NEGATIVE SPLITS!!

I don't know how it happened, and I'm still not sure I completely believe it...but according to my trusty Garmin, I achieved negative splits today!!

It was one of those mornings that didn't start out well.  I knew I was in a pretty foul mood as I was driving to the trails to meet Daisy...but I was determined not to let it get me down.  There was no particular reason for the way I was feeling, but it felt like a dark cloud of smoke fogging up my head.  When we started running I told her I knew I had made a mistake taking two full days off because I was feeling really tight.

We chatted a bit and after about 3/4s of a mile I was really worried I would need to stop.  I told her my legs were not feeling good at all.  She encouraged me to give it a mile.  Just after the one mile mark, I had to stop and stretch, hoping that would help.  When we started up again, it seemed a little better, but I kept thinking, "If I make it through this run, it will be a MIRACLE!"

Just after mile two, I told her I was still really hurting so she suggested we walk just a bit. About a minute later I determined walking hurt worse than running, so we started up again.  We talked about various things, but the whole time in the back of my mind I wondered how bad it would be for me to tell her I just couldn't hang and that I was going to have to call it a "hike".  But, my breathing was great, and it didn't feel like an injury kind of pain so I just couldn't bear to stop running....not for my sake mind you, but for hers!  I REALLY enjoy running with Daisy.  I feel like if I don't get my act together and stop all the walking I feel like I have to do, she might find someone better to run with.  (Well, I guess that IS for my sake, huh!  :D)

Anyway...we made it to the really crappy section of the trail and I let the conversation take me away from the scene of the torture.  Just past that section Daisy told me we had reached her favorite part of the trail.  ((The picture isn't that part of the trail, but it's somewhat similar.))  The whole time we were talking about how beautiful it was all I could think was the "six minute" stretch was coming up....and I just didn't know if I was going to make it or not.

As we made it out to the pavement, I decided to try to "stretch out my legs" a bit, taking Daisy's advice from a couple of runs back.  We chatted on.  As we neared the "little incline", she told me today's run hadn't felt good to her at all.  I couldn't believe it!  I told her she seemed to do much better than I with powering through.

As she was telling me the way she sees it she can either not run and feel bad, or run knowing that as soon as it's over she will surely feel better...even though it's sometimes very hard to get through it, the knowledge that relief is just a short distance away.....I realized that I had indeed powered through not feeling good.  I had stopped to stretch, and I had taken a 60 second walk break, but I had kept on running despite feeling like I wanted to quit.  When we reached the incline, I sped up and surged up to the "finish".

Shockingly enough....when I uploaded the data, I found out the first mile's average pace was 12:22, second 11:27, third 11:08, and the last .45's pace was 10:08.  FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!



To top off what ended up being a pretty darn good run...I went and did Hard Body's ab class-continuing to work my butt on! Then, after showering, I got an early birthday present from Speedy--a bottle of fantastic smelling fragrance and a gluten free, vegan cupcake that tasted out of this world!! Then, after I got to run with my NOBO group, I found out my son, who just started playing football this year (his senior year), not only got moved up to first string defense, he was also named DEFENSIVE PLAYER of the game for last Friday night!! WOOO HOO!!! And, it's not even my birthday yet!! (That's tomorrow!!)

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!
:D

Relative...

(written Friday 9/11)

I was really surprised by today's long run.  Other than the fact I took Daisy on a terrible detour from our usual route that caused us to walk up a steep, rocky, rooty incline...until we hit mile five, I was feeling remarkably well.

It's funny because we usually take a route that is different than the one I've always taken when I run solo.  Today I convinced her we needed to take my route because we had planned on running eight miles and my way would loop us around to the very start of the trail, allowing us to never leave the road.  (Whereas the route we usually take would put us on the road, then back on trail....which seemed harder to me.)

Naturally, since I was trying to get out of the harder route, we ended up cutting some off the trail, making us have to add on more at the end....and making us have to navigate the worst part of the trail.

