Whiskey. Mine had some girly additions.

Pre Race!

Glenn, Choy & Marshall

YUM.

This was somewhere around mile 3.5- we were having a lot of fun.  Representing Oiselle!

AHHHH sweet boy.

The post Drumstick Dash appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

So I ran with big C today, pretty easy. I didn’t wear a watch or anything, but I’m sure what felt like a 7:45 minute mile was probably an 8:45-9:00 minute mile.  Regardless, the run made me confident that I can whip back into shape pretty quick, although I know it will take some time. I will have one more hiccup when I have my second surgery and that date is pending. That surgery aint no thang compared to surgery number one. 

And this is Cadence running weather. She was basking in the cold and sun. You better believe I rocked the Budweiser shades for my first run back.

The post First POST Surgery Run. Hooray! appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

I cannot tell you how amazing it has been to have family to help us out. Not really sure what we’d do without them.

I was at my parents house all week last week with tons of help from my family and this past week,  Marshall and I have been staying at Glenn’s sister’s house in Crown Point all week. They have a huge house with a ton of room for the crazy kid to run around and enough toys to keep him busy for 10 years. (Don’t get any ideas Marshall, you will never have that many toys)

Being in Crown Point has been a nice opportunity for Marshall to spend time with his cousins Sofia and Evan and he has also become quite attached to Grandma Peggy.

We have totally been out of our element and although he has adjusted awesomely, I’ll be ready to get back to our regular routine as soon as I have the energy and the weight restriction is lifted.

Marshall & his cousin Sofia. You might be bigger than me, but gimme that food. This kid is the biggest mooch you’ve ever seen.

Ice Cream!

But the truth is, I’m still hanging out like this:

The post Surgical bra’s are sexy right? appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

We went to Sonoma for a wedding and last minute decided to leave Marshall with my Grandma & Mom so it quickly turned into a vacation. It was relaxing, beautiful and we had a lot of fun. I forced myself to forget about my upcoming not so exciting adventure and just enjoy not taking care of another human being for 4 days, feeling strong and healthy. I might write more about the trip later, I don’t know.

Ever since I crashed and burned at the Indy Women’s half a few weeks ago and decided I wouldn’t be racing again until after my surgery. I went kind of blah. I talked about how I might try to rally and give myself another shot two weeks later, but decided against it. I decided to step back and just enjoy running for what it is. No pressure to run fast, no stress- just fun. Just running because it makes me feel good and it makes me do life better. 

The day of the race I had contemplated  doing ended up being perfect weather and I decided to run with friends and enjoy 13.1 with no pressure. It was fun, comfortable and happy. And afterward we enjoyed mimosas and plenty of good food. Not to mention, Amy ran a half marathon PR that day in an “unofficial” race. Although I’m calling it official. The course was mapped, measured and just like any real distance race- we all went over by at least .15 on the distance. Official or not, no one runs those tangents perfectly. I’m pretty excited to cheer for friends at the Monumental this year. Amy is gonna kill her PR and I’m confident she’ll break 4 hours. Yep, it’s out there Amy. 

Mimosas and Food. HMM.

I’ve been committed to just run because it’s what I really love. 

But, I’m not good at not having a goal, while I have genuinely enjoyed running just for fun I can’t help but think about the things I want to accomplish and how I’ve got a decent road ahead of me before I can make that happen. 

Goals are what keep us going. Without goals, what is the meaning behind the workout? It feels a little  pointless to me. When I was pregnant, there was of course no time goals, but the goal to keep going and be strong through my pregnancy– it was a first so the goal was getting through it healthy, strong and in good shape. Running 3 miles the day before giving birth was something I’m still proud of. 

As I think about my recovery from the mastectomy, I have no idea what the next year will bring. And I’ve always said I’m not going to plan around what I think or hope might happen so I don’t turn things away thinking I might be doing something else. 

So my first post surgery goal. Boston?

We always say we are only going to do Boston once every 5-7 years or something. We had planned on running together in 2012, but I ended up being 7 months pregnant at that time, so I happily cheered on the sidelines.

7 months pregnant with Glenn & his parents post Boston.

There are a lot of reasons to keep it a not so frequent race. It’s stupid expensive and there are a ton of other races we’d like to venture out to. I don’t want to spend every April in Boston and drop XX dollars when there are a million other places I haven’t been. And I know it might not be a popular statement, but like a lot of races-for the most part, once you’ve been…  you’ve been. 

