15 posts tagged “training”
Oh My Gosh, was this an interesting, sort of bad, shall I say, week in running.....
Without a PR.
But it was still actually a little bit fun, and considering all the trouble I had, I think things went OK.
I started to get a little sick on Wednesday. By Friday i had a fever and sore throat. So, I had the Doctor working in the Emergency Dept give me a script for antibiotics.
On Saturday I must admit, I was not feeling much better at all, but I thought if I just got a lot of rest, maybe I could do it.
I was able to go standby on an early flight and got into Albequerque just about on time. As soon as the plane landed I got a text from Monotreme telling me they were running late. I called and found out the first of many unusual surprises with the New Mexico Marathon and Half Marathon! They had decided to close Packet Pick up at 4 pm and not have any early am pick up! So, Mr and Mrs monotreme swung by the airport and then we rushed over to the expo to get our packets. I did not get a t shirt, as I had registered too late, but they immediately tried to sell me a t shirt. I have a ton of T's so I said no thanks. When I saw Monotreme's i was glad I had resisted. The shirt had a BIG applique of a plastic substance. its a technical T, but there was so much screened on it that it didnt look as if it would breathe well... the shirt had this on it.
If one is wondering, those are red and green chiles, the fame of New Mexico, along with the state bird, the road runner.
Anyway. We got the race packets, had a good dinner of Vietnamese Pho. We then tried to drive the route, which had us realizing that our choice of hotels close to the start line was hotels close to the start of the Marathon, not the half!!! So our planned half mile walk to the start became a 13.5 mile walk. Mr Monotreme quickly enlisted Mrs Monotreme to get up nice and early and drive us down there. Mrs. Monotreme is a stellar woman, so she agreed to do so. We then realized that the only thing given on the course was pretzels and oranges pretty late in the race. I'm a Gu fan, so we went Gu shopping. Mrs Monotreme used her cool hone to access the nearest sporting good store and we raided the gu. We bought "espresso Love" and some Cherry Sports beans. All were caffienated.
During the night I started to have a lot of GI trouble along with the fever. But i was thinking I could do the run. So I took a crazy 800 mg of Motrin and 1000 mg of tylenol. Then I went to Waffle House and tried to have a healthy breakfast.... With a Menu like this:
You can see I had trouble. I drank a lot of chocolate milk and had a piece of toast and half an egg. I just felt oogy.
Monotreme and Mrs. Monotreme joined me. I came to the realization that I had no saftey pins to get my number on.
I asked the waitress, she had one by it was holding up her pants. I told her to keep it. I asked another different waitress and some others overheard me. Suddenly, at 5:45 in the morning, people were out in their cars searching for pins. One gentleman who's wife was in the Marathon came up with 2 from her emergency baggie. He readily gave them up and I really appreciated that! Thats what I love about the running community, people always help each other out.
We got down to the race start and I was starting to feel a little better. My right leg was hurting but I felt like I didn't have a fever anymore. I was still having some GI problems, but...well what can ya do. They were playing good music and I danced for about 10 seonds with Mr. Monotreme.
The National Anthem was sung, great acoustics under the bridge there! and then we were off. I actually had a lot of problems from the start. I just plain felt bad. My leg hurt, And there were a lot of people in the way. I never understand why walkers start in the front. I totally get it when someone who is running slow starts in the front by accident, but if you KNOW you are walking the whole race, why start in the front? SO I dodged people and Monotreme tried to cheer me up.
Running a race with Monotreme is really really special. I felt especially special because he runs much faster than I do, but chose to run the entire race with me.
He started out doing a few Magic tricks- illusions of sorts with the fingers- and then reciting some Koans. The best of course is the "Ice Cream Koan" Of course, Monotreme is so gregarious, he soon made tons of friends in the field. A few people asked if we were related, since we were having such a good time. Unfortunately all good moments come to an end. My right leg did stop hurting after it got used to being pounded. Then I got an actual cramp in the right side at about I'd say Mile 2.2. I dropped back and walked a little. Monotreme told me later I looked pretty bad and he was worried I'd not finish. He convinced me to run to the next aid station where I drank some water and miraculously the cramp disappeared. I suppose because of the altitude change I was dehydrated from the start despite drinking a lot of water/milk/etc. Funny thing is that I would have totally avoided water if I had been alone thinking I was overhydrated and that would be the cramping reason. So score one for Monotreme the man of the day.
