D to the N to the F

I'm not even sure how to start this post. It's one I hoped I'd never have to write. Sadly I had to drop out of the Lehigh Valley Marathon yesterday around mile 13.5. My first DNF.

Looking back at this summer's training cycle, it hasn't necessarily been bad. The only bad thing about running this summer was that I felt incredibly slow and sluggish on nearly every run. I don't really attribute that to anything but the weather though. Summer heat and humidty + running just don't mix for me.

So, other than feeling like a sloth, running went pretty well over the past 12 weeks. I got through my long runs feeling fine. I haven't had any ITBS problems that plagued me over the winter and early spring. In fact I made it all the way into my taper until I started feeling some discomfort in my right hamstring. It started acting up badly on Labor Day weekend, a week out from the race. I first noticed the cramping after sitting on the couch all weekend and then again at my desk the next week. By Tuesday evening I was in pain just walking around and bending over to touch my toes. I began to get worried, but it wasn't really affecting my running, so I was still on board to run the race.

Wednesday night before the race I got a really awesome sports massage. The masseuse sat down with me for a full 10 minutes asking lots of questions about what was hurting. He spent a majority of the time on my right leg and by the next afternoon it felt like a lot of the kinks had been worked out. On Saturday morning I did a short shake out run for the race on Sunday. I noticed a little cramping after the 3 miles and once again began to worry if I would be able to run the race. After my shake out run, I drove two hours round trip to the expo to pick up my packet. Keeping my right foot on the peddle for that long was causing intense cramping in my hamstring and butt. I had to take 5 minutes to stretch out before I got back in the car after getting my packet. I spent the rest of Saturday relaxing and stretching the crap out of my legs.



Pre-marathon dinner: Red Snapper, brown rice noodles, and baby Brussels Sprouts that I got way too excited about when I found them

When I woke up at 4:30 am on Sunday things felt pretty good, but I couldn't help feeling like I was not going to cross that finish line. We drove out to the start line, about an hour a way, and I was already in a pissy mood. It was 90% humidity, which is really less than ideal marathoning weather. On top of that, I started regretting signing up for a race that I knew was going to take place mostly on a toe path along the river. Don't get me wrong, I love a good scenic race, but I've been doing almost all of my running lately on the toe path in Philly. The combination of the lack of crowd support and the swampy weather was making me none too happy, but I had already decided earlier that week to just use the race as a training run and not stress myself out about running fast. An opportunity to practice pacing after the disaster in May.

Don't let this smile fool you. Fake energy.

As soon as the race started and I began running I felt off. I wasn't in pain, but I could already tell my legs, breathe, and mind were not in sync. Some days you get going and you just feel awesome. Other days you just know you're not with it.

Sure enough around mile 2 or 3 I began to feel some discomfort in my right hamstring. It wasn't painful discomfort though. I tried to get my mind in the game, but I must have thought about quitting at least five times for every mile. Rarely do I deal with so much personal negative energy when I'm running and here I was wearing my don't-talk-to-me bitch face while everyone was pumped up and smiling around me.

As the miles ticked by I made myself stop thinking about a possible injury DNF. "If I think its getting worse, I will stop," I told myself. Instead of  thinking about my leg, I focused on how bored I was. Bike path, toe path, more bike path, more toe path and over and over and over. I was basically just running angry the whole time.

Around mile 10.5 I noticed my leg acting up a little more. By mile 11 I realized that I was not going to finish the race without really messing my body up. The cramping was into my butt by then and both knees were hurting. I finally made the decision to DNF at the halfway point and amazingly, after spending five days leading up the race wondering if I would make it and spending the previous 11 miles hating everything about the race while also fearing I would have to drop, once I finally made the decision I only felt one thing - relief. All the back and forth in my head stopped and it just got quiet. Dropping from a race was a weird experience. I ran through the halfway point and then just pulled over to the side and stopped running. Just like that it was over. I found race official and eventually got a ride to the finish line to meet Mike.

Even though I was absolutely sure I had made the right decision, I still cried like a baby because I felt like a failure. Part of me wonders if I would have kept running if I wasn't injured. I was already having such a bad time that the thought of running another 13 miles on the toe path seemed even worse than trying to run through an injury. This is my third big race in a row that I've gotten injured during or right afterwards and I'm beginning to feel cursed.

The good news about all of this is that at least I finally have enough self-discipline to know when to stop. There are several other races I am excited about running this fall and finishing a race I wasn't even enjoying would not have been worth it.

The Time 20 Miles Kicked My Ass

As karma would have it, days after I posted about how running 50 slow miles every week didn't feel like real work, I got kicked in the ass by my 20-miler this Sunday.

The first half of the run went well enough. It was actually a little bit chilly when I left the house at 6am. I was, admittedly, a little discouraged when I looked at my watch the first three miles only to realize I was running an 11 something pace (really?!). Otherwise, though, it was pretty enjoyable.

I always struggle to come up with long run routes since I'm pretty sure I've run every runable route in the city of Philadelphia. For this 20-miler I decided to run all the way up the Schuylkill bike path to Valley Forge National Park. It's 15 miles from my house to the park and then you can do a 5-ish mile loop around the battlefield. I really struggled with this run from about mile 10 and on. The bike path I was on started to get really boring and monotonous. Not to mention the latter half of that path is not shaded very well and the sun was started to heat things up!

I was siked by the time I got to Valley Forge because I needed a change of scenery.

 The park is really beautiful, but I forgot about the hills!

Normally I would not consider them bad. They are mostly short rollers. After 15 tough, boring miles, however, my legs were toast. By the time I finished, t was so happy to see Mike, who was kind enough to pick me up so I didn't have to run the 15 miles home. He brought my a gatorade and a bagel and both tasted like heaven.

So yeah, it was a tough run and I was reminded of it the rest of the day. Normally I can recover pretty quickly, but for some reason I spent the rest of the day feeling like a zombie. I could barely shuffle around the house and was having trouble putting together coherent sentences. While I was wasting away on the couch in the afternoon, Mike introduced me to an amazing new show (based on a web series), called Drunk History. Watching it fulfills two basic requirements: learning something and laughing your ass off. I think they should make another show where they film people who've just run marathons and ultra marathons teaching history. I can guarantee they will sound just as ridiculous. I would have been a prime candidate after Sunday's long run.

