I think I have PR'd in boot wearing compliance!

Well, another week almost done. I think it's been 3 weeks total since my grade 4 tibia stress fracture. This week enter----> the BOOT

Yup, so much for the fancy custom cast I was promised. It never happened. So I alternate between the boot 90% of the time and when I can't take it anymore I switch to crutches. The crutches are hard because I have been swimming my ass off and my arms are too beat to support myself. Enter----->the one footed hop. UGH!

At first I embraced the boot. I fought the idea of being laid up with a broken leg.

Yes, not ideal. But I'm not losing the muscle tone that I've worked so hard for!

first hour with $325 boot. Still happy.

I took that shit shoppin'!

I took that shit to the pool...everyday...

even the neighbors pool...

 

 

And of course the bike..

a horse farm on my bike route

So this week looked like this:

MONDAY: 60 minutes of aqua jogger and a 22 mile bike
TUESDAY: freestyle swim 60 minutes
WEDNESDAY: 15 min preswim, 60 min. aqua jogger and 22 miles on the bike
THURSDAY: freestyle swim 60 minutes
FRIDAY: 15 min preswim, 60 min aqua jogger, 20 miles on the bike
Saturday: freestyle swim 60 minutes
SUNDAY: long bike scheduled.

TOTALS: 62 BIKE, 3.5 HOURS OF FREESTYLE SWIM, 3 HOURS OF AQUA JOGGER. About 11 hours of working out.

That's a little more time than I'd spend in a week of running. But feels about the same effort wise.

So next week I have a bone density scan, my first PT appt and all the shit above. But there are PERKS to the boot!:

I get free shit everywhere I go. Total pity swag. A comped dessert here, a free bag there....."oh just have this..." is what I hear often. Then there is the BOOT POSSE. Other boots wearers will chase me down and we'll share boot stories. One dude lifted his leg from a mall kiosk waving his busted up ankle. Boot wearers unite! Not to be confused with this CRAP:

*Hi, I'm an AD. I see the boot a lot. Can I try and guess your sport and injury? Actually, this dude was right on.
*Hi, I sprained my ankle once...(shoot me)
*Can I get that for you? --I don't like help from strangers. Too creepy

So, hi-ho. It could be worse. I can do this. In fact the idea of wearing a boot on both legs crossed my mind. Could I theoretically run then??! Hmmm....

Adios friends! Run one hard mother, fast ass mile for me. I'll tread water for you ; )

Laura

Being injured is a lot of work!

Hello and welcome to Laura's OCD fitness train! Gone are the days of sweat soaked mid week 12 milers. Instead, welcome to the land of the brick: swim/bike. I'm sure the cyclists and swimmers out there are saying, "you're not going hard enough." I will work on that, but for now I feel that to get a good workout I need to do extra. Running is harder. I'm gonna say it loud and proud!

Also, I love the water and the bike simply because I'm not limping or on crutches. I feel like a regular person. As soon as I pull out of the pool or unclick my shoes from the bike reality hits that I still am a busted up mess. I can't even unclick my broken leg out of the peddle. I have to bend over and use my hands. Ugh.

My schedule has looked like this lately:

Friday: 1 hour aqua class followed by 1 hour of free style swim. This = 1 COLD Frey.
Saturday: 35 miles on the bike.
Sunday: 1 hour of freestyle swim
Monday: 1 hour of aqua jogger and 22 miles on the bike.

The aqua class I take is awesome. Basically, it's aqua running and arms at the same time. Lots of sprints etc. I can feel "a little" pressure on my Stress Fx so I'm not going to bust too much ass too soon as far going solo with the aqua jogger and strictly running. Maybe in a week or 10 days.

Here are some pics:

Yay Mom!! Thanks for coming out!

NOT NIKE'S...

ahhhh yeah...a sneak peak at my new MIAMI bikini!! The official FAN photo is still in the works. ie my tan line

s suck!

Well, my Ortho just called and said my BRACE is in...aweeee shit. Brace?

Later Taters!
Laura

Is this a bad joke?

I'm not trying to milk any more pity out of you guys, I swear! This is just getting ridiculous.

I finally had my appointment with my Ortho. He says I have a grade 4 tibial stress fracture (the worst). I am on crutches and a special compression type of aircast was ordered and should arrive Tuesday. I have to wear the cast for a month 24/7 unless I'm swimming or in the shower. 

He said he couldn't give me a time frame of healing because it may never heal. It may require a metal rod in my shin. Is this a bad dream??? Am I being punked here? 

In the mean time I am getting a bone density test and doing PT to make sure my legs and hips are not causing this.

It is very important that I don't walk through ANY pain. When I looked at the MRI with him it looks like my leg is shattered. He said if I would have pushed it one more run with pain it would have broken completely.

The leg on the far left (my right leg) shows the fx. The white part is the fx and the surrounding swelling in the bone.

  This picture doesn't show it as well as in the drs office. Seeing the fracture line is freaky. I'm happy I have 2 legs at the moment.  But CRUTCHES??? CAST??? I don't have any tears left but I seriously wanted to puke upon hearing this. I went from:


1. being upset I was missing my marathon
2. being upset I had to reduce my training
3. VERY upset I couldn't run
4. Mad I had a stress fracture
5. Now afraid my damn leg is gonna break off and/or I'll never heal and need a fucking rod...

