My First Marathon - Check

I can finally check a marathon off my bucket list (woohoo!).   I did not just complete any marathon, but a SUPER hilly challenging course unlike any other called the American Birkebeiner Train Run.  The elevation is equivalent to climbing the Empire State Building 3 times in 26.2 miles - yup there's some crazy-steep hills!!

This race meant so much to me for so many reasons.  I was never athletic in high school or college and up until 5 years ago, I had never run before.  I'm 43, work full-time with 3 busy kids and I certainly do not have the body shape of your typical marathoner.  But, I took the risk, signed up, trained and I did it.  Now, if I can run a marathon I believe that anything is possible and I'll never underestimate myself again.

Here's my tips on how to meet your fitness goal:

1.  Schedule it:   if you have you it written in your schedule you have a better chance of not filling your time with other stuff.  And don't fool yourself, your physical health is extremely important and you need to take care of yourself. 

I prefer to workout first thing in the morning before my day gets filled up with other stuff AND I do not want to give myself a lot of time to think about that 20 mile run.  If you get up, meet your partners, and get to it you are more likely to make it happen.  On one of our 18 milers we met for the car drop off around 4:30 a.m.  Yes, it kinda' sucked but we got it done.

2.  Partner up:  meeting up with friends to exercise makes your time more enjoyable, you are accountable to show up, and it's the best free therapy you could ever ask for.  Also, my running friends were so supportive and also gave me the best tips from nutrition, sports bras to shoes.  Luckily my friend Stacey agreed to take on this crazy challenge with me (even though she's much faster it worked well to train together).

Stacey and me pre-marathon!

3.  Sign up:  by signing up a race you are committed to figure out a training plan.  Having friends to sign up for something similar also helps. 

4.  Switch things up:  living in Wisconsin means I have 4 glorious seasons and I change my workout schedule 4 times a year.  For this marathon, I only ran 3 times a week and the other 3 days I biked, swam or participated in yoga.  For me, running 3 times a week seems to be the magic number.  Last year I ran more and ended up with an injury.   Of course you have to do what works for you.

And here's what I learned from my marathon training:

1.  Perseverance!!!  Seriously, I almost quite training for the marathon after a bad 11 mile run and then a bad 13 mile run.   My friend Colleen paced me on the next 14 mile run and I found success - I felt great!  Had I quit after those 2 bad runs I never would have met my goal of being a Birkie Warrior.

2.  Focus:  While I usually have my eye on some sort of a goal, I have never experienced focus like I experienced for this marathon.  The marathon seemed to be all I could think about. The Sunday after the race I literally felt like I woke up from a dream / nap.  I looked around and realized so many areas I had let slide because my focus had been so laser sharp.  I had paid the mortgage and electricity, fed my kids and made sure they had clean underwear - BUT that's about it!  Everything else I had really let slide (including my blog)..  Let's just say I have a lot of make-up work to do BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!

3.  Pacing works:  For the Birkie Trail Marathon they have some tight cut off times in place, and I had a lot of anxiety about making the cut.  So, the morning before the race I wrote down the times I needed to safely make the cut-off points (i.e. - mile 3 - 8:35 am, mile 5 - 9:07 am, etc.).  Not only did this ease my anxiety, but as I reached each 2 mile spot on track or ahead of schedule I gave myself an internal high five.  Plus it was a great distraction. 

My Pacing Arms - thanks for Amy Rowley for taking the pic!

4.  I have so much to be grateful for:   I'm mostly grateful for all of my Ski and Tea sisters that stuck around to see me finish.  My marathon was slow and I had many of my ski and tea sisters that completed other races that day and they either met me on the trail or cheered me in at the end.  Chad had to work and I had to get a babysitter for my kids so I didn't expect to see anyone at the finish but instead I had running friends who cheered me through the finish line.  Dang, I'm blessed and I'm so grateful to those of you that cheered me on that day or sent me energy from afar.

So, what's your goal?  After my marathon experience, I really believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Have a great weekend!!

Kristin

Training For My First Marathon

My personal bucket list has included running a marathon, and since I'm not get any younger I signed up (along with my friend Stacey).  I've been training for this event for MONTHS but I did not dare post because when I started training I wasn't sure physically I'd be able to run 26.2 hilly miles.  But less than a month away, I'm fairly confident I can do it.  And let me tell you, I'm a citizen athlete and this is a really big freaking deal for me.

Found this on Facebook and found it quite appropriate

Below you will find a sample of my weekly training plan, but what I've found is that running 3 days a week and biking or yoga the other days has left me feeling physically better than I have in a long time (don't want to gooch myself - but I'm feeling fantastic unless there's heat involved). 

