I was really tempted to sleep in...little ghoul me doesn't do 7 am anymore. But the race is so close to my house, probably a 5 min drive, and I know the route so well, and what's the worse that can happen during a 4.5 mile loop race? 4ish miles of absolute crud? That's less than most marathons!
I was vaguely remotely tempted to attempt the full distance, 100K, but I reminded myself of a few very important factors:
1. My last run over 3 hrs was in November.
2. My last run over 2 hrs was in November.
3. My last run over 1 hr was in December (wtf?)
4. My average mileage during the past month has been like 10 miles/week. Ok, under. sob. It's true. Little dinky tempo runs twice a week, and maybe a mile or two jogging with the dogs--but our outings have devolved into power hikes, I guess--and this really came in handy when passing people uphill, but it's not running at all. And most of it wasn't even on trails.
5. The semi-last minute daytrip on Thursday took a lot of juice out of me, plus the week before was ROUGH. it included a 3 am trip to the emergency vet. Puppy #2 is better now, though!
6. I haven't been super well to begin with since September--this whole year has been sort of off, but things got worse this fall, culminating in a workplace swoon last month. Yep, I hit the floor in the OR. Fortunately, this was pre-incision, so I didn't land on someone else's blood. Turns out a fair number of people faint in there from the strain (holding heavy patients limbs/whatever under bright lights, or just forgetting to keep knees loose). I'm better now though!
7. My husband is away so I would have to deal with my increasingly irrational thoughts when trying to figure out what to eat or wear umpteen hours in, plus drive home!
8. Plus the dogs would be left waiting an awful long time for supper. They have a doggy door so that's not the issue, but 14+ hrs (ok, 18? who knows?) between meals is not fair for them.
9. I'm lazy.
However, 50K is not bad at all--I wasn't positive I could pull it out of my ass this time, but it usually precedes the onset of major hurt. I admit, I toyed with the idea of running a bit further, but a few pains cropped up, including some IBS and some ITBS. That last one surprised me. Maybe the yes-no machine isn't a completely adequate substitute for clamshells, but trails can be brutal. These trails are better than some, no loose rocks, but they're sandy and they have a ton of roots, plus a few fairly steep uphills and downhills. They're like, "you want to just shuffle through this, haha, NOPE."
Fortunately, I got rid of the ITBS with stretching, and the other stuff subsided enough for me to push through. I finished the 50K in just under six hours--very happy with that considering the trails and the human involved. Plus it didn't tear me up too badly. I was able and happy to hang out for 3-4 hours afterwards to chat and watch the top men come in. My quads feel rather tender, and my abdomen feels oddly raw on the inside (not guts, almost like my diaphragm--is this even possible?), but otherwise, it's like I didn't run much at all. Except I'm wiped!
It was a really fun day--the race staff, volunteers, other runners, and spectators were awesome.
What's next? I'm not sure. We might be moving...sometime...maybe May...somewhere...don't know yet. Maybe if there's a local race, I can sign up. I intend to try to exercise the dogs and myself more honestly, though. Even an hour long run on the weekend would be better than before, and fairly easy to accomplish.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
The army marches on its stomach
My tomorrow (although not necessarily with cookies, but with everything else in the house).
It's been nuts. Today I had to go to a nearby city, which was a sort of stressful occasion, but ultimately awesome because I got to walk on those things called sidewalks, plus I also felt the thrill of reuniting with my car on the fourth deck of a rather large and complex parking garage...anyway, I dug the city! I miss the city, any city!# I should have spent more time walking around while I was there, but I was bombed after just two hours of sleep the night before, plus I still had the 1.5ish hour drive back, albeit minus ~0.25 hrs of securing a parking spot. BUT, if I lived in that city, I would just walk or bike or bus--the bus system is actually free. No joke!
Alas, my plots to return to city life are continually thwarted by the demands of my husband's career, but meanwhile I'll hold down the couch and eat lots tomorrow. I'm signed up for an ultramarathon on Saturday. Apart from tempo runs 2 times/week in the gym, daily hikes/easy jogs with the dogs, and 40+ hrs/week on my feet, plus resistance exercises*, my training has been nil. I can't remember my last long run. So this will be an interesting experiment!
The ultra is the same 100K I did last year. It's a loop so I could do half, or less, without undue inconvenience to anyone. And, yes, just doing half, which practically feels like just a third, is a very attractive proposition. Six-ish hours (hopefully), get done and home with daylight remaining, and then enjoy three full days of recovery. I'm off until next Wednesday. This is my misguided attempt at Christmas vacation, actually!
#My present sleep soundscape.
I pulled it out of retirement at about 4:30 am last night. It's too quiet to sleep here (the jarring intermittent cries of wildlife don't help), but white noise apps wear off after a while, and so I have to combine or rotate them.
