Reminder to myself

I have 3 of the sweetest kids and a truly loving and selfless husband. At times they show more patience and love than I ever thought possible. I know I fail them many times when it comes to showing them the same. It is a flaw I have... one of many.

My primary goal is to lead by example, so that my family just KNOWS that God's spirit is present in my life and therefore, in our family and in their lives.

What I love about the next sentence is that it's true whether or not one believes in God:

The fruit of the spirit is Love, Joy, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23).
I believe that every person of every race, creed, color, etc., etc., has SPIRIT... and deep down everybody wants the virtues listed above to be a part of their lives. They want their spirits to shine! Some just need to be led toward that path.

When a person consistently practices walking in "the spirit" not just in their public life, but also when they're with their spouse and children (the ones closest to them), that person becomes a "leader." Leadership IS NOT power! The person who best serves his family, his loved ones, or his community will be a true leader.

I really want to best serve my family... it is my goal!

I ran today...

... and I thought of my Brothers in Blue: Dunakin, Hege, Romans and Sakai with every step. I saw so many butterflies and just knew the spirits of these men were free and with the Lord. The run was an effortless 8 miles. Each mile faster than the last. My heart felt strong for them, my legs felt fast and light. At the end of my run while doing some drills, 5 white birds flew overhead and I thought of the four of them and the Lord all together.

I could not attend their memorial up in Oakland today, but my husband and I watched the service on television. In retrospect it was probably better that I prayed along with them at home because I could not control my emotions. I just could not.

I had to break away to work at the high school with the track team, and being in the company of the kids cheered my heart a little bit. Then I watched the rest of the service after I got home.

Rest my Brothers, for you are Home. Thank you for what you've done and for the sacrifice you made. We will pray for your loved ones and care for them. We honor you and will not forget.

Godspeed.

A little sick guy and no motivation to run

Round two of sickness has begun. Our 3 year old has had a temp of 103+ for the last 24 hours, green gunk draining out of his nose and is just not his energetic self. The doctor will see him tomorrow. I'm hoping that this doesn't spread to everyone else in the house... but you know how that goes.

In the meantime I'm tired of feeling those nagging little sore spots from running. If it's not one thing, it's another, and I'm so frustrated that I'm considering not running at all for at least a week. I took the weekend off and then ran yesterday. Felt great during the 5.5 mile run at a steady 8:00/mile pace, but as soon as I started the 6-8 x 100 meter striders after the run, the right butt started throbbing and it hurt to sit down, and then the sensation travelled down my right leg into my right inner ankle, where I'd had the posterior tibial tendon problems in the fall. Really? Ugh. This just sucks. I only did 2 striders and then called it quits.

I'm doing my balance exercises, hurdle drills, myrtl exercises, etc., etc. My balance does feel better and my ankles stronger... but everything still nags me. WTH?

Oh well, enough whining. I'm heading out for a long bike ride.

Other updates: the track team won its first dual meet last week against a main 'rival,' and several school records were broken! I am so happy for these kids and it's great to be part of the coaching team. We have another meet on Wednesday and I hope I don't have to work the meet sick.

And the Aggies won the team titles (for men and women) at the 12K Across the Bay. I was not a point scorer, but it's still great to see the victories!

Memorial service for the fallen Oakland PD officers this Friday. I really hate that this is even happening. My emotions are running the gamut from heartbreak to disgust and anger. Please keep these officers and the families they leave behind in your prayers.

End Of Watch

Four Oakland police officers were shot today. The first two officers were shot during a traffic stop. The second two officers were shot while in pursuit of the suspect. Three of the officers died. One is critically wounded. The suspect is dead. My heart just breaks. Completely. I have no words. My heart just hurts.

Godspeed, Sgt. Mark Dunakin, Sgt. Ervin Romans, Sgt. Daniel Sakai, and Officer John Hege. Officer Hege, I'm praying that you recover from your wounds.

