TO DO

Runnable trails/mountains from request to facebook 4000 footers group:

• Mt Garfield:  DONE AND GREAT
• Mount Moosilauke via gorge brook
• any trail coming out of Lincoln woods
• Carter dome via 19 mile brook up to zeta pass.  Go around Height
• Not mountain but great run in whites.  run from zealand trailhead thru the zealand notice to thoreau falls – 5 miles each way.  along an old rail line and can make a side trip to Zealand Falls hut
• running down Cannon.  Ridge trail.  Banked corners are awesome

Presidential Traverse:  23 miles, 9000′, typically north to south (different start/end points).  Ref: https://sectionhiker.com/great-hikes-a-presidential-traverse/

• Mt Madison – 5367 feet
• Mt Adams – 5774 feet
• Mt Jefferson – 5712 feet
• Mt Clay – 5533 feet
• Mt Washington – 6288 feet
• Mt Monroe – 5384 feet
• Mt Franklin – 5001 feet
• Mt Eisenhower – 4780 feet
• Mt Pierce – 4310 feet
• Mt Jackson – 4052 feet

Pemi Loop! Shut in by wind and rain on Lafayette Mountain and Garfield Ridge we finally saw the sky at Bondcliffs and through the descent back into the woods! 30 miles, 9,700’ elevation gain, nine 4,000 footers in the White Mountain National Forest in just under 15 hours.

Lakes region:

Mount Major

from Anne:

• Presidential traverse 20 mi
• Cannon Mtn loop 11 mi  then ride tram down
• Katahdan
• south and north baldface
• mount chocora loop trail

(from Dave Fatula)

————————————————————————————

MOUNTAINS DONE:

Mt Garfield:  8/1/21  What an awesome, fast running trail.  3000′ elevation, 3.5 hours, 10 miles.  Hardly any rocks. Gradual climb, beautiful view.  Did with Sam Broadway and Gary Lombardo – was intimidating!

Mt Washington/Monroe Spur:  7/28/21  Beautiful day 53F and around 35 with chill at top.  Not very runnable.  Rock fields not that bad at top/many setup as steps.  Love cloud hut!

Tecumseh:  Winter hike in 3/21/21 short and fantastic to run down on flat snow path 4.74 mi, 2:18:55, 2283ft  microspikes

Mt Osceola and East Osceola 10/24/20:  Drizzy day ~59F.  Not really runnable.  Typical difficulty, even “chimney” between the two peaks is not bad.  No view on East Osceola.

Mt Hancock 10/11/20:  Marginal views, average difficulty.  A wet trail I would NOT do in spring due to several crossings and walking up rocks with water coming down in October.  Not good fall leaf hike.

Old Speck (twice in one day) in ME:  August 2019:  Beautiful hike with highly varied terrain, can run near bottom else pretty rocky as usual in new England

Nashoba Ski Resort (Westford, MA):  Do hills there every Tuesday morning 6:30am.  Each one is 0.20 miles and 250′.  Soul sucking but convenient and am among friends with weight vests, sandbags and buckets. Latest walk/run record is 3:11 on 6/18/19, 5:08 40 lb sandbag, 4:32 20 lb vest.  Hill steeper than it appears below.  My life changed the day my coach showed me hill climbing technique and I also realized that steady “walking” can be faster than “running.”  Also the value of pacing yourself – last week I had total muscular failure near top from going out too hard – have not had that happen before.  If I go steady, I like to be able to run the last 30 yards.

Wachusett Dam:  105′ each, nice loop to go up and down with.  First time I ever did it, only made it 75% of the way.  Separate post on this one elsewhere.

