Running 18k Ensemble

Given last week's lonely run, I got wise and went in to the Running Room to find out where the half-marathon group would be running from. It's a good thing, too, because they were running from a mildly obscure area in the River Valley, and starting an hour earlier.

Waking up at 6 a.m., I really did consider just running on my own, and stealing the extra sleeptime. However, I really didn't want to do the whole run on my own again, so I got up, ate my bowl of Cheerios and a slice of toast with peanut butter, and drove down to the starting site.

I started out rather slow, to maintain pace with someone who hadn't run since the 12k weekend. During the first 5km, we went down roads, into ravines, and down gravel hills that I dreaded coming back up. I kept up the chatter, as my running companion seemed to find my patter absolutely interesting - or she couldn't catch enough breath to interrupt me.

Right around 5km, my running buddy decided to head back, and conveniently, there was a bathroom stop just around the corner. Even more conveniently, the city employee had just arrived to open the locks on it. However, despite the five adoring women thanking him profusely, he did not seem terribly amused. I hope he remembers us fondly, because we sure will.

Anyways, continuing on, through the swelling hill-ettes and along the paths, we made it to 9km, and paused long enough to wait for everyone to catch up. By that point, I was extremely glad we'd started early, because despite the trees and the River Valley, the sun was hot and the mercury was rising. It was, of course, at that point that the rest of us discovered that the lead-pack had gotten lost twice. Whoopsie! However, we were close enough to downtown that I would have been able to find my way home (or at least given Ragnar enough direction to pick me up).

We headed back, and I was quite pleased that, not only were my knees reacting ... reasonably well, and my hip wasn't paining me nearly as much as last week. During the run back, it was time for more runners and bikers to be out, and I saw an example of bad road courtesy: a road biker was heading towards us, and shoved a walker out of the way, to the ground (though whether there was actual contact, I didn't see). He then took a moment to look back, but continued on his way. Mitigating circumstance: the walking group was not sharing the road either, and looked like they could be working off last night's hangover. Bad karma all 'round.

We stayed to the path on our way back, and I was not taking as many GU energy gels as I had expected. Speaking of GU, their Chocolate Outrage and Peanut Butter gels are pretty tasty. I just know I can't be the only person to think there needs to be a Chocolatey Peanut Butter Explosion.

Anyways, it was during the last 3.5km that I started really watching my watch. We were still going up and down hills, and my knees were letting me know about it. And just as we got to the end... Stairs. The dreaded River Valley Stairs loomed before me. The last time I had seen these stairs, I'd nearly puked, and I hate puking. But I did them, and found that, despite having elapsed nearly 17km already, I did the stairs with relative ease - my lunchtime runs in the Valley, doing similar stairs, had trained me well.

We were pretty close to the end, and I managed to burn some extra by finishing fast and strong. I like doing that. It makes me feel like it's a piece of cake, and the last 18km was de rigeur.

Post-run, I enjoyed a raspberry protein shake, and a nap. My knees and left hip feel pretty comfortable, though respectably tired. It feels like a job well-done, and we shall see what next week entails.

Speaking of my hip, I am debating between going to get it checked out, and leaving it be before the big race. This week will be the big decider.

My Week In Running

I discovered a lot of new things in running this past week:

