Refocusing

Early Winter (?) Check-in

2011-12-04T21:57:00.001-05:00

Howdy.

Here I am, delinquent again. Things have been insane around here this fall. Since the marathon I've worked a lot, begun my reconstruction, traveled a lot, and hardly run at all.

The first step of my reconstructive surgery was on 10/25. Briefly, the doctor placed tissue expanders under the pectoralis major muscle on each side, which also required "releasing" part of the muscle from its attachment to my chest wall. This was not an overly pleasant process. Those expanders had 50cc of saline in them, and I've been going back approximately weekly to have 30cc more injected. Those injections involve finding the metal port in each expander with a magnet, inserting a needle (which I'm sure is scary, but have thus far managed to avoid looking at), and slowly injecting the fluid. I feel sore for a few days after each fill, kind of like I've done too many pushups, but since about 2 weeks after the initial surgery it hasn't felt bad. At this point I don't even need Advil after the fills, though I did need vicodin and valium quite regularly after the initial surgery. Once my expanders are full and my muscles have had time to adapt, I'll have a second surgery to swap out the expanders for permanent implants. Then it'll be a few more weeks of recovery and I should be back to normal.

Travel has involved trips to NC and PA which left me feeling like I'd been traveling continuously for 2 weeks, and if I have to travel more I might consider setting up a campsite in Chicago O'Hare. After all, I seem to be delayed for several hours every time I fly through there.

Running has been low by necessity. After my surgery I was expecting to be off running for about 6 weeks. Two weeks in, the doctor told me I was healing very well and could try running if I wanted to. I didn't feel right about it so I waited, but the following weekend stress was taking its toll and I just had to try. It didn't feel so great...really, you don't realize how much you use a muscle until it's sore. I waited a bit longer, and then tried again on Thanksgiving day. This time the only thing that hurt was my stomach from all the food I'd eaten earlier that day. The next day I ran again....and then there was another week of travel during which I didn't run at all.

So, I'm back to the blog in an attempt to hold myself accountable to something. Running will still be hit and miss, I think, until I get through this process and start to feel more like myself again. I'll do it some, though. Really I just need to be more consistent with getting in any exercise at all, so I'm making it a goal to get out for a real walk, not just a stroll, 4 times this week. I'm also going to try yoga, but to be quite honest I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it yet. For this week, I'll just make it a goal to try once and see how it goes.

So there we go. This week, 4 walks and 1 attempt at yoga, plus hopefully some running. And more travel, this time to see Doug's family in Illinois.

Happy running.

Chicago Marathon Race Report

2011-10-10T21:42:00.001-04:00

Horribly delinquent blogger checking in. Life's been crazy busy lately and I just haven't gotten around too it. Plus, with marathon training I haven't been racing, so I haven't felt like there was anything to post (although certainly I could have posted about training).

Anyway, a report for you.

Short version: I ran really far, never wanted to quit, did manage to hurt my foot in the last mile, and finished in 4:49. It was awesome and I loved every minute, even when my foot was killing me.

Incredibly long version:

Where to begin? We'll go all the way back to the beginning, I guess.

In January of 2010 I joined the running group organized by the local running store because I wanted to find friends to run with while I worked my way back up again after chemo. The first 2 months I ran by myself, naturally. Then I found a group of women to run with. They were training for a marathon while I was only training for a 25k, but I figured I could start each run with them and finish on my own, and that worked out well. After that marathon, we all decided to run a half together last fall (the Great Turtle on Mackinac Island). On the way to Mackinac, the three of us riding together were discussing whether to do a full or half marathon in the spring. One woman commented that her brother really wanted her to run the Chicago marathon, so genius over here piped up and suggested we run a half in the spring and then springboard from that training to the full in Chicago.

So, February rolled around and I signed up. For the record, I HATE signing up for things so far in advance - so much can change!

Sure enough, only a month later, things changed and I was offered this new job. Obviously moving an hour down the road doesn't really, or shouldn't, have much of an effect on training, but one reason I had never signed up for a marathon before was that I was sure I couldn't do the training alone. Running for a couple hours alone is one thing, but 4? I trained with the group through July and planned on potentially joining a group in our new city, but I just never did. So I went out and did each long run by myself. When I went back and joined the girls for our first 20, I even found out that I prefer running on my own. Go figure.

Training basically went ok. Back when I originally planned on doing this I didn't think I'd do it with such low mileage, but man did life get me this past year. I followed a loose adaptation of Higdon's intermediate plan with two 20-mile runs, and 8-10 mile mid-week run most weeks, and what I could do on the other days. For my 18-mile run, nervous about covering the distance, I decided to start doing run-walk with 8 min of running and 2 min of walking. I did that for everything over an hour and it helped me a lot, mentally. The only real issue I had was when I was sure I had broken my left foot near the end of the first 20. I have a neuroma in that foot, and thought I had finally run enough on the lateral side of my foot, trying to avoid neuroma pain, that it finally just broke. Fortunately, the running store that organizes the training group also has a free injury clinic. I went there and found out that my cuboid bone was displaced as a result of a whole chain-reaction of events caused by a tight Achilles. The podiatrist put me back together, scolded me for being inflexible, and sent me on my way with orders to stretch, which I have followed.

We headed to Chicagoland on Friday evening. Spent the night at Doug's mom's house, left Kona with her, and headed to downtown Chicago mid-morning. Once we arrived at the condo we were staying in, we took a few minutes to get our bearings and went off to the expo. Got my packet, spent some money on marathon merchandise like a total newbie, picked up the body glide I forgot to take with me, and explored for a while. Then we waited in line for a like an hour to catch the shuttle bus back downtown. From there we walked a while, maybe 2 miles (?) back to the condo, and stopped at a grocery store along the way to buy stuff to make our own dinner. Making dinner ourselves was a fabulous idea - we spent the evening in the condo watching sports and reading. I took a shower and got in bed around 9:30, finally putting my book away around 10:30. I didn't really have trouble sleeping, which was good (and shocking).

Sunday morning I was up at 4:45. I tried to eat a peanut butter bagel but couldn't stomach it, so all I had before the race was a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee from across the street. My friends hadn't gotten back to me the night before about when they wanted to meet, so I figured I would just be on my own. About quarter after 5 one finally texted me and said they were meeting at her hotel room at 6:15. Ok...seemed kind of late as I had planned on being at the start around 6, but ok. The hotel was right across the street so I figured it would be ok. Of course two of the women didn't show up until 6:45 and then had to use the bathroom in the room and again when we got to the start, so we waited in line for porta-potties and were scrambling to the start at 7:15. This resulted in having to hop the fence into the start corral - nice touch.

Once the race started it took about 24 minutes for us to get across the starting line. I wonder how long it took for the last people to get across, because we were lined up somewhere between the 10 and 11 min pace signs and I know it went all the way back to 15. It was absolutely packed at the start and for the first, oh....17-18 miles. Within the first half mile I saw two men running in big straw hats - running sombreros! The first time we ran across an open-grate bridge I almost fell, also within the first mile.

I hung with two of my friends (there were 5 of us total - we lost the other two somewhere in the fence-hopping fiasco) for just less than 3 miles. Our pace for the first two miles was just under 11 min which was fine, because I didn't want to go out too fast, but I wanted to start my run/walk thing from my long runs. Also, I really wanted to run my own race. So I left them maybe 200m before the third mile marker.

Once I was on my own I started my run 8/walk 2 intervals, but also walked for 15-30 sec at each aid station so I could successfully drink my water. The fourth mile just clicked on by in 10:17, and then I saw Doug standing up on a median at the 4-mile marker - hooray! I gave him my arm panties and he wished me luck and I headed off again, all happy from having seen him and feeling good. Miles 5 and 6 were about the same pace. I did a little jig at the 10k mark. Back when I was nervous about my 18-miler, the longest run I'd ever done, someone suggested that I run the two "new" miles first and then after that I'd be in familiar territory. That sounded like a fabulous idea and I employed it for the marathon. Let me tell you - it worked like a charm! Instead of running an extra 10k at the end I "ran it at the beginning" and then I had 20 miles - something I knew I could do - ahead of me instead of this unknown distance.

Mile 7 dropped down to 9:55. I was feeling great at this point, but didn't want to go all overboard and pay for it later. My only goal was to finish (without hating running by the end) and I had no desire to be miserable. Over and over I reminded myself that by holding back at the beginning I was saving myself for later. Miles 8 and 9 were good, but somewhere around 8.5 I started feeling like maybe something was amiss, so when I hit a line of porta-potties just after the 15k mark I stopped...and waited in line for 6 min! Everything turned out to be fine and I was on my way again.

The miles from here on out are kind of a blur. I knew Doug was going to be around mile 11 somewhere but I never saw him there. Somewhere between 10 and the halfway mark a woman was down in the middle of the road with a few people tending to her and a few more keeping runners out of the way. I think it was also in this area that I saw a woman holding a sign and wearing a t-shirt that both said "Do Epic S#@*" - I got a little chuckle out of that. According to the results I was through the half in 2:22 - so much slower than my PR but hey - my first half marathon (TA '06) took almost 4 hours.

J had said that her brother told her the race would be super crowded for the first 10 miles or so. I'm not sure if he and I just have a different tolerance for "crowded" but by mile 16 I was pretty damn tired of colliding with people every few minutes. I was also starting to want to walk more around that time. Prior to this I had been running through aid stations until near the end, where I would grab a cup of water and then walk just long enough to drink it. Starting in mile 17 or so (guessing by splits) I started walking as soon as we hit the aid station, partly because I wanted to and partly because they were downright treacherous - so slippery and there were crushed cups and careening people everywhere.

I was still feeling good when we passed the 20 mile mark, even though my splits had slowed since I was now sticking with my original run/walk plan plus walking most of the way through the aid stations. In mile 21 I took another short porta-potty break but only lost about 1:30 or so that time. During mile 22 or 23 I started getting all verklempt because I knew I was really going to do it. I was tired and my hips (psoas I'm pretty sure) were screaming but overall I really felt good. Never once did I feel miserable, I never felt like quitting, I never doubted that I could do it. When we hit the 23-mile mark and I knew I only had a little over 5k to go I was downright giddy.

Then, in mile 25, it happened. My right foot did the same thing my left foot had done at the end of that first 20. I was reduced to running/walking block-by-block and I slowed all the way to 13:19 for that mile. The spectators and announcers all made me want to run, but every time I tried I would make it that block and then have to walk because of the pain again. That darn hill going into the finish that friends had warned me about totally sucked, mostly because it really hurt my foot, and I had to walk that whole thing. But at the top I started running again and was able to run all the way in to the finish.

Final time: 4:49:39

Oh what a feeling that was! I'd been trying not to cry for miles by that point, and finally let it go after I crossed the line. It only lasted about 30 seconds but man, it was just such an overwhelming feeling to have done it. I walked through the finish area picking up all the stuff they had to give us - space blanket, medal, water, banana, snack back, Gatorade 03 (recover - GROSS), and BEER (Goose Island 312 - yum) and went off to find Doug. Finally we found each other and sat on the steps in front of Abe Lincoln catching up and reveling in being done before walking back to the hotel my friends were staying in to see how they had done.

Turns out I was first in our group which I really had not expected, considering that all had run marathons before and 2 had PR's somewhere around 4:40. One wound up getting out of her head and finishing in nearly 6 hours, the others were right around 5 (two just under, one just over). I'm really glad I split off and ran my own race. After my 18-mile run, a friend told me that long runs should be done alone. I thought he was crazy but after doing this training and running this race on my own I actually think I agree. For me, they should be done alone. Maybe one day I'll find new running buddies and feel differently but for right now, I'm ok being my own buddy.

I'll run another marathon one day, but I seriously doubt I'll do another big one. I did not like literally running into people for most of the race, getting cut off at every aid station, and getting caught behind people going a lot slower than I wanted to be going. I did enjoy having spectators along literally the whole course and it really did help spur me along in that last mile when my foot hurt so stinkin' bad. Guess I'm heading off to the injury clinic again on Wednesday night, getting my foot all put back together, and then I'm really going to focus on flexibility. I'm ready to take a break from running (not quit, just take a break) so I'm going to cross-train for a few months and come back to it in winter/spring feeling refreshed.

If you stuck with me this long, thanks for reading!

How the Runner Crumbles

2011-05-29T10:44:00.000-04:00

The Bayshore half marathon was supposed to be my goal event for the spring. To really have a goal event I think it’s necessary to train like one is actually aiming for a real, solid goal. I didn’t do this. I stumbled through an academic year that left my head spinning. Throughout training cycles for Bayshore and for the Great Turtle in the fall, I made long runs bust little else in my training plan. It’s not right to have a “reach” goal when training looks like that.

Nevertheless, I’ve been wanted to run a half in under two hours for basically as long as I’ve been running. It seems like if I make this goal I’ll finally be a legitimate runner, like I’m not successful until I reach it. After running 2:04 in K’zoo a few weeks ago I thought I had it in the bag – I’ve been told the Bayshore course is flat and much easier than K’zoo and that I shouldn’t have any problem knocking off those last 4 minutes – or more!

We headed up to Traverse City on Friday afternoon. We’ll have to go again and actually enjoy the area, because Friday we just went straight to the campground, set ourselves up, ate dinner, socialized, and went to bed. The best part of the weekend was that I anticipated having good hammock trees and took my new ENO hammock up to try it out. Let me tell you – that’s heaven in a little nylon sack. I might spend my summer seeking out hammock trees at all the parks around here. Wouldn’t that be fun? Runners would come down the trail and see my head pop up out of the hammock – “Hi!!!”

Anyway. That night I slept really poorly. We got in the tent around 10:30 and I knew I probably wouldn’t fall asleep right then, but did not anticipate lying awake for hours upon hours. People were talking, babies were crying, planes flew over, sirens went by, someone had a freakin’ blender going…ugh. I finally fell asleep sometime after 1:00 but distinctly remember the blender going again around 2:30. Then it was 4:10 and I heard my friend’s alarm go off. Sigh.

We got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to the road where another friend was going to pick us up. She arrived and we headed over to the high school to board buses out to the start. Once on the bus our whole group of training buddies found seats together and chattered about the race. I sat there with my drop bag putting my bib on my shirt and getting out my iPod – or at least, trying to get out my iPod. I reached in the bag, grabbed my headphones…and that’s all that was there. Doug got me this iPod for Christmas two years ago, as a present from Kona. The engraving on the back says “Let’s run! Love, Kona” and it’s very special to me. I was so afraid I’d lost it and that stuck in the back of my head all morning.

(When the race was over and I got back to the car, I found my iPod in the trunk. Such a relief.)

We got to the start about 1.5 hours before go time, so we sat under a tent in a field and watched it start to rain. Sigh. Then, finally, it was time to line up.

The race started and I felt great. Hooray for smaller races that aren’t so packed at the start! It was a little crowded, but not like bigger races where it’s a constant struggle to find a clear spot for your next footfall. A few nights ago I dreamt that I had run an awesome race and Doug had missed me at the finish because I came in so much earlier than he expected. I held onto that dream and for the first few miles, anytime negative thoughts started to creep in I visualized wiping them out of my mind. That worked for the first several miles.

Mile 1: 9:09 (perfect)

Mile 2: 8:39 (a little fast, but ok)

Mile 3: 8:43

Mile 4: 8:54 (woohoo feeling great and still under pace!)

Somewhere around here I thought I really should slow down, that running a positive split is never a good idea. The thing is, I kind of think that I might be sabotaging myself in races, thinking that I can’t hold a pace when really I can. I decided to stay with it. At the very least, I was banking time to make my goal.

Mile 5: 8:57

Mile 6: 9:28 (extra walking to take my hammer gel here)

Mile 7: 9:05

By now it was starting to get hard but I thought I’d banked enough time that if I could just hang on in the low 9’s, I’d have it. My left foot was starting to bother me and it felt like my middle toe was bleeding. I stopped to walk for a minute, and I heard my friend K yell from behind me. She caught up, and I started running again. I told her I was glad she was there, that it was becoming mentally difficult, and she said we’d do it together. But I couldn’t keep up, and I watched her slip away. Then B caught me, and then she too slipped away.

Then…I crumbled. Maybe it was the poor training. Maybe it was the poor sleep the night before. Maybe I went out too fast. Maybe it was all in my head. Just before the 9-mile marker I passed my local running club’s tent and considered stopping. Actually considered quitting with 4+ miles to go. Mentally I was done and I just unraveled; I never picked myself up again.

Mile 8: 9:48

Mile 9: 10:00

Mile 10: 10:25

Mile 11: 10:06

At the 11 mile marker (1:43) I figured out that I could run fast enough to still make it under 2 hours – I’m physically capable of running 2.1 miles in 17 minutes. It wasn’t there though. I don’t know if it was mental or physical at that point. I’d been light headed since early on in the race and had hoped gels would help, so I took a second one in the 11^th mile – neither helped. On the other hand, I had gotten so down on myself I was really ready to quit. At the same time that I was figuring out I could still get my goal, I was considering walking the rest of the way. This was also where I realized that I could walk the remaining 2.1 miles and still finish way under my time for my first road half.

Mile 12: 10:55 (yeah.)

Mile 13.1: 10:50

Total: 2:05:05

There was no finishing kick. I don’t know if I could have picked it up at the end – I do know I didn’t want to. I watched my goal slip away, watched my PR slip away, and didn’t fight either. When it all comes down to it, I didn’t want it badly enough.

When we got back to the campsite and I finally changed, I discovered that my feet were hurting because I had blisters between my toes. The usual blisters under the callous at my 1^st metatarsal joint are there, as I could feel, but only 2 of my toes don’t have blisters somewhere else. This makes me feel a little better, like there is at least a little bit of a physical reason for feeling so awful, but I can’t blame the whole race on blisters.

So, now I have to do what I didn’t do during that race and pick myself back up again. Running feels very stale right now, it has for a while, and I have to figure out how to get back into it because I have a marathon coming up in October. I’m going to build myself a plan that includes cross training (probably cycling) a couple days a week and hope that helps to keep things interesting.

Thanks for reading.

Belated Kalamzoo Half Marathon Report

2011-05-26T20:39:00.000-04:00

Short version: Chip time 2:04:05, a nearly 5-minute PR, and one hell of a fun weekend!

Long version: This race was not on my schedule until a few weeks ago. I had planned to go watch since so many people I wanted to see were running, but since my "goal race" for the spring is Memorial Day weekend, I was not planning to run a half three weeks before it. Eventually I decided I didn't want to just watch and just about convinced myself to run the half. Because of the craziness that is the end of the semester I couldn't commit for sure, but took note of the online registration deadline and decided to make up my mind by then. The night before the deadline it looked like my grades would be done in time, and I signed up.

Grades were posted Friday afternoon and I took the rest of that day and Saturday morning to just chill and enjoy being done with the semester. Then, I headed to K'zoo to celebrate! E and her family were kind enough to host me. When I got to their house (after spending 45 minutes literally sitting still on a freakin' interchange), we headed off to the expo, picked up our packets, and drove around the course a little. We took note of two big hills and I commented that the first looked just like the overpass I run here - Sunday I remembered that hills always look smaller in cars.

Normally I sleep ok the night before races but Saturday night I didn't. Chalk it up to semester-end stress, a strange place, and lots of cats. At 4:20 I finally called it good and stumbled out to the kitchen to find E and her dad - her dad making coffee. Hallelujah. We all got ready and headed out to the race around 5:45.

Once at the race site E and I headed inside to find bathrooms. We waited too long to jump in line, I guess. I left E somewhere near the 2:30 pacer and tried to get up between the 2:15 and 2:00 pacer but gave up when I wasn't even close to the 2:15. Whatever. The guy next to me was also trying to get to the 2:00 group and we decided it would be fun to pass a few hundred people in the first mile. I quietly worried that it meant I would go out way too fast.

Finally the race started and we walked...and walked...toward the starting line. Then, we were off! The first mile was pretty flat, maybe a slight downhill and I probably did pass a few hundred people. The second mile featured a very nice downhill, which I tried to enjoy to the fullest while being careful not to stumble over people as the field was still pretty thick here. Near the bottom of that hill I blew past the 2:15 pacer and started to worry that maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself.

Mile 1: 9:10 (hmmm. That was nice)
Mile 2: 8:34 (uh oh.)
Mile 3: 9:00 (geez. Slow the eff down already!)

Just before the 3 mile marker, I caught the 4:15 marathon pace group. Their pacers started calling out mile times in the 9:30 range and when I saw the 9:00 on my watch, I decided to hang with them for a while. I've never run a negative split in a half but I HAVE burned out in the last few miles, and I really didn't want to use all I had in the first few miles. I'm absolutely horrible at maintaining a constant pace and I always get all swept up in the excitement.

Unfortunately, the half split off from the marathon around the 4-mile mark.

Mile 4: 9:07 (hmm. Ok)
Mile 5: 9:19 (That's better)
Mile 6: 8:05 (shiiiiiiit)

Up through this point I was feeling really good. I think it was somewhere during the 6th mile (when I was apparently running far too fast) that I decided to get out of my head and just run. What if I really was capable of running that pace and was just holding myself back?

Mile 7: 9:29 (baby hill here)
Mile 8: 9:28 (hey, this is going ok!)

Around mile 8.5 we hit the first of the two big hills. This is the one I thought was similar to my overpass. Let me tell you. It was not. It was steep. And long. And it sucked.

Mile 9: 10:35 (yeah)

By this point I had blisters on both feet. I spent the majority of the 10th mile trying to decide if it would hurt more to run the rest in bare feet (never having run barefoot) or to continue running in my shoes. Naturally, I stuck with my shoes. It did hurt though.

Mile 10: 10:19 (sigh)

Around this point I finally did the math and realized that once again, I would not get the elusive 2-hour barrier (clearly - did you see those splits?) but I knew that I could still PR and had quite the time cushion with which to do it.

Mile 11: 9:56 (Hey! That's a little better!)

The rest is kind of a blur. Just after the 12-mile mark we turned a corner and climbed another big hill, which also sucked. Not long after the top of that hill I could actually hear cheering from the finish - or at least I decided it was from the finish - and that helped me get through. Much to my dismay we sort of ran around the block (I think) so we weren't quite as close as I thought, but whatever. I clicked through my playlist to find a high-energy song to finish with and did my best to kick into the finish. My pictures will probably be terrible - I had the side stitch from hell there at the end. When I turned the corner into the final stretch I saw the time and felt a little pang - I'd gotten so close to that darn 2-hour mark! But I did get the PR that I had no right to run, based on my piss-poor training this last semester, so I'm very happy with the day.

Miles 12-13.2: 21:00

Final (watch) time: 2:04:07
Chip time: 2:04:05

Good for an almost 5-min PR (old one was 2:08:58, set in October)

In closing, I have to recommend this race. It was really well organized and it was clear that the town was really excited. The half has been going on for a few years now (not sure how many) but this was the inaugural year for the marathon - people were clearly pumped. There was great crowd support throughout - not constant, but frequent enough. The course was well-marked, start and finish were well-organized, shuttles ran really well....all around it was just great! We also had a fantastic weather day, which we've been starved for around here.

Next up, Bayshore Half Marathon on Saturday :)

Thanks for reading!

Dear Michigan:

2011-04-21T16:01:00.001-04:00

Please stop. I'm begging you. I can't take anymore rain.

2011 Race for the Cure

2011-04-17T23:24:00.003-04:00

This was my third Race for the Cure since being diagnosed 2 years ago (on 4/20/09). The first year I was only 6 days post-diagnosis and I was a mental wreck. Last year, a few days past my one-year anniversary, I went out with the intention of running a PR and winning the Survivor division. I met one of the goals – to win the division – and ran about 50 seconds off my PR. Not bad really, for just being a few months back into running, and running in such an emotional race.

This year, for a while, I had hoped to maybe finally get that new PR. My current one is from 11/08 and has been begging for a shellacking for a while now. I did great training all summer – 400m repeats at <6:30 pace, regular daily runs around 8 min...

And then life hit. Comprehensive exams, teaching two classes a semester (and taking my own), trying to write a dissertation. Running all but came to a screeching halt – now I’m doing well if I run a 20-mile week. So, my PR goal went out the window.

Until last week when I ran 3.3 at a 7:45 pace (a few seconds/mile faster than my PR).

So then, this little voice in the back of my head started saying I could do it. I finally registered for the darn thing on Tuesday but spent the whole week waffling between having and not having a time goal. Somewhere in there I even considered running slowly on purpose. By the end of the week I had decided to just try my best and see what happened. If my Zen approach didn’t work, I figured I’d recruit one of my sports psych friends to do an intervention.

Fast forward to this morning. I woke up, looked up through the blinds, and saw that the sun was actually out! Then I heard the wind howling. When I took Kona out, I found it was snowing. The wind gusts were strong enough to push my skinny butt all over the sidewalk. Kona wobbled when she squatted to pee. That couldn’t be a good sign.

The race was at 2:00 so I tried to spend the morning doing schoolwork. Yeah, right. Finally it was time to get ready and Doug and I headed downtown, all bundled up. We got to the race a few minutes before the survivor stroll, but then at the last minute I decided I didn’t want to do it – it’s just too emotional. I warmed up a bit on my own then ran into a friend and warmed up some with her. Finally I made my way back to Doug, took off all my warm-ups (which made me feel very serious), and got in line. Once in line I found one of the coaches from my running club, who is also an oncology nurse, and she gave me a hug and a little pep talk. Then finally, we were off.

As with any big fundraising event, this was a crowded race. It felt like it took forever to cross the line but according to the official results it was only 15 seconds or so. For the first three blocks it was windy, but not bad. Then we turned right.

A huge gust kicked up and I actually saw everyone around me shift to the left. This continued for the whole race and even though it’s run downtown, most of the race is not between tall buildings so a lot of the time there wasn’t any shelter at all. I’d be following along behind someone, a big gust would come up, and one or both of us would get blown so we’d run into each other.

Mile 1: 7:52

At one point during the second mile I was feeling particularly bad for myself when a strong headwind came along and I decided to stop and walk. It was so much harder to walk that I only lasted a couple seconds before deciding anything was better than being out in that and the sooner I finished, the sooner I could put clothes back on. Shortly after that I considered quitting (we were only about a block from the start at that point) but decided I would really feel bad about myself if I dropped out of a 5k – especially THAT 5k. So I continued on.

Mile 2: 8:17

Please, someone, for the love of all that is holy, TURN OFF THE WIND!

Mile 3.1: 9:14 (8:23 pace)
Final time: 25:24

The first mile felt awesome – I could have kept up that pace forever if it hadn’t been for the wind. My current 5k PR was at a 7:52 pace. I have it. I freaking HAD it. Michigan in spring…

Anyway.

