Crabby Pelicans and Salty Dogs

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. :-) Last week I was at the beach with the family. My parents have been renting a house on Fripp Island, SC since I was in elementary school. The last time we were there was 2 years ago when I was training for my second marathon. It was hot! Really hot, and being the beach, it was humid. I couldn't even make it 3 miles. This time I was going to make it, and ended up having an awesome week of running! After biking and driving around the island I had a little fun on my 6 mile run with some of the house signs. Here we go!

The street we were staying on. No irony at all here...

what can you do other than laugh?

Marco? Has anyone seen Marco?

deers (the natives!) and salty toes...

It was a pretty awesome turn out point! Morning sunrise :-)

This is one of my favorites. I kept thinking of the twitter band of salty bananas for some reason...

And across the street (not making it up!)

Sums it up pretty well don't you think?

experimenting

I am a schedule person. I get up at the same time 5 days a week, practice at the same time everyday, and teach lessons during certain hours. I like order. So, if you give me a schedule that says run four days a week that's what I'm going to do (and clearly I love having a running schedule). But this week I tried something different. I didn't start out to only run 3 days this week, but because of the weather that's what happened, and I have to say I'm kind of intrigued by the idea. I feel like I have a ton of energy (there's a new idea), and that I'm look forward to my runs even more than I already was. So here's what I'm going to try for at least a couple of weeks:

• Monday - speed work. It rotates between tempo runs, 400 yard, and 800 yard speed intervals (this morning it was 7x400)
• Tuesday - cross train and strength train
• Wednesday - run (it will be my long run for a little while)
• Thursday - cross train and strength train
• Friday - the holy day of rest
• Saturday - Team in Training group run (affectionately know as GTS)
• Sunday - cross train and strength train

This morning's run was awesome! It was getting harder to recover on the last couple of intervals, but even after the mile I had to run to get home after I finished I felt like I had tons of energy, and could keep going (maybe I need to push more on the intervals). Plus I'm excited to put some yoga back into the routine. Yesterday's 60 minute yoga workout kicked my rear a little, but I got all the way through it, which is something I've struggled with on this particular yoga workout (it's yoga for runners. a combination on strengthing poses and flexibilty). I can feel that I'm getting stronger, and I'm pretty excited about it! Plus tomorrow is fall season kick-off for Team in Training, which means this morning was officialy my first workout towards the Chicago marathon! So excited!

Maybe you could help me get started on the way to my goal: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/chicago10/bgartley

violin & running not so different

Sometimes it's funny to think about how different two things can be only to discover they really aren't that different. It blows my mind sometimes how similar running and playing the violin can be.

• running has the whole barefoot vs. shod (shoes) debate. In violin we have the great bow hold debate, french vs. german (I'm a french girl)
• long and slow are the name of the with weekly long run. Slow is the best way to learn things in music
• want to get faster, add a speed workout to your weekly run schedule. want to play faster. better crack out that metronome and start doing some faster practicing in that music
• breathing right is really helpful
• strength training helps you keep your form for longer
• focusing on form and technique can make you more efficient
• proper nutritution and hydration are important 
• the weeks prior to a race/audition can make you go through every emotion possible (and then some)

A few differences:

• in running you taper your miles before a race so your legs can rest (affectionately know as the taperworm or taper monster). It can bring out our more colorful personality traits. There is no such thing as tapering for auditions or concerts. If anything, there is cramming...
• you can run in just about any kind of weather within reason. violins don't like being outside and react, sometimes violently, to weather changes (I've had pegs shoot across rooms before)
• you can fix things as you go during a marathon. auditions and concerts are like the 100 yard dash. you only get one shot to be perfect

I've got just under 3 weeks till my audition. Last week I was in tears while working on my excerpts. This week I find them oddly relaxing. Go figure. The good news, every excerpt I played today was perfect on the first run through. That's a huge step forward. You only get one shot on audition day.
Oh, and look what jumped into my violin case :)

Running on Memories

There were balloons in our Sunday School class on Sunday. Balloons aren't really my favorite thing (the noise they make when the pop scares me), but one of the guys thought it would be really fun to bust one open for the helium. Announcements definitely would have been interesting. My first reaction was my Uncle use to do that all the time. I remember my Grandmother's birthday the summer after my 7th grade year. We always went to the same Chinese restaurant across from some of the UVA fields in Charlottesville. My Uncle Clyde's wife Leysia had walked over to talk to my sister and I, noticing how beautiful my smile was now I that I no longer had braces. She turned her back, and my uncle got his hands on the balloons. I never knew my Uncle really well, so I was surprised when he started opening balloons and talking after a mouthful of helium. It was hysterical. The more I've heard about my Uncle, the more I've come to discover that this was just his way. Fun loving, a little bit crazy, and enjoying life. I really admire that. I loved hearing stories of the crazy things he did at his memorial service. I learned a lot about him that I never knew.

