A new book, a race, and random

Something cool:
I recently discovered that a new pregnancy book focused on fitness will be released soon! Kristina wrote this gem, and you can find it here on Amazon. I'm so excited for Kristina! And also excited that there will be a newer good book that tackles pregnancy and fitness. I ran through both of my pregnancies. With Kaylee, my first, I was nervous about running and basically stuck to about 35 miles a week of running (even though my doctor said it was fine to keep doing what I had always been doing). I also used the elliptical machine and stationary bike. With Emily, my second, I found "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy", which made me feel so much better about running while being pregnant. During that pregnancy, I averaged 45-55 miles a week, and ran 8 miles the day that I wound up giving birth. "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy" is a decade old though, and I've been wondering when a newer book would be written. And, well, here it is, "Fit & Healthy Pregnancy"!

Hearing about this new book got me thinking about being pregnant and running while pregnant. It would be great if we could get a whole slew of non-pregnant people to read a book like this. The important people around me supported me while I was pregnant and running, but there were still many people who felt the need to make comments insinuating that I was being irresponsible by running. You know, the old: "Is that safe for the baby?" The comment that clearly indicates that they believe it is not, in fact, safe for the baby. The sassy me always wanted to say something snide, but usually I stuck with something like, "Well, my doctor tells me it's safe, so I think it's probably fine..." And then I would be furious for the rest of the day. Those people really need to read this book! Right!? Anyway, you should really check it out, and spread the word!

I have a race this weekend:
Maybe two weeks ago I randomly decided to register for the Derry Boston Prep 16 miler, which is this upcoming Sunday. I am ever so slightly nervous. Like just a tiny bit...It is a notoriously challenging course, run in notoriously difficult conditions. But whatever, I've already registered...

Okay, I'm being a little dramatic. But when you read race reports entitled "practicing death one hill at a time" you start to wonder what you've gotten yourself into. The truth is though, I need this race. I've been running almost all my runs on the treadmill, which I believe helps keep this injury prone runner, injury free, but the fact is the treadmill isn't the same as the road. Since I will be running Boston in April, this race will give me a good idea how well my training is going. I have no idea what to expect for a pace, but I'm planning to find Raelyn and let her teach me a thing or two about the course. I met her on the start line of BayState. She ran about two minutes faster than me at BayState, and she's won Derry in the past, so I'm pretty sure she knows what she's doing. That's my race plan. Stick with Raelyn...There's not much else to say about that. The last two weeks I've run 70 miles (per week). I've had some good workouts, but I'm a bit tired. This week would have been a back off week regardless of the race, so that's good. I hope to run 55-60 miles (including the race).

Random:
I think my kids are fairly normal, but from time to time we find them running around pretending and yelling about the oddest things. Kaylee has (on more than one occasion) run around yelling that she's "hunting". Around Thanksgiving she was constantly pretending to "hunt" for turkeys. She even built a turkey trap with Nana. It was so weird, because we don't hunt or know anyone that does. We do eat turkey though, and we have wild turkeys in our yard all the time, so maybe that's where she gets it from. Yesterday she was pretending to hunt deer...When you add Emily to the mix, things really start getting crazy. We have this soft castle that includes a little princess, knight, and dragon doll. The other day Emily pointed out the knight and said "that's me, that's Emily". She pointed at the princess doll and said, "that's Kaylee", which is sort of funny because when they play "rescue" Emily is always "saving" Kaylee. Anyway, Kaylee heard her and  furiously yelled "I'm not a princess, I'm a bounty hunter!" Just for the record, the bounty hunter thing is a Star Wars reference. Kaylee has seen the original Star Wars Trilogy (once), and has several Star Wars books. But still, it was funny and odd to hear her yell it out like that. Of course, five minutes later they were fighting over who gets to wear mommy's powder blue scarf, so it's not all hunting, knights, and bounty hunters, but you know, they do keep it interesting. So I'm wondering if anyone else's kids pretend crazy stuff?

Where did my baby go!

