Running Vacation

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

Cartoon about Running Vacation

It’s funny how many runners bend their vacations around the run. We’ve scheduled our “leave-the-house” time for after a long run and mapped new running routes on MapMyRun when we knew where we’d be staying for the night. (When you spend most vacations camping, you usually don’t know where you’ll be spending the night.)

Last year, however, before my husband and I traveled to Phoenix to see the Ducks play in the BSC National Championship, I first found two nearby parks so we could run the trails.

This was obviously taken before the big game.

Those runs were the highlight of our trip and probably would have still been the highlight if Oregon had won the game.

This game was a lot of fun. It would have been more fun if we’d won.

 

 

We recovered from our 3 point loss by running another trail. Yes, I’m wearing the same shirt from the previous night. Why get a clean shirt all sweaty when I can get a lightly worn shirt all sweaty instead?

Our approach to running vacations is mild compared to some runners we know. A triathlete we see at a lot of local races and running club events, for example, asked if my husband and I had started scheduling our vacations around out-of-town races. The glint in his eyes was that of a running evangelist and his shirt was a moisture-wicking billboard for a half-marathon in California – obvious race swag.

I replied, “not yet.”

Over the last two years I’ve looked up quite a few marathons at Marathon Guide and then priced the cost of hotel and airfare for a winter weekend running in a warmer locale. I really liked running trails in Phoenix in January.

Each time I look, the itch to race somewhere new gets stronger and stronger. It’s only a matter of time before I scratch it. Until then, I’ll keep mapping new routes.

How do you run your vacations?

About the comic:  Since I run kinda funny, about once a month 3Rs posts a running comic courtesy of Jason Nocera from Running Shirts and Gifts. Jason also creates custom comics.

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Taper Crazy

Posted on May 23, 2012 by

On Sunday I will run my third marathon. That makes this taper week, the week that makes me crazy.

Since my training plan says I should only log 9-10  miles this week and I’m already up to 8, that must mean I have a little extra time to blog. Extra time has been woefully lacking in the last two months and this blog has been even more neglected than my training plan.

Today I took the time to compare my training plan to the miles I actually logged. This led to head-holding while I bemoan all those missing miles and worry over what that means to my marathon. My plan called for 448 miles in the last 16 weeks. I’ve logged 333.3 miles. How weird is that? I sure hope 3 is a lucky number. Of course, I’m running 2 more miles tomorrow, so I hope 335.3 is also a lucky number.

In my defense (read: excuse alert) my training plan failures were due to the following:

  1. Week 3: snow. It’s hard to long run in Yak Trax. Or, more aptly, 3 miles feels like a long run in snow.
  2. Week 7: stomach flu. It’s hard to run when you’re camped out in the bathroom. It turns out I wasn’t alone in my misery. All but 2 people who attended a Saturday birthday party were camped out in the bathroom the following Monday. It’s a good thing we don’t live in the same house and my husband could use the other bathroom. Enough said.
  3. Week 9: food poisoning. It’s hard to run when your stomach has been violently turned inside out. I MAY NEVER EAT SHRIMP AGAIN. Enough said.
  4. Week 10-11: regular flu. It’s hard to run when you’re hacking, sniffling, aching, and clutching-the-couch-in-misery while moaning about catching a break already.
  5. Week 11: sleep-deprived business trip to the East Coast. It’s hard to run when you’re on airplanes, in meetings and getting up at what feels like 2AM. Actually, I did run through Central Park on my last day and enjoyed every dizzy moment of it.

Still, for all my training plan failures, I had a few successes too.

  1. Week 3: snow. It’s fun work running in the snow, even if you don’t go very far.
  2. Week 9: 20 miler. If you can run 20 miles coming off of food poisoning, you can run a marathon. Right?
  3. Week 11: Central Park run. See above.
  4. Week 12: 22 miler. For the first time I ran 22 miles in training. The marathon is only 4.2 miles more than that. While difficult, this kind of run definitely gives a confidence boost. Plus, running around and through the submerged sections of my favorite long-run trail made it an adventure.
  5. Week 13: 8 mile hill route PR. I have a difficult hill route with a 500 f00t elevation gain between miles 2 and 3. Much of that is 6-7 % grade and every time I run it I feel stronger. Setting a training run PR made me feel like super woman.
  6. Week 14: 12K PR. I ran Bloomsday, a 12K fun run with around 47,000 people, in the fastest time I’ve run it as an adult. 1:09. Back in high school I ran it in 60 minutes but that was a VERY long time ago and MANY pounds lighter. As a bonus, this time I wasn’t the least bit sore and I remember my high school self walking funny the next day.

