I'm running a freaking marathon!

Marathon complete!

2010-12-14T08:12:00.000-08:00

It took me a few days to get back to blogging because this is the first real internet connection I have had since finishing. But I did finish! Here is the proof.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, it was rainy and cold. That was not really what I was expecting. Luckily, I had a bunch of other running gear packed because I was driving home, so I went and grabbed leggings and a long-sleeved t-shirt (it was actually the shirt that I got from the Detroit Turkey Trot). I've often heard that it is a good idea to take as much gear as you can just in case of such an emergency. Here is proof. Apart from my Walmart run to get a throw-away hat and mitts, I was then all set.

One piece of advice that I remember reading about marathon running was to make sure that you didn't do anything out of the ordinary or stupid leading up to the race. For instance, the day before a marathon is maybe not the time to explore new spicy foods. However, you'd be amazed how easy it is to almost fall into this trap. For instance, I considered getting some coffee. Not in a long time have I had coffee soon before a run, so that could have been kind of dumb. And yet, I came close (mind you, I was up early too, which might have had something to do with it). I think that part of why it is easy to do something out of the ordinary is that you are out of your routine. For instance, when I was doing long runs during training, I would basically roll out of bed and go. Having other factors makes it trickier.

At the start of the run, the conditions were pretty lousy. The rain kept up and was coming down pretty hard at times. Did not enjoy. I am really not a fan of cold rain. At one point, it was so bad that I had to take my glasses off since I couldn't see anything. Around mile 13, I went to the bathroom and noticed that my upper thighs were still freezing. This was many, many miles in to the run. Blech. However, eventually the rain cleared and it was merely overcast, which was good. Kiawah Island had lots of large, shady trees, but I would still rather have cold instead of hot. In fact, with the big houses and the trees, in some ways it reminded me of where I ran for training. I have to say that if you are the kind of person who wants crowds to push you along in a marathon, then maybe this is not your event. If you, like me, prefer quiet running by yourself, then this is a good marathon for you.

You know what Kiawah Island really doesn't have? Hills. Yay.

The first half I ran probably faster that I should have in an ideal world. I definitely had positive splits (which is to say that my mile splits at the start were faster than the ones at the finish). It is best to have either an even pace or negative splits. However, I made a decision around a quarter of the way through as I was freezing in the rain and not wearing glasses: I was not going to worry about performance in this marathon. I could save that instead for the next marathon. This one was just about finishing.

I had to use some weird motivators to keep going at points in order to reach this goal of finishing. For instance, every time I completed another 10%, I would remind myself that I was whatever percentage of the way through and that I never, ever had to run such a difficult race again if I didn't want. Also, I started thinking about the fact that this very well could be the most arduous physical challenge I would ever endure (at one point, I was adding a disclaimer to that about how childbirth would be harder, then remembered that you can get drugs to make childbirth easier). One of the funnier moments occurred at mile 26.1, when I was counting down to the end and thinking that this was no worse than a 2K erg test -- erg tests take place on the rowing machine when you do rowing and are basically like death. Then I thought to myself, 'No, this isn't as bad as an erg test.' Which should really tell you something about erg tests.

My time: I finished in 5:47. If you look at my official time on the site, it will say 5:49. I stopped the watch when I went to the bathroom (incidentally, there were bathrooms all over the course and lots of water/Gatorade stops, which was good). My top-secret time goal that I barely told anyone was 6 hours, so I am very pleased to have made it in under that time. Considering my training times in Florida, this was better than I expected. Slow, yes. But I knew that. I had set three goals for myself in advance of the event, progressing from 'easiest' to 'hardest':

1) Finish
2) Run the whole way
3) Finish in under 6 hours

And I did all three! So that was exciting. Also, had I stopped at the half, I would have set a personal best for that distance.

Other achievements include not hitting the wall. I was very careful to carb load for the days leading up to the race, including eating basically an entire marzipan Stollen:

Also, I had pasta (white flour pasta!) for dinner the night before. For the run, I took six sport bean packs. This may seem extreme, but my thinking was to have one every 4 miles. The last pack was at mile 24, so there were only 2.2 miles to go at this point, but I figured that probably I could use the extra oomph anyway. It seemed to work well: I didn't hit the wall and had enough energy to complete the race (also no cramping or anything). So yay. Also, I got to eat an entire German Stollen with marzipan. Life could be worse.

Immediately afterward, my feet were killing me, but other than stiffness, I was okay. This proves my theory that actually, I am well-built for running, just not for running fast. No major problems to report in the days following, apart from walking around like Frankenstein for a while. But that is to be expected. Also, I did a lot of driving, so that probably didn't speed up the recovery.

Here is a tip: if you run a marathon, make sure to have roomy shoes for afterward since your feet will be swollen and ouchy.

After finishing, I went back to the hotel, ate an entire large Papa John's pizza (because I could!) and watched all three Indiana Jones movies (the fourth one, in my view, just doesn't count). The Garmin informed me that I burned 2600 calories from the marathon alone.

What's next? For the next couple of weeks, I plan to do some swimming and skating, with a bit of running thrown in. I think that my next goal will be to do a 5K sometime in February to try and crack 30 minutes (my best to date was around 31 minutes, so this isn't totally unrealistic). Then maybe a half-marathon, we will see. Unlike a lot of people, I don't feel wholly against doing another marathon, but I want to think this decision over carefully. It is a lot of time and effort, even though I feel like it was worth it in the end. And I guess this also marks the end of this blog, since it was about me running a freaking marathon and now I have accomplished that goal.

Cursed weather in 2010

2010-12-11T02:31:00.001-08:00

I wasn't going to blog about this because I was hoping that by ignoring the issue it just wouldn't happen. But I have to say that 2010 has not been my year, weather-wise. It all started with the Central Park New Year's Run in sleety, rainy, icy and humid weather and for some reason, most of my runs since then feel like they have been in adverse conditions.

I was hoping that the streak had ended with the Detroit Turkey Trot, when it was supposed to rain but didn't.

No such luck.

Marathon conditions: in the 40s and 50s and rainy. Goes without saying that it is also humid.

I stopped by a 24-hour Walmart to get some cheap throw-away mitts and a hat. If my likeness should appear on peopleofwalmart.com in pajama pants and a performance top, don't judge.

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It's less than a day!

2010-12-10T19:12:00.001-08:00

The marathon is officially tomorrow AM starting at 8 . If you can imagine. I can't. I'm writing this from South Carolina, where the weather is slightly chilly, but in a good way for running.

I took a picture of the immense pile of stuff that I have managed to assemble for this event, but can't post it right now. This is being written from my phone, so I don't have that capabilty. Knowing me, though, there will probably be some kind of photo essay to follow.

Time to sleep! I'm feeling pretty zonked, so not worried about that. Yes worried about oversleeping...

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T-2 days: Getting Everything Together

2010-12-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

So here is the best way not to obsess about your marathon: have FAR too many other tasks that need to get done before it and spend all of your time stressing out about them. Still have grading to go, along with some other details. I feel like the minute I get on the highway tomorrow, it will suddenly hit me that I am driving somewhere to run 26.2 miles. Here's hoping I don't totally freak out.

Anyway, I am getting down to the nitty-gritty here. First, I printed out the detailed instructions provided by the marathon people. Kiawah Island has been pretty good so far about keeping everyone informed of stuff, which is greatly appreciated by this anal-retentive planner. I have a list written on the instructions of the things that need to go. Everything should be okay.

Today I went to my local charity thrift store and picked up a warm sweater and pajama bottoms for before the race. Why? So that I can stay warm before the race starts. The temperature is anticipated to be in the 40s to start and get to the high 50s by the end, which is super fine with me. However, it might be less fun waiting around for stuff to start in running gear. So the charity items are good since I can toss them once we get started. The Kiawah Island race people are even collecting discarded gear to go to a local charity store there. The two pieces clash horribly by the way, but that's not the point.

Underneath (for the actual race) I plan to go with shorts and a performance t-shirt, which I think should be just fine. The t-shirt will be the one I got for running the 5K all those months ago (August!) in Salem. It should be almost exactly the same experience, except that I will be running for about 8.5 times longer and there is no lobster festival afterward.

Incidentally, finding warmish gear in Florida was no small challenge.

If you're wondering why pajama bottoms, because they will be easy to get off over my running shoes. I'm smart sometimes.

Three miles is better

2010-12-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

The cold front continues. In fact, the cold front has been amplified and we are now talking about high temperatures in the 50s. During the day. Remember when temperatures didn't even get down to 50, even at night? Because I most certainly do.

This week -- the week leading up to the marathon -- is the most super-easy week ever. As it should be. Two three-mile runs and one (wait for it) 2-miler the day before the race. That one is mostly to ensure that your body hasn't completely forgotten what running is.

I know why the 5 miles felt long the other day, or at least I can theorize that it was related to tapering. Today's three miles, on the other hand, was just fine. Nice, brisk temperature. Did a loop through Stephanie and David's neighborhood. I feel like I'm hitting up all of the places that I've been along this training journey.

It's funny to me that when I started, 3 miles felt like utter hell during the summer. Now, not only is it easy to run, but the weather is almost diametrically opposite.

T-6 Days

2010-12-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit surprised that I don't seem to be suffering from many of the 'taper week' symptoms that I have read so much about. This is not an easy time, despite the fact that mileage has reduced. You tend to get sick -- check. You tend to worry that you are going to sustain some stupid injury that makes you unable to run your marathon -- check. But other than that, I've been okay. Until today.

One thing that I have read about is the fact that your runs are just not very good runs. This might seem self-evident: you have been running a lot of miles for a lot of time and your body is tired. So clearly you will not be running your best. But until now, I was feeling okay about my runs. Today, not really.

Five miles was a long five miles. This was in no way related to the weather (61F right now!) or anything else obvious. I think that it was more of a point where my body has decided that enough is enough and it doesn't really feel like going on runs any more. The key thing about this phase of the taper weeks is to not panic, because you won't actually run like this on marathon day. So say the experts. Therefore, I shall not panic. But it was still a surprisingly tricky run in some respects.

(The time, though, was slightly faster than the last 5 mile run I did, so clearly this is not related to performance necessarily).

I've also figured out the reason that I've been so obsessive about finishing the training program. These taper week runs are kind of freebies: they aren't actually necessary and likely won't help your marathon in any way. And there have definitely been a few days lately where I didn't really feel like it but went anyway (such as yesterday and for much of today's run). However, I think that there is something in my head that wants to be able to say that I ran all of the training program, even if I don't do well for the marathon. At least I can say I put in the time and effort.

Running later today

2010-12-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

Last night, I decided that the time had come for something revolutionary. I was not going to set the alarm to go running. Yes. That's right. I slept in on a Sunday. I can count the number of times I have done this since August on one hand. Actually, I can count the number of times I have done this since August on one finger (the weekend I was in Pittsburgh since I completed my long run on Thursday). So this is nice. I plan to go later today. It's only 5 miles, so I'm not too concerned, plus it's on the nice side for temperature again.

I've started checking the weather for the marathon already. The forecast right now calls for a high of 61F during the day, with an overnight low in the 40s. DO NOT CHANGE. STAY JUST AS YOU ARE. That would be like a freaking dream.

Yesterday, I did another one of those 3-mile runs. Whoo. I didn't blog because I didn't turn on the computer. There was much baking and preparing that needed to be done since last night was the Temple Terrace Golf Cart Christmas Parade and that is clearly an event that requires celebrating:

Actual golf cart used in actual golf cart Christmas parade.

One accomplishment from yesterday's run was that I totally beat some other woman who was running too. This is somewhat petty of me, I realize. She struck me as maybe not so serious about running because she wore sweatpants, which is also terrible. I should like that other people are running and applaud their efforts, regardless of what they are wearing. She was also a walky/runny person (as in, someone who walks for a bit, then runs), and I have great disdain for the walky/runny crowd. Well, not really . Not great disdain. Whatever works for you. But as someone who is slow enough to sometimes be around walky/runny people in a race, they drive me nuts when they out of nowhere change pace from running to walking. At least have some awareness while you do that. Anyway, I beat yesterday's walky/runny person wearing sweatpants. This might not seem like much of an accomplishment, but for me it was...although I realize that this is completely petty and somewhat dumb. Meh.

I have a confession to make

2010-12-02T15:18:00.000-08:00

I did do my run today, as mentioned in the previous post. Today's was 5 miles. Nothing fancy. No speedwork or hills, just 5 miles. Went pretty smoothly, particularly since the cold front is still in place. In fact, I finally caved and turned on the heat because I don't want to get sick again if I can avoid it. That's how great this cold front is.

In the small pond during today's run I thought that I saw three ducks standing on an alligator. Alas, the three ducks were standing on a partially submerged sandbank. But how awesome would that have been?

I have something slightly embarrassing to confess. It's my new motivational song. Now, I don't actually run with music on because I think that learning how to be bored is an important part of training for a long event. This may sound weird, but it's something that I observed when coaching rowing. It's very hard to concentrate sometimes while exercising. With crew, you need to be completely, 100% focused when you are in the boat. That can be really hard to do when you start, but I feel that it's part of becoming a better athlete. There are no distractions. When I started running, I felt the same way: that you should concentrate on....well.....for lack of a better word, the boringness it. But getting to a point where long runs are not boring is a good sign of progress. So I don't run with music (I do distract myself while running, just not with extras). I mentioned a few weeks ago that every so often, Bob Seger's 'Hollywood Nights' comes flying into my head out of nowhere -- actually that happened again today. I have no shame in this. In fact, I basically adore Bob Seger, so that's all good. My embarrassing song is much worse: Britney Spears 'Gimme More.' Yes. I just admitted that publicly.

Cold front, new toy, who could ask for anything more?

2010-12-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

Another cold front is here! Right now it is noon and 54F. Awesome! Can't wait to go running later.

Yesterday, I made up the 3M that I didn't do on Tuesday, so all is good there. I was in Gainesville and ran an relatively uninspiring route around a neighborhood, but it fulfilled the purpose. The weather was ideal; I went near sunset and it was absolutely great. Probably in the 50s or maybe even the high 40s. Also, the new toy worked like a charm (once I figured out that it automatically switched from distance in feet to distance in miles...). The run itself went very well and I had lots of strength at the end to sprint the finish.

The toy said that I hit an 8:10 mile split near the end.

This is my favorite toy EVER.

Day off....but......

2010-11-30T19:27:00.000-08:00

Someone got a new toy:

An AWESOME NEW TOY!!!! This is the only object I have ever owned for which I want to read the entire owner's manual.

I was supposed to run today and didn't because I wasn't feeling great (and it's hot). Instead, I will do my run tomorrow. It's three miles. If you can imagine.

Last of the semi-long runs

2010-11-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

This post is the third in a three-part series to get caught up with my running exploits after having been out of town for Thanksgiving weekend. Although actually it talks about today's run, so technically it is still on time.

Back in Florida, back to the hot runs. Although luckily, this morning wasn't too bad, from a temperature/humidity standpoint: it was actually in the 50s to start and didn't get over the mid-60s. I was hoping to get up early and go, but didn't have much oomph to start my day, so I started around 8am. Today was 10 miles, the last serious distance before the marathon. Everything is much shorter from here on out and I think that the longest remaining runs are 5 miles.

However, I still have this super-annoying head cold! So the weather didn't seem quite so great because I was sweaty the whole time anyway. It was somewhat helpful to have a point of comparison for running while sick since I didn't really in Detroit with the conditions varying so much from normal. What I learned was that running while you are sick is not fun. I didn't feel comfortable really at any point, although the run itself went relatively well. Perhaps it is all in my head (HA! Get it?)

Today I also experienced my first technical glitch of the entire training period. I have to say that this isn't too bad considering that I managed to get through about 340 miles without one.* I'm not sure that today's run was exactly 10 miles, but that's okay. Around mile 7.8, the distance tracker seemed to freeze. Either that, or it was the longest 0.1 mile I have ever run. Flashbacks to the turkey trot with no 5-mile marker. Then suddenly, I had run 8.3 miles. Ditto at 8.8. In other words, there was some weird 'increments of 0.5' thing going on, then things were fine. However, I'm not sure that it tracked the distance exactly right. I still ran to what the phone claimed was 10 miles. And that will just have to do.

*Incidentally, that is an insane number. I have run over 340 miles training for this thing. Insane. That is further than from here to Savannah, GA.

Running in cold > Running in hot

2010-11-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

This post is the second in a three-part series to get caught up with my running exploits after having been out of town for Thanksgiving weekend.

Saturday morning another Detroit run remained. I was staying downtown, so the run went around Comerica Park -- which looks super nice by the way, I want to visit in the summer and see a few games. This time the distance was only 4 miles. I say 'only' because after the past few weeks, 4 miles feels like a walk around the block.

Except that this walk took place with a wind chill of 20F. It really wasn't so bad in the sun -- if you can called Michigan sun 'sun' -- but when those wind gusts hit, it was not pleasant. That being said, I still preferred it over running in the hot. And my time was better than most Florida runs as well.

However, it is entirely possible that running in 20F wind chill was not helpful for my cold, since it continued to stick around. Blech. Enough! I know that it's common to get sick during taper time, but still. Irritating. And annoying!

Turkey Trot in Detroit

2010-11-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

This post is the first in a three-part series to get caught up with my running exploits after having been out of town for Thanksgiving weekend.

Thursday morning was Thanksgiving, an event that I celebrated by flying to Detroit to see the New England Patriots stage a late-game rally and beat the pants off of the Detroit Lions. Tom Brady's QB rating was perfect. I realize that this is in no way relevant to this blog, but it's a fact that I will not get sick of anytime soon.

Speaking of sick, I got sick. I caught a cold last week and ran through it on Tuesday, hoping that it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Unfortunately, it continued on Thursday. Just a head cold, so no reason to stop running (I would if it became a chest cold), yet not ideal. I was a bit concerned because the weather was supposed to be in the 30s and raining. Just in the 30s would be manageable, but with rain? Ick. Luckily the rain held off for the duration of the race since I would definitely put 'rainy and cold' in the Top Three of my least favorite weather conditions.

The run itself went quite well. So well that I thought I might have a new PR for 10K time, but in fact did not (boo). Probably the fact that I didn't really warm up to race pace beforehand combined with the fact that I had a cold did not help. And I brought 'performance gear' from a Florida race thinking that it was 'performance gear,' when really it just trapped heat (*why* this was distributed for a Florida race, I may never know). Plus it was a relatively congested start, so I probably didn't get a good pace for a bit.

Also, I totally missed the 5-mile marker. I was feeling pretty good through mile 4, so my plan was to crank it through mile 5 (I did not take the phone on the grounds that it might rain). Hard to do when you totally miss mile 5, even though I was pretty sure that mile 4 was awfully long. Ah well. My goal right now isn't to PR in a 10K race.....even though it sure would have been nice......

Taper Time Begins with a Challenge

2010-11-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

Since I started training, I've noticed that my body sometimes craves weird things. This goes beyond those times when I find myself hording carbs in my shopping cart, although that is one good example. What is even weirder is when I find my body 'craving' things that have nothing to do with food. For instance, after one of my long runs, I was getting ready to go watch my football game at the bar and I realized that my feet craved for me to wear running shoes. Seriously. I can't explain it any better than to say it is a craving.

Today, I had a 5-mile run. It was supposed to be 5 miles with hills, but I didn't feel like running over in the hill neighborhood. Several factors conspired to make me less motivated: the fact that the sun goes down at 5:30 now; the fact that I did not get home until 5; and the fact that I don't like running in the dark any more for fear of tripping and bashing up my knees (or worse). I couldn't go running in the morning because I was in Orlando. Yes. Again.

I came awfully close to not doing today's run. Probably closer than I have come before. For one, I just wasn't in the mood. Also, I got a massage this afternoon which helped take out all of the running kinks and I was enjoying being able to move my neck freely again (the massage finished at 4:45, hence why I did not get home until 5pm). And the weather, while not vile, is not ideal for running. Today's heat index was in the mid-80s. Ugh.

However, somehow my body craved (?) going for a run around my little condo association neighborhood. By 'little,' I mean this thing loops at 0.7 miles. Why I wanted to do this, I don't know. It required that I circle 7 times around the little loop, then add on a tiny bit. But for some reason, this made me happy and it really wasn't so bad. There is decent lighting at night here, which is not true of all neighborhoods. I ran on the road, so no uneven sidewalks to trip me. It is a loop, but it isn't a terrible loop as far as scenery goes. Just chalk this up to another one of my weird 'cravings,' I guess. And that is another 5 miles that I really did not want to run done!

The Long and Winding Road (mostly long)

2010-11-21T16:59:00.000-08:00

[Yesterday I ran 4 miles. Nothing exciting to report. Although there is now a 'On Purpose Stephanie Encounter' to go with the 'Random Stephanie Encounter.']

