Tag Archives: running

Why Runners Should Never Trust People

7 Aug

Two days ago a person almost killed me and my friend Rachelle. This was a person that I trusted to do what was right. I learned a valuable lesson. Never trust people.

Let me start from the beginning. It all started around 6am. My friend and I were a couple of miles into our four-mile run when we approached a four-way stop. As always, we slowed down to see if there were any cars approaching.

We saw the car coming, but it was still slowing down for the full stop. Since the car wasn’t full braked yet and would still have to stop at the stop sign, as you should always do at a stop sign, we thought we had time to cross. Also, by this time we were in the driver’s headlights so surely they could see us, right?

Wrong. Don’t trust people. The driver totally pulled one of these:

clueless

Source

As we were running right in front of her car, the driver shifted from slowing down to pausing to then accelerating. And we did this:

chelsea

Source

And just as she was about to hit us both, she slammed her brakes. I had jumped back and my friend had jumped forward to finish crossing the street. The driver tried to signal me to go ahead and cross in front of her. To which I gave her a look similar to this:

disbelief

Source

There was no way I was going to cross in front of her car. I didn’t trust her. So we went into a stand-off until she finally drove away and I crossed the street.

My friend and I couldn’t believe what had just transpired. How did she not see us? Why didn’t she stop at the stop sign? Why couldn’t we run a 9-minute mile? (Okay, maybe that last question is off topic, but when your life flashes before your eyes you can’t help where your mind goes.)

Tuesday morning I learned my lesson as a runner: Never trust people. Unless they are handing out free pretzels during a marathon. Then, by golly, take all the free pretzels you can get your hands on.

Have you ever been almost hit by a car while running?

 

 

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Chicago Marathon Training | Week 18

8 Oct

To tell you that life has been busy lately would be quite the understatement. Sometimes I find myself standing there in a daze, trying to remember what’s next in my long days. Thankfully I have a handy iPhone to remind me of my next steps. If only my iPhone could get me some sleep and some much wanted time with my lady friends!

On the bright side, tapering means I’ve been able to sleep in an extra 30 minutes or so on run days … and running less mileage means I’m not as tired afterwards. I’ve even noticed my coffee intake reduce … slightly.

It helps to remind myself to take everything one day at a time. If you happen to see me out in public talking to myself, here’s what I’m likely saying:

You can do this. Just take it one day at a time. One. Day. At. A time.

Marathon day you’ll find me talking to myself saying something very similar:

You can do this. Just take it one mile at a time. One. Mile. At. A time.

With that, here’s how week 18’s taper went:

Tuesday / Track Easy Run (3 mi)

I could not get up for track. I just couldn’t. I tried. On only a few hours of sleep, I dragged myself out of bed and brushed my teeth. Then after some delirious consideration, I texted my running mate and told her I was going back to bed. Those were the best extra two hours of sleep ever. Then I woke up in a panic … surely if I don’t keep up my training schedule something awful will happen. Pains will appear out of nowhere or my muscles will freeze up or my leg will just plain fall off! So I threw on my running clothes and went for an easy run around my ‘hood.

I’m happy to report that aside from just feeling really tired, my legs were fine. Nothing locked up. Nothing fell off. 😉

  • Distance: 3.22 mi
  • Time: 39:45.64
  • Avg Pace: 12:20/mi

I can’t help but notice that I’m getting slower by the day.

Thursday / Pace Run (6 mi)

I have class Monday and Wednesday nights after work and our group meets Wednesday nights after class. Basically, I didn’t get home from my day until almost midnight. I didn’t fall asleep until almost 1 AM. But because I had cancelled Tuesday, I couldn’t bring myself to do it again. So I dragged myself out of bed with only three hours of sleep with the promise that if we ran fast, I would have time to come home and sleep again.

I love making that promise to myself because I know it’s never true. When I get home I almost always opt to have a really nice long stretching session. That’s alright. Lying to myself seems to work.