I never walked again in the race, except that we stopped at each and every aid station for me to get water or gatorade. This really slowed us down, but enabled me to not get too crampy.
At mile 4 we used our first Espresso Love Gu. It tastes like coffee, pretty nice actually. If you want a caffienated gel, I recommend it because it tastes like coffee, so there is no odd caffiene taste in another flavor. Unfortunantely the effect of highly refined carbs and caffiene on the gut with water can be well, explosive. I fought to not have such an explosion. I did need the calories etc from the gel, so I dont regret it, but my intestines didn't like it.
We ran along a trail for bikers and hikers. The trail had not been closed for the race and we had been advised in writing to "Steer well clear of these individuals" (Bikers etc who may be out on Sunday morning). So each time one went by, Monotreme yelled at me to "Steer Clear!" At this point I realized I was running too slowly for anything good to happen. There were no time clocks and Monotreme's Garmin had malfunctioned. So I had no clue how slowly i was going. I knew it was slow, so I mentioned to Monotreme that he should start to throw rocks at me...
eventually he found one, and pitched it well clear of me over into a ditch. I was certain he had hit someone, and somehow convinced him that he had too, he ran off to check it out...luckily I was wrong, it was a fairly large rock.
We tried out the sports beans on the route, they tasted very very red to me, but sort of fun. I might try them again. Just really hard to open the packet on the run.
I started to whine about my gut, my toes and my hip flexors at this point. Monotreme cheerfully started to sing....
"Whats that coming over the hil, is it a Monster...." which cheered me immensly.
We hit mile 8-9 and I started to oddly feel much much better. Monotreme remarked that I did look a lot better and seemed to be running better as wel. It was a bit strange.
Unfortunately that wasn't to last. We rounded the corner, and came out on a gravel path, where Monotreme threated to throw a dead duck that was on the side of the road at me....hence I got a new nickname, "Smelly Mallard" (Nice huh). and then found a smattering of people playing nice music. Monotreme took a moment to dance the twist, and I went enthusiastically charging up the hillock. Oops. At the top of what was a teeny hill, I completely lost all breath. I was coughing and gasping and threatening to vomit. Monotreme told me to keep breathing so I did...and eventually all was OK again. I kept running. There was a girl in front of me who had the world's worst form. Monotreme made the comment that she used enough energy running that way to do the whole Marathon. I so wanted to pass her, so I focused on that for a long time. I never passed her. Monotreme thinks she dropped out, I think she just kind of finished before me despite the fact that her torso seemed disconnected to the legs!!!
We eventually came to near the end. I started to have some serious grumpiness. i felt like vomiting, diarrhea and my toes hurt. Monotreme lightened the mood by approaching the portapotties and yelling loudly "Ralph, ralph where are you" in the potty! We then started to pass traffic. The folks in cars were coming from the race and were cheering us on. Monotreme kept introducing me to everyone, Saying "This is KB, doesnt she look good?" so everyone would start cheering for me.
By the last mile, I was not feeling good at all. I was feeling very disappointed that I wasn't going to have a PR. Of course I hadn't run a half in years so it sort of was a PR, though it was terrible. Monotreme sang Boogie shoes to me for a while, and unfortunately I just wanted silence, which was really so sad since Monotremem had stuck by me and encouraged me through the whole ordeal.
Needless to say I was glad to see the finish line.
It was pretty cool to hear the announcer announce Monotreme and My name!
There was no time clock even at the finish so I knew I had gone slowly but wasn't sure how slow.
We recieved our exciting medals.
Ate some good food at the finish, bagels, peanut butter, cookies, oranges, bananas, etc.
After that, we went back to the Hotel. I had a shower and commenced the vomiting and diarrhea. Oh gosh. It was bad. I started with another fever and shivered and froze through the night. My right leg of course started to hurt, so getting to and from the bathroom was not fun either. Blech. The next day on the plane was not much better....and being on the plane mad eit sort of unpleasant.
I was also feeling a little tubed about my unknown results. I started to feel a little better when I met a guy who told me he finished the Marathon in 6 and a half hours. Wow. He said he had been sick on the course. He was not lucky enough to have a Monotreme to yell Ralph for him.
