Shoes

I bought new shoes maybe a month and a half ago, maybe longer.  They were clearance at the running store and men's shoes, which I've bought before.  They were Brooks, which I've also bought before, but it's been a long time.  Well, after several runs in them I noticed I had a sore on one toe that wasn't going away.  It wasn't a horrible sore, but it hurt, and every time I ran it would reopen, I feel like I've had that issue before with Brooks shoes, which is why I quit buying them.  I started running my shorter runs in my old shoes and the sore started to heal but every time I wore the Brooks, it would reopen.

Anyway, one night a couple weeks ago I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night for several hours, so I decided to get on Amazon and buy my trusty Asics that I've been buying on Amazon now for awhile.  Well, the exact shoe I've been buying was out, so I found one similar (I think just the newest version of the one I was buying) and got it. 

Sometimes I wear a size 10 in running shoes (my normal size is a 9) and some shoes it's a size 10 1/2, well, in my sleepy brain (this was about 2am) I couldn't remember what size the Asics are that I already own, so I got a 10 1/2 to be on the safe side.  Ha!  I ran 20 miles in the shoes and then had blisters all over my toes.  My toes still hurt 5 days later.

On Sunday when I ran 8 miles I wore my old Asics.  I didn't want the blisters or the sore on my toes, so I decided 8 miles in worn out shoes would be okay. 

I was talking to a friend who runs and asked if it would be better if I ran in the Brooks that caused the sore on my toe, or the Asics that caused blisters all over my toes, or if I should scrap both and just buy new shoes that fit.  "They" say you shouldn't run a marathon in brand new shoes, but I would buy the same Asics I've been buying.  My friend thought that going with the new shoes would be okay, it's not like I'd be buying a new brand and style, I'd be in the same brand and (mostly) same style that I've been wearing for awhile now.  So I bought new shoes.  They are my 3rd pair of new shoes in about a month and a half (maybe 2 months). 

They came on Monday, and I went for a short run yesterday.  My feet didn't hurt at all afterwards, but it was only 3 miles.  I thought about going 5 miles to test the shoes better, but I also don't want to tire myself out the week of my marathon.  My training has been awful, I figure the rest week would be good. (I hope.)

So, marathon.  4 days left.  I don't feel prepared, but I am not going crazy this time around.  Two years ago I was so stressed out, I wasn't sleeping well, I had a million lists going through my head.  I been having crazy dreams though.  Last night it was about the bus (I'm riding the bus a lot right now because of car issues) and two nights ago it was crazy, weird dreams about Maddox. 

I guess we'll see how it goes.  I may die.  I may not.  I doubt I will get a PR.

My car started acting up a couple weeks ago, and it got pretty bad, so this week it's been in the shop.  I don't know if it'll be ready by Friday.  My plan has been that I'll ride with my sister after work (I have a conference I have to go to so I can't even leave early), but Chris and the kids were going to come in our car.  Well, if our car is not running, then Chris can't come.  Damian is still going to come, he's going to ride the bus to Everett, where my sister will pick him and his girlfriend (yes, she's coming) and then pick me up and we'll all go together.  But my sister doesn't have enough space in her car for her, me, Chris, Damian, Maddox, and girlfriend (not even if the gf stays home).  So I'm pretty bummed that Maddox and Chris probably won't be able to come. 

10 days away

I am not ready to run 26.2 miles.  Nope, no way.  However . . . a week ago today I registered to run 26.2 miles, and the race is in 10 days.  (I am so f'n crazy.)  I have to tell you, my training this year has been much worse than it was 2 years ago, and I thought it was bad 2 years ago. 

Last weekend I ran.  It was a gorgeous fall weekend (no rain!).  I decided to try to do a race pace run on Saturday, not necessarily for the upcoming marathon, but I've been kicking around the idea of going for my under 4 hr time at the Last Chance Marathon on Dec. 31. (I have to run that race to get the Washington Half/Full Marathon series medal, just haven't decided if I'm going to run the half or the full.)  Anyway, I ran 5 miles at a 8:27 average min/mile. 

