Aww Nuts

Exercise:  An easy 4 miler with the Little Man

This week has been a little nuts in our house. Music Man has a ridiculous deadline he's trying to meet and has been a little stressed, Little Man continues to wake up at all hours of the night, and I'm just trying to hold it all together. I feel like once Music Man finishes his project everything else might fall into place. But we also have a ton of events to attend and host this week so we're just busy, busy, busy.

Actually, all of August has been nuts with trips, visitors, events, lack of sleep and general exhaustion. I'm hoping September will flow a little more smoothly. I doubt it with school starting and Music Man possibly traveling again, but a girl can hope ;)

There are a few races I had in my sights for September but I'm not sure if that's realistic. I know I could complete the PacificCoast Triathlon but I'm not sure I'd enjoy it with how tired I've been. And having fun is a non negotiable requirement. I'm thinking a late fall or early marathon might be a good idea so I need to do some research and find one that won't be too huge or a logistical nightmare. Anyone know of a good one? Malibu? Long Beach? Maybe Long Beach is too soon... Santa Clarita? I need a gooooooaaaaaalllllll!!!!!

Every Little Bit

Exercise: in the middle of a 4.5 mile run. Park play intermission

Last night was another rough, sleepless night. Little Man woke up at midnight and when I got out of bed I realized Music Man was still at work. It's always a little disconcerting to wake up that way and although Little Man went back to sleep immediately, I could not. I was up until Music Man got home and didn't get back to sleep until nearly 2. Early workout plans were shot.

Over two years now I've been a mom and I still find planning workouts and training difficult. I rarely skip a session because I enjoy working out but every day is a lesson in adapting and accepting :) But like yesterday, I've learned that some days 15 minutes is all I can get in and at least I tried. I also try to add in some extra activity like walks or family bike rides on those days. Every little bit counts.

Interestingly, I think the days of not being able to plan a workout may be coming to an end soon; or will become fewer and far between. No, I don't anticipate Little Man to suddenly sleep better (he's never slept) or that we'll win the lottery and get a maid and nanny :). No, Little Man starts preschool a week from today! Only 2 days a week to start, but that is 3 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get things done!

With those 2 days I really hope to maximize my alone time. I hope to get a workout in, work on some home projects and maybe get a pedicure or a haircut every now and then. And it will be great for him too! Hopefully all the playing and stimulation will wear him out and maybe he'll sleep better after all!

OK. Back to park time. Have a great Tuesday!

Quality Problems

Exercise: 15 minute bike ride

My legs are still a little sore from Saturday but I thought a short road ride might be beneficial to get things stretched and moving again. I also hadn't been on my road bike for a few weeks and was really craving it. The weather was beautiful and even on the chilly side so it was an awesome way to start. That's where the good news ends. Ha, I'm actually trying to make it sound dramatic when it wasn't really at all.

The ride was nice, just shortened to 4 miles when I got a flat. I probably could have fixed it myself but had to be back in 30 minutes so I called Music Man to get me. Of course there was crazy traffic and it took him almost that amount of time to get to me...4 miles away...gotta love LA traffic!

The place where Music Man could easily pick me up was about 1/2 a mile from where I got my flat so I took off my cycling shoes and hoofed it to the lot. About 30 cyclists passed me (I was on a bike path) and no one asked if I was OK. I guess they thought I liked to put on all my cycling gear and walk barefoot with my bike. Can't blame them, LA is full of weirdos.

When I got to the lot where I was meeting Music Man I stopped to really investigate my flat. I'm happy to say a very handsome dude offered to patch it for me but I declined, sadly ;), since Music Man was already on his way. I got the wheel and tire off and was looking at the tube right when Music Man got there and he offered to fix it so I could finish my ride but I had already wasted so much time and I need to teach myself how to fix it so this doesn't occur again. Thank god I wasn't mountain biking!

