Posts Tagged ‘music’
I’m so woefully behind on my blogging that I’m almost embarrassed to put up this catch-up post, but I’m also behind on my running, so it won’t take that long. I’ve been struggling to take the time to post because I seem to be doing most of my runs after the kids go to bed in the evenings, not leaving me much time to post before I need to get to bed. I promise to make more of an effort to post more often, but in the meantime, here are a few notes about the last few runs.
Tuesday July 13
Distance: 14.73k
Time: 1:39:38
This run went really well, although it was a bit late. I was originally supposed to do it last week, but it didn’t happen. Then I was to do it on Monday, but after two night shifts, I really wasn’t up to running such a long run the first day off. This now puts me about half a week behind my training schedule, and with doing 6 shifts in 8 days, I’ll likely get even further behind. I was actually tired enough the afternoon before this run that I fell asleep on the couch, which made me think that maybe I should just do the half in October. I really wasn’t sure if I would be up to doing the whole 15k. Fortunately, the nap gave me enough energy that I got it done, and even felt good afterwards.
My right foot got a bit twingey after the 11k mark, but it was gone by the time I went to bed that night. It only seems to happen after I do the longer distances, so I suspect that I just need new shoes. I can’t remember how long ago I started using these shoes but I’m sure the marathon did a number on them.
Thursday July 15
Distance: 5.67k
Time: 36:55
I almost didn’t do this run. I brought all my gear to work to go afterwards, but this day was absolutely awful. It was crazy busy and one baby wasn’t doing well. I was tired and cranky and just wanted to go home and have a beer. But I talked myself into going for the run because I knew I would be able to get out all the frustration of the day. And it did. I put on some Linkin Park, and just went. I felt so much better than if I had just gone home, and I got another run under my belt. Because I was so tired, I didn’t even try for speed. I just kept up what felt like a comfortable, relaxed pace, but I ended up less slow than I thought. Bonus!
Monday July 19
Distance: 19.78k
Time: 2:22:32
This one was a challenging run. I was tired. My last set at work was rough, although the last night was blessedly quiet, so I was recovering from that. Also, I didn’t have a great sleep the night before. And just to be crazy, I missed two other runs this week; instead of making them up, I decided to just try for the long run so I could move on in the schedule. So when I started, I really only planned to do the Elk Lake trail once around, which is about 10k. I brought enough water and Gatorade (I thought) to do two laps, but I wasn’t sure if I was up for it. I struggled with the first lap, and I should have listened to my body, but of course I didn’t.
I made two mistakes after I finished that first lap. Firstly, although it was a struggle, I decided to push through and turn around at the 4 k mark and come back, making a total run of just under 17k (I started at about the 0.5k mark). But that wasn’t the mistake; the decision at the 4k mark to just finish the lap was. Secondly, I decided not to take my Gu at the 10k mark, because I was planning to do only 17k. To be fair, I did take the Gu after I decided to finish the lap near the 14k mark, but by then I think it was too late. I also ran out of fluid to drink at the 17k mark. So, the last 3k were not great. I was surprised my splits weren’t worse, to be honest. I felt like crap and wanted to stop, but I still had to get to my car and it was faster to run than to walk. So I ran. Now I feel good that I did it, but at the time I wished I had listened to my body instead of my stupid head. Lesson learned.
Thursday July 22
Distance: 5k
Time: guessing around 32 minutes
Tonight was a naked run. No, not that kind of naked, nobody needs to see that. My son hid my iPhone and when I found it just before my run, the battery was dead. No RunKeeper, no tunes. I thought it was going to be boring, to run with no music, but it wasn’t bad. I also got some new shoes, so I got to test them out. They didn’t have my regular shoes in my size, so I decided to go for something different. I was a bit nervous about that, because my other shoes got me through my marathon. But these seemed comfy in the store and (I hate to admit) they are prettier. They were only $10 more, and I had a $10 coupon, so it evened out, right?
Since I didn’t have music, I got to focus a bit on my form, and I noticed that I don’t really land on my heels when I run; I land on the outside middle of my foot and then roll in. I think that’s good, isn’t it? I did notice that my pinky toes got a bit squished in my new shoes, but I was wearing slide-y socks so maybe that’s it. And they didn’t hurt, they just felt crowded.
