The Walking Wounded

Today's blog title comes to you courtesy of Blair, who remarked at the end of today's 30k race that most of us runners resembled little more than the walking wounded as we compared our aches, pains, and where we fell apart on the trail.

I'm happy with my performance. I had 2 goals for today: One, to keep running - no walking. And two, to finish under 3 hours. I made both. I ran 18.6 miles non-stop in 2 hours, 56 minutes and 47 seconds.  That amounts to a 9 minute 30-second pace. I was hoping for closer to a 9:15 or 9:20, but I'll take it.

I discovered the joy of BIOFREEZE, which is this blue-green jelly substance you rub on muscles to temporarily relive aches. A friend gave me some for my hamstring before the start of the race and it worked - I never felt a thing. I also slathered some on my lower back at mile 9.5 which helped. That's what was sore. I've never given birth but I think I now have a fair idea of the lower back pain that might be involved.  I was fetal in the car on the way home, trying to relieve the strain. OUCH.

I don't know why, but I hadn't worked out that the race was 18.6 and went into it thinking it was a straight 18. So at mile 17, I'm giving myself the pep talk: One more mile. You can do it. Stay strong. Then I get to mile 18 and there's no fans, no finish line. Just straight trail ahead. What the hell??? Then my mistake dawned on me. Duh. So sucked it up and ran a half mile+ more.

My biggest mistake came after the race. They had a bevy of drinks available and I decided orange Sunkist sounded good. I don't know why. I haven't had orange Sunkist in over 20 years but a sugary flavored soda just sounded good, so I pounded it. And immediately threw it up once we returned home. My recommendation from here on out? Water.

I'm enjoying my day. I've decided that since I ran 18.6 miles, I need do nothing else or contribute to the world in any way for the remainder of the day. Blair and I were making a grocery shopping list and as I sat down he asked, "Did you bring paper?"

"No, but you have to go get it," I said. "I ran 18.6 miles today."

My husband is a very good sport.

He's also incredibly supportive. He hung out at this race for over 4 hours (we got there an hour before it started) and cheered me on at mile 6.5 and 14, which is where I passed where he was sitting. He was also cheering for me at the finish line, which is a huge lift.

I told Blair I suspect running is like childbirth. While I was doing it I was thinking, "Why?" And, "Do I really want to extend this pain and do a marathon?" But now that it's over I'm like, "Oh, that wasn't so bad. I probably could have gone longer."

Self-delusion is often a very good thing.

Staying Healthy

I haven't done a very good job of staying healthy this week. It's a bad time to fall off the wagon as I have my first 30k race tomorrow. Send good thoughts to me at 8 am as I take the first step on an 18-mile journey! Or actually, send good vibes to me around 9:30 and 10:30 as that's probably when I'll be dying and need it the most. =)

I eat junk food when stressed and with the whole "writing drama" this week, I've been bad. Lots of ice-cream. Plus, I've had a hamstring pull I've been nursing for about a month now. I've been icing it, taking ibuprofen and it was finally just about healed. Then I did a trail run on Wednesday, tripped over a root, overextended the leg to keep from falling face first on the ground and now I'm back at square one. My trail running partners have told me sometimes it's best to just fall--less injury that way. This would have been one of those times but it's hard to avoid the natural instinct of doing everything possible to catch yourself.

I ran 3 miles on Thursday and could feel the leg pulling, especially on the itty-bitty hills we did. Phooey. It's not bad enough not to race though. Nowhere near that. Just a constant annoying twinge. Luckily, there's not many hills on tomorrow's course. One short, nasty one that we'll run twice and that's about it.

I would love to do a 9-minute pace but that's probably pushing it. The goal for me is to go out SLOW. If  I run the first two miles at a slow, steady pace I am so much stronger for the rest of my run. But it's hard to plod along at the beginning with everyone whipping past you.

