Monthly Archives: September 2012

Chicago Marathon Training Week #11 + Weekend

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So, there wasn’t much running involved in my workouts last week…you already knew that. I didn’t post my training last week though out of bitter resentment, so here’s a look at how all the non-running training went:

M: 30 min stair stepper, 60 min swim

T: 2 hour spin class

W: 60 min stair stepper + BodyPump

T: 90 min swim

F: 60 min stair stepper + BodyPump

S: 2 hour swim! 5,000 meters

S: 20 min stair stepper + 6 m run!

Total: 6 miles running

Yea, so that number ^^ is very minuscule compared to where I should have been. But, considering my two week injury hiatus from running, I will gladly take any miles over none. And in spite of not being able to run, I was happy with how I managed to keep activity levels high. I am still in love with my BodyPump class, particularly the instructor, and I think it’s been doing really good things for both my strength and coordination.

In other news, after a beautiful rest day yesterday, I was able to run 8.4 miles today! It wasn’t very pretty, and it wasn’t very easy, but hot damn it happened. And guess what? My ankle felt better than it did during Sunday’s first run back! It was still a little cranky, but it seems that this persnickety tendonitis beast may be on its way out the door. It’s really encouraging that my ankle seems to be getting better while still running on it…and it’s making me feel inches closer to making the decision to race. Don’t worry, I’m still going to take it easy and play the super-taper game…but in the mean time it feels great to pound some pavement again.

On my run this morning, I thought a lot about what would happen if I do decide to race. Because when I don’t wear headphones, my entire life—all past, present, and future aspects of it—seems to engulf my brain.

I felt a whole number of things this morning, but mainly encouraged and anxious. I can feel the possibility of doing the Chicago Marathon getting higher, but simultaneously I’m getting scared for just what finishing, (read:surviving), the race will entail.

I need to come to terms with that fact that not only will I be slower than normal and will potentially walk some of the race—there is a good chance I will be in pain during a good amount of it. Pain on top of normal, typical marathon pains. It’s certainly not an ideal scenario—and it’s one that will require perhaps more mental preparation than any other race, should the opportunity come.

Time will tell people. However, I did hear last night that a friend in Chicago is willing to host BF and I for race eve…..and he lives ONE MILE from the start line. We were originally planning on staying out at the airport…a good half hour away. Universe coming together? We’ll see.

In other news, here’s a look at what was a fan-effing-tastic weekend. The weather in Seattle was perfection, and somehow BF and I managed to be way more social this weekend than we have been the entire year.

Spoiler: There was a lot of beer.

Mariner’s Game!

Double dating and baseball night—the Ms even decided to win!

Ferry ride post-game. DON’T WORRY I REPAINTED MY TOES FINALLY. I told you it was a productive weekend.

Seattle skyline via water transportation. Love.

The following morning…

What’s the best thing to come home to after a 2 hour swim? Your boyfriend making pancakes for you. You can’t really tell…but the one underneath is pink. That’s love.

One invite from another couple later…and we were at the Fremont Oktoberfest party ready to cash in our ten tasting tokens. (I only made it to 7…)

Oktoberfest! BF…that mug is just the perfect size for you…you dainty man you.

This was my last beer, I think…and one of 4 attempts at this photo. Low tolerance + high percentage alcohol beer= drunk Robyn.

Right now…I love fall. We are in the perfect phase where it’s not raining, it’s not too cold, and it’s not too hot. The leaves are crunchy and the air promises Halloween and cooler temps shortly. And by Halloween, I mean “I’m probably going to buy candy this weekend.” Loving it. In fact, I might break my pumpkin spice latte rule and not wait until October. CRAZY TALK…I rage.

I hope your weeks have started off splendidly!

 

What would you do?

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What a difference a week can make.

Last Saturday, I spent the morning running 1/4 mile, failing, and then crying about it while simultaneously trying to swim. Not a pretty picture.

Fast forward to yesterday. After having not one but two spin classes cancelled on me, and after plodding up and down on the stair-stepper for a while…I decided to see how my ankle would hold up on a run.

I was nervous, I had ridiculously low expectations, and I had to mentally prepare myself for the fact that it may be a huge fail.

So after my morning gym session, I went home, changed shoes, grabbed a handful of Cheerios, and drove down to my beloved Alki beach trail. Cautiously and hesitantly—off I went.

The way my “running” has been going for the past two weeks has been like this—a few steps of normalcy, a twinge of pain on both sides of my ankle, followed by my ankle swelling so much I have no range of motion.

But yesterday? Oh, dear sweet yesterday…I was able to run. I’m not saying it was without pain, and I’m not saying it was flawless, but it happened and I finished with a stupid smile on my face and heightened hope for the possibility of the Chicago Marathon actually happening. I finished with a total of 6 miles, and while my ankle definitely felt it—a session of ice and an anti-inflammatories afterwards, I was good to go.

So encouraging…and you better believe I rode out my 6-mile-runner’s-high all day long.

