Ready to Run Again

If you were following this blog, you might be wondering what happened. Did I stop running? Did I quit altogether? Did I run off and join a circus with poor internet access, thus making blogging difficult? No, but for those of you who do know my personal life, you'll know that I have experienced some pretty drastic changes. I'm back and writing because, at last, I feel like I am in a place where I can get back to normal, and part of getting back to normal for me is, evidently, running.

It was around May 2013 that my life as I knew it underwent several major and unexpected upheavals and it's only now that I can report I've reached a point where my life feels more stable. That isn't to say that I didn't run during that time. In fact, as this handy photo demonstrates, I ran quite a bit:

These are racing bibs. You get one for each race that you do. I did a whole lot of racing from May 2013-May 2014

A well-intentioned friend said to me in December 2013 that she was concerned about how much running I was doing. 'I think you're trying to *run away* from your problems,' was her exact phrase. She was right: I was trying to avoid them and running seemed like a perfectly good outlet (and, to be honest, I could have chosen many more destructive outlets). But I wasn't having fun. No race felt really rewarding. I was signing up for events that I ultimately did not enjoy--running on the opening of a new Tampa highway, anyone? While I did a number of trail runs and was lucky to be around a great group of runners who did the same, even that wasn't enough to escape my problems. Training became almost impossible. When I did get out to train, I almost always counted down in my head every step until I was done. There was no real joy, no real improvement, and no solution to my problems.

The same could be said in my personal life, as the events of May 2013 were not easily reconciled, and by May 2014, my situation became even less stable. But still, I kept signing up for races. I did a few blasts from the past: the Jim Kane Sugar Bowl, Beach to Beacon and even revisited my first 10k course with the Tufts 10k. I faced an old nemesis with the Somerville Gobble Gobble Gobble, a race that had not gone so well the last time I did it back in 2006 (I did better).  I was working out--with heartfelt thanks to OutFit Bootcamp, which kept me on track at least a bit--but I wasn't running.

As the locations of these races might suggest, by this point I had left Florida and set up shop in Boston, although my situation was still not stable--so much so that I don't even live in Boston now because in March 2015, I started my first 'real' job in almost a year in Portland, Maine. Working in Maine meant moving to Maine, a burden that I gladly took on because Maine is a great place to live, but one that made keeping up a training plan difficult. And so, running was again on the back burner. Training did not go as planned. However, there was one important change: I ran a race.

On June 7, I completed the Covered Bridges Half-Marathon in Woodstock, Vermont.

It pretty much all looked like this, except for the parts that were even prettier by the river

The course was beautiful, my performance less so. But I still finished, and I even finished in not my worst half-marathon time ever. What I realized from my experience is that I still know how to run a half-marathon, I just need some practice (which should be read as 'miles') to run it better. And I'll need those miles, because I have a crazy plan: next October, I am planning to run two marathons and qualify to be a Marathon Maniac. The marathons in question are the Maine Marathon, conveniently located down the street from me, and Mount Desert Island. Both are in Maine, both should be beautiful, and both should be a lot of fun. I won't go into too many details now, because I'm sure I'll have lots to say between now and then, but I am excited to take on this challenge.

There were plenty of times over the past two years when I questioned my dedication to running and whether I should stop kidding myself about how out of shape I had let myself become. But again and again, I found myself signing up for--and getting excited about--races. While I don't see myself going on the same bib-acquiring bonanza spree as before, I'm looking forward to getting back to a place where running is fun again. Portland helps this, as it is a great city for running, and I'm sure that photos will soon follow. Okay, here's a preview:

I go to places like here when I run now

And also places like here. In fact, this is part of my daily commute.

Back to work! Tonight was the first night of the marathon running plan with a one-hour slow run. And the first day of training is complete.

New (temporary) running blog

I know, I haven't posted in a while. In part, this is because I haven't done a whole lot of running in a while, although since my last post, I did Beach to Beacon in August and the Tufts 10k in October. I beat my previous course records in both of these races--although this is much more of an indictment of how slowly I ran them before than an achievement this time around. Oh well. Take the achievements where you can find them, I say.

Anyway, for the next little while, I am attending an intensive bootcamp to learn how to create web apps. I have noticed that I keep turning to running experiences to explain my experiences with coding, so I have decided to start a new temporary blog during this experience. It's called 'Running Code' and I would invite you to visit me there for a bit.

Upcoming plans include an attempt to qualify for Marathon Maniacs next October/November, so I will definitely be back! See you over at Running Code!

Not enough stairs in Toronto?

Wow, I did not realize how long it had been since I updated this.  And I am not going to lie: I have not been doing a whole lot of running.  I did do a trail run in May, which was a 25k at Sulphur Springs, near Hamilton, Ontario.  It was lovely, apart from the COMPLETELY INSANE hills.  One of which was immediately before the finish line.  That you had to go up twice.  But it was a lovely day and I very much enjoyed the experience, apart from maybe some of those nutty hills.

Anyway, I am currently in Toronto, Ontario (aka 'The T Dot') and was reminded of a classic Toronto song from my teenaged years entitled 'I Don't Want To Go To Toronto.'  Now, the vast majority of this song is completely true (okay, maybe not.  But it is hard to find good bagels and I feel pretty certain that there is a tax on wicker goods).  Except for the part about the stairs.  Because lemme tell you, Toronto has stairs.  I found a set of them this morning on my run.  It was a hill so hilly that it needed stairs to ascend it:

View from the top:

These are the Baldwin Steps, located at Spadina and Davenport.  They are as evil as they look, but today I found the whole experience invigorating.  And kind of fun.  I am hoping that this is a sign that my running groove is gradually returning.

