Sparrows Experiment

i_love_muscle said:
Hey, I'm just kidding about the Elvis part ;)

You and Todd look great in that pic! :)

What's the International Cooperative Ministries?
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Sorry, its actually International Cooperating Ministries.

Thank you, I was a little sleep deprived, so thats nice of you :)

Todd cleans up nice eh? He's actually pretty twiggy too-despite what he says on here.

The organization assists in church growth (building projects, orphanages, education) worldwide through donation and sponsorship.

Todd and I raced through one of their newly established programs called Kingdom Builders that accomplishes these purposes through athletes.

An athlete, or group of athletes adopts a church congregation (or other project) in a country of choice and raises money to build a physical church for them (only costs 10,000 to build one!) by asking others to sponsor key races or a race season.

Todd and his Team Nicaragua (20 of them!) raised OVER the amount needed to fully fund and build a building! My Team India (4 of us) has not quite made the amount needed to partially fund our project, but we're getting there.

Its a very cool thing....and that may have been more than you cared to know! lol
 
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I can never have too much info, Sparrow! I'd never heard of them so I thought it was an American organization.

That's great to know :)
 
sparrow said:
Todd cleans up nice eh? He's actually pretty twiggy too-despite what he says on here.
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Ummm... yeah... I thought he would be much larger in real life.

The organization assists in church growth (building projects, orphanages, education) worldwide through donation and sponsorship.

Todd and I raced through one of their newly established programs called Kingdom Builders that accomplishes these purposes through athletes.

An athlete, or group of athletes adopts a church congregation (or other project) in a country of choice and raises money to build a physical church for them (only costs 10,000 to build one!) by asking others to sponsor key races or a race season.

Todd and his Team Nicaragua (20 of them!) raised OVER the amount needed to fully fund and build a building! My Team India (4 of us) has not quite made the amount needed to partially fund our project, but we're getting there.

Its a very cool thing....and that may have been more than you cared to know! lol
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Very cool.
 
tsilcyc said:
Ummm... yeah... I thought he would be much larger in real life.
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lol :D well hmmm... maybe I'M just large so you can't tell from the picture :D

Naw, I had on 3 inch heels so that puts it in perspective. I'm only 5'6

he's a powerhouse thats for sure.

Hey tsil I had a question for you on the marathon. check your PM.
 
sparrow said:
lol :D well hmmm... maybe I'M just large so you can't tell from the picture :D

Naw, I had on 3 inch heels so that puts it in perspective. I'm only 5'6

he's a powerhouse thats for sure.

Hey tsil I had a question for you on the marathon. check your PM.
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PM sent back at ya.
 
Pool is being repaired today so no coaching. Part of me is jumping for joy. I always miss my favorite spin class during the teaching of my own. So I'll get to take that today.

I'm taking the month to "clean up" which won't be too hard. I'm never too far outside the lines. Going to increase the flax, sups and cleaner food. Less eating later at night, cleansing teas and some good stretching.

The plan today:
2 mile time trial (running)
45 min spin class
1 hour tempo run
a few light weights
 
Spin class-INTENSE. I never ever get to take this particular class because of my Masters class and its probably the best instructor. She didn't disappoint, thats for sure. I was breathless frequently-and she asked it of us.

then 2 mile time trial (sorry tsil, it wasn't on fresh legs) 13:44

Then 4 miles easy at 9 min pace

I got locked out of my house after the gym. I wanted to cry I was soooo hungry and soooo cold. Turns out my husband got locked out of his car (he had the key, my key is with the house-sitter). I had also forgotten my cell phone in the house so I had no way of knowing WHY he wasn't showing up over an hour past when he said he would. He drove up just as I was about to scale the roof of our 2 story house trying to get into a window! lol.

I got in trouble ;)

all is well. The moral of the story-never have just one key, and NEVER leave your cell phone at home!!!
 
Decided to attend Triathlon class today

core: 20 min w/ bender balls
run: HIIT 35 minutes-this was fabulous. I felt so awesome 8:30 pace on the "recovery" and 6:00 pace on the intervals
spin: 30 min "race"-our instructor simulated a race on hills
weights: 2 exercises each body part. nothing thrilling about this, but I had to do it, I'm losing a lot of power, especially in my upper body. Lower body is maintaining fine.

