I love the title of this post. The title sounds like it could be from one of the many “made up” stories my dad would tell us as kids (of which, my sister and I would think everyone knew of the story/song and we would go to school and be met with empty stares from our classmates. Ever hear of Fast Mary? Exactly.) And the story would start like this, “There once was a girl named Polly Perky. And Polly loved to run…”
I met the real life Polly Perky. And yes, I called her Polly Perky to her face. Repeatedly.
Bit o’ background-last Friday, I started out on my long run of 18 miles. And failed miserably. By mile 14, I was dying, and by mile 15, I was walking. I pooped out at 15 miles, went home and promptly became ill, not knowing if I was going to puke or pass out. I was seeing stars, knew I needed to get my blood sugar back up, but couldn’t even stomach anything. I think 2 main factors contributed to it-1. I ran about 30-45 seconds faster than I normally do on my long runs 2. I think I had some sort of crazy virus, as I’ve never had a reaction to running like that before. Despite these “excuses” I was crushed. I have 3 weeks left, not many long runs to complete, and I just couldn’t do it. I was defeated and I just wanted to cry in the corner and have a big old pity party that included lots of chips and ice cream.
On Saturday, I was signed up for the Fox Point 5 mile race, as part of the Seacoast Series. This was the 6th and last run I needed to complete to get my Seacoast Series jacket. I had talked with my best running partner, Christy, about taking it easy on Saturday, since I would have (or was suppose to have) run 18 miles the day before. Being the great, easy going person she is, she agreed.
It was raining, the race was at 5pm, and I was still pouting over the previous day’s events. We start the race and at mile one, we’re running a 8:48 minute mile-which is relatively fast for us, especially when we are suppose to be taking it easy. I feel pretty good though, or at least better than I thought I would. Our next mile is a bit slower, but still running relatively fast. By mile 3, which we did even faster than mile 2, I hear something. It’s breathing. And footsteps. And weird snorting sounds from some old dude next to me. Oh my goodness, my own breathing is so quiet, I CAN ACTUALLY HEAR OTHER PEOPLE BREATHING. Normally, I am so winded, I can’t hear anything but the Darth Vader sounds I am producing. I am thrilled at this, as it makes me feel like I have made true fitness progress.
Once mile three begins, so do the hills. Since I can actually hear people talking, I hear a woman next to me shout “I love this hill!” I look over to see a woman, mid forties, sporting pigtails and smiling as we approach this hill. Sarcastically, I say, “Wow, Polly Perky, that’s a good attitude towards hills.” Polly responds with, “Oh I love this hill. I love running it. I love all hills.”
Um, ok, you are a little too enthusiastic about this, lady. But it’s hard not to be a little inspired by a 40 year old in pigtails. At the top of the hill, she spouts some other words of wisdom, and I kiddingly say, “I want to run with Polly Perky.”
“Come on, we’ll run together and get through these hills!”
Prior to this, Christy had given me the high sign to go on ahead, as her knees had been bothering her. So off I went with Polly. Polly asks me about my running, and we chat about various topics. At one point, she says “Keep your chin up.”
“I’m trying to, but sometimes this running thing gets me down.”
“No, I mean literally keep your chin up, it helps with your body alignment on the hills.”
Not only is Polly a philosopher, she an expert in biomechanics.
She continuously checks on my status-“You doing ok? Feeling alright?” I tell Polly I think she needs to be a pacer in a marathon.
“Yeah, a slow pacer. Well, not that you are slow.”
Ooh, Polly IS human, and opened mouth, inserted foot.
I inform her I am completely aware of my slowness, and I’m ok with that.
At the end, Polly tries to push me for a fast finish, but I am spent-I am happy just running at my current pace and making it over the finish line without needing a medic. 46:01, best time ever for a 5 miler. Thank you, Polly Perky.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
18 Miles
Last week, I completed my first 18 mile run. Let’s start with the positive: I didn’t die. That’s about all the positive things I can say.
