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Month: June 2018

May 2018 training recap

May 2018 training recap

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May was just as I had anticipated it would be: full. In the absence of racing this month, I did a lot of other high-quality stuff: lots of marathon training mileage, of course (posting just shy of 200 miles, about 196 and change) but also quite rewarding and gratifying non-running stuff, too.

While I wasn’t racing, I was instead going to the land of the mouse to celebrate my eldest’s 7th birthday, hosting my in-law(s) at my home for the whole month, doing lots of prep work for my eldest’s Girl Scout bridging (sort of like a promotion from one level in GS to the next), and helping out a lot at school with all the end-of-year stuff that comes at the end of an academic year. Add to the mix lots of freelancing again, and it felt like the month ended just as quickly as it started. Somewhere in the middle, I might have blinked. Maybe. All of that combined with raising a feisty almost three year-old and yeah, the days are long and years are short or some such nonsense. It’s all a blur. At least it’s a good blur, anyway.

not running

Really, I have zero complaints with how this month fared, especially as it relates to running. I took more rest days than I planned, simply due to our time down south at the beginning of the month, but no matter. Experience has taught me that walking around for 10+ hours for a few days in a row confers comparable benefits as does running easily for 30-60 minutes each day. (I still always bring running clothes with me, in the event that an opportunity presents itself, but I sorta assume that it’s not going to happen).

I don’t exactly know how to describe it, but I think May helped me to turn a corner on all this post-stroke stuff, too. I wrote something similar back in April, but I felt it even more in the past month. The passage of time has a way of helping with these things in that regard. I’m at a point where I can safely say that I will go for days on end without thinking even a fleeting thought about it and that, more often than not, when the thoughts do arise, it’s more a statement of fact than one that precipitates a shit-ton of anxiety or a meltdown.

Case in point: when my eldest is at swim practice, I run laps around the school campus. Coincidentally, this often puts me directly across the street from the hospital where I was admitted. I think I’ve said it in this space before, but for a while, even seeing the hospital was gut-wrenching (which was also horribly inconvenient since there’s a great Baskin-Robbins nearby). Fortunately, for the most part, nowadays when I run past the hospital repeatedly on my Tuesday and Thursday night runs, I don’t feel any different a reaction upon seeing it than I do upon encountering any of the other multitudinous businesses and establishments along my way. It’s there. That happened. Move on. It’s little, but it’s big, if that makes any sense at all. I don’t want to particularly think or talk about this anymore.

post swim night mileage. she loves her little parka she got for her bday 🙂

What, no doubt, has helped facilitate these corner-turning feelings has been my running this past month (and the continued passage of time, surely). Running is great for the cardiovascular and physiological side of things, but shit, it sure does wonders for lots of other messy (mental) stuff, too. It was sometime during the past month where I began to feel my confidence returning. Showing up and doing workouts that made me literally laugh out loud — how do I run that?! — and running hard and consistently on fatigued legs, not being intimidated by the prescribed volume or intensity, helped me regain a sense of accomplishment, pride, and really — bottom line — confidence that the stroke compromised a few months ago. I totally, absolutely, wholeheartedly get that as far as strokes go, I got super duper lucky, but that said, that doesn’t change the fact that my world got turned upside down and inside out a million times over there for a while. The mental side was rough, to say the least. Running does so much for me mentally — as it does for so many of you, as well — and I’m just elated as can be that both it and the general passage of time have helped me inch beyond everything.

from a Sunday LR with Janet in the ARP foothills above SJ. Downtown SJ is about at 3 o’clock (and nearly centered)

We do this stuff to feel strong, and regaining the feeling of strength after being robbed of it (for whatever reason) is pretty powerful stuff.

That feeling — of promise, hope, opportunity, potential, second chances, however you want to label it — is indescribable.

easy ‘hood miles are the best

The month of May, and its concomitant miles, gave me plenty of opportunities to have those feelings again and all but think to myself I AM HERE (no shame in this game).   

Where I am now is as good or better a place I would have hoped to be going into my first marathon of the year. Honestly, I couldn’t have been/couldn’t be happier.

I’m not particularly interested in comparing my current fitness level to that of yesteryears, but at this point, I can say that I like how I’m feeling and that it excites me. Aside from the usual workouts during the week, the long runs on the weekend — which have often been in ARP, in Janet’s and my neck of the woods — have also been tremendously helpful. Marathon runners will often say that the most important run of the week is the LR, and I’d take it one step further and say that if you’re returning to running after time away — for injury or just due to life, in general — one of the best ways to re-enter the sport, to get strong again, to up your endurance, and a whole host of other attributes, is by doing as much of your LRs on trails as possible. They are tremendous equalizers and injury mitigators and can do such incredible stuff for your mental muscle.

