Monthly Archives: April 2013

Certification One is Done – First Aid/CPR/AED

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In my 30 Before 30 blog post, I listed several certifications that I wanted to get over the next year. I took care of the first one on my list Wednesday night getting Red Cross certified in First Aid, CPR, and AED. I’ve had this certification in the past, but as someone who is regularly involved in fitness as a participant and a trainer, I really wanted to get this up-to-date. Not to mention, you never know when knowing how to give care in emergency situations could come in handy in everyday life. It’s one of those things I’m glad to have, but I’ll be even happier if I never have to use this knowledge.

This certification was pretty simple to get. I signed up for a course through the Red Cross website, but most of my learning took place ahead of time online. I watched videos, read case studies and took an assessment to test my knowledge on giving care for everything from soft tissue injuries and bloody noses to strokes and cardiac emergencies. New since the last time I took this course was the section on using AEDs – automatic external defibrillators. I’ve heard of and seen these before as they’re becoming more common in a lot of places, but never realized how simple they are to use. I followed up the online learning with an in-person 2-hour skills session out at the Red Cross office in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Certified!

Certified!

That was all it took and now I’m certified! It costs just more than $100. Check out the Red Cross site to find a class near you: http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/program-highlights/cpr-first-aid

 

 

FitDC Launch Preview

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A new fitness company called FitDC is coming to D.C. and I’m excited to be a part of it. A fellow Pacers Ambassador, C.J. Cross, told me about this new company that he was starting at a packet pick up we both volunteered at a few months back. My first reaction was, wow, how does this not exist already? My second reaction was, “I want in!” Thanks to a full time job, personal training, my own race training, maintaining my blog and all of life’s other commitments I can’t give nearly as much time as I’d like, but am excited to play any role I can in helping out because I truly believe this is a great idea and just what the active D.C. fitness community needs.

So, what is FitDC?
FitDC is a health and wellness promotion company working to connect fitness seekers with fitness professionals. Our mission is to make the path to fitness more accessible by simplifying the start-up process. By using FitDC’s FitBase (our searchable online database) and working with our team of experienced fitness professionals, community members will be able to easily locate the local facilities and services that meet their fitness needs.

The FitDC Team:

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C.J. is extremely passionate about his new company that he is the founder and CEO of, so I wanted to give him a chance to tell you in his own words what this company is all about.

Q. What made you decide to start FitDC?

“Well, after years of working in the fitness industry, I kept coming upon the same questions. Usually it was someone who was up to the task of improving their health and fitness, they just didn’t know where to start. As you probably know, not every workout is meant for every person, but I knew that there was at least one workout for each person. I started FitDC because I wanted to be able to help people find the workouts that they would enjoy doing and that would help them. I guess you can say I’ve always been a person to go to for advice, now I’m creating a business around that.”

Q. How do you see FitDC changing the fitness scene in this community?

“The goal of FitDC is to reduce the gap between wanting and doing. Right now too many people fall through the cracks and never follow through with their desires. If we can do that effectively, everyone wins. I also see FitDC fostering a more connected and friendly community. We’re going to hold social gatherings that will bring fitness professionals and enthusiasts together, so that they can share their experiences, their knowledge, and their friendships.”

Does this sound like something that you’d be interested in? Than come on out to our Launch Party this Saturday. The Launch Party is a two-part event filled with fitness and fun. We’re kicking things off with free fitness classes, donated by gyms throughout the Rosslyn to Ballston corridor including:

After getting your sweat on, join us at 4 p.m. at Velocity 5 – soon to be Arlington Social Haus – for a meet and greet with our leadership team. There will be a brief presentation about FitDC, followed by an afternoon of mingling with other fitness minded folk. Velocity 5 will also be sharing samples of their upcoming Social Haus menu, featuring gluten free, paleo and vegetarian options as well as other healthy treats. You’ll learn about how you can benefit from our services, both as a fitness consumer or provider. You’ll get the chance to be an early adopter of Fit DC’s FitBase, a web database of gyms and fitness providers, fitness social media offerings, and possibly get another free workout with one of our listed fitness professionals.

