Ok, I'm terrible. I know. I've been neglecting my writing duties. Mostly because I haven't had anything really worthy to write about lately, and when I have, I kind of put it off because I feel I have better things to do with my time. Even right now I can think of at least 3 other things I really should be doing such as washing sheets, grocery shopping and studying for the GMAT.
Yep, that's right, I'm studying for the GMAT. The test that gets you into business school. Since starting my job at the U, I've decided that I should take advantage of getting 75% off my tuition if I go back to school. I've decided that I'm going to see how the GMAT goes and if I can get into the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, and complete an MBA part-time. Normally, I wouldn't worry about standardized tests and applications to schools. Historically, those things have always gone well. However, historically I've only taken standardized tests and quit applying to colleges after I transferred to Minnesota. After going through some of the math on the GMAT practice stuff, I realized that there's a lot of it I haven't done since I was 14 or 15 years old. I'm 26. Eeeps! So, I'm taking the test on March 31 and have to have all of my application materials in by May 1 in order to start in the fall. Another reason I'm not completely confident of my abilities to get in to the program is because Carlson is rated in the top 25 business schools in the nation. After writing this paragraph I realize I probably should be studying.
Going back to school might change how my running plays out. Working full time plus school part time might not leave a lot of time for training. But, for now I persevere. I've continued to go to the gym three days a week before work. since it's before work, I've just been working on speed. It ended up making sense since I had a 5K coming up.
One thing I really have learned in these early morning sessions is to not let my head get in the way of a good workout. There are a lot of days when I really struggle to pull myself out of my bed to get to the gym. While getting ready I often think to myself, "Maybe I'll just take it easy today. Maybe even just briskly walk." It's probably a good thing I'm fairly competitive with myself. As soon as I step on the treadmill, I can't let myself slack. And as it turns out, that on the days I'm feeling at my worst, I often work out at my best. Many times I run the fastest for the longest on these days. Something I've found to be fairly interesting. Now, for the rest of the day it often takes a lot of effort (and sometimes coffee) to stay awake at work, but I make it through.
The hard work has paid off because I've been able to significantly reduce my short-distance speeds. We have had some unseasonably warm weather lately. We're talking 50+ degrees in March. Usually there's still a significant amount of snow on the ground. Last week was the first time we hit those temps and I was able to get in my first outdoor run of the season. Now, it wasn't anything special. Just a quick 3 miles around my neighborhood. And it did turn out to be pretty quick. I was able to get through the 3 in about 27 1/2 minutes. About 9:10 mile time. Not awesome, considering I had this route down to about 26 1/2 minutes at the end of my marathon training this fall, but still pretty good. I'm going to keep working on it and see if i can get it down to around 26 minutes eventually. It might take a while but now that the weather is getting nicer, I'll be able to get outside more.
I was hoping I could carry this speed into a 5K I ran on Saturday. I sort of did. My 5K time ended up being 28:29. It was about the same speed as my training. Technically I should be running faster in races so that's a little frustrating. I think the most frustrating part about it is how most 5K's play out.
This race, the 100% Irish for a Day, was a 5K and a 10-mile. Clearly it's an event geared toward runners. I knew I'd only have time to prepare for the 5K. Now, in any 5K you've got your wide range of participants. You've got the guys/gals who are quick as hell and want to win. You've got the folks who are pretty good, but aren't going to win, there are then people like me, who are pretty much middle of the pack. Next are people who are slower than me. They run/walk the whole event and are often new to running or getting back into running/fitness. Lastly, you have the walkers. The people who pay $35 to take a leisurely stroll around the lake. Now, don't get me wrong, they completely have that right and normally I wouldn't care that they do that, until they really get in my way.
The race organizers place markers at the start-line that designate what speed you think you'll run the race. It's marked by minutes per mile. The intention is that you line up near the marker that aligns with your assumed speed. Thus, I lined up by the 9:00 min/mile sign. When the race began it took a good mile for it to spread out enough that I wasn't constantly bobbing and weaving through the crowd. I was like Ali ducking and dodging swinging arms. When I looked at my watch, it had taken me over 10 minutes to run the first mile. Over 10 minutes! WHAT?
Now you might be asking, why did it take you so long if you lined up next to the 9:00 min/mile sign? Well, because people that clearly run at a much, much slower pace lined up in the front of the pack at the 6-8 min/mile areas. COME ON! So, in consequence, a giant cluster-eff develops for at least the first mile. It's really quite irritating and there's not a whole lot race officials can do about it. Typically you can't tell by looking at someone what speed they'll run. So, if you plan on running any 5K's and think you're on the slower end of the spectrum (definitely if you're walking), please, for God's sake, line up toward the back of the pack. It's just standard courtesy to those who are actually going to try and make times.
Now, the race itself was great. it was a loop around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. I'm very familiar with this lake because I had spent a lot of time training for the marathon in that area. Now, when I was training, there were leaves on the trees and no ice on the lake. Despite the barren landscape, it was still great. The high for the day was in the 60's and at race time it was in the 40's. Pretty good running weather. There was a pretty good wind coming from the south. I didn't really notice it until the end of the race when it was whipping up from the frozen lake and hitting me crosswise. But, by that time I was pretty much done and really wanted to make time so I powered through.
The race ended with your standard race-fare. But this race, due to the St. Patrick's day theme culminated in a free glass of Finnegan's beer. Now, I only have select occasions when I drink beer in the morning. Gopher football games are usually the only excuses. But, this seemed like a good time to have a bump at 10 a.m. The downside was that since I ran the race alone, I didn't have anyone to share the beer with. They made us stay in a beer garden so I couldn't chat with Erich and his parents until I was done. But, it was good nonetheless.
Post race we drove to 3 restaurants before finding a place that could accommodate us for breakfast. Guess that's the downside to being in a city where the best breakfasts come from tiny diners. We ended up at The Citizen where I had the best biscuits and gravy I've ever had. From scratch cheddar chive biscuits and gravy with homemade sausage. Simply lovely. The icing on the cake was that the restaurant sources local and organic ingredients. Perfect post race meal.
