Category Archives: Running

Week Two of Ironman Training: The Power of Friends

IMAZLogoIt’s full speed ahead into my second “official” week of Ironman training and it has brought nothing but joy. Who knew acquiring so many tired muscles could be this much fun? I just keep taking it one day, one workout at a time. That’s how I’m going to get to the starting line of Ironman Arizona in November. #ithinkican #ithinkican #ithinkican

Here’s what this week’s schedule looks like:

Monday: Rest (aaaaah), core and stretching pm

Tuesday: Run 35 minutes, (Killer)Kate’s strength & stretch class, more core and stretching pm

Wednesday: Swim 1900 y followed by 2 back-to-back spinning classes, core and stretching pm

Thursday: Run 40 minutes, core and stretching pm

Friday: Swim 1600 y, core and stretching pm

Saturday: Run 60 minutes, upper body strength, core and stretching pm

Sunday: Bike 3 hours, core and stretching pm

Celebrating: Last week I celebrated turning the Big 5-0 by riding 50 miles in spinning class then having more fitness fun with friends the following day, on my actual birthday. “Keep Calm and BRING IT ON!” is what I say, and yes, every girl should run with a tiara on her birthday.

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Photo credit: Randy Weiss Presidio Sports

Gratitude: I already have so many people I’m grateful for on this Ironman Journey. There isn’t a day that goes by that somebody doesn’t do or say something nice. My friend and Moms in Motion tri coach, Whitney Bruice, took time out of her busy morning last week to come help me try to improve my swim stroke. Coach Whitney is a phenomenal swimmer and triathlete (not to mention a mother of two and a busy working professional), so it was exciting to hear she thought my stroke looked fairly solid, with the exception of a slight cross-over on my left side. I have A LOT more time ahead of me in the pool working on technique and building up my speed, strength and endurance, but it was reassuring to know that at least I’m headed in the right direction. Thank you Whitney!

JenniMillerThe other person who has been exceptionally helpful this week is my friend Jenni Miller, who is also a busy mother of two, an attorney, activist/philanthropist (Strides for SMS) and an outstanding athlete. She completed her first Ironman last summer (and CRUSHED IT by the way–top 10% in her age group), and she has been giving me great advice and tons of encouragement. It’s often the smallest details that make the biggest difference–from goggle selections to fueling to fav bike shorts. Her generosity and enthusiasm have added a huge dollop of happy in my happiness jar. Jenni is currently training for Ironman Lake Placid, which will take place in July, and is sure to rip that up too! Go girl!

I’m also grateful for all the people who have contributed to my Smile Train fundraising! With the support of Ana, Hensley, Jessica, Namita, Tim and Jo, the Clyne girls, the Rybniceck Family and the Whelan Family, we have already raised $1,075! That means four kids are already going to get life-changing cleft palate/lip surgery. My goal is 20 kids. Each surgery costs as little as $250 and only takes 45 minutes, but has enormous implications for improving the life of a child and his or her family. If you want to be part of making a big difference in somebody’s life, you can click HERE to donate.

Spinning forward: Yesterday I got aero bars and a bike fit from Bruce Davis at Hazard’s Cyclesport using the Guru Fit System. What I like most about Hazard’s is that you don’t have to be a gearhead to be treated like an awesome athlete (even if you’re a work-in-progress like me). Bruce had me up and running in no time and explained all the details along the way about geometry, balance and power. I’m excited to get out on the road and gobble up some miles. Bruce told me not to smile for this picture, which was hard, so I look like I swallowed a bird. I guess that just means I’m ready to fly, baby!

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Challenges: Sleep. I know how important sleep is for recovery, but damn if it isn’t elusive for this chiquita. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. I’m trying to force myself to take naps, but it’s never easy.

Breakthroughs: Learning to change a flat and patch a tube with confidence. I haven’t had a flat in 20 years (I know, crazy, huh?), so I haven’t had any practice doing it. Last Sunday, right before I was about to join some friends for a long ride, I was putting air in my tire and the top of the stem valve broke off. Batta boom, that’s all she wrote. Fortunately, it happened in my garage so I didn’t have to bumble through it on the side of the road on a cold, rainy day or be the ridiculous damsel in distress who called for a pick-up. YouTube videos are the bomb, I tell you.

