I'm Ready to Rock!!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

I'll be running my second Marathon, the PF Chang's Rock N' Roll Marathon in Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale. Track my progress at http://www.liveraceresults.com/liveelite/Default.aspx

I'm bib # 8567

You can also track my friends, if you know 'em, or if you don't and just enjoy stalking people...

Allen Cook - #8648
Ryan Burke (half marathon) - #29530
@zstruck - #7027

Last year my pace was 13 min miles (ugh!) and finished in 5:42. Let's see if I can set a PR (Personal Record). I'm hoping to be all done before the Cardinals and Eagles Kick off.

GO CARDS!!!!!! Go all my buddies running tomorrow!!! Go me! :P

I may also be live tweeting at http://twitter.com/jainz57 (maybe...)

Heath & Fitness Expo

Tonight, before I head off to the Suns game, I'll be taking my Final Confirmation Sheet to the Health and Fitness expo in Downtown Phoenix to pick up my Race Number.

This is it, people! Can I PR???? I've got the same mantra as I had last year. "Beat Katie Holmes." Her NY Marathon time was 5:25. I couldn't do it last year, with a time of 5:46:44. Can I really shave off 21 minutes?

You can follow my progress here using my race number 8567 http://www.liveraceresults.com/mobile/

Wish me luck!

I'm a Hazard to Myself

Don't let me get me.
Following Hal Higdon's Novice II Marathon Training schedule, yesterdays run was 3 miles. It was an unusually warm day in January, 75 degrees, so I decided to take it at an easy pace. The mysterious pain in my knee I had on Sunday and Monday, mysteriously disappeared. But this morning I awoke to sore leg muscles.

What?! That was a 3 mile run, at an easy pace? Why am I sore? Was it cuz I ran so slow? Are my muscles always this sore and I never even noticed it?

I'm my own worst enemy.
These last two weeks of tapering are leaving me antsy. I needed something to do, so for some stupid reason, Monday night, I decided to do the initial testing for the two hundred sit-up training program.

The initial test consists simply of doing as many crunches as you can to determine where you should start in the training program. Knowing I could've done a few more, I stopped at 47, just to be conservative. That number of crunches at my age places me at the "Good" level.

All day yesterday, I thought, Wow! I don't feel those crunches at all! I should have kept going. But then, I woke up this morning. HA! NOW, I feel them!

Its bad when you annoy yourself...so irritating

Geez! What am I doing to myself?! I'm supposed to be taking it easy before the marathon - take in a movie or a nice leisurely game of golf. This training is making me crazy. I should be relaxing, not tripping out on every ache and pain I feel (Oh yeah, during this morning's 2 miler, I felt like I was getting shin splints. Really? 2 miles?).

I just can't wait for this whole thing to be over. So much so, that I'm going to start looking for my next race!

Time to Taper

And the countdown begins.
12 more days until the PF Chang's marathon. My schedule calls for a 4, 3, 4 and 8 mile week. I feel like I have so much time on my hands that I don't know what to do. This leaves me with way too much time to think. Too much time to think about the challenge ahead and what mistakes I made at last years marathon. Then, how am I going to over come those mistakes this year.

My stream of conscientiousness.
I can't believe the minutia that flows through my head during this time. "What am I going to eat for breakfast before the race...I better not drink too much coffee or I'll have to take too many bathroom breaks...I wonder if they make adult diapers for marathon runners...they make them for astronauts...what should I wear...what should I eat the night before...why am I doing this again..."

I'm running how far?
I know, it's far, but what really bugs me is the elevation gain. I remember running up Indian School Road last year and thinking, when is this hill ever going to end??? So, today I decided to look at my elevation profile from my 20 miler and compare it to the race elevation profile.



I gain a maximum of 200 ft in elevation over the course of 2.25 miles. The actual race has a 130 ft elevation gain over 7 miles. I guess it's not much of a gain, but over 7 miles!! No wonder I felt like the hill never ended.



I know, I know, all you experienced racers are laughing at me. Compared to other marathons, Phoenix is fairly flat. But a hill is a hill. Doing this little analysis will help me get it through my head that I'm ready.

I am ready...right?

Ice baths, yay or n-n-n-no way?

I've heard it from both ends. Runner's World articles quote the benefits of ice baths from doctors that run ultramarathons and swear by them, while a blog on Complete Running shows that scientific studies have not proven any benefits from them.

The theory of the ice bath is that the cold constricts all the blood vessels to the muscles, decreasing swelling and tissue break down after a hard work out. Then when you get out of the bath and your muscles start warming up, increased blood flow to the muscles aide in recovery. Those that suffer through the ice bath actually feel they recover quicker, or are not as sore on the days following a hard work out.

