Thank You Lawn Guys

Today was beautiful weather and yet such a hard and easy workout all at the same time.  With this pregnancy, like my last, I am having some off and on recurring leg pain problems.  It started this time a few weeks ago. Assuming I'm not mangling what my sports chiropractor has told me, basically the weight of the baby in my pelvis is pinching some muscle/nerves at the top of my left leg.  Which means that sometimes I'm having numbness and weakness in that leg, and it's pretty painful where my leg connects with my hip.

So the past day or two, we've had this wonderful respite from the 107 degree weather with moments of temperatures in the *gasp* 70s!  Yesterday, I freaked out in the morning with my pile of errands - afraid I would miss this great weather.  So I grabbed 1.5 miles, all the time I could.

Last night, that leg pain started up again so no run.  This morning I thought it felt better and headed out the door.  It did not feel great, but it wasn't really painful.  I just felt, well, big and pregnant honestly.  But I had some good paces for the first 1.5 miles with my doc's ordered 5 min run / 1 min walk intervals.  The paces for my run segments were 11:20, 11:20, 11:08.  That's a sign of the good weather, that with pregnancy and all, I could get some run segments that are very very close to my pre-pregnancy easy run pace.

Then at 1.5 miles, that leg started hurting.  And each hop to that left leg in the run felt like a million pounds coming down on my femur (bone at the top of my leg).  So I moved to just walking.  I was feeling dejected and hot in the full sun despite the lower temps, but I got around the corner to my house just after the lawn guys had arrived and begun work.  Okay, I don't want to walk up to my front door through a cloud of grass, dirt, and allergens.  So I continued down one street.  I was only at 2.6 miles at this time.

So thank you, lawn guys, for helping me extend this run/walk.  And if I had struggled painfully to keep running, I would have been back to my front door before the lawn guys arrived and probably would have only done the 2.6 miles.  Instead, with the help of the lawnmowers, I ended up with 3.4 miles! That's why each component of that workout happened as it did - to help me get just a little more done this morning. It all came together for a reason.

Happy Running!

Back to Running...Maybe?

I admit it - after doing that first 25K race ever at El Scorcho - I hadn't run since.  Within a few days, the typical Texas summer heat hit us, and even well-hydrated veteran runners were talking about how hard it was running in it.  Running in the morning was bringing up my newer symptom of morning sickness and it was typically around 100 degrees still by 8 pm.  Add to it that Marissa was off school for two weeks, and a trip for a wedding to Mexico with no ability to run there, and before I knew it, it had been three weeks since I ran.

This morning, I had a yummy pancake breakfast with a friend.  And leaving I noticed the weather was pretty nice - area storms had cooled it down quite a bit and there was a breeze.  So with Marissa in school this morning, I decided to go for a run.

I could tell my tummy had gotten bigger and some muscles were not used to the work involved in running.  But I took turns between running and walking, taking it easy, and completed 3.1 miles in a little over 47 minutes.  Now let's see how sore I am tomorrow. :-)  I could feel my abdominal oblique muscles working overtime, and I really need to focus on my running form as I find my hips wanting to go into an anterior tilt (i.e. belly out, and tailbone out, hips tilted towards the back).  Too much of an anterior tilt will keep straining abdominals, irritate and shorten up my hamstrings, and cause low back pain.

I wonder what the weather will be like the next couple weeks. Maybe I'll be back outside running again soon!

Cheering at the Hottest Half

Sunday, August 15, I made my way to a spot on White Rock Lake to spectate the Hottest Half Marathon and 10K.  I had previewed the map and was right at mile 2 as the runners were running by.  I clapped continuously as a very large crowd came by, everyone still looking strong.  But at only 2 miles in, I think a lot were worried about what the news had said the previous day was going to be the hottest day of the year, because as I cheered I was already getting responses of "Thanks, I need that." and the like.

By the time 10Kers were coming back at approximately mile 4 on this out-and-back course, our cheering group was a great size.  Heels and Hills Run Team member Veronica M. was there cheering her heart out.  Jeff S. had just spotted us during his short run and ended up staying to cheer, which was awesome.  Jose V. and his son Andrew came out to cheer and help out which was so valuable later when we all became part-time medical help, LOL, but I'll get to that.  And then there's Erik - poor Erik - who had an appendectomy 3 weeks ago and then a bad sinus infection earlier race week, but was smart and turned back several miles into the race, so stayed to cheer with us as his wife Michelle ran the half marathon.

There were quite a few people on the course in their Heels and Hills hot pink, which was so fun to see.

I had bought 20 lbs of ice and 3 1/2 lbs of gummy bears to serve half marathoners when they hit us again at about mile 11.  Well, the ice was a massive hit, and I don't think I realized how much each person in their desperation would take.  I could have easily gone through 100 lbs of ice!  So that went quickly.

