Kate, Author at Kate Dugan

On Running and Creating “Our Story”

September 12, 2016 by Kate Leave a Comment

Front Porch of our AirBnB house. Porches are totally underrated.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a 2-Day fitness business retreat in Asheville, North Carolina, which I’m going to call the Portland of the east (never having been to Portland, mind you). Asheville is a great little town, though my instincts tell me I’d like the surrounding rural areas even better. During the retreat, I was surrounded by nearly 100 really fit and very motivated women, most of whom are in the midst of starting health and fitness-related business. I met personal trainers, body builders, nutritionists, stay at home moms, doctors and former food addicts.

It was so inspiring to be amongst “my people”! I feel truly blessed to have been able to attend. Thank you to Michael for holding down the fort at home (never easy).

I had some exciting insights during my time in Asheville:

Preach, Jill! <3

There are lots of people out there who want to help others improve their health, wellness and fitness! Yeah.
Most of these helpers (aka Coaches) have struggled with the thing they’re trying to improve for their clients at some point in the past. And they’re passionate about what they’re doing for that reason.
The internet is enabling us to interact in a million different ways and it is changing all of the time – it’s pretty cool to watch the way we communicate shape our behaviors (I, hater of selfies, almost took a video of myself on the way home from my run tonight for InstaStories – almost, but then I chickened out. haha. But I’m committing to doing one very soon).
The stories we tell ourselves are incredibly powerful and often automatic, based on what we’ve been told until now, BUT they should be challenged. As the creators of our own stories, we have the freedom, perhaps the obligation, to decide to tell ourselves a new story. Then, of course, we have to work our butts off to make the new story a reality. Thanks to Jade Teta, for his wisdom on this.

This last one, is especially powerful, and it’s also why running has been so great for me. It has helped prove to me that I have the ability to rewrite my story.

We develop a sense of what we are capable of (or what we should do) from our parents and our peers. This begins at birth and never really ends. Parents have certain expectations of their children and they assume certain limitations. It’s totally normal & necessary. But, at some point, the pen shifts from parent to child and we should question it all and redirect.

A few years ago, I ran by a father with his young son. They were spectating The 5th Ave mile, a one mile race down 5th Avenue in NYC that happens in early September each year. The father was tall and lanky. As the fastest runners came by, the father told his son that he and his son did not / would not have the proper build to be that fast, especially over even longer distances. I felt like a witnessed something unique and sort of abusive. I resisted the tiny urge to intervene and tell the dad to shush. The father obviously had a limiting belief, and in that moment, he may have transferred it to his son. If his son does start to believe he doesn’t have a body for running, he will likely never know if he could be a fast runner because he won’t even try it now.

My Story

If you asked me in 2007, my first flirtation with running, if I would ever run a marathon, I would have said, “not a chance” or “I could never…” and if you would have mentioned Ironman, I probably would have just laughed or said, “those people are crazy”.

In 2007 I couldn’t run a mile. I was working a desk job, sitting for most of the day. That’s when my cube-mate, Meredith and I, decided to start walking 2 miles to and from work a few days a week. We walked and talked. And I loved it. Moving felt good.

And then another colleague suggested we do a relay marathon that fall with two other co-workers. I dug in my heels – “I am not a runner! I’m really slow”, but finally I caved to peer pressure. I hadn’t run a mile since high school, which ended 7 years prior. I really hated running. But Meredith and I made a plan. We would slowly build up our mileage by running together after work. There was a 5k on 9/11 downtown that we could race before the big event as a “test” to see what a race was really like.

The woman who sat behind me was a runner. “How do you breathe?” and “what do you think about when you’re running?” were amongst the many questions I bombarded her with one afternoon. She looked at me for a minute and then told me that she never really paid much attention to any of it. Hmm, I guess I’d figure it out as I went, though I couldn’t imagine it would ever become as automatic as she made it seem.

Morning run around UNC Asheville Campus

Those days, the start of my running “career”, seem like ages ago. I love looking back at how far I’ve come. What I know now is that most of us, probably all of us, could run a marathon or complete and ironman, if we just decide to and take action towards those goals. To me, that’s the beauty of those events.

