Boy, do I have a story to tell!

Our plan for Memorial Day weekend was to completely redo our front landscaping as we have let the grass grow over it.  Seeing as it was 90 gazillion degrees outside all weekend, we didn't really do any of that.  So, Dave took his work inside and decide to super-clean out/declutter some spaces.  Yesterday he came down the stairs with a small slip of paper in hand.  Dave did Appalachian Service Project in high school, about 20 years ago.  This was a volunteer project he did in another state.  I don't know where he was when he did this project.  Anyway, he said, "I met a girl" while on this project.  Oooh, awesome!!!  This is his story, as told by him.



Back in the early 90's, my church youth group would head out each spring for a missions trip with ASP.  I can't remember which year this was, but we were staying at a head start school with groups from a couple other states.  In the evenings after our work was complete, we would socialize with the other kids and get to know them a bit.  Well, there was a girl I met that year from Georgia.  I maaay have had a small crush on her at the time, but don't tell anyone!  Anyhow, at the end of the week, I mustered up all my early teenage courage and asked for her address.  She entrusted me with it on one condition - that I would PROMISE to write her.

Did I mention I was reeeeally shy?  I wrote a letter, but never sent it.  Time passed, and at some point it was too late.  I must have filed away her address with other treasures of early teendom, and that's where the story ended.

Fast forward 20 years.

I was cleaning out a box of old papers - letters from high school, souvenirs from vacations, old sheet music, etc.  And I came across that name and address.  Thanks to the magic of the internet, I thought maybe I could find out whatever happened to her.  So I typed in her first name.

Well, that's odd.  Had I done this search before?  Did Google just start reading minds instead of that inconvenient keyboard thing?  And so I clicked on the first search result.

Lennon Parham (born October 26, 1976) is an American actress and comedienne best known for starring on the sitcom Accidentally on Purpose from 2009–2010 and the NBCseries Best Friends Forever in 2012.

NO.  WAY.

Not only had she gone on to become famous, WE HAD BEEN WATCHING HER ON TV, and I never put 2 and 2 together.  So, without further ado, let it never be said that I break my promises:

---

Dear Lennon,


How has your summer (and the 20 years after that) been?  Mine has been good.


I thought I was going to be a doctor back then, but I ended up writing software - it was a good decision, and actually more interesting than it sounds, honest.  Ten years later, I married my wonderful wife Meredith, and we now have a dog, Sloopy.  I still live in Ohio, though I came down to Columbus for college and stuck around ever since.


I can't remember what you were going to be when you grew up, but it looks like you've done all right.  It's really great that you found something you love to do and are talented at, and have managed to make a career out of it.  I hope you and your projects have nothing but success.


Oh, and sorry I didn't write until now.


Sincerely,
Dave

---

Moving Down?

Two weeks ago, while Dave and I were taking a long car ride, we started talking about the possibility of moving.

A little background....Dave and I were babies when we got married; I was 24, he 25.  We paid for our own wedding very frugally and had money left over.  Not only that, I was one of two people in the world (Mark Zuckerberg being the other person) who made money while in college.  I didn't party; I didn't go out; I made my own meals; and I had a paying internship.  I was a hoarder - a hoarder of money.  :)  So after the wedding we had enough dough left over to put a down payment on a house.  Sure, it wasn't 20%, but it was something.  Not only that, but being that we were both working as engineers, we had the funds to buy a very nice house that we built from scratch in a developing neighborhood.  We have been living in our house now for nine years, but we have become a little antsy.  First, we think the house is a little too big.  Yes, we would like to downsize.  The house is around 2000 square feet.  We are currently occupying only the first floor while the second floor is basically being used as storage.  Also, we've become a little disenchanted with the neighborhood.  We've had some run-ins with the HOA, which we hate with the greatest of hatred.  In addition, there has been lots of development in our area which has been both good and bad.  We're just ready for a change.

Although we were talking about all this, we haven't really been taking it seriously.  Until yesterday.

I was riding my bike to work for the very first time and I take a little bit of a different route than I would if I were driving.  Luckily, my commute is small - 6.3 miles by car or 7.5 miles by bike.  The bike path takes me right through the middle of town, parts I have seen 5 million times as I've lived in this community for 30 years.  Every once in a while something will catch my eye that I never even noticed.  Like this gem:

And it's for sale!!!

Two bedroom. Two bath.  Around 1300 square feet.  Sits on nearly an acre.  Two car garage.  Full basement.  Back deck.  Newly renovated.  Backs right up to the school fields.  Bike path goes right through the front yard.  And the price is amazeballs.

