Category: Running
{ontherun} Weekend Doubleheader
| March 6, 2012 | Posted by Lauren under Marathon Training, Running |
Edited to add a quick note: I know I mostly ramble about running these days, but my blog has been nominated as Fitness Magazine’s Best Healthy Living Blog. So…if you like my blog, would you consider doing me a favor and voting for me? I know I’m pretty far behind some of the leaders, but I appreciate all of you who have taken a minute to register and cast your vote so far! You can vote here. Thank you very much!!
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Last year, I ran the Black Cat 20-miler as my last long run before the National Marathon. I was at the end of a long training cycle and felt incredibly strong. I had trained hard, was in great shape, and I wanted to use the run to prove to myself that I was ready to go under 3:20 in the marathon.
Last year, I went in with a specific plan and ran a smart race. The goal was to start off slow and run negative splits. I kept to that plan perfectly, finishing in 2:31:23, for an average pace of 7:35.
Once upon a time I had really long hair…
3 weeks later, I PR’d at the National Marathon by running a 7:34 pace for all 26.2 miles. (How’s that for consistency?)
THIS YEAR, I went back to Salem to run Black Cat as my first 20-miler of Boston training. I had been struggling with a foot/ankle injury and had barely run in 2 weeks (I ran a total of 9 miles from Monday – Friday). I was feeling a little beaten down, slightly unprepared, and completely unsure of whether or not I’d even make it through all 20 miles.
This year, I ran a 5K with EC the day before, and even though I wasn’t racing all out, it was more of a tempo pace run than an easy “get ready to run a hard 20 miler tomorrow” type of slow jog.
This year, I went into Black Cat without any sort of plan whatsoever. I got to that starting line, and I just ran. And I finished in 2:25:47, which is an average pace of 7:17.
All of that leads me to one very scientific conclusion: RUNNING IS WEIRD. And you should never count yourself out until the very end. Now let’s just hope that Black Cat proves to be a good marathon-barometer once again.
But let’s back up a little bit and talk about how my weekend doubleheader went down.
Irish 5K
EC Gets a Shiny New PR
A few weeks ago, before the foot problems began, EC asked if I wanted to run a 5K with him. Since this has happened a total of one other time in the entire 3.5 years that we’ve been together, I quickly accepted despite the fact that it was the day before a scheduled 20-miler. And even though I have told him many times that if he wants to actually beat me in a race, he’s going to have to earn it (which I fully believe he will easily do one day), I agreed to run with him the entire way.
By the time Saturday rolled around, I was dying to run. My legs hadn’t felt speed in far too long, and they were just ITCHING to move. But a promise is a promise, and I knew I had to be smart if I wanted to have a chance of surviving the 20 miles the next day. So EC and I made a plan – we’d stick to 7:15′s, which would get him to the finish line faster than the Providence 5K he ran last year, after little training.
Well, as usually happens during a 5K, we went out too fast. I reeled the pace in a little bit, but before I knew it, we had settled into a sub-7 pace and EC was looking strong. As the official time keeper, I didn’t tell him how fast we were going, just that we had found a good pace and we should stick to it at all costs. To his credit, he never said a word to complain. He stuck by my side like glue, and though I could tell he was fading near the end, he didn’t fall back.
I don’t have any pictures of the event because we were too busy running it, but just imagine me yelling at EC to “run faster” and then sprinting just slightly ahead of him to the finish line. What a wonderful fiance I am. Like I said, if he wants to beat me, he needs to earn it.
Imagine this face running – although not quite as happy
We finished in 21:38 (6:57 pace) – a new PR for EC!! I have a feeling he’s going to be breaking 20 minutes in no time.
And I’m only slightly annoyed that in the online results, EC is listed before me. I demand a photo-finish challenge!
Don’t mind me, awkwardly posing behind my race shirt
Black Cat 20-miler
I run stupid, and the skin on my toes peels off
The next morning, we were up bright and early to run the Black Cat 20-miler in Salem. I loved this race last year, and despite my nerves about being able to complete the distance, I was really excited to run it again. Because if you’re going out for a 20-mile run that you aren’t exactly prepared for, what better way to do it than an out and back course with water and aid stations every couple of miles?
