Kate, Author at Kate Dugan

The first 20 miler of fall marathon training

September 25, 2016 by Kate Leave a Comment

It’s the end of the weekend. This is my third consecutive weekend away. It FEELS SO GOOD TO BE HOME laying on my living room floor, wrapped in my softest blanket (that does smell a little like my dog), and sipping tea before bed.

Amazingly and unexpectedly, I ran 20 miles this morning!!

20 milers are par for the course in marathon training. So why was this one amazing and somewhat unexpected? Well, I have been really struggling with my motivation ever since Ironman. I felt slow when I ran and I just wasn’t into running for multiple hours on a Saturday or Sunday. Burnt out is probably one way to put it. My longest run to date was 13.4 miles, last weekend, before my friend’s wedding. It sucked, the running, not the wedding.

And then on Wednesday afternoon my throat started getting sore. Sure enough, it was a cold.

This weekend my travels took me to my parents’ house, which is in western MD. I arrived on Friday, attempted to work remotely and logged off at 3pm, which I did… for 3 hours. This cold was really not doing me any favors. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I felt terrible. I took a DayQuil and the situation improved slightly, but I decided to delay my run until the next day. This was risky because we needed to get on the road around noon so it meant running 20 miles, packing up the kiddos and getting on the road pretty fast.

When I set out this morning, I felt ok. I couldn’t make a bowel movement happen before I left, which is always risky when running outside of Central Park. Did you know there are 20 bathrooms in Central Park? Yup. Just one of the perks of being a NYer 😉

I knew getting in 20 would be tough so I decided to take it REALLY easy and make sure my pace stayed between a 10 and 11 minute mile. I was doing all of this on feel, of course, because I forgot my watch. Doh!

About 6 miles in and 3 miles from the nearest bathroom, I felt the urge to go. ugh. How long could I ignore this, I wondered. Turns out, just long enough not to pop a squat in someone’s front yard, but not long enough to make it to a proper toilet. Does a Kate shit in the woods? She did today, folks.

That was probably the low point of the run.

It’s always an adventure. And I always bring TP on my long runs, just in case.

From there, I kept my pace slow and steady. My dad was supposed to meet me somewhere between mile 12 and 16. He showed up just in time and we were able to run the last 4 miles together. It’s always nice running with my dad. He’s super tall and definitely does not have the build of an endurance runner, but he is always on a quest to improve (which I love & respect). It’s always interesting to hear what he’s tweaking. Turns out, he’s still working on increasing his cadence. I’m not sure I would have made it the last 4 if he hadn’t picked me up.

And I’m not sure I would have made it out the door at all had it not been for some major inspiration from my friends Danielle, Nicole & (of course) Michael, who kicked butt in the Berlin marathon earlier today.

So, should you increase your mileage abruptly like I did on a long run? Ideally not, but my instincts told me that my lack of running long was not due to inability, but rather due to a motivation issue. And I have enough experience, finally, to trust them.

Now that I’ve broken the long run barrier, let’s hope I can keep things in check for the next 6 weeks so that NYC isn’t a total bust.

“Just keep running. Just keep running. Just keep running.”

Here’s a photo from one of our boat rides on the lake this weekend. Have I mentioned how amazing it was to have my parents look after C&E this week? Even though they don’t live nearby, I feel super grateful for the help our family provides.<3

On Changing Up Your Fitness Routine

September 23, 2016 by Kate Leave a Comment

I’ve failed at most of my long runs lately, not because I can’t go the distance, but because I am bored AF. I thought after ironman training that I’d feel a little burnt out, but it turns out that I’m burnt to a crisp. I think it’s normal, but that doesn’t make it any easier or help me feel any better, if I’m being honest. Who wants to be “normal”? It’s a bad word in our household. I’m being serious. So, I’m changing it up a little by trying some different fitness classes in NYC through ClassPass.

What is ClassPass?

I bought a $19 (discounted) month of ClassPass in the beginning of September. It’s a subscription-based app that gives you access to x number of fitness classes per month (x depends on your plan). Mine included 5 classes in one month for $19, which is usually $75.

If you’re someone who would prefer to take classes at a boutique fitness studio rather than having a gym membership, ClassPass enables you to do that at a bit of a discount. Here’s what it looks like in your browser. The app is well-designed and easy to use!

Pilates @ Ballet Academy East

So far, I’ve completed 3 classes, the most recent of which was a Pilates mat class at the Ballet Academy East, a few blocks from my apartment. Admittedly, I have tried Pilates before, but despite my own mother being a skilled Pilates instructor, I am very much a beginner.

The instructor was a 56-year-old former dancer who could still do the splits. I know because she was complaining about how tight her hamstrings were, but how she could still do a split, and proceeded to show us. I have never been able to do the splits. When I was 8 years old, I was close, but it’s only gone downhill from there. I guess I’m aging.

Two other students were in the class, both women, probably in their late 50s or early 60s. I came to find out that one of them would attend her actual workout later that day. This was some sort of warm-up, I guess. The other woman didn’t appear to be a dancer, but she’d clearly attended about 50 more Pilates classes than I had. So, yeah, this would be fun.

The class was challenging, but we soon established that my hamstrings were super tight and the instructor was really accommodating. Anyway, the point of this story is to tell you what I learned, which is 1) you are most certainly NOT too old to start a fitness routine, and 2) what makes our bodies effective in one sport (say running) does not necessarily translate to another (Pilates).

I walked out of there feeling about an inch taller and far more limber.

The Distance @ Mile High Run Club

The morning before, I took a treadmill running class at Mile High Run Club in the East Village. Despite not being much of a treadmill lover, I decided to take the class because Michael was teaching and the kids are with my parents this week (party!!).

Michael is one of the most creative people I know and his classes show it. There is a theme for every class – it’s a race, often a marathon or half marathon, but sometimes something shorter. So, after warming up, you spend time during the main set doing race-specific training, including hills, speed, tempo, etc. Then, you get a little bit of active recovery before you are dropped into a 5-minute race simulation. Michael ties it all together with music that relates to the theme, too.

Michael chose The Big 5 marathon in Johannesburg, South Africa for Wednesday’s class. I was pretty touched because he started mentioning things like, “runners run with the animals”, and “you have to work your way out of a valley or ‘rut’ just like in real life”. And I felt like he was talking to me. I mean, I am definitely the only animal-lover, who is currently working her way out of a rut, right? Lol. I’m kidding, but I did ask him later and he fessed up to choosing the race with me in mind. Yeah, he’s pretty cool. <3

I encourage you to try ClassPass, if you live in a city where it is offered! You can sign up here (they usually have good introductory deals)! I think it can be a great tool for when you’re feeling burnt out or just need to add some cross-training into your routine.

Also, if you aren’t receiving emails from me, you can sign up here. I’m in the midst of creating a vegan starter guide for athletes that I’d love to share with you!

xoxo,

Kate

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.