So It's Been A While...

I have been good and followed my own advice to rest and listen to my body. For two weeks I fought back the urge to run on the gorgeous cool mornings we have been experiencing in the Charlotte area lately. I did not even pack my running shoes on my business trips so I would not be tempted to hit the track at Wake after work. While it pained me to do absolutely nothing during this time, I will say there have been some unexpected bright sides. For starters, laundry is so much easier! I hang dry almost all of my running gear and the time it takes to sort one load from the washer to the dryer and not accidentally put the wrong item into the dryer is absurd. Also the amount of dirty laundry has dramatically decreased which is a huge time saver. Secondly, I no longer look like a crazy person at lunch. When I am mid marathon training season I eat like a man … a people tend to notice.  In addition to my regular sandwich plus 5 snacks (typically apple slices, a banana, yogurt, crackers and cookies), I constantly munch on nutrigrain bars, Special K protein sticks, chomps, and generally anything tasty in sight. Lately I have noticed that my lunch bag comes home with stuff still in it, which just seems crazy. Third, I have to admit how wonderful sleeping until 9am on a Saturday morning can truly be. Lounging around in my pajamas until lunch time drinking way too much coffee with a puppy (or two) cuddled up next to me on the couch is awesome. So, while not running has been an adjustment, I think I am coping pretty well.

After my 2 week wait, it was time to test my legs. We travelled to Ohio for a wedding last weekend and I was excited to run along one of the great lakes, Lake Eerie. Saturday morning Jason and I were out the door ready to explore by 9am and the weather could not have been better. The houses (mansions really) along the lake are impressive, there are several parks, and the neighborhoods are friendly and quaint. The 25 minute run was over before I knew it and there had been no pain in my leg the whole way. Afterwards, we walked down to the beach area to touch the water, then we made our way back to the hotel to get cleaned up for the wedding. I was on a high from getting to run, in a new place, with Jason; and could not wait for the afternoon to come so I could watch one of my good friends get married. I will not go into the details of the wedding and the rest of that day, but I will say how wonderful it is to have witnessed true love in its most beautiful form, marriage.

Unfortunately my joy was short lived. Sunday morning when I woke up before I was half way to the bathroom, I knew. My leg was stiff, and not the tired muscle type of stiff from a good workout but the – my bone was cracked and never healed properly but I kept insisting on testing it every two weeks – stiff. I did not tell Jason until the plane ride home to Charlotte, I guess I needed some time to digest it myself. I knew that this time after 6 months of this whole resting then testing routine it was time to face the music. I am not better, I do not know why, but it is what it is. I am not thrilled, but I am not devastated either which is surprising. It has been a full week now of my knowing that I will not run for a long time as I try to dig further into the mystery of my leg pain; and I am ok. Yes I had plans this fall of a glorious come back where I beat all the odds and despite my lack of training demolished the 3 hour barrier at the Richmond Marathon … but don’t we all dream big sometimes? When I knew that was no longer a possibility I switched gears into support mode for my friends taking on new challenges in running this fall. One friend is running his first Half Marathon in October and another, his first Full Marathon in November and I had visions of running alongside them as they chased down their goals. This seemed like a good substitute for a while, if I can’t go for my dreams help someone else reach theirs, but now it seems that is not an option either.

Sometimes in life things just happen and we don’t know why. It makes no sense to me that after all of this time off I am still struggling with leg pain, but I am. A stress fracture, while seemingly a gigantic alteration of my normal day to day, in the grand scheme of life is minute. There are so many other aspects of life to focus on than an inconvenience to my running aspirations. I have a wonderful husband and family, great friends, and a stable career that I enjoy. My new goal is to live with a happy heart, regardless of what I encounter each day. For those of you trying to read between the lines – this means I am out for Richmond. I plan to take the next few months completely off of running, and possibly see another Dr. for a bone scan to get a better look at what’s really happening in this stubborn leg of mine. Not sure if I plan to cross train in the near future or not, something is telling me for now, just to be still and listen.

Decision Time

My last post ended with my concluding that I need to trust my body and enjoy running for what it is. Well, it looks like I had no choice but to listen to my own advice because once again I had watch issues this week. I worked in Winston-Salem and was looking forward to running around Wake Forest. I pulled into the parking lot at the track, grabbed my running gear, and as I went to strap on my watch (which I was sure to pack) I realized that the face was blank. All I have to say is that the battery was 100% charged that morning and usually lasts for 3 days with running before dying. A nagging little voice in the back of my head reasoned that maybe I was not supposed to run hard this week. After not remembering to pack my watch last week followed by it dying this week, I should have listened to that voice. Instead I concluded that I had 2 options: ensure I run the 6 miles by running around the track, or guess at my pace and run around campus based on time using my phone as a watch. 24 laps was not sounding appealing considering I already had a track workout scheduled for the following day, so I decided that 52 minutes of running would be a safe bet for logging my desired mileage and wound my way around the trails behind the Reynolda Village Shops to enjoy some soft terrain and give my shins a break. I have no idea what my distance and pace really was, but it was nice to once again enjoy a relaxing, pressure free run.