Besides obsessing over my training log, during taper week I’m:

  • Obsessing over pace and race strategy. I’d like to break 5 hours (I’m a “slower” runner) but wonder if it’s possible considering my training holes. Should I walk strategically? Should I aim for 4:55? Is that too fast? Is that too slow? Do I have enough gels? Do I have time to buy more? Should I cover a pace band in packing tape and wear it? Should I take a chill pill already? (Yes, Yes, No, No, No, Yes, Yes, and Yes.)
  • Eating a lot. I’m ravenous, as if my body is trying to stock up for a famine. I’ve heard this called the taper worm. It’s irritating because I have plenty of fat stores available for famine (or a marathon).
  • Twitchy. Even though I didn’t get in all my planned mileage, running only 9-10 miles in one week feels a lot like not running at all. When you’re used to the regular endorphin rush of running, the taper is essentially a chemical withdrawal. This makes me feel crazy.

So, if you know a runner who acts a little weird the week before a marathon, now you know. She’s probably just taper crazy.

Runners, have you ever felt taper crazy? How did you get through it?

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Balance Begins with Falling Over

Posted on May 4, 2012 by

Woman trying to balance on one footThe quest for balance is practically an American past-time. We read magazine articles, self-help books and blog posts about how to balance our work lives, our personal lives, our workout lives, and whatever other lives we claim or aim to lead (spiritual, volunteering, blogging, dog-owning, chia pet watering, sleeping, Angry Birds playing lives.)

But we each only have one life, right? And what is balance anyway?

I think this quest for balance is ill-conceived. In the physical sense, if you’re laying like a corpse you don’t fall over. That’s the most balanced you can be. But who wants to be a corpse?

No, I think balance begins with falling over.

As a kid, when I learned to ride a bike, water ski and snow ski my dad told me that falling meant I was getting better. Now, he might have said this to encourage me, since I fell a lot, but I believe he was right. When we push our limits and lean so far we fall down, our muscles get stronger and the next time we can lean that far and NOT fall over.

You have to be off balance before you can attain balance.

While I’ve experienced this many times physically in sports, it’s also true in my daily life. When my work schedule or my training schedule or my kids’ activity schedules crowd the calendar, they throw my carefully orchestrated life off balance. And I love it.

Yes, it stresses me out sometimes, because I don’t have a larger allotment of hours to accommodate the busyness.  But when I’m a little off balance, it means I’m living.

I’ve been living this spring. Somehow I landed a couple extra work projects right as I jumped into marathon training, which happened to coincide with my kids’ busiest sport and music season of the year. It’s been a little crazy. Something had to give, so for the past few weeks I’ve put off getting together with friends, stopped cleaning my house and taken a hiatus from writing this blog and working on my current novel-in-progress. I’ve probably neglected a few other things too.

It’s my way of staying upright while leaning toward a few limited priorities. At the end of the month, when I’ve completed a big project, crossed the marathon finish line and attended the final meets, matches and concerts of the year, I’ll lean to the other side. I’ll invest more time in friendships, yard work, blogging and those fictional characters I miss so much. Before long I’ll probably be off balance again.

That’s okay. I’m not on a quest to live a balanced life. I’m on a quest to live a full life.

What throws you off balance? Do you think it’s possible to achieve a balanced life? How?

 

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View Finding – Hiking to Dog Lake in Kootenay NP

Posted on April 11, 2012 by
Boys sword fighting in the forest

This gallery contains 12 photos.