After the race I found Doug, put my warm-ups back on again (initially putting my pants on backwards), and got water and a banana. We wandered over to where the results were being posted and found that I’d gotten third in the survivor division. I decided that was good enough – esp. since the winner got me by about 3 min. Just then, another woman who had been standing there turned around and exclaimed, “You were here last year!” It was A, my once-a-year friend. She was diagnosed about 6 months before me and we chatted some before the race last year. Then she wound up coming in second, about a minute behind me, so we chatted some more. This year she was right behind me again and bummed that she’d just missed placing.

Shortly before they were going to do the awards ceremony, the announcer called out the name of the person who had placed second in our division. Announcer-man said they needed to verify information about one of the finishers (that person) and would have to delay the awards for a few minutes. Great because you know, it wasn’t cold at all. Fortunately A heard that announcement and decided to stick around a little while longer to see if she would get bumped up. Eventually they were ready, and called out the first place woman. I got bumped to second, and A got bumped to third!

I’ll be two years out on Wednesday and I’d like to say I feel fortunate to be here and able to run and all that, but honestly I’m still grumpy about the whole thing. It’s not that I think I’m NOT fortunate, I know I am…but I’m not grateful for cancer. One of my best friends says that she is, now. She’s a year ahead of me…maybe I’ll get there. But I’m not there yet.

Even so, it’s nice to kick its ass a little now and then.

Thanks for reading!

Absolute Torture

2011-04-09T23:42:00.002-04:00

Howdy.

A hazard inherent in my work is that I know far too much about my body, have been tested far too many times in far too many ways, and am never happy with the results.

A few weeks ago I underwent yet another treadmill VO2max test - I think this was probably my 10th. The last time I did this, I fell above the 95th percentile for age and sex and was (mostly) happy with those results. More than the max, I was happy with the fact that my ventilatory threshold occurred at more than 80% of my VO2max. It's important to remember that the last time I was tested was two years ago, before the cancer diagnosis and beating my body into the ground with chemo. Even so...I was hugely disappointed to see that my max had dropped about 6 points compared to last time and with it, my ventilatory threshold.

None of this REALLY matters, mind you, because I'm running faster over long distances than I was back before chemo. Whether my short distance speed is still around remains to be seen (possibly next weekend), but at least in some ways I'm performing better than I used to. And apparently I'm quite the economical runner, which helps in putting more of that oxygen to good use.

Exhibit B is in progress right now. The current project for the (one!) class I'm taking this semester concerns measurement of physical activity. Easy - we're all wearing pedometers for about a week and completing 24-hour physical activity recalls every morning, for the previous day.

Now, I knew I spent a lot of time sitting. I mean, I'm a PhD student. My fingers may as well be glued to my keyboard and my rear to my desk chair. I work a full day on campus, followed often by an equivalent number of hours at home in the evening. But to actually quantify it - ugh. The torture. A sampling (the numbers in columns B-G are daily totals of time spent in each intensity, in hours):

Interesting how all the step counts end in 504, huh?

All I can say is, thank heavens I run. Friday I didn't, clearly. Today I ran 10 miles and I'm sitting around 20,000 steps right now. If you estimate 2,000 steps per mile, well....you can see how much I did the rest of the day.

There's a new area of research that has been getting a lot of attention lately - sedentary time. Turns out that it looks like sedentary time is an independent risk factor for all the diseases we usually associate with physical activity - cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. Previously it was thought that if we could just increase the amount of time people spend being active in the moderate- to vigorous- intensity ranges, we'd reduce the prevalence of those diseases. That does work. However, now it looks like it's not enough to meet physical activity recommendations - we also need to sit less. So even though I meet the recommendations for weekly physical activity (far exceed, in fact), I may still be at relatively high risk of a whole host of chronic diseases precisely because I spend upwards of 10 hours a day, sitting at a desk, studying the development of these diseases.

Oh the cruel, cruel irony.

Old Habits

2011-03-17T23:58:00.000-04:00

Howdy.

Last week was spring break - a much needed break from my crazy daily routine and a chance to get out of dodge and visit my parents for a week. Not the glamorous beach vacation so many of my students had planned, but man was I looking forward to it. You see, I had felt that I couldn't take a trip for break because there was just too much work I needed to get done, but a couple weeks before break my mom called and suggested that I head home. It was perfect - my parents would still have to work, so I could just work during the day as if I had not, in fact, taken a vacation, but then I could relax with them in the evenings. Mom planned to take a couple days off at the end of the week, and I planned to take those days off as well.

And so, I packed my suitcase with clothes (which were far too warm), 70 exams, 70 homework assignments, and dissertation materials, and headed off on my grand spring break adventure.

Rather than sit at the house and work while my parents were at their offices (because let's face it, I would have snoozed and watched TV all day, since we don't have cable at our house), I went to work with my mom that Monday. I spent a few hours in her office that morning, and in the afternoon I headed up to my dad's office to have a grading party. It took no time at all to notice I'd fallen back into my old habits.

I did an internship in my mom's building when I was finishing my BS. This seems like a weird thing to remember, but bear with me - I had a favorite bathroom stall when I worked there. You all probably do too. I bet 9 times out of 10, if you walk into a bathroom you use regularly, you go to the same stall. Well..that Monday morning, I realized I had chosen the same stall all over again.

When I walked up to Dad's office, I went to cross the quad in the same spot I always used to...except the sidewalk wasn't there anymore! I went around but I swear to you, it made me twitchy. The next day, I walked across the grass where the sidewalk should have been.

The first time I walked into Dad's building, I walked in the same door I always used to, up the stairs to the second floor...and when I opened that door, I smelled the same old smell. I marched myself right to his office, knocked on the door, and expected the squeak of his old desk chair. Turns out he has a new chair, and I was a little sad not to hear the squeak. Anyway - I walked into his office and told him the smell was still the same. Of course he asked what the smell is and I honestly haven't the slightest idea. Books maybe? No other floor in that building has that smell, it's only his floor.

When we walked home from campus that day it wasn't my habits I noticed, but my dad's. He walks the same route (don't we all?), crosses the street in the same spot every time. It made me think of the neighborhood I used to live in, during Grad School - Part I. I always got off the bus and headed home, crossing the street in the same spot (and not at an intersection) each time. Once, when D and I hadn't been together long, I tried explaining to him why I do it. He laughed at me then...but he does it now too.

The last one isn't related to spring break stuff, but I thought of it while thinking about the rest of this stuff. My hair is now officially long enough for a pony tail. Upon coming to that realization, it took me about half a second to fall into the old habit of wearing hair bands on my wrist and pulling my hair back most of the time.

We're all slaves to all those old habits...

Stay tuned for another post soon. No time to write it now (sleeping would really be smart), but I had some wonderful therapy time in the forest yesterday. Coming soon!

ABC's

2011-03-10T12:31:00.000-05:00

I came across Lisa's blog today, thanks to a new connection on The Daily Mile. Since I just finished grading 70 exams I thought I'd take a little break from work, and what better way to procrastinate than filling out random, useless surveys?

That's what I thought. So:

A) Age: 30 (gah!)

B) Bed Size: Queen, but the dog gets at least 2/3 of it.

C) Chore You Really Dislike: Cleaning the bathroom. There's nothing I hate more..especially such a small bathroom. You'd think it would be nice because there's less to clean but NO! It's harder.

D) Dogs? Kona. She's my best buddy and gets most of the credit for my fitness level - border collies and pointers make for high-energy puppers.

E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Coffee. Is there anything else?

F) Favorite color: You can't ask me to choose....green or purple. I won't choose between them.

G) Gold or silver? Silver

H) Height: 5’10"

I) Instruments you play: Used to play: flute, mallets, oboe, trumpet, alto sax, random percussion, and I fumbled around with guitar and piano. Now I play guitar, or will if I can ever find the time to sit down with it again.

J) Job title: Officially I think it's Graduate Teaching Assistant. There are many other unofficial words for it.

K) Kids: Eventually.

L) Live: In a cute old (built 1920) bungalow that I love....in a neighborhood that's declining fast. We're moving again in August...sigh.

M) Mom’s Name: We'll skip this one...

N) Nicknames: None I'm willing to share...

O) Overnight hospital stays: One. My blood pressure and heart rate were really low and the alarm kept waking me up. The nurse finally turned it off somewhere around 3 in the morning.

P) Pet peeve: Since I'm teaching, people who make lecture slides with improper notation (that "2" on "O2" is supposed to be a subscript!), too many words, or mixed up fonts.

Q) Quote from a movie: Uh....

R) Right or left handed? Left. The cooler one.

S) Siblings? Two younger brothers.

T) Time you wake up? Too effing early.

U) Underwear: How can this be a question? Yes, always...except running in the summer.

V) Vegetable you dislike: Mushrooms. What disgusting texture.

W) What makes you run late? The darn snooze button.

X) X-rays: I'm practically a professional.

Y) Yummy food you make: Black bean and corn enchiladas, lentil tacos, and chocolate chess pie!

Z) Zoo, favorite animal: Oryx. You should hear the sound they make.

And now off to enjoy more spring break!

Struggle Bus

2011-02-23T09:52:00.000-05:00

Friends just recently introduced me to this term, and I heard a few students use it yesterday also. Right now, there's nothing that better describes where I am so I've adopted it for my own use.

Being sick the past week has really knocked me down a notch or two. Everything's a struggle this week - I'm sure part of that is left-over fatigue but I think a lot of it is just that I'm ready for a break. So very ready for a break. Fortunately spring break is coming, but it's still a week and a half away.

(Not that I'm counting, oh no. And certainly I haven't considered making a paper chain.)

If anyone happens to find my mojo - running, work, or otherwise - would you please send it back home?

At Least I'm Consistent

2011-02-21T08:14:00.000-05:00

Looks like it was about this time last year that I came down with the chest cold from hell. Or at least, I thought that was the chest cold from hell.

Let me tell you, it had NOTHING on this year's version. Goodness.

Backing up, I'm still struggling with my running mojo but things have gone reasonably well the last couple weeks, considering. Two Fridays ago I got in a fast 7 miles (as in 58 minutes fast!) with some other PhD students, followed by two GREAT days of skiing in almost spring-like weather. Monday and Tuesday were busy as usual (and my legs were fried Monday, anyway) but I was looking forward to getting in some running during our February thaw. Ha! Wednesday I went out with 2 of the 3 fast PhD students for 3.5 miles in under 30 minutes and then Thursday, it happened.

The disease hit.

It started innocently enough. I woke with a cough on Thursday morning and knew I was in for a long day. It was forecast to be in the 50s but I knew I'd better dress a little warmer since I was clearly coming down with something. I sent a whiny "I'm sick" text to my mom that morning, but expected to make it through the day.

On my way into campus, I stopped for a cup of coffee. I couldn't stop coughing in the coffeehouse - don't you just hate that? I always feel like everyone around me thinks I have the Plague and I always want to explain that it's the transition from the outside to inside air that makes me do that. Anyway. Got my coffee, arrived at my office, sat down to work...and didn't even want to drink that coffee.

That's bad news, I'm telling you. I finally poured the cup out this morning - I don't think I even drank 1/4 of it.

By 10 AM I was freezing, shivering uncontrollably, and knew I wouldn't make it through the day. I found someone to teach my evening class, finished my grading, canceled office hours, and tried to last until my scheduled noon meeting. The second that meeting was over I headed home and hit the couch.

I stayed on the couch until about 10 PM, at which time I moved to the bed. Stayed there until, oh....Saturday. Basically. Friday morning I did get up to go to the doctor. My hips, glutes, and legs were hurting so badly you would have thought I ran 100 miles the day before. Clearly, however, I did not. I was sure this was the flu. The doctor, on the other hand, was not. She sent me home saying it was "justavirus" of the upper respiratory variety, and I just needed to rest and drink fluids.

And so I did, all weekend long.

Today I can finally stand for extended periods of time. I've stopped drinking Gatorade, actually eaten a couple meals, and coffee is (mostly) appealing this morning. I think I'll probably be able to stand for 80 minutes to teach my class..but I'm not entirely convinced yet. I know I'll have to go straight to bed when I finally get home.

But you know what? I missed some of the grossest conditions of the year so far. I mean yeah it was warm and that would have been nice, but everything was so soggy and ugly. That first thaw of the year there's litter everywhere (that had been hidden under the snow) and the only snow left is the piles along the road that are crusted in nasty black road disgustingness. Yesterday we got a fresh blanket a new snow - about 10" worth! Today we're forecast to get up to 3 more inches.

And so I'd like to thank the Justavirus of Death for choosing a weekend of no skiing and ask it to please leave me healthy enough to enjoy this new, fresh snow.

Did I Say I was a Runner?

2011-02-10T11:39:00.000-05:00

Heh.

Lately I haven't been interested in running at all. I thought it was a rut brought on by school stress that would just pass. Well...it hasn't. Not that the school stress has passed either, but I thought I just needed to get into a routine or something.

The thing is, even when I have an opportunity to run (now, for instance), I don't really want to. Now I believe the windchill is still well under zero and that's a good part of the reason I'm not interested but....just blah. This is NOT GOOD seeing as how I am actually registered for both a half marathon and a marathon and talking about running at least one additional half.

Good thing I've been skiing...sort of.

I just don't want to push the running now, when I'm not interested, knowing that before long I'm going to HAVE to do it if I want to get through those races. I'm already thinking of blowing off any time goal for the May half and have proclaimed that I'm not even allowed to have a goal time for the marathon in October.

Sigh. If I keep going on like this it's going to be hard to run a 5k, even.

Hooray!!

2011-01-31T17:27:00.000-05:00

Happy belated birthday to me?

Tonight
A chance of light snow in the evening...then light snow after midnight. Snow accumulation 1 to 2 inches. Lows 10 to 15. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 80 percent.

Tuesday
Light snow likely. Areas of blowing snow in the afternoon. Snow may be heavy at times in the afternoon. Snow accumulation an inch or less. Highs in the lower 20s. Northeast winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Tuesday Night
Blustery...snow. Areas of blowing snow. Snow may be heavy at times. Snow accumulation 7 to 11 inches. Lows 15 to 20. Northeast winds 20 to 30 mph. Gusts up to 35 mph increasing to 40 mph toward daybreak. Chance of snow near 100 percent.

Wednesday
Snow. Areas of blowing snow. Windy. Accumulations possible. Highs in the lower 20s. North winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts to around 40 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent.

Blog or Dissertate?

2011-01-23T19:54:00.000-05:00

Blog, of course! Just a quick break to try to get back in the habit of my weekly updates (at the very least).

It was a reasonably good week, exercise-wise. I did ride my high from last weekend's race a little too long but I figure it's alright. Running races hardly ever leave me feeling that way anymore so it was a nice change.

The three-day weekend was greatly appreciated around here. I spent the majority of the weekend with a friend - having girl-time, watching TV, reading, napping, and generally ignoring schoolwork. Monday I got back into my groove by spending 7 evening hours in the office while Doug worked at the athletic club.

Before getting back to work I took my friend K out to the trails at Burchfield to teach her how to ski. Ski rentals were free for the day and the Place Was Packed. K had never been on any kind of skis before so she had to learn it all from the very beginning. We started with getting up from a fall (which I learned to teach right away after forgetting to teach another friend last winter), moved on to "french fry, pizza pie," and then eventually made it to going forward. Kicking and gliding took some time but she was getting it by the end. We managed about 2 miles with only a few falls - almost all of them at the bottom of hills. She'd make it down looking great and get excited or something at the bottom. Rumor has it she wants to try again, so I'm calling it a successful day.

Tuesdays are not going to be good exercise days for me this semester and this week was no different. The rains that came Monday night left the whole town a sheet of ice Tuesday and it wasn't much better Wednesday, so it didn't take much to talk myself out of trying to run outside. I flirted with the idea of hitting the treadmill but bailed after visiting a friend in the hospital and staying longer than planned. That night I resolved to make it out running every remaining day of the week.

Thursday and Friday both brought good runs, if a bit cold. Saturday morning was F-R-I-G-I-D with wind chills around -10* when I headed out for my morning long run with the training group. About 80 people made it out that morning and I caved to peer-pressure, running 7 miles when the plan only technically called for 4. It was week 1 of half marathon training but 4 would have been a big cut back, since I've been doing 6-8 on weekends lately.

Today, since I ran more than planned on Saturday, I decided to be happy with 14 running miles for the week and try skiing instead. We weren't sure how the trails would be but decided to give them a shot since we did get about 1" of new snow in the past couple days. Burchfield hasn't been renting skis since the weekend and as a result, the trails were great! We parked at the Riverbend trailhead instead of the park, like we usually do, and it was a great decision. The hills between Burchfield and Riverbend were likely to be an icy, root-y, rocky mess and I'm perfectly happy that we skipped them. The few skiers who did get out this weekend left great tracks for us to follow and I was ON today. Got in some good practice with pole-less kicking, double-poling, and running up hills. Three times around a 1-mile loop left us with 3 miles for the day.

Week totals:

Mon: Skied 2 miles nice and easy and worked on technique. Felt good on sore legs.
Tues: Nada
Wed: Does sliding around on ice count?
Thurs: Ran 3.4 miles with dogger.
Fri: Ran 4 miles outside with friend B while the wussy boys ran on the indoor track.
Sat: Ran 7 miles with the training group, different people than usual.
Sun: Skied 3 miles with Doug, lots of technique work.

Total: 14.4 miles run, 5 miles skied. Not bad for high-riding laziness.

Frosty Freestyle - My First Ski Race

2011-01-17T12:02:00.000-05:00

As we all know by now, I'm never one to write a short race report. Always have to start with the back-story, yada yada. Today's no different - there's even a moral to this story.

But for those who don't want to read, short version: 5k cross-country ski race, classic technique. Final time 36:18, first in age group, 4th woman, 10th overall. Pint glass trophy. Beaten by someone in a snowman costume.

Long version:

When we moved to Michigan, I was determined to love winter. I had a new set of downhill skis that I'd won in a raffle and I was set to just be on them all the time. Well - downhill skiing is expensive, even when you have all the gear. Cross-country skiing, on the other hand, is pretty cheap (once you have the gear). Doug had done a lot of Nordic skiing in the past (both skate and classic styles) and owned a pair of skate skis. He was always talking it up and finally I really wanted to try. As a bonus, he can get really great deals on equipment through work. I wound up buying a closeout pair of skis online for $60 and getting bindings, boots, and poles all for less than $100 through his work. He wound up getting a pair of classic skis with Christmas money, so we were both all set.

That first year we skied when we had the opportunity and I thought it was great fun, but never looked at it as more than just fun cross training. Last year, a combination of things happened. First, I started getting better and we started making a better effort to get out and ski. Second, the Winter Olympics started. I watched So Much Skiing. I got all wrapped up in the performances of Kikkan Randall and Chandra Crawford, started looking into other stuff they do (hello Fast and Female!) and really excited about the whole culture in general. Also - this is silly - we got a Wii and a super fun biathlon game called Ski and Shoot. This somehow convinced me that I could race. :laugh:

Last winter I started talking about getting serious and trying my hand (or legs, as it may be) at racing this winter. Through his total awesomeness, Doug was able to get me a pair of racing skis at the end of the season. He got them after our snow had melted, so I never got to try them out. By the time he did that, I was committed. The moral is - watch what you commit yourself too - someone's always listening! This fall he also managed to convince me that I had outgrown my $60 closeout skis (Karhu Piqtu - "little snow") and should sell them to a friend. I did, and hiss mom got me the waxless version of my waxable racing skis for Christmas. So now I have two sets of skis, nearly identical to each other, and they're both fast. Fast fast fast. However, there was a learning curve. I still haven't been out on the waxable skis because a) I have to learn to wax, and b) we haven't had much snow.

There's a park about halfway between here and Detroit that is groomed for both skate and classic skiing whenever there's enough snow to do so. They do a great job and a lot of local skiers essentially live there in the winter. There's also a race, the Frosty Freestyle, held in the middle of January. This year they were holding both a 5k and 15k, with classic and skate divisions in each. It's by far the closest race to us and while I was worried about it being so early in the year (and thus not getting much practice), this is the one I set my sights on.

Because those Southern states have been stealing our snow, I wasn't even sure the race would happen. The website said that if there wasn't snow on race day they would postpone the race. If there still wasn't snow, they would hold a running race instead. That struck me as a reasonably good idea (and I felt much more confident about the potential running race!). A week and a half before the race, we didn't have any snow. Then, the groomers at the park had a brilliant idea. They took a golf course aerator to the ice on the lake at the park. The aerator was used to "pulverize" the top 2.5 inches of ice and make snow on a 24ft. wide, 1km long path loop on the lake. They then groomed that path and called it an alternate racecourse. Gulp. We went down to ski it the weekend before the race. At that point I wasn't sure I wanted to race. I had been nervous and felt unprepared to begin with - adding the potential of falling into the lake on top of it was almost too much for me. But we tried it and it wasn't so bad. I was still hesitant for two reasons, though. First, prior to that day I really had no idea how long it would take me to ski 5k. Funnily, I had even been considering doing the 15k. Well...that day it took me 8 minutes to ski 1km and I wasn't sure I'd even be able to keep it up for 5 laps. I was worried. Second, it was windy down there...and that was a relatively still day. If we had our usual Michigan wind on race day that course was going to be damn cold and even slower (for me - everyone else I heard talking seemed to think it was very fast). So, I considered not doing the race at all.

Doug thought I was being silly and should just get out and get it over with. I knew he was right but I'm really so good at worrying. I knew that I'd feel better about it if it would just snow and they could have the race on the course. Finally, Tuesday and Wednesday, it did...and I registered for the 5k. Wednesday afternoon we headed out to a local park to ski and I felt much better about it than I had on Saturday. Once I knew we would be on trails and I wasn't likely to be lapped a billion times, the worry melted away to excitement. We also got out to ski on Friday night and by then I was pumped (and still nervous, of course).

The race started at 10:30 so we didn't have to stress too much about getting up early and all that on race day. It had snowed a couple inches over night, though, so the drive was a little hairy at times. We got to the park around 9:30 with plenty of time to get checked in, figure out exactly what I wanted to wear (of course I had taken many options!) and be intimidated by the very serious looking racers. It seemed like nearly everyone was wearing a race suit representing some Michigan Cup team. Where were all the beginners the site had advertised? Finally I started seeing some who didn't look quite as serious. I skied about a mile to warm-up and fretted over my outfit. I had chosen fleece-lined (but not very heavy or wind-resistant) tights, a light long-sleeved baselayer top, mid-weight fleece layer, and windproof jacket. It was windy, cloudy, and still snowing. I had to wear sunglasses to keep the snow out of my eyes - fortunately the brown lenses were ok for the low light.

Just before we all went to line up, the "international guest star" advertised on the race website was announced - a skier dressed as Frosty the Snowman. Great - not only could I come in dead last, I could lose to a snowman. Oh well, there's a first time for everything.

They did a wave start and the women's 5k was the last to start, so I got to stand there in the wind getting more and more nervous. Frosty also started in my wave, so I made it my main goal to get away from "him" as quickly as possible. The race started up a little hill - not steep enough to need to switch to a herringbone motion but enough to trip people up a little. A few people fell there so I was focused on how I was going to get around them when I heard D yell "Frosty's right behind you!!" I picked it up to get away and once we were off the hill, started to get into a groove. I passed a trailing man - who had started 3 min ahead of me - within the first 1/4-1/2 mile and was steadily passing women who had gotten out ahead of me on that hill. My skis are super fast on downhills and I was able to take advantage of that within the first mile. After that it seemed like we did a whole lot of climbing without any compensatory downhill - it all must have been on that first steep descent. Most of the race I felt like I was moving right along. I've spent some time the past week or so practicing skiing without my poles, forcing myself to find my kick zone and actually get power from my legs more than my arms - it's helping a ton. The thing I struggled with during the whole race was having no idea how far we'd gone. I'm not familiar with the trail, everything was blindingly white (even with glasses on), and the course wound around so much I didn't even know which direction I was facing. Eventually I could hear cheers and cowbells so I knew we had to be getting close. Right about then, Frosty passed me. I kept that white suit in my sight the rest of the race, but never caught back up. I think I could have, once we got out of the woods, but by then I really just wanted to finish and didn't care about beating the mascot. I finished probably less than 25yds behind Frosty.

D came over when I finished and said he thought I'd probably won my age group. We tracked Frosty down for a picture and went back to the car to deposit my skis and get my dry clothes. Lunch was served after the race so we hung around for that and then the awards.

Sure enough, I DID win my age group! My final time was 36:18 (almost 5 min ahead of 2nd), good for first in the women's 5k classic 20-29 division, 4th woman, and 10th overall (men and women). Not bad for the first time out!

So that's it! I had a ton of fun and am really excited to do this again. I do need to work on my technique though...might see if I can take some lessons if I can find a coach around here.

Thanks for reading!

Pictures to follow when I have a little more time.

Time to Revive

2011-01-04T18:40:00.000-05:00

It's about time I updated this old thing, yes?

That might be code for "I'll do anything other than write my dissertation proposal."

Regardless, here I am with an update and the intention of keeping this up for a while.

Looks like I left off in July after DWD-Devil's Lake. Since then:

July: As I said in my last post, I was really pleased with the way the race went and thought it had been great to have that goal in the middle of the summer to keep me going. After the race, my longest run for the rest of the month was 6 miles. My running buddies were in training mode for an October half and just getting started, so I dropped my long run distance back down and ran with them. I swear, every long race I run I say I'm not going to lose that base...and then I do. Anyway - I also continued the speedwork I had been doing all summer. Outside of running, July was when I really got serious about studying for comprehensive exams...and daily runs got shorter as I started feeling that time crunch. Total: 62 miles

August: With studying in full swing and the semester approaching quickly, I basically head steady in terms of running. Our long runs were increasing in distance and I kept on going with the speedwork I'd been doing. It was HOT. Total: 70 miles

September: School started with a bang. I took comps in the last 2 week of August and orals the second week of September. The semester started on 9/1 and I was slammed, teaching 2 classes, taking one, and trying to keep up with research. My schedule blew - in class (statistics, no less) until 10 PM on Monday evenings, and then teaching until 7 on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Running on Monday was out, I often didn't make it on Wednesday either...and eventually Tuesday. I was tired and grumpy most of the month. Total: 56 miles

October: At this point, I was just trying to hang onto at least a little of the fitness I had over the summer. My tired grumpiness continued (you could even say it got worse...). There were a couple weeks in there when I only ran on the weekend. My fall goal race - the Great Turtle Half Marathon, was at the end of the month. I'll post the report later, but basically I only met my last-ditch goal - to run under a 10 min pace. That's a tough race, even hillier than I expected, and I'm really quite happy with my effort. I managed a 9:51 pace for a final tme of 2:08:58. Total: 55 miles

November: Ha. At this point there's nothing left to do but laugh. Without a goal my motivation just flew the coop entirely. Total: 42 miles

December: The first couple weeks were rough, tying up loose ends on the semester, writing and grading finals, and dealing with disappointed students. I was started to get my motivation back, though, and by the end of the month was back to actually enjoying running and wanting to get out there. A little snow probably helped - I do love snowy running. Total: 64 miles

So, I finished out the year with 753 miles. The goal I set at the beginning of the year was to run 750 and I'm pleased to have met that. It was a big year and I can't overlook the one year anniversary of my diagnosis (April), surgery (May), and last treatment (October 23rd - same day as the Great Turtle). I'm still trying to work through what this all means for me now and to balance my personal life with my professional (school) life in a way that is fulfilling to me. I didn't do a good job with that this fall, so my goal for 2011 is to figure out where everything fits and do what I have to do to keep myself happy. Exactly what that is, I'm not sure...but I know that running will be a big part of it.

