A Blog Post in Three Parts with a Preface

Preface:

I have a lot to say today. But it's all jumbled up in my head. This may be an overly long or rambling post. Or it might be both. You have been warned. Proceed at your discretion. I think the appeal of any blog is in the eye of the writer. We write for ourselves. It's a variation on 'thinking out loud'; a practice that helps sort things out or focus. When a reader indicates enjoyment or benefit from a blog it's a pleasant, inspiring bonus. I've said it here before -- for me, knowing that someone is reading, keeps me smiling and moving. Ok without further ado .......

Part I: Halfway There

Six months ago, give or take a week, I began the effort to train for the Ocean City New Jersey Half Marathon. I started with 1 mile. Today I ran 7 miles for the second time. I have six months to go to event day (9/29/19). 7 miles puts me just past halfway to the full event distance. Thinking about that makes me shake my head.... a lot.

The good news, is that for the most part it's all good news at this point. There have been ups and downs but more ups. I'm a little ahead of where I originally thought I'd be. Although being super mindful of my wonky right hip flexor, I am not injured. And I'm not afraid of the next 6 months.

I am hyper (perhaps obsessively so) aware that I have some time management issues in August, but I'm not afraid. If all goes well, I'll be at 12 miles before our vacation at the end of August. I may have to run on Fridays or Sundays to manage it but I will. It is not likely that I will get any running in while on vacation but I hope to put in some miles the Friday before we leave and resume the day after we return.

Vacation means 9 days off. And a month to go before the event. I'm expecting that my current schedule of 3 weeks on; one week off will help with that. I haven't felt any ill effects with the week off. In fact, my return after each break feels good. The difference is that my week 'off' right now involves hiking and other non-running activities. Vacation won't have that. I still think I'll be fine.

I'm halfway there!!!

Part II: Today's Run

To sum it up in word, I choose WOW! After last week, I was concerned. Last week I bonked. I felt pretty bad mentally and physically most of the day after. And immediately after, my right foot hurt like ..... well it hurt a lot.

It was fine during the run but on the drive home it started to ache. The pain got so bad I had to do Lamaze breathing to relax enough to drive. When I got out of the car I could barely walk to the front door of our house. Elevation and rounds of icing followed by some heating pad action later relieved the pain. But I had no idea why it did that. I still don't know. However, it is my right side which is where my wonky hip flexor is. And my hip was bothering me during part of the run last week.

So this week, I increased my efforts to stretch and strengthen the hip, glutes and core. I had been doing exercises after work/evenings. And admittedly I missed some days. Well this week I did not miss any days and I added two sessions during each workday by escaping to the handicap restroom stall at work. *Shug* Whatever works. I won't do planks in there but there is enough room to do a variety of standing exercises and squats.

Today I ran pain free across all body parts. :)

I also made sure I hydrated better today. Although last week to this week is like comparing an apple to an orange. While last week was warm, sunny and dry; today was cool, cloudy and damp.  Still, I think making sure I sipped at EVERY walk break helped. I also had a piece of toast and peanut butter before leaving the house and had 2 fig newtons during a walk break at the 4 mile mark. I don't know that I needed all of that but it didn't' hurt.

Today I ran well. No bonking. I felt strong with no breakdowns physically or mentally. I had a little left in the tank at the end even.

No photos during training runs but I had my phone with me so after, Perki and I walked back to the stone ruins along the River Trail and took this. It was cloudy the entire length of my run - from Valley Forge Visitor Center parking lot across Sullivan's Bridge and then out and back along the River Trail. The sun was breaking through just as we finished.

Part III: Final Thoughts (for today) 

For the last couple of weeks I've tried to convert from my interval counts to my pace and time. This involves taking the number of intervals multiplying by 4 adding in leftover minutes from any unfinished interval and dividing by the number of miles entering the resulting pace into a calculator to see how long it might take me to do the half marathon. The numbers have not been encouraging. For the past three weeks, I've been consistently coming out at a 3 hour half marathon. This is depressing on multiple points.

