Sheathed in Lycra

As a runner, I always loved biking to cross-train. Now that I've embarked on the insanity that is the "Ride to Read" though, my running has taken a back-seat to biking. In the past three months, I've cycled 274 miles and run 24.

So obviously, I haven't been training for any fall races, including the half that I had been planning on.

But that's ok. I like getting involved in another sport. There's still a part of me that wants to hit the pavement running as soon as the Ride to Read is over, but in the past couple of weeks, I've increased the distance I can bike at one time by double. I keep going further and making more steps towards being ready for the 60-mile ride. I had started out on a mountain bike, and while I knew that it wasn't as efficient as it could be, I gave it my best and pushed myself to perform. This past week, a friend lent me her road bike to use for the ride, and I've been adjusting to it. Road bikes place more weight forward on your hands and wrists, and the handlebars are shaped differently, in addition to the obvious difference that the tires are about half the size of mountain bike tires. I'm practicing, though, and am planning on riding over 50 miles tomorrow. I'm at the point now where 20 miles is an easy after-work ride, so I'm not worried about it. In fact, I'm excited to keep making progress. After the Ride to Read, I am going to continue riding and work my way up to using clipless pedals. Of course, that will be as I get back into running.

On the running front, I'm going to do a hounds and harriers run with my fiancé's German Shepherd in October. Her name is Anna, and I can't wait to do some trail running with her. I went for a very short hike with her last week, and I ran a little bit on the trail and was immediately drawn to that old feeling of flying over rocks and roots, jumping over logs and nimbly fleeting over the ground. I can't wait to spend more time out on trails like that.

In the meantime, I'll keep pedaling!

1 Librarian. 4 Libraries. 60 Miles.

1 Librarian. 4 Libraries. 60 Miles. That librarian is me, and I'll be cycling to each branch of my library to raise money for a new main building.

This is a fundraiser I've organized for work, where I am the staff member who works with the Friends of the Library (the fundraising group). We will be moving into a new main library building next spring, but there is a lot that needs to go into it - literally. Besides bookshelves and desks, a library needs comfortable chairs for curling up with a good book in, and study carrels for students, and fun furniture in the children's and teen areas. To purchase these things, we need to fundraise, and I knew that it would be up to me to organize something.

I thought about endurance events where I could run really far and have people sponsor me. I formulated a plan where I would travel to each branch of the library (it's a county system with 4 branches) and end at the new building. Due to the distance that would take (60 miles), I knew that I would have to bike it. And so the Ride to Read was born. It will be held on September 19th, and I'm hoping to raise $5,000 for it.

I have a blog dedicated specifically to the Ride to Read (http://ridetoread.blogspot.com) which records my training and has all of the sponsorship information.

I'm serious about training for this. I am motivated as I haven't been in ages. I am supplementing the riding with total-body circuit workouts courtesy of Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30 DVD, which I hope will build and round out the foundational strength I need. It's a chance to get back to that fitness level where I could keep up with the fast runners at a 5K and feel strong, nimble, fast, and just good all around.

I took pictures and measurements of myself at the start of training, because there is pudge creeping up in my tummy, back, hips, and thighs. It's time to nip all of that in the bud, get healthy, get to know my bicycle better than I ever have before, and to raise money for my library.

I feel a little daunted by the distance. I've never ridden more than 25 miles. I'm not a "real" cyclist. I didn't even know the proper way to mount and dismount the bike until a few weeks ago. But I'm determined to do it and learn along the way. It will make me a better rider, runner, and a healthier person, and maybe it will inspire some other people along the way.

If you're interested in supporting my ride, please visit the Ride to Read blog, and feel free to share the link with others!

Thank you, and stay tuned for updates!

O'burg race recap

I didn't have very grand plans or goals heading into this race. Three of my friends ran it with me, which was fun. I enjoy going to races because it's a way of sharing a love of running with like-minded people, but it's always better when you know someone.

I started out the day with a stop at a deli for something caffeinated. I had hardly slept the night before, so I knew that I'd be dead without a boost of some kind. I got to the race and registered with a lot of time to spare for a port-a-potty stop, a trip back to the car, and a warm-up. I met up with my friends around the starting line a couple of minutes before it started, and before we knew it, it was time for the race to begin.

