I'm a slug

I am a slug this week.  It's not entirely under my control though.  ITBS  and plantaar faciitis have decided that they like me alot and want to hang around.  So, I go back and forth.  Long runs once a week or 2-3 short speed runs.  Long is nice for the slower pace and building distance, but without the speed I won't meet my time goal.  Which one will be better for recovery and healing?  With the Top of Utah Half only 4 weeks away, I'm a little concerned.  I know I can do the distance, but how will I feel at the end?  It's a super fast course and I want to take advantage of that and get not just a pr, but a kick butt time!  

So, it's back to basics.  Exercises prescribed by the PT, ice, rest.  I really want to go to PT, but right now there isn't much time and I only have 3 visits left that will be covered by insurance.  

So, what do you guys do when you are nursing injuries and still trying to train?  I need help!  I do my foam roller and have green super feet. (love them)  but I am worried I won't get better without help or total rest.

HELP!!!! 

First Bloggy Giveaway!

Wow, I can't believe I'm really doing a blog giveaway!  I feel so powerful.  Muwahaha!  I love the Muwahaha's!  (High 5 if you get that reference)

Ok, I'm really digressing.  So anyway, some blogs I subscribe to get really cool things from companies to test, review and then giveaway.  When my friends and I met to start organizing a fundraising race (more to come on that later), I found out that new friend Sandy makes these wonderful no slip headbands.  She is just getting started, and my amazing runner friend MaryAnne was raving about how great they are. 

I kept a few to show to my clients and try one out.   Here I am rockin' my cute pink and brown headband. (and yes I am in my jammies)  Wow was she right!  Nothing stays in my hair.  Headbands of every kind slip out.  (I think I must be missing some headband holding part of my skull.)  So I wore it Friday afternoon and evening to see how it went during normal life.  I actually forgot it was even on my head!  When I changed for bed, there it was, in the same exact place I put it 8 hours before.  That may not be a big deal to most people, but to me it is amazing!  I never, ever wear headbands because they slip off my head.

Next morning came a bigger test, the long run.  Let's see how it does through 10 miles of moving, grooving and dripping wet sweat.  I got myself all ready, put my hair up in a ponytail and slid the headband up into place.  Surely there was no way it would stay put.  After all, it's one thing for it to hold with my hair down, but with my hair up there was nothing to hold it in place. 

What can I say?  10 miles, 1 hour and 44 minutes later, it hadn't moved a bit.  What's more, I wasn't able to jump in the shower right away and it stayed put for a couple more hours till I pulled it out.  That is awesome!

To top it all off, they are darling!  When my 14 year old daughter saw them, she immediately started trying them on and asking me to get her some.  Here she is modeling a cute floral style.  Fashion and function all in one, who could ask for anything more?

So here's the giveaway.  One follower will win their choice of Sandy's headbands and entering is super easy.  Do all of the following:
1.  Become a follower of  my blog and comment to let me know.
2.  Check out the photo and tell me which one you like best.
3.  Become a follower of Options Personal Training on Facebook, again comment to let me know.

4.  Repost this giveaway on your blog, facebook or twitter, and once again, comment to let me know.

Sandy doesn't have a website yet, so if you are interested in purchasing a headband for the lovely low price of $10 plus any shipping, post which one you want and I'll hook you up! (Please excuse the bad photos, they are from the phone. My camera has been packed in the teenage girls bag for girls camp)

So get your entry in and good luck!  Enter by August 3rd and I'll announce the winner on August 4th.

Fast Post

This is a super fast post to let everyone know about a super cool giveaway my bloggy friend is doing over at Racing with Babes. It's for a Nuu-Muu running dress! They are adorable and you should go check them out. I can't wait to get one!

Bursting with Pride!!!!

Today is the best day ever!!!! I had the most wonderful start to a morning that a trainer ever could.

First let me introduce you to my darling Emily. Read more about her and her journey at her blog. I met Emily because our husbands work together. Mark told Brian about my training groups, Brian told Em, and that was that. She had a long journey ahead of her. Never was skinny and through 4 babies had added a bit. So when I met her to do her first assessment, she was starting at 319.

When you start of with that much to lose, pounds can come off very quickly. But the thing is, your head and emotions tend to get in the way. Breaking habits is hard, building new ones is hard. People have expectations of you, and don't always want those to change. You validate them, they are the thin ones. They mask this with concern.... "oh don't hurt yourself, that's not enough food for you..." etc. But really, what's worse, all the problems of being overweight or some pain from exercise. Really, which one is more likely to kill you?

So Em has been going through all of these emotional changes and more. But her head and emotional eating was messing things up. But, as time goes on, growth happens and she is getting so much stronger physically and emotionally. I love to see this!! She's had some good weeks and some rough ones.

But this week has been amazing. Em lived up to her commitments to herself this week and it was awesome! Compliments and praise for her low cal desert showed her that she can still be a part of the social scene and be comfortable. Insisting on eating at Subway when out showed her that she can still eat out, and also can tell others what she needs--and get it. Em kept her calories in line and did her workouts every day.

So, results? Well during the first 7 weeks, the weight yo-yo'd and her net loss was 9 pounds. Not what either of us had hoped for.

But this week? Rock solid performance in every category--just to clarify, not extreme and she ate an adequate amount of calories. I do not believe in starving.

Drumroll please..................

299.2 lbs!!!
11 lbs lost!!!!!!
Emily is in the 200's!!!

Now, will we see that every week? No... but when you eat clean, your body naturally lets go of excess weight.