Today was the last long run: 20 miles. And I finished it. It was not the most pleasant run I have ever done: it started in the 60s with 85% humidity, enough to push the temperature + humidity number to 150 (which, as you may recall, is too close to 160 for my comfort). During the course of the run, the conditions did not get much better, exacerbated by the fact that I am a really freaking slow runner so everything took a long, long time. But no matter. It is now done. With any luck, these will be the worst conditions I encounter for such a lengthy distance.

I ran my normal route around the north part of the golf course neighborhood, then went over to the south part to loop miles 7ish-13ish. Overall, it was a really nice route, particularly because there were convenient water stops: one about 1/4 (or 3/4 on the return) of the way through and another at the halfway point. Very useful. Probably would not have done so well without them, particularly since I forgot to pick up some of the healthy Gatorade stuff, so I was stuck with only water (and, naturally, my sports beans). When I felt my brain wandering, I reminded myself that this was a combination of tired/need sports beans/want hydration and to keep focused.

Completing 20 miles feels like a real accomplishment, even though there is still the long race to go. I've been thinking a lot about the overall training during the past week and am pleased that I've done a good job at getting out there and running, even when I don't feel like it. This hasn't always been easy, but on the whole, I think that it's been easier than I expected. I'm also really thrilled that I have such a wonderful neighborhood at my disposal because that has made everything much more pleasant. As I ran today, I thought about how fortunate I am to live in and around a neighborhood that offers so many options for routes, while also providing shade, scenery, and very little traffic:

And pretty, colored trees!

And now, on to Taper Time!

Weather gets perfect

2010-11-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

Last night I ran another 5 miles with hills (okay, I know, they are not really hills). Unfortunately, I was whisked away to Orlando as if by magic (no, not really), so I didn't have time to blog about it. It was fantastic. I went at sunset because many, many things prevented me from going in the morning, such as being in Gainesville, FL with no running gear. But it was not a big deal. The only slight problem I noticed with running at night is that I am now wary about falling again, so I am cautious. Overall, though, great run.

I still haven't experienced any massive problems or injuries, but I do feel like my body is on the brink of having enough. No specific symptoms, just a general feeling of 'Don't push this much further.' Which is fine, because I'm not pushing it much further and next week marks the start of the decreased mileage!

Tomorrow is 4 miles, then the 20-mile megarun on Sunday. Almost there.

Whoomp here it is

2010-11-16T18:50:00.001-08:00

I just mapped my 20-mile run for this Sunday. You can see it here.

Last week of high mileage

2010-11-16T09:15:00.000-08:00

The alarm went off this morning and I felt whatever the diametric opposite of motivation is to go out and run. However, I reminded myself that this is the last week of big miles. Next week marks the start of taper time, when your mileage drops so that you are ready for the race. So I just need to get through this one week. Eventually, that was what got me out the door, although it was not a quick process by any stretch of the imagination.

Yet again, my schedule is weird this week since I will be traveling to Gainesville tomorrow. I decided to flip the 10 mile run that was supposed to take place on Thursday and do it instead today (now Thursday will be 5 miles). This was probably part of why I was somewhat unmotivated this morning: 10 miles is a long way. In fact, not that long ago I would have called it a long run. But I had to get it done this morning since there is a chance of showers later and I figured I did not want to risk it.

The run itself wasn't so bad once I just got out there. Some days the entire battle is just getting out there. The first part was mostly overcast, which was great. Then there was more sun than I would have liked, but a somewhat cool breeze came with it. I say 'somewhat' because it is more humid than normal at this time of year, so it wasn't quite as enjoyable as it could have been. Not crazy summer hot or anything though, which is good.

Only 29 more miles to go this week! <-- this is a remarkably demotivating thought.

Where did I go? Pittsburgh!

2010-11-15T08:39:00.000-08:00

It's been a few days since I last posted, but don't worry. All is well. The running is still on schedule. Saturday I did my 5 miles which was supposed to include 8 minutes of hill time. Yeah, I got that and then some. In case you have never been to the lovely city of Pittsburgh, let me warn you in advance: it is hilly. Like, crazy hilly. Especially when you get off-track and wind up adding a bunch of hill to your run accidentally. All hills aside, though, it was an extremely pleasant run, when all was said and done, even if a bunch of stuff went wrong along the way.

My plan was to run in Schenley Park, near where I was staying. The directions were relatively simple: take a right, then take a left, then turn and cross the bridge, then I would be there. Except that I am directionally challenged a lot of the time. In this case, I completely missed the bridge. Adding to the fun was the fact that I had my phone, I started the running app, but forgot to completely turn it on, so I ran probably a good half mile before figuring this out (at least I guesstimated it at about half a mile). Then I wound up taking a straight downhill path for a bit in the wrong direction, which naturally required a straight uphill to get turned around again. I think that I probably ran enough hills to make up for all of the slacker Florida hills that I've done so far during training.

Once I actually found the park, though, it was quite pleasant. There were trails with foliage. Not Florida foliage. Actual, honest-to-goodness foliage, with leaves of different colors -- even if they were fringing on past peak. And I got to run right next to them on a lovely trail. Plus the weather was great, in the mid-50s....and this was around noon! Noon! Can you imagine? Because it gets hard to imagine being able to run at noon when you live in Florida for a while.

I did slack off a bit at the end and after completing my guesstimated 5 miles (4.5 miles, allowing for the 'Oops, I forgot to turn on the app' error), walked the remainder. The hills were just....ack. There is no other word. If nothing else, running in Pittsburgh gave me an entirely new appreciation for the term, 'Killah hill.' I just mapped the basic route on Map My Run and discovered that I covered about 450 feet over the course of a 5-mile run. For reference, the highest point in all of Florida is only 345 feet above sea level and it is nowhere near where I live.

I crossed the street...

2010-11-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I used to think that the ABBA song 'I Had a Dream' contained the lyric, 'I crossed the street' in it. Presumably, the line should be, 'I crossed the stream/I had a dream' since that makes much more sense. But I still think of my version when I hear this song. And today, I did just that. I crossed the street. Prior to today's run, which was 18 miles, I could find ways of circling around the northern part of the golf course neighborhood, thereby avoiding having to cross a relatively major street. Today, since I had to add another mile from the last long run, I decided the time had come. I was rewarded with some pretty good Florida scenery:

You can actually see parts of the Hillsborough River on this side of the street because not everything is built up. This picture was taken near a public boat launch.

More of the Hillsborough River

If you're curious to know what this part of Florida would look like had northerners not descended and built golf courses, here is an idea:

Vacant lot right next to the river.

The street next to the river in this neighborhood is also called Riverhills Drive, only it's the southern part and the other half -- which had some of the houses featured previously on the blog -- is the northern part. They have some pretty ritzy homes on the southern part too:

I just wonder about their cooling bills.

You can actually look out on the river from that giant porch.

Overall, though, today's run was not nearly as enjoyable as the last long run. In part, this was probably because I shouldn't have been doing a long run today after only 5 days' rest from the previous long run and a 9-mile run on Tuesday. Physically, though, I didn't feel too awful, at least not any more awful than I would expect from a long run. And good news, body: you only have one more this week, and it's only 5 miles! The real problem is that the spectacular cold front is going away. The temperature at the start of the run was a very palatable 58F, but unfortunately the humidity was around 80%. By the time I finished the run (many, many hours later), the temperature was already 75F; the RealFeel on Accuweather calculates it at 82F. Let me tell you: it felt closer to 82F than 75F.

I could actually feel when things were starting to go wrong physically because of the weather. For instance, before I had my last dose of sport beans, I could really feel my mind starting to wander. I opted to take three packs and had one each 4.5 miles, which I think was fine overall, but the last one was definitely a necessity. How could I tell? I would start coming up with alternatives to my route or thinking about changing what I was doing. Bad idea. After I had the sport beans, I just continued on and all went well. Another issue: if I was in the sun for too long, the same kinds of things started to happen. Luckily, there was a shady version of the route near the end, but at one point, I think that I was in the sun for a bit too long. My brain definitely got off track there.

I almost fell again today. It's time to admit that these aren't flukes, but probably fatigue errors. It happens. Not much that can be done about them except to hope that I don't actually fall!

Switched-up schedule

2010-11-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

I am starting to see a pattern here. On Tuesdays, I start running and in response, my brain says, 'OH COME ON! We just ran XX miles! Isn't that enough? IS NOTHING EVER ENOUGH FOR YOU?' Then after about 2 miles or so, it settles, and we go on our merry way. I'm off to Pittsburgh for the weekend, so I wanted to get my long run out of the way in advance -- see, I learned from my California adventure! Thursday, then, will be this week's long run. Instead of 5 miles today, I did 9, so that I can save the shortest distance for when I am in Pittsburgh. However, today 9 felt looooooooooooooong.

Partially, this was because I ran at Flatwoods, one of the conservation areas around Tampa. It is actually contained within a super-giant nature preserve and generic suburbia forms its borders:

Image courtesy of generic suburb website that borders park, hence the 'YOU ARE HERE' marker

As you can clearly see from the map, there is a 'paved trail for biking and rollerblading.' You can also use it for running, but it's better suited for the other sports. First, it is a 7-mile loop. If you are coming at it from the west (Bruce B. Downs), there is also a 2-mile trait just to get to the loop. So you are looking at some relatively hefty mileage right off the bat. Also, while it is scenic (provided you find pine trees scenic), there are a lot of parts which do not provide very much shade. Not too bad if you are on a bike, but potentially awful if you are running. I'm glad I waited for a cold front or else it would have been quite unbearable. There was a stretch of probably a mile with almost no shade at all. However, in the shady parts with the wind was quite pleasant.

I have to say, though, that it does get a bit boring after a while, at least in my opinion:

Actually the road as you are leaving, but looks exactly the same as the trail.

Now imagine looking at that for seven miles.

I realize that some people might enjoy this a lot more than I did this morning and I'm pretty sure that part of my boredom with Flatwoods was just fatigue from Sunday. It is quiet and there were no sidewalks for me to trip on, so that was good. Also, it is well marked for mileage and, provided that it is cool, not unbearable. There are water stops at various points as well. Oh, and as the name suggests, it is flat as can be. I've been told that I will get my butt kicked by hills in Pittsburgh, so I shall revel in Florida flat until then.

I did see a few interesting things along the way, though. One was particularly shocking:

WHOA!

Do you see how those leaves are a different hue than green? That is Florida foliage, people. Florida foliage. I don't think that I have ever noticed that before!

16 miles? During a cold front? Not a problem!

2010-11-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

Today's long run was the 16-miler. The cold front continued, which was probably the most fortuitous weather ever. I was concerned about today's long run because it coincided with the switch to Daylight Savings. Just because the clock goes back by an hour does not mean that Mr. Florida Sun cooperates. I wanted to make sure that I got started early enough so that 10am did not feel like 11am. However, with the cold front, this concern was irrelevant. I went out a bit later than I had hoped (was planning to go out around 6:30am, and went instead closer to 7am), but it was fine.

Apparently, I have almost lost any skills I once had for how to dress in cooler weather. The basic rule that I like to follow is to dress for the finish, not the beginning, because of course you do warm up while you run. But Florida does not really require much thinking in the appropriate dress department. Generally, I just go in shorts and a performance singlet. So when the temperature drops, it now confuses me. I didn't want to overdress, but I also didn't want to freeze at the beginning. I went with shorts, long-sleeve performance shirt, and an actual ballcap. Actual ballcaps are too hot normally, so I figured that it would pay off today. This combo worked pretty well and I didn't feel uncomfortable at any point -- okay, maybe a little cold to start.

The temperature was in the 40s to start, then got into the 60s by the end. In other words: perfect. And the dew point was in the 30s. As much as Florida drives me nuts, the weather during cold fronts is pretty much ideal (how unfortunate that cold fronts are maybe 5% of the year). You get the cold, Arctic wind from up north, but you don't usually feel cold because the sun is still warm. It's pretty easy to cope with these conditions. If you feel cold from the wind, you get the sun to warm you up. And if you feel too warm, you go in the shade or wait for a gust of wind.

As tends to happen in good weather conditions, I am reminded that I actually do not hate running. I know, I've been over this before, but I really do sometimes forget. The weather here is generally very difficult to negotiate for me, no matter what time of day. So when I actually get to run in reasonable conditions, it is a real treat. And I realized something else. I may not be very good at running long distances, but I don't mind running long distances. Especially in good weather. I feel like I've reached a good point mentally where long runs don't actually feel so long and I stay strong through the last part. For instance, I got to 4.5 miles from the end today and felt like the rest was going to be just fine to finish. This is encouraging and a great feeling. The last part wasn't even so bad, overall. Now I just have to remember how those last miles feel when I run the real marathon.

Also, here is hoping for similar weather conditions!

I did have one small freakout today when I checked my time around 6 miles. For some unknown reason, I convinced myself that 8 miles (the halfway point) was around a quarter of the marathon. I started freaking out because I thought that I was running significantly slower than I had anticipated. It took me until somewhere around 12 miles to realize that actually, 8 miles is closer to two-thirds of the way through a marathon. This makes a pretty big difference, as the following fictional comparison demonstrates (fictional because I do not run this fast):

1 hour/8 miles in my erroneous first version would result in a 4-hour marathon;
1 hour/8 miles would be closer to a 3-hour marathon.

See how that happened? It added a whole hour. Even for this imaginary fast person.

I have one last comment about today's run. When I train, I don't listen to music, but I do sometimes get music in my head. For a while, it was various chamber music of the nineteenth century (I know, I'm a geek); for instance, Schumann's string quartet in A major (op. 41/3) would often be my imagined accompaniment. You don't need to tell me that this is weird, I know already. There is something about the strings all working together in chamber music that I feel works while running. Today, though, I suddenly had Bob Seger's 'Hollywood Nights' burst out of nowhere around mile 5. Random, even though it was on the radio yesterday.

The best moment ever was when I was 2 miles from the end of a long run while training for a half-marathon and Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' started up as if on cue in my head. Seemed appropriate.

Lots of weirdness, really

2010-11-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

So first, when I asked for a cold front last week, I didn't think that my wish would be granted quite so successfully. We are in the middle of a real, honest-to-goodness cold front. In Florida, that means that the high temperature today was 66F. Yes, that's cold around these parts. It is supposed to get down to the 30s tonight, which is super cold for here. Also, the humidity is not higher than 50%. Rather than call it cold, I prefer to think of it in the following terms, 'WHOO!!!!'

If we're really lucky, some alligators might come out and sun to combat the 'cold.'

It was so temperate, in fact, that I ran in the afternoon today. Like around 2:30pm. Which is practically unheard of. Because the sun is still Mr. Florida Sun. Cold weather in no way alters that fact. It just makes it slightly more bearable. However, when I was in sunny sections with no wind, you could still feel it beating down. I feel silly writing this because despite this fact, running in the sun in mid-60s weather is one hell of a lot more enjoyable than, say, running in 90% humidity in 70+ degree weather.

There was a slight mishap today. I was running on campus at USF (I'm actually still at work) and discovered something important: not all of the sidewalks are even. Some jut upward. My shoe caught on one of these exact spots and I managed to fall pretty well. No major damage, just some nasty-looking scrapes. My favorite part of today's run was after this slight mishap when some random guy on a bike yelled, 'WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR KNEES?' and I yelled back,' I FELL.' I mean, what else do you think would have happened to my knees?

Incidentally, I learned something about weather and split times today. It was a 5-mile run and my split time was a full minute faster than recent similar distances. Plus this is adding in stop times at lights, so it was probably even better with no more perceivable effort. So for the umpteeth time, I would like to remind Irrational Me that split times are not relevant in Florida conditions!

Ask and ye shall receive

2010-11-04T05:05:00.000-07:00

Probably I should not have said anything about the remarkable no-rain streak. I woke up this morning to this:

Plus the weather looks like it is going to stay disruptive all day. Last night thunder woke me up. Probably best to take a pass. NASA is delaying their shuttle launch because of these storms. I feel like if NASA is willing to delay a shuttle launch, maybe I have an excuse not to go for my 5M run.

However, tomorrow is going to be in the 60s as a high (!), so despite the fact that I don't usually like to run on Fridays because I get tired from work, tomorrow I will make an exception. Should be good! The two weather channels that I watched this morning both made it seem like weather in the 60s was a bad thing. Really?

Flipping the schedule

2010-11-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Today was 9 miles, which according to the schedule should have been on Thursday. However, I have several obligations that day so I figured it was better to get the longer run over with today (Thursday will now be 5M with hills). Nine miles is the new 8 miles, apparently, because today's run really didn't feel all that bad either. However, it was probably helped by the fact that it was cooler (around 70F) and overcast the whole time.

The overcast, actually, was a bit concerning because it definitely picked up as I went along. I checked three different weather forecasts this morning, not because I was worried about rain but because they were somewhat contradictory: AccuWeather put the humidity at 80%, while WeatherBug had it at 98% or something disgusting like that. But not one of them had mentioned rain around the time I was running. Luckily, it held off. There was just a brief shower right now, but it's about two hours later.

I also realized something weird. In my entire training program, I have not once been caught out in the rain. It's been close and there were a few times that I thought I would, but it has never actually rained while I was out. Now we have had a dry fall (there was basically no rain in October), but this seems unusual for Florida. Here's hoping I can keep that streak going for the rest of training!

Why you only go 20 miles

2010-11-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, who is also training to run a marathon (Philly), sent me this article today. It is awesome. It totally explains why you only run 20 miles and why that's okay. It put my mind somewhat at ease.

(Of course, only somewhat, but I don't think I'll be fully at ease until the thing is done!).

Whoops

2010-11-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's 'long' run was so short that I completely forgot to blog about it! It was only six miles. Hard to think of that as a long run after the past month, I do have to say. And I realized that instead of being annoyed that it got hot during Taper Week, I should be grateful. It would be even worse if it gets hot during a normal week with much longer runs.

Anyway, I've been reflecting quite a bit on how things are going since this is the last Taper Week before the real Taper Weeks that will occur right before the actual marathon. Crazy! In response to this, I think that I've started hording. Yesterday I went to the Running Center and stocked up on 'sport beans,' opting only for the ones with caffeine (apparently, they do not all have caffeine, as I discovered around mile 10 of the 14-mile run. Boo). Today at the grocery store, I started hording carbs. Because I will likely need carbs. And kept reminding myself to stock up for when I am ridiculously hungry, which will probably start sometime tomorrow after a 9-mile run. Also, I bought a big container of chocolate milk so that it's just sitting at home and I don't need to detour to the CVS and stand in line for, like, 15 minutes after a long run to get my chocolate milk because someone ahead of me feels that the marked discount on Tampa Bay Rays cowbells does not match what was in the sales flier (why yes, that did actually happen, how did you guess?). I'm flipping the schedule this week because of work, so it will be 9M tomorrow, 5M with hills on Thursday, and long run Sunday. The week after will having some flipping as well. Stay tuned!

I have only 3 actual long runs remaining before the marathon: 16M, 18M, and 20M. This schedule stops at 20M. Please don't ask me if I am worried that this will not be enough training or if I think I will make it or if I feel that there should be another longer run. The answer to all of those questions is that yes, I'm concerned. But I'm reminding myself that it's not about the actual plan (to some extent) but your belief in the plan. I mean, I could technically run a marathon tomorrow, regardless of how I trained, it just might not go so well and I might really hate myself the morning after -- and all of this will likely happen no matter what training plan I follow. So I need to have faith that this plan will work. Also, I'm already breaking it down in my head that it will be 2M + 2M + 2.2M to finish. That's it. Just three groups of two at the end. This can totally be done. And will be, dammit.

I also keep trying to do the math for 10% markers (2.6 miles) during the run but keep breaking down after 13.1. It is a good time waster, though.

I do have to say that as I'm getting into this last stretch of training, I'm not feeling too awful. No major injuries to report, no serious problems, and as long as I don't bang a shopping cart straight into my shin like I did today, no real pain. Phew. I may not be fast, but I think that I am pretty durable.

This post has lots of numbers for my non-quantitative brain. No idea why.

Challenge Week #2

2010-10-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

Back in August -- back when 5 miles was my long run for the week but it was really freaking hot -- I instituted a policy that during challenging weeks, I would acknowledge them as such and take the challenges in stride. Sure, things might not go as planned. But it was important to have faith that things would turn out okay. With that concept in mind, I am hereby declaring this week Challenge Week #2 since three out of this week's four runs have not been fun. Unlike Challenge Week #1, which was primarily about scheduling runs around meetings, this time around, the challenges are being posed in different ways:

The weather. Tuesday and Thursday were too hot and humid and ick. Luckily, here we are on Saturday and the weather has cooled to a reasonable degree. It still got up to 85F today. But the humidity was much lower (~50%) and the dew point manageable (around 60F) when I went for my run around 6pm. Side note: As I ran, I was thinking to myself that probably if I ever move from Florida and have to go running in such conditions, I will probably post something as my Facebook status that says, 'How did I ever do this on a regular basis?!??!!!!?!?'
My stomach. Today my stomach was not happy running. Not one bit. For about the first mile or so, my stomach hurt on the right side. Then there was around half a mile that was fine, after which the pain moved to my left side. Another break, then there was a kind of dull pain that was lower and across my stomach. By this point, I was around three-quarters of the way through. Today's run was also 5 miles with three aerobic intervals, so that was just awesome all around. It did help me keep them at a reasonable pace, though.

