5K Or Bust!

Since the August Half Marathon I have not been running very much. So when my friend Bricker said he was going to sign up for a couple of 5K races, I kind of hemmed and hawed for a bit before I decided to shut up and sign up! Bricker used to be..how shall I say...not so healthy. A year ago, he weighed maybe 250, smoked, drank and ate lots of large Louisiana meals. He has since got his s**t together and I am so proud of him. It is the least I can do to support him.

Or so that is what I thought I was doing. As it turns out, he could beat me any day! Well - can, could and HAS! The first race we ran together was the Gumbo Festival 5K. We had never really run together, so I had no idea what his pace or style was. We ran for about 3/4 of a mile together and then he took off like a shot. He ended up coming in about a minute before me, which when running a 3.1 mile race is a lot.

This week we have been running together, and then today we had another 5K race (Crescent City Fall Classic) and he beat me again! He only beat me by about 15 seconds this time though... Results to follow, but we both got about 25:40.

It is great to have someone to run with and to pace yourself against. It really makes it so much easier. When I run alone I get bored and unmotivated. But thanks to Chris, I am back in the game!

Ahhhh.....RELIEF!

Rolaids don't spell relief; finishing does. Actually, after the first dreaded two miles, which are ALWAYS HELL for me (no matter how many miles I have run or am running) I was okay. Until about mile 9, when the soles of my feet (and then my ankles) started killing me! But...the crowd was a godsend, the weather was beautiful and my will was strong enough...to finish the race! I did not do as well as I would have liked, but I did finished, which was more than I really expected this time. SO...here is to the next one...

Don't forget to check out photos >>> here.

Slacker!

How quickly we forget how difficult it is to go back to exercising after a break. So I am supposed to be training for the NYC Half. Ha! I went on vacation, which was luckily an “active” vacation, meaning hiking and biking. However, I did not run the whole time I was there (about 10 days). Then I got home and immediately got sick. So… a couple more weeks pass by.

We now come to last week, my first week trying to get back into the swing of things. I went to the gym on Monday and was going to run (really!) but I forgot my socks (darn it!). I had just read an article about making excuses and how we need to stop doing it, so I put my shoes on (sans socks) and made my way to the treadmill. However, after about a mile I could feel a blister forming, so I walked a little and then lifted weights instead.

Day Two of “the revival” was spent procrastinating running by doing the elliptical and then lifting weights again. On Day Three an attempt to run was made, but was ended when Top Chef started due to a conflict of interest. On Day Four I committed to running a two mile race in City Park, and almost flaked at the last moment. Instead, I dragged my lazy butt to the park and ran two miles in the 850 heat and 80% humidity (at 7:15 pm!)

I almost died.

My lungs hurt; my legs hurt; I could feel my face burning bright red like a beacon in the night. Once finished, I walked with quivering legs to the line for water and drank about one hundred and forty tiny Dixie cups full of water.

Turns out I ran my fastest mile so far – about 8 minutes. However, this is only the beginning of a very long journey which ends in New York City and lasts for 13.1 miles. So, two miles at a time, day by day, I struggle to reach that path. I have a long way to go before I am ready.

Big Apple Be Ready!

I made it! I got into the New York City Half Marathon! Yay! They drew names on the 23rd of May and I got picked. So did my friend Seth, so...we are raring to go! We just need to continue training...

New York City, here I come...

Stay tuned...the race is Sunday, August 5th...

Practice Makes Perfect

Tomorrow, Saturday May 12th, at 8:30 a.m. I will be standing in a group of people, getting ready to run. This is a small run; we can't run very far in New Orleans in the summer without falling down from heat stroke or dehydration. It is only 3 miles, which is roughly 5K, which is a good distance for a practice run. Ha - a 15 dollar practice run, where I will get another "free" shirt (I love it - pay 15 dollars and get a free shirt! Or sometimes it is more like - pay 50 dollars and get a free shirt!)