I immediately texted Dave.  Then I sent an email to my realtor.  Now we have a showing tomorrow afternoon.

And then I panicked.

How in the world are we going to sell our house?  Are we crazy to downsize?  What if we need more space in the future?  I've never lived anywhere else!  I've never sold a home!  I've never lived in a house that we didn't build, what's wrong with this house?  Why are they selling?  Why would we want to move when we have a perfectly good house?  Why would I want to move a whopping four miles away?  (Seriously, see my graph below.)  And on and on and on.

So what do you think? Would you move just to move? Would you ever considering downsizing? Have you ever sold a house? Are we insane?

Week In Review

It was a busy week last week with running, biking, and boothing.

Monday - Track day.  You can read about that workout here.

Tuesday - Finally, I got back to doing a little Crossfit.  Unfortunately, it involved rope climbing which is, obviously, not readily available in my basement.  So I substituted using my TRX and doing rows on it.  The workout (and kinda made a little easier with smaller reps and weights) was 3 X (10 TRX rows and 10 back squats at 65 pounds).  I was quite sore after this workout.

Wednesday - It was going to be a busy weekend (and it was) so I decided to get my long run out of the way.  Dave decided he was too sore to run with me so he rode his bike.  This was the last long run before the half marathon in two weeks.  12 miles averaging 7:56/mile.

Thursday - Bike day!  Dave decided to do his tempo run today so I biked 5 miles with him and provided him water and encouragement.  I also rode my bike for a few errands including the bank and grocery, which was a whopping 2.8 miles round trip.

Friday - I needed to get all my runs in before the weekend so even though I was crazy tired and sore, I had to do my tempo run today.  I started with a mile warm up and then did 5 miles at a 7:22.  It was so hot today that I went through two water bottles on this run.  I also created a nice little belly shirt for myself by tucking my shirt into the top of my sports bra.  Oh yeah, I was looking HAWT!

Saturday - We photo boothed for 15 hours straight.  Good gosh I was tired at the end of the day!

Sunday - Dave still had his long run to do and he was already throwing pity parties before we left, so I rode with him to help him.  It's so nice to have someone to go with you, especially on the bike, to provide you water and nutrition so you don't have to carry it yourself.  For me, it allows me to practice eating and drinking on the fly.  I also run much better with someone with me because I'm not in my head talking myself out of the run or the pace.  I'm hoping this summer that Dave and I can split training days so I can have him run with me especially on my long runs which start very, very soon.  First 20 miler is June 23rd!!

Weekly Totals:
Bike - 19.8 miles
Run - 24.5 miles
Other - 0.25 hours weight lifting.

I'm an Anomaly

I have always said that I only have one pace and that pace is marathon pace.  My times only vary from approximately a 7:00/mile pace for the 5K to an 8:00/mile pace for the marathon.  When I started working with a coach and she would review my pacing and heart rates she would send me emails saying I was a complete anomaly.  Yes, I can run a whole marathon in zone 4.  And not only does my speed increase over the longer distances, my heart rate tends to drop as I get faster.  Weird.

Currently I'm not working with a coach so I needed a plan to follow.  I chose the Run Less, Run Faster program because (a) you only have to run three days a week and (b) it works.  The RLRF program follows the FIRST training program.  I've got to be honest, I didn't read the book, but my husband did and he's a smarty and he said it totally makes sense and it totally works.  He went from being about a 1:50 half marathoner to a 1:43 just by following the plan.  So, I thought I would give it a try.  The plan starts out with a test of three miles and then your training progresses based on what you paced in that three miles.  My three miler was actually a 5K in which I ran a 21:35ish.  Based on a 21:35 my paces should be as follows:

Half Marathon: 7:40 (1:40:30 finish time)
Marathon: 8:00 (3:29:45)

Here's the kicker.  That time I ran in the 5K was a PR for me but I had already run a half marathon (1:38) and full marathon (3:29:28) faster.

So then in my last half marathon I ran a 1:39:52 (7:37 pace), which moved my 5K time to a 21:25 (6:53 pace).  It's not so much that I can't run a 5K in that time because I probably can, it's that it changes all my speed workouts to just incredibly fast speeds.  400s are in the 1:33-1:34 range (6:15ish pace); 1600s are between 6:36 and 6:39; tempo runs are between 7:11 and 7:26; long runs are usually between 7:57 and 8:07.

