Archive for May, 2008

Saw the nurse practitioner today who sent me off for an x-ray and gave me a referral to a podiatrist.

As I’m walking the couple blocks to the x-ray place, I’m simultaneously making an appointment with the podiatrist, but because I have the bare minimum HMO, the earliest appt. I can get is May 21st. Huge stinkin’ bummer.

I get the x-rays done and the doctor doesn’t see anything of note, though she does point out a little bony bit on top of my heel that I think could be one of the culprits (I suspect there may be two separate things going on) because that would make sense for my self-diagnosis of nerve impingement. I know, I’m no Marcus Welby M.D., but too much time on my hands has led me to investigate every form of lateral foot/ankle pain known to mankind in these past few weeks and very little fits the bill.

I get home, thrilled that there’s no stress fracture (because at my age, that’s always in the back of my mind, even if the symptom is an itchy ear) but unhappy because I have to wait over a week for Step Two. So I call my local running store and get a name of a sports doc/podiatrist who, happily, will see me tomorrow morning at 8:30.

And that, my friends, is Step One in what I should have started a week ago. I’m such a dick that way, but I’ve always hated doctors and apt. making, so whatever…better late than never.

I’ll let you know what’s up when I get home tomorrow. Cross fingers and toes for me, please.

I won’t call them exactly dark, though I’ve had some bleak moments these last couple days. Besides family drama over my Mom’s website (this is going to be a long road, I think) my ankle/foot problem hasn’t left the building yet. Last Friday I finally made a doctor apt. for Monday morning, though I’m only seeing a nurse practitioner since my doc isn’t available. Here’s hoping he/she gives me the referral I seek.

This morning, it does seem better, but yesterday felt like I’d gone back in time, it hurt when I walked. While in my last entry I professed my OK-ness with taking one week off, the idea that this will be stretching beyond that is now becoming a teary situation for me. I feel like a zombie, wondering what the fuck is going on at the bottom of my leg and what to do before I lose fitness.

Nick would love nothing better than for me to pick up a bike, since that’s his sport of choice, but I’m really not drawn to it. I used to swim, but that sounds so mind-numbing after running’s ever-changing sights and sounds. I think what I’ll end up doing, if I have to, is join a gym so at least I can people watch while I do brain-dead machines. I always liked the rowing machine, maybe that’ll be my aerobic relief of choice.

Or maybe this is just a tendon issue that needs a few more days, but the weird heel-pinching I feel when I point my foot indicates otherwise.

So it’s Sunday, the day I was going to run again, instead I’m sitting here feeling the weight of the world despite the lovely temperature and all the birds singing outside the window. Or maybe because of it.

Sigh.

In taking care of my ankle, I’ve been off from running since Sunday’s race and don’t plan to run again till this Sunday. You’d think I’d be freaking out but I’m doing great with the time off. Bottom line is, I know that if I don’t fix myself, I could be screwed for the big picture (Steamtown) and that would be tragic.

My initial worry in taking a week off was my memory of getting the flu last Feb. and being off for 11 days. That one knocked me for a loop, took me probably an entire month to get back to fighting shape. But I realized recently that there’s gotta be a difference in taking off to be sick lung-wise, then injured limb-wise. I might be creaky when starting again, but it won’t be weeks of trying to recapture my old self.

Meanwhile, I’ve been keeping myself busy. Very good week for voiceovers, had a lot of jobs between last week and this, so…cha-ching!

Lastly, and probably most importantly, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I finally, FINALLY, made my mother’s website and put it online yesterday. I’ve felt this job haunting me since January 2007, but couldn’t deal with actually sitting down and doing it. Thanks to the comment from Mr. Novie on the “Why I Started Running” page and subsequent emails with him, it was the exact kick in the pants I needed. The site requires a bit of editing and additional content (waiting for family input), but if any of you guys are interested, check out www.eleanorkarp.com.

What an eye-opening season it’s been for marathons. After following several marathoners’ stories from training to completion, I’m relaxing my marathon goal.

