Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Relief Run

I have never felt so much relief because of a run but that is the best word to describe my feelings during and after this morning’s run: relief. Beautiful, calming, unabashed relief.

My last run was nearly a week ago on Wednesday when I bagged a 9 mile run and made it only 3.5 miles. “Live to Run Another Day” was the name of that entry but I had no idea that the other day I would be living for would be a full 6 days away. I skipped Thursday’s 5-miler in order to let my sore quadriceps heal, looking forward to my Sunday 14-miler.

Sandwiched in between two 20 mile runs, 14 would be a piece of cake; however, I started running Sunday morning (a gorgeous morning for running – it was an absolute shame to waste it) and barely made it a quarter mile. My left leg was still hurting and it was affecting my running gait to the point where I actually had a noticeable limp! Gulp!

Rather than get upset or start worrying, I returned home, applied ice and started massage; optimistic that this wasn’t a sidelining injury.

However, today, I ran. Thank goodness it was with very little pain and no limp. After a mile or so, I was fully warmed up and I didn’t have a problem with the rest of the run. Relief.

I’ll be running one more 20-milers this coming Sunday and then its taper time. Only three more long runs left until the marathon. I’m excited to run this race and see all my hard work, coming back from injury and ramping up my mileage from zero, pay off in Vermont. More icing and massage is still in my future but fingers-crossed that I have no more scares.

Today’s Daily Dozen:
5 mile run @ morning
Core workout @ lunch hour

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Live to Run Another Day

Some runs are worth fighting for.

Some runs are hard because my legs are tired and every step is effort of will but I know that pushing through is worth it because I need to conquer that little voice that tells me I should to just give up because it is too hard.

Some runs are just not meant to be. Today I had one of these runs.

My left quadriceps has been giving me a little trouble for the past week. It feels like a muscle strain and after a few miles of running it is sufficiently warmed up and I don't have an pain. This morning, however, it just didn't feel right and was taking too long to warm up.

I also haven't been getting the number of hours of sleep that I should for the past two or three nights. Its not that I have been sleeping poorly just that I have been staying for one reason or another and getting an hour less sleep than normal. As a result, my heart rate jumped up this morning during the first hill and stayed up. An elevated heart rate is an indication that my body hasn't been able to fully recovery and I need to listen up.

On top of these things, every step seemed to be a tremendous effort. It felt like I was running through quicksand toward the end.

This wasn't the run to show my courage and push through to the finish. I listened to my body - quad, heart and legs - and it was telling me to take a break. I need to live to run another day, not crash and burn on a training run.

And so I stopped. Without regret or guilt, I let myself cut short a run that I could have completed. It just wasn't worth tempting injury. It was a smart move and the right call, I'm proud of myself for listening to my body.

I am sacrificing the remaining 5.5 miles to the running gods in the knowledge that they have blessed me with some effortless runs, helped push me through some tough runs and will provide a great day for the upcoming marathon.

Today's Daily Dozen:
3.5 mile morning run

Friday, April 10, 2009

Weight off my chest

I recently read these words, “I was never thin, nor was I ever fat” and I was struck by how accurately that described my view of my body. I was never fat but I’ve never quite felt skinny either.

I haven’t written about weight or body-image in this journal because I want my running and other activities, my whole life to be about something other than a number on a scale or a number in my jeans that no one but me ever sees. I've consciously avoided the topic not want my writing to reflect any negative, unenlighted thoughts; those thoughts I'm not supposed to think. I don’t want to think about veggies and salad and soup and all the foods I love as a means of weight-loss. The steamed asparagus I ate for lunch was yummy not because it is healthier than French fries but because I love steamed asparagus. The peanut butter cookies I am planning on baking this weekend aren’t tiny caloric time bombs waiting to go off but instead the product of a (hopefully, *fingers crossed*) successful baking adventure.

Even worse than having to view food with a critical eye towards the scale or my waistline, would be to taint my running with thoughts and worries over my weight. As I run, I am often thankful that I don’t view it as a weight loss tool. Yes, I lost weight when I started running but losing weight wasn’t the reason I started running nor the reason I continue to run.

