Week Eleven Wrap Up:My Time to Whine

I am not going to lie. I am so sick of running right now. Everyday is a battle between staying in bed or getting out to hit the pavement. Of course the pavement pounding always wins, but the battle is exhausting. I'm bored with all of my running routes despite how I change them up. I'm sick of all the songs I have on my I-Pod and I'm running out of my favorite PodCasts. What am I going to do? I still have 2 months of training left!

The good news is that I have been in this predicament before and I was expecting it. The bad news is, that in the past when it's gotten to this point, I only had a few weeks left of training, not two months. My runs last week were nothing to write home about. I did go back to my old hill that I used for hill repeats the first six weeks and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it now was. It was very apparent that I have gain a lot of strength over these past almost three months.

My long run was not too great. I had a few stomach issues early on and had to spend a good mile and a half walking to Safeway. My new mantra was "get me to Safeway, just get me to Safeway!" It was also very warm and I just didn't feel good. I met my dad at mile ten and he helped me get through three more. I called it quits at that point. My dad drove me home and I had something to eat. Despite not feeling that great, my guilt of not doing my planned 18 miles got the better of me. I changed into my shorts and tank top and went out and ran another 2 miles. I figured 15 miles was a good compromise and I'm glad I decided to go back out.

On our way home from the run we stopped at REI and my dad bought me some anti-chafe balm. I used it today and it seemed to work well. The real test will come on my next long run. If it does truly work than I will be able to wear shorts on my long runs so I'm less likely to overheat.

What have I gotten myself into? This all seemed like a good idea three months ago. Why do I put myself through this torture voluntarily? I ask myself these questions daily. For some reason I feel I need to prove to all the non believers that I can do this. Why I feel I need to prove this, I'm not sure. I can't figure out why I need to challenge myself to do this. It's beyond the point of wanting to do it, I need to do this. I guess I will just have to ponder these questions on my next 18 mile run.

Week 10: Wrap Up and Shoes

Another week completed! As I look back on this past week, I really feel as though I struggled. I'm not sure why. My runs seemed to wear me out regardless of the distance and I thought there were weights tied to my feet. I'm thinking it was more mental than physical. I feel stuck in a running rut and I'm not sure how to remedy that right now. My long run was okay. I went 17 miles at an 11:06 pace. I found myself having to walk more than I did the previous week, but my finish was much stronger. My dad ran with my again the last 6 miles or so. Joe the Kenyan had the week off so he didn't show up at the end like last week.

On the way home from my long run my dad and I stopped at Big 5 and I bought a new pair of running shoes. I stayed loyal to my Saucony despite the fact that they have changed the inside of their shoe in the past year. The older models use to have a lot more cushion, bounce, and overall better feel on my foot. I use to be able to grab any pair of Saucony and they would fit perfectly. Since they changed the placement of arch support in some of their newer models, finding a pair that work has been a challenge. This time I got the Grid Tornado 3. They seem to be a good match. Hopefully they will make a difference in my future runs.

Meet the Crew

On race day I get to have a crew. I'm thinking this is going to be a good thing because you get to see them every six-ten miles. I figure this will help to break the race up into manageable sections. Here are my three crew members so far:



My Mom: Sharon O'Neill, a constant smiler and my number one cheerleader. My mom will provide the "rah rah" for the day. I'm hoping her peppy spirit will keep me going when times get tough. She's always been my best supporter. Even if she thinks something probably isn't going to work, she still cheers me on anyway, just in case she is wrong.





My Dad: John O'Neill, local running legend, AKA:Joe the Kenyan and my coach. I'm actually trying to convince him to enter the race too. If he's running these long runs with me, he might was well have them count towards something other than helping me out right? Plus I think it would be fun. As I've mentioned before my dad is my running hero so I'm excited to know he is going to be by my side on race day. Unless I'm dead, he won't let me quit, and even if I were dead he'd tell me to quit faking and get running! I know I'm gonna need the tough love in those late race miles.


My Husband: Jim Young. I know race day is going to be boring for him, but he will be there anyway to support me. I don't think he totally understands me need to do this but he goes along with it. Odds are he will have his radio with him the whole day so he and my dad can listen to whatever game is on that day.

So that is team Morgan. i'm glad they are all going to be there becasue I sure don't want to tackle this by myself!

I Beat Joe the Kenyan: Week 9 Wrap-up

I can't believe I've already completed nine weeks of training. I'm pleasantly shocked at how fast the time is going. All in all I would classify this as a pretty good week. Even though I started the week feeling stiff and fatigued, I was able to loosen up and finish strong. I'm loving my new socks and I found some new material to put on my I-Pod. I also downloaded my stats thus far from my GPS. During this training I have:

Run 235 miles
Burned 30,000 calories (but haven't lost weight)
Kept an average pace of 10:47 a mile
Spent 44 hours running

I may still weigh the same, but I have lost a few inches and 2% body fat. If I can lay off the sweets then maybe I can drop a few pounds. Now on to my long run.

