Running in My Sleep

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October 31, 2005

Tired, bored and hungry for junk

I'm taking a break from some online training and reading at work. My attention span isn't marathonesque in that I can't read for 8 hours straight, or in today's case, 10 hours. Gotta break it up with other things - an email here, a potty break there, massaging my hamstring...

I was quite impressed with myself this morning for being able to get up at 5am and get in 7 miles before work. I usually will snooze through the alarm and run later in the day, but since I have a dinner date tonight with my old running partners, that wasn't an option. The weather called for mid to high 30s in the AM so I ended up overdressing. I wore a long sleeve, light jacket, and track pants. It didn't seem cold at all. I shed the jacket but was still a touch warm. I ran comfortably fast and kind of petered out at the end, perhaps still tired from Saturday's race. I want to run faster all the time with this cooler weather. It's great. If only the weather was like this year round. I'm excited to get back to track next week.

I want to take a nap but must get back to work, after I hit the canteen. Beth got me thinking about cupcakes...or some other sweet snack. I've got healthy snacks all over my desk and they're just not cutting muster right now.

Posted by Leilani at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2005

I remember now why I'm a marathoner

Because 5ks are simply too painful. I don’t like that constant feeling that my lungs will explode or that I will throw up. Not fun times. And those feelings were quite evident in the 5k I ran yesterday. Did I ever suck wind. I warmed up for 2 miles on the course, which ended up being a good idea as later I would know how far I had to go to the finish. It was in the low 40s and a bit windy, so I decided to go with a sleeveless shirt and shorts because I do better comfortably cool. My first mile split was a conservative 7 minutes, but when we hit the 2 mile split at 14:30, I didn’t think we had slowed down THAT much despite a teeny incline. The course was entirely flat otherwise. An older lady and I jockeyed back and forth from 1.5 miles on, but she was tougher and pulled me into the finish behind her in 22:38. Not my finest but considering how much I love 5ks (NOT) and have been practicing for the distance (NOT), it’ll do for now. I mainly ran it to gauge my fitness level for the annual Marine physical fitness test I’ll be taking next week. It involves a flex arm hang (pull ups for men), sit-ups, and a 3-mile run. I’ll max the first two events, no sweat. But I always get violently anxious to the point of dry heaving before the run. I feel a self-imposed pressure to beat most everyone, at least all the gals. I’ve always maxed it in the past (21 minutes), though I’m not so confident this time around. I’m really gonna have to bust a gut to go sub-7 miles. I wonder if I should do some tune-up speed work on Tuesday to get in the right mental state. If so, what should the workout be? I’ll take any recommendations.

Best to not stress about that now. There’s nothing I can do about it on Sunday night. It was another busy social butterfly weekend with one of my best friends in town to run the Marine Corps marathon today. Yesterday, we visited the new Botanical Gardens downtown with our other very good friend. It smelled so beautiful. Who knew that plant life could be so interesting. The exhibits just lent themselves to touching and smelling …and I’m not usually a big smeller of things. Like my mom taught me when I was a kid that it was rude to smell your food. Anyway, we met up with some other friends to carb load and that was good times because I hadn’t seen some of them in years, as various military assignments have taken us to opposite sides of the world.

Early this morning, we drove D. as close as we could get to the race start and ate breakfast before meeting up with the running club to set up a cheering station on the 14th Street Bridge, just like we did last year. And again, we had trouble finding how to get on the bridge because there are different sections, some of which were open to traffic. It was frustrating, but finally found our way without having to play Frogger with oncoming traffic. I was so exhausted after whoopin’ and a hollerin’ for hours and did not look forward to my fate of a school paper and conference call for our notional digital camera business. If only automatic naptime were built in to every day, I’d be a happier camper. At least I’m done for the night. I’m going to catch up on sleep once I get everything together for tomorrow. Got to fit in the run early or it won’t happen at all. Nighty night!

