Category Archives: General Running Chatter

This starts today

Posted on May 7, 2012 by shelby| 30 Comments

The last carload of crap has been hauled. The boxes have been unpacked. The major furniture items and appliances have been selected and purchased.

It’s been 23 days since the marathon.

I’m running out of excuses to miss workouts. And the long, physically laborious days of moving and unpacking where I simply must put up my feet and sip on a glass (or three) of Sauv Blanc at sundown…well, those are pretty much over at this point too.

So: this starts today.

I’m not sure what this is, but as I mentioned last week, I do know that I need to take my running mileage down for a few months. Aside from a short break in December, I’ve been in marathon training mode since last August, gunning for high mileage (successfully last fall; not so much this spring) and not really doing much in the way of strength training or cross training.

And that was great. It worked just like it was supposed to. It got me the PR and BQ that had eluded me for a decade.

It also got me a beer gut.

There is a reason why miles make champions. It’s because running lots of miles makes your body really efficient at running lots of miles. And that’s exactly what you want if you’re trying to be a competitive distance runner.

The downside is that most of us who run what I’d call “ambitious hobbyjogger” mileage (say, 40 or 50 miles a week) on a consistent basis spend a lot of time exercising and probably burn relatively few calories for our efforts.

Probably. I’m just conjecturing based on my experience over the years. Factor in the inevitable metabolic slowdown that comes with getting older and I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that distance running may not be the best way for me to stay in shape.*

That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop doing it, obviously. Because that’s not my primary motivation. But in the “off season,” I figure it can’t hurt to focus my efforts elsewhere for a few months and try to get a little leaner for the next training cycle.

So…this, whatever it is, starts today.

No more weeknight beers. (Most of the time.)

No more fried food. (Unless it’s something really good.)

Some running, obviously, but more like 20 MPW.

Track workouts.

Boot camp.

Weights.

F*cking yoga.

And regular check-ins with this thing:

As of today, it tells me that I weigh 133.6 pounds and am composed of 23.8% fat and 37.8% muscle. (The other 38% is probably Dos Equis and tortilla chips, based on my weekend activities.)

[Edited to add: I'm 5'3", so while that's a perfectly healthy weight for me, I do have room to lose a few pounds and still be at a healthy weight.]

I don’t really have a goal, I just want the numbers to move in a direction that indicates less of the squishy stuff and more of the firm stuff.

And I am definitely not going to turn this in to an OMG WEIGHT LOSS blog and then crow about how inspirational I am because I lost ten vanity pounds. (Although if it could get me a book deal? I totally would.)

But assuming it’s not horribly offensive to you guys, I’ll share my progress (or spectacular failure and lack thereof) as it happens.

Anyway. I have a yoga class to get to. So I’ll leave you with what may end up being the final tragic photo of Emmy, on the cusp of her demise:

I could not come up with a worse place to nap if I tried. Unless your goal is to get squished by someone coming down the stairs who doesn’t see you because you are snoozing cluelessly under the first step.

*I’m sure there’s an inflection point somewhere. If I were able to consistently log 80 MPW instead of 40 MPW, I’d probably lean out. And obviously, the vast majority of elite and accomplished distance runners don’t have spare tires…they probably also have more willpower than I do when it comes to their diets. And better genetics. I realize that I’m oversimplifying and there are a lot of factors that affect one’s body composition, but it’s my blog and I’ll make sweeping generalizations if I want to.

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Posted in Crazy Cat Lady, Cross Training, General Running Chatter, Thirtysomething Angst

Greetings from the…

Posted on May 3, 2012 by shelby| 6 Comments

…land of no internets.

Since I’m still trying to figure out the best internet solution for the new house, I’ll be coming to you live from the Starbucks down the road for the time being. I think it’ll work out well, because I haven’t unearthed the coffee maker yet anyway.