This year’s course was exactly the same – basically two out and backs of a 5-mile stretch through downtown Salem and along the water. You might think this would be boring, but I loved it. Not only could I mentally talk myself through the tough parts (i.e. long, steep hills) by telling myself that the next time I run up them, I’ll be heading toward the finish. But it also meant that I could easily see my cheering squad multiple times during the race, and all they needed to do is stand in one spot. In my case, EC, the runner-formerly-known-as-BeckOnTheRun and her fiance Sean.
Last year was the first year of the race, which meant a pretty small field. But when we got to the start on Sunday, I was surprised to see that the number of runners had practically doubled. After a brief debacle with outrageously long lines for the porta-potties due to the race organizers not planning well enough for the sheer volume of runners who turned up and a slightly delayed start, we were off!
This is basically what I look like when the gun goes off. Or in this case, when the volunteer said “go”
Right from the start, I knew I was probably running too fast. There was a marathon relay and a 10-mile race that went off at the same time as the 20-milers and it just felt like everyone was surging out around me. I tried not to pay too much attention to my watch and focus instead on running.
After a way too fast first mile of 7:08, I settled in to a pace around 7:20. The little rational voice inside my head was a bit nervous about this strategy (or lack thereof), but I figured I really had nothing to lose. I wanted to test my fitness, and I needed a confidence booster. So the new plan was simple (and maybe a little stupid): Don’t think. Just run.
You ever have those times during a run when you get into this zone where everything just sort of comes together? There is no pain, no suffering, no thinking really. Just one foot in front of the other. Over and over and over again.
The first hour of the race was like that for me. I was excited to be running and happy that my ankle seemed to feel fine. Other than that nothing else mattered. The world around me felt muffled as I just ran. I thought about getting to see my cheering squad every few miles, and that became the guiding beacon in the race for me. Just make it back to them and re-assess.
Remember how I literally ran into an old cross country teammate who was running the 10 mile race last year? Well the same thing happened again! It was nice to have company for a few miles as we quickly caught up on what has happened in each other’s lives over the past year. This time, however, Sarah was moving quick. Not wanting to hold her back in the last couple miles of her race, we parted ways around mile 8. I took my first GU and pressed on.
The second loop started off great. There was a lot of downhill at the beginning, and I focused again on making it back to EC. My pace had slowed a little, but I just focused on staying comfortable. I knew if I kept my splits around/under 7:30, I would be in good shape.
Mile 15 was when things started to go downhill a little bit. I had pulled an Emily Sweats and decided to wear a pair of practically brand new shoes for the race. My rationale? They had felt great during my 5K the day before. So obviously they would stand up to 20 miles…right?
Not so much. While the shoes did feel light and responsive, there was the small fact that these only have a 4mm heel-to-toe offset (vs. a 12 in the average running shoe), which changes how your feet land. Even though I have been running in an 8mm drop shoe, these still felt pretty different. And I was rewarded for my stupidity by the formation of awful blisters on what felt like every single toe. Those last 5 miles, all I could think about was getting to the finish so that I could get the shoes off my feet. Oh – and not letting the lululemon-clad girl who was in front of me for the entire race (see above picture) pass me again. Nothing personal. But after starting at someone’s back for over an hour, you build up quite a bit of motivation to beat them.
For comparison’s sake, please refer to the awful and horribly unflattering photo below. When I say I was in pain, I’m not kidding.
Those last few miles were tough. It felt like we had to run up an endless string of hills and the headwind had picked up, pushing me backwards. But I held on, determined to keep the pace and finish strong. As we climbed up the final, awful hill to the finish, I gave one last surge and kicked it to the finish line before the clock ticked 2:26.
The second I finished the race, those shoes came off my feet. It didn’t matter that it was freezing outside and the ground felt like ice. There was no way I was putting my shoes back on. My toes were bloody and felt shredded, but I had finished.
And the best part of all?
Rocking the #teamwatermelon and Saucony
I placed 3rd in my age group!!
I am now the proud owner of a Black Cat Award Winner glass - the only cup in my cabinet that isn’t really a mason jar.
