Weekly Mileage/Pre-Race Stuff

Wow...almost been a month since the last post. Things have been busy.

I was at camp a few weeks ago in good ole Bedford, IN. Even though we had a busy schedule there, I took advantage of being off work and got some good runs in on the boring hilly path. I think I ran about 5x/wk (which is good for me), averaging anywhere from 3-10 miles a run.

Last Saturday I woke up at 2:15am and then ran 17 miles with Chris at 3am. It had been so long since I've done a long training run that I had forgotten everything I even needed for a "long" run. The run was mediocre. It was nice because the whole thing was done in the dark so when I got home, it felt like a whole new day and that I hadn't even run (Of course I went back to sleep for a few hours but oh well). However during the run, I just didn't feel super good and my legs were a little weird. I'm glad I did 17 though because now (knock on wood) I got that out of my system and hopefully I'll be good to go in a couple of weeks for Silver Lake.

I realllly meant to get a small run in last Sunday but I didn't. I ran 3 measly miles this past Monday and then hopefully I'll get in maybe 5 this afternoon. The weather has been pretty awesome lately and I hope it stays this cool for the race.

Speaking of, I finally booked a hotel near the MI park where the race is and I'm really looking forward to it. The area is supposed to be beautiful. I signed up for the 50 mile race. If I only do 50k, oh well.

So basically my toenails that have barely started to grow back will now be damaged and destroyed again and all of that growth will go down the drain. Pretty pictures of them coming soon.

Where's my Runner's High?

For those of you that don't know, a "Runner's High" is when you are exercising for a long period of time and then you basically just feel awesome. What happens is after your body meets a certain point (based on your physical exertion), your body releases endorphins that appear like opiates and then somehow all of that makes you have an out-of-body sort of experience. (I don't know what all of that means...but that's what my thorough research said)

Scientists still debate whether or not the release of endorphins is actually the cause of one's heightened performance. According to ScienceDaily, a study was performed by scientists from fields of Nuclear Medicine, Neurology and Anaesthesia at the Technische Universität München (TUM) and the University of Bonn. They had ten athletes run for two hours and had scanned them with a positron emission tomography (PET) before and after. The article states that they used radioactive substance [18F]diprenorphine ([18F]FDPN), which binds to the opiate receptors in the brain and hence competes with endorphins. I have no idea what that means but the bottom line is, their performance was tested somehow.

Basically what they found out is that the Endorphin Hypothesis holds true- there is a connection between the release of endorphins and the emotional state of the athlete. For more details, see this blog post.

So now that we know (or we at least have a concrete example) that the Runner's High exists- and we know that in order to get one, you have to run for a long period of time- why the heck have I not gotten it in over a couple of years???? And only during the past year have I started to run a marathon regularly and only over the past 6 months have I started running ultras!!!
Which means that I got a runner's high from running 10-13 miles, not from my 26-65 miles. That does not make sense. If anything, I'd think I'd have a high every month from all of these races.
I'd like the scientists from all of those medical fields to do a study on me and see why I'm getting gypped.

It was so long ago that I can't remember my experiences that well- but I do know that runner's high are awesome but also scary. When you get the high, you feel like you're on top of the world. It's so great because your speed picks up and you seriously pass millions of people. However, the high's are very scary because you never know how long they're going to last. I remember getting the high one time at around 8 miles and I still had a couple miles to go. I wanted to take advantage of the high and go fast, but I didn't know if it'd stop after 30 seconds and I'd screw myself from wasting all of my energy. What a dilemma.

I know people say (and I've experience this) that during ultras people will get like 5 winds. They'll have low points and then high points and then back and forth. This is not what I'm referring to- that's different than the runner's high.

I'd like to hear from some of you (especially the ultra-runners) if you've had the high and if you did, what distance it was for.

Free Help for Your Runs

I've been thinking a lot lately about what helps me get through long runs (and even short ones) and I realized that a lot of it has to do with some of my nonverbal behavior (thank you Communications class).

Many of you might laugh at this post or think it's cheesy but I'm going to go out on a limb. I have found the following things below to be very helpful during long runs, especially when you really want to stop running and quit, and I thought I'd pass the info along.

-Smiling
I'm not talking about smiling at other people or anything (although that helps, too), I'm talking about smiling to yourself during a run. Similar to what I just said in my previous post, simply smiling at yourself can remind you of why you're even running. Why are you? You're running becuase you enjoy it and it's fun. Stop and take a break.