Hopefully my speed work continues to get better. I'm going to continue my bouts at the gym in the morning and start getting my butt outside more. This week is going to be great for running with temps topping out in the low 70's. Adios winter!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Back in the game
I've been quite absent from the blogosphere lately. By quite absent I mean thoroughly non-existent and by lately I mean for the past 3 months.
As it turns out, even if you can, it's not actually fun to run with tendonitis. It also turns out that it becomes very difficult to run outside when daylight only lasts from about 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It seems that it's preferential for me to be at work during that time. Go figure. I'm not willing to run outside in the dark. It's not safe on many accounts.
I had put a freeze on my gym membership while training for the marathon. I just wasn't using it so it didn't make sense to pay for it. I held off unfreezing it because I wanted to continue running outside. Unfortunately that did not work out due to the above mentioned reasons I finally came upon the opportunity to unfreeze the membership when I started a new job in late December.
On December 21, I left my over 3-year position with the MS Society. After much deliberation and discussion with my husband, it was decided that I take advantage of an opportunity at the University of Minnesota. At this point, it's not for schooling (but eventually will be, more on that later) but for employment. I'm now working in Alumni Relations and planning events for the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. I am still staying in touch with my friends at the MS Society and am still planning to volunteer for them in the future. In case any of you were worried, I am not cutting my ties with the organization.
Starting up at "The U" opened an opportunity to carpool with a close friend. After a couple of days, it was decided that we'd start going to the gym before work. So, for the past 4 weeks, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we get up early (well before the sun) and make our way to LA Fitness.
Since it's morning, the time we have to workout is fairly minimal; around 30 minutes. We do still have to shower and get ready for the day. I feel that I really need to push myself during those 30 minutes and for the most part, I have. I've really been focusing on speed during these early morning sessions. I'm running a 5K in March (The 100% Irish for a Day 5K) so I'm hoping this pays off. A time under 27 minutes would be ideal. I'm fully confident this can happen. I was at that point in October. I should be able to get it back. The only outlier will be the weather. March is a finicky bitch when it comes to weather. You never know what she'll bring to the table. If it's really cold and windy, all bets are off for my time. But, if this winter is any indication of what to expect, I should be just fine.
Now, what has my esteemed gym-partner been doing all this time? She is on track for the Couch to 5K program. Now Jenna, like my friend, Jill, is not a runner at heart. In fact she doesn't really like it at all. How these people are such good friends of mine, I have no idea; but they are. She's been doing so fabulous and recently ran longer than she's ever ran in a single bout in a long time. So far she's 3 weeks into the program and is progressing beautifully. I'm really proud of her for sticking with it and for not getting grumpy or discouraged. Though, I'm not sure why she'd be getting discouraged considering she's been incredibly successful. She's tired at the end of a workout, and that's how it should be, but she isn't letting it get in the way of her goals. So, shout out to Jenna and her awesome work. I'm hoping she'll truly convert to being a runner. We'll see though.
In addition to our morning runs. We've been getting into strength training on the weekends. It's nearly impossible to fit in during early morning sessions and while I'd prefer to strength train more than one day a week, it's better than nothing. I can certainly tell that I haven't done strength training in about 9 months. I'm significantly weaker than I was and am sore longer. I know it'll come back though. I'm excited for that to return.
The upcoming 5K isn't the only race I have to look forward to. I have another planned for October. I will not be running a full marathon this year, however I will be taking on a half. I'll be participating in the Monster Dash Half Marathon. It's Halloween-themed so it should be incredibly fun. I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to the less crazy training. The new job will be a lot slower in the summer and I'm looking forward to having more time to relax and enjoy myself. I have a feeling the months to come are going to be a lot of fun and full of surprising challenges as I work to increase speed.
As it turns out, even if you can, it's not actually fun to run with tendonitis. It also turns out that it becomes very difficult to run outside when daylight only lasts from about 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It seems that it's preferential for me to be at work during that time. Go figure. I'm not willing to run outside in the dark. It's not safe on many accounts.
I had put a freeze on my gym membership while training for the marathon. I just wasn't using it so it didn't make sense to pay for it. I held off unfreezing it because I wanted to continue running outside. Unfortunately that did not work out due to the above mentioned reasons I finally came upon the opportunity to unfreeze the membership when I started a new job in late December.
On December 21, I left my over 3-year position with the MS Society. After much deliberation and discussion with my husband, it was decided that I take advantage of an opportunity at the University of Minnesota. At this point, it's not for schooling (but eventually will be, more on that later) but for employment. I'm now working in Alumni Relations and planning events for the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. I am still staying in touch with my friends at the MS Society and am still planning to volunteer for them in the future. In case any of you were worried, I am not cutting my ties with the organization.
Starting up at "The U" opened an opportunity to carpool with a close friend. After a couple of days, it was decided that we'd start going to the gym before work. So, for the past 4 weeks, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we get up early (well before the sun) and make our way to LA Fitness.
Since it's morning, the time we have to workout is fairly minimal; around 30 minutes. We do still have to shower and get ready for the day. I feel that I really need to push myself during those 30 minutes and for the most part, I have. I've really been focusing on speed during these early morning sessions. I'm running a 5K in March (The 100% Irish for a Day 5K) so I'm hoping this pays off. A time under 27 minutes would be ideal. I'm fully confident this can happen. I was at that point in October. I should be able to get it back. The only outlier will be the weather. March is a finicky bitch when it comes to weather. You never know what she'll bring to the table. If it's really cold and windy, all bets are off for my time. But, if this winter is any indication of what to expect, I should be just fine.
Now, what has my esteemed gym-partner been doing all this time? She is on track for the Couch to 5K program. Now Jenna, like my friend, Jill, is not a runner at heart. In fact she doesn't really like it at all. How these people are such good friends of mine, I have no idea; but they are. She's been doing so fabulous and recently ran longer than she's ever ran in a single bout in a long time. So far she's 3 weeks into the program and is progressing beautifully. I'm really proud of her for sticking with it and for not getting grumpy or discouraged. Though, I'm not sure why she'd be getting discouraged considering she's been incredibly successful. She's tired at the end of a workout, and that's how it should be, but she isn't letting it get in the way of her goals. So, shout out to Jenna and her awesome work. I'm hoping she'll truly convert to being a runner. We'll see though.
