by | November 23, 2009 · 2:08 pm

Motivation Monday: The “run happy” edition

I never thought I’d be one of those runners who obsesses about split times and speedwork and PRs. In my short high school cross-country career, I was never fast enough to really give that stuff much thought. Swimming provided my competitive fix, and even after I graduated high school and quit swimming, I was happy to keep my running in slow-and-steady mode.

Then, I started running longer distances, and simply running a 5K or 10K wasn’t enough. I had to run them faster than I’d run before, and the need for (relative) speed started to seep into the longer races, too. This can be exhilarating — the transformative power of the clock can make us realize that if we can run a half-marathon faster than we imagined we could previously, we can do just about anything we put our minds to.

But right now, I need to do the opposite, and my motivation this week comes from easing up on the pre-run pressure. I am pulling back from time goals, and trying to go back to a time when running was more about the joy of motion. I am running how I feel, and marveling that “running how I feel” often yields the same pace as when I’m consciously pushing it.

Here’s what else is motivating me this week:

Brooks’ Run Happy ad campaign fits perfectly into my new, chilled-out approach.

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving morning does, too. Is it possible to take yourself too seriously when the word “trot” is involved?

A runner-friendly Thanksgiving later that day. My contributions to dinner: a roasted turkey breast, sweet-potato stuffing (made with whole-grain bread), lemon-orange cranberry sauce, roasted butternut squash and a harvest salad with pears, dried cranberries, and blue cheese. And a pumpkin pie. All homemade, mostly from goodies procured at the farmers market. Since I enjoy the cooking, I’m deeply excited about this (recipes to follow …). Looking for Thanksgiving inspiration? Check out Deena Kastor’s Thanksgiving recipes here. (Thanks to Heather, a runner and nutritionist, for pointing them out!)

Our amazing trip yesterday to Sugarloaf Mountain, a lovely landmark less than an hour from our apartment in Silver Spring, Md. If there is a better way to spend a sunny fall Sunday than by running up and down a mountain a couple times (literally, a couple — it was so much fun, we ran the paved part twice!), then hitting up the vineyard at the bottom of the mountain for a wine tasting, I’m not sure what it is.

Post-run wine tasting.

Finally, I’m motivated by all my friends who ran the Philadelphia Marathon over the weekend. Marci and Jenn in particular ran gutsy races that had nothing to do with the transformative power of the clock, and everything to do with the power of finding out who you are as a human being.

What’s motivating you this week?

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by | November 22, 2009 · 9:33 pm

Sugarloaf Mountain photos

Is there a better way to spend a fall Sunday than running up and down a mountain a couple times (literally — it was so much fun, we went twice!), then hitting up the vineyard at the bottom of the mountain for a wine tasting? That’s what we did today at Sugarloaf Mountain, a lovely landmark less than an hour from our apartment in Silver Spring, Md. A few photos from our delightful day:

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by | November 19, 2009 · 1:31 pm

Running recipes: Apple with homemade pumpkin butter

I’ve been obsessed with squash lately, along with honeycrisp apples. I’ve also been My favorite pre-run (or anytime) snack. obsessed with tinkering with my pre-run snacks, and figuring out what my sensitive stomach likes and what it doesn’t.

That led to the perfect marriage of the two: a honeycrisp apple and some quick, easy homemade pumpkin butter, which I’ve been making in batches of just a few servings in the microwave. Here’s how I make the weird (but delicious!) little concoction:

1 c canned pumpkin

1/2 c apple cider

Several packs Truvia or other sweetener (Most recipes require roughly 1/2 c sugar for the quantities of pumpkin and cider I use. I find it’s tasty with less, too)

Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice – to taste, or roughly 1 tsp.

Combine ingredients in a microwave-safe container. Microwave for two minutes, or until the mixture starts starts to thicken. Cool in the fridge, then mix again. Slice apple, and garnish with cinnamon and nutmeg.

What’s your go-to pre-run snack?

