Boston Marathon

Today ended up being a very scary, sad day. Please keep those affected by this terrible act of violence in your thoughts and prayers.

For more information : http://www.baa.org/

Cherry Blossom 10 mile lessons

Hey everyone!! Im back, I know I took a solid 3 months off from blogging, but here I am again!

Last weekend I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler! It was one of my best races EVER! Since discovering I have Celiacs I've had a hard time with pre-race nutrition. I wish I could tell you I had a strict diet I followed pre-race, but usually it was in the form of watr and lots of teddy grahms the day before...

This race was different, I knew I wasnt going to fly to DC not to really put my all into this race. I wasnt going to make excuses for not trying and then not doing well. I was in this for the RACE!

Since Imsure everyone is wondering( oratleast wishing I would get to the point) I dd PR!!! I big shiny PR

RESTART PLACE FINISH MAP Info Email Print		NAME: ALEXANDRA BRYAR EVENT: Ten Mile Run DATE: April 7, 2013 BIB/DIV:   6794 / F 25-29 TIME: 1:30:00 (gun) / 1:21:47 (net)

Result in Entire Field - 3344th place 14148 finishers behind. 19% of finishers ahead. Result in Gender (Women) - 994th place 9290 finishers behind. 10% of finishers ahead. Result in Division (F 25-29) - 322nd place 2485 finishers behind. 11% of finishers ahead.

LEGEND The location of the figure on the line shows your position in the finish order of the race. The closer the figure is to the right, the closer you were to the winner. FACTS Who's who Of the 17492 who finished, 59% were Women and 41% were Men. Opposite Sex For the record, you were ahead of about 67% of men runners. Timing Info Your start delay: 8m 13s. This page based on NET times -   click images for GUN times.  During the Second Half  You passed 469 runners And 98 passed you

http://www.runpix.info/arace8/00/chy13/ge.php


While i was running I was thinking of all of the lessons about running I learned during this race,so here are a couple I thought I would share

1) Bring layers. Just because the weather forecast calls for54 in the am and warming up to 71 don't assume its correct. it was 42 at the race start and I was freezing. I had planned to wear capris, a tank and arm sleeves but right before the start and ended up pulling a zip-up out of my checked bag and wearing it until mile 8. At mile 8 I decided to pitch the zip up, which I had been wearing  unzipped the entire race. Thats one purple zip up Ill never seen again. So PACK EXTRA LAYERS!

2) Pack a little something you know you like in your checked bag for after the race. Since I cant eat most of the post-race offerings,  I brought a protein bar I knew I could eat after. Most races offer bagels and bananas after races. The cherry blossom offered muffins which I heard were delicious, but I was happy I thought ahead!

3) Just because you had friends running the same race, dont assume you can run with them. I had thought about running with a friend of mine who lives in DC for the10 miles. I chickened out at the last minute and didnt ask her to run with me. Thank goodness!! She kicked some major major running booty and I am pretty sure I would have slowed her down,and possibly thrown up from trying to keep up! RUN YOUR OWN RACE!



Have a great day everyone, Im off to make breakfast, head to the Boston Marathon Expo,and train a client.

Flu Madness

Hi everyone,

This week has been super busy. I have worked an extra 8.5 hours this week and also taught an extra 4 spin classes, all due to others being ill. This week one of my co-workers came down with the Flu even though she had gotten the flu shot. Poor thing was super sick, and out from Monday-Thursday. I covered a few hours for her this week which upped my extra hours worked, and ended up adding some extra spin classes to my schedule because of sick instructors calling out.

The take home message from this? Wash your hands, get your flu shot, cover your mouth when you cough and make sure if you aren't feeling well to STAY HOME!

Other than the sickness that seems to have taken over the state of MA, this week has been great. Its been busy but its made me appreciate being home and relaxing with friends and family when I can. Greg and I went out to dinner tonight at a tapas restaurant and ordered a bunch of things off of their GLUTEN FREE MENU! That's right, they had one! I didn't even know until we called to make reservations. It was pretty good food, but even better company!