My tactic was going to be to use gravity for speed for the first mile, hang on to that pace for the second mile, and push hard in the third mile, which has a hill. I felt very good after the first mile, and around that time I got a "good job" from a 9-year old girl I was running alongside. She was very peppy, even though she was pretty tired. She asked me when the water stop was going to be, and I told her that this was a fun race because you end on the baseball field. I was feeling good, so I wished her luck with her race and pulled ahead just before the first water stop. I was doing ok until the third mile. It was hot, and there was a hill. The energy ran out, and I slowed down a lot, until I felt that I was doing my "dead runner shuffle". I did summon up a bit of a kick at the end. There were a lot of people ahead of me who I wanted to pass, so I sprinted and made it past them, but not quite fast enough to get in under 27 minutes. My official time was 27:01.02. Here I was during the final sprint:

Holy thigh muscles! The race pictures alerted me to the necessity of working on my flailing arms and awful posture. I should be a lot more upright in full sprint, and my arms should be pinned to my sides and moving in an up and down motion instead of flapping. I went for a run this morning and noticed that I don't engage my core or back very much, so that's something to think about and work on during my runs.

Anyway, this wasn't my best race, by any means, but it wasn't horrible. I was only a couple of seconds slower than last year's time, so I shouldn't be too concerned, and just use it as motivation to train, because although I've been running, I haven't actually been training for a 5k. I congratulated the girl who I had talked to during the race, and she was so cute and happy, and gave me a high five. It was great!

My friends seemed to have similar race experiences, where it was still fulfilling, but not our best timed results. I know that I need to be more dedicated to training, and I just stumbled upon a picture on Facebook yesterday that might help that...

This is a picture of friends from middle/high school that was just taken this summer. We're all almost 30, and they look like they could be models! It sure is motivation to get in top shape. I also have a very specific fitness goal that I will be working toward that has nothing to do with body image, but rather a fundraising venture for work. I'll post about it next time, though, because speaking of work, if I don't take a shower right now and start getting ready, I'll be late!

Party in O'burg!

This Saturday, I'll be running the O'burg 5K with 3 friends. We're not running as a team or anything, but it will still be fun to be there with friends. I don't have any big goals for this race - just to run with a time comparable to past times.

Another race came up for the following week that I'd like to do: an alumni track meet at my high school. I'd love to revisit the 100 meter dash again, just to see how fast I could run it 10 years later. I am scheduled to work that day, though, and I don't know if I'll be able to take the day off or switch my schedule. If I can't, I may try a 5-mile trail run the night before. That will be tough because I haven't done any trail running, but maybe the hiking my fiancé and I have done will count as some sort of training.

For now, I'm going to rest up my legs. I've been getting out on my bike for some quick rides pretty often lately and even rode to the track for a practice sprint workout last week. It's been great for getting me used to the bike again. A big problem was a smooth front tire that I had gotten last year that made me slip and slide all over the place and made me feel very insecure. Now that I've gotten a new tire with more traction, I can loosen up the white-knuckled grip and feel more comfortable. I've also made a point to ride through and over spaces that I'm afraid of, like narrow gates or rocks and roots. After all of this riding and running, though, my legs need a little recovery time, especially if I want to feel fresh for Saturday.

So, stay tuned for a race report!

Practicing my bunny hop

About 8 years ago, I decided that I wanted to dust off my bicycle and start riding it regularly. A rail trail runs right through my town, which was the perfect spot to go for a spin, and it got to the point where I was riding 10 miles almost every day. On those rides, I'd ride either as fast as I could or I would slow down and practice some necessary skills. It sounds ridiculous, but I had to practice lifting each hand up from the handlebars, and that was tough. No riding with no handlebars for me! I eventually got to the point where I could lift my left hand up enough to wave or to give a stopping or turning hand signal. A few years later, I spent a lot of time trying to learn how to bunny hop over sticks and branches. I never could seem to get the hang of it, and that's how it's been with me and bike skills. 

Today I set aside some time to go for a ride alone and practiced being loose, lifting each hand up, and going through or around things that I was afraid of hitting. I feel like a little kid, but I need so much more experience to feel comfortable. As long as I keep this up, though, I'll start to make some progress and feel more confident. 

Coming up...

