UpRace Blog

I recently wrote a post for UpRace Blog.  Check it out, and read the other posts while you're there, they're great!

Pumpkins are healthy, right?

Fall makes me sappy, and the weather we've been having this week in Boston has inspired the following sentence: It's that time of year again, where the summer heat begins to drift to the cooler spectrum, long sleeve shirts and jackets emerge from the bottom drawer, and the leaves are succumbing to the temptation to change colors.

Ok, that's out of my system.  Really, it's all about the pumpkin flavored pastries.  I mean, have you have Dunkin Donut's pumpkin muffin?  It's show-, work-, track-stopping, what have you.

I'd like to think that we're meant to build up a layer of pumpkin pastries for the winter cold, and I've already had a pretty good start to it.  But that brings up another issue, one that I've been thinking about for the past few months, and that is nutrition for long distance runners.

Back in June, when it started getting really warm and the fact of not having air conditioning was just starting to hit me, I lost my appetite at night.  I would get home and be so hot that food just sounded gross.  The problem with this is, not only was I skipping a meal, I was skipping a meal right after working out.  I would go for a run of between 4-6 miles, or go to the gym for a class, and get home and not eat anything.  Now before you start calling hotlines on my behalf, I should tell you that I have been making a concerted effort over the past few months to not skip meals and to replenish my body with nutrients lost while working out.

Finding what I need to eat, nutrient wise and calorie wise, has been a struggle for a few reasons.  One is that I simply don't have time to cook a well-balanced, healthy and nutritious meal for myself.  I'm not sure that frozen dinners really cut it, and my go-to bowl of cereal, for when nothing else sounds good, doesn't do me any good after I've burned 700 calories.  Neither does chocolate cake, which always sounds good, and has plenty of calories.  I've had some problems that I think proper nutrition could have helped: I was getting headaches after I did my long runs, and I strained my left shin muscle.  Nutrition isn't the only culprit for both of these issues, but I'm betting that it would have helped.  I wasn't getting enough carbs, and now that I'm conscious of that, I eat bread like it's my job and my headaches have been getting better.

There's a fine balance in eating right, staying healthy, and also staying lean.  For every pound that you lose, supposedly you can shave 2 seconds off of your pace.  So, exactly how many calories is enough to intake after a 10 mile run?  What types of calories am I supposed to have?  I know I need a ration of 4:1 carbs to protein.  But what about veggies?

I've heard people say that after you've been a serious distance runner for a little bit, your body begins to crave fruits and vegetables so a more natural diet is almost automatic.  That hasn't exactly happened for me, and I go straight for the cookies once I'm home.

I haven't figured all of this out yet.  There are still days where I don't eat enough, and it doesn't occur to me until the next day when I'm trying to figure out why I am tired, grumpy and sore.  One thing I've tried to do is eat a substantial lunch on days I know I have to run.  On my long run days, I get home and immediately make pasta and try to take in some protein.  I also have about 5-6 glasses of water or Gatorade.  After that, there isn't room in my stomach for anything else.

I am buying vegetables and fixing them when I have time, and I eat about two pieces of fruit a day.  I try to make sure at least one of my meals each day is a full one, with protein, carbs and veggies.  It's gotten easier, but it's definitely a problem I did not anticipate having when I signed up for the marathon.

W-w-w-wipeout!

Sooner or later in your running "career," you will realize the hazards of your choice to tie up your laces and get out the door on the pavement.  You may find yourself in a crosswalk, in the direct path of a treacherously driven vehicle (and you thought the white lines meant pedestrian right-of-way).  Or you'll run a little bit too close to dusk and end up running home in the dark, without reflective gear or pepper spray.  Perhaps you'll even find yourself running past/near/into an ex, looking exactly like you feel--hell--when in your head you had pictured this awkward encounter as having a smidge more glamour and smelling better.

While these are the more serious hazards (except the last one--let's face it, while it is embarrassing, it's not life threatening), there are some other hazards, like tripping and falling, that are important to keep in mind.

I've been on runs where after a number of miles, it's difficult to pick up my feet.  Moving my legs forward isn't difficult, but getting the toes to lift more than 1 centimeter off the ground is.  This isn't a problem, unless there are things that get in your toes' way, like branches, rocks, uneven pavement, your other toes...