Thanks so much for all of your congrats on our anniversary! It was a great little getaway. We stayed at the H2 Hotel in Healdsburg – the newer, more eco-focused sibling of the venerable Healdsburg Hotel down the street – and I can’t say enough good things about it. (And they’re not even paying me, imagine that!) A few of the highlights:

  • Free bikes for guest use. I had actually looked in to booking one of those wine tours/limo thingies because I knew we wanted to visit several wineries and not have to deal with driving – I’m so glad I didn’t! Doing our own thing on bikes was much more fun (and FREE).
  • Most ridiculously comfortable bed ever. My husband stayed at the Healdsburg Hotel several years ago on a business trip and always talked about how it was the most comfortable bed he’d ever encountered. I don’t know if H2 uses the same beds, but it certainly didn’t disappoint.
  • FREE COLD WATER. I’m sure this was part of their eco schtick, but instead of having bottles of water in the mini fridge, there was a glass jug filled with chilled water and a note that invited us to refill at our convenience from the ice-cold filtered tap in the hallway. I am sure I annoyed my husband by remarking several times a day that this was the BEST THING EVER. Seriously: why can’t every hotel do this?  I always get dehydrated when I travel because I’m too cheap to pay for the $6 bottle of Aquafina and I hate drinking lukewarm tap water from a skeevy coffee mug.
  • Amazing free breakfast. I wanted to fill my suitcase with Rosemary-Pine Nut Scones.
  • Location and price. Froufy little wine country towns like Healdsburg aren’t cheap, obviously, but compared to the other “upscale” options in the area, it was quite reasonable.

Anyway. Enough about that. On to the running…or lack thereof. This was last week:

And the month of April:

That’s officially my lowest monthly mileage number in two years. Even last June/July/August, as I was cursing my way through my first Southern summer, I managed 120+. Ouch.

But oh well. I think that’s just how it’s gonna be for the next few months. I don’t want to curse my way though this summer; I want to hit the fall feeling refreshed and strong and ready to tackle high mileage. In order to get there, I need to get my strength up and body fat down and that means working hard at other things for a little while.

Speaking of which…next week, Gesina and I are starting this monthlong bootcamp that she found on Livingsocial. Should be a good time for my glutes and pecs, which haven’t seen a squat or a pushup in months.

Well, my coffee cup is empty; time to get on with my day. Thanks for bearing with me and my sporadic posting during all of this transition and travel!

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Posted in General Running Chatter, Monthly Running Stats, Travel, Weekly Running Recap

Good to go

Posted on April 13, 2012 by shelby| 17 Comments

Final score: me – 1, escolar – 0. Whew.

And I’m all packed up and ready to head north…

(I’ve never purchased a home decorating magazine before. I think this means I’m officially old and boring. Hoping for some inspiration, since we’re going to be facing a very empty house in a couple of weeks…which is a fun problem to have, but overwhelming nonetheless!)

It’s funny. I ran my very first marathon in Rhode Island: the Ocean State Marathon in 2000. I was a junior in college and studying for a semester in Washington DC, and never having set foot on the East Coast before, I was somehow under the illusion that Providence was a mere stone’s throw from our nation’s capital.

Needless to say, I was not a geography major.

In the twelve years since, I’ve run ten more marathons, but I’ve never repeated a state. Until now! How weird and random that it’s Rhode Island, a tiny state in which I’ve never lived and have rarely even visited.

Gansett will also be, by far, the smallest marathon I’ve ever done. I am seed 26 in a field of 56 female runners. That is a SMALL race. And although the qualification standards make for a fast and tight field, I expect I’ll be running alone quite a bit…so although I don’t usually race with music, I’ve packed my iPod.

Anyway. If you happen to be out in Narragansett on Saturday morning, I’ll be in a royal blue singlet and black shorts.

Off to the airport! Time to get this thing over with so I can relax in Boston for the rest of the weekend!

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Posted in General Running Chatter

Answers

Posted on April 10, 2012 by shelby| 24 Comments

I love you guys for indulging me on last week’s request for NAQs. Or I guess as they should be called: AOBIBYTQs. Asked Only Because I Begged You To Questions.

