Heat is EEE-vil

It's the home stretch of the season for those of us running the Royal Victoria Marathon--only one more "long" run left (the infamous 20-miler) and exactly 7 weeks till we shall be crossing the border and running along the streets of beautiful Victoria, B.C.

Aches and pains are more common now, and the mental toughness we've been calling upon all season long is being put to the test day in and day out. Yesterday was especially tough for me: not only did I have to face the daunting task of running 18 miles without my awesome running partner, Janine (who is nursing an IT band injury), but I had to do it on a tough course and in 90+ degree weather.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dreading it. All Friday night I couldn't sleep--I kept tossing and turning and waking up every few hours. I woke up tired and already hot. It was in the 70's when I left for the trail.

Luckily, I made it in time for the second set of runners who were being sent off; I ended up joining a group of girls who were about my pace and who were GREAT to run with. The only problem? They are training for the Nike Women's Marathon, which is one week after Royal Victoria, which meant they were set to run 16 miles yesterday, not 18. I would still have to run an extra 2 miles, and the way the course was laid out, it would mean 4 extra miles of running alone.

I sucked it up and spent the entire run trying to push this thought out of my head. I enjoyed talking to Brandy and Katie, whom I hadn't gotten the pleasure of running with yet this season, and as we got closer to the point where they would be turning around and I would keep going, I made a decision to turn back early as well.

By this time, it was probably in the 100's, and I was tired, aching, close to dehydration, and worried about Brandy, who was alternately light-headed and nauseous. I wanted to make sure she made it back ok, and truth be told, I wasn't that much further behind from her in terms of feeling terrible.

So we dragged ourselves back to the finish, completing 16 miles and feeling utterly exhausted and in need of an ice bath. Yes, I felt guilty for not running the last 2 miles--that is my perfectionist nature, after all--but I am confident I made the right decision to forgo the last bit of the course in order to save myself from heat exhaustion.

There's still the 20-miler to go. It'll be another tough course--the infamous Lake Merced run, which mimics much of the Nike Marathon course--and I don't know yet whether Janine will be back from injured reserve for that. My mental game is up for another challenge, and I'm hoping that my decision to cut my run short yesterday will set me up for a great run then.

Onwards!

Nothing peanut M&M's - and a good running buddy - can't cure

Bonding at a water stop

After a 12-miler (well, really 12.7-miler) at Waddell Creek last week, we were back and at 'em this week with a 16-miler at the Palo Alto Baylands trail. It was quite a big jump and we were a little apprehensive about it, but we didn't want to fall behind in our mileage--our marathon is only 8 weeks away, after all.

The first half of the run was great--after an inital warming up period to get rid of muscle and joint stiffness, we started to get in our groove and were humming along quite nicely. But then at the 8 mile mark, I started to feel a bit off. There wasn't anything necessarily wrong--my legs were feeling great and my heart and lungs were handling the pace and the effort quite well, but I just... wanted to be done. The thought of having to be out on the trail for another 8 miles seemed very daunting to me and it occurred to me that I was hitting a wall.

It wasn't so much anything physical--when runners talk about the dreaded "wall," it's usually because they didn't fuel properly and ran out of their glycogen stores--it was more of a mental wall. I was just tired and didn't want to be out there. My running partner, Janine, was invaluable to me during all of this. We kept talking and trying to distract ourselves from the distance we still needed to go. When this particular wall comes, honestly, the only thing that you can do is keep moving and keep talking!

People often talk about running being a solitary sport. But for me, it is so important to run with others. This run proved it more than anything.

Of course, there were other things to be happy about along the way. For me, one of the highlights were the peanut M&M's at mile 13. After hours of sports gels, it was nice to be able to chew on something--and when that something has peanuts and chocolate, how can you possibly go wrong?

Mmm... peanut M&M's are the best!

Ice-bathing is the new sun-bathing

Little victories

I was a little nervous going into yesterday's 6AM buddy run. For a few weeks now, the marathoners had been scheduled to up their mileage at this run to 6-7 miles, and my running partner and I had still be hovering around the 4-5 mile range, mostly because we hadn't quite felt 100% these last few weeks. I was determined to make yesterday the day that we would do 6, though, so I was a bit nervous, having never run 6 miles in a buddy run--ever.

