Day and a half to go

I leave tomorrow morning for the marathon. It's been a tough week - rainy and cold - and I'm off my normal schedule of things that I thrive on. I haven't been in the gym or pool since Tuesday and my few runs have been really short (and wet). My meals have been predetermined, and can you tell I'm feeling a little cranky?

Probably the biggest thing on my mind right now is my knee. It's not 100% recovered from that fall three weeks ago. There's a really sore spot on one bony prominence and it's not perfect when I run. I am just hoping and praying it holds up as I expect it too.

My energy levels have been really low too which is frustrating. I think it's a combination of lack of exercise, crappy weather, impatience, sitting around doing computer work, and maybe even too much sleep?

I feel as though I am not feeling the way I should, but then I realize I don't even know how I *should* feel. I can't let my brain play tricks on me, I've felt way worse in the past and hit good runs.

I have so many mental motivators, let's hope I remember them.

• The pain of meeting my goals will be less than the pain of not.
• There is no tomorrow on this marathon, I need to hit it then and there.
• Don't expect to cruise through this. It'll be hard work, maybe not turning the screws quite as tight, but maintaining it much longer.
• The weak link is the brain when it gets bored. Counter the negative messages.
  
• Be a machine, just go. Keep the rhythm. Ride out the tough times, they never last more than a few minutes.
  
• Keep everything relaxed, minimize effort.
• Compared to the terrain of the training runs and the trail race, this should be much easier.
• Run right where I am, not thinking even three feet ahead. Stay within myself.
• Run one mile at a time. Settle in and don't start thinking it's over until it's over.
  
• Be grateful for the struggle; I'm blessed to have this opportunity, the physical ability to do it, generous help and support, nourishing food, good shoes, and a lot of LOVE backing me up.
• I'd rather be running for 3-1/2 hours than sitting in a meeting or waiting for a plane that long. Heck, I couldn't begin to sit through a movie that long.
• I can run twice as far as I think I can.
• I've sacrificed things to get here, and so has my family.
  
• The first 10 miles are the warm-up, the next 10 are the working set, and the last 6 are where I will really grow.
• I've paid my dues and done the work - see entry on Mental Toughness
  
• Think how great it will be to run in Boston.
• Ironmen run marathons AFTER major swims and bike rides, so surely I can just do the marathon.
• People run 50 and 100 mile races in all kinds of grueling conditions, surely I can do 26.
• Enjoy the sensations, after all, "running is a dance that covers distance."
• This is a celebration of months of prep, a year really.
  
• This is the first of many marathons so finish happy, finish wanting more.
  

Favorite Running Movies

Running Movies: http://www.runningmovies.com/

• Saint Ralph - very cute about a 14 year old running Boston
• Running On the Sun - about the Badwater 135 race
• Running the Sahara - 3 guys run 4400 miles
• Runners High - Inner City Kids from Oakland, CA training and running in the LA Marathon
  
• Pre - Steve Prefontaine
• Run, Fatboy, Run - comedy!
  
• Spirit of the Marathon - documentary on the elite
  
• Marathon Challenge - documentary on the everyman
  
• Ultramarathon Man - Dean Karnazes
  

Book exerpts: What I talk about when i talk about running

Pre-race neuroticisms send me on a quest for books about running to fill my time. This is one I picked up and enjoyed!

Exerpts from
What I talk about when i talk about running
by Haruki Murakami (Vintage Books, 2008)

"When I'm criticized unjustly (from my viewpoint, at least), or when someone I'm sure will understand me doesn't, I go running for a little longer than usual. By running longer it's like I can physically exhaust that portion of my discontent." (p. 20)

On running the original marathon course in Greece in very hot temps: "At around twenty-three miles I start to hate everything. Enough already! My energy has scraped bottom and I don't want to run anymore. I feel like I'm driving a car on empty. I need a drink, but if I stopped here to drink some water I don't think I could get running again. I'm dying of thirst but lack the strength to even drink water anymore. As these thoughts flit through my mind I gradually start to get angry. Angry at the sheep happily munching grass in an empty lot next to the road, angry at the photographer snapping photos from inside the van. The sound of the shutter grates on my nerves. Who needs this many sheep, anyway? But snapping the shutter is the photographer's job, just as chewing grass is the sheep's, so I don't have any right to complain. Still, the whole thing really bugs me to no end. My skin's starting to rise up in little white heat blisters. This is getting ridiculous. What's WITH this heat, anyway?" (p. 65)

"I've discovered that after twenty-some years, and as many marathons later, the feelings I have when I run twenty-six miles are the same as back then. Even now, whenever I run a marathon my mind goes through the same exact process. Up to nineteen miles I'm sure I can run a good time, but past twenty-two miles I run out of fuel and start to get upset at everything. And at the end I feel like a car that's run out of gas. But after I finish and some time has passed, I forget all the pain and misery and am already planning how I can run an even better time in the next race. The funny thing is, no matter how much experience I have under my belt, no matter how old I get, it's all just a repeat of what came before." (p. 67-8)

