With very little training, unfortunately.
I was diverted by my half Marathon training (along with life stuff) and neglected the bike. I even thought about pulling out, but “The Year of the Smitha” needs to be seen through and it was the bike tour for the month of December.

Day 1 Capitol Reef National Park

We started off with a wonderful ride through Capitol Reef National Park, one of the most underrated places that sees far far less visitors than the more popular Arches (and Canyonland due to proximity), Zion and Bryce National Parks in Utah.

The roads were newly paved butter smooth, the temps were perfect, the landscape dramatic, and my heart was swelling. I just knew that in spite of very little

Day 2 Capital Reef to Boulder, Utah with @cyclinghouse

A beautiful day but also a tad different for me. I think I let it get to me mentally more than physically. Oh well, happens.

Spending time outdoors with friends is worth all the mental games!

Day 3 Burr Trail

Absolutely one of my favorite sections of a ride – Dramatic views, Red Cliffs, climbs and descents, flat coke, the best of people. In a much better frame of mind than yesterday, knowing that all I can do is one pedal stroke at a time.

Starting in Boulder, Utah, Burr trail took us through the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument into more remote sections of Capitol Reef. We wove through red rock canyons, atop ridges and saw incredible scenery! Could it get any better than this?

I also got my “strava QOM” of the trip! Had a lot of things from work on my mind and even after almost 5 days away, I wasn’t able to let go. And in the Burr trail, I finally let go and cleared it from my mind. And that process showed on strava – I rode HARD and fast and Brendon describes it as giving poor Zeb a full workout to keep up.

Day 4 “Hell’s Backbone”

Boulder, Utah to Escalante via Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument with @cyclinghouse

Another beautiful even if slightly overcast day to ride through the dramatic landscape of Utah.

I never thought I’d say that I preferred the climbs over descents – descending when trying to not look over the edges which were sheer drop-offs was making me nauseous to the point that I’d off the bike at turn out points and try to serrle my stomach!

But oh, the grand beauty of it all! Worth the effort it took to breathe through the vertigo fear.

Day 5 Snow Canyon, the 70.3 St. George Bike Route

Highlight of the day – eating the best darn pie!

The post Utah Bike Tour – October in “The Year of The Smitha” appeared first on Faux Runner.

The original plan was to ride around lake Geneva. Montreux is on the lake and looked like a path going around. Easy enough, right? But the bike store convinced me not to – apparently the roads dont stay along the lake once you go into France on the other side of the lake and contruction (the bane of cities everywhere!) blocked the path on the swiss side just 5-7 miles out. So I joined them on their ride. I had an ebike and I should be able to turbo easily. So I thought!

What. A. Ride. that was!!!

Such a beautiful day again on the Swiss Riviera. Tour through City, lake, vineyards, pre-mountains, farmlands, quaint villages. Zipping in and out and holding my breath and trying to breathe to catch up!

After 3 rides of holy mountains, I never want to see a hill or a bike ever again (for atleast a week. lol)! And these weren’t even the Alps-Alps (so sad I had to ditch that due to logistics and the roads seemed super weird to navigate for me on my own). They called the furthest section “pre-alps” and what we rode was Lake to Vineyard with a very pretty tour.

Hills in Montreux ain’t the same as hills in Atlanta! One section of 15% grade had me worried that I’d be pedaling backwards instead of moving forward

But oh yes, I did sing after cresting every hills …. lungs and legs were on fire during the climb to sing. And I was praying as I was riding through the roads zipping alongside the peloton from the bike store in Aigle.

Would I do a self touring ride again?

Yes but only if I have scouted out the place beforehand. If I were to go now, I can figure things out and lead a good 5-7 day tour from Montreux as base. But as soloist, the logistics were way more harder than doing a long run. Not to mention way way more expensive too! And it made me appreciate my folks at the cycling house even more!

The post Its not the Alps. Its the “Pre-Alps” appeared first on Faux Runner.

Mt. Lemmon is one of the epic climbs in US, with many cyclists/triathletes making Tucson their winter training base. Going in on the last day of our camp, I knew I wasn’t as trained on hills as I should’ve been. But what the heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained … and Barbara, Becky and I started the climb together before I was easily dropped.