On Monday night, I went for a run along the Charles River, this time going from my new apartment in Brighton towards the city.  While there is a paved walkway there, I usually choose to run on the grass or on the trodden-down grass turned path that sometimes appears right next to the walkway, where many other runners have also decided to forego the pavement for softer running ground.  After crossing the JFK Bridge at Harvard, I ran along a bumpier version of this same path, one that was a down a slope from the real path.  I've tripped before, but I've always caught myself.  Monday wasn't so lucky, and I tripped on something--a rock, a root, who knows, and fell forward onto my left side.  I came away fairly unscathed, considering: my left knee was skinned and there was a rock that I had apparently slid across, creating a scratch a few inches long.  My iPod has a tiny scratch on its face, but it still works.  No one saw me, which I'm thankful for.  I did have to run the 3 miles home with my bleeding knees and in a thunderstorm, but perhaps it's a small price to pay for my social pride.

You can't prepare for falling, except to be conscious of your dragging feet.  You also can't prepare for the other atrocities mentioned above, except be aware of your surroundings, time of day, and your deodorant usage.

$1000

I've reached 33% of my goal, or $1000!!!

This is exciting for several reasons.  First, that's $1000 that is going towards cancer research, education and patient services.  Wow.  Second, I've never fundraised before and I can't believe that the $1000 mark has been reached!  People are so generous, it's amazing.  Third, that means that I'm, well, 1/3 of my way to raising $3000.

*stops and does happy dance*

We can do so much more, though!  If you haven't donated yet and would like to, please visit the link on the right side of this page!

Happy labor day, everybody!

Some Hills Don't End

From a post on June 24...

"I learned that I love hills (yes, this IS a positive). By the end of the run, I was almost begging for more hills. That's less because I'm good at them and more because you use slightly different muscles when you climb them. But still, they were fun! And they come with a built in "instant gratification" (instant compared with the 2.5 hours it takes to finish a half marathon) --at the top of them, there is relief. "

The hills I was referring to in this post I have demoted from hill status to anthills.  Small anthills, for small ants.  Real hills can be found in Vermont, along Route 100 between Stowe and Okemo Mountain.  

This past weekend, I ran the 100 on 100 Relay Race in Vermont with five of some of my now-closest friends.  We began running at 7am and finished running at 9:32pm, clocking in at 14:32.  Each of us ran three times for distances ranging from 2.5 miles to 8.7 miles (these are the extremes).  All in all, I ran 15.9 miles, 10 of those being uphill.

In case you didn't catch that, 10 of those miles were uphill.  

My last leg, no pun intended, where I ran uphill for 6.7 miles.

Since I made a big deal about my shin problems in my last two posts, I'll go ahead and say that my shin gave me no problems in this race.  I was very worried about it, and while my physical therapist said I would be okay, she didn't have high hopes that I would be able to run for about a week afterward.  Haven't tried to run yet, but walking has not posed any problems so far.

So hills are hills, and they are hard to run up, and they are even harder to run up when you're tired.  I think I did these 6.7 miles in about 1hr 15min.  

We all had hills, though.  You should see the elevation map for Jenny's, our runner 6, first leg of the race, or Arthur's, our runner 2, last leg of the race.  We all had hills.  That's Vermont for you!  

The start of the race, 7am!

So a bit more about this race.  The 100 on 100 is a bit unusual, because it is a 100 mile relay race and most relay races are 200 miles.  The great thing about that is that you get it done in one day, whereas the 200 mile ones last at least 24 hours.  Also, we only had 6 people on our team whereas the 200 mile ones have 12.  

There were 130 teams competing this year, and for a race that is only in it's 5th year of existence, that's pretty awesome.  What's cool about this one is that they have various start times for different teams, depending on your average team pace, and they try to make it so that everyone finishes between 9 and 10pm.  It turns into a "party" for the last few legs since there are so many teams running at the same time.  

I recommend that everyone do a relay race for the following reasons:

At the end of the race!

1) You will get to know the people in your van very well.  This is because you get to see their extremely excited, high-endorphin side post-running, and their groggy, grumpy low-energy side as the fatigue starts to hit before they run again. I think that my team saw a little bit more of the latter than the former from me (sorry team!).