As for me, I say "Yay!" Last year, as I was training for the PF Chang's marathon in January, my Ironman neighbor told me I should try standing in my swimming pool. Mind you, my pool is not heated and it was late December, so probably at 55 F. After my 20 miler last year, I tried it. Sure enough, I was not as sore the days following as I was after the 18 mile run I did a couple weeks earlier. I did this again after the marathon and I didn't even have to walk downstairs backwards the next day! The cold was unbearable for my toes, so I got smart and wore my neoprene booties.

Here's my ice bath ritual now. I fill up my tub with cold water and throw in a 2 Liter pitcher of ice. I set up a portable heater in the room, shut the door, put on the neoprene booties and wrap a towel around my shoulders (for warmth, hahah!).

Today, after the first 2 liters of ice melted, I called to my husband to get me another pitcher of ice. He threw them in, but then left the door open, letting all my warm air out of the room. I yelled out "Hey! Why'd you leave the door open?"

He answered, "So, I can hear you if you need me."

"Well, can you close it? It's kind of chilly!"

He yelled back "Of course it's chilly! You ARE sitting in a tub of ICE!!!"

(NOTE: Ice bath image from Far Gone Greetings - Greeting Cards for the addicted)

My Trail of Images...

Here are a couple of pictures from my typical 5 mile run...

My deserted desert trail...



Looks like I'm not the only one out here...

Jogging by Grayhawk Golf Course, no one's at the tee box. I should have brought my clubs.



Really, civilization is close by...


See, nothing like the buzz of overhead electrical wires to reassure you of civilization.



Ah...It's good to be home...

Recovery Run

After 8 days without running...
5 days without a fever...
0 days without a headache...
I decided to ease back into running.

You see, for the past two weeks, I've been sick. I got sick the weekend before Thanksgiving and only found myself getting better the day of Thanksgiving. After getting the turkey and fixin's going that day, I decided to go for a short 4 mile run. I followed this up two days later with 7.5.

Unfortunately, by not listening to common sense and all the running tips I've read, I did not wait until I was "fully" recovered to restart my training. Because of that, the next day Sunday, I was sick again.

So here I am, 2 weeks later. Training called for 84 miles these past two weeks including two long runs of 17 and 18 miles. As of today, I've run a total of 17.5. Needless to say, I'm way behind.

I'll have to see how training goes the next few weeks and see if I can just pick up as if nothing ever happened. I might have to re-evaluate after a couple of weeks to see if I should just do the half marathon.

500 Kilometer Mark

After this morning's 4.5 mile run, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Paula Radcliffe talk to me. "Congratulations! You have reached 500 Kilometers."

Wow! 500! I love my Nike+ pedometer!

This is my second pedometer, so the 500K doesn't include the 64 miles on my first sensor. Yup, the first one only lasted me less than two months. Apparently, some battery issue Nike needs to fix, but they were nice enough to send me a new one, that so far has lasted 7 months.

This means my tennis shoes have well over 300 miles on them. I think it's time to get a new pair.

Back On Track

After this morning's 7 miler, I'm only 1.6 miles shy of getting back on track to meet this month's goal of 60 miles. With the weather cooling off, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do this no problem.

I don't think I've run over 7 miles since my last nike+ sensor, so I was treated with Lance Armstrongs voice after my run. Lance said "Congratulations! You've just completed your longest run."

Woohoo! I'm sure I'll be hearing that a lot now because training looks like I'll continue to add distance each week.

Still behind...

Just as I suspected. I wasn't able to run until Friday when I did 5 miles. I was hoping to get some more running in this morning, but I had to catch up on sleep. As I've said in the past, I have a hard time sleeping when he's out of town. I remember opening my eyes long enough to see the clock telling me it was 6:00 AM. And for a fleeting moment, I thought about dragging myself out of bed. Instead, I closed my eyes and didn't open them again until 8:30.

Sleep. So nice. Working out is good, but getting enough rest is just as important. So, I'm don't feel bad about that at all.

I'm behind about 4.5 miles on my September goal, but I can catch up to that no problem.

A moment of weakness

Yesterday, I had a moment of weakness. I woke up at 6 AM, looked at the 87 degree temperature on Yahoo weather laughing at my face, and I broke down. I said "No Way! I'm not running in these conditions anymore. I'm sick and tired of it!"

But later that morning, I couldn't stand it anymore. I felt like such a wimp. Maybe it was my own little sadistic way of punishing myself, but I ran. The sun was already up, so it was probably even hotter than 87. See, that's what I get for wimping out earlier.

Today, I've learned my lesson. I'm up at 5:30 waiting for just a little more light. It's 81 degrees. My husband will be leaving for the airport in just 90 minutes, so this is my chance. I may not be able to run again until Friday.