I have started training again. I dont know if I am going to get into the NYC Half or not, but if I do get in, I plan to have at least 12 weeks of training, which is what I had for the Mardi Gras Marathon. This way I am keeping up a steady schedule of running, keeping in shape and training all at the same time. If this week were week 1, I would have a 13 week training schedule.

Luckily this week I only have to run...lemme check my schedule...16 miles! What?!

So. It has begun. Again.

Walk to the Water

The Bay to Breakers: A 7.5 mile run from the Embarcadero (the Bay) to Ocean Beach (the Breakers). Some people actually run the whole thing. Others walk it, dressed up like cowboys, with a wagon full of beer trailing behind them.

This is what we are going to do. We are going to walk along, with the tortilla throwing naked guys wearing only fanny packs and sneakers, with the men dressed up as the Baywatch crew, with the frat boys dressed in togas riding on a float full of beer... We are going to walk past house parties that have gone on all night, past Alamo Square, through Golden Gate Park, past the Civic Center...

We are going to tackle the Hayes Street Hill!!

For more info on the Bay to Breakers, click here.

Running On Empty

I arrived in Louisville at 11:50 p.m.on Friday. My flight was late. It was supposed to arrive at 11:15, which was already bad enough. All I could think was, "I have to get up in...a little over 5 hours." As I walked to the entrance of the airport, took the cab and then finally got to the hotel, I couldn't stop thinking, "5 hours of sleep"..."4.5 hours of sleep"...."4 hours of sleep". I finally got to bed around 12:50.

On Saturday I woke up at 4:30.

I got ready, ate a powerbar, drank a liter of water and then walked to the Louisville Convention Center, where I picked up my bib, stretched, ate another power bar and then boarded the bus to Iroquois Park, where the race would start. It was 6:30. It was freezing (it is all relative of course; it was probably about 50 degrees).

The race finally began at 7:30. I had decided that, in lieu of a partner (Mira, I miss you!), I would join a pace group this time. By joining a pace group, you maintain a steady pace of...say..10 minutes per mile... the whole time. I had two choices. There was a 4:30 pace group (these are measured by "marathon" time - a 4:30 would be a 2:15 half *which is what I ran at the Mardi Gras Marathon*) and a 4:15 pace group (2:08 half). I had planned on being in the 4:20 pace group, therefore striving for a 2:10 half. However, in the absence of a 4:20, I decided to join the 4:15. That would put me below my goal by 2 mins + and get me that much closer to my ultimate goal of 2 hours flat.

The pace leader explained to us that if you needed to go to the restroom or if you were tired, you could slow down/stop and then catch up to the group later. He suggested taking at least a mile to catch back up to the group, as you don't want to tire yourself out right by trying to hard to catch back up.

I ran with the pace group for the first mile. Then, oh horror of horrors, I felt the need to pee. So I ran a little faster (and actually at a more comfortable pace) than the group, thinking that the next porta-potti I saw I would stop at and then it would give me a chance to catch back up to the group. Around mile 2, I finally saw a bathroom so I stopped. There were about 8 people in line. I weighed my options. GO. Stay. Go. Stay? I stayed. Until the two bathrooms that were there never emptied. There were 8 people in line. We waited. Finally I could wait no more. I ran again. Into the bushes.

I ran up hills and down hills; My legs were burning; My ankles were sore...and I was only on mile 4. It took me 5 more miles to catch back up to my pace group. By this time we were at Churchill Downs. From there to the next mile seemed to take hours..then all of a sudden I saw mile 11 up ahead! Only 2 more miles to go! I sped up and raced to the finish as fast as I could go (which, by now, was not very fast at all!)

I made it to the end at 2:04...only 4 minutes slower than my goal, but 11 minutes faster than my last half marathon!

If only I hadn't had to stop and pee...

New York City?

Call me crazy, but I just put my name in the lottery for the New York City Half Marathon. The race is August 5th so if I did get chosen, I would have plenty of time to train. They pull names sometime between May 15 and 21 and announce the "winners" on the 22nd.

