Blisters and Game Four

(okay, is this a tiny picture, or is it just me?)

Did 6.25 today on the new shoes...I put band-aids over the existing blisters and was okay until about the four mile mark where those blisters started to hurt, as did the new ones forming on the other foot. I pushed through it--maybe if I don't believe I have blisters they'll go away and everything will be fine. I don't want to take my new shoes back. They are so doggone pretty. Blue and silver...I love them.

I'll be glad when Broad Street comes and goes. I'm ready to start a new training schedule, and I'm going to actually suck it up and do one speed run, one long run, and one training run each week. My goal? Philly Distance Run in September...honestly, who do I think I am? We'll see how I feel by mid-June, which is the deadline for pre-registrants. That also means I get to push through the August heat for some major training. :-) Hey, isn't that what my breath strips are for???? I was complaining to Ted last night as I held half my stomach in my hands. "What is this!??" I whined. "I am running 20 miles a week...why do I have this?" After the "you are beautiful the way you are, I love you the way you are" talk (what a Hero!), he mentioned the speed work, and suggested maybe I'm not pushing myself...I can do the distances, but if I'm not pushing myself to go faster, my body is adjusting and learning what to burn and what to store. I stared at him and decided if that is just BS, that is very, very good BS and i'm going to choose to believe it. So I have 9 days to Broad street. Then Ted and I are out at the track, him pushing me through speed, and I'm going to eat a huge piece of humble pie. He knows I'm not fast, I tell him every day. But i don't think anyone, including Ted, realizes just how not fast I truly am.

On a non-running-related topic---GO FLYERS!!!! Game Four tonight. Becuase we don't have Comcast, we have to hunt down friends that do. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Jack and Robin for the big screen and letting us invite ourselves over! Go Fly-boys!!!! WOOO!

To Join or Not to Join...

That is definitely the question.

Ever since I ran my first race in 2002, I have received brochures and pamphlets to join Team in Training, the program designed to help participants train for races and events while they raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I have never considered them before, but yesterday afternoon I realized my half marathon and marathon dreams were not out of wack, and with the right training and support, I could probably accomplish them quicker than I realize. The largest deterant for me is location--I live outside Philly in the burbs. Not Main Line burbs, but out far enough than anything considered "Philadelphia Area" or "Eastern PA" is going to be at least a 20 minute drive for me. Which typically wouldn't be bad, except 1) in rush hour and 2) when I have 20 minutes to talk myself out of something. Getting out the door for a run is hard enough; getting out the door for a run plus 40 minutes of round-trip driving is next to impossible, I would think.

However. There is the underlying, nagging thought I have that I wonder what I could accomplish with the proper motivation and team setting. Yes, I'm highly unlikely to get in the car and drive myself to run by myself. But what if I have some people waiting for me? What would I do then? Would it be exciting, then get old quickly? Or would this renew my love of running and be the boost I need? I'm not even going to discuss if the cause is good or not--of course it is good. But if I felt so strongly about the cause, I could rest easy by writing a donation out to the society.

The other question is speed of other participants. I do not want to sign up and show up to the first run with everyone ready to pound out 10 miles at an 8-minute pace. I would rather start from scratch, take a back-to-basics approach, and be on target with everyone else than feel that I was either dying by the end or holding people back.

I would love thoughts on this. I would love to hear other people's experience--worth it? Not worth it? Should I or shouldn't I?

Feedback and gentle nudging is appriciated.

(p.s. my Adidas Supernova's additional cushioning in the mid-foot area has created a large blister)

New Shoes, Long Runs, and Stripping (not in that order)

I did 10 miles yesterday. They were the last 10 miles on my current-old shoes (Adidas Brevard) before the ritual demoting of shoes occured. I have put on 250+ miles on that pair, and six months running.

Six months ago, I realized that just any oridinary running shoe won't work for me. I over-pronate. I think I can trace it back to the leg problems I had when I was born, with my hips not sitting right or something, which led to years of special shoes, casts, and finally braces (think Forrest Gump, not tinsel teeth). By age 11, I was deemed "cured", but realized that maybe this was haunting me now, and ultimately causing my feet to turn inward. Motion Control rocks, that's all I have to say about that.

While six months on a pair of shoes doesn't seem entirely long, it was a lifetime for what I was used to, showing that shoes do make a difference, and a few extra bucks now really doesn't matter.

