Seoul Open Marathon

Seoul Open Marathon (the Half)


       I really tried to behave myself on St. Patrick’s Day knowing I would out the door before dawn to head to my race start. I had one beer, which was good, and two helpings of corned beef, which was very, very bad. I woke up race morning having had no sleep and an uncomfortably full tummy that felt like a large, food filled balloon. UGH!


Me and Christina,


       The good news is I was driving in with my friends Jay and Christina so we left really early and got to the race start with enough time to sit in the car for an hour between running to the bathroom 5 times. Thankfully, by the time the race started I was feeling a bit better and my stomach had settled.

       It was cool, just above 40, but brightening quickly as the morning fog burned off. I decided to hand my jacket and wind pants to Jay right as the gun went off and to wear a small back pack to put my Merrell’s in once it warmed up a touch more. I should have just left my shoes with him too because after a mile I was ready to ditch them. Into the back pack they went and which instantly improved my mood.

       For the first 3 miles I really piddled around. I stopped to take my shoes off, I ran for a while with some ladies from my running club that were doing their first Half, and I walked while I got out my MP3 player and untangled the cord. I was using pretty much any excuse I could find to not run. Finally I decided to catch the 2:20 pacer that I had been player leap-frog with, and get down to business. By this time he had gotten pretty far ahead of me and I could barely see his yellow balloon bobbing in the distance.

       Slowly and steadily I closed the gap. I felt better once I passed him and started enjoying a more suitable pace. At one point I spotted mud on the side of the path and decided to indulge in a little play. I avoided the water, but let the cool mud squish between my toes and cake the tops with goo. It made me feel like a rebellious kid and I picked up the pace again.

       I was not watching my Garmin at all. I had the screen set up to only show me my heart rate so I wouldn’t go too nuts, but I had no idea what my time or distance was. There were kilometer markers, but I usually forget what they say 10 seconds after passing them, so I had no idea how far I was from the turn around when a large hill came into view. UGH! It was a steep slope that seemed never ending. It would climb and then level off teasingly before beginning to climb again and again. I was sure the turnaround would be at the top because this hill was going on for miles! As I ground my way up the hill, determined NOT to walk an inch of it, the 2:20 pacer started creeping up on me again. ACK! In my head I screamed “NO YOU DON’T” and forced my feet to pick up the pace. I never saw him again.

        Of course, the climb was only about ¾ of a mile, but we had to go down the other side before the turnaround, which also meant doing it all over again on the way back. Just past the turnaround, there was a water stop. I had been sipping at my small hand bottle because I was too full to gulp water, but too dehydrated to run without. When I stopped to let the volunteers refill my bottle here, they quickly shooed me on my way. I guess dawdling at the water stop isn’t the Korean way, LOL. Back up the hill we went, grinding away at the incline before coasting down the other side.

       At this point I finally broke through the last of my mental blocks. Having lost the 2:20 pacer, I knew I wasn’t going to be too disappointed with my time and I settled into a nice cruising pace that was hard, but not painful. I let my mind drift, sometimes listening to a podcast, other times just zoning out completely (some areas we were so near traffic I couldn’t hear what was in my headphones.)
   
       Finally I was down to the last few miles. I was getting tired, but not so tired that I didn’t think I could hold my pace to the end. I started focusing on picking off runners one at a time. Towards the end of races, the other runners have already seen me at least in passing from the turn around, so I stop getting the gasps and comments about my bare feet. This was a quiet march, each at his or her own pace, grimly determined to get to the finish line. The last mile brought us into the full force of a bitter wind off the Han River. I actually had to lean forward to keep from being blown back and it was the only point I wished I had kept more layers with me.