So what now? Admittedly, I still am not 100% sure what to do about Chicago. My doctor gave me the go-ahead to try, and as he said, “The worst thing that can happen is that you won’t finish.” He said that doing the race would more than likely not make my ankle any worse—which I took with a grain of salt, but it was encouraging.

It’s really hard to figure out what to do from this point in terms of taper/testing my running/deciding if I should do the race. I want to continue to rest my ankle as much as I can, of course, but I also need to be sure that going to Chicago is going to be worth it. I certainly don’t want to DNF—but I would also like to know that if it happens, it would be around mile 18 as opposed to mile 7, you know?

So I need some advice…in terms of balancing taper and testing my ability to run…what would you do? My plan is to make the final call next Sunday, so I think I’ll go with my originally scheduled 12 easy miles on Saturday. If I feel like I can do that (and could keep going) I *think* I’ll go for it. 

Ahh this is such a weird/different approach to tapering. I am someone who operates with the mindset of, “You never know until you try,” but I also don’t want to fly all the way to Chicago to run less than half of the race.

We’ll see…but in the meantime, I would love any input you have on the matter!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

 

6 Reasons I’m Psyched for Winter Running

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I generally consider myself more of a sun-and-warmth person as opposed to a cold-and-snowy person. I really don’t dislike any seasons, in fact I like little things about them all, but there’s something that’s just so convenient about summer. It’s easier to dress for (sun dresses=one outfit wonder!), it’s easier to plan for, and it’s LIGHTER! I love the light, and the darkness of winter really starts to get to me after a while.

But, the one thing I love about the winter—besides Christmas and pea coats, of course—is THE RUNNING!

I adore running when it’s cold out, and I would choose running with tights and an ear warmer over running in a tank and spandos any day. I know there are a lot of differing opinions on this, and it’s not that I dislike running when it’s warm, there’s just something so satisfying about breaking the winter blues with some miles.

When I played soccer when I was younger, I remember preferring the games that were in the cold. Although I had to wear a turtleneck underneath my jersey and the sidelines were freezing, I can distinctly remember feeling faster and more agile when playing in the cold. This feeling is the same way I feel today about running in the cold—clearly something that never left!

Now, I know this isn’t science…according to the running scientists we run faster and more efficiently in cooler temperatures than warmer. And…duh. Keeping our internal temperature cooler helps elongate our exertion and not feel so drained from sweating (as much).

I definitely notice these effects of running when it’s cooler—but the reasons I love winter running have more to do with the overall package itself, as opposed to the physiology behind it.

With that, I give you…6 reasons why I’m PSYCHED for winter running.

1) Thumb holes. Just like nearly every other runner who doesn’t live in So.Cal or Florida…I’m a big fan of the thumb hole shirt revolution.

Just that little feature seems to add a whole new dimension of warmth—and I often can get away without gloves when I wear a thumbhole shirt. My favorite part, though, is actually when I can remove my thumbs from the loops and roll up the sleeves a bit. This part of a run always indicates that I’ve warmed up enough and gotten into a steady-enough rhythm. I love realizing that, and I love having a tangible indicator.

2) Speed. I notice a very distinct difference in my speed once the temperatures drop.

After I ran the Portland Marathon last year, took a few recovery weeks, and got back on the road again, I started realizing that my splits were dropping. I thought this might be a result of recovering and gaining strength from the marathon, but I’m pretty certain it had more to do with the fact that my training had all been done in the late summer, and I was now running in chillier November. Personally, I know I’m a faster runner when it’s a bit cooler—and I’m planning on focusing heavily on speed during the winter months (more on that in another post!).

3) Showers. I adore the feeling of a shower after a good run. In fact, I actually kind of dislike regular showers, because they aren’t as deliciously satisfying as those done post-run (don’t worry…I still take them…sometimes).

The best kind of showers, though, are the ones after a long, cold, run. I love feeling like I’m thawing out after being in the wind and the cold—it’s such a wonderful dichotomy of having experienced the chilly air and then plunging into a warm shower. I love it—this is perhaps one of my favorite things about running, besides the actually action itself 🙂

4) The quiet. This may all be in my head, but I always feel like winter mornings are so much more silent than the summer. You know?

Less birds chirping, less people around. Not that I dislike those things (obviously I like birds) but I l-o-v-e running when it feels completely quiet. No headphones, no traffic, no people. Just feet and breath (the cold air helps emphasize the breath part of this as well). I get the most jazzed and excited about a run when I walk out the door and I can’t hear a thing—quite contrary to a pump up song or war cry—I prefer the silence, which promises a peaceful, cathartic run with just my legs and my thoughts.

5) The oatmeal. You thought I was going to get all mystical for a minute there, didn’t you?

Much like the point about the hot showers—I LOVE a bowl of hot oatmeal after I run. Some people love waffles, some love mimosas, but I myself love nothing more than a huge bowl of oatmeal post-run, complete with all my staple fixings. However, when it’s warm out—hot food is the last thing I want, and for the past few months I’ve needed to reach for a less-than-thrilling smoothie or yogurt. Cold weather=more oatmeal=happy Robyn.

