This one's for the girls....

Seriously guys, this blog post is full of women-things.   However, if you're curious or coach girls, or have a female athlete in your life you may want to read.  But don't say I didn't warn you!!!

I told myself (and I think everyone) when I first started this blog that I would tell the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I've read a lot of blogs where people only talk about the good things that happen; how good their workouts or races are.  And when things go poorly they either gloss over it or just don't write for a while.  I think there's a lot of things that aren't talked about that could and should be. 

One thing is how a woman's cycle affects training/racing.  It's honestly something I've thought very little about.  Talking to Dave he's noticed trends, but I've really never thought about it.  Today I was ready to do my speed session, a nice long and tough one.  I got out there and was moving okay and then I wasn't.  It was so frustrating.  I was so frustrated!  After last Sunday going poorly it just seemed so wrong to be having more bad days.  I stopped after only 3K and walked home.  I didn't even race walk home, I just walked.  Got back, called Dave and again cried.  I'd been doing  everything I should be: stretching, sleeping, eating well, extra massage, cold baths.  It makes sense my body may betray me when I'm not doing what I should, but it kills me when it betrays me when I'm doing all I should.  I went home, got some snacks and a bunch of water and went for a long hike.  It gave me a chance to clear my head, as well as go out and be physically active. 

When things go wrong I like to try and figure out why.  I figure there has to be a reason for things going wrong.  I know sometimes they're under your control and sometimes they aren't, but I always want to know the why, that way if they can be fixed they can be worked on. 

So I started thinking about why today went poorly.  I've been getting good sleep so I wasn't really tired.  I've been eating well, maybe even a little too much, so I wasn't low on carbs or anything.  I'd gotten a massage and been stretching.  I didn't start super early in the AM so I know my metabolism was working, and I had a nice breakfast. 

The next thing I could think of was my cycle.  It started the day before and was super heavy.  I wasn't crampy, although I was a little bit the night before.  But I could tell it was a different type of month than I might usually have.  So I started thinking, could that be the cause of me just having zero get up and go.   Once I got home I jumped on the internet and did a Google search:  Does a woman's cycle affect exercise.   Most of the answers I got back talked about the opposite: How exercise affects your cycle, but that's not what I wanted.  I did finally find two different articles that I found very interesting.   Here they are: 

http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2015/03/planning-your-exercise-around-your-menstruation-cycle/

and

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/advice/a36925/the-best-workout-to-do-when-you-have-your-period/

They are both interesting reads.  Now obviously some of what they suggest isn't possible for athletes who are in full-time training.  But it does make sense that there may be times where tweaks have to be made.  If I read the article correctly then today was the worst possible day for me to try and do a hard speed session.   So while I'm not going to just take it totally easy, it would've made a lot of sense to change my workouts around.  I hate feeling like I'm making excuses when things don't go well, but I do realize that there's a difference between an excuse and a reason. 

So now I'll be paying much more attention to my cycle and adjusting things when they need to be adjusted.  Hopefully it won't happen often, but it's better to be prepared.  And I think I will do more research on the subject.

Random stuff - and pictures :)

So far this week is going so much better than last week, which is a huge relief.  And I think it came down to some of the small things that really aren't so small.  Tuesday, the day after I had my massage, I moved so much better than I had been.  Since then I've been doing yoga and stretching every day.  I'm still tired and working hard, but it's a good tired. 

Another thing I've been thinking about with my training and technique is how much stronger my glutes feel.  I think the time I've spent on the Platform from Relax! Health and Tone has really, really helped.  My whole core area feels so much more solid and I think I can feel when my glutes don't engage and work on fixing it.  I highly recommend for anyone dealing with muscle imbalances that they consider using the Platform.  You can look at information about it here:

http://relaxhealthandtone.com/

My core strength is also improving, but I know there's always more I can do in that department :) 

We had some fun little trips this week, going to Mesquite, Nevada.  Ate at a very nice sushi restaurant there too!  I helped sell raffle tickets at the Elks club to benefit youth activities and that was fun.  We did a good job selling tickets too, raising a decent amount of money.  

