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August 2018 training recap

August 2018 training recap

The eighth month of the year is behind us, incredibly, and in my household anyway, we have already returned to the thick of it with school beginning and all the other concomitant obligations and priorities. It’s sorta like going from zero to 100. I almost forgot to write my July training recap — and then completely forgot to post about it on instagram or fb — but the world kept turning, so here we are.

BTS

 

she *loves* it

What to say about my training in August? To be honest, not a whole lot. The name of the game was recover from racing TSFM, and it took the better part of the month to get there. I’m still not quite sure why it took my body so long to recover from SF — you’d think that after doing more than thirty of these things, I’d be able to predict it a little better — but it did. It was peculiar only because I knew my training had been solid going into the race, and post-race, I didn’t have any new or residual niggles or injuries come up; instead, it was more just a feeling of total exhaustion, of sludge that seemed to populate my legs and never really leave for a long time. Meh. It translated to a month of my almost-lowest volume this year (121.2, exactly half of July’s), but I sure felt like I needed it. I inadvertently took an entire week off (coinciding with a trip to Disneyland), only raced once (“raced”) to help field a full women’s team for XC, and it has been just within the past two weeks that my legs have finally been like oh yeah hey what’s up when I’ve tried anything beyond just GA or recovery paces.

you can’t exactly tell we’re at Disneyland, but we were, and it was hot as hades

Having a “down” month in running right at the end of summer was pretty refreshing. I’m so glad I decided against pacing at the Santa Rosa Marathon at the end of August — for once,  I had some foresight, yay! — because it was nice to have a bit of a break after the marathon and not try to rush my recovery, like I had to last year. In the four weeks of August that I wasn’t running a whole lot, not only did my fam and I head to Anaheim for a little getaway, but the girls and I also enjoyed the rest of summer by doing things around the house (bunkbeds!), playing tourists with my sister’s neighbor’s family who was in town for a few days, and gearing up for a packed year of Girl Scouts stuff and lots of other activities that completely escape me now but that are super time-consuming (but also super fun and mega-rewarding).

Santa Cruz Boardwalk fun with friends (naturally, we’re playing a game that involves toilets)

 

hiking fun with her GS troop

 

first swim meet in her new AG

The end of the month marked a “soft beginning” to CIM training, though it likely won’t begin in earnest for a couple weeks still. I’m excited to return to the race — along with a bevy of my teammates and buddies from other teams! — and to train through the gorgeous autumnal weather in SJ (which usually equates to “cool and crisp in the morning and summer-like in the afternoons”). We’ll throw in some XC action into the mix, plus maybe a couple road races this fall, and December will be here before we know it.

descending from MP and into the fog (PC: Janet)

 

taking it all so seriously with Janet and Meredith (PC: Janet)

Racing: Just the Santa Cruz XC Challenge in mid-to-late August. I haven’t gotten around to writing a RR about it, and it’s like three weeks ex post facto by now, so suffice it to say that I probably won’t. (You can read last year’s recap and imagine it was pretty similar this time around). The course was the same or very similar to last year, and we had a much bigger team turnout than before. It was a warmer day, I still wasn’t feeling recovered from SF, and I ended up running about 2 minutes slower (bah) than last year (and in the process, sorta lost a toenail). No matter; it’s a pretty course, and I love the opportunity to see my teammates and other buddies. It’s always the company that makes this stuff so enjoyable and memorable.

Wolfpack love! and Robin love, too! and desperately hoping I don’t trip on any_one or any_thing (PC: WRC)

Running: Basically all easy miles and just a handful of trail runs in August. I went back to MP for the first time since January, and it was just a few weeks after part of the hills had caught on fire. Sadly, some of the hillsides were still very black and a bit apocalyptic (and even still smelled smoky). On another weekend morning, Janet, Saurabh, and I hit ARP, and my nose exploded 2.5 miles into the run, which was … amusing.

at ARP: yay running is fun!

 

(literally seconds later) go ahead, guys! I’ll, uh, catch up!

 

back in business! (PC to all: Janet)

Reading: Eh. I think I mentioned it in July, but I started The Handmaid’s Tale and didn’t get too far with it. Same goes for Brene Brown’s Braving the Wilderness. Very surprisingly to me — since I say that I don’t particularly enjoy reading fiction anymore — I picked up Crazy Rich Asians at the library and just had a blast with it. That said, I have zero desire to see the movie — I’ll do one or the other, but never both — but definitely would recommend the novel if you want something fun for a change. Since finishing that, I began Ben Rhodes’ The World As It Is and am making my way through it.

Eating: I had to put this on here this month because I had the impossible burger twice in August, once at The Counter and again at the Cheesecake Factory. I’m an unpretentious eater, generally speaking, but after being vegetarian for more than a decade (and being almost-vegan for most of that), experience has taught me that veggie burgers are not created equally. I had heard about the impossible burger and hadn’t thought twice about it, writing it off as a stupid gimmick, but when I saw that it was available at the aforementioned two places here in town, I gave it a try. It was good! I can’t really comment to how “meat-like” it tasted or its mouth feel (because let’s be honest, I don’t exactly remember what a burger feels like anymore), but I enjoyed it. For what it’s worth, the Counter prepared it medium well, and I think that tasted better than how CF prepared it.

