Race Day Toes

Okay, I have ugly feet. But I painted my toes with lilac polish for Bloomsday!

Tinker Bell 1/2 Marathon Map

at least it's a different course...

yeah, okay, I'm a sucker....

But how could I resist?
1. She's wearing Brooks shoes
2. It's on the west coast
3. The medal won't be shaped like a 5

belated Thursday report

Got home from work on Thursday and rushed out -- on our bikes. At first I felt a bit bad about forgoing a run for a bike ride... until the wind conspired to make my ride harder than I was prepared for.

Part of it, of course, is that I really haven't ridden a bike since last summer. And I've never been much of a cyclist. But hoo boy, that wind was strong coming off the water. I felt like I needed to crank really hard just to keep from being blown backward. And it doesn't help that I'm pretty much a giant sail on my cruiser.

Made it to Golden Gardens as the sun went behind a cloud, where it stayed for 15 minutes until we got cold and turned for home. And then by the time we got home it was glorious again. Oh well.

So no run on Thursday, but a workout nonetheless. I'm taking it. That's 4 in a row...

tentative treadmill

Got home and couldn't bring myself to run in the blustery wind. But I still changed into my absurd spangly tights and a race shirt, and headed to the basement to run on the treadmill. Nothing fancy, just 5 minutes of warmup, then 5:1 intervals, speeding up as I went along. And then a 5-minute cooldown. Simple. And it was okay.

I also tested out the vibrating interval timer. Which really wasn't strong enough. I don't usually run with music anymore, anyway, so maybe I don't need to worry about my watch beeping. I have been told that the timer's alarm is Very Loud, so I'll try that next.

The thing that I won't want to jinx is this; it was my third straight workout. Now, I don't know the last time I strung together TWO workouts, let alone three. (Possibly the back-to-back half marathons in November?!?) And I know that three is a long way from being back on track. But it's a start. A good start.

Galloway...

So I went to Bellevue this evening to hear Jeff Galloway speak. I was a little nervous beforehand, not knowing what to expect. I read his "Marathon" book when we first started running and we followed his training plan for a while (though found the Penguin more our style.)

There were 50 or so people there, Jeff was compelling and friendly, and people asked good questions. Of course, I didn't get around to asking about motivation... I think most people there were motivated, whether they were running their 10th marathon or just starting a C25K program.

A few things I thought were helpful:
• Jeff talks about the "lizard brain" - which just protects us, and tries to get us to stop when it feels under stress - and the "human brain" - which can override the lizard brain if needed. Running causes stress, so the lizard brain sends messages that tell us to slow down, that it's too hard, etc. So we need to consciously override it with our human brain. Or something.
• He pointed out that, as children, we're told we are failures if we take a walk break. We keep thinking that after growing up, so people feel bad about walking. When it really just causes less stress on the body.
• We were given free rein to eat sugar during our long runs. "Sugar cubes, gummy bears, hard candy. Simple sugar to feed your brain." A former Olympian just told me that sugar feeds my brain. Woot!

Then the new program director (coordinator?) of the "Seattle" program got up and talked about her belief in the Galloway method... even though she just started running 4 weeks ago. But she was enthusiastic and friendly. Still, it sounds as if most of the runs will be on the east side -- not very Seattle, really! -- so it's probably not the group for me.

Afterwards I bought Galloway's latest book, called "Mental Training for Runners: How to Stay Motivated" -- because it seemed a bit serendipitous. We chatted while he signed it ("Stay Positive, Sunny!") but he refused to divulge the location/theme/anything, really about the new secret Disney race. He did say that "it's in a new location". Wil guessed that it will be a cruise marathon, like the Penguin's. Who knows.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading the book; hopefully I will be inspired!

ran today

Woke up this morning and decided to run. It helped that we had slept well, but also that we just got out of bed and into our running shoes. We decided just to go out to the lookout -- but of course I took off a little too fast for what is, essentially, the first run of the season. Still, even a short run is better than no run. So that's my mantra for the next couple of weeks.