As crazy as it is I'll be in the pool by 7am tomorrow. I am not going down. I am obsessed with getting this healed. But still wow....

Run one for me friends!! Down but never out!
XOXO
Laura

Day 1 of my Fitness Palooza. GO!

I'm happy to report my day-o-moping is over and today is a new day. A chance to keep my fitness! I am alive and healthy (minus broken leg) so I need to buck up. Bitching is over and I have a schedule in the works. Thank you as always for helping me keep my chin up ; )

Today I did something totally new. I took a deep water aqua class at Pullen Pool. It's kinda trippy being suspended in 15 feet of water and then running and shit. (that sounds so Bevis/Butthead lol). But it was a great workout. And more importantly I learned how to use the aqua jogger floatation belt. Totally weird when I am used to swimming in a pool. It is not a natural feeling at all. Trying to haul ass and only do a 30 minute pace is humbling!

The class had about 10 LOVELY seniors who were honey badgers themselves. They flocked to me asking a million questions. I felt like the new kid at school. So sweet. I promised I'd do their class again. These ladies were age 65+ and kicking ass. Some said they did back to back classes. That will be me at their age!

60 minutes in the aqua jogger was a great workout. Most people would go home and eat a bagel. Not me. I took off my belt and put on my cap/goggles. Before I started shivering I pumped out an hour of freestyle. I used the hand paddles off and on to change it up some and work on my guns. Ok, now I was done. 2 hrs later..jelly legs and arms achieved!

I was freezing after all of this. I took a hot shower and noticed I forgot a towel. Great. But I had a wadded up XXS T shirt in my bag that would have to do. Nice. I won't go over the logistics of walking back to my locker from the showers wrapped in a wadded up shirt. Briskly, eyes down. lol.

Megan H, Jim M. and a few others have convinced me to do aqua jogging. If Jim can maintain a sub 2:40 marathon with aqua jogging I can certainly try! Meghan was kind enough to send me this schedule which is now on my fridge:

Nine-week Training Schedule
	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 1	5:00 warm-up 2 sets of 5 x 1:30 hard (:30 easy recovery; 2:00 easy between sets) 5:00 cool-down Total workout: 32:00	5:00 warm-up 6 x 2:30 hard (:30 easy recovery) 5:00 cool-down Total workout: 28:00	5:00 warm-up 5:00 stretching 30:00 steady	30:00 to 45:00 flexibility	5:00 warm-up 1:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 2:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 3:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 400 hard, 1:00 easy, 3:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 2:00 hard, 1:00 easy, 1:00 hard 5:00 cool-down Total workout: 32:00	5:00 warm-up 4 x 5:00 hard (1:00 easy recovery) 5:00 cool-down Total workout: 34:00	30:00 alternate crosstraining or rest

 
I am very schedule oriented. I need to see my workouts in writing. So I am going to see how I can do this schedule, my swimming and some bike. I'm not loving the bike but dude, I need to talk. The pool is like being on chit-chat restriction. So assuming I bike with others I'll actually have some social life back in my routine. Or I can talk to myself...lol....

So, hi-ho off to the Ortho I go. I haven't seen my doctor yet. I am praying I don't get put in the BOOT. The only reason I have my MRI results before my Ortho is because I harassed the Radiologist. I'm hood like that. lol ; )

Happy Running friends. I'll hold down things at the pool for now.

XOXO
Laura

Here we go again.

Well, in true Honey Badger style I was clearly oblivious to my broken leg. Dragging it around and referring to the pain as swim related.

I have a Grade 3 Tibial Stress Fracture. A microfracture. This is per the radiologist who reviewed my MRI. I haven't talked to my Orthro yet so I'm not sure what he wants me to do. Of course no running. I'm praying I don't get put in a boot. Well, it's not a complete break. That's about the only good news. I have no idea how in one run I go from fine to almost breaking my leg in half....shit.....

+/-11 weeks off from Running.....

So of course I'm a googling fool until I see my Ortho. I tried to see what grade 3 is all about. This is what's out there:

- progression of stress fractures:
           - stage I - crack initiation: areas of stress concentration
           - stage II - crack propagation: no repair or more damage than repair
           - stage III - final fracture: cracks coalesce, enlarge, ultimate failure 




Well, I'll just wait and see. I've got plenty of time for that in my schedule. Looks like I will be in the pool a lot.  I plan of getting some pedals for my sister's extra tri bike. I'm not going out just like that! I'm taking today off to mope but tomorrow I have work to do...


Laura

MRI time!

Happy Wednesday my Friends,

Nothing like some Backspin on Sirius Radio drowned out by insane clacking!

I haven't been running in THREE WHOLE DAYS: DUH, DUH, Daaaaa. Sorry, I'm a little loopy from the MRI machine banging over my leg for an hour! My Ortho ordered an mri and my insurance paid for it so I gladly hopped in. I hope to have the results later tomorrow.

I've had other mri's for other stress fx's and I knew I was broken. But this go round I am not sure. My legs are absolutely fried from my obsessive 2 miles a day swimming habit. I look injured. My walk is very tentative. But I also feel productive. Like I did something. However, tomorrow I'm skipping the pool to sort of taper off it in anticipation of the green light to run.

I just have to throw a bit of swimming advice in here. If you guys ever want to kill your arms and shoulders to the point of being numb. Try these Speedo hand paddles.

