Race Optimism and Goals

Just a quick post about what I'm looking at and what I'm wanting in terms of races this year. Entry fees have been paid, but who knows if I'll make it to starting lines. Looking forward with Optimism, as I said in my post the other day, I'm operating as if :)

Kaiser 5K February 3...I ran this for the first time last year when I was struggling in so many ways and still managed to run it at an 8:15 average pace (the course is officially longer than 5K so that's how I like to gauge my performance at this race). This year I'm struggling less. I'd like to finish it with the speed I had in my 5K in November...7:30 average pace. My training plan is structured as if this is going to happen.

Last year looking like Stone-cold Steve Austin

Oakland Running Festival half-marathon March 24...I've only run the relay, both last year and the year before. This year all of my relay teammates decided to try the half. I was kind of annoyed because I like routine...and running less. Running Leg 2 of the Oakland Marathon had become part of my March routine...amazing how doing something twice makes it feel like 'routine.' Anyway...I said, FINE. Half-marathon... whatEVER .... Goal on this one...start healthy and finish happy. I give myself full permission to shamelessly not start. And in the event that I start and things go sour, I will unabashedly not finish. But in the vein of Optimism, I'm operating as if it will all be sunshine and roses :)

Leg 2 of the 2012 Oakland Marathon Relay

Bay to Breakers May 19...I've run this one three times, last year,  the year before and back in 1994. Seeing the naked people is not a highlight for me (click the links if you want to see naked B2B people). My favorite part of the race is, surprisingly...or perhaps in my case, not surprisingly, Hayes Street Hill. Overall, this race gave me a hard time all three years, and with the gleam of Optimism in my eyes, I look forward to me giving it a hard time this year :)

O, the irony of this parting gift...

Sonoma 5K Turkey Trot November 28...my yearly return-to-running barometer, I ran this one last year and the year before and the year before that. Since the fall of 2010, I've improved my 5K time by 5 minutes and 40 seconds. This year I'd like to set a real 5K PR by knocking another 2 minutes off my time from 2012. If I can stave off bloggermarathonhighmileagemania, I have confidence that I can stay healthy enough to at least come close. Am I the only blogger who has a 5K for her 'A' race this year?

First woman...yeah, I won. Go figure.

I'm looking at a few others, among them the San Francisco Second Half, but I'm curious about how things will pan out with the first three listed above before committing.

And there's always Hood to Coast in late August...I'm planning my Nuun team application already ;-)

I'd love to hear about your race plans and goals for 2013 in a comment below!

The Ellimpics

Not a typo.

I've been thinking...

Injured athletes need something to feed their competitive spirit and drive. My new love-by-necessity for the gym machines and rehabilitative activities spawned an idea...

There should be a 'Games' for us.

This is different from the Paralympics. We injured athletes will ostensibly recover from whatever is ailing us. We are not disabled. We're just a bunch of endorphin-deprived, stir-crazy, temporarily-down-on-our-luck, frustrated and hurting individuals who are largely unaccustomed and extremely resistant to training plan revisions, let alone finding ourselves without a race (or tangible goal...something besides 'running pain-free') to look forward to.

We push the limit foolishly, ignoring our bodies' signals because competition feeds us. And if it isn't the competition that feeds us, it is wanting that measuring stick ... that baseline ... that benchmark ... to gauge our improvement. Or maybe it's just compulsion. When we hurt, the tendency is to hurry up the healing process so that we can get back out there. We try too much too soon over and over. It is such a tricky cycle.

But what if...?

What if there were an Alter-G 10K? Or an elliptical 6-hour Distance Challenge? Or a StairMaster 100? An Ellimpics? *note: the word 'limp'...signifying that these Games are for those who limp* We would have the opportunity to feel achievements without reinjuring or risking chronic injury.

Maybe these things already exist. If they do, sign me UP.