This is part of a weekly series about view finding, those moments when you take a deeper breath and savor the sights, then fumble for your camera. Whether you’re running, hiking, biking, four-wheeling or skiing, take a moment to enjoy … Continue reading →

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View Finding – Hiking Mineral Ridge

Posted on April 4, 2012 by

This is part of a weekly series about view finding, those moments when you take a deeper breath and savor the sights, then fumble for your camera. Whether you’re running, hiking, biking, four-wheeling or skiing, take a moment to enjoy the view.

The scenic Mineral Ridge hike at Lake Coeur d’Alene in North Idaho is my favorite local hikes. It’s only 3.3 miles so it’s kid friendly but has a 700 foot elevation gain so when you get to the top you’re rewarded with amazing views of the lake (home of the Coeur d’Alene Ironman.) From our house in Spokane we can get to the trailhead in about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the all the bald eagles that nest and fish in the area each fall.

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Got fuel? Long Run Nutrition

Posted on April 2, 2012 by
Picture of food for runners

Runner's Fuel

Over the last two years I’ve experimented with various fuels for long runs and recovery, from blocks, gels and drink additives to granola bars, bananas, Cliff bars, and chocolate milk. I’m still experimenting.

The first time I tried a gel I had to muscle it past my gag reflex. So I used chews and blocks, adding diluted Ultima to my water bottle on hot days.That worked for about a year. Then my stomach rebelled at the high sugar content.

The staff at Runner’s Soul, my local running store, steered me back to gels so I gave it another try. To my surprise I found a few flavors I could swallow and keep down, including three I actually like – Vanilla, Espresso and Orange. I’ll be happy, though, if I never sample Apple-Cinnamon again. It’s a great flavor for pie, crisp and oatmeal but nauseating on the run.

Unfortunately, right before our long run last week, I discovered we were down to our last gel and were out of bananas. I shrugged. We were running 13 miles. While a whole gel each would have been preferable, I reasoned that we could split the package and be okay.

Then, at about mile 7 we decided to add 5 extra miles and make it 18. How did I become a crazy person who makes a decision like this, the way I might decide to stay at an amusement park until closing, or order an extra scoop of ice cream?

We were feeling good and knew that with the spring soccer season starting it would be tricky to schedule two 20-milers before our May marathon. By running 18 a week earlier than planned we upped our odds of meeting our training goals.

Mile 7 is the point we would have shared our only gel but we waited, knowing we’d need it most the last hour of the run. When I finally opened the package and gulped down half, my muscles were tight and tired and it felt as though they sighed with relief before immediately demanding more.

I handed the remainder of the gel to my husband and wished I’d planned better. The last six miles were challenging and the last three were an exhausted slog. I learned the hard way that half a gel isn’t nearly enough to fuel 18 miles!

To make matters worse, we didn’t have any recovery food in the car. We drove straight to the grocery  store where the clerk frowned and asked if I was okay as I hobbled up to the register with chocolate milk, bananas and two Reese’s peanut butter cups. I may have groaned in response.

Vowing to be better prepared and carry more fuel than I think I’ll need for the rest of our long runs, I put in my first online order to Hammer Nutrition. Always one who likes to save money, I used a referral code from a friend and saved 15% off the order. Plus, he gets 25% of my order as a credit against his next order. That’s pretty cool.

When my package arrived a few days ago I discovered they’d added a bunch of freebies for us to sample. That’s pretty sweet from a company that doesn’t put a lot of sugar in its products.

Hammer Nutrition Products

Here's what I ordered - a bunch of gels and two recovery bars.

Hammer Nutrition Product Samples

Here's all the freebies they sent

Now, I have a referral code too (199226), so if you’ve never ordered directly from Hammer Nutrition and want to, you can save 15% and I get 25% toward my next order.

What fuel do you use for the run?

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View Finding – Hiking Mt. Spokane

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

This is part of a weekly series about view finding, those moments when you take a deeper breath and savor the sights, then fumble for your camera. Whether you’re running, hiking, biking, four-wheeling or skiing, take a moment to enjoy the view.

Here in Spokane we have many kid-friendly trails for hiking, including an entire network at  Mt. Spokane. Some are also great for cross country skiing or snow shoeing in the winter.

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