Ramblings..

# I had a pretty awesome week. I finally feel my legs are getting back their spring (hurray!) and muscle tone (yes, I am vain!) after the post marathon sloth. At the moment, my legs are hilled-out, but the rest of me is really looking forward to more hill sprints in the upcoming week. Not sure why I like to be in disagreement with my body parts...maybe to show them who is the boss?

# My son is finally showing some interest in running. Lets just say he is not the athletic type (at least thus far), which is very strange because both myself and my husband are spending a good chunk of our free time (sometimes all) in our individual sports. Petru, on the other hand, likes to spend hours watching youtube videos of bridges, lighthouses and traffic signals/railroad crossings, only so that he can spend even more hours drawing what he saw, while asking us from time to time, "Which one was the 3rd one I saw, mama" (hm...that one!). But, recently he has shown interest in running. We have a daily race from his preschool to the car, and we even ran a 400m together at the track. He is all about winning and getting jelly beans, which is fine with me, as I believe in parenting by bribery using rewards.

# Onto more exciting news. I registered to become a running coach via Road Runners of America. The course will take place the weekend before Boston Marathon, about 10 minutes from my house. How could I pass such an opportunity? A while back I had a thought about combining my real job with exercise, and I think I am getting closer to making that happen.

# Here is the new addition (still with the label on) to our living room, "the bucket".


It stays in the living rooms filled with water, and both my husband and I take icebaths in it daily. It's convenient because we can watch TV/use the computer while icing. Also, it is tall enough so that I get more than 3/4 of my legs in, which is pretty good. It is hidden in between the couch and the bookcase (which in this pic looks book-less), so you can't really see it (and we do move it when we have guests). Having said that, I really think the next step will be do make the guest room or my study an exercise room - we have a step machine, bike trainer, lots of weights, a few medicinal balls, a foam roller, a stick, and many more. Time to get them a home!

Running strong

Thanks to all the advice and suggestions regarding my ITband. I think it felt the love, because it's been quiet since Sunday. On Monday I had an amazing run. I left the house thinking I am going to run until my ITband starts complaining (as Michelle suggested). Well, it never did. So I ran 3 easy miles and somehow ended up at the track for 3X1600m repeats with 100m RI, which I ran faster than I have ever run them before (6:17, 6:20, 6:15), completely surprising myself, particularly because they were not "all out" (and no puking involved). I am planning to run a 5K on Thanksgiving, and I feel a bit more prepared to run it after this workout. The course is pretty hilly (it's NH, everything is hilly there), but I am going for suffering on this one! All out, bring on the pain, see what you've got, puke if you have to, but never slow down kind of plan! Will let you know!

On a different note, I am making huge strides with my swimming. I am still confused about proper form - I watched lots of online swimming videos and explanations of free style technique, but I did not find consensus. So I keep experimenting, asking swimmers who look like they know what they are doing... But regardless, my 3 swims/week plan is working, because I am much more comfortable swimming free style, which is great. My arms are getting so strong (and sore)! I absolutely love swimming and am hoping that I will continue to see improvements.!

I am also biking a ton, since I am running less and the weather has been beautiful. I biked 70 miles last week, which is a record for me. I am now going at an average of 20+MPH comfortably for 15-20 miles at a time, which is progress since the summer. I still die on the huge hill back home (and ride v slowly on the downhill), but I am becoming much more comfortable with the corners and turn, so that is progress.

So all is really good over here. This week I'll be getting my H1N1 vaccine (hopefully) since I am in the priority category because of my work. I still have not gotten Petru's vaccine because the pediatrician's office got only a few shots and we were late making the appointment, but hopefully next week he'll get his. Chris will likely get one in February/March after the flu pandemic ends, since teachers are "not" considered priority in this country! Good thing that he has the best immune system and he never ever gets sick (though without the timely vaccine he'll be contributing to the spread and reformation of the H1N1 2010/11!

