TNT Nike Women's San Francisco Virtual Run

TNT Nike Women's San Francisco Virtual Run

Join Team in Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on a Virtual Run!!

Proceeds from our event will be benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Team in Training (TNT) exists to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma. It also looks to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

This virtual run benefits the Team in Training FLEX members going to San Francisco this October. This run you do on or before September 27th at your pace, your time, your location. In return, you will receive a beautiful custom finisher's metal. $15 per entry (use the name Richards at the bottom of the page for donation).

Visit the link below to sign up online:
http://www.signmeup.com/site/reg/register.aspx?fid=w62vxh7

The Tired Athlete Syndrome

I have been sooo tired this week. You could have pushed me off the bed and I would not have known.

When my alarm started going off at 6:00am on Monday, scared-I didn't know what the noise was...until I realized that it was my phone. Oh yeah, I was going to get up and go on my Monday morning run.

Nope. I had to go back to sleep. In fact, I didn't get up until 8:00am. And I still had to drag myself out of my slumber to get into the shower. I did manage to text my coworkers that I won't be in until 9ish.
My plan was ruined. What should I do? I got home from work and decided I had to run in the evening. Tuesday, I did great-I got up with the alarm and 4.20 miles later I was home around 7:30am. How about that for a training schedule?

Over the past few months, I've been trying to get up early and run in the nice "cool" hours of the mornings. It is just plain too hot to go out in this heat and sweat to death mid-day or even in the early evening hours. I will admit that I am THE worst morning person in the world. Please do not bother me or talk to me until I've had time to absorb the daylight (usually about 2 hours). I don't know how some people get up to watch the sunrise--wouldn't they rather see the sunset and enjoy the peace of the evening settling in as the sun moves behind the mountains? I want to put the kids to sleep and enjoy the peace and quite of the stillness and nothing. This is when I do my best work. This is when my energy level is at its peak. I'm telling you I can think about my day and run like the wind (again, in my mind).

So I guess it comes back to this: should I force myself to get up and have a horrible run or should I wait and go later even though I know the heat will be beating down. I choose the latter. Why? I don't think it's good to force your body into doing something it is not prepared for when it is obvious you need rest. I think rest is a HUGE part of training. I don't need to strain or pull a muscle. It's too late in my game. More importantly, if I don't take the time rest or recuperate when my body is telling me, I won't get faster or stronger. This goes for life in general. If I am too tired and can't focus, what good am I? Like the old saying goes: If you don't get your rest, you won't be at your best! I don't want to stress my body. This will aggravate my joints and muscles, eventually leading to a weaker body. I do tend to over-do everything in life, but when it comes to my training, I know my limits and I know that sleeping will give me energy. I will definitely have a better run in the evening even though I will be sweating balls.

There are many benefits to resting. 1st and foremost, you have energy! 2nd, your body will actually become stronger. A quick article that highlights the benefits of getting enough R&R: http://www.livestrong.com/article/417699-does-your-body-need-to-rest-after-a-workout/

Overtraining is a syndrome that any athlete or recreational runner can easily fall into. If you feel guilty because you didn't get that 1 exercise in and it didn't fit in your schedule, you may be overtraining. I have learned that for me (and all of our bodies need different amounts of rest and exercise), my personal training schedule looks something like this:

Monday: 4 mile run
Tuesday: 4 mile run
Wednesday: Cross-training (usually an aerobic workout highlighting target muscles and yoga)
Thursday: REST
Friday: 4 mile run
Saturday: REST
Sunday: Long run (depending on where I am at in the training process. Usually this starts at 6 miles and each week I increase this by 1 mile until reaching 12 miles).

So my personal training schedule only includes 4 actual days of running.  On my Monday run, I take it slow. This is what I call my "recovery run." I want to recover from Sunday's long run and make sure that I don't lose momentum. Sometimes I do change this schedule to fit into my life as well. I might need to take a break on Tuesday and do a 4 mile run on Thursday. I try to do 1 fast run each week. This is my speed training. My average is about 8:45 per mile, but on my fast run day I try to speed up to get down to 8:00 in the first mile and 8:30 for the remainder of the miles.

With my personal schedule in place, I always try to stick as close as possible to this as I can. Of course, when life calls and you get sick or cannot schedule that workout due to work responsibilities or your kid's schedule, my personal opinion is just skip it! Your body will thank you in the end!

The Beginning

Okay, so I did it. I created a blog.  I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon and get into the ever so popular blogging thing since it seems that every joe-shmoe on the net these days can create and write about their everyday problems or opinions or life story  and somebody will read it.

