The Next Big Thing

What better thing do you have to do at midnight than run 10K?  Exactly.  That’s why my ever-loyal husband drove me over to Dunedin late last night…so I could run my favorite race in my favorite place .  The last time I ran the Midnight Run was a few days before we left for Frankfurt, Germany for my first Ironman.  I was a complete freak about not injuring myself, so I sailed along slowly through the night, finishing in 1:02:12.  That was the only year that Armando ran at midnight too…he ran the 5K.  (He also ran the Gasparilla 5K one year with me…and that concluded his running career.).  Two-thousand and five wasn’t the year I puked because obviously, I didn’t push it.  But that’s a story for another time.

Yesterday’s evening rain cooled the temps slightly, and the evening turned out to be less humid than in the past.  Armando and I met up with his co-worker Eduardo, and this would be his third actual race.  I took a little warm-up jog and watched the 5K runners speed into the finish chute.  I guess if I were a 17 year old boy and had like 5% body fat I’d be finishing with 5-minute miles too!  While I was watching, I was cornered by a six-foot tall, 70-year old Uncle Sam who talked incessantly about his ultra-walking career…how many miles he’d walked…this person and that person he’d met walking.  I guess after thirty years of ultra-walking, you’re mouth starts ultra-talking.  I eventually freed myself from him to kiss my man before the race.  (Funny thing…Eduardo didn’t want a kiss from Armando for good luck…?).

Finally it was our turn to line up.  I had watched June cross the 5K finish line, and chatted with her before the start of the 10K.  The RD counted down and we were off.  Eduardo was out of sight in no time…rock on, you Peruvian!  My plan was to run a negative split.  That’s it.  No time in mind…just enjoy the darkness of the water.  I didn’t even wear a watch!  As I ran I listened to people around me.  Many younger kids come out for this race…I guess it gives them a good reason to be on the streets after midnight   I laughed at some of the overly-hydrated runners, carrying their camelbacks or hydration packs , as well as the ones in their headphones or long running pants.  (OK, yes, I’ll wear headphones in Vermont to pass the hours and hours of running…but I can find lots of things to focus on in a race that should take under an hour).  What I did know was that there was no way that guy pushing a running stroller with a newborn, or the two young girls who wouldn’t let me pass them (for awhile, anyway) were going to finish before me!

The turn-around is within Honeymoon Island Park , and I knew I was going to start kicking it into gear.  I started passing people who’d gone out too fast.  (Love that!).  With maybe two miles to go, I ran up to a big dude, Eric, and said, “Hang in there, kid!”  Well he wanted to hang in there with me, and I wasn’t about to slow down.  We chatted a bit and I learned that he’d lost 115 pounds and was training for this first half-ironman.  Now that is awesome!  He was huffing and puffing and I told him, “There’s no stroking out or puking, ok?”  He just laughed and kept picking up speed with me.  We eventually caught up to June and she chatted with us over the drawbridge.  I kept pushing the pace, and when we got close to the finish line, I yelled to Eric, “You’d better finish before me!!”  And he did.  I saw Armando and Eduardo right before I crossed the finish line at 58:18 (just 15 seconds slower than my 2003 time).

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I’m not a sprinter.  Running 9.5-minute miles was fast enough for me.  Jon placed in his age group running just under 40-minutes…and Eduardo, the guy who showed up in hiking shorts, finished in 44-minutes, winning 5th place in his age group and a plaque!  Niiice run guys!  We got some food and drinks then headed home.  In bed, my last words to Armando were, “Its funny.  Last week I was waking up at 3:50am, and tonight I’m going to bed at 3:50am.”  Sweet dreams, midnight runners….

…Armando and I were packed and ready to fly the friendly skies to Klagenfurt, Austria for what would be my second Ironman.  When we arrived, we were welcomed by rain and fifty-degree weather.  Fantastic.  The Old Country has a way of doing that…IM Germany was exactly the same when we arrived.   But the skies cleared soon enough, and a sunny race was had by all (I still have the sunburn marks on my back to prove it). 

Because we were flying through the night, I missed my favorite race in the Tampa Bay area…The Dunedin Midnight Run (ok, its called the Kiwanis Midnight Run…but I like Dunedin better).  l had also missed the previous year’s run when Armando and I sneaked away to Antigua for a week of R&R.  But this year I’m back and I’m excited to run my very first race course.  There’s nothing like running by the Gulf in the heat of the night.  And if it were twelve years ago, I’d hop into the water afterwards and swim with the sharks and stingrays.  Those were some fun times….