Master Runner's Training Philosophy - Coach Magill

Coach Magill is not my coach... but I really like his philosophy on training, especially for Masters runners. People will say, "Blah, blah, blah, you're only as old as you feel." True, but you know what? I feel old. My body is tired these days. So there! Anyway, here is Coach Magill's philosophy. You can view more on his blog site, "Younger Legs for Older Runners."

"The 3-Step Training Program ("Off-The-Clock Training")

Before training, it's important that we understand what it is we're after: We train to run longer faster.

Traditionally, runners equate "faster" with time and "longer" with distance. But not me - not us. For us:


"Faster" is about motion, not time.
"Longer" is about duration, not distance.
Traditional training approaches take a known result - improved fitness allows us to train at a higher volume and intensity - and attempts to take after-the-fact credit.

In fact, traditional training approaches tend to exploit fitness that has already been gained, usually through a base period of easy-effort distance and infrequent harder sessions. For a brief period, we show improvement, spending our hard-earned fitness like a couple street racers burning up fuel, like Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in The Fast and the Furious. And then ... yep, we crash and burn.

To avoid the slower times, injury, and burnout that plague traditional training, we use a simple, commonsense, yet revolutionary 3-Step approach (the "Off-The-Clock" Training Method):

Put Away Your Watch
Stop Counting Miles
Start Listening To Your Body
Here's how it works ...

Step 1: Put Away Your Watch

Faster is about motion, not time.

Training to be faster is about effort, stride, and efficiency - not pace.

A watch serves no useful purpose during a normal training run. It can't improve our form or replensih the glycogen (energy) stores in our legs. In fact, all it can do is to compare today's run with some other day's run.

And since no training day is like any other, the comparison is invalid. When we run according to pace:

We run too fast.

We run too hard.
We get incorrect feedback.

We're left unprepared for racing.
Instead, we must learn to train by effort. No matter the variables of the day, the effort needed to achieve a desired workout result never changes - although every type of workout demands a unique efffort level.

When we learn to run by effort, every workout is run at the most efficient, responsive, correct "pace" for that day.

Step 2: Stop Counting Miles

Longer is about duration, not distance.

To become better runners, we must develop running endurance.

But our bodies are not odometers.

Our legs don't know a mile from a kilometer.

For a runner, keeping track of mileage serves no useful purpose. "Mileage" is a measurement that has no relation to the actual volume of our training.

Mileage Junkies obsess over their daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly mileage. But counting miles accomplishes only one thing: it fills up our running logs with lots of miles. When we count miles:


We run too far.
We run too hard.

We run when we're injured or overly fatigued.

We become addicted to high mileage totals.
Instead, we should train with the following endurance goal in mind: to run longer more efficiently and to recover from runs more quickly.

"Longer" is not a set distance. It varies from person to person, and from day-to-day.

Start Listening To Your Body

Runners who listen to their bodies have the perfect coach: their own inner voice.

So how do we engage our inner voice?

It begins with taking a daily inventory: of our fitness, of our energy level, or sore spots or injuries, of motivation, and of anything else that affects our daily training.

And then we have to accept the results of that inventory.

Our ego will try to override our inner voice. Our ego views itself as master and our body as slave, and it has an irrational hatred of canceled or amended workouts.

But when we learn to respond to our inner voice, ignoring our Ego, and when we learn how to pair our daily inventory with the variety of workouts at our disposal, then we know exactly how far and how fast to run."

I came, I saw, I got conquered with a capital C

So my hubby and littlest guy got up at 4 a.m. on Sunday to accompany me to San Francisco so I could run my first Pacific Association race with the team I'm on.

Crossing the Bay Bridge toward the City


My older kiddos were at their dad and step mom's for the weekend and that was good because it was rainy out there and they would've probably been bored on top of being tired from the early hour. As soon as I got to the finish line area, I boarded the shuttle bus to the start line in Sausolito. Even on a rainy day the view from Sausolito was gorgeous.