Here we go, in the order received….

From Jess:

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Somewhere with a combination of exquisite natural beauty and delicious food. I’m a city person (I loved living in NYC!) but ultimately, I’d be happy living somewhere more remote as long as the food scene was good.

Jackson, Wyoming comes to mind. Or the south of France. Or this little coastal town in Vietnam called Hoi An. Money and/or practicality are no object here, right?

If you could only eat 1 thing for a whole week, without feeling sick or getting fat, what would you eat?

Pad Thai.

Besides running, what is your favourite hobby?

Does drinking count as a hobby? I think it does.

Runners up: writing…and traveling, and hiking, and skiing. If I could figure out a way to get the writing to pay for the others, that would be delightful.

Are you planning on having children? Every blogger seems to be popping ‘em out at the moment!

Probably…although we’re not in any rush, and I worry that a child would be highly incompatible with my extremely self-centered lifestyle. Although being pregnant would provide great blog fodder, yes? THIS WEEK, BABY IS THE SIZE OF A QUARTER POUNDER WITH CHEESE!

From Caitlin:

How do you scale mileage when training for a marathon vs. half? Longest run, pace, variety of workouts, etc? Do you see value in cross training?

That is a tough question and obviously I’m not a coach or anything, but for me personally, proper training for a full marathon means a lot more miles than equivalent training for a half. I don’t know if it’s twice as much, but it’s up there. I think a lot of people train for marathons by simply adding in a progressively longer long run each week, and you can certainly do that (I’ve done it!) but it’s probably not going to get you in PR shape (it certainly never did for me).

Cross training, in my world, has its place. It doesn’t really have a place in a proper marathon training cycle…unless I’m injured or something, that time and effort is better spent running. But during the “off season” or for just general keeping in shape, sure.

How do you entertain yourself on long solo runs? (I ask this because once I get over 6-7 miles, I want to DIE of boredom.)

I get a lot of things during long runs – tired, cranky, thirsty, angry – but actually, bored isn’t generally one of them. I always have a little dialogue going with myself in my head and if I’m running in a place where there are lots of people around, I’ll make up little stories about them. (They’re often unflattering stories. Sorry, random people.)

I am, however, guilty of doing the “math in my head” thing, especially during track workouts. As in: “200 meters down, 2800 to go! Hey, that’s 1/15 of the workout done!” This is not a helpful way to think about things.

What is your favorite type of beer and why?

Overall, IPA. I rarely have an IPA that I don’t like! Other types of beer may be better  in certain situations (like it’s hard to beat a hazy wheat on a hot day, or a boozy winter warmer while cozying up to a fire), but IPA is delicious any time.

From Marie:

WRITE ABOUT YOUR VAGINA!

…and Melissa:

Write about other people’s vaginas!

Here is a photo of the plastic orchid that came with my generically furnished rental apartment.

Tee hee. I’m so clever.

From Brii:

Write more about how you started running in the first place.

Let’s see…I started running when I was 13. I was going in to high school that fall and I desperately wanted a letter jacket. So I looked at my options. Any sport involving balls was out; I was (and still am) afraid of the ball and have the reflexes of a tree sloth on Ambien.

That left swimming and cross country. The swimmers had practice in the morning before school which sounded pretty horrible so I went out for cross country instead.

I did okay my freshman year. I think I ran something around 24 minutes for our first 3-mile race. I wasn’t the fastest person on the team, or even good enough to make the varsity cut, but it seemed to come to me easily so I stuck with it.

Each year, I got a little faster. By senior year, I was pretty much living and breathing running and seeing times that started with 18. I set quite a few PRs that year…many of which still stand today.

I continued running competitively in college (DIII), but I never had the kind of focus that I did my last year of high school…and while I ran well, I probably didn’t live up to the potential that my coach saw when he recruited me. Oh well. I had fun in college. :)

And so…I’ve pretty much been running ever since. The longest I’ve gone without running has been a couple of months here and there for injury (of which I haven’t had many, knock on wood!) or because I was traveling. There hasn’t been a year that I haven’t raced at least a half marathon.

