“Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Francis of Assisi
I’m so close to the marathon it is scary! The hardest part of the taper is slowing my eating down as much as I have slowed my running and not running harder and faster as the miles decrease.
Last weekend I had the privilege of running a 5K with a good friend Danielle. She was a cross country runner in high school, but family and life had gotten in the way and she hadn’t run in years. When she was diagnosed with RA she didn’t think she would ever run again. When we met, the fact that I run and have RA blew her away, she was so excited about the prospect of getting back into running and getting back into shape!
On the day of Danielle’s 5K, I was scheduled for a 16 mile long run so I headed out to the base, ran 4 miles to warm up, and then met her at the 5K start. It had been many years since Danielle had run more than 2 straight miles, but she was determined to finish the 5K without walking. We took it very slow, between 13 and 14 minutes per mile, but she kept running. It was hard for me to imagine that last year at this time, I was training for my first half marathon on this same stretch of blacktop, running at that same pace. Now running that slow just about kills me and I see only a tiny difference in my heart rate by slowing down so dramatically. With only a few beats per minute more, I can run 11 minute miles now.
We didn’t talk much during the 5K. I would let her know as each half mile mark chirped from my Garmin, but we just ran side by side. As we approached the end and could see the finish line, Danielle was brought to tears. She couldn’t believe she was going to do it, finish a 5K without walking! She choked up so badly she nearly had to walk! Fortunately, she was able to calm down and keep plugging away. We crossed the finish line somewhere around 40 minutes and she was ecstatic! Unfortunately her RA flared up a bit the next day because of the extreme effort, but it didn’t last and she is looking forward to the next 5K in a few weeks.
It was such a wonderful thing to participate in that special event in her life. I may have been part of the spark that got her going, but the hard work and determination was all Danielle’s. I pointed out that it was almost 2 ½ years ago to the day that I ran my first ever 5K and now, in 2 weeks, I will run my first full marathon. I’m still constantly shocked at my own progress. Some days I feel like I only dreamed that 2 hour finish at the Outer Banks. When I run a 9 minute mile in training I think to myself, “Did I really run this fast for 2 straight hours!” I don’t think this is all that unusual. I think many of us constantly underestimate what our bodies can do. It is our minds that hold us back, not our muscles or bones.
I realize now that when I run, I may be out there slogging away by myself, but I’m not running alone. When I cross that finish line in two weeks, I will cross it for every person diagnosed with RA, every middle ages house wife, every couch potato that is over 35 and wonders if it is not too late to get in shape. Getting out there as a real person, not some elite Olympian or lifelong runner with long lean muscles and years of training, shows people that marathons are for mortals. Normal people with a little grit and determination can do this. You don’t have to be fast, a 16 mpm average will get you over the line before the course closes. You do have to train, a LOT, marathons are not handed to you. Even walking for 26.2 miles is not something a person in good shape can just decide to do in an instant. It takes planning, hard work, and days of getting out there in all weather. Whether you feel like it or not you have to consistently put in the miles.
So far this year I have kept up with my written log, recovered from nasty shin splints, and run just over 200 miles (20 of them barefoot). I believe I am a runner. I believe I can run a marathon. I believe I can inspire others to seek more from themselves. I started running because I needed to. I continued running because it helped me so much and I discovered it was something I COULD do for myself. And now, here I am, doing the impossible.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Once in a while you must amaze yourself!
That 16 mile run really shook my confidence. I came away from it ready to give up on the marathon in March and put my goal off for another year. I felt like physically and mentally I could never have gone past 16 miles.
The following week I ran the miles listed on the training plan, but the thought of an 18 mile run was simply beyond me. I ended up running 10, or really 2 fives because I ran the first 5, spent an hour waiting for and talking to my husband on Skype, and then ran 5 more. My RA was bothering me, I hadn’t slept, just felt really beaten and miserable.
Early last week my track club had a meeting where our guest speaker was a woman that was recently awarded a trophy for having run at least one Marathon in each of the 50 states! To meet her, you would never guess she was so amazing. She does not consider herself an athlete and is very humble and grateful for the opportunities she has had. Her other great physical accomplishment is that she hiked the Appalachian trail in 2000. It took her 5 ½ months! When you meet someone like this, and they aren’t larger than life, don’t have an air of superiority surrounding them, and can just blend into any crowd or situation, you realize that achievement isn’t something you are born to. It isn’t something that should ever be taken for granted, or something that just happens. It is born of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. Everyone has something extraordinary within them, but it takes the right combination of challenge, inspiration, and opportunity to bring it out. All three of these ingredients must be sought; they do not just get handed to you.
After that meeting, I was once again pumped to run the marathon. I’ve been very irritated by my vacillating back and forth. To be so excited one minute and so defeated the next eats at me. I wanted to feel as excited while running as I did thinking about running and this was the first time those two points have diverged so far. At the end of the 16 mile run, I just wanted to cry and never run again and I had never felt like that at the end of a run, I always felt positive and anxious for my next run.
So what to do? I started posting to a couple of key forums where I knew I would get bald honest feedback. I posted to the Runner’s World Marathoner’s page asking if I was crazy to try running 26.2 on so little training and with so many issues. I also posted to Hal Higdon’s forum asking if it would be reasonable to run the 20 miler one week early. I was not going to register for a marathon until I knew I could run 20 miles and I really wanted to get it behind me. I also wanted to schedule my 20 when I had nothing else going on so if I really wiped myself out, I could just rest and recover. I received many wonderful supportive messages. Even the ones suggesting I wait gave me good information to work with and helped my decision greatly. I decided to take one last shot at preparing for the marathon.
When I headed out the door yesterday, it was in the mid 40’s and heading to the 50’s. The sun was out, people were out, and everyone was smiling! I had promised myself that I didn’t have to do 20. I could just go as far as I felt like going and there was no shame in cutting it short if I needed to. As I wound through the neighborhoods I felt strong and ready for many miles. After 6 miles I took my shoes off and ran the next two barefoot. It felt SO good! My feet are soft though from running so much in shoes so when they started feeling a little tender, I went ahead and put my VFFs back on. Around this time my daughter called me on my cell. I’m sure people passing by thought I was nuts for jogging and chatting, but it passed the next hour quickly and was almost as good has having her actually running with me.
By the time I passed the 10 mile mark, I knew I had a shot at 20. I felt great mentally and physically and was ready to continue for 2 more hours so I headed for the yacht club at the far end of town. I haven’t run out there in nearly a year so it was a nice change of scenery. Once I got to the marina, I stopped in the public restroom for a pit stop and to refill my water bottles. I was really regretting not taking a couple of gels with me. I had planned to just run 5 mile laps and stop at the house each time so I hadn’t stuffed my pockets properly.
When I turned around to head back, I realized I would be running into the wind all the way home. I hadn’t noticed the wind up to that point so it wasn’t all that strong, but it was enough to make me zip up my vest, put my gloves back on, and pull my sleeves back down. It didn’t slow me down though. I stuck to my plan of running around 11 to 11.5 minute miles and then walking until it averaged out at 12 minute miles.
