Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Run

First time running to work this year. (It's about 8 miles, by the way. Today I did the middle five as a tempo run.)

New running vest + new showers at work + improved speed/endurance = ?

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

I had brought in a change of clothes a couple of days ago, and my food for the day yesterday (but then ended up going out for lunch with a friend anyway). Still need to make some adjustments to the list of what to leave behind at work the day before (ie., my datebook) and what to add to my clean-up pack that I'll leave here (shampoo), but overall, this was the smoothest run to work I've ever done.

Good thing, too, because I'm hoping to do it once a week once July comes.

Do you ever run for your commute?

After The (Long) Run

Homemade potato salad makes an excellent post-long-run snack.

This was my first time trying out a liquid nutrition system (Tailwind) on the go. I liked! Much easier to use, light tasting and refreshing, and I probably came a lot closer to what I should be consuming in liquid and calories. The main disadvantage is in carrying all that liquid with me. For today's run I should have brought 48 oz. (or even more), but the bottles I had for my vest only held 36.  And in longer runs I'll need to bring yet more. And of course going with that method means I'll be relying solely on my own provisions at races. I'm considering getting a bladder for my running vest (100 oz.), which means I'll be joining the ranks of the seriously geeky. Oy vey.

I have been stressing about the time that my training is taking, as my long runs get longer and even my mid-week ones get longer too. ("Stressing about the time" is probably too lightly stated.) I thought briefly about giving up doing the marathon this year and I may still leave that as an option. For now, though, I've gone back and reviewed my training plan, taking out a couple of the long runs and planning to do more of my runs as part of my commute to work. I won't be saving a lot of time, but I think it will ease things just enough so that I don't feel overwhelmed. This should be fun, after all.

And this week, along with trying out the new nutrition system, I also took seriously my post-long-run tender tummy woes, and planned to have lots of little snacks that are super easy to digest. Still healthy but not as robustly healthy as I usually eat (ie. I ate mostly fruit and lower amounts of protein and fiber than usual). Success! No ouchy tummy.

The only other thing I'm longing for now is new compression calf sleeves... the ones I have are great but heavy, and I've seen some lighter ones around...

Oh, Life

I've missed writing, so these are just random thoughts. I had hoped to get on a regular Tuesday/Friday schedule and then life intervened a few weeks ago, and has kept intervening since.

My rest week last week wasn't... our family trip turned into a family emergency. Here's the quick and lowdown. My MIL had to be hospitalized - long standing issues led to dehydration, malnutrition, dementia - there may be permanent damage - we don't know what the long-term prognosis is. She spent the week in the hospital and is now in a skilled nursing facility. She may be able to return home with help in a few weeks. She lives a 5-hour-drive away. This was completely unexpected. Prayers are welcome.

My kids are great, and have been weathering all this well, though Buddy will not be happy when he learns that his dad will be gone another weekend.

I think that's all I want to write about that.

Long run today! Twelve miles. It was a beautiful day for it, nice and sunny but a little cool. My race vest continues to be be awesome. Today I cinched my windbreaker to the back and within a quarter mile had ceased to notice it. I backed down from trying out my new hydration/nutrition system 'cause I just didn't have the headspace to figure out quantities, so went with my standard Nuun water plus gels - and then resented the amount of time it took to consume the gels. So next week I have motivation to figure out the new stuff (plus I want to try it out once before I race with it).

I've been drawing and painting as I can (and then staying up late some nights to do some more). The problem always with this is that I then want to do so. much. more! I'm going to have to give some things up but I don't know what, aside from reading Sports Illustrated and Slate.com.

May was supposed to be my weight-loss challenge before the long runs started up. Hah. So that's now on hold until after the marathon. Can't say I'm sad about that... I am going to go through my clothes though and remove all the "too small for now" t-shirts I've acquired (gifts and race shirts) so that I don't give myself grief about it. Everything else I fit into fine. Although I did get some new bras last fall that are a bit padded and now some of my summer button-down shirts are just a touch too snug across the chest. I should have just bought running bras that can double as everyday bras, strap everything down and forget about them.

My run this morning was great but the lack of sleep lately means I am feeling trashed. More stretching, more sleep! This may be my new mantra for the week.

