Training Archives - What Would Betty Do?

Let’s Ride

Written on June 14, 2015 by Alisa.

Bike Training This was the first week where I buckled down, blocked off time on the calendar, and hit the road to do my bike training. It’s… uh… it’s harder than it looks. On Tuesday, I set out as the storm front rolled through the area. I was ahead of the rain, but managed to […] Read More

The Back of the Pack

Written on June 7, 2015 by Alisa.

How I’ve Embraced Being Slow A few months ago, while chatting on the Strava board for the Another Mother Runner 10k challenge, I made this comment to another runner, lamenting her pace: “While I may be in the back of the pack, I’m never there alone.” It took me a long time to really accept […] Read More

On the Road: Charity Ride

Written on May 24, 2015 by Alisa.

I’m just going to leave this right here for now. No, I don’t know what I’m doing. Nor do I yet know what I don’t know about doing a charity bike ride. I have until October to figure it out. More to come in future posts. Read More

Sprains and Other Tales

Written on May 17, 2015 by Alisa.

I Pretend Not to Have Sprained My Foot It was an ordinary week. Baseball, work… the usual. On Thursday at baseball practice I was trotting across the grass, hit an uneven spot and twisted my ankle. It didn’t hurt anything more than my pride and I went on with my day. On Friday morning, there […] Read More

The Recovery Run

Written on April 26, 2015 by Alisa.

Last weekend I ran the more-brutal-than-it-should-have-been charity 15k to fundraise for the local schools. Not only did it hurt while it was happening, it left me with three blisters as a lingering reminder of the suck. And then the week came along and it was situation after situation that just kept kicking me in the […] Read More

Running is Hard

Written on April 19, 2015 by Alisa.

PPIE 15k Recap I hadn’t planned on running a 15k race (9.3 miles) two weeks after a half marathon. But it was the school fundraiser and my running partner — a teacher in the district — had already signed up for the 15k. “I wish you’d run it too!” she texted while I was on […] Read More

Eating for Speed

Written on April 12, 2015 by Alisa.

More Calories Make Big Differences Every year, when I begin training, I have the same problem: no increase in speed, but a noticeable increase in my waistline. When you research why people gain weight when training, you get the following suggestions: You ran, so you deserve a reward! Go have that entire pizza and a pint […] Read More

Livermore Half Marathon

Written on April 5, 2015 by Alisa.

Holy Cow, That’s a PR! Last Saturday, as you know, I ran the Livermore Half Marathon. I hadn’t actually intended to run a half — I’m more of a once-a-year-in-October sort of girl. But after two months of running with my friend, Michelle, and realizing that I’d logged 11 miles in training, it seemed ridiculous […] Read More

If You Give a Mom a Running Buddy

Written on March 28, 2015 by Alisa.

Finding Unexpected Motivation Reprinted from something I posted to the Another Mother Runner No Limits 10k Challenge on Strava. I signed up for this 10k challenge not because I had a 10k in mind, but just to keep me going in the winter. I’m not good at self-motivated running, and I hoped that this would push […] Read More

Shamrock 5k

Written on March 15, 2015 by Alisa.

The Fun Part of the 5k: Cheering Others I ran my first 5k without The Assistant in years. And I do mean years. The last 5k I ran solo was on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2012. (I don’t count the Tasty Run 5k in Addison, Texas in 2013 because that was mostly short […] Read More