On the section of trail that I usually just hate, the first time around I was "fine".  I kept thinking that I still had like five miles to go so I couldn't mentally give in to trail-hate at that point.  When we got to the trail head, I stopped us long enough to take a gel (that I probably didn't need, but did it anyway)...and then we were off again.

At about mile five, I started struggling.  "That" section of trail was coming up and I was already dreading the extra we were going to tack on to get in a full eight.  So I walked a little bit....BIG MISTAKE.  From then on out it was tough.  What was so bad was that I knew every time I walked I was making it that much harder on myself.  And yet, I couldn't make myself just keep running.

We were headed to a certain point and planned to turn around and run the "six minute" stretch back to the cars to finish up our eight....I was walking, Daisy was running up ahead of me.  I had decided in my mind that I would let her turn around and then when she got back to where I was (only a very short distance behind her), I would turn around (short) to head back with her.  Ah, but she knows me too well...she stopped at the turn around point to wait on me!  RATS.  But, from that point I didn't walk again.

The thing is, our average pace was 11:47--even with all the walking I did at the end.  What felt like (at the end) dragging butt, was really not bad at all.  I'm getting faster.  That's the only explanation for how it felt.  I think that's why my favorite part of the trail comes just after that horrid incline--because it's downhill from there.  Relatively speaking, going through the hard parts make the other parts "easy"...but if I were to stick with "easy" all the time, that would be the baseline.  That's why speed work and hills are such great work outs.

Well...thanks for stopping in, come again soon!
:D

Do I REALLY Need a Base Tan?

After my run with Daisy Tuesday, we had a good conversation about my plan to run the Rocket City marathon in December.  I asked her for her opinion, mainly on the walk/don't walk debate I've had going on in my head for quite some time.

She made what I think is a good analogy comparing running to tanning.  When you are planning a trip to the beach, if you're like me and many others I know, you'll work on getting a good "base tan" before you go.  You'll either visit a tanning bed in short sessions for a few weeks, or do it the (slower) old-fashioned way in the real sun.  The point is to tan your skin slowly, without burning, so you're able to spend hours on glorious sandy beaches and not fry your skin to a crisp.  Trust me, it works.

The repercussions of not getting a base tan, and still believing you will be able to spend hours in the sand and water intensified rays of the sun, are not only an uncomfortable burn, but according to Dr Oz, and a review of data by the European Commission (mentioned in this editorial), sun burns are much more likely to cause skin cancer than responsible time taking in natural vitamin D!

Daisy has been running a LONG time.  I trust her opinion.  She believes I have no business training for a  marathon this December...because I haven't allowed my body adequate time to adjust to the strain put on it by running long miles.  I haven't gotten a good "base tan" so to speak, and am therefore much more likely to sustain an injury.

However, I think (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Daisy) her injury came on the heels (pun intended) of years of training for the marathon she ran.  After years of fairly long distance running, and a full year of training for the marathon, if my Swiss-cheese memory serves me correctly...Daisy found herself "burned" after her goal race even with a solid "base tan".

I think it's like anything else we do in life....if you look, you will find examples that run the gamut.   There are plenty of success stories of people who train for a short period of time and run a marathon, injury free.  There are also people who have trained their whole lives who end up falling over dead running.  (By the way, if you don't like scary stories, don't go Googling scary subjects....just saying.) 

In keeping with the tanning analogy, there are people who get a solid base tan who still burn on their beach vacation....and others who are able to slather on enough sun screen to keep their fair skin properly protected. 

Translation:  I'm not saying I'm still doing it, and I'm not saying I'm not.  I am saying I'm still training for it...and I am saying I'm willing to back off if it looks like my body won't allow it.   I think the key is to continue learning what it means to listen to my body....and to keep in mind that a sunburn usually isn't felt until after it's WAY too late.

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!
:D