Odds and Ends, Again

I am LOVING my training right now. I am nearly three weeks in and will be taking a rest week soon, and so far everything feels really good. I am enjoying my long runs and comfortably fear my intense ones, and am in love with my swims. The swims are what is making this possible, the tiredness and aches just lift after a good swim. I can feel such a difference that I am scaling back rowing and will stick mostly to swimming --- in fact, I will do whatever I can to make sure I get these recovery swims in. What I won't do this time around is try to seriously increase my swim times or speeds... I think last time I hurt some of my runs by trying to do too much with swimming. But the pool closes earlier for lap swim than it did three years ago, so I can't do so much even if I wanted to.

However, chlorine + allergy season = fountain of snot and sneezing and itching. I finally had to break down today and pick something up at the drugstore to be able to keep working. So now I'm just snuffling a bit... and just the least bit spacey... hmmm...

I broke down and finally got a running vest and I am so glad I did.


Badass, yes?

I've never liked the feel (or look) of hip belts, and with my shoulder still misbehaving I knew I couldn't go with a handheld. (Plus that's not enough for these long summer runs.) And I will be running in to work on occasion and was tired of my makeshift running pack, a child's backpack I tried to secure with safety pins but always slid all over anyway.

This pack is a dream. I did swap out the water bottles shown here with some smaller curved ones from my hip pack, and will probably get some larger curved ones for use on longer runs (so they curve over my breasts instead of mashing them). And at the end of my ten miles yesterday I did notice that my neck and shoulders were starting to feel tense. But otherwise I barely felt it at all. I also liked that I didn't have to adjust my arm swing to avoid the bottles, another disadvantage of the hip belt. I also look a lot cooler.

The whole weight loss challenge is out the window already. First I had some bad news a couple of weeks ago and chose to comfort myself with modest amounts of chocolate and beer... but that led into Mothers' Day weekend and full license to enjoy, oh, whatever. And then I started having longer runs. Now, one thing I've learned since my last go-around with the marathon is that long runs truly are easier when you fuel up and hydrate well in the day(s) beforehand. Not overeating, of course, that would not have the desired effect, but just being mindful of the need to be well fueled. Which is really not compatible with a weight loss "challenge". Without stepping on a scale I can tell that I am getting trimmer, and I feel lighter on my feet, but I've already hit the point in my training this year where everything is focused towards supporting my workouts.

In answer to an earlier question, I don't create a meal plan for myself, per se. But at this point I know what works well for me before a long run (and after) and what really doesn't, and I do plan accordingly. (I tend to plan out my meals the day before anyway, except for weekends, and even then I strive for a good mix of fruits/veggies/protein/carbs.)

The piece I'm still struggling with is during long runs. I don't like the sensation of eating while I'm working out, even gels or chews, and so I know I sometimes frequently fall short of taking in enough while on the road. Thanks to Erin at See Mom Run Far I have now ordered sample packs of Tailwind Nutrition and I'll see how that goes. Crossing my fingers...

I have cute stories about my kids that I wanted to share, and some photos, but this has gone on long enough already...

How Did This Happen? Ravenswood Run 5k Recap

Back when my training felt like it was going well, back in November, early December, I had dreams of doing this 5k in 27:00.

Pretty ambitious, I know. Last year I ran it in 29:20 something, a PR, and one I was very proud of.

Then the holidays happened, my shoulder got injured, everyone got sick (and then again), I gained 8lbs., and it all went to pot. I feel I've been inching my way back since mid-March.

In my efforts to improve on my racing techniques, I ended up swinging too far in the opposite direction. To wit:

• To not run extra on the turns I cut the corners tightly - but got boxed in and had to slow down.
• To not worry about the extra I might be running I didn't wear my Garmin - but I didn't bring a watch either or remember to look at the time when I crossed the start line.
• And I just don't know why I decided not to run with headphones.

The result? I started off fast, and had no idea how fast I was going. Never. Or how far I had come - I saw the first mile marker but not the second one. All I knew was that I was working very hard, and I didn't like it. I couldn't really take in what was around me, and I had no music to distract me. I got bored. And then I hit a point somewhere in the last mile where I was just tired of it being hard and I thought, do I really care? And I stopped. Oh, I kept on moving (walking), and after some time (probably less time than it felt like) I started running again, although not as fast, and with about a quarter-mile to go at the last turn I thought, well, I should at least try to finish nicely, so I picked someone ahead of me to pass. And by the time I did I was at the 3-mile marker and realized with some surprise that if I didn't totally bail out I could probably finish in under 29 minutes at least (remember I had no idea when I crossed the start line). And so I tucked down and ran as fast as I could and then I ran a little faster and then I sprinted. And then I was done and wanted to throw up.