The dread started earlier in the week when I realized I really couldn’t run 18 miles in my neighborhood. It would be rather tedious, and as my other post mentioned, the neighbors are started to comment (Side note: during my shorter run yesterday, the aforementioned neighbor yelled, “Keep it up!” out the window) . I tossed around the idea of running at UNH, but quickly thought better of it because I wouldn’t have access to fluids and a bathroom as easily as I do when I’m near home. And I wondered if the college kids would care about my comatosed body on the sidewalk, if God forbid, anything happened to me.
So I could run up and down excessively in the ’hood, or I could do it at the gym. I chose the latter.
This had its pros and cons as well. Pros-access to fluids and bathroom as much as I wanted. Lots of people to call 911 as needed. Cons-Staring at the same wall space for almost 4 hours, feeling like a hamster on my hamster wheel.
I decided to play mental mind games to get me through. I mentally broke the run down into three, 6 mile increments. I was thinking the most ridiculous things, such as “Only 3 more hours to go!” or “Wow, 15 miles left, I can do this!” After the 1st 6 miles, I was doing rather well. And at 12 miles, I was still happy and smiling. I was so happy that I decided I would break to go to the bathroom, then get right back on and finish out the last 6 miles strong. WRONG. When you have been moving nonstop for 2+ hours, then decide to stop for a minute, its not so easy to get back in the groove. My legs didn’t want to restart, my arms wanted to swing all willy-nilly, and honestly, I just wanted to sit down. I decided I needed a change of scenery, so I decided I would do the last 5 miles (as I somehow got one more done) on the indoor track. Of course, my Garmin foot pod really needs to be recalibrated, so I couldn’t count on it for mileage. I needed to count 18.5 laps in my head, 5 times. Yeah, that was fun.
Then I started to get rather light headed. I was trying my best to drink and get in enough carbs to sustain my energy. I clearly did not succeed. These last 5 miles took what felt like FOREVER. The last few laps, I regained my mental and physical composure, and ran them fast and strong-and I even ran a victory lap, while “raising the roof.” Who cares, no one was around. And hell, I had already been there for half a day, people think I’m weird anyway.
Tomorrow is my 2nd to last long run before the marathon. 18 tomorrow, then in 2 weeks, 20 miles. Tomorrow I may convince myself I need to run just 2 miles-and do that 9 times. Hey whatever works.
The dread started earlier in the week when I realized I really couldn’t run 18 miles in my neighborhood. It would be rather tedious, and as my other post mentioned, the neighbors are started to comment (Side note: during my shorter run yesterday, the aforementioned neighbor yelled, “Keep it up!” out the window) . I tossed around the idea of running at UNH, but quickly thought better of it because I wouldn’t have access to fluids and a bathroom as easily as I do when I’m near home. And I wondered if the college kids would care about my comatosed body on the sidewalk, if God forbid, anything happened to me.
So I could run up and down excessively in the ’hood, or I could do it at the gym. I chose the latter.
This had its pros and cons as well. Pros-access to fluids and bathroom as much as I wanted. Lots of people to call 911 as needed. Cons-Staring at the same wall space for almost 4 hours, feeling like a hamster on my hamster wheel.
I decided to play mental mind games to get me through. I mentally broke the run down into three, 6 mile increments. I was thinking the most ridiculous things, such as “Only 3 more hours to go!” or “Wow, 15 miles left, I can do this!” After the 1st 6 miles, I was doing rather well. And at 12 miles, I was still happy and smiling. I was so happy that I decided I would break to go to the bathroom, then get right back on and finish out the last 6 miles strong. WRONG. When you have been moving nonstop for 2+ hours, then decide to stop for a minute, its not so easy to get back in the groove. My legs didn’t want to restart, my arms wanted to swing all willy-nilly, and honestly, I just wanted to sit down. I decided I needed a change of scenery, so I decided I would do the last 5 miles (as I somehow got one more done) on the indoor track. Of course, my Garmin foot pod really needs to be recalibrated, so I couldn’t count on it for mileage. I needed to count 18.5 laps in my head, 5 times. Yeah, that was fun.
