Plan B

It has become routine for me as part of my morning rituals to just pack a gym bag. Most days I go to the gym during my lunch to run, spin, or lift weights. But some days I have work lunches or I make plans to go to lunch with a friend. I've learned that even if I have non-gym plans during lunch that I should ALWAYS pack a gym bag. Plans often change. Like today I had scheduled a lunch with one of my buddies only to find out after I got to work that he was going to have to go into work early. While I was disappointed about the cancelled lunch appointment, I would have been more disappointed had I not planned on having a second option.

The gym has become my Plan B. Well, sometimes its Plan A. But for the purpose of this post its my Plan B. Often in the evening if I have not made plans or I have had plans get cancelled, I would generally be left feeling kind of low. I have learned that one of the best things that I can do is just head to the gym. I get the benefit of a workout and I don't feel lonely because there are lots of people around (even if I'm not talking to them.) Several times this has resulted in me going to the gym twice a day.

Whatever your Plan B is I recommend that you have one. And it should be something that doesn't require another person. Because there are times that there is no one else available and you'll just have to make do. Just be prepared with your backup!

Del Sol Ragnar 2013 Review

HBBs
Georgia, Marm, Erik, Ty, Matt, Michelle, Brian, Theresa
Alissa, Jacqs, Bryant, & Braden

One more Ragnar down! And it was a super fun weekend on and off the course. Our van all flew down to Phoenix on Thursday. After landing we stopped by to pick up our rented Suburban, filled it up and headed off to check in at the Hampton Inn in Peoria where we would stay for the next two nights. On the way there we decided to get our grocery supplies and cooler for the race at a nearby Walmart. We stalked up on water, ice, granola bars, bananas, bagels, Pringles, and other snacks. Heading back to the hotel we noticed that there was an Italian restaurant (Cucina Tagliani) right next to our hotel. We stopped to carbo-load there. It was super delicious! I had a caprese salad and lasagna. After getting to the hotel we hot tubbed for a bit but then it was time to get some shut eye. We were scheduled with a start time of 6 AM and we were about a 45 minute drive from the start line.

3:45 AM came way too early but soon the excitement kicked in and I was up dressed and ready to go. We all piled into the SUV and headed out to Wickenburg. By the time we got there the temperature had dropped down below 30 degrees! What's the deal?! Arizona is supposed to be warm, no? This is our Ragnar curse. Vegas was freezing too.

Leg 5
By the time I was supposed to go I was super hyped for my run. Braden had been acting super crazy and I think it got my adrenaline flowing as well. It was about 9 AM and the sun was up. I had shed my long pants and long sleeve shirt since the temperature had warmed up. I was prepared. I had stretched, inserted my gum, used my inhaler, taken some Advil, started my music ready, initialized my Nike Plus, and put my visor on. I feel like I did really well on this leg. I averaged a 8:49 minute mile for 6.85 miles. You can track my run here on Nike Plus.

At the end of Leg 6 we finally met Van 2 of our team: Michelle, Theresa, Marm, Jackie, Georgia, and Alissa.  After the hellos, we hopped in the Suburban and headed towards the hotel stopping to grab a sandwich at Subway since no one wanted to eat anything to interrupt our running. At the hotel we hot tubbed again soaking our muscles. We had a 7.5 hour break before we were going to start running again. So we also were able to shower and take a nap. Yay! This is the way to do Ragnar.

Around 7:30 PM we took over from the girls for our van's second turn. The sun had gone down and the temperature was starting to fall.

Leg 17
I started my leg around 11 PM. It was dark and kind of chilly. I ran in shorts and a long sleeve running jacket. I didn't get the proper warm up or stretching because I didn't want to get out of the car too soon. And at this point I couldn't find my inhaler either. So I was definitely feeling less prepared. I actually was feeling pretty good about the leg though until I got over the bridge and found myself in a river bed with a poorly marked path. I honestly had no idea which way to go and those runners in front of me were too far ahead to just follow them. I tried a few paths and then two girls caught up to me. None of us knew where to go eventually two more people came up. The one guy just barreled off into the river bed and we all followed. I soon passed two of the runners with two still ahead of me. Soon I was back on track and feeling good. That was until I needed to pee. I knew there were two girls behind me so I let them pass and wondered over  to the fence to take care of my business when I stepped in some thick mud. Ugh! When I started running again my shoes felt five pounds heavier each. As I got to the end I reached for the baton in an effort to be ready for the hand off only to realize that I no longer had it. :( I must have lost it when I took off my running gloves. In the end I felt like I didn't do too bad though. I averaged a 10:01 minute mile for 5.65 miles. With my interruptions and the fact that it was more uphill I thought I did okay. You can track my run here on Nike Plus.