Still to come in 2011:

Greater Lansing Race for the Cure (April) - I have a title to defend, after all...
Bayshore Half Marathon (May) - with my girls. It'll be my first trip to that area and hopefully, I'll finally get under 2 hours.
Dances with Dirt Devil's Lake (Wisconsin, July) - this is just a fun race and I hope to get to do it again!
Chicago Marathon - my first. Heaven help me.
And let's not forget...my dissertation

Thanks for reading! I'll leave you with pictures...

Dances With Dirt - Devil's Lake

2010-07-13T21:56:00.001-04:00

Short version: Something more than 13.1 miles, 3:07:18 chip time, 1 sprained ankle, lots of scratches, and a whole lot of fun.

(Extremely) Long version:

This half was my official goal when I signed up for the distance-training group with the local running store, before I decided to run that 25k back in May. It was my first half marathon since Nittany Valley in December of 2007 (2:34ish) and my first trail half since TA 2007 (3:17ish). Training went really well up through Riverbank and I had completed 3 runs over half marathon distance, including that race. Since then, though, my longest run had been 8 miles. My weekly mileage total has been the same, though, and I added hills, so at least there was that. I had no idea what to expect from the course (and they changed it in the last couple weeks, never posting the new elevation profile) so I didn’t have a time goal. So, officially, my goals were: 1) don’t die, 2) don’t break myself, 3) finish, and 4) finish ever wanting to run again. I’m feeling very fit so those goals seemed reasonable…but I left out one important detail…

We left pretty early on Friday morning and made the drive to Wisconsin. Hit some traffic in Chicago, which was expected, and then crawled for about an hour (for no apparent reason) outside of Janesville, WI. Made it to Baraboo around 4 PM and got all checked in. We decided to camp at the start, so we picked out a spot in the field and set up our tent. After that we drove over to Baraboo and explored a little.

The campsite was just an open field right next to the start, filled with runners, relay teams, a few dogs, and porta-potties. There was also a lake right there so I worried about bugs, but never had a problem with them. Kona found a beaver basically the second we arrived, and as we were walking back to our tent that evening a dude in another tent found a frog in his sleeping bag. We were in our tent before 10, but it took me forever to fall asleep on account of the VERY LOUD frogs and other creatures. It was cool though, a great place to camp and a fun atmosphere with everyone else around.

The night was clear, warm, and dry, so we slept without the rainfly on the tent. That meant the light was shining through the mesh top nice and early. I was awake shortly after 4 and up before 5, which allowed me to take my time getting ready. I walked over to the start and saw two friends head out for the 50k at 5:30, and walked up to meet others for very important coffee after that. Then wandered back down, saw Kona and Doug, and watched the relay start at 7. After that it was time for us to line up. Told my friends to have fun, and we were off!

And then we were stopped. The course turns onto single track pretty much immediately. I figured the hills would spread the field out but I was in a long line of people for the entire first 4.2 mile section. The course description said we’d climb for 2 miles straight – I was worried about that, but it reminded me a lot of the TA before you hit Becky’s Bluff. Some steep, but nothing bad. I had decided that I would walk when the hills really felt tough and run when they didn’t, but for a lot of that first section I didn’t have much choice. The trail was super narrow, and a lot of the time the line in front of me was so long it hardly seemed worth it to try to pass people. I looked at it as insurance I wouldn’t go out too fast. After a good bit of climbing we started down an extremely rocky trail. Eventually I made it to the aid station and happily took a break for some Gatorade. Unfortunately it was yellow Gatorade, which still makes me nauseous after drinking a lot of it during chemo.

First section (Road Kill aid station) 4.2 miles: 1:00:40

After the first aid station we headed back into the woods on the other side of the road. This section was very runnable and I FLEW. Somewhere in there I decided that I was less likely to twist an ankle if my feet weren’t on the ground long, so I took off. Kept walking the hills, and noticed I was recovering from them really quickly. Excellent. Somewhere in here my hamstrings started feeling a little tight and I remembered the Gu I had intended to take at the first aid station. This section was only 1.8 miles and finished at a granite overlook at the summit. Once I got over my terror of climbing up granite steps, a huge drop, and slippery rock, it was an incredible view. I’m not sure I’ve ever been up that high, and I’ve certainly never been that near the edge. Couldn’t stay too long, though, or I was going to get dizzy, so I headed back on my way after having a little water.

Second section (South Bluff aid station) 1.8 miles: 0:24:06

As it turns out, I left a very important goal off my list. Right before the start, the Head Goat told us to watch for the ORANGE FLAGS and NOT follow the person in front of us. Well….he gives that warning for a reason. Between the incredible view and the nice chat I was having with the woman in front of me, I (and the whole group I was with) missed when the orange-flagged-trail turned. A few minutes after leaving the South Bluff aid station I said “Uh..guys..I only see pink flags.” We all stopped dead and tried to figure out where we missed the trail. I had my map (at least I have some intelligence) so we got ourselves straightened out and found the trail again. I was able to run most of this section (but did not run on any of that granite ledge). At one point we had to cross a bridge that had apparently gotten washed a bit downstream. The guy in front of me didn’t step far enough or something and fell right on the corner of that bridge. He was ok, and we all headed on.

Third section (Steinke Basin) 2.9++ miles: 41:36

When I got back to Road Kill aid station I had some more nausea-inducing yellow Gatorade and a Gu and as I turned around to cross the road, I saw Doug and Kona! Such a great surprise to see them. My cumulative time at this point was 2:06 and I had secretly hoped to beat 3h, so I said hi to them briefly, told Doug I was having a blast, and headed off for the last 4.2 mile section (the same trail we’d been on at the start). I ran almost all of this section with the same three women and had a nice time chatting with them, but I think I had a little too much fun with them and didn’t push myself enough. Then, with something like 2 or 3 miles to go, I broke my concentration to see if the guy behind me wanted to pass, and immediately stepped on a grass-covered rock. Twisted my ankle hard, felt it pop 4 or 5 times, swore loudly, and thought I was done. That close to the end. I stood there for a couple minutes waiting for the nausea to pass, and one of the three women, Pam, waited with me. She walked right in front of me for a couple minutes after that, and soon I was able to run again. We ran along pretty gingerly for a while after that, but eventually I felt reasonably decent again. With about 1.5 miles to go we came across an unmanned aid station, I refilled my bottle, and picked up the pace. The rest of the race I ran by myself. Finally, I saw that tractor that had marked the trail head where the race bottlenecked at the beginning. I told the guy next to me that we’d made it, and headed toward the finish. I crossed the line, got my medal, shot glass, water, and a banana, and turned around to wait for Pam to finish. Gave her a hug when she came through and thanked her for hanging with me, and then went off to find Doug and Kona.

Fourth section (Road Kill to Start/Finish) 4.2 miles: 1:01:ish (forgot to stop my watch)

Final chip time: 3:07:18

I have to say, I’m thrilled. I met all of my goals (even though I forgot that important 5^th one: don’t get lost) and got really close to my secret time goal. Considering the slight detour and the bottleneck at the beginning, those 7 min don’t concern me. So now, it’s time to switch gears and put in some serious training for a road-half PR assault in October.

Changing Focus

2010-06-10T16:30:00.000-04:00

Howdy.

Sorry for the slow updates - I haven't had much to say! Lately I've just been running aimlessly, recovering from Riverbank, finishing the semester, traveling to conferences, and adjusting to the summer temps. Starting tonight, though, that changes. (Actually it changed Monday, but tonight's a big one)

A friend of mine has injured his back, meaning the girl he usually trains each summer is in need of a new training buddy. As it turns out, I'm also looking to get faster. Mike put the two of us together, and our first run is tonight. MB needs to run a timed mile in the fall - the cut off is 7 min and her goal is 6:30. Funny...that's about where I'd like to be, too. Alrighty then.

I consulted another friend on workouts and between the two of us I think we can come up with a good plan. That's still in progress, but tonight's plan is:

800 warm-up
2x800 @ 5k pace (4 min recovery)
1x1 mile @ 8:45-9:00 pace
2x800 @ 5k pace
1 mile cool down

Any bets on how long it takes me to vomit?

Cautiously Optimistic

2010-05-19T10:48:00.011-04:00

Howdy.

I was feeling restless yesterday evening and decided to try running again before my yoga class. Got Kona all hooked up and headed out for just over 3 pain-free miles! Yoga also went well, not a twinge from my foot, so I'm cautiously optimistic about getting back to normal training.

Also, I'm really enjoying the mystery plants in our front yard so I thought I'd share a couple pictures. We moved in August so while I knew there were things planted out front, they were well beyond blooming by the time we moved in. The flowering plants have now been identified as purple irises and fairy lilies. I also planted some purple glads that should come up later in the season. I bought those before I knew the irises would be purple - what a nice coincidence!

I've also got to call our landlord and ask if we can borrow his tiller. I'm already feeling behind on my garden, even though the average last frost date was just a couple days ago. I'd love to get started this weekend.

A (hopefully) Small Setback

2010-05-16T11:26:00.000-04:00

Alright, so my last post was about the Riverbank Run and mentioned this problem I'm having with my left foot. When we walked a mere 6 blocks or so after the race, I was back to being sure it was broken in there somewhere. Sunday was rough as well, and then suddenly Monday my foot felt much better than it had even before the race.

Interesting. But who am I to complain?

Still, I did not run, stepping gingerly and hoping not to anger it again. I attended my normal Monday night exercise class and while I felt a few twinges in the aerobics portion, it wasn't more than a little annoying. Tuesday and Wednesday I decided a few more rest days would be good (and let's face it, data collection wiped me out) and then the weather on Thursday was absolutely horrid. So, I decided Friday would be the day to test it out.

After a week of totally cruddy weather, Friday was gorgeous. I went out with two other runners who are faster than me, so it was a little bit of a challenge. My foot was achey at the start but I wouldn't say it ever actually got worse..it just wasn't good. So, I decided I'd go to the group long run Saturday morning.

The alarm went off that morning and I wiggled in bed. That little wiggle told me my foot was not happy with me for running on Friday and was going to insist on another day off. -Sigh-

The thing is, if you take a habitual runner and tell her she can't run (save for two outings) over a two week period, she's going to lose her mind. She'll lose her mind, and she'll feel like a total slug. But, seeing as how my next goal race is in July and I'd like to actually make it to the start, rest is important. Embracing my time off running, I hit the pool yesterday.

Man. Running fitness definitely does not equal swimming fitness! I did a slow and "easy" 700 yards before calling it quits - partly out of fatigue and partly out of boredom. I may go again today and if I do, it will be with a workout written out. At least then I'll have something to follow and a goal to achieve.

5/3 Riverbank Run 25K

2010-05-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

Short version: 2:39:56, a huge (unofficial) half marathon PR, and my left foot sabotaged me.

Long version:

When I joined this training group this winter, I was intending to draw out the training to make sure I was really well prepared for a trail half in July. After a particularly perfect (yes, particularly perfect) 10-mile run several weeks ago, my friend L talked me into signing up for the Riverbank Run 25k. I'd never done such a long race and it meant training harder than I had intended for the winter, but she said I could stay with her and another friend H and ride over to Grand Rapids with them. I thought for a couple days, and signed up. Training went really well - besides that first 10, I've done one 12, one 14, and one 14.5, and an additional 10. So, I thought I'd be pretty well prepared. Unfortunately, after not having a single twinge all through training, my left foot started bothering me on Monday. I wore Chacos with a toe loop that day, and about half way through the day the extensor tendon for my big toe (extensor hallicus longus, for the nerds in the group) started to hurt. I cursed my sandals and figured it was tendinitis, and basically sat on my butt with ice on my foot all week long.

So, as I was saying. I had a TON of fun with our pre-race activities. Expo, really good dinner, good conversation - just right. H was out right away, L wasn't awake much longer. I, on the other hand, was awake for hours upon hours. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to decide which pace group I was going to run with (and still hadn't decided an hour before the race). And, sometime around 1 AM, convinced myself that my foot pain was a stress fracture, rather than plain old tendinitis. Sometime after 1 I finally managed to fall asleep, only to wake around 3 when the race crew started setting up outside and making a lot of noise doing it (and we were on the 4th floor!) I slept off and on after that, and we finally all woke up at 6.

Our friend R arrived shortly after 7 and M (surprise!) came by sometime after that. We all chatted for a while, and then finally headed outside a few minutes before the start. I've gotta say - staying in the hotel that's literally right at the starting line is fantastic. And it doesn't really matter when you don't get to your corral on time because it takes forever for the whole pack to actually cross the line, so you get a chance to jump in. Considering how type A I am I think I did a pretty good job not stressing over getting into the corral, but then I was freaking out over my foot and running my longest race (and longest run, by 0.5) ever. R and I had discovered we were hoping to run about the same pace, so we agreed to stay together unless one of us was just really suffering.

There was a traffic jam at the start and I think that was a good thing - it kept us from going out so ridiculously fast. We actually had to stop once when the crowd slowed to a walk, but by the first quarter or so we were actually moving. The first two miles I was really worried about my foot. From the very first step it did not feel good. R told me to give it a shot and see if it loosened up and sometime in the second mile it finally did. I went back and forth with this through the whole race, one mile thinking I was fine and then the next thinking I was going to have to drop out. The first 6+ miles were pretty flat, mostly along the riverbank, and pretty scenic when we weren't just staring at the backs of other runners. Things got tougher at the turn around when the hills appeared, and we came out of the trees and were more open to the wind.

I felt awesome until about mile 10. No surprise really because that seems to be where I always start to lose it. At that time my foot was getting progressively worse, maybe because of the hills, and my head started getting me. Sometime before mile 11 (I think) I decided I was absolutely going to have to walk the hill, so I told R she should go ahead if she was feeling good. I kept her in my sights off and on after that, but never caught up to her again. Miles 11-13 just flat out sucked, and then I got sort of a second wind after 13 (and after seeing that I busted my half marathon PR by about 20 minutes). For some unknown reason I got all emotional somewhere before the 14 mile point and had to walk for a block or so because choking back sobs was making it a bit tricky to breathe. I got past that, and did ok for the last couple miles.

Once we got back into the city I was so excited because we had to be almost there, and then I saw the YMCA I had commented on when we got into town and thought I was closer to the finish than I actually was. The last mile or so was the coldest of the entire race - the wind just whipped through the buildings and it started to rain. The strong winds made the rain fall horizontally, and for at least a block the wind was just straight on. I've never been so happy to turn a corner!

I kept splits the whole time but managed to erase them from my watch before I wrote them down, so I don't have that. The first 10 averaged right around a 10 min pace, 11-13 were slower and sucky, and then I got back down around 10:15 or so for the last 2.5 miles. Chip time was 2:39:56 (10:18 pace), only 6 min off my half marathon PR.

Overall I'm really happy with the day. Without the foot pain I really think I could have managed a 10-minute pace for the whole thing, and even with the pain I wasn't too far off. Hopefully my foot just needs some rest and babying, and I can run a good half this summer.

Thanks for reading!

Once Again, Weather Gods

2010-05-06T10:47:00.001-04:00

15+ miles in the rain and gusty wind could be pretty miserable. Please don't.

Four Days to the Next One

2010-05-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

With four days remaining before my next race, I'm sitting in my home office with my left foot up on my desk, wrapped in an ace bandage, hopefully not continuing to swell. Great, right? I haven't been having any aches or pains leading up to this race, except for a little IT band twinge on Saturday that seems to be gone now. Even so around lunch time yesterday, the big-toe tendon on my left foot started to bother me. A couple hours later, my foot was swollen.

It's definitely the tendon, I feel it most when I flex my big toe. But where did this come from? The only thing I can think of to blame it on is the Chacos I wore yesterday - maybe my foot didn't appreciate the toe loop. Regardless, I've worn those sandals (or others exactly like them) nearly every day of every spring and summer for the past couple years, and this is the first time this has happened. So, who knows. All I know is that my foot hurts!

Off to ice again. Here's hoping that whatever this is, it clears up for Saturday's race.

2010 Race for the Cure Report

2010-04-26T00:16:00.000-04:00

Wow, I really don’t know where to begin with this report. There’s not going to be a short version, y’all are just going to have to read.

This past Tuesday, April 20, was the first anniversary of my diagnosis.Seems like a strange day to celebrate to me. Regardless, it’s been a year. A year full of doctor’s appointments, surgeries, scary drugs, fatigue…and stubbornness.I ran through the first 4 rounds of chemo and biked through 6 of the 8. The joint pain from Taxol was too much to keep running and then my hemoglobin and hematocrit tanked so that I couldn’t even bike the two miles to school. That was a sad, sad day. But stubborn as I am, I gave my body two weeks after the last chemo to work out that joint pain, and started running again on Nov 1.

For the past year, I’ve been looking ahead to this race and wanting to make a statement. A lot of that time I didn’t know if they statement would just be finishing at all, or if it would be finishing strong. I hoped for a PR and I hoped to win the survivor division. Anyone who knows anything about setting good goals would tell you that my goal of winning the division was a terrible one, and it was basically entirely out of my hands.

In January, I joined a running group organized by the local running store with the intention of slowly training for a July half marathon. It went much better than expected, and in a moment of weakness after a perfect 10 mile run, L talked me into signing up for the Riverbank Run 25k on 5/8. With that in mind, my long run mileage increased more quickly than I had planned. Talk about competing goals. In February, I ran a snowy, slippery, hilly 5k in 25:59, so I thought maybe I could beat my PR of 24:25, if I got some speed work in and everything went perfectly on race day. I did speed work exactly twice leading up to this race. With every single one of those 400s, I caught myself thinking “Seriously, I’m supposed to keep this up for 3 miles???” Negative self-talk is probably my biggest weakness, and this time around was no different. As a result, I really didn’t know what to expect today.

So, going into the race, my goals were:
A)7:30s, which would get me a very nice PR
B)7:45s, which would still get me a (smaller) PR
C)8:00s, which I decided was respectable and doable

And then of course there was the poor, totally-out-of-my-hands goal of winning the division.

Race day: The race was at 2 PM, a genuinely strange time for a race. I got up a bit before 9 this morning with the intention of working on this paper I’m supposed to be writing. Yeah, right. I practically bounced off the walls all morning. Ate some breakfast, drank some coffee, played some solitaire, and bounced bounced bounced. Finally, we left the house a bit after noon. I wanted to spend some time at the Survivor’s Tent and see if I could find the ladies from my exercise class, and also stop by the cancer center’s tent to see my nurses.

It. Was. Cold. Temps in the low 50s, wind, and threatening to rain the whole time. It was a lot of time to be standing around before the race, but that’s ok, I got to see some of the people I wanted to see. My friend M arrived around 1, and I lined up for the survivor stroll at 1:15. That was rough. Why must they play tear-jerker music for these things? I walked to the Capitol steps with the other 1-year survivors and then stood there at the top of the steps watching so many women in pink shirts walking towards me. There was one 40-year survivor. Freaking incredible. Somehow I didn’t cry, and when it was over I made my way down the steps, checked my bag, and found Doug and M. After a little trip to the porta-potties, M and I headed off for a warm-up, and then the three of us lined up way too far back in the mass of people.

Ok I know, I know. Wrap it up.

The race finally started and we were off. M said she’d follow me, so we started off weaving through an unbelievable number of people. I knew this wasn’t good, but seriously, it’s a great psychological boost to pass people like that when you’re as nervous as I was. The first mile was basically all passing people. I couldn’t focus on anything except not tripping over the curb or running smack into people. Occasionally I saw a pink survivor shirt it front of me and tried to focus on picking those off one by one. I almost ran right over the first mile marker that was right in the middle of the road.

Mile 1: 7:49. PERFECT.

In the second mile we didn’t do as much passing as in the first, and my head started to play mean games with me. M was my personal sports psychologist here – reminding me to relax, breaking the run up into segments, helping me pick people to catch. She was awesome, but I was genuinely hurting.

Mile 2: 7:55. Ugh.

The third mile sucked, that’s really all I can say. This course plays tricks on you because it sends you right behind the Capitol and then you have to turn away from it again. You can see people coming around the block and headed to the finish and you know it’s right on the other side of the building, but you can’t get there. The line of people behind us was insane, too. Just pink and white everywhere. I tried to distract myself here and M kept reminding me of all those things, but it wasn’t working out so well. Oh, if only I were better about speed work.

Mile 3.1: 9:25 (8:34 pace). Yeah….that was painful

At the finish I was sure I was going to throw up. I think that’s the first thing I said when we crossed the line, right before I picked out the spot where I was going to have my heart attack. But I neither threw up nor had a heart attack, and M and I headed off for water and the bag check. Got my bag and my camera, and headed back to cheer Doug in. He came in 2 minutes ahead of his goal and more than 4 minutes faster than last year!

M had to head home and get back to work shortly after the race, but I wanted to stay for the awards, or at least until results were posted. I had caught and passed all the pink survivor shirts I saw ahead of me. While it was possible that there were women out there without pink shirts on, or far enough ahead that I didn’t see them, I figured I had a shot. That was a cold 45 min or so standing out there, but it was worth it. Once they announced that the results were up, Doug and I walked over to check them out. I was hoping for third, knowing that my time was not so fast and would have been good for third last year. Well apparently last year’s fast women didn’t come out today, because I won!!! Take THAT, cancer.

Of course at that point we had to hang around for the awards. They did all of the fundraising awards first, and then the awards for the survivor division. The third place winner turned out to be a woman I had chatted with some before the race – she just got back from a bike tour in WV where she did over 26,000 feet of climbing – she had been hoping to make it in under 30 minutes and instead ran 26 and change for third place! It was so cool to hear them call my name and go up there and get my trophy. About 1,000 flash bulbs went off and I have no idea what the dude said to me. We also had a picture of the top 3 survivors taken.

A friend of mine took first woman overall, so we stayed for that and the two of us had our picture taken together. Then it was straight home for a hot shower and warm clothes!

Thanks for reading!!

Dear Weather Gods:

2010-04-24T16:37:00.000-04:00

If it must rain tomorrow, I'll understand. But if you could, would you please make sure it doesn't absolutely pour, and that it isn't completely frigid? I'd really appreciate it!

Smooches <3

Em

Looking Back and Daydreaming

2010-04-18T23:04:00.001-04:00

Howdy.

I promised I would report back with my March summary and an update of how April has been going. It's nearly time for my April summary, it seems, but we'll go with it.

There's something else I need to do first, though. Tuesday, April 20th will mark one year since I was diagnosed with cancer. My surgeon tells me that they count years of survival from the date of diagnosis, so there we go. I'm two days shy of being one year out, and 5 days shy of being 6 months out from chemo. The Race for the Cure is one week from today, and I guess I've decided to wear the pink shirt. I wasn't sure I would want the attention and recognition...I'm still not sure I want to walk in the "survivor parade"and maybe I won't, but I'm going to run in the pink shirt. Maybe it will have a positive effect on someone. Heck, maybe it will have a positive effect on me.

I've got a couple goals in mind for the race, but I'm going to keep them to myself for right now.

So, March:
Week 1:
Run - 15.6 miles (4 runs)
Yoga - zippo (I think?)
I ran a new route from the house over to the bike path that includes a couple good hills. Important training for the races I have planned, but not something my legs were used to. That left me sore for quite a bit longer than I expected. If I remember correctly, this was also the week it started warming up a little and I finally got to wear my new capri tights. They're every bit as wonderful as I thought they would be ;)

Week 2:
Run - 16.2 miles (4 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
The snow melt and a good bit of rain finally flooded the river and low-lying areas, meaning that the trails along the river were also flooded and we were re-routed for our group long run. Two hilly loops through the cemetery meant I ran just 6.2 miles but felt good about it with the added intensity. Also an hour of power yoga at home, after the time change gave me a good excuse to sleep in on Sunday morning.

Week 3:
Run - 18.1 (4 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
The week of the perfect 10 mile run. Ahhh, it was heavenly. See the post about the run if you really wanna know ;)

Week 4:
Run - 22.8 miles (5 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
What a difference 5 runs makes. This week I slept through my long run - woke up at 7:58 and knew I wouldn't make it to the shop by 8, so I went back to sleep. It was a rough week, or a rough month really, at school and I think my body was just wiped out. Without running with the group I couldn't wrap my head around a 10-12 mile run alone, so I broke it up into 8.3 on Saturday and 6.0 with Mike on Sunday. Worked out well.

Week 4.5: (pesky when months don't work out to be just 4 weeks)
Run - 3.2 miles (1 run on the 31st)

Total:
Run - 76 miles (18 runs)
Yoga - 3 hours

A good month!

The Daydreaming:

The semester is coming to an end and while there's a ton of work ahead of me between now and then, and while I'll be spending the summer studying for comps, there are several things I'm looking forward to. In no particular order:

Sun
Sundresses
Gardening
Sleeping
Camping trips
Pete & Carrie's wedding
Seeing some NC friends
Growing my hair
Dying my hair
Swimming
Biking
Dinners outside
Walks with Kona
ACSM in Baltimore
NOT HAVING CLASS

Come on, Summer!

They Can't Be Serious

2010-04-15T23:12:00.004-04:00

It was 80 degrees today. 80! Come on, weather gods...don't do this:

Friday Night

Partly cloudy with a slight chance of light rain showers...then mostly cloudy with a slight chance of light rain and snow showers overnight. Lows in the mid 30s. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph becoming west 10 to 15 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.

Back this weekend with an update on the running, I promise. Still have to do my March wrap-up and tell you about how I lost my mind. But school is wearing me down, so it'll have to wait a few more days.

