Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The restorative power of exercise

I know I am preaching to the choir, but exercise really helps when life goes sideways. I was so tired and my shoulders and neck were so tense when I got in the treadmill for a few walking miles and I felt so much better after 3 miles using an incline program.

Started feeling slow and mopey but kept speeding it up and ended with a 13:40 pace, which won't impress my race walking friends but it impressed me!

Slowly getting my life rescheduled at work (meetings, presentations, interviews) and in my personal life (hair, dentist, nails, physical therapy ). Starting to look ahead to the trip but frustrated at the weird time frame to keep training and now have 3 more weeks to stay healthy and upright.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Change of plans

Wow things change quickly. I know travel to extreme places always comes with a caveat of possible alteration of schedules and plans but I never expected this.

I found out this morning that the ship we were booked on for 10 days in Antarctica was damaged by an iceberg and has to be repaired in Europe. The trip has been rescheduled for March 22 to April 6 and I have rebooked my flights, etc.

I am sure you can understand the crazy day I have had. I guess the good thing is maybe my foot will heal enough so I can get a couple of long runs in during the next month, and due to the bad weather right now in Detroit I didn't get charged any rebooking fees. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons and all that ...

My husband got home today after a month in Florida and wisely went to the store and got me a bottle of Baileys and some peanut butter cups. Off for some chocolate therapy!

Last day

So hard to believe I start my adventure of a lifetime tomorrow! My training is really tapering off with a few miles on the treadmill Sunday and I hope to get in another HIIT session later today, depending on how the day goes.

Once I leave the US I will have very limited communication ability, with phone calls at $5 a minute and data out of sight for cost. Texting is much more reasonable so my plan is to text my husband and have him text or email updates to those of you who want them.

I won't be able to send any photos until I am back in this country but I promise the minute I land in Atlanta I will start sending out pictures!

We will have limited email capabilities on the ship and I know already that we can't send photos or have regular Internet access.

I will blog from Atlanta tomorrow afternoon and the will have to sign off until March 14. Wow that was scary to write!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

4 days to go!

Wow it is so hard to believe that I leave in 4 days- being this close to achieving a dream this big is both exciting and scary.

I am concerned about not being in the shape I would like to be with less than 2 weeks until the marathon, but I hope the early tapering because of my foot will pay off with less pain during the race.

Saturday morning was so beautiful and I was glad to be outside. A very light snow with no wind and few people on the trail made for a very peaceful and relaxing run. The trail was just a little slick so traction wasn't great but it wasn't dangerously slippery.

I did my own version of intervals with running hard while counting to 60 then jogging for a while and repeating that for about 5 miles. It felt like a decent workout but it does not make me tired in the same way a long run does.

I have to stop worrying about not being in marathon shape and just accept that I am in the kind of shape my foot will allow and I sure can't do anything about it now. I have been working more with weights so I hope that will help.

That said, I don't think any runner ever feels totally ready for a race like a marathon!

This is a time of "lasts" before I leave-last massage, last weekend run, last lunch with my friends, last physical therapy tomorrow etc. I am not sure I will ever feel totally ready to leave work but I have a great staff and they will be fine.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

HIIT training

Since I am not supposed to do much mileage until the marathon but I still need to stay in shape, I decided to try HIIT, or high intensity interval training. I have been reading about it for a while and liked the idea of a good workout in a short period if time.

Mark and I walked two miles then started the HIIT. The program for distance running said 30 seconds of running at 90 percent of effort, and then 3 minutes of recovery. I set my countdown timer and we started. We were very surprised at how quickly 30 seconds went by, and it took several tries to figure out how fast we could go in 30 seconds. One time a train went by and I couldn't hear the timer beep so we went a bit longer but quickly figured out we should stop!

We did 8 intervals which felt pretty easy but toward the end I could tell it was taking a toll. It was fun, fast, and hopefully it will help me stay in shape.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Wind and hills- bring it on!

I walked 3 miles yesterday and it was 44 degrees. I ran 5 miles today and it was 22 degrees and very windy. That's Michigan!

Therapy this morning on my foot, blister is getting better but now a toe is really sore. We are both suspecting a possible stress fracture but both agree that I don't need to know for sure until after the race. Great runner rationalization, I know.

My packet for the trip came today with bag tags and flight schedules for Buenos Aires to Ushuaia and back so it is starting to feel real!

An interesting librarian-related story today: I got an email from one of the leaders of the trip who said a 14 year old girl on our trip, who is trying to be the youngest person to run a marathon on all 7 continents in memory of her father who recently died of prostate cancer, needs to take a test for school during the trip and it has to be handled by a teacher or a "library administrator " so he asked me if I would do it. Of course I will - what librarian could resist!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

FL vs MI for running

Another lesson learned about beach running: great for walking and runs of less than 10 miles , not so great for long runs.