So now, I’m only about one run behind on my schedule, and I’m still not sure if I will upgrade to the marathon. I’ve now done almost half that distance only 4 weeks into my schedule, but my biggest challenge has been making the time, while still having time with my kids. Sometimes I find I have to choose between running and spending time with my 3 year-old, especially for the longer runs, since I can’t wait until after the kids go to bed. I’m considering instead just staying with the half marathon, and making it a goal to (1) run the whole thing, and (2) finish in less than 2 hours. I’m giving myself until the 6 week mark to decide for sure, but I’m surprised I really don’t know what I’m going to do yet. The suspense!
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Posted in Running Marathon | 
Tags: iPhone, long run, marathon, music, RunKeeper, runners, Running | 
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Distance: 42.2k baby!
Time: 5:29:04 (official time)
Just a warning: this race was epic, and so is this post. It’s epically long. Feel free to grab a coffee or a snack before you settle down with this bad boy. Enjoy!
Before The Race
I woke up without the alarm at 5:50. I thought I had set it for 5:45, so I wondered why it didn’t go off. Turns out I had set it for 6:45. Oops! If I had slept until my alarm, I would have had 5 minutes to get ready and out the door to catch the shuttle bus to Tofino. There were later buses, but we were concerned about the later buses being full, so we opted to take one of the earlier ones. I woke Lil up, who also wondered why she her alarm hadn’t gone off. She had set hers for 6:50 (she told me she was last night, which might be why I set mine for 6:45). In any case, we were up on time, and had lots of time to get ready.
This paragraph is about breast pumping, so if that’s TMI, skip ahead. I brought my pump with me, and I’m honestly surprised at how I had to remind myself to pump during this trip. I think I got a plugged duct on the right side on Saturday, which made my breast hard and painful. I eventually fixed it, but I definitely didn’t want that to happen during the race! I spent some extra time this morning with the pumping, trying to make sure I emptied as much as possible. In fact, I spent a bit too much time, and ended up feeling a bit rushed just before we left.
Fortunately, I had laid out all my gear the night before, because I could definitely feel the nerves this morning. I had a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal, which is my usual pre-race meal. Lil was bringing a bag with some stuff, so I added a couple bottles of Gatorade, my sunscreen, and my belt to the bag, complete with my Gu, lip balm, ID, Kleenex, and 4 emergency Advil. I also made sure I had my iPhone and armband/headphones with me (Can you guess what I forgot? The answer is coming up.). Because it was chilly and a bit foggy, I wore my running jacket, although I planned to check it before the race.
We left somewhere around 6:50, to catch the 7:00 bus at the museum. I drove the car to the main road, and parked across the street from the museum, where a few runners were already waiting. The bus turned onto the road just as I was locking up the car, and we made it by dashing across the road. There was plenty of room on the bus, and we found an empty bench. The shuttle buses were old school buses; it had been years since I was on one of those.
The bus ride was a bit strange, for a few reasons. First, we were both really starting to get nervous about the race. For me, until I was on that bus, the marathon was still something I was “going to do”; once I was heading to the start line, it became something I was “doing”. Second, Lil gets motion sickness, so she had to sit in the window seat, and I’m sure her trying to keep the nausea at bay was taking some concentration. Third, we were driving along the race route, only in reverse, so I was trying to note all the downhills (i.e. uphills during the race). I did remember to take a couple of pictures of us on the way.
Sooner than I thought, we arrived in Tofino, although it was really about 7:45. Neither of us was familiar with the area, so we followed the other racers to the start line. I drank nearly an entire bottle of Gatorade on the ride down, so I had to use the bathroom. We joked a bit with the other racers in the line, and then sat and waited for the race to begin. The sun had just begun to shine, making true the weather reports for a warm, sunny day, although at that time the air was still chilly and the wind was biting. As the sun brightened, I realized that I FORGOT MY SUNGLASSES. I was beside myself, especially as the sun got brighter and brighter. I couldn’t believe I forgot something so important! The only reason I could think of was that it wasn’t very bright out when we left the hotel. My one saving grace was that I wore my visor; it would keep the worst of the sun out of my eyes, although it still promised to be bright out.
