Bring on 2010

2009 was a good year filled with a few races and a lot of great training but I feel ready to start focusing on 2010 and the training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June. Sure I have been training but it is a bit more relaxed and nothing to long yet. Kainoa has been sure to let me know that starting in Jan I don't get to be as relaxed about my training... Not totally sure what that means but to be honest I can't wait. I am looking forward to double training days, long rides, runs, lots of Gu and recovery drinks and even the swims. I feel happy with where my fitness is right now and feel like after the last couple of years I will be able to not just get through the training but be able to push myself a bit more. Not to mention after a year of not having any major focus I am looking forward to having a challenge/Ironman to work towards again.

Since I'm a planner type of person I have been thinking a lot about what else I want to do this coming year both in preparation for IM CDA and after. But to be honest I have not really decided on any races. I do know that I will do two training camps in Coeur d'Alene, the 1st with a friend Michael at the end of April and then a 2nd camp with Pauole Sport team at the end of May. I really like the idea of spending plenty of time getting to know the course and taking advantage of being only about a 4 hour drive away.

As far as races I want to find a relatively flat half marathon between Feb and April.. I would prefer local but Kainoa doesn't want me to run the Mercer Island half because the road is so canted and I got hurt running the course this summer. Sam is trying to talk me into the Country Music Half Marathon but it is just a week before one of the training camps I am doing and not sure I want to travel that far. I also just looked at the Wenatchee Half Marathon which is a week earlier in April so that might be a good option. But I am still looking and open to any suggestions.

I also want to run a couple small 5k, 10k, or maybe even a sprint tri just for fun and for mental training more than anything to get used to race nerves ect. But that will probably be it before CDA - no official half ironman distance race but I talked to Kainoa and she is not worried.. I will just do one in training (maybe I can talk Kyle into pushing/pacing me).

After IM CDA I plan on pretty much taking July off - maybe do Seafair Sprint again since it is a team race but not much more than that. I would like to do a half Ironman in August or even better in September and then a marathon in the fall/winter. Though I have also been toying around with the idea of some long trail running but it all depends on how my legs hold up with the running - lately I keep having issues so we will just see.

Now I just have to figure out what we are doing for New Years Eve tomorrow night...

12K's of Christmas Holiday Run

I had decided to do 12K's of Christmas Holiday Run a couple of months ago when my Mom started asking what runs she could do to stay motivated.. I knew it was hilly but that was about all I knew. So my Mom & I signed up for the 12k and Kyle and Sam signed up for the 5k to race against each other for bragging rights...

The race did not start till 9:30a so I got to sleep in till 7a and we met up at my Mom's office around 8:30a so that there was plenty of time to warm up and use the restroom ect.

Kyle, Sam and I headed out on a warm up run along the water front. I could tell my legs did not feel fast and even more annoying my shoes felt slippery on the wet pavement (worst thing ever on a hilly course). I immediately got to hot with my gloves on and then realized I was wearing way to much - I did not need a vest and wished I had wore shorts instead of capris. Of course as soon as we finished the warm up run it started raining and got a bit colder so I decided to put my vest back on... It was pleasantly surprised I saw a bunch of people from the team and other friends all of which I did not know would be there.

I lined up and Col & Bman found me then Cathleen. Almost as soon as the race started I could tell my legs were not interested in racing and they all ran away from me up the hill. Within the first 5 min or so I was over heating and could not take a deep breath at all. Sooo I slowed down and tried to take a deep breath but I really struggled. Saying that I looked at my garmin and I had run a 7:59 mile - just a little faster than I had wanted esp with a hill.

Needless to say I was SO happy when I saw Jerry around the 2nd mile so I tossed my vest and wished I could have tossed my capris as well.
The rest of the 12k's I mainly focused on just getting done. My legs and lungs did not feel right. I struggled even on the downhills to pick up my leg speed - which was not helped by the slippery shoes. My pace slowed on the long uphill climb and I just tried to manage it. I started pouring water on my head to help with over heating and at the one water station I grabbed 2 cups of water and dumped them on my head. I think the volunteers were a bit shocked but I was so hot.

I remember looking at my garmin again at the 6k mark and it said :31 and realized that Kyle & Sam were long done and I was so jealous. I tried my best to push the pace a bit on the last 3k back to the finish but it was just not happening. As i came into the finish I heard Kyle and Sam cheering and gave them the disappointed face... but I was so happy to just be done so I could try and breath.

