I Might Be Crazy, but I Finally Did It

Meet Sexy Lexi, my new Trek Lexa S roadbike.

Why did I need a bike you ask?  For one, we have lived in DC for over two years now and every day of said two years I have wanted a bike.  On our recent California adventure, we did a little huffing up hills cycling of our own and I had such a blast, I knew I wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

For two, call me crazy, but I would like to enter the world of triathlons (and...complete a century ride). I pretty much think I owe it to myself, no - to the friggin' world - to "tri" (ha, see what I did there). And here is my thought process - I swam year-round competitively for 8 years of my life. If given the opportunity, I would be a mermaid. I know I'm not as fast in the water as I used to be, but I still enjoy it and still have the endurance to bang out a mile or two on my swimming cross-training days. I could be wrong, but I think the aspect of a triathlon that holds most people back is the swim. Now that I feel comfortable with and love running - there was only one next step to tie it all together. Not to mention that swimming and cycling are great low-impact, counter-parts to running and good for your joints. Plus I have the desire... so why not go for it?

I know - I can hear all of the experienced people laughing at me through the computer as you are reading this. Note to all experienced laughing people: I do not take this lightly - I get that you can smell my newbie stank from a mile away. There are oh so many aspects of the road I'm about embark that are terrifying (ie - open water swims, all the crap gear that comes with three sports, don't even get me started on how nervous I get at the mere thought of what the start of cycling road race must be like - it gives me hives). BUT, I'm willing and eager to learn and share it all right here.

However, I needed to get through the marathon before I could even start looking at bikes or turn my attention elsewhere. But I also realized that now is a good time to buy, especially if you are a newbie like myself and you don't need the latest and greatest/top of the line/price tag of a car, model. I was hoping to score a 2011 model for a good price and some bang for the buck.

Many hours of internet research, time polling friends, visits to various local area bike shops, and a few test drives later - she was mine.  I heart her.

So what does this all mean? No, I'm not cutting back on running - in fact, quite the opposite. I want to improve; run faster, better, stronger and more efficiently. I want a sub 4:00 marathon time. I want to run the New York Marathon next October. I want to run a few halves and a ten miler or two before then. And in the meantime....I'm going to figure this here cycling thing out, and swim, and work on my core strength, aaand do yoga for stretching with some strength training to boot. Sounds like I'm going to be a busy girl.  Where can I get some more time?

PMS: The Other Kind

Bloating, irritability, food cravings, pain, fatigue... all symptoms of PMS. Along with comparison shopping, feelings of worthlessness, sadness, pessimism, feeling lost and rounding down.

If you are experiencing these symptoms, you may be a victim of PMS - otherwise known as Post-Marathon Syndrome. (It's a real thing, okay?) Apparently it's quite common to feel a little blue after you've finished something huge like a marathon. And according to Coach Jenny, it's not such a bad thing either...

"There are great benefits to living in this space for a little while. One, it allows you to slow down enough to heal and rejuvenate. And two, when you sit with it, you can gain awareness of the natural phases of a marathoner's life and see it as an opportunity to run seasonally and make the most of the free time." (Via Ask Coach Jenny)

So how do you break through the emotional torture? Well, for one thing, remember that time is relative. Just because you (meaning "me") didn't meet your goal time, it doesn't mean you didn't accomplish something awesome. And "one runner's personal worst is another's personal best." Then start to consider the following questions:

What were the lessons in this race? And what were the gifts?

For me, the lessons were: I committed to running too long of a race before I really loved anything about running. And, you can't cheat your body into thinking it's more prepared than it really is. Aaaand, I can't compare myself to my dear running mate, Liv, who just so happens to be awesome at goal setting and sticking with a plan and doing lots and lots of athletic things a billion times better than me (sigh). The gifts? My totally awesome support crew and running buddies and strangers cheering and the total rush knowing that, "I finally did it."

Feliz Año Nuevo

Happy New Year! New Year's resolutions aren't exactly our style... we're much more into the whole make-a-life-change-on-a-random-day-of-the-year-and-spontaneously-decide-to-transform-your-lifestyle-and-then-openly-blog-about-it thing.

While we can't claim that we've 100% stuck to our pre-training training plan, we have handled this holiday season significantly better than years past. And this lil' blog here is largely responsible for that. Though running is by no means second nature to us just yet, it is certainly a major part of our lives and constantly on our minds - particularly that ever-approaching day when we'll truly have to kick it into high gear and begin the real training.

