OK, I'm going to brag about my fiancé for a little bit.
My future husband is a champ. He is incredibly goal oriented, and picks up new hobbies/skills/talents/expertise very quickly. When he sets his mind to something, it gets done quickly and it gets done well. He's a great racquetball player, and takes weight lifting very seriously. He's in incredible shape, and is very knowledgable about how to accomplish his fitness goals.
When we met, I had been running for a few months. I had a couple of 5k races under my belt, and had finished my first 10k a few weeks earlier. Early on we talked a lot about our fitness routines, and he made it very clear that although he could run, he had no interest in ever doing it ever.
In the spring, he decided that he wanted to run a race. At that point my plan was still to run the Anthem Marathon, so I suggested that he might like to do the 8k that morning while I was doing the marathon. So he signed up, and we made plans to go for a run together in the near future.
Well, it didn't go super smoothly. For a number of reasons. First of all - he's about 8 inches taller than I am. My fastest and largest strides at that point were still so slow that if he stayed at my pace, he was basically walking. Secondly - the state we live in can best be described as 'balmy' during the months that he was training. Going on his first outdoor run was definitely a huge shock with respect to breathing and sweating. Third - the neighborhood we were running in was very hilly. The route we went started fairly flat, and only got hillier.
Not that that stopped him. He worked a running plan into his already very busy workout schedule, and stuck with it.
When we got to the 8k, he informed me that his goal was to run the 8k in about 45 minutes, but he expected the race to take more like 50 minutes because he was still walking sometimes during his training. He asserted this more than once while we were frEEEEEzing at the starting line. Once the race started though, he was OFF. I was able to keep an eye on his red sweatband for a little while, but I had lost him by mile 1.
At the finish line I got my medal, got my water, and then tried to find him. I found him sitting on a stoop with his medal around his neck. Contrary to what he had thought, he had not only run the entire distance, but he had finished in 40:38!!!!!!!! 10 entire minutes faster than he had expected.
I'm so proud of him. When I found him at the end of the race I completely forgot about my own time and my own race. I was so excited for him, and so happy that he had exceeded his own expectations.
Even though running isn't his favoritest physical activity ever, he's really really good at it. He's also a really great coach for me, because he keeps me accountable. He asks me all the time what my training plans are, how they're going, what my times are, etc. With his knowledge of lifting and strength training, he's also very good at providing me with strength training suggestions. He's good at taking issues that I have, and diagnosing what is going on, and offering suggestions for how to fix them.
We're getting married in a few months, and we've talked a lot about the future of my running. I know that time is going to be tight when we're working and moving. When we have kids, it's going to be hard to work time in to go on a 15 mile run on Saturday mornings. More than once, he has looked me in the eye and said "I'm going to make sure that you have what you need to keep this up." If that means entertaining the kids when he gets home from work so that I can get an 8k in before dinner, or taking care of breakfast on Saturday mornings so that I can get my long runs in, or making sure wherever we live that we have a treadmill in our basement so that I can get a run in during kids' nap time.
I'm one lucky girl.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Sunday, November 23, 2014
THE SHOES (New Balance Minimus WR10)
When I started running, I understood the importance of getting a good pair of shoes. Not only with respect to quality, but that they also needed to be appropriate to how I run and the surfaces I was going to run on. I had friends who were runners, and I had heard them talk at great length about their shoes. "Ok," I thought to myself, "you're being high maintenance. Just get a decent pair and you'll be fine. They cannot POSSIBLY be worth what you're spending. You're just picky."
This is more or less how I look when I walk past a running store. Or talk about my shoes. Or when I read shoe reviews online.
The object of my affection right now is my pair of New Balance Minimus WR10 shoes (see heart).
I've run in shoes before with varying levels of support and structure, but these are my favorite so far. These shoes are very very minimal. Compared to the larger shoes I've worn in the past, these really do feel like a part of my foot.
It took a little while for me to get used to how hard my foot hits the ground when I run, but it honestly doesn't bother me at all on most of my runs. The one occasion that it did start to bother me was towards the end of my marathon a few weeks ago. I was looking around at everyone in their huuuge Hoka's, and thinking "I'm going to buy that the second I get home - oh my goodness why did I buy such tiny shoes!?". Looking back though, I was making that assessment around mile 23. I was feeling pretty melodramatic and probably would have said that about everything on my body at that point.
