January running and veg-evangelism

January 22, 2010

While I am kind of just running right now with no near term race goal, my running strategy loosely follows a typical training plan for a half marathon – about 4 days of running including a long weekend run of 8-12 miles, an interval run and a couple of tempo/easy runs.  I don’t have a race scheduled but I am sure I will find something that I want to run soon – at least I will be ready for anything up to a half marathon distance, right?  I am relatively injury – free (knock on wood) with the exception of some pain in my hip – particularly on downhills.  I’ve logged about 30 miles on my new pink kicks that I got just last week

The Seattle Rock n’ Roll Marathon is on June 26, 2010 and I’ve been debating the full vs. the half.  I ran the half marathon last year. This debate is a blog post in and of itself…

 

 (concerns: several out and backs and hills in the 2nd half)

 On the food front, veganism gets easier and easier especially with articles like these popping up in the news regularly: 

I do have to remind myself that there is a fine line between being a vegan and an activist.  I think many veg/vegans want to share what they learn about the meat industry, the factory farming abuses, the health issues, the humanity issues etc.. etc… easily becoming an activist or vegevangelist as I’ve come to identify myself on occasion.    But many people simple don’t want to know: “don’t tell me,  “I don’t want to know…”   And on some level, I guess I can relate to the sentiment.  After all, didn’t I run around as a cheese loving vegetarian for the last 20 years – living happily in the dark about the realities of the quality and health risks of milk/dairy and horrific abuses of dairy cows and their little babies? 

 It’s hard, however, to “not know” these days.  The media reports, bloggers like Erik Marcus with his popular and informative blog: http://www.vegan.com/,  best selling books like Jonathan Safran Foer’s  “Eating Animals” all report the realities of the meat, dairy and egg industries and all through mainstream media outlets.   These are the pros, the people I will quote or point to their links for all things vegan…. and that will be the extent of my vege- evangelism.  Unless of course, you do want to know – then I would love to share thoughts, ideas, concerns and recipes!

To be honest, evangelism in general has never been a favorite thing of mine and despite my passionate views on animal factory farming methods, if you dont’ want to know, then you don’t want to know and it makes me uncomfortable to be the one that others might point at and whisper “why that sanctimonious vegan __________!”    

 

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2009

January 2, 2010

As I begin 2010 with a sore hip (compliments of running an icy race in Washington Park in some ragged out shoes), I am reflecting on 2009.  I am going to borrow my friend Julie’s format to reminisce on a few of my 2009 milestones, memories and runs.  

 

January

  • began another year, my first full year as a stay-at-home mom to my three kids and our brand new puppy
  • completed Sophia’s choice application for 4th grade at School in the Woods, submitted with fingers crossed
  • decided to start keeping a log of my running miles

 race: Chevron Houston Half Marathon, result: 1:58:36  date: 01/18/2009

 February

  • eagerly began training for my first full marathon…running all the time

 March

  • celebrated my 39th birthday in Las Vegas with my husband
  • Enjoyed a relaxing spring break stay-cation with the kids
  • Daniel begins track season
  • Began to have first doubts about running a full marathon

race: Runnin’ of the Green, Denver, CO (7 km) , result: 36:01  date: 3/15/2009

April

  • my daughter celebrated her 9th birthday and her choice application for SITW was selected
  • I refocused, continued training through regular weekend snow storms

May

  • completed my first marathon, the Colorado Marathon. The 42K was not all I hoped but I finished.
  • Andrew celebrates his 12th birthday and we all look forward to summer break

race: Colorado Marathon, Ft Collins, CO (26.2 mi) ,  result: 4:30:25  date: 5/03/2009

race:  Bolder Boulder, Boulder, CO (10 km) ,  result:   54:36 date: 5/25/2009

 June

  • started this blog
  • all three kids began swim season – swimming through some cold mornings
  • my parents came to visit from Houston, TX
  • headed out to Seattle at the end of the month for a half marathon and vacation.

race: Seattle Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon,  result: 1:53:30 date: 6/27/2009

July

  • Mark celebrated 44th birthday in Seattle.  Fireworks on Lake Union.
  • Headed home for kids to finish swim season
  • Maintained my mojo during a long vacation
  • Celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary
  • PR 10K

race:  Classic 10K Colorado Springs ,    result: 51:30  date:  7/25/2009 (PR)

