Magic Run

Last night I had a really great run with the group. Since we were only doing 7 miles I decided to try out something new with my form. I have this issue where I hardly pick up my feet when I am running. This severely shortens my stride, which is a shame because I have incredibly long legs. So last night, I tried to pick up my feet so that my calves were almost paralel to the ground. ZOOM! I went from the back of the pack to the middle! OK, so it was a little more tiring and I ended up slowing down later, but I figure I will just continue to work on extending the time that I can do that and I will be golden. I also kept a 10 min pace the whole time, which is good for me. I guess I just have to work on my endurance a little more. Running in Eden Park in the dark was also fun. Seeing the glittery skyline reminded me of when I used to run along the promenade in Brooklyn. There's always something kind of magical about that. Running around Mirror Lake was surreal, because there were so many of us and it was so dark that you could just catch glimpses of reflective tape here and there around the lake. Plus I had a great mix on my ipod. I just felt like I had a very magical run last night. I know that sounds cheesy, but it was very cool. These nights remind me why I run.

Not to Harp on This...

Does anyone know the best way to heal scabs from chafing? I am soooooo itchy and in pain!!! Some websites say to keep them moist to heal while others say keep it dry, some say keep it open, some say keep it covered. I am going to ask at running practice tonight, but was thinking of perusing the aisles of Walgreens for help. All I have now is a triple antibiotic with hydrocortisone cream for the itching. It is bugging me so much I am having a hard time concentrating on work. HELP!

Three Stupid Things Emily Does to Mess Up Her Runs

I must say, I did a LOT of stupid things on my Saturday run. The first being further experimentation with what can stay in my system before a run without coming up. We were out of my usual Toaster Strudels so I thought two cookies would be a good substitute. Not so much. Luckily, Coach Joe had Shot Bloks available for $1.50 before the run. Shot Bloks are this "replacement fuel" for long runs. Each one is about 100 calories, so our coach recommended 2 somewhere before the 8th mile. Gu is also an option. I have one of these sitting in a drawer at home. It says "vanilla". I don't know. I'm not that desparate yet. I have not had luck with Shot Bloks in the past. I think they are incredibly disgusting with a horrible taste and the texture somewhere between tofu and gummy bears. Apparantly the lemon-lime was what was bugging me. The Cran-Razz was actually not too bad. It did come up a little with a strange taste when it combined with Gatorade. On the website they also have margarita flavored. Is that really something you want to be tasting/remembering on your run???

The second stupid thing I did? I decided to put my shuffle on my collar instead of my wasteband. No BodyGlide to help with the chafing. The result? My friend, Maren says it looks like I have cigarette burns on my chest.

The third stupid thing? Well, if you are burning 1471 calories on a run, it might be a good idea to replenish afterwards. I had my typical (not so healthy) breakfast at McDonalds afterwards, but then only a small burger with a baked potato for dinner...AFTER a marathon shopping trip. No wonder I was soooooo sleepy this weekend.

So my new friends are: five to six meals a day, Neosporin and BodyGlide

My ipod was mocking me

OK, so this is a long one.

So I don't really know if I had a good run or a bad run, but I guess I learned about running long distances.

My first four miles were great! They seemed more like two miles. I was at the end of the pack but I didn't really care. I had a great mix of music going and was really concentrating on the music and keeping a nice, easy pace. The next two miles weren't too bad either. The only weird thing is that since it was so windy I had to put my gloves back on. This is strange for me because even in zero degrees I have to take my gloves off because my hands get soooo hot. I am thinking that maybe this time I didn't get so hot because I was more hydrated? I usually am like a camel and drink maybe 2 glasses of water a day (I know, I know, this is bad). This time I had a glass of water before I left, two cones of water at the Spot and then 2 cones of Gatorade at the 4 mile mark. Maybe this is all psychosomatic, but I think it really made a huge difference. I didn't feel like peeling off all of my clothes after the first mile. OK, so I'm sold on drinking more. Water, of course.

The next two miles (mile 7 and 8) I was getting a little antsy. One reason is that my pants kept falling down below my gut so that they were like lo-rise pants. So my belly was REALLY REALLY cold. Another reason (I think) is because we were running on Eastern and it is all flat with no turns for like 4 miles. Boring. And really...is there a rule that on Eastern you don't take your Christmas decorations down ever?

