I did it!

I finished my first event of the 2011 season yesterday!!!!

I ran the Colfax Half Marathon and had a blast!  It felt so darn good to be participating in an event again.

There I was, at 6 am, lined up with all the other thousands of people…waiting for the line to move toward the start.  My fingers where gently hoovering over my Garmin.  I was dressed in my full winter garb and was ready to see where my fitness was at.  It had been close to one full year since I ran as far as 13.2 miles and today was going to be my litmus test.  I was ready….teacher…give me the exam!

I started off toward the very back of the pack (my friends decided on one last potty break…).  I took my time running at my slow, warm up speed.  As the miles went by and the time went by, next thing I new I was half way through.  I was feeling warmed up (despite a cold wind and freezing drizzle) and noticed I was picking up my pace.

As we began to head back to City Park for the final 6 miles I really began to get into a groove.  I started to pick up my pace, minding my cadence.  I began to pass person after person.  I think only about 3 people passed me for the whole 6 miles.  I was just having a blast and feeling that groove.  That easy, effortless run.

Just a side note here- I recently tried running in some K-Swiss shoes for a few runs…and went back to my tried and true Newtons.  I so love my Newtons!  They really do make running effortless!

So, there I was running through an Aurora Fire Dept Station, loving life and the day.  As I cruised down 17th Ave I continued to pick up my pace, leaning forward, quick cadence, arms back…etc.

As I crossed Colorado Blvd and ran into City Park I saw the sign for mile 12.  I made it!  Only 1.1 miles to go!!!!  And that’s when I really let it all go!  Up until this point I had never really gotten near my lactic threshold.  With 1 mile left to go, I began to flirt with it.  I began that dance of, how fast can I go, how long can I hold this????

I held back mostly because I was afraid I would blow up and not finish strong.  When I got within about 1/4 mile of the finish I really went for it.  I stopped being afraid (I was close enough now) and just hit my LT.  I was breathing hard! I cruised into the finish shoot, feeling good and strong.

I’m very pleased with my performance. I had absolutely NO idea what my fitness was like, how I would feel, how I would do….It’s been almost one year since I quit training due to Adrenal Fatigue….and today, without a doubt….I can say that I’m BACK!!!!!!!!   I just finished my first half marathon since being diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue and I am very pleased!

Crazy making…That’s what I’ve been going through in the last few weeks. Real, set your head spinning, crazy making.

You see…I seemed to have developed a case of insomnia due to getting better and not backing off some of my adrenal support supplements. At the time though I had no idea that this was the cause. All I knew is my sleep patterns where not so great anymore…then one night I actually didn’t sleep a wink. I freaked, called my doc and said “give me something…lorazepam, Ambien…anything”. Well, she obliged me with both and I was off to lala land…

I feel in love with Ambien for the 10 days she prescribed it. I was sleeping again. Only problem, after those 10 days I was chasing sleep again. I asked for more and she again obliged, and that knock ya out sleep was mine again.

You might be thinking…so what’s the problem??? Being sensitive to meds and such, I then developed the side effect of anxiety. Mind you, I have never been an anxious person and here I was with jaw aching, body rattling anxiety!!!

I finally had a moment of clarity and realized the Ambien was the cause and quickly stopped it. Around this time I had just done all the tests to see how I was recovering from Adrenal Fatigue…The good news is my adrenal function is back in range and all other levels were also!!!
That is except my overnight cortisol levels which were sky high! (15 when the range is 1-3). No wonder I wasn’t sleeping!!!

That’s when my nutritionist and I decide it was time to stop all supplements and focus on bringing down my overnight cortisol levels. I’m about 4 days into this at the moment. So far, I sleep great one night, next night I’m challenged with having a hard time falling asleep…..

Now I’m a firm believer in silver linings and growing from every experience. From this experience so far I’m taking a greater understanding for the people I work with who have mental illness. What it’s like to be on meds and have side effects. What it’s like to have sleep challenges, and mainly how messed up having anxiety is!! How hard it can be.

I know it’s going to be a few weeks. I’ve been off Ambien 10 days, off Lorazepam for 5 days, and off supplements for 4 days. One thing I would share from this…if you ever hit a rough patch…Ambien is a wicked drug!!! Hang in there and try to get through it without medication! As my nutritionist told me “no one ever died from not sleeping”. Boy that helped to hear that…

Right now, its Sunday and I’m writing this sitting on a plane bound to Hartford, Ct. Work is sending me to a DBT training for a week. I’m going to spend 40 hours learning Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. Perfect timing I’d say!!!

I love how God, the Universe, whatever you call it- always gives us exactly what we need, exactly when we need it!!! I’m right where I’m suppose to be, experiencing exactly what I’m suppose to be experiencing. I know this will pass and I will be a better person for it.