It is looking more and more like I will not be running in San Francisco at the end of July. I don't think I can safely get my actual running mileage up high enough that 13.1 will be productive. I would rather give my body the opportunity to be comfortable and strong for Hood To Coast. I have always been much more of a team player than a solo artist, and so saving myself for Nuun's Team Morning and (more importantly) not being in pain is infinitely more appealing to me than risking it all to struggle through a half-marathon.

I've been crushing my cardio workouts and doing lots of climbing. Physically, I feel great...strong and limitless...unless I run. It has been amazing to push the envelope with regard to climbing. The help it provides as I work through some of the most challenging life issues I've ever faced is unparalleled. Having my friend take me to a wall that had me shaking my head the day before as I watched someone else climb it and then announce to me that I was going to do it... in the split-second before a freak out happened, I looked at her and said, "Okay. What's the worst that can happen? I try it, I fall, and you catch me." She smiled and nodded. And I did it.

Challenging my fitness on the machines has been so expanding as well. Last night I arrived at the gym 45 minutes before closing. It had been a emotionally draining, borderline-crushing day, and I knew I needed to do this for me. I had no idea what I was going to be up for. In the past when I experienced inner turmoil *understatement* I have allowed myself to get distracted while working out. When I jumped on the elliptical, a little voice said, "Whatcha got?" I don't really know how I did what I did on that thing, but man, I wish I could do it running. But I can't. I am so grateful that I can do it somewhere.

I left the gym feeling emotionally buoyed and pleasantly, physically spent. The clarity and restoration I got from 39 minutes on the elliptical was akin to the benefits of running. It's time to stop lamenting that I cannot run very much for now and embrace the gifts I have, enjoy the outlets I can utilize, and celebrate what I can do.

I left the gym feeling hopeful. And limitless.

GymWatch II: HellRaiser

And here I was, thinking that the smells were the worst of my problems...

Cast of Characters

Angry Old Man...

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Imagine the hair is white.

Green Shirt Guy...

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But no apple, no shirt logo, no sunglasses. Sub in gym shorts.

Annnnnd...probably not Brad Pitt.

Super Sweaty Woman:

Yeah...for real.

Setting

Converted industrial-space climbing gym's cardio area...elliptical trainer section, to be precise.

Early evening on a very hot, late Spring day. Little ventilation or natural air-flow.

Scene

Opens with Super Sweaty Woman (SSW) transitioning from StairMaster to Elliptical Trainer. After spending 20 minutes warming up on the SM with her heart rate hovering between 130 and 135, she is ready to tackle the meat of her workout over on the ET.

She climbs on and gets started. The plan: increase intensity every 10 minutes for a total of 40 minutes. The first 10 go very well...heart rate ranging from 140-145. In the middle of the second 10 minutes, she realizes that heart rate at 150 is demanding. And she is really, really hot.

Noticing a fan on the pillar 8 feet away, she begins to fantasize about the cool air blowing over her hard-working, sweaty body. Realizing that the fan is aimed at no one, she begins to strategize how to get it aimed at her...without stopping her workout. 

Enter Green Shirt Guy (GSG).

Perspiration-soaked and disoriented, GSG walks over and positions himself directly in front of the blowing fan...sucking in as much cooling goodness as decorum will allow. He appears helpful in addition to sweaty. SSW decides to give it a shot...

SSW (in a loud-enough-to-be-heard-over-the-fan-but-not-shouting voice):  Yo...Green Shirt Guy!

GSG (lifts dazed and sweaty face to see who is talking to him...once he realizes he is wearing a green shirt): Huh?

SSW (smiling...but it probably looks more like a grimace): Do you think you could angle that fan over toward me once you're done with it?

GSG (nods and manages a word): Sure...

Once he's feels sufficiently cooled, he angles the fan toward SSW and gives the look that inquires "how's that?" She gives him a double thumbs-up and a huge smile. He smiles back and starts to walk away...