This weekend would have my Uncle Clyde's birthday. It seems fitting that I'm running a half marathon this weekend. I run a lot of races in memory of my Uncle. It just seemed like the right thing to do after he lost his very brief battle with cancer. This weekend also marks another anniversary. A year ago I was on the way to the same race (ING Georgia 1/2 marathon) when I learned that a friend unexpectedly passed away the day before. She loved to run even if she didn't run as much as she wanted too. I often find myself wanting to tell her something I think will make her laugh, or wanting to send her a note to see how she's doing only to remember that she isn't here anymore. I can't bring myself to take her out of my address book. She reminds me of my Uncle Clyde. Always smiling, bubbly, and full of life. So on Sunday I'm running the ING Georgia half marathon (I so wish I had time to run the full) in memory of Clyde and Jen. I hope it will be a day full of fun and laughter. I think they would have enjoyed that.

Left to right: Kim, Jen, Peter, & myself

Sometimes you just have to let go

I have a problem. I like to be in control. Who doesn't for that matter? However, I've learned over the past several weeks that my control problem is getting in the way. Sometimes it takes giving up the control to get where you need to go. Running or playing the violin.

I've struggled with spiccato for as long as I can remember. I always thought it was a bouncing stroke. I learned a few things at one of my lessons a few weeks back. It's not a bouncing stroke. Spiccato in italian means short, which just happens to bounce because we're always go so darn fast when we use it. OHHHH. Hmm, that explains a few things. I also learned I try to control it too much. Well, that's because I was trying to make it bounce. Duh. Unfortunately, that just makes things worse. If I try too much it just gets really pecky, like chickens pecking at feed (not really what I was going for I have to say). And because I'm trying so hard and controlling it so much I get really tight, and then tired, and then sore. Turns out if I let go of the tension, and don't try and control things so much I'm actually kind of good at spiccato. Who knew? :) Letting go when I'm playing my violin has been a huge struggle. It's the opposite of the way one of my teachers taught me, and because I of that I got hurt really bad in high school. Letting go is hard. It's uncomfortable. It means taking risks and trying new things. Some may work, others may not, but it never hurts to try. And slowly I'm getting there (the video taping has helped grumble, grumble).

With running, well I tried to control my pace a lot. I wanted to hang with the fast kids and run fast all of the time. Unfortunately, the path to speed involves slowing down. Now I do one speed workout a week and run all of my other runs at least a minute slower than I use too. The difference is huge! My 6 mile run earlier this week felt easy, and I never had to stop to walk or catch my breathe. I just ran at a nice comfortable speed and enjoyed the small lakes forming in my shoes from the rain (ah the memories of high school soccer games in the rain). Long distance running is still something I'm learning, and yes I'm saying that even after four marathons. I'm still learning. Letting go and enjoying the run has helped so much the last 4 weeks. It's not about the pace, and my endurance has skyrocketed because of that. I'm actually really excited about my half marathon next Sunday because of all of this. I can't wait to run and see what happens.

So here's to letting go. May I continue to get better at it because I kind of like being a little more relaxed

1st run with Garmin

The Garmin has arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm not excited at all if you can't tell ;p). I was so nervous that it wouldn't come on Wednesday because UPS only said that it was in Atlanta and in transit, but not out for delivery. Way to make an impatient lady stress UPS :).

Originally the Garmin was going to stay in the box until after I complete Sunday's marathon. HA!! My friend Kristen said she would have gotten it right out of the box and gone for a run. She's a smart lady :). I did in fact take it and the heart rate monitor out for a "test run" this morning. That's when I realized that Nike+ hasn't been completely honest with me. I had to run a little further than I did yesterday with Nike+ get all 3 miles in, and the Garmin says I wasn't going the same speed that Nike+ says I run. That's okay. Nike+ was a great way to get started with running. I can't wait to start playing with some of the features on my Garmin. That of course means I need to figure out how the thing works in the first place. I've read the manual 3 times now. I'm still not sure I have it all figured out yet. No worries. Usually I figure most electronic things out just by playing with them.

