New Yoooork New Yooooork☺☺☺ & Wo-Man Up!!

I finished up this week a little over 25 miles and I’m feeling great. Overall, I’m extremely happy to be running again yet also very antsy to ramp up the mileage. I’m taking it really slow and adding mileage gradually, with the goal to keep my foot healthy (and everything else of course). My core work and strength work continues to go well also.

The summer temps arrived a few weeks ago and have remained above 100 degrees every day. Thank goodness at 6 am when I start my runs, it’s a beautiful chilly 70-75 lately ☺ I LOVE it and I feel at peace out there running and enjoying my time to think, de-stress, visualize, get pumped for my next marathon, etc. ☺ Which by the way is going to be the New York City Marathon!! Woo hoooo!! I am extremely excited because I have raced the marathon back in 2008 and my two races thus far this year in NYC have gone really well. I’ll spend 3 weeks in NYC this summer and again in the fall for the race I’ll be there for two weeks for the marathon and to go see my sister race at her Big East Championships and NCAA Northeast Regional Championships. Yay!

I look forward to racing an incredibly fast, gutsy, strong, tough and exciting 26.2 miles on November 7th, among the best women in the world (and being a part of another women’s USA National Marathon Championship, which NYC is hosting in conjunction with their regular elite women’s field). I remember wanting to cry on the bus ride to the start line in Staten Island in 2008. It feels so incredibly special and overwhelming to be on one of maybe 3-4 busses filled with the best male and female marathoners in the world, while the sun gradually rises and police cars and motorcycles give us a special escort over to the start line area. The streets and bridges in all 5 boroughs are pretty quiet and empty while spectators get situated on the sidewalks before 40,000 + runners start to race through. Having the all-women elite start is pretty special too; this year I’ll make sure I run fast enough to not have the lead men catch me with a mile to go like last time! Haha. The next 19 weeks I am sure many memories will play over and over in my head and I can’t wait for that bus ride again this year….until then though, I have a lot of hard work, suffering and sacrifices to make.

Speaking of hard work, suffering and sacrifice, I’ve been struggling a bit lately while thinking of ALL my goals I have for myself. Plain and simple, from the 800 meters all the way to the marathon and even cross country, I want to get FASTER (and finish high in big races obviously)! I know it takes time and I can only focus on one “A” race at a time, yet being patient has always been a weakness of mine; I like to see instant results, HA. I think watching all the amazing and inspiring races at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships the past few days has made me just want to get out there and race fast! It’s been way too long ☹ It’ll be here soon enough though…gotta remember to enjoy the journey…

If you live in the Phoenix area or ever visit. you HAVE to go to Luci’s in Phoenix on the NW corner of 16th St and Bethany Home Rd….DELICIOUS!! I went there this morning with a friend of mine, had the best French toast of my life ☺ and a very large (32 oz) vanilla latte, LOL..yum yum. We hung out for a while and it’s a cute, fun place to be with tons of people there all the time!

Quote for today (that I really need right now): “Manning up is refusing to let anxiety, fear and suffering steer you away from what you know you really want as an athlete. The ability to man up is hugely beneficial to performance, of course, and I also think it’s the essence of character.”

pic: Me racing NYC in 2008.

Eminem, Naps and Gettin' Down to Business...:)

I'm typically NOT an Eminem fan, but his new album "Recovery" has some great songs with incredible lyrics. I love listening to certain ones, especially when I'm working out. My faves are "25 to Life" (wow), "Love the way you lie" (awesome w/ Rihanna), and "Not Afraid"....Obviously every song has its intended meanings by the artist, yet of course we can apply them to our own lives and some lyrics can have symbolism that can be interpreted in different ways :) Anyway, his new stuff is great and when I have amazing new music to listen to when I train, it takes me to a different level, I run faster and I imagine myself racing super fast; I LOVE new music!!

