If Nothing Else, I’ve Learned Not to Quit

As prescribed, I tried to rest my legs on Monday and, perhaps, convince my calf muscles that it’s OK to feel better now. The latter didn’t work, but my muscles weren’t the stumbling blocks for my Tuesday-evening training run.

Fall 2007 is my first autumn as a runner (I had tried to start running in March 2006, but stopped over a trip to Boston that August… and didn’t resume until January 2007). While I’m looking forward to checking out the scenery, crunching dried leaves and feeling the autumnal breeze, I haven’t grasped when I’m going to fit in my training with the skies getting so dark so soon these days.

My logical answers of before or after work are peachy… until you consider my ill-lit surroundings. I’ve already been hit by a car once, and that was in the bright light of day!

Tuesday night I made the mistake of rushing out for my 7-mile run about 20 minutes after a high-protein dinner. The workout included:

• 3 miles warm-up at 9:30/mile
• (1 mile walk, not counted in distance)
• 3 x (2:00, 2:30) aerobic intervals ~ 2 miles
• 2 miles cool down at 9:30/mile

What’s that walk doing there? Well, by the time I finished my three-mile warm-up, I felt like my dinner was tickling my uvula. Bleh! So, I slowed down and walked for a bit. It was only going to be a couple yards walking at first, but my discomfort persisted. I circled the neighborhood, and as I approached my drive I was angling to head home.

But at the end of the mile, the shame of quitting overwhelmed my fear of vomiting. One more mile, I thought. So, I set my watch for the aerobic intervals, thinking I might finish one set. I have a love/hate relationship with the 2:00+ intervals—they’re challenging as all get out and leave me super whipped… but I love the feeling of being done. Not only do I feel strong and fit, but running my cool down flies by with the greatest of ease.

Accordingly, the two-mile cool down did fly by. Thankfully so: it was pitch black outside by the time I was wrapping up, and there was no Ninja Warrior to watch my back! Our street is lined with fashionable street lights that pop up every 75-100 yards on the street—just enough to leave vast dark pockets in which people disappear. I just don’t dig that.

What do I dig? The post-running sleeps (it’s the precious sister of the runner’s high). I showered after my run, dressed for bed, laid down and never really got up until 5:25 a.m. on Wednesday for my morning swim:

• 1,500 yards free warm-up
• 6 x 250 yards free alt. normal pace and sprint pace
• 6 x 100 yards alt. free and butterfly
• 400 yards free cool down

Admittedly I wimped out early: it’s only a 4,000-yard swim workout. Not that it’s anything to sneeze at, but my yardage had been steadily growing. But my darned calf muscles!

My weeklong swim break rust shook off 400 yards into the warm-up, but I could feel my tight left calf tinge every time I pushed off the wall (and for anyone counting, that’s about 160 painful pushes!). I found that if I kicked hard and kept the muscle really warm, it didn’t hurt as much. Similar to the run, I was convinced that should definitely quit way early, but I seem to have lost that ability. Not sure whether it’s a good or a bad thing yet!

So, I cut my swim down to about 1.25 hours and soaked my leg in the hot tub for the extra time. It was still a little tight during the day and only slightly yick during yoga. Tomorrow’s training calls for another 7 miles, which I will feel out before I hurt myself. There’s just something ominous about fall right now… and I don’t want to have to recover from an injury again.

Weekend Update: 26 Miles Down for Week 2 Half Training

After work on Friday I picked up my car from the shop and headed to Heinen’s to buy a shut-in’s worth of produce, including Italian plums, strawberries and a boatload of super juicy peaches.

Aside from my recent focus on my diet, the trip has little to do with my training, but I didn’t want to start off on a bummer note about not being able to swim on Friday. New-but-old car duties call. But at least now I have a safe ball joint… and some day I might understand what that means.

Friday did, however, serve as a pleasant and much needed day of rest. It’s been a high-intensity couple of weeks on all fronts. Plus classes start on Monday! Neil and I took a slow, pleasant walk on Friday evening, but the rest of the day was all about kicking my feet up and letting my legs rest.

Saturday, on the other hand, was all about straight shooting. I woke up at 7:30 a.m. and headed right out the door for my 4-mile run. I’ve been sticking to my neighborhood and the community across the street lately because it offers some variation of terrain—plus I know my distances at most points. Saturday morning was a great time to run and an even better contrast to the hellish conditions from Thursday evening (I can just feel that slick humidity sheen forming on my skin just thinking about it).