Sometimes I feel like I should have a better “story.” It seems like every other blogger has their OMG RUNNING JOURNEY, but I don’t really…it’s just something that I’ve been doing for almost two decades now. I can’t really imagine life without it!

From Megan:

Can you do another beer school series, or something like it? I loved those posts!

Booze School! I kinda stopped doing those because I was afraid they came off as know-it-all-y, but if people liked them, I can bring them back! I really enjoy learning about and researching types of beer/wine, especially ones that are unusual or new to me. (The hands-on part of the research is my favorite. Obviously.)

From Kimra:

Beers you love most/first beer you ever loved?

The first “real” beer I ever took a liking to was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. In my first post-college apartment, there was always a pack in the fridge!

As for beers I love most, of course, that’s harder. Nowadays, Great Divide’s Fresh Hop Pale Ale is probably my favorite Pale Ale. In the IPA family, it’s hard to top the Pliny the Elder (which I enjoyed when I was out in CA last December) or Dogfish 120 Minute, but those are elusive beasts. For a more readily-available IPA, Bell’s Two-Hearted is excellent, as is Dogfish’s 60 (or 90) Minute.

Why run a marathon (vs speedy shorter distances that don’t require turning over your whole life to 20-milers)(can you guess what I’ve been thinking about lately)?

I honestly don’t have a good answer on that one. I cannot wait for my marathon to be over so I can spend the summer/fall focusing on shorter stuff.

I also think that the longer distances are a security blanket for a lot of people. The longer the race, the more credit you get for finishing as opposed to finishing well…and in some bizarre way that takes the pressure off. There’s a certain comfort in knowing that even if you finish last, you’ve done something that most people consider pretty hardcore. In that regard, training for and racing a fast 5K can be a lot more scary than running a marathon; you’re putting yourself out there and there’s no real value in “just finishing.” There’s a real chance of failure.

Favorite/least favorite track workouts (I like stealing other people’s track workouts).

Favorite: Classic 12 X 400. I like that I can break the workout in to thirds and think of it like each mile of a 5K.

Least favorite: mile repeats. Ugh.

Possible controversy: Do you OMG! stop your watch while on training runs, and if so, can you still count your overall pace? What if it’s a stoplight vs. stopping to buy a week’s worth of groceries?

I do. It’s not my fault I got stopped at a stoplight!

In general, of course, I try to minimize the number of stops I have to make, especially if I am trying to do a quality or a pace-focused workout. That’s why I always try to go to a greenway or a continuous park loop or something when I do a tempo run.

As for long runs…unless you have your own personal on-the-go aid station set up, it’s hard to avoid making a quick stop to drink/refill water, eat Gu, etc. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with stopping your watch while you do that. As long as you get moving again as soon as you’ve done what you need to do, I don’t think it will matter on race day.

Grocery shopping, elaborate photography sessions, yoga breaks…all things I personally try to avoid while I’m running. But that’s just me.

And, since you’re thinking about maybe doing things other than running for a bit, what are some non-running/cross-training activities that you have previously tried and dropped like a hot potato?

Body Pump. You want to talk about boring? Give me a solo twenty-miler any day. I went a few times when I lived in NYC and the whole thing just seemed so contrived and predictable.

Cycling. It’s scary and it’s a pain in the ass – both figuratively and literally. I actually do own a good road bike and shoes and stuff and if I had a group to go with, I’d give it another shot, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s just not something I’m going to make the effort to do on my own.

Pilates. Meh. If I’m going to spend an hour writhing around on the floor, I’d rather be doing something more entertaining.

Heavy weight lifting. A few years ago, I worked with a trainer and for several months focused on strength training with lower reps and heavier weights. I actually didn’t hate it, but my running pace suffered, so I eventually backed off. And I don’t really enjoy lifting on my own, so I don’t do it as much as I probably should.