-Make the sign of the cross and thank God for the ability to run

Despite the funny picture above, I'm serious about this one. When I went to the Dormition Monastery last year, one of the Mothers talked about how important it is to make the sign of the cross. She said wherever you are, remember God and cross yourself. Even if you're in school or in public and don't want to physically cross yourself, make the sign with your eyes. This advice really stuck with me.

Furthermore, I always want to thank God for the physical/mental ability to run since so many people are not capable.

Having said all of that, during my long runs (especially when I'm struggling to keep going) I really try to make the sign of the cross and thank God that I'm even able to run. When I've been running for hours and I'm just in a zone, not smiling or thinking of anything helpful, I kind of wake myself up- smile- and then make the sign of the cross. It sounds funny but no one sees you and if others may see you, just do it with your eyes.

It works for me. Try it out.

Tough Training

Well I definitely thought I'd be running more in the summer than in the winter and so far I've been very wrong.

Why did I run a crapload when it was freezing outside and I couldn't feel my fingers and I was bundled up and now that it's warmer it's been hard to run? I think one big reason is after Kettle, I just took a huge break- which I wasn't used to. AND- I wasn't going to have a race for 1+ months- which I wasn't used to. Regular races motivate me to keep running during the week, but also make me slack on keeping up with my long weekend runs.

Another reason is that IN summer weather sucks and the humidity is horrible!!! If I lived in beautiful CA all the time like some of you do, things would be muchhh better. If only...

Basically, I don't have much discipline.

Part of why I haven't written in awhile is because I've been too embarrassed to say I've averaged 1 run/week so far for the past 1+ months. Ohhh well. I still have until August 23rd (Silver Lake 50/50) to get back in shape. I don't know which distance I'll choose.

Last Thursday I got a good 5 mile run in at the canal. It was nice to run out all of that lactic acid and go fast. Then last Friday I ran about 8 miles at the canal. I was a little rusty starting out since I hadn't run much lately and I wanted to go faster than I should have. I had to keep telling myself that I am only running for myself. I like running and it's a fun sport. No one is forcing me to run. It sounds silly but telling myself that seriously helps me mentally with my speed. Once I remember why I'm actually running, I'm able to pace myself more easily and I don't mind slowing down.

After my run I did about 15+ running hill repeats and then I decided to do about 10+ walking hill repeats. I always notice and talk about how fast some runners can walk up big hills during races while I'm hunched over trying not to die. And I always ask people if I should practice running up hills more to increase my walking speed, or if I should practice walking up hills...
I just decided to start walking up them and I surprisingly found myself trying not to run up it. It was pretty hard walking up it but I can already tell it'll increase my speed if I keep it up. My calves are sore from just a few repeats.

Now it's Tuesday and a few days have passed since the last time I ran. Dangit. One day at a time.

Dances With Dirt - Devil's Lake CANCELLED

That's sad....I just got an email today saying the dwd-Devil's Lake race that was set for August 9 is cancelled, "...due to the amount of parking and trails used, and the impact to low and wet ground".

What does that mean? "The amount of parking and trails used"??? Does that mean there's not enough parking space for all the runners or there's too much trail to track down or what?

I kept reading the email they sent me and it says, "...flooding demolished roads, trails and messed up the sewage system". That's gross. "...messed up the sewage system"? Yuck. That'd be disgusting to be running for 10 hrs in the hot, humid August sun with poop melting onto your shoes. Haha.

Well nuts...that stinks.

I don't have to find a race during that week but I'd like to, since it's been over a month since my last race and I don't want to wait until August 23rd. Any suggestions?

When to Help the Injured

Okay so I just talked about Claire getting injured during the race and I talked about how the other runners (and fans, for that matter) ignored her as she fell twice and crawled to the finish line.

That got me thinking and brought me to my next point or question:

During a race, when do (or should) you (the runner) stop to help another runner who is injured?

Vote and let me know what you think.

Many of you may think it's an obvious answer: Stop and help the person because helping a person is more important than finishing the race in a good time, or at all. However, it is a much tougher decision for me.

A few times during races I've seen injured people hobbling along with a runner that's helping them, and it's obvious they won't finish the race. At those times I always ask myself what I would do if that runner had fallen right in front of me.

It's such a hard choice because I am a competitive, selfish person (is this confession?).

If the person had fallen right in front of me and they couldn't get back up, and I was the only one around, I would feel obligated to stop and help them. Despite the fact that I would be helping someone who needs me, I would be very disappointed that it caused me to have a slower time in the race (especially if I was feeling strong and going fast).

