Weekend workouts

I realize that it probably seems like I haven't worked out since my race. I promise that I'm not sitting around getting lazy. OK, I might have done that for at least a full week after the race but I'm back into the swing of things. Up until this weekend though, my workouts were a little willy nilly and random. Redundant much?

On Saturday I went out for my first actual RUN since the race. I went out for what I assumed would be a tough 3 miles. I honestly expected my first post-race run to be stiff and awkward. Instead I surprised myself by running my fastest 3 miles since August! I actually think it was faster because I had to stop for traffic twice and I forgot to pause the Garmin. I ran a Virtual 3 miler last year at 35:07. Saturday's 3 miler was 35:18 but that included two stops. Hello 11:46 pace! (Remember my 1/2 marathon goal was to hang out around 12:45.) This run definitely got my wheels turning but that's another post.
It was snowing lightly when I left the house for my run so I decided to leave the iPod at home. I love how quiet the snow makes everything. It's like everything is on mute. By the time I actually got to the trail, it felt like I was running inside a snow globe. The snow was coming down pretty hard. It wasn't so bad on the way out but coming back, the snow was blowing right in my face. As for the snow making everything quiet? Not so much on Saturday. There are some high voltage power lines that run parallel to the trail....and with the snow hitting them, they were BUZZING. I was wishing I had my iPod to drown out the buzzing but oh well. It occupied my brain as I was always wondering if I was going to get electrocuted. Fun times!
Next up was a TNT group practice. Our spring/summer teams just got started and this was our 3rd official practice. I love seeing all the new faces but also the alumni who have come back for more! I'm coaching the race walkers for the 6th year in a row and I love it. It's fun seeing the nervous and excited faces at these first couple of trainings. Soon enough those faces will turn to determination and sometimes angst as they look at me, their coach, with daggers, wondering why on earth they are putting their bodies through this. But then on race day, I get to see faces of sheer joy when they cross the finish line of something they never thought possible!

After doings lots of small circles to try to spend a little time with each walker (all at different paces), I ended my morning just shy of 4 miles. The Garmin recorded 3.48 but it might have helped if I had remembered to start my watch when we actually got started. Oh well. The Garmin pace graph amused me. You can tell when I would run ahead to catch a faster person or stop to drop back from someone slower. The result is this crazy looking thing:
I had bargained with myself before the group training that if I didn't get my heart rate up for at least 30 consecutive minutes, then I would need to get in another workout. As you can tell by the stops and starts above. I didn't get in my 30 minute elevated heart rate. My heart rate just doesn't get up there when I'm walking a 25 minute mile.

So it was off the pool in the evening. Normally the pool is pretty dead on Sunday evening with the exception of a little kid swim lesson but all of the lanes were full when I got there just before 6 pm. I stalked stood at the end of the lane and waited. It became apparent that no one was leaving anytime soon and I didn't want to hang out at the pool all night. Darn it, I would have to get friendly. I finally asked someone if I could share his lane. He was very nice and split the lane with me. He was mostly doing a slow breast stroke though, which just takes up more space. I told myself that it was good for me to get use to having someone in my space. It's good triathlon practice to not be disturbed by other people up in your grill.

I did a ladder work out (50, 100, 150, 200, 150, 100, 50) with a 100 warm up and 100 cool down. 1000 yards in roughly 35 minutes. I tried to keep my rests to 30 seconds in between each set. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I didn't.

Sometimes I raced the guy in the lane with me. Sometimes I didn't. I'm a slower swimmer (nothing new there) so when you are as slow as me and find yourself able to pass someone else, it's exciting. I do have some competitiveness buried in me pretty deep and I know I pushed myself on a couple of those sets just so I could lap the guy (once I realized he had switched to freestyle). Those competitive sets were when I needed a little more than 30 seconds to recover. Go figure.

So that was my weekend workout round up. What were you up to this weekend?