Starting out for 18-20 miles early in 50 degrees Friday morning I was sorry I had my jacket by mile one, had to backtrack for a bathroom by mile two, neuroma hurt by mile five, turned into the wind at mile 6 and then I was glad I had my jacket! At mile six I tried to take an 800 mg Motrin without water- that was a fiasco! After several attempts to swallow it without water I figured out I could take it with some Gu and that worked fine.

Mile twelve: Dropped my jacket and got some Powerade at the condo then headed south with the wind again which was nice. Daytona does a great job with public bathrooms for about 20 miles of beach so I had lots of chances to get some water, which was needed since the temperature rose quickly and it was windy so I needed more water than usual.

The slant of the beach is what I think gave me the blood blister so I tried to do more back and forth this time so I wasn't on the same slant for many miles. I could feel the blister but it didn't bother me until about mile 16. I had taped it and that helped.

It was a beautiful day and great waves but not too many people were out due to the lower temps and the wind. I saw someone walking wearing a fleece jacket, fleece hat, and fleece mittens!

The last 4 miles into the wind was hard and I couldn't talk myself into the last mile to get to 20. My foot was really hurting and my other foot had blisters on two toes so I was DONE.

The good thing about that run is my appreciation for running on the trail in Lansing where you never run for too long into the wind and you aren't on a slant!

Only one more long run before the marathon - that's kind of hard to believe but I am glad, too. Hoping my foot doctor can work miracles when I see him on Wednesday.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Race conditions

A friend asked me to write about what I expect for conditions on marathon day, so here is what I know about it so far.

The course changes a bit every year due to how the preceding winter affected the area. The race used to go part way up a glacier but now the glacier is too unstable so we won't be doing that part. And of course there is the famous/infamous year that the weather was so bad they couldn't get to the land from the ship and had to hold the race on the ship!

The terrain will be dirt and rocks and possibly some water on the course. Snow is possible but not as likely since it will be the end of summer there. It will be windy so I try not to be such a wimp about the wind when I am training.

There are several research stations in the area where the race is held and we will run past some of them. I heard that one country asked that the marathon not go past their station this year, but I have also heard that most stations like the race because it is something to distract the workers for a day!

The course will be a figure 8 design of about 9 miles each time around so we go past the "bathroom" (a tent with a bucket)
and aid stations several times. We have to bring our own water or Gatorade in 3 bottles and carry one with us from aid station to aid station. Since no trash can contaminate the land we must decant any food or gels supplements ( I use Gu ) into one container so the packets or wrappings don't accidentally get blown away.

Add in some significant hills at each end of the loops and it sounds like a fun time, right?

Another walk

Rain was predicted today so I hedged my bet and decided to wait until tomorrow for my long run, but I couldn't resist another walk on the beach today and of course it hasn't rained at all yet...

I did a fast 4 mile walk and ran the last half mile to see how the wrap on my blister would do, and it seemed ok. The wind was very strong going north so I hope it calms down for tomorrow's run.

My foot woes continue with a sharp pain in one toe - i have no idea what is causing it or what to do about it. Sigh.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Walking not running

Decided to try out my blister on a 6 mile walk down the beach. The temps are perfect and winds have died down.

I wrapped my foot and blister and wore different shoes than my trail shoes and survived pretty well. Love the GPS watch so I know I did exactly six miles, though I also know it was not a fast 6.

Fishermen : 4
Surfers: 9
Metal detector guys: 1
People walking with poles: 3
Barefoot in the ocean after walking 6 miles: aaahhhh

Monday, February 11, 2013

It's always something....

So excited to run at the beach-great weather, big waves rolling in, nice sand to run on. The reality wasn't quite like that, unfortunately!

I had a route all planned out to get 15 miles today- 3 miles north into the wind then south to the lighthouse at Ponce Inlet and I would call my husband for a ride back. Perfect! However today the wind was out of the southeast and still very strong. When I turned after 3 to head to the lighthouse I realized there was no way
I wanted to run 12 into that wind.

i did some quarter miles north then south but that got old quickly. The good thing about running is that you can change plans quickly. I decided the only way this run would be fun was to just keep running north.

The good news was that since I had my phone I could call and say meet me north instead of south. The bad news was that I knew I was getting a blister by mile 5.

Despite padding under my metatarsal my neuroma started hurting at about mile 8.
The pain changed from stabbing to numb and back and forth. That, combined with the blister on the same foot made for a difficult run the last 7 miles.