Hope you can make it for the launch! RSVP and get tickets here: http://fitdclaunch.splashthat.com/ Classes are selling out fast, so don’t miss out!

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay in the loop. Let me know in the comments if you’ll be at the party and what class you’re going to! If you have any questions, hit me up at colleenATfitdc.co and I’ll do my best to help you out or can connect you with C.J.

Also, check back for an update next week on how it went and how I did with my first yoga class in a year!! Must do more yoga!

Race Recap: Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

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This Sunday’s Cherry Blossom 10 Miler was my third time running the race, and it proved once again why it is one of my favorite races. Ten miles is a great distance for a race. You need to train for the distance, but you can still run fast too. My enjoyment of the event probably wasn’t hurt by the fact that I scored a new PR either! I finished in 1:15:54 bettering last year’s time of 1:16:41 and a far cry from my first go at it in 2009 when I finished in 1:28:39! It’s really awesome when you can clearly see your hard work paying off! (My apologies in advance…this is going to be a long post.)

I kicked things off Friday afternoon with a lunch at Rosa Mexicana and a trip to the expo with my friend Megan. Having shown up right at the opening of the expo last year and waiting in a line that ran through a hallway, down 2 cases of stairs and out the door, I was a bit nervous we’d face that again. Most people heeded the organizers warning though apparently, and we were able to breeze right in and pick up our bibs and tee shirts with no wait at all.

We explored the expo for a little bit before getting reeled in by the RooSport booth. The ladies there were selling pouches created by their mother that could store anything from gels and keys to your phone or credit cards. It had one larger pouch that closed with a small piece of velcro and one zipper pouch for valuables. The cool things about this pouch is how you keep it on you. You simply slide the pouch into your shorts (or shirt, sports bra, etc.) and let the flap fall down over the front – a very strong magnet does all the work of holding it in place. Megan was kind enough to pick up two so I could give one a try too.

RooSPORT pouch

RooSPORT pouch

I broke the cardinal sin of never trying anything new on race day (I do this too much) and used it to hold my Gu. I’m an instant believer. This was awesome. I barely felt it there. It didn’t move or bounce. It was easy to get my Gu out of when I needed it. I love it! This will also come in especially handy on days I run home from work and have to carry all my credit cards and keys.

On Saturday I went through all my final pre-race prep, which included some screen printing to add my blog logo and website to one of my Nike tanks. I used a different variation of the logo that includes a D.C. skyline background and not only did it look awesome printed on the shirt, but it was a very appropriate first race to wear it for seeing as we were running by so many D.C. monuments.

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My 5:44 a.m. alarm sounded and it felt like I’d barely been asleep. It’d been a late night cheering on my Syracuse Orange in their Final Four loss to Michigan and it would’ve been a lot easier to wake up had I been excited about them winning. Nevertheless, it was a season that exceeded all expectations and I had a race to run, so I hopped out of bed and got moving. I ate a piece of toast, a banana and a yogurt while downing a glass of water and getting ready. Ian and I left for the metro around 6:25. After getting off at the Smithsonian metro stop we headed away from the crowds so I could run to my office quickly and use the bathrooms there instead of waiting in line for the porta-potties. Soon after we made our way for the start. I felt a bit rushed so I was only able to get a few of my active warm-up stretches in before giving Ian my jacket and hopping into the corral to wait for the start.

It was sunny, but chilly so I was almost glad I didn’t have a ton of time to stand around. I wore a tank, arm warmers, gloves, capris and calf sleeves, which proved to be just perfect for the 40-degree temps. I started with the red wave a few minutes after the first wave took off. My mantra was start slow, finish fast so my original plan was to run the first couple miles 10-15 seconds behind my goal pace of 7:30. I got nervous about my ability to control my own pace though and hopped next to the 7:30 pacer at the last second.