In addition to our morning runs. We've been getting into strength training on the weekends. It's nearly impossible to fit in during early morning sessions and while I'd prefer to strength train more than one day a week, it's better than nothing. I can certainly tell that I haven't done strength training in about 9 months. I'm significantly weaker than I was and am sore longer. I know it'll come back though. I'm excited for that to return.
The upcoming 5K isn't the only race I have to look forward to. I have another planned for October. I will not be running a full marathon this year, however I will be taking on a half. I'll be participating in the Monster Dash Half Marathon. It's Halloween-themed so it should be incredibly fun. I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to the less crazy training. The new job will be a lot slower in the summer and I'm looking forward to having more time to relax and enjoy myself. I have a feeling the months to come are going to be a lot of fun and full of surprising challenges as I work to increase speed.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Pain in the butt...errr...feet
I am now officially one month post marathon. Ask me how far I've ran in the past month. Go ahead, ask. Well I'll tell you. It's been a whopping 3 miles. 3. It sounds so sad. I promise I do have a good excuse. No, I'm not just lazy.
Toward the end of my training, as my mileage was ramping up, I began having pain in my feet. As I usually do with pain, I ignored it. Especially since the marathon was approaching. Nothing would set me back from that. Well, during the marathon, the pain really started getting to me around mile 18. I ended up taking some ibuprofen when I saw my family at mile 20. It was a deep aching pain that really was incessant no matter what I did. It even hurt during my walking breaks.
During training it would subside after a long run. Well, that wasn't the case post-marathon. The pain did not subside. It pretty much stayed the same and hurts A LOT in the mornings when I get out of bed. I went for that 3-mile run and regretted it. My feet weren't too happy with me. Since then, I've been resting and pondering what could possibly be wrong. I thought maybe I had a stress fracture in each foot. I Googled it. I had all of the symptoms. Cool, I was staring down 6-8 weeks in a walking boot.
Now, instead of actually going to the doctor, I (again) swore off high heels and wore Puma tennis shoes to work, with my work clothes. Sexy. Of course that didn't really help much. Just made day to day life a bit easier. So, I finally made an appointment with the podiatrist who happens to be in the same clinic as my primary care physician.
Yesterday morning I went to see Dr. Shea. First he asked me why I would run 26.2 miles. I told him it was fun. He then asked me about my symptoms and then asked if we were going to have to amputate. Hah, funny doc. I didn't really know how to respond to that. It seems like it would have been funnier if directed to an 8-year-old. Oh well, he was at least good-natured. He moved my ankle around, pushed his thumbs in the areas I told him hurt, and all around poked and prodded my feet.
The diagnosis? Tibialis tendonitis. Turns out my calf muscles are too tight to allow the tendons attaching them to my foot bones to function properly. Thus, the tendons are mad and inflamed, causing all of the pain in my feet. Well, we have a diagnosis. Now what do I do about it?
Step 1: Stretch my calves 3-4 times a day for 4-6 minutes each time. Not sure how well that'll go over at work. We'll see. Step 2: Take prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine. I just picked it up at Target. Can I just say that I really love $4 generics? Step 3: Get orthotic inserts for my running shoes. Good thing my favorite running store gives me a 20% discount just for being on their mailing list. Easiest discount I've ever gotten. Step 4: Wear a heeled shoe to work. Done. No argument from me! Step 5: Take it easy and just walk for exercise for now. In a couple weeks, slowly start adding in running. As long as the pain isn't getting worse, I'm OK.
As you can imagine, I'm quite pleased to not have a stress fracture and to not have to wear a boot on each foot. That would have been funny. I'm not pleased that tendonitis can take a while to heal since every-day activity aggravates it. But, I am very, very happy that I can get out and be active during the process. Bam! Now if only I would have signed up for the Monster Dash half marathon that was last weekend. I'm somewhat regretting that decision. Maybe there's a Thanksgiving 5K in Sioux Falls I could do... I'm addicted.
Toward the end of my training, as my mileage was ramping up, I began having pain in my feet. As I usually do with pain, I ignored it. Especially since the marathon was approaching. Nothing would set me back from that. Well, during the marathon, the pain really started getting to me around mile 18. I ended up taking some ibuprofen when I saw my family at mile 20. It was a deep aching pain that really was incessant no matter what I did. It even hurt during my walking breaks.
During training it would subside after a long run. Well, that wasn't the case post-marathon. The pain did not subside. It pretty much stayed the same and hurts A LOT in the mornings when I get out of bed. I went for that 3-mile run and regretted it. My feet weren't too happy with me. Since then, I've been resting and pondering what could possibly be wrong. I thought maybe I had a stress fracture in each foot. I Googled it. I had all of the symptoms. Cool, I was staring down 6-8 weeks in a walking boot.
Now, instead of actually going to the doctor, I (again) swore off high heels and wore Puma tennis shoes to work, with my work clothes. Sexy. Of course that didn't really help much. Just made day to day life a bit easier. So, I finally made an appointment with the podiatrist who happens to be in the same clinic as my primary care physician.
Yesterday morning I went to see Dr. Shea. First he asked me why I would run 26.2 miles. I told him it was fun. He then asked me about my symptoms and then asked if we were going to have to amputate. Hah, funny doc. I didn't really know how to respond to that. It seems like it would have been funnier if directed to an 8-year-old. Oh well, he was at least good-natured. He moved my ankle around, pushed his thumbs in the areas I told him hurt, and all around poked and prodded my feet.
The diagnosis? Tibialis tendonitis. Turns out my calf muscles are too tight to allow the tendons attaching them to my foot bones to function properly. Thus, the tendons are mad and inflamed, causing all of the pain in my feet. Well, we have a diagnosis. Now what do I do about it?
