Renovating Kaeti

Race day looms.

As many of you know, I’ve been training for the Twin Cities 10 Mile race.  And now, the day of reckoning is upon us. The TC10 is this Sunday, one part of a weekend full of running events culminating in the Twin Cities Marathon (also on Sunday, they start about an hour after the 10-milers).

This Sunday. Four days from now. Holy — when did that happen?

In many ways, I feel prepared and confident about the race. I’ve run the distance more than once, and I even ran the course last weekend (you go uphill and then uphill some more). I’m contentedly tapering right now, giving my body some much needed rest. I have my hydration and fueling strategy worked out.

On the other hand, I’m feeling a bit scattered and unfocused. I’m in the middle of moving from Minneapolis to St. Paul, so needless to say I’m stretched a bit thin.  I haven’t slept much the past few nights. I felt great during our training runs, but that’s no guarantee for how I’m going to be feeling on race day. Also, I’m not sure where any of my running gear is. I marked the box “priority,” but then I lost the box.

In the absolute best case scenario, the week before a race involves lots of sleep, relaxation, low stress, nutritious meals, easy runs and maybe a dash of cross-training.

In the real life scenario, you have a crazy work week, there’s a debate watch party that will keep you up late, your life is split into two trailers parked in garages around the city, lunches and dinners are a hurried afterthought, and “tapering” turns into a complete halt.

We’d all love the ideal scenario, but life intervenes and you have to adapt. For my part, I’m going to count moving into an apartment on the third floor (no elevator) as cross-training.  I’m also going to limit my Friday night activities to unpacking a couple of boxes and going to bed at 9:30. Oh, and carbo-loading!

What about you? How do you deal with day-to-day obstacles — whether you’re preparing for a race, or just trying to fit in your weekly workouts?  

I’ve been building up my distance each week to prepare for the TC 10 Mile on Oct. 5 — a date that ominously creeps closer every day.

This is the first time I’ve ever run further than 6.2 miles.  On the plus side, each week it feels like I’ve run a PR.  Downside? Every Sunday after my long runs, all I want to do is eat and nap. And then eat and nap some more.

Take this Sunday’s long run.  My running group did 7.5 miles around the lakes here in Minneapolis.  It was a perfect day for a run, and the first time I got to take my new Asics out for a spin (R.I.P. Mizunos). I felt strong and my heart rate stayed in the 140s for the entire run (it usually creeps up toward the end).

It’s not the run itself that’s the problem. It’s what happens next. After the customary trip to the coffee shop with my group, I came home to eat and shower. But instead of feeling energized and ready to conquer the world like I usually do after a run (OK, that might be a slight exaggeration), I felt ready to crawl back into bed for another eight hours. So I napped for an hour, got up at 11 a.m., and ate some more because I was ravenously hungry.  A little power nap — no big deal, right?

I made it a few more hours — running errands, cleaning, eating — but around 2 p.m. I crashed again.  And this wasn’t a blood sugar glitch or Sunday afternoon inertia. It was a very insistent feeling of fatigue that took over my body and demanded, “You’re going to sleep right now.” I had no choice in the matter.

So I napped until 4 p.m., and when I finally rolled out of bed I was hungry again.  What’s weird is that I feel like I am fueling enough while I run. And I’m eating immediately after the run, trying to stick to that 4-to-1 carb/protein ratio. And throughout the day, I’m eating a ton of nutrient-dense whole food.  I’m also sleeping pretty well, and regular hours to boot.

A quick Google search shows me that this scenario isn’t uncommon. Even Paula Radcliffe takes a two hour nap every afternoon while she’s in training. For my part, I’ve never felt better while training for an event, so I’m going to trust my body and the signals it’s sending.

And Sunday is a lovely day for napping, don’t ya think?

 

(Photo by insk0r, licensed under Creative Commons.)

Oh, why hello there, blog!  You’ve been at the bottom of my to-do list for too long.  It’s just so easy to get caught up in the fray and forget some of the details in the process.

But those details can be pretty durn important. In fact, when I look back at all the changes I’ve made in my life this year, it’s the day-to-day, seemingly mundane details that really made the changes stick.

As I’m sure all of you know, a complete lifestyle overhaul doesn’t happen overnight.  It takes dedicated effort — and the road is ripe with challenges, setbacks, small victories and frustration. Unfortunately, this winding and bumpy road makes it all too easy to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the “big picture,” leaving you vulnerable to the crash and burn of tackling too much at once.