Neighborhood hills on Buttonwood:  0.23 miles, ~2:27

Pack Monadnock:  Did 6/2/19, 2.77 miles, 1:07:58 total, 919′ elevation.  45″ to top, not steep.  Wapack trail from bottom of hill is beautiful, but Marian David is a little more runnable on the way down but not as scenic.  Next time need to run over to North Pack Monadnock (estimated 6.8 miles,  2100′ if starting from lower parking lot (vs. parking at top of Pack Monadnock)

Mt. Monadnock: Did 6/23/19.  116 Poole Rd, Jaffrey, NH.  Took 2 hours roundtrip, 3.85 miles and 1800′ elevation.  Not much flat part to run – very rocky and a lot of rock clambering going up.  Need shoes with good tread for the rocks, which can be steep.  Slightly wet /got one shoe wet.  Tried out new Nathan vest (very sloshy) and Altra superior shoes (tread not good for this).  Took recommended route of White Dot trail going up from visitor center and White cross trail going down.

Skyline Trail – Blue Hills 7/13/19  Super Technical Trail, 15.79 miles, 6:12:54

21:16 moving pace, moving time 5;35 (rest was crying on side of the path), HR 126/170, 4170′ elevation. Fell twice

Wachusett Ski resort  (7/28/19) Can get a variety of courses from the North Face Endurance Races:   https://www.thenorthface.com/get-outdoors/endurance-challenge/massachusetts/course-guides.html

Started at ski lodge parking lot but opposite area from lodge, Balance Rock Trail.

I followed 2/3 of the half marathon choosing to go straight up to the top. 11.02 miles, 3:42, 2507′ elevation (to summit twice plus up a short ski lift once).  Hot day.  18:13/mi moving pace

Trails way less technical than Skyline with clambering only on short stretches near the top.  Bicentennial trail although wrapping the bottom is technical – Visitor center for bathrooms/water

SHOES:  I had not realized how many different shoes there are for various non-road surfaces!  Here is my journey – which continues:

After sliding down the grassy slopes multiple times during bonefrog in my Inov8 F235Lites (fave crossfit and road running shoes), I decided I needed some shoes with tread for future races – not an easy task to find.  Evidently, trail running is a niche activity so the typical stores (all sporting goods, REI, EMS, specialized running stores etc) don’t carry many of them. Locally, I did find a few good trail shoes at Runners Alley in Manchester, NH.  In general, I recommend ordering online via zappos and just returning the ones you don’t want.  The issue is that you may end up keeping all the pairs like me 🙂

1st Test: Altra Superior (shown at top):  wide toebox, zero drop, good for hard packed trails, not so different from my inov8 f-lite 235s, except they weren’t beat to hell – I had forgotten what any cushion felt like.  I took these out of the box and ran a 9 mile interval workout without issue.  Used for run up Mt. Monadnock and it drains well but sucked on rocks/tread is not that great.  I had forgotten what any cushion felt like!

However, I used these shoes for 15 mile technical trail run on Blue Hills Skyline trail and they about killed me – toes got jammed into the end due to lack of midsection support and hurt like crazy and no stability support in the midsection for all the rock scrambling so…..

Bought

2nd Pair: Salomon Sense Ride 2 – Used on Wachusett 16 miler and did well on rocks and also on the scree at Nashoba hill runs; however, despite good socks and lubing my feet, I got a bad blister on the inside of my bunion on the right foot halfway thru the Spartan Super 8 mile race so…..

3rdPair:  Inov8 X-talon 260 Ultra (0 drop) – the 260s have a wider toe box than apparently other inov8s (although note the F935 Lites were very wide and awesome):  Ran 23 miles at Ragnar VT with no new blisters or sore spots and also 14 miles with 6000′ elevation at Old Speck Mountain without issue.  Overall working well but have to check drainage.  Needed to retie laces during run even with a double knot.  Note I’m not a huge fan of the speedcross method of lace tying also although they seem to stick better.

THESE SHOES WERE ROCKSTARS AT THE 2019 KILLINGTON ULTRA.  Could go up and down the grass, debris fields AND MUD without falling when many were sliding down on their backsides.  Tops of toes sore with one big toenail turning black.  Right foot top of bunion area painful but no blisters and the pain wasn’t enough to have affected the race.

