Advice From a Tree

I saw a photo on Facebook this morning. This is what it said:

ADVICE FROM A TREE



 

Stand tall and proud

Go out on a limb

Remember your roots

Drink plenty of water

Be content with your natural beauty

Enjoy the view

 

Seeing as how my brain is in training mode right now my first reaction to this was from that point of view.

 

Stand tall and proud - good posture and a strong core maintains your energy level during the run so you can run farther.

Go out on a limb - challenging yourself and venturing into the unknown is what gets you in to the marathon mess to begin with but it's also what gets your through the increasing miles

Remember your roots - for me that's walking. And my walk breaks are what keep me sane and moving during long runs.

Drink plenty of water - duh

Be content with your natural beauty - I am not a gazelle runner. I'm more a snuffleupagus. I am what I am and on training and race days I AM A RUNNER it doesn't matter how fast I am or what I look like as long as I try.

Enjoy the view - and I'll add to that... enjoy the company of the friends that run and walk with you.

Week 11; February 16-February 24

Monday - I did a lot of stretching and balance work today - through the morning mostly. I had the day off work and didn't have the motivation for much more than that. I paid a lot of attention to my calves and hamstrings as tightness there is a likely cause of my achilles strain.

Tuesday - Cold and rainy. I bailed. Yes, I know this doesn't jive with the designated theme of the training - No Excuses - but it is what it is. I have my limits. I'll run in rain and I'll run in cold but cold and rain together makes me cranky.

Wednesday - I met my friend Caroline B for 4 miles along the Chester Valley Trail. It was very cold but dry! :) A nice run. Caroline is very patient with me. I keep saying I want to go easy and then I push the pace without realizing it. She really should scold me but she's too nice to do so. BTW, you can follow her training at "The Running Optimist". She recently ran the Krispy Kreme challenge in North Carolina. Garmin

Thursday - Another nice run tonight. I've had some crazy days at work this week and these runs have really helped keep my mind clear out of the funk that comes from that. Tonight I ran with Julius and John T. I was a little anxious because they are typically ahead of me on most runs. So I spent most of the first mile waiting to collapse - but I didn't. I finally relaxed and before I knew it we were done and I felt great. And we were under 11 minute miles! I feel confident now going into my 16 mile run this weekend. Garmin

Saturday - Actually it's only Friday as I begin this. I'm very nervous about tomorrow's run. One of my running buddies suggested it's because I really want it. I think she's right and having a reason makes me feel a little better already. Thanks, Jeannie!

Still I've been stressing a lot today about running at a new place - Pennypack Park. On the one hand it would be good distraction to run somewhere new but then it could also be a pain if I got lost or didn't like the trail. Plus it's supposed to rain but no one seems to know how much or how hard. It's almost an hour away too. So I decided to bail on PennyPack and go to Oaks/Valley Forge. If I start from the Gravel Parking lot at Oaks I can be at the Valley Forge Visitor Center by 9 where others are meeting to do the loop. The weather may play a factor in attendance but I can run the loop alone without worry so it's ok. Again, having made the decision I'll sleep better now.

Famous last words! You can read about that and the run here. And here is the Garmin for Saturday

I am very glad to have the 16 miles completed successfully. From here on out I alternate big drop back weeks with increasing miles to the marathon. I hope to make the drop back weeks true fun runs and dig in for the longer ones. Next week it's 8 followed by 18 and then I have a week off having completed stage 2 of the the training.

Sunday - 90 minutes cross training today. I woke up to another dreary wet morning. So much for biking outside. I ran in that yesterday and the winds are higher today so I decided to stay indoors.

I started with 30 minutes of yoga. First I set up the bike so I went from the yoga mat to 30 minutes on the bike. I took a break and then another 30 minutes. Is taking the break cheating? Well it doesn't matter it's the way that worked for me this morning. I wore the heart rate monitor and tried to keep it in my zone 2: 111-130. Of course the sun came out when I was finished.

Nerves and Nightmares

Jump to the end. I finished 16 miles this morning. My longest run in well over a year.

At mile 12 I started to lose focus. I quickly realized that was because for the first 10.5 miles I had friends with me and now I was on my own. Time to suck it up and face the final miles just as I will have to do in the marathon.

Rewind to the start of my run at 8:00 a.m. at the gravel parking lot at Lower Perk Park, Oaks. I arrived about 7:50 and I was getting myself together Sherry pulled in. What an awesomely pleasant surprise! It was wonderful to catch up with her as we ran the 4+ miles over to the Valley Forge Loop. She turned around here to go back as she had a spa date at 10 a.m. I was so happy to spend that time with her.

