Winner!!

It's not very often that I win something, but I love winning stuff! I mean really, who doesn't?!

Yesterday I was part way into my run when my friend texted me and told me that I had won a contest on the Iron Cowboy's facebook page!!

He had posted this picture and asked people to caption it

My caption : I'll pee over here, you pee over there! was one of the two winners! I guess I'm getting a tshirt out of it! So that's cool, because honestly I just saw the caption game and didn't pay attention to the fact that it was a giveaway!

I got the notification that I won about .2 miles into my run. It was supposed to be a 5 mile run so I had started out at a comfortable 10 minute pace because I really didn't feel like running and I didn't feel like pushing myself.  But once I knew I won that, and I know how awesome Iron Cowboy is I decided to push myself! So I cranked my speed up on the treadmill and took off! At 2.5 in I had to stop for a milk break, but then got back on and finished it out, a bit slower, but still feeling it! 

I'm happy any time my average pace is under 10 minutes. I know I'm not fast by many standards, but I'm happy with where I'm at right now. And, I'm improving every month and that's all I can really ask for! 

Next run is 18 miles....

Playing Hookey

I was supposed to run 12 miles this weekend, and I totally skipped it.  I'm not sure why. I just wasn't feeling it. I couldn't get my legs to get going when I headed out twice to try it.  I was extra exhausted too which didn't help.

I had been trying to avoid sugar, and I think that was playing into it big time because my body was craving sugar like woah.  It was rough.

I finally said forget that and went back to my normal sugar consuming ways. And I'm much happier!

Anyway, I skipped my long run so my long run this next weekend is going to s.u.c.k.

Long Run

I needed to log 16 miles this weekend. But Saturday after my race it was pouring. Then yesterday when I could have fit a run in Jorden's schedule it was hot and humid! So I gave up and said I'd go this morning.

It was so tempting to stay in bed when my alarm went off at five! But I didn't. I got up, pumped, ate, loaded up my stuff and headed out.

I drove Jorden's car down to my parents house where I parked and headed out. Jorden is so supportive and helpful to help me get my training in. Anyway, he loaded all the girls up and brought them down to my parents, and then took his car back to work. All while I was out running.

Have I mentioned I can't do loops that loop by someplace I could stop? Well, I can't. If I start to feel tired and loop past my house I'm going to stop. I'm just that pathetic. So I've started doing out and backs or point to point runs.

Since I started the run before the sun came up I ran through the neighborhood by my parents and then headed out for my out and back.  It was going good.

But holy hills. HOLY HILLS. FOR THE LOVE!!! THE HILLS!!!

Thankfully Chicago is known for being a flat fast course! Yeeesh.

My SPD still acts up as I go up hills. If I walk and keep more upright it doesn't feel so horrible, but running up the hills is just not happening. So I walked the hills, and there were a lot. A. Lot.

I felt like I was on top of my hydration and salt intake. I was doing good. I felt good.

Then boom.

Mile 14.

Suddenly I was starving.

I totally bonked.

I was so bummed. I could hardly walk forward! I finally decided instead of looping through the neighborhood I would just head to my parents. So it ended up at 15 instead of 16. Womp Womp.

2:46:48 for 15 miles

Thats a pace of 11:04.

I was not happy with that final pace at all. I felt like I put out a lot more effort than an 11 min pace!!

But as I cooled off and walked slowly the last .2 miles home I reminded myself that I'm only 4 months post pardum. I'm 4 months post c-section.  I'm 4 months post respiratory arrest. And I'm doing better than I could have ever dreamed.  I celebrated every breath. I was so thankful for the fact that I could even hit 15 miles!!

So while it's easy to get down on myself, I'm damn proud of where I am already!

Now it's time to really zero in on nutrition on my runs!

But the best part of my run?

Coming home and snuggling with Mabrey and her enjoying some breakfast! 

Just Keep Swimming

Swimming is my weakest discipline. It has been since I started triathlons last summer. But after my panic attack in the first Tri of this season I feel like it's gotten even worse.

Last night a friend messaged me about going for a morning swim. I contemplated it for a bit, checked with Jorden and decided to go.  Then I woke up at 1am and I couldn't settle back down enough to go to sleep.  I'm not sure what had me restless, because I woke up to Jorden coming to bed, not a panic attack or anything, but it was awful.  Because then I was up from 1am on and I was supposed to meet her down at the lake at 645.