Apparently there is a tradition amongst runners to name their Garmin device. The very first thing I got on my Dailymile post this morning was what was my Garmin's name. I don't have a clue. I'm not big on giving things names. I mean the dogs have names, but my car and my violin are nameless and will remain that way. So, what should I name my Garmin? Any ideas?

Snow reminds me of how it all began...

It snowed in Atlanta today. A whole 1/2 inch. The entire city is in a slippery holding pattern. See, despite all of the ice storms we've had the city only has 4 salt/sand machines. Yes, that's right. Only four. Doesn't seem quite right. After spending 2 years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for graduate school I find all of this highly amusing. Schools started announcing closing Wednesday evening ahead of the weather "event." I remember walking to class in blizzards in Milwaukee. What a difference a few years and several hundred miles make.

See snow and running go way back for me. I first starting running in March of 2006 after taking a fall and messing up my shoulder and couldn't practice. This was a bit of a problem because I was 3 weeks away from my graduate violin recital. So, to deal with all of the stress I laced up my running shoes over spring break and went for a run. It was about 5 degrees out with an inch or 2 of snow. It was magical. I don't think I even made it a mile :). But I loved it. It made me feel better, I wasn't nearly as stressed out, and it actually made my shoulder feel a little better (or maybe that was all in my head). So, tomorrow I "only" have to run 10 miles. I'm kind of hoping there will still be some snow on the ground. In a way, it's almost like going back to the beginning, except I can run further than a mile now :)

had to make sure we had everything we needed for the "storm"

some were not as concerned :)

:) A runner's high :)

This morning I ran 18 miles all on my own. It was freezing out!!!! (25 degrees with 25 mile an hour wind gust I would guess). I'm so glad I didn't look at the windchill before heading out this morning. It struck me while I was out running that I'm just out running 18 miles. No one was forcing me to. I don't have to run a marathon. I choose to do, and I can just run 18 miles. That's huge!!!!!!! You have to understand, I did not like running when I was a kid. I played soccer from the 3rd grade all the way through high school. Pre season conditioning was my least favorite thing to do. When we had our timed mile the first practice of the season I was the very last to finish, huffing, and puffing the whole way, and just squeaking in under the time limit. Running was not "my thing." Now sprinting on the other hand. Well, I loved to sprint, which is why I probably spent most of my soccer career as a wing player. Set me loose and I was off. Just don't ask me to run for long!

Flash forward to today. Today I ran 18 miles because I could, and I did it in just under 3 hours. Now that I can feel my fingers and toes again I feel pretty awesome, and a little bit sore. It's a nice runners high. I hope it sticks around a while. If not, I've got a 20 mile run coming up in a two weeks :).

Relaxing & More Rain

I will admit that I was not in the greatest of moods when I got home from work last night. See I've had a really annoying sinus headache for days now, and the advil had worn off midway through the work day. So, I really wasn't happy that the kitchen was a mess and no one seemed to show any signs of doing anything about it (I should mention that I live at my parent's house). So, once again I had the pleasure of cleaning the whole kitchen, which is not my favorite thing to do. Have I mentioned I was in a rotten mood? So I decided that some relaxing was in order before bed, and tried out this wonderful video from Tara Stiles

Oh my goodness!! It made such a difference. I was so relaxed and fell right asleep, and got a great night's sleep (totally jumped onto the yoga bandwagon). I was really hoping I would wake up to a nice dry morning. Instead, it was still pouring, but I worked up the courage to go for a run in the rain hoping that my route would be flood free. Strike two. Half way around I found a lake that is actually Peachtree Creek across the road I wanted to run on. With a small change I headed up to Peachtree Road and Cardiac Hill, which is actually part of the route of my next race. Planning ahead!

By the time I made it close to home I was tired of being wet, and had to stop to carefully get out onto the street to get around a tree dangling from a power line (now I know why the power has been blinking on and off!). So, it was time to go home for a nice hot shower and an awesome bowl of oatmeal! One of the blogs I read is Kath Eats Real Food and she has a whole page of oatmeal recipes. I've been trying the oatmeal, almond butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and fruit (this morning it was blueberries!). It hit the spot! So yummy and filling.

