August – Preparing for the Disneyland Half Marathon

So, I’ve been laaaaazy about my posting. But I haven’t been lazy about my running. Well, mostly I haven’t been lazy about my running. I’ve done it. But some of them weren’t pretty.

8/9 – 1.8 in 28:01 | 15:31
8/11 – 13.12 in 3:53:36 | 17:48
8/14 – 3.35 in 53:05 | 15:50
8/16 – 2.06 in 31:51 | 15:28
8/18 – 10.7 in 3:02:59 | 17:06
8/21 – 2 in 30:00 | 15:00
8/23 – 2.25 in 32:58 | 14:38
8/25 – 3.02 in 49:06 | 16:16 – Glow Run
8/28 – 2.23 in 34:13 | 15:19

58 miles in August.

619.31 miles since May 22, 2010.

The Disneyland Half Marathon is on Sunday. I’m super excited! And a little nervous! Still having a bit of a shoe issue like my first half. But I think I’ve got a good solution. I’ve got a fun new skirt and a tank top! Here’s a picture of the skirt and the fabric I bought. I haven’t taken a picture of the skirt that KB made out of it.

And here’s a picture of my new shoes.

If you look closely, you might notice that my left ankle is a little swollen. I’m not real sure what my issue is, but it’s been swollen often.

And here’s a video of me crossing the finish line at the Walt Disney World Half Marathon in January. Just because I think it’s fun. I’m in the pink shirt and black & white skirt on the right side of the screen.

I did get 13.13 miles in once and then we went shopping. I wasn’t nearly as sore as I was after our half marathon in January. And we did 10 miles a few times. Our goal this time is to visit the Disneyland Theme Park on Sunday, after our half marathon and a shower. And maybe a nap.

 

 

From Skiatook to Sperry and Back

Yep. We went from Skiatook to Sperry and back to Skiatook on the Osage Prairie Trail.

We planned to leave early to beat the heat. I set my alarm for 4:40, but I must have turned it off. I woke up to Sadie barking outside my window at 7.

So, we got ready and got to Skiatook around 8:30. And that was really too late to start such a long run.

I walked the first mile. I changed the intervals on my iphone app several times until I thought I could go 9 miles with those intervals. But that was silly of me. I did my intervals (run 2, walk 4) for miles 2 and 3, but I walked after that.

Mom walked most of it, too. She was in front of me, like always, but I could still see her in front of me. That doesn’t always happen. At 4.15 she came back to me like she was turning around. And in hind-sight, we should have turned around. She walked with me until we hit Sperry, which is 5 miles from Skiatook on the trail. There’s a water fountain just off the path, she filled up her water bottle, I made my own splash pad out of the water fountain ….

We’ve learned our lesson – we’ll always run with money. I’ve always heard my coaches say to run with money – you never know when you’ll be too far away to get back. But I’ve never gone far enough to need a ride. Like I’d be able to catch a ride if I did. There aren’t cabs where I run. And who in their right mind is going to take a sweaty runner back to her car? Even if she’s got money. And I don’t think I’m crazy enough to trust someone that says they’ll take me back to my car. Anyway, there was a pop machine on the left, just outside of the picture, and if we’d had money, we probably would have bought a soda. Maybe a water. But, we didn’t have any money, so Mom filled up at the water fountain. I thought I had enough water to get me back to the car. Neither of us did.

I walked the whole way back. At an extremely slow pace. Nothing on my body hurt so bad that I needed to stop, but my body just wanted to stop. It was so hot. So ridiculously hot.

The 2 miles closest to the park in Skiatook are the least shaded. Heading out, it’s usually not so noticeable, but when you’re 2 miles from the car, and it’s 11am, it’s just almost unbearable.

Between mile 8 and 9 I caught up to Mom sitting on a light pole in the shade. There’s a cement block under the light (you can see a light pole in the picture below.) She started to get up as I approached, but I told her not to, I needed to sit for a bit.

Then I sat on another one for a minute or two. I told myself that wasn’t helping me any. So I got up.

I’ve got too much “give up” in me to be an Olympian!!  Watching the Olympics is amazing! But I couldn’t do it!