Before I started exercising or eating well, I would look at the sad state of affairs in my life and think things like “I need to GET FIT and EAT RIGHT.”  But I was never sure what, exactly, those big-picture goals entailed.

So rather than drowning in the ambiguity of enormous, undefined goals, I’ve found that it’s helpful to narrow my scope.  By focusing on small(er) daily habits, lasting change is not only possible — it’s easy. Or at least, easier.

The 30-day challenge epitomizes this mindset. You choose one habit or change you would like to make, and focus on that one goal for 30 days.  Instead of “get fit,” your 30-day goal might be something like “walk for 20 minutes everyday.” Stick it out for 30 days, and you’ve got yourself a regular habit. Then you’re ready to move on to the next challenge!

The small change I’m working on currently is bringing lunch to work every day.  So far, I’ve been doing pretty well — and saving a hefty chunk of cash in the process.

After I’m done with this challenge, I have a few others in mind (no TV for 30 days, stop checking email in the morning, regular yoga practice, etc.). Have any of you completed a 30-day challenge like this?  If you could choose one habit to change, what would it be?

I’ve officially started my training for the Twin Cities 10 Mile race in October. I decided to challenge myself, so I’m running with a faster pace group than I would normally run with and so far it’s been great (minus the 70 percent humidity).  As I did with the Get in Gear 10K (which I, um, didn’t run. Shhh), I’ve crafted a training schedule for the next couple of months — complete with mileage and weekly rewards.

Like last time, rewards are based on whatever clipart pictures I dug up whilst putting this bad boy together.

It continues . . .

A few things to note:

• You might have noticed that there are pushups mentioned three times a week. That’s because I, too, have jumped on the 100 Pushup Challenge bandwagon. And like Marcy, I’m starting with “alternative” pushups.  They’re very alternative, actually. They would probably make Pavel Tsatsouline cry.
• My TC 10 Mile training doesn’t end after the race is over. It morphs into my half marathon training. That’s right, folks, I’m going to run my first half marathon! I figure I’ll be running 10 miles already, so why not add a few?  Plus I’ve heard that the Monster Half is a really fun race — costumes, low stress and lots of frivolity. And you know how I love frivolity.
• PSA time! I am not condoning or promoting the use of performance enhancing relaxing drugs, the deadly sin of envy or the dangerous reality of spontaneous combustion. Thank you, you can go about your business now.

I am making the declaration for all the world my mom to see — I’m doing a half and I’m getting buff (actually, I’d settle for getting enough upper body strength to open the storm doors in my apartment building).

I’m back from my vacation — and what a vacation it was.  I went trail running (er, somebody forgot to warn me that you can’t breathe in high altitudes), white-water rafting, horseback riding and even cliff jumping.

No joke.

What inspired this act of insanity bravery? I was offered a choice: Take a risk, or stay safe in our boat and miss out on a potentially amazing experience. I chose to step outside of my comfort zone and make the leap. And I’m so glad I did.

Cliff jumping got me thinking about other choices we face in our day-to-day lives.  When presented with an opportunity, what’s your instinct? Do you stick with what you’ve always done or do you venture into the unknown?

There’s certainly a necessity in our lives for stability, but challenging our self-imposed restrictions and unconscious fears can be incredibly inspiring.

And it doesn’t have to involve plunging into the Colorado River. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be downright simple:

• Take a fitness class you’ve been wary of in the past
• Prepare one new recipe every week
• Strike up conversation with a neighbor or someone else you see every day
• Change your running/cycling/walking route
• Grab a friend and get lost in a part of your city that you’ve never explored

What other ideas do ya’ll have for spicing things up? Have you taken any rewarding risks in your life lately?

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Want more? Check these out:

“Right Risk” (January/February 2004)

“Everyday Adventures” (June 2006)

“The Virtues of Variety” (October 2006)

I’m leaving tonight for a mini-vacation with the family to go to — what else — a family reunion.

The whole clan is meeting up somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and I hear there will be plenty of opportunities for embarrassment excitement and adventure.  I’ll be trying my hand at white-water rafting, the high-ropes course and a couple other activities. Hopefully I’ll come back with loads of photos for ya’ll to laugh at.

