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My Rational (and Irrational) Running Fears

18 Nov

Things I’m currently worried about for tomorrow’s 20-mile run:

  • Hitting a wall
  • Hitting multiple walls
  • Falling into a bottomless pothole
  • Tripping on a brick
  • IT band issues
  • Peacock attacks
  • Getting stumped playing The Name Game
  • No one wanting to play The Name Game
  • All of the water stations running out of water
  • Yellow Gatorade
  • Getting hit by a car
  • Getting hit by a cyclist
  • Getting hit by a baseball
  • Finally catching the severe cough that my co-workers having been passing around the office between now and seven hours from now
  • Having a tendonitis flare up
  • Chafing so bad that blood soaks through my clothes
  • Sleeping through my alarm
  • Cemetery zombies
  • Becoming a running zombie
  • Boredom
  • Bird poop
  • Alligators
  • Losing my car key somewhere between mile 1 and 20
  • Running out of things to talk about
  • Take so long to run that my Nike+ watch runs out of battery
  • Not finishing
  • The ice bath I will undoubtedly have to take afterwards

More to come after the run …

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Marathon Nightmare

16 Nov

Last night I had my first marathon nightmare.

In my dream, I was standing in my corral, waiting to start the race when I looked down and I was wearing…. SHORTS. And not like dry-wick performance running shorts. I was wearing an old pair of blue ADIDAS shorts that I’ve had since the sixth grade.

You know the kind, they’re soft and super comfy, but if you tried to run down the street in them they would likely fall to your ankles because they are that loose and the drawstring has been missing for years.

And even on the off-chance that they didn’t fall off, they would ride up like there’s no tomorrow. All I could think about was the severe chafing that would result! My choice was clear: I would have to run the marathon in my underwear. (Let me add that I can’t be held responsible for the logic I had in a dream.)

I woke up this morning and was relieved to find out that my real marathon is eight weeks away and I have plenty of time to make sure I have my capris ready.  But with my first 20-mile run quickly approaching (it’s Saturday), I’m finding myself anxious about the run which could explain the nightmare.

How about you? Do you ever get anxious before long runs or your big race? Have you ever had a nightmare about it?

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I cannot hurry up because I am a Marathon Runner

15 Nov

This was me and Donnie on Saturday after my 10-mile run. We had to meet friends for our day at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival at noon.

Needless to say, we didn’t leave the house until noon.

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10 Miles, 3 Peacocks and a Hawk on a Wire

13 Nov

Yesterday my marathon training plan for the Walt Disney World Marathon called for a 10 to 14 mile run. Since I’m coming back from injury, I opted for 10 miles and met the group at 6:30 am. After last week’s IT problems during our 16-miler, I made sure I was there early enough for some much needed dynamic stretching before the start.

I’m often worried before our long runs that I will become bored. I think this stems from training for my last two half marathons by myself. Boredom tempts me to cut my mileage short. And talk to myself. But that’s normal, right?

It’s usually not a problem these days since I now train with my Track Shack Marathonfest ladies (and one gent). Running with a group helps keep the conversation going, and it distracts me from the mile at hand. Also, for long slow runs, my ability to converse (or lack thereof) helps me determine if I pacing correctly: If I can talk with only short gasps for air, I’m okay on pace; If I’m gasping for air, I need to slow down.

Yesterday was full of wonderful distractions (none of which were pain, which is a very bad distraction):

  • Marine Corp Marathon and New York City Marathon: Two of our runners recently ran these races and it was their first time rejoining the group since their marathons. Since these are two races I want to run, I wasted no time asking them for full race recaps.
  • Hawk on a telephone wire: We stopped to look at this beautiful bird, but I must admit it was a little nervous that it would mistake my pony tail for prey and it would swoop down and get me. I did not stop to take a photo.
  • Three peacocks in a tree: First of all, I didn’t even know peacocks could fly up that high! And to find not one, but three peacocks perched in the same tree? This was picture-worthy:

From this angle I could only capture one peacock, but the other two are perched in the same tree. Look smack in the middle of the photo to see it.