Speaking of sports nutrition, the editor in chief of Prevention magazine will unveil the magazine’s “400-calorie fix” on the Rachael Ray show today (read my Examiner.com post on the topic here). Regular Prevention readers know the magazine advocates eating four 400-calorie meals composed of produce, whole grains, lean protein and dairy, and monounsaturated fats throughout the day — the good stuff runners should be eating, anyway. Obviously, endurance athletes have drastically different calorie needs than the general population, but I love the idea of breaking one’s meals into small chunks, rather than suffering carbo-bloat from overdoing it pre-race or post-run. Rodale’s recipe-finder provides a portal to both Runner’s World and Prevention’s virtual recipe boxes.

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by | November 17, 2009 · 1:43 pm

Product review: Trigger Point’s Quadballer

A Running Times story comparing some popular self-massage tools for runners says

The Stick is known as the toothbrush for muscles. The Quadballer, on the other hand, is like a dental tool.

I got turned on to the Quadballer only recently, when searching for a step up from my beloved/much-hated (it’s one of those relationships) foam roller to soothe my often-sore IT band. As soon as I started reading about its hurts-so-good powers, I had to have it. Thanks to a friend with a Trigger Point discount, I bought a Quadballer for a price that fits my race-registration-depleted budget, and it arrived at my front door last week.

The patented material the Quadballer is made from aims to simulate the feeling of an actual massage, and man, does it ever! The diagrams show its usage to be very similar to a foam roller, but this baby ain’t no comfy, cushy foam roller. There’s a reason why the instructional materials note that runners should only spend three to five minutes on each exercise — any more, and you’ll risk bruising.

For that reason, my first night with the Quadballer was kind of difficult.  I didn’t seriously overdo it; I just didn’t realize the extent to which a little goes a long way. I used to spend a good 30 minutes lolling around on the foam roller to work out post-run kinks. With the Quadballer, it’s more like five minutes, which is yet another reason to invest in one. It’s too soon to tell whether it’s the definitive cure to my IT band problems. But I can already tell it’s helping, and can a runner ask for anything better than that?

Have you tried this magical little instrument of torture? Any tips, praise or warnings to pass along?

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by | November 13, 2009 · 2:14 pm

Plotting my route to the National Marathon

The more I think about the National Marathon in March, the more benefits I see to setting my sights on this race.

One such benefit: While searching for a tune-up half-marathon that would suit my timing for the March 20 marathon, I realized I could piggyback a visit to my parents in New Port Richey, Fla., on a trip back to Gainesville, Fla., where I lived and worked for four years, to run the Five Points of Life Half-Marathon in February.

The hometown flavor that permeates the race starts before runners even cross the starting line, with a cheer familiar to anyone who’s attended a University of Florida football game:

Two bits!
Four bits!
Six bits!
A dollar!
All for the Gators stand up and holler!

Even if you’re not a Gator fan, it’s hard not to love the sense of place and friendly vibe that define this small but speedy race. The flat, fast course runs through Gainesville’s quaint downtown before winding around the University of Florida campus, with highlights including a swing past alligator-filled Lake Alice and a trip through Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (again, even if you’re not a Gator fan, this is pretty cool). The race aims to raise awareness of the need for lifesaving donations of blood, apheresis, marrow, cord blood, and organ and tissue.

I’m also psyched to run the race for personal reasons: this is the half-marathon that started it all for me and distance running. I was planning to run the Gate River Run 15K in Jacksonville in 2007, and, for the first time, was following a training schedule to the letter. Things were going well, and it occurred to me that, if I could run nine miles on long runs after a slow buildup, I could probably run 13 miles, too. That kind of thinking eventually led to my first marathon in Nashville, Tenn., in April 2007.

My time for that first half-marathon wasn’t anything special by my current standards. But at the time, 1:56 shattered my every expectation for myself, and made me realize that pushing my body a little harder than is comfortable can yield almost magical mind-calming results.

Best of all: It only costs $45 to register for it until the end of the year.

I’m also dreaming up lots of ways to improve my marathon training, while maintaining my ultimate goal of not getting hurt through the process. A few tools I plan to add to my arsenal:

Progression runs. While training for the Marine Corps Marathon, I made a point to run the last few miles of each long run faster than my first few miles. But I’m going to get even better at holding back early on and speeding up steadily until the end of the run.

