We come home from Timex Camp with all these goodies. We all realize just how fortunate we are that we have all this help, not only from Timex, who makes it all happen, but from other incredible companies like Sugoi, Orbea, Powerbar, Training Peaks, Shimano, and more. Being a girl, I am super excited about our first ever somewhat cosmetic sponsor (no, not Sephora, but fingers crossed for next year) SBR. SBR will keep my hair from turning green. In addition to shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and chlorine-stench-hiding lotion, SBR threw in Trislide. It’s an aerosol form of something that some other little company makes that I have a tendency to rub on my achilles before long sock-less runs, or around my neck before venturing out in a wetsuit.. you know the one I’m talking about.

It’s early in the season, and a giant box has just arrived from K-Swiss. I’m just home from camp, and freshly motivated by all my lean athlete friends with their low-alcohol tolerances to get back into training after an 8-to-10-pound off season (a new personal record!) I am ridiculously excited to try out the K-Onas, because they have the Japanese flag on them and I am obsessed with all things Japanese, and I sit on the edge of my bed and spray-lube my feet. New shoes always need a little breaking in, and I don’t think I’ve owned socks in years, so I make sure to really spray them up good.

The shoes are on the kitchen counter. Boxes and boxes of glorious new running shoes:

The kitchen floor is tile. I tend to walk fast, especially when trying to sneak a run in between taking the kids to school and going to work. I head for the shoes, thinking only about how great the first run in new shoes is, and suddenly, I’m ice skating in Hawaii. And then I’m horizontal. The worst thing about falling alone is that there’s no one there to laugh at me, and words really can’t explain how funny it was when I slid into the fridge like it was home plate. Or how much it hurt.

There is a lesson here, I swear. Keep the Trislide in/near your shoes, and apply only immediately prior to putting those shoes on, people. There is a reason the bottle says CAUTION: EXTREMELY SLIPPERY. Also, don’t walk in front of my fridge, it’s still slippery there. The eight year old went down hard about an hour ago, while sneaking into the fridge for chocolate he wasn’t allowed to have. The good news? No blisters. The stuff works like a charm.

 But, back to commitment. When I ran for Boulder City Council this year, I jumped in with both feet, both arms, and my entire body and soul. Unequivocally, no candidate worked harder than me; although, some may say that was because I had the most to learn! Regardless, I was committed!

Two weeks ago, it was minus 7 degrees here in Boulder. Wednesdays have become one of my 2 long runs each week, and my goal was to run roughly 16-18 miles on this day in order to see whether I should attempt a 50K run in January. Well, I did it! Throughout the run - on hardpacked snow and in absolutely frigid temps - I kept thinking about making that commitment. It is what kept me going, and the satisfaction of the result was enormous. The picture here shows me at the end of the 2:21 run. Funny - when it’s that cold, the first part of the run is a cool down, and the end is a warm up :).

It’s autumn, and the winter approaches. What to do on a chilly afternoon?
Make some hot apple cider and snuggle up together with a great book.

1. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
A coming-of-age book where a middle-school-aged boy becomes stranded out in the wilderness. Forced to make critical decisions, he prevails over daily survival challenges.
Inspiring, well-written, intense.

2. Savvy by Ingrid Law
Imaginative fantasy with enough realism to make you consider your own self, Savvy tells a heart-felt story. A fabulous story about a young girl’s journey to find her unique gift. Maybe it’s causing hurricanes, like her brother, or being ‘perfect’ like her mother.
What’s your Savvy?
Insightful, creative, touching.

3. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
There are 13 books in this series. I have to say, I was reluctant on these… misfortune, negativity, vile villians… but I’ve converted. If my dad were to have ever written a series of books, this would be it. Witty and fun with creative vocabulary building.
Dry humor, meandering, creative, occasionally ludicrous.

4. Harry Potter - JK Rowling
You know I had to go here. These books continue to amaze readers of all ages. The character development exquisite, you fall into the story as you read (all 7 books!). Mind-candy-fantasy paired with exceptional writing.
Spell-binding, imaginative, fantastic.

