Less is more

First thing's first:

Couldn't go on without acknowledging today and what it means to us as Americans.

I need a haircut. I hate them, but I really need one, it’s out of control. I mean, check out that MANE:

Also why do I look like a giant in this pic from last weekend?

When it comes to haircuts, less is more. If you take off more than two inches, I’m probably going to snatch your scissors out of your hands and come at you. Kidding, but seriously.

I’ve actually been thinking about that concept a lot lately; less is more. I put it in the same category as quality versus quantity.

Once upon a time, I ran as much as I wanted, wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted to. I pounded the trails all over the city of Fort Collins, Colorado, finding dusty paths outside of city limits, and it was beautiful. A love affair with running, if you will. My body showed me grace for my 50+ mile weeks throughout the entire summer and fall of 2011, for whatever reason. Maybe it was the lack of a desk job, maybe it was the still-newness to running, I don’t know. But it was lovely.

Have I mentioned recently that I miss it?

Sidenote – for all of you  Colorado/mountain runners, do me a favor and never take that sh*t for granted. I would kill for quick access to dirt trails over pavement, and for my Garmin to be reading a couple thousand feet above altitude instead of negative numbers.  That’s right, my runs next to the harbor are literally BELOW sea level. Cool?

Clearly my running has changed since then, as I've collected enough injuries the past year for a family of six. So when it comes to marathon training, the quality of my runs are much more important than the quantity. The same concept actually goes for racing. If you didn’t pick up on it in my last post, I'm hyper-competitive. Possibly a bit too competitive when it comes to racing, but really I’m not sorry. I don't like doing things without reason behind it. I like to have intention, and I like to beat people and finish strongly.

What’s your point kait, get off your high-horse.

source

The point,  I guess, is that the Marine Corps Marathon is now 46 days away. I’m entering a high-mileage point in my training, and have 19 miles on the docket for this weekend. I’m a little nervous to see how my body responds, but I’m also starting to get excited as the race day is actually starting to become more of a reality.

Call me crazy, but unless I feel confident that I can run the race, enjoy it, and PR, I’m not sure I want to run 26.2 just for the heck of it. It goes back to the competitor in me – I want to do well, I don’t want to just run it to run it. I already know that I can complete a marathon, two of them actually. There’s a time and a place to try something just to try it, but marathons are no longer in that category for me. 

Quality over quantity. I try to do it on this blog – I don’t post just to post. I have slowly evolved to take this approach with my runs, with my work, with relationships in my life. Even with cupcakes.

vanilla almond cupcakes my coworker brought in today. so. good.

Just felt the need to share my current mindset; a weird little peek into my brain, if you will. Please don't misinterpret as me sternly declaring that there is not point in a leisurely run; I'm all for them, and still enjoy them. I just can't as much as I used to.

  

I’m off to a happy hour. Should be a perfect little outing to get over the hump this week!

Cheers!

K

The Chase

My sister sent me this text this morning. I really couldn't agree more, and had to share.

She's biased as September is her birthday month... but I love the descriptor.

Onwards. I went to bed at 8:30 PM last night and it was beautiful. What was even more beautiful was getting up at 5:30 AM on a Monday without any hesitation or sadness. 8.5 hours of sleep night was exactly what I needed, and so I hopped out of bed cranked out the short little workout below:

5 rounds

-25 situps

-12 pushups

-15 jump squats

Short, sweet, and a little bit sweaty. Good way to start off a Monday.

So was this:

Commutes to work are way better when God decides to show off.

Something peculiar happened today. I got home from work and had to crank out a quick 9 miles before an event I had later this evening. So I shoved some raspberries and two semi-healthy cookies down my throat (what?) and called it fuel. Shot out the door with no pace in mind.

So I make my way along the harbor, right, my typical week day route. The brick isn't exactly forgiving on my feet, but I enjoy the people watching and the boat watching and the hustle and bustle of the city. My Garmin and I have had a love/hate relationship lately, but this particular evening I was watching it like a hawk, trying to sit in the 7:30's.