Some Runs are Perfect

2010-03-20T12:28:00.000-04:00

And sometimes, you really don't expect it when you start.

I slept horribly last night. Awake at 1, 2, 3...you get the idea. When the alarm went off at 6:30, I was sure it had just been 3:00 five minutes before. Hit snooze a couple times and then begrudgingly got out of bed. I moped around while I drank coffee and ate some breakfast, and then headed out.

Of course it's been in the 60s and sunny all week and when I walked out this morning it was cold. I was wearing capri tights, a short sleeved shirt, and a jacket (because I did know it might rain) but decided to run back in and add a long sleeved shirt and mittens. Good thinking...should have added long tights, too. Pulled out of the driveway and noticed little droplets on the windshield. Fabulous. Pulled into the parking lot at the running store and noticed....

Snowflakes.

Did you know today is the first day of spring? Yeah.

So I went in the store, moping moping moping, and stood around until they sent us off. Starting out I was right behind a group of women who were going slower than I had intended and I thought about passing them. Then, Smart Emily appeared and I remembered that I've really been doing my longs runs too fast, so I asked that group if I could join in. They were aiming for an 11 min pace which was slower than what I thought we were doing, but I decided to hang with them and just enjoy being comfortable. They were heading out for 13 and I was planning 8, so I knew I'd still have a lot of time to myself.

The four mile mark was drawing near and I felt really good, so I decided to do 10. Good thing Smart Emily came out today, because Notsosmart Emily had been considering just staying with that group to do 13. The 5 mile mark came in 53:04 - a 10:37 pace, so I was right that we were going a little faster. Smart Emily bid the ladies farewell and turned around.

I knew I had a lot left in the tank and figured it was fine to pick it up for the second half. The first 3 - 3.5 I ran alone, but kept a pretty even gap with the woman in front of me so I figured we were going about the same place. By the time we hit the aid station with somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles left to go, I was physically fine but mentally struggling a bit. I asked if I could run along with her, and we set off for the shop. We chatted, but the whole time we were running along I kept thinking she was going faster than I thought, really pushing me, and I might have to slow back down. Later I found out she was thinking the same thing! Funny how two people can push each other like that without even realizing it. We were pumped by the time we made it back to the shop - what a way to end a run! Total time for the second half was 44:47 - an 8:57 pace! What's best about it is how great I felt.

R, the woman I ran those last couple miles with, kept commenting what a great day it was to run and how she hadn't expected that at all. I have to agree! I was so grumpy this morning and then the snow just took the cake. Through that whole run, I watched the ground get whiter and whiter as my lower legs got colder and colder. Even so, I ran so strong today.

Just. Perfect.

February Wrap-up

2010-03-13T17:18:00.000-05:00

Howdy, Friends!

I know, I know. I'm late with the February wrap-up. I was busy! And then it was spring break and I was enjoying that, as I should. So. Now that break is almost over I have some school work I'd rather not work on, so what better time to update the blog?

February was a decent month, if a busy one. I was a bit under the weather at the beginning of the month and that slowed me down a bit for a couple weeks but did not stop me from running a good 5k on the 20th. I also got my long run up to 8 miles, but have since dropped back to 6-7 while I increase my overall weekly mileage. Skiing was sporadic - sometimes we had snow, sometimes we didn't.

Week 1: (two days out of town at a conference)
Run - 13.6 miles (3 runs)
Ski - 6.5 miles (2 outings)
Yoga - 1 hr

Week 2: the week of the winter crud
Run - 11.0 miles (3 runs)
Ski - 13.2 miles (3 outings)
Shortened my long run to 5 miles and skipped yoga

Week 3: race week
Run - 9.5 miles (3 runs)
Ski - zippo
Raced a 5k that Saturday, watch time was 25:59. We never got official times due to a timing system malfunction. Incidentally, in March of 2008 I ran my first sub-30 5k, at 25:53. It's a nice feeling to be "back there" only 4 months after finishing chemotherapy. Travel at the end of the week and sickness at the beginning shot my mileage and kept me from skiing.

Week 4:
Run - 15.2 miles (4 runs)
Ski - somewhere between 6-8 miles (1 outing)
Yoga - 1 hr
Felt much better and bumped up the running mileage since I didn't ski as much.

Total:
Run - 49.2 miles
Ski - 26ish miles
Yoga - 2 hrs (hmm. seemed like more than that)

This month my weekly mileage is inching up now that the snow is all gone. The sun this week has been nice, but I have to admit that I'll be sad if I don't get to ski again this winter. After all, I just got racing skis! Stay tuned til next winter for adventures in XC ski racing...

Frosty 5k - Madison, WI

2010-02-26T23:41:00.003-05:00

Short version: Been sick for two weeks, ran hard, sounded all wheezy, slid around on slushy snow, got my ass kicked by some hills. Had a tentative time goal but threw it out the window when I saw the hills. Watch time was 25:59 (8:22 pace). I’m reasonably happy.

Extremely Long version:

So, everyone knows what the last year has been like for me. Through chemo my only zero-mile month was October, but I only ran two miles each in August and September, and started back to running on 11/1. I was really conservative for the first couple months, starting with 1 min run/1 min walk and building up the run 30 sec at a time for several weeks. I’ve been running 30+ min continuously since near the end of December and am now up to a 7-mile long run, averaging 10-15 mpw in 2010. I’ve also been doing quite a bit of cross-country skiing, some weeks 15 miles in addition to running. My fitness has improved by leaps and bounds this winter, and I think most of that credit goes to skiing – there’s no way I’d be able to do the volume I’ve been doing if I was only running, my bones and joints aren’t ready for that yet.

My tentative time goal was mostly a curiosity thing. Training runs have been going really well – easy effort well under a 9 min pace for short runs, easy long runs around 9:30. Depending on how things go I’d like to try for a fairly significant PR this spring/early summer, but it’s very difficult for me to mentally commit to a tough goal right now. Mike and I have talked about it some, and decided it would be reasonable to try for 8 min miles for this race. And you know, I knew Wisconsin was hillier than Michigan. Somehow I forgot that. We drove into town and I decided 8 min miles were not in the cards – some of you wouldn’t think much of those hills, but it looked like a lot to me!

By the time the 5k started I was totally frozen and it was snowing hard. The roads were randomly clear, then snow-covered, then incredibly slushy. I was pretty cautious for the first mile, dodging people and running gingerly through the slushy spots, down hills (a lot of down, oh was that depressing), and around corners. It was discouraging to feel as tired as I did from the very first step and my head was kind of out of it during the first mile.

Mile 1 split: 8:35

The second mile was definitely the flattest of the three. By this time I was a little surer of my footing and we were back on roads that were open to traffic, so they were a little clearer. I picked women ahead of me in the pack and picked them off one at a time, wheezing all the way and working hard but feeling pretty confident in my ability to maintain the pace for a while.

Mile 2 split: 7:26 Yeeeeeeehaw.

I was hurting at the end of that second mile but it was a manageable kind of hurt until I rounded a corner and suddenly remember all that time we spent running downhill, as a monster of a hill loomed up ahead of me. I counted 3 blocks of utter hell, Doug said he heard someone say it was 6 blocks long. We might have had a block or two of gradual hill before the wall, but I was too busy trying to talk myself into pushing up that thing to notice. It sucked, that’s all I can say. Now of course I wish I had gutted it out more, but man did it hurt at the time. I think the only hill I’ve been more relieved to have behind me was Becky’s Bluff at TA. My saving grace was that I could see the capitol dome at the top of the hill, so I knew I had to be almost there. This is where it’s tough not knowing the town – we (finally) reached the top of the hill, and I figured I had to round two corners and then the finish would be in the middle of the next block. Rounded corner one, slid, regained my balance, and tried to pick up the pace. Rounded corner two, looked ahead….no finish. Cursed the race directors for moving the finish line. Rounded corner three, finally saw the finish line, ran as hard as my little legs could go, and finally crossed the finish line.

Mile 3.1 split: 9:56 (9:05 pace) Booooo

I stood there wheezing with my hands on my knees while a volunteer cut my chip off my shoe, and then made my way over to where Doug was waiting. I leaned against him for 30 seconds or so, finally stopped wheezing, stood up, and said “They moved the fu…” And then I looked around and realized no, they didn’t move the finish line. We came up the hill on a different side of the square, 3 blocks away from the finish. Oops.

Doug and Kona also did the dog jog that took place before the 5k. Not technically a race since it wasn’t timed, but we told Kona it was her racing debut. They secured a top 10 finish!

Bad Timing, Chest Cold!

2010-02-13T23:06:00.000-05:00

We finally have some worthwhile snow up here in the Great (White) North, after I've been watching all of you in NC and PA steal it all. While Philly and nearby areas got huge amounts of snow causing week-long shut downs, water damage to houses, and power outages, we got just the right amount! Enough to ski, enough to pretty it up around here, and enough for Kona to frolic through the drifts much to my amusement.

In honor of our snow, I've virtually ignored running this week in favor of skiing. It's been (mostly) great fun! The snow fell all of Tuesday and into Wednesday and of course by the time I got off campus on Wednesday, I couldn't wait to get out there. I got home from my meeting, quickly changed clothes, threw my skis on the car (after cleaning off 8" of snow), grabbed Kona, and headed off to the Groesbeck golf course to ski until dusk. That was by far one of the most difficult, physically taxing hours of my life. The wide-open golf course was at the mercy of some pretty strong winds during the storm and the snow had drifted like crazy. Not yet very familiar with the course, it was hard for me to tell where the rolling hills were and which areas had been smoothed out by drifts. Sometimes the skiing was great and others I would sink into drifts up over my knees. Kona was hillarious, she sunk past her shoulders more than a couple times and it took a big leap to get back out again. At the end of that hour, I felt like I had run 10 miles, maybe more. Hard, hard work.

Thursday I didn't have to be on campus, so I worked from home in the morning and Doug and I headed out to Brighton to ski at Huron Meadows in the afternoon. It. Was. Marvelous. Just perfect. Huron Meadows is groomed - combed for skate skiing (which we did not do) and set tracks for classic. This is a rarity for us - some of the local trails are combed, but the track-setting is really nice to have. It was a cold day, but we dealt with it by continuing to move and got in a good 10k of skiing.

Friday, I was getting sick. I seriously considered not going to school but heard my mom's voice in my head saying that if I was too sick to go to school, I was too sick for any fun in the afternoon. I wanted to go to moonlight skiing at Birchfield, thus I went to school. Going to school was fine, but going skiing was not one of my more intelligent decisions. We had a great time and I highly recommend night skiing if you ever get a chance - the trails were lit with lanterns along the way, but they were spaced pretty far apart so it was moonlight most of the time. We did wear head lamps but left them turned off 90% of the time. The lamps did come in handy on two hills, though. There weren't lanterns at the bottom of those hills, I can only speculate that they weren't there to avoid having people fall on them, but the lack of light would have made navigating the hills really tricky without the head lamps. We skied about 4 miles that night but unfortunately, by the time we finished my lungs were absolutely on fire. I can't remember the last time they hurt so badly. When we got home, I went straight to the shower and sat on the shower floor with super hot water running for a good 30 minutes, just breathing in that steam. It helped a lot, but that cold has definitely settled firmly in my chest.

As a result, this morning's long run was a bust. Good thing my goal race is in July, not May, and I have plenty of room for adjustment in my schedule. I went, mostly because I'm going to miss next week's group run, but only did 5 miles with a good mile or two of walking right in the middle. Since then (and after another very hot shower), I've been chilling on the couch watching the Olympics and reading biochem. Exciting life, I know...

On to February!

2010-02-06T23:08:00.002-05:00

Well, so far it doesn't look like my updates will be too frequent, but I'll try to get on more than every couple weeks.

January turned out to be a pretty good month, running-wise. As I mentioned in my last post, I've joined a half marathon/marathon training group organized by the local running store. Today was the 4th group run, but I missed last week's since we went to Chicago to celebrate my birthday (last one in my 20s!). So far I'm really enjoying it and I like the weekly accountability and companionship. They also offer yoga classes on Sunday mornings - tomorrow will be my second. The first was great, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Looking back on the month, the thing that sticks out at me the most is how much my pace has dropped - it's quite a bit lower than I was expecting for this point on my comeback tour. I ran about 51 miles in January (not sure of the decimal, my log rounds off and I'm just that lazy) and cross-country skied between 25 and 30. I would have liked to ski more, but there's not much I can do about the utter lack of snow fall. Unfortunately I can't say I've been any better about core work in the past couple weeks, but I do think yoga and skiing are helping in that area, so at least there's that.

Otherwise, not much has changed. I have enough hair to get some really crazy hat head after nice sweaty runs and I'm still having trouble focusing and motivating to get my school work done.

There are a couple things that are still bothering me with my health. When I start to drift off to sleep, I get this feeling that I'm falling but don't jerk back awake like you would normally expect - I just keep falling. It's disturbing and it's starting to cause anxiety and interfere with ever actually falling asleep, so my oncologist referred me to a neurologist. That appointment should be sometime in the next couple weeks. I'm also having pain and tightness in my right arm (cancer side) that seems consistent with Axillary Web Syndrome (though fortunately not as serious as in that picture), so I'll also be setting up a physical therapy appointment. I'm not really sure how that's going to effect yoga tomorrow morning, as it started last week when I didn't attend yoga, so I'll just have to pay close attention to my arm and make sure not to aggravate it. I'm obviously frustrated by both of these things and would really, really love to just move on already, but apparently my body isn't ready for that yet.

And on that note, I read a great NYT Well Blog entry on recuperating vs. recovering - of all the things I've read, this comes closest to describing where I am right now....and will be for a while, I guess:

After surgery and treatment, my 21st-century synapses and neurons wanted to believe that the cancer had been no more than a bump in the road toward a bright future — just a particularly nasty frost heave.

But the deepest analog part of me understood that having cancer was a life-changing event. As much as I thought I wanted to forge ahead, surge into the whirlwind of dailiness, I needed to slow way down.

The scar on my gut might have faded a bit — I had indeed recuperated — but I still needed to recover.

First Two Weeks

2010-01-21T21:43:00.000-05:00

So far the year is getting off to a good start. As previously mentioned, I've been trying to figure out exactly what I want to aim for this year and what the best way to approach my training is. After much hemming and hawing over the cost and the training load, I decided to join a training group run by the local running store, Playmakers. They have two groups: a 5k/10k group and a half marathon/marathon group. I went back and forth over which group would be better for me and while I was leaning towards the half/marathon group, that wound up being the only option because one of my classes meets during the other group's training time. I think the longer distance group is a better fit for me, anyway, as my long run was already up to 5 miles before the training sessions began, and I'm not sure that the shorter group would have met my goals.

So, long distance group it is. I won't be running the goal race since it is the same day as the wedding of two good friends, and actually I think that fits very well into my plan for this year. It's important that I spend a large portion of the year rebuilding my endurance and strength. As much as I enjoy racing and find that somewhat frequent racing helps keep me motivated, I need to be careful not to stress my body too much and wind up going backwards. Sometimes it's difficult to remember that I'm not just recovering from an injury - my body was poisoned, repeatedly, for months. This is going to take some time. As a result, I'm using this training session as an opportunity to rebuild my base with some built-in support and peer pressure to get out there and get the miles in. It will also be a great way for me to meet new people in the area and start branching out into new social circles that are not related to school.

This is turning into more of a rambling post than I had intended, so I'll try to rein it in. Here's a summary of the first couple weeks of January:

Week of 1/4 - 1/10:
Monday: Rest day!
Tuesday: Doug's birthday - we went skiing to celebrate. Skied a total of 4.2 miles and then ran 2 miles with Kona on snowy, slippery sidewalks. Very tired legs.
Wednesday: Unscheduled rest day. Wasn't feeling well at all - guess that's still going to happen sometimes.
Thursday: Ran 3.03 with Kona in the middle of the snowstorm. Ours were the first tracks on the path - perfect. Also 45 min of strength/core on Wii fit.
Friday: Skied 3.2 miles with Doug
Saturday: Skied 2.4 miles with a friend
Sunday: Skied ~ 5 miles with Kona. She was a very well-behaved pup! Only pulled me over once.

Total: 5.03 miles running, 14.8 miles skiing. That's a lot of skiing.

Week of 1/11 - 1/17:

Monday: 30 min/3 miles around town with my friend Mike. I was sluggish from a full day on campus (that still really wears me out) and it had been snowing all day, which made for some really slick surfaces.
Tuesday: Rest day!
Wednesay: Cross country skied ~ 3 miles with the pup, not great snow but that's ok. A bit over half way through our loop two deer ran not 15 yards in front of us. So cool and fortunately, Kona listened to me when I growled at her to stay. I'll stick a picture of the deer at the bottom of this post.
Thursday: Ran 3.0 with Kona. A few degrees warmer (no jacket!) and mostly clear sidewalks.
Friday: skied about 7k in Muskegon. That was interesting. To say that Muskegon is hillier than Lansing would be an understatement, and the recent warmer weather meant slushy and sometimes icy trails. Lots of fun regardless.
Saturday: First group long run: 5.0 in 49:10. That's a 9:50 pace, ladies and gents.
Sunday: A nice, sunny, warm 3.4 with Kona; 9:00 pace. What a difference clear sidewalks make!

Total: 14.4 miles running and about 12k skiing. Clearly I totally skipped out on core work, that's something I need to make more of an effort on.

This week has been a mixed bag so far. My stomach has been just kind of off for about a week now. I've been able to function fine, but yesterday added a headache and more general ickiness to the mix, so today I stayed home sick and have felt even worse. I switched today's planned 3 miles with tomorrow's planned rest day, but if I'm not feeling better I'll just have to take an extra rest day this week. No biggie except that I'm ready to kick whatever this bug is!

And oh yes, school has started. Boo hiss.

It's Almost Over

2010-01-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

Break, that is. Huge bummer. Since I can't seem to focus on much of anything, I thought I'd come here for one more wrap-up/kick-off post before it all gets going again.

Since my previous post summed up the year nicely I suppose I don't need to do that again. December ended well - a trip to PA threw off my running plans a little, as it always does, and once again I managed to forget how tough those hills are. We really don't have anything here that even remotely compares. So, I didn't time a single run while I was there. I'm base-building anyway so who cares about time, right? RIGHT? Yeah, I thought so. I finished the month with 40.33 miles making that my third highest month of the year. To me, that seems to bode well for 2010 - at least I was headed in the right direction at the end of 2009. That made a whopping 315 miles for the year - 885 miles short of my goal. Ha! Nothing I can do but laugh, that's a huge number.

Of course the end of 2009 and reflection on goals means it's a new year and thus, time for new goals. It's been tough for me to figure out how to approach this year. Last year didn't exactly give me a good idea of where I'm headed. So, basically ignoring 2009, I went back to look at my logs for 2007 and 2008. Based on those two years I've decided to set a conservative goal of 750 miles for 2010. Truthfully I think I can exceed that, but I don't want to ask too much of myself in a year when I'm supposed to be recovering. That, and the fact that I hope my running mileage is going to lose out to SKIING mileage for the next few months. This week that has been the case - I've run 5 miles and skied 9.8 miles. It's been a good snow week.

As far as a racing schedule, I don't have one. I'll do the Race for the Cure again in April (and hopefully have a much better showing) and I'm considering the Dances with Dirt trail half marathon in WI on July 10 (I think). There local running store organizes a half marathon/marathon training group that I'm 75% sure I'll join. The kick off meeting is tomorrow and I've decided to go to the meeting and decide then. I won't be running their goal race because of another commitment that same weekend, but I think training with the group would help me meet my general goal of improving my aerobic base and getting back to decent weekly mileage without pushing me to ramp up too quickly. I'm a bit bored right now and these runs get lonely, so I'm excited to potentially meet some local people to run with. We'll see. This won't be The Year Of The Marathon, but we'll see about 2011.

So, the semester starts on Tuesday. Considering meetings and just plain needing to buckle down, it basically starts Monday. All that fatigue last semester left me with a take home final that still needs to get done and is in front of me on my desk as I type. Holy cats, did I fall out of school mode. I needed this break and frankly I'm not mentally ready to move on to another semester, so I'm trying not to feel too guilty about not having this done yet. I do, however, need to finish it before all this new work piles up on me...

Happy running!

Refocusing...Again

2009-12-20T13:40:00.000-05:00

Howdy.

Obviously it's been a long time since I last posted on this blog. In the past few months I've gone back and forth over whether I should explain or just let it go since this blog isn't private. I keep coming back to this part of this post, still waffling over what to say. So, I'll just spit it out in the hopes that maybe sometime, somewhere, this blog can help someone like me.

On April 20, 2009, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I found a lump in the shower in March, had ultrasounds and mammograms and biopsies, was diagnosed in April, had surgery in May, started chemo in July, and finished chemo in October. The important thing is that I'm fine now and my body tolerated chemo very well, compared to what other people sometimes go through. I didn't have to take time off school and although I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to this semester I actually was pretty productive, thinking back on it.

For the most part, I was able to run through treatment, but my motivation took a big hit. Finally, in August, chemo just got to me and I couldn't run anymore. I did manage to continue bike commuting until mid-October, which is something I'm proud of (and looking forward to getting back to, when the snow and ice is gone).

There. Now you're up to speed and we can move on.

Thinking back, this blog has really been a few different blogs under one address. When I first started writing, I didn't really have a direction and just sort of wrote about whatever came to mind. Then, I decided to really focus on improving my running and the blog became somewhat of a journal about that with other random information thrown in as well. Now we're moving into version 3, I guess. Starting over, almost from scratch.

I ended 2008 with a post reviewing the year. I'm not going to do exactly that this year, but here's a short review of my running in 2009:

Goals for the year, at the beginning of the year:
-- run 1200 miles
--sub-22 min 5k in the summer
--my first full marathon in Detroit in October.

January:
Snow, snow, and more snow. The consistency I developed in 2008 started to suffer as my body learned to deal with running on snow. Near the beginning of the month I started having what I thought was piriformis pain that turned out to be a minor disc injury at L3 and possibly S1. I also found out that I have a minor leg-length discrepancy and started running with a OTC cushioning insole in my left shoe to even things out. That turned out not to be a good idea. Anyway. I took a good bit of time off at the beginning of the month trying to deal with all that.
Total: 45.4 miles

February:
The snow continued and we got out to cross-country ski a few times. I so love that sport and cannot wait to get started again! My back acted up off and on, but for the most part this was a relatively healthy month. On February 13th I did a VO2max test in my nutrition class, maxing out at about 47 ml/kg/min. An improvement over the previous summer, but I sort of wish I had known what it was in November of 2008.
Total: 59.6 miles

March:
Started the month off sick (running logs are so helpful - I don't remember any of this!). This was seriously the sinus infection from hell. I spent the second week of the month in NC on Spring Break - it was fabulous, except that I was sick the whole time. I only ran 3 times from 3/1 - 3/14 and was finally able to start back up in earnest on 3/15. The stress of my medical issues started to hit at the end of the month and just spiraled downhill from there.
Total: 37.75 miles

April:
Yeah, this month wasn't good. Running really can be such a mental sport sometimes and my mind just wasn't in it. I took a few days off after my biopsy but when the results came back, I dealt with it by running. At least at first. The day after I found out, I took Kona for a run on the trails at the lake and just pounded those miles out. By the end of that week I was overwhelmed and terrified and it showed when I ran the Race for the Cure a mere 6 days after diagnosis. Talk about a mental battle. That was my slowest 5k in two years at 28:34.
Total: 32.25 miles

I'm not even going to bother reviewing my running from May through October. During that time, I ran a total of 70.5 with at least 2.5 (yep, 2.5) every month except October, when I didn't run any. By the end of chemo my hemoglobin was down almost to the level where they would have tranfused a "non-athlete" (according to my PA) and the chemo drug I was on was causing a lot of joint pain. My last treatment was 10/23 and on Nov 1, I started running again. So:

November:
This was a difficult month to try to get back into it. How is it that every semester we manage to forget how hard those last 6 weeks or so are? During chemo I napped a lot. At the very least, I got a short nap nearly every day - some days I napped for 3-4 hours. When it was all over, I somehow expected to just be better. Immediately. Um, not exactly. But anyway, this is supposed to be about running.
I started back with a loose run/walk program, starting with 1 min running/1 min walking. Each day, I increased the run interval by 30 sec to 1 min, depending on how I felt I was progressing. The goal was to get out there every other day and sometimes that worked out. It became clear pretty quickly that full days on campus didn't leave me with enough energy to run well so I started doing most of my running on the days I could stay home from campus, and there weren't many of those.
Total: 29.2 miles

December:
It doesn't really seem fair to write about December since it isn't over yet, but that's ok. The first couple weeks were really tough and the amount of work I did really put that last, hellish semester of my masters to shame. Aside from the days that I just didn't have the energy to get out there, this has been a good month so far. At the beginning of the month I was up to 8:00 Run/1:00 walk. That run interval increased gradually until 12/16 when I felt great and decided to just keep going - for 2 miles in 19:33. That's the same day I found out that my hemoglobin is back up to normal (basically, 11.9) - placebo effect, anyone? Yesterday's run was an incredibly fun adventure on snowy trails with Kona - easily one of my favorite runs of all time.
Total (so far): 25.3 miles with about 2 weeks (OF VACATION!!!) to go.

So, bring on 2010. I'm ready to put 2009 behind me and to come back stronger. At the risk of sounding overly cheesy, I'm going to beat cancer by becoming stronger than I've ever been. Goals for 2010 are still being developed so there will be a post about those later, but at the very least I'm going to spend the winter getting my consistency back with my eye on the Dances With Dirt Half Marathon in July (in WI).

Sigh. Heavy, Heavy sigh.

2009-04-05T22:23:00.001-04:00

	Rest of Tonight Rain and snow...then snow overnight. Snow accumulation 4 to 6 inches. Lows around 30. Northeast winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.
	Monday Snow likely. Snow accumulation around an inch. Highs in the mid 30s. North winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.
	Monday Night Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow showers. Lows in the mid 20s. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph.
	Tuesday Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow showers. Highs in the mid 30s. Northwest winds around 20 mph with gusts to around 35 mph.

It is nearly April, yes?

2009-03-31T10:43:00.004-04:00

Hello! Posting from the space heater's glow, yet again. That's right, it's March 31st and I'm frozen. I did run this morning, and I seem to have trouble warming up after I run some days, but this is ridiculous. We had snow on Sunday - that's fun, right? Mom and Judy got snow for their birthdays...or they would have, had they been in Michigan.

Things are insanely busy around here - busy enough that I should not be blogging. Really though, I had to tell you about the space heater.

Here's a picture of the snow falling on Sunday. You can see it - look closely. I couldn't bear to take a picture of the accumulation.