5. Anything that interests your child. :) Enjoy!

A few years back, I really needed to take my bike to the next level.  Living in Colorado and heading into the winter months, the climate didn’t really provide the best cycling weather in the winter.  Because of my commitment to becoming a better athlete, I decided I needed to mentally wrap myself around this idea of cycling indoors.  Well, I did just that and committed to remaining diligent.  After a couple of weeks, I made a few discoveries.  First of all, I quickly realized that holding watts indoors seemed to be much harder than outdoors.  Also, not a whole lot of opportunity for coasting or stop lights ;-)  The biggest discovery I made… was how dang hard it was to stay on the bike for hours at a time!  This is when I realized… that many won’t do what I was doing for sanity reasons.  This is when I came up with my motto… Trainer = Opportunity.  I had the opportunity to make great gains on the bike, when others wouldn’t be as diligent.

Well, this morning I had a another opportunity to put things in perspective.  As I am well into my training for Clearwater, I woke up with two sick kiddo’s.  Leaving for Kona in the morning, this would be my last chance for a long ride for over a week. Regardless, I just couldn’t bare to leave them, obviously.  So as I pulled out the trainer, I got real grumpy. “I can’t believe I have to ride this thing for 3.5 hours today…” and even at some point, questioning my mental toughness if I could last that long.  THEN, my mantra of Trainer = Opportunity came back into my mind.  My thoughts turned completely around as I said to myself “I am so lucky I get to ride!  My kids are sick and I need to be close by, and if it weren’t for this trainer… I would not get to ride at all!!!”  It put a smile on my face as I plopped on the bike… and 3.5 hours later, I had one of my strongest most solid rides of the season!  Yay!  I love the trainer, and the opportunities it gives me to ride… WHENEVER! www.tristafrancis.com

Enjoy your training =)

Due to a recent stubborn leg injury I’ve unfortunately been forced to spend more than my fair share of time running in the pool.  While I can’t say I’ve enjoyed it, it has given me plenty of time to contemplate the intricacies of aqua jogging.   So here goes, four fundamentals for fantastic water running!

1. Form- Water running is such an effective form of cross training for running because it mimics the running motion so well. Therefore, if your water running looks nothing like your actual running, then you arent getting any benefit! When water running, make sure you keep your chest up, back straight, and butt in, just like you would when running. For some a belt like those seen here can help significantly but it is possible to maintain good form without one.

In addition to a straight upper body, it is also important to focus on what your legs are doing. Mainly, make sure really think about pushing off the ground with the bottom of your foot. This will help you activate your calves and prevent you from just moving your legs up and down.

2. Turnover- I was going to call this “stride rate” but do you really have a stride in the pool? Anyway, just as it is important to keep a good tempo out on the road, it is even more important to focus on stride rate in the pool. When aqua jogging it is very easy to let your tempo slow partially due to the extra resistance of the water but also because you don’t have any external evidence to signal you have slowed down.

3. Visualization- This is related somewhat to the first point but goes a little further. Not only should you visualize yourself running in order to maintain correct form but also to help stave off boredom. I like to think about races or training runs, put myself out on the course, and really feel all of the elements of the external environment. This also provides an excellent opportunity to prepare for an upcoming race. Imagine yourself out on the course among your competitors.  See the images that stand out, feel the expected weather, and think about how you expect to feel at different parts on the course. All the while, of course, keeping your good form and tempo in mind. Sound like a lot to think about? Of course it is, but keeping your mind occupied will only help you get through the workout sooner.

4. Sweat!- Last but not least, try to work up a sweat. The ease of this will be highly dependent on the water temperature of your pool. (Incidentally, this is because the thermal conductivity of water is about 20 times that of air, meaning water dissipates your body heat much quicker than air. This is why a change of water temp of only a few degrees has a much larger impact than a change of the same amount of air temp.) If you aqua jog at the local wellness center in 84F water while the old ladies are doing their water aerobics, working up a sweat wont be much of a problem.   In this case, shoot for a “heavy” sweat.  On the other hand, if you are working out in a “competition”style pool where the temp is closer to 80F, simply try to break a sweat. You can also wear a HRM to monitor effort but expect your HR “zones” to be about 10 bpm lower in the pool compared to actual running. This is due to the added cooling and decreased effect of gravity from the water.

Hopefully everyone out there will be able to keep running and wont have to use these pointers any time soon. However, if there are any other experienced aqua joggers who feel I’ve left something out, feel free to share some chime in!

Originally posted on http://ajhodges.blogspot.com