Not At The Kid's Table Anymore

Traditions are an important part of life. In my family, we hold several traditions. One of these occurs at every family gathering and holiday. My cousins refer to this tradition as "sitting at the Kid's Table". My grandparents on my dad's side have 12 grandchildren. My aunt's kids are in their late 20's/early 30's and the rest of us are 24-years-of-age and younger. Because our family is so big, we set up multiple tables at family gatherings; there is the kid's table and the grown-up table. Even when these two tables are pushed together or when there are only four cousins present, we still huddle at "the Kid's Table". This last Christmas, there were three tables. One for the great-grandchildren and my older cousins, one for the adults and one for my cousins. We could easily mix it up, but we don't. Mixing it up would mean challenging ourselves to be more mature, more adult-like or taking it down to our adolescent years. Even though my cousin Rynny is pregnant and my cousin Jack Coleman brought his fiance, we all still sat at the kids table and we agreed this Christmas that we will always stay at the kid's table, even after we all grow up.

This morning I started Drea's Running Strong clinic. I teach Pilatess and strength classes on a regular basis. In fact, I teach 36 classes a week; however, I was nowhere near prepared for what Drea had in store for me. Let me tell you, folks, I was no longer at the Kid's Table. She had taken me up a notch. I knew my hips were weak, but I didn't know the strength they were capable of this morning. Every moment of the class challenged me and pushed my hips to their limits, but I loved every minute of it. As I looked around the room, I felt like one of the weakest runners in the room, but I was there and I was going to give it my all. I left feeling invigorated. So stoked on life right now!

As far as running goes, I have been taking a break since Tuesday. Instead of running, I reacquainted myself with the elliptical. In high school, I loved the elliptical. In college, I studied on the elliptical. At work, I set the record for best woman on the elliptical. As soon as I set that challenge, I stopped doing the elliptical. I fell in love with running, so the elliptical went on the back burner. Spending time on it this week, that passion I once felt did not come back. I tried to entertain myself by listening to music. I started with bands like Three Days Grace and Theory of a Deadman, bands with hardcore, I'm going to conquer and succeed albums. I got bored after 30-minutes and on came the country. "Country girl, shake it for me, girl, shake it for me, girl, shake it for me," played in my ear buds for 45-minutes. Later that night, Josh Tuner's Why Don't We Just Dance came on my playlist during my Pure Awesomeness class. One of the surfer guys asked me if that really got me going and I said, without shame, that yes, in fact, it did. It's just not the same on a treadmill as it is on the open road though.

During my 50-minute elliptical session yesterday, I decided to watch a couple of episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Even Ted Mosby's search for the perfect wife didn't entertain me enough to convince myself I was having a good time. Two-minutes aggressive pace, three-minutes moderate... is it over yet?

But bike class was great, tri club went well. All in all, it's been a good week. It's been an easy week. Now that I'm writing about it, I'm looking back and thinking, "Wow... I slacked this week." Next week is my rest and test week. I guess we will see if I improved from taking a break or if my times go down. For now, I'll go teach my Pilates, grab lunch with the boyfriend, do a 2-hour speed and force bike ride, teach three circuit classes, train Richard and get some sleep. Here comes the weekend!

5 Miles of Pure Cadence

After hundreds of miles logged in my Saucony ProGrid Kinvaras, it was time for a new pair of running shoes. Sophia and I went in to see Joe and Nash yesterday for some new motivational running shoes. Joe brought out two Brooks boxes for me. The first one opened and inside lay....

Well, to tell this story, you should know that before I bought my first pair of Kinvaras (I've had two), I wanted to buy the Brooks PureCadence. However, the shoe had not been released and I needed a new pair immediately. Alright, back to yesterday...

The Brooks PureCadence! Ah! They were beautiful! Blue and green and grey. I didn't even want to try them on; I knew they would be mine the second I laid eyes on them. Yes, I think now I believe in love at first sight... when it comes to running shoes, that is. I laced them up anyways and hopped on the treadmill. One step, two step, three step, jog. Yes, it was meant to be. Joe confirmed that this was the shoe for me and I was sold.

I walked back to my old, worn out shoes and saw Sophia was trying on the same shoes. I'm pretty certain these shoes are magical, because they worked perfectly for her as well. We are twinsibops!

Then I made a mistake. "Joe," I started. "Tell me the difference between a training shoe and a racing shoe." Oh, Joe told me the difference. Then he opened the second box. "This would be your racing shoe," he said, lifting out a beautiful white and seafoam green Brooks PureConnect shoe. Oh shoot. I fell in love again. "I'll take them!" I exclaimed before putting them on. What can I say? I'm an easy customer. I laced them up anyway and hopped on the treadmill. Yup, these are the shoes I'm wearing at my half marathon. They are so light, so heavenly; I could run for miles. Alas, Sophia was waiting to hop on the treadmill. It was okay, I knew the shoes were mine.

I handed my card over to Joe (by the way, Mom and Dad, I owe you a couple hundred dollars), and my life could not be more complete. Okay, I'll be saying the same thing in 4 months, but I'm stoked.



Sophia's and my new shoes.


After grabbing lunch with Sophia, Josh and I went for a swim. Following my 1350 meter recreational swim, we drove out to a bike shop my friend had recommended. Mom and Dad, if you're reading this, I owe you another $101. Ouch. I just can't say no to beautiful equipment.

Last night I taught Power Cycle: 1 hour of race-like simulation. 15 minute warm-up speed drills, 3 sets of 3:00 in zone 5 at 95% effort with a 3:00 recovery, 3 sets of 2:00 in zone 5 at 95% effort with a 0:45 recovery, 3 sets of 1:00 in zone 5 at 95% effort with a 0:20 recovery, 2:00 of :30 sprints, 3:00 of :30 standing climbs with :30 spin-ups and a 5 minute recovery. If you were pushing on this workout, it was a good one.

Richard and I met up last night and we did some strength sets. It was cold. I'm glad we went though, because I got some new training ideas from the young males who were training. They used some drills on stadiums I had never seen and one guy was doing parachute sprints, which reminded me that I should buy a parachute. A bright one. I love bright things (thank you, Sophia, for making sure Joe knew that yesterday!).

My tri group this morning was unsuccessful. Dani was out of town and no one else showed up, so I did a 5-mile force run on the beach with walk/jog recoveries. That was the first workout in my PureCadence. Love them! I'm pretty certain I could not be happier with my shoes! My knee had a dull ache, but overall it felt much better! I love new shoes! I think today will be a very good day indeed.


Thanks, Mom and Dad for my awesome reflexive jacket!