Thirsty Thursday

Today's Exercise: 8 Mile Tempo Run - 9:52pace

For the past few days I've been doing tons of research on long distance hydration. At the race there will be plenty of aid stations with water, sports drinks, gels and food but on my solo runs I have to figure out how to keep myself properly hydrated. It's a double edged sword because dehydration reduces performance by up to 20% and over hydration can cause hyponatremia. One misstep and you're kaput! Maybe not that dramatic...

On my longer solo runs I'll be running 20-25 miles on trails. Most trails don't have water fountains or 7-11's. There are so many differing articles but from what I gather I need to drink at least 50oz on my longer runs. So what's best? A handheld bottle (or 2), a hydration belt, or a pack with a bladder.

I'm leaning towards the pack and also carrying a handheld on longer runs. My main concern is the pack chaffing my chest. And 25 miles of that would be pretty awful. I'm doing 15 miles Saturday and am planning an out and back route that has a water fountain at 3 and 12 miles. That leaves me with 22 oz of water for 9 fairly hot miles. Which should work... I'll let you know.

So tomorrow, Friday, is my lightest exercise day which means tonight I get my one glass of wine for the week. Woo Hoo

New Blog

If you have any interest in my journey to 50k you can visit me at my new blog . I will still blog here a bit, but the other blog is shiny and new :)

Beating the Bulldog

So my plan is to run the Bulldog 50k in just over 7 weeks. It's a pretty treacherous 2 loop course that has a 4 mile ascent in each loop and many miles of single track trails. Did I mention I'm not a trail runner, haven't run trails in 3 or 4 years. I do have a training plan set, I just hope I can stick with it. It's hard to stomach a training run that's basically a marathon, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

My plan is to run or cross train every day. I will have some lighter cross training days as my rest days, but I will be doing some form of exercise daily. MWF will be cross training days where I will either bike or elliptical and do some weight training. And I will get my miles in the remaining days. I'd like to run more but I don't want to risk injury. I would definitely rather be a bit unprepared than injured before I even get to start.

Tuesday will be my hills and trails day, focusing on getting used to running up and down repeatedly. I don't plan to do hill repeats because I'm training for a 4 mile ascent, so I need to practice longer hills. Luckily I have a 2 mile uphill 5 minutes away, so I'm going to get very familiar with  that pavement. It also leads to trails so it's a pretty perfect route for me.

I still plan to incorporate one interval or tempo run into my routine although I'm not really worrying about speed for this Ultra, I just want to finish. But speed helps with endurance by maximizing aerobic power, so I'll do that run Thursday.

Then there are the long runs. What makes training for an ultra different from a marathon is 2 long runs a week rather than 1 long run and 1 recovery run. For instance, this Saturday I plan to run 15 miles for my long run. Normally I would do a 3-4 mile slower recovery run on Sunday but completing an ultra is all about time on your feet. I will run 7-8 miles Sunday giving me a total long distance of 22 miles or so and a weekly total of 35 miles. And every week that number goes up a bit. By week six I'll probably be running about 50 miles. That's a lot of time on my feet.

In a few weeks I will do a preview run of the course. I'll practice one loop and see how I like it. It's great for training, but I kind of like NOT knowing what I'm up against because I'll have more time to worry about it.

Stay tuned to see if my plan actually works...

Ultra Lauren

May and June kind of got away from me. I have a toddler, nuff said, right? Or I could go on; a toddler that runs, climbs, tries to jump off things and generally causes all sorts of mayhem. He's pretty darn fantastic. :) And super cute to boot.

(little trouble maker)

As if raising a toddler wasn't enough there's always a new adventure in the works. In May we held an incredibly crazy first birthday party with tons of toddlers and preschoolers, my husband went away for the whole month and Hunter decided not to nap or sleep the entire time he was gone. In June my husband returned but moved to a studio out of the house (he is missed but I'm super excited about the extra space) and Hunter started running (mostly into sharp corners.)

And now in July I'm embarking on another adventure all my own. I've decided to start training for a 50k trail run. The distance sounds a little crazy but I've run 5 marathons and a handful of other races. 50k is about 31 miles so just 5 miles longer than a marathon. 5 miles is nothing after 26, right? I'm hoping so.

I started training about a month ago with the intent to eventually run a marathon but couldn't find a marathon that I really wanted to run that occurred at the right time or in the right area. I've had my heart set on EVENTUALLY running an ultra, I just had no idea it would be in 8 weeks.

Today I did my first hill and trail training run. It was incredible! Leaving my house at 5:45 it was already 72 degrees, but 5 minutes away the hills were about 10 degrees cooler, almost chilly. And trails are so much more fun than running around the same park every day.

This run also happens to be a lengthened version of the first route I ran post partum, weighing 230 lbs. Let me tell you how awesome it was running it again. Not only have I dropped 75 pounds since then, but I've also dropped about 5 minutes from my pace. I felt so light and free, even while running 2 miles up a very steep incline. I absolutely cannot wait to run the trails again. I'm even looking forward to a 15 mile run on them.

So people keep asking why? Dude, I don't know, there are so many reasons. What I do know is that the first day I started training for my first marathon I told my friend I had this overwhelming feeling of "why haven't I been doing this my whole life?" Even though that first run was more walking and gasping for air, and ended with feet full of blisters and muscles sore for days, it was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I had this goal that seemed totally unattainable but I was on my way to completing it.