On the other hand, sometimes I am so determined not to be obsessed over my weight or my clothing size that it is all I think about. Is thinking about not thinking about something the same as thinking about it?

While running through the dark, morning streets I sometimes can’t help but admonish myself for not having a lean runner’s body. I will mentally kick myself for the plate of nachos and margarita I indulged in the night before and tell myself that I’ll do better next time; swearing only to eat healthy “good for me” foods from now on. Maybe if I stick to my new resolve towards, I convince myself, and I add more miles and faster speeds to my running, I can get to be as thin as people see me.

However, that insane line of thinking usually doesn’t last that long and I’m back to viewing veggies with delight rather than duty or resolve and I look forward to my runs because of how strong and proud I feel rather than how skinny or confident I think I could be.

Maybe one day I can as enlightened about my body and my weight as I like to think I am. Maybe when I’m older? Maybe after I’ve had a kid? Maybe tomorrow? In the meantime, I’ll keep running and searching, hoping that one day I catch up to that enlightenment.

Waffle

waf-fle [wof-uh l]
–to speak or write equivocally about: to waffle a campaign promise.

I waffle. I admit it. I’m a waffler!

I’ve been focused on my upcoming marathon, the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon, run in Burlington, VT on May 24, 2009. However, I’ve also kept one eye open for what to do next in order to plan out my running schedule for the rest of the year. (I know, I should focus solely on the upcoming race but it isn’t in my nature…I’m a long-range dreamer and planner).

So far, I have changed my post-June (the marathon in May will be followed by one month of recovery running) running schedule three times with very different ideas in mind. When I first set up my 2009 running schedule some time in December 2008, my summer and fall schedule was generic, I was thinking of doing a marathon but I didn’t have anything specific in mind so I had a general build up culminating in late October/early November.

However, I soon became enamored with the idea of doing an ultra. I found a 12-hour trail race taking place in September at a state park Mike and I had recently hiked. I started to think, “Yeah, I could do that! I can run for almost 5 hours for a marathon, if I slow down, I definitely could fun for more hours. Plus, how many times have I done an hours long run in the morning only to go on an hours long hike in the afternoon. I could totally do it and I bet I do 50 miles in that time! Yeah!” So, I researched an ultra plan that I thought was reasonable, made some changes for my own running style and preferences and changed my summer and fall running schedule.

For a few months, I was happy with this goal. I started ramping up my running mileage, bounced back from injury and began my training for the May marathon. Then, I started to get nostalgic for the marathon. I had to skip my fall marathon, Richmond, last year due to a scheduling conflict and then a backup fall marathon because of injury. I’ve heard such wonderful things about the Richmond marathon, I wanted to do it! This round of marathon training was going well so I thought I could bump up the next round of training by going from 4 days of running to 5 days a week and hopefully get closer to breaking the 4 hour barrier.

Back to my running schedule I went, shooting for the Richmond Marathon in mid-November. My projected cumulative mileage total for the year was lower but it would be faster running not the slower running of the ultra. “Richmond here I come…finally,” I proclaimed with the change.

This plan held for about a month but, recently, I began to have second thoughts. I realized that ever since I started running I’ve always been training. Would I actually enjoy running if I wasn’t running according to a training schedule? What if I took off the fall from any sort of training and just made it a goal to get up in to the 40s for weekly mileage and stay there for a few months, just to build a base. I’ve never built a base, I realized! I always train for a marathon, run the marathon, recover from the marathon for a month and then jump in to training for another marathon beginning the cycle all over again.

I made a running schedule to see what a base building plan would look like on paper (so to speak, I actually typed it up in an Excel workbook). It looked good. It looked solid. No more valleys and peaks in training for me; instead, a gradual buildup followed by steady mileage. I’m actually looking forward to the challenge of freeing my running from a formal training schedule in order to see if I still feel the same way about running.

So, for now, I’m saying no to the waffle. Cheers to a new challenge.