When I hit 16 miles I was entering new territory, 4 miles left to go and feeling tired, but good. At 17 miles I was getting a bit worried. I was now 3 miles from the house so I had to finish 20 one way or the other. At 18 miles I was approaching the wall. My quads and back were starting to hurt, my claves were tight, and my shin was started to act up; 2 more miles to go.
When I turned onto my very familiar street, I was elated. The end was in sight and I was feeling very mentally positive, if physically exhausted. Those last two miles were tough, but still not as tough as the last two of the 16 miler in the snow and sleet. I was home free and felt like I had climbed the highest mountain!
When I finally stumbled through the front door I was over the moon! My legs were twitching, I was starving, thirsty, and my muscles felt like rocks. I peeled off the outer layers of stinky tech clothes, took a couple of minutes to stretch, downed a protein shake and a bowl of cereal, and made myself a drink to sip at while I iced my calf in front of the computer. And then I registered for my first full marathon!
I really amazed myself yesterday, which is something we all need to do from time to time. We need to stretch our wings, set impossible goals, and then reach them. We need to know we are better than the doubting voices in our heads, those little gremlins that make us want to give up or say, “I could never do that.” Three years ago, if someone had told me I would run 20 miles and register for a marathon, I would have thought they were daft! To me marathons were for crazy people that were wrecking their health. Well, maybe I’m crazy now, but I’ve never felt better in my life!
The following week I ran the miles listed on the training plan, but the thought of an 18 mile run was simply beyond me. I ended up running 10, or really 2 fives because I ran the first 5, spent an hour waiting for and talking to my husband on Skype, and then ran 5 more. My RA was bothering me, I hadn’t slept, just felt really beaten and miserable.
Early last week my track club had a meeting where our guest speaker was a woman that was recently awarded a trophy for having run at least one Marathon in each of the 50 states! To meet her, you would never guess she was so amazing. She does not consider herself an athlete and is very humble and grateful for the opportunities she has had. Her other great physical accomplishment is that she hiked the Appalachian trail in 2000. It took her 5 ½ months! When you meet someone like this, and they aren’t larger than life, don’t have an air of superiority surrounding them, and can just blend into any crowd or situation, you realize that achievement isn’t something you are born to. It isn’t something that should ever be taken for granted, or something that just happens. It is born of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. Everyone has something extraordinary within them, but it takes the right combination of challenge, inspiration, and opportunity to bring it out. All three of these ingredients must be sought; they do not just get handed to you.
After that meeting, I was once again pumped to run the marathon. I’ve been very irritated by my vacillating back and forth. To be so excited one minute and so defeated the next eats at me. I wanted to feel as excited while running as I did thinking about running and this was the first time those two points have diverged so far. At the end of the 16 mile run, I just wanted to cry and never run again and I had never felt like that at the end of a run, I always felt positive and anxious for my next run.
So what to do? I started posting to a couple of key forums where I knew I would get bald honest feedback. I posted to the Runner’s World Marathoner’s page asking if I was crazy to try running 26.2 on so little training and with so many issues. I also posted to Hal Higdon’s forum asking if it would be reasonable to run the 20 miler one week early. I was not going to register for a marathon until I knew I could run 20 miles and I really wanted to get it behind me. I also wanted to schedule my 20 when I had nothing else going on so if I really wiped myself out, I could just rest and recover. I received many wonderful supportive messages. Even the ones suggesting I wait gave me good information to work with and helped my decision greatly. I decided to take one last shot at preparing for the marathon.
When I headed out the door yesterday, it was in the mid 40’s and heading to the 50’s. The sun was out, people were out, and everyone was smiling! I had promised myself that I didn’t have to do 20. I could just go as far as I felt like going and there was no shame in cutting it short if I needed to. As I wound through the neighborhoods I felt strong and ready for many miles. After 6 miles I took my shoes off and ran the next two barefoot. It felt SO good! My feet are soft though from running so much in shoes so when they started feeling a little tender, I went ahead and put my VFFs back on. Around this time my daughter called me on my cell. I’m sure people passing by thought I was nuts for jogging and chatting, but it passed the next hour quickly and was almost as good has having her actually running with me.
By the time I passed the 10 mile mark, I knew I had a shot at 20. I felt great mentally and physically and was ready to continue for 2 more hours so I headed for the yacht club at the far end of town. I haven’t run out there in nearly a year so it was a nice change of scenery. Once I got to the marina, I stopped in the public restroom for a pit stop and to refill my water bottles. I was really regretting not taking a couple of gels with me. I had planned to just run 5 mile laps and stop at the house each time so I hadn’t stuffed my pockets properly.
When I turned around to head back, I realized I would be running into the wind all the way home. I hadn’t noticed the wind up to that point so it wasn’t all that strong, but it was enough to make me zip up my vest, put my gloves back on, and pull my sleeves back down. It didn’t slow me down though. I stuck to my plan of running around 11 to 11.5 minute miles and then walking until it averaged out at 12 minute miles.
When I hit 16 miles I was entering new territory, 4 miles left to go and feeling tired, but good. At 17 miles I was getting a bit worried. I was now 3 miles from the house so I had to finish 20 one way or the other. At 18 miles I was approaching the wall. My quads and back were starting to hurt, my claves were tight, and my shin was started to act up; 2 more miles to go.
When I turned onto my very familiar street, I was elated. The end was in sight and I was feeling very mentally positive, if physically exhausted. Those last two miles were tough, but still not as tough as the last two of the 16 miler in the snow and sleet. I was home free and felt like I had climbed the highest mountain!
When I finally stumbled through the front door I was over the moon! My legs were twitching, I was starving, thirsty, and my muscles felt like rocks. I peeled off the outer layers of stinky tech clothes, took a couple of minutes to stretch, downed a protein shake and a bowl of cereal, and made myself a drink to sip at while I iced my calf in front of the computer. And then I registered for my first full marathon!
I really amazed myself yesterday, which is something we all need to do from time to time. We need to stretch our wings, set impossible goals, and then reach them. We need to know we are better than the doubting voices in our heads, those little gremlins that make us want to give up or say, “I could never do that.” Three years ago, if someone had told me I would run 20 miles and register for a marathon, I would have thought they were daft! To me marathons were for crazy people that were wrecking their health. Well, maybe I’m crazy now, but I’ve never felt better in my life!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Biting off a bit too much
It doesn't work to leap a twenty-foot chasm in two ten-foot jumps. American Proverb
Biting off more than I can chew is a common theme in my life. Most of the time I can chew fast enough to survive, but sometimes I just have to spit it out and start over.
After my first 10 mile long run of the year I thought to myself, “Hey, maybe I can jump into an entry level marathon training plan and run the Shamrock Full.” I was already trained for HM distance with runs up to 14 miles, so why not just keep going. I decided if I could finish a 15 mile long run and still walk, I would register for the full marathon. Of course, this is a bad time of year for weather and running barefoot or in my Vibram Five Fingers (VFF) is not possible most days, so a little over 2 weeks ago I put on my trail shoes and hit the road in the rain. It is possible to run with near barefoot form in a minimal show if you pay attention, but apparently I was not paying enough attention because by the end of the 4 mile run my shins were tender.