Lovely Sunday in the Woods (Citrus Trail Run)

This month is definitely trail run month, as I will be participating in one for three out of the four weekends, culminating in the social event of the season, Croom Fools Run. I will have plenty more to say about that, I am sure. Last Sunday was the Citrus Trail Run, which had various distances. I did the ten mile one, which I think was a good choice because I am not in awesome running shape right now, but I can definitely handle a ten mile. In fact, I quite enjoyed it. I brought my camera again to get some pictures. The area is north of Croom (near Inverness, FL), but the same kind of terrain.

Nice pine forest

Quiet morning in the woods

I was fortunate to get there right in time for the sunrise colors that were particularly nice as a backdrop to the woods.

View from my parking spot

It was also nice to be out in the spring, since there are flowers.  I went for a run at Croom the day before and saw some of the same.  These are definitely not out year-round; in fact, I am wondering if these are only in March!

The trail itself was very peaceful.  It was the Citrus Trail, and mostly we followed the orange and blue sections.  Relatively easy to follow and lots of signs, so it was easy not to get lost (that being said, some of the people doing the four mile actually did an eight mile by accident).

I think that my favorite part was along some of the fields with lots of grass grown in.  I had recently seen the movie theater broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera's Prince Igor, which had a scene set in poppy fields.  If I were going to set this opera in Florida, I would use these fields:

So I spent much of this part of the run with the Polovtsian Dances in my head.  Helped the time go faster, although the race didn't really feel like it was dragging much to me.  It was a nice day to be out in the woods!

This Croom place

Several of the trail races that I have done over the past year have taken place at Croom, an area near Brooksville, FL that includes the Withlacoochee State Forest and other areas.  There is an immense amount of forest, which is why it is so popular for trail runs around there parts.  This is where I did my 50k, my half-marathon where I was first in my age group last year, and that horrid race where I was recovering from the flu and couldn't really breathe.  But you know why you still go, even when you can barely breathe?

All of these were taken this morning during the Long Play run.  This race is put on by Tampa Races, and features a 33 1/3 mile race, as well as a half-marathon and a 5-mile run.  I did it last year, when it was my introduction to Croom and I was pretty much instantly hooked (plus I finished first in my age group.  Of two.  So yeah, legit).  Today, I did the half-marathon and I took my time, enjoying the scenery and taking photos and such.  I don't even know what my time was, actually, because my Garmin was not charged.  I feel like I ran the course more strategically this year, in terms of strategic walking of hills and maintaining a slow-yet-steady pace for most of it.  This year was a little warmer than last year (although last year started at 39F, so there you go), but not enough to be an hindrance.  I enjoyed myself so much that I was a little disappointed when I realized I was almost done with the forest part.  That's right: I wanted to run longer.  That basically never happens to me and I see that as a real achievement in my development as a runner.

I also realized that every race that I have done this year with Tampa Races has put me last out of everyone.  First there was the 50k, where I am fine with my lastness.  Then there was the Flatwoods Ramble, where my lastness was a bit more embarrassing.  But today, I was not last.  I was at least second-last.  Victory.

Incidentally, when you do Long Play, you also get to see goats:

It's like they're posing

An even better bonus?  No alligators!

Everglades Trail Run

When I first started running, I got in the habit of setting three goals before I did a race.  The reason for this is that I am very goal-orientated, and I realized pretty quickly that if I just set one goal and didn't succeed, I would get frustrated with myself and angry.  Fortunately, I had sufficient self-awareness to also realize that if I kept this up, I wouldn't keep running for very long, because who wants to do a sport where you are always feeling frustrated and angry?  And sometimes the goals were good and noble, like when I PRed my 5k time.  Goal 1 was to finish in under 30:00.  Goal 2 was to finish with a 10 minute/mile split.  Goal 3 was to PR.  I PRed with a 10:06 mile split, so I will take that, since it was awfully close to Goal 2.

I'm not sure when I got out of the habit of setting three goals for races, but it probably was around the time that I started doing many more of them and my main goal was simply to get out there and run.  For some reason, I think I brought it back when I did the Philly Marathon in 2012, but honestly I can't remember what the three goals were (probably PR, run the whole course, and finished.  In that case, I PRed).  More often now, I might set one goal; for instance, my one goal for the 50k was finish the 50k, which I did.  I wasn't really worried about anything else, which is good, because I sure didn't accomplish much else with that particular race!

Today, though, I kind of brought back the three goals thing for the Everglades trail run.  This is maybe slightly misleading, since I switched goals during the race, then kind of decided that they were goals 1, 2 and 3.  My first goal, when I started, was to keep a run/walk pattern for the whole thing.  That was abandoned as it got hot, when I started switching goals to try and accommodate a run/walk thing, but then realized that I couldn't keep up any running at all and had to walk the whole remaining course (at around Mile 10 of the 16-mile course).  Then I came up with one goal and one goal alone:

1) Don't get heat exhaustion

And I accomplished that goal.  Heck, I even finished the race.

Lemme tell you, that finishing was no mean feat.  The temperature was unseasonably high today in south Florida, to the tune of 85F in the shade, so around 95F in the sun.  And the last four miles of this course were pretty much entirely in the sun at around 1pm.  This was almost my complete and utter undoing, except for this guy, Norm:

Norm was kind enough to walk me through those last four miles

I am not usually very talky when I run, but I think I am learning to be a more social person.  Although my opening remark to Norm was something along the lines of, 'Has anyone read Stephen King's 'The Long Walk'?  Because this would be good footage if they make a film.'  (Plot summary).  Because that is effectively how most of us looked for the end of the race: walking along at a relatively good pace because no one could run because it was really freaking hot.  Fortunately, no one was shot for dropping below a certain pace.  Whoo!