I came super close to quitting today, or only running half and adding the remaining miles tomorrow, or adding the sprints tomorrow, or something. Unfortunately, I couldn't go this morning because I was volunteering for something and had to be there early. I think that the real problem with my stomach was that I ate too soon before running, but generally this is not a huge problem (and I did leave an hour and a half in between). Oh well. It's done now.

One thing that pushed me through was remembering what was probably my absolute worst race to date. I had food poisoning and still ran (it was a 5k). Adding insult to injury was the fact that I lived in Worcester, MA -- city of seven hills -- and had to walk over a very big hill (some might say killah) to get to the run. Which was dumb. Because you don't want to have to walk over a very big hill to get to a run. Naturally, I also had to walk back afterward, at which point it started raining. Once I got home, I went straight to bed, having given up on that day completely. But what I do remember is somehow finding my way through that run and the fact that I didn't die trying. One of my exercise rules is that while you might think you are going to die at times, you probably won't. It's nice to know that however miserable that day (and it was miserable), I can still take something from the experience.

I guess it's good for mental toughness?

2010-10-28T17:04:00.000-07:00

It remains hot. Today it got up to 90F. That is, in fact, summer weather. And the humidity this morning was in the ick range of 90%. I looked at the prediction last night and decided that I would risk running later. This was a gamble because there were clouds gathering and some of them looked pretty scary -- not quite on par with the photos from a few weeks ago, but still a bit ominous. As I got started, I heard some distant thunder, but that was the only trace of an actual storm during the run, apart from a few sudden wind gusts. I decided to run anyway and knock off one of the two 5-milers that need to be done. One of them has sprints in it. I saved that one for the weekend. Here's hoping that the 'cold front' is passing through tonight and getting rid of some of this weather.

I didn't take my phone for a few reasons:

I feared inclement weather
There is a really convenient 5M run that doesn't require the phone (you run down some streets, around, up a street, then back. Trust me, it's easy in practice)
I didn't want to get going too fast. Rational Me knows that when it is hot, your body needs to slow down. Rational Me can look at mile split times when she gets back and understand that she was slow because of weather conditions (Rational Me is also a big fan of AccuWeather). However, Rational Me is not the one that typically goes running....well, that's obvious, because Rational Me probably thinks that this whole marathon idea is nuts. Irrational Me, on the other hand, gets frustrated because the mile splits are too slow, weather be damned. Tonight, I didn't feel like dealing with Irrational Me. So the timing devices (phone and watch) stayed at home.

I also left my visor at home, but that was more because I figured that I wouldn't need it with the sun setting.

Again, it was not an enjoyable 5M, nowhere near as easy as the ones I was running in previous weeks. But I did it and that's what matters. As I was running, I thought to myself that I should probably be grateful that the weather hasn't been like this for all of October and that it was actually reasonable by Florida standards. I'm sure that, had the weather been summer-hot all month, I would still have run. But it would have been nasty. So I'm glad that there was some respite.

Plus this all goes in to the 'mental toughness' category. It would have been really, really easy to skip tonight's run. It would have been really, really easy to cut tonight's run short because of a possible storm. But I didn't. Truth be told, it wasn't physically so bad -- 5 miles is still a lot less than most recent running days. However, I am still sweaty and my head hurts, so it could have been much better.

Come on COLD FRONT!

Sometimes I really hate you, Florida

2010-10-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's official: it got hot again. Record-breaking heat, in fact. Today it got up to 91F in Tampa. That would be summer weather, except that it is very slightly less humid. But not really.

This is just unfair. It's a taper week for me, meaning that my mileage is spread out over 4 days of shorter runs. I was really looking forward to this because shorter runs generally feel much faster than normal. In fact, today's run was only 4 miles. Can you imagine? I ran three times that plus two more miles on Sunday.

Instead, 4 miles turned out to be very painful indeed because it got hot again. BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

(I mean, I guess it could be worse since up north it is snowing and everything. But I don't care because I feel like whining about my weather situation.)

Anyway, unable to bear the thought of running in summer morning conditions, I decided to take a gamble on the weather and go for the nighttime instead. Of course, this also added the challenge of running before it got dark since the sun now goes down at 5pm or something. Okay, not really. The sun never goes down at 5pm here. I'm thinking back to Boston. But it does go down much earlier and by the time I was wrapping up the run at 7:30pm-ish, it was definitely dark.

Meh, no alligators crawled out of the darkened sewer and got me, so whatever.

(If you're curious, yes, I was traumatized by Stephen King's It at an impressionable age).

It was still not quite at the 160 threshold of ick. But again, it was far too close to the 150 threshold of ick, perhaps even surpassing it on the way to 160. Come on! It's late October! This should be over by now.

Oh, the dew point? Lower 70s. To cite my favorite Wikipedia page on the topic yet again, 'Very humid, quite uncomfortable.' And this was at 6pm today.

It could have been worse, though. This morning the dew point was 72F, the humidity 90%, and the temperature 75F, which means that yes, we did surpass the threshold of ick. So at least I made the right decision by waiting. I guess. But I'm still too sweaty and tired.

Blech. Just blech.

The long runs get long

2010-10-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Today was 14 miles. I ran 14 miles. 14 miles is the longest distance I have ever run in one go, beating out my previous record of 13.1 miles by 0.9. Exciting! This is a training plan with no room for a feel-good, pat yourself on the back, you made it half way 13 mile run, apparently. Instead, you crank right through the halfway point and on to 14. Half and then a little bit.

(It seems crazy that this was just short of half, it really felt very long).

It got hot and muggy again today. Not quite at summer levels, but also not quite what I would ideally want while running. The combined temperature + humidity was closer to 150 than 160, but 150 is still rather high. Certainly by the end, the sun felt like it was beating down perhaps a little too much. Also, I was insanely thirsty as I was nearing the final part. Water was my friend today. I took a water bottle of the healthy Gatorade that I usually drink, then refilled the bottle with water around mile 8 (this was, of course, my trusty fanny pack running belt). This was not quite enough, but I still made it through.

Here's the weird thing: my mile splits were faster than last week's 12-mile run in better conditions. Not better by much, but still better. No idea how that happened.

Today I also developed a new strategy with regard to counting down miles. Usually, I count down every 10%, but today I decided that waiting for 1.4 miles felt too long. Instead, I focused on 5%, so only 0.7. I liked this approach and will keep it up for the marathon, I think. If I run with my phone. Which is not a given at this point seeing as how I don't think the battery will last. I did develop a save-battery strategy today, which is to power it down during boring stretches when I don't actually need to know how much distance is left. I think that this might work well. 12 miles was pushing the upper limit of the battery, apparently.

Another new trick today was taking running jelly beans (technically, they are called sports beans). I had the chance to stop by my local running store yesterday and picked some packages up. Two came with me on the run today. They are awesome. Not only do you get fuel while running, they also provide a jolt of caffeine. And they do taste like jelly beans. Best invention ever (at least it is the best invention for long-distance running that I know about!).

8 miles doesn't seem so bad either...kind of

2010-10-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

You've probably noticed that the running distances have fallen into another routine: 5M on Tuesday, 7-8M on Thursday, long run on Sunday. It's kind of nice, actually (and is one of the Plans of this training guide, to help get you accustomed to what is coming up ahead). Next week is different because it's a taper week, then on to the last crunch of building mileage. The marathon is less than two months away, if you can imagine! I can't.

Today's run felt pretty good while I was running. Now that I'm done, I can definitely feel that it was, indeed, 8 miles. It was a little more humid than I might have wanted in a perfect world, but overall not too bad. I chose to circle around Stephanie and David's neighborhood, then loop back toward mine. There was not a lot of repetition with this route.

It seems weird, but encouraging, that 8 miles doesn't feel that long right now. Here's hoping that's what 12 miles feels like in a month.

They do go fast, these 5 miles

2010-10-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

Today was yet another 5-mile Tuesday, except instead of hills, it was a run with 'aerobic intensity' parts. This time around, it was 3 intervals of 3:00 each. I was much better this time with staying at a reasonable pace and didn't feel like I was almost going to die at any point in the run. This is progress. Starting yesterday, I kept reminding myself that it was important to stay in control of intervals. Yeah, I'm a bit eccentric that way, but hey, it worked.

The nice thing about having a 5-mile run after a long Sunday run is that the 5 miles feels like it takes no time at all. Today, I was already at the 2.5 mile mark, then realized, 'Wow, this thing is half-way over.' Also, I have apparently developed the ability to deceive myself with the weather. I thought that it was nice out. Then I got home and realized I was drenched in sweat. They call this adjusting, I guess.

Something weird that I've been noticing over the past few runs: I keep getting a side stitch in my left, generally around the 1-mile mark. No idea why. It could be from knots in my back. Last summer, I had awful knots that would manifest themselves when I was running, then radiate from the back to my collarbone and front. It was not pleasant. Luckily, a series of massages fixed that right up and I haven't had the same problems (also, I was running on a treadmill a lot, so my stride was somewhat compromised because I had to stay in a restricted space). I'm going in for a massage next week, so if it is the knots, hopefully that will go away. Alternatively, it's just a plain old side stitch. Various sources on the internet tell me to breathe deeply. That seemed to work fine today, but it is kind of annoying.

12-mile redo

2010-10-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

Today was the long run and for the second straight week, it was 12 miles. This repetition was kind of nice seeing as how last week's 12-mile run was not all that much fun. In some ways, I am really spoiled running here. The neighborhood is quiet, I don't have to worry about traffic or people, and I can pretty easily find routes that provide enough distance. These are not opportunities that I enjoyed last week in San Francisco. As a result, the run was overall more peaceful and I felt pretty good about it overall. It's weird: two weeks ago, I felt wiped out from a 10-mile run. This week, 12 miles felt fine (okay, I'm tired now and somewhat stiff, but not as bad as I felt after the 10 mile). Next week is 14 miles, which technically I did last week in California if you could the 2-mile walk I had to do to get to the ferry. So that's a good sign!

I caved and bought the 'hydration belt:'

Yes, it is essentially a glorified fanny pack. But it is awfully convenient for carrying around a water bottle without having to keep it in my hand (like I did with my other one). Plus I can put my Mini Clif Bars in that pocket, then easily access them during the run. So yeah. Form before fashion in this case.

At first, I thought that I would not be able to get it around my hips. My hips are rather wide and you needed to length the strap by letting out extra part in a way that was not clear. I was thinking that 'Too Fat for my Running Fanny Pack' would be a great name for a blog, but was more relieved that this was not, in fact, the case.

The actual run was more of the same: circling around the same basic area in the golf course area. Weather remains remarkably enjoyable for Florida. Even running in the sun near the end of the run was not all that killer. This is a very nice change from a month ago!

Halloween Decorations: updated

2010-10-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Today's run was 8 miles and I decided to go through Stephanie and David's neighborhood. It took a bit of looping around, but I ran around there twice, then back to my neighborhood and added on a teeny bit at the end. Booyah, 8 miles. And the weather was not awful. I was a bit concerned because it is more hot and humid today than it has been a while. Tonight it should cool off again. A friend at work said that it might get down to 54F tonight. Whoa.

The most fun part of my run was meeting a little dog named Chrissy today. Chrissy was supposed to follow her owner back to the house and didn't, so instead we hung out for a bit. I figured that being a tiny dog, maybe Chrissy would not want to finish another 2 miles with me. Then she went back inside. Also, I saw a dog in a bike basket today. Only one. I think that it was a different person. So apparently taking your dog around in a bike basket is trendy in this neighborhood.

On to the Halloween decorations:

I'm not sure that fake spiderweb on the shrubs is that good a look.

Like I said, this neighborhood is in the Halloween spirit!

This would be a lot of fun if you were a kid, I think.


I'm not sure that I would want a large, fake spider on my porch in Florida. Too similar to a large, real spider.

This is actually at the house that was featured last time. A later add. I wonder if they also put it up for Gasparilla, Tampa's local pirate festival.

These next few photos are all taken from the same place. Remember the house with the ghost link fence from last time? They've expanded a bit.

This is *just* the driveway.

The whole yard.

Close-up of the ghosts out front.

For the final picture, I have included a yard that is not in any way decorated for Halloween but would be the perfect setting for some kind of Southern horror story, I think:

That swing is spooky!

5 mile hill course = piece of cake!

2010-10-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today was another one of the 5 miles with hills (ha!) run and I did the same course that I've run the past few Tuesdays. I was very tired this morning due to California (still!), so I decided to go later. It hasn't rained in weeks. *Weeks*! Plus it continues to be cooler. I can't help but think that these two things are related. Since there was no rain in the forecast, I figured I was safe and yes, there was no scary Florida weather. Somewhat pleasant, in fact, considering it was still in the 80s, but it was the low 80s with the sun setting.

It's getting dark early. Already by 7:30pm, the sun had set. Oh well, that will change in a few weeks with Daylight Savings...which I am not looking forward to, since I will have to get up even earlier to run!

The first half of today was not the most fun run I have ever done. I felt like I had done a long run one day, then sat on a cramped airplane the next day for an extended amount of time. Likely, this feeling stemmed from the fact that that is how I spent my Saturday and Sunday. There were definitely a lot of creaky, weird things to start. I was reminded of one of my favorite running books, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. It is a collection of random musings about running by someone who has been doing it for a quarter of a century (and writing novels when he isn't running). Also, he spends a lot of time running by the Charles River since he was in Cambridge when he wrote this book. It made me want to lace up my shoes and go straight back to Boston when I first read it -- I was in Florida at the time. Anyway, one of my favorite parts concerns an interview that Murakami does with Toshihiko Seko, an Olympic runner. Murakami asks if there are ever days when a runner 'at your level ever feel[s] like you'd rather not run today?' Seko looks at him as though he is insane and responds, 'Of course! All the time!' [I'm not citing from the actual book here, so I don't have the page number, but an excerpt was in the New Yorker and this was on 77 of the June 9 & 16, 2008 issue]. I had quite a bit of this today at the start of my run since I felt vaguely like I was trudging through mud or something. My legs were definitely not feeling it. However, once I settled into it, things went fine. Very well, in fact. The final two miles felt very good.

It's funny how 5 miles now seems easy. Back in August, these were my 'long runs,' after all. Not sure if longer distances, such as 10 miles, will ever feel like this. Here is hoping.

I was in the golf course neighborhood. Looks like Halloween decorations are going up slowly but surely. However, Stephanie and David's neighborhood still takes the cake. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten and there will be photos this week.

The Best-Laid Plans

2010-10-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

I did my long run today since I am flying back to Florida tomorrow (as a reminder, I am in California). When I realized that I would have to coordinate a long run in California, I came up with a plan:

1) Wake up in time to leave for 8:30am in order to walk 1.6 miles for 9:10am ferry to San Francisco (I'm staying in Alameda).
1.5) Pick up a water en route to take on my run.
2) Run by the water in San Francisco. Run 6 miles in one direction, then turn around and return.
3) Eat well-earned dim sum in Chinatown.

Oh wow, did things ever not happen that way.

Surprise #1: I checked the weather and it was 56F out. That is an absolutely fantastic temperature for running, but I was concerned that it might not be as nice on a ferry. So I wanted to take a sweater, but could not find a good way of doing this. I chose a cotton t-shirt and then took my sweater with me, wearing it fashionably wrapped around my waist while running. Really. It's a wool sweater. Not a very good real runner look.

The next surprise occurred when I started walking toward the ferry. I opted for a leisurely walk pace, leaving what I thought was plenty of time to get from my hotel to the ferry stop. I grew quite confused when it was 8:55am and I still had a mile to go. Turns out that the actual distance was not 1.6 miles -- that was just one part of the walk. The actual distance was 2.2 miles. I didn't make it for the 9:10am ferry. And trust me, this place is in the middle of nowhere, Alameda. There weren't even any places on the way to get a water.

Fortunately for me, it is Fleet Week in San Francisco. Or, as you will soon learn, unfortunately for me, it is Fleet Week in San Francisco. The good part of Fleet Week is that there are more ferries. The bad news is that everyone and his/her brother goes to San Francisco for Fleet Week, particularly today since there was also the air show. So more ferries, but more ferries because of many, many more people. However, I did not have to wait an hour, so that's good.

By the time I actually got to SF, I was pretty much itching to get running. I thought that, as per the original plan, I would be there by around 9:30am, but because the ferry did Alameda - Oakland - SF (instead of the normal route Oakland - Alameda - SF), I didn't actually get there until closer to 11. I just started running, going past Fisherman's Wharf and heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge. By the way, there were people, but apparently runners near Fisherman's Wharf act like they own the place and run on the road. It's pretty fun actually.

And so I headed toward the Golden Gate Bride, noticing that there were large people amassing near the shore in preparation for the airshow. Not good. I also noticed, around Fort Mason, that there was a hefty hill:

Legit hill.

I was hoping that this would be one of the few hills and I was correct. So that was a nice surprise.

Around 3.8 miles, I had reached the Warming Hut near the Golden Gate Bridge:

Incidentally, none of these pictures is mine. I didn't bring my camera.

I looked around for water fountain, didn't find one, and decided the time had come to stop and get a water. There was a line (because people were amassing!), but I felt that it was worth stopping for a few minutes to prevent something very bad from happening. I then drank about half of it over the next 5 minutes. Definitely I could have developed a better game plan. Why I did not just bring my water bottle from home, I have no idea.

I ran toward the Golden Gate Bridge, when I learned something interesting: you can't keep running in that direction beyond that point. It's closed due to security issues. So I had reached only around 4 miles, and had to turn around. This was not a good sign because I had really wanted to go the straight 6, then turn back. While I was running, I got thinking about one of my favorite books from when I was younger, Anastasia On Her Own by Lois Lowry. The basic premise is that the protagonist, Anastasia Krupnik, is apparently a nascent control freak who wants to 'help' her mother organize her life. She makes up these extensive lists to sort out the various chores that need to be done around the house. Then her mother is called away to California, so Anastasia actually gets left in charge. At this point, she realizes that the housekeeping schedule requires the addition of Unexpected Events, since there are unpredictable interruptions that take her off schedule. I love this Unexpected Events idea. That's basically how I felt about my whole damn run today.

The major flaw in my plan was that more and more people were in San Francisco as the air show was about to begin and I was heading right into this whole mess. I tried to add on some distance by looping around places, such as near Crissy Field and the Marina District, but it still wasn't enough to make up the extra 4 miles that needed to be added. As a result, I wound up in lots of crowds (boo), stopped at lights (double boo), and overall irritated with much of the run. To give you a sense of just how irritating this got, at the 11.9 mile mark, I ran into a crowd of people and almost had to walk. That is not the time you want to walk. Instead, I hung a left and ran around the outside landscaped section of one of the buildings (I know this sounds weird, but I can't think of a better way of describing it). Also, apparently I looked at my phone right when I started 11.9 because I can't think of another 0.1 of a mile that felt like it took so long. Did I mention that my phone kept going into camera mode and ate a whole bunch of its battery?

It is worth noting that despite all of this, I still didn't give up. And that was a good thing! Even though it was by no means an ideal run. I don't even know what the time was because everything was messed up from all of that starting and stopping.

Also, I had to run the Fort Mason hill again, but I noticed something. In a way, the hill was great because it distracted me from anything else happening. All I was thinking about was getting up the hill and finishing it, then keeping form while running back down. This kind of focus was exactly what was needed right around the 9 mile mark.

A less nice surprise was the fact that because I started late, and because I was still running late, I wound up with a pretty decent sunburn on the bottom half of my face and neck. Classy!

After all of this, I decided that it wasn't worth going to Chinatown since it would be crowded and it was far away (comparatively). Instead, I opted to find a place to eat near Fisherman's Wharf. I wanted to go to Boudin and have a chowder in a sourdough bowl:

However, I couldn't because they would not let me use my credit card without showing an ID. Of course, I had no ID because I had only taken the basic necessities (by which I mean a credit card and my hotel key card). The manager would not give me an exception. My reaction is likely best described as Massachusetts. But come on: you've just run 12 irritating miles, you haven't eaten in almost 6 hours apart from the Mini ClifBar you had on your run, and some guy is not letting you get a chowder in a sourdough bowl because you don't have an ID? Dude.

Instead, I went to Salty's and got a fishwich:

Yes!

This is exactly the kind of thing that I wanted after my run. I also got a side of fries. In hindsight, I wish I had ordered the garlic fries because they smelled insanely good.