This feeling that I have suggests that things seem to be clicking. Workouts and long runs (the latter with or without built-in workouts) are both fun and challenging, which can sometimes be an elusive or precarious combination. I’m just thrilled to be training to do this marathon rodeo again for the 32nd time in about 8 weeks from now.

and as we get closer to TSFM weekend, it has been fun to put on my ambassador hat and go spread the love! here, with another ambassador, Jason, up at A Runner’s Mind – Burlingame at a Thursday night fun run

It may make for boring blog fodder to say that things are going well and that I’m happy where I am, but … sorry. My head’s in the ground and will be there for a bit longer, seeing what we can unearth along the way. Bear with me.

—

Revelling: New category! I’m still reeling from going down to Ventura a couple weekends ago to spectate at the Mountains to Beach marathon from Ojai to Ventura. It’s a hefty drive from SJ, about five hours +/-, but it’s a hugely popular marathon and half among Bay Area runners. It boasts something like a 700’ net drop (though punctuated with some ascents along the way), and I went down to cheer on many teammates and friends who’d be toeing the line. My friend, teammate, and coach Lisa ran the half (and did great, sub 1:26, notching our club’s master’s F record); my teammate, friend, and training partner Janet killed it in her debut marathon with a 3:26 (and got a sturdy BQ in the process); and I got to see Chicago friend Erica finish her 47th marathon (and score another BQ, too). Many more teammates and friends — like Hannah (sub-3 for her debut marathon), her fiance Phil (2nd place OA), Jenn (first sub-3), Tiffany (sub-3:15 and close to her PR, earning another high master’s level marking in our club), and Melissa (first sub-3) — just killed it out there, and it was so deeply inspiring to watch. I hung out at mile 22 (after seeing Lisa in the half around mile 11) and just had a blast cheering and cowbelling for my teammates. Entertaining Janet for her final 4 miles was also a treat. It was a good day for so many people, and I love that I got to experience a little bit of everyone’s celebration. I’m grateful my sorry ass didn’t cry because these things make me emotional. YAY RUNNING.

Wolfpack and friends pre-race dinner in Ventura. Phil (front, next to Hannah) went on to place 2nd OA at the race, and our other fella, Jonathan, went 3 flat. Such a fast group of humans, holy shit!

 

of course only Lisa looks like she’s out for a fun run when she’s running a 1:26 half. NBD (from ~mile 11)

 

A fast herd of runners – Hannah in black on the left, Jenn just steps behind the group in red, and Melissa up there, too, in blue (all sub-3 and very high placing overall).

 

Tiffany looked strong AF at mile 22! She caught me so off guard that I completely spaced on her name, haha. Sub-3:15 (3:13) and posting our second fastest master’s F record in the process.

 

Running with Janet over her last 4 miles was great. I tried to do that delicate balance of being entertaining and distracting without getting her to the point of wanting to knife me. (I still got a ride home, so I think I was at least moderately successful). This is from the last 1/2 mile or so of the course as it hugs the shore.

 

always such a treat to see Chicago Erica when she’s here! I hadn’t seen her since I was about 20 weeks pregnant with G, back in 2015. Erica did great, and it was when I was waiting for her at the finish line that I got all teary. 🙂

Reading: May had a lot of good stuff. Deena Kastor’s Let Your Mind Run (recapped here) was excellent and one that I would all but implore every runner — particularly distance runner — to read. Maria Shriver’s I’ve Been Thinking was meh, not really my style. I was genuinely surprised at how much I liked Jim Comey’s A Higher Loyalty simply because after reading Hillary’s book last year, I didn’t think I’d be able to stomach anything coming from him. (If you’re even minutely interested in politics and the shitshow that is Washington right now, I’d recommend reading it. It is fascinating and at times, tragic). Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark about the Golden State Killer was equal parts awful and fascinating to read — how are some humans capable of doing such horrible things? — and reading it just weeks after the alleged killer was apprehended — and not long after McNamara, herself, died — was borderline creepy. Bonus creepy factor: the GSK’s slayings in SJ were relatively nearby, and I’m about 90% certain I’ve run by the homes several times. (!!!!) Finally, I finished Scott and Jenny Jurek’s North and loved it; the review is in my drafts folder and is forthcoming. The running lit world is … lit (not sorry) right now.  