6) The laziness. Let’s get honest…the only thing most of us want to do after a long weekend run is lay on the couch all day.

The only movement we want to make is between the refrigerator and our cozy setup in front of the TV. Also, football season is during the winter—and I can’t speak for everyone on this—but sometimes I really just like hunkering down on a Sunday with BF to yell at the TV. The winter months cater to this type of behavior…whereas summer I don’t want to miss a minute of sunshine. So although typically I love to be out and about doing as much as possible, after a long run, give me my compression socks and my Snuggie. Actually…it’s not my Snuggie…you can guess who I steal it from, though.

So there you have it! A look at the main reasons I can’t wait to run this winter. I’m guessing it’s a little transparent that I’m also associating the winter with a healthy ankle…which I’ll admit, is helping the argument. But, overall, injury or no injury…I love winter running, and I can’t wait to break out my ear warmer and tights soon!

Now…which do you prefer, winter or summer running? 

My plan for now..

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First things first:

As if my Grandma wasn’t already the most beautiful, kind, elegant, witty, loving, etc. person I know (not exaggerating for the sake of granddaughter points, btw), she sent me something yesterday in the mail I thought I lost:

When we returned home after the Disneyland Half-Marathon, I couldn’t find my bib anywhere (BF and I both always keep ours!) and I was devastated.

Not only did it have a castle and my name on it, it was for a race that I felt SO good during. It may have been my slowest half ever, but the relaxed pace and the overall enthusiasm of the race made it oh-so-memorable. Needless to say, I was NOT happy when I thought I’d mistakenly thrown my bib out somehow.

Never fear, Grammy to the rescue. One car clean out and stamped envelope later—she brightened my spirits and helped assure me that I am not as bib-negligent as I thought.

THANKS GRAMMY!!

Moving on…my plan of attack.

Admittedly, I’m somehow still feeling hopeful about Chicago. I might be crazy, I might be delusional, but I prefer to call it general optimism. Something in my gut is telling me to not throw in the towel yet, and since I’m a big believer in intuition—I’m going with it.

Plus, I don’t know 100% yet if I am or am not racing. So, I might as well hold off disappointment until the actual decision-making time comes, right? Right.

(That right there was my mother’s voice lurking its way into my blog. How’d you get to be so wise mommy?)

Here’s where I’m at: I haven’t run at all since Saturday the 8th. A little counting tells me that that’s 11 days ago and exactly 30 days before the Chicago Marathon. Put it all together and we get…missing peak week of training, still not running, and still not repaired from my looming ankle pains.

Sounds like a recipe for absolutely not attempting a marathon in 2.5 weeks, according to basic common sense.

I, however, have batted away common sense for the time being, and instead have formulated a plan of attack, as well as a new approach to this race.

Step 1: Get healthy.

I have another doctor’s appointment tomorrow (seeing as Dr. Casual wasn’t exactly spot on with his “Aleve and ice” perscription), and I’m hoping to get a little bit better gauge of just what this is and what, if anything, I can do about it.

The good news is that my ankle has been feeling increasingly better everyday. I wake up in the mornings without pain, and aside from some stiffness and aches, it seems to be cooperating in the whole “get better” game. I’m icing, compressing, and Aleve-ing like a pro—and, fun fact, RICE actually sort of works.

I’d like to get away from the Aleve, though, and hopefully that’s what my new doctor can help with tomorrow. Going from taking no over-the-counter meds to taking 3-4 per day is a little much.

Step 2: Do what I can.

Luckily, I can still swim, bike, stair-step, etc. I’ve done the best I can to maintain my fitness while not aggravating the injury. Keeping some semblance of a training regimen in my life is really helping to both distract and comfort me from the fact that my running has derailed, and with any luck I won’t have any trouble reclaiming my running fitness.

The awkwardly photographed shot of a girl who finally got a good sweat on after Ankle Injury 2012 commenced.

Step 3: See what happens.

This largely depends on what the doctor says tomorrow and how well my healing goes, but my plan for Chicago right now is to make the call a week beforehand.

If my ankle is healed and I’m able to do some pain-free miles before the race—Lord help me—I’m going for it. I’m confident enough in my fitness and my experience as a runner to take on both the physical and mental challenges that would come with this endeavour. Now, don’t get me wrong, if it happens—it’s gonna take some luck, patience, and smart execution. But, I do believe that if I’m better, I’ll be able to gut it out.

Now, it is going to take a miracle to actually get me to the start line (and an even bigger one to get me to the finish). But, if the opportunity presents itself, I’ve rearranged any form of “goals” for this race. Since I would be coming off of injury, and since my training was derailed, my time goals would be not only slower than planned, but they’d be perhaps non-existant.

(Not sure of any of the tenses used right there.)

And it’s fine! I’ve said all along that my intent with this training cycle was to take it less seriously and have more fun. I went into Tacoma way too tightly wound, and as a result I unravelled in a dangerous whirl. I wanted to reclaim my run love with this training cycle, and these circumstances would really force me to own up to my original goal.

