Let's Give Em Something to Run About

Another Saturday, the long runs are slowly getting a little longer. Yesterday I was feeling a little soreness from being GI Jane the day before, but surprisingly not as much as I was expecting, or secretly hoping for. Just a little pec soreness from all the freakin pushups - I have to say incorporating those little suckers into my daily life wouldn't be a bad idea. (let's see if that actually ever happens...)

Anyhow, we met at Lake Merritt today. My first time to visit this lake in the middle of Oakland that EVERYONE raves about. My only comment: It aint no town lake, that's for sure! (correction regardless of how much I resist it: Lady Bird Lake) I am sure this lake has it's days, but it's basicaly a 3.2 mile loop around a generally cirucular lake - so you totally see where you are needing to get to, you know? The weather was gray, which means the water was gray, even the trees looked gray. Nevertheless, Sue and I joined forces and took off, intermittenly tagged by different mentors along the way. I mainly recall squashing lots of goose poop with my shoes for the majority of the run, not to mention the geese themselves refusing to move out of my way. Literally like 30 geese took over the path and honked and flapped and all the sudden the run turned into hopskotch. (I have to just note that as a child I was actually attached by a Mother Goose, really a mom protecting her babies) In the end I made it, letting the geese know I didn't want their lake and pleaded with them to let me through. I had to loop the lake almost 2 times, completing 5.5 miles in 53 minutes. Finishing: Gray.

Following the run, we had an Honoree Potluck with lots of yummy Starbucks coffee, scones, fritattas and fruit. Our honorees presented their stories, shared their battles with diagnosis, chemotherapy and for some, recovery. There were tears, laughs and definitely appreciation. As I was leaving, I realized the impact of my running, our fundraising, and the research I had the opportunity to hear about in action as a result. I left inspired by their strength, my strength, and the strength in numbers.

GI Jane experience #1

So I didn't quite make it to track in the morning today, so afternoon track once again. I schlepped down to San Leandro for track again. Knowing I would actually get to do circuit drills today, I made sure to load up on peanut butter pretzels for snacks pre-workout. (which turns out to be the best snack for me so far - pre track or pre run.) The afternoon was SO HOT on the track and smoke from the local fires was really thick in the air. They gave us the option of not participating for the day due to the smoke, but I thought, eh - I am breathing it anyway, right? Pleasant surprise, which ended up being a very useful surprise...my Chipper Sue attended. She is so very very good at distracting me from quitting. Really, she's a pro I think - secretly a 'quitting interventionist.' Anyway, there were large poster boards presented with lists of drills...15 squats, pushups, situps and more squats...then run, 15 supermans, then pushups again, then one legged squats on each leg...then run...then do it all over again. To begin the drills, we started off with an initial lap (not including our warm up lap) and also ended after the last drill with a "victory" lap as the last one. I finished my very first GI Jane experience overall in 21 minutes and 23 seconds. And I sweated buckets. :) I found it very worthy of my GI Jane experience #1. I left happy and sweaty and patting myself on the back.

Alameda ended hot and happy

So I am beginning to really enjoy waking up at 7am on Saturday mornings to run. No really, I am being serious. Especially following this morning. Despite handy navigation, I still got lost driving to the Alameda ferry terminal, but nevertheless, I arrived before start time. I notice as I walk up to the group that it is 7:45am and I was already sweating BEFORE I started running. Anyway, we do our stretching and shout outs, moment of silence, and of course...our team yell/cheer. And then we are off. Lisa, my mentor, stays with me the first half mile or so, encourages me to do 5 today, despite the heat, b/c we will be ramping up soon and I should push for it. (the suggested full marathoner distance today is 3-5) So I commit, and decide to enjoy my run one minute at a time instead of focusing on the opposite side of the island that I am running towards. (my 2.5 turaround point) I start to notice all the locals walking their dogs (and kids) on Sunday morning, I take notice of the smooth water surface in the bay. It was a perfect mirror surface for the dozens of birds swooping inches off the water. Really beautiful. Meanwhile...sweating buckets in the heat. I reach 2.5 and turn around feeling really great. Finished back the last half. I wished the 2nd half of the run wasn't me just running over what I had already done, but oh well. It was beautiful, so no big complaints. I finished with calm breath, relaxed shoulders and only minor chafing. (note to self, I am a 'run in short pants, no shorts' kinda girl) Drank some gatorade and ate some fresh garden fruits provided at the end, and went home. Great day, great run, and I am already looking forward to my next 5miler next weekend.