        The finish line was a sharp right turn and then about 10 ft to the timing mats. I had kind of forgotten I was barefoot until the exclamations of the finish line crew went up. “Ahhh, Barefoot!!” with lots of pointing and cameras going off. I hammed it up a bit and saw someone with a news camera and reporter running over to video my feet so I did the obligatory dance to show the tops and bottoms. At that point I realized I had big chunks of dried mud still on my toes and moved to use my heel to scrap it off. A very helpful man, in true Korean fashion, came to my “rescue” by pouring ice cold water on my feet, AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! My feet immediately began spasming and cramping as if I had stepped onto a cake of ice. It hurt so badly, but there was nothing I could do except say thank you and head off to get my swag.

       Fortunately, they had hot food for us; a bowl of soft tofu with sauce. Umm, okay. I’m one of those people that leave a race course ready to eat an elephant and new food doesn’t really deter me so after a brief moment of tentativeness, I took my paper bowl of tofu and headed to the sauce table. One tiny taste assured me it wasn’t going to blow the top of my head off with peppers so I added a bit more and dug in. It was amazingly satisfying! Carbs, protein, salt, nice onion and sesame flavor, YUMMY! I wolfed it down like I hadn’t eaten in a week.

Tasted way better than it looked

       After collecting my stuff and finishing my tofu, I headed across the street to the Olympic Stadium to watch the Seoul International Marathon. It was great fun seeing people finish and made me sorely wish I had gone for the full. Later, after showers and probably some naps, the club got together for dinner and had a great time. It was a long and tiring day, but I had a blast!

Finish time: 2:06:56

Lessons learned:

Lesson 1, do not protein load the night before a race!

Lesson 2, I am capable of a lot more than I give myself credit for.

Lesson 3, my brain slows me down more than my body.

Lesson 4, I am totally capable of running UP hills!

Lesson 5, trail running does not prepare you for a road race, I need more road miles if I’m going to survive China.

Lesson 6, I need to practice hills in bare feet, as attested to by one small blister on my big toe

Lesson 7, bashed knees can come back to haunt you at mile 12, give them more rest time!

Next up, Hwasong Filial Piety Half Marathon April 22nd

Bashed Knee? No Thank You!

A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop. **Robert Hughes**



       I am definitely a rusty monkey wrench today! It has been one of those weeks were everything hits at once making me fell like the world is out to get in my way.

       Whatever sinus thing has been going on for 2 months is now being treated with big time antibiotics which kill my stomach, my RA has decided to flare up and took one shoulder out of commission for a while, I have had to give up coffee because suddenly it is making my heart race and pound very uncomfortably, and to top it all off, I tripped and fell on my long run and knocked my knee just enough to cause it to stiffen up and hurt. UGH!

       Of all those things, the only one really scaring me is the knee. I didn’t really hit it that hard since I was on soft ground and rolled with the fall fairly well. At the time, it smarted a bit, as did my palms, but once I got up and shook it off all seemed well. I finished my run, and only in the last couple of miles did it start twinging. At that point it didn’t feel any better to walk so I just plodded along, taking care to keep my form very strict, and got home. After stretching and showering I sat down at the computer for a few minutes and then stood up, OUCH! It hadn’t taken long for the knee to stiffen up badly! Walking was painful and going down stairs was worse. Applying ice directly to a joint is excruciatingly painful for me so I settled for rest.

       By Saturday morning it was feeling better, but still tender, so I did not run with my group and instead stayed behind updating computer records. Today it is about 90% better, just an occasional twinge, but no serious pain and not much worse than the rest of my joints which are all complaining about the RA activity. If all goes well, I will head to the gym tomorrow to get on the treadmill so I can stop the minute I feel a twinge. If I have to take the week off from running, it is a good week to miss since it is already a fall back week. I do have a half marathon a week from today, but I don’t need to push it and I think my knee will be fine by then if I behave myself this week. Unlike repetitive use injuries, a mildly banged knee heals quickly with proper care.

