Thursday, January 17, 2013

Three Things Thursday ...

And the beat goes on - For the past 17 days, I have been training solely on heart rate. At times, it has been super frustrating, like when I averaged an 11:06 pace for a 90 minute run. But, the more I work at it, the easier it becomes and I am no longer hating it when I have to slow to get my heart rate back in range. I no longer feel the pressure to run faster or longer. I just trust that I'll get the results I want if I stick to my zone.

And those results are coming. My pace is getting faster, not fast, but faster. This past week, I've had some killer runs. And I even had one run that allowed me to run at what I would have considered "conversational" pace prior to this whole experiment.
  • 4 miles at a 10:17 pace, avg HR 141
  • 5.8 miles at a 10:20 pace, avg HR - 150
  • 4.26 miles at a 9:23 pace (the treadmill makes it much easier), avg HR - 147
  • 6.85 miles at a 10:13 pace, avg HR - 147
  • 9.9 miles at a 10:06 pace, avg HR - 147
Those paces get me excited and the best part is that I'm almost never going out of range. When I see it creeping, I just dial it back a little. The thing I struggle with the most is running closer to my upper limit of 155 when I am not on the treadmill. I have found that if I am not sitting at 145-147, I will almost certainly have to walk up hills. If I run with this buffer, I can almost always run the entire time without spiking on climbs. And since I'm not an expert, I'm not really sure if I'm approaching this the best way.

Bully Drama - Remember that "Doodle is my bully" crap from last week? Well, the drama continues. Two days ago, I got an email from Doodle's teacher saying that Doodle and her accuser were sent to have a meeting with the guidance councilor after the teacher received an email from the accuser's mother. Apparently, the girls were brought together to discuss how to better manage their issues. After the meeting, it was decided that the girls should "spend some time apart" for the next few days. I'm psyched about this. Doodle is psyched about this.

When I asked Doodle what happened at the meeting. She said, "We talked about what to do when we get mad at each other." Then I asked her what the other child's specific issue was and she said, "That time I opened my juice and it squirted in her eye. She said I did it on purpose, but it was an accident."

Knowing that my children's drink cups have a tendency to build up pressure from the Nuun that I put in them, I know that they often squirt when they open the spout. I also know that all of us have been hit by the spray. And I fully know that it was truly an accident. In fact, the very next day, Doodle squirted herself in the eye. What I didn't know was that a six year old would immediately assume it was malicious. Why would she think that? Aren't parents still teaching their children that people are essentially good? I know, I am.

Ugh. Whatever. I'm just frustrated by the whole situation.

Crazy Dizzle - If for some reason you're not following me on Twitter, you probably missed the gems that came out of Dizzle's mouth recently. In a matter of five minutes, she hit me with both of these ...

"Mom, I'm a vampire because my face is white and I like to stay up late." (No, Dizzle, your face is white because you are, in fact, white.)

And ...

"I wish Tom Brady could be our step dad. He's like a millionaire. But, it would never work because you're still married to Dad."

For that, I had no words.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Great job with the HR training! Sounds like you are finding your groove with it. Did you ever hire a coach??? :)

Ugh, I would want to dump the entire bottle of nuun on that girl, although that would be a waste of perfectly good nuun. It's sad, but it seems like Doodle has a great handle on things. Poor girl.

And your girls are too much. I love the comments by Dizzle.

Unknown said...

I wonder how hard the other mother is pushing the issue? It sound exhausting to me. I can't handle school drama, I stay as far away from other parents as possible and I'm sure they view me accordingly. As for my kids, 4 and 7 year olds get worked up over a lot of little things. But this year a group of girls hurt my 7 year old by putting down her very cool light up black and orange shoes. It took 4 months for her to realize she really did love those shoes and would wear them to school anyway. Hope your daughter can brush off the silliness too.

Unknown said...

I'm in line in front of you for Tom Brady, just sayin'. (I know he has a bad rep with the ladies, but I like him).

fancy nancy said...

Ha! Dizzle is awesome! My daughter is always talking about Tom Brady...glad to see we aren't the only ones!

Has Doodle's teacher spoken with you about it all? It seems like a misunderstanding...perhaps the girl is jealous of Doodle's Nuun...I know I would be!

Unknown said...

I'm in line in front of you for Tom Brady, just sayin'. (I know he has a bad rep with the ladies, but I like him).

Unknown said...

Training to the heart rate can be frustrating. Great job keeping at it. Last year when I started my base training for 70.3 that is where I started and I feel your pain, but I can tell you it REALLY paid off and I am a firm believer in it now! Keep up the great work!

Unknown said...

Huh, I had no idea about heart rate running. I'm fascinated and looking forward to reading about how it works for you - good luck!!

BabyWeightMyFatAss said...

I know it seems like a simple misunderstanding and it is really. My 12 year old nephew is currently being bullied on the school bus. :( I live far from him and I'm terrified of what will happen to him. I hope his school is on top of things as your daughters school. I"m worried that they won't be.

Rene' said...

I love her comment about Tom Brady. So funny!

Corrina said...

Did you use the standard 220-age to get your max heart rate?? Or did you do something to figure it more specifically. I'm really trying to lose 10lbs to no avail and have been thinking I need to work at the fat-burning HR to help achieve this goal. And getting faster wouldn't hurt either!!

Niki said...

Are you staying in the 70% range for all of your runs or are you running some at a faster HR? I'm thinking about trying it for my marathon training currently in session.

Jenn (junkmiles.org) said...

I laugh as I read your HR comments...I'm 2 weeks in and while we don't have the hills you do we're already at 78F and 90% humidity...and whipping 20-30mph winds along the beaches...yeah I can keep my HR under 150..walking maybe!! It's been sobering to say the least...I've been graduated to the 155BPM upper limit and you'd think I was given the golden ticket....Glad to see your results after 3-4 weeks...gives me some hope to cling too right now as I mentally struggled to finish 8mi with a 10:17 pace on Sun...avg HR 151...*sigh* but I'm NOT having to stop and walk to bring it down anymore! PROGRESS!!