And then I came upon Mom sitting in the grass at 9.06. I sat down with her. My dad lives in Skiatook, you can see one of these light poles from his back yard. I said we could call him. But Mom thought we could make it back without help. She said I could call to have him bring us cold water. HA If I call, I’m having him take me back to the car!!

We sat here for a few minutes. Then she decided she was ready to finish.

We stopped again at 9.22 and 9.6 in the shade of some trees.

At 9.6 she was done. I left my empty water belt (with my phone in it) and headed for the car. And then went back to get my phone. I wouldn’t be able to find her without the map from my phone! Wasted steps and energy right there!

I used my map app and found the route to Walmart, just so I’d know where she was.

And walked as quickly as I could. When I got to the park, I made a straight path just outside of the park, in the grass, to the car.

I picked her up and we went to Kum n Go. I went in and got us each a 32 ounce soda and I got 2 Krispy Kreme donuts.

Then we went next door to Carl’s Jr. where Mom got sweet potato fries.

And I’d sucked down my soda before we got to Sonic. So we stopped at Sonic for another soda. You might also notice that my fingers are swollen….. I don’t usually have fat fingers. Most everything else is fat, but my fingers aren’t so much.

And I had sucked most of the 2nd soda down before we hit QT at Highway 75. But we didn’t stop. Half a gallon of soda should be my limit. ;D

Mom kept saying, “I about died.” And we would laugh! This totally reminded me of the run we did 2 weeks before the Joplin Half when we decided we wouldn’t do it. But we’ve already paid too much to not do the Disneyland Half. And we’ve got several more weeks to train. We’ll make it and we’ll do well and we’ll have a great time. And we won’t do this again!!

And the splash pad at the Skiatook park was only open from 5-8pm to conserve water. That was a bummer!!! We certainly could have used a nice cold shower!

So, words of wisdom to avoid runs like this – DON’T RUN IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY WHEN THE TEMPERATURE IS SUPPOSED OT GET OVER 100!!!!!

Bedlam 5k

First – MY NUMBER WAS 1234!!!!!!!

Since Thursday, I’ve had two places on my left leg that have been tight. And those spots bothered me today. But they didn’t keep me from having my fastest average paced run in the last 12 months. (=

So …. maybe I won’t give up running. Maybe. I’ve asked KB to make me some more skirts. And I think I’ve talked myself into buying a Trigger Point. So maybe I won’t give up. After looking at the website, I’m interested in the ColdRoller, but it looks like it’s just for lower leg. It looks smaller than what should be used on quads. I’ve heard others mention freezing water in a plastic bottle and rolling on that. I may try that. (=

I’m very proud of my new running friends, CC and DJ!! Both finished about 20 seconds faster than me. Aaaaannnndddd …. a friend from middle school and high school finished 3 seconds faster than me! Also, another classmate was the first female to finish the 10k!!!

I set my intervals to run 2, walk 1. I figured that would maximize my potential.

I really did well the first mile. Actually, my Garmin beeped at 1 mile before I realized I’d gone that far. I truly rocked my first mile. That included the stinking hill/overpass over the train yard. I RAN UP THAT HILL! And down the other side.

The second mile wasn’t so good. Those tight places I mentioned earlier were really bothering me the 2nd mile. I walked several run intervals.

I picked it up again on mile 3, thinking I just needed to push through the pain if I could. I mean, I don’t want to hurt myself with the half marathon so close, but I wanted to do well in this run! I ran the last .15 at a pretty fast pace. I was really ready to be done! I get pretty close to the finish line and see one of the P2 coaches waiting to run our group in. And I don’t think she saw me. And I was relieved. Until KB’s husband saw me. DANGIT! And as I usually do, I took off at the very end.

Mom didn’t run. She worked the registration table early this morning.

I went 3.17 in 42:52 | average pace 13:31 | Mile 1 – 12:56 | Mile 2 – 14:19 | Mile 3 – 13:52 | Mile 3-3.17 – 1:44 (10:16 pace)

Left to right – M, CC, DJ, and me

Then we went to the Cherry Street Farmers Market! Holy cow was it hot!!! I can’t believe there were so many vendors out there with as hot as it was. Mom was looking for some beeswax lotion bars. There was someone there last time. But they weren’t there today. So, I searched pinterest for a recipe and found one. And we had all the ingredients. So I made them when I got home.