When I got home the results still weren't posted. A few hours later. i found my time 2:37. It was pretty awful. i haven't run a training run that slow in a while, so I suppose all the stops for water really slowed me down. I was lucky that Monotreme stuck with me though!
So it was a pretty bad race. But it was also the most fun I have had in a while. I enjoyed joggin with Monotreme, he is so so funny! I want to be more like Monotreme!
I got back and told my trainer about it and she seemed to think it was OK, of course its her job to be positive. She also seems to think she can get me moving a bit faster than that for the Marathon. My goal is still about 4:20. Clearly not on track for that. But....I will be running at regular altitude in cooler conditions.
I'm not entirely thrilled with my results, but....I'm not as sad as I was either. In fact, I had a lot of fun running and I think I learned a few things that will help me out the next time....
and somehow I know I can not get a fever/GI problem for the Marathon. Sort of interesting how I might avoid it.
(And yes for those wondering, I did obtain some cool socks for the man in question. ;) He needs to ring me back though.....)
Mrs. Monotreme kindly took a photo fo us and I wanted to include it but....she has not sent it to me.
I feel like shouting Uncle! I am exhausted. Not pleasantly tired, but really so tired that I can barely stay awake. I have been keeping a nutty schedule. RUn, eat, work, run, eat work, sleep. I need to add more sleep into the mix.
I finally got it today when I was having trouble recovering after my recovery run. I drank so much caffiene (3 cups of coffee and a diet coke) and nothing would wake me up. On top of it, all my thinking seemed very disorganized. In the past week, I have misplaced my call phone, my calendar, and a variety of other items which are hard to live without. I even forgot to bring shorts to the gym the other day, requireing me to put my sweaty running shorts again (eeew.)
Taking note of this, my trainer has adjusted my training. No more Swimming until After the Marathon. I am sure I'll occasionally go for a swim, but, probably not very often. I mean, I do have to keep up my Florida tan!!!
But I guess it won't be the end of my workout as it has traditionally been for years. Initially I was a little disappointed. I rather like doing Bricks. My trainer pointed out though that I not only do not do Ironmans, or even sprint triathalons, I can't since I can not ride a bike. She had a pretty good point. Point Taken.
However, all is not lost. Running is great. I'm going to start speed work this coming week. It's going to be fun. I'm goinng to start with short 3 mile workouts on the treadmill so I can really control the speed.
At any rate, training is going well, all except for the very tired moment.
Yesterday was one of my worst days in recent times.
I had an appointment with the Doctor, then an hour later I had an appointment with the Nutritionist. Then in 2 hours, I had time with the trainer.
I had a complete meltdown in the Doctors office. I sort of opened up a can of worms, then tried to shut it, which of course was not going to happen. So I got to be really upset about that can of worms. Boy when you open something up, it's just open until its resolved, so it's remaining as a yukky thing to deal with.
Then I went on to the Nutritionist, and found my intake was still low. Seems a snack is not just a snack, its a carb (fruit/veggie/grain) and a protien (Peanut butter/egg/meat) So that made things low. I know I was in her office, but I was so exhausted from the Doctor I have no idea what we talked about.
Then I went to the trainer. I ran one mile on the treadmill, and was tired. training session was difficult. She knew I was upset, and she had this intern with her. I was very very annoyed at having a stranger observe my session, so i just essentially ignored her and just talked to the trainer about the session and didn't worry about the intern who I think heard more than she expected. I was exhausted. Trainer was good. She is a funny person. She doesn't seem to be too "deep" of a person, but then she has this quiet way of letting me know she gets the full picture of the situation.
my friend that I can talk to about this still doesn't get it. But she is learning to avoid discussion of eating or training, and just to be friendly.
So, I did tell Dr G. that I wanted to run the New Mexico Half and the Full in November. He said I might have to do less swimming, but left it open as long as the Nutritionist was aware of it. So once I got my head on straight I emailed her and got this response:
thanks for the update. Nutritionally you are ok to run as long as you feel consistent in the food plans we have set up..
And yes you are right, the plan is carb/pro before run, 3 meals, 1 carb/pro as a snack, and honoring any hunger in between...