One of my other favorite blogs has a core challenge that starting at Oh She Glows and I love a challenge! Besides it will help prevent injuries too!

Still waiting

Germs, germs, go away, and don't come back!! Between this cold and the fall allergy season things haven't been fun lately. It's been 1 1/2 weeks since my last run. It feels like eons!!! This morning I attempted a two block walk with the dogs to see how things were doing. HA! I started coughing the minute I walked out the door and continued for most of the first block. Maybe my lungs just needed to clear things out? One can only hope. At least I'm not winded when I play my violin! Must stay positive!!! I tired some yoga when I got home from the walk. I can till my legs have recovered from the marathon already, which is great because I have a 1/2 marathon coming up on Thanksgiving Day. Yeah, running again would be awesome! I've been doing a lot of yoga since the race. I love how good I feel afterwards, but someone is going to have to explain how downward dog is a resting pose. Because yoga focuses so much on stretching it's really great for runners and musicians! Never tried, but always wanted to? Here's a little introduction from one of my favorites (you can check more at her website www.tarastilesliving.com):

A change of weather

As you can see the violin was not happy when I opened the case this morning =(. Poor violin. It just doesn't like any changes as far as the weather goes, which is a shame because the weather is changing. I can't tell you how many violins I've had to tune so far this week. It's crazy!

This morning I went for a run and it was actually cold! I kid you not. It was 49 degrees when I got back from my 8 mile run. I couldn't move my hands! I haven't warmed up much since, but then my room always seems to be cold, so hopefully I'll feel warmer once I get outside and go to work. I still haven't quite figured out what to wear when I'm running in this cooler weather. It's not cool enough for pants and not warm enough for sleeveless shirts. So, I've been wandering the great Internet looking at fall/winter running gear and mentally spending my paycheck before I even get it later today. Shopping is just too easy =).

Does Muscle Memory really exist?

Ah, fall is in the air!!! Unfortunately, so are the fall pollens. One day I will be able to breathe again. Fortunately it didn't bother me too much during my weekday runs. I discovered something very interesting yesterday on my 10 mile run, I like hills! Yes, I know how crazy it sounds, but I actually found myself looking forward to the uphill climb, and let me tell you, they don't call my neighborhood Collier Hills for nothing! It's making me feel much better about tackling the hill on the Nike course. Everything keeps telling me that I'm crazy for running in San Francisco with all of their hills, but honestly, I think Atlanta may be one of the best places to train. Plus we're tackling the Johnson Ferry hill out on the river again this Saturday. I think I'll be ready.

My legs actually feel soooo much better than they did last week. I started getting really large knots in my calves especially in my left leg. So, I bit the bullet and got new orthotics for my every day shoes. I've liked the ones I got for my running shoes last month, so I went ahead and got the same brand for my casual shoes too. They're awesome. The brand is called Aetrex Lynco orthotics (www.aetrex.com). They've made a huge difference!!!! The knots are gone, and my knee and hip feel sooo much better. I can't recommend them enough! If you need orthotics you should definitely check them out. You can find the sports ones at the Big Peach Running Co. (www.bigpeachrunningco.com) or at the Walking Store.

Practicing has been very interesting this week. I've been kind of mad at myself for not getting my act together sooner and doing better on my audition. There's nothing I can do about it now, but I change for the future, which is what the plan is. I'm starting to wonder if the idea of muscle memory isn't just made up. Who came up with this idea? Whenever I try and follow it I just end up back in the land of mediocrity. I don't like being there, and I've started paying a lot more attention to things. I can't doing anything based on feel anymore. The more I listen the more I realize that "muscle memory" is letting me down. Plus most of the time when something sounds good it's feels really strange. So, I'm reprogramming myself to go off of sound and not feel. We'll see how this little experiment goes after I have my next lesson. Until then it's back to the practice room...

Why they Run

Saturday was amazing! I got up at 5:15 am and got ready to head to the river. See I had this insane idea of going for a 6 mile run before reporting for water stop duty at 7:00 am. Because I fell earlier in the week I was behind in my runs, but I was okay with that. I really wanted to go on the 10 mile run Saturday, but really that's not what it was about for me. For me it was about making sure my body was okay. Really it's my left hand that is in bad shape. Not a good thing for a violinist getting ready for an audition, but what can you do other than make sure everything is okay and give things time to heal. That's why I was only doing a 6 mile run.

