Abs

I know my abs are a particular weak spot in my fitness and running. It contributes to back pain and is of general concern. I found this article on improving technique and strengthing the deep abs. I am currently working on sitting up straight with my abs engaged. It's quite difficult. I can't imagine doing this for even half an hour. I've tried to run while mindful of my abs and the tilt of my pelvis. It's something I can do for just briefly before I'll inevitably fall back into old habits. Here's to improving!

It's Settled

We put a deposit on the place in Shaw. As Ally and I were driving back to Arlington, we drove over the National Mall. Hello perfect place to run, all with soft surfaces and views. It's about 1.5 miles from our new place. Now I'm worried about how I'm going to find space in my tiny new room for yoga and strength training. It'll no doubt all fall into place. It's not like I ever did as much yoga and strength trainging as I thought I should.

Apt Searching

I didn't run this morning. I did do most of Rodney Yee's yoga for athletes.
I'm trying to leave my curent abode because of a roommate that I'm not found of. Grrrr... Anyways, am deep into rental search with my future roommie. Have been a complete ball of stress for the last 4 hours. I'm going to have to run tomorrow, or I'll never be productive at work. we may or may not sign a lease tonight. If we don't, I'm not sure where we'll end up. If we do, I'll completely have buyers remorse. What if there is a gorgeous place waiting for me in Eastern Market. Wouldn't it be so nice to be able to walk to Barrack's Row? If I move to a new neighborhood, where will I run, will the local tracks I can see on Google Maps be open to the public? What if when I'm away from my trails, running -- all of a sudden -- seems harder to do. Am I moving into a high crime area? Gah!

It's Baaack!

My Garmin Forerunner 305! How can I take a break from running when my favorite toy is back, new and improved with a working up arrow. I haven't even begun to play with all of the features.

Grinding to a Halt

I did the group run last night (Monday). I felt good to begin with, but trying to keep up wore me out about half way through. We probably only did 3-3.5 miles, but I had to walk a part of it right toward the end. I’m really looking forward to the day I can keep up.

Like I mentioned in my last blog, it’s probably time to take a bit of rest. Completely ignoring my own advice, I got up to run to work this morning, thinking an easy 6 wouldn’t be a big deal. More than once when I’ve been running to work, I’ve told myself that I can stop about half way through at Roslyn and take the Metro in if I need to. This is the first time I’ve taken myself up on the offer. I felt tired from my first step and it never got better. I'm sure the two Miller Lites and half a turkery burger that I called dinner last night, didn't make things better. I just was more into beer than solid food last night.

I knew the group would eventually get to the embarassing stories about bodily funcitons and running. I shared my story about peeing at the race on Sunday. There were a couple about other people and one embarassing admission about peeing on oneself during a race. Of course everyone made fun of that guy. To be honest, I've acutally considered it before. If I thought a portapotty line stood between me and Boston or a PR or any other goal, I'd be wet shorts all the way. I always have a pair of pants to change in after the race anyways. Though wet socks have to be factored into the equation. I think I'm most likely to go for a not so private, barely off the course squat. I've also done that (Cherry Blossom 2005 baby!).

So, I’ve been contemplating how to approach rest. Maybe I should take the rest of the week off or maybe I should try to get in another easy 6 and see how I feel next Monday. But now it looks like my regular Thursday girl’s night is going to be canceled, so I could make it for my first Thursday group run. So tempting. Maybe I could just make that Thursday run my only other run for the week.

In other running news, I found my watch. It’s actually the receiver to my first heart rate monitor. I had looked all over my apt for it on Sat and Sun. Turns out it was in the gym bag that I keep at work. Good thing, I have a replacement system(the Garmin, if it ever get’s sent back to me), but I doubt I could get another receiver for that odd brand, two year old heart rate monitor.

Also the weather here is lovely, if suddenly hot.

Race Report: George Washington Parkway Classic

4 races in 5 weeks. I think it's finally caught up with me. I tried to take in easy during the week. I was the only one who showed up for the group run on Monday, so --except for the jog to the meeting place-- I just skipped that, then ran an easy 8 on Tuesday and 6 on Thursday. I did a half day hike on Saturday.

The race itself has got be hard to support, it's a point to point with the finish in Old Town Alexandria. We were bused to the start at Mt. Vernon. The busing was probably the weak link and there weren't near enough porta johns. I by passed the long lines for the johns and ducked into some bushes behind a building. All the men were doing it, and I refuse to be held back because I have to expose my rear when peeing.

I was greatful for the clocks at every mile marker. Of the four races I've run recently, it was the only to have that. I keep having watch issues (stopped working, forgot it at home, couldn't find it last night).