At the visitor center I met up with Caroline B and Kristi Y. John T pulled in shortly after. We said our goodbyes to Kristi who was going to walk the loop and the three of us headed off. Sherry and I did 2 mile run; 1 minute walk on the way over. For the loop we did 3 minute run; 1 minute walk off Caroline's  phone. I admit I was kind of hoping that's what we would do. I haven't run the loop since John T and I did it 3 times  for our 15 mile run last September. Most of my runs for this training have been flat unless I'm around Media but none of those compare to the contiued up and down of the VF Loop. 3 and 1 was just fine with me. As we approached the bathrooms at Wayne's Woods John suggested we take the long way around which adds a hill but also added mileage which we all needed. We also ran up the hill and around the visitor center to return to the parking lot rather than cutting off down County Line road so by the time we were finished I was just under 10.5 miles. I only stayed there a few minutes because I didn't want to lose momentum. I thanked them for the run and went out County Line road to head back to the 422 bridge. It was great to see Kristi coming back from her loop then :)

So about the bridge. Last night I had a nightmare about the bridge. Actually I need to back up a bit. I was a bundle of nerves most of the day yesterday. Thankfully I was pretty busy at work or it would have been worse. I was worried about this run and about going to a new place to do it. The original plan was to go to Penny Pack Park. It meant driving almost an hour to run alone and likely in the rain. The trail runners would be there but really I can't keep up with them. Finally, last night I decided to bag the idea of going to Penny Pack and stick with familiar territory. I knew there was a group meeting at VF at 9 so I knew I could do 4 or 5 before that and meet up with them. That calmed the nerves considerably. Until I went to sleep last night. I had a dream that I fell through the wood planks on the bridge and into the Schuylkill River below. Great :(. I tried to shake it off because it was just a dream. However, when Sherry and I approached the bridge there was caution tape flapping in the breeze of the traffic on 422. This is what it was marking:

I had to take the photo so you would beleieve me!

Ok so back to my final 5.5 miles. I headed back to the SRT - over the bridge stopping to take that photo - and turned right toward Norristown. I realized that if I went left I was probably going to get to my car before 16 miles. I decided I couldn't deal with that. So I headed right and ran a little more than a mile until the watch beeped off mile number 12. I turned around and headed back. I was back on 2 miles and 1 minute walk break now.

At mile 14 I took a little extra time to strecth out my back which was starting to get wonky. I thought about stopping again at mile 15 but by the time 15 arrived I was starting to pick up momentum. Not a lot mind you but enough that I convinced myself that I could finish this without another stop. I ended up with about 3/4 mile to walk to the car. That was fine too I needed the cool down and stretch of my legs before the drive home.

I'm pretty excited about this run. I know it was slower in the end than the beginning. I finished 3:12:51 which is just over 12 minutes miles but I'm sure I was well into 12 minutes miles in the last couple. And I know I went too fast with Sherry. Not her fault. She's a great buddy and will run slow with me but she'll also pick up speed if I do. So it was up to me to keep the pace under control and I'm pretty sure I didn't. We'll see Sunday when I upload my Garmin. But none of that is as important right now as having finished it. My longest run in a very long time and I feel good. My legs are used but not abused. I don't feel like I have to take a nap either.

Thanks for reading! :)

I'm a Dreamer

Reading was one of my favorite things to do as kid and still is now. Even when my own kids were growing up - although the volume of reading was greatly reduced - great pleasure and a sense of control can be found in a few minutes of reading. Having time to stop the "real" world and get lost in another is very empowering.

I'm not a big fan of the "classics". I guess I'm not sophisticated enough for them. I've recently challenged myself to read "Pride and Prejudice" after hearing that it is 100 years old this year. It is slow going though. I downloaded it to the Kindle app on my IPad and when the mood strikes I slog through a few more chapters. It may be 101 years old before I finish.

As a child my favorite books were "A Wrinkle in Time", "My Side of the Mountain", and books like "The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler". Today the most used card in my wallet is my library card. "Pride and Prejudice" notwithstanding I am not afraid to return a book I don't like without finishing. And I usually have at least two going at once.

I've been blessed with a vivid imagination and reading fuels that fire. For as long as I can remember my imagination has been an integral part of my life. As a kid, before falling asleep or on long car rides - things like that- I would imagine all kinds of adventure for myself. Some were an extension of what I was reading; some were an extension of the day's events and some were completely new and made up. I still do this but not while driving. :)

Reading is like an imagination assist. It allows me to drift off into imagination with a little less stress on my brain.

My love of reading and daydreaming is probably the reason why I try things like marathons and 100 mile bike rides. Being able to see myself doing it makes it seem less crazy --- to me anyway. It gives me the encouragement to try ......and stick with it. Fortunately, I'm married to a very good sport and supportive person. He never says ( at least out loud ) " You want to do what?". Thank you, Dave. Love you.