All of this very doable.  But here's where things get complicated...

I mentioned in the middle of a recent post that I signed up for a marathon in late summer/early fall.  So far, I've had a great season of running and really think there are some big races ahead of me.  I really think I could have a breakthrough performance in the marathon this year and that's why I signed up.  My goal?  3:25 or better, which is a 7:49 pace.  That's totally doable.  But throwing that into the RLRF program looks like this...

Marathon: 7:49 pace
Half Marathon: 7:27 pace
5K: 6:47 pace
Tempo: 7:04-7:34 pace
400s: 1:31-1:32 (6:04ish pace)
1600s: 6:30-6:33

Seeing those on paper scares me.  While I think it makes sense that you *should* be able to run that fast at the shorter distances to run that pace for a marathon, my body seems to think otherwise.  Is my head in the way of running faster at the short distances?  Is it weird that I can run a marathon nearly as fast as any of the shorter distances?  Is a 3:25 unrealistic?  I don't know, but I'll be finding out very shortly.  Training starts in two weeks.

The Dumbest Thing I've Ever Heard

I was watching the local news this morning while eating my breakfast.  Now, I don't put a lot of stock in our local news as it's usually terrible and I was crazy tired, but this was the story I heard.  They were doing a piece on the state legislature and how they were introducing a bill to be tried out in three counties that would test welfare recipients for drugs.  That makes sense.  So far so good.  Here's where it gets a little crazy.  Those individuals on welfare would receive a questionnaire that would ask them if they have used drugs and then if they answered yes they would have to submit to a drug screen.  The drug testing would be paid for by the individual but if they passed it then it would be reimbursed.  Um, what?  Let me get this straight.  We're going to ask somebody if they do drugs, then test them, and if it comes back no they get their money back?  First of all, you're going to ask them first?  If they say no then it's all done?  And if they say yes and then pass the test, we're okay with them lying?  I'm so confused.

To make sure I wasn't crazy this morning, I looked up the story.  Lo and behold what I heard is absolutely true.  Check it out here.

Another Week, Another Track Workout

On paper, last night's track workout should have been easy. 

2 X 3200

The weird thing about the Run Less, Run Faster program is that they give you track workouts out to two miles, yet don't give you paces for that distance.  So Dave and I decided it should be short tempo pace which landed us at an 7:11/mile.  Shoot!  Compared to what we've been doing, this should be a cakewalk. 

Except it wasn't.  It seemed really hard, in fact.

We warmed up a mile and then got started.  As good as I am at pacing in a race, I'm pretty crappy at pacing on the track.  Heck, Dave wasn't even wearing a watch and he was pacing better than me.  We hit the first 1600 in 7:08 and then the second was at 7:02.  Too fast! 

After a 400 rest interval we tried again and did much better the second time.  The first 1600 was just over pace at a 7:13 and the second was dead on at a 7:11. 

I have to admit, track workouts give me anxiety.  The paces seem way outside of my abilities and frankly, scare me.  But, I know that these workouts are making me faster.  I better get used to them too, as I have a full summer of them preparing for the marathon.

Foto Friday

Here are some official pictures from the half marathon last weekend.

I look like I am having a lot more fun than that guy.

Chip time!!!!

Why, you're medal is so big!!

No Rest For The Weary

With four weeks to go until my next half marathon it was time to get back on the track for some speed work.  Dave joined me this time and I waited until we actually got to track to tell him what the workout was.  I was afraid it would scare him enough to not come with me.

1 mile warmup
3 X 2000 between 8:24-8:28 (approximately a 6:40 pace)
400 rest interval in between
1 mile cool down

It quickly became clear how tired and sore I still was from the race this past weekend.  Yet, I went out and busted the first interval at a 8:12, hitting the mile in 6:30..  Good gosh, Meredith!  Slow down!  The second one I tried to pace better and finished in an 8:26, with the mile at a 6:42.  The last one was the biggest struggle.  I hit the mile in 6:45 and wasn't sure I would have the energy to pull together to hit the target.  But, I mustered all the strength I had and finished the last lap in 1:34 to eek out a 8:24.  Success!

Dave made it through two thirds of the workout until his stomach said enough.  He was able to pull through two more 400s and then call it a day.  He hasn't been training as much so I'm proud that he did that much of the workout.  Of course, I expect he's going to be doing some more training with me this summer.  Wink, wink.

Today I'm pretty sore.  My lower calves are screaming.  There's no rest for the weary, though.  Tomorrow is tempo work.