When our van was done with our legs for the second round, we wanted some food. We planned on only having a break for about 3 hours or so. We found one of the few restaurants that were open at 1:30 AM. And you guessed it, we went to Denny's. There was one lady working all the tables and the register. She had been bombarded by Ragnar tables of 6. She was a trooper and got us our food pretty darn fast considering it all. When we were all satiated we headed over to the next major exchange. We had about 2 hours before we were expecting the other van to get there. So we all tried to get comfy in the SUV. Not an easy task. We could have gotten out and laid on the grass but it was too cold for me. I think I got maybe an hour of sleep before we started getting up and ready for our last set of legs.

Leg 29
At this point the sun up and I was debating whether I should be wearing a jacket or not. I opt for the jacket and am glad that I did. Again I didn't stretch or warm up much at all. I was still to cold. Immediately after I started running I felt a cold wind and realized that I was doing some uphill running. I didn't feel like I was going to make it. I kept on telling myself that I had to run until my van passed me. I didn't want them to see me walking already! I definitely struggled this whole leg. I was sore and tired and just wanted to be done. Eventually I did finish. I would have liked to keep it under a 10 minute miles pace. I ended up with a 10:05 pace. You can track my run here on Nike Plus.

When we all finished it was time to head back to the hotel where we could clean up and rest a bit before meeting the girls at the finish line. They came in just before 3 PM. We got photos and hung out for a while before heading over to a favorite Mexican restaurant of theirs called Macayo's. It was tasty!

All in all, it was a super fun weekend. Even if I am still sore from it several days later. Here's to the next Ragnar: Wasatch Back!

Individual Stats Leg 5: 6.85 miles in 60:27 minutes Leg 17: 5.65 miles in 56:41 minutes Leg 29: 4.69 miles in 47:19 minutes

Team Stats Started: February 22nd 6:00 AM Finished: February 23rd 2:48 PM Total running time: 32:48:31

Van 2: Brian, Matt, Erik, Braden, Ty, & Bryant

Del Sol Ragnar 2013 Preview

I just realized that tomorrow I fly to Phoenix to run my third Ragnar and I haven't updated my blog as to the details. This will be the first Ragnar for me this year and the first time I've run the Del Sol Ragnar. To date I've only done the Vegas Ragnar both in 2011 and 2012. But this year I have committed to run Del Sol (Phoenix), Wasatch Back (Utah), and Vegas Ragnar Relays.

The idea of running the Del Sol Ragnar came about because we were joking about how many medals we could get. Each relay gets you at least one medal for finishing. But if you run Vegas and Wasatch Back, you get a medal for each race and then a combined medal (The Saints and Sinners medal) for running both. Also if you run Vegas and any other Ragnar Relay (other than the Wasatch Back) you get a combined medal (The Deuces Wild medal) for that.

The timing of the Del Sol Relay was also appealing since its warm in Phoenix in February but not too hot. A nice-weather getaway from cold Utah. The timing of the this relay was good because the majority of our van is several weeks into marathon training for the Ogden Marathon.

Conveniently I was able to find another team online that needed 6 other runners. That worked out perfectly since we had 6 runners and didn't want to be in charge of organizing a whole team. Our team name which was chosen before we joined was the HBBs. It was only after we were committed that we found out what it stood for. Our van will say it stands for Honey Badger Bros. :)

We are Van 1 and our runners are:

1. Erik
2. Braden
3. Bryant
4. Ty
5. Brian
6. Matt

Here are the legs that will be running. 17 miles. This will be my longest Ragnar yet.

Leg 5 - 6.7 Miles

Leg 17 - 5.6 Miles

Leg 29 - 4.7 Miles

Intervals

I've been running now for 2 years and a few months. I'm two weeks into training for the Ogden Marathon in May. As part of the training program I'm following I have to run 3 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays for several weeks before I start increasing the distance. Currently, 3 miles is kind of a short run for me so I've debated how to run those 3 miles to switch it up. The first two weeks I decided to see if I could up my time which I did. Not a tone but faster than I have been running 3 miles. Today, I decided to try interval training. I googled it and found that it can be kind of simple. Below is the schedule I ended up following. Not exactly what I planned but I upped the speed towards the end when I realized I had more energy.

Minutes	MPH	Distance
5	6.0	0.50
1	8.0	0.13
4	6.0	0.50
1	8.0	0.13
4	6.0	0.50
1	8.0	0.13
4	6.0	0.50
1	8.0	0.13
4	6.0	0.50
1	8.5	0.15
2	6.5	0.22

In the end I ran my 3 miles in about 28 minutes which is more time that I would have normally. In spite of that I think I'm going to stick with doing interval training at least once a week. I will definitely up my MPHs next time because I didn't feel as exhausted as I normally do. Hopefully this does good things for my training. It's supposed to anyway. 