How do I say this without sounding like an A-hole? ... In my normal, healthy body, I'm not used to getting passed by other girls. I mean it happens obviously, I'm not the fastest grape on the vine. And when it does:

following my 17 this past Saturday..

So I'm uber competitive, sue me. 

Anyways long story short, mile 7 is coming in hot and I'm feeling decent. Holding in the mid-sevens, entering into the Fells Point neighborhood. I glance back as I'm crossing a street and literally did a double-take. Another girl is on my heels.

Like on my heels, hard. 

My instant reaction to run faster. I mean obviously, if she felt the need to keep a mere arms-length distance between us, she wanted me to know that she was there right? So my inner-athlete flared up and told me I better not even allow the concept of being passed by another girl cross my mind.

If I had to guess, it looked like a chase scene. For a solid mile or so, she was right on my butt all the way through Fells as we wove in and out of pedestrians. People were probably wondering if I had mugged her, or who was pissed at who over boy problems.

I'm not exaggerating; she never let more than 10 feet between us. And we were definitely moving compared to some of the other runners who were out for a leisurely post-work run. See mile 7 for proof:

She dropped off just outside of Canton to take a different route, hence why mile 8 and 9 slowed a bit. All-in-all, I got home feeling great, semi-thrilled that another fellow-female gave me a short run for my money. Fast runner girl in the pink: I like you, let's be friends.

You love the seflies.

And now ya'll think I'm a little unstable, but hey at least I'm being honest. Quite thrilling for a Monday run.

Bedtime for me. Keith Urban has a new album out tomorrow, so I'm forecasting this Tuesday to be well above the norm.

Keep it real, cheers - 

K

Try Try Tri

Where oh where do I begin?

How about at 4:45 AM this morning, when the alarm went off?

Confession: I was a little worried about properly fueling for the race being on Day 7 of this sugar detox, and very few grains/no processed carbs being allowed in the picture. The good news is, I prepared plantain pancakes the night before, and loaded those bad boys up with almond butter when 5 AM rolled around.

(side note - plantains are my newest fav addition to my diet)

Fueling problem, solved.

I had no idea what I was walking into as I rolled Beth into the transition area to set all my stuff up. You all know what it's like, trying some for the first time. Walking into a completely unknown environment. Plus there were all those 'professional triathletes' strutting around with their perfectly toned calves and sponsored tri suits, making me feel even more unsure about myself.

I don't have a tri suit. I don't own clip-in shoes. I actually didn't even wear socks for the biking or running portions. I managed to do alright.

Before I divulge anymore detail, I want to the moral of the story to be this: almost anyone can do a sprint triathlon. Find yourself a bathing suit, a bike (any kind of bike) and strap on some kind of shoes (I saw people doing the run portion barefoot). You're golden.

My transition area.

I set up my transition area and realized that most of the women were planning on swimming in their compression/biking shorts, and so I made the last minute decision to pull mine shorts over my speedo and hop in the pool with them on.

I read a lot of articles to compete only in the attire that you are used to training in.

  I guess I'm a rebel rule breaker.

The pool swim flew by - it was short - 300 yards total. I underestimated my swim time pretty horrifically (underestimating myself is one of my favorite pastimes) and ended up starting pretty far back, therefore having to pummel pass 5-6 swimmers in the pool portion. At one point I did end up getting a kick to the face from the swimmer ahead of me, but hey I guess I deserved it.

If we are being honest, I can't wait to see the professional pictures of me sprinting across the street from the pool to the transition area, swim cap and goggles in hand, water flying off of me. I probably looked like the biggest badass ever.

If I had to pick an area I felt the weakest in, it was the bike course. 8 miles - two 4 mile laps - with a couple of small hills, and one pretttty decent size hill. Decent as in several people got off their bikes and walked up the hill...

Guys come on now, you see the subtitle of my blog up there. Life's too short to walk.

Kidding, kidding, but seriously, Beth and I groaned up that hill twice together, never stopping, and zipped back into the transition area for the final stretch. I threw off my helmet and took off, legs feeling just like the bricks that brick workouts promise.

