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On April 29th at approximately 6pm, my boyfriend and training partner, Scott, was out riding his bike in Virginia doing a hill workout when he was struck by a vehicle making a left turn. The driver says she did not see Scott and so she pulled out.  Scott suffered multiple broken bones, injured his brain and lungs and was in a coma for a week. Scott was one of the least wreckless riders out there.  If you had said that one of us was going to get hit by a car I would have said it would be me.  Twenty-four hours after arriving at the hospital by helicopter, the doctors still could not say whether he would live or die.  They said at best Scott might wake up in 2 weeks (and the doctor said that would be a sprint) but the reality would be more like 4 weeks. Scott surprised them all by waking up in 1 week.  Now, 2 weeks after the accident he is trying to relearn how to swallow, speak and stay awake long enough to start some rehab. 

I, on the other hand, am just trying to live.  The day after the accident I blew off my workout to drive down.  I sat in the hospital for 14 hours each day just holding Scott's hand and talking to him and thinking... a lot...too much, probably.  How important is triathlon? Did I even care about qualifying for Kona? Did I care that the Mountain Goat race was Sunday? Did I even ever want to get on a bicycle again?  Finally, on Sunday, the nurses kicked me out the door and told me to go for a run.  How could I go?  I didn't want to leave his side.  I didn't want to run without him.  I didn't want to finish and not be able to text him bragging about how great I felt or how fast I went.  But I did what they said.  I put on my running shorts...pulled the jogbra on over my head...put the hair in a ponytail...then laced up the running shoes.  And I felt good.  I felt like a runner.  I felt like an athlete.  This is what I do.  I looked in the mirror and I heard Scott say get out there and run.  You've got a race to train for.  It was so hard. But I did it.  When I got back I told Scott about it.

Since then, I have cried so many times I am surprised that I have tears left.  There is so much unknown and I am a black and white person.  I need to know the future NOW.  I don't like things up in the air.  I feel I am being given the biggest test...I need to find patience...I need to find strength...I need to have trust. 

What I am asking from all of you is to keep Scott and I in your thoughts and BE SO CAREFUL.  Be careful when you ride - wear your helmet, make eye contact with drivers.  Be careful when you run - leave the iPods at home, enjoy the sounds of nature, of people.  Most importantly, be careful when you are driving. 

I am going to take some time off from blogging - here and on trimom.com.  I may post once in awhile if I feel up to it but right now I am going to concentrate my strength on keeping myself healthy so I can be a good mom to Phoebe and Maggie.  And so I have the energy to pass this test.

 




- Kristin

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Yesterday was a busy day for me.  I was excited to be travelling to Rochester for a continuing education class on delivering immunizations at St. John Fisher College at the Wegmans School of Pharmacy.  Taking the class would enable me to give the flu shot to patients this fall now that NY state finally approved pharmacists to have this ability.  I was not as excited about how early we had to leave to get there and how long the class would be.  My only chance to workout would be at 4:45am and it was my nemesis - the dreaded track workout. 

I was to run 4x400 in 90s, 2x800 in 3mins and 2x1600 in 6mins.  This workout was fairly easy last summer but I have been struggling with it this spring.  I drove to the track and exited the car to rain and gusting winds.  UGH - not good.  After a quick warmup I was ready to go.  Obviously it was dark out so I couldn't check my splits on my watch so I just ran hard.  Recently I was reading another athlete's blog and she said she liked running in the dark because she felt faster.  She is right.  I felt faster, too...but also was faster!  I ran the 400s in 85, 85, 84, 84.  My fastest so far this year.  400s are easy, though.  I was anxious for the 800s to see if I could still hold pace.  And the wind coming down the last straightaway was stiff in my face.  That second lap you start to feel the lactic acid building up.  Again, I couldn't check my splits.  Normally I check after the 1st lap to make sure I am on pace but today I just crossed my fingers and ran hard.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I finished - the first one was a 2:56!  I started the next one and hit that in 2:56 again!!  After seeing these splits I thought maybe I could even get under 6 mins for the miles. 

I have always dreaded mile repeats.  They hurt so much!  I had 2 left and then the workout would be over.  I decided to just go as hard as I could on the first one.  I had no idea what pace I was on but I was hurting.  With 200 to go I could just make out the time on my watch - 5:16.  If I hit a 44sec 200 I would make 6mins.  If I went under 44 secs . . .  Well, I crossed the line in 6:00.  I was a little bummed for not going under but thrilled to hit the repeat in the prescribed time.  OK - now it was time for one more.  But this was the last thing I had to do.  Every lap, every step even, would bring me closer to the end.  I hit my watch and took off.  This time I could see my splits.  1:30, 3:01, 4:33 then with 200 to go I was at 5:17.  I hit another 44 and ended with a 6:01. 