       Bottom line here, I’m not looking for sympathy, but to show once again that it is totally normal to have interruptions and hiccups during the training cycle. I’m sure there are people out there that have perfect training records, and probably many more that have the potential for carefree training, but never get off the couch, I’m simply not one of those people. We have to work with what we have and if what I have is an accident prone, 40+ year old body with RA and bad sinuses, then that is what I have to work with. Frankly, I think it is even more important for me to stay strong and maintain every ounce I can muster because the more we have on our plate, the more strength we need to hold it up.

       Oh yes, and the shoulder that was about 90% impaired Saturday morning was down to only about 10% impaired by the end of the run. I know there are plenty of RA sufferers who don’t understand how I can run when I’m in pain from RA, but a run always makes the RA back off. I may still be tired, but my joints are less stiff and sore and I’d rather be tired from a run than RA!

       PS, had a great Interview with Chris from http://www.runrunlive.com/ it is a great website and podcast so please check it out and I will post the link when my interview airs!

7th Week of Training for The Great Wall of China Done!!!

     Aye Carumba! What a run! I took off for my long run with the thermometer reading 37F and a light rain falling, not exactly inspirational weather. My friend and I ran/walked the first 3.5 miles slowly and then she turned back for home while I headed on up the mountain alone. TOTALLY alone, I didn't see another person for hours! Fortunately, the rain stayed a drizzle so it wasn't too muddy or slippery, which was good since some of the hills were so steep I had to go up sideways.


     Incidentally, going up and down hills sideways seems to be an excellent way to strengthen the sides of the hips because mine are complaining loudly today, LOL.

      I also did a food experiment. I had made oatmeal raisin cookies for hubby's work and saved back a few. About an hour into the run I was getting really hungry so I had one cookie and quickly decided the second one didn't need to hang around in my pocket and inhaled that one too, LOL. They really stuck with me and didn't upset my stomach, but I have a sneaking suspicion that too much blood and energy was drawn to my stomach for digestion. I did do a caffeinated gel about an hour later and ate a piece of cheese with about an hour left to go. It all just seemed a bit heavy and unnecessary, although in some ways better because it wasn't as sickening sweet as the gels can be. I wish I could find a happy medium! (Please post suggestions in the comments if you have any!)

   Unfortunately, I had a rough week and was wiped out tired before I even left the house, plus my quads were really sore from doing squats with a 24# kettle ball in CrossFit, so it was a tough run. Most went well, but the last 2 miles home really stunk and it was hard to convince myself to run much of it. I also paused my Garmin when I stopped to pull up the map and forgot to restart it so I'm not exactly sure how far I ran, but my best estimate from looking at the map and my splits is 15.7 miles in 4:31. When I came through the front door I gingerly lowered myself to the floor to do some stretches and relax my back. When the stench of rain soaked, sweaty runner hit my daughter it sent her fleeing! Hehehehehehehe.

     This was my first run with my new 70 oz. Camelbak. It was very comfortable, didn't bounce around, and gave me the extra water I needed for the longer haul. I was getting low by the time I got to the hikers rest area on the way back, but never ran out and it was easy to refill and get back on the trail. I wasn’t sure I would like all that on my back, but I think it was actually easier than having it on my waist. I do wish there was one more pocket, but I’m sure I can work something out for more carrying space when it is too warm for my jacket and I lose those pockets. (Camelbak makes them with more pockets, but our selection on base is limited and I didn’t want to wait on a mail order.)

      I’m feeling good about my 4+ hour runs and will do one more of at least 15 miles next week. The following week will be a Half marathon as a fall back week (Hahahahahaha) and a time trial for the marathon. I don’t plan to push hard, I just want to see what I have gained or lost in the way of strength, speed, and endurance. I won’t do CrossFit the week before the Half, preferring not to go into the race with sore, quivering muscles. After that I’ll keep up with CrossFit twice a week for another 3 weeks and then concentrate on running for the 6 weeks before the marathon. The general consensus when adding strength training to marathon training to to stop 6 weeks out.