Although these shoes aren't ideal for trails or gravel (think "Princess and the Pea" about every pebble you come across), it looks like New Balance does make a trail version! I plan on talking to my local running shop about it very soon....
If you'd like any more information about this shoe I'd absolutely suggest looking at this site. Gearist knows what he's talking about, and tries out EVERYTHING. Including beer (#beerist).
The object of my affection right now is my pair of New Balance Minimus WR10 shoes (see heart).
I've run in shoes before with varying levels of support and structure, but these are my favorite so far. These shoes are very very minimal. Compared to the larger shoes I've worn in the past, these really do feel like a part of my foot.
It took a little while for me to get used to how hard my foot hits the ground when I run, but it honestly doesn't bother me at all on most of my runs. The one occasion that it did start to bother me was towards the end of my marathon a few weeks ago. I was looking around at everyone in their huuuge Hoka's, and thinking "I'm going to buy that the second I get home - oh my goodness why did I buy such tiny shoes!?". Looking back though, I was making that assessment around mile 23. I was feeling pretty melodramatic and probably would have said that about everything on my body at that point.
Although these shoes aren't ideal for trails or gravel (think "Princess and the Pea" about every pebble you come across), it looks like New Balance does make a trail version! I plan on talking to my local running shop about it very soon....
If you'd like any more information about this shoe I'd absolutely suggest looking at this site. Gearist knows what he's talking about, and tries out EVERYTHING. Including beer (#beerist).
My favorite things (fuel)
Before a long-ish workout, I definitely need to eat.... something. If I'm running first thing in the morning, I try to eat something easy to digest and that I can absorb quickly. One easy source for that I have on hand are Honey Stinger Waffles. The vanilla and gingerbread flavors are DELICIOUS. Like... dangerously delicious. As in I want to snack on them all the time. Delicious.
During my long workouts, I try to use gels about every 4 miles. After a lot of experimentation, this seems to be my sweet spot for preventing epic bonks. Some of my favorites include Salted Caramel Gu and Banana Hammer Gel. Unlike Hammer brand gels, most Gu gels contain caffeine. Sometimes I want caffeine, sometimes not. I like having both options just in case.
I'm recovering with strawberry whey protein after my weight workouts or speed/medium distance workouts. I'm not trying to bulk up, so I just mix one scoop (about 170 calories) with water to have after my workout.
After my long runs, I want to make sure that I'm replacing carbs as well as protein. For that I use Hammer Recoverite. I use single packets after runs longer than about 14 miles. I would probably use them more often if they were a little less expensive, but it is worth it once every week or so.
In general, this plan is working pretty well. I usually feel like I have enough juice to get me through my workout, and I'm usually not hurting so bad the next day.
After my long runs, I want to make sure that I'm replacing carbs as well as protein. For that I use Hammer Recoverite. I use single packets after runs longer than about 14 miles. I would probably use them more often if they were a little less expensive, but it is worth it once every week or so.
In general, this plan is working pretty well. I usually feel like I have enough juice to get me through my workout, and I'm usually not hurting so bad the next day.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Distance runner's motor neurons vs. Sprinter's motor neurons
My day job currently involves a lot of neuroscience. I spend a lot of time talking about neuroscience to other people, and learning about neuroscience from other people, and taking what I learn and doing some actual neuroscience. Lately, I've grown very interested in how the concepts that I'm learning about are at play in my body and in my training.
Not surprisingly, as runners train and spend more time running, physiological changes are occurring all over their bodies. Many of them are things that we are very aware of - for example, the muscles in our legs get bigger, and our resting heart rates become slower. Over time, we also notice that our endurance increases, and that we're able to go for longer periods of time. You may not realize though, that this is partially due to the fact that our motor neurons are actually changing. Our motor neurons actually have quite a bit of plasticity (ability to change) in response to changes in use. Both the motor neurons and the muscles that they activate are able to change their size, shape, and biochemical features in response to differences in activity over a period of time.
Generally, these motor pools (combinations of motor neurons and muscles) can be broken up into three categories: slow, fast fatigable, and fast fatigue-resistant. I think the use of examples from Top Gear will be a useful teaching tool. Also because Top Gear is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.
