Yogahhhhhhhhhhhhh

So, as my rest period comes to a close, I've come to appreciate yoga even more (I've been a fan for quite a while, but don't do it as much as I know that I should). During the last 3 weeks I've been doing a LOT of yoga - some workouts to video at home, some Hatha-style at work, PiYo - a blend of Pilates and Yoga (which I'm taking a class to become certified to teach in a few weeks!), and today, a Hot Power Yoga class. I've taken a power yoga class before and really enjoyed it - it's my preferred form of yoga to practice at home. But while I've heard of hot yoga (the room is heated to 95+ degrees), I hadn't had the chance to try it out. Today, I joined a friend at a local studio for the Hour of Power - an hour of challenging power yoga, in a room that felt like a sauna, packed with UBER hard core looking yoga peeps. Gulp.

It. Was. Awesome!!!!!!! I sweat from places that I didn't know had sweat glands. By mid-workout, I had a waterfall running off my shoulders onto my mat everytime we entered into Downward Facing Dog. My forearms were sweating. My ears were sweating. My shins were sweating. It was amazing!

I am totally this good. Totally.

The best part, of course, is the last 5 minutes when you lay back into "corpse pose" and clear your mind and relax. Just let everything go, and melt (in this class, that's almost literally true!) into your mat. Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. While I love this, I also struggle mightily with this portion of the class. You are supposed to TOTALLY clear your mind. Frankly, I don't even know what that means! What happens when you clear your mind? Can you really think about NOTHING? Aren't you in fact, still thinking? But just about nothing?

I try. I really do. I try my hardest to clear my mind, focus on my "third eye" and truly relax. This is how well I did today:

Aaaaaaaah. That was a great class. I feel amazing. I love this part. Relax. Clear the mind.
Right - this is where I focus on that "third eye" thing. Ha ha. I'd look funny with a third eye. Maybe it could be a different color? Green. I'd pick green for my third eye.
Stop it. This is serious. Focus. On nothing. And relax.
Ok, good. This is good.
Wow. I'm really sweaty. And I'm now lying in a literal pool of my own sweat right now. That's kind of gross. I think I'm the sweatiest person in the class. I wonder if the teacher noticed. I wonder if there is some kind of prize for sweating the most. I'll have to ask afterwards.
Don't be stupid. That would be totally un-yogaish. We aren't supposed to be competitive here.
But I was really good today. And the sweatiest. I definitely would place in my AG, if not OA, in class today. If they did that sort of thing, of course.
ACK! I'm not clearing my mind. Ok, focus on that eye and let everything else go.
Man, my mat is seriously wet. How am I going to roll this thing up after class? It's going to be disgusting! I'll have to clean it when I get home.
How do you clean a yoga mat? I can put it in the tub, I guess. Good god, when is the last time I cleaned the tub? Ok, I'll clean the tub first, then put my mat in there. Yeah. that'll work.
Wow! It's time to wiggle our fingers and toes already? That was GREAT!

Clearly, I need to work on this.

Tomorrow, the alarm will go off at 4:30 and I'll be on the bike by 5:00 for an hour. Then there is a short afternoon run. Back in my element!!!!!!! I can't wait!

But I will also keep up with my yoga, for I truly do believe that figuring out how to totally clear the mind is a good thing. In the meantime, I'll try not to giggle when I think about my pretty green third eye the next time I'm in Savasana.

Namaste, my friends.

And Now the Suffering REALLY Begins!

If there was any doubt that I ran my heart out on Sunday, the pain I've been in since proves that I left it ALL on the streets of Lowell. Yeouch. I haven't been this sore in .... a long time. It's primarily been my calves, which have been nearly non-functional. My coworkers joked that I look like the Tin Man before they found his oil can, as I tried to walk without engaging my calf muscles (very difficult to do, but entirely possible, if you have no issues with looking like a TOTAL idiot in public). In addition, I've just been So. Very. Tired. So much so that I threw in the towel yesterday and left work early to get home and go to bed. I then slept until 11:30am and stayed in bed until I couldn't stand the horrible mid-day TV shows any longer.
Sidebar: How many Judge Judy knockoff shows ARE there on television these days????? And where do they FIND those people? It was .... horrifying.