It's also great watching tennis with the Australian open on, they're such great athletes!  And in phenomenal shape.  I'm very excited to watch Serena Williams playing tomorrow. 

Getting excited for the 50K with how well training has been going.  Some ups and downs, but way more ups than downs is giving me some good confidence.  And I've still got a few solid weeks to go too. 

So here's to more great training!

St. George week three, in the books.

                                           (Believe it or not, this is a rosemary plant!!!!!)

First off, I finished Arline's second book and really enjoyed it!  She does a great job with character development and it's so easy to become wrapped up in their lives.  If you're looking for (another!) fun book to read I highly recommend you give it a try.  It's called Keeper: Trial by Fire by Arline Fisher.  I'll even give you the link to buy it:  Looks like it's free if you have Kindle unlimited!  Don't forget to leave a review after you've read it

http://www.amazon.com/Keeper-Ms-Arline-E-Fisher/dp/0692586253/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453749627&sr=1-1&keywords=keeper+trial+by+fire


A very nice surprise that I got on Thursday was my athlete's mom sending me this wonderful care package of gluten free snacks.  I will be saving them for special occasions!  Thanks Sharon!!!!

Well, this week wasn't what I was hoping compared to the last two weeks of training.  I think a combination of a few things did me in that I'm getting worked out and will be back on track toot-quick.  Monday I was (understandably) tired after my awesome weekend of racing/training.  I wasn't going very fast, but I didn't think much of it.  A voice in the back of my head said, "you should go see the chiropractor."  but I had an appointment scheduled for Wednesday and thought I'd be fine 'til then.  I went to the pool and had a good aqua class.

Tuesday was speed day.  Same workout as the last few Tuesdays, a 10K fartlek in the morning and 10x400 in the afternoon.  They weren't as good as last week, but better than the first week. 

My plan for Wednesday was to do my long walk instead of doing it on Thursday, because I had a radio interview Thursday at 10:00 AM.  So I headed out and just felt awful.  I was moving nowhere.  My hips were locked up, I felt heavy and clunky.  I cut it short at 10K in a blistering 68 minutes (ouch).  I was seeing the chiro and was hopeful that he could put me back together.  I went for my appointment, and yep, I was way out.  He spent a ton of time with me, trying to get stuff loosened up and put back. 

Thursday I got up at 5:00 AM to try again to get my long one in.  Luckily the neighborhood is well lit and the roads are nicely paved so I could see even though it was still dark.  I headed out and still couldn't move.  I think the adjustment didn't hold.  So I called the chiro again and he fit me in after the radio program.   The radio show was a blast, the hosts were great.  I talked about it in my last blog post, if you're curious feel free to read about it!  The chiro suggested I just take it easy and see if I could get stuff to calm down. I'm so lucky to have found someone so ready to help me.  He's said I can come in anytime, he'll fit me in between people if I need.  So it was an easy day.

Friday I finally felt better!  I did a solid 17K workout in the morning and 8K in the afternoon.  It felt good to move a little more like I usually do.

Saturday I started a new speed session:  4x3K/1K.  I did it on the track and didn't do the last 1K medium since I had 3K cool down to get home.  It went pretty well.  My last 3K was 15:00.6, so I was happy about that.  And my 1K mediums weren't as slow as I thought they'd be, ranging about 5:35 per K pace.  I definitely left that workout tired!  After I got home I did my weights, which I wasn't quite so focused and it took me longer than normal.  I was distracted watching the news, but I got it all done!

Sunday I had 40K on the schedule and while I was tired I was looking forward to it.  But starting out I just felt awful.  Tired, worn down, ploddy, no lightness to my steps.  I did the first 9K loop and used the restroom and after that my body just gave up.  I was doing 6:45 per K pace, and that's just not like me.  So I went to the car, called Dave and cried.  It was so frustrating to be here, away from Dave and home and my animals, specifically to train and train hard and not be able to.  I didn't want to feel like I was letting myself and him down. 

