Keeping Pace

Keeping Pace

Archives for June 2006

Yasso 800 Repeats

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Today is, my husband, Tom’s Birthday. DD is up for a visit, and it is just one of those family kind of days. We all managed to sleep in past 8 a.m. That in itself is cause for a celebration. Since I knew that Tom wanted to get out for a bike ride with DD, we quickly presented Tom with his gifts – new cycling jersey, shorts and a helmet.

It wasn’t long after the gift giving, that he and DD were off for their bike ride. The kids and I headed to the track. BoBo and YaYa played around on the football field while I did some running on the track. The track is only a year or so old so it has plenty of bounce. I judged my thigh to be okay after a 1-mile warm up, so I tried my legs out on some speedwork.

Time / Distance(mi ) / phase
9:04 / 1.00 mile / warm up
3:38 / 0.53 mile / 800 repeat
3:23 / 0.26 mile / rest
3:43 / 0.52 mile / 800 repeat
3:13 / 0.26 mile / rest
3:50 / 0.53 mile / 800 repeat
9:42 / 0.90 mile / cool down

Now, I realize that 3 repeats isn’t all that agressive of a speed workout, but it was good enough for me. It was also about all the time the kids seemed to have the patience for. With the cool down, it totaled 4 miles.

Afterwards, we got something cool to drink and then went to the library to look up a book that Dori recommended for my little blogger (YaYa). Although we were unsuccessful in locating the book (it would have helped if I had remembered the title correctly), we picked out a few other fun books. On the way home we passed 2 cute cyclists who were looking tired and hot.

Not Happy

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Are you the sort of person that hides your feelings well, or do you wear your emotions on your sleeve for all to see? I actually used to be quite good at hiding my feelings. In fact I was too good at it for my own health.

In my teens and early twenties, I worked in the grocery business. I would greet my customers with a smile, ask them how they were doing, and truely listen to what their response was. That was how it was done back then (which wasn’t all that long ago). I got to know my customers very well. I’d ask how little Johnny did in his baseball game last Saturday, and notice that Mrs. H had gotten her hair cut. It made my job all the more pleasant. Even on days when I wasn’t feeling so good, or if something in my personal life had me stressed, my customers rarely would be able to tell. But that was then, and this is now.

Some where on in my life I stopped being able to hide my feelings. I guess it was because I didn’t have to do it anymore. More and more it seemed that I was wearing my emotions on my sleeve for all to read.

So today, department by department was called into mandatory meetings at my work. The message was all too clear – the company is reorganizing and, in 45 days, some of us will be notified that they will no longer have a position. We all received WARNing letters. Not exactly “pink slips,” but pretty darn close to it. I just listened and took it all in. I wrote down the pertinant dates. And then it hit me – I am the last to be hired into my job position. The last! What could *that* mean? They listed the criteria that is considered in the process of “selection” and listed hiring date as one of the last considerations. After we received our letters, I could feel the emotions coming to the top and I bolted out of there. I HAD to go for a run.

And so there it was…I needed to run and yet I had planned to rest today. My running clothes were downstairs in the locker room. I had everything that I would need. I was missing some nice-to-haves like my water-belt, sunscreen, and body glide… but I had what I needed. Soon I was off into the heat of a 100 degree day with tears streaming down my face as I headed down the stairs and my co-workers wondering why I was crying *now*. Why not? What is the point in pretending to be happy? I am NOT.

Settle for a slow down

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Here I was eager to launch into my next marathon quest. I was even contemplating running the San Francisco Marathon which just happens to be only 6 weeks from Grandma’s Marathon. Hal Hidgon has a multiple marathons training plan on his website to guide me in my training approach. By the time I looked into his plan I was already behind on my miles. I still delayed getting out for my first post-marathon run due to the annoying cold that I have.

Today, I slipped on my running shoes, shorts and my jog bra and went outside for a lunchtime run with Mark. It was a hot day in the 90s, but it just doesn’t compare to the torturous heat on marathon day. No water, no sunglasses, and no sunscreen – my bag isn’t restocked yet – and still I figured that it would be fine. It was only going to be 4-5 miles at a nice easy pace.

I was so nonchalant about this run that I didn’t even mind starting out before my forerunner fully located the satellites.