But, especially if we don’t know people who are competing in marathons and ironman triathlons, we don’t realize that we could it, too. It seems out of reach entirely. The same rule applies to many things – getting into an Ivy League college, becoming a CEO, living abroad, or starting a social revolution. We definitely have far more power than we know now. We just have to decide what we want and commit to taking action to get there

As you might imagine, I’m feeling full of energy after my time in Asheville!

And when I arrived home on Sunday, I was fortunate enough to attend a the NYC Kick-off for Team Humane League NYC, where I got to hang out with more of “my people”. It’s always wonderful to meet vegan athletes! We will be training every other Tuesday evening in Central Park. Please join us! (you don’t need to be vegetarian or vegan, just interested in helping farm animals and doing some running)

And, sign up here for weekly emails from moi about running & life.

Happy running,

Kate

My Latest Training Rut

September 7, 2016 by Kate Leave a Comment

I guess I was feeling ambitious this time last year when I decided to register for an Ironman and a marathon in the same year. I’m now on the back side of the ironman and feeling less than enthused about the marathon. Of course, the NYC marathon is always amazing. It’s a party for about 26.2 miles (and if you haven’t done it and a marathon is on your list, you should absolutely consider it). But I think I’ve made my mind up that I probably won’t PR this year because I haven’t been doing enough tempo and long interval workouts so I’m just feeling “eh” about my training.

Actually, short (60 minutes and under) runs are super appealing to me, but slogging it out in the heat and humidity for 3 hours just has no draw at the moment. Why would I do that when I can choose not to? That’s my mindset lately. haha.

I had a rough night of sleep Sunday night and was at home with the kids on Monday feeling exhausted. Michael surprised me with a box of vegan donuts and pints (plural) of vegan ice-cream. Accompanying both was a note that said, “GIOOYS – get it out of your system” and maybe he’s right. During ironman, Michael was in the midst of a very busy time career-wise so we didn’t exactly celebrate over too many beers like we did when he did his ironmans (pre-kids). Maybe I did need to chill out and savor my accomplishment more. Of course, I felt pretty ridiculous doing this almost 6 weeks later, but then I tasted a Dun-Well Doughnut and decided that some celebrating was absolutely in order. 😉

I was able to get in 10 miles last night after work, which at least somewhat makes up for skipping my long run entirely last weekend. The only reason I got through that workout is because I was listening to an inspiring interview on the Rich Roll Podcast. He was interviewing Micah Risk, who appeared on the cover of Runner’s World sporting “vegan” compression socks a few years ago. She’s a nutritionist, a speedy runner who is also vegan and looks strikingly similar to Kate Beckinsale. Together with Alexis Fox, she started a company called Lighter, which I am now obsessed with. Their vision for the future is one in which Doctors will be able to write prescriptions for disease reversing foods (plant-based), which the site matches with recipes (based on the Doc’s orders and also patient’s preferences: serving size, availability of kitchen appliances, allergies, desired prep time) and automatically generates a grocery list for the patient. These groceries can then be delivered to the patient, all through their app. The grocery delivery part is still in testing, but if you’re looking for help with meal planning and automated grocery list creation, this app does that seamlessly. Plus, I love that I was able to put in 20 minutes as my max prep time and it still spit out tasty recipes. Thank you for the inspiration on my run, Micah. It is always fabulous to hear about women who are doing what they love AND changing the world. Can you tell I have a bit of a crush on her?

To put my running woes into perspective, we all go through changes in our motivation for exercise, including running. While it is unfortunate when this happens in the midst of marathon training, it’s also an opportunity for me to learn about myself. So, if this topic interests you, stay tuned as I work through it.