I knew I couldn't bail, so I went. I was sure it was going to be awful. She asked how far I wanted to swim, but I didn't want to commit to any distance. I just told her I would follow her. So I did. I was slow, but I got it done.

And best of all?!!?

I didn't panic!! Not even once!!

We ended up doing a half mile swim! It felt so good to get it done and get out of the water not feeling like I was going to die!

Part way through the swim I put my face back in the water and a fish was RIGHT there! Totally startled me and I inhaled some water, but it was all good! I think that fish was swimming away laughing to himself thinking "and she thinks she's swimming!" HA!

But there I am, post half mile swim, still alive, and best of all, STILL SMILING! Boom! 

Stroller Running

I don't mind running short runs with the stroller. I feel like getting in 3 miles with a stroller is a good workout. The stroller adds in some resistance so it's more than just a quick 3 miles. I prefer to not do much more than 3 though since I'm a wuss.

Well, with Ryleigh doing school with my mom at her house I hate to drive the 20ish minutes to her house, drop Ryleigh off then drive back up to the gym, drop Coraline and Mabrey off at the gym nursery so I can run, then head back down to my mom's house to pick Ryleigh up, then head home again. All that driving makes me not want to run, at all!

So I talked my mom into having Coraline join Ryleigh at school today and I would take Mabrey out for a run.  I had two hours so I decided I'd run an hour out, then run back.

It was so stinkin' windy when I started but I kept going, walking up the hills mostly. At the hour mark I was only 4.5 miles out, which totally bummed me out because I felt like I had worked really hard to get to that point and I had hardly covered any ground!

I refused to look at my Garmin because I was sure that my pace was going to be atrocious.

I turned back at the hour mark and headed home.

When I got back to my moms I looked at my time....I had covered that same 4.5 miles in 41 minutes!!! Tells ya just how hard it is running into the wind with the stroller! The sun shade on the stroller just becomes a sail and makes it so hard to get anywhere!!

If I would have looked at my watch and seen how fast I was getting home I would have been smart and looped through the neighborhood a couple times to get some more mileage in! But, I didn't, so theres that.

This is officially the longest stroller run I have ever done and so I'm really proud of it! My pace may not be super speedy, but I'm okay with that! Besides, if I do training with the stroller when I run without it theoretically my pace should be much better! Theoretically...

55 Days!!

Oh my goodness!!

55 days until Chicago Marathon!!!!

Cue the freak out!!!

My long run this weekend was supposed to be 16 miles. I work Thursday through Sunday again this weekend so I have to switch my long run to Thursday.

For longer distances I find that I do better if I run from point A to point B. If I do loops I end up screwing myself over and saying "meh, 10 is good enough... I'll do 4 tomorrow" etc etc etc

So I think I will either get up early and run from our house to my moms house (18 miles) and have Jorden bring the girls down before he goes to work and then I'll take him to work and go sleep before work. Or, I'll go down to my moms with the girls and then leave mid day to run home (again, 18 friggin miles) and sleep once I get home. 

Either way it looks like Thursday is going to be a long run.  I'm going to take it slow and steady to make sure I get the miles in, it's not a race and I need to remind myself that!! Plus, I then have to go and work 12 hours that night! 

Bring it on! 

Scars Scream

Headed out for what was supposed to be a 12-13 mile run this morning. Everything for the first 4 miles went great!!

Headed out with a great group of runners, some of which split off to do their couch to 5k training, and the rest of us headed out for the first 6 mile loop.  I'm part of the Sunset Coast Striders which is a local running club and they.are.awesome.  Such an awesome group and I love going out with them!

We headed through Ironman Village that was being set up in preparation for tomorrow's Steelhead 70.3.  There is SO much energy in the village! It's just awesome. I can't wait to be a part of the race next year!! I so wish I would have just gone ahead and done it, but at the same time, I'm so glad that next year I'll have had enough time to train and I'll have a time I'm proud of! 

Anyway, mile 4 hit and I got a huge cramp in my right hip that cramped all the way up into my belly and side. I slowed down for a couple minutes and walked to stretch it out, started to feel a lot better and then my c-section scar started to scream at me.  It felt like it was on fire. I was in so much pain.  I wanted to keep going, but there are some times when you have to listen to your body...and today was one of those.  

