Well I got up this morning…..a little slower than usual. But I pulled myself out of bed and managed to make it to the gym- just to find it CLOSED!  I had to do my 3 mile warmup outside until the gym opened up, then was able to run inside- 6.2 miles in 33:30.

Its two days before Christmas, and an insane day at home! Between kid’s activities, the holidays, and squeezing in training, its been crazy! I’ve been trying to increase my workouts in the beginning of the week to free up more time with my family on the weekends and avoid conflicts.   This morning was really tough because I had a biopsy scheduled and I wasn’t supposed to run….but……… I did.

I ran 12 before my biopsy and 4 miles after. My plan is to meet a girlfriend tomorrow and get in 14 miles- its her long run day, so hopefully that will workout.  She typically runs a little easier so it gives me a chance to relax and do recovery at the same time.  My hope is to have an easy 6 miles on Christmas, and  another workout the day after (possibly 3 x 2 miles, 2 x 3 miles or 1x 6 miler).  Whatever it is, I’m sure its going to be tough because its coming off of Christmas night, but I’ve GOT to get it in before we leave for Milwaukee- the temperature has been very cold there, so I’m hoping I can still get in one run a day.  I do have access to some indoor facilities, but its hard to squeeze it in with family time and activities.   Like everything else, its just a matter of making everything fit in place!

I really need to spend some time setting up my online calendar of what races I’m going to do…I’ve been interacting with these race directors and its just very, very time consuming- I’ve always had my agent do the races and now I’m realizing just how great it is to have an agent to do these things for you.

I have to wait for race invites, and unfortunately many runners are invited to more races than they can attend so I’m trying to be smart about which ones I’m doing- I’m looking into the RKA Invitational in the middle east, something I thought might be pretty fun until my husband reminded me that the travel would take a full 2 days…that’s a very long time to recover from that large of a time lapse, not to mention the heat and humidity is not  conducive for a great race time.  So we’re debating on that now.

Another big obstacle is clothing.  We have to investigate what type of clothing I’m allowed to wear over there which will be a major deciding factor.  Can I run in a just sports bra and running shorts??

I just had a great conversation with the guy from CAT, he was one of the initial guys that started the altitude tent process and he explained how he did it- he gave me a TON of advice.

With the setting I have it at, I’m probably not sleeping as well as I think. I feel almost drugged when I sleep in it. The altitude tent has been tested on cyclists and  found that if the altitude is reduced to 9k feet (I’m at 13k), the cyclists  slept a lot better.  He explained that between 8,000 and 9,000 feet the body actually recovers faster even though its not getting oxygen at the same level.  Your heart rate is forced to increase because it has less oxygen, and as your heart rate increases, your heart pumps blood faster through your legs- so your legs actually get more blood pumped to them.  In the end, you’re actually getting the same, if not more oxygen- just not as much in the air, but because your getting more blood, you’re recovering better! note to self…must tell coach!

So that said… the best thing for me to be doing is to reduce my altitude to 9,000 feet.

Unfortunate side note, my Diappler broke today and to get a new one I’d have to shell out $250 (PLUS $15 to ship) so I’m passing on that for now and will try to gauge it just on how I feel. He said if I light a match inside the altitude tent, it will light but will go out immediately because there isn’t enough oxygen at 8k feet to keep it lit. cool… wish me luck!

Just finished my Monday afternoon run which felt pretty good except I’m still a little dehydrated.

I’m trying to make a mental note to do a better job of dehydration, but overall I feel like my legs are fully recovered and I’m ready to go for tomorrow’s tempo run, so that seems like good news.  I have to write my personal trainer, Scott about what’s going on and just to make some decision with the tent and decide whether the increase in red blood cells are worth the decrease in recovery. It seems like a toss up, but I just feel like this recovery thing is becoming a bigger and bigger issue…

Got up early this morning after a bad nights sleep in the tent,  ran 9 miles on the treadmill at home. I started out at about an 8 min. pace, ran most of it at about a 7:18 pace, and part of it at a 6:40 pace…. I only have about a mile and a half for the rest of the week, so that’s my plan for tomorrow!

Its been another rough day for running, I did my run out at Westminster on the soft surface, and my legs aren’t substantially improving…beginning to wonder if the oxygen deprivation at night is becoming too substantial for me. I either have to change my altitude number or forgo the tent altogether so my legs can properly heal enough to get my workouts in…which reminds me I need to text my coach about that.

I ran 11 miles this morning, had a doctor appointment immediately after to figure out what to do about my estrogen levels- another big concern for me.  The older I get, the harder it is to keep lower body fat levels (because estrogen is held in body fat and in the absence of estrogen, your body doesn’t thrive in a healthy manner). I just saw my 3rd doctor today, he’s suggesting I go on a combination of estrogen/progesterone but there’s a problem- progesterone is a form of steroid and probably a prohibited substance with the U.S. track/field anti-doping policy.

Next thing I’ll need to do is talk with my coach about what to do…. Not sure if I can get around that or not.  Maybe some type of hormone replacement that will keep me running at a healthy body fat level.

We’ve already made a few changes to help with my estrogen levels:
-reduced my mileage substantially
-increased calorie intake
-running heavier than I’ve ever run before
….so far so good, but I need more of a long-term solution as to what we can do.

I had my long run today… I did OK….

I went 17.5 miles with 3 miles harder, last 3 miles being hard.  I thought I would have run in the low 6’s (min/mile) but it was WAY slower than that.  My time was hard to gauge because I was on hills and my Garmin wasn’t very accurate.  Recently my legs haven’t been recovering adequately, although they definitely recovered today… its just a process of burning off lactic acid from the week and by the end of my long run, my legs were smoothing out and you could see some of the lactic acid was coming out.

I finished my run and immediately took my ultragen sports drink to try to refuel myself and get my nutrients back in order….should have taken an ice bath but I’ve been avoiding them (for obvious reasons!) until I get in high season.

Now back to chaos- Christmas shopping for teachers, in law gifts, etc… I only have an hour and a half before I have to pick up the girls from school…

I did pilates today, which I’m a HUGE believer in.  As usual, I was late and only got the last half of the class in. The first half is mostly abs, which is what I really go for…but there’s just never enough time!

After class I ran 3 miles, showered, and ran errands. I somehow ended up at Target every day this week (am I the only one?!) now I’m rushing to the school to pick up Daniel from school for his orthodontist appointment- he’s managed to break his THIRD expander so he’s getting a new one today.  He’s got a basketball game tonight then its back home for a (hopefully) relaxing evening together with the family.  I made chicken tetrazzini and am really looking forward to it.  I have just 2 days left this week in the altitude tent- I’m very tired and dreary and will probably fall apart tonight, so I’m looking forward to a decent night’s sleep in the tent.

Tomorrow’s my long run which is difficult on tired, weary legs…I run harder in the latter part- I always get my workouts in at a halfway decent level, but it’s a huge difference when my legs aren’t fully recovered.  We’ll see what Scott (my trainer) says about the altitude tent.