2) You'll kick butt.  There's no way not to kick butt in this.  Chris, our runner 3, had never run more than 6 miles before she did this race, and she ran a total of 15 miles.  15 miles!!  And she was amazing!  Even on her last leg when she had some unexpected hills.  Seriously, you can't not rock this, your adrenaline will be so high with all the cheering from your team and other teams, from the sugar cookies you've been eating the whole day, and from your desire to just be done with running.  In all honesty, if you're even a little bit of a runner, you'll love this kind of race.  When else will running be a team sport?

See? It's pretty.

3) Most relay races that I've read about are set in beautiful areas of the country.  There's one in New Hampshire called Reach the Beach, that goes along the southern end of the state and ends at the coast.  There's also a Reach the Beach in the west, I'm not sure in which state.  There are also several in Colorado.  If you want to find out more, just google "running relay race" and you'll find them.

4) You meet such inspiring people from the area and from around the country.  There was a woman who was running my legs and helped me with the hills by tell me to "go slow and steady, with small baby steps" to get through them.  There was also a 12-person team there called "Cody's Crew" (2 people ran at a time) and they all met on a running website.  The team captain's son Cody died of Neoroblastoma a year and a half ago at the age of 6 1/2 and they have been raising money to go towards research for a cure.  While their mission is serious and the story sad, they are so enthusiastic about the race and so willing to share the story with curious onlookers.  They have a pirate theme and run with a personalized "Cody's Crew" pirate flag.  

5)  It's just fun.  You run, you stretch, you drive, you wait, you cheer your team on, you eat, etc. etc. and then repeat that three times.  Ok, I'll admit it, unless you're a runner that probably doesn't sound like much fun, but just trust me on this one.

Now I'm not saying you should all go out and sign up for a relay now.  I am saying that you should go and visit Vermont because wow it's beautiful this time of the year.  

Thanks to all of the towns along Route 100 that let the race happen, and for the transition space.  Thanks also to the volunteers who made this day run so smoothly.

The race came at the perfect time for me.  I was feeling overwhelmed by the looming marathon date and the loads of training that need to happen and the race helped me to feel ready to tackle the coming month and a half.  

Thank you Jenny, Chris, Arthur, Liz and Carl for running an awesome race this weekend!
---------

What's next for me?  

The Harwich Cranberry Festival half marathon on October 3, 2010.  My Mom will be in town for this so I'll have my first half marathon spectator!!  I'm very excited for this.  

The big day, however, is October 17th, when I will run my first marathon in San Francisco!  I'm still fundraising away and training like it's my job.  

Update: Just Keep Swimming

I decided to keep an email based pain diary, because I know this helps doctors to diagnose properly.  There are a total of three entries.

3:59PM: Ankle; Lower Outside muscle
4:14PM: Lower Calf
4:49PM: Pretty much all over.

Solves that issue!

Just Keep Swimming

My left calf is still one unhappy part of my leg.  Despite my efforts to ice as much as possible, which admittedly could be more, and the painkillers I'm on, the darn thing just won't get better!  I have an appointment with a physical therapist this Wednesday so hopefully they will have some good news for me and will still let me do the relay race this Saturday. 

But on a slightly happier note, I swam on Saturday and not only did my calf not hurt but it felt better afterward.  I have a 3-day pass to a gym that has a pool, and am going today during lunch to swim some laps.  If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know that I'm not a great swimmer.  But after two weeks of inactivity, I'm exhausted from all the rest and want to get moving. 

I'm currently reading/have read recently the following:
How to Start Swim Training Without Embarrassing Yourself: this was posted today and the fortuitous timing could not have been better. 
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murukami.  This is a memoir by novelist Haruki Murukami, and as it sounds, he talks about running.  He also talks about writing, but so far, it's mostly running.  Like me, he is not a fast runner, and focuses more on the metaphysical benefits of the activity.

This book has made it that much harder for me to be idle in these past weeks, but has helped with the necessary reevaluation of what running means to me.  I want to be able to do it for the rest of my life and therefore need to take my body seriously now.  I don't want to run myself into the ground (no pun intended).  Swimming will hopefully help with this and give me one more activity, on top of running and spinning, that I enjoy doing.