It was humbling to hear from runners you knew had it in the bag – doing their 3rd, 5th or 6th marathon – reporting races peppered with unexpected physical issues, pacing woes or nutritional troubles that killed their expected goal. The newbie stories are just as compelling, though less surprising as far as goals not coming to fruition, but it’s the seasoned marathoner let-downs that scare you.

What I’ve Learned: no matter how well you follow your plan or how beautifully your tune-up races point you to that BQ and beyond, you just never know what can happen race day.

So, here’s the dirt. I need a 4:00 to BQ. Honest Injun, I don’t even care so much to run Boston, it’s the point of being fast enough to qualify for something – that’s the draw. Anyway, barring injury or unforseen ailments and considering I have 5 months to train, not to mention I already run faster than 9:09 for my easy/longs runs, this would be a conservative goal.

My original goal for October was 3:40 – far from conservative, even over the edge especially considering it’s my first marathon (though keeping in mind, Steamtown’s a famously fast course). I’m letting this one go.

I could split the difference and shoot for 3:50, which makes for a comfortable goal since 8:45 is often my easy/long pace anyway. But where’s the challenge in that? I know I can run long(ish), I did a 19 and 18 last October just for fun. I want to get faster for the Fall, not just go longer.

So my revised plan is this: 3:45. If I’m improving in leaps and bounds, I might glimpse that 3:40 on the radar again, but 3:45 is realistic with some work. I’ll be following a Pfitz 18/60 plan by removing the double recoveries on the the 18/70. I don’t feel I need to get up to 70 just yet – I don’t want to burn out and also, at 46 years old, I don’t need to push it to destruction the first time.

Conversely, since I’ve run several successful weeks at low to mid 50s and my usual mileage is right under that, it doesn’t make sense to do the 18/55 which starts in the low 30s. Yet perversely, considering I’m sitting here with a bum ankle and will be out of town for two weeks prior to plan start, 30s might be my weekly mileage at that point. If so, I’ll embrace the 18/55, no problem! Playin’ it by ear.

My general attitude keeps improving concerning speed gains vs. the calendar. I’m still hungry as ever for crazy cool race times in all the distances but am no longer driven by a timetable. Last Fall, I was “Since I’m doing X, that means in 3 months I’ll be at Y, then 3 months later I’ll be at Z,” I’m coming around to the idea that I don’t need to push it out like a hard dump, all things come in good time.

And with that lovely visual, I bid you adieu for the day. Because I’m tasteful like that.

Loved it, loved it, loved it!

This is what 20,000 runners looks like (or a portion of them, anyway). I’m in the aqua top and black running skirt, 837th row, 69th from the left.

Goal for the race: would have been happy with 1:20:something but was really drooling for 1:19:59 or less.

Out of bed at 5:40, did the usual pre-race rituals: shower, huge glass of water, cup o’ coffee, eat, poop, dress, pin number on outfit, chip on shoe, mess with hair for inordinate amount of time – then at 7 we left to pick up Lara.

Nick drops us off at the starting area at 7:30, leaving us in the midst of 20,000 people, which oddly enough, was not at all as crazy scary as I’d expected! In fact, the only time I felt the enormity of it was on the first downhill dip where you could see everyone in the far distance coming up the other side…it looked like thousands of stationary heads stuck in tableau, then eventually you see the wave is moving en masse.

Anyway, Lara and I immediately tackle the port-o-potty lines, which again, considering the turnout (19,111 finishers) weren’t bad at all. Then we find Matt holding his lime green “RW Forums” sign, next to Marianne and Leo, waiting for other forumites to appear, though we moved on soon after so we didn’t get to meet anyone else.

One more porta-potty stop, then gear-check and it was time to seed ourselves. We were aiming for 8min-ish miles, and Matt had warned us to seed aggressively, so we stood near the 7min sign. I didn’t get a warmup mile because the amount of people finally seemed too daunting to try and find a clear enough area in which to run, so I bounced up and down a bit.

Someone sang a terrible rendition of Star Spangled Banner (because singing in one key is just so boring), then the mayor spoke, and we were off!

