Archive for February, 2008

That’s me. After that fabulous snowy run in the cold 2 days ago, I am officially sick. That afternoon I started getting chest rumbles, coughing and gooey stuff, then yesterday I had zillions of errands to do in the pouring rain so by the end of it I was a miserable phlegmy, hacking mess.

So, I didn’t run yesterday or today and tomorrow looks out, too. The good thing is, it falls on what should be a cutback anyway, so it’s not that big a deal.

It’s also well-timed because we’re having a big-ass party this weekend (Nick and my first with about 30 guests, gulp) and while I’ve been told I’m a great party guest, as a Hostess I’m insane, stressed and horrible. Think Linda Blair’s head spinning around. So everything but running is freaking me out right now.

I’ve never hosted a party this size, just small game-nights and what makes this one even more stressful (but wonderful), is that I invited 5 dear friends from NYC who will be staying with us. However, one is allergic to cats and we have a 20 lb. Maine Coon who sheds so much, it could fill a comforter.

Another friend is dealing with a final bout of radiation so needs a good bed and rest, so needless to say…I’m terrified!

But, on the other hand, I’m excited beyond belief to finally introduce my NYC friends to my Philly friends. Now people will know who I’m talking about and parts of my life will finally come full circle. That’s what’s keeping me from drinking Drano.

If all this wasn’t enough, I am also quite a nervous cook – feeding people doesn’t come naturally to me, so I’ll be making some easy dips and wraps, but relying on my good friend Trader Joe to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, our allergic-to-cats friend and his mate are Martha Stewart personified so I’ll have to make sure they are otherwise disposed while I stealthily open up boxes of appetizers from the freezer.

Major props to Nick, btw, who is making his downstairs office a perfect guest room for our allergic friend, including painting, re-organizing, installing a new toilet seat (not to mention suffering through my panicked bitchiness). My, but I love that man!

So, that’s the scoop. Wish I had some running news for you…oh wait, I do!!

I signed up for another 5K today, moving my race schedule up a bit. It’s the Adrenaline 5K in Haddonfield, NJ on March 15th. But wait, there’s more!

I’m also going to be doing the first Schuylkill Mile Time Trial on April 6th and will be joined by my fabulous forum friends (Hi Matt!) and possibly Lara, though I’m not betting on that one . This should be a wild run because I’ve never tried to run a mile as fast I can, ever! The good part is, it’s on a stretch I’m extremely familiar with and it’s mostly downhill. You can bet I’m going to be doing intervals every week from here on in.

But back to reality…no running tomorrow, then company comes on Saturday, so I’ll try to run before they get here. Otherwise, it’s more cleaning, shopping for supplies and hopefully no freakouts about missed mileage. After all, that is the least of my worries.

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!

Yesterday marked yet another first for my running log – 880 intervals (a.k.a. half-miles, for you less calculated types).

I’d been thinking about this workout for a week, so hearing the wind whipping against our closed windows did not deter me, just scared the crap out of me beforehand. I reasoned that should I end up slower than my projected pace, I could blame it on Mother Nature, no self-recrimination allowed.

My Garmin and I warmed-up on our usual riverside route until we came upon the spot I was looking for; long, flatish and good enough for an interval session. Once there, I managed to complete 6 x 880 as planned.

The wind never let up, and I had to laugh at my stubbornness for insisting that particular day be Speed Day. I ended up alternating directions with each interval, so while I got killed one way, I had a reprieve the other. Looking at my splits, it’s obvious which ones faced the wind and which didn’t. Facing the wind, I averaged a pace of 7:29…with the wind at my back, 7:07. So, averaging them together, I ended up with a respectable (pour moi) 7:18 avg. for the session.

As far as recovery goes, I had programmed 3:30 recoveries but then found my heart rate returned to 120bpm after a couple minutes, so I’ll shorten the recovery time in future.

Incidentally, I walked the recovery periods instead of jogging them. That was nice and perfectly legal, I might add. Matter of fact, when I do those damn mile intervals I hate so much, I always jog the recoveries, so I’ll try walking them next time. Maybe then I won’t always precede “mile intervals” with “those damn”.

And that, my lads and lasses, ends our Speedwork Saga for the week. I feel very hopeful and happy for having completed such a small, yet worthy task.

Now what? 6 easy today and then tomorrow, road testing the Amphipod Hydraform Handheld on my 14-miler. Expect my potty mouth to be in fine form upon my return…

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.

Cutting yesterday’s run was a smart move, and for this, I’m relieved. Because you know, there’s a demon in the back of your mind screaming “LOSER!!” if you do less than you had planned.

But lets start with this morning’s adventure; visiting the University of Penn School of Medicine to give a couple vials of blood. I’m participating in a study for people with high HDL cholesterol (the good kind) that my Doc recommended me for. They’re also recording my DNA with that blood, so unfortunately, I can’t murder anyone anymore. What a downer.

Anyway, one good thing that came from the test (besides helping mankind, lol) was that I had to fast for 12 hours beforehand, which kept me from stuffing food in my mouth until bedtime, like I usually do. I’ve heard ad naseum that eating at night is bad and since I want to lose a few pounds for racing, here is my new proclamation, “No more eating after 10PM from here on in!” We’ll see how long I adhere to it.

After giving blood, I waited a few hours then got in my running gear, and hoped that any vestige of tired from yesterday was only a memory. And yay, it was. I did 7 with 4@tempo, keeping a good speed, the third mile at 7:39, with an average for the tempo portion @7:47.

Once again, I have to laugh at the term “comfortably hard”, since throughout my tempo runs I’m always repeating the mantra, “when will it end, when will it end, when will it end…?” until it ends. But then, I’m a whiner by nature.

That said, it’s interesting how Daniel’s gives slower times for tempo runs than McMillan. I use this to my advantage. When I have a shitty tempo run, I just say to myself I was using Daniel’s that day.

On a totally unrelated note, yesterday before the big game, Nick (my honey) spent the afternoon on a group bicycle ride. I have to say, for all my runningness, Nick has become as enmeshed in his bicycle, and I love hearing about his rides because he can zoom up hills faster than his youthful counterparts, which is delicious for old people like me to hear. This is a guy who had an angioplasty a little over a year ago, then lost weight and now easily completes 90 miles on a weekend.

So after his ride, he went out for 3 beers with his new bike buddies and came home so drunk, it was hilarious. At one point, in the middle of the Superbowl (what a game!), I realized he was still wearing his tight biking clothes, so I suggested he go change into softypants (our silly term for PJs).

He goes into the bedroom and doesn’t come out, so I go in a couple minutes later and he’s lying on the bed with softypants in hand, fast asleep. I turn on the light and he springs up, insists he doesn’t want to sleep and tells me for the 5th time who was on the ride with him and how nice they were. And for the 5th time I asked, “and those were normal-sized beers?” Apparently, the Belgians know how to fuck you up for cheap.

So that’s the story from our House D’Exercise. Time for a snack…I’m going to eat all the things I would have eaten between 10PM and bedtime.