There really are no breaks

In life there is only continual motion. You can't say "hey time out! Hold on a sec so I can catch up". There is no stopping. So I guess you just have to step it up get stronger and go faster. Take charge of your training and set the pace. No one but you can accept the challenge. Get used to being uncomfortable :).

Typical weeks been looking like:

Mondays | step mill intervals for 60-70 min and 45 min of power yoga

Tuesdays | run 6-8 miles moderate and 45 min kettlebell/ plyometrics

Wednesdays | step or cycling for 60 min and weight lifting

Thursdays | speed work - mile repeats, tempo runs, Fartlek intervals

Fridays & Saturdays | spin bike 45-60 min

Sundays | easy run 6-8 miles

All that pedaling doesn't really get you anywhere

"This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill. Fifteen percent concentrated power of will. Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain. And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!"
- Fort Minor

That adds up about right. Most of greatness is pain. It's a beautiful pain though- its building something that is created uniquely by you. Your race is your masterpiece. There is art and beauty in your struggle.

12/3/12 | 30 min on the stair master & 15 on the elliptical ( recovery from 2 hr ride the day before)

12/4/12 | 6 mile morning run with baby Cael in the jogging stroller
Taught a grueling 45 minute spin class in the evening

Don't rest, just go longer!

2 hr ride today. My husband brought our little one over to a friends house for mass quantities of football viewing and I had a lot of time on my hands. I missed my baby so much! The workout was a welcomed distraction to help pass the time once I got all the cleaning and toilet bowl scrubbing done!

My legs aren't trashed and I got some goo d energy towards the end. I did the whole thing as a fartlek and picked up the pace at random increments for random durations.

One of the smartest things to do to help train for a half marry is to get your body used to being on the move for longer than normal. Cross training is very welcomed here to help reduce the risk of injury. You can go a lot longer and at a much higher intensity/faster pace than if you were running = improved fitness = smart!

If you're bored, lonely, or feeling blue use your workout to fuel you too.

It's a matter of perspective

If you are exhausted, you took your hard day seriously. If your not tired, get out there and get crackin.

12/1/12 | negative splits stroller run
60 min; 7.08 miles (although I beg to differ). GPS app was lying. It estimated my pace too slow the first 4 miles. No way was I running at 5.5 mph! I know my pace. I've developed great body awareness over the years. I think I did manage to get in at least a mile at around 6:50 pace at the very end. Gradual build.

Yes I did get all defensive. You know you do it too when taking about your speed. You know why? Because your always racing! Yes, if we are treadmill neighbors at the gym, I am racing you. Just own it.

"No Excuses November"

My Da always tells me that excuses are like a$$holes - everyone's got one. And in my opinion, those who have no excuses are the ones with the sorest a$&holes. Riding that damn bike everyday doesn't make your bum feel the most comforted but the pain It lets you know your still alive and working towards something.

A great quote from the movie Major Payne is what I would love to tell some of my clients: "you get no sympathy from me; if you want sympathy look it up in the dictionary between shit and syphilis!"

11/29/12 | jogging stroller run
60 + minutes

Running home

Your feet know what to do if you just trust them. Running through an adventure never really gets you that lost. You always intuitively circle back home. As runners we wear our heart on our feet.

11/28/12 run | jogging stroller run
60 min approximately

Our son hates to go slow.

Facts of lifestyle

There are no excuses. Anything you can talk yourself out of is an excuse! Stop making them and start doing. Everything is possible if prioritize and organize. It may be hard work, but its worth it.

I have my "Saint Ralph" moment daily when I tell myself to keep pushing. I have a dream that if I can place at the North Shore 1/2 life will somehow work its self out.

Don't give up hope my friends. The greatest things in life happen because people are craziness to achieve them. The things we are crazy for make us unique and interesting so embrace your crazy. I am the crazy runner chick and I'm okay with it.

Playing the catch up game

11/26 | steady ride high resistance
60 minutes

11/25 | Jogging stroller run :)
Cael loves to sleep while I do work
60 minutes approx.

11/24 | steady ride high resistance
58 minutes

11/23 | long ride 70 minutes with 1 minute power boosts on 15 second rests for 20 min

11/22 | long ride 65 minutes

11/21 | 7.5 miles with jogging stroller

Lots of biking and intervals for previous workouts and regular sets of core training, decline lunges push ups and squats!

Listen to Lebron!

If you have a dream, you should pay attention. Lebron James and Derrick Rose gave me awesome life advice in my dream. Probably would help if I could remember any of it and shouldn't sleep with the TV on.

What I can take away is that I should listen to my dreams and take them seriously. I see a sky full of lights and crowds cheering down on me. Man do I want to run and fly like hell around a lot up track.
Had one of the greatest runs of my life last night. Truth. The spin bike works to make you strong plus a lot of lifting. I have no clue what pace or distance I covered, but I felt like I was flying.

Today | spin bike 60 min
Tempo ride

Still in it

I'm still here. Fighting. Safely assume I'm working out each day, with Wednesday being my hardest day. Lets see if I can remember the 65 minute interval workout I tried to erase from memory.