The climb went on and on and on and on and … There were some curses thrown, plenty of songs belted out of tune (for what’s a ride without me singing!), lots of photo ops and the crew encouraging me (although I may have scared Ellen when I suddenly yelled out “this is where you want to be”, a reference from The Greatest Showman)

But taking 2+ hours for the first 11 miles, I gave our support van an anxiety attack.

Do I call the ride done and take the bump up or turn back?

Do I continue on for maybe another 2-3 miles (that probably was my physical limit) and make my descent?

I didn’t want to have to make either decision …

By a stroke of huge luck, Becky offered me her e-bike that she had got just that morning. The bike was 2 sizes too big for me but I wasn’t going to throw away my shot, which coincidentally was the perfect song playing at that moment!

The e-assist! Ha!!

Oh, the joy of moving 2-3 times faster than before, apologizing gleefully to all the people I passed and making it 11 miles in just 1 hour into the arms of Linsey waiting up top!

1st 11 miles on normal bike – 2.5 hours

2nd 11 miles on e-bike – 1 hr

No regrets!

I was incredibly lucky to have had an opportunity to finish the climb although split in two parts/bikes and it helped me think about realistic expectations of my summer. In the meantime, my training is going to include hills, hills and more hills!

The post Climbing Mt. Lemmon appeared first on Faux Runner.

“Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;”

– this sonnet remains one of my favorites worth repeating every Valentine’s day.

The post An Ode to the Love of Cycling appeared first on Faux Runner.

The shakeout ride on Day 1 evoked reminiscences of a July day nearly three years past when we embarked from West Glacier into Glacier National Park. Back then, the sun blazed down upon us, and the elevation gain on the ride far exceeded our expectations. In contrast, today’s shakeout ride served as a genuine warm-up, primarily focused on testing our bikes.

Following a gravel segment featuring flowing water, we transitioned onto the roads of Tucson until reaching the base of the ascent to Mt. Lemmon. The road leading to the initial switchback was a seemingly endless, gradual incline until suddenly, the path veered upward along the mountainside. It was then that it struck me – this was indeed a formidable mountain. While Becky opted to turn back, reserving the climb for Saturday, I was determined to gauge the challenge. Strike a deal with the accompanying guide, I committed to tackling just an eighth of the visible climb to the next switchback (why precisely an eighth, I couldn’t say… it just felt feasible) and began ascending. Before I knew it, I had covered at least half a mile, if not more.

Mental notes to store away – the first part of the ride is climbable. It was slooooow grind on the lowest gear for me, but I believe I can climb it.

We ended the day with some wonderful Mediterranean dinner and a plan for the next day.

And because food photos are a must!

The post Day 1 – Shakeout Ride in Tuscon appeared first on Faux Runner.

“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination”

Boston was my sixth and last stop to complete the World Marathon Majors that started after I ran London Marathon in 2016 and got a lottery spot to New York City Marathon in 2018 (I had earlier run my very first marathon in Chicago Marathon 2011 and a repeat at Chicago Marathon 2012 even before I knew of the World Majors). Tokyo Marathon 2019 in March and Berlin Marathon 2019 in September quickly followed. Boston Marathon 2020 was to be my final and 6th world marathon.

After losing my charity spot from 2020 Boston due to Covid, I was adrift in the running world. A few random challenges, the virtual Boston in September 2020, and some 10 miles a week with my puppy was all I kept up with while I shifted focus to Biking adventures and fell in love with Peloton. Out of the blue this year, I was lucky to get one of the 100 lottery spots for those who had finished 5 of the world majors and needed just Boston to complete the 6-Star journey. So on to Boston I went!

Race Training

I NEVER thought I’d be one of those people who started a race untrained. I don’t even like to run a 10k without training let alone a marathon.

But … that’s what I did. Things had been stressful in the past year and I’d slowly gained 12-15lbs in just one year after surviving the Covid weight gain. And then life turned completely upside down in January, to the point that I would sit and stare at my computer blankly or keep myself occupied with extra work rather than face life.