Pilot Wife Guilt

There is a certain amount of isolation that comes with being a pilot wife. Sure there is the time spent fending for ourselves but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm pretty independent anyways so I get by just fine with The Pilot is away. The isolation I'm referring to is that being an aviation family is completely unique. My husband doesn't work a 9-5 desk job. Many people don't but he works 3-4 days at a time and with weird hours that don't always mesh with my own work hours. Example: Recently we didn't get to talk one day because either he was flying or I was at work. And then his overnight was in Canada (too expensive to call) and he was going to bed when I was finishing up my dinner. We try to at least talk once a day but that doesn't always work.

And then there is the "unique" feeling of stirring in the middle of the night and waking up slightly only to find a body in the bed that wasn't there when you feel asleep. Yes, this is sometimes startling when you are in a 1/2 asleep state. As was the case the other night when I woke up with a start to find my husband sleeping next to me. "Wait....you weren't there when I went to bed. I sure hope this body is my husband because if not, I just snuggled up with a stranger. Weird."

The only other people that understand what this all feels like are other aviation families. I follow several other pilot wife blogs and I often find comfort in that I'm "not alone." I have some of the greatest friends in the world and they all have their own unique career situations but for the most part, their spouses come home every night so they "just don't understand." They probably don't have a fear that someone will put in an offer on your house and their spouse isn't available to consult with and you will just have to make a decision(yes, I'm talking about my own fears). My non-aviation friends certainly don't have a fear that their husbands could possibly miss the birth of a child because they are in the air nowhere near home. (No, I don't have a reason to be worried about this yet - ie: not preggo, but it's a genuine fear).

See what I mean about this being a unique lifestyle? See how that can sort of feel isolating? Sure, we adapt (I adapt) but every once in awhile, I sort of realize that our life isn't the "norm." And sometimes I have trouble with that....like days where I've had a rough day at work and I just want a comforting face and hug to come home to and he's only one day into a 4-day trip. No hugs for another 3 days. I did mention that I have great friends so its not like I can't call one of them or meet up for dinner or a workout with one of them (which is often what I do to fill the time when he's not home) but it's not the same.

And then there is the guilt. I sort of feel guilty for even feeling the need to whine about the lifestyle from time to time. I feel guilty because when I'm bummed out and missing him, imagine how he could be feeling. He could be having a rough day and wants a hug but he's stuck in some weird airport hotel with a crew he may or may not like all that much. He could want some comfort and he's only one day into a 4-day trip. At least I have some comfort in coming HOME. At least I can sleep in my own bed or relax with the fur-kids. I can call up a friend to go for a run.

And speaking of a run, there is more guilt there... I feel guilty when I have a workout scheduled when The Pilot is home. Especially if it's a workout he can't join in on (We only have one gym membership for me and there are some workouts that I need to do at my own pace). I try to schedule my workouts for when he's not home but those long trainings must be done on the weekends and if he's home, I can't skip them. He fully supports my training craziness and knows its better that I workout than having a fat, cranky wife on his hands. Despite his support though, there is still some guilt there.

I was recently chatting another pilot wife that we know. She's in an even more unique situation. She is a pilot wife (her hubby works for a regional airline like my hubby does) but she's also a pilot herself. How bad a$$ is that? I'm going to refer to her as PBA from now on...you know, Pilot Bad A$$. She flies corporate which is a completely different can of worms. The time she spends with her hubby is probably even more limited than my time with my hubby. She mentioned that she feels guilty that she waits for him to get home and then jumps all over him when he walks in the door. I know the feeling. You want hugs and kisses. You want to tell him all the things you haven't had the chance to say in the last 3, 4 or however many days. More guilt. You feel guilty jumping all over the poor guy right when get gets home from work. That's often that last thing I want to do when I get home from work. She mentioned she tries so hard to give him some space but it doesn't always work.

PBA also mentioned that she tries to schedule her trips to the gym or time with friends around his schedule so that when they are both in the same city, they can spend all the time together. I do the same thing and well, that just doesn't work. Other people and activities put demands on your time. He can't very well have his own social life if all of his time is spent with you when he's home. It's not like he can have dinner with a friend while he's away on a trip like us wives can. She said they are still working to find that balance. I felt relieved when she said that because it make me feel "normal" and I told her as much. Just knowing that we're not the only couple with these challenges made me feel better.