"If you carefully increase the load, step by step, they [muscles] learn to take it. As long as you explain your expectations to them by actually showing them examples of the amount of work they have to endure, your muscles will comply and gradually get stronger....As long as you take your time and do it in stages, they won't complain - aside from the occasional long face - and they'll very patiently and obediently grow stronger." (p. 71)

"No matter what, though, I keep up my running. Running every day is a kind of lifeline for me, so I'm not going to lay off or quit just because I'm busy. If I used being busy as an excuse not to run, I'd never run again. I have only a few reasons to keep on running, and a truckload of them to quit. All I can do is keep those few reasons nicely polished." (p. 73)

This during a 62-mile race: "As I ran, different parts of my body, one after another, began to hurt. First my right thigh hurt like crazy, then that pain migrated over to my right knee, then to my left thigh, and on and on. All the parts of my body had their chance to take center stage and scream out their complaints. They screamed, complained, yelled in distress, and warned me that they weren't going to take it anymore. ..I tried to talk each body part into showing a little cooperation. Encouraged them, clung to them, flattered them, scolded them, tried to buck them up. It's just a little farther, guys, you can't give up on me now!" (p. 109)

Review: Rock Tape

I wrote this review for Runabout:

I tripped and fell at the Brush Mountain Breakdown sustaining a bruised hip and knee and I was just three weeks out from my first marathon in Richmond. The knee was troubling, and the best I can describe it, it felt as if something was getting hung up on the outside of the knee. I kept visualizing a string on an instrument being plucked. Whatever it was, it was not comfortable, but I didn't want to mess with any kind of wrap or brace that might just cause other problems if I used them during a run. At Runabout Sports, I was given a roll of Rock Tape (www.rocktape.com) to try. (This particular roll was hot pink, always a plus!) I remembered having seen something similar on tennis and volleyball players, and learned that it works to lift the skin away from the muscle thus promoting blood flow. My massage therapist does myofascial release and I supposed it did roughly the same thing. I applied the tape as directed (there are printed instructions and also videos online), with strips curved around each side of the kneecap and additional strips above and below. WIth the tape applied in its stretched state, it created a comfortable tension on the knee, giving the sensation of mild support and counterpressure. Mentally it also provided a distraction. The adhesive holds up well even in water, yet leaves no tackiness behind when removed. It's pretty much like removing long bandaids though. Lotions will affect the adhesive so put it on clean, dry skin. I can't say for sure what it does or how it does it, but at this point, I am still using the RockTape on my runs and will continue to do so. I asked my massage therapist about the efficacy of this kind of product and she was very much in favor of it. I will definitely add Rock Tape to my arsenal of tools to keep me running.

Review: Garmin 405

I got the Garmin 405 last year for Christmas and despite my initial skepticism am now a huge fan. I wear it along with the Garmin premium heart rate monitor (waterproof and more comfortable than the original version) on all my runs, treadmill workouts, bike rides, and bike trainer sessions. I have the Garmin Speed/Cadence sensor mounted on my bike as well. This equipment takes a lot of the guesswork out of training and I’m pretty sure it motivates me to work just a little bit harder since it tells all!



The watch provides up to three customized screens of data with up to three types of data per screen, but I usually just stick to one or two screens which is enough. A touch of the bezel flips between screens. There are many data options, but the basics work fine for me - pace (min/mile), average pace per lap, time, lap time, distance, lap distance, and cadence.

In early morning runs I turn the backlight on and I like to use the autolap feature so I get splits for every mile. With custom bike or run interval type workouts, I use the Garmin software on the computer to easily create a program with the parameters and upload it to the watch. I don’t have to remember the specified times or distances, the watch beeps to tell me when it’s time for the next interval, and it tracks splits appropriately. There are countless other features like the virtual partner, auto lapping based on position, etc but I’ve not used those.

When I ride on the bike trainer, I turn the GPS option off to save power, but use the watch to track heart rate and cadence over time. Training Peaks can use this data to calculate distance and power.

After a run, I review my history on the watch, then upload it to the computer. Garmin provides some rudimentary software for the computer as well as a web site to upload data to share, but by far the best interface is on the Training Peaks site. There you can see your route map with mileage markers and an accompanying graph showing elevation, speed, heart rate, and cadence. You can select portions of the run/ride to see statistics just for that. From there, the daily log reports the time spent in each of the HR zones. That helps to assess, for example, if you indeed kept it aerobic if it was intended to be an aerobic only run.

The equipment works seamlessly together. The watch, because of the large number of options does take some time to get used to so be patient, but it’s really quite well done with the touch bezel and just two buttons. On a few rainy days I have had trouble getting the watch to respond to the touch bezel. I found I could wear the watch under a raincoat and it did not impair its functionality at all and helped with the rain glitch. Even when the watch itself acts up, I have never lost data.

I highly recommend the Garmin 405. It provides important information that foster more effective training practices and it’s well designed and engineered. Garmin also offers the waterproof 310XT, but it does not collect HR data in the water.