Catch up - California

Lighthouse... Long Beach, CA

Okay, so it's been a few weeks since I've posted.  I'll catch you up on my progress.  Two weeks ago I was in California for a Conference.  That week we were supposed to do a 5 mile run at mid-week and a 10 miler on the weekend.  I did do a mid-week 4.5 mile run along the Long Beach marina but I didn't get the 10 miler in.  It was too difficult with Conference obligations and well, 4.5 miles is about all I'm interested in running solo.  Let's face it, I get bored.  So these are a few of the sights I encountered along my 4.5 mile mid-week run...

The Queen Mary!  I thought that was pretty cool.

Before I left I asked the head coach about the 10 miler and how to find a route - he suggested finding a running club in Long Beach to run with since running that distance alone is kind of mind-numbing.  It sounded like a good idea.  I did some research - isn't the internet grand - but ultimately the timing never worked out.  When I got back to Cincinnati my cousin and I mapped our own run which wasn't 10 but it was about 7 miles.  Ultimately, the total distance didn't really matter - just keeping running was the most important thing to do.

15k - The Heart Mini-Marathon

Sunday morning alarm went off at 6:00a.m.. Snooze! I'll never, not be a snoozer. 6:15- have to get up in time to eat something before the run. 1/2 bagel with peanut butter and glass of OJ. I had put all my things things together last night so was more or less ready to go. Took care of the animals and headed out the door at about 7:00. The family was still nestled in bed. I'll see my guys later at the finish line.

I was late (thanks, snooze) so instead of walking to Fountain Square from my cousin's house in Covington we drove. Parking was surprisingly easy though I learned a few things: first, text Karl where I've parked so he can get in/near the same garage, and second park in a garage with an exit route going away from the race/crowd. Part two wasn't so bad but Karl was parked on the opposite side of town from me. I had been taking in plenty of water this morning too so of course I had to, well, go. I hate port-a-potties but you've got to do what you've got to do - line up.

Conveniently, our pace-runner was just ahead of the line o'ports (it is still St. Pat's weekend). We were in line for the potty when the cannon (okay, maybe it was a pistol, but it was loud and sounded like a cannon!) fired to start the race. Never fear though, when you're planning on running an 11.5 min/mile you're at the back of the pack. Translation: I was out of the potty before our part of the pack ever started to move!  The race results noted 2773 chipped runners.

We got started and headed east on 5th Street then out onto the rolling hills of Columbia Pkwy. There were bands or radio vans set up every few miles (nice distraction). And water and Gatorade stops every two miles. (Merciful.) We found a runner from our training group within the first mile an stayed with her for most of the run. The weather was beautiful, for a stroll, but pretty warm for a run and hydration became critical. I drink a lot of water in general (you hardly ever see me without a water bottle); add running and I'm really putting back the water.  We kept a steady pace throughout the first half of the run, usually between 11:45-12:00.  I'd say the heat was the biggest downside; that and the "rolling" hills.  Columbia Parkway, though not a steep hill has long running ups and downs.  When we got to the turn around (just before Delta Ave.) I felt pretty good - we were just past mile 4 and feeling strong.  About a half mile later and I looked out into the distance and saw Downtown Cincinnati - I noted this to my running partners and said, "Hey, look, we've run all the way from there!"  Downtown looked so far away.  I didn't want to think of the flip side of that coin, how far we had to go to get back - I was just in amazement of how far away Downtown looked and felt so proud of us for having run so far.  We still had to get back and the sun was really starting to beat down.  Having a race start at 7:45 and you don't get much intense sun, but Columbia Parkway is totally exposed so once the sun crossed over the eastern hills it was heating up the joint.  Then we had Torrence Hill to take on.

The route took a second turn about for those doing the 15k and 1/2 marathon up Torrence.  Now when I say "up" I actually mean "UP".  The hill is steep, though the route didn't go that far up.  We got to the turn-about and Jimmy Buffet's "She came down from Cincinnati..." kicked on the radio-van that was parked there.  And there was a huge sign that said, "turn around".  You didn't have to say that twice!  I think everyone was happy to turn around.  The downhill was fun.  I like cutting loose on the downhills and running like my kids do - just kind of wild and out of control.  Gravity is a lovely thing on the downhill - it's kind of a rest break.  Unfortunately, we lost my cousin on the hill - she wasn't far from the top when we passed but it put the other runner and I ahead of her.  In an impressive feat of athleticism she caught back up to us by the next mile - I've always told her she's a stronger runner than I am.  Downtown inched closer now - yay!

