Last Post!

This is my last post on this blog, FOREVER!  I am so happy I took WISE and thank everyone who has been involved in this journey with me.  It's been hard work but a blast!
Over n out!

slow and steady (finishes) the race

13.1 miles later I am still alive!  I don't want to give everything about the race away before my presentation but I will share some highlights:
-the cheer when the marathon and half marathon started
-the fans who lined the streets giving their support almost the whole way, including little kids who acted like you made their day when you returned their high fives
-seeing Canada during my porta potty stop
-running with Ms. G for the first few miles
-watching a man dodge off course to take a leak right next to a downtown building
-the amount of support runners provided for each other
-the photographers cheering as they took your pictures
-chucking the water cups
-the perfect weather
...and so much else!

I will jot down more thoughts so I can remember them well enough by the time my presentation rolls around.

Overall, it was a lot of fun and I am so glad I did it!  I feel very accomplished and proud, despite my sore feet that are currently taking a rest.

Mentor Meeting 5/23

Today I met with Ms. Maddren and we discussed Luke's presentation, my presentation, and my race for the most part.  It's always good to just be able to be really honest in how I am feeling towards my project in my meetings.

I admitted that after Luke's presentation I was a bit worried about my own.  His was so interactive, but that was also the nature of his project.  Ms. Maddren reminded me that not all projects will be like that and while I don't want mine to be totally boring, it is not as easy to display what I learned or provide examples.

She helped me with presentation ideas- the possibility of having three "themes."  I need to re-read my whole blog by the end of the weekend for my narrative anyway, so that will help determine the themes.

I also went and talked to Mr. Heurich about blog binding today.  We made a plan to meet Tuesday 6th period to do that because I would really like to have a reflective post after the race in the final product before it is bound, so it needs to wait a little longer.  The issue with that is if it doesn't work out, I don't have any other times I can do it before my written work needs to be handed in in a hard copy form (by 3:32 Tuesday).

I run my last training run tomorrow before the race on Sunday!  I haven't been eating as well today because it has been hard for me to stomach food easily (a recent event is making my stomach feel uneasy most of the time) but I hope it will be better tomorrow.  I have been hydrating well especially because of the heat.  It looks like the weather will be nice for the race, fingers crossed!

Advice/Luke's presentation- in class 5/22

In class we read an article about elite athletes and how they are able to take advice well. It talks about how we are often hesitant to accept advice and use it because it takes admitting we might be wrong, and it may not go along with the plan we purposely decided on.

This article doesn't really apply to my project very much in the sense that I don't have a coach. One could argue that my teacher and mentor take that position. I have taken lots of valuable advice from my mentor, but haven't really felt reluctant to do so. This is because I don't know too much about running so any advice was helpful to me.

Now changing topics, we also had to reflect on Luke's presentation. I got to be a student evaluator for it so I had a lot more comments written on a separate piece of paper that I handed in.  But,

Luke's presentation made me think about how my life would be different if I were more musically oriented.  I played the saxophone for a few years but it was nothing I was too passionate about or good at. It also made me worry about my own presentation a bit, I am not going to lie.  I tried to use his presentation to come up with creative ideas for presenting my information (which isn't as easy because he could demonstrate and have examples and a video, none of which would be too relevant in my own).

The variety during his presentation was good. He have a background and uses different methods for explanation which enhanced it a lot.  I think Luke could have improved his presentation by talking more about the theme of fulfillment that he seemed to focus on in his narrative because it seemed to be important to him. I don't really have any questions, he answered so many I don't think I could come up with any more!! Overall, it was a really great presentation that set the standard veryyyy high.

The Smells of Spring

Today when I was running I noticed something odd.  Now this post might seem a little out of place or irrelevant, but it's something that  has kinda stuck with me since I got back.