So yesterday was shoe-shopping day. I did 10 miles on my Brevards, had a few moments with them to expain what was happening and how they were being retired to "everyday-wear-with-jeans" shoes, and my New Balances (pink New Balances) were now being bumped down to "work-in-the-garden-and-mow-the-grass-and-muddy-bike-riding" shoes, and the others...well, they were being moved to the Nursing Home for Shoes, in the cardboard box in the basement, where they will reside in all eternity because I don't have the heart to throw them out.

I ended up with Adidas Supernova (see above--yum!). It was between them and Nike Air Coos (I think that is what it was) and the guy at Dick's (who totally knocked me off my feet becuase for once there was someone there who knew what they were talking about) sold me on the Adidas. Very happy, can't wait to try them out. I would have liked pink, but light blue is okay, too.

Now I'm sure everyone is totally looking for the stripping part of today's rant--:-) Hope I don't disappoint. Word to the wise--if you are warm when you leave the house for a run, you will be hot soon. But at the same time, it's so hard to get out the door on a cold and wet and rainy morning when you feel cold. So I left yesterday morning, was chilly, so against my better judgement went back for my jacket and gloves. A mile and a half later, at the elementary school, I waited until no cars were passing and shoved the jacket behind the sign. Four miles later, at the YMCA, the gloves rested by a tree. On the way back, the gloves were retrieved and I headed back past the elementary school, where there was a MAN in the yard.

"Excuse me..." I said from the sidewalk. He was busy updating the message on the board. And he looked angry at me for interupting him. Turns out he wasn't angry, I think I startled him. After all, what other crazy soul is outside on a chilly and damp Sunday morning at 8:00? "Excuse me, but is my black jacket there?" The man stood up. "Where?" Oh yipes. That was a nice black jacket, a windbreaker, with refective strips...big enough to go over multiple layers in winter, yet small enough to be able to be worn on spring mornings and not overly bulky. And I got it on clearance. (But it was origionally expensive). "Um...there?" I asked and pointed hestitantly around the back of the sign. I wanted to go and get it myself...but being shy, was unsure of any sort of unwritten code of conduct between school yards keepers and the general public. He walked around "Oh, does this look like it?" Phew. "Yup!" I smiled and he looked at me strangly and handed it over. "Got a little warm today..." I said as I tied it around my waist, then wondered how silly that sounded as it started to rain again...

Reflection

Today's run is not worth mentioning. I won't discuss how my legs did NOT want to run, despite the warm-up I gave them. I won't discuss how, since running can be so mental for me, I turned around and went home in preparation for the 10-mile run this weekend. I won't discuss any of that.

What I do want to think about is the feeling of absolute awe I had when I watched this year's winner of the Boston Marathon wear the ivy crown. His final time was what I would consider a goal time for a half. His time for the final miles were faster than my time if I go out and run a mile as fast as I can. And he looked about as winded as I do when I come back from getting the mail.

The marathon races help me set my goals straight. They put me in my place (suddenly my 6-mile doesn't seem quite the accomplishment I thought it would be...kind of like imagining yourself on Earth in the Universe), but at the same time it gets me re-focused. "There, Maggie." I find myself saying. "That's what you want to do". I don't want to turn crazy with training though. I still value my time and my Husband and don't want to be a crazy Free-Moment-Gotta-Run kind of person. There has to be a happy medium between training for a marathon and still having something called a life. I'll find it. And when I cross the finish line five hours later, sobbing my eyes out (the jury is still out on if the tears will be from pain, delusion, or self-pride), well...I guess I'll have to decide what to do next.

Congrats to all the marathon runners out there. Someday I hope to be there next to you (and I have the nerve to say this on a day when my legs protested a 5 mile run).

Why Weight?

I have always been a believer that if you up your activity level, you would drop pounds. Common sense, right? Well, I have been upping my activity level over the past few months to prepare for Broad Street...and the pounds are having so much fun they are staying--and inviting their friends. I haven't weighed myself in ages, but my clothes are not any looser. If anything, they are a bit more snug (especially around the thighs where they did NOT need to be more snug). This is thoroughly angering me, since in my lists of why I run, having larger thighs (as well as other areas) does not appear. My stomach is still fluffy, and I do not look like I want to look while racking up 15-20 mile weeks (with the intention of increasing this--what is going to happen to me then!?).