For now, I’ll share a few things that I’m trying, which I don’t normally do:

I signed up for an introductory month of CLASSPASS, just to encourage incorporating other non-running exercises. CLASSPASS gives you access to all sorts of fitness studios by way of an easy to use app. The intro deal was just $19 for 5 classes (in one month) at a variety of NYC studios. So far, I’ve only tried a new spin studio, but I’m certain changing it up a bit will help me appreciate running more.
I’m running with headphones. Usually reserved for long runs that I’m dreading, the timing seems right to lean on them more for tunes, podcasts & books.
In terms of content, I’ve been catching up on the Rich Roll Podcast, but I think I’ll invest in a new audiobook soon, something I can look forward to coming back to. Who knows, that might even inspire more frequent desire to run.
I’m looking for my community. I trained for Ironman with a group and I’m transitioning back to solo training, which might also be having an impact on my motivation. In the Rich Roll Podcast I referenced earlier, Micah, who runs with the November Project, talked about her running (and her work) like it was a complete joy. She mentioned how great it was to “be with her people” several times. In running, because it can be done solo, I think we (or maybe it’s just me!!) have a tendency to forget how important it is to feel part of a group and to surround yourself with runners who inspire you or help you develop in some way. The good news, for me!!, is I’ll be leading group runs for The Humane League starting on September 20th in Central Park. After these runs, we’ll be heading to a vegan-friendly restaurant for dinner and / or drinks! I’m super excited to connect with more of my vegan athlete tribe. If you’re local and want to join, check out our Facebook page. The runs are open to vegans, vegetarians and omnivores who are just curious about a plant-based lifestyle or want to learn more about where their food comes from.

One thing that doesn’t work for me is buying new gear, though I do have my sights set on a new watch (mine died less than 3 hours into the marathon during IM). In fact, when I get new stuff, I think maybe it is because I wait so long to purchase it, that it is more of a reward than a motivator. I find I am LESS motivated to use it. I just want to stare at it and appreciate its newness 🙂

I’ll check back soon. In the meantime, I ‘d love to hear from you. How do you fight through times of low motivation?

After the finish line – coming down from Ironman & what’s next

August 9, 2016 by Kate Leave a Comment

After any big event that requires an emotional commitment and a big chunk of time to prepare for, be it a wedding, a marathon or an Ironman, it is normal to feel a little low. The thing that has been your main focus for months is now over and it is time to move on. It is completely normal to feel like you lack direction or like something is missing. I’m convinced this is why so many people hop from event to event with little thought. This feeling of sole focus on a single, measurable priority is difficult to match in other areas of life. I also think that it is good to experience these feelings – it is part of the process of learning about ourselves.

You know I advocate balance. There is nothing inherently balanced about training for ironman and certainly no hope of balance when you add a job and kids into the mix. So this period of free time can help swing the pendulum back in the opposite direction, towards ‘too much’ free time (if there is such a thing). If you’re lucky, you get some good sleep, eat some good food, savor the moments that led up to your accomplishment, and evaluate where you want to go from here.

Here’s a list of questions I’ve been asking myself as I reflect on the last 8 months.

How did ironman training make you feel?
Tell me a story about the best thing that happened during training.
What was the worst thing that happened?
How did you feel on Day 1 of training?
How did you feel during the phases of training?
How did you feel during taper?
… the morning of the race?
… during the race?
… at the finish line?
… now?

Based on you answers to these questions, you can decide if you want to do an endurance event. If the answer are neutral to negative, think about other ways you might spend your time in the coming year. Do you want to shift gears and focus more on your career, your family, your community, another hobby, or (gasp) your social life?

For me, thoughts of what else I might do started during taper. I kept thinking about what I’d do after ironman training was over and I had 10 to 20 hours back each week – take cooking lessons, take ballet (haha – WHAT?), lift heavy weights, make a career change, do “spring cleaning” around the apartment, the list goes on. I wrote them down to get them out of my head because I knew I needed to stay focused on Ironman. Moving on before the race would not serve me well. But afterwards, these are important things to consider.

Starting 24 hours after Ironman, I wanted to do it again. Certainly, I’d do better if I was able to dial in my nutrition. Now that I have a biking base, I’d be faster. I tried to imagine repeating all of the long bike rides and the 4am wake ups. Was I really up for that? What would C+E be up to a year from now? Would I miss out on time with them? What would be happening in my career? These things were uncertain so I haven’t signed up (yet), though I am still thinking about it.

