Inspiration

I received an email from my old running group in Austin this morning with a link to this video called "My 120 pound journey". It was such a touching video. I emailed it to Jenni immediately.It was inspiring to me as a runner. Although I have never lost a pound from running, I still believe that running improves my life in so many ways. Now if only my damn knee didn't hurt, and I could go for a run.

Terry Fox Run pt 2

The Terry Fox run itself was less than awesome. I had to drive out to Confederation bridge, which is about 40 minutes from my house. Once I got close, the traffic was backed up all down the highway, and it took me about 45 minutes to go the last kilometer and get parked. I had planned on being parked by 6 am, but it was about 6:40 by the time I was actually parked (in a farmer's field) and out of my car. The last bus to Prince Edward Island (PEI), which is where I wanted to start the race, was supposed to leave at 6:45. I ran in the direction of the buses, only to find there were none going to PEI, only to the start line on the New Brunswick side of the bridge. No one seemed to know what was going on, so I took the opportunity to use the potty. While in the outhouse, I heard someone yell, "Any runners going to PEI, get on the red bus. This is the last bus to PEI!" I quickly gathered my things and ran towards the bus. Once on the bus I realized that I had forgotten my water bottle. Because I have not replaced my broken water belt, I had planned on just carrying a water bottle. So now I had no water. I figured it wasn't the end of the world though, since it wasn't going to be crazy hot and humid like in Texas. As we drove over the bridge, I didn't see any water stations as promised, which made me a bit nervous. (I found out later that I was just looking at the wrong side of the bridge.) I definitely couldn't complain about the view, though! It was beautiful.

Once on the other side of the bridge, I hopped out of the bus and onto Prince Edward Island for the very first time. It was very exciting, and really pretty. I got there right at 7 am, and the race was supposed to start at 7 am. By 7:30 there had still been no announcements, and buses were still coming over the bridge. Lots of them. At least 20 more had come after me even though my bus was "the last bus to PEI." So I wandered around and people were all chatting to each other. and laughing and hanging out. It was all very informal for a race. Finally at about 7:40 we were told that the race would be begin soon. A few minutes later, they asked us to line up at the start line and that we would be starting in 5 minutes. Three minute later, we were told that there were actually a few more buses that had just started across the bridge, so we would have to get out of the way and wait about 10 minutes for them to get across the bridge so that we could start the race. The announcer kept saying things like, "We know you don't mind waiting because this is for such a good cause." and "We have a really good reason for running late because so many people showed up to support this really good cause." That did not fly because there was no on-site registration, so they had to have known how many people were coming.

Finally, around 8 am we went back to our places across the bridge to the starting line and then it was time for some short speeches. The whole crowd groaned, and I felt so bad for the speakers. One was an MP from the area and one was Terry Fox's brother, which I think made people feel REALLY bad for groaning. Each of them only spoke for about 30 seconds and then we were off. And damn was it windy! I guess I knew that running a race over the ocean would have to be windy, but I wasn't expecting the wind to be so strong. And, those of us starting from the PEI side were running into the wind. Fortunately, though, we were running west, and so the sun was behind us and not shining in our faces. The wind got a bit better as we got further from land, and I think it was also blocked a bit because we were running uphill and the high point of the bridge might have blocked it a bit.

Picture from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pont_confederation.JPG

The first 5.5 kilometers of the 12.8 kilometer run were uphill. At first it was a fairly obvious incline, then a less obvious incline, and then a very obvious incline as we got closer to the peak. I have to say that I did the best hill running that I have ever done in my life. Ever. I just kept going. And it wasn't so bad! I think that the constant wind helped keep my body cool and made it seem like less work, even though it was more work to battle the wind. I kept thinking that once I had crested the peak that the wind would die down. I am not sure what alternate universe that I thought I was in, but the wind got WAY WORSE once I was on the other side of the peak because there was no peak to at least block it somewhat. As I got closer to land on the New Brunswick side, I really felt that at points I was running backward or just running in place. The wind was that strong. And then my knees started to hurt. BADLY. And I had to stop running because I felt like someone was smashing both of my knees with a hammer at the same time. I walked for about 3 minutes, during which time my knees did not hurt at all, so I started to run again. Instantly they hurt REALLY badly, so I walked again for 2 minutes. This time I started running and it didn't hurt as bad, so I just kept at it. Usually when I feel pain, I will stop running completely for fear of getting permanently injured and not being able to run in some future event. I figured that since my next planned event is the Austin Half Marathon in February, I had some time to recover if I did do some damage. So I just kept on running. And I am still suffering the consequences - going down stairs is very painful endeavor these days.

There was no actual finish line. I just stopped running when I saw a bunch of people standing around stretching. On the bridge there were little kilometer markers posted and I ran past the one that said 13 km, so I am not sure if I went too far, or if maybe we started after the 0 km parker or something. Either way, the finish was very anti-climactic.