I think we had a bit too much time to wait, which made us a bit antsy. This was my first marathon, but it was Lil’s first race. We chatted while we waited, and took some pictures. I put on sunscreen (at least I remembered that!), and we met another racer when he came over to borrow some sunscreen. He told us that he was running the race because he lost a poker game (he was supposed to do the Vancouver Sun Run, but it was on Mother’s Day – Awww!). His buddy was supposed to join him but never signed up. We also met Lil’s co-worker, who hitchhiked to the race because the car he borrowed broke down. He was an experienced long-distance runner, so we didn’t expect to see him during the race.
Eventually, we lined up for the race start, at the back of the pack. Once we got to the start, I was less nervous. I guess I felt like I reached the point of no return. It really felt like any other race. I don’t remember if a gun went off, or if someone yelled “start”, but we were off!
The Race
The first few kilometres were really easy. Lil and I decided earlier to chat for a while at the beginning, and then put on music when we needed to. I wasn’t using Runkeeper because my battery would not have lasted through the race; also, I think it needs 3G for the GPS to work properly and I didn’t have a signal for most of the race. Lil had her Garmin, and set it up so we’d know the time, pace, and distance. She didn’t wear her heart rate monitor. I was worried we would start too fast, because I always seem to, but we kept the pace around 7 minutes/km. The first 10k were on a cycling/foot path beside the highway, except for the part on Chesterman Beach. We were near the back of the pack, which I expected, but we weren’t last, so Lil was happy. We just cruised along, chatting about I don’t even remember what, just random stuff. It was still cool, but not cold, and my visor was keeping the sun out of my eyes.
At about the 5k mark, we crossed the highway and went to Chesterman Beach for about a km and a half. Just before we hit the beach, I had to stop at the portapotty (too much Gatorade!) and I was a bit annoyed to see people passing us. There were two people ahead of me and they seemed much slower than they probably were. Lil debated about whether she should pause the Garmin or not, since we weren’t moving. I think she decided not to, since the clock at the finish line was still going. By the time I got out of the portapotty, the pace cycle was waiting for us. We managed to catch up on the beach, though.
Chesterman Beach was, by far, the prettiest part of the course. The tide was out a fair bit, leaving hard packed beach to run on, which was nicer on the knees than pavement, but it was hard enough that you didn’t sink. The view was spectacular! The ocean waves, and nothing else on the horizon but ocean until it met the sky. I should have stopped to take a picture, but I didn’t, and Lil had checked her camera. We both commented on how great the view was, and how it was worth doing the race just to run on the beach.
Too soon, we were back on the road, only it wasn’t much further before the cycling path ended and we were running right on the road. We were facing traffic, but the shoulder was pretty narrow, so we couldn’t run two abreast for very long. It was at this time that we decided to turn our iPods on, but not too loud so we could still hear the traffic. Speaking of traffic, most of the cars going both ways either honked or whooped out their windows as they passed. It made the atmosphere more jovial, since spectators weren’t allowed on the course.
We ended up stopping at the next two portapotties along the course, as well. Lil had to use the second one, and I had to use the third. I probably should have used the second one with Lil, but when we got there I didn’t have to go. I did feel a bit ridiculous by the third stop, and I told myself that was the last potty stop for the rest of the race. And, surprisingly, it was, for me. I think the third stop was at about the 13k mark, and after that I ended up running a bit ahead of Lil. Only a few paces, but enough that we couldn’t easily talk to each other. It’s funny because I was asking Lil about time and pace a lot at the beginning, but once we separated I didn’t worry about any of that.
As the run progressed toward the 20k mark, I started pulling further and further ahead of Lil. I didn’t even know I was doing it, because I was listening to my music, and for a couple of songs, I must have paced myself with them. I just remember looking behind me every so often and Lil was right behind me, and then she wasn’t. I could still see her, but she was further back. I felt bad about leaving her behind because we were supposed to stick together, and I wanted to make sure she was okay, so I slowed to a walk a few times so she could catch up. I also waited for her at the water stations. She said she was getting sore, but she was okay.
Also at this point, I remembered seeing a hill on the elevation map that looked like a doozy. I think I was actually worried about this hill off and on until I got there. Once we reached it, just like most things that are dreaded in life, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Hindsight being 20/20, this hill wasn’t even the worst one of the course. We just walked up the hill like we had planned, and kept going. I should also mention that until this point, I had probably run about 85-90% of the time, only really stopping at the water stations to have a drink, and we stopped for Gu breaks about every 45 minutes.