I swear a few days of using them for maybe 15 minutes at a time is giving me the Linda Hamilton a la terminator look. And don't scroll down and look at my other wimpy picture! lol..





So, swimming is fun. It's a great workout but I am absolutely dying to run. I still have my sports bras hanging off every door knob hang drying. I can't put them away. They will hang until I put them on again. Hopefully, tomorrow!! I plan on camping out at my doctor's office until he receives the radiologist's report. If it is positive I suppose I'll swim some sick 5000 meter-until my rotator cuffs fall off-type of swim.

Well, fingers crossed!
Night!
xoxo
Laura

Down but not out...

I need a moment of mushy love for my friends! You guys totally rock. Thank you so much for the support, advice and helping me deal with this shit-fest of crappy luck.

I took 4 full days off from running because of my possible stress fracture in my right tibia. I tried to get some cardio in so I went to the pool everyday for 1.7 to 2 miles of freestyle swimming. It takes forever and is no where near what I need to feel like I had a workout. Just boring as hell. But it's a great arm workout!

Welcome to my gun show. haa..that looks so wimpy!

I tried to make it hard. I never stopped until the workout was over. I doubled my average workout length. I chased people in neighboring lanes. It's not easy but I would say 80 minutes in the pool felt like a 7 miler on the road, cardio wise.

After an hour of swimming I started to get loopy. My flips would be a little too close to the wall. One time I swam right into the wall. Not hard but enough to feel like a dork and scratch my cap. I busted out laughing so I had to back stroke to get the giggles out for a few seconds. At that point I was the only one in the pool and in the lane by the life guard. I call it the Laura Show. ha.

So, by Saturday I felt like I should try running Sunday morning. I had zero pain except in the areas where I had electrical stim, Graston Technique and Ultrasound. So I tried to mentally weed out the deep bruise pain and just run. These are the tools used to more/less break up scar tissue against my bone with Graston. Scrape, scrape...Ouch.

Easier said than done. The first few minutes I was stoked. I actually yelled expletives and raised my arms  like Rocky at 6:30am at Shelly Lake. Finally! But then I tensed up. I was afraid the pain would return.  I noticed I was not relaxed at all. I was analysing every step. Not fun. I kept telling myself:

*put your foot down.
*use your calves
*lean forward
*Toe, LaBella, toe, use it..

It took me 8 miles of nit picking to finally forget about it and just do an easy run. I did 10 miles total at 8:39 pace. It never really felt easy because I don't run that pace but I knew that was best for me right now. Somewhere around mile 7 someone on a bike went by me and yelled, "Hey Honey Badger!" I later learned it was Ben (thanks ; ) but I thought, ya know what I need to stop staring at my legs and just go. So I did.

One thing I think jacked me up physically was the obsessive swimming. Switching over to running uses totally different muscles. I went from not bending my legs at all to the complete opposite. But I kept my sanity and got some good workouts.

My marathon is in 3 weeks. I'm not calling it off yet. I don't think I lost all of my fitness in 4 days. I will do a few more slow runs and see how I feel. I hope it happens. But if I don't feel 100% I will choose a back up. I'm just going to chill an see what happens. I'm not out yet!

Thanks again!!
XOXO
Laura

Shit...

I feel a blog post soaked in profanity and f bombs coming up.  I *may* have a stress fracture in my tibia. I'm in that in between stage where it's too early for an x-ray and not quite MRI territory. Bottom line is I can't run at all. I am limping.

I am 3 weeks out from the marathon I trained for all summer. 5 am wake ups and 95+ degree temps. I have busted my ass with exact precision. I did every run I was supposed to. I even wore heavy trainers to protect myself. I didn't ramp up my mileage too quickly or make any mistakes that would put me in jeopardy for an injury. I even fucking stretched before and after! It makes no sense.

I have had 2 other (tib/fib) stress fractures over the years from running. Those I deserved. I made every newbie mistake there was to get a stress fx. So now, when I feel a twinge of anything I get it checked out right away.

Initially, I went to a runner friendly, highly recommended Chiropractor. She does not feel it is a fracture but said I have a lot of scar tissue in the area and did ultrasound therapy. OK, 2 points for team Laura. Then, I saw my Ortho. I wanted  him to agree that it was soft tissue so I could feel better. He seems to think it is most likely a stress fx but said it's not acting quite like a fx so give it a few days and call on Monday.

So I did what any obsessive runner would do:

-cried
-went to the pool for 100x25 meters of nonstop freestyle swim. Very bad ass for me.
-cried
-started planning how to keep my fitness if this is a fx.

Maybe it's soft tissue and I'll be fine tomorrow. Who knows. I couldn't walk on Monday and it has slowly felt better when walking but still hurts to run.

It especially sucks *extra* ass because tonight I planned on bringing my 7 y/o daughter who loves to run to a social run in Umstead Park for a slow 5k. I wrote this on her napkin in her lunch box to which she had clutched when I picked her up from school:

UGH. She bounced in the car saying Umstead tonight! I pursed my lips and tried to not cry for the billionth time. She said, what's wrong? I said, I think I broke my leg. She said, ughhh, no Umstead huh? It made me laugh.

So, I think I'm almost done feeling sorry for myself. I plan on swimming daily and probably picking up a spin class. I've worked too hard to see my muscles atrophy to shit. My fingers are crossed for the next few days though. Hoping it's soft tissue and feels better!!! Please!!! Until then I will relish in my vague diagnosis and keep my head in the sand.

xoxo

On your Left. On your right. Everywhere! More mileage!