I warmed up with a 2 mile jog and threw in about 6 x :10 striders. Also did some lateral and linear leg swings to loosen the hips. Met some of the team mates, Becca and Stephanie, at the starting line. They were very sweet... and faaaast! More details to come. I also met Cece St. Geme (formerly Hopp) and told her I had looked up to her from the time she ran at Stanford when I was in Jr. High. She asked me my name and graciously wished me well for the race. Very kind of her.

Rain was coming down as the gun went off. First half mile was fast downhill, and then the climb up to the Golden Gate Bridge. WOW. My friend and former co-worker at the running store, Larry, had said the climb was a very steep uphill and that it went on forever. Others said it was a short steep climb and not to worry. Now I know they were trying to make me feel better. Larry was right... that climb was about 3/4 of a mile and it was up, up, and up, oh, and up again.

Mile 1: 7:07
Mile 2: mostly uphill -- 8:22

By the time I got onto the bridge I just kept thinking, "Recover, recover, recover and then go." I recovered but I couldn't get going. I looked out through the rain at the Pacific Ocean and was amazed. I had NEVER crossed the Golden Gate on foot before. I loved being there. It was almost surreal for me.

A gal (who later introduced herself to me as Deirdre. More to come on that) came up next to me and I latched myself onto her. Up until this point I had not looked at my pace for fear of getting depressed during the race. As we ran the bridge together in the rain, she asked if I could tell her what pace we were running. I looked and said, "7:10s." She made a noise that sounded like frustration and something in me clicked... I took off and thought to myself, "What the hell am I going so slow for? I'm in better shape, pick it up." Deirdre hung back... but oh, I would see her again later.

Mile 3: 7:07
Mile 4: leaving the bridge and heading DOWN onto Crissy Field -- 6:24

I felt like I was flying as I left the bridge and headed down to Crissy Field. I was feeling so, so good. I even said, "Yes! THIS is what this race is about. Pass all these people and don't look back. GO!" I really thought I had this. I thought I was going to be able to run my half marathon PR pace of 6:49 or faster for the rest of the race. BAHAHAHAHA! Anyway, I got down to Crissy Field and was trucking along toward the turn around at Fort Point.

Mile 5: 7:02

About a minute before I hit the turn around, I saw 3 of my team mates looking bad ass! They were so strong and just jamming away from Fort Point. At this point they were at least 3 minutes ahead of me. I did not feel discouraged though, I knew they were all way out of my league. What discouraged me was looking ahead at the turn around and seeing HUNDREDS of people between them and me... and then the negativity set in. I think this was the point in the race where I mentally gave up. I just said, "There's no way I can pass these people. They all look so damn strong."

As I got to the turn around, my legs started to feel really wobbly. Uh oh, the downhills. Damn. I had heard to control yourself on the downhills onto the field, lest you pay for it later. Did I heed the advice? NO. Because I am a moron. Did I pay for it later. YES. In a huge, huge way. This is where I physically gave up.

Mile 6: 7:28 Does this split speak for itself or what? Wait, it gets worse.

So here I am trying to use every mantra I have in the book. "Only a mile and half." "You've run harder than this in the workouts. Pick it up." "Just catch him/her." "Just latch on to the next person that passes me." "Don't let your form go to shit." Etc., etc. My mind was willing... but my legs were weak. I kid you not, I could not get them to go at this point of the race. A 60-ish year old man ran up next to me and said, "You're hard to catch!" And in one fell swoop, he caught me and tossed me aside (not literally) and flew by like he'd just started the race. Damn. I suck!

Shortly before mile 7, I see Rick Gaston. I tried to say hi but all I could muster was, "Rick," and then I kept running. He was also running to meet a group (I later found out), otherwise he said he would have helped me finish. Man, could I have used the help! But nevertheless, it was good to see a familiar face out there in the midst of my misery.

Mile 7: 7:34. I told you it got worse... but with only .45 to go, it gets a teeny bit better.