Seth, a friend from NYC that I worked with in Baton Rouge, also has his name in the pot. So hopefully if one of us gets picked, both of us get picked...

So - stay posted!! Keep your fingers crossed!!

Countdown to Kentucky

Whew. I think I mentioned in my last post that I only had 4 weeks to train for the next half marathon - the Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon... Well, now I am down to...4 days. Ouch. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I spent a total non-fitness week at the beach last week, where the closest thing I did to "training" was to walk to the cooler for a beer or to the water to cool down.

Having said that, I have not done a very good job at training this time around (if you can even call it that at all!) However, it will be interesting to see how I do on Saturday. Perhaps I will finally prove that training is not the answer! But then what would I do for the next few months?

After this is over, I have decided to do a couple of things:

1. Next vacation: ACTIVE vacation - aka. hiking, biking, rafting, kayaking, tree climbing or all of the above.
2. Run the NY City Half (if they will have me - this is done as a lottery) on August 5th
3. Triathlon - still TBD

If anyone knows of any fun activities I have overlooked, let me know!

Going Swimmingly

When I got in the pool, I was not sure what I was doing. I have swum before. I can swim. But I had no idea how far or how long I could swim. I didn't even know how far you could go in what amount of time. In an attempt to find out, two weeks ago I started swimming at the gym.

The first time, I swam for 10 minutes. It went something like this. Minute one through minute five was easy. During minutes six to eight I had a little difficulty because my arms were getting tired (damn useless sticks!). I struggled with my tired arms as well as my breathing through minutes nine and ten and finally came to a stop at the end of the pool. I had done 10 laps. Ten long laps. I felt like I had swum miles. In fact, I had only swum about a third of a mile.

I have a long way to go still.

I have always been a swimmer; I grew up by the river; we swam every day in the summer time and even some days in the spring and fall. My cousins and I would race each other from one side of the river to the other, often going back and forth many times. I have swum far; we used to see how far up the river we could swim. However, I have never swum for an extended amount of time. And I have never had to swim while being timed, or when it mattered at all. I recently decided to train for a (so far un-chosen) triathlon and so now am swimming not only for fun but for braggin rights.

Luckily, I am getting better.

I went back to the pool last week (I am only going once a week right now) and swam for 17 minutes. 16 laps. 800 meters. HALF A MILE! Which is what I will need to do (if not more) for a sprint triathlon. So...all is not lost. Now I just have to try and build my endurance. And figure out how to get from the lake to the bike to the road without hurting anyone or myself... I guess I still have a long way to go.

And They are Off!!!

Next Up: Louisville, KY
What: Derby Mini-Marathon
When: Saturday, April 28, 2007

This half marathon marks the beginning of Derby season. The first Kentucky Derby will be on May 6th with many to follow after that. Before the weekend of the Derby, there are week long festivities, one of them being...the mini-marathon.

Part of the race, and the most exciting part for me, is run around the track at Churchill Downs!!

This time I only have four weeks to train, rather than twelve like last time...So I have kicked it up a notch, am running more and am trying to clock as many miles as possible in the next four (well, more like three from today) weeks. Which is hard because for the last month, I have been completely slacking.

So we shall see how it goes, shant we?

...And I'm Spent!

Its over. We are done. We finished in just over two hours, which was my goal. We didnt quite make it as fast as I wanted, but we were only 2 minutes slower. If we hadn't stopped to pee, we would have been fine. Actually, out of some 900+ people, we were about 300. Not too bad; I think on a bell curve that would be a B.

It was a beautiful day, 65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky... We ran the first few miles pretty easily, then Kaylen joined us around mile 5 and ran with us to about mile 10. Those miles flew by; I don't know if it was becuase Kaylen was there or what, but we seemed to reach mile 10 very quickly. It was more difficult to get from 10 to 11 and even more so from 11 to 12. When we reached the 12 mile marker, we tried to speed up a little, but by that time I could not feel my legs and my feet felt like they had been trapped in my shoes for weeks. Mira was having leg trouble; I was having foot trouble. We limped along until the last little bit where Dad joined us and ran with us to the finish. We sprinted the last 100 yards and made it across the finish line at 2:13.