Today’s Daily Dozen:
Rest

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Running Milestone

As I started my run this morning, I realized this run would mark a special milestone in my “running life.” Ever since I got the crazy, out-of-nowhere, idea to run a marathon to celebrate my 26th birthday, I’ve been keeping track of my running mileage in an Excel spreadsheet of my own design.

Every day for the past two-and-a-half years, I have dutifully kept track of my step count, daily mileage and whether or not I ran that day. What began as a simple spreadsheet where I entered my step count, distance and the number of miles I ran that day has morphed in to a wonderfully complex series of worksheets where I track everything from my running miles, shoe mileage, time and pace, daily steps and mileage and training schedule. There are line graphs and bar charts and calculations for my yearly average pace and length per run among several other things.

As of Sunday, after the 10 mile race, I had racked up a total of 2,999 running miles since I started my running life in August of 2005 and this morning’s five-miler would send the odometer over 3,000 miles.

Amazing! To cover 3,000 miles I would have to run from my apartment to my parents’ house in VT and back again almost 3 times! Or, I would have to run from DC to Eureka, California and then run a marathon or three while I was there! Or, I would have to run around Lake Tahoe, 41.5 times!

As I hit the one-mile mark this morning, there was a tiny moment of triumph but then, I just kept running. I kept running because that’s what I do as a long-distance runner. I hit one distance, take a moment or two to reflect and then start to wonder about going a little farther. Three thousand is nice but what about 6,000…10,000…30,000 miles?

I’ll let you know in 22 years how I felt running 30,000 miles…and then I’ll keep running.

Today’s Daily Dozen:
5 mile morning run

Monday, April 6, 2009

Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler – Race Report

This annual race Washington DC is billed as “The Runner’s Rite of Spring” and is a must as a runner living in the DC Metro area. The race takes place during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival put on by DC in order to celebrate the blooming of the cherry blossoms gifted to DC by the Japanese government.

After two and a half years as a runner, living and running in and around DC, I finally ran the race this year. I actually may not have ever run this race but a good friend of mine who loves 10 milers was running so I decided to run with her.

I had mixed feelings about this race. First, it’s huge, with close to 15,000 runners it makes for a crowded event. There was a 30 minute line to get in to the National Building Museum on Saturday to pick up the race packet. We ended up crossing the start line 15 minutes after the gun because of the line for the porta-potties. Once we finally got underway, the race never thinned out and I spent 99% of the time bobbing and weaving. This is far from my ideal race conditions.

On the other hand, it’s a spring tradition that I am glad I got to partake in and it is always fun to run with a friend. It is a great feeling to be out on the streets of DC, running among the gorgeous cherry blossoms with great views of the Potomac River, historic landmarks like the Washington Monument (where the race starts and ends) and the Jefferson Memorial and famous DC buildings like the Kennedy Center and the Watergate Hotel. The crowd support is fun and everyone is in high spirits (especially with the wonderful spring weather we lucked out with for this year’s race – sunny and in the 50s).

However, I don’t know that I would run this one on my own. It is just so huge! It is mind-boggling to be part of a huge moving mass of people all taking part in a great athletic tradition; however, is it really worth the hassle and bother (and cost!)?

I will continue to run this race as long as my friend signs up for it but I found myself envious of the runners I saw during and after the race who were out on that fine morning enjoying their own run. They seemed so much freer than me being swept along by the moving herd.

Finish time: 1:35:00, 9:30 pace

Thursday, April 2, 2009

“Be careful. There’s a gym right around the corner.”

Each week by Thursday, I’m usually exhausted and looking forward to the rest day schedule on Fridays. Today is no exception.

As I started my run this morning, one of my first thought was, “I sure am glad I don’t have to do this tomorrow. I’m tired!” and as I tried to find a groove, my second thought was, “Ugh, I don’t want to do this. Running sucks. Maybe I should cut this run short.”

The first few minutes of short 3-milers and long, slow 19-milers have begun the same way and this 9-miler was no exception, with me analyzing the route I planned to run and trying to figure out ways to cut it short. Yet, I rarely follow through on the adjusted plans.