Keep me posted and feel free to contact me with any more questions..
Sooo, the good news is that I CAN train.
Of course, I feel so lousy I am not training that well, but possibly If I can figure out how to conquer the can of worms I have opened, I might be training better. I am having some left shin pain, point tenderness, which is reminiscent of a stress fracture. Due to the disordered eating, my bones aren't extremely strong, so We'll see how this all pans out.
I'm extremely tempted to simply quit. I keep telling myself that it's early in this game, so I'll give it another week or two and see how things go.....
I saw the Nutritionist yesterday.
I apparently was very nervous. I started out having anxiety because I was sure I was going to be late due to traffic. But luckily, I was actually about 15 minutes early.
Waiting for her to finish with the people ahead of me, I was tortured by Country Music Radio. They have the radio to blare out any noise coming from the offices. Unfortunately last week it was Classical and much better. I could actually hear through most of the country, but of course, I was pretty focused on me, rather than whatever they were talking about.
The nutritionist, of course was as nice as can be. She seemed pretty pleased with the eating I have done. And of course, to no one's surprise, added in a snack. Luckily the snack can be anything I want, so I imagine a bit more fruit will come back into the diet.
Training is actually going gangbusters. Now that I am actually eating food, I am completely able to do a high quality workout. My trainer was pretty excited about that.
Unfortunately Nutritionist and Doctor are discussing if I should be training at all. Apparently it's not a given. I hate that he has that much power over me, but so far I am feeling better and doing better with their help, so I have agreed for him to have that much power. The Nutritionist did say that he wouldn't stop me unless it were a "life or death situation". So I felt pretty confident, until she then said, she wasn't sure I could recover while training that much. So, I get to convince everyone. I think I am actually going to stick my scale in the closet to discourage the weighing....
I did drop a pound this week even with the ton of food I am consuming. odd.
Wow, am I tired out. Sorry my blogging has been rather booooring, I am feeling a little boring.
Today I was woken at 4:30 in the morning. This is when I normally get up to be at work by 6:45. I forgot to turn the alarm off. After a moment of surprise, I noted the dog was very eager to go outside, so I decided to just deal with it. i walked the dog, had coffee, and an egg and got ready to go. On my walk, i noted it was looking to be a nice hot day, so I decided to get the run out of the way.
I ran 4 miles, very slowly. It was an alright run even though it was slow, because I killed off most of the hills on the run with the exception of the large incline that lasts about .65 miles. That one I got about half way up, then walked for 0.05 miles...and ran again. It wasn't any spectacular run, but being able to get up most of the hills was really an improvement. I seem to have hurt/ bruised my left foot, not the ball of the foot, but the part where the bone is near the skin on the side of the foot near the small toe. It has not given me too many problems while running, but I am wondering if it is going to heal, or what might happen...hopefully heal.
After that, I rested, and then went to the gym. I was crabby because I was already tired and a little hungry. I think I rather wasn't nice to one of the front desk girls who is really cool, and nice to me, oh well. At the gym I rowed on the Erg rower for a mile, and then used the ellipitical for another mile. Then I had the joy of a variety of strength exersises. While doing the strength, I noticed a quite nice looking man. Of course, me being incredibly introverted, I said nothing. So, man in the "Run Hard, Dive Easy" shirt, you look like a very nice person, attractive even. Feel free to say Hi to me if you see me in the gym again. My face which gets beet red when I am lifting heavy stuff, is not always that color! I swear I don't normally look like this!
I must say, I do wish I had the confidence to just strike up conversations with people, he seemed nice and was not wearing a wedding ring, which means nothing...but I prefer to talk to men not wearing rings than men who are clearly wearing them. So probably will never see him again. Bummer.
After that I went and did swimming. By now I was really ired, so tired, I actually swam straight into the wall towards the end of my workout. It was funny, because I didn't hurt myself, I ended up actually literally putting my righ hand right into the pool gutter. I was so surprised my head shot up. This of course happened right in front of the lifeguard. Luckily i don't embarass easily. I was giggling even after I got out of the pool.
I think i'm still on track for my Marathon in November. I've been doing well with raising money...you can see my progress to the left. I have not contacted any corporate sponsers etc, and will start that when everything gets closer. I'm still pleased with the seven hundred or so that I've raised so far.
