Sink or Swim...

...SWIM!
Whether it's the winter weather blues of training or the tough tasks of everyday life, somedays you can surf the waves, while others you are doing everything you can to tread and keep from sinking. When faced with a big wave, I have decided to swim. I have determined my nagging left hamstring issue that was growling on the left side of my bum -since crossing the finish line at the trials, has started barking. It's time to apply the "physical therapist" mindset... and not the "more is better" athlete mindset. I will take this week to stay off the pavement and road miles in order to tone this hami down!

Spread the love and the knowledge:
I believe in practicing what you preach. After visiting Lincoln Elementary school in Charles City, Iowa on Friday afternoon and speaking to the K-5th grade students about setting goals, working hard, not giving up, and continuing to set new goals, I realized I am in the 'not giving up' phase and must take a different route than expected when faced with a bump in the road (just as I told them to do). I had such a great time presenting my Olympic Trials marathon experience with the ~230 kids, and sharing with them what it takes to be a competitive marathoner. The best part were the questions that just kept coming after the presentation... "How many days did it take you to run a marathon?" ..."You ran to Texas for that race?"... "So, did you get that medal because you won the race, or because you just finished?"... "How many practices did you do for your marathon?"  I think I confused some of them with my comparisons of how far I have ran across the country, when adding up my training mileage...but oh well. I tried. A huge thank you to Saucony, for supplying me with a crazy amount of stickers and draw-string bags to give the kiddos. They were pumped! 

This week's training plan... swim, not sink:
After taking a nice rest day on Sunday, I started my week -away from running, at 5:30am, in the pool at the Cedar Falls YMCA. I am amazed that the lighter-haired women, who take up the middle of lane 1, can do their water aerobics for over an hour straight... AND chatter with the lifegaurd. I have to laugh at myself when I realize that I am having a "silent challenge" of swimming laps longer than they are pushing floating dumbells under the surface.  I attempted some deep water aqua jogging and was plain fed-up with it after 9.5 minutes... resorting back to my usual front crawl.  Overall, it is an enjoyable and refresshing start to my morning and I continue to remind myself of the words that TJ Tallakson, hubby to training partner Ashley Tollakson, shared with me while training in Tucson:
"Focus on the donut, not the donut hole". When it comes to training injuries, you really have to listen to your body and make smart decisions now, in order to obtain the true goals in the future. If anything, the goggle marks under my eyes seem to cause my patients to do "double takes" at me, each morning in the hospital.

Swim... bike, and run:
A shout out to TJ Tollakson: Ankeny Iowa native, professional triathlete, entrepreneur, Vitamix fanatic and advocate, and all around BAMF...married to a stud, as well. Check him out on the latest cover of Triathlete mag, go buy a copy today!!
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2012/02/news/march-issue-of-triathlete-on-newsstands-today_48045

Keeping the (Chocolate milke) glass half full:
Listen to the bod, be smart about your training, and when it comes to facing a challenge -use your stuff...and swim! Oh- and go love anotha brotha, tis the season! A very Happy St. Valentine's Day to all, especially Mr. Herrick...rumor has it a giant homemade valentine made it to his doorstep today and the real valentine will be back in West Des Moines with him on Friday! Have a great week!

Post-Marathon events, training, and sponsorships...and plans to come!

Hello and happy February! It is hard to believe that the Olympic Trials Marathon was 3 weeks ago today, already! This June-uary weather has made the runner in me hit the streets more than I should be, as I try to heel up some tightness and soreness. The "off season" makes me ancy and I just can't seem to keep the running shoes off!

Events
My schedule has drastically changed from final marathon training preparation, leading up to Houston, to completing my 3rd of 4 clincial internships for my Doctorate in Physical Therapy. I have completed 3 of 8 weeks, working at Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa as a student intern, inpatient physical therapist. I am learning a lot  and enjoying the experience! I have been blessed with a family home stay, in Cedar Falls and have really enjoyed getting to know them and being part of their family for these 2 months.

Training
The voices on my shoulders: The runner  and the physical therapist. The runner: The sun is out, the temps are high, and it's a great day to get out there and run! You will get out of shape if you don't... The physical therapist: The tightness in that left hamstring is not getting any more lose with every step you take running! Take time off from running, recover, and STRETCH!
I hear these two voices EVERY DAY!

The Cedar Falls neighborhood I am surrounded with provides various residential roads, turns, hills -big and small, and mininmal traffic. Fellow runners can be spotted at 5am or 5pm, making it a safe and comfortable atmosphere. I even see and join in the miles with my "host Dad", which is a great time to chat and catch up on our day. I have also had great opporunity to swim laps at the local YMCA, using sweet water proof headphones, courtesy of my "host mom". I have never had the bumpin' tunes with my strokes... it.is.awesome! The time goes by like craze. My host family their own "gym" set-up in the basement, equipped with a recumbent bike, elliptical, treadmill, pully machine, yoga mats, physio balls, foam rollers, bosu balls, and dumbbell rack... I drooled a little when they gave me the tour :) As you can see, I am truly blessed with my training and home in Cedar Falls!

Sponsorships
Prior to competing in the Olympic Trials in January, I was selected to be a part of the Saucony, Team Hurricane program and will continue to represent the Saucony company in my races, training, and running activities. Saucony is a brand that exists for runners... to inspire them, bring new ideas, forcing them to be better and to drive the company's design and engineering. Saucony produces running shoes, as well as running gear and products to fit the needs of all levels of runners. I enjoy their philosophy of, "At Saucony, a good day is when we get to run. A great day is when we inspire someone else to run." Check the company out at: www.saucony.com for shoes, gear, apparel. It is an honor to have the financial support for gear and supplies to assist my running career. I am excited to speak to an elementary school in Charles City next week, to share my marathoning experience and to provide them with some fun Saucony gear and philosophy for an active, goal-driven lifestyle. I look forward to representing the Saucony name and team as I continue to race and inspire others into a healthy and active attitude for life.

I am also very excited for my recent sponsorship selection for PowerBar Team Elite. PowerBar is a sports nutrition company that aims to help athletes reach goals through proper nutrition and training approaches. From energy/protein bars, energy gels, sports drinks/mixes, protein supplements, to  training gear and training plan articles and resources, PowerBar is a great reference for any athlete in training. Check out the website and everything it has to offer at: http://www.powerbar.com/
I am pumped to have the financial support for training nutrition and supplies, and to represent this brand in my running.

Plans to come...
I will be running my first race of the spring -Shamrock Shuffle 8k, in late March in Chicago with my fellow Runablaze Iowa club teammates. I will run 2 half marathons in April and May and will start the summer season off with the Dam 2 Dam 20k in June. These next few months will include a lot of school and internship work, as I work toward my graduation on May 26, 2012. The training will be consistent, but will be secondary to my Physical Therapy future and career potential. Stay tuned for more posts, ~1x/week to read up on my training and who knows, likely some funny experiences I get myself into.

Happy Weekend! Go move those legs!
DK

WAIT-  How could I forget?!... Justin and I did some training a couple weekends ago in Des Moines. I shouldn't tell you this, but as a post-marathon reward, we downed major chow at Zombie Burger... just minutes before hitting the ice. Don't tell PowerBar.