I haven’t had shin splints in a long time and running barefoot has never caused shin splints so I figured if I ran in my VFFs for my long run the next day, I would be okay. It was a total rookie mistake. Although I believe very fervently in barefoot and minimal shoe running, it is not a panacea and you can still easily do too much too soon. I might have been okay with a 15 mile run if I hadn’t spent the morning standing and freezing to death working the finish line of a 10K first. Shivering takes a lot out of you and running when you are tired tends to ruin your form, not a good combination. I went running anyway and after my 15 mile run that afternoon my calves felt like rocks and my shin was very sore. The next morning I could hardly walk because of the shin splint in my right leg, so I did not register for the marathon and took the next two days off.
I should have waited until all the soreness cleared up, but I didn’t. I went for a 4 mile run on Tuesday. It went okay and although my shin was slightly sorer in the morning, it wasn’t as sore as it had been the morning after my 15 miler so I somehow convinced myself that this meant running was helping. When the thermometer hit 50 degrees with dry roads and sunshine, I went for a barefoot run and ran for 8 miles. This was like throwing gasoline on a fire. I could feel burning in my shin, but still thought I could work around it. I finished the 8 miles, but the next morning my shins were horrible again. I never realized just how bad shin splints could get since I’ve never been able to see evidence of one from the outside, but after the 8 mile run my shin looked like someone had hit me with a baseball bat. I had a huge goose egg on the front of my shin and swelling from the top of my ankle to half way to my knee.
I decided it was time to get serious about healing and took the rest of the week off and didn’t try running again until this past Wednesday, nearly a full week. This time I just tried a 3 mile run and it went well. Not totally free of tenderness, but it didn’t seem to make it worse either. The next day I tried 5 miles, still so far so good. I took Friday off and like a total moron resumed my marathon training schedule and ran 16 miles Saturday. It went surprisingly well and probably would have been fine if I had stopped at 14, but of course, I didn’t. I wish I knew what my driving force was because I need to turn it off once in a while. I was miserable, the falling rain and snow mix stung my face, and I hurt all over from being tense. I finished though, all 16 miles. The walk breaks were more frequent at the end and I was down to a 13 minute mile, but I kept plodding until it was done.
This morning my shin hurts and is swollen again so I still haven’t registered for the marathon. I can’t imagine adding another 10 miles to my run 6 weeks from now. Of course, my shin isn’t anywhere near as sore as it was after my 15 mile run, so there is still a part of my brain taunting me and telling me I can do this. I wish I could shut that part up and just let my leg heal. I need to learn when to quit, but I know darn well that I’ll run again on Tuesday after a 2 day rest, and that if I can run Saturday morning, I’ll run another long run. And if I can run after that, I may still register for the full marathon. I know; I’m insane. 18, 14, 20, 12, 8, those are the long runs left on the schedule. I don’t know if I can do them. I don’t know if I even WANT to do them, but I won’t stop trying. I’m still planning on the 24-hour relay in April so I still need to keep adding mileage.
I hadn’t broadcast my intentions about the Shamrock full because I know I’m not really ready and with RA, I need to be more than ready. It just seems like I should try to get my first out of the way in a local race and before we leave the country again. Often announcing a commitment will also make me push myself way too hard, although it worked for me with my first half marathon. The bottom line is that I have too many other things going on in my life to sacrifice them all to meet a goal I am not ready for. I may yet run the full marathon, I may not. It may sell out before I make a decision, but that is okay, there will be others later when I’m more prepared. The only promise I make is that I won’t give up, and that I will work on respecting my body and its limits, which at this point seems harder than actually running 26.2.
Biting off more than I can chew is a common theme in my life. Most of the time I can chew fast enough to survive, but sometimes I just have to spit it out and start over.
After my first 10 mile long run of the year I thought to myself, “Hey, maybe I can jump into an entry level marathon training plan and run the Shamrock Full.” I was already trained for HM distance with runs up to 14 miles, so why not just keep going. I decided if I could finish a 15 mile long run and still walk, I would register for the full marathon. Of course, this is a bad time of year for weather and running barefoot or in my Vibram Five Fingers (VFF) is not possible most days, so a little over 2 weeks ago I put on my trail shoes and hit the road in the rain. It is possible to run with near barefoot form in a minimal show if you pay attention, but apparently I was not paying enough attention because by the end of the 4 mile run my shins were tender.
I haven’t had shin splints in a long time and running barefoot has never caused shin splints so I figured if I ran in my VFFs for my long run the next day, I would be okay. It was a total rookie mistake. Although I believe very fervently in barefoot and minimal shoe running, it is not a panacea and you can still easily do too much too soon. I might have been okay with a 15 mile run if I hadn’t spent the morning standing and freezing to death working the finish line of a 10K first. Shivering takes a lot out of you and running when you are tired tends to ruin your form, not a good combination. I went running anyway and after my 15 mile run that afternoon my calves felt like rocks and my shin was very sore. The next morning I could hardly walk because of the shin splint in my right leg, so I did not register for the marathon and took the next two days off.
I should have waited until all the soreness cleared up, but I didn’t. I went for a 4 mile run on Tuesday. It went okay and although my shin was slightly sorer in the morning, it wasn’t as sore as it had been the morning after my 15 miler so I somehow convinced myself that this meant running was helping. When the thermometer hit 50 degrees with dry roads and sunshine, I went for a barefoot run and ran for 8 miles. This was like throwing gasoline on a fire. I could feel burning in my shin, but still thought I could work around it. I finished the 8 miles, but the next morning my shins were horrible again. I never realized just how bad shin splints could get since I’ve never been able to see evidence of one from the outside, but after the 8 mile run my shin looked like someone had hit me with a baseball bat. I had a huge goose egg on the front of my shin and swelling from the top of my ankle to half way to my knee.
I decided it was time to get serious about healing and took the rest of the week off and didn’t try running again until this past Wednesday, nearly a full week. This time I just tried a 3 mile run and it went well. Not totally free of tenderness, but it didn’t seem to make it worse either. The next day I tried 5 miles, still so far so good. I took Friday off and like a total moron resumed my marathon training schedule and ran 16 miles Saturday. It went surprisingly well and probably would have been fine if I had stopped at 14, but of course, I didn’t. I wish I knew what my driving force was because I need to turn it off once in a while. I was miserable, the falling rain and snow mix stung my face, and I hurt all over from being tense. I finished though, all 16 miles. The walk breaks were more frequent at the end and I was down to a 13 minute mile, but I kept plodding until it was done.
This morning my shin hurts and is swollen again so I still haven’t registered for the marathon. I can’t imagine adding another 10 miles to my run 6 weeks from now. Of course, my shin isn’t anywhere near as sore as it was after my 15 mile run, so there is still a part of my brain taunting me and telling me I can do this. I wish I could shut that part up and just let my leg heal. I need to learn when to quit, but I know darn well that I’ll run again on Tuesday after a 2 day rest, and that if I can run Saturday morning, I’ll run another long run. And if I can run after that, I may still register for the full marathon. I know; I’m insane. 18, 14, 20, 12, 8, those are the long runs left on the schedule. I don’t know if I can do them. I don’t know if I even WANT to do them, but I won’t stop trying. I’m still planning on the 24-hour relay in April so I still need to keep adding mileage.