The next water/gatorade stop I had to pump myself up. I was mentally finished and I still had a 5k all uphill. I was DRAGGING. It was horrible. My legs started to feel heavy. I looked at my watch and to keep the pace of a 10 min mile for the whole run I was completely on schedule. I had 30 minutes left to complete the run. The first runners in the A group (which is the fast group, who started a half hour later than us in the B group) started to pass me. Coach Joe started coming up on my right and asked how I felt. I shouted back "TIRED". He told me that I had less than two miles to go. Normally I would have thought 'wow, thats less than I thought' but today I was more like 'yeah, I guess that's about right". We finally hit the light at the top of Linwood. Now I felt like I was in reasonable distance to finish. When I hit the intersection at Edwards and Linwood a pain shot up the back of my left hamstring. I was now pacing with one of the guys who passed me up back at the beginning of Delta.
Stettinius Road...1 mile left. There was absolutely no second wind.

THEN my ipod starts playing "Push It". This just made me angry. Here I am, just concentrating on picking up my right foot and then my left and this stupid song comes on. I couldn't even keep pace with it. I was going SOOOOO SLOWLY.

But I made it back. And I realized that a good deal of the pack (well, maybe 8 people) that I started with was actually behind me. I have no idea how/where that happened. Two hours 10 minutes. That's an 11:29 pace. BLAH.

Saturday Route

Our Saturday route map is posted here:
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=108061

11.32 miles and it looks like there is a gradual uphill from mile 8 to mile 11.32. Yuck! Tonight I am going to be a loser and catch up on TV I missed. I mention this because there is apparantly an episode of "How I Met Your Mother" called "Lucky Penny" where Barney runs the NYC marathon. Barney freaks me out a little bit so it might be pretty hilarious. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good run tomorrow.

Grasshopper Legs

Last night was pilates, which is usually fine. I have been going on Mondays and Wednesdays and find that it is a nice complement to my training. I have really been pushing myself lately and I could definately feel it in my abs during my last run. Last night, I was waiting for the class before us to finish so that we could go in for our class (does that make sense?). Anyway, I was sitting on the floor and when I got up, THAT'S when I noticed how sore my legs were. Ouch! Of course we did a LOT of leg work in class. I have been pretty impressed with my range of motion lately. I have hardly had to do any of the modifications to the exercises. But last night I looked like a grasshopper. My hamstrings were so tight that I couldn't keep them straight for anything. I usually have to bend a little but this was ridiculous. So I felt like I got nothing out of the class. Which is actually stupid because just going is good for me, and even though I couldn't do the exercises full out I was able to concentrate on form. Needless to say, I decided to take today off and give my legs a rest so I can do the big eleven on Saturday. I am secretly okay with this because we have happy hour tonight.

Chafing...EWWWW

So I just remembered this while I was reading one of the CinWeekly marathon blogs...its kind of funny.
I know a lot of marathoners have chafing issues, especially guys (I witnessed a particularly gruesome outcome of this one snowy day at running group. It is so gross I have a hard time even thinking about it). I have never really had too much of a problem with this. One day my shuffle was rubbing against my midsection (I clip it to my waistband) and it was raining and I ended up with two little scabs that looked like a vampire attacked me at my hip. But thats really it. Until last week. This time my ipod was not the culprit. When I got home from my run I noticed a little scab on my belly button. Apparantly my running tights squeeze my belly button together and my navel ring chafed me. Maybe it is not all that funny. But it makes me lol. I mean, in all of the articles and such I have read about chafing no one has ever mentioned body jewelry.

Whoo-hoo!

Last night I had a GREAT run! or maybe it is just that I love running in the rain. We met at Crossroads and what was supposed to be a 6-7 mile route got pushed back to a 5.5 mile route. Apparantly Coach Joe drove around for 3 hours trying to find a route that wasn't iced out for us and ended up with only 5.5 miles. It was pretty hilly compared to what we have been doing, but that's good, seeing that the Pig is going to be pretty hilly. The only bad thing was that the rain made what was left of the big mounds of ice on the sidewalks even more slippery. It took a LOT of concentration to run. I am so glad that we run parts of the Pig course in our practices. Even if it does mean tackling that horrible endless hill on Erie over and over again. I was wondering last night what the other marathon training groups in the city do...like does the Fleet Feet group run any of the course? I know they are based in Kenwood, so they would either have to meet somewhere else or run in Kenwood where the marathon doesn't go. Oh well. I am gearing up mentally for Saturday which is our first double-digit mileage.