I do have to say that I thought I was awfully near heat exhaustion, but fortunately that does not seem to have happened.  Trust me, walking for 4 miles with no shade was very tough.  There was a part on the prairie early in the race which was beautiful but warm:

Everglades grass prairie

Some parts were nice and shady:

However, the real killer was the sun and there was an awful lot of it near the end of the race.  The path was nice, but by the time it got to around noon, there was no escaping the power of Mr. Florida Sun.  In fact, I had some pretty choice words for Mr. Florida Sun by the end.

Do you see any shade there?  No, not really

The race itself was well-organized and I plan to keep my ceremonial anti-gator whistle for a good long time.  Aid stations were totally stocked.  One trick that I learned was to add ice to your Camelbak when it is hot because it will cool off your water/beverage for an extended amount of time.  Also, this race had pretty sweet swag in the form of a great bag:

You might be wondering if I saw any fun nature on the trail.  For most of the race, all that I saw was buzzards circling, which seemed quite appropriate.  But there was a bit of fun after a while:

Take a close look

Then this happened (no zoom with this photo):

My theory is that the alligator hit the wall, tried some Powerade, and decided to take a nap instead.

So I definitely got my money's worth!

Bonk

I done bonked in a race today.  'Bonking' is the same as hitting the wall, it is where you just don't have the energy to keep going, although somehow you find minute amounts of energy to keep going but the whole thing is just a world of bad, and then you are last.  Okay, the being last part is not mandatory, but it is a likely eventuality when you are a slow and steady runner in the first place.  Bonk.

I have bonked before, although never in a race.  In fact, I once had what I termed a double-bonk in training, where I was both dehydrated and out of energy.  Bonks usually happen because you didn't fuel correctly and I can attest to that today.  Last night, I didn't really have dinner (long story), then today I decided not to take my caffeinated jellybeans with me, which was a huge mistake on a 10-mile race.  Part of me was thinking, '10 miles is not that long.'  That same part of me needs a crash course in distance.

I think that the bigger problem is that I don't have time like I usually do to keep track of everything and as a result, my nutrition and training has suffered--that being said, I don't feel like today was necessarily a training fail, since I felt pretty strong through the first 6 or so miles and my legs aren't in agonizing pain or anything now.  So I would chalk this up more to a bonk, but one that was in part due to not having enough time to cook/prepare food like I normally do.  In fact, I came up with a few percentages while out there today:

Normal percentages
Work: 40%
Running: 20%
Cooking: 20%
Other stuff: 20%

These days
Work: 60%
Major life-changing events that need to be dealt with: 30%
Everything else: 10%

So as you can see from this highly scientific study, I am much busier than normal with stuff, and as a result sometimes I don't have healthy, nutritious dinners.

I made a conscious effort not to get too upset about today.  It was only one race and I can pretty much guarantee that it was a nutritional bonk.  So I will just try and avoid that in the future. Next week is the Everglades race, which is 16 miles, so I will eat dinner the night before.  Learning.  It's all learning.  Even when you thought you had already learned that lesson, still learning.

50k complete. Barely.

Yesterday, I completed a 50k race!

Not well, but completed.

In fact, I see it far more as a learning experience than anything else.  This is new for me.  When I did my first long distances (half-marathons and marathons), I followed the training plan, did what I was supposed to and finished around where I thought I would finish.  Not so in this case.

I should say that I turned my ankle at 2 miles and while it hurt for a while, I realized that I was fine to run.  This was, of course, the same ankle that I sprained in November.  So I had to walk any sections with roots.  This wasn't too much on this particular course, but it was still a decision that had to be made.  I figured that if I turned my ankle again, that might be the end of my day.

Also, I broke pretty much every race rule ever.  I ate something I don't usually eat for dinner.  I stayed up late watching a movie.  I ate new things on the course.  And you know what?  None of these things were my undoing.

The weather was perfect.  The weather could not have been more perfect, in fact (today is hot again).  The course was great.  Organization was stellar.  Friends wanting to help were incredibly great and I am very grateful.  So all of these things were good.  Even the forest spiders weren't that scary, except maybe when I saw what appeared to be a nest of them.  Ew.

Here is what I learned (and there are so many things):

1) I undertrained.  One of the ultramarathoners came and joined me for my last little stretch, and I grumbled that I undertrained.  He said everyone always feels like they undertrained.  Fair.  But really, I did.  In the future, I will need to set aside more training time if I want to do this distance.

2) I thought of this as a long-ish marathon.  That's silly.  It's not.  It's a whole other thing.  That goes back to undertraining; I missed some runs because I thought, 'It will be okay, it's like a long marathon.'  No.

3) My fueling strategy was not good because do you know what?  By the time you have been on a course for 6-7 hours, you want something other than caffeinated jelly beans.  So next time I will think more carefully about how to fuel and get advice from other ultra runners.

4) I should have started run-walking early.  I started for real on the second of three loops (I mean, I had had sections where I walked earlier, but there wasn't a routine).  No.  Earlier.  Possibly throughout.  Also, I did get advice from a ultra person to learn how to walk more efficiently because it will help save time. 

5) I didn't hate it, I didn't die, and I'm not injured, other than an ouchy ankle.  I would like to do it again, although now is not the time because I have too much happening to put in the training.  But I am not swearing them off.  Someday.

Never a dull moment

The trail run is tomorrow.

This happened today, near the place where we are running: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/24355685/2014/01/03/pcso-lion-on-the-loose-near-spring-hill

Legs of Lead

Okay, I think this is a good sign.  Today, I went out and ran 3 miles and had legs of total lead.  Why is this a good sign?  Because my very first ultramarathon ever is on Saturday.  Saturday!  I will go in the woods and run 50k.  If you're counting, that is only 10 consecutive 5ks.  This is my mantra.