*An appeal to public gym owners: please put the yes-no machines facing a wall. No mirror. I use these machines because they replace clamshells for ITBS prevention, but at my present gym they're smack in the centre of all of the quasi-nautilus (I forget the brand) equipment, and this is kind of....showy. It's awkward going in and repeatedly spreading my legs with a bunch of guys around. I've never had any problems, and I'm pretty cool about gym ogling in general--hey, we're all human, we all glance--but these machines are simply too suggestive, plus they are impeded by my ankle-length skirts and petticoats unless I hike them up, and this simply shows too much ankle. I jest, and I wear baggy pants, large headphones, and a thousand-yard stare when I use these machines...what is my problem, actually?
It's been nuts. Today I had to go to a nearby city, which was a sort of stressful occasion, but ultimately awesome because I got to walk on those things called sidewalks, plus I also felt the thrill of reuniting with my car on the fourth deck of a rather large and complex parking garage...anyway, I dug the city! I miss the city, any city!# I should have spent more time walking around while I was there, but I was bombed after just two hours of sleep the night before, plus I still had the 1.5ish hour drive back, albeit minus ~0.25 hrs of securing a parking spot. BUT, if I lived in that city, I would just walk or bike or bus--the bus system is actually free. No joke!
Alas, my plots to return to city life are continually thwarted by the demands of my husband's career, but meanwhile I'll hold down the couch and eat lots tomorrow. I'm signed up for an ultramarathon on Saturday. Apart from tempo runs 2 times/week in the gym, daily hikes/easy jogs with the dogs, and 40+ hrs/week on my feet, plus resistance exercises*, my training has been nil. I can't remember my last long run. So this will be an interesting experiment!
The ultra is the same 100K I did last year. It's a loop so I could do half, or less, without undue inconvenience to anyone. And, yes, just doing half, which practically feels like just a third, is a very attractive proposition. Six-ish hours (hopefully), get done and home with daylight remaining, and then enjoy three full days of recovery. I'm off until next Wednesday. This is my misguided attempt at Christmas vacation, actually!
#My present sleep soundscape.
I pulled it out of retirement at about 4:30 am last night. It's too quiet to sleep here (the jarring intermittent cries of wildlife don't help), but white noise apps wear off after a while, and so I have to combine or rotate them.
*An appeal to public gym owners: please put the yes-no machines facing a wall. No mirror. I use these machines because they replace clamshells for ITBS prevention, but at my present gym they're smack in the centre of all of the quasi-nautilus (I forget the brand) equipment, and this is kind of....showy. It's awkward going in and repeatedly spreading my legs with a bunch of guys around. I've never had any problems, and I'm pretty cool about gym ogling in general--hey, we're all human, we all glance--but these machines are simply too suggestive, plus they are impeded by my ankle-length skirts and petticoats unless I hike them up, and this simply shows too much ankle. I jest, and I wear baggy pants, large headphones, and a thousand-yard stare when I use these machines...what is my problem, actually?
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
last long
I think that was my last long...something. Went to the gym at 1:20 pm, started my run on the TM at about 1:40, and then I went to work and, BAM, EMERGENCIES, and so I didn't leave, didn't eat (apart from a bag of cheetos at about 11 pm), didn't even pee until I left work around 1 am. That's almost 12 hrs on my feet with one tempo run and a few sprints in there. It's true, and I'm counting it! Actually I did sit down once in that span, just for a minute or two. I have no idea how long I spent in a particular room, and I was kept busy for much of the time, but there was one quiet 1/2 hr-ish span I spent standing and waiting--I couldn't actually leave the room, just in case. And then, later on when I didn't have much time to sit anymore, I discovered the chair in the corner of the room. Oh, wait, and I did sit down for the 5 min drive from the gym to work. So, let's say, I sat for 7 minutes during 11.5ish hrs. That's pretty decent ultra training, I think.
Just because---kind of rather explicit but that's Missy Elliott! Actually, I heard a cover of one of her songs on the drive to work--it's meant to be.
Just because---kind of rather explicit but that's Missy Elliott! Actually, I heard a cover of one of her songs on the drive to work--it's meant to be.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
2015 rocks so far!
I made it home in time! there was a looming C-section, and I was prepared to ring in the New Year with a totally new arrival, but there was some sort of delay, and I was told I could go home. Yay!
Gaz's blog reminded me of the Bliss workout, so I did a somewhat leisurely 4 sets of 10 pushups and 10 situps...got to get back into the 50s. However, the sets of 10 felt easier than anticipated. Yay!
And now I got port (Cabral, no less, my fave) and Brazilian cheesy puffs with honey butter. YAY!
And I have tomorrow off! Yay!
Gaz's blog reminded me of the Bliss workout, so I did a somewhat leisurely 4 sets of 10 pushups and 10 situps...got to get back into the 50s. However, the sets of 10 felt easier than anticipated. Yay!
And now I got port (Cabral, no less, my fave) and Brazilian cheesy puffs with honey butter. YAY!
And I have tomorrow off! Yay!
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