18 Miles - DONE!

I was freaking about the rain last night and this morning, but you know what? It wasn't all that bad. It was actually great! I took it slow, but this worked. I was soaked and a bit prune-y by the time I got back, but I loved the cool weather and lack of humidity. After 18 miles I felt great, as opposed to feeling horrible on my 16 miler.

I had buddies to run with (a half marathoner for the first 4 miles and then a group of two women for the majority of the remaining miles). It was nice to chat, take it easy, and feel really comfortable. Our route is Memorial Drive starting at MIT, across the BU bridge, up Beacon St., to the Reservoir near BC, and then Comm Ave to Newton, out and back. We ran up Heartbreak Hill at 10 miles! It wasn't that bad! I am sure it is really awful when you are at mile 20 but at 10 it was great. It is so exciting to run the Boston Marathon route, even without the actual, errr... marathon going on. I ran ahead of my running buddies after the reservoir and booked it back to MIT, with some gas still in the tank. Only in the last couple of miles did the rain pick up, thankfully. I am so relieved to have had an officially nice long run. Yay! Next time I'll keep the slow pace for the first 10 miles or so, but then pick it up for a longer period of time for the last half. I was definitely starting out way too fast on my now infamous 16 mile run, and this cautious approach really seemed to work this time around.

I'm a little beat and a little crampy on the right calf but nothing too serious. I'm glad it is over and I can enjoy a drink this evening... I had to abstain last night at a get-together of friends. Cheers to 18 miles!

Also - randomly one of my running buds today knows a fellow librarian I went to Simmons with (although haven't seen in a while unfortunately, I believe we would have much to chat about!). She has a really great running blog, which I very much enjoy. You should check it out. Librarian on the Run.

I am a Lucky Lady

My friends are awesome. I've had so much support since I've started this journey. Day One (pretty much) my friend at work, Cynthia, put together a care package of Luna products - recovery drinks, luna bars, luna chews, electrolyte mixes (she is on Team LUNA Chix), which I am still barreling through. I've had people give me great tips and pointers, folks who are willing to listen to me blabber on about training, and those who have been donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (and many who have done all of the above!). This week, my friend Kristen has put together a site where she is selling some of her beautiful handmade items, all to proceed my fundraising efforts! You can get an awesome clutch, necklace or purse AND support LLS. I think this is a great deal if there ever was one. I would have never thought to do this, and I am so happy Kristen did, and was willing to do so. She really is the best. Go to her blog and check it out.

Oh 16 miles, you were tough

Another milestone reached, 16 miles in the bank. I wish I could say it was better than prior runs, but it wasn't. I would go so far to say it was the crappiest. Mistakes were made... Firstly I ate Indian food for dinner last night. Bad one. Secondly I tried a new breakfast, bagel and peanut butter. Fail. Thirdly, I forgot to take a Gu at the first water stop and by mile 9.5 I had hit a wall. Ugh.

Also, I like to run early... Team In Training runs don't start until 7:30 AM, just not early enough. I got up at 6, ate breakfast, and went down to MIT to start running at about 6:50 or so. This way I already ran 3.75 miles for the day... there was a bit of a wait for the official run to get going (about 20 minutes) which may have not helped me too much either. On the other hand I got some running in when it wasn't so hot, humid and crazy sunny out.

Why was this so awful?
It was hot, humid and crazy sunny. I've been spoiled this season, I admit it. I have grown used to the mild weather. In my defense I did run in Vegas last week and it was fine... ! It must have been the "dry heat." Humidity sucks (see prior post).
I had to take a pit stop at work, but THANK GOD for work.
I walked three times (at least) which is highly unusual at this point.
I was paranoid that I was over hydrating because I was going to town at every water stop.

You would think that the very-flat-runner-heaven of the Charles River would be the best run I could have, but I've done much better on my trail/road runs at the beach, the hilly Newton route, and my random not flat Northampton 12 miler in July. Admittedly I did miss one run while I was in Las Vegas on vacation (for a wedding! fun!), and some cross-training, so this may have also been a factor. On the other hand I didn't miss my 10 mile long run (running the strip at 6am is pretty awesome!), and there was a lot of activity and walking to be had on vacation.

Ah well, as long as I behave myself from now on I think I should be OK. I'm somewhat relived to get the inevitable "bad run" over with!

Arrgh humidity!