Running has been better as of late--better than my previous blog post, at any rate!  I did the Hillsborough River Half Marathon and while I was somewhat slow (over 3 hours), it was hot and my legs were tired, so I feel perfectly fine with that result.  It was really a training run, so slow is just fine.  I also landed in a pretty severe amount of mud and had muddy shoes for around half of the run.  Trails!

Last weekend, I finally got up to Croom for the first time in forever.  Croom is where the race is Saturday (Saturday!), so I am glad that I had a chance to run up there.  Groups of people hadn't been going because it was hunting season, which makes perfect sense to me.  I also got to practice running at night, which was helpful because the start of the race is at 6am, so it could be dark.  Did you know that the forest floor glitters at night in Florida?  The glitter is created by light reflecting off the eyes of wolf spiders out hunting.  Seriously.  SERIOUSLY.  Florida is not for the weak.

I am in the unusual position of having no idea what I will be doing after the ultra.  Well, okay, I have a vague idea.  I am doing the 5k of the Florida Challenge later this month.  Originally, I was planning to do the half-marathon, but there is a 3 1/2 hour cut off, and I don't want to come up on that.  It is a very difficult course, lots of up and down.  So the 5k is a better idea anyway, I think.

I have also been going back and forth on the Everglades Ultras.  It is in February and yes, it is smack dab in the middle of the Everglades (okay, truthfully it is a bit off to the side).  You get a whistle to get help in case you see wild creatures that don't want to move off the trail!  This is code for 'alligators.'  There are three distances: 50 mile, 50k, and 25k.  The 50 mile is out because there isn't enough time to train and I would be worried about the time cut offs.  Rationally, I know that the 50k should be out, except that logic dictates that as a runner, I am not rational.  I am going to wait and see how I feel about life on Saturday after Croom.  If I don't hate it with ever fiber of my aching being, then maybe that will be a cool thing to do.  Or maybe the 25k.  Rarely am I this indecisive about running, but there you go.

I also signed up to do a 5k challenge this year.  The challenge is to complete 12 5ks in a year.  I think I did it last year (seeing as how I did 7 in a summer, I think I must have).  This challenge is part of Mojo for Running, a website set up by my running coach, Deb Voiles (she is also the founder of Run Tampa, which is a great group to join if you live in the area).  There isn't much information on the challenge yet, but you can find out more on Facebook.

Anyway, lots to think about, lots to plan, and lots to dream about.  I didn't even mention the Zion National Park run or the Yellowstone Ultra.  Many dreams.  But I will wait to sign up for things until after Saturday.

Hills vs. Heat

Holy cow, there are a lot of updates to share regarding running.  Like:

1) I did the 12-mile run in northern Georgia.  At the time, it was, by a lot, the hardest run that I had ever attempted.  At one point, I didn't even want to do downhills any more.  It was that bad.  Also, the whole thing was at 2200 feet and over which (who knew) is really hard if you usually run in flat swamps.  I was third last; the two people behind me hiked the course.  But I finished it!  And believe me, that felt like an enormous achievement.  There were at least two points where I was tempted to go back to the start instead of continuing onward.

2) Then I did the Rattlesnake Run and the 10-mile race of Wildhorse.  Both of these were more challenging than I anticipated.  Rattlesnake was hard because it was a week after the Georgia run and my legs were completed dead.  It didn't help that there are (Florida) hills there, plus it got hot that day.  Wildhorse was hard because the last mile was really hard.  Ever had to climb a hill during a race that was so steep, you needed to use a rope (rope was provided)?  I have!

2.5) I sprained my ankle (not running.  Wearing heels during a night out in Pittsburgh).  Fortunately, it was just a mild sprain and I was back and running in a week.

3) Today, which was a mess.  The plan was to do the 30K that is part of the X-Country Marathon.  However, let me share with you the weather this morning.  As a reminder, it is mid-November:

No.

We started at 7:30am, which as you can see presented pretty challenging conditions (far too close to the Threshold of Ick).  By around 9:30am, I realized that I was done.  Just done.  This race will live in notoriety as my first DNF (did not finish).  It was too hot and there were lots of parts of the course that were not shady.  So you can add ten degrees to those temperatures near the end.  And you know what?  After the fun bouts with heat exhaustion that I have experienced in the past, I didn't want to risk it.  I'm pretty sure that I did have heat exhaustion, but it wasn't as bad as last summer.  Probably the fact that I gobbled down some salty foods right away helped.  Go pretzels.

And I was definitely not alone.  There were at least a dozen other people who dropped out of the 30K race.

If you're curious, all of this is training for my next major challenge: Croom Zoom.  I signed up for the 50K.  Yes I did.  My first ultramarathon.  With any luck, the weather will be more amenable (also we start earlier).

So yeah.  I have not had a great month of racing, that is for sure.  But I am reminding myself that the more you challenge yourself, the more likely it is that you will run into adversity--and the races that I have been doing are challenging ones.  But adversity is not the same as being defeated.  Today was a mess, but that was due to circumstances out of my control.

And we now have the definitive answer: hills > heat

Best. Tempo. Run. Ever.

So I have to say that I was less than enthused about today's workout.  I did a bunch of errands and had to run all over town, which I find tiring (to give you a sense, I spent about an hour and a half driving....we do not kid about the urban sprawl around these parts).  Also, my stomach was kind of upset.  But today was tempo run day, and I know that tempo runs are important, so I dragged myself onto the treadmill.

