Take the pledge

Please and thank you.

To sleep, perchance to dream

Anyone who knows me knows I struggle with insomnia. Actually, suffer from insomnia is more accurate. The Sleep Gods simply are not my friends. A good night for me is anything more than 5-6 hours with less than 5-6 wake-ups during the wee hours. A more typical night is, well, 4-5 hours of highly interrupted shut-eye.

As a result, I'm cranky in the morning. I desperately want to hit the snooze button repeatedly, but I know that those precious 9 extra minutes will do more harm than good in the long run. By the time I return home from work, workouts, errands, and whatever else I have to do, I barely have the energy to eat, much less cook something healthy and wonderful. Dinner ends up being cereal or a frozen Lean Cuisine doodad or worse. Then I sit, zombie-like, on the sofa and try to unwind from the day and give the critters at least a little attention before heading upstairs to wash up, get my gym bag ready for the next day, and go to bed... ever hopeful that this will be the night I fall right asleep and stay asleep for the whole 7 or so hours I've budgeted for that exact purpose.

And in the middle of the night when I wake up yet again and check the clock for the umpteenth time (only 3:13 a.m... good, I still have almost 3 hours), I wonder why I struggle so with something that's so elementary.

So I ask you, dear friends, for your advice. What are your go-to methods for (a) falling asleep quickly, and (b) staying in la-la land until the alarm goes off? Please don't suggest drugs. Prescriptions whack me out so much that I hesitate to take them, even when I'm deathly ill. What other tricks and tips can you offer?

Little darlin'...

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
(I say) It's alright

My favorite song ever. Some of my favorite lyrics ever. And very appropriate for all of us in the mid-Atlantic this week.

The sun is shining, and because the trees aren't blooming yet it's beaming straight down onto our smiling, uplifted faces. The temperatures are warmer than normal for this time of year. People are happier, more carefree, more hopeful. Or at least I am.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Dogs are getting longer walks this week. Kids are outside dusting off their bikes and bike helmets, their skateboards and scooters. Neighbors are raking, mulching, mowing, and planning their landcaping. I haven't been, but I bet the Bark Park is packed.

This week also brought us Daylight Savings Time (far earlier than normal). Morning exercisers aren't happy about it, but everyone who relies on the after-school and after-work hours for their leisure time is thrilled with the light/warm combo.

Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter

Were truer words ever penned?

The increased daylight and warm temps also are having a very positive impact on my workouts. Now that I can enjoy the outdoors more (and not fear for my life on snow- and ice-packed roads), I am much more excited about getting out there for miles on foot or, hopefully soon, on my bike. My A races also are rapidly approaching. Nothing like a goal race to motivate you!

So yeah. Lots of good stuff this week.

Race #2 - done and done

Race #2, a five-miler, is now in the books as well. There were TONS of friends at this one, all in our DRC uniform singlets. Before the race, two of my friends encouraged me to run with them, saying they'd be doing about an 8-minute pace. Perfect, since my goal was about 41 minutes.

The starting gun went off, and within a minute my two running partners had dropped me. I had them in my sights, but I wasn't comfortable with the pace. "Damn," I thought. "I really suck more than I thought I did! I can't even run 8s????"

Uh, no. I reached the one mile marker -- well behind my two pacers -- in 7:33. 8-minute miles, my a$$! I slowed myself down and congratulated myself on not trying to keep up with them.

Lesson 1 - Run your own race.

My splits were terrible (slower and slower each mile since I started off too fast).

Lesson 2 - Must. Work. On. Pacing.

After about 3 windy miles, my mind started to play tricks on me. I wanted to slow down even more. This wasn't an A race, after all. And I already lost all my friends, so who would notice?

I would. Keep running, Theia.

Lesson 3 - Coach is right. My brain is my worst enemy.

With about a half mile to go (maybe a bit less), I saw PhillyTom running toward me. Yay! He came back to run me in! What a nice guy. Unfortunately, he mostly heard me panting and gasping, but it was really nice of him to come back for me. Other friends were at the finish line, and it was fun to hear them cheering me in.

Official time 40:43. Not bad. Better than I expected, better than I did in the same race a few years ago, and pretty damn good considering how little I've been running.

Lesson 4 - Imagine what I can do if I really apply myself to this whole running thing.

Off to the races

Well, my first race of 2010 is in the books. And my lack of focused training was pretty clear. I have SO much work to do!

Healthplex Indoor Triathlon
(1/4 mile swim in a pool, 10 miles on a Spinning bike, and 2 mile run on an indoor track)

SWIM - 8:58 (a PR for that distance)
BIKE - 22:04
RUN - 15:47
TOTAL - 46:48, good enough for 2nd woman overall

Now, that doesn't sound so bad, so why am I beating myself up over it?

Because I WALKED during the run. A lousy 2-miler, and I had to walk about a quarter of a lap. I just. couldn't. keep. up. the. pace.

Some good stuff did come out of it.
A. My swim PR.
2. A huge improvement on the bike over last year, although we used different bikes so I'm sure that had something to do with it as well.
d. Despite walking, I still came in under 16 minutes for the run. Not too shabby.

I know where I need to focus, and it's on the roads. Now if it will just stop snowing, I might be able to actually get out there and do some real training.