Category: running

February 18, 2002

President’s Day. What a crock! Naturally, everyone on earth has today off…except me. Hmmph. And no mail, either. Hmmph.

I’m getting a cold. My throat is killing me. Yick. Hopefully I’ll be able to nip it in the bud before it gets worse. Need to remember to take some vitamins.

The results from the half marathon are in! I came in at least 200 from the end, which makes me happy, but Chris was the last male in his age group. Ha ha! Hope he isn’t too mad at me. Tee hee!

I’m not too sore today, which surprises me. I’m usually in pretty bad pain the day after my long run, but I guess I’m getting better at it. My quads barely ache and my knees don’t hurt at all. Woo hoo!

Mardi Gras half-marathon

For now, I’m just going to put down the basics of today’s race, and tomorrow I’ll fill in all the details. I’m much too tired to write everything now!

Mardi Gras Half Marathon – New Orleans, Louisiana

Got up at 5:00 a.m., after sleeping somewhat restlessly. I dreamed that I ran the half, and had the energy to run several more miles. Ha! That didn’t happen! So I got up, made coffee, showered, ate a bagel with peanut butter, woke up Chris, and we left the house around 6:45. Chris and I put on sparkly Mardi Gras tattoos Kristina got last weekend (see below). Found a pretty close (and free) parking spot, and walked to the Superdome, where the race started.

We had about 45 minutes, by the time we got there, before the race started. We used the port-a-potties a few times (and not enough times, as it turned out) and drank water, stretched, etc. There were a *lot* of Team in Training (TNT) people there. They all seemed nice, but boy, was I envious of their supporters! They had the most supporters by far, though to be fair, they’d (occasionally) cheer for Chris and I as well.

So we ran down Poydras St to Decatur, past the French Quarter and the French Market, and at around mile 2, there were the port-a-potties and the first water stop. Chris and I had stopped by the toilets at the French Market, but they were locked. Ooops! When we finally got to pee again, we lost 5 minutes. But it was worth it. Anyway, we weren’t going for time.

We ran up Esplanade and to City Park, down a street that runs next to the park. A few minutes after we turned onto this road, we looked ahead and saw….a HUGE HILL!!! Oh my god! No one said anything! It turned out to be an interstate overpass and it was on the out-and-back portion, so we had to run it TWICE! Ack! It really wasn’t so bad, but it was such a surprise!

So we ran down this road for what felt like *forever* but was probably 3 miles each way (I could look, but my feet hurt) and completely unshaded. This was definitely the hardest part of the race. There were very few supporters, and not enough water stops. I was hot and starting to feel dehydrated. Chills and dizziness. Not bad, but just unpleasantness. I had part of a ClifShot that I brought, but without water, I didn’t want to choke down any more of it.

Finally we get past City Park and onto Canal Street. The home stretch! We got our picture taken by Marathon Foto right before Canal Street. I was feeling really crappy at that point, but we ran and smiled for the camera, so we’ll see how that comes out! For parts of miles 7-11, I had to walk. Not a lot, just 2 minutes or so at a time. I wish I hadn’t had to, and I don’t think I would have had to, if I had been properly hydrated. Hmmm. Don’t know if it’s my fault for not drinking enough earlier or the organizer’s faults for not having enough water stations. At one point, near mile 12, the water station ran out of cups! Somehow I got a hold of one (used??) but otherwise, it was “cup your hands” if you wanted water. Hmmm. We were at the back, it’s true.

Finally, we’re in the home stretch! I had eaten the rest of my gel, and as Canal Street is pretty shady, I was feeling better. We walked a little more, and then ran the rest of the way. The final stretch is up to the Superdome, and then a U-turn to get to the finish line. I was so happy to see it! We put on a good finishing kick when we saw the clock time was 2:58. I wanted to finish in under 3 hours by our watches, but to also finish in that by the clock was great too.

It took us 3 minutes to cross the start line, and we lost 5 minutes at the bathroom. I didn’t hit my stop button (oops) until after I had removed my chip and gotten some water, so I’m not sure of my time as I took it, but it was about 2:55, I’d guess, taking into account the 3 minutes we lost at the beginning.