Here’s how my final splits worked out. The last mile was a little short according to my watch (which means my overall pace is slower than the official time), but since I don’t put too much stock in the unfailing accuracy of Garmins, I say it’s close enough.
I’d be lying if I told you that my ankle/arch felt great the day after. And that I didn’t feel any pain whatsoever during the race. But I think I’ve turned a corner. The pain seems to stem more from tightness/stiffness than anything else. So with a little extra rest and stretching this week, I’m hoping I’ll be good to go.
6 more weeks and 2 more 20+ milers until Boston!
Running “on a Tilt”
| March 1, 2012 | Posted by Lauren under Marathon Training, Running |
I’m not a card player. I think I’ve maybe played poker one time in my entire life and wasn’t exactly a natural at it. This is why it’s funny that of all the rational statements EC made in the midst of my craziness last weekend, the only one that really drove things home for me was poker-related.
Near the end of the night, probably a little sick of my complaining, he said “LB – it’s like you’re going on a tilt!”
Going on a tilt is when for one reason or another, you’re not thinking straight. The most common reason for this to happen is that you’ve had a series of bad cards, or been the victim of a bad suckout. Your judgment gets clouded, and you begin playing cards that you should fold, for the wrong reasons. (Source)
Tilt is a poker term for a state of mental or emotional confusion or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy, usually resulting in the player becoming over-aggressive. (Source)
(Source)
Sound familiar to anyone else?
I think runners and tilting is probably a fairly common combination. Most of us tend to be a little Type A about our training. And I’d say that most of us put enough time/thought/energy into that training that we have an emotional investment in the outcome. So when things seem to stop going the way we had so carefully planned, it’s easy to get frustrated and start acting rashly out of emotion…instead of logic.
Logic will tell you that no training cycle goes perfectly. That the key to thriving during marathon or half marathon (or any distance race!) training is learning flexibility, learning when to push hard and when to back off, and most of all – knowing that a few skipped workouts will not make or break your entire race.
But emotion will tell another story. Emotion will have you panic after a couple skipped workouts, will tell you that you need to push harder in order to get stronger, and can leave you collapsed in a puddle on the floor when it seems like all hopes of successfully training for this dang race have been dashed.
Emotion can lead you to going on a tilt – trying anything and everything to get us back “in the game” – instead of folding.
Such as claiming that you need to run a race, even if you’re injured because you absolutely need to do a long run AND you put off doing your first 20 miler for this race. So not only will you run it on Sunday, but you’re also going to run extra next week to make up for everything you’ve lost. You’re running out of time. It’s time to buck up and start pushing harder.
Completely logical, right?
You’d think that after so many years of running and racing, I’d be immune to the tilt by now. That I’d know how to make logical training decisions, and never let my frustration/fears/emotion get in the way. I might have come a long way since the little girl who would use her asthma as an excuse to not do anything hard, but I still have a lot to learn.
For the rest of this training cycle, I am making an effort to not make decisions out of frustration. To keep my cool and be rational. To follow the advice that I’d give someone else in my situation, and not go crazy trying to do everything I can in order to “make up” for less than ideal/missed workouts. I will try to remember that even though Boston is an important race, and lots of people will be watching, it is not the end-all-be-all. That if the worst happens and I can’t PR in Boston, there will be other marathons. And no matter what, if I keep being smart and taking care of my body, I will run that {sub}3:10 someday.
I know this will be a work in progress. I can’t change overnight, and I can’t promise to never let my emotions get the best of me. But in the meantime, I’m thankful I have people in my life who are far more rational than I. People who aren’t afraid to give me a little tough love, and tell me how it is.
Thank you EC for keeping me grounded and calling me out on my crazy.
The Increasingly Irrational Decisions of LB
| February 28, 2012 | Posted by Lauren under Running |
As you all know by now, Sunday was supposed to be my first race of the season – and my very first race as a Saucony Hurricane. Instead, it was my first real DNS (did not start).
Not quite as exciting…OR something I’m particularly proud of and excited to write about. Obviously I remained in denial about the situation for as long as possible. So how does one go from proclaiming that a little bit of rest is all she needs to be able to run a race to deciding not to even start?
