Umm, when does it get easier?

It’s quite possible that I’ve been telling myself a lie for many, many months as I am fairly certain at this point that running never gets easier and while I realize this isn’t necessarily the case for everyone, I’m beginning to think that it is absolutely the case for me.  I don’t know if it’s because my body is fatigued from the increase in weekly and overall mileage, if it’s the addition of hills, something in my hydration/nutrition (although I highly doubt that because I’ve been drinking water like it’s champagne on New Year’s Eve and eating pretty much everything in sight on a regular basis) or it’s something in my head that’s beginning to rebel against all of this positive thinking by trying to turn my “I Can” into “I Can’t”.  

My plan of attack for breaking through this plateau (seems like a more positive term than obstacles, barriers, etc.) is going to be to tackle the parts I have immediate control over… water, water, water, nutrition like a wannabe athlete vs. girl gone wild with chips & guacamole at the taco bar and getting a grip on my rising fears of training and general preparation inadequacies before I drive myself and everyone around me totally crazy (yes, I’m slightly obsessive with a tendency to become fixated from time to time so I'm hoping my charm, wit and ability to bake will keep me in the good graces of my friends and family for the next few months).  

As far as the increase in mileage is concerned (since that is somewhat of a necessity given the 26.2 miles involved in a marathon), I plan on trying to keep my body parts from dissenting entirely with hours of foam rolling, magic muscle stick, magic muscle cream, abnormally large amounts of Advil and icing like nobody’s business (it’s a sorry state when strapping freezing cold ice packs to your legs actually feels really, really good).  If that doesn’t work, I will change tactics and attempt to entice my pieces and parts to continue on with promises of days and days spent lounging poolside with an on-call massage therapist, bottomless chips & salsa and unlimited umbrella drinks (maybe I should bring back the coconut sunscreen… perhaps that’s part of the problem).

Today’s 8 miles didn’t come easily but they got done (even the hills!) and the time past faster than it could have thanks to the beautiful day and inspiring surroundings.  That purple flowery stuff in today’s picture is Lupin (thanks for all of the wildflower identification lessons daddy!) and yes, I’m wearing yet another new pair of shoes (please, please, please work on my weird feet!!).   

Speaking of my dad, I met him last week at one of our favorite spots for springtime hiking (one of our favorites in any season but it’s particularly impressive when everything is in bloom).  It was beautiful, dusty, fun, gratifying and informative... he's been a teacher for the last 40+ years and although recently retired, he still has an amazing knack for “educating” in ways that keep you entertained and leave you knowing more than when you started without feeling like you’ve been doing anything other than sharing stories and having a good time. 

 

After our hike we hit up another of our favorites for some much needed hydration and nachos (maybe not as needed as the fluids but delicious nonetheless... are you picking up on my Mexican food addiction yet?). The deck at Alice’s Restaurant (not the same one as in the song but still somewhat iconic in its own right) was warm and sunny and the perfect place to cool down and rest up after the hilly trails.

I love spending time with my dad... He always has been and remains to this day my compass in a lot of ways so I'm grateful for the time I get to spend with him as I always leave just a little bit more grounded and pointed a little more in the “right” direction than before.  Needless to say, I’m a very lucky girl.

8 miles, 1hr 20min 41sec, avg 10.05

Cheers,

SF runner in training

Like Dorothy (without the red shoes).

So, I get to Crissy Field this morning for my run and barely made it out of the car in one piece because the what must have been hurricane strength winds tried to steal my legs by slamming the car door shut right when I was trying to exit.  Luckily my ninja-like reactions kept all my parts intact (more like the fact that I hadn’t yet put any of myself out the door but I like to believe that if I had, I would still have escaped unscathed in thanks to my superior reaction times.. the people who know how completely uncoordinated and non-ninja like I am are LOLing right about now).  It did take me some time to muster up the courage to get out of the warm, cozy car into the foggy, super windy morning so I had to use scare tactics on myself to motivate for the run… reminding myself that it’s a very real possibility that it may be just as foggy and/or windy on race day seemed to do the trick so out I went to get in my 8 miles.