Capital City Half Marathon 2012

Maybe I should title this post "I wear tiny shorts."  (Hey, I'm a former gymnast and I can wear them so I don't care.)

Or maybe I should title this post, "Damn, I've gotten fast!"

I never know how to start a blog post eloquently so let's just jump in.  I ran the Cap City Half Marathon yesterday and I effing rocked it!  I am five weeks into my half marathon training that I started nine weeks too late for a half marathon I'm racing in four weeks.  Does that make sense?  What it boils down to is that I didn't train specifically for Cap City.  Regardless I was going out there to race and see where I was at in my training.  Based on my 5K I ran a few weeks ago I have been training to be able to run approximately a 1:40 half marathon.  So when I lined up yesterday I figured that's about what I could do.

I was in corral A at the start and I had intended to line up around the 1:45 pace group since I usually start slow and finish fast.  But the pace group lined up in the very back of the corral and I didn't want to start back there so I moved up.  The gun went off, we pushed our way to the start line, and I started to run.  I love seeded races because you get up to speed right away and don't have to weave around people who had no business lining up at the front.  I found a groove and was feeling good.

Mile 1 - 7:47.

Hmm, that was a little quicker than I expected.  Whatever we'll go with it.

Mile 2 - 7:40
Mile 3 - 7:39
Mile 4 - 7:40

Gosh, I have mad pacing skills.  Always have.  If you ever need help pacing, I'm you're woman.  (FYI, I was not wearing a Garmin.  Seriously I can pace this way just using a watch and my internal rhythm.)

Mile 5 - 7:37
Mile 6 - 7:39

We're now in the Ohio State campus area and the crowds were out and cheering.  Lane Avenue was a slight uphill until we reached High Street which is a nice long downhill into downtown.  I should mention, it's been hotter than balls this week and Saturday morning was no exception.  It was MUGGY with a side of humidity.  I was drinking water like it was my job and was wearing equally as much water.

Mile 7 - 7:35
Mile 8 - 7:32

Now we are back downtown and I'm looking to see Dave.  I also noticed I'm starting to catch a lot of people, including people I know and people I haven't been able to match in terms of racing times in a very long time.  This is fun.

We have now joined back up with the quarter marathoners and frankly, they're in my way.  I move far to the left, kinda in traffic, and I'm still flying in this race.

Mile 9 - 7:28
Mile 10 - 7:39

I'm starting to feel tired and this pace is wearing on me.  Only a few miles to go, Mer, you can do this!  We're now in German Village and I'm looking for my friend Lauren who sits across from me at work.  I've been running with two other fast women for the last mile or so and I'm using them as my guides.

Mile 11 - 7:27

At this point I am soaking wet, not only from sweat, but from the water stops.  The cups were too big and overfilled and I sloshed water everywhere.  I am also WAY out of practice for taking gels and salt tabs.  I dropped my last salt tab (gosh darn it!).  I am going to need some practice before my marathon (um...what did you just say?).  And because I am soaking, my iPod craps out at this point.  While I don't have to run with music and generally don't hear most of it, it is a nice distraction.  I tucked the earbuds under my sports bra and away I went until the finish.  I'm going to need a solution for the iPod before the marathon too.  Mile 12 had us running on cobblestone for a little bit.  Come on race directors!  You can't find another route over real road?!

Mile 12 - 7:39

Last mile and it's uphill to the finish line.  This is the part where Dave dismantled me last year.  I was not going to let this uphill get to me this year and I was so close to breaking 1:40 that I had to push.  I worked up that hill, saw the finish line and went as hard as I could.  It was going to be a close one.

Is that my ass hanging out of my shorts?

Last 1.1 miles - 8:23 (7:37 pace - perfect pacing today!)

Official finish time was 1:39:52.  I believe this is my second fastest half marathon ever (on just a few weeks of training) and only a minute off of my PR (1:38:40).  

Here's the real kicker.  The only real goal I had established for myself was to place higher in my age group than last year.  This is a BIG race - 13,000 between the half marathon, quarter marathon, and 5K, with most of those runners doing the half.  Last year I placed 25th in my age group out of 627.  My goal was to finish 24th or better.  This year....9th out of 848 in my age group.  Holy mother!!!  This is far and away my best finish in a big race.  I am so excited about everything that happened yesterday.  I can't wait to keep training and see what's yet to come.  This girl is back in a big way!

Track Day!

Saturday's high temperature was about 45 degrees.  I did my run in capris and a long sleeved shirt.  Yesterday my car read 84 degrees at noon.  Welcome to Ohio.