What I’ve learned: Always check your gear the night before so you don’t have any obstacles the morning of training. It’s hard enough to get out the door sometimes without gear problems, so make sure you’re ready to go. Because of my flat tire, I missed riding with a group of friends, which would have been fun. I also learned to keep experimenting with eating while training as it’s a little bit of an art and a science figuring out how much food your stomach can tolerate. On my last 3 hour bike ride I was running low on energy, but I overdid it a little on Wednesday’s swim/double-spin workout so the banana I ate sat like a rock in my stomach. Fortunately, I have ample opportunities to keep experimenting. I will get there.

Looking forward to: Getting a new triathlon watch. I’m leaning toward getting a Suunto Ambit 3, but I’m also considering a Garmin 920xt. Any thoughts?

 

You can help make a child smile by donating to my Team Empower Smile Train fundraising page HERE.

Do Yourself a Favor: Get Yourself to Palm Springs for a Race

I spend a lot of time in Palm Springs because my in-laws live there. It took me a little while to discover the joys of running and racing in this iconic desert town, but fortunately, every time I go, I discover another gem.

PSRedCarpet5KSMOne race I can’t say enough good things about is the International Film Festival RED CARPET RUN 5K and 10k. If you happen to be in Palm Springs next Saturday, January 9th, I highly recommend participating in this race. It is a blast from start to finish. The details are phenomenal. To begin with, every runner receives a tiara and tutu or a tuxedo shirt to wear during the race, and every finisher receives an Oscar and a boatload of bling and treats. No matter what your pace, you’ll love this event.

You can read my recap from last year’s race by clicking HERE if you want to get a better feel for this event. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun during a race.

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Race Director Molly Thorpe knows how to put on super fun races for runners of all abilities.

Race Director, Molly Thorpe, puts on events like no other. Her enthusiasm, attention to detail, and generous spirit all come together to create memorable races with heart and spunk.

I’m sad I won’t be in Palm Springs this year for the Red Carpet Run, but I feel lucky that I was able to participate in the Wild Turkey Trot 5K over Thanksgiving. What a hoot! Here are a few pictures. And yes, I’m sporting a ridiculous turkey hat like all the other participants who received one in their race bags. Such fun!

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Molly Thorpe has been extremely kind and has offered all my blog followers a discount for any upcoming race put on by the Palm Springs Marathon Runners. Just go to www.runpalmsprings.com to register. Use the code COACHBECKY and receive $5 off. How cool is that? Here’s a short list of their next few races:

Red Carpet Run-January 9 (DON’T MISS THIS ONE!!!)
Shamrock Run-March 5
Super Heroes 5K-March 12
Run for Ike-April 2

PalmSpringsTramIf you like an extra challenge, while you’re in Palm Springs be sure to hoof it up the tram road while you’re there like I did yesterday when I was visiting.

I think I can…I think I can… I think I can…

Happy New Year everybody! Here’s to an exciting year ahead filled with fun adventures and many exciting races!

xo Becky

 

 

What Do You Do When the World Goes Insane? Run, of Course.

Yesterday, Friday the 13th, felt like a wonderfully lucky day for our family. Lots of great things happened, including the closing on the sale of our house. Woot! We were flying high. That is until we heard the news from Paris. Like all of you, we were horrified, sickened, saddened, furious…you name it. There aren’t enough words to express the depths of our emotions.

News of this tragedy hit right when I was about to drive my daughter to ballet, and I was fuming inside that I would have to explain this unthinkable act to her. How do you explain such insanity, anyway? I tried to keep it simple and age appropriate, but she wanted to know more: the who, what, where, when and why. Especially the WHY. Fortunately, the start of her class let me off the hook from a much deeper conversation. I needed time to process it myself before I could possibly explained it to her.