Step 1: Stretch my calves 3-4 times a day for 4-6 minutes each time. Not sure how well that'll go over at work. We'll see. Step 2: Take prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine. I just picked it up at Target. Can I just say that I really love $4 generics? Step 3: Get orthotic inserts for my running shoes. Good thing my favorite running store gives me a 20% discount just for being on their mailing list. Easiest discount I've ever gotten. Step 4: Wear a heeled shoe to work. Done. No argument from me! Step 5: Take it easy and just walk for exercise for now. In a couple weeks, slowly start adding in running. As long as the pain isn't getting worse, I'm OK.
As you can imagine, I'm quite pleased to not have a stress fracture and to not have to wear a boot on each foot. That would have been funny. I'm not pleased that tendonitis can take a while to heal since every-day activity aggravates it. But, I am very, very happy that I can get out and be active during the process. Bam! Now if only I would have signed up for the Monster Dash half marathon that was last weekend. I'm somewhat regretting that decision. Maybe there's a Thanksgiving 5K in Sioux Falls I could do... I'm addicted.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Marilyn vs. Twiggy
I’ve recently been thinking about the issue of weight and what we perceive to be healthy. I've always been active so I've never really had to think about it before. Now that I've toned down the running for the time being, I started thinking more about it as I saw a pound or two come back that had consequently fallen off during marathon training. What I’ve realized is that we, as American women, are pulled so far in each direction that it’s no wonder that a majority have no idea how to be a healthy woman.
Obesity is considered to be one of the more serious public health issues of this century, and one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. Yet why do we seem oblivious to the detrimental effects of being overweight or obese? Honestly, I don’t think we’re oblivious. I think we’re in denial.
In the mid 20th century we saw a huge shift in what was considered to be beautiful. Women the size and shape of Marilyn Monroe thrived in the 1950’s. She’s still considered to be one of the most prominent sex symbols of all time. Then the 1960’s rolled around and came Twiggy, one of the world’s first supermodels. Let’s make a comparison of their measurements.
Marilyn:
Height – 5 feet, 5 ½ inches
Weight – 118-140 pounds
Bust – 36 inches
Waist – 23 inches
Hips – 37 inches
Twiggy:
Height – 5 feet, 6 inches
Weight – 110- pounds
Bust – 31 inches
Waist – 23 inches
Hips – 32 inches
Well, I see some similarities. Ms. Monroe and Ms. Twiggy were of similar height and have similar waist sizes. But, look at their bust and hips. What? There’s a 5-inch difference in each of those areas. That’s pretty big. This makes Marilyn a distinct hourglass and Twiggy a ruler. The biggest difference was in their basic shape and we started valuing the ruler over the hourglass.
Now I don’t know why this change happened but, it did and the movement continued to grow. As we moved into the latter part of the century, the prominence of stick thin women grew. It’s still prevalent in the first eleven years of this century.
The effects of this trend are pretty noticeable. Women and young girls started yearning to be like these cover girls. Incidences of eating disorders grew and the female population became discontent with their bodies.
Now, we’re facing pretty terrifying obesity rates and it makes me wonder how this happened. If women want so much to look like today’s models, why is obesity increasing? Well, I think there are countless factors at play but I feel like one of them is that women don't know where to look for help and have come to a point of rebellion. They know that they can’t look like models and so they’ve rebelled. They know that excessive dieting was unsuccessful (and quite frankly, not fun) so they went in the opposite direction. We started teaching our girls to love themselves for who they are and not teach them who they could be. We led our girls down a path of future health problems such as type II diabetes, joint problems and hypertension in the name of promoting self esteem.
The problem I see here is that there is no medium. Women strive for one extreme or the other. They limit calories by day then end up binging by night. They spend hours at the gym for a week, then when they don't immediately resemble a runway model, they don't return for months.
What is a woman to do with no positive healthy role model to look to? Yes, grown women need role models too. All they want is guidance. Someone to show them what to do, to tell them how they should be career women, girlfriends mothers, wives, partners, caretakers, and still feel like Wonder Woman.
What women fail to understand is that it isn’t about the shape and size of the body, it’s about the lifestyle chosen. Women need to learn the motivation behind a healthy lifestyle. Yes, the desire to look good will always be present. We are human after all. But, if women choose a healthy, balanced lifestyle, they will find that they will have a healthy and balanced body. When that balance is realized, I think we’ll finally be able to peg down our role models. We'll start becoming our own role models.
Monday, October 10, 2011
26.2 Completed!
Well, it's been over a week since the marathon and I'm finally getting it together enough to write about it. Within a couple of hours of finishing, I was in a vehicle headed for South Dakota. The week following was a whirlwind of spending time with my new nephew and sister, cooking a ton of food for them, going shopping and eating. Thus, there was not a lot of time for blogging. I mean, who wouldn't want to hang out with this guy? He's all about the Gophers too, just like his aunt. :)
I got a lot of Bryce-a-Roni time and you can see why blogging was set aside for the time being. But, now that I'm home, I'll give you a run down on how the big day went.
Erich's and my parents arrived on Saturday morning. Erich and his family went shopping at the Albertville outlets while my parents and I went shopping for beer-making supplies and wine. We have some pretty good priorities. The only problem was that I didn't want to take part in the included wine tasting due to the marathon being on the next day. Oh well. Next time.
For dinner we met up with much of the Run to Stop MS team at Buca Di Beppo for a pre-race meal. If you're unfamiliar with Buca, it's a chain Italian restaurant that serves huge portions family-style. While I really wanted to pig out, I didn't really want to be extra heavy and miserable for the race the next day. The strategy seemed to work.
Sunday morning I woke at the ripe old time of 6 a.m. Jenna was picking up Erich and I at 6:30 so we could meet our parents at my office by 6:45. The rest of the team also met there and we prepped for the race and took a team photo. I don't have a copy of said photo because it's on my mom's camera and she hasn't gotten it up on Facebook yet. I'll share all of the photos we have once my mom posts them on Facebook. After the photo we walked over to the Metrodome to get ready for the starting gun.