4th Pair: Altra Lone Peak 4 – these felt similar structurally to the Sense Ride at the running store although a wider toe box.  After the beatdown on Skyline Trail, I got the Sense Rides that felt slightly more solid.  I bought these with the X-Talons and just decided to not return them (a burgeoning shoe fetish).  Shoe laces are short and harder to undo/do than the others.  Used on a 6 mile flat trail run and loved them – need to check them out on a technical hill.  Update 10/6/19:  After a 17 mile trail run, these may have less padding then the Inov8 xtalons as the bottoms of my feet hurt.

Ran with these for my first Ultra, Stone Cat 50k Nov 2, 2019 and they were great.  had a slight amount of toe pain afterwards but no hurting on bottom of feet or blisters, etc.  These are the best shoes for rocks, etc.  Used Altra Lone Peaks through 2023 during Hamsterwheel (52 miles), Kilkenney Ridge, Tour du Mont Blanc…

5th pair: Topo W-Pursuit (5th type, not number of shoes as I have about 5 pairs of Lone Peaks:))  Better support on inner arch for those who pronate inwards.  Seems like a little more padding.  Also zero drop and wide toe box like Altra Lone Peaks!  Using in 2024.

HYDRATION

Now that I am over 2 hour runs, am trying to do a better job with carrying water.  I had a 3 hr run last weekend so got the Nathan hard plastic waist bottles (each ~10 oz) ~$50 seen below and ran in a loop to refill every hour.  Mixed water with 1 scoop Tailwind and split between the two drinking every 15 min.  Was weird at first as you have to hold your elbows slightly out so they don’t hit bottles but was fine this week – no issues at all with waist carrying.

For this week, I wanted to plan a 4-5 hr mountain hike so needed a bladder.  I went to Runners Alley in Manchester, NH (good store) and got this basic $70 Nathan 1.5 bladder (as the small hand carry bottle alone was $40 I just upped the size). Several issues:

• Evidently I forgot to get rid of all the air so it was horribly sloshy
• The hose you drink from when hanging down, leaked whenever pressure was put on bladder.  I ended up tucking it upwards to help with this after my leg got wet.

Hike ended up being way shorter than planned (2 hr vs. 4-5) so I mostly just used the waist waters and a little of the bladder.

Then I purchased my Inov8 Two in one pack which, in addition to having a 2L hydration pack, has two 18 ml side water bottles and an extra, clip on storage area I can carry my shoes with to XFit during a bike ride or extra clothes on a hike.  This pack gets me 5 hours worth of water!  Have been using it for weeks now without issue.  I only wish the side pockets were more contained – feels like stuff can fall out.  I just use them for trash and keep food in my pants.

After researching for the Ultra race, I spent a whopping $85 to get 3 spare bottles (one bladder and 2 side bottles) so I can put them filled with tailwind in my transition bin for halfway changeout.

Key lessons learned:

1.  Don’t forget your helmet
2. Don’t try to brake with your gear shifts

Neither of these I had used in many months from being on the trainer!

This note from my coach means a lot to me.

I’m far from perfect and miss a workout almost every week – not due to laziness but typically am exhausted or make a work priority call (and still have ~10 others) – but if you don’t #showup, you have no chance of getting better.