Here are my splits:
1-13:14 (a tiny bit faster than the pace I wanted to keep)
2-12:55 (oops. but felt great, so why not?)
3-18:55 (bathroom break)
4-11:25 (oops!!! i’ll pay for this later!)
5-13:10 (still a little fast, but better than mile 4!)
6-12:12 (ah well, my pace is not going to be what i wanted it to be)
7-12:50
8-12:56
9-13:14 (slooooowing down!)
10-13:21 (yup)
11-13:22 (uh huh)
12-13:08 (ooh, feeling stronger!)
13.1- can’t be sure, think around 13:30 or so, with our finishing kick.

Now, looking at my splits, I can see what went wrong. For my LSD runs, I really should be running at 13:30-14:00 pace. My pace was just too fast, *especially* at the beginning.

Lessons learned:
1. Don’t go out too fast! (of course! of course! duh!)
2. Liquid carbohydrate (I liked the Ultima stuff they had on the course) is better for Pam than gel. (gag)
3. Drink lots before you go to bed and the race!
4. Don’t run a marathon in New Orleans! (too hot! too sunny! ack!)

Overall, a pretty good run. My arches are in hell right now, I’ve soaked my feet and iced the arches, and taken a Vioxx and finally the pain has abated a tad. Wonder if it’s the shoes?

Oh yeah, and I wore the new British flag socks I got at the expo. Only fitting, I guess, since I’m wearing American flag socks to London. I got a compliment on my socks, too. 🙂

February 15, 2002

Only two days until the half marathon! Yikes! I’m not nervous, really, more excited I guess. Actually, I’m more nervous about volunteering at the expo this afternoon. I’m always nervous about doing new things alone, so it’s okay. It’s normal for me. Chris and Rebecca are coming in tomorrow, and we’re going to have a fun day! Expo, then sushi for lunch, then the new Britney Spears movie (hey, she’s the hometown girl, and I’m not going to apologize for wanting to see her movie. Hell, I saw the NSync movie, this one could not be worse. Yes. I’m 27 years old.) and then go to the running store in Metairie (the suburbs) to get some gels to try for the race (I’m particularly intrigued by a raspberry flavor made by Clif Shot. Sounds tasty. I know better, but still.

This morning, I ran 2.5 miles. Of a planned four. My legs were so sluggish and tired from yesterday. I was planning on struggling through it, and I could have, but I could feel the blister at the tip of my second toe and it was affecting my gait. Didn’t want to hurt myself, and a little bit of extra rest before Sunday can’t hurt. I know I can do 13.1 miles, no problems there. It’s getting to that point in the training where it’s not really exciting anymore, and there’s so much more to do. I know in a few weeks, it’ll be okay, but from where I’m standing now, I see eight more weeks of training, including lots of long midweek runs, which I hate to wake up for. I see lots of really long runs, and just a huge stretch of time of not much excitement. I’m guessing in about 4 weeks it’ll get exciting again, but for now, it’s hard to stay motivated. Even with the half-marathon this weekend. Weird.

After this weekend, I’m going to really have to push myself. Hmmm. Putting it that way, I kind of look forward to the challenge!

February 14, 2002

Happy Valentine’s Day! Ha. Not really! What’s the point? You know, I try not to be cynical about being single, but it’s really difficult on the “most romantic day of the year.” Barf. I know I’m acting in a cliched manner for a single woman, but come on…there are single people in the world! From my perspective, for attached people, Valentine’s Day is every day. Why should you celebrate being attached? I think it should be the opposite, and single people celebrate not being attached, and that way there’s at least one day where we’re superior. Hmmph. But I’m not bitter. Really, I’m not, I’ve always been single on Valentine’s Day, so it’s no big deal. I probably only feel this way because I listened to the radio for the hour and ten minutes that I ran this morning and it was all romantic songs and other **@#!%^!@.

So, that’s a good lead-in to…I ran today! Yes, finally, I did my six miler as planned. I got up at 6:15 this lovely morning, drove out to the river, and ran on the levee for six miles. Woo! It was pretty chilly (okay, the mid 40s, but that’s cold for us!) and I’m pretty sure I’m coming down with a cold, but I felt good while running. My sore throat didn’t bother me like I thought it would. My lungs are phlegmy or anything, either, so I think I’m fine to run now. We’ll see if I get worse tonight before planning my four miler tomorrow. I don’t want to get sicker before Sunday. Anyway, I ran the second half of my run 2 minutes faster than the first. Good stuff! Though there was a dead animal on the path (rabbit? possum? not sure, didn’t want to look closely) which grossed me out. I hope it’s gone before tomorrow or at least the next time I have to run on the levee. At least it hadn’t started decomposing yet.