      If I didn't say it enough in my last post, I LOVE MY MERRELL TRAIL GLOVES!!! I'm looking forward to the weather warming up enough to wear them without socks and see how that goes. My plan is to have the option of running barefoot on the roads and through the villages in China if the surface is good and the sun hasn't baked the asphalt too much. A couple of years ago I was contacted about visiting China to do barefoot running clinics. The point was to show rural Chinese children that they don't need special shoes to run, just a will to do it. Of course, I didn't have the time or finances to pop over to China on my own dollar, but I have heard lots of kids come out to jog with the runners and I think they would get a kick out of someone being barefoot. So, I want to be able to pop my shoes on and off as needed without having to mess with socks as I'm sure I will need them on the Wall itself. (I will need to find a way to carry them easily, once again, open to suggestions :-)

    I feel beat up from the week's mileage, but my RA is behaving. I still feel like I have a head cold, but the Koreans have started burning the rice fields for spring planting so it is probably just the pollution in the air. At least on the trails I’m not sucking on exhaust fumes!!!

China Marathon Training

      Once again, everything about my training is ending up abnormal. It might be time to reevaluate what is normal!


       The first 5 weeks of marathon training have been a bust. The never ending illnesses plaguing me have been relentless, but they are finally abating and I actually completed a full week of running, YAY! One of the best things I have added to my arsenal of running gear is a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves. I love my Vibram Treks, but there is safety in numbers and having your toes out there individually makes them much more susceptible to damage. Several purple toes later, I decided it was time to give up on the toe shoes for trail running. The Merrells are fantastic. Not only do they have a very wide toe box to accommodate my monkey toes, by buying them as big as I could get away with, I can wear thick wool socks for warmth in snow and ice, and then crank down the laces later when it gets warm. They breathe very well and have successfully protected my toes from rocks that would have left them looking like I dropped a hammer on my foot. I bought the men's Trail Glove for the extra width and because they haven't seen fit to make a women's Trail Glove yet. No big deal, they are black and simple and wonderful to run in.

       I am totally re-evaluating my training plan though. As fantastic as CrossFit is, getting up at 4 am two days a week is rough me. It would be possible if my family would settle down by 8pm so I could go to sleep, but our house is small and they are noisy so I rarely get to sleep before 10 or 11. Missing hours of sleep does not agree with my RA so unless I’m considering backing off on that if it doesn’t work out over the next couple of weeks

       The other thing is my long runs. Pace is totally out the window since I am running the mountain and not just a flat road, but I have also taken to heart the advice of many people that have told me the long run is about time on our feet so I have slowed way down and am really enjoying my long runs again. Yesterday I ran the first 6 miles with a beginner so we did more walking than running. It took almost 2 hours to cover the first 6 miles (including bathroom breaks etc.), but no worries, after I dropped her off I headed back out and ran 9 more miles in the next two hours. The air was surprisingly clear so the views were spectacular from the summits of the hills. For all 4 hours of running 15 miles, the elevation gain was over 2,000 feet! I really hope this is enough to keep The Great Wall from being so grueling. At least I know up front that I only need to average about 18 minutes per mile to finish. If I can run up and down the mountain for 5 or 6 hours at a 15 mpm pace, I should be covered for race day. My goal for China is to savor every minute of the race and not be miserable afterwards, so I need to put in a lot of hard work now.

Where did the poodle go?

Quick Update

Just a quick update to say the 11 miles (well, actually 10.8) went well. I took it very slow, but at least got it done and didn't feel too horrible afterwards despite the full fledged head cold. The best part about running with a head cold is running works like an anti-histamine so you can actually breathe when you run!
 
  I should also add a caveat about CrossFit, I only do the workouts twice a week. I can't do CrossFit on the same days as a long or pace run and I definitely need rest days! Twice a weeks seems to give me enough time to get over being sore, but still build strength.