The only problem was a couple of tired legs and still-tight calf muscles. When I first kicked off from my front door, I felt the tightness and took a few more minutes to stretch, but they really only started to feel better once they were warmed. Right around 3.5 miles!

It was a mid-range training run, which I took around 9:00/mile. Then I came inside, took a shower, did some light weight training, ate breakfast, dressed myself up for a party and then headed to my friend’s wedding in North Canton. My friends and I danced for a couple hours (I’m all about the sprinkler, lawn-mower, q-tip, and that dance Olive does at the end of Little Miss Sunshine), which I think made for some bonus aerobic training. And laughing that hard is better for abs than any crunches I can do.

We visited friends after the wedding. While Neil and his buddies watched the Browns, I chatted with my tri-friend Fran, who will be racing her first triathlon at the Akron Women’s Triathlon on Sept. 15. It was a blast to share my first experience stories, as well as the things I wish I had known or considered before my first race (i.e., bring extra shoes for after your transition area is set up, have a pan of water available to quickly clean the sand off your feet, getting kicked in the face doesn’t really hurt too much).

My sleepy head didn’t hit my pillow until 1 a.m., so waking up this morning wasn’t as pleasant as most days. On the bright side, I have noticed a sleep pattern over the past several months: if I go to bed at midnight or later, I will wake up groggy regardless of how many hours I have slept.

Does that sound silly? If I get to sleep within or before the 11 p.m. hour, I can wake up and feel refreshed at almost any reasonable morning time (say, 5 a.m. or later). But if I get the same number of sleep hours after getting to bed later, it just feels all wrong. Sigh. I suppose I’m not a college student anymore.

Today was no different. I woke up at 8:30 a.m. and then snoozed until 9:30 a.m., which is oftentimes almost the middle of my day! I ate some breakfast and lugged around. By 11 a.m. I was thinking there was no way I would get any running done. So, I did some weight training, thesis reading, Indians baseball watching and napping until 6 p.m. rolled around.

Fortunately for me, my laziness annoys me. I felt irritated by sitting around all day, so I grabbed a few bites of a Think Thin Crunchy Peanut Butter bar (it was yum!) and headed out for an undecided distance.

My training plan called for 8 miles today—the conclusion to a 26-mile second week of my half marathon training—which I didn’t think I could complete. But when I stepped out into the lovely day, I was hooked. It was sunny and breezy with light air and temps in the lower 70s. Ahh. Plus, our neighborhood Ninja Warrior was practicing his nunchucks in a nearby parking lot… and what’s cooler than that?

My warm-up was laid back at 10:00/mile for the opening two miles of the run with one stop to stretch these tight calf muscles. I felt a little looser by mile three and ran miles 3-6 around 9:30/mile. My pace was a bit off today, but more so from my daylong lethargy than the fatigue I felt on Thursday. Or perhaps I’m still recovering from that fiasco!

I briefly spoke to Ninja Warrior as I circled the mostly empty parking lot that is his training space. He has a shaved head, an Eastern European accent and the cheerful demeanor that you wouldn’t expect from a Romanian Ninja Warrior. He mentioned that he would like to add some running and endurance training to his regiment soon, so I invited him to run with me around the neighborhood whenever he was ready. But now I’m wondering whether he’ll be carrying the nunchucks as he runs. I just don’t think our sidewalks are wide enough for that type of action.

As I finished mile six, I was finally feeling warmed up, loose and ready to take off. It’s been a while since I had that refreshed-after-several-miles feeling. Since mid-June, to be exact. In fact, today’s 8.25-mile run was the farthest I’ve run since I stumbled over my sciatica. I’ve missed reaching that threshold at which your body kind of forgets what it’s like to not be running, so your breathing, pace and effort just feel normal (credit to Landon for that description).

So, I stretched out the last couple miles at about 9:00 pace and carefully strode home. I took a cool shower and ate dinner… all with my fingers crossed that I could please stay healthy this time.

Rough Thursday is OK

I’ll admit that I’m weather-finicky if and only if we can get a respite from the heat. Sure, I didn’t like the nonstop rain, but some balance in the weather force would really make for a more pleasant winding down of summer—and better runs.

