2012 Goals...met, sorta

I was just looking over the goals I had set for 2012 and figured I'd just do a quick assessment of how I did. You can see what my goals were over at this page.

Running Goals
Well, it's pretty easy to see that this (and really all my goals) were changing over the year. I did the majority of the races listed on the page but in reality I managed to finish 20 official half marathons (13.1 miles) and 3 unofficial virtual half marathons.

Completed Half Marathons (Official):

TinkerBell HM - Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA
Pecos Valley Stampede HM - Roswell, NM
Xpress HM - Wichita Falls, TX
Arizona Distance Classic HM - Oro Grande Valley, AZ
Bloodgusher HM - Midland, TX
Arbuckle to Ardmore HM - Ardmore, OK
Wayland Wellness HM - Wichita Falls, TX
Southern Indiana Classic HM - Evansville, IN
GO! St. Louis HM - St. Louis, MO
New Mexico Centennial/TX-NM Club Challenge HM - Hobbs/Lovington, NM
Oklahoma City Memorial HM - Oklahoma City, OK
Wisconsin HM - Kenosha, WI
1st Midwest Bank Southwest HM - Palos Heights, IL
Hope & Healing Place HM - Amarillo, TX
Kirtland AFB Armed Forces Day HM - Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM
Wounded Warriors HM - Irving, TX
Legacy Midnight Run HM - Farmington, UT
ET Full Moon Midnight HM - Las Vegas/Rachel, NV
Prairie Fire HM - Wichita, KS
Wine & Dine HM - Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, FL

Completed Half Marathons (Unofficial):

New Year's Day Virtual Race Against Cancer HM (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - Team in Training Fundraiser)
For the Love of the Kids Virtual HM
Bling Ho's 1st SemiAnnual Charity Race Virtual HM (Relay for Life Fundraiser)

I did manage to join the Half Fanatics in March and have maxed out at 7 moons (Venus) out of 10. I was shooting for Sun (10 moons - 30 HMs in 30 different states in 365 days) but because of the severe depression from May through really now still...that goal has gone out the window. I'm fine with it though...going from a non-runner to a multiple race half marathoner crazy enough at one point to run 3 doubles (one race on subsequent Saturdays and Sundays) in one month is not a bad thing! :D

I postponed my foray into the full marathon spectrum (26.2 miles) until 2013 which ended up being a good thing since I did emotionally crash this year. I actually got to the point early in the year where 8-10 mile runs were the norm and something I looked forward to, but since I'm still recovering from the depressed mood I'm going to have to start from near scratch to get back up there. My times got worse over the year but had gotten down at one point to a fairly steady 11 minute mile so there's still room for improvement.

2012 Weight Loss Goals

Well, this was kind of a bust. I started out well and managed to get down to about 138 pounds but once the depression hit the weight came back. Right now I'm sitting at about 152 pounds so I'm going to have to get on the ball in 2013 to get where I want to be.

2013 Fitness Goals

Again, I started off well but with the exacerbation of the bipolar so went the exercise routine. I've been dealing with injuries of the lower extremities for the last 3-4 months and just overall fatigue (no surprise with the depression). So this too will need to be worked on in 2013. I never did do the duathlon or century ride primarily due to the fact that I didn't have the right type of equipment (cheap mountain bike vs at least and entry level road bike) or the right training. I'll work on kicking out at least one sprint duathlon in 2013 for sure though!

My main focus will be working on core strength, hip area strength to help with the pelvic malrotation issues/balance and ankle strength. My plan is to run, walk, cycle, elliptical (which I hate!) and swim although the whole swim thing is a bit hairy since although I know the mechanics of swimming I have a huge fear  of deep water, anything more than 5 feet, due to a near drowning as a five year old. So, swimming lessons or at least tutelage will be in order this year.

So, while I guess I did well on some aspects I didn't do so well on others. I'll be working on these some more in 2013 and hopefully it won't be as rough a year as this year has been. So, for me, it onward and upward...trying to be more optimistic and looking forward to becoming the really active individual I was prior to the mental crash. My 2013 goals will follow in another post shortly...