Well….without further ado, I present to you: “The Increasingly Poor Irrational Decisions of LB” (anyone else seen this show? No? Just me…?)
Friday night
Come home from cross training at the gym. At this point I have spent the entire afternoon Googling some form of the phrase: “pain arch runner” and have managed to convince myself that I have full-blown post-tib tendinitis, my right arch is slowly collapsing, and before I know it, I will be flat-footed and permanently injured. Kick myself for thinking that even cross training was a good idea. Spend a good portion of the evening trying to convince EC that my right ankle is, indeed, collapsing more than my left.
Saturday morning
Wake up. Immediately start icing foot. Get Ibuprofen from nearby drugstore. You know – to reduce the inflammation and all that jazz. Take Ibuprofen and head down to UPS with EC to pick up last year’s uniform that Saucony sent me for the race on Saturday. Fall immediately in love with the ViZiPRO pink and blather incessantly about how excited I am to race in it the next day.
This picture does not do justice to the wonderful brightness of this pink
Head to local running shoe store to explain my plight to the staff and look at inserts. Because obviously, even though I haven’t run with inserts for any of my adult life, I must need them now. You know – to support that dropping arch of mine. I have my gait quickly analyzed and the staff member tells me that I definitely over-pronate, but if anything – it’s more on my left foot than my right (What?!? He must not be seeing things correctly). I try on a couple of different types of inserts and even run up and down the street in one. I’ve made my decision – I will buy inserts and I will race in them tomorrow. All my problems will be solved.
Thankfully, I have EC with me. And with a few moments to reflect and speak rationally about the situation with him (combined with some hesitant remarks from the staff when I stated my plan out loud), I decide to hold off on the inserts…for now. I would still race, but without the extra support. And then if things didn’t get better, I’d go back and buy a pair.
(On a positive note, we did get EC fitted in a brand new pair of running shoes of his own. So the trip wasn’t a total bust)
Saturday afternoon
After running a few more errands, EC and I get back to my apartment. I put on compression socks, keep my feet up, and proceed to keep up a routine of icing for the rest of the day (along with taking another Ibuprofen). RICE at its finest. Still in denial, I look up the course map and start talking about places EC can stand to watch. You know, my foot is actually feeling a lot better. In fact, it’s practically good as new. I will definitely be running tomorrow.
Saturday evening
EC begins the long, tedious process of talking some sense into me (easier said than done). I brush him off, telling him that he doesn’t need to worry. I will start the race tomorrow and if I feel any pain at all, I will drop out. We both know this is a lie. He continues making logical statements. I continue arguing against them with increasingly illogical ones of my own:
But I need to run this race. I spent money on the registration. It wasn’t cheap, you know!
But the race sold out. If I don’t run, that means I’ll have taken a bib from someone else that could’ve run. I feel too awful!
You know – it would be different if I had broken my foot or something. {yes, clearly talking about a more severe injury that you could have is the rational thing to do in this situation}
It’s not like I have some serious injury.
But I’m not even limping around!
Look – it is SERIOUSLY fine. My foot does not hurt {stated as I ran around in circles in my apartment like a madwoman}.
I can’t just sit around tomorrow. I need to do a long run. Which obviously means that I need to do this race.
But I won’t even get my t-shirt….
Finally, with a few more tears than I’d like to admit, I accept defeat. What finally convinced me? Statements about prevention….and poker.
You’ll have to wait until my next post for the poker talk (I bet you’re excited!). But for now, we can focus on prevention. Something I strongly support in most aspects of my life (you know the old axiom – “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”). But when it comes to running – something I easily forget when I’m blinded by crazy.
Because even though my foot really was feeling better than it had, I knew that it still wasn’t 100%. I might have been able to make it through the race, but not without further damage. As EC so wisely said:
It’s not about the injury you have now. It’s about the injury you can prevent.
Which got me thinking about the question my old coach used to ask us when we were struggling with running through injury.
Would you rather run today, or run for the rest of your life?
While I don’t think racing a half marathon on a sore foot would have kept me out of commission for the rest of my life, the sentiment was the same. And could be re-phrased to something more like this:
Would you rather run today, or run on April 16th?
I needed to choose April 16th.