I was nervous when I left the parking lot. It was extremely dark with very few people out. The river is heavily wooded, and on this particular morning covered in mist. I felt like I was running through the mist of avalon. But I just but all of the worrisome thoughts of a dark, wooded park behind me and just ran. Before I knew it I was at the other end of the park and then at the turn around to head back up to the start. A friend of mine was planning to run 4 miles that morning too, so I had someone to run back to the start with. It turned out to be great because I probably would have wimped out and allowed myself to walk up the lone hill I had to run up. Instead I stayed steady and ran with Sally up the hill doing 6.2 miles in about 59 minutes the same as my last 10k race.

Instead of manning a water stop I got to be the course sweeper making sure everyone on the team ended up in the right place, that the water stops had what they needed, and help anyone who had problems. A couple of my mentees were nervous about the 10 mile run, which is very understandable. The sudden change of single digit miles to double digit miles in daunting. For me the nervousness sets in for the higher miles (think 18-20 miles), so I can understand what they're feeling. I watched them from my car as I drove around, and cheered them on. If I could have I would have gotten out of my car and run with them and cheering them on. I did do plenty of cheering from my car. Some struggled more than others, and that's when the doubt sets in, and that's when the coaches and mentors become so important. We made sure that everyone made it in, and that there was plenty of cheering for everyone. It's a huge accomplishment. It's humbling to watch, and I'm so proud of all of them. Training for a marathon, especially your first, is not easy. I remember. I was there last year, and just because this is my third doesn't mean that it isn't mentally and physically exhausting. However, I'm so excited about this marathon!! Watching the Tour de France has also been incredibly inspiring for me (I've been cross training on the stationary bike a lot this week while watching). We got our recommitment papers and Nike marathon applications this weekend!! I've already started filling it all out. I'm so excited!!!! There is something very special about this particular race and the training so far. I don't know exactly what it is. Maybe it's all of the new friends I have from this team (I've meet some amazing people!!!), or the fact that I've waited over 2 years to run this race, or the fact that my runs have been going so well. Or maybe it's all of those things and more.

A few Team in Training friends have passed this link around and I wanted to share it. It shows the progress of 5 team participants. I think it shows better than what I can describe what it means to be a part of Team in Training and fighting against cancer.

http://www.whytheyrun.com/watch.html

Flying

Today I flew!!

I went for my third run of the week, just a short 4 mile run. I was still a little sore from our strength training clinic at track workout, so I figured this was going to an okay run. I've had lots of great runs lately, and I figured today would be the day that the trend would change. Can you really have a great run every time? The first hill was a clear indication that the streak was ending. On top of it all it was really humid too, and I'm not a big fan of running in the hot, humid summer weather of Atlanta. However, one thing that I've learned over the last several weeks is that this is not a typical summer of running for me. I haven't been struggling, or cursing the humidity. I've been able to work through it and use what my coaches have taught me and it's made a world of difference. Today, it was different. I thought it would end up being a run/walk day just to get through it. Something happened around mile 2.5. I don't know what happened. All of the sudden I relaxed my legs, and started leaning a bit more to use my center of gravity to move me forward instead of my legs. And then it just happened ... it was like I was flying. I didn't feel like I was pounding the pavement, in fact I'm not sure I was really even touching the ground. The only thing I can use to describe it is to liken it to that moment in Titanic at the front of the boat yelling "I'm the king of the world." I really like flying!! I like to think I was getting a little push from someone looking down on me. After all my Uncle knew something about flying, he was a pilot. Nothing big, just little planes. He actually would help fly with angel flight (hmm... maybe there's something there) making sure patients could make it to appointments far from home by giving them a free flight. Not that he was athletic or even liked exercising. He had a knack for finding the nearest donut shop or Au Bon Pair (apparently the chocolate croissants were his favorite). But, still it felt like I had something extra with me today. Plus I felt like I could keep going for miles!

I really liked flying!! I have an 8 mile long run coming this week, maybe I can get another flying lesson on that run too. Hopefully I'll keep flying for a long time!