By 8 pm I was comatose and slept the deepest sleep I have ever slept. Today I planned a light 4 mile shake out run on the treadmill. Some time ago I learned the best way to loosen up sore legs was to actually get moving. Mile one felt rough, but after that point I had a great run. Four miles quickly turned into five because I couldn't stop listening to 'N Sync. I didn't watch the VMAs, but I have seen the 5,000 "OMG 'N Sync might really reunite" articles on Buzzfeed last week and I just had to add them to my playlist.



I missed you guys

So that was my weekend - got my ass handed to me, lived to tell about it.

Were you an 'N Sync fan or BSB? I was 'N Sync and my sister was BSB, so we basically had the biggest poster rival ever in our bedrooms.


How to Run 50 Miles Per Week & Still Feel Like The Laziest Person Alive

Running, like anything you've been doing habitually, becomes just that - a habit. Waking up an hour before you really need to so you can get those 6 miles in isn't a big deal. Packing your running shoes for a weekend trip doesn't phase you at all. Buying fuel for your long run doesn't seem any stranger than grocery shopping. Whether you are training for a race or just simply running to run, the point is, after awhile running on a routine basis just becomes second nature.

Forming a running habit is great, don't get me wrong, but it has its drawbacks. It's very easy to get stuck in an effortless pattern. For example, I've been running 50 or so miles a week the past few weeks as I gear up for the fall marathon season. 50 miles kind of feels like my base and comfort zone. The problem, lately, is that I'm doing all of this running and I still feel like a lazy piece of crap. I don't necessarily think its the distance I'm doing, so much as the speed with which I'm doing it. I'm running, but it doesn't feel like I'm actually trying. I've hit a plateau and I'm having trouble finding the motivation to make running hard again.

Last weekend I had two of the best 10 mile runs I've ever had while visiting my Mom in DC. I didn't have any goals for these runs. They were simply guilty pleasures. That said, I was extremely surprised (though I really shouldn't have been), to find out that I ran both runs averaging over 10 minutes miles. Not exactly on my way to a sub 3:45 marathon here, folks. I wasn't exactly mad that I ran so slow, since I didn't have any intention to do otherwise, but it does explain why I felt like I barely got a workout. Obviously I got a workout. But seriously, I barely broke a sweat out there over 10 miles.

This has been a very interesting training cycle. In a little over two weeks I will be running a marathon, the earliest fall marathon I've ever done. I have felt ZERO motivation to do any speed work save a few occasions and I'm honestly worried that the temperatures won't be cooled by race day enough for my speed to naturally improve. I'm worried about pushing too hard and having another pacing disaster. I'm upset that I might let this "BQ" course go to waste.

On the flip side - I've got three other marathons this fall and lots of cooler, speedier weather along the way. And I should probably jsut chill out.


 

Why It Hurts So Much

I spent Monday morning at my desk doing work and watching the elites running the Boston Marathon. I watched the winners cross the finish line, elated and exhausted. I checked up on the finish times of a few friends and started to think about how I could be at the same start line in a few years if I work hard enough. Then went on with my day. I was in a meeting when I started getting texts about the explosions. I had to run to class immediately afterwards and could only briefly get online during our 10 minute break.

When I got home, my husband wrapped his arms around me and I just started crying. Not because I have been at countless start and finish lines and now suddenly felt so vulnerable. But because everything that the Boston Marathon means, everything that running means, was attacked. Boston represents our potential to be our best, to be strong, to be confident. My heart is broken to think that someone tried to steal that.

I may not have a BQ (yet), but I know the type of work it takes to get there. You pour blood, sweat, and tears. Months of early mornings, missed social occasions, and long hours on your feet. There is a reason that I tear up every time I pass an ongoing race. It could be a 5k or a 50k. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the people doing that race, pushing themselves to cross that finish line, embody the triumph of the human spirit. Pushing past everything you thought you could do. Finding out what you're made of. Reaching deep down for that last inch of strength.

I, for one, will keep running. And if I do end up at the Boston start line in the future, I will run for everything that was lost today.

Losing My Running Mojo

Sunday morning I work up at 7am, put on a pair of shorts and compression socks, gobbled up a banana and granola bar, sipped on a cup of water, and set my stopwatch to zero. I let my dogs out back and stepped outside to get a taste for the temperature. Then suddenly, as I stood there dressed and ready to go, I realized my 18 mile long run was not going to happen. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Instead of turning on my music and heading out the door, I went back upstairs, defeated, and broke down. In my two and half years of running, and barring injury, I have always sucked it up, gone out there, and finished my run. This time was different.

Mentally I consider myself to be a strong runner. Bad runs happen, by overall, I don't deal with a lot of self-doubt. Finding success in running helps boosts my confidence in other areas of my life, which is one of the reasons I love it. But this weekend I let anxiety and self-doubt win. Instead of feeling like my usual capable self, I felt defeated. I failed.

This has been a tough semester for me and, as we fully dive into April, otherwise known as the end of the semester, I've been feeling more and more overwhelmed. Sunday morning everything came crashing down. The thought of running for 3 hours and then sitting down to do hours upon hours of work seemed impossible.

Obviously no one has a gun to my head telling me to run. It's something I put on myself and its only as important as I believe it to be. On the one hand I am glad that I didn't force myself to run when I really didn't want to. Its important to be flexible and take breaks when your body and mind tells you to. On the other hand, I feel like I'm in this vicious cycle. The doubt I've felt in some of the non-running areas of my life has now negatively affected my running, And when I lose confidence in my running, I in turn lose confidence in other areas of my life. And around and around it goes.

Eventually Mike convinced me to go out for a shorter run with him. We settled on 10 miles, but I still wasn't remotely excited about it. Truthfully, it was one of the hardest 10 mile runs of my life. I wanted to quit every mile, and probably would have if my husband weren't by my side. The whole time I kept wondering how the hell I ran 50 miles when getting to the next stoplight seemed so hard.

