Archive for December, 2010

The Philadelphia Half award came in the mail yesterday: a sweet and cheesy plaque.  I won’t be hanging it anywhere but it’s cute to have something personalized.

So I took 3 consecutive days off and am very happy to have done it.   My foot feels healthy again, though you can still see a little bump on the knuckle that isn’t there on the other foot.  I’m going for a 10-miler soon and might not use any moleskin for the first time in weeks (I’ve had to wear that stuff in all shoes this month, whether running or not).  Crossing fingers for no drama.  Meanwhile, I’ll keep on with ibuprofen for a few more days – it’s my savior, even if it does bloat me up somethin’ fierce.

Aside from that, I wrote a lot of personal stuff here and deleted it all.  Stuff about love, self-sabotage and relaxing the reins.  Too much deep shit.  Instead, I’ll just share that I bought a really swell computer monitor and a cute little pocket camera.  Buying stuff is cool.

Couple interesting reads
Here’s a great article that came out in the New York Times yesterday about maintaining fitness.  Doesn’t take much to keep what you’ve got.

Another fun read is this little thing about Webb and Rudd working out in a hallway of a building to avoid their usual rainy deluge.

I’m a little injured.  Nothing scary, but my right foot’s been troublesome for a few weeks now.  I think it’s bursitis-related though in slightly different locations: one is my big toe knuckle on top of the foot and the other is the ball of my foot under the neighboring toe.  I’ve had both these things before, though never at the same time, so while I’m not hugely concerned (it’s definitely not a bone thing) I’d like them to go away.

I’ve been wearing a moleskin donut over the big toe to keep it from touching the top of the shoe as well as putting a slit in my old Kinvaras for more room (that’s why I wore those shoes for so many days in a row).  I’ve also been massaging the ball of my foot and using Arnica gel.  What I stupidly did not do, and I’m not sure why, is to take ibuprofen until this Sunday.  Had I done that from the start, it probably would have been done with in a week.

Anyway, even sans ibuprofen, I was feeling just about cured until Sunday’s 14 when both areas acted up.  The snow storm had started and there I was in the park, in full winter gear, removing my shoe and sock (twice!) to rearrange the moleskin so it’d hurt less.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a more comfortable placement and ended up alternately whining and cussing for several miles until it shifted on its own to a less hurty position.

During this swearing festival, I also swore to take 2 or 3 days off in a row to get this thing nipped – a decision made infinitely easier thanks to the crappy running conditions the blizzard left behind.  The cool thing is that it’s my cutback week anyway; I’d already planned 2 days off but was still going to end up with 49 miles (just a 10mi reduction) so a 3rd day off actually makes sense even without an injury.

It’s feeling like a normal foot as I sit here poking and prodding, so now the only question is whether to take that 3rd day off tomorrow or take a rest day between Friday’s hard day and Sunday’s 17.  Decisions, decisions…

…or whatever holiday you go for.  My family was atheist and agnostic Jews who celebrated with presents under a Christmas tree so whichever for whomever, it’s all good.

If you’ve seen my FB updates, you know I bought myself a Christmas treat the other day; a new laptop to replace the dinosaur I had.  Tip: if you don’t get points for using your debit card and your bank gives them, sign up!  You get points even when you pay bills online.  I used this latest lot for $120 of Best Buy gift certificates which I put towards the laptop, making it quite the bargain.

Anyway, in a timely twist, the very next day after buying the laptop, the power supply on my desktop computer died, rendering it useless until Tuesday when UPS delivers the replacement.  In the meantime, I don’t have access to my calendar or running program, but that’s cool, it’s like living in the woods for a bit.  With fancy technology.  OK, not at all.

Tempo Run
Did this today: 9mi w/6@Half Pace.  It was windless, cloudy and 32 degrees.   The tempo portion was a bust, averaging 7:14s.  Honestly though, I don’t care.  I’m tired.  Not sleepy tired or limb tired, just tired of caring so hard.

“Am I good this mile or bad this mile?”  “Will I suck today or be fabulous today?”  Enough, already.  I don’t want to dread getting out for hard workouts and lately, I have come close.  Of course, it’s exacerbated because I have a blog and choose to give you guys play-by-plays so when I do have bad runs I know I will have to say so.  But during today’s run, a peace came over me to where I was all “Que sera, sera”.  Because really…what else is there?

Let it unfold and work with what comes.  That’s my new motto.

The Poll
Thanks to those who voted.  The results were 84% for keep posting 3x/week, and the rest were “Don’t give a shit”, so I’ll keep on as normal, usually 3 times/week, but if I have nothing to say, I’ll hold off.  Actually, thanks to those who didn’t vote, too. Your readership is super appreciated, always.

If you had asked me a week ago how my training was going, I’d have said, “Great!  I’m getting faster and feeling confident about the future.”  Then I did the 5K on Saturday which did a big number on my head and heart.

The worse thing about that race was that 5k effort ended up pretty much what I’d assume my 10k pace to be.  That’s a HUGE difference in perception and doesn’t make any sense considering my latest workouts. Even if the cold weather gave me a hit, it would only have been about 5 sec/mi.  Needless to say, I’ve been feeling confounded and confused.

Fast forward to today, one of the hardest workout this cycle, approx. 10k at 10k pace.  To be specific: 4 strides, then 4x ¾mi with 2 min. rec, 3x1000m with 90 sec rec, 2 x ½mi with 1 min rec.  Plus warmup cooldown, it came out to 11 miles total, 7:40 avg. for the entire she-bang.