Double digit miles of indecision

OK, I know ya'll are getting tired of hearing about this particular subject...changing my race schedule. Yes, I've done it yet again...actually I've changed it about 3 times since last night!! lol! I just keep adding more and more to the schedule. In fact, I've added my first full marathon to be done in October, just three weeks before my MUST DO half marathon (the WDW Wine & Dine) so that I can get my coveted Coast to Coast medal...which signifies that you have completed a race at Disneyland and a race at Walt Disney World in the same calendar year. I also plan to add the 5K  that weekend, which will have to be renamed due to the change in dates...it used to be the Disney Halloween 5K. Since the race was changed to early November maybe they'll rename it to the Thanksgiving 5K? This will be a prolific running weekend because I would, hopefully, be coming home with three medals at once!! :D

Anyway, I digress. So after thinking about it a little bit I've registered to do a virtual half marathon on Tuesday...For the Love of the Kids Virtual Run. As long as I finish the run I'll earn a finishers medal to add to my medal rack which is looking a bit barren right now with only 3 medals on it. I already had a 12-13 mile training run planned for tomorrow in honor of Sherry Arnold that I'll knock down to a 10 miler to rest a little for Tuesday. Then I've potentially added the Disneyland Half Marathon to my schedule for September which also means that I might as well add the 5K run in there as well!

I've also added the Wounded Warriors HM in Las Colinas, Texas on June 10th as yet another half marathon. I have a cousin, actually a few, that live in the Dallas area and one of the girls said that I'm welcome to stay at their house. I just have to figure out whether to drive or fly down there. Hopefully I can find a cheap flight and car rental...that'd make life so much easier!

Finally I've also decided to train for my first full marathon in Albuquerque on October 21st...both my choices are on the same day so I just have to decide which one I want to do. The Duke City Marathon is almost completely flat and follows the Paseo del Bosque Recreational Trail which is a beautiful piece of running/biking path. It's basically an out and back route so there's no chance of me getting lost when I'm the last runner coming in...hopefully before the cutoff!! lol! My other choice is Day of the Tread. This is a fully costumed race (from what I can tell from pics) versus what seems to be a conservative Duke City Marathon. I think that DoTT is probably the funner of the two but it also comes with a 400' change in elevation and a time limit of 6 hours versus a 7 hours time limit for the DCM.

Now, with all the additions I may have to take away a few races. My sprint duathlon and the metric century ride are first on the chopping block for potentially being put off until next year. I may replace the Firecracker Run 10 miler with a local 5K. Finally, if I do end up doing the Disneyland HM the Turtle HM, which was my very first race last year, will be chopped as well since they are on the same weekend (Labor Day) and I won't be home in time to do it. I've also decided not to do the Dirty Dash in Albuquerque as it is 2 weeks before Wine & Dine and I don't want to risk a major injury that would prevent me from participating in that race!

One of these days I'll come up with a final schedule but until then you can see what I have planned in the race schedule widget in the right sidebar along with a countdown of the next 3-4 upcoming races. So please, bear with me...I'm just a little addicted now to a sport I've literally hated for most of my life!! LOL!

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 41
• 30 minutes PT exercises

What I Ate Today:

• 60 oz G2
• 1 pack chicken ramen with 
• 1 small, shredded chicken breast 
• 1 cup mixed vegetables
• 1 full rack of BBQ Baby Back ribs (oink!)
• 1 scoop coleslaw
• 1 scoop potato salad
• 1 slice Texas toast
• 24 oz Pepsi

Alkalete Review Day 4:

A little sore today from yesterday's run. Tomorrow's run should be interesting. The soreness is uncomfortable but not painful. I really can't tell any significant difference. Still had to take a couple of short naps today because I was so tired. I was just advised by my distributor to take extra doses since I'll be running so much the next several days with longer miles than usual so maybe I'll be able to make more of a judgement after my HM run on Tuesday. There are still other forces at nature that might be influencing the fatigue and such so I'm really trying to give this stuff a chance.

Goodbye Zumba! (For Now)

Today I made a gut wrenching decision. I'm letting Zumba go, at least for now, until I feel my pelvic malalignment issues have been permanently corrected. Up until I attended a couple of classes last week my pelvis/IT band has been feeling pretty good with only some slight aching. After attending the classes (regular studio classes) I began having increased pain to the point that I had to start sitting out some songs on the second day. Even now I have some issues with mild pain and tightness when I first start running even when running at a pace slower than my normal training pace of about 12-13 minutes/mile. My next half marathon is just over two weeks away, so I think that it is the smart move to stop Zumba now and allow as much recovery (between runs) as possible.It seems that the Aqua Zumba isn't causing me any problems, other than sore arms because I use swim gloves for more resistance, so I'll be staying with that. Luckily summer is headed our way in a few months so I'll be able to attend classes at the outdoor pool over the summer...woohoo!