After the Farmers Market, we went to Whole Foods (with a stop at Kum & Go for Krispy Kreme donuts first.)

All in all, it was a good run and a good day. I suppose I’ll keep my mind open about running past my half marathon. 😉

Last week of NoBo in Owasso, this session anyway

And I couldn’t be more relieved. I’m not looking forward to the goal race on Saturday. My goal when I started was to run the 5k in under 40 minutes. Most people do this with very little effort. I have done quite a few 5ks and have yet to be under 40 minutes. I’m slow. And for the most part, I’m okay with that. But I’ve really struggled these last few weeks.

I love most of the people I run with. I love the camaraderie. We have a good time together. But I haven’t enjoyed the runs. And I know that not all runs are created equal. (= I know that there are so many factors that determine a run. But I really do feel like after we do the Disneyland half marathon in September that I’ll be done running. I’d be done after the 5k on Saturday if we hadn’t already paid for the Disneyland half. .

I hope this feeling changes. But right now, I’m ready to quit. And that’s a tough place to be because I’ve got 6 more weeks of training.

The last few weeks, probably since we moved up from running 3 minutes at a time to running 4 minutes at a time, I’ve had a hard time. If you’ve kept up with my blog, the second time I did No Boundaries in 2010 I started out with the P2 group. And I did well until we started running longer. And then it was just too fast for me. So I went back to P3 and did fine. And so my guess is I’m pushing too hard in the beginning and I run out of steam for the end. And in 2010, I was okay with that. The advantage I’ve had the last few weeks is that P2 and P3 have run together so I didn’t have to worry too much about slowing my group down.

I really would like to go faster, but at this point, I’d like to be able to do all my intervals.

The heat has been a huge factor. I’m proud of myself for competing this session. And I’m still hoping to be under 40 minutes on Saturday. We’ll see how that goes.

I went 2.59 miles in 41:26 | Average pace 15:59 | Mile 1 – 14:27 | Mile 2 – 16:32 | Mile 2-2.59 – 10:27 (17:40 pace)

7.23 on the Osage Prairie Trail

This week has not been a good running week for me. I didn’t do well on Tuesday or Thursday. But I did show up, so I do give myself credit for that.

And I really wasn’t feeling up to running a long run today. But I showed up.

Before the run, I thought I should do 8 miles. Remember, Mom and I are training for a half marathon. Mom set out to do 10. Because she’s crazy.

She started off really well a and kept going!

I could have turned around after 5 minutes. And then I could have turned around at 2.5 and finished 5. And that would have been okay. And I probably should have done that for my feet.

But I didn’t. I went a little more than 3.5 before turning around. So I finished with 7.23 miles.

My feet hurt. I walked a lot. You’ll see below that after I hit mile 2 I was pretty much done running.

Mom drove today so she gave me her car key in case I finished before her. And I did.

I decided on this run that after the Disneyland Half Marathon, I’m done running. I don’t like spending so much time running. For real. I spent 2 hours and 15 minutes “running” and another hour driving (round trip) to do the running.

The fun thing about running at the Osage Prairie Trail is that there’s a splash pad at the park at the end. And the splash pad felt nice. But there were quite a few families there so I felt a little awkward. Especially since I was waiting on Mom to finish.

I went 7.23 miles in 2:15:00 | Average pace 18:40 | Mile 1 – 17:01 | Mile 2 – 16:14 | Mile 3 – 18:08 | Mile 4 – 20:02 | Mile 5 – 19:01 | Mile 6 19:34 | Mile 7 – 19:46 | Mile 7-7.23 – 5:11 (22:18 min/mile pace)

Mock 5k

Love this pic!! (= I promise I haven’t done any spray painting lately….

It was hot. Really hot. I heard on the radio on my way that a storm should be rolling through. I hoped it would make it to us before we started running. But it didn’t.

When we took off, it was so hot!

There was a bit of confusion. I thought Coach KB said we were going to run with Coach N. But I was wrong. Coach N was running with N3 running 9 minutes and walking 1. Um, no. No thanks. Sorry Coach N, I’m not that crazy.