That’s it for this edition of AOBIBYTQs. Thanks for playing, guys!

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Posted in General Booze Chatter, General Food Chatter, General Running Chatter

The Gansett Goal Post

Posted on April 9, 2012 by shelby| 13 Comments

I’ve been avoiding thinking about this for the last few weeks.

Thirteen weeks ago, I laid out my Gansett training plan – to use the term loosely:

I don’t really have a training plan; I’m basically going to do what I did when I trained for CIM, just a little farther and a little faster. Because 3:29 is fantastic, but I think I might be able to do a little better.

Well, I ran neither further nor faster in the weeks that followed. And I do think that I might be able to do better someday, but I don’t think it’s going to happen this Saturday.

The thing is, I’ve just been rather disinterested in marathoning this spring. I wouldn’t say burned out, exactly – just ho-hum. Like, I don’t really feel like I’ve been tapering these last couple of weeks, although my mileage has definitely dropped…

…but I don’t feel antsy about it. No taper tantrums, no annoying Taperworm nagging at me. I’m just running less, and that suits me just fine because I feel like I have a million things I’d rather be doing.

That may sound like a good thing, but I also feel out of shape. And I never had that build-up where I felt like I was really putting the work in. The whole training cycle has just been…meh. Forgettable, mediocre, et cetera.

I remember last fall, when I hit 70 MPW for the first time…it felt awesome. I really did want to get back there this spring, because as backwards as it sounds, I think that I actually start feeling better when I hit a certain training volume. I’m not sure whether that number is 60 or 70 weekly miles, but I do know that I definitely did not get there this time around.

Like just about anything else, higher volume running can be broken down in to a series of small decisions. To get there, you have to get your butt out the door that many more times each week.

And I guess that’s what it comes down to, for me, this training cycle: I didn’t. I ran almost every day, I logged forty-mile weeks, and I put my requisite long runs in…but when it came time to sack up for a mid-week long run or a double, I shrugged and declined.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty sure I’ll get across the finish line. But I don’t think the 3:25 mark that I had in my head last January is a realistic possibility.

So about that goal. Let’s call it 3:35. Over the years, I’ve run many marathons in the 3:40s and 3:50s on worse training than what I’ve done here this spring, so I should at least be able to do a little better than that. Assuming I don’t f*&k up.

Sounds reasonable, right?

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Posted in General Running Chatter, Weekly Running Recap

Tagged

Around and around the Oval

Posted on March 22, 2012 by shelby| 20 Comments

Discovered: it’s exactly one mile from my apartment to the southwestern corner of Piedmont Park. I expect to become very familiar with this route over the next few weeks.

Atlanta’s Piedmont Park seems to be a miniature version of NYC’s Central Park. There are winding roads upon which one can run or bike, a lake, playgrounds, and tennis courts. There’s a dog park and a boathouse and a botanical garden. You’re never far from a drinking fountain or a bathroom.

And there’s a flat crushed gravel loop restricted to runners/walkers moving in a counter-clockwise direction. Yep, the “Active Oval” is Piedmont Park’s version of the Reservoir.

I decided to take my planned tempo run to the Oval yesterday, mostly because of its flatness. With 10K on the agenda, that would mean nearly 12 times around the roughly half-mile loop.

Looking back at my training so far this year, clearly I’ve been slacking on the tempo front. I used to try to work in both a track and a tempo session each week, but lately I’ve only been doing the track work. Primarily because that’s what my group was doing, but also because I actually enjoy track workouts while I generally despise tempo runs.

But sometimes you’ve gotta do stuff you don’t really enjoy. And even though it wasn’t exactly fun, I needed a long, grinding tempo to make me feel like I’m even a little bit prepared for this marathon next month.

Since Piedmont Park is a mini version of Central Park, I decided to do a mini version of the classic CPTC marathon pace/half marathon pace tempo, or as Megan recently called it, the 2 X 4 Mile Beast.

Meet the 2 X 5K Mini Beast.