At mile 7 I texted Karl (thanks, Siri for voice texting) and told him where I was in the race - sadly, he was just leaving home and didn't make it in time to see me cross the finish line.  I wouldn't have been able to find him anyway.  There were a lot of people once we passed the Proctor & Gamble buildings.  I did see one of the run/walk coaches, Mike, who ran in a bit with me and reminded me to finish strong.  As I crossed the finish line an announcer called out my name, "Michele Kay".  I didn't know that would happen.  It felt really cool!  (I hope there's a picture somewhere.)

Here are the official stats:

Completion medal.

bib number:	9716
age:	43
gender:	F
location:	Cincinnati, OH
overall place:	2298 out of 2773
division place:	178 out of 222
gender place:	1236 out of 1615
time:	1:54:12
pace:	12:17
5k:	37:23
10k:	1:15:28

There was a helper there to clip the timing chip from our shoes and welcome bottles of water.  There was also a huge line for the food which I didn't feel like waiting in.  I found my family - I swiped two bananas off the table for me and Nancy and we headed home.


It was a good run.  And I raised $300 for the American Heart Association.  You can still donate - go to my site at http://cincinnati.kintera.org/heartmini/michelekay.  

Pre-game day

Tomorrow is the Heart Mini-Marathon; today is St. Patrick's Day. Good thing I gave up my green beer days long, long ago. Instead of reveling with the party goers, I dragged the family down to the Convention Center for a Health Expo and to pick up my race number and timing chip. The chip zip-ties to my shoe to time my run. I still think that part is pretty cool even though my main goal is to finish, running. At the Expo there was a Flying Pig booth selling wares at 75% off! Woo hoo. My cousin and I bought a couple of technical, short-sleeved shirts and I got an additional tank top. Sad, but I didn't realize until I got home that our shirts said 26.2 and not 13.1! (The tank was correct, yay!) So I guess the 26.2 will be motivation for next year. I wouldn't feel right wearing it now.

Rest, good eating, and getting psyched for Sunday and 9.3.

I've got to eat what?

So for the past two weeks I've been struggling with what and when to eat. Seems like something we do (and often overdo) so casually everyday but for me there's been a twofold dilemma. First, I've recently lost all that post-baby weight so have been accustomed to not consuming many calories. Plus, I still Zumba twice a week which burns a significant number of the calories I do eat. Second part to the equation is that distance running burns an extraordinary amount of calories; approximately 100/mile. 2 miles = 200 calories, that's not much but as miles add up so does the calorie burn. To my weight loss brain - WOW! That's great.  To my fuel the run brain - UGH! I feel sluggish.  Today I ran 8.8 miles and burned just over 1000 calories. While I was in diet land that was about 2/3 of my daily calorie intake, but now I NEED those calories to sustain the energy to go the distance.  So basically I've had to retrain myself to consume more calories than I've been consuming for the past six months in order to maintain the energy to do the longer distance runs.

Sidebar, when do you consume the food in relation to the run. And what foods are best suited pre, post, and DURING the run?  There's a lot of information, ideas, and suggestions on the internet.  When we did the Food on the Run 10k two weekends ago we were given the following advice from the event organizer, Nutrition Council of Greater Cincinnati:


3 hours before                      2 - 3 hours before                         1 - 2 hours After Exercise
• Fruit or vegetable juice         • Fruit or vegetable juice                  • Fruit or vegetable juice
• Fresh fruit                            • Fresh fruit                                      • Fresh fruit (low fiber such as plum,
• Breads, bagels                     • Breads, bagels                                  melon, cherries, peaches)
• English muffins                     • English muffins
• Peanut butter                       • No margarine or cream cheese
• Lean meats
• Low-fat cheese
• Low-fat yogurt
• Baked potato
• Cereal with 1% milk
• Pasta with tomato sauce

Within one hour after workout
• Sports Drink
• Fruit or vegetable Juice
• Fresh fruit
• Dried fruit
• Breads, bagels
• Pretzels
• Fruited Yogurt
• Cold cereal
• Chocolate Milk

Additionally, both this and several online sources suggest a slightly higher than average carbohydrate diet to fill the glycogen stores in the body.  I have read everything from 55% (Nutrition Council of GC) to 70% (www.marthonguide.com).  These glycogen stores sustain the runner throughout the run.  Still, as you run, the stores begin to empty out so you have to consume fuel DURING your run too.  I'm sure you've all done some exercise too-soon-after-eating and gotten cramps - that's no fun and no one wants to run through that.  So modern technology has some input with products like GU, Chomps, Beans and all sorts of other edible oddities.