And another source of guilt for me is sometimes I'm just ready for him to leave. The Pilot was just home for 6 days. I was ready for him to leave. I needed a little time for myself. I feel incredibly guilty for thinking that and even for putting it on the blog for him to read. But then you want to know the kicker of it all? Within about 12 hours of his departure, I miss him like crazy and want him to come back. PBA must have been reading my mind when she stated that she learned to be independent when her husband is away and it starts to feel normal. Then, when the hubby returns, there is a different "normal" and your independent normal is all out of whack. I'm not even sure if that even makes sense to a non-pilot spouse. PBA said it perfectly that it's all about balance. And she's so right. Her and her hubby's marriage has a couple months on us and she felt she was just starting to manage that balance better. She reassured me that sometimes it's difficult but eventually you do find that balance.

Sure, there is some guilt associated with being a pilot wife. There is some isolation because others don't get "it." But that's what we signed up for. If you married a pilot not knowing that was part of the gig, then that is unfortunate. I certainly knew what I was getting into. It doesn't make some aspects any easier, but I haven't encountered much in married life that I didn't already know about.

So I knew all of that going in but I still married the guy because there is a great perk of being married to a pilot (no, I'm not talking about travel benefits). One of my favorite parts of being a pilot wife is that I miss him. Every couple of days, I get to miss him like crazy. That means that when he comes home, I am super excited. I literally feel giddy all day when I know he's on his way home. Sometimes I even get nervous. Almost like I'm waiting on that first kiss at the end of a date. I know we are still in that honeymoon phase but PBA told me that it still hadn't worn off for her and her hubby. Though they are still newlyweds too (they haven't been married a year yet), they have been together longer than The Pilot and I have. She said she feels that way every time she gets to see her hubby. I also think that if that feeling wears off, then there is a problem. I'm not completely naive and I know life (the stress of work, kids, house, whatever) will try to get in the way but in order to keep this strange married life afloat is to make the time to be excited and giddy when the husband is about to come home.

So, The Pilot will come home tonight and will most likely scare the crap out of me when he climbs into bed after I'm asleep but I've been super excited all day. :)

How about you guys? Do your significant others have weird schedules with quirks that you have learned to live with? What makes it worth it?

Fit Bit

I don't think I've mentioned it but I have fallen in love all over again. With this little gadget:
It's a FitBit. I received this last spring as a gift from the bridal shower my co-workers hosted for me. Sure, it's not a traditional "couple" gift but I view it as more incentive to keep from "letting myself go" as the honeymoon phase wears off. ;)

It's like a gussied up pedometer really. I started wearing it everyday sometime back in August (once the wedding madness died down and I had time to set it up). It easily clips onto your pants (on a pocket or the waistband). The instructions show woman can attach it to their bra but I like to keep mine visible so I can obsessively check my step count throughout the day. It tracks step count, distance, calories burned and your activity level which is illustrated with a flower that grows the more you move.

Something else this fancy thing does is track your sleep. You can put it on sleep mode and wear it in a little pouch that wraps around your wrist. I'm not exactly sure how it works but the results were interesting. I wore it every night for about two weeks. I guess I have a 98% sleep efficiency. Go me! I could see (in a pretty graph!) that I take forever to fall asleep but once I'm asleep, I don't tend to make up much during the night. It was funny to look at the results and see the nights when The Pilot came home late from work. I would wake up for a couple minutes (from being startled from a strange man climbing into my bed in the middle of the night) and then would fall right back to sleep. I could even see my SNOOZE habit in the results...wake up...fall back asleep for 5 minutes, wake up....repeat.

You can then upload all of your data to the FitBit web site to track your fitness project. It has a food and activity log that you can update (I don't but probably should) but it graphs all of your data. I love the visuals! I can quickly see the days were I was chained to my desk....or the days that I completely rocked it with my activity level (i.e. my longs runs for my 1/2 marathon training).

