Dude, you gotta try this!

Or not.

Running is a very individual thing. What works well for one runner might cause a different runner to get shin splints. Or chafing. Or a tummy ache. Or all three. Which could be truly disastrous in a race, to say the least. We have all seen that guy struggling at the end of a race, a look of pain and desperation on his face. It's gotta be the shin split - chafing - tummy ache triple combo. It claims millions of runners every year.* (*I completely made up this statistical fact. It is, in fact, a mythical non-truth. But I'm trying to make a point here, so humor me.) That guy probably took the advice of one of his runner buddies who very enthusiastically and convincingly said "Dude, you gotta try this! It has done amazing things for my running!"

While there's generally no harm in trying new things in your running (and some new things can, in fact, lead to increased performance, comfort, happiness, etc), there is a good time to try new things and there is a bad time to try new things. Let's start with the bad time. During a race. Never ever, ever, ever, EVER try new things during a race. I repeat, do NOT try new things during a race. Now, when is it good to try new things? Any other time besides a race, aka, during training. That's what training is for - to figure out what works for you, the individual, so that you will have an arsenal of strategies and tactics to get you through your target race.

With that said, I'm now going to list all of the things that do and do not work for me. I will not say "Dude, you gotta try this!" because I know that what works for me may not necessarily work for anybody else on the planet. But feel free to give these things a whirl in your training (NOT during a race) if you like. However, I do not claim any responsibility for any cases of shin splits, chafing or tummy aches that may result from trying these things.

Things That Work

1. Oatmeal, bananas, green tea, Sharkies, and Bonk Breakers. Not all at once, mind you. My standard pre-long-run breakfast is oatmeal, a banana and a cup of hot green tea. It has been for ages. It's easy on the tummy, provides lots of easily digested carbs (both simple and complex) and gets me going, in more ways than one (I'll let you all ponder the meaning of that) without upsetting my tummy like coffee might. Sharkies are my in-run fuel of choice. I've tried Jelly Belly Sport Beans, and while I love them for the taste, they do not contain any complex carbs. Sharkies are loaded with complex carbs for sustained energy, and they're easy to eat when nothing else is appealing (as is often the case late into a long run). Finally, after a long run, a Bonk Breaker bar is a surprisingly welcome bit of solid food with the optimal recovery ratio of carbs to protein (4:1). The peanut butter chocolate chip flavor is supremely yummy.

2. Injinji Toe Socks. They look weird. They are weird. But they are incredibly comfortable and they keep my toes from rubbing together and making big ugly blisters. Plus, the rainbow ones are made of recycled materials - how cool is that?

3. CW-X tights. You need a giant shoe horn to get them on - they're that tight. But once they're on, they feel fabulously supportive and aerodynamic. Compression speeds recovery, so I leave them on for a while after my long run.

4. The Garmin 405cx. I crave data. The Garmin gives me data. Lots of it. Maps of where I ran, charts of my pace, graphs of my heart rate, plots of elevation... I love it. But, I am an engineer, not a normal human being. I suspect that normal human beings do not need or want all this data...

5. Cross-training. Specifically, resistance and flexibility training. I do weights twice a week. Heavy weights, not wussy pink girly weights. Part of this is because I'm also training for the Pump N Run Challenge. But part of it is because lifting heavy weights works. It builds strength, power, and develops more fat-burning muscle. During marathon training, a time when the body cannibalizes muscle, weight training keeps me from losing muscle. I also incorporate plyometrics into my strength training to build power. Running and lifting heavy weights make a person tight and inflexible. When I get tight, things hurt. I gotta stretch. My new favorite way to stretch is Active Isolated Stretching. I also enjoy doing Yoga.

Things That Do Not Work

1. Frickin' frackin' water bottle holders that go around your waist. I hate these things. They are great in theory - they allow you to carry water with you without having to carry a bottle in your hands. But for people like me, who are high-waisted, and do not want to wear these things right up under their boobs, they are the most annoying thing ever invented in the entire history of running. See, I don't want to wear it around my natural waist. I want to wear it on my hips, so it doesn't cut into my stomach and lungs. But try as I might to get the thing to stay down on my hips, it always migrates up to my waist after a while. So I am constantly pushing the stupid thing down. Unfortunately, I have not found a better solution to the need for hydration, so I suffer with it. Fortunately, I will not have to suffer with it on race day, because races provide plenty of water (usually).