I vividly remember being five years old and NEVER wanting to take a nap when my mom told me to. I'd come out of my room begging her to let me stay up; I STILL remember doing it and it makes me laugh. I can probably count on both hands how many naps I have taken in the past 15 years. I think I just always find something to do even if I am tired, get an iced coffee from Coffee Bean (yup 5 shots of espresso in their large!!!ahhh lol), and then continue to get things done in the day and go to bed at night. Therefore over time I am probably constantly a little sleep deprived. So many professional runners take naps like every single day! I have never been able to do that, mostly because of my teaching all day and by the time I get home, even if I didn't have a second workout, it would be weird to nap from about 4 pm to 6 pm, haha. I'd rather spend time with my boys anyway :) Well, the past week I have taken 2-2.5 hour naps on 3 different days and they felt sooo great. It took me about 45 minutes to feel fully awake again and be able to do another workout, yet it definitely refreshed me a little bit. I'll definitely continue to take them as much as possible, especially since I love staying up late. It's hard to go to bed at 9 or 10 when I want to stay up, yet getting up at 5:30 on most days lately is NOT fun when you go to bed late, ahem...like I have found out a couple times ;) When my workouts get harder and longer my body will need a nap to recover and rest a little more.

Now that my running is back in full swing pain-free, it's time to get down to business baby!! :) I have been mapping out my training and potential races for the next few months and it's very exciting. Someone recently told me that planning races and having certain ones to focus on, is something I need to treat like a business. It's very true, obviously, since this is my business. My career is training, racing and traveling all over the world and although it's what I love so incredibly much, sometimes you have to really treat certain aspects like a business to get what you want and accomplish your goals. My agent is working on finalizing my fall marathon plan but right now it's looking fab-u-lousssss :):) I am so incredibly excited. There are some things I am going to do differently for this marathon in order to really see what I am capable of.
First of all, I will not race as much as I did last summer and I won't race as much leading up to the marathon because long training weekends and the important marathon pace runs, long runs, etc. are not worth interrupting to go race across the country. We'll see if this approach is good for me; different plans work for different people. I'm also going to work on getting leaner than I've ever been before. Let's face it, I'll never weigh 100 pounds and if I did I might be on my deathbed. However I will work on not eating as many sweets, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, etc. It's all not really that complicated but having really good willpower is always easier said than done, especially for someone like myself who has tended to pretty much always eat what I want. :) We'll see how it goes...I may also go do some altitude training the couple months leading up to the marathon. Quote for today: "It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself"- Muhammad Ali

Run run! Splish splash + Mr. S and Jack Black

Wowsers this past week has been oh so fabulous ☺ Last Monday, I almost cried tears of joy the first quarter mile of my run. It hit me for the first time in years how much I am completely in love with running; a simple run of 2 miles truly made my day. All week I felt completely content, yet in the back of my head I still had a little bit of fear that I would suddenly have sharp pains. Thank goodness they never showed up ☺

I ran a little over 20 miles with a day off on Wednesday. I went to Endurance Rehab for another check up and Wolfgang actually told me the adhesions in the soft tissue of my fascia are smaller and it seems better! Pretty amazing that despite starting to run again and getting less and less treatment has been doing some good. All the stretching I’ve been doing, wearing my Strasburg sock, the time off, etc. helped in some way or another. On every single run I wore my CEP compression socks (www.cepsocks.com) and I really believe they help so much, especially with my Brooks Trance shoes (http://www.brooksrunning.com/product/1200571B/123212/Trance%209) that already have a good arch support. I wear my neutral running shoes with orthotics pretty much everywhere I go too, even walking around the house, lol. This coming week I plan to run about 25 miles and I’m looking forward to it. Taking it slow each week and gradually increasing my mileage is definitely the smartest thing right now, and it makes me more and more excited to run, rather than immediately rushing into 8-10 mile runs every day.

About 6 months ago I wanted to order a suit from Splish (www.splish.com) that I really really liked, yet it was sold out in the two piece. Well I got on their site a couple weeks ago and they have it again! It’s called Awesome Girl, and it has a lightning bolt on the front and stars on the bottoms, hahaha…I just love it..I wore it for the first time yesterday and it’s really comfortable. We had a delicious breakfast at DD (Daily Dose) in Old Town Scottsdale for father’s day and we brought our bikes in dad’s truck so afterward we rode over to Eldorado for a swim. We rode back to Tempe after the swim and I relaxed the rest of the day ☺

We got to the pool a little bit before they opened so I had a chance to really put on sunscreen and not be lazy. Most of the time I can’t find sunscreen that actually WORKS when I’m in the pool and I still tend to get burned. I have tried a new more natural sunscreen by a company called Jack Black (www.getjackblack.com) and I really like it! I used it on my bike ride the other day and I love how it dries and doesn’t make me feel like I am in a sauna after I put it on. Most sunscreens say they are “non-greasy” but this one really is and I don’t have to worry about it dripping off, stinging my eyes, etc. It’s also fragrance free, doesn’t have a lot of crappy ingredients and overall seems great for my sensitive skin.