Fast Fatigable motor pools are capable of generating a LOT of force. Like, a lot. They're at use in power lifters, linebackers, and other athletes that are hitting or shoving things with a lot of violence.
Not surprisingly, all of that POWAAAAH (power) uses up quite a bit of energy. These neurons very quickly burn through their fuel sources. This is because they have a high level of activity of the enzyme glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (or GAPDH), and simply burn through their energy stores really in a very short period of time. Think of them as a very very fast loud muscle car, with really lousy gas mileage.
Fast fatigue-resistant motor pools generate less force than the fast fatigable pools, but they're able to last for longer periods of time. In these pools, the GAPDH is slightly less efficient, which means it burns through energy more slowly. This means that they aren't capable of generating quite as much force as the fast fatigable pools, but are able to sustain a decent amount of force over a longer period of time.
Think of them as something like this Minsk that was used to drive across Vietnam. It's pretty tough. It was able to handle hills, it coasted through wet sand just fine (until it got too wet, but that's not part of the analogy), it was a good tough machine.
Slow motor pools are the final category of motor pools that we will discuss here. These neurons aren't capable of generating nearly as much force as the other types of motor pools. They burn through energy relatively slowly, as their GAPDH is not as active. They aren't terribly useful for tasks that require a lot of force, or quick bursts of energy.
However, this confers an advantage to these neuron types, in that their energy stores actually as much longer. These neurons are easily the most fatigue-reistant. Because less energy is broken down at a time, the energy stores in the muscles last longer. Even as energy sources are used, energy that is consumed (say - in the form of Gu), has enough time to get into the muscles to be ready for use as a fuel source.
As we run longer distances, over time the motor neurons controlling our muscles will gradually adopt biochemical and physiological properties more like the fast fatigue-resistant and slow motor pools, and less like the fast fatigable. This is why, although sprinters can generally go much faster than even distance runners, the distance runners will have enough fuel afterwards to allow them to keep going. And going. And going. It's so cool - not only are your muscles getting bigger and stronger, but their actual biochemistry is changing to adapt specifically help you with distance running!!! SCIENCE!
References: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11021/
Not surprisingly, as runners train and spend more time running, physiological changes are occurring all over their bodies. Many of them are things that we are very aware of - for example, the muscles in our legs get bigger, and our resting heart rates become slower. Over time, we also notice that our endurance increases, and that we're able to go for longer periods of time. You may not realize though, that this is partially due to the fact that our motor neurons are actually changing. Our motor neurons actually have quite a bit of plasticity (ability to change) in response to changes in use. Both the motor neurons and the muscles that they activate are able to change their size, shape, and biochemical features in response to differences in activity over a period of time.
Generally, these motor pools (combinations of motor neurons and muscles) can be broken up into three categories: slow, fast fatigable, and fast fatigue-resistant. I think the use of examples from Top Gear will be a useful teaching tool. Also because Top Gear is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.
Fast Fatigable motor pools are capable of generating a LOT of force. Like, a lot. They're at use in power lifters, linebackers, and other athletes that are hitting or shoving things with a lot of violence.
Not surprisingly, all of that POWAAAAH (power) uses up quite a bit of energy. These neurons very quickly burn through their fuel sources. This is because they have a high level of activity of the enzyme glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (or GAPDH), and simply burn through their energy stores really in a very short period of time. Think of them as a very very fast loud muscle car, with really lousy gas mileage.
Fast fatigue-resistant motor pools generate less force than the fast fatigable pools, but they're able to last for longer periods of time. In these pools, the GAPDH is slightly less efficient, which means it burns through energy more slowly. This means that they aren't capable of generating quite as much force as the fast fatigable pools, but are able to sustain a decent amount of force over a longer period of time.
Think of them as something like this Minsk that was used to drive across Vietnam. It's pretty tough. It was able to handle hills, it coasted through wet sand just fine (until it got too wet, but that's not part of the analogy), it was a good tough machine.
Slow motor pools are the final category of motor pools that we will discuss here. These neurons aren't capable of generating nearly as much force as the other types of motor pools. They burn through energy relatively slowly, as their GAPDH is not as active. They aren't terribly useful for tasks that require a lot of force, or quick bursts of energy.
