Waiting Games

It’s been such a bummer the past couple of days: I’ve been sitting with the same three windows open on my computer (www.trifind.com, www.hfpracing.com, www.runohio.com) and hitting refresh, refresh, refresh ever 30 seconds. I’m waiting for Saturday’s results!

But I did take a break from that excitement to run on Sunday—my first 10+ miler since June 17!

The run started off shaky. While my legs were a little tired on Saturday evening, they felt fine by morning. My left calf was a different story.

After stretching and a snack, I headed outside. It was a little bit crisp, but I was bundled in pants, a t-shirt and a hoodie… and toting plenty of tissue. I’m still getting used to the cooler weather—I’ve never run in fall—and wondering how on earth I ran in -10 degrees last winter! Neil was right. I must have been nuts.

There was plenty of take the sweatshirt off, put it back on, take it off, put it on, which all served as little distraction for my calf. My first two steps were utter agony. On most other days, I would have just turned around and spent the morning doing yoga, but Sunday was my big mileage day. And I wasn’t going to make it up later!

But I wasn’t going to be an idiot about it either. So, I started walking. Walking was fine. Then I started walking faster. And that was fine. I jogged a little bit. Agony. Ugh. I slowed back to a speedy walk and then tried to jog r-e-a-l-l-y slowly. It hurt, but didn’t make me want to cry.

What did make me want to cry was the idea of being hurt again. I started getting misty at the thought of putting in all this training time only to miss the half marathon in two weeks. I pressed on.

After about ten minutes of uber slow shuffling, I picked up the pace just a bit (maybe a second/mile faster!) and then a little after that. Each pickups made it a little uncomfortable to run at first, but then my calf would warm to it. By about mile four, I was fully warmed and at 75% of my normal training stride.

Before I hit the streets, I had mapped out my run from my apartment in Stow to just outside of downtown Hudson. It’s a different route than I’m used to running (I generally just drive to shop Heinen’s or buy cupcakes… it’s difficult to run with grocery bags), and it’s filled with all of the varying terrain, grades and hills I need. I picked out a street called Thirty Acres as my turnaround, never saw the thing and ran well beyond my mark. Lucky for me, I was feeling peachy at this point, hit Hudson and then started back.

Back uphill, that is. But I actually felt strong running down OH-91 and for the first time felt capable of running a half marathon in less than two weeks. Aside from some slight discomfort lingering in my calf, some right-foot cramping and a little bit sciatic flare-up, I felt healthy and prepared trucking the last five miles home.

My total run: 11.35 miles in about two hours. The first 4-5 miles were record-breakingly slow, so I won’t take this training run as a reflection of my future. I’m just happy to feel healthy.

My sciatic nerve, however, is threatening to be a pain again. It’s been pretty quiet for the past two months, but it’s been hinting at a comeback the past two days. I’m beginning to feel that strain in my left leg that preceded it last time. So, I’m trying to be quick about taking anti-inflams and getting my yoga in gear. I refuse to be tackled by that thing again! Good thing today is another rest day.

While I was running (and quietly sobbing), I reminded myself that this week is my last of higher-mileage/hardworking training before the half. I have about 32+ miles to run this week before having a bit of tapering next week (easy 2 miles on each of Tuesday and Thursday). I’m not going to lie: I’m really looking forward to it. And I guess I’m pretty pumped for the race as well. I just have to stay healthy!

Last Tri of the Season is a Good One

And the results watch begins!

While there was no big clock or time-caller at the finish, Neil’s rumor has it that I finished the Akron Women-Only Triathlon in just under an hour. I may or may not have met my goal, but it was another great experience.

From what I could gather, I came in second in swimming (to the 2006 1-Mile Open Water National Champ), tragically-but-not-surprisingly slow in cycling and not bad in running. The weather was a little less than ideal—Neil and I walked out around 7:30 a.m. to what felt like an early winter morning. Brrrr.

My knees turned a slight blue, my breathing got super wheezy and my dizziness led me into the grass on the bike route, but I recovered by mile four. But I’m warm now. And I’m eager to share the full story.

On a side note: my little brother, Skippy (an 11-year-old cocker spaniel), is in the doggy hospital. He's not in doggy-tri condition right now, so please send out good vibes for the pooch.

Saturday Goals Update!

While I’ve been really laid back about Saturday’s race (despite that whole wig-out-about-the-weather thing I had going), I have been thinking about goals for the race. Because I’m still a little shaky about what to expect from my tri performances, my goals are loosely set as follows:

• 250-yard swim: 5:00
• 7-mile bike: 33:00
• 2-mile run: 18:00

And that should get me in a couple minutes under 1:00:00, which is truly my goal in this race.

I took a walk through the course on Thursday night with a group of women I’m interviewing for a story about the race. The running path seemed a little narrow, uneven and potentially dangerous in a twist-my-ankle-in-a-deep-whole kind of way. But typing it out might remind me that I have to keep an eye open for the divots.

My fingers are just crossed that I actually remember how to ride a bike. Ah, some things I do make complete sense. Other things (i.e., still neglecting to even remove my bike from the trunk since GCT): not so much. Instead, I’ve signed up for spinning classes over the winter. Next year, I’ll totally rock the bike. Or, you know, not finish last.

But for now I’m off to prep: I need to get my hands on some pre-race food and a container for feet washing—my T1 at GCT was 3:50 because I had to meticulously remove each grain of sand from my feet. Perhaps a quick foot bath might cut that down a few. That way I can have a few more minutes on the bike!

Food (and Rest) it Up!

Last night’s 7-miler concluded my training for the week (I moved Thursday’s run to Wednesday to get an extra day of rest before Saturday’s race… even if it is just a super sprint), so now it’s time to rest and eat. Ahh, two of my preferred activities!