And Sunday I was going to run 22 miles.  Saturday evening, about 5:30pm I realized I forgot to go to the running store to get Honey stingers.  Damn it!  The running store closes at 5 on Saturdays.  So I looked up online where I could find Honey Stingers, and was told that they are sold at Fred Meyer, perfect, I'll go there.  But no HS's, so back to Google, and Walmart has them!  Yay!  So on to Walmart, nope, that particular store doesn't sell them.  Ugh!  Okay, Super Supplements, this time I called, nope, they don't have the chews, only the waffles.

About a year ago I used the waffles and didn't care for them.  They are big, they are dry, and don't taste great.  While in the store I noticed they also had Gu, which I've never used.  I compared Gu, waffles, and the chews nutrition and decided to go with the waffles, even though they were lacking in stuff the chews had.  But I thought they would be better than nothing, I had to buy a million packages (okay, only 6) just to (hopefully) make it through 22 miles.  This is the nutrition info I found. (I know it's hard to see.)

While the waffles have less calories, I don't really care about calories in my fuel, I want the "good stuff" in the fuel.  (Note: the waffles have more fat, which I don't like.) So what is important in a good long run fuel?  Well, carbohydrates are the number one factor . . . so what do the chews have? 39g of carbohydrates, the waffle has 21g. 

 

I am a very salty sweater, and I noticed during my long runs 2 years ago that I'd get done and want to lick the salt off my skin, so I need salt . . . well, one flavor of the waffles I choose (salted caramel) has a lot of salt 150mg, the chews have 80mg.  I also bought Vanilla waffles, and they had less sodium 90mg, but still more than the chews. 

 

So what other things have I wanted in my long run fuel?  Well, I actually have never thought about it before, but I was looking at the nutrition in the store and saw that the chews had potassium (40mg), the waffles had none.  I thought "huh, I've heard potassium helps with cramps." 

 

Also, the chews have 1g of fiber, the waffles have none; chews have 27g of sugar, the waffles have 10g; and the chews have 1g of protein, the waffles have "less than 1g."  Also interesting, the chews have 100% of Vitamin C, the waffles had 0%. 

 

I also use Nuun in my water, which I started using because of the sodium.

Huh, well, I didn't look at the Nuun nutrition when comparing the waffles and the chews, so I would think that 100mg of potassium would make up for the lack of it in the waffles, however, I have been using both Nuun and chews for a long time . . .

Anyway, I bought the waffles.  Before my run I decided to break the waffles in half, I hated having to do that the one other time I used them during my long run, and I put them in a ziplock bag so it'd be easier to get to (and sweat proof).  And off I went.

I had decided on a different route for my 22 miles.  I get tired of the long run along the freeway (the roads I usually run along follow the freeway very closely for 10 miles or more) and I thought a change of scenery would be nice.  There's a winding road that I used to drive on all the time that I love, it also happens to be a part of the Nookachamps half marathon, so I thought it would be decently flat.  However, I didn't want to do an out and back on that road, mostly because the beginning of it is a steep decline that I didn't want to have to climb back up, so I mapped out another road, Highway 9, that loops around and connects to an old route.  Then I would run near my home (about 3 blocks away) at about mile 13 and Chris could fill my water bottle again, and I could finish the 9 miles on the long flat roads along the freeway. 

Beautiful day for a run!

While mapping this online it looked okay flat, and it sounded like a brilliant idea to run by home a little more than halfway to get more Nuun.  What mapping online doesn't show is the lack of shoulders on the road, and both roads were rather heavily traveled . . .  Oh, and hwy 9? several hills, not huge, but more than I'm used to on a long run.  So, I'm now running on soft shoulders and up and down hills I wasn't expecting, past traffic going 50+ miles an hour.  Not ideal, not ideal at all.  By the time I got to where I was meeting Chris (remember, this is at about mile 13) I was completely dead.  I was fueling with half a waffle every 2 miles starting at mile 5, and a sip of Nuun every mile.  I didn't realize that I wanted water so badly until Chris gave me water and I put another Nuun tablet in.  I regretted it as soon as I took a swallow, and he didn't bring any other water with him.

The run past my house is all uphill, it is uphill for just about a mile, which I normally don't mind much because I'm at the beginning of my run, but at mile 13.5 it is not really what I wanted to do.  But I did know this before I left, so I kept going.