Okay, so after a crap load of other runners pass me (the same runners I passed on the bridge and coming down to the field) and I get deeper into my funk and want to quit, Deirdre catches me. She asked me my name. I could barely say it, "Glorybelle." She tells me hers. She gives me a few words of encouragement, but not before she said, "I kept my eyes on you and wanted to catch you." Ugh... there's nothing worse than being passed later by someone you've passed earlier... except hearing them say something like, "I wanted to catch you," and knowing they're thinking, "...and I did!"

So Deirdre and I stuck together for about a minute, and then I started to fade again and told her to go catch as many as she could. She did... good for her!

Another gal came up next to me in the last half mile and she was so nice. She knew I was struggling because I had passed her earlier. She said, "C'mon, we are almost done." And she was right! And I got so fed up with myself and my "pity me" party... I just started to go, go, go and thought, "Get this crap over with." She kept pushing me by picking it up too. We were flying down that last hill to the finish, passing many runners, and then we made the turn to toward the finish line and we raced each other there. I sprinted as hard as I could possibly go... I was so mad at myself. I ended up crossing the line before her, but if she had not been there, I would've jogged in. So I thanked her as much as I could, although I was barely breathing.

Finish time for the 12k was 55:21. That's just a 7:25/mile average. Horrid for me. I was so embarrassed because I had wanted to run so well for my first time out with the team. I'm so glad the gals had 8 runners on the team because the top 5 probably won it for us (but I don't know team results yet).

Good news is one of my teammates took 3rd woman (she's pictured here... go Kara), and everyone else finished in 48 or faster.

I brought up the rear as I knew I would. I just didn't think I'd be as slow as I was. The guys on the team swept the top 3 spots! There were a few thousand runners out there... all the top finishers have run in one event or another at the Olympic Trials, or are training for the 2012 Trials w/ hopes of making the Olympic Team. Inspiring company to say the least.

So now I recover and Coach says to cover only the miles this week and not to do the workouts because my left IT Band and right inner ankle are acting up when I push the pace. They acted up a lot after the race, and after the harder workouts last week. I'll be working on myrtl everyday this week, in addition to more core strengthening.

Thanks for reading. It's fun to rehash the race because now I know what I can do better next time.

Practicing what I preach (to Flo)

So I commented on Girl In Motion's blog about doing a workout that incorporated pull ups (assisted are okay), dips (supposed to be ring dips, but I don't have rings), and sit ups. Basically... do as many rounds possible in 20 minutes of 5 pull ups, 5 dips and 15 sit ups. The actual CrossFit workout of the day called for 30 minutes... but I'm not in that kind of shape right now. So 5, 5, and 15 doesn't sound too bad, right? Okay, well I did 10 rounds in 20 minutes and I had to do jumping pull ups in lieu of regular pull ups. That's 50 jumping pull ups, 50 dips and 150 sit ups.

Immediately afterward I cooled down with a one mile jog... I could barely move!!! My upper arms and rear deltoids are already on fire. I have a feeling the DOMS will set in hard tomorrow and even worse on Friday. That's okay because my race is Sunday and I'm sure I'll feel normal again by then. The sit ups were good. In fact I felt very strong during those sit ups... but my upper body is so weak. Ugh. Gotta get that overall strength back.

Stay strong!

Wonderful world of 1Ks

I love 1K workouts. They're not as daunting as 1 mile intervals, and not as sharp or painful as 800s. They're literally in-betweeners and I dig 'em. Today's workout called for 10 x 1K at half marathon goal pace (about 6:42/mile) with 2:30 active recoveries. 10 is yet another type of workout PR for me because the most 1K intervals I've ever done is 8.

I had to psyche myself up a teeny bit for these (simply to prepare myself to not quit after the 8th one). Otherwise, I was kind of excited for them. Beautiful cool, sunny day, light wind. Pretty much perfect for this workout.