  • Distance: 5.36 mi*
  • Time: 01:00:49*
  • Avg Pace: 11:20/mi*

* So… I kinda did it again. I forgot to stop my Garmin and drove a quarter mile down the street before I remembered to hit stop. I think we ran just over 5 miles and our average pace was closer to 12:20/mi.

Saturday Sunday / Long Run (9 mi.)

There was no way I could make it to Saturday’s morning run, so my Chicago Marathon training partner, Beth, and I decided to run on Sunday instead.

We switched things up and decided to run around downtown Orlando (usually we run in Winter Park). It was fun to run my old running routes. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed running by Lake Eola and seeing the fountain, which Beth compared to a giant bidet. I will always now imagine a giant stopping his destruction of downtown Orlando to wash his bottom.

After hitting up Lake Eola, we headed towards Lake Highland Prep and hopped on the Orlando Urban Trail for a couple of miles. It’s been ages since I first ran the trail, so it was nice to run it again.

Before we knew it, our run was over and I was off to shower and start a crazy busy day.

I didn’t have my Garmin on me and I’m too lazy to text my friend and ask her how long it took us to run.

This week will be my final (19th) week of training. This morning I ran a hot, sticky three miles with Beth and Thursday we’ll do the same. And then before we know it, we’ll be standing at the start line of the Chicago Marathon.

What a crazy ride this has been. I can’t believe I’ve survived the summer marathon training without self-combusting. I really, really, really hope that our race day weather gives us some relief from hot and muggy.

Here’s the current forecast:

Screen shot 2013-10-08 at 8.19.44 AMHere’s to hoping the rain holds off too!

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Chicago Marathon Training | Weeks 15-17

3 Oct

The temperature here in Florida has finally shown us just a tad bit of relief and I can tell our Florida “fall” is just around the corner. After training through a brutal summer of relentless heat and humidity, I can’t believe the Chicago Marathon is just over a week away. I’m surprised to see myself type this, but I’m kinda looking forward to running this race. This is mainly because of my desire to run in relatively cool weather.

Weeks 15 through 17 of marathon training included my longest training run ever, hills, and the start of taper. Here’s how it went:

Week 15:

Tuesday / Track (8 x 400 at 5k pace)

I’m a sucker for 400’s. Anyone can run around a trap track once, right?

  • 400 / 1: 02:39.14 / 09:51/mi
  • 400 / 2: 02:29.30 / 09:22/mi
  • 400 / 3: 02:32.20 / 09:38/mi
  • 400 / 4: 02:40.91 / 10:11/mi
  • 400 / 5: 02:34.54 / 09:44/mi
  • 400 / 6: 02:33.17 / 10:15/mi
  • 400 / 7: 02:28.90 / 09:17/mi
  • 400 / 8: 04:47.40 / 18:28/mi — Forgot to hit “lap”

Thursday / Hills (9 mi)

Do you want to know how early one has to wake up to run 9 miles before work? Three AM. Yes. You read that correctly. Sigh.

  • Distance: 8.83 mi
  • Time: 01:53:12
  • Avg Pace: 12:49/mi

Saturday / Long Longest Run (Ever) (22 mi)

This is the run that almost killed me. Because of scheduling conflicts, I never actually ran a 20-mile long run this training season. And my longest training run ever to date has been 20 miles.

My running partner, Beth, kidded that we may as well run all 26 miles. Funny lady.

In true longest run ever form, I hit my wall around mile 20. I spent the last two miles asking myself why I signed up for another marathon. And after the run? I couldn’t eat. I could hardly talk … which naturally worried my running mates. (I’m never silent for long.)

I was able to drink coffee and chocolate milk, which I gladly alternated between until I was able to gather up the strength to drive home.

