"At least I don't have to run in Victorian garb"

Yesterday's run was a bit of a trial. It was 98 on the heat index when we left the house (at 9:00 pm, mind you), and I've been feeling like I'm coming down with some kind of respiratory thing for a few days. Also, because of the weather or hormones or something, my joints have been hurting a LOT lately. The big culprits are in my hands, feet, right knee, left hip, and right shoulder.

I got pretty discouraged and said something like, "Matt, I just don't think I'll ever reach a time in my life when working out is not painful and emotionally draining. I mean, sometimes there are other rewards but I'll just never be one of those people who loves to exercise for the sake of exercising." And, you know, he responded in the most honest way he could with something like, "Yep. You're probably right. But it's like work: you've got to do it".

The self-pity continued for a while. I was feeling really bummed and the threat of angry tears was rising with every step. Around the half way mark, I came to a sort of emotional crisis point, where I needed to turn my thoughts around or risk quitting right there.

So, as a mental/motivational exercise, I started listing off things I should be grateful for in the course of this lame unsatisfying run. Here is part of that list, with links and pictures.

• At least I live in a time where I am ALLOWED to run this distance I'm training for. (Katherine Switzer in 1967 Boston Marathon)
  
  
• And my doctor won't try to tell me that my uterus will fall out, that I'll grow a mustache, or that I'll age prematurely.
• I live in a country where it is not illegal for me, as a woman, to exercise.
•  I live in a neighborhood and country where I don't have to literally dodge bullets during practice runs.
• I don't have to run against Olympic athletes while fasting.
• I don't have to run in Victorian garb.
  
• Or in a hijab (I respect women who do so as a decision of personal faith and piety; I am extremely heat sensitive and would feel especially miserable).
  
• I don't have to run home from the market with groceries on my head.
  
• Or run with a baby.
  
• Or run from a bear.
  
• I still have both legs, and I don't have to learn to run again after losing them.
  
• My husband is not a super athletic jerk.
  
  
  
• I don't have to deal with atrocious air pollution. 
• I don't have to run on tundra or through deserts. 
• I don't have to worry about landmines, or morality police. 
• I don't have some kind of disorder which makes my bones fragile like glass, or prevents me from feeling when I'm injured. 
• I don't have to run from militants or risk being raped or maimed when I go on practice runs. 
• I don't have to worry about being mistaken for a robber and shot in gentrified neighborhoods.
• I don't have to run to entertain my corporate overlords.

So, that's part of my list. What are you grateful for? All reasons are acceptable, from the most mundane to the most ridiculous.

9(ish) mile run and the adventures of Stick and Box

Saturday's run was a new "longest ever". Our goal was 9.5 miles. In the 132 minutes allotted, we covered 8.78 miles. This was an increase of about 2.25 miles over our last "longest ever run".

We actually experimented with Jeff Galloway's proposed run/walk ratios this run (he recommends a pace of 3 min run, 1 min walk where we had been doing 10:3 or 8:5). I really liked it, because I felt like my legs held out a lot longer. Matt didn't enjoy it as much, because the constant time checking prevented him from "zoning out". We basically broke it up into 32 rounds of 3:1, with an extra 1 minute walk break after 8 rounds.

Our overall pace was about 15 minutes per mile. I don't want to get hung up on time, though. The distance itself was a victory. Temps were 86 with a heat index of 90, humidity of 57%. That's pretty ridiculous for 9:00pm.

During the run, I had some moderate hip discomfort in my left hip. I took periodic breaks to stretch out my ITB and pop the tendons back into place, which seemed to help. Surprisingly, I had no problems with my right shin; so, the periodic ache I'm having there is probably not a stress fracture. When we got home, I went through my normal routine of static stretching followed by a cool shower. I then decided on a whim to take an impromptu ice bath. We didn't have much ice, so it was pretty weak. I can understand the appeal though.

For fuel/hydration, we brought a good ol' 12 oz gatorade and a package of Clif Shot Bloks (they're like giant square gummies). The Clif Bloks worked great. They're really easy to eat while running, they don't leave a horrible aftertaste, and I definitely felt the effects. No glycogen issues on this run. We scheduled a Shot Blok approximately every 45 minutes (one at 12th round, and one at 24th). I may experiment with some other gooey fuel in the future, but I thought these worked awesome.

I ended up buying this CamelBak Aurora Hydration Pack (70 fl oz), which is different than the one on my wishlist. The one I bought is $65, compared to $50, but it has more pockets, more colors, and a greater water capacity (which I hope will make it more useful if I ever decide to transition to even longer distances). I don't know when it will arrive, but hopefully soon.

Also, the adventures of Stick and Box.... while we were running down Old Jacksonville Hwy during the first leg of the run, we came across a big cardboard box with a long gnarly stick leaning against it. We decided that Stick and Box were the main characters in a buddy comedy. Box is the staid, reserved, slightly overweight pencil pusher (to be played by Nick Offerman) while Stick is the spontaneous, fun-loving new guy who likes to shake things up (to be played by Seth Green). We decided that their love interest (which threatens to tear them apart) is Puddles, a refreshing but unreliable woman played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. We made them a theme song (although we didn't really get past "Stick and Box, Stick and Box, one is a stick, and the other's a box"). This took up a large chunk of our run.

It won't always be easy

Today's run was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo lame. Yes. That many Os.

The good:Overall speed was acceptable (11:24 pace overall). We finished. I did not puke or anything else. I got out and ran even though I seriously didn't want to or feel like it.