Wednesday was the challenge: how do you run mile repeats with no stop watch? I saw a guy that looked pretty quick running 800s, so I asked his pace hoping I could tag along with him for the 1^st 800m then try to maintain the 2^nd 800m on my own. He was open to the idea, but said he was hitting 2:30s … I am not that fast! I thanked him and joked that when he got tired to let me know and I would join in then. I was almost to the point of bagging the track and heading out for another 52 minute pleasure jog, but being the stubborn (read - obsessed) runner that I am, I of course found a way around this dilemma. What type of smart phone owner would I be if I did not download an app for my needs at hand? I quickly found a stop watch app and was off to take on the mile! The air felt so thick and my legs felt a bit heavy, but I was excited to see if I could still run a sub 6 mile. I had to leave my phone at the starting line since moving it messes up the time keeping app (I know … I have a Droid), so around I went with no idea of my actual pace. I crossed the finish line and grabbed my phone … 6:16. A tiny part of me was let down because I thought I would always be able to crank out a sub 6 mile, but a huge part of me was pumped! A 6:16 completely off of muscle memory was incredible. Now that I knew what the right pace felt like, the next one was easier and I came in right at 6:00. As I approached the starting line for the last one I saw that the speedy guy was also about to line up for his next 800m. He told me he was down to 3:00 now and I was welcome to join in, so I happily tucked in behind him for the first lap, thankful for someone with a watch for splits. My happiness was short lived though, I had forgotten about “the female effect.” You are probably wondering what the female effect is, I am sure you have seen it in action plenty of times, and maybe been a victim of it yourself. Let me explain.

In my experience, it does not matter how slow the male is and how fast the female is. If the female goes to pass the male, or even comes within a close range of the male, he will speed up. A male could be on his 19^th mile with 1 to go and a random female, that, for all he knows could be out for a 1 mile sprint could come along, and he would speed up in an effort not to let her pass him. You men can deny it all you want, but I maintain that the female effect is real, and it never fails.

Now that we’ve got that understanding, back to the track. Mystery guy and I start our first lap, and I instantly knew we’d gone out too fast. I have no idea what that first split was, but I slowed down. By the time the next lap rolled by I’d probably let 10 seconds come between us and as I passed by him (he stopped since he was doing 800s) he called out my time … 2:45 … ouch! No wonder I was hurting, we were on pace for a 5:30 mile! I eased up and tried to just hang on for the last 2 laps. My legs felt like bricks as I finally crossed the line … 5:45. Holy cow. While I was thrilled that I could pull out a 5:45 on my 3^rd repeat, I knew I would pay for it the next day. The guy smiled a bit sheepishly as I waved goodbye and set out for my cool down, he knew as well as I did what had just happened. The female effect, men can’t fight it.

This picture is from Friday. I did not run this day, but check out my “track” that I wrote about last week! Charlotte was pelted with storms all day and there were several floods in the area, my “track” is now a pond! At least Tyler won’t have to worry about my asking her to run there any time soon. J

Fast forward to Sunday for my 10 mile long run. On the whole this was uneventful, but there is one funny part that I want to share. First off, I need to say, my mom is awesome. Ever since I started marathon training, if we are in the same town for my long run she rides her bike next to me. Jason has done the same, and I don’t want to discount how much I appreciate his support, but my mom is the feature figure in this story. We have come to an agreement over the years that whenever there is an uphill approaching my mom should bike ahead and get as much speed as possible going into the hill since it is harder biking up a hill than running. This past Sunday we (Mom, Jason, and I) were biking/running through Umstead State Park in Raleigh, and came upon a long windy downhill that eventually led into a sharp uphill. Having no head start, Mom quickly fell behind on what turned out to be a 0.5 mile uphill. We waited at the top for my mom then we went another mile before reaching the half-way point and turned to head home. Knowing about the hills, Mom and Jason took off to get ahead before going back up the long windy hill we had enjoyed coming down just a bit ago. They were soon out of sight and I tootled along enjoying the park, tried to tread lightly on the downhill so as not to put too much pressure on my leg, then braced myself for the uphill. After a few turns I had my bikers back in sight and was quickly closing the gap. It was relieved to see them because as the sun came up it was getting hotter, and I was getting thirstier, and the water bottles were on the bikes. Then something strange started happening, we were all still going uphill, but they appeared to be getting farther away from me again. I had not changed speed, if anything I had sped up, but before I knew it they were out of sight! I did not catch them for another mile, and I only caught them then because they had stopped to wait for me at the front of the park. I grabbed a water bottle and asked what had happened, and my mom could not stop smiling. As Jason told it, they were huffing it up the hill probably going about 5mph when he looked back and saw that I was in sight. When he told my mom, without a word she stood up, started pedaling as hard as she could, and just took off! Once they reached the top of the hill he thought they would slow down but she kept moving full speed ahead saying “she is not going to beat me this time!” and didn’t stop until the park gate. Who knew my mom was such a baller when properly motivated? She crushed the hill and me! The rest of the run was pretty normal, but I still cannot believe how fast Mom was moving.  