When I started out, I ran under a tree with the strongest scent, I'm not sure what kind of flowers they were.  Maybe lilac, but it didn't look like a lilac tree.  Then probably less than a quarter of a mile later, it REAKED of porta potties.  None in sight, just the stench.  Then as I was winding back on the loop, I passed this woman (going the other direction by the way, I don't pass other runners ha) and right after it smelled like cat food!  And not just like for a little bit, but for a while after.   THEN, I was almost home and my neighbors lawn was giving off that freshly cut scent- such a spring scent.  As I ran into my driveway, my old neighbors car was there with its windows down and that stunk of cigarette smoke.

I just found it kind of funny that in three short miles I encountered so many smells.  I suppose I didn't need to share that with whoever is reading this, but hey this is a place for me to write my thoughts and for a while that is what I have been pondering.  Especially the cat food like where on earth did that come from! It wasn't even near a house!

Well, needless to say I was proud of the fact that I even got out and ran today.  Yesterday was a day off and I was reluctant to get off my butt today because of the heat.  I was lucky enough that it was such a short run, though.  And it always feels good after.... especially after a  nice cold shower...mmmmmm

Before I forget...

Before I forget... I need to talk to Mr. Heurich about printing out my blog for my evaluators.  My written work is due next Tuesday (agh!!!!!) meaning I really only have that day at school to print it, so I need to check in with him this week to see what I need to do before then.  I want to wait because I would like a reflective post and the posts leading up to the race to be included, I think it will make it easier all around.

That being said, it's really crunch time!  I need to finish my research commentary by my mentor meeting so I can give it to Ms. Maddren to look over (if she has time to).  I have three final projects/papers/assignments due within 3 days next week, and a whole lot going on this weekend.  Plus, this isn't the easiest time of the year to buckle down and work (just look outside and you'll see why!)

Taper

With less than a week until the race (ah, seems crazy) I have started to taper.  My training plan outlined that I should run 6 miles yesterday and indeed I did.  But boy, it felt hard!  Instead of planning out a route before hand, I actually just ran for an hour.  I feel like I have a good idea of what a ten minute mile pace is so I just made it up as I went.  I'm not sure if I liked that or not.  It's nice to have a definite place to end and it's hard to try to calculate distances as I go, for example thinking okay how long will it take me to do a loop around Beebe Lake? and factoring that in as I go.  I think that that kind of running will be something I take with my after my project, just setting out and not really knowing where I am going.

The run got me a little worried for Sunday, though!  I have felt not as strong lately and this is just the absolute worst time for that.  My knees felt weak yesterday and I don't think I should be that tired after 6 miles.  I hope I can get it back over the next week though because otherwise I will be miserable for the last 10 of 13.1, ha!

I have been working on my research commentary to get to Ms. Maddren this week.  Another thing that came up that I need to remember to talk to Ms. G about is the information packet that we pick up at the race.  I will still be in Rochester for my regatta during the times we can pick those up, so I have to ask her if she can get mine for me (with a note) and then we can meet up that night or the next morning.  We are both staying close to the start so that probably means close to each other.

We got an email from the race organizers and it was so long!  It made me feel a bit anxious because this is a big race and I worry I will feel like a fish out of water.  There are a lot of directions to follow especially at the start and I really don't wanna get off a on a bad foot (haha!)

Trying to stay positive for this last week of hands on work!  Crazy how the year and these 16 weeks especially have flown by.

Mentor Meeting- 5/15

Today I met with Ms Maddren 7th period in the nice sunny quad!  We talked about my progress through the self eval, and most categories seemed good except for talking about my final presentation. We hadn't really done that yet but started today.  I was a little lost on how I should creatively present my information but she reassured me that I'm well prepared and can convey that in my presentation. 

We also talked about my 12 miles And wondered whether or not doing 12 this weekend would throw me off. On one hand it might help my confidence, but on the other there is always a worry that there is a reason you don't run such a distance only a week before the race. Tomorrow I will seek some expert advice (Ms. G) when I turn my eval in.  

That's about it, next time is the last time we meet before my race! 11 days is just around the corner.. Eek!

