Beautiful morning!

Four miles of speed work, with the beautiful morning sun!

Oh, THAT’S a hot flash? Ugh…

So I’m chugging along, and I realize that, at the age I am at, I am (with good health and good luck) about mid-way through my life (at least, my life expectancy). About a year ago I started feeling really, really anxious. Easily ticked off. I talked to my doctor; she said perimenopause was knocking on my door, and sent me off with some anti-anxiety meds to take the edge off. I’ve always meant to write about my brief vacation from all my troubles, but while I was in the middle of that vacation, I didn’t feel any sense of urgency (to do ANYTHING…it was brilliant). And when I forced myself to end that vacation, I way to anxious to sit down and write about it.

Since my mom had a hysterectomy at age 41, I have no idea when to expect “the change” to actually happen to me. As for my hormonally-fueled anxiety, I somehow have this idea in my head that I can work thru it with meditation and exercise (insert hysterical laughter here). It’s a daily hourly ongoing struggle. But I’m dealing with it.

Then this NEW thing happened. I woke up early, early in the morning (somewhere after 2:00 a.m.) and was flushed with heat and covered in sweat. UGH. Like totally, out of nowhere. I was confused. But what really alarmed me was my heart; I have a resting heartbeat of between 58-64 bpm (depending on the time of day). But when I woke up, I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest, and racing so fast I was afraid to start counting the beats. Breathe was all I could think to myself. And after a few minutes, I must have calmed down, because I dozed back off, only to wake up AGAIN just after 4:00 a.m., with the same exact symptoms (heat, sweat, heart racing). Holy Crap! Breathe! I didn’t really fall back asleep again. Some early morning google-ing helped me to determine that (aparently) these so-called night sweats are another friend of perimenopause, this time banging rather loudly at my door.

Um, this really sucks, ok? Just sayin. You know what else sucks? Internet search results for “menopause symptoms.” Talk about a depressing foray into the world of SUCK. I so look forward to weight gain, hot flashes, (more) mood swings, going bald, and on, and on, and on. SUCK.

I went to bed last night, singing Bob Marley songs, and telling my husband that I would not be having any more of this night sweat crap. I know, who am I kidding, it’s all part of life. But really, it’s definitely one thing I could live without.

The Fast(er) Path

My son is already much faster than me.

It’s May 1st, and time to get serious about getting fast. Well, faster. After last year’s 2:04 finish at the Disneyland Half Marathon, it occurred to me that if I might actually be able to break the 2-hour mark if I tried. I wasn’t trying last year; last year, I was training for a race twice the distance (the St. George Marathon), and the Disneyland Half Marathon was only 5 weeks before it, meaning I was running 18-20 mile long runs. So running a 13-miler one Sunday felt great. I remember the day; I felt great. I told Dary to run ahead (he missed the 2 hour mark by a minute). I just felt like running fast, running hard, and enjoying the scenery. It never occurred to me that I was actually running at a fairly decent clip. Until way, way after I finished, later in the afternoon, enjoying a margarita, and thinking about how great I felt still. It was then that I decided I needed to go for it. I’ve done it once, run a sub-2 hour 1/2 marathon. I was 27, a long, long time ago. It was my age-27 PR. At age 40-something, my PR now stands at 2:04. And I’d like to see if I could break it; I’d like to see what would happen if I actually tried. So last week was week one of a 19-week plan (it’s really an 18-week plan, but we’ll be traveling and so I’m adding a week to make up for the mid-plan travel break). I’m following the F.I.R.S.T. plan (it’s an interesting read), which, in a nutshell, is brutal. I’m psyching myself out during my long runs, convinced there’s no way I can maintain the speed this plan requires. But after week 1, I’m starting to feel more confident. I’m not sure that I’ll make my goal, but damn it, I think I’ll be faster. Here’s my typical week of work outs (only 3 running days….I know, crazy to think about after running 100 in a row):

Mon: Rest

Tues: Tempo 1/4/1

Wed: Rest/Xtrain

Thurs: Kettlebells

Fri: Speed 3X1600m, 400RI

Sat: Paddleboard

Sun: Long Run (9-14 @ Race Pace +20 sec)

So no, it’s not a whole lot of miles; I think at most I top out at 24-25 miles per week. But the plan wants me running right at race pace. To make my goal, I must maintain a 9:06/mile. So my long runs, normally run between 10:15 and 10:45, are now run at 9:26. My tempo run is to be at 9:06 (race pace), and my speedwork anywhere from 8 to 8:30. Since I don’t see myself as a fast girl, it’s become as much a mind game as anything else, convincing myself that I can run this fast. Hell, I gotta go for it, right?