I wish I could tell you that I felt better after the run, that my anxiety levels deflated and I regained my confidence, but I didn't. I hope that this weekend was the turn around point and that my running mojo is out there somewhere ready for me to find. I'm ready to feel strong again.



 

Burn Out and Race Registrations

After sitting on my ass for five full days after my wisdom tooth surgery I was as ready as ever to start running again. I felt like one of those wind-up toys that's ready to make a break for it the second you set it down and let go.

Finally, last Tuesday my mouth felt healed enough to run. I slammed out 7.28 miles of pure awesomeness. I can't remember the last time my legs felt so fresh and ready to go. After days of trying to keep my blood pressure low (so as not to dislodge the bloodclot in my mouth) I eagerly pushed up a few hills and each labored breath felt fantastic.  So yes, Tuesday's run was awesome. So awesome that I apparently used up all of my week's allotment of awesome run feelings, because the rest of the week sucked.

Somehow I managed to have a good speed workout on the treadmill during lunch on Thursday, but other than that I was seriously dragging on every other run.

Two 15-minute sets and some extra on the end to get 4 miles

Saturday was 9 miles of "running, I hate you" in what should have been perceived as lovely spring weather, but felt like "why is is so hot already?" and "eff this shit."

On Sunday's 16-miler I actually had to stop after 2 miles and give myself a pep talk before continuing. I felt a little better after I got to the 8 mile turn around, but probably only because I knew the only way I'd make it home is if I ran back and complaining wasn't going to change that. That's the nice thing about out-and-backs and not carrying a cell phone: you're forced to run the miles no matter how you feel about them.

Overall, a pretty shitty-feeling week of running after Tuesday stole the thunder. I'm well aware that not all runs are good runs, but usually I can at least average a good week. Hopefully running and I will get along better this week. I've got an 18 miler on schedule for Saturday, so fingers crossed that the happy, "omg I love running" beam of sunshine hits me square in the face at some point.

In other news, I'm officially registered for all of my fall races. My bank account is crying, but its nice to know that I probably won't be pulling out anymore registration fees from it for anything else happening this year.

Mike and I both managed to get into the Marine Corps Marathon. In case you haven't heard, active.com sucks and made a bunch of runners angry when their site went doen 1.5 minutes after registration opened last Wednesday (a la Chicago). I got in after 20 minutes and Mike got in after an hour. Totally worth giving up my lunch hour for.

I also registered for the Philadelphia Marthon this morning and as the first 1000 people to do so, I scored registration for only $80, which makes my bank account cry slightly less. Philly was my very first marathon in 2011 and I look forward to running it again as, what will hopefully be, my sixth this fall.

So, to sum up this post: I hated running this week, but decided to spend hundreds of dollars signing up for a bunch of marathons. Makes perfect sense I think.

A Rest Week and a Birthday Marathon

On Wednesday I got all four of my wisdom teeth out.

The first thing I asked was "when can I run again?" to which the dentist replied, "7 days."

WTF man? I reiterated my frustration again in sign language after they gave me the gas. P.S. Get the gas. It's awesome.

I'm still debating with myself on how long to actually hold off. The internet can be your best friend ("I ran the next day and was fine!") and your worst enemy ("I ran 5 days later and got the most horrible infection ever!"). Sometimes it's best not to even google it.

Luckily, right now, I don't have enough energy to run anyway. None of my teeth were impacted so they just pulled them right out, which left behind four lovely open sockets just waiting to get stuck with food. So, I've been sticking with smoothies, yogurt, applesauce, and chocolate pudding. No carbo loading going on over here.

OJ, greek yogurt, 2 bananas, mango, blueberries, and two spoonfuls of almond butter

While I'm loathing my running hiatus however, I've been busy making plans for future running. I really wanted to run a marathon this spring. I didn't want to run one in April (too soon!) and I couldn't find a good one in June, so that left May. May is already pretty busy. I am running Ragnar Cape Cod on May 3rd and 4th as an ultra team (31.5 miles for me) and running a local 50k on Memorial Day weekend.

After thinking long and hard I decided to go ahead and sign up for the Delaware Marathon on May 12th. Its only 8 days after Ragnar, but I think if I take it slow and consider doing a zero week in the days leading up to marathon, I will be fine. Plus, this race is within an hour's drive and my birthday is on the 11th. Frankly, there's nothing I rather do on my birthday weekend than run a marathon! Five years ago it would have been spent at the bar. Times sure do change.

Oh, and Alyssa is running it too. The last time/only time we hung out was miles 44-50 at JFK, which is obviously the perfect time to get to know someone after you've been running for 9+ hours straight.
 

Speedy Confessions and 2013 Plans

Confession: I would love to run a BQ (that's sub 3:35 for me). I would also love to run a sub-1:40 half. And a sub-5:30 50k. And on and on and on.

I want to be speedy. I also hate speed. Give me 50 slow miles any day.

I haven't really talked about what I want for 2013, but in two more weeks we will nearly be a fourth of the way through it (wow that was fast), so its as good a time as any to lay out the rest of the year.

While I am running pretty much back to normal post-injury, I am still feeling very anti-training. Training scares me. I much rather "wing it" and run when I want and when it feels right, than feel forced to run by what some number on a chart tells me.

My goals this year do not include a 50 mile race. Not that I'm done with them forever (and there is still a 100 miler somewhere in my future), but this year I just want to kick back and have fun. And fun to me means marathons. At this point I don't have any real intentions of gunning for a BQ, but it would be nice if it happened. I surprised myself in the fall by running a 24 minute PR of 3:46 that was both completely untapered and in the middle of JFK training. Is a sub-3:35 possible? Maybe.

So, going back to speed, I really dislike it, but it also makes me feel really good when I do it. And, while I do not set training plan at the moment, I can still mess around with speed workouts just because.

For me, the worst thing about going fast is the discomfort. My lungs and burning, my legs are burning, and I just want it to end. The longer you run fast, the more it hurts. So, yesterday, I decided to run some speedy treadmill intervals one minute at a time, because hey, you can do anything for a minute, right? This is what it looked like:

I did two sets in a row, running 4.75 miles in 40 minutes and finishing up the quarter miles for kicks at whatever pace I felt like. While 5 miles on the treadmill is usually boring as hell, this time it flew by. And, as I suspected, speding one minute at a time at each pace wasn't mentally devastating. Those 7:30 pace minutes felt a little rough the second time through, but overall I felt pretty strong.

