SUUURE! why not! sheesh, I had to start running one day didn't I, why can't I start this? and thought about it and downloaded the app for it and planned on starting it and then, in true ME fashion, promptly pushed it from my mind and forgot all about it.

And then.  Cyndi called me on it, said she had already completed Week 1 and how was I doing?  Um, whoops, I was kinda hoping YOU forgot about it, too.

But I do well when called on my behavior, and today I manned up and started the program.  Well, I did the initial test, which is to see how many "good form" pushups you're capable of.  Me?  A big fat "0".  So, it's "girlie" pushups for me, those ones with your knees bent and ankles crossed -- this supposedly takes up 50% of the weight.  In the initial test I did 5 of these with good form, count 'em, 5!  According to the program, this gives me a ranking of "1".   I suppose I should be happy to rank 1 in anything . . . (yeah, there's 7.  7 isn't worse than 1.)  At least I can do the knee-type; there is a modification that has you standing next to a wall and pushing off that, if you can't do any other type.  So I'm not that bad.

I figure I'll do the full 6 week course, doing the knee pushups the whole way, and then perhaps I'll gain enough strength to do "real" pushups -- then I'll repeat it again, the "proper" way.

I'll try to stay honest!

Anyone want to join us?

2011, Let's Do This!

So today I've been putting some thought into what 2011 might look like, race-wise.  It's a little hard to do this, to even think about me running, since I haven't really run since December.  I know, however, that this will soon be changing AND I know that, unless I have some damn goals, I'll just languish around, running little runs whenever I feel like it and not a bit more, and I'll end up fat and out of shape by May. Taking into consideration the fact that I probably won't be running without some kind of limits  until March, here's what I've come up with.  


DEFINITE:
March 5  Great Ski Race
This oughta be real interesting.  A 30K XC ski race that's a local classic.  Hopefully I can ski by then, otherwise DFL here I come. 
April 2 Pardee Party
This is a 25K bicycle road "race" that's really just an excuse to get back in touch -- after the winter season -- with Tom's mt. bike peeps and have a party and listen to live music and sleep in the truck and get on with Spring.  Tom and I will be on the tandem.
April 16 Cycle for Sight
See above paragraph, but maybe we'll do the 50K.
June 4-5 Reno-Tahoe Odyssey Adventure Relay
My "A" race, so far.  I'll be on a team of 10 women, and will have 3 legs of the 178 mile route.  Everyone says this is just the best thing ever, and I'm really looking forward to trying a new race experience.  I know ONE woman on the team.  


So what follows is just speculation.  I really have no idea yet, "after June" is just so far off.  I've picked these races based solely on location; they're all pretty damn close to home.  I've decided that anything over the 13.1 distance should be on trails (I've kinda had it with roads, and they with me).  I know I want to do 2 50Ks this year -- I want to get nice and comfy with that distance.  I know I fill in the calendar as time draws closer.  I can't race whenever I want, 'cause I work every other weekend.  I am COMPLETELY open to suggestion, if any of you know of any other "can't be missed" races that are in the west, please leave a comment.  And, here's a question, are there ANY (trail) 50Ks that don't have huge (>4,000ft) elevation gains?  I'm still just a little hung up about hills, I know I have to (and will) get over it, but still.  Anyone?


POSSIBLE: 
April 30: Parkway Half Marathon, Sacramento-ish
This is on a bicycle path, and reasonably (I assume) flat.  I might, just might, try to PR this distance (2:21 or something).  A girl's gotta dream . . . 
July 23: Golden Gate Trail Run (5k, Half, 30k, Full Mary, 50K), Marin Headlands
Who knows which distance?  Probably the 50K.  Advantage: I could train on some of these trails.  Disadvantage: Lots of elevation gain, over 5,000 feet.  Get OVER this, you-wanna-call-yourself-an-ultrarunner, Bootchez!  
Sometime in October: Goblin Valley 50K, Green River, Utah
Funderson suggested this.  I can't find a date, so I don't know about the work-conflict thing.  If it falls on an off-weekend, I'm almost certainly up for it.  If it doesn't -- as I'm afraid of, based on last year's date -- I might still do it.  I'm already taking time off for the relay race, so what's another week?  And it would be fun to actually do a race WITH someone.  
October 1: Gold Country 34M/21M/25K/8 Mile Run, Auburn
Very close to home, all of those distances, what's not to love?
October 15: Rock'n River 50 Mile & Trail Marathon, Auburn
Definitely the marathon distance (50 miles = so far off!).  Might be a can't miss date, if the Utah thing doesn't pan out.  Difficult, on lots of Western States trails, would be a challenge!
Nov 12: Folsom Trail Runs 50K/25K/7M
Again, a few distances to choose from, close to home.  
Probably some kind of Death Valley/Ridgecrest/Southern California thing in December
Because I always do something like that in December.  This year, I might just stage my OWN little race . . . 


That's it.  Subject to change.  Open to suggestion.  Ready to kick ass.  Prepared for DFL.  