Must get back to work. It’s such a relief for Mardi Gras to be over, and to be able to relax at work. Nice! I have to bring Kristina to the airport tomorrow, she’s going for an interview at some fancy law firm in NYC. I hope she gets the job. Seems like everyone’s moving there, and hey, it’s just a hop-skip-jump to London from New York, so they can all come visit me when I live there. (gotta believe!)

PS Sorry about the anti-happy diatribe up there. I’m not that bitter!

Feb 13, 2002

I’ll be back in the saddle tomorrow. I promise! I’m so happy that Mardi Gras is over. Yesterday was hellish. I actually allowed myself to be persuaded to go out Monday night after working for ten hours, and, yes, okay, I had a few drinks. Okay, a lot. Duh! Definitely no more drinking until the marathon! Well, maybe one drink on Kristina’s birthday in a couple of weeks. But THAT IS IT!

Yesterday, we had to get up at 8:30 a.m. to watch a parade and that was after Monday night’s marathon drinking and dancing (Chris warned me about dancing before the marathon – that’s how he hurt himself) and we had to walk the 2 miles or so down to where we watched the parade. My toes have blisters, my arches ache, walking is not easy. Oh great! But last night, I soaked my feet in one of those massaging heated water bath things, and I felt immeasurably better afterwards. Tonight, I’m going to put some Epson salts in it that I just bought. Heaven!

Tomorrow I’m going to do my 6 miler, then the 4 miler on Friday, and then there’s the half marathon on Sunday. I should check the weather forecast. Hope it’s nice!

Feb 11, 2002

Not much of a run today. Had a 4 miler scheduled, but what with my soreness from the weekend, and my blisters from Saturday night, I just wasn’t in the right frame of mine (nor body) to run. Tomorrow’s definitely a day off, but Wednesday will be my 6 miler. No problem. Anyway, a little extra rest before Sunday’s half marathon can’t hurt, eh?

Feb 10, 2002

Ran my 12 miles yesterday! Actually, I think it was closer to 13. Ran for almost 3 hours. Ran all over Uptown New Orleans, it felt like. Ran to the park, around the park, to the levee, down the levee, up and down the fly, back around the park, and back home. Whew! No pain except my knees were achy but they’re okay now. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny, but not too hot.

Then, the parades had started. Watched the parades with my friends, had some beers. Had lots of beers. Watched more parades. Drank lots more. Went to Bourbon Street, kept drinking.

So, that was all the drinking I’m doing this Mardi Gras. I feel fine today, though. The only problem is, we walked so much yesterday that I have blisters on my toes. Gotta take care of those today with the blister block bandages I bought.

Only three more days of this madness…sigh…

February 7, 2002

A lovely, wonderful, much-needed run this morning. And 6 miles, too! My longest mid-week run yet! I remember just a few weeks ago, 6 miles was my long run! My, how times change. Ha ha. Took me 1:23, but I think I ran a bit over six miles. Yay! I ran a 10K this morning! Yay!

Running six miles has always been a milestone for me. I never felt serious until I ran 6, and there’s a strange reason why. A few years back, there was a commercial for some faucets or something (on HGTV, no doubt.) It showed a woman running through the rain and mud and streets, and afterwards, she rewarded herself with a luxurious bubble bath in her fancy tub with its fancy (naturally) faucets. She talks about how she pushed herself to run six whole miles, and now she deserved this relaxing soak. When I used to see that commercial, I thought, “six miles, what a moron” but now when I do six miles, I think “I need a bubble bath.” Okay, not really. Unfortunately, we only have a shower at our apartment. 🙂

Only a little over a week until the half marathon! I can’t believe it! I’d love to just do it in less than 3 hours. I don’t think that’ll be a problem, since I did 11 in 2:38, just add another 2 miles onto that. Uh oh. Hmmm. That’s about 23 minutes. Yikes! Well, I won’t be taking the long breaks every 2 miles like I did in that training run, so I think I can do it.

Completely off the subject…my oldest friend Kristie is moving to Boston! Ack! Her first time moving out of Baton Rouge (except for her 6 months in London)! I’m so proud of her! Yay! Of course, she’s way more adventurous than me, so I shouldn’t be so patronizing. She’s been to Thailand and Mexico, and went to Scotland and Ireland alone when she lived in London. I’m way too big of a wuss to travel alone (except to London) and you wouldn’t catch me vacationing anywhere without indoor plumbing. Anyway, she got a job in Boston and is moving at the end of the month! Wish I could visit her to watch the Boston Marathon, but ah well, it’s the day after London…maybe another year!