Speaking of the 1/2 marathon, I wore my FitBit on race day and was shocked at my distance covered that day. The race was only 13.1 miles but over the entire day, I covered more than 20 MILES! And if you have ever been to Disney or any theme park, by the end of the day it feels like you have walked miles and miles. Well, you probably have. The day after my race, The Pilot and I were super spectators for the full marathon and then hit up the theme parks in the afternoon. We walked more than 12 MILES that day!

Here is the snapshot of the 1/2 marathon day:
So anyways, I fell in love with my FitBit. Seeing my steps (or lack of) would motivate me to move more to see how many steps I could get in before it was time for bed. The Pilot even learned to not think much of it if he saw me doing laps in the bedroom right before I took it off for the night. I might was well try to end on an even number, right?

Then the unthinkable happened.

I was admittedly distracted one evening after work while doing a load of post-vacation laundry. I was pulling clothes out of the dryer when I heard a clank in the dryer. I looked in and there it was. My FitBit had gone through not just the washer but the dryer too. I wanted to cry. I immediately tried to pull up the display. Nothing. I dropped the laundry, ran up to the computer and logged onto the FitBit web site. One of the first questions in their FAQ was "I washed my FitBit." They suggested a bowl of white rice overnight and if that didn't work, email their support department. I raced to the kitchen...we only had brown rice. Then it occurred to me that if people were really trying to get fit, they probably shouldn't have white rice in their house, but that wasn't the point. After 24 hours in the brown rice, I plugged the FitBit into my computer. It came up with a error display but I never could get it to reset or stay powered up when not plugged in. :(

But then the wonderful happened.

I emailed their support department and explained exactly what happened. They asked a few questions about where it came from and once I responded, they said they would send me a new one. That was it! It was my own dang fault yet they sent me a brand new FitBit. Talk about some customer service. The only other occasion I have experienced (indirectly) was when Bose complete rehabbed The Pilot's aviation headset....at no charge. Obviously you get what you pay for (or what you get when someone cares enough to give you a rock star gift like in my case).

And then it got wonderfuller. (It's my blog, I can make up words if I want to). They sent me the latest FitBit. Which is called the FitBit Ultra. It's even more gussied up. This one counts stairs climbed as well. What? Another thing for me to obsess over. Awesome!

This weekend has been my first chance to start day wearing my brand new FitBit and I feel like I've been reunited with a family member. OK, so that's a little dramatic but I'm already digging my counts. I spend a lot of time at my desk during the week so my poor FitBit just sits there on my wasitband like a puppy wanting some exercise. When I see that my step count is somewhere in the 2000-2500 range, I am more motivated to squeeze in a work out that day. I often times make up for my low step counts by doing A LOT of steps over the weekend. It's only 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon and I'm already at 10,296 steps. I did 4 miles with my team this morning...then took a nap. So you can see the bulk of my steps came from training this morning. I have another workout still scheduled for the day so my activity levels still have some room to grow but you can see how easy it is to wrack up some numbers.
It took me some time to figure out the floors climbed. It doesn't actually count the stairs climbed, it somehow figures out elevation changes and tracks them in 10 foot increments. So I have climbed 19 floors so far today, or 190 feet. This could be from actually climbing stairs or elevation changes during my walk this morning with my team.

So I've been reunited with a new love and it's wonderful and wonderfuller. If you are a nerd like me or just need some extra motivation to move more, I highly recommend this little guy. If you need a gift idea of an active person, then here you go!

11 things

Is this the blog equivalent of a chain letter? Does anyone remember those? Anyways, this has been floating around the blog world for a couple days and I was tagged and who am I to break the chain? Thank you, Jana from Running Vegetarian for the tag! These things amuse me so here it goes!

The Rules:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!
   