I hadn’t broadcast my intentions about the Shamrock full because I know I’m not really ready and with RA, I need to be more than ready. It just seems like I should try to get my first out of the way in a local race and before we leave the country again. Often announcing a commitment will also make me push myself way too hard, although it worked for me with my first half marathon. The bottom line is that I have too many other things going on in my life to sacrifice them all to meet a goal I am not ready for. I may yet run the full marathon, I may not. It may sell out before I make a decision, but that is okay, there will be others later when I’m more prepared. The only promise I make is that I won’t give up, and that I will work on respecting my body and its limits, which at this point seems harder than actually running 26.2.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
2010 is underway
“The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different,” Peter Drucker
When I write a blog, I often start with a quote that reflects my point or feelings. Sometimes I can’t find anything on the subject at hand, other times there are endless choices to be waded though. It all depends on how many people take issue with it. Change was my key word today, a very popular topic, ruminated on by great minds with statements on both the positive and negative aspects. One thing they all agree on is that change is inevitable and necessary.
Every year is fraught with change, but some years bring bigger changes than others and with it comes stress and the need to protect oneself from the ravages of chaos. My faith protects my soul, but running protects my body and keeps my mind steady. As wimpy as this sounds, my resolution for 2010 is to keep a running log. I don’t want to make grand promises that I can’t keep in the way of distances or times, but writing everything down will be a challenge and will help to keep me on track. I plan to log levels of stress and emotions along with my miles and heart rates. I do have a goal for 1,000 miles this year, but it isn’t a resolution, just a starting point.
This past week I did my first two runs since Chiang Mai. The first 3 mile run was horrible. My legs felt like lead, my heart rate was high, I was out of breath, and felt like a brand new runner. My calves were tight and my ankles were griping by the end. There is a big price when you take a couple of weeks totally off of running, and exercise in general. I did a lot of walking, but not nearly enough to compensate.
My second run was a thousand times better! I felt good and strong and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it took me so long to get out the door that I could only squeeze in 3 miles, but it was above 50 degrees so I ran them barefoot. My feet have softened up a lot since November, but it felt so good to feel the ground! I had no pain or tightness though; calves were good, as were ankles and knees.
My running club has a few races in the next couple of months, so I’ll run some for fun, but my next A race will be the 24 hour Relay for Life in Hampton. I’ll have 24 hours to knock out all the miles I can, but I can take breaks, naps, meals, and walk with friends along the way. I definitely plan to exceed the marathon distance, am really shooting for 35 miles, but my pie-in-the-sky goal is 50 miles. It will all largely depend on how my training goes for the next couple of months and the weather on race day. I can pitch a tent at the check-in point and each loop is only 3 ¾ miles long, so there are plenty of opportunities to change clothes, gear, shoes, etc. and I won’t need a chase team like I would in a big Ultra. The race is April 17th, 2 days before Rusty is scheduled to board the freedom plane for home. It will be a great way to close out this deployment!
So where do the big changes come in? Of course Rusty coming home will be huge, but it will be more of a return to normalcy than real change. The big change is that we are slated to move this summer. Not just move house, or to a different state, but to Osan, Korea. The other big change is that our oldest daughter is engaged to be married in May. She has been in Florida since August, but it didn’t feel like she had left home because all her stuff is still here, her room is still the way she left it, and at some point she would come home. Now she is coming home only briefly to take it all away and become a grown up. It will be really hard to leave her behind to travel almost half way around the world, but it is wonderful to know she won’t be alone.
In the midst of all this turmoil it will be a real challenge to get my miles in, but it will be crucial to keeping my sanity and maintaining control over my RA. Other than some protesting joints from hauling luggage on and off carts, the trip to Thailand wasn’t too hard on my RA so I am hopeful I will continue to be successful in keeping it at bay through 2010.
Running is what is making the move to Korea possible. With Rheumatoid Arthritis, I should be disqualified from accompanying my husband, largely because they do not have a rheumatologist on staff. However, when my husband contacted the person in charge of signing the necessary waiver, he was able to add that I ran 3 half marathons this year, with my fastest being sub 2 hours. The doc was impressed (his best time was a few seconds slower than mine), and said if my RA is under control enough to allow me to train for endurance races, then there was no reason to say I couldn’t come to Korea. YAY!! I knew running was helping me, but I had no idea how far that help would go!
So my future is packed with change. I can’t even picture my life 8 months from now. All I know is I will be putting one foot in front of the other, and writing it down in my log book, adding up my miles, and looking ahead to new challenges. Hmmmm, maybe I’ll shoot for the Seoul Marathon for 2011…
PS, just got in from a 10 mile run, it was great!!
When I write a blog, I often start with a quote that reflects my point or feelings. Sometimes I can’t find anything on the subject at hand, other times there are endless choices to be waded though. It all depends on how many people take issue with it. Change was my key word today, a very popular topic, ruminated on by great minds with statements on both the positive and negative aspects. One thing they all agree on is that change is inevitable and necessary.
Every year is fraught with change, but some years bring bigger changes than others and with it comes stress and the need to protect oneself from the ravages of chaos. My faith protects my soul, but running protects my body and keeps my mind steady. As wimpy as this sounds, my resolution for 2010 is to keep a running log. I don’t want to make grand promises that I can’t keep in the way of distances or times, but writing everything down will be a challenge and will help to keep me on track. I plan to log levels of stress and emotions along with my miles and heart rates. I do have a goal for 1,000 miles this year, but it isn’t a resolution, just a starting point.
This past week I did my first two runs since Chiang Mai. The first 3 mile run was horrible. My legs felt like lead, my heart rate was high, I was out of breath, and felt like a brand new runner. My calves were tight and my ankles were griping by the end. There is a big price when you take a couple of weeks totally off of running, and exercise in general. I did a lot of walking, but not nearly enough to compensate.
My second run was a thousand times better! I felt good and strong and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it took me so long to get out the door that I could only squeeze in 3 miles, but it was above 50 degrees so I ran them barefoot. My feet have softened up a lot since November, but it felt so good to feel the ground! I had no pain or tightness though; calves were good, as were ankles and knees.
My running club has a few races in the next couple of months, so I’ll run some for fun, but my next A race will be the 24 hour Relay for Life in Hampton. I’ll have 24 hours to knock out all the miles I can, but I can take breaks, naps, meals, and walk with friends along the way. I definitely plan to exceed the marathon distance, am really shooting for 35 miles, but my pie-in-the-sky goal is 50 miles. It will all largely depend on how my training goes for the next couple of months and the weather on race day. I can pitch a tent at the check-in point and each loop is only 3 ¾ miles long, so there are plenty of opportunities to change clothes, gear, shoes, etc. and I won’t need a chase team like I would in a big Ultra. The race is April 17th, 2 days before Rusty is scheduled to board the freedom plane for home. It will be a great way to close out this deployment!