But I have to admit that my brain wasn’t functioning properly again yesterday. I started my after-work run and my watch, stopped it to cross a street and never switched it on again. So, I just set the world record in the 3.5-miler: 2:22. Woo hoo! I realized the error after about a mile and just tried to keep up a 9-9:30/mile pace through the first half of the run. And I think I'm finally getting a mental feel for my pace. In other words, I'm getting a pacing clue!

Since I also forgot to check my workout before I took off, I was lucky to correctly guess my plan: 6-7 miles, including 4 x 2:00 aerobic intervals and 6 gentle pickups.

It was nice to get in some of these higher intensity spurts on rolling hills. I swear if I move from this area one of the few things I’ll miss (other than the cupcake shop) will be the rolling hills. While it’s not as great on miles for my already-fuel-efficient car, it really puts some extra kick into a workout. But it also puts an extra kick into my achy left calf.

I came home from the run around 6:45 p.m., ate dinner and then iced my calf for about 30 minutes. Some non-medical advice I received recommended before/after stretching and after icing… so I’m giving it a try. Plus, I’m getting back to my morning yoga in hopes that the addition stretching might aid some of my achy problems. If nothing else, it’s a nice workout that wakes me up when an alarm just won’t.

And now it’s all about resting (I have my feet kicked up as I type) and eating foods that will power me to the finish on Saturday. As I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve decided not to compete in Sunday’s sprint tri at Portage Lakes. But my half marathon plan calls for 10 miles on Sunday—my first 10-miler since my June 17 injury. I’m coming back, baby (knock on wood)!

Two-a-Day, Plus: Faith in Humanity

Have you had one of those days in which your brain just wasn’t operating on all cylinders? I woke up at 5:25 a.m. this morning to make my way to the pool, and that’s where it all began.

Flub one: I walked all the way out to the car without my swimming bag (forehead smack). Luckily I had on my suit! So, I rushed back upstairs, grabbed the bag and ran back outside with the fear of losing my lane at my heels. My bag was packed for my two-today: swimming in the morning, running at lunch. And so the err of my ways began.

I pulled into the rec. center parking lot a few minutes after 6 a.m. and started rushing toward the door. My running shoes had been stuff into the top of my bag the night before, so I turned around to throw them back into the car (who needs shoes when you’re swimming?) only to find one of my shoes missing! I tore through my car and looked all around, wondering whether I had dropped it at home or in the lot. It was way too early to call Neil for a search, so I calmed myself with the prospect of the shoe being in my apartment—and not outside, where it had just started raining.

But my mind remained on my shoe. Lucky for me, I had the shoe to think about because my brain wasn’t really hip to functioning on any other normal level. My swim workout was an all-time high for me: at least 5,000 yards free almost continuous swim (I had to stop a couple times to clear my goggles).

“At least?” you ask? Well, I couldn’t count my yards or laps for the life of me this morning. I wandered around the 500 mark for each 1,000 yards. When in doubt, I always swim extra. And today I just kept on swimming.

I love the feeling of getting out of the pool after a long swim and feeling energized. It makes me feel less like I’ve misstepped getting into triathlon training. And even when my head doesn’t work, at least my body was.

By the time I finished swimming, showered and was headed to work, it was 8 a.m. and a more polite hour to call Neil. He took a swing around the parking lot, but my Mizuno was nowhere in sight. My hopes for the rest of the day were on an apartment surprise.

Sans shoes, I had to settle for the Nikes I keep in my office. I’ve gotten used to the lower top on my Mizunos, so my spoiled feet and shins weren’t immediately hip to the idea of my ex-shoes. So, I tied down the tongue and took an 8-mile track run at lunch, including:

• 3 miles at 9:36/mile
• 2 x (2:00, 3:00, 4:00) aerobic intervals ~ 3 miles
• 2 miles at 9:00/mile

My calf was really tight before the run, so I stretched for a few more minutes and then hit the track for a really low-key warm-up. The most difficult part, as you might have guessed, was keeping track of my laps. While I resorted to counting on my fingers and trying to estimate times, I had a difficult time keeping it all straight. Ugh. I was wholly convinced that I wasn’t going to survive the AIs until some hotshot with a pass-all-chicks attitude and a funky, show-off stride came trotting by.

Now I know that I’m a) not supposed to take these intervals too hard and b) not supposed to let other people influence my training pace, but this guy was really asking for it. And I was even good about it—I kept my pace right between normal and ‘hey I’m working here’ as prescribed. I’d say it was right around 8:00/mile.

And then I was pretty tired. Maybe a little hungry too. I still had plenty of endurance energy remaining for the last twelve laps/two miles, but I just hadn’t replenished enough after the morning swim. But the thing that was really getting me down was that missing-in-action shoe!

So, hungry, distracted and a little fatigued, I did the unthinkable: I went grocery shopping after work. Sure, I bought half the store (come on: Heinen's had butternut squash for 69 cents a pound!), but I managed to put together a Gina-friendly meal that has me totally on the brink of covering both my calcium and protein doses for the day! In fact, I might chow a Luna bar as a night snack to put me over. Woo hoo!

What’s more woo hoo is that I came home to Neil holding the following sign:

It had been posted on our apartment building door by the time he came home. Neil called the number and arranged for our nighttime pick-up. And as it turns out, Mel from Vertical Runner and her husband, Todd (who found my shoe) live pretty much next door.

Lucky for me, Todd found my shoe about an hour after I dropped it in the rain. It’s a little damp, but healthy as can be. We had the opportunity to meet the two, have some tri talk and thank them for caring for my shoe.

So, maybe my brain wasn’t working today, but at least humanity was. Many thanks to Mel and Todd (and Neil)! Here’s to good people!