Training

Things I Took For Granted

I love winter in some respects. I love the frigid days we had here in Duluth last week, with a bright orange sunrise and sea smoke in the harbor. I love watching snow fall. I love twinkle lights.

Running in the winter just sucks, though. There are so many things I took for granted this summer, that I’m realizing as winter progresses. Yeah, I ran last winter, but I wasn’t training for an ultra. I started to list them all in my head during my long run on Thursday.

  1. Seemingly endless daylight.
    I could dawdle around the house for a couple hours after work and still get in a decent run before dark.
  2. Minimal clothing.
    I have to pile on the clothes in the winter, which means more laundry, fewer options for what I can wear, and less freedom of movement. I don’t have to wear gloves in the summer, which means I have more dexterity for opening gels, adjusting my clothes, fiddling with my watch, etc.
  3. No fogged-up glasses.
    When it’s really cold and I’ve gotta cover my face, my warm breath fogs up my glasses. So then I have to uncover my face. And then I get frostbite, which reminds me…
  4. No frostbite and less risk of hypothermia.
    Hypothermia is of course possible even on warmer days, but no one can get frostbite in 55 degree weather. My skin is miserable right now.
  5. Less mucous.
    My nose runs while I’m running in any weather, but it runs a heck of a lot more in winter. Then my snot freezes.
  6. I’m not tired and cold for hours after running.
    Sometimes in the winter, I just can’t get warm. I’ll feel fine while running, but then I get chilled once I come inside. It makes me sleepy, and then I’m basically useless the rest of the day. I feel that way right now, in fact.
  7. Trails and sidewalks are accessible.
    Certainly, after a big rain, trails get muddy or water crossings get treacherous. But some trails or trailheads aren’t reachable due to snow, roads are icy, and people don’t shovel their sidewalks. Yesterday I ended up having to run on the road on Woodland because the sidewalk near Glen Avon rink was completely unshoveled; I’d have been running in knee-deep, filthy snow. Most of the sidewalks on Arrowhead between Woodland and Kenwood aren’t shoveled; they’re passable, but it’s tough going. My route options are getting more and more limited as winter progresses.
  8. So many races!
    There are multitudes of races in the spring, summer, and autumn, but nothing in winter. Obviously because it’s cold, and clearing the course is a pain, and fewer people are interested, and there are greater liabilities for race directors; I get why there aren’t more races. But I wouldn’t mind having a tune-up race in late February/early March. It’s possible, of course, but I’d have to travel somewhere warm, and I’m not going to do that just for a race.

I’ve still got about 4 months to go before it’s warm again (and that’s being optimistic!), so I’m just going to have to deal with it, but next time it’s 90 degrees and cooler outside than it is in my house, I need to pull up this post and remind myself of how much worse it could be.

50 or Bust?

Today I’m embarking on the first week of training for either a slightly under-trained Zumbro 50, or an extremely over-trained Zumbro 17. I’m still not sure.

I hate to equivocate, but I am really uncertain about my ability to put in the mileage necessary, and to stay healthy for 16 weeks in a row. However, I do want to be transparent about what I’m doing. There’s no reason to be secretive about a goal, just because I might not make it. Of course I’m setting myself up for failure by not committing 100% to the race RIGHT FREAKING NOW, but I’m being honest. Last winter, I was sick for like 8 weeks straight. I trained through some of that, but I also had long stretches of time with no running. I ran Zumbro 17 in the midst of that illness (and on about 2 hours of sleep), but that was 17 miles. (Well, 16.7.) Running 3x that distance, starting at midnight, in who knows what weather, is entirely different.

I’m a bit concerned about ramping up the mileage after several weeks of very low mileage, but I have several days off this week, it’s warmed up considerably (I ran 5.6 miles yesterday in sub-zero Fahrenheit weather), and I am feeling pretty good. I don’t have any nagging pain, I’m not mentally beaten up from running, and aside from a bit of a runny nose and some sneezing most likely brought on by poor air quality in my house, I’m not feeling sick.

