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.

following the beat ...

Oh, heart rate training.

If you ever want to do something completely frustrating, then try heart rate training.

For quite some time, I have known the merits of heart rate training.

I know how if you do the vast majority of your training in Zone 2, the "fat burning" zone, you will train your body to burn fat as fuel, thus making you more efficient.

I know how beneficial this sort of training can be for endurance sports, especially multi-hour events like ultras and long-course triathlons.

I know how if you are consistent with heart rate training, over time you will become more fit and that your paces within those zones will drop, often significantly.

And I know that it is incredibly hard to overtrain if you stay true to your heart rate zones. Really, it's a no-brainer. For most people, heart rate training is the way to go. Unfortunately, heart rate training is incredibly hard to do and pure torture if you are used to running by "feel".

One of the things on my 2013 To Do List was to stop obsessing about distance and train solely by heart rate. Because of this, I feel like I at least have to give it a solid effort. So, that's what I have been doing since January 1. And I've already learned some valuable lessons.

To begin with, heart rate training really messes with your ability to run with other people. In the past, I have shown up to run with friends and run whatever everyone else was running. Some days the pace was slow. Some days the pace was fast. But most of the time, I would call it conversational.

Now, when I run with others, I have to warn them that my pace will be incredibly slow and that if my heart rate starts climbing, I will have to slow or even walk to get it back into range. Although some people are chill with me screwing with their run like that, I really don't like to do it. It's just easier to run solo, even if that just means running a few blocks behind everyone else.

I have also learned that what I call "conversational" pace when I run by feel, in no way aligns with my Zone 2, although it should (in theory). This fact means one thing - my concept of "conversational" pace is really off. For example, during Christmas break I ran 8 miles with a friend with an average pace of 9:33. I would have said that was an "easy" run. We didn't struggle. We talked the entire time.

Today, I ran pretty much the same 8 mile route and stayed in Zone 2 (for me 138-156 bpm) the entire time. My average pace today was 11:06. And I probably could have run forever, which is kind of the point of running in Zone 2.

Ultimately, I know this is going to pay off. I just need to have patience and the mental fortitude to ignore the urge to pick up the pace. So, from now on, I'll be following the beat ...

2013 To Do List ...

So, it's that time of year again. The time when everyone suddenly decides that it's time to finally stop procrastinating and set some goals. And I love it, I really do. I think that change is good and that people need something to give them a swift kick in the butt.

However, resolutions really aren't my thing. It's too easy to give up on a resolution. When I decide that I want to do something, I find a way to make it happen. Yes, there are roadblocks at times. And yes, sometimes my timelines don't work out. But, it is extremely rare for me to set out to do something and NEVER accomplish it. I'm just not a quitter. It's not in my nature.

And that's why I make a To Do List. If it's on my list, I'll make sure it gets done (well, mostly anyway). Just like I wouldn't skip an appointment on my daily list, I'm not going to skip the things on my "Big Picture" list either. Also, this list format, let's me add things as I go.

So, as of today, December 31th, here is my 2013 To Do List:

Fitness:

• 140.6. That is all.
• Make time for strength training. Don't let training loads eliminate strength workouts completely. And stick to strength training in a group, it keeps you accountable.
• Switch to time-based/HR training. Despite my knowledge of training paces, I have a hard time sticking to them. I'm hoping this will help me train more effectively.
• Log 4,500 cumulative run, bike and swim miles. Up 485 from 2012.
• Race a 10K with a finish time much faster than your very dated current PR of 53:17. I never managed to register for a 10K in 2012 and I'm not sure where it will fit in this year, but it's on my radar.
• Set a new PR in the Half Marathon, currently 1:57:06. I totally blew this one in 2012 and will likely only have one good shot at it in 2013.
• Run a 5K with Dizzle and Doodle, even if that means tricking them into it.

Nutrition:

• Eat like a gluten-free athlete. After struggling with health issues much of 2012, removing the gluten has been key in alleviating the symptoms. Don't be swayed by the lure of wheat. Or cake.
• Find the race day (and training) nutrition plan that works for me. 
• Consume no more than 18 desserts from Shyndigz. This number worked well in 2012 and helped me cut back on my serious cake addiction. Plus, their gluten-free menu is limited, so I shouldn't be tempted as often.
• Drink at least 100oz of water per day.