The week we ran up to Eden Park there was Gatorade at the water stop.  Until that time I had only consumed water during my run but on that day I went for the Gatorade and it was like, pow!  Energy!  Our coaches have said that as we get into the higher mileage runs (that is anything taking over an hour) we will need to consume fuel during the run.  On Saturday they introduced us to GU which is exactly what it sounds like - www.GUenergy.com.  I tried it this weekend at the mile 4 water stop.  It was pretty disgusting.  Like eating flavored Vaseline.  I tried the blackberry.  My cousin tried the vanilla.  The scene was like something out of Fear Factor with several people gathered around the water stop all choking back this thick goo.  I thought of the early days of that show when people ate the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches - chomp and swallow, chomp and swallow.  In reality, it wasn't that bad (I'm sure they never said that about the cockroaches). The first bite was disturbing but after that it really went down pretty easily.  The worst part was that there was so much of it:  32g.  But it wasn't about the taste, the question was did it work?  Yes.  It worked.  My run was easy and strong.  I got to mile 6 then 7, and then 8 and was going strong.  So GU worked; would I eat it as a snack?  No, but that's not what it's designed for.

I've also discovered that I need to give up my Wednesday afternoon small three-way from Skyline with my son.  I think the cheese and meat were just too heavy to digest before a 4 mile run, even though I ate it 3 hours before the evening run.  Nothing like burping Skyline - blech!  Before the Sunday run I went for bagels and peanut butter.  That seemed to work really well so I'll stick with that for the next few runs to see if it was a fluke or a true hit.

In the meantime, I'll continue to experiment with other foods to fuel my runs.   

And in case you didn't catch the little fact of distance - I'm now up to 8.8 miles.  This weekend we run the Heart Mini-Marathon's 15km (9.3 miles).  That's only 1/2 mile more than last weekend - I'm pretty confident we can do it.  Feeling good about our approach to 13.1.

A full moon. A circus. And a FARTLEK

Ever since training began in January the Wednesday night run has been a timed run, out and back; but tonight we did a circular route, and you guesses it - FARTLEK. The route was simple, north over the Southgate Bride, right on Pete Rose to the Purple People Bridge, then past the Newport on the levee - rinse and repeat three times. To make it a workout the head coach (I will call him Senior Meanie) had us FARTLEK, or increase speed, on the bridge inclines. Our first Fart (for short, you know) hit heading into the incline on the Purple Peep. At this point I've run from the river into Eden Park twice, and although it's a "real hill", it felt manageable. Nonetheless the hill that gives me the most difficulty is the southbound entrance to the Purple People Bridge. I cannot figure out why - maybe, although shorter in distance, it's steeper? I'm not sure why it give me such a challenge.

First lap-not so bad - I was determined not to let this bridge get to me. Second lap-strong but weary - so I focused my attention on the full moon that was sneaking out from behind the clouds). Third lap-ugh. Just ugh. I really had to will myself to keep going and not to just give up and walk. But I did it. I can't say that third lap was very FART-ful but it was done. In part borrowing from the energy of the coaches and nearby runners.

I discovered a fellow "cheerleader" among my group tonight. You know the type of person who "woo hoo's" at an accomplishment. I'm one of those people so tonight I met Tara - my running pack mate in whooping it up. It's amazing how much being among like-minded, positive energy people can help you over any hill. No matter how challenging it is.

If you give a girl a 10k...

...she'll want to sign up for a 15k (thanks Laura Numeroff).  So it's Monday after successfully completing the 10k and my cousin is interested in signing up for the Heart Mini-Marathon 15k.  At least her boyfriend is interested so his interest spurs our own.  I checked out our training calendar for this month and 15k (9.3 miles) is the right mileage for that weekend so we've signed up.  In addition to being a training run this is a fundraiser for the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association.  So here's my plug... if you've got a dollar to donate to my run pledge (I've pledged to raise $200.00) then please follow the link and donate now.  If you don't have a dollar to spare then please get your body in motion and keep your heart healthy!

MICHELE'S HEART MINI-MARATHON DONATION PAGE.

The run is a pretty big event in the Cincinnati area so should be well attended.  Food On the Run was a very small event so there weren't many participants or spectators.  I'm looking forward to the training of being in a bigger race - that is, experiencing the crowd.  Last weekend my husband and sons came down to cheer me on.  They were between miles 4-5 - just the right spot.  I high-fived my 5 yr.old; my 2 yr. old was mad that I kept running and didn't stick around; and my husband smiled and I could tell was pretty proud of me for my accomplishment.  Every part of the training is, well, part of the training.  Getting feet moving forward, that's obvious, but also how to get to the event, get to the starting line, what to eat, when to drink, and when to use the bathroom are also all part of the training.  I'm looking forward to experiencing the positive energy of a larger group of participants and possibly spectators.