After my lazifest I actually started to feel stir crazy, and after running (ok, well, more awkwardly jerking in a generally forward direction is a better description) a few errands around town, I decided to try the new stretch DVD I received the other day.

Queue heavenly music.....

Bliss, pure bliss. For just under an hour Karen Voight led me through a series of stretches that took me from the Tin Man to near Gumby status. I can walk again!!!!!!!! Bless you, Ms. Voight, bless you.

Now, the off-season truly begins. I'm already starting to go a bit whacky doing nothing, but I know it's for the best so on my butt I will remain parked. I'm looking forward to pulling out some yoga workouts I haven't done in ages (starting with some gentle stretching type selections, then moving into some of the more hard-core power yoga stuff that I love), but I'm already dreaming of swimbikerun.

In the meantime, I'll continue to bask in the glow of my post-race happiness, indulge in a drink or two (I'm enjoying a nice glass of wine as I type this - CRAZY!!!!!) and start to plan my goals for next year.

As I prepare my goals for next year, I would love to hear from you all - what are your goals for '11? Become more active on a regular basis and lose those last pesky few pounds? Sign up for your first race? Go for a PR? Try a new sport, like triathlon? Let me know - I'd really love to hear what you are thinking about for your '11 plans. I'll keep you posted as I figure it out on my end, 'k?

Great Expectations: Lowell Race Report

Baystate Half-Marathon, Lowell MA

I've run this race twice before, and while the course itself is pretty darn ugly, it's a great race for a PR. It's flat (and therefore fast), it's a double loop (and therefore easy to pace), it's in mid-October so usually the weather is PERFECT for running (chilly, crisp, and clear), it's well run, and it's got a lot of spectators to keep the energy high. All aspects point to a great run - all you need is the training in the bank (check!), and the mental fortitude to pull it all together on race day (check!), and a little luck.

My previous half mary PR was (note the foreshadowing by the use of the word "was" here!) 1:44, set on this course two years ago. While I have been primarily a tri-junkie for the last many years, my run has come along nicely, so I felt I was quite capable of beating this. However, this year I was focused on Olympic distance racing (the run being a 10k), so was doing more shorter distance, fast workouts, rather than longer long runs and tempo training. In addition, after tri season comes to an end, I typically have a mental breakdown of sorts, and do NOT feel like training as hard as I have for the prior many, many months. This means that when the alarm goes off at 5:00am on a Sunday morning to get me up for my long run, I'll often roll over, smack off the alarm, and think "I'll do it later this afternoon." Well, with two kids and their activities, stuff to take care of around the house, the dog, etc., sometimes that afternoon run is cut short, or skipped altogether. Bad Zoot. But it is what it is - this is me in September, and I know it. So, while I knew I had the capability to SOMEDAY break that 1:44, I was a *little* worried that maybe, just maybe, I didn't have it all lined up for this year.

A few long runs missed, and it was taper week. Gulp. I had very minimal training on tap for that week - two short runs (5 miles / 3 miles), with fast pick-ups in the middle of them. Those runs went incredibly well - the pick-ups were WAY too fast, but it was hard to hold it in. The easy parts of the runs were also too fast, but again, going any more slowly made me feel like I was walking. Hmmmmmm...... Maybe Sunday will be a good day after all? By Friday I was going insane - all fidgety and crazy being cooped up all week with minimal training, and I was itching for Sunday to arrive. I had a double secret goal of going sub 1:40, with a more realistic goal of a 1:42.

Sunday morning arrived, I woke up before the alarm (a good sign!) and I was calm and focused. My good friend Anne was coming with me as a spectator and we had a fun morning getting checked in and settled at the race site. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and I was feeling good. No pressure, but just excited to be out there on a nice Sunday morning on a course I knew and liked. It's time to go!!!!!