So, what will I replace it with? Well, I should start training on the bike for the sprint duathlon in May. I still need to replace the MTB tires for semi slicks and my bike needs a serious tune up (it doesn't help that it's a cheap WalMart bike). I'm just not ready to fork over big bucks for a road bike...that won't happen until I find out how much I enjoy/or not enjoy riding. We have an elliptical but to tell the truth, I hate it. First of all my quads burn so bad within 10 minutes or so and well, I don't have the patience to stay on it...I think it's actually worse than the "dreadmill."

So, I'll have to decide fairly quickly. I definitely need some cross training in my routine as well as speed work (again something that I dislike). I wish our YMCA had a full on rowing machine...I've loved rowing in the past. I've read that rowing is a great cross training activity for runners as well. I could row almost forever I think. Maybe that's what I'll look for to add to the home gym in the future, a nice rowing machine. But that costs money. Ugh. Running is making me even more broke than normal!! Running is NOT a cheap sport...don't let anyone tell you it is!! LOL!

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 39
• 38 minutes of PT exercises for pelvic malalignment/ITBS

What I Ate Today:

• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 2 fried eggs
• 2 sausage patties
• 8 oz Mongolian beef
• 1½ cups white rice
• 1 pound baked potato from Something Different Grill with
• shredded cheese
• bacon bits
• chives
• sour cream
• butter
• salt
• pepper
• 32 oz Pepsi
• 20 oz G2

Alkalete Review Day 2:
Yesterday was my 2nd full day on the Yoli Alkalete dosing. After doing a 6 mile treadmill run late last night I woke up today to my feet feeling okay but some soreness in the legs/hips. As the day has worn on, the soreness had eased significantly although I did do some PT exercises and the soreness increased somewhat. I was also extremely tired today and yesterday having to take an extended nap each day. Now, I'm not saying that the fatigue is due to the Alkalete as there is also a change in my body's self-regulation that I noticed yesterday. Tomorrow is an 8-10 mile run so we'll see how things are feeling on Friday. The testing continues.

A (good) long day

Well, we've finally made it back home after our day out to Santa Fe. Here's a quick recap of today's activity:

1) Wake up and get Bandit, the rescue pup (German Shepard), fed and watered for the trip to Santa Fe at 5:45-ish in the morning. Bandit spent the night with us and tolerated my pesky, sometimes pushy pack (especially the big grand pup) pretty well...by spending a lot of time safely laying down in her crate instead of roaming too much. This morning she was roaming the house and I think was on the verge of figuring out how to use the doggie door. She went to a rescue in the Santa Fe area. Oh, did I forget to mention that I remembered to get Bandit all fed...but forgot to feed our pack before we left! My bad. There were not happy campers when we got home!

Bandit at the vet.

2) 8 Mile run - I got out on this run about 45 minutes later than I had planned because I was downloading new running playlists from iTunes. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I had changed the settings to sync all music. While I was waiting for this to finish, Bandit had to come and stick her nose in the KT Tape that I was trying to use to tape up my knees for light support or the regular athletic tape that I use to tape up my turf toe. Let me tell you, it's not easy working with tape while a curious pup is literally sniffing at the stuff while you put it on. I did think of sticking a piece on her nose, but decided not to be mean (although it would have been interesting to watch her reaction when the tape kept changing from paw to paw). Today's run was done in the memory of Sherri Arnold, a runner and school teacher in Montana who went missing during a run last Saturday and was whose body was found late this week. The run itself went pretty well and actually was my best time for that distance at 1:44:26 with a pace of 12:49 which is about 30 - 45 seconds faster than my normal. Felt really good after the run and immediately got ready for the all day drive/trip. Made my first ever smoothie (hey, I just started drinking smoothies last year!) which needed vanilla yogurt or something sweet instead of plain yogurt. Note to self: Look at some recipes for smoothies.

3) Historic Santa Fe Plaza - We used to go up to this historic area of Santa Fe fairly often when we first got to New Mexico. It's probably been 4 years or so since the old man had been up there and the only reason then was because we were transporting out first Chihuahua, Corky, to be cremated. I was last there myself probably in 2006 or so with a small group of students before clinicals started in Las Vegas, New Mexico about an hour away. We were going to go eat at Il Vicino where we've eaten several times before, but we walked past The Atomic Grill where the fish tacos and the turkey burger caught our eyes, so we ate ther for the first time. Well worth the stop...nothing fancy but our food was tasty. Next stop was The French Pastry Shop at the La Fonda Hotel just off the Plaza. This is a regular stop for me when I come to the city. I rarely have a chance to get a good Nutella crepe (I got hooked on chocolate crepes from street vendors during 2 trips to Paris). A plain Nutella crepe is $4.50 and the husbands Nutella/banana crepe ran $8 (ouch!). A nice hot cup of hot chocolate and mocha topped off dessert. When we checked out, the owner was working the register and counted out change and spoke primarily in French. First time that's occurred for me!

