Yesterday's Long Run: A List of Eventful Events.

I found a picture of me from 1994-ish yesterday, which would have placed me solidly in my college years and around 19-ish years old:

Zomg that shirt.  And shorts.  Oh the 90s.

As you can see from this pic of me at the end of yesterday's run, I still have the same taste for obnoxious multi-colored prints:

Note obnoxious print on shorts and shoes please.

It's good to know that my taste in clothes hasn't changed that much in over 20 years...but my desire to actually get off my arse and exercise has.  Well, now that I'm in my 40s I pretty much have no choice but to get up and do something lest I turn into a junk-food eating blob.  And get up and do something I did yesterday, with that something being a 19-mile run.  My long runs usually have something eventful happen, and yesterday's was no exception.  Let me do a quick list of those events for you, because lists are what I live for these days:

Event #1: I was exhausted even before I began.  OK, not really an event, but this past week was a nutty week for me at work, getting there super early and leaving super late each day (the school year is ramping back up for us educators).  I went home on Friday and feel asleep at 7 PM, not waking up until 5 AM the next morning when a dog slapped me in the face as a proof of life check. ("Is she still alive?  Someone slap the woman; we have to go outside!") And even after I woke up I was still exhausted...so that meant I dawdled around the house a lot before finally getting ready for the run.  This also meant I left a lot later than I should have, meaning I would be ending the run in hotter weather.  The things I do to sabotage my own runs, I tell you.

Event #2: Dodging cyclists at every turn.  Now, please remember that I love cycling.  I really, really do.  But it seemed like I kept running into every group ride being had in the area yesterday.  Some groups were awesome, letting large dog and I pass, but other cycling herds just plowed on through, causing Simon and I to head into the ditch for our own safety.  One time a group came over a blind hill and I seriously thought we were going to be bicycling roadkill.  At least I can't say the run was boring.

Event #3: Mother Nature calling me incessantly.  So if you read this blog regularly you know that Mother Nature and I have a love/hate relationship during runs.  Specifically, she loves to call me at inconvenient times during the run and I hate to answer...but I have to.  Yesterday was no different, and I had to duck into an abandoned field as well as find a nice spot in some really tall grass on the edge of a cornfield to take the calls.  I really have to review my eating plan to see if I can permanently block her calls during runs.

Me staring down Mother Nature.  And losing.

Event #4: Mother Nature made a fool out of me. As I was entering the early double-digits of my miles, I kept noticing that the hordes of cyclists passing me from behind kept chuckling as they went by.  I shrugged it off, because I was really more focused on getting the run done through the heat of the day that had started to set in.  As I was chugging down a welcome long downhill in the middle of mile 15, I felt something chafing me along let left side of my back.  When I reached back to re-adjust my clothing and see what was chafing me, I felt something sticking out of the back of my shorts (!).  I stopped to take a look, and realized I had streams of long grass hanging out the back of my shorts, with the ends inside chafing me like a sunofayouknowwhat.  I must have accidentally snagged them while I was answering Mother Nature on the edge of that cornfield, therefore enabling all of those cyclists to have a good laugh this morning at my grassy tail as they rode by.  Glad I could add a little comic relief to their rides (but not glad about the chafing that I gave to myself - OUCH).

Event #5: Body parts making strange noises.  From mile 11 on I kept hearing a weird suction-y type noise, and I kept thinking someone was coming up behind me.  That is, until I realized the noise was coming from the inside of my sports bra now that it was soaked in sweat and could hold no more (sweat, that is).  That bra got retired to the trash can after this run--FYI.

Event #6: Holy hilly hills.  As per usual, I ran lots of hilly hills for 19 miles. The only thing that gets me through this kind of torture is the fact that I do loops around my house, with a lot of looped out-and-backs of 3 miles or so...and instead of thinking about miles left I think about loops left, which is usually a much lower number that my brain can deal with without sobbing uncontrollably on the inside.

Event #7: Running 19 miles faster than the pace indicated on the training plan.  At some point during hot runs my subsconscious wants the suffering to be done so it makes me run faster...I finished a full 10 seconds faster per mile than I should have.  Whoops.