I’ll admit, when I saw the numbers on my Garmin ticking down throughout the weeks of training, I started to get sparkly thoughts in my head about time goals and certain qualifications.

But that can be for another time. My goals for now include making it to the Windy City, finishing the race, and soaking up the marathon atmosphere. I think that order of events would yield the best-case-scenario outcome.

However, first order of business is getting better.

I realize this post and my general mindset may seem a little far-fetched, but like I said—it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

I’ve accepted the fact that I might not be running the Chicago Marathon. But until then, I’m going to continue to try to get there—just as I have been for the past ten weeks.

Call me crazy (I sure have), but if I’m healthy and good to run on October 7th—I’ll be at the Grant Park start line, in Corral C—to be specific.

 

 

Zucchinis, Boflex, and High-Heels

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Monday! Party! Oh wait, that’s not right.

Greetings ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the beginning of the week.

Since I got serious last Wednesday, and since I am avoiding talking about training at all costs, this post is going to be an entirely random array of musings on things in my life right now. Kind of like Friday Favorites (whoa, how long has that been?) but more like a lot of fluff that’s been filling my brain recently.

Thanks to my coworker, I am currently in possession of the biggest zucchinis ever made. Or grown? You know what I mean.

Photo taken next to mug and purse for scale purposes.

Totally awesome, right? I’m a huge zucch fan, so I was particularly excited about this gift. Best part? She brought me FOUR more of nearly an equivalent size. The problem, however, is that there are just two of us living in our household…and although I’m pretty sure it’s hard to OD on delicious zucchini, I don’t want to risk it.

So last night I made some zucchini bread (successfully, somehow), and so I’m thinking I’ll make an additional loaf or 5 and maybe freeze some of it? Has any ever done that?? I think maybe shredding and freezing could work.

Either way, zucchini party at my house this weekend, and it’s not even BYOZ.

(PS: Wouldn’t it be great if people brought you random inordinate amounts of items all the time? I would gladly take excess shampoo, peanut butter, or bobby pins off anyone’s hands.)

BF and I are gonna get jacked thanks to a new piece of furniture addition to our household:

Nasty feet necessary for scale, again.

Thanks to our handy dandy employment fitness refund deal, BF decided to buy these Boflex weights to have at home—FO FREE. Thanks, Company.

They are HUGE and can be adjusted to all kinds of different weight settings.

If my injury sits around too long, I’m planning on turning into a body builder right in our own living room while simultaneously watching episodes of  various teenager shows.

What, you don’t change into a t-shirt when you get home but keep your work pants on?

I wanted to wear a certain pair of pants (namely because they haven’t been worn every other day these past two weeks unlike my other pairs, see dirty pair above), but I needed to wear heels with them because they’re longer. Obvs, my ankle is a huge asshole right now so I understandably assumed heels would not be favorable.

Also, heels ALWAYS hurt my feet even when I’m not hurt, so why would I want to/attempt to wear them now? PS: Why do I own heels?

Moving on, low and behold—not only do these miracle shoes not hurt my ankle AT ALL, they make it feel better than regular shoes do! I think it’s because I’m landing different and my arch is staying in one place…but whatever it is, I’ll take it.

So, what I’m saying is, there might be a stiletto-clad marathon runner in Chicago on October 7.

On that note, I’m really not happy to report that not much progress has been made on the foot/ankle ordeal. It really blows, and I’m going back and forth between trying to stay calm and edging on tears. Today, I’m calm and somewhat realistic. This weekend, I literally sobbed while swimming. Which, by the way, is not too easy to pull off—however it has the advantage of people not seeing you.

Here’s my Chicago Marathon Training Week #10:

Ran 1/3 mile Saturday, limped 15 minutes home. Hated everyone.

That was all the running that happened, and it barely even happened. It sucks, and as optimistic as I’d like to be, I’m not really able to run at all right now—let alone run a marathon in less than three weeks.

GAH. Frustrating to say the least. I have another doctor’s appointment on Thursday, and I’m doing everything I can to alleviate the pain. It’s so tough though…I need to rest, but I also need to not let my fitness go away too much if there’s a chance I could race. Catch-22. However, although I’ve heard of people not finishing their training—I’ve hardly heard of someone not running for a month and then running their planned marathon.

This was my ankle after “running” Saturday. Can you guess which one hates me right now? And if you say anything about how horrible my toenail polish…….just, don’t.

Annoying, frustrating, sad. All of the above.

However, you never know. Bodies are weird, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned—you never know what to expect with this sport.

Also, sorry all of you with healthy legs, but I am currently cursing/hating on every last person I see out on a run. PLEASE APPRECIATE YOUR FUNCTIONALITY.

That’s all for today. My brother also arrived for COLLEGE IN SEATTLE this weekend and so my whole fam was here to play. It was just what I needed to distract me from my running sorrows—it couldn’t have been better timing. And aside from the pool bawl-fest, I think I farred pretty well all things considered.

Alki beach stroll on Friday night.

