high altitude training

First off, on Saturday the 15th, I had one of the best runs I've had in a long time. Did 8 miles and ran the second half faster than the first half - which was my goal. I did it in 1:20:18 - just 18 seconds off a flat ten minute mile pace. So I was pretty happy. Especially since 3 of my last 4 miles were actually about 9.5 minute miles. So that was good.

Then I went to New Mexico and took a few days off. Also, was not eating as well as I have been. Ate a bunch of ice cream. Thursday evening I ran for 4.5 miles, which was partially deliberate and partially because I got lost. :) I had wanted to go 4. I ended up calling my sister to have her come pick me up, and a good place to stop was at 4.5.

Anyway, then I decided I really should do my long run the next morning - because Los Alamos is so hilly and at even higher elevation. So, the day before my long run, I had salad and a milkshake for lunch, and more salad for dinner. And went for a run. Not exactly the best way to prep for a long run! So I did 7.5 miles, but I was very tired and felt drained. But I was happy that at least I went!

Last night I went running even though I really didn't feel like it. I was glad I went once I got back though! Unfortunately, my watch battery ran out on the run, so I don't really know how I did. Though apparently my first mile was under 9 minutes, so that explains why I was so tired in the third mile. I went about 4 miles, but have no idea how long it took me. I was happy that I was able to sprint in the end. So all in all, things are getting a little better with the training.

wow I'm bad about training these days

So here we are - mid March, and I am so proud of myself because I actually worked out three times this week. Monday it was raining, so I exercised here - lunges, squats and whatnot. Tuesday went and ran and Wednesday too. However, why am I proud of this? That should be every week! Anyway, I am getting back into the swing of the working out thing. Next week I go to New Mexico, but I am planning on running there too! Afterall, May just keeps getting closer! The fundraising is coming along, though not quite as quickly as we had hoped.

Two days in a Row!

It's been way too long since I've actually gone running two days in a row. The second day was pretty tough. Today it's raining (and lighting and thunder) so it looks like I'm out of luck for today. Monday I ran 40 minutes - pretty much 4 miles. It felt good, but I was tired by the end. Then last night, just 30 minutes, and I walked a little of it and didn't even get 3 miles. I felt kind of pathetic. But I'm happy that at least I'm getting back out there!

Also - we are doing another push for fundraising, so if you haven't donated please do! Also, for those of you in Houston, we're doing a fun event with a silent auction at a brewery. Check out our website www.brantandhanako.com for more details!

Training

Good grief - I cannot believe it's been since November since I posted. We haven't been training nearly as much as we should have been either. But since my last post - we did a turkey trot in Dublin Ohio, which was a lot of fun. We got a bottle of wine for participating, in addition to a huge medal and technical shirts. It was a four miler - and I was happy to be pretty much around 10 minute miles - just under, in fact.

December we went home - and though Brant went on a couple runs - I did not. So January I think I got in about 1-2 runs a week, not nearly what I need to be getting for marathon training. Brant has been doing a little better - he's at least doing the right distance on Saturdays. I've been doing my own version of training - which in theory would have been good - if I'd actually stuck to the plan. Instead, here we are - mid February - and my longest run has been 4 miles. Thankfully, I'm training for the half, so I think I still have time to pull this out.

Fundraising has been going okay - though we're always looking for more donations! If you know anyone - send them our way! Last I heard, my uncle is doing well - though the chemo has been making him pretty weak. They changed his regimen and he was starting to feel a bit better.

My plan is that starting today - I'll get back into good running habits....wish me luck!

Yet Another Reason to do Team In Training

Recently, we found out that my uncle, Gary Brown was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He has a slow-progressing form, and it's in stage one, so he has been given a good prognosis. He has started chemotherapy and will hopefully only have to have a few treatments, which is good. However, we would have been perfectly happy to never have a family member connection to this cause!

We will be running in his honor in Vancouver, and it has given us new motivation for the fundraising side of this adventure. It is a new reminder of what patients and their families are going through every day. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society not only helps to fund research, but also helps families directly with financial grants and a copay assistance program. We are glad to be able to do this, our small part in the larger fight against cancer, generally, and to support my uncle, more specifically.