Then I started to get rather light headed. I was trying my best to drink and get in enough carbs to sustain my energy. I clearly did not succeed. These last 5 miles took what felt like FOREVER. The last few laps, I regained my mental and physical composure, and ran them fast and strong-and I even ran a victory lap, while “raising the roof.” Who cares, no one was around. And hell, I had already been there for half a day, people think I’m weird anyway.
Tomorrow is my 2nd to last long run before the marathon. 18 tomorrow, then in 2 weeks, 20 miles. Tomorrow I may convince myself I need to run just 2 miles-and do that 9 times. Hey whatever works.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Quick Glimpse Inside My Neighbor's Mind
I ran 10 miles today around my neighborhood. The area is not very big so I have the run up and down (and up and down) the same streets over and over. I see a gentleman outside of his house at his mailbox and I say "Hi".
"I have a question for you-how far are you running and how many times are you going to run by my house? I just saw you a bunch of times in the past half hour."
I think I need a new running route.
"I have a question for you-how far are you running and how many times are you going to run by my house? I just saw you a bunch of times in the past half hour."
I think I need a new running route.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Marathon Training Stopped By a Bug Bite-Please Don't Let This Be My Headline
I am in week 12 of my marathon training. Up to this point, so far, so good. Nothing too terrible to report. Yes, the 16 mile run last week stunk and I was mentally and physically all over the place during it, but at mile 10, I somehow was able to focus and finish up rather strong, or as strong as I could in the given situation.
Finally going to hit over 30 miles a week and the schedule has upped the training to running 5 days a week. Looking forward to a long run on Sunday. All good right? Then this past Saturday came. I wake up with this really itchy leg. I look and it appears I have been attacked by 100 giant mosquito. As a child, whenever I got bit, the bite would swell and become red and hot. Haven’t really had this issue in awhile though, but didn’t think much of it. My 6 year old promptly treated me with the bug bite pen and I was good to go.
Now, to back track a little, about 10 days ago, I was mowing the lawn (push style) and got stung or bit by some evil creature. After hoping around on one foot, yelling a string of profanities, and applying a baking soda/water concoction to help ease the pain, I didn’t think much of this incident.
As the day progressed, the pain in my leg got worse. My foot and calf became very tight-as though my skin was being stretched. I look down and now my ankle and foot have gotten into the mix. And the red mark on my leg is spreading. I opt to not wait it out, being 5pm on a Saturday and decide to head to the walk in clinic before they close at 6pm.
Sure enough, my leg is infected. Cellulitis, for all you medical gurus. The PA draws a circle around the mark so we can see if it continues to grow. He contorts my leg in an odd fashion to be able to get the entire perimeter and asks me if I think I can hold this odd position for long.
“Sure, I can. I’m training for a marathon.”
“A marathon? Wow, I just starting running a year ago. I’m training for the Seacoast Half…”
And this is how the conversation went for the next 20 minutes. Poor Josh had his head so far buried into People Magazine.
I get a prescription for antibiotics and Josh asks the question I did not dare to ask. “Can she still run?”
I look at the PA, deep into his eyes.
“Think LONG AND HARD before you answer that question.”
Luckily he said that I could run, but he thought with the swelling it would be difficult to do. He also warned me that even though I started the antibiotics, my leg might get worse for the first 24 hours, and that if by Tuesday it wasn’t better, I needed to come back.
Stupid me, ran 10 miles yesterday. And then my ankle and foot looked like it belonged to a 500 pound man. Did plenty of soaks and elevated it yesterday, which helped. Today, it is not as red, it has stopped spreading, and now looks like it belongs to a 300 pound man.
So here’s to hoping I am on the mend-because if I really have to say I had to quit 12 weeks into marathon training because of a bug bit, I am not going to be a happy camper.
Finally going to hit over 30 miles a week and the schedule has upped the training to running 5 days a week. Looking forward to a long run on Sunday. All good right? Then this past Saturday came. I wake up with this really itchy leg. I look and it appears I have been attacked by 100 giant mosquito. As a child, whenever I got bit, the bite would swell and become red and hot. Haven’t really had this issue in awhile though, but didn’t think much of it. My 6 year old promptly treated me with the bug bite pen and I was good to go.