My dream is that these real athletes will call me up one to to train thinking of me as an equal.  #stillhavetoearnit

Pic is me and my coach, Gary Lombardo, who has taught me so much this year!  I will be forever grateful

Lessons Learned last month – documenting lessons learned is a great idea from reading Meb Keflezighi’s book “26 Marathons” along with David Goggins:

1. Get race experience when you can:  I almost didn’t do Bonefrog because my shoulder was hurt from the Spartan Sprint the week before.  I didn’t realize that it was also a great “mini death march” with total of 3200′ elevation racing experience, 2 more times practice swimming in cold water, practice seeing other obstacles, and a good 2.5 hr race where I cramped in my feet at end from not eating enough salt stix/fueling properly.  It also gives you confidence – I know now what 3200′ at once feels like and know that I can do it with energy left over.
2. Breaking up mileage makes them easier:  ie. Clovis done May 5 13 miles done in 2 mile segments broken up by 30 burpee jumping pull ups.  Had tons left at the end of this – way easier than running 13 straight miles
3. Sometimes walking is faster than running:  ie. Nashoba hills.  I was so depressed that running up was so hard.  2nd time I did it, Gary taught me some hill technique and I mixed up running/fast “hiking” and beat my running time.  Walking is not a bad thing and sometimes faster.
4. Get used to thinking about quitting and what you will think about to not do it.  This occurs to me every single Tuesday when I’m on Nashoba and the other guys leave before I do…..I could just go now and not do the last few runs up.  I always finish because I can’t live with the shame only I know about quitting.  Once you decide you have to do it, you quit worrying about it so much.
5. Value of body butter:  Picture at top of this blog is my upper arm from a rub I got from a short sleeved in a 2.5+ hr run.  Things that never hurt before can become an issue with time on the road.  Use body butter anywhere anything rubs!
6. Focus on form when tired:  One of my most hated workouts is interval training.  For two reasons – I am so much slower than high school (ie. 4:00 800M vs. 2:35 or a 7:55 mile vs. 5:47), and it hurts way more.  In the middle of doing some 200s, I started thinking about form and lifting up with knees/feet up vs. back and it made it easier – maybe because I just took my mind off of the pain.
7. Don’t be afraid to win if you feel good:  think of the district meet when I could have crushed the competition in the mile but was afraid I felt so good and fell back (also not wanting the season to continue/lacked confidence I could keep it up).  Go for it with smarts, especially at the end and fight for every spot.
8. Prepare in advance for food/water:  Carry what you can with you vs. having to stop somewhere to get it.  Just in case you find a good water fill area, bring extra tailwind, etc so you don’t have to circle by homebase.
9. How you feel doesn’t always equal how you perform:  Keep trying even when you feel bad.
10. Clip ins:  As you get going, don’t clip in too early and get stuck trying to unclip with no forward momentum.  Peddle without clipping in until you are going strong.  Recent bike ride last weekend…I thought I had the clip ins down great from unclipping in trainer and then fell down in a driveway. (see pics below)
11. Get real trail shoes vs. road running shoes (and they are hard to find):  My standard Inov8s just don’t cut it going down grass or rough rock.  Ordered Altra Superiors and waiting for Salomon Speedcross 5 to get some real shoes with tread.
12. Never hang straight down from any bars without you scaps – this is how I hurt my “good” right shoulder/not using good form.

I am looking out my office window at a blooming magnolia with my cat getting ready to do a few ROMWODs and then go out for a long run.  I am grateful for:

• Being healthy and able to work and play
• Having learned so much this last year
  • Finding a coach who has helped me learn value of Heart rate training
  • Leadership of my team at work – paying attention to people, recognizing more when they are out in the field, helping more
  • How to climb a rope
  • How to run uphill – conquered Nashoba after a crushing week of not making it and then learning some skills.  Revisiting again how mentally tough (or not) I am – at least the second time I went and was determined to try to make it.
  • Running skills
  • Recovering my shoulder
  • Being OK with postponing some strength while I fix some core issues and finding someone to help me with lower back pain/posture/root cause
  • Being able to change habits and acknowledge weaknesses to strategize around them
  • How to ride a bicycle
  • Wading my way thru apps and gadgets to find out the best way to track training
• My husband, who listens to me saying the same things over and over and always telling me I can do anything I set my mind to, supporting me when I’m in time out, and who takes care of me
• Looking forward to applying what I’ve learned athletically to my music – adding variability (and per W. Marsalis, mimicking color and people and feelings)
• My job and manager – there is trust there that I appreciate and I hope integrity
• New Orleans – went to French Quarter Fest although was a little lonely by myself in a huge crowd.  Found some dancers, listened to music, ate some wonderful breakfasts at Envie, did yoga at the Cabildo, found an awesome gym and continued all my training and PT while on the road
  