Eleven Random Things about me:

1. I'm afraid of fish. It's irrational, I know.
2. I want to kick the people who don't wipe down their treadmills at the gym when they are done.
3. I organize the clothes in my closet by color and clothing type. ROYGBIV, pants, tops, hoodies.
4. I have an entire dresser full of workout clothes.
5. I hate tomatoes but will eat ketchup, salsa, tomato sauce, etc.
6. I'm allergic to cats but I've lived with cats since I was 6.
7. I am not an early bird or a night owl. I prefer the afternoon. I go to bed early and would prefer to sleep in later than I do but if I had to chose, I'd rather get up earlier than stay up late.
8. My favorite food used to be hot dogs but now I think it would be Luna Burgers....or maybe Hershey bars but that doesn't go with the whole fitness theme of this blog.
9. I am a list maker. I always have at least one list going at all times. There is so much satisfaction in crossing things off a list.
10. I love sticky notes. See #9.
11. I may or may not have adult onset ADD.....ooohhhh shiney.
    

Jana's Questions for Me:

1. Were you ever grounded as a child? If so what did you do? I honestly can't remember being grounded. I was a rule follower for the most part. Boring.
2. When you hang a roll of toilet paper does the TP go over or under? Over! Absolutely. It drives me bonkers at work when someone puts it under.
3. Is it Soda or Pop? or Soda Pop? I'm from the Midwest so I call it pop.
4. What is your biggest pet peeve? Hmmm....probably people that aren't organized. Or people that constantly make excuses. Or people that interrupt. Maybe it's just one of the days where I'm not so into people in general! Ooops.
   
5. Who is your idol or who do you look up to? Why? I could go with the standard "mom" or "my parents" but that isn't as much fun (though I absolutely do look up to them!). So I'm going with Walt Disney. It may seem strange but you really can learn a lot from him. He had a lot of tenacity, when people told him no or that something he couldn't be done, he'd laugh and press on. He was a visionary and wasn't afraid to think out of the box and dream big. He was never content and was always trying to improve. He had high expectations of those around him but then gave those around him the tools and opportunities to meet and exceed his expectations. All good qualities to strive for if you ask me.
   
6. What is the last dream you remember? I know I had a nightmare last night but I can't remember anything other than waking up freaked out. I rarely remember my dreams.
7. Out of all the places you've been while on vacation what has been your favorite and why? My family used to take a houseboat trip to Lake Cumberland every year and I have some of my favorite memories from those trips. Then there was the best vacation ever last year.
   
8. What was the last movie you watched in the theater? Breaking Dawn....yes, I realize that I am not a teenage girl but I can't help it. The movies are so bad that they are good.
9. What is the last song you listened to or remember listening to? I've been listening to the radio all day but unless it's a great song, it sort of becomes white noise. I did recently have a moment when Temper Trap's Sweet Disposition came on the radio. It takes me back to our wedding day as we made our entrance to the reception to this song and it is featured in our wedding video.
   
10. What is one chore you hate doing? I really dislike the laundry but I hate cooking even more.
11. What one food that you could not live without? That's a hard one. I love cheese....and chocolate. Not together.
    

For those I'm tagging:

1. If you could have dinner with any one person (dead or alive), who would it be?
2. What/who is your favorite band/musician?
3. What is your favorite thing about being a "grown up?"
4. What is your least favorite thing about being a "grown up?"
5. Describe your best friend(s).
6. Early bird or night owl?
7. Do you have a secret talent or just a talent that is unique?
8. What is your favorite holiday?
9. Have any tattoos?
10. Why did you start blogging?
11. What is your favorite meal?
    

I'm Tagging:
Brittney
Christine
Joanna
Katie
Kara
Laine
Marcia
Michael
Rose
Run Blondie 26
The Almost Runner

The Creeper and the First Date

So two years ago, I took a chance and agreed to meet a creeper I met online (match.com) at a local Greek restaurant. Boy am I glad I took the chance! He did turn out to be a creeper but I fell in love with him anyways.
Last Friday was the 2 year anniversary of our first date. Normally I am not one to commemorate that type of anniversary. I can be a cheese ball from time to time but not so much that I document every little "first." The big one (aka the wedding) is one to celebrate but last year on the anniversary of our first date, we went back to the same restaurant. If I remember correctly, I even ordered the same meal. Anyways, we decided to go ahead and relive that first date again...though it was a few days late because The Pilot was working on Friday.