So I packed up and headed home to ice my scar, totally discouraged with my 5 mile run that should have been 13, but at the same time...I'm happy with my 5 mile run because the first 4 miles were rocking! 

But on the bright side, when we got home later my new Newton's were here!! I convinced Jorden I needed new shoes so he gave me a $150 budget. I started looking online and found these on clearance and was able to get both pairs for a total of $138!! I'm super excited! I wore the purple ones around the house and they are so comfy! I can't wait to break both pairs in!!

Newton Gravity                  Newton Energy NR

 I seriously need a sponsor to fund my racing gear!

Tales From a Breastfeeding Athlete

I had planned to get up at 530 and head out to run my 6 miles by 6 am.  At 430 when Mabrey was just finishing up nursing I knew that I wouldn't be heading out at 6 because I was just too tired!

So I decided I'd head to the gym.

Then my friend stopped by which pushed back going to the gym from before lunch, to after naptime. No big deal, but like anyone else (or at least that's what I tell myself) if I push back a workout more than once I usually end up just skipping it all together!

Well after naptime we loaded up and headed out! After I showered, because I looked at my legs and knew I couldn't go to the gym with Chewbaka legs!!  I got half way to the gym and realized I had forgotten my socks!! So home we went to get my socks, grabbed my socks and headed back to the gym.  Got the girls dropped off in the nursery and took my stuff to the locker room.  Headed to the treadmill and realized I left my headphones in the car! Headed out to the car and realized I had locked the stupid car doors!!!

Forget it. I don't need music, I'll just read subtitles to pass the time.

A mile and a half into my run I was feeling really good, my pace was awesome, and I was happy.

Then I heard it...

The wail.

The wail every mother knows is HER baby making all the noise in the gym!

Just as I realized it was her one of the employees was coming up to tell me they needed me in the nursery.  I figured it'd be no big deal and I'd nurse Mabrey real quick and be back in no time. Well, no such luck, Mabrey was a GROUCH so it took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to get her calmed back down and comfy. Since I had spent almost 45 minutes there I decided to split my run and just do 3 miles instead of 6 because I really wanted to get into the pool too!

By the time I finished my run I only had enough time to do half of the swim workout I had planned on doing too. So it was a halfsie workout, but a really good workout!

When I got home and was looking at my Garmin connect and saw my times!  I am so excited to see my times improving! Since May I have gone from a 12:25 pace, to this!!

The pink box shows how long I was running vs how long it took me to get Mabrey happy again! 

Being a breastfeeding athlete is not easy, to say the least! I am so grateful I have a gym that supports me by watching my kids and is so helpful with them! Its so exciting to see the gains I have made in the last 3.5 months!!  Can't wait to see what the next 3.5 months have in store for me! 

Training with a Infant

Writing the title I totally wrote "Training with a newborn" and then I realized, she's not a newborn anymore!! She's an infant.  And then I wanted to cry.

Anyway.

sigh.

So I've learned that training with an infant is a lot harder than I had imagined it might be.  You see, I have every intention of getting out the door at 530am to get my long runs in. I plan to meet people for swim practices, runs or bike rides in the evening but yet I find myself with this sweet little baby clinging to me as she nurses like I haven't fed her in 3 weeks right when I'm supposed to be leaving. So I get delayed, I get left behind, sometimes I miss the workout all together.

Then there's the times when I hear my call at 3am. That utterly pathetic "ahh- wahhh  ahhh - wahhhh" that continues until I can untwist myself out of the covers and stumble into her nursery. When I peer over the edge of the crib I see the sweetest little face that goes from sad pathetic pout to huge light up your life smile when her sweet blue eyes connect with mine! That moment always makes the 3am part a little bit better.  But by the time I crawl back into bed anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours later, I'm usually ready to turn my alarm off and settle for a shorter run when it's hotter out, or even worse, a run on the treadmill at the gym!

Thankfully our gym has a nursery and the kids love going, but Mabrey technically can't go until she's 4 months old.  Now mind you they allowed her to come at 4 weeks and were quite insulted when at 4 weeks I went to just leave Ryleigh and Cora and head out on a walk with Mabrey since I knew she couldn't stay! They informed me that since they had watched her grow during the last 9 months and watched me faithfully workout she was considered a gym baby and they would take her. So they have been awesome with watching her, but I usually just stay right there and run on the treadmill since so that they can come get me if need be, instead of having to wait for me to sprint back from where ever I am.