On our way home we got stuck in more traffic and Little Man fell asleep almost instantly. He's been driving us nuts with his 4 and 5am wake ups the past few days and now his schedule is totally screwed. He ended up sleeping for only an hour, which has been the case since last week (nightmare when you have a toddler) and the day has just felt screwy. A comedy of errors :)

Now I'm just trying to keep the whole fam damily :) happy until dinner. At least I'm in good spirits and am not taking for granted how lucky I am to have these quality problems. Boo hoo, I got a flat tire. How awesome it is to have a nice bike I get to ride for leisure. Oh no, my toddler won't sleep, at least I have a healthy little guy. And an awesome husband.

Dudes, life is good.

Psych

Exercise: 3 mile walk w/ Little Man

On Friday I had myself so psyched out, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to finish the race, that I wouldn't measure up to the Bulldog. I convinced myself that maybe running wasn't my thing and maybe we should take a break. The race changed my outlook on sooooo many things; I surprised myself. I am capable.

I'm still in awe of how good I felt post race and how good I feel today. Music Man had to work yesterday so as soon as I got home from the race I was immediately on mom duty. Don't get me wrong, I was sore, but totally functional. I didn't just lay down and relax; I did dishes, vacuumed, grocery shopped and entertained the Little Man. It seems like small stuff but to me it was a testament to the fact that I trained well, raced well, and was reaping the rewards. The point is that running and I are back together :)

One of the first things I did when I woke up at 4am this morning (last of Little Man's molars, ugh) was look at all the upcoming ultras in my hood. I intend to follow through with the full Bulldog next year but might find another 50 a bit sooner or maybe I'm ready for marathon training again??? So many possibilities.

And finally, one last highlight of the weekend. Little Man has fought hats his entire life. At first it was a small battle and then became straight refusal. Until today. I just told him if he wore his hat he could play in the sand for 5 extra minutes. Kind of manipulative because he has no concept of time but he does understand more and extra :) I win! Again, it's the little things.

Have an awesome week!

Bulldog 50/50 Race Recap

Exercise: 15+ hilly, technical, cliff scaling miles at the Bulldog

Today was pretty awesome. Hands down,  Trail Run Events puts on the best races!

My alarm went off at 4:15 and I was actually well rested and ready to go. I was asleep just after 9 so I got a solid 7 hours of rest for the first time, pre race, ever. I had my Red Bull and plain bagel, no coffee or fiber pre race for me, I'll spare you the reasons ;). I got all my gear together yesterday afternoon to calm the nerves so I was ready in record time this morning. I spent a good 20 minutes just hanging out. I finally left at 5:30 to meet some ladies I was carpooling with to the race. We arrived bright and early but we got awesome parking and had plenty of time for potty breaks, bib pick up, and photo ops at the beautiful location.

The course winds around Malibu Creek State Park and it is absolutely gorgeous. Music Man took me hiking out there on one of our early dates and it was so romantic. The green shade trees, creek, and rock formations are stunning. It's also where the show M*A*S*H was filmed so there are a ton of old military vehicles out there. I love the trails I normally run but Malibu Creek is breathtaking and i can not wait to go run out there again.

source

Support on the run was so organized. There were park rangers every few miles and aid stations every 4 miles. And the aid stations had EVERYTHING. Gatorade, water, gels, orange slices, licorice, candy, cookies, salt, and someone said they saw honey buns and veggie sushi at one of the stations. Oh and first aid was there too, but somehow I finished without even a hot spot, so I never looked in their direction.