The French Pastry Shop & Creperie (duh!)

Santa Fe Plaza

 4) REI (Santa Fe) - Now, I didn't know that there was an REI in town. I guess it would make sense with all the outdoor things that you can do up there, but I had just never thought about it. I stocked up on Gu Energy Gels (chocolate, of course) and also picked up a couple of Clif Shot Bloks and some Honey Stingers Energy Chews and Honey Stingers Waffles (kinda like a cookie). I'll use the gels and maybe one of the Bloks during the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, but I'll try the Honey Stingers stuff during my 6 mile run next weekend or a long bike ride. The thing about the Honey Stingers is that they are all natural and organic.

REI Santa Fe, smaller than Albuquerque.
About the same size as Concord, CA.

5) Santa Fe Half Century Ride Route - We drove the entire 50 mile route to see exactly how terrifying the hills would be if we continued in our pursuit of this ride. Ummmm...really scary! The course is fairly flat and even downhill initially then becomes gentle hills progressing to rolling hills and then, one after the other, some really big ascents...14 of them! Of these, 11 were pretty quick increases in grade the other three were long, drawn out increases in elevation. We've determined this route to be too much for us as newbies with mountain bikes and slicks. So, we're going to opt out and instead do the Tour de Muleshoe in June which is only an hour away from home and relatively flat. We'll probably end up doing the 40 mile ride, but I haven't ruled out the metric century ride (62 miles).

6) Osaka Express - While we were up in the Plaza area, the first restaurant we came upon was a sushi restaurant. Unfortunately, they had already closed for lunch...just 5 minutes before. So, for dinner I decided we were having Japanese and opted for this place because it had an express side. I really didn't want to go into the full restaurant. The shrimp and vegetable tempura I had was good although the shrimp was a lot smaller than I am accustomed to getting in tempura plates. The husband got chicken teriyaki which looked more like chicken in a curry sauce. He said that it was good but didn't taste like teriyaki. The California roll was okay and the tuna nagiri was rather pricey at $5.95 for 2 pieces. We walked out of there with a $50+ bill (not including tip). I might go back there for a bento box at lunch, but next time I'll try a different Japanese grill/sushi bar.

So after a very quick stop at Target to see if they carried Fuel Belt items for runners (which they do not) we got back on the road home. I had to have the old man take over driving in Clines Corners (about an hour south of Santa Fe) because I had forgotten to take off my contacts before leaving home. For some reason when I wear my contacts at night I have fairly bad issues with night blindness, especially with on coming headlights or headlights in the rear view mirror. Ah, the joys of aging. I don't know why, but with my glasses the night blindness is barely and issue. We finally made it home just before 11:30pm (we left at 9:30ish this morning). I've typed this up and I'm ready for bed. So, farewell, adieu, aufsetzen, adios, au revoir...and good night!

100 Days Challenge:

• 8 mile long run in 1:44:26 (12:49 min/mile pace)

What I Ate Today:

• 1 Slice whole wheat toast
• 1 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1 banana 
• 6 oz hot water with lemon
• 1 Clif Shot Bloks - Black Cherry
• 50 oz G2 (during run and throughout the day)
• 18 oz mango/banana/strawberry/pineapple smoothie with 1 cup Greek yogurt & 3 tsp sugar
• 3 fish tacos (deep fried Pollack)
• 3 iced teas (1 with 3 sugars, 2 with 3 Splendas)
• 1 Nutella crepe with powdered sugar
• 1 hot chocolate
• Shrimp & vegetable tempura (6 small shrimp)
• 1 cup of white rice
• 1 cup of Miso soup
• 1 simple salad with Ranch (they were out of ginger dressing)

Shakedown ride

In preparation to begin training for the Santa Fe Century ride, I decided to teach myself how to change my bike tires and inner tubes. Now, I know how to change a car tire, but I've never had to change the tire on a bike myself. It was much easier than I had thought and within about 20 minutes and only having the old man double check that I got things right I managed to change my rear tire and inner tube. The next step was to go out on a ride. I had initially thought about taking the big grand pup out with me, holding on to his leash as I rode but technical problems came up and I took so long troubleshooting that I gave up getting him on a run. I'll try to take him out for a long walk tomorrow instead.