I had an excuse for every missed training run.
I had an excuse for not training on hills.
I had an excuse for not doing speedwork.
I had an excuse for not losing weight.
All excuses stemming from life happening and getting old.

Race weekend got here way too early, even as I was watching time pass by with less and less training.

Expo and Pre Race

The looooooooong walk from the expo entrance to number pickup was more than enough as a shakeout walk for me!! The pickup itself was very simple. Not many vendors to tempt me to shop, but I did pick up some CBD salve and roll-on for race day aches and pains and hopefully keep the hamstring from screaming too much.

The day before the race had a huge gathering of 200 Golden Retrievers in honor of Spencer, the Boston Strong Golden Retriever, at Boston Commons and was a great stress buster.

Lunch with Dawn who came over from Hull, dinner at the hotel with Maria and her husband and it was time to get in bed by 8 pm.

Race Morning

Race morning dawned bright and cool. I wish I could say that … but it was in the 50s and cloudy with a will it-won’t it drizzle. Maria and I walked down to the Boston Commons from our hotel for the boarding buses to Hopkinton with a SEA of people. The bus ride to Hopkinton was uneventful; our bus did not get lost or get into an accident like a few other buses (!!), even though it felt very very long – a premonition that the return on foot was going to be even longer.

By the time we got off the bus at Hopkinton, the rain was a slow and steady drizzle. Portapotty stop and the long long walk to the corrals and before I knew it, I was in my corral and ready to go at 11:15am!

Race Strategy

This race was going to be more mental than physical. My #1 goal was to finish the distance of 26.2 miles. Times, cutoffs, splits, … everything else was secondary.

So my “race strategy” was more mental than physical pacing.

The breakup of the race mentally was
Miles 1-12 until the Wellesley College to get my legs moving and
Miles 13-16 to prepare for what lay ahead
Miles 16-22 of “just” 4-5 miles of Newton Hills
Miles 22-26.2 get to the finish by any means, crawl if necessary.
All the time running by feel.

Easy Peasy. Easier said than done.

Mile 1 – 12

My entire training season, I’d trained with 30 seconds run :: 30 seconds walk (sometimes 40:20) on the long runs and running straight out on shorter runs. The first 3-4 miles were very very crowded and I planned to run that straight out. Since I am physically incapable of running faster than I should, I did not worry that I’d start out too fast.

My plan was to keep it easy and steady those miles and that’s what I did. Took walk breaks consistently, although not every 30 seconds like I had planned. I was running slow and steady enough that I felt ok to take the gamble that it wouldn’t come back to hurt me later.

Somewhere around Mile 4-5, Carrie found me in the mass of runners and we chatted for a bit before she went ahead with her runners from the Dana Farber group. Our distinct conversation point was how humid it was. A few miles later, the drizzle got stronger into a steady rain. And once it stopped, the wind picked up and it got cold!

Highlight along with seeing Carrie – These adorable Goldens who were at Mile 3 just like Spencer, the Boston Strong Golden Retriever, in years past. This was the only photo op that I stopped for on course.

Mile 13 – 16

The crowds at the famous Wellesley Scream Tunnel had dwindled by the time the back of the pack rolled along. But the girls who stayed back were still capable of a deafening roaring cheer to lift spirits and paces – I recorded my fastest mile of the race there.

Another highlight of the Wellesley mile – witnessing a Wedding Proposal! She said YES!

Mile 17 – 22 The Newton Hills

The legendary Newton Hills, of which the infamous Heartbreak Hill is just one. The stuff that breaks people and races. The hills that destroy all muscle groups. The point in the race that tells the story of all the previous miles. And I was hitting all those hills past my longest training run which was on pancake flat.

My mental goal was simple – It is just 5 miles. Be purposeful.

Apart from my steady but super short and of course super slow intervals up the hills, I focused on “walking with purpose” up the hills. My usual walk style is ambling along and my family always tells me to ‘walk with purpose’. I especially annoy them at airports when I take my sweet time and they are waiting for me at the gate. Walking with purpose kept me mentally in the game without the defeatist hands-on-hips walk.