I typically take a few miles to really settle in, so the plan was to take it easy those early miles until I felt good. Well, I felt good at "GO!" and after trying to hold back a little during the first mile, I just let myself settle into a comfortable pace from there out. At about the 2.5 mile mark, I was feeling fantastic, and was clicking along at a 7:40-7:45min/mile pace. I couldn't help but smile - it was going to be a good day, and I knew it. The goal from there on out was to keep that pace right there - 7:45's were the goal. I could feel it in my legs and in my heart - I could do it. The first loop went by quickly - I saw Anne (the BEST spectator EVER - running around like a maniac to see me at various spots along the course) at mile 5 and I was feeling GREAT! Looped around the backside of the course to start the loop again, and at mile 7 the real work began. I was still holding pace, but it was getting harder. Would my lack of long runs come to bite me in the ass now???? This is where having an AWESOME coach (shout-out to the Best. Coach. Ever. Will of Tri-Hard) pays off in spades. We have talked in the past about how those hard, at times brutally hard track workouts he gives me not only train your body, but how they train your mind to dig deep, embrace the suffering, and work through it. I reminded myself of how I beat back She-Devil on the track a while back. Yes, the last 6 miles were going to hurt. Indeed, they were going to hurt and I was going to suffer. But I could handle it. I've done it before, and I'll do it again. Just keep running. And block out everything else going on - no mind chatter allowed. Just. Keep. Running.

Somewhere around there a fellow competitor came up next to me, and we were running literally step for step, the same pace. She asked if it bothered me to have her there, and I honestly said no - it was great. And it was. She was PERFECTLY where I wanted to be, and she helped keep me holding it. There was NO way I was going to let her go!!!!! It worked beautifully for the both of us. I'm a pretty strong hill runner, so on the very few, very mild hills that are on this course, I'd gain a bit of a lead as I held my pace solid. She'd then gut it out to catch me back on the slight downhill, and there we were, running side by side, stride for stride. There wasn't much talking - we'd occasionally make a grunting comment to each other, but otherwise, we just ran. Together, but independent. It was a great coincidence. Mile 9 came and I thought about picking it up. Could I? Nope. I'm good right here. Mile 10? Not yet, not yet. Mile 11 hit and I was ready for this bad boy to be over and I knew I could suck it up for 2 miles. I mustered all that I had left, and thought all I had was ~15 minutes, just 15 minutes at most of pain and it would all be over. I had stopped looking at my watch - it was meaningless to me now. I was running with all I had - nothing more, nothing less. No need to see what that pace was to possibly mess with my head. My running partner dropped back at this point, and my goal was to keep her behind me, and start picking off some of the people in range in front of me. Dude with incredibly bad running form (how are you running so well, running like THAT?!?)? See ya. Chick with the pink ball cap? Cute hat, nice job, see you at the finish, BEHIND me. My focus was on the person in front of me, no farther. Soon it was mile 12. A mere 1.1 left. I couldn't feel my legs by this point - they were utterly and completely numb. Otherwise, I felt fantastic - no stomach issues, no cramps, no nothing, just the sweet pain of running at the edge of your limits. I noted that this felt sort of weird - I knew I was running hard, but I didn't really understand how - I couldn't feel my legs, but I could see them turning over quickly.

Soon we were running over the last bridge, the bridge that led to the finish. This particular finish is a bit painful, as we run into the BACK entrance of the ballpark (which of course feels like it's a mile away, although in reality it's probably at most, 100 yards), then we have to run around the warning track all the way around to roughly home base. It. Just. Doesn't. End. So close, but ....... UGH WHERE IS THE FINISH LINE! I saw the timing clock click over to 1:41, and the smile started. I really and truly knew that the sub 1:40 wasn't possible this fall, even though I would have liked it, but a 1:41? That would ROCK. And it was going to happen. It was happening!