Mommy and me.

So classic. Freshman dorm rooms complete with RA decorated doors. I loved it and I wanted to go back to college.

I’ll keep you all updated, but now I need an opinion:

Would it be better to try to run the marathon in high heels, or not do anything for a month and then try and run?

Kidding—ish.

I’m more curious as to how much Aleve/ibuprofen I can pull off cramming into my system. But that kind of question would make you think I have a problem…which I don’t 🙂 promise.

Have a good day, kids.

Diagnosis and “Getting It”

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The best news of all: my ankle is not falling off.

And, according to my X-Rays and my highly optimistic Ortho-doc, I have no signs of stress fracture, and my bone structure is “ideal.” Essentially, this was equivalent to hearing, “Robyn, you have perfect hair, teeth, and generally perfect everything in life.”

Good bones=happy runner.

To bring you up to speed, after many days in a row of running, peak marathon training mileage, and a very unhappy 20-miler-turned-17-miler, my ankle was in a lot of pain for no obvious reason. I was limping, I went to Urgent Care (fail), and I panicked about how I could actually pull off a marathon in a month.

Obviously, I wanted to call in a pro ASAP.

The diagnosis I received at my 9 am appointment yesterday morning went something like this:

“Suck it up. Load up on Aleve. Keep running. You’re a huge wimp and don’t understand that running is painful sometimes. Why are you here?”

Okay, it was *actually* closer to this (although the above is in essence what I heard):

“I think you’ll be fine. Get back out there, keep up the pain killers, heavy on the icing, and tell me if it gets worse.”

If you’re thinking, “Wow Robyn, that’s pretty much what every runner would want to hear in your scenario…so did you jump up and down in excitement and make out with the dude while lacing up your Brooks?”

No kissing or lacing up, but yes—you’re right. This is an ideal diagnosis. Particularly for someone like me, who would be grumpy with even the mention of “toning it down” or “taking it easy.”

However, while I am relieved—I’m also going to be a little more careful than Dr. “All Runners Love Me” told me to be.

You see, the reason I went to the doctor was to determine what this pain is not as opposed to what it is. Hopefully, the diagnosis was right and this isn’t something serious (i.e. stress fracture, etc.) BUT, that doesn’t mean that it’s not something to take care of.

With every little ache and pain, we runners spend so much time agonizing over, “What is this?” “When will it go away?” “Can I run through it?” I’m a HUGE culprit of doing this (perhaps THE culprit), no thanks to the magical powers of the interwebs, but here’s the fact of the matter:

If something hurts, you shouldn’t run on it.

I realize my circumstances are a bit different, considering I have 26.2 miles of running to do on October 7, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to try and be bigger than the pain. I’m fortunate enough to have done enough training that waiting out this issue a little while longer (yes, longer than even the “professional” said to do) won’t do much damage. In fact, continuing to run on my questionable ankle would probably undo the strides I’ve made so far in my training.

So I’m sitting it out for a little while longer. I’m definitely not going to pretend that I’m completely calm and collected about this, or that not running is anything but easy.

I’m back-and-forth between being sensible and being irrational. But, I’ve been here before—and I know that the truest test of an athlete’s will and determination are the times that set them back. So yesterday, when I was at work going back and forth as to what I would do for my workout later on, I stopped myself right in my tracks.

And here’s what I asked myself: Is delaying the healing process, which will ultimately get me to the start line in Chicago, for a random Tuesday sweat session worth it?

Absolutely not.

So, I defied my habitual inclination of working out my stress away, and here I am today—no less in shape, in tact, nor capable of living. I am, however, with a more rested and better-feeling ankle.

{See Mommy, I’m growing up.}

I’m realizing that the way we handle injury corresponds directly to the reasons we run in the first place.

The fact of the matter is this: I don’t run to hide my feelings. I don’t run to justify the things I like to eat. I don’t run to prove anything to anyone.

I run because it’s what I love to do more than anything else, and sometimes that love needs to be shown in the bad times and not just the good.

Run love is not just about logging miles, clocking lower times, and registering for races. Run love is also about give and take. We take a lot from this sport—the endorphins, the pride, the toned legs, and the runner’s highs. But how much do we give to it? We give our early mornings and cash in shoe replacment…but I’m realizing that giving back to this sport should be about respecting it—and our bodies—more than anything else.

Running is tough, running is hard, and running wears us down. In order to give to running as much as we get from it—sometimes we need to back off. We don’t prove anything by running through pain or by exercising when we know we should be resting. All those things do is show that we’d rather let this sport abuse us rather than build us up.

If you hadn’t guessed, the “we” pronoun I’ve been using is a lot of me talking to myself. You, dear reader, just got to come along for the ride.

So what is this very long-winded explanation of my injury trying to say? Well, I think for the first time—I’m getting it. I’m getting the give-and-take of running, I’m getting the “rest” thing, and I’m getting that the truest test of myself as a runner comes from how I handle the lower points.