I was pretty happy with how this went. Nice even splits! The last couple of miles were definitely hard, both on account of the faster pace and the fact that I was starting to get bored of looping the Oval. Total workout was nine miles and change, including warm up and cool down.

My new ASICS DS Trainer 17‘s felt great during the workout:

Before leaving my old job, I had to take advantage of my employee discount one last time. I almost picked up a pair of the new Brooks Ravenna 3, but given that I wasn’t totally thrilled with the mileage I got out of the previous version of the Ravenna, I decided to mix it up and go with a comparable shoe from ASICS instead.

Like the Ravenna, the DS Trainer is a light stability shoe, designed to provide a touch of support for mild over-pronators, while weighing in a bit lighter than a traditional stability shoe. (The DS Trainer is 8.8 ounces, versus 9.3 ounces for ASICS’s traditional stability shoe, the GT-2170.) Previous versions of the DS Trainer had run very narrow and had a weird puffy collar thing around the ankle; the new version released this year seems to be a touch roomier in the toe box, and the collar thing is significantly less puffy. So I decided to give them a try.

I’ve been running in them for a couple of weeks, and no complaints so far! It’s a nice soft shoe that doesn’t feel too clunky or heavy.

I’m still alternating with my Brooks PureFlows, but I think having a traditional cushioned shoe for longer runs is a good thing for me. When I had that weird foot pain a couple of weeks ago, I’d been running almost exclusively in the PureFlows and had done a 20-miler in them day the pain started. No idea whether the foot issue was in any way related to my choice of shoes, but I’m going to be a little more cautious just in case.

Recovery run on the agenda tonight. You’ll find me in Piedmont Park again, but I think I’ll be avoiding the Active Oval.

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Posted in Gear Reviews, General Running Chatter, Workout Recaps

Tagged

It’s not a skirt, it’s a…

Posted on March 15, 2012 by shelby| 30 Comments

Oh, the running skirt debate. I am glad AngryRunner posted an update to her legendary post on the subject, as I was just thinking about the topic the other day as I sorted through my giant pile of running clothes, trying to decide what to keep and what to pitch.

Until recently, I was sort of casually anti-skirt. As in: I don’t really get ‘em, but…eh, whatever.

Then I tried one. A super girly one, from Lululemon. With ruffles on the butt. Two layers of ruffles on the butt.

Don’t ask me why I bought it; I had a gift card, and I suppose I was a little curious. And…well, guess what. I really like that ridiculous thing.

Oh yes, it’s ridiculous. There is no reason why I need ruffles on my ass while I’m running. But the compression shorts underneath are fantastic. I’ve worn it in several races, including my last marathon, and have never had a chafing issue. I don’t think I can say that about any of the other ass-covering items in my arsenal.

Anyway, I guess I understand why people love them. I’m generally pretty okay with my body, even with a bit of extra weight on my frame…but I must admit that it’s kind of nice to get the benefits of booty shorts without having it all hanging out there.

But here’s the problem. You dip one toe into the dangerous waters of girly-running appareldom and you end up in a…

…DRESS. Yes, a running dress. I confess.

I bought this mostly intending to use it as a beach coverup, and it works great for that. But it’s actually pretty great for running, too. (With booty shorts underneath, of course.) It’s lightweight and breezy and the sort of garment where you kind of forget you’re wearing it after a few minutes. Way more comfortable than shorts. Yep.

So, fine: swipe my serious-runner card. I’ll be running all over Atlanta in this thing during the hot summer months.

At least it doesn’t have ruffles.

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Posted in General Running Chatter

And on the tenth day…

Posted on March 9, 2012 by shelby| 8 Comments

…I ran.

Just three easy miles, and just to test out the condition of my formerly sore foot…and the rest of my flu-ravaged body as well. Thankfully, everything felt fine. I’m still quite stuffy, but I’m confident that the worst is over.

Oddly, I feel rather calm about the situation with my upcoming half and full marathons, which are 9 days and 36 days away, respectively. I definitely didn’t plan on taking a nine day break during what should have been serious mileage-building weeks, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. Sometimes you get injured, sometimes you get sick…sometimes, at the same time.