The final pleasant surprise had to do with my trip home. I got on the ferry only to learn that I was on the SF - Angel Island - Alameda - Oakland ferry. So that added a good hour to the trip. Seriously. This time I decided to disembark in Oakland and get a taxi back to the hotel since I still needed to go back to my conference for 6pm. However, there was not a cab to be seen in this part of Oakland. A very large Bed, Bath and Beyond, but no cabs. Remember, my phone was dead, so I couldn't just call. Finally I located a hotel, got them to call me a cab, and made it back. It was now 4:30pm, giving me just enough time to shower, throw on different shoes, get another cab, and get back to the conference. Phew. Made it around 5:57pm. I had a very classy red sunburn to go with the purple top that I was wearing. Super classy!

There was one last, nice surprise. Seeing the air show over the bay from the ferry was pretty much sublime. And might have made this whole, entire, convoluted adventure worth it.

Day behind

2010-10-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a 7-mile run in the continued ridiculously pleasant Florida weather. I wore a running shirt with sleeves if you can imagine. It was in the 60s I think throughout the run -- very unusual. The route was around Stephanie and David's neighborhood, then with an extended route back through my neighborhood. Pretty sure I wouldn't have wanted to do this in warmer weather because there were a lot of exposed places in the sun.

There are tons more Halloween decorations in Stephanie and David's neighborhood. Pics to follow. Also, I saw the woman with the dogs in the bike basket.

I didn't get a chance to write yesterday because I had to get to California, where I am now. So pretty! And cool. In the low 60s right now. Tomorrow's run, which will hit various scenic places around San Francisco, should be a pleasure.

Weather holds for another 5 miles

2010-10-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today's run was the same as last Tuesday's: 5 miles with 6 minutes of total uphill time. I ran the same route as last week too. The most notable improvement for this week's run was the fact that there was no potentially life-threatening storms circling around. Hurray!

Actually, the weather was far more pleasant than I thought it could be. This is definitely closer to winter weather (it's 5pm right now and it's only 83F. If you can imagine!). I was actually chilly when I started my run this morning. Chilly! If only for a brief moment. It was in the low 60s with a crisp breeze. I didn't even think that we had crisp breezes in Florida, apart from the very occasional cold front.

There is only one problem: when the weather gets more tolerable, I want to really crank it while running. This is a problem for two reasons:

1) I'm not trained to really crank it from all of those weeks of taking it slow due to weather impediments;
2) I'm running a freaking marathon, not something where you need to crank it. By cranking it, I risk injuring myself or at least putting too much strain on my body. So this is a terrible strategy.

But it is so hard to resist! Maybe I will get better as the weather gets better. I will at least stay focused on not cranking it during long runs, that was not my best idea on Sunday. My primary concern is that I will get to the marathon, find out that it is cooler than I am accustomed to, and get going too fast. Yes, these are the things that I worry about. So probably it would be best if I just took things slow. Starting tomorrow. Totally.

The weather gets better

2010-10-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

Since Friday, I have heard the following descriptors used with regard to the weather:

'Gorgeous.'
'Perfect.'
'Wonderful.'

Allow me to point out that, in fact, it is still in the upper 80s during the day. However, the humidity and high dew points have dropped, which does make a considerable difference. Which is to say that the humidity still starts over 80% in the morning, but becomes more tolerable as the day goes on. In fact, as I write this around 2pm, the humidity is below 35%, which means now there is a danger of forest fires. Seriously. This is a 'red flag' alert by the National Weather Service due to the low humidity.

But I am not complaining. It was much nicer for running this morning. Maybe not perfect, but awfully good. Almost winter conditions -- oh, why am I pretending? These are basically winter conditions. Unfortunately, I got going a little too fast as a result, particularly around miles 3-7. Today was 10 miles, incidentally. As a result, miles 7-10 were much more of a challenge than maybe they needed to be. But that's okay. The key thing is that I finished.

Also, I could have done without the steep-grade hill around mile 8.5. It's Florida. How are there suddenly steep-grade hills?

When I was about half-way through mile 8, I started craving green iced tea in a huge way. This is new and it suggests that maybe the time has come to rethink my hydrating strategies -- not that I would take green tea. When I trained for the half marathon before, my trusty water bottle that has a convenient strap for holding it in my hand did the job just fine. However, I am starting to think that I need more than simply one water bottle's worth of stuff. Plus I am going to have to come up with a plan to stash those jelly beans for athletes or whatever I settle on using during the marathon. Unfortunately, many of the options that you have for stashing such things are called fuel belts and they look, essentially, like fanny packs. Running is not a time to look fashionable, as I well know. And anyway, it is probably time to get something at least.

I was in the golf course neighborhood today, which was considerably more subdued in Halloween decorations. Maybe they will pick it up closer to the event.

I have to say that the 10 miles felt like an Achievement. I'm not sure why because it's not even half-way through the marathon distance (13.1), but still, it felt good. And while I think that I could have been wiser in my strategy, I did still manage to finish, even with a very slight bit of oomph at the end. I don't feel like I could do a marathon right now, but that's okay because I don't have to do one for another two months. Until then, I need to focus on training consistently and things will be fine. Today might not have felt good (particularly around mile 8.5, which as you probably figured out was the challenge portion), but some of it did. Next week is 12 miles, which will be even more challenging because those will be Californian ones.

Halloween is coming

2010-09-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today I braved the icky conditions and decided to run in the morning anyway. The Office and 30 Rock are on later, after all. As I was running, I noticed that my time was very slow. Like, horrible long run of a few weeks ago slow. I got frustrated with myself, wondering why my time was so bad and wanting to be a better runner and all kinds of other things that I had plenty of time to contemplate since it was a 7-mile run. Then when I checked the weather, I realized that, in fact, it had been over the ick threshold for the whole time. Lesson learned: slow running -- particularly when you have been training consistently -- is probably the result of disgusting weather. We're talking temperature in the 70s with humidity of 90% icky. At least some of it was overcast.

The run took place in parts of Stephanie and David's neighborhood (still did not see Stephanie), then I came back over to my part and finished there. It would seem that several of Stephanie and David's neighbors have put up Halloween decorations already. Also, it would seem that some of them are pretty into Halloween decorations. Here are some of the highlights that I saw today:

These two photos are of different parts from the same house.

When I ran by this morning, the ghost was deflated.

Apparently, you do not want to cross into this yard. They have ghosts guarding it.

One of the houses was particularly ready for Halloween. All of the remaining photos were from the same place:

This is at the start of the street. Makes me wonder if more people usually dress up their houses.

Fact: most of the houses that had Halloween decorations up already also had fancy mailboxes.

I feel like 'spooky' and 'palm tree' just don't blend, somehow.

This is the spooky graveyard.

These inflatable things are popular. I feel like this one is more Thanksgiving-themed, though.

I wonder how the bears feel about being usurped during Halloween.

Playing with lightning

2010-09-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning, looked at the weather, and saw that it was a balmy 78F with 90% humidity with a dew point somewhere in the 70s (I forget what exactly). Then I realized that I actually had zero interest in running during this weather so I checked to see what the evening forecast was. Accuweather informed me that there was a chance of some scattered thunderstorms. Now if you live in Florida, you know that the forecast from May - November is, essentially, "Daytime high of 90F with a chance of some scattered thunderstorms in the late afternoon." So it was hard to pay much attention to it. I decided to risk it over enduring a 5-mile run with hills in while encountering the ick threshold.

Then, as I was chatting with my friend Sib around 3:30PM, I noticed that not only had the sky grown dark, but that there was also thunder. This did not bode well, in my view. I grew concerned that maybe there was going to be a thunderstorm of some duration. Checking the radar (including Bay News 9's Klystron, the most powerful weather radar in the world), I saw a large wall of storms. I hoped that it would clear for around 6pm. At 5pm, there was a severe weather alert issued for strong storms that could include lightning, hail, and other stuff that maybe you wouldn't want to run in.

I started to feel like I had tempted fate one time too many. It was going to have to be the treadmill or risk being hit by lightning. As you probably already noticed, the treadmill is not my favorite solution. In fact, while chatting with Sib, she commented that when I talked about the treadmill, I made it sound like torture. And sometimes, it can feel like torture. Not to mention that 5 miles is a long time to spend on one when you are slow like me. Plus there is no guarantee that the temperature in the running room won't be crazy high like last time.

I kept a very close eye on the various radars and noticed that around 6pm, things were looking much better. So I decided to risk it. Here are a few pictures that I took right before the run:

From the car on the way to the golf course neighborhood. At this point, I was having second thoughts.

One thing that Florida is good for: lengthy stretches of flat so that you can see just how far the storm extends.

I took this one right after parking my car at the rec center (that there is the rec center in the middle ground). By this point, I was having tenth thoughts about going.

I planned my route so that at no time was I too far from some kind of shelter, whether that be a rec center (there are two), school (there were several), or some kind of church with generous overhang (there were two, but they were kind of too close to each other to be practical). That way, if there was going to be lightning, I would be ready. However, I hit it lucky because all of that scary looking weather? It was going away. And it actually left some pretty sweet conditions. The temperature was 76F. This is considerably better when it is overcast than it would have been this morning. In fact, I daresay that it was downright pleasant.

There was one concession that I made. I decided not to run with my phone in case of downpour. Unlike the last time I did this, when it was a timed run (1 hour), I was supposed to complete five miles with hills today. So I drew on the resource of Map My Run, which lets you map your run, as you likely surmised. This was a new website for me. I can certainly see how it is a useful one since you can just click and create your route. Much better than the old days when I used to painstakingly plan my maps using Mapquest and entering every single intersection to get the distance (remember Mapquest?). With Map My Run, you just click and it shows you how far your route is. It's a very commercialized site, which I could have done without, but it did accomplish the main task. I wasn't very adept at using it, but I was in a hurry and trying to get out as fast as I could before some massive storm cropped up. With some practice, I'm sure I would find it very helpful for these scenarios.

And I actually could run! In fact, I think that my time was maybe not awful, even by normal standards. As I finished up my run, the sun was setting and the sky -- which was no longer scary and terrifying -- produced some pretty nice views:

The 'after' picture from the rec center

What amazes me is the range of colors. All of these pictures were taken within 15 minutes of each other.

This is the far side of a baseball field near one of the schools. When I ran past it, there was the scary grey sky. Quite a contrast within an hour!

Still in the golf course neighborhood.

There was even a rainbow that could be seen from the rec center parking lot!

Driving back home.

This is actually taken from my home, but I thought that it was pretty awesome and wanted to share. That's looking out toward the Little Pond.

And the best part about today's run: I did not get struck down by lightning. Win!

Another 8 miles down

2010-09-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

Today's long run was another 8 miles as a slight taper from last week. Next week is 10, then I leap to 12 after that. I was a bit concerned that 8 miles was going to be my cursed distance, particularly after the last 8 miles and because the weather today was back in the hot/humid range. I remember that during the summer of 2007, 6 miles was my cursed distance. Every time I tried to run 6 miles, something went wrong, like it got too hot or something (honestly, I can't remember what the other ones were now, but for some reason my 6-mile runs just never quite went well). But today wasn't so bad. The start of the run was overcast at least this time and once the sun was up, things were okay as long as I stayed in the shade. Fortunately, much of where I run is shady, so it wasn't such a major issue. Things were less fun in the sunny parts -- particularly at the point where I turned around to go back today, which is a double whammy since it is sunny and up a Florida hill. However, it was still not awful.

I am pretty knocked out today, though, more than I usually am on Sunday. I'm not sure if that is from running too hard or from the weather change, but I'm glad that tomorrow is a day off. A well-earned day off no less. Probably the lesson here is to not run so fast in heat, but hey, at least I am still trying!

Zoo Run Run

2010-09-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

This morning, I ran the 'Zoo Run Run' 5k at the Lowry Park Zoo. I did a zoo run a few years ago as part of an arthritis fundraiser and enjoyed the experience. Today's run was less fun, first off because there were probably 2000 people there. No joke. Bib numbers went up to 2000 and I didn't see any gaps in the numbers. Plus they had registration on the day of the race. Then everyone had to get chip timers...which seemed kind of dumb because there is no possible way that anyone is setting any personal records at a zoo run due to the fact that there are a lot of curves that one needs to negotiate. In fact, the whole operation got so convoluted that they had to start the run a few (maybe 10) minutes late. Then they didn't actually chip time because you didn't step over a chip time mat at the start, only at the finish line -- and there was a delay in the start because the race did get congested. So I'm not sure what the point was of the chip timers at all. But I digress.

One major complaint I have with races in Florida: get people to line up according to mile splits! I've never once seen that happen here. As a result, you get all kinds of paces out of the gate, which is especially annoying when it is a narrow course as it is at the zoo. I don't want to take out any other runners, but am sometimes forced to when slow walkers are walking across the course in a group of three or more near the front. If you are a slow walker, that is great. I'm thrilled that you are out and exercising. However, please be at the back of the race or minimally, do not walk three abreast across the whole pathway! But I digress again.

You remember how the weather was getting better? Well, it's officially worse again -- and just in time for tomorrow's long run (joy). It was around the normal ick this morning: 78F, humidity 84%, dew point 73F. In you're keeping track, yes that is barely across the Threshold of Ick since temp + humidity = more than 160. It doesn't matter that it was only two over 160. That is still too much.

When I hit mile 2, I was annoyed because I wanted to run faster and couldn't. It is a super irritating feeling! But something (likely the Threshold of Ick) held me back. Someday, someday, I will be able to run. By which I mean, 'in two weeks when I go to California.' Stay tuned.

Bad part of California: I've heard that there are hills...

Good part of today's run: the zoo had hills, Florida-style (so not really, but there were inclines and declines). And I definitely ran them better than the majority of the other people out there. Nice to know that 'hill training' is paying off, even if I am only equipped for zoo-level hills!

Too fast. But oh so good.

2010-09-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

I wanted to go running this morning and partake in more of that fantastic weather. Instead, I woke up at 7:30am when the alarm went off, felt like someone clobbered me with a 2 x 4, and realized what I really needed was sleep. I am a big fan of the 'let your body dictate what you do' school of thought (within reason, of course). The nature of my job causes me to sometimes feel much like someone clobbered me with a 2 x 4 -- Thursdays are especially bad this semester (because Wednesdays are especially long and intense). When I can take advantage of gaining more sleep in that situation, it's my preferred solution.

I did run tonight, though, heading out around 6:30pm. Remember a few weeks ago when the evenings seemed so much better than the mornings? Well, provided that this morning was as nice as Tuesday, that situation would appear to have reversed itself. The good news is that it didn't rain/storm/downpour and I did go running. So that's all that really matters in the end.

This run was that mysterious '4M, 3 x 2:00AI' one that I was supposed to do on Tuesday. Turns out that AI means 'aerobic intensity,' meaning that you should step up your run for a 2-minute interval. You then recover, and run another one. So that is what I did. Although I think I went too hard, because the last one especially turned into more of an anaerobic interval.

Your heart rate is anaerobic when you get into that zone they always show as the 'danger zone' on those heart rate charts found on cardio machines. Probably, you don't actually want to be anaerobic for all that long under normal circumstances, but some sports require it, such as rowing. Part of the problem for me tonight was that it was still hot and humid, so my heart rate was already faster than usual. Definitely, I should have slowed down. I was even telling myself to slow down during the last AI, particularly in the last thirty seconds.

But....but....but....sometimes it is just too hard to slow down! It's nice, even when marathon training, to feel every once in a while like you can still run fast. I got a glimpse of that on Tuesday. I had more of a glimpse tonight. The actual time on those intervals wasn't particularly great (11-minute miles), but bear in mind that these were in 89F weather with 50% humidity (and 69F dew point, in case you've become obsessed with that stat like I have). That is not bad at all. In fact, if I use the Jeff Galloway system of computing miles in icky weather (and he does live in Florida), that turns into 8-minute miles -- the system being add 30 seconds for every 5 degrees over 60F. Now, I know that this is exaggerating because I feel really confident that I couldn't sustain that pace even for two minutes, but a girl can dream.

Next time, I know I need to take it slower. For today, though, I was going fast again even if, like when Ricky Bobby said it, I wasn't really.

4 miles of awesome!

2010-09-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Today's run had actually pretty good conditions. It was 67F when I started. Did you read that? It was below 70F. This is exciting stuff for me! And it didn't really warm up all that much while I was running. It was absolutely delightful, albeit still humid (85%).

I've developed some good strength in my legs. Unfortunately, I don't think that I'm using it to its full potential most days because I'm worried about overheating. Even today, it was a challenge to get myself to run faster because I think that my body was concerned about what was coming up next. I once read an article in Runner's World that showed how people who trained with running had bodies that would adapt to conditions and figure out the best pace. Your body does this automatically after some training. Isn't that amazing? Anyway, I think that my brain is now convinced that it needs to hold back the pace because it will inevitably heat up by 5F while I am out. That's okay, but on days like today, when it is cooler, it would be nice to just fly. However, I'm also trying to remember that in the big picture, it is not about flying, it is about finishing. Slow doesn't matter. If I want to work on speed, then I should aim for a smaller distance. I will say, though, that in the last 0.1 mile, I was pretty amazed by just how much power I had. Pretty awesome.

I had a 9:30 appointment, so I had to go relatively early. Today's run was supposed to be -- and I am quoting from my schedule here -- '4M, 3 x 2:00 AI.' The problem is that I forgot what 'AI' stands for in this situation (although I would imagine stepping up the pace). Before heading out, I meant to check in the book that I am using to train, but I forgot and decided instead to just go and run four miles. Thursday's run was supposed to be 4M, so I shall just substitute.

I circled around my neighborhood, which is not the same as the golf course neighborhood located across the street. However, it still has its nice points. For instance, there is the Big Pond and the Little Pond. Both are connected to the Hillsborough River, which is the main waterway around these parts. The Big Pond was especially nice this morning as the sun was just rising and the sky was pinkish. I didn't get a picture of this, but I did get one later of the pond:

Now imagine this with wisps of mist and a pinkish sky, and that's pretty much what I saw this morning.

If you are not from Florida, then you are probably wondering if there are alligators in this pond. If you are from Florida, then you are probably wondering where the alligators are in this pond. There are plenty of them, including some pretty big ones. However, I did not see any today. Here is a stock photo (taken from my personal collection) of an alligator in the Big Pond from earlier this year:

Actual alligator in Big Pond.

The Little Pond is actually attached to the Big Pond. It is linked with tunnels that go under the road (the road bifurcates the Big and Little Ponds). What I especially like about the Little Pond is that I can see it from my window when I am working from home. Pretty sweet view! Anyway, here is the Little Pond:

The Little Pond. Still not bad.

If you're curious, yes there are also alligators in the Little Pond. This was the pond in which I saw one a couple of weeks ago.

Modular Homes of the Future!

2010-09-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

Today's run, 9 miles, was actually quite nice. The temperature was in the low 70s to start and as long as I stayed in the shade, it was fine all the way through. Nice change! Here's hoping that it doesn't get hot and icky again (I can always dream).

Yesterday was a day off and I took a pass on the gym. My legs are feeling a bit tired, so I thought that this was for the best. However, I did move a couch, so I can pretend like that was exercise, despite the fact that it was not a heavy couch and I had help.

I took some more photos today and am calling this collection Modular Homes of the Future! These are mostly from Riverhills Drive again. I chose them because they look like they were designed in the 1960s to look like futuristic homes. Actually, some of these homes were designed by semi-famous architects (I am not an expert, so I'm not sure on these points) and are part of the Mid-Century modern movement, but I have no idea if it is these specific homes. Anyway, enjoy!

This is the quintessential Modular Home of the Future in my view.

Does this remind anyone else of a fort?

I've noticed that several Modular Homes of the Future hide their modularness through flora.

This one seems more Floridian, somehow. Maybe because of the lighter color?

This one is more like a Modular Home of the Bayou

I think that this one is the most imposing of the Modular Homes of the Future.

Modular Home of the Future: Now With Silver Metallic Door!

This last one is not a Modular Home of the Future but rather a Weird Retro Home of the Past (and I didn't actually run by it today, but I did recently and felt that it was noteworthy):

Reflection on Sunday's run. Yes, I'm still doing that.

2010-09-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

When I looked at the weather conditions this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the dew point was 69F at the start of my run. Can you imagine? According to Wikipedia, that is only "somewhat uncomfortable for most people at the upper edge" (the range being 65-69F). Only somewhat uncomfortable! How awesome is that?

I got thinking about Sunday's run again. Truth be told, I've been thinking quite a lot about Sunday's horror run. For instance, on Monday night, I expressed displeasure to two friends that I had to run again after the torture that was Sunday's run. But I'm trying to put a more positive spin on it. Sunday's run was probably as bad as it gets. The heat index is not usually so disgusting that early in the morning, even in Florida. As a comparison, Accuweather had the heat index at 106F on Sunday around 10am. This morning it was 92F at 10am. Still not ideal conditions, but a significant improvement.