So we ran to catch up with our P2 group. Then D and I decided to fall back to P3. That was an excellent choice. C was just cruising along with P2. I’m very proud of her!!!

I gave up on running before we were half done. But there were still quite a few people behind me so I didn’t feel too bad!

C fell back and D took off!! She was cruising!

C and I finished the 5k together. I’m very thankful to have a friend to talk to while walking!!

Since I wasn’t in a hurry to finish, I took a few pictures ….. I love this one. There’s a “Tracy Park” in Tulsa and the sign even has tulips, my favorite flower!!

At mile 1.84 these rolled in ….

And at mile 1.94 it thundered. Just after it thundered, it started sprinkling.

At 2.84 it started pouring down rain so we ran to the store!

We certainly could have used cooler temperatures from the beginning this evening!

I’m hoping for a personal record (PR) at the Bedlam 5k, completing my 5k in under 40 minutes. I did not do that today …. not by a long shot ….. but there’s still a chance I can do it on race day!

I went 3.11 miles in 51:46:07 | average pace 16:39 | Mile 1 – 14:30 | Mile 2: 16:32 | Mile 3 – 19:09 | Mile 3-3.11 – 1:35 (14:37 min/mile)

Awful run

For real. The only good thing about this run is that I did it.

There were obstacles to overcome, though.

• Sunday, Mom and I stopped at a neighbor’s house to buy some home-grown tomatoes. And I fell in their yard. I’d like to say I fell in a hole but I just don’t believe that’s the truth. I think my left ankle just briefly gave up on me. It was sore and swollen. May have still been a bit sore and swollen today, but not enough to slow me down. And really didn’t hurt while running.
• I had 3 fillings from my childhood re-done at 4pm and we meet to run at 6pm. I was still numb. I wasn’t completely back to normal until just after we finished running.
• It was really hot outside!

It may have been a combination of all 3. It may have been all mental, but I just didn’t do well on tonight’s run.

I started in the back so that I wasn’t tempted to keep up with Coach N. I did eventually catch up to him. And then I couldn’t run anymore. LOL Maybe that was my problem.

The intervals were run 4, walk 2, 6 times. I ran the first 2 intervals just fine. Pretty sure I walked the 2nd half of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and walked the whole 6th interval.

******

This past Saturday, I only went 2.13 miles. Mom and I thought we’d do 8 this weekend but we had so much going on we didn’t really have time for 8. And we didn’t get up early enough for it. So we went to the track at Oologah Public Schools. The track is good and bad. Good – it’s a little cushy so it’s easier on your feet, you never get too far from the car. Bad – there was very little shade, you can stop at each lap!!! Mom got 4 in. I gave up after 2.

Then we went to An Affair of the Heart and I turned my Garmin on then put it in my sack pack. I don’t believe my Garmin’s completely accurate, it says we went 9 miles in 2 hours and 44 minutes. While walking around in a crowded fair type atmosphere. I doubt we went 9 miles and I doubt we did it in 2 hours and 44 minutes.

What I know about running gear

I’m not an authority on gear but I am a runner who made poor choices before I knew better.

(I wear a lot of Under Armour (UA) stuff because I like the way it fits me, but you find what fits you!)

Let’s start at the feet. For real. If you do nothing else for yourself as a runner, GET YOURSELF FIT PROPERLY FOR SHOES!!!! Fleet Feet has a well trained staff ready to help you out in this area. And they’ve got two locations to serve the Tulsa area.

In addition to shoes, you need tech socks.

I’m going to stop there and talk about tech gear. “Tech” stands for “technical” and it’s a man-made fabric that contains NO COTTON and has wicking capabilities (pulling moisture away from your body). Do you hear me? NO COTTON! Cotton is rotten. If you don’t believe me, do some comparison runs. Run in your beloved cotton. You think it should be good for you because it’s a natural product. But cotton is heavy and when it’s wet, it holds onto the moisture. Seriously. If you think nothing’s better than cotton, test that theory! But …. not all tech shirts are created equal. If it feels heavy on the hanger, it’s probably going to feel heavy on you.