The highlight of my run? My amazing group leader Em loves us soooooo much that she brought us ginger snaps and ice-cold towels. I’m not sure why, but ginger snaps are magical during long runs. It might be because the ginger soothes your belly. Or just that it’s a cookie, and everyone loves cookie breaks, right? Anyways, Em gets the award for best group leader. 🙂

  • Distance: 22 mi
  • Time: 05:22:48
  • Avg Pace: 14:40/mi

Week 16:

I took taper to a whole new level during week 16 of training. My body seemed to need the rest, so I won’t beat myself up about it.

Tuesday / Track Yoga

My body needed this.

Thursday / Hills Sleep

My body needed this too.

Saturday / Long Run OYO (10 9 mi)

Only three of us ran, so we managed to keep the run moving. But when we realized we still had another mile to tack on, we decided that none of us cared enough to make it an even 10 miles. We stopped short and happy.

  • Distance: 9.12 mi
  • Time: 2:00:02
  • Avg Pace: 13:09/mi

Afterwards I came home and did some yoga. My body rejoiced.

Week 17:

Tuesday / Track Tempo

Who am I go argue with the majority when everyone votes to run mile repeats instead of track?

  • Distance: 3.60 mi
  • Time: 43:52.77
  • Avg Pace: 12:12/mi*

* I started to drive down the street before I realized I had forgotten to shut my Garmin off. It wasn’t far, but this would affect my average pace.

Thursday / Tempo Easy Run (8 5 mi)

It’s clear that I’m now considering my scheduled training mileage as mere suggestions. Eight miles seemed like a lovely suggestion, but the heat and humidity suggested we end up walking our last mile and cut the run short so we can catch up at Starbucks.

  • Distance: 5.30 mi
  • Time: 01:15:38
  • Avg Pace: 14:16/mi

Saturday / Long Run (14 mi)

It was still hot and humid Saturday morning and at this point I’m just starting to become an angry runner. I mean, c’mon Florida. Pumpkin is in all of our coffee drinks and baked goods, Christmas decorations are going up for sale in stores, and people are wearing JACKETS in other parts of the country. Why is it still so HOT?? Saturday was officially the day I got over summer running. Unfortunately for me, I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen the end of it. 😦

  • Distance: 14.07 mi
  • Time: 03:29:58
  • Avg Pace: 14:55/mi

The countdown is on. Only ten more days to go!

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Chicago Marathon Training | Week Four

4 Jul

Week four of training for the Chicago Marathon coincided with a very busy, stressful week at work. By Friday afternoon I was exhausted and still 16 miles from being able to start my weekend. Just the thought of having to run that far had my stomach turning. If you talked to me Friday, I’m sorry for being so whiny. My immediate future was looking so bleak. 😉

Here’s how week four of training went.

Week 4:

Tuesday / Track Easy Run

We were schedule to run a descending ladder, but my back was still hurting so I decided to go for an easy run instead. Lucky for me, my running partners joined me. This made for a much better run than a slow solo run.

  • Distance: 4.04 mi
  • Time: 45:45.60
  • Avg Pace: 11:20/mi

After the run, I came home and did a stretching yoga workout for 15 minutes. My body felt so good afterwards.

Thursday / Tempo Run (4 mi)

I was practically sleep walking through getting ready for my run Thursday morning when I almost brushed my teeth with IcyHot. Luckily I looked down at the tube in my hand just as I was about to put my toothbrush in my mouth and caught myself just in time.

Thursday’s run wasn’t horrible, but I did have Saturday’s long run looming ahead of me.

  • Distance: 4.72 mi
  • Time: 54:25.20
  • Avg Pace: 11:32/mi

Afterwards I came home and did a 30-minute yoga workout. My body loved every minute of it.

Saturday / Long Run (16 mi)

In preparation of my long run, Friday night I ate my new favorite pre-long run meal: pad se-ew. My friend has been swearing by it for over a year, but it wasn’t until recently that I tried it. I strongly recommend getting this plate from Siam Garden in Winter Park. If you haven’t tried pad se-ew before, it’s a thick rice noodle stir fried with broccoli in black bean sauce. I add chicken to mine. It seems to do the trick perfectly!