Not bad for someone who could barely run two miles without having a coronary three months ago.

So - what is next, you ask. That has yet to be determined. Possibly another half (it is a good excuse to travel around and see new places) or maybe a sprint triathlon (3-4 mile run, 12-16 mile bike, roughly a half mile swim).

The world is my oyster!

Day 82: The Pressure is On

Countdown until the race is almost over. 2 days left....Yikes!

Today we are going to take one last short run. The weather outside is beautiful; it is about 70 today. We plan to run a few miles just to stay loose and then rest all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night we are having a carb load (pasta) pot-luck where we will stuff ourselves silly in hopes of sustaining energy for the next day, and then....

...we will run. We will run as far and as fast as we can.

The race begins at 7, so will we will be out there at 6, jiggling up and down, stretching, peeing one last time... I don't know what it is (nerves maybe) but right before a race I always have to pee about 45 times. If you wait until 10 mins before the race, there is a line about a mile long. Actually, random fact - we were talking about what serious runners do when they have to pee (or worse!) during a race. Apparently they just go. On themselves. Obviously I AM NOT a serious runner. I don't mind adding 1.4 minutes to my time in order to experience the comfort of peeing in a toilet.

Another thing you often do not hear about is the chafing effect which comes from sweating and then rubbing your legs together for over two hours. This is a serious thing. To avoid it, many people take large handfuls of Vaseline or Boudreaux's Butt Paste and shove it down their pants and between their legs before and during the race. I have yet to witness this, but I cannot wait. Luckily, I do not really sweat, so hopefully I will not be using the Butt Paste.

I am nervous; I am excited; When I complete this, I will have completed my longest run ever AND a half marathon. Next up - sprint triathlon...

WEEK 12 (the last week):

Total Miles Run: 185
Ave per week: 15
Longest Run so Far: 12

Day 73: I am Not Dead Yet!

…And it keeps getting easier. Last Friday, we ran 11 miles. The week before that, we ran 10 miles. After that 13 is just another drop in the bucket.

We began to do this after looking at a map and realizing that from the office to our hotel was roughly 10 miles. We have since switched hotels and now it is 11 miles to our new destination, which is even better. It is a nice run too – from the office, we run along the levee for about 5 miles, then cut over to the park, run along the park for about half a mile, then cut over to the street and run up St. Charles Ave the rest of the way. St. Charles Ave is where the streetcar used to run along before the hurricane and so now there is a nice area right in the middle that is not being used and is a perfect running trail.

Last Friday, everyone was getting ready for the Mardi Gras parades, so it was quite an adventure. People with BBQs, kids, booze, food, chairs, tents and dogs were setting up all over the place. There were cops everywhere; in fact I think the average was about 5 cops for one block. I did not know that there were that many cops in New Orleans! I think they must bus them in from Disneyland or something.

We arrived at the hotel in about 1 hour and 50 minutes, which is consistent with our 10 minute per mile pace. I think we are ready for a full 13 miles!

Day 49: You Geaux Girls!

Why is it that some days I really don’t feel like running even a mile and then others it is absolutely no problem?

Yesterday, Mira and I ran about 8 miles and it was easy! It took us about an hour and twenty five minutes, which is not too bad except for that it means it will take us about two and a half hours to run the half marathon. Two and a half hours seems like a really long time!

Earlier this week, I had a hard time running 4 miles. What is the difference and how can I make it so that every day is as easy as it was yesterday?

I read an article in Runners World about “the bonk”. This is when your body or mind gives up and you want to stop. There are many reasons for this bonk, the most common being not eating enough to sustain energy and not drinking enough, which causes dehydration and slows gastric emptying, which in turn causes cramps.

Even after reading this article, this still does not make sense to me. Four hours before running four miles the other day, I had a hearty lunch full of vegetables and carbohydrates as well as about 8 bottles of water throughout the day. Yesterday I ran at 8 a.m. and had not eaten since the night before. I drank a glass of water before leaving the house, but did not drink during my run.