Let me begin by saying that I never thought I would be the person who blogs. I'm 35, work full time and have 2 kids (Emily 6 and Kyra almost 4). Yep.  Both girls.  So you get the drama and competition in my household. I rarely have time to think let alone sit down and write what I am thinking. And whoever said a working mother has it easier it utterly,  completely wrong! I work when I am at work.  Then I come home and work.  I play mediator,  cook,  dishwasher,  housekeeper,  mom,  house manager,  laundry maid,  accountant. ... No need to continue.  You get the point.  Really thinking about it, I would love to quit my job even though I love what I do-who wouldn't?

I am an Activities Director for a 55+ community in Southern California. I plan events and get to decorate,  hire great local musicians, plan and go on fun excursions and be creative with flyer design and newsletters, just to name a few things. We are preparing for our 4th of July BBQ currently and I love the chaos of it all! It gets my adrenaline pumping and for some reason,  I feed off of this (maybe it's extreme stress of trying to make everything prefect). This past week I had back-to- back events beginning with a volunteer dinner for the"most important" community members followed by a Social Hour for my drinking crowd and a High Tea for the non drinking crowd. Talk about stress!  Plus shopping and setting up with a committee that consists of just me, myself and I-well,  my body sometimes wants to just give up.

But of course,  being me is not so simple.  I am the type of person who thinks I can do it all. So cliche but so true.  I overwork myself, usually going to bed around 1 am, then wonder why I'm so tired and can barely function at 6am when the alarm goes off. This is seriously a daily occurrance. I kind of roll out of bed and pull on my running clothes. I then blast my headphones hoping it will jolt me out of my slumber and push one leg in front of the other.  Then it's off to work at work,  come home and work and start the process over.

In my mind, I am an athlete. In reality,  I am just plain crazy! Why do you ask do I want to torture myself?  I believe in living life to its fullest.  I don't want to miss out in one single moment.  And I don't.  I do sit and watch TV on occasion. I do stay current on news and celebrity gossip.  I read (or listen) to popular fiction novels.  I am the average Joe. Except I want more.

About 5 years ago, I decided to take some time it for myself And BE that athlete I thought I was. I started running more.  If it didn't fit into my daily schedule,  I made it fit at night in the dark (I know right? Not the safest thing in the world today). You can say I had a goal.  I signed up for my 1st half marathon near my house. I was extremely nervous and didn't know what to expect. This was an inaugural event. And you know what? That run sucked!! I was so pissed off because I had to stop at mile 12 due to lack of hydration. The organizer of the event did not purchase enough water. To be fair, this marathon was in October and the weather started at 50 degrees in the morning and 2 hours later it was over 100 degrees. I seriously almost passed out. I was pissed at myself mainly because I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. I did end up finishing. I walked to the end. My time was horrible. At my stopping point, the nicest lady stopped as well to make sure I was okay. All I remember of her is that she gave me her water bottle and walked with me all the way to the end. I learned that she runs marathons all the time and that stuff like what I was going through happens all the time depending on your body. Then came the worst part-no water at the end. I had to wait for my husband and girls to pick me up and drive to breakfast while my head was still slightly spinning.

Needless to say, that experience made me want to try harder. Train more. I signed up for the innagural (apparently I like 1st time events)Tinkerbell half marathon. And you know what? I ran the entire 13.1 miles without a glitch. I realized at that point, the horrible experience I had at the previous half marathon was not lack of training, but lack of knowledge of proper nutrition and hydration. I LEARNED about myself.  I learned that I needed calories at about 8 miles into my run or I can't make it. I needed Gatorade as well as water for the electrolytes. And must of all I learned I can be an athlete, just without the professional title.

I ran a few more events and kept my training schedule up to speed.  It was at my last half that I realized I was running faster overall.  Not crazy fast like I was going to win the race,  but faster than in any of my runs. The funny part was, I got really sick about 3 weeks before the run, so I was freaking out and lost 2 weeks in training. But I came in under 2 hours! When I saw the 9 minute per mile pacer, I couldn't believe it because I felt great and passed him on up! This girl was on fire!

Anyway, this running thing is definitely addicting. I keep saying the next one is going to be my last.  That clearly hasn't happened yet.

My new goal: get to the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco this October. That's it. This is the mother of all races. Nike - I'm coming for you!!

• You can help me reach my goal by visiting my website and making a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: http:// pages.teamintraining.org/Calso/nikesf14 / julierichards.