The gun officially went off at 8 a.m. I was in the last corral with Michelle so we didn't cross the start line until well after that. But, by 8:10, we were off. Right away it was obvious this race would be different from any other I'd ever done. Not only would it be considerably longer but there was an intense energy surrounding the whole event. From the moment we left, there were complete strangers cheering on every runner. Many people held signs for their family and friends and all of them clapped and yelled as we went by. This was true for the entire race. 26.2 miles of spectator-lined streets. The energy also came from starting a race in downtown. Running through towering buildings and stopping traffic (while they all honked for us) was empowering. Too bad we were out of downtown by mile one. But, the fun was just beginning.
We made our way into Uptown Minneapolis via Lake of the Isles and around Lake Calhoun. Our path took us by the exact spot where Michelle's car was broken into, as well as the lakes where I completed many training runs. After missing my family at mile 3 (they got held up, we ran too fast and were gone before they could meet us) we zipped around Lake Harriet and met up with them at mile 7. By this point I was quite warm and had to shed the gloves I was wearing along with the free arm warmers I received from the marathon. Thankfully I saw them at mile 7 and was able to toss them off at that point.
On the south end of Lake Harriet, we turned and meandered onto Minnehaha Parkway. During this segment I saw my family once, a couple of great Bike MS volunteers and participants and two good friends from high school, who were there to watch another friend from high school attempt to qualify for Boston. She did by the way. Go Hannah! I lost Michelle around mile 11. She was going too fast for my liking so I let her go on ahead. I faced the last 15 miles alone. At this point I realized how great it was to see friendly faces along the course. Don't get me wrong, it feels pretty good to have complete strangers cheering for you, but nothing beats having someone call out your name and yell.
We hit the halfway point on the north/northeast side of Lake Nokomis, before continuing on Minnehaha Parkway to Minnehaha Park. After arriving in the park I was again in familiar territory. This area was where I started many training runs and where Michelle and I started and completed our first run together when we ran 13 miles. I arrived at mile 16 just north of the park and started scanning the street ahead for the MS Cheer Zone. About the time I spotted it I heard my name called out and my coworker, Anna, snapped this photo:
It's not a great picture because I stole it from Anna's Facebook page. But, it does a good job of summing up how I felt about seeing people I know on the route. I was pretty happy. Notice the people behind me who were beginning to take a walking break at this time. Other than going through the water/Powerade stations, I hadn't walked yet. I saw co-workers and volunteers waving signs and ringing cowbells. I saw some volunteers who are very near and dear to me and some of whom I was running for. That was a lovely boost to have when looking at 10 more miles to go. shortly thereafter I saw the family again, this time with the addition of Jenna's brother and his beagle, Fila. I took in some energy and a half a banana in hopes I'd get through to mile 20.
Well, that's about as far as I got before the pain really set in. Ouch. At mile 20 it starts getting rough in any marathon (or so I hear) but this is where the Twin Cities Marathon takes an uphill turn. Yep, as if having to struggle through the last 6 miles isn't hard enough, we had to go uphill. That's the point where if you're not careful, you start to cramp. And, I did a little. I found that an incline really made my calves get tight, so I eased up and walked partway up the hills. I traded off between walking and running during the 2-mile incline. I ran until my calves started feeling tight, then walked a bit. I followed this method for a good amount of the next 4 miles then tried to run even more for the last 2.
Summit Avenue encompasses that killer uphill as well as most of the remainder of the race. Summit has some of the most incredible houses in the area. They're all historic and beautiful. Summit Avenue is home to the governor's mansion as well as the James J. Hill house, which is the house of a railroad tycoon from the 1800's. It's huge, see!
It also marks about a 1/2 mile left in the race. By the time I passed the James J. Hill house I'd made a friend. He was running for the World Vision team and gave a huge proclamation at mile 25 that we only had 1 mile left. In reality it was 1.2 but I tended to forget about the .2 at the end. Thus began our mile-long friendship. We ran and walked a little through the last 1.2 miles, and cheered each other on to the end. We picked up another guy at about 25.5 and the three of us ran into the finish line. It was all downhill from there and was AWESOME. There are people literally everywhere. They are thick on the streets and surrounding the finish area. Everyone is cheering, there is music playing, and as you cross the finish line, an announcer calls out your name.
Immediately after finishing, volunteers are there placing medals around everyone's necks, then you're funneled into an area with food, food, glorious food. I hadn't realized it but I was starving. Turns out 5 hours of Powerade and Clif Shot Blocks aren't really enough to keep you full. There was so much to snack on, I couldn't carry it all. The two things that tasted the best were the Pearson's Salted Nut Roll and an ice cold chocolate milk. Now I know why all of our Bike MS participants freak out about the Salted Nut Rolls after a long ride.
I grabbed my shirt and made my way to my family who was waiting at the MS Society's meeting tent. After sitting for a while and getting off my feet for the first time in almost 6 hours, I decided to take a trip to the bathroom. Out of toilet paper! Now, I understand that there are 11,000 people competing plus spectators but let's make sure the bathrooms are stocked full of TP okay? I plan events too. We literally drive around restocking the porta potties, or we assign volunteers to it. It's not that hard folks. Now, that was really my only complaint about the event logistics.
After my less-than-successful trip to the porta potty, we headed home. Erich had to get to work and my parents and I had to head to Sioux Falls. My overall time was 5:12: 36. Not really great, but I finished. Michelle ended up slowing down quite a bit too and finishing in around 5:06. We did it!
I realized that I may have started out a little too fast in the beginning. This may have contributed to my demise around mile 20. Because I know where I can tweak things and make it better, I think I might have to do another in the future. Now, I'm not sure when it will be, but I'm about 90% certain it will happen again. I know I can do much better than that.
For now, I'm enjoying being able to just say no to going for a run if I don't feel like it. I do like that I can just run when I want and not have to worry about mileage and time. For now, I'm going to enjoy that. Until I take on my next adventure.
Thanks to all of you who supported me though words of encouragement, donations, and coming out on race day. You know who you are and how much that meant to me. It's great to know I have a full network of support behind me, no matter what crazy shenanegans in which I decide to partake.