(Except I have a cast-iron stomach and never do, even when it would make me feel better.)

Friends, I ran that race in 27:15.

I was 41st out of 250 in  my age group, a fact which excites me even more than my first place age group finish from a couple of weeks ago (since that field was so small my placing first really was a fluke).

How did this happen?

And what would my time and place have been if I hadn't given up for those few minutes?

I guess if this were my favored distance I would find ways to work on my mental preparation and really figure out how to best go about running it and how to handle those "do I care" thoughts. (And find some other ones to practice on this year.) And I'm sure I will both to some extent. But it's not my favorite distance so mostly I will just find out what could have been, the next time I run one. And glory in the craziness of this one. (And reconfigure my marathon training plan.)

But not next year. Next year we have plans to run this as a family with another family from the boys' daycare/preschool. Four adults, two earnest small boys, and two running strollers with toddlers. Yes, we'll be one of those groups at the back spread out across the whole street and irritating anyone who got there late but thinks they can maybe still slip in and get their PR.

And then we'll eat pancakes.

Heading Out Soon...

And I've had a horrible night's sleep, thanks to son/husband, baby, cat, baby. In that order.

I don't like running super fast so I always doubt my ability to make myself do it for a long time. I wasn't going to wear headphones for this but now I'm not sure. Maybe bring them for insurance.

I don't feel ready. I'm not. I leave in an hour and I haven't gotten my stuff on or together and the baby is waking up for real this time.

Gah. Why do we care so much about these things?

Some Details After All

So, a correction from my earlier race report: In the overall results, I placed 111 out of 173 finishers, not 134. To the non-runner this may seem inconsequential, but to the runner - huge! That means I finished in front of 62 people, not the mere 23 I had previously thought. Go me!

I mentioned details in my previous entry, technical, tactical, and mental, and thought that I would go into some of them here after all (thanks, Laurie).

Technical

• This was my first time racing with my Road ID, which freed me up to only use existing pockets instead of carrying a pack, however small. I carried house keys, my bus pass, my iPod and my Garmin, nothing else.
• This was also my first time wearing my Garmin. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet, it ended up being a bit distracting, especially after the race when I had not yet gotten the official results.
• Also my first time racing in my calf sleeves - yes! I felt like a dork but pretended I wasn't wearing them. Added bonus: they kept my legs warmer in the nasty weather.

Tactical

• I made sure to warm up (in part because it was so cold) and I think it made a sizable difference in being able to start off strong and stay there.
• I started off tired (this event started late in the morning and I'd been up for hours already wrangling a toddler). I tried for a feeling of lightness and lift through my torso. Although at times I felt I could go faster it would have been at the expense of that sense of lightness, and I knew I could not afford to push that way until the very end.
• I also held myself back the first mile by keeping my breathing through my nose.
• As usual, I let myself tear down the hills and then muscle my way up them. Crazy but fun, with the added profit of possibly confusing my fellow competitors. I really need to find some trail events.
• While I was able to accelerate a bit in the second half and over the last mile in particular, it was clear to me that I wasn't going to be able to sprint until the very end. Luckily, about 200m from the finish line, two ladies that I'd previously passed put on their own surge. Exactly the push I needed! I couldn't keep up with them in the end but they got me going for those last seconds.
• I have to work more on getting to the inside corner. Running with the Garmin showed me that I ran an extra 0.15 miles - easily an extra minute. And this was over only a 10k.

Mental

• I knew (from practice) that I could push myself in the second half and then again in the last mile and again in the last 100m. Because I knew it, I could do it. It makes a difference to know that so much of performance is mental. Practice really does make perfect. I don't think I used any new mental tactics at this race but even six months of practice on my weekly runs has made a difference.
• And pain is not something to be afraid of. Again, the more I practice this, the easier it is to believe.

Random Details

• The whole first half I had an odd feeling of being pushed... on the turnaround I realized what it was - the wind. Which was now in my face. I am such a contrary bugger though that I like the feeling of pushing against something (I also like hills).
• The next two days I was wiped out. I have never been so affected by a race or run afterwards. So that was also proof to me that I have gotten better at pushing myself past what I think I can do.

I feel like I am being tempered as a runner (the way metal is tempered in a fire). I like how this feels. I suspect this is also carrying over into other areas of my life and I like that as well. But perhaps this is just the result of being now firmly in my 40s and of being a mother. So much just seems inconsequential now. But that's ponderings for another time.

Next race is next Sunday!