After dealing with the hills and the grass in my shorts and Mother Nature for 19 hot miles (the first nine with large dog), one good decision I made was to leave a cold bottle of water in the shade that is my mailbox.  Chugging that thing at the end of the run was like drinking unicorn tears.  One other bad decision I made was sitting in a deck chair while I took the dogs out afterwards...it took a while to figure out how to get out of that chair after the run I just had. 

But you'll be glad to know I did make it inside and to the ice bath, where I got judgy looks from cats the whole time, making for the perfect end to a long run.  Not really.

Hyooman you IDIOT sitting in ICE *judgeraysfromeyes*

Speaking of ending, this post is over now.  Check out the upcoming workouts below.

Upcoming workouts: Today--lifting heavy things.  Tomorrow - only 10 miles of speed work.  Only.

My Long Run Logistics

Saturday is my long run day.  Why?  Because trying to cram in a 2.5-3.5 hour run on a Sunday when you leave all your work and housecleaning until Sunday requires a day that is longer than 24 hours long.

During the summer I get up pretty early to get the run done before the heat becomes too obnoxious, and today was no different.  Large dog and I headed out the door at about 6:30 AM and got nine miles in before I could no longer stand the fact that he kept trying to pull me sideways into the ditch with him while I tried to stay moving in a roughly forward direction.  After dropping him off, I slammed out the last 8 solo, feeling pretty good even though by the time I finished it was nearing 10 AM and the sun was all out and starting to blaze.

My God I just want to run without having to counteract his sideways pull.

WHEE 17 hot miles

I honestly didn't feel that bad for the last 8 miles in the heat, as it wasn't humid and there was enough shade along my route to get some relief.  Also, I think I'm getting acclimated to the heat now that it's August and temps will start to cool soon.  Of course.

Anyhoo, a lot of people ask me how I can run all these crazy miles every Saturday.  Most often this question is phrased as "are you NUTS you run that far for fun?!?" but I'm sure they really mean "Gee, Terie, how do you prepare to run all of those miles each weekend like the badass you are?"  Well, to answer the latter, here's the lowdown on my long-run logistics:

1) Make sure you have good shoes.  And by "good" I mean "shoes you pulled out of the back of your closet and decided to run in since you haven't worn them for awhile and they're only 2 versions back from the current brand and model you wear."  In my case, I grabbed a pair of Brooks Launch 4s that looked like they could have used some fresh air.  Tiny dog seemed to approve of this choice as well.

2) Make sure you're wearing comfortable gear.  This means making sure you have clothes on that don't chafe but yet make a definite statement to all of the cars that pass you during your run.  The statement my gear made today was "It's hot and I'm fat and don't give a rat's arse what you think of me running around in just a sports bra and shorts because it is glorious that a shirt is not sticking to me--GLORIOUS I TELL YOU"

My gear apparently had a lot to say today.

3) Never ever ever (ever) forget to bring toilet paper with you on a long run.  I actually bring it on every run, tucked away in my running belt all snuggled up in a plastic bag so my sweat won't destroy it.  Because Mother Nature has the WORST timing for calling me.

4) FOOD.  MUST BRING FOOD.  While I always throw down a banana before I leave the house, I bring my two favorite flavors of gels with me that I buy by the case because I can:

If you're running long, you have to have some nutrition with you or you're going to be in a world o' hurt after about 90 minutes or so.  I may or may not have made this mistake and ended up curling up into a ball on the side of the road once. *ahem*

5) I back off the pace for the first mile or four.  I don't really know why this works for me, but I find that if I just run in the 10s for the first few miles I am pretty much banging out the last few miles well above my planned pace and feeling fantastic while doing it.  This was the case today as well:

Betcha can't tell which miles Mother Nature called me, can you?  Actually, I bet you can.  Glad I had that toilet paper.

6) I plan for my post-run recovery.  This means jumping into a bathtub full of ice-cold water and using my foot massager as I blog about all my running nonsense.

"NNNNNNGGGGHHHHH COLD"

While the ice baths are NOT PLEASANT AT ALL (and occasionally a curious cat falls in the tub with me), they have really helped my sore hip and the sore top of my right foot that had been plaguing me for weeks.  In fact, my hip and foot didn't bother me at all, unless you count when some insect-ish critter had crawled into my right shoe during a Mother Nature stop and then proceeded to bite the hell out of the top of my foot.  Stupid nature.