Naturally that meant I went out a bit faster than my plan, but it was still much better than I’ve done in the past (last year I ran mile 1 sub 7…oops), and for the first time it didn’t destroy my legs for the final stretch. We headed past the Washington Monument down Independence Ave, past the Lincoln Memorial, out and back over the Memorial Bridge, and out and back past the Kennedy Center for the first three miles. We dodged toward Hains Point on Ohio Drive before coming back and looping past the Jefferson.

Start

Mile 1 – 7:23
Mile 2 – 7:16
Mile 3 – 7:20
Mile 4 – 7:22

I was feeling really strong, but started to tighten up a little for mile five. I passed the mile marker and was a bit down when I saw I slowed to a 7:35 pace, but instantly felt better when I heard Ian call out my name. My look of distress quickly turned into a smile and I powered up one of the few slight hills on the course.

Now that's a race face even Mark Remy would be proud of.

Now that’s a race face even Mark Remy would be proud of.

Smiling after hearing Ian call my name!

Smiling after hearing Ian call my name!

Mile six took me into Hains Point and a horrific headwind slowing me down even more through mile 7.5 when we finally hit the turn around and the wind died down. Somehow I found myself running with no one within 10 feet in front of me for a bit here, so I couldn’t tuck in behind anyone and had to battle the wind head on. How does that happen in a 17,000 person race?! I practiced this section so many times, but the wind here got the best of me yet again, slowing me down quite a bit.

Mile 5 – 7:35
Mile 6 – 7:42
Mile 7 – 7:55
Mile 8 – 7:52

Not too much in the way of cherry blossoms, but my allergies are thankful for that.

Not too much in the way of cherry blossoms, but my allergies are thankful for that.

I was most proud of my last 2.5 miles of this race. I could’ve given up when I realized how much I’d slowed down battling the wind, but instead I picked it up and really pushed it to the finish line. I knew I’d be cutting it pretty close to 1:16 and really, really wanted to finish under that, so I powered my way through a little uphill before the final downhill to the finish. I was so incredibly pumped when I read 1:15:54 on my watch – a new PR!!

Mile 9 – 7:35
Mile 10 – 7:23

Going hard to the finish line!

Going hard to the finish line!

Post-Finish in front of the obviously under construction Washington Monument

Post-Finish in front of the obviously under construction Washington Monument

My finish time was good enough to put me in 1,713 place overall, 401 among women and 127 in my age group. I actually finished ahead of 90 percent of the pack! That’s crazy to me and such an improvement over just a couple years ago. I also was a part of the DC RoadRunners team that finished second in the open women’s division! Thanks to the Cherry Blossom organizers for another great race – well organized and fun as always!

Ian and I were able to find someone to take our picture at the finish. I so appreciate him getting up before dawn and trekking all over the place to take pictures and support me and my crazy running habit!

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He also got some shots of some pretty great fan signs. The bottom left is a little bit blocked by a runner, but it says, “This is what a supportive girlfriend looks like.” All I have to say about the woman holding the “Who Farted?” sign is she who brings the sign commits the crime. 🙂

racesigns

 

From all the tweets and race recaps I’ve seen I know there were a whole bunch of you out running too. How’d it go? What was your favorite sign?

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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I only ran 20 total miles last week, but it was a great week of training. I put in short interval and tempo runs along with my cross training before running in the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler on Sunday. Here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: 3 miles easy – run home from work.

Wednesday: I’ve been trying to do all of my interval workouts outside this training cycle, but just couldn’t work it in today. I did find a quick time slot to get down to the treadmill though, and put in 4 miles total including a 1/2 mile warm-up followed by five 1/2 mile intervals at a sub-7 minute pace with 90-second recovery jogs before cooling down.

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: I put in a short 3-mile tempo run Friday morning on the treadmill starting at a 7:30 pace and working down to a 7:18 pace.