For now, I’m focusing on some things that really fell off during peak training:

Cleaning the apartment
Cooking more (at least a few meals a week)
Sleep training C+E (starts on tomorrow)

Assembling his new bed

Enjoying her big kid bed

And, because Michael is out of town for all of this, I can’t swim or bike unless I get a sitter, so I’m doing Jillfit’s 20x20challenge, which are short 20 minute resistance training workouts.

I’ll decide by September if another ironman is in my future in 2017. If not, I still plan to participate in all three sports, as I developed a love of swimming this season and I want to keep my leg strength by biking.

The point is, don’t just jump from event to event. Really try to imagine how you’ll feel. Think of what you’ll miss if you do it again. Think of what you’ll gain. Think of the people around you.

P.S. Here are my answers to the questions above 😉

Powerful, strong, capable, like a badass sometimes – tired, sick and scared other times
Progress was the best motivator for me. I progressed from lane 1 to lane 6 in swimming in a few short months. I saw y quads getting HUGE. Months after my initial crash on the tri bike, I found myself comfortable and confident. I was slowly evolving into an athlete, which was very satisfying to
experience!
Getting sick so much was hard for me. And lack of sleep. And training on too little sleep or missing workouts entirely.
On Day 1 I was scared
– could I still swim? I pushed off going to the pool for at least 2 weeks before showing up for my first practice. I miss my road bike. Do I remember how to clip in?
It was a mix of high highs and low lows, but in general, I felt focused. It felt good to work towards a goal with a tangible output. It was objective and I like that.
Increasingly nervous. I didn’t have aches and pains or phantom injuries, but I did wonder if I trained enough to cross the finish line. I questioned it all. Late in the taper, I felt like making it though training was a victory – did I actually have to race?
The morning of the race I was excited. By then, I convinced myself that it was going to be a great day. And that I didn’t have to panic during the swim. I could just swim. It was a long day so I’d focus on keeping my HR low and executing my nutrition plan.
Ahhhmazing until that run!
Ahhhhhmazing!!
Grateful for all of the support. Pretty darn good about myself. I think I could do better, but I’m also really proud of how much I juggled during training. Just making it to the starting line (and then the finish!!) was a big win.

Race Report: Ironman Lake Placid 2016

July 30, 2016 by Kate 8 Comments

My goodness, I was nervous in the weeks and days leading up to IMLP. On Saturday, I was almost in tears on the phone with my coach, wondering if I would finish. I kept thinking to myself, “just get through the swim” since I usually have a bit of panic at the swim start, and then realizing that, unlike shorter tris, the swim is like 1/10 of the race. There is 112 miles to ride and a full marathon afterwards. A million things could go wrong. It was overwhelming. “It’s just a long training day, I reminded myself,” as I visited the toilet for the nth time on Saturday.

Morning. Does anyone every sleep well the night before a big race? I dreamt two nights prior that I overslept and missed the start. That certainly wasn’t happening in real life so I was checking the clock every 15 minutes starting at 2am. 4am wake up. Coffee, breakfast, bathroom, get dressed and head to the start. I felt pretty good, all things considered. In transition, my bike was in good order and I saw some teammates. All my gear was together. The forecast was fantastic. I met my teammates at the Mobil station in town for a photo. That’s also where I saw my family. Good luck, hugs and kisses. And I was off with my wetsuit to practice swim. This is really happening!

Swim. For the swim, I seeded myself at the back of the 1:15 to 1:30 pace group. I felt ok, excited actually. I was a little nervous about the fog laying on the water and its implications for visibility, but aside from that I was eager to see what the day would bring. Athletes were filing into the water 10 or so at a time. The mob was moving faster than I thought it would. I waded in and started swimming slowly. At first, it was crowded. I was in a cluster of people getting hit. I soon realized I couldn’t see ahead to sight because of the fog. I knew I wanted to stay away from ‘the line’, which is a white cable that runs the length of the swim course (and where everyone swims so they don’t have to sight), but I ended up there a few times since my only guidepost was other athletes. The swim is a loop, but really it is mostly out and back because the ‘across’ section is super short. The way out was rough, but I managed not to panic. I found some open space on the way back and got into a groove. I ran up on the beach and back into the water. People bunched up again and this time I got a heel to the left eye. I took a few above water strokes and settled in again. In no time, I was out of the water and having my wetsuit yanked off of me by a stripper. I saw my TL friends and my whole family as I exited the swim!