I warmed up with a 2 mile jog, peeled some layers off and got right into the 1Ks. I ran these around a big block near my home and switched directions with each interval. I felt more of the wind when I finished toward the east than I did finishing toward the west. You can see by the results:

Direction/ 1K time/ Per Mile avg

west 4:10 = 6:44/mi.
east 4:12 = 6:48/mi.
w 4:02 = 6:32/
e 4:12 = 6:48/
w 4:03 = 6:32/
e 4:05 = 6:36/ (I began to feel fatigue creeping into my usual trouble spots, outer left knee, left butt/hamstring, right inner ankle)
w 4:08 = 6:41/ (From this one to the end, I REALLY concentrated on keeping my form intact. It helped).
e 4:08 = 6:41/
w 4:01 = 6:30/
w 3:58 = 6:25/ (I decided to keep going in the same direction for the last one. All I could think toward the end was, "Plow Plow Plow" with every other foot strike).

Jogged a 2 mile cool down and everything was sore (no pain though). I'm so glad it's over. I really, really enjoyed running hard (hard for me, that is). I thanked God at the end. I seriously could not have done this without his good graces.

POST WORKOUT ASSESSMENT: As you can see, I choked on my pacing for the 2nd and 4th intervals. I thought they felt a little easier, and now it's obvious why (hello 4:12s). For the most part, I paced okay (it was all by feel, did not look at the Garmin at all during the workout). The only two intervals where I was near "perfect pacing" were the 7th and 8th ones. Oh well... I'll get better at it. I'm just glad I was able to finish faster rather than slower. Here is a 1K workout I did last summer... notice that I have a long way to go to get there again. I'm only at 38 mpw right now and I ran those prior 1Ks at 75 mpw.

Still praying for Cody Johnson and his family. May Cody rest peacefully and may his family's pain subside a little bit with each passing day.

I have a couple of recovery days ahead and then a short marathon pace run. A 12K race on Sunday. Can't wait!!!

Rest in peace, Cody Johnson

May you now be in the arms of the angels and in the arms of the Lord. God be with you always.

14 miles today, dedicated to peace of heart and peace of mind... last mile ran all out for Cody. God bless, little guy.

I get it! I get it! I get it!

In the words of Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, "I had an epiphery." Yes, I know "epiphery" is not a word... but Michael Scott does not know that. For those of you who watch The Office, I know you know what I mean.

Anyway, I get it. I finally understand how training works. Or maybe I understood a long time ago, and then I got too big for my britches and got confused about training. Then I got humbled, and now I understand how it works again.

Long story short, I knew that I could not go back to training the way I had been before my injury. I absolutely respect Miguel. I admire him so much! The man is a work horse and he just believes in people's abilities as much as his own. Unfortunately my ability is nowhere near the level he was coaching me at. I made the mistake of not speaking up and eventually, my injuries spoke up for me. He sincerely apologized for my injuries even though they were not HIS fault! He also offered to help me or mentor me anytime I needed it. I may take him up on that offer down the road when my abilities are MUCH, much better. For the time being, I needed a drastic change.

Okay, so after some soul searching and advice seeking I made contact with a new coach. He was referred to me by a very trusted fellow blogger and runner. What I like about him is that although he has hopes for me and wants me to meet my goals, he is honest about my current abilities.

For example, I asked him if I should be using the McMillan Calculator to get paces for my workouts and he said that, for the time being and because I'm coming back from injury, the McMillan tables are a little too aggressive for me. He said to aim for paces that are literally between my actual PR paces and the paces prescribed by McMillan. So today I did a workout that way...

THE WORKOUT: 8 x 1 mile intervals at marathon PR pace with 1:00 active recoveries (to mimic tempo type running) . I have NEVER done more than 6 x 1 mile intervals. So I was nervous.

