The sound of my shoes

Running at 5:30 in the morning, when it's still dark outside and there's no one else around is admittedly a little creepy. But after about a mile I'm able to shake that off and enjoy being outside before the rest of the world wakes up.
You see, since I'm considerably slower than the rest of our running group I try to start at least 20 minutes before everyone else. This way I finish around the same time as everyone and the fabulous volunteers who provide hydration don't have to wait forever for me.
It takes a while before I'm comfortable with the dark and quiet. But after a little bit it's really amazing. This weekend I ran 12 miles, I was supposed to run 11 but I missed a turn and ended up running a bit more. So I set out a bit early and decided to keep my iPod off until the sun poke out a bit. The only thing you really hear outside are the crickets some birds and the sound of newspapers hitting driveways as the deliverer goes by. The road was a little wet so every now and then I'd hit a puddle I didn't know was there in the darkness and it makes the neatest sound. It was almost hypnotic hearing the sound of my breathing and my shoes hit the wet pavement as I got into a rhythm. It was as if I could feel God's presence helping me along. In fact I got a whole lot further into the run than I normally do before the rest of the pack caught up to me and some of the tougher hills weren't quite so difficult.
Only three months left until MCM. The long runs will only get longer from here on out, but I'm really starting to feel confident in training runs and hopefully that means that I'm getting in better shape and that I can do this!!

All things come to an end

Dear Treadmill,
I fear that our meetings must come to an end. I have a new love, the open road. I know that you have been there for me in the past, when I couldn't run more than 2 miles. We've had some great times together, especially since Spectrum had televisions installed on you. How we laughed during The Daily Show repeats, and grooved along to the music on VH-1 and sometimes MTV if I got to you early enough in the morning.
But now I find you boring. I can't stand to be near you for more than 20 minutes before I find myself hating the repetitive nature of our love affair. I find myself longing to be outdoors.
So for now we'll only glimpse each other as I head to the pool or to a yoga class. I may regret this decision if the winter in Texas ever becomes bitterly cold, but since I've managed to handle the deluge of rain we've had without turning to you too often, I probably won't.
I hope the others who use you treat you right and wipe you down after each use.
Thanks for being there for me in the beginning, but it's time to move on.

Alas! an update

Sorry for the two week absesnce. There's a lot to tell but I didn't want to keep people in suspense.
A couple of weeks ago my ankle started hurting during a long run (7 miles). Which worries me because it's the same ailment over and over. So I went back to the doctor. And he promptly ordered an MRI. He said that the x-rays his office has taken show no sign of any sort of bone fracture, so he wanted to have a look at my ligaments to see what's going on there.
So I had to back off on running for a while. On Sunday I had a 9 mile run scheduled. But knowing that I might not be up to the whole thing our training director said he'd check on me every couple of miles to see how I was feeling. Well I ended up being able to run all 9 miles completely pain free. I've learned that if I pay attention to my gait on downhills I have no pain. It's when I let the downhill completely take control that I have pain because my gait is going crazy.

Well the MRI was on Friday and I got a phone call Tuesday that the dr. wanted to see me in the next few days. Well luckily I already had an appointment scheduled this morning. I was pretty much fearing the worse: that I had indeed injured a ligament and I wouldn't be able to run anymore, much less complete a marathon.

The news wasn't quite so dire and my ailments seem to be fixable.
First I have a lesion on one of my bones. He said it normally comes from a history of ankle sprains. Well I can't remember ever having strained my ankle, but I'm sure I turned it a few times playing softball. He said it's nothing to really worry about as there's nothing they can do about it anyway.
But the cause of my pain comes from chronic inflamation near the ankle. So now I have to get prescription orthotics, which is what I thought I had, apparently I just have custom inserts. I'm sure the first is going to be even more expensive than the ones I already have, but he thinks it'll really fix my gait and relieve my pain.

So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers that I can make it through this training and the MCM.

A Girl's Gotta Eat

The thing about becoming a runner in Austin is that they have, what can only be described as, the best post run meal ever. Now, I realize that I live in what could be considered the Tex-Mex capital of the world. This is Fat-Antonio after all and we have no shortage of taco joints. But there is one taco that tops them all. One meal that ranks supreme. What's that you ask? The Don Juan from Juan in a Million. This isn't the sort of food I would recommend to someone who didn't just run 10 or more miles. Because it's a lot of food and it's a lot of not-so-good-for-you food. But the mound of egg-bacon-potato-cheesy goodness is really the only thing that satisfies after 2 hours of running. But alas, it's not in the cards for me to have until my next run in Austin. Until then I'll search for something comparable.
In the meantime I'm concentrating on finding the right pre-run fuel. Runner's World has an article in the August issue about running in the heat. Runners talk about eating the right fuel the day before a run. For one runner that's salad and fruit, because of their high water content. They also help with the carb loading. I think I'll test that out this weekend. As far as the hour before a run, I'm sticking with power gels, and pop tarts. Eaten at the right time they both give me some added oomph when I need it. I might start adding in some fruit (probably a banana) and a piece of bread and see how that works out for me. Of course I won't be eating all of that at one time. Too much food is as bad as not enough food. Hopefully I'll find the magic combination sometime this month, before the heat really starts to crank up and I become even more occupied with hydration issues.

back in the saddle

So Sunday was my first "long" run after having been sick for two weeks. I guess I'm using the word sick a little loosely. Every year around this time of year (I think it's because of mold counts, but I'm not sure) my allergies go crazy. And I'm not talking about a little sneezing or sniffling. It hits me like the flu. I feel hot, achy, and tired. And then it moves to my throat. The issue there is that my lungs don't like the humidity here. I have a little big of asthma because of it. So once anything moves to my throat I get a cough for weeks. In fact I still have it, but the other symptoms have subsided and the cough doesn't hit me as frequently as had been. Here's the thing about the cough, when it starts, it's a good minute of coughing, and it starts to hurt. But now it's (kind of) gone, so Saturday and Sunday I hit the roads again.
There are three training schedules with the program I'm with the Chicago schedule and the New York schedule and the half marathon schedule. Because New York is the week after Marine Corps, I've taken that schedule and bumped it up a week. Chicago is October 7, so I've been running their mileage as long as I could. This week they were running 11 miles, NY was running 8 and half marathoners were doing 5. Because I'm coming off being sick I decided to do 5 miles (since I've already run upwards of 10) and just get back into the grove. This did not work out like I planned.
The five milers were supposed to run to the water stop and back. Only the volunteer who was supposed to be at mile 2.5 was not there. So I doubled back about a quarter of a mile to see if maybe I missed him, no such luck. Well then I was confused about if maybe I hadn't gone half way yet. So then I see signs directing everyone but the half marathoners. But we run in my neighborhood and I know a route to get me about 3 more miles so I start heading that way. Then I see the coordinator how honks and sort of flags me down, but keeps going. So I think he either has water or I'm going the wrong way. So I go back, about half a mile before I see him stopped. With no water, instead he's fixing the signs, because the New York group is going the wrong way. Sigh. So I head back the way I started out. And get to a water stop a mile later. So now I've gone about 4 miles with no water. Bleh. So then there was a lot of walking for the next 2 miles back to the start. Took me about an hour, which isn't bad considering the back tracking and the lack of water. I felt lousy the rest of the day. I'm chalking that up to my first run back and no water. Have I mentioned the no water ;-)
But overall I'm glad to be back at it again!
This weekend 9 miles! I'm getting a little worried about the heat and humidity, but I think I'm going to slowly get use to this.