My addiction

This blog has absolutely nothing to do about training, but I need to admit my problem to the internet world. I have a problem - a serious addiction to Lost. I had never watched it even though my friends kept telling me how great it is and that I had to watch it because i live in Hawaii. I figured, if you see the characters running around town surfing, then it takes the fun out of it. But with my relocation to Mexico and all the travel that was happening, i needed something to watch on the planes. So i decided to download all of the seasons of lost - starting from the beginning. At first I was ok. I would watch it on the plane and then that was all. But now, being in an apartment with no TV I have gotten to the point where I cant wait to get home and watch it. I have had every intention of getting up at 6 and working out before work, so I go to bed early. I have been in bed at 9 almost every night. But I pull out the ipod and my addiction starts. Last night I was up until 2AM watching it - my boyfriend even sent me an email at midnight telling me to go to bed, which I foolishly ignored, and I am paying for it today. I feel like I am training for a race - I want to get finished as quickly as possible and see what happens to my stranded friends so that I can start watching the current season and have input when everyone else is talking about it. I have 30 more episodes. If it rains this weekend I can be finished within a week and next week I can actually get some sleep.

Ash Wednesday in Mexico City

I have been slacking on the blog front lately, but I will be back at it now. I spent two weeks in Hawaii visiting Chris and the dogs, and writing blogs was not top of mind. While I am in Mexico I pretty much work, workout and try to remember the Spanish that I once knew so that I can translate the emails and conference calls I have on a daily basis. It is coming back to me. Because I am still living in an area that is not suitable for running outside, I have been back to hitting the treadmill. It was so nice to be in Hawaii and be able to run outside, but now it is back to watching season 2 of Grey's Anatomy in Spanish while I run. I have also been hit again with the altitude issue since I was at sea level for about 5 weeks, but it is definitely easier this time around. I have almost kept up the pace for the full runs and i dont get bloody noses anymore. YES PROGRESS! I just have to keep reminding myself how much better I feel racing when I train here.
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. I was a little sad to learn that it was not an official holiday in Mexico and that I had to be at work. I actually didnt learn this until I was two cheese fondus and half a bottle of wine into dinner at midnight. I just assumed it was. Every other Catholic holiday is. We even get Semana Santa (or what I refer to as Spring Break). A national holiday for the entire Holy Week where I will be back in Hawaii again looking for fun races to do that wont have me breathing hard after my warm up.

Two runs in Hawaii

I have been in Hawaii for the past week and a half so I have been a little slacker on the blog front. I have been spending time with Chris and the dogs and getting up at 4:30AM to work on Mexico City hours and everything else has taken a back seat. I have, however, managed to get in two races this past week. The first was an 8K race that ran each side of diamond head. It was a slow time, but fast enough for a second place AG finish. I did learn that I still need some major strengh running work. The hills killed me. The uphill was a 2 minute slower pace than the rest of the race, but I am ok with it. I just need to work harder on the hill training.
In between the races was Valentine's day. Chris went to the store and got us some stuff for a sunset beach picnic.
Here is Chris preparing the wine...


And the sunset - it was so windy and cold, but beautiful...

Here are the munchkins - they were each other's Valentines.

The second race was the Great Aloha Run that attracts about 18,000 people. Chris ended up bailing on the run, so I went with Sharon and we had our own personal chauffeur. I felt pretty barfy in the morning, but really wanted to run, so I took some stomach medicine and headed down to the race. I started at a good pace (8 min miles) and then quickly went downhill. I had that whole churning stomach feeling and when the first set of port-a-potties came up i had to stop. Stopping also included a HUGE line of people. Oh well, it was worth it not to have major issues later in the race.
After I finished, I realized that I had lost about 3 minutes. So i went back to running as fast as I could without getting sick. That lasted another few miles when I had to stop again. Another long line and loss of a few minutes. I even had the guy behind me beg me not to stop because I had been pacing him, but i wanted to tell him that he would really be mad if I didnt stop and he had to witness something that noone should have to see.
After that time I realized I had about 2 miles to go. I can do two miles with a sick stomach, no problem. So i just went for it. I went way to fast on that second to last mile, so in the last mile that was somewhat uphill I had to slow way down. In spite of everything I had a great time running again. Go figure! I like to run - well I like to run in races. The results havent come out yet, so I am not sure what my exact time was since I forgot to stop my garmin, but I am guessing it was around a 9Min mile pace including the stops. I think that really comes out to an 8 min mile pace while running, but I did get some major rest in between. I am still trying to figure out my stomach. I had a banana in the AM and water and got sick. I havent found any GUs or Gels that dont make me sick during the run, so for a race of this length I had to eat something beforehand. This has been a consistent problem for me. My stomach will determine how well I race that day.