So I’m taking it easy, I’m hoping for the best, and I’m thankful that I’ve *mostly* been able to learn something from my former habits that resulted in mistakes.

Chicago Marathon Training Week #9

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Hello.

Here’s last week for you…let’s see if you can spot where the big scary hiccup occurred:

M: 9 m run slow

T: 10.2 m run ~8:15 avg. pace

W: 7 m run, no watch + lifting

T: 10.4 m run, 8:20 avg. pace

F: REST

S: 17 m run

S: Yoga

Total: 53.6 miles

Don’t see the hiccup? Well, allow me to backtrack to Thursday, where I said I had a “20 mile long run” on tap for the weekend.

That 17 miler up there? That right there was the first time I have ever cut a run short—and no, not because of fatigue, boredom, or a time crunch.

My would-be 20 mile run turned into 17 because I was in too much pain to finish it. That not-so-significant shin split I mentioned last week turned into a very-significant-holy-shit-hurts pain in my entire left ankle/foot pretty much all at once during my run on Saturday morning. I tried to tough it out, but after a few miles of stopping to alleviate the pain every mile—I knew it was best to cut it off. Thankfully a nice lady with a puppy let me use her phone when I asked (I choose the strangers I approach based on their pets, btw). She was probably a bit frightened by the sweaty, salty, and nearly-in-tears girl hobbling down the side walk—but she complied. Bless her.

As soon as BF picked me up, I lost it. I don’t really need to explain to you all the frustrations I was/am feeling about this. I was in Urgent Care yesterday morning after spending Saturday unable to walk, and I have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor tomorrow morning.

Nothing like prompt medical attention.

I’m trying to not jump to worst case conclusions right now (although I spent a lot of time already doing that). Many thanks to my best friend Anna, BF, and Nicole for calming me down a bit. BF has been a superstar through this also (I think he more than anyone knows how Robyn with Injury goes), and following Saturday’s breakdown he immediately helped remedy my sobbing by making me pancakes, attending to my every ice, Aleve, and compression needs, and accepted his tear-and-sweat stained girlfriend for who she was.

Now that the storm has passed, I’m going to let the pros decide how I should handle this situation.

Luckily, since whatever-this-is happened, my ankle has consistently felt better fairly, and it seems that the more I walk—the better it feels (indicative that it’s probably not a bone thing). But like I said.. I’ll be leaving my fate up to science and X-Rays and stuff.

So how am I feeling right now? Admittedly, hopeful—since it is feeling better and seems to continue to feel better. But, the speed in which this thing came on really scares me, and I’m really going to have a tough time swallowing a diagnosis that not only eliminates Chicago—but eliminates my Fall 2012 running career.

I’m feeling a lot of things right now— frustrated (3 injuries in 6 months—AWESOME), sad, pissed, pessimistic, optimistic, relieved, etc.

I’ll explain it all in another post—because I’m doing my best to not jump to conclusions (no thanks to Dr. Google) and allow no news to be good news. At least until tomorrow morning.

Will fill you all in soon.

Cross your fingers, wish upon a star, and break some wishbones (yikes, no pun intended) for me that this isn’t the worst. I’ve really been very careful in terms of training, resting, and mileage—and I’m more than a little bothered right now with where my bff running has landed me.

3 Scared Things and Training Updates

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There were three things scared during yesterday’s run…

1) An innocent bystander

This was weird…because due to my incessant huffing and puffing and plodding of my feet, people normally have no problem knowing that I’m coming up behind them. The lady I scared must have been stoned distracted though, because as I slinked by she jumped a little screaming, “You scared the hell out of me!” It was friendly in nature though, and I smiled and apologized while wondering if she was wearing earplugs.

2) A black cat

I saw a little kitty up ahead of me as I was cruising downhill, and naturally I thought—oh, cats have superb senses and often freak out over insignificant sounds, surely this guy knows I’m coming.

Wrong again.

Just as I got right behind the kitty, he turned around in a panic—hissing and obviously very startled. He went into full on defense mode. I don’t know which was worse…his startled response or my yelp of fear. Flashes of a cat attack swept through my brain, and I made sure to traverse far around him while keeping an eye over my shoulder.

If I start having bad luck, I’m gonna know that the black cat curse thing is true.

3) Myself

After detailing bitching about how much I hate the afternoons and how working out in the afternoon is not for me, once again I found myself lacing up post-work. When I woke up yesterday morning, I decided that 2 extra hours of sleep was needed. The lull in the afternoon became inferior to some extra zzzs, and although I wasn’t jazzed about the change of plan, I was happy for some more sleep.

I actually felt better during yesterday’s afternoon run than last week’s , but my calves never really loosened up. I don’t know if it’s from sitting all day or what, but when I run in the afternoon my legs are always slower to warm than in the AM.

#teammorningrunner

A brief “mid” week update on Chicago training…

Today marks 5 days in a row of running for me. I know some of you are very used to this routine, but for me—I actually don’t know if it’s happened before. I try to fit in cross-training as much as possible simply because I feel like it wards off injury, but with the mileage I’m trying to get in these next two weeks—spin and swim just aren’t going to happen.