After about 20 minutes of troubleshooting, myself and the old man working on the problems, we were finally able to take off. It was half a mile into the ride before I realized that I had forgotten to start the GPS app so we had to stop to do that. We went on, down the bumpy road (why when road crews do patches, can they never make them level?) past one house with 2 German Shepards who were locked safely behind a wrought iron fence but barking their heads off. We turned the first corner, crossed a main road and passed another house this time with a Border Collie who was barking and chasing until it reached the wire fence around it's property. As we turned onto the next road is when this American Bull Terrier mix came chasing after us. Since I was in front it came at me first nipping at my heel before finally catching my ankle. I didn't thin that it broke skin, but there is a slight surface break with minimal bleeding but some bruising and a smaller, red area from the bottom jaw. Like I told the old man, it's a good thing I'm not afraid of dogs! That will teach me though to take pepper spray or a water pistol with my for protection. We went by one more house just down the road where the owner was out on his ATV and was able to control the dogs...when I ran this route the dogs were locked up but barked like crazy at me. Thankfully, after that no more dog adventures. The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful.

Things I learned during this ride:

• My bike needs a serious tune-up (minimum cost $140)
• Definitely need slick tires (around $55 for a pair), too much drag with MTB tires
• Need toe cages since my feet keep slipping off the pedals
• Carry pepper spray or a water pistol
• Need to study up on gearing (bike has 18 gears)
• We're gonna be in a world of hurt if the 1,150' elevation gain is fast!
• Do not ever wear jeans for a long ride! Body Glide and bike shorts to prevent chaffing!
• Would love to get a lighter road/hybrid bike sometime this year
• Definitely need one of these so that I can ride and the grand pup can run:

Walky Dog Hands Free Bicycle Leash

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 12: 8+ mile bike ride over 1:02 hours

What I Ate Today:

• 5 slices of thick cut smoked bacon
• 2 fried eggs
• 1 slice whole wheat toast
• 2 cups Land O' Lakes Supreme Hot Cocoa with Reddi Whip
• 24 oz low fat chocolate milk
• 4 oranges
• 1 banana
• 1 3/4 cup shrimp etouffee
• 2 cups white rice
• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 20 oz G2

Planned bike ride...FAIL!

Today was supposed to be the very first training ride in preparation for the Santa Fe Half Century Ride that I'm planning to participate in in May. I was all psyched up for it even though the old man wanted to decrease the distance from a nearly 21 mile round trip to only 10 miles. We planned to get out around noon when the temperature was closer to 45°F. So after finally getting ready I pulled out my bike and both tires were flat. We filled the tires and I noticed a slow leak that seemed to be coming from the valve. We thought that we had fixed the problem and I went on to look for my helmet before I realized that I had given it (and my cable lock) to the daughter the last time she lived at home so that she could ride her bike. So that pretty much killed the ride for the day. Instead I took two naps since I haven't been sleeping well for the last week. Hmmmm...I wonder if it's all that Pepsi I've been drinking lately? duh.

Late this afternoon we finally went and got me a new helmet, some Slime tire sealant and tire irons. Of course, we had meant to get a cable lock to but forgot all about it. So I finally think I'm all set to ride tomorrow and I just happen to check my tires again because of the leak that I noticed earlier. Yep, the back tire was low after being filled to optimum levels earlier in the afternoon. So now I'm putting off changing/repairing the tube...hopefully tomorrow I'll get around to doing it after PT but if not it's gonna be a while before I use the bike on the trainer or on the road. meh.

Future plans for century rides

In 2012 in addition to trying to do a race a month, I plan to do a sprint duathlon and hopefully at least a half century ride (50 miles). Now, my bike is a cheap bike from Walmart. I'm not ready to go out an buy a new bike so I think I'll just have to bring the bike to the local bike shop and have them do an overhaul/tune up. Hopefully that'll be enough to at least get me through training and the initial ride. Of course, that'll have to wait until next month when I have some spare cash again. At least I don't need any extra equipment...I have all the tools, helmet, padded shorts, etc. so all I really need is to start training. I probably will eventually get a bike stand so that I can train indoors during the cold weather. I'm kind of excited because it'll also be a good cross training exercise as well.

The cycling events I'm planning are the Santa Fe Century (doing the 54 mile ride) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Hotter 'n Hell Half Century ride in Wichita Falls, Texas and the Big Sky Duathlon in Bennett, CO. I won't begin really doing any training until after I run/walk the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at the end of January. My main thing now is to decide whether to do the Santa Fe Century with Team in Training (TNT) or not. I had planned to take close to a year off before doing another TNT event but the chance to do the training with them is very appealing. I've got about 6 weeks to decide whether to do it with them or not. If I do it would mean more fundraising...for a goal of about $1,500 or so. So many things to take into consideration. Well, I guess I'll just sleep on it and think about my options more tomorrow.