Saturday: Rest Day

Sunday: Race Day! I had a great day at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler setting a new PR for the distance with a finish time of 1:15:54. I’ll have a full recap out tomorrow, but I was thrilled with the PR and only 54 seconds behind my goal for this race leaving me very optimistic that I’m on the right track for the Nike Half Marathon at the end of the month.

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Beautiful Day for a PR!

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The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler was a blast this morning! The weather was a bit chilly when I first got out there, but was perfect to run in and the sun was shining all morning. I set a new 10-mile time PR with a 1:15:54 finish for an average 7:35 pace! Full recap to come this week, but here are a few pics courtesy of Ian. Congrats to everyone who raced today!

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Final Prep: The Day Before Race Day

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The day before a race I like to get everything ready, so I have nothing to stress me out or worry about on race day. It also keeps me from forgetting things. The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler expo opened on Friday so I was able to take care of that and pick up my race bib yesterday.

I took it easy today and didn’t work out. I’m used to rest days, but it felt very strange on a Saturday. I checked out the course map one last time to remind myself where the water stops would be and plan out spots for Ian to see me along the course and meet up after.

I pinned my number onto my race shirt. I always do this while I’m wearing the shirt becuase of an incident during a triathlon where I tried to slip into my shirt after the swim only to realize I’d put the saftey pins through both sides of the shirt! I check the weather forecast one last time and decide what to wear then lay out all my clothes from head to toe to make sure I’ve got everything I need. I also pack a post-race bag with a change of clothes and different sneaks to put on after the race.

Ready to Run!

Ready to Run!

I also charge my Garmin even if I’ve recently charged it because I might actually panic if it died on me during a race. I make sure I have my Road ID ready and my Gu or other fuels I plan to take during the race too.

Gu, Garmin and Road ID

Gu, Garmin and Road ID

I plan out my breakfast too. I’ve got the bread maker running so I can have a slice of toast to go with my banana and yogurt. I have a Clif Bar too that I’ll eat if I still feel hungry. Usually for races of this distance I won’t need it, but like to have it ready just in case.

Breakfast

Breakfast

I’d like to say I’m planning on a lowkey early night, but my Syracuse Orange have made the Final Four, so I’ll be rooting them on with fellow Syracuse friends tonight! Go Orange!

Good luck to everyone running Cherry Blossom tomorrow morning! Say hi if you see me out there!

 

 

5-Minute Plank? Challenge Accepted!

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When I turned 29 last month I put together a 30 Before 30 list of things I wanted to accomplish over the next year. One category was a list of fitness challenges that included a 5-minute plank. I do a 15-minute core workout everyday so last night I thought I might give this one a try and see if I couldn’t knock it out on my first try. Mission accomplished. I held steady – well, slightly shaky by the end – for all five minutes! Here’s to checking the first thing off my list!

Starting off strong

Starting off strong

Sneaking in a smile for the camera - this was still early!

Sneaking in a smile for the camera – this was still early!

Almost there!

Almost there!

Made it!

Made it!

Holding steady till the end!

Holding steady till the end!

Race Prep – Taking on the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler This Weekend

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I’ve already mentioned it a million times (what can I say, I like to talk about races!), but for those that don’t know, I’m running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler on Sunday. I’ve done this race twice before and it’s one of my favorites. It’s a crowded race, but also a fast and flat course. It travels by so many of the great Monuments and sights throughout D.C. that I get to take in on so many of my daily runs, so it’s not surprise I love it.

Cherry Blossom Race

Cherry Blossom Race

I technically don’t have plans to race this as it is supposed to be a training run along the way to my goal race – the Nike Women’s D.C. Half Marathon coming up at the end of the month. However, I’d like to run it at my half marathon goal race pace, which is 7:30, and that would actually be a 10-miler PR for me. I set my current 10-miler PR at last year’s Cherry Blossom race with a 7:40 pace. Seeing as this course is very similar to the half I’m preparing for, it will be a great test to see where I’m at.