If this had been my goal race, there wouldn’t have been any question about whether I would run it. I would have gone out there and willed my foot to take me through one last run, knowing that I could ice and rest it for a long time after. But Hyannis was not my goal race. Sure, it would’ve been a great training run, and I was itching to race after many months away from it. But I needed to keep my eyes on the ultimate goal. Sometimes, when you’re in the midst of training, it’s easy to get caught up in what you need to do right now. And think that if you don’t do this long run, your training is out the window. Your hopes of running a marathon are over.
When in reality, sometimes NOT running is much better for you in the end.
Now it’s Tuesday. I’m a couple of days removed from the situation, and am thinking much more rationally. Even though I’m still bummed about my big fat DNS, my life has gone on (what a surprise). I’m happy I didn’t choose to injure my foot further by being stubborn. And I’m hoping that the extra rest and cross training I am doing this week will help things heal, and allow me to race not once, but twice this coming weekend.
Next up – what marathon training and poker have in common. Or, I should say, my irrational approach to training and poker…
Insomnia & Mystery Pain – It Must Be Race Week!
| February 24, 2012 | Posted by Lauren under Running |
This weekend, I’ll be returning to Hyannis to run my first race of 2012. And until this past Monday, I hadn’t actually given much thought to the race at all. In fact, I sort of forgot that it was coming up so quickly. I signed up for the Hyannis Half awhile ago because I had such a great time there last year and figured it could be a fun race to mix up my training a bit.
But, since I haven’t really been thinking about it, I haven’t actually done anything specific to prepare. I haven’t changed my training and haven’t exactly been the picture of health when it comes to my eating habits this week either. Instead, I just kept telling myself that there was no reason to be nervous or stressed about the race at all, because the plan was (is) to do it as a training run.
But we all know how good I am about making a race into training run <sarcasm>. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I will admit that I want to run this race fast – or faster than last year, at least. Last year I ran this half through the snow, while battling a really bad cold and nasty congestion. I wasn’t expecting to do anything spectacular, and ended up with a new PR. A PR that still stands to this day.
Granted, I don’t do too many half marathons, and all of them have been in the midst of training for something else. But if I can run a 1:33:07 while sick, reason goes to show that I should be able to run faster when I’m not sick. It hasn’t happened yet, though. Either I’m not so great at racing half marathons, or my secret to success is racing while sick.
Anyway – I hadn’t really been paying attention to any of those thoughts swirling around my head. I’ve actually been refusing to acknowledge any and all thoughts about the race. You know…because denial is always the best pre-race strategy.
But then this week – the problems started. Insomnia and mysterious foot/ankle pain. And I’m starting to wonder if maybe (just maybe) I’m a bit more nervous about this half marathon than I’ve allowed myself to admit.
The insomnia thing is nothing new. Sleep and I have always had a troubled relationship. I’m not the type of person that can fall asleep anytime and anywhere without problem. I often have trouble sleeping anywhere besides my own bed, and go through phases a couple of times each year where sleep becomes more difficult than a 20-mile run. It stops coming natural and starts feeling like work. Of course, the cruel irony is that the more you stress about not being able to fall alseep, the harder it is to do so. I try to tell myself that lying in bed, thinking about how I’m never going to be able to fall asleep isn’t exactly doing myself any favors. But I repeat the cycle every night anyway. Instead of letting my body drift off, my brain somehow thinks that if it works hard enough, it can will my body to sleep. Because that makes a whole lot of sense, right?
I suppose here is where I should have a few bullet points to tell you what healthy things I’ll be doing for the next couple nights to make sure I get enough rest before Sunday. But honestly? I’m 99.9% sure there’s going to be some Nyquil in my very near future. Yes, it’s that bad.
Which brings me to the foot pain. On Monday, I noticed some pain in the arch of my foot and my ankle. It didn’t seem awful (feels like it’s bruised…although there’s no actual bruise that I can see), so I kept my run really short and figured I could stretch/roll and be good as new the next day. Except I wasn’t. And like the smart stubborn runner that I am, I kept running on it anyway. You know, because if you run 8 miles easy instead of at the prescribed tempo pace, the pain will obviously go away. Right??