My goal was to loosely follow the plan laid out in Hal Koerner’s book. I was going to use the plan from Bryon Powell’s, but I can’t figure out where I put that book. It is probably under my bed or under my couch. I’m a slob, but I’ve come to terms with it. It prevents me from having too many houseguests, so it’s got its good points. Hal’s plan is far too ambitious for me, but I’m also hoping to just finish the race before the cut-off, not win.

I’m under no illusion that I can half-ass this training the way I did with Wild Duluth and Moose Mountain. There was a lot of winging it, mileage-wise. I made virtually no changes to my nutrition. I haphazardly did strength training. I didn’t concentrate on sleep or stress management. And I didn’t have to worry about when I ran because it was decent weather most of the time and there was lots of daylight. If I am able to successfully complete the Zumbro 50, it will be because I was able to eat well, run well, sleep well, and live well. It will be life-changing in a way that running a marathon and a 50K were not.

I am really, really excited to see what happens.

At A Standstill

It turns out while I thought I got away with running while sick, I did not get away with racing while sick. The Saturday afternoon after the race I started to feel fatigued, Sunday I was pretty lethargic, and Monday I was really unwell. So now I’ve rested for 8 days as a precaution (I was going to get back out there this weekend, but I started sneezing quite a bit on Saturday and backed off).

I’m feeling a mix of things, none of which are “good.” I know all feelings are supposed to be valid, but I’m growing tired of their effects. I would like to run Zumbro 50 next year, but my 16-week training cycle starts next week. This has caused me to feel anxious about my fitness, as well as about my health as the winter progresses. It’s colder now than it was even last week. I also feel guilty, as if I should be out running, or I should have done something differently to avoid getting sick. I also feel pretty down about my weight, which has crept up a bit over the last several months. My clothes still fit so it’s not the end of the world, but I was hoping for some more downward progress. My treadmill is still broken (for some reason dealing with it seems to be an insurmountable task, although the wheels are in motion now), so my only option is going outside, in single-digit temps. I’m going to have to invest in some serious cold weather gear this year.

There’s just not that much to be positive about when it comes to running. I’m determined to get out there tonight, in as many layers as it takes to stay warm. Then I have to make a couple pans of brownies for tomorrow’s holiday pot luck. That will certainly get my nutrition and fitness back on track!

Sick Of Myself

I’ve had a bit of a cold for the past couple days, which normally means I don’t run. I’ve been trying over the past year to be cautious and rest whenever I’m sick, rather than running through an illness and prolonging it. But that’s resulted in quite a few long breaks, and I only ran twice last week, so clearly time off from running didn’t help me stave off this latest cold.

Tuesday, I was attempting to do a tempo run, kind of like last week’s: 1 mile at 11:36 pace, that went ok, and then I was trying to do 1.1 miles at ~10:30 pace followed by 1.2 miles at ~9:30 pace, but during the second interval, I realized it wasn’t going to happen. I had no energy and was struggling to keep the pace, so I knew there was no way I could run the third interval. I decided to slow down and make the rest of the run an easy run. I cut it a little short, too, since I was attending my friend’s first game on the Marshall JV hockey team.

The next day I woke up sneezing and with a bit of a cough, plus a generally foggy head. Surprise, surprise. But I’m running this dumb 5K this weekend, I’d taken a gorillion days off in November (I didn’t even run 100 miles!), and I’m still reading Racing Weight, which is making me feel badly about myself, so I decided to run.

And I didn’t die! And I didn’t wake up yesterday feeling worse! (I felt the same.) And then I ran yesterday, too! Amazing.

So, I made a calculated decision and it paid off. I could have just as easily woken up feeling like donkey crap, and screwed myself over for this 5K that I don’t even want to run but I couldn’t drag my sorry butt out of bed on Thanksgiving so now I must. I’m glad that it worked out but I was really tempting fate.