We all know how incredibly special and amazing Boston will be next year. We weren’t there this year and even so, I felt very emotionally connected to what was happening to the community. We’ve both crossed that finish line and we’ve both been spectators at that finish line. It hit home. I know everyone running in 2014 will be honoring those effected by the tragedy and I want to be a part of it. 

I don’t know for sure if I’ll go– I can’t predict what will make most sense for our family at that time, but at least now I’ll have the option. If I do go- I’m doing some legit long runs down in Bloomington. I won’t let the hills won’t eat me in 2014 and all monon running won’t cut it. 

Whether or not I end up going next year, when I do go again, it will be fun to run as a smarter, more experienced runner. Still a small fish in a big sea, but not quite as small as before. I’ve only run it once- in 2009 and it was only my second marathon. I didn’t know what I was doing and didn’t really know anyone there. This year I’ll know a ton of people. My running BFF Ashley will be there, along with a ton of other Indianapolis people and about a million social media friends.

Oh and it’s funny the amount of people who have wished me luck at Chicago. If you kind of read this blog and think I’m running Chicago and putting up those splits Glenn has been writing about, you must think I’m a REAL badass haha. Glenn’s running Chicago, not me! Although I have big goals for my next marathon PR- I’m not trying to jump from a 3:13 to a 2:45 haha. I will be 12 days post surgery and out there with bells and whistles and hopefully no drainage tubes. 

So for now- that’s my first “maybe” post surgery goal. My primary goal though is much more important than running any race. It’s to buck up, come out of this bad attitude and conquer this beast next week and the coming months as calmly and happily as I possibly can.

Do you go to Boston every year if you qualify? Why or why not?

Will you be there in 2014?

The post I signed up for Boston appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

Family after the race

Einsteins post race. Give Marshall an apple and you rock his world.

I finished out the day with 5 miles later to make it 11 for the day and then proceeded to drink too much Monday Night at the Mumford & Sons concert. I may or may not have thrown up out of a car window on the drive home…this has yet to be confirmed J. You would think a 30 year old would know better. Nope.

Mumford Tailgating

Mumford Concert

The post Ripple Effect Race Report appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

The Carmel Road Racing Group is an event management company that I’ve been working with a bit and when Todd presented the idea of this Thursday Night 5K series for $10 a race- I thought it was a fantastic idea. A chipped 5K that doesn’t mess with your Saturday morning long run and for that price? Why wouldn’t people be into it? So there were two races in August and there is one more Thursday, September 19th.

Marshall duties kept me home for the first of the series, but I was able to run the second one last Thursday and was excited to brush up the 5K PR. I’m not too keen on waiting the entire day to run a race, but whatevs. I went to the gym in the AM and ran 3 miles easy and then before the race warmed up about 2 miles with Glenn.

Keep in mind, this is a small race, (79 people ran) but Glenn won the last one and wanted to win this one. Looking at the times for the first one, I figured I could win for the women too, depending on who showed up. It wasn’t what I really cared about though, I really just wanted that new time.

When I was signing people in, Sarah Overpeck, (who I found out is super speedy) registered and I figured she’d probably take the win after a little chit chat when she told me she was running the Indy Women’s half as a training run and would prob run somewhere between 1:25-1:30. So at that point, I decided to make it my goal to hang with her as best as possible. When we talked prior to the race, she said she has recently found our blog- if you are reading- HI SARAH!

Another person running was Dan, who does speed work on Wednesdays with us. He and I are pretty equal in our pace, when we are both present at speed work, we run together, so I was happy to have him there to help give me a plan of where I should be in the race. I knew running with him would be a realistic pace for me.

Here’s the start! The shirtless guy in front of me is Glenn. Too close. Photo Credit: Terry Fletcher

The race breakdown:

About 30 seconds after we took off, I looked up and realized Glenn was only about 10 steps ahead of me and made a conscious decision to settle down… I was in over my head if I was that close to him and needed to slow down.

I let Sarah take off in front of me once we settled into the mile and ran with Dan through the first mile. After the first mile, Dan sped up and was running with Sarah for the majority of the rest of the race. I had them in a pretty close distance but stayed back. I kept wondering if I had it in me mentally more than anything to move in, but stayed back where I was “comfortable”. I gained a little bit in the last mile, but didn’t have it my head to want it enough to push in and pass.