After my 5 minute pity-party I started to think about what I could do to make things better.  I think with all the training I've been doing I haven't been stretching enough, and with a few of the exercises I'm doing with the weights I have some new tightness that I'm not used to.  I went to the store and bought a yoga mat and got a few yoga DVDs, came home and started stretching like a madwoman.  While I'm not positive I think that could've been it.   Today's walk went okay, I felt much lighter and able to move.  Even more exciting I have a massage scheduled for today and moved this weeks' chiropractic appointment to after the massage.  Fingers crossed that the massage will work things out and with diligent yoga/stretching/rolling out I will stay loose and relaxed. 

Three more weeks in St. George!  Three more hard weeks of training, then a week to get ready for the trials.  Funny that even though I'm frustrated with how last week went when I look at my mileage I completed it's still as much/more than the majority of my weeks last week.  And I did have three decent speed sessions.  My focus this week will be on the long ones, finishing them as strong and smooth as I can.

Yesterday was a PR day!

My international friends are probably thinking, there's that silly American saying PR instead of PB (personal record instead of personal best) like the rest of the world does, but for once I really mean PR!  On advice of my chiropractor I took yesterday super easy, giving my poor, tired SI joint a break.  And it was a great day to do it since I had two, count them two, public relations (PR, get it!) engagements!

First one started off at 10:00 by heading to the radio station and doing a radio show for the Huntsman World Senior Games.  What fun!  The hosts, Jeff and Kyle, were fantastic and so easy to talk to.  The time absolutely flew by.  It played on the radio yesterday and will be uploaded onto the Huntsman website next week.  Once I have the link I'll post it so people can listen, if they'd like to. 

I then headed "home" and my host-est with the most-est and I went out for some fun time.  We had a really nice (and healthy!) lunch, walked around some art galleries where I saw some of the most beautiful pieces.  I'm sure the locals can get tired of all the views of Zion and the red rocks around here, but I sure love it!  

We goofed around and did some errands and drove past a running store.  Well, of course I had to go in.  So we headed in and I was looking around and one of the girls who worked there all of a sudden goes, "Are you that speed walking girl?"  She had read the story in St. George Health and Wellness Magazine!  She was super nice and very complimentary.  I only bought a couple GUs from them, but it was cool that someone else randomly recognized me.

The evening equaled a trip to the City Council meeting where I was given a commendation by the City of St. George, from the Mayor, for me adopting St. George as my training grounds before the Olympic Trials.  Everyone was so nice and I got a standing ovation from the crowd (and there was actually a huge crowd, City Council meetings are apparently a popular thing in St. George).  The editor of St. George Health and Wellness Magazine held a really nice little reception for me afterwards and presented me with a  cupcake!  I love cupcakes!  And it's red velvet!  I'm saving it for after Sunday's workout where it'll be okay if I gluten myself.  I had to hide it though because it keeps staring and calling at me. 

After that a group of us went to a sushi restaurant and had a wonderful time eating and socializing.  While I love to train and love being focused and working really hard, it is fun to feel like a human being now and then doing stuff that "normal" people do.  

And just to get a little more PR in today, I started my day off with a follow up interview for the magazine that'll run next month.  That was fun! 

And now, back to training!  (and waiting not very patiently for my cupcake on Sunday....)

St. George week two: Even better than week one!

Week two is done and dusted and in the books!  And I don't think I could be much happier with how it went!  I thought after last week this week might be a bit tough, but everything was faster than last week, and easier!

Monday started off as a recovery day.  I did the morning aqua class with Marianne, which was great to get in the water and move.  In the afternoon I had a 5K RW to do.  I started off and my legs were super heavy.  There's a section I had to jog down because it's too steep to RW and running just felt so good I changed it into a 5K run.  And it felt great!

