The tides have turned

I remember when I first started training for my first half, getting up Saturday mornings at 6AM or earlier was difficult! I'd hear the alarm and ask for 5 more minutes mentally. I LOVE sleep. Always have. To hear my mom tell it, I was sleeping through the night as a wee little baby. I was the grouchy one when someone tried to wake me up before my body said it was time. I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat - its never been tough for me. When the alarm goes off each Saturday morning (and now Sundays too) I get up and almost bounce out of bed. It's time to walk! I love my Saturdays. I get up for mileage with MIT and in the summers, I head to the Worthington Farmers Market. I get a chance to enjoy what a summer Saturday means. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

You may think you'll never get there but I did and you can too. It gets easier with each alarm and for me, as I noticed my fitness improving, so did my excitement to get up on Saturday mornings. My mom still doesn't believe I am no longer the grouchy girl I used to be when up too early on any day. Maybe I need to bring her here to check it out.

Join me one of these Saturdays. Most weeks you'll find me with MIT at Thomas Worthington HS heading up or down the Olentangy Trail. Some weeks, we head out from Ohio Health in Westerville. All I know is it takes just one mile to change your life.

With extreme heat comes the need for extreme hydration

With the extreme heat hitting across the country, I wanted to take the time to review what some of the signs are of dehydration. This post is not to alarm you, but it is to make you aware. Everyone can have this happen. In fact, I thought I was pretty well hydrated the night of the Firecracker Trot and as I blogged about, I ignored the signs. NEVER again will I do that. As an endurance athlete, you have got to watch what you are doing and take care of your hydration.

Here are the signs:

• Thirst
• Loss of Appetite
• Dry Skin
• Skin Flushing
• Dark Urine
• Dry Mouth
• Fatigue or weakness
• Chills
• Head Rushes

If you allow your dehydration to continue (usually 5% or better fluid loss), the following signs may be experienced:

• Increased heart rate
• Increased respiration
• Decreased sweating (If you stop sweating, stop exercising!)
• Decreased urination
• Increased body temperature
• Extreme fatigue
• Muscle cramps
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Tingling of the limbs

When the body reaches 10% fluid loss emergency help is needed IMMEDIATELY! 10% fluid loss and above is often fatal! Symptoms of severe dehydration include:

• Muscle spasms
• Vomiting
• Racing pulse
• Shriveled skin
• Dim vision
• Painful urination
• Confusion
• Difficulty breathing
• Seizures
• Chest and Abdominal pain
• unconsciousness

I was surprised to learn that the average person loses between two and three liters of water a day through the breath, sweat, and urine. The number can be increased or decreased dependent on the type of exercise you do. Heavy exercise can cause a body to lose more than 2 liters an hour! To prevent dehydration you simply need to replenish the liquids that are lost throughout the day. Many resources and sites will tell you to drink 8 glasses of water a day, or give you a set number of liters to drink but the honest truth is that every BODY is different and only you will know how much your BODY needs.

By now, you have a pretty good idea of how much water YOU need to be at your best. That's right, WATER. Not soda, not juice, not sugar-drinks. Pay attention to your fluid loss and take special care to replenish it as it is being lost. By the time you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated - you want to avoid becoming thirsty in the first place. Pay attention to the color of your urine, dark urine is usually an indicator that you are dehydrated. As I have heard before, you want to look at your urine and have it be the color of watered down lemonade!

Hydrate frequently and as much as possible before, after and during a workout. Bringing along an electrolyte drink like Gatorade on your workout - run, walk, bike - will help with replenishing some of the loss but water is your best bet. Give yourself a break as well - stop to take a drink - don't keep moving & drink & don't try to have a speed workout on a 100 degree day. Do what you can and most importantly - LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!

*For more information, go to www.symptomsofdehydration.com.

Cinco de Julio Race recap

My most recent race was the Cinco de Julio which was not held on July 5th but actually July 9th. Why the name? It originally was the Cinco de Mayo but because of the Cap City Half being the same weekend, they had to reschedule the race. They kept the name and idea as 2010 - Patron Palomas at the end - they just had it in July instead.

I was asked to pace the 14 minute mile pace for the 4 mile race. 14 minutes is fairly easy for me at this point which is exciting to me since I have come such a long way. We started out with a fair amount of walkers and runners around us but as the race went along, they dropped off. Either they began to move faster than us or they started to move slower. Which is okay! The weather was hot and humid! It was a pretty straight course - we started at The Bluestone and heading about 1.5 miles into the back side of the Franklin Park Conservatory. We weaved our way through Franklin Park and back out. It was nice - there were a lot of little ducklings in the park and the overall park was not lost on me! We turned and headed back up Broad St. straight into the glaring sun! This was the first time the whole race I was glad I had the pace sign! I was able to use it to block out the sun! It was hot!! For most of the last miles, we would catch up to walkers or runners who didn't want us to catch them. They'd run past us trying to get faster than the 14 minute pace. I was beginning to get a complex. The mileage for the race was about a tenth off so I thought we were not going to pace a perfect 56 minute race, so we sped up a bit. As we were finishing, the race director said "Here comes the 14 minute pacers at a perfect pace!" We did our jobs! I checked out the results and no one came in at 56 minutes with us but there were a lot of people right around the same pace. Overall, we did our job and hopefully kept people on pace. It was hot enough that people moved to the sidewalks to get out of the sun! My favorite part about M3S Sports races is that they have a philosophy that no one will be last. They have a balloon crew that will walk the pace of the slowest person and they come in last. I know a lot of participants who have been excited about that!

