Go! Run Fast!

Resting

2006-12-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Since the marathon I've been pretty tired. I have decided to rest until the new year starts (and my marathon training starts again). This week I've been going out with one or two days of rest. It's good. My IT band is getting some time to settle down and I'm hopefully building back up my energy. I really burned out in 2000 after my first marathon, and I don't want to do that this year with all the races I have scheduled. So, it's an easy 50 mile December for me.

<100 to go

2006-11-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I blogged it, but back in January I set myself a goal of doing 1,000 miles this year. I haven't been paying too much attention to that while training for the Marathon. Now that that has passed and I've have my few weeks of recovery, I checked back in on the year-to-date mileage. As of today, I'm at 900.62 miles. I have 34 days to complete the 99.38 remaining miles.

I'm registered for the Columbia Metric Marathon next weekend (26.2K - very clever). That's a bit over 16 miles, and it will take a nice chunk out of what I have left.

December and Year Summary

2006-01-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

I did pretty well for December with just over 70 miles. I had a lot of missed running days this month. Three of them were this week for a death headache that kept me in bed. I also had a few hurt days and a handful of travel days. If I had run those, I probably would be pretty close to 90 for the month - quite good considering I wasn't trying. Still, this month was a good example of running just beacuse I want to. I didn't feel that bad skipping my runs on the days when I really didn't feel like it, and that's exactly how I want it to be.

As for the year, it's been great. I've fallen back into the groove of running and it's made a lot of things in my life better. I started back up in August after my now ex-husband moved out, and I've ramped up nicely to a good steady level.

My Second Toes

2006-10-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

Some people's second toe is longer than their big toe. I've always found this disturbing for some reason - mine is NOT longer than the big toe. However, when I run very very far (like, say, a marathon), I get blisters under the nails on my second toes. Usually it's just one foot, but this time I had it on both. They have been sore and purple since the race, so I knew it was bad. Tonight I clipped them and the blisters drained and now I am basically toenailless on both feet. I have the ultra advanced bandaids on there to protect the nail beds while things grow back. It doesn't really hurt much, but it probably will (and it's not great for my open toed shoes, either).

But, other than the toes, I am feeling totally back to normal, and I have been since about Tuesday. I'm going to try a short, 1 mile run this weekend if it stops raining.

Post-Marathon Eating

2006-10-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

I've been really hungry after the race. Here's what I've eaten:

Salad with blue cheese, capellini with tomato, spinach, basil sauce (Sunday evening)
Lots of pumpkin bread and 3 pumpkin donut holes (Sunday night)
Like 4 slices of pumpkin bread (I just finished the loaf)
Potbelly's vegetarian sandwich and chips
Tha Mushroom at the cheesecake factory
Some of a blackout chocolate cake from said factory
Milk chocolate dipped macaroon from Godiva
Oatmeal
Microwave popcorn

I still really feel like eating something, but I don't have an appetite and I'm not even hungry. I don't want to eat, but I feel like I need to. I'm sure this will pass, though.

2006 Chicago Marathon: w00t!

2006-10-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

The race was great. I finished in 5:11:01, which is 44:36 faster than when I did it in 2000. I ran the whole race, did not die, and didn't even feel that bad (which is very easy to say now that I am not running it). Today, my joints are a little sore, and I have a little muscle tightness, but basically I feel great. Mom ran with me, and that made the whole thing a lot better.

Pictures soon. They are still being categorized.

Tapering

2006-10-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

I am tapering and frankly, not liking it one bit. The not-running isn't the problem, really. I'm totally stressed out about hurting myself. Today, I stepped on this US-UK adapter plug that somehow made it onto the floor. It hurt a lot, but I figured I was lucky to have not sprained my ankle (which I've done many many times). When I took the dogs out a few hours later though, I slipped on my recovery shoes and I can feel that it's all swollen on the edge of my foot. I don't feel it when I walk barefoot, but I really feel it with the shoes. So I've been icing it and hoping it will be fine.

I'm also hungry and not able to get satisfied. Today I had pumpkin bread, a sandwich, 2 big cookies, spaghetti, more donut holes than I like to think about (and which I never should have bought in the first place), celery and peanut butter, a few bites of cereal that I couldn't make myself finish, and probably a few other things that I grazed on. I feel like I could just sit down with a loaf of pumpkin bread, a dozen sugar cookies, and a case of diet coke and make that my food for the day. In fact, I've eaten basically a whole loaf of pumpkin bread in 4 days. What's up with this carb craving? It's not that I feel like I should be doing it. Maybe I need to go get myself a big, satisfying take out dinner tomorrow and that will put me back in order. This could be a call for tha mushroom...

Week 21 of 21: Training: Done

2006-10-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

This week was easy, and everything is feeling fine. I got some swanky new running clothes for the marathon, ordered my new pair of shoes, and have started getting everything together that I will need to bring.

I'm very pleased and impressed with myself for the training. The only things that didn't meet the schedule were the 19 mile run instead of 20 (because I was so nauseaus - though I wish I'd just walked that last damned mile), and skipping the 13 mile run a couple weeks ago because of my cold (I really couldn't have managed much more than the 6 I fit in). This is the first time I've done all the training for a marathon.