5K Run

This year has been all about running, and I am totally shocked that I am starting to like it more. After 4 weeks of living in Mexico City, I have really only spend about 5 days there. The rest of the time has been spent traveling to our other properties in the resort destinations of Mexico. I know, poor me. Because I have been traveling so much, the only thing I can really do is run. And I cant even do that consistantly. I cant run on travel days because those usually consist of waking up before 5 and getting back to bed after 10 or 11. But the other days, I am up early to run. Since I dont have a real schedule - work or training, and have been unable to really plan out my season due to the move to a new city, I have been just been racing when I am a city that has a race. For example, when I was in Houston two weeks ago I did the half marathon. When I am in Hawaii for the next two weeks I am doing an 8K and an 8 miler. And this past weekend I was in Houston I did a run till you puke (5K). It has been hard to really figure out a training schedule, but I am a HUGE planner, and this will allow me to be a little more flexible.
The 5K is such a fun distance. There is not a lot of time to be in pain and you know it will be over in about 6 songs. The course was awesome and the weather was perfect, and best of all it gave me a base to know what I think I can realistically accomplish. The actual course according to Garmin was 3.23 miles, so a little bit longer, but my miles broke down like this: 8:05 (i actually threw up in my mouth a little bit during this mile and got a little scared that if I puked it would be 100% alcohol), 7:50, 7:48. Not all that fast compared to some of you runners out there, but it is good to know where I am sitting now with my non-existant training. I was happy with the time considering I went out the night before with my wino dad and friend until 1:30 and I have not really run since the half marathon except for a couple of beach runs. Plus I will have the altitude on my side. I didnt really have that benefit for this race as I have not been in Mexico City since before the half marathon, but once I am there full time I think it will help. Especially since all of my races will be at sea level. So my goal for 2009 is to run a 5K under 23 minutes. I guess I need to really start training now since I wrote the goal down!

AHHH Mexico....

For the next three weeks I will be traveling all over Mexico to Puerto Vallarta, Punta Mita, Los Cabos and Cancun to learn about all the new hotels I now work for. Other than Chris, my friends and the boneheads, the thing I miss the most about Hawaii is the beach. I AM A BEACH BUM. I love it. I love swimming, surfing, paddling, sitting on the beach, running on the beach (this is really the only time I love running), and playing fetch with the dogs in the ocean.
After being in Mexico City for two weeks with no sight of the beach, it is very comforting to know that for $100 and a little over an hour of flying, I can be at some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And look baby – there are tons of good waves for surfing!

90% of my time while in these incredible places is spent working or sleeping, but the rest of the time I get to go run on the beach. No Garmin, no heart rate monitor and a watch only so I know when I have to go back to get to my next meeting.

Here is my week of beach running in photos:
My first hotel visit:

I did a full stop in front of this place. Pizza and Beer and Tacos and Beer all in one place. My heaven. And not only is it happy hour 2x1, it is happy DAY 2x1 on Tuesdays. And today is Tuesday. Coincidence or do they change the sign every day? It took a lot of effort to continue running and check this place out.


Here I am all happy before my sunrise run in Punta Mita…

I got my red shoes on and I am off…

The sunrise

Woops – I didn’t realize the waves were coming that high.

There are my abandoned shoes after the wave hit

I guess I will have to run back barefoot

They even have coconuts on the beach here too. It is almost like I haven’t left.

Here I am all finished still smiling.

One week down and two to go before I head back to Hawaii for two weeks. There will be lots more beach running pics to come! I love my job!!!

This past Sunday was the Houston Half Marathon. I was incredibly excited for this race because it is my favorite running race ever and I don’t like to run, so that is saying a lot. Well you can see from the look of pain on my face that this was not one for the record books. I got this photo from brightroom – the peeps that took the photos. Normally I am all happy smiley no matter how I am feeling, but this race was quite a bit different.