Yesterday was also track day.  Ugh!  I dread track day.  It always seems so hard.  But yesterday I tried to think of it like a swimming workout.  Swim workouts I am able to break into tiny segments because it's 4 X this and 10 X that.  In my head this seemed like a good theory.  At least it got me out the door in crazy temperatures to do the workout.

The workout was one mile warm up 10 X 400 at a 1:35 with 400 rest intervals and then a mile cool down. I hit the first half of the first 400 around 42 seconds and thought, oh crap, I'm going too fast.

Interval 1 - 1:27

Mer, slow down you're going too fast!  But, I kept up the pace and hit all of the next seven intervals around a 6:00/mile.

Interval 2 - 1:30
Interval 3 - 1:28
Interval 4 - 1:31
Interval 5 - 1:29
Interval 6 - 1:28
Interval 7 - 1:28
Interval 8 - 1:29

After eight intervals I had had enough.  My arms were tingly.  I felt like I was going to vomit.  I was dizzy.  I couldn't get in enough water.  I called it a day, did my cool down and headed home.  We'll see how this speed translates when I race this weekend.  Oh yes, there's a race this weekend.

Insane in the Membrane

I haven't signed up for the marathon yet.

Okay, first of all, I'm dumb.  I thought I needed to sign up by the 2nd before the price went up.  What I didn't read very closely is that it was April 2nd, not May 2nd.  Dummy!  The price is what it is.  But, the full marathon is at 75% full so I do need to be making a decision soon. 

So what's the problem?

Well, I'm insane in the membrane.  Insane in the brain.  I haven't done a full marathon since 2009, which was Boston where I scored the perfect race and the Nike Women's Marathon where I just fell apart.  Since that time, I've struggled to get my junk together in the big races including two failed ironmans and the National Marathon which I bailed and just did the half.  I used to be able to block everything out, to almost have amnesia when it came to racing.  I was always hell-bent on doing better and better and better.  But there was something magical about Boston 2009 that I sort of doubt I will ever be able to replicate and therefore I think I give up too easily.  I'm running scared. 

I also feel like I need to do this marathon to get the freakin' monkey off my back.  To know that I've still got it.  To know that the marathon is still a great race for me. 

However, and here's the runner snob in me, I don't want to do it if I can't turn out a big time, a Boston qualifying time, a new PR.  Look I've run many marathons and I've run Boston several times.  I don't need to do a marathon to do a marathon.  And this race is BORING, certainly not one I would do for the experience.  It's not even in a different state, so it's not like I'm checking anything new off my list.

I don't know; I'm really torn.  On one hand, it's only a fraction of the money I've spent on ironman races that I never finished so I could totally eat this money if I decide I don't want to do it after signing up.  But on the other hand, I cringe at spending the money and not doing it.  I'm repulsed at the thought of training for a marathon even though it's not much more training than I'm doing right now for a half.  I'm just gonna keep my eye on the website and make a decision when I NEED to make a decision.

April Totals

I got crackin' in April on seriously training for my upcoming half marathons.  And in the process set a pretty sweet new 5K PR.  I also went back to the pushup challenge, this time doing "real" pushups.  Here's some numbers.

Bike - 3.77 miles for a total savings of a whopping 36 cents.  The weather was pretty crappy this month compared to March (except the week we were on vacation) so there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to ride my bike.

Run - 87.78 miles. February and March were all about base miles.  April has been about speed.

Pushups - 290 of the HARDEST PUSHUPS EVER!!!

In case you were wondering, no I haven't decided on the marathon yet.  I have until midnight tonight before the price goes up.  Tick, tock, tick, tock.

What to do? What to do?

I know I said I wasn't going to sign up for a marathon this year, but here's the thing.  I really want to do one and totally kick a$$!  My running is going a lot better than I thought it was going to be and now I really want to requalify for Boston.  Thing is, I'm a little hesitant to pull the trigger because, well, do I really want to train and run a marathon?  Ugh!  For the one I want to do, I have two days to decide before the price goes up.  What to do?  What to do???!!?

Speaking of Treadmills...