The final stats
gun time: 1:03:39
chip time: 1:03:28
pace: 8:31
overall place: 324 out of 1180
division place: 21 out of 146
gender place: 127 out of 744

splits per mile
1 07:59
2 7:49
3 9:15
4 9:08
5 8:09
6 8:37
7 8:34
last .47 3:55

Avg Heart Rate 181 bpm
Max Heart Rate 189 bpm (mile 3 & finish)

Elevation profile



After I finished I found out that Sam beat Kyle in the 5k by about :40 seconds. Saying that they were both crazy fast. Sam came in 7th overall and Kyle was 10th overall. My guess is that this will not be the last time they race each other... lol

A little while later we watched my Mom finish the 12k's - she finished in 1:20:11 - faster than she expected :) I am so proud of her for sticking with the running thing. I know she is more excited about Belly Dancing but I love that she runs.

Overall I am fine with my time but very disappointed with how my body felt on the run - yes I understand it is a race and a hilly one at that but still my legs should not have felt heavy and so slow. I am hoping that I get some answers about the breathing issues on Wed when I go see a doctor (made the appointment last month). I will also be looking at what I am eating and when ect.

It still was a great way to celebrate the holidays with friends and family :)

A month of active recovery

I can't believe that it has been well over a month since the Nike Marathon and I know I still have not finished writing the race report - just have had a hard time focusing on it long enough to finish the thing. The time has flewn by with the help of lots of craziness at work and the days being so short already.

After finishing the marathon I have mostly just focused on getting back into a training routine. I talked to Kainoa about the rest of the winter month and what I should focus on ect. My biggest thing was I did not want to just do a race to finish (I just did that) if I race I want to be able to push myself and race. I considered signing up for another marathon but she and Jake (my PT) pretty much pulled a veto on me. Ok so no marathon and there was not really time to recover and train up for a even a fast seattle half marathon. so no major races.Saying that but I did sign up for the 12ks of Christmas just for fun. It is a hilly course and not till mid december so I have some more time. Kyle is going to run the 5k and race Sam and my Mom is going to do the 12ks as well (I love that she is hooked on running now "evil laugh"). So it should be a fun.

I am mostly back to normal-ish training levels of 2-3 days swim, 2 -3 days of strength , 2 bikes, and finally I get to go back to running 3 days a week. I was only running twice a week just to make sure my shin would not have any more issues and it has not :) so 3 days a week hear I come.

It has been good to have a bunch of team events to get out in the rainy/cold weather and get in the longer weekend workouts.

Team Trail Run a couple weeks ago.


Group ride in the rain _ kyle was leading and was almost completely clean while the rest of us were covered in dirt lol


Less hard-core but still fun - Group spin while watching Ironman videos. Some how I managed to make it the full 1:30 though I got really unfocused an hour in...


I have also been thinking a lot about what other races I want to do in 2010... Right now it sounds like some run races to start, Wildflower half ironman, IM CDA of course, maybe Ironman Boulder, or something else in August and some local sprints. Mostly my focus is what it will take for me to be prepared for IM CDA. I feel good and ready to start the training but Kainoa does not want me to burn out sooo the rest of Nov and Dec will be mellow and relaxed and in Jan will start to get a bit more focused but nothing to long or intense yet ;)

If you went to starbucks.com a couple of weeks ago you would have a seen a video about how much Kyle and I like Starbucks Via. The funny part was that Kyle talked way more then I did but they would up using more of me - guess it helps to work with them. Anyway I guess it is my 5 seconds of fame.

Pre Nike Women's Marathon 2009

I have started this post a couple times but never got very far.. 1st it was to wait to get some pictures to post, then I was tired or just not motivated which usually means I'm not really sure how I feel about my "race" so have not had much to say. I went in with my plan of not really racing it after taking almost a full month off, having a cold and upset stomach the week before that mostly just focused on finishing and enjoying the weekend. Not really what I envisioned the event when I signed up. Anyway the fun stuff...

We flew in to San Francisco early Saturday morning. Kyle and my Mom are both are not morning people so it was a bit of a stretch for them but we got through it and they got lots of coffee and Kyle took a nap on the plane. We took the BART into downtown and after dropping our bags at the hotel we headed straight to the registration to grab our bibs ect.
Then we were off to the nike store to get a sweatshirt of something before they sold out. The place was a total zoo but i was happy that they still had small sizes left.
We also did the custom shirts made that said "run like a girl! Linda & MacBeth" on the back. They are very cute and the shirts they put it on are very soft. We also found our names on the list of participants they put on the windows of the nike store.. good thing they were alphabetical.