Great workout. Felt strong and recovered despite a challenging workout yesterday. This week is all pretty high intensity and then Saturday my long run is 18. Should make for a nice rest day on Sunday!

I have gone back and forth a while, but I am officially doing the California International Marathon and will be happy if I finish under 5 whole hours :D Actually, I'll just be happy to finish.
 
hmm that word "active"...so many meanings...which one were you referring to?

:D

In athletics, no, he's not. However, he is the one who introduced me to running (he used to be a great runner) so I give him props for that because without that I'd never have even thought about triathlons.

It was him training me when we dated. Now 11 years later its me training him...hes doing a half marathon with me in May-his first ever :)
 
Same hellish spin class as Monday. Worked even harder, if thats possible.

Then some core with the "sliders". I love those

Then did some easy on the eliptical instead of running today
 
Spin yet again. Sucks when swimming isn't an option this week :( I could have run, but I needed a day of no running so I can go the distance on Saturday.

I had NOTHING in spin class. My legs were tired, I was bored and it was just-yuck. I should have taken the day off. I ended up just getting settled in the aero bars, putting my head down, eyes closed and did a steady state run of it for 45 minutes. No increases, no out of the saddle, just me and wherever I wanted to go in my head. It was kind of nice, and I totally lost track of time. I did a cadence check at the beginning and end of the 45 minutes and I was at 90 dead on, both times.

After that I attempted a few weights I'd missed on Tuesday and quickly threw in the towel to go home.
 
Taking the day to bum with my kids at the library and park and stuff. Running 18 tomorrow. The furthest I've ever been
 
yep, I'm good. just a lot going on. I'm contemplating going back to school (Kinesiology degree) so I'm busy figuring that out. I'd just do a class or two a semester and I'd have to go at night since I homeschool the kids during the day. Stuff is just busy. I'm fighting a cold too so thats all I'm just a bit tired. Thanks for checking in on me though!
 
Headed out for an 18 miler today. My longest so far. It ended being about 18.5 because I forgot to start my garmin until about 4 min into the run. My running friend could only hang with me for 8 and she was pressed for time so she agreed that the slowest she could go was 9 to make her schedule. I stressed that i needed to go SLOWER. SO we mostly went by RPE for those 8. I didn't check my garmin much at all but for the mileage. At 8 miles we were under 9 min pace by a lot :( while I still felt totally fine, I knew I may pay the price in the next 10 miles alone.

SO I kept on going after passing by her car and going...and going. no music either which is a huge accomplishment for me! Between 9-12 I suffered a bit (probably mostly mental) but I popped in a gu at the hour and another at 2 hours and those helped a lot. I filled my 2 bottles twice and used a packet of NUUN (electrolytes).

I felt stellar between 12-18 miles. I think I could have continued okay. After a while its kind of all the same pain ;)

I FELT like I was going slower. I was shooting for about 10 min pace. but after the run was over my total time was 2:36 on the nose and thats 8:40 pace. whoopsy. I obviously don't know what 10 min pace feels like :( At the half marathon mileage I was at 1:52

I have one more shot at this slow down stuff next week when I do the 20 miler.

All in all I feel great. Legs are a little tender. I went and soaked a while and ate a few PB & J sandwiches. Thats all that sounded good :)
 
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Whatever with everythign else,,, but-- your first marathon is a big deal....

SO---

if you take 30 minutes to walk from mile 22-24 you ruin your race time.

You will lose 1 minutes per mile over all by doing that, and if you have to STOP to stretch a calf, for get about it.

SO- SLOW DOWN a bit.... not alot,,, just when ever speed comes into your mind,,, snik into your hips and stay smooth and controlled.

you and GOD will pass many of them in miles 22-26.2 PLEASE TRUST ME KATE. AT mile 15 if you feel good, just say to yourself, wow - I feel great,, stay smooth, keep control, it is not mile 18 just yet.... then at 18 kick ONE notch, then ONE notch at 22, then light and fast from 24 thru 26.2.

you have a ton of great advice here, you have never listened to me yet, but athletically, I can't help but pull for you.