Because we had such a busy day, I didn’t have time to run in the morning. Instead, I planned to go when Miss O was at ballet, but suddenly I had zero motivation. I just wanted to huddle in a cozy chair, sipping a warm chai vanilla latte at a coffee shop while I obsessed over the news flooding my Facebook and Twitter feeds. Fortunately, because I committed to this damn Chase the Bird Challenge, I dragged myself down to Goleta Beach Park and forced myself to run.

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And of course, that’s exactly what I needed.

That’s what runners do. Whether we’re happy, sad, stressed, confused, frustrated, angry, afraid, ____(fill in the blank), running is what we do.

We’re insanely lucky to have the luxury of sorting through our emotions out on the roads and trails. Pace and distance have no place in the conversation. It’s simply about having the gift of health, and time and space to process our lives and the moments that change them.

Yesterday, I knew I needed to get the rage out of me so I could re-center myself and have a meaningful conversation with my daughter.

And so I set out.

It was a lovely late afternoon/early evening…despite the atrocities in Paris. Take that mother fucking terrorists. You can never take this away from us.

Step after step, the f-bomb continually popped into my head, but I was determined to turn it around and focus on all that was still good in the world and not let the mother f’ing terrorists win.

And then if by some “other worldly” design, Continue reading →

Taking Flight with My Daughter as We Chase the Bird Together

Day 11 of the Oiselle Chase the Bird Challenge couldn’t have been any better. After going to my favorite yoga class this morning (you can read about it HERE if you missed it), my daughter and I went for a hike/trail run up to Inspiration Point later in the afternoon .

I have to admit, I had low expectations for how much she might enjoy this outing and/or how far she might want to go as the trail is mostly steep, but I let her be in charge of the pace and just cruised along and enjoyed our time together.

And guess what? She completely blew me away with her rock star attitude.

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She only asked me a few times how much farther we had to go to get to the top, and I think it was mostly to get herself mentally prepared to tackle it. She even took off running many times, completely unprompted. My little trail runner!

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Okay, I must confess, I brought a secret weapon with me:  Continue reading →

Day 10 and 11 Oiselle Chase the Bird Challenge

When I signed up to participate in Oiselle’s Chase the Bird Challenge, I never imagined it would be a big deal to get my workouts done each day. After all, the bar was set to a ridiculously doable level…15 minutes of exercise every day. But there’s a reason it’s called a CHALLENGE. The challenge is making your workout a bigger priority than the heaping mound of other responsibilities you have staring at your for 26 days straight. Let me tell you, that’s no easy task.

Yesterday, I had planned to go to a full-body strength mat class at The Lab, but we had the final walk through for our house sale and multiple things to tackle in the morning. That nixed that idea. Fortunately, later in the day I had a small window to zip to the gym where I knocked out a few miles on the elliptical, followed by a 500y swim. Short and sweet. Day 10 done. The best part is that it felt great–especially the swim, which is usually one of my least favorite forms of exercise. Working on my weaknesses! Now if I could just conquer my weakness for cookies and chai lattes.

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Day 11: This morning I started my day on the mat with another fabulous yoga class led by Erin DiAngelis.  The difference this class makes in my body and spirit is phenomenal. I’m never disappointed by this 1-hour investment of my time. What’s especially exciting is that after months and months of my hamstring yelling at me, it’s finally starting to quiet down. Hopefully it will eventually begin to sing again as it carries me along on pain free runs.

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Today is a day off from school and ballet for my daughter so I’m sure a Mother-Daughter Chase the Bird adventure await us…will it be tennis, a bike ride, hike, or run? Can’t wait to see what inspires my little bird!

Until next time…

xo Becky

Winning! And Chasing the Bird Day 7, 8 and 9

Three things happened over the weekend:

1) I was selected as the first Chase the Bird Challenge prize winner on Facebook! Apparently I’ll be receiving an egift card to do a little online shopping. How fun (and unexpected) is that?!

2) My family and I found a new house we’ll be moving into in the next month. Woot! That takes a mound of stress off our plate knowing we have a great new place to land after selling our house. Yay!