August

  • my eldest child celebrates his 14th birthday and begins high school.  This more than any event of 2009 made me feel my age!
  • Sophia started her exciting year at School in the Woods
  • Depeche Mode – my first concert at Red Rocks
  • Boys begin an cross country season

September

  • spontaneous weekend in San Diego with my husband – a very relaxing trip to the beach
  • Sophia spends the night away – SITW for her first overnight, sleeping under the stars
  • Participated in the American Discovery Trail Marathon Relay
  • family runs the 4th Annual ThunderStorm 5K except  Daniel who competed in a cross country meet the same morning.

race: American Discovery Trail Marathon Relay (leg 3 = 6.75 miles) ,  result: 59:11  date: 9/07/2009

race: Discovery Canyon Campus Thunderstorm, COS (5 km),  results 25:30 date: 9/19/2009 (PR)

 October

  • impressed to watch the boys improve their performance/times in their respective cross country meets
  • decided to run Vegas (the half)
  • Oktoberfest run

race: 10K Oktoberfest, Denver, CO, result 53:23 date 9/27/2009

November

  • I complete 1000 miles for the year
  • happy month as my sister and her family come to visit us for Thanksgiving
  • we all run the Briargate Turkey Trot together
  • ready for Vegas

race: Briargate YMCA Turkey Trot, COS,  result:   26:38 date: 11/26/2009

December

race: Las Vegas Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon,   result: 1:51:56 date: 12/06/2009

race: 25th Anniversary Resolution, Denver, CO (5k) ,  result: 27:28 date 12/31/2009 (very icy conditions)

2009, almost 1200 miles, 180 + hours…

happy new year.  2010 is going to be a good one!

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Las Vegas Race Report

December 9, 2009

vegas1“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” can’t apply to my experience in the Las Vegas Rock n’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon.  This Vegas extravaganza was just too fun not to share.  I won’t bore you with the details of my ups and downs with the roulette wheel but here’s my race report for Vegas.

Mark and I arrived in Vegas late Friday night to very chilly temps.  I had touched based with weather.com and expected it to be cold – but damn, it was cold!  For some reason Vegas cold just felt colder than Colorado cold – although some of the lesser dressed ladies roaming the strip seemed to be immune ;-) .  We checked in at the New York, New York and turned in since it was after midnight already.  Saturday we spent a good deal of time at the Expo.  It was a big Expo with lots of goodies – my favorite.  A quick shout out to the folks at the Mix 1 booth for hooking me and Mark up with a full serving of the blueberry vanilla drink … being vegetarian in Vegas is a challenge and the unexpected, familiar Mix 1 for breakfast was awesome.

We were fortunate enough to meet up with some friends from LA who also ran the race and we all had a nice vegan lunch at a nearby Whole Foods.  Afterwards, Mark and I relaxed for a bit, got our gear ready for the next day and later we went out to dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant called Ferraros.  I can’t thank Julie enough for setting this up – I enjoyed the best homemade pasta and a lovely glass of wine.  It was a perfect pre-race night.

We arranged for room service coffee for 4:30 a.m. the next morning…the coffee arrived right as we were waking up – ahhh.  We had purchased some more Mix 1 shakes, bagels and coconut water from Whole Foods and we fueled up and headed out the door for the short walk to the start area at Mandalay Bay.  It was quite a sight, hundreds of runners heading out into the dark, cold.  Over 27,000 runners from all 50 states and 39 countries participated in this race! The strip was shut down in both directions.  And of course Vegas style - tigers, showgirls, fireworks … the atmosphere was unlike any other race.  Mark and I checked our gear, hit the port penthouses (that’s what they are called in Vegas) and squeezed into our start area, corral 5 with minutes to spare for the 6:15 a.m. start time.  As the sun rose over the strip, thousands of runners began their journey 13.1 or 26.2 miles.. it was truly awesome.

I ran with Mark for the first half of the race.  For some reason, even though we started in an earlier corral, we still had to navigate a lot of runners with a slower pace.  Usually this breaks up after a few miles but in Vegas we were still trying to pass and dodge people around mile 7 and that was frustrating.  Around this time, I lost Mark and fell a bit behind.  My muscles were screaming at this point too – quads and hip flexors.  I guess from running on pavement (rather than the trail).  