It's All In My Head

I know I post a lot about running. Maybe it makes you think that its effortless for me since I've been doing it for so long. But the reality is that many days its a mental battle that I have to fight. I know my body is capable of doing so much. It has shown me time and time again that it's stronger than I want to believe it is. Last Saturday was one of those days I was battling myself. As I was running 5 miles I realized that my inner dialog might be interesting to hear as an outsider. Here is my best attempt to reenact it.

Voice 1: 5 miles is a long ways to run. This is going to take me 45 minutes.
Voice 2: You've done this before. You will be fine.

Voice 1: It's only been 5 minutes. I'm already starting to sweat.
Voice 2: It's okay. Don't look at the controls for at least 3 songs.

Voice 1: I need to use my inhaler. I need to refill that prescription.
Voice 2: You're fine. You've been out for months and you still run just fine.

Voice 1: My shins are starting to hurt. I should walk some.
Voice 2: We are not going to walk yet. Your shins will loosen up as you keep running.

Voice 1: This isn't my best day. I might need to walk some and catch my breath.
Voice 2: Are you kidding me?! You always run at least 3 miles. You have to go at least that far.

Voice 1: I've only gone 15 minutes!
Voice 2: Yeah but 3 more minutes and you will have gone 2 miles. And that is 40% of the way.

Voice 1: I've only gone 40% of the way?!
Voice 2: Don't think about that. You've almost run for 20 minutes.

Voice 1: 45 minutes is a long time. I still have to run for 25 minutes!
Voice 2: Do you feel fine right now?

Voice 1: Yeah I'm fine.
Voice 2: Then just keep going.

Voice 1: Okay.
Voice 2: If you start to feel like you can't take another step then we can consider walking.

Voice 1: Okay.
Voice 2: Look! You've gone 3 miles. You've only got 2 miles left.

Voice 1: Okay.
Voice 2: 1 more minute to run a 5K.

Voice 1: No sweat.
Voice 2: 2 more minutes to run for 30 minutes. Then you just have 15 minutes to go.

Voice 1: Alright.
Voice 2: 15 minutes. That is less that 2 miles.

Voice 1: Okay.
Voice 2: 6 minutes more to go 4 miles. You can do anything for 6 minutes.

Voice 1: I've heard you say that before and then you just tack on another 6 minutes.
Voice 2: Just focus on now. Are you okay?

Voice 1: Of course I'm okay.
Voice 2: See you've gone 4 miles and you wanted to walk after 5 minutes. You're stronger than you think!

Voice 1: Yeah it wasn't as bad as I expected.
Voice 2: 1 miles left. That is less than 3 songs. Don't look down until this song finishes.

Voice 1: Oops! I accidentally looked.
Voice 2: It's okay don't look again until the song is over.

Voice 1: Okay
Voice 2: You can look. See you only have 6 minutes. You can do anything for 6 minutes!

Voice 1: Didn't you say that 9 minutes ago?
Voice 2: Yeah, and look at you! I was right.

Voice 1: Accepted.
Voice 2: You're almost there. Home stretch!

Voice 1: Phew! I'm done.
Voice 2: I knew you could do it all along. Why don't you believe in yourself?!

What Is Ragnar?

You've seen me post about Ragnar plenty. So you probably already know what it is but I liked this new little video overview of Ragnar...

Recommit & Do It Publicly

Last year at about this time I posted on my blog my Then & Now entry. After than post I went on to get down below 190 lbs. As I exercised and exercised, I started worrying less and less about what I was eating. I've slowly let my weight creep up above 205 lbs. I keep trying to tell myself its not a big deal and keep pushing ahead doing what I've been doing. The problem is that that is how I got as large as I was before. So yesterday when I did my daily weigh-in and saw that I was up to 208 lbs I decided that I had to do something about it then.

1. I updated my then and now photo to better remind myself what I'm capable of achieving.
2. I downloaded My Fitness Pal and set it up to track my goals, calories, exercise, etc...
3. I started making commitments to family and friends.
4. I decided to blog about this to further commit myself.

I've been doing great with exercise. I'm still super active. It's become a habit for me and I enjoy it. I spin at least twice a week. I usually run, do yoga, and lift weights on the other days with a day or two off during the week.

What I really need to be focusing my attention is on my calorie intake and what kind of calories I'm getting. This is where the My Fitness Pal is going to come in handy. I've only tracked one day's calories so far but I'm kind of excited about it all. Last time I was counting my calories I was using Lose It but My Fitness Pal seems much more complete. Yesterday it showed me that while I was under my allotted calories I had too many carbohydrate and fat calories and not enough protein calories. This is good to know! Anyway if you are on My Fitness Pal you can find me here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/btborup. Add me as a friend.

For me, I've found this kind of public commitment helpful even though it makes me super nervous because it means I have to follow through. But while I'm nervous I'm also sooo excited! So here goes... :)