But that's still two weeks and a 2 miles away - remember my longest run to date is 7.25 miles.  But I'm fairly confident I (we - not letting 'Coz off the hook, right) can do it.

10k

Steve, Nancy, & Michele
waiting for start of race.

Saturday, March 3... our first10k as runners.  As I mentioned in my last post today's training session was scheduled to be the Food On The Run 10k.  The weather was great (mid-30's to start but then headed up the mercury and eventually got sunny.)

The route started on the Ohio side of the Purple People Bridge then headed up Eggleston to Gilbert - our first turn around (and water stop) was at the base of Eden Park Drive.  So the hill was actually less than what we did last week when we went all the way to Krohn Conservatory.  The route took us back down the hill to Riverside Drive which parallels Sawyer Point Park.  We took that east and then entered the Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park and ran along the Ohio River.  Again, I am introduced to my city - I never realized that this park went beyond the Montgomery Inn but it does and it's really a pretty park with some large scale sculptures and overlooks to the river.  I'm sure in the spring it's lovely with flowers and blooming trees.We followed the park along the river until it turned into Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove then out onto Mehring Way to the new Banks where there was another turnaround and back to Sawyer Point.  To get to the finish line we re-entered Sawyer Point through the "flying pig tunnel" and then right to the finish line at the tunnels under the Purple People Bridge.

Nancy and Steve crossing the finish
line - turning in their timing chips.

The race was timed - we wore a chip on our bib number ( My bib # was 1125).  This recorded our start and finish times as we crossed the start/finish pad and gave us an official timing:  I finished 836th overall; 46th in my age group (F40-44).  1:13:53 total time, pace 11:40 min/mile.  I looked back at my Thanksgiving Turkey Trot timing when I was mostly walking with some running and I did that one at about a 12:44 min/mi pace.  So running - not breaking any speed records but still faster than walking.

I'm very proud of us.  I'm proud of my cousin for running this 10k and overcoming her tendon injury.  I'm proud of the fact that we started something in December, have stuck with it through injuries and wretched weather conditions, and have steadily improved.  We're half way to the Flying Pig which  makes me think we will actually make it all the way.

Smiling faces at the end.  We did it!

When a FARTLEK is not a FARTLEK

You somehow knew we'd get to FARTLEK again.  Tonight was an out and back - 50 minute total run (so turnaround at 25 minutes).  We were supposed to FARTLEK 5 times but tonight I had a different goal.  On January 21 we had a huge ice storm in Cincinnati.  This was like our second week with the training group - we didn't want to miss it but really, it was a major ice storm and we didn't want to come out with broken legs either.  So we ran with the makeup session on the following Sunday in O'Bryonville.  The route was approximately 3.75 miles with some slow hills.  As we were still beginners it was tough and we had about a 13:30 pace.  When we got back to the Running Spot my cousin said her ankle hurt.  (Cue: Ominous music)

Long story short... she injured a tendon (not Achilles) in her foot and has been out of commission for just over 5 weeks.  She saw a sports medicine doc who said no running until the pain is totally gone.  Also, ice and Ibuprofen (which is also the mantra of our coaches).  She started back sometime last week with shorter runs and tonight she finally rejoined the training group so FARTLEK be damned I had my running partner back and I didn't want to push her back when she was finally able to move forward.  So tonight we ran 4.29 miles at a 12 minute/mile pace.  We finished our run in a little over 50 minutes.  It was a solid run with a few slopes (okay, three weeks ago these were hills to me, now, I recognize them for what they really are... slopes/"on ramps").  We had a water stop but for the most part kept a solid pace.  I hadn't done a comparison but since I've written it above - that's 1:30 faster than when we started with the training group just over a month and a half ago.

So while everyone else FARTLEK'd we simply ran.  The evening was clear and gorgeous - around 65° (yes, really - hello, Leap Day).  Jupiter, Venus and the Moon were gorgeous and showing off all their sparkling splendor.  So keep your fingers crossed that the Phoenix has risen from the flames and 'Cos will be able to walk tomorrow!

On other news... my first 10k (route link) is this weekend - "Food on the Run" (info link).  Okay, it's my 2nd since technically the Turkey Trot was the first - but really, I wasn't a runner then.  Now I am running.