2. Running shorts. You know the ones. The short shorts with the revealing side slits. Yeah, I can't wear 'em. They look heinous on me, for one thing. If I had a runner's body, perhaps they would work for me. But I do not. I have stubby legs. Short shorts just make them look stubbier. And they rub between my thighs, which of course leads to chafing. I am also convinced they cause shin splints and tummy aches. Okay, maybe just tummy aches. The thought of wearing them definitely turns my stomach.

3. Running in the rain. I love the concept of running in the rain. Unfortunately, as a wearer of strong prescription eyeglasses, I find that rain just makes it very very hard to see where the heck I'm going. If someone could invent some eyeglass windshield wipers for just this purpose, I would be eternally grateful.

4. Using races as "training runs". Yeah, refer to last weekend's half-marathon "training run" for the scoop on that. I simply cannot run a race "easy". My brain won't let me.

5. Gels, Gu, Cliff Shots, etc. They cause shin splits, chafing and tummy aches. And IT band syndrome! True story. Okay, maybe it's not exactly like that. For me, it's a texture thing. The mere thought of energy gels makes me gag. So there's no way I'm consuming them during a long run when I am already adverse to food. Lots of people swear by them. Maybe you are one of those people. In that case, I have a collection of various gels that I've picked up at races and expos that I'm not going to use - do you want them?

Peace. Love. Train.

Oooo look, a penny!

If there is one thing I learned from running the Lincoln Memorial Half-Marathon this morning, it's that I am simply unable to run races as "training runs". I may start out with every great intention of taking it easy and running goal marathon pace. But there is just something about being in a race that makes it impossible for me to hold myself back. Maybe it's the excitement of all the runners. Maybe it's the cheering spectators (in this case, all 12 of them). Maybe it's the smiling volunteers at all the water stops. Or maybe it's something deeper and more profound... like the supreme feeling of awesomeness that only comes from passing other runners.

This was a small race, as half-marathons go, with just over 1,000 participants. (By contrast, the other half-marathons I have run have all had well over 25,000 participants.) But it started out as any other race - everyone milled about around the start line, trying to stay warm (the weather was cloudy and cool), and before we knew it, the gun was fired and we were off.

My husband Matt, me, and our friend (and fellow FAST member) Niki

If there's another thing I learned from today's race, it's that I really don't need to drink much water before the start of the race. Because very shortly after I started running, I realized I really needed to pee. It wasn't poor planning. I peed a good 12 or 13 times before the race. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration. But when you gotta go, you gotta go. I knew I wouldn't be able to run 2.5 hours like that. There were two port-o-potties at about Mile 0.5. And apparently I wasn't the only one who had to go, because there was a line. So I stopped. And waited. And waited. And waited. And finally got in, did my thing, and got out.

In order to make up time from that little side trip, I sped up considerably. And I started passing people. At first it was only a few stragglers. But then I started passing more and more people. Even after I slowed down a bit, after doing my "catching up", I was still passing people. I grew hungry with power.

As the miles went by, I did a little mental math and thought I may have a chance for a PR if I could kick it up a notch toward the end of the race. However, that was certainly not my goal coming into this race. I had no intentions of coming anywhere close to a PR. And, as it turned out, I did exactly as I intended - I did not come close to a PR. The reasons for that were (1) I made the bathroom stop in the first mile which cost me time (2) after Mile 6, the course got rather hilly and (3) it also got really windy. So, I ended up being about 3.5 minutes short of a PR. Not bad, considering the circumstances, really. I had originally intended to finish in about 2:30, and I ended up finishing in 2:22:51. (My current half-marathon PR is 2:19:36)


I would like to take a moment to thank the gentleman at about Mile 12 who said "Just 1 mile to go, and it's all downhill from here!" Um. No. It was NOT all downhill from there. You big fat liar. I, of course, heard that and kicked it up a notch, thinking I would be able to sail through the last mile. Nope. There was no sailing. There were only more hills. Shorter than other hills in the race, yes, but hills all the same. And then the wind started coming at me full-force. How I managed to run a 9:49 pace in the last mile, with the wind so completely against me is anybody's guess. But I did. And then I saw my FAST teammates (there were six of us there today) on the sidelines near the finish, cheering me on. So I gave it one final kick and finished strong.