Here are my Splits:

Mile 1- 5:58
Mile 2- 6:15
Mile 3- 6:23

Results Here

Average pace: 6:14 (thanks to that 5:58- err actually not thanks to… probably would have been quicker  if that first mile would have been slower and the other two faster)

I went out too fast. I should have went out at 6:10 or so and tried harder to be consistent. When I saw 5:58 on my watch, I knew that wasn’t manageable for the whole race. BUT, I haven’t raced a 5K in soooo long and my speed work indicates that I should probably have been able to hold closer to 6:05-6:10 pace. I just need to race smarter.

Somewhere around mile 1.5 probably.  Photo Credit: Terry Fletcher

I gave up a little bit mentally somewhere around 1.75-2.75. It wasn’t totally giving up mentally, but I wasn’t fighting very hard. I was able to pick it up a bit at the very end, but know I could and should have pushed that last mile in closer to 6:10-6:15 pace. I honestly just wanted to be done though. Also, I remember looking at my watch somewhere around 14 minutes thinking- oh good Glenn is still out here suffering and I bet he is working a lot harder than me. He usually does.

Photo Credit: Terry Fletcher

Now- after some good internet stalking I see that Sarah is a very good runner, with a sub three marathon under her belt. She was doing this run as a workout (as was I) but I’m sure she’s got a much speedier 5K in her too. I was happy to have someone to keep me motivated during the run.

Dan and Sarah somewhere in the middle- probably around mile 2. I’m creepin in the back, mostly holding on, thinking about chasing down.   Photo Credit: Terry Fletcher

Finishing it up! Dan was hurting- he’s going to kill his time on the next one for sure.   Photo Credit: Terry Fletcher

Conclusion: 

• A good warm up is key to success in a short distance race like this. I’m glad we did 2 miles prior.
• Trying to negative split a 5K might be more discipline and harder work than negative splitting a distance race. Control that first mile!!
• I want to break 19:00 in this distance, not sure when, but it will by my next goal for the distance. 
• I kind of like the idea of working on the 5K PR. 
• The mental game for a 5K is completely different than the mental game for a half or full marathon. I already knew that, but haven’t put it to action in such a long time.
• The CRRG Merrell 5K Series is pretty awesome. And you should run the next one. 

The post Lindsey’s CRRG 5K Report appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

Cycle #1 Done.
14 runs
125 miles
5 Quality Sessions

Well I’ve made it further into this Quality phase then I did with the Carmel Marathon in the spring….so that is a plus.  Also, that month off turned into three…but I’m back and getting ready to run a sub 2:45. No complaining here.

The week was fairly uneventful. Only two quality workouts this week, compared to the three last week.  With using a two week cycle for this marathon I essentially get 5 quality workouts in 14 days with 3 coming the first week and 2 coming the second week. I have studied and thought about using a two week cycle for a year or two now so I am excited to finally put it into action. So far so good.

The Speed workout was good. It was Wednesday with the group. Sean came out and ran the repeats with me. Read about it here.

The other quality run was a 16 mile steady state run with Collin, and Mike for the first 5, on Saturday up and down the Monon. The Fam went up to CP for the 4th so I was up in the air about being back in town for the workout but we decided to head home Friday night at Marshall’s bed time so I was able to run with Collin on Saturday. I’m glad that I did. Collin is a heck of a runner, he recently ran a 2:51 marathon @ Cleveland this May so he provides a great training partner.

I like to do a lot of my workouts alone but sometimes it is good to have someone there. I needed that on Saturday. I wasn’t really feeling it but the run ended up being pretty good. No fuel. Even paces. Light rain. Solid run. Ran 6:27 per mile…which was a little quick on the pace but the splits were even so I am not going to complain. It was a good workout but I am for sure looking forward to an “easier” long run this coming weekend after two tough sessions in this cycle.

I ended up not taking any rest days last week. Depending on how I am feeling I usually take a rest day every 7-10 days. I felt good last week so I didn’t take any days off. Over the last couple of weeks…the rest day has been coming closer to 10 then 7. That should work out to about one rest day per cycle. I think I can handle that…and if I need another rest day I have no problem taking it. Rest is just as important as training. Speaking of rest days….I am now ready for a rest day.

Today kicked off Cycle #2, Week 3 and it was a tough workout. It was the 10th day in a row and I am ready to rest tomorrow. Ready.

This coming cycle is more of the same. Lots of running. Doing work and getting fast. Lindsey has her 70.3 this weekend…so I’ll be on coach/sherpa/psychologist/husband duty this week and weekend. She’ll do great! She is ready! I just need to figure out the long run. My long run is supposed to be on Sunday but I’ll have Bub all day so I might flip the weekend and do the long run on the Muncie course while Lindsey is riding…it will be a lot easier then trying to coordinate 16-18 miles on Sunday with Marsh. We’ll see.

