I moved!

If you are reading this, you don't know that my blog has moved! Check me out here at chasingambulances.net. See you there!

Texting and intervals

This is story I'm about to tell is not running related, but it's pretty funny (or so I like to think) so I thought I'd share. At least once a week I get a voicemail or text that is obviously not intended for me. I rectified (I hope) the voicemail situation by finally leaving a message that indicates that it's me -- not Carol or Becky -- whose phone the dialer has reached. Nevertheless, I am still getting bizarre text messages. Today I got one that started,

ur boyfriend is hot. how serious are you?

Me: Ha ha. Is this Kathy? [I don't have a friend named Kathy, but I was trying to figure out if the person would tell me who they were.]

Them: no. this is your sister silly. [I don't have a sister]

Me: Weird. I don't remember seeing you at the wedding 2 months ago

Them: omg. that's why you were in vegas?

Me: Vegas was the bachelorette. Sorry but I forgot to invite you

Them: whatever. c if u can keep this guy from turning gay...unlike the last guy.

I'm counting on the fact that this person will soon discover her sister's real phone number soon and that she won't start harassing me once she finds out I was messing with her. Perhaps it is stuff like this that causes me to go over my text message limit (sorry, honey!).

Anyway, I did an interval run today. The very first on the marathon plan -- and it went a little like this:

10 minute warm up, 6 X (1 min @ 8:15, 3 min EZ), 10 minute cool down.

Looking at the Key Run #1s on the FIRST training plan, they are speed workouts, and

some of them get pretty complicated, and I don't really like to spend my runs doing math. For

example:

10-20 minute warm-up

1 mile (400m RI), 2 miles (800m

RI), 2 x 800 (400m RI)

10 minute cool down

So, in addition to thinking about miles and how many I've done, I'll need to think about

converting my miles to kilometers. Yes, I know this is fairly simple. 400m is 1/4 mile;

800 is about half a mile. It is adding and simple division, but math is not my strong point

and oddly I notice that whether I calculate whatever I'm doing before the run or during it,

I am constantly re-doing the math in my head like a crazy person.

The whole point of me talking about this is that I was worried I would lose track of the 6

intervals I was supposed to do in my run today. To stop that from happening, I got six

pennies, and after each interval was completed, I threw it on the floor (I was on my treadmill

at home). It worked great, and I think that if I was outside (heaven forbid I just toss money

aside) I could transfer the pennies from one pocket to another. Or if I had no pockets, I could

use rubber bands on my wrists. And, it struck me as a great way to count laps if I was swimming

-- I think I could easily lose track of that. Not that I swim really, but just in case I ever do.

In conclusion, I learned something today and I got to mess with someone's head. A great day, all

things considered.

Tetris style

It has been yet another long absence. Lots of stuff happened. I got married. Went on a honeymoon. Ran the Lewis & Clark Half (PW'd by the way). Decided to sign up for the St. Louis Go! Marathon on April 11, 2010. Got a brand new shiny laptop. So, the blogging comes back a little bit like a tetris game. It just fits in the spot.

I have wussed out of running the full marathon before, but this time I'm going in with a plan. I'm using the FIRST Plan, which you can read about in detail here. Basically, the plan uses your last 10k to determine your Planned Marathon Pace (PMP), speedwork pace, and tempo pace. There are only 3 key runs in the schedule per week. This is a good thing, because it allows me to crosstrain, and to not run on consecutive days if my knee acts up. The book Run Less, Run Faster has a more in depth discussion of the benefits of training three times per week using the FIRST plan.

As far as the knees go, I still get a little tenderness now and then in my IT band. I have noticed that one stretch in particular is really helpful. This guy. And of course, I use my foam roller when I feel tight.

And if you are wanting more reading on running, I would recommend Kristin Armstrong's Mile Markers blog on the Runners World website here. Sometimes there is a little too much touchy feely stuff but it is well-written. Mainly, I'm kind of fascinated with her and the whole Lance Armstrong thing. The way she moved on and reinvented herself after all that happened is pretty dope.

Random thoughts on running

I've been doing ok with my training plan the last couple of weeks. The tempos and the speed runs are pretty challenging, which I suppose is a good thing. Today I struggled with my tempo, running at 8:09 for 4 miles (sandwiched between a mile warmup and a mile cooldown). I had some awful, piercing cramps, and some acid reflux. Ugh.* And some "I can'ts". But I made it through.

*Gross story, but one time I coughed while running and I actually ended up throwing up bile. I felt just fine too.

Ew. I just realized next week I am supposed to do 4 X 1600 @ 7:33. Ew.

I have been more cautious in the last couple of weeks not to run on consecutive days or run more than the training program calls for. I've noticed some tightness in my left knee and left hip than usual, which I know means my IT band is acting up.

