Friday, February 15, 2013

I’ll take it on as a challenge


Who Inspires you?

There are different ways people become motivated and/or inspired. 

Motivation

The meaning of motivation to me is being determined to make something happen, and not giving up until you have achieved it.  Different things trigger people to be motivated.  My motivation is when someone tells me I cannot do something.  I’ll take it on as a challenge.

I am impatient and I want to take HUGE leaps rather than little steps to get to where I want to be.  Sometimes, I can take too big of a leap, which can cause me to forget to enjoy the little things.  My leaps though, have also show me that these hug leaps can be possible.  An example of this is how I never did a half marathon before I did my whole marathon; I competed in a full Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) first, instead of starting with a half Ironman.  When I ran my 100-mile Ultra-marathon, I jumped right in.  I didn’t start with the “smaller” Ultra-marathons, I chose to jump in and do a 100 mile ultra.  I did not want to train a year or even 6 months for it.  Instead, I gave myself 3 months.  Go big or go home right?

Inspire

Others inspire me.  I become inspired when someone follows his or her dream.  Whether or not they succeed.  When I was in high school, I looked up to people who ran marathons.  Once I signed up for it, I thought people who raced in the Ironman were God.  I will never forget, the day before my first Marathon, Ari, and I went out to dinner to ‘carbo-load’ (looking back not a good idea).  At dinner we saw a guy eating who was wearing an Ironman shirt.  All Ari and I wanted to do was go talk to him.  We were too scared too because we thought he was way too cool for us.  Just imagine, two 17-year old girls at dinner scared to talk to a guy 40-year old guy wearing an Ironman shirt.  All we wanted to do was pick his brain and tell him how cool he was.  Looking back though, he was only human.  When I heard about 100-mile Ultra-marathons, I thought those people were inhuman.  I first heard about it when I was 20 years old when I was training for my Ironman.  I figured only Navy Seals guys would do that kind of stuff.  For all those events, there was one person who inspired me to follow my dreams of accomplishing it.  Throughout my journey, I cannot TELL you how many people tried to take my dream away from me, without even knowing it.  I heard the word CRAZY too much.  All I needed was that one person; that one person who told me they believed in me. 

Every single athlete is human.  The athletes who succeed are the ones who are determined to be better.  If you have a dream follow it.  Do not let others tell you what you can and cannot do.  Push yourself, because that is when you will find out what you are capable of.  Nobody knows what your body is capable of except yourself.  And for the few of you, who do not know what you are capable of yet, go out and push yourself.  The best way to find out is when you break or fail.  And when you break or fail, the next time you try, you push yourself that much harder.

During my Ultra-marathon, my brain pushed my body to the point of no return.  My brain did not want my body doing anything else but move my legs.  During that race, I pushed myself to my breaking point.  My back was giving out, and my stomach was over the pounding.  Even though I was in pain, I now know what that pain feels like.  The next time I run a race, I will push myself that much harder, knowing I did it before and I can do it again.  The Ultra-marathon training and race, taught me what my body and mind are capable of; which is anything I want.

I have always said... its better to dream, because the bigger you dream the more you will accomplish.  Anything is possible, as long as you put your mind to it.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Transition from Running to Cycling


Transition from Running to Cycling

This past week I have been trying to focus on cycling more than usual, mainly because of my pulled calf.  I do though want to get back into the Ironman/ triathlon scene.  Usually a typical workout would be 8 miles a day during the week, with either a long run or ride on the weekend.  This past week, I have been riding for about an hour and a half, trying to get in as many hills as I can to build up my 'cycling legs'.  I want to trade off from running to cycling, and even start doing double days.  As a runner, cycling is difficult for me.  There is so much more to think about than only moving your legs.  With running I feel I can zone out.  I can put my music on and just RUN.  With cycling, I have to think of so many different things.  From changing gears, to watching for cars and pedestrians, to paying even MORE attention to potholes in the ground.  * I emphasize on the MORE because I am a klutz * Not only do I have to think about more with cycling, but I notice I am using different muscles as well.  My thighs are used a TON more with cycling, where with running I mainly use my calves.  I look forward to pushing my body to help myself become a better overall athlete.


Tour of Palm Springs

On February 9, 2013, I rode the century (100 miles) in the Tour of Palm Springs.  Phil and I rode the Tandem.  Phil is training for Race Across America, which is done on a Tandem, so he needs to practice riding it.

Tandem Bike

There is a lot more to a Tandem bike than one may think.  The person, who is in the front of the Tandem, has to focus on their shifting, wide turns, and balancing two people.  The Tandem is much heavier which makes it slower, with its long wheelbase.  The response time is not as quick if you need to move the bike fast to get out of the way of something.  The normal biking characteristics are compromised.  The riders on the Tandem have to go at the same speed.  If one person is pedaling hard, the other person needs to keep up.  