So where do the big changes come in? Of course Rusty coming home will be huge, but it will be more of a return to normalcy than real change. The big change is that we are slated to move this summer. Not just move house, or to a different state, but to Osan, Korea. The other big change is that our oldest daughter is engaged to be married in May. She has been in Florida since August, but it didn’t feel like she had left home because all her stuff is still here, her room is still the way she left it, and at some point she would come home. Now she is coming home only briefly to take it all away and become a grown up. It will be really hard to leave her behind to travel almost half way around the world, but it is wonderful to know she won’t be alone.
In the midst of all this turmoil it will be a real challenge to get my miles in, but it will be crucial to keeping my sanity and maintaining control over my RA. Other than some protesting joints from hauling luggage on and off carts, the trip to Thailand wasn’t too hard on my RA so I am hopeful I will continue to be successful in keeping it at bay through 2010.
Running is what is making the move to Korea possible. With Rheumatoid Arthritis, I should be disqualified from accompanying my husband, largely because they do not have a rheumatologist on staff. However, when my husband contacted the person in charge of signing the necessary waiver, he was able to add that I ran 3 half marathons this year, with my fastest being sub 2 hours. The doc was impressed (his best time was a few seconds slower than mine), and said if my RA is under control enough to allow me to train for endurance races, then there was no reason to say I couldn’t come to Korea. YAY!! I knew running was helping me, but I had no idea how far that help would go!
So my future is packed with change. I can’t even picture my life 8 months from now. All I know is I will be putting one foot in front of the other, and writing it down in my log book, adding up my miles, and looking ahead to new challenges. Hmmmm, maybe I’ll shoot for the Seoul Marathon for 2011…
PS, just got in from a 10 mile run, it was great!!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Chiang Mai Half Marathon race report
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill
We planned this trip months and months ago. My youngest daughter and I would spend Christmas with my parents in Thailand while my oldest was working at Disney World and my Husband was deployed to Afghanistan. While thinking about what I wanted to do during our visit I looked up races in Thailand on the off chance that there would be a local 5 or 10K while I was in Chiang Mai. I was so excited when I discovered I would be there for the 4th annual Chiang Mai Marathon, especially since they also had a half marathon and 10K at the same time.
The race was scheduled for the 27th, so after arriving in the early morning hours of the 17th (following 23 hours of flying in 3 planes, and 7 hours of layovers in Atlanta and S. Korea) I followed a light taper/continuation of my running from the Outer Banks half marathon. My runs were going really well, despite the ubiquitous exhaust fumes and warm tropical climate, so I was looking forward to a great race. Unfortunately, at dinner Christmas Eve, my stomach started acting up. I ended up being up all night throwing up (sorry, TMI, but nothing pulls every muscle in your body like that!) and spent all of Christmas day feeling like I had been beaten up by a whole baseball team. I thought I was done for, it seemed like there was no way I was going to recover enough to even crawl a race, let alone run for over 2 hours.
However, on the morning of the 26th I actually felt a little hungry and could eat rice and leftover turkey. I felt much better, but definitely not in race condition. I decided that one more day would be enough to at least walk the course so I went ahead and registered. Everyone thought I was nuts except the couple down stairs that were planning to run the full marathon. Only another runner could really understand why I was still planning to run this race. So I spent the day eating as much rice and turkey as I dared (which wasn't much) and drinking electrolytes. Despite several naps and sleeping the whole day before, I still managed to get to sleep about 8:30.
My alarm went off this morning at 3:10, UGH! The full marathon started at 4 and the half started at five, so the runners down stairs had arranged a taxi to pick them up at 3:15 and then come back to get me an hour later. As soon as I got up, I drank a huge glass of the electrolyte drink, nibbled some toast and turkey and had a little Asian banana (about half the size of the ones back home.) Foolishly, I went for a cup of coffee, I'd regret that for hours!
The Tha Phae Gate was a beehive of activity. They used the same arch for the start of the full and half marathons, and then 10K and kids’ fun run, with one race starting each hour. To prove you were at the start, you had to go to "Check in" where they drew a blue line on your bib with a Sharpie. There were maybe 150 runners so everyone was over the start line within a minute. I had met lots of people and a great guy from Washington State ran with me for the first 7 miles. He was probably around 60 and had lived and run all over the world. Now he runs slow and for fun, but he spent the first hour and 20 minutes telling me about running in Athens, Greece, Paris, France, and dozens of other places. I really credit him with surviving this race because he totally took my mind off of how cruddy I felt and kept me going until past the point of no return. He also kept me from worrying about the fact that I had no idea where I was or how to follow the course!
When we hit the turn around, we nearly missed it. They handed us water, waved flash lights in our faces to get our attention, gave us rubber bands with a piece of blue yarn tied on to prove we made it that far, and signaled us to go back the other way. I'm sure some people missed the point because one couple that I had talked to before the race, and could see for the first 5 miles, never passed us on the way back!
At about mile 8 I was beginning to feel the lack of food over the previous few days. Earlier, when we passed tables set up to give food to the Buddhist monks, the smell turned my stomach and brought my coffee to my throat, so the thought of eating my Sports Beans or Gel did not appeal to me at all. In hind sight, I really should have choked down the beans. I finally waved on my adopted running buddy and took my first walking break. It was still full dark at this point and I was feeling really low, but now there was nothing to do but keep going. Thankfully, most of the race was along a canal where the main traffic runs and things hadn't really gotten started for the day so the exhaust fumes weren't too bad. As the sun started to brighten the sky, I realized I was surrounded by probably 100 roosters! Every person that has 10 square feet of dirt has chickens, and they are the most pitiful looking chickens you ever saw, but they crow with the best of them and every rooster in Chiang Mai was trying to outdo his neighbor. Thankfully, that cacophony kept me distracted (that and trying not to kick or step on them.)
Miles 9 and 10 seemed like they went on for hours. I was so tired and wanted to stop so badly, but I wanted it over with more so I kept putting one foot in front of the other. The traffic was getting thicker as we approached the old city, but they had great control on the intersections with the Thai Royal Army lined up every 10 feet to make sure the cars didn't run down the racers.
As I reached the old walls I knew I was getting close. I had been running for 2 hours and 8 minutes and had 2 miles left to run. If I could just kick it back up to 11 minute miles and skip my last walking break, I might come in sub 2:30! It was just the incentive I needed to focus my mind and motor on. As I hit mile 12, I had 12 minutes left, the darn .1 was gonna get me if I didn't keep pace! Suddenly, I turned a corner and saw the finish line, WHA!! Now, I know Garmins loose a little distance when you make a lot of turns, but I KNOW I didn't make enough turns to lose almost .8 miles! Honestly though, I was so glad to see it I really didn’t care. The finish line had 3 chutes, one each for the full, the half, and the 10K and I was so focused on keeping moving I nearly went down the wrong chute! I crossed the line just over 2:23, I couldn't believe it! Keeping with the low tech theme, they drew another blue line on my bib to show I crossed the finish line and checked for my rubber band with yarn. Anyone who placed in their age group was given a plastic card with their place on it and were sent to a table to have their name recorded for the awards ceremony.
