Yes, I am still around...

Hi All! Nope, I haven't fallen off the edge of the Earth or anything, just haven't been in much of a writing mood as of late. Things happen, life gets in the way and yes, laziness and complacency do have an effect. Let me try to catch you up on a little of what's been going on...that is unless you follow me on Facebook then you know what has been happening these past 3 months.

After the Center of the Nation Series I ended up in that walking boot pictured in this post for just about 6 weeks with a stress fracture to my ankle. Needless to say there was little of anything going on...no gym time, no elliptical time and definitely no run/walking. I gained around 20 pounds during that time and got pretty darned close to my lifetime max weight.

A week after getting the boot off I decided to try to complete the Route 66 Marathon (yes, the full 26.2 miles) but that wasn't going to happen between 14°F, wind, cold and ankle pain...but more in that when I catch up on my race blogs. The next race up was the Space Coast Marathon where I was initially going to do the full but ended up dropping back to the half. Again, another story for another race blog. Then last month I did my third TinkerBell Half Marathon during which my younger sister and I made a sister's weekend out of the trip...yes, another blog post. And finally, what will be my last blog post to catch up on would be my second Arizona Spartan Sprint which I did with my husband for his very first obstacle race. These posts will come along as I decide I want to write and start playing catch up. My goal is to have them done before my next race on March 23, my second Bataan Memorial Death March.

I've also started back to school just taking a couple of classes that interest me to make better use of my time. No degree planned, just things that interest me. Right now it's an online Kinesiology course and a Training Theory course mostly because at some point I want to begin a Galloway Program here in town and I feel the more informed I am the better.

I also became a Beachbody coach...you know Beachbody...they have infomercials for Focus T25, PX903, Brazil Butt Lift amongst other workout programs. I haven't been to active in doing this as of yet, but I do plan to jump full bore in soon after I get some things in life straight (read as not being lazy). But, if you do have anyquestions about Shakeology or any of the programs I can get you the answers.

Now, going back to the whole weight gain issue...I came to the realization of the Spartan Sprint as to how much more out of shape and overweight I had become since my injury so I started an accountability page on Facebook so if you want to follow me there you can check it out at Beth's Return to Fitness. Basically I fess up to what I've done or failed to do and report on how things are going fitness/healthwise for me.

Well, enough of this. Thanks for hanging around and I'll try to get back on the ball again real soon!
:D

Idaho Runcation - Part 2

Race: M.A.D. Marathon
Date: Saturday, July 27, 2013 @ 6am
Location: Idaho Falls, ID

OK, I'll be honest, I'm writing this almost 4 months after the fact so I'm not going to follow my normal day to day narrative because honestly I don't remember what we did. Actually, we didn't do much of anything while in Idaho. The week after the half marathon was a lot of panicking about the full marathon coming up, visiting with my brother-in-law and his family plus a trip to Twin Falls to visit the guys grandmother, aunts and uncles, father and his family.

The one thing I did manage to do just about every day was to go for short runs mostly along the Great Blackfoot Area Greenbelt and to the gym. This is a relatively new, paved loop that travels north for about 5 miles to Rose Pond before turning around for the return trip. I never went to the end but I did go about 3 miles out and back. The trail is beautiful and the sights in the early morning are quite inspiring.

We spent most of the week just chilling at the house. David, the BIL, and his family came by on Wednesday and we made plans to drive to Twin Falls to see their grandmother, aunts/uncles and dad. Our nieces by the hubs little brother, Vince, came by most days and we'd play croquet, do a T25 video, go swimming and just goofed off at the house. That night the whole family went out to dinner at a local restaurant that the hubs and I had never been to.

On Thursday we made the trip to Twin Falls. Our first stop was at the guys aunts house where we had lunch and caught up with everyone. Since the day was nice we were all siting or standing on the back porch when we noticed to humming birds buzzing by chasing each other. I know I got some pictures of them, but I can't find them anywhere. All the time that I was trying to get pictures I was, literally, getting dive bombed by one of the crazy birds. After several hours visiting we took our leave and headed over to the father-in-laws house.

It had probably been 15 or so years since we'd seen the guys dad. This trip we were lucky enough to see their step brother, Tuan, whom we hadn't seen since the early 80's when we were all active duty military. I know I took some pictures but I'll be damned if I can find them anywhere. We spent the day eating crawfish and just talking around the table. Their step mother is Vietnamese so you know that the food was never ending as it is in most Asian households when visitors are expected (or even when they're not). We ended up heading back to Blackfoot around 4pm.

