Wah, Wah, Wah

So, the good news is that my left foot has been steadily getting better, even with the increased milage, and this week I haven't noticed it at all.

The bad news is that my right shin has been giving me some serious grief. As in, OW!

I am truly aggrieved by this because I haven't suffered from shin splints in a long time. Isn't that a beginner's problem? Okay, so I've upped my milage a bunch this week...

And of course I'd much rather it be shin splints than the alternative (a stress fracture).

Also of course I didn't baby it nearly enough, early enough, and so now it's hurting far more than shin splints usually do. That makes me nervous. However, it is responding to arnica and to ice, and it doesn't hurt extra when I press on it, so I am taking those as signs of hope.

I will take some running days off and see how it progresses with more ice and arnica. The weather's supposed to be beastly the next couple of days anyway --- a good time for some extra swimming!

Now if I could just stop worrying about it...

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Reports...

To bring exciting news --- today I ran a mile in under 9:00!

8:58, to be exact, the second of two mile repeats in my track workout today.

I realize this is ridiculously slow to some people, but it's quite an achievement for me.

Makes me think a sub-8:00 mile might yet be possible...

To The Start Of Summer!

Marathon training season officially started for me today with a lovely 10-mile run, longest run of the year so far. Took the first five miles nice and easy (it was humid today), slowed down a bit over miles six into seven, then started feeling not only revived but sassy, so took the last three miles quick. But true to my resolution to run by feel and not by time, I did not wear a watch, so I don't know my pace. Just that it felt really good to run hard and that I surprised myself at how good it felt and how long I kept going hard --- I had been nervous about the run today since it had been about a month since my last long run, at 9 miles.

And then I came home and had my snack while lying in an ice bath. Fun times!

Music listened to: Nikka Costa's most recent album, "Pebble to a Pearl," and "Just Because I'm A Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton" with covers by a wide variety of artists such as Alison Kraus, Sinead O'Connor, Me'Shell Ndegoecello, Shania Twain, and others.

Share Your Soles 10K Race Report

D.N.F. Did not finish.

In the end, it was just too hot for me. 89 degrees, long stretches without any shade, no breeze.

I ran the first half feeling okay. I kept myself pulled back the first mile, but then panicked a bit when I saw just how slowly I'd run it. So I picked up the pace and ran my next two miles progressively faster, feeling okay, and steady, slowing a bit when there was some shade to enjoy it, then running a bit quicker through the hot bits to get through them.

In retrospect, this was the exact wrong strategy, because then we ran out of shade and there were only hot bits left. But I'd already gotten myself hot trying to make up for lost time.

I have trouble with overheating, and once I got into that sun I realized I was uncomfortably close to my limits. I ended up completing the course - first giving up trying to best my previous time, then on finishing the second half faster than the first, and then I gave up on running altogether. I took off my timing chip and walked the rest of the way in, passing, along the way, the ambulance picking up those who didn't stop quite soon enough.

Overheating is such a frustrating experience. My legs felt fine, my breathing was fine, but my head - oh, she was not quite right. I've had enough experience with heat and with migraines to know that when my head is "not quite right" I need to immediately pull back, re-group, and get outside assistance if need be. Especially since that feeling usually comes with its playmates: bravado and stupidity.

So, I finished. I gathered up my gear bag. I ate my salty snacks and drank my Gatorade. I started the long walk back to the train stop. At my transfer station I had a long wait: long enough to feel completely fit again, long enough to feel completely dissatisfied with my morning's experience, long enough to doubt my decision and wonder why I left my darling child on a Sunday morning and why I bothered to race at all.

And then I got home, to my nice, shady, green neighborhood, and I decided I wanted to go for another run.

I went out for three miles, assuring The Dude that I would be careful (sort of). A few blocks in I realized what I really wanted to do was take it easy for the first half, pick up my pace for the second half, and finish with a strong kick for the last 400 meters. That I just hadn't gotten enough oomph in my day and I was going to get it now.