I’m planning to pick my packet up Friday afternoon around lunch time. I know it’ll be busy then, but they did a good job of handling the rush at this time last year and it keeps me from having to get out to the Expo on Saturday when I’d rather be relaxing and getting my legs ready for race day. Before I even get to that though I’m treating my legs to a deep tissue massage after work today. They might hurt during the massage, but it sure makes a difference and leaves my legs feeling so much better after.

Race Shirt and Bib

Race Shirt and Bib

On Saturday I will get all my clothes and gear out and ready, and map out a plan with Ian for where he can see me along the course and how we’ll meet up after. I try to get some good carbs and protein in at dinner the night before a race too. I also like to go over the course map one last time and make sure I know where the water stops are. I drink a ton of water all the time, but I try to pay special attention to it on pre-race days.

On Sunday morning the plan is to get there early since I know it’ll be crowded and I want to get a good spot in my corral. My mantra for this race will be to START SLOW, FINISH FAST. I am the absolute worst at this and have never executed it successfully in a longer race. I know I need to get better at this so I don’t ruin my entire race in the first couple miles. I’ve always had a tough time with knowing my pace, but getting the Garmin has helped out a lot with that. I’m trying to decide whether to line up with the 7:30 pacer or not. Last year I did and we went out so much faster than that pace that I lost him at mile 2 and it really hurt me down the stretch. This is going to be a game-time decision for me. I might even try to find the pacer beforehand and ask him/her what the plan is for the first couple miles.

The Hains Point portion of the course definitely got the best of me last year, but I’ve practiced running on it so many times since then that I am SO ready to take it on. My biggest fear for that section of the course is a windy day. I really struggle running into the wind there. How do you all feel about drafting? If it is super windy and I tuck in behind someone bigger than me is this wrong since realistically there are not too many others I could return the favor for since I’m only 5 feet 4 inches tall!

Regardless of how I do I plan to have fun. I love running, but these are the days that I put in all the hard work for and I don’t want to let it go by without enjoying it!

Are you racing this weekend? Let me know where and hope to see you if you’re doing Cherry Blossom too!

Resolution Check-In

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April is here and hopefully spring-like weather will be here to stay soon too. At the start of each month I like to look back at my New Year’s Resolutions and see how I’m doing. I also pick what I’m going to focus on for the next month.

Getting healthy and staying healthy was an important goal for me this year. So far things are going well with this and I’ve made smart decisions about when it might not be healthy to do a workout just because it’s on the schedule. I did miss a couple strength workouts and missed a few too many days of stretching in March, so I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen again in April.

Building up my core is another part of staying healthy and making me a stronger, faster athlete. This continues to go really well. My streak of consecutive days completing my version of the P90X ab ripper core workout that I began on December 29 is still going strong. I had to laugh on my 90th straight day as I found myself getting it in during TV timeouts of the Syracuse – Indiana game to calm my nerves, and remembered that this whole streak started during SU football’s appearance in the Pin Stripe Bowl. I’m probably going to have to come up with a way to make this workout harder in April so I don’t get too used to doing the same thing everyday.

Drinking less soda is going to be my key focus for April. I actually didn’t have a soda during all of Lent (mid-February through March 31), but not having something when I’ve made a commitment to give it up is easy for me. Not overdoing it as I reintroduce it to my diet will be more difficult.

March’s focus was on nutrition and I felt like I made some really good strides. Ian and I started eating salads with dinner a couple nights a week. I’m eating a ton of fruit every day, and thanks to my Mom for sharing the skinnytaste website with me, I’ve been finding more ways to eat veggies with my meals. We tried out several recipes from the site and all were great – you couldn’t even really taste the veggies in some of them, which is a good way to make sure I eat them. I kind of have the palate of a five-year-old sometimes. (Or most of the time.)