Posted by Leilani at 08:18 PM | Comments (4)

October 27, 2005

Social butterflying & other mostly non-running stuff

Although my post-Chicago marathon recovery plan doesn't call for a wild and crazy social life, I've been taking advantage of decreased mileage time to see friends and family I haven't seen in a while. Mid-week last week I traveled home and got to visit with my mom and stepsis, dad and stepbro, brother, one of my best friends and her adorable girls, and my aunt and uncle (who aren't related, just really good family friends). I really wish I had more time with my loved ones, but I had to be be back in DC over the weekend for other plans. I went to a baby shower for a running/triathlon friend who's due in 5 weeks and looks great. She had to answer running club trivia, including what year our club was founded, to "win" her biggest present from us - a jog stroller. It was fun to talk to some of the girls I hadn't really met before. Later on, R. and I went to a cocktail party that our friends held at their home. We were quite impressed at how fancy it was, since we had never been to a party with a hostess, bartenders, and servers in someone's home. The people we talked with most of the night were also athletes, with kids, so I picked their brains on juggling career-kids-training. The discussion made me realize that I stress out about things way too far in the future, nebulous things that can't even be planned at this point.

I started my new job on Monday. It's been pretty uneventful so far because I have to wait for my paperwork to transfer over from my old company in order to do any real work. It could possibly take a long time but I hope not...I'm full of enthusiasm and motivation that I don't want to wear out while in waiting mode. I was highly motivated by the large number of women in senior management and VP positions. Something I want to aim for, but not at the expense of neglecting my family or running. I guess only time will tell, but I'm quite excited for the possibilities in my professional future.

In other news, my lab results were returned earlier this week. I'm not currently anemic though my iron stores are low. I'm supposed to take two pills/day (not simultaneously) for a month and during my period. I'm terrible about taking daily meds, unless it's cold medicine, but I'll have to try to be better. I also started taking Viactiv women's vitamins, which R. also likes...even though he's not a woman. :-) My doctor recommended the fruit-flavored ones, which she said tasted like Starbursts. Umm, more like chalk-infused pasteurized processed fruit substitute. I do like the chocolate ones that actually taste more like chocolate.

Last night, R., myself, D. - one of my post-college roomies, and her husband (who referred me for my current job) went to an Sicilian wine and food tasting at the Italian Cultural Center of the Embassy. Everything was delicious, but what I like most about these food events we attend is learning about the culture and history of ethnic foods. I simply love food!

It's been a relief not to be a slave to a rigid (only because I make it so) training schedule. Though work or training aren't particularly taxing right now, being a social butterfly, school work, and planning Reserves training are keeping things plenty busy. Just one and a half more months of school - whoo hoo! I have been doing a bit of running (25+ mpw) and even a faster 9-mile run on Monday. Til then, I was nearly convinced that I couldn't run faster than 9-minute miles on longer training runs. My legs are feeling refreshed again, and I feel like I'm ready to lay down the hammer for something. I just don't know what yet. And really, I need to develop speed again. I'm trying not to self-pressure into another marathon next month, as some of my more in shape friends are doing. I also did yoga twice with my mom last week and some swimming and lifting. I didn't know that you could get sore from yoga until reading Barb's entry. I just thought I was doing it all wrong! Anyway, at minimum, I plan to start a winter biking program in the next couple weeks. It runs through May. I just hope I have the discipline to stick somewhat near it. If I don't have some semblance of a plan, I'll certainly morph into couch potato mode this winter.

Posted by Leilani at 02:04 PM | Comments (2)

October 17, 2005

Errand -Filled Day

I guess I never really elaborated on getting a new job. I kept it hush because you never know who's reading these blogs (i.e. co-workers). Anyway, I didn't announce my departure at the office until 3 weeks ago even though I had known I was quitting for a bit longer. I got the offer (and my old company's counter offer), but I was waiting for all my administrative paperwork to go through. I was sad to leave my friends but relieved to not have to deal with the office drama/politics anymore. Lucky for me, the week off between the old and new job happens to fall on my birthday. Yay!

I ran 5 miles this morning on Stringfellow Road. I wore a short sleeve shirt, fleece vest, and light gloves and got warm with the vest but not too bad since the wind was fierce. I should've left the watch home (a la Blondie) because I was running faster than I should right now. When I know the time hacks at certain landmarks, I tend to race against the watch, especially when the weather is cooler. My left quad/IT band were still tight.