The bad:
So much burping. Eww. My initial pace was a slow, pitiful crawl. Everything hurt and my legs felt like lead. I repeatedly wanted to quit and/or curl up in a ball and cry. Also, it felt really really hot (it was not that hot, maybe like 90F). Humidity was about 60%.

The ugly:
About 10 minutes in as we were getting ready to start the first speed interval, I accidentally yelled at Matt. I didn't feel angry at him before or after it happened, so we were both taken by surprise. It was basically one of those instances where I had to repeat myself because Matt couldn't hear me, and I let my tone get out of control.

With that run and all its emotional baggage behind me, I want to step back and evaluate some stuff.
Somehow, miraculously, this crazy plan is working. I've never done anything like this in my life. It is hard and unnatural. But folks, I just ran 5 3/4 miles on Saturday. I. Did. That. It's unbelievable.
It's been over a three and a half years since the first time I ran a mile. I've done a lot of things wrong from that day until now. Even my incredibly sweet, encouraging, inhumanely optimistic husband had doubts when we started this training plan. But it's working. I am experiencing little to no joint pain/inflammation on my runs and I have avoided injuring myself in a major way (so far).

So, let's take a look at what I'm doing differently THIS TIME.

New Sam	Old Sam
Has a set routine*	Did whatever, whenever.
Tailors strength training for running**	See above.
Has a running plan	See above.
Has a support system (that’s you folks & Matt)	Ran solo.
Varies running environments	Ran on a treadmill. Every time.
Has a concrete goal	Dreamed about stuff and things.
Listens to her body and rests when necessary	Rigidly adhered to unrealistic benchmarks.

^aka "got injured a lot"

*Routine:
5 minutes (minimum) of walking and dynamic stretches before every run
5 minutes (minimum) cool down walk and static stretches after every run
Cool shower post-stretch
Chocolate milk post-run recovery drink
Ice as necessary

**Strength training:
Exercises include things like planks, side planks, side squats, one leg chair squats, lunges, four part crunches, the sun salutation routine, regular squats, chair dips, pilates push-ups, calf lifts, resistance band leg lifts (side, front, back). I also stretch my hips, plantar fascia, and hamstrings regularly during the day when I remember/make myself do it.

What are your secrets to success?

Hardest run so far

I knew it was going to be a tough run today when I looked at the forecast.... 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Nightmare temperatures. Normally we run at or after dusk, when it has already started to cool down quite a bit. We couldn't do that today, however, because we've got company coming over tonight. That meant we'd have to brave the scorching afternoon sun. Blech.

We ran along the same route I mapped on DailyMile.com last Saturday, a 2 mile run through the Azalea District. The first split was 13:00min/mile; second split was right around the same time. It was pretty demoralizing. I felt like (and said out loud, I think) the entire run was a total waste of time and I might as well just go home. Matt pointed out that a year ago, I would not have even walked outside for a mile in this heat. He was a great encouragement the whole time, although his methods were a bit unorthodox (in the last half-mile, he kept insisting that I "frolic, just once". It's a joke that came up when we started trail running. A "frolic" is basically a jubilant arm-flailing Sound of Music skip.)

The good news is that my breathing stayed steady and I had little or no complaints from any joints. I didn't have any nausea (like last time I ran in the heat), and I didn't feel like I was going to pass out (just really, really dizzy).

I was pretty grumpy the whole run. We did not play any games. Matt told me afterwards that he didn't expect me to make it through, based on our past experiences with running in the heat. He said was really proud of me, which made me feel pretty awesome.

After beating myself up for the abysmal time for most of the run, I remembered something I had read a while back in a Runner's World article by Jeff Galloway (the running coach who designed the half-marathon training program I'm about to take up). He recommends that runners increase their pace by 30 seconds per mile for every increase of 5 degrees above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. I thought this seemed pretty excessive at the time, but it turns out that we accidentally followed his advice today. My best time at around 60 degrees is about 9:45 min/mile. Following his formula would have put us at 13:15 (we ran right about 13:00).

I hope it's a long, long, long time before I have to run outside again at 2:00pm in 94 degree weather. I definitely learned a lesson today about placing values in artificial number goals; I could not have run faster if I wanted to (and I really did want to, as badly as I wanted to quit and go home). I did the best I could do today, and that's got to count for something.

It's going to be a long, hot summer. We're discussing some creative strategies for working around the heat (like working in some pool running), but the truth is that I'm going to have to do it from time to time if I want to really prepare for this October half-marathon. October mornings in Texas are liable to be just as hot as any summer day; race day temperatures could be anywhere from 50 degrees to 95. I don't want to train inside all summer and then get laid flat by high temperatures. Matt gave me some good advice about setting realistic goals for time/distance. I'm probably not going to see the kinds of gains I want (timewise) as long as the temperatures are rising.

Anyway. One more run in the logbook. The money pot is now at $30. Whoo hoo! To celebrate, I'm enjoying my FAVORITE post-run recovery beverage: chocolate milk. Oh, yeah.

Great news! (Update)

Contrary to my fears from last post, my doctor cleared me to run today. She said that I'm most likely experiencing normal recovery from my bout of bronchitis, which can take 4-6 weeks for really bad cases. She sent me on my way with a short-term prescription for prednisone and some directions for using my Albuterol inhaler.

She was really supportive of my plans to train for a half-marathon. I'm excited to have a medical endorsement... apparently, I'm not totally out of my league here.

I thought I might fall victim to Murphy's Law for Runners, but it looks like I'm spared this time!

(found this at http://womensrunning.com/blog/murphys-law-for-runners/)