FF
 
flyinfree said:
Whatever with everythign else,,, but-- your first marathon is a big deal....

SO---

if you take 30 minutes to walk from mile 22-24 you ruin your race time.

You will lose 1 minutes per mile over all by doing that, and if you have to STOP to stretch a calf, for get about it.

SO- SLOW DOWN a bit.... not alot,,, just when ever speed comes into your mind,,, snik into your hips and stay smooth and controlled.

you and GOD will pass many of them in miles 22-26.2 PLEASE TRUST ME KATE. AT mile 15 if you feel good, just say to yourself, wow - I feel great,, stay smooth, keep control, it is not mile 18 just yet.... then at 18 kick ONE notch, then ONE notch at 22, then light and fast from 24 thru 26.2.

you have a ton of great advice here, you have never listened to me yet, but athletically, I can't help but pull for you.

FF
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How did I know I'd get a post like this from you :(

I do listen to you. Your post hurt my feelings. :bncry:

This was not me out there going as fast as I could for as long as I could. I ditched my gadget to rely on my pace and I relied upon how i felt. My run was 100% on RPE. I used my garmin only to keep track of how far I went. I was extremely methotical about the whole thing. I didn't even use music so that I wouldn't get distracted and forget what I was trying to do.

I did sink into my hips. I used the power from my glutes. In fact, I remember thinking "I'm going to post this because its amazing how much more power you find in your BUTT than in your legs only" It was like a neverending resource. When it felt harder I slowed, when I felt good I brought it up a little. I was not pushing agaist my will, I was staying in the moment-which is new for me. I took it mile by mile by mile. I rarely thought ahead but to keep in mind-I'm doing 18 of these suckers "respect the distance" (my new motto)

I almost wanted to just do 26 to say "see I can go this pace and its me". I felt strong at 18 and I could have kept going. I hadn't tapped out in the slightest. The only thing that stopped me was knowing I just jumped from 14 miles to 18 and another long run is on the horizon..also...that I was very hungry and wanted breakfast :)

I don't care much if I walk, I expect it. I used 1 minute of my time to fill my bottles twice and 20 seconds each mile to walk and drink. Its what I plan to do at the race too. Its what I did for my half marathon I PR'd at also. Thats time I don't care about, its what is going to get me there. If I'm stretching out for a minute or two, its not a big deal if it gives me a few more miles. The beauty of running a virgin race is I'm going to PR no matter what :)

Everyone here is telling me to slow down. Slow down on the tri, slow down on the long runs, slow down at the marathon. What if this is just ME and my pace? What if this is how I roll and I can maintain this pace when I'm "slow" AND when I'm "fast" this is just where my body sticks and its not exhausting.

You have ammo from the triathlon that sucks. Its easy to look back there and say "well yeah but look what happened THERE when you went too fast" We will never know what happened there. By all accounts I was doing great and NOT feeling wiped out. I got out of the water feeling amazing, off that bike walking fine, UNtired, UNstrained and completely hydrated and fed. I do not think it was the pace that did me in, I think it was the 97 degree heat I hadn't trained in and the mental effort I hadn't prepared myself to endure in those conditions. The pace alone was what I had trained for.

Yeah I'm talking back and being sassy but I feel like I'm not getting enough credit here. My fastest mile time is now under 6. Last week I did 2 miles in 13.44 I don't feel like I'm where I was with my running. I'm a ton stronger and my running endurance has strengthened many times over. I feel I can handle this. The one element this race has in it that I haven't trained a lot with is rollers. Those alone will bring my average per mile time up and I won't fight them, but the flats and downhills will stretch me out

Roll yer eyes, shake your head. I guess we'll find out how it goes down in a few weeks. If I crash and burn I'll let you say "I told you so", I promise...and I won't even say a word back...maybe ;)

Thanks for making me feel even a little bit good about a run I was proud about :mad:

:boxing_smiley:
 
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way too much energy in all that.....

you read into what write too much

and you are even bracing for me to throw old news in your face

whatev

last post,,,
 
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