Go! Run Fast!

This weekend was supposed to be my 20 mile run. Saturday it was warm but raining. Sunday it was cold and windy. Today was supposed to be warmer and not windy, so I decided to do the run today.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache, which basically never happens. It kept me up from around 2am until I finally got out of bed at 8:30. I was woozy and “watery” is the word that keeps coming to mind to describe my legs. I didn’t want to eat anything but forced down a luna bar and piece of toast before going out.
I suppose “warmer” and “not windy” are relative terms, as I was quite cold and the 30mph gusts sure felt windy to me. I also felt outright terrible. If I stopped running, my stomach hurt a lot, but my energy levels were low and I was exhausted even within the first mile. I spent the first couple hours cursing both my body and the midwest weather. The only benefit of running in Crystal Lake is that there is lots of family around. I had drinks dropped at several of their houses along the route. I stopped at one of the houses about half way through. No one was home, but I went in, had a drink of water, sat down on the couch, and cried. The entire run was demoralizing and awful.

I managed to go a few more miles past that, and by the time I reached my gramma’s house between mile 13 and 14, I was done. I kept trying to make myself go on, but I was sobbing in frustration and low blood sugar and discomfort as I approached her house, and there was no way I could have imagined going even a mile further. Gram was very good, as always, and gave me a drink, some kleenex, and a ride home.

This is a major disappointment for me in a bunch of ways. I’ve never been unable to finish a run before. Plus, this was my only really long run in the Miami training plan. I start tapering already next week, so there is no way to make this up. I just have to hope that a 17 miler will suffice so I can finish the race. I guess this is why we are not supposed to do marathons so close together. The ultra-compressed training schedule is susceptible to any problem, whereas a longer plan would let me bump the long runs around a bit.

So now it’s basically the race left. The taper will go fine, assuming I don’t impale myself on anything. I am really looking forward to the break after this race. I’m looking forward to the race, too, but It’s been a lot of work between Chicago and Miami and I need the rest.

And on that note, I’m going back to sleep now to hopefully beat off this stupid stomach ache over night.

This weekend was my 17 mile run. Despite being kind of sluggish during the week, the run went well. At a bit past 16 miles I felt a little woozy - light headed, broke out in a sweat, obviously needed a little more sugar. But it passed and I made it home fine. It looks like I’m going to finish out this training successfully barring another violent accident. I’m confident that I can do the 20 miles and that’s the only hard thing I have left between now and the race in 6 weeks.

The illness of Thanksgiving week superseded this post about the rock. Here is said rock:

Granted, it’s not a boulder, but it’s a pretty big rock to step on while running, which is exactly what I did a couple weeks ago. I have no idea how I missed it, but I landed square on it and messed up my ankle. I didn’t sprain it, thank goodness.

Side note: I had never sprained an ankle until my 2nd year of college. It was in the midst of having mono and I was simply walking down the stairs of my dorm and all of a sudden things twisted and popped and man did it hurt. Since then, I’ve sprained both many many times, and one of my larger running fears is that I’ll do it again. 

When I landed on this rock - only a couple blocks after starting - my ankle went twisty in a bunch of weird ways, and it really hurt, but fortunately I avoided any serious damage. I finished the 5 mile run just fine, took the next day off as scheduled, and had no problems running on it. It hurt to walk stairs for the next few days, and it’s still a little tender if I put pressure on it, but it’s pretty much fine. Maybe this is my one “injury” for the Miami Marathon training?
You will note from the picture that I brought the rock home. I don’t know what I plan to do with it just yet, but after attacking me like that it became my enemy. I couldn’t just leave it out there to live out the rest of the millions of years left in it’s life as a free rock. It will pay.

This week I did a 15 miler as my long run. I had a bit of a scare when the first water fountain on the course didn’t work. Water would come out of the spout for the dog dish, but not the main fountain. I worried they may have been shut off and that I’d be bending down to drink from the dog spout the whole time. Luckily, that one was just temporarily frozen and all but one on the course worked fine. Next week, I’m bringing a little plastic baggie just in case I need to get water from the lower spout.

The running itself went fine. I am a lot slower when I’m in pants, long shirt, gloves, vest, etc, but I didn’t have any problem finishing the distance. Only two long runs are left now. The 17-miler this weekend and 20 miles the weekend after xmas. So far, so good.

Despite having almost no memory of what happened between the end of my run last Saturday and the following Wednesday morning, this week went pretty well. Because I was so sick early in the week, my mileage was low - 17.3 miles - but it all felt good. I ran mostly on the treadmill because of weather or post-illness timidness, but my 8 miler on Saturday was outside and felt fine. Things all seem to be in place for the tough month ahead (15-17-11-20). Just 4 more weeks and then it’s taper time.

1) Running on a treadmill generally sucks.

2) Running on a treadmill is better than no running at all.

3) You can run on a treadmill even when it’s dark or the weather is really bad.

Thus, there is a place for treadmills in the world.

I ran on mine twice this week. One was my first post-sickness run because I wasn’t sure that I wouldn’t collapse a mile from home. The second time was the following day where I was tired and cold (my internal temperature regulation is not back to normal) and could not make myself go out in the cold. Honestly, the 4.1 miles on the treadmill while watching CSI:Miami (training for the Miami marathon) was pretty plesant. I anticipate more treadmill running tomorrow since it’s supposed to rain hard all day.

When I get out like I did today for my 8 miles, it’s always better than being stuck inside, no matter what the weather. But when my motivation is really low, the treadmill is a welcome way to get in my miles. I’m very glad I have it, even though it feels a little like cheating.

My first three weeks of training went very well. I’ve been on schedule, I have had no problems healing after Chicago, and despite the cold, I’ve been getting out there.