A picture of Kona enjoying some sun, just to balance things out:

Holy Lazy Blogger!

2009-03-18T16:00:00.005-04:00

Hi there. I've been sort of absent lately, eh? It's been busy! A quick update, since I can't seem to focus on work anyway.

Last week was spring break - I got to go down to NC and see all (well, most) of the friends and family I've been missing since we moved. Two thoughts on that:
1) It's really too bad everyone doesn't have spring break!
2) I might need two weeks to really see everyone I want to see!
Never happy, right? Anyway, I got to catch up with everyone on both sides of the family, took a cool trip with my aunt and grandmother out to the coast, and got to see the "babies."

Sarah figured out how to call Andy on my cell phone...

and Paige has gotten big!

All in all, it was a good trip! Unfortunately I had a cold before leaving town which got worse on the plane - nothing like having your ears totally clogged for the better part of two days. They're STILL popping when I swallow, but at least they don't hurt anymore.
I also got to see some friends, but there were a whole bunch I couldn't catch up with. Next time!

Now, I'm back at school and trying to focus, but maybe it's that whole needing-a-vacation-to-recover-from-vacation thing, or maybe it's spring fever. Whatever it is, I can't concentrate!

In other news, Kona might have bladder stones. We noticed she had been peeing more lately - the other night, she went 3 times on a 20 minute walk, and that just isn't normal for her. Doug collected a urine sample, and she has a lot of struvite crystals in there. Apparently that could mean anything from a UTI to bladder stones, and anything from antibiotics to surgery. The vet also said something about "postprandial wave" but neither of us know what that is - guess I should check Google. Anyway - we're hoping for a UTI and antibiotics. Please cross your fingers that it's something simple!

Oh, this is supposed to be a running blog, isn't it? Ha. There hasn't been much of that lately. My cold really knocked me out for two weeks, but I have run 10 miles since Sunday so it's improving. I'm taking today off, and then plan to run Thurs-Sun. We'll see how that goes. I really want to develop a plan and get going on speed work so I can take another attempt at a 5k PR in early summer. I'm going to see if a fast friend will run with me to help me get it down to 23 minutes or so. Not sure if I can do it, but I think maybe with added speedwork I can. Then, I've really got to get my base up if I'm still going to consider a fall marathon.

That's probably enough for today...back to work!

UPDATE: Kona went to the vet this afternoon. He thinks it's just an infection, so she's on antibiotics. Big sigh of relief, over here. However, he also thinks she might have minor hip dysplasia.

Not much time to write lately

2009-02-22T22:56:00.006-05:00

But, here are some silly photos to keep you entertained.

New Camera and other musings

2009-02-11T18:50:00.004-05:00

Anything to avoid working on that literature review, right?

The generosity of family meant I had birthday money to use on a new camera. I've been wanting one for a while, but only lusting over this specific camera for a few weeks, ever since Doug found it in Outside Magazine. It arrived at our apartment this past Saturday - the Olympus Stylus 1050SW - shockproof, waterproof, and freezeproof. Adventure ready...Of course, it's been 60 freaking degrees outside so I haven't gotten to take it on any of the winter adventures I had hoped for. Hopefully winter will rejoin us soon. In the meantime, here's a test picture from MSU's big win over Ohio State this past Sunday.

In other news, we've got two houses in mind for next school year. We tour one on Saturday. It has a fenced in yard which would be oh-so-wonderful for the pupper, and a second bedroom which would be oh-so-wonderful for me - a home office!

In running-related news, I can't decide what to do with my spring. After having a headache/nausea thing going on for nearly a week, I'm having yet another low-mileage week, with already 2 days off this week. Riding my bike to campus two days in a row has angered my back, and while running doesn't seem to affect it at all, I'm wondering if I shouldn't bag it all and just swim for a while. Of course in winter, it's really hard to force a swim. Therefore, the verdict is out on whether I'll do a spring half marathon at all...and therefore the fall marathon is also on shaky ground. Maybe I'll bail and do the half in the fall. Part of me worries, though, that my problem might actually be my complete lack of a goal.

Mystery solved!

2009-02-06T15:32:00.003-05:00

Winter. People hate it, people whine about it, people get depressed (literally) because of a lack of sunlight. I've gotten depressed over a lack of sunlight. For five years in North Carolina I was a depressed, hibernating, lazy mess for all of winter. Sure, Winter in North Carolina lasted like five days, but man was I miserable those five days.

You'll all be happy to know, I've figured it out. It's not the sunlight! It's unwillingness to go outside. Depression over the cold - not the darkness, the cloudy gray skies - the cold. And do you know what? Layers make the cold ok, they make it bearable. They make it possible to go outside and run and frolic through the snow. They make it possible to run 4 miles with your dog, and watch her leap and dive through snowbanks created by snowblowers. They make it possible for people to yell catcalls out their car windows as they drive by. For me, getting out there makes the difference. It can be the middle of a snowstorm in 28 degrees or a gorgeous, sunny, negative 5 degree day. It doesn't matter - if I don't sit on my ass all day - if I don't sit inside and mope - I can thrive in winter.

All figured out. w00t! So here's a little snow for you.

Time rolls on

2009-02-05T20:25:00.004-05:00

Hi there.

The past few weeks have been more of the same old thing. Getting started in a new semester with new classes and new projects. It's still winter, both outside and in, and I'm starting to get sick of being cold in my house. Maybe that's why I'm in school again - to one day make enough money to pay for heat. It's quiet here tonight. D's at work, Kona's laying up against my left side, and we're both basking in the glow of the space heater. I'm supposed to be writing (a paper, blogging) but my head isn't in it tonight.

Running is...running. I hemmed and hawed too much this winter over what race I wanted to do, and now can't do the fall back one. Rather, I could do it, I just don't have enough time to train the way I wanted. I could get in up to a 14 mile run, but it would be a higher percentage of my weekly mileage than I want, and I wanted to repeat the long distances a couple times before the race. So, I'm looking for one in May or June, instead. Thought briefly about the one in Traverse City, and found out it's closed already. Thought a whole night long, rather than sleeping, about Coeur d'Alene , and then realized the fortune that would cost. Looked for one close to Seattle around the time of ACSM, there isn't one. Right now, I guess my choices are one in Palos Heights, Il. in May, or in London, ON also in May. I'm leaning towards London just because it's in another country, that'd be kind of a cool thing. Regardless, I can't make up my mind and really need to get going with a training plan.

Or maybe I could just putz around some more and not run a spring half at all.

To lift this downer of a post - here's a fun picture from skiing!

Scratch that.

2009-01-11T22:52:00.003-05:00

So, it turns out I do have a brain, and realize that my "coach" is asking more of me than I should just blindly follow. 1:25, two days in a row (which is what it recommended for yesterday and today) when I haven't run for more than an hour in...somewhat longer than I care to admit.

Stay tuned for an actual, well-planned, training plan.

New Year, New Experiment.

2009-01-09T15:17:00.002-05:00

Scientists experiment on themselves all the time, right?

I have a new heart rate monitor, the Suunto T4c, which has some nifty functions I'm still learning how to use. The main function is the "coach" - you tell it your activity level, some stats (resting HR, max HR, height, weight, etc) and it gives you bunches of fun information. The standard average and max heart rates (per workout) are there of course, and I can set zones. It also gives me calories, and something called "training effect" which I am still learning. It's on a scale of 1-5, and as far as I can tell, it uses average heart rate and exercise duration to assign a level. Based on that level and the goals you give it, it designs weekly workouts. I started actually paying attention to what it tells me yesterday.

Coach's plan:
Thursday 1/8/09: 40 minutes. Can't remember the goal TE, unfortunately
Friday 1/9/09: 30 minutes, TE 2.8
Saturday 1/10/09: 1:25, TE 2.8
Sunday 1/11/09: rest
Monday 1/12/09: 1:15, TE 2.5
Tuesday 1/13/09: 1:00, TE 3.1

Clearly it thinks I've been running too hard lately and need recovery, as 2.8 is a pretty low intensity. I'll be back later to discuss that more after I've read about it again. In the mean time, I plan to follow this the best I can for the next 4-6 weeks and see where it takes me. We shall see...

The Year in Review

2008-12-31T15:46:00.002-05:00

This is it, the last day of 2008. It's been an interesting one to be sure. The year in numbers:

Moves: 2
Apartments: 3
Broken trailer hitches: 1
$$ spent on gas: hahaha
Wisdom teeth removed: 4
MRIs: 1
Injuries: 1!! (an improvement)
Miles run: 761
Highest weekly mileage: 30
Average weekly mileage: 14.5
Highest monthly mileage: 96 (February...go figure, the shortest)
Average monthly mileage: 68 (not bad, now that I look at it)
Weeks of laziness (no running): 2! Both due to the hip injury
Months as a vegetarian: 18
New car batteries: 1
New computers: 1
New textbooks: 8?
"A"s in stats class: 1!!
"A"s total: 3!!
Publications: 2
Manuscripts in progress: 3
New bikes: 1
New pairs of skis: 3 (2 for me, 1 for Doug)
New baby cousins: 1 (Paige)

That's all I can think of for now - not a bad year!

Happy New Year, all...

Sitting in the airport as the sun comes up

2008-12-22T07:37:00.003-05:00

That's right - the semester's over! I've actually been done since the 12th, but still in town until today. Now, I'm sitting at the spectacular Capital Region INTERNATIONAL Airport waiting for a flight to Detroit, where I will change planes and head to Newark. Happy to be headed home, but sad that once again, Doug and I won't be spending Christmas together. One day...

The semester wrapped up pretty well. I managed a 4.0 - even getting an A in my stats class, which is definitely new! Maybe I did actually learn something in that class... Next semester I'll be keeping myself busy with two classes and an independent study. My schedule doesn't look bad, but I know that independent study will take up quite a bit of time, and I'm really hoping to get some good research done over the course of the semester. Have to take advantage of not teaching!

Running has been interesting these past few weeks. I would guess that in the past month, there's been one day without snow on the ground - the day it rained and temps were in the 40s. Since then, snow has fallen almost every day, and we have over a foot on the ground (about a foot of that came all in one day). I've managed every run outside and there was only one day - with windchills right around zero - that I really just didn't want to go out there. Twice, the weather has kept me from going out. The first was this past Friday when that foot of snow dropped, and the second was yesterday when the wind chill was -15 with sustained winds at 29 mph and gusts to 45. That's just cold. In light of that, I've decided I'm going to need a gym membership when I get back from PA. I still want to increase my mileage, and at least need to maintain it, for good spring racing. If that means I have to break down and run on a treadmill, I guess I'll deal. I'll still get out as much as I possibly can.

Last weekend, to celebrate the end of the semester, we went cross country skiing up in Roscommon. It was a lot of fun! I have definitely found a new sport. We tried skate skiing - which Doug already has experience with - they were offering a 2 hour clinic for $5. It's tough! I'll give it another try because I did enjoy it, but it was really rather tricky. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting out there as much as I can and as a bonus, I found out Saturday that the local trails are open, so we won't have to drive 2+ hours to do it!

Hope everyone is doing well, and a happy holiday season to you :)

Naperville Noon Lions Turkey Trot

2008-11-28T11:41:00.001-05:00

I ran my first Turkey Trot last year in Carrboro and thought it was a fun little tradition. This year, when Doug and I made plans to visit his family West of Chicago, I started looking for a race to run. Turned out there was one in Naperville, not too far from the town his parents live in.
We had planned to leave at 6:30 for the 8:00 start, giving me plenty of time to get there, get my packet (with number and chip), and warm up. Unfortunately, we left a few minutes late and hit every single stop light on the way there. Once we arrived at the race site, it was packed. We drove around for what seemed like forever to find a parking spot, and then boogied over to the high school gym. Weaving through the crowd to get my packet was interesting, but I finally got it with 5 minutes to spare. The timing chips used in this race were disposable – no need to turn the in again at the end. Great in theory, except this meant I had to figure out how to put it on my shoe with frozen fingers. Finally got that and my mittens on, and headed off to the start. I think the race had started by the time I got lined up but no worries – it took me almost 4 minutes to get across the line.

As of Wednesday night I was still trying to decide on a goal for this race and finally, before falling asleep, decided just to have fun and run well. My back has been bothering me, I’ve been tired, and I was talking myself out of a good run. When that race started and was so crowded, all I could do was try to weave around people. Several times I almost fell and at one point it crossed my mind that it was a good thing I had crutches in the trunk of my car – I might need them. I kept jumping over curbs, running in the grass and on the road, slipping between people. Somewhere in the first mile I remembered Mike telling me that the key to 5ks is to hold back in the first mile, hammer the second, and suffer through the rest. So, I started telling myself to hold back and stay calm. First mile – 7:59.

The second mile was more of the same, though a little bit less crowded. I picked up the pace and tried to find a clear path. When I passed the mile marker, I was shocked – 6:12. No freaking way – I asked a guy next to me if he thought that was in the right place, and he thought it was short – I agreed. I had run that mile faster, but not that much faster. This suspicion was confirmed later on.

I had a little more room for the third mile, but not much. Since I knew that mile marker was in the wrong place I really wasn’t sure how far along we were, so I didn’t know what to think of my time. We turned one corner and I heard a lady tell her friend we were almost there – this was the last street. I was still under 20 minutes, so I tried to pick it up and see how well I could do. Turns out that last street went on for a while! More dodging and weaving and I crossed the line with the last 1.1 in 10:03 – yep, short second mile.

Chip time: 24:25 (7:52 pace – my first time under 8:00!) – a PR by 1:28! I finished the race, grabbed water and a banana, and walked over to meet Doug and Kona. The first thing I said to him was “I can do better.” It was tough, but without the weaving and actually having time to warm up, I know I could do better. I’m now really looking forward to the summer racing season…

Kona and I finished up with about a mile cool-down, and went back to Doug’s parents’ to eat and enjoy the rest of our Thanksgiving.

Out of steam for today.

2008-11-24T22:19:00.004-05:00

I sat down at the computer to write my review paper, but I'm tired and have run out of steam.

We had snow again today, it's actually still snowing as I type this. When I checked at around 6 PM we'd had almost 2 inches, and it has snowed steadily since then - it's all pretty outside. My walk home from school was cold but I didn't mind - it makes me feel like such a little kid, but the snow just makes me so happy! Mondays are my usual day off running, but I wanted to get back out there so I changed as soon as I got home (after 8) and took Kona out for 40 minutes. We had a great time.

Anything to avoid exams.

2008-11-16T12:54:00.002-05:00

Guess I've been a little quiet lately. School has been crazy as usual, and frankly I guess I haven't had much to say. Running is so-so, good weeks and bad weeks. It seems I'm still stuck between 20-25 mpw - it would probably help if I stopped skipping runs. Some days it just isn't in the cards, you know? I keep going back and forth between chastising myself for skipping, and reminding myself that grad school is hard and 20 mpw is really fantastic. It's enough to stay in shape, but I'm afraid not enough to get faster at this point, which is really what I want.

Big plans, though! Winter is fast approaching (it's snowing as I type this, actually). Yesterday at the high school's ski swap I purchased a pair of Dolomite downhill boots and Scott poles, so with those and my nice new skis I'm ready to go! Also went by Doug's shop and put a pair of Rossignol XC skis, Alpina boots, Swix Poles, and insulated pants on hold for him to purchase (with my money) when his manager comes in. He's going to get himself a pair of classic XC skis (already has skate skis), and we're going to start training. The plan is to do the Book across the Bay in WI on Valentine's Day 2009, and the Birkebeiner 50k in February 2010. I'm excited! He also says that to train he's going to start skating with me while I run, and the company would really be fantastic.

That's about all, here. I have a few take-home exams I'm muddling through, and some papers to write (some for publication, one for a class and hopefully publication later on).

Hope everyone is doing well!

Fastest week yet.

2008-10-19T18:07:00.005-04:00

Grad school life continues in a very grad school kind of way. I'm still crazy busy, but Heather and I took some time to play hooky yesterday and man was it worth it. After having our backs poked as part of a research study in the morning, we drove out to Holland, MI to meet our buddy Kyle and went on a hike at Saugatuck Dunes with Kona and Kyle's dog, Denali. It's so beautiful out there. Kona and Nali were well behaved pups, and we had a great time. After that, Heather and I treated ourselves to a very nice dinner out - a great day, in all.

Now, to running.

Talking with some running friends lately has boosted my confidence a lot - as shown by my times this week. Here's a recap:

Monday: my usual off day.
Tuesday: 3 miles, 26:00 (8:40 pace) - with Kona
Wednesday: Life got the best of me, off day
Thursday: 5 miles, 9:06 pace
Friday: 3 miles in retired shoes, 8:25 pace, with Kona
Saturday: 2.3 miles early in the cold, 8:39 pace, with Kona
Sunday: 7.8 miles, 9:08 pace.

That's 21.1 miles, average pace something under 8:49 (I calculated it but accidentally left Tuesday's run out). A nice improvement over last week's unplanned cutback week of only 11.4 miles.

It looks like I'll be doing a 5k on Thanksgiving...currently evaluating goals, but I think I'm aiming for 24:03 (7:45 pace).

Thanks for reading.

Found time...

2008-10-07T06:33:00.002-04:00

As you might have guessed, things have been c r a z y the past couple weeks. It's been what, 2 weeks since I posted last? I found myself with 20 minutes this morning, so here's a little update.

Running related:

I've had two good, solid weeks. They weren't perfect because I did miss one scheduled run each week, but I was still able to get over 20 miles and increased my mileage appropriately in the second week. Here's the recap:

9/22-9/28
Monday: SDO
Tuesday: 4.5 miles, 9:43 pace, with Kona
Wednesday: 5.2 miles, 10:27 pace. Doug biked along with me and kept me company - not sure why it was so slow
Thursday: USDO - just a crazy schedule day
Friday: 2.5 miles, 9:16 pace
Saturday: 3.0 miles, 9:28 pace, avg HR 163 (67%), with Kona
Sunday: 6.5 miles, 9:42 pace, avg HR about 160 (66%) - my heart rate monitor crapped out. With Kona.
Total: 21.7 miles

9/29-10/5
Monday: SDO
Tuesday: USDO
Wednesday: 4.5 miles, 9:41 pace
Thursday: 3.4 miles, 9:30 pace
Friday: 5.0 miles, 9:07 pace
Saturday: 4.6 miles, 9:28 pace, avg HR 176 (75%) [lowered resting HR for calculations]
Sunday: 7.0 miles, 9:35 pace, avg HR 160 (66%)
Total: 24.5 miles

I'm pleased with those two weeks and finally feeling like I'm back on track. The last few months I've really been stuck around 15 miles per week and it feels really good to get back above that again.

Non-running related, things are crazy. I've had 2 exams that I've been working on pretty much non-stop for the last two weeks, and have one more this Thursday. After that I'm hoping to take a breath - my advisor will be out of town, so that gives me some time to get caught up or ahead on the tasks he's already given me without having any more added, at least for a few days. I feel like I'm adjusting to this workload and schedule, but it's not easy. Not to mention, I miss my friends. Friday I stumbled upon the homecoming parade - I thought it would be later in the day and didn't realize it would block my bike route home. Since I hit it, I stood and watched for 15 minutes or so, and at one point could barely choke back the knot in my throat, homesick for PSU. That hasn't happened in years!

Accountability.

2008-09-23T19:57:00.002-04:00

It's something we, as fitness professionals, are always pushing. Keep yourself accountable...have a workout partner, to keep yourself accountable....schedule your workouts, to keep yourself accountable. I have to find a way to keep myself accountable - y'all are it. Here's this week's plan:

Monday: Scheduled day off
Tuesday: Run 4 miles, easy pace
Wednesday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Thursday: Run 5 miles, easy pace
Friday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Saturday: Run 3 miles, easy pace
Sunday: Long run of 6 miles, easy pace

Total: 24 miles. Kona will probably do most of them with me.

I can tell you right now, it's unlikely I'll run 5 on Thursday. I wrote up this plan knowing that my school obligations would sometimes screw it up - Thursday will be one of those days. I'm due on campus at 6 AM and will be at another school doing assessments until noon. Then classes all afternoon until 7 PM, and I'm supposed to play soccer at 9. That doesn't leave much time for running. If I don't play soccer, I'll be out there. The plan is to add at least an extra mile on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and I ran an extra .5 today (for 4.5). I'm just going to try to work with it. At least soccer's a workout...

I'm also biking to campus most days of the week, though I admit I've already been lazy this week. Monday I expected to be sore from Sunday's race, so I arranged a ride with Heather. This morning I biked in, but frankly I was in a bad mood by the end of the day, and hitched a ride home - my bike is still on campus. I'll get a ride in tomorrow morning, and go from there.

This is going to be a rough week.

Gave it all I had - Autumn Classic Race Report

2008-09-21T12:00:00.003-04:00

This morning I did the Playmaker’s Autumn Classic 8k in Haslett, MI. I don’t know why I decided to do this one, except that I was curious and the $20 race fee included a long-sleeved tech tee. I’m such a tech-tee slut. Two weeks ago I did a 5-mile race in 45:36; my previous 8k PR was 46:15 set in May. I don’t really differentiate between the 2 distances since 0.02 doesn’t seem statistically significant (ha!) but whatever. Last week all of my runs were fast and while they didn’t feel hard, I knew that wasn’t a good idea. This past week my legs have been totally dead – tired biking to school, tired running, and then I played a soccer game Thursday night and have seriously been sore since then. My diet has also been poor, so really I was not set up to have a good performance.

The alarm went off at 6 AM, and I had a dream about it – I dreamed that I had done this race last year, and that when I arrived the transition area (??) had been a total disaster. In my dream, I had figured out that if I let the alarm buzz a certain number of times before hitting snooze, and then hit snooze a certain number of times, the transition would be all set up by the time I arrived at the race. Umm…right. Finally rolled out of bed at 6:45, once my dream told me it was fine to get up, and ate some breakfast. My stomach was angry with me last night – crampy and just icky – and wasn’t any better this morning. I had some cheerios and coffee and tried to ignore it. We arrived at the race site a few minutes after 8 and I picked up my packet, then we sort of wandered and stood around until the start. Before the start of the 8k there was a kids sprint and a kids half mile race – they were so much fun to watch. My personal favorite was the little girl who finished last in the half mile – she looked to be maybe 4, and held onto the hem of dad’s shirt the whole way in – so cute. Then, we lined up for the 8k.

Standing in line waiting for the start, someone said my name. It turned out to be the guy who bought my Cannondale back in August and his girlfriend. Made small talk with them for a minute or two, and then we were off.

My goals for this race were to run negative splits, push myself, and have fun. The gun went off, and I went out way too fast. The first little bit until we got out of the park was downhill and I thought I would settle into the pace, so I didn’t worry about it too much. I didn’t settle down, though. The race was almost entirely on roads and sidewalks, and went around Lake Lansing. It’s probably a really pretty course on a nice day, and while it was pretty today, it was all gray and foggy out so you couldn’t quite see all the way across the lake. A local high school XC team volunteered out on the course – they were great with encouragement but I almost smacked one when I was at maybe 3.25 miles and he told me I was almost there. Throughout most of the race I yo-yo’d with another woman. She was running faster than me, but would stop and walk for a few seconds every minute or two and I’d pass her, then she’d pass me again right before her next walk break. With about half a mile to go I caught her again just as she started running, and I suggested that we run in together. About 30 seconds later she stopped to walk again but I didn’t want to stop – I had figured out I could go under 45 minutes. The finish was actually up hill on a dirt (mud) road. Going up the hill I caught the girl in the red jacket. About 15 yds from the finish, I heard her sprinting up behind me – I picked it up, but didn’t have enough left and couldn’t stay ahead of her. It’s ok, though, she helped me shave a few more seconds off my time.

Splits:
Mile 1: 8:36 (not looking good for negative splits)
Mile 2: 8:38 (ok, slowed down a little)
Mile 3: 9:07 (and there went the negative splits goal)
Mile 4: 9:17 (oof)
Mile .98: 9:02
Watch time: 44:42 (9:00 pace). It was chip timed, but I haven’t looked up the official results yet.

To tell the truth I thought I had made it under a 9mpm pace and was a little bummed to see it was exactly 9, but overall I’m pleased with my performance anyway. Like I said, it was all I had. I’m going to hurt tomorrow, for sure. I met two of my goals: really pushed myself, and had fun. I’ll keep working on the negative splits thing. Going back and reading this, I think the tone of my report is pretty down – it isn’t meant to be. This race was a lot harder for me than any I’ve done before (with the exception of TA ’06). It hurt, but that means I pushed myself and I’m proud of that.

The PR streak remains, but, it’s pretty clear won’t be another until I start training better. So, I’m taking a break from racing – anyone sees me talking about a race before Thanksgiving at the earliest, please remind me of this.

Thanks for reading.

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!!!

2008-09-14T14:39:00.007-04:00

Holy rain - for real. It started raining late Friday and hasn't stopped. We have about 4 inches of water standing next to our patio, but fortunately aren't yet in danger of having any inside. The rain is so loud I'm having trouble concentrating on the mountains of work I have to do this weekend, so here I sit blogging instead.

Running has gone a bit better this week, as shown by the last couple entries. My pace has dropped significantly all week and while I think that's probably short-lived, it has been fun. However, it seems that I somehow pulled an abdominal muscle during Thursday's run - all of a sudden, near then end of a perfect, fast run, it felt like someone stabbed me in my right side and I couldn't run anymore. Ever since then my right side is tender right above my iliac crest, and I get sharp pains when I bend over or twist funny. It hasn't bothered me on any subsequent runs, though.

Other things to update y'all on....We went kayaking labor day weekend - something I had never done before! That was great fun, I'm looking forward to more of it! Mediocre pics below, we took my free digital camera and well, you get what you pay for.

Good run today

2008-09-09T22:22:00.003-04:00

I've really been struggling with motivation since moving up here. Maybe not motivation exactly, but it's been difficult to figure out my schedule in a way that I can run and run well. Mornings - well, I just hate running in the mornings. Lunch time has been fine, but it has proven to be tricky to get out there in the middle of the day. Evenings have always been my go-to time, but I'm finding myself a little dead-legged at the end of the day. Part of that, I'm sure, is biking to school on that nice new single speed of mine. I love the bike, but it takes a little getting used to! The ride to campus is actually nice and comfortable and really feels almost leisurely - it certainly doesn't hit the "workout" limit - but I guess it's just something my legs, specifically my quads since I don't have clipless pedals, are used to doing.