However, this confers an advantage to these neuron types, in that their energy stores actually as much longer. These neurons are easily the most fatigue-reistant. Because less energy is broken down at a time, the energy stores in the muscles last longer. Even as energy sources are used, energy that is consumed (say - in the form of Gu), has enough time to get into the muscles to be ready for use as a fuel source.
As we run longer distances, over time the motor neurons controlling our muscles will gradually adopt biochemical and physiological properties more like the fast fatigue-resistant and slow motor pools, and less like the fast fatigable. This is why, although sprinters can generally go much faster than even distance runners, the distance runners will have enough fuel afterwards to allow them to keep going. And going. And going. It's so cool - not only are your muscles getting bigger and stronger, but their actual biochemistry is changing to adapt specifically help you with distance running!!! SCIENCE!
References: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11021/
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Race report - OBX Marathon
After a year and a half of running, I have made it to a milestone that I never thought I could reach. It took a lot of practice, a lot of trial and error with food, a lot of experimentation with cross training and weight training, and lots of emotional ups and downs.
I worked through Hal Higdon's Novice 2 program. I stuck to it pretty closely, although towards the end I missed 20 mile run, and had to cut some of the mid-week runs a little shorter. This is a mistake I don't want to repeat in the future. I think there are problems that I had throughout the race that would have been fine otherwise.
Originally, I had planned on running the Anthem Richmond Marathon on November 15. I started the training plan with the intent on finishing at that time. However, after I signed up, my fiancé and I were invited to a wedding that we absolutely wanted to attend. Because I didn't know how well my race would go, or how long it would take me, I didn't want to risk missing or being late for the special event. When I talked to my fiancé about it, he said something to the effect of "You've been working so hard on this, you need to find another one to do." He's incredibly persuasive.
I went online and searched for marathons that occurred over a weekend either before or after the November 15th weekend. That left basically two choices - either the Philadelphia Marathon on November 22, or the Outer Banks Marathon on November 9. Both seem like pretty cool options. Honestly, I'm adding the Philadelphia Marathon to my bucket list. A combination of seafood cravings, the desire for peaceful beach time, and the fact that I was so excited and wanted it to happen RIGHT NOW made OBX the right decision for me. I booked my hotel the week before, very abruptly tapered (improperly, for sure), told my roommates where I was going the day before I left, kissed my fiancé goodbye and drove to the race expo on Saturday.
I was pretty antsy on Saturday night, for sure. Having the Ohio State vs Michigan State game on wasn't calming me down any (Go Bucks!). I called my parents, Facebook-chatted with my roommates, caught up on my blog reading, tried to do some work, but wasn't really able to focus. Around 10:45pm I got a phone call from my fiance. It didn't last very long, but hearing him say "Good luck" and "I'm proud of you" and "I love you" were exactly what I needed to hear. Even though he wasn't with me, I knew he was cheering me on.
OK - Sunday morning. I downed a banana and some Honey Stinger Waffles and a diet coke and headed to the parking lot where the marathon runners were meeting. I walked over there with a really sweet woman who was also there by herself (Shout out to Jessie!). She had run this once before, and gave me lots of tips on the subtleties of the course, and strategies to take to finish the race. Once we got to the start line, I double checked that I had my keys, that my water bottle was full, that I had all of my delicious salted-caramel Gu packets stashed away, and that I had my camera pulled up on my phone so that I could snap pictures along the course. I found corral C. I jogged a bit. I stretched.
Someone came over the speakers saying a prayer over the runners, and after that it felt like we took off very suddenly. I remember having a fleeting thought "Wow, I'm running now, and I'm probably not going to stop for another 4.5 hours", but it didn't seem terribly daunting at the time. Everything was so beautiful - the sky was beautiful and dark and overcast, the road was lined with tall soft pine trees, and the only sound I could hear was the sound of the feet hitting the pavement. It sounded like rain on the roof. We ran through Kitty Hawk, and were cheered on by lots of sleepy people drinking warm coffee.
We also ran through Kill Devil Hills, and ran around the Wright Brothers Memorial! Yay Ohioans! I apologize for the wacky sideways-ish photos. It's the best I could do.
