Revisiting the Hills- 13 towards Newton:

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the gradual increase of daylight! We had another go at the hills this week, this time from Wellesley up past Heartbreak and over. One thing is for sure- I am getting to know this part of the course very well!

The dedications at practice were wrenching. Emily, our campaign manager, showed up for practice although her grandmother had just passed away. Another member went through her story of how 4 out of 8 family members had been diagnosed with cancer, some of them fatally. Another member told of how a family member was so ill that the doctors did not know what to do next.

We worked well to develop a strategy for this run. 13 miles is a good distance to test your realistic goals for the marathon- it is almost a half marathon distance, and gauging your speed can make you see whether you are in the game to make your goal time for race day. There is an interesting running calculator listed on Greg McMillan's website- check it out with your own times to see where you get- it is supposed to give you a predictor for your race distance. We decided to take the first two miles very slow and then gradually increase to our pace.

Unfortunately, we did not meet our goals when we punched the numbers in McMillan's. Technically speaking, we were ahead for even pacing on a sub-4 marathon (according to our race-pace bracelet), but the tricky thing with marathoning is that you can't count on a negative split or a rock steady pace the second half of the race. On the other hand, we had winds of 20 mph in our face on the way back, AND ran over the hills of Newton, including Heartbreak twice, so we have to take this with a grain of salt. My hat was frozen on my head on the way back- that was a WIND!

Lesson of the day: Keep testing yourself to see how you are doing against your goals. Give yourself flexibility for an off day, but reassess your goals and see whether the training should change or your goals should modify.

I have never felt so tired after a run- including last year's marathon. I found I could not move and spent the rest of the day asleep. Well, time to regroup after catching up w/home chores Sunday, work on the weekday runs and get ready for next Saturday's 15. What are my goals for the week? Try to push in a few speed segments into the weekday run, and don't forget to think about pacing!
And yes, I still am enjoying this and know I am LUCKY to be out here. -M

Seventeen in the City:

Well, Boston is just getting over a messy storm that blew into town a week ago. The minimal snow in itself was not a problem, but the icy sleet followed by low temps and high winds did a great job of encasing the streets and sidewalks in a slippery glaze. Our team practice was cancelled for the week due to conditions in Wellesley towards Natick (our planned route AWAY from the hills!), and we were advised instead to train on our own when weather allowed.

Saturday morning had Tim and I planning possible routes via Google Earth, and we headed out to scout out which roads were actually passable. We ended up selecting a variation of a reverse Boston Marathon route. We headed out onto Commonwealth Avenue, running towards the Public Gardens.

We flipped back at the gardens and then ran up past Kenmore Square and onto Beacon Street, basically up the marathon course backwards. For anyone who is interested, there is a great fast motion film of the actual marathon course as it starts in Hopkinton, running for 26.2 miles to its finish on Boylston Street here. And it's only one song long...

The best part about the run was bumping into Team members who were doing long runs on their own. We also were fortunate at the bottom of Heartbreak Hill to see a water volunteer from Joints in Motion, who generously offered us Gatorade and candy. It was hard running unsupported, and we lost some time stopping into various stores for drinks, but we did make it, running out over the hills, and then turning and coming back over them. We ran a great portion of this run in the road with cars, and many were none too happy to be sharing the streets with us.

The good part? We will be back to training with the team this coming week AND with a shorter run of only 13 miles. Yeah!

Tips:

Challenges while running, whether fatigue, cramps, or just an 'off' day, can happen to anyone. The trick in training is to work on your brain's ability to manage those challenges. Thomas S. Miller's Programmed to Run has an excellent section on mind and body control. His theory is that the brain has two sides- the right brain/programmer and the left brain/critic. When you start recognizing a problem running, the left brain sometimes works in a way that is harmful, flooding the brain with negative feedback, and as such incapacitates the programming side of the brain from effectively carrying out function. The trick that Miller offers is that the voice of the critic can be managed by giving it another 'task'- according to him the left brain can only perform one verbal task at a time. By offering another verbal command to your left brain, you can remove the negative critic and effectively manage both sides of the brain to your benefit.

Giving energy/getting energy:

Never underestimate the importance of giving positive energy, whether it is waving at that runner coming towards you or gesturing a thank-you to a car that is letting you by. Maybe not everyone will smile back, but you will remember those who do. This is one thing that you will not run out of if you give it away. Try it and see!

Fifteen Miler

Hi Everyone! I had a bit of a delay as I needed to update this blog to the new version of blogger. Hopefully everyone who wants to comment will be able to access and please email to fresherfish@aol.com if you have any problems.

Last Saturday, I woke up with a familiar feeling- fear. For some reason, at a certain point in training, this feeling will creep up on me and give me some challenges. I focused on preparing my gear, doing some light massage and stretches, and visualizing a good run. And telling myself that it would only be a few minutes longer than last weeks' run!

We headed out from Wellesley at about the 15 mile mark, first away from the hills towards Wellesley College for 2.5 miles, then turning around and back up through the Newton Hills before flipping back towards our starting point. As you can tell by this elevation chart
that second half of the run is quite hilly! The great thing about running that day was the help that our coach Rick provided the previous week. A little less than a mile from the end, there is a pretty steep hill to deal with. Rick's words and running form stayed in my mind, and between the counting, 'thinking positive', breathing, shaking out the arms, and relaxing the legs, managed to make it through! And thinking about Dave Tierney's dad (below).