I have gotten very wierd lately about food. So, to see what to do about that, I'm going to see a nutritionist next week. I'm totally upset by this. initially i would have thought this would be no big deal, but I find instead that I feel quite defensive about the whole thing. So, it should be interesting, what the nutritionist dredges up....Most likely if she can fix some of the food wierdness, I will have a lot more energy.
I do need to be more interesting here, but I have not too much interesting going on!!!
I need to figure out who that gym guy was...he surely seemed like someone I'd like to know.
This morning when I came in to work my charge nurse teased me saying he had put a pink slip in my mail box....
He is a natural kidder, so I knew that there wasn't a pink slip in there. All the same, because I am the way I am, I had to at least look, right???
I found 2 envelopes in there...one a note from the charge saying that the other charge RN had been "singing my praises" etc.... The other a note from the Manager of the department saying how pleased she was with my work and that I was a "good fit" (which is a key word in the industry...). In both envelopes were coupons; one for the cafeteria and one for Panera Bread....
Initially I thought this was what they did for everyone. But then the other traveler I was working with noticed the envelopes and charged off to her mailbox to look for her goods. Nothing in hers. ooops. I feel pretty happy to be recognized. One thing that was really nice is that the manager makes handmade cards, and the card she gave me was very very pretty which made it a bit more special...
So, all's well.
Still trying to decide what to do next. Spoke for 15 minutes with H. tonight and was reinvited to come out to Santa Fe, but was also suggested strongly that if I was doing well with training, I should probably stay put in Florida.
I have to register for The Other Half in May, and its at altitude, so I need to make some choices soon. I could do a different half, but Moab is fun, and Santa Fe could be really fun in the right situation....
choices...choices...choices.
Whew. I did 8 miles today. this is a long distance for me. The longest I've done sans treadmill in years, as far as I can tell. (looking at the logs I have etc).
I was so nervous about doing this run that I convinced myself I had a cold. I knew I was going to have to do it, but I took a nap after walking the dog. I was having chills and I was certain I had a fever.
Luckily, I was just scared, I think. I couldn't bear to go to the gym tomorro and tell the trainer I had not run the long, so, I decided to piddle around the house for a bit, packing and such....but.
Eventually I realized that I was unable to focus properly on anything with the big 8 hanging over my head. So I dressed, and went over to the gym.
I took my trainers advice which was to just go slow and to try to run negative splits through the long run. I did not make the Negative splits. I pretty much stayed at the same pace give or take 4-5 seconds for each mile.
I was able to use my resurected water bottle from Nathan...
This helped a lot with the problems I experienced on my 7 miler. My only wish was that I had filled it a little fuller. Even though it's been chilly in the mornings,by the time I conquered my fear of 8, it was about 62 degrees, so I was sweating and needing my water by about mile 3, by mile 7 it was gone.
I also tried for the first time Cliff Shot blocks. Much much easier to deal with than a gel, I say! The shot blocks are these sort of chewy squares of the same stuff that the sports gels are made of. They are less sticky than Gummy Bears, but taste about the same. This was a relief after my long term experience with Tangerine flavored Powershots. Bleeech. i still have a ton of the tangerine left from the box, so I imagine I'll still be using it.
The shot blocks though were a lot easier to use. I do like them. I do wish thought that 100 calories was in one bloc, but well, whatever.
I finally ran straight around the lake, and then because I learned that straight around the lake is only about 5 miles, I had to do 3 more. So I ended up with a round the lake plus 3 miles of out and back.
During this run, I focused on my Psychobabble. The first to miles, I simply wanted to quit. There's a section of this run that is at about 1.8-2.10 miles that for some reason gets me discouraged, so I talked myself through it gently. I then went on to discuss with myself that I needed less walking breaks if I was going to own this run. So I ran. At 5 miles, I walked for 0.09 miles to consume a shot block, and organize myself a little. I then took off and finished. I was suprised at how well I did on the run. It wasn't super fast, but it got done. I was able to talk myself out of a lot of negative thinking and successfully continue to motivate myself around the lake. I didn't throw up, or even consider it!
Post run I went into the pool for about 15 minutes or less. I swam ten laps.