Tomorrow morning, I’m running a local 5K. I’m not going to race it all out. Mark my words: NOT GOING TO RACE IT ALL OUT. Because that would be foolish. Instead, I’m going to try to hit goal half-marathon pace (7:15-7:20) and see how that feels.

(I’m serious: if I come in here tomorrow yapping about running some 20:XX 5K in the morning, I’d like all of you to smack me, please.)

Anyway, I know my blog has been a snoozefest this week. Much like my life: I think I’ve averaged 10-11 hours of sleep each night this week. And obviously, no beers to write about. So sad.

Thanks for all of your get well wishes, and I promise to get back to writing real posts on the regular very soon!

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Posted in General Running Chatter

(Swim) Suit Up!

Posted on March 1, 2012 by shelby| 27 Comments

So my foot still hurts, but I’ve decided I’m not going to get mopey about it. As many of you said in yesterday’s comments, it could be something as dumb as user error on the shoelace front.

(Although, to those of you who have experienced bizarro foot pain on account of shoes being tied too tight: did the pain continue after you took your shoes off? My foot seems to be crankiest when I’m walking barefoot on a hard surface. So obviously, I’m avoiding doing that.)

Anyway. NO MOPEY FACE! Whether this hiatus ends up being a couple of days or a couple of months, I’m not going to sit around and watch my fitness level tank. Yesterday. I lifted weights for almost an hour (!). And today, I sucked it up and paid for a day pass at the YMCA so I could use the pool to get my heart rate going a little.

However, before I could do that I had to – as Barney Stinson would say – SUIT UP.

The last time I was in a pool that didn’t have a swim-up bar was probably 4 or 5 years ago. But I knew I had a two-piece speedo lap suit, cap and goggles somewhere, so last night I tore the apartment apart (always an awesome thing to do when you’re in the process of moving) until I found them.

Cap and goggles? Still fit fine. But that suit? Not so much. Apparently I have, ahem, expanded in the lower region. My ass in the bottom half of that swimsuit called to mind marshmallows and rubber bands. Together.

It was kind of mortifying, and made me further realize something I already kind of knew: that even though I’ve been logging a ton of miles and running great workouts lately, my overall fitness and body fat/composition could use some work. But that’s a topic for another day.

One trip to the sporting-goods store later, I’d procured an ugly lap suit from the clearance rack that fits much better.

My ass is totally a Monet.

And then this morning, I swam.

You know what? It wasn’t actually that bad. After a few awkward laps, I fell into a rhythm and although I’m sure I’m a slow swimmer with terrible form, it was a decent workout. Since swimming is pretty damn monotonous, I broke it up in to sections with a few “recovery” breaststroke laps thrown in:

  • 6 lengths easy breast
  • 10 lengths crawl
  • 2 lengths breast
  • 20 lengths crawl
  • 2 lengths breast
  • 20 lengths crawl
  • 2 lengths breast
  • 10 lengths crawl
  • 2 lengths breast
  • 6 lengths hard crawl
  • 6 lengths easy breast

The whole thing took about 55 minutes. Afterward, I asked the lifeguard how many lengths are in a mile and he said 66 so I guess with 86 lengths I swam about 1.3 miles? Swimming/tri people, does that seem correct?

Other observations from the pool:

  • I cannot swim straight. I’m either right on top of the big black line or brushing my elbows against the plastic lane divider thingy. (Why are swimming lanes so narrow? Someone should pull a Kramer on that shit.)
  • And hence: I am so glad I had a lane to myself today. I am only going to go to the pool during really weird off-peak times.
  • Because: I’m terrified at the prospect of having to share a lane with an actual swimmer. Seriously, every time I  approached the end of the pool I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t see a pair of legs hanging there, about to disrupt my crooked flailing.
  • And sharing with multiple swimmers? The circle thing? Absolutely terrifying.
  • For some reason, I can only breathe on my left side. It’s like my head won’t turn all the way to the right or something. (I’m not an ambi-turner!)
  • And since I can’t quite go two full strokes without coming up for air, so I end up breathing on every stroke, which, I believe, adds to the whole package: flailing, wandering around the lane, gasping for air. I’m sure I look awesome in the pool.
  • People can say what they will about running being intimidating. At least there aren’t LIFEGUARDS watching you make an ass of yourself on the track.