Running down the strip was such a unique, fun experience. I had forgotten my Garmin so I was trying to figure out my pace based on clock time at each mile marker… Mark says the Garmin didn’t work so well anyway because of the buildings along the course.  I warmed up and ditched a layer and my gloves after mile 7– but I regretted it big time coming back up the strip – miles 7, 8, 9 are a freezing blur to me.  At one point, I thought I was approaching mile mark 9 only to be thrilled when I saw that I was approaching mile 10 instead – benefit of forgetting my watch.  I got a boost from that and felt great that last 3.1 miles.  I approached the finish just as the clock time was hitting 2 hours.  So at that point I knew I had come in under 2 hours and probably better than my Houston time at the very least.  I found Mark who’d finished in 1:49:02 according to his Garmin and he told me he’d only finished a few minutes ago.  I started to have some hope for a PR – but really, I had no clue.  I texted my sister who looked up our finish times online.  She texts back: Mark: 1:49:01 and a +4 minute typo for my time… I was disappointed until she called me to ask me what my problem was since I had finished in 1:51:56!!   PR!   It was a great feeling.  We tried valiantly to enjoy our free beer and hang out but we were too cold – it was still in the 30s when we finished and with our teeth chattering, we headed back to hotel for hot showers.  I am so glad we did Vegas! 

vegas2

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Thanksgiving holiday is over, next: Vegas

November 29, 2009

I can’t believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone.  The dishes are done; the house cleaned up… my sisters and their families gone back to their homes, their routines.   We had a great time this year.  My family is an active one – we pumped, we went to spin class, yoga and ran the 2009 Briargate YMCA Turkey Trot.  I didn’t run my best 5K by any stretch, finishing with a 26:38 time according to my Garmin but still managed to come in 7th in my age group.  It is a pretty hilly course.

 

 tt2009

(Poor Daniel had to sit this on out..stress fracture)

Also, this year we celebrated our first completely vegetarian Thanksgiving.  In years past, we’ve had the traditional turkey for the hubbies and kiddos but we collectively decided to go veg this year.  I made a valiant effort to go all the way vegan but we did have some cheese on our vegetarian shepherds pie and our pumpkin pies were baked with what we hope are cruelty-free eggs from Nest Fresh.   Judging from the lack of leftovers, our feast was quite a success for adults and kids alike.

The Las Vegas Rock n’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon is a week from today.  I don’t have a great expectation for a PR on this one.  Seattle was a great race for me this year and despite my speed workouts, I am sort of stuck at 8:30-9 min as my best pace right now.  It’s kind of discouraging but when I think back on my year of running, it is an improvement.  Early this year, breaking the 9 minute pace was monumental for me … anyway, we’ll see how Vegas goes… no matter what, it’s going to be a great time!

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Born To Run

November 17, 2009

 BTRAfter spending weeks, actually months on the hold list at the local library for Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, I finally headed out to Borders with my 40% off coupon and bought it.  I figured if this book generates a months long wait list at the library, it must be worth it – and it was …and more. 

There are so many book reviews for Born to Run and I don’t have anything profound to add to the words of praise already written about this book.  I can only say that I was at times incredulous, more often inspired, awed and impressed by this story.  I fell in love with the Tarahumara, their will, their joy for running and life. 

The journey begins with the author, Christopher McDougall’s quest to run free of constant foot pain attributed to running.  McDougall, despite more than one contradictory diagnosis from doctors (including a prescription to ditch his running shoes and pick up a bike) doesn’t give up; instead he begins a journey to find the key to running without injury.

What follows is an incredible story, unbelievable characters including a barefoot runner named Ted, a couple of hard-partying ultra runners and a self-exiled, gringo Tarahumara, and amazing races in the most extreme conditions.  McDougall argues that until the advent of the modern running age with its vast array of gel-supported stability shoes, humans ran free of pain.  He discovers and learns first hand about the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico who run hundreds of miles in little more than bare feet (thin rubber soled sandals).  These super athletes run through the treacherous Copper Canyons with out pain and with what can only be described as joy. From here McDougall’s journey takes us through ultra marathons (I thoroughly enjoyed paging through the story of the Leadville 100… an ultra marathon right in my backyard), the concept of barefoot running, primarily vegan diets and finally, the ultimate race in the Copper Canyons.