The "Run Less, Run Faster" plan is no joke. Sure there are only three workouts a week, but they are tough and seem way harder than the actual goal. With vacation last week, I kind of fell off the wagon, but this week I've committed to get back on track. I started on Monday by planning on doing a long run on the treadmill, but I just wasn't feeling it and couldn't increase the pace so I stopped at 4.58 miles. After reviewing my training plans I saw I actually had an easy 6 miler this week. Crap! I should have just kept going. Son of a...I decided to move that easy 6 miler to the weekend when my friends were running together and having a breakfast cookout afterwards (in 30 degree weather!). So the workouts I had left were a 10 miler at an 8:00 pace and a track workout of 3 X 1600 at 6:40 pace. The track wasn't earlier this week. I opted to do the 10 miler in the middle of the week.

Per usual, when I got home from work yesterday I took a nap. Yes, I'm an infant and I still take naps. Shut it! When I woke up my nap is was raining. Of course. I was going to have to do this run on the treadmill. I grabbed my water and gels and headed to the basement. My plan was to see how many miles I could actually do at the 8:00 pace (which, I kid you not, is faster on a treadmill than it is on the roads). The first mile was a warm up that I did right around a 10:00 pace. Then I did 2 miles at an 8:00. The next mile was around a 9:00 pace so I could take my gel. Three more miles at an 8:00, another mile at a 9:00 for more nutrition, and the last two miles at 8:00. Over all I did 10 miles in 1:25:22, for an 8:32 pace. For a treadmill run I think that's pretty quick.

But, it was hot in the basement and I got sweaty and I got chafed. Speaking of chafing...

A few weeks ago I bought myself a pair of racing shorts, aka bum huggers, aka boy shorts. This is the pair I bought, and they are a lot shorter on me than those. Mine hit me just under the buns and wear more like a pair of volleyball shorts. I have been too embarrassed to run with them in public just in practice so I've been trying them out on the treadmill in the basement. I've worn them twice, both times sans underwear, and I've got to say, they ride my lady parts. I don't like that. But am I supposed to wear them with underwear? I mean, seriously, my underwear are basically the same size as these. And that sweaty run caused my thighs rub together and chafe. I thought the whole thing about wearing these tiny shorts is supposed to help with chub rub. I'm just not sure about them yet. 

What's the longest run you've ever done on a treadmil?

What's the fastest you've ever run on a treadmill for a sustained period of time?

Do you wear tiny shorts for racing?  Do you wear undies with them?  Do you like them?

Operation: New Treadmill

We have a workout room, a pain cave if you will, in our basement.  It's stripped down and basic with no walls, lots of dust, and is poorly lit.  In it we have exercise equipment: TRX, weight bench, bikes and trainers, and a treadmill.  We also have an old TV with a TiVO and DVD player.  Our treadmill we bought off of a friend for $75.  It's ummm...old and beyond it's life, really.  It has lost it's ability to incline.  It doesn't have buttons, only sliders that get you close to a speed.  The belt of the treadmill is all stretched out too, so now matter what speed you choose, as long as you take tiny steps, you're always going faster.  Sure, it's got its flaws, but it has worked for us.  Here's a picture of the screen of it from the crazy 20 miler I did on it last year.  Notice the toggle for the incline.



As my time as a triathlete (at least for now) has come to a close I've made some decisions. (1) I've gone back to running and only running and have absolutely loved it. I've been surprised to see my times dropped and I love not having a racing schedule or a big race to focus on, at least for now. (2) I have completely lost any interest in biking or swimming.  I have not put on a swimsuit, swim cap, or goggles since October and definitely do not want to.  (3) I have decided to quit my gym, Lifetime, after being a member there since 2004.

Where does this lead?

I want a new treadmill.

And not just any treadmill.  I want one of those new, awesome ones that not only inclines but DECLINES and is WiFi enabled where you can put in specific routes and the treadmill will adjust for the route (like a bike computrainer).  I've researched and found that these fancy treadmills are about $1200.  No small amount of change!  So, I'm keeping track of my savings and will be using the savings from my gym membership to add to this.  And notice that I've added my new savings widget on the side.

Operation: New Treadmill, commence!

WhatSUP

My adventure pick for vacation week was trapeze school.  Dave's pick was stand-up paddle boarding (SUP).  The weather was rough the day we had signed up with big winds, rockin' seas, and we even saw two funnel clouds and a water spout.  We headed straight into the wind for most of the hour plus lesson and made it all of about 100 yards.

Our lesson was very brief where we were basically told "if you're gonna fall, jump into the water."  Good enough.  And then it was time to head out into the water.  Listen to that howling wind!

As it turns out, I was a natural at SUP.  I guess eight years of gymnastics I guess gave me quite a bit of balance.  :)  One of our instructors switched me boards to her windsurfing board which gave me more of a balance challenge but also proved to be really fast.

