Overcoming running obstacles

Ran 3 miles in 37 min nonstop and swam 1km today. This is the best I have done so far. Tomorrow I am hoping to swim and bike after work and then run again before I go to work tomorrow night. Something awesome happened in Canada where it all just clicked for me with running. I will cut and paste my journal entry below. I am pleased I have overcome that hump running. When I began a month ago I could not make it past 1/4 mile without feeling like I had asthma and absolutely hating the process. I ran a mile yesterday while we were driving back from Canada. I had to get out of that car and move! But it was a hard mile so I was not sure if I could actually do the 3 again today. I did and I am happy. Off to work i go now....

"We came back to the hotel and the kids went to bed. James jogged along the Galloping Goose trail [In Victoria, BC]. It was getting late so I decided to jog at the health club with a small track. This is really incredible. It was small track on the roof of the club. I could see Victoria. I jogged a few laps not knowing how long they were nor how many added up to what. So I started with the goal of 8 laps. That came easily so I upped it to 12 and continued to increase in increments of 3. Running has been such a challenge for me but things were falling into place, or else this was a REALLY small track and I am running at a REALLY slow pace. My breaths were in sync with my steps and I was feeling like I was meditating. I was at 24 laps and still had a lot of energy. I told myself go to 30 and I’d be finished. 30 came and went I wanted more. It was easy. I was not out of breath and I had a lot of energy (probably from all of the food and sweets I have been indulging in this week!!!). How about 40, 45? 45 rolls around. Well now I must do 50. it sounds better and I can keep going. I felt great, proud and knew I had moved past something here. I knew I had gone further than I ever have without stopping. I don’t know how far, maybe only a mile. But I had not run a straight mile nonstop since high school. I whine and complain at ¼ - ½ mile and work through the rest stopping and starting. I found that “happy place” that runners seem to find. The endorphins were here and I was loving the challenge of how far I could push myself. I wasn’t really even pushing yet, just playing a game really. 50 rolled around and it was getting late. I did 50 laps in 35 minutes. I walked a lap and oh my! There were feelings or lack thereof in my legs I have never felt. My thighs were like play-doh and it was hard to walk. But I was thrilled. I went down and asked the worker if she knew the distance of the track. I am thinking 50 laps = 1 mile. She asks her manager. 10 laps = 1km. So I do the math. So 50 laps = 5 km. That’s a 5K. That’s 3 miles!!!!!! That is what I have to do for the triathlon. I never ever thought I could run 3 miles nonstop. I have not run past ½ mile nonstop. I felt elated, like I had won a contest. I ran back to the hotel to tell James. He was happy and told me he never had any doubt I could do it. I was still shocked. The thing that was really amazing is I could have gone further. It was only time that stopped me. I wanted to get back to see James and it was almost 10pm. The club closed at 10. James has been thinking of entering a 5 or 10 K in a few weeks. After tonight I decided to enter the 5 K. I just hope I can reproduce what I did."

Vegan doughnuts

We are in Portland for a conference and what do we see??!! Voodoo doughnuts. Not just doughnuts but VEGAN doughnuts. Our kids have never had a doughnut in their lives, funny as I grew up on them with glazed being my favorite. Luna continues to reiterate how she has never had a doughnut as we enter the shop. We go in to this small and rather hip bakery and there's the vegan selection on a plate. The kids picked the ones with white frosting and colorful sprinkles. I pick the one with chocolate frosting and peanuts and J picks the chocolate with coconut. For 50 cents more we could get 1/2 dozen. So chocolate covered and maple covered it is. The kids ate half and said, "Gee this bagel is really sweet. Can we save it for later?" A bagel. No concept of doughnuts. As I write this, J and I are planaing to go back and get more tonight. I heard it is open all night. If the door is locked we can knock and someone will come.

Running Ramblings

I swam 1/2 km with some decent strokes followed by a 2 mile run. All after working all night. We did the same yesterday with the team. We ran down a road alongside a beautiful creek. I like that much more than the monotonous high school track.

Running is such an issue for me. Once I let go I run and have no problems. But I have noticed I begin for quite a long time fighting myself every step of the way. "Can't run anymore, my legs hurt...Stop... Can't run anymore, I don't like the terrain ... Stop...Can't run anymore, my breathing is too hard...Stop...Can't run anymore, this sucks...Stop" whine whine whine. So I stop often, feel bad for stopping, walk fast and mentally prepare to run more. As I came closer to the 1 mile mark, I ran longer distances setting mini goals. "I will run to that telephone pole ...to that tree ...to that curve ...to the top of the hill." That worked well but I still stopped at those points rather then continuing. My coach told me to do exactly that, set mini goals and not to be hard on myself.

On the way back, I did the same but less stopping. By about halfway I finally found a rhythm and ran the rest of the way nonstop. My steps were in sync with my exhaling breath.It became a meditation and I finally let go. I did not think of how much this sucked or hurt. I looked up, set even smaller goals, passed them and realized how much like school it was. Get an A on this test and this one and this one and it will add up to one for the course. Pass this pole and this one and this one and I will see my car soon. I was enjoying this. I was doing it. I was pleased. I did it.