If Sunday was as bad as it will probably get, then I'm okay because I still did it. I still finished my 8 miles. I was slow but this apparently doesn't matter. It wasn't enjoyable, it wasn't fun, and it certainly was not something that I want to repeat any time soon. But I didn't quit. I didn't give up. I didn't walk. I didn't stop running. And that is the lesson to be learned here. Chalk it up to more mental toughness development.

That's better!

2010-09-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

For some unknown reason, this morning's run was significantly better than Sunday's. Perhaps it was because it was only half the distance (4 miles with some running up 'hills'). Perhaps it was because there was a 5 mph breeze from the ENE to alleviate the icky. But mostly I think that it was because the RealFeel temperature was in the low 90s instead of the upper 90s/low 100s. I was concerned yesterday because initial forecasts were saying that the high today would be 96F, which is freaking hot for Florida. However, it appears that this has been revised to a much more tolerable 93F. And I am not exactly chomping at the bit to go in Sunday conditions again any time soon. Or ever, if possible.

It was still sweaty, though. I could not believe just how much so when I looked in the mirror upon my return. Despite this, I did have a little more spring in my step and even felt pretty good at the end. My time was also around 2 minutes faster per mile than Sunday. This weather, I swear. It's insane!

Today is an exciting day as well because I am getting a massage. Hurray! I go to a place on the other side of town called Carrollwood Massage Therapy that does an excellent job. I wish that I could go more often, but my plan is to try and get a massage once a month during the training. Between that and football being back, this week is getting better, post-Sunday run!

And hot. It's also still hot.

2010-09-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

If you're curious, there was no blog entry yesterday because I didn't run. My training schedule has a day off every few weeks and yesterday was one of them. I didn't set the alarm and got to sleep in (okay, not really, it was to 9:30am, but that is still better than nothing!). Twice in one week with no alarms. That won't be happening again for a while.

Yesterday was a major day in college football around these parts because the University of South Florida (here in Tampa) played the University of Florida for the first time. Now unless you live under a rock or are completely oblivious to college football, you likely are aware that UF is a pretty good team -- there is a lot more that could be said on this point, especially since a bunch of their major players graduated, but let's leave it at that. USF was ranked #2 back in 2007 and hasn't yet cracked the rankings this year. I only mention this because I watched this historic game yesterday (UF trounced USF) and could not help but take notice of a comment that recurred several times from the announcers: it was hot. It was hotter than any of them remembered it being in the Swamp during game day (UF plays in a stadium called The Swamp). They even consulted some of the people who had been covering Swamp football for 30 years and they thought that it was abnormally hot. And let me tell you, that hot carried on this morning.

My run was much, much slower than I would want it to be, but I can definitely see why. I looked at the graph showing my time and there was a very clear deceleration that occurred during the second half of my run. Why? Because today there was no good answer. It was humid to start, hot as I went, and no cloud cover whatsoever to shield Mr. Florida 'Freaking Hot' Sun. The heat index at the end was 92F according to the National Weather Service. Accuweather put that at 106F. Let's average those two: 99F. Still horrid.

Oh, and in the 'you can't win' department, the humidity was 94% when I started. COME ON! At no time did the magic number of humidity plus temperature dip below 160. Not once. Dew point, you may ask? Between 75-77F. Looking back on these numbers, I can't believe I got through the run.

But hey, I persevered. For 8 whole miles. Liked the miles in the shade far more than the ones in the sun. And let me tell you, by the end of the run, quite a few of those were in the sun.

I'm awfully glad that I changed a few hydrating/fueling strategies for today's run or else I might not have made all 8 miles. First, I managed to do a route that took me past a drinking fountain in one of the parks around the 4-mile mark. Good plan because I was almost out of water by that point. Also, unlike most runs, I brought a little mini-Clif Bar today. You are supposed to refuel somehow for every hour that you are out (or something like that). I'm pretty sure that the Clif Bar helped. Plus it's small enough that it wasn't hard to bring with me stashed away in one of the pockets on my water holder. I need to experiment more with refueling since the actual marathon will require a strategy. Here's hoping that sport jellybeans will work.

If you're wondering, I don't drink Gatorade because it upsets my stomach. Gatorade, as you probably know, originated at UF because people were keeling over from the heat and ick in The Swamp. However, there are alternatives to Gatorade that I have used in the past and let me tell you, around 5 miles I was making plans to go and find some of those ASAP.

The post-run this week, though, is a happy time. First, I went and got a chocolate milk. This is the best recharging liquid known to man. Seriously. No one is quite sure why. But who am I to complain if I get to have a chocolate milk? Second, unless you live under a TV-free rock, you are likely aware that this is the first Sunday of NFL football. NFL football is one of my absolute favorite things in the whole wide world, hands down. Plus I get to watch with friends. Plus we are going to a place that has whole-wheat pizza. And you bet that I have earned that puppy today!

I know, I know, even I have gone on about how when you run, you still need to watch your diet. And in general, I am good about watching the diet. However, my body is already kicking up into high hunger gear, even on days when I am not running, so I need to be sure to fuel properly. Last night's dinner, for instance, was tofu with bean/spinach salad and wild rice. Can't feel too bad about that. Now it is time for some pizza and some FOOTBALL!

Hey, guess what? It's still humid!

2010-09-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

I suppose that AM humid is still better than PM hot, but in all honestly, I'd rather avoid either. Today was 6 miles (whoo! Not 4!). Instead of going over to the golf course neighborhood, I went over to Stephanie and David's instead. No RSE, but I did hear the dogs in the house. Also, the woman with the chihuahuas in the bicycle basket was out this morning too. Not sure if she recognized me.

She did say hi, but that's because pretty much everyone in Florida says hi to you when you run. I even had people wave hi from inside vehicles. This ain't MA on the friendliness quotient, I can promise you that much.

It was a relatively nice day, I just would have preferred less humidity. But what can you do? At least the sun was not horrible. And I remembered to put out the garbage!

According to the schedule, I am supposed to run a 5k on Saturday, September 25. I was hoping to be able to do the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Ranch Run, which takes place in the golf course neighborhood, but it's too early this year. However, I found a pretty good race instead: the Lowry Park Zoo's Zoo Run Run. I get to run around the zoo! And I get free admission for the rest of the day. From my experience running around the zoo is not the best course for a PR since you wind up running around a lot of tight corners that cost you time. A couple of years ago, I did a number of 5ks throughout the fall and was down to about a 10:40 mile split. The zoo run, in contrast, I had an 11:45. However, I got to run around and look at the animals, which is much, much more fun than a run could be otherwise. Zoo Run Run it is!

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have marathon training

2010-09-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

For a wide variety of reasons, I couldn't get out this morning. Chief amongst those reasons was that the weather was unpredictable. There is a disturbance in the Gulf (why yes, I did see some of the Star Wars marathon on Spike this weekend), creating a tropical storm over on the Texas side -- Tropical Storm Hermine to be exact. Now, while we are far from Texas, there is still enough of an overall disturbance to make weather here dicey. It was rainy this morning, then overcast after that. Plus I had a few things that needed taking care of first thing. End result: no run this morning.

I was hoping to wait until ~7pm, then go, but every time I checked the weather, this seemed like a bad idea. Both Accuweather and Weather.com indicated that the longer I waited, the worse the chances of a possibly violent storm. Then the skies appeared to be getting overcast around 5pm. I decided that rather than gambling by waiting, I would head out and bear the brunt of the hot. This was probably the right move since when I got home, there was a warning for western Hillsborough county (I'm in the eastern part) that there were violent storms with a funnel cloud spotted. Pass. Although I did locate a convenient shelter from storms along my route today, yay.

And hot it was. The sun envelops you like it just isn't going to let go. Like Dementors in Harry Potter, only with warmth instead of cold and no Lupin to hand you chocolate. Things were almost manageable in the shade, but Mr. Florida Sun was strong. Not to mention that because the sun was still relatively high in the sky, there was less shade overall. Accuweather seems to think that the heat index was around 96F and while I sometimes think that they exaggerate, it was not exactly ideal at the start of the run. However, I persevered and that is what matters.

Sometimes I wonder if I would be a faster runner if I had stayed up north and continued to run. I probably would be. But I think I'm a tougher runner from being down here.

So much of this was the bad. But there were a few good moments too. As I was driving over to the golf course neighborhood, I heard the piano exit from 'Layla,' which is one of my favorite things right now. I must be on some weird Scorsese kick because as I write this, I am listening to the final number from the St. Matthew Passion, which features prominently in Scorsese's Casino. Yeah, it was sunny today, hence the random.

Anyway, I also had an insight as I ran. I was going along a sunny part and thinking about how I just had to grit through this -- YES, I did just turn 'grit' into a verb with an unusual usage! Then I started thinking about how in yoga you are supposed to be in the moment and not worry about the future. However, that is basically the opposite of what I generally do when running. I am constantly thinking about the future. Am I going too fast? Could I go faster? How much further do I have to go? Will my current route cover that or will I have to add on (or find a shortcut)? Where is the next stretch of shade? Can I beat the garbage truck home? You get the idea. For me, running is all about not being in the moment, it is about being in the next moment. No idea if this is a good strategy, just something that went through my head around mile 3 while running in the Florida sun.

When I got back, I learned something interesting: according to my phone, I have run 97 miles so far training for my marathon. But actually, I have run more. The 5k Salem run isn't included in there, so that puts me at 100 miles, plus there are the two hour-long runs that I did the past couple of weeks. I am over 100 miles! This seems cool for some reason.

More Riverhills Drive

2010-09-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday is run day! Yes, that's right, it was the long run this morning, which was 7 miles. Slightly longer than last week so I added to my route. I did the hill street then back (~2 miles total), down Riverhills (~4 miles total), and added on a bit at the end which took me past the golf club (~1 mile). As I was heading to the golf club, I was nearly hit by two retirees in a golf cart who were driving on the sidewalk. Welcome to Florida. I don't think any single moment has summed it up more succinctly.

Today was not nearly as humid as last week, but still not the awesome conditions of Tuesday. Ah well. You need some runs that will stick out as amazing, right? If all of them were like that, they would just get boring (not really, but allow me to live in my fantasy world).

After the run, I went around and got a few more pictures. Still no 18th-hole-epiphanies like Billy Graham. Here are some of the favorite houses from today, with the added bonus that you can see the power of Mr. Florida Sun:

That porch up top kills me. No idea what purpose it could serve, except it might be fun as a place to hang out during parties.

Good that it does not snow here with that roof. Notice power of Mr. Florida Sun.

This house really caught my attention today. I like the trees in the front too.

This house has a whole lot of stuff going on. There is also a gazebo off to the left that I couldn't fit in the frame. Rock the casbah!

And my favorite yard of the morning:

Flamingos on parade!

I think I'm getting the Mr. Florida Sun thing from when I did sailing as a kid and they used to always refer to the wind as 'Mr. Wind.' As in, 'when Mr. Wind comes at you from this angle, it is to your maximum advantage to have your sails at this angle.'

Dog-sitting

2010-09-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

I'm dog-sitting for Stephanie and David (of the Random Stephanie Encounters fame), which is always fun. They have two whippet mixes who are very well behaved and fun dogs. Last night, we all hung out on the couch that the dogs are allowed to it on and they blatantly ignored scary-sounding animals barking (or something!) outside.

Random fact: Florida has coyotes.

What dose this have to do with running? You can't sleep in too late when you dog-sit because the dogs will let you know when it is time to get up. They are crated at night, but one gets pretty active if you aren't up around 7am. So I knew that this would be helpful for going relatively early. The weather this morning at 7:15am was absolutely beautiful...but I couldn't go running yet because I had to feed the dogs, then take them out. Ah well. They found an absolutely enormous caterpillar in the back yard. Disturbingly big.

I did finally get out around 8am, which wasn't so bad. Today was 4 miles again. If you feel like I'm always running 4 miles, actually that's exactly how I'm starting to feel. I'm sure that it will vary soon enough. The run was just me circling around Stephanie and David's neighborhood. I had to do a bit of backtracking at one point, but for the most part there were enough streets to get through the 4 miles without repeats.

I kept passing a couple that has two small chihuahuas. I've seen this couple before: they take a baby stroller with them, presumably in case the dogs get tired. As I was on the very last part of my run (I think 3.8 miles in or something), I passed the woman for a third time -- she was actually now biking around the neighborhood with her dogs in the bike basket. She looked at me and said, 'You're good!' Always nice to get random encouragement from strangers. Actually, I felt pretty good through the end because it was shady and I still had a little oomph in my step. Nice change from some days!

Stupid weather wind arrows

2010-09-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

This morning was still better than most days, but I can feel the heat is building again. I saw a weather forecast yesterday, and they had these arrows to show the direction of the wind. The arrows were switching from an eastwardly direction to a westwardly one. In my view, this does not bode well. I would imagine that there is more humidity and ick coming from a westwardly direction, since that's where the Gulf of Mexico is. Also, Hurricane Earl is currently to the eastwardly direction, which I suspect is helping to sap some of the humidity out of the atmosphere. Earl is set to move up the coast in the next few days.

Sigh. At least I got out while it lasted!

Today's run was my 1 hour. I doodled around the neighborhood and had a moment of excitement around 45 minutes, when I realized that I had forgot to put the garbage out. I tried cutting through my neighborhood in fun and interesting new ways so as to beat the garbage truck, only to find that it had already passed. Drat! Although it did liven up the run somewhat.

Miracle in Temple Terrace

2010-08-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

I am about to reveal something shocking about my run this morning, so you might want to sit down before reading.

The weather was actually bearable today.

In August.

By the way, it doesn't matter that it is the end of August, usually the awful weather stays until late October/early November. So this is very unusual.

I got off to a bit of a late start today. If you've been following the blog, you might have picked up on the fact that I am not really a leap-out-of-bed-at-5-am-to-run person. I'm pretty good at getting out once I'm up, but sometimes that takes a few taps on the snooze button before it happens. Then I don't like to leap into my running clothes and go immediately: I check my Gmail and Facebook, normally, along with the weather conditions. Then I go.

The hazard in this approach is that by 9am, Mr. Florida Sun is getting mighty strong, so sometimes I get started too late. However, this is tempered by the fact that the humidity is usually better if you go later. The usual dilemma.

Today I definitely got started a bit later than I would have liked. I stepped out of the car at around 9am and was stunned to find that the conditions were not awful. Now, this is within the context of Florida in the summer: it still wasn't 60F with a refreshing breeze, but it was comparable to a hot summer day up north. I still can't get over the conditions (this information is coming from Accuweather):

Temperature: 79F
Humidity: 82%
Dew point: 74F

Did you see that? Dew point was 74F! Not hovering near the 80s! And if you add the temperature plus humidity, you will notice that the result is 161. That is just barely over the evil 160 threshold. And there was a breeze. A somewhat cool breeze. A somewhat cool breeze that helped in evaporating the sweat, even in the sun.

I have no idea how long this will last, if it will last at all. But it was nice to run this morning. It's amazing how much less I look at my phone grimacing in agony when the conditions are bearable. Incidentally, today was another four mile plus 4 hill minutes day, with some running by the golf course added in. In the sun. Without dying. It's a Temple Terrace miracle!

New Shoes!

2010-08-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

So by now, you are probably thinking that anyone who claims running is a cheap hobby is totally lying. After all, I appear to be dashing in and out of stores all over the nation like I am the next contestant on Running Man. That's not really true, though. When I first started running, I was very broke and earning practically nothing. Part of what I liked about running was that I just had to invest in shoes every six months or so. My first pair came from the Saucony outlet in Somerville, MA and I think they cost around $30. But they were ugly, which is undoubtedly why they were so cheap.

I am a very fortunate runner because I haven't noticed any kind of major issue that I have which would require specialized footwear. When my shoes start to feel worn, I just head over to the nearest (or largest) Discount Shoe Warehouse and see what's there. I've done pretty well overall. My last pair of shoes were ASICS (the ones in White/Navy/Limeade) and I really liked them, but their time had come. So I present to you the new pair!

Ta-dah!

They are Air Alaris from Nike, so if I wanted to spend a small fortune, I could get all kinds of toys to attach to my shoes in order to have a completely accurate idea of my training. Or I could just use my phone with the free app to get the information that I need. See, running doesn't have to be expensive!

I also stocked up on another running essential: socks. My sock situation to date in my running career has been to put on generic, cotton socks and go. It struck me a few weeks ago that I might want to up my game in this department, since my feet always feel hot after running (this might be unavoidable). However, I'm wary of those little running socks. I've tried those before and often they slip, leaving my ankle(s) open to yucky blisters. There were lots of athletic socks at DSW and I managed to find some that were higher cut, yet still have the ability to wick:

Ta-dah!

And that was plenty of running-related purchasing for the day (although I did also acquire 3 new pairs of shoes, all of which are relatively low heeled, and therefore should be good for general use while training).

Riverhills Drive

2010-08-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the first of the official long runs. It was 6 miles. Perhaps understandably, I found it hard to equate 6 miles with a long run. After all, the actual marathon will require 6 miles, then another 20 and change afterward. But 6 miles is still a decent distance, particularly when run in Florida summer conditions -- as I learned once the run was over.

The first 'big' race that I did was 10k, which amounts to 6.2 miles. This made me feel like I had made it as a runner, for some reason, even though my time was horrid. My run today, in Florida summer conditions, was better than that run. It was the Tufts 10k, which I highly recommend if you live anywhere near Boston (and are female). You run on the Cambridge side of the Charles, then back on Commonwealth Avenue, which is the wicked pretty part of Boston. The race finishes in Boston Common (remember the Frog Pond?). It's very well organized and a great day. When I did it, friends and I sat on the grass afterward for a while, just enjoying the weather. I highly recommend.

This is one race that I wish I could run again, particularly since I am now a better runner. I think that it was a stretch at the time. What I mostly remember about miles 4-6 was trying to push myself through mentally. We were on Comm Ave, which is the part of Boston where the streets are organized alphabetically (NB: this is the only part of Boston that you can really say is 'organized'). I kept counting down the streets, but each one was taking far, far longer than I thought. For instance, I remember thinking that I was almost past Exeter Street, then realizing that not only was I not past it, but I was not even there yet, and the intersection itself felt like it took 10 minutes. And that was only the 'E' street. I still had Dartmouth, Clarendon, Berkeley, and Arlington to go.

Anyway, today's 6 miles didn't require quite so much mental push, although I would have been utterly fine with stopping after 5 miles. But I didn't, which is the whole point. I need to be better about running to finish rather than running to finish well; this mentality will be really important during the marathon. Six miles is still at the point where I could probably do decently well if I raced it tomorrow. That cannot be said of 12 miles or anything beyond that, when it will just be about finishing. I need to get more in that mindset, particularly since the conditions in Florida change (get awful) so drastically from the start to finish of long runs.

I ran around the golf course neighborhood, past some of the really nice sections. This was on Riverhills Drive, which you may have deduced is near the river. This was the oldest part of Temple Terrace that was built up and has a lot of very nice and interesting homes, plus plenty of shady oak trees. Here's a sample of some of my favorites from today:


Near Ben Lomond Park. There are a lot of Scottish names, presumably to go with the golf course theme.

One of the best aspects of Temple Terrace, in my opinion, is that the flora has grown in so nicely. Other, more recent neighborhoods in Tampa don't have this.

I love the roof tiles!

My run today started on Riverhills Drive, turning about 2 miles in at Florida College. I went by a spot of historical note: the exact place on the Temple Terrace golf course that Reverend Billy Graham received his calling from God. Yes, he was out golfing and God spoke to him. This is the fairway where this momentous event occurred:

Actual fairway where Billy Graham received calling. It is the 18th hole. Good thing he had almost finished the round.

I, however, had no such experience today. The final photo I took as I was heading home, but it serves as a lovely encapsulation of the fact that yes, this neighborhood is built around a golf course:

Relaxation

2010-08-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

I knew that I wouldn't keep up with doing yoga and such every day, but I think that I'm doing a relatively good job. This week has required a lot of adjusting since I'm back in classes, so it's not so easy to organize my time. But I did get a chance to do two workouts and they have been quite useful. When I stretch after running, there is no question that I am getting more flexible.

Today I tried a yin yoga DVD that I got from the library. The practitioner was Simon Low and it was great. There was one pose that I absolutely could not manage, but the rest went quite well. One pose incorporated into the workout was pigeon, which really stretched muscles that needed some work. It's nothing like the Sesame Street song sung by Bert, if you're curious.

The best part of the yin yoga DVD (apart from the actual workout) was when the instructor offered an alternative banana pose at one point. There is just something funny about hearing the word 'banana' in a British accent.

I may go to hot yoga with a friend next week (hey, why not?) and normal yoga should be starting up soon. It will be nice to have more of an organized routine...actually, that could be said about a lot of things right now!

When to run?