More continuous running. I’m not sure how bad I was, exactly, about lingering at my personal “rest stops” on long runs. This time, I’m going to do my best to simulate race-day conditions, stopping only as long as I would at a water station during the race.

Speedwork (more of it). I didn’t get a chance to add this to my training repertoire until just weeks before the race thanks to a lingering hip injury. I think starting mile repeats and Yasso 800s earlier in the process will do wonders for my confidence, if not my actual speed.

Stepping up my efforts to keep my stomach calm on race-day. I did a lot right before my Marine Corps Marathon stomach disaster — but I think I can do even better, and not just in terms of skipping an unfamiliar chicken sandwich the day before the race. More details on this as training progresses — I’ll definitely be seeking tips from all of you!

Which workouts, foods and other training tactics helped you run your best marathon ever? I’ve got a good general route mapped out for myself, but I’m still looking for new and interesting detours.

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by | November 12, 2009 · 12:54 pm

Should I run when I’m sick? (the swim-practice rule)

In high school, any time I’d get sick enough to stay home for the day, my mom had a simple rule: If I was sick enough to stay home from school, I was sick enough to skip swim practice, too.

This had the unfortunate effect on more than one occasion of me going to school with a bad cold to avoid missing swim practice. But most of the time, her rule made me realize that if my body wasn’t well enough to function at school, then it certainly didn’t need me to suck energy out of it by beating up in the pool or weight room.

I returned to that rule yesterday, when I carefully nursed what I’m hoping doesn’t turn into a wicked-bad cold. Since I work from home, this mostly meant working in my pajamas on the couch instead of working in jeans and a sweater at the kitchen table. I made an executive decision: If I was too sick to get up and change into jeans, I was probably sick enough that I should skip the stationary bike and the core workout I had planned. Using the neck rule, I probably could have gotten away with the workout. But moms are smart, so I decided to let my mom’s rule take precedence.

The effect: I’m feeling much better today, thanks! I’m going to take the cold, rainy day as a sign I should ease back in slowly, and I’m planning on an easy stationary-bike ride and some core work instead of a full-fledged run outside. I feel like my mom would approve.

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by | November 11, 2009 · 12:52 pm

Wanted: Moderation

I’m not a moderate person. I could list thousands of examples, but I’ll shorten the list to my most recent failures:

Last week, I decided to pre-hab my ankle, which has been a tad sore ever since the Marine Corps Marathon. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, except that I sprained that ankle last December, and ended up needing a couple cortisone shots to finally knock down the inflammation. As I dutifully performed my towel pulls and toe taps last week, I thought: The great thing is, it’s impossible to overdo it with this kind of exercise! Impossible … unless you’re me. My feet were in excruciating post-workout pain all weekend. It takes a special kind of idiot to overdo it with foot-strengthening exercises, but it can be done.

On Monday, I took a lovely afternoon swim break at a county pool that happened to be close to my late-afternoon interview. It was great, except for the soundtrack of self-doubt running through my head. The internal debate focused on whether I can really afford the $250 registration fee for the 4.4-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim when the 1-mile version of the race costs $60, and on whether, if I skipped the 4.4-miler, the 1-miler would just be a waste of time — go big or go home, right?

I know: wrong. I’m aware that I’m not the only amateur, middle-of-the-pack athlete to suffer from this affliction. I’m also aware that there’s nothing healthy about it. While my Type-A personality certainly helps when I’ve got a goal to achieve, it’s not so great on the flexibility front, which is a key piece of training.

So last night, when I woke up from an unplanned late-afternoon nap that could only mean an impending virus of some sort (I was the only kid who couldn’t sleep during siesta when I studied abroad in Italy), I decided to get better at moderation by practicing it. I’d really been looking forward to my group run with Pacers Silver Spring, especially considering it was a tough, hilly route — exactly the kind I’m trying to focus on to get ready for the National Marathon in March. I also thought about how I’d already taken a day off last Friday, and how a day off the following Tuesday could only mean … two days off in one week (gasp!). But for once, I listened to my body rather than the soundtrack of guilt and stayed home.