With challenges comes the opportunity to grow. Isn’t that why we do this crazy thing we call triathlon? For the challenge, the growth. Well, I’m just getting to grow in a different way!!!!

Bring it on!!! I’m an Ironman!

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted on my blog. It seems that since I haven’t been training I don’t feel as if I have a lot to write about. I feel as if I don’t have anything interesting to say unless I’ve run 30 miles or something.

So what have I been up to that might be interesting?

Two weeks ago I was in a 4 day training called Pathways To Leadership. I was sent by my company along with 19 other employees. We spent the whole time learning tools to help us be better members of our community, work, and at home.

Two tools (out of 17) that I have found to be extremely helpful are the Energy Map and Homeward Bound Framework.

The Enegry Mapis about being aware of where you are focusing your engery?  Are you on the “Back Side”  which means you are focusing on What’s not working;  What I don’t like about you/me/it;  the Problem.  Now this was good for me because I have been focused on the Back side.  I’ve been focusing on what I don’t like about me, and what’s not working right now.  I’ve been focused on the problem of having Adrenal Fatigue.

Learning about the Energy Map has helped me daily to stay on the “Front Side”.  This means I now focus on What’s working;  What I do like about you/me/it; and I’m focused on the Solution.  I have the objective to get better and I am executing a plan for that. Now if I wake up and put on my pants that barely fit any more, I think of the fact that I am healthier today than I was two months ago when  first diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue.  I also can catch myself throughout the day in many situation when my thoughts wander to the Back Side.  I can now be aware of switching my thinking to the Front Side.

The other great tool that I learned was Homeward Bound Framework.  Now I really recommend doing this every evening as you’re headed home.  Stop somewhere when your about 5 mins from home and ask yourself these 4 questions.

1. What did I learn today that’s going to be valuable?    2.  What did I do well today?   3. What are the 3 greatest blessings in my life?  4.  How can I be the best mom, dad, spouse, friend I’ve ever been tonight?

I strongly suggest trying this because the results will be amazing.  I have found that my whole attitude shifts and I am in such a different place when I walk through my front door.

The next two days I was in a DBT training. This is a type of therapy where the main premise is Mindfulness. DBT is a cross between Eastern philosophy and behavioral therapy.

One of the main skills I learned in the training was the “half smile”.
The “half smile” is a skill to use when you’re having a rough time or your thoughts are drifting to the negative.

The Worlds Most Famous "Half Smile"

To do the “half smile” you ever so slightly lift the corners of your mouth into a light smile. Go ahead try it….how does it feel? Do you feel a little lighter inside???

I may not have had any exercise inspired insights to share over the past two months, but I thought I would share these tools with you all. Go ahead- give them a try. I mean- what have you got to loose??? OR should I say- what have you got to gain????

I’ve been thinking about flexibility a lot lately. Not so much the flexibility of the body, but flexibility of the mind.

The King of Flexibility

You see, a lot of things that were planned this season didn’t happen. Or maybe I should say they didn’t happen the way they were planned.

I remember when I started training two years ago, I HAD to get my workouts in EXACTLY as they were written.  I HAD to hit the right type, cadence, heart rate, speed, course, you name it.  If I didn’t do it just right, everyone heard about it and needless to say, I was NOT very flexible. 

Fastforward two years, and today I have embraced the attitude of flexiblity.  Granted, I don’t have it down pact, but I’d rather be flexible than how I was before.  I have found that I get to enjoy life more with an attitude of “oh well.  What are we going to do now? ”  This is helping me tremendously to enjoy training, life and my friends more.

Here’s an example….Saturday a stack of us met at the pond to swim a lap then head to ride City View.  We decided with the crowds riding City View and with how “friendly” the locals can be sometimes, that we would head to Cyclist Friendly Boulder!  (Boulder is the BEST place to ride and be safe!)

So that’s exactly what we did.  Swam at the Pond, drove to Boulder, cycled up there….then we had Lunch, went to Newton Running Labs and had a jolly good “Girlfriend” Day! 

Enjoying Friendship

See, two years ago, I NEVER would have done that!  I would have insisted on riding City View because that’s what my plan said.  I would have been so narrow minded that I would not have gone to Boulder.  I would have missed out on a wonderful day filled with sisterhood!  What a shame that would have been.

Flexibilitly of the mind has allowed me to enjoy my life more.  It has allowed me to be more spontaneous and to “go with the flow”.  It has allowed me to enjoy the journey of training and the moments I share with friends.  It has helped me with the bumps and cracks in the road that happen in this thing called life.  I’m not sure how I came upon this flexibility of the mind, wether it was life or training that helped me find this.  All I know, is I’m glad I have embraced it and attempt to live with flexibility as much as possible.