  •  The pumpkin scarecrow family: Last week during our 16-miler, we ran by a family of pumpkin scarecrows that I became convinced was placed there to cheer us on during our run. This week I decided to get a photo of me high-fiving our number one supporters:

Me high-fiving my biggest supporters

In the end, yesterday’s run went really well. Afterwards, I took off for my much anticipated day at Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival.

Have you seen anything on a run recently that you wished you could’ve capture on camera?

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A Short Run and New Favorite Top

11 Nov

It’s been a busy week. After missing my Tuesday morning run, and sleeping through my Wednesday makeup run, I slept in Thursday morning as well. So when I came home from work last night, I was making no excuses. I had to run!

As soon as I walked in the door, the couch was sitting there looking at me, enticing me to join for just a little while. I ignored the taunts and went to throw on some running clothes.

Which brings me to the topic of my new favorite running top. I’ve been eyeing this scoop neck tank from Lululemon. I even tried it on and admired it’s perfect fit, but at $52.00 I couldn’t justify it as I was already buying a running skirt from them that was similarly priced. So I had a very grow- up, disciplined moment and put the top back.

A few weeks ago, my friend told me that Old Navy was having a sale on their active wear. I really didn’t have many expectations when I went, but Old Navy is almost across the street from me so it was at least worth a quick look. Imagine my surprise when I saw this look-alike compression tank top on sale for only $12.50. Again, I grabbed it to try on, but was sure it would have a weird fit or have a short torso or something. But when I tried it on, it fit well.

So last night was my first run wearing it. Here’s a lovely self portrait:

My new Old Navy tank

Don’t judge the fact that I have on eye makeup please, I went running directly after work. 🙂

So after my run, my prognosis is: I love it! The tank had a long torso, so even though it did ride up a little bit, it never rode up above my waistline. I even ran into a friend at the lake and she complimented it.

Which brings me back to my run. It’s been a while since I’ve run laps around Lake Eola so I headed over there in my car. I can run there, but I wanted to run with music and didn’t want to worry about cars. On my drive there I wondered why I didn’t just wake up in the morning… I wanted nothing more than to sit on my couch and veg out after my long day at work.

In the end, I only ran 2.35 miles (three laps around Lake Eola). My calves were so tight! All week I’ve been rolling my thighs and hips to avoid IT pain and totally neglected my calves. So I finally gave up and went home to stretch and roll my calves for a good hour.

I did snap this pic of the lake before leaving:

The new fountain in Lake Eola

The Lake Eola fountain was broke for what seemed to be forever, and running around the lake just wasn’t the same without it. I’m glad it’s back, and much more colorful!

Which do you prefer? Wake up early to work out or workout after work?

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I Missed Tuesday’s Run

9 Nov

I missed my track run on Tuesday… and today for that matter.

After I opted to stay up until 1 AM watching Changeling Monday night, I knew I wasn’t going to wake up in time to make it to the track by 5 AM. So I told myself I would run after work. But I left work super late and exhausted and told myself I would wake up this morning to run. But I was so tired last night that I forgot to set my alarm.

I’m helping a friend after work today so I won’t be making this one up. But I will fester in my guilt all day.

By the way, Changeling was a great movie based on the most awful true story.

When you miss a training run, what do you do? Make it up? Skip it? Feel guilt? 

 

Sweet Sixteen

6 Nov

I’ve spent my Sunday resting and following the 2011 ING New York City Marathon. It has me ridiculously excited for my first marathon, which is quickly approaching in January: the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon. But before I can tackle 26.2 miles, I had to tackle yesterday’s sweet sixteen.

This is the second time I run my longest distance of 16 miles. The first time I covered this distance was over a month ago in New York City, where I ran 16 miles with my group leader’s friend, Kate, who was training for today’s New York City Marathon. It was a great run for several reasons: I felt strong, time flew by because I was busy catching up with my brand-new friend, and dodging the NYRR races taking place in Central Park that morning added a nice distraction from the mileage.

Not long after my first 16-miler, I was sidelined for a few weeks with tendonitis in my foot, so this was my first time hitting that high mileage again. I started the run a little nervous for how my foot was going to hold up.

The rest of my group was running 20 miles. Instead, I decided to aim for 16 and joined them 4 miles into their run at 5:30 AM. We were a small group: we started with six of us, but dropped to four after an injury sidelined one of our runners. The dark sky was clear and riddled with stars. I tried to snap a pic but the iPhone 4G doesn’t capture stars, just dark sky. Boo.