While my will power had an all-star day on Tuesday, I wasn’t expecting a repeat performance today. I ate a Think Green chocolate chip bar with a pint of water around 4:45 p.m. and then jetted (or shall I say Jetta-ed) home for my next run.

The ride home didn’t bode well for the workout ahead: I was breaking a sweat just sitting in the car with the windows down. And not only was it hot, it was super muggy. I had a few moments in which my mind fought back and forth about whether I should run, sleep or yoga, but I stopped thinking, got dressing and went running.

Right away I noticed that my calves were tight, which is strange for me because my calves are never tight and they felt fine all day long. I stretched for a bit and then started my opening 4 miles r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y, about 10:30/mile. After the first quarter, I picked it up to about 9:00/mile for the next half mile around my neighborhood. I pushed it up some slight hills and tried get some kick into my run, but the sun was taking it out of me. And by the end of 1.5 miles, I started wheezing. I hate wheezing.

So, I took my pace down around 9:30-10:00/mile and finished the rest of the 4 miles before I headed inside. It was just too darn hot and my body just wasn’t having it. Not only was my breathing all wrong, my hands and feet were swelling too. Ugh.

I ate a protein-rich dinner and chowed an apple with cinnamon until the sun chilled out around 8:15 p.m. It felt like I was cheating on my workout—taking a little over an hour break—but I would have felt worse if I just didn’t finish it at all.

Then I took to the streets again to start my 4 x 1:30 aerobic intervals… but not before a half-mile warm-up. Again with the tight calves. Still I pushed through the warm-up and then built up to the intervals, which were much more difficult tonight than the past week and a half. My pace on the intervals and the 6 pickups that followed was probably double an good night’s pace, but I took everything my body was giving.

I guess all nights can’t be gems. Nevertheless, I finished my total 7 miles for Thursday’s training and am ready for a Friday of rest.

Tired Legs Aren’t So Bad

If Monday’s cycling didn’t tire out my legs, Tuesday afternoon’s 50-minute power vinyasa yoga stop had them pooped. Because weather.com showed 4-7 p.m. as the only bright spots of the day (I saw sunshine!), I had planned to run my assign 7-mile workout right after work. But my body just wasn’t having it. I was hungry and fatigued.

Once I started making dinner, I was trying to rearrange my Wednesday schedule to fit in my 7 miles. And once I ate my salmon Florentine roulette with capellini dinner and then took a nap, I thought the night was lost. It turns out, however, it was just a power nap.

By 8 p.m. the sun was gone and the darkening sky and gloom were back. I strapped on my shoes, popped a strawberry Shot Blok and went on my way. The night’s workout included:

• 3 miles warm up at 9:00/mile
• 2 x (2:00, 2:30) aerobic intervals (AI)
• 2 miles wrap up and warm down (8:40/mile, 9:00/mile)

I started running with way too much food in my stomach—let’s just say that I made too much capellini and I was happy to eat the leftovers—but the heaviness subsided after the first mile. In fact, I was surprised at how much kick I had for that warm-up… I thought it was going to be the week’s biggest struggle.

What made it even easier was that at around 2.75 miles there was a tall, dark and handsome guy standing at the end of one of the parking lots I jog around. He was wearing his running shorts and his New Balances, and he was waiting to hand me my imaginary water. It was Neil!

He knew how hard I had to push to get myself out the door (especially at night), so he joined me for the last quarter mile of my warm-up, which we ran at a steady and healthy pace, and the first AI. Even as we passed the drive to our apartment, he kept going with me. We ran a strong 2:00 AI and then jogged to recovery.

I didn’t think it was healthy for him to do too many higher-intensity runs, so after our recovery I suggested he jog it home as I took off for the 2:30. He must have covered at least a mile at a great pace, and I’m very proud of him. You go, Neil!

And I was kind of wishing I was taking the jog home with him as I hit :40 of the 2:30! These aerobic intervals are absolute killers—and that’s why I love them. I’m not running these sets too hard (as my instructions say, it’s a tempo “somewhere between comfortable and ‘Hey, I'm workin' a little here.’”), but I am beginning to feel their effects on my normal pace.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the AIs reinforce in my spatial memory what it feels like to stretch my legs, lift my knees and kick my feet back. It’s a nice change of pace from my tendency to slump into a lethargic jaunt for greater distances. And I remember the good stride when I start to slump. Plus, with the higher intensity bits, my 8:40-9:00/mile runs feel like cake. And I like cake.