The IT band, for anyone that doesn't know, is a series of tissues that run on the outside of your leg, from the hip to the knee, and work to stabilize your leg through movement, including running. The acute pain starts in the knee, but over time I think I have become more sensitive to tenderness around there and now I notice tightness in the hips too. The last time my IT band had really big problems was a couple of years ago - I remember not being able to run past 16 minutes when it was at its worst - the onset of the pain was sudden, and crippling.

The best websites for information on it are : ITBS info, Dr. Pribut, And here's a good article. There is a thread about IT band injuries on a forum in Runnersworld, too.

All of this post was kind of random...

Guess I should go stretch and work on that gluteus medius...

Running on a Sour Stomach & Movie Review

Last week was not the best running week. I did only what the program asked, no more, no less. 4 miles on Wednesday, 4 on Friday, and a grueling 9 mile run on Saturday. My 8 miles the week before were fabulous - I felt like I was flying, it was easy, I felt like I could run faster and farther.

I woke up early on Saturday, and my stomach was turning. I knew I did not want to run. But I didn't know if I could fit it in on Sunday. I got up early, and figured that I was up, and maybe my stomach would settle after a few miles.

It didn't. By mile 5, it felt like I had rocks in my stomach (not how I felt at mile 1 at all). I struggled through the rest of the run. It was a great day to run though - overcast, cool (slightly below 70 I think?) and not humid at all - a rare late-July morning. It was not fun running on a sour stomach for 9 miles.

Here's hoping this week will be better. This week is:
M: 2 mile @ 9:36
W: 7 miles (warm, 3 X 1600 @ 7:38 with 800 jogs, cool)
F: 2 mile @ 9:36
S: 10 miles

Not sure if I addressed this already, but my long runs were not in the plan that the "Smart Coach" on RW gave me (you can find the Smart Coach on www.runnersworld.com under the training tab). The Smart Coach had my long runs only going up to 9 or 10 miles, and I've never done a half marathon training plan that didn't go up to at least 12 miles. So I tweaked it to go up to 12 miles, with a 9 miler in the taper week. I have left the rest of the program the same.

I watched the movie, "Marathon Challenge" this weekend. This is probably a good movie for true novice runners - people that are like the runners who complete the marathon in this movie. The movie takes a group of individuals who have never ran a marathon and who are mostly sedentary and trains them for nine months to see if they can complete a marathon. Some of the people can't run more than "half a mile" or their only exercise is "bowling." They get an assessment in the beginning of their VO2 max and their body fat. Although none of them appear to be significantly overweight to me, a couple of the women have 40% body fat.

Most of them get injured during their training. I was impressed that so many of them (about 11) finish the marathon - only one out of all of the team did not finish, and she had a stress fracture in her shin. The first finisher does it in about 4 hours which is a very respectable time. What I did like was that the film discusses the science behind running - what VO2 max is, what glycogen is. It made me want to get my VO2 max tested... but I don't have a good reason other than curiosity.

Happy running!

Lewis & Clark Training Plan

Screenshots & tempos

Today was a great day for a long run! I woke up a little later than I wanted to (after 6) and was dreading what the temperature would be when I would be ready for my run. I was pleasantly surprised that the temperature was 67 and decided I had to get out there ASAP to take advantage of it. I ran 8 miles with an average pace of 9:29 (slightly faster than the 9:42 the program I have called for). Here were my splits:

Negative splits, baby! I just learned how to do screenshots a week ago, so ... yeah. No one ever told me what that print screen button was! Check out my pace on a graph with elevation:

The blue line is pace and the green is elevation. It didn't feel that hilly so I'm not sure what is up with that. I know it's fuzzy.

So this last week, my workouts were:

Weds: 5 miles @ 9:40 pace

Thursday: 30 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes stairmill

Friday: 6 miles (1 mile warmup @ 10:00, 4 miles @ 8:14, 1 mile cooldown @ 10:00)

Saturday: 2 miles @ 10:00, 30 minutes elliptical

Sunday: 8 miles @ 9:29

Total mileage: 21

Next week looks like this:

Monday: 4 miles @ 9:36

Tuesday: crosstrain/rest

Wednesday: 4 miles @ 9:36

Thursday: crosstrain/rest

Friday: crosstrain/rest

Saturday: 9 miles @ 9:36

I wanted to mention that this week's tempo run was a bit easier than last week's. Physically, and mentally, I was better prepared for running 8 minute miles. I am really enjoying pushing myself physically like this. I was reading Women's Running magazine and the editor's letter was all about how she had basically accepted herself as a middle-of-the-pack runner and hadn't really pushed herself with speedwork. But she realized she wasn't middle-of-the-pack at all once she incorporated speedwork. It really resonated with me (and so did Jillian's podcast that I mentioned last week). When I was new to running and completed my first seven-miler, I thought it was so amazing and I felt so proud. Running at speeds that I haven't before feels the same way. There is a newness to it and it really adds something to running that I had been missing. I think it really will help with making my long runs easier too. Now I see what all the fuss was with tempos.

Happy running!