If the person had fallen around me and there were others around who hadn't stopped, I would assume (more like, hope) that they would be fine and surely someone else would stop for them. That is the truth.

Which brings me to my next point: Whenever someone needs help- whether it be due to a car accident, due to a bully, due to a fight, what have you- the majority of people will let the problem/violence continue because they assume that someone else will take care of the matter and call for help.

One personal example is when I was driving home on the interstate last year and I saw an SUV flipped over in grassy area near the median. As I drove by I saw that people were inside the car still, upside-down. I was so scared for them and so I immediately called 911. However, that's all I did.

No one was around the SUV, no one else had stopped to help them, I don't know how long they were there for- and yet I still didn't stop because I assumed that surely someone else would see they needed help and stop for them.

The whole ride home and afterwards I kept thinking about them and wondering if I should have stopped to help.

This assumption has been referred to as the Genovese Syndrome, or the Bystander Effect. According to the highly reliable source- Wikipedia- solitary individuals will typically intervene if another person is in need of help. However help is less likely to be given if more people are present.

To sum up where "Genovese Syndrome" comes from, Kitty Genovese was sexually assaulted, robbed, and then stabbed to death in front of many of her neighbors in NY in the '60s. People saw what was going on but yet let it happen, not in the least bit attempting to stop the man or to help the woman.

I could go on and on but I must get back to work.

Bottom line is- be careful if you're ever the one in need. Flag down people and yell at people to stop and help you because if there's more than one person around watching you get beat up or robbed, chances are no one will help.

Finishing No Matter What- Good or Bad Idea?

I cannot believe what I saw.

During a HS state cross country meet, Claire Markwardt from OH was about 8 yards from crossing the finish line. As girls are all around her crossing the line, she suddenly falls down. She immediately gets up and her knee starts to wobble and she falls back down. Girls continue to pass her, ignoring her as they almost finish the race. Claire then crawls the remaining 8 yards to the finish line- still being ignored (see Help). Even after she crosses the line, she's crawling away. Finally a guy comes and stands her up- which was probably a bad idea. He then carries her away.

It turns out that she had broken her tibia and fibula (whatever that is) during the race and didn't know it!!! That is disgusting! During the video you can't even see that much with her leg- but just knowing that her leg is breaking right then makes it disgusting! I almost got sick watching it, just thinking about it.

See her fall at 1:39 of the video:



Unfortunately she was supposed to be the maid of honor in her sister's wedding that night and had to miss the wedding.

One article just said that her leg had been sore two weeks before the race so she didn't practice too much beforehand. Now, surely she must have had some other kind of injury beforehand.

If she's only running short distances (3-10 miles, I assume) how did she injure her leg so bad? I know that's a dumb question because people can do anything to hurt themselves. So, I guess I'm just scared. If she broke her leg doing short distances and I'm over here running 60+ miles, when am I going to collapse and break a bone or too? Hmm.

Well anyway, awesome determination Claire! Good for her, I guess.

Good luck recovering.

Sluggish Training

I had a wonderful week+ break of not running last week. I was tempted to run a little bit but decided not to push it and I knew my poor toes could use a break.

I ran last Monday for just 1.5 miles and boy did it suck. I felt sluggish and slow the whole time. AND for the first time my Achilles Heel surprisingly hurt a little bit, too.

That's a gross picture. It looks like the tendon is ripping open- yuck.

Well...I may be a little overconfident but I'm not worried about it right now. I think it was like that from the last race and I just needed to walk it out (or something). Dangit. I just read an article that said I shouldn't ignore the pain. Ahh well. What's "Dr. Foot" know anyway?

I probably won't run again until tomorrow and unfortuately it's tempting to take another couple weeks off running. Next race isn't until August.

Some of Chris's Kettle Experience

This picture needs to go in a frame!

The Ultimate Cure to Funky Feet

Before I left to Kettle, my lovely mother surprised me with a fun goodie bag for my trip. In that bag was the following:

• Kleenex
• Blistex
• Gum
• Cleansing Cloths
• Starbucks Card (!!!)
• Cashews

And the best, last item was.....FAKE TOENAILS!!! They're PERFECT! I no longer will have to worry about my ugly toenails and I will no longer get dirty looks from other girls who try to casually glance down at them.

What a wonderful idea! I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. My mom's a genius and I think it only cost her $1. All of this time I've been either putting bandaids over my toenails to cover them up or I've been painting the skin where the toenail should be...all to be accepted in society. Well now I have a cure- what a wonderful thing.

I'll happily show them off once I glue them to my stubs.