Three Things Thursday ~ 1st Quarter Wrap Up

We're almost through the first week of April, but I wanted to recap how the first quarter of this year went:

1.  Running
My focus for January was to build my endurance.  February I wanted to focus on hills and I completed the Strava climbing challenge for the month with over 6500' of climbing .  I also found out that I had won a free entry to the Utah Valley Marathon!  That puts my running in focus until June 10th.  I've completed all my long runs so far and my legs are feeling good.  I've continued to cross train on the bike and still really love it.

I don't always eat dessert, but when I do...

2.  Nutrition and Health
My second January focus was to decrease sugar.  I went the entire month without dessert and felt better than I had in about six months.  We are now allowing ourselves one dessert a week and sometimes we don't even have that.  I'll always love sugar, but my body doesn't love it nearly as much.  My anxiety/heart palpitations have been completely absent and I feel pretty strongly that sugar was a large contributor to those issues.  Bonus:  I lost 12 pounds in the first 3 months of the year!

3.  Gear
I've got over 60 miles on my new Brooks running shoes and I'm very happy with them.  My iPod shuffle finally died completely about a month ago after refusing to shuffle for months.  Since my new phone has a ton of memory I decided to just use it for my running tunes but hated the long earbud chords constantly getting caught in my equally long hair.  I finally broke down and bought the Yurbuds Inspire 500.  I've taken them on several long runs, they are comfortable and stay in.  They got the "sweat test" this morning, we are back in Hawaii and I ran 9 miles with them in without any problems.  While I'm talking about gear, I just want to say how much I still love my Suunto Ambit2.  I have had it for almost four years and it is so solid.  It's a little on the big side, but I love all the screens that are completely customizable.  I have the screens set up differently for running, cycling, walking or intervals.  Good gear isn't necessary for good running but it sure is fun!

Total distance for Q1:
Running: 202.72
Cycling 207.79
Walking 53.35
Total: 463.86

How was your first quarter?

2016: A Tale of Two Years

2016 feels like two different years to me.  The first half I was going strong.  Six weeks into the year I did a reality check and I was consistently faster than I had been 12 months earlier.  I was getting Strava PRs like crazy.  We were living mostly in Hawaii, but I seemed to adjust pretty quickly to the heat and humidity.

In March I got my Hawaiian bike, Vita.  She and I spent many miles together.

Things continued going great into the Spring.  I ran the Ford Island Bridge 10k in April and the Bill Beauchamp 10k in May where I got 2nd in my age group.

We spent the last 2 weeks of May in Europe, which included mountain biking Mt. Etna and tons of walking and carbo loading.

Sometime during the summer I felt like someone drained all the energy out of my body.  In August I started training for the Honolulu Marathon.  I never ran more than 10 miles in the approximately 8 weeks that I "trained" for it.  Things were just off.  I had some knee pain, but I think I let it get to me more than it really was.  I limped along and probably could have recovered, but mentally I wasn't there.  I finally decided not to run the marathon and the relief I felt told me it was the right decision.

I had my annual physical this month and all my labs came back normal.  While this is good news, it's a little disheartening knowing the only thing wrong with me is that I am a 52 year old woman (ha!)  I have had some heart palpitations (no pain or dizziness, just extremely fast beating,) but my EKG showed no heart damage or previous heart attack.  My doctor felt this is hormone related (add it to the list.)  I'm doing my best to keep track of when these happen (which include during a bike ride, sitting at dinner, and during church.) 

My total miles for the year are lower than they have been in about a decade.  I am officially closing the book on 2016.  Tomorrow everything resets.  When I wake up I will have zero miles, the same as every January 1st.

Are you ready for a new start?  I sure am!

M5T W2 Recap

And just like that, two weeks of marathon training are behind me!  We left Oahu on Wednesday just as President Obama was arriving and two hurricanes were heading that way!  We came home to incredible weather here in So Cal.

Sunday - Rest day
Rested

Monday - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Rode 13.01 miles

Tuesday - Intervals - 6-7 miles total
Ran 6.18 miles
See my Cycling for Runners post for full details

This is a pedestrian bridge I cross.  It's a lot steeper than it looks!

Wednesday  - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
I had planned to go for an easy run or bike ride before our midday flight but the island was pretty socked in with rain.  Instead we spent 10 hours in transit time from our home in Hawaii to our home in California.

Thursday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Rested.  Was rudely awakened by a city workers' leaf blower.  Shouldn't those things be illegal before 8:00 a.m.?  Especially when 8:00 feels like 5:00?

Friday - Rest day
Ran 3.06 miles
It was 58 degrees when I got up!  I don't think it's ever been 58 when I've been in Hawaii.  It felt so wonderful.

Saturday - LSD 8 miles  (10:35-10:50 pace)
Ran 8 miles in 1:23, 10:22 pace
It was another cool morning.  My legs didn't feel great, but they were good enough for a really steady run.  Splits were: 9:33, 9:39, 9:38, 10:31, 10:34, 12:42, 9:46, 10:32.  The first three were speedier than planned, but I just went with it.  Mile 6?  All hills.  I also stopped and chatted with my dear neighbor, Diana.  Her husband, Joe, has had Parkinsons for many years.  When I see them, I'm always reminded of how blessed I am to be able to run.  Thanks is not just for November.