Point 1 - the race has a 3 hour and 15 minute time limit. That is not a lot of wiggle room. :(
Point 2 - it's frustrating to think that I've gotten that much slower. It's been a few years since I ran a half but back then I was finishing well ahead of 3 hours. Yeah I know it's been a few years but still ...
Point 2a - if I'm honest, this race is about more than just running in a place that I love and doing the 10th anniversary race of an event that I really like. It's also about turning 60 at the end of the year and needing to prove to myself that I can still do this. I don't need to break any records but getting swept off the course for taking too long would be pretty devastating. I know it's a 'first world problem' and I'll survive but ....

Well the good news is (I told you it was all good news when I started this, remember?) it turns out I was figuring things wrong. In the brain fog after finishing my runs I was making a big mistake in counting my intervals. When the timer reads 86 for example, that means the last complete interval was 87 not 85 (it counts down not up). Anyway, I re-worked last weeks numbers and my short runs this week and then did the math (correctly this time) on today's run and I'm pretty solidly in the  2:45 half marathon time. Whew!! Lots of wiggle and break down room.

Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula

Good Company and Lessons Learned

Sunrise over the trail just before starting out at 8 am

Today I had the pleasure of running with David Magill. I have not seen him in awhile. We last ran together over 6 years ago when I was training for the Bob Potts Marathon and I think we were on the trail together for New Year's Day breakfast miles since then. I was thrilled to see him.

David told me he was hoping to do 4 miles today. I told him I was doing 7 using 1 min walk; 3 min run. I reminded him that Perkis meetups were strictly for the purpose of giving folks (especially me) a reason to come out. And that as happy as I was to see him I did not expect him to hang back with me. David began my intervals with me and not too far into it he commented that at this pace and intervals he could probably manage 7. And - spoiler alert - he did. :)

I have to admit to being a little concerned when he said that. As much as I knew I would enjoy spending time on the trail with him, I was concerned that I might unintentionally push my pace. Instead I made a conscious effort to keep to my pace. David, being the Philly Fit alum that he is, understood.

David stuck with me anyway and I am very glad he did. He literally talked me through this run. At one point he asked, if he was talking too much. Absolutely not!!!! If anything I wasn't holding up my end but he understood that too. Paying attention to him and what he had to say really helped the miles fly by. I was paying attention and it was a fun moment when he realized I truly was.

That's not to say the morning was all smooth sailing. For two days I've been debating which way to run on the trail. Starting at the 5.5 marker I could go south to the 2 and back or north to the 9 and back. By last night I had all but talked myself out of going south because in my head that is "downhill" which meant coming "uphill" on the way back. That's so not true but a lot of this running thing is in one's head. So I decided to go north.

Ok great except I forgot where the mile markers are. I had it in my head that the 9 was at the Graterford Trail head across from the Perkiomen Fire Company. But that's the 8 mile marker. Continuing on to the 9 meant going down the hill and around the bend at Graterford Prison and what goes down must come back up again on the return trip. THAT really got into my head at first. But as I said to David at that point, I have to do hills in order to beat the Longport Bridge so here we go. I just wasn't expecting that today. I'm happy to say I powered back up the hill on the return and was left feeling very proud. My memories of that hill are far worse than it actually was.

I was cruising more or less (as much as one can say 'cruising' at my pace) until 5.5 miles into the planned 7 miles. And that's when I hit a wall. It only took a minute or two to understand why my skin felt clammy and my head felt like my brain was bubbling. I don't know if that's how other people feel when they run out of steam but I've come to recognize that feeling when I do. At first I was confused because two weeks ago I finished 7 miles just fine. What was wrong now?