Bike. T1 was a bit of a cluster. Somehow I thought I’d have a dedicated volunteer helping me put my bike gear on, but the changing tent was crowded. I got myself sorted, exited and went looking for my bike. Volunteers were pulling them off of the rack and bringing them to the end of the row for athletes. Only my bike was still racked when I approached so I shouted my number and a volunteer went to fetch it. I took it really easy on the way out of town. Most people did. It felt like we were crawling. I let people pass. I was determined to stay in zone 1 or 2 for the entire ride. The weather was fantastic, still cool on the first loop, and the scenery was beautiful. I enjoyed the descent into Keene and the flats to Jay. For some reason, the long out and back was my least favorite part of the course both times, but it passed quickly and I started climbing. I was executing my nutrition plan perfectly. When I rode up Papa Bear at the end of loop 1 I saw my dad and Michael cheering. I stopped at special needs to refuel, and then saw my aunts on the way out of town to start loop 2. My legs definitely felt more tired climbing this go round, but I did my best to keep it in zone. By mile 80 my rear was hurting. I kept shifting around, but I just couldn’t get comfortable. I also started experiencing some gas around this point, but it wasn’t bothering me, I just tried to let it pass because I know gas on the run is no good. During the hills, my heart rate crept up and around mile 90 I stopped trying to control it. I just wanted to get off the bike so I spent some time in zone 3. Still, nutrition was on point. Legs were tired. How would I ever run a marathon after this?

Run. Transitioning to the run was better supported. I had a dedicated volunteer who helped me unload my bag and brought me water. When I started going my legs felt ok. I was being passed by the speedy folks who were already on their second loop. Mentally this was tough, mainly because I hadn’t expected it. I ran for the first 3 or 4 miles and then I began walk / running. Pressure was building in my stomach, first just some sloshing and then tightness, which I think was a result of gas.

By mile 12, it was bad. I turned around for the second loop and wondered how I was possibly going to make it through. My pace was slowing and my stomach was getting worse. “I might not finish this,” I thought to myself, which seems ridiculous now since there must have been 4 or 5 hours before cutoff, but just moving forward was really tough. I had only gotten down one gel at mile 3 before switching to water and coke. The coke wasn’t sitting well. I was walking almost totally by mile 15. I kept gagging so I stopped to puke just before the first aid station on River Road. Nothing was coming up – probably a good thing, but it also provided no relief. I kept telling myself, “Just keep walking”. Four walkers who I’d previously passed caught up to me and invited me to join them. Uncertain if I could keep up, I decided to try. Pierre, a shaggy Canadian who had done IMLP 6 times prior, was telling us stories about hitchhiking and camping. It helped take my mind off the discomfort I had in my stomach. The four of us walked together from mile 15 to 20. I was taking ice at every aid station. I noticed the pressure in my stomach dissipated a little bit so I started to pick up the pace. John and Emily came with. We walked, faster now, until mile 22, discussing our time goals and how we wouldn’t finish before 10pm.

That’s when I saw Michael for the second time on the run. It was just after 9pm at that point and I felt like maybe I could run. And maybe if I could run, I could finish in less than 15 hours. My watch was dead and I didn’t know my official start time so I didn’t really have a clue, but I had some hope. Emily and I started to run. Michael left for the finish line. Emily stayed with me for a while but then had to walk. Then I met a woman named Lisa. We ran together for a while. I was feeling good so when she stopped I kept going.