I’ve already logged 36 miles since Monday—which, for me, is a ton. Today’s 10 miler, quite frankly, kind of sucked. I didn’t wear a watch (thankfully) but I’m fairly certain that my speed was deteriorating the entire time. This run was what you would call “junk miles”: miles done simply to add onto overall weekly mileage, without much agenda for speed, tempo, etc. I was glad I did it, but man—this sport can take a toll.

Luckily, I’ve got a sports massage scheduled for tonight—which is ideal timing with my legs being extra tired and me having a rest day tomorrow. Another 20 miler is on tap for the weekend, and although I’m predicting some unhappiness during the actual massage—ultimately I’m hoping it helps me work through my stiffness.

As for overall physical status, I’m doing pretty good. I’m definitely feeling the wear and tear of peak week training—but my legs feel pretty healthy relatively speaking. I’ve got a nagging tendonitis/shin splint thing in my left ankle, but otherwise no real issues of concern. Vitamin I(buprofen) and ice, you guys are the best.

I feel a bit like I’m walking on eggshells because I know high mileage and injury susceptibility go hand-in-hand, but so far—so good. If I can survive this weekend, and if I can survive final peak week next week, I’m going to be feeling pretty great going into taper time for Chicago.

 

Those are my updates for today, and now I want to know from you…

Do you call out to people when you’re passing them from behind?

How many days in a row do you normally run?

What’s your highest weekly mileage?

Have you ever had a sports massage?

Disneyland Half-Marathon Race Report

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Chances were that I was going to have a fan-flipping-tastic time at the Disneyland Half-Marathon. I wrote all about how obnoxiously tickled I was to be doing the race, and after the fact—it’s pretty safe to say that overall, my expectations were definitely met.

But let’s start at the beginning—because what’s a race recap without expo and pre-race details?

On Saturday, BF and I made our way from Pasadena, CA (where we were staying) to Anaheim to get our race packets at the Disneyland Hotel. This is about where my Disney-themed excitement really began and lasted until our final farewell to the park on Sunday afternoon. Typical expo scene—plus a boatload of Disney-themed running things, music, DJs, etc.

BF has a toothpick in his mouth, he doesn’t just look creepy normally.

Sorority pride in the form of exercise headbands! I didn’t buy one, but I appreciated the gesture.

The best part was the option to SEE the finish line.

I actually have never seen a finish line before the end of a race, and although I consider the finish line to be sacred ground, it was definitely fun to see where the grand finale would take place the next day.

If you read my post on Friday, you know that I really didn’t have high ambitions in terms of actually “racing” this race. I never intended on taking it too seriously, plus with peak weeks for Chicago afoot, it was the best decision to lay-off in terms of speed and effort during this race. Needless to say, I wasn’t nearly as nervous come race morning as I normally am.

It’s 3:45 am!!! No one has ever been up this early!! Let’s take a photo!

BF and I were both in Corral A, which was very nice, and we managed to do the whole wake up-drive-arrive-park-porta potty-corral-wait thing like champs. We had enough time that we weren’t stressed out, but we also only wait for the race start for about 10 minutes.

BF DON’T HATE ME FOR POSTING THIS K?

After the National Anthem played, FIREWORKS went off (yes, at 5:45 in the morning) and with the shot of a gun, we were off!

The race course was designed to highlight both the Disney parks as well as Anaheim, and it showed. I knew this race was bound to be impressive (both due to Disney’s reputation and the first born child fee it cost to get in, but I wasn’t expecting quite the spectacles we were given.

To start off, there were spectators nearly the entire race. And not just one or two “Go Mom!” signs…like, crowds of people lining the course, cheering everyone on. And not only general fans—there were cheerleaders, volleyball teams (weird?), bands, even a rally of old-time cars honking their horns. It was mighty impressive, and there’s something so great about getting your name called out even if it’s by a stranger.

We started off going through California Adventure, winding our way through the park. All the lights on the attractions were on, so it was really easy to see everything and everyone. It was at this point that there started to be characters along the course, which was highly entertaining. They were all definitely in character in terms of the mannerisms. Oh, and just about every princess was there EXCEPT for Belle. She was probably too busy reading and being an independent woman.

Mid-run photo fail. But you get the idea.

After leaving California Adventure, we headed into Disneyland for a run around all the different lands. It’s surprising how much smaller Disneyland feels when A) you aren’t 7, B) you’re running through it, and C)there aren’t hoards of people to meander around. Perhaps my favorite part of the race was when we ran down Main Street toward the castle. I got all kinds of giggly and we stopped for a photo.

Dark shot…but you get the idea.

At this point, the course was still decently crowded. I normally don’t mind crowds too much, but with BF and I staying together the whole time, all the weaving was a little annoying. But relatively speaking, everything was still well and good, and without a goal time—we really didn’t mind the bunching.

When we left Disneyland, we were around mile 5 or so and for all I knew we hadn’t really been running at all. BF and I were clocking a cool 8:50 pace or so, and I was so distracted/enthralled with the whole thing that it barely felt like a race.