The run was a 5k. My PR for a 5k is 20:30 (hoping that one day I break 20) so my on-the-fly goal was to come in around the 21 minute range for the run, knowing that this was going to have to be my strongest area. The first lap (of two) felt like I was possibly holding a 9 minute pace... the second, maybe closer to an 8?

Come to find out, I actually held a 6:54 pace... lining up well with my goal and finishing my run at 21:26.

Final Time: 59 minutes, 18 seconds

15th out of 138 women for my first ever try/tri? Ya I'll take that as a win. Not only that, the bike ride portion was through the Baltimore zoo, and my glass that I was awarded for placing 2nd in my age group has a GIRAFFE on it. Whaaaaat!?!?!

SO DOES THE RACE SHIRT. BEST DAY EVER!

Other random facts: Having numbers written all over my arms and legs makes me feel extremely cool. Because of that, I think I shall do another triathlon some time.

I got home from the race and was like "Oh ya I'm still training for a marathon" and realized I was scheduled for 8 miles today, so I packed a quick 5 around the park. Now my legs are dead, and there is currently an ice pack upstairs calling my name.

I'm so glad that one dreary day this past March/April, as I was lamenting being unable to run due to that stupid stress fracture, I made the decision to sign up for a tri. At the time August seemed years away. But here we are, and I'm pretty stoked to be able to add the honor of triathlete onto my athletic resume. More to come there, I'm sure of it.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend, and did something active as well. I made a point on the last mile of my race today to reflect on how grateful I am to have a body that allows me to compete, and soak in the joys of life while doing it. I recommend doing the same in areas of life you are grateful for.

Cheers!!

Philly Half Recap

The week before big races, I normally get this intense wave of competiveness come over me. Not surprising as I've always been an athlete, and I've always loved competition. But as a runner, I've found it hard to harness and direct my competitiveness.

let's just say I have way more leg muscles than arm muscles

I find myself talking sh*t in my head to myself, about how I'm going to dominate the course, so on and so forth, and often feel stupid afterwards... as it is after all, a course... a route through paved streets... a thing, not a person. Does it make sense to be competitive with a thing?

So then I find myself getting all worked up over the other females I'll be racing against. Every woman that I saw at our hotel I assumed to be an enemy, and much faster than myself. But really, enemy isn't the right wording, and certainly isn't true. Because the other women I'm racing against are just as much my fellow comrades, running the same race that I am.

at the expo

I realized this when I crossed the finish line neck and neck with a girl who I had stayed with almost the entire 13.1... and she immediately turned around, shook my hand and congratulated me on a race well run.

And that it was:

for the record, that's also a 10k PR

My goal was to PR. I managed that by about 4 minutes. My in-the-moment race goal come mile 5 or 6 was to continue holding the absurd sub-7 minute pace that I've never managed to hold for more than a couple miles in a row.

Check.

I still don't know how I managed such a solid race, I'm serious. This is coming from the girl who can't hold a pace to save her life.

 Let's just say that the stars aligned.

The course was as flat as flat comes... flatter than my chest, excuse the term. The weather was the definition of perfect.

6 AM, race day. 55 degrees.

And of course, I have to give credit to my boy. Race morning for me is typically one of extreme nerves, and racing thoughts. But with Andrew cracking jokes almost the entire walk to the starting line, I didn't really have time to give the race much of a thought...

Me: "So what's your goal for the race?"
Andrew: "To win the first mile. And then find someone to draft off of for the next 12."

gotta love him.

In all seriousness, I have to give him mad props for killing his first ever half marathon, coming in at 1:52. For the low amount of miles that he trained, I was super impressed. And even more pumped that he enjoyed it.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion he may have enjoyed the decadent, authentic Philly Chessesteak that we had post-race even more. I may have too. It was pretty amazing.

no words.

All in all, Philadelphia treated us well. And I walked away from the race realizing that it isn't necessarily the race, or the people in the race who I am competing against... that really it's myself. Every day, no matter what form my workout takes, I'm competing against myself and pushing my own limits, with a strong healthy body that I am super blessed to have.

Anyone else race this weekend? Or even better... has anyone else ever had a REAL Philly Cheesesteak? Those things are mind blowing.

Hope your Monday treated you well, cheers!