Surprise Chaffing and a Shoe Dilemma

This morning I was able to dive back into training. It was wonderful...well, it was wonderful when it was over. I had 12 x 400 intervals with a 400 recover and a mile warm up and cool down, for a total of 8 miles. I did the first six intervals at the same pace I did last week (supposed to be 5k pace), but after the first few, I noticed that I was winded as if I were sprinting, and 5k pace just shouldn't be that hard. So I slowed the last six down by about 30 seconds per mile and that was much better. I hate doing that, but I really don't want to overdo and get sick again. I still had some weird stomach cramping this morning. I don't know if that's left over from being sick or what.

You can't really tell, but I have orange socks, a yellow tank, and a green headband...super-stylish. Yet one more reason I love my treadmill.

Typically for runs that last more than an hour, I bring a pack of fruit snacks to eat. I totally forgot this morning until I hit mile 7 and started to feel a bit shaky. Of course, with one mile left, I'm not going to stop to grab something, so I persevered and grabbed a handful of gummy bears when I was done.

Breakfast of champions?

It used to be that I would use Bodyglide for anything over 6 miles, but lately I haven't been having any trouble with chaffing, so I didn't even think about it...until I stepped in the shower. You know that feeling when water first hits a chafe mark? There have been many times I was expecting that and I step into the shower with a bit of a cringe just waiting for that sting. I wasn't expecting it this morning, but ...surprise! That was a bit of a rude awakening. Apparently my newer sports bra isn't as broken in as I thought - duly noted.

A couple of weeks ago, my awesome mother bought me a pair of running shoes. She knows how much I love my new Brooks PureFlow 2's (and that we're super-poor right now), so she ordered me a pair of pink ones. I was really excited. My current pair are an 11 (don't judge, I'm 5'10") and they are amazingly comfortable, but a little bit short for long runs. Unfortunately, when I tried to run in my new ones, my feet were killing me after half a mile. I've tried twice now, but I think they are just a little too big. I was poised to send them back for the smaller size... but then I wore slightly thicker socks yesterday... and today I have two sore toenails. I'm torn. Should I try to break the new ones in a bit, or just make sure not to wear those socks again. Thoughts?

What are your favorite running shoes? ... favorite running fuel?

My morning in pictures



Unfortunately, I had a crappy run this morning. Today was my last planned easy run before I go back to my training schedule...and it sucked. I did four easy miles and I was super-tired and seemed to have a side cramp and a vague stomach ache the whole time. 

 

 

Me asking my feet "why?"

 

 

But, of course, I felt great when I was done...

 

I keep my house dark at 5 am so as not to wake everyone up. Hence the dark fuzziness.

 

 

Then everyone got up and I had this to greet me when I was done getting ready... 





My man and the pup

 

 

What time do you get up in the morning?

Pictures and Race Report

I finally got the race photos from my first half marathon! I don't have a scanner, so I had to be really ghetto and take a picture of the picture - so please forgive the fuzziness... and the overuse of parenthetical phrases.

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It's a bit late, but in light of the pictures, I thought I'd do a quick race recap. On September 15th, I ran the Scenic Half in Sandpoint, Idaho (my first...awwww). Sandpoint is about an 80-90 mile drive, so my original plan was to get up at 4:30, but for some reason I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, "I don't really need to get up until 5:30." I didn't think about the fact that I had to pick up my sister first, adding about 30 minutes to travel time. Long story short, packet pickup was open until 8:00 and I parked the car at 7:55 and had to run about a third of a mile to the pickup spot. Luckily I wasn't the only one running late and they were still there. Of course, then I had to run back to the car to get my stuff. By the time I had my stuff and used the porta-potty (after a 10 minute wait), I got to the start line exactly two minutes before the gun went off. Whew! Fortunately, all of the worry about making it on time meant I didn't have time to be worried about the race. I was just happy to get going, so I cranked up my tunes and took off with a smile.

Mile 3 and still thinking everything is peachy.

The course was a ten mile out-and-back that then looped back to the 5k course. The first three miles were great. Pretty scenery along Lake Pend Orielle and then across the mile long bridge. Mid way into mile three was when the hills started. Good grief! I just kept thinking that I would get to run back down all of these hills. This is also about the time that it started to get warmer and I was going through my water faster than usual. 

Mile 11 and about to die...but I'm passing someone!

I was so happy to see the turn around! I was crazy-thirsty (not a problem I usually have) and about mile 7, I realized I only had about four ounces of water left. I hated to do it, but I decided to stop for a quick walk break. I ended up walking for about 30 seconds every mile until mile 11. I'm pretty sure it was 90 million degrees and I hadn't had water in 3 weeks (dramatic much?). At mile 11, I started to do four minutes of running to one minute of walking. Miles 11-12.75 were the longest of my life. I demand a re-measure of the 5k course because I'm pretty sure it was about 20 miles long. I was so happy to see that last stretch. It was gorgeous - crossing a little bridge and leading onto the City Beach park.

Finishing kick!!! AKA: I see water!

I had originally thought about what I should do for the finish line photo - the classic fist raised in triumph, just a big smile, etc. Yeah, by the time I got there, I didn't even care about the finish, I was just headed for the water table. Overall, I was hoping to average about 12:00/mile (I know, I'm a real speed demon) because that's what I completed my last 12 mile distance run at (with no walk breaks, thank you very much). My finish time was 2:49:40 which is just under 13:00/mile. While it's not what I was hoping for, I'm happy with that. I truly gave everything I had and with the hills (most of my training was on the treadmill) and the heat (again - treadmill...with fan), I think it went pretty well.

The race itself was awesome. The course was beautiful. With about 200-ish people running the half and about 600 people overall, the size was perfect. There was great course support with water stations at miles 1, 5, 8, and 11. There was an awesome MC playing music and providing commentary, including calling out everyone's name as they crossed the finish line. I will definitely be doing this again next year. I can't wait to do another one. I'm dying to do one by Silverwood theme park that is this weekend (it goes through the park that is decorated for Halloween), but alas - money is tight and I'm not really ready to part with my spare kidney. Maybe next year.

What is the last race you did?