My mom was waiting for me at the finish. No one expected me to finish that early, I was even carrying taxi money in case I couldn’t get back on my own, but she couldn't wait to get down to the race finish and just happened to have walked over to scope it out when she spotted me. As I came out of the chute, I was handed a medal and a plastic grocery bag that contained a vegetarian sausage biscuit thing, half a sandwich (with who knows what on it), a bottle of water, and a bottle of electrolyte drink. Needless to say, I threw away the food as soon as I could. They also had home made rice soup that was probably wonderful, but still not on my edible list, and boxes of soy milk. I didn't feel like I wanted anything, but standing around talking my calves and toes all suddenly started cramping horribly. As fast as I could, I downed my sports beans and the drink they gave me. I must have been really low on salt because about 10 minutes later everything started to relax.
I wish I could have stayed for the awards show, but I was done in and ready for a shower and nap. Now, 9 hours later, I'm feeling pretty good. I have bland food in my stomach, I've had a nap and shower, and rubbed Tiger Balm on nearly every joint. Looking back at my race report, I realize it begs the question, why didn’t I just run the 10K. Well, it never occurred to me! I didn’t have to run, I could have quite and no one would have faulted me, but I needed to test my metal once again and I passed with flying colors.
PS I ran in VFFs :-)
We planned this trip months and months ago. My youngest daughter and I would spend Christmas with my parents in Thailand while my oldest was working at Disney World and my Husband was deployed to Afghanistan. While thinking about what I wanted to do during our visit I looked up races in Thailand on the off chance that there would be a local 5 or 10K while I was in Chiang Mai. I was so excited when I discovered I would be there for the 4th annual Chiang Mai Marathon, especially since they also had a half marathon and 10K at the same time.
The race was scheduled for the 27th, so after arriving in the early morning hours of the 17th (following 23 hours of flying in 3 planes, and 7 hours of layovers in Atlanta and S. Korea) I followed a light taper/continuation of my running from the Outer Banks half marathon. My runs were going really well, despite the ubiquitous exhaust fumes and warm tropical climate, so I was looking forward to a great race. Unfortunately, at dinner Christmas Eve, my stomach started acting up. I ended up being up all night throwing up (sorry, TMI, but nothing pulls every muscle in your body like that!) and spent all of Christmas day feeling like I had been beaten up by a whole baseball team. I thought I was done for, it seemed like there was no way I was going to recover enough to even crawl a race, let alone run for over 2 hours.
However, on the morning of the 26th I actually felt a little hungry and could eat rice and leftover turkey. I felt much better, but definitely not in race condition. I decided that one more day would be enough to at least walk the course so I went ahead and registered. Everyone thought I was nuts except the couple down stairs that were planning to run the full marathon. Only another runner could really understand why I was still planning to run this race. So I spent the day eating as much rice and turkey as I dared (which wasn't much) and drinking electrolytes. Despite several naps and sleeping the whole day before, I still managed to get to sleep about 8:30.
My alarm went off this morning at 3:10, UGH! The full marathon started at 4 and the half started at five, so the runners down stairs had arranged a taxi to pick them up at 3:15 and then come back to get me an hour later. As soon as I got up, I drank a huge glass of the electrolyte drink, nibbled some toast and turkey and had a little Asian banana (about half the size of the ones back home.) Foolishly, I went for a cup of coffee, I'd regret that for hours!
The Tha Phae Gate was a beehive of activity. They used the same arch for the start of the full and half marathons, and then 10K and kids’ fun run, with one race starting each hour. To prove you were at the start, you had to go to "Check in" where they drew a blue line on your bib with a Sharpie. There were maybe 150 runners so everyone was over the start line within a minute. I had met lots of people and a great guy from Washington State ran with me for the first 7 miles. He was probably around 60 and had lived and run all over the world. Now he runs slow and for fun, but he spent the first hour and 20 minutes telling me about running in Athens, Greece, Paris, France, and dozens of other places. I really credit him with surviving this race because he totally took my mind off of how cruddy I felt and kept me going until past the point of no return. He also kept me from worrying about the fact that I had no idea where I was or how to follow the course!
When we hit the turn around, we nearly missed it. They handed us water, waved flash lights in our faces to get our attention, gave us rubber bands with a piece of blue yarn tied on to prove we made it that far, and signaled us to go back the other way. I'm sure some people missed the point because one couple that I had talked to before the race, and could see for the first 5 miles, never passed us on the way back!
At about mile 8 I was beginning to feel the lack of food over the previous few days. Earlier, when we passed tables set up to give food to the Buddhist monks, the smell turned my stomach and brought my coffee to my throat, so the thought of eating my Sports Beans or Gel did not appeal to me at all. In hind sight, I really should have choked down the beans. I finally waved on my adopted running buddy and took my first walking break. It was still full dark at this point and I was feeling really low, but now there was nothing to do but keep going. Thankfully, most of the race was along a canal where the main traffic runs and things hadn't really gotten started for the day so the exhaust fumes weren't too bad. As the sun started to brighten the sky, I realized I was surrounded by probably 100 roosters! Every person that has 10 square feet of dirt has chickens, and they are the most pitiful looking chickens you ever saw, but they crow with the best of them and every rooster in Chiang Mai was trying to outdo his neighbor. Thankfully, that cacophony kept me distracted (that and trying not to kick or step on them.)
Miles 9 and 10 seemed like they went on for hours. I was so tired and wanted to stop so badly, but I wanted it over with more so I kept putting one foot in front of the other. The traffic was getting thicker as we approached the old city, but they had great control on the intersections with the Thai Royal Army lined up every 10 feet to make sure the cars didn't run down the racers.
As I reached the old walls I knew I was getting close. I had been running for 2 hours and 8 minutes and had 2 miles left to run. If I could just kick it back up to 11 minute miles and skip my last walking break, I might come in sub 2:30! It was just the incentive I needed to focus my mind and motor on. As I hit mile 12, I had 12 minutes left, the darn .1 was gonna get me if I didn't keep pace! Suddenly, I turned a corner and saw the finish line, WHA!! Now, I know Garmins loose a little distance when you make a lot of turns, but I KNOW I didn't make enough turns to lose almost .8 miles! Honestly though, I was so glad to see it I really didn’t care. The finish line had 3 chutes, one each for the full, the half, and the 10K and I was so focused on keeping moving I nearly went down the wrong chute! I crossed the line just over 2:23, I couldn't believe it! Keeping with the low tech theme, they drew another blue line on my bib to show I crossed the finish line and checked for my rubber band with yarn. Anyone who placed in their age group was given a plastic card with their place on it and were sent to a table to have their name recorded for the awards ceremony.