So, tech socks. Important. If you run in cotton socks, you could end up with blisters. I remember a friend complaining at the 2010 Jingle Bell Run that she wore fun, festive Christmas socks that were cotton. And she ended up with blisters. Do other things to make your running outfit unique. Run with tech socks. They’ve got them in colors if you’re that serious about it. I personally only buy one kind and color of socks (I got them at Fleet Feet). Because I don’t want to have to spend much time matching them. So my tan line on my ankles is getting worse every time I run. (=

I wear UA under armor under my UA compression shorts. (Actually, I wear them most days because they’re that awesome, I own 9 pair!) I was hesitant about compression shorts. Seriously, TIGHT shorts? Can’t possibly look good. But they’re a really good idea. Cover them up if you want.

When I started, I ran in what I called sliders with tech shorts over them. The outer shorts rode up. So I started looking for skirts. That were WAY too short for my fat legs. This is where the KB skirts came in. KB makes leotards. And she’s very good at it. So I asked her if she’d look into making skirts. And she’s been my skirt maker since!

You don’t have to wear compression shorts, but make sure your shorts are a technical fabric. Compression shorts help keep unnecessary rubbing to a minimum, though.

Most of my shirts are UA lightweight shirts. I have them in sleeveless, short sleeve, and long sleeve. Because they’re that awesome. SUPER light weight. May even be a little see-through. But not bad enough for anyone to tell me not to wear them. And I’d hope my running friends are honest enough to tell me not to wear something.

Ladies, no matter how big or small chested you are, you need to support your girls. Fleet Feet can also fit you for a nice sports bra. They’re expensive. Mom bought one a few weeks ago that was $56. Personally, I wear a regular, supportive bra and then a sports bra over it. I feel well supported. If I didn’t, I’d be at Fleet Feet tomorrow. Strap ’em down! You might be less worn out after your run!

Hats and visors are awesome. They keep the sun off your face and out of your eyes. Again, make sure it’s tech.

Sunglasses are a very good option as well. Here’s something you may not know – don’t buy the ones that plaster to your face for running. They’ll fog up. In hot weather. And cold weather. Give your face a little breathing room. (=

And here’s something else that I run with that I consider necessary – a water bottle. I started with this one. It was awesome. The others seemed so small. I was so worried I’d run out of water! Turns out Mom’s the water hog! It’s insulated so the ice and water stayed cold through any of my runs. Then I got tired of carrying it in my hand. Seriously, I’d love a bottle like this that would fit in my hydration belt. I picked this gem up at the Walt Disney World Expo before my first half marathon. The belt doesn’t have any attached water bottle pouches and I liked that. I bought these “add-ons” for the belt. You can just wear one, which is what I use if I’m going 4 miles or less. I wear both if I’m going further. The belt is designed to sit on your hips and not move. Mine doesn’t sit on my hips, it sits a little higher. But it doesn’t move. It does make one of my skirts hike up, but not the others. It’s not a big deal. It’s got a pocket big enough for my iphone with several built in slots for an ID, cash, whatever. It’s got several places to store gu or small packets of things. And it’s got toggle things for your race bib. But I don’t use those because I don’t like the way the bib feels when it’s that low.

If you’re serious about running, you’ll want a Garmin. Because they’re that cool. I use an iphone app to tell me my intervals, that also plays my music. A Garmin can let you know when it’s time to switch from running to walking. But if you’ve got it set to do that, you can’t have it lap at each mile (at least with the version I have). I prefer to have my Garmin do the mile marks because I believe it’s more accurate than my phone app.

Headphones are also a good idea. Mom and I have gone through several kinds. I still prefer the ones that came with my ipod shuffle. I don’t want to run with the ones I got with my iphone because I don’t want to lose them. Silly but true.

The last thing I can think of is a Frogg Togg. I have a Chilly Pad. Actually, I have half of a Chilly Pad. Mom has the other half. And that’s plenty big. But now they’ve got a ‘dana that’s smaller and you can tie it together. I wrap the Chilly Pad around my neck and tuck the ends in my bra.

They make compression sleeves for your lower legs and your arms. I’ve never had a need for them so I can’t tell you a lot about them.