While there, I also hope to trail run in the mountains. My method will be: Go easy and avoid encounters with bears.

The one nagging worry I have about the 14-hour car ride ahead of me (other than regression into sullen teenage behavior) is food.  I don’t want to eat fast food, so I’m planning ahead and bringing a small cooler of snacks.

Here’s my list so far:

• Almonds and walnuts
• Pumpkin seeds (raw)
• Bananas
• Peaches, plums, apples and oranges
• Those lunch-box-sized organic chocolate milks (lots of packaging, regrettably)
• Carrots and hummus
• Pita with almond butter sandwiches

Any other ideas for this intrepid traveler? I’m bringing my stainless-steel water bottle to refill along the way.  I’m also bringing an iPod loaded with podcasts and plenty of reading material.

I was inspired by our recent feature on sticking to your fitness routines while traveling (”Have Body, Will Travel“), and am planning to throw my resistance bands into my suitcase. Maybe I can even convince my family to do some strength training with me (I just heard a collective groan).

I hope everyone has a fantastic long weekend. Catch you next week!

Upon waking up at 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning, I decided that running an early morning race on my birthday was not a brilliant idea.

I felt better about it once I’d had some breakfast.

My roomie and I drove to St. Paul, and as we were walking toward Harriet Island we heard a huge crash and boom. And then another boom.

“Was that thunder?” I asked, starting to panic that the race would be interrupted by monsoons and lightning storms.

“Maybe it was a bomb,” suggested my roommate.

Turns out it was a bomb. Well, not really. It was a demolition. They blew up the High Bridge smokestack in downtown St. Paul Saturday morning. So we had some nice dusty cloud cover for the run.

Anyhoodle, the race went pretty well. I got a side stitch after mile two that dramatically slowed my pace during the last mile. My chip time was 27:03. (I guess I’ll have to work on shaving my 5K another day.)

I was happy with my time, especially considering the volume of training I’ve been doing. But when I crossed the finish line, for some reason I was overwhelmed with feelings of bitter disappointment. And I was mad. Like “ready to hurt people hogging all the post-race ‘nanners” kind of mad.

Has this happened to anyone else?  Usually when I finish I’m relieved (and might feel like throwing up a bit). This time I was downright cranky.

I sat down and ate my post-race snacks, and eventually felt better about the world. Maybe it was just a biochemical thing.

My roomie got a PR (woo!!) and we had a celebratory pancake breakfast. Overall, a very successful race.  Thanks for the birthday love, ya’ll!

[Photo courtesy of emma.c.]

Tomorrow I’m running a local 5K as a birthday present to myself.

Why would I want to wake up at 5:30 in the #!@$& morning and subject my body to a rigorous pounding on my birthday of all days?

Good question. I have no idea why.

OK, that’s not entirely true.  While I may not have thought this through before I registered, in retrospect I’m glad that I’m marking the start of my 23rd year with a race. A lot has changed in one year.

Last year at this time:

• I had never run more than a mile, and the mile I ran/walk for a fitness class my senior of college took me close to 14 minutes. I was the last one off the track; the entire class sat and waited for me to finish. (Oh, how I wish I could go back to that day and run the seven-minute mile I know I’m capable of now!)
• I was more than 50 pounds heavier.  But it wasn’t the weight itself that really bothered me — it was that I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror. I didn’t feel at home in my body.
• I had a fair share of the crippling anxiety that goes along with feeling ashamed of your body, your lifestyle and your choices. I was convinced that my friends and family were constantly judging me or disappointed in me. Whether they actually were doesn’t even matter — my perception of judgment was the projection of my beliefs about myself.
• I was just beginning to make small changes in my life: eating whole foods, walking every day, reading everything I could get my hands on about healthy weight loss.

I made a goal for myself last year that I wouldn’t go another year stuck in that miserable and exhausting mire. And I didn’t. With the help and support of friends (my roomie/BFF is a constant inspiration, and her fitness commitment blows mine out of the water), family (my parents continue to make small changes every day that lead them in a healthier direction), readers and bloggers (your stories have kept me going on more than one occasion), and perhaps most importantly my coworkers (I drank the Kool-Aid, and it was good), I made the necessary changes and they kept snowballing.