Friday the girls came by and it was packet pick up day in Idaho Falls for the M.A.D. Marathon and Half Marathon. This was the race that I had been dreading, my second full marathon. After driving the course I knew that I was in trouble. You've probably read my previous post where I'm in total panic mode. If not, you can read it here.

M.A.D. Marathon swag.

Saturday, race day at 0 dark 30. We met the Marathon Maniacs, we were the only 2 Half Fanatics to take a group picture as is tradition with most races.

I was bused to the start of the full marathon, Troy would be bused to the half marathon start an hour later. I had a sheer few minutes of panic thinking that I couldn't do this, but when it came time to line up I did so all the while telling myself to just do the best I could. Almost the whole time of the race I was in the last 5. It seemed that me and an older gentleman who was walking were taking turns passing each other...yes, by this time (about mile 15) I had started walking more than running. By mile 18 I felt as if I was leaning to the left, much like I did at the TinkerBell HM earlier in the year. By mile 19 I was stumbling and off balance. At mile 20 I threw in the towel and called it quits...better to be safe than sorry since a diagnosis had still not yet been made (and never has been). I have to admit, I was in tears at having to quit only 10K away from the finish but there were no more water stops and there was only one car driving the course to pick up anyone. I figured that we'd be up in Idaho eventually and I could just catch a different marathon for the state at that time. Yes, I was disappointed but like I said...better to be safe than sorry.

Finishing Time:  DNF

We spent the next day just hanging out doing laundry and packing. We took off before dawn on Monday for the 16 or so hour drive home. It's funny but I feel differently about Blackfoot, a small town, than I did when we were living in California. I always thought I'd never be able to live in such a small town but after living here in Clovis, NM I kinda like it. Who knows maybe one day we'll move up to Idaho...

Perspective: Lack of progress...

I'm a slow runner, but since I started coming out of a severe 6-7 month depression at the beginning of the year I've become slower than I have ever been. I'm talking 3:15 - 3:30 finish for a half marathon. I used to finish in the 2:35-2:50 range and I really can't put my finger on why I'm so slow. I know my endurance has gone to pot and I put on at least 10 pounds during the depression (that I am working on losing, plus an additional 15 pound). I'm running, swimming...finally fixed my bike tire so hopefully will start riding that again and yet I see no progression in my running.

I think part of it is that I started running again too early with no training doing a double in August. My times sucked then but I just attributed that to still having to deal with the depression. I raced a few more times until the end of the year with no training whatsoever just because I needed to get away and be by myself. I think I actually started training again in February or March...whenever the weather changed and got warmer.

I feel like a total newbie when it comes to running again. I'm just working on endurance like I did when I first started training for my first half marathon. Once I get that down I'll start some speed work, but right now I'm concentrating on marathon training (just to cross the finish line within time) due to the sheer stupidity of registering for 6 full marathons with two sets of back to backs.

Not seeing any progress is quite disheartening but as some friends pointed out I am out there running still, finishing is the goal and I am quite lucky to still be around after last year. It's easy to hear/read but believing is a totally different thing. All I know is that I'm not giving up, if I have to resort to walking these races I will. All I want is to cross the finish and get my medal...yes, it is about the bling collecting. So, I'm taking a deep breath and trying to put this situation into perspective (hard to do if you're a born pessimist). I saw this quote today and it says it all:

What do you mean it's not 2014 yet?

Well, here we are getting ready to head into June of 2013. I've had my race schedule set since the middle of 2012 and it's had many additions and deletions. In fact I still have 17 races to go ranging from half marathons to full marathons and OCRs (obstacle course races, Spartan and Tough Mudder). I also have a trip to Alaska to run a back to back marathon and 16 miler (also I get to visit one of my favorite couples). Most of these races are already paid for and I'll be SOL if I can't go to them for one reason or another like in 2012 when I went into a severe depression that caused me to not even get out of bed other than to use the bathroom and occasionally eat. I missed, or DNS'd, about 8-9 races that I had to suck up the loss of the registration fees. I did however get 2 of these races deferred but I won't be able to use one of them at all.