One of my little ladies just had another birthday. And, wow, it is shocking how big she is now. She is this whole little package of a big person. Sure, sure, you're thinking I make absolutely no sense, but it's perfectly clear in my mind how she's a big little person, or wait, maybe she's a little big person...okay, maybe it's not so clear in my mind. I do know, however, that she was once a baby (not so very long ago), but in a few short weeks she'll be going to Kindergarten. And that, my friends, is just crazy! If I blink my eyes, I might just find that I have a teenager on my hands. Though, it seems to me, that Kaylee already has some teenager traits, but that's a story for another day.

Anyway, It's approximately 9.5 weeks until the big marathon, which is sort of cool because now I'm in the single digits of how many weeks of training are left. And when one really thinks about it, it's actually only 6.5 weeks because there's that whole tapering thing that happens. So yeah, things are looking promising. Last week I ran 64 miles, which was the plan. This week I'll be aiming for 71-73 miles depending on how the three hour long run goes on Sunday. Having to run the long runs slow drives me crazy in a way, but it's also nice (sort of). With warm humid weather, hilly loops, and my massive increase in mileage having permission to run slower for the long run is nice. It would be nicer, however, if there was someone else to run with (which I'm sure is a hope/dream/desire most runners have). I find the long run to be especially boring when run slow and with no company.

Overall, though, training is coming along. I might be adjusting to the mileage increase. (Key word, might.) Some days are definitely better than others. My 5K speed has definitely left me for the time being. Intervals that I could run a few months ago, I can't run now. (Like I would fly off the treadmill and into the wall if I tried.) But, and this is crucial, the tempo paces that I've been maintaining I couldn't do a few months ago. So, something is definitely changing, and change can be good...

Annoying Headlines

One of my Facebook friends posted this article "One of the Worst Forms of Exercise There Is." And I thought to myself, hmmm, what could this be about? To my utter shock, the article is about long distance running. Seriously, did you know that long distance running was one of the worst forms of exercise there is (eyes rolling)? Besides shocked, I'm irritated. The title of the article and knowing that it's about long distance running makes me not even want to read it. Of course, I might not be the most objective person given that I enjoy long distance running, but really, the author couldn't think of a less antagonistic title? The article provides link after link to studies stating that running can cause heart damage, and then goes on to suggest much better forms of exercise that only need to be done twice a week for 20 minutes. I can't think of anything that I could do for only 20 minutes twice a week that could keep me as fit as I am now. I could envision exercising for the same duration of time as I do now, but doing something other than running (maybe).

What seems to have spurned this article was a recent study entitled "Exercise-induced right ventricular dysfunction and structural remodelling in endurance athletes." For the record, this article title seems very reasonable to me, but a whole slew of news articles have been written based on the study. Some of the titles include: "Running Marathons Could Cause Heart Damage", "Running marathons could permanently damage the heart", and "Running Marathons May Cause Permeant Heart Damage." What's interesting to note, however, is that the study includes only 40 athletes (so it's a small study to begin with) and not all of those athletes were runners. Cyclers and triathletes were also included. Also, the athletes were "elite". Several of the articles above state that the duration of the events included in the study ranged from 3 hours to 11 hours, but it's odd because elite marathoners run faster than 3 hours...

Maybe I'm just being difficult because I run marathons, but I feel as though those news articles aren't necessarily representative of the study they are reporting on. What do you think? Do you think running is damaging your heart? Are these news articles a fair representation of the study? Is long distance running the worst exercise there is?

In other news, wrenches are still flying around here. Have you watched Dodge Ball? "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball." Sound advice. I need to learn that skill. Little miss Kaylee was sick yet again last week, but she's getting better. Yay! I did run a great 14 miler, and hit 45 miles for the week. I'm also thinking about running a 5K on super bowl Sunday...

Reflections & Resolutions & Photos

Reflections:

2011 was a good running year. When the year began my littlest baby was only 4 months old and an awful sleeper, but somehow I managed to run over 2,000 miles for the year, one half marathon, two full marathons, and three 5ks. Although I was happy with all my race times (which can be found on the right), there's only one race that I actually felt good while I was running. The turkey trot, which wasn't my fastest 5k for the year, but was definitely the best I felt for any race. I blame my tiny tykes for my lack luster feelings on race days. When do kids let their parents sleep anyway?