Tuesday was the same workouts as last week, only better!  I'm still getting used to the different way I'm doing the fartlek, but it was 90 seconds faster than last week.  This says a little more about the fact that last week's was pretty subpar more so than this week was super fast, but it was a really solid workout.  Then my 10x400 in the PM went great!  My slowest 400 this week was faster than my fastest 400 last week!  Seven of them were under 1:50.  I know that doesn't sound super fast, but I've never been super speedy, and it was my second workout of the day.  To top it off I went to the gym and did my weights.  I modified a few of the moves to make them a little more challenging.   It was a great day!

Wednesday I race walked to the pool, a good 10K.  The tough part of it was it was all uphill.   Then I did the aqua class.  For the fun of the day I went again to PaintNite and had a blast!  I went off script and kind of did my own thing, but really had fun.  Especially since I didn't have to paint a darned wine glass....

Thursday was my longest one of the week.  I decided to switch it with Sunday, since it's more surrounded with easy days.  I'm glad I did, it went really well.  I was 11 minutes faster than the 35K I did on Sunday. 

Friday was a wild and crazy day... I took it off!  I relaxed and caught up on stuff.  And in the evening I was lucky enough to be asked to be the guest speaker at the expo for the St. George Half Marathon.  I think it went well.  I got lots of nice feedback, from people who had no reason to say anything to me, so that was nice.  And I got some cool shirts :)

Saturday was the half.  I was feeling pretty good and looking forward to a good solid hard effort.  The course was basically 7 miles up, 2 miles down, and the rest rolling.  I finished in 1:48:36, only 24 seconds off my half marathon best.  And what I'm most happy about is my last 5K was my fastest.  And the last 5K was not downhill.  I had some great company, especially the last 5K.   Afterwards Marianne and I went to the diner for brunch, which was awesome.  After that it was some errands and then a trip to the gym.  Happy coincidence, it was free for the day!  Even though my legs were tired and heavy I actually came out feeling better than when I went in.  My legs were tired, but it really actually felt good.  Weird.

Sunday I had my 30K.  I was figuring I'd be tired and heavy.  I started off and thought, ugh, this K is going to be well over 6:00.  My watch beeped and it was 5:47!  I thought, hmm, let's see how the next is....  5:44.  And so it went.  I came through 15K in 1:26:20.  I thought, hmm, let's see if I can pick up the last half.  Boy, I sure did!  My second half was 1:21:06!  It felt great!  I felt like my old self again!  I've dropped about 5 pounds while I've been here, so I'm getting pretty close to my racing weight.  I felt smooth and strong and really powerful in my core.  Hazzah! 

I've now changed residences here.  I'm staying with a wonderful lady named Arline.  She's a writer.  I read her first book and it was so fun.  I've got her second one to read while I'm here, and really looking forward to it.  Her first book is called:  The Corner Saloon.  It's historical fiction, with a really fun twist into a bit of Sci-Fi near the end.  The characters were fun, personable, and fun to follow and the story had a great flow to it.  Basically I highly recommend it!  I'll let you know how I like the second book.  So go get her book!  "The Corner Saloon" by Arline Fisher.

So now I'm tired but feeling great.  I'm feeling like my old self, moving solid and faster at my longer walks.  Looking forward to more solid weeks of training here!  

St. George week one done!

Week one of training in St. George is done and in the books!  And I'm quite happy with how it went.   The awesome thing about St. George is it's surrounded by a ton of mountains, so any yucky weather that's coming tends to hit those mountains and dump it all there.  So we are left with beautiful views, stunning backdrops, and no snow!  So many of my workouts have been difficult to keep up my focus because I just want to look at the scenery. 

I didn't have quite the training volume that I had in South Carolina, but the quality of everything was higher than in SC.  I'm pretty tired, but feeling much better than at the end of my first week in SC.  To me that equals improvement!  This week consisted of; two distance workouts, three speed sessions over two days, two strength sessions, a water aerobics class, three "filler" days, lots of laughing, fun, great company, and good food (I could probably work on my cooking skills, but hey, it's nutritious and filling and decent).  