Track - No Good Morning, so let's try Good Afternoon

So, this morning was just not the kind of morning I was able to run. Good thing they have a PM track huh? Why yes, it was a good thing. I believe it was the hottest day on earth today. The pm track is in San Leandro, definitely not around the corner like Berkeley but oh well. Coach Al's nuggets of knowledge are priceless...or at least worth the 13 miles of driving at 5:30pm. So we go to the track, I am once again anticipating the GI Jane experience I did not receive last week. Ah, but to no avail...we run in circles again. This time he tells me to do 17 minutes. Ooh, 5 more minutes. I can do it. So we start running in circles...I am SO wishing I could put my ipod on and listen to Mika, but no. Biggest sin ever - I must not commit. It is so ridiculously hot! I am counting my laps again, as I have been instructed. Not really an eventful run, as I neared my last lap in the designated 17 minutes, Fireball Laur (I cannot pronounce her name, but she says it is like Laurie without the ie) comes running up next to me talking about how her 7 year old son is training for a tri. What??? Anyway, we start chatting as we run, and she tells me I am capable of one more lap. I tell her it is my 17 minute mark...and she says "no, let's go" and so I do. Who can argue with that? I ended up running 21:30 and racked up 8 laps in the time. I felt good the whole time, really thought my stride felt nice and smooth. Thanks Fireball Laur. She was as close as I got to my "give me 50" scenario.

My only complaint about today was the timing...in the mix of leaving work and allowing for the commute I didn't give myself time to properly eat. Low energy combined with extreme heat and emotional exhaustion from my job = crazy hungry monster driving home after track. (not good - eat more next time!)

Marathon University

We met at Millenium High School in Piedmont. Ended up also being anti climactic. I guess I need to crawl before I run, right? Crawl we did. The workout ended up being a 2 mile run around the super nice astro turf and rubber track. Afterwards we made sure to load onto the bleachers to take our very first team photo ("awww") and then got to the main reason of assembly: Marathon University. I have been looking forward to this for weeks now. Yay. Mama Lisa and Coach Al brought in all of their favorite docs and their nutritionist, personal trainer,podiatrist, etc. It was a schmorgasbord of food no's, shoe this, gu that, if you don't want to drink powder you're wrong, and foot chat. I found it fascinating and Nat did also. We ended up with swag including bio freeze, more coupons, and the newfound knowledge of even MORE nifty running gear things to buy. ca-ching.

Side note: I found out five times your body weight is the impact felt to your joints when running. (eh hem...I better make sure I run smooth then) Also, 60% of the impact goes to your ankles, 40% to your knees. Okay, so maybe I better drop a few pounds in this whole process?

First Track - Good Morning 6am, Please meet Running

Track was anti climactic for me today. I have heard all of this "circuit drill" hype and I totally pictured myself throwing myself into a GI Jane situation. (yes, I pictured myself with the ripped body and all of course) I woke up early, discovered I was out of coffee (this is never good, but worse at 5:15am) so I had to improvise and drink some black tea. Um, not at all the same. Grubbed on some plain oatmeal while driving to Clark Kerr track in Berkeley. Weather was coldish, foggy, and as I schlepped up the big hill to get to the track, I saw an absolutely beautiful view of the bay, the city and the early morning lights all tucked into a fuzzy blanket of white fog. Nice - but I am still there at 6am to run in circles.

Anyway, we ended up viewing Coach Al demonstrate the wrong ways and then the correct way to run. Did our cheer of course, agreed to do the damn thing, and then we were told to run 2 laps. After those laps, we stretched. He told us to run 13 minutes and count our laps. He said to focus on form, speed was promised to come later. Um, we'll see. I ran and ended up doing 5 laps in 13:30. And that was it, no Commando screaming give me 50 or anything. Oh well, maybe next time.