Listening: No new music that I can remember in the past month, but a couple podcasts stand out to me: the longest shortest time’s interview with Cecile Richards and sounds like an MLM but OK’s special episode related to NXIVM. The former, with Richards, was really interesting and made a traffic-riddled drive bearable, and honestly, the latter, about NXIVM, was just weird AF. I have so many questions.

Watching: With my MIL staying with us for the entire month, C and I have had more date nights than we’ve had in a while (hooray!), and somewhere in the mix, we got to see a Deadpool 1 & 2 double feature. I won’t elaborate on my opinion about the new movie, in an effort to avoid spoilers, but I’ll admit we had a good time.

and that thing is still in my pencil pouch purse, unopened. I just noticed that person behind me putting her (his?) down into the t-shirt, hahaha

Anticipating: Once school ends, the girls and I will be heading to the midwest to see family for a few weeks, which will be great. While I’m there — in the thickest part of SF training — I’m planning to do a couple races, too. Change of scenery is always fun! *cough don’t get lost cough*

mother’s day 2018 = an excellent morning long run with Janet followed by most of the day in pajamas. yes, please

Writing: Lots of freelance stuff this past month but not much in this space, unfortunately. Between EOY obligations at my daughter’s school and her GS troop, my writing here suffered. I should perhaps consider committing to a post-a-day challenge or something. Maybe…

Dreading: Nothing comes to mind right now, aside from annoying insurance issues. All that BS I talked about last month is still up in the air and will be so until late July, until my “investigation” gets “finalized” er whatever (and in the interim, we started receiving collections notices, blerg). At the end of last week, I also finally had that super obnoxious test done that my GI ordered, the one that necessitated me eating only plain white rice for 24 hours before the test and then fasting for 12 hours the day of the test, all before going to the actual appointment, sitting around for more than three hours, not drinking or eating anything (and not being allowed to nap), and getting my breath analyzed every 20 minutes. Who the hell knows at this point. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

May was great, and I’m looking forward to all that June has to offer. 

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw 

2018 Splash 2 Dash youth triathlon race recap – guest post from my seven year-old – Morgan Hill, CA

2018 Splash 2 Dash youth triathlon race recap – guest post from my seven year-old – Morgan Hill, CA

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In late April, my eldest raced her first triathlon in 2018, the Splash 2 Dash youth triathlon in Morgan Hill, just a little ways south of San Jose. She was fresh off a kids’ run at the Silicon Valley Food Truck 5k a few weekends prior, though she hadn’t done a triathlon since last summer’s Santa Clara kids’ triathlon in August.

tbt to the SC kids’ tri last summer. old school ankle chip FTW!

 

same swimsuit, different tri. isn’t it wild how fast kids grow up?!!

Honestly, after the SC triathlon, I wasn’t sure that she’d want to do another triathlon because she didn’t particularly care for the running part of the event. It’s cool; I’m not really into pressuring her to do this type of stuff. That said, when I asked if she wanted to do the MH triathlon, she enthusiastically wanted in. Even better, Saraubh’s son was also going to do to the MH tri, so the kids would be able to play and hang out before and after the event. That seemed to seal the deal for my daughter.

friends!

There were some big differences between the SC triathlon last summer and the MH triathlon in April. I’ll include my interview notes with my daughter here in a second — gotta keep those primary sources whenever possible, right — but for the parents in the area who are looking for information about the event, or how they compare to each other, anyway, I’ll elucidate on some details below.

Distance

The MH triathlon, like other youth tris I’ve read about online, offers staggered distances and start times for the kids. At the time, my daughter was six, the youngest age group, so accordingly, she had the shortest distances of the day and was the last group to compete. Her distances included one length of the pool, a 1 mile ride, and a ½ mile run.

On race day, there was a little bit of confusion though because it looked like the ride was longer, based on a discrepancy between email communications and the website, making it maybe closer to 1.5 miles. At any rate, the kids didn’t seem to complain. The transition areas were in a parking lot, very near the pool, and the ride was through the large aquatics center campus. The run for her age group was an out-and-back in a field on the campus. Everything was pretty close together and closed off to vehicular traffic, as much as I could tell.

For the six-and-unders and the seven year-old age groups, the race divided the boys and girls into separate heats, but for the older groups, boys and girls were co-mingled.

official. let’s do this! (standing in T1)

Field size

When my daughter did the SC triathlon last summer, the event seemed huge, with easily over 100, if not 200, child participants. Since that was our first foray into triathlons, it was pretty overwhelming, to be honest. Giving ourselves an hour to park, set up transition, get bib numbers, and figure out where we needed to be was barely enough time, and I felt like we were scrambling the entire time.