Jeff Galloway is going to be speaking tonight in Bellevue; I've decided to go. Not that I need to be convinced about the run/walk method! I would, however, appreciate a little extra motivation. I signed up for his email newsletter and was sent an article on motivation. Nice. My favorite quote:

Regularity is important

While it is possible to miss several workouts and still survive the race, most exercisers who try this drop out of the program. The longer you wait to return to exercise, the more negative messages you receive, which can keep you from getting out there. If this is your problem, put “regularity” at the top of your list of commitments. Hint: On the “bad” days, just get out for 10 minutes.

So, clearly, regularity is what I need.

recommit... how?

You’ve heard it from me before… “it’s a new month, so I’m going to focus and get back on track.”

But have I? Nope. Not for a long time. Heck, it’s been a month since I last blogged. I don’t know why, but I just can’t seem to get back on track.

Part of me has this silly idea that my lack of running is tangentially related to my new job. Insane, right? I mean, I’m working at a running company, surrounded by runners, in a place so run-friendly that it’s both acceptable to take a break in the middle of the day to go for a run AND to attend meetings in your sweaty workout gear.

However, I feel intimidated by my peers. They are faster and fitter than I am, and I know many of them don’t consider me a runner. I overheard a colleague – a very fast guy – say, “NO, Oprah didn’t RUN a marathon. She COMPLETED a marathon.” Given that Ms. O was almost an hour faster than ME, I wonder if I even “completed” mine? And sometimes we talk about “fitness runners” in uncomprehending tones. “Some people are happy just getting in their 15 miles a week.” Umm, okay…

I live in some fear that I will find myself forced to run with my colleagues one day. My colleagues who are MUCH FASTER than I am.

Perhaps I should point something out here. Other than Wil, I have only ever run with one other person: Lindsay. I’ve never run with anyone else I actually know. Sure, I’ve run lots of races surrounded by strangers. I’ve even chatted with people throughout races. But with two exceptions, I haven’t run with friends. Why? I guess I worry that they’ll see how slow, ungainly, awkward I am as I galumph along. I worry they’ll laugh at my jiggly bits. I worry I won’t be able to keep up. I worry that I can’t run anymore. I worry that they’ll think less of me.

Now, the rational me knows that’s all stupid. But even as I type that, I hear myself say “but a lot of it is true. I am jiggly. I am slow. I often can’t keep up with people.”

Obviously I have a lot tied up in this.

I look back over this blog and over my running scrapbook, and I marvel at how far I have come. Not that many years ago I pooh-poohed the idea of running a marathon. Now I’ve run three. (BTW, the evil voice just said “COMPLETED” in a nasty, sarcastic tone…) I’ve run 14 half marathons and a few 5 and 10Ks. I keep adding to my running charm bracelet with glee – and it gives me such pleasure to look at it an think back about the races, the accomplishments.

But still… what happened.

On Thursday I ran in Boston – not far, not quickly, and I got lost enough that I had to stop to look at the map pretty often. But it was still good to run a little.

I saw a blog the other day called B’s Fit Journey. The woman had mentioned her shoes so I tweeted about her blog. Her blog was really moving, really inspirational. She lays it out there – she posts photos of her progress, which seems so brave, so audacious. You’ll note, of course, that I am not posting photos. :)

I also read a bunch of race reports from the WDW Princess Marathon… and a lot of them mentioned meeting up with people for the first time – people they’d met on discussion boards. It made me feel wistful and miss the community of runners. Not that the Disney Running community is right for me anymore, but it was nie reading the discussions and “meeting” other runners. Of course, when we were at the races I was too shy to talk to anyone! (Dork!)

Sometimes I think about it C25K program. What if I started it again? What if I really could stick with a program?

I need motivation. Obviously events aren’t enough! (See my Mardi Gras race report!)

I’m about to write a survey for work – “why do you run?” – which will contain questions about what motivates runners. So hopefully I’ll find something to motivate me!