Back on Track for Marathon #4

       I had real delusions that I would keep up with marathon training while my daughter, that I hadn’t seen in 18 months and who had never been to Korea, was visiting. It might have happened had I not been hit with another wicked case of bronchitis the day after she arrived. That coupled with multiple long days on my feet touring tourist attractions and theme parks, left me facing week 4 of training with a massive mileage deficit.


       Better the first few weeks than the peak or last! So, I’m ready to be back on track and am doing my best to ignore the new head cold that hit today (geeze, really?!?) I made it to CrossFit, which included 1.5 miles of laps spread through the work out, so I only need 1.5 more after the work out to get my easy 3 finished. Despite the many rounds of push-ups, wall balls (where you squat and then jump up and toss a medicine ball at a 9 ft. up the wall), the running laps were my chance to catch my breath and relax before the next round (it took almost 30 minutes for 5 rounds). Of course, when my coach found out I was taking the running laps easy, he said I wasn’t pushing hard enough. Ummm, I wanted to barf through the first of each set of 3 laps, I guess it isn’t hard enough until you actually barf your morning cuppa.

       Anyway, after 3 months of CrossFit I now feel I can say it is great and good for my RA riddled body. I have looked for years for something that would do as much for my upper body as running has done for my lower and have finally found it. Lifting weights on my own just aggravated my joints, but the faster pace coupled with constantly changing up what you are doing seems to be working. I admit, I am nowhere near lifting the kind of weights that are prescribed for accomplished CrossFitters, and I need modifications for many things like push-ups because my RA damaged wrists don’t bend much anymore, but with the proper attention to form and modifications AND not letting myself get carried away, I am gaining strength at a nice rate and my joints are handling the increased work load. I’m actually really excited about my half marathon test race in March 18th to see what kind of improvements CrossFit has made to my running pace. Following workouts that make my shoulders sore, I can sure tell how much we depend on them to run!

       I’m not too worried about my 11 mile long run this weekend, at least not about the distance; the weather may be another story….

Onward and Upward: New Running Year

       I have written my opening blog for the year about 4 times and just filed it because I can’t seem to decide what I want to say. I was hoping by now to have run my birthday Cooper’s Test so I could report on that, but I’m sick with a wicked head cold so until I can breathe, I’ll put off a fitness test. In the meantime, I’m reflecting on my past running and looking forward to my future goals.


       I wish I could go back and talk to Beginning Runner Me. I would tell her first off to keep better records! I wish I knew what I was running at the start. I have vague memories of 2 mile run/walks, but have no idea what my time was, or heart rate, or feelings. I’ve logged so many miles now that runs I was sure I would never forget have faded into blurred memories. I started running in 2007, missed a lot of 2008 to surgery, and finally started keeping records in 2009. I know I didn’t run a lot those first couple of years, but being able to look back and see how we have grown is one of the greatest motivators so I wish I still had a window to those first months.

       With the records I have, I can see that in the last 3 years I have logged over 2,250 miles, about half of which have been barefoot. The miles show in my races, where times have gotten shorter, the efforts lighter, and the recoveries much easier! There is no doubt in my mind that I have increased in health, strength, and endurance, but I also know that I have great room for improvement.

       I have lots of great running plans for my future! Of course, I have the Great Wall of China Marathon in May, and will probably run a half marathon in March as part of my training plan. For the fall I want to work on my shorter distances and strength training. I need to keep an eye out for chip timed 5Ks (which are in short supply in Korea) and continue with my newest tangent, which is CrossFit. I have goals there too! I want to be able to handle the weights prescribed for women without having to scale down and I’d love to do even one hand-stand push up and a good pull up. I’ll even put out there that I want to lose 10-12 lbs before the GWC marathon just so I won’t have so much weight to haul up all those stairs, but weight lifting and marathon training do not lend themselves to significant weight loss so that isn’t a primary goal for now.

       So here I am, poised at the start of my 6th year running (WOW, that just hit me!) looking forward to another great year! Marathon training Starts Monday, Jan 16th

Onward and Upward!