Angry Old Man (exploding...and when did he show up on the immediately adjacent machine?): JESUS CHRIST! I JUST MOVED THAT FAN OFFA ME WHEN I GOT ON! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?

SSW (sincerely apologetic): Oh, wow...I'm sorry! I'm just so super hot. Maybe we can angle it so that it isn't on you at all and I get just a little sliver of air movement? I don't need it full on me.

As she speaks, GSG tries to politely adjust the fan in just such a way and then begins to leave.

AOM (pissed off beyond all rationality): Nevermind...nevermind...I'll MOVE. JESUS CHRIST! *mutter mutter mutter mutter*

SSW: No...for real...we can adjust it! You don't need to move! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to cause such a problem...I was just hot and still have 25 minutes with my heart rate over 150. Don't know if I can make it with out some fan relief!

AOM (very loud and palpably hostile still as he changes machines): NO. I can't believe this. I'm MOVING. I don't want THE FAN! You. Are. An. A**HOLE! This is BULLSH*T!

Upon which GSG turns abruptly on his heel, strides purposefully back to the fan on the pillar and gives it a sharp whack, sending the cool air blasting full on both AOM and SSW.

GSG (lecturingly, while pointing at AOM): You both have an equal right to have it or NOT have it. An equal right. She as just as much right to have it as you do to NOT have it. I'm not choosing sides.

AOM: Oh... F*CK YOU!

GSG (bending closer and getting quiet): No, man... f*ck you.

GSG spins around and exits stage right. Continues working out in a different part of the gym.

AOM, very flustered, collects his magazine, stumbles off his machine and follows. But leaves the premises.

Who knew such a simple request could raise such hell?

I was kind of shaken by the experience but did manage to continue my kick-ass workout. Finally, I'm learning how to prevent outside "upsets" from affecting my mental sharpness and resolve when it comes to my workouts. I'm not always successful at it, but this time I was :)

In other news, my hip was sharply hurting after one little mile last night. I kept thinking that it would chill out once it warmed up (sort of contradictory, isn't it?), but it didn't. I was sad. But smart. I came in after 1.7 miles.

I may not run in the SF First Half-Marathon on July 29th. Only time will tell...

Looking ahead... a.k.a. 4 for Friday

I'm slated to run in the SF First Half-Marathon in a little over 12 weeks. Can you say hilly? I am about to embark on a training plan for this event that is revolutionary. I'll tell you more as time goes on...and time will certainly tell how well it works! Needless to say, I am super excited about the possibilities :)

I will run over this bridge.

At some point in the next 3 months (probably before the SF half) Team AfterNuun Delight will become three sets of 12 runners. We will find out with whom we will enjoy a trip from Mount Hood to Seaside, Oregon, and which order in the running rotation we will occupy while running for our respective teams-within-the-team. We were allowed to submit our top three choices of which legs we'd most like to run...no promises but input considered. I know a number of us are very curious as to who we will be riding with...you never know how personalities are going to mix :) I was thinking of starting a pool...whoever can correctly group together the most athletes on any one of the teams-within-the-team wins a tube of Nuun of his or her choice!

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Sixteen days from now I will be running in the 101st Zazzle SF Bay to Breakers. This should be very interesting. I have not been running as much as I had prior to last year's race, but I feel oddly in better shape. My goals going into the race are simply to feel strong and confident. I always run races as if to win them ...even knowing that unless there are a whole lot of fast people tripping over cracked asphalt or untied shoes, waylaid by severe GI issues, taking wrong turns, etc., that the proverbial snowball in Hell and I have about the same chances.

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You're really glad I didn't put the naked people photo this time, right?

Next weekend one of my very dear blogging friends will be in town, and I cannot wait!!!! We have big plans to have more fun than humanly possible. What would make it even better than best would be if Dolvett this girl joined us.

Any exciting races coming up? Ever try a radical training plan? How'd it work out?

Who wants in on that pool?