All in all, a great workout.  It could have been better but there is always another day.  Even when I am happy with the workout, I always wish I had gone faster when I am done.  I guess that is what keeps me coming back to the track week after week!  Next week is 4x800 followed by 4 (yes FOUR) x1600.  Not thrilled about that but I will get it done! 

This Sunday I will be racing Mountain Goat.  It is not an A race for me ... more like a C race as I am doing a 56mile ride, 8mile run brick on Friday.  Still, I hope to make a good showing and practice pushing myself when I am tired.  Maybe I will see some of you out there.  It is supposed to be an absolutely gorgeous day.  Both Phoebe and Maggie will be doing the kids race.  I can't wait to watch them/run with them.  

 




- Kristin

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Sunday, Scott and I and the girls travelled down to Ithaca to run the Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon.  This is pretty much an annual trip for me...being a Cornell alum, I love running this race.  Just being on campus brings back lots of memories!  On top of that, it is an extremely well organized, fun and challenging race.  They offer a 10K, too, that has a much flatter course for those of you not quite ready for 13.1 miles.  It is also a nice local race with LOTS of friendly runners.  At one point during the race a guy just blurted out to me "Does Wegmans have a team this year? You had a great race at the Finger Lakes Tri!".  We chatted for a few but I wasn't able to hold much of a conversation at that point.  I found him at the finish and apologized for not talking much!  I also ran into a couple of Cornell guys that we had met at the DC race. 

This was Scott's first time running it so I made sure to describe the course, including every hill...all 15 of them!!  It was a beautiful day - sunny and 50 degrees...perfect racing weather.  A co-worker of mine has a friend that goes to school at Cornell and she agreed to sit with the girls while we ran.  I was so excited that they were finally going to get to see us race and cheer us on.  Not half as excited as they were, though!!

My plan was to hit 6:30's in the beginning and then pick it up once the big downhills started around 5 miles.  I hit the first mile in 6:31, second in 6:30 and third in 6:25.  The fourth mile has a bigger uphill (and I think it is long...every year :-) ) so I hit that in 6:52.  Scott took off ahead of me but I could see him the whole time.  I caught him at 4 miles and knew something must be up.  He said he was having trouble breathing - he couldn't get a deep breath.  He also gave blood 3 days before the race which I don't think was helping his cause any, either.  I passed him and continued on.  I led from start to finish so my only motivation was to try and catch the guys ahead of me (or at least stay with them).  Usually I know I have a run a smart race if no one passes me during the 2nd half of the race.  And no one did so I was happy about that.  I was not thrilled with my finishing time 1:24:55 - about 2 minutes slower than in DC.  But I did feel good the whole way, it was the end of a 3rd hard week AND it was 20 secs faster than last year.  SO all in all, a successful race.  Scott finished 2 minutes behind me and was happy to just have finished.  He said it was mental for him the whole way - he wanted to drop out so badly.  I was proud of him for pushing through.  Not every race has to be about a PR.

Of course the best part was coming into the finish and hearing 2 little voices stand out above the rest - Go Mommy Go Mommy!!!  They both ran up to hug me until they saw all of the sweat.  I got high fives instead :-).  Maggie was so sweet.  Some of the older kids were handing out cups of water at the finish.  Well, 4 yo Maggie jumps right up with them, grabs 2 cups and patiently waits for someone to take water from her.  It was agonizing for me as runner after runner passed her by.  Finally a woman crossed the line and came right at Maggie.  She took a cup and the smile on Maggie's face was bigger than mine when I won Chesapeakeman!!  Even some of the ther spectators clapped when the woman took the water.  After that, we headed to the showers so I could get my hugs from my babes.

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The best thing to eat after a long run is pancakes, in my humble opinion :-P.  I want to share the best recipe I have ever found for pancakes - thanks to Family Fun Magazine.  Enjoy!

• 1 3/4 cups flour

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1/4 cup melted butter or vegetable oil, plus extra oil for the pan

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed

Instructions

1. Place a sifter or sieve in a large mixing bowl and measure the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into it. Sift the ingredients into the bowl.

2. In a separate large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add the milk, sour cream, melted butter (or oil), and vanilla extract and whisk to blend.

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid mixture into it. Vigorously whisk the ingredients just until blended (about 10 seconds).

