Lately

I switched up my training plan a few weeks ago and have just finished my first three-week block of increased mileage (25-30 per week). Feeling good!

I noticed overall my runs were slower - not a great confidence booster - so today I took the last half of my run at slightly slower than tempo pace (but faster than goal pace for the half). Score! Feeling much more confident now.

Of course it made a BIG difference going out in 70 degree temps instead of 85. We've had a few days now that feel like fall and I have been so happy. I know it's going to get hot again and I don't care, I'm just so happy to have some cooler weather for a little while.

It's been nice as well to have cooler temps at night. Though last night was a doozy, my dreams were super wild and woke me up several times.

Another constant I noticed while reading through past race reports was that I'm always commenting on not getting enough sleep. It's actually been getting better the last week or so (last night excepted) - I've made a truce with the Princess Kitty and she has been not quite so annoying in the night. I've also reluctantly given up full-caf again and am back to decaf everything (except for my first cup of tea in the morning). I was falling asleep just fine when I first went to bed so could tell myself I wasn't affected by the caffeine, but it was keeping me from being able to fall back asleep easily if woken up in the night. By say, oh, a small child with a nosebleed. Or a cat. Or the other cat. Or the first cat again. Or a husband coming to bed late after rehearsal. Or that first small child having wet the bed. Or the baby waking up early. Or... You get the picture.

Spent the weekend with The Dude sorting through stuff to discard or better manage. And then cleaning up all the dust (and worse) discovered in the process. Walking through I don't think anyone would notice a difference, but things do feel more manageable now. More possible. Hence the dreams, I suppose... We have a lot more to do over the next few weeks before my parents come into town (they are not staying with us but still). Our annual fall cleaning/reorganizing, done a bit early.

And the fall temperatures make me think about Scary Movie Month! Oh, time to start planning.

No, Really, I Love This Stuff

I realized last week that I may not have expressed how much fun I had with my last race, despite the copious room for improvement I actually wrote about. So I just want to make it clear...

I love racing.

Even when I don't think I've done as well as I could have. I love the people, the music, the crowds, the excitement. I love thinking about the course, figuring out a new course, feeling familiar with an old one. I love talking to the volunteers at packet pickups. I love being a volunteer at packet pickups. I love talking to other race participants (and seeing who will actually talk to me). I love getting up early and leaving the house before anyone is awake and moving through the city early. I love coming home and feeling that no matter what else I do that day I am a badass for getting up early and running a race. (And for having license to eat extra treats.) I love thinking about racing strategy and I love it even more when I not only plan things well but keep to that plan and get the results I hoped for. And then I love sharing about it afterwards. (I don't always love race photos but I've had some good ones lately.)

So, with that in mind, I've created a new page here which has all my race results and links to the ones I've written about. In going through these I have found some unfortunate trends (though typical)... going out too fast, not taking the heat/humidity seriously enough. But also a happy one... that my best experiences are when I run what I feel was a "smart" race, regardless of time: one where I start off conservatively, pick up the pace progressively, and then have enough left for a strong finish at the end. I also see that these are the ones I've done without music, so I am going back to racing without an iPod (I reserve the right to keep one on me for the marathon). Though I may need some new mantras then.

And as an extra treat, a link to a very funny comic strip (be forewarned about the swearing): God of Cake.

Itty Bitty Race Recap

I'll start with a photo which may say it all.

Near the end... a grimace, not a smile.

It was horribly hot (though not as humid as recently around here).

When setting goals, and therefore my initial pace, I failed to take two things into account.

1. While I had trained to cover this distance I had not been training to race it, this race was just tucked into my marathon training. (Yes, these distinctions do make a difference.)
2. The temperature at 6:30 a.m. was not the same as at 7:35, approximately halfway through.

The last five miles were brutal for me. And while friends congratulated me on finishing as well as I did, I know that I could have done better, by starting off more conservatively and taking more walk breaks to compensate for the increasing heat.

By finishing better I don't mean faster, though I'd certainly take that too. I mean stronger, enjoying myself more, able to feel that in the last miles I was actually racing, as opposed to just trying to run (not walk) as much as possible and keep from overheating.

Ah well. I promptly signed up for a second half, in August (when it may well be hotter and more humid). I've made adjustments to my hydration/nutrition system which seem to be working out well. (No more heavy bottles on my chest - I have graduated into full runner geek mode and now have a bladder for my race vest.) I have adjusted my training to better prepare for this next one and also rethought how I'm going about the marathon. I feel good.

I do love this distance. It is long enough to be challenging, to require strategy, to have to be smart about it, but I don't really worry about my ability to finish it. Even if I do have to stop and walk more than I'd like sometimes.

One very cool thing that happened: After the finish a young woman tapped me on the shoulder and told me that she'd been following me the entire time, I had set a very steady pace and it helped her. I don't know what she'd been doing those last five miles - perhaps walking as well? - but it was a real kindness of her to tell me that.

Bring on the miles!

An Aside

Goo has been picking up new words rapidly now, to go along with his mad climbing techniques. I'm amused at the difference between his first words and his older brother's.

Buddy's first words? Mama. "Dites." (Lights). "Dis?" (What's this?)

Goo's?

Up! Out! Open!

Be afraid, world. Be very afraid.

One Step At A Time

There just isn't ever enough time in the world for all I want to write, and all I want to read, and all I want to sew, and all... you get the idea. Everything gets done in little stolen bits.

The exception to this right now appears to be painting/drawing. I'm finding that these 5, 10, 20, 30 minutes that I'm scrabbling out each day feels like just enough (for that moment, that is, I'd love to be able to do it three times each day). I do a little bit, and leave it, and then come back and do a little more... it seems to be what I can sustain in concentrated creative effort at one time.

And actually, my writing is much the same way, whether at home or for work. Hmm.

I have always been a subscriber to the idea that limits can stimulate creativity. And I know that having big chunks of time in which to do things hasn't worked out well for me in the past. So, I guess I shall just lean into my limitations and keep working.

And keep writing/sketching out the many ideas I have for work knowing that not all most of them will never live past the pages of my notebook. Just like the books I want to read.

I thought this was going to be about the half marathon I just ran but I guess that will wait till later this week.

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...