Pools, Boys & Bats...oh, and Circuit

Monday was circuit. I love circuit, even when plank is involved.

The boys and I were invited to a fabulous pool for the afternoon out at the new YMCA in Buda/Kyle. That place is pristine. If it could trade places with the Southwest Austin YMCA, we would join the YMCA in a heartbeat. That outdoor pool is like a kid's paradise with 3 straw slides, buckets that dump water, various fountains to run through and under and around, and zero depth entry.

We were at the pool all afternoon and got home with only enough time for me to change into running clothes and Elijah to get his piano bag. Off to piano and Runtex.

Lots of folks warmed up from Runtex, which was nice. I was so wiped from being at the pool for 3 hours and the hot, sunny day wasn't helping. I saw Kathie as I was about to head out, and we walked for a good 1/2 mile chatting. Turns out she sat in a pool for 3 hours that afternoon, too! The rest of the warm-up was fine but hot. We have gotten spoiled with clouds, rain, and 80 degree temps at 5:30pm in Texas July.

Circuit was good. I never mind it and prefer it over many other workouts. After a couple of laps, my boys showed up. Joshua planned to run a lap and ride his bike on the trail with David. Elijah stayed at the track with me and ran/walked a lap, then it was core time. Sweet Elijah did most of the core workout with us. And guess what? No plank!

Joshua and dv came back and headed down to the long jump (I guess J is practicing for the upcoming Moon Pie track meet). Two rounds of the new-form fast feet (ooouuuch), and it was time to make that crucial decision: jog back to runtex or get in the van with my family. I asked Joshie to ride his bike back with me, and we were off. David didn't think Joshua would make it, but he did great. Dv and Elijah parked at Runtex and met us along the way. Dv went running and I took the boys on to mile 0 and the agua.

Naturally, two boys want to throw things into the river and chase ducks and birds and dig in the pond for whatnotw. It gave me time to stretch and enjoy the evening. I suggested we go see the bats since it was already going on 8pm and we were down there. A quick swing through Whataburger for kids' meals and we were on our way.

E and J weren't that impressed with the bats. We stood on the bridge, and the bats didn't come out till it was pretty dark. It was hard for the boys to see the bats, and by the time they came out, E and J were tired and impatient. It was still enjoyable, but it wasn't the mass exodus of bats that one sees in all the pictures (and I've seen in person). Foiled on the bat front. We'll try again another night.

So, back to the new YMCA and new gyms. We live less than a mile from the new 24 hour fitness and the soon-to-open Fitness Life (Joshism - yes, I know it's Lifetime Fitness but we often speak in Joshisms). So, Fitness Life...we can't wait. I do believe we are going to sign up. I can't wait for an indoor and outdoor lap pool. And indoor and outdoor rec pool including slides for the chillens. It will be nice to go to a gym again (we haven't had a gym membership for well over a year). The kids' area is supposed to be really awesome, and I hope my boys actually want to go. Because any mom knows that if your kids hate the gym, then you don't really get to go to the gym during kid-waking hours.

Today we are in "organize-the-living-room" mode as well as the ever-present "entertain-the-kids" mode. We'll see if I can somehow run, bike or swim with two kiddos in tow. That reminds me of a man who did an Ironman and pulled his grown son the entire way (the son is a parapelegic). He pulled him in a little boat during the swim. He pulled him in a trailer for the entire bike ride, and he pushed him in an adult-sized jogger for the run. I remember sobbing during that story. Don't know what I'm talking about? Read this.

You, too, can work out with your kids

David and Elijah just left a few minutes ago for their Cub Scout trip to the USS Lexington. Joshua won't be happy about that when he wakes up, poor kid. No long run this morning for me as I have a training class. Hopefully I'll figure out a way to run later this afternoon before the Gazelles party or in the morning. Either way, I'll have Joshua with me, so my fingers are crossed that he wants to ride his bike along side me.

Yesterday I swam 1000 meters at the pool. I would have liked to have swam more, but E and J were bored and wanted me to play with them. They were actually quite patient playing in the deep end right next to my lane. They both swam a couple of laps with me.

The swim was very comfortable, and I felt great. I forgot my watch so I could not time myself for the upcoming 350m pool swim triathlon. Oh well. I am not sure I can do that tri now that I remember we will have family in from out of town that weekend (hello, Dawn!). There's always the Burnet Tri in September, which is another one my friend was interested in training for.