This sounds so corny, but I was just so flippin' happy. I had run a perfect race for my current fitness level. I freaking nailed it that morning. I knocked out a HARD 13.1 miles. I knew I could do it, and I did it. Now, not only is finishing 13 miles not a big deal any longer, but finishing 13 miles running HARD, is totally and completely a given. I can do this. Covered in salt, sweat, spit, pee (hey, running is not a pretty sport....), I was grinning from ear to ear.

The grin is still here as I look over the final results: 6/193 women in the 40-49 AG. That's the top 3%. THREE PERCENT!!!!!!! I was 178/1490 overall (including men) - that's the top 12%. Overall. Cool Running lists the top 10 on their AG results page, and I'm freakin' there!!!!!!

Dayum.

*************          FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49          *************

Place    Name              Age     City            Net Time
========================================================================================
    1 KARA HAAS            40 CHELMSFORD      MA 1:26:16 
    2 KAREN ENCARNACION    45 E_WALPOLE       MA 1:28:18 
    3 CRISTINA WINSOR      42 WAKEFIELD       MA 1:30:13 
    4 MARYN BARRETT        41 EAST ANDOVER    NH 1:35:15 
    5 SHARON SEABURY       42 WAKEFIELD       MA 1:38:41 
    6 MICHELLE SPINA       42 WINCHESTER      MA 1:41:23 
    7 KRIS SZABO           40 BILLERICA       MA 1:41:57 
    8 KAREN KEENAN         48 WELLESLEY       MA 1:42:27 
    9 YILI YAO             40 ARLINGTON       MA 1:43:10 
   10 MICHELE MOSHER       40 BOXBORO         MA 1:43:18 

21 Day Vegan Kickstart

So, at the beginning of this month, nicely timed after a weekend filled with an abundance of food and drink, I started a 21-Day Vegan KickStart program organized by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). You can get in on the fun and see the details on-line: 21-Day Vegan Kickstart

I've been trying the vegan thing for a while now, actually, since just after the new year. I'd not been incredibly strict (didn't abandon the cream in my morning coffee, would get a massive craving for a good steak or a poached egg now and again and would indulge, etc.) so this actually hasn't been difficult at all for me - dropping the cream isn't as hard as I'd anticipated, and the indulgences were so few and far between that I really haven't noticed them gone. What has been GREAT though, is the list of recipes that the program is providing! For the most part, they are SUPER easy, while being a bit more interesting than my typical open the veggie drawer in the fridge and steam or saute up a melee of whatever I found in there. After enjoying my mid-morning snack today, I thought I'd share one of those recipes for you all! Here it is:

Easy Bean Dip

Makes 6 servings


1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup salsa
¹/₂ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
Per serving (1/6 of recipe)

• Calories: 81
• Fat: 0.4 g
• Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
• Calories from Fat: 4.2%
• Cholesterol: 0 mg
• Protein: 4.7 g
• Carbohydrates: 15.4 g
• Sugar: 2.7 g
• Fiber: 3.8 g
• Sodium: 280 mg
• Calcium: 47 mg
• Iron: 1.6 mg
• Vitamin C: 6.4 mg
• Beta Carotene: 172 mcg
• Vitamin E: 0.6 mg

This is absurdly easy, crazy healthy, and really, really good. I've had it with chopped up veggies, and today, with some of those Z Crackers that you can find at Whole Foods. Yum. Seriously.

People have asked how this way of eating effects my training. In a nutshell, it doesn't. Or, I should say, it effects it in a very positive way. I'm eating insanely healthy. I'd wager that I eat more vegetables in a day than the average person eats in a week. I get in a great deal of healthy fats via seeds, nuts, and avocados, and a crazy amount of antioxidants through the variety of fruits I eat. Overall, I feel really ...... light. Bouncy. Energetic. It's all good. 