Husband said I need to do sprints and speedwork. *GASP* Okay, secret #1. Maggie hates speedwork. Every running plan I've seen has this incorporated in it, and I never do it. I'm horrible at it, and it really doesn't do much for my morale when I can't run 400 meters really fast (and it isn't even fast), yet I am expected to go out and run 10 miles. I think fartleks are as horrible to do as they are to say. With that said, after Broad Street, I may take (i.e. drag) Husband up to the track with me to pace me on sprints. Being a hockey player, exerting yourself completely for 30-60 seconds is right up his alley. Maybe then I'll drop some fluff.

I am not eating loads and loads of food, so there isn't really anything I can cut out. Granola bar or cereal for breakfast, tuna sandwich and applesauce for lunch, dinner is whatever, and fruit if anything in the evenings. I would think I would begin to drop the weight, but unless I'm putting it on before it comes off...

There is probably someone with a voodoo doll out there packing pounds on me and laughing, and thinking "We'll make them come off in October, after that itty bitty bikini she wanted to wear is packed away for good..."

Cliff bars, Nasal strips, and Glucosamine Chondroitin

(Okay, the cheerleader is for GO MAGGIE! becuase I'm feeling pretty positive about my running lately...)

In the past week, I have ran 20+ miles and I am feeling pretty darn happy about that. I'm not necessarily quick, but you know, baby steps to the finish line. Due to this great high I am on, I am determined to make this last past the Broad Street Run (which is in 19 days, and I have been given my goal finish time of 1:45 by a fellow runner). I am determined to make this summer THE summer I continue to increase mileage, and quite possibly set my sights on a half marathon for fall/early winter (I think there is one in Memphis--Aunt Jeannie, I'm comin'!!!). And this just isn't me speaking--I have three weapons to use that I am certain will take me there.

1) Cliff bars--For those 60+ minute runs, these things are great! They taste delicious and work, too, but please try to go to the bathroom before leaving...I am getting up at 5:00, downing a cliff bar, and heading out for an hour-plus run, and everything is working, so by the time I get back, there is no time for stretching. We head right upstairs. I'm not sure how this will work when I get into 90+ minutes...I may be making friends with the gas stations along my route...

2) Nasal Strips--Another shameless plus with no kick-back for a product found at your local grocery store. I am very sensitive to poor air quality, which is one reason I don't run well in the summer. The more humid the weather, the hotter, the worse I am at breathing. These products help you breath amazingly, and do stay on despite the small streams of sweat I tend to form on my face. The only problem is this: you are at the mercy of your nasal canals. Since your nose is practically being pulled open from the ouside in, it is hard to sniff snot back into your head, or blow a snot rocket, or whatever is done to clear the running stuff. I'm relying on these come July and August...

3) Glucosamine Chondroitin--I have a running bet with someone that I will have new knees by the time I'm 35. During a recent conversation with our next door neighbor (who is a contractor and recently built us a brand new kitchen...more on that later), he asked how my knees were and Husband and I laughed. He suggested Glucosamine Chondroitin, said he took it and noticed a difference. Damn Roger. For the past three months, he has been suggesting expensive things for us to do ("Go with the high quality cabinets, Ted and Maggie", "I suggest the beadboard ceiling, Ted and Maggie", "Don't get the cheap hardwood floor, go with the good stuff, Ted and Maggie"). We are very happy with those choices, they do make all the difference (especially when the loan bill comes in each month), but when he finished and walked away, we figured he was done making expensive suggestions. These vitamens are not your cheap, average, $8/bottle. i got 110 quantity for $30. The serving size is 3 pills. So again, it was one of those decisions...do I want to spend the money? Will it make a major difference in how I feel? I bought the pills, and if they work, it will be amazing.

So here's to a great summer! I will have energy. I will be able to breath. My knees will not hurt. I'm feeling optimistic and good and ready to tackle the races.

With that said, I ran across some information on Husband's ex-girlfriend, who is packing in 8-minute miles.

Those 5 minutes of pure optimism were great while they lasted!

Long Run

So...
Yesterday morning was the long run that I had to do if I plan on finishing Broad Street feeling somewhat normal, and with some of my dignity remaining. I did 8.3 miles. It was a beautiful morning--about 38 degrees (well, 38 in Philly, in the burbs where I am it was probably closer to 35, but who's counting?). Sunny, bright, beautiful Palm Sunday. Saturday is poured, so I opted to climb out of bed at 7:00 on Sunday. That would give me time to run, get back, have a wonderful breakfast, in to church, and then get to the shopping date I had. It was a much better run than I thought it would be, the type that I finish and think a marathon goal is reasonable (although i couldn't imagine turning around and doing the same distance two more times after I was finished).

