Blessing in Disguise

OK. So my knee REALLY hurt this morning.
I can't imagine what it would have felt like if I had run the hill repeats last night.
So maybe working late was a blessing in disguise. Maybe.

I mean, I still didn't like it.

It looks like ice is going to be my best friend for awhile, as well as IBProfrin. The doctor said that I should take 4 pills of the OTC kind twice a day. He said on Saturday, since I am doing 20 miles, I can do 4 pills three times a day. I guess I won't be drinking on Saturday then :) I mean, I would like to have a liver. The doctor also said that my knee SHOULDN'T hurt, but the reason it does is because it is still inflamed. I am going to take it easy.

I am really looking forward to the 20-miler. Not so much the actual run, but the way it makes me feel afterwards. Last time I did a 20-miler I hopped on a plane to England for 9 weeks and had to do the rest of my training in isolation. This time I will be able to taper with the group. Hurrah! That should be nice.

RANTERGRRRL

GRRRRR! GRRRRR! GRRRRR!

I had always promised myself that I would not be one to let work interfere with my life, but I guess I was wrong. That is why I am writing this post right now instead of doing hill repeats with the rest of my group.

This is ridiculous!
I put in 15 hours yesterday at work and it looks like I am going to do that again tonight. I would MUCH rather be running. ESPECIALLY since running gets all of that cortisol out of your system, which I am very sure I have a lot of right now. Luckily I got a laptop from the tech department so that I can do the work at home.

Anyway. Enough of that.

I went to the orthopaedic guy today to check out my knee (I had booked the appointment a long time ago, and decided to keep it). They did an x-ray of my knee and then the doctor pointed out something I never noticed. My left leg is much more muscular than my right. Which of course is why I have knee problems on my right. He said it is a vicious cycle, and until I develop my right leg to be as muscular as my left, I will continue to have problems. He put me into physical therapy twice a week for 4 weeks and then wants to see me again.

The good news is that I can do my 20 this weekend.

The bad news is that it is at Lunken which means 4 laps of flat flat course. BORING!!!!

OK. Well, back to work. Lucky me.

Partying Friday = Yuck

I don't know if I am just getting used to the heat, or if it really wasn't as bad as it usually is...but my run on Saturday was not all that bad heatwise. However, I will NOT party on Friday night before a long run any more.

My friend was celebrating her birthday and I really really tried to party in moderation. I only had two beers at the baseball game we went to. I drank lots of water at the bar afterwards (yeah, the Hofbrauhaus is a LOT less fun if you don't drink). I think it was the greasy food that did me in. For dinner I had a hot dog and an entire basket of waffle fries with nacho cheese. After the first couple, they didn't even taste that great, but that didn't stop me from finishing off the whole basket. Plus, any peanuts I had during the game. And afterwards we ended up staying at the bar until 1:30 instead of the midnight time I had planned.

So four hours of sleep later, I was not feeling so hot.

The first 8 miles were torture. I made sure I hydrated at every single water fountain. My stomach did NOT feel good. Then, I got my second wind and completed the first 10 mile loop with no problem except for being super tired. I didn't really want to do six more miles.

But I sucked it up. I think at this point, I was one of maybe 5 runners who were still running. All the fast people were almost done, some people only did 10, and the turnout was pretty low Saturday anyway, because a lot of people went down to Louisville to watch the Iron Man.

So I had a solo run. It was really really difficult to make myself do the whole six miles, because there was a turnaround along the way for 12 and 14. But I did it. I knew I would be mad at myself if I didn't. And I was not going to let partying on Friday be my excuse.

But I am NOT eating crappy food anymore on Fridays. Or, I guess, not getting home until 2am.

Lesson learned.

Seriously!

It is never a good thing when your coach's email to you is titled "Luck Runs Out". Yes, he was speaking of the weather, which I often do in my blog. It is supposed to be 91 degrees on Saturday with tons of humidity. It is also a 17 mile run for me. Yuck. I will start hydrating NOW.

I must say, I am getting used to running in this heat. But I do hate all of the sweat. It is really really gross.

Anyway, on a completely different subject...Sometimes I have to laugh at people when I am running with the group because I think we overwhelm onlookers. I mean, I guess it is kind of funny. You're walking out of Dewey's Pizza to your car on Oakley Square and ZAM a big rush of 100+ runners comes by. Or, you're on a little side street in your car, trying to turn right and ZOW an endless line of runners. Everyone always looks like they are just waiting for the camera crew from Candid Camera to come out from around the corner.