I love pacing races! It is fun to try different times and see how I can do! Learning to pace has been relatively easy for me and I am trying to make sure I choose paces I am comfortable with so I can help others meet their goals! Next up for pacing? The Emerald City Quarter Marathon in September! First time for me to do the race & I am looking forward to it!

The first race I placed - Westerville Rotary 5K

Part of the fun of Fourth of July is getting out and doing some races! I already blogged about the neighborhood race I did on Friday night and how badly I felt. I was looking forward to Monday's race as they were competitively timing walkers. What this meant is that we would have our own categories and our own prizes! The top 3 female & male walkers would get an award.

The weather was perfect for an early morning race - low 70s, clear, and it didn't look like there was a chance of rain at all. I woke up feeling great and was very excited to wear my Race Club shirt for the first time these season! I truly love the shirt as red is my FAVORITE color - so thanks Fleet Feet, for picking it this year! The nice part about being in Race Club is you know there will be other people you know there automatically. I was the only Race Club walker but that's okay! Here is a before shot of the group:

I am hard to see but I am the only one wearing a black hat. I couldn't figure out who we were looking at for the picture! A lot of these folks are very fast runners and were finished long before me! I started out near the middle of the runners this time and stuck close to the edge of the road so any runners who wanted to could pass me but I was keeping pace pretty well. I walked next to a runner I know for the first mile and she ended up having to let me go as she couldn't keep up with me. What a feeling! I got passed by a walker while I was with this runner and she was able to get ahead of me quite a bit but I had an eye on her the whole time. I ended up catching her around mile 2.5 and made a new friend! And possibly a new MIT walker recruit! We walked together until the end but I went ahead of her finishing just 6 seconds ahead of her. When we finished, I assumed there had been other walkers that crossed but when one of the people who organized the race came up to me and asked if the woman behind me had walked the whole time, I found out we had come in 1 & 2!!! My first win!!! My prize is a $20 gift card to Fleet Feet that is just burning a whole in my pocket. Here is my post-win picture:

Here are my split times:

Mile 1: 12:31/mile
Mile 2: 12:16/mile
Mile 3: 11:59/mile
Mile .1: 11:02/mile (if I had done a mile)
Overall finish: 37:50 for a 12:12 per mile pace!! A new PR!

Up next? I have been asked to pace the 14 minute mile pace at the Cinco de Julio Quatro miler this weekend. That will be a 56 minute finish and definitely a good time! Free drinks for all at the end!

6 month progression

The first picture was taken by Steve on January 1, 2011. The second today, July 4, 2011. Last weigh-in, I was down 28 lbs. That was early June. I need to check in as you can see a difference!!! I love accomplishments! I won today's 5K in the walker category for women. I am riding high!!!!

Firecracker Trot Recap

The Worthington Hills Civic Association puts on a neighborhood 5K each year. We will be living here 6 years this summer and I have yet to do it. I had been signed up in 2009, but my dad had a stroke that day and I left town immediately so a co-worker did it for me.

This year, I asked a few friends to join me - 2 of them runners and 2 of them walkers. On a hot & humid Friday afternoon, we headed over to the Country Club for the race. I was well hydrated, had rested but I had gone to the gym for a killer TRX Intermediate class as well as a beginner's yoga class. For the first time, I think my body may have said, "that's enough!" The first mile had me feeling great! The timer said "12:50" as Dina and I walked by. We turned a corner and up an incline that I've ridden my road bike down and easily gotten to 20 MPH. I kept pushing but I could hear my heart beating fast in my ears. Felt a little dizzy and I told Dina I had to let her go. I watched her back for the entire rest of the race trying to push myself to catch up to her. I was still pulling fast miles but it just wasn't enough - she was pulling faster. I honestly overdid it as I kept thinking "I wonder if my neighbor would mind if I used his trash can to vomit." But, I made it and passed another walker I had tagged when I first started the race. I finished in 39:06 which is my fastest 5K yet and I am proud of it but I am not a fan of how I felt. I know better than this! I really do. I have been pushing my body really hard and I think it was finally crying uncle. I listened and I am resting a bit today.

Mile 1 - 12:54/mile
Mile 2 - 12:47/mile
Mile 3 - 12:13/mile
Mile . 1 - 11:52/mile (if I had done a full mile)

Will I do the neighborhood race again? Not sure. It was nice being able to walk about a mile to a race but it was hilly. It was perfect for hill training though so I may do it again! In fact, I've thought about walking it at least once a week for training purposes.

One more race this weekend - the Westerville Rotary 5K. They are timing walkers and I am excited!