Things started off normally enough, with my body still feeling a bit stiff (it's 6AM, folks--I think it was still waking up, too ;)). But soon, something magical happened. I was getting into a groove. I was getting in such a good groove, that next thing I knew, I had reached the 6 mile turnaround--without taking a single walk break! And to make things even more amazing, I managed to finish the second half as well without a walk break, AND improved my pace on top of that.

Run/walk is a proven method to get your body ready for a half-marathon or marathon, and it has served me well for the last 4 1/2 years. But I was ready to start pushing beyond that, and have been struggling with getting my stamina to where it needed to be. So it was a nice surprise to discover that my body just naturally knew what to do, without me even pushing it.

I should say that I wasn't going at blazing speed. In fact, I was a little disappointed to see that I was doing 12-minute miles on the first 2 miles of the run. But ironically, I think that this was the very reason I felt so good on the run--so good that I kept on going without a break and never once felt as though I was straining or ready to pass out. On the way back, I felt so good that I shaved quite a bit of time off my pace, averaging 10-10:30 min miles, leading to an overall average of 11:16 minute miles for the entire run. Not spectacular by any means, but a number I am happy with, considering this was my first attempt at going that distance without walking.

I finished the 6 mile run in about 1 hour and 9 minutes, a full 7 minutes faster than my last 10K run (one at which I felt like dying afterwards, incidentally, because of how much I had to push myself to get that time ;)). How nice to be able to make those improvements without feeling as though it took an enormous amount of effort!

It's those small wins here and there that do wonders for one's confidence :).

Of anniversaries and ice baths

You know how you meet someone and you click with them so well that you can't remember ever not being friends with that person? A year ago, I got lucky: I had that experience with not one, but four extraordinary ladies!

Team In Training has brought me a great many things, and one of the best things it's given me is my friendship with Janine, Robin, Beth, and Dianne. 3 of the 4 ladies returned for the Summer season (miss ya, Dianne!!), and today we celebrated a milestone: it was one year ago that we first bonded, over a 12 mile run that was somehow fun and memorable despite its tough terrain.

This morning, we ran at the Waddell Creek trail, a serious course complete with switchbacks, tree roots sticking out of the ground, tree branches that need jumping over, mud puddles, and creaky bridges. This run was not a favorite of mine--until last year. At that point in the season, I was seriously considering switching to a half-marathon, even though I had signed on to do my first, the Nike Women's Marathon. Running with Janine, Robin, and Beth (Dianne was running the half and was running a shorter mileage, though she later joined us for the bonding :)) and enjoying the scenery and sharing many, many laughs convinced me to keep persevering and stick with the full.

And the rest is history :).

So how did we celebrate this milestone? First, with the run itself. All of us had great runs, despite the challenges of the trail. Then, we did the ultimate ice bath: going into the (very cold) Pacific Ocean to soothe our tired muscles and achy joints. It was torture, I won't lie, but as I sit here, pain-free and not stiff in the least, I'm glad I did it.

But the most fun part of our itinerary was the celebratory post-run lunch at Hoffman's, where we celebrated another milestone last year, our first 20-miler.

Good times, good memories. Thanks for an awesome year, ladies! Here's to many, many more to come :).

I feel the need... for speed...

Last night, we had our second time trials at track. My ego was still bruised from the first one a few weeks ago, when the unbearable heat forced many of us to do only 2 miles (instead of the normal 3) and slowed us waaaaay down. As a point of reference, I finished those 2 miles in 23:18, a pace of 11:39 per mile. Compare that to my best time trial, in Winter season, at 31:15 for 3 miles, and you can see I definitely did not have a good day.

So you can't really blame me for being a bit nervous/anxious about this season time trial. Granted, the heat wasn't quite as oppressing last night as it was in mid-June when we first did this, but with my lacklaster warm-up run, I just had a bad feeling this was going to be another disappointing result. Much to my shock, though, not only did I end up beating my time from the first time trial (not that this was too hard ;)), but I actually SET A NEW PR!!

I finished the 3 miles in 29:25, nearly 2 minutes faster than my best time trial in Winter season. I've been trying to dissect it ever since, trying to figure out what it was that I did that made it so successful, and I'm still not sure I can put my finger on it. Certainly, I did a lot of the things the coaches tell us to do: start relatively slow to warm up (I started a full minute/minute and a half slower in my pace), then gradually pick up speed. By the last few laps, I was running 8:00-8:30 min miles--and feeling good. There must be something to this "start off slow" thing ;).

Thanks, Coaches!! What a night :).