As I settled in to my pace, feeling every bit as tired as I did moments ago when running “sucked” I had to wonder if thinking out ways to cut a run short, adding up known distances and figuring out how I need to adjust my plans– if I take this path and jump off on to that street its 2 miles and then I’m only 1.5 miles from home if I stay on this road so that would make this a 3.5-miler – is really just my mind’s way of distracting itself. I never follow through with my, sometimes, elaborate escape routes, meaning I almost always cover the distance I had scheduled and yet I still tend to run through scenarios as I am warming up.

Often, I am thinking up ways to cut a run short until I find something else to distract me. This morning it was a women who called out as I passed, “Be careful. There’s a gym right around that corner.” I half nodded to her and sort of smiled but more or less kept going before her words hit me – “Be careful. There’s a gym right around that corner.”

What? What could that possibly mean? Why do I have to be careful around a gym? Granted, it is a boxing gym (not a “gym” gym) and I guess there are more overly-testeroned men who frequent that gym. I just never thought to be concerned about something like that. Is that woman crazy? Is she right? Have I been carelessly running past this gym at least once a week, without a concern in the world, never realize the immanent danger I was in? What would I do if a crazed boxer started chasing me? I’d run as fast as I could to that 24 hour CVS or that restaurant that always has cleaning crews inside when I run by in the morning. I’d start screaming. Yeah, yeah. Shouting is good. Really loud…

And just like that, I forgot all about planning evasive maneuvers to get around doing 9 miles this morning.

For the rest of the run my mind continued to wonder. I planned more ways to get away from the zombie boxers that were after me (yes, they eventually turned in to zombies that were chasing me) and moved on to what I planned for the coming weekends, the race on Sunday and meeting up with Kate on Saturday, what I needed to get done at work today, and various other bits and bobs that popped in to head. Before I knew it, I finished the run, even more exhausted than when I started but proud that I had completed the 9 miles and I realized two things,
1. Silly girl! Of course you finished the run. You always finish the run.
2. I’m still glad tomorrow is a rest day.
Ok, three things,
3. I still don’t know what that is supposed to mean, “Be careful. There’s a gym right around the corner”?! Lady, do you live in fear of gyms during the early morning hour? Is there something I don’t know? Regardless, good lookin’ out. You never can be too careful! Thanks!

Today’s daily dozen:
9 mile morning run
XT, 30 minutes on recumbent bike at a leisurely pace @ lunch hour

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Sore Muscles

Sore Muscles. I’ve been thinking about them quite a bit lately. Mostly because my quads have been sore over the last few days as a result of my 18 miler on Sunday and every time I stood up or attempted stairs or bent over to tie my shoe I was reminded, “oh yeah, sore muscles.”

Here’s the catch, though. I actually like sore muscles.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like sore muscles in the same way I like cupcakes or a good book. I don’t enjoy sore muscles but I do like them.

I like sore muscles because every time I did any of those things mentioned above, I was reminded of the achievement of good long run. Granted, the excessive soreness of two days is a sign that my legs may not have been ready for 18 miles that day but I also take it as a sign that I need to recovery because my legs worked really hard and I should be proud.

My legs carried me through a really strong 18 miles and didn’t complain. They just want to remind me how hard they worked and that they may deserve a little break. My quads are not so subtly raising their voice, saying, “We’re a little broken, busted and torn but give us some time to rejuvenate and we’ll be back and better than ever.”

Sore muscles are all those microscopic tears in my muscles repairing themselves to make me stronger the next time I run 18 miles.

Counter-intuitively, sore muscles make me feel strong and powerful. I’m carrying around a reminder of all the hard work I’ve done that will pay off for me at the finish line of my next marathon and that reminder makes me feel good.

On the other hand, sore muscles also serve as a reminder that I should have taken it a little slower during the run, stretched better after the run and taken the time to jump in an ice bath once I got home. Oops!

Today’s Daily Dozen:
5 mile morning run – first one since Sunday’s long run, felt good
Strength Training (BROCCL) @ lunch
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