The Adventures of GeekGirl

So, the last time I did a tempo run, I was pretty happy with my results. That run marked my first time this training round doing a tempo outside in the heat. I was shocked to run 9:20 average for both miles despite the “balmy” temps.

Well, I had another tempo run yesterday. I was to run 2 x 1 mile @ tempo w/.5 mile recovery. Gulp.

I tried a different route, but still didn’t offset the stupid bridge. So, I wound up hitting the bridge during both tempo miles. (The previous tempo was basically flat.) My first mile was 9:12. My second one was 9:13. I also didn’t feel like I needed to throw up and I was able to haul ass up the bridge both times.

Does this mean I’m getting faster? I hate to get all hopeful and stuff, but I’ve truly been hating my training and running lately. I’m hot, frustrated, and just don’t want to get out there. This run (as well as my stellar run on Tuesday – bridge repeats that felt GOOD) actually made me hungry to train. I also feel like it’s getting easier for me to run in the heat.

Now, if only I can get rid of my long run fear. For some reason, I just can’t face running long in this heat. I haven’t had a double digit run in ages and it’s really crunch time. Tomorrow morning I’ve got to try to pull a 12 mile run out of my ass or it’s time for me to face the reality that I can’t run the Chicago Half. I’m hitting all of my other runs, but just can’t run long. It sucks and makes me really depressed. This situation has made me come to the realization that I HATE training for marathons in the summer. I need to run Spring races so I can blissfully train during the winter.

That upsets me, but I realize that it’s better to know your limitations and deal with them than to try to force myself to do something that I obviously am not enjoying. Next summer I’ll hit the 5k’s, tri’s, etc and enjoy training for short times in the heat.

I run because I really enjoy it. I’m one of those weirdos that often runs without music or a watch and just enjoys being out there. I understand that I’m not always going to love it, but the fear and anxiety I fear before long runs when it’s hot (this doesn’t happen when it’s “cool”) are sucking the joy out of this for me.

Is there shame in admitting that? What say you internet people? Do I suck? Am I  not a “real” runner? 

With all that said I’m still going to open up a can of whoop ass in New York…and Chicago. I’ll just run the half undertrained.

I got my July training plan from Coach and…well, apparently I’m training for a marathon. I gotta be honest with you, I’m not as happy about that as I should be, but whatever, I will get that shit done. Why? Because I desperately want to run the streets of New York in the footsteps of some of my favorite elite runners. (Dear Running Goddess, Please for all that is holy in runnerdom,let Paula Radcliffe be there. Deena and Meb would be awesome, too. Amen.)

So, as of next week my average run is going to be 6 miles. There are tempos every Thursdays, fartleks on Tuesdays. Long runs on Saturdays. The runs during the week are fine, but I honestly HATE running long in the summer. Just the thought of it makes me want to cry. I have 11 miles on tap for tomorrow morning and am pretty much beside myself. You know what sucks? Running at 4:30 in the morning.

I was on the phone whining about this to my mom hoping for some sympathy. Did I get any? Ha. She straight up told me, “Suck it up, Buttercup!” Whaaa…did my mom just tell me to suck it up? I asked her to explain and she flat out told me that if I want to run fast then I need to suck it up and get my ass out there. Whiners don’t qualify for Boston. Period.

Yeah. My mom is pretty much the shit. She tells it like it is and will not sugarcoat things.

So, with that I will be running my ass off in the heat. No really. THE HEAT. I want to start doing a couple of runs at noon. Nothing major. A mile here and there. I think it will help me acclimate better to the heat. (I’m honestly pretty acclimated but once the sun comes out I’m screwed. )

The theory is that if my body can start to handle the sun I don’t have to be out running at 4:30-5:00. I can maybe run at 6-7 on these long runs. I don’t know about you but that sounds much better in my opinion. It doesn’t make me cringe and hate life.

I’m also considering doing my long run in the evening. While it’s a bit warmer, the humidity is usually considerably lower. I HATE running in the evening though. There’s traffic, tourists, and far more homeless people because they’re awake.

Whatever the solution I’ll figure it out.