2 min warm up
20 min- 1 min power ride, 15 sec recovery
10 min- 45 sec power ride, 15 sec recovery
*repeat

Something like that... It was brutally good. Perhaps a tempo run this afternoon.

Fastest way to get faster

The closer you are to naked, the faster you will run. Truth. You want to get the hell out of the cold so I'm pretty sure you won't dawdle if its 25 degrees outside and your wearing shorts.

Don't go giving yourself frostbite now and blame me. I do stupid things that shouldn't be taken to that extreme of a level. You might want to start a little chilly not freezing you nuts off. Fair advice.

11/7/12 | approx 6 mile run
Needed this.

Stop being a pansy and lift!

Dear world,
Don't be a pansy lift weights! Wonder why you get injured or feel weak? YOU NEED TO LIFT WEIGHTS.

11/6/12 | got my weight lifting on.
Hey don't judge me. Lifting 12.5 lb dumbbells in each arm is pretty good. Did a butt load of push ups, sit ups, v-ups, squats, single leg squats, (imaginary) jump rope, and such. Oh, yeah and of course I lifted some WEIGHT!

• shoulder press
• front raises
• lateral raises
• bent over pec flys
• bent over rows
• RDLs
• upright rows
• tricep extensions
• bicep curls
• single arm rows
• single arm KB swing

Time to step my game up. June is a long ways off, but time has that special way of creeping up on you and leave you feeling unprepared. Northshore Half- it's ON. I'm not planning to be a part of chase pack, no, I want you to try and chase me down.

Endurance. Do you have it?

I'm not just talking about a hard workout. I'm talking about the whole training and racing cycle. When you don't hit a mark or have a bad day do you quit or do you salvage what you can and keep pushing through until the end? You challenge yourself to endure every hardship and still finish. You will have good days and bad days, progress and some regression here and there. Sometimes the best thing to do is give it all you got until you got nothing left. Ask yourself what would Pre do? Answer: probably go balls to the wall without stopping.

11/6/12 | 55 minutes on the bike
Steady state @ high resistance

And days your pressed for time? Ask yourself what would Sir Bannister do? Answer: probably run on his lunch break! Take on med school and break a world record? Yes- if he can do it, you can commit to something each day.

A little run, a little fun

11/2/12 | Friday- 6 miler at a very easy 7:50 pace. I almost felt guilty it was that easy :)

11/3/12 | Saturday- biking biking more biking.

11/4/12 | Sunday- stupid bike again
60 min total including 30 minutes of 45 second power ups with 15 seconds of recovery.

11/5/12 | Monday
60 minutes total including 40 min of 1-2-3 pattern (1 min hard, 30 sec easy, 2 min hard, 30 sec easy, 3 min hard, 30 sec easy and repeat)
*high resistance used while way

And a life lesson: be yourself and listen to your gut. It's important to not just trust in your training, but in yourself. Start kicking ass on a daily basis and you will never doubt yourself again.

I hope they have treadmills in hell

Actually I bet they do have treadmills in hell. Hell is probably one big treadmill in front of the TV that only airs the History Channel.  Hell would be never changing the scenery.  Pretty much hell then translates to my spinning bike. Clearly we have a love-hate relationship.  I love that its a safe and very convenient way to get a really hard workout in, but I hate how monotonous it gets sometimes.  The one thing I really do enjoy with the bike is that I face my son's sleepy-time swing and I can look at his cute little faces as he naps. That will always bring me up.

10/31/12 | Quick Ride
45 minutes at 75% intensity

11/1/12 | Solid Ride
55 minutes total
10min steady climb
45 min alternating 1min pick up with 1-2 min normal ride

I am not the chase pack

When you get tired, tell yourself why you are here. When you feel like you can't keep going, tell yourself to suck it the hell up. There are no excuses for failure. Take the lead or get run down.

10/30/12 | 60 min endurance intervals
10 min Fartlek ride building resistance
30 min alternating 2 min sprints with 30 sec recovery
10 min alternating 60 sec sprint with 15 sec recovery
5 min recovery ride
5 min alternating 30 sec sprint with 15 sec recovery

Running is a pain in the piriformis!

Life resumes on old faithful again. As painfully awesome as my run yesterday was, today was back to basics. Thankfully no pain in my piriformis decided to linger on and ruin my ride. 

10/28/12 | *heavy resistance 55 minutes of total cycling

threw in surges towards the end to make my fat cells cry.. leading me into my next favorite quote: "Sweat is your fat cells crying." 

Tomorrow, it's time for more drastic endurance intervals. It's always fun to secretly dread your workout the next day. It means you're working hard enough!

First run postpartum

"Pain is weakness leaving the body" and pain I had a lot of, so I should be damn strong after this run. I made it through 45 minutes on the 10 year old permanently inclined treadmill at my parents house this morning. Pace felt fine, legs and breathing felt very strong. I am ready to put my mind into racing mode.