A tempo run is a term that evidently draws numerous different definitions.  I am using the one that Hal Higdon provides as part of the training program that I am broadly following:

This is a continuous run with a buildup in the middle to near 10-K race pace. A Tempo Run of 40 to 60 minutes would begin with 10-20 minutes easy running, build for 20-30 minutes near the middle, then 5-10 minutes easy toward the end. The pace buildup should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout. Hold that peak only for a minute or two. I consider Tempo Runs to be the "Thinking Runner's Workout." A Tempo Run can be as hard or easy as you want to make it, and it has nothing to do with how long (in time) you run or how far. In fact, the times prescribed for Tempo Runs serve mainly as rough guidelines. Feel free to improvise. Improvisation is the heart of doing a Tempo Run correctly.

My basic approach has been to do a 10-minute warm-up, then divide up the tempo run into whatever interval is an even amount of 5 units, then a 10-minute cool-down.  I have been doing these on the treadmill, which makes it really easy to pace what you are doing, but really hard to cheat your speed.  Also, the weather has been very thunderstormy as of late, so the treadmill is probably the better choice anyway.

Today, I got on the treadmill to do a 40-minute run, even though I was really not enthusiastic about things.  I have been starting relatively slowly although for the past two weeks (since I started this plan), I have still not been able to get through the whole workout.  A walk break was required in the middle of the running fast section.  I would like to note, though, that I usually plan for a walk break at some point on the treadmill because otherwise I tend to overheat.  For the tempo runs, I have been limiting these considerably, but still had to take breaks.

Today, I got through my 10-minute warm-up, then concentrated really hard and got through the building up/building down section.  But I did it!  Two minutes of increasing increments for 10 minutes, then 10 minutes of decreasing increments.  And I made it all the way through!  But that was my limit.  I couldn't handle the cool-down.  I walked for a bit, then decided to stop.

So you can imagine my surprise when I looked again at the training plan and learned that today's tempo run was only supposed to be 30 minutes.  Which means I totally rocked it.  And then some.  Best tempo run ever!

It's official: I am a trail runner

I realized today that I have not posted for a while here, which is too bad because I have a lot to say about my running life.  So this entry might be kind of long.  Bear with me.  I have enclosed some photos to help.

Things that I have run since the last time I wrote here:

1) Lutz Independence Day Race: it was hot and for some unknown reason, started at 8am--which is maybe a bit too late to start running a race in July!  But I survived.  I walked in places, but survived.  What was great though was the fact that I decided to make a 'bucket list' of races that I want to do.  Races that look cool and may be elsewhere.  Races that will take some pre-planning.  But I came up with a nice assortment of things, along with the realization that right now, what I really want to be doing is running on trails.  Because almost all of the races that I selected are trail races (with a few exceptions, like the NYC Marathon, which I should be doing in either 2014 or 2015).  Even the runs that I want to do around these parts next year are primarily trail races.  So I guess that this is just where I am right now.

2) Picnic Island Run #3 (final one): Did it!  And finished the series.  So that was cool.  The race itself was less cool, particularly the part where there was a tropical-level downpour and rain was dripping into my mouth.  That part was pretty gross.

3) Watermelon Run #2 (actually #3): Did it!  And it was 100% humidity.  For real.  Not nearly as much fun as the last one.

I also found a trail race that I am excited to do.  It is the 12-mile choice for the Mystery Mountain Marathon in northern Georgia.  Why the 12 miler?  First, because I don't really have time to get in shape for a marathon right now, particularly one that looks challenging because it will be on trails.  Second, because I have realized that it is nice to do the shorter distance when you are a slow and steady runner.  It alleviates concerns about being the very final last person out there.  This may be a new policy (when possible).  Third, because this is the elevation profile:

Honest to God, this makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Notice that the thoroughly ridiculous drop happens after the 12-mile mark.

But it will still be challenging.  These are technical trails with still some elevation change.  And there could be bears.  In fact, the website warns exactly about that possibility: 'Headphones naturally impair the ability of runners to hear one another on the trail.  (They also hinder your ability to hear bears!)  Please consider leaving your headphones behind.'

So my plan to train for this is to do a challenging 1/2 marathon program, along with some tricky runs.  Such as trail runs.  I did one this morning and it was definitely a challenge--and not only because part of the run consisted of dodging from large banana spider webs (I went out with a local trail running group on Facebook if you are looking for trail runners in the Tampa area).  In fact, we didn't go on one route because there were too many spiders.  That seems like a serious statement when the trail runners are deterred because these are people who happily cavort around the woods with who knows what nature craziness in there.

The run was at Balm Boyette Park, which is mostly used for 'mountain' biking.  That term seems somewhat inappropriate for Florida:

Bright and early.  Some people even had their headlamps.

As part of my official conversion to trail-runner-dom, I did buy an official pair of trail shoes.  I figured that I will definitely need them for the Georgia race, but I was glad to have them this morning.  I meant to take a picture of them last night and share it on the blog because they are among the nicest looking ones that I have owned.  But I forgot, so allow me to share what they looked like after the trail run this morning:

Fortunately this mostly came off with a good rinse.

So that is the news.  Trail running.  It's my new thing.  Although I do also plan to do the Aching Quad in September, which is four races within around 24 hours of each other.

Summer Sunrise Watermelon Series, Race #1 (actually #2)

This morning I ran the first (for me) race in the Summer Sunrise Watermelon Series, hosted by the Lakeland Runners Club.  I missed the first race because I was out of town, but signing up for the whole series is still a total deal ($30 total).  So I did that.  The race itself is pretty nice: you run around Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland, which is about 3 miles around, so ideal for a 5k.  I did the series back in 2010 with the philosophy that if I could run four races in the middle of the summer, a marathon should really be a piece of cake.