Cooking: Probably like the rest of the running world, I picked up Shalane and Elyse’s new cookbook this past month and have enjoyed working through some of the recipes. I haven’t made tons from it yet, but everything I’ve made (the can’t beet me smoothie, the chicken cannellini bean soup [sans chicken], presto pesto, superhero muffins with carrots and green apples, and the black bean chipotle burgers) has all been delicious and other-people-approved.

Listening to: Courtney Dauwalter’s interview on I’ll Have Another was super entertaining, and she sounded like such a down-to-earth person in real life that it was almost hard to believe that the same person was such a fierce and formidable ultra competitor. I’ve continued to listen to the same IVF-focused podcast that I’ve listened to pretty regularly for the past year-plus, and I won’t give away any spoilers, but it has gotten super interesting of late. Just within the past week or so, I began listening to Lauren Fleshman and Jesse Thomas’ Work Play Love series as well, which I have enjoyed much more than I anticipated (and would highly recommend).

Annoyed by: Carelessness? Sure. Exhibit A: the whole fambam was in my van a couple weeks ago, with C driving, and we got rear-ended. We were stationary, and the car who hit us was going probably not much more than 10-15 mph. It was enough to make that horrible sound of metal on metal, and when it was all said and done, it cost more than $1k in repairs to my car. Fortunately — importantly — everyone was ok, but it was aggravating because the guy who hit us was 21 and driving without a license (and presumably, without insurance). Everything’s done and over and taken care of by now, and like I said, fortunately, no one was hurt, but seriously: it’s aggravating how careless (or selfish, or however you want to describe this type of behavior) people can be sometimes. 21 years old and without a license??? And still driving a car (that wasn’t his)?! Grrrrr….

Anticipating: Everything. Every day is a new adventure, rife with potential and endless opportunity. How’s that for motivation 😛

November 2017 training recap & pre-CIM thoughts

November 2017 training recap & pre-CIM thoughts

Well, that month came and went rather quickly. Between all the usual obligations and general “life stuff” that peppered the month of November — in addition to Thanksgiving break (a week long! An entire WEEK!); conference week (a week+ of shortened school days to allow the teachers to meet with parents in the early afternoon hours); and other one-off events — this month came and went, I ran a couple races, I finished the thick of my CIM training, and now we’re just a couple days out from The Big Day.

Admittedly, as I talked about in previous months’ entries, this quarter has been pretty tough. Fortunately, by the time November came (and went), a lot of the stressors began to diminish a bit: namely, my husband continued to recover from surgery, and the dust at school from A’s teacher quitting began to settle. I had mentioned in my October recap that I had felt pretty knackered but had basically attributed it to life and everything that was going on. Well, long story short, the “extreme fatigue” seemed to be sticking around. A call to my endocrinologist (whom I see yearly for a diagnosed thyroid issue) about it led to testing my TSH — all normal — which made her suggest that I take a pregnancy test. I’ve been pregnant twice, and I know pregnancy tired, and I knew this wasn’t that (plus those minor my husband just had abdominal surgery and I have a semi-permanent birth control details).

a super fancy Thanksgiving morning picture post-run

At any rate — long story short — a routine test as part of my annual physical with my GP revealed that my liver was, as we say, seemingly fucked. My liver enzyme levels were through-the-roof horrible (like, 5 times what they should have been); it looked like there was something — some thing — on my liver; and if I were a) obese and/or b) a heavy drinker, all of this would make sense … but I’m not … so it didn’t. (For reference: the last alcoholic drink I had was a single mimosa. In October. Of last year).

Fast forward through the month of November, which included:

  • another set of bloodwork;
  • going off my colitis medicine (with the thinking that it might be contributing to the liver inflammation/enlargement and other stuff) but then
    • subsequently having to deal with the fun realities that come when you have colitis but aren’t medicated for it (read: lots of QT with my bathroom and/or the great outdoors, in emergency situations, mid-run, which is always a great experience and a fantastic way to meet strangers (mortified beyond mortified));
  • an ultrasound;
  • a CT scan;
  • more bloodwork;
  • and an MRI.

I’m still waiting for the final diagnosis (diagnoses? maybe?) to put all this to bed — and did I mention we’re switching insurance in the new year, and I’ll have to find a new GI to help manage this mess? — but it seems like we’re almost out of the woods with all of this stuff. I can’t do a happy dance quite yet, but I feel like I can at least get into position. I didn’t dare Google anything that my doctor said or what the radiologists’ reports indicated because I’d surely learn that my death was imminent, but let me assure you: all of this stuff was scary shit. I am so grateful to a) have insurance; b) have a doctor who listens to my concerns; c) have gotten a physical that caught this in the first place (moral: get your yearly physical, people! And when something seems “off,” listen to your body and call a real-life professional instead of trying to fix it yourself with remedies that aren’t scientific and are deleterious to your health, at best); and d) that my sister is a real-life medical professional who talked me off the ledge and helped me make sense of everything.

sister sister. she’s the best.

