bodily functions (oh joy!)

I haven’t written in a while. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because it takes every ounce of motivation in my body to get myself out there to run. And that leaves no motivation to write! I’ve been dragging lately. I’ve come to the conclusion that heat, sun, and humidity (even just one of these) drags me down when I am running. Slows my pace A LOT. When you’re already a slower runner like me, being slowed down even further really sucks. Makes the time needed for those long runs monumental. I have to block out an extra hour for my long runs when it’s hot, sunny, and/or humid. That way I can walk if needed and run as slow as I want. Getting the mileage done ends up being much more important than the pace of those miles. I keep telling myself that marathon day should be cooler. “Should” being the operative word. Given the way training has gone this summer, I’ll be a goner if it’s a tough weather day.

Speaking of tough days, I had an interesting training run the other day. Stop reading here if you aren’t a fan of reading about bodily functions!! I had an 11 miler to do and felt great when I first headed out. I had not run in about a day and a half so maybe my body was ready to get moving. I had not done anything radically different that day in terms of food, drink, etc. But I did have a very small bout with diarrhea. However, I took Immodium and all seemed fine. Well, without warning, at mile 0.86 of my run, I became incredibly queasy. I knew I had to throw up, and my body wasn’t going to wait for anything. Luckily I was kind of in a wooded area so I stepped off the sidewalk and threw up. Nothing much came out except for spit. But I kept heaving. I wondered how I would make it the 0.86 mile back to my car if I was vomiting the whole time. Luckily that calmed down and I started to feel better on my way back. But one thing I noticed hurting was my gluteus area. No, I’m not talking about the muscles. I’m talking about chafing. Many long distance runners will know what I am talking about. I guess that bout of diarrhea was coming back to haunt me! Runners get chafed in all sorts of weird areas, and sometimes even Body Glide doesn’t help.

I made it back to my car and at this point my rear-end was on fire. The trip home was almost unbearable, but as soon as I got home I got out my trusty Desitin and found instant relief. (Yes, Desitin is a lotion for babies for diaper rash. It’s a long distance runner’s friend.) I was feeling much better at that point and decided I’d attempt to run again. I knew at that point that the 11 miles was out of the question, but I figured if I could make it up to 5 that would be good. I decided to run around the loop at my condo complex, which is about 1.5 miles around. I figured with 3 loops, combined with the previous run, I’d be at just over 5. I was able to make it and felt okay.

And just to let you know…I did complete the 11 mile run the next night (last night). Even though my pace was incredibly slow, I did it. Getting the mileage done is the key!

slow and happy

My pace seems to be getting slower and slower. I’m not sure why. And frankly, I don’t care so much. The only time it slightly bothers me is if I’m at a race where there are lots of people I know. Being so slow gives me less time to socialize with them afterwards. Heck, some are even gone by the time I finish! Also, sometimes all of the food and water is gone by the time I reach the finish line. On occasion it also makes me feel less worthy. Am I a “real” runner if my pace is the same as fast walkers? Of course I am. But some of those elite runners might think otherwise. But something TrailPixie wrote on my blog recently made me realize that I should be running for the pure joy of it and not worry about who is ahead or behind me. Just live in the moment of the run. I like this recommendation!!

There are many ways to improve my pace if that was important to me. But I guess I have decided that is not important. When you are trying to run a marathon in all 50 states, pace because a lot less important than the overall goal of completing the race. It doesn’t matter what your time is as long as you finish. My certificate from the 50 States Marathon Club is not going to state the finish times at each race! So as long as I finish while the course is still officially open, I’m good.

By the way, there is one route I take near my workplace that is full of rabbits! I love it! It’s a shorter route so I usually only take it on shorter runs. But I love seeing the rabbits! Sometimes I even count them; I don’t think I’ve ever gotten under 5. They are out most often after work, so that is when I try to go there. I’m sure the neighbors don’t enjoy the rabbits as much as I do, as their plants/gardens are probably suffering. But they make me smile.

I’ve got a 5 mile race tonight. It’s going to be over 80% humidity tonight. UGH!!!! My only saving grace is that it is going to be cloudy so at least I won’t have to deal with the sun, too. I should remind myself that I ran a marathon PR on a day like this. It was probably about 5-10 degrees cooler on that day, but the rest of the weather conditions are about the same.

PS--I'm now up to running 4+ miles without stopping. Should come in handy tonight at the race.

"out of the mouths of babes"

Today I was scheduled for a 5 mile run. I ran after work and decided to spend as much time on a trail as I could. As I was running on the trail I saw a couple of young girls and their dog next to a stream. I stopped and asked if I could pet the dog. We all started talking. They asked how long I was running for and I said 5 miles. As we continued to talk, I showed them my satellite watch, which showed that I had run 1.64 miles so far. One of the girls then said "Gee, you sure have a long way to go."

After that, the remaining 3.36 miles seemed like they took FOREVER. The innocent comment from the little girl sure made an impact. I tried to tell her that the good news was that I was almost half-way there, but that didn't seem to make a difference to me mentally. The "long way to go" comment remained in my head the rest of the run!