But then people loved the gummy bears too. We got a few "I love you"s, which is funny.  And then when offered them, many would say "Sure, why not?"  This was hilarious given how hot everyone was. We could have said "Handgun?" and some runners looking for anything to get this done would have said, "Sure, why not?" without thinking.

It was so blazingly hot and that course has a lot of unshaded area, and runners started passing telling us to watch for a girl that looked bad and was weaving on course.  Then we saw a girl walking left and right across the whole trail approaching us. And then her knees buckled and she went down.  Jose did a great job attending to her. He wanted to elevate her feet and pulled off and stacked her running shoes to create that height - brilliant. He asked if we had anything to put under her head there in the grass so I ran to my car where I happened to have a big beach towel.  A few runners ran on to the next aid station to tell them to call the medical team.  While we waited, I soaked her headband in the last leftover melted ice and then luckily I had brought some water bottles (for myself to drink) which she ended up badly needing.

After about a half hour we were really wondering where the medical crew was.  I had a lightbulb and called Paula at our Heels and Hills tent at the finish line and told her exactly where we were (including address) and told her to track down finish line medical and send them immediately.  We were getting really worried as another guy had gone down and his eyes were rolling back in his head and he was losing consciousness.

Medical did come because of the call I made and attended to folks.  Shortly after that I was feeling a little overheated, especially having donated my own water to the dehydrated girl, and was supposed to meet out-of-town guests and my husband at brunch, so I sadly left before everyone finished.

Congrats to everyone who braved the heat and completed the event.  And equally awesome are those who realized they might be at risk and slowed down or chose not to finish because ultimately they needed to take care of their own health. Safety first, folks!

July Mileage Total - Where Do I Go From Here?

I ended July with the following totals and achievements:

• Miles completed: 101.0
• Of that total, elliptical miles accounted for 21.6 miles and all the rest was outdoor running... in the TX heat.
• SECOND highest mileage month EVER! (Feb. 2010 is my highest ever with 110.5 miles)
• Completed my first 25K race - race report here... - this made it my 8th race of a half marathon distance or longer in 2010!

Saturday and Sunday were intended to be longer runs with groups down in Dallas starting at 6 am. Saturday, I was not able to keep my breakfast down, and I'm a runner who always eats before I run. I would not dare to go out pregnant, in this heat, and run 10 miles on a newly empty stomach. So I went back to bed and missed that run.

Saturday night, 3 more hours of bad "morning" sickness (just bad nausea at least) along with baby kicking me like crazy. This kept me up late and I was exhausted by my 4:30 am Sunday morning alarm wake-up. I went back to bed and scrapped the Sunday run.

I worry I'm hitting a phase of more nausea and tummy problems coupled with the fact that the baby's been having marathon kick-my-guts-out sessions that are just unsettling - I would not want to run during those.

And the last two days have been incredibly hot. I'm not a morning runner anyway, I'm a night owl. But in the evenings, it's still been almost 100 degrees by 7-8 pm.

AND...Marissa's off school for the next two weeks so no mid-morning runs (more reasonable for this night owl).

So what do I follow July up with given all that? Part of me is thinking about just spending the month on the elliptical (we own a commercial grade elliptical here at the house so it's pretty darn convenient).  Maybe read the manual and try some different workout types (I always just hop on and log miles).  The whole point being to keep some cardio going, keep my leg strength up and my core engaged - especially important at 5 1/2 months pregnant. Then in September when it cools down, hopefully get back to running, if I feel up to it.

There's just no reason to tax my body in this heat or stress myself out about runs right now. Happy for feedback and ideas. But keep pool running thoughts to yourself - I've got some waterphobia so as good as I know it would do me, realistically, it's just not gonna happen folks given the mental issue with hopping into a pool.

Happy Running!

El Scorcho 25K - My First 25K...and at Midnight!

After not running basically at all first trimester because I felt so fatigued, I had begun running again in the second trimester, felt good, worked with the doctor to come to agreements on how much running, and just kept feeling stronger!

So then three and a half weeks ago, I got a crazy stupid idea.  I loved the thought of El Scorcho 25K - there was a huge safety net to it being on a 5K loop where you could stop after any given one, and it was the only event at the absolutely coolest part of the day for the next couple months.  While running felt good, getting out the door when you're pregnant is still hard.  So I was also looking for a firm goal to keep me motivated.  My first 25K seemed like a strong motivator.  I reached out to the race director who agreed to let me in even though it had sold out months ago - he was appreciative of my volunteer efforts as the North Texas State Rep for the RRCA so it seemed this was his thanks for that, so nice of him!

I had also chatted with my friend Elizabeth about the fact I was thinking about the event.  She's friends with the race director and, out of nowhere, she offers to pace me the entire 25K race! So sweet of her!

