Cold (40s) and Windy (20+mph)

Sunday was another solid day but was really really windy.  We made it out the door just in time to run and get back to have 5 min to get ready for church.  One good thing about the wind is it took my mind off just how cold it was that I actually enjoyed the run.  The sun was shining and I was feeling strong.  I couldn’t even really tell I ran yesterday.  

Breeze is winds little brother.  Wind is the bully in town and out to cause trouble and frustration.  Breezy is the enduring kind little brother who one doesn’t mind if he tags along.  Complain too much and he’ll get his big brothers hurricane and tornado.  That's Aaron's analogy of the wind today: he hated it but tried to be quite so tornado didn't appear.

I finished the run feeling pretty warm but I was glad I had on two hats.

We spent the afternoon watching movies and eating pizza.  It was perfect.  I'm very thankful for a good friends and times spent together.  Although it was last min. planning everything worked out without a hitch.  

Guana State Park - Saturday

Saturday was awesome.  Aaron got into town Friday night and we made plans for a weekend full of running adventures that would be modified because it was sooo cold.  When we woke up on Saturday he wasn’t game for heading out the door.  As much as I hate the cold I would still rather go in the morning especially when I have 20 to run.  Trying to make the most of the situation we headed down to the 26.2 Breast Cancer Marathon Expo to walk around.  I wish I was in the mood to shop because they had some great deals.  In honor of the event I wore my only two pink shirts on Sat. and Sun. 

Aaron and his 5k sticker I bough him at the expo.

After the expo we headed down to Guana River.  We were trusting the internet and a few people we asked at the expo that it would be worth driving the 45 min.  We thought there were going to be about 10 miles of trails.  Wrong!  There are easily 30 miles!  Granted not all in the park (only about 9 are) but still it made me sooo happy.  I loved getting to explore it with Aaron and have no clue where we were going until we found maps at the end.  It wasn’t stressful because it would be pretty difficult to get lost since there is water on both sides of the park.  

Proof that we paid.  At first we thought it was free for military but after running 

back up the road to ask the education center we found out it wasn't.  Back to the 

to get cash and back up to pay again.  We were already 1.75 miles into the run.

Heading off I had on my new Nathan backpack and I loved it.  It didn’t move or chafe at all.  The paths were all wide and mostly fire lanes.  The ground was compact and wasn’t very difficult.  Yes I will need to run more challenging trails but for now it was a baby step.  I started off slow but ended up negative splitting without any increase in effort.  So much wildlife: buzzards, wild bores (scary), ducks, cool looking plants, and an armadillo that could have cared less that he was two feet away from me.  

Post run at the trail head.

I finished soaking wet despite the colder weather (low 50s).  It was a little windy but manageable.  Cardio did great and I could have kept going.  Only negative was the left hip pain that started at mile 17.  We only stopped three times: twice to check trail markers and once at mile 14 to refill water/gatoraid at the car.  All the stops were less than a min or two.  I credit the success on the pre run Chick-fil-a biscuit: which I might have to do that again next time.  Or maybe it was because I had enough fluids and ate every two miles.  Waiting to run until lunch time turned out not to be so bad.

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After running we headed to St. Augustine nice and dirty but with clean clothes on.  It was freezing but we still had a great time.  We were just going to walk around the fort but we both got in free because of Aaron being in the military.  Even though he “didn’t want to be educated” Aaron ended up really enjoying it and might have read more plaques then me.  It’s amazing just how old the fort is.

(pic)

The biggest lesson I learned from this weekend is rest serves me well.  I biked and swam significantly less this week but ran the same.  I felt like I had so much more energy and was less fatigued.  It’s good to have a feeling like that after being trashed last week. 

Valentine's Day

Thursday was just another day and I like it that way.  I love seeing people I love celebrate the people they love both single and married.  I received sweet valentines from patients who were missing their parties at school and had extra treats to share.  At lunch time MD R came to visit and say hello at the office to all the providers.  He was so helpful a year a go exchanging emails and phone chats with me talking about training groups and locations.  We were supposed to meet up to ride but I chickened out because he is super fast and lives 45 min away.  It was really good to meet and finally chat in person.   He joked that we are the obsessive type and he may steal me away from Carithers.  With the other MDs around he pulled up a cartoon video on you tube comparing Ironman athletes to Ultra Runners.  It was 6 min of laughing. 

My Valentines. 