My mom was waiting for me at the finish. No one expected me to finish that early, I was even carrying taxi money in case I couldn’t get back on my own, but she couldn't wait to get down to the race finish and just happened to have walked over to scope it out when she spotted me. As I came out of the chute, I was handed a medal and a plastic grocery bag that contained a vegetarian sausage biscuit thing, half a sandwich (with who knows what on it), a bottle of water, and a bottle of electrolyte drink. Needless to say, I threw away the food as soon as I could. They also had home made rice soup that was probably wonderful, but still not on my edible list, and boxes of soy milk. I didn't feel like I wanted anything, but standing around talking my calves and toes all suddenly started cramping horribly. As fast as I could, I downed my sports beans and the drink they gave me. I must have been really low on salt because about 10 minutes later everything started to relax.
I wish I could have stayed for the awards show, but I was done in and ready for a shower and nap. Now, 9 hours later, I'm feeling pretty good. I have bland food in my stomach, I've had a nap and shower, and rubbed Tiger Balm on nearly every joint. Looking back at my race report, I realize it begs the question, why didn’t I just run the 10K. Well, it never occurred to me! I didn’t have to run, I could have quite and no one would have faulted me, but I needed to test my metal once again and I passed with flying colors.
PS I ran in VFFs :-)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Chiang Mai Run
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” Buddha
I woke up this morning at 6:15 (a huge improvement over yesterday,) and decided to go for a run. The morning sun was just beginning to turn the mountain pink and purple and the city had a misty haze of fresh rain from a torrential tropical downpour in the night. We had the windows open so the sounds of a few scooters and people beginning their day drifted in, a lovely change over the midday din of thousands of trucks and motor bikes.
I dug around to collect my gear and get out the door without waking anyone else and headed for the Chiang Mai University campus about 1.3 miles away. By the time I had dressed and reached the main street then traffic had already quadrupled! Fortunately, this main street has a sidewalk. Unfortunately, that is where everyone parks their scooters so it was slow going as I picked my way around vehicles, damaged cement, trees, dogs, and business signs.
Finally I reached the University and lost most of the traffic. There I found lovely paths that were much less treacherous and lots of other people walking or running. A couple of times I let my mind wander, enjoying the beauty of the lush greenery and interesting surroundings, and nearly collided with another pedestrian because I had forgotten to keep left instead of right.
After I had run about 3 miles, I set my Garmin for “back to start” hoping to retrace my path. Having no information on the streets though, it tried to take me back as the crow flies. By the time I realized this I was totally turned around and had no idea where I had turned to get where I was. I knew I was still on the campus, so not too terribly lost, and the Garmin does have a compass (a feature I had never had show up before.) I also had my parents address and enough money for a Tuk-tuk to take me home if I got to far afield.
I worked my way to the corner of the campus, headed back towards the main street, and found myself up against one major obstacle, the City Moat. Ooookaaayy. I ran along the moat, running parallel to where I needed to go, trying not to get run over on a street with 4 lanes of traffic each way and no sidewalk. The neighbor that will be running the full marathon next week told me always to run WITH traffic in Chiang Mai. He said he knew that it was totally counter intuitive, but that all the cars and scooters are used to dodging obstructions in the road and your best bet is to be headed in the same direction so they have more time to spot you and go around. That is the huge difference between Chiang Mai and Naples, Italy. In Italy they TRY to hit you! In Chiang Mai, Thailand, they try to miss you.
Eventually I found the bridge that the marathon neighbor had told me about. It is totally crumbling and blocked off for car or scooter traffic, but is apparently deemed perfectly safe for pedestrians. Unfortunately, as far as I could see in either direction it was the only way across the moat, it was starting to get hot, and my lungs were beginning to protest about the car exhaust which was getting so thick I was affecting visibility. I said a prayer and ran over the bridge. I probably would have shut my eyes too, but if the cement started to fall away, I wanted to know when to jump!
At that point I could see the high rise my parents condo are in, so I wound my way through little side streets, packed full of homes and business with everyone sweeping their part of the street and setting up their shops for the day. Humorously, NO ONE noticed my VFFs. I was just another crazy Farang in weird clothes (Shamrock Marathon tech shirt, running skirt, striped socks, and 4 bottle Fuel Belt.)
No, I was not running barefoot. Even the Buddhist Monks do not go barefoot in this city. So far I have seen a few barefoot early in the morning when they go begging for their breakfast, otherwise they are in flip-flops (if they are young) or very nice hiking sandals if they are older.
By the time I finally arrived back at the condo, I had run 7 miles (two more than planned) and walked up 9 flights of stairs. There is an elevator, but unless I’m laden with groceries, I’ve made a habit out of taking the stairs in order to speed my acclimation to the heat, humidity, and slight altitude. We shall see how effective it has been on race day!
Despite the traffic, winding alleys, and chaos, my run relaxed me and really helped me shake off the last of the jet lag. I was refreshed and ready to begin the adventures of the day and I know I will get a great night’s sleep tonight. Running is where I find peace in the land of Buddha.
I woke up this morning at 6:15 (a huge improvement over yesterday,) and decided to go for a run. The morning sun was just beginning to turn the mountain pink and purple and the city had a misty haze of fresh rain from a torrential tropical downpour in the night. We had the windows open so the sounds of a few scooters and people beginning their day drifted in, a lovely change over the midday din of thousands of trucks and motor bikes.
I dug around to collect my gear and get out the door without waking anyone else and headed for the Chiang Mai University campus about 1.3 miles away. By the time I had dressed and reached the main street then traffic had already quadrupled! Fortunately, this main street has a sidewalk. Unfortunately, that is where everyone parks their scooters so it was slow going as I picked my way around vehicles, damaged cement, trees, dogs, and business signs.
Finally I reached the University and lost most of the traffic. There I found lovely paths that were much less treacherous and lots of other people walking or running. A couple of times I let my mind wander, enjoying the beauty of the lush greenery and interesting surroundings, and nearly collided with another pedestrian because I had forgotten to keep left instead of right.
After I had run about 3 miles, I set my Garmin for “back to start” hoping to retrace my path. Having no information on the streets though, it tried to take me back as the crow flies. By the time I realized this I was totally turned around and had no idea where I had turned to get where I was. I knew I was still on the campus, so not too terribly lost, and the Garmin does have a compass (a feature I had never had show up before.) I also had my parents address and enough money for a Tuk-tuk to take me home if I got to far afield.
I worked my way to the corner of the campus, headed back towards the main street, and found myself up against one major obstacle, the City Moat. Ooookaaayy. I ran along the moat, running parallel to where I needed to go, trying not to get run over on a street with 4 lanes of traffic each way and no sidewalk. The neighbor that will be running the full marathon next week told me always to run WITH traffic in Chiang Mai. He said he knew that it was totally counter intuitive, but that all the cars and scooters are used to dodging obstructions in the road and your best bet is to be headed in the same direction so they have more time to spot you and go around. That is the huge difference between Chiang Mai and Naples, Italy. In Italy they TRY to hit you! In Chiang Mai, Thailand, they try to miss you.