2010-08-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

If all things were equal, I think that I would much prefer to run at sunset. The humidity is down, the sun is not as powerful, and it is just more pleasant in my opinion. But then you risk storms. Today, I went around 7:00PM. The weather was actually okay, especially with a bit of a cool breeze. But the whole time there were mounting clouds and I got concerned that there would be a storm (there wasn't).

The morning run/evening run dilemma is just yet another one of the challenges posed by Florida. There are only very small windows when you can run (early morning or before sunset). I guess I could run at night, but it would make me nervous. There are not always sidewalks or streetlights, not to mention that there are very few people outside. When I was in Boston a few weeks ago, I realized that I was surprised to see people out at night. It makes me more nervous to think that I would be out on my own at night, so I generally take a pass.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of today's run was coming back and passing the small pond. There was an alligator that had surfaced and he was sitting there like he owned the place. Actually, he does own the place, so more power to him. Another good reason not to run at night: every so often, you do hear of a runner being attacked by an alligator. No need for that.

Today I booked my massage for mid-September and ordered two new sports bras. Can you tell that payday was yesterday? Tomorrow I plan to go find some new shoes. The old ones are definitely worn and I can feel some slight stiffness in my knee, which is the sign that new shoes are needed. I hope I can find pretty ones!

Temple Terrace: it's no Worcester

2010-08-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today's run was 4 miles with 4 minutes uphill. When I first saw that, I automatically assumed that those four minutes would be on the treadmill since this region of Florida is pretty bereft of hills. All of the other places that I've lived since starting my running career have had a decent hill profile. Boston has some killah hills, and others that are the slow and painful gradual types. These are the ones that you don't even notice until you decide to run them, then you wonder why your run has been so awful for the past 1/4 mile. Looking behind you, you realize that this is because you've been on a very long and gradual hill. Looking ahead, you realize that this very long and gradual hill may never end. Trust me, I've been on this run more than once.

When I started running in Boston, I lived in Somerville, which has several really nasty hills. Somehow, I managed to live right near the crest of one of them. So no matter which way you came to my apartment, the end of the run was inevitably a long, gradual, uphill climb. I initially noticed this as I was trying to finish my very first long run (6 whole miles!) and felt like the last part of my run was all uphill. I then realized that it actually was and that this 'all uphill' feeling was not my imagination. This is the town with Heartbreak Hill, after all (it's a big, long, gradual hill 20 miles into the Boston Marathon, which is not where you want such a hill. Many runners have been felled by it).

After Boston, I lived in Worcester, which is one of those many cities of seven hills. They aren't kidding. It's in the foothills of the Berkshires and you definitely get your hillwork done. I ran more hills in my warm-ups than I probably do now in a month of Florida running. There was a particularly brutal one that I used to use for hill practice which was a pretty decent incline that went on for 5-6 minutes. Back then, I didn't even really think about hills. They were just there.

Then I moved here, where there were zero hills. Where I lived before, the only thing approaching a hill was a pedestrian overpass located on a running trail. And yes, I did actually use that for hill training. It even had the added advantage of no shade whatsoever. So that was my hill. Or the treadmill. Or wait for the summer and Vienna, which has some completely ridiculous gradual hills:

Yeah, I used to run that. Up. And down. That's running Wiener-style.

When I was there this summer, I went on a run that had 15 straight minutes uphill. Seriously. And this was a casual hill compared to some.

Anyway, you can imagine my surprise and joy when I discovered that Temple Terrace does actually have a few hills. My first concern was whether it had enough of a hill to constitute four minutes, as mandated by my training plan for today. I decided to tackle 'the hill' to see how long it took, and wouldn't you know it? Two minutes up. So I ran it, circled around a lovely treed neighborhood, then ran it again. Problem solved!

When I checked my phone upon finishing the run, I realized that Temple Terrace actually has several elevation changes in the form of long, gradual hills. So actually, I did more than four minutes. Hopefully this is making me a stronger runner without me even noticing -- although I don't think I'm quite ready for Comrades, the insane South African ultramarathon with completely insane hills:

Comrades profile map. Insane. I cannot use that word enough in describing this race.

Here is a photo of the hill I ran today. Feel free to laugh. I should probably put 'hill' in 'quotation marks':

It's no Worcester, that is for sure. But I am running this marathon in coastal South Carolina, so likely I will be okay.

Proof of me surviving the Florida Death Runs

2010-08-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of me at the finish line. Note awesome new running shorts and visor in fourth photo. Please please please don't judge me on these times! My PR for a 5k is 31:20 (I ran a 10:06 mile split and this was only last September), really!

Phenomenal timing

2010-08-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

Those big storms from this morning finally ended and the weather appeared to clear for a bit today around 6pm. I had been planning to go to the treadmill and do one of the four planned runs for this week. Today was supposed to be a 4M with 4:00 uphill within that. Right now, I believe that I have two viable uphill options:

1) Treadmill;
2) Neighborhood across the street with actual hills.

Because the weather was still dicey (there were clouds everywhere), I decided that it was a bad idea to go across the street in case I was two miles from my car when a major storm hit. I think it's better to avoid the treadmill in case of problems: all of them being busy, not being able to sneak in more than 30 minutes of a workout, room being over 75F, etc... I'll use one if there is no other option, but when I do have a choice, I'd rather be outside.

I switched the planned Thursday run with today's run, which was 1 hour of running. This was a better plan for two reasons:

1) I could run around my neighborhood with a part of my run near my friend Stephanie's house. In case of weather emergency, I could come home or stop by their place. Even if they were not home, I could hide under the overhang by their front door. This would not be considered a Random Stephanie Encounter since I would have rigged it;
2) I didn't need to take the phone since the run was not based on distance. Instead, I took my water-proof watch. I'm assuming that my phone is not water-proof...I definitely do not plan on testing it.

I timed this perfectly. The weather was actually almost pleasant (low 80s! Can you imagine?!?) albeit humid. If sweat actually does remove toxins from your body, I must be bordering on fully pure by this point. There was even a slightly cool wind, so the sweat actually evaporated sometimes. You know. Like sweat is meant to do to regulate the heat in your body.

What made this run kind of funny was that I think every runner in the neighborhood took advantage of this break in the storm to go out. I saw more runners in that hour than I usually see in a week. Well, maybe not a week, but certainly I am not used to everyone coordinating at the same time.

My timing, though, was impeccable. The run was without any weather incident at all. Then when I got home, as I was opening the door, I noticed that it had started raining again. A good downpour came about 15 minutes later. Perfect and I managed to avoid the treadmill!

I also tallied a list of running gear/stuff that I want/need:

1) New shoes: this will have to happen relatively soon. They are not posing any problem yet, but I have had them for a while;
2) Two new sports bras. This is moving up in importance. One of them does not offer sufficient support, the other one is causing chaffing. Ouch.
3) A massage. I haven't been in months and I could use one!

(I don't know why I'm suddenly making so many lists either).

Today is a treadmill day

2010-08-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

One thing that is good about running in Florida is that the weather is predictable about 99% of the time: it is sunny, humid, and hot, with the chance of an afternoon thunderstorm. The same applies in the winter but with fewer thunderstorms and slightly less hot/humid. However, when I woke up this morning, the skies were looking somewhat ominous. I decided to check the weather to see if it made sense to go this morning or if I should wait until later -- actually, I wasn't really feeling like running, so part of this was simply me feeling lazy. As I was doing that, it started pouring rain. If you look at the radar image below (you can click on it to make it bigger), I live in the part marked Temple Terrace and that vast storm is moving toward me. Actually, I think it just got here because it's been pouring for the past 10 minutes, accompanied by thunder and lightning. I'm glad that I was not out running in this!

They are calling for rain and thunderstorms for the rest of the day. I think I will opt for the treadmill instead.

Follow-up (1/2 hour later...I still would have been running): there was just a ground strike close by with thunder following almost immediately. Yeah, definitely a treadmill day.

New schedule

2010-08-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

With the new schedule, Mondays are now free. I chose this schedule because it works well with my teaching schedule: I need to be at school, teaching, MWF. All other days I run. Good combination! What makes it even better is that this year I am not teaching at some godawful torture hour (7:30am all of last year), so my MWF are not automatically write-offs. But it's good to have those days for doing things like weights. Just like today!

That makes two weeks in a row, which I think equals the number of times I did weights for much of the summer. Yay! And this time I remembered to stretch properly afterward, so hopefully less stiff tomorrow for my run.

I've tried two of the new relaxation DVDs. The Qigong one is okay, there are some useful exercises in them. The other one is a mediation one with a bit of yoga thrown in. This isn't terrible, but I'm not used to meditating (and would rather do more yoga). Maybe I can learn from this experience? I haven't tried the third DVD yet, plus I have a DVD on hold at my local library of Yin Yoga, since I liked it so much. But the selection is nice now. Maybe I'll even revisit PM Tai Chi at some point.

The last of the short long runs

2010-08-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

This morning was a 5-mile run and I toured my neighborhood. Started after 8am, so there was still some humidity, but there was cloud cover so I didn't get the full effect of the sun. As a comparison between this weather and Boston, I lost more than 2 minutes (!) off of my mile split from the last time I did a 5-mile run. Yeesh. Also, I didn't stretch as well as I might have liked yesterday after the Florida Death Run, mainly because everywhere I looked, there was a lot of bugs. Frequently, several varieties in one spot. So I decided to take a pass on doing a thorough stretch following the run.

This week marks the start of a new training program, one that has me running only 4 days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. The purpose of the previous plan was to get my mileage back up and I'm having no issues physically with a total of 17 miles per week. So onto the 'real' plan now, which starts with 19 miles. The general guideline for increasing mileage is no more than 10% per week or else you might get injured, which is why I wanted a month to settle back into running a normal amount. Time to start progressing toward the big numbers!

Today also marked the last day that my 'long' run was 5 miles. Next week's long run is 6 and we just go up from there. Hence the title of this post.

Summer Sunrise Watermelon Race Series comes to a close

2010-08-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

This morning, I ran the fourth and last race of the Summer Sunrise Watermelon Series, which was hosted by the Lakeland Runners Club. These are the runs that I also refer to as the Florida Death Runs. Basically, you run a 5k around a lake. This might seem easy enough, but then add in Florida's summer temperatures, and you can quickly see where the challenge comes in. My inspiration in signing up for this was that I thought that if I just ran, I wouldn't find morning running in Florida so bad. I was completely wrong. So my motivation about 0.5 miles into the first race was that if I could get through this, what could possibly be so bad about 26.2 miles in December in South Carolina? Call it mental toughness development.

There is much to recommend this series. The organization is excellent. The price can't be beat ($15 for all four races). If you did the whole series, you got a well-earned medal and t-shirt. There was ample watermelon at the end, even for us slowbies. The course, once around Lake Hollingsworth plus a teeny bit, is well-marked and lovely:


Actual photo of Lake Hollingsworth, taken this morning before the race.

The only drawback is the fact that it's in Florida during the summer. Plus, you start at 7am, which is right around the time that the humidity is at its worst.

I started thinking about the four races as they might be titled if they were episodes of Friends. There was:

The One Where the Sun Rose Too Fast and It Got Hot (two people asked if I was going to be okay at the finish line);
The One Where the Humidity Dropped to 80% and It Wasn't So Bad, Relatively Speaking;
The One Where Tropical Storm Bonnie was Nearby and It Was Crazy Humid Throughout (one person asked if I was going to be okay at the finish line. Plus I had to walk parts of it because the conditions were awful);
The One Where I Finally Adapted (Somewhat) To Florida Heat.

Today's was by far the best of the four; I was still about a minute off from the Salem 5k that I did two weeks ago, but not nearly as slow as some of the previous races in the series (particularly #1 and #3). Like I said, I have adapted. Also, I'm in better running shape than I was for the other three thanks to the past month. I was running before, but mostly aquajogging, which isn't really the same. Because it's getting later in the season, the sun wasn't so bad today as the first run, where there was a pretty lengthy stretch with no shade -- probably I mean about 0.2 miles or something, but you feel it! Also, I had my new fancy, wicking visor, which I suspect helped as well.

Whatever the reasons, the important thing is that they are over. And I did them. AND I got a well-earned medal:

An enjoyable run. In Florida. Yes, really!

2010-08-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

As an astute reader of this blog, you are undoubtedly aware that running in Florida is not my favorite thing. But when I get to run around a neighborhood with lush gardens, stately trees, beautiful houses, and a peaceful route, I cannot complain. Especially when you add in a sky filled with infinite shades of orange, pink, and purple during sunset. This was in the neighborhood across the street that is built around the 1920s golf club.

DISCLAIMER: it was still hot. And humid. And I got insanely sweaty. So it's not like this was my dream run. Given the conditions, though, it was about as awesome as it gets, in my opinion.

(I tried to get a picture of the sunset. I really did. But I just barely missed it by, like, 5 minutes. Next time).

Work made it difficult to run this morning because hey guess what? We had a meeting! So I decided to leave it until the night, which made me nervous all day. When I first moved to Florida, I started running at night and did not enjoy it one little bit. For the first couple of weeks or so, I would make it to two miles and then I would have to stop. This wasn't an option. I literally could not continue. Eventually I got better but it was very frustrating for me and I've tried to avoid running at sunset ever since. However, after running in the morning, I have to say that running at night really doesn't seem so bad. Second, leaving runs for later gives me cause for concern that I won't go. In part, this is a practical concern: there is always a possibility that there will be a thunderstorm since that happens frequently in the summer. But I also have this nagging worry that I just won't do it. This is a bit silly, in a way. After all, if I can motivate myself to go in the morning, why wouldn't I be able to to it at night?

Probably this builds into a bigger concern that I have about missing training. I'm fully aware that missing one day is not the end of the world and that it won't completely derail my training. What makes this even sillier is that if something had come up today, I could have gone tomorrow. But still, I worry. And today, all was for naught because this was easily the best run that I've had since I started this training program.

Another great thing about running in the golf course neighborhood: there are hills. This might seem like a weird bonus, since hills are hard to run. But because hills are hard to run, that makes them great for training. Now, these weren't sizable hills by any stretch of the imagination, but they do count.

To make things even better, my new yoga DVDs showed up today. And when I was stretching tonight, I noticed (gasp) that I am even becoming very slightly more flexible.

Good day.

The course!

2010-08-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

If you want to see the route that I will be running, check this out. I will have to run it twice because it's a loop, but that's okay. If anything, it makes things a little easier in my book because then you can track your progress more easily the second time around.

Batting 1.000 in the relaxation department

2010-08-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

Last night, I came awfully close to not doing any kind of tai chi/yoga/anything at night. This was, in part, because I just didn't feel like it and, in part, because yet another night of the same PM Tai Chi DVD was just not exciting. Then, I had a brilliant idea. In fact, this may rank as one of my best of the month (possibly tied with nabbing my friend's CSA share). I have a Roku, which allows me to stream content directly from Netflix to my TV. What if they had a yoga workout? And by gum, they did.

Plus, it's a pretty good night workout with lots of nice stretching and good instructions -- the instructor is Sarah Ivanhoe. This workout is called Candlelight Yoga, which is kind of funny because the studio in the video has candles, yet the mood lighting is somewhat hampered by the fact that there are also lots of really bright lights. However, I liked the workout. It was not too tricky and there were even modifications offered if you were really yoga-impaired. The poses were not overly strenuous and some felt quite good. Plus, it wasn't PM Tai Chi because sometimes variety can be good.

I am hoping that my new yoga DVDs show up soon. Then I will have an embarrassment of PM workout riches.

Challenge Week

2010-08-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

This morning was 'way gross. No particular reason why. It just was. I looked at the Accuweather report from this morning (yay for weather websites that let you go back and see earlier conditions) and it was about normal, as far as gross conditions go: 80F, humidity of 87%, dew point of 76F, and a heat index of 100. By the way, there is a generally acknowledged running guideline that any run you do when the humidity + temperature = 160F+ will be disgusting, which is pretty much the case from April to October here. But today the icky conditions felt even more ick than normal. It was a very sloggy four miles. One of the only respites that I had was around mile 3.3ish, when I ran past a bunch of foliage that jutted out slightly into the sidewalk. It rained last night and the water that had collected felt somewhat cool. Seriously. That was this highlight of this morning's run: slightly-not-hot rainwater. Ugh.

Funny: last Sunday, I chose a route that went by a house that belongs to a friend (well, two friends actually that are married). As I did, my friend was stepping out to get the papers, which is a somewhat weird coincidence. Today, I took the same route and saw her at the corner, in her car, leaving for work. Bizarre! Her name is Stephanie, and I am hereby dubbing these 'Random Stephanie Encounters' (RSE). Now that I've identified them, they will probably never happen again.

I went closer to 8am than 9am today because I was supposed to go to a meeting at 11am for work. Last night, I had an important realization: this is a challenging week. Why? Because it does not quite fit my normal routine. I am very fortunate that I have an excellent job in the 'allowing me to train for long-distance running events' category. While there are times when I need to be at the office at an appointed hour, for the most part, I can set my own schedule. Actually, I chose my marathon plan based on the fact that I can train on my work-from-home days, so that I don't have to feel too much pressure about having everything wrapped up so that I can be at my desk at 9am. And yes, I do recognize how sweet this is. The flip side is that I do work seven days a week, which is less fun.

However, this week is a weird week. We have meetings at unusual times. We are having meetings almost every day. We are having a lot of meetings, totaling, by my count, 9.5 hours -- generally I would estimate that I have more like ~2-3 hours a week (yes, I do need to be at the actual office more often than this, but we're just talking meetings here). I'm getting stressed out about scheduling the running since it doesn't fit the normal plan.

And I realized last night that this is okay, even if I can't find a routine for this week. There will be challenging weeks since I also have times that I need to travel. But I'm hoping that by identifying them as challenging weeks, I will feel better about them. By investing in this concept, I hope that it will make them less stressful.

Icky morning runs are not helping, though.

[Actually, I did not make the 11am meeting because there was a power outage and I couldn't open by automatic garage door. This literally happened as I was preparing to go and the garage door opened 1/3rd of the way, then stopped. If it were really an emergency, I could have opened it manually, but if you want to come over to my stuffy garage in Florida heat/humidity to open it manually, go on right ahead. I decided to take a pass.]

I'm definitely back in Florida

2010-08-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

The first mile of this morning's run went well. Again, I tried my 'go slightly later' approach and that seemed to be a better solution. Even better, the sun was slightly shaded with clouds, so there weren't too many parts where I was directly exposed.

Miles 2 and 3, though, went less well. Quite a bit less well. The cloud cover -- sadly -- moved away and I was faced with full throttle sun. I was really hoping for that Mile 1 vibe to last longer. The moral of this story, likely, is to try and stick to running places that are shady, but it's almost impossible to avoid the sun entirely.

I was stiff to start today too. It would be easy to blame the weights from yesterday, but actually I think that it was more the weights combined with me not stretching properly. For next time, then, better stretching.

Last night I did manage to do the tai chi, so make that two days in a row. Whoo! I'm kind of excited for the new DVDs to show up just for some variety, though. I spent most of a summer doing the PM tai chi almost every night so it's a bit routine at this point.

Weights

2010-08-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

I finally got to the gym today to do weights. I say 'finally' because I looked at the paper where I write down my weights information and apparently I have done weights twice in the past two months. This was, in part, due to traveling and the fact that it can be hard to find a place to do weights when you are an international jet-setter like me. Or rather, when you are an international jet-setter who frequently crashes at friends' places because your budget does not match your jet-setting tastes.

The other part is that I tried to do weights last week at my hotel and it completely backfired. My hotel claimed that it had a complete gym, but I beg to differ. The website states that there is a 'Universal Weight Machine,' but I'm not quite sure what that means. There was no machine for working out legs or really any good way of setting up so that you could do that. Trust me, I tried and was convinced that I was going to give myself some remarkably dumb injury. They did have free weights, but that was about the extent of it.

Also, the rowing machine was broken, but that's a whole other topic. I have a love/hate relationship with rowing machines. My gym here does not have one, so I don't often get to rekindle my love/hate relationship with one and I was looking forward to it the minute I lay eyes on it. Then I sat down and there was no power. Boooooooooooooooo. Big hate, but for once I don't blame the machine.

Anyway, like most runners, I have pretty good leg strength but basically no upper body strength (that, and I have virtually no flexibility whatsoever). Years and years ago -- like, over 10 years ago -- I spent a summer going pretty regularly to the gym and doing weights, then I got bored out of my mind and quit. The last time I really did weights was probably early 2007; after that I just switched to running. Now I am aware that runners should still do weight training, especially since Runner's World makes it a point of reminding their readership of this fact at least once per issue. I'm also aware that doing weights helps my posture, metabolism, prevents osteoporosis, and God only knows what else. But I don't know. I feel like I never kicked that 'It's pretty boring' feeling from all those years ago.

I was better when World Cup was on. It was simple to get motivated to go to the gym and as an added bonus, keep track of soccer.