Late Edit: Pearl Jam announced a tour today!!!! Who’s going? I am thinking about Baltimore right now…or maybe one of the Philly shows. Or Charlottesville. I’m not sure. Nothing is super close. The Pitt show is closest but bad timing with the race. Either way I am going to a show. Not sure if Lindsey will want to go or not…anybody interested? Only if you are not a creep though.

Question: How often do you take rest days? Are they scheduled or taken when needed? What do you think about the PJ tour dates

The post Chicago Marathon – Week 2 appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

Since coming back from the hamstring injury that derailed my Spring marathon goals I have been focused on getting my body ready for these 16 weeks of training and one ‘A’ race: The Chicago Marathon and I think I have done a fair job of that. I am ready to tackle these 16 weeks.

My current obsession: Chicago 2013. I will run a 2:45

The last time we spoke I was on my way to a 40 mile week. I have been steadily increasing my mileage from that point and working on getting some semblance of strength in my running.

My last five weeks of building have been-42, 43, 50, 55, 57. I am happy with my progress. Now is when the real fun starts!

Monday started with a good effort session of an 8 mile run with 6 @ tempo alternating paces from slightly above to slightly below Aerobic Threshold (AT). It was hot and humid and I was a little tired from the weekend but I felt good. The two other stress sessions for the week will be 3 x 2 mile repeats on Thursday and then a Fast Finish 14 mile run on Sunday…everything else will be easy.

For Chicago, I am trying something new and using a 14 day micro cycle as opposed to the standard 7 day cycle I have used for previous marathons. Ater studying and researching various training approaches I decided that the 14 day cycle is right for me as it allows for more effort sessions and keeps the long runs to the weekend. I drew a lot of my cycle inspiration from the 2016 USA Marathon Trials Project and the enormous amounts of free information that is contained. The team is coached by Mark Hadley…he also has a ton of great information available on the web if you are inclined to learn.

Over these next 16 weeks, I am fully mentally and physically committed to pushing my body to the limit in the effort to harden it for my run at a 2:45 marathon. I am not going to lie…I am kind of obsessive on it. Maybe it is the fact that by the time I race Chicago it will be 20 months since I last raced a marathon. Yes, I ran Boston and did Ironman Wisconsin, and PR’d the half with a 1:18 in that time, but there is something special to racing a marathon in my mind and I am itching to do it again.

The current plan is to run two half marathons in the lead up to Chicago to practice racing again and to gauge the fitness level. My current plan is to run the Planet Adventure Eagle Creek Half in early August and then the Chicago Half around Labor Day. I have ran the EC Half before, two years ago I ran it under Lindsey’s 10K bib. I took an unofficial 3rd in the race, so depending on how I feel and who  else race I’d like to try and take a shot at the win… I’ve never won a race before so that would be cool. Its ran on the west side of the park so it is a pretty tough course….right up my alley. We will see how it goes though.

I am ready for the challenge of the next 16 weeks. Do Work. Get Fast.

Any big race plans for this fall? Looking to crush some goals? Lets’s hear about them! 

The post My road to the Chicago Marathon appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

What: Speed work- let’s get fast people.

When: Wednesday, June 26th, 5:30am (every Wednesday at 5:30am).

Where: Broad Ripple (DUH), on the monon. Meeting in parking lot next to EINSTEIN’S.

Why: To improve running performance while working on speed and stamina.

This weeks workout: 1 mile warm up, 2 X2 mi, 1 mile cool down.

The post Speedwork Week 3 appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

I had a lot of fun at my very first triathlon. The two things I was most anxious about were the open water swim and the transitions – I really had no idea what I was doing with either and they both ended up being just fine.

Swim: 

500 Meters

Time: 14:13
Place: 351/470

The swim was a time trial start, so they basically just said line up where you think you should go based on your speed. Your race number was technically where you would get in. I was number 339 out of 500. Glenn signed me up for this race so I asked him what he put down for the swim an he said I was “average”. Hmmm, I think I’m slower than average so I probably went in about number 400? Not positive.

So many people tell me they freaked out on their first open water swim. I was prepared for that. And I made the decision to not let it happen. When looking out at the water at the buoys and where the turn around was, it look far, but I knew it wasn’t. It was 500 meters. I’ve been swimming 2,000 meters on a very regular basis now for quite a few weeks so the distance shouldn’t have scared me. I’d never done it anywhere but a 25 meter lap pool though.