We had a very encouraging talk at our Team training. A researcher from Dana Farber Cancer Institute gave a talk about the impact that funds raised by LLS have on their research. It was interesting to learn that the Society's funds go not only to existing trials, but to fund early stage research. It was really good to hear that some of this research has implications beyond blood cancer as researchers develop their understanding of cancer cells. It was also very touching to hear the challenges that researchers face as they witness the courage of the patients they work with and the emotional difficulty of treating people with cancer. This talk was a good reminder that what we are attempting to do through our involvement with LLS has a very real impact.

We had a great dedication from Dave Tierney, a wonderful person who has been volunteering his time to coordinate our team's water for many years. Dave is also an athlete and runner who last year joined Hike For Discovery , hiking the Grand Canyon to raise funds for LLS. Dave has lost three members of his family to cancer and dedicated the team run to his sister, mother and father. I remember running last year on the day of Dave's dad's wake, and wearing a ribbon with his dad's name. Dave, I still have my ribbon and will wear it this April on race day!

Next week is challenging- we are upping our long run to 17 miles. Our coach is great to plan this run away from the hills. Let's see what we can do!

News: We have a date for our fundraising party! We will hold a pool party at Jillian's on March 29th. I am busy soliciting raffles and hope to have a good collection together. Our friends have also been generous: artists Peter Arvidson
and Bert Antonio are donating original paintings for a silent auction, and Andy G has offered some of his original shirts. Thanks, guys!
-M

Friday nights and 14:
Okay- this past Friday will be my last late night for awhile! We met friends for some drinks and pizza early with my thought that surely a drink or two would be an innocent thing. Generous friends' repeat rounds found me waking up at 2:30 that morning thinking "No way am I going 14 today!"

That morning saw wind gusts around 20 mph and we eyed the frozen sidewalks going up to the community center. I felt that perhaps our run might be cancelled? But heading into the room of runners and volunteers, I realized- we might change our course, but we were definitely heading out that day.

We started out with wind at our backs, and due to the street conditions, headed towards the hills where the footing was better. At the turnaround near Cleveland Circle and after making it up and over Heartbreak Hill, I had no clue as to how we would get back. But this is the crazy thing about running- with the wind in our face, we actually made pretty good time and through a stroke of extreme luck, managed to catch our coach, Rick, who was helping a line of runners back the last mile or two. Rick's encouragement, reminders to 'stay positive' and keep our form made it impossible NOT to make it back. Thank you, Rick!

Tips for the day: These are good for people who are thinking about training for distance runs:

-Foot care: Distance running can pound your feet and do some strange things to the tips of your toes and nails. If you plan weekly distance runs, plan your foot care several days ahead of this. Caring for blisters and addressing ingrown nails or other damage ahead of time will give your nerves a chance to cool down before the long push. As your mileage gets up, give your feet and toes a nice rub and stretch in the a.m.- they are your friends, so stay on their good side!

-Mental tricks: A trick I pulled out of the bag on Saturday was counting. When you look up that hill and just can't imagine getting up it, start pattern counting. The longer the better. When things look rosy, you can do a simple 'one and two and three and' and count off repeats to ten, but when things look bad or that hill looks long, stretch it out to make one set as long as it can possibly be. When you get your mind off the road and into a long count, you will be happy to see where you are by the time you've made it to 10 or 20 or 30....

A big thank you to the water teams who pass us Gatorade, water and goodies- I do not know how you manage to look so relaxed in below freezing temps- we are running and sweating, but you are standing there even as the drinks crust over with ice on top. You guys are the best! -M

Portland, Runner's Paradise:
What a nice week! I am just back from a week in Portland, OR, where an increasing number of my family live. Every time I come back, my memory haunts me with recollections of great coffee, wine and food, POWELLS Books, the lovely lovely layout of the city, and of course, my fantastic nephews and siblings. Paul and Ben, aka Luke Skywalker and Ben-Obiwan Kenobi, kept me joyfully busy and my sister Julie was just the BEST host and training partner. Visiting with my sister Kimie, brother Ken, brother in law Luc, and other brother and sister in law Stephen and Debra sure made me feel at home. I had a blast, guys, and will get back there as soon as I can!

My long run was planned out together with Julie, and took us out on the lovely Willamette River, roughly 13.38 miles, according to Google Earth, as we left a park to run down from Tacoma all the way up to the Steel Bridge and back. I have NEVER had such a pleasant run, even as I was pep talked through the last hurtful mile or so. I think I ran with a smile slapped on my face the entire time, and I was really glad to be out there running in the 45 degree temps. My sister is an incomparable friend to me and I will not forget this part of my training!

And her friends at Belle Vocci were generous to order coffee. I brought 20 lbs with me, and my luggage smelled GREAT. Thanks to all of you and also to those of you who donated to the Society.

Well, I feel I am coming back to the reality of winter training here- finished a 7.5 miler with icicles on my hair! Truly, we have gotten off easy so far, and anyway, how many more weeks of cold weather can be ahead???? Next run is a 14 miler- fighting a bit of a cough, but sure it will be gone soon!

Thanks again to all of you who have supported me training so far. Onward, ho!
-M