First Buddy Run - Introducing my "Chipper Sue"

My first buddy run was today. It was easier and shorter than expected. And hotter. Amy, the L.I.C. (lady in charge) tells us we will start by running 30 minutes, and with time progress. We all start out, me placing myself at the back because I was remembering my 11:10 pace. I start running, everything is fine and I expect to end up solo like Saturday. And then came along my new buddy... I am aware that I'm running VERY close to someone who has squeezed up next to me. She asks what event I am doing, I tell her, and then we introduce ourselves....her name is Sue. As I am talking/running with her, I realize she is my "chipper jen" character out of the non-runners guide to running a marathon book I recently finished. From this point on, she will be my Chipper Sue. I am so pleased. :) So....we are running, and she tells me her pace is about 9:30 minute miles, and last I checked, mine was like 11. hmmm. I told her I hope she is speeding me up and I am not slowing her down.Turns out, she sped me up and kept me talking the WHOLE time - about her 4 beagles, living in the bay area, her running the 1/2 last year at Nike, which led to her telling me about the actual mountains I will run through the Presidio. ugh. Anyway, it ended well:I ran 3 miles in 30 minutes. felt comfortable the whole time. I wouldn't mind it cooling off a little, but it wasn't bad.

As a side note: Our spirit captain Michelle had the cool ipod run tracker thingy on her shoe. She actually read our stats at the end, and I think I need one because they are SUPER cool. Although listening to your ipod is prohibited during the event, I am pretty sure Nike will allow peeps to use their Nike Plus thingy. I will just add this to my ever growing list of nifty running gear to buy.

Kick Off Run - "Do the damn thing"

So we began our training today. Run #1 at Berkeley Marina. I was really optimistic. Nat seemed excited, Lisa was welcoming, Coach Al was inspiring and seeing Sybil there was surprisingly more of a motivation than I expected.

I feel really lucky to have the coaches I that I do. Aside from totally trusting their track record (no pun intended) they just really make me BELIEVE I can do this. Really, I think that is the main hurdle. I have to just explain the team cheer, I understand why it exists...but I feel like the cheesiest of cheesiness participating. Perhaps down the line, I will feel differently. First, Coach Al is like a really skinny Morgan Freeman who has been appointed God of Running. He also makes me laugh, and laughing is the last thing I think of at 7:30 am on a Saturday morning anticipating running in a big circle.
So this is his cheer:
(Coach) Can I getta GO TEAM?
(us) Go Team!
(Coach) Can I getta NO WIMPS?
(us) No Wimps!
(Coach) East bay...
(us) Rocks!
(Coach) Team...
(us)Blaze...on fire!
(Coach)And the East Bay runs...
(us) Smoooooth!
(Coach) Ok, now let's do the damn thing!

Everytime Coach says his part, he moves his arms like he is conducting a full blown orchestra. Pretty entertaining. Anyway...back to the kick off run.

I haven't purchased a watch yet, but I believe my pace was around 11:10, or at least it was as I passed the first mile marker and Coach Al yelled out times. What can I say...I like to take my sweet time. I keep telling myself that I'm not doing this for competitive reasons, simply endurance - finishing would be great all by itself. Realizing this, I do want to finish the run in under 4 hours...I mean really, I don't even sit at a desk for four hours without eating a meal, so making lunch by noon would be nice.

So I ran until I approached the first water stand, which was the 2 mile marker, and ran back. Overall, I ran 4 miles, and finished with about a 41 minute time.

As far as pains, not very many so far. I don't believe I started the day with the correct food, and didn't really have dinner last night. Also, I need the super cute (and tight) spandex pants and evidently I need a watch. The only aggravating pain I began feeling (which wasn't that bad........yet) was around my greater trochanter on each side. It felt a little like the attaching muscles weren't warmed up enough maybe? Next time I need to spend a little extra time warming up my hips and also focusing on smoothing out my stride. I tried to remember my chi running checklist, and I noticed when I tried to imagine my feet moving as wheels below and behind me, my stride smoothed out and hips hurt less, so that makes me believe it is due to impact. Also, my shoes my be reaching that point of gel no more...boo. I have really loved them over the last year or so, I think they have worked well. It might just be time for a new pair.

Good thing I have 40,000 sports store coupons, looks like it is time to start cashing in soon. Bring on the cool running gear: fanny packs, sports watches, skin tight spandex and fancy holey caps! Oh yeah! Go team!