Last weekend was my 14 mile run. I felt fine, but was really irritated by about mile 10 and just wanted to be finished. I came home, had a sandwich, showered, took a nap, and woke up deep in a fever and infection from some bacteria or another. I was only able to get up again by the following Wednesday and honestly, I don’t remember much of those 5 days. I was asleep most of the time, and not functioning when I was awake.

Now it’s Friday and I’m pretty much back to normal. My energy levels are still variable, though. I can go until about 1:30 or 2pm and then I get very very tired. I’ve been trying to get myself dressed and out to run for about an hour now (and I’m blogging to delay it a little longer). I hope this will resolve itself in a few days.

Fortunately, I only have an 8 miler on the schedule for this weekend. I think I should be able to handle that, albeit slowly. It’s a bit frightening how quickly this race is coming up. After this week, I have 2 long weeks, a short, the 20 miler, and then taper. Less than 2 months to go, with only 1 month of hard training, yet I hardly feel like I’ve started. I like the longer training period better, but this winter marathon has the advantage of forcing me to get out and go, even when it’s cold and grey.

Were it a viable option, I would live in Florida. Or the Caribbean. Somewhere warm and tropical year-round. Yet, that is not viable given my life goals and so I am suck in a 4-season climate. This means running in winter and words cannot express the depth of my loathing for cold weather. Still, I can’t stay inside for 5 months nor can I run on the treadmill everyday and retain my running sanity. Thus, I have prepared this handy guide to winter running.

Jen’s Brief Guide to Winter Running

1. Do NOT use the layer system!!  - The layer system is good for kids going to zoos or on hikes. It is not for running. Sure, you will have multiple layers of clothes on, but the Layer System is based on putting layers on and off depending on how you feel. However, there are two important points to consider when running.

A. Once you take a layer off, it stays off - Really, unless you’re expecting drastic weather changes during the hour or two that you’re out, it’s highly unlikely that once you’re warmed up your needs for clothing will change. If you take a layer off, only a huge temperature swing or change in precipitation would require you to put it back on, and that is not likely to happen.

B. It will take approximately 2 blocks for you to get warmed up.

So with those things taken together, the Layer System means you will put on a jacket when you go out, take it off in 2 blocks, and keep it off for the rest of the run. The only thing that jacket is going to do for you is slow you down and annoy you. And if you really overdress, you may not have an option to delayer (i.e. please keep your pants on). Thus, do NOT layer. Just suck it up and be chilly for those two blocks before you warm up, and then enjoy the miles and miles left in your run unencumbered.

2. Dress properly - Now that we all agree that the layer system is stupid for running, it’s very important to pick the right things to wear in the first place. It’s always fun in January to pick out the New Year’s Resolution Dieters, out for a run in arctic gear, more heavily dressed than climbers of Mount Everest even though it’s 45 and sunny. I’ve found that Runner’s World What to Wear guide is  almost always right on. That’s a good place to start. I also keep a spreadsheet with temperatures in the left column, weather in the top row, and what I wore in the cells (yes, I realize this makes me a big dork). That way, when it seems really cold, but Runner’s World says to wear shorts, I can confirm that Jen’s Running World also says to really wear shorts. Then, I suck it up for those 2 blocks it takes me to get warmed up.

3. Bring Kleenex - running in the cold also makes your nose run. Bring Kleenex so you’re not sniffling or wiping your nose for 2 hours. Trust me. You will thank me.

4. Know your weaknesses - mine is my ears. If it’s below 50, they get achingly sore from the cold, so I always wear a headband over them. However, I rarely need gloves, even when it’s below 30. I know other people who need them when it’s 60. Never ignore these weaknesses, lest you suffer the whole time you are out.

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life, and also the first day of the last week of my Chicago Marathon recovery month. I’ve also indicated this to be the first week of my Miami Marathon training plan. Everything seems to be going well. My runs have felt good, my gruesome blisters have all healed, and I feel like my energy is up. I don’t have any lingering injuries.

The Miami Plan also feels doable at this point. My only issue is that I would prefer to do my 20-miler a week earlier so I can do it here on my native trail instead of home in Crystal Lake (since it’s scheduled for the Sunday after xmas). However, because the plan is so compressed and I’m trying to increase my mileage as gradually as possible to prevent injury, the room to move it around isn’t really there.

So here’s to training!

Flights to Miami are much less frequent and more expensive than I expected. I had a free round trip on Southwest (they go to Ft. Lauderdale) that I was hoping to use, but the return flight I needed was not available each of the several times I checked last week.

After fully scoping out my options, I decided it was best to just pay to fly Southwest anyway. At least their tickets can be changed and reused later if something were to happen. This morning, I went back to book the flight and, just in case, I checked on my award again. It was set to expire February 6, 2009 - only about a week after the marathon - so I was contemplating a call to Southwest to see if I could apply the whole thing to cover one leg of the trip. That’s kind of a waste of a round trip on one hand, but letting it expire and not using it is even more of a waste.

Before calling, I made one last check of the dates, and over the weekend an award seat opened on the return flight. I grabbed that ticket so fast, my browser isn’t sure what hit it. So now, for the total cost of $5, I’m booked on exactly the right flights for Miami.

I went ahead and got myself a rental car with a Garmin, so I think I am all secure for travel.
I also scored with respect to hotels last week. I had booked three rooms in South Beach (about 5 miles from the start) because the hotels near the start were either full, very expensive, or required a 2-night stay. I kept searching and I think eventually someone’s website got tired of me and just offered up 3 rooms at a reasonable rate in the Doubletree at the start line. This is great because (1) it’s at the start line and (2) it’s at the Doubletree which means cookies.

Now, with all my travel planned, all I have to do is train for 3 months, avoid an injury, and show up. Piece of cake.