It was really crazy this one time when we were running in Oakley Square and I saw 4 people I knew! One was my swimteam coach from high school who I didn't even know still lived in Cincinnati. Another was my friend Carrie, who now lives in London. When I visited with her a few months ago I asked her if it was really her that I saw. She said it was, and she was totally taken aback, like 'where did all of these people come from?'

But the worst was last week when we were doing fartleks in International Friendship Park. We had to pass by everyone eating at Montgomery Inn. Everyone was staring at us as we passed by, and it was worse because we had to do two loops, so we passed them four times. But instead of feeling like I wanted to laugh, I just felt like I wanted their steak dinners. :)

Yassos Thwarted

So we were supposed to have a Yasso 800 workout last night. We ran the 2 mile warmup to the track but when we got there we had to have a change of plans. There was a soccer game and I guess tons of fans, so it would be a little strange if we did our workout on the track. Joe F proceeded to tell us our workout of 6 miles which really really confused me. I get lost even when I have directions, so I knew this wouldn't be any good. Plus, it seemed like a whole lot more than 6 miles and it was grossly humid out.

So I was glad when my group, led by Coach Cathy, decided to modify the plan. We just took the two miles back to where we started, turned right, ran out for 10 minutes and then ran back (since we were doing ten minute miles). She asked if we wanted to make it a fartlek workout which we responded resoundingly NO!!!

It was a pretty good run. I like running in a little pack. I know, I know, this is the whole purpose of joining the running group. It's just that before I was always going a little faster than the people I was supposed to be running with (and would tire out)and a little slower than the people in front of me. So I would end up running in between the two groups by myself. Which is really really hard to keep a pace. Besides, Coach Cathy cracks me up which makes running even MORE enjoyable.

All in all, it was a good run. It took my stress from the day away and put me in a good mood, which is, after all, what running is supposed to do. :)

Crazy Busy

Hmph. I have been CRAZY busy with my life...which makes it a LOT harder to get runs in. And even HARDER to blog about them. I know, excuses excuses.

Anyway, I hit the track yesterday afternoon for some 800s with my husband, Bill. I didn't get as many in as I wanted to because of the SALAD INCIDENT. I don't know if anyone has gone to Steak n' Shake lately, but they have all these new salads. They are delicious. Not as delicious as their fries with cheddar cheese, which I really really wanted, but still pretty good. We each had the grilled chicken salad for lunch. Mine with ranch dressing. Yum. But being a weekend, by the time we ate lunch it was 2:30. It looked like a big storm was trying to come in when we finally got home so I wanted to hit the track right away. THEN our electricity went out, so I guess it was a sign from God that we needed to leave for our workout.

Anyway, it was sooooo humid out. I was feeling good, for the most part, besides the humidity. I was pacing really really well, which made me happy since that is one of the biggest struggles that I have. We were on our fourth 800 and eww, gross, I threw up salad. Nasty. Don't worry, I went to the grass, not on the actual track. I don't think I can eat ranch dressing for awhile.

Bill said he guesses that salad is not a good pre-race meal for me.

Add it to the list. :)

New Running Music

I know I have done this kind of post before but that was back in March. I am super music involved, so you KNOW I am not listening to the same music now that I was back then.

Here are ten of my running favorites currently in the mix:

Everything's Just Wonderful - Lily Allen
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen or the Vandals (I like both versions)
On the Radio - Regina Spektor
O.P.P. - Naughty By Nature
Grace Kelly - Mika
Laura - Scissor Sisters
Don't Stand So Close to Me - the Police
My Moon My Man - Feist
Rehab - Amy Winehouse

It's funny which songs end up being good running songs. I thought the "Dark Side of the Moon" album by Pink Floyd would be a great one to run to. But last week I tried it out on my long run and HATED it. I felt like I was dragging the whole way. I think I like stuff (at least recently) with a really good beat.

SLACKER

OK. So I FINALLY got around to getting all of my pictures off of my camera from when I was living in London. In April. Yes, yes I know, it's about time. Anyway, I've updated my pages talking about the London Marathon with some pictures. The crowds were INSANE!!! You can check them out here.

Fartleks Stink!

Yuck! I know that I normally end of liking speedwork after worrying about it all day but that is NOT true for fartleks!