I finally got my blood drawn for the anemia issue back in August, even though I haven't felt the same fatigue and breathlessness since then. I wonder if anemia can come and go or is it a constant condition? After I got that out of the way, I made some purchases including a magazine rack, a storage bench for all the binders under my desk, Halloween/birthday gifts for my goddaughters, and breath mints for the cats to which they turned up their noses. Even Cat Monstair, who eats everything. I did some reading for a Krispy Kreme case study due in November. That made me crave a hot donut, so I'll have to stop by the store when I go to VA Beach.

When R. got home from work, he showered me with birthday presents. It felt like Christmas! He got me Christian Dior Addict perfume, a strength training video for endurance athletes, a tri backpack with a bazillion compartments, Godiva chocolates, and a subscription to Runners World. And then we rushed to the pool to beat the Masters group that takes a majority of the lanes. I did 40 laps, the most I've done since I stated swimming in January. I wanted to see how far I could swim without stopping - 8 laps - and then I continued with sets of 4 laps. I also practiced treading water, which for me, is more challenging than swimming. I'm a rock.

Posted by Leilani at 11:05 PM | Comments (4)

October 16, 2005

Not much running

I did my first post-marathon run yesterday with Nanda and R. We met up with the club but did our own 5-mile route along Potomac River on the Mt Vernon trail. The sun was finally out, the temps were cool, a perfect day to run. Though my legs didn't feel sore, they were still tired and my left quad was tight and achy. It was great to catch up with Nanda, who's working crazy hours these days and trying not to get injured with slow increases in training. It's hard to believe that Saturday was our first run together since that's how we met! After breakfast, R. and I enjoyed the gorgeous weather a bit more at an auto sale that my credit union was holding at my alma mater. We won't be in the market for a new car for another year but wanted to check out the deals. We test drove a Volvo C70 convertible and the "I love all things cute" side of me wanted to purchase the car. Luckily, the practical side prevailed. Really, the trunk was too small for our active lifestyles. I was pretty industrious the rest of the afternoon, finishing up laundry, throwing away old papers in my desk, and avoiding the the urge to take a nap since we had evening social obligations. My running friends took me out to dinner at Lebanese Taverna for my birthday on Monday and ended up closing the place down.

I meant to run ~3 miles today but simply ran out of time. I'm sure 5 miles is my all-time weekly low. I did lift and do abs (my third session this week, a big accomplishment since I'm such an ab-procrastinator). For one of my birthday presents, R. took me to a Thai cooking class downtown. Everyone was miserable during the demonstration because it was windy, cold and loud outside, but thankfully we moved inside to eat. We learned how to cook one of my favorite dishes - pad thai - and had three other courses, white/red wine and hot tea for $65. Actually, due to the rough conditions (it wasn't too bad for us weather-hardened runners), the owner decided to refund everyone their money. How cool!

This afternoon I got a lot of school work completed, though I still have a lot more to do, some catch up on Reserves work/reading, a training plan to develop for the next two months and pictures to print out for relatives. I quit my old job as of Friday and I'm taking a week off to relax, clean up, catch up, and see the fam. Hopefully it won't be too stressful to cross off everything on my "to do" list.

Posted by Leilani at 10:54 PM | Comments (4)

October 13, 2005

Post-marathon recovery

My only real complaint about the marathon course was some of the tight water stops. I know it can get dicey at stops during big races, but it seemed all the stops happened to be placed in the narrowest of the streets. Maybe my imagination, but I did spend a decent amount of the race making sure I didn't run anyone over or trip on a water cup or half eaten PowerGel.

So, what else did I do besides run the marathon? Well, mostly I was in food heaven. Everything we ate there was awesome. My favorite were the burritos at a mom n pop taqueria in Bridgeport, near R's old college campus. I'm not a big burrito aficionado, but they were so tasty and cheap. And they came with a bucket of marinated veggies and limes. All for under $11 bucks. We also had a Mexican mocha and chocolate at Moonstruck on Michigan that was delicious. I have a feeling we'll be back next year. I'm drooling at the thought.

My quads are still slightly sore, but at least I'm able to walk down the stairs without looking too crippled. I have been doing some easy workouts to flush out lactic acid but no running.