Shortly before 7 AM a pick-up truck approached us and the driver said, “Watch out for the drunk guy ahead.”

At this point we had been running for over an hour and I was bored. One of the runners in my group wanted to cross the street in order to heed this probably-smart advice, but I pushed us to stay the course. By golly, I needed a distraction and seeing this drunk guy would do just fine!

As we ran in the dark I tried to focus my near-sighted eyes, but couldn’t see anything. Finally one of us noticed someone up ahead:

Christine: Is that him?

Me: Where?

Christine: Standing in the middle of the street.

Molly: Well, if he’s standing in the middle of the street it probably is him.

Me: Where? I can’t see anyone.

Christine: Wait, are his pants down?

Me: What? His pants are down?? Shoot. I can’t see anyone!

Christine: Yeah, I think his pants are down. I don’t see any pants.

As I struggled to really focus and we quickly approached a drunk guy whose pants were apparently around his ankles, a police car approached. The patrol car lights helped me see a figure ahead quickly pulling up their pants. We saw the police officer get out of his car, approach the drunk guy, ask a couple of questions and by the time we ran by them, the officer had a visibly intoxicated guy with his hands on the hood of the patrol car and his legs spread, just like you see on COPS or Law & Order.

As we ran by, my group ribbed me for not taking a picture to capture the moment. Okay, I admit it… I’m scared of taking pictures of police officers while they’re trying to do their jobs. However, I did get to capture this moment of the sun rising:

Sunrises are one of the best parts of running in the early AM

I also got this picture from my favorite little trail, nicknamed “the Dinky Dock”:

View from the dinky dock

Around mile 11, I asked my group if they wanted to play the Name Game. The way I play it, one person starts by saying a famous person’s first and last name. The next person has to say a famous person’s full name whose first name starts with the same letter as the previous person’s last name. For example, if I started with Beyonce Knowles, the next person would have to name a celebrity whose first name starts with the letter ‘K’ like Kevin Spacey. The next person would have to name a celebrity whose first name starts with an ‘S’ like Sigourney Weaver. If at any point someone uses a celebrity whose first and last name start with the same letter (for example, Janet Jackson) then the turn goes back to the person before you and the direction of the game reverses (for example, we were playing counter-clockwise, so a double letter name like this would change the direction of the game to clockwise).

The Name Game surprisingly kept us pretty entertained/distracted for 3 or 4 miles. However, around mile 13 my IT band in my left leg started to hurt and by mile 15 I couldn’t talk anymore. My silence didn’t seem to bother my group as they were running mile 19 and were struggling as well.

I pushed myself to pick up my legs and when my watch said 16 miles I almost cried out in joy.

After 16 miles, my dogs were barking

So energy-wise, I felt good throughout the run. But this long run was definitely harder than my last 16-miler a month ago. And while my tendonitis didn’t seem to bother me, I wonder if it’s changed my stride without me realizing it? I’ve already stretched and rolled my legs and hips three times since yesterday’s run and plan to do it again tonight. Let’s see how I feel Tuesday morning.

What interesting distractions have you welcomed during a long run? 

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Sharing the Road

2 Nov

Yesterday morning I ran 4 miles with my training group. Due to this past weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon and this upcoming weekend’s New York City Marathon, our group was small. The three of us ran on the road, making sure to be mindful of cars.

When a car comes, our group does the following:

  1. Yell “car back” or “car front” loud enough for the whole group to hear. The front and back signifier lets everyone know if the car is coming from behind or ahead.
  2. Run along the curb facing traffic. If a car is traveling fast or we aren’t sure if they can see us, we’ll jump on the sidewalk instead.

At one point during our run an oncoming car honked loudly at us and it seemed that they swerved towards us, not away from us. In a quiet neighborhood at 6 AM, I couldn’t help but think how rude of a gesture this was on so many levels. I felt bad for anyone that was sleeping in the houses around us because they got awoken with a nice little “$@%& you” honk in the wee hours.

When this sort of thing happens, I try to just wave and smile and remind myself that we’re supposed to be sharing the road. I imagine the driver as that kid in kindergarden that would punch you if you tried to play with one of their toys.