Then I had the unpleasant experience of discovering I had gotten windburnt out during the run. My face is ON FIRE! Next time I need to be sure to run with vaseline or something on my face.
This was my first long run with the Pearl Izumi's. No blisters. I did get some cramping sensations in my feet, but I doubt they were shoe related. The shoes have a great Energy return, at least in my opinion, in comparison to the Mizunos. They are very comfortable and held up nicely throughout the run. They do seem to be somewhat heavy and at the beggining of my run when I was having a lot of the mental problems of getting out there, the shoes seemed incredibly heavy.
So, after all this, why is it that I have decided I might be able to consider myself a runner again?
Looking down at my feet before I got into the pool, I noticed a very small bit of blood round my right third toenail. I had a bloody toe-nail. So, clearly this is something to celebrate (uh yes??)
on that note, I am going to try to continue packing. My legs now feel a little bit like wood.
Canyonlands, I am coming! Slowly but surely.
It's Official!
Congratulations! This e-mail serves as your confirmation that you, and your entire group, were selected into the Canyonlands Half Marathon and 5 Mile Run on March 9, 2008. It is very important that you check the following information, which shows the race in which you are entered, age on race day, gender, race shirt size, address and spelling of your name. If there is an error, contact us immediately by emailing us at rrr@citlink.net (please do not hit reply to this email).
So I'll be running the Canyonlands Half Marathon In Moab, Utah, with 2 friends from 43things. I was just talking to my trainer about what I would do if I was not selected. I was actually thinking about training slower and going for a Half in April, but I guess I'll be running in March instead.
Canyonlands is going to be a beautiful race.
![MoabS1[1]](http://a5.vox.com/6a00c2252b4cdb549d00e398c951050005-320pi)
The area is lovely. I will be training a full 2,000 feet above the level of Canyonlands, so I hope that will help with the altitude issue.
The views I hope will distract me from the pains that I am sure to encounter during my little race.
![Mesaarch[1]](http://a4.vox.com/6a00c2252b4cdb549d00e398c951240005-500pi)
Now, i need to find lodging in the area and get training.
On the training note. I ran a 5K today which was actually FUN. I really really enjoyed it. My legs felt strong. I am still getting used to my new heavy shoes. My speed has increased and is showing signs of maybe a new PR in the 5K on New Years (We'll see, there are several hills.)
Afterwards I had a really nice training session with my trainer. I feel great! I do feel apprehensive about the big move in the next week. Bu for the moment, I am basking in my better runs!
And my Selection in the Lottery!!!! I feel Special!
I hope I still feel special after the race. Things do seem to be moving in the right direction with the training however. I'm all ready for a slow half. It will give me time to enjoy the Scenery
Today was another gym day. It was shall we say interesting.
I started by deciding to do a run around the lake that Jason showed me yesterday...It's a great place to run because the lake is populated by Geese, ducks and also Lots of Herons. I love to watch Herons take flight, so I was distracted a bit by them. It helped me to continue chugging along. I ran 3.10 miles with no walking breaks. the first two miles were slow ish but steady. The third was very slow. Unfortunately, just as I did on my last long run, I found myself running over a bridge that I didn't remember. I was LOST again!!!! And not just a little lost, apparently I overshot the turnoff to get back to the club by about a mile. So I ended up walking another mile to find my way back, grrrrrrrr. Disgusted with myself, I eventually found the turn off, and was very embarassingly 20 minutes late for my appointment with the trainer. he was great about it, saying, "Well, you have a really good excuse" Today was upper body day. V. Unpleasant. i just about died, side planks were also involved.
Anyway, I just wonder why I have no sense of direction lately. I am getting a little annoyed that each time I end up going for a run, I get lost and seem to do more. I really need to pay attention. In todays case it was quite difficult because around the lake essentially everything looks the same. The turn off isn't marked, but still I made a special point to look carefully for it when I left it....
And even sadder, I was wearing a GPS Garmin!!! But I had no way to use it because I didn't know what coordinates I was looking for! Insane!!!!
I did a bunch of form drills with weights as well today. While this has not been enjoyable, this little bit of boot camp is probably going to vastly improve my running form and hopefully my times as well...as long as I don't veer off course in a race....and get lost.