Speaking of stupid, this post is now over.  You know that because you're about to read about tomorrow's workout below.

Tomorrow's workout: Some spin and some upper-body weights; gotta keep working on the guns, after all.  Oh, and rest my legs or something.

New Shoe Review: Saucony Kinvara 10

If you know anything about me as a runner, you know that I am die-hard Brooks fan.  However, I just sacrilegiously bought a pair of Saucony Kinvara 10s.  Don't tell all 5 of my pairs of Brooks Launch about this, okay?

Oooo purple!

Since I've been experiencing foot and hip problems, I decided to explore some other shoe brands and styles because it's definitely not that I'm running too much causing my running issues, right?  Right.

Anyhoo, let's get back to those Saucony Kinvara 10s.  Because these shoes have a much lower heel drop than I'm used to (a 4 mm drop, compared to the 10 mm drop of me beloved Brooks Launch 6s) and they say you should transition slowly to a low-drop shoe, I went for a 14 mile run in those bad boys because don't tell me what to do in my own shoes, people on the internet that do running for a living and know way more about this than I do.  And let me tell you, 14 miles is enough miles to get to know a shoe.  So, what did I learn about the Kinvara 10?

• I learned that you can tell your heel is much, much lower than normal in this shoe.  I could definitely feel that my heel was lower than normal, but the forefoot of this shoe had ample cushion.  It felt weird at first, but after the first mile I didn't notice the heel lowness, but I did feel the cushion with every step.
• I learned you can have a cushy shoe that is still lightweight.  These shoes never ever felt heavy, unlike my Brooks Ghost 11s which often feel like bricks tied to my feet at the end of a long run.
• I learned that those weird little bumps on the back inner heel of the shoes designed to do...something...with your Achilles feel weird at first.  I don't know if those are on the shoe as some added sales gimmick, but I thought they were going to be a deal-breaker when I first put the shoes on.  Who wants something rubbing against the back of your heels during a run?!?  But I completely forgot about them after the second mile and didn't feel them again.
• I learned that running in a lower heel drop does make your calves kinda way more tired by the end of 14 miles.  My calves were whinier than normal by mile 12, and I kept hearing them whine when I was walking around the county fair later that night.  Maybe I should listen to those internet people from crazy sites like Runner's World saying to ease into low-drop shoes slowly...
• I learned that the roomy feel of this shoe made the top of my foot NOT hurt for once.  I've been having pain along the tendon extending from the big toe, but there was none of that pain yesterday.  It was kind of nice.  And speaking of pain...
• I didn't have any hip pain, either.  I don't know if the shoe was the cause or the profuse icing I did of my hip the night before, but just thought that the lack of pain should be noted. 
• I learned that while these felt light, I didn't get that "fast feet feeling" I do in my Brooks Launch 6.  I like to feel like I can fly in a pair of shoes...while the Kinvaras are light, the push-off wasn't as nimble as I like it to be.  Contrasting the feel to the tempo run I did the other day in my fave pair of Launches, the Kinvara weren't really up to snuff.  They weren't slow-feeling, just not as fast as I'd like them to be.  
• I learned that the white and purple color scheme matched my nonmatching running outfit theme of the day.

What else do you expect when I'm up at 5:30 AM on a Saturday trying to make my brain pick out something in which to run?

Overall, I'm actually pretty pleased with the Kinvara's performance on this run, but my feeling whilst running in them was that I wasn't overly wowed by them.  I would definitely run in them again, but maybe alternate long runs in them or wear them for easier paced shorter runs.  I still prefer the quick pace and pickup feel of the Brooks Launch 6, but the Kinvara 10 still has a place in my running shoe rotation.  Besides--they're purple; I can't NOT wear them.

Tomorrow's workout: Speaking of quick, tomorrow there shall be speed.  But only a little in the form of 200 m repeats.

Who knew eating right would improve your running performance? (Everyone)

You know what's crazy? I ran 19 miles yesterday over the serious hills around my house and I woke up today like it wasn't no big thing.

Look look SPRING

For once that smile isn't fake.

Now, don't get me wrong; it was a challenging run.  I was really pushing during that 19th mile, and those hills were not making my life any easier, let me tell you.