Vancouver Here We Come!

Okay, so after the whole injuring my hip incident - I got into a big car accident and broke my pelvis in three places (among other things that were broken). After five weeks in a wheelchair where I could put no weight on my legs at all, and another month of slowly walking around - I have been cleared to start running.

I have gone on maybe a total of 8 runs since then and have been doing intervals - 2 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. I have no endurance left and no muscle strength! But I am really glad to be back out there and running again.

Brant and I decided to sign up with Team In Training again - we're fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to help find a cure for blood cancers. We're also training for the BMO Vancouver International Marathon. Brant's thinking he'll do the full, and I'm thinking I'll do the half. Afterall - I just got cleared to run! We are hoping to raise about $8000 and every little bit helps! So please - help us out! And I will do my best to keep this thing updated!

A Series of Bad Decisions

Well - I'm on crutches. Which - long story short - is the result of a series of bad decisions. But first, to get you caught up - since I haven't written since the end of March!

My ankle had me out of commission for about two weeks. And then it started feeling fine - so I jumped back into training. Things were going pretty well - though Robert (Team In Training Coach) and good friend told me that I really should run with Pete and Susan because they're faster than I am. I fought and fought - despite the fact that I don't think I've ever been able to go more than 10 miles with them before petering out.

Anyway, so sometimes I would still run the beginning of my runs with them. April passed without too much of note in my running life - except that around this time Brant decided that he would run San Diego too - so he started his training. Also - had really bad allergies so I had to run in glasses instead of contacts - which went better than expected, actually.

Oh yeah - and right after getting back from Atlanta I started working for Team In Training - which has been awesome!

Anyway, we had the 21 miler on May 12. I started with Pete and Susan - and then let them go on ahead - after about 9 miles. Then I started to notice that I was getting a blister. I went past a water stop - got to the next one - was really starting to feel tired - stopped to chat for a bit while getting water, then back to the first water stop - and I finally gave up and admitted I had a blister. Stopped and got it bandaged - but it still hurt. And I was really tired by this point.

Ran a bit more - though I had started walking up all the "hills." Then I started interspersing a lot more walking. Like half miles of walking. I finally made it to the end - taking much longer than I had intended. Maybe I started too hard, maybe it was too hot, maybe I was just tired.

Anyway, on that run, Pete's knee started hurting. So they decided they were going to run intervals. The next week I decided I could join them if they were doing intervals...so the next week I did the 14 miles with them.

We were doing a 7:1, which was kind of a weird interval for me - and I think we were running faster and actually potentially walking slower than I normally would. I felt okay though - until about two hours after the run.

And then it hurt. In my left hip. Especially to lift my knee up from sitting, but also just to walk, though it would get better the more I moved it.

So I decided I should rest it a bit. Tried stretching and whatnot. On Tuesday I went out for a half hour run - and was pretty miserable. I could tell I was limping, and so eventually I gave up to walk. On Thursday I went for a walk with Brant. That still hurt. So on Friday I went to see Caroline, my chiropractor.

She said I strained a muscle. They did ultrasound on it and told me to heat, stretch, massage and ice it.

Here comes one of the first bad decisions. I didn't really heat. Or massage that much. I did stretch and ice, but even that I didn't do as much as I probably should have.

I did take the week off of running.

And then I went to San Diego and started a marathon.

Which apparently was another of my bad decisions.

According to Dave, Tyson, Brant, Marisa and her sister Crystal (we all started together) I was limping from the start. I kept up with the boys for a while though. I ended up letting them go ahead when they were running 9:45s instead of 10s like they said they were going to run. At the 10K I was doing really well. I was pretty much on a 10 min mile pace and was pretty thrilled with that.

I felt tired - but the good kind. My hip hurt a little, but I thought I could push through it and finish out the race. I was so excited when I passed the 5:00 pace group. I thought I had a good chance of even catching up to the 4:30 pace group. I was in good spirits.

Somewhere around 8 miles we went onto 163 and hit roads with the worst cant I have ever run on. I swear it must have been 30 degrees. (I want to say 45, but I know it couldn't have really been *that* bad, I mean, people do drive on this road...but it was really really slanted!!)