Another training decision that I made recently: more yoga/tai chi. Being at home all day (which I often am since I work from home) can make a person very listless. So I am going to try and do yoga or tai chi every day if possible. However, I know that probably I won't actually accomplish this goal, so I'm going to aim for every day and see what actually winds up happening. I have a 'PM Tai Chi' workout (there is also an AM, but I am more interested in the PM for now) and yesterday ordered three yoga DVDs from Gaiam. It was the 'Live Balanced' collection and none of them looks too strenuous. One is even Qigong, so maybe I will turn into a Jedi!

I'm not really big on the 'Yoga as Cardio' idea myself. Titles that have 'Power' and 'Yoga' together are just not my deal. I tried that P90X Yoga and did not care for it, mostly because I was pretty sure I was going to die within the first 1/2 hour. Or pass out. Plus I was dog-sitting and the dogs were looking at me funny. And it was hot. One of the dogs even licked me while I was trying to hold poses. No good at all.

Incidentally, Gaiam is having a sale, in case you want to stock up yourself. Once actual yoga resumes, I will just add the classes to the schedule.

...from reading this blog entry, you can probably see that today was not so exciting. But it sure did wander all over the place, now didn't it?

Back in the 813

2010-08-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning, took a look at the clock, saw that it read 9am, and thought, 'I'll just go running later.' But within 15 minutes of actually getting up I was in my running clothes, ready to go. It's funny just how much running can become a habit after a while. There have actually been times where I just didn't feel like it at all, but I would get changed and ready, then go. Trust me, I am not complaining because I'm pretty sure that there would be a lot of days where I wouldn't if I didn't have this habit (somewhat) engrained!

Then I stepped outside and immediately thought, 'UGH!' Florida summer hit me head on. And the thought of actually running in Florida summer was even more grim. But whatever, I did it and survived, even if it wasn't the best thing ever.

However, I do have to say that I think I have adapted. Certainly today's run was less torture than the ones when I first started this training program. I'm still much slower than I would like, but Boston served as a good reality check that these times are not really accurate.

In fact, I think that going a bit later might be the way to go. Sure, the sun makes it hot, but it also helps burn off the humidity and I'm starting to wonder if that's not what my body is mostly reacting against during those 7am-8am runs. The humidity is over 90% usually at that time, whereas later, it's at least in the 70%-90% range. So I might try running slightly later because I do feel less like death today. At the same time, it took a lot of grit to get through long parts of the run with sun -- there weren't too many, since I chose a pretty shady path, but when it came down to me versus Florida sunshine, it definitely tested my mettle.

Also, I must thank the new wicking visor, which I suspect helped a lot. Certainly today felt much better than days when I ran with my old visor with the added bonus that it helped (to some extent) with shading me from that Florida sun.

Where I ran in Boston

2010-08-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Some pictures to illustrate the places I've been talking about:

This view of the Charles River is where I ran when I went to the right. You can see that the beginning is hectic for traffic, but there are paths on either side (with lovely, shady trees).

Boston University Bridge, about 0.7ish miles into my run when I was going to the right. No Smoots on this bridge.


That bridge in the distance is the Smoot Bridge (aka the Mass Ave Bridge). Boston skyline in the distance.

Actual, authentic running path next to the Charles. Not a bad place to run!

Last run in Boston

2010-08-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

Before I talk about today's run, let me just say that if you live anywhere near a Whole Foods, you should run -- not walk -- to get some of the Gruyere reserve wheel cheese. Ridiculously good. I may have to make French Onion Soup just for the cheese if I can locate this at the Tampa Whole Foods.

Unfortunately, my friend couldn't make it out to run. I decided to lounge around this morning and have a bit of a break. I'm not one of those 'Must Run First Thing In The Morning' people by any means. I think that you should run when you can...that being said, you do need to plan and make time to go. Yesterday, I was proud of myself because I changed my plans to make sure I could fit my run in. This scheduling stuff is important or else you can get behind. Also, the clear advantage of going first thing in the morning is that your run is done and nothing can get in the way later. I do prefer usually to go earlier rather than later, but either is fine, really.

Tonight was great: low humidity, good temperature, and a nice run by the Charles (again). Needless to say, I will miss this, but there is something about running here that I will miss even more. Even in this short week and a half, I feel like I'm developing better running technique. For instance, halfway through tonight I noticed that my shoulders were raised, meaning that I was holding in too much tension. So I spent the rest of my run concentrating on relaxing, ensuring that my shoulders didn't get too high. When I get to hills, I can feel my legs powering up. In general, I feel like there is more bounce in my step. Today, I may have even -- momentarily -- hit a 10-minute mile...although I don't quite trust the mile splits that my phone provides because sometimes they are just wacky. For instance, if I ran three miles in less than 36 minutes, I'm pretty sure I'm under 12-minute miles, whereas sometimes my phone disagrees.

I'm trying not to get morose about leaving Boston, although I'm pretty sure that my love for this city has come through pretty clearly. Instead, I want to focus on what I can do to be a better runner in spite of Florida. I am going to keep watching my technique and trying to improve in the areas that I noticed, such as keeping the shoulders down. Part of the problem there, I believe, is that I get so caught up in the challenge of just running in those conditions that I forget about other aspects of my running. Even though any distance feels like a challenge, it is not enough to only run. It's time to step up the technique and make the best of a difficult situation.

Funnily enough, during the Red Sox game tonight (which is in Texas) the announcers got talking about how icky the conditions can be in the south. They were of the mindset that no one ever fully adapted to the heat and humidity. That being said, it sounded far nastier there than Tampa: it was 100F at the start of the game. Ew.

I ran into a guy in the elevator tonight who told me that he has been working in Boston for three months and has only been running outside four times. Instead, he runs on the treadmill. Tragedy!

Changing the schedule

2010-08-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

I decided to shake things up a bit and do most of my running here for this week rather than Florida (I leave on Saturday, bright and early...too bright and early to fit a run in beforehand). So today I did my long run of 5 miles, which went pretty well I thought. I ran faster than I might usually on a long-ish run because I needed to meet someone afterward, but increasing the pace didn't seem to cause any real problems.

I decided to run toward Boston on the Mass Pike side. Even though this is not the most scenic (or peaceful) run, it does have the advantage that there are no stop points or places where you might have to wait for traffic. This benefit, I felt, outweighed the slightly less hectic traffic on the other side. Mind you, I was running at around 6pm, so there was going to be traffic regardless (I had planned to run earlier, woke up, then just lacked any and all motivation).

Incidentally, I realized that there are pictures to come with all of these sites...I hadn't realized that I took them. The USB cord to connect the camera is currently in Florida, but I will be back soon enough.

Today I also wound up doing a lot of peripheral walking, by which I mean the kind of walking you do in a city simply because you have to walk from Point A to Point B more often. I think today totaled about 4 miles, which is a lot of peripheral walking to do! Plus at one point I had to walk around a mile, go for my run, then walk another mile. It was a bit hectic.

Tomorrow morning I am getting up bright and early (comparatively) to do a run with a friend. We used to run "together" with another friend; I have the "together" in quotation marks because they were much faster than I was. Basically, we would go to races together and they would sit around, waiting for me to finish. However, she is currently rehabbing from an injury, so I'm hoping that we will be around the same pace. Either way, it should be fun!

Today I took a right

2010-08-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

For some variety, today I ran to the right (toward MIT-Cambridge/Boston) and for even more variety, went over to the Cambridge side. This was a good plan on two accounts. First, there is less Turnpike/Storrow traffic, so it's not as hectic to start. Second, you get the best views of the Boston skyline from this side.

There is only one slight difficulty. From my hotel to the Mass Ave bridge is very slightly less than 2 miles on this run (I was doing 4 miles today). One choice is to wait out the intersection to run, like, 0.1 mile, which is stupid. The easier, non-trafficky solution is to run some of the distance over the Mass Ave bridge, then turn around and head back. Apart from the fact that bridges suck (since they incline), this is your best solution. And what makes it even better are Smoots.

A Smoot is a measurement that was designed as a MIT frat prank -- yes, this is what MIT students do for fun in their spare time, they design systems of measurement. Smoot was an actual guy who was about 5'7". To measure the bridge, Smoot lay down in each spot, then his frat brothers counted how many Smoots were required to get across the bridge. The measurements can still be seen and are commemorated with markings on the bridge. The really fun part of this story is that Smoot himself went on to chairman of the American National Standards Institute and the International Organization for Standards.

One way on my run wound up being approximately 1.9 miles and 84.4 Smoots. But I could be slightly off on that, so please don't report me to the American National Standards Institute.

Also, here is a tip for eating healthy while traveling: grab the CSA share of a friend who is going out of town. I picked it up yesterday and it became quite the conversation item, with several people asking me what was in the box. My favorite was a somewhat laconic guy who I walked by near the CSA pick-up place:

Laconic guy: CSA share day?
Me: Yep. Yummy melons.
Laconic guy: Whoo hoo [in a completely laconic tone]

Oh, and if you're curious about the why eating salads when you're out might not be your best plan, check this article out. Amazing.

Taking a left

2010-08-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

At the start of my runs here in Boston, I am faced with an important question: go left or go right? Either way, I am running by the river, but there are other factors to consider:

1) Going left (west-ish) means that I am heading toward Harvard-Cambridge/Brighton. There are more streets that need to be crossed, so it won't be continuous. However, parts of this run are very scenic and you can get away from traffic after a while.

2) Going right (east-ish) means that I am heading toward MIT-Cambridge/Boston. There is basically no traffic to impede the run because you go underneath any bridges. However, the start of this route is not as nice because you are running right next to Storrow Drive/Mass Turnpike for quite a while.

Both options offer plenty of shade and nice river views. Rowers are everywhere. The path is usually pretty clear and while you have to share with bikers, they are generally considerate.

This morning I took a left and to pep things up even more, crossed to the other bank of the river (Cambridge side) for a change of scenery. On the way back, I opted to run across the Weeks Footbridge just because I could (see photo of Weeks Footbridge below looking toward the Cambridge side). It was a bit hot and humid, but not terrible, and I found by keeping my pace on the slower side and steady I avoided any problems.

I have to say that there are far worse choices to have to make than right or left.

Yin yoga

2010-08-10T20:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I decided to take the opportunity and attend a yoga class. Boston may be a running town, but it is also a generally fit town and there are no lack of yoga options -- particularly around Central/Harvard Squares, which is near where I am staying. I decided to check out Karma Yoga because they had a class called yin yoga that looked interesting. The description on the website was as follows: "Through the elegant combination of appropriate asana and gentle timing, Yin Yoga deeply stretches and nourishes the joints of the body, helping to generate much greater flexibility and core-level relaxation." Basically, you hold uncomplicated stretches for a long time, so it was a nice class to take. One of the challenges I find of just dropping in on a class like this is that you can be behind the students who have been attending for a while. With a focus on holding the poses instead of the poses themselves, you don't have that problem.

I was doing yoga in Tampa, trying to go twice a week. Mine is bare-bones yoga taught at the city's recreation facility. The price can't be beat ($6.25 a class), although you have to bring your own mat. Our teacher there is very nice and doesn't insist on doing annoying things like playing 'relaxation music.' There is only one problem: when the teacher goes out of town -- as she did for the month of August -- then there is no yoga. What is fun about being in a place like Boston are the wide number of options. I liked the yin yoga so much that I've requested a DVD about from the library at home. It was challenging but not taxing.

Like a lot of runners, I have basically no flexibility. Hopefully, by doing yoga I can help prevent an injury and provide some relief to tired muscles. When I went running today, I didn't notice any problems, which is always a good sign.

Salem 5k

2010-08-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today was New England Day for me. I did a 5k in Salem, MA, then went to Maine and enjoyed Lobster Festival. One of the events was crate racing, which is where you have to run across lobster crates without falling into the water. There were 50 crates linked together; if the racer got through the 50, then s/he would take a short break and do as many more as possible. The winning crate racer ran 701.

My race was less entertaining (and less brackish) than this. The conditions were okay: not too hot, but rather humid. Despite that, my time was a full 4 minutes faster than the last Florida Death Race. Today definitely wasn't a personal record, but I was pleased with the result.

It was a nice race. We went around Salem with some parts by the shore, so you could see the boats. Also, the people there were very classy, I thought. They applauded the slower runners when they came in near the end as well as the last people to finish. I thought that this was great because I've been last in a race before and it is not a fun feeling. In fact, I had a bad race earlier this year where I thought I was last and I wanted to give up -- I didn't, and as it turned out, I wasn't even close to last either. So it's great to see others encouraging runners who are clearly pushing themselves, even if their results aren't as fast.

Near the end of the race, I got neck-in-neck with an older guy running. I wasn't really concerned about this and was almost willing to let him overtake me because he had a concentrated glare in his eyes. However, I did overtake him so I wasn't about to slow down and let him pass. Later, I saw that he won the medal for the fastest time in his age group. This gives me hope: if I can just keep running at exactly the same pace for the next 30 or so years, maybe someday I'll win an age group too!

But seriously, congratulations to that guy and thanks for a great race, Salem organizers!

I don't hate running

2010-08-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

The title for this post may seem strange: obviously if I want to run a marathon, I don't hate running, right? Some days that is difficult to remember. I spend so much time running in conditions that I dislike (even in winter in Florida since it's often still humid) that it can be really hard to think back to those good runs that I enjoyed.

Today was one of those good ones.

I went around 7:15PM (post-ballgame) just in time to get the light of the setting sun. This run was next to the Charles, heading west (other runs have been east). The temperature was in the low 70s, the humidity was under 40%. It was fantastic. I was a bit slow to start -- probably because I didn't go yesterday -- but shook that off pretty quickly . Not too hot, not too cold, and I'm pretty sure my time was good (unfortunately, there was no good way to pause my phone at lights and I had to wait for a few, so my mile split was wrong). I hardly looked at my phone at all to see how far I had gone, which is a real change from normal when I have to give myself pep talks to get through the last half of any run.

Hurray!

Here is hoping that my good running mojo continues for tomorrow when I do the Salem 5k. And that I am not burned as a witch.

Reflecting on myths about running

2010-08-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't been running yet today but it is absolutely wonderful out. Not too hot, not too cold -- well, maybe a little too hot, but it's 3PM right now. I plan to wait until around 7PM, then go. Actually, I really plan to wait until after the Yankees/Red Sox game, so knowing them, that might be closer to 8PM.

As I was going around Boston today, I got thinking about two common runner myths:

1) You get to eat whatever you want;
2) Running costs basically nothing!

#1: Ha! I wish. Of course you don't! Well, I guess you could eat whatever you wanted, but I mean you could do that whether you ran or not. The end result would be the same: you would get fat. Running does burn calories, but not enough for you to be able to eat whatever you feel like. For health reasons, I also try to stay away from foods that will spike my blood sugar levels, such as white flour, white sugar, and (tragedy) dried fruit.

It makes sense that when you run, you want to be as tiny as possible so as not to strain your joints and so that there is less weight to carry. As a result, it's better to watch what you eat. I find that I've been away from 'bad' food long enough that I don't usually crave it anymore. There are a few exceptions, like pizza, which is essentially my kryptonite. In general, though, it is better to watch what you eat regardless of how much physical activity you do.

Because I've been traveling a lot this summer, it has been a challenge to eat well. Sure, you could just eat salads all the time, but those aren't always healthy depending on the dressings. My ideal solution is to be in a place where I can easily buy food from a supermarket or something similar. For instance, I was in London (England...in case you are from Southern Ontario...) and was near to a Sainsbury's and a Marks and Spencer. Both had lots of good options for portable meals that were healthy. Right now, I'm very close to a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's. Sure, Whole Foods may be expensive, but it's still cheaper than dining out all of the time, plus you know what's in your food. I also brought with me a set of utensils (plastic) and a tacky, plastic plate that is very resilient; I purchased both of these when I was in England. Someday, I hope to craft some kind of container that is amenable to traveling for these items...but truth be told, I am not that crafty, and it's really not that hard to fit a set of plastic utensils and a plate in your suitcase.

#2: I mean, I guess running could cost almost nothing, apart from the fact that you pretty much need to buy shoes every 6 months or so (and you don't want to skimp too much because you can get injured). But I'm curious to know who can resist all of the running-related things out there. I put them into two categories: gear and toys. Gear is anything that you wear in the hopes of improving your running. Toys are anything gadget-like that you hope will improve your running. In general, I am quite good about staying away from both gear and toys; the only real toy I have is my phone and the holder that I use when I take it with me so that I can track mileage. Before I started doing that, I guess I had an Ironman watch that could, theoretically, qualify as a toy. That was it.

With gear, I am also pretty good, but it gets harder to resist. One item I definitely wanted while in Boston was a visor that wicks sweat (NB: almost anything associated with gear for runners involves wicking). Being a running town, Boston is also a running-stuff town, and there are several places where one can stock up easily. Today I went to City Sports. The nearest City Sports to me in Florida is a whole state away in Atlanta, GA and I think that this is a good thing. It's got so much gear that I think it would be hard not to indulge on a regular basis if there were one closer (there are running-specific stores in Tampa, just not ones that are all that convenient to me). Today I went to the one with the outlet as well, where I got two pairs of honest-to-goodness geary shorts that, naturally, wick sweat -- a big upgrade from my current shorts, which all came from Target. At one point, I was close to getting three other pairs, but none of them was very flattering so I changed my mind. Somehow, I stayed away from the gear Red Sox shorts. And I did wind up getting my visor too.

There are many, many more items of gear/toys that I want, but it is true that you don't need gear/toys to run, I suppose...

(Another toy I want is one of those foam roller things that you can use to help stretch. And some gear shirts. And more shorts. And new running shoes. I think that's all. Okay, maybe a pouch thing for carrying gels/water).

Wicked Scenic Boston Run with Killah Hill

2010-08-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

I did it! All 5 miles! And I didn't overheat! What a surreal feeling that was.

So the route was: Charles River --> Esplanade --> Cambridge Street (*not* Beacon Street, as I said yesterday, but it was in Beacon Hill) --> Tremont Avenue --> Boston Common. Some of you have requested pictures, so here's one from around the Esplanade:

Not bad, scenery-wise. Boston Common was fun too. There were kids at a tennis camp and I even got to run around the Frog Pond. This picture shows just about where my run ended. However, the Frog Pond was closed, so it wasn't quite so active:

The Killah Hill was...well...not so fun. My run tracker is amusing since it tracks both your pace and your altitude. Funnily enough, my pace went down quite a bit when the altitude started to go up!

This run was fun for another reason (apart from not overheating and getting through the 5 miles). When I first started running, I lived in Somerville, MA. I started -- like most people -- with smaller distances and shorter runs. Then one day I decided that I was ready to tackle what I considered to be a 'real run': my first 6 miles. I don't know why I felt this distance made you officially a runner, but it was the marker that I chose and I set out. I went from Somerville to Cambridge (which might sound impressive but at the time was actually across the street), down to the river, ran for a while, then came up back to my house. This was also the run that I realized we lived up a steep yet gradual hill, one that I really hadn't noticed walking. But I did it. The last part of it was pretty brutal, but I made it and that's all that matters.

It was amazing to me when I considered the difference between suburban Florida and Boston in terms of space. From my hotel to the Esplanade was about 2.5 miles. In that time, I covered several neighborhoods, ran past the MIT and Boston University campuses, and went by three red line subway stations -- the red line stations are actual normal distances, unlike the green line, which is essentially a tram. In Florida, I could probably still be running around the same subdivision after 2.5 miles.

What I also realized as I was heading home was that unless I change my schedule, this was my last 5 mile run in Boston during this trip. Time certainly does fly...

In the unforgettable words of Han Solo....

2010-08-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

Don't get cocky.

I'm in Boston and had my first run by the Charles today (yay!). Boston is a running kind of town. It is almost impossible to be somewhere and not see someone running, which is great. You see all kinds of runners: ridiculously fast ones, slow ones, beginners, old people, the works. Today I even saw a family of three. It is inspiring. Plus, the Charles is super nice because you can run right next to it. Mind you, in places it is not so great since it's also right next to two major arteries (Storrow Drive and Memorial Drive) -- plus the Mass Turnpike. But life could be worse than looking out over a river while you run, plus there are nice shady trees pretty often. Sometimes you even see rowers (disclaimer: I used to row. I loved it more than almost anything).

Today was four miles. Because it is not so killer hot/humid, I really let it rip on the first mile. This was a big mistake because while it was not *as* hot/humid, it still *was* hot/humid and I had to slow the pace down quite a bit for the remaining miles. But the important thing was that I ran a fast mile! Much faster than any pace I've been able to maintain for a while -- a full 2 minutes faster than those brutal runs last week. And the moral of this story is that heat makes you run slow.

