Post Run Recovery

Conveniently, I didn't even mention the fact that I had a very hard time recovering Sunday. My mind is probably choosing to forget that part of the day! My muscles were firing all day and I couldn't get my body to relax. I also had to force myself to eat because I felt nauseous. I tried to take a nap, but kept tossing and turning and my head started pounding. I had a bagel and water at the finish and then I forced down some pasta with bolonese sauce that Alex had made. Along with more water. I just couldn't get comfortable and didn't feel right at all. I have to say, this was the worst I've ever felt after a run. Seriously, I was miserable the rest of the day. I finally got to sleep sunday night and then made myself get up at 5am monday morning for my trainer workout. It was worth it because I worked out whatever junk was in my muscles and I actually haven't been sore very much at all.

So, who knows what was going on, but obviously I need to go back to the drawing board b/c my body was missing something on sunday between all my problems during the run and then my lack of recovery.

Unity Health Systems Flower City Challege 1/2 Marathon

I had a lot of anxiety going into this event for a few reasons.....

1. I didn't train nearly as much as necessary to have a decent time.....
2. The forecast called for continuous rain/downpours beginning at 1am and not ending for days.....
3. My husband had been sick all week and I was not feeling 100%......
4. We watched a rather depressing movie the night before this run and I ended up in a very strange mental space...
5. I wasn't sure how I was feeling about my pre run banana, toast, and peanut butter...

This all turned into the perfect mix for a not so great run.

First, this was a wonderful event that was very well organized and easy to maneuver. Fleet Feet Rochester (Ellen and Boots) truly put on a top notch inaugural event! The entire event was a full weekend that included a Duathalon and Triathlon on Saturday and the 1/2 Marathon and a 5K on Sunday. All events toured the participants through all the beautiful treasures and historic neighborhoods that Rochester holds. We began at the Rochester War Memorial, wove through the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood (where we were cheered on by members in period attire!), and then headed past Frontier Field, where our Rochester Red Wings play. We then made our way down Main St. to East Ave. and passed the Little Theatre (best popcorn ever!), George Eastman House (Kodak), and headed to Park Ave neighborhood. We then made our way to Highland Park area and began our trek through Mt. Hope Cemetery where we spent about 2 miles. Once out of Mt. Hope, we ran through the University of Rochester campus, over the Ford St. Bridge, into the Corn Hill Neighborhood, and then could see the finish line back at the War Memorial. What an incredible course through our beautiful city!

Now....what I was really feeling that day! I chose to run with the 2:30 pace group and bumped into my friend Kelly (who was running her first half marathon) as well as some other friends I trained with last summer at Fleet Feet. Ellen from Fleet Feet was shouting encouragement from the microphone and then got us ready and yelled GO! It was invigorating; I was actually feeling really good! There was a ton of crowd support (actually the 5kers and family) cheering us on as we started our 13.1 mile journey. I did learn one thing about myself right out of the gate....I start way too fast! I was having a hard time getting into the groove with the pace group and kept getting ahead. Once I got the feeling of the 2:30 pace, I was feeling pretty good. Kelly and I were chatting and running, saw my friends Derek & Katie road marshalling at mile 1 and got in a good high five.

All was good up until the 3 mile mark and my stomach started cramping. Awesome. Way too early in the run to deal with this. I knew from the pre race newsletter that there would be a porta potty at the 5k point, so I figured I would stop before it got too bad. Little did I know, this would turn into my fatal error for the run. There was one porta potty and a 4 person long line. I lost about 4-5 minutes waiting, and I was trying to bounce around to keep my legs warm, but it wasn't working. At this point, the race participants were dwindling, and next thing we know (b/c there were still at least 4 people in line behind me), the ambulance goes by. Seriously...am I now at the end of the run!! I've been at the end of a run one time only and I swore that would never happen again. So, I did my business, and got back on the road with the goal of getting back in front of the ambulance, which was now a good 1/2 mile or more ahead of me. My legs felt like LEAD!!!! I started freaking out b/c I still had 10 miles to go! Ugh!! But, I pushed it hard, passed a bunch of people and caught up to the ambulance as we were turning to head up to Park Ave. Yay!! I was elated when I caught up and got ahead and then settled into a comfortable pace that would get me to the finish. At this point, I had already thrown the towel in on my hope of 2:30 b/c I had just lost too much time with the bathroom stop and now felt worse that I did before I stopped. My new goal was to just keep moving, and, with the course being nice and flat at this point, that wasn't too difficult.