My best performance was, surprisingly, in the 5k (18:52). I've never believed that the 5k was my best distance, but maybe it is. I don't know. I guess we'll see what happens in the other distances in 2012. Speaking of 2012, I don't really have any new year's resolutions. I don't even have specific goals. I'm finding that training with a loose set of goals is working better for me.

I do whatever training I feel like (within reason), then a week before my race I look at my training logs, the race predictor calculators, and determine what pace I should be able to run. Training by feel is less pressure for me. Selecting a time goal in advance is so much more stressful. There's pressure to run certain paces in training regardless of how one feels, which for me is a recipe for disaster. And less enjoyable overall.

Resolutions:

Okay, so my running resolution for 2012 will be to go with what works (and to have fun). Oh, maybe I should also resolve to blog more, like at least once a week. Yes, I will blog at least once a week in 2012. (Believe it or not, I actually go back through my blog posts sometimes when my training notes and memory are a bit spotty.)

The racing schedule for 2012 is in flux. I have two half marathons planned, but everything else is undecided. Besides those two races, I'm sure I'll run a marathon and a few 5ks. I just haven't decided which to run.

Do you train by feel or with specific times goals? Is your race calendar decided?

Photos:

My fastest race of the year! If you really want to you can purchase photos from Capstone Photography

So much trouble, but so much cuteness in one package!

Me & my little ladies

Speaking of little ladies...

Shoe surgery and other stuff

Before I get into performing surgery on my lovely sneaks, let me just say happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm feeling thankful the family is healthy (and that I'm injury free)!

I'm excited to run my turkey trot, mostly because my parents will be running, and it's just a great way to start the day. Does anyone else think that turkey trots are becoming a Thanksgiving tradition (almost like watching football)? Given that there are almost 1,000 people signed up for this race that was approximately 400 people a few years ago...I'm thinking turkey trots are becoming a tradition...


Moving on to shoe surgery. I bought these Saucony Kinvaras about a month before my marathon in October. I'm not going to do a shoe review, but if you like to read well written shoe reviews I would suggest runblogger. He loves shoes and consequently writes excellent reviews.

Anyway, I bought the Kinvaras, and absolutely loved them. Like the best running shoe ever. They just feel right. Unfortunately, after a measly 150 miles (three weeks), the left shoe started giving me a blister on my heel. When I got in there and checked things out, I noticed a piece of plastic was poking into my heel. I was furious! 150 miles, seriously that's ridiculous. I had to go back to my Nike frees for the marathon. A few weeks later, I dusted off the Kinvaras and figured I might as well try to fix them. I couldn't run in them as they were anyway. So I went at that left shoe with a pair of sharp scissors and didn't stop until I had cut out approximately one half inch of plastic. Then Macgyver style, I duct taped that bad boy. I've been running in them for three weeks now and they seem fine.


Now for a couple random notes. Here's a picture of some of my runner buddies at work. Every year we do a really easy run together before Thanksgiving. Then we eat pie. Personally, I enjoy the run more than the pie. The slice pecan I ate just gave me an upset stomach. Anyway, they're a fun bunch. There's a guy in there who's a three time Ironman. Three others who have run in the 3:20 range for the marathon. I'm the only one in long pants. It was only 45 ish degrees and we ran slow, so I'm sticking with my pants decision.

And for my last random note...on Saturday I did a two mile time trial in 12:00. I hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving!

One good workout to go with one horrific week

Saturday morning before the snow started (last week), I ran 10 x 400 meters all in 1:26 with one minute jogs between intervals. It was a good workout for me, and I was glad to get in before we lost power that night.

We lost power for three days, which was actually less time than many others in our area. We stayed in the house for two nights, but I opted to take the kids to my parents the third night. (Thank you mom and dad!) It was just getting cold (48 degrees). Losing power in general isn't that big a deal, but we lost all the food in the fridge and came home to find ice cream had melted through the freezer onto the floor and under the fridge. Also, power was out everywhere. That means no gas was available and no stores were open. That was probably the scariest part. Seeing all the stores and gas stations dark.