It was nice and distracting to watch the waves and the people braving the wind as well as some fishermen - and old guys with metal detectors, of course!

Taking my shoes off was a great relief but I had a pretty big blood blister on the side of the ball of my foot. I have never had one before so not sure what to do about it. The best part was grossing out my grand kids with my feet !



Friday, February 8, 2013

50 degree difference

Ahhhh sunshine and 65 for my run this morning - what a difference 1200 miles makes!

Monday, February 4, 2013

running to a race

I had determined to run 18 miles Sunday, and also wanted to go to the Super Bowl 5K race to see some friends who were running in memory of our running buddy Ron who died two weeks ago. So I decided to run from Potter Park to the Okemos middle school where the race was, and back again. On gmap pedometer it looked like about 9 miles each way, which would be perfect. In reality, thanks to my nifty GPS watch, it was 8.45-more about that later.

It was 9 degrees when I started about 8:15am, and one good thing -well, the only good thing - about the extrememe temperature is that parts of the trail that had flooded were now frozen so I could get through, though it was more like ice skating than running a few times! I ran to campus, through campus, then east on Grand River, behind Playmakers to Okemos Road, and south on Okemos Road to the school. It was so pretty in the woods, and not even a breeze until I got on the roads. It was lightly snowing the whole time, which meant every step I took was in varying depths of snow and that explains why my quads are sore today- no traction, some slipping, and my running gait changes.

I got to the race just after it started, so had time to get some water, take some Gu, and talk to Jeff Crow, the Playmakers announcer. I told Jeff about Don running in memory of Ron and when Don was running to the finish like Jeff announced it- Ron's daughter Patricia had done the race too, and she and I were in tears when Jeff said that. Both Don and Patricia ran good races and we all wished Ron had been with them.

Since I was starting to get cold and too used to walking instead of running, I headed back to Potter Park. The run back always seems quicker, doesn't it?  My foot had been doing really well until about mile 12 and then got progressively more painful until I was trying hard not to limp. That set off my hip and the area where my back and upper hip meet was really screaming, too. It was more uncomfortable to walk than to run, so I kept slogging away.

I was glad to see my truck but I was only at 17 miles and though I was madly trying to talk myself into being happy with 17 miles and getting off my sore foot, I couldn't do it and circled the Park for another mile to make  the18 miles I had set out to do. Those are the times when I know that even though I am not as mentally tough as some of my running friends I have what it takes to finish a marathon.

Great relief to get in my truck, dry off, and head home. I had to shovel when I got home, due to just enough accumulation that I couldn't ignore it, but then I could relax the rest of the day. My foot was bruised on the top as well as on the bottom, but the good news is that I have both physical therapy and a massage today, so that will help!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

No half marathon today

We got our race packets Friday and Grand Rapids has a lot more snow than we do!

After I got home I started obsessing about the weather in GR at 6am, and then the weather online said the forecast for race morning was for 5-8" or more of snow, 20-25mph winds, and below zero wind chill. Jill and I texted back and forth quite a lot, neither one of us wanted to be the one to say "let's cancel".

Though I have a big truck I don't have 4 wheel drive so the hazardous road conditions being predicted worried me, and after talking to friends on the west side of the state who confirmed the dire weather expected, I cancelled.

I felt relieved -and ready for a glass of wine- but still felt like a wimp, too. Then this afternoon I heard that 96 was closed at GR during the morning due to accidents, so I felt like I made the right decision.

Today Jill and I walked the Sharp Park Trail for 4 miles on a beautiful snowy day. And we still have a lot less snow than Grand Rapids!



Friday, February 1, 2013

Antarctic weather in Michigan

Lansing went from 57 degrees on Tuesday to 17 degrees on Thursday. It was very windy, too, and snowing = perfect Antarctic weather!

The trail was a bit slippery but not bad, however the way to get to the cemetery and the other end of the trail was flooded so that was not an option. We laughed at the ducks swimming back and forth from the river and over the trail to other side of the trail.

Mark had already done a few miles when we got there, so Don and I walked with him for about a mile - going with the wind wasn't bad but walking into the wind was tough, and after a mile I needed to run to get warmed up, and Don was done- he was too cold and discouraged by the wind so he and Mark left. I decided to do laps in Potter Park so I had 1/2 mile west into the wind then 1/2 mile east  to warm up going with the wind. I ran 4.5 miles and that was enough, especially since I have a race on Saturday and I knew I had to go home and shovel, so it was easy to talk myself into stopping.

I felt wimpy, but on the other hand we never saw ANY other runners, when usually we see quite a few on the trail going through the Park, so I guess I wasn't as wimpy as some people!