Runner’s World has plenty of similar stories online, but this one takes the cake. Chase a runner with a tire iron? What a lovely gesture! But a commentator John 3-13 makes the best point: “I run into the hostile ones too, but what leaves a lasting impression are the considerate ones.”

How true! For my last half marathon I trained by myself and I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the random words of encouragement I would get from strangers on my long, lonely runs. I’ve heard “Nice run,” “Better you than me,” and my personal favorite “Nice legs.” (That last one I now use for marathon posters.) I’ve had drivers stop traffic to let me cross, honk and wave, and move over to the other side of the street to give me plenty of room to run.

What nice gestures have you received from drivers while running?

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A Dark and Dreary (and Wet) Run

29 Oct
HiddenLight.jpg
 
Photo Source: Matt Gibson 

This morning our group met up at our usual spot at 6 AM to run 6 miles. My training schedule called for a 10-mile run this weekend, but since I was out of commission with my tendonitis for almost three weeks, I’m trying to ease back in slowly.

Earlier this week I had suggested that our group leaders should have our route go by a local cemetery, it being our pre-Halloween run and all. I was super excited when they agreed. I was even more excited when I woke up this morning and it was drizzling. This would set the stage for our run perfectly!

Unfortunately, it was a little too dark and I was a little too chatty, and the first time we ran right by the cemetery without my noticing. Lucky for me, we had to pass it one more time. After I mentioned how exciting it would be to actually run through the cemetery, one of my group leaders gave it some thought and agreed. It wasn’t hard convincing the rest of the group to join. Well, except for one person.

We spent the next minutes addressing some very valid concerns. The conversation went something like this:

Emily: I’ll go, but I just want it to be known that I’m not excited about this.

Me: Don’t worry. If a hand pops out of the ground and grabs someone, it can grab me.

Emily: How can you be sure it will grab you first?

Me: I’ll go first. But if something grabs me, what will you do?

Emily: I’ll pick up my pace and the group will thank you later for making us run faster.

Me: Oh, well what if I trip and hurt my ankle. Would you stay with me until help comes?

Emily: I know the way back best. I would let Christina stay with you.

Christina: But you’re the group leader.

Emily: And as group leader, I would run the group back, get my car and come back and get you.

Christina: Even without zombies?

Emily: It’s still a cemetery.

The conversation continued as we headed back towards the cemetery. And as we got closer the drizzle increased to a steady rain.

As we neared, I noted a car sitting in the parking lot of the cemetery with it’s lights on. This is how scary movies start. I picked up my pace.

The actual run through the cemetery was dark (we could hardly see the trail) and quiet. All you could hear was the crunching of the pebbles beneath our feet. It was serene. I couldn’t help but think of the tears that have been shed by loved ones here.

And most importantly, our run through the cemetery was uneventful. No ghosts. No zombies. No hands shooting out of the ground and grabbing my ankle.

Afterwards, we ran back to our cards making a squishy sound with every step. Our shoes and socks were soaked at this point.

And I never bothered to turn back around to see what happened to the car that was sitting in the parking lot.

Have you ever run through the cemetery? If so, how was your experience?

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Back to Training

25 Oct

Time this AM as I was heading out the door

To say that I didn’t enjoy getting to sleep in while I was letting my tendonitis do some healing would be a lie. I LOVED it. But I did miss running with my group. I missed the quiet time in the mornings. And I missed beating the world to getting up and at ’em.

Rather than jumping right back into track workouts, tempo intervals, and hill combos, I’ve decided to join my group’s lovely morning runs through downtown Winter Park for the next couple of weeks. This morning we met bright and early for a 4.35 mile run. Most of my group is tapering for this weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon and next weekend’s New York City Marathon, and since I’m coming back from some time off I welcomed our leisurely pace. My foot didn’t hurt and I felt great. Plus, we ran by a cemetery which I felt was very appropriate with Halloween just around the corner.

Afterwards we had some coffee and laughs before heading off to start our days. As one of the ladies was swearing off swearing and the rest of us were begging her to reconsider this foolish move, I couldn’t help but think how much I enjoy the ladies I run with. They really make training for a marathon a fun experience.

Do you run alone, with a partner or in a group? Why?

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