A major 'plus' to this race, is that throughout the entire course, there was a lot of participation from the residents of the neighborhoods that were along the course. Many of them were out with signs and were playing music and high-fiving us as we ran by. Not once, but TWICE I passed a house that was passing out mimosas. As delicious as that sounded, I wasn't sure it would be a good idea for me to experiment with booze at this point in the race. Nevertheless - 10 points for house Kill Devil Hills.
At about mile 10 (I think), the course transitioned from being run on roads to a trail that went through a wooded area. Having my feet land on soft sandy trails was a nice change from the pavement. However, something I was not prepared for was how hilly some sections of the trail were. Around mile 11, I was passed by the 4:30 pace team, and I realized that my pace had dropped from about 10:10 minute miles, to close to 11:00 minute miles. Definitely discouraging. The harder I tried to run, the more it felt like I was running up a down escalator. Thankfully, there was a much needed much appreciated aid station run by Stack 'Em High that had oranges and bananas and banana bread. YUM. After scarfing down what I can only describe as the best orange I've ever tasted in my life, I kept moving out of the woods and past the half marathon mark.
Things started getting especially rough in Nags Head, around mile 17. I knew the big bridge was coming up, and I wanted to get to it and conquer it. The miles started going by slower, I was averaging closer to 11:30 minute miles. I was losing track of when I had eaten my Gu's, and became nervous about taking in too much or not enough. The crowds had thinned out, and I was running with people who looked like they were progressively in worse shape (not with respect with general fitness, but just with respect to fatigue). My feet were pretty sore, my legs were pretty sore, but the worst by far was my back. I felt like I had been kicked in the kidneys. The muscles between my shoulders were so tight. From the base of my neck down to the bottom of my spine just really really ached. Around that time, the course went back to the main highway going through OBX. Seeing a huge straight highway ahead of me was very psychologically overwhelming. After taking so many jogs around neighborhoods, beaches and trails, seeing only a straight patch of highway ahead of me felt insurmountable.
Eventually, I saw the bridge. I saw the bridge, and started my mantra (/prayer). "Dear God, give me the strength to beat this hill. Dear God, give me the strength to beat this hill" etc. I repeated that for about a mile leading up to the bridge. I repeated it as I was climbing up the bridge. Around the top of the bridge, I started saying "Thank you God for getting me here. Thank you God for getting me here", because I knew the hard part was over. At this point I was at mile 24, and the energy of the town of Manteo (home of the finish line) was bringing me back up. People in cars started waving and honking and cheering for me. Around mile 25.5, I started seeing people who had already finished the race walking back saying "You're so close! You can do it!"
At mile 26, I started running with a guy that I hadn't seen since the start of the race. We turned a corner, and he looked over at me and said "You got anything left? Come on let's sprint this! You and me let's go, we can do it!" I didn't think I had anything left in me, but with his encouragement I was able to tap into the last bit of energy I had and I powered to the finish. Thanks, Nelson. I didn't hear what your last name was when we got to the finish line, but thank you.
As soon as I could, I called my mom and my dad. I had a hard time talking, I was torn between wanting to move and wanting to crash. I was starving. I was having a hard time focusing on their questions and figuring out how to answer them. Even though I'm 25, it's still really cool hearing my parents say that they're proud of me. I was able to process that at least. I wandered over to the food line, and redeemed my free pulled pork sandwich and sweet potato fries at them in about 3 minutes, and chatted with a couple of other lone-wolves (Is it appropriate to pluralize 'wolf' when talking about more than one 'lone-wolfs'? I'm genuinely not sure).
I wandered back to the bus that took me back to the parking lot, I got into my car and started the drive home. Once I was actually coherent, I called my dude and told him aaaaaaaaalll about it. He promised me a massage (and totally delivered), told me again how proud he was, and I drove home basking in the glow of marathon-ness.
In conclusion....
1. Having good cheerleaders makes all the difference in the world.
2. I'm glad that I picked a race with lots of variety in the course. For the majority of the race, I was left trying to guess what was up around the corner, and what I'd get to see next.
3. Thanks to Jessie and Nelson for giving me a confidence boost at the start, and showing me what I'm made of at the end.
4. I'm STOKED for the next marathon. Bring it.
I worked through Hal Higdon's Novice 2 program. I stuck to it pretty closely, although towards the end I missed 20 mile run, and had to cut some of the mid-week runs a little shorter. This is a mistake I don't want to repeat in the future. I think there are problems that I had throughout the race that would have been fine otherwise.