So stick with us in 2011 and continue to hold us accountable. We need some major support to stay motivated, preferably in the form of more running partners! C'mon... anyone?? We'd love some company at the starting line, folks. And if we can do it, you can, too. The real training doesn't start until May/June, so mull it over. 

Footsy fans unite, 

Luck Be Us Ladies

If only, if only we can win the lottery…then we can run 10 miles in April. Wait, whuck kind of lottery is that? Why, the lottery to enter the Cherry Blossom 10 miler of course!

We could probably think of many more lotteries we’d prefer to win – like the kind that involve us choosing the lump sum amount - but we'd also really, really like to be chosen for this one. After all, it adheres to our whole pre-training training plan.....and when there are kinks in my plans, I get a little testy.

This:

vs. This:

You know how the saying goes, April showers.... - ick

So we had choices - do we enter as a group, either we all get in or we all go home, or individually?And if we enter as a group how many people do we force convince to do it with us?

Here is the problem though, I have AWFUL luck! I never win raffles or drawings or anything of the sort. I'm worried my bad luck will keep the Footsy gals out of the race! But we're entered, all three of us as a group - Liv + Sal and Megs (a footsy friend you'll meet later when we make her guest blog for us). Now all we have to do is wait till the results of the lottery are posted on December 14th, and in the mean time I'll be searching for four-leaf good-luck cherry blossoms.

lylas,

So about that 10K...

The good news is that WE DID IT! And... we didn't walk! Well, in the interest of full disclosure, Sal + the tweenster walked for about 20 feet while slurping back some H-two-the-O... we weren't as talented as Liv at the whole pinch-the-cup-and-keep-on-truckin' move. Anyway, our lil' group crossed the finish line and agreed to make a tradition out of running the same race each year.

But we should also explain that, while we did complete the race, it certainly wasn't pretty. We huffed and puffed and marveled at how the road seemed to never end - it was deceptively long and constantly playing tricks on us, convincing us that we were closer to the finish line than we really were.

The lows...

• Watching a friend loop back for her final leg of the race while we were still on mile 2.5 (she ended up finishing first place in our division, we might add! Go Blur!)
• Mile 3 - the course was a down-and-back with mostly uphill on the second half
• Sal had to pee the entire time.
• Mile 4 - Liv's left ankle started hurting real bad and couldn't figure out why - she thought she was running with good form. Luckily all was well after the race and it wasn't even sore the following day.
• Thinking about having to do that race 4.5 more times when we finally run the 2011 MCM. Ugh.

The highs...

• The weather! It was a beautiful day with race temps in the 60s - couldn't ask for more at the end of November.
• The pre- and post-race camaraderie with all of the other folks from around the 'ham
• Running with Sal's bro and tweenster niece/keeping each other company for the first half of the race
• Watching the tweenster take-off while on a total adrenaline rush and crush the finish line. Also watching a boy in the tweenster's class complete the race in a wheelchair
• The knowledge after the race that there was nothing left to do that day other than EAT!

The Footsy gals' first official race couldn't have been better was a great start! Though our goals were meager - a) to just finish and b) to try and complete it without walking - we accomplished them. And we even ran a pace to be proud of...finishing the whole shebang right at an hour. Clearly we won't be breaking any records anytime soon, but we earned our Turkey Trot tshirts and will sport them with pride.

Meet Liv

I’m Olivia Champion – yes I know, my last name is bad a$$ – it was the reason I married an added bonus to marrying my husband. I’m a 26 year old person who sits at her desk all day and stares at the computer, i.e a CPA. I grew up in Birmingham, AL, and went to Ole Miss, and now I live in DC, and blah blah blah....we could go on - but lets cut to what you really need to know about me. Why do I want to run a marathon? I have no idea, I must be bat $hit crazy.

2nd fave activity: wine

The truth is - it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. To complete a marathon seems like such an honorable goal to have, yes? not to mention that being able to say you can, and have, run 26.2 miles makes you better than the people that haven’t. So last year (2009) I decided that I would run the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon. I even went online and downloaded this 30 week novice training schedule (fully aware that meant I didn’t have to start said training schedule until May). Then the months of fall and winter passed - complete with 3 major snowmagedons - and it was clear that I couldn’t run 3 miles outside without stopping, much less launch a training program. Exit: plan to run 2010 MCM, enter: self-pity for not adhering to honorable goal.