Another week down! Yeehaw! I am just trying to stagnate (as fast as possible) until the heat subsides. This week was good.

Monday: totally off. no swim. I regret it now but I was too tired after a weekend at the beach. And 26 miles.

Tuesday: 10 miles at 7 pace descending to 6:28 pace. See above. Day off. lol.

Wednesday: Track: 5x1000 600 jog recovery. 3:36, :38, : 38, :38, :36. Auto pilot. That's what came out. Wasn't really into it.

Thursday: 14 miles @ 7:30 pace. That was tough. VERY hot and legs tired.

Friday: 8 at 7:08 pace. Last 4 miles sub 7. Ending on a 6:28 mile.

Saturday: 5 miles. Supposed to be 8 pace. But it was thunder and lightening so I ran it down into the 6's again.

Sunday: 20 miler on deck. 8:15ish pace is the plan. I have friends this time so it WILL happen. YAYYY! However...

     I feel an ode coming on:
          Please see my first ode to the Taffies. I still love this one:

         On my honor, I will try:
    To run with the TAF'ies on their "easy" run,
     And not pretend it's my own Olympics,
     Not try to relive the first 400m of mag mile with Meghan,
     Or wreck my legs trying to outrun Brian Douglas.
    
I promise:
     I will not toe the line and gun a 6:30 pace,
     I will not attempt to prove my 91minute Half was bullshit,
     I will be nice and friendly and not try to "represent"

I will:
    Stay in the back,
     Jog accordingly,
     And be a gracious for the nice invite.

I wrote that like a year ago and it still applies all the time. Imma tryin'! 


Happy Running friends!
xoxo

Worst Day turned best Weekend

To follow up on my FAIL on Tuesday I am happy to report that I finally made it to the track on Wednesday morning and did my workout:

5x600: 2:04, 2:06, 2:06, 2:06, 2:07. Those times mean nothing to me. I don't do 600's. But they were close together so that's good.

Because I'm an emotional runner I decided to go to Umstead the next day, Thursday and pound out 7:35 pace on dead legs on the hills for 9 miles in bad heat. link here. That hurt.

So now it's time for tempo Friday. Clearly I did a good job this week and I should feel fresh, ha! Firstly, it was 100 degrees when I ran and secondly, I was beat up from the hills yesterday but I don't care. I had 9 to do with 5 faster middle miles. I planned on doing them betw 6:20-6:30 pace but that didn't happen. I did 3 @ 6:35 pace. AND CRIED, yes cried just for a minute but tears came out. I was LIVID that I bombed my workout and annoyed that I cried at Shelly Lake. Tighten up!

So I called my mom and we decided to go to the beach for the weekend. I wasn't sure if I was going run on Saturday and if I did it was gong to be slow. I woke up and decided I felt okay and left at 6am for an easy 8 miler.

Of course it's never that easy. I was on flat land near the beach and there were tons of new runners to chase! I love chasing people. Here's how my thoughts went on that run:

Mile one 7:44 took a few sunrise pics. This will be a nice easy run.
Mile two: 7:23 hmmm, I better slow down.
Mile three and four: 7:12 & 7:14. Oh shit, I bombed the easy run. Let's turn this into a slight tempo but not kill my legs for tmrw.
Mile five: 6:55 I got some water and took some pics
Mile six and seven: 6:56 & 6:52. I could do this flat stuff forever. But I have 18 tmrw. decision decisions....
Mile 8: 6:20 compromise. I did the mileage just spazed out at the end.

So now I'm happy. I had a half way descent run and was looking forward to my 18 miler in the morning. It was hot at the beach and the only way to not choke on this run was with a 5am start. That was hard. I didn't have my running handheld bottle. No gatorade. No jack juice. I had a bottle of Dasani. Let me say, running with 17 ounces in a plastic bottle SUCKS. My arm still hurts.

I planned on 8 pace. That lasted a mile. garmin here. It ended up being 18 @ 7:30 pace. I didn't have any issues until mile 10. My shoes were soaked. Partially because I ran through every sprinkler I saw but also because it was 90 and very humid and I sweat a lot. So every foot step made a loud slap and water would fling out and leave a shoe print. I had my heavy trainers on and now they were easily triple the weight. It was horrible.

I decided I would not stop on this run. I had to just get it done. I drank from a twist cap bottle ON THE RUN! That was pretty bad ass. But towards the end I ran out of water and stopped at a fountain. I was drenched. It was awesome. I finished up with the last 200 on the sand running towards the ocean. I kicked my shoes off and dove in. That got some looks. lol. I did not care. I stayed in the water for a few minutes and then headed back to the hotel.

2 good rums to end the week. 64 miles this week and one swim. Yay! here are some pics:

post 18. No energy

also, post 18. So steamy out.

So happy Monday! I'm worn out from the beach. I may not do my swim today and that's fine with me. 68 on deck for the week.
Later taters!
XOXO

I hate running...

This is how my weekday training days go:

5am: I'm just waking up and dreaming of running. Actually, I do dream my splits on most days. And try to beat them.

7am: I'm in my running clothes by now. Super excited. I can't wait to go!

8:00-8:03am: Ouch. The first steps are always the worst unless I stretch really well.