Pushing boundaries

Disclaimer: less than an hour is not that long or difficult.

Truth: when you pedal like hell less than an hour turns into a long a$$ time.


10/26/12 ROUND 1 | 51 minutes total*
4 min seated & standing climb
40 min: alternate seated 30 second sprint with 15 second recovery standing jog or seated pedaling at a low cadence
6 min: moderate effort (75%)
1 min: power sprint to finish workout
* always assume heavy resistance

ROUND 2 | 32 minutes total
Spinning it out, adding extra time on the legs. Lower resistance level than in the morning, but held a high cadence

Two ladies who I push boundaries for visited me with awesome tee-shirts they made. No Mercy Mayweather, doesn't just let clients survive personal training sessions, no, they have to wear a 45 pound weighted vest and give me push-ups. They must finish each set, each rep to earn their walk of sweaty pride into the locker room. These ladies have earned more than that, they have worked tremendously hard and I am so very proud of their accomplishments and effort. Keep it going Adriane & Suanne!

Rule Number 2

RULE NUMBER 2: You have to always try your hardest because if you haven't puked or passed out yet, you still have a ways to go.

Lots of sweat is needed too. If you're not sweaty and gross, again, you have more work to do. So for those who put zero resistance on their bike and read the paper, step your game up and stop wasting the machine's time.

I wish rule 2 would apply to more than just training and racing. Sometimes the harder you try at things, it backfires.
It could be that you tried so hard to restrict your diet that you ended up binging out on those aforementioned brownies and now you are in a sugar-induced guilt coma. Or it could be within a friendship or relationship. The more you try to repair it, the more you jack it up. On all fronts of life, it's hard to stop trying so damn hard when you were awarded the "hardest worker" on the swim team trophy at age 7. All I know is hard work, but what I need to learn is when to back off.

Rule Number 1

RULE NUMBER 1: Brownies do not take away your frustrations. They just make them worse. Post indulgence, you feel more guilty than ever and you can't just instantly undo caloric suicide.

10/25/12 | massive hill climb (on the spinning bike)
2 min warm up, then 50 min of pure seated climb. Turning resistance up every 8-12 minutes to finish with a sweet burn.

Eat good too...

I wish they made "recovery rainbow sherbet," but apparently they don't. I can't say I have the cleanest or the healthiest diet in the world, but I do limit my empty calorie/sugar intake. This past week I have lived, maybe not successfully, but I have lived on Carnation Instant Breakfast, McDonald's Skinny Vanilla Lattes, homemade strawberry smoothies with almond milk, and sandwiches (one from Jimmy Johns on wheat bread). And yes, the occasional rainbow sherbet scoop for fun. To my credit, I believe I can portion it smaller if I eat it with our son's baby spoon.

I will do better, I know what I need to o to fuel athletic performance, but I just don't have the patience to sit around and cook all this "healthy" crap right now. Eating 3 bananas a day during pregnancy and stuffing broccoli down my throat does not inspire me to make any veggies lately.

Excuse me, but that hot dog on the stove is calling my name.

Born a swimmer, made into a figure skater, and transformed out of love into a runner. Through recovery of injuries, and rehabilitating fitness postpartum, my life as of late has been stripped down to an old indoor spinning bike. The Schwinn is my place for sweat, tears, and thoughts. Pedaling away the world gives inspiration to my workouts and clarity to tackle (some) of life's problems. In 2013, I plan to run fast enough to place in the top 5 at the Northshore 1/2 Marathon in June. Everyone tells me I should nap while our son naps, but I call b.s. I workout while he naps. Lord knows I want to run and I want to run FAST.

I'm starting this as my honesty blog - to give truth to my training. The whole truth as I know it and not an ounce of fluff more.

10/23/2012
Exercise (usually) gives me a positive rush of energy so that I can be a more alert, and patient new mother. It gives me a self-confidence boost and a de-stress so that I can be a strong wife. Life often catches me off guard and my exercise-induced endorphin rush helps me deal. Today really caught me off guard and perhaps I  pushed too hard in my workout this morning to think clearly this afternoon. One day I will establish a balance and finally trust my gut...today is just not that day. Tomorrow doesn't look good either...Maybe Thursday I will get it right. Here's hoping.

10:39 AM | Indoor Spin Bike Intervals; heavy resistance (55 min total)
2min warm up
8 min of 15 second standing run alternated with 45 sec seated climb
10 min of 15 sec easy standing run alternated with 45 sec seated sprint
10 min of 30 sec seated sprint with 30 sec recovery ride
10 min of 15 sec easy run alternated with 45 sec seated sprint
10 min of 30 sec seated sprint with 30 sec recovery ride
5 min cool down

Yesterday's spin (10/22/12) workout was a 50 min steady state holding a quick cadence. Perhaps tomorrow I will take a recovery ride....However I think easy days when I'm not running are plain boring. Intervals pass the time on the bike and I love the feeling of a good sweat. As much as I hate the reply, "We'll see." it only seems fitting here.