I have this infatuation with Sean-Paul's song Temperature, and while that is not normally the type of music I listen to, it is the kind of song you can't stop listening to. So I found myself running to the Top 40 Countdown just to hear this song (and learned that the Top 40 really has good running-beat songs). It really kept me going, which, again, was a surprise.

Towards the end, someone stopped me (they were walking the other direction) and said they saw me start out, and did I know the different distance points along the way? The run was an out-and-back course, so I knew the 3-mile point, 4-mile point, and 5-mile point, and was pretty damn proud of myself for sounding like a runner. :-)

All in all, if Sunday's run is any indication, Broad Street shouldn't be quite the torture I expected it to be...but this weekend is 9, so we'll see then!

1 Month To Go...

Sometimes I think I may be truly massochistic (along with a horrible speller).

I have one month to go to the Broad Street Run, the second largest 10-miler in the US, named one of the fastest 10-mile courses in the country by Runner's World. I guess I'm ready...

I did a speed run today, but it wasn't a scheduleld speed run. It was really more of a compromise...a you-dont-have-to-run-the-full-distance-you-are-supposed-to-run-if-you-get-out-there-and-run-as-fast-as-you-can-for-a-shorter-distance. A last minute deal between that little angel on my right shoulder that pushes for the long runs that are scheduled and the little devil on my left shoulder pushing for anything but.

All in all, it was a good run and I'm glad I did it. It was a change, it was my tried-and-true loop I started out on, and I impressed myself with the speed. And I looked at a running chart when I got back, and I'm actually pretty much on track--as long as I do my 8-miler long run this weekend at some point, I should be gold.

On a side note, can I just take a minute and say how much I hate daylight savings time? The time change makes it so much darker in the morning, so I'm so much more tired in the evenings...and while it may not be the time change, I am going to point the finger in that direction because I have no other excuses. It was a beautiful evening last night--but I couldn't get myself out the door. At least I went this morning.

Me and the Road

This morning I had no choice but to wake up at 5:00 and go for the run. I skipped out yesterday--yesterday morning didn't happen, and last evening it was cold and rainy and I was tired and lazy--bad combination. Besides, Husband started a new job and his commute has decreased to 10 minutes from an hour (he sucks). Since he now gets home within minutes of when I do (if I leave right on time), I had to stick around and hear about his day. Today I wasn't making the same mistake twice, so when the alarm went off at 5:00 I only hit snooze once, then went.

Husband, bless his heart, is so well-trained. He cheers me on every morning when I decide to go, and admits that half the time he doesn't remember it. This morning's advice was a mumble about being careful about the thunder and lightning (reference to last night's storms) and a roll-over, and out the door I went.

6.25 miles was on tap for this morning, and I did it. I still struggle with pushing myself up big hills, so I do walk portions, but manage to finish the runs averaging a 10-11 minute mile. Not the greatest, and I don't admit that to just anyone, but at 5:00 on a cold and windy morning, what more do you want??? I have tried not walking, and succeeded, but my runs are longer and I'm moodier and it just isn't as fun.

I do love morning runs, really. When I'm awake enough to make the decision to go, they generally are my best runs. I love the quiet of the morning, and that the wave of accomplishment hits as soon as I leave the porch, not when I finish. Plus, there are less crazies out at that time (besides me) so no cat-calling from passing cars or wiseguys that think I'm going to swoon over them yelling that I'm looking good or whatever.

And the feeling lasts all day.

A Virgin Blogger.

This is my very, very first blog. For years I have tried to avoid it, pretending the BlugBug would never bite, but at 5:00 this morning as I lay in bed, wondering why the hell I can't get my butt out of bed to run when I was awake and it wasn't cold, I decided I need to be motivated. Then I figured why not beg for motivation? So here I am...pouring my heart and running stories and details to maybe a handfull (if that) of people who care and are entertained. And maybe, if everything aligns correctly, I may end up motivating someone else.

If I do, and that someone else is you, could you please, please, PLEASE let me know!? Thanks.

Do I run? yes. Do I run far? Who's asking? I run farther than the average American, and farther than a large percentage. But, for those of you marathoners reading this, my long run is a mere warm-up. Recently, I've ran 8K races. I'm registered for a 10-miler. In a month. I love the feeling of running. When I have a good run, it's a very, very good run--bad run is horrid. So this is my attempt at keeping myself motivated, holding myself accountable, and possibly helping others at the same time. In turn, all I ask, is you let me know how I'm doing (thus my begging for motivation) and let me know how you are doing. Deal? Deal.