Saturday morning I woke up extra early. Since I was almost left behind last week for being a couple minutes late, I knew I had to make a better attempt at getting there 15 minutes before our 4:45 AM start. Ew.

I gotta do something to laugh in the mornings.

I gotta do something to laugh in the mornings.

I started the morning with an oatmeal pancake, which is super easy to make. I mix one egg, half a cup of oatmeal and a spoonful of greek yogurt and cook on a skillet like I would a pancake.

Oatmeal pancake

Oatmeal pancake

It requires an extra couple of minutes, but since I’m not eating bread anymore I need something that will sustain me for long runs. When I have more time, I toss in some blueberries. Sometimes I overcook the pancake since I’m doing other things, but it still tastes yummy. And it works.

I made it to the run with minutes to spare, which meant I didn’t get left behind. That’s always a good start. You know what wasn’t good? Ninety percent humidity. That’s not fun at all.

humidity

It’s like running through a thick cloud of wet. Ugh.

This long run went a lot better than the previous one. In fact, at one point I remember seeing that we had already run 12 miles and only had four more to go. The difference between a good run and a bad run: thinking “I only have four more miles to go” vs thinking “Damn… four more miles to go.”

Plus, we had this pretty sunrise moment:

16_mile_sunrise

Lake Baldwin

As I mentioned earlier, I had a crazy busy week at work so I ran out of time to go buy some Shock Blocks. I’ve seen my friends use M&Ms and pretzels for energy during workouts so I picked up a bag of peanut M&Ms at the convenience store on my way home Friday night. This did just the trick! Not only did I enjoy my snack breaks, but I wasn’t choking on them like I do the chews when I can’t get them down fast enough. I may never go back to chews again!

Before I knew it, our run was over.

The time and average pace is not accurate. Since we run in a group there were a couple of times we were waiting on someone or using the restroom but feel it would be too confusing to stop our watches since we run intervals. We just let it run. 😉

  • Distance: 16 mi
  • Time: 03:59:31
  • Avg Pace: 14:58/mi

Afterwards a few of us went to Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux for breakfast. It was my first time going, but I’ll be back for sure. I was hot, so I settled on lots of liquids for breakfast: an iced black coffee (their coffee is delicious) and a smoothie made with organic peanut butter, yogurt, honey, banana and soy milk. Just writing about the smoothie makes me want to go get one.

16_mile_liquids

Iced coffees and a smoothie from Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux

Week five of marathon training is in full swing… sort of. Today is a holiday so I’m taking the day off. Thank goodness … I needed it!

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Inside Out

20 Jun

insideout

When I’m this tired, I can’t be bothered with little things like trying to figure out which way my shirt goes on.

Oddly enough, it seems I’m creating quite the habit of putting on my running clothes inside out. Does this happen to anyone else? Or am I just “special”?

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Running Solo

16 Oct

Runner Number Six

Photo Credit

Last night I tossed and turned well passed midnight, so when my alarm went off at 4:30 AM for my morning run I made a sleepy, but sound, decision: I would sleep in and run on my own after work.

This decision won me three much-needed extra hours of sleep and nine hours to talk myself out of running after work. As the day wore on, my legs got more and more sore from yesterday’s early AM Yoga Meltdown session and I started to tell myself that maybe just stretching after work would be good enough. My sister asked me to hang out and I came so close to saying yes. And I almost scratched the run to go to the grocery store and make a home cooked meal.

Instead, I came straight home, changed into my running spandex and walked right out my front door without even stopping to look at my sweet, fat pugs (whom I’m sure were giving me the stink eye for not walking them first). I walked down my driveway, took a deep breath and set out for three miles … all by myself.