And so I did. And it was great. And once I finished and was walking around cooling down I realized this was exactly what I had visualized for myself as I trained for the race, for weeks now, and what I hadn't gotten from the race itself. And also that it was this feeling (starting steady, picking it up, picking it up, picking it up and then kicking. it. in.) and not the time, that I was really looking for in my race experience.

Ah-hah!

So, going forward, that's how I want to train and race. By feel more than by the clock. It makes sense - I'm never going to be fast - and weather conditions (and how much I've been sleeping) are always going to be out of my control. And that's okay. I loved running when I was super slow and getting faster has opened up some lovely new possibilities for me, but if I want to become like that "running granny" I wrote about last week then I've got to love the experience of it and not the results.

I got so excited by my new insights that I signed up for more races, just for fun. Next up, on June 6 - a 10K at the zoo with Buddy and some friends, untimed. And then July 18 another 10K at my favorite race location, Montrose Harbor, for pre-marathon practice in "racing by feel" - and dealing with the heat.

The day - redeemed. The excitement - back. The times - well, we'll see.

Ready?

I've got a race tomorrow, the Share Your Soles 10K.

I'm as ready as I can be, I guess. I know I'm stronger than I was at my last 10K six weeks ago - I've done some good speed workouts and long runs since then.

Mentally I definitely feel more prepared. I've done some "mindful" runs without music, have studied the course map and know approximately where the miles are, have figured out realistic goals for each mile and will write them on my arm tomorrow morning. I know it will be hot and am prepared for that. I know the course is not flat (it's Chicago, so I can't exactly say it's hilly, but it's not flat) and it's a out-and-back course so whatever elevation I find on my way out I will also find on my way back.

I've been fighting a cold for two weeks now and today it got a little uglier, so I'm not happy about that, and I didn't sleep well last night. Plus this week my ankle has been a bit noisier. But I'm going from the keyboard to some relaxing yoga, Tension Tamer tea and ice on the ankle, and then bed, so that's about all I can do about those things.

Wish me luck and cooler temps all morning!

Oops, I Did It Again!

Getting ready to go out for my run this morning, reached into my bag to grab my iPod, and... nothing. I left it at work last night.

Sigh.

Today's was an easy 4-mile run, and again, I think it worked out for the best that I didn't have my tunes. I needed to make this easy, so that I don't wear myself down before Sunday's race, and I have a hard time keeping myself to an easy pace once I get warmed up and excited, especially if I've got rocking good music to run to.

So what did I do instead?

~ Focused on my breathing again, making sure I kept everything nice and easy, smooth and constant.

~ Looked for irises, one of my favorite flowers. I always forget about them until they're in bloom since they're not often used in bouquets. But I love how rich they are, all different colors and textures, and how fragile they look but how tough they really are.

~ Admired gardens. Lots of pretty gardens in these neighborhoods, plus some "interesting" ones. I espeically liked the front yard all lined with wood chips for the three big fluffy dogs residing there.

~ Said "good morning" to anyone who looked like they might respond, and nodded at anyone who didn't.

~ Fantasized about someday qualifying for Boston. (Hah! Maybe if I'm still running when I'm eighty - and don't get much slower in the meantime.)

~ Sang to myself at the beginning of the run, when I needed a little help getting on. "Yell Fire" by Michael Franti.

~ Enjoyed all the green! Today was a beautiful sunny day, the first in a while, and by now all the trees are in full leaf and all the grass is grown back from winter. Everything looked lit from within, all that chlorophyll busy throwing off oxygen and energy. Glorious!

I may just start doing all my pre-race runs without music!

Hero of the Day

Wow! I just read about Mavis Hutchison, South African ultra-runner, who is in her eighties. Today is the anniverisary of her 1978 run across America. That's right, the whole country.

Here's the article in Runner's World, with a super-cool photo of her in her racing singlet. I'm printing this one out and putting it on my wall of inspiration at work.

Run on, Mavis!