Another really awesome product by Jack Black that I started using is their Performance Remedy Dragon Ice Relief and Recovery Balm. It has some more natural herbs and pain relieving ingredients to reduce inflammation, muscles aches and pains, etc. I massaged it into my foot and it felt fantastic. I’m definitely going to start using it for self massage on any areas I have aches and pains because it actually works! I really like Jack Black products and I can’t wait to try the rest of their line.


Quote for today: "People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway." -- Mother Teresa

Life, Lemmon and I get to RUN tomorrow!! *&*^$%& :):):)

This past week I swam and rode more than I did the entire two weeks prior! HA…14k in the pool, including a 4k straight free session yesterday at Eldorado (outdoor pools help me stay a little sane), 186 miles on my bike the past 6 days, and 7 straight days of core and strength training…UGH I am so tired right now. I have been really silly, making jokes and laughing my butt off all day and evening…clearly I am really overtired and will sleep well tonight ☺ I’m so happy I’ve gotten back into a routine and although I have a ways to go before being in amazing shape for Kona, I am excited for the journey and can’t wait to celebrate all night on October 9th! ☺

Climbing Lemmon for the 5th time today was challenging because my legs felt pretty tired, yet super fun because I brought my sister with me and she had a ton of fun. There were a lot of people at the top of the mountain and there was a music festival going on with tents of food, drinks, etc. A few beers before descending Lemmon at 40+ mph? probably not a great idea ;) We did get a HUGE bag of Kettle corn though and managed to eat most of it on the drive home…delish. I enjoyed wearing my new Triple Sports jersey and it’s really comfortable so I am sure it’s going to work great in Kona. I’ll also test it out at my tris this summer and make sure it works well in racing ☺ I was laughing so hard when a lady at Le Buzz put an adorable parrot on my shoulder..he was eating tomatoes and dropping them on my shoulder, haha

I have been just drinking water on my rides lately and eating a GU or some Chomps if I feel light headed, hungry, etc. Today I enjoyed my favorite Vanilla Gus and a small bag of orange GU Chomps and my stomach responded well and I felt good. I need to continue practicing my fuel consumption and finding the perfect combination so I don’t have stomach problems in a really long race. Luckilly with GU products I’ve never had any issues; right now it’s about finding the right balance of sodium, calories, etc.

Oh my gosh I cannot believe the time has finally come!!! TOMORROW morning I am going to RUN for the first time in 6 weeks ☺☺ I have kept myself busy all week with training, meeting up with friends, going out, etc. to make the last week off fly by….and it has!! I’m very excited and I hope the entire week of gradually getting back into it goes really well. I’m looking forward to hanging out at LGO afterward and eventually swimming again outside in the afternoon!

This week, in addition to my core/ST, I plan to run about 20 miles, ride 150 and swim 20k.; should be a good week. My longest ride will probably be Tuesday pretty early in the morning, from Tempe and out along the Beeline…hopefully there won’t be much traffic during the week going out that way!

Quote for today: “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you”- Maya Angelou

Triple Sports, Kona, Brooks and Runner’s World…

I am so excited because I picked up a bunch of great stuff at Triple Sports and I really love my new jersey with their logo on it. As soon as I get a picture of it I will post it ☺ I also got a much needed new helmet, some new triathlon cycling shoes and some great Zoot shorts, the women’s Ultra Tri Short. Everything I got is awesome and I love going into Triple Sports because I always leave feeling more excited and motivated to train and race. I’m looking forward to my first triathlon race in July, the first since Oceanside!