The Race

We woke up at 430 am to arrive at the race at 630 am.  The race consisted of all different types of cyclists.  There were the advanced, mediocre, and riders who were out there to have fun.  There were all different types of distances that you could sign up for as well.  From kid rides, to the Century.  We did the Century.  The course was beautiful.  I have never been around Palm Springs, besides downtown.  The first 40 miles of the ride was FREEZING and windy!  I did not dress very warm because I thought it was going to be hot.  I also do not like riding in the wind, because I get nervous I am going to fall over, so I was thankful I was on the Tandem.  In this race, I went the fastest I have ever gone on a bike.  On one of the down hills we got up to 54.4 miles an hour!  All the riders wanted to get on our tail to catch our draft.  The ride was perfect for me because the week before I was not able to run due to puling my calf muscle.   It was nice doing a hard workout again.  Phil is in better cycling shape than me, which caused him to push me to ride harder.  Having someone to push you during a work out or even a race is, at least for me, the best way to get stronger mentally and physically. 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Not My Race


February 3, 2013

Not Running My Race and Future Events

This last Sunday, on February 3, I ran in the Surf City Marathon, held in Huntington Beach, California.  Going into it I had high hopes.  My goal was to be the first female across the finish line, as well as, break 3 hours.  This would be my first time at attempting to be atop the podium in a marathon.  I gave myself two months to train.  Yes, I’m sure many of you may wonder why I only had two months of training… I had to take almost a month off for myself after the ultra marathon.  I felt my body and mind needed a break for a moment.  After about a month of contemplating if I should try the Surf City Marathon, I decided that I should give it a try.  This was the race I wanted to win.  Two months of training, from hills to speed, I was getting my body out of long distance mode, and into running 7-minute miles.

I try not to let things get in the way of my goals, so of course like usual I jumped in.

I arrived to the start line 30 minutes early.  My mind was racing, one minute I was thinking about how MY race was going to go, the next minute I was worrying about how fast everyone was going to fly off the start line.  The announcer shot the gun, and I was off.  I was running at a 6:22 pace.  What the heck?  I did not train this way.  I trained for a 7:00 pace.  Still maintaining this pace, at about mile 4 I started to have stomach issues.  This may have been caused by what I had for breakfast, as well as the Hammer, Perpetuem.  I swear by the Perpetuem, but my stomach still did not want to have it.  During my ultra, I used Perpetuem religiously. During that race, my stomach went through a lot of pain, mainly towards the end just due to the amount of strenuous activity and lack of “real food” that an average human would eat instead of high tech supplements. Today, the taste of Perpetuem brought me right back to that place, both my mind and tummy said ‘no way!’  At about mile 6, my legs were cramping and my feet were falling asleep.  This just was not my race.  Just like in my Ultra several months back, today I had a great support crew that helped push me through the pain of my muscles and stomach.  I was able to finish with a time of 3:16:42.  Thankful I finished the Marathon, I was still disappointed in myself that I did not run my race.  Trying to stay positive, I talked to Ryan about it afterwards.  Something he told me, that I believe everyone should take with them is, “always be happy, but never be satisfied.”

Everyone has his or her day.  Every athlete has his or her race.  This was just not mine.  I have to remind myself that we are all human.  It’s ok to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them.  I have learned so much from this race; I will never make those mistakes again. 

Recovery from Race
The day after the race, I rode my bike for about 20 miles, trying to loosen up my muscles.  I rode at a leisurely pace, with no hills or sprints so my heart rate stayed low and I could work the lactic acid out of my muscles.  Riding felt so good on my legs, it was just what they needed.

Free time
One thing I am really looking forward to is enjoying running again.  As an athlete, there is usually one key reason why you compete in whichever sport you are a part of.  You have a passion for it.  This is especially true for an ultra-runner, you need to have a passion for running.  I felt like over these past two months I lost my passion for it.  I felt I was only running because I had to, not because I wanted to. I had a marathon to train for, that’s it, no deviating from the schedule.  I felt I did not give myself enough time off in between races.  Mentally I was drained.  When training for my ultra I would jump out of bed ready to rock my day, and look forward to my runs.  I would sit there and think all day about which run I wanted to do, and which songs I would listen to.  Now, I look forward to choosing to run instead of HAVING to.  I want to work more on my cycling, in hopes to get back into the Ironman scene again.

Do not get me wrong, I AM a runner.  That is my first passion.  I am ready to run because I want to, not because I have to.



Future Races

This upcoming Saturday Feb 9th, I am going to ride the Tour of Palm Springs.  I am riding the century on a tandem with a friend of mine who will be racing in Race Across America later this June.  I am really looking forward to this race.  We are taking it easy, doing it for the experience, as well as getting him ready for his big race this summer.


On March 8th-9th I will be racing with the same friend as a relay team in the Vegas Challenge.  Day #1 will be a 215 mile bike with 12,500 ft of climbling, followed by a 3.1 mile run.  Day #2 will be a 56 mile bike with 1,400ft of climbing, followed by a 13.1 mile run.  I of course will be doing the running, while Phil will be doing the cycling. 


I do not have any other big races planned yet.  My next BIG race is in May of 2014.  I will be racing in the Bryce 100, located in Utah that is at 8,000 to 9,000 feet of elevation, which has a total elevation gain of over 14,000 feet.  For this I will need to be ready physically and mentally.  This will be the biggest race I have done so far.  I have never raced in high altitude before, so this will be my NEXT big challenge.  I look forward to conquering it just like I did in the Javelina Jundred.  Only this time, I know what its like to run 100 miles.