The crowd was into it now. I guess I looked fresh. I held on to this idea that I could finish in less than 15 hours. My stomach hurt a bit, but the discomfort was tolerable. I walked up the steep hill into town, where I passed Michael chatting with a friend. He was surprised to see me so soon, I think, and took off for the finish again. Just over 2 more miles. Atop the hill, I was running again. It felt like I was sprinting. The crowd support was fantastic and I just kept going. At the turnaround, I knew there must be less than a mile left. One flat mile or less. Maybe I could do this. I caught sight of signs that said, “finish” and I picked up the pace. Would I make it? I entered the finisher’s oval. The crowd had such energy. High fives, cheers. I must have been beaming. The finish line was in sight. The timer read 15:08…. I was sure I started less than 12 minutes before 7am, but was it less than 8 minutes? I knew this would be close.

Finish. “Katherine Dugan, You… Are … An Ironman!” I heard that over the loudspeaker, threw my arms up, and was collected by a kind volunteer who asked me my name and where I was from. I was told later this is a coherence check. I got my medal, a water and a foil for warmth. Snapped a few photos. And then rushed off to see my dad and Michael. I did it. I finished. “What was my time?” 14:59:05… YES!!!

All in all, and despite not having the run I wanted, taking on ironman was a fantastic experience from beginning to end. It was tough and terrible and a stupid idea and also incredibly empowering, rewarding, and fun. I think the best thing about ironman is that if you decide to do it and put in the work, you can certainly do it.

I’d like to give special thanks to my partner, Michael. M, thank you for your support, inspiration, coaching, and your unwavering belief that I could do this. It made all the difference & I never would have taken on such a challenge had it not been for your example and your encouragement. xo!!!

Ironman Taper – July 9&10, 2016

July 11, 2016 by Kate Leave a Comment

Saturday was supposed to be a big training day – swim in the lake, followed by a 5 hour bike and a 1 hour run, but I put it off. Last night was a prime example of how having kids can derail training and why we have to be flexible.

I started the bedtime routine just before 9pm. Everyone finally fell asleep between 10 and 11. I hadn’t prepared for my training or eaten a proper dinner so I put some peanut butter on bread, gobbled it up, and did the bare minimum prep by charging my devices, making my nutrition and laying out clothes for the swim and bike. I was in bed by 11pm.

Elin woke up crying at 1am. I don’t know what came over her, but she wanted to be held standing upright so I took her to the living room and tried to soothe her. This went on until sometime between 3 and 4am. I know only because I was texting M, who was in London, about how ridiculous it all was. I finally fell back asleep at 4. Then, sometime around dawn 6:30 ish Cal started to cry. I took him from his bed to the couch and lied there with him until he fell asleep. Back to bed. And finally, at 8am, I was up to stay up and wondering how I would ever manage a big training day.

The plan for Sunday was to travel back to NYC. We hadn’t set a time so I finally had the bright idea, after I stopped feeling sorry for myself, to ask my dad when we would leave to go up. He was driving us up – so kind. “Early afternoon.”

Perfect! I can train in the morning if I do most of our packing on Saturday. With that, I was in a much happier place and decided Saturday would be my long run and an open water swim so long as someone would hang near me in a kayak. The lake is busy today and the last thing we need is a close call with a boat! Phew.

My dad joined me for the run. I managed to get in a nap after my long run (with the kids because Elin refuses to sleep alone). And then we celebrated my dad’s birthday with a BBQ, cake and a bonfire.

On Sunday, I awoke much better rested, but I was still tired. I felt sort of hung over. It took all the strength I had to muster the energy for a 2.5 hour bike, half as long as planned. Ugh. The feeling of disgust settled in and I was in a terrible mood all day. Can I even do this?

We got on the road at 1pm. The kiddos slept for 2/3 of the trip so my dad and I had some quality time to catch up, which was nice.

I can’t remember what I ate on Saturday, but here’s what went down Sunday. Still in vacation mode.

On the bike: Sports nutrition (2 servings perpetuum)

Breakfast: waffles, banana & coffee (post-workout)

Snack: Vegan scone – there are too many sweets in this house!!

Lunch: Veggie sub from Subway (on the road)

Dinner: Veggie sub from Subway, veggie chips (at home, but no food in the fridge)

Here are some photos from our low-key family party on Saturday! Happy Birthday, Daddy-o!!