4. Add the lemon zest and the blueberries and gently fold them into the batter with a rubber spatula.

5. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Then pour in enough cooking oil to coat the surface. Using a pot holder to grasp the pan handle with both hands, gently swirl the skillet around to evenly distribute the oil.

6. For each pancake, ladle about 1/4 cup of batter onto the hot skillet. You should be able to cook 3 or 4 pancakes at a time.

7. Cook the pancakes for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 minutes on the first side. Then flip and cook them about half as long, until the second side is golden brown.

8. Serve the pancakes at once, preferably on warm plates. Top with butter and maple syrup or homemade blueberry syrup. Makes about 12 pancakes.

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Friday at 5pm I got off of work and headed down to DC for my first race of the season.  This past week and a half had included some pretty tough workouts.  Plus, this past week was supposed to be an easy week but I was really determined to complete the treadmill workout that I failed to complete the week before so I added that in to this week's workouts. 

OK - I better back up here.  First of all, I did not listen to my coach.  Karen had me scheduled for an easy week leading up to the half marathon.  I was to do a tempo run, a treadmill workout and the race.  Also, 2 bikes and 2 short swims.  Well, the weather here in CNY was gorgeous and I managed to have some time free of children just when the sun was shining so I just had to take advantage.  In addition to that, the week before had a treadmill workout scheduled that I thought should be simple for me to complete that I was not even able to get halfway through (1mi at 8.3, 1.5mi at 8.6, 1.5mi at 8.9 and 1.5mi at 9.2).  I had the  brilliant idea of throwing that workout in on Thursday to prove I could do it.  So Thursday looked like this:  treadmill workout at 6am, 2200yard swim at 10am and 36mi ride at 2pm. Friday I cycled indoors for 40 minutes and then
raced on Saturday.  The rest of the week...Monday was a tempo run and 40 minute ride, Tuesday was a 2000+ yard swim plus the treadmill workout and Wednesday was a day off.  So for a rest week, I ended up doing way too much.  I know...you are saying why didn't you just listen to your coach? Well, I should have.  I guess its a good time to learn when it is a B or C race and not my big A race for the year. 

My legs had been tired all week...and Saturday was to be no different.  Scott and I got up at 5:30am.  We stayed with his sister on Bolling Air Force Base so we were about 5 minutes from the start.  We showered and headed over in my car. 

Well, so did the other 11,998 people running the race!!  We got within 1 mile of the parking area and came to a stand still.  I had to use the bathroom so badly and could see the starting line and portapotties from where we were on the road. 
Scott took over driving and I ran over to "squeeze the lemon".  When I got out and ran back to the car, Scott had not moved.  The race was starting in 20 minutes and I started freaking out a bit.  Scott could see the anxiety building
and sent me over to the start while he waited for the cars to start moving.  I kissed him, wished him luck and took off.  I was really upset about leaving him but he made me go.

I ran around the start, peed a couple of more times and then jogged back while they began singing the national anthem.  Before the song was over Scott was by my side.  He could see me visibly relax...we were ready to race!  I was sooo
glad he made it.  The half marathon and marathon all started together so it was pretty crowded.  Scott and I started up at the front so we didn't have too many people to navigate through but it was still congested.

The race took off and we headed for the Capitol Building.  Mile 1 passed in 6:26 (Scott was already ahead), mile 2 6:14, mile 3 6:06, mile 4 and 5 6:24, mile 6 6:46, mile 7 6:34, mile 8 through mile 13.1 all were around 6:20 pace.  The course was very hilly - much more than I expected.  Apparently more than others expected, too, because everyone around me was begging for the hills to end.  I was glad I wasn't running the full marathon today!  At 9.5 miles, I could see Scott just ahead of me.  I felt good enough that I could catch him.  I decided to slowly work my way up.  In the meantime, another 2 women came up on me.  One went by and I tried to stay with her.  I could hear cries of "Go Joanie" and assumed that was the name of someone near me.  I did not want anyone else to pass me so I pushed it as hard as I could.  I was psyched at how much strength I still had at the end.  At about 11 miles I caught Scott.  He cheered me on as I ran by him.  We both admitted our exhaustion to each other.  There was a long uphill going to 13mi and then the last 0.1 mile was downhill.  I still heard the cheers for Joanie but figured I had her  beat, whoever she was.  After I crossed the finish line (in 1:23:05) I turned around to see Joan Benoit Samuelson crossing the line - no wonder I heard so many people calling her name!!!  Scott crossed right after her in 1:23:20.