I am staying right next to the Charles by the exit for the Turnpike. Today I made it to the MIT Bridge. The plan tomorrow is to pass that, get to the Esplanade (that part they show sometimes on Cheers with all of the sailboats), hit the killer hill (or 'killah hill' as the locals would call it) up Beacon Street, go through Boston Common, and finally go to Commonwealth Avenue. This is about as scenic a run as you could do in Boston, I think. Although considering that I am from Florida and I live in a region with zero hills, this run might do me in! Good thing that Friday is a rest day.

At the same time, I don't want to get cocky. It still can get hot here. So I need to pace myself better because the rest of the run was less fun than it could have been. Here's hoping that I can stay steady and not let the hill beat me.

I think I'm adapting

2010-08-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

This morning's 3-mile run was also not so bad, although it was sufficiently humid that my glasses fogged up as I ran. The sun, however, was not terrible (this was around 8am) and with plenty of shade, I felt pretty good by the end. Sunny moments were actually kind of nice since they helped evaporate some of the moisture. Good enough to crank it up a bit for the last 0.1 mile. Then I walked it off and sweated a lot.

This is great timing for adapting to the hot/humid environment since I am sitting right now at the airport, getting ready to fly to Boston. Here is hoping that any warm-weather experience will stay with me for the next week and a half!

Slight change to this week's training plan: Tuesday 3; Wednesday 4; Thursday 5; Saturday 4; Sunday 3. Nice pyramid. I'm doing a 5k on Sunday, so it makes sense to switch things up a bit.

Interesting

2010-08-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

I was reading the May 2010 issue of Runner's World this morning (I'm super behind with them) and ran across an interesting piece of information:

"If you're running at least every other day, your body will adapt to a more efficient running pattern, which eliminates extraneous motion and generates some small time improvement."

I find this interesting because I didn't really notice this from past long-distance training. I've run two half-marathons before, but maybe the circumstances weren't right to test this theory. After the first one, my next race was a 5k. I did it while I was training for a triathlon, and while my fitness level should have been overall better, I was tired from the training when I did it (also, it warmed up even though it was in the winter in Florida...never good for me). After the last half-marathon, I didn't really run anything. So maybe this time around, I will see a difference! I don't really expect to improve all that much, time-wise, since marathon training is more about endurance and distance, and that's fine too.

No luck today

2010-08-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

I should go check my horoscope for today. It probably said something like this:

"Your plans will not come to fruition, no matter how good your intentions. Also, avoid running in swamps."

After this morning's fiasco, I decided to go to my gym and finish up the last 4 miles of my 5 mile run. There is a 30 limit on the cardio equipment, but I decided to cheat by doing 30 minutes (at a 5 mph, or a 12-minute mile split), then finish the last 18 minutes after taking a brief walk around the facility, thus allowing anyone waiting for the treadmill to jump on it whilst I wasn't there. Since no one did, I claimed the treadmill and finished up my 18 minutes. But it did not feel good. Not one little bit. In fact, it's good that I stopped after the 30 because I'm pretty sure that I didn't have the power to get through another 18 without a break. I was on the verge of overheating. Inside.

I've run on the treadmill at my gym before and did not find it overwhelming. It's slightly hot, but not too bad, and they have a fan right next to the treadmills to help you recover. Today, though, was not especially fun. I was wondering if I really was just not in shape or what was happening, but before freaking out I decided to check with the gym employee to see how hot it was.

The temperature gauge is in a different room than the treadmill. According to the gauge, it was 75F. According to the employee, the treadmill room is generally a few degrees hotter than that room.

In other words, it was too freaking hot for running on a treadmill. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that a fitness center be between 68-71F -- I just found this doing a quick Google search and haven't been able to confirm it on the ACSM website, but that seems about right. However, this is not taking into account the humidity outside. If it is humid outside -- and dear Lord, was it ever this afternoon (in the 80% range) as a thunderstorm was forming -- then probably a few degrees lower is not amiss.

So maybe 75+ is a little warm?

Not my day for running! Tomorrow is stretching (yay), then only one more run in Florida. Wednesday's run, barring any unexpected events, will be four miles next to the beautiful Charles River. Here's hoping it isn't the beautiful yet smelly Charles River.

Where not to run

2010-08-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a tip: don't go for runs in a swamp. Particularly in Florida during the summer. And especially during a heat advisory.

How did this happen? After yesterday's not-so-terrible run, I was feeling pretty confident and was hoping that the worst was over. Today, for my 5 mile run, I decided to check out Lettuce Lake Park. I had been told that this was a good place to go running; in fact, the person who mentioned it was surprised to learn that I hadn't been yet (what can I say, I used to live in the other end of town and it wasn't exactly convenient). So I decided that it would be fun to check it out for this morning's run just to shake things up a bit.

Big. Mistake.

Lettuce Lake Park is essentially a swamp. Not like the bayou or anything, but if there were rain, it would get filled, and I think that it would be even more swamp-like. There are plants everywhere and it is exceedingly humid.

Note that the humidity is already on the high end here in Florida, not to mention that pesky heat advisory from yesterday, which is still in effect. And the dew point was 79F (!) this morning. That is one mere degree away from the danger zone. And I was in a swamp.

I don't quite know how to explain just how awful I felt. Let's just say that sweat was already amassing in my hair about 1/4 of a mile in. This is one of the grosser feelings that I know: sweat just accumulating with nowhere to go. As I went on, I was literally drenched. My time was unbelievably bad -- even worse than my earlier runs this week.

I'm going to finish up the run later this afternoon on the treadmill at the gym. Dividing runs is not the worst thing in the world, but I don't think that most running experts have in mind that you only got through one mile of your five mile run when they recommend it.

It just started raining. Had I continued my run, I would be out there right now. Rain here is not some kind of nice relief from the heat. The humidity and everything tends to continue. Plus you risk a thunderstorm, which can be very violent. So maybe things are best that I didn't finish...except that it is still bugging me!

I am registered for the marathon!

2010-07-31T18:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, registration process complete! I am now signed up and the race fee is paid! All I need to do is run it.

Fun running information: Active.com (the site where you sign up for races) provided an article about how to adapt for heat. The researcher's name made me pause:

"Runners respond differently in a battle with heat. One study Jack Daniels conducted found that some runners perspire twice as much as others—in identical heat conditions and with matching body composition, weight, and running speeds. It takes about two weeks of training in warm conditions to acclimate properly, and it is important to know when to train in these conditions."

Jack Daniels?

An almost pleasant run. Which is weird. For several reasons.

2010-07-31T07:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I was back on the road (with no noticeable dental issues) and did a 3 mile run. I decided to go over to the core of Temple Terrace, which is the section built around the golf course. If you do have to run in Florida, then there are certainly far worse places to be than Temple Terrace. The houses are interesting: some were built in the 1920s, while the bulk were from the 1960s. None of them looks like a McMansion. And there are plenty of trees that offer wonderful, comforting shade. It was -- dare I say -- almost pleasant at points.

I was a bit concerned because I didn't quite handle this morning in the best possible way. First, I stayed up far too late last night watching Cheers reruns. I love Cheers. Basically, I love almost anything set in Boston, plus if I had to pick the TV character I most resemble, I think that I would go with Diane Chambers. To top things off, it was the story arc where Sam was dating Captain Janeway (okay, it was really Kate Mulgrew and her character's name was Janet Eldridge) and Diane quit working at the bar. Then Sam proposed to Diane and she had to dig his picture out of the garbage. I still remember this episode from when it originally aired, a sign that I am getting old. At any rate, despite the fact that I know sleep is important, particularly when you are training to run a major event, I couldn't resist watching and got to bed at an unreasonable hour.

Not surprisingly, it was tricky to get out of bed this morning and I thought that the late start would be deleterious. To my surprise, it really wasn't. In fact, parts when I was running in the shade were downright nice. Don't get me wrong: it was still tough and I was all red and sweaty by the end. But it felt less like death that previous runs this week. Also, I cut my mile split by over a minute from Wednesday. I'm not quite sure exactly how much I cut it by because I accidentally hit 'Power Up' instead of 'Stop Run' on my phone app. When you hit 'Power Up,' the app plays Seal's 1991 hit song 'Crazy.' That was unexpected.

When I got home, I thought I would double-check to make sure that Florida is not experiencing some kind of 'cold front' -- HA! But as it turns out, it is even more hot than normal. Icky hot. Heat warning hot. Heat index already in the 100F range hot at 10am. But the run didn't feel so bad.

I saw Inception earlier this week and I'm wondering if this wasn't all a Cheers-induced dream. We'll know if Captain Janeway suddenly shows up.

PS - Apparently, those of us who 'like' the Kiawah Island Marathon on Facebook get a chance to sign up early tonight. So tonight's the night!

Plans

2010-07-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

If you're been following the blog thus far, you might be asking yourself why I run in the first place. I don't seem to really enjoy it all that much, plus I am not very good at it. However, even though I am not skilled in the actually running part, there is something about running that I think is fabulous: the planning. When you are training for a race, you get to do lots and lots of planning. Planning makes me happy.

Related: my all-time favorite Kids in the Hall sketch.

Pretty much the first thing I did once I decided to run a marathon was to find a running plan (taken from the Runner's World Guide to Road Racing), then chose one that fit my schedule. Then I went a bought a planner. Oh, happy day. Usually, I get running-specific planners, but this time around I just got a plain one that extends through the school year. But it is very cute with butterflies and ample space to write about my run. It's good to track what goes on with running, particularly in case you start feeling stiff or tense. That way, you have a record of how your body is coping.

My running plan for the marathon is basically divisible into two phases: ramping up mileage (now), followed by the actual RWGRR plan (end of August). Right now, I aim to run 5 times a week, with the following basic schedule:

Tuesday: 3 miles
Wednesday: 4 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Saturday: 3 miles
Sunday: 5 miles

That should put me in good shape for when the actual running plan starts. I have also decided that Monday will be Stretch Day and Friday will be weights. That way, I hope to avoid any major problems. So far, I haven't felt any pain (prior to this plan, I was doing my best to run every second day, a plan that was thwarted by visiting Nevada/Utah during a July heat wave). Another advantage that I have in running is that I have thankfully not suffered from any major injuries, so I'm hoping to avoid physical problems.

Today was weights; it was the first time in a month that I got to the gym to do them. All went relatively well. I am hoping that I didn't go too hard or tomorrow's run will be lousy!

Aquajogging......ahhhhhhhhh

2010-07-29T11:00:00.001-07:00

Today was aquajog day. Let me tell you, after the past two days of being completely sweaty and overheated, it felt awfully nice to stay in the pool instead. It is hot out and I went around noon, so I could feel the full effect of the sun. But one of the most rewarding aspects of pool jogging is the fact that when the sun blazes down, you can just dunk your head in the water to cool off. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

I live in a condo community, so there are lots of older, retired people here as well (this is Florida, after all!). There is one guy that I've now seen twice at the pool and I can't quite figure him out. He'll swim a lap -- a lap across the shorter part of the pool, no less (so, maybe 15 feet?) -- then take a break at the side. Or answer his phone. Today he had a 5 minute conversation about baseball. Later, one of his friends showed up and they talked about the fact that their bodies are breaking down (remember, this is Florida). After all this, he will then do another lap, or maybe even two if he is feeling ambitious, followed by another break. When I left, he was on the phone again. Standing in the pool.

Can someone explain this to me? I could see just lounging in the pool, but this 'workout,' I don't get it.

PS - I just saw someone out running. In the sun. The RealFeel temperature is currently 103F. Wow.

Slight setback

2010-07-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today I had a root tip extracted when I was at the dentist's. For some reason, when I scheduled this, I didn't quite process the fact that the dentist would be extracting something out of my mouth. All went well and it doesn't really seem to be hurting or anything, but I was given the same list of what not to do following surgery as was provided after my wisdom tooth extraction. On that list is 'No vigorous exercise' (or something like that, I'm paraphrasing). Basically, you don't want to jar the mouth in a way that could damage the blood clot that has formed.

I don't know that going for a run in icky conditions really meets that requirement. So for tomorrow's run, I'll go aquajog instead. Less jarring, less straining, less hot, yet still an actual workout. A slight setback, but really only a very slight one. I'll be back on the road on Saturday.

If you're curious, aquajogging does work your legs, even if not quite in the same way as running. Unlike running, it makes you work your hamstrings and quads since you have water resistance that affects both muscle groups. It's not as tough, but still poses its challenges!

Day 2

2010-07-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

For some reason, today's run did not feel quite as bad as yesterday's. I managed to get out a little earlier because I woke up at 6:30am for no reason at all (even weirder, I did this after sitting up late to watch the Red Sox game. They are on a West Coast tour and I keep telling myself that I will not stay up to watch the whole thing. Then it's already the 7th or 8th inning and I decide, 'Meh, why not?' Today, at least, is an afternoon game). There was more shade as a result. Also, I left my visor at home, which I think may be a culprit in why I feel so hot. It might be time to invest in the fancy, wicking one that I saw the last time I was at my local running store.

However, my time this morning was horrid. Horrid! Even worse than when I first started running. Some of this has to be because of the temperature, but still, it makes me nervous to see this. Over the past couple of months, I have not been running as much because I wanted to give my body some rest before tackling a marathon program. That's not to say that I wasn't doing anything: I swam, did weights, went to yoga, and aqua-jogged. But now I'm nervous that I left it for too long. Part of running, for me, is that you have to have faith in whatever you are doing. For instance, you have to believe that your training plan will have you adequately prepared for the race. Then you have to believe that you will execute the training plan properly so that you will be prepared for the race. Then you have to actually execute it. These things make me worry because I'm always afraid that I'm not up to the challenge. I hope that I didn't let things slide too much by taking a break because if I'm really running this slowly, then it will be lot of very slow, very very long runs.

You would think that you would speed up from doing lots of running over time, right? Not necessarily. Speedwork can make a big difference and that isn't something that plays a huge role in my current training plan.

I need to look at the brighter side of things:

There is no way to get faster without just going out and running.
Worrying about getting faster will not make me faster. Complaining about running slowly also will not make me faster.
The weather really is challenging.

..........and now you see why I don't track my time any more.........

I will say this: if this morning's (and yesterday's) time is anything to go by, then I pulled off a minor miracle at last Saturday's Florida Death Run. The Florida Death Runs are a series done by the Lakeland Running Club (actually titled the Summer Sunrise Watermelon Series) where you run 5k around a lake. It's a beautiful course, well organized, and there is watermelon at the end. The only bad part: there are four races and they are all in the summer. Last Saturday, I did not do very well at all because of the high dew point/humidity. In fact, I had to walk at two points, which I just don't like to do except as a last resort. But I did go relatively faster than today (and yesterday), which must have taken a herculean effort. I didn't notice at the time because I was too busy trying not to die.

There is some good news. Next week I will be in Boston for a week and a half, so I can contrast and compare in more favorable conditions. If I am still this slow, then I will just have to confront that then. See three points listed above.

The phone makes me laugh

2010-07-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

I love when I pull this blog up on my phone. The header shows up like this:

I'm
running a
freaking
marathon
!

Which is actually a pretty fair depiction of how I think about it myself!

Day 1 is done!

2010-07-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, one run down, countless runs to go. I actually was thinking along these lines a few times during my run this morning, then realized that this is stupid. If all you think about is how much there is to go, it will just be depressing. Same philosophy will apply at the start line: if you stand there thinking that you have to run 26.2 miles, you might just want to lie down and cry. Well, at least I would. Better to take it one step at a time because that way you can think about how each step is progress toward the goal.

It was by no means the most pleasant run I've ever done. Before I left, the RealFeel temperature was already in the 90s (this was around 8:40am). At least the humidity was 'low,' by which I mean in the 80% range. However, I did like the ample shade provided by the lovely trees in my neighborhood. It really does make a big difference.

I used my fancy new phone rig, which worked relatively well, except that it insists on telling me my time (that and it was preset in kilometers...good thing today was only three miles, which is a little less than 5k). I don't want to know my time. In fact, I rarely keep time except during races (and then sometimes I force myself to forget quickly). As a relatively competitive person, I realized a long time ago that keeping time on every one of my runs was more harmful than good. You don't necessarily make steady progress when you run, at least not every time you go out. Some days, for whatever reason, you will be faster and some days you will be slower. This is just how it is. For me, I found that tracking each run made me frustrated when I couldn't figure out why I was slower on a given day. Instead, I decided to just go run with the belief that gradual progress would be made. I keep thinking that someday I will reconcile with keeping time and get better with it, but I don't feel that marathon training is the time to do this. I'm not running this race for a time, I'm running to finish. That's it.

It would be super cool, though, if you did shave off time every run you did. Imagine if you ran 5 days a week, 40 weeks of the year, and every time you took off 3 seconds from your mile. You'd take a minute off your mile a year. In 5 years, I would practically be ready for the Olympics.

The Challenge of Florida

2010-07-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today I got a new toy, one of those armbands that lets you run with your phone. This is not because I actually want to run with the phone (I am pretty much a running purist and don't even take music...more on that probably later), but because my phone is also a GPS unit. Voila, instant distance tracker. This toy will be especially fun since I live in a part of Tampa with lots of old trees -- which provide lots of nice shade -- and twisty streets to explore. Much nicer than Upper Middle Suburbia, where I moved from: the running mostly consisted of the same loop, some of which was directly in the sun no matter what the time of day.

Official running starts tomorrow with a little 3 mile jaunt. However, even this short run is going to be a challenge. The Challenge of Florida, to be exact. The Challenge of Florida is something I have been battling since I moved here in 2007 and I haven't yet found a way of beating it.

What is the Challenge of Florida? Simply that I find it far too wretched for running. When I first moved here, I was aware that it was hot, but unaware of how pernicious Florida heat could be. In fact, it's not really the heat per se (although it is hot, don't get me wrong), but the humidity and dew point combined. Also, the sun is very strong, which is tough on us Northerners.

Here is the basic problem: during the day, the strong sun heats up the air. That makes it too hot to run, starting around 10am. So you'd think that the easy answer would be to run either after the sun has set or before the sun rises. Ha! Nice try. The one benefit that the strong sun provides is burning off the humidity. The humidity then builds overnight until the air is pretty much saturated (levels in the upper 90s). This cycle repeats from May-ish to late October-ish -- or early November-ish if you are really lucky. In other words, this is half your year.

High dew point tells you just how close the actual air is to becoming dew. If the dew point and temperature match, then there are ungodly amounts of water in the air. I often like to check in with Wikipedia to see how we're doing, dew-point-wise. For the run I did on Saturday, the dew point was 78F. According to Wikipedia, that is, "Extremely uncomfortable, fairly oppressive." Still better than 80F or above, which is, "Severely high. Even deadly for asthma-related illnesses" -- but only 2 degrees better. The real problem, if you are running, is that the high humidity and dew point mean that you sweat, but it doesn't evaporate. So you don't actually cool off, even if the temperatures are somewhat manageable (by which I mean in the upper 70s/low 80s. When I lived in Massachusetts, I used to complain when temperatures got into the upper 70s and I went out to run. Memories).

In my first attempts at running outside in 2007, I thought that I would adapt to the climate. And I did to a point: when I began, I couldn't even make it 2 miles without having to stop (and thinking I might die). I took the sunset approach, which was unwise because the heat and everything did not dissipate just because the strong sun wasn't there any more. Also, you risked potential thunderstorms that can happen daily. But I still didn't fully adapt. Actually, I often wonder if anyone does, the conditions are just horrid. For much of the summer, I have been aquajogging instead, which is where you have a buoyant water belt and jog in the pool -- I highly recommend, even though it instantly makes you look like you are retired. But it's a nice activity with the added bonus that you can dip your head in any time you get hot.

The current temperature (4:46pm) is 95F, the RealFeel temperature is 109F. Humidity is 77% and the dew point is 77F. I need to find a way to meet this challenge, but I can't say that I am looking forward to it.

The motivation

2010-07-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

Why am I keeping a blog? The answer is simple: because I am running a freaking marathon!

So why keep a blog? Because this is kind of a big deal for me. I've been running now for a little over four years, but I have to say that I am not much of a runner. The person finishing near the end of the race: that's me. The runner who insists on running even though the walky-runny people are beating her out? That's me. I've been dead last not once, but twice in my running career. I'm definitely more of a turtle than a hare, but the point is that I do make it (slowly) to the finish line.

This means that running a marathon for me will be a lengthy and time-consuming process, not to mention the training that will be involved with it...long runs are even longer when you are wicked slow! But I wanted to record this adventure, as well as some of the fun points along the way (Florida Summer Series Death Runs, for instance).

The marathon in question is the Kiawah Island Marathon, which will be on December 11, 2010. My plan is to drive from Florida to South Carolina (where the marathon is), run it, then crash out , and finally drive home to Canada for my vacation. The registration for the marathon is on August 1 and I plan to sign up as soon as possible. Likely I will have some ridiculously low bib number as a result, such as 4.

I welcome any comments that you have and hope that friends far and wide will keep track of my efforts. Running, for me, is a very solitary activity, and your support is thoroughly appreciated, even if it takes the form of, 'Why are you doing this?!?'