I ran for a little bit while holding onto my hip because it helped me limp a little less. I finally realized that maybe that wasn't actually super healthy. Though I think three people had already asked me if I was okay by that point. I was really disappointed when the 5 hour pace group passed me again.

Eventually I decided I really needed to walk - the road was going on forever - and not getting any flatter. So I walked. And more people asked me if I was okay. I said yeah - I just strained a muscle a couple of weeks ago. I got a lot of sympathetic looks and words as everyone passed me by. One coach tried to tell me how to stretch my IT band, but I told him that really wouldn't help.

The further I went the more it hurt on each step. I started to look for friendly faces. I saw Mirna - one of the girls from the West Houston team go by and I cheered her on. Finally I saw a Team In Training coach from Houston - she was from The Woodlands, so we'd never met officially, but I told her who I was and that I worked at the office. (I was not wearing a purple singlet - so she didn't immediately recognize me as being associated with TNT.)

Thankfully - she walked with me for quite a while. I was walking at 20 min miles for a while, then it got closer to 24 min miles. There was no way I could get to the finish at that pace - they would have to pick me up. So I decided to stop at the half.

Saw Art - who is a fellow mentor from West Houston and will be a coach for the winter season. He walked with us for a bit until Leah - another West Houston teammate came by and he ran with her. Eventually Linda left too.

Brant's cousin Wendy and her husband Brian (and their dogs Spike and Pharaoh) caught up with me and walked with me for a bit too - which was nice. They had walked from where they saw Dave and Brant and Tyson. Brant and Tyson were together and Dave was out ahead of them. It was a good thing they'd walked or I wouldn't have seen them at all!

I was in a fair amount of pain - but I figured it was only a few more miles. (Another bad decision.) I went by two medical tents and didn't stop. I thought about it - but again - it seemed so close to the half...

By the time I got there even more coaches were asking if I was okay - I said I was fine and just asked where the cutoff was. Finally I passed the half marathon mark (it took me a bit over 3 hours) and veered off the course to the TNT half marathon finish. Met up with Wendy and Brian and then went over to get my half medal. Saw Crystal (her foot was hurting her - was possibly fractured, so she was doing the half too) and she said they could give me a ride to the finish.

I said bye to Wendy and Brian and went to walk over with Crystal. And discovered that I couldn't walk. At all. I could put no weight at all on my left leg. Not even to limp. Marisa and Crystal's parents were there, along with a few of Crystal's friends and another family friend. They started devising a plan for how to get me to the full finish line.

The friend ended up carrying me. Eventually - we even introduced ourselves. :) His name was Dan and had lived in Tucson and been friend's with Tyson, Dave and Josh Allen. He carried me over to a bus, and we all got on and rode back over to the finish. By this time, one of Crystal's friends had also gotten her long board from the car and brought it. So when we got to the finish I got to sit on the skateboard and get pushed to the medical tent. This was much easier for Dan. :)

At the medical tent I was given a bag of ice. Then one of the medics/doctors/volunteers came over to see how I was doing and tried to help me stand. That still wasn't happening. He told me that they couldn't really do anything for me there - so they could take me to the hospital, or I could have friends take me home. I opted for friends. Then he asked for the chair back. Ha ha. Since they could help others it did make sense. So we moved me over to a tree.

Dave had found us by this point in time - he'd finished in 4:21. I was impressed. His training wasn't much better than Brant's had been.

Brant and Tyson finished in 4:51. Marisa finished in 6:11. It was her first marathon! (If you want to read about her training and also more about Josh - who she was running in memory of, visit her blog at http://www.teamgiant.org/)

Anyway, eventually we skateboarded me over to the car - and went to buy some crutches. Looking back - I realize I probably shouldn't have been running. And I should have stopped any number of times. I don't know - I guess I figured that since I was still walking - I was okay. Apparently - my will is stronger than I give it credit for. I trained and went all that way - I was going to get a medal darn it!

So I've been on crutches since then. On Tuesday I could at least put a little bit of weight on my leg. By Wednesday it was enough that I could stand on two feet - just not one - so I still couldn't walk. And that's pretty much where I am today.