My long run this week was surprisingly good too. I ran the first hour and forty-five minutes by myself and then met up with my dad for the rest. All I can say is that my dad must really love me because he ran an hour and a half by himself and then finished the last hour and fifteen minutes of my run with me. If that ain't love then I don't know what is! The last few weeks we have been starting from different locations and then meeting somewhere in the middle. It's pretty fun and it works well. You never know where you're going to meet because neither of us have a set time as to when we are going to start. So you have to keep a lookout for the other person. Plus I work much harder when I'm running with my dad, so it's nice to just go my own pace for some of the run and then have him keep me going the last part when I really need extra support. This week I was keeping a great pace even by myself. When I met up with him I was feeling strong and the time was just flying by. I got to mile 13 and I just hit the wall. It all happened so fast. The last 3 miles were really a struggle but Dad, as always, got me through it. The last mile or so he decided we were going to race. He was "Joe the Kenyan" and I was "The Girl from Folsom." I kept telling him I didn't want to play that game but eventually I gave in and passed him up. He narrated the entire performance. It was hard, but I beat Joe the Kenyan.

Socks

Runs have been going okay the past few days. Hill repeats are getting easier and the weather has been fairly mild. I've been training for 2 months now and I decided I needed to reward my accomplishments thus far with a little present...or five.

About a year ago I saw an ad for these running socks in my Runner's World magazine. I was instantly intrigued by the concept. Toe socks for running. How clever! By having each toe covered it eliminates the skin on skin contact that can cause blisters. A majority of my blisters came from this problem so this seemed like a perfect solution. I bought one pair to try them out. At first they felt a little weird having my toes all separated, but once I put on my shoes the feeling was gone. I went out for my run and I was instantly hooked on them. I had no more blister issues and I loved the feeling of having my toes be free instead of crammed together. It was almost like I was running barefoot (which is a bonus because it strengthens your legs). I wanted to buy more but they are kind of pricey and hard to find. After failing to find them at any of the stores around Folsom, I broke down and went to the Injinji website.

I was able to get five pairs of toesocks on clearance for $9 a pair. Normally they run $12-$14 a pair depending on which ones you get. I plan on giving my dad a pair as a late father's day present to see if he likes them. I also got free shipping because my order was over $40. I ordered them on Aug 2nd and I got them today.

One thing to remember if you buy a pair of these socks is to know that the size is by your foot size, not your shoe size. I wear a 10 1/2 in men's running shoes and I wear a Medium in the new Injinji sock and a large in the old ones.

My cat, Rusty, was very into my socks too.

Week 8 Wrap-up

I am pleased to announce that I had another good long run today. My dad met me about 30 minutes in and we run the rest of the way more or less together. I did 14.15 miles in 2 1/2 hours. That came out to a 10:38 pace. I ran most of the way, I just had to walk twice (about .20 mile each time). My groove was there even with the hills which was a pleasant change. I felt very stiff the first couple miles, but then everything fell into place.

Around mile 10 I did start to experience hip pain. My IT band (a muscle that runs down the side of the thigh from hip to knee) tighten up severely and kept causing my hip to pop. Each time it popped, it would radiate pain down my leg. I had to stop a few times to try and stretch it out. While it didn't go away completely, I was able to work through it and finish my run. It's super sore right now and I have been massaging and icing it. IT band issues are very common with runners. A tight IT band can cause everything from knee pain to hip pain. Ways to remedy it is to roll your thigh on a foam roller to loosen it up. I have a foam roller at home that I try to use on regular basis, but I will be honest. Rolling out a tight IT band hurts like hell! Sometimes the pain is so intense I think I will pass out. The tighter it is the more it hurts. I seriously can not think of a pain that is worse. I'm trying to work up the courage to roll it out right now but I'm not quite ready for it.

My other issue came after my run. To avoid getting too graphic let's just say I sometimes get "tummy problems" during my runs. It comes on suddenly, sometimes during a run and sometimes afterwards. For three years I tried to figure out what the cause was. I spoke to my doctor but she didn't really have an answer but she did tell me what foods would be good to avoid before a run. I kept a food diary for awhile to see if I could figure out if it was a food that was triggering it. That didn't seem to shed any light on the matter. Everything was just so unpredictable. I could eat one thing and be fine, and then eat the same thing the next week and run into major issues. I just didn't know what to do other than grin and bear it. Just as I was about to give up hope, I stumbled upon the cause by accident. Dehydration!

Two weeks before I started my training I began drinking 2-3 liters of water a day as a way to help me lose weight. After the first few weeks of training I noticed that I was not having any problems. I changed nothing in my diet and ate exactly as I had. The only variable was the increased water intake. I put two and two together and it seemed to be the answer. That theory was confirmed today. This past week I had a very limited amount of fluids due to being on vacation and being very busy at work. I paid the price for my laziness after my run. I eventually recovered, as I always do, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. I now know I MUST drink my water every single day or I will suffer the consequences. I am very happy to have found an answer to my worst running problem.