So it is time to get real. Last week was fun, but the start of this week has been pretty rough. I must confess that every run has not been pain free, and while many days have been good, there are fewer each week. After Sunday’s run (which really was completely pain free) I was hurting pretty badly, and Monday was just awful. After 1 mile I had to turn back because I was worried that I was doing serious damage with the increasing level of pain each step brought.

I am going to listen to my own advice from the last entry, and make the decision not to race the Richmond Marathon in November. I am still planning to run the marathon, and am very much looking forward to it, but the pressure I have been putting on myself to set a new PR is off the table. I will be taking the next week completely off, then gradually easing into low impact activities next week, but no running. I am not sure where I went wrong, but there is just no way to realistically expect good results this close to the race with no base to pull from after this break. To be honest I did not take my own decision well at first and went through a bit of a mourning period yesterday as I accepted that I really am not going to break 3 hours this year.

I will chase down that elusive 3 hour barrier, but this is not the year. I will update again in 2 weeks when I can better assess the situation. Until then … happy running!

Running Free

Two events of significance occurred during training this week - my first track workout, and my first double digit long run! Both were a huge success and I am very excited to see where things go from here. To recap:

The goal work-out was:

2 mile warm up - 1200@4:30 - 2x800@3:00 - 2x400@90 - 2 mile cool down

As I had not tested my speed to date, I had no idea if these were attainable goals. A 6 minute mile pace and so few intervals would have been a piece of cake back in January, but these are different times so I was extremely nervous as I jogged towards Tyler, who agreed to join me for the workout. I realized on the way there that I have never done a track workout so early in the day, it was strange being there as the sun came up instead of seeing it go down.

I need to give you some background information on the "track" that I have been referring to. It is a 0.25 mile loop around a field of sorts, but it has cracked pavement complete with mud puddles and small changes in elevation. I love it because in addition to a track workout you get to puddle hop while practicing hills, but I think Tyler was a bit surprised when she first realized that this was the place I meant when I said "track." Soon, we were off, chasing down the 1st lap of 3 for the 1200. I was surprised when I came through in 89, 1 second fast, and I felt solid. The next lap flew by and I came through in 90, perfect. The 3rd lap was a bit of a struggle but I pulled it off and finished in 93 for a total time of 4:32. This was 2 seconds slower than goal, but I was thrilled because I knew at that moment the rest of the workout would be a success. While I did fade during the final lap, I knew I had a lot left in the tank, and looked forward to the 800s. Each was right on target at 3 flat and I could feel my body coming alive from the thrill of chasing down each lap as it came. We altered our goal a bit for the 400s deciding that 85 would be a better pace, toed the line, and were off again. I held back some on the 1st but still exceeded my goal with an 83, then let myself go for it on the last one to see what I could do ... 77! The 2 mile cool down was tougher than I care to admit, but I was so proud of my track work-out that the slow pace did not bother me a bit. Tyler is awesome to have gotten up so early to run in circles with me, but I do not think I paid her back for it well. Apparently I splash quite a bit more than she does when running through the puddles and she came away from the morning with mud covering her legs and lower torso ... sorry Tyler!

The second significant even took place at the Greenbrier in West Virginia bright and early Saturday morning. Jason and I traveled there to visit my wonderful grandparents, and to watch some of the Greenbrier Classic (a PGA golf event). Knowing that the golfers would be teeing off around 8:30am I needed to finish up my 10 miler early since the roads wind around the golf course and I did not want to be in the way. Jason was planning to ride the bike along-side me and just as we were heading out the door ... horror struck...

I FORGOT MY GARMIN!!!!! How could I do something so stupid? I was furious with myself, and as I grew angrier each moment I realized how absolutely addicted I have become to pace training. Jason calmed me down and reminded me that our bike has a computer on it to calculate speed and distance. I would not have the luxury of looking at my wrist to track my pace per mile at whatever moment I so pleased, but I would be able to track my total distance and time, then do the math to solve for pace. At this point is really was ridiculous to be upset over something like this, I should not be focusing on pace right now anyways. If anything, this was a blessing in disguise because it would force me to run by feel. Still mad at myself, I set out for the run not knowing what to expect, but trying to keep an open mind.

Before long I was loving running without my watch. I was running at whatever pace felt good and we went down whatever route looked fun. The miles flew by and before I knew it my 1^st double digit run was complete. Jason read off the total time and it came to 1:18. I had not been focusing on pace the entire time, so to have run for 10 miles below an 8 minute mile pace and finish feeling relaxed and comfortable was awesome. I will not run without my watch every time, but this reminded me the importance of trusting my body and enjoying running for what it is, fun.