There's a side road that I started taking that parallels the road along the freeway, but also adds some distance, that I was planning on running, however, that road is connected by another road, and you know what the connecting road has? another big hill.  So the whole time I'm on the road going uphill away from my house, I'm thinking "I don't want to run on Blodgett, I don't want to run on Blodgett."  So I try to do some quick calculations in my head (never works) to see if I need that extra distance or not.  I actually had to turn around at the very, very beginning of my run to get something, so I had already added at least a quarter of a mile, so I thought, I could skip that jaunt up Blodgett and just run along the freeway where it's flat.  I forgot to mention that this route would also have me finishing at home with 22 miles, that way I didn't have to ask Chris to come get me.

Well, by mile 18 I realized there was no way I was going to finish 22 miles. My legs were dead and I was starting to walk quite a bit. I called Chris, I had no idea how far I was exactly from the park he usually meets me at but I asked him to pick me up.  I proceeded to walk quite a bit, I think at least half of mile 19 was walking . . . and some crying. When I got to about 18.5 miles I started thinking (my most used mantra) "you can do anything for a mile" and I started to run. 

I forgot to mention, I had exactly 5 Honey Stinger chews left over.  I took 2 at mile 18.  By 18.5 I was feeling a little better and I was forcing "good" thoughts in my head.  At mile 19 I took the rest, and, outloud, said "Come on, Cathy!" and picked up the pace (a tiny bit).  I had decided during the walking breaks that I thought the park was about 20 miles, so I would go that far, and I would go a little farther if it wasn't 20 miles, because I have to run at least 20 miles once, right? 

Well, I hit 20 miles a little bit before the park and I started walking, I was dead.  And Chris wasn't at the park.  I called him, and he said he was "busy" and would be there soon . . . what was he busy doing?  making apple pie.  Insert eyeroll here.  I laid down next to a tree and put my feet up.

Heaven . . . well, until my feet start tingling
from all the blood leaving them.

So why did I go into all the nutrition info earlier?  Because I realized that I felt a lot better after eating those 5 chews at the end of the run.  I thought that the waffles were a huge factor in how my body felt during the run.  Well, the waffles, and the fact that I ran on a brand new route for more than half my run that was more difficult than any of my long runs have been (well, other than the soft dirt one the Leavenworth Half route). Goal this week, get honey stinger chews from the running store.

I haven't run at all since Sunday.  I was going to run on Tuesday, but I felt awful, and was actually laying in bed by 7:45pm.  Yesterday was a huge storm, plus Maddox's parent/teacher conference.  So today I'm going to run, probably 5 miles.  Probably 4 tomorrow, 5 Saturday and probably 8 miles on Sunday.

I have not been as nervous this year as I was 2 years ago.  I don't know why, if it's because I know I trained badly last time too and I still made it, or maybe I just don't care that much this time.  My training was worse this year, a lot worse, but so far I'm not obsessing as much over it.  I guess we'll see how I am next week when it's closer.  I suppose I should look up my eating plan that I did two years ago because I felt it really played a part in how I did for the race.

 



Sickness affects runs

You may be wondering how my 21 or 22 mile run went this last weekend.  Well, it didn't go so well . . . and by that I mean I didn't run.  Last week I started feeling sick, sore throat and a  headache.  Thursday night into Friday morning I didn''t sleep very well.  I was up at 3:45am on Friday morning (I normally wake up at 4:30) and couldn't get back to sleep because my throat hurt so bad, so I got up and took a bath.  Friday was my birthday, and I figured a bath would be a nice way to start my day.

I actually had a pretty good day on Friday.  I had lunch with a good friend and hung out a little. Then I went home, and I started feeling really crappy.  I think mostly it was just because I was sooooo tired.  My family wanted to know what I wanted to do for dinner, but nothing sounded really good.  We ended up trying a new place, which once we got there I thought was going to be a huge disappointment, but turned out really, really good.  I think we will go back when I'm feeling better.   Anyway, we came home, I got presents (a new electric blanket and a new Starbucks travel mug) and a cake and I went to bed.

Saturday I woke up not feeling good at all.  Maddox had a soccer game and my parents had come up specifically to see that. They actually stayed at my sister's house, but they came to Mt. Vernon for the game and then took us out to lunch for my birthday. It was really nice, but all I really wanted to do was go home and lay down.  After they left I did nothing, I did not feel good at all.  Chris asked me at one point if I was okay because I looked really white.