Anyway, today I headed out with Kona just planning to run 20 minutes since I had a lot I wanted to get done this evening. We wound up with 2.25 at an 8:42 pace and it really felt remarkably easy - harder than my usual easy run, but nowhere near a tempo effort. I'm pleased. Maybe it's the cooler temperatures - it was in the lower 50s by the time I got out there tonight. A few more degrees and I'll be running in long sleeves!

Another Race - 5 Miles

2008-09-06T20:20:00.002-04:00

Hey y'all.

Today I traveled to Jackson, MI (woo hoo - new places for me) to run a 5 mile race with Steph. I woke up in a panic at 5:10 this morning - this might be the one time I'll be grateful for the partiers in the parking lot, since they're the ones that woke me up (apparently I had already hit snooze twice). Tooled around the house doing my pre-race stuff and left around 6. Drove through dark and fog for about 45 min, and arrived at the race plenty early - sometimes I hate that I just have to be early for things.

While I was standing in line to pick up my packet, the very aromatic man standing in front of me turned and started talking to me...and continued to talk to me for the next 20 minutes. He was very strange, and I was too polite to walk away! I didn't want to take my stuff to my car because I was afraid he'd follow me...when I finally excused myself, he did! Turns out his car was right by mine. Fantastic...

Steph and I chatted for a few minutes before the race and I met her husband and caught a glimpse of a sleeping Biggie Boy - so. cute. Then since she's faster than me, she went up towards the front at the start and I hung back. It was a pretty small race field and I just didn't want to be last, so I decided that would be my #1 goal. Also, I had decided if I could hang close to 9 min miles I'd be happy with my performance. Somehow, though, I never did the math to figure out that would be a rather significant PR...

Splits:
Miles 1&2: 17:23 (avg pace 8:41) - missed the first mile marker
Mile 3: 9:14
Mile 4: 9:35 (ugh)
Mile 5: 9:23

Final watch time: 45:36 (9:07 pace)

A PR by 40 seconds, over my 8k trail race in May.

Even though I hadn't done the math, I really hadn't intended to go out there and push it, and really I didn't. I managed to stay relatively comfortable the whole time, so with some actual training and a flat race I think I could do quite well. The past couple weeks allergies have really knocked me on my butt, and while I was definitely wheezy during the race today, my breathing never got out of control. Overall, I'm pleased.

Thanks for reading!

Mesmerizing

2008-08-21T18:39:00.003-04:00

You know that sound the dryer (is it drier?) makes when you put a pair of sneakers in there? SlideThumpSlideThumpSlideThump. Our water heater makes a sound very similar to that. The refrigerator makes a thumping sound..or a dripping sound - Dad thought it sounded like dripping. Apparently maintenance is concerned about neither of these sounds.

Orientation is over - that's right, I survived. Did I learn much? We'll have to wait and see. Of course, by "wait and see", I mean for an entire year, because I'm not teaching until a year from now. Regardless, I survived the week. Tomorrow I have an actual lab meeting, so I'm hoping to get some idea of what I'll actually be doing for the next year. I'm ready to go, I don't want to waste a year when I don't have teaching responsibilities, I want to get a lot done.

As far as running goes, I don't have a lot to say - namely because I haven't run since Saturday's race. I've been feeling bad about it, but I'm officially letting myself off the hook. I feel lousy, quite frankly. I'm tired from sitting in seminars all day and from staying up to ungodly hours watching the Olympics. Apparently allergy season in MI is very different than allergy season in NC, and my throat hurts and sinuses are all stuffy. And, eating crap and drinking more caffeine in the past four days than I have in the past four months is playing mean tricks on my stomach and probably blood pressure.

Yesterday, though, I bought a new bike for commuting to school - yay! I really think I'm going to need it to get between two specific classes, and also the walk to campus is almost twice as long as I thought it was (oops) and therefore takes nearly twice as long as I thought it would. I'm thrilled about the bike, though. My first single speed since that cute little blue Panasonic. Bet you didn't know Panasonic did bikes...

Grand Woods Trail 5k - Race Report

2008-08-16T18:12:00.001-04:00

Last week, Doug discovered that there was a 5k going on not far from here this weekend, and hey! it was "cheap", so I decided to get my first Michigan race out of the way. This was a trail 5k, run on basically a cross country course - a lot of grass, and a little dirt. I've never raced on a course like that and never done a trail 5k at all. Looking at last year's results, I thought that if I ran well there was a chance I could place in my age group.

Realistically, I haven't trained well in the last few months. Ever since my three-week layoff in May/June I've been struggling to get my mileage back up in the NC summer weather, which I just hate. I've bounced around, really never exceeding 15mpw all summer long. In light of that, my official goals for today were

1) Have fun
2) Practice pushing outside of my comfort zone - this is an area where I really need some work.

This morning I got up a little after 6, got dressed in my fun new shirt (see below), and had some breakfast. We left a little after 7. It just occurred to me that I didn't have coffee! Maybe that was my problem When we arrived at the race it was sunny but in the low 50's still, so this NC girl shivered for a while. There was also a cool layer of fog hanging over the big grassy field, and the grass was soaked in dew. People were trickling in until a little after 8, when it got much more crowded. This was when I got intimidated - the entire Lansing Community College XC team showed up. I wandered around for a while, and checked out the famed hill right before the finish - it's a pretty steep grassy hill just before the 3 mile mark - it's probably only 15 or 20 yards long, but really quite steep. With how short it was I figured it would be fine, but with all the dew on the grass and the hill being pretty shaded, I was a little worried it might be slippery.

We lined up at the start just before 9, listened to a few announcements, and headed off. Right away I thought I had gone out too fast, but was sort of caught up in a pack of people and really wanted to find my own space. I had a side stitch within the first 1/4 mile that stuck with me for the rest of the race, it just kept switching sides. I passed quite a few people during this mile, and was passed a few times. Near the end of the mile it seemed people had found their stride and things sort of spread out. During the second mile I felt pretty much alone - there were several people maybe 10 yds in front of me, and no one I could see behind. I passed a few people this mile, and wasn't passed by anyone. At this point I was hurting from my "fast" start and slowed way down. Once I saw the 2 mile marker, though, I figured I'd survive if I held that pace to the end. I passed one more person during the third mile, and was passed by a girl who I think might have been in my age group. There was a long, gradual hill pretty much right before the steep hill, which I hadn't really planned on. I felt a little dizzy getting to the top of the gradual hill, then had a short gradual downhill before the steep climb. When I got to the bottom of the steep part I felt like I'd fall backwards if I didn't hammer the hill, so I got up on my toes and pushed it up to the top - at which point I thought I would pass out. I cut way back, and that's when the girl caught and passed me. From that point I basically just survived to the finish - before the race I noticed a long gradual downhill right after the steep part that I thought I would be able to pick up speed on, but I was dizzy enough at that point that I didn't really try.

Splits:
1st mile: 8:31
2nd mile: 9:15. Blah
3rd mile: 9:05
.1: 0:50
Watch time: 27:42 (8:55 pace)

Not a PR, unless you count it as a trail PR, but honestly to me it just feels like it isn't. I admit I'm a little disappointed because it's sad for the streak to end, BUT, this time last year my 5k PR was almost 4 full minutes slower, so looking back over the last year I am very pleased.

I have pictures, but have to find the camera cable before I can post them.

Thanks for reading!

Best. Shirt. Ever. And an update

2008-08-15T20:58:00.004-04:00

We're in Michigan! Actually we've been here for a week, and I'm just now getting around to posting. So far, we love East Lansing. The weather has been incredible, the town has a great atmosphere, running is great. I can run at 3:00 in the afternoon without dying, even!

School stuff starts Monday. Doug's had some job interviews, but no bites yet so we're hoping something will come through very, very soon.

This evening we were exploring and stopped in a Dick's Sporting Goods only to find a shirt that was apparently made just for me. Check it out!

And so it ends...

2008-08-02T00:36:00.004-04:00

Once again, it's been quite a while since my last post. Things have been crazy and running hasn't been going quite as I had hoped - on the bright side, though, it's been more successful than any previous summer.

Thursday was my last day of work. Three years in the working world, done. The other night I had so many thoughts and I couldn't get to sleep - I was sort of half crying, composing this entry in my head, and trying to get my mind to just shut up so I could get some sleep. Of course everything I had thought to write that night is gone now, all those profound thoughts just...poof. Over the past few years I've learned a lot about the world, research, and, most importantly, myself. The person I was three years ago compared to the person I am today - I can't even describe the difference. Fortunately I can say that I feel much more prepared to start a PhD program now than I did back then, and I'm much more confident now that I'll succeed.

As I was notifying people about email address changes, I sent off an email to my new mentor. He wrote back with words of wisdom about listening to other scholars...and always finding time for physical activity. So, that's what I have resolved to do over this next week (and beyond, but lets take it one week at a time here). Things are sure to be insane over the next few days - we have to get the apartment all packed and cleaned, drive approximately 800 miles overnight, and get all moved in to a new apartment. Earlier this week I neglected my exercise and that resulted in a meltdown on Wednesday (the same night as the crying and all that) - a 6 mile evening run, followed by a very long shower, and another 3 mile run in the morning made all the difference. I need to keep that in mind this week, and not let packing and all that get in the way of my sanity.

Tonight we hung out with close friends for possibly the last time. This is definitely an emotional time...

Not much to say...

2008-06-30T14:02:00.003-04:00

Guess I haven't been really motivated to write much of anything lately, which is silly with everything that's going on.

Anyway, here's last week:

Monday: Planned rest. Walked 3 miles

Tuesday: 1.5 miles w/Kona, 9:54 pace, avg HR 179 (77%). Walked 3 miles.

Wednesday: 1.8 miles, 9:25 pace, avg HR 174 (73%) - I ran to the store with an empty backpack and home with a full one. It was weird. Walked 3.

Thursday: Unplanned rest: Drank 2 caffeinated sodas at work after giving up caffeine since December - I felt like my heart would explode if I ran. Walked 1.5 miles.

Friday: 3.5 miles w/Kona, 9:21 pace, avg HR 174 (73%). We got rained on about half the time, which was EXCELLENT.

Saturday: Planned rest, walked 3 miles.

Sunday: 3.5 miles alone, 10:24 pace, avg HR 186 (81%). Exact same route as Friday, but about 10* warmer and oh so sunny. I couldn't keep my HR down for anything.

Total: 10.3 miles run, 13.5 walked.

Stress is wearing me down - I'm exhausted. But, it's that time to just keep going and make it to Michigan, and then I'll have a couple weeks off.

Getting back to it

2008-06-23T15:20:00.002-04:00

Last week was my first real week running again, after the 3 (almost 4) week layoff for that hip business. It went pretty well, though the short distances and slower paces are sort of driving me nuts. Anyway, I did 5.8 miles over 3 days of running, and will add a 4th day back this week to get over 10 miles. I figure I'll be back up to my pre-injury volume in another 2 weeks, and then I can start building back up again. I really wanted to be at 40 mpw by fall, but knowing how much I hate the summer, I might be happy to chill around 30 mpw until we get to Michigan.

And now the question is - to run, or not to run, the 4 on the 4th?

Catching up

2008-06-16T13:35:00.003-04:00

Once again, it's been a while since my last post - and a lot has changed! Since the Coach Bubba 20k I've also raced a 5k (huge new PR), a sprint triathlon (report belatedly posted below), and a trail 8k (report also below). Through all that racing my weekly mileage fell steadily - proof that if one's goal is base-building, one should not race monthly!

Just a couple days before the RLAG 8k I started noticing a pain in my left groin, that felt as if something was being pinched, and a sort of burning pain was radiating down into my foot. I cut that run short, and hoped I wouldn't have any trouble for the race. The race went off without a hitch, but then that following Tuesday I noticed a different problem. The first couple steps of that run just felt wrong, so I stopped and walked. A few steps into the walking, I felt my left hip pop and it felt like my whole leg sort of shifted, and the strange feeling went away. The rest of that run was fine. Since then, I've had this nagging pain/ache in that hip. At first I thought it was muscular, but as time went on I decided it felt like it was more within the joint. I saw a doctor about it at the end of May, and he thought I might have femoroacetabular impingement, with a labral tear. The only way to fix that, of course, is surgery. So, one MRI Arthrogram and $200 later I found out that it is NOT FAI and I do not need surgery!

That said, I am free to go back to running, however I think I need to adjust my goals for the rest of the year. I was really hoping to run a PR in the half marathon this year, and was looking at the Detroit half for that attempt. I'm sure I could still run it, and I'm sure I could still PR - but thinking about my long term goals, I'm not sure that is the smartest strategy. After 3 weeks completely off running for that hip issue, I need to start back slowly and build up gradually, and that would compromise my training for that race and potentially my long term goals. Instead, I'm thinking of a half in April 2009 or somewhere around there. That gives me plenty of time to build back up from this, build a good base, and get in several weeks of good targeted workouts.

Another Belated Report: RLAG

2008-06-16T13:26:00.003-04:00

Run Like a Girl 8k Trail Race: 5/4/08

This is a series of races sponsored by Montrail (and benefiting the HERA foundation) with events held in various cities across the country – it was the first year for the Richmond race. I wanted to do it because let’s face it – that’s a fun name for a race. Also, a couple years ago Doug and I set out on a quest to get me a run like a girl shirt, which led to a hat (Jenn has one too) and really small t-shirt, and eventually this race!

My goals were:
1. Have fun
2. Finish
3. PR (current PR was 51:05, from a road race on Thanksgiving Day 2007)

Lately I haven’t been running trails, really. I’ve been running a “trail” near the new apartment, but it is very nicely groomed and mostly gravel. The only challenging thing about it is the hills, which have seriously slowed my daily run pace leaving me with no idea of how fast I can actually run. I had no idea what the race course would be like, so my primary aim was just to enjoy myself.

We drove up to the Richmond area Saturday afternoon to camp that night, and told Kona it was her birthday trip (she turned 2 on 5/5). I had planned to pick up my packet at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports on the way in that afternoon…but never looked up directions of how to get there. I had the address and phone number, and while we could have called the shop, we decided to just try and figure it out instead. Well…we got sort of lost. Not terribly lost, though, and did eventually find the shop – and a Chipotle for dinner! After dinner we successfully found our way to the park, checked in, and set up our campsite. Then we took a little walk around the campground and marveled over the NASCAR compounds set up throughout – all the fancy RVs and satellite dishes and banners, it was nuts. A lot of the campsites were empty, so we figured people were actually at the race. After we ran out of daylight and got in the tent, Doug and Kona fell right asleep, and I laid awake and listened to them both snore. For hours. Around 11:30 is started to rain and I stressed over that since our rain fly doesn’t cover the whole tent...and then it stopped…and then started again a little after 12 so I stressed some more. Then, shortly after 2 AM, the people at the neighboring campsite got “home” from the race. And they were drunk. And loud. And they continued being drunk and loud until 4 AM. Once they finally quieted down I was finally able to sleep, so I wound up with about 3 hours of sleep that night.

Sunday morning I got up and went through my pre-race rituals while Doug ran back into town to get batteries for the camera. While he was gone I packed up the campsite, and when he got back we loaded it all in the car and headed to the start. We checked out sponsor tents and milled around until the start, and then finally they told us all to line up and did the pre-race announcements. The race started with a big loop on a grassy field, and then over a bridge and into the woods. It was seriously crowded at the start, but once we got into the woods there was a pretty large hill that started spreading people out. I heard someone yell out the one mile mark and checked my watch – 9:29. At that point it was still pretty crowded, but with each additional hill the field got more and more spread out. After the first aid station (wherever that was) I finally felt like I wasn’t constantly dodging people. The trail was moderately hilly, and not very technical at all, so it turns out the trail I’ve been running prepared me pretty well!

The trail wasn’t marked with mile markers and I never heard anyone yell out another after that first mile, so most of the time I really didn’t know where I was. When I hit the second aid station I knew that was between miles 3 and 4, and not long afterwards I saw the 1 mile to go sign, which the race director had suggested was actually more like 1.25 to go. From that point it was mostly downhill. I was in a group when we ran past a sign that said “boat ramp .3 miles” and we wondered whether that was all we had left to go, and then one of the girls right in front of me fell. She was ok, and we all kept going. Maybe 2 minutes after that I could hear the crowd, checked my watch, and saw that I got another big PR! Down a little hill, smile at Doug and Kona, over the bridge, and to the finish!

Watch time: 46:15 – almost a 5 minute PR!

And with that….I’m done racing until Fall – I think.

A Belated Report: Tri Roanoke Valley

2008-06-16T13:15:00.002-04:00

Back in 2004 I decided to attempt a triathlon – and failed miserably. My training was mediocre and I panicked during the swim and dropped out. I still had a good time watching the race and was inspired to try another, but each season came and went and I just never did. A few months ago I was in Fleet Feet and saw a brochure for the Tri Roanoke Valley Sprint Triathlon – held in the town where my parents grew up and grandmother still lives. I decided there was no way I’d be ready by April 12th…and over the course of the next few days somehow talked myself into doing it anyway.

However, this year I really wanted to focus on running and base building, so I told myself I was only doing the tri if I didn’t let training for that interfere with my running. I did ok with that for a while, but eventually I had to cut my mileage back because it was just too tiring. Training for all 3 events is clearly not something I enjoy, and I wound up not spending nearly as much time in the pool and on the bike as I really should have. I’m a good swimmer naturally, but with what happened at the last race I was still worried about it. As far as the bike was concerned, I knew I could cover the distance and that was fine with me.

My main goal for this race was to finish – I didn’t care about my time or my place, I just wanted to get through it and get a little revenge after last time. I had estimated that the 300yd swim would take about 5:20, 14.8 bike would be about an hour, and 5k run would be about 30 minutes, figuring my legs would be tired by then. So, with transitions included that had me coming in around 1:40 or so.

Saturday morning I got up and had a peanut butter bagel and cup of coffee, and then got dressed, put air in my bike tires, and headed off to the race site. It was already 68* out when I left the house at 6:45. I arrived at the site right around 7 AM and went off to the body marking table. After getting all marked up I headed back to my car to retrieve my bike and transition stuff…and couldn’t get my bike off the roof rack! The ratchety-thingy, whatever that’s called, wouldn’t let go and I couldn’t free my back wheel. Fortunately, a very nice man in the parking lot helped me and we managed to get it off. Whew! Then I headed over and got my transition area all set up. Once that was ready I wandered into the aquatic center and checked that out, then went back outside for the pre-race meeting. Up to this point I had been wearing my tri shorts and sports bra, with a long sleeved shirt on top. They informed us that the transition area was being closed at 7:30, so once we left it for the meeting we couldn’t go back in. I felt so naked standing around for 30 minutes without my long sleeved shirt! At this point I was really starting to get nervous, and a guy standing near me, who turned out to be #13 (I was #12) was very nice and distracted me for a while. Our race numbers were assigned in the order of our swim starts, which meant I had submitted the 12th fastest time, and obviously #13 was right behind me. Chatting while waiting in line to start the swim, we discovered we had registered with the same time, and I really wanted to just ask if he could start in front of me because knowing we were so close made me nervous. Also, thanks to having our ages written on our legs, I noticed #11 was only 14! Nothing like knowing for sure a 14 year old is going to kick your ass.

For the swim, we started in order, every 15 seconds. When it was my turn I hopped in the pool and pushed off, and the first lap went fine. Changing under the lane line went fine. Then halfway through the second lap, my chest tightened up and I couldn’t breathe, just like last time. I foolishly tried to stick to my every 4th stroke breathing pattern, and kept getting water up my nose. I tried a couple strokes of breast stroke, which didn’t work, and #13 caught me – and he wouldn’t pass! I had to practically stop in the lane to get him to pass me. Once he finally did, though, I was able to calm myself down and made it through by breathing more frequently. I think just knowing he was right behind me was too much pressure – once he passed, I had a huge amount of space between myself and the next person in line. I finally made it to the end, hopped out of the pool, and started running to the transition area. Lately I’ve been getting dizzy when I get out of the pool, but fortunately that didn’t happen and I was able to run that distance without a problem. The transition went rather smoothly…although apparently slowly.

Swim time: 5:55 (predicted was 5:20 – oh well) (rank 15)
T1: 2:13

The bike course was pretty challenging, as advertised. The first few miles went through the “city” complete with a railroad crossing and the possibility of encountering a train – turns out the train people don’t really care about little local tris, go figure. Then the course turns onto a country road through farms and wide open space, up and down and up and down, over Lake Roanoke Rapids (or RR Lake, I can’t remember), up to a turn around and back over the same course. This part went a lot better than I expected – I passed 4 people or so, and was passed by more than I could count – but, they all had fancy bikes and looked like they had done this before so I didn’t let it bother me. I was only passed by one woman, and took note that she wasn’t in my age group. After about 11 miles I hit a big hill and was feeling sorry for myself, and then thought about my friend Terry doing Ironman AZ and told myself to stop whining and get on with it. I wound up averaging 15.8 mph on the bike which I was thrilled with, not having trained much at all, especially since all of my training rides were ~14 mph. The bike -> run transition went relatively smoothly. I hadn’t pinned my race # to my shirt before the race because I thought it might be annoying on the bike, so I had to do that before the run. Without that, I think it probably would have been a rather speedy transition (comparatively, anyway).

Bike time: 56:22 (rank 29)
T2: 1:48

The feeling in my legs when I took off for the run was too weird. I had done a few bricks so I thought I knew what to expect, but I guess since the bike was faster than usual it was different. I felt like I was going slow, but my legs were tired, and my breathing was pretty heavy so I had no idea how fast I was going. This was a really hilly course, most of which I had run before on previous visits, so I was somewhat familiar with it. The whole run course went through a residential area, so even though the roads were open I think I only saw 2 cars. After some decent hills, the first of which I walked, we ran down a super steep hill to the first aid station, and then did a loop on River Rd, which is, go figure, right along the river. Unfortunately, it’s so developed it’s hard to actually see the river. Right about this time my legs started to feel somewhat normal again. Almost at the halfway point, I saw #13 again and yelled some encouragement to him. Somewhere along here I also saw the 14 year-old girl and another woman (a quick head swivel told me she was 32 – sweet). At the cul-de-sac at the end of the road we had to turn around and run to the opposite end, then turn around again and head back up the super steep hill. Just before the hill I caught and passed #13 and felt pretty good about it, because of the swim thing. I walked up that hill, and then managed to run the rest of the way back to the finish. When I could see the rec center I checked my watch and saw I was about 5 minutes ahead of my 30 minute goal, so I just tried to hold the pace I was running through the finish. I was so happy to be finished I forgot to look at the clock! I had timed the bike and run, but really had no idea at that point how long the swim had taken.

Run time: 28:50 (9:18 pace, rank 22)
Total time: 1:35:12

So, I got my little finishers medal and had my picture taken in front of the finisher board, and then walked over to where my aunt was standing and she said she was pretty sure I had gotten first in my age group. I thought so too, but wasn’t convinced because of the staggered swim start – turns out, I did! It’s nuts – two weeks ago I was hoping and praying to break 30 min in my 5k, this weekend I did that after two other events! Coupled with completing the bike so much faster than I expected, it made the disappointing swim feel a little less awful.

Results:

1st in age group
5th woman
22nd overall

Obviously I’m super excited by my results, but really all I wanted to do was finish. I did that, a little faster than I hoped, and got hardware as icing on the cake 

Thanks for reading!

I raced! Coach Bubba 20K

2008-02-23T22:34:00.000-05:00

Since November, I’ve really been focusing on trying to increase my mileage (smartly) in the hopes of continuing all the improvement I saw last year. I’ve run my highest mileage week ever this month, and wasn’t exactly rested for this race. But, it was always in the back of my mind that maybe I wanted to do it. This is a local race that has been going on forever, and one I felt like I should finally do before moving away. The long-sleeved tech-tee and a chance to hang out with my friend Margaret sealed the deal. So, I dragged myself out of bed at the crack of dawn this morning. Thank goodness Doug had to work early, or it would have been harder to get up. I ate some corn flakes, drank a little (not enough) water, got dressed, and headed out in the cold. By Michigan standards it wasn’t cold, but low 40s and foggy is cold in NC! I wore my cw-x tights, a short sleeved tech-tee, and a long sleeved one. Threw a fleece and gloves on top for the pre-race portion, and headed out.

Margaret and I were going to meet at the race at 7:15, but being my usual self I got there at 7, so I got my packet and sat in my car until I saw her pull into the parking lot in her fancy new car. We got her chip, found the rest rooms, and chatted (inside) until it was almost race time. The 4 mile race starts first, so we watched them head off, and then got in line. Margaret was being all serious about this one, so I left her near the front of the pack and wandered off to the back. Someone said some stuff through a megaphone that I couldn’t hear, and we were off!

The course starts off in Downtown Durham, and then goes through the Forest Hills neighborhood, which is one of those places I’ve always thought I could live, if I ever bought a house here. I enjoyed looking at the varied architecture…and completely failed to pace myself. During this section, I was running pretty close with a girl who I’ll call sweat pants girl (SPG). She was wearing sweatpants with a flimsy elastic waist, and had her keys in the pocket so her pants kept slipping down and she’d have to hike them up again. I decided she seemed to be going at about my pace, so I tried to keep her in my sights. Splits from the first 5 miles…

Mile 1: 10:04 (ok, I like this, this is good)
Mile 2: 9:44 (oh no….slow down!)
Mile 3: 9:56 (ok…that’s a little better)
Mile 4: 8:52 (hahaha…that marker is in the wrong place!)
Mile 5: 12:04 (told ya..and I lost SPG)

Then, we hit the American Tobacco Trail and I looked forward to flat running for a while. This year, the race was designated a RRCA championship race, and a lot of local speedsters came out for it. Joan Nesbit Mabe was there with many members of her Carrboro Athletics Club…the first of whom I saw heading back, approaching the 11 mile marker…as I was just approaching the 6 mile marker. He was flying, so I paid attention to the time – it was 3 minutes before I saw the second place guy. Running up to the turn-around was really entertaining, because I got to watch everyone coming back the other way. As I said, many speedsters, and then I saw Margaret looking really strong (and almost done!). I got to the turn-around, headed back, and tried to keep from losing it in the last few miles like I normally do. Around the 15k mark my stomach started growling. Then, I passed the 10 mile mark about 18 minutes sooner than I had ever passed it in any other race and got all excited. Shortly after the 11 mile mark, though, I started fading. At this point I told myself I just had to get to the 12 mile mark, and then run in as hard as I could for the last .4. I managed to keep SPG in my sight the whole race, but never did catch up to her after I lost her around mile 5. Splits from the last 7.4:

Mile 6: 10:17 (a little slower than I wanted, but not bad)
Mile 7: 9:53 (woah there…)
Mile 8: 10:17
Mile 9: 10:44 (oops…)
Mile 10: 10:05 (better…and hungry)
Mile 11: 10:28 (getting tired now)
Mile 12: 11:22 (ugh)
Last .4: 3:51 (9:37 pace)

Total time: 2:07:42
Average pace: 10:18
I didn’t wear my HRM – shocker of the year right there! Just didn’t feel like it.