3) I learned that once again, being flexible with my workouts can add a huge element of joy to them. I had planned to sneak away and go on a long’ish solo run, but in the midst of landing our new house, juggling our daughter’s ballet rehearsal schedule and multiple other responsibilities, my run never panned out. Instead, I had the joy of going for a walk through the woods with my husband on Saturday, which was sweet and relaxing.

Miss O chasing down a drop shot. I love playing tennis with my sweet bug. She's been playing since she was 4 and can now run me all over the court.

Miss O chasing down a drop shot. I love playing tennis with my sweet bug. She’s been playing off and on since she was 4 and can now run me all over the court. The best part is that it was her idea to play.

Then yesterday I played tennis with my daughter and her friend, who had never before played. I always find it fun and exhilarating to share a new sport with someone and see her joy at her first attempt.

Later in the evening, I ventured out for a short run near my house. After a heavy Mexican lunch earlier in the day with the girls, that’s about all this chiquita could manage. But it was SOMETHING. And that’s what this Chase the Bird Challenge is all about. Do something…ANYTHING…for at least 15 minutes every day.

Today, Day 9 of the Oiselle Chase the Bird Challenge, was absolutely awesome. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a run so much. Nothing epic, just completely carefree and gratifying. I ran 4.55 miles along the beach on a crisp, gorgeous morning. I felt rested and relaxed for the first time in ages, and even did some pick-ups and drills along the grass in the midst of my run, then finished at the track doing some stadiums, core and push-ups.

Monday is shaping up to be pretty freakin’ great! And it’s all because I’m putting fitness time back at the top of my priorities list. Now I’m off to conquer the rest of my foot-long To Do List.

Here are a few snaps from my morning run. No fall colors here, but I did feel the need to wear arm warmers with my tank top and shorts. 🙂 Sorry friends who are in the midst of snow.

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I’m listening to Pharrell’s “Happy,” which was so appropriate for this Monday morning. Feeling giddy! Hope you are too!

Until next time….

xo
Becky

Oiselle Chase the Bird Challenge Day 6

After one of the busiest weeks I can remember, getting myself out the door today to work out felt epic. But I did it. And I’m glad. Thank you Oiselle for the motivation I needed to make this happen.

After going to bed way past midnight last night (once again), my run got replaced by a walk with my husband and my not-so-tiny dog, Doodles. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it and realize it’s okay to be flexible.

Fortunately, by evening, after more coffee than should be legally consumed, I rallied for another workout. I went on a beautiful hour-long bike ride while I waited for my daughter, who was doing a double-length ballet class/rehearsal. It was a great ride, and the first workout I’ve done in months and months and months when I was actually COLD! No more 90 degree weather. It’s finally autumn here! So lovely. I finished my ride just as it was getting dark. It was a perfect ending to a big week. Aaaah.

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Tomorrow it looks like it’s going to be an awesome day to run! Stay tuned for Day 7 of the Oiselle Chase the Bird Challenge to see where it takes me…

What are your fitness plans for the weekend?

Bird is the Word

I’m not usually one to participate in group challenges, online or otherwise, but when Oiselle’s “Chase the Bird Challenge” popped up on my Twitter feed, it hit me at just the right time. We’re in the middle of selling our house and I’ve also taken on a boatload of new responsibilities this fall, so getting my workouts in has been a challenge. Throw in the “sugarfest” that starts at Halloween, I knew I needed to grab onto something so my fitness didn’t come completely off the rails.

Oiselle’s Chase the Bird Challenge is simple enough: it’s a 26-day fitness streak to help prevent us from rolling into Thanksgiving feeling like a stuffed turkey, and to reinforce the habit of making health and fitness a priority even in the midst of all our holiday madness fun. All you have to do is some type of exercise for at least 15 minutes every day until Thanksgiving.

In order to hold us accountable and share our fitness mojo with others, Oiselle is asking us to post our workouts on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I thought I’d post the first 5 days here too. It would be fun if you’d join the challenge with me. It’s never too late as far as I’m concerned.