So, that brings me to 2014 I have a full schedule going on. Short races to full marathons and more Spartan Races (I think I'm a little addicted now). Anyway I counted my races for the year and they total 34!! The schedule includes at least one trip to Hawai'i because the back to back that I was going to do is no more because the half marathon I wanted to do changed their dates. Yeah, I'm a little irked at that. I wanted to get both my half marathon and full marathon in Hawai'i done in one trip to save money, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. The schedule also include two 5 day series of a mix of half marathon and full marathons. The nice thing is that there is no time limit so I don't have to stress about when I finish. One of the obstacle courses that I plan to do is the Mud Quest Run which is 13 miles and has 100 obstacles. They were rained on hard the day before the race this year so that made the mud that much better! It looked like everyone had fun even with all the muck. I also got myself into a 5 year legacy type situation with the Space Coast Marathon. Why did I do that? Because each year's medal represents the space program, namely the shuttle program and there's special bling at 5 years...2014 will be my 2nd year running. So much for not having to travel to Florida anymore!

Thirty four races in 2014! I can't believe it, then again it wouldn't be the first time. Of course things will likely change, but this schedule works on paper...literally.  Oh, by the way, yes...I have started on 2015's race schedule already! ;)

So, is your 2014 race schedule made now? If not, when will you start making it up?

Fear: Obstacle Course Races...Me? Really?

I blogged back in February about finishing the Spartan Sprint in Arizona. How hard it was, how much I hurt for most of the next week, yet guess what I'm doing? Next weekend I have the Super Spartan in Nevada, a 7-8 mile obstacle course with 20+ obstacles. Then at the beginning of May I have to Military Spartan Sprint in Colorado...about 3.5 miles with about 15 obstacles, but the  majority of these obstacles are designed by U.S. Special Forces!! I can only imagine what they have in mind. At the end of June I have the Spartan Beast, a race at 12-13 miles and 25+ obstacles. I'm volunteering for 2 days at the Colorado race so that I can get a free entry to both the Super and Beast.

But that's not all! I just registered for the Tough Mudder in Tahoe at the end of September. Now this one I know involves electrocution, an ice bath of huge magnitude, jumping off a 15-20 foot high (perfectly good) platform into what I hope is a deep enough man made pool of muddy water. Joy. Now, did I happen to mention that I have a little bit of a fear of heights and a strong underlying phobia of deep water and drowning? I don't know where the height thing came from, but when I was about 5 years old I almost drowned, or at least perceived it as such, during a private swim lesson. I continued to take swimming lessons throughout my childhood and actually did learn to swim but I still don't feel extremely comfortable in water where I can't touch the bottom. I've been taking lessons from a friend for the past few weeks and have gotten most of my form down but my flutter kicks are extremely weak. I can't even get the full length of the pool using a kickboard. It's so frustrating!

Anyway, I digress. I had never considered doing obstacle course races (OCRs). My son had mentioned that one of his good college friends was trying to get a team together for Arizona but was having a difficult time getting people to join. At some point she just stopped trying. So I got in touch with her, a young, local friend of mine and my son and we formed a small team for the race "Team Endorphin." I did the race and finished in what I thought was a terrible time, but I found out just a week or two ago that there were girls much younger than me at the same race that took over four hours to finish the course. That made me feel a bit better considering that I finished in under 3 hours.                                        

     

  

 My friend mentioned the Trifecta medal, for doing one race of each of the first three levels like I have planned, within one calendar year, so being the bling addict that I am I decided to go for the Trifecta and thus all the Spartan races. The Military Spartan Sprint has it's own separate medal with a barbed wire look to it that I had to have it so I'm doing that as well. The things I do for the bling!! lol!

Am I afraid of these races...more than you will ever know. Why do I insist on doing them? Well, my life has been fairly safe except for the multiple times that I have tried to take it myself. I feel like I've lost the adventurer that was me in my youth. Maybe it was getting married so young (had just turned 19) or having kids so early (when I was barely 21) or maybe it was because I was constantly in school working on multiple degrees and then working full time. I don't know what happened, but I don't have the spontaneity that used to define me. So now, just 6 months from my 49th birthday I'm doing things that I "shoulda, coulda" done when I was in my 20's and early 30's except for the fact that these types of races didn't exist as far as I know. I can't say that I'll be the oldest ones out there, but I'll definitely feel that way when the fit 20 and 30 year olds go flying by me finishing in times that I could only dream of. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and approaching life with the following mantra: