Girl In Motion

In only the sweetest manner possible.

Yesterday was a rest day and I spent it moping around the house, thanks to Sunday’s MP run. I had started questioning everything I’ve been doing and my marathon goal and laughing (derisively) at my previous “I’m going to be all circumspect about it all” since I clearly was being anything but.

Then today comes and it’s the weather I’ve been wanting for months now, a luscious 65 degrees. Haven’t seen that temperature since my Yellowstone vacation. Pfitz calls for a GA run, which couldn’t have come at a better time because I wanted to just run, no strings attached, no speed stuff or percentage-induced brakes, just run the way you run when it feels good.

I knew I’d likely be pushing it to make up for Sunday because I’m childish like that, so I strapped on my HR monitor to keep me honest. All I can say is YIPPEEE!!! I’m not the slug I imagined myself to be.

Splits were: 9:11, 8:50, 8:39, 8:35, 8:28, 8:26, 8:19, 8:00 for an average of 8:34. I wasn’t even trying to make it a progression run, it just happened! Lol, I can, and will, relax now.

What else is on the agenda for the week? Well, this is a cutback week, so it’s a bit less mileage but tomorrow is my first VO2max workout on this plan and I’m excited! Haven’t done intervals since April and these are my favorites, 600s (long enough to test you but short enough to enjoy it). The difference with these, as usual with “keep ‘em movin’” Pfitzinger, is he’s couched it between some extra miles, so the workout is 8 miles with 5×600 at 5K race pace w/90 sec. rest.

Besides that, I’ve got a 5 mile recovery the next day, then a day off, then 8 w/strides and then supposed to be 14 on Sunday, but I’m bumping it to 20, which’ll make it my third 20 so far.

Other than that, time to put my creative thinking hat on again, it’s time to work on new designs for Fish Pie and maybe now that I’m not moping I could actually come up with a couple cute ideas. We shall see.

Oh, and I wanted to mention some positive things about what I learned on my MP run this Sunday. I learned that I will be using the gel flask for the marathon, even though I’ve been using the foil packets for most of my runs these days. It’s much easier to deal with than packets and the dilution aspect will surely be appreciated as the hours tick by and my tummy wants less sweetness. The only downside is the little extra weight thanks to the added water and that it’s localized in one spot, but that’s a fair trade-off.

Another observation: I drank less on the MP run than I usually do. I carried my handheld, which I’ve been considering taking to Steamtown, because I do love being able to drink when I choose, but now I’m thinking that since my gels will have a bit of water added to them in the flask, it’s less critical that I have liquids on me and when I’m concentrated on pace, I don’t sip so much anyway.

Thank god I have PDR beforehand is all I can say, because I usually get all nervous around water stops, to the point where I’ll skip a stop I should use to avoid dealing with it, so it’ll be important to have another practice session before the big day. But who knows, I love my handheld, maybe we’ll do the big race together. Lol, it’s something to ruminate over for the next couple months, anyway, and we all know how I love to ruminate…

Tip for the day: If you wear a water belt or carry a handheld and you find the nipple is sticking, just rub a little vegetable oil on it or give it a squirt of Pam and work it up and down a few times. Works like a charm.

Today was a 15. The plan called for 14 but I’ve been adding a couple miles to my long runs and since this weekend is my first MP run and I’ll be damned if I’m going to make that any tougher, I figured I’d leave that as is and just add one measly mile today. No biggie, just stating this so if you’re doing Pfitz, you don’t wonder why my schedule looks a little weird.

I left at 6:30 and a few minutes after, it started pouring rain which lasted for maybe 15-20 minutes. It was wonderfully refreshing but I wasn’t thrilled, considering I had a long way to go in wet socks and shoes. But when the unexpected happens, you just have to chalk it up to something that could happen during the race, and deal with it. The wet socks didn’t bug me till mile 13, but once I got home, me and my pruney little toes were delighted to get those shoes off. Avg. pace for the run 9:22.

Do people ask you the same questions when they find you’re a runner? I always get “What about your knees? How are they doing?” which I find charming, as if that’s the only thing that can go wrong with a person’s legs, and “What do you think about when you’re running?”. This last question always leaves me stymied. I think about everything and nothing. I’m always “thinking hard” whether I’m sitting quietly or running, so it’s just more of what I’m always doing.

Today, one of the things I was thinking about is failure. I have this want: a want to BQ, to finish the marathon strong, and all I can do is train as well as I can and hope the weather and my body allow that to happen. But it’s true for a lot of people that, when looking at their training, are set for a successful marathon when something unforeseen happens that dashes that hope to the ground. At least for that day.

So I’m working on being prepared for failure, at the same time I’m working at succeeding. I want to cover all my bases and be circumspect if this time, it doesn’t go my way. I italicize “this time” because I really like italics, but mostly because when I signed up for Steamtown, I thought of this first one as a test to see if marathons are even for me. Now that I find myself thoroughly enjoying the training and the long runs and, well, everything about it…I know this is the start of a long love affair with the marathon.

But it spooks me to hear the constant warnings given to new marathoners, “don’t make a goal your first time, just enjoy it, blah blah blah”. It’s almost as if you’re expected to fail. Which doesn’t make sense to me if you’ve trained correctly (ie. using a proper training plan and fulfilling all the required workouts and paces). What is it about a first time marathon that makes a well-prepared runner blow-up? I know it happens and could happen to me as much as anyone.

Which brings me back to what I was thinking about on my run today, preparing for failure. It’s probably not a smart thing to do in that it could mess with my head too negatively, but I’ve been imagining what it will feel like to not get my goal. In a way, this takes a pressure off, because my thinking self can relax and just know that blow-ups happen and the next marathon will, hopefully, be a chance to redeem myself.

Can you believe I’m already imagining the funeral for my goal? Yet all my paces are perfectly on track, no problems with any of the runs so far, but still…learning to give myself a break just in case.

21 for me today, woohoo, yay and all that jazz.

My original plan was to do exactly what I did last week, an easy 20 around my usual loop, but yesterday I realized that there was a huge Tri called SheRox happening on that route and would have meant I’d be circumventing huge clusters of people, so I went to Plan B, the trail.

The trail is 5.5 miles from my house, so half my trip was on road, half on the trail, the trail being a lot more challenging due to the gravel/rocky floor and constant ups and downs. Also, I realized on my 19 there a couple weeks ago that even though there’s a fountain at around my 9.5 mile mark, I’d still need to take two handhelds because while I can get there on one bottle, I end up drinking twice as much on the way back, and the next fountain is 7 miles away. It worked out fine though, I was grumbling a bit at the beginning for having to cart both, but stopped noticing them early on.

I was still planning on making it a 20 and in mile 9, I actually said to myself, “Flo…keep it at 20, you have nothing to prove, the fact that you’re doing this on the trail and keeping pace is enough”. But then I was on this new part of trail that I’d never been and there were all these other runners, so it was fun to explore and besides, then I could come home and type that I’d just run 21. You can’t see, but my head’s all puffed up now and it isn’t from salt supplements, just ego.

My avg for the run was 9:28, but once I was out of the trail and back on the sidewalk, my final splits were 8:50, 8:41, 8:47, 8:36 and 9:00 for my uphill mile home. I drank about 110 oz. total, stopping the clock for refills because I figure I deserved to since I was carrying that extra weight. Btw, today’s temps were pretty nice: 77-79, but less humid than usual.

Had 3 gels, tried Clif Shots for the first time, Apple flavor. Um, they’re kind of gross, much thicker than any other, but on the other hand, that lets it go down in two gulps, so that’s a positive. I also tried a Fruit Punch Hammer Gel which was downright disgusting, no positives about that. Ended with Carboom double espresso which I don’t care for too much either, but the big hit of caffeine was useful.

Carried music but left it off again as I have for my last few long runs. I’m coming to realize that in the quiet of the morning, I prefer silence and then as the run progresses, the idea of anything extra attached to my sweaty skin, like earbuds, becomes completely unappealing, so I think it’s time to start leaving it at home for the long ones.

Once I got home, I was going to take an ice bath, but at the last minute favored “active recovery” because Nick’s coming home from his week-long bike adventure today, so I just vacuumed the apartment.

I’ve gotta go out now and do an emergency shopping to right the wrong I did to my hair yesterday. I got a box of dye because it’s getting a little too red and light with the sun, so I thought I’d put a little brown back in. But I didn’t really look too carefully at the boxes when I was at the drugstore, just thought, hmmm…Clairol Natural Instincts, I’ve never tried that one before and Hazelnut looks like a pretty shade.

So imagine my surprise when, after I’ve got it on my head, I scan the directions for the first time to find that, instead of keeping it in your hair for 30-35 minutes, it’s very adamant about not doing it longer than 20. Weird, I think.

So while I’m waiting for the time to be up, I log onto my favorite beauty product review site, MakeupAlley.com to read what other women have to say about it and I notice people referring to having put it on damp hair. Huh? Not having read the directions, I didn’t do that. And in all those reviews, the women are saying to count time from the moment you start applying it because it comes out much darker than the box. So I run to the bathroom and rinse it out…too late, my hair looks like an 80 year-old man with his first box of Just For Men. Shoe black.

It turns out this dye is actually semi-permanent, not my usual permanent, thus all the different application directions. OK, semi is good, it means it’ll fade eventually, but I was freaking out yesterday thinking that if it’s semi-permanent, does that mean I’ll have black sweat streaks of dye pouring from my head on today’s run?

So I washed it like a madwoman a few times yesterday and today wore a black visor on the run, to hopefully catch any dark trickles, and luckily everything stayed on the hair. But now I have to go buy some Prell because it’s supposedly like detergent, the better to wash out some of this old-man goth hair I now have. What a dodo I am.

But before I go, I want to give a shout out to one of my resident readers/commenters, Jim E., who is at this very moment, running the San Francisco Marathon and as of the Half, is producing negative splits!! Yay, Jim, I’m so proud of you with such a hilly course, I’m rooting for you. Go, Jim, go. Woohoo, cowbells clang clang clang…

OK, so it’s by .13 of a mile, but who’s counting?

Today was 19 miles. It wasn’t the easiest run because I chose to go into the trail system, which is much more rolling than my usual museum circle and all gravel. But I embraced the extra effort because it’s much shadier/cooler there and so beautiful, plus I just thought it’d be good to have some hills to work on.

Didn’t sleep much last night, as seems to be the way these days. I guess it’s inevitable with the long runs because I have to set the alarm so early to get out before the day heats up. I can’t wait for the weather to break so I don’t have to get up at 5am, like today. I wonder if my runs would be a little more energized if I was getting a full 8 beforehand. But enough sleep whining, let’s move on to hydration…

Last time I did the trail a couple weeks ago, you remember I had to take two handhelds because there was a very long stretch without water, but this time, because I went farther, I knew there was a water fountain at my turnaround (hallelujah!) so I only needed one. Still, by the end of the run I was high and dry. I take that back, not high or it would have been more fun…just dry.

I stopped twice to refill my bottle and how stupid am I? I refill the bottle, take off again and immediately take a swig from the damn bottle instead of the fountain at which I was just standing. I did this twice.

It was 74 degrees when I began and 84 when I was finished, so by the end I was dragging. I think I should have worn a new pair of shoes I have waiting for indoctrination. My beloved Inspires now have 301 miles and I had some aches and pains today, possibly due to the shoes. On the other hand, could just be that it was a pretty long trail run on a hot morning.

One of those pains, btw, was a shock of ITB weirdness. I never had this before so it was strange, like a shooting tingle exactly where the IT band is. It gave notice maybe 3 times in a 1/2 mile stretch, a hilly part of the trail, but then went away for the rest of the run.

Speaking of “went away”, isn’t it weird when you’re running and you’ll feel something hurt, like my foot was twingey at the start, and then you get all scared that this is going to mess up the whole run, and then it disappears and you forget you even had it a half mile down the road? Funny how that works. Good thing it does!

Pacewise, I didn’t succeed at going as slow at the start as I was supposed to. Or rather, taking full responsibility because it’s always within our control, I chose not to. I was feeling giddy happy because I was going on an adventure, kind of. Plus this mysterious white cat that lives a few blocks away but sometimes hangs out on the street crossed my path very casually (so cute), and then my favorite song was the first one to play even though my mp3 player was on Shuffle. Everything was an omen for a great run.

And the majority of it was. I managed to pick the pace up on the way back, but I was plain tuckered out for the last three. My avg. pace ended up being where it’s supposed to be - 9:37 (avg 10:00 and 9:13 as per Pfitz 20% and 10% above marathon pace), and that’s without stopping the clock for water refills. But I didn’t finish as prettily as last week, averaging the same pace. Of course, last week I ran on a flat road, so that might have something to do with it, too.

Anyway, it was a fun run, but the end was tiring and hot. I came home and weighed myself, I was 3 lbs under, so I should have had at least one, maybe two more handheld’s worth of liquids (20-40oz), evidenced by my greedy attack on the kitchen faucet.

Had an ice bath, which oddly enough doesn’t even make me chilly anymore, but not before some slight bitching at Nick because I was beat and unimpressed when he proudly told me he’d washed some pots, my reply being “yeah, I wish you did more of that”. I apologized afterwards and harmony was restored.

Now I’m off to a girlie brunch with Mimosas (yum) and then we’re going to the XPN music festival which should be great fun. Though I may end up sleeping under a tree.

You know that old adage, “Never try anything new on race day”? I’ve reinterpreted it to mean, “Do lots of new stuff on all your training runs.”

Today I:

1. Brought 2 handhelds (40 oz. total)
2. Took S!Caps (electrolyte supplements)
3. Took 2 gels
4. Diluted said gels in one of the bottles
5. Peed standing up on a usually well-populated trail
6. Stopped at a gas station for more water (20 oz.)

To start with, even though I set my alarm for 5:30am (scorcher today), the stupid cat started talking loudly at about 4:30 (damn attention whore), so I got up at 5:00, giving me about 4 hours worth of snooze. This was the only thing lacking in today’s adventure.

Oh, that and the fact that in searching for a bathroom I’d seen on an online trail map, I stopped to ask a guy if he knew about this mystery bathroom but forgot to turn my Garmin back on for a chunk of time, so my planned 16 miler became 17.15 (I was being stubborn…did not want to go back home with less than 16 on the display of my Garmin). Turns out the maps that are actually on the trail show no sign of that bathroom, so the Wissahickon Running Club needs to update their website. Too bad, as it would have been a well-situated place for water bottle refilling.

Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about gels and how to deal with them, and spurred by my love for the clip-on pocket, I just ordered a clip-on gel flask. I think that’s the perfect answer because I could dilute them to milkshake thickness as opposed to the original snot consistency, avoid sticky fingers (which is an annoyance every time I open one of those suckers), not to mention I won’t have to open them on the run or look for a garbage can when I’m done and who likes sucking foil, anyway?

But a gel flask would have been overkill today because I was already having to deal with 2 handhelds (which worked just fine, btw!). I even avoided using my clip-on pocket by designating one of the handhelds as my gel bottle, dissolving two vanilla gels into it before I left the house. It was surprisingly palatable considering how warm it was by the time I drank it.

I took an S!Cap before I left and one each hour for the next couple hours, then one last one after I hit the gas station for more water, because I downed most of that sucker in just a few minutes. I could have taken more of the caps - it says every 1/2 hour when it’s hot and it was 80 degrees out when I started - but since I was doing all this new stuff at once, I didn’t want to chance anything weird happening, like bloating up.

As for peeing standing up, it’s something I tried while hiking on vacation and it’s a quick and easy way to relieve yourself, even if you’re a girl. I also realized today that from that back, you can’t even tell what I’m up to, so how handy is that? Anyway, it was early and there were few people on the trail, so I thought, “why not?” Plus, I was literally soaking in sweat, so I figured if I missed, no one could tell, anyway. Lol.