I'm marking my calendar for a 5K on June 16th. I ran this last summer with my friend (it was her first 5K!), and I'm excited about doing it again. There's a chance that some of my fiance's friends will be running it, too, which would make for quite a group.

It's just starting to get really hot and humid here in the northeast, so I have a little bit of time to acclimatize to the weather. I got out today for a brutal 6.5-miler with my running buddy and her sister, and they kicked my butt big time. I had just gone hiking yesterday (see below)

and sweated a couple pounds off and didn't quite replenish in time for the run today, so I started off dehydrated. I've never run a marathon, so I can't really say I know what hitting the wall is like, but I imagine that it's something like what I felt like today. It was in the 80s with high humidity and strong sun. I started off with my legs feeling leaden. I expected them to loosen up, but all they did was fatigue, and with every hill, my steps got smaller and smaller. I realized that I was just shuffling and took a couple of walk breaks, because I expected injuries from poor form to start cropping up. 

Anyway, I am not used to this weather. The 5k is in 2 1/2 weeks, so I'm going to use this time to try and get out for as many warm weather runs as I can. I also would love to hit the mountain or just some single track bike trails again. I love running in the woods, and the mountain running is an incredible workout, and single track running is both a workout and fun. 

Last year, when I ran my fastest 5k ever without doing any running to train for it, I realized how important cross-training is. I had done all of my exercise in the form of circuit workouts with a Wii program that featured upper body, lower body, and core exercises and cardio bursts. Those workouts did more for my running than running did, so I don't want to forget how important the total body training is for me. I also lost a lot of weight and felt better about myself than I ever had before (can I be a spokesperson for the product yet?), so I'm going to try and continue to incorporate those exercises into my routine. 

I'll be focusing a lot more on biking, too. I used to ride much more often than I do now, and I've lost a lot of my comfort on the bike. I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable enough to ride very technical trails, but I want to regain the confidence I had and build up some more so that I can go for some somewhat interesting rides with my fiancé. He owns a bicycle repair shop and is an avid cyclist, and I love being able to share outdoor experiences together. I love biking so much that I want to be able to share that with him - especially since it's such a big part of his life. 

I don't know when my neck surgery is going to be (still need to go for a second opinion), and that will influence my training, but one of my main goals for the summer is to train up for a fall half marathon. Get ready for Sunday, October 14th. The big part is that I'm going to try and run it with my running buddy and her sister, who are very speedy and want to finish in under 1:50. Is that possible for me???? I don't know, but I'm keeping it in mind. I'm going to train with them on most Tuesday mornings and gradually build up my speed and endurance over the summer. In August or September, I might even try running some Yasso 800s on the track or treadmill. 

So these are the major goals right now: 

• 5K on June 16th with friends (adjust to heat and run a time comparable to my past results)
• Get more fully fit by training upper and lower body, core, and cardio
• Regain confidence on my mountain bike so I can actually develop some skills
• Increase speed and endurance enough over 4 1/2 months to run a sub-2-hour half-marathon on October 14th. 

We'll see how it goes!

Ever on.

Back...with the best news!

So I kind of fell off the face of the planet. But I want to come back. There are races I want to run this year, and blogging my adventures on the way there makes the training and the races that much more meaningful.

A LOT has happened since I last posted. Mainly, I went to California for an amazing vacation that took me from the desert at Joshua Tree National Park to the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, up the coast through Big Sur all the way to San Francisco and the coastal redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument. Best of all, when we stopped off at the gorgeous McWay Falls in Big Sur, my boyfriend asked me the most important question of my life - if I'd marry him.  I said yes - actually, I said "Of course!" There was no question about it. 

 

The view of McWay Falls from the spot where I said yes!

So unbelievably happy just a couple of days later.

Since then, life has been incredibly hectic. I got in a car accident just two weeks after getting engaged, which broke my heart because I love my car and take such good care of it, and it got very smashed up by an off-duty cop who didn't feel the need to stop at a stop sign and look both ways before pulling out.  Then, a week after that, I found out that I have a large cyst in my throat that needs to be surgically removed. That was further complicated by post-graduate coursework and plans to move out.  

I made some time to run a couple of races, but I'm ready to get more serious about exercising consistently. My neck surgery will impact that a little, but until that time, I'm going to be prioritizing my health and training much more than I have. 

More on the races I plan to run in the next post.