I got a lot of Bryce-a-Roni time and you can see why blogging was set aside for the time being. But, now that I'm home, I'll give you a run down on how the big day went.
Erich's and my parents arrived on Saturday morning. Erich and his family went shopping at the Albertville outlets while my parents and I went shopping for beer-making supplies and wine. We have some pretty good priorities. The only problem was that I didn't want to take part in the included wine tasting due to the marathon being on the next day. Oh well. Next time.
For dinner we met up with much of the Run to Stop MS team at Buca Di Beppo for a pre-race meal. If you're unfamiliar with Buca, it's a chain Italian restaurant that serves huge portions family-style. While I really wanted to pig out, I didn't really want to be extra heavy and miserable for the race the next day. The strategy seemed to work.
Sunday morning I woke at the ripe old time of 6 a.m. Jenna was picking up Erich and I at 6:30 so we could meet our parents at my office by 6:45. The rest of the team also met there and we prepped for the race and took a team photo. I don't have a copy of said photo because it's on my mom's camera and she hasn't gotten it up on Facebook yet. I'll share all of the photos we have once my mom posts them on Facebook. After the photo we walked over to the Metrodome to get ready for the starting gun.
The gun officially went off at 8 a.m. I was in the last corral with Michelle so we didn't cross the start line until well after that. But, by 8:10, we were off. Right away it was obvious this race would be different from any other I'd ever done. Not only would it be considerably longer but there was an intense energy surrounding the whole event. From the moment we left, there were complete strangers cheering on every runner. Many people held signs for their family and friends and all of them clapped and yelled as we went by. This was true for the entire race. 26.2 miles of spectator-lined streets. The energy also came from starting a race in downtown. Running through towering buildings and stopping traffic (while they all honked for us) was empowering. Too bad we were out of downtown by mile one. But, the fun was just beginning.
We made our way into Uptown Minneapolis via Lake of the Isles and around Lake Calhoun. Our path took us by the exact spot where Michelle's car was broken into, as well as the lakes where I completed many training runs. After missing my family at mile 3 (they got held up, we ran too fast and were gone before they could meet us) we zipped around Lake Harriet and met up with them at mile 7. By this point I was quite warm and had to shed the gloves I was wearing along with the free arm warmers I received from the marathon. Thankfully I saw them at mile 7 and was able to toss them off at that point.
On the south end of Lake Harriet, we turned and meandered onto Minnehaha Parkway. During this segment I saw my family once, a couple of great Bike MS volunteers and participants and two good friends from high school, who were there to watch another friend from high school attempt to qualify for Boston. She did by the way. Go Hannah! I lost Michelle around mile 11. She was going too fast for my liking so I let her go on ahead. I faced the last 15 miles alone. At this point I realized how great it was to see friendly faces along the course. Don't get me wrong, it feels pretty good to have complete strangers cheering for you, but nothing beats having someone call out your name and yell.
We hit the halfway point on the north/northeast side of Lake Nokomis, before continuing on Minnehaha Parkway to Minnehaha Park. After arriving in the park I was again in familiar territory. This area was where I started many training runs and where Michelle and I started and completed our first run together when we ran 13 miles. I arrived at mile 16 just north of the park and started scanning the street ahead for the MS Cheer Zone. About the time I spotted it I heard my name called out and my coworker, Anna, snapped this photo:
It's not a great picture because I stole it from Anna's Facebook page. But, it does a good job of summing up how I felt about seeing people I know on the route. I was pretty happy. Notice the people behind me who were beginning to take a walking break at this time. Other than going through the water/Powerade stations, I hadn't walked yet. I saw co-workers and volunteers waving signs and ringing cowbells. I saw some volunteers who are very near and dear to me and some of whom I was running for. That was a lovely boost to have when looking at 10 more miles to go. shortly thereafter I saw the family again, this time with the addition of Jenna's brother and his beagle, Fila. I took in some energy and a half a banana in hopes I'd get through to mile 20.
Well, that's about as far as I got before the pain really set in. Ouch. At mile 20 it starts getting rough in any marathon (or so I hear) but this is where the Twin Cities Marathon takes an uphill turn. Yep, as if having to struggle through the last 6 miles isn't hard enough, we had to go uphill. That's the point where if you're not careful, you start to cramp. And, I did a little. I found that an incline really made my calves get tight, so I eased up and walked partway up the hills. I traded off between walking and running during the 2-mile incline. I ran until my calves started feeling tight, then walked a bit. I followed this method for a good amount of the next 4 miles then tried to run even more for the last 2.
Summit Avenue encompasses that killer uphill as well as most of the remainder of the race. Summit has some of the most incredible houses in the area. They're all historic and beautiful. Summit Avenue is home to the governor's mansion as well as the James J. Hill house, which is the house of a railroad tycoon from the 1800's. It's huge, see!
It also marks about a 1/2 mile left in the race. By the time I passed the James J. Hill house I'd made a friend. He was running for the World Vision team and gave a huge proclamation at mile 25 that we only had 1 mile left. In reality it was 1.2 but I tended to forget about the .2 at the end. Thus began our mile-long friendship. We ran and walked a little through the last 1.2 miles, and cheered each other on to the end. We picked up another guy at about 25.5 and the three of us ran into the finish line. It was all downhill from there and was AWESOME. There are people literally everywhere. They are thick on the streets and surrounding the finish area. Everyone is cheering, there is music playing, and as you cross the finish line, an announcer calls out your name.
Immediately after finishing, volunteers are there placing medals around everyone's necks, then you're funneled into an area with food, food, glorious food. I hadn't realized it but I was starving. Turns out 5 hours of Powerade and Clif Shot Blocks aren't really enough to keep you full. There was so much to snack on, I couldn't carry it all. The two things that tasted the best were the Pearson's Salted Nut Roll and an ice cold chocolate milk. Now I know why all of our Bike MS participants freak out about the Salted Nut Rolls after a long ride.