I have to say that I was less than enthused about this race because I thought that it would be torture, and also I have not been doing a lot of running as of lot.  Or Crossfit for that matter.  In fact, I have kind of been doing not much.  Although I have tried to do some heat adapting, which has mostly consisted of getting out in the evening (around 6:30PM), hoping that this will build some resistance to crazy temperatures.  Is it working?  I'm not sure, although this morning was encouraging.

In fact, it was so encouraging, that I may have possibly PRed on this course for me--I can't find my old numbers to prove it, but I was close.  Seriously.  I assumed that I would have to walk and that it would not be fun, but I did okay (remembering, of course, to slow down a bit when I felt that I had to walk).  It was even above the Threshold of Ick (temperature + humidity > 160), but that didn't seem so bad.  In fact, I felt that I did pretty well, especially considering that I have not been dedicated to training as of late.

I have been doing the Picnic Island runs as well (we are already through two of three) and a few other 5ks here and there.  In fact, I have been doing a race almost every week, which wasn't the plan at the start of the summer, but here we are.  These shorter distance ones are evidently better for me.  It's nice to feel better about things, even if it was just for one morning!

This week I should be getting back into the routine.  I totally plan to go to Crossfit (unlike those days last week when I totally planned to, then didn't...) and may come up with a super-easy running plan.  However, part of me thinks that continuing in the same vein might be a great idea.  This more laid back approach seems to be working for me, and probably I will want to get back to the grind in the fall.  We will see!

I could get used to this

Picture it: Southern Ontario in early June, temperature in the 60s (that's the high teens for you Canadians), and nary a percentage of humidity to be felt.

[Yes, I watch a lot of Golden Girls reruns]

Okay, admittedly there is a wee bit of humidity, but we're talking under 50% here.  That doesn't really count.  Not to mention that these weather conditions were found in the mid-afternoon, a time when you could not pay me money to go run in Florida at this time of year.  I could certainly get used to this.  Except that I am going back to Florida in a few days, so I am trying not to get too used to it.

I went running along the Walter Bean Grand River Trail, which is conveniently located not too far from my house and is very nice.  This whole area has been developed over the past 10 years or so and they have done a very nice job.  Some of the trail went by a golf course, and there was a part near a Mennonite farm that smelled like summer sausage (signs that you are in the Kitchener-Waterloo region include...).  Also, a gaggle of geese hissed at me as I crossed them and their goslings on the trail.  I will take that over alligators, although admittedly the geese were a bit scary.

I have had a few realizations about running lately. One of them is that I am kind of burned out from it.  That would make sense because I had done so many races in the past couple of years, many of which were long and required considerable training.  I did put in for the lottery to the NYC Marathon, although I figured (rightly) that I would not make it.  That's okay.  In this case, fourth time is the charm, because if you try to get in for three years and don't make it, you have an automatic entry for the fourth year.  So I was mostly just keeping my spot open.

The downside of this is that I am not sure what is coming up next on my schedule, because I am in the process of some potentially life-changing stuff happening.  So I don't feel comfortable planning for things quite yet.  I would like to do the Aching Quad, which is put on by the Lakeland Runners Club and consists of four races in two days (they are all 5k or under).  It's something quirky and could be fun.  I am also signed up for lots of 5k-esque races through the summer, including two more Picnic Island Adventure races and three more of the Summer Sunrise Watermelon Series, which I did in 2010.  I missed the first one of these, but I will make the remaining ones.

Now, if I were still a sane person (e.g., not a runner), I would probably think that five 5k-esque races is plenty.  But there is nothing big on the horizon.  There is no point in training for these in terms of performance because the weather conditions will make it too challenging to break any personal records, which is okay--at least it keeps me running.  I feel like it would be easier to get back on schedule, though, if I had a schedule.  Hopefully things will start sorting themselves out soon.

Now if running were more like here all the time, it would probably be easier too.  At least I can enjoy it while I am here!

Run To Remember update

On Saturday, I took part in a local run to remember the victims of the Boston Marathon.  I used this opportunity to raise money for The One Fund, which is the official fund established by Gov. Patrick Deval and Mayor Tom Menino.  I am thrilled to announce that I was able to raise $515 for this cause.  One of the local papers did a story on the event and I was interviewed (and I'm in the picture!  That is Red Sox gear, by the way).

The run itself was good too.  I did 7 miles--there was no set distance or time, but I wanted to stick with my running plan, so I did that.  The second half went very well and, even better, I could finally breathe properly.  So hopefully the flu is totally done.  The run took place at Trout Creek, then we went on to Flatwoods.  Unlike the last time I ran at Flatwoods, this time wasn't nearly as boring.  Thank you very much Run Tampa for organizing this event.

There is a bit more news: I will not be participating in the Broad Street Run this year.  Changes in my personal circumstances have made it difficult, so I have deferred to next year.  The good news is, though, that I was able to defer, and I look forward to returning to Philly next year for it.

Boston Strong

Dear Friends,

As many of you are undoubtedly aware, I resided for many years in Boston and I am a runner.  Because of this, the recent events at the Boston Marathon have been particularly hard for me to comprehend.  Even though I no longer live there, I love Boston and try to visit whenever possible.  It was in Boston that I first started running, and I can only hope someday to participate in the renowned marathon—as a charity runner because I am not fast enough to qualify otherwise!  In fact, this year I had offered to run Boston for a charity that I support, but for various reasons this opportunity did not work out.

On Saturday, April 20, I participated in a local Run to Remember the victims of Boston, and while I am glad to have this chance, I wanted to do more.  Perhaps the most horrific aspect of the attacks to me is the fact that so many of the victims have been maimed and wounded.  One story from the Boston Globe told of two brothers, who both worked as roofers and who had both needed to have a leg amputated after the attack.  I am very worried about the victims because they will not be able to return to their everyday lives, and I want to be able to help them in a more concrete way.