Lunch at Red Robin

Sunday I woke up and felt much better.  However, I knew we had to go grocery shopping so I decided to wait to run.  I figured I could run 12-15 miles since I was feeling better.  We went shopping, I got my nails done, and watched the Seahawks game.  During the game I realized I didn't go to the running store on Saturday to get Honey Stinger's, which I needed for my long run.  =/  So no 12-15 miles for me.  I did go run, I went out for a 5 mile run and actually thought I would cut it short because my throat was bothering me some.  I didn't, and kept going and started feeling much better.  I decided to run 6 miles, I took a different route and ended up on one of my favorite fall trails (lots of trees and pretty leaves), but I realized that the part of the trail I was going to do was only a mile long and I was at 4 miles, so I  thought I'll just do the whole trail (2 miles) but I'd have to turn around and go back to the middle of the trail to get home, so I'd end up with 7 miles.  And I felt good.  I pushed my time a bit and ended up with an average 9.05min/mile. The first mile was pretty slow, a lot of uphill, making it a 9.35 min/mile, the 5th mile was a 9.15min/mile, but the rest were all under 9.09 min/mile, with 4 of the 7 miles under a 9 min/mile.  (9.09 min/mile was once my race pace goal.) 

I know this says 9.08 min/mile, but that's because I stopped at
7 miles and the last 0.02 miles was still walking trying to stop
the damn app, which made the time slower.

I felt good after the run and didn't have a coughing fit, or feel like my throat or head was on fire.  So that was positive and I thought I was getting better.  Well, then I went to bed and realized that I now have a stuffy nose as well.  This is a new thing, and I think a new strain of cold, because last week I didn't have a stuffy nose at all.  Frustrating. 

I am quarantined at work.  I don't currently share an office space, so my coworkers have banned me to my area and closed my door and told me I'm not allowed out . . . not really, but I'm trying to stay in my office space as much as possible with the door closed so I don't get them sick.  (This is what happens when you have PTO [sick and vacation all in one] and I have to use it for an invalid Chris regularly and try to save some time for Christmas.)

So, I guess I'm aiming for 21 or 22 miles this Sunday.  That will give me 2 weeks to taper, although I think my entire training has been a taper.  I thought 2 years ago I trained poorly, I swore this year was going to be better, but every time I feel like I get my feet under me, something goes wrong.  My training was going great in June and July, I was right on track, doing race pace runs that were surprising me, then I had a hip issue and took 3+ weeks off.  I get back into it and have a knee pain.  Then last week I finally had a good long run and was feeling confident again, and I get sick. 

My original goal was to run under 4 hours, my second one was to have a PR (under 4:38:08) now I'm hoping just to finish. 

I have to run the Last Chance Marathon (or half) in Bellingham on December 31st in order to get the Washington half/full marathon medal.  I was thinking that I'd run the half, but now I'm wondering if I should try for the under 4 hour marathon for that one.  Starting in November if I "start" my marathon training over, I would have to start my long runs at 19 miles, and my race pace at 9 miles (which I actually don't know if I can do), but maybe if I follow marathon training perfectly from that point on, I could actually do it.  I don't know.  I guess I will see how my body feels after my marathon at the end of this month (October 29th).

Whew! 19 more miles

Well, right after the Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half Marathon (I'm tired of writing all that), actually 22 hours after finishing it, I ran 19 miles.  I was nervous.  I did not think I would be able to finish.  Last week's failed 19 miles combined with the Leavenworth half and being soooo tired after that, made me feel like there was no way I'd be able to complete 19 miles.  But I remembered last week when I talked about my mindset, how I do better when I tell myself that I will complete XX miles, and not just say that I will do however I feel like, but "should" do XX miles.