Lara and I stayed together for the first 5 miles, but when she stopped for water a second time (I didn’t take in anything this race), I continued on my own. I felt really strong for the first half (though my ankle was a low-level bother for the later miles) and was reminded of why I like longer races: slower pace, just more time doing it.

As far as “crowd support”, I never pay much attention to it, but I did see one fragile old guy, happy as hell, waving from a hospital bed parked on the sidewalk while 5 people in hospital scrubs stood next to him, cheering us on.

Eye Of The Tiger was played ad nauseum (or else I just heard it once and then couldn’t get it out of my head) and there was that one guy, alone with his guitar and amp, strumming Stairway To Heaven which is a really great song if you’re stoned and lying on the couch, but maybe not so invigorating for a race, so I laughed and wished he’d play Eye Of The Tiger.

The course itself is excellent; except for the turns going around City Hall, it’s a straight shot down to the Naval Yard and all those people get spread out pretty well, so it wasn’t difficult to keep pace.

Around mile 8 I started messing with my head, “oh look, there’s an ambulance, I wonder what it’d be like to stop right now and get in it?” The feeling passed. In the 9th mile, near the Naval Yard, I was happy to hear a couple guys behind me, “It’s just a quarter mile after the Naval Yard sign” and the other guy says, “Cool, that’s just a lap around the track, right?” which somehow made me feel better.  Funny that, because I had my Garmin on and knew exactly how much I had left to go. Maybe just realizing there were two people who could still talk was soothing.

I see the Navy Yard sign and pick up my pace, then the finish banner comes into sight and I’m thinking, “GOD DAMN IT I WILL GET MY GOAL!!” and I was not denied – crossing the line at 1:19:23! Woohoo! Last half mile was 7:16.

Lara crossed a minute after (the girl kicked ass!) and we got our food bags, met up with Matt (who came in at 1:07:05!!), Marianne and Leo again and jabbered for awhile until it was time to meet Lara’s man, Jeff, who drove down to take us home (thank you again Nick and Jeff for the primo chauffeur duty).

So I am feeling great for Steamtown, this is where I wanted to be before starting official marathon training in June. Now all I have to do is take a few days off completely and hopefully my ankle annoyance will disappear entirely, then one more little 5K in a couple weeks and my Spring Racing Season will officially be closed.

Was quite a good season actually…ups, downs, freakouts and doubts, but some good numbers in the end. And with that, I am off to enjoy what’s left of this not-so-lazy Sunday.

Not much to tell about the Broad St. Expo, though knowing how I am about Goody Bags, it may surprise you that I am not irked by the two meager goodies we got in ours – a bottle of Calcium and a chapstick. But this is only because I read one account of another runner getting zilch (besides the endless paper inserts) so I consider myself lucky.

On a non-running note, a very strange thing happened yesterday when, after returning from a fabulously fun chick Pot Luck last night, I drunkenly sat down at the computer to find this comment on my page “Why I Started Running”.

I knew my mom had worked for Frank Lloyd Wright in some capacity through Aaron Green’s office, but I was never exactly clear on the particulars, so Mr. Novie’s letter was truly a gift out of nowhere. And what a moving surprise to finally see a couple of the projects she worked on.

This is my mom giving a welcome speech at Cooper Union’s Ninetieth Anniversary Convocation, on November 2, 1949.

The men behind her are quite an esteemed crew. From left to right:
Edwin Burdell (director of Cooper Union), Frank Lloyd Wright, Great-grandson of Peter Cooper Hewitt-Green, Rene D’Harnoncourt (Director of Museum of Modern Art) and the napping guy is Francis Henry Taylor (Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

And with that, I’ll put my figurative running hat back on and say I’m excited to meet up tonight with Lara, Matt and his lovely wife Marianne along with some forum folks I’ve never met as we stuff our soon-to-be racing bodies with pasta galore. Here’s to a fun dinner and a sincere hope that the chance of rain predicted for tomorrow morning is all show, no action.