8:04am until the next gazillion miles are over: I LOVE running. I am going to kick some ass. I love this sport. I love my high mileage. I want 80 this week! These shoes rock! I may even take up single track because clearly I have talent (ha-ha). I don't want this run to end! I love running!

fast forward to that evening...

6pm: I can't move. I can't make dinner. Cereal tonight guys. I'm just gonna lay here for a minute. I'll set my blackberry alarm for 20 minutes. Please don't anyone talk to me.

7pm: WTH There is no way I can run tomorrow. My legs feel like cement. This is unreal. I can't even walk right. My quads look manly. I have permanent scarring from the tag on my booty shorts. I can't deal. I want to go back to Half training.

8pm: Screw it. I need to revisit the 5k. I would love track twice a week. I don't like marathon training. I don't want to ever run that far. Who talked me into this crap?

8:10pm: Lights out...dead to the world. ahhhhh

Sleeeeeep...

5am: Holy shit, I feel GREAT!! I can't wait to run. I'm gonna pad my mileage today. Hell, I'm going to Umstead again. I love running!

Please tell me this is normal?
xoxo
Laura

One Fast Fail...

FAIL..FAIL AND FAIL.

I can not say how irritating, annoying and unacceptable it is to have your body not cooperate with your mind. Today I had a track workout to do. 600's. I did my usual morning routine. Then as I was about to get out of the car I just couldn't. I was exhausted. I have every excuse in the book: crappy sleep, 22 miler, killer swim workout blah blah blah...bottom line: Fail. #1 to be exact. Mind you, this NEVER happens!

So I went home and laid down for a little bit. Never taking any of my running clothes/shoes off.  As I always tell others NEVER take your running stuff off until you get it done. So I got up and had huge amounts of caffeine. Espresso, hammer gel, caffeine pills, fat burners. Just trying to wake up. I got back in the car and drove to the track and started my warm up. As you can see I ran 70 yards at 8:53 pace and quit. Fail #2. I was tired. Plain old tired.

So, now it's not even noon and I've had 2 fails. Wonderful. Well, I needed a pedicure today anyway so I had another hammer gel just to get my ass to the nail place. I texted my friend and coach Eric. Here is what I remember:

Me: I can't run. I'm tired.
Eric: What do you mean? It's that swim workout yesterday. You did 1 hr and too hard. Unacceptable. Where are you?
Me: Getting my nails done.
Eric: Ohhh, I see. So what we have here is a big fail. It's not "I'm gonna beat you" It's I'm gonna fail. It's not "1fast-frey" it's 1 fast fail. etc etc etc...
Me: um, nooooo! I will get back out there tonight and try again..
        ****meanwhile gritting my teeth thinking no way did he just call me 1 fast fail....errrrr. Fuck that!

Fast forward to 7pm. Attempt number 3. I pull up to my ghetto track and see a lacrosse practice. I needed 5x600 with a total mileage of 9 miles. I figured I'd pad the warm up and they'd finish. I schlep through 4 shitty miles at 7:43 pace tired as hell and trying to conserve energy for the magic that I will certainly lay out on the track. Because I am NOT a fail.

I come back to the track and now there are cars on the track and tents set up. It's not happening. Now it's out of my control. I am LIVID. I call Eric. I said listen, I'm going to cry. I've done warm up. Now what? We decided to do my 12 for tomorrow today. I quickly hung up and did 8 more. Still tired but pissed enough to pick up the pace to 7:20avg. I didn't come prepared for a 12 miler. It was very hot out so I ended up carrying a huge bottle of Aquafina on my run. Not ideal. It felt like that shake weight from T.V. lol

So, I did a workout. Not the workout I was supposed to do but at least I did something. I think doing a workout with adverse circumstances is good for you. Being "tired" and not doing anything works for some people but for me the psychological repercussions are waaaaay too extreme to enjoy relaxing on the couch after a fail. I'm glad I did the 12 and will be happier when I do the 600's tomorrow.

And I'm writing this at 11pm because I'm finally too jacked and can't sleep!!!! Help me!!!!

Oh well...have a good night peeps
xoxo
Laura

Get it!

Hell to the ya..Word to ya mutha! This week was my highest weekly mileage: 76 and today was my highest daily: 22.  Not bad for 6 days of running. I am slowly learning to take each run a littler more seriously and not run balls out like a 5th grader everyday. This week went like this:

Monday: swim
Tuesday: 12 miles at 7:30 pace
Wednesday: 10 miles at 7:18 pace
Thursday: 14 miles total. 6 @ 6:30 pace
Friday: 8 miles at 7:18 pace
Saturday: 10 miles at 7:40 pace
Sunday: 22 miles at 8:01 pace. Last 4 miles faster. Last mile sub 7 (just for tradition)
***note all these miles were mid morning at 95+ degrees expect for Sunday at 6am and maybe 90 degrees. But you were probably running in the same thing too. lol.

My long run details:
22 miles
8:01 pace
Umstead Park : 1600 feet of elevation (fricken hilly)
My wing men: John and Pavel. Neither "needed" a run that long but they were soooo kind as to keep me company. I truly would have tanked without their help. Thanks guys!

I have to say the hardest part about that run was staying at a reasonable pace. I 'know' there is no need to race my long runs.  This was good practice. I had two fears though: 1. I was going to go too fast which isn't really the point.  2. I wouldn't want to run 22 miles and lose it mentally. Thankfully neither happened. I figured around mile 18 I'd change the pace. I just wanted to get it done by that point. I am happy that I dropped the pace and felt fine. yee-haw!