It's not so much what's wrong but what's different. The only change I can think of is that it was 20 degrees warmer at the start than it was 2 weeks ago and got warmer as the run went on. I thought I was drinking enough but apparently I was not. I told David I needed an extra walk break. That and a water seemed to help. I still felt dizzy when the run was over but I did finish. I should probably eat before going out in the warmer weather as well. No harm done. This is what training runs are for.

I enjoyed the company and the scenery of today's run. I would have managed on my own but it was a treat not having to do that. Also going 'north' from Collegeville, the trail meanders more. There are also more noticeable ups and downs but all in all a very pleasant stretch. We saw lots of runners, walker and cyclists today. Some we saw in both directions. It was a great day to be out.

Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula

7 miles

Today I ran 7 miles. Despite going to bed last night bone tired after a full day of teaching and nail biter of a basketball game. And waking up this morning to the alarm (it's never a good sign if I sleep all the way to the alarm) and with annoying post nasal drip. TMI for some perhaps but those are the facts. So, all that being said, I attribute the success of today's run to the following:

• Intervals - 1 minute walk: 3 minute run; 
• Seeing good friends at the start; 
• The sun; 
• Completing both weekday short runs this week; and 
• Some good old fashioned stubbornness

Saturday is my preferred running day but since I worked yesterday it fell to today. I love teaching new member class (even on Saturday) but being "on" all day is exhausting for someone with introvert tendencies. Add to that the head cold I've been battling all week, I wasn't sure when I went to bed last night that I was going to go out at all. But I set the alarm anyway. As mentioned above, I slept through to the alarm and was not thrilled when it went off. But I knew in my heart that if I did not go out and at least try I would not be happy. I thought maybe I would try 5 and see how I felt.

Photo credit to Maggi
Left to right: Julius, Me, Russ and Maggi

When I arrived at the Schuylkill River Trailhead at Betzwood, so did Maggi, Russ and Julius. They prefer to run on Sunday and I was excited at the chance to see them. We are not on the same schedule nor the same pace so we all knew we'd do our own thing but starting out together was a real mood booster for me. The bright and abundant sunshine was icing on the cake.

I headed West on the trail for a very short distance to hit up the 21.5 mile marker then turned to head East. I was still debating my distance for the day. I'll spare you those details but in the end I realized that I should go 3.5 miles out as intended and if, on the way back, I should decide I didn't have it in me to run the whole 7 then I would walk back. On any given day - including race day - there might not be enough in the tank and 7 miles is 7 miles, right?

My wonky heart, which has been well behaved of late, did remind me several times on the first half of today's run to slow down. I think the fatigue and the snot factor was the difference.

It was chilly today (31 at the start) but by the time I turned around I was warm and was even able to take my gloves off. There was a very light wind today blowing West to East. On the turn around there was a wind chill but I was still comfortable.

I felt like I was running faster on the return trip. I didn't check my intervals at the turn around so I have no way of knowing for certain. But it doesn't matter. Just that the fact that I felt that good on the return trip is exciting. I more or less chased my shadow on the return trip; a pleasant distraction.

In the end, I finished all 7 miles. At the 20.5 mile marker on the way back, I felt good enough that I gave up the intervals and ran the rest of the way. :) :) I'm very excited and ridiculously proud of this.

Keep Smiling and Keep Moving
- Paula

A Great Day for a Run

As I carefully made my way across ice and snow between mile 2.5 and 4 on the Perkiomen Trail a cyclist passed me going the other direction and called out "A great day for a run". In the blur of his passing I did not see the look on his face and his tone of voice provided no clue as to his intention. And my reply (to myself) was "I think It's a better day for a run than a bike ride". The number of cyclists on the trail today was impressive given the conditions. I said to Sara later that it was almost like they were saying "It's MARCH darn-it. I WILL ride." 😜

It was however a great day for a run --- for me. I don't know if it was the sun; the new shoes; running on a section of the trail that I haven't been to in very long time; or the intervals I chose; but I had a really good run today. And this was despite having missed my weekday runs again. I am just so weather fatigued that I could not go out on Tuesday or Thursday this week. I know I can't keep that up and expect success. With more sunlight and (hopefully) less cold I should be able to bring myself to do better moving forward.