Originally, I had planned on running the Anthem Richmond Marathon on November 15. I started the training plan with the intent on finishing at that time. However, after I signed up, my fiancé and I were invited to a wedding that we absolutely wanted to attend. Because I didn't know how well my race would go, or how long it would take me, I didn't want to risk missing or being late for the special event. When I talked to my fiancé about it, he said something to the effect of "You've been working so hard on this, you need to find another one to do." He's incredibly persuasive.
I went online and searched for marathons that occurred over a weekend either before or after the November 15th weekend. That left basically two choices - either the Philadelphia Marathon on November 22, or the Outer Banks Marathon on November 9. Both seem like pretty cool options. Honestly, I'm adding the Philadelphia Marathon to my bucket list. A combination of seafood cravings, the desire for peaceful beach time, and the fact that I was so excited and wanted it to happen RIGHT NOW made OBX the right decision for me. I booked my hotel the week before, very abruptly tapered (improperly, for sure), told my roommates where I was going the day before I left, kissed my fiancé goodbye and drove to the race expo on Saturday.
I was pretty antsy on Saturday night, for sure. Having the Ohio State vs Michigan State game on wasn't calming me down any (Go Bucks!). I called my parents, Facebook-chatted with my roommates, caught up on my blog reading, tried to do some work, but wasn't really able to focus. Around 10:45pm I got a phone call from my fiance. It didn't last very long, but hearing him say "Good luck" and "I'm proud of you" and "I love you" were exactly what I needed to hear. Even though he wasn't with me, I knew he was cheering me on.
OK - Sunday morning. I downed a banana and some Honey Stinger Waffles and a diet coke and headed to the parking lot where the marathon runners were meeting. I walked over there with a really sweet woman who was also there by herself (Shout out to Jessie!). She had run this once before, and gave me lots of tips on the subtleties of the course, and strategies to take to finish the race. Once we got to the start line, I double checked that I had my keys, that my water bottle was full, that I had all of my delicious salted-caramel Gu packets stashed away, and that I had my camera pulled up on my phone so that I could snap pictures along the course. I found corral C. I jogged a bit. I stretched.
Someone came over the speakers saying a prayer over the runners, and after that it felt like we took off very suddenly. I remember having a fleeting thought "Wow, I'm running now, and I'm probably not going to stop for another 4.5 hours", but it didn't seem terribly daunting at the time. Everything was so beautiful - the sky was beautiful and dark and overcast, the road was lined with tall soft pine trees, and the only sound I could hear was the sound of the feet hitting the pavement. It sounded like rain on the roof. We ran through Kitty Hawk, and were cheered on by lots of sleepy people drinking warm coffee.
We also ran through Kill Devil Hills, and ran around the Wright Brothers Memorial! Yay Ohioans! I apologize for the wacky sideways-ish photos. It's the best I could do.
A major 'plus' to this race, is that throughout the entire course, there was a lot of participation from the residents of the neighborhoods that were along the course. Many of them were out with signs and were playing music and high-fiving us as we ran by. Not once, but TWICE I passed a house that was passing out mimosas. As delicious as that sounded, I wasn't sure it would be a good idea for me to experiment with booze at this point in the race. Nevertheless - 10 points for house Kill Devil Hills.
At about mile 10 (I think), the course transitioned from being run on roads to a trail that went through a wooded area. Having my feet land on soft sandy trails was a nice change from the pavement. However, something I was not prepared for was how hilly some sections of the trail were. Around mile 11, I was passed by the 4:30 pace team, and I realized that my pace had dropped from about 10:10 minute miles, to close to 11:00 minute miles. Definitely discouraging. The harder I tried to run, the more it felt like I was running up a down escalator. Thankfully, there was a much needed much appreciated aid station run by Stack 'Em High that had oranges and bananas and banana bread. YUM. After scarfing down what I can only describe as the best orange I've ever tasted in my life, I kept moving out of the woods and past the half marathon mark.