Maybe it is just all in my head. Maybe it is only my own misgivings that are holding me back. In that case, now that I know for sure that I CAN run 8 miles, I should also know that I will be able to run thirteen miles just as easily. It is just a case of mind over matter.

AT END OF WEEK 7:

Average miles run per week: 13
Most miles run in one day so far: 8
Hours spent in the gym/at the park: 65

$$ spent on gym membership: $90.00
$$ spent on running gear: $158.74
Running farther than I ever have before: priceless
(sorry couldn’t resist)

Day 46: 6th Inning Slump

My lack of posting does not necessarily equate to my lack of training. Or maybe I am just fooling myself. The last couple of weeks have been incredibly difficult. It has been hard to get out of bed; I have no motivation to shop, run, hang out, do laundry or go to work. I am doing all these things, but I am dragging along as I do it.

What causes this? Is it because it is winter and dark all the time? In Physiology class we learned that light produces Melatonin, which in turn produces Serotonin, which is what makes you happy. If there is not enough light, your Serotonin levels drop, causing one to be tired, unhappy, bored and unmotivated.

As a runner, this dark also forces one to run inside a lot of the time, which for me just is not as fun as running outside. The track in the gym is small; 11 laps equals one mile. So if you are running any more that one mile, you have to run around and around the track for what seems like millions of times sometimes. I get tired of looking at the same walls, the same people's backs and the same boring brown track.

So what is it - the dark, the boring track, or just my own complete lack of motivation? Perhaps it is a combination of all three… It is difficult but I am pushing through and ignoring all the voices in my head that are telling me to just go home and crawl into bed and skip the boring workout. I have to escape the 6th inning slump and make it to the 7th inning stretch.

Day 35: Test Race Number One

Yesterday Noel, Mira, Kirsten and I ran the 100th Anniversary Jackson Day Race. This is a 9K race which goes from the top of City Park, near Lake Pontchartrain, to Jackson Square in the French Quarter. The Jackson Day Race is run to commemorate The Battle of New Orleans, which was fought on January 8, 1815 as part of the War of 1812. US Troops ran the same route that we ran in order to save the City of New Orleans from British invasion.

9 K is about 5.6 miles, which is good practice for the half marathon. There is one tiny hill and a couple of hard turns, but other than that, it is pretty straight forward. We ran at a pretty steady 10 minute mile, which is about what I had hoped and we finished the race without stopping once, which is what my goal was.

At the end of the race to celebrate your victory, you get a "free" 100th Anniversary sweatshirt and lots of food and...beer. You gotta love New Orleans. Where else could you exercise and then directly afterwards get drunk?

Day 32: There is No "Easy" or "Conversational" About it

Well, hip-hip-hoorah! I think I finally figured out what an “easy conversational pace” is! The first time I experienced this so called “easy” pace was when I went running with Noel. Luckily, he runs about as fast as a turtle, which I was under the impression was wrong, but because of this I found out that the old saying “don’t knock it until you try it” really is true. The turtle run is the way to go! The day I ran with him, I ran about 5 miles with no problem. We even talked! Ha-ha! Conversation! And Running! At the same time! So this is what it is like!

Unfortunately, this pleasant new discovery eluded me when I ran by myself the next day. All of the other sports that I have done in my life have trained me to be fast, to be aggressive and to go get ‘em! This makes the attempt to set an easy, steady pace a difficult thing for me. I want to win; I want to be first; I want to go fast. Unfortunately, I don’t have the stamina to go fast for more than about a minute. So I set about trying to learn to be a turtle even when Noel wasn’t there with me. Yesterday I believe I may have been onto something. I ran 4 miles without even breaking a sweat. Whew. Of course I had to talk to myself a lot to prove that I had actually accomplished the “conversation” element of the easy pace, but hey, I think I got it down!


WEEK 5: HALFWAY POINT
Miles to run this week: 19
Miles run so far: 4
Miles to run today: 7