Lastly, in case anyone is curious, I've already lined up my fall race schedule. Most resgistrations are opening within the next month, so as much as I'd just like to think about warmer weather and spring, you snooze and you lose with race registrations!

September 8 - Lehigh Valley Marathon - A flat, fast, potentially PR-friendly race that's also only an hour away from me. Sold.

October 27 - Marine Corps Marathon - Registration doesn't open until later this month and it sells out in hours, but if I can get in I hear this is one of the best races in the country.

November 17 - Philadelphia Marathon - A great race, right outside my doorstep, and also where I ran my first marathon.

What's on your fall race schedule?

Climbing Back Up The Ladder

Being injured is a lot like falling off a ladder. You may only fall down a few rungs or your ass might hit the ground. Either way, eventually you find yourself climbing back up agsin to where you were, maybe even hoping to go further this time around.

Being injured and recovering from injury each have their unique challenges. When you're injured you agonize over when you might be better and how you might get there. When you're recovering you fear having a setback. Luckily I'm fully into recovery now. Five full weeks into it. Five weeks that I've been running again. When I fell off the ladder though, I feel all the way to the bottom. I start with one mile, then two, then three, etc, etc. It's terribly slow and it feels like you will never get back to where you were. Patience is of the utmost importance.

Now five weeks after that miraculous one mile test run I'm feeling more comfortable with the miles, but there are some other things I have to deal with. There are certain rungs on the ladder that I have to face up to one at a time.

1) Back-to-back runs

Once upon a time I ran six days a week. While I'd like to get there again, I'm more interested in getting back to base, which would be running on Tue, Wed, Thurs and Sat, Sun. Finally, after 4.5 weeks of running every other day I finally ran two days in a row. It was the most terrifying 4 miles of my life, but it turned out fine. Last spring when I was injured I started running multiple days in a row after only two or three weeks, but this time I felt more hesitant.

2) Getting off the treadmill

Never before in my life have a logged so many treadmill miles. In fact, in the past five weeks I've only logged treadmill miles. 55 of them in January and 35 so far this month to be exact. I think before this the longest consecutive run I'd ever done on the treadmill was 5 miles on vacation when it was too hot to run outside. Last Sunday I peeled through 8. While that might be a little much for my attention span, I've actually started to like the treadmill for shorter runs. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to hit the road again, but I'm terrified of it. The treadmill is my safe haven. My cushy, bouncey, speed-controlled running home. Outside there are pavement, hills, uneven surface. Insanity!

3) Wardrobe diversity

The first week I was running again I wore compression shorts during every run. Whether or not they were really keeping my IT band in line, mentally they made me feel secure. Fast forward to today and I'm still wearing those damn shorts during every run. They are awesome (seriously, you should try them!), and they were a staple of my post-run recovery during JFK training, but I have got to stop relying on them. Just like the treadmill, I don't feel safe without them. Mentally, however, I know I need to let go (not to mention all of my Lululemon clothes are feeling neglected).

It's hard to know when your body is ready to move to the next level, but the lesson is that if you never try, you'll never know. Obviously there was a time when these three things came easy to me. One day they will again.

What have you struggled with during recovery from injury?

How Many Pills Does It Take To Get a Runner Going?

As I deal with this knee thing, every day I'm constantly questioning what I can do to get better and stronger. This of course includes resting and icing and working out other muscles that can support the injured area, but in my case (and probably some of your's as well) it also includes a daily regimen of supplements. A part of me feels like I'm being a responsible runner and making sure I get all of the nutrients I need to be healthy. The other part of me worries about what sorts of chemicals I'm really putting in my body and whether its worth it. Right now I take a multivitamin, fish oil, calcium, and glucosamine supplement every day. That's just enough to make me feel like I'm slightly overdoing it.

The bigger problem, however, is not the supplements, but the pain meds. I sort of touched on this in my JFK recap, when I felt forced to take pain meds during the race, which I religiously never do. Even though I try never to take it during or before exercise, however, I have been taking it a lot afterwards. In fact, last week I realized that I have probably taken at least one Ibuprofen after my workouts every day for 5+ months since JFK training started and definitely more than one a day since my knee issue. It just became a standard part of my day and I didn't think twice about it.

As I was mulling over my discomfort last week the NY Times coincidentally published an article about this very predicament. Likewise, Runner's World has a small paragraph in their January 2013 edition about what recovery methods should and should not be employed.

NSAIDS - "Skip it!"

Every time I get injured or have a hard workout I always hear "ice, compression, anti-inflammatory, rest." But is taking Ibuprofen really the answer to reducing inflammation? Or rather, is it worth reducing inflammation if might cause more serious problems down the line? For me, the answer is no, its not worth it. So late last week I made an executive decision for myself not to take it anymore.
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My immediate next question was "what can I do to reduce inflammation around my knees (or other injured areas) without taking meds?" Not surprisingly the answer was just a Google search away. Just a sample of the many articles here, here, and here. A number of different foods appear on any one list, but there are a few that keep coming up. Mainly:

- Broccoli (and other cruciferous greens)
- Salmon
- Ginger
- Green tea
- Olive oil
- Blueberries (and berries in general)

Obviously these are all good things to eat anyway, but now that I know they double as good anti-inflammatories I will be upping my intake on all of the above. Luckily these are foods I already incorporate into my daily diet. Broccoli and brussels sprouts are like candy to me and I have green tea every morning and ginger tea every night. So maybe I am already doing a lot to keep inflammation down. And who knows, maybe the Ibuprofen wasn't even helping because I was already eating the right foods.

Load 'em up!

Do you take supplements every day? What are your thoughts on anti-inflammatories?

Is It Worth It?

I've been doing a lot of thinking since running JFK two and a half weeks ago. I'm still dealing with knee pain. I tried running 3 miles on Monday and it started to ache at mile 2.5. I biked to work on Monday and Tuesday, which I think was good and bad. Good because I felt like my quads were getting stronger. Bad because bending the knee that much doesn't help anything. This morning I tried to run again, felt pain around mile 2, gave up a half mile later and walked home sulking.