I loved stand-up paddle boarding.  I am so excited because I already have a windsurfing board and there is a local SUP club here in Columbus.  All I need is a paddle and I'm good to go.

Life List - Fly on a Trapeze

There are three things I am deathly scared of: bridges, roller coasters, and heights.  I did not realize that flying on a trapeze would be like combining all of these into one hot mess.

This week we're on vacation in Venice, FL.  This is a spot I have been coming to as a kid as my parents love it here and plan on retiring here.  It's kind of an old-fashioned beach town where residents are retirement age and storefronts close at 6:30pm.  Dave and I feel really young here, but are still enjoying ourselves.  While my parents enjoy sitting on the beach and lounging, Dave and I like our vacations with a little dose of excitement and adventure.  So, as we were researching our trip we each picked an adventure.  Mine was going to trapeze school.

Our class was a mixture of young and old, newbies and experienced fliers.  And then there was me...wanting to check something off my Life List.  Needless to say, I was the only one who was scared.  SCARED!!!  With very little instructions we were strapped into a harness, put on a lower bar, and taught a few tricks.  I should mention, I don't even like to swing on a swing set.  It makes me a little sick to my stomach.

And then it was time to move to the real deal.  This is when I started to lose it.  There was a young girl who kinda kept taunting me.  She would say things like, "it's gonna make you want to cry" or "it's gonna make you breathe really heavy."  Because I couldn't be mean and I didn't know this chick, I would just laugh it off.  Humor is my defense mechanism for being scared (or if you know me really well, for just about anything).  Dave went first of the two of us.  You had to climb a metal extension ladder to the top and then wind your way around onto the platform where they hooked you in and then you do your thing. Dave was a natural, of course, and did all the tricks and even got to do a back flip off the trapeze and landed in the net.  Then it was my turn.  I was half way up the ladder and I started to freak out.  I mean, FREAK OUT!!!  I would take one step and pause.  Another step and pause.  Finally I got to the top and somehow made it onto the platform.  Honestly I don't remember anything from the time I made it to the top of the ladder until I grabbed the trapeze.  I needed a lot of convincing and was scared out of my mind the entire time I was flying.  I didn't do any of the tricks and basically just swung.  But I did it and that's all that counts.  When it was over I cried and cried and cried.  Silly, I know.  It was completely involuntary, though.  In the end, I only flew once.  It was enough.  Here's video evidence...(and yes that was my dad saying, "I don't think she's gonna make it up the ladder.")

What Lies Beneath

The other day I went underwear shopping.  Let me clarify what that actually means.  That means I went to Meijer (like a Target but cheaper-for those who don't have one) and picked up a 6 pack of Hanes underwear.  With my tiny hiney, the smallest size I can get is a 5, which translates to a small.  I picked up bikinis which are cut to be tiny but not ride up the butt.

Got the picture yet.

Okay, so I picked up my 6 pack, checked out, went home, and opened the package.  To my surprise, they looked a little bit like this:


Yikes!

So the next day I headed back to Meijer to try again.  This time I perused the children's department while Dave kept the look out for Chris Hansen and Dateline's "To Catch a Predator."  From the back off the box, I deduced that my size would be a children's 16: 27" inch waist, 108-117 pounds.  I bought this paid, went out to the car, opened the box and got this:



Holy big underwear, Batman!  What child can fit into those?

I packaged those bad boys back up and marched myself back into Meijer to try one last time.  Dave was so embarrassed.  This time I started opening those damn packets and holding them up to myself.  Finally, I found ones that look like they fit.  A freakin' size 12 in kids.  Tiny buns!  But I've got to tell you...I love them.  They fit so well and no wedgies!  I am going back today to buy some more as long as Chris Hensen doesn't have me arrested...

Bunny Hop 5K 2012

On Wednesday I wrote on my Facebook status:

"I'm debating signing up for a 5K this weekend.  Price sucks ($30) and I kinda hate the 5K.  Yes or no?  Discuss..."

That sounds like someone who has absolutely no desire to do a 5K.  Truth be told, I don't like the 5K.  It doesn't suit my racing style very well.  I'm not very good about being fast out of the gate.  I like to work my way into races and pretty much negative split every race and run that I do.  I also cannot stand the price of these races.  $10 per mile!?  You've got to be kidding me.  Nevertheless, I know that racing shorter and faster will make me a better distance runner, so I signed up.