I grabbed my shirt and made my way to my family who was waiting at the MS Society's meeting tent. After sitting for a while and getting off my feet for the first time in almost 6 hours, I decided to take a trip to the bathroom. Out of toilet paper! Now, I understand that there are 11,000 people competing plus spectators but let's make sure the bathrooms are stocked full of TP okay? I plan events too. We literally drive around restocking the porta potties, or we assign volunteers to it. It's not that hard folks. Now, that was really my only complaint about the event logistics.
After my less-than-successful trip to the porta potty, we headed home. Erich had to get to work and my parents and I had to head to Sioux Falls. My overall time was 5:12: 36. Not really great, but I finished. Michelle ended up slowing down quite a bit too and finishing in around 5:06. We did it!
I realized that I may have started out a little too fast in the beginning. This may have contributed to my demise around mile 20. Because I know where I can tweak things and make it better, I think I might have to do another in the future. Now, I'm not sure when it will be, but I'm about 90% certain it will happen again. I know I can do much better than that.
For now, I'm enjoying being able to just say no to going for a run if I don't feel like it. I do like that I can just run when I want and not have to worry about mileage and time. For now, I'm going to enjoy that. Until I take on my next adventure.
Thanks to all of you who supported me though words of encouragement, donations, and coming out on race day. You know who you are and how much that meant to me. It's great to know I have a full network of support behind me, no matter what crazy shenanegans in which I decide to partake.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Change of Pace
The marathon is less than a week away. Just as I wrote that I got a little nervous and a butterfly flitted across my midsection. A week? What happened? I was so busy with my work schedule in the past few weeks, and was so wishing our event season would be done, I didn't really think about the proximity of the marathon. I also didn't think about the fact that once the event season would be over, the marathon would be here. Now, here it is. The week prior.
I will say, that the past couple of weeks have been great in terms of marathon training. First, it's been nice and cool. After a hot summer, the cool temperatures are a nice change of pace. It also makes running much easier. Secondly, the mileage is better! Hah, I'm really loving the taper. It takes much less time to go for a run when it's only 3 to 6 miles.
Last week I went on a 3-mile run in my neighborhood. It was a route I pretty much always take for 3-milers. Usually I take it pretty easy since it's completely on concrete, unless I run in people's yards. Even the roads are concrete. But, occasionally I ramp it up and try to see how quickly I can do it. Well, last week I finished the 3.03-mile route in 00:26:18. Bam! That means my 5K time would probably be under 26 minutes 30 seconds, again, Bam! I felt so good about it that I think my goal after the marathon is to bring my 5K time down to around 25 minutes. It's going to be spectacular. We'll see if it happens over the winter. Sometimes it's hard to do significant running in the winter months. I'm hoping I can get some good outdoor running in over the winter. The treadmill might be the death of me now that I've been running outdoors exclusively for the past five or six months. If I make my 5K goal, I'm going to start working on reducing my 10K time. I'm pretty excited to move on to something new.
In other news, my friends and family have been incredibly supportive through the whole process including financially. My supporters have contributed over $1,100 dollars toward my fundraising! That is phenomenal and I'm so appreciative of all of those contributions. If you're reading this and you've made a donation, Thank you. Your support means a lot. You'll be receiving an official thank-you after the marathon.
For now, I'm going to start making some spaghetti for dinner. To be honest, I made the sauce a while ago and just pulled it out of the freezer today. Carbo loading begins now! :)
I will say, that the past couple of weeks have been great in terms of marathon training. First, it's been nice and cool. After a hot summer, the cool temperatures are a nice change of pace. It also makes running much easier. Secondly, the mileage is better! Hah, I'm really loving the taper. It takes much less time to go for a run when it's only 3 to 6 miles.
Last week I went on a 3-mile run in my neighborhood. It was a route I pretty much always take for 3-milers. Usually I take it pretty easy since it's completely on concrete, unless I run in people's yards. Even the roads are concrete. But, occasionally I ramp it up and try to see how quickly I can do it. Well, last week I finished the 3.03-mile route in 00:26:18. Bam! That means my 5K time would probably be under 26 minutes 30 seconds, again, Bam! I felt so good about it that I think my goal after the marathon is to bring my 5K time down to around 25 minutes. It's going to be spectacular. We'll see if it happens over the winter. Sometimes it's hard to do significant running in the winter months. I'm hoping I can get some good outdoor running in over the winter. The treadmill might be the death of me now that I've been running outdoors exclusively for the past five or six months. If I make my 5K goal, I'm going to start working on reducing my 10K time. I'm pretty excited to move on to something new.
In other news, my friends and family have been incredibly supportive through the whole process including financially. My supporters have contributed over $1,100 dollars toward my fundraising! That is phenomenal and I'm so appreciative of all of those contributions. If you're reading this and you've made a donation, Thank you. Your support means a lot. You'll be receiving an official thank-you after the marathon.
For now, I'm going to start making some spaghetti for dinner. To be honest, I made the sauce a while ago and just pulled it out of the freezer today. Carbo loading begins now! :)
Monday, September 19, 2011
20 miles, F-yeah!
Disclaimer: I'm about to swear. If you're easily offended by four-letter words, skip a sentence or two. I just ran 20 miles. Fuck yes! By "just" I mean yesterday afternoon. I'm just now getting up the gumption to write about it. My body still hurts but I actually have enough energy to type more than a Facebook update.
I got up yesterday and it was raining. It cleared up around 1. I left my house around 1:45. It had started raining again. It was one of those light drizzle/misty kinds of rain. I thought I would tough it out and head for the lakes. I got to Calhoun, parked and started out. I was a little chilly to start. I couldn't even see across the lake. But, a couple miles in I was feeling pretty good. By mile 10 the rain had subsided. I couldn't tell if I was soaked with rain or sweat. Around 15 miles I was still feeling pretty good. Mile 17 brought some soreness to my outer quads. I pushed through it and finished up the last couple of miles. I was pretty excited considering I did it in a faster time than I did 18. Looking back, I think I was having a bad day when I did 18. When I got back to my car, I actually did a fist pump. I'm not talking a big fist pump in the air, but more of a Tiger Woods-style fist pump. Eeeks, I just compared myself to Tiger Woods. I think I need to take a shower...As you can tell, I was stoked about how well this run went.