Gettin' my ski on!

So my running has been limited to little flurries of 3 minutes running followed by 3 minutes walking.  Repeat.  Do this every now and then.  This does not a blog post make, even considering I'm trying to ice (hah!) and stretch (Hah! Hah!) around the run.  And do 1/2 hour of PT every other day.  Suffice is to say, Yay ME! I can run for 3 whole minutes and it's easy!  There was a time, not so long ago, where running for 3 minutes (in a row!) was beyond my scope, so I'm being happy with 3 minutes.  Plus, my knee has NOT hurt at all, I have not had to brace it to get through my 12 hour shifts, it does not "feel funny".  More things to be pleased about, if an uninteresting procession of events.  

So, not much on the running front.  I'm a lazy ol' gal, prone to bed suck, couch potato-ness, and spending lots of time watching reality TV, web surfing and reading mindless novels.  Have I been passing the winter doing all of the above?  Yes!!  Is that all I've been doing?  Surprisingly (hey, I have a medical condition!!) , the answer is NO!!

Why?

Because I live here:

That, in the distance, is Lake Tahoe, and there is just sooo much stuff to do around here.  Downhill skiing I take for granted, and don't even blog about because, Tahoe, duh! and I can actually muster up some little skill at the task, so I can't even really make fun of myself.  Well, I suppose I could, but SOMETHING's got to remain sacred, and I guess for this blog it's the downhill.  Unless I do something ridiculously ridiculous, and really it's only a matter of time for that, but as a day-to-day thing, just assume I ski often.  I do.  (Tonight Tom and I are almost certainly going night-skiing, which I haven't done since I was learning how to ski, back in New England, back 15 years ago and OMG I'm getting old!)

Then there's yoga.  I'm kinda failing a little at my 2-classes-a-week minimum! goal, having a number of 1-class weeks.  Assume I try to go as often as possible.  Assume I fail.  Assume, when I DO go, I'm the one falling over.  Still.  My PT guy laughs at me, very nicely and very appropriately,  but laughs at me and my inability to stand on one leg.  I also find this quite humorous.

So, my latest and greatest obsession these days is skate skiing.  I'm starting to get up to 10-15 mile weeks, which probably isn't all that different than what I would be running at this time of year.  This milage WILL be increasing.  I know you all wanted a video of my attempts and I was all set to comply, but you know what?  This is so weird for me to say, but I'm actually starting to get the hang of it and I think the window for laughing at my ineptness might have closed!  For reals!  I mean, I'm still a waaay beginner and my technique has much MUCH room for improvement, but the hilarity of watching me fall from a standing, not-moving position for no apparent reason might just have to be saved for every-day life (yes, it happens, I also fall UP the stairs -- and into boxes - I'm looking at YOU, funderson!) ) instead of with skis on my feet.  I'm no gazelle (as IF), but I'm learning the glide balance glide balance glide don't forget the arms! thing, and feel as though I'm making huge improvements every time I go out. Eventually, time-wise, I can even picture myself making it into the below-average rankings (as opposed to, Did she come skiing today? Have YOU seen her?).  I'm even going to do the Great Ski Race in March, which is a notorious 30K (and lots of elevation change) race from Tahoe City to just about my back yard.  30K seems a long, loong way for me right now, but I figure Hey! It's like 2 months away and that's an eternity and why not?  I'm sure I'll have PLENTY of reasons why not when the race is a week away, but for now I'm all, I'm signing up, why not you? and being all ballsy and badass about something I'm just learning how to do.  Humble pie will be a dish served later.

I did get a taste of it yesterday, though, as Tom and Debbie and I did 10 freaking miles yesterday! And our "moving time"? 1:33:52, which is a 9:33 pace and that's waaay faster than I can ever run, so I'm feeling like a rockstar!  I'm sure if I compared times with other skateskiers I'd probably feel more like a high school band member than a rockstar, but I'll be the one to chose the comparison, thankyouverymch, and a 9:33 pace!  Wow!

The humble part?  It was wicked hard, and required lots of rest stops, especially at the tops of the little hills mountains we climbed.  And at every hut we came across.

Here's me and Debbie, who's also just learning, and OMG she's at my pace! which is something that never ever happens and makes me feel righteous!  I think, in this photo, that's a boob grab that's happening, and well, that's all there is about that.

Here's Tom (and Debbie, very fondly referred to as his other girlfriend), who's also just learning, and could wipe both me and Deb off the fking map with the speeds he's already putting down.  Studly bastard.  Hate!!

ps Have I told you what an awesome boyfriend I have?  Last night he pampered me to the nth degree, and this morning took me out for breakfast.  For no special reason.  Love!!!


PPS.  Yeti!  I did not know you read this thing!  HI!  When are you coming back??  I have a plate of golumpki with your name on it (tho by now you might actually be tired of golumpki, in which case, Burgers! Meatloaf!  Some kind of tasteless American food!  Frozen lettuce!  Whatever you want!)!