The thinking I have been doing is about whether or not I really want to continue running ultras. Well, I want to do them, but I'm just not sure I want to deal with the aftermath. On the one hand its nice to have a goal race to train for and who knows how many miles I would really put down every week if I didn't have a 50 mile race looming in the back of my mind. On the other hand, in exchange for running so many miles in one day I have to give up miles on other days.

I love to run. I would run at least 10 miles every day if I could. The problem with loving to run so much, however, is that when I have to back off of running because of that big goal race it makes me hate that big goal race.

Other than laying down 50 miles in a single day on November 17th, I feel like I haven't really run much since October. Between a three week taper, which I hated, and the almost three weeks I've spent recovering/injured, which was okay at first but now officially sucks, I've lost a month a half because of JFK.

What would I really prefer to have? 6 weeks of regular running back in my life? Or a challenging race completed and checked off my list? Truthfully I don't know. I love challenging myself with ultras, but right now, honestly, I just rather be running.

Sidenote: This post will probably be completely null and void as soon as I'm uninjured and start wanting to feel like a badass again who runs 50 miles.

High Word Count Not High Mileage

So I'm having some knee issues. Surprisingly (or fittingly) its not the knee I effed up at JFK and continued to run 40+ miles on. That knee feels great. It's the left knee. It's always the left. Silly weak left side.

Anyways, I had my first post-JFK run last Wednesday, four days out from the race. I ran 4 super slow miles (11+ minute miles for real son) and felt pretty good other than some fatigue in my legs. The next day, Thanksgiving, I set out to tackle 6 miles at no particular pace. The first 4.5 felt incredible. The last 1.5 I wanted to die. Both of my knees where screaming with sharp pains and it even hurt to walk around the rest of the day. On Friday I tried to run and made it half a block before turning around. On Sunday I felt better and I was having no problems walking so I tried to run again. I felt pretty good until mile 1.5 and then the discomfort started, which turned into more discomfort, which eventually turned into pain. FAIL.

Normally not being able to run irritates the shit out of me. My mood goes to crap. I start threatening in my head to quit my job and sit home and sulk. Luckily this is not my first time to injury ballpark. I think the first injury is always the worst. I was out for a full six weeks in the spring, gained a bunch of weight, got depressed, and overall was not a happy person to be around.

Obviously I hope that I'm not sitting out for 6 weeks this time, but if it ends up being one or two I can't get that upset about it because 1) I did just run 50 miles and should give myself a break and 2) "Luckily" for the next 14-15 days I have some other things that need attention. Things that really have not been getting attention due to JFK training. Those things would be homework. Specifically two 25 page papers, a 30 minute powerpoint presentation, and a final exam that needs studying for.

I take absolutely no pleasure knowing that I will definitely be spending at least the next 8 days of my life sitting in front of a computer working on these (goodbye weekend), but I'm treating it like an unwelcome 25 mile run: It will suck. It will feel like its taking forever. I will get frustrated and want to take a break. But I will do it.

Hopefully after all of thats over my body will feel fully recovered and allow me to start racking up the miles again. Until then its research, write, ice, stretch, roll, research, write, and repeat.

Bailing and Baking

There is a Frankenstorm coming, have you heard? Of course you have. My FB newsfeed is almost as sick of it as it is of the election (seriously who cares who wins at this point, just shut up about it!)

I admit when I signed up for FOTM a few months back I did see that it was a four hour drive. But hey, that was months ago and its just four hours. Totally doable!

I really was all prepared to make the trip. Run 20 miles Saturday morning, leave around 3pm, drop the dogs off at the boarders, drive to western Maryland, get a hotel, wake up ass early, run 31 something miles, drive home. And then this crappy storm happened. And even though its not really supposed to affect the race location (I'm not afraid to run in bad weather if that's what you're thinking), it would affect the ride home. And honestly the last thing I want to do after running a 50 mile weekend is sit in the car for what would likely be more than 4 hours with traffic and slow speeds.

Bad weather and running? No prob

So, sadly we are bailing on the race. It might be a different story if both of us weren't planning on running, but since we would both be physically and mentally exhausted its probably not a safe idea to traverse windy, wet roads for so many hours when neither of us are on out A-game.

I'm sad to miss my first 50k since February. I'm said to enjoy/suffer through a new-to-me course. Most of all I'm sad to finally meet Abbi and Alyssa in real life. I guess I will just have to continue incessantly stalking them on their blogs until JFK weekend.

I'm also sad that I will still be running 30 miles tomorrow, except solo and locally. I am going to have to find somewhere new to run nearby because I cannot take another 20+ miles in my neighborhood. I. Will. Lose. It.

The good thing about bailing on our trip means that until I have to deal with tomorrow morning's run, I can spend my time sinking into my couch cushions and shoving as much food as possible down my throat. I even felt inspired to bake:

Ok, maybe not bake as much as emptying-cake-mix-and-3-other-ingredients-into-a-bowl-and-stirring. Whatever, at least they look nice

The Haunted Body: Tale of a Ghostly Injury

Get ready dear readers, for a truly scary story....

It was All Hallows Eve and Tom was just putting on the last piece of reflective gear so he could head out for a short run. The big race was coming up. He had been training for four months already. He was reaching peak week: sleeping less, eating more, and running longer. It would be well worth it though, once he strode across that finish line. 20 minutes into his run he felt an old familiar twinge. The twinge turned into a dense thobbing, the dense throbbing into a sharp pain. Soon he was walking, hobbling home. Passing trick-or-treaters shouted compliments on his well done zombie runner costume. Alas, it was no costume. For Tom was being haunted. An old injury had returned!!!!



Source

I told you guys. Spooky, scary stuff. I have chills.

Seriously though, if you are a runner, getting injured is probably in your top five fears (along with maybe accidently crapping your pants mid-run or bonking in a race). Injuries suck. Plain and simple. They take a toll on your body and your mind. Suddenly you question what you might be doing wrong and how you can fix it. Today I want to talk not just about injuries in general, but old injuries.