Yesterday, I finally came to my senses. Obviously continuing to run on something that hurts with every step (and especially when I take right turns…which I seem to do a lot. I think I need to start running in the opposite direction) is not good. And it certainly won’t help me race well on Sunday. So, despite the fact that yesterday was probably the nicest day of the year so far, I did not run. Instead, I took Koli for a 2.0 mile walk after work.
This is not from yesterday’s walk. But it is my dog.
Just kidding! I actually have no idea how far we walked. The point is, though, that I walked. I did not run. And last night I crossed my fingers and went to sleep (or at least attempted to), hoping the pain would be gone in the morning.
As you may have guessed…it’s not. I know I can’t be frustrated that things aren’t completely better after one day of rest, but since I don’t know what is causing the problems in the first place, it’s hard not to be. The plan for now is to cross train today and hope to take it on a short test run tomorrow. And if all else fails…that’s why they make ibuprofen, right? (Kidding!! ….kind of).
So those are my jumbled pre-race thoughts. No calm inspirational message…just focusing on trying not to freak myself out too much. I know that the tougher I am going in mentally, the better the race will be. And at the end of the day, this is supposed to be fun. Yes, I want to do well, but this isn’t a race that I’ve been working really hard toward for months on end. No matter what happens, there will be other races. And plenty of time to chase down that half marathon PR.
Now if I could just get some sleep….
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Honestly – if you have any great sleep tips that don’t involve knocking myself out with nighttime cold medication, please share!
Finding My Strong
| February 22, 2012 | Posted by Lauren under Running |
Life has been a bit all over the place lately, and you may have noticed that my already irregular blogging schedule has become even more sporadic. One of these days I vow to be the type of blogger that sticks to an actual posting schedule…but that would require me to actually have my life together to some degree (and not take 17 hours to write every post). So until I up my organization and speed-writing skills, I plan to just keep writing when I can, and I appreciate the fact that you come back to read when I do post.
Anyway, today I want to share something that’s actually a pretty big deal for me. A few weeks ago, I mentioned the fact that I had received some exciting running-related news. It was news that I had been waiting for with fingers {doubly} crossed since the beginning of the year. Something that I knew would add extra excitement, incentive, and support to my running this year.
I didn’t say anything right away because I wanted to wait until it was totally official, not because I was trying to stretch out the mystery or build it up to be something bigger than it was. Though maybe I should have. You know, for the blog…
So with that said, I’m thrilled to announce that…
I have been selected to be a member of the Saucony Hurricane Team for 2012!
I am so honored to have been chosen to be a part of this small group. The caliber of athletes that are on the team is incredible, and I am humbled that Saucony saw enough in me to allow me to be one of them (to give you a general sense, my marathon time is on the very slow end of the team; my shorter distance race times don’t even come close!).
Last winter, when Dorothy (my favorite Hurricane athlete) mentioned that Saucony would be accepting applications for new Hurricanes, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to apply. To have the opportunity to represent an amazing brand was something beyond my wildest dreams. I mean – I’m just a regular girl who happens to run. I’ve done it for many years, and have seen myself grow as a runner and a person during that time, but I don’t have any grand delusions about my abilities – I am not (and never will be) an elite athlete.
But I do have a passion for the sport. And whether I’m training for a marathon, running a crazy relay, or just out there running for the heck of it one thing remains – I love running. It completely changed my life. I discovered this sport at a critical time in my youth and have become a stronger person, both inside and out, because of it. No matter where life takes me and how many miles I run along the way, I will always always be a runner. And I will always want to share the love of running with everyone that I meet.
Now that I am a part of something larger than myself, it only inspires me to push harder. To run stronger. To be the best athlete I can be. To do justice to a brand that encourages me to find my strong.
So what does this mean exactly?
I am part of a small group who was selected for a higher level of sponsorship that brings with it an increased level of responsibility. Which means that I will officially be racing for Saucony in any and all competitions this year. And also means that a certain pair of #teamwatermelon shoes are now officially retired. I shed a small tear for that one. But don’t worry, I already have my eye on a suitable replacement.
2012 has gotten off to a great start already, and I am so excited to see what this year will bring.
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