Margaret and I hung out, chatted and ate for a while after the race.

I have never run a 20k before, so that’s a PR! I also sets me up for a rather large half marathon PR, whenever I decide to run one of them again, as my current PR is 2:33:41 – lets hope that extra .7 wouldn’t take me 26 minutes!

I’m really pleased with my performance today. I didn’t rest like I normally would have for a half marathon. My weekly mileage record was just last week, and I ran 11.6 last Sunday. I could say that I would have done it faster if I rested more, but that may or may not be true. Usually I start to lose it after the 10 mile mark, but managed to hang on basically until 11 this time. I supposed throwing some more 10+ mile runs into my schedule should help with that – I’d like to get to the point where I know I can maintain my pace through the last few miles of a half.

Anyway, it was a good day! Thanks for reading!

Update

2008-02-19T21:29:00.002-05:00

Once again it's been a while since I posted. I don't think I have many readers anyway...

Since my last post I've run 53 miles - more than I ran in the entire month of January. I'm feeling stronger, but last week was mentally tough. Even so, I got out there for every planned run, and actually exceeded my planned mileage total by 3. Those 28 miles also made for a lifetime mileage high. I'm certainly proud of that!

This weekend I'll be running the Coach Bubba 20K in Durham. I decided to do it basically at the last minute, but I'm looking forward to it. If nothing else, it'll be a PR. I've also got tentative or definite races on the schedule for March, April (2), and May. After that I think I'll take a break until after the big move. Not a break from running, though, just from racing.

It still feels very strange to consider what I do "racing" since I am still quite slow.

Thinking about my training for the next few weeks, I think I'll be changing things around some. The inconvenience of the pool schedule means I still haven't made it to the pool to get ready for this tri. We'll also be living within walking/running distance of my office in less than two weeks - which also means walking/running distance from the pool, making that a lot more convenient. I'll probably cut back on the evening runs in the month of March, and replace them with runs to/from the apartment to walk Kona at lunch time. That will clear up time for swimming and biking after work, but still get me time on my feet (even though it isn't the same).

Right this second, at least, that's the plan...

Yoga and 8 miles

2008-02-05T21:53:00.000-05:00

Do not mix! Oh, my hamstrings. I really want to keep going to that yoga class on Sundays, so I guess I'm going to move my long runs to Saturdays. That gives me Friday as a rest day (for a couple more weeks), and then Sunday for a nice easy recovery run.

Fingers crossed...

I've also decided to do a triathlon, so I really need to get in some swimming and biking. Right now, those are also going to be primarily weekend activities. Lord help me.

Today's run: 4 easy miles with Kona at a 9:56 pace. As promised I wore my HRM - kept my average HR at 174bpm, which is 73%. We did half trails and half roads - some softness for the legs, but got off the trails before it got dark. A good run, all things considered.

I'll get better about posting.

2008-02-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

I know I've been bad - I got out of the habit! However I am happy to report that while I am out of the posting habit, I am not out of the running habit.

Last week:
Monday: planned rest!

Tuesday: 3.6 miles with Kona, 10:00 pace. I'm getting tired of running in the dark and it showed. This was supposed to be 4 miles, but I got sick of the dark and cut off a little loop.

Wednesday: My birthday! 4 miles with Kona again, 39:48 pace. That's more like it! This run was up to Meadowmont, under 54, and back down to the UNC XC course, so about half paved bike path and half trail. I'm trying to get Kona on soft surfaces more and was able to leave work early enough that we could be on trails in the daylight. Then out to dinner for my birthday at The Spotted Dog..mmm, boneless burger :)

Thursday: My interval day. I've been doing a nike + workout (from iTunes) just to mix it up a little. This one is almost 39 minutes long (they call it 40) so my goal is always to finish 4 miles before the workout starts repeating. This time, 4 miles took me 40:14 (10:03 pace). Nice how my interval day was slower than both of my easy days. I went way too fast on the first couple intervals and paid for it later. Also, this was the day I got my new nike + system from Apple (my old one died under warranty). As of 2/4 I still haven't calibrated the new one.

Friday: more scheduled rest!

Saturday: 3 "easy" trail miles with Kona. Ran a known route since my gaget hadn't been calibrated, but took it along anyway. It measured 3.26 miles. Anyway, 28:30 (9:30 pace) for 3...so much for an easy run (but it felt easy! - ish)

Sunday: Did another known route: 8 trail miles in 1:19:48. That's a 9:59 pace, ladies and gentlemen :) I'm finally getting faster... The trails were super muddy! It rains here again now, which is great. The creek was actually high, and there were giant puddles on some low-lying parts of the trail. One was covering the entire (wide) trail, no way at all to get around it. I went through at what looked to be the shallowest part and my feet got absolutely soaked. The air might have been warm, but that water was cold! Also did a hour long ashtanga yoga class...ouchie.

Total of 22.6 miles. I made 98% of my planned mileage - that's really great for me. If only I hadn't cut off that 0.4!

This weeks plan is similar:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4 easy (I will wear my HRM)
Wednesday: 4 easy
Thursday: 4, intervals
Friday: rest
Saturday: 3 easy
Sunday: 10

Thanks for reading!

Getting back to business

2008-01-22T22:38:00.000-05:00

Alright, well. Sunday was the first day I felt well enough to run, post-wisdom-teeth. I was visiting with my grandmother and parents, in a town about 2 hours from here. Somehow I never noticed how hilly it was out there! Four miles, 42ish minutes, and one heck of a head wind on the second half.

On the schedule for today was another 4. I decided I would run after work and take Pupster along. Well...by the time I got home from work it was 6:30, raining, and 36* outside. Normally 36* wouldn't bother me - but in the rain? Ugh. Considering we're moving to Michigan in a matter of months, might as well suck it up now. So, 4 hilly miles in the cold rain, 44 minutes this time. Between the hills, dark, and rain, I took it easy afraid I would slip and break myself. Wet Kona, Wet E, wet wet wet.

I did manage to implement part 2 of my plan today, and stretched well for 10 minutes following my run. That part, at least, felt great!

Remaining plan for this week:
Wednesday: 4 miles easy. HR < 179
Thursday: 40 minute interval workout, should come out to a little over 4 miles
Friday: rest day!
Saturday: 3 miles easy. HR < 179
Sunday: This week's "long" run of 6 miles
Total: 21ish

Alright, well...

2008-01-16T22:54:00.001-05:00

I promise I have run since my last post. A lot, actually. But as the new title suggests, I have a new goal and it's time to refocus. There's a few days left of my post-surgical rest, but then I'll be back at it with a new plan and all new goals for 2008.

Has anyone seen...

2007-07-15T13:43:00.000-04:00

my motivation to run? I seem to have lost it. Perhaps I left it on a trail somewhere.

People keep telling me that this is just what running in the summer in NC is like. Well if that's true, apparently I would rather not do so. This morning I had every intention of running 12 miles - at 1:45, it still hasn't happened. I am tired from bowling last night but that's not why I'm not running.

So....any ideas? Where might I find this motivation? The 30k is not looking good...it probably really is best to just plan on the Danville Half and leave Salem Lake for some other year. Sigh.

Vegetarian Experimentation - or Amy would be proud

2007-06-26T22:31:00.000-04:00

Hi Amy :)

Tonight I made a dish with edamame, garbanzo beans, feta cheese, couscous, and other random things, recipe found here.

It was great! Pictures and captions to follow...

Edamame, garlic, and olive oil in my cast iron pan

Added tomatoes, garbanzo beans, some water, and basil

Added salt and more water - my biggest pan is almost overflowing

Couscous added - time to wait

Feta and green onions added - and it's done!

It was marvelous :-)

3, 4, 5 deep breaths

2007-06-19T12:05:00.001-04:00

Followed by a heavy sigh...

What a week - already. I hardly slept Sunday night, so I skipped Monday morning's run to sleep. That all made me grumpy, and I arrived at work at 8:15 to turn our equipment on (to warm up) for a 9:15 treadmill, knowing my favorite coworker wouldn't show up in time to do it - he didn't. I'll admit I wasn't the easiest person to work with yesterday, because I've just about had it with this guy. It's to the point that the sound of his voice makes me want to pull out my hair...but I continued to grit my teeth and smile, because I only had 9 more days of work with him.

Today, I got up early to run 400m repeats on the track - I planned 7 of them, ran 4 approximately 40 seconds faster than planned, drank too much water between the 3rd and 4th, and threw up promptly after the fourth. Grumpy again, I quit.

I'll be covering evening exercise tonight because someone has another obligation, so I didn't come in until 10 (10-6:30 = 8.5 hours) - someone, planning to leave early, remember, came in to work at 11. I can't wait to see what time he leaves.

Besides that, there are other work related details that I will decline to write about, save the fact that they are not good.

Lots of italics today...

6, 7, 8 more deep breaths...

It's been almost a week

2007-06-14T22:06:00.001-04:00

Almost a week, since I decided to go vegetarian. Ok, not since I decided...but it's been almost a week without eating meat. Seems that if you're going to have dinner at someone else's house, it's best to inform them that you're veggie before going over. So last Saturday I had a burger. A few thoughts...

First - tofu. It's not bad. However, it IS bad to overdo soy sauce. Very very bad. I wonder how much fluid I'll retain for the next few days.

Second - Brussels sprouts. They aren't half bad either. Although I sauteed them with onions, and we all know how that turns out.

Third - I also started a new training plan this week, in the hopes of running a 30k (yeah, 18.6 miles. Yikes) at the end of September. I'm awful at training through the summer heat and humidity, and have decided that the only way I will successfully do this is to run early in the morning. Since Monday, I've been trying really hard to get up and run. Monday I got up when planned, Tuesday I wound up having to run in the evening (but I did it!), and Wednesday/Thursday I made it in the morning, but later than planned. All in all it's going well, except I learned that I need breakfast if I'm going to run first thing in the morning. And if that breakfast is cheerios, I will crash and feel dizzy/nauseous by 3:30. Wednesday I added Boca or Morningstar Farms fake meat to breakfast and things are improving.

Fourth - yeah...there's a lot more fiber in my diet now...

This should be interesting! Anyone care to place bets on how long all these changes will last? I'm really optimistic right now, I feel good about what I'm doing and the potential health benefits. I hope I can stick with all this.

A day of perspective and small victories

2007-06-05T14:56:00.001-04:00

Have you ever just sat back and paid attention to what's going on around you, without trying to control it or intervene? Maybe it's the nature of this job, where several of us share a suite with a common area (and an office under dispute), or where my boss talks on speaker phone like there's no one else in the room. Maybe it's just being innocently caught in the crossfire of things. But really it's amazing what people will say about one another when other people are within earshot. Might make you think...if you sat back and listened.

The last couple of days..
-My diet is in a tailspin, thanks to the reading I ranted about the other day
-My boss swears I'm doing something wrong, the grant says I'm right: small victory
-Now he wants to change it - ouch
-Tough assignment for a grant submission - hard work, but good, right?
-Running sucks lately - gotta get out there today. And tomorrow, and the next day.
-Parking. Enough said.
-Doug's new job :)

Well Crap. This isn't running related...

2007-06-03T22:25:00.001-04:00

A whole bunch of different things have come together in my life lately to suddenly make me much more concerned about the world, this country's role in it, and my role in it. Mostly I'm seeing this from a health standpoint - specifically exercise and nutrition, by nature of my education and my personality.

For years I've known that the average American eats a poor diet and doesn't exercise, and I've always been interested in ways to change this. However, only recently have I started reading more about it. Call it growing up, but suddenly it occurred to me that if I was going to rant on and on about things, maybe I should be well-informed. Add to this my recent thoughts about what exactly is in the food I eat, and I've been reading specifically about the American Diet.

One book I began to read is Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth by John Robbins. I'll admit, I got a little bored with that one and I think I'm on chapter 3. In the meantime, I finally joined the Chapel Hill Public Library and am now reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.

At first while reading this book I was bugged by the labor practices of the fast food industry and urban/suburban sprawl. Then I got to the chapter about Colorado Ranchers, and one specific rancher who took his own life, unable to face the bleak looking future afforded to him by the meat packing industry. Then there was the chapter about changes in that industry since the early 20th century and all the social problems created by such changes. Then, was the chapter where the author toured a slaughter house. Oh. My. God. I read the whole chapter aloud to Doug and then burst into tears. Oh. My. God. I understand how people want to be vegetarians.

Hey, Amy...I'm going to need to know where to buy some beef that doesn't go through all that, ok? That is, if I can ever bring myself to eat beef again. Damn.

A lesson in contrasts - Twisted Ankle 2007 Race Report (A PR!)

2007-05-21T13:00:00.000-04:00

Goals: 1. Finish
2. Finish faster than last year (3:52 or so)
3. Finish under 3:30

Last year this race was my first half marathon and my longest run ever. To sum up the experience – it sucked. I resolved that I would be back this year for my revenge, and set out to train. Unfortunately I had a bout with ITBS that kept me out of running for 8 long weeks and I was afraid of what the outcome would be. Throughout my 8 week break I cross-trained like I have never cross-trained before and while I hated it, I’m now glad I did it. Usually when I get hit with an injury I mope about it and all but quit working out entirely, but this year I remained much more dedicated and it paid off in huge dividends.

After Randy all but literally pulled me through the race last year I was afraid of the potential to have to do it alone this year. Crys and I stuck together from the start, and she was a great running partner. We chatted a lot at the beginning, and then the hills started and the chatting halted rather severely. Crys and I agreed that the best strategy would be to walk the up hills from the very beginning, saving our legs for the duration of the race. At each of the early hills I thought of last year’s race, when I kept saying “this must be Becky’s Buff”, only to get to the top and realize it wasn’t, and have Randy say “I wasn’t gonna say anything”

I must have blocked Becky’s Bluff out of my memory because I had forgotten just how steep and narrow that trail was. For a girl afraid of heights, it would really be better to have a wider trail…and really it was so nice of Becky to knock that giant tree in our path. Nearing the top of the Bluff, the photographer was leaning on a tree and I fully expected to look like I was going to kill him in those pictures – I wanted to lean on that tree! But I made it past him and was so happy to see Christina and Rob at the top with water. Crys and I paused at the top for a drink and then headed on our way. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders once that climb was out of the way, and I can honestly say running on the ridge felt great.

On the ridge top things went pretty much as expected. We both almost bit it a couple times (thank you rocks and roots) but managed to stay on our feet. Every time we saw someone we knew they looked so awesome, and almost everyone commented on how much better I looked this year than last year. I felt good, but damn I wonder how bad I looked a year ago…

After stopping at the last aid station, I decided I was going to have to work pretty hard to beat 3:30 and I took off down the mountain. I don’t know what got into me because that trail was very technical in spots, but I made it down without a fall. Every few minutes I would look behind me to make sure Crys was still there, but eventually I couldn’t see her anymore. Right around the marble mine there were these golf-ball sized rocks hiding under leaves and I felt like I was running on marbles, but managed to make it through without any injuries. And then I hit asphalt. Ouch. I slowed to a walk and near the end of the campground Crys caught up with me again. We headed into the woods and I found my second (third, fourth, three-hundreth) wind and took off again. Through the woods and around the lake, where I almost started to cry, just like last year, but this time out of happiness and not out of pain. I was running along yelling at myself not to cry, because I knew if I did I wouldn’t be able to breathe. When I hit the parking lot at the registration building I saw I had smashed my goal and ran as fast as my little legs would carry me over the bridge and to the finish. It was so great to hear everyone cheering as I was running across the bridge, and I was all embarrassed when the announcer guy said my name on his loudspeaker. When I finished I really did start to cry because I couldn’t believe what a contrast this was from last year (I’m a wuss, I know).

A summary of data (NERD ALERT!):
Starting HR:
2006 – 154 bpm (yeah, standing still)
2007 – 110 bpm (that’s more normal)

Max HR:
2006 - 222 bpm (SVT?)
2007 – 207 bpm

Avg HR:
2006 – 199bpm
2007 – 181 bpm

Time (oh yeah, that):
2006 – 3:52
2007 – 3:17!!!!!

I really struggled over what to say in this report because I can’t wrap my head around the differences between the two years. Last year I was miserable – it hurt like nothing I ever imagined and the only reason I made it was Randy’s encouragement (and patience!). This year it was under control. A huge part of that is that I knew what to expect, and the weather was 1000 times better, but seriously all of that cross training paid off. My aerobic fitness was so much better than last year and even though my legs didn’t have the mileage in them, my cardio could carry me through. Truly I think I could have done closer to 3 hours, but I felt great running that race and I didn’t want to feel like crap, I wanted to have fun. After last year, I thought I would never be a distance runner and I would never be good at this stuff. This year, I see that if I bust my ass I do have potential – I know from the way I felt at the end I have a lot left in me, I just have to figure out how to get it out.

So, thanks for reading my freakishly long report (notice there’s no short version)
I’m a little teary and really left a whole lot out of this because I can’t figure out how to say it and y’all probably don’t care anyway

Today I feel like a real trail runner...

2007-04-29T18:31:00.001-04:00

Short version: I ran 10.... one two three four five sixseveneightnine TEN pain free miles!!!!!

Long version: I needed to do a 10 mile run today, mostly to help myself decide if I should even start TA but also to get some strategies figured out. Doug, Kona, and I headed to Raleigh to Falls Lake. The lake is a reservoir serving the area and I think most of Raleigh's drinking water comes from there. As part of the MST (Mountains to Sea Trail), Falls Lake is surrounded by 26 miles of trails. Margaret keeps telling me they're really nice, so that's where we decided to go.

We started off at a fishing area parking lot and did the first mile together as a warm-up. Once we had figured out where we were going (lots of winding around at the beginning) I starting running and Doug and Kona kept on walking. The first few miles weren't anything special, but I decided early on to walk the bigger hills because they still make my IT band feel not so great. Before we left the parking lot I had a fleeting thought that maybe I should pee before we got started. Nah - what's 10 miles feeling like you have to pee? By mile 2, I was sure I needed to go. Right around there was where I also picked up a freaking annoying fly that would not leave me alone. I never got a good look at it, but in my mind was convinced that it was a horse fly. I'm terrified of horse flies. So I tried to outrun it, which didn't work. Then I tried running slower - nope. At this point I really needed to pee, but wasn't gonna stop to give the fly a chance to sting my asss. According to my handy little trail guide there's a bridge at the 2.8 mm. By the time I got there my feet were hot, so I decided to unleash my inner trail runner and I waded through the creek. Ahhh, refreshing.

At the 3.5 mile marker, the trail comes out on a road. Apparently you are NOT supposed to cross the road, just go to the right, walk over a bridge, and find the trailhead at the end of the guardrail. Had I read my handy trail guide I would have known that. Instead, I crossed the street. I saw a spot that looked like a trail head, so into the woods I went. Wait a second....where are the white blazes? Hmm...this isn't a trail. Wait! If this isn't a trail that means my chances of getting caught peeing are slim. Ladies and gentlemen - I peed on the trail for the first time today. You can go ahead and clap, it's a big step. After that I pulled out my trail guide and discovered I had in fact gone the wrong way, and got myself back on track.

After that adventure, I decided that if I could pee on the side of a trail, I could run in just my sports bra and off came the shirt. It was much cooler, but even though it had been quite some time since I had seen anyone, I spent the next half mile obsessing over the thought that someone might see my jiggles, and put my shirt back on. This section of the trail was a lot more rocky than the previous section and I had to walk a lot because I still don't trust myself to avoid turning an ankle on terrain like that. TA is in less than 3 weeks, I can't risk that! Finally, I made it to the five mile point, where I stopped and had some yummy espresso love Gu and turned around.

I spent pretty much the entire second half of the run wondering when I would come across Doug and Kona. I kept thinking I saw them ahead of me, but then they wouldn't be there anymore. Also during this stretch I didn't step high enough over a big tree route and almost fell hard. I managed to catch myself, but I probably should learn to just fall safely because I think I pulled an ab muscle in the process. I carried a bottle with water mixed with elete to keep my electrolytes balanced. It worked great - until I ran out of water with about 2 miles to go...

Finally, with about .75 left I caught up to Doug and Kona. I was very very happy to see them, and Kona seemed very happy to see me. She did her longest walk ever today - 7 miles.

Poor Planning..

2007-04-25T20:03:00.000-04:00

This morning I didn't manage to get out of bed in time to eat breakfast or pack lunch - I barely had time to shower. That meant I had to rush to the fitness center to supervise AM exercise, and then at 9 was able to go by Brueggers and get my morning coffee and a bagel: rosemary olive oil bagel with plain cream cheese - approximately 480 calories (yikes..) and coffee with half and half, maybe 20 calories. So for breakfast we have 500 calories.

Then my day got busy, and I wound up having to run out of the office to get to my doctor's appointment. No lunch. I inhaled a cliff bar (200 calories) on the way from the doctor to the gym. Now we've got 700 total.

Once at the gym I changed and headed out on a 4 mile run. We'll call that roughly 400 calories. Then, I lifted for 30 minutes (not gonna estimate calories) and did a 60 minute spinning class (we'll say at least 500)

So that's 700 calories in and 900 calories out. Add that to my BMR, which we'll roughly estimate to be about 1500 calories, and I'm STARVING.

I just inhaled some pizza and in a little while I'm gonna go get coffee. Screw fruits and vegetables.

So the workout...

4 miles "running" and 60 minutes spinning
plus..
lunges with a medicine ball
leg press
calf raises
leg curl
leg extension (which kinda hurt)

My legs are gonna hurt tomorrow

I felt like such a newbie on my run. I hadn't really planned on running when I left the house today, but didn't want to go back to work after the doctor's appointment, so I ran. In my Montrail Hardrocks. They have stiffer soles than my other shoes and my arches have been hurting in spinning, but I very rarely run in these shoes and they're a little shorter than I would like. Well today, my toes fell asleep, on both feet. Half way through my run I was sitting on a bench with my shoes off, text messaging with Doug. Then, I had my nano armband on my right arm, and they drew blood from my right arm today. I don't know if it was the increase in BP in general, or because of the combo of that and the armband, but the spot where they did the blood draw got all swollen and painful and bruised. It still hurts. I feel like a moron. I switched the band to the other arm and that was a little better but it was still hurting. It should be fun to see what that looks like tomorrow.

Getting back to running

2007-04-12T20:58:00.000-04:00

In the past week two weeks I've actually been able to run pain-free - yay! And, yesterday I got new shoes, so of course I had to try them out today.

Kona and I headed out for a non-remarkable 3 mile run. But, a little less than halfway through Kona decided to add some excitement. She tried to leap up onto a bridge, missed, fell, and scared me half to death. She's ok - no limping, crying, or anything else. Shortly thereafter, we discovered that aliens have apparently been visiting Chapel Hill...

Random Thoughts from Easter Weekend

2007-04-09T22:13:00.000-04:00

- 106 miles each way - on a winding, rolling-hill country road, hardly anything but farms the whole way

- Plans in the works to bike it this summer

- My Grandmother is getting older. Of course she's getting older. But things are changing and it makes me sad.

- Back to work, yay.

- Interviews this week.

- Konagirl <3

It bit me!

2007-04-06T13:52:00.000-04:00

The freakish torture device that is the handle on my office door bit me today!

It hits right above my hip bone and practically impaled my tummy :( It's going to leave a gorgeous bruise, I'm sure...

Second post for today - Is it still possible?

2007-04-04T23:21:00.000-04:00

I ran a mile on the treadmill today. Yeah, a mile isn't impressive, but I've been saying for the past couple weeks that my aerobic fitness is such that I can do the half marathon. The question has been my legs. Today's mile was just over 9 minutes, which is pretty fast for me, and PAIN FREE.

I'm trying not to get excited because I know it's only a mile, and a flat mile at that...but maybe....

Power Scissors.

2007-04-04T20:26:00.000-04:00

Douglas now has a set of power scissors. And a wind-up flashlight. And Kona has a new portable water bowl (the Ruff Wear Trail Runner). These all came to the house on the same day, yesterday. Kona likes her bowl...and Doug just loves his power scissors and wind-up flashlight.

I would like a new gadget. And I would like for it to just magically come in the mail, for free. Maybe a fancy camera. Or a new DVD player since mine quit. One of those Roomba vacuums so I can be lazy and clean at the same time.

If anyone figures out how to make this happen - please let me know.

The Great Human Race - 5k Race Report

2007-03-24T13:27:00.001-04:00

Short version: It was hot (high 70s), cloudy..I wore blue Nike tempo shorts and a white dri fit tee, brooks adrenaline 6’s…final time 41:49 – a PW for me but a PR for my friend in his first race ever!

Loooooong version:
The Great Human Race in Durham is organized by the Volunteer Center of Durham, and non-profits from the area are all eligible to participate. Fundraising can go to the non-profit of each runner’s/walker’s choice.

Flash back to January – I started a new job, working with three exercise training studies. One of the studies had a group finishing up about a month after I started, and we all became friends in the process. A man in that group, who could barely walk the full 30 minutes when he started, began to run on the treadmill during the last couple weeks of the study. Wanting to keep him motivated, I thought he needed a new goal to work towards and suggested a 5k. We talked about it, and he thought about it, and we wound up picking today’s race as a goal. He’s been on his own training for this race for the past two months, with only a little input from me via email.

This morning I arrived at the Durham Bulls athletic park to meet my friend, his wife and 5 yr old daughter, and a friend of his. My friend wore his study t-shirt, which made him much easier to find in the mess of people. We chatted for a while, and his little girl showed us how to stretch (too cute!!), and then the race officials started herding people towards the start. The three of us (me, my friend, and the other friend) lined up together pretty close to the back of the pack. This being my friend’s first 5k, I expected a 14 min pace or so and we tried to line up accordingly.

Just past the start, friend’s friend left us behind. The first half mile (maybe a little less) is uphill, and my friend really struggled with it. I encouraged him to take baby steps, and he made it all the way up the hill before we took our first walking break. Somewhere on this hill we passed a blind man, who was running with his walking stick but wasn’t using it – he had hold of a companion’s arm, and they were working together. Really inspiring! We walked about a block at the top of the hill, and then when we started down another one I suggested we use gravity to our advantage. First mile in about 13:30.

The second and third miles were really more of the same. After our initial walk break I suggested that we pick landmarks to run to, and reevaluate when we came to each one. It worked really well! Often times my friend would say “Ok, to the speed limit sign”, we’d reach that sign and he’d say “Well…to the intersection” and then extend it again, and so on. We walked through the lone aid station so that he could drink his water, and headed back on our way.