It was all downhill from there.  And then uphill.

But for once I wasn't completely destroyed the next day...my legs today felt amazingly...just fine.  In fact, I cleaned the entire house today without my legs feeling like stiff appendages that weren't really mine once.  And after cleaning I did 45 minutes of spin and about 35 minutes of lifting heavy things with my tiny dog as supervisor.

Tiny dog is unimpressed with my workouts.

Look out weights...here I come.

Tiny dog did helpfully clean my weights between each use.  Which is gross, actually, but we pretty much let tiny dog do what she wants because of the sheer magnitude of her tiny and cute.

Tiny dogs licking weights aside, some might attribute my new-found long-run recovery to me consistently running all the runs on my training plan, which I'm pretty sure has helped a ton.  But I actually think a lot of the credit for my new-found long-distance running strength is the whole "not eating crap" thing I've been doing for a few months.  In fact, I have even started meal prepping a bit.

Yummo alert.

So far I've just been doing lunch because that's what I don't have time to make in the morning (I *am* running 10-12 miles before work some days, remember), but it has completely helped with keeping my diet consistent and my portions under control.  And because this former biology teacher knows a few things about science and how cells work and stuff, I'm pretty sure my healthier options are giving my cells what they need to not only perform well but also recover well.  Case in point: my splits from yesterday's run, excluding mile 9 where I stopped at the house to go to the bathroom and forgot my watch wasn't set to auto-pause.

Kids, for me to be running 9:30s at the end of a run like that is amazing. And now I wonder why I didn't do this healthy eating and run all the runs stuff for my previous 33 marathons.  After all, being 12 pounds lighter is also probably doing a lot for my marathon goals as well..and I'm actually beginning to see that the weight is coming off.

I also see that this post is over, and it's now time for the learnings:

• I am not exaggerating about those hills, people.  They are some serious business.
• I am also not exaggerating about the convenience of meal prep. Those 5 lunches took me less than 20 minutes to make and prep.
• Those 5 lunches are also all the same...because I am the master of eating the same foods over and over again.  What can I say; it's a gift.
• We really do let tiny dog do whatever she wants, except be nasty to the cats or eat non-food things off the floor.
• We also need to stop typing now because large dog is trying to sleep, and he needs his recovery time just as much as I do.

Tomorrow's workout: My usual Monday speed...just some quick 200s though that for some reason will last 9 miles.

Day 3, Week 3: A quick injury and workout update.

And now for a quick injury update:  Still injured.  Yep.  Most certainly.

Left butt is not cooperating when running outside.  It was so sore after the run I blogged about on my last post that I couldn't even bike ride on Saturday and had to....*gasp*....TAKE THE DAY OFF FROM WORKING OUT.

Told you I was injured.  Plus I have one heckuva itchy eczema outbreak from all the muddy water I encountered from the mud run last Saturday, so I pretty much want to scratch all the skin off my legs and arms.  Good times, kids (not really).  I want to show you pictures of the big angry red patch of itchy goodness on the back of my left leg but the hubbs said I couldn't buy any more running shoes if I posted those here.  He's such a funkiller.

Anyway, when I have been working out, what have I been doing?  Well...

Because I'm injured and it was pretty much flooding from the heavens on Sunday, I ran 13 miles on the treadmill in the hopes that my left butt wouldn't scream too loudly (it didn't):

Always have your cat check your treadmill for safety before
running 13 miles on it.

And I ran all 13 with uneven shorts because huge nasty eczema lesion
on the back of my leg.

The next day I did a little indoor cycling because Mother Nature is just so rainy these days:

And then after that same cycling I did some lifting of heavy things and then putting them back down over and over again:

Again...uneven shorts.  Damn you, eczema.

And, of course, I did more running this morning on the 'mill in the form of a 4 mile tempo run.  Because masochism.

My internal attitude about this run oozing out.

Left butt whined a little bit more this morning, and my legs were feeling pretty heavy, which is odd for a  mile tempo at 9:18 pace.  My brain keeps whispering the word "overtraining" in the back of my mind...but I'm ignoring it for now because I have training to do, dammit.  Can't be listening to those voices in my head all day, now can I?

