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!