Attempt at 12

So, with prom being this weekend and everything else going on, I wanted to get my long run out of the way as early as possible. It was a bit ambitious, especially because it was supposed to be the longest run I complete before my actual race. I set out to do 12 miles on Friday afternoon, big mistake. A couple of miles in I realized I didn't have enough food or water in my system. It just felt hard.  Not like I started to feel tired at 6 miles, the whole darn thing felt hard. I rolled my ankle while moving more onto the shoulder on Hanshaw. I nearly stepped on a dead fox. I got passed by another runner. It goes on. 

Anyways, though, I kept on chugging. I got within the last 3 miles and allowed myself to stop for a minute on the foot bridge at Beebe Lake. Well that turned into more like 5-10 minutes because I had seen people swimming and then saw a cop come and I wanted to watch the drama unfold. 

From there I took a much more direct route home, cutting off approx the last 1-1.5 miles. I didn't keep time because that got all screwed up when I stopped (and when I needed to stop to wait to cross bigger roads such as Rt 366).

I'm not sure whether or not I should try 12 again. My training plan says to do 6 this coming weekend (the week before the race) but I feel like I would be much more confident going in having successfully completed almost the full distance. My training the past week was definitely not great, especially through rowing. I couldn't go to the race this weekend so I wasn't boated very often and therefore wasn't really getting workouts in. I'm sure that had to do with it, at least somewhat. 

That's all for now, back to training today!

Mentor Meeting Postponed

Ms. Maddren unfortunately hurt her foot last week so we needed to postpone our mentor meeting until this Wednesday, the earliest we can meet. At this meeting we will be filling out an evaluation for the 4th marking period together.

11 mile update

On Sunday I successfully ran the farthest I ever have, 11 miles! It wasn't a piece of cake but I felt very accomplished after. One thing during it though was my cough, which I've bad for a couple of weeks and I always get one after a hard race or erg piece, which I'd had the day before. It was good training, though, because I will have had a regatta the day before my half in a few weeks. I hope to be feeling fully healthy by then too!

Thinking back on it, I remember running 9 miles and thinking wow it's going to be pretttty hard to run 4 more than this to make it a half marathon. But now I look at 11, and how I completed it in less than 2 hours which I was very happy with, and I'm motivated! I always say I am not worried about time because I really do just wanna finish the thing, but it would be nice to not be DFL hahah and I think push myself more against the idea of other really fast runners than my own personal times.

I think a lot of what I have learned though this process was about pushing my limits. I've definitely known what that means in a rowing sense, but it's different when you're in a boat with 8 other people than when you are running alone past fields on Hanshaw, no cars in sight. I've wanted to stop in the shade to cool off, or even just for a second to finally get a good cough in but I resist that and imagine myself in the race and that pushes me further. :)

Gosh darnit!

Well, I just realized that my post about 11 miles that I did yesterday morning 2nd period didn't appear on my blog.  Kinda odd, I don't really have much luck doing it on my phone.  I'll try to fix the problem in hopes of not having to write it again but it might not work.  So, stay tuned for either a late post (well a late one either way) or a whole new post!

Protein

As you can tell, I am catching up on my blog posts tonight, so this one is in a way kind of out of date. 
I looked up the most protein rich foods, and this is what I found:
-Chicken
-Fish
-Pork
-Eggs and Dairy
-Beans
-Nuts and seeds

This was the most helpful article I found, and it breaks those categories up into subcategories.  You can find them here: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/highproteinfood.htm

I attempted to eat more protein over the past week, and wasn't too successful.  Mostly because I don't make my own dinners, and I wasn't eating Chobani as much as I usually do (I usually have two or three a day).  One thing Ms. Maddren and I were wondering about is how long it'd take to notice any difference in performance or physical feeling after eating a very high protein diet.  It's hard for me to say at this point how different I feel, though, because I was not too successful at eating this way and I also have not had as rigorous of workout this past week.  Maybe over a longer period of time I will be able to tell, though.

Part of it being hard for me to tell, is for example when I eat chicken for dinner.  I have meat practically every night, but I never know exactly how large the serving size is, or how many servings I am eating.  Home cooked meals definitely make it harder to log this kind of thing than for example just looking at the Chobani label.  

Plan...till the end!