I had one hammer gel, g2 and park water 3x. Including the dog bowl fountain, errrrr...Mile 21. It had to be done. I just filled my bottle. I didn't get down and lick it! Gimme some credit!

All and all a great week in deplorable heat. I look forward to my swim tomorrow. If anyone wants to go to Pullen Pool let me know. Deep water swimming is scary fun!

Party on peeps. Happy running!
Laura

Mind over Matter

That is the only way to do a tempo run in 100 degrees. Today I had a 14 miler. It was broken down like this:

2 mile warm up
20 minutes of tempo 6:30, 6:43, 6:30 avg: 6:34 / 3.04 miles
1 mile easy 8:30 pace
20 minutes tempo 6:27, 6:41, 6:25 avg: 6:34 / 3.05 miles
20 minutes easy
2 mile cool down together 5 miles @ 7:44 pace

I am so glad it's over. The only time I could run was 8-10am. At the end of my run my car said 102 degrees. I have a sunburn. It was full in your face sun. The one mile in between the 2x20 mins was not supposed to happen. It was supposed to be a few minutes. But it was the only way to run this pace in this heat. 

The faster miles took focus. All I cared about was keeping it mid 6. Then when I was done with those miles I didn't give a shit if I walked. I ended up doing 7:30-7:45 miles for the remainder of the run. Those were harder because I didn't have a goal pace.

I brought my usual 9oz of g2 and a hammer gel which I ate on the warm up. That got me through the tempo. After that I needed a drink!! I saw an electrician working on the side of the road. DING DING DING those dudes have water. I asked if he could fill my handheld. He had a huge igloo cooler. He said his wife is doing a 15 miler today and made me drink the 9oz and then refilled it again. Very nice dude. Aside from making me feel like a 7 year old. lol.

That is dead face right there...Totally trashed

 

I feel like running in this heat is like a Dali art...just messed up!

Friday and Saturday I have easy runs then Sunday I have 22 miles. You'll hear about that one. lol.
Party on peeps...Stay strong!

The Honey Badger Breakfast

Every run has a purpose. Today my Wednesday 10-miler was about guts. Running on empty in the face of extreme fatigue. Some people head for the gym or reduce speed and mileage. I don't. I have a plan. It is called : Toughen up LaBella. I've had a few races lately where I feel I wimped out. So I figure if I can gut it out on training runs it won't feel so bad during a race. I have a few races in mind coming up and they are not easy so I believe this will help me. I hope! If not, see ya on the treadmill. lol.

Conditions today were deplorable. More so than usual:

I ran late morning. Never fun. The heat index was 95 degrees. The elevation was 600feet. The air was so thick it was hard to swallow. And I had to deal with the greenway sweepers and lawnmowers stirring up the dirt for 2 miles. I was looking for the camera crew. Clearly, I was being punked, right?!

That type of stuff fuels me. I did the run @ 7:18 pace with the last mile sub 7. Probably one of the hardest runs this summer.

For the run I had:

9oz of G2
9oz of water from a fountain

Before the run I had:
5oz of espresso
2 Sport Leg pills
B12 gummies
a bag of extreme sport beans

After my run:

You know I love Espresso Hammer Gel. Someone joked that I probably put it on my toast. Good idea!! Screw Nutella!

Tomorrow's tempo is going to be tough. Not sure about that one!!!

Happy summer peeps! Stay strong. Don't fold!

I have been humbled by the... scariest...swim....ever...

Today is my swim day. Always a welcomed break. However, the pool I have been using had a swim meet today. So, I went to another public pool: Pullen Park Pool. I figure what's the big deal. Water is water. TWO things were the matter. Distance and Depth.  I normally swim in a 25 meter pool. I have never even seen a 50 meter pool, until today. At first glance the experience is like this:

this

           versus

                    that....


 

At first you think " OMG Holy crap" But 2 seconds later you're like 

                                 "GAME ON!"

So in swimming land it was more like this:

My normal distance 25 meters

This is Pullen Park Park. Much bigger. 50 down. 25 across.

So at first I was a little startled but 2 seconds later I was so excited!! I couldn't wait to get in. The lanes were set up as 50 meter lanes but they were about to change them to 25 meter lanes. Sooo, I was pretty much solo in the pool without any lane dividers (read---> security blanket). Not having lane dividers always always feels weird, but whatever I get in and grab my pull buoy. This is a swim buoy that stabilizes your legs so you can focus on your stroke. I use it the first 10 minutes of every swim as a warm up. 

this is my pull buoy.

 So, I start swimming in this big ass pool all alone with my legs pretty much tied up by the buoy. I'm excited! I get half way across the pool and THE FLOOR DROPS! It goes from stand up depth to 14 feet deep. A little preface on me: I am afraid of heights. I can't look down on a ski lift. I hate roof top anything. It's an irrational fear. I deal. 

But now I am forced to look down into this abyss. I want to cry. I totally panic which as a swimmer you can not do. If your breathing is messed up you're done. The fear felt like this:

Two things enter my mind: There are 3 life guards probably looking at the new girl and I don't want to look like a chicken shit. And, omg, omg, omg....so I tried to keep my composure and focus on getting across the abyss. I closed my eyes and did a much faster swim and maniac breathing. I got to the end and clung to the wall. I'm still 14 feet from the bottom. I did not want to go back. 