Mayor Tom Menino of Boston and Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts have created The One Fund to help victims from the Boston Marathon attacks.  If you are reading this after the event, I would ask that you donate directly to the fund using the link provided.  Thank you for your support of Boston.

The Bad, the Ugly and the Good

The past month or so of running can best be described by rearranging the adjectives in Sergio Leone's classic Western.

THE BAD

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Atlanta to attend a wedding.  While there, I decided to knock Georgia off my list of states in which I have run a race.  What could go wrong?  I signed up for a 10k trail run because I can officially confirm that I dig trail runs.  Now admittedly, in preparing to go, I did not get enough sleep, plus the day that we drove up, we didn't get in until late.  So I was maybe less excited when the alarm went off bright and early than I might have been otherwise.  Also it was pouring rain.

Rain is not my favorite because I hate running with wet feet.  But there was far more to hate.  Not only was it raining, it was cold.  And there was a thunderstorm at one point.  And the fact that it had been raining for a while meant that there was mud.  Here in Florida, we don't get mud very often because much of the ground is sandy (it's kind of surreal, actually, when it rains like crazy and one hour later there is no trace of it on the ground).  In Georgia, by contrast, it gets CRAZY MUDDY.  For a trail run, this is not great.

If I had to choose my least favorite race of all time, this one just might rank.  We had time restrictions with regard to the wedding so I had to drop down to the 5k from the 10k so that I would get back in time.  This was probably the best thing that happened to me with respect to this race because it was 5ks of sheer misery and hell (okay, the first 2.5 or so weren't quite so bad).  It was by far my worst time ever.  By a lot.  By around 12 minutes, in fact--my GPS wasn't working, so around the normal time when I would expect to finish a 5k, I kept telling myself that there was only a little bit left but no, there was a lot left.  In sum, there were hills, mud, rain, cold, and at one point I wanted to sit down on the ground and cry, 'WHY?  WHY?  WHY?  WHY?'  But I realized--wisely--that this would only prolong the agony.

(I do want to say that this was in no way the fault of the organizers or anything like that.  I'm sure that this is a perfectly pleasant trail race in most conditions.  But I have to say that it wasn't my favorite this year).

My shoes and socks following the run.

How could it get worse?  Trust me, it can.

THE UGLY

After returning to Tampa from the wedding, I woke up Monday morning to find that I had what I assumed was a sinus infection.  Blech, I thought.  No good.  So much for my plans to run 15 miles on Tuesday in preparation for the 16-mile Croom Fools Run coming up soon.  So I took it easy Monday thinking that maybe I would be better Tuesday.  No.  Tuesday I was tired and icky.  Wednesday I couldn't go to work.  Thursday I had severe muscle aches in my quads from the intense activity of lying around on the couch all day.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was the flu.  And not just any flu.  Totally blechy, horrible, awful, BLERG flu.

Seeing as how I couldn't lie on the couch without experiencing muscle pain, I was in no state to run or do anything else.  Nine days after the onset, on the Tuesday, I wrote to the race director to see if I could defer my entry for the 16-mile run (this is a race that has a waiting list and they allow you to defer if someone else wants to run it).  This was a first for me.  However, there was no one waiting for the 16 miles, so that was that.

Wednesday--so 10 days after I went down for the count--I finally got myself back to Crossfit.  It did not go particularly well.  But I survived.  And I didn't cough like a maniac the whole time, which was considerable improvement from the previous two days.

THE GOOD

Since I didn't die at Crossfit (even if I didn't have a banner day) and I got through a 4-mile run on the Thursday night without major incident, I decided to go ahead with the 16 mile.  It's entirely possible that this was not the best idea that I have ever had, but I did it and I survived.  Let me tell you, it was hard, particularly the last four miles--I suspect that this would have been true regardless since 16 miles is the second-longest distance that I have ever raced, but I was still not at 100%, which made it worse.

But the point is that I did it and I have to say, it was pretty fun for the most part.  This race also took place in the Withlacoochee forest, like the previous half-marathon that I did, but it was almost entirely in a different part of the forest.  And as usual in a trail race, I was on my own for much of it in the quiet woods.  Also, the weather was surprisingly pleasant, particularly for April, with temperatures starting in the low 50s.  It was a hard race--a very hard race--but I still enjoyed 75% of it (those last four miles.....okay, they weren't so bad.  At least there wasn't mud).

It's been a week since that run and I remain at less than 100% capacity for running.  My lungs are still not wholly better, which I can see quite easily during Crossfit when I have problems catching my breath.  I may not be very good at Crossfit, but generally I do have the cardio fitness to do things.  Running is also a challenge.  Tonight, for instance, was 4 miles (if you're curious, I am currently training for the Broad Street Run in Philly, which is the first weekend in May).  For the first three or so, it was still hot--the temperature today got up to 88F, so we are starting to get near summertime.  I was slow because I am not heat adapted, and I was okay with that.  Then, when the sun went down and it started cooling off a bit, I was slow because I couldn't breathe properly, which was moderately annoying.

A lack of breath is a new obstacle for me.  In a way, though, I am strangely glad that this happened.  I haven't been injured before and there is a parallel between this and injury.  I am focusing instead on finishing workouts, taking it easy, and realizing that right now, performance is secondary to completing tasks.  It's okay.  Someday--hopefully someday soon--I will be able to breathe again.

It seems only right to leave you with this:

From the vault: my first (and only) triathalon

I wanted to post this.  I wrote it originally on May 9, 2008, back when I posted 'notes' to Facebook (remember that?).  I've made a few references to it on here, so I thought that it might help to give some context for my first triathlon, which I did not enjoy for a variety of reasons.  Enjoy.