For most of the race, I had been running more with intermittent walk breaks maybe every 2 minutes or every 3 minutes. On the hills, I switched it up to my original plan of 30:30, sometimes even as short as 20:20. Anything to keep it moving and get over the hills.

Miles 22 – Finish

Coming out of Newton Hills, It was just a shot to the finish and that’s when I started paying attention to my Garmin. Like all marathons, these were the miles that were all a blur, where you really want things to be done, where every mile feels like it’s 10 miles long.

I had already been pleasantly surprised by how I had handled the past 21 miles. I wasn’t feeling drained yet and my injury was holding up surprisingly without any pain. So instead of the strategy get to the finish, my strategy shifted to don’t give up. And so I ran. Those last miles, I truly ran with my heart.

At times it felt like I was all alone in the race. I had planned to run with music and had made my playlist the night before. But then race morning, I forgot my headphones and since I’m NOT one to put music on loud, I just sang through my playlist in my head and enjoyed the music by supporters – Backstreet Boys seemed to be the jam of the spectators that day. I heard the song FOUR times on the course.

Somewhere along the course were a group of young men with Red Sox jackets cheering us with the words “Welcome to Boston”. It was heartening to see some of the Red Sox fans stick around to cheer us back of the packers – one of the highlight moments is apparently when you are running past Fenway Park just as fans are pouring out of the game.

The famous CITGO sign that signals the one mile from the finish of the Boston Marathon was shrouded in fog and mist. Maybe it was my head at that point in the race, but the sign looked way bigger than what I thought it would look like.

Those last miles weren’t easy. It never is that late in a marathon no matter the pace.

Every part of my body was hurting and I truly thought that my quads would give out – something I had been warned of due to the net effect of the initial downhill miles and then the Newton hills. I was ok with it not being easy and kept going. I never once got to the point where I started questioning the meaning of life and never had to ponder over my questionable life choices.

I just … ran…

I focused on picking people to pass and passed on everyone but 3. Only one person passed me. The two that I could not pass, I kept in my sight and maintained the differntial distance. My mantra during these miles was borrowed from Ben Alldis, one of my favorite Peloton instructors – You did not come this far to just get this far.

The Finish

My Garmin had hit 26.2 way before the finish line and when I voiced out WTF Where’s the Finish? A lady I was running alongside said the iconic words “Right on Hereford, Left on Boylston”.

The Right on Hereford was a very short distance but the finish line from Left on Boylston felt another mile away. I had flashbacks to Berlin where I hit 26 miles at Brandenburg Gate and then … I hit the wall hard and just gave up. This time, I kept running to the finish greeted by the cheers of people still 2 deep that late in the day. I can only imagine how the roar would’ve been at a “normal finish time”.

Waiting for us at the finish line was the famed Unicorn medal – NOT !! The race had run out of medals about half an hour before. I have plenty to say about that, but I will not say that here. BAA did contact us to get the medal mailed to us.

My first stop after a finish line photo and the space blanket was the Abbot tent to check if I had made the 6 stars. They checked if the clock was still running (it was!), checked my name off the list, and gave me the 6-star medal.

Based on the pathetic training season of injuries and stress from life, the extra Covid 19 lbs, and my long training runs on the absolute flats, I had estimated my finish time to be 6hrs 25min – 6hr 40min with a lot of walking built in. I came in so much stronger than I’d anticipated. I was absolutely elated at how I had run and paced and then run some more with a LOT of heart when my legs weren’t trained enough.

But … Did I Finish?

The clock had read 5:33 pm when I crossed with a time of 6hrs 17min.

In the end, it turned out to be not enough.
I learned through Facebook groups that the “cutoff” that day was apparently 5:30 pm or 5:26 pm or 5:27 pm or … whatever the time anyone was saying it was.

The race cutoff is “6 hours from the time the last person crosses the start line” but is never verified by the BAA in any year.

I did celebrate that finish time in ignorance that I was “official”. I still don’t know since I still get emails from Boston and Abbott congratulating me, but then the last split after 39.2km in the results is greyed out but I have a final finish time recorded.