I was kind of disappointed at first with my effort.  I really felt tired and weak during the race.  I also thought it was kind of a slow time.  Later on in the day Scott and I checked our results from races last year and I discovered it was only 10 seconds off of my best time in 2009.  I think that is a pretty encouraging way to start the season!  Karen said I was right on where she wanted me to be.  I think if I had rested even a llttle and knew the course ahead of time, I could have easily run under 1:22:55.  It turns out I won my age group, too (11th overall) and really, that's all I need to do at Buffalo Springs!!

April 11th, Scott and I will have a rematch in Ithaca at the Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon - stay tuned to see who will prevail! 

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Today I had the dreaded treadmill workout scheduled.  Due to the travelling this week, I had to swim 3 days in a row.  Today was the 3rd swim and I decided to do it before the run.  I was sooo tired in the pool.  My arms and legs just had that numb feeling you get when the bloodflow is sluggish getting there.  I made it through and hit the times I was supposed to but was obsessing about the run during the whole swim! 

I got out of the pool, decided I was going to finish the workout no matter what and headed up to the treadmills at the Y.  To refresh - the workout is 10 min wu/cd with 5 mins at 7 min pace, 5 mins at 6:45 pace and 10 mins at 6:30 pace then 5 mins ez and repeat.  I ran the 5 mins at 8.6, 5mins at 8.9 and 10 mins at 9.2.  I had 5 mins of ez jogging before repeating.  I felt pretty strong and thought I had a good chance of making it. 

I started the next set and felt really good.  I did the 8.6 then the 8.9 took a deep breath and started the 9.2 (6:31 pace).  The first 5 minutes seemed really tough and I decided to make my goal just making it further than last time (5mins).  Every minute that went by after 5 minutes, I had the same thought - just make it 1 more minute.  I did that all the way to 10 minutes!!!  I have had this awesome feeling of accomplishment all day.  Yeah, it was only a workout but hey, whatever lifts your spirits and makes you feel good about being you...right? 

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Wow - I just realized it's been quite a long time since I have blogged.  So much has been going on that I just have not found the time to sit and write.  Don't worry, I have been fitting in the workouts though!  I finished month 2 (week 8) while I was out visiting some of Scott's family in Seattle. Lots of good food and good wine (but that's a story for another blog :-) ).  

Karen now has me doing a "run block."  Which basically means that I am running more than swimming or biking for the next 3 weeks.  I only had 2 bikes and 3 swims this week but 5 runs.  One of the runs was a "2-a-day" session designed to keep my effort up but stress on the body down.  I ran this with Scott out in Seattle...it was tough!!  We ran the first workout in the morning...60 mins at 6:55 pace. 
 

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I feel bad that I have not blogged much recently.  Life keeps getting in the way of fun.  Plus, Phoebe and I have been obsessed with the Olympics.  All of our free time is spent watching or reading about them!  The Mens Nordic Combined was so exciting!  I have never XC skiied but after seeing that event I am ready to go out and give it a try.  Plus, I read somewhere that Deena Kastor skiis in the off-season and if it is good enough for her, then...

Anyway, back to my workouts.  This past weekend, I had a series of workouts from Karen that were  very challenging but left me feeling stronger and fitter.  I am confident that she is helping me improve!  The girls and I went downstate to visit my parents and Scott met us there.  This meant that I had my training partner for the weekend.  I was psyched!  Saturday, Karen had me scheduled to do some hill repeats.  We found a 400-600 yard hill and after a brief warm up we started climbing.  My heart rate peaked at about 157 and I was concerned that maybe the hill was not steep enough because the workout didn't seem that difficult.  Scott was ready to cool down after what he called a short workout when I told him we still had 3x1mile repeats at 5K pace to do.  Because the blizzard had hit a few days before we were without a track.  So, I went to
www.mapmytri.com and measured out a mile on a stretch of road.  It was tougher, mentally, than on the track but I was pleased with the results.  I hit the miles in 6:13, 6:01 and 6:16.

Sunday we took a ride up to route 293.  This is the road that leads to West Point.  We used to run this road back in HS XC and I think Monroe-Woodbury still uses it today.  It's an out and back, 14 mile, all downhill then all uphill run.  Definitely tough but beautiful.  I definitely recommend this run if you are ever down in Orange County, NY and want a challenge.  Our only goal was to even split the 2 halves.  An all out sprint to the finish got us in right when we hoped - exactly the same as our first half split.  We were wiped out and our legs were shot.  I guess the hills the day before were tough enough!  Afterwards, Scott and I took Phoebe and Maggie out to the Monroe Diner for brunch...nothing like a Belgian waffle after a long run!!