I have made some “official” Kona plans lately and I am superrrr excited!!! I kept teetering on what to do and whether or not to even go race. To make a long story short I finally made a decision based off what I want to do, and not based off other outside factors or opinions. I have a condo ON the beach booked and a convertible for my ride, so now all I need is to get my ticket ☺ I am finally getting in gear with my training as well and I am happier than I have been in a while. I thought that the voice in my head telling me “no” when I imagined getting on my bike or going swimming was a sign my heart wasn’t in it as much as it should be. However not doing training other than my core and strength actually made me feel less productive, more bored and affected my mood more than I realized. Now that I have gotten back into everything I feel like a different person. Although earlier my legs felt like they had been hit with sledge hammers due to my hot and challenging 50 mile ride today in the 100+ degree heat, LOL ☺ I feel so much better being in a routine and pushing myself, even if running is still not in the mix ☹

Today I also got a call from someone at Brooks, inviting me to an elite athlete/coaches symposium and few days of FUN in Seattle this July. I’m super excited to go up there and hang out with awesome athletes, coaches and Brooks employees, see new gear, etc. It will be so nice to get out of the heat for a few days too! ☺

I had a pleasant surprise when I flipped through my July issue of Runner’s World and saw a small blip about me and Kristin Davis, from when I won the More Women’s Half Marathon and said “I LOVE Sex and the City”, when I received my award. Not only was meeting her really fun, but then there I am with a picture right next to her, haha. The new second movie is absolutely hilarious by the way….:)


Quote for today: “Only think of two things- the gun and the tape- When you hear one just run like hell til you break the other”- Sam Mussabini

Hope

I have had a very very fun weekend filled with tons of laughing (so hard I cried :) ), my delicious "giant sunday pancakes", some training and other various fun activities. I am having fears of what my foot will feel like after my first run next monday and I keep reminding myself that I just need to hope for the best. If it hurts or doesn't feel great afterward, I hope I will have the strength and positivity to maintain my faith in myself, my goals and my talent. Based off the little twinges and tightness I still get about every other day, I am being realistic and assuming the injury isn't going to be "gone". My biggest fear was that taking this time off would not heal the injury, and if that is the case I'll be extremely annoyed. Yet at the same time, I would have always wondered if time off would help. Either way, I'm getting some sort of answer out of the situation. I'm hoping my appointment tomorrow at Endurance Rehab helps me somewhat as well :)

A quote that really helps me lately with some stressful decisions weighing on me is:

"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want"- Buddha

another new favorite as well:

"You gotta live to learn
you gotta crash and burn
you gotta make some stances
and take some chances
you gotta live and love
and take all life has to give
you gotta live and learn
so you can learn to live."

Antsy...

5 weeks of time off is almost complete and I can try running again on June 14th. I have managed to stay pretty sane and embrace the time off yet now I am getting antsy to run again ☺ The excitement I have to just simply lace up my shoes and take off down the canal running, even if it’s going to only be two miles, makes me smile. Phoenix has decided to dump 110 plus temperatures on us after giving us a gorgeous month of May. Nothing like 95 up to 110…get us runners used to it real quick ☺ I’ll definitely make the 14th a special one…hit the canal in Phoenix and then hang out and relax at LGO afterward…yeah baby ☺

I got my lovely little Coop limo tinted today and she looks so sexy. I can’t believe I have been driving her in Phoenix for all this time without having dark tint! I love it…now all she needs is a spoiler and rims and she will be hot hot hot ☺

My core and strength training continue to go really well and it’s keeping me strong from my feet up, so when I start running again I’ll be structurally strong and hopefully remain injury free! I have a check up with Endurance Rehab this coming Monday so we’ll see what they say about my foot. I’ll definitely hit up MMR pool while I am up that way…can never pass up the most gorgeous lap pool I’ve ever swum in ☺

TGIF!!! Tonight I am going out to drink some tasty Chambords and eat the best corn bread in the valley ☺ Time to get ready to start another fun weekend. Gotta live it up while I can, until my alarm starts ringing at 5 am for my runs ☺ Have a great weekend everyone!!

Quote of the day: “You’re only as strong as the tables you dance on, the drinks you mix and the friends you roll with” …☺

Love...?