Wait … Does it count?

Someone said that my Boston finish “doesn’t count”.

I do not care if it counts or not.
I got to the start line of the Boston Marathon, I ran the race with a strong heart, I crossed the finish line in good faith, and received the 6-Star World Marathon Majors medal in good faith.

So … if anyone says it doesn’t count, I’m not arguing.
If anyone says it counts, I’m not arguing with that either.

No Regrets

No regrets – that’s the dominant emotion I want as I look back at any race. (Borrowed from my favorite sportsperson crush, Steve Waugh, the former Australian Cricket Captain)

And that’s what I still feel. Bugger the time …

I have fundraised for every World Major that I have ever run (even for the ones that I got a lottery spot), pushed myself out of my comfort zone, been (mostly) disciplined and focused, traveled with my family to places, and made many many friends along the way.

My goal was to cross the finish line, on the sidewalk if necessary. I’m proud of how I ran and I couldn’t have run any better. That I am just so infernally slow always is just pure shitty luck of the genetic draw.

So absolutely NO REGRETS!

Until next time …

The post Boston Marathon Race Report appeared first on Faux Runner.

How do I even begin to put down on paper my feelings & thoughts after an epic tour such as the Glacier to Yellowstone Bike Tour with The Cycling House? Do I describe the miles every day, the climbs, the scenery, the journey of riding multiple days, or the multitude of … oh so many many different emotions!

I think I’ll start with the experience of a non-cyclist doing a multi-day bike tour with The Cycling House.

Be Adventurous

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Our tour idea started when Barbara put forth the suggestion a year ago as we were all coming to the realization that Covid wasn’t a 2 week or a 2-month thing. I signed up out of FOMO but still had a lot of reservations – I am not a cyclist, I’ve never ‘fallen in love’ with the bike even when I was pulling in 100-120 miles/week during my months of training for Augusta 70.3. What was I getting myself into for thinking I could ride an entire week!!!!

Every adventure needs a bit of excitement and nervousness. And I’ve always enjoyed the ride only if I throw myself into it 120% without half ar$ing it! We trained indoors, we trained outdoors, we even went on a “Johnston Mountain” adventure.

Going into the tour without any expectations other than a wish to complete and without any restrictions of time limitations, gave me the freedom to try something I’ve never done before in the company of friends. I loved being a tourist on the bike and taking in the scenery and my thoughts way more than I could do from a car.

After saying never for the past 6-7 years, the Universe opened me up to the possibility of loving cycling.

Be Pampered

During our Alaska vacation earlier in the year, my family joked that I would be treated to a vacation where all I would have to do was show up – they’d take care of everything, including my packing. “Joked” being the keyword of this pipe dream. As with almost every mom, even on a vacation, I’m trying to do it all – constantly thinking of activities to do, things to see, and what to eat, and how to keep everyone from ripping each other’s heads off.

This tour, however, was a TRUE vacation for me. Yes, we added on miles and elevation every single day. But the rest of it was absolute bliss. Everything was taken care of … to the point that I started feeling embarrassed about a grown ar$e person like me just sitting around doing nothing and plates of food magically appearing/cleared away!

Never in my adult life had I been taken care of and pampered so much. And for a brief moment, I forgot that I had a real life to go back to.

Be Badass

It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Day 1’s shake-out ride was hot, miserable, and honestly a little scary thinking of days ahead. I had a mini temper tantrum that evening.

Day 2 brought a wonderful climb on Going to the Sun Road up to Logan Pass to cheering from cars trailing behind me and it all seemed like a dream. I was elated!

On Day 3 of the tour, I had a fatigued and uninspiring first 25 miles and I thought about pulling the plug on the ride midway. That evening I wrote – “Have you ever felt the exact moment that you had a mental mind-shift? The 2nd half of this 55-mile ride was my moment. Andrew didn’t let me think of stopping because I was having so much fun and I finished on the most incredible high and mentally I felt the shift in me from nervous “can I do it” to a matter of fact “why not, I will do it”.”