Almost immediately I passed two neighbors who were combining several activities: drinking wine, walking and weight lifting. You see, they were walking with a dumbbell in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. When they saw me they started laughing and told me that I was doing it the right way. I laughed back and told them that I thought their way looked like a lot more fun. I ran on  with a smile on my face. I think I might try this workout tomorrow. 😉

My sore legs were heavy and my run was slow but it was a gorgeous night and being alone with my thoughts was splendid. Sometimes running solo isn’t such a bad thing… That is, when you can manage to not talk yourself out of it.

What do you do to avoid talking yourself out of a planned workout?

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Fall 2012 Races

28 Aug

Since I’m just getting back into being a fully functioning, two-legged runner, I’m weary of committing myself to too many races this fall. I might sprinkle some more 5ks into the mix for fun, but here are my planned runs for the fall:

Miracle Miles 15k – September 22, 2012

I ran this race last year just after returning from a two-week stay in NYC. It was a brutally hot race (especially after running in cool NYC) and I made the mistake of not carrying a water bottle. I remember being so parched in between the water stations that I considered veering off course to get some water at my house. This year I’ll make sure to carry water and hydrate the days leading up to the race.

NOTE AFTER POST: I did not end up running the Miracle Miles 15k. For details read here.

Turkey Trot 5k – November 22, 2012

The Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot in 2007 was my first 5k ever. Donnie had convinced me that it would be a great way to start the holiday weekend. His pops and him had been running the race for several years as part of their holiday tradition. I finally agreed and am so glad I did… it really is a wonderful start to a day filled with food, friends and family! This year will be my fifth year running it in a row, and I hope to make pumpkin pancakes afterwards, like I did last year. I’m trying to convince my mom and my Sis to join in the fun. Wish me luck!

Orlando Half Marathon – December 1, 2012 

Last year I ran this race with a friend and had an absolute blast. I’m going to push myself a little harder this year, but look forward to running around the city without the road traffic. 🙂

I’m hoping for a healthy, happy racing season and will definitely continue to do yoga along with my training to help avoid injury.

What races do you have planned for the fall?

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Run, Yoga, Run, Run, Paint

27 Aug

This last week was super sweaty and busy and I spent so much time feeling thankful for the laughs along the way.

Here were my workouts:

  • Tues: Ran 4 miles
  • Wed: Hatha 1 Yoga
  • Thu: Ran 4 miles
  • Fri: Stretched
  • Sat: Ran 6 7 miles
  • Sun: Paint Party

Some of the thoughts I had along the way:

“I did not miss waking up at this ungodly hour.” – Waking up at 4:45 AM for my Tuesday and Thursday runs

“I missed this so much!” – After those same Tuesday and Thursday runs

“Oh, this is just what I needed.” – When I realized that my Hatha yoga class was focusing on hip openers

“Oh… ow… oh… oooh…” – During my stretch session Friday

“Hmm… this was supposed to be a six-mile run, but my Garmin says seven miles.” – Checking my watch after a special new 6-mile loop… that really is closer to seven 🙂

“Glad this yoga has my back and shoulders strong.” – two hours into the paint party at my little sister’s new place

I met up with an old friend yesterday that called me “the healthiest person she knows.” While laughing I tried to explain that working out was a social event for me. Running with my ladies gives me a chance to catch up on their lives, tell shark stories and drink coffee, and it’s much healthier for us than a Happy Hour. Though the coffee I ordered after Saturday’s six seven miles would beg to differ:

The big gulp of iced coffees …

I didn’t get as far on the iced coffee as I thought I would so I stuck it in the frig for later. I may or may not be sipping on it as I type.

Tropical Storm Isaac will likely complicate my runs this week.

Granted, Isaac will be skirting by the (not-so) Sunshine State, but we’ll be getting remnant rain from it regardless. I dislike this, but I am thankful we’ll be safe. In the meantime I will continue to drag my dogs outside in the rain for their potty breaks. Hmm… I should count that as another workout.