Based on my recent 8K race and his advice above I decided to run these between 7:05-7:15/mile. The McMillan Calc prescribed 7:00-7:09. My current marathon PR pace is 7:33/mile. So... somewhere comfortably in between. Coach had even said, "Base it on your fitness and how you feel you're coming around." This took a lot of pressure off me. After a two mile warm up jog, I got right into the intervals:

6:56 felt very comfortable, almost easy, but alas, too fast for this workout's purpose
7:10 right where I want to be, felt a bit slow though
7:06 I obviously don't know how to pace
7:15 what the heck?
7:04 felt like I pushed it a little in the last quarter
7:13 okay, now I'm just feeling tired
7:13 I can feel the heaviness in my legs and hips and back. Is this LACTIC ACID?
7:08 I felt like I was jogging the last quarter mile... definitely lactic acid

I was so elated to be done and to not have quit after the 6th one. I thanked God out loud.
So I definitely need to work on my pacing a bit, or stare at my Garmin the whole time (which is annoying).

LESSON LEARNED: No need to be nervous about a workout if I run it WITHIN MY CURRENT ABILITY! Duh! (Bonica will love this). ;-) Yes, it's all about being realistic with yourself (myself) and not getting in over our heads (my head). I so enjoyed this workout today because I was able to do it and be where I was supposed to be with regard to training pace.

Another lesson -- a couple of years ago I was running my workouts harder than my races and getting very disappointed in my race performances. I sought advice from Steve Sellars (a phenomenal masters runner and fellow RWOL user) who told me that I needed to tone it down a little on my workouts and save something for my races. Basically, stop racing my workouts. I did... and then I improved like crazy! Somewhere along the line, I lost sight of that and tried to workout super, super hard. My racing began to suck and then I got injured, and you know the story...

So, back to basics. Train hard, but don't race my workouts. Save it for race day, and then go to town! Most importantly, have patience and don't jump the gun (so to speak).

Thanks for reading!

What do you say to a friend in need...?

... when their world is about to come crumbling down and they can't do anything to stop it? How do you console somebody whose pain and heartbreak is beyond comprehension, and yet will get even worse in the days to come? I wish I knew what to say or do for Mickey, Diane, Justin, Daniela, CODY and the rest of their family and friends. Right now, all I can manage to do is cry, cry, cry a river of tears and ask everybody I know to pray for them, and to pray for Cody's comfort. So please, if you're reading this... keep Cody and all of them in your prayers. Thank you.

In the meantime I will also be praying for Cody, his parents and his siblings.

I will hold and hug and cherish and just love my children and husband. There are so many questions without answers. I just try to keep the faith.

I ran a race, and raced it

I decided to give my racing legs a shot yesterday. First true race effort since I bombed at the Clarksburg Country Run in November, when my injury finally took complete control over my running.

Mind you, I am NOT in any kind of PR shape right now. Building back after time off due to injury is a slow process, at least for me. I ran an 8K yesterday and of course started too fast with the first mile at 6:35, and then slowed down significantly in the in between miles, and then ate as much of the road as fast as I could in the last mile (it was 6:46). My finish time was 34:48 (one second slower than the first time I ran this course in 2007).

By mile 2-1/2 I thought, "This freaking hurts, farck this, I'll just walk." But then I remembered all the tricks of racing and I put them to good use. I ended up passing a couple of people who had passed me earlier on. That always feels good. I focused on people ahead of me and just worked my arss off to close the gap between us, and it helped. A male runner and I ended up passing each other over and over again in the last mile, and that helped! He basically pulled and pushed me to the finish line. He finished a few seconds ahead of me and we both just about collapsed at the finish line from exhaustion.

I gave it my all yesterday and I am very happy about that. Turns out I was 2nd female overall, and 2nd in my age group (first woman in my AG was also the overall female winner). I had run the 1-mile race as a warm up, and literally jogged it. I ended up getting 2nd in my AG for the mile. Hahaha, now that's funny!

Beautiful day, sunny, low 50s, no wind, flat and zippy course, and my husband was there to root for me. Doesn't get better than that. With my warm up and cool down miles, I got in a 9 mile day.

LASTLY: I found out today that Sundays are not part of Lent and that there is no fasting or abstinence to be done on those days. Sooooo... I can play on Facebook on Sundays. :) I think I'll stay away from RWOL for a while though.