Feb 6, 2002

Didn’t run this morning. I could offer up all sorts of excuses as to why I didn’t run this morning…it was supposed to rain (though it didn’t, I at least got up to check), my left foot is a little sore (true, not sure why), it’s been a tiring week at work (yes, yes, blah blah blah), etc, etc. But really, I was just having too nice of a time sleeping. For the past two nights I’ve actually been having very vivid dreams. Last night I dreamed about my dad, which is always nice, it’s like seeing him again. But there again, no excuse for not running. I think I may just be a bit intimidated by 6 miles in the morning, never done that midweek before.

No matter what, I will do it tomorrow morning. Will just not do a shorter run, and do my 12 miler on Saturday, and get right back into training.

Then was thinking about how Ian is going to run twice a day to get his miles in, and I can’t even manage to run 4 times this week. Sigh.

Feb 5, 2002

Rest day today…but it’s supposed to rain tomorrow morning, so that may end up being a rest day too. I don’t care what anyone says, I am not going to run in cold rain! Now, summer rains are another story, but not winter rain. I knew last night that there was rain forecast for tomorrow morning, and considered running my 6 miles this morning, but really, I just wanted to sleep. Who knows, maybe it won’t rain tomorrow! Whatever the case, it should be clear by Thursday morning, so I can do my 6 miler then. Just one less short run this week. Maybe.

Anyway, I don’t feel terribly guilty if I miss a short run this week. Work is providing plenty of cross-training. Packaging up packages, bringing in heavy boxes of beads, etc. Hard work!

February 4, 2002

Oh, I forgot to mention one last really cool detail of my run on Saturday…when I was done, I had salt on my forehead! How exciting! I felt really tough after that. 🙂

Today I had a nice, easy 4 miler. I can’t believe how easy four miles is now. Took 54 minutes. It was cold this morning, so the first mile or so my (bare) arms were freezing but they thawed out soon enough. Love my “new” armband radio “borrowed” from Ren and Gary. They left early this morning for Thailand, so they won’t be needing it. Let me mention here that Ren is a little strange. She called this morning at 6:45 (good thing I was awake) to ask me to lock her apartment door. (They live downstairs from us.) Now this wouldn’t normally be a strange thing, but she was worried that the cabdriver they had to get to the airport was going to go back to their apartment and rob it. Sigh. Never mind that there’s a locked iron gate that he’d have to somehow break into to get to their apartment. Never mind that cabdrivers take people to the airport all the time and you don’t hear about a rash of cabdrivers robbing houses. Sigh. An odd girl. But I locked up anyway. 🙂

February 3, 2002

Okay, now I’ll add a few more details…

I did end up with a tiny sunburn. Not much. Thank goodness I put on sunscreen, or else I’d probably be fried. Next time, I’ll be sure to reapply. Running in LaFreniere Park was really nice. The loop, as I’ve mentioned, is 2 miles around. The first mile is kind of boring, as it goes alongside the back fences of houses and next to big soccer fields and such. During the first few loops, there were some little kids playing soccer, which was mildly entertaining, and some older guys playing touch football, which was slightly more so. Ha ha!

The second mile is what really makes the park though. It goes around a reservoir, up a teeny hill, down past a bird sanctuary (!), next to a little “river” with ducks swimming in it, by another pond, and back to the beginning. Parts of the second half are shady, which is a relief. The first mile was made more bearable by knowing the second mile was coming up. Another good thing about the park was that they have the quarter miles marked, which gives you something to run to. I like noting my quarter mile times, because it helps me keep my pace.

There was some guy at the park, running the opposite way I was. He was running faster than I was, and I passed him twice (at least) on every loop I made. I wonder how many miles he ran? I don’t even know when he started. He must be training for a marathon too. Maybe I’ll see him at the Mardi Gras Marathon. I can’t believe it’s only two weeks away!

Last night, Ren and I went and saw “Amelie”, that French comedy. The cinema we saw it in was so uncomfortable. My knees were already sore from the run, and all I wanted to do was stretch them out, but I was so cramped, that it was impossible. It’s too bad, because I really liked the movie, but I feel like my pain was hindering my enjoyment. This morning, my knees don’t hurt, but my calves are pretty stiff. Must stretch later.