Right now a big debate in my head is whether or not to train professionally for triathlons in addition to my professional running career. There are many positives to do doing both yet there are a few negative thoughts running through my head as well. The main one being, "can I LOVE triathlon like I love running?". Running has been my "thing", so to speak, since I was a little girl and finally at 14 I devoted all my time to focusing on running, instead of swimming, which I had also had a lot of success doing. My talent with running showed from a very young age and I have had some ups and downs for the last 16 years. Thankfully I haven't been victim to many serious injuries yet the past year my heel spur and pain associated with it, has tested my "love" for running. Physically I could run through probably anything, even a broken bone, yet emotionally, the stress, heartache and sadness I felt everyday was too much to handle after 12 months. During this time off I have missed my running a LOT, yet I have had the opportunity to test my love for the pool and Mr. Specialized :)

Needless to say, the true love for the other two sports just isn't there. Yet I ask myself, "Sally, have you truly opened yourself up to even the possibility to LOVE the other two?" Or am I afraid to eventually love triathlon just as much if not more than running, abandoning all the dreams and goals I had as just a runner? Running is my comfortable sport. I know it's always there for me, will always make me happy (if I'm injury free) and just in general I enjoy it more than the other two sports. Do I have to LOVE swimming and biking to be among the best in the world in triathlon? Well, probably not, but I need to at least get myself to the pool and get out on the roads. I need to give my body the chance to get in a groove, improve and go race, ..... and maybe I'll fall in love with the sport. It's not a guarantee that being good at something means you are going to love it. Yet with me, if I train really hard for a very long time, I might be hating the sport at the time but then traveling to a race and going and pushing myself incredibly hard to get a fantastic result leaves me feeling happy, accomplished and so proud that I "stuck it out" and didn't just quit when the going got tough.

I have always been a risk taker and love just giving myself a shot, because I figure if you never try, you will never know. With this situation, there are financial aspects to consider, a whole new set of things to learn and just in general there is the complete unknown. I KNOW how great I can be with my running already, and I know there is even more for me to accomplish with running. With triathlon, I have no clue....and it scares me. I guess I am afraid to "fail", to not do as well as I expect and hope. I know I need to seek out others who are more experienced, get advice, take it one step at a time, try to simply enjoy it as much as I can and take some risks. After all, "with great risk comes great reward" :)

GU sent me an awesome package of great goodies recently. My favorite GU Brew Recovery and Electrolyte drinks (Strawberry Watermelon, Raspberry and Blueberry Pomegranate) were in there, as well as some boxes of a new flavor they are bringing out!! It's going to replace the Orange Burst, and it's called Mandarin Orange. I tried it yesterday and it's yummy!! :) It would be so good to eat part of one and also eat some of a Vanilla GU, kinda make it taste like a creamsicle haha...try to manage that on a run or ride....might have to be at a stop for that one ;) Keep an eye out for the new Mandarin Orange...definitely going to be a new popular flavor.

Less than two weeks left until I can try running again, and I am continuing to enjoy everyday of my break. This past holiday weekend was SUPER fun and going to parties, meeting new people, hanging with great friends and eating and drinking great food, etc. was awesome. There is nothing better than being around people who just make you happy to be alive :)

Tonight I am excited to cook a delicious meal. I have to say, cooking and baking is one of my favorite things to do; it's really fun to spend hours making delicious food from scratch, seeing and tasting how amazing it is after all the time spent on it. It doesn't even have to be something super fancy, yet so many people these days just get frozen foods, bagged foods, pre-made cookie dough, etc. and it grosses me out, haha. Tonight I am making delicious burgers that have been marinating in a teriyaki sauce for two days, sweet and salty brown sticky rice, some type of veggie (not sure yet) and then dessert is homemade banana pudding and I'm going to make homemade whipped cream to put on top! :) yummmm I cannot wait. The banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery in NYC is my favorite in the whole world, so I'll see how close I can get mine :) I have fresh blackberries and strawberries in the fridge, so I'll have to make some whipped cream for those too.

I had a gorgeous, although a bit windy, 25 mile ride this morning. Now it's time for some core work and then getting ready for dinner..woo hoo! :)

Quotes for today: "Happiness is a choice. You can either choose to be happy or not" and: "When the going gets tough, the tough get tougher" :)