If you'd like to try to improve your diet but this whole "vegan thing" sounds a bit radical to you, just incorporate a few of the recipes into your diet. Make Monday a "Meatout Monday." Go from there and see how you feel. And leave the guilt behind when you simply need an awesome burger.

Baby steps my friends, baby steps.

MA State Tri Pics

I forgot to mention any actual *details* of my race in that report - doh! Here they are in all their gory detail:
  

Finish: 2:44:00 

AG Place: 4/15

Swim*: 30:05 

Bike: 1:20:21 

Run: 51:29         
   

*Remember, it was a no wetsuit swim!!!!

That put me 95th OA, 23/116 OA women, 4/15 AG.

What I'm most pleased about is my overall consistency - 25/116 in swim, 32/116 in bike, 29/116 in run. Usually my bike split is MUCH worse than that in terms of placement in the field, as is my run. So I'm seeing definite improvement this season - sweet!!!!!

And here are a couple of pics of the day:

Can you blame me for the tears????? Rock Stars.

Swim. I like this pic.

Climbing the long hill.

At the top. Ouch. I can see sweat dripping off my chin. That's pretty.

Bringing it in.

At the finish. No real need for this additional finish pic, but my legs look totally ripped so I couldn't resist.

Blood, Sweat and Tears

I raced this past Sunday, the Massachusetts State Triathlon. While I'm always jazzed about my races, this one felt particularly exciting as I raced last year and had a LOUSY race (hissy fit thrown by another competitor during the swim messed with my head and I never really recovered). This year was all about redemption on the course, which I thought I would have otherwise enjoyed.

I had a solid week leading into the race - a few hard workouts early in the week (see previous post about slaying SheDevil below), with a few easier workouts to get ready for the big day on Sunday. I was feeling solid and ready to go! I was even relieved that wetsuits weren't allowed if you wanted to compete in your AG - thank GOD! It would have been MUCH too hot to wear one, but I would have felt compelled if everyone else was - I wouldn't give away the free speed, but was very happy to have it taken away from all of us for the heat relief. Once I figured out what to wear (Compete in a swim suit? Could the undercarriage tolerate 26 miles on the bike sans tri-shorts? Try to put on tri shorts in T1? Can you actually pull spandex over a soaking wet lower body? Wear the 1-piece tri-suit? Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!!!) I was psyched and ready to go.

I was particularly excited about this race because I was finally going to meet Ange, a total ROCK-STAR athlete and all around wonderful woman. I've "known" her via her blog and Facebook for a few years now, but haven't had the opportunity to formally meet in person. I was really psyched to finally meet this true wonder woman! Anne, who was also racing that day, and I arrived at the site with plenty of time to spare, which was really quite nice. As we are walking in from the parking lot, I see a familiar form. I know that bike. I know that race suit. Can it be Ange? I'm pretty sure it's Ange!!!!!! We catch up to her as we enter the transition area and it WAS her! It was awesome to finally meet her, if only for a few minutes before we all had to start taking care of business. I like this venue a lot - plenty of close parking, and a large transition area that has a high energy feel to it. We saw a few other folks who we knew, and I had some time to get in a quick bike warm up and a warm up swim. I was ready. Let's go!!!!!

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Tears

Let's start with the tears. The Hoyt's happened to be racing on Sunday as well - while I of course know about them and have openly wept while seeing their story on TV and on-line, I hadn't yet had the privilege of racing with them. After my swim warm up, I saw Rick waiting to start on the lake in his raft. Seeing him there, smiling, ready to go as soon as the race got going........ Oh boy, here it comes. The tight throat. The shallow breathing. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. I am NOT going to cry. Instead, I moved a bit further down the beach so I couldn't see them as easily and got back to the business of focusing on my own race.  Whew. That was a close call!!!!!!