But I had to laugh yesterday. Because as we are all gathered in GameDay’s lobby, Coach Joe F was explaining how we were going to divide up into groups. He was like “Group A will be a 9 minute mile or faster, Group B will be middle of the pack, and Group C will be the really really slow people.” Everyone laughed. Someone shouted out “You need to go to sensitivity training!” This of course led to a barrage of jokes about how slow we all were, as we were doing our 10 minute warmup in our groups.

Our coach asked us when we saw the water truck, if we wanted to stop and get water. Yes, yes, yes of course! I felt like we had been going at a pretty good pace. After we stopped for water we started up again. Then, I could tell the actual Fartleks had started, because we definitely picked up the pace. I was huffing and puffing for what seemed like forever, but figured probably only a few seconds had actually passed. This WAS hard! Half of our group had fallen behind.

And then about 5 minutes later she shouts out “OK, you guys ready for the first Fartlek?” WHAT? We weren’t doing them already?!! So I picked up speed for what seemed like 5 minutes but was only 1. It killed me. I was like “forget this” and dropped back to my REAL marathon pace. I did the fartleks by myself, using the interval function on my watch for awhile, but then I just lost count so just ran my normal pace. It was too confusing. I was also confused because we actually passed the group that was in front of us (I guess the slow runners, but not the really slow runners like my group or the really really slow runners like the people behind me. JUST KIDDING!!!).

It was only later, at the happy hour, that I heard that 1. The group in front of us started off too fast and then died when they got to the first set of Fartleks which is why we passed them. 2. I WASN’T crazy. The girls behind me also thought we had started the speedwork when we didn’t. We all agreed that the speed was just too fast.

Most people I talked to didn’t end up doing the Fartleks after a few of them, and just ran at a normal pace. I guess all that really matters is that we did at least SOME speedwork.

Bad Mood Run

So, if I am in a bad mood one of two things happens with my running. Either I have a great run and forget about everything bad or I have a horrible run and am in an even worse mood. So, as I was packing up last night to go home from work my mom IMs me and asks if I want to come over since my husband was out of town (I totally get my energy from being around other people...even if they aren't talking to me, with me, in the same room as me). I took her up of the offer, since chances were that since I had a REALLY horrible day I would not have a good run.
I grabbed my dog, headed over and indulged on almost a whole medium pizza with two kinds of olives. :)

Tonight is Fartlek training, which I have not done before. Now, now, let's not be inmature. Fart means speed, which I found out on my trip to Germany when I was on a lake cruise in the Fleet-Fahrt. :)

Anyway, our training tonight consists of:

10 minutes warmup
1 minute on, 1 minute off
2 on, 2 off
3 on, 3 off
2 on, 2 off
1 on, 30 seconds off
2 on, 1 off
3 on, 90 seconds off
2 on, 1 off
1 on, 1 off
2 on, 2 off
3 on, 3 off
2 on, 2 off
1 on, 1 off

the "on"s being 10k pace (which is 9 minutes for me) and the "off"s being marathon pace (which is 11 minutes for me). It sounds very hard. I hope I do okay. I heard the humidity is down today which is very very promising.

Memory Run

First of all, I have to apologize for being so lax with my blog. This past week has been hell at work, and the last thing I want to do when I get home is turn on a computer :)

Allright, anyway, this weekend was a long run starting from the University of Cincinnati. We started at the new rec center which was so funny, because the last time I was at UC, this was a parking lot. Even though the campus has changed so much, I was flooded with memories as soon as we began our run. We ran through the stadium, where I had run up and down all of the steps (this kind of workout is called something, but I forget what) for rowing practice. We ran by my old dorm which everyone thought was crappy at the time, but now with all the new dorms it REALLY is crappy. We ran by Edwards, where my now husband worked. The park where I saw my first dead body. OK. Ha ha. That of course, wasn't a good memory. But anyway. Running all around in Clifton was fun and made me think happy thoughts (minus the dead body). It kind of reminded me of this article I read in this month's Runner's World about a guy who ran his own New York Marathon through all the neighborhoods where he used to live. It made me realize that these good memories keep us going. And the cool thing is, that as I run, I am also creating memories. Like, I can't run that little stretch from East McMillan to Madison without thinking of rounding the corner at the Flying Pig Marathon, feeling great, and seeing the half-marathoners break off. I was definitely experiencing a runner's high at that point. And I can't run in Eden Park without thinking of one of my great runs at the beginning of my Flying Pig Training. These things are what keep me going as I run.