Do you like running long in the summer? What do you do to get used to the summer heat? Is this only a problem here in South Florida (or other places with extreme temps – our low is 80 most mornings)?

I have a lot of stuff running around through my little head. So, we’re going to break it down like this:

The Good

First of all, our weather is unseasonably cool. This time last year (and any other year) we’re still hot and humid. The last few mornings have been 69-72 degrees with…are you sitting down? 60%  humidity or lower!!!! The weather is beautiful.  I hope it’s permanent, but I’m not holding my breath.

Another thing that is awesome? This:

Now, this might not be significant to most people, but for me this is HUGE:
I haven’t run paces like this outside since my embolism.

I’ve done a few speed workouts on the treadmill where I did intervals in the low 9′s and high 8′s. But, that’s inside in a controlled environment. This was outside. With the wind, the “heat”, and running up freaking bridges.

Despite the fact that I might not be ready for a full marathon, I’m actually in decent shape. I have some soft ass PR’s that need to be taken care of this season. I already PR’d my half by 17 minutes this year. What can I do in the 5k? 10k? Ohhh…the 5 mile needs to go down!!!

The Bad

Despite my stellar run, my knee was hurting a lot as well as my ass. I should have slowed down, but I wanted to ride it out. This morning, I went for a short run just to see how things felt. The weird feeling was still there in my leg and my butt was really hurting by the end of my run.

HOWEVER, as of right now my knee/the weird feeling in it is gone!!! I used my sacro-wedgy thingy and hopefully that helped. I’m trying to keep from going to the doctor.

The Ugly

Brett Favre’s penis. Why did I look at that? It’s like I couldn’t help myself. It really just looked so, so sad. I feel bad for him.

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So, you ask what I’m doing about New York? Well, I’ll run really easily on the treadmill tomorrow to see how things feel. If things feel good, I go for some distance Sunday. If it doesn’t happen then New York is out. I’m too close.  I’m ok with it either way.

As far as me going to New York just for the heck of it? Hell to the yeah. I got round-trip tix for $160 and have a place to stay (Hi, Rich!!! I didn’t know you read.) . I need to get outta South Florida. This place will eat your soul.

I should be all cranky and upset, but I’ve got to tell you that I’m feeling pretty darn good. Especially since I’m getting faster!!!

Get your mind out of the gutters!!!

Friday I felt a bit of a “twinge” in my left knee. No biggie. Probably time to rotate in a fresh pair of shoes (I need to do a shoe post.  I have 4 pairs of Brooks Defyance’s. 2 new pairs and 2 pairs with around 300 miles on them. Plus a sweet pair of Launch’s. They’re beautiful!) Saturday, I forgot that I wanted to throw on a new pair and had a bit of knee pain. It went away as I ran. I thought nothing of it. (Note: This is the knee that I injured in Peru. It’s always a bit fussy now.)

Yesterday, due to a client using my parking spot I parked a block or 2 from the office. I had to walk to and from my car wearing my flip flops. (I wear NICE flip flops with arch support, btw.) As I was walking back to my car that evening my left leg felt “off”.  As the evening continued a “sensation” would radiate every minute or so if I was walking. A really odd sensation. Inside the leg just above the knee and more in the leg. Not a pain at all.

This morning, I decided to wear my new shoes and give running a shot. I felt ok, so why not? Once I started running, the “sensation” started up. Every couple of minutes or so, it would radiate through my leg. Since I wasn’t in “pain” I continued my run.  As I started running up the Las Olas bridge, my right butt cheek started hurting.

Y’all know what that means? My piriformis/sciatica pain is back!!! It affects my body differently each time. I’m thinking that’s what the “sensation” is in my left leg, too. It feels “nervy”.

Now, overall this is not a big deal. I can generally run through it despite it not being comfortable.A visit or 2 to the chiro, some stretching and strengthening (which I should have been doing all along!) and I am good to go.

However, for the first time it dawned on me that I might need to .  .  .DEFER New York.

I have ZERO room to take time off right now. Even if I nail every single run from here to the marathon I’m going to be going in horribly under trained.