Even though I will never even come close to being an ultra runner or super athlete, somehow reading this book made me feel like a runner… whether you are a runner or not, check out this book – it’s inspiring.

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I love my junk miles

November 10, 2009

I recently celebrated the fact that I’ve run 1000 miles so far in 2009.  I reached this milestone in large part while training for various races.  Tempo runs, intervals, long runs etc… and often, I just ran – laced up and hit the road – logging a lot of what I recently recognized as junk miles. 

Junk Mile – [juhngk mahyl] - noun – a run at an easy pace inserted into a program in order to reach a weekly or monthly mileage total rather than for any specific benefit.

More loosely defined, junk miles are miles that are logged without a specific purpose. Many trainers and training programs disparage these miles and there are some really good training programs out there that prepare athletes to run marathons while running as little as 3 days a week – speed work out, pace and longer run for example.  By all accounts, these training plans help runners stay injury free and there are many testimonials of PR marathons using these methods.  Clearly these athletes benefit from eliminating the junk miles from their training diets. 

When I trained for my marathon in May, I used Hal Higdon’s novice plan.  I ran about 4 times a week, cheated by cross training on rest days and went from an average of 19 miles a week to about 40 miles during my peak training.  Arguably, some of these miles could’ve been considered junk.  It was my first full marathon, so I have nothing to compare it with, but I ran a pretty good race that could’ve been better with a little planning (food, hotel etc) but the training was without fault – I was prepared.  Marathon: Race Report.   

The reality for me is that I am a recreational runner who participates in races. I often run for the enjoyment of it – logging a bunch of junk.  I like junk miles – lacing up, running with no purpose other than stress relief, relaxation and the achievement of miles logged.  I guess I am a junky.

junk

today’s run was more tempo than junk :-)

When I finally decide to run another full marathon, I will research some of these other plans and alternatives.  In the meantime, I will indulge in my junk miles.  Not all plans considered these miles to be totally worthless. In fact, the guru behind the training plans that I use, Hal Higdon, believes that that these miles may have an overlooked value: Junk Miles, by Hal Higdon

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Posted by Keeprunningirl

1000

November 5, 2009

milesI just finished a 5 miler on a gorgeous, November day here in Colorado.   While the city reaches record setting high temperatures on this faux summer day, I am reaching my own sort of personal record.   I just logged my run and I’ve hit a 1000 + miles so far in 2009… almost 153 hours and a thousand miles… the distance from here to the closest ocean.   I could’ve run to the ocean :-) 

I know, this is just another number in the games I play with myself … but I feel a little victory in achieving this milestone (pun intended).    I have learned so much over the miles.  I had good days and some pretty bad ones.  There were times when I thought I may be done all together but I kept running.    I raced:  5Ks, a few 10Ks, even a 7K and of course the half marathons and the one full 26.2.  I trashed several pairs of running shoes, learned the hard way what not to eat before a long run and discovered the joys of ice massage.  I learned the jargon, joining the society.  I googled running blogs and discovered a community of runners online.  I am in awe of what people can accomplish.  It’s inspiring. 

Today for me is a good day to reflect on how far I have come and contemplate how much further I will go.  1000!

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A good week and an Oktoberfest race report

October 2, 2009

fallMaybe it’s because winter went away, and fall arrived.  Or perhaps Monday’s self pep talk put a spring in my step … either way, I’ve had a pretty good week.  It helped that the weather in Colorado has been delightful all week – some days warmer, some cooler but all sunny and nice!  Week started with a Sunday Oktoberfest  10K run in Denver in the Larimer Square area. 