A little funny aside: I also had another memory as I was running that turned out to be not so good. The running team was supposed to be able to get $5 brunch buffet after our run on Saturday. I slipped $10 and my parking ticket in my running shorts before we left for our workout. I used to do this all the time when I lived in Brooklyn and would go for a run. On the way home I could stop at this great little Mexican place to pick up dinner. One time, I put a 20 in my pocket and I guess the back and forth of my running rubbed a hole in the pocket and the money fell out. Yep. Same thing happened. Its those stupid jersey shorts I was wearing instead of my technical gear because I was too lazy to do laundry this week. Whoops. No brunch. Just stupid cheerios at home. :(

Rookie Mistake?

So I sort of feel like an idiot.

I went to the clinic last night at the Running Spot and saw an orthopedic doctor. He made me walk back and forth like a gazillion times, stretched out my legs and asked "so how are you on stretching?" Whoops. My feeble answer of "uh, not too good" was answered with "I thought so." Turns out my "injury" is just really really tight muscles. So tight that he could feel muscle spasms in my calf (this was why I stopped running on Saturday). My pain is mostly because of not stretching but also because my knees are really really weird. By that, I mean, my knees turn inward when they should be facing forward. He said that this puts a lot more strain on my IT band every time I run. He gave me a bunch of stretches that I need to do twice a night. Oh and massage. Which of course, I am not going to object to.

I need to be vigilant about this so that I don't get hurt!

Maybe if I do this stretching I might be able to do things that normal people can do (like bend over and touch my toes). I honestly am tired of not being limber at all. I was always the girl in ballet who couldn't do half of the moves at the barre while my sister was little miss bendy. (Mind you, I never did anything about it...like stretch).

So this is good. And (for now) I don't have to mentally make plans for what I am going to do if I can't run the marathon - which makes me happy.

Injury Clinic

So, I booked a spot in the injury clinic, hoping that I will be able to get some answers about my injury. I hope I can still run. Last night I hit the gym for an elliptical workout, which I figured was okay since there is no impact on the elliptical (and that is what is aggravating my injury). It was sooooooo boring. I don't understand how people can work out on treadmills (and ellipticals) every night. And there are even TVs in the gym! I just can't do it. I think I need to be actually MOVING as I run. Plus, it is super annoying that my intensity level was so much more than when I run, but it took me 35 minutes to do 3 miles. Grrr.

Last night after the gym Bill and I drove down to our local high school to see if they have a track. They do! And it is open to residents of the neighborhood. Hurrah! I am just keeping all options open. Like, maybe I can do track for awhile but not road work. Or something. I don't know.

So I am trying not to be a Debbie Downer about the whole thing.

Cool New Toy

This weekend my husband and I went out in search for a bathroom scale. (You know that you are old when you refer to a scale as a “cool new toy”. ) ANYWAY this scale really is cool. It measures your body fat percentage and your hydration level along with your weight. Now, I am very skeptical when it comes to things like this. Especially since almost all of those BMI calculators online warn you that if you are highly athletic the numbers may not apply to you. But after I read how this thing works, I felt better. Basically, it sends an electric impulse through your heel (yes, it shocks you…that is why it works better if your feet are ‘slightly damp’) to take a reading of your bone versus muscle mass. You have to program in your height, age, sex and whether or not you are an athlete. They define athlete as someone who works out 6-10 hours a week at at least 2 hour intervals. Check. I think marathon training qualifies as an ‘athlete’ then. The instructions tell you to take a reading daily at around the same time and record it for a month to get your averages. Already just HAVING the scale has made me drink more water. So that is a good thing. And totally worth the $35!

I couldn’t find the link for the exact one that we got. But this is pretty close. Anyway, they have them at Target if anyone is interested.

Out of Commission

So, I don’t know if I should have run Saturday or not. The thing is, I was feeling pain in my legs on Friday. So much so, that I had to ask my friends/husband during lunch ‘should I run tomorrow if my legs hurt like they do today?’…which is actually a sign to me that no, I should not run. I have been having a lot of pain in my shins and knees, right where the bone is. I have had issues with vitamin D deficiency before (which causes bone pain) so I was thinking that might be why.

So, against my better judgement, I went running on Saturday. I made it about a half of a mile when my lower leg started feeling really tight. So I stopped to stretch it out. Then I picked up running. It hurt more. I decided to make it across the bridge into Ohio before I stopped to stretch again. Now the pain was shooting up into my knee and right above my knee. I started walking. It felt better so I thought I could run again. Ran for about 2 minutes through really bad pain. Walked. Ran. Nope. More pain. Walked and felt fine.