And then they bestowed upon me this most fabulous of medals:


I put a real penny beside it for comparison. And as you can see, there really is no comparison. The giant penny medal is so much cooler than an actual penny! This is by far the best half-marathon medal I've ever gotten.

Overall, this race was really nice. It was quite scenic - running through beautiful parks and historic neighborhoods. It was also cool to run past all of the Abe Lincoln historical sites, like the home he owned, the capitol building, Lincoln's tomb, and such. The race was well-run, with a good number of water stops and plenty of helpful volunteers and police keeping traffic out of our way. I usually like the bigger races for their excellent crowd support and ammenities, but this race was not really lacking in any of those areas. There weren't huge crowds of people cheering on the sidelines, but the people who were there cheering were great. The post-race ammenities were perfect too - space blankets to keep us warm, bottled water, and lots of different food (bananas, oranges, donuts, chili dogs, biscuits and gravy...). For the price ($45), it was a really good value. I would definitely run this race again.

I want to take a moment to shout out to my FAST teammates who ran today. To Coach Brad, who got lost in the cemetery and still managed to finish in 1:24 - way to go! To Tim, who set a half-marathon PR today - congrats! To Kristi, who hasn't run anything longer than 10 miles in a long time, and still kicked butt today - you rock! To Niki, who ran today's race as her first official half-marathon - woot woot! And to my husband, Matt, who isn't even training for half-marathons or marathons and still managed to set a PR by over 10 minutes today - simply amazing! Your speediness knows no bounds!

Peace. Love. Train.

Introducing the HILL OF DEATH

Do you remember me saying that FAST is made up of Speedwork Tuesdays and Hillwork Thursdays? Well, as all of my alert readers know, yesterday was Thursday.

I would like to introduce you to Glen Oak Hill, aka, The HILL OF DEATH (you have to say that with a deep, echo-y voice for the proper effect). This bad boy is about 100 feet of vertical ascent over 1/4 mile. Take a good hard look at the graph below (click it to see it larger) - the green graph is elevation. I'm sure it's not difficult to figure out where the *echo-y voice on* HILL OF DEATH *echo-y voice off* is. Although it's worth noting that even the 2 mile warm-up has a fair bit of ascent, but it's much more gradual. And it's a warm-up, so it's not like we run it all-out. When it comes to running the *echo-y voice on* HILL OF DEATH *echo-y voice off*, we are basically supposed to be running as hard and as fast as we can (well, not so hard that we can't make it to the top).


I was lucky. I only had to run the HILL OF DEATH once. The reasons for that were twofold: (1) I'm in a recovery week and (2) I'm running a half-marathon tomorrow, so in order to have fresh legs for the race, Coach Brad didn't want me running myself to exhaustion. But many of my teammates had to run the HILL OF DEATH twice or even thrice. HAHA - sucks to be them! (Sorry, Becky! ;-) )

I must say, running the HILL OF DEATH last night was a bit discouraging for me. I've lost a lot of my uphill power from Summer FAST last year. I know that this winter was about base-building and increasing endurance, and I am very pleased with how far I've come in that regard. But my power has definitely diminished in the mean time. It's also possible that yesterday's unseasonably warm temperatures came into play as well. It was 83º outside! I know I'm not acclimated to running in that sort of weather yet - I was sweating... er... like a pig! As a side note - does anyone know where the saying "Sweating like a pig" comes from? Because pigs don't actually sweat. But I digress....

The HILL OF DEATH is probably one of the most puke-worthy hills in the Greater Peoria area. It's right up there with Bishop Ave Hill. I have a love-hate relationship with these hills. Running up them hurts like crazy (I believe I gasped to Coach Bekah as I was nearing the crest of the hill, "THIS SUCKS!!!"). But they are so good for developing speed and power. And so I shall embrace the *echo-y voice on* HILL OF DEATH *echo-y voice off* with open arms and speedy feet.

Peace. Love. Train.