So I ended up drinking 60 oz liquids on the run, plus 16 more when I got home. I’m happy to have finally gone to that gas station, it’s good to know that stopping like that isn’t a big deal. I’d always avoided it because it’s another street crossing and then having to stop the clock for the purchase is an annoyance (oh god…there goes my training!). Even though a water fountain was only 2 miles away, I’d been so good today about giving my body what it needed that it was a no brainer. Plus I was dying.

I won’t lie, it wasn’t an easy run as hot as it was, and I started faster than Pfitz’s “MP + 20%”, but I still managed to make it a progression run and my pace was good despite carrying both water bottles. More importantly, I didn’t experience any pains, twinges or aches anywhere the entire run. Fabulous!

As far as gels, they definitely helped, though I didn’t feel it as a burst of energy, likely due to me drinking them in 20oz of water - a slow and steady intake. It was a little too easy to drink though, I finished the gel/water bottle around the time I was supposed to take the 2nd gel. Also, I didn’t eat anything before the run, so that would have probably helped, too. Live and learn.

Once I got home, a frigid bath sounded downright luxurious, so I soaked the ole bones in cold water and then afterwards, ate the best hot dog I’ve ever had. It might be time for a nap now, but first…must kill the cat.

Had a soakingly humid run yesterday, following ole Pfitz for a 12 miler done progression-wise. Supposed to start about 20% slower than goal marathon pace, ending with the last 5 at 10% slower. My goal pace is 8:23 so 20% would be 10:03, 10% would be 9:13 (how I love my time calculator!). I was a bit faster on the first half and worried that I wouldn’t be able to pick it up because I was so damned hot, but everything worked out fine, even a bit faster than prescribed despite the heat.

Hydration-wise, I had taken my 20oz. hand-held which I refilled at a fountain on the return 2.5 miles from home, scarfing the whole refill down in that last 2.5. So 40 oz total, more than if I’d had my 4-bottle belt on. I’m so glad the hand-held is working for me. Curious to see if the additional one I bought so I could take one in each hand during longer runs will be a pain or not, though seeing as how those runs will be in the thick of July and August, I’m guessing not.

I will admit now that yesterday’s 12 was the longest run I’ve done in 7 weeks due to my injury and vacation, so my main worry beyond reaching the proper pace was how my legs would feel during and after the run. Happily, felt completely comfortable, no twinges of any sort, so I’m back on old familiar ground.

Later in the afternoon, I bit the bullet and pulled out my dusty Pilates DVD. My nefarious plan is to mix Pilates and Yoga 2 or 3 times a week so I can get that core of mine strong for posture and improved running form. I figure that with 17 weeks till Steamtown, I can make an appreciable difference in my carriage as well as helping to injury-proof my legs, feet and ankles, which cracks me up because that was one of my excuses for not doing yoga, that I might hurt myself for running. Lame, huh?

Last night I started looking over the plan and figuring out where I could add in some miles. The 55 plan has three 20s, whereas the 70 plan has five, including a 21 and 22, so I added a 20, enlongated another to 22 and fattened up some other runs including the mid-week mid-longs. Love it!

And now, I must tend to the evil that exists for self-employed souls like myself; getting estimated taxes in for today’s deadline. Sometimes I just hate being a grownup.

10.53 miles today with light swirling snow and the coldest temperature I’ve run in so far - 24 w/20 windchill. Hardly anyone out except for the omnipresent geese and a couple runners smiling widely in recognition that someone else had the same idea as them.

Took the handheld again and just like Saturday, was chuffed with it completely. Energy in a bottle. And Tobey, if you read this, I didn’t wear my mp3 player so I could test the “slosh effect” - yes, I could hear it but no, it didn’t bother me at all.

Once again, jammin’ negative splits…all is right with the world.

If you’re not a regular reader, look two posts down to “I Need A Drink” and you’ll find my histrionics about taking hydration on the run, ultimately bringing me to buy a handheld which I had all intentions of hating…deeply. Well, no one could be more surprised than I am to find that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new Amphipod Hydraform!