Confession: I am being haunted...by an old injury.

Last October I started to have some pain in my left calf. I kept running on it and then ended up taking about 8 days completely off running and it went away.

Fast forward to the end of January. The pain reappeared. I kept running longer, faster, harder. I ended up having to take six full weeks off (talk about a nightmare!). I started going to PT. I crosstrained. I rested. After six weeks I ran my first mile and built my mileage slowly from the ground up again.

Fast forward to today. I'm putting in 50-70 miles per week. Most of the time they are comfortable and enjoyable. Then all of a sudden I feel throbbing or stubborn pain in my shin. I slow down. I ice, I compress, and stretch. It disappears for days. Randomly it comes back. It never appears in full force as it did six months ago, but its there, waiting, bidding its time, ready to freak me out again at the most opportune moment.

Do old injuries ever really go away?

Truth - I don't know. Shortly after I first started running, I had some knee pain and had to stop running for 3 or so days (and I thought that was bad). I switched to minimalist shoes and haven't had any knee pain since. I don't even worry about it. Its just gone. The shin thing hasn't seemed to fully go away, however, and I'm starting to doubt it ever will. It makes me think that I will deal with this for the rest of my running career.

Am I actually in pain or am I just going crazy?

Speaking for myself on this one - most definetly both. Sometimes its hard to tell whether the pain is in my mind because I'm mentally focused on that area of my body or if it actually hurts.

How can you prevent old injuries from returning?

(Just a note - I am not a doctor, so I can't really tell you what works and what doesn't. I can only share my personal experience)

This training cycle has taught me a lot about listening to my body. If there was ever a day when something wasn't feeling right I lowered my mileage or went extra slow. I've foam rolled every single night and iced every single day whether I'm in pain or not. I wear compression gear on a daily basis (you know all the super cool people are wearing Zensah sleeves under they work pants) and take a multivitamin and a calcium supplement. And I still do my PT exercises every other night that I learned seven months ago.

Running is hard work and sometimes I don't feel like taking extra time out of my day to do strength training or foam roll, but its always worth it!

So tell me, are you being haunted? Have you ever had a running injury that has really completely gone away?

Back-to-Back 20 Milers

I usually think of running as something that enhances my weekend, but this time I felt exactly the opposite.

After my "August of Tragedy" I was feeling unsure about my training thus far for JFK. I decided I needed to push harder and run longer. And so an ambitious October peak month was born!

I have no clue where I got the smart idea to run back-to-back 20s, especially the weekend right after a marathon. Last November after my first marathon I spent the following weekend knocking out an easy 4 miles Saturday and 5 on Sunday. Sounds much more appropriate.

In any event, back-to-back 20s in what I did, and here is how it all played out:

Saturday

Its funny to think how 20 miles used to be "the big one" on my training schedule. I admit, after running them so often now, they have lost their intimidation effect quite a bit. For Saturday's 20 I planned a nice little loop around Center City. There was nothing outstanding or notable  about the run except that I was already feeling pretty sore by mile 12 and I ended up having to walk up every hill (fortunately there were very, very few). I guess running a sub-3:50 marathon seven days before probably accounted for both of those things (umm yeah...). Fortunately I could have cared less about my pace. I stopped often to fuel and use the restroom and took my sweet time.

The short but sweet Boxers Trail on Saturday's run

By the time I got home, 3-4 hours later, I felt an overwhelming amount of exhaustion. While I usually spend an hour or two in recovery mode post-run, this time I spent the rest of the day on the couch. I could barely move. Even getting up to get a cup of tea seemed to require too much energy. I wanted to sleep so badly, but I couldn't get myself to nap. I didn't even feel this depleted after the marathon last weekend.

20 #1: 

Mentally - fine

Physically - exhausted

Sunday

When my alarm went off at 6 am on Sunday the last thing I wanted to do was run, let alone run another 20 miles. My legs felt surprisingly good, but I was still exhausted.

I was out the door by 7 am and stopped to get some fuel and breakfast. After the weird look I got from the cashier the imaginary unspoken conversation in my head went something like:

"Really, this much junk food at 7 am on a Sunday?"
"Umm yeah, I need it for my workout."
"Riiiiight, that makes sense. Crazy person."

"But I NEED it!"

I'm so thankful I decided to sign up for a 20 mile race in lieu of mapping yet another solo 20 miler by myself. The Delaware Canal 20-Miler was about an hour from my house in Bucks County, PA. I'd never been up there, but the pics looked beautiful and it seemed like the fall foliage was finally out, which drew me to the race in the first place.

Once I arrived I started feeling a little more positive about the run. I checked in and rushed back to my car to enjoy the heater until it was time to start.

A few minutes after 9 am the race director said the magic words and myself and 50+ other runners took off (it was a very small race!). The first mile was on pavement and looped around the park. I was so cold I couldn't even tell if my legs felt okay or not. Everything was just numb! Soon we were on the Delaware Canal tow path. The race was an easy 10 miles out and back with next to no elevation. Exactly what I was looking for.

I really wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery, but at mile 1.5 I had to stop and walk because my calves felt like they were on fire. Every so often we I wear compression socks during a run I have this odd, 3-4 mile warm up period where the back of my calves start burning and feeling like bricks. I have no idea what triggers it. It appears to be random and turns up at the worst times. So here I was, at mile 1.5 of 20, already walking and in pain. Super start Kristin.

I did the run/walk thing until about mile 3. By mile 4 the burning sensation was gone and I just focused on trying to keep a 10 min/mile pace. Unlike the Baltimore Marathon last weekend, there were zero crowds and next to zero runners around me, so I really felt no compulsion to "race," which is exactly how I hoped I would approach this run.

I can't recall exactly which mile I started to feel sore, but safe to say it gradually increased from at least mile 5 and on. "How are you feeling?" "I feel like I ran 20 miles yesterday." Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

I hit the 10 mile turn around in 1:40 exactly. Perfect 10 min/mile pace. At that point all I wanted to do was finish. My hips were getting sore and I was feeling more and more physically strained. I began to speed up and started passing runners. It wasn't out of any sort of pride, I just really didn't want to be running anymore.

