Sunday, April 15, 2012

Bridge to Brews 2012

A great group of women that motivate and inspire me!

So thankful that my hubby pushes the double stroller and not me today!!


What a beautiful day for a run! The temperature was perfect.. blue skies - you couldn't ask for more.

I was hoping to achieve my sub one hour 10K goal today, but after having to drop out of Shamrock last month due to knee pain, I knew I was going to be happy just to finish and hopefully beat last years time. I definitely accomplished that. I beat last years time by over three minutes and came in at 1:01.32. This is a new PR - not a sub one hour 10K, but getting closer and beat my Pints to Pasta 10k PR which is a mostly downhill race - so beating that by one minute on a MUCH hillier course was a good accomplishment. I tried to walk one minute for every mile so that I could stay ahead of my knee pain, and was able to run the whole race without a single twinge of discomfort, which also made for a very happy run today. Praise God! Also, I was only 3 minutes behind my husband which made me pretty happy (I do have to admit though, he was pushing a double stroller with close to 100 pounds of children in it - but whatever). After the race, I felt good and strong and not sore. Warning: about to give TMI - I always know when I have "raced hard" when I have serious GI issues post-race. What is that?

I do like this race, but seriously the twisty, winding at the end about made me loose my mind. You keep thinking the race is done and you are pushing for the end, and you turn another corner and..nope....no arch... keep going. ARGH!

Only four weeks until Rock and Roll. I am going to try and do a few speed workouts and would like to run one long run of longer than 13.1 this time. Anything better than 2:15 is going to make me a very happy lady.

Good luck to all those running Boston tomorrow. I am so excited for my friends running - you'd think I was running a marathon tomorrow. I have signed up for text alerts and am checking the weather... Crazy. You ladies inspire me so much. I am proud of each one of you and know you will ROCK it!!


Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Awareness Day & Shoes




I blogged about the run on Finley's blog, but just realized I hadn't written anything on my actual running blog. Got in a great 6.5 run/walk in on Saturday for CDH Awareness Day with no left knee pain. Yeah!!! It meant so much to me to have people get out and run or walk in honor of Finley and all the other children effected by CDH. Thank you to Amanda for posting about this on her blog and who ran a race that morning for Finley and her wonderful reader Yahu who also ran that morning in honor of Finley. My good friend Stacy ran on the treadmill at the gym-- raising awareness everywhere!! The last photo is the group who ran with us on the waterfront (sans my hubby who took the photo) - thank you everyone.

Went shopping for new shoes and found out the I really needed new shoes since I was dropping in pretty bad. I think all those puddles broke down my shoes quicker than usual this winter. I ended up with the New Balance 1080s. But I am not sold on them. My first run on Monday resulted in some arch pain after a mile which, may surprise you, but that is usually one place that I don't have an issue with. I will give them 1-2 more runs before I return them. So today, I picked up a pair of the Brooks Ghost. Inaugural run will be tomorrow. I can't believe Bridge to Brews is next weekend and then only a month until the Rock and Roll Half!

I went and got VO2 tested yesterday - that requires a much longer blog post (with photos).. that is coming soon.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

VO2 Testing

Whenever I tell most people what my average heart rate is during a run, they say - wow, that's high. When I look at the heart rate ranges for someone of my age, I definitely am always above the recommended ranges. I can get my heart rate in the 140s with a fast walk. I am usually in the 170s during my longer runs and will hit 180s on the hills. And I don't feel like I am having a heart attack. I can pretty much talk to you unless I go into the 200s, then I feel like I need to slow down and walk for a bit. But talking with other runners, so are MUCH faster running with heart rates in the 150 makes me wonder if I am running at too fast a heart rate. I asked my Sports Chiro about this, and he said that some people operate at different ranges and you can't take a one size approach with heart rate ranges. To be truly accurate you have to do a Vo2 test.

So guess what I did on Tuesday?

I ran for 8:30 minutes with this crazy get up on my head (see video below) as the incline and pace kept getting faster every minute. I think I could have gone longer, but I was getting seriously claustrophobic with this get up on my face. I also was kinda freaking out thinking that I was going to trip and fall.

It is also not natural breathing in a mask while you are running.

It was enough to get the data they needed. He said anything more than 8 minutes is more for the elite runners to get Vo2 max bragging rights. I am not an elite runner - I was more worried about falling on my face. I don't need the bragging rights. I'll do this again in a few years and see if anything changed and see if I can go longer. The good news for me - is that I do operate in higher heart ranges than what is listed for the "average woman" my age. My Aerobic Threshold is reached at 178 and Anaerobic Threshold at 181. So my moderate zone is 178-181 and my high zone is 181-190, with my peak 190-193. Now I can do some heart range workouts more tailored to my body which I am pretty excited about. Oh ya, and the fact that I came in the "superior" fitness level category based on my age/Vo2 max. Boo-yah!

This "superior" physical fitness came in handy today since my nanny called in sick and I had to get in my run while pushing my girls in the double stroller. All 100 pounds of stroller and girls. And to make things even more fun, on my way back my tire was almost all the way flat, so I was pushing the final 2 miles with almost an entirely flat tire.
But I shouldn't whine too much- it was a gorgeous morning and I was able to get 5 miles in before I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Though, that may also been from the stress of arguing with a 4 year old why I couldn't stop every 4 feet to pick flowers, stop and play, get this, get that, stop messing with your sister, phew... I'm tired just rehashing it. But them Rowan would say something sweet and encouraging - like "mama, your winning!" and just make me laugh. I love those girls something fierce.

Next week is the Boston Marathon and I have several friends running it. I have signed up for text alerts and will be cheering you all on from afar. Such an amazing achievement and you all inspire me so much.

***It took me a while to find a place that does the Vo2 testing in Portland. OHSU doesn't seem to offer it anymore. I went to http://bridgetownpt.com/ .