Power came back and the next morning Kaylee started vomiting. She couldn't keep any fluids down. I called the doctor's office and brought her in. They thought she looked fine and sent us home. I called back a few hours later and they agreed we should take her to the ER. This was stressful for me. Nick stayed with Emily, and I took Kaylee into Boston. We waited over four hours to see a doctor. I was soaked in vomit. Kaylee was exhausted. They gave her an anti nausea drug and IV fluids. Her blood work indicated that she was bad enough to admit to the hospital.

They let us go home the next afternoon, just in time for Emily to have a bad case of croup for the night. The next morning I took her to the doctor's office and she was given a steroid shot.

Everyone in the house is sick and grouchy, but we're doing fine. Hopefully the kids will start feeling better soon. I could write more, but don't have time (and it would probably just sound like whining anyway). It was a crazy week. I'm feeling drained and looking forward to getting back into a routine. I had been planning on running a 5K this past Sunday, but for obvious reasons I was unable to do so. There's another 5K that I might try to run this weekend. We'll see.

How was your week? I hope it was better than mine. ;)

A refrigerator full of peaches

My refrigerator is packed full of peaches. Seriously. Peaches. Well, there's a huge bag of apples too. Nick told me the peaches make his mouth tingle. Since I rarely bake (and never peel things), it look likes I'll be eating four peaches a day for several weeks. We went peach picking on Friday and bought the "big" box for picking. The box looked smaller in the wide open space that was the peach orchard. I'm fairly certain it doubled in size by the time we got it home. It's a magic peach box that doesn't fit into the fridge... None of this has anything to do with running, but peach picking was cool.

Running is going well too. I think. This whole training cycle is about making me feel strong again, and bringing the fun back. That translates into running whatever I feel like, and not concentrating on a time goal. I'm not completely crazy though, I do have loose goals regarding long runs, marathon pace runs, and trying to keep my weekly mileage at a reasonable level. This past week I ran 53 miles. I'll probably peak at 55-60 miles (depending on how I feel). The one more stringent goal I've made for myself recently is to consistently do push ups, ab exercises, strength stuff for my knees, foam rolling, using "the stick", and icing whatever feels tight. I am making a real effort to avoid becoming injured. We'll see how that goes...

I had a great long run this weekend with AM. We did 22 miles at 7:48 pace. Because AM is faster than me, I prepared for the run almost like it was race. I cut my caffeine consumption by 1/2 all week. I went to bed early on Wednesday and Thursday. I ran most of my miles earlier in the week, and took rest days on both Thursday and Friday. I felt reasonably good the whole run, and felt great at the end. Running with AM makes long runs so much easier! And I don't know if it was the caffeinated Roctane or what, but I felt great the rest of the day too. We went to Boston, walked around for a couple hours, and saw a random break dancing street performance. Cool beans.

I ran a recovery run on Sunday, which went fine. By Sunday night though, I was feeling tired. And today, my legs feel trashed. That's fine. I'll take it easy until my legs no longer feel trashed. Problem solved.

In other news, my two little ladies recently had birthdays. Kaylee turned 4 and Emily 1! They're doing well and keep me busy. Yes, I am blaming them for my lack of blogging. I still read everyone's blogs on my phone, I'm just struggling to find time to post...okay, I'm off to eat some peaches. Happy trails!

Me and my little ladies

Screaming Chicken

Nick calls me Katie Kaboom sometimes. He tells me that I'm crazy and that my craziness reminds him of a cartoon character called Katie Kaboom. The way he describes it: Ms Kaboom is a loveable sweet character, but then she gets angry and turns into this super crazy chic. Then he showed me a clip, and admitted I'm not really like her, but that I can go from sweet to crazy chic in mere nanoseconds. I love it when Nick tells me this stuff. I like to ask him random weird questions and see what he throws back at me. I asked him once, "What type of car do you see me driving? Let's assume money isn't an issue." His response, "Why do you ask me these questions? I don't know...probably a screaming chicken." I was all, seriously, a chicken car? I almost went Kaboom, but then he explained what a screaming chicken was, and I was impressed with the uniqueness of his answer. Now I want to drive a firebird...

In other news, I've registered for the BayState Marathon in October. I have no idea what my goals will be. Right now I just want to build a base and feel strong again. I'm going to give myself 5 weeks to build my mileage, then I'll figure out what I should be doing pace wise.