This morning, I woke up after having slept 16 hours — again, for an insomniac, this can only be a sign that something’s wrong. I also woke up with a twinge in my throat. I’m choosing to spend the day on the couch, working as I can, sleeping when I need to. Because my still-sore feet remind me that you don’t get extra brownie points for pushing yourself too hard.

In the “just what the doctor ordered” department: This morning, a freelancer-friend made me aware of the chance to win a trip to a spa-learning/networking opportunity for bloggers, freelancers and other entrepreneurs Feb. 1-3 at a fabulous resort in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Just thinking about relaxing at a spa and yapping with other freelancers makes my impending cold feel better, and makes me feel all moderate and stuff. Find out more, or enter yourself, here.

Does moderation come naturally for you? If not, how do you make sure you stay balanced and healthy?

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by | November 10, 2009 · 12:57 pm

National Marathon, here I come!

I was almost wooed by a flat, fast course in Sacramento at the California International

natl-half-marathon-010

Me after the National Half-Marathon last year. Hoping the full marathon gives me just as many reasons to grin next year.

Marathon, or a similarly flat course in Miami in January, both of which would let me tackle a marathon again sooner rather than later after a disappointing experience at the Marine Corps Marathon Oct. 25.

But armed with the knowledge that, for me, it seems it’s always better to err on the side of too much rest, I’m officially setting my sights on the SunTrust National Marathon on March 20 instead.

In a post for Examiner.com, I list reasons why this race should be on every Washington-area runner’s list: it follows a District-centric route (as opposed to MCM’s Arlington-heavy one) and boasts an unusually fast, though hilly, course (check that Examiner.com post for elevation charts and specifics). But here’s why I think it’s the race for me:

1. It’s smaller than the major fall marathons. While the spectators along the Marine Corps Marathon course were electrifying, the crowds during the first five miles of the race were harrowing. I made the mistake of trying to run with a pace group the first several miles, and actually got caught in a scuffle of four or five runners that ended in one guy falling, hard, and the rest of us stopping to see if he was OK. It was scary stuff I don’t necessarily care to repeat. I think the National Marathon’s limited field of 4,000 marathoners and 8,000 half-marathoners will prevent that.

2. It’s all in my hometown. Running helps me learn and appreciate the ins and outs of wherever I happen to be living, and I don’t want to miss this opportunity to learn more about this awesome city I get to call home.

3. It’s a race I can train for and run in cool weather. Miami was tempting, but after four years of living and running in Florida, I have a serious aversion to running distance races in the heat. The National Half-Marathon was almost uncomfortably cold at the start last year – my ideal race-day temperature. Please remind me of this fact the first time I have to do a long run in sub-20-degree temps.

4. It lets me tap into my most valuable training resource: my amazing and supportive friends, who I know will come cheer for me if I just ask, and if I promise them some sort of yummy post-race dinner in return (friends: start putting in menu requests now). This one is the clincher for running this race — the Shamrock Marathon is the same weekend in Virginia Beach, and that one apparently has a flat, fast course. But it doesn’t have my own personal cadre of supportive spectators, so National Marathon won out.

I’m going to wait until the end of the year to sign up, to make sure I stay healthy and race-ready. But I’m starting to train for hills now, starting with this hilly monster of a route with Pacers Silver Spring tonight.

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by | November 9, 2009 · 1:10 pm

Motivation Monday: Chilled-out edition

This week, in many different ways, I’m finding motivation by letting go and chilling out.

IMG_2987

Motivating me this week: time off from marathon-training lets me do stuff like hike Old Rag.