Rainy run and stubborn ITband

I had such an adventure running today. The initial plan was to go to the Fells with a couple of running buddies and run the Skyline and Reservoir trails, for a total of 13 miles, as prep for the "race" on December 3rd. Then someone checked out the forecast (not me, I never check the forecast, I just go run no matter the weather, which is not a smart thing when it comes to running on rocky trails) and the decision was made to skip the run. I was a bit bummed as I miss the Fells, but also happy because I could sleep in and truly enjoy our weekly Friday night game night (which I did!). In the morning I dilly dallied a lot. I mean, a lot. I knew that I had to finish the run by 11:00, so that I could go to a parent -teacher conference. Petru had a playdate which meant free time for Chris, so all was good. I never dilly dally my runs. I like to get them done and move on with my day. But this morning it was pouring and after Baystate my tolerance for running in the rain has decreased substantially. Since I don't check the forecast, I did not know that we are getting 11hours of rain today. Chris knew that, though, so I decided to brave the elements. Temps were reasonable. I put on a long sleeve swim shirt and short running tights, baseball cap and gloves, got my I-pod all ready with a running podcast, and off I went for my planned 12 miler. I was the only one out there, which was very different than what I am used to when I run on the Minuteman path. During the initial few miles I weaved a lot trying to keep my feet dry. Around mile 4 I encountered the first huge puddle which took over the entire path. Having no other way, I proceeded to run through it with water up to my knees (true!). Crazy! My feet were cold and wet for a bit, but the warm temps helped warm them up, until a couple more miles when I encountered the next huge puddle. By then I was having major fun. Running in the water is so different, in that one really needs to lift the legs up to keep up the speed. The only problem was that my ipod got stuck on "locked" which meant that I had to listen to the same podcast over and over...Around mile 8 I had to stop to tie my shoe laces (story of my life). When I started running again, my R knee locked and my ITband tightened up. %$#@! I stretched a bit, walked a couple of minutes, and the pain went away and I was able to run home.
12 miles, 7:40 pace.
My ITband is a little sore now, but not too bad. Not sure what's up with that, because before Baystate I've never had this problem. I had knee pain while training for Boston, but it was runner's knee not ITband. Darn! Back to the trails for me until the band shuts up for good! Do you all know how one can tame a stubborn ITband (aside from rest, icing, streching, strengthening, swearing, etc). Ahhhhh!

Pretraining phase

Thank you all for your advice regarding my plan for Boston. Although I've said it here that I don't like to do what I am told, over the years I have come to terms with the fact that more brains are often better than one. Getting older means getting wiser!

I still am not sure what the final plan will be. In fact, I did not know it for Baystate, either. The plan kind of evolved. So I am going to use a modified FIRST again (1 8-10miles with 3-4miles track; 1 8-13 miles with 3-6 miles tempo at 3 different speeds; 1 long run getting progressively faster; 1 easy run). I am going to do all the long runs and some of the tempos and speed sessions on hills. I am also going to do all out 10 sec sprints on hills at the end of some of the runs. So the mileage will stay the same, at least at the beginning. I worry about adding mileage, particularly since the runs for the 3:2o program are v fast (for me), like 3X6:22 mile repeats, and shorter intervals at an even faster pace, with 400m in the 5:XXs. The long runs are also v fast. Plus, I will, once again, run a 20 miler at MP or close to MP (hopefully) on the Boston course, as this has worked out nicely for me in the past. If I am adjusting well and feeling healthy (and we have a mild/moderate winter), I may replace a cross training with a slow run during the peak or sharpening period (whatever the new name for the most intensive training period is). Phew! Feel much better now that I have a plan.

I absolutely love the philosophy behind FIRST. It completely fits with my lifestyle and my personality. I run for the endorphins and for the speed. I don't like slow easy runs. They don't do much for me. I also have a hard time understanding how running slow (eg., recovery runs) can help more ran biking or swimming fast (which I plan to do)! I believe that one gets fast by going fast! This is why it is so nice that there are so many different plans our there, and everyone can pick what fits best for them.

Now I am in the "pretraining" phase. I am working on increasing my mileage (last week I only ran 22 miles), doing some intervals, all or most of it on trails (as long as the weather permits), and resting. In addition, I am focusing on plyometrics, core work and strength training (weights and short hill sprints). I have never thought I would say this, but I love this stuff! I feel so strong! On other (happy) news, my ITband is completely healed, yay!

First long run, or getting my endorphin kick

During my run today I kept thinking about how much nonrunners are missing out! It was one of those perfect runs: cool temps, shining sun, forgiving terrain (rolling hills and flats), beautiful ocean views.


This was one of the views from the run. Can you tell why New Castle, NH is my favorite place to road run?

My goals for this runs were....well, to see if my IT band will hold up to a road run (I've been running only trails since the marathon), and to see if I completely lost my marathon fitness. I also planned to focus on my form: small steps, body tilted forward from the ankles, not waist, pelvis pushed forward.

As I started, my thoughts were: "You are going to be so slow, maybe you should not even get the Garmin, do you want to have a slow run on record?". I told my brain to stop babbling, but ignored the watch for a bit and focused on my form, scenery, and the podcast I was listening to. At mile 2 or so, I looked at my watched and was shocked to see I was running 7:55s. Wow! That put a smile on my face, mostly because that pace felt easy and effortless. I kept running up and down the hills, over a bridge, with the ocean on my R, through a park, then alongside the ocean. My pace was 7:50 at the turnaround, and I was still feeling great. I also noticed that the more I would pay attention to my form, the faster my pace, and the easier it seemed. Hopefully pretty soon all of this will become automatic!

