Running for the First Time (Again)

I keep hearing this theory among new runners and the people who encourage them that once you learn form and build some core strength, you can pretty much run forever. I was told with a straight face, not long ago, that once you run a 5K, you can easily run a marathon on no additional training. People sell books with this stuff.

Didn’t buy it then, and after yesterday’s run, I’m not buyin’ it now. I was worried about my recent lack of distance, with just over 4 weeks to go until half marathon day, and I was right to be. I woke up late for my planned 11 mile run, and it was already warming up. Alamedans, we’re not used to heat in general, and especially following on a winter that just ended a week ago (we hope), I knew it was going to be rough. Still, as I neared the half way mark, I felt great and thought about extending the turnaround point to 6 miles…which would have been bad.

On the way back, I was slowing some in the 8th mile, and by 9 miles it was over 80 degrees and I was completely spent. I tried working hard on form, as that often helps me extend a run that’s not going well, but even then was just not feeling it. If I *could* have run at a decent clip (and by decent, at this point, I mean sub 11:00), I would have, just to get out of the heat. But that was impossible. Most of the last mile was a walk.

Still, it was good to complete the distance, and I know next week’s long (planned 12) will be much easier for it. And I’m pleased that I held a (for me) great pace of about 9:45 with no discomfort all the way through 7 miles.

And now I’m going to go WATCH all those July 4 5K runners start the parade in 80+ temps while enjoying a nice iced latte in my lawn chair.

So. The hip ended up being OK after 24 hours. Cheers! I’m wondering if it wasn’t just a several-days-in-high-heels-at-work-itis thing. But I’m starting to think that instead of running a 5K and a medium run this weekend and having yet another low mileage week following on the previous I should really do a long run either Saturday or Sunday. It’s been two weeks since I’ve done anything over 8m, and with 4 weeks to go before the half, this is freaking me out a little.

At the same time, I would love to see what a reasonable time for a 5K is right now. I’m really curious. And fast sounds like fun.

At the other same time, this race is sort of a pain to run, because I see a lot of people I know while running it (either in the race or on the sidelines). And not only do I look like hell while racing on a hot (did I mention it will be hot, and the race time isn’t until 9:45?) day, but I feel bad for not slowing down to say hi. Sometimes I haven’t seen these folks in a long time.

And there’s something to be said for just hanging out on the Fourth and watching the parade. I miss the parade if I run the race.

OK. That tears it. New plan: 5m and gym tomorrow and 11m early (pre-heat) on Sunday. Parade and lounging on Monday. Some other 5K, after the half.

It’s time for pre-race paranoia. My goal race is just over a month away, and I’ve gone almost exactly six months without injury. So today, right on schedule and following on the bizarre foot blistering of the weekend, my right hip went south halfway through a 5 mile out and back. It’s not the usual right IT band, it’s higher. I don’t know what it is. But of course it has me in a complete tizzy, thinking I’m not going to make the Salinas Valley half. In addition to sinking several months of training into it, I’ve paid for the race and even scheduled a few days around it with Rob to celebrate our anniversary at a B and B. I’m trying to believe that this is just a temporary hiccup in the training.

I also was planning on running the Alameda July4 5K, but haven’t signed up yet and have no mental investment in it. So I may just see if playing possum works, with just a few easy short jogs over the next week.

Further tearful or joyous updates as events warrant.

Overuse? No, I’ve been very careful. Stupidly falling off a sidewalk? Nope, that’s why I’ve been doing the core work, so that stuff is less likely to happen. Heat? Uh unh. Ignoring injury warning signs? Never.

No, I managed to blister a huge portion of the bottoms of my feet by, get this, getting my shoes and socks wet on Splash Mountain at Disneyland on Sunday and then walking another 5 or 6 miles in same. It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that both Joe and I suddenly (and simultaneously) realized that walking normally was almost impossible, and hobbled on our heels back to our hotel. Annie had, sensibly, gone back to the hotel to change socks as soon as we got off the ride, and Rob managed to miss The Wave.

This week was already going to be an easy one (topped off by the Alameda July 4th 5K), but I do have four runs planned, and will gingerly attempt Number 1, tomorrow, with a Plan B rowing machine work out at the gym if it’s a no go.

The below is from an article about sweat rates on Active.com:

To determine if you are adequately hydrating on a daily basis, simply weigh yourself nude each day in the morning after having emptied your bladder and bowels. Your weight should remain relatively stable and not creep downwards. This weight assumes

• you are not restricting calories to lose fat-weight
• you have not eaten abnormally high amounts of sodium the night before, such as a water-retaining Chinese dinner
• you are not experiencing two to four pounds of pre-menstrual bloat.

In other words, assume you’re not a normal female runner (absent the Chinese food).

Running Times’ latest is all about heat, and I’m trying to feel good about running in it (’cause they say so). After Sunday’s near-debacle, I made sure I was up early for a pretty pleasant and only slightly warm 5 miler today. Tomorrow is 8 miles, my first mid-week run of any significant distance. I was supposed to do a long 11 this week, but the weekend is literally booked from 5am until midnight both days plus Friday afternoon/evening (conference and then Disneyland with the kids), and bumping the 11 up to so close to the last long run didn’t seem wise. So this is the plan.

I’m beginning to think I need a ‘hydration system’ to deal with long runs not in Alameda. We seem to be oddballs, having water on every bike path, about every half mile or so. Berkeley, Stanford and Albany have not been so endowed. (If I could find a ‘pee system’ to solve the other problem, I’d take that, but bushes are cheap and sort of exciting.) I can’t carry a bottle because carrying anything in either hand creates a slight shift in my gait that causes my right shoulder’s bursitis to flare madly and quickly. (And no, I don’t need comments about granny’s bursitis.) So I need either a belt (and I have to admit to thinking these look really dorky) or a backpack (and I have to admit to thinking these look really dorky). So I’m taking recommendations for something that somehow doesn’t look stupid. I have some 14 and 15 mile runs coming up.

I was called upon to drive a batch of boys to Stanford this morning (at the last minute), meaning that if I wanted to do my 11 miler at home, I had to be on the road by 6am. After two nights out late that just wasn’t in the cards, so I decided I’d run on the university campus – it’s gorgeous, well-trailed, and there were lots of loop possibilities.

By the time I got the boys to their try-out and found a bathroom (that alone took quite some time), it was 10:45, and I knew that things were going to be grim. It was the first very warm day of the year. I’ll spare you the details, but by the end of mile 7, it was over 85 degrees, I’d only found water once, and I was having flashbacks to the cases in a paper I once wrote about heat-induced illness. I was a textbook case waiting to happen. So I gave up and walked (keeping a brisk 13:30 pace, at least) for three more miles…I was close to my car and my quads and hips were screaming at that point, so the 11th mile didn’t happen.

Not a success, but I don’t count it a failure. First I felt like not running at all, then I felt like not running the second loop, but I did the best I could and I’m sure my training and my body are the better for it. And the embarrassing story I’d have had to tell if I *had* ended up passing out was avoided.