I’ve got to be honest with you and myself…I’m kind of a Type A girl and I don’t like half-assing things (that I care about). I wanted to go into marathon training running 35-40 miles a week and then grind out 16 hard weeks of training. I wanted to go to New York and RACE the marathon. Not just survive it.

Things did NOT go as planned. I had the dead leg/vitamin issue. Then heat issues. Then just flat-out motivation issues on the long run. Running at 4:30 in the morning and seeing homeless penis is depressing. Now this? I’m not sure if it’s a warning or what, but I don’t want to half ass one of my dream marathons. (I have a dream marathon list. Don’t you?)

IF I decide to defer I will feel like a loser. A quitter. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry.  Finishing the race, but being injured and feeling bitter about running would make me feel bad, too. DNFing would make me feel worse. Way worse.

Despite whatever is going on with my leg, I feel healthy. 26.2 miles healthy? No. Get out there and rip my half marathon and shorter distance PR’s a new asshole healthy? Uhhhh….yeah. For sure.

So, do I pull the plug on NY 2010 and defer to next year? Train like a little beast go into the heat of summer in great shape and grind out my training like I wanted to? Shoot for my sub 4:00? In the heat. Do I pick a spring marathon to make up for it? Seattle? New Jersey? Do I really need to run a marathon? Maybe I’m a half girl.

People, I don’t know. I do know that I don’t want to “run/walk” a marathon. I don’t want to gut out 26.2 miles. I respect both my body and the distance too much.

I’ll make a decision this weekend. If I can’t get in a decent long run – pain free – then it’s off. I’ll be sad, but ok. (Though I just bought cute gloves and a hat to wear in New York.)

In the meantime, I’ve got to get my leg/butt feeling better. (Oddly my shoulder is bothering me too. Did I sleep in an odd position or something? Who knows?)

Have you ever had to defer a race? Did it work out for the better? I get the feeling that ALL runners do this at some point.

A couple of weeks ago when I opened my back door to walk Gio a lizard ran in the house. It looked as if he had been sitting there waiting for me to open the door. I left the door open for a while in the hopes that he would just leave. When I came back from my walk, I didn’t see him so I just assumed he had left the house. (Really, really wishful thinking.)

Fast forward to week or so later and there is an odor coming from my kitchen. I assumed it was something in my refrigerator, so I cleaned that out. There were a few leftovers that were questionable, but nothing that would smell like this. Particularly since I’m a vegetarian. After a few days, the smell dissipated and I thought maybe I had gotten rid of the smelly food at some point. Uhm….yeah. Not quite.

Yesterday, I was tidying up the house a bit and lifted up a bag of paper that needed to be put in the recycle bin. Under that I found the lizard!!!! It was kind of mummified and looked like it had been scared to death or something. I threw it out the back door. It’s still there as of this morning. I really should go out and take some pictures of it, but don’t want to subject you guys to it.

So, running? Did not really happen as much as I would like this week. I went out with friends and did not get up this morning for my long run. It’s cooler here, but not so much cooler that you can head out for a long run after 7. It’ll be pushing 90 this evening, so I’m going to do something daring. I’m going to do my long run Monday morning. I’m up and ready to run during the week at 5:30 anyway. I’ll just shoot to be out the door around 5ish. I might not be able to kill the entire run before I have to go to work, but I’m sure I can do a big chunk. Maybe 12-14 miles. Then I can hit the gym that evening and kill 4 or so miles.  Not ideal you know, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

I think it’s time for me to get my head in the game a bit more, though. No more drinking the nights before runs and I need to get better sleep. Eating a bit better would be great, too.

So, for today:

35 Days until NYC - One Hour Yoga Session (maybe an easy run a bit later, too)

Off to take care of some chores and then it’s off to the running store for me. They needed a bit of help this weekend.

ETA: I’ve come to my senses and studied my schedule. I will NOT be attempting to run long tomorrow morning. On my original plan, this week didn’t even have a long run. Plus, I didn’t feel comfortable doing two long runs in 1 week. Things stay as planned. I still have 3 long runs ahead. I’m in decent shape. My marathon won’t be fast, but oh well. I can do a “fast” one in the spring. Yes, I’m already eyeballing 3.