Here are some of the things that happened this year:

• I became a runner (how did that happen??).
• I rebalanced my body weight, and once again feel present and accounted for in my skin.
• I cut out soda, high-fructose corn syrup and other processed junk, and am eating a diet based around organic, whole foods.
• I joined a yoga studio for the first time, tried out hip-hop dancing (I am so not coordinated) and all sorts of other fitness experiments.
• Every day I’m learning how to accept where I am right now, and to make choices that support who I want to be in the future.

The most terrifying exciting part about this all is that it is only the beginning. This was only one year. There is so much more to learn, and so many ways that I will continue to grow and change.

And what better way to renew and reaffirm my commitment to making my life as healthy and happy as possible than running as hard as I can, sweating like a pig and tossing my cookies at the finish line?  None that I can think of! (And I mean that. Which probably just confirms people’s suspicions that I am, indeed, loopy pickins.)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Awhile back I was fortunate enough to win a bike.  This bicycle showed up at my house a couple weeks ago in a big brown box. I opened the box, saw all the (pretty! shiny!) pieces, promptly closed the box and brought it to the Qualified Professionals.

The shop at the bike store was only four to five days out* so I didn’t have to wait long to pick up my sweet new toy. For a couple of days my new bike (name pending) sat in my bedroom.

[Yes, I live in squalor.]

When the time came for my first ride I went in search of my bike helmet from back in my banana-seat days.  I found it (finally) in our storage unit and prepared to embark.

That’s when I made a fatal error.

I stopped in the bathroom and happened to glance in the mirror. What I saw — well, it looked something like this:

[Seriously?]

I am not kidding you when I say that this is the biggest helmet in the history of all bike helmets.  I looked ridiculous.

But you know what?  I went out biking anyway. And it was actually fun. While it reinforced that I don’t know anything about biking, it was 500 times better than the last time I attempted a ride (50 pounds heavier, completely out of shape).

Still, I definitely need a new helmet. I even had my roommate (a much more experienced cyclist) try on the helmet and give me her take, while I donned the one that came free with the bike.

 [Maybe the helmet just draws attention to my already large noggin.]

All I know is that I’ll be shopping this weekend to see if I can’t find something a bit . . . sleeker. Any tips you have (about helmets, or anything cycling-related) are always appreciated!

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*I’m a poser. Before all of this bike business, I would have had absolutely no idea what that meant.

I wasn’t lying yesterday when I said I would announce upcoming races. See, while some people over promise and under deliver, I am the exact opposite.

(This is part of the program where the drumroll would start — if this were actually suspenseful. Or if this were a classic game show. But it’s not. It’s just a blog. Sorry.)

Here’s the lineup:

June 28 — Time to Fly 5K
A scenic race along the beautiful Mississippi River, the sponsoring parties claim that this is a “family-friendly event” and that “there is something for every age and ability level.” What this actually means is that there is something for families, and everybody else has to run around the strollers. What will make this race awesome is that it’s on my birthday, and I plan on milking that for all it’s worth. (Oh, and it also benefits cancer research.)

July 20 — Highland Fest 5K
Another race along the river, except this time we get to run past the — ready for this? — Ford Motor factory! Talk about picturesque. (Photo by Mollivan Jon.)

July 26 — Boston Scientific Heart of Summer 10K
This race benefits Very Important Things, and will be my first “official” 10K. In other words, there will be other runners there and I will have to try extra hard not to fall down, as well as keep my singing to a socially acceptable volume.

August/September — Some other events I haven’t picked yet
What? I’m not that organized.

October 5 — Medtronic TC 10 Mile
Why would I want to pay more than $60 to run 10 miles? Beats me, but I’m registered for the race and the Running Room training clinic, so there’s no turning back now. And it’s the 10th anniversary of the TC 10 mile, which means it’s actually like running 100 miles. Beat that.

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That’s the plan right now. After the 10 mile in October, I am starting to look for potential (gulp) half marathons. We’ll see how the 10 mile training goes. I may decide that only crazy people run more than 3 miles. Then again, we’ve already established that I’m loopy pickins.

One final thought before the weekend (from Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD, in his book Happier):

“The choice we face is between passively reacting to extrinsic demands and actively creating our life.”

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As I wrote this post, The New York Times confirmed that Tim Russert died today of a heart attack at the age of 58. Regular readers know that I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Tim’s smirk and Sunday-morning antics. I would be remiss not to mention him.