Well, hopefully the retirees will be out on the causeway spraying us down ’cause there’s no doubt its going to be a hot one.  And let’s just trust that this running at midnight will be for naught…that I’ll be done and in bed before midnight strikes on July 19th

My favorite video game of all time is Baldurs Gate.  I like the game because its a multi-player fantasy set in the Middle Ages.  I of course, always play the elven sorceress and love being a “mistress of destructive spells.”  Although I don’t understand all of the D&D-like classes, abilities, hit points and spells, I do understand the importance of Constitution and Fortitude:

Constitution is a term which encompasses the character’s physique, toughness, health and resistance to disease and poison. Constitution also is important for Fortitude saves, the Concentration skill, and fatigue-based general checks. Constitution also determines the length of a barbarian’s rage…having 0 Constitution is fatal.

A Fortitude save represents physical toughness, incorporating stamina, ruggedness, physique, bulk, metabolism, resistance, immunity, and other similar physical qualities. Fortitude saves involve a character’s resistance to an effect that directly attacks his health, stamina, or soul. Typically, Fortitude saves are the sort of thing that a “tough guy” would be good at. Fortitude saves are affected by the Constitution base stat.

What does it all mean, and how does it relate to ultrarunning and endurance sports?  Follow me for a minute down the dirt road .  Concentration, fatigue, the length of a barbarian’s rage (Vermont’s hills, trails, and rocks over 62 miles) are all elements of an endurance event.  Toughness, stamina and immunity are important in resisting attacks (a 20-hour run, downhills, blisters) that try to crush our health or soul.  Having zero Constitution and Fortitude is fatal…aka: DNF.

It looks like I need to find the potion of Constitution  and the potion of Fortitude  if I’m going to defeat the evils that await in Vermont .  Let me know if you have any cool amulets, swords or armor that may help in this quest…

I think the devil himself leaves Florida in the summer because its so cursed hot!  Candi, Becky, Woody, Tracy and I took off at 5:15am, trying to beat at least some of the heat that we knew was coming.  Our plan: to run a 5-mile “starter” loop (like, its just for beginners), the 15-mile loop, and finish up with a 10-mile loop.  I’ve planned physically and mentally for today all week, knowing I needed a solid run to  for Vermont. 

I hoped that Woody and Becky could ease into the first five miles in the dark, but there was no warm-up.  Once we walked out of the parking lot, they started running!  Funny.  And that reminds me that Jon actually came flying into the parking lot just before we took off, and flew out just as fast on foot.  (We saw him again hours later).  Not that we needed any warm-up.  It was 72 degrees with 100% humidity when we started at 5:15am …and I’m not exaggerating- I looked it up on the local weather channel!  By 11:00am it was 83 degrees but felt like 93 with 65% humidity .  UGH.  I had no physical aches and pains, well, relatively speaking.  But the heat was unbearable.  Its the kind of heat where you feel like your skin is melting .  I really thought to myself, “We’re idiots!  We shouldn’t even be out here right now…what are we thinking?”  Well, we were thinking: This is our last long run!!!  And that’s one of the only things that kept me going.  That and the thought of an ice bath when I got home to cool down my over-heated body.

Candi and Tracy were so gracious to stick with me and walk when my heart rate blew up to 170.  They didn’t chat much, but having them there made a world of difference.  And those last ten miles were a killer.  Tracy bounded ahead like it was nothing, and ended up finishing a good half-hour before us…Rock on, T!  Candi and I did more walking than running in hopes that we wouldn’t feel sick all afternoon, and counted it as time on our feet (and according to my watch, which I didn’t stop until we finished, was 7:01:00…I AM the oh-one Queen!).  We also agreed that the extreme heat added another 10 miles onto our run   (Roger, that means that you really DID run 40+ miles!). 

OK, so seven hours doesn’t compare to the up-to-twenty hours that it will take me to finish 100K in a mere three weeks, but the day was a successful, significant run.  No: blisters, back pain or tight calf.  No: horse flies, sunburn (except on my chin which isn’t covered my the shade of my hat!) or stray dogs.  To top off a tough day, when I came home Armando had his famous chicken bolognaise sauce and pasta all ready to eat (There’s yet another reason to LOVE my Swiss Mister !).  After an ice bath, which felt SO good, we enjoyed the food and a two-hour nap….all in air conditioned comfort.

Apparently the Vermont RD recived enough negative feedback about the 2:00pm start time for the 100K, that he changed the start time for us to 4:00am with the 100-milers.  (That is a good thing, right?).  So at least for the first 47.2 miles I should have someone to run with.  Now after that, I may be all alone….during the toughest part of the run…the last 14.8 miles.  But I can deal with it.  Right?  Uhh, yeah, I can deal with it. 

So we have our last long run tomorrow…30 miles.  I hope my body plays along this time, and I make it through the distance.  It would be nice finish up the long training with the confidence of a good, solid run.  After that, its time to back off and let my body recover for the next three weeks.  I’m ready for a break.  And after the race, that’s what we’ll get from Monday til Wednesday at the B&B  we decided on in Brattleboro, VT.  I can hardly wait for a little  and .  I also have a massage lined up as well for Monday afternoon.  I guess that’ll be my motivation at mile 47.2….