But, in times like these I have a little bad-ass self talk and say, "cut it out and get in there!" So I pushed off and did self talk therapy across the deep part. I did that a few more laps and then they changed it to 25 meters. So I had my choice of lanes depths. 4 feet to about 12 feet. I was now pissed that I ninnied out so I made myself swim in the 12 feet deep 25 meter lap lane. I probably had tears in my goggles but that's just unacceptable! After maybe 10 minutes of scarey swimming I mellowed out and had a great swim. It was actually cool to swim that deep. Although the bottom of the pool markings look more like the landing field at RDU. Lots of lines. Solids and  breaks, uggg...go just straight LaBella...look for the wall and flip!

So now I love deep water swimming. I'll definitely go back there next week. I wish I had a video of this experience!

Ahhh, glad I'm not a newbie anymore! 

happy monday friends!

xoxo

Cut back week is over!

I love routine. I like my mileage. I have a coach who doesn't care what I "like." Enter---> cutback week.

I understand the premise. I agree with it. However, I don't LIKE doing it. But as I have been told many times "LaBella, you're not running for fun, you're training." True. Still, as David Alan Greer and Damon Wayans say : HATED IT! I hope you remember the show In Living Color from the early 90's. Forget my $100,000 education with a 3.99 cum gpa from The University of Miami..Forget that, 75% of my vocabulary is from this show. lol!

Okay, so here is my week. I keep a hard copy. Old school style..

 

 

I didn't anticipate sharing this. kinda messy.

I love to write about my long run. Lately, my Sunday long run has been great. I am so grateful beyond belief. Today it was 15 miles. Because it was shorter I decided to hit the hills of Umstead. I started at 6:30am with a plan of doing whatever felt good. I knew a few groups that were going to be out there and tried to join in for a few miles with each. First, I saw John and Pavel.  We did most of the run together. Along the way we picked up Tim Meigs and Rob Wilson. Everyone split off at some point and I made it back to my car. I can't tell you how grateful I was to run with others! Most of my runs are solo.

Nothing major. I felt great. Hated to stop at 15, but I have 22 next Sunday. Holla!

For nutrition on this run I had: 1 Gatorade Prime on the car ride over, 2 "Sport Legs" pills, 8oz of espresso, G2 in a handheld, 1 Hammer gel and 2 refills of the handheld with water.

Happy Runnings Friends!
XOXO

Nothing but Division I tracks for LaBella

Haaaa. Being that we're having a sick ass heat wave with temps in the low 100's this week in Raleigh, NC. I have to get my run started before 6am so I can at least have 85 degrees in the dusk. So my running options are limited unless I want to get up even earlier and drive somewhere good. Today I had a track workout and wanted to try this track out in Wakefield. I've never been there. I wasn't sure if it was going to be locked or what the situation was going to be.

So I parked 2 miles away where I always park and had a back up plan of running on the road for my 800's if I couldn't get in. Well, that was not a problem! Here are some pics. lol:

Nothing like a Food Lion parking lot in the morning.

ok pretty warm up mile

WTF??! This is the track I wake up at 4:45am for?! ok, well the asphalt wasn't too broken up. 

                                           
I'm a track snob. I hate asphalt. I have a fit if I see rocks in lane one. This one had 2" of grass clippings for 100 meters. Lots of rocks. A slight uphill at the 300 mark. But hey, I had place to put my drink.

I did a 2 mile warm up. then 6x800 and 2 mile cool down:

2:50, 2:51, 2:51, 2:52, 2:52, 2:51

It was betw 85 and 90 degrees and bad humidity. I don't even look anymore. I will say that the only perk to track in stagnant heat is that you get a breeze when you run faster. Yay for that!

Later peeps
xoxo

Notes on my long run before I forget

Pure nastiness. Why all over my hand? Thank god I didn't look in the mirror. I bet it wasn't pretty!

My long run today was 19 miles. 3 mile warm up, 15 miles faster and 1 mile cool down. I had no choice but to start at 5:30 am. I have stuff to do and it just takes so long to run that far.

I woke up at 4:30. Drank espresso and got dressed. I'm glad it was dark because I had way too much neon on. I prefer neon in the early hours just so people can see me. I ran in Wakefield. It's a hilly route with sidewalks, but I don't like concrete sidewalks so I run in the road. It's softer on my feet. It keeps me awake. The whole, "look out for oncoming traffic" thing keeps me on my toes.

So the first 3 miles were oddly slow but felt faster. I think because it was in the pitch dark. Every shadow looked like a snake or animal that was going to eat me. Not fun. Very stressful.

Those splits were:7:57, 7:55, 7:47 and 191 feet of elevation. Garmin here

So I got to the top of the hill in the dark. I stopped and thought to myself ok, I need to go faster now. I was tired. It was like 6am. I wanted to go to bed. But I drank some G2 in my handheld and took off. I planned it so that at mile 10 I could stop at my car and refill my G2 and pick up a hammer gel. It was something to look forward to.