Overall though, the run was amazing. How often do you get to run an entire run over the ocean. The view was was so spectacular that I often forgot that I was running and it was supposed to be hard work. I also found out that they don't do this run over the bridge every year. The last time they did it was in 2005, so I am very glad that I was able to participate in this year's run over the bridge because I might not get the chance again.

Distance: 8 miles
Number of stars: 3.5
Lessons learned: A strong cool wind keeps the body temperature down and makes for more enjoyable running
Song that rocked my run: Kiss by Prince

Terry Fox Run

Today was the Terry Fox run across the Confederation Bridge that I have been sorta training for since I got to Sackville. I was running in memory of my paternal grandparents, both of whom were had cancer. I took an old picture of them that my aunt had digitized and attached it to my shirts.

I wanted to have shirts made with the picture on it, but I couldn't find anywhere around here that did such things. I printed out one picture just on paper and put it on the back of my long sleeved shirt.

And then I took a smaller version of the picture, laminated it with tape and attached it to the front of my short sleeved shirt:

The goal of the Terry Fox run is to raise money for cancer research, and thanks to my awesome donors, I raised $560 for the run. Thanks everyone!

I am too sleepy now to write about the actual run, so I will finish this tomorrow. 

Slacker

I have been slacking on both the running and the blogging fronts. Starting school is kicking my butt! Tomorrow I the Terry Fox run across the Confederation Bridge (more about this in my next post), and I feel very unprepared. Most of the runs I have been doing over the past month have been around 3-4 miles. I only managed to squeeze in one 6.5 mile run a couple of weeks ago. This makes me nervous. I am also really excited because I miss running long distances.

Most of my runs lately have been rather enjoyable. My most enjoyable recent run was my first run in Sackville after returning from Vancouver. It was a near-perfect running day in my opinion. Of course, for me a perfect running day involves rain, so it may not be everyone's idea of perfect. This particular day was delightfully cool, but not too cold to have to wear gloves or anything, and there were dark ominous clouds hanging over my town, but with bursts of sunshine visible in the distance. The sky just looked amazing. And the route I run, down main street is on a hill above the surrounding farmland and swamp (err...marshland). The view was amazing and the mixture of dark clouds with pockets of blue sky just looked so damn cool. I was also listening to new running music because I was DAMN SICK of my old mix of 200 songs that I have been listening to since last November.  I was listening to songs from a mix CD that my BFF made me, songs I would normally not think to run to, and it was delightful. This inspired me to make a while new running playlist for my iPod, which will be tested officially in tomorrow's run.

Distance: 3.5 miles
Number of stars: 5!
Lessons learned: Musical selections should be rotated more than once per year!
Song that rocked my run: Jolene by Dolly Parton
Song that made me dance while running: Say Hey by Michael Franti & Spearhead

How can you not dance to this song?!?

shoes

The tip of the morning was about shoes, and getting good running shoes that are right for your feet. I can't stress this enough. My feet are flat, and I encountered some hip/leg/IT problems when I started running on the wrong shoes. Once I fixed my muscles and got in the right shoes, the difference is tremendous. It was also suggested to get two pairs, one for your weekend long runs, and one for your weekday shorter runs. This way, you've got two pairs that are fully broken in, but not completely shot, come race day. It sounds like an excellent idea - for those people with jobs and income and the ability to get two pairs of shoes.

What's your current shoe of choice?

In March I bought Brooks Adrenaline and have been incredibly happy with them. A friend of mine swears by them and will not wear anything else. Prior to the Brooks I was in a Mizuno Wave Rider, which was also good. Both of these don't require any additional orthotics in the shoe (for me), and have enough support and stability. I find the Brooks to be a bit lighter and easier.

AustinFit Red Group

I've run with Austin Fit before. I did it in preparation for the 2008 San Antonio half marathon. LDH and I did it together in preparation for the 2009 San Antonio half marathon. I was meaning to join this summer, but with LDH gone...let's just say I couldn't do it without her. And then I realized I was going to be out of town for the San Antonio half. So, no group for me. Combine that with this crazy heat, and here we have a poor showing for my summer, running-wise.

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed at 6:20. I wasn't totally excited, but I wasn't dreading it either. I pulled on my pink shorts and I thought, "hi shorts, haven't seen you in a while". I headed down to TxDOT to meet the group. It's not for the San Antonio race, but for the Austin race (Nanio, it's the 20th anniversary on February 20th, which seems like the perfect time for a trip to Austin to run!) I decided to join the Red running group, instead of the Orange, and run with the 10:30 pace group. I'm not quite at 10:30, but it's where I'd like to be. So I'm hoping if I start with them it will push me there.

Man, oh man, the head coach Janice - she's intense. Go ahead, please, click that link. Check out her bio. How can she not be exactly the running coach I need. It says she ran her first marathon in 2004 in just shy of 6 hours, and now she's completed half and full ironmans and is basically like the terminator.