We have been spoiled this summer... here it is July 27th and it is officially the first week where I dread my runs on account of heat and humidity. It is taking some getting used to, but I am chugging along. I fully expect this week to be my slowest in quite some time, but as long as I log the miles I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Since I've last blogged (which has been much too long ago), I've reached some milestones. I've run 12 miles in training, which went surprisingly well. I was on a weekend away in Western Mass, but I found a decent route from Northampton to Easthampton. Although part of the route was on a busy, ugly road (Rt. 10), I quickly found some scenic farmland at the bottom of Mt. Tom and the Easthampton bike path. On the way back to downtown Noho I was lucky enough to run into the farmers market and the most awesome whole chocolate milk from a local vendor. Sooo goood.

Last weekend I ran the Blessing of the Fleet 10 miler in Narragansett. My friend Sasha and I had a relaxing day on the beach, and this being an evening race... we were not exactly "feeling" the racing vibe. This was my longest and first night-time event... and I was happy with my performance. According to my trusty Garmin I came in around 1:32:19, but my official time was 1:33:19. Averaging around 9:20 miles! It took some time to get over the starting line, but from there it was good and steady. The views were nice, the crowds were really fun. The only incredibly boring bit was on Point Judith Road, nothing to look at, no shade and not as much crowd support. After the race, once I got home to the beach house, I was feeling really crappy. Chills, nausea, etc. A wee bit scary. I'm not sure if the chills are from dehydration... but I hit almost every water stop. I'll have to keep an eye on this for upcoming training runs. Other than this my legs and feet felt fine so hopefully I can slug through the marathon itself. It now scares me that I have to race 16.2 additional miles in just over two months. I can't believe how fast training has gone by.

My First Spill

It was destined to happen - I finally took a header on a run. On the banks of the Mystic River, there are a LOT of tree roots. Every time I run this route I think to myself... one of these days I'll have to trip. I knew my days were numbered, and today was the day. It was a perfect storm of the tie of my shorts coming undone, roots underfoot, two runners headed towards me and a SKUNK sighting. Luckily I took the spill after the runners passed, and narrowly avoided the oncoming skunk... Traditionally wilderness sightings are my favorite part of a run, the possibility of landing on a skunk kind of put it all in perspective.

Anyhow, now I have a nasty scrape on my shin, the first injury (and hopefully last) of marathon training.

Not a pretty runner

Again I've been lucky enough to run a lot this weekend... getting up early to run 10 miles (again) on Sunday. Trustom Pond and its cavalcade of deer (a baby one this time!). On the way back I trailed a woman who was on a short run, and we paced each other so I was much faster on the last mile. 10 minute miles on average for the 10 mile run, my best yet. I also attended beach yoga, which ended up being a bit d.i.y.... the teacher started with modifications so there was more thinking on my part than usual. She would say "you can do a Chaturanga if you want now!" So I would, but I'm not exactly an expert and would really have to think about it all (breathing, posture, etc.) The location (a short walk down the beach from the beach shack) and view (of Block Island) couldn't be beat though! I did miss a X-training workout but those are the breaks. I was going to try for a swim but the waves were not very inviting this weekend.

Since you are all my good friends, and I think would enjoy a laugh, here are my absolutely yucky photos from the Charles River Run. Arrgh! So awful! Please don't tell me they don't look that bad, as this will just prove my utter ickiness. Do I look like this in real life? Who would ever want to buy an 8" x 10" of this monstrosity?

My form is also awful. I look like a monkey or something.

Now which gym...

Lucky for me, at work we have a great gym. This includes a price that cannot be beat, good classes, free towels, nice locker rooms, decent equipment, and an indoor track. Problem is, the hours are limited in the summer (this is the trade-off for the blessed absence of students)... and what is a girl in marathon training to do? I ended up, like my good friend Sasha, now belonging to more than one gym.

This deal came my way, for a month and a half of Healthworks (all women's gym, in Cambridge among other locations) for $18. I used to belong here, but it got waaaaay to expensive. Once the rate hit $80 a month, I was DONE, but for $18 who can resist? It is worth it for a quick yoga session on the weekends, or a spin class, or just some elliptical. These have been my three cross training activities of choice and so far seemed to have contributed to my increased speed. Much more so than running, I have to force myself to spin or elliptical-it. At least spinning has fun music (with the exception of the dude who played Nickelback or some sort of horrible stuff, to his credit he said "If you like Nickelback you are going to LOVE this, if you don't, you are NOT.") and someone forcing me to push myself to the threshold, which otherwise I would not. Yoga continues to be awesome, and I now need my fix every week or I get really antsy. I may be pushing it up to two times a week when I can fit it in.

Anyone have any good cardio/low-impact x-training alternatives? I think in a few months I will definitely need to mix it up.