Fit Fun Mom

Well hello! I’ve been so busy with my latest project — Get All the Laundry Washed AND Put Away at the Same Time — that I’ve got a lot to catch up on around here.

The year 2013 ended in a whimper with a serious case of the flu that wiped out most of my family for over a week. There’s nothing like wrapping Christmas presents on Christmas Eve when both my husband and I had a fever of 102. The one kid who didn’t get sick declared the next day “the best Christmas ever” in spite of the fact that we had frozen burritos for Christmas dinner (well, those of us who felt like eating, anyway). Good times.

It took me a while to crawl back to my prior level of fitness. After conquering three full marathons in one year (Santa Barbara, Mountains 2 Beach, and Long Beach) I tried to be a good girl and cut back on working out in an “off-season.” Basically that meant I went from working out seven hours per week to four, and cut back my long runs from a max of 20 to 6 miles. Unfortunately, then I got hit with a cold and then the flu and I stopped working out altogether for that week of the flu. Not only did I feel miserable physically, I felt miserable mentally. I seriously look at working out as a (near) daily pill for mental health. So, I slowly scraped my way back to running and biking, in spite of the fact that my legs felt anything but rested and fresh and my lungs screamed in protest.

Thankfully, now I’m back on track and even managed a PR of 24:09 in the 5K at the iTry 5K trail race in February, where I came in first of eight in my age group.

My girls surprised me with a cake to celebrate my 5K race. It says “Go M!” for Go Mama!”

Then I raced the Brea 8K — the only race I’ve ever done three times — and came in 6th of 174 in my age group with a time of 38:46 (a 7:47 pace for nearly 5 miles). In 2012 I came in 5th of 180 but that’s okay because the person who knocked me out of 5th place is Boston Bound Brunette (who, by the way, just rocked the LA Marathon in spite of the heat on race day).

The year 2013 turned out to be a great year. I cut 10 minutes off my full marathon time to 3:52:42, putting me within seven and change of a Boston Qualifying time (3:45).

My total mileage breakdown for the year?

Swim: 13.67 miles.

Bike: 829.54 miles.

Run: 1132.64 miles.

Strength training and other workouts (DVDs, skiing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding): 49 hours.

Up next?

I run my first one-mile race next weekend at the Encinitas Mile. The next weekend I race the La Habra 10K (recap from the first time I did that race). On May 3 I’ll do the iCureMelanoma 5K in Fullerton for fun and fundraising (see my team’s page to sign up to join our team or make a tax deductible donation toward melanoma research!) At the end of May I’ll do a hilly but beautiful half marathon in Santa Ynez, the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half. At the end of August I’ve got full marathon #4: the Santa Rosa Marathon. After watching people struggle in the heat for the LA Marathon last week, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Santa Rosa in summer isn’t scorching hot! Finally, I’ll take on my first Ragnar Relay from San Francisco to Napa Valley with the Ragnaritas!

Any tips for me on racing the mile? My strength is long distance and if I left my body to its own devices it would settle in at marathon goal pace of 8:35. Based on recent speed workouts I think I can do the mile in under 7:00 but I’m really nervous. The course is a half mile out, half mile back and I have no idea how to keep myself from going out too fast and not blowing up in the first quarter mile. It will be a learning experience for sure!