Eventually I found the bridge that the marathon neighbor had told me about. It is totally crumbling and blocked off for car or scooter traffic, but is apparently deemed perfectly safe for pedestrians. Unfortunately, as far as I could see in either direction it was the only way across the moat, it was starting to get hot, and my lungs were beginning to protest about the car exhaust which was getting so thick I was affecting visibility. I said a prayer and ran over the bridge. I probably would have shut my eyes too, but if the cement started to fall away, I wanted to know when to jump!
At that point I could see the high rise my parents condo are in, so I wound my way through little side streets, packed full of homes and business with everyone sweeping their part of the street and setting up their shops for the day. Humorously, NO ONE noticed my VFFs. I was just another crazy Farang in weird clothes (Shamrock Marathon tech shirt, running skirt, striped socks, and 4 bottle Fuel Belt.)
No, I was not running barefoot. Even the Buddhist Monks do not go barefoot in this city. So far I have seen a few barefoot early in the morning when they go begging for their breakfast, otherwise they are in flip-flops (if they are young) or very nice hiking sandals if they are older.
By the time I finally arrived back at the condo, I had run 7 miles (two more than planned) and walked up 9 flights of stairs. There is an elevator, but unless I’m laden with groceries, I’ve made a habit out of taking the stairs in order to speed my acclimation to the heat, humidity, and slight altitude. We shall see how effective it has been on race day!
Despite the traffic, winding alleys, and chaos, my run relaxed me and really helped me shake off the last of the jet lag. I was refreshed and ready to begin the adventures of the day and I know I will get a great night’s sleep tonight. Running is where I find peace in the land of Buddha.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Between races
“I would rather be able to appreciate things I cannot have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.” **Elbert Hubbard**
I’ve been a real slacker since my last half marathon, but my running is back on track so I think my blogging should be too. :-)
Recovering from the Outer Banks Half Marathon was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I really pushed my limits for that race which, when added to the fact that I was tired before I hit the start line, and then didn’t rest enough after the finish, made for several weeks of feeling like something the cat dragged in. It was worth it though!
I also made a real mistake in not letting my calf fully heal before trying speed work again. I’ve had a couple of instances of stepping down off of a stool or something similar and re-injuring it, in addition to running sprint intervals. I’m fine if I run at a consistent pace of 9 minutes per mile or less with a proper warm up, so I decided to enter a 5k with my track club last weekend. I’m sure I would have been fine if I had stuck to the plan: warm up, go easy, and enjoy the run. However, I waited too long to start my warm up so it wasn’t long enough for the cold conditions, and then I decided to add a 100 yard sprint to the end of my warm up. This was MONUMENTALLY stupid as I managed to pull my calf before the race even started. Irritated as I was, I ran it anyway and managed to do almost an 8 minute mile for the first mile and then spent the rest of the race limping back.
In the last couple of weeks I’ve gotten in a few 3 to 5 mile runs, one 13 miler, and one 10 miler with a couple more weeks to go, so I won’t be totally out of shape for my half marathon on the 27th. I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to approach that one though. Between 12 hours of jet lag, an increase of 1,000 ft. of elevation, weather change from 30 degree days to 90 degree days, and probably not getting in a lot of miles for the next couple of weeks, I will probably just take it slow and easy and enjoy the run. Mostly I’m looking forward to a few weeks of 90 degree days!
I doubt I will do any more totally barefoot runs for the year, so I’ll go ahead and state that my barefoot mileage for the year is 258.5! My running total for the year is approaching 800 miles.
I did not run the Atlanta Half Marathon. It was a huge disappointment to have to give up my trip, but I needed to take care of my dog and frankly I wasn’t up to running another 13 miles that soon after the Outer Banks race so it wouldn’t have gone well anyway. I’ll settle for 3 half marathons in a year, assuming nothing gets between me and the race in 2 weeks. I’m happy with my totals and do not need to compare them to anyone else’s. I’ve made great strides this year and met several goals earlier than expected and even met a couple of new ones I hadn’t considered at the beginning of the year! I’ve battled a bit with RA flare ups, but mostly I have been able to keep it under control. I still have that 25 minute 5k to beat and the long term goal of a 4 hour marathon that is probably still a couple of years away. I have more than enough to look forward to in the next year, including my husband returning from Afghanistan and lots of fun races with friends. It will be very cool to see the elites of South East Asia pass me on the Marathon course in a couple of weeks. How many sports are there where you can compete on the same course at the same time as world competitors!
I’ve been a real slacker since my last half marathon, but my running is back on track so I think my blogging should be too. :-)
Recovering from the Outer Banks Half Marathon was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I really pushed my limits for that race which, when added to the fact that I was tired before I hit the start line, and then didn’t rest enough after the finish, made for several weeks of feeling like something the cat dragged in. It was worth it though!
I also made a real mistake in not letting my calf fully heal before trying speed work again. I’ve had a couple of instances of stepping down off of a stool or something similar and re-injuring it, in addition to running sprint intervals. I’m fine if I run at a consistent pace of 9 minutes per mile or less with a proper warm up, so I decided to enter a 5k with my track club last weekend. I’m sure I would have been fine if I had stuck to the plan: warm up, go easy, and enjoy the run. However, I waited too long to start my warm up so it wasn’t long enough for the cold conditions, and then I decided to add a 100 yard sprint to the end of my warm up. This was MONUMENTALLY stupid as I managed to pull my calf before the race even started. Irritated as I was, I ran it anyway and managed to do almost an 8 minute mile for the first mile and then spent the rest of the race limping back.
In the last couple of weeks I’ve gotten in a few 3 to 5 mile runs, one 13 miler, and one 10 miler with a couple more weeks to go, so I won’t be totally out of shape for my half marathon on the 27th. I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to approach that one though. Between 12 hours of jet lag, an increase of 1,000 ft. of elevation, weather change from 30 degree days to 90 degree days, and probably not getting in a lot of miles for the next couple of weeks, I will probably just take it slow and easy and enjoy the run. Mostly I’m looking forward to a few weeks of 90 degree days!
I doubt I will do any more totally barefoot runs for the year, so I’ll go ahead and state that my barefoot mileage for the year is 258.5! My running total for the year is approaching 800 miles.
I did not run the Atlanta Half Marathon. It was a huge disappointment to have to give up my trip, but I needed to take care of my dog and frankly I wasn’t up to running another 13 miles that soon after the Outer Banks race so it wouldn’t have gone well anyway. I’ll settle for 3 half marathons in a year, assuming nothing gets between me and the race in 2 weeks. I’m happy with my totals and do not need to compare them to anyone else’s. I’ve made great strides this year and met several goals earlier than expected and even met a couple of new ones I hadn’t considered at the beginning of the year! I’ve battled a bit with RA flare ups, but mostly I have been able to keep it under control. I still have that 25 minute 5k to beat and the long term goal of a 4 hour marathon that is probably still a couple of years away. I have more than enough to look forward to in the next year, including my husband returning from Afghanistan and lots of fun races with friends. It will be very cool to see the elites of South East Asia pass me on the Marathon course in a couple of weeks. How many sports are there where you can compete on the same course at the same time as world competitors!
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