I think 2 weeks of puking, not eating and dropping 10-12lbs had taken its toll on my body. The plan was to go out with a comfortable pace for the first half at about 9 minute miles and then push it up to 8:30 or faster for the last half. The race started out great and I was right on track. Miles 1-5 were 9:02, 9:03, 9:02, 8:59, and 9:00. Right on track. I was feeling really really good. I started to think that there was something to this living at altitude thing. Then came mile 6 and 7. Mile 6 was straight up hill. Well straight up a “Houston hill” which the rest of the world would call a highway overpass. Then it hit me…My knees started to hurt, my calves were cramping and my legs felt like jello. Ok, so living at altitude helps your breathing, but the non training has really hurt the rest of the body. I started to realize what two weeks of almost nothing can do to you. I wanted to walk (people were walking because this was a mountain people!!!), but I refuse to walk unless I am injured. So I kept running and repeating “quitting is for loser pu**ys” over and over again. It helped. The times for 6 and 7 were so bad that I stopped the garmin. I don’t want training peaks to know what I did. Mile 8 – I see Dad and my Grandmother!!! Mile 8.5 – there’s MOM!!! I felt better. I wanted some cliff shots. I reached in my back pocket and there was nothing. I realized I had thrown them out when the corner of the packet had scratched a hole in my back so bad it was bleeding down my leg. Who needs calories right? The sun started to come out and it was getting hot for this race (75 way too hot for me!) and I realized that I wasn’t going to get any PRs today, so I might as well enjoy it. In all hoesty I was really having fun. I was cheering for everyone coming by and everyone that I passed. I also was really happy at the turn off when the marathoners had to keep going. I cheered for myself that I was smart enough not to sign up for the half instead of the full. As I ran the last part of the race I got to see the top men marathoners coming in so I stopped and watched the top 3 winners and cheered. Yes, I stopped. Why not? I wanted to enjoy the day.

This race wasn’t my best time, in fact it was my worst. But it was the most fun I have actually had running. And I realized what I need to work on – training at altitude. I have to force myself to keep training hard every day even if it hurts worse than it did in Hawaii. I have an advantage now – I live in altitude and plan to race most of my races at sea level. I have also resigned to the fact that this year is about running. I cant do triathlons in Mexico without a bike and I wont have my bikes here until June. I also cant swim anywhere yet since I don’t have a gym or a car to get to the gym and it is ill advised to walk around Mexico City at night without a clue, so I am going to finish Jack Daniel’s Running Formula and work at my running this year. Next weekend is a sprint till you puke (5K) that I am doing with my mom. This is my kind of distance. I am also planning the 2009 racing season. Right now all I have is this 5K, the Great Aloha Run and the NYC Marathon. I am open to any other suggestions on fun races to do.

I normally am not so happy with poor performances, but I think the fact that I am sitting on my balcony at the St. Regis in Punta Mita having a glass of wine helps. I love my job!

Name Change

No, I am not changing my name, Chris and I arent getting married...YET. No pressure baby :). The name that is changing is my blog's. I have been in Mexico City for two weeks and I think traininginhawaii needs to be retired. I am currently on the hunt for some new names. Since technically my home is still Hawaii, and I will be back there 6 weeks over the next four months and am doing at least two races there, I can keep the name for a little bit longer. At least until I can come up with something suitable for my new city. Trainingin"El DF" just doesnt sound as fun as Training in Hawaii. One option is "trainingatmybloodynosethreshold". It happened again, and it is all because of the altitude. I am gasping for air, going 3/4 of my normal speed, and feel like I am going to have a heart attack, and then 30 minutes in...it happens. Bloody nose. Tonight it happened all over the elliptical trainer - GROSS.

48 hours from now I will be in Houston eating at one of my favorite Mexican places with some friends. The trip is twofold - 1) i am throwing an engagement party for one of my friends. Her nickname is Ellen. We used to be dates to everyone's wedding when we were single and she was Ellen and I was Portia. And we signed every wedding book that way. Now that I am attending her engagement party, I am going to have to find another Ellen to go with since Chris cant make the trip. The second reason for the trip is to run the Houston half marathon. I know these two reasons dont really go well together, but I promise I will keep it together and not have too much fun saturday night. This race I will be racing at 121 lbs. An all-time low for me. I ran NYC marathon at 132. This is partially due to the little virus I had, the fact that I have had one beer and one glass of wine since I got here, and the fact that these crazy people here only eat one real meal a day. So either I will whiz through the race or collapse from lack of nutrition.

And finally I ordered a t-shirt today. I came to Mexico with exactly 3 shirts. The shirt I was wearing on the plane, 1 of Chris's shirts to sleep in and one work shirt. I wasnt prepared. I have spent these two weeks hiding under buttoned suit jackets with little kid bras. I get to pick this up at my mom's house on friday. I thought it fitting considering my new location in the world.