Saturday morning we arrived at the race site and just about as I'm heading out to do my warmup (as I can hear Elizabeth in my head saying, "the shorter the race, the longer the warm up"), I realize I left my watch at home.  Since I've stopped working with a coach for the time being, I've stopped wearing my watch or heart rate monitor or Garmin.  I go by feel and turnaround wherever I want to.  I only wear a Garmin or watch if I have a specific workout I'm trying to hit.  Anyway, I realized I would be racing blind and figured that would be a good thing.  I did a little warmup, went to the bathroom for the hundredth time and headed to the start line.



This race was small.  I sized up my competition and actually lined up towards the front - a very rare move for me.  The horn sounded and we were off, crowding from a parking lot onto a narrow pathway and right into a strong 90 degree turn.  I found my place and took off.  The entire run was done on a bike path (nice!), but was tough as it had at least four 90 degree turns and a 180 degree turnaround.

I was immediately the fourth place female, running with two other guys with no one in front and no one behind us.  At the turn around point I wasn't terribly behind the third place female but was far enough back that no matter how fast I was going to go I wasn't going to catch her.  I was amazed, however, at my fitness level as I felt myself getting faster after the two mile mark and continuing to pick it up as the finish came nearer.  Finally, I turned the last 90 degree turn to the finish and was amazed to see the clock at a 21:20 something.  Holy cow!  I was going to PR.  My final time was 21:33.  The official results had me 11th overall and third place female, however, there was no 8th place person in the final results and that 8th place person was a female.

Is that really how Gordon is spelled?

When I established my "12 for 2012" this year and wrote that I wanted a new PR, I was expecting to get a PR by doing something like running a new distance like an aquathlon and getting a PR by default.  I had no idea that I would get a "real" PR and surely didn't think it would be in a 5K.  And, my favorite part of all this, this was the first race I have averaged under a 7:00 minute/mile pace in a race - 6:56.  This has been an unspoken/unwritten goal of mine for a long time.  The scary part?  I don't think I gave the race all I had.  I didn't feel tired at the end.  I never reached puke-stage.  I felt like I held back at the beginning.  Maybe there are more PRs in the future...

Meredith Gordon, The Girl on Fire!

I have had a great week of running so far.

Yesterday I was tweeting back and forth with a local runner girl and I happen to go out to her blog and saw that she was racing a 5K this coming weekend.  I have been looking to do a race in April, but since I'm going to be on vacation for two of the five weekends of this month, it's been hard to find a race.  I had wanted to do the Athens half marathon last weekend, but I was waiting on some medical tests to come back before I made the commitment and I didn't have the answers in time.  So that left me without a race this month.  And since it's my goal to do at least 12 races this year, I really wanted to find one this month.

As I've mentioned before I'm following the "Train Less, Run Faster" plan for my half marathon in June.  If I wanted to run a 5K this weekend, I was going to need to do my long run midweek.  The plan was for 13 miles at half marathon pace plus 30 seconds per mile.  I have decided that my race pace will be around a 7:50 for a 1:42ish half marathon.  That would mean that this 13 miles would be at an 8:20 pace.  Yikes!  That's only a few seconds slower than I averaged in my last half marathon.

I started out running two miles around the neighborhood and had worked my pace down to an 8:18.  It was fast and felt hard and I was wondering how I would hold that for a full 13 miles.  Dave joined me for the next three miles and we got the pace down to an 8:16 average.  Note, I like to set my Garmin for an overall pace for the full 13 miles.  I like to work my way into a run and usually pick up the pace as I go along.  But because it seems 9 miles seems to be my breaking point right now, I thought I would bag a little time in case I slipped off the pace later in the run.

For the last eight miles Dave joined me on his bike and I was able to run without a water pack.  I love that.  It's always around 6-7 miles that things start feeling good to me and I get in the zone.  And I did.  And before I knew it my watch was beeping at me to slow down (I had set it to be between 8:15 and 8:30 average).  As I headed into the cold wind, I kept picking up pace.  At the turn around, four miles left to run, I was down around an 8:10 or 8:11.  Now with the wind at my back I was flying.  With just over two miles to go I was at an 8:06 average and still feeling really good.  I guess that month of running every day sure was good base training!

The last mile is uphill in our neighborhood.  (I use the term uphill lightly.  We don't live anywhere with true hills.)  I was moving.  By the time I finished, I had dropped the overall pace to 8:04.  13 miles in 1:44:55.  BAM!

So it makes me wonder, could there really be a possibility at a half marathon PR this year?