If things go according to plan, I should come in with about a 4:45 time. That's 1:10 faster than I did in 2000. If I end up slower than that, so be it. I know I will finish feeling better than I did last time.

Week 20 of 21: Entering the Taper

2006-10-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

I did my 10 miles at home today. They went fine - I had a bit of a side cramp, but nothing severe like in the midst of my training. I think it must be tied somehow to the IT band issues on my right hip, because the cramps come more when I feel the hip. I also stepped twice into an ankle-deep puddle and had about 4 miles of squishy shoes until I stopped home and changed them.

Mom sent me an article on taper traps from Runners World. I have it out because I'm feeling the urge to do bad things. I feel really guilty for missing the 13 miles last weekend. I know logically that doing 6 vs 13 for that one week won't really matter, but it still upsets me. Then, I've been doing a lot of 2 mile runs mid-week instead of 3 milers. I'm also feeling tempted to up the mid-week mileage to make up for that. I know I shouldn't and I won't, but I'm paranoid that I'm going to be less prepared than I could be.

I am going to do more streatching of my IT bands, though. My big fears for the race are that they will act up or that I will get those side cramps that make me have to walk. I am also really worried that I'm going to sprain my ankle before the race. I've almost done it 3 times this week.

Only 2 more weeks. I will behave.

Week 19 of 21: UK and Sick

2006-10-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

This week I went to the UK, so I did my three midweek runs there. Those felt great. I caught a cold on the plane back, and had to miss the Chicago Half Marathon today because of it. I went out to do a run, but only managed about 6 miles. I figure that I did well last week with the 18 miles, and so it won't matter too much that I'm a bit weak this week.

Week 18 of 21: Long Run With Mom

2006-09-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

I came to chicago this week, and Mom and I did the 18 mile long run together. It was great - I had tons of energy, nothing hurt. We did the first 10 miles at about an 11:30 pace, and the last 8 miles at about a 9:30 pace. Overall, it took 3:10 to finish. This is really encouraging for the marathon. I shouldn't have a problem finishing under 5 hours, and I could even hit the 4:45 that I want. I'm very encouraged.

On the long run, we went into a little neighborhood that had one of those speed notification things set up - the digital ones that tell you how fast you're going. We joked that it would read our speed...and it did! When we ran towards it, it showed a big 5 mph :)

Week 17 of 21: Philly

2006-09-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

My long run this week was the Philadelphia Distance Run. It was organized by Elite Racing, who usually does good work, but this race was bad. Most aid stations were totally out of Gatorade when I got there, or else the volunteers were frantically filling up cups while runners waited at the tables. A lot of the clocks were off - the one at mile 9 was at LEAST 10 minutes wrong. I'm sure it was worse for people at the back of the pack. Volunteers (kids) were amusing themselves by throwing many cups of water on runners at the later rest stops, and the four 5-gallon jugs of water left by the aid tables were definitely not enough to provide drinks to the few thousand runners behind me. Overall I felt fine, but I was really disappointed to travel up there, pay to stay overnight (at the fabulous Doubletree, but still), pay the race fee, and get up early only to have less support than I'd have running on the College Park trails with my well placed bottles of gatorade.

I did only some shorter runs during the week again. Nothing hurts, but I was still a bit unmotivated. I'm hoping to get in some more miles this week, when I will also finish my last big run.

Week 16 of 21

2006-09-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm a week late in posting this. Week 16 was short. I only did a few very short runs in the middle of the week, and a 12 mile run on the weekend. Everything feels fine but I don't have much to report.

Week 15 of 21: I guess it's all easier than this

2006-09-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

The beginning of this week was good. Then we had a tropical storm pass through and I had a couple really busy days. I was supposed to go to virginia beach for the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. That's a great race, but I just could not get up the energy to drive the 4.5 hours, stay over night, get up at 5am, run, and then drive my very sleepy self 4.5 hours back home. Plus there was a chance it would rain. I debated with myself most of the week, but finally just decided to skip it. So I planned to do a full 20 miles here, doing 10 on the trails in College Park and the rest at a 15K race just a few minutes away in Beltsville.

When I went down to the basement to get my running clothes from the dryer, I found that said tropical storm flooded my basement. Tearing up the carpet and getting that all set up put me back half an hour. I did 8 miles on the trails and headed over to the race. I parked, ran over to registration, and got there about 10 minutes before the start, and they refused to let me register. It's not that the race was full. They had bibs and places and there was a woman at the table. They just told me "Sorry, registration just closed." Great. I kept myself from crying until I got outside and then ran back to my car, drove back to the trails, and settled in to finishing another 10 miles. The first 4 of them went ok. After that, I started getting really sick. I felt like I had a gallon of water in my stomach and it was all sloshing around. I didn't drink a lot. I had less gatorade than usual actually. Something was wrong, though, and I was very nauseaus. I forced myself to keep going for about 5 miles, but it kept getting worse. I tried walking, but that didn't help at all. Finally, at mile 19 when I was passing my car, I just decided to give up. There doesnt' seem to be any reason to make myself vomit for one very uninspired extra mile.