1. BC has a lot of hills. Sweetie and I did our 15km long run on Saturday, as we were planning to drive home on Sunday. This began with a big downhill, which meant on the return, there would be a big uphill. However, it was a nice run, fully enjoyable time with Ragnar, and I was able to enjoy the beautiful near-countryside of BC. Weird thing seen: a couch in the ditch.
2. Podcasting: I've heard of podcasting, but never figured it out until I needed something, anything, to block out the Flames of War podcast Ragnar was listening to. So I hooked up to Geeks in Running Shoes, which is a couple of self-proclaimed geeks who are recording their continuing efforts in making running a norm in their lives. They have guests, they talk about their race results, and they're super-nice: one already responded to me on Twitter! They also led me to the Slow Runners' Club, which espouses a joy in running and racing that is based on having fun, not racing for time, personal bests, or a win. Also, running while listening to podcasts? Not awesome, because you may have to laugh too hard.
3. Upon returning to Edmonton, it was, as my sister had described it, as hot as the seventh level of Dante's Hell. Constantly 28-30C, and humid to boot! Fortunately, I had lived in Ottawa, so this humidity was a mosquito's bite compared to some I'd experienced, but it made me start running in the morning again, because running at noon was torturous.
4. Which I did, actually, because I hadn't woken up early enough Thursday morning (the invasive heat and resulting two-hour thunderstorm broke my sleep too much). In deference, I brought a bottle of water with me, and took more walk-breaks than usual. It was a light 5k, but ended up taking a bit longer than usual.
5. Speaking of torturous running and podcasting, one of the topics that Geeks in Running Shoes covered at one point was Ultra running. This was very interesting for me because my boss runs ultras, and Ragnar is getting into them. As a matter of fact, Ragnar is training to participate in the Canadian Death Race (my boss is also training for this, but I'm not his pit crew). Listening to GiRS's podcast, I got a sense of what Ragnar will need on his run in the Death Race: yes-or-no or other equally simple questions, like "Are you peeing? When did you last pee? Are you drinking water? Electrolytes?" Quadratic equations are right out at a time when someone is concentrating on one foot in front of the other.
6. Last but not least, I really hope the wildfires in northern Alberta die down fast because I want everyone to be safe, and I want the air in Edmonton to clear up - right now, it's a disturbing yellow-peach colour during the day, stings my eyes, and doesn't feel healthy in the lungs. I wanted to go rollerblading tonight, but maybe I'll wait for a clearer day.

And that is what I learned.

Addendum: Dear hip, shut up. Just because we're turning 30 tomorrow does not mean my warranty has run out. Stop whining. You just have two more half-marathons to do this season. Quiet.

Photos and other Evidence

Today was much the same as the last week - get up, disbelieve my phone's weather report, get dressed, eat, go to Running Room.
What I hadn't done was read the RR e-mail as closely as I should have - the half-marathon group was to meet in St. Albert. By the time I figured this out, it was too late to drive to the St. Albert store and hope everyone was still there, so I went out and did the 14km on my own.

When I started out, the weather was nearly perfect. The temperature was 15C, the wind was cool but not cold, and I had my route planned out. Ragnar seemed a little surprised that I would do all 14km on my own, but as I found out through personal experience, you don't just show up to a half-marathon and expect to run - you gotta do the work first. Or, 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail', and other like clichés.

I planned out my route for maximum can't-stop-now-ness, and it worked. A leisurely tour of Klarvatten and Lago Lindo where I didn't get lost once led me back to the main road, and then I went to run around a loop in Castledowns. The houses in that area vary between new to 20 years old or so, but most of the time, the area is very picturesque, with some lovely trees providing crucial shade.

My knees, however, were not as delighted with the weather and scenery. Their main concern was the fact that the LSD was happening at a 6:30min/km pace, which used to be my fast pace. My hip was nagging me too, so I think a visit to a physiotherapist or some such medical person would be a benefit. Hopefully, it's just a need for a quick deep tissue massage to straighten things out. Did I really just say 'hopefully' about a deep tissue massage?

Right as I was continuing down 97 St., I hit the wind tunnel. Sadly, the wind was attacking me, so in natural human competitive response, I ran harder against it. Not conducive! But that's how my body reacted, and to slow it down would, sometimes, tire me out further.

Thankfully, that was nearing the end of my run, so I managed to make it to just over 14km. It was relatively flat, but not quite enough shade for my liking. Also, when there is a choice of sidewalk, take it! The initial thrill of running off the path will be soon dashed by the realizing that mud is collecting on your shoes, making you heavier!

And the only unusual thing I saw today was the gigantic Great Dane who seemed very eager to meet me.

In other news, someone mentioned that I should post some photos. I will try to do that a bit more.

Here are a couple:

This is what I get to see while running in the River Valley!

Classy as always, Edmonton. Well done.

Death of a Toe Nail

One thing that I don't miss about running is the way it affects my feet. To my annoyance, it's not a situation that can be solved by new shoes or better socks. Mainly, it's my toe nails. Actually, it's one specific one (as the others do well enough when clipped).
It's a weak nail, and has a tendency to fall off whenever I run a half-marathon. Actually, it falls off several weeks after the race, giving me a lot of time to contemplate the eventual death of that toe-nail. Essentially, a bruise forms beneath the nail, pushing the nail away from its bed, and turning it a spectacular purple-black. The lack of bloodflow (remember, a bruise is full of dying blood cells) will kill the nail.
After today's run, it's feeling pretty tender, so I won't be surprised if it starts turning colour soon and takes a walk.