I mentioned this to one of my trail running partners who's been doing marathons and ultra's for over 30 years now. He told me he'll talk to young kids in their 20's who start out fast. He'll tell them, "You can beat me in a 5 or 10k and you might even be ahead of me at mile 15. But when we hit mile 20, your ass is mine."

I love it! It's my new mantra. As I jog slow and watch people pass I'm just going to think, "At mile 16, your ass is mine."

Cheers,

Dena

Scaling Back

The running is going well, the body is healthy, the mind is fit. All that remains now is to lose the weight.

You would think running 30 miles a week would take the weight off but not so much. At least, I don't notice a huge difference. I don't actually own a scale. We threw ours out about 5 years ago. But I certainly don't notice my clothes hanging off me by any stretch of the imagination. My guess is I've lost maybe 3-4 pounds. I'd really like to take 10 off by the marathon in December. There's a runners creed that says for every extra pound you carry you slow down something like 1 minute in the marathon. So 10 pounds = 10 minutes. That's a lot in runners time.

I read an article that recommended writing down everything you eat.--nothing new there. What was new is that the author said most people consume  1,000 calories a day more than they think they do. 1,000 calories??? That seems like a lot. But I agree with the premise that writing down what you eat and when you eat it can lead to  weight loss, just from the fact that you have to ask yourself if a handful of grapes or grabbing a cookie is worth hauling out your booklet to record it.

I'm only on day 4 but you know what? I think that 1,000 calorie thing is true. I guessed I probably consumed 1500-1600 calories a day. Writing down what I ate, I've found myself a little more aware of what I'm eating and saying "no" when before I might have gulped it down without a thought. Even so, I'm still around the 1500-1600 mark. So it's probably fair I was munching down 500-1000 extra calories a day before this. Ack! So much for my "I must have a slow metabolism" excuse. Apparently it's been working overtime. =)

I'm not sure how long I'll last with the food diary. Frankly, it's a pain. But I'll stick with it long enough to get a firm grasp on what's going in and at what cost.  Ten pounds  in 3 months is doable. Sigh. I'll just have to make Blair do a better job of hiding the chocolate...

Exhausted

Please bear with me if I indulge today in a bit of a whine. (I know... it's so out of character for me.)

I'm tired. Mentally and physically. Especially physically. The humidity here has been relentless and that combined with an increase in running mileage is taking its toll. I came home last night from a 7-mile hill run and pretty much collapsed into bed. Thank heavens I didn't have to do any work last night as I just don't think I would have been capable of it.

I read months ago in a runner's magazine that once your Sunday long runs move past 12 miles, you can pretty much plan on running that day and doing little else. I'm finding that true. I ran 14 miles on Sunday (and a big shout-out to me for that) but did little the rest of the day. Just too damn tired. 

Aside from being tired, I'm finding the running is taking up a big chunk of time.  For me, drive time is more the issue than time spent running. It's 40 minutes to and from wherever it is my group usually runs and that eats into the schedule. Sunday mornings used to the time Blair and I enjoyed some couple time together, relaxing and reading the Sunday paper, but I'm gone now from about 6:30 AM to close to noon.

All that aside, I'm still really enjoying the runs. The hills last night were brutal and I was sweating and tired and my thighs were shaking and I was wondering why on earth I put myself through this. But finishing the workout is such a feeling of accomplishment. Yes, going through the motions suck and that's why so many people don't do it. That's also why I enjoy doing it. It's pure ego--the knowledge that I can make myself do this when others can't.

I'm also tired mentally. Big projects all with tight deadlines. However, I'm enjoying every assignment I have and find the work interesting so I can't really complain. I will say I'm looking forward to late September when my schedule--somewhat--clears out.

Until then, I'm grateful for family that doesn't mind not hearing from me for weeks at a time, friends that encourage me and listen to me whine with (real or faked, it doesn't matter) looks of sympathy on their faces, and a husband who simply must at some point in his life be awarded the "Most Tolerant & Supportive Man EVER" lifetime achievement trophy.

I'd write more, but I'm just too tired.

Dena