DAY ONE: Squeeeeeezed in a quick little 3-mile run through the neighborhood on a beautiful autumn day. This was between 5 loads of laundry, dishes, homework help, house hunting and grocery shopping. Sometimes we have to take what we can get, right? The best part of my day was a sunset stroll on the beach with my sweet girl. I have to admit, I was highly unmotivated to make this happen after a busy day, but thankfully my daughter was persistent. It was gorgeous and relaxing and a wonderful time to enjoy each other’s company without distractions. Aaaahh.

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I also loved watching my carefree little dancer take flight.

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Love this girl!

DAY TWO: 40 Minute trail run, push-ups and core. Nothing complicated about this workout. Just a nice cruise and time to chill out in my own little world, forgetting everything on my To Do List. It was also fun to bump into a flock of friends on the trail today!

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DAY THREE: 60 minute Continue reading →

Conquering the BS Beast at She.Is.Beautiful 5K

In late September I had the joy of running the She.Is.Beautiful 5K here in Santa Barbara. Woohoo! Why it took me six weeks to finally get this blog post written is another story. Ack. This race is one of the best-organized, most fun, and supportive running events around. The pink “Girl Power” vibe alone is enough to lift you five feet off the ground.

Even though this is one of my all-time favorite races, I almost didn’t sign up this year. My running mojo has been in the dumper BIG TIME as I’ve dealt with a hamstring injury that’s lingered for months and months (feels like years now). I knew “racing” this 5K was not in the cards, so I thought, Why bother?

What finally got me to the starting line was multiple friends cajoling me to participate–to take part and “just have fun” like they were.

What a concept!

Somehow over the last couple years my competitive spirit has gotten the best of me so I’ve forgotten that it’s okay to just cruise and have fun during a race without feeling ashamed of how slow I might finish. Anybody else know that feeling? I’ve forgotten that it doesn’t always have to be about chasing after a PR. And furthermore, I’ve forgotten that nobody, I repeat, NOBODY, gives a rip about my finishing time (nor yours), so being embarrassed about our level of fitness is a big fat waste of time and energy, especially when there’s a whole lot of fun to be had just by participating.

Thank you She.Is.Beautiful (and my persistent friends) for reminding me to lose the Bullshit Beast (aka ego). When we do, it always opens up a bounty of beautiful and blissful running moments.

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My 3rd year in a row of running this fabulous race. Not my fastest time, not my slowest time, but my favorite time.

It was fun to celebrate all my super speedy friends too, like these ladies who pretty much swept the race. Desa (third from the right) took 1st Place Overall!

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And my friend Ashlee, rocked her race too, coming in 2nd Overall and running her first sub-20:00! The banner says it all…

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The sun was definitely shining down on all of us and helping light us up. Wearing a feather boa on such a warm morning? Mmmm…not something I’d probably recommend, but it was all part of the silliness. The funny thing is that somehow I managed to land 2nd Place in my age group (even though that wasn’t really the point of this day). It must have been my ridiculous get-up. One of the super speedy ladies in the picture above, DeAnna, took 1st in our age group, and 3rd Overall. Way to go D! You are an animal!

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Over 2,000 runners took part in this year’s event.

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Loved seeing so many young girls running their first 5K! Here, the Queen of Positive, Jenny Schatlze, helps celebrate this awesome athlete’s accomplishment.

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Best local pre and post-race expo EVER.

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Here’s to many more carefree running miles ahead!

xo

Girl Power Swim, Bike, Run Fun

It was an awesome morning of triathlon training with this fun group of women, some of whom are doing their first-ever triathlon. The water was glassy, the sun was shining, and the energy was amazing. Love this Moms in Motion group! Look out Santa Barbara Triathlon, we’re coming to get you!

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I’m also excited to be kicking off my Girls in Motion Running and Fitness Camp tomorrow morning. Woohoo! There’s nothing like a bunch of strong, smart, athletic young girls to bring a big smile to my face. Let the fun begin!

#GirlPower