I opted to head away from the Golden Gate bridge as the headwinds in that direction were ridiculous so instead I went through the Marina, up into Fort Mason, down for a few loops in Aquatic Park, back up into Fort Mason (which meant hauling myself up that scarily big hill again… that thing is ridiculous) and back down through the Marina to Crissy Field. The run itself would have been challenging enough in terms of the hills and the distance but that wind really pushed the entire thing from challenging into the realm of really freaking hard. 

Despite my grumblings about the conditions today, I’m glad that I went and am proud of myself for getting in all 8 miles despite the less than perfect conditions.  With 10 very short weeks left until race time, each day counts and I need to give it everything I’ve got both physically and mentally. As I’ve written about before, optimism isn’t necessarily a strength of mine and I have a propensity for self-doubt so getting my head to fall in line with training is just as difficult for me as it is to get my body to cooperate.  

I’ve already made it past a lot of barriers (both physical and emotional) that would have normally given me enough of an excuse to decide that this was a disastrous idea and failure was imminent therefore I should quit immediately.  But here’s the thing… I haven’t quit…  I haven’t even considered that as an option…. maybe this getting older thing has more perks than I realized… if turning 40 is going to bring with it feelings of being more grounded, settled, self-assured and authentically "me", then I’m a huge fan already.  

8.01 miles, 1hr 22min 37 sec, avg pace 10.19 (the wind totally slowed me down!)

Cheers,

SF runner in training

It’s harder without the fanfare.

With yet another new pair of shoes (I can’t wait until I can spend my shoe shopping time/budget on something other than running shoes), my fancy watch thingy, my trusty iPod, one of those water bottles that has a mesh strap so you can hold it while running and some caffeinated gummy things, I set off this morning in an attempt to run 12 miles.  Here is what I learned along the way… the gummy things aren’t so bad, running while holding anything isn’t really a strength of mine, I really do love my Lululemon running capris, attempting to jump over curbs isn't really a great idea, those extendable dog leashes are annoying (it's more the people holding them rather than the leashes themselves that are annoying) and running is hard.  

That being said (and despite a few unfortunate instances of me inadvertently flinging my water bottle at unsuspecting pedestrians... again, carrying things while running isn’t my forte), I made it through all 12 miles including a really steep hill that nearly did me in and resulted in the need for a short but completely necessary break at the top to drink some water and catch my breath (seemed like a better option than passing out in the middle of the path and being run over by a hoard of biking tourists).  It’s a little crazy to think that if I had run an additional 1.1 miles today I would have run the distance of a half marathon… I mean, not as crazy as the idea that in a few very short months I will be running twice that but still, crazy in its own right.

I was feeling a little out of sorts this morning and had a hard time getting into a rhythm both physically and mentally so it took me a good 4 – 5 miles before I started to feel settled enough to start entertaining the possibility that I could make it through all 12 miles.  Even though I’ve run further recently, it’s very different to go on a solo 2+ hour run than it is to participate in a race with other runners and people cheering everyone on (even when said cheering involves a guy running in front of his wife holding a fishing pole with a donut hanging off it.. totally happened at the Dive half marathon!).  

Once I got past mile 7, I started to believe that I would hit my goal for the day and once I got through mile 8 I was certain of it so I pushed away some nagging aches and pains and powered through the last few miles by repeatedly telling myself that my body could continue if my head would just get out of the way.

So with the weekend just hours away, I’m pleased to report that I hit all of my running and cross training goals for the week and plan on spending the next few days recovering, doing some easy about town walks (is “easy” really possible in a city built almost entirely on giant hills?) and most certainly indulging in some liquids other than water... wine is made from grapes which are fruit which is good for you so I say that the consumption is a critical part of training.

12 miles, 2hrs 1 min, 27 sec, avg pace 10.07

Cheers,

SF runner in training