12 miles... oh my

This past Sunday was my last long run before the race. I met my fundraising goal so I'm excited about that. What I've been trying to do since then is train. I have tried to stick very closely to the plan, making sure I get in 1 speed workout, 1 tempo workout and 1 long run every week. Before the holidays, I was in a nice routine of  3 runs, 2-3 yoga classes and 1 extra cross training day. My runs were going well, I never was sore, and I never felt injured.

Since 2011 has started, it has not been the same. It might have to do with increasing my distance, but I think a lot of it also has to do with my lack of yoga and a little extra daily sugar intake! This past week, I ate a lot of sweets, like I mean,  A LOT OF SWEETS! I am ok with the fact that I did that but maybe it contributed to my poor run on Sunday. I also feel really tight everywhere, especially my hips and butt which causes pain in my sciatic nerve. I feel like an old person saying that, but it really bothers me.

Sunday, I started my last long run with Jeanne at 8:30 on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, right where it goes under that bridge. The beginning was rough, but sometimes it takes me a couple of miles to warm up so I thought, eh, I'm sure it'll get better. But as time went on, it never got better, it almost seemed to get worse. I felt like it took every single ounce of energy I had to run. We had to go from running a 4/1 to a 3/1 because I couldn't muster the energy to run for 4 minutes. I told Jeanne, this is not going well, I'm having a really hard time. I will say this, the thought came into my mind that I could just turn around because I don't think I can do this run. I knew better than to say that though because Jeanne wouldn't let me. I just kept pushing and Jeanne talked me through... all the way to mile 12. It was tough, it never got better, but I'm glad I did it and I'm glad it's over!

I tried to analzye all of the things that went wrong and what could've possibly contributed to such a bad run. I know that I ate a lot of sugar, I didn't get good rest friday night, i haven't been stretching properly, blah blah. It really could be anything or a combination of anything. I do know that sometimes, you just have a bad run. But as many people tell me (Holly and Jeanne), those runs make you stronger. So i'm just chalking it up for what it is, sucky run, still did it, did it in a good amount of time, so I'm ready for New Orleans.

Now I'm trying to do what I can to prepare. I'm doing easy workouts to keep me loose, I'm making sure to stretch and take yoga. I'm going to Southern Om tonight for the Southern 26 class... it's 105 degrees, that should be hot enough to loosen my muscles, and i'm trying to eat better. I actually eat fairly healthy, but I can over do it on the sweets, so I'm backing off for the next couple of weeks. There was a time when the thought of not eating sweets sent me into a panic, but because I know it'll help my run, it's not quite as difficult.

I have a couple of different goals for this race. One was to raise enough money which I did, so I can check that off. ($1800). Another is to finish the race with no pain. Last year, I couldn't walk after the race, this year, I would like to walk. I haven't had near the pain I had the year before, so I feel like it could happen. The last goal I have is to keep a 10 minute pace. If I do that, I will finish in 2 hours and 12 minutes. Now, I have not done that once in all of my training, so we'll see how it goes, but it's ok to have a difficult goal! I will report back in a couple of weeks.

3 weeks away

Today is January 23rd, 2011. I am 3 weeks away from my race, and I only have 1 long run left. This morning was a 10 miler, I ran with my friends, Jeanne and Brian Boughner, and Lori Levasseur (Lori, I hope I spelled that right). This will be the second time I've run 10 miles with most of my runs being between 6-8. I've got a 12 mile run next sunday and ten I taper.

This is the first time that I have trained with a specific nutrition plan in mind and a strategy to attack my run. I have tried a couple of different things, but what has worked the best is below:

Pre run meal: 1 piece of whole wheat bread, peanut butter and a banana

During the run: a GU every 45 minutes

When I eat right, I have more energy and my legs don't feel as tired. I do have to make sure to drink plenty of water which has been really hard for me. It's cold so I'm not as motivated to drink and unless I'm sitting at my desk at work, I don't have water near me. I'm trying to remember to do it though because it does seem to make a difference.

The other thing I have had to incorporate into my training is Yoga. I love yoga and it has so many other benefits beyond exercise, but physically, it keeps me flexible and it keeps my muscles lose. Runners seem to have all kinds of injuries and issues, but the two that I have are shin splints and piriformus tendonitis. My calves get knotted up and my lower legs will start to hurt in any spot, the outside, the inside, my achilles tendon, etc. The last half that I ran (in Nashville), my back started hurting instantly. The piriformus tendon gets knotted up, causes inflamation and pinches my sciatic nerve. I could not walk after the race, I had a tremendous amount of pain. So, my goal for this race is not have that. One of the ways I've been doing that is 1) yoga and 2) going to see Dr Rob at the Joint, my chiropractor. With those two things, my training this time seems to be injurty free and it's rare for me to have issues.

Lastly, my strategy for this run is to run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute. It's like te Galloway Method, and I think it's a big reason I haven't been injured this year. At first, I was a little nervous about how I would feel on race day. You start running with the idea that you'll get to a point where you just run. That's how I did the Green Valley Race (10 miles) and the RocknRoll Half in Nashville. I will admit, it was a little humbling doing my first race this way. I did the Turkey Trot 8k and I was so worried about what people were thinking as I stopped and walked in the very first mile. But when I crossed the finish line at a 9:50 pace with a course that hilly, I was sold. My training runs vary, sometimes I run quicker than a 10 minute mile, sometimes slower, but that's my average. If I can keep 10:00 minute pace, I will beat my last half time by 10 minutes. Today, I ran 10.3 miles in 1 hour and 50 minutes. (we actually ran closer to 10.8 miles, but I didn't start my watch for the warm up). I used my Garmin to review my stats and when I was running, I covered 9.15 miles in 1:28 minutes. When I was walking, I covered 1.15 miles in 22 minutes. I was pretty happy with that!! We'll see how it goes on race day. I'd like to beat my time of 2:26 BUT if I can finish the race without pain and be able to walk, I will be happy.

The good news is I reached my fundraising goal! I have raised $1801 and my goal is $1300. I'm super excited because when I signed up, I thought I would NEVER be able to raise that much money. So many people have contributed to my fund and I still have 3 weeks. Team Determination does a lot of stuff to keep the fundraisers together, so we'll have our own tent, we'll have a speedy check in at the expo AND we have a dinner the night before the the race. I'll take lots of pics and show everyone how much money we all raised to help cure cancer!