Mon walk 1+mi on Michigan Ave/Magnificent Mile window shopping
Tues swim 1000 meters & soak in the hot tub
Weds elliptical 35 min, lift upper body, push ups/pull ups/abs
Thurs bike 35 min, elliptical 10 min, pull ups/abs

I don't intend to run until Saturday with Nanda (who's still recovering from injury). I want to let my body recover fully without losing too much fitness. Also, I want to be more consistent and aggressive about speedwork. And, I'm thinking about doing an Olympic distance triathlon in May...if I master treading water. So much for being a couch potato.

Posted by Leilani at 09:10 PM | Comments (2)

October 11, 2005

Couldn't have asked for a better marathon day

There's so much to tell from the weekend's events, but I'm gonna start with the reason I have this blog - running. I've added Chicago to my short list of favorite marathon venues. The weather was perfect; crowd support was amazing; the course was scenic; and everyone around was in a festive mood. The start was right in front of our hotel, so R. and I walked out at 7am to gear check and then made our way to our respective corrals. Although I had a "preferred" bib, I decided instead to line up in the open start with the 3:50 pace group to be conservative. That ended up being a *very* good decision. The pacers eased my nerves, and we had a ball chucking the shower of discarded clothing that was falling on us from all directions. I met a nice guy (can't remember his name) from Jacksonville, FL running his second marathon and immediately respected his dedication to training through the awful Florida heat and humidity. At 8am we promptly began to shuffle-walk-shuffle. I tried to stay near the pace group without dodging too many bodies or working too hard. We hit the first mile in 9:15. Stay calm - you'll make it up later. I definitely felt like I could run that pace for 26.2 miles and then some. And the rest of the race went like this:

Mile - Split
2 9:20
3 9:01
4 8:23 Pacers making up time. It's a little work but feeling fine.
5 8:26 Gu #1 - Orange
6 8:37
7 8:26 Meet Jessica fr Iowa. Her 2nd marathon. Ran Austin 2005 too.
8 8:24
9 8:32
10 8:25
11 8:28
12 8:47 Gu #2 - Espresso Love
13 8:41
14 8:39
15 8:25 I lose my buddies Jessica and nice guy. Gotta stay focused.
16 8:38 Left quad begins to tighten, but I push through.
17 8:35 Gu #3 - Plain
18 8:40 Sub-4 in the bag. Shed happy tear, calm down. Got work to do.
19 8:36
20 8:38 Still feeling awesome. Stay conservative - not ready to push.
21 8:37 Eat part of a sour Lifesaver.
22 8:32
23 8:40 Getting tired. Let the mind and right leg do the work.
24 8:53 Don't stop.
25 8:46
26 8:54 Stomach's not happy. Trying not to throw up.
.2 1:46

I finished in 3:47, running pretty much the whole way with a smile on my face. It must've been all the good luck vibes from you all. Thanks! I felt that euphoria of my early marathons again and it was wonderful. While not my best marathon time, I had a fun, ran a smart, strong race, AND I was mentally prepared. The mental aspect was the biggest thing that I let slide this year...until Chicago. I let the health and training setbacks turn my attitude into a "can't do" one. And rediscovering on Sunday that I can do what my mind tells me to do was quite empowering. I hope to use this experience as a building block for improving upon future marathons and races. But for now, I think I will be in touch with my inner couch potato for a bit.

All my fellow club runners had great races as well. Several PRed by many minutes. One gal by 14 minutes, another qualified for Boston, another gal who ran 3:07 after +4 hours and 3:30-something the past two Chicagos, and yet another gal who ran her first marathon (with little training the last 3 weeks b/c of knee pain) in 3:07 also. One of our guys ran 2:44 with the skin on the bottom of his feet rubbed raw from loose shoes. Amazing. We celebrated Sunday evening with yummy Chicago deep dish pizza at Pizano's and free dessert from our waitress!

Oh, and before I forget, we had an elite runner sighting Saturday nigth at our carb load at Rosebud. We sat almost within earshot of Alan and Shayne Culpepper. Several managed to take pictures, and we took copious notes of what he ate. Spaghetti with tomato sauce and salt on the olive oil for bread, in case you were wondering.