It was a gorgeous day in DC. The weather started off cool, but quickly warmed. I started off running about an 8:30 pace. I felt like I was pushing it a bit, but thought with determination, I could match my PR, maybe beat it by a few seconds.

Around mile 3, I spotted some Capital Striders. We ran together for about a minute and I assumed that because we were at the same place on the course that we were running about the same pace. But Juan sped off and Paul pulled a ahead. For awhile, I thought I might try to pace myself to Paul, just keeping him in sight, but I gave up on that before reaching mile 4. It was encouraging to see familiar faces though. Having someone specific to keep up to motivated me, even when he was long gone.

By mile 5, I was off the 8:30 pace and continued to decelerate for the rest of the race. I ended up finishing with a net time of 1:29:06, slightly faster than the Cherry Blossom 4 weeks ago, about 4 minutes off my PR.

Afterwards, after showering, I went to look an a rental place in DC and then joined a friend for brunch at the SW Waterfront. By the time we got there, the thermometer in my car was reading 90, which seems hard to believe. We stayed there a while and I ended up having a couple spiked lemonades - balanced with about a gallon of water. Between the alcohol, the hot, and perhaps pushing myself too hard in everything, I was nearly falling asleep at the table after a couple hours. I went home and passed out for a couple of hours. I think it's time to chill out and take a bit of recovery time.

What Hurts Today

Sharp twinges in the mid back area, v scary as have been known to throw out back.
Mild muscle soreness: hamstrings, upper back, triceps.
Likely causes: 10k, new power yoga DVD.

Boston 2007

First you work to qualify, then you get to run 26.2 through an epic storm.

I recently read that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. Garbage bags seem to be the gear of choice for nor'easters.

First Comment

I have a reader! I started this blog, and figured I might eventually tell my friends about it, but figured no one else would be much interested in it. I got a read and comment from runnergirl. Hello audience of one!

Planning

So I'm thinking that after yesterday's 10k, I have two weeks before the George Washington Parkway Classic. So I'll up the miles in the coming week, do a 10 mile next weekend and do a mini taper the following week. My goal will be to replicate my pace from the Race to Stop the Silence over the 10 mile distance. I won't do any weightlifting that taper week, because I think that might have contributed to my tired feeling yesterday. Good plan?

So I thought. Then I remembered that packet pick up started today at the Pacers in Old Town. Gosh, that seems a bit early for a race that's in two weeks. Oh wait, the Parkway Classic is next Sunday. So I've managed to sign myself up for 4 races in 5 weeks.

twenty six point two

I was dating this guy, and I told him that I was planning to run the National Marathon -- this was in February. And he said, "You know that's 26 miles don't you?" As I was around mile 24, that came back to me and I came up with my response, "26.2 ... asshole."

Today I saw him for the first time both since he dumped me and since the marathon. I really wanted to some how bring up the marathon, but couldn't think of a way to do it that didn't go "I ran a marathon, nanny nanny boo-boo stick your head in doo-doo." When I qualify for Boston, I'm definitely busting out the "nanny nanny boo-boo" song.

I mostly do things for myself, but occasionally proving something to the assholes is good motivation.

Race to Stop the Silence

10ks are no fun. On the one hand I think I’ve got the strategy down, on the other my strategy is to run right at the edge of unbearable pain. Do that pretty much from after the first mile straight on through the finish. As always, I try to hold myself back a little right at the beginning to let the beginning of race excitement pass.

Well, today I rant the Race to Stop the Silence 10k. I got that old right out the gate excitement and decided to go with it. I zipped past Shelly & Kevin thinking that I wanted to run my own race. I knew I wasn’t going to PR, but I still tried to push myself to see what I could do.

I immediately got tired. I mean immediately – by the time I got to the back side of the 6 mi mark, i.e. .2 mi into the out and back course, I was feeling weak and beginning to slow. I kept waiting for Shelly and Kevin to pass me. I'm pretty sure that not wanting to look like a complete idiot after "zipping" past them kept me going faster than I would have otherwise. As it turned out, they finished just seconds behind me.

I have never been much of a spitter, but today I had to, I felt like Golum hacking up mucus. I left my watch at home, so I just paced myself by telling myself to run at the edge of the pain. I gave myself breaks where I slowed a little, and I walked through the two water stations.

I finished in 53:43. About 4 minutes off my PR; respectable for three weeks after my marathon. The scary part is that is that is a 8:40 pace and to qualify for Boston I have to run 8:27 miles. If today was 6.2 miles of pain, it shows how far I have to go.

In good news, based on the McMillan calculator, my time today suggests that I can run a marathon in 4:11:51. My recent Cherry Blossom time suggests a marathon time of 4:12:52. I think that confirms my suspicion that I ran the marathon conservatively. I can take 10 minutes off from better strategy (i.e. pushing myself a little harder throughout the race). That leaves a little over 30 minutes to take off through training. No problem ;)

Run Report: Road to Recovery April 10, 2007

So with the shin splints acting up last night, I was wary of running again this morning. I thought about doing yoga instead, but I had three suits at the office already, so it was time to wear the running gear in.