At this point, the endorphins were getting released, and I was feeling on top of the world. Of course, that led to even faster running, so that by the end of the 10.1 miles, the average pace was 7:40 (this included a 400m sprint). I had to run up and down the street to get that .1 on, but I really want to start adding .1 or .2 to all my long runs, to get myself used to the fact that my marathon will most likely be a 26.5.

So now I feel much more prepared to spend a couple of hours at the McDonald's indoor playground doing my share of parenting as my husband plays tennis and makes dinner for our friends tonight! My brain is spinning with thoughts about my training plan for Boston. I am reading Brad Hudson's book "Run faster", and will incorporate some of his ideas into what I did for Baystate. My main dilemma is whether I should increase mileage or now. I ran Boston on 30 miles average, and Baystate on 40 miles average. Am I ready to go to 50? Would that help? I definitely want to run only 4 times a week, because I like to have 1 day of rest/Xtrain after every key run, so doing 50 miles would mean lots of looong miles, or double runs, which honestly I doubt I could fit into my schedule. I also have to take into account that I am still a beginner, with less than 1 year of actual training for a race, so my muscles, bones, tendons, are still getting used to running and getting stronger! So blogger friends, share some wisdom!

In return, I leave you with my view as I type this post, from my mom in law's house in New Castle, NH...

Back at it...

...at running, that is!

After the marathon I took some time off of running, to heal all the micro tears (hopefully) and tame a stubborn and painful IT band. I did not run at all the week after the marathon, and only did 3 short runs last week. I did not miss running, as much as I missed training. I miss training right now. I miss a hard run. This next couple of months I am under strict orders (from myself) to take it easy, build up my mileage, and run for "fun", mostly on trails. This is hard for me, but my body needs it. I've raced 2 marathons and 2 half marathons in the past 7 month. That is a lot for a beginner like myself. The body needs time in order to be able to handle the heavier training load that would give me a shot at a 3:20 at Boston. To keep things (a little) interesting, I may do some hill work, may run the Thanksgiving 5K (depending on the status of my IT band) and will do a trail race in December.

Although I miss training, I am enjoying having more free time, and focusing on strength training, swimming and biking. For the past 2 weeks I went to the pool 10 times, and swam between .75 and 1.5 miles each time. The lifeguards and I are on first name bases. I bet that I am the source of many jokes among themselves. As a teenager, I would have cared.

Swimming is so different from running. It requires complete concentration (at least in my case). I am an ingrained multitasker, but somehow focusing on gliding, breathing, flipping my legs, rotating my body, and moving my arms with complete strokes all at the same time seems so challenging to me. If for a moment I lose concentration, everything falls apart. Lets just say that my chlorine blood levels outta be very high right now. Swimming also makes me super hungry for anything peanut butter like.

I have also been thinking about getting a running coach. For exactly 2 seconds. I know it would not work out very well for me (or the coach). While I like telling people what to do (just ask my husband), I have a hard time doing what I am told (just ask my husband). Instead, I joined a running club, Somerville Road Runners. I hope to be able to meet some faster folks to keep me company while training for Boston. I also feel the need to be part of a bigger running community, with people who sleep, eat, drink, think running like I do (or more, more is even better).

That's all from the Running and Living front. Lots of living, little running, but that will change very soon! This is one change I am looking forward to!

My running form..

or lack of it...

Case in point. Lets not even talk about the facial expression. I was trying to sprint here, and I always open my mouth during hard effort. Not sure why. (It started in childhood during gymnastics. There were noises then, too, a la Monica Seles.). So, not sure what was happening with my legs here, the L one is crooked to the L, I am about to land way in front of my pelvis, my arms are not sure what to do with themselves....Pretty bad!

In May I ran a 1/2 marathon and when I looked at the pictures I was appalled. I looked hunched over in all of them (worse than this, if you can imagine). I started reading about form, and made some changes such as shortening my stride, increasing my stride rate, paying attention to my posture, standing up straight, landing under my pelvis, and striking with my forefoot.



When I got my pics from the Swanzey Half I ran in September, I saw a huge improvement in my form. I was running straight, with a short (and quick) stride. This picture was taken at the beginning of the race (mile 4 or so), where I made a conscious effort to keep good form (I was looking down at my feet, very serious, concentrating on my form).


So I made some improvement. But, obviously I need more work with my form when I get tired. I can hold on to an OK form up to mile 20, but when my legs get tired, my form gets out of place - I hunch over, my stride becomes too long, my arms all over the place, etc. So what to do? What exercises/drills are you doing for form? Any suggestions about improving form during the last miles of a long race? I don't want to be nicknamed the "hunched over runner". Help!