Things started getting especially rough in Nags Head, around mile 17. I knew the big bridge was coming up, and I wanted to get to it and conquer it. The miles started going by slower, I was averaging closer to 11:30 minute miles. I was losing track of when I had eaten my Gu's, and became nervous about taking in too much or not enough. The crowds had thinned out, and I was running with people who looked like they were progressively in worse shape (not with respect with general fitness, but just with respect to fatigue). My feet were pretty sore, my legs were pretty sore, but the worst by far was my back. I felt like I had been kicked in the kidneys. The muscles between my shoulders were so tight. From the base of my neck down to the bottom of my spine just really really ached. Around that time, the course went back to the main highway going through OBX. Seeing a huge straight highway ahead of me was very psychologically overwhelming. After taking so many jogs around neighborhoods, beaches and trails, seeing only a straight patch of highway ahead of me felt insurmountable.
Eventually, I saw the bridge. I saw the bridge, and started my mantra (/prayer). "Dear God, give me the strength to beat this hill. Dear God, give me the strength to beat this hill" etc. I repeated that for about a mile leading up to the bridge. I repeated it as I was climbing up the bridge. Around the top of the bridge, I started saying "Thank you God for getting me here. Thank you God for getting me here", because I knew the hard part was over. At this point I was at mile 24, and the energy of the town of Manteo (home of the finish line) was bringing me back up. People in cars started waving and honking and cheering for me. Around mile 25.5, I started seeing people who had already finished the race walking back saying "You're so close! You can do it!"
At mile 26, I started running with a guy that I hadn't seen since the start of the race. We turned a corner, and he looked over at me and said "You got anything left? Come on let's sprint this! You and me let's go, we can do it!" I didn't think I had anything left in me, but with his encouragement I was able to tap into the last bit of energy I had and I powered to the finish. Thanks, Nelson. I didn't hear what your last name was when we got to the finish line, but thank you.
As soon as I could, I called my mom and my dad. I had a hard time talking, I was torn between wanting to move and wanting to crash. I was starving. I was having a hard time focusing on their questions and figuring out how to answer them. Even though I'm 25, it's still really cool hearing my parents say that they're proud of me. I was able to process that at least. I wandered over to the food line, and redeemed my free pulled pork sandwich and sweet potato fries at them in about 3 minutes, and chatted with a couple of other lone-wolves (Is it appropriate to pluralize 'wolf' when talking about more than one 'lone-wolfs'? I'm genuinely not sure).
I wandered back to the bus that took me back to the parking lot, I got into my car and started the drive home. Once I was actually coherent, I called my dude and told him aaaaaaaaalll about it. He promised me a massage (and totally delivered), told me again how proud he was, and I drove home basking in the glow of marathon-ness.
In conclusion....
1. Having good cheerleaders makes all the difference in the world.
2. I'm glad that I picked a race with lots of variety in the course. For the majority of the race, I was left trying to guess what was up around the corner, and what I'd get to see next.
3. Thanks to Jessie and Nelson for giving me a confidence boost at the start, and showing me what I'm made of at the end.
4. I'm STOKED for the next marathon. Bring it.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
How I got to my first marathon
I started running in March of 2013, and on Sunday I completed my first full marathon.
Couch to 5k
When I started running, I was pretty flabby. I don't just mean that I had gained weight (I totally had), but I also frankly had no muscle tone of note to work off of. I started with a pretty good couch to 5k plan recommended to me by a friend. I found pretty quickly that rather than keeping track of time with a watch (run for 60 seconds, walk for 30 seconds, etc), it found myself keeping time with songs. Here's how that works: I broke songs down into units (1 unit usually consisted of a chorus, or bridge, or verse of a song). I would run for a unit, walk for a unit, run for a unit, walk for a unit, etc. For me, it helped being able to ride on the energy from the song for the running bursts. I eventually worked through the program, and even found myself getting impatient during the walking periods, and accelerating through the program faster than I had expected. I completed my first 5k on May 11, 2013 (http://www.montpelier5k.com)
5k to 10k
After the 5k, I just kept increasing my weekend long runs to get to 6 miles. Honestly the only thing I changed is that on the weekends I incrementally increased my long run mileage. I ran my first 10k in September 2013 (http://www.pepsi10krun.com).