So originally I was going to write today about how much I dislike (ok, hate) tempo runs.  Then before 8:00am I received a call (or apparently three calls) from Candi, who was flipping out.  Read below and find out why:

Dear 2008 VT 100 K runners,

Being the participants in the very first VT 100 K race makes all of you members of a very special group. As this is the first time in our 20 year history that the VT 100 has added a new feature to the event, we have spent a great deal of time trying to make as great an experience as the 100 mile race has been to the hundreds of runners who have experienced it.

In an effort to make the first VT 100 K truly a part of the VT experience we have made a change to the schedule of the 100 K. Rather than start and finish separately (at 5:30 AM and 1:30 AM) the 100 K will start at 2 PM on Saturday with the 50-mile horses and finish with the 100-mile runners at 10 AM on Sunday. After 5.8 miles the 100 k course will join the 100-mile course at their mile 43.5 and run with them to the finish. This allows you to run with both the horses and the 100-mile runners and finish with some of both groups.

We hope that you regard this change as good news although we apologize for doing it with short notice. If this change causes problems for any of you please let me know. We are all excited about the first major change to the VT 100 and look forward to meeting you, the first VT 100 K runners.

There’s an uproar in the FUR’s, and it looks like a couple of runners have already emailed the RD about the major change (and more will do the same).  I personally think there are pro’s and con’s to the change.  And you know what I’ve realized?  Sometimes things just go wrong (I know…that coming from a person who has difficulty adjusting?  I’m growing, people.).  We may be able to change his mind and we may not.  But either way, I’m going to run 100K…whether its in daylight hours or through the dark night.  Things just got more interesting….

Ironman Coeur d’Alene was yesterday, and there were several uhhh, aquaintences, from New Tampa heading over to beautiful…Idaho.  Clearly race destination is a BIG draw for me.  But  Idaho???  It doesn’t mater if I really know them.  I can still watch their progress via internet, right?  Or is that creepy?  Doesn’t matter.  I did it anyway.  And it totally psyched me up for Ironman Switzerland ….for which I will be registering on Monday, July 14th (or Sunday night…I need to think about the time difference). 

The most difficult thing about registering a year (one YEAR ahead because these crazy things sell out in a matter of days…minutes sometimes!), before the race is that my motivation level is at zero.  Mostly because Vermont will be a mere five days later.  Obviously my thoughts will be 100% consumed with running, walking and crawling 100K in the hills of Woodstock.  But this time next year I will be swimming, biking and running my heart out as my training peaks.  Kinda like where I am right now…one more long run then its Taper-Time!

I have one more Ironman finishline to cross in the Old Country  to complete my German-speaking Ironman circuit.  Yes, that is an actually page in my planner…and its been there since 2005.  I’m a goal-setter, what can I say?  I’m registering for another Ironman, not only because its in my husband’s home country, but because 3 is a magic number.  Think about the 3’s you know:

• The 3 Musketeers
• Mo, Larry, and Curley
• Three Blind Mice
• Three  Kings
• The Three Little Pigs
• The Trinity: God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit 
• Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
• Three Amigos
• “Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me”
• Doug, Steve & Andrea
• The Star Wars Trilogy
• Gold, Silver and Bronze

So its clear to me that Ironman Switzerland will be my Lucky Number 3 .  If you care to race with me, train with me, or just come to the Old Country to watch…I’m all for it!  (And even if you say “No!” right now, I’ll be recruiting come January ‘09).

.

I bailed on Saturday’s long run and Grand Slam Photo Shoot to give my calf another recovery day.  But you can’t keep a good girl down, so I called The Good Doctor  and asked if I could hook up with her today for an 11-miler.  Being the ever-patient trail guide that she is, she agreed to meet me at Trout Creek at 7:00am.  We had both hoped that the rain would have already been falling, thus allowing us to nix the Sunday run (more on that later).  But clear-enough skies  gave way for a hop through the woods.  I love it when runners, especially fast runners say, “I’m going to take it easy today.”  Initially I’m relieved…and then we start running.  Within twenty minutes I was gasping for air with a heart rate upwards of 170.  “Suck it up, sister,” I told myself, “and just do the work.”  Lucky for me Candi is working on her nutrition, which gave me a walk break every 15 minutes.  Whew!

With a few miles to go, the rains came and doused us.  I have no problem running in the rain , as long as it comes during my run.  And then the trails get messy, and there’s nothing you can do about that.  But I kinda refuse to start running (and definitely refuse to bike!) if its already raining.  I may melt afterall.  I’m really happy that I decided not to wear my new white Nike’s, because they would have been trashed on their first run.  And anyway, if you’re going to run in the mud, do it right: .  Let me know if you know of a Mud Run   ’cause I’ll be there to get down and dirty.