Now, 8 years later I've completed 5 full marathons and a handful of other races. Not too shabby for a chubby girl. And after all that and a pregnancy I'm in the best shape of my life and feel like "So what now?" This 50k seems right up my alley. It's a shorter distance for an ultra. Most REAL ultras are 50 miles, 100 miles and upward. 31 miles seems like a good place to start.

For years I never thought I could run fast but always knew I had the endurance to run forever, so I focused on training for longer distances. This year, actually the past 2 months, is the first time I was ever able to run a quick pace. I set a goal to run an average pace of 9 minutes and I reached that goal. Now I'm actually passing people, which is just nuts. So now I get to go back to my love of distance. And maybe when I complete this goal I'll go back to working on speed. I keep hearing a whisper telling me it's time to get to Boston.

12 Months

(Hey Chubs)

(Grass eater!)

I have been so worried about Hunter's 1 year doctor visit. I was worried he'd be considered overweight or not hitting the correct milestones. But my main concern was vaccinations. I am definitely pro vaccination but not 6 at a time as the CDC recommends. It just seems like too many chemicals at once. Beyond that I was worried Hunter's pediatrician would pressure me to (or convince me to, hey I trust the guy) get the butt load of vaccines.

Luckily, the good doctor prefers splitting things up a bit. And he was fine with me pushing the MMR vaccine way back, all the way to the week before Hunter's 2nd birthday. So Hunter only got 3 vaccines today, then he will receive 2 at 18 months and 1 at 23 months. And he only cried for a bit until he saw all the lady nurses, then he quit the waterworks and turned on the charm, he's such a flirt. I feel confident that I made a well thought out and informed decision for my boy. I just want him to be healthy and happy.

The rest of the appointment went pretty well. As for height and weight, Hunter has stayed in the same 95th percentile for height. He's a tall dude. And he's 50th for weight and head circumference. He's nice and proportionate for now, but who knows what the next growth spurt will bring. As for milestones, he's doing reasonably well. He's said a few words like truck, dog, bye-bye but doesn't say them repeatedly. Sometimes he tries to repeat something someone has said and you can hear him sound it out. But mostly he babbles. The ped isn't concerned at all but I feel like I may need to focus a bit more on his language skills.

Hunter's doing pretty well with motor skills. He walks mostly independently now, he'll fall and crawl sometimes, but he'll just pull himself up and walk again. He just started waving a few weeks ago and gives "5" but doesn't really clap. He does some semblance of the movement, like waving his arms toward each other, but the hands don't touch. I have been super worried about the clapping because so many of our baby friends clapped at 6-9 months. But they also got their teeth. My ped reminded me that the milestones are an "average", some babies are early at some things and late at others. As long most milestones are met on time we're in good shape.

The last issue I discussed with Hunter's pediatrician is Hunter's eating habits. He does the pincer grab for foods but doesn't put them in his mouth most of the time. He's not a huge fan of most chunky foods. Some days he eats ok and other days he only wants formula. The ped seemed to think that Hunter's eating delay is probably connected to his late teething. He is getting better now that he has 6 teeth. Also, I feel like I need to start weaning the bottle but I can't do that until Hunter is eating consistently well. He drinks well from the sippy cup but the bottle is comfort, like breastfeeding. We've started weaning formula and he's drinking mostly milk now.

The pediatrician's conclusion was that Hunter is perfect and I need to relax. My conclusion, I'll relax when I'm dead.

one year ago

One year ago today...

FINALLY!!!

Hunter has a tooth! His top right tooth broke through yesterday or the day before and the top left broke through today. It came as such a surprise since every other baby we know got the bottom two teeth first. The bottom teeth look like they'll be in any day now too so I guess he's just going to get his teeth all at once. It took him 11 months to get one tooth so he just has his own way of doing things.

Hunter's also started crawling a bit but he's much more interested in cruising. He only crawls when it's ABSOLUTELY necessary. He's so darn quick at cruising now. He'll go from the sofa to the bouncer to the wall in seconds. And he scales the walls and the back of the sofa so he can basically get anywhere. He's my little Spiderman. Adam has taught him to get up steps too, so he can make it up the first step but hasn't quite figured out how to get up the second. As soon as that happens it's all over.

He's also taking very unsteady first steps. He needs to gain some balance before he really starts walking. Basically he looks like a tiny drunk.

We've started the birthday party circuit. I don't think we will have a free weekend day for the next 2 or 3 months. That's what our weekends will be like for the next few years; birthday parties, soccer games, kid stuff. This has really changed my perspective on Hunter. He's no longer a little baby. he's a toddler now, almost a kid.

11 months is a super fun age. Hunter is getting so much more active and expressive. He smiles at everyone and laughs at our little jokes and games. His life isn't solely about being cared for anymore. He's my companion now. We go to the library, for bike rides, read books together and just have fun together.

I'm starting to get really anxious for Hunter's birthday. We've toyed with the idea of doing a Star Wars theme because he was born on Star Wars Day but I'm leaning towards doing something a little more baby oriented. Star Wars seems a little too old for him. I want to do that theme when he understands that he's busting open a Darth Vader head pinata. We still have a few weeks so I'll just see how I feel when the day approaches.

And I'll leave you with some photos from the past month.