I’m not a medical professional, but here’s a quick and dirty lesson about your liver. It’s important. When it’s not working as it should, that’s a problem.

All of that said, there for a while, I wasn’t even sure that CIM would come to fruition. A lot of my runs this training cycle have been okay, meh, or kinda flat, and the fatigue was pretty killer; one of the liver’s many functions is to do the detoxing in your body — the real kind, not the “I’m gonna go on a juice cleanse to detoxify my body” kind. (Sidenote: again, another quick and dirty biology lesson. Your liver and your kidneys are your built-in detoxing buddies. If you hear that you need to “cleanse” or “detox” for some reason [barring something that’d actually warrant detoxing, like drug abuse], assume that the person doling out that advice just wants your money, and do yourself a favor and go set your money on fire. Either one suffices because they achieve the same end result. There’s no scientific merit to the idea of “detoxing” diets, cleanses, anything, unless — of course — you’ve been abusing drugs. Huge pet peeve of mine. Anyway).  My GP and GI both seemed to think that all that crazy fatigue I had been feeling could be attributable to my liver’s subpar status in that it was incapable of fully or adequately doing its job. It was even as late as the Clarksburg half — mid-November — that I was fairly torn about whether running, much less trying to race, CIM was a good idea (and conversations with my doctor informed me that me running or training wouldn’t exacerbate anything; provided I wanted to run and wasn’t having horrible unmedicated colitis-related issues, I could run my little heart out).

Clarksburg-ing. (PC: Lisa)

 

As we rolled through November and the final handful of weeks of training — running Clarksburg and XC Champs, doing the last hard workouts, getting race ready with more GMP-focused stuff, and running a little lower mileage than usual (about 190 for the month, my lowest all year) but with specific and deliberate intensity —  eventually — fortunately — things have seemed to begin to turn around. As of a few days ago, anyway, my labs on my liver seem to be indicating the same.

XC champs-ing (PC: Wolfpack Running Club)

A note about CIM training, generally speaking: when I first decided that I’d race CIM, I had just come off racing the SF Marathon in late July and then pacing the 3:33 group at Santa Rosa a month later, so I knew I didn’t need to start from scratch with my training. I decided to try something new and enlisted the help of Lisa — gracious and humble human being; devoted Wolfpack wonder leader extraordinaire; and badass and fast runner — to coach me. I hadn’t been coached since I did this stuff for the first time, back in 2007 with Team in Training in Chicago, so it has been a lot of fun to work under someone for once and not be the one calling all the shots all the time. Working with a coach this time around has meant “doing running” differently — different workouts, different mileage volume and intensity, different everything — and honestly, it has been great. I have hesitated to work with a coach because my running is so varied all the time — between running with my kids; pushing a stroller more often than not; run-commuting 1.5 miles, four times a day, four days a week, most weeks; racing fairly frequently, be it roads or XC; or needing/wanting to have the freedom to mix in trails with roads basically whenever I want — that I have more or less thought of myself as fairly uncoachable at this time in my life. I’m super fortunate to have had the opportunity to work under Lisa because she gets it in the broad sense, and more specifically, she understands my running and how it can (or can’t) look right now for me. It’s a relationship that I plan to continue, and I’m grateful that Lisa has gotten me to the starting line on Sunday ready to rumble (bizarre liver issues be damned).

she’s great. (PC: who knows)

I’m totally stoked and honored to toe the line at my 31st marathon on Sunday morning. Marathons are tough as hell, obviously, and I could have a fantastic day, a horrible day, or something in between, regardless of what time I end up posting.

Spoiler: it will be fantastic.

from Sunday morning with Janet and Saurabh in Alum Rock. That sky!!! (PC: Janet)

—-

 

Reading: You Are a Badass (eh) for Lindsey’s podcast’s book club; Kevin Hart’s Book (I Can’t Make This Up), also eh but actually fairly funny and moderately inspiring; and I’m partially through Elizabeth Warren’s book and Hillary Clinton’s book (both very good and highly recommended, especially HRC’s). Oh, and this is a great CIM-related read. Hat-tip to Mario for sharing that gem.

Listening, Watching: I should just omit this stuff because I’m a horrible consumer of entertainment and am basically eons behind the rest of humanity. How awesome was the NYC Marathon though?!!?!

Enjoying: So much in November, including our ten-year wedding anniversary, my birthday, and my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. Oh, and this tea. (Not an affiliate link or anything; I had it for the first time on the Hoka trip and have been hooked ever since. I asked for some for my birthday because I’m weird and ask for tea for my birthday every single year).  

 

It’s CIM time, baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!