  

  

  

Am trying to not take everything so seriously yet be disciplined and humble.  To be OK with what I can do and to be OK if I mess up once in a while whether it be diet, missing a workout, making a mistake at home or work…

Keep the faith,

Laura

p.s.

Ben Bergeron had a great podcast on getting along with others and a section of empathy with sympathy … Chasing Excellence episode #63.

Last time I ran here, I made it up ~75% of the way and totally gassed out.  My buddy was showing off hopping every two steps up and came down to walk up with me.  I was out this time to make it to the top and made it 7x!

Total elevation gain ~755′.  Note that the death march in the spartan ultra is around 1.25 miles with 1700′ elevation (~26% incline) so is 2.5x what I just did just less incline and longer.

The entire course I think is around 6500k elevation gain so 10x what I just did (that seems more daunting!).

A little progress with a lot more to go.  A few more pics from yesterday:

Laura

Coach helped me with technique and to get up to the ceiling for the first time March 21, 2019 after 8 years of trying.  Being 45# lighter helps.  Having pullups back helps.  Repeated climb at the box on Saturday.  Note that I was pretty scared both days – not sure why but pretty happy that I did it.

Keep at it my friends –

Laura

Dear Coach,

End of training week 12:  This was a good but hard week – I am tired and sore today.  Not sure how but I had a very sore left calf all week so worked that daily.  Long run in snow went well (9 miles @ 11:45 pace) as prep for next Sunday. Moved aerobic workouts to morning which is huge – fitting all this stuff in has been a learning process. I was psyched to realize by moving to morning I could run in daylight and then we turned clocks ahead this weekend!!!!

Note that I compared my 9 miles today with previous runs and it was a little discouraging – I know we are slowing things down so I can go further at a slower pace, but hard to quantify progress when my times are worse -maybe progress is having slower and predictable splits with better form as I have learned HR training and how to control what I am doing 🙂

• Oct 14, 2018 ran 8.1 miles, 9:57 avg pace
• Nov 4, 2018 ran 9 miles, 10:42 avg pace
• March 10, 2019 ran 9 miles, 11:45 avg pace (exactly the target!), Cadence 155, HR 127 avg

This is my life:

• Sunday:  always meal prep for the week (this is not new), long run, extra mobility, study/read
• M-F:  Wake up before 5am, workout 1-2 hrs, do a ROMWOD, drive hour to work, work 8-10 hrs, drive hour to crossfit gym, try to get there with time before last workout at 7:30 so I can do strength (this has been a fail), get home around 8:45pm, eat and go to bed.  I don’t want to abandon my husband so need to leave work earlier and have a little more time at night.
• Note:  I watch zero TV

Successes

• Moved aerobic workouts to before work.  This took me too long to do as 2+ hours of workouts could not be crammed in after work, after my hour drive home and with dinner which resulted in some very late nights!
• Discovered the irrigation box – a small thing made a big difference in squat confidence and my back feeling better got me to 125lb backsquats this week
• Good mobility work – rejoined ROMWOD as I like the sustained holds and do at least 1-2 a day.  I did a 9 mile run today and was NOT crippled for the rest of the day in my lower back – this is huge although crossfit on Thursday with KB swings and KB lunges did make my lower back pretty sore.
• Started experiment on supplemental nutrition during races.
  • Tried some at 1:18 today with 30 min left – didn’t notice much difference. Don’t like anything too sugary, the sport beans are out! Need blander flavors also …a barrage of stuff is coming this week to try over the next weeks
• Lesson learned:  for more complicated workouts with intervals over a long time, need to write out time changes so I don’t get lost during workouts – I think I may be losing it as although I have a Masters in engineering from MIT, I unsuccessfully wrote this out in the middle of “bike3″ as somehow 67″ +10″ equalled  107”!  I still find myself also forgetting to do things sometimes – like keep up the cadence or I’ll forget I’m in the middle of a Z3/Z4 interval…losing it 🙂