I felt slow, weak and as if the shin splints might come back at any moment. My pace settled at around 10:30. Several days I have told myself that I will take the Rosslyn Metro to work instead of finishing the 6 mi. But after about 2.5 miles I started feeling stronger and my pace quickened. By the time I reached the Key Bridge, I wasn’t even thinking about stopping. I ended up finishing with a total 10:00/min pace for the run and didn’t feel like I was pushing at all. It was a good feeling.

I may take tomorrow off to make sure I don’t over do it and bring forth the shin splint daemons. New shoes wouldn’t hurt, I have a foot pain that’s been bothering me since my last long run before the marathon. I think it’s time to get checked out for new shoes. Maybe I’ll go to Pacers tomorrow.

Run Report : April 9, 2007

I met up with Capital Striders for the second Monday in a row. Shelly and Kevin joined. It was nice to have familiar faces. Hopefully they’ll come out again.

I jogged from my office to the meeting place on the Mall. Perhaps because my backpack was heavy, or maybe because of the Old Rag hike, I started to feel shin splints in my left leg. I did a couple of stretches before the group run, but they flared up almost right away. By about 1.25 mi into the run, my left shin was on fire – I haven’t really been feeling it in my right leg. Around 3 mi, the shin splints were feeling better.

The regulars run faster than my easy pace, so I’m pushing myself to keep up with the pack. I think it’s good motivation though. I’m looking to work on speed, so here’s my weekly speed run. Right now a 9:00 min pace it’s a stretch, but I know that I’ve been capable of 8:00 within the past 6 mo. I think within a month I’ll be able to keep up for the most part.

The run was only 3.5 miles and took just over 30 minutes. When we were moving, our pace was probably 9:30 or faster, but we were stopped in several places because of street lights, so we averaged 9:45/min over the full distance. With the jog from the office, I did about 4.25 mi total. My Garmin 305 never caught a satellite signal, in part because I didn’t start it when we were hanging out before the group run. But it’s time to send it back. That top button on the right has never worked.

Afterwards the group went to Hawk n Dove. We spent more time eating and drinking than running, but I don’t mind. These are some pretty nice people to hang out with. They’re quite welcoming and it’s nice to have some people to chat with about running. The whole experience definitely turned my day around.

Diet

Next order of business, stop eating crap. I am a reasonably healthy eater when I exert a bit of energy on the matter. But I haven't been to the grocery store with plans to cook a real meal since before the marathon. Right now I'm feeling pretty fluffy. I'm letting work and other things get in the way of preparing decent meals. I won't even post what I've eaten over the last week because it's sad. Very sad.

I'm not sure what my plan of attack will be. I don't really want to post everything I eat on this blog. That's just a little too personal. I was counting calories for a while and it made me think carefully about what I was eating, but that's awefully time consuming. I wouldn't be opposed to a diet buddy that checked to make wure that I was posting on fitday.com. Any volunteers?

No Emi, I won't do weightwatchers. Nothing against it, but I'm not much of a group person. I've just finally found my way to a running group and I really like running. I don't like dieting.

Running Blog

Last week when I was all high on running, I was reading Runner's World and it recommended starting a blog. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, that I created it. I also read Runners World from cover to cover for the first time. Usually there's some part that just seems unbearable. " Oh god, please don't tell me what to eat."

First order of business is stating a goal. About a week ago, I was at a party and this girl was talking about preparing for Boston. Ally said that I should qualify for Boston, then she'd come stay with her family and cheer. I acted like that's crazy talk, as if I would ever qualify for Boston. In truth that was already my plan. I'm very goal oriented. I was visualizing myself running marathons a year before I signed up for my first one. I've been contemplating Boston on my training runs for over 6 months.

What's crazy is that I honestly think I'm going to go from a 4:22:17 two weeks ago to < 3:40:59 in about a year. I'm pretty sure that if I posted this to a running site they'd suggest this was a bit bold.
Whatever. I can do it.

First order of business: admit goal. Check.

The Blues

Ugh. Is this it? The post marathon blues? Last week I was all hopped up on enthusiam. But I decided to take that rest that's recommended following a marathon. Today I feel like poop. Last week, I ran my first running club run with Capital Striders. The group is great, but my legs felt like lead. I ran a slow 6 m to work on Tuesday and took the rest of the week off. I was planning to run an easy pace/distance yesterday, but I went hiking on Saturday and felt sore all over. I signed up to do the group run again today. Hopefully this time I'll be able to keep up. The weather is dreary.