I’m sick a lot. I’m not 100% sure why, but I have a few hypotheses:

  1. I eat like crap. Ok, trying to fix that. Entirely my own fault
  2. I don’t always get the best sleep. Sometimes this is my fault, like if I stay up too late reading. Sometimes it isn’t, like when I’m stressed or my stomach’s upset or I’m in an uncomfortable bed (like a pull-out couch, or a cot).
  3. When my allergies are triggered (by dust, pollen, cat dander, or some other unknown substance), they tend to open the door for a cold. I try to take an antihistamine but sometimes it’s too late. I take a preventative one when cleaning!
  4. I have had pneumonia and a couple of cases of bronchitis that seem to have done some lasting damage. I didn’t get sick nearly as often before my first bout of pneumonia about 10 years ago, nor did I get sick in the same way. I used to get a sore throat and a stuffy nose but was able to power through. Now I get a foggy head, labored breathing, and break out into a sweat when I have to walk more than ten feet. I was lucky this last little illness didn’t turn into that (it could have easily!), and I would not be running if that was the case, I’m not an idiot.

I ordered this list according to how much control I have over each potential cause for the frequency with which I get ill. Since I’m planning on improving my diet, and I guess now I should be planning on improving my sleep, I will have to see if that makes enough of a difference that I can stave off or minimize my next encounter with a yucky bacteria or virus.

Motivational Speaking

Some things:

  1. I didn’t run the Turkey Day 5K. I woke up at 6:15 after a very poor night’s sleep. I had a choice between running a crummy race and being exhausted all day, or going back to sleep and feeling like an idiot for not running. I chose to feel like an idiot for not running, but I also had a much more enjoyable Thanksgiving.
  2. I’m most likely going to run a 5K this weekend since I’m still chasing the dream. The course will be exactly the same as the one I just ran a month ago, so that’s a positive.
  3. I barely ran at all last week, so that’s a negative.

To be truthful, I’m having trouble getting up the motivation to run. I never regret running, but for some reason that’s not enough to get me outside when it is dark, cold, and the streets are covered in snow and ice. The warmer weather and rain washed away the snow and ice, so that obstacle has been eliminated, but I’ve got to figure out how to get motivated, day after day.

Maybe I’d be more motivated if I had a race I was training for. I’m not signed up for anything at the moment. I’m planning on running Zumbro but am not sure which distance, so I haven’t signed up. I’m also planning to run the Superior 25K (and MMM) but the lottery isn’t until January. But maybe that would be worse, feeling more paralyzed and panicked because I am not getting out to train for a race I’ve already paid for. I’m not sure.

I’ve been reading Racing Weight and plan to do a review of the book on here, but the book is kind of depressing me. I’ve gained some weight over the past 6 months or so (I’m not exactly sure), not a significant amount, but when I’m still in the process of trying to slowly lose that weight, it’s not heartening. Racing Weight is not written for people like me, and I knew that going in, but it’s hard to keep reading about the fatty non-athletes who have sad, pathetic motivations for losing weight, unlike the lofty motivations for the elevated, evolved endurance athlete. I don’t have a very good attitude about the book but I’m willing to see it through and see what I can do to improve my performance (and my flab!).

Time to turn the page and get back on track this week, although I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot. It doesn’t matter, though. Turning the page is always, always, always better than closing the book.

Turkey Day 5K Goals

Let’s just get this out of the way:

A Standard: 29:29
B Standard: 29:59

I’ve got to get this stupid benchmark behind me. I sense that I have had the physical capability to break the 30 minute mark for awhile (um, duh, since I ran 30:02 5 months ago), but I’m still lacking the mental capability. So the Turkey Day 5K in Minneapolis is where I prove myself wrong.

I have done some speed work over the last few weeks, including 0.25 mi repeats, tempo runs, and of course another 5K. But then I’ve also neglected my strength training and took 9 days off running in the middle of this short training cycle. But then I also still ran 30:18 a few weeks ago, just a few weeks after my 50K and with NO speed work at all. So, can I find 19 seconds. Yeah. I’ll go with that. I ran a tempo run this evening that wasn’t exactly heartening, but it was sleeting, so maybe that wasn’t so bad. After a warm-up, I did 1 mi @ 11:24 pace, 1.1 mi @ 10:19 pace, and 1.1 mi @ 9:50 pace. The first 2 parts went as planned, but the second part was supposed to be 5K pace. Oh well, I’m not too worried. Unless it’s also sleeting on race day.