In May, my friend, Pete suggested the Jeff Galloway method for running marathons. I have been pretty skeptical because it doesn't seem like as much of an accomplishment to walk a bunch in the Marathon. But, Hal Higdon who wrote my training plan, mentioned that he ran a 2:29 marathon and walked through all of the water/aid stations. Now don't get me wrong, I will not be running a 2:29 marathon or anything close to it. But, after these 20 miles, I'm pretty sure I'll be following Mr. Higdon's lead. Here's why:
1. I've started using Clif Shot Blocks instead of GU. This is partially because of an attempt to eradicate my tummy troubles and partially because they're much more palatable. More like eating a large fruit snack. The downside is that it's practically impossible for me to eat them while running. I'd suffocate. It takes me about 1.5 minutes to eat the three I take in at a time. On Sunday, that seemed like the perfect amount of time to get the blocks down as well as have a quick little rest.
2. The idea of running the marathon in 13, 2-mile segments seems much more feasible than 26 miles. I figure I can just get from aid station to aid station and be good.
3. Considering I don't run at any sort of incredible speed, walking won't slow me down much either.
4. I only walked 4 times during my run. I had planned to take some Shot Blocks every 4 miles so there you go, I didn't even walk that much. One of those stops was to go to the bathroom so there was some time lost there and another stop included me mixing some Gatorade for my fuel belt. That will shave off some time too.
Now, I'm not taking the full Galloway approach. I'm still not a full fan but I do appreciate the quick breaks to eat and get a drink so I don't choke. I'm pretty happy to have this 20-mile run out of the way. I've been staring it down since May and had to put it off last week due to our Mud Run. I'd post pictures of the event, but my good computer is on the fritz and is currently being serviced by the Geek Squad. I can't get the pictures from my camera to the computer.
My next long run is an 8-mile run. PIECE OF CAKE! In the meantime, have a few shorter runs to do. Awesome. I've found a great new route and wish I would have come up with it sooner. Erich takes the train to my office from his, picks up the car, and I run home. It's about 3.5 miles so it's a nice quick run. Plus I get to run across the bridge where he proposed almost 3 years ago.
I'm hoping my soreness gets better tomorrow. We're loading trucks for the Marathon, plus I'm supposed to have a short run. We'll see how that goes. I'm getting pretty stoked for this race now. Partially because I want to run it, and partially because I get to go back to South Dakota for a full week following it. I'm going to visit my new little nephew and help my sister get ready to go back to work. I can't wait!
I got up yesterday and it was raining. It cleared up around 1. I left my house around 1:45. It had started raining again. It was one of those light drizzle/misty kinds of rain. I thought I would tough it out and head for the lakes. I got to Calhoun, parked and started out. I was a little chilly to start. I couldn't even see across the lake. But, a couple miles in I was feeling pretty good. By mile 10 the rain had subsided. I couldn't tell if I was soaked with rain or sweat. Around 15 miles I was still feeling pretty good. Mile 17 brought some soreness to my outer quads. I pushed through it and finished up the last couple of miles. I was pretty excited considering I did it in a faster time than I did 18. Looking back, I think I was having a bad day when I did 18. When I got back to my car, I actually did a fist pump. I'm not talking a big fist pump in the air, but more of a Tiger Woods-style fist pump. Eeeks, I just compared myself to Tiger Woods. I think I need to take a shower...As you can tell, I was stoked about how well this run went.
In May, my friend, Pete suggested the Jeff Galloway method for running marathons. I have been pretty skeptical because it doesn't seem like as much of an accomplishment to walk a bunch in the Marathon. But, Hal Higdon who wrote my training plan, mentioned that he ran a 2:29 marathon and walked through all of the water/aid stations. Now don't get me wrong, I will not be running a 2:29 marathon or anything close to it. But, after these 20 miles, I'm pretty sure I'll be following Mr. Higdon's lead. Here's why:
1. I've started using Clif Shot Blocks instead of GU. This is partially because of an attempt to eradicate my tummy troubles and partially because they're much more palatable. More like eating a large fruit snack. The downside is that it's practically impossible for me to eat them while running. I'd suffocate. It takes me about 1.5 minutes to eat the three I take in at a time. On Sunday, that seemed like the perfect amount of time to get the blocks down as well as have a quick little rest.
2. The idea of running the marathon in 13, 2-mile segments seems much more feasible than 26 miles. I figure I can just get from aid station to aid station and be good.
3. Considering I don't run at any sort of incredible speed, walking won't slow me down much either.
4. I only walked 4 times during my run. I had planned to take some Shot Blocks every 4 miles so there you go, I didn't even walk that much. One of those stops was to go to the bathroom so there was some time lost there and another stop included me mixing some Gatorade for my fuel belt. That will shave off some time too.
Now, I'm not taking the full Galloway approach. I'm still not a full fan but I do appreciate the quick breaks to eat and get a drink so I don't choke. I'm pretty happy to have this 20-mile run out of the way. I've been staring it down since May and had to put it off last week due to our Mud Run. I'd post pictures of the event, but my good computer is on the fritz and is currently being serviced by the Geek Squad. I can't get the pictures from my camera to the computer.
My next long run is an 8-mile run. PIECE OF CAKE! In the meantime, have a few shorter runs to do. Awesome. I've found a great new route and wish I would have come up with it sooner. Erich takes the train to my office from his, picks up the car, and I run home. It's about 3.5 miles so it's a nice quick run. Plus I get to run across the bridge where he proposed almost 3 years ago.
I'm hoping my soreness gets better tomorrow. We're loading trucks for the Marathon, plus I'm supposed to have a short run. We'll see how that goes. I'm getting pretty stoked for this race now. Partially because I want to run it, and partially because I get to go back to South Dakota for a full week following it. I'm going to visit my new little nephew and help my sister get ready to go back to work. I can't wait!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)