Side note: I ran 12 miles on Monday night and actually ran 3.75 before stopping for water/stretching. Woo hoo!

small milestone

Today I hit a post-marathon milestone. It's a small one, and for most long-distance runners, it's also a pathetic one. But for the first time since my last marathon (May 3rd for those of you not keeping score), I ran 3 straight miles on a training run without stopping for anything (water, stretching, etc.) I've run many miles since my marathon (including an 11 miler) but all of those runs have included very frequent stops. I know it sounds kind of a pathetic... but that's where I'm at with my running right now. And I just have to be happy that I'm out there.

I should note that in previous training runs it's not like the frequent stops were very long. I mean, I wasn't stopping to play a video game or go shopping! But the stops were there, if only for 30 seconds to take a swig of water or stretch my legs. Stopping isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, in the long run it can help you to run faster. But I am still psyched that I was able to run 3 miles without stopping.

Let's see how I do tomorrow during my 12 miler!!!

vacation

It's been a while since my last post. That's because I was on vacation for 12 days with no computer. I must admit that being offline for that long was great!! I did sneak a peek into my email and Facebook on a very rare occasion on my nephew's laptop, but I didn't post anything. And it felt good.

What didn't feel so good was my running on vacation. The heat and humidity make running harder for everyone, but for some reason it's treacherous for me. My paces slows to a tortoise pace. I have to take lots of breaks, drink lots of fluids, and down electrolyte tablets. But I plug along figuring that at least I'm getting the mileage in.

I arrived at my vacation spot on Friday night around 10pm and had pretzels for dinner. The next morning I had a 5 mile race at 8:30. On race day, the pretzels and long drive didn't do so well for me. My race time was the slowest I'd ever run for a 5 miler. In fact, my pace was on par with my marathon pace. Yes, folks, I ran a 5 mile race at the same pace I run a 26.2 mile race!! I must have walked for about 3/4 mile of the race total. It was blazing hot with no shade. I was a melty mess. I knew I was in trouble when the old man who was huffing and puffing passed me in the last mile.

Oh well! I finished. And the following week I was able to run 11 miles at a faster pace. Not a "fast" pace, but "faster" than the race. :)

Timlin 5K

I hate 5K races. To me, they are like sprints. As a marathon runner, I greatly prefer the longer distance races. That's because I can slow down my pace. And I like a slow pace. But with a 5K I feel like I am sprinting the whole time. So why did I run it? Well, I'm a member of a running club that has a Grand Prix Series where you get points for running Grand Prix races, and this was one of them. Why I really care about this, I don't know. My busy schedule doesn't allow me to run enough Grand Prix races to place in the top at the end of the year and get me an award. But I guess it's still enough motivation. I also knew I'd see some friends at this race, so I figured it was worth attending. But when my alarm went off at 7:10am, I was very tempted to sleep in and skip the race. I'm glad I went, but now I'm sleepy. And I'm going to be up late babysitting my nephew. Perhaps it's time for a nap!

Side note about the race that reflects one of my race pet peeves: the race had about 1,500 participants. There was chip timing (the new disposable D-tag) but there was no timing mat at the start. Without that chip mat at the start, you don't get your actual time that you ran the race. Your time reflects not only your race time, but the time it took you to cross the starting line. For me, that was about 30 seconds. I wore a Garmin 205 watch which tracked me via satellite and I hit "start" when I crossed the starting line. That way I could at least know for myself what my actual time on the course was (30:18, by the way). So I'm sure my "official" time will be around 3:48-ish. Oh well! The race is for charity (ALS) and I was told the chip mat at the start would cost 3 or 4 thousand dollars, so I can't complain too loudly.

Another interesting note: the Timlin in the name of the race refers to former Red Sox pitcher Mike Timlin and his mother Sharon, who passed away from ALS. Although Mike is no long with the Red Sox, he still got Tim Wakefield (Sox pitcher) to come to the race to sign autographs. It's a great event; not only do they typically have Sox players, but there are a ton of vendors giving free samples and a lot of activities for the kids. Giant slide, anyone??

Tomorrow it's a 9 mile run in the warm rain. Longest run since the NJ Marathon.

one pain ends, another begins

So I decided not to run the trail race last weekend. I really, really wanted to do it, especially because it was wet and muddy, which is just awesome for me for a trail run. Plus, I would get to run with my friend Sue. Everyone (on Facebook and email) told me not to run. They said the race would be there next year and it was best to rest my injury. As hard as it was, I took their advice, slept late, and didn't get out of my pajamas until 4:00. It was the best decision, as now the pain seems to have subsided. Let's hope it's gone for good.

But another pain has begun. My upper back and neck are so sore, the kind of sore where you can't turn your head to either side. I attribute it to a lot of time at my computer at the office lately and very bad posture. I am getting a massage on Monday and I'll ask her to spend most or all of the time in that area. Hopefully that will help. And I'm trying to improve my posture. I'm sure stretching would help, too!

So far so good in terms of the marathon training runs and mileage. I think I have mentioned before that I follow Hal Higdon's Intermediate I training program. I have made just a few changes to the schedule so far. I reduced my long run during week one to 6 miles (from 8) because I was still recovering from injury, and it's looking like I'm going to be eliminating one 3-mile run this week (though I still have a few hours tonight to get it in if I get motivated). And tomorrow I'm running a 5K race instead of a 5 mile run. Minor adjustments, in my opinion. Sunday I'm due for a 9 miler and I do plan to do that. May have to wait until the evening if it's too hot during the day. I simply cannot run in the heat especially when the sun is out.

Week two almost done! Woo hoo!