Tiniest of Bricks

I'm thinking of doing a sprint triathlon in a few weeks. In the spring, I wanted to train for Jack and Adam's Tri Series, but with two very active boys, an active husband, and busy lives overall, I didn't get enough training in for the first couple of triathlons (of course, I was glad I didn't pay for and train for CapTex since it got rained out).

I was supposed to be training all summer for triathlons, so that I could do 1 or 2 sprints and then an Olympic in September. Have I done any bike or swim training? Very little. July is almost over, and I finally have gotten off my butt and picked a triathlon. A friend plans to do it with me, which is much of my problem with not training. I don't have anyone my speed to train with, and I don't have anyone with my schedule to train with.

Thursday night around 8pm, I finally had time to bike. I had offered to take Joshua to the Veloway all afternoon, but he didn't want to go. So driving home from taking Elijah a spend-the-night bag, I talked Joshua into biking around the 'hood. David was not home from work/running, so if I was to do anything, Joshua had to go with me.

We biked about a 5k around our various blocks. Some of the laps I did alone and was able to go faster. David was home and was able to entertain Joshua with some basketball fun, so I ran a bit over a mile right after getting off the bike. I felt great running, but of course, I barely biked. It gave me confidence though, so I might actually register for that triathlon now, lol.

I need to swim though. This triathlon is a pool swim, and I've never done a pool swim tri. I've watched David do them, and it stresses me out just watching. It's only 350m though, so the distance is no problem. I just don't like how pool swims are structured. Who knows, maybe after I have done it, I'll love it.

I'm hoping the rain clears enough today so that I can take the boys to the pool and try to actually swim and time myself for 350m. I'm sure they will seed us according to expected swim time.

David and Elijah will be gone this weekend on a Cub Scout trip the the USS Lexington. I have a training class tomorrow morning, so no group long run. If I want to do any long run or long bike, I'll need a babysitter. Joshua won't be too happy with that since I already have a babysitter for my 4-hour training class. Ah, the joys of a Tri-Training Mom.

I am having fun!

I survived Tempo. The rain didn't stop us. No lightning today and no flash flooding to block the trail at the 1/2 mile marker. It did rain on us though, and pretty hard for a bit. Running in the rain can be refreshing, and I always feel like a "real" runner if I'm out there in the rain.

I had a plan to go at a 10k pace. I even printed the Science of Tempo, but I forgot it at home (doh!). I did tell the class all about it and made sure Gilbert knew what it said. He called me "Tempo-phobic." Yes, I am Tempo-phobic. Anyone else in my corner?

Today was actually pleasant. I cannot believe I'm writing that, and it is really me writing this post. ;-) I started out easy with Minnie and some others, and we chatted for the first 1/2 mile. Well, I figure if I'm chatting, then we are going at an easy enough pace. At the 1/2 mile marker, I was pressing my lap button (we only do a 2-mile tempo), and Gilbert taps me and tells me to stop looking at the time. Where did he come from? He's so quiet and sneaky. I tried not to peek at my time, but I saw it. I was shocked b/c we were running much faster than my plan. It didn't feel like that fast. Hmmm...

At this point, Gilbert runs with me and coaches me a bit. Minnie and the other Gazelle (I think her name is Kathie) moved ahead about 10 meters. Seeing my time got me worried I was going out too fast, but it was a comfortable pace still. I was grateful not to have to chat anymore though.

Gilbert ran ahead and coached everyone along the way. At the turn around he told me to catch the two Gazelles in front of me. I tried a little bit, but I am always so conservative...saving energy and effort for the end.

< insert small aside >
I don't know if the other classes do this (I sure hope so), but I love cheering on and being cheered on as we pass other Gazelles. Every single person in our class got a cheer from almost every single other Gazelle, even if the only thing that can be managed is a smile of acknowledgment or a head nod.
< end small aside >

Back to my tempo run. I always try not to look at my watch at the 1.5 mile split...I just push the button. I don't want to know if I'm going slower here (which is often the case). Gilbert came running back around this point, and I made a conscious effort to not let him suck me into running faster than I was ready and wanting to run. Minnie was still a bit ahead of me, and I saw her fall prey to The Lion. Oh, Minnie. And he had her go faster up the hill past the 1/2 mile marker.

I saw Minnie stop and walk as Gilbert sped up to the next runner. I had to look down and focus so I wasn't tempted to walk. At this point, I was not so comfortable. I didn't think I was running faster, but the run was feeling a bit hard and walking looked sweet. Minnie only walked a few paces and then started up again, thankfully before I got to her and felt a strong urge to just walk along beside her.