I distinctly remember passing the 23k mark of the course, because it meant I had gone further that I ever had before at once. I was pleasantly surprised that I was still feeling strong and pretty good. My hips were just the slightest bit sore, and my right arch was achy, but it was nothing I couldn’t push through easily.
As I passed the 26k marker, I was absolutely confident that I would finish the marathon. Up until then, I thought I would, but then I knew it. This was also the first point of the race when I started to pass other racers. Until then, I barely saw anyone else, and they were usually pretty far ahead. One of the differences between a larger race and a small one like this, I guess. I think around this point things started to get more difficult for Lil, though. As I had promised, I stopped at every water station and waited for her, but the waits became longer and longer. Just as we left the water station near the 29k mark, Lil commented that she had heard that the 25-32k zone was the hardest to get through. I was still okay, but I was getting more sore. I was starting to worry about Lil, though. Her mood had changed completely. I briefly tried to cheer her up, but I sensed I was just annoying her, so I stopped. When we started running again, we got separated, and when I looked behind me, I couldn’t see her.
At the final relay point, right around the 32k mark, I stopped again to wait for Lil. Just before this stop, we had to cross the road so we were going with the traffic, and I couldn’t see Lil. I was actually getting worried that something had happened to her, when I finally saw her. She was hurting, and she said she was pretty much going to have to walk the rest of the way, except for the downhills. I was also pretty sore, but it actually was less painful to run than to walk, and starting up running after a walk break was awful. I felt bad, because I wanted us to finish together, but Lil encouraged me to go ahead so I did. At least I would get to cheer for her at the finish line.
At this point there was only about 10k left of the course, and it was about 12:45 (we started at 8:30). I tried to psych myself up for the last leg by telling myself that it was only 10k left, and I run 10k all the time. It actually kind of worked, although my body still knew that even though I do 10k runs all the time, they’re never after doing 32k first! My whole body from the waist down at this point was sore, and my right arch was distractingly painful. I had also developed a large blister on the inside of my right big toe, and the only way I could land on it without wanting to cry was to “tuck” it on top of my second toe and land “just right” (in hindsight, this probably accounts for at least part of why my arch is still sore).
I knew that even with the pain, the hardest part of getting through this last stretch would be mental. I had to tell my body to ignore the pain. I was surprised that I wasn’t remotely out of breath at this point, and I didn’t feel tired, just sore. In fact, I was barely sweating anymore (not from dehydration; I stopped and had a Gatorade and water at just about every stop after the first one, and I had my belt with me). I ended up resorting to the same thing I did during the last 3k of the half marathon to help me get through. I started counting down the number of songs until the end, with an average of two songs per kilometre.
This last stretch felt almost as long as the rest of the race. Much of the first half had passed in a relative blur, but this last 10k was rough. The one nice part is that we were off the road again, on another cycling/foot path (I think another reason my arch got so sore was all the time running on the shoulder of the road, since all roads are on a slight angle from the centre line. The shoulder was too narrow to run off the road, so I was on a slight incline on the right side for over 20k.). The less nice part is that almost the entire rest of the route was hilly. I walked up most of the hills, but I’m pretty sure I ran all the downhills and straight parts until the end. There was one hill, around the 38k mark that made me want to cry. I couldn’t see the top of it, and I was so sore.
Around the 35k mark, one of the guys at the water stop said, “it’s all downhill from here!” I think he was joking, and I bet he thought he was funny, but by the 40k mark I wanted to punch him. At the 37k mark, the water stop was set up with a balloon arch and some kid had drawn chalk paths along the sidewalk. There was another kid blowing balloons, and I got choked up for a moment, thinking that I only had 5k to go. It hit me that I was actually going to finish this thing and the enormity of what I had already done got the best of me. I pulled myself together because I knew I couldn’t afford to lose it yet.