And this on the day of Beartooth Pass ride (Day 6) – “That moment where you see what you just did and realize what you are capable of and how much more you are than what you think. I didn’t think I’d be able to climb Beartooth. But I did. I never knew what I was capable of. And it still surprises me.”

A challenge, a plan, the hard work training over a year, the friends, a lot of soul searching “my why”, a mental mind-shift, and discovering strength within, all leading to an incredible experience finding out how much more I am capable of than what I think.

How can I not look back on that and not feel like a badass ready to take on anything the world/work throws at me?

I trained.
I rode the miles.
I climbed.

I did it!

A lot of “I” in those sentences, but I did it with friends!

Be Inspired

“When the wind stands fair and the night is perfect. When you least expect it but always when you need it the most. There is a song”

The Twelfth Doctor

Ok, that’s a bit dramatic but that’s how inspiration strikes – when you least expect it but always when you need it. (And this diehard Whovian loves that quote! But, I digress …)

Inspiration in art, music, life, anything,… for me it was food.

I’ve always loved to cook good food but of late I have become very blasé about food. The crazy speed of kids & activities, work & life often leaves me throwing things together and treating food as something my body needs to survive vs something to enjoy & nourish my body. Not to mention that Mr. FauxRunner who tends to just want the good food vs. having to deal with waiting for me to cook it and then clean it up; and hence we end up with a lot of take outs.

The week riding from Glacier to Yellowstone and hearing Chef Steven’s nightly dinner talk reminded me of what it was to love each ingredient that went into the food and how food can be a time for quiet reflection instead of my usual go-go-go. The speed of my everyday life cannot slow down, but I am inspired to give myself some cooking time, to appreciate what the earth gives us, to understand how my body responds, and to remember to pass on memories to my kids.

Make Memories

“The BA-BAs” (Bada$$ BoatAnchors doing Cool Shit)

“Take the Bump”

“Your Burrito will Follow You”

“7 switchbacks”

There is something special about sharing miles and pains of the road/trail that makes more than mere acquaintances of us all (Of course, I also rarely meet a stranger who’s not a friend – only during endurance events, mind you, otherwise you couldn’t tempt with all the icecream in the world to open my mouth!)

I renewed friendships with people I’d known before and hopefully made new friends. I laughed, I blushed, I giggled. I laughed some more. I may even have shed a tear or two.

The best part of anything I undertake (the quest for World Marathon Majors, the Ragnar Relay, my 70.3 in Augusta, this Bike Tour, …) is always the people I meet. I retain some of these friendships for life and some fizzle out due to time & distance. But memories of these once-strangers always burn strong.

I leave behind a small part of my heart in Montana (and the mountains of Wyoming), carefully wrapping up the tour in my memories, to talk and draw on it for days to come, and, I never thought I’d say this ever, for the next time I go on a cycling adventure like this.

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill

The post Glacier to Yellowstone – Bike Tour with The Cycling House appeared first on Faux Runner.

3 weeks ago, the Boston Marathon week actually, my crazy friend Joy (truly on a very high crazy scale as she is an ultra runner who runs a gazillion miles a day at all times of the hour for fun) was running a 24hour challenge in lieu of a few of her cancelled races. Running 5 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours, total 30 miles. I LMAO at her, literally. Like why would she ever want do that without any glory at the end. 2 weeks ago, someone posted about it in one of my FB groups and a huge number of people signed up. I tut-tutted at that crazy enthusiasm. Again, why would they want to do that; maybe it was a group thing; crazy triathletes and all.

Then last week, Sam posted about how she was just catching up on the group’s post and she was going to take this on in the coming week. This time I didn’t laugh or tut-tut, … I signed up along with a few others … AND I posted it on other groups I’m part of to get in more people. Did I mention that I’m on a break with running?

Well, once signed up, it was like a sense of adventure.

I knew I wasn’t trained enough to be able to run it all but the thrill at the start to seek the finish was back! A support group was created, tips were asked and given, a start time of 7pm on Friday was decided, zoom calls were scheduled before and after each run. There was very little actual planning or worrying to do, aside from the most important decision of choosing my running clothes! Those who know me know how much thought I put into picking my clothes for each of my races.