I tried a new workout Tuesday for my speed session, it was a fartlek, but after the first 1K hard I did 200 medium and 800 hard.  It was an interesting variation.  I'm looking forward to doing it again.  It didn't go quite how I wanted it, but I think most of that was due to traveling the day before.  My long walk Thursday was at the fastest pace I've done in months and months and months.  Saturday I did a workout I haven't done in probably a year and a half.  It was 5k, 4K, 3K, 2K, 1K.  I was a little apprehensive about it, but it went really well!  Finishing up at an average pace of 5:02 per K.  It would've been under 5 per K if I hadn't messed up my watch at the start of the 4K and just gone sort of spacey, but it was a very good learning lesson.   I finished the week off with a 35K.  Not as fast as Thursday, but my poor legs were pretty tired.  It was still at a decent clip though.  I'm thinking of moving my longest walk of the week to Thursday instead of Sunday.  That way it won't be right after a hard speed session and weights. 

(New workout gear?)

I did find again during my long walk today that as times slowed down if I really focused on technique it would tend to pick up.  Until the end, then I was just plain tired :)  

Five weeks to go until the 50K.  Things are going as planned.  I couldn't be staying with more awesome and supportive people (besides my hubby, of course) here in St. George.  When I was doing my speed work on the bike trail someone yelled, "Go, Erin!" at me.  Took me by surprise!  I guess lots of people have seen Marianne's awesome story. 

(Lentils, spaghetti sauce, peas, and chicken meatballs.  Simple and yummy!)

The journey continues!  Easy day Monday, going to the aqua class and an easy shake out walk. 

My first major successful goal achievement of 2016!

I'm in St. George, Utah for the lead up to the 50K in February.  The weather, while not bright and sunny, is MUCH better than upstate New York this time of the year.  The elevation is a little over a half a mile, and it hardly ever snows.  The town is fantastic, with miles and miles of bike paths.  There's a great chiropractor here who also does ART, so I'm set with body work.  I'm looking for a massage therapist, and I think I'll find someone soon.  And my host family is AWESOOME!  They're fun and know everyone and everything and supportive and helpful.  I'm having a great time here, having already tried a water aerobics class and went to a PaintNite function.   Water aerobics was a blast, and a good workout.  While I was definitely the youngest person in the class, you get out of it what you put into it, and I was able to really move at times.  One thing I didn't think of was how rough the bottom of the pool was and how jumping up and down might affect my feet.  I half tore off the skin on my big toe, and while it's painful if I walk with no shoes on thankfully it doesn't hurt when I race walk.  Mission before next Monday, get some boat shoes or something for my poor footsies! 

PaintNite was fun.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist type, so I'm not completely happy with my glass, but I had fun, almost won the dance competition, and painted a painting!  I had so much fun I think I'll go again while I'm here.  Something that doesn't have a wine glass in it!

Training is going really well here too.  Today I did a 30K, and it was my most solid 30K training walk in months.  Many months.  While today wasn't a day that I didn't watch the watch (I know, a whole lot of double negatives in that sentence) I met one of my major goals today!  For the first part of the workout I was like a machine, hitting 5:41 per K (off the GPS watch) time after time.  Then I would have a split where I slowed down.  Normally my thought process would be something along the lines of, "shoot, slowing down, better pick it up."  But not today!  Today my thought process was, "Why did I just slow down?  Did I space out?  Did my technique change?  Am I legitimately tired?"  And what I found was that when I refocused and concentrated on my technique (AKA the PROCESS of race walking) my splits went right back where they were supposed to be!  By focusing on the process of my walking, what it takes to hit the times I want, instead of just focusing on wanting to walk faster, then my body was picking my times up!   I find this very encouraging indeed!  And I stayed focused and my last 10K was the fastest, albeit not by much as I was super consistent during my workout.  I focused on the hills, stayed relaxed, and was methodical with my nutrition.  It was a good day! 

I again recommend to everyone to really look at your goals.  Make sure you're setting some type of goal that you can hit everyday.  Something that you can constantly do to reach your dreams.  Sometimes life gets in the way and things suffer, but there's always SOMETHING you can do to improve yourself! 