I can’t believe it. Spring is here and so is my first race of the season!
How did this happen?  How did the race that I signed up for in winter come so quickly? It seems like just yesterday I wrote out my race schedule for the 2010 season. Back in November this seemed like a good idea! HaH!

I do have to admit that I am enjoying the taper. It ‘s kinda nice to feel like I have more energy and I’m not so tired. Plus it was nice to do only an hour and half bike ride Saturday.  Some of the perks of approaching a race.

So, I’ll see how it goes.  Sometimes my mind is in the game for this race and sometimes it’s not…..All I know is I’m ready to have some fun!

See ya next week with a race report!

 How about those days when you just start out with your workout….not particularly psyched to be out doing what you’re doing….but you’re doing it anyway..

Well, I’ve been having those kinda days lately.  I have been going through the motions of getting my training in but not feeling that passion and excitement about it.  Some might think that this could be a sign of over-training…but I think it might just be part of grieving.  Grieving the loss of my Dad just two months ago. 

That’s the thing about being a triathlete, you’re really just like everyone else and stuff happens that affects you.  Maybe as triathletes we are just more aware of how this stuff does affects us.  We have ways to measure our moods, engery, body and mental status.  We are more tuned into what is going on on the inside.  We see it in our efforts, our pace, or times, in our workouts.  We can tell when we are “a bit off”.   Maybe having this keen ability is a blessing or maybe not.

I happen to think it’s a blessing. By realizing something is off, I’m able to figure out what I need to help myself.  One thing I have noticed that helps me the most right now, it to train with other people.  So each weekend I am sending out emails, facemails etc to invite people to join me.  And the wonderful thing is…people are! 

I need to give a big thanks for everyone who joins me on a ride, run or swim at this point in my training.  You are all helping to get me through this rough patch….and helping me to “get-er-done”!

Who do you love???

Big question I have…..do you love your coach?  Are you really truly happy with your coach?  Do ya  love him/her?

This Sunday as I was running my first EVER sub 1:59:30 Ten Mile Run, I realized that I absolutely LOVE my coach!  I mean, I really love her and am so grateful for her!

My workout for Sunday was to run 10 miles with 3 minute pick ups at an 8:45 pace every mile.  After a 20 minute warm up I started in on my first pick-up.  I hit 9:00 pace on the first one and with every pick-up after that I was hitting 8:45 or less!  At one point I looked at my Garmin and saw 7:45 on it!  I was like- Holy $hit!   That’s never happened before!  I’ve never been able to run that fast!!!

As I was having this fabulous run (mind you, I did not want to get out of bed that morning), I thought about what I great coach I have!  My coach Andrea Watkins  is the best!!!  She has been coaching me for a bit over two years now.  She has taken me from an out of shape 49 year old, to an Ironman finisher, to someone who can now run 10 miles in 1:42:10! 

See I believe a coaching relationship should be like any other relationship you have.  If the person is toxic or not hearing what you are saying, or not meeting your needs….It’s time for a change! 
A coaching relationship has it’s ups and downs.  I mean, poor Andrea has seen me through some REALLY tough times and with that some not so stellar behavior on my part.  She has been kind enough to point out these behaviors and I’m grateful for that.  It takes courage to call someone on their shit when it’s-a-flyin!  And she does that for me.

She also listens.  She listens to what I’m saying and hears what I need mentally and physically, even when I’m not aware!  She challenges me to grow both physically and mentally. 

She’s taken me to the airport butt-crack early when I flew home for my father’s passing.  She went to my house and packed my bike and shipped it to me when I was out in California caring for my father….I not saying that every coach should go above and beyond like this….but Andrea does!  And that just makes me love her and appreciate her even more!

I feel so fortunate I have found a coach who is such a good fit for me!  I have always felt grateful for her.  And as she continues to write my training plan and help me to reach my goals, I am in awe of her ability to help me reach a higher level of athleticism!

I may be wrong here, and this is only my humble opinion…..but do ya love your coach?  Are you unhappy? Do ya just coach with the person caz you have for years?  Do you feel like you’re not being heard?  If you answered, “kinda- sort of” to any of those questions….then ya might want to see what it’s like to Love your coach.  Heaven knows there’s enough of em out there!

sore legs! 

Here I sit on Monday with the sorest legs I’ve had in ages!  Yeah sitting…not such a good idea today, as every time I get up it takes a few minutes for my quads to work.  And the thing is, my legs are sore in places they aren’t usually sore! 

So what’s the culprit you may ask.  How’d I get my legs so sore anyways….I mean, they are more sore than after my 28 mile run!