I'm counting this as a 20 mile run because I suffered enough for it to be 20 miles. That means I've swapped out the 20 miler in September for 18 miles.

August Summary

2006-09-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Just over 100 miles for August. Marathon training is still going well.

Nike Chainsaw Killer Commercial

2006-08-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I think for the superbowl, nike made this AMAZING commercial. It only aired once or twice until they had to pull it because some stupid people got upset. I think it is empowering and awesome, and now it is here for all to enjoy.

Week 14 of 21: Like frosted flakes

2006-08-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

This week has really made up for last week. Every run has been gr*eat. I never felt tired or sore. I was always happy to be outside, moving around.

Today's 17 mile run was done in conjunction with the Annapolis 10 Mile Run. That race was VERY well organized. It was also nice weather considering it's August in DC. It was humid, but not oppressively hot. The sun was behind some haze/clouds and there was a nice breeze. I finished up the 17 miles with some loops around the Naval Academy football field. I easily could have gone farther today.

I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I think. I only have 2 really long runs left. The half marathons are easy, and other than those two really long ones (an 18 and a 20), I don't have anything longer than a half marathon left.

Yay me.

Week 13 of 21: Unlucky 13?

2006-08-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ug. This week was terrible. I had no motivation to run any day. I was tired for all of my shorter runs. The 11 mile long run, which I tried to look forward to, was terrible. I ran on the roads around my house. I was hot, tired, and exhausted. I had to walk almost half a mile all together.

When I had stopped home to drink, I had this weird IT band thing happen. I was walking around the kitchen drinking when it felt weird by my knee, then it was all messed up for like 2 steps such that I couldn't even walk, and then it went away. I never have it hurt by my knee - it's always around the hip - and this just passed on by.

I hope next week is better. This week had left me feeling very discouraged.

Attacked by Geese: revisited

2006-08-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I know it seems crazy that those geese attacked me two weeks ago. But I finally was able to get pictures off my little camera, and now I have proof!

And if you demand more evidence, here it is. Here is the gaggle walking along:

Sure, they look innocent, but look closer and you'll see that they are vicious:

Week 12 of 21: Back to that same old place....

2006-08-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

This week's long run was the Chicago Distance Classic. I spent the weekend in Chicago with mom, Tom, and Michelle and we had a great time. My time was 2:25:28. Not bad, not great, but about what I anticipated after the longer runs the last 2 weeks.

Pre-trip, I have been feeling kind of burnt out. I was just totally unmotivated to run this week, and I only did two three-mile runs and one two miler. I'm hoping it was just a passing thing after the long run the weekend before.

Week 11 of 21: More than Half Done

2006-08-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

This week was my 17 mile run, the second of my really long training runs. Last week's 16 miler was bad. I was so hot and drained. This week was much cooler; it was only 90 during my run (which say something about how hot it was last week) and I felt pretty good. I was certainly tired by the end, but I didn't have any problems. The side cramps that have been bugging me threatened a few times, but never became a problem.

This week has been ok. It was over 100 degrees most of the week, so I didn't do a lot of mid-week running.

Now I've crossed the half way point in my training. Two of the three very long runs I have coming are paired with other races, which I think will make them easier. There is one 17 miler that is grouped with the Annapolis 10 Miler, and an 18 paired with the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. I figure I'll do 1 or 2 miles at the beginning of each race, and then do the rest after.

Don't Want to Eat

2006-08-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready right now for my 17 mile run. I'm a little bit hungry, and have only had a Luna bar today. I know I have to eat something before I go, but the last thing I want is food right now. I know if I don't eat that I will really feel it part way into this run, but the thought of eating toast and peanut butter or anything for that matter seems terrible. I just want to go and run and get it done with.

Ug. These really long runs aren't good for me.

Making My Own Gear

2006-08-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

I made a few shops on CafePress that have shirts and stickers and things that I wanted. This sticker is on my car:

Today, I just put up this one:

I like them, and a bunch of people have bought some of these things from my store. I was looking at other people's designs today. Some are really lame, but some of them made me laugh.

This one is funny and true (though riddled with poor grammar).

I would never wear this, but it's pretty funny.

And I liked this, too

There are lots more. Click if you want to take a look.

July Summary

2006-07-31T23:16:00.000-07:00

Look at the totally-didn't-try-for-it total for July.

Week 10 of 21: Attacked by Geese

2006-07-31T23:05:00.000-07:00

This was my first hard long run - 16 miles. It was over 90 and I was hot and unhappy. As I neared mile 8.5, there were some geese walking around. I pulled out my little camera to snap a picture, and one goose hissed at me. I didn't even know geese could hiss. Then, another one turned to me, stuck his big long neck straight out, and charged me! I had to run away from the goose!

This is a serious problem, fellow runners. This gaggle was an avian Order of Satan.

Pictures coming soon.