We have a LONG wait before our wave, the LAST wave of the day, goes off. The Sprint racers start first, then the Oly waves head in. It was a good 20 minutes before us blue-cappers were hitting the water. By then, the Hoyt's had finished their swim (Dick pulls Rick as he swims using a harness attached to the raft) and were getting ready for the bike leg. Their bike was RIGHT next to where we were currently lined up - I could have reached out and touched them as they were getting settled. It was so incredible watching them - everyone was of course clapping and cheering, and what struck me the most was how happy EVERYONE was. Rick was clearly cracking everyone up - his mom (I assumed it was Mom) was helping Dick get him set in his bike seat and they both were smiling and laughing, even though it was clearly hard work getting him settled. They were LOVING this! That was the end of me - the tears finally made it out.......

Quickly enough it was time for us to go! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!! The swim went well and I still marvel at how far I've come in this leg - from being scared out of my MIND during my first race to now truly loving the swim, and a non-wetsuit swim at that. Incredible, just incredible!

Sweat

The heat was already in full swing as the bike leg started. You know it's going to be a hot day when you are DRIPPING on the bike, and it's not from still being wet from the swim! I had a plan and I stuck to it - biked hard, but not out of my control, and felt really solid and strong out there. The course is a nice one - I hope they can manage to fix the roads before next year as there were sections that were truly just BRUTALLY bad. One of the longer downhill stretches had one of the worst sections - I hit what felt like a ski jump and swear that I went totally airborne! YIKES! Bad roads aside, I feel like I had a solid bike and felt some serious competitive juices flowing - at one point, while gearing up to pass another woman, the following thought went through my head: "It's time to put the beat down on her. Go." WTH was THAT about???? "...the beat down???" Seriously????? But I will admit that it felt gooooooooood to feel so competitive. I'm coming along here!!!!!

Blood

It's not uncommon for me to head out on the run and immediately fall apart mentally. "Why am I doing this? This sucks!!!!! I have a cramp, I should walk. Good god, I'm walking. I suck at this. Why am I doing this again????" I'm happy to say that I think those days are over. I hit the run feeling good - 6.2 miles of hard running and this bad boy was in the bank. Go go go go go!!!!!!!!! While not easy by a long stretch, I actually felt really good on the run - I was running, and running hard, and my thoughts were mostly positive. I saw Ange as she was heading back in from the turnaround - wow. She looked amazing - I was happy that I got to cheer her on and she was kicking ass!!!!!! I love out and back courses because I can see who is in front of me. I counted the women .... 1 .... 2 ..... 3 ............ 14 ...... 15 ..... Sigh, stop counting, this is getting depressing. But, wait!!!!! They all looked young. And the youngsters started in a previous wave!!!!!! I'm ok. Yes, I'm ok. I also noted that they all looked WICKED fit and fast. And I wasn't all that far behind them. Hmmmmmmm. Am I actually starting to be (can I actually say it?) good? Wow. Maybe!

I was happy to hold it together for the full duration of the run - definitely my best overall Olympic distance performance. And I'm almost good. And that feels ...... GREAT.


But where's the blood, you ask? Ok, ok. There wasn't any. But Blood, Sweat and Tears sounded like such a good post title, I couldn't resist! I did have quite a nasty spot of chafing on my ankle from my timing chip strap though - does that count?

The Devil Came Down to Winchester.....

We all have these types of internal struggles - or at least I hope it's not just me. You have a great morning training session, and afterwards, are excited about what you need to do for your second session later in the day. For me, that's after work - a long time after that first workout, which means many opportunities can appear to nix that evening workout. The day goes on. It gets hot and muggy out. I didn't eat enough. I'm a little stressed about work. And then the killer happens. SheDevil shows up.

I hate SheDevil - she can be incredibly convincing, but she is Bad News and needs to be kept at bay. But here she was, showing up around 5pm, planting some seeds of doubt: "You know you aren't REALLY going to do that track workout tonight Michelle. It's way too hot and sticky out, and you haven't eaten enough today. You'll be miserable." SheDevil has a point. It IS hot and sticky out, which means that a painful track workout is going to be made even more painful. And I HAVEN'T eaten enough, so I'll probably bonk. Hmmmmm. Maybe SheDevil is right?