10k to 13.1
My race registration/goal strategy can really only be described as impulsive. I'm not sure what happened, but I signed up for my first half with no real sense of whether or not it was something that I could accomplish. I signed up, printed off Hal Higdon's Novice 2 Half Marathon training program, and stuck to it (for the most part). As I had with the previous two training periods, I pushed my long run mileage farther than the training program had suggested. I finished my first half marathon on April 5, 2014 (http://www.charlottesvillemarathon.com). Fun fact: I registered for my second half, which took place 3 weeks after the first half (http://www.runthevalley.com/park-to-park-marathon/)
Half to Full
Remember what I said earlier about being impulsive? I registered for my full marathon as soon as I had finished my first half. Originally, I had planned to to the Anthem Richmond Marathon (http://www.richmondmarathon.com), but due to scheduling conflicts I needed to change my plans about 3 weeks before the race. I deferred my registration until 2015, and signed up for the Outer Banks marathon, which was one week earlier. I had been working through the Hal Higdon Novice 2 Marathon training program, and with that change in schedule, something had to give. In my case, it was the 20 mile long run.
I'll save the actual race report for another post, but I want to talk about how my training and how I feel about my preparation.
1. My long run peaked at 18 miles, that I did 4 weeks out from the race. I ran most of my long runs outside, but I actually managed to run one of my 14mi runs, and a couple of 12-13mi runs on the treadmill. Boring? yes. Tedious? yes. Invoking strange images from gym personnel? yes. However, it was kind of cool to mess with pace and incline in a way that I would not have been able to on the road. For example - it was fun to mimic hills once in a while by adding an incline. When I'd do this, I would keep the speed the same, forcing me to practice climbing faster than I would have otherwise.
2. Working up to my long runs, I would bring several gels (either Gu or Hammer gel), and a water bottle. After a few epic bonks on my 15, 16, and 17 mile runs, I finally figured out how many calories I needed and when. Turns out the magic formula for me is about 1 gel about every 4 miles. I really like Hammer Gels (chocolate and banana) and Gu (salted caramel) for during the run. Afterwards, however, I prefer to have peanut butter flavored Hammer gels for before and after. They tend to be a little thicker, and have some more protein than the other gels, it's just easier for me to eat and digest while I'm not running.
3. After my harder effort workouts (either long workouts or higher intensity workouts), I would drink shakes after the workout was over. After hard workouts (both hard running workouts and weight workouts), I would follow it with whey protein. I wanted to make sure that I was giving myself all of the amino acids I would need to help out my muscles. After long runs, however, I would drink a Recoverite shake (Hammer nutrition). Recoverite is more carb heavy in addition to having protein, so it helped me start to reset my glycogen stores. Once I started incorporating this into my post-workout routine, I felt much better the next day, and I was able to work better during the next workout.
4. Where I'm training is, in general, much hillier than the majority of the Outer Banks course. I think this was helpful for some portions of the race, but didn't get me as far as I had expected. When I got to the race there were hills, and they were very different than I had prepared for. I think I need to prepare for my next marathon 'smarter' with respect to terrain, definitely.
First marathon - check! I cannot wait for the next....
2. Working up to my long runs, I would bring several gels (either Gu or Hammer gel), and a water bottle. After a few epic bonks on my 15, 16, and 17 mile runs, I finally figured out how many calories I needed and when. Turns out the magic formula for me is about 1 gel about every 4 miles. I really like Hammer Gels (chocolate and banana) and Gu (salted caramel) for during the run. Afterwards, however, I prefer to have peanut butter flavored Hammer gels for before and after. They tend to be a little thicker, and have some more protein than the other gels, it's just easier for me to eat and digest while I'm not running.
3. After my harder effort workouts (either long workouts or higher intensity workouts), I would drink shakes after the workout was over. After hard workouts (both hard running workouts and weight workouts), I would follow it with whey protein. I wanted to make sure that I was giving myself all of the amino acids I would need to help out my muscles. After long runs, however, I would drink a Recoverite shake (Hammer nutrition). Recoverite is more carb heavy in addition to having protein, so it helped me start to reset my glycogen stores. Once I started incorporating this into my post-workout routine, I felt much better the next day, and I was able to work better during the next workout.
4. Where I'm training is, in general, much hillier than the majority of the Outer Banks course. I think this was helpful for some portions of the race, but didn't get me as far as I had expected. When I got to the race there were hills, and they were very different than I had prepared for. I think I need to prepare for my next marathon 'smarter' with respect to terrain, definitely.
First marathon - check! I cannot wait for the next....
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