I do have more to tell about Chicago, but that'll have to wait for another post. I ought to get back to work.

Posted by Leilani at 01:32 PM | Comments (7)

October 07, 2005

Windy city...here we come!

Despite race nerves, I am very excited to visit Chicago. I've never been to the windy city and I've heard great things about it. Call me a tourist at heart. I love to travel to new places and since I began running, I love to explore by running. I've done my internet "research" and have found places to shop, eat, get a massage, and maybe get some culture in if we have time. Kind of ambitious for 2 1/2 days, one of which will be taken up by the marathon, but we gotta make the most of our time!

I ran 3 miles and lifted upper body lightly last night. Plan to do 2 miles on Saturday. I have a standard routine for the week leading up to a marathon that has worked well for me in the past: 6, 5, 4, and 3 miles Monday through Thursday, Friday off, and 2 stroll in the park miles on Saturday. As I was leaving the gym, I ran into T, my fav spin instructor. I told her that I was looking forward to coming back to class and building more strength in my legs this winter. I'm not much for participating in group exercise classes, but it is one of the rare classes where I actually feel like I work hard.

On my drive home from work today, I was down for a brief moment because I was thinking how I hadn't achieved any of my running goals this year. But on the other hand, I did 1) learn to swim properly after a lifetime fear of drowning and 2) complete my first triathlon. Not running, but at least I'm not the loser I was beginning to think I was. :-) Then I started thinking of a million winter time and 2006 exercise goals - none of which involve a marathon...yet.

To answer Blondie's question, I boxed during and after college for a total of 5-6 years. I only had one match and that was in Kuwait against an Army girl when I wasn't even boxing anymore. I did spar at least once a week against gals bigger than me (because there simply aren't many 105 lb boxers) and men during a shortlived kickboxing career. I was beat up A LOT and once knocked down by our star boxer who was going pro, while a Washington Post reporter snapped photos. How embarassing. As you can surmise, boxing wasn't for me. I absolutely loved the intensity, but I didn't like the stinky, mildewy basement gym with concrete floors or the fact that I was never going to amount to anything in the sport. So, it was destiny that my coach told me to run to get in better aerobic shape. I ended up loving running so much more. Being outdoors, exploring new places, pushing yourself and winning (even if you're not in first place) - now, that's the stuff. And these "why did I start running?" thoughts are just the happy thoughts I needed going into Sunday.

Good luck to everyone running Tufts and any other races out there! I can't wait to hear the race reports.

Posted by Leilani at 05:54 PM | Comments (6)

October 05, 2005

Goal Time

The good thing about having a goal time is that if you achieve or beat it, you can feel good about yourself and plan for crushing your next goal time. The bad thing about goal time is that it can be adversely influenced by so many factors - weather, stomach problems, illness, random mishaps...So, my minor dilemma is that I don't know what my goal time should be for Chicago. Though my legs feel fresh going into this final taper week, I can't say my health has returned to 100 percent since I started having the elevated heart rate, breathing, fatigue, maybe-it's-anemia issues that caused me to scale back training right at its peak. R. took my pulse while I was sleeping recently and it was over 100. Seems high for being supine but I wouldn't have known why. I haven't had a blood test yet. Should've done it sooner rather than later but oh well. Anyway, I want to have something to aim for, but...I also don't want to be disappointed in myself. In all this obsessing over running and fear of failure this week, I asked myself "Why did I start running in the first place?"

To get in cardiovascular shape for boxing (back in college)
To enjoy the outdoors
To relieve stress
To have memorable experiences with others, and eventually
To be faster.

I came to the realization that my desire and attempt to train harder have been a source of incredible stress and anxiety this year. Increased responsibilities at both jobs, finishing up grad school, making time for family and friends occasionally, issues with my health and training - while I'm accustomed to juggling a hectic schedule, I don't like that my stress relief activity has morphed into my biggest stressor.

Is it okay not to have a goal time? Would I be happier with the result? Or can I set a goal time mid-race? I know that I should not live by goal time alone, especially not at the expense of my happiness. Yeesh, I'm babbling. And I still haven't figured out this goal time thing. Maybe if I go to bed and dream fast thoughts...

Posted by Leilani at 10:50 PM | Comments (4)