I got in the water and just took my time and tried to get in a bit of a rhythm. I was sighting probably every fifth stroke or something though because I was afraid to get off course too much. When we turned the straight away to head in, I felt great, I was starting to feel warmed up and was excited to be on the home stretch of my first open water swim.

I wouldn’t say I absolutely loved the swim, but I did absolutely love that there was no freaking out and I  think I might have enjoyed it. It felt good to finish thinking I could have kept going for a lot longer. (good thing, since I’ll do almost 4 times that at Muncie 70.3)

Does my face indicate how excited I was that I finished the swim?

T1:

Time: 2:32
Place: 374/470

Yeah I didn’t really know what I was doing, I just threw everything on and did what I could. I messed with my watch a bit and feel like it took me forever to tie my shoes. I have old hand me down mountain  bike clip ins that my mom gave me 4 years ago. I need to get some velcro ones or something. Plus these ones are a size to big.

Bike:

10 Miles

Time: 34:18
Place: 307/470
Speed: 17.5 MPH

I should have had my watch strapped around my bike handle like I do when I ride normally. But I didn’t and I jumped on my bike holding my watch. The GPS wasn’t picking up and at around mile 1 I said screw it and stuffed it in the front of my shorts. I’m sure it looked lovely.

I had no idea how fast I was riding but I was trying to ride fast and not burn out too much. I could have rode harder. I liked the course being an out and back because you could see the leaders on the way out and you saw people the whole time.

I think I only got passed by 3 people on the bike and passed around the same. One lady I passed around mile 3, I’d been eyeing her the whole time. I couldn’t hold it though and she passed me right back a minute later. I figured I’d find her on the run, because she looked quite a bit older than me. (not that that means much- the guy who won and is 52.

T2:

Time: 2:14
Place: 385/470

Yikes. Don’t know why I didn’t realize how quick this transition could have been. It was embarrassingly slow. Even though this event was super short, I took a gel because I didn’t eat enough for breakfast and figured I could hammer the run better with some energy.

Run:

3 Miles

Time: 19:51
Place: 38/470
Speed: 6:37/Mi Pace

The run starts going up a big hill. It’s kind of like WHAAAA? There were some people walking up it. I was ready to work though. Got up the hill heavy breathing and all and took off. The rest of the run was flat but really hot in the sun.

It felt good to just pass every single person I could. I was passing groups of people at a time. I did not get passed on the run. At the turn around I saw a girl kind of cruising behind me and it motivated me to keep up the pace. My watch was being funny again, surprise surprise, so I wasn’t sure of my exact pace at the time, but knew it was sub 7 so I was happy with that. The whole watch thing is tricky with three events- do you clear for each discipline?

Here is the video of my run finish:

Overall: 

Time: 1:13:09
Place: 201/470
Female: 28
Age Group: 2

*I’m not sure how many females were out there and I’m not sure how many people were actually in my age group.

Thoughts my finish:

• If I took even a minute off of my total transition time, it would have put me at 185/470. There is no real reason I should have taken that long to transition. You learn though. 

• Running fast can only move you up so far- it moved me up over 100 places, which is good, but if I could get stronger on the bike especially, I could rock this a lot better.’

• I need to be a more confident swimmer. I’ve been putting the time in, I can swim faster than I think I can, I need to execute better form. 

Other thoughts:

I had my bike fitting today for Muncie 70.3. The owner of T3, explained to me how much I’m slowing myself down with the bike I ride. My mom gave me this bike 5 or so years ago and it weighs nearly 26 lbs. He said with a lighter bike I could easily take 2-4 mph off my bike time. It was discouraging to hear that, although I’m not super competitive with triathlon at this time, I hate to think of 10-15 minutes being added to my time simply because my bike is terrible. That seems like a lot of freaking time! He also talked about how it would effect my run because my legs would be more fatigued. For now though, we’ve decided I’m going to ride it out with my old heavy bike. Maybe it will make me feel that much more tough at Muncie. And I’ll secretly be hating you if you pass me on a fancy bike.

Kyle, Glenn, Marshall and Chrissy were out cheering. Chrissy probably knew like everyone there. And Erika on the far right competed as well. She is doing a full Iron Distance in two weeks!

The post Triathlon Number 1 Recap WHooHOO! appeared first on Lindsey Hein.