The volunteers on this course were great! The Durham Police were out directing traffic (and put us back on course when we almost went the wrong way), and local cheerleaders were out doing what they do best. A great race, I will do it again next year.

According to my watch (I didn’t get splits), we ran it in 41:49 for an average pace of 13:28 – a PW for me, but the most fun I’ve ever had running a race! Going out there planning to do nothing but make it fun for someone else really puts a whole different perspective on things, and I’m so glad we did it!

IT Band update and first run in 3 weeks

2007-03-18T21:52:00.000-04:00

In a recent post I stated that I was ok with my IT band tightness. I lied. I'm not ok with it. Three weeks ago, I headed out for a three mile run that became a one mile run, 1 mile run/walk, and 1 mile hobble-and-pray-I-make-it-to-the-car.

For three weeks, I haven't run. A couple of times I tried to run on the treadmill and would last less than a minute before the pain in my left leg was excruciating. I have spent more time on the arc trainer and in spinning class in the last three weeks than I have in the last three years, probably.

Today, I got to run again. I took Kona with me, because when I run with her I'm always sure to stop and walk so I don't push her too hard. I figured if I was worried about pushing her too hard, I would keep myself from overdoing it, too. Mission accomplished. My left leg was hurting by the end, but it wasn't awful. Three weeks ago I wasn't sure I could make it the mile back to my car - today there were no such fears (thank GOD). We did four miles. When we were running, it was clear that I've kept up my cardiovascular fitness well, but my legs aren't up for much yet. At this point I feel like my heart and lungs can do a half marathon, but my legs might only make half that...

So, we headed out to my favorite trails, but started at a different spot behind the middle school, rather than my usual dirt parking lot at the other end. We had A LOT of rain on Friday, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever get my car out of that mud. Behind the middle school there's .25 miles or less of pavement, and then you hit dirt. The main jeep trail is really low-lying and runs along Bolin Creek, so it's relatively flat. A good portion of the trail was covered in water, and what wasn't covered was definitely muddy. Some of the higher and rocky areas were pretty dry, but most of it was nasty. My shoes were tight, but even so I almost lost my left shoe to the mud. We ran along the jeep trail for about 1.5-1.75 miles and then turned off on the "burnt-out car trail" that I always make sure to run when I'm out there. Yeah...that trail's too hilly for me these days. We walked that whole .75 or so. One of the hills on that trail rivals Becky's Bluff - it isn't as long, but it is just as steep. If my leg was healthy I'd go out there for hill repeats..but that probably isn't the best idea these days.

There's an old burnt out car at that trail head, and every time we go by Kona puts on the brakes and starts to whine. Well today she actually ran right by it! I was so proud. We got back out on the jeep trail and headed back to the car. I tripped a couple times and slipped a couple times, but nothing too exciting happened until we passed a large group of people with 4 or 5 dogs. The dogs were all leashed, so I thought we were fine. Kona and I stepped off the trail a little bit (and this is a wide trail) and kept on running. Until one of the dogs lunged at and pinned Kona. NOT COOL. How is a dog that is on a leash allowed to behave like that?? We got out of that mess and continued on down the trail at a quicker pace. Maybe a quarter mile or less after that, we came upon a couple with a puppy off-leash. When they saw us they put a leash on the puppy, and I warned them about the mean dog.

Things were uneventful after that, and considering the walking and occasional sniff-stops, we finished our 4 miles in over an hour. Definitely slow, but I think it was probably best all things considered.

Pictures Here

My little running partner

2007-02-24T13:18:00.000-05:00

Kona and I had a great run together today. Just a short one, about two miles around the trails between campus and the community center. She was such a trooper and stayed right by my left leg the whole way. Well...except when one couple on the trail scared the living daylights out of her. It's interested to have a dog tethered around one's waist when the dog just stops dead. No idea what scared her so much, but that was our only incident! Good little Konagirl...

Found time!

2007-02-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

Every Monday morning, I supervise exercise sessions at work from 8-9 and 10-12. Today on my way to the 8:00 class, I realized that no one would be attending the class. Bah - I could have slept in! My original plan was to run one lap of the XC trail during my free hour at 9. That would give me plenty of time to change into my running clothes, run, and get myself cleaned up before the 10:00 class.

Well, with the found time I decided to run two laps of the trail instead - six miles instead of three. It was damn cold. It took two miles for my muscles to really feel warmed up, and even then I was still cold. The first lap was pretty good, after five miles my left IT band quit. Half the time it seems like no matter what I do, that IT band issue is always going to be around. Sometimes I'm cool with that, other times not so much. Today I'm cool with it, even though it meant taking the elevator all day because going downstairs hurt too much.

Running like that, before work, feels good. It's good to go supervise that exercise class, knowing I've already done my exercise for the day.

The last few months...

2007-02-08T23:48:00.000-05:00

Here's an update, since it has been forever since I last wrote anything.

First - the stress fracture that wasn't. That's right, it wasn't. After five weeks on crutches, I finally got in for a MRI. A MRI that came back completely clean. Imagine the frustration! Eventually I rationalized that, had I continued running, I might have wound up with a fracture anyway...but wow, five weeks. During that time off I missed the Nittany Valley Half Marathon, which I've since heard is an excellent race. As sad as I am to have missed it, I think I'm going to mark it off the list for this year, too. No more road races for me. At least, no more long road races.

Second - new job! I don't want to post too much about work on here, but I just have to say that I'm a million times happier now than I was two months ago. The new job started at the beginning of January, and one month into it, I'm sure I made the right decision. This job allows me a great deal more autonomy and I don't have a boss constantly looking over my shoulder. Despite my previous supervisor's attempts to convince me that I would absolutely fail in this type of position, things are going great. I do my work, and if a problem comes up I go to either a study coordinator or the big boss and take care of it. No problem. Sorry, former boss lady, looks like I can survive without you.

Third - Kona girl. For some reason I haven't posted about my darling little girl before this! The horror! Kona is a 9 month old border collie/pointer mix who joined our little family back in July, at a mere 10 weeks of age. She has grown like a weed from approximately 10-15lbs when she joined us to right around 50lbs now. Her socialization has gone really well as we have really made an effort to expose her to people, and now that she is old enough, other dogs at the dog park. We make a trip to the dog park at least 4 times per week allowing her to run and play to her heart's content; and when we get home, she passes out on the couch, all played out. There are so many other things I could say about the girl, but I'll leave it at this for now.

Crutches, MRIs, Icing, and Swimming

2006-11-12T21:37:00.000-05:00

For a couple of weeks I've had nagging pain in my shin that I brushed off as shin splints. A little ice and a little extra stretching, and I figured it would pass. It didn't. My last run was on Thursday, November 2nd - 2.8 miles in 27 minutes - actually pretty fast for me. The problem was, with every footfall that pain in my shin was sending shockwaves through my leg and the throbbing continued for about 45 minutes after my run. The next day, I called the doctor and stopped running.

I actually swam that Friday night, alone. There's an intern at work who needs help with her swimming technique, so she and I have been meeting at the pool a couple days a week to practice. Just a little bit of cross-training for me. Something different, and a way to strengthen my shoulders again. Perfect. Now I guess it's my primary form of exercise.

The doctor did a battery of tests on Friday, x-rays and manual tests. Nothing showed up on the x-rays, but that is to be expected as stress fractures normally don't.
Apparently some of her other tests gave her reason to think it probably is a stress fracture, though. Also, she checked out both ankles and determined that I have some extenive ligament damage from all those sprains I've had, and it's likely that when I get back to running I'll have orthotics to correct each one - and the damage is different in each.

Sometime this week I'll be having an MRI to determine whether this is a stress fracture or just a stress reaction. Until we know, I'm on crutches for partial weight bearing. Once we know what's going on, I guess it'll be a boot or an aircast. Until then, I'm crutching, icing, and swimming...

Ten miles today - First since May

2006-10-22T17:17:00.001-04:00

Training for my half this time around has been spotty at best. I really lost motivation in the hot, humid North Carolina summer and then had a lot of trouble getting back into the swing of things.

The first real long run of my abbreviated training cycle was supposed to be 9 miles last weekend, but an ankle sprain at the beach kept me off the roads for a few days. Determined to make sure I got in my long run this weekend, I planned things to allow myself a few hours on Sunday. I vaguely remember waking up sometime this morning, realizing it was raining, swearing, and going back to sleep. Hours later I finally made it outside.

This being my first real cold run of the year, I really wasn’t sure what to wear. Add the rain to that and I was worried – so worried that I overdressed. It was 55 degrees out and raining. I wore a pair of Doug’s gore-tex pants, a long-sleeved wicking shirt, and a vest. About two miles in the pants were starting to stick to my sweaty legs and my sleeves had been yanked up.

Overall the run was pretty uneventful. I didn’t see anything exciting, didn’t solve the world’s problems, and didn’t even see anything funny. On a cold, rainy day, there just isn’t that much to see. It did occur to me with about a mile left that maybe 10 miles is a little far to go without water, as my hamstrings and calves started cramping up. The thing is I had endurolyte capsules with me – but no water! Oh well, lesson learned…even when it’s cold, it’s best to have water for that distance.

Oh! There is one thing. I wore Doug’s Garmin even though I had mapped out the route before leaving. The Garmin says I ran 385.2 miles in 1:36:08 – apparently I’m the World’s Fastest Woman….

Thanks for reading.

It's been a while

2006-10-15T22:55:00.000-04:00

Most of the summer I haven't had much to say on here. I haven't really been running, and I haven't really be motivated to even think much about running. Nevertheless I have committed myself to another half marathon. On December 3rd, I will run the Nittany Valley Half. And hopefully I won't finish last.

Until then, though, I have one minor hurdle to get over. Ok, many hurdles, but one immediately. Friday night, shortly after arriving at the beach house rented for the week by my Aunt and Grandmother, I twisted my ankle walking down the stairs to move my car. I hadn't changed out of my work clothes, was still wearing my heels, and thought I had reached the last step when in fact, I had not. My right ankle is definitely sprained, but not too badly. I missed Saturday's 4-miler and today's 9-miler, but hope to get that 9 in tomorrow after work.

I'll try to check in more often...

Carrboro Running

2006-07-08T18:11:00.000-04:00

I just did a short run today, about 3 miles, because I haven't tried all these trails on my own yet and I'd rather explore the unknown ones with someone. So, I went on what I call the "burnt out car" trail. So...

I parked in the little dirt parking lot at the trailhead and made sure to leave the car in gear and pull on the e-brake as hard as I could so the car wouldn't roll out on the busy road! Locked my important stuff in the glove compartment, tied my key to my shorts, grabbed my camera, and headed out. We've had a lot of rain lately, and the entry trail is pretty over grown. Fortunately it's probably not even 1/10 of a mile before the first turn I needed to make. I turned off that little trail onto my first single track section. There's nothing too notable about this part, except for a curvy tree and one part where a BIG tree fell across the trail - I took pictures of both of those on the way back. This part of the trail is maybe 1/4 of a mile and ends with a steep rocky descent to Bolin Creek. I usually cross the creek right at the bottom of this hill, but a family was playing there so I went a little further. Across the creek and to my least favorite section of trail - the roots are so bad I walk that part, but it's very short. I quickly came upon my second stream crossing, and there was a group of 4 men there, moving the bridge! Ok.... I stood for a little while until they had the bridge totally out of the water, and then trudged right through the creek! Well...half a mile into my run my feet are already soaked. Eh..no biggie. Stopped on the big rock to pet the one guy's Golden Retriever, and then set off on my way. This section is the big wide jeep trail, but again, we've had so much rain it's not as wide as it used to be. About 1/4 mile later, I found my next section of single track, and my destination - the burnt out car trail. Doug thinks the car is a Corvair - I have no idea.

Now, aside from some tips I've picked up from various race reports (i.e. - walk the big hills), Doug has taught me everything I know about trail running. His biggest lesson - go the same direction at every fork in the trail. It seems to me that this is a good way to run in circles, but he says it's a good way to not get lost, and I don't wanna get lost. So - left it was. Every time I came up on a new fork, I went left. It worked pretty well. This section of trail is really overgrown too, and I broke way too many spider webs with my face...but I trudged on. There's 2 (I think) stream crossings on this section. The first one was uneventful, and the stream was kinda low. Between the first and second crossing, so crazy mountain bikers have set up some absolutely insane ramps and obstacles. I think they're nuts - Doug wants to try them out. Coming up to the second stream crossing, though, there's this launch ramp they have set up to jump over the stream. This is, though, the bank on the opposite side is really steep - it would be extremely painful to fall short on that jump...

I kept making my left turns, and before long I was back at the burnt out car. And then back at the jeep trail. I went back across the stream where they took out the bridge (and got a picture this time), back across the mean roots, and back across the first stream crossing. This first/last crossing was gross - the water was kind of cloudy and green, I guess because it was held stagnant by rocks and logs, but it looked like pea soup and there was no way I was stepping in it. Got across that, charged up the really steep hill, and headed back to my car.

Here are the pictures - enjoy!

Just for Kicks

2006-06-27T22:52:00.000-04:00

My heart rate graph from the Twisted Ankle Half marathon...

Raleigh Race for the Cure Race Report

2006-06-10T14:04:00.000-04:00

Originally, I had planned to get to bed early last night since I was planning to be in Raleigh by 6:30 for the 7:30 start. That did not work out, however, and I made it into bed shortly before midnight – only to lie awake staring at the ceiling – in pain. The past couple days have been spotted with lower back pain – severe at times – that seems to be related to tight hamstrings and IT bands. Try as I might to stretch them out, pain in my hips and lower back was high as I tried to fall asleep. Drugged up, I finally dosed off. Seemingly 5 minutes later it was 5 AM and the alarm was going off. As usual I hit the snooze button once….twice…three times – oops, it’s 5:50. I was supposed to leave home by 6:00. Ok, out of bed – good thing I laid my clothes out and packed my bag last night. I was out the door by 6:05 – not bad at all – only to suffer from another aspect of poor planning….I was almost out of gas. I managed to get the fastest pump ever, and was back on the road by 6:15, making it to my Aunt Judy’s house at exactly 6:30.

Judy graciously let me park at her house and gave me a ride to the start – much appreciated. Her house is only about a mile from the start and the loop course actually passes her block twice (once on each end) so she stood at the corner and cheered for me at each end – it was really great to have someone out there pulling for me.

The race itself was pretty uneventful. My plan was actually based on my HR rather than mile splits and I think I was a bit conservative. The goal was to keep my HR below 190 for the first mile, below 200 for the second, and then just let it go for the final 1.1. I did quite well staying down for the first mile, my first split was just over 10 minutes. I did stop and walk up a deceptively large hill but ran the rest of the race, albeit slowly. Two streets were lined quite nicely with spectators. One street had a few yards with sprinklers set up, and even one spot where three kids were standing at the ready with Super Soakers, squirting anyone who indicated approval – that was excellent.

Coming into the last ¼ mile I had way too much energy left over and had a strong, smooth, fast kick into the end. As a comparison – my average HR for the TA was 199 with a max of 222, and for this race the average was 191 with a max of 212. Those numbers sound high – but they also tell me I could have pushed harder. Final watch time was 34:02…I’ve run one previous 5k in a time of 33:47, however a couple days later it was announced that my first race was actually only 2.9 miles – so I guess this is in fact a PR for the 5k distance.

With a little work on pushing my limits and dealing with discomfort, I know I can do better than this.

Twisted Ankle Race report

2006-06-10T13:58:00.000-04:00

Looks like I forgot to post this way back when, so here it is...
**********************************************************************************

I sat here trying to write a short version of this, and there just isn’t one so bear with me here.)

This was the second year of the Twisted Ankle Marathon and Half marathon – Last year I volunteered and somehow managed to forget between then and now all the reports of how hard that course is. I can assure you – that will never happen again. That race is unbelievably hard and I really wouldn’t recommend it as a first half marathon. There was absolutely no prayer of running a fast race – it was all about finishing.

The last race I registered for, I didn’t finish – that was not going to happen again. My training really didn’t go how I wanted it to, thanks to a lot of different factors and I knew I wasn’t ready for this thing. Once I found out I was going to have to do the whole toe surgery thing I reevaluated my goals and decided all I really needed to do was finish. In the weeks leading up to the race I was getting extremely nervous, and Randy, Amy, and Christina all agreed to run with me – they are wonderful people.

Race day was hot and humid, as Georgia typically is in late May I suppose. A little before 8:00 Pete and I headed out of our cabin and down to the race start – Pete didn’t want to walk all the way around on the road and convinced me to ramble through the woods on his own little shortcut – I was super nervous about that….and it turned out to be the easiest part of the day! We got down to the start and found almost all of the other people we knew and chatted for a while before the start. When we were all lined up at the start listening to Becky's opening speech I flipped my HRM display over to Chrono mode and checked out my heart rate – 154! Yeah…a little nervous. Sure enough, we started running and my heart rate actually went down!

I had a major case of nerves at the beginning and just couldn’t get over it and get into a groove. Amy and Christina went ahead of Randy and me at probably mile 2 or so and the two of us just kept plugging along. Not long after the girls went ahead, I started dry-heaving. A lot. Like every five steps.

I wasn’t really looking at my watch, because if I looked at the time I would also be looking at my heart rate, and at that point I just didn’t want to see it (but I did want the data, so I wore the monitor anyway - I’m such a nerd). There’s a hill right around mile 3 called Becky’s Bluff. First – that’s no bluff. Bluff sounds like a little grassy knoll in the middle of a meadow on a beautiful spring day. Everytime we came to a hill I’d say “Oh, this must be it”, then we would inevitably get to the top, I would realize it wasn’t, and Randy, in his cute southern accent, would say “I wasn’t gonna say anything.” And then all of a sudden, there was Becky’s Bluff. As I said – that’s no sweet little hill, it’s a dirt WALL. While climbing the bluff we met Ben – a guy from Raleigh who was having an even harder time than I was (very difficult, I can assure you). He walked with us for a while, but finally decided that his stomach just wasn’t up to the job and turned around to head back to the start. Randy and I were plugging along oh-so-slowly when I stopped, turned to him and said “You’re my new best friend – and Elizabeth at the top is Jesus”

We finally made it to the top of that thing and found Jesus and I felt instantly better. My legs were shot, but the mental block was lifted and it was much easier going from that point. Still slow – but easier. At about mile 5 or 6 we met Jackie who was run-walking the course and were more or less with her for the rest of the race. Somewhere between miles 4 and 7 we saw Jim, Margaret, Chuck and Rick, Amy and Christina, Mary and Lori who weren’t at their aid station, and finally made it to the half way point. On the way back out to the point where we would head back down the mountain we started seeing marathoners and I felt really guilty that Randy was still with me and probably apologized 50,000 times, but he stuck with me like the Southern gentleman he is. When we got to the final aid station at about mile 9 I stopped and put a blister block on the blister developing under my big toe – that didn’t do a damn thing. Also, somewhere in there I told Randy I was sure my left foot was bleeding as I forgot to trim my toenails (oops) – but my toes were numb so it didn’t matter.

We started heading down the hill, running right along, only to come up on a Ranger who told us they had reports of a rattlesnake on the trail – ok, we’re walking. We made it to the bottom of the hill and hit asphalt – yeah – 2 miles to go!! We tried to run on the asphalt but quite honestly, asphalt sucks! It didn’t work. A few minutes later we were going through the campground and Randy said he thought we would make it without getting passed by a marathoner – not two minutes later the first marathoner passed us and we felt a breeze as he passed – he was flying!

By the time we got to the final mile I had full-blown goose bumps and chills and was trying not to cry. At one point I was stopped with my hands on my knees, hyperventilating and half-crying, and Randy practically picked me up and said we had come too far to stop- he was right, so we kept going.

The end of the course was a nice little run across a bridge and then about a 20 yard jaunt on the grass to the finish line. As we were approaching the bridge, Randy told me I had to go first because if I stopped he was going to push me. A little before halfway across the bridge, I hear Randy behind me yell “There’s a hill on this bridge!!” and it was all I could do not to die laughing. We finished (finally) together in about 3:50.

The tears hit again when we got across the line and apparently I was looking pretty bad because within a minute I had 3 medics asking me all kinds of questions. Rob and Christina got me some ice, powerade, and food – and Amy’s girls brought me a bottle of water (they are so sweet!).

Honestly, if Randy hadn’t been there I would have dropped out for sure. It was too hard and hurt way too bad for me to have finished it alone. So thanks, Randy, for being such a wonderful person and pulling my sorry ass through that race. I appreciate it more than you could ever understand…

The legacy of the Timex Ironman 30-lap

2006-04-02T13:21:00.000-04:00

A little background, first. I've had a long line of timex ironman 30-lap watches, and they all die in weird circumstances.

My first one, senior year of high school, met its untimely death in front of my house one day. My then-boyfriend and I were hitting a volleyball back and forth in the street, and I took my watch off and set it on the trunk of my mom's car. We went inside for a drink, mom headed out to run errands, and my watch flew off the car somewhere between the house and Giant :( We walked around the neighborhood checking gutters to no avail.

The second one was purchased the following fall so I would have a watch to wear to practice. That wonderfully trusty watch made it through 4 years of college and one year of grad school. It was the kind with the cloth band, so it didn't smell so great, but a weekly shot of febreeze kept it from getting too bad. By my second semester of grad school, the watch had been removed countless times and spent A LOT of time in the pool (the band was slowly being bleached). One time teaching a beginning swimming class, we were working on diving. I dove in to demonstrate, and as I hit the water the velcro on the watch came undone, but I somehow caught it in the same hand (aren't I cool? ;) ) and disaster was averted. Fast forward to that summer - My friend Logan and I are training for a triathlon. During one morning swim workout, I surfaced, hit the lap button, and everything went blank :_| Dead battery. Too much time in the pool, perhaps? I headed off to the store to replace said battery (just couldn't face life without my watch) and the dude said "Well, I can replace the battery, but you'll lose the water resistance. You could send it off to Timex and they can reseal it, but that'll cost $35-$40" Considering the watch probably cost $35, I said goodbye to my beloved watch.

That summer I had absolutely no money, and I couldn't replace my watch - so sad. When I started getting a paycheck again in September, I went straight for a new watch. Again - cloth band. It spent a lot of time in the pool, a lot of time running, a lot of time cycling (really, I had a permanent watch line). It also spent an entire summer working outside at Pottery Barn Kids - I was a stockroom peep (the muscle at the store, if you will). My watch and I unloaded many a truck together. My watch band got NASTY. I attempted to clean it, but I think it was beyond the point of no return. Really, to the point that I wound up with a spot of ringworm on my arm (ew ew ew!!!) from the band - after all, lord knows what I was exposed to unloading those trucks. So my watch was set aside, waiting for me to remember to take it for a new band. Time dragged on and on, because I was able to use my HRM watch in the meantime.

Well, yesterday I went to Target to get my watch band replaced. Two employees spent what seemed like forever trying to replace the band. Finally it seemed to work, and the girl started ringing up my purchase. As she was doing that, I put my watch on..and the band popped off. After some careful examination by my now-favorite Target employee, she decided that the little holes where the pin goes were worn out from all the struggle - and I got a brand new watch - free!

And so begins the saga of another Timex Ironman 30-lap watch (this time, with an elasotmer band)...

Longest run to date

2006-03-12T20:32:00.000-05:00

I went to bed last night and woke up this morning super nervous because today was my first scheduled 9 mile long run - my longest run EVER. Since I wasn't entirely sure I was prepared, I was jittery. I made it out there, 30 min later than planned (ha! I procrastinated, what a surpise!) walked, stretched, and went. The plan was to run 3 laps of the Duke XC course which would actually give me 9.3 for the day. I know this course, it's generally well populated, but mostly I just went because I know the distance, I didn't feel like measuring or estimating.

The first 3 miles: Just shuffling along, smiling at people I meet and watching the golfers through the trees. Every once in a while "oh my god, 9 MILES" would sneak into my mind, at which point I would say "hey, it's only 3 laps" and then my inner devil said "yeah, 3 3-mile laps." Somewhere about mile 2 I decided that while my IT band has been feeling much better, it's not ready to run up steep hills just yet. So I walked the big hills, shuffled down the steep downhills, and just ran the rest normally. Well...that strategy made me realize I really need to work on pacing! I'd run a 14-minute mile, followed by a 12-minute mile, followed by a 10-minute mile. That went on the entire time...

Second loop - Ok, this isn't so bad, 1/3 done. New golfers to watch, new people to smile at. Did a little silent cheer when I passed the 5 mile mark - over half way! At the end of this loop I stopped at the car to stretch, drink some water, and eat some m&m's (I know, probably not the best choice, but hey, it's what I had) and hit the trail again.

Third loop - Ok, I'm tired! My legs were definitely tired which of course I expected, by my arms were feeling sorta rubbery too. My left leg was getting really tight even with the couple minutes of stretching I did - and when I could see the mile marker at the end of mile 7, but hadn't quite gotten there, I got pretty mild cramps in both calves. I stopped to stretch thinking about my hydration and came to the conclusion that I was fairly well hydrated...and then I thought about my moving week diet. Ok, that could be the problem. Stretched out the cramps and off I went again. At this point there was no prayer of running up the steep hills because even if my IT band would do it, my calves would have knotted up like mad. I passed the 8 mile marker with a huge smile on my face. Only one more to go. By this time the trail was getting kind empty, even though it wasn't even 3:00 yet...but there was this one other girl who I met going the opposite direction every lap - it made me feel good to know someone else was out there as long as I was!

As I finished I was thinking about how I've changed in the last 3 years. Grad school was pretty rough, and really did make me a different person. Unfortunately, one part of that was that my fitness really suffered (imagine that, in an exericse physiology program) and today I felt like I was really getting back to my old self again, it felt great. Also, though...3 years ago, knowing what a challenge this run would have been, I don't think I would have done it. I think I would have been content to never run more than 5 miles....I'm definitely much stronger now than I was in August of 2003....

It's been over a month

2006-03-09T12:36:00.000-05:00

My IT band problem was diagnosed over a month ago. Progress is definitely slow - in fact, it's questionable whether I'm making any progress at all. Here's an overview of what has been going on for the past month:

*The pain in my left leg is such that I have to stop and stretch every .5 - .75 mile during my runs. Not unbearable, but really annoying.
*I've been missing a couple runs a week due to the pain - not cool.
*Reworked the training schedule - added another rest day and a XT/short easy run day in the hopes of alleviating some of this
*Resting HR has dropped a little bit, same for my weight and waist circumference - not much, but enough to tell I'm doing something

The race is just over 10 weeks away...