Personal:

• Only say yes to the projects you REALLY want to work on. An honest no is much better than a halfhearted yes.
• Stick to our budget. We've lived credit card (and credit card debt) free for three months. No reason to go back now.
• Ignore your impulses. Take time to process the true value of the things you are filling your space/life with.
• Figure out what to do with my hair. Keep the mohawk or grow it out. I'm taking opinions on this one.
• Continue to balance family life, training and now, work.
• Prioritize and be a good example for the people in your life.
• Help and support J and the kids in reaching their goals. We are a team and that must always be the primary focus of our lives. No one should have to sacrifice so that someone else can reach their goal. If a balance can't be found, it's not worth pursuing.

a little healthy competition ...

My house is a hot bed for competition. Somehow, we have all morphed into these people who view everything in life as an opportunity to "win." The girls compete in a multitude of ways, including but not limited to, who can eat faster, who can get dressed faster, who can balance on one foot longer and who has the best singing voice.

J and I are not immune to these competitions. In recent months, our competitions have centered around our running. Who ran faster, further, longer. Dailymile has really upped our game.

And if it wasn't enough that we are constantly comparing our workouts, now we are having competitions about "who is fitter." For example, on Monday night, J decided to measure his resting heart rate. So, he put on his heart rate monitor, laid down and relaxed. A few minutes later, the monitor was reading 43.

I'm thinking, "What? 43? Last time I checked, mine was 41 (right before I upped my mileage from 25-40 miles per week). No way is his as low as mine."

So, like any sane individual who has a constant urge to win, I told J to hand over the heart rate monitor. I needed to check mine. I put it on and laid down. And do you know what it said?

31.

Heck yeah. Take that Lance Armstrong and your resting heart rate of 32.

Hey, no one said I was a gracious winner ...

move North to run fast?

Over the last two days, we have had a bit of a cool down here in Virginia. When I headed out for my runs, the thermometer read 59 degrees on BOTH DAYS! And there is almost no humidity. In fact, there is a slight chill in the air. It's lovely.

More importantly though, these runs have proven to me how much temperature affects your performance. My heart rate on my Friday eight miler was 142. And I averaged 144 on this morning's 10 miler. Obviously, a pretty easy effort. But, runs of a similar distance and pace over the last few weeks (in much higher temperatures) have yielded a significantly higher average heart rate, usually between 157-162.

I noted this trend after my run and mentioned it to J. The conversation went a little something like this ...

Me: "The temperature really does make a huge difference. It's crazy how much lower my heart rate was."

J: "See? Maybe we should move back North where it's colder. Just think about how much faster your times would be."

And for a second, I actually considered it. Only something a runner would do ...

too much adrenaline?

This weekend's 17.75K was the first race I ever ran that I fully intended on NOT RACING. I went in unstressed, excited but not anxious, relaxed. Or so I thought. When I later got the chance to look over my splits, I noticed an interesting statistic.

G, MCM Mama and I hit the first mile marker in 9:58, a rather conservative pace for me. When I run a 10 minute mile in training runs, my heart rate averages between 139 and 142. Well, take one guess what my average heart rate was in that first mile ...

171.

Nuts, right? It gets even more interesting when you consider that my average heart rate in mile two, which I ran in 9:44, was 155. Seeing these numbers got me thinking. First, why was my heart rate so high in mile one? And second, how can I use this info in future races?

I think my heart rate was so high due to an abundance of adrenaline. I didn't really feel overly stressed or excited about the race, since I was using it more as a training run than a speed test, but apparently my body was feeling it (perhaps this is my OVERLY competitive nature coming into play). Then once I settled in, the adrenaline wore off and my heart rate regulated. Makes sense to me.

So, how does this affect my other races? Well, here is my thought. If I am racing for a specific time, I usually start a little (little being the key word) slower than my goal pace to warm up. But this "slower" start is still a much faster pace than I ran on Saturday. Add this faster pace, which is going to elevate my heart rate, to my "adrenaline boosted heart rate" and I'm pretty sure I am not going to get that recovery like on Saturday. This might explain why my heart rate was over 180 for the majority of the MAC Half marathon in early May. Maybe?

Either way, this information is helping me formulate a new race strategy for events over 10 miles. I think I need to be ULTRA-conservative in my starts during these longer races. Not just the 15-30 seconds under goal pace in that first mile. "Losing" a minute or two in the beginning would be much better than crashing with miles left in the race. Unfortunately, I don't have another race to test this out until September and I am not sure I can simulate the "adrenaline effect" in a training run. So I guess I will just have to wait and see ...