Since I would not be "racing" the marathon I wanted a running skirt to wear so I would feel less like I was supposed to be racing. I knew Lululemon had one I wanted but the lame store near me at home had no sizes so I wanted to go to the store in SF in hope they would have one. Of course they did :) and in the process introduced my Mom to lulu hehe. Jerry was a sweetheart and got her a pair of running tights and a pair of gloves for her birthday.

At this point we completely burned both Kyle and Jerry out on all things Nike Women's marathon lol. So we decided to go in search of lunch. The guys both wanted fish and chips so we headed on foot to teh waterfront only to figure out that we needed to walk 2 miles to get to fishermans warf... But it was sunny and warm out, I had my running shoes on so my feet were good, we got to see Alcatraz Island along the way and best of all found a place for Kyle to rent a bike so he could get around the course better. Honestly by the time we got there I was getting a bit cranky from hunger and being on my feet so long... so we quickly picked a place and since I really wanted to sit down for a bit we sat inside vs buying fish and chips on the street.

After lunch Kyle headed off to rent the bike and my Mom, Jerry and I walked a much shorter route back towards the hotel. Only isn San Fran would you see such a nerdy tour as a segway tour - seriously cracked me up..

Once we made it back to the hotel I put my feet up and slowly started gathering together what I needed for the marathon. I decided not to wear my team kit at all and just went with the lulu run skirt, sugoi fizz tank so that everything felt like training and not racing for me.
I was not very hungry the rest of the night so I wound up having frozen yogurt for dinner which was perfectly yummy. I had one last talk with my coach over my plan and how I was feeling ect and then I think I fell asleep around 8:30 or 9pm which is even early for me but after the early morning flight and walking around I was tired.

the plan

A couple days ago I started packing for this weekends Nike Womens Marathon and I almost felt lost. It was so weird I am out of the habit of planning or prepping for long runs since my right leg started having issues. So after pretty much talking my coach Kainoa, my PT Jake and my Orthopedic Dr Marla Kaufman that I could be trusted to be smart and not push myself to much and just take it easy but still run/finish the marathon. I will enjoy the course, the scenic views, all the stuff nike has put on the course to entertain. I'm especially looking forward to the Ghiradelli chocolate station at mile 21. Mostly I will just plain play it by ear. If after running easy the first 13 miles I feel good then I can pick up the effort a bit. The main goal is to keep my shin from hurting by walking but if it starts and it hurts enough I will stop. I will not continue to run and risk hurting myself more. I would really like to beat my time from the last time I did this marathon in 2007 in 4:45 but if not no big deal there are many many more marathons in my future.

With that understanding I have been working on my plan for the race. After talking to everyone I had to get used to the idea that to do this it would be a run/walk kind of thing. Ok no big deal I did that in Ironman Canada. Though I know from experience that the Newtons actually hurt my feet to walk more than a couple minutes. So my solution was to order a pair of the Lady Isaac Guidance Trainers which still have the raised lugs but not as much and also has a built up heel so it is less weird to walk.. They are heavier but oh well I think they will be a good compromise.

Next I started making a pile on the dinning table of anything I could think of. Garmin + heart rate strap, lots of Gu 1 or every 4 miles, body glide, visor, gatorade for morning of, race belt. I considered a hand bottle but in the end decided against it to force myself to walk the water stations and thus making everyone happy with walk breaks. Next up arm warmers for the morning. After talking to Jake I decided to run in my compression socks- figure why not I am a dorky tri nerd anyway might as well look the part. A few other snacks for pre race and some salt & sport legs.

I updated my iPod playlist for base runs to be a tad more peppy but not as intense as my race playlist. I did put both playlists on my iPod shuffle but will start with the base list and only switch to race for the last 10k if I feel good and want some motivation to pick up the pace :)

I decided to travel light and leave my laptop at home but I always have my iPhone so I will still be be on twitter and facebook... even considering carrying my phone with me just in case but at the same time I'm not really interested in dealing with how to carry it.

Next up I get to just enjoy the weekend in SF with my Mom who is running her 1st half marathon on her 60th birthday, her sherpa Jerry and my very own personal super sherpa Kyle :)

I think I am as ready as I'm going to be... 26.2 miles here I come :)