It’s a good thing I got a properly fitting swimsuit.

And finally, February stats:

It was a pretty good month. Well, aside from this foot thing.

(Which I’m still really hoping is a temporary thing.)

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Posted in General Running Chatter, Monthly Running Stats, Workout Recaps

Crack is whack

Posted on February 29, 2012 by shelby| 14 Comments

The other day, I was folding laundry when I noticed something bizarre.

That is my wall, and that is a crack that was not there previously.

Now, my building is fairly new. And it’s constructed on a hill. I realize that buildings settle and we’ve had all sorts of crazy hot-then-freezing-then-hot weather lately, so I understand that this is probably normal but -

Who knows when the crack happened? It’s possible it had been there for a couple of weeks. But all of a sudden I was jumping out of my skin at every little noise and admonishing the cats to “land more carefully, please,” convinced that the building was about to collapse.

Paranoia at its finest.

(On the upside, we don’t own this place and in two and a half weeks, that crack will be someone else’s problem. Renting for the win.)

Anyway, my irrational fear of dying a tragic structural-engineering-related death soon faded away. But another paranoia took its place. And this one is worse.

I apologize for the picture of my foot, but it hurts. Right where the arrow is pointing.

During my long run on Sunday, I started noticing a little pain in my right foot. Halfway back, along the outside, more toward the top than the bottom. It didn’t hurt particularly badly, but it was there. Long runs often bring aches and pains, so I shrugged it off and took the following day (Monday) as a rest day.

Last night I ran a very easy 4 miles and: it was still there. Still not terribly painful, and not any worse than it was, but definitely noticeable.

Aches and pains are one thing, but I know enough about feet to have a pretty good idea of what’s in there, right in that spot where it hurts. That’s not a big tough muscle in there. It’s a delicate metatarsal. A fragile philange. A collection of twiggy little bones and joints that has borne the brunt of every stride I’ve taken with my slightly paunchy marathon-training frame for the last six months and HOLY CRAP THAT CRACK IN THE WALL WAS AN OMEN.

Overreaction? Maybe. But I’ve never had a stress fracture and I’d prefer to keep it that way, so I’m going to take a few days off of running.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with myself, as I have no gym membership and no access to a pool or appropriate cross-training equipment. I guess I could lift some weights or something. Not my favorite activity, but better than nothing.

I suppose I’ll have plenty of spare time to dwell upon the crack in the wall and compose elaborate pleas to nonexistent deities, too.

Please, running gods, be merciful. I’ve heeded your omen. I’m doing the right thing and backing off. I’m not being stupid and pushing through this, even though I’m tempted to. I have a half marathon in three weeks and a marathon in seven. I beg you: don’t send this training cycle crashing down on me like a poorly-constructed condominium building.

Sigh. I really honestly cannot decide whether I’m being paranoid or not, because it doesn’t hurt THAT badly, and not at all when I’m just walking around or whatever. The only time I notice it is when I’m running or walking around barefoot. Could it be a stress reaction? Some sort of weird muscle tissue bruise thing? Who knows.

But my gut feeling is that any pain in a fragile bony area like that is probably something to approach cautiously. I’m hoping that this is just a random tweak that goes away with a few days of rest.

Because, unlike the crack in the wall of my rented apartment, this is my problem, long term. I own this body. (Although sometimes I wish I could refinance.)

In happier news, I have a shoe winner! The ASICS NEO-33s go to:

That’s Michaela! I’ll email you, Michaela. Thanks to everyone who entered!

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Posted in General Running Chatter