You can't come down unless you go up first

Screenshot of the Newport to Mt. Adams
run including elevation.
From mapmyrun.com

You guessed it on Saturday we took on "the hill". Not just any hill but the big climb on the Flying Pig route that takes you up into Mt Adams and Eden Park.  From Newport this is a climb in elevation from a little over 450 feet to about 780 feet over a stretch of about 1 mile.  It's not mountainous but it is impressive, especially when you are on your feet.  I have previously stated that I don't like hills.  I don't have to like them but I do have to get over them.  So I take them one step at a time and try not to think of them as obstacles but rather as part of the journey.  Since I can't get rid of them I simply deal with them.  One step at a time - just keeping moving.  And once you get to the top it's all downhill after that; and downhill is fun.

The training group provided two water/Gatorade stops at about the half way mark on the hill.  I usually carry a small water bottle - called FuelBelt, a 10oz palm-held plastic bottle that has a small pocket convenient for keeping the clicker to the car! - but at the stop I took in the Gatorade.  I was grateful for the fuel.  I set my alarm incorrectly that morning so was late getting up.  As a result I hadn't had a decent breakfast - only about a cup of Cheerios and milk - not enough to fuel me through 7.26 miles of running.  But I really didn't want to have any more in my stomach otherwise I'd have been dealing with cramping during the run.  The Gatorade made up the difference and fueled me through the run.  I might try Gatorade in my water bottle on my next longer run just to see how that changes the run for me.

The weather was pretty much perfect.  On the cold side starting out, a little below 30 but by the time you get through the first mile you're plenty warmed up.  By the end of mile two I was cursing having to carry my gloves.  I'm never willing to leave the gloves behind when the start of the run is below 30 degrees.  Over the past few weeks I've figured out what to wear - which believe it or not has been a big challenge.  Being over-dressed is kind of the kiss of death.  And I've had a hard time accepting that I actually would warm up and wouldn't need so many layers.  Now I've got it down.  If anything is falling from the sky (rain, snow, sleet) I have a pair of waterproof pants (they are actually my husband's from his backpacking through Europe days).  With these I've discovered that I need a shorter legging underneath.  My usual long legging (what I wear when there's nothing falling from the sky - typical workout pants) was causing too much friction and dragging on my legs.  So shorter, above the knee workout pants are better under the foul weather gear.  On top I invested in a water-resistant jacket in neon yellow (I want to be seen at night) and a couple of long-sleeved moisture-wicking "technical" shirts.  One of these plus the jacket is good for 30-50, 20-30 I add a tank top on top of the technical shirt; below 20 calls for a "warm layer" which for me is a polyester jacket between the technical and the water-resistant jacket.  Gloves for below 35 and either ear-warmers or a hat.  As I've been told by my coaches - always polyester or other synthetic materials, "cotton is rotten" for running because it keeps the moisture too close to your body.  You want the moisture to move away from the skin.

I also always have my iPod to "mapmyrun" and listen to music.  I guess the hard-core runners don't listen to music but I kind of need the distraction.  And like to mentally dance along the way.  And it keeps me moving forward - one step at a time.  I think I'll download the theme song to "The Jeffersons" for my next hill... "took a whole lot of tryin' just to get up that hill."

But I did it.

6.3

Coming to the finish of the "longest run ever" two thoughts went through my mind 1) holy crap, I just ran 6.3 miles and, 2) how the heck am I ever going to run 13.1 miles when I just made this run?!! Then I reminded myself of the first time "Holly" made us run for 5 minutes and before we started I thought, how the heck am I ever going to run for 5 whole minutes? (you see we were jumping up from 3 to 5 - that seemed like a huge jump.) I look back at the end of that first five minute run when I thought, I can't believe I did it, AND that it was actually easier to run five straight minutes than it was to stop and start constantly. So will running 7 miles be easier than 6? Will 8 be easier than 7? Will 13.1 be easier than 12? From 6.3 looking at 13.1 it's hard to imagine it could ever be easy but then I remind myself to just take one step at a time, to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And I keep moving forward.