New recipes that we tried in March included a baked broccoli mac and cheese, baked spinach and sausage pasta and stuffed buffalo chicken breasts. I loved the mac and cheese. We actually used a mixed bag of broccoli and cauliflower – this may’ve been the first time in my life I’ve eaten cauliflower – and it tasted great. I’d make this again in a heartbeat. The stuffed buffalo chicken breasts were also very tasty and a great game-day meal. I was skeptical about the spinach and sausage because it called for what I deem a gross amount of spinach. I really liked  it the first night we ate it though and and even the first and second times I reheated it. By the last time it was kind of gross. I would suggest halving this recipe if just making it for two.

In addition to focusing on regular nutrition I tried some new things out to fuel along the way on my long runs. I found two flavors of Gu that I actually like and my stomach tolerates really well. I also tested out the Honey Stinger pomegranate flavored gummies and they were great.

Even though it won’t be my main focus going into April, I’m hoping to keep making strides with my nutrition and finding even more ways to get those veggies into my diet!

How are you doing on your resolutions this year? Anyone have any big goals they’re working on?

Broccoli Mac N Cheese Leftovers - forgot to snap a pic when we were eating

Broccoli Mac N Cheese Leftovers – forgot to snap a pic when we were eating

So much spinach!!

So much spinach!!

Baked sausage and spinach pasta

Baked sausage and spinach pasta

Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Breasts w/ a side of rice

Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Breasts w/ a side of rice

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Other than a missed workout on Saturday I had a pretty solid training week. It’s hard to believe Cherry Blossom is coming up this Sunday and the Nike Half is less than a month away now. I ran 28.64 total miles last week. Here’s the day by day training breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: Another blister as a result of Sunday’s long run was really bothering me, so I didn’t want to do my speed workout today and make things worse or cause another injury by compensating for it. I did get in 3 easy miles on a run home from work followed by a lower body strength workout.

Wednesday: With my feet feeling much better on Wednesday and very thankful for the easy day Tuesday, I had a strong speed workout back at Hains Point again. I was able to get out on my lunch break and enjoy some sunshine and pretty decent weather for it too. I ran 6.25 miles total with a 1.5 mile warm-up, 3 mile repeats with 400 meter recovery jogs and a 1 mile cool down.

Thursday: Not wanting to do back to back speed workouts I moved my usual Friday rest day to Thursday this week.

Friday: I got in a tempo run around Hains Point after work. The best part about this run was it was my first in shorts and a tank! OK, so I had arm warmers and calf sleeves on too, but spring has to be getting closer. I got in 6.36 miles at an average 7:53 pace including my mile warm-up at an 8-minute pace. I was a little disheartened by the pace as I was hoping for a 7:30 average during the tempo portion. It was a particularly windy day and I really struggled keeping my pace into the wind. It knocked me down to an 8:30 pace at parts and when I checked my watch if the wind would momentarily die down I realized I was going at a 6:40 pace at the same effort level. Seeing that I was running on parts of the race course, I really hope it’s not too windy on race day.

Saturday: Unplanned rest day. I don’t remember doing it, but I turned my alarm off without getting up this morning. By the time I woke up I had to rush off to a meeting about joining a triathlon team (because clearly I don’t have enough on my plate already), and then Ian and I headed into D.C. to watch Syracuse play in the elite 8 at the Verizon Center. Running is pretty important to me, but I definitely wasn’t missing that game! I contemplated doing a double session on Sunday, but I knew that just letting this go and not beating myself up about it was the smarter decision to make.

Sunday: After a beautiful day Saturday I was really upset to see a lower temperature, gray clouds and rain, so it took me awhile to get myself out the door for my long run. I finally headed out around 2 in the afternoon and was really glad I did. I definitely felt better after the fact. I put in just more than 13 miles over the Key Bridge, through Georgetown to the Mall, around the Capitol Building, through Hains Point, over the Memorial Bridge and back home. It was dreary and rainy the whole way, but I kept a steady long run pace. Later that night I got in a lower body strength workout as well.

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