We're in the homestretch!  Pretty crazy that senior year is practically over.  Wow does time fly! 

I have created an outline for myself (which I also have down on my training plan to keep me on top of it) so I can be done with everything by my presentation (June 4th!) I need to have all my written materials in by May 28th. 
So, this weekend I do 12 miles.  The week after is my taper week. 
May 19- Research commentary draft complete (to show to Ms. Maddren)
May 22- Bibliography complete (for the most part, except for any last minute additions) and research commentary finalized, also have started narrative by then.
May 26- 13.1!
May 27- Narrative completed.  I think this needs to wait until after the half marathon to be completed, because it may change how I view my project, etc.  I realize this doesn't allow enough time to get it to Ms. Maddren to be proofread, etc., but I am confident that it will be worth it to wait to complete it fully.
June 2- Powerpoint and presentation plans complete!

I really hope I'll be able to stick to these plans to help me finish strong!

Senioritis

I'm seeing (and hearing) a lot of other WISE students complaining about senioritis, and while I am also affected, it makes me very grateful for my project.  I won't lie, it's Wednesday night and I have to do a lot before my mentor meeting tomorrow (also due to the fact that I had my Calc AP today) but it's making me realize that this was the perfect project for me to choose.  While I still don't LOVE running, I'm lucky that it's something I enjoy enough and am interested in.  Yes, I dread it, but once I am running it's a great way to 1. pass the time and avoid doing other stuff I should be doing and 2. forget about that other stuff. 
Just some thoughts as I check up on other blogs!

Interview with Sydney

I was finally able to meet up with Sydney to interview with her!  It was interesting talking with her and comparing what she has to say versus people like Ms. DeBoer and Ms. Bullard who have more experiences just because of age, and don't really compete on teams like Sydney does. 

I learned a lot from her and it was interesting that comparing her cross country and track (or running in general) traditions and plans to mine for crew.  During the interview I was thinking more about that than my running to be honest. 

One thing she really stressed was to not start out too fast in the half marathon.  She actually ran one a few weeks ago so was really speaking from experience, so I will do my best to take it to heart!  She had a goal in mind, sub 2 hours, but I do not.  Still, though, I don't wanna burn out in the beginning and struggle too much at the end! 

She also has some pretty impressive feats, such as running 18 miles on her 18th birthday after being told two years ago when she had surgery that she would probably never be able to run like that again.  Due to this, a lot of what she stressed was about knowing your body and what it can take or handle.  That plays into her mentality too, when she worries that her shins won't take a race the way she wants them to and that that pain will break into her mental barriers. 

It was a great experience talking to Sydney and I hope to use her ideas in both my rowing and running lives!

Nutrition Articles

Here are some notes of the most interesting/important things I found in the nutrition articles I have been reading:

• a 165 pound runner needs 75 to 120 grams of protein a day.

I had previously once heard that a young female needs 40+ a day and was even surprised by that, so this is a huge learning!

• This article also mentioned quinoa and chicken breast as great protein foods and I had both of those for dinner tonight!
• With every footstrike, a runner carries two to seven times his or her body weight.

(all of this from http://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-runners/eat-more-protein)

The other article I read highlighted a lot of common sense or common knowledge (but good reminders).
An example of this is the "fuel rules":
     1. Eat real food
     2.  Choose quality carbs
     3.  Write it down
     4.  Indulge on occasion
     5.  Drink deliberately

It laid out a runners pantry and good in season foods based on the time of year. 
The most interesting part of the article for me was called "How Much Do I Need?"
It's about calorie intake and how to calculate it based on your activity level.  It was interesting to realize how to calculate this (though I don't have a "goal weight in mind"). 

Also, contrary to popular belief,
myth- "Bingeing on carbs before a race maxes out muscle glycogen, which sustains endurance for distance events like marathons."
truth- "Flooding your system with more carbs than it can handle will leave you feeling bloated..."

(this article can be found here: http://m.runnersworld.com/sites/default/files/NutritionGuide_0.pdf)

Overall, these articles definitely gave me a good overview of nutrition and a good idea of what to look out for and stay away from.