• I feel great about enlisting my two young proteges (14 and 17 yrs old) to do a spartan sprint this summer and helping them do it
• My equipment failed me in the very cold (7deg F weather) so I will likely buy some Garmin watch in the next weeks – thinking either Forerunner 935 or Felix 5.
• Water intake way better as I leave glasses all over my house now
• Shoulder made another step better with just slight twinge now when hanging – did at least 50 strict pullups during a wod last week.

Need to do better:

• Am struggling getting the lifting routines in – not because I don’t like them/these are my favorites (except squats!) but sometimes when I get to crossfit early, the bars are taken, or I don’t get there early and it is pretty late after.  Am thinking I may want to join some typical gym like Fitlab just to have more flexibility for weight training. It is not easier with them spread out over days and would rather plan for 2 days with 2/day then 4 with one day on weekends.  I am working/workout out continuously – not slacking off
• Need to get on crawling and grip strength – am wondering if I should get something to use while at my desk/in meetings at work.  How can I work this stuff in while at work….maybe take a trip thru the shops carrying something during the day….we are buying a pullup bar for work
• Having trouble getting run cadence up to 170, no issues with bike

thank you for all your advice!

Laura

I’ve been trying to make running a more social sport – haven’t figured it out yet as I am trying to follow my own routine, at my own pace and am not networked well.  In addition to just wanting company, I also feel strongly about helping out young women with their careers.  Back in 1989, there were ~4% women in my engineering class and less than that working in engineering at my current company – not much progress there unfortunately.  There are two wonderful young ladies (and a third much younger) that I try to pay some special attention to in my life.  I decided to enlist them in a Spartan Sprint 5K this summer.  They are both little badasses in their own right now – much older than the pics I have here. They are some awesome karate kicking, soccer playing, horn section playing, hard-working little ladies.

This week, I made it a REQUIREMENT for my niece Katie, who I’m flying out here to visit with me, and a REQUEST to my close friend Robbie’s daughter Sonia, who lives nearby.  Here they are – although both much bigger now – Katie will be 18 and Sonia 15 this summer.

Katie – my niece:

Sonia – my BLF (best little friend)…these are quite old!:

And a few times, they have been together:

So, in addition to calling them and promising them help, etc, I sent them the video below – which, granted might be intimidating as it has “Will you die?” in the title….

Then, I thought they need something a little more motivational so I sent them this:

then this….

https://youtu.be/F_Y86zJkt9s

I am very excited about them doing the August 10 Spartan Sprint Race and hoping we can pull this off!

Heading out into a blizzard now for a 105″ run 🙂

Laura

There is a great book called “The Year of Running Dangerously” (which is reviewed separately in these blogs) where the main character helps his daughter during a marathon by giving her magic beans to help with cramping. Fact is, you need to manage your fluid and carbohydrate intake during long runs.  I called an old friend last week, who is 82, an ironman and going strong mountain biking in Arizona – his main advice was to manage this stuff and not bonk during a race.

I’m running a half marathon next weekend which, at my snails’ pace of 11:45/mi, will take me ~2.5 hrs to complete.  After 90 min, you should consider taking come kind of supplement every hour or so.  I have never done this.  This is the beginning of weeks of experimentation to find out which product works best for me.  Coach says to find two gels, two chewables and two powders that I like.