This started last Thursday, when my usual 8-minute-mile pace group with Pacers Silver Spring headed out for a relaxed, chatty run, saying we’d do 8:30 to 9-minute miles. I failed to start my watch, and at first, I was annoyed by my lack of pace-finding mechanisms. But then, I just sort of went with it. We cut about a block off of the end of the run and walked it in for a cool-down, and immediately tried to figure out our pace. We ran about 5.5 miles, and finished our run in about 44 minutes. Which equates to … 8-minute miles? Really? What we just did? Go figure …

Taking a lax approach to a low-key Candy Cane City 5K on Saturday had the same effect. We decided we’d be doing the race on Friday, and all I did to prep for it was take Friday off. We ate enchiladas (thanks for the recipe, Heather!) and chilled out at home on Friday night. That morning, I dug some running clothes out of the dryer, ate a Luna bar and headed to the starting line with absolutely no pace or time expectations. I just ran how I felt, and ended up with a 23:32 — 7:34-minute miles. That’s a good time for me – not a PR, but well within my “good race” range. The race itself was low-key and laid-back — no chip timing, only a couple hundred local runners racing — and that proved to be exactly what I needed after the hoopla of the Marine Corps Marathon.

Other motivations this week:

A few new songs. I am in love with “This Year” by the Mountain Goats. It was the first song on my 5K playlist, and I now have a lovely race-day memory attached to it. Also, the Yankees’ win last week has me newly in love with “Empire State” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keyes. I’ve even attached a personal motivational message to it: If the Yankees can rebound from several rough years with a beautiful season like this past one, certainly, I can overcome a single bad marathon.

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Turkey Chase 10K on Thanksgiving. This looks to be the same kind of low-key, just-for-fun race as the Candy Cane City 5K. Though the Turkey Chase will undoubtedly be larger — roughly 7,000 people ran it last year — turkey trots always foster an atmosphere of fun rather than competition. Plus, the relatively short distance (compared to, say, tacking on 20 miles to the start) eases my mind about race-day prep. With a 10K, you can sort of just pick up and go.

A Quadballer on its way to my apartment. This fits right into the chill-out spirit of motivation — it’s a hard-core version of a foam-roller, and I can’t wait to treat myself to a pseudo-massage with it when it arrives!

Finally, this week, I’m motivated by all the stuff I feel like I can do now that I’m in between marathons. I hiked Old Rag in the Shenandoah with Steve and some friends on Sunday, and didn’t worry a bit about potential ankle twists/hip strains/workouts missed. At an amazing dinner at the Thornton River Grille in Sperryville, Va., I didn’t hesitate before ordering a glass of really awesome-looking local Chardonnay aged in steel barrels. And I actually had the time to mess around with my Web site to change the domain name, update my clips, etc.

What’s motivating you this week? Any fabulous new songs to help round out my in-progress turkey-trot playlist? Let me know by posting a comment!

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by | November 6, 2009 · 2:05 pm

Friends don’t let friends drink and run ( … do they?)

It occurred to me last week that I hadn’t had a drop of alcohol for about a month, thanks to training for the Marine Corps Marathon and post-marathon stomach ick.

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The wine I brought back from California last summer is still unopened thanks to marathon training. Necessary? I'm not sure ...Marathon and post-marathon stomach ick.

 

I’m not a big drinker or anything — just a glass of wine or two here and there — but in the weeks leading up to a big race, I usually dry up completely. It never occurred to me to question whether this is necessary until I read an interesting Running Times column on the topic recently.

In the column sports dietitian Jackie Dikos says the effects of alcohol and performance aren’t entirely clear. But she says there’s enough evidence that it harms performance to lay off before big races or after tough workouts:

“To start, alcohol can impair performance by having a diuretic effect, resulting in dehydration,” Dikos writes. “There’s no question that poor hydration can be a detriment to performance. In addition, alcohol consumption may result in faster fatigue during hard workouts and slower recovery. It displaces carbohydrate from your diet, thereby impairing muscle glycogen storage.”

She also warns that your body has to “filter and process the leftovers from hard workouts. If you’re already feeling sore and damaged, treat your body right by avoiding alcohol for the next 24-36 hours.”

I think for me, abstaining before big races is less about the reasons above and more about some weird psychological advantage I glean from it. A nice glass of wine does a lot of things for me, but one thing it doesn’t do is make me feel sharp and race-ready. Then, there’s the effect on my sensitive stomach; trial and error has shown me there’s definitely good reason to stick to water the night or two before a race. And if nothing else, it makes a good glass of wine at a post-race celebration seem even more special.

Do you modify your drinking habits leading up to a big race? Share your tactics by posting a comment.

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