Chris decided he was going to try to go to work for a couple hours Sunday morning, but he should be home by 9ish.  I thought 9 wasn't an awful time to go for a long run, and after my half on Saturday I talked Chris into going grocery shopping, so I didn't have to worry about that after a long run (thankfully).  So I got up about 6am, had a "normal" morning, coffee, food, water, bathroom.  I also got online and was reading my blog from 2 years ago.  I was trying to figure out where I ran the last time I ran 18-20 miles.  I remembered that during my 18 mile run I felt great, I finished fast (last mile was 8:47 min/mile).  Yes, I had bathroom issues afterwards, yes, I changed up my whole fueling technique after that, but my long runs after that long run, with the different fueling, were not nearly as good.  So I decided to assume that the bathroom issues were from dehydration, and not from too many honey stingers and Nuun, and do the 3 stingers every 2 miles starting at mile 5, with a sip of Nuun every mile. 

About 9am I got up off the couch where I had parked and got ready.  Chris got home about 9:30 and I left.  I left with the thought in my head that I was going to run 19 miles, and I didn't care about my pace.  I have been starting too fast, so I decided I needed to start slow.  Two years ago my long run goal pace was 10 min/miles, but Sunday I thought that if I was slower than that, oh well, I just needed the distance.  My goal time is not going to happen (even if I hope that some miracle will happen and I get faster in the next 3 weeks, it's really not going to happen). 

And it worked.  It wasn't the best long run I've done, but it absolutely wasn't the worst.  I would say it was a very successful long run.  I finished, I was tired, but after I was done stretching a little I thought, "I could have gone one more mile."  And that was a good thought.  I didn't feel guilty like I normally do when I have that thought because I didn't stop early, usually when I have that thought it's after I've stopped early.  This time I ran exactly what I was planning on running and finished with some energy left over, and that's good.

Nothing special about this photo, it's just the halfway mark.

When I started the run it was drizzling and cool.  I had bought a real waterproof jacket a few weeks ago (last year I looked and looked for one and ended up with a water resistant jacket, which is not the same and you get wet).   I put the waterproof jacket on, it's very lightweight, so I wasn't too worried about getting hot, but worried I'd regret it anyway.  For the first half of the run I was happy I had it, it was very wet out and I was thinking how nice the jacket was.  Well, shortly after the halfway point it started clearing up and I got warm.  I pushed the sleeves up past my elbows and figured it wasn't too bad, I've been warmer while running. 

And then I noticed that I had water running down my arm in a steady stream . . . yeah, waterproof jackets are waterproof both ways.  Not only do they keep water out, but they keep water (sweat) in, and pushing up my sleeves made the sweat pool just above my elbows and occasionally "leak" out.  Ewwwww!  ; )  So I took the jacket off (inside out) and tied it around my waist.  It didn't bother me nearly as much as I expected it to.

At just before 17 miles my phone died.  Thankfully I had looked at it about 2 miles before and noticed it was low on battery.  I was able to call Chris to give him an estimate of when I'd be at the park he was picking me up at.  My legs were pretty dead at this point, and when my phone died I slowed down a lot.  I had been averaging a 10:20ish min/mile, but the last two miles were closer to 12 min/miles.  He ended up having to wait for me for a little bit, but I'm okay with that.  ; ) 

I don't know what I'm going  to do about my phone battery.  I  really, really like having the record of my runs on mapmyrun, and I like having the map of the run to look back on.  I have referenced my long runs from 2 years ago many, many times this year and it's nice to be able to look at the maps and see exactly where I went.  But this phone doesn't have a battery I can take out, not like my phone from 2 years ago (I bought a second battery specifically for my marathon back then).  I have a portable phone charger, but it's heavy and very bulky and won't fit in my pouch with my phone.  I did just buy one for Damian that's much thinner, maybe he'll let me borrow it for my long run this weekend. . . and my marathon.

I did the 3 honey stingers every 2 miles starting at mile 5, and had 2 at mile 18 because I was tired.  I sipped Nuun every mile, and stopped at a coffee stand at mile 12.5 to refill my water bottle and put another half a Nuun in it (they are tablets that look like the original Airborne and dissolves in water).  I did not have the bathroom issues I did 2 years ago during my 18 mile run, I didn't have to stop and go NOW, nor did I spend 3 hours in the bathroom after the run.  I did have to go sit a little more often than usual the rest of the evening, but I got to enjoy my (first!) long run snack of a donut and mimosa and ate dinner that night.  So that is all very good. 