And so it goes for the last hour of the day, before I head home and have to make the decision about what to change into: running clothes, or comfy hang-out clothes.

To my surprise I was able to ignore SheDevil and put on the running clothes as soon as I got home. I convinced her that I'd do a FEW repeats (7x800 at anaerobic plus pace - I was shooting for 3:31's, which would hurt, and hurt badly), see how I feel, and if I were TRULY miserable after 3, I'd throw in the towel. I grab my iPod and head out the door, to soon discover that the iPod battery is dead. "See," said SheDevil, "your iPod isn't even charged. You are not meant to do this run today." But I ignore her again and throw the iPod back in the house and head around the corner to the local high school track where I do my interval work. While I usually run with music, I figured I could entertain myself easily enough during the intervals - focus on my form, my breathing pattern, on not puking. That kinda thing. I do a few warm up laps around the track, and feel SheDevil's pull: "It is so hot and gross out - you are already soaked with sweat, just after an easy warm-up! This is going to kill you. And you know if you don't hit your intervals, you'll be upset. So why bother trying?"

Interval #1 starts. I check my split after the first 400 and find that I'm being a bit too aggressive: 1:40. While I feel good, I remind myself I have 7 of these and I can't blow up after 4. "But I thought we were only doing 3-4 anyway?" SheDevil chimes in. I finish the first interval in 3:25. Ooops - a little too fast, but I'm feeling good! Let's just slow the next one down a tad and see how it goes. Only 6 left!!!!!!! The next interval went just as well, and I dialed it back to a ..... 3:26. Come on, no blowing up here - slow it down! But the speed on such a yucky day (it really WAS hot and humid, and I really WAY underfueled and a bit hungry) gave me some confidence - I was going to finish this workout. Not just finish it, but KILL it!!!!!!

But SheDevil was persistent, continually looking for a chink in the armour: "Look at those dark clouds over there - it is going to start to storm soon!" "Did you feel that little pulling feeling in your hamstring? You don't want to pull a muscle before the race this weekend. Let's call it a day after this one - whaddayousay?" "But I LOVE running in the train, and running in the rain while doing tough intervals on the track, an already badass workout, would be doubly badass! BRING ON THE RAIN!!!!!" "No, no, I really didn't feel anything funny in my hamstring - I'm settling in nicely. I think it's time for you to just Shut. The. Hell. Up."

With each interval, the Devil was driven back, back, back. I ended up finishing all 7 intervals and nailing the workout - totally crushing my original goal split time and holding all of them sub-3:30's, finishing with my strongest at 3:24. "Just call me The Hammer because I just NAILED that workout!!!!!!!" That thought made SheDevil recoil in horror. It was the stupidest thing she's ever heard, and she wasn't going to stick around for the ridiculous giggling that she knew was coming as I ran home. The Hammer. Does that even make sense? I didn't care - at the time I thought it was freaking hilarious, and I laughed to myself all the way home. I'd blame oxygen deprivation, except I'm STILL laughing to myself about it...... I am SUCH a dork.

Jogging home, with a huge smile on my face, I realized there was likely a good life lesson in this to convey to the kids. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, or some such drivel. But all I came up with was my usual "Wanna hug?" when I walked in the door. This is a running joke in the family - I come in all smelly and sweaty and gross, and sincerely ask for a big hug. Which of course sends them running and screaming away in disgust. Good times.

Tonight's victory over SheDevil would just have to remain my little secret. 

==============================
I realize I haven't blogged in ..... forever. An embarrassingly long time, in fact. But during this little battle with SheDevil last night, I realized that I really missed it, so I'm back!!!!! I hope you enjoy reading about my ramblings, and that you don't call the looney bin to have them pick me up. I don't think I'm ACTUALLY crazy, although with all the internal dialog I have in my head during my workouts, it might not be a totally ridiculous notion.