Anyway, I've also gotten good at shifting my workouts around. Especially now that I'm heading back to work. I have to rearrange long runs so they happen on Friday mornings instead of Saturday mornings or even a Tuesday instead of Saturday.  And the rearranged schedule gets rearranged even more depending on what type of mood Mabrey is in! In doing a lot of rearranging I'm finding I'm doing more and more training on my own...which is good and bad. Good because I'm not "competing" against anyone else and bad because I only have to talk myself out of a workout! 

On a good day I can get up, pump, leave a bottle with Jorden and sneak out by 545 to get in my long runs. That way I'm back in time for him to get ready for work before Mabrey needs a bottle. It works pretty well, and Jorden is super supportive of me training and doesn't complain too much even when it means that he doesn't get to sleep in on the weekends very often! 

I find that I drink a LOT more than normal on my runs and during workouts. Breastfeeding takes a lot of fluid consumption anyway, but for me you add in any run over 2 miles and I'm drinking like a camel. I take a hydration pack with me on runs, particularly if it's blazing hot out. I use my hydration belt in mornings or cooler days as well.  When I first told people I had signed up for Chicago when I got in with the lottery, I got a lot of skeptical remarks and a lot of people just assumed I was going to quit breastfeeding while training.  I am determined to have my cake and eat it too.  So I fuel with real foods not just gu's and shot blocks.  I eat a breakfast before I head out, and depending on the run length I take a PB & honey sandwich cut up into bite size pieces or hard boiled eggs or a banana. I've found I make a LOT more milk when I fuel with real foods during the run! It's crazy to me that I make more milk while running then on a normal day! 

I have a hard time really knowing what to eat though. I get tired of the same thing, and half the time I forget and have to throw something together from the fridge or cupboard the morning of which of course makes for a not ideal training routine. People always suggest trying shakeology or herbalife shakes but I hate the texture and aftertaste of most of those.  The chocolate shakeology is bearable but the price is not! 

I read a lot of other women's stories of how they did utlrathons while breastfeeding, or Ironmans while breastfeeding etc etc etc and it motivates me to keep it up! And again, that's why I'm putting my story out here on the interwebs. I want to be that support, that motivation, to anyone who needs it, but especially to other moms! 

I Love My Chiropractor

I went in for a routine chiropractor visit. I mentioned to him that my pubic bone has been so painful since mabrey. He said "I can fix that" and proceeded to do an adjustment that gave me instant relief!!!

I'm so thankful! I went for a run today, and for the first time I ran my heart out and ran without pain!! It was amazing! I could hold my pre-pregnancy pace the whole run!!!

I seriously felt like the heavens opened up and the angels were singing as I ran!

Dramatic much?!

But seriously, it made a world of difference!

Working Out

Over the past few weeks I've been working out more. Trying to push myself to get back to my pre-Mabrey fitness levels.  I'm not overdoing it, but I find that when I get out there and get exercise in I feel better. I don't have the horrible panic attacks, I still have some anxiety, but not on the levels that I do when I don't exercise.

My only race I have on the schedule now is Chicago 26.2! That's in October.  I had planned to do several more triathlon's this summer, but after the panic attack in the water I don't want to. I haven't gotten back in the water and I'm terrified to do so. I need to get on the game with that though. I refuse to let anxiety take away what I love!!

In a couple days the IronCowboy will be in town doing his 39th Iron distance race in as many days! His goal is to do 50 Iron distances in 50 days in 50 days!! Crazy? Maybe. Inspiring? Totally!  I'm planning to run at least the 5k with him, but I would like to run more. If I can get a babysitter I might try to bike with him too but I'm not sure. I''m so excited so see history made when he completes this!!
Someday I would love to do a full Ironman.  I think that is such an awesome feat! I'd really like to do one next year since I'll be 30 next year and it'll be an awesome come back from all this crap. We'll see because it's a huge time and financial investment!

For now I'm focusing everything on Chicago though. I've been doing good with getting my runs in, but man, my pubic bone is still on FIRE by the end of my runs. So annoying!

But I'm getting there, slowly but surely. I'm just so thankful each time I complete a workout. So thankful.