(it’s fall in my front yard)

My mini race report on this one:

 This race had more participants than I expected with over 650 finishers between the 5K/10K races – the races started at the same time.  I was happy that the run was chip-timed because it took me over a minute to cross the start.  There were also a variety of participants that made the early part of the race a bit of a challenge to navigate – in particular the kids on scooters… after about the first ½ mile, I was running obstacle free :-) .  The weather was nice, a bit on the hot side.  The course was interesting – mainly flat with one rather long hill toward the end.  Not a PR 10K for me, but I wasn’t really expecting it.  Good time nonetheless: 53:23 with a pace of 8:37.  29th out of all female runners (221 total) – I didn’t see an age group break down.  My Garmin tells me I ran 6.28 miles giving me closer to an 8:30 pace – but whatevs, it was a good time.   We also met up with some great old friends and caught up over a beer.  And post – race, I received an email from the organizers telling me that I have won a beer stein (raffle-thing) – sweet!  shirt

I had some lovely Colorado running days this week.  I ran under sunny skies and hot temps early in the week only to be rewarded with cooler (wind chill in the 20s-30s-style) weather later in the week.  Over 31 lovely miles logged this week without sacrificing too much of my cross training! October is going to bring all kinds of variety … and I know I need to break out the snowy running gear soon!

cool race shirt (back)

 

Be the change you wish to see in the world – Mahatma Gandhi

2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948

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Year of running and I’m not done yet…but what do I do?

September 25, 2009

It’s been a good year of running for me.   A few 5Ks, a few 10Ks… even a 7K and of course a couple of half marathons and one full distance.  850 + miles logged so far for 2009.  Several pairs of running shoes, discoveries of new fuel, sports massages and lots of lessons learned.   

mix1

found the shoes and fuel for me

I know I will run another marathon someday.  I really would like to take the lessons learned from the Colorado Marathon and try again.  I’ve been running, cross training, lifting weights, going to yoga and keeping my marathon thoughts on the backburner.   That is until several runners from the club where I work out decided to go out to Las Vegas on December 6th to run the inaugural Las Vegas Rock n’ Roll Marathon/Half Marathon.  Many are running the half marathon and two are participating in the full marathon.  In fact I saw these two amazingly athletic women (Julie and Mandy) running down Northgate just this morning… and watching them, I was conflicted.  Part of me would love to join them… the race is in 11 weeks and I think that would be plenty of time to train considering the year of running that I have had.   My goal would be to simply finish it without having to take any ‘breaks’ ;-) hopefully resulting in some kind of PR whatever that may be.

 medal

crossing the finish line and receiving this medal was amazing

But a big part of me is not sure I have the commitment in me just now.  The early mornings, snowy runs, aches and pains… the sheer time that training for a full marathon takes.  Also, it hasn’t been that long and the memories of how I felt post-race are still pretty vivid.  I was so broken for several weeks… unable to run more than 3-4 pain-free miles at a time for quite a while.  I think it would be fair to say that it took me over a month to feel 100% again.  If running a marathon is like childbirth, then perhaps it is too soon. I told myself I would run another full marathon next year – 2010 … the year I will celebrate my 40th trip around the sun.   But I found myself getting caught up in the excitement of so many cool running women heading to Vegas for a race and fun … someone asked me today why I don’t just go and run the half… ironically that didn’t really occur to me until today.  I guess I was just thinking, well hell if I am going all the way out there, I may as well run the full.  The half distance is doable without too much extra training by just keeping up my current routine. I kinda wish there was a 20 mile option!

But you know, it doesn’t always have to be all or nothing….and there is always room for improvement on my half and that is something I really need to keep in mind as I come to a final decision. 

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It’s a Family Affair

September 20, 2009

Last year was fun.  My family ran several 5K distance races maintaining a friendly level of competition.   We’d all finish within a few seconds of each other and keep up that rivalry – joking about beating one another the next time.  I encouraged my kids to keep running – all good times…. Those times are over, I no longer have any hopes of crossing the finish line before my two boys and I am sure in another year or two the same will be true for my daughter…. I love it! 

Here are some pictures from the 4th Annual ThunderStorm 5K & Fun Run at Discovery Canyon Campus.  We’ve participated in this race since the inaugural run and really enjoy the course, the camaraderie, and the post run pancakes.  This year, we ran without Daniel because he was participating in a high school cross country meet (but all Mods were running that morning :-)

 3_3_40823:24 (2nd in age group)

3_3_44624:51 (5th in age group)

3_3_45725:30 (2nd in age group)

3_3_84842:14

(3rd in age group)

Not pictured: Mod #1: Dan Modisette, 23 minute 5K at his cross country meet at Cottonwood Park.

 update: bit grainy, but a picture of Daniel finishing strong at his meet:

Dan

(thanks Uncle J)

 

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