There were a few scary moments because the course was fairly technical. It was like an obstacle course at a few moments. There was the rock jumping, mountain climbing, cliff scaling and the creek crossing. I actually lost my footing at the creek and fell in but it was around mile 12 or 13 so I only had to run in soggy shoes for 2 miles. I think that's also when I started going crazy because I was thinking "this was probably what Vietnam was like". Except I was wearing shoes made for trails, technical clothes, it was about 1000 degrees cooler and 200% less humidity...Oh, and no one was trying to kill me. Yeah, so I'm a little crazy, but most runners are ;)

My outlook on this run was pretty bleak. I've been sweating my training the last few days and have been pretty cranky. But I have to say my training was pretty spot on for what I was hoping to accomplish. The official times haven't been posted yet but I did wear my Garmin and I'm pretty sure it worked. I went into this run just wanting to qualify for the 50k- sub 4 hour (this course is no joke). My realistic goal was 3:30, my happy place was 3:15 and my lofty goal was a flat 3. Garmin says.....3:11:06. Not too shabby! And I really worked my booty off for it.

What's important is that I finished happy, healthy and strong. I conserved energy by walking the hills. I used my tried and true fuel of Cytomax and Sports Beans. I had no tummy issues. And I smiled the whole time. I feel so grateful I was able to participate in this awesome event. If you're in SoCal and looking for a beautiful, character building 25 or 50k the Bulldog is awesome. Or if you feel like running some challenging trails I'm available!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Less Than 24 Hours Out

Exercise: nada, resting up for the big bad Bulldog tomorrow

Honestly, I'm totally shaking in my running shoes. I feel unprepared for this 25k and I'm so sluggish and am so afraid I'm going to be super slow. I'm afraid I'll want to quit and that its going to hurt. I'm afraid of the painful blisters and scrapes that I KNOW I will get because this is a trail race. I know I'm being a total wussy.

I wish I felt totally pumped for this race but I just don't. I have a serious case of the nerves and I really need to butch up. I know I will finish. I know I have trained; and pretty damn well at that, And I know I am making this into a way bigger deal than it is.

So I've just decided to focus on the end of the race. The part where I get to sit down and meetup with or wait for my carpooling buddies. Where I get to take a shower and drink a beer or 12 ;) By this time tomorrow I will be done and hopefully have a way better outlook than today!

Bye-Bye Moto

Exercise: 4 mile run, negative splits

Today was my first day with my new Garmin 310xt. As far as I can tell it works perfectly and so much better than the Motoactv has in the last few months.

I received the Motoactv in May as a Mother's day gift and I was so excited about the music, map, and multi sport features. Cool features, too bad they never worked correctly. My main issue was that it lost signal ALL. THE. TIME. And often in places where I KNOW there is signal. Anytime I went under trees or in the shade of a building the gps would freak out. Then it started having trouble connecting to my heart rate monitor and then it would connect and jump around. The point of this device is to keep track of your athletic pursuits so the fact that it couldn't handle it's basic function was irritating.

There were numerous other little things that didn't work but I was willing to live with because I just wanted to be able to quickly see my pace and splits. The mileage was always a little off, like it would be 2.1 miles out and 2.2 on the way back, makes no sense but I imagine it was another gps thing. I also had a cadence sensor I used while cycling and it always took a few tries for it to just connect. Sometimes it would say it was connected and then not work. Not the end of the world but annoying for something that wasn't cheap.

Yesterday I spent 90 minutes on the phone with Motorola customer service trying to come up with some sort of solution or replacement after the device stopped connecting to anything at all. Argghh. They don't do replacements, they offered no solutions or help besides me shipping it to them and if I was lucky I would get it back in 12-14 business days, or 3 weeks. 3 WEEKS. I call BS. It's not that hard to do an advanced replacement. Especially because we paid $250 or so in May and you can now get one for $150.
Before I was even off the phone Music Man was ordering me a Garmin. I'm pretty sure I will never use a Motorola product again.

Not sure what I'll do with the Motoactv, maybe sell it on Ebay? Maybe it will work better after they fix it or send me a new one, but I doubt it. It seems like TONS of other people are having similar issues. And I probably would still try to use it if the customer service people were nicer, but man, they were awful. And I swear they just send you round and round so that you get annoyed and give up. Bad news, Motorola.

Please cross your fingers for me that the Garmin works!!

Have a great Wednesday!