I did not want to do this workout.  Beyond the fact that it’s a lot of fast running, what the hell is my 10k pace now, anyway?  Is it what I called 15k pace in the last tempo run?  Do I need to dumb down everything now?  I’m not a control freak but I do like some logic and sense to what I’m doing and it seems there is none.

My heart was just not into it and I was thinking of blowing off all my workouts this week under the excuse of holiday crap, which would be a total lie because I don’t give a crap about holiday crap.

So I got dressed and messed around the apartment, wasting time to put off the inevitable suckfest.  I went outside on the stoop ready to go, decided I didn’t need gloves or fleece headband and came back in, messed around some more, till finally biting the bullet.  I even mentally  prepared for not finishing the workout – that’s how negative I was.  I figured I’d get about halfway through and call it a day.

As things go in my topsy-turvy running experience, the session ended up being fine from beginning to end, with no reason to cut it short and paces that were very consistent.  I took a long warmup to get out of the windiest area, so 2.75 mi before hitting it.

Average interval pace was 6:47 which included a few splits into gusting headwind.  Saturday’s 5k averaged 6:45/mi.  Wish I knew what the hell that means but all I can come up with is WTF?  Just one more race to put behind me.  So many of those this year.  Boo.

I suppose I can go back to feeling good about my progress.  I guess.  Eh, who knows?

Not that you’re getting a full meal outta me any time later, but consider this a snack of a post.

Swell run yesterday.  The plan called for 5 recovery but my legs were feeling hunky-dory so I made it a comfortable 13-miler.  I also added some hillyness by going up and down a ¼ mile rise after Falls Bridge a few times.

Kinvara Funeral
Remember how I was saying I wished I had a clear sign for when to ditch shoes since I never really know?  I finally got the death notice for my first pair of Kinvaras,  just as they crossed the 500mi mark.

In the past, I’ve had fleeting bouts of Metatarsalgia (pain on the ball of my foot) that I can usually massage away – it’s not painful per se, but it’s an annoying discomfort.  I had it over the last week and it was getting worse until I could feel it even at rest.  I suspected it was due to the old shoes since I’d been running in them almost daily over a 10-day period.  (I usually switch shoes often, but for a reason too convoluted to explain here, I didn’t)

Anyway, switching to a fresher pair on Thursday gave instant relief.  It’s nice to finally have a clear signal that a shoe is past its prime instead of just tossing them at some arbitrary point.

Link Fun
I thought this was nice and skeevy:  Hotels lending out running gear.

Here’s an interesting article on endurance vs. peak power, How Running Makes You Less Fit.  It reinforces the benefit of keeping top-end speed workouts in the mix.

Looks like I’m switching quality days this week due to wind on Tuesday.  The good news is that now there’s a weather site that understands my displeasure and commiserates with me: thefuckingweather.com.  Enter your own zipcode to see how miserable your neighborhood is.

A Poll
Check out the cute little poll action on the right sidebar.  Not that it really matters how often I post since you can always not read it, but I’m interested in your reading habits and what you prefer when it comes to the frequency of this blog.  I’ve gotten into a 3/week habit since people seem to come back and check often for new stuff but maybe you’d prefer less.

Also, if you have anything you’d like to say on the matter, I’d be interested to read your thoughts, so leave it in a comment.  And please know my feelings won’t be hurt if you’d like less, for real.

Speaking of, I’ve said in the past and will say it again: I don’t want anyone to feel pressure to comment on any of my posts, ever.  I sometimes feel guilty that I don’t comment regularly on the blogs I read, yet I know it’s silly.  I don’t mind quiet days around here so never feel like you have to comment if you don’t wanna.  I know you love me anyway.

Today, in Westmont, NJ:  20:57, #4 female, #1 Masters, #1 AG.

28 degrees for this race.  Everyone got into position early on and after that, there was little movement. I followed this one guy the whole time, passed a couple kids midway but nobody returned the favor.

Garmin splits were just where I wanted them: 6:30, 6:34 and 6:28 for the first 3mi.  Alas, Garmin was lying its ass off.  Not that it would have made a difference had it been truthful; I raced full-out from the get-go (breathing was noisy the whole time) so no excuses, but it was a downer to see the finish line clock not be at all what I expected.

When I got home, I tried to make myself feel better by checking out Tinman’s heat index chart but felt like a lamer for doing it.  Then I compared it to my last 5K which was a few seconds slower in much better weather with a flatter course, but since I raced that one badly, taking the first mile to get up to speed, it negated anything positive I could gain by the comparison. Ultimately, it is what it is, yet another mediocre race.

But I can’t let it get to me.  Improved workouts and the resulting heart rates (this particularly) indicate something is going right.  And the fact that I even raced at all is in the Plus column, you can’t get that kind of workout on your own.

Btw, I initially wrote this entry with no indication of how I felt about the race, facts only (shortest report ever) because I didn’t want to steer you lovely readers into any “poor Flo” comments.  But then I thought it would result in well-meaning, yet awkward “yay, Flo!” responses, which would have been even more ouchy, so in the end, I’ve vomited up everything I feel as usual.  You would have known something was up anyway since it’s no secret that my heart is permanently staple-gunned to my sleeve.

Anyway, I’ll close this with a shout-out to Victoria and the Smiley couple, 3 sweet souls at the race who were kind enough to admit they read this blog.  Was great meeting you today!  Hope to see you in the park and at more races.

Oh look! It’s happy hour on the East Coast…I’m gonna have me some wine now and go to a happy place in my head.  Cheers, everyone and enjoy the rest of your weekend!