The only uncakey thing about the last two miles was how dark it was getting. I’m not generally afraid of the dark (unless, of course, it’s in a cold, damp basement… but we’re all afraid of cold, damp and dark basements, right?), but my neighborhood isn’t particularly well lit. At all. I pushed to get the last two miles done and get myself off the streets. Where did summer nights go? I suppose I’ll have to start running earlier.

One of the dumbest things to do while pushing through the warm-up/don’t-want-to-do-this part of a workout: think about training you have planned for subsequent days. What was I doing, for example, thinking about my Wednesday morning swim when I started feeling heavy, tired and stitchy during the first mile of my warm-up? Being an idiot.

I thought at that point that there was no way I would wake up at 5:25 a.m. to get a lane, and, if I did, I would have to make it a short workout. But it wasn’t. I woke up just fine (a couple minutes earlier so I could get up, eat, dress and drive to the rec. center in time to be part of that group of people waiting in line get in right at 6 a.m. sharp) and swam my 4,500-yard/~2.5-mile workout:

• 1,000 yards free warm-up
• 10 x 125 yards alt. IM order, plus extra free
• 7 x 200 yards alt. free and one-arm fly
• 13 x 50 yards free sprints
• 200 yards free cool down

And it only took 1.5 hours. I spent most of the swim giving my legs a rest, which is what I will continue doing throughout Wednesday. They can use it.

Can I Please Ride a Stationary Bike in the Triathlon?

Rain, rain, go away! Take a day off and come back on Wednesday. Geez!

Instead of running the Perfect 10-Miler on Sunday, Neil and I headed out to the baseball fields next to our apartment and started building an ark. So, pair up and come over!

Actually, near early evening I had had enough of sitting around waiting for a break in the rain. I jumped in my [new] car, which had trouble starting and needs a new battery, and was about to head to the rec. center track when the universe gave me a break. It stopped raining. Without hesitation, I jumped out of the car and started my 5-mile run for Sunday.

It was drizzling when I started running and only picked up 2-3 times for a few minutes during the workout. Only after I went inside did it start to truly pour. Good thing it was a quickee!

I was still pretty jazzed from Saturday’s race, which pretty much canceled out the rain discomfort. I took out the first two miles with stretched legs and a steady pace around 9:00/mile. For the second two miles, I tried to pick up the pace while maintaining control of myself. It was steady again at 8:35/mile. Then I cooled down with around a 9:00 mile.

And that completed my first full week on a training plan. Not only have I felt more motivated to run because of the plan in itself (if I have something solid and written down, my guilt will never let me leave it undone), but because it offers me the variety that I was too running dense to realize I needed… or at least how to incorporate it.

This first week was pretty simple: about 20 miles total. But it’s helping me kick and scratch my way back to the 25-30 miles I was completing pre-sciatica June.

So, I’m sticking to that plan and have establish a pretty good strategy (for now) for swimming. What’s next? Cycling and diet.

On the cycling front: I took lunch to cycle 12 miles across vaulting and plunging hills on a stationary bike. It’s wholly different than real cycling (especially since it only took 30 minutes for me to ride the 12 miles… we all know that’s not accurate!), but it helps with my general muscle groups and reinforces the idea that I need to constantly pedal.

Sounds silly, doesn’t it? I’m hoping that and a new bike frame (to go with the racing tires that have been sitting in my dining room since… April?) might get me out of the cycling dungeon in future triathlons!

Now, when I say diet, I don’t mean it in the trendy sense. I’ve been a lifelong healthy eater and fish-a-vegetarian (I just don’t dig meat texture, it’s not an ethical thing—sorry!), but I think everyone needs a little training-diet-introspection. For instance, I hadn’t realized until recently how lacking I was in protein and other bit vital to rebuilding my body. Ouch!

For the next several weeks, I’m going to keep track of what I’m eating, how much and when. It’s a process I’ve regularly undertaken for most of my life (a habit I picked up from my dad, haha), but one that I can use to understand what foods affect my training and performances, when it’s best to eat and how much. Right now my eating habits are almost always based on general good judgment, but nothing targeted. We’ll see how it goes.

But I’m not going to lie to you: having cupcakes in your diet is not a bad thing. Did you see how well I ran (for me) on Saturday?