Delicious post 30K recovery food:  Tuna marinated in something yummy over rice and cabbage!

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."

I've always been a goal person.  I like having goals.  I like having something I'm working towards.  Sometimes to my detriment.  I tend to not practice my instruments unless I have a gig coming up.  Then suddenly I have a gig and holy cow I'd better get my chops in shape!  But for race walking I tend to always have goals.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about goals lately and have made some changes to how/what my goals for this year are situated and organized. 

I've always had two kids of goals.  Goals that were time goals, hitting various PRs (PBs for my international friends ;)  Then I also had goals that didn't fit in the time category, things like doing my ab work a certain number of times per week, getting enough sleep, eating right, stretching, all those "other" things that help you reach your time goals.  But as I've been thinking about what I tell my athletes, "the only thing you can ever do is your best"  I realize that the time goals are counter to that philosophy.  Don't get me wrong, if you do your best you very well may hit that time goal, hopefully you will!  But it's not a given.  Just because I set a time goal doesn't mean I'll hit it, otherwise I'd be much faster than I am!  But I can set goals that I can constantly achieve. 

In the book, "With Winning In Mind" by Lanny Basham (same book I've recommended before and will continue to recommend) he talks about process and outcome goals.  Outcome goals are the time goals, the place goals, the making a team goals.  Process goals are the things you're going to do to achieve those goals.   Making time goals are "easy." You pick a number.  How many people really focus on HOW they're going to reach those goals?  Do you have a plan for the process of achieving your goals?  Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said it best:  "A goal without a plan is just a wish." 

I have a plan!  And many of my goals are going to be process goals.  And the awesome thing about process goals is you can hit them so often!  Some of them you can hit every time!  What a great feeling of empowerment!  Everyone knows the frustration of going to a race certain that you're ready for your best time ever, and then, for whatever reason, you don't do it.  Frustration, anger, depression, so many emotions can float around in your head.  I remember one year Dave and I were training great, feeling great, and went to do a half marathon.  We were so pumped for it, we were sure we were going to do amazing.  Well, we didn't.  And we didn't know why.  and it depressed us big time.  We both didn't really train for a few weeks afterwards because we were so upset and frustrated.  looking back now I know it was because we were so outcome focused instead of process focused.  If that same thing happened to me now I would be able to come at it with a much more positive mindset because there would've been many aspects of the race I would've been successful at, instead of only having one goal and feeling like I failed it, thus failing in totality. 

Here are some examples of my process goals for this year:
1. Base workouts more on effort and not on the time on the watch.  After every workout (where applicable) I should be able to say to myself, "I pushed myself as hard as possible and gave my best."  (note:  this does not apply to recovery days.)

2.  Do some workouts not looking at the watch.  Because I'm a numbers person I will still take splits, but I will look at them afterwards and see how they match up with the effort I was giving.  My plan is to do that for both speed sessions and long walks.  Not all the time, but sometimes.

3.  Each workout will have a technique goal, something specific to work on, think about, and improve on.  Examples are; arm swing (compact and controlled shoulders), push off, solid core, and head position. 

4.  There is a group of things I focus on in general for training; drink plenty of fluids, get enough sleep (nap when needed) do core work 5-6 days per week, strength training twice per week when appropriate for that training block, eat well and healthy.  These are all things I can achieve every day.  Even on a day when I can't train I can look back and say to myself that I did things that helped me get better. 

I urge you all to take a look at your goals.  How many of them are outcome goals and how many of them are process goals?  Are you frustrated that you haven't hit as many of your goals as you'd like?  Do you wish you could set goals that you could routinely meet?  You can! 

Competitor.com did a great article on 7 Habits of Highly Effective Runners that I think is great.  If you're looking for more motivation I strongly encourage you to read it.

http://running.competitor.com/2015/02/training/7-habits-highly-effective-runners_122921 

Set your goals, set amazing ones, and start going after them!