Now, to back track a little, about 10 days ago, I was mowing the lawn (push style) and got stung or bit by some evil creature. After hoping around on one foot, yelling a string of profanities, and applying a baking soda/water concoction to help ease the pain, I didn’t think much of this incident.
As the day progressed, the pain in my leg got worse. My foot and calf became very tight-as though my skin was being stretched. I look down and now my ankle and foot have gotten into the mix. And the red mark on my leg is spreading. I opt to not wait it out, being 5pm on a Saturday and decide to head to the walk in clinic before they close at 6pm.
Sure enough, my leg is infected. Cellulitis, for all you medical gurus. The PA draws a circle around the mark so we can see if it continues to grow. He contorts my leg in an odd fashion to be able to get the entire perimeter and asks me if I think I can hold this odd position for long.
“Sure, I can. I’m training for a marathon.”
“A marathon? Wow, I just starting running a year ago. I’m training for the Seacoast Half…”
And this is how the conversation went for the next 20 minutes. Poor Josh had his head so far buried into People Magazine.
I get a prescription for antibiotics and Josh asks the question I did not dare to ask. “Can she still run?”
I look at the PA, deep into his eyes.
“Think LONG AND HARD before you answer that question.”
Luckily he said that I could run, but he thought with the swelling it would be difficult to do. He also warned me that even though I started the antibiotics, my leg might get worse for the first 24 hours, and that if by Tuesday it wasn’t better, I needed to come back.
Stupid me, ran 10 miles yesterday. And then my ankle and foot looked like it belonged to a 500 pound man. Did plenty of soaks and elevated it yesterday, which helped. Today, it is not as red, it has stopped spreading, and now looks like it belongs to a 300 pound man.
So here’s to hoping I am on the mend-because if I really have to say I had to quit 12 weeks into marathon training because of a bug bit, I am not going to be a happy camper.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Cathe Road Trip
On July 31st, I was lucky enough to take a road trip with my sister down to NJ for the Cathe Road Trip. What is a Cathe Road Trip, you ask? Great question! A Cathe Road Trip is a 3 day weekend where you go down to the Four Seasons Gym in NJ and workout for hours and hours with Cathe Friedrich, who I consider to be the ultimate fitness expert. We leave for NJ from CT on Friday afternoon with 4+ hours to get there-PLENTY of time, right? WRONG. It took 8+ hours to get there, spending 4 hours alone in NYC. I hate NYC and the traffic. Sorry, I said it, damage done.
We got there soooo late, we missed the first workout class of the night. At that point, we were so cranky, we decide to skip the stretch class as well. We called it a crappy day and went to bed on Friday night to get up bright and early on Saturday.
Saturday was much better-started the day with a Step Class, then I took a Yoga class, then a Boot Camp class, then a Lower Body Blast class. That's 4 hours of working out in one day! Most people think this is crazy, but one of the great parts of the weekend? You are around one hundred other people who DONT think this is crazy! Saturday night we get a chance to go on the Cathe stage and do a quick, 1 minute routine, just as you would in her workout DVDs. Its awesome.
Sunday was a kickbox/boot camp class, then off to the diner for a greasy, fatty breakfast to round off the weekend.
This weekend is so great-a chance to workout with other people who have the same "priorities" as you, a chance to spend time with someone I look up to in the fitness industry, and a chance to just get away from everything-including running. But the best part-spending the weekend with my best friend, my sister. I realize that even though this weekend has so much to offer, I could be in a canoe on the Quinnipiac River with my sister-and still have fun. She's what really makes the Cathe Road Trip worth going on!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
26th Annual York Days 5K
This past Sunday, Christy and I ran the York 5K, which is part of the Seacoast Series (http://www.proportsmouth.org/seacoastseries.cfm). We ran it last year-it's a pretty flat, easy course, with the last part being by the water. My time last year was 29:06, which is a 9:24 min/mile. I think this was one of the first times I ran a 5K under 30 minutes.