I'm no expert but here's MY TRAINING LESSONS:

1.  Hydration

What I've learned this year is that I need to drink 10 glasses of water the day before my long run, and by drinking Gatorade or Nun during my run I feel properly hydrated.  If I start with a hydration deficit, I've learned that the run will be difficult or impossible.  Before my long runs I also eat 1 tablespoon of chia seeds which helps maintain blood sugar and helps maintain hydration.

2.  Eating

Sharkies Organic Chewies works best for me during a long run and I eat after the first hour and every 1/2 hour thereafter and this works great for me.

3.  Running with friends

Without the support of my running friends this race would not be possible.  Running friends have tagged along with me on these long runs, shuttled cars, brought extra water so I wouldn't have to carry so much, provided encouragement and their support has been invaluable.  Having company when you are out there running a trail for hours is absolutely critical for my success.  Usually by about mile 10 I'm not very talkative so I'm probably not the best company but I'm forever grateful (you know who you are).

4.  Sign up

I've said this before, but once you sign up for a race you are committed to follow a training plan - trust me, this works.   Luckily, my friend Stacey signed up for the race too so we've been following the same plan.   

5.  Anything is possible

My Spring workout schedule was very strange for me this year.  Normally, I transition from the Birkie ski race right into running and biking, but we had snow into May this year so I didn't start running until the 3rd week in May.  When I started running, I had to stop and walk during a 5 mile flat run with friends.  Thursday, I ran an 18 miler on the hilly Birkie trail.  Goes to show you, that if you follow a training plan anything is possible.  Honestly, up until recently I've said, "I could never run a marathon" and really believed it - but here I am!!

6.  Marathon training takes a lot of time

On the days of my long run, I can't help but feel a little guilty because the entire day is pretty much a "me day".  I'll spend hours running and many days when I get home I'm not exactly energetic.  I purposely have NOTHING planned the days of my long runs, because mentally when I'm running long I like to know that I have the freedom to go home and nap if I need to.   Mentally this is an important part of the process for me.

7.  Running in the heat is hard

Out of all my long runs, I've had 2 really ugly runs.  Both of them included high heat, humidity and massive amount of bugs.  On those 2 days, I seriously questioned whether or not I could run a marathon but on both of those days the humidity was at 90% and apparently that's a problem for me.  Lesson learned.  My 1 hour run today at 77 degrees was almost harder than my 18 mile run on Thursday at 45 degrees.  Isn't that crazy? 

8.  Hills

As I've mentioned before, the Birkie trail is a very hilly course but one thing that has helped me has been to keep my head up by looking up the hill (your head weighs 10 pounds), keep your butt in (pelvis up), and swing your arms completely parallel to your body.  Once I get tired, the super steep hills start feeling like I'm leg pressing 130 pounds and my thighs burn but by keeping my head up, swinging my arms and tilting my pelvis in it helps a bit.  Sounds fun, huh?

THIS WEEKS PLAN:

Sunday:  Run 6 - 7 miles
Monday:  Yoga - 1 hour
Tuesday:  Rest
Wednesday:  Run 20 miles (Gravel Pit to Telemark on the Birkie)
Thursday:  Rest
Friday:  Run 8 miles
Saturday:  Bike for 1 1/2 hours

Other than Wednesday, the plan is not really that bad and I've worked up to the long runs over the past few months.  Trust me, if I can do this anyone can. 

Thanks Honest Tea for the great reminder

Physically this will be challenging, but my biggest anxiety lies in the cut-off times.  Unfortunately, the cut-off times mean I'm going to have to hustle.  And, I've been telling myself if by chance I don't make the cut-offs, I know that I've followed the training plan and given it my best effort.   Hopefully I'll have a successful MARATHON post in less than a month!

And on a another note, I took the kids to Chicago to do all the touristy things you do in Chicago and we had the best time ever.  Once we got back, I asked the kids the highlights:  Gustaf said he loved the subway, Greta loved to watch the fashions, and Graham loved the Shedd Aquarium.  Chad had to work so he missed it this time, but we hope to get back soon.  We stayed at the amazing Silversmith Hotel in downtown because I found a screaming deal from Groupon.  

Chicago 2013 - EXTREME HAPPINESS RIGHT HERE!!!!

Have you taken a summer vacation yet?  What lessons have learned this training season?

Thanks for reading!

Kristin

Fermented Foods

With all the experiments going on in my kitchen, you'd almost think I'm getting ready to host a science fair.   On the top of the fridge I have my beloved kombucha, on my counter I have 3 stages of bread fermenting, and I started my own wine (mead).    So, what's with my new obsession with fermented foods?

Sour Dough Starter in my Grandma's Bowl

Last week I read Micheal Pollan's new book called Cooked.  Quite honestly, I really did not enjoy the first half of the book but in the last half he discussed the important of fermented foods. I've mentioned before that mentally and physically I started feeling amazing the day I started my kombucha addiction.  Well, Pollan sites many sources in his book which again emphasizes the importance of those live foods.  And because of the book I became inspired to try and conquer three new fermented foods:  Country Loaf Bread, Home-made wine (Mead), and Sauerkraut.