Scott had to return to Virginia Sunday night so I was on my own for Monday's run.  It was supposed to be a day off but the snow in the forecast for Tuesday scared me into going out Monday.  Karen had me scheduled for a hilly 30 minute tempo run at heart rate 154-160.  I did not feel like doing this at all!  The warm up was slow and painful, my legs were still tired from the long run the day before but I put on my gameface and gave it all I had.  A mile into it, I realized I was feeling great!  I ran 4.7mi with my heart rate averaging 159. 

I was so encouraged by how well I ran all 3 days and am really looking forward to testing my foot speed at the National Half Marathon in DC in March.  Maybe I can close the gap between Scott and me!

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I just wanted to let you know what races I have planned for the first part of 2010.  Due to my work schedule (I work every other weekend so lots of races end up being off limits to me), I am not planning my first race until March.
March 20th CareFirst National Half Marathon, Washington DC
April 11th Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon, Ithaca, NY
April 25th Du The Lakes Duathlon, Fayetteville, NY
June 6th Keuka Lake Olympic Triathlon
June 27th Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 Ironman, Lubbock, TX

As more races get added to my schedule, I will update my blog.  Hope to see you at some of these!

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Today I cringed when I looked at the workout that was assigned...it was the same treadmill workout that I could not complete 2 weeks ago.  To refresh your memory it was a 10 min warm-up (treadmill on elevation 1 as always) then 5 minutes at 7 min pace, 5 min at 6:45 and 10 minutes at 6:30 pace...then repeat.  Thankfully, this time she gave me a 5 minute easy jog before I started the second set.  

I decided to skip the cycling and do that another day...wanted my legs to be fresh for this challenge.  I felt OK during the warm-up. Definitely not my strongest, but decent.  I made it through the first set with my heartbeat at 163 - 10 beats lower than last time.  I jogged very easily (at 6.6 mph) and then started the second set.  The 7 minute and 6:45 intervals went fine, but my
heartrate was averaging higher than the first go round.  When I hit the 6:30 pace, I knew I was in trouble.  I made it through 5 minutes, but just barely - my heartrate was registering 173 and that is close to my upper limit, I believe.  I knew I wasn't going to make 10 minutes so I backed down for another 5 minute jog and then headed back up for 5 more minutes at 6:30.  This time it was actually
easier and my heartrate stayed down at 167. 

Afterwards, I spoke with Karen and told her I couldn't complete it again.  She reassured me that it was OK and that if I was doing it easily she would have to make it harder.  She also said that in a month or two I WILL be telling her it is too easy.  We'll see.  For now, maybe third time's a charm :-) 

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When Kevin (Lucas) and I discussed my blogging for USATF, he was a little uncertain as to whether my focus on triathlon this year would interest any of USATF's readers.  I told him that at heart I would always consider myself a runner and that triathlon taught me a lot that benefitted my running.  After that conversation with Kevin, I decided that one of my first few blogs for USATF should be about what I learned through triathlon.

Being a die-hard runner for over 20 years, I was unsure how triathlon training would affect my running.  When Karen, my coach, talked with me about my plan for the year last January, I almost fainted when she said I would be running 3 days a week...maybe 4. And that 1-2 of those runs would be around 30-45 minutes.  Up until that point, I had been running 6-7 days a week, 60-70 miles per week.  I was sure my running would not only not improve, but get slower by the end of the year. 

You see, I have always been a runner.  I would scoff at those people running in the pool or biking or swimming.  I felt that the best way to get running was running.  The only time I ever entertained the thought of cross training was when I was injured.  And I gritted my teeth and hated every minute of it!

But, being that Karen was the expert, I closed my eyes and jumped head first into her training and hoped I would succeed.  Surprisingly, I did!  I swam 3-4 days a week, biked 3-4 days a week and ran 3-4 days a week.  She also had me lifting twice a week until the competitive season began.  Now, obviously for a runner, that much cross training may not be necessary but replacing a run once or twice a week with a bike ride or a swim may actually help.  Giving your muscles a rest from the pounding of running while strengthening less used muscles can improve your overall fitness which will convert to faster run times.  My marathon time went from a 2:57 before Karen started coaching me to a 2:53 at Philly last year (a 4 minute improvement in 1 year)...2 short months after completing an ironman distance triathlon (yes...that's the big one!). 

Another crazy notion (or so I thought) that Karen had was to go 3 weeks of hard training and then take a recovery week.  I always looked at less working out as less getting better.  Boy was I wrong again!  The rest week allowed all of those minor aches and pains to heal, the muscles to rest and left me hungry for the next set of challenges.

So my challenge to you is this...take a day off, go for a swim in the pool, take an easy week.  Then see how you feel the next time that track workout rolls around!