Current items I’m checking out after 90 min to note if it tastes good and if it improves how I feel:

• Salt Stick – 215 mg sodium vs. Hammer nutrition – Endurolytes
  • “pills” like endurolytes or pill form of salt sticks get stuck in your throat and hurt.  I’m going with the chewable salt sticks (Update:  the non chewables have higher concentration of electrolytes and chewables require way more per hour so I now use the normal sat sticks to take 2/hour).
• Tailwind powder mix
  • Love this 1 scoop mixed with 22 oz water each hour.  Have tried orange and lemon.
• Gummies
  • Skratch labs
  • Sport Beans – 100 cal/package, 80 mg sodium, 40 mg potassium, 25g carb (17g sugars).  made of cane sugar, tapioca syrup, apple juice, etc.  These are made by jelly belly
    • Tried this at 1:18 with another 30 min to go.  Too sugary and pain to keep popping the little ones/whole pack of 100 cal.  Did not have noticeable affect – was cold.  No cramping.
• Gels…. All sweet.  Better chocolate/coffee flavors as less sweet
  • Cliff:  LIKE because little tab at top connected to pack so won’t litter/get lost
  • Vfuel Gels
  • Gu gel – 100 cal packet, 25 g carb made from maltodextrin, water, fructose, leucine, sea salt, 125 mg sodium
  • Hydragel sports fuel gel 100 made from total crap, glucose, fructose, 25g sugars
• Hammer nutrition – chocolate recoverite and for during training
  • This can be too sweet at end of run

I was happy that I also found some sport beans today a the Heartbreak Hill Running Store in Boston!

I’ll be updating this post with results.

This is my pre, during and post race nutrition plan:

Chew on,

Laura

I’ve been living in fear of squats for two reasons:  My achey lower back and the fact I’ve always felt a little unstable because of my flexibility and tendency to have issues with an upright upper body while in a squat (remember I cannot do an overhead squat – yet).  My coach recommended that I use a box at a height that I’m comfortable squatting to.

After running my head into the end of the 45 lb bar in the rack while reaching for my training routine papers on the ground (rookie mistake), I set it up on a few 10 lb plates so that the top was set if I was in a full squat parallel to ground.

LOVE IT – I don’t know if it just makes me feel safer and not lost in space as I’m awkwardly going down but it is like a magic confidence builder.  I went up to 125 lb squat for a pretty easy 3 reps!

Squat on my friends!

Laura

Sometimes when you expend less energy and slow down you accomplish more.  After a week in Bonaire, on the last dive I realized that if I totally exhale, I sink like a rock and totally managed my buoyancy on my own floating and going up and down at will easily.  This also applies to initially getting in the water as you descend – instead of flailing around, just relax and lean forward.  It reminds of a day many years ago at GE when I was in some type of battle with the Italians and Vincenzo Di Leva told me that I didn’t realize I had already won….

Pausing and being in the moment is also something I am working on.  Doesn’t mean I don’t work hard but it means that you need to make the work count by being focused.

I did run six miles roundtrip to Crossfit Flamingo and do the 19.1 workout – heat kicked my a&& and my calves were cramping during wallballs.  I did this while the rest of the group was out diving and before I had my initial, assisted dive en route to certification the next day.  I was told you weren’t supposed to exercise too much before diving – this was a test 🙂  Here’s a pic of me and the awesome guys who judged/supported me:

So on this note, let me get back into it and meditate daily.  OHm, one more thing, 5 pounds up – I am hoping it is airplane weight and we’ll see in a day or so.  I am also determined to get back to the weights – my 7.7 miles yesterday crippled me with the lower back again so I need to continue to work through that and fix it as well.

A few more pics from the trip:

An awesome time and in my new swimsuit!!