My splits on the next 15 miles were:
7:09
6:56
7:04
7:01
7:08
6:57
6:56
6:41  hammer gel. Espresso with 50mg's of caffeine. Refill on G2 9oz
7:01
6:54
6:46
6:55
6:37
6:45
6:46

My initial goal was 7:10 pace. But being that I wasn't getting any 7:10's I changed my mind to 7:05 pace. I had a dream last night that I ran the 15 miles in 7:04 pace so I figured ok that's cool. Than I refilled the G2 and had the Hammer Gel. No more 7's period. And I swear no more effort. Normally if I bust out a 6:3X in the middle of any run I'll pay for it. Not today. So I just stayed consistent effort wise. My overall avg pace was 6:54. Garmin here

I had a couple 20 second stops to get the gel from the bottom of the pack. Clearly, something I need to work on or maybe bring another one. But it's all new to me. I'm learning.

By now I had climbed 800 feet of elevation in 100 humidity and 75 degrees. The terrain is rolling enough to just about kill you but then give way to a good downhill.

Towards the end I started to get cocky. I wanted to close my eyes and just rest a little (while doing 6:45 pace lol) So the last mile had downhill and I shut my eyes and BAM a manhole cover. I did the sloppiest, drunk looking trip but didn't fall. I said okaaay, no more sleepy time. Run, run, run....

I finished the 15 and then did a one mile cool down. Completely up a hill. 7:58 pace. Yay. done! Total elevation almost 1000ft.

Overall, a good run. You guys asked about the liquid. I drank 18oz of g2 and had one gel over the entire run. I wish I had more.  I sweat 6 lbs of water during the run. There weren't any fountains and I really don't want to carry a larger hand held. I feel I can just barely get by with 18oz. I have more gatorade in my car with an ice pack when I finish.

oh and FYI. Resetting my watch totally tricked me into thinking I had not run so far. I cleared it after the 3 mile warm up. So near the end of what really was 18 I kept telling myself 15. I "knew" I ran longer but seeing it on the garmin made me feel like having energy was still possible. I punked myself, beautiful!

Have a great Sunday!
Party on...xoxo

Summer Running!

BRUTAL. That's all I can say about running in Raleigh, NC everyday in the summer. I just don't get how the humidity can be 100% yet no chance of rain. The steam off the sidewalks gets just high enough to choke you. It's like I'm continuously trying to pass this bitch. but...can't...beat...it:

But, it is what it is. I do my best. Something really happens after mile 3 that makes it easier. I'm trying to figure it out. It's either:

a. delirium sets in
b. I've lost enough water weight to move faster (I avg 5lbs per run)
c. fight or flight. I think I feel like I need to save my life and get there faster. lol
d. endorphins?
e. that's about when all my creakies and tight muscles loosen up.
f. because I'm a wanna be bad-ass and I can.

Answer: all of the above!

By mile 4 I have that "hell ya. take that bitch!" attitude. By mile 8 I become a sprinkler stalker. I can fully drench myself  yet avoid my ipod and shoes in 30 seconds or less. Talent right there! From mile 10 and on I'm usually focused on my average pace and will haul ass or keep steady ass to hit my target.

This week I did:
Monday: 45 swim
Tuesday: 9 miles. 8 miles @ 7:05 pace and then 100's.
Wednesday: 10 miles @ 7:01 pace
Thursday: 12 miles with 30 minutes at 6:30 pace
Friday: 7 miles @ 7:14 pace
Saturday: 10 miles @ 7:15 pace

Tomorrow I have 19 miles. That is 67 miles for the week. I have to run early tomorrow. At 5:30am I have to hit start on the garmin. Ugh.

Ok I've had 1 hammer gel in my life but it makes me feel
so "ultra-ish" ps. Chaz this may work for you ; )

Alright peeps. It's probably my bedtime. Time for my 3 faves: Compression socks, Icy Hot and 2 Motrin. Such a beautiful thing.

Later!
xoxo

Another 20 for the books!

Ah yes, another 20 miler done. There is some victory that starts to creep in after mile 17. Running 20 miles is an accomplishment, I think.

Today I ran in Umstead State Park today. Probably my favorite running location.

Details
Temp: mid 70's to mid 80's
Humidity: 88% in the beginning. It got much better though
Start Time: 6:30am
Total time: 2:27 Pace Avg: 7:21 Last mile 6:57.

awe yeah!

Here's how the run went in a nutshell:

20: # of miles

1385: Total feet of elevation 

1612:  # of calories burned

5: # of pounds lost in sweat.

30: # of ounces of water and G2 I drank

1: # of times I saw my running partner get water from the dog bowl fountain.

1: # of times I said "I feel high!!" after taking my first gel ever.

6: # of miles I felt high and ran oddly faster after the gel.

6: # of miles running partner seemed confused with new post gel pace.

3: # of random sub 7 miles.

5+: # of people that gave me a shout out on the trail and I still can't recall their names. Err!

1: # of times it felt completely appropriate to put lots of ice cubes in my sports bra.

2: # of failed bunny hops over a gate in umstead.

4: # of times I profusely apologized for going the wrong way at mile 15ish up a STEEP hill just to turn around. 

2: # of laps around the parking lot for garmin to click 20.

1: # of turkey sandwiches I brought Brian for doing 20 with me at 6:30am BEFORE he worked 8 hours. See graphic above. Rock on friend!

1: # of grinding rim scratches I heard while parking against the curb in the breakdown lane to deliver said sandwich. 

6: # of days until my next long run. Woooohooo!

Awesome run! That ends a 67 mile week. 

Party on peeps. Thanks for reading!

Laura