We started today and she said, "We're going to forget the pace today" and I thought, sweet! What she really meant was, I'm going to run you up and down hills and we're still going to finish in a pretty decent time, but I want you to not think about it. She stopped the whole group (the 10:00, 10:15, 10:30 and 10:45 pace groups) at the parking lot of Joe's Crab Shack, before heading up a slight hill to Travis Heights to go over proper up-hill form. She said, LDH listen up, to look at the top of the hill and don't look down at the ground. You see, we always look down. It helps to trick us in to not being TERRIFIED of the hills. Well, Ironman Janice says that looking down keeps you all hunched over and you are inefficient and you expend more energy. It was like she was speaking straight to my scientist heart. Inefficient, expend energy - I don't want to do that. So, looking up I will do. She also says you need to shorten your stride. She had spoken a bit about running on flat ground, and how your stride should be long and you should see your feet if you look down. LDH, girls like you and I probably should only be seeing our toes, but you should see them. However, on the uphill, when you look down you shouldn't see your feet at all. Your stride should be short, your body should be straight, your eyes up at the top of the hill, and your arms pumping lightly. With this lesson, we were off.

Up Travis Heights. It was about this time that I realized there was something weird going on. We weren't stopping. There was no walking. We were just, running. I thought to myself, I'm totally screwed. I can not do this. I'm asking too much - faster pace, longer distance (oh, I haven't spilled that one yet), AND no walk breaks. But, Ironman Janice to the rescue. She then spoke about active recovery. She said to use the top of the hill and the downhills to control your heart rate. She said to take a few deeps breaths, hold them in, and slow your breathing. Holy cow, it was like resting without the walking. Don't get me wrong, the walking - way easier!

Once we reached the top of Travis Heights, she stopped us again to discuss downhill form. She spoke about keeping things controlled. She said you still want to keep short strides, but you can increase your cadence so that you are still using the gravity of the downhill to get you down faster, but that your perceived output is not greater. She even mentioned the "inverse relationship" between stride length and cadence in a downhill - Ironman Janice, you are killing me with the technical terms. Where have you been all my life. So off we went down Travis Heights. and back to TxDOT.

Now, I won't lie. I stopped to walk a few times. But only for brief spurts. And while I finished just about last in the 10:30 group, I was still ahead of the 10:45. I'll take it. in total I think we did 3 miles. But, we weren't done yet. Ironman Janice had DRILLS for us. While all the other groups were sitting around on the parking lot drinking their water and chatting the red group was off to the side. We did 4 or 5 small running drills - side shuffles, high knees, butt kicks, side lunges. But, this was not enough for Ironman Janice. We then moved to the other side of the parking lot and did 50 step ups, followed by 20 push-ups and then 20 tricep dips. (During the push-ups I was on the wall next to the leaders of my group, the 10:30 pace, and she said to me during my second set of 10 push-ups "Good for you, those look perfect, I'm about spent and couldn't get good form if I tried." I smiled inside and thanked boot camp and Jillian Michaels.)

It was at this point that Ironman Janice was satisfied, and lead us through some stretches. I think she skimped on the quad stretches though, mine are still ON FIRE! She says that we are going to do these drills every saturday for the next 6 or so weeks, and we will be working on form and building a good base. She says the miles will come easier if we've got this down. And hell, I'm not going to argue with that woman. This morning was tough - but it felt good. It felt useful, it felt like I was going to get better. And as I have joined the Austin FULL Marathon training group, I think I'm going to be needing all the help, advice, and occasional yelling, to get myself across that finish line.

The goal: February 20th, 2010 - 26.2 miles. Rumor has it LDH is going to come to Austin and run the half. I encourage anyone and everyone to come cheer us on, or run with us. And in the case of my first attempt at a marathon, bring a chair...you'll be waiting at the finish line for a long, long, long time. But, Ironman Janice assures me I'll make it.

leaving the past back there

I had a to do list. I have had lots of them. I'd say 95% of the things on there don't get done. Among them, write about some runs. There were three I wanted to write about, but they are so long ago now it's silly. So, I'm moving on (save for this post).I'll give you the bullet-pointed highlights.

- I did a run with a group of 5 (yes, five) boys. Two of them are training for the NYC marathon, one of them hopes to qualify for Boston with a time of something close to 3 hours. File that under things I do not comprehend. The highlight of that 5 miler was that I dropped behind the boys (because I run/walk), but then caught back up, and then passed them. Granted, they were running slow as molasses, but hell, I'll take it. (I think I gave this 4 stars)

- There was a second just with the two marathon trainers, but, there was nothing impressive there - I stayed with them for my 10 minutes and then never saw them again. (I don't remember enough about this one to guess on stars, maybe 3)

- And then there was the time my lab mate and I ran down to the greenbelt, hoping to find some mud to practice for our Warrior Dash. Sadly, there was no mud, there wasn't even any water. We did have a pretty unique 5 mile run through an empty river bed though. I loved this run, someone new to talk to. We didn't track distance or time. We just ran until we wanted to turn around, and then we did it. In the end, looking at google maps, I think we did a little over 5 miles in a little over an hour. I'll take it. 5 star run for sure.

Suffice it to say, my running has been sporadic and poor as of late. That all is about to change.