Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Objective: Endurance, with hills

Weather: 50's F (felt warmer in sun towards end of the run), clear, light breeze

Fueling note: 5 Accel gels, taken at 45 min intervals after the first 5 miles.

A fantastic run! I am so pleased today. A hilly long run, with a monster hill thrown in at mile 17 to mimic the mile 17 climb up to the St. Johns Bridge at the Portland Marathon.  I've thrown a big hill into lots of other long runs at that 17 mile mark (with varied  success), but today I tackled one that is longer and steeper than Portland's, and I just sailed up it!  I think I might be happier about that one hill than I am about achieving my mileage goal today.

It was a beautiful morning. I started quite early for a Sunday run, 5:00 AM, partly to beat the heat and partly because I had to get home on time to take over parenting duties: my husband is playing with an orchestra today that will back up Alice In Chains at half time at the Seahawks game.  Pretty cool, huh?  Anyway, in the first few miles of my run I enjoyed watching the beautiful moon in the conifers and dipping behind the mountains.  After that, it was pretty mists on the ground in the parks and on the ponds.  It was a really pretty morning. 

And now I enter Taper Time.  I don't want to taper! But I know I must.  Just a small reduction this week, and much more after next Sunday.  

Objective: recovery

Weather: Clear, 50'sF;  full moon

15 min. abs & weights

Dear Legs,

Please don't worry about today's feeling of deadness.  It's a well earned exhaustion. You'll feel better tomorrow, just like you usually do. Remember? You got out there and enjoyed the little jog and that's all I asked for. And yes, I got your memo about not eating junk food in these next 3 weeks.  You're right of course about it not taking all that long to steam some veggies, and that if we're too busy to cook healthfully then we're too busy.  You've been wonderful these past 6 months and I won't let you down.  It's "in the bank" now.

Sincerely, The Brain

A missed run. A missed run.  Breathe. Breathe. 

I have never been injured running, and I hope I am not now, but I got a scare.  Yesterday there was this little pain in my lower right leg.  To understand why I rolled my eyes and ignored it you have to know that I am a veteran of many episodes of something called Tension Myositis Syndrome, or TMS.  You can google it if you're curious. (Here is one.) Like a headache, menstrual cramps, or charley-horse, it is real pain with a physical etiology (closed capillaries) but, like those other types of pain, it is not caused by injury, illness, or something "broken" inside the body.  It is caused by psychological trauma when the brain wishes to create a protective distraction from emotional stress; the most common manifestation being back pain.

I think I may have blogged about this once before.  Suffice it to say I have extensive experience with these phantom pains, which for me have never once turned out to be a true injury. How do I know that?  Because I can make them disappear.  And because they make the mistake of moving around, or only hurting when certain thoughts are on my mind, or getting worse with rest instead of better.  But mostly because they respond not to physical therapies but to the psychological ones set forth in John Sarno's books (he's the guy who is at the front of TMS research). 

So today, 4:30 am, I'm up and I'm thinking about stuff coming up in my day, and the twinge of pain pops up.  Right. I roll my eyes again.  I start my morning routine.  I take a look at my leg.  Yikes -there is a red area!  It's not terribly distinct, but one of the hallmarks of TMS is the lack of swelling, redness, or other physical symptoms besides pain.   I. freaked. out.  I am somewhat calmer now, since the redness is so faint I'm not even sure it's there (could it have been a shadow?) but I could not think of what to do.  Do I follow Sasha's injury care advice that he posted on the discussion forums and go jog on it?  Or do I rest?  I guess the deciding factor was the fact that I am officially on the taper now.  Dang - and I just told Sean that I agree with his advice to not "go crazy" with the taper.  But I can always do the jog plan tomorrow and intellectually I know (though part of me is still screaming) that one extra day off will not hurt, and may actually save me. 

I'm wide awake, and the eastern sky is just now getting a little pink glow. The sun will peek over the Cascade Mountains in about 30 minutes.  I wish I were out there running. 

Objective: general aerobic (MP + 1:00-1:30)

Weather: Clear, mid 50's.

20 min. abs & weights

All is well!  As I described in my blog yesterday, I had a scary pain in my lower leg.  I can't say it's gone, but I have determined that it is definitely TMS (explained yesterday).  It's doing all the things TMS does: shifting around, hurting at illogical times, not hurting when it should, and getting worse during emotional stress.  TMS is a clever devil, but not clever enough.  This is a huge relief, since I know what to do with this rude house guest.  I've had it before.  It's packing its bags as we speak... Yesterday it was scary, now it's just annoying.

On to a more positive topic!  Groceries. As the marathon day draws nearer, I am renewing my commitment to getting most of my carbs from fruits and vegetables.  I know runners are supposed to practically live on starchy foods, but I do believe fruits and vegetables are better.

