Kate Readio - Entry #1

Training Blog

KY Derby festival Half-Marathon 4/24/10

1/9/10

   2010 got off to a great start with a perfect fitness training week for me.  Saturday, Mona and I went to Red Rocks with BSP for plyometrics, lunges, squats, pushups and hopping up stairs.  It was icy, so Tony had to improvise, but he kept us moving steadily.  I wasn’t able to do the hopping up two steps at a time with the group, but I can actually make those jumps. Just have to work on speed.

   Sunday, I went with BSP to Magnolia Road.  I ran with Tasha for a little while and felt quite good.  Turning around at the 4 mile mark, I was surprised that I had several hills to run up.  On the way out, it seemed like I was going mostly uphill, so why was it uphill going back?  The climb back to the car was tough and I found myself reading the numbers on the houses and doing math games like only 3 tenths of a mile to go, just a little more than a lap around the track. Where is the car?  Gustavo came back and ran with me up that last hill.

   I decided to give myself Tuesday and Thursday as recovery days like Tasha and Dianne do and to add spin classes since it’s been too cold for me to bike outside.  I’ve been doing Monday’s spin class at 5:30 pm after athletic training and abs for a few weeks, but wasn’t sure I could get up in time for the 6 am class Wednesday and Friday.  Then, I wasn’t sure if I could do run group after spin.  Set an alarm for 5 and was awake both mornings before it went off.  I worked really hard in both of the spin classes, and then just got through the running.  Friday, I was going to stop after two miles on the treadmill, but James & Tony had us doing intervals with pushups, so I just kept going until it was over.

   Saturday, I ran at Teller Farm with Judy and her friend Laura.  Judy is using the Galloway run/walk method to help her prevent injuries.  They’re both training for a half marathon in Sun Valley in June.  It will be Laura’s first race of any kind, but she’s been around runners and races as her husband has run Leadville 100 twice.

   I’m going to use this blog to track my training for a half marathon in Kentucky with my brothers Jack and Paul, sister-in-law Nancy, niece Ashley and her husband Dan.  I’ve run half marathons in Kentucky twice and am looking forward to seeing family and the run.  My best run in Kentucky was sub-2 hour half.  I think. Jack ran the marathon that year and we both were third in our age groups!  We didn’t expect this and didn’t stay for the awards ceremony.  Poor Jack had to track down my award after the race was over and send it to me.  I really appreciated this since I’m not likely to ever win an award, especially here in Boulder.

   At 56 and I’m wondering what’s possible for me physically.  Although I’ve run on my own in the past, until 2009 I’d never had any sort of coaching or training.  I find that I pushed myself more by running with the group and training with Tony, but most of the summer I felt like I was struggling.  I wasn’t sure how to work in enough recovery, and wanted to ride my bike to and from work as often as possible in addition to running and athletic training.  I really enjoyed biking via Nelson Road to work, but didn’t want to give up run group so only did that Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I’m hoping to work out a better balance this year.

   I’m officially post-menopausal now. Menopause is the time in a woman’s life when she stops ovulating and producing the hormones that go along with that.  There is a lot of disagreement over whether or not a woman should use hormone replacement therapy (HRT), what kind and for how long. HRT can help relieve symptoms of menopause like mood swings, hot flashes and insomnia, but it raises one’s risk of getting breast cancer.   It used to be thought that HRT helps prevent heart disease, too, but that seems to be disputed now.  My gynecologist believes that a woman can take HRT for many years and that it helps prevent osteoporosis which most of us are at higher risk for than breast cancer. But there seems to be agreement among a lot of women health care professionals that taking a low-dose of HRT for the shortest amount of time possible is the way to go.   I took low-dose bio-identical HRT for 5 years starting at age 51.  I stopped in November when both my sister and a best friend got breast cancer.

   I’ve done lots of searches to try to find out about women and running and HRT, but no one seems to write about it.  I know there are successful women runners in their 50s and 60s, but I haven’t been able to figure out how they train, what they eat and if they take HRT.  I do know that I see many more men in their 50s, 60s and 70s running really well.  I see some older women running, but often running groups include older men and women in their 30s and 40s.   Maybe it’s generational and the women who grew up post-Title IX are used to exercising and will stay active into their later years just like men do. 

   Even though I struggle sometimes physically, this is a great phase of life.  My work is not too hard or stressful and I have enough flexibility that I can work out before and after work.  My husband and I are happy and in good health.  Our kids are grown and doing well, and neither of us are responsible for taking care of aging parents.  I have time to run, bike, hike, ski, go to the gym and train with BSP.  It’s just a matter of deciding what’s effective and the most fun.

   This coming week, I’ll be mixing things up by going to Snow Mountain ranch and x-country skiing for three days.