Okay, I need to do this to vent and to contemplate and to possibly inspire others to take up this sport even though you have maybe be afraid to try it in the past. Because believe me, if I can do it (and I have the USA Triathlon Approved piece of paper AND a popsicle stick to prove that I did it), anyone can. Although I might advise you not to do one in central Florida in May. 

SWIM (1/4 mile)
Many people fear the swim. If so, I must highly recommend the Lake Louisa Sprint Series that I did last night. You could, literally, wade the whole way out and the whole way back. To me, this posed a challenge, since I was pretty much trained to swim the 1/4 mile (and swim it well, I might add, according to some numbers I checked...my last practice swim was 10:03, which is not at all shabby for a 1/4 mile). Wading quickly was not really my deal and it lifted my heart rate up to that 'oh dear God just please let this erg test be over' anaerobic state. This state was also not so fun for starting the bike portion and it took me probably 1/2 mile just to get to anywhere near a normal, exercisey heart rate level. Small children also passed me at this point in the race.

For fun, there was a sign on the beach warning us that alligators are found in Lake Louisa and offering tips to avoid them. Clearly the best tip would be 'Don't swim in Lake Louisa because FOR THE LOVE OF PETE THERE ARE ALLIGATORS.' But that's apparently just not how Floridians roll.

T-1
I had experienced great anxiety about the transition (after reading about 25 websites that listed numerous tips and strategies for transitions). However, weirdly enough, I feel like I did pretty well. I put on wicking socks which prevented my feet from being wet and icky. I got my bike off the rack fine and even managed to walk it by guiding the handlebars instead of the seat, thus avoiding the pedals bashing into my calves. Seeing as how I am usually hyper organized, doing well at transitions kind of makes sense.

BIKE (7 miles)
As I mentioned, the first 1/2 mile was mostly spent recovering from the Swim-Wade and my elevated heart rate. I then looked ahead and saw an unusual sight for central Florida: hills. That's right: hills. When I want to do hill training in Tampa, I need to search long and hard for a hill. I know of two and they are both found on trails (one is an overpass, the other on the vestige of an old bridge). However, natural hills are few and far between, and normally have a total elevation of around 10-15 feet. That means the kinds of hills that I used to run casually during my warm-ups in Worcester (one of the many Seven Hills cities) are now far beyond my capacity. Being on a bike did not help and I was slightly confused about how to gear in this situation. That's how flat Tampa is.

I need to point out that the temperature was around 90F when the race started. Looking back in my old running diary from last year, I can see that I got really whiny and complaining when the temperature hit the mid-70s. When you combine 90F + Florida sun + hills = splitting headache and many thoughts of, 'Why, why, why?' There was a brief split second where I even thought I might quit. But I didn't because that's just how I roll, even when I'm sure I'm going to place DFL (it's in urbandictionary.com, definition #1). People stopped passing me at this point. That is generally a bad sign.

T-2 (Ich komme wieder...)
I momentarily could not locate my stuff. However, this leads me to my one piece of wisdom gleaned from my triathlon experience: bring a unique towel. That way, you can find your space at the bike rack quickly. My towel was a lovely one from Target that had tasteful, multi-colored stripes. A plain towel will be no help to you.

RUN (1.5 miles)
I know, it's a wimpy distance. And I was hoping to just blast through and kill the thing. That is hard when it is 90F and you have just swam/waded and biked hills. Plus, naturally, there were a few hills going out (these were very tiny and just reinforced the whole 'Tampa has no hills and I am turning into a wimp' thing). I walked the hills, but ran all the way back. It was at this point that I actually *passed* someone. She was an older lady but she was walking and I was running and I passed her, therefore taking me out of DFL. Score.

I finished and got my popsicle stick marking my place (plus it was 10 people off because the popsicle stick labeling person had erroneously started at the wrong number with my set). It is now taped to my 'USAT Approved' paper. The older woman also finished, but after me, as well as 2 other people. That made me 4th last. This is a big step up from December, when I was, actually, last in a 10M course (which also involved hills and lousy weather, just on the other end of the spectrum with 25F temperatures). 

Ricky Bobby wisdom tells me that if you're not first, you're last, so whatever, that makes all of us from #2 down the same. I like that.

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS
1) Don't race in 90F weather. I am not a 'heat' person. Racing in 90F weather will not change that. In fact, it's the next morning and I still feel over-heated.
2) Practice bike hills more often, even if that means at the gym. Or try to locate hills, perhaps by driving more inland.
3) Think carefully about wading speed and don't let heart rate get too elevated.

WHAT I LEARNED
1) I'm slow. That's just how it goes. The sport does not matter. It would be great if we had more sports that emphasized strength for women, because I think I would be good at those. But since I've committed myself to cardio sports, it's okay that I am not as fast as some other people. I am still working hard. Giving up is not the answer.
2) Bring a unique, multi-colored towel.

WHAT'S NEXT

Tampa Marathon: March 1, 2009. I would be thrilled if the heat/humidity/dew point stayed low for this event. Either way, there will probably be no threat of alligators.

My training schedule also allows for 5ks during the summer/fall. I am looking forward to those and will choose them as they come along. Mostly this summer I want to work at getting faster. According to _Runner's World_, my mile pace (for a 5k) is now at an intermediate level; this is a small but very welcomed accomplishment.

My popsicle stick/official piece of paper

If you're curious, I did not do that marathon because my schedule was too much and I realized I couldn't handle it.  I did the half-marathon instead (Gasparilla), which started hellishly (temps in the upper 60s, humidity in the upper 90s), then got rather pleasant after a major storm blew in.  It wasn't until December 2010 that I would finally do a marathon...and finally discover blogs instead of Facebook notes.