By mile 15 I was seriously ready to stop so I kicked into gear a little harder to get to the finish. I crossed the finish line in 3:11:44, meaning I gained more than 8 minutes in the second 10 miles. I told you I was ready to be done! Honestly averaging a 9:35 pace on this run probably wasn't the smartest idea and I should have taken it a little easier, but it is what it is.

Done and tired

Post-race I grabbed some pineapple at the finish line (best post-race food ever!) and drove back home.

20 #2: 

Mentally - tough

Physically - exhausted

I have to give my legs some major love for the next 48 hours for being so good to me. I'm sore and tired, but overall things feel pretty good. I also don't feel nearly as exhausted as I did after Saturday's 20. Strange.

This weekend was really humbling for me. I've found the past four months of JFK training relatively easy, or if not easy at least manageable. But this weekend I was really tested physically and mentally. A part of me fears that I am over training, but the other part of me is happy that my body and mind have experienced what it has so that on race day maybe I will be a little more acclimated.

What is the toughest training weekend you've had? How did you deal?

Flipping the Switch & JFK Training Updates

With the weekend promptly behind me I woke up Monday morning a complete stress case. It's as if during the night a switch was flipped. If Sunday was summer, 12 hours later fall had officially started. I woke up to to 55 degree weather outside, the first week of classes, and the beginning of busy season at work.

As I tried to get through my little morning anxiety attack I flashbacked to this exact same time last year, when I also freaked out during the first week of class. Working full time is tough. Working full time and going to graduate school is tougher. Working full time, going to graduate school, and training for a race is tougher times at least two. At least this year I don't have to add wedding planning on top of it (thank freaking god).

I know based on my reaction last year that in another 10-14 days I will have settled into my pattern and be able to get through the days no problem. Until then I will probably be a basket case.

JFK Training wise I am starting to freak out a little bit. On the one hand I still really like not using a training plan. It allows me more flexibility, less guilt, and less chance of injuring myself. On the other hand, I feel like I'm falling behind after having to skip so many long runs in August do to sun poisoning/hospital time. The last long run I did was a month ago when I ran 25 miles. I was planning to run 12 miles on Sunday after Tough Mudder on Saturday to put me at around 57 for the week, but I was so exhausted and sore in my upper body that I bailed on it.

What I am left with is seven weeks of training until taper. Seven weeks where I feel like I should be shooting for 50-70 miles per week, yet I haven't even broken 52 miles this training cycle. Fail, fail, fail.

Without forcing a training plan on myself I am going to make some weekly goals to help myself get to a point where I feel confident in my ability to run 50 miles on November 17th:

1) Running 6 days a week: I've been running 5 days per week since my injury in the spring. I used to run 6 all of the time, but I freaked out after my shin splints and have been holding back.

2) Running before work: In order to prevent a complete stress freak out, I need to get my add out of bed and run in the morning. Biking home after work, making dinner, doing HW, and then feeling the pressure to run is going to make me go bat shit crazy.

3) One double per week: I've been doing this already, but I need to commit to continuing them.

4) No excuse back-to-back weekend long runs: Super long run Saturday, 10 miles Sunday. End of story.

I may be a stress case trying to get everything done, but it's only seven weeks. That's nothing right?

The Good, the Bad, and the Very, Very Ugly: Tough Mudder Recap

I'll preface this post by saying that my expectations for this race weren't very high to begin with and so my opinion didn't have very far to fall. Mud and obstacles are not really my thing and I knew that going into this event. When Mike decided he wanted to register back in January I was willing to jump on the bandwagon considering how many races I've dragged him to.

Okay onto there recap:

We were on the road Saturday morning by 7 am. Tough Mudder start times work in waves starting around 8 am and going every 20 minutes until 2:40 pm. We had a noon start time, which was fine, because it was going to be a 3 hour drive there and they also said we should arrive two hours before our start, so a 10 am arrival is what we shot for. At 9:45 am we were 5 miles form the event site. Perfect!

And then the traffic. Oh the traffic! Tough Mudder was very adamant about not parking anywhere except their own lot, which would have been fine, except that their lot was not equipped to handle the 20,000 people they had registered for the day. And, as it turned out, there was only one way in and out of the lot for vehicles and only a single lane country road leading to the entrance. What made the situation worse, however, was the lack of information coming from the event staff. We sat in traffic for FOUR hours waiting to get to the lot without hearing a peep from the staff. One text message went out around 10 am that said we should only park in their lot and that they would let you into the event late if you missed your start time.

At 2 pm we finally got fed up. I had walked up the road a bit to do some recon and found out just how bad the parking situation was. At that point we decided to abandon the line and parked in a neighborhood 2 miles away from the event site. We would have done this sooner, but I really felt that we would be able to park at the event since we weren't hearing otherwise. I just crossed my fingers that my car would be un-towed and un-ticketed when we returned.

Two of our friends abandoned ship after the traffic situation. We were about to do the same, but honestly after sitting in the car for 7 hours the only thing that was going to de-stress me was exercise. The rain started pouring and we sprinted the 1.5 miles to the start line. It felt great to be out of that car and to move my legs. When we arrived at the start registration and bag check took call of two seconds.

Finally arrived!

After running in the rain from the car

We met up with our two other friends and heard the call for the last start wave (it was now 2:40 pm). If we had stayed in that traffic line 5 minutes longer we would have missed it. I felt so, so badly for the thousands of people still in traffic waiting to get in. They probably had no idea that the event staff were still closing the start times according to the original plan and I'm sure many eventually arrived only to be turned away.

And so, finally, we ran the damn thing. My thoughts on the actual event? It was alright. Again, I didn't go into this thing thinking it was the cat's meow. I wasn't nearly as "tough" as I expected. In my opinion anyone who can run 10k and does some strength training once a week would have no problem. We did deal with an exceptional amount of mud, definitely more than non-rainy Tough Mudders encounter. One of the aid stations was knee deep in mud and water. I don't think that was planned.