I’ll be driving down to the Twin Cities the night before the race, and sleeping on a fold-out mattress, so that’s not the best way to start things off. I also have to be up fairly early in order to get downtown, parked, and checked in. This is why I like doing races where I can get my packet early! It doesn’t work that way when I don’t live in town. I’m also going to be running the race by myself, since my husband is on call and my brother and sister-in-law decided not to run. It’ll be lonely!

The upside to arriving early and alone is that I will have no excuse not to warm up. I don’t even usually have excuses not to warm up properly, I just don’t do it. I will have nothing better to do so I will have to warm up. If I’d warmed up properly for the Superhero 5K, I’d probably have run under 30 minutes. Maybe. But it’s no surprise that the 5Ks where I’ve done the best (like my current PR, at Midnight Sun Midnight Run), I’ve had a decent warm up.

I also need to make sure I eat a decent meal the night before (so that I don’t have an upset stomach) and race day (for energy), and get decently hydrated, but not so much that I have to pee the whole time. I’m not sure what I’m going to wear, probably tights and a long-sleeved shirt. I have to do laundry tomorrow, regardless.

I don’t know the course, but I do know there’s a wave start. Wave 1 is sub 9 minute miles, and wave 2 is sub-11 minute miles. I like this, because I’m just slightly slower than wave 1. I can comfortably line up near the start of wave 2, and then maybe I’ll avoid dodging and weaving. We’ll see. They don’t allow walkers/strollers in the running waves, but I’m sure that won’t stop some of the more aggressive stroller runners from slipping in.

I’m a bit concerned about my GPS since part of the race will be downtown. That might be a blessing in disguise: I’ll just have to run hard. Pretty simple. Run hard. Push harder. No retreat, no surrender. Oh, there we go, got my motto and my pump-up song!

As always, hoping not to barf, become incontinent, injure myself, slip and fall, become hypothermic, or otherwise harm or humiliate myself and ruin Thanksgiving. It should be a great day, and I hope to have a triumphant race report forthcoming.

To the select and marvelous few who read this site, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Like Riding A Bike

I didn’t run for 9 days before yesterday.

This unexpected long streak came about for a variety of reasons. The first day (the Sunday before last), I thought I might be catching a cold, and I wanted to spend extra time with family. Monday, I traveled for work and ended up more tired than I thought I’d be at the end of the day, with a day of flights and then a car trip at the end. And daylight saving time ending certainly did not help.

Tuesday, I was tired already from a poor night’s sleep Monday night (hotel life!), and couldn’t drag myself to the hotel workout room.

Wednesday, I woke up devastated, after tossing and turning and unable to quell the fear, rage, and frustration roiling inside of me as I faced what had really happened in this country. And I lost all interest in running. My resting heart rate is in the high 60s, and has been for two weeks, even with 9 days off.

I finally stopped making excuses or flat out being lazy yesterday, and ran 4.5 miles on the Lakewalk. My legs felt like lead weights. My form sucked. I know there’s no way I’ll be able to do much speed work. I’ve probably screwed myself out of a chance to break 30 minutes in my 5K next week. I’ve gained at least a couple pounds, probably more like 5. I squandered some of the last warm days I’ll see for months, sitting inside watching television and feeling dead inside. But I’m back running, and it felt good.

I’m not quite ready to take running more than a day at a time. Planning for another ultra seems mentally impossible; let alone actually training for one is more than I can handle right now. I know I’ll adjust to the short days and the cold weather (once it comes), and I know I’ll keep finding ways to meaningfully resist the monstrously corrupt government that’s coming to power in the US in a few months. One step at a time.