In comparison, the MH Splash 2 Dash was much more low-key. There were 50, maybe 70 participants total, and each age group only needed one heat to begin their race (save for the littlest ones who were segregated by sex). All the logistics of the morning — parking, setting up transition, getting bibs, yadda yadda yadda — were much easier to handle because everything was on such a smaller scale.  

the perks of a small-scale event: being able to effortlessly watch the participants go before you. the race cordoned off part of the pool deck during other AG heats, presumably for both safety and logistical reasons, but a nice side benefit was pumping up the kids for a good 20 minutes before their race began.

Post-tri party

Finally, one of the biggest differences between the SC triathlon last summer and the MH triathlon earlier this month was in its post-race offerings. I don’t recall there being much after the SC triathlon last year; basically, if you wanted to stick around for the awards ceremony, you could, but otherwise, once your child completed his/her race, you were free to go. If I recall correctly, there really wasn’t that much else or left to do.

In contrast, it almost seemed like the real party was just beginning to start after kids completed the Splash 2 Dash triathlon. The City of Morgan Hill hosted several community partner booths that had games and crafts set up for the kids, which helped make the morning that much more fun and memorable. Once kids finished their triathlon, they were free to walk over to the vendor booths to make their own handprint tiles, courtesy of Home Depot; to make some bookmarks, courtesy of a second-chance organization; to get their hair spray-painted crazy colors, courtesy of a local hair salon; to play a spin-the-wheel game at the local Second Harvest Food Bank table, and more. Games and crafts: this is the stuff six year-old girls’ dreams are made of, folks! If memory serves, I think the City of Morgan Hill also had a table set-up, advertising their summer programs and camps, and someone else — maybe the YMCA? — had set up a station giving kids and families fruit kabobs. My child spent fewer than ten minutes actually doing her race, but we easily dropped another hour afterward at the race venue because she was having so much fun doing all this other stuff.  

super cute and easy idea that I absolutely stole for a Girl Scout meeting a couple months later

Amenities

Both the SC and the MH triathlons gave participants similar amenities: a medal for participating and a t-shirt. I think the SC tri may have also given the kids a reusable grocery bag, too.

Registration Costs

If memory serves, perhaps because of when I registered her for the SC race last year, the SC tri was significantly more expensive than the MH triathlon. In addition, the SC triathlon mandated that all participants pay for a one-year membership to USAT, presumably to help guarantee insurance coverage for the day of the event. In contrast, the MH triathlon — perhaps because it was organized through the city of Morgan Hill and (presumably) wasn’t a sanctioned USAT event — didn’t require USAT membership/insurance, which ultimately affected the lower price tag. The SC tri had participants ankle-chipped for the races, whereas the MH didn’t have any chip-based timing to speak of, though participants still got official (gun-based) times.

Summative Commentary

So parents out there – if you’re looking for a fun and low-key triathlon for your child, I’d definitely recommend giving the Splash 2 Dash event in Morgan Hill a try. The atmosphere wasn’t cut-throat competitive; the kids all seemed to enjoy the awesome post-race party and craft tables; and it was extremely family-friendly. In retrospect, it would have been manageable to bring the two year-old and wrangle her while waiting around and then cheering for big sister.

aww.

Realistically speaking, too, your child will probably have much more favorable weather in early May than you will mid-August at the SC triathlon.

My daughter had a great time at the Morgan Hill triathlon and didn’t hesitate to say that she wanted to do it again… but you can glean that from her commentary below.

—-

You did your second triathlon ever, your first in 2018, a couple weeks ago. What do you remember most about your experience?

Not really anything. It was kinda the same as the last one but more fun. (Eds. note: honesty).

morning steam

Why did you want to do another triathlon?

Because I wanted to do one triathlon per year?

Did you train for this tri any differently than the one you did last year?

Yes, because I did some, a lot, of running at my school. Like we ran around the track three, two, or one times, and yeah. Yeah! That’s running!

What was your favorite part of this triathlon?

Seeing K. in the triathlon that I’m doing. Doing it with him was a part that I liked.

Tell me about your swim. How long was it? What type of stroke did you do? And why?

My swim? Oh, like only a few seconds because we only did one lap. I did … I think I did freestyle? I don’t know, I just picked it. I like every stroke of swimming, so that’s the stroke I picked.

her happy place

After you finished the swim, you had to get out of the pool, get dried off, and get up on your bike. How was that? Were you cold when you were riding your bike?