OK, back on track.  We finished 11-miles in just over two hours and my calf felt just fine (besides the psychosomatic tinglings).  It felt good to push it out there.  I’ll head out again tomorrow, then gear up for the last long run before Vermont!

…is how I’ve been feeling lately.  I can’t put my finger on it, but I’m completely out of whack…both physically and mentally . 

Physically: Started last Sunday when I had to bail on the 30-miler.  My calf was tight and a nerve in my lower back was firing.  (OK, bailing was a mental problem too).  Monday night I must have slept wrong, because I woke up with a zinger in my neck .  You know, the kind when you can’t turn your head to the side?  It was wild, alright.  It kept me awake almost all of Tuesday night.  I felt like my neck would break if I’d move it one more time, but I couldn’t get comfy.  Wednesday morning I attempted a run which, considering, wasn’t all that bad.  But my calf was still on the verge, and I couldn’t turn my head to check for traffic.  Not good.  When I had a cancellation in the afternoon, that opened up some time in my schedule, and I dialed Pete as fast as I could.  He graciously tortured me for an hour.  (Why do I call him, again and again?). 

Pete did work out some stuff in my neck, but according to his internal MRI, he felt a small tear in my calf.  Fabulous.  I have torn both calf muscles in the past (Now THAT is excruciating pain!!), and that tends to make it easier to rip it again.  Which, now that I think about it, I think get slight tears every few months.  So guess who has to bail out of the San Ann ride and hilly run on Saturday?  (OK, bailing AGAIN is another mental problem). 

Mentally: Hmmm, where should I start?  The obvious is that Vermont is like four weeks away, and my training for it is not at all what I had planned.  It started with my injury after Umstead that set me back a good three weeks.  Since then, I haven’t run over 30 miles at one time, where for Umstead I ran 30+ miles twice.  The shoe dilemma is adding to the stress.  And so is the fact that I’m heavier for this race than I have been for any race in the past four years.  How is that possible??

I can’t seem to get my schedule into a groove, and that’s makes me crazy.  Its been nice having Mondays off, but that makes Tuesday through Friday really packed.  And my clients are actually showing up!  They must be bored of summer vacation already. 

Plus, my thoughts are really with other people right now… ….

I’ve got to pull myself together.  I wonder if I can talk Armando into taking me to the beach tomorrow.  The positive side is that after a week of icing my calf, I went on a walk this morning and it feels better.  I also tried yet another new pair of shoes…Nike Pegasus  and they fit nicely.  Not too big and not too small.  (But will they make me FLY through the Vermont trails?).  And my neck is not quite as stiff.  Best of all…its FRIDAY and I have a three-day weekend ahead….

When I first started running fourteen years ago, I bought women’s running shoes in a size 8.  Uff!  It didn’t take too long to figure out that I needed a little more room, so I upgraded to a women’s 8.5.  The more you run, the more you learn and eventually I realized that a women’s size 9 might accommodate my crazy feet the best .  Then two years ago when I started running the grass and trails I opted for men’s 7.5 trail runner, because it was wider that the women’s shoe.  But there are still problems with blisters and calluses.

Maybe my feet are getting wider or maybe I’m just more cognizant of what’s going on with my body.  What I do know is that I need to find something more roomy if I’m going to run long.  So recently I ordered the men’s 7.5 in a 2E thinking that would be just right.  But when I tried them on, they felt exactly like the D width.  Grrr.  I shipped those right back and ordered the men’s size 8 in a 4E width.  Oooh, really?  That just sounds big.  I waited for them to run to my door, then thought twice about it…so I cancelled that order.

In the meantime, I stepped out of my comfort zone with Asics, and ordered New Balance.  I’ve tried NB before and didn’t like them.  But NB is one of the only women’s wide-width runners I can find on the market.  So I ordered a women’s 9 in a 4E width.  I was psyched when they arrived a couple of days later, hoping, praying that this is MY shoe.  I pulled that beauty out of the box…and just laughed.   Good gosh!  Is that a shoe or is it a box???  It is almost a perfect oval…no curves whatsoever .  Now those ARE some ugly runners!  But, hey if they work…

So I wore them yesterday when I ran to the parking garage for my stair workout.  It was like toting brick shoe-boxes on my feet .  I had a feeling that would be the case, so I had thrown my trusty Asics in the back of my car.  After sloshing my way through a half-mile run, I switched into some actual running shoes for the stair-climb.

So hundreds of dollars later, I’m still out of shoe luck and Vermont is coming.  I have two new pairs of shoes coming (one being the men’s Asics 7.5 2E because I know it will fit), and some funky Nike’s, which again, I’ve never had luck with.  I really think I’m going to order those running sandals next…