Now if I can figure out how to let go. It all seems so random. It was not a conscious choice, it just happened. I could have run even further at that point. I guess I have to plan longer distances and expect that I will fight the first half and it will eventually work.

Swimming and Biking

Been swimming the last two days. I am pleased with my improvement. The strokes and breathing are beginning to feel natural to me. Today I swam a total of 1000 meters, hey that's .6 mile...woohoo! Last Saturday at training the coaches filmed our swimming. Of course when he filmed me I did my worst swimming ever. If only they had filmed me today. I was on it and even had some speed. The kids have been going with us, swimming in the pool while we do laps. Luna can swim 10 meters on her own. Pretty impressive.

Two days ago I biked 12.8 miles in the valley. It was a beautiful ride with two small to medium inclines. It reminded me of the village in Transylvania... the smell of trees, heat, animals and the wild grasses growing. I talked myself up the longer incline. I had done two loops around so the second time was more of a challenge going uphill as I was tired. the rest of the ride was fairly flat so I could work more on speed. I feel pretty confident on biking. I was tired at the end but I could have done two more loops totaling almost 26 miles. I feel confident that biking will not be an issue in the triathlon. I need more work on hills and speed but I know I can do that.

Running is a whole other issue. My weakest point in all of this. I did well one day last week and can't quite imitate that. I am breathing better and not getting tired. However somewhere before 1/2 mile I hit some sort of wall. I just want to stop and even if I tell myself no, my legs slow down and I stop. Then of course I get frustrated with myself. I am not tired, just done. And from that point the rest of practice is really hard. I know I just have to push through that. I want to have J run with me and talk me through that point. A co-worker suggested an i-pod for running. She said she gets bored and that is what makes her stop. The music distracts her well. I think that is a small part of it. But when I get to that wall I think I just can't do it anymore even though I can. On that good day I was full of positive self talk and did great but the last few times it's just not there. The other difference is that day I did well I was alone. maybe I am distracted by J and the kids.

Tomorrow we have training with the coaches and team. We have swim and running. It will be good to get feedback on the running.

We had a very full week this week. Our dear friend, Melissa from college spent 5 days with us. We kept her busy. She willingly and patiently came along with us for our triathlon practices.

On Sun was the Pride fest. We tabled for Code Pink. Luna finally got her ears pierced. I cut here hair last week (long story) and a while back I tried to bribe her with earrings if she let me cut here hair. She remembered that bribe so we went for it. She did not even bat an eyelash when they pierced her ears. She said it did not hurt at all and since then she has religiously taken care of her ears by washing them 2x daily and turning them 3x on the clock.

We hiked the redwoods, went to the coast, ate and ate and ate. Melissa is from Chicago and has never been west of the Mississippi so of course we had to go for authentic taqueria burritos. We went to Ravens for a gourmet vegan experience, the Ukiah brewery for some microbrew, and of course the Buddhist temple.

She left today and it is quiet again. We miss her terribly and had such a lovely time. Nothing has changed in our dynamics since college. We have always had this incredible comfort level around each other. None of that has changed. We have grown up a bit in our worldview but we look the same and have fun the same way we did 12 years ago. Only we have more kids and she has more dogs now.

Biking, Running and Swimming

I rode my new bike the other day int he neighborhood. Our neighborhood has a lot of hills but I felt comfortable with the idea of riding here. Idea, of course, it was. It was harder than I expected riding the hills. I was discouraged afterwards. But thanks to my friend and frequent blog responder Will who bikes, I received encouragement and am up for more this weekend.

Yesterday I ran alone at the track. J was picking up our friend from the airport. I ran 1.25 miles without nearly as much effort as the first time this week. I was pleased with my work. I realized so much of it for me running is mental discipline. I have never ran past that wall to reap the actual benefits of running. I have always stopped at any discomfort. I talked myself though encouraging myself every step of the way. then on my last lap I focused on belly breathing which helped tremendously but required SOOOO much discipline and focus. I was easily distracted. As soon as I did that I hyperventilated. Once I returned to the belly breaths I was fine and could run another lap no problem. My legs and knees were fine, just my breathwork needed focus. Afterwards I felt great and even enjoyed the process. I am looking forward to running again tomorrow.

Today we had swim practice with the coaches. I did better but was inconsistent. they filmed us and we watched and gave feedback. Mine being the worst as coach had to remind everyone that I was an absolute beginner *blushing*. I have heard the learning curve is about 3 weeks. I am beginning week 2 now and feeling much more comfortable in the water. We'll see.

With all of this I am feeling really nice. My legs are sore in places unfamiliar. But I am not at all exhausted. I'd love to do some Pilates work to strengthen my core but I don't know how we could make that work. Our coaches do private trainings in it.

Funding this journey

Okay readers, we are in need of funding. We are looking for "sponsors" to make donations (financial and childcare) to support us through this triathlon. We are paying a chunk of money for the training (well worth it!), $100 to enter the triathlon, childcare, health club memberships (the really big chunk in this), equipment, etc. It's adding up to be quite a lot.