On Friday (the actual anniversary), I got an email from The Pilot asking me if I'd go on a date with him on Monday and he knew a great little Greek restaurant we could meet at after I got off work. Of course!

As I pulled up to the location last night, the Greek restaurant wasn't there! It was a new restaurant. Oh no! The Pilot pulled up a few minutes later and gave me the same "oh no!" look through his car window. We found the Papaya Street Grill instead of Greek Corner. We walked up to the window to check out the menu. Normally when we go out to eat, we study the menu in advance to make sure there are vegetarian options and options for my somewhat picky tastes. Luckily this was a veggie (even vegan!) friendly restaurant so we decided to give it a try. It was completely remodeled inside but we still ended up sitting in approximately the same location that we did on that first date.
The food was great! I think I even enjoyed it more than the Greek restaurant. I had a rice noodle bowl with veggies and fried tofu (it was crunchy and yum!) with the house vinaigrette. It had a Chipotle-like set up where you pick each piece of your meal from the menu and order at a counter. It was nice that you could pick exactly what you wanted and they even has samples of all of the sauces available. The gentleman who took our order added that the while the tofu was fried, it was crispy and not greasy. He also let us know that the sauces come on the side so you can control how much you wanted. Love that! The Pilot got the same thing but ordered the Ginger, Garlic and Soy sauce.
We decided that we'd just go ahead and keep it a tradition to reenact our first date each year. We'll attempt to go back to the same location and just keep trying a new restaurant should it happen. Ultimately it was just fun to think about where we've come in such a short time. Two years ago we were sharing what we each did for a living, I accidentally let it slip that I was in fact a cat lady (a first date no-no!) but was relieved to find out that he too was an animal lover (though him being a vegetarian didn't come up until the 2nd or 3rd date). Two years later we were discussing purchasing a home together. And this year, I kissed him good night at the end of the date. I even let him come home with me.

It's Homemade!

You've probably figured out by now that I'm not so handy in the kitchen. While I can follow a recipe, I really don't enjoy cooking. The kitchen just stresses me out. So I try to stay away whenever possible. But as a pilot wife, I do have to fend for myself when the hubs is working. This means I must venture into the kitchen.

Something that does seem to work for us is when The Pilot is home, 99% of the time, he cooks. He doesn't seem to mind. In return, I eat his food and I like it. I also clean up most of the time. The Pilot would much prefer to hand wash the dishes and I prefer the dishwasher. We have both found supporting documentation that our preferred methods conserve more water but I won't get into that. When I clean up after a meal, those dishes are going in the dishwasher. Another topic of debate is the dishwasher detergent. I buy the cheapest thing I can find. That is until The Pilot came along and ever so gently told me that all of my cleaning supplies are killing me and the Earth. Ummmm....ok. So we bought some "eco-friendly" detergent at Whole Foods. It cost an arm and a leg...and it didn't work. It left a cloudy, chalky residue on the dishes.

Enter the homemade dishwasher detergent. The Pilot's cousin (in law) shared a recipe she tried and had success with. At 4 ingredients, even I didn't mind the extra step of making my own.

• 1 cup Borax
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1/2 cup citric acid
• 1/2 cup kosher salt

The Pilot brought his own Borax when he moved in so that was taken care of and I knew I could easily find kosher salt. Washing soda and citric acid?? Where on earth do you get that stuff? I needed to go to Whole Foods anyways so I stopped in and a very helpful employee directed me to the citric acid quickly, as if I had just asked where to find the bread. They sell it in bulk so you just measure out your own.

I stopped at Target with hopes of finding the kosher salt and washing soda. They had the salt but no luck with the washing soda. I stopped back home for a little while and as luck would have it, The Pilot's cousin was on FB and suggested the grocery. Now why didn't I think of that?? I stopped by Kroger later in the evening and easily found the washing soda, right next to the Borax, just as she had suggested.