Yesterday I went to my orthopedist, who thinks I pulled a muscle. I start physical therapy on Monday. If I'm not doing a lot better by Friday I'll get an MRI to see if anything is torn. So keep your fingers crossed. A pull is much better than a tear! And I have the Nike Women's Marathon in October to prepare for - so I'd like to get better quickly! :)

(Okay, I swear - I really did learn something from this - I'm really not going to start running again until I get the all clear. And then I'm going to take it easy - and not push myself to breaking this time!)

Atlanta

Oh my gosh I never knew that Atlanta was so hilly. The whole 13.1 miles felt uphill. Though I do remember a few downhills (that I am now thinking I took a bit too fast...my ankle has been hurting me) it seemed like they were way outnumbered by the ups. According to my gps the uphills did outnumber the downs - but not by nearly as much as it felt like.

Anyway, I got my best time!! Which was great. Especially considering how hard the race felt, the fact that I stopped three times to stretch, and that it was pretty disorganized. There were no corrals - so at the start you had 15000 full and half marathoners just cramming to get forward. So the first few miles were passing walkers and other people who shouldn't have really been ahead of me to start. And then I think I got a bit over-ambitious and passed a few too many.

I definitely did my first few miles a bit fast - especially considering the hills. I ended up walking a few hills towards the end, and yeah, it was just pretty miserable. It was hot and a couple times I was almost in tears thinking "Why am I doing this?" and "I can't believe I'm already signed up for Nike! What was I thinking!?"

And there were no mile markers for the half marathon. So, yeah. Definitely not the best race I've ever been to. I bet next year is much improved though! And we did get a cool medal, so all is good. :)

However, that ankle hurting me is not so good. I ran twice last week still in my old shoes - and I think it was a big mistake. I havent been able to run since last Thursday. I have been icing my ankle, and it seems to be getting better. Yesterday I went and got new shoes and even just the small bit running in the store was enough to make it painful to stand again. So that's no good.

I am really excited about my new shoes though - they feel much lighter than other shoes I've worn. They fit a little bit differently though, so we'll see if I like it once I'm back on the trail. Which will hopefully be soon!!!

Two Days Til the Race

This afternoon I leave for Atlanta. And on Sunday I will run the half marathon. It will be my first race where I am by myself. I'm a bit nervous. Partially because I haven't been having great runs this week. I am blaming nerves though. Even though that is not good logic. :)

In the past few weeks I've had some great runs. I've been doing my long runs with some people from training, and while I can't seem to make it all the way to the finish with them (I start lagging behind right at the end) they have been helping me push my times.

I've also figured out how to run faster. Now, this is pretty silly - but here it is: You move your legs faster. So I've been picturing Fred Flintstone in my head and that seems to work as a mental picture. I've also been concentrating on lifting my knees more. When I do both I can run fairly easily at below a 9 min mile pace - now I just need to build up those muscles more so that I can do it for longer periods of time. The mix I end up doing in my long runs has me up just under 10 minute miles - which is still loads better than I've ever done in a race.

So I have high hopes for this race. Of being able to run the whole thing and run it well - without my body deciding to give out. I really like the energy in a race and I am counting on that pulling me through.

Keep me in mind on Sunday!

Atlanta here I come!

Another month gone by - another half marathon coming up. :) I signed up for the ING Half Marathon in Atlanta on March 25. Should be fun - though it won't be the race I was hoping for, since I haven't really been training as much as I should have been. I've run a total of 8 times since my last post. Not so good.

I did get sick in that time, and I went skiing in Colorado with Brant and his family, which was good fun, but will not help in my race preparations! Thankfully I have gotten back on track. This weekend I ran a good 5.5 miles at a reasonable pace, so I think I can at least build up my legs enough to run in three weeks without killing myself. It just might not be the PR I was hoping for.

Nevertheless, I will continue to train and run. Oh, and I did sign up for the Nike Women's Marathon in October - crazily enough - the half marathon is already sold out. It pretty much sold out during preregistration. So, maybe all the friends I was trying to talk into going won't be able to go now. Though Team in Training will still have spots of course!

Anyway, so things are still going, I am back into the running. Again. :)