After several weeks of 25ish miles each week, and a last long run a week out of 12.5 miles, I was feeling trained up for this 15.5 mile race.  I had practiced with my headlamp (some areas are really dark) and have not really gained much weight so my balance didn't feel off (it's mixed terrain and can be rough).  I formulated my packing list for a full week ahead of time. I even arranged a hotel room to get a big pre-race nap and rest afterward before driving home.

At the race site, Elizabeth and I found a spot right off the trail, with an easy walk to the portalets, and set up our things.  My friends arrive right before the start with our 7 matching tutus. Yes, tutus.  Jennifer had made our group of twitter friends all tutus to wear.

I had measured my waist for her to make it, but it was a little looser than I had hoped.  So the tutu only made it the first 3.1 miles before being comfortable won out.

As we finished each loop, it was great to hear spectators cheer. I was pretty focused but heard personalized cheers as well. They meant more to me than I'm sure those people even know! A half mile out from the end of each loop I'd figure out what I needed to do at that quick break - drink gatorade, refill water bottle, did I need to potty, any stretching needed.  My sister had come to watch and actually stayed through three loops; she was an invaluable help as "crew", prepping my Gatorade and refilling my water bottle, grabbing supplies I needed to find.  After the third loop, I even changed my socks and shoes, because the humidity and distance made me nervous about getting blisters.

And Elizabeth stayed with me for every step.  I felt pretty good. Kept a good pace and walked every 5 minutes as the doctor wanted.  Not too tired from the time of day, and no tummy problems - spaghetti and meatballs three hours before race start was a perfect pre-race meal for me.

But the last loop was different.  My body had started stiffening up, especially the hips with the weight of the baby and the start/stop of run/walk-ing. As we started the last loop, I was saying how great I felt. Then we took the first walk break of that loop. And when it was time to run again, ugh. I just couldn't get any pace going.  I also realize I only took 2 GUs the whole race, so I probably could have used a pick-me-up before I started that loop.  My heart rate was staying low because my jog was so slow that eventually, we cut out the walk breaks and jogged the last twenty five minutes.

We could see the finish coming, and I told Elizabeth I had no gas in the tank left for any sort of kick to the end.  And then we got closer.  And I found that last big sprint. The last 0.16 miles I was able to pull a 12:06/mi after the entire last loop had been a 17+ min/mi pace! Guess when I needed to manage it, I found just a little speed. :-)

Here's the full results for my run:

And here's the post-race pic with Elizabeth on the right. I embraced the baby bump three loops in, it was just too humid to waste time being modest. :-)

An immediate post-race ice bath and then another one 16 hours later, and on Monday now I'm feeling pretty good. No DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). And saw the chiropractor this morning to make sure all the kinks were worked out.

So my first 25K race under my belt...what should my next goal be? ;-)

Packing for El Scorcho 25K

I've been preparing my packing list for Saturday's race since Sunday, one week out.  What's El Scorcho? It's a 25K and 50K running race held at midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning on a 5K loop in Trinity Park in Fort Worth in the dark.  Limited to 500 running, spectators also come camp out and help make it feel like a fun little party.  This is my first year participating, and the longest race I've done.

The race is about an hour from my house.  So I thought, as a 5 month pregnant woman, I should do this as smart as possible.  I have a hotel room very close to the race site.  I'm going over Saturday early afternoon, picking up my packet at Fort Worth Running Company, and getting a few hours sleep.  Then dinner, Italian, at 8:30 pm before I head over to the race site at 11 pm.  The race will start at midnight, and I'm guessing it will take me 4-5 hours if all goes well.  Then I'll head back to the hotel, get a shower and probably an ice bath, and sleep for a few hours before heading home.  No sense trying to drive home fatigued for an hour at 5 am!

So all the more reason I get my packing list right since I can't just head back home.

Here's my packing list... If you've done a race like this, or this race in particular, please COMMENT and help me refine this list. It's very hard to feel like you have everything you need!

1. Garmin GPS
2. Heart Rate Monitor (required by doc to wear for all workouts)
3. Camera
4. Headlamp
5. Extra batteries for the headlamp
6. Glowsticks
7. Cooler stocked with: gatorade, bottled water, chocolate milk
8. Gu (4)
9. Bagels
10. Extra pair of shoes and socks (after my last long run sweating in this heat and humidity, I came the closest to getting a blister that I've come in about 3-4 years, I never get blisters. So I'll try changing out shoes/socks after the 3rd or 4th loop)
11. Extra shirt (to change into for late loops or when done)
12. Amphipod pocket (carries my phone)
13. Bodyglide (a must!)
14. Beach towel (for laying out to do stretches on the ground)
15. Lawn chair
16. Handheld water bottle

[7/23/10 - List Amended Due to Feedback on my Facebook Post of This Blog Entry]

1. Bug Spray
2. Baby wipes
3. Extra towel for car when leaving and sweaty
4. Extra hair ties
5. Frozen washcloths

And I'm not including what I'm wearing to the race itself.

So what am I forgetting? Suggestions are most welcome!