Once I had all my ingredients, I combined them in a pitcher (I'm hoping it will work out that I can just pour it into the dishwasher). The instructions did mention that the citric acid will cause some clumping. It suggested to stir it a couple times in the first day or two and that should help. They also suggested a teaspoon of rice but I think I will try stirring it a couple times in the first day.
I won't do the complete cost breakdown but the homemade detergent saves about 10 cents per load. This isn't a lot and one could argue that my time is worth the additional cost. More often than not, I would agree and often times, convenience wins. But I also wanted to make sure we were using a more eco-friendly product. Not only is this not going to put any nastiness in the ground water, but it's also not going to leave any nastiness on our dishes.

Now I realize that it seems like I drove all over the place to get these ingredients but I was planning to make these stops anyways. Plus now I know I can easily get the Borax, washing soda and salt at Kroger and only need to make one other stop at Whole Foods to get the citric acid. We are at Kroger at least once a week and Whole Foods every couple weeks. I actually ended up doubling the recipe because I ended up buying one cup of citric acid so I just used it all. This should last for about 90 loads of dishes. I think that will last awhile since we only run the dishwasher 1-2 times per week.

I've run one load of dishes so far and they came out clean! No weird film on the dishes. The glasses were even clear and spot-free. I would call this a success. I'll have to wait to see what The Pilot thinks since he seems to be anti-dishwasher. :)

Post Race Thoughts

I mentioned in my race recap that I had some post race thoughts.

So my post race thoughts? Happy that I succeed. I got the PR I was after. But by that evening, I was replaying the race in my head. I wouldn't have done anything differently really. I wouldn't have done anything else differently in training. I would have still gone into the race with my 3-6-9 walk break/fuel/text plan. If I wouldn't have done anything differently, then why wasn't I feeling so elated that I succeeded?

Because I walked away from the race knowing that, while I left everything I had out on the course, I could have done better. The things that slowed me down (crowds and a narrow course) were out of my control but it made me start to think what could I have done on a less crowded course? Sigh. It's the truth, that's honestly what I was thinking within hours of finishing the race. And as that negativity started to slide into my brain, so did my overall attitude of the race.

Sure, the conditions were out of my control but I was sort of disappointed in my attitude. When I saw The Pilot at mile 4, I complained that I was having trouble getting up to pace. When I saw him at mile 8, I told him that it might now be my day to PR because of the crowds. That's not my MO. Normally during a race, I just hang in there, knowing that somehow, some way, I make it happen. For some reason, in this race, I let doubt and negativity get into my race.

While I went into this race more confident and less nervous than any previous race, I came out of it wondering what my deal was. Is that what happens when you start to get too competitive with yourself? Did I take the fun of the challenge out of it by trying to run faster/further than I ever had before? With the exception of the Goofy Challenge last year(that goal was to finish and not die), my goal is usually to do better than I did in a previous race of the same distance. I know that a PR isn't going to happen at every race. I don't want that to always be my goal. I want to be able to do a race for the fun.

I'm not exactly sure if this is the reasoning for my negative thoughts during the race, just a theory. I didn't expect to feel anything but elated after getting a new PR so I was surprised by the thoughts that would nag me for the two days after the race.

I am incredibly proud that I did it. I put in the work and I succeeded. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to try to find another 1/2 marathon in the near future to see if I can do better on a less crowded course or if I need to just take a little time off.

Time off is a challenge for this type-A though. Before we even left for Orlando, I was already contemplating what my next goals would be. All the other bloggers were laying out their 2012 race plans and I didn't have anything on the calendar other than the Disney 1/2 marathon. I thought I was OK with that but it sure got me thinking.

I just finished the book You Are an Ironman. I haven't identified if that is a long range goal for me or not but I got to thinking that if it is a goal, then how am I going to get there. I'm not ready for that or even a 70.3 event (half Ironman). I need more tri experience if I'm going to get there. So maybe I'll shift my summer focus to tris again this year. Or maybe I won't.

I took the week after the race off(no workouts!). I coached with TNT on Sunday...my first time coaching since October! We have just started training our spring season and I always look forward to meeting the new walkers and watching this new group do things they never thought they could do.

Maybe I'll just relax a little, try some new workouts at the gym and see where the next couple weeks/months take me before deciding on my next goals.