Today's run was relatively kind, I assume because it was our longest. We crossed the Southgate bridge into Ohio then hit our first and only real hill of the run. Up Eggleston to Central where we were either running through the relatively flat streets of downtown or downhill toward the river. The route was quite scenic / historic passing several Cincinnati landmarks including the Tyler Davidson Fountain on the Square, the Taft Theater, the P&G Buildings, several old churches and the Bengals practice field. I like to savor the sights and often see things I've never experienced before. Last weekend we ran past several wooly mammoth statues on a run up Gest Street. Who knew there were wooly mammoths on Gest? My guess is they used to be in front of the Natural History Museum when it was over on Gilbert. We crossed back into Kentucky on the Clay Bailey Bridge. There's a train trestle crossing the river next to this bridge. I kind of love when a train is crossing with me. I pretend to use the power of the train to pull me along. Today the train was going in the opposite direction - I "hopped on board" anyway.

For most of this run I had lost my coaches. I was nervous about my pace since I didn't know where my coaches were, and for the better part of the last 2.5 miles I thought they were way ahead of me and that I was going to be the last person back to the Spot. (Mind you, I never looked back to confirm this suspicion.) Which would have been strange because these coaches are pretty certain not to leave anyone in their dust. I just kept chugging along until I touched base at the Spot. I mentally congratulated myself, stretched for 3-5 minutes then headed back to my car which was back in the direction I had just run from. And there I found my coaches - bringing in the end I the pack. I stood there for a minute then gave a big cheer for them. I think my coaches might have thought I was giving myself that cheer as they called out "good job".

Heck, who am I kidding... It was for me too. I had just run 6.3 miles! That's a 10k!

Meet Bob

When you go to the Flying Pig Marathon website and search for training you end up at Bob Ronker's Running Spot, "the official training program of the Flying Pig".  The Running Spot is a local store geared toward all things running. They have four locations, one in Newport, KY near where my cousin and I were already doing our weekly runs.  We joined the Kentucky 1/2 Marathon training group and started semi-weekly training in mid-January.  We run once mid-week and again on the weekend.  So far the mid-week run has been a timed run... for example, run 20 minutes then turn around and it's 20 back.  The weekend runs are distance runs, and generally a loop.  For both runs the Spot provides a route and several coaches running at various speeds from the fast runners to the run-walkers.  You saw in my last post that I'm running in the 11:40 range which is near the back of the pack but I feel pretty good about that since I did just start running in December!  My goal for the Pig... finish it.  Time is of no real meaning to me (maybe next year I'll worry about that).

There are probably about 100 people running with my training group.  Then again, I'm terrible at estimating a headcount - there could be 200 for all I know but I know there's more than 50.  On Wednesday nights we meet at the Spot in Newport get a pep talk or a piece of advice about stretching, taking on hills (I needed that one), nutrition, hydration, etc; the routes are printed out on slips of paper which the head coach reviews; and in the evenings we get a flashy light to put on our person to keep cars from hitting us.  It is really cool to see 100 people headed out across the Southgate Bridge with flashy lights on their bodies.  We must look very unusual to passing traffic.  The coaches are very conscientiousness of safety and set the route to position the group out of the way of traffic and other runners.  There are often other marathon groups out training at the same time - sometimes the groups can get a little mixed up.  On more than one occasion I've encountered someone who has asked "is this the 1/2 or full group".  As I said the coaches intermingle among the group.  I've found two coaches who have a good pace for me.  I want to say their names are Rory (or Lori) and Jeanine.  Though I could be entirely wrong - I'll figure it out eventually when I thank them profusely for helping get me through this training!  On the Fartlek run (see I got to say it again) I positioned myself behind or next to Lori for almost the entire run.

I think I mentioned before that on earlier runs I was tiring myself out by starting out too fast.  Lori has such an even pace that once I aligned myself with her I slowed down and maintained - and in distance running that's key.  I really admire the coaches - they are dedicated, seem to be having a good time, and genuinely seem to want us all to cross the finish line.  Also, with joining the training group we got a few perks (swag) like a running shirt, socks, (both of which I really like) and a really ugly orange vest (which is for safety not fashion!)  And we get several emails per week with tips, stories, and a link to the weekend's route.

What I've learned about myself doing this... I'm a pack animal.  I don't like the exercise bike, I like the Zumba class.  I didn't much like running solo, so I enlisted my cousin and joined a training group.  This pack has a positive energy and I can see myself reaching my goal (finish the 1/2 Pig) with these people.