This information comes from The Garden of Eating by Matesz. I thought I'd pass it on.  "Although many official diet guidelines recommend whole grains be the foundation of healthy eating, a produce-dominated is superior."  The reasons follow: 1) Produce provides more nutrients, calorie for calorie.  2) Vegetables and fruits contain more and friendlier fiber than grains. (Soluble fiber in f & v is healthier. Also, grain fiber contains phytate, which interferes with the absorbtion of many nutrients.) 3) Fruits and vegetables provide cancer protection and 4) Alkaline-forming nature of f & v may facilitate fat loss and prevent decalcification of bone mass.

When I'm at the grocery store, I have to remind myself of all these benefits, especially because f & v are expensive, relative to those staff-of-life type foods.  I view it the same as paying $90 for running shoes every 4-5 months.

Between my disrespect for bread and my un-injury, I guess I'm rather rebellious today.  Hope I haven't lost anyone...   :)

Objective: general aerobic (& psychotherapy, lol) Taper countdown: 17 days.

Weather: Fog, mid 50s F

15 min. abs & wts

Spent most of the run trying to work out some personal issues in my mind.  Running is great for that.

On a slightly less personal note, I've been wondering lately about bell curves.  I think if we put all the finish times from a large marathon on a graph, some kind of bell curve would emerge.  And if we knew what kind of training each finisher did leading up to race day (both quality and volume), that could somehow be graphed in a bell curve as well.  This is just speculation on my part, but I think I'd be on the slower-runner side of the hump in the first graph and on the higher-training side of the hump in the second.  

Something about this imagined scenario strikes me as unfair.  I know that my training isn't exactly that of an elite, and I am nearly 50 years old, and have only been running for about 6.5 years -- but sometimes it just seems like I'm working so hard, asking for so little, and not getting the payoff. (Thank goodness I love running at any speed, or I don't think I would choose to continue.) 

I can live with this apparent injustice, but I long to know whether it will change and what might change it.  I suspect the following factors would make a difference during the next couple of years:  consistent mileage throughout the year, not just spring to fall; more speed work, again throughout the year; the simple passage of time and the cumulative effect of running.  (Might the latter be canceled out by aging?)   Numerous times I've heard and read runners refer to 8:30 minute miles as their "easy" pace, often with a depreciatory tone.  I can only peek over the top of the bell curve at them enviously and sigh. 

Objective: General aerobic. Taper countdown: 16 days

Weather: mid 50's F. Heavy fog.

15 min. abs & weights

A very still, quiet morning.  I didn't quite get the miles in that I wanted, and I'm still struggling a little off and on with this stupid leg thing (see Tues. & Weds), so I haven't had the week I planned.  Since I had Tuesday off, I think I would like to get a run in tomorrow, which would normally be my rest day.  The plan for Sunday is a ~15 mile run with a good portion of it at marathon pace.  Thanks again to everyone who has left comments on my blog this week.  It means a lot to mean and is very encouraging.

Objective: general aerobic and pure enjoyment

Weather: High 50s F. Cloudy. Wet streets but rain had stopped.

This was a "bonus" run.  I swear, I really have gotten over my missed run (Tuesday), and have even matured to where I can see how ridiculous it was to be upset about it.  ;)   But I wanted to run today.  And I was sure that a run today would not have any negative effects on tomorrow's workout.  It felt so good;  I enjoyed it immensely.  My only worry (what, me get through a day without worrying? lol) is that the reduced mileage this week has left me feeling so fresh and energetic -- did I decrease too soon?!? Maybe I can "wipe that smile off" with tomorrow's marathon pace miles. Just kidding.

Since my week has been full of deep ponderings on psychological matters, I want to write down a key discovery.  Maybe my future self will need to come back and read it someday.  Please feel free to surf away if you're tired of my do-it-yourself therapy sessions.  :D

This is not an original idea, but something I read in a self help book. (I have a shameless love of this genre.)  It's about something called "musty" thinking, a self imposed set of "musts" that hamper our ability to enjoy life, forgive, and sometimes to even function (as when they lead to illness brought on by stress).  

The "musts" come from three kinds of demands we make: 1)  demands on our selves (to be perfect, to always get everything done, to look after everyone else and not ourselves, etc.), 2) demands on others (to meet our every expectation, to share our priorities, to understand us, etc.), and 3)  demands on the universe (to give us propitious circumstances when we need them -- eg "there just cannot be a traffic jam when I'm running late..." etc. )

The trick is to change these kinds of demands into preferences and hopes.  If you mentally demand things of yourself, others and the universe, it leaves no room to solve or forgive, or cope.  In fact, it leads to the equivalent of a mental temper tantrum.  

I don't know where we get our "musty" thinking, or why some people don't have it at all.  I certainly hope I can continue to shift to preferring and hoping instead.  Oh look what I just said! "I hope..."  Ha hah!