Today, I met Sara and Elaine at Lower Perkiomen Valley Park. We all had our own plans and after good mornings all around, we set off to accomplish them. Spoiler alert: after checking in again before going home, it appears we all were successful.

Over the course of this week, I came to realize that 1 minute walks followed by 1.5 mile runs is not working for me right now. I wanted to do it because on race day I'd like to run between water stops and the water stops are about 1.5 miles apart for OCNJ Half. I want to do that because for my best half ever that was my strategy. I felt so good after that race. BUT as I pondered this since last week's run, I came to terms with the fact that I was in a different place for that race. First, it was at 7 or 8 years ago and came in the fall during training for a marathon. I was in much better race shape. If I work hard these next 6.5 months, I might get to the point where I could run between water stops. But right now, I need to dial it back.

So for today, I chose 1 minute walk; 3 minute run intervals. It worked very well. I never once looked at my timer anxious for the run interval to be over; I finished with enough left over to charge up the hill that brings the trail from creek level to the parking lot at the end.

As I started out on the paved portion of the trail between mile 1 and 2, I tried to focus on my form during the run portions. I tend to hunch over when I get tired. In fact, the shoulders up; hunching over probably makes me tire faster. So I worked on keeping my shoulders down and torso mostly upright. This worked until I hit mile 2.5. The trail is higher up here; it's mostly dirt and gravel and the hillside provides enough shade that the snow doesn't melt. The cross country skiers love it. It provided me with a running challenge. The snow was about 2 -3 inches thick. It was a combination of hard and soft that made for very uneven footing. There were some tire ruts (from park ranger vehicles or rogue ATV riders I could not tell) but these were narrow. To run in them required actual one foot in front of the other strides.

My form during this section suffered. I realized many times that my shoulders were bunched and I was leaning forward. I couldn't manage to keep from falling and maintain my form at the same time. I'm generally adept at multi tasking but the task of trying to stay upright on uneven terrain while running apparently uses up more brain cells than other tasks. I think the adventure of it though helped the miles to feel like they flew by today. Even though the conditions did force me to slow down.

If this were race day, at six miles I have just come up to the start of the boardwalk at St. James Place. The Longport Bridge is behind me. 😊I still have to get past Brown's Donuts with out going into sugar shock from the smell but I think I got this!

Keep smiling keep moving
-Paula

There is a reason training should be a regular thing

Today I finished 6 miles. It was my first attempt at 6 and all in all it was acceptable. However, it could have (should have?) been better. I failed February. I should have run two 5 milers and one 6 miler in February. I barely managed one 5. I skipped a lot of weekday runs. The weather and a general feeling of meh prevailed. The 'schedule' called for 6 today. I debated backtracking to 5 but in the end decided it was better to try the 6 and accept 5 if I had to. So the good news is I finished 6.

Since I ran on the streets of Media - no mile markers - I set up a timing scheme for one minute walks and 25 minute runs. Do the math and 13 minute miles would mean 3 cycles of this. In the end I finished in 3 cycles plus 1.5 minutes. Sounds good, right?

On paper, maybe.  Reality is that I went out too fast to start which provided the cushion for extra walk breaks in the last 2 miles. I need to work on that. This race is NOT about any time goals. It is about finishing but I also want to finish comfortably both physically and mentally. Today was barely either.

On the one hand I can argue (with myself) that I'm 2 miles ahead of where I thought I'd be when I first thought about a schedule for the race. However, on the other hand the reason why I'm 2 miles ahead is because for the first 4 months I was much more consistent with my training. So I need to get back to that and catch up.

First, I must get new shoes. I have my monthly coupon from the Running Place so this week I will go get new running shoes.