Hill training!

Hill training: Running conditions: Sunday 8 am Irwin, PA 60 degrees light drizzle.  So traveled up to PA to see my in laws for Father's Day.  In the 4 hour drive from Maryland, I was reintroduced to hills and elevation changes.  My ears popped frequently and had a combination feeling of appreciating the beauty and feeling claustrophobic for having hills and valleys so closed in to the roads.  My husband Mike plotted out a course that was between 3 and 4 miles with hills.  I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I thought it would be great to take advantage of the terrain while it was available. The Baltimore Marathon contains 2, 300 ft elevations and I have run relatively flat for nearly 5 years.  This course I thought had a total elevation change of 167 ft.  so in my mind I though no big deal right? So we set off and the first section is down hill...I like this type of warm up. Remembering the coaching same intensity, not necessarily same speed.  It was cool and damp, comparable to what our winter usually is.  We cross the street and head up on lap 1 of 2 of our course and this is what we have ahead:

The first hill was pretty darn steep what I found out was the total course had a 300 ft elevation change total(per my trusty Garmin watch) to the point we had to walk at the really top-wow!! Did we used to run these all the time growing up? We turn the corner thinking we will get a little reprieve, and uh, no...no such case!

This is what it looks like from the top of the loop, by the second lap, it started raining at a pretty good clip-not driving, but definitely not a drizzle!

Around the back end of the loop and less than a half a mile to finish.  If you can tell, the roads here are not remotely conducive to runners, it was like playing Frogger in the rain! It is good that I have pretty good agility skills :)

That great start running down hill also means that the path to the finish is all up hill!

We ran, we walked, we talked and really enjoyed the company of each other, it was not about time, but a nice way to start Father's day with my hubby.  In regards to the hills, I definitely felt this in my hip and ankles, I know I am at the beginning of my base building so this was not for powering up the hills but the increase in total elevation of 1150 ft above sea level was definitely felt in our breathing!  My goal in the next couple weeks despite the craziness of the move and changing hotels and kids birthdays, change of command and moving into our new home is to get 12-16 miles per week.  First week in Maryland: 10 down, 2-6 to go this week!

Delicious and nutritious training fuel

I have been focused on improving my nutrition at this early stage of marathon training. It is extremely hot out right now (in the low to mid 90's) so my runs are slow and short. With that in mind I know I need to be vigilant in making excellent nutritional choices to prevent injury and lets face it, slim down a bit so I'm not hauling so much up and down the hills in Baltimore. Maybe in my next few posts I will go into my weight and measurements purely for a source of comparison after this marathon and before the Dopey.

With the heat beating me down I have increased my water intake tremendously. The first thing I do when I wake up is chug the full 16 ounces of water sitting on my night stand strategically placed the night before. I take a reusable cup full of water everywhere I go for the rest of the day!

Breakfast has been 2 hard boiled eggs (Cindy, you know how hard one is for me, but I have been eating two!!) On days that I need a change I have my eggs scrambled with peppers, spinach or any other veggies I can get my hands on. I also have one single serving size plain Greek yogurt (As little sugar as possible) I have tried Fage, Chobani, and Oikos. They are all pretty similar in taste, but not in price so I will buy whatever is on sale of the 3. This morning I added fresh raspberries and black berries to my yogurt.

After I teach spin and core or do my own training in the morning I usually have a protein shake with fruit and spinach. I used frozen grapes, 4oz of milk and the rest was water this morning.The frozen grapes taste ultra sweet so it is like having a cake in a cup!

As soon as I feel at all hungry after that I have a salad with either grilled chicken or hard boiled eggs as a source of protein. I have some sort of nuts too. Lately I have been loving salt-free walnuts. Variety where I can get it here!

If I am going to have anything that I know that I really shouldn't I try to do it midday. That way I don't get off track early and cascade and I also don't end the day feeling like a I made bad choices right at the end. A positive mindset in nutrition is just as important as it is in training.

Dinner. I try to strictly limit processed food here. There is no time left to "burn it off" and I want to provide my body with the right tools to use my sleep as recovery time. A relatively small dinner that satisfies my hunger is what I have. Usually that is chicken, fish and veggies.My favorite veggie of all time is the adorable baby cabbage looking brussel sprout. (I know they smell bad and I don't care - they taste yummy and are packed with the nutrients my body needs to function at a high level of athletisism)

 I have been having FAR less coffee in the last couple weeks and I do not feel like I have less energy. Of course I don't have a true way to measure that though. I may go get a coffee right now before my bike ride!

Chow!
  

Finding the time to train in transition

June 13, 2013...it has been a week since I left all that had been familiar to me for almost 5 years.  After moving around the world in one form or another, we had found our home in Florida.  The military was not done with our family yet, so we set out for what we hope is our last move a week ago.  The stress and craziness that comes from moving can be in a way as fatiguing as many workouts but without the benefits.  I know that deloading and breaks are good and many times necessary, so I have tried my best to be kind and take the time to relax, reflect, stretch and do yoga when my body would be stiff and achy from long car rides and unfamiliar beds.  We are now staying in a small hotel room: 4 people plus a 70 pound Labrador puppy equates to crowded quarters and restlessness! I wanted to run, get my legs moving and do some of the lifting I had been missing. I definitely become more irritable and ancy when I'm not getting a bit of stress relief from exercising.
     For the past year, the usual routine was that on Wednesdays, Hope and I would start the day at Starbucks (where we were well known), go to spinning and core class which she taught(sometimes I helped in core), have lunch and then we would do our weight training for an hour.  Hope and I had consistently trained together for more than 3.5 years.  It was a great dynamic and it worked well.  We have our own strengths and challenges. We are very competitive but not with each other.  Hope has a grace in her training that is amazing to witness and I have always tried to work towards that; all the while she would always be right there coaching on what things I needed to tweak or work on to improve my gait, posture, strength, form, etc.  But I digress; so I set out Wednesday evening to go to the post fitness center to see what equipment they had and so I could plan what I would do in the morning.  When you walk in, the first thing you see is a big one room like the inside of a wear house with tons of treadmills, elliptical machines all lined up neatly facing the same way towards strategically placed flat screens hanging from the ceilings....hmmm very military like.  Past the rows of cardio equipment, is the weight area, the left side occupying the machines, the right side had the free weights. They have many of the basic stuff I need: Olympic bar, heavy dumb bells, back extension bench, plates, the kettle bells are only 20lb, but they will work. Down stairs was a spinning room that was closed and a group fitness room where a small handful of people were lifting small dumbells to music. There wasn't much else on post that had this set up so while on post, here is where I'll train.
     So I set my alarm for early and got there at 6.  As I walked in I realized something: I had no partner in crime, no lifting wizard or form guru.  No one to banter with or call me on it if I want to pull back....crap! Even though I knew what I needed to do, the realization of this fact weighed heavy at first.  I looked around and let out a small sigh as I saw all others in groups of twos training together.  I then smiled with the knowledge that I had the gift of being taught by an amazing trainer and best friend and got to work.  I did my base warm ups of DB swings and goblet squats, I did Olympic pyramid sumo dead lifts, single arm rows and a ton of push ups of varying kinds, weighted back extensions and finished with pull ups.  I wasn't going to push it, but I was greatly encouraged by my continued strength; I knew that time was a good teacher.  Even though Hope was not with me in that room, I had been given the gift of knowledge and confidence to walk in and train effectively on my own.  I think I even had a few heads turn with the dead lifts :-). I finished my first training with a moderate pace 2.5 mile run and knew that it was the start of a new chapter in our training.  Separate yet still together.  What a great start!