A little tricky cuz I had to go quick and usually I don’t go that quick. Usually I just, like, I take my time and hurry it up a little. That time, I had to hurry it up a lot. (I wasn’t cold) because it was a hot day. (Eds. note: I think it was when in the 50s).

Can you tell me about your bike ride?

That was a little tricky because there was a little girl who had a bike but a little more smaller than mine, and she was super quick! She saw me behind her, and she speeded up, and then I seemed to pass her after a little while. (Eds. note: A was the second girl out of the pool for her AG and caught the first girl later, presumably on the bike. As a parent, it’s so interesting to hear how A talks so casually about competition. It’s evident that she wants to work hard to be the best she can be, and she likes competing against others to be the fastest, but when she talks about it, she couches everything in having fun. It’s not a mutually exclusive enterprise for her).

the bike course looped through the parking lots area. older kids did multiple laps, so it all still remained fairly self-contained.

Once you finished your bike ride, you had to drop-off your bike and then start running. What was that like? How did your body feel?

Tired, wiggly. And sleepy! And a little sleepy!

What was your run like?

My run? That was really tiring! But once I kept running, I mean jogging, it didn’t feel so awful.

#seenonherrun. she’s one of those specks.

At the very end of your run, you approached the big finish line arch. What was it like to see the finish line? How did you feel when you crossed it?

I was like smiling because you were telling me, “you can do it!” or something like that. I was super happy that I ran a little more quick and I didn’t feel that tired. (I felt) super happy and tired (when I crossed the finish line).

Did you earn anything special for completing this triathlon?

A medal, some snacks, hair paint, a handprint on a piece of glass. Yeah, that’s all I earned. I don’t remember the rest.

channeling their inner Kriss Kross

How did you do at your race overall? How did you feel when you finished?  

I was tired! I was happy, a little. I was happy, but I didn’t really crack that much of a big smile.

Which triathlon did you like more, the one in Morgan Hill or the one in Santa Clara?

The one with K. Because it was with my friend! And, yeah. And they gave me a green medal, and I thought the green meant for luck. (Eds. note: proof positive that these things are always “funner with another”).

What type of advice would you offer to kiddos like you who may want to do their first triathlon?

I would say, well, you guys should really do this because it’s awesomely fun! I’ve done it before, and it’s like super fun and awesome that you should really try it out with your friends. You should tell your friends the day you’re doing it so they can do it. It’s awesome and fun! Get out there, and have fun in that triathlon. When you’re done, you feel so strong, like never before. (Eds. note: TRUER WORDS NEVER SPOKEN).

I remember we stayed at the aquatic center a long time after you finished because there were so many crafts and stuff to do. What was your favorite part about that?

I liked it when they did my hair spray colors. And along with that, I liked it when they told us that when you put up the piggie face, that the hair spray they put on your hair won’t get into your face. (Eds. note: It took me a while to figure out what the “piggie face” was).

*this* was the piggie face she was talking about

 

post-spray painted hair

Do you think your sister should do a tri once she gets a little bigger?

Yeah! Yeah, because then she can get a lot of strength and it’s ok if she gets tired ‘cuz after a few days later, she’ll feel not that tired. Or when she gets home, she will not be that tired.

Do you think your dad or I should do a tri sometime?

Yeah! Cuz I haven’t seen Dad do a triathlon before. And I haven’t seen you do a triathlon before. (Eds. note: gauntlet thrown, kid. Did it just get warm in here?).

Was there anything you didn’t you like about this triathlon?

Um… no! Cuz it was super fun and that was my second triathlon and I did a pretty good job on it. The second triathlon in my life. And my sister, I’m sure when my sister does a triathlon like that one, she will have a lot of fun! And I’ll tell her that I had a blast. (Eds. note: she did well compared to her peers. I think she was in the top 3 or 5 for 6 and unders and the first OA female for her AG. I told her, and she cared for about .2 seconds. Kids are great). 

What did you like the most about this triathlon?

Doing it with my friend!

Do you want to do another tri this year?

Yes, with my swim buddy, Z. (Eds. note: Z is a friend from her swim team who travels, with her family, all over the Bay Area to compete. Her older sister is a serious youth triathlete and has recently qualified for nationals). 

Do you have anything else that you’d like to add?

Maybe. (explaining what that question means). … (thinking) … No.

Alright!

While my own personal interest in pursuing a tri is very, very small — perhaps remote would be a more appropriate description — I do love watching her have fun and compete. Children can be such fantastic teachers.

SO PROUD!