I finally got into Ucluelet at the 40k mark. With only 2k left, I decided to run the whole rest of the way, if I could. I was sore and just wanted to be done. I was also getting cranky for the first time the whole race. This last stretch was the worst because, in order to get in the last 2k, the course kept weaving through the neighbourhood. For the last kilometre, I kept seeing another turn and thinking, okay almost there, but there was just another turn, not the finish line. There was even one last water stop at the 41k mark, that I didn’t bother to stop at. I just wanted to stop running. Finally, around a corner and at the bottom of a hill was the finish line! The clock was reading 5:28:something and I wanted to make sure I got in before 5:30:00 so I sped up just enough to make it. Someone handed me a bottle of water and put my medal around my neck, and I cried a little. The announcer said my name, and for just a moment I felt like a rock star. I did it!
My elation was a bit subdued though because I wanted to wait for Lil to get in. I drank my water, forced myself to stretch, and walked up the hill a bit to wait. About 12 minutes later, she came down the hill. I mustered up enough strength to cheer for her as she approached the finish, and made my way towards the chute. Her time: 5:42:03. I wasn’t sure how emotional she would be after finishing, but she didn’t seem to be crying. At first she didn’t seem very happy, but I think she was just really sore. After we sat and rested for a few minutes, we were happier, and we took some pictures of our new bling!
After the Race
After we got back to the car (finally!) it was only a few minutes to drive back to the hotel. I originally was going to have an ice bath, like I usually do after long runs, but I was so cold from the wind, and from the race itself, that I thought an ice bath might push me over the edge to hypothermia. Plus, it was about an hour after the race, so I’m not sure it would have been very useful. Instead, I peeled off my sweaty, dusty running clothes and had a warm shower (not too hot). It was hard to get into the bathtub, since I was pretty sore already, and the tub sides were high. But once I had a shower, I felt much better; and I was starving! I ate the leftover pasta from the night before while Lil had a hot bath.
After Lil was out of the bath, we decided to look for dinner. We briefly considered going for Chinese (again) but then Lil suggested the Black Rock Resort, where the pre-race dinner had been. She worried that they wouldn’t let us in with our hoodies and her sweatpants, but they didn’t bat an eyelash; must have been all the runners in town. Anyway, the restaurant didn’t open until 5:30, so we sat in the lounge to have a drink and appies. We were the only ones there, so we sat at the window and marvelled at the view.
They had my favourite beer ever, Phillips Dark Chocolate Porter, so I had a pint of that, while Lil had a girly drink that I can’t remember the name of. It was pretty though! We also shared some goat cheese that came with fancy toast. It was really good, and paired well with the beer. Afterwards, we headed to the restaurant, and were the only ones there, too, at first. I wondered if all the racers had already headed home, or if they were all napping and would come out later. It was nice to have dinner in the relatively quiet restaurant, enjoying the view and our dinners. Lil got the chicken, and I got the beef tenderloin. I rarely eat anything steak-like, but this one was as good as it looked.
Because we had two pints of Haagen-Daz waiting at the hotel, we didn’t get dessert. Instead, we got into our jammies, lounged out on the sofa bed, and watched TV, while I had one of my little bottles of champagne to celebrate. I let Lil choose the program, so we ended up watching “Wipeout”, which was perfect because it required no thought at all. We both ate ice cream straight from the carton, and traded flavours when we had enough of the one. Lil was ready for bed by 8 pm, but I wasn’t quite sleepy yet. I laid in bed and Twittered for a while until my eyes were heavy and burning. I had no trouble sleeping that night!
Posted in Running Marathon |
Tags: Edge to Edge Marathon, Garmin, hills, iPhone, marathon, music, racing, runners, Running |
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Distance: 5.06k
Time: 32:42
Although this was my first run after the half marathon only two days ago, I was still kind of hoping to crack the 42 minute mark. Didn’t happen. The first kilometer took nearly 7 minutes (why couldn’t I do that at the half?), and I just couldn’t make up the time. Surprisingly, I wasn’ t very sore; just a small twinge from my right knee that didn’t last. My quads were sore yesterday, but only when my kids bounced on them (ouch!). They were fine today.
It was cloudy and rainy all morning and it drizzled during my run, although the heavier rain held off until after. Then, just my luck, about half an hour later, the sun came out. It was deceptively warm, and I really could have worn a short-sleeved shirt instead of the long-sleeve one I wore.