Snow Run

Saturday was...fun. At least we finally got to run outside. And at least I finally got to run with the group again. When I woke up snow was everywhere and the roads were horrible! I slid my way to Newport on the Levee and was surprised to see most of the group there. We had a seven mile run which was half on well traveled roads (note I say roads not sidewalks) and half on an unplowed road by the river. The well-travelled roads were a challenge. We were running into oncoming traffic in a single file line. The slush was super slippery, so we had to watch our balance. I felt like we were wading through water because there was so much resistance and we were going so SLOWLY. So I was happy when we finally turned down by the river...just pure snow, no slush AND no traffic. I realized when you are running in the snow along a deserted road with no landmarks the run becomes very long. Nevertheless, I tried to stare at the horizon, not at the ground, like Bob taught us at the running clinic. It was depressing. I couldn't wait for the gatorade at the halfway point. I kept running and running. No gatorade. Was this a joke? Haven't we gone halfway yet? Then we approached the mall at the levee. I was like "YES! We're finished!" Just kidding. We veered off to the right and went behind and around before the end. That felt like a LOT more than 7 miles! But at the same time I was proud of myself because at the end of my Thanksgiving Day training group we only did 6.5 miles and that felt waaaay worse. :)

Come ON!!!

This blog is getting to be more about weather than running. I feel like I am going through major withdrawal! The sidewalks are way too icy to do any street running. And trees are falling everywhere, making it difficult to navigate anyway. Even though Coach Joe moved last night's practice to tomorrow night he just sent an email saying its a "we'll see" situation. I can live through the cold but I don't want to injure myself on the ice. I am just itching to get out on the road again! I don't even care how cold it is! Let's hope the sidewalks are clear enough to run tomorrow (yeah right). I will keep my fingers crossed.

SLACKER

Yes, I have been a slacker. Mostly because of the weather, but also because when I woke up at 4am on Saturday morning I felt like absolute crap. I got up every subsequent hour until 7, so when it came time to turn off the alarm I just said "Forget it. I'm not running today." Then I totally had good intentions of running in the morning on Sunday before I had my friends over for a little knitting get-together (which was at one), but when I went out that night it was so freaking cold that I was like "this is treadmill weather, NOT running outside weather." Too bad the gym didn't open until noon. Needless to say, a workout did not happen. So I have been a total slacker. BUT I feel a little better because of Coach Joe's email which said "If you totally miss a workout or two...do not worry. You will not lose your base and you can just jump right in with us the next time." Seems like a lot of people have been missing due to weather problems. What ARE we supposed to do when they do not clean off the sidewalks. I am really itching to get a run in!!!

Snow No Go

So I feel better since Coach Fung cancelled practice. I think otherwise I would have felt like a slacker all week for not going. That just means I absolutely HAVE to run tomorrow NO MATTER WHAT. No slacking and just going to happy hour like I normally do. Tonight is pilates if I actually make it out of work on time.

Wondering about the Weather

So, it JUST started to snow but everyone at work is talking about going home. It sounds like practice is still on for tonight. We are doing hills from Game Day Sports Cafe to Mt. Adams. I was planning on going despite the cold but I must say I am very unmotivated. If I go home, there is no way in hell that I am getting off of my butt to work out on the treadmill at the gym. I didn't really think about the ice though until Bill just mentioned it in an IM where I was pondering going or not. But here I am eating an entire order of cheesesticks from Papa John's with the rationale that I would be running at least 5 miles. Should I stop eating the cheesesticks...?...it may be too late. There are only four left. Ice, dark, cold, stupid people on the roads on the way home. My incentive to go is decreasing.

The Beginning of an Uphill Battle

Although my friends and co-workers now consider me a serious runner, I completely disagree. Running this marathon will be a first for me, so I decided that maybe I should document this whole marathon-training thing in a blog. I have signed up for the 2007 Flying Pig in Cincinnati, joined a training program, and have been training for about a month now. I have two full months left, so I'm crossing my fingers for no injuries and waiting for the day when I actually say "18 miles? That's nothing!" (which my fellow group-members have assured me will happen). We'll see.