Today was the first day all week that I haven't had a spin class to teach so I went for a quick 5 miles which ended up being my fastest 5 miles in a long time. 42 minutes, and I felt great the whole time. I thought my hip flexors might be tight, but I felt like going fast and my lungs and legs agreed, I love when that happens.

Greg and I are headed home to VT tomorrow and I cant wait!! More to come on snow shoeing and winter fun soon!

Crossfit

Yes, CROSSFIT. This morning I woke up and ran to meet Stacy for my very first crossfit class. We had talked about it over the week and decided to give it a try at the free Sat class offered at the Box near my apartment.

I really had no idea what to expect. In the past I have had a very black and white view of crossfit and what it does to the body. I thought that although it seemed to push people and really give a good workout, that it tended to lead to injury and that the fast pace was the wrong approach.

I had these opinions only from what I had read and heard not from my own experience so this morning I went in with an open mind and a good attitude.

We walked into the box, filled out a little paperwork and then gathered as a group. There were 11 of us. We went through a bunch of warm ups including inch worms, lunges, push ups, and squats. After about 35 min of warming up and getting to know each other we were introduced to our very first WOD. It was a partner WOD so I was paired with another guy in the class. He was really nice, and we encouraged each other through the entire thing.

We had 7 min on the clock. The first person did 7 wall-balls and then 7 burpees while the other person held a plank , then they switched ( once each person had done a plank and a wall-ball/burpee set that was considered one round). This continued for 7 minutes, if one person took a break, the other person had to stop as well. I think we got through 5 rounds each. We chose a 12 lb ball for the wall balls which was a fine weight, and we probably could have gone heavier.

I actually got into the competitiveness of it a little bit, and tried not the rest at all during the 7 minutes. It was a fun workout and I would do it again, but Im still not sure crossfit is for me. I like workouts like the one we did today but I dont really have a desire right now to get into the Olympic weight lifting, especially when I have so many races coming up. I am pretty self motivated, so I may take the next month or two and try to do some of the WODs at my own gym, and see how I feel.

Overall, I thought the class was fun, the coach was nice, and the experience was a positive one. Crossfit, I'm still on the fence about you, and I might just have to stay there.

This coming week is filled with running and spinning. I am subbing a bunch of classes and will probably spend most of the week slightly sore.

Have you every tried Crossfit? What did you think?

Races ahead

Hey everyone, I've spent the last three days trying to plan out my race calender for the next 6-8 months. I love lists and planning ahead so I have been enjoying searches races.

I have found a few already and I have done my best to make sure Greg knows what I am planning even if he responds to my questions of  "Do we have any plans the middle of May" with "Umm, I have no idea thats really far away". We will figure it out.

I am home this morning from work so I can wait for our gas company to come by and check our pipes. Apparently they do this every three years and today is the lucky day. I am supposed to get a phone call from them sometime between 8-11am so I continue to wait and hopefully will have time to get in a run before I work at 1pm.

Races:
Feb 3rd Great Stew Chase 15k
March 2nd - Black Cat 10 miler
March 17th -New Bedford Half Marathon
April 7th Cherry Blossom 10 miler (D.C)
May 5th Middlebury Maple Run half marathon (VT)

So there it is, thats wat I have in the books for the next few months, I just have to stay motivated to continue to run even when its 24 degrees outside. Blah.

Its a quick post today, I have a bunch of things to cross off my to-do list before I head into work. Hopefully one of them includes showing the gas company where the pipes are in the basement... they have 1 more hour to show up.

New Year, New Goals

Hey everyone,

So its no secret I havent been the best at keeping up with this blog. For a while I was great at it and had fun, and then this summer life started to get alittle crazy. I was busy, I was traveling, and I was trying to get to the bottom of this anemia issue. Since then I have started a new job, I am enrolled in classes for grad school, and I have created some wonderful fun and hopefully rewarding goals for myself for 2013.