This is when I ran into Coach Joe B and told him my predicament. His solution was to walk (since I felt okay when I walked) and then when I saw people turning back from the first group, to turn back as well. Also, I need to see someone from the clinic, which is on Saturday, at the latest. Pttt.

Walking sucks. Especially by yourself and especially on Eastern and especially when you want to run.

But I just called to get a referral for a sports medicine specialist. I really want to run this marathon and I KNOW that running injured is a bad idea but I can already tell that it is going to drive me absolutely crazy if I cannot run for more than like 2 days. I am already going nuts just thinking about it!

Oh, and the reason I think it was good that I went running? Because if I hadn't, I probably would have ignored the problem. Having a coach tell you to see someone about your problem actually makes you think that you should do it.

Upping the Mileage

This marathon training has gone so fast! I don't remember upping my mileage this much this quickly...but maybe that is because I was just so amazed I was running double digit mileage at the time.

Tomorrow is 15-16 miles for me. It starts at Newport on the Levee and is described as a "pretty flat run". I know exactly what that means: Eastern Avenue. Oh how I love Eastern avenue (see hereand here). I am obviously being sarcastic. That just means I have to get mentally pumped up tonight. AND load up my ipod with really great music. At least I can be guilt free when I go out with my friends tomorrow night to gorge on bad food. :)

I didn't get to run or workout at all last night because I ended up working really late. This is doubly bad because there is nothing open downtown for takeaways and I always end up eating really bad food, and then not being able work it off. It also sucks because running gets rid of all the cortisol I work up inside after a stressful day...and of course days where you have to work late are the most stressful. Oh well, I am going to try and get some good sleep tonight so I can have a kick-butt run tomorrow!

Fun Running Wallpapers

OK. I'm sure you have all seen these, and they are nothing new, because I think the "Impossible is Nothing" campaign from adidas actually started a few years ago. But when I was in London, the whole Flora Marathon had all of these little drawings and sayings about running posted everywhere, and I thought they were so cool. Well, they have a lot of these sayings/drawings available as wallpaper for your desktop.

Just go here and under "downloads" is a pull-down menu that says "impossible is nothing". I almost guarantee that there will be a wallpaper that suits your running personality.

The one on my desktop right now says "halfway thru my run I realized I actually felt GOOD". My other favorites are: I run so I can eat cookies" and "I run until my playlist runs out" (although for me this is a little less true because otherwise I would be running for HOURS).

Anyway, I just thought they were cool and worth checking out. The entire site is actually pretty cool and worth checking out too.

Pace! Pace! Pace!

OK. I LOVED the Yasso 800s! Why is it that I always like the things I am supposed to hate?

Anyway, this is why I loved them...I have trouble keeping a steady pace. I think a lot of this is a mental, internal struggle I have with myself. You see, I keep thinking, well, I run a 10k at a 9 minute pace, why is my marathon pace so much SLOWER? I know this is stupid. And then that gets reinforced when the guy that I used to keep pace with in the Thanksgiving Day 10k program is still doing a 10 minute or so pace in the marathon group. I think I just finally realized that, well, I do an 11 minute marathon pace. That doesn't mean that I can't improve that, but that's where I need to start. Maybe now I can work on improvement instead of always trying to 'catch up' with myself. Anyway, I diverge...in the Yasso 800s you HAVE to keep the same pace constantly. My group actually only did 3. We did each 800 at 5 minutes with 90 seconds walking in between. Running on the track was nice because it seemed a lot cooler, it was that nice bouncy consistency instead of the uneven road, and it was on one level, which was great for my knee.

And of course, the coach for my group was AWESOME at keeping us on pace. On the last one we started to speed up because the B group was passing us in their lanes next to us and I think, you know, you just get caught up in the speed. I do it all the time in races. She kept yelling "PACE! PACE! PACE!" to remind us to keep on track. It actually worked.

I also found out after our 800s that the people I was pacing with were all running the Chicago Marathon! Hurrah! Now I know their names and can actually seek them out to run with in our group runs. This is the first marathon for all of them. It also is kind of cool that we are all training for the same marathon.

On the way back (we had a 2 mile run to the track and back from the track), I stayed with our coach, so that I could get used to running a consistent pace. It made SUCH a difference!

Tackling the Yasso 800s and liking them also makes me a little less worried about next week's Fartlek Session.