I am so excited to see where she goes from here. Sometimes there is a tendency to slack off after a good week, you know celebrate. But now is the time to stay absolutely true. Keep the momentum going and see what your body can do.

Way to go Emily!!!! I am super proud of the changes you are making in your life. Have fun in Vegas at the wedding and be true to yourself. Don't let the voices around you sway you from meeting your goal. You met wedding weight goal, now let's go for the rest!

Love you girl!

Day 8

Catch up first. Last Wednesdays run really wiped me out so good thing Thurs was a rest day, still taught spin, which was totally fun cause Kim sings along to my awesome 80's music! I really think I'm going to have to run with her and Hilary one day just we can embarrass Hilary in stereo! Friday I was tired. Kids hate going to bed in the summer, and I can't sleep till they are quiet. So, it was a slow 3.5 miles. Maybe about a 9:40 pace, which is fine.

Then came Saturdays run. Super tired again, same reason. So I slept in and didn't get to my run till 9am. So now I'm hot and tired and haven't even started! Ran super slow. Did 8 miles at about a 12:30 pace. Told you I was slow!

So I got lots of sleep Sat night, and ok sleep last night. Time for some speed work today.

Plan was 2 intervals each of 1200 m, 800 m, and 400 m with recovery jogs in between. Goal times for training plan 1200 m (5:42), 800 m (3:48), 400 m (1:48). This is built around my goal time of 1:44:48, 8 min miles.

So actual results, and it was HOT again. Didn't get to run till 10:30 am. 1st 1200 m, 5:46 2nd 1200 m 5:40 1st 800 m 3:46 2nd 800 m 3:49 1st 400 m 1:50 2nd 400 m 1:46

Not too bad! Feeling pretty good. Biggest concern right now is injury prevention. I'm building back up mileage a little faster than I should. I was around 15-18 miles a couple weeks ago and this has me doing about 24 miles right now. So, lots of good stretching, ice massage, (even trying ice baths, BRRRRR) bio-freeze, and most of all more sleep are all in order.

I really want to do this, I can't believe how set I am in my mind that I want to get a 1:44:48 at the TOU Half. I don't want to set myself up for failure, but at the same time, I really want to push my limits and see how far I can go.

Wish me luck! No, Wish me healthy muscles, ligaments, and tendons! (and sleep)

Day 3, half marathon training

This week begins the countdown for Top of Utah Half. It's on Aug 28, and I really want to blow last years time away. Don't get me wrong here, I am really, really super proud of my time of 1:59:23. I had two goals last year, finish, did that, and break 2 hours, did that. Why I wanted to break two hours, I have no idea. Somewhere I got the seed planted in my brain that it was a good first showing, so there you go. Not that I'm competitive or anything...

But really it was a great showing for me. According to all my other race results, I should have been closer to 10 minute miles. My 10k pace from 5 weeks before was 9:25, so to get a 9:07 avg pace was a huge shock, awesome, but huge shock to me. I placed 58 out of 183 in my age group, which is top 32%. (another way I grade my success)

So this year, I graduate an age bracket. This is huge, as you age, times typically slow down. But I'm young in running so I still have a lot of improvement left in me. I have yet to peak! Last years time would put me 28 out of 88 in the 40-44, which happens to again be top 32%. So I still have to improve in order to get better ranking.

So I decided that I really needed to be able to do 8 min miles. Which is hilarious to think about. I did a 5k 5 weeks ago and got 8:36 pace. However I was still worn out from the century, so it was hard to base it on that. And I'm not able to race as much this year, so I don't have anything other than training to decide how well I can do.

Anyway, I decided on the 8 min mile pace because, last year if I had that time (1:44:48) I would have placed 13/183, top 7%. And in the 40-44, it would have placed 5/88, or top 6% and got me an award. (they awarded top 5 in each age group)

OK, that's the real reason there. I want an award. In my mind if I get 1:44:48 I will win an age group award. Don't bother telling me that the competition is different every year, and this year might attract faster people, that others moved up too and they might be faster than me. I don't care. If I hit 1:44:48, I win an award. Even if I have to go buy it for myself!

So Monday I went out for day one. I actually had forgot to print out the training plan and was flying blind for what I should do, so I just ran to the soccer field and back, 4.5 miles, and then up the big hill and back, about 1.9 miles (locals know what that is) to simulate the end of the TOU half route, which is mostly downhill and then has one mile near the end with a slight incline and then down again to the finish. I died on that mile. I don't want to again. And I also wanted to run real slow and easy. I've been nursing two injuries in a row for the last 2 weeks and wanted to be cautious. But I came back feeling great and didn't have any problems yesterday, which was a rest day, but I did spin.

So finally we are to day 3, today. The plan called for 2 pace intervals (PI). Meaning I did two runs, separated by a recovery jog, each was 2 miles long and were to be run at race pace. Hmmm, since I've never run any distance longer than a mile at my race pace goal, this was going to be interesting.

I have a loop around my neighborhood that is almost exactly a 1/2 mile. So for accuracy, despite total boredom, I decided to use that for my PI. First PI (two miles) rocked! 15:51, so less then a 8 min mile pace. YES! But I was dying, did I mention I'm also trying to acclimatize to running in the heat? Rather than run in the morning when it's cool, I started at 11:30 am. So in the house, drink and potty break. Then back out for the recovery lap. Then PI #2, not quite as good, 16:42, but still not bad. This was followed by some strides, to work on running fast at the end of the race.
Definitely a good session and I'm feeling like I just might reach my goal. It's pretty aggressive, but doable.

And I want an award!