It's Here

In just a few hours I'll be on a flight to Philadelphia.  No turning back now.

Weather is supposed to be decent, slight chance of rain.  But it will likely be in the 50s for the race which sounds pretty perfect.

Deep breaths.  Game time.

Clickety Clack

After my last, lengthy run, I took a couple days off as I was having pretty rugged hip pain.  I resumed running over the weekend and this week my left hip is "clicking".

::begin mild panic::

I made a last minute appointment with my physical therapist to discuss this.  The determination is that it's my IT band slapping back and forth over my hip joint.  In its normal range of motion, it isn't supposed to drag over the bone, so the band is too tight.  Luckily most IT band injuries come with knee pain, but mine is isolated to the hip which supposedly means it is the easiest to treat and serious injury is unlikely.

My instructions are no more running before the marathon and to spend time every day stretching and using warm compresses.  Yoga was recommended as well as swimming and/or rowing to keep my cardio up.  Oh, and daily ibuprofen.  Of course.

So I guess this is it folks!  No more runs until the big one and a looming, angry IT band.

22 miles

I ran my final, long run yesterday.  I haven't really been updating because I've been too busy with work / travel to really talk much about training.

Overall I think it's been easier to train for this marathon, mostly because I'm so used to it by now.  The runs aren't necessarily easier, but getting myself motivated to run after a long day of work seems (somewhat) easier.

Yesterday I ran for nearly 4 hours.  I'm brutally sore today and for some reason even more nervous about the marathon.  I know I've run this distance before and that I can do it and it's possible...but I haven't forgotten how tough it is, mentally or physically.  Yes, I ran nearly the distance yesterday, but it's really those final 4 miles that make you dig deep.

I've run just over 300 miles training for this marathon and feel more prepared than I did for Big Sur.  My good friend just signed up for the LA marathon and wants me to run it with her...it would be in just over 3 months so I'd roll right into training again.

It's oddly tempting since I've never run in my "hometown" before...but after spending half a day running and on my feet yesterday, it's also pretty easy to think to myself "no f-ing way".

We'll see.  Maybe after Philly I'll be dying for another :P  that does seem to be the trend these days...

Poor, poor joints.

50 miles left to run before Philadelphia.  Game face.

The longest yard

880 yards to be exact.

It never ceases to amaze me how terrible the stretch between mile 1.5 and mile 2 can be.

Too Hot to Run?

I've been dealing with a new issue lately that I've never had when training for a marathon...it's hot.  Really hot.  LA recently had an extended heatwave where nights were in the 70s and during the day the temperatures were in the mid to upper 90's.  I've never liked running in the heat, but since I need to keep up with a training schedule I haven't had much of a choice.

No matter how hard I try, I still fail epicly at waking up early enough to run and then get ready for work.  So after work is the usual winning option.  Running at night when it's humid and hot is simply miserable.  I waited until almost 10pm to run, and I was still coated in sweat and had muscle fatigue and cramping when I usually don't.  I felt tired faster.  Hills that aren't usually challenging were a struggle.  These are all very normal reactions to running in heat so I was expecting it, but man does it suck.

When planning my long weekend run, due to work and other scheduling, I ended up running at roughly 3pm.  The temperatures were in the 80s and there were no clouds.  I read a few blogs and websites about running in the heat.  There are a few "hardcore" runners that simply say to suck it up and run and your body will tolerate it and it's never "too hot" to run, it's just an easy excuse to make.  Well, good for those men/women.  I sucked it up and went running out near the beach so at least there would be a breeze and it was awful.

The run lasted one hour and 40 minutes and when I got home, despite drinking a liter of water during the run, and being well hydrated before starting, my body was seriously pissed.  I had lost several pound of water weight which I had to replenish and I got a post-run reaction I've never had (runner's trot...sorry if that's TMI.  oops!)  Thank god I made it home.  But still....wtf body!  This has never happened before. And yes, while in the end I survived and still ran a respectable pace for 11 miles, there's just no way I'm subjected myself to that again whether my body can "tolerate it" or not.

Ups and Downs

Last week was a weird one for training.  The week started out roughly, with a chilly, windy run on Monday that I shortened because I simply didn't have the right gear.  By the time Thursday rolled around, I was so busy with work I had skipped my run on Wednesday.  I used the gym at work on my lunch break Thursday to get a quick 4 miles in.  I was feeling pretty good until Saturday rolled around.  For whatever reason, my knee was just not dealing very well with running.  It could be that I was trying to break in my new shoes, or it could be that I was just constantly running hills.  Either way, my knee felt terrible and I shortened my run yet again.

Some ice and ibuprofen later, and I was feeling fine.  I ran tonight and felt great.  So...who knows.  I'm just going to go on as long as I can with my knee - I think it should be fine, I really just need to focus on weight training on my days off.  I'm not going to read too much into it.  I remember having knee pain all through m previous training so this is likely just part of the experience.

New shoes!

After glancing at my running spreadsheet, I realized that I had over 460 miles on my Brooks Adrenalines that I had purchased during training for the Big Sur Marathon.  I suppose training for that, as well as training for the Eugene Marathon probably put some heavy miles on them.  Whoopsie!

I opted to try out a store which advertises the "shoe dog" which will analyze your balance, stride, etc.  In the end, none of it was really new info for me and I ended up being recommended the shoes I already have.  I ended up getting a different brand, however, due to better fit/feel.  

Drumrolllll:  the Asics GT2000