Fartlek

Everything I've posted til now has been back story but tonight I ran my first  FARTLEK so I couldn't very well pass that up. I joined a training group, more on that later, and tonight they had us run a fartlek. (How many times can I say that? And did you snicker?) A fartlek is a Swedish term meaning "speed play" (look it up on Wikipedia, I did.) Basically its a form of interval running combining aerobic and anaerobic runs.  Tonight was also a timed run, 45 minutes, out and back - meaning not in a loop. So at 22:30 we turned around on our route and headed back to the start. Here's where the fartlek came in. After a 15 minute warm-up run you kicked it up a bit for the next three minutes , quickened your pace. Then at the end of three minutes you slowed back down to your regular running pace for two minutes. This three/two combo was repeated four times total then you ran at your normal pace for the remainder of the run, or about 10 more minutes. To this point my average pace has been 11:40/mile but with the fartlek I was down to closer to 11:00/mile. Practically 30 seconds per mile faster. And it wasn't that hard to do or maintain (except on hills; you already know how I feel about hills).

In the beginning I had been running too fast at the start of a run thereby eventually running out of steam before completing the run. I've learned to pace myself at the beginning and have since found a good steady pace at 11:40, but now I've learned that I can actually push myself a bit in the middle and be able to maintain through the end. Tonight's run was a little over 4 miles. I'm pretty proud of the running I did tonight.

Go fartlek!

A slightly better view

At Christmas my husband and I took the children to visit with the Grandparents in Florida.  I had one running day on this trip and my hub bucked up and ran with me.  This is in St. Petersburg, FL.  Obviously the weather in Florida is much more pleasant than that of Ohio in December but interestingly I found that I missed the cold during my run.  I found it harder to breathe in the Florida humidity (though it wasn't really that humid).  My husband, a Florida native, had no problem.

Thrice weekly commute

So three times a week I met my cousin around 8:30/9:00 either at her house or at Winton Woods to run.  When we met at her house we "ran the bridges" - that is, we'd start in Covington, cross the Roebling into Ohio, then east along the Public Landing, then cross back over either the Southgate or Purple People Bridge into Kentucky, then west along the flood wall, over the Licking River Bridge and back to Covington.  We'd do this in reverse as well.  We discovered that there were pros and cons in each direction.  For example, from the flood wall if you cross over the Southgate Bridge (on the west side of the bridge) you encounter stairs.  Same on the eastside of the Ohio anchorage of the Roebling... stairs.  Going southbound on the Purple People is a bit of a hill.  Not much, but hey, we are first time runners so any hill is a hill.  If we were doing our first run at a longer distance I usually chose the "easier" direction to encounter the fewest obstacles (a.k.a. hills).  This seemed to work fine.  Running at Winton Woods offered more hills.  We also ran with Travis, my cousin's faithful Golden Retriever.  He's a beautiful 9 year old pup who has been looking quite svelte since joining our training.  (Picture:  Sun rising, view southbound in my car on the Roebling.)

For most of December the weather was pretty good.  Cold, occasionally a little misty but mostly good.  We had two what I'd call gross days.  The first one we didn't meet, instead I ran in my neighborhood.  I didn't know how to run in foul weather but the internet knew.  A little searching suggested rubbing Vaseline on your toes and to not step into the puddles.  Also, watch out for slippery spots, like painted surfaces and anything metal.  Glad I read that.  The Vaseline was brilliant at keeping my toes from chaffing.  The second gross day... I decided to run at the gym on the treadmill.

Treadmill running is VERY DIFFERENT than street running.  I did not know this and did not ask the internet.  My summation is this... in street running you're propelling your body forward and in treadmill running your pushing the conveyor belt backward.  That tiny shift in momentum resulted in a lot of pain for me.  I stretched after my run (I believe it was our first 25 minute run) but it wasn't enough.  My calves were frozen like rocks.  I hobbled around like a 90 year old woman for the next several days and had to delay running again for a few days.  For a short while ice and Ibuprofen became this girl's best friends.  

We named her Holly

On the topic of apps... I knew that if I was going to start running that I'd need some help getting started. I "invested" $2.99 in an app to do just that - "Get running".

The app has a voice prompt which takes you from couch to 5k in 9 weeks. It starts out slow, run 1 minute/walk 1 minute and builds weekly until you are running for 30 minutes. My 5 yr. old named my voice prompt "Holly". Over the next several weeks I came to love (and sometimes hate) Holly as she pushed me closer to the 5k mark. Holly was never critical and always encouraging. She always told us (I of course talked my cousin into taking this journey with me) when we had completed half of our run, and when runs became longer she gave us 5 minute prompts. These "time markers" we're helpful as we moved forward. Sometimes I felt like "wow that was 5 minutes" and sometimes I felt like "really, only 5 minutes, aargh!"