There are also several muscle releasing tools you can purchase at Fleet Feet. Again, I’ve never used them but I know people who swear by them. Check them out at Fleet Feet if you’d like more info.

Gear is important. Almost as important as being properly hydrated and fueled for your runs. If you don’t believe me, do some comparison tests. Let me know how they go!

Is there anything I didn’t cover? If so, leave a comment, I’ll tell you what I may or may not know.

Do you have an opinion on running gear?

I hate running late …

I hate running late. Reeeeaaaaalllllllllyyyy hate being late. Anywhere I go. Now usually, I’m a little more lenient on myself in the mornings because I like sleep more than I hate being late. But generally, once I’m up for the day, I’m early everywhere I go.

I was leaving work today to go home and take care of the inside dogs before meeting my running group and an alarm dings on my phone. I had a microdermabrasion appointment in 30 minutes. And it takes 45 minutes to get to her place in Claremore. AAAHHHH!!! I should have set my alarm for earlier. (And I did for my next appointment.) I usually look at my calendar during the day but it just didn’t happen today. So, I was 15 minutes late to my appointment. And then my lady worked on me until 5:25.

Mom went home to take care of the dogs.

And then I had to run to Owasso to meet my running group at 6. And I still had to change. The first hold up was a train. I know. Claremore means train in some ancient language. It’s not a surprise to anyone that’s reading this and knows the Claremore area. And then I got behind an older man who only went about 45 on highway 20. I’ll give him a little bit of credit, he couldn’t have gone a whole lot faster than that because there were people in front of him, but he wasn’t going as fast as he could have.

I hit every red light on 96th Street. And really wished I could have multi-tasked! I had plenty of time to change in my car.

I peeled into the parking lot to find everyone still inside. Whew! I changed as quickly as I could. And I was done just in time!

Ooohhhhh …. when I was sitting in the car at a red light, I did multi-task a bit. I put sunscreen on my face. Alcohol based Bull Frog (because it’s supposed to be better for my stupid acne prone skin.) And the microdermabrasion scrapes a few layers of skin off my face. So …. OUCH!!!!

So, I did pretty well on my run. The first 3 run intervals were awesome. It was hot. I can’t tell you the exact temp. Two signs in Claremore, in the same block, were different – one said 99* and the other said 102*. The one by the church we run for said 96*. The 4th run interval wasn’t bad either. We stopped at the water 2 and a half minutes into the run. And we picked up where we left off and I did fine. But my body just wasn’t up for the 5th run interval. After we stop for water, my body thinks I’m done running. KB says it’ll get better. I hope so, but this is why I carry my own water. During races, I don’t ever have to slow down at a water stop.

I did my best to avoid what soured my attitude on Tuesday. It wasn’t easy. But it was good for me.

I went 2.52 in 38:29 | Mile 1 – 14:34 | Mile 2 – 15:08 | Mile 2-2.52 – 8.48 (17:01 min/mile | average pace – 15:17

Less than 100* – not a bad run

Last week we upped our run intervals to run 4, walk 3. But it was sooo hot we slowed our pace down a bit. Because it wasn’t quite so hot this afternoon, we didn’t slow our pace. And that was okay for the most part.

I’m still doing a good job running at the front with the coach. The last 2 weeks it’s been Coach N. For those of you that really know me, I’m good with quiet. I actually prefer it most of the time. And coach N is good for that. He just runs along looking like he’s just out for an afternoon stroll. Until you notice that he’s dripping sweat. What is he doing to be that sweaty???

Coach LS was back today, but the other P2 coach wasn’t, so the P2 and P3 groups ran together again. That’s why Coach N’s been leading. He’s actually a p3 coach.

For real, running can sometimes make your sour attitude better. Running with people that irritate you can sometimes make your attitude sour. Would you believe that my attitude got worse today? I’m sure you don’t want to believe it. I typed a hateful paragraph but deleted it. This blog’s about my running, not how I let others affect me. (= I chose to run with a group and so I have to deal with the people God put in the group.

So, as we were getting ready to head out for our run today, I saw a couple of people wearing cotton. And I thought I’d take time to blog about proper gear. But it’s too late in the day to do that today. But maybe tomorrow. Be on the lookout for it. (=