The first half mile or so was not easy; I was breathing a little rapidly due to my stuffy nose. Finally, I settled into the pace as we made our way up a quick but steep hill and onto the paved bike path. After this point was when I became aware of my left thigh (just above my knee). It was hurting. This was not alarming. It was however a sign that my plans to attack another marathon were probably not a good idea. I really don’t want to drive my self to the point where I’d have to stop running so I’ll just be happy to slow it down a bit.

We stopped at the water fountain. I told Mark that I’d wait while he ran a bit farther and I would start back up when he continued back towards work. We were 1.99 miles out at this point. Mark was happy to turn back right there, so we continued back towards work on our semi-loop course. Being no stranger to injuries getting the best of his running, Mark began to probe me for whether this pain that I was feeling was the pain that said, “slow down; I’m sore” or “you stop or I’ll stop you.” It was too mild to tell, but I said I’d let him know. We slowed the pace as we continued back.

We ended up running 4.6 miles at an average pace of 9:15/mile. By the end of the run I didn’t even feel the pain in my thigh. After my shower however, I felt it again as I tried to climb the stairs. I didn’t question it; I just stepped back down and went to the elevator. I drank some recovery drink, and iced my owie. I guess I *won’t* be running tomorrow. For now, I’ll settle for a slow down.

Football Mom!

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First off, let me just say that allergy medicine does not help the common cold or sinus infections. It does nothing at all, except maybe keep you awake and dry out your throat. So, after spending the past five days thinking I am NOT sick (this is just allergies), not getting a wink of sleep, and sucking on throat lozenges like crazy, I now KNOW that I am sick.

On the positive side, my muscles are hardly sore at all. It’s amazing. I’ve been able to go up and down stairs without a problem. I feel like I could even run today if I wanted to…which I don’t. Really. Do I sound like I am trying to convince myself of this? It’s true; I already have the urge for a run.

Instead of running, I let myself dig into work a bit. I even enjoyed working today. It isn’t that I don’t like my job, it is just that I have been going crazy with the impending race. I was really having a hard time concentrating on it. I am happy to be back in my world – where there is work, kid shuttling to and fro, a not so short commute, and too much to do.

After barely getting YaYa picked up on time from soccer camp, we headed to get BoBo at his first day of *high school* football practice. Football! After years of protecting my boy from this contact sport, I am finally letting him play. DD played HS football, so it is only fair. He is enthusiastic about working out, lifting weights, running, and even eating better. There is nothing wrong with that. If he can run fast enough, they won’t be able to crush him. Okay, I said he is enthusiastic about this football thing; I will be an enthusiastic and supportive Football Mom.

After shocks

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Now that the marathon is all done, I am experiencing a few aftershocks. After training for six months, the expense for travel, lodging, food, etc. my marathon day came down to a learning experience. In this marathon, I was forced me to examine my priorities. Have I been so focused on this BQ goal that I have forgotten the things that matter so much to me? Perhaps, it isn’t that extreme. I would like to think that I did a good job of balancing out my family, work and running in these past many months. But what about the other things? The regard for others?

It’s been 2 days since the marathon and I can’t shake the image of the girl who was having a seizure on the side of the road. I suppose that is normal. I can’t help but wonder if there really wasn’t something else that I could have offered in help. I am a inactive nurse, but a nurse none the less. On race day, I came upon the scene, stopped briefly, determined that everyone helping out was doing everything that I could think to do in this situation, and then continued running. But was that selfish? It was. Was there anything further that I could have done? Probably not. So why am I so disturbed? I have to ask myself, if there wasn’t enough help, or if they weren’t doing the right thing, would I have not wanted to stop? I know that I *would* have stopped. But would I have not *wanted* to stop? On this race day, there was no doubt that it would not be my day to qualify, but what about the next race. At Grandma?s everyone out there was just lucky to survive.

That brings on the next question: Is this stress that I repeated put on my body too much? Is it insane to push through the pain towards my BQ? Okay, maybe I am going overboard. But really, I went to Duluth with high hopes of a BQ. By traveling far from home, I was forced to leave my family behind. On race day, I was missing them. I was missing them as I made a point to give the little kids high-fives because they were there, and it was HOT, and they were out there for us…for me…anyways. But I wished it had been YaYa and BoBo. And I wanted to see Tom. At the same time I thought how good it was for them not to have to sit in the heat, just waiting for me. Is it selfish for me to have wanted them there? Is it selfish for me to ask them to drop everything that they are doing to sit on the sidelines and wait for me to run past? It is. But I need them. And this race will certainly not be the last.

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