This year, it was raining a little at the beginning-and it was humid. When its humid, its like running with plastic wrap on you. I don't mind getting wet from the rain, but I do mind humidity. Because of this, the race felt hard-but in a different way. I sometimes give my 110% in a race and feel tired and spent after a race, but feel energized because I know I gave it my all. This race, on the other hand, was hard, but I didn't feel like I was giving it my all. You just can't when its hot and humid. I did the best I could for the circumstances, finishing at 28:20, a 9:08 min/mile. I placed 61/133 for my bracket and 461/787 overall. I finished and did improve from last year, so that is all I can ask for!
Next race in the series-my archnemesis Saunders at Rye 10K. I HATE this race. Here's why: 1. Its on a Thursday night, so you spend your day trying not to exert energy. The day ends up becoming a total waste. 2. It is by swamps-it smells and you get this coating of salt all over you. Fine, yes, I get that coating all over me anyway from sweating like a pig, but this makes me double-brined 3. Last year, it was my 2nd 10K ever. Each race prior to this (my 5ks), I had improved my finishing time every race. Not this race-I did WORSE. Now, not a lot worse, but not better. This was my first personal defeat in racing.
I remember finishing feeling like I had been run over by a dump truck. It was hot humid and at 6pm at night. Nothing wonderful about this race. And now it is completely messing with my mind for this year. I better go in there and kick its sorry little Rye, NH butt.
This year, it was raining a little at the beginning-and it was humid. When its humid, its like running with plastic wrap on you. I don't mind getting wet from the rain, but I do mind humidity. Because of this, the race felt hard-but in a different way. I sometimes give my 110% in a race and feel tired and spent after a race, but feel energized because I know I gave it my all. This race, on the other hand, was hard, but I didn't feel like I was giving it my all. You just can't when its hot and humid. I did the best I could for the circumstances, finishing at 28:20, a 9:08 min/mile. I placed 61/133 for my bracket and 461/787 overall. I finished and did improve from last year, so that is all I can ask for!
Next race in the series-my archnemesis Saunders at Rye 10K. I HATE this race. Here's why: 1. Its on a Thursday night, so you spend your day trying not to exert energy. The day ends up becoming a total waste. 2. It is by swamps-it smells and you get this coating of salt all over you. Fine, yes, I get that coating all over me anyway from sweating like a pig, but this makes me double-brined 3. Last year, it was my 2nd 10K ever. Each race prior to this (my 5ks), I had improved my finishing time every race. Not this race-I did WORSE. Now, not a lot worse, but not better. This was my first personal defeat in racing.
I remember finishing feeling like I had been run over by a dump truck. It was hot humid and at 6pm at night. Nothing wonderful about this race. And now it is completely messing with my mind for this year. I better go in there and kick its sorry little Rye, NH butt.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Running with Tri-Kate
Wow, keeping up with this blog is harder than I thought! Anyway, a couple weeks ago, my friend Christy and I met with a running coach. (http://www.tri-kate.com/) My main purpose was to correct my form. My body is in tough shape-I have severe lower back pain and foot pain from running. And it only gets worse with more mileage. Hey, I have a great idea-I should run a marathon, which ups my mileage when my body is in the worst shape to date! I’m not very bright.
We arrive at the track and meet Kate. Kate looks just like her website picture-with the addition of looking like a Power Bar ad has thrown up on her. She has Power Bar socks, hat, shirt, etc.
Side note: I always apply to be “sponsored” by these companies-you get free gear and free food just for wearing their ads while you run. Part of the application process is informing them of your best racing times. They probably look at mine and laugh. But if they were smart-they’d pick me. Here’s why-when Kate runs by people, the crowd thinks, “What’s Pwr Br?” If I ran by them, the crowd would think, “Hmm, Power Bar. I wonder if those taste good? They were on sale at Shaw’s this week-10 for $10. I wonder how many flavors they come in?” All while I am still running by them. See, more exposure to their ads. Those marketing gurus need to think like me.