COUNTRY LOAF BREAD

Now, I'm not going to lie this bread was a lot of work and I slaved over this bread for 10 days (making my own sour dough starter, etc.) and as of to date I have yet to fully master Pollan's multi-grain bread.  The recipe is literally 10 pages long and if you are crazy enough to attempt this recipe you can google Micheal Pollan's recipe.  For years I've been wanting to master my own whole grain bread, and I'm getting closer!

My attempt at multi-grain bread

MEAD

Making Mead could not be easier not more delicious.  Basically, you add 1 part honey to 4 parts water, cover with an air lock (or a balloon or condom will work too - seriously) and wait for 3 weeks.  Delicious, sweet low alcohol wine with lots of good bacteria for your belly, mind and spirit.

My garden is REALLy producing right now.  I just picked 50 jalapenos which I pickled.

As for the sauerkraut, I'm ready to go but I'm waiting for my cabbage harvest.

Leaving for a little summer vacation to Chicago.  Do you have a summer trip planned?

Kristin

Garden Update - 2013

"Be as simple as you can be;  you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become." Paramahansa Togananda.  When I started to analyze why I have not been blogging quite as much, this quote seemed to fit.  If I give myself the chance to slow down, breathe, laugh with my kids, and dance to the music I can find great joy.  And with 3 kids and a full-time job sometimes slowing down can be difficult but the payoffs are huge.

My garden is my happy place and right now we have a VERY prolific garden which includes broccoli, 30 pepper plants (wide variety of peppers), 40 tomato plants, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet peas, green beans, asparagus, zinnias, sunflowers and cauliflower. 

Here's a picture of the garden on June 20th:

Greta on June 20th - the skeets were REALLY bad that day

Six weeks later:

Greta in the same spot 6 weeks later - wow!

I'm 5 foot 6 and many of the tomato plants are taller than me

 

 

 

My tomato plants include a WIDE variety of heirlooms. 
This tomato plant is called a BORAGE.  It started out as a runt but with some
organic fertilizer and TLC it was soon over 5 feet tall.  The flowers are purple, lavender and occasionally hot pink.  I can't wait to see the end product.  By far this is my favorite plant in the garden.

 

Today's harvest includes a bunch of different peppers, broccoli and sweet peas featured on my Grandma's platter

Green beans have been abundant this year so I was able to preserve a bunch (pressure canning) for the winter.

Some of my favorite things in the world include running with friends, reading by the fire (it's cold here today), taking a little nap, laughing with the family, and gardening and I've had all that today so I'm feeling pretty darn blessed.  What are your favorite things?  How's your garden?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

Bi-Monthly Book Review

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”    Doesn't this quote sum it up?  I'm not sure who wrote it but I love it.

Below you will find the books I've read over the past 2 months - 1 is the lowest score and 5 is the highest.

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn - 5 stars

-Charles William Eliot

 

As you know, I'm a total reading fanatic and when I am without a book I feel lost.   The quote above really captures how I feel about reading.  Often I hear, "how do you have time to read?" to which I reply:  "I do not watch tv, movies, and I read every night before I go to bed to prepare me for sleep." 

 

Before I digress anymore, here's my list of books:

 

Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

The story of 2 lovestruck magicians and their adventures in the night circus.

 

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn 

Very entertaining mystery with a psychological twist.  Highly recommend.

Women, Food and God, Geneen Roth - 2 stars
Non-fiction read on how to connect to your true hunger. 

Night Circus, Erin Morgenstein - 2 stars
Two lovestruck magicians are engaged in a night time circus.  For some reason I didn't love this book.

The Woodcutter, Reginald Hill - 3 1/2 stars
A very interesting novel about a man, the woodcutter, and his adventures.  Very good book but it took me a full month to finish it (kinda' long).

Sugar, Salt and Fat, Micheal Moss - 4 stars
A non-fiction book about how the food giants add sugar, salt and fat to make us eat more (hence, buy more).

Brotherhood, Deepak and Sanjiv Chopra - 1/2 star
True story about Deepak and his brother Sanjiiv growing up in India but I did not care for the writing.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny Lawson -5 stars
A mostly true story about this quirky, hilarious blogger - LOVE!  Warning though - she swears a lot so I'd skip this book if that bothers you.

I haven't been blogging much because I've been spending all my time preparing for Graham's confirmation party, watching the boy's baseball games, gardening and work. 

Our Family Picture at Graham's confirmation - poor Gus is getting squished!

That's it for my review:  I'd run out and read Gone Girl and Let's Pretend This Never Happened if I were you!

What book are you reading?  I'd love to hear.

Thanks,

Kristin