Anyways, I went out for a nice long run this afternoon. I decided to try to focus on time in my runs instead of distance, so I said to myself, "I'm going to run an hour today!" It turned out to be an hour and 13 minutes, average pace of 7:39m/km, and a distance of 9km! I'm feeling very happy with myself, though I have little doubt that I will feel it tomorrow. My breathing was good, though, and my legs and knees, though tired, are still functioning (after a nice application of ice).

And now, I'm going to have a nap before dinner and a movie with my mother!

To the Grind

I started running with the Running Room again last night. I joined the 10K group about a week in, and did the 6k planned last night.

As I knew, and anyone with common sense would know, jumping back in from my previous gleeful status of 'running once in a while' to 6k is bound to leave some ouchie.

That was my thighs and knees today. They didn't hurt quite as much as I expected, but a chance conversation with a friend who's recovering from a knee injury reminded me to buy new ice packs.

Tomorrow's plan is for 3k. I'm going to (try to) get up early in the morning to do it then - a little solidarity with my sweetie who has to be up at 4 a.m. for work.

As I last wrote, I want to plan a bit more on the idea of an exit strategy to this 10k group, which will end March 12. It is thus: run with the half-marathoners. C'est easy, non?
I will slide in with the half-marathon group and continue my training that way.

When I hit that point, then, I'll have to decide what to do next. Probably just sign up for the group and the next race again.

This Long Run Sucked

Today we were without our Fearless Leader, James. Something about that dude, long ago, rising from the dead and disappearing three days later... Oh yeah, happy Easter. Even if you don't celebrate it.

Anyway, I'm probably crankier than I was earlier about the run. It was supposed to be a long, slow run of 8km, but wound up being 7km. However, with the absolutely bitchy wind, it felt like forever.

As we set out, the middle pack had a leader who is usually placed in the fast group. Now I know why - she was at the fast group's pace, and rapidly out-distanced the four people who were not looking for a fast run. Since I was already low on energy, I was one of those four.
This incident also highlights the need to take a timer of any type with you - cellphone, watch, iPod, anything that counts minutes. Since we lost our leader so early on, it became a bit of guesswork to figure out exactly how long until the next walk minute was.

And I have learned another lesson: I don't care how lazy you are, how awesome the TV line-up is, etc. Have a square meal the evening before a running morning. In fact, if you're not in the habit of at least three meals plus snacks (healthy of course!), get into it right away. My shining example: Yesterday, I had:
1/2 bagel with peanut butter (pre-run)
2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, and 2 strips of bacon (around 11 a.m.)
8 perogies (around 9 p.m.)
See that huge gap of 10 hours? The human body is not meant to go that long without food, and to have foolishly eaten such a one-sided meal meant that I lacked a lot of energy and could have hurt myself due to either physical exhaustion or mental carelessness due to exhaustion.
Don't do that.

Common Sense > Stubbornness

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, common sense totally trumps stubbornness.

When I woke up this morning, I didn't feel so much as a twinge from my hamstring. I will credit to going no faster than a walk yesterday.

This morning, the weather was -6 with wind chill, but I dressed warmly on top and in my new running capris. Turns out that was a good idea - doing 7km in that weather is enough to bring a sweat but not to overheat. And nary a complaint from the hamstring.

The knees were not pleased at not being stretched out, though.

In other news, I now have an exercise ball! My AT and I have been talking about it for a while, and I decided to take the plunge. It's a trusted brand, Everlast (they do a lot of boxing gear too), comes with a DVD, inflating instructions, two-way pump, and the ball. All for $20 at Walmart.
Can't wait for my first full work-out!

Where Common Sense Trumps Stubbornness

I went to watch my clinic's presentation about biomechanics today, but I myself did not run. My hamstring began to hurt yesterday, and during my athletic therapist (AT) appointment, she recommended not playing Ultimate last night, to preserve any goodwill my hamstring had for me today.

When I stopped playing Ulti half-way through the game, I consoled myself with thoughts that at least I'd be able to run today.
When I got up this morning, I realized that I was still in a bit of pain, and though I could run today, the 4km I would do today would not be nearly as important as the 7km run tomorrow.

It didn't help that today's heavy mist/drizzly rain is cold and non-enjoyable.

So now I relax at home, only sort-of watching soccer, and dreaming of tomorrow's run.

Remember, kids: one day of injury-preventative rest can save you two weeks or more of injury-recovery rest.