Back to Kate-she provides us with a ton of handouts and starts reviewing all of the information-which is a lot. I feel lucky that I have a background in exercise (I was a certified aerobics instructor back in the day), so I am able to follow along pretty well. She reminds me of me when she talks (but my topic is nutrition)-she is such a fountain of knowledge and enthusiasm about her discipline, she showers you with it-all at once. I often did this with clients-provided way too much info, so really, they had no need to come back for another visit-I told them all of the information they needed in that first hour. Maybe this is why I never was in the black with my practice.
We get on the track and Christy and I take turns running around the track-and she films us so we can see “before” and “after”. Since there was so much information, I will provide you with the 3 main take home messages:
Focus more on your exhale than you inhale. If you keep trying to inhale when you haven’t exhaled enough, you aren’t using your lungs to their total capacity. Empty them out with a huge exhale-now you have made room!
Heart rate monitors are vital. I had ordered one, but listening to her helped me to justify my purchase. I’m still in the process of tweaking it, in regards to my training and my Garmin, but knowing my heart rate during certain runs has helped judge my exertion. (or lack there of)
Most important-the changes to my running form. My back hurt-so I thought, I need to stand up straighter. WRONG. That was making the impact to my spine worse! I need to learn from my ankles and make sure my arms move front to back-not side to side like they normally do.
It’s been over 2 weeks since we met with her and I must say-zero back pain. My feet still hurt (its because I land on the balls of my feet)-so we’re going to meet again soon to tweak my form and possibly get me a pair of shoes especially designed to prevent my tip toed running. I also feel like I can run faster with less effort. Well worth the cost of admission.
If you are interested in running and improving your running form, I would highly recommend Kate!
We arrive at the track and meet Kate. Kate looks just like her website picture-with the addition of looking like a Power Bar ad has thrown up on her. She has Power Bar socks, hat, shirt, etc.
Side note: I always apply to be “sponsored” by these companies-you get free gear and free food just for wearing their ads while you run. Part of the application process is informing them of your best racing times. They probably look at mine and laugh. But if they were smart-they’d pick me. Here’s why-when Kate runs by people, the crowd thinks, “What’s Pwr Br?” If I ran by them, the crowd would think, “Hmm, Power Bar. I wonder if those taste good? They were on sale at Shaw’s this week-10 for $10. I wonder how many flavors they come in?” All while I am still running by them. See, more exposure to their ads. Those marketing gurus need to think like me.
Back to Kate-she provides us with a ton of handouts and starts reviewing all of the information-which is a lot. I feel lucky that I have a background in exercise (I was a certified aerobics instructor back in the day), so I am able to follow along pretty well. She reminds me of me when she talks (but my topic is nutrition)-she is such a fountain of knowledge and enthusiasm about her discipline, she showers you with it-all at once. I often did this with clients-provided way too much info, so really, they had no need to come back for another visit-I told them all of the information they needed in that first hour. Maybe this is why I never was in the black with my practice.
We get on the track and Christy and I take turns running around the track-and she films us so we can see “before” and “after”. Since there was so much information, I will provide you with the 3 main take home messages:
Focus more on your exhale than you inhale. If you keep trying to inhale when you haven’t exhaled enough, you aren’t using your lungs to their total capacity. Empty them out with a huge exhale-now you have made room!
Heart rate monitors are vital. I had ordered one, but listening to her helped me to justify my purchase. I’m still in the process of tweaking it, in regards to my training and my Garmin, but knowing my heart rate during certain runs has helped judge my exertion. (or lack there of)
Most important-the changes to my running form. My back hurt-so I thought, I need to stand up straighter. WRONG. That was making the impact to my spine worse! I need to learn from my ankles and make sure my arms move front to back-not side to side like they normally do.
It’s been over 2 weeks since we met with her and I must say-zero back pain. My feet still hurt (its because I land on the balls of my feet)-so we’re going to meet again soon to tweak my form and possibly get me a pair of shoes especially designed to prevent my tip toed running. I also feel like I can run faster with less effort. Well worth the cost of admission.
If you are interested in running and improving your running form, I would highly recommend Kate!
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