Tips if you want to take on the Yeti 24 hour challenge

Decide on your start time based on when you want to end. I wish I had started at 3pm on Friday so I was done after 2 runs on Saturday vs. running almost all of Saturday (that’s what it felt like too!)

Keep it simple.
I had planned to drive to different places for variety, but ended up with 5/6 runs from home so I could roll out of bed, change and get out and in reverse without spending time traveling. This was especially helpful for a slow runner like me.

Sleep
Seriously, try to atleast nap. I sometimes had only 1hr between shower and wakeup time, but even that 60min of shuteye made a difference

Get a group of friends
I would have never finished it if not for other crazy people doing it. The fact that they were all going to log in onto a zoom call made it accountable. I didn’t want to be the only one not showing up and once I was up, I might as well put the miles on.

So now … my adventure for anyone interested!

Run 1/6 – 7pm Friday

After a good luck and an enthusiastic zoom call, we were off on our first leg. I took it very easy and did 40 sec run – 20 sec walk intervals. Still the freshness must’ve made a difference as I finished it very easily AND added in a 0.5 mile cooldown walk after the 5 miles. Kelly had mentioned that she added on 1 mile to the end of her last leg to get to 31.x miles as an official 50km, and I had it in my mind to add in tiny bits throughout so I wasn’t going to be adding things at the end in fatigue.

We had takeout pizza for dinner and I ate a slice immediately after the run and went to bed after a shower.

Run 2/6 – 11pm Friday

I had actually slept for a bit before waking up at 10:30pm and that gave it a bit of thrill. Only crazies get up in the night to run and I was part of that! I was thinking of doing tiny up and downs my street, but one look outside and I gave up that idea and I went to the treadmill instead. It was another uneventful run with the same run-walk intervals as before.

I ate half a slice of the pizza leftover and went to bed after a shower.

Run 3/6 – 3am Saturday

The alarm went off at 2:30am and I groaned. Seriously? Who’s idea was this? What possessed me? Let me shut eye for just a second? I finally dragged myself out of bed at 2:50am and changed sleepily, it was cold and I threw on an old sweatshirt and dialed into the zoom. All the others looked like they were ready to hit the road, people had even gotten together to run at the local track (if I had actually met someone at that time, I would’ve been unable to have any conversation and just grunted), and then … wait for it … George and Kelly had woken up to join the call EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE NOT RUNNING !!!! What sorcery were they channelling???

I barely stumbled on to the treadmill and started my run which was more walk-run than run-walk and extremely slow. Never had I been so happy to get it done and stumble into bed. Because I had walked mostly, I wasn’t sweaty enough to shower. Thank God!

Run 4/6 – 7am Saturday

I was up at 6:20am before the alarm went off, panicking that the run was actually at 6am and I was late!! I’m glad I woke up early because I took a long time getting ready for that leg! I was still extremely sleepy and barely registered who was on the zoom call. It didn’t “feel” like I was running any slower, but I could see my sleep deprivation influencing the fatigue.

Carmen was running the 7am run “with” me and sent me encouraging messages.

I believe I finished in a sleepy haze and after a quick zoom checkin, I changed and went to bed. Showers are overrated. Way overrated. A lot of people had talked about staying up after the morning leg and talked about the importance of showers in waking up. But sleep needed, shower not needed for me.

Run 5/6 – 11am Saturday

Best. nap. ever! I woke up refreshed and ready to take on the run. Also the realization that we were more than half way through and only 2 more runs pepped me up. I ran very happy and really well for the first half of the run, but then fizzled out in fatigue and heat.

Run 6/6 – 3pm Sunday

My 14yo came out with me to run for this leg; more to support and encourage me to finish as the heat had risen to 80F (the 1st actual hottest day of the year). We drove out to a local flat road so I could thank her with Starbucks after the run. Again, we ran steady for the first half and then the heat! Oh the heat! Everything hurt and sucked and I just wanted to sit on the side of the road. She encouraged me to run tiny bits when we were in the shade and kept the flow of conversation going – which, by teenager standards of “I don’t feel like talking to anyone”, is a HUGE HUGE deal!!