While we are thrilled and it is of course necessary and worth it, we are middle class and have summer camps, school tuitions, mortgage and other financial obligations. If anyone feels like making a donation, it will gladly be welcomed. While you may not directly benefit from it. It sends the message that you support healthy lifestyles through fitness. You can tell all of your friends that and they will think you are really cool. And WE will worship you and throw a big party after we complete the race.

So what kinds of donations do we need? Money and if you are local childcare.

If you are interested or know anyone else contact me. If you don't have contact info, let me know in a comment with your email.

Day 1-Run/Walk

Bothe James and I will write here:

Cecily:
Today was the official first day of training. We have been given a strict schedule to follow. We were to run/walk 30 min.

Took the whole family down to the track at the high school. Little ones played croquet and ran a little. Actually Luna ran about 1/2 mile and walked another 1/2. Impressive for a 3 foot something girl weighing 40 something pounds. She looked so tiny running along the big track. She was never intimidated (I sure was!) by how much a mile was.

Byron swiftly ran a whole mile with James. We dragged him down to the track with us and he loved it. James did really well running over 2.5 miles in 30 min. And me, I did run a mile and walk the rest totaling 2.5 miles. This is my most disliked sport. I never liked running esp that which requires stamina. Sprinting I like. It was not so bad though. The last time I ran a mile was in middle school.

I was discouraged when I had to walk. My legs were fine. I worried about my knees which like to dislocate every now and again. I actually talked to my knees before I started asking them to be good to me. They did. My whole body was fine except my lungs. I would get short of breath, get anxious,hyperventilate too much and not be able to breathe. Quite embarassing. After a few laps, I was able to do some yoga breaths and hand movements (I like visuals). By my last running lap I chanted to the rhythm of my step "yes...yes...yes..yes" to overpower the "no...no...no" in my head. That helped a lot.

Right now I feel great but a bit rubbery.

Tomorrow we are to swim 800 meters *gulp*
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James:
I can't believe that I jogged 30 minutes and did a 12 minute mile pace. It is exactly what I set out to do and it ended up that I could have gone a little faster. Next track day I will have to see if I can get the whole 3 miles of the triathlon run down in 30 minutes.

I'm afraid tomorrow will not be so easy. I figure I can swim the distance but it is going to be a lot more work and take more than 30 minutes.

1st day of swim practice

James and I practiced swimming at the health club this morning after my work. I am not as encouraged as yesterday. Cerebrally I know I improved but I just could not feel it. I am working on coordinating my hip and leg movements with my strokes and breathing. I can do 2 out of 3. When I get distracted or one falters everything goes. I start to become a barge rather the kayak I need to be.

Later after I sleep we need to go to town and get a bike, goggles, fins, and vegan non sweatshop running shoes for James. I want to get noseplugs to make it easier but I feel like I would be regressing in progress by doing so.

Otherwise I feel great now. I did work out my whole body well. I'm ready to sleep.

Triathlon training!

James and I decided to embark on a journey...a triathlon! In September we will be ready to swim 1/2 mile in a lake, bike 21 miles and run 3 miles. Thanks to Luna's classmate's mom (also on of the coach/trainers), we signed up for a 14 week intense training complete with personal trainers and loads of support from other triathletes. All levels are in the class. Of course we are at the bottom of the class here but there really are others.

Apprehensive, we began our day at 8am after my shift at work ended. "We'll check it out" combined with "what are we thinking" and "this will be an adventure". I was vehemently opposed to swimming in the lake part of the event. There are snakes and lakes are just...well...icky. So I have been trying to con James into swimming the lake for me. We train in the pool and eventually move to the lake. After a few minutes in the class I felt more comfortable with at least trying the lake. The trainer assured me he has never seen a snake in the water in the years he has been competing.

So next barrier...and oh was I ever trying to dig these up. I can't swim. I can stay afloat, swim on my back and doggie paddle but I never in my life could go under water without holding my nose. No matter how hard I blew through my nose water came in. I could use nose clips. Now there's an attractive site- goggles and nose clips.

And the next... the last time I swam I got tired after 1.5 laps. We will be swimming .5 miles in the triathlon which I think is equivalent to 35 laps. Ha! I told myself to stay int he present and take baby steps. If the coach is right then I will learn better techniques and swim. Theoretically it all made sense.

Final barrier...I'm cold almost all the time. When it was time to get in the pool I was the last. I spent more time at the ladder thinking about getting in. I got in and it was pretty warm. I was warm as long as I moved.

So off we go. There were five of us in the beginning group. My first two laps I doggie paddled and kicked too much. Next time around I focused on putting my face in the water and blowing through my nose. I got it! I see how it works. There is an accomplishment. I worked on the rest, stretching my arms long, moving my legs with my hips keeping them straight, toes pointed.

By the end I got all the pieces. Now it's working on coordination and putting it all together. That will take a bit. But, in one hour I drastically improved. I had so much fun. It reminded me of my tennis days 16 years ago. I could swim laps without exhausting myself. I did not want to leave.

I am hoping to blog again based on our experience training and finishing this triathlon in September. We'll see how it all goes.