Next up was the Highland area and Mt. Hope Cemetery. I knew there were hills coming, but I was truly unprepared for the continuous, repeating hills. Especially when I got to what wasn't just a hill, but was a cobblestone hill. Are you kidding me?? I was already feeling somewhat defeated, and the hills pushed me over the edge. Somewhere in the cemetery, I felt like I could possibly throw up or start crying, I wasn't sure...and I was feeling severely dehydrated. What the heck was happening?? I had hydrated for days, it was cool and misty weather, and I had been taking water, sport drinks, and GU from the aid stations. But, I started getting scared that I wasn't actually going to finish. My legs also started breaking down and I had to start taking walk breaks. Ugh! I hated it and just felt terrible....which didn't help my mental space.

Luckily, while in Mt. Hope Cemetary, I found my new friend Rene! Yay! She was also struggling and we decided to help each other to the finish. We started doing a run/walk rotation while chatting it up and found our way out of Mt. Hope, through UofR, over the Ford St. bridge, and past Corn Hill to the finish line! Whoo Hoo!! I had a few more break down moments in that time (calves cramping), but knew we were closing in on the finish, so I pushed through.


As I said in my last post, I matched an old Half time, and I'll take that with all the issues I had.

Lastly, I have to say, I have never seen volunteers who were more supportive and encouraging in any other run. Their incredible smiles and words of encouragement meant more than they will ever know.....they helped me through some tough moments. Thank you!

Alright, that was my day. Now I where I'm at and exactly how much work I have ahead of me to get read for NYC!!

Today......

Kicked my behind. Seriously. I'm still recovering, not feeling that great right now. I had a hard time about midway through (around 7miles) and alot of my parts started breaking down. I'll give more of an update tomorrow and a better overview of what was a fantastic course. I finished, didn't have a PR, but matched the time from my very first half marathon in '07. I'll take that!

Looking for a special watch....

I'm thinking I need something to help me better understand my runs and my pacing. I've been researching various wrist gps devices to help me with this so I can train smarter for NYC. After looking at what's out there, I'm most interested in the Garim Forerunner 205. I keep going back and forth about getting one that's also a heart rate monitor, but I'm reading that the monitor isn't that reliable and I'm most interested in knowing my distance and understanding what my goal marathon pace feels like.

Any thoughts on the Garmin's?

Let's try some new shoes....

I'm in need of new running sneakers. The pair I'm in are far past their prime (I know, bad!) and with my training continuing to ramp up, I'm looking for a new pair. I've been running in Brooks Adrenaline for a long time and love them. I tried Saucony's at one point and immediately went back to Brooks. Hated the Saucony's after about a month. My running friend Diane has always worn Brooks as well and just switched to Mizuno's and loves them, so I thought....why not? WRONG!!! I picked up these lovely new Mizuno Wave Inspire 6's this past friday and took them out for a spin yesterday. Now, these are also a 1/2 size bigger than my Brooks. They felt good initially and when I stopped to wait for a traffic light and took off again, I felt a nice heel cushion and was almost bouncing. That was all during the first mile. Everything after that went downhill. Maybe I took them out for too long of a run, but wow, my feet were killing about 5 miles in and at the end (about 8.2) I had 2 blisters. I haven't had a blister in a very long time! Booo! So, I'm headed back to Fleet Feet to swap these out for my tried and true Brooks Adrenaline's!

Aside from the foot issue, I had a really nice run! It was a gorgeous day and I set out to get what I thought was a 6 mile run, but when I went back and checked, it was actually 8.2! Not too shabby! Of course, this is still in prep for this sunday's Unity Health System Flower City Challenge 1/2 Marathon. This is totally going to be a training run for me, I'll be lucky if I touch my PR from the fall. I'm going to run with a 2:30 pace group, but my best half is 2:37, so that will certainly be pushing it! I know I can do it, and I'm hoping that running with the pace group will push me to hit that 2:30 mark!

Hope everyone's training is going well!!

I'm enjoying Spring Break week and the beautiful weather in Upstate NY!

Thanks!

I appreciate the comments Erin & AZ! I am experimenting with stuff right now and looking for what works best with my body before and after the workouts. I am drinking a Whey Protien shake right after my workouts and it is helping a great deal! I just started this about 2 weeks ago, but I feel better post workout. I think my biggest issue right now is pre-workout fueling including the meal I'm eating the night before a run.