If the rain curtails my running this week (I don’t do treadmills), I will just improvise with extra yoga and strength training where I can.

How/will Tropical Storm Isaac curtail your workouts this week?

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Race Recap: 2012 Flying Pig Marathon – Part 1

7 May

On Sunday morning shortly after I woke up at 4:15 AM, I said “this is going to be the best day ever.” I was, of course, being highly optimistic. It was the morning of the 2012 Flying Pig Marathon.

After over a month of having issues with my right IT band (I blogged about it here and here and here and here) I knew what I was potentially walking into. But because of how fabulously stubborn I am, I decided I would still participate in the Flying Pig Marathon, even if I had to walk it. Or crawl it.

Let me start at the beginning: I run with some really fun and amazing ladies. Earlier this year, a group of us decided to run the Flying Pig Marathon and Half in Cincinnati, OH. I was just coming out of my first marathon, and determined to get right back on that horse.

Amazingly enough, I don’t have a single photo of all seven of us together. But with a few pics from this weekend, I got us covered:

Left to Right: Molly, me, Rachelle, Emily and Erin

Rox

Me and Wendy

Emily, being the traveling pro that is is, found us a great brownstone rental in Covington, KY. Covington is conveniently located just across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati and the house was just a tiny bit over a mile away from both the expo and the start line. And it was super cute with a rooftop deck (not that I could access said rooftop deck after the marathon):

Our view of Cincinnati

Sunday morning I woke up around 4:30 AM. I ate half of a bagel with peanut butter, drank some black coffee, used the restroom and got dressed. The night before I had laid out all of my stuff:

This included:

  • Running tank
  • Sports bra
  • Running tights
  • Running shoes
  • Socks
  • Bib number (filled out with emergency info)
  • My borrowed Garmin
  • Fuel belt (equipped with $20 bill)
  • Fuel – Vanilla Stinger Waffles and Clif Shot Bloks
  • Head band turned into my wrist band
  • (not pictured) Cheap $15 sunglasses from Target

The rest of our group left the house around 5:40, while Rox and I ran fashionably late. This is not new for us. We’ve run several races together, and I’d say we’ve been running up to the start as the gun goes off for about half of those.

We left the house around 5:50 AM. We were just about to start crossing the bridge into Cincinnati when Rox looked down at my knees and asked where my IT band straps were. An expletive flew out of my mouth. I had forgotten to set those out, therefore forgetting to put them on.

We turned around to get them. Ten minutes and two IT straps later, we were crossing the bridge, where we got this lovely view of the super moon while we ate our bananas:

We followed the crowds towards the stadium and started to feel the energy created by thousands of runners ready to run their hearts out.

The corrals, or pig pens, at the start.

Especially this guy:

Praying or Tebowing?

Sure, it looks like Rox was doing the same, but she was just tying her shoes:

Here we are looking fairly relaxed for two girls that were running super late:

We stretched during the intro then Rox and I wished each other luck and split up to join our separate corrals pig pens. I tried to find the rest of the ladies, but had no such luck. I set my watch, stopped to say a prayer for strength and waited for my coral to start the race.

To be continued …

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Shut Down

25 Apr

I spent all day checking my email, my credit card account and the ING New York City Marathon registration page to see if I would be training through a hot, sweltering summer for the ING New York City Marathon this year.

Sadly, I finally got this message:

Shut down for the 2012 New York City Marathon

Well darn. This is like the time I didn’t make the cheerleading squad, without the awful cartwheels.

Since the Flying Pig Marathon is but  days away (11 to be exact), I’m going to wait to decide on my next race until then, but I see lots of half marathons in my future. These poor legs of mine need a rest.

Have you ever put your name in for the New York City Marathon lottery and if so, did you get selected?

On a side note, the marathon lottery tweets that said “May the odds be ever in your favor” had me chuckling today.

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