We ran pretty much the entire thing. The first 3-4 miles flew by since we were still hyped up from getting out of the car. The last 5 miles ended up going very slow because of the deep, slippery mud and wait times at the obstacles. Getting through the mud reminded me a lot of this race except I left that event with a lot more self-satisfaction.

By the time we finished it was after 6 pm and getting cold. We had to wait 10-15 minutes for more foil blankets, which kind of ticked me off. We were able to snag some quick time in the shower before they ran out of water. 

After we walked back to the car we tried to clean up as best as possible and then immediately found a diner to drown our stomachs in. I don't even know how I made it through the event after not eating much all day. 

Literally exactly what I wanted

After filling ourselves to the brim we dragged ourselves back in the car and drove home. Finally around 1 am my head was able to hit my pillow. 

So, to review...

The Good:

- Course length

- Obstacle spacing

- Registration and bag check lines

- Getting muddy

- Comradery (this was all because of the participants and had nothing to do with the event staff)

- Swag (we got a nice UA tech shirt and a sweatband, which I thought was super douchey when I first saw it, but was so exactly what my frigid body needed after running through cold mud for hours. My head was happy). 

OMG so warm

The Bad:

- I noticed very few event staff on the actual course

- Running out of water for showers

- Wait times at many obstacles

- Ripped my favorite lulu crops and tank top (my fault for wearing expensive clothing)

The Very, Very Ugly:

- Parking

- Communication with event staff

- Traffic

Would I do this event again? Up until an hour ago I said "hell no," but if I had enough friends, and I stayed at a hotel within walking distance, I would probably do another one. I

 don't know if I'd go with this company again. They really royally f*cked up. They ended up canceling Sunday's event and blaming it on weather when simultaneously all of these news articles are coming out about how the local mayor and police force were so unhappy with the traffic and logistics that they forced the shut down. This is definitely a PR mess for them and a lot of people are demanding refunds, which I think is warranted considering it's their poor event planning that caused so many people to miss the race. 

Many are pointing out that we should forget about asking for refunds and remember the Wounded Warriors Project, which Tough Mudder supports, but from what I can garner from their website, Tough Mudder doesn't actually donate any of your reg fee to this charity. They only offer you a discount if you pledge to raise $150+ on your own for the project. So, yeah. Bullshit. 

Have you ever done a Tough Mudder? Or any mud/obstacle type race? What are your thoughts?

Not the Three Day Weekend I Was Expecting

This is how I envisioned my three day holiday weekend:

Friday: Half day at work, dinner with Mike and a nice glass of wine
Saturday: 25 miler to Valley Forge, relax, shopping
Sunday: Sleep in, relax, read, 10 miler in the evening
Monday: Hill workout with Tough Mudder friends, BBQ

This is how my weekend actually went:

Friday: Half day at work, emergency room
Saturday: Hospital
Sunday: Hospital
Monday: Recover

Basically, the poison ivy I contracted last week on my bike ride to work (I didn't realize it was poison ivy until two days later) turned into some kind of nasty skin infection. By the time I got home from work on Friday my arm was swelling so badly that I began to lose sensation in my fingers and I could no longer bend at the elbow. NOT COOL! So we skipped dinner and headed to the ER where horrible thoughts of arm amputation and dead nerves flashed through my head (I can be a little dramatic sometimes).

Two trips to the ER in one month. I must be making up for lost time

I thought maybe they'd give me something to make the swelling go away and send me home, but instead I found myself admitted and in my own room by bedtime Friday night. The swelling became so bad on Saturday that I would tip over if I stood up. I must have had 5-10 pounds of fluid in my right arm.

By Saturday evening the swelling began to subside, but they kept me overnight again just in case. Finally on Sunday afternoon I was liberated and they sent me home with a hefty dose of antibiotics and steroids. After nearly 48 hours in that room I was about to lose my mind. All I wanted to do was shower and get the hell outside.

As soon as I found something to wear that would cover up my hideous monster arm we grabbed the dogs and headed to Forbidden Drive. Cool, rainy weather was exactly was I needed.  Hello nature, nice to see you!

By Monday I was feeling well enough to run again (which the doc okay'd). Mike joined me for 6 miles mid-day, but by evening I was raring to go again and did another 4 on my own. There's nothing like two days in a hospital room to make you want to run forever!

Things I learned this weekend:

- I have the best husband ever. Without any complaints he drove back and forth between the hospital to hang out with me and to our house to take care of the dogs. I am so lucky to have him.
- I have rock star blood pressure. Must be all of the running.
- Poison ivy is the most disgusting skin condition I think someone could ever have. Ew ew ew ew ew.

August 2012 in Review

What a freaking crazy month. Broke my hand, got sun poisoning, and now I have a terrible case of contact dermatitis all over my right arm after swipping a tree on my ride to work Monday. I've got to tell you, I'm so ready for September and (hopefully) a fresh start.

Mileage Recap

A year ago - August 2011: 172.62
January: 181.21
February: 86.84
March: 6
April: 89.59
May: 128.43
June: 137.72
July: 200.1
August: 177.48

I'm kind of pissed at that number. I really should have been north of 200 like July, but things happen like terrible sun poisoning that keeps you from sweating at all for a few days. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Cross Training Recap

176.3 miles road cyling
1000 m swam
3 Pilates classes
2 Boxing classes

What went well

Despite all of the unhappy stuff that happened this month some pretty sweet stuff went on too like a 25 mile training run that wasn't really difficult at all. It makes me very optimistic and excited to push ahead with JFK training!
What didn't go well

Umm I think I mentioned all of the crappy things that happened. This poison whatever-I-have on my right arm is a real bitch and I can't even bend at the elbow. Not to mention it's freaking disgusting. I look forward to a month when I will have full use of both arms for the entire 30 days.

September 2012 Goals

I don't know that I'll continue doing Pilates on a regular basis because 1) it's expensive and 2) classes start next week and who knows if I'll have the time. What this means is that I really need to do my PT exercises on my own every other night since I won't be able to rely on Pilates to work those muscles for me.

After having to take the spring off from racing because of injury and opting to take the summer off as well, I'm absolutely stoked for fall racing season! I have 1-2 races every month through Thanksgiving so my calendar is laying out nicely. First up: Tough Mudder next Saturday!