Happy Girls Half Marathon Training - Going Mental

This May I'm running the Happy Girls Half Marathon in Bend, OR. While this isn't my first half marathon event, this time I'm trying something different and I'm working with a Physical Therapist (Jay) and Coach (Stephanie) at Rebound Physical Therapy to keep injury free and improve my performance. 

My goal race is a week from tomorrow. Over the last few weeks I've experienced a wide variety of training "firsts" but there's also been some good progress made. Most of the bad stuff is mental. I'm probably my own worst critic so it's difficult when I don't do as well (or as much) as I think I should. Luckily Jay seems to think I'm making excellent progress with my strengthening program. It's nice to get validation! And feedback and information from Stephanie has been helpful too - especially lately for nutrition. Here are some of the recent highlights.

Bonked

A few weeks ago my training plan called for a 13-14mi run. I chose a route that would be similar to the Happy Girls Route, starting at Riverbend Park then going up Century Drive and around Tetherow. I've been running in that area a lot recently and it's tough - lonnnnng uphills. That day was particularly challenging because it was our first "hot" day and it was really windy. I actually felt fine when I crested the first hill on Meeks Trail, about 3 miles in. From there the route starts rolling up and down and the wind really picked up. I was hot. I was getting tired. And, most importantly, I was lonely.

So, as I turned onto Skyliner Road from Phil's Trail and found that I literally could not run, I did something I'd never done before. I called a friend and asked for a ride. She was awesome, and it was really great to get "out" of that bad run.

It was even better because the next week she rode her bike with me while I ran. Basically she was an aid station on wheels. I made it through that run despite the heat and wind, and it boosted my confidence a lot.

Repressed Memories

Is it bad that I forgot I had a pretty bad knee injury? Does it make it less bad that it was more than 20 years ago? It wasn't bad enough that I needed surgery, but I was on crutches for a couple months and went to physical therapy for even longer.

This all came up because I told Jay that after 11-ish miles I felt like my hips "locked up" which I could walk and run through but killed me when I stopped for water. So, he had their therapeutic massage guy check my IT Bands (which are, as usual, a little worse for wear and I need to foam roll more) until he came to my knee. Let's just say, the next day I was bruise-y and sore. I was also a little afraid to run. It's all turned out OK and I think the work and the exercises have been good for it. But still, it was a little scary for me to remember something like that and it was weird that I had forgotten it.

The Track

Track workouts are pretty boring. You go around and around in a circle. You have to learn to use the "Lap" feature on your watch (which wasn't as bad as I thought would be).

But it's fun to run FAST... especially when you know it's only going to last for a few minutes. And it's even more fun to look at your stats and realize that while you might be slow most of the time, you aren't slow ALL of the time.

Mojo

To me, mojo is motivation. As training winds down and I go into taper mode I'm finding that my mojo is seriously lacking. I just don't feel like going for a run. I'm a little tired of it. I'm finding a LOT of excuses to not go. But, as a good friend always reminds me, I'm never disappointed when I go so I just need to do it.

Tomorrow I'm running Bay to Breakers (in San Francisco, CA) and I'm hoping it's inspiring. It doesn't matter if it inspires me to run more, necessarily. But I hope it will be interesting. Pretty sure it will be.

I am receiving free services from Rebound's Biomechanics Lab in exchange for writing my experiences and feedback. There are no strings attached and I am not required to write positive posts. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not screened. For those who know me, that's all you get!

Ups and Downs

Life has been full of loops and ups and downs lately. I joked with the RHPB last week that I'm ready for my ticket for the kiddie coaster - it's time to trade in steep climbs and drops for something a little more mellow. March was full of both, and I'm now looking towards April for some mellower times.

The "ups" are great! It's mostly the "ups" that have brought me back to this blog. Writing provides me a nice outlet to share good news and way to reflect on the "ups".

T=mr^2a

Meet "Tamra":

This little robot was designed, built, and programmed over the course of six weeks this winter by a geeky group of robotics students called the High Desert Droids. "Tamra" was designed to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition game, “Ultimate Ascent”. The robot is capable of firing flying discs at goals, maneuvering around a complicated playing field, and climbing to the first level of a structure to score points during each tournament match.

Together with their alliance partners (Error Code Xero of Wilsonville and Skunkworks of Des Moines, WA) they were the Regional Winners at the Central Washington FIRST Tournament in Ellensburg, WA. Things didn't always go as expected for them this year, and to be honest I was over the moon when they were picked for finals. There are some extremely dedicated and talented kids on the team who deserved more chances to play. In the finals, they used their robot in ways they originally didn't expect to - shooting and scoring for their team as well as playing heavy offensive defense. In the end, the three teams were that perfect combination of talent and skill (and probably some luck!) that it takes to get a win.

My son, Stinky, is their lead programmer. I can't tell you how proud I am - there are no words big and awesome enough to describe how big my heart feels when I think about this little band of underdogs and their robot.

Nicely done, Team 753!!

Shamrock 15k - Nutrition Edition

For those who are interested, here's how I "fueled the furnace" for the Shamrock 15k in Portland.