Tomorrow's workout: Indoor cycling...but only because my real bike is getting a tune-up.

Day 2, Week 8: Once-sentence workout summaries

Life once again has gotten in the way of my blogging habit.  And by "life" I mean "work and sleep and the hubbs committing me to go to events in the evening."  So, to catch everyone up and keep this blog active, here's some one-sentence summaries of my workouts since last we met.

Day 6, Week 7: Strength Training

Dumbbells, barbells, and stupid post-workout pics...oh my.

Day 7, Week 7: Forty-five (!) miles on the bike + 2 mile run.

Forty-five miles of swearing at the wind using words that made the corn threaten to wash my mouth out with soap.

Day 1, Week 8: 15 treadmill miles.

15 grueling miles so bad the only thing good about it was my freaking awesome visor that did not shield me from the sun because, you know, treadmill. 

Day 2, Week 8: Wait a minnit...where's the workout?

OK, I confess - that's a pic of my dog sleeping and NOT me working out.  I didn't get off the treadmill until 9:30 last night, and after showering, eating dinner, and giving all the animals their goodnight kisses, it was time to get into bed.  And when the alarm went off at 3:30 AM my body was all NOPE WE ARE SLEEPING IN and hit the snooze repeatedly without me even knowing until it was around 5 AM.  And we all know what that means - it was too late to fit a workout in between breakfast and coffee and sleeping for another 15 minutes in the chair in the living room.

But rest assured that tomorrow's scheduled speed session will take place..and so will the whining about it on this blog afterwards.  Stay tuned!

Tomorrow's workout: 10 freaking miles of speed work.  Have I mentioned how I think my training plan app is trying to kill me?  

Day 1, Week 7: Stupid workout thoughts.

I admit it - I haven't been consistent with this blogging thing like I promised I would.  Work has only picked up in velocity this summer and I have found myself getting home with only about 2 hours before I have to be in bed...and posting is usually not on the priority list in those two hours. 

But I hereby swear to do better, even if it's to post one random picture with an incoherent caption that my sleep-deprived brain thought was hilarious when I posted it. In fact I PINKY swear it to all of you.

Now that that's out of the way, let me show you what workouts I've been up to over the past week:

A little weights, a little running, a little cycling, and a little putting up with large dog taking breaks when I least expect it.  Or want him to.  So, in other words, the usual.

But what's not usual is the distance of the bike ride I did two days ago.  And then the run I did the next day.

40 miles on the bike at nearly 18 mph?  For me that's pretty freaking UH-MAYZING people.  However, busting it out on the bike on Saturdays is causing my long runs to be much slower on Sundays...but I've come to terms with that.  It's teaching me to run on tired legs (or at least that's what I'm telling myself).  It's also allowing me loads of time to think deeply about things, giving time for weird thoughts to come bubbling to the surface.  These bubbles are most likely helping me cope with the distance training I'm doing...or just a sign that I'm a moron.  Either way, let me lay some of these weird workout thoughts on you:

• "If I ran a race company, I would change the direction of the course if the wind was too strong so people wouldn't have to bike into the wind.  Because this sucks."
• "If I were to carry bananas with me on long runs, how can I prevent them from becoming really hot banana mush in my pocket by the 6th mile?"
• "If I run one more mile outside, that means I could go inside and only do ____ miles on the treadmill." (This thought usually repeats every mile outside until OOPS workout completed outside how'd that happen)
• "If I am doing loops and I just ran by the driveway to the house and I am 0.17 miles into the mile that means I only have to run...uh....ummm....screw it math is hard I'm just running to that stop sign and back."
• "I wonder what would happen if I threw my water bottle at the next car that only gave me 3 inches of clearance as they passed me."
• "If a runner runs between cornfields singing old U2 songs and no one is around to hear it, does she really make a sound?"
• And, last but not least..."Exactly why do I do this again?  Oh yeah - to have an excuse not to clean the house."

Instead of learnings where you learn nothing, I'm just posting all the bad pics I took from the ride and the run this weekend.  Enjoy.

Star Trek SEXY

Shadow derp.

A rare in motion derp

Almost thrown at several cars during the run.

Awesome shorts alert.

Tomorrow's workout:  Anything that doesn't involve using my legs.  Probably upper-body weights.