I tried some new music today, and I think it’ll really help keep me motivated for my faster runs. It’s an album of pop music hits from the 80s and 90s, remixed into dance music. It’s unbelievably cheesy, but kind of fun to hear familiar songs and the beat is perfect to keep me moving. The album has 100 songs, none of which by the original artists, but I don’t mind. And it will take a while to hear the same song twice, which should keep me from getting tired. I hope it’ll also keep my other playlist fresh, since I’ll only use that one for races. I don’t think I need a constant, pulsing beat for every song during the marathon, because I’ll probably end up pushing too hard.
I have asked this before, but do any readers have any must-have songs they use for running? Any embarrassing songs on your playlist?
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Distance: 4.51k (plus how much I ran while RunKeeper was paused because my phone rang)
Time: 33:39 (plus about a minute while RunKeeper was paused)
Snuck in a last-minute run before it got too dark today. It wasn’t too windy, but it was drizzly and grey. I got to try out my new rain jacket, and I have to say I was less than thrilled with it. It was comfortable for the first part of the run, and it kept me dry from the rain, but by the end of my run, I felt like I was wearing a plastic bag. The sweat was a sheen down both arms, and I was way too warm. I took the jacket off on the drive home, and when I put it back on to go into the house, the inside of the sleeves were wet. Yuck. I’m beginning to wonder whether there is such a thing as a rain jacket that keeps the rain out but is not too hot, and is comfortable and nice-looking. Is that too much to ask?
I think that RunKeeper is working better now that I followed the email advice I got to delete the program and re-install it. It still didn’t display the first kilometer split properly, but I think that’s because my phone rang, which paused the program. I forgot that the phone ringing pauses the program so I ran for about a minute before resuming the program, which messed up my time and distance. My only complaint with the program now is that I set up a playlist of podcasts which RunKeeper doesn’t seem to acknowledge, so I’ll have to use the free version to listen to those during my run.
The best news of my run today is that my knee was only a bit sore, and it was better not long after my run. If it holds up, I’m going to try another run tomorrow, because then I go back to work. Speaking of, I’m waiting to hear about a job that I applied for, and not knowing is driving me nuts. I was hoping to hear by today, since the posting closed on Wednesday afternoon, but it looks like I won’t hear till Monday at the earliest. It’s gonna be a long couple of days!
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Distance: 5.09k
Time: 38:22
Yay! I love running again. Only walked for about 5 minutes this time, and it was perfect weather. Cloudy, not too warm, and not raining. I think I hit one of those “flow” times, because about halfway through my run, I felt like my movements were effortless, like I could do this all day. Of course, by the end of my run, I was a bit tired, but it was a good tired. Still kinda weird that in a few weeks I will be saying, “I only have to run 5k today”.
Anyway, the response to my last post was phenomenal! I got 3 comments within about an hour of posting it, which is way more than my usual 0 comments. Who knew that underwear would be so riveting? You can read my sister’s comment here, but I thought I would also include the two from Facebook, along with my response:
Facebook Friend #2: Cotton gets wet and stays wet, promoting chafing. Synthetics and those mesh thingies in short are good. Silk also good at not keeping moisture and doesn’t promote chafing. Polypropelene wicks away moisture and keeps you dry (helly hansen). Nivea for those areas that chafe. When the distance increases you’ll get chafing and blisters at the slightest source of friction. Ever heard of jogger’s nipple? Try “I ran”, “space age love song”, “I don’t need a gun”, “send me an angel”, “only the young”, “be good to yourself”, and make it an eighties themed run. Don’t forget the shoulder pads.
Anyway, I’m still not 100% sure what I will wear on the longer distances, but for the runs I do now, any old underwear seems to do.
I really do love when people leave comments, whether on this page, or through Facebook. And, I have another question, although maybe not as interesting as underwear. I love listening to music when I run. Although I have been neglectful of my “Songs to Run to” page, I have quite a few songs that I enjoy listening to, and obviously have received a few more recommendations above. However, I have noticed that most “serious” runners do not listen to music, and some are vehemently against it. Many races officially prohibit using portable music players, probably because of liability issues, but it got me wondering. What do all you think about music and running? If you run, do you listen to music? Do you agree that it should be banned during races? If you listen to music, what do you listen to? Send me comments!