The next 5 or so miles took us through Anaheim toward Angel Stadium. These miles were definitely less scenic than the rest of the course, but the race did a good job of making sure there were still groups cheering along the way. There was even an authentic mariachi band and Spanish dancers which was great.

There had been a few rolling hills at this point but really nothing significant. It was flat mostly, and it felt like a course someone would choose for their own run, if that makes sense.

Around mile 10 we came into Angels Stadium which is where the real cheering began. The stands were piled with all kinds of people cheering, and it was really encouraging to run into a professional ballpark feeling like the competitor. We ran nearly all the way around the warning track of the field, and they projected all the runners on the big screen by the scoreboard.

We were starting to realize at this point where some of the enormous registration fee went…

{BTW I took a video of the stadium crowds, but WordPress wouldn’t upload it. Sad.}

You might be wondering exactly how I/we were feeling at this point. I know race reports are typically filled with minute-by-minute details of when every Gu was consumed and when each calf began to cramp. But honestly, I have never felt better during a race. I almost felt like I was on an easy recovery run rather than an actual half marathon, and by Mile 11 I felt it might as well have been Mile 3. I did have, by the way, only two cups of water and no Gus during the race…and I choked on both cups. Still a skill I need to learn.

Now, it would be a lie to say that BF felt as good as I did. He was in pretty high spirits up until this point in the race, but around this time his endurance started to wane. We both expected this—so it wasn’t surprising, but let’s just say someone was not very excited about all of my “Look at that!”s and “I love this!”

However, he went almost two weeks without running at all (severely rolled ankle) and it wasn’t until two and a half weeks ago that he actually even started running again. He maxed out mileage at 8.5 miles last week, and although he was pretty confident he could finish the half—he knew it wouldn’t be pretty.

And although he was definitely feeling it around Mile 11—I was in awe of him. After very little endurance exercise, clocking 8:50 and below miles consistently is pretty damn awesome—especially when that’s only slightly above what he does when he’s in great shape. He was a rockstar.

We picked it up a little bit toward the end, and I asked if he wanted to hold hands across the finish line. He was game, and as we approached the end both of us were getting so excited and we picked it up a lot. Once the finish line was in sight, I knew we’d finish in under 2 hours (which wasn’t even a goal) and..behold, Mickey and Minnie were at the finish line! So, despite my hand-holding idea and BF’s compliance, the poor boy was left holding his hand out unheld while his Disney-freak girlfriend scurried over to Mickey and Minnie for her euphoric finale.

The photos are hilarious, and in the end we did hold hands across the finish line, but not before I got to slap those big gloves of love.

1:56!

For a race with no goal other than to go slow and have fun (and stop and take pictures!) this wasn’t too shabby. Mostly, I was just impressed that BF was able to pull off such an impressive display without much training.

And as for me, the race might as well have been 5 miles. It FLEW by, and I credit that to going slower than normal but also how much fun it was to see and hear everything going on. I LOVED not wearing headphones for this race, and it was really nice to be able to chat with someone the whole time. I’m not convinced these strategies would work in an actual goal race, but for a race with no agenda—it was perfect.

Ignore Mr. PhotoBomb in the background.

Finishers!

Disney Half-Marathon success!!

I loved this race, and after a quick baby-wipe bath and change of clothes, we were ready for a day at the park. That’s a post for another day…but I’ll show you how it started off:

Mickey waffles!!!

Going to the Minnie and friends BUFFET breakfast was perhaps the best idea I’ve ever had. Refueling from the race and prefueling for Disneyland at its finest.

The heaviest/coolest medal ever. We wore them all day.

Have you ever done a Disney race? What did you think of it? Did you dress up? Were you up as early as we were?

Chicago Marathon Training Week #9

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A lickety split recap of last week’s training—this whole “three day weekend” thing really takes a toll on how much work needs to be done in 4 days! Worth it.

M:  3750 meter swim

T: 10 m run in the afternoon, no watch, no iPod, no idea of pace

W: 7 m run, 5 @ 7:30 + BodyPump

T: Spin class + ~25 min stair stepper

F: 7 m run to the gym in 57 min, BodyPump class, 3 m run home

S: REST

S: 13.1 m run, Disneyland Half-Marathon

Total: 40.1 miles

This cutback week was needed BIG TIME. It felt really good to not run as many miles, and by Sunday’s half-marathon, I could feel how happy my legs were to have a little additional rest. Friday’s workout kicked my ass, but I kind of dug it. I normally take it a little easier on the leg weights stuff in BodyPump, but either way—running 3 miles following that class (one up a 5% grade hill) was h-a-r-d. But, since I had only been doing one hard strength session a week, I wanted to get in another while my mileage was lower.

And as for Sunday’s race…a full report will be coming up tomorrow. But for now, let me just say—I have never felt better during a race, and I’ve never had a race fly by so quick. It was magic—and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

Hope everyone’s long weekend was splendid! And just think—short week ahead!