Total planned miles 25
Actual
Running  17.24
Cycling 13.01
Total 30.25

M5T W1 Recap

Marathon Training week one - done! It wasn't perfect, I don't have the speed or endurance that I had a year ago, but that's what training is for.

Hawaiian skies

Sunday - Rest day
Result:  Volunteered at Feed Zone #2, Dick Evans Memorial Road Race.  I'm still waiting to see the official results before I post about this race.  It was a great day.  If you have never volunteered at a race - do it!  Since our feed zone was early in the race, we were done early enough that I was able to get back to the finish line to see Les roll across.
 

This guy raced through sun, wind and rain.  112.5 miles, 6:21:02

Monday - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result:  Rested.  Les and I were both wiped out from Sunday.

Tuesday - Intervals - 2 miles easy, then 6x400 at 1:56 pace with 200 easy run rec finish with 2 miles of easy running
Result:  User Error Upon Set-up!
I set up my intervals for my Suunto through Movescount but somehow missed a step getting it from the website to my watch.  I had 800 repeats on my watch with 400 rests.  Uh no, not ready for those.  I could have easily talked myself out of intervals at that point, but I warmed up, then hit a lap button to start the 400.  When I finished the first one, I watched the distance on the 800 and after about 200 meters hit another lap to start my next 400 interval.  I was distracted, not completely on pace, and lost track of how many intervals I had done.  I ended up with 7 intervals - 2:11, 2:01, 2:15, 2:14, 2:13, 2:15, 2:16. Not too bad since I have done zero speed work since last November.
Total distance 5 miles

Neighborhood sign.  Much better than "slow children."

Wednesday  - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result:  Rested
A huge storm blew through around midnight Tuesday night, thundering and lightning.  This is how Les and I responded - he told me the sound was comforting and went right back to sleep.  I jumped every time I saw a flash and heard the boom!  Tennessee boy vs. California girl.  Really, we don't get thunder and lightning in California very often.  It's a strange phenomenon to me!

Thursday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result:  Rode 13.12 miles
Strava has a new partnership with Relive.cc.  Once you connect with Relive, they will send you a link to relive your ride.  This is really cool, although it doesn't show the many times we passed and were passed by the city bus!  School is back in so traffic is a little on the crazy side again.  Currently the Relive feature only works for bike rides, but they hope to add running and other activities in the future.  If you use Strava for cycling, check it out.  It's free.  Here is a link to Thursday's ride, appropriately named "Playing Chicken in Da Bus Lane."

Friday - Rest day
Result:  Ran/walked 3 miles.
The first mile was with Les, he was on the way to the gym.  My second mile was my fastest, then I reminded myself that I had a long run in 24 hours!

Hawaiian snails have cooler shells

Saturday - LSD 10 miles  (10:35-10:50 pace)
Result:  Ran 8 miles, then walked the last 2 home.
Everything that my training plan had to say about long runs was true today:
Long runs build endurance and help you get comfortable spending more time on your feet, as you'll have to do on race day. You should expect to do these longer runs at the slower range of your easy pace. Naturally, as you run longer, you'll fatigue and your pace will slow. Don't worry too much about long-run pace. Just focus on covering the distance for the day feeling strong. 

Sandy Beach - my turn around point today.  #worthit

Total planned miles 26
Actual:
Running  16
Walking  2
Cycling 13.12
Total 31.12

2015 in 2015!

It's time to say goodbye to another year.  2015 was a really good year for me.  I was healthy (except for one bout with the flu) and injury free.  I set a bunch of goals on January 1st, here's how I did:

Running
1 - Run another marathon.  Revel Canyon City Marathon with a 7:02 PR!
2 - Improve my pace.  I focused on interval workouts each week during marathon training and saw my pace improve so much.  I plan to get back to speed work next week.

Mileage
I want to cross the 2,000 mile mark again this year.  Done!  I crossed the 2,000 mile mark yesterday, then rode 10.64 miles this morning and hit 2015!  I know those cycling miles are what kept me injury free this year.  Even during marathon training I continued to ride.  Easy run days became cycling days.  My 51 year old body is happy!

Breakdown of miles:
Running 835.89 - 145 runs, longest run 26.33 miles
Walking 287.67 - 85 walks, longest walk 5.62 miles
Cycling 891.44 miles - 78 rides, longest ride 20.18 miles

My longest ride was still shorter than my longest run.

Weight and Health
I'm currently 13 pounds over my goal weight.  I am still 13 pounds over my goal weight.  I have been the same weight (+/- 3 pounds) all year!  I guess I can be happy that I didn't gain. I still want to lose that weight, but my doctor said he wasn't concerned.  All my numbers are good.  We have our 25th wedding anniversary on May 25th, so I'd love to weigh less than I do now by then.

Truth!

Some other highlights:
Brio Ice Cream 25k - this was such a fun, hard race on Oahu!  And who doesn't love ice cream on a hot Hawaiian morning?

Mexico Beach Community Garden Turkey Trot with six family members!

Here's to a healthy and happy 2016! Did you set and meet any goals in 2015?