Making the giant leap to 5 minutes straight of running seemed like it was going to be impossible but really it was much easier to keep running to 5 than it was to repeatedly stop and start. Once we crossed that 5 minute mark I knew we could do it. So I made a decision, if I could run 30 minutes by January 1st I'd sign up for the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. So for the month of December my cousin and I met three times a week until at the beginning of January we were within reach of the 30 minute goal.

At this point I discovered that a college roommate was running and challenged her to join us in the marathon. She, realistically, suggested running the half marathon instead. That made sense to me. So at 43, I started training for my first 1/2 marathon.

"There's an app for that"

So now I've declared myself in training - at least I've declared it to myself, the public announcement would come much later. But I'm a pack animal and I didn't want to go at this alone. Remember mile 3 - I didn't want to be bored. So I enlisted one of my cousins the run with me.

Earlier this summer I had come to the realization that I had grown beyond a point which I was happy with my body. I no longer liked being photographed and I was in need of some new clothes. The turning point was the number 18 - that was the new pant size I was moving into. I decided that was going too far and that I wanted the old me back. And that old me wasn't really that far away.

There's an app for that - I started tracking calories with "lose it" but my husband had discovered "my fitness pal" (MFP) which he liked better than Lose It. I gave MFP a try and liked it as well. Back to that cousin. She and I had started biking together regularly over the summer; we talked about fitness woes. I decided to ask her if we could lose weight and get fit together - figuring that ACCOUNTABILITY was critical to success. She agreed. Little did she know I'd drag her into a marathon too but more on that later. So we embarked on our fitness journey.

I set a daily calorie limit of 1500 calories and used MFP to track what I ate. At first I just guessed at portions then soon realized that if I meant to see any substantial change I needed to know what portions really looked like. I spent several weeks measuring and weighing food so that I could truly understand serving sizes. I also started to Zumba. (Love Zumba - and one class can earn you about 500 calories in a day). With someone to be accountable to other than myself I hit the ground running and haven't looked back. At the end of July I weighed more than I had weighed during either of my pregnancies. Now, seven months later I've lost 40 lbs. The compliments have been nice to receive but really I just feel better and I feel like me again.

So from August to early November I Zumba'd and went on weekly long bike rides with my cousin. As the weather cooled we rode less; we both missed that weekly ride (and extra calorie burn).

Then I completed the 10k.

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 2011

Let's start in the middle and we'll come back to the beginning later.  On Wednesday, November 23, 2011 before I went to bed I mentioned to my husband that I was thinking about running in the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot..  It's a 10k around downtown Cincinnati/Newport/Covington annually run by several thousand people.  Up to this I had never run before... in my life.  We went to bed.  In the morning he said, "I thought you were going to run the Turkey 10k".  This seemed to be challenge enough to roust me from bed and head downtown for a 9:00am start.  I had no idea what I was getting into.  

I just got dressed, drove downtown, parked as close to the start zone as I could and set out to find the sign-up area.  It wasn't particularly easy to find, but I found it, signed up and then waited.  And waited.  And waited.  I saw people with signs with numbers on them like 8, 10, 12.  I really had no idea what this all meant.  I saw a sign that said "strollers" and since I have children I decided to head toward them - at least because I fit in with parents.  Later I realized that I had placed myself at the end of the main running pack and ahead of the run/walk pack.  This was actually a good place for me to start.  

At the designated start time not much happened - well, not much from the back of the middle of the pack.  The people out front however had started running.  When my part of the pack started to move, I moved with them. I started out trotting (it was a Turkey trot after all) and crossed the starting line.  I thought here I go.  I had my peppiest songs playing on my iPhone(pod) so I ran for a song.  And then we started up a little hill.  I slowed down and decided to walk for a song.  I did this back and forth until the first major downhill then I ran again through a couple of songs (gravity was now on my side).  I watched my fellow Turkey Trotters and tried to do what they were doing.  

The first mile was fun, in fact, kind of exciting.  The second was also fine.  The third ennui kicked in and I thought "why on earth do people run, this is so boring."  (Later a friend was surprised that I had done the run by myself - she agreed, that would have been boring.)  Mile 4 brought us into Kentucky and I started runner-watching again and was suddenly kind of proud of myself for continuing on this journey.  There was a water hand off around mile 5 then the homestretch brought us back over the Clay Baily bridge back into Ohio.  As a form of torture you go past the finish line, and then loop around the block to come to the finish line.  I put on the song I had started out with (Pitbull, SOMETHING FOR THE DJ - yeah, I know)  and I ran for that whole song until I crossed the finish line.  

The race was over.  For the first time I looked back and realized that I wasn't at the end of the pack.  

At that moment I decided to become a runner.