Kayre was running the 3pm heat “with” me and we touched base texting at every mile.

31.16 Miles aka 50km

By the last step I took, everything hurt and everything sucked. But I did it!

I woke up at weird times.

I completed the 5 mile distance each time, even if I didn’t run all of it.

I kept going.

I loved the support of people virtually and I must say that I leaned on them every run.

My body was so fatigued from miles and sleep deprivation that my mind forgot to worry about things I cannot control.

I . loved. every. minute. of. the. thrill. of. completion! And I relished every minute of having to no longer run!

Until the next crazy adventure, because I know I need something big to get me off the couch again ….

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While the first week of social distance quarantine was an experiment, this second week has started feeling surreal. Rain in back in Atlanta (YAY! – said no one ever this winter), work and school has gotten into a rhythm. Many states like California and the NY tri-state area has already given order to “Shelter in Place”. These rules are also in effect in Spain, France, to name a few, in order to curtail the spread of Covid-19 attempting to flatten the curve. Runners in Spain have reported being stopped by police if they were out running without a dog or without appearing to shop for groceries. We in Atlanta have the luxury of going outdoors with the 6ft social distancing, inspite of increasing calls to the governor to implement Shelter in Place.

Even with the social distancing gyms, yoga studios, etc. have shutdown. But a lot of places have gotten very creative with their classes and are offering it free to the public (atleast they did last week). Plenty of local yoga studios have FB-Live classes that you can access for free. (I’m already seeing some places offer discounted memberships for online classes, so I don’t know how long these free classes will be available especially if the Covid-19 days drag on longer).

I’ve been checking out some apps and FB live classes and particularly like the “Down Dog” app on the iPhone and iPad. The developers are offering the app free until April 1st.

It’s a very customizable yoga workout app where you select the “style” of yoga, you level, what it is that you want to focus on and the duration of the practice and it will customize a workout for you.

I’ve done normal flow and Yin style for 15min focusing on hip flexors and hamstrings and it has been very easy to follow with the simple instructions. I’ve never felt obligated to spend an entire 45min-60min like I’d do in a class; even though I’ve sometimes spent that time in 3-4 different focus areas.

I don’t know how much the app normally costs, they are definitely winning me over with their free days and I might even subscribe it regularly!

Fun tidbit – Even the healthcare workers in the frontlines of fighting Covid-19 take yoga breaks!

Have you taken advantage of the free yoga sessions during the time of Covid-19? Is there a particular app you use for Yoga and like?

The post Yoga in the time of Quarantine – Down Dog App Review appeared first on Faux Runner.

BOSTON. Boston was postponed. Boston which was to be my 6th and final World Marathon Majors was pushed back. Boston for which I was proud to be part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge was now to be in September. I don’t quite know what my reactions were on hearing the news. All I could feel was that I was feeling empty. The postponement wasn’t entirely unexpected, but the new date was (to me at least), with the prospect of having to train through summer in Atlanta. It wasn’t like I was super awesomely trained and crushed not to race, but it was still a weird feeling.

Within a week of race cancellations came schools shutdown to online schooling, offices asked to work from home, social distancing of atleast 6ft from each other to mandatory ‘shelter in place’ in Bay Area.

After a weekend of feeling empty, I gave myself permission to NOT feel anything. I would deal with things as they come day by day. Instead, I will count my blessings.

I will run outside alone for as long as I can. Even if I my legs somehow know of the cancellation and protest having to run anything longer than 2hours.

I am trying to medidate and add yoga/stretching to my everyday life for atleast 15minutes a day. Even if my kids make fun of me and take weird photos of my poses.

I am chilling with my kids when I can. The teen is stressed out too, although she might not admit it and a late night face mask session might just help us both.

I try to have a normal work from home day. Even though I work from home plenty, I am still learning setting boundaries and expectations when EVERYONE else is also working from home.

I don’t have any questions to ask of you, but will send ‘stay safe’ vibes to everyone and hope that the situation is soon under control.

The post Trying to be normal appeared first on Faux Runner.