AZ, yes, I do use supplements during events, I tried the GU and had a really hard time with it so I started carrying Jelly Belly Sport Beans and Chomps. I seem to be able to stomach those better. I may try GU again during this training just to see how I feel because it's been a while.

Running Nutrition Education 101

I'm working on educating myself as best I can before my "official" marathon training begins. I want to be in the best shape possible before I begin this program because I've been plagued with injuries during past trainings (including a nasty stress fracture in my hip & lots of time on crutches). I realize I can't possibly know everything, but I'd like to know enough to keep me healthy!

Right now I'm working on Nutrition Education for endurance events. I've found a great deal of information and right now I'm reading through How to Fuel for a Marathon on Active.com. I'm going through this because I often suffer from (I apologize for TMI!!) runner's trots on most runs over 3 miles. Awesome....kind of hurts the training when I have to keep stopping to find a bathroom.....or side of the road.....or woods.....you get the picture.

Any thoughts on best nutrition before and after long runs will be greatly appreciated!

Happy Running!

Happiness is.....

......an early spring motorcycle ride and experiencing the amazing smell of renewed spring life. Feeling the crisp April air on your face and letting it fill your nostrils with the scent of blooming flowers and trees. Until.......3 deer run out in front of you......snapped back to reality very quickly!!

Happy Spring!!

Awesome Sunday Run!!

Fantastic run yesterday in fantastic weather! Yay for a beautiful April in upstate NY!

I ran with my friends Diane and Patty and I cut out around 6 miles to go to a baby shower and they went on to hit 11 (I'm actually jealous!). I felt great and wish I could have kept going!! Looking forward to the next 2 weeks! Spring break is coming up so I'll have some time to get in some nice spring runs. Love it!

The Unity Health Systems Flower City Challenge 1/2 Marathon (could it have a longer name??) is in just 2 weeks and I'm feeling good......although my mileage has been pretty low over the past few weeks. Yikes! So much for the much loved taper!

I've been working in a good deal of weight training and using that to supplement my running at this point. I know I have the endurance in my lungs, but I want to add more strength to my legs and overall body. It has been working as I posted a PR at the annual St. Patrick's Day 5 mile run. We will see how well it worked for the half marathon! My recent runs have all felt good, so I think I'll be OK.

Make Over....

OK, so I'm going for a new look and a fresh start as I haven't been as diligent as I would have liked at updating my blog. Of course, I haven't had much to update because just about everything I do is related to work these days.

So, let me know what you think of the new layout. I wanted something that seemed more alive, and for me, nothing is more alive that nature. I may also be moving my whole site b/c I don't feel my web address is truly accurate anymore. I'm thinking I might actually be a runner now! It seems weird to say that, or type it, I feel a little phony. I mean, let's be real....I'm pretty slow! However, I came across some quotes the other day and they put some wind in my sail's and helped me view myself in a different way. So, I leave you with this:

"All runners are equal, some are just faster than others."

"No matter how slow you run, it is still faster than someone sitting on a couch."

I'M IN!!!!

"Marathon Registration Status: Accepted"

OMG!!! This is the first lottery I've ever won! :)

It's official. I will be running in the 2010 NYC Marathon! This will be my first marathon.....what a way to start! I had heard last night that if there was a hold on your account, then you were in, so of course, I had to check my bank account. I nearly threw up when I saw there was a hold on my account! I waited very impatiently today to get the official word at 12:30, repeatedly clicking refresh until the log in screen finally showed up! I had some of my students in my office and they were hysterical at how nervous I was. They were awesome though.....totally high fiving me and stuff. Awesome! I can't believe I got in!! Whoo Hooo!!

I have to say it's bittersweet though....my good friend Diane did not get in. It would have been amazing to train and finish this together. :(

Now the real work begins.......

NYC Marathon Lottery!!

OMG, the lottery is tomorrow! I'm freaking out!! I want to get in so bad, but I'm scared to death!! This will be my first full marathon and to be able to do it in NYC would be AMAZING!!!

I'll log back in tomorrow to share whatever news I receive!

I swear I'll get back to updating this blog at some point, work has been rather busy lately. Only 11 weeks left until summer break!! :)

Happy Running!