I think I will continue with this fueling technique, and maybe drink more water on Saturday.  I was harder to stay hydrated on Saturday with the long drive and the half marathon.  My legs were dead Sunday evening and really, really sore on Monday.  Tuesday they were better, and I ran 5 miles and Thursday they were just fine.  I think a lot of the soreness was the soft dirt from the half marathon more than the distance (although, I'm sure that played a part). 

This week is 21 or 22 miles (not sure how far) and then taper.  I feel like I've done all my training in a month, but I suppose I haven't really.  I did jump from 13 to 16 to 19 and now to 21 and my midweek runs have been practically non-existent.  No wonder I can't get faster.  ; )

Happy Birthday to me!  41 is a horrible number to see, but I don't feel 41 . . . but who really does?  I understand my mom so much more now than I ever have. 

Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half Marathon

In the span of 27 1/2 hours I ran 32 miles (not all at once, there was a break for 22 hours).  Saturday was the Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half Marathon.  And then on Sunday I ran 19 miles. 

The Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half was okay.  I wish I had enjoyed the scenery more, but I didn't see much of it at all.  Leavenworth is a beautiful town, and at this time of year it's even  more beautiful with the changing colors of the trees.  I was actually about to write that I didn't know why I didn't look at the scenery much, but it suddenly hit me, I was looking for my parents for the entire race and that's why.

My mom called Friday night and asked if I wanted company during my race, and I said sure.  Leavenworth turns out to be the same distance from their house as it is from mine, 2 1/2 hours.  So they said they'd come cheer me on and we could go to lunch afterwards.  I said that sounded like a plan. 

I woke up at 4:30am, which is my (mostly) normal time to wake up during the week and was out the door to my house at about 5:30.  I took some hard boiled eggs, coffee, and water.  I knew I would have to stop to use the bathroom at some point, I just didn't realize that it is very hard to find a bathroom on that particular highway.  It's not one I drive frequently, so I didn't know where places were, and once you start going up the mountains, there's really no towns to stop in, or I should say, no big towns that have stores open at 6-7am on a Saturday morning. 

I got to the pass over the mountains and had to go pretty bad and I saw a sign that said "Store, restrooms, Always open" and thought, I'm going there!  Well, when I turned off the road was closed. =(  So much for "Always open."  I pulled over and went in the bushes, got back on the highway and around a corner, not even 500 feet away was a gas station.  =)  Oh well. 

I got to the fish hatchery where the race started and got my bib, used the bathroom again, and started looking for my parents.  I thought they had said they'd be there about 8:30 (race started at 9am), but by 8:40 they still weren't there.  My mom finally returned my numerous calls at 8:42 and said they were in "east Wenatchee."  So I don't know how far away east Wenatchee is, but the race was starting in 18 min . . . I told her I didn't think they'd make it to the start and she acted confused for a min, but said okay, they'd find somewhere to park to cheer me on. 

So I spent the next hour looking for them on the course, and didn't see them at all.  I figured they must have just decided to go to the finish line and wait for me there.  Just after halfway I finally saw them and they kinda leapfrogged me the rest of the way. . . Well, until I turned off the main road and ended up on trails.  Yeah, so the last 2-3 miles was on a trail, and I'm not talking about a paved trail, or even a gravel trail (there was one of those early in the race), but a dirt trail . . . soft dirt.  And that is what I think killed me.  I was dead, really dead, by the time I finished.  I had started out at a good pace, about 9 min/mile, but by the end I think I was pushing 11 min/miles, my average was . . . well, according to mapmyrun, with my "official" time, it was 9.28 min/mile, so I ended up doing better than I thought. 

 My finish time was 2:04:12.  Not bad.  My PR is 1:59:47 (in 2014), which I didn't expect to beat this time.  I have not done well with my pace runs since my hip issue, but it is the best time for this year.  The Nookachamps half was 2:09:04 and the San Juan half was 2:09:26 (which is pretty good for it being all hills). 

It's a very cool medal, a bottle opener . . . too bad I don't
drink beer.  =)

My parents took me to lunch at one of my sister's and my favorite places and I went home. 

Yes, I got my fried green beans!

So I have another whole run to talk about . . . 19 miles.  Maybe I'll go write a separate post and have it publish tomorrow.  =)  Speaking of tomorrow, it's my birthday . . . so there's that.