One word- STAIRS!  Red Rocks Stairs to be exact.  That’s after running over Dinosaur Ridge and up into Red Rocks!  This was the strength workout my coach had mapped out for me on Saturday.

We started at 8:30 at Conoco (I actually roped Liesl into joining!)  The skies were slightly overcast with the promise of sun later, temps in the high 30′s!!!   I threw on my Newton shoes and we made our way up Roney Road, over Dinosaur Ridge and up to the amphitheater in Red Rocks. 

The Red Rock Crew

That was just the warm up….Then the fun began.  Next we had 10 sets on the infamous stairs!!!!!  What a blast!  Really, it was!  It’s one of those “hurts so good” kinda feelings.  Yah know, where your pushing yourself, and your lungs are exploding, and your legs are crying….Yeah, it was that kinda blast.

That’s how we spent the next 50 minutes…up and down the stairs!  I love going to Red Rocks.  The view is so spectacular and there are all these other people who are purposefully inflicting excruciating pain on themselves also!  I mean, where else could you find so many different people working so hard to get fit????? 

All done and taking in the view

We celebrated at the top with a picture and then refilled our water bottles and headed back down into the town of Morrison and to our cars.  It was truly a splendid way to spend the morning.  And it was a phenomenal workout!  I feel as if my legs are 10 times stronger already!  I highly recommend this workout for anyone who wants to build strength (and character).

Sunday rounded out the weekend with a 3 hour Computrainer course.  We rode the Ironman Australia course.  That course has a kick butt climb right off the start….

All in all, another great training weekend, with some time outside in the sun and sore legs in the end.  What more could an Ironman want??????

Yesterday was my birthday….yeap another one. 

 I am officially over 50!  Holy Cra%…How in the heck did that happen????  Wasn’t it just yesterday I was 35??????  I can’t believe it…..Time does fly, especially when you’re having fun!!!!

Every year I’ve looked at my birthdays as the one day out of the year where I can make it all about me (not that I don’t on other occasions…but I’m working on that).  There was only one problem yesterday.  This was my first birthday in 51 years where my Dad didn’t sing me happy birthday.  That made for a bit of a sad day.   It was my birthday and an occasion for celebration, but I really spent a lot of time crying when I was alone……And that was ok.  I needed to do that…….grieving can be like that…it just comes and then it’s gone.

So of course, with a birthday, it brings an opportunity to pause.  Pause and take stock of my life and where I’m at, and where I’m going.  At the beginning of the year I wrote a post about New Years Intentions.   With all that occurred in January I never made the time to write myself a mission statement.  I figure now is a good time to do that as I embark on my next year of being on this earth.

Even though yesterday was a tough day, I must thank all my friends who reached out to me and wished me a happy birthday.  Each time I got a message it lifted my spirits and put a smile on my face.  It made me feel cared for and comforted. 

Today is a new day.  I feel GREAT and happy and joyful and thankful to be 51!  I think I needed those tears yesterday to wash away some of the sorrow. 

The sun is out and tomorrow will bring a TOUGH strength run!  It will be nice to run outdoors!  It’s been a few weeks.  I’ll make sure to take pictures and blog about it!  Should be a dooozzzyyyy….

I hope everyone enjoys the weekend and gets out in the sun!

SAD….I’m SAD…..I’m Surrly, Anxious and Depressed because I’ve had to do every long run and long ride indoors for the last 3 weekends!

SAD…this stuff is real!  I’m Seasonally Affected with this Disorder.  I am craving a weekend day that is sunny and not snowing.  I don’t even care if it’s not warm….just give me the darn sun!!! 

Why is it that durning the week, when I’m working indoors the sun is out and the temps hover in the 40′s?  But come Saturday morning it snowing?  Who’s idea is this anyway.  It’s tough when the weather in Denver gets in these patterns.  I always begin to find myself getting a bit surrly and chompin at the bit!

SAD

As a mental health therapist, I know the role that exercise in the sun can play on mood and brain chemistry.  But darn if the sun isn’t cooperating these days. 

So since the sun doesn’t find me…I try to find the sun in my own way.   I’ve begun a game with myself.  I tell myself I am training my mind.  Yeap.  I take these endless weekend indoor training sessions as an opportunity to toughen my mind.  I grit through the pain of the endless hours of boredom and tell myself I am mentally getting tougher to handle things that might come up in a race.  I figure if I can endure another 2-3 hour treadmill run I can endure anything.  I mean anything! 

Sometimes the hardest part of racing is getting through the training.  If I can keep with my training, no matter what, no matter the season….then when it’s time to be standing in the water on that chilly morning- I’ll be ready!  I’ll have gotten through the hard part…..And the SADness will be gone!  Plus it helps knowing better weather is just weeks away!!!!