I had planned a 14 mile run today but felt so fabulous thanks to having Gatorade in hand, that I extended it to 16. The best part was looking down at the Garmin around 14.5 miles and finding I was bopping along at an 8:29 pace. For someone who’d been feeling draggy for the last few miles of my 13s, this was a revelation and a huge DUH! moment.

The wild thing is that I expected to be carrying something the whole way which was where my dread stemmed from - the one time I tried to carry gloves in my hand, I got so annoyed after a millisecond that I shoved them into my waistband. But that was carrying, which requires you to clutch something in a firm fist, and that’s not what the Amphipod is about. Instead, it hangs off your palm - your hands and fingers are in a perfectly relaxed position the whole time.

What’s especially weird is that it didn’t affect my armswing in the least. I switched it to the opposite hand every 25 minutes or so, only because I knew I should, not because of any shoulder or arm cramping. Seriously, when I wasn’t marveling over it, the thing was virtually transparent the whole run.

Now when the summer comes, I am thrilled that I won’t need the belt anymore, I’ll just refill the handheld at a water fountain. What could be easier? So, no cussing from me today, just relief that I’ve found a simple hydration solution that I can live with. It’s a miracle!

I’ve been thinking about my innards lately.

I was cleaning out the fridge Sunday night and there, stuck way in the back, was an almost empty bottle of Gatorade from October. I had stopped drinking the stuff because after reading what the “big boys” were up to on the marathon and training forums, I learned that most of them don’t take in anything but water for runs below 18 miles or so.

I’d also read from several sources that you can “train” your body to go without gels, etc., especially since we have enough glycogen for about 3 hours of endurance. Since I was (and still am) on the fence as to how much gel/sportdrink effects are psychological and how much real, I dropped everything and ran with nothing but water from that point on.

Then the temperatures dropped and I found it was no biggie to go without water for all my runs - helped by the removal of the park water fountains until summer. I simply wasn’t sweating as much and felt fine afterwards, so I ignored my innards for a while. Then comes Sunday, fridge-cleaning day and I make, I think, a connection.

See, it’s the 13-milers; they’ve been leaving me a bit draggy by the end of them. Considering I’m averaging mileage between high 40s to low 50s per week and my weekly mid-longs are 9-11 milers, I shouldn’t be feeling anything but “normal” by the end of a 13. Then I realize that my 13s are just under 2 hours, so no matter how hydrated I may be when I start, I should at least be taking water for those and a little Gatorade couldn’t hurt.

That means it’s back to the whole hydration issue that is simply a pain in the ass no matter how you look at it.

Last summer, I started with an Amphipod belt that holds a single large bottle. I didn’t like it because the band wasn’t elasticized and you had to wear it tight to the waist, so then I bought the 4-bottle belt which at least could be worn down on my hips, though not without much fidgeting and rearranging. I wore that for the rest of the summer, though it remained a necessary evil from day one.

Here we are in the midst of winter (despite the freakish 66 degree day today) and I simply can’t get excited about carting those bottles around my hips - it feels like masochistic overkill. So Monday I started reading all I could about handheld water bottles in the forum archives, searching for those who love their handhelds, in hopes that I could gain a better attitude about using one. I had to ignore my own plentiful posts that said, “I could never use a handheld, I hate having anything in my hands.” Hey, a gal can change her mind…

Anyway, enough folks carry them and don’t hate them, that I broke down and ordered the Amphipod Hydraform with the pocket. It was delivered today while I was out on my run.

Funny thing (because there always is) during my run today, I passed a guy who I pegged as an Ultra guy due to his wearing a bladder as well as a handheld, and I noticed his handheld was the one I just ordered, so as I passed I asked, “How do you like that?” to which he replied, “Not very much.” Then when I saw him again after I turned around, I notice he’s swinging only one arm, the free one - the arm holding the Amphipod is strangely still. Not good.

So it’s all up in the air now, I’m hoping beyond hope that I don’t hate it because I plan on carrying liquids on anything over 10 miles. Oh, and for the record, yesterday I bought 3 bottles of Gatorade. Gonna try and pay closer attention to my body now and figure out what it really needs, if that’s even possible, because I am not a big boy on a marathon forum - at least, not in this life.