So what is different this time around - this time I’m 100% serious. I need purpose in my life. Not to mention the number one thing, to prove my husband wrong the fact that I have my best friend in the whole world to train with/force/endure the pain with/accomplish a goal with me. This time, it’s going to be done differently. We’ve got a plan...and a blog!

Here is another thing to know about me. [prepare for sidebar rant off subject] I have a blog obsession. I LOVE blogs. Google reader indicates that I currently have 46 blogs in my subscription list....how did that happen?! Everything from blogs about parenting (a fave of mine being rants from mommyland – those women are whucktastic), blogs on DC, blogs on sports, blogs on design, cooking, the list goes on and on and on. My friends are quite aware of my obsession and I’ve been asked before – if you love blogs so much…why don’t you have one of your own? Well I’ll tell you why – I have NOTHING to blog about. I am boring. I have no precious children to post videos and pictures of with cute stories (except my cavalier king charles spaniel Tallulah – which I’m sure I'll talk about ad nauseum); I’m not creative in any way shape or form (unlike Sal who is quite talented) – I have no artistic or musical capabilities; as much as I wish I were – I’m not a world traveler. Most people (although I can’t imagine why) do not find accounting interesting – so that takes my career out of the picture; and as much as I love to cook - and I think I’m pretty good at it – there is that creative gene I’m missing. Which makes me a strict recipe follower to. a. T. But now – I’ve got something in my life that’s worthy of this online journal that I love so much. [end off subject rant]

And this time.....WE have a plan. We’ve got books, we’ve got inspiration, we got a pre-training, training plan...and most importantly.....we’ve TOLD internet strangers people, and now we can’t back out because these people (strangers and friends alike) will think we’re lame. We’ve added a level of accountability in the mix. And it’s all coming at ya with brutal honesty - the good the bag and the ugly, the bang ups and hang ups. Also, we’re 98 and 3/4 percent sure we’re going to do it!!

lylas,

Meet Sal

I’ve always wanted to be a runner, but somehow my short attention span and a pile of lame excuses always get the best of me and I give up. In fact, I’ve never been much for regular exercising at all until I moved to DC. Don’t get me wrong, I’m reasonably active - I danced my whole life and dabbled (unsuccessfully) in intramural sports and the occasional yoga class. Nowadays, I spend about 30 minutes on the elliptical a few times a week, pretend to lift weights until I find myself awkwardly staring at others through the gym mirror, and take long walks around home sweet DC. I’ve done a little bit of everything here and there, but only once in my life have I found a consistent and rewarding way to stay healthy…

[Begin nostalgic flashback/cue Saved by the Bell dream sequence effects] Christmas morning of 2006 I half-heartedly mentioned my desire to run the Nashville Country Music Half Marathon. I was still adjusting to the “real world” post-college and running seemed to be the only logical way to balance a newly acquired full time work schedule with my empty bank account and my desire to stay active. At that point in my life, I had never run more than a few miles at a time and I wasn’t exactly taking myself seriously. Much to my horror surprise, my oldest brother (who completed the Marine Corp Marathon in 2003) was. He thought it sounded like a great idea, and before I knew it, I had challenged my entire family to run it with me.

It is a glaring understatement to say the next 4 months were challenging. I came up with an absurd list of excuses (company softball league injury?) to get out of running. Fortunately, my roomie at the time was running the half marathon too and she helped me keep my eye on the finish line. The training process was grueling (for me, at least), but through the support of my friends and family, and the knowledge that whomever came in last place among my fam had to foot the bar tab after the race, I found myself on I-40, driving to the race and trembling with fear. 


I finished in just over two hours and the sense of accomplishment was pretty stellar - the camaraderie among racers, the awesome bands at each mile driving me forward, friends and family cheering and waving posters – it was enough to convert me into a runner for life... 


And yet, I haven’t run more than a mile or two since (awkwaaard). I completely “fell off the wagon” and reverted back to my sedentary lifestyle where I count leisurely strolls as a workout. Over the years, I’ve come up with plenty of excuses to convince myself that I didn’t let myself down by slacking on my running. But there’s really no room (or reason) for lying to myself anymore. And now that I have an extremely pushy motivated running buddy, I’m 98 and ¾ percent sure I can do it.   


I am definitely not a natural runner. But I’m going to try my darndest. And hopefully, during that process, I’ll also learn how to live a healthier lifestyle and treat my body better. After all, it’s the only one I’ve got - and it's tired of eating goldfish every night for dinner. 

lylas,