I chased Minnie to the finish. I debated if I should run my last 400 really fast since Gilbert says we shouldn't come to the finish line huffing and puffing. If I run the last 400 fast, I will be huffing and puffing. So I kept my pace and tried to go a bit faster. I didn't sprint until Gilbert yelled for me to. I crossed the line and pressed my stop button. I was huffing and puffing - oops. Gilbert is yelling that it is my fastest time (it's not, btw, but shhh...don't tell him that). He wants a high five from me, the Queen of the Tempo-phobes. I can barely catch my breath and barely get one hand up.

In retrospect, I think that was my best Tempo run. My fastest time was an awesome run, but I went out way too fast in that one and am not sure I could repeat that time since it was a full minute faster than this run. I haven't been able to come close to that time since then. I think I finally found a pace where I am running "comfortably hard." Don't get me wrong, I wanted to stop several times in that last 1/2 mile.

I don't think I could maintain this pace for a 5K, so I'm far off from running tempo at my 10k pace. No surprise there since I don't know a Gazelle that actually runs tempo at their 10k pace (or MGP like the Science of Tempo recommends). If you are a Gazelle who runs tempo at 10k pace, make sure to introduce yourself to me and tell me all your secrets.

So, for a rare time on tempo, I can say, "Get off me! I am having fun!" Oh, but I did eat the cookie...or at least part of one when I got home. :D

Grudgingly, I shall provide this:

Overall time: 19:35:98
Splits:
4:50:39 (pressed it before the marker accidentally)
5:04.99 (a wee long due to the above)
4:48:89
4:51:71

Singing Zoologist

Just got back from taking the boys to the library to see The Singing Zoologist. Quite entertaining. 2 hours until Tempo. Blech. Fortunately, dv wrote his Science of Tempo, which I printed out and plan to show Gilbert when he says I'm running too slow.

I'll try to sing Killers songs during Tempo (just read the Mantras thread on the Gazelle forum). Either that or think of little Joshie at his Triathlon to distract me from how much I loathe Tempo.

Titles before Posts?

Does anyone write their title before the actual post?

Yesterday I ran with Yvette and Minnie from Runtex to Robert E. Lee. The rest of the Gazelles were there with Gilbert debating if we should continue on to Spring Creek with the rain and lightning. I was thinking, "Uh, we are going to Spring Creek since I warmed up from Runtex." The storm was pretty much over, so we all ran on the new trail that connects with Barton Hills and then up the hill to Spring Creek.

I felt tired, but I almost always do. I didn't do a long run this weekend basically because I'm lazy, thus, I did the long warmup and cool down to make up for it. Gilbert said 5 forward and 3 backward, and I ran with Minnie the whole time. We chatted and took our time, which was nice so that I could actually breath and talk. We ended up doing 7 forward and 3 backward. When I go slower on the hills, I enjoy them a lot more. I cannot go up a hill fast without feeling like I have no oxygen and my lungs are going to collapse. I've told G about this many times, and he just says I'm out-of-shape or have no endurance or I need more speed work or I have no quads. This all is true, but I sometimes secretly hope I have some lung issue which explains why I can never run fast without dying.

On the way back to Runtex, Minnie, Yvette, and I had a wonderful cool down and talk. For a year, I've said some slow runner needs to have a blog. Slow runners stand up and let your voice be heard! We talked about Fletcher with his 90 miles a week and his 70-mile recovery week. We talked about all the fast people who blog, and how we can not relate to that (although they are sometimes fun to read). So, here I am, though I don't think I want Gazelles to see this. Why? Everyone already knows I'm slow.

I joked how I would put my total mileage for the day in my blog. So here ya go (oh, I don't have a Garmin and don't track my warmup and cool down times and mile splits on every single workout):

Warmup from Runtex - about 1.75 miles
7 forward on Spring Creek (G says just the hill is 185 meters so you do the math)
3 backwards
Cooldown back to Runtex - about 1.75 miles

My guess was 5 miles for the day. Someone with a Garmin can do that workout and let me know. Actually, Yvette has a Garmin, so maybe next time I'll tell her to wear it.

We are probably doing Temp on Wednesday. I hate Tempo. I'm trying to not hate it (been trying for almost 2 years). I dread Tempo. I wish I could just love it like David loves it. I'm already formulating my strategy. My main plan is to actual run my 10K pace. Or at least what I think my 10k pace might be.