The adventures I worked out as a kid have been replaced with visualizing myself pushing through a tough part of a race or getting through a weekend training run, walk or ride. Or getting through a challenging presentation at work. In the last few weeks, I've crossed the Bob Potts finish line at least a dozen times. Awake, I analyze training schedules and advice on how to do this and that; Daydreaming, I just do it. I'm sure it's the latter that makes a difference in reality but I need the analysis part to satisfy my type A evil twin.

Here is part of my current bucket list - in no particular order

Complete a century bike ride
A relay event
A multi day walking adventure
Go on a deep sea fishing excursion
Learn to wind surf
Run in a trail event
Overnight Backpacking trip
Navigate a river from beginning to end
Run a marathon or half marathon that crosses the US-Canadian border
Pace someone in a race (that's PACE not PASS)
Achieve an ultra marathon distance in running
Go snow shoeing
Write a book

Interestingly (is that even a word?) the one thing that I have difficulty imagining is being able to write a book. So for now I'll just imagine and do other stuff.

What's on your bucket list?
What were your favorite books as a kid (or now)?
Are you in tune with your imagination?

Week 10: Feb 11 - Feb 17

Monday - Feeling yesterday's trail run in my quads today. Makes me smile remembering what a fun run it was. Today is a YAYOG day. I chose to do a 36 minute Tabata session. 4 exercises. 20 seconds on; 10 second rest.

The program chose squats, good mornings, arm rotations and crunches. I substituted planks for crunches because I felt like doing planks. The squats were not going to happen with the effects if the trail run still felt in my quads so I swapped those for bent over lateral arm raises.

Tuesday - Legs were still sore from Sunday's trail run. Definitely improved but still sore and stiff after any prolonged sitting. But as I'm only running three days a week there was no reason to bail tonight. I went to the river trail and parked at the Pawlings Road end in case it got darker faster than expected ( or more likely I was slower than expected ). I didn't want to get locked in the parking lot at the other end. My plan was to go 3.5 out and back.

In the first mile my legs loosened up but after the walk break at 2 miles I realized how tired they really were. I made myself keep going and work to keep up my pace figuring this is a good test for the marathon. After mile 20 my legs are going to be tired and likely sore so pushing through is good practice.

I got to the end of the trail and as far as the restroom at that end and was only at 3.15 miles. I turned around anyway because - although I wouldn't get locked in - I didn't want to be out there after dark. The trail has no lights and there were only a handful of others out tonight.

So my total was only 6.3 not the planned 7 but it I'm fine with that. I was careful to stretch when I was done and worked the foam roller when I got home.

Note to self - next time you plan to run a muddy trail after a heavy rain day, bring back up shoes. I drove home in my socks ( which I think is illegal) because my shoes were so caked with mud I put them in a bag to being them home. My car is not the fanciest by a long shot but I really didn't want to have to clean the mud after getting home.

Garmin - Well the numbers support my feeling that I was pushing the pace most of the time. I wish I had been wearing the HRM so I could compare that. The goofy drop offs at the beginning are me trying to figure out the best way to get around the huge puddles.

Wednesday - My legs feel pretty good today. Not perfect but good. Somewhere through the day my shoulders and neck stiffened up. I decided to do yoga anyway - slowly and carefully - if my shoulders or neck were bothered I'd back off. I worked for half and hour and my neck and shoulders feel much looser. Not exactly sure what did it although I suppose it helped to focus on breathing and moving slowly through the movements. I didn't even think about my neck or shoulders until I was done.

Thursday - Planned an hour or at least 5 miles. I managed 3 and walked most of the last mile. Why the breakdown?

- Did I do too much on tired legs Tuesday? Maybe I should have done less or slower?
- Is it because today was a big teaching day at work? I did much better hydrating today but my food intake was not so good.
- Is it because today I ran all on pavement and my previous two runs were on trails?
- Or is because my shoes really are done?

My best guess - and that's all it is - is that it's a combination of all of the above. For now I'm going to shake it off, take my rest day and set my sights on the Frostbite 5 miler on Saturday. I'm thinking about wearing new shoes on Saturday. It's only 5 miles.

Saturday - I ran the Frostbite 5 miler. You can read about it here. I don't wear my watch for races so no stats for this run. I did not wear new shoes as I was expecting yukky weather and figured I'd should at least try to break in the new ones on a clean day.

Sunday - Today it is near freezing with winds about 10-20 mph and gusts higher. So I set up the trainer in the living room and did 120 minutes total. 60 minutes at a time with a 45 minute break in between. Otherwise I would probably die of boredom. But I did it :) One of these days I get the cadence gadget hooked up for these indoor rides. For now it's all about staying in motion.

I am feeling some pain in my left achilles. Not pain exactly but strain when I walk. I felt it slightly after the race yesterday. It went away and now it's back after finishing on the bike. I will baby it this week. I don't think it's serious right now and I intend to keep it that way. Stay tuned.