Honest reporting and en route to being better,

Laura

First day of STFU training – after my hour run in the snow, I found the salt bucket in the garage and carried it around the neighborhood.  I love that kind of stuff. I hadn’t really done it last month as planned I think because it was too easy – make it harder and I’m all in 🙂

First week of phase 4 training this week with the intensity increasing – see bike workout below from yesterday where I did a bunch of intervals thruout the workout ending with a 20 sec max effort, 10 s rest for 4 minutes:

Already had a back spasm so better get on the floor to do a few stretches/mobility wod today…  Am tired just thinking of the next two days getting ready to go to Bonaire at 3am Sat morning!!  Tomorrow I have a workout + am trying out gear at the scuba pool + organizing cat sitters, etc for our trip.

I’ve mentioned before about how if I’m out late at night running around my neighborhood that I’ve asked my sweet husband to never turn off the light downstairs so that I think he is awake with me.  I’ve been searching for someone my age, trying to do something similar, so I am not alone in this journey.  I’ve said to myself “I’m all alone” dredging up this old, untrue, verbal punishment I thought I had gotten rid of.  I know it’s not true.  I know there are plenty of athletes I can talk to at the box or my coach and that I have a wonderful family and friends.  I do know this – it is something we all worry about and just like I ask my husband to keep a light on in our home, I was thinking today that we should all keep a “light on” for others so they don’t forget they aren’t either.  It could be just asking someone how they are doing or inviting someone to dinner or sending a little note to a friend living far away.

I had first written in jest don’t use a headlamp but this post edit is about how you MUST use a bright headlamp as one of my very best friends suffered from depression and hung himself in his garage.  You can’t keep the lights on bright enough to make others realize they are not alone.

Here’s a shoutout to one of the best humans ever – Gunter you are missed.

Laura

I became a stepmom in my 40s.  I survived and all of us are doing great. I remember that it took me into my 30s until I truly appreciated my own mother and still wonder what, if any, impact I have made on my boyfriends’ son, my stepson, my son – labels get all confused in these types of relationships just like the boundary lines of what we can say or not say, or care about or not care about, or ask or not ask….

A month ago we were driving in the car together while he was home at Christmas and I was working on posture with the lacrosse ball behind my shoulder in the car when he told me he was worried about me doing that because if we got into an accident, I could get extra hurt by having that ball there.  I thought it was the sweetest concern ever. Sometimes I’ve wondered if I’ve made a difference at all or, if I’ve damaged him in some way with the conflicts we did have (probably no different than any teen and their parents).  Anyway, it was a moment that mattered a lot to me.

Laura

p.s.  Main pic is probably at least six years old 🙂

I have finally done a real T2B!!!!

Started out in Friday Crossfit doing a 50 cal assault bike which DID NOT steal my soul this time…

and ended with some T2elbows and I realized I could just go to bar…. Last year just before my shoulder injury I did T2B but with a jump and swing in front of it. This is what wore out my shoulders a ton before I ultimately tore one.

Pretty dang happy I can do 2 in a row and I also did 6×5 reps dead hang pullups.  Getting Stronger!

L

I lasted for months counting every gram of fat, protein and carb entering my body and being within +/- gram target a day.  Don’t understand now that I’m at the lowest weight ever why I’m struggling with the same to break into this ab six pack and just lean out a little more.  Every time I get to my lowest weight, I totally sabotage myself.  This week, on my workout day off, during a snowstorm, I stopped into the grocery store and walked out with a bag of Lays Salt/Vineger and some Lindt truffles (^&*&&^!!) and ate them on the hour drive home.  I’m standing at the register thinking this could be a great day or a bad day and I should put them back as I do not have self control with this type of crap in the house (or car as it may be). My tongue is still burning from the salt and vineger.

I know that no matter what shape you are in, the quality of food makes you feel better and perform better.

I know that I’ll feel bad later.

Do I not care about getting this six pack?

My boss told me I’m half the woman he hired yesterday (my husband told me I should have responded with I’m twice the woman you hired!).  I did my workout run last night – an hour intervals ~5.2 miles in the dark on semi-icy roads.

#Fighttheselfsabotage!!!

Laur