So here it goes...

* Blog more - Yes, I want to get back into blogging. I have found some really wonderful people through blogs and its also a great way for me to decompress and think about my day or week and what I have done or learned.

*Keep track of my running mileage - I didn't do this much after July and I want to make it a goal again. I found that when I keep track of what and when I run I end up increasing my speed and motivation.

*Do at least one kind thing for someone every day- I dont want this to be something kind that I do as part of my work, or school or relationship. I want this to be something special. I want to be able to share something kind once a day either with a stranger, a friend, or a co-worker. No strings attached.

*Get back into lifting weights - I was great at this until May, and then I fell off the lifting bandwagon. I think adding strength exercises back into my routine will not only be great for my running, but also my mental endurance.

*Take (and post) more pictures. - I have a wonderful camera, I just never remember to take it out at social gatherings or even to take out the black memory card out of the camera and put it into my computer.

* Try new foods - I have done this in the past, but especially with my new food journey ( hello Celiacs) I want to become more comfortable with trying new recipes, foods, and restaurants.

*On the same note as above, I want to make an effort not to cry, get frustrated, or pout when I cant have a certain food - Alright, this is a big one. I have been known in the past to cry in a public place once or twice when I read a menu and there was little to nothing on it I could have. This is silly and immature and I am going to try my very best to get past this and look on the bright side of the things that I CAN have. Celiacs is not the worst thing in the world, and most restaurants are very accommodating I just have to join in.

*Meal plan more - Greg and I used to do this ALL THE TIME. We got lazy with it for a while, but have started it again and its great. It saves us money and almost always tastes better than take out!

*Spend more time with family - This means even if its not exactly easy to do so. I need to make more effort and plan ahead so I am sure to see my parents and sister as often as possible. I really miss them and as I become busier that's when I  notice I miss them the most.

*Include Greg in more of my decisions - This might sound a little strange, but I have a wonderful habit of just agreeing to do something  like run a race somewhere, go home for the weekend, or sub an extra class and then telling Greg after the fact. This isn't always a big deal, but when it interferes with time we could spend together during a busy work week or a busy month I need to include him in the DECISION process, not just the "oh, hey did I tell you I am going to do this?"

Well, there you have it. I'm not going to post goals like " make sure to put lotion on my face" or "keep my side of the bedroom clutter free" because those are things that I think know eventually I will make into a habit. My goals are based on things I want and need to do to make myself a better person for the new year.


Happy 2013 everyone!!! I hope its a great one!

Thankful

Hi everyone,
 

I know I promised a post about celiac and my gluten free life as I’ve learned more these past 3 weeks, but today I wanted to touch on something much more personal and dear to my heart.

I had a lot of friends over the weekend run the Philly marathon, or half marathon. I read their facebook updates, or blog posts for months in anticipation of Sunday when they would run their hearts out and see what they were made of. I spent all morning yesterday tracking my friends running the marathon and waiting for facebook updates. I was completely absorbed in their races, and they experiences. 

Later in the day I headed out for a run. I was (and still am) sick with a cold but I knew I needed to get out and run, especially after taking Saturday off. While running my legs felt great and my breathing was easy. I finished up 6 miles in 51 minutes and felt amazing. 

During my run I just kept thinking of all of the runners I knew and the races I have done. I thought about the highs from getting a PR, especially in my case, a PR that came from nowhere, to the lows when your race is just plain hard. I thought about the mental aspect of running, and then how running really does open up doors to new friendships and experiences.

I am thankful to be a runner. I am thankful I can run, and most days I can do so easily. I know that not everyone has this opportunity, and not everyone wants to be a runner. But through running I have learned so much about myself. I am stronger than I ever imagined, and I have created long lasting friendships and relationships with people who I am proud to call running friends.

I am so proud of all of my friends who have recently ran races, or who are planning to run one in the future. No matter how the race or run goes, getting out there is something to be immensely proud of.