Watching the video at work with people who just don't get why it really is funny.

So many training clothes this week.

Take That Road: I Am Strong

"Think I can bike tonight or do I need to be Cari strong for tomorrow."  Those were the words Phil sent me in a text last night in reference to our 16 mile run this morning.  This scared me.  I did not feel strong last night and certainly did not feel strong this morning when I woke up after being up most of the night with coughing fits.  However, I was ready to trick myself and Phil into thinking I could do the run.  As we were walking out the door I was constantly silencing all the voices saying I would be too slow or that maybe we should do 13 and not 16.  Sometimes it just takes getting started for the ugly voices to disappear and other times you spend the whole run trying to ignore them: thankfully they disappeared and I was just glad to be out. 

The forecast called for ugly thunderstorms all day so we knew we would likely get wet - it was just a matter of time.  Within the first mile I was sweating due to the humidity, enough that Phil commented: "Is that water dripping from your elbow."  I wanted to respond with something cleaver like 'no, it's liquid gold' or 'no, it's slowness leaving me."  Did I say either - nope.  The rain came at 12.5 miles and lasted until the end.  We only had about a mile from 13-14 where it was a downpour, the rest was just light and steady. 

The radar after the run.  Not very impressive but that one mile was super heavy.

Although it was windy (22mph) it didn't feel that windy except for mile 8 and 9.   This is when we came out of the neighborhoods and ran down an open road.  At the turn around we benefited from the tail wind.  Phil started to struggle around 8 and we slowed it down just slightly.  At our 10 mile refill water bottle stop our average was 9.13.  Much slower than other weeks but we were both still happy with it.  We dropped the pace a little more the remaining 6 miles.  My quads, which had been doing great started to become really fatigued around mile 11.  I was thankful for the slow down and was reminded that it's tough to run fast when your body is fatigued and warn out even if your mind and cardio wants to take off.  I was so proud of Phil for pushing through and finishing even when he was tired and weak.   It is these types of runs that build mental toughness.  He made sure to let me know he was proving his mental toughness and didn't want to slow down anymore.  What a great training partner.  Even though he was struggling he didn't really show it and I would have never known if he hadn't said so: he's tough.

 

Phil post workout.  Tired and hiding.  Next time he will not wear those shorts.  

They kept falling and he had to run holding them up the whole time.  No ideal.  

Glad it was him and not me.

Phil's toes.  Bring on the blisters and the gross feet.  These will look pretty when 

compared to post race pictures.

Sometimes lying to yourself pays off and you enjoy the run.  I may not always believe I am strong but I do believe I can work hard and push myself to the limits.  I can convince myself that I can do it, that I will enjoy it, and it will make me stronger.  And most of the time I finish and it's all true: not a lie.  I did it, I enjoyed it, and it made me stronger.  That is an awesome feeling!  It is always worth stepping out the door and giving it a go.  And when it decides to pour on my runs I embrace it and let it wash away my doubts that I can't do it.

Happy to have finished the run in the rain.  It has been a long time since my last 

rainy run.  There aren't many things better than jumping in a puddle coming off a 

sidewalk and thinking 'take that' road.  

Lesson Learned

Tuesday was a huge learning experience.  I headed out for a run in the morning with 100% humidity and so much fog I couldn’t even see my condo from ½ mile away.  I came back drenched.  I had no goals as far as pace: still trying to work out the quads from the weekend.  I was doing the slow shuffle yet again where the HR doesn’t climb at all.  I was averaging close to 10 min/mile.  Then around 4.5 miles Gary and his friend (training for Big Sur Marathon – how fun!) came up behind me just slightly faster.  I ran with them the next mile plus and picked up to 8:45s no problem.  I love chatting with others.  Gary was asking about my compression sleeves and asked if they made a difference.  Then proceeded to ask if I don’t wear them do I feel naked or get hurt.  My response was “I just feel weird.  They make a difference but now they are also a security blanket.”  I felt dorky but he said he felt that way about his knee brace.  We parted ways and he told me I was an inspiration.  It caught me off guard but also put a smirk on my face where I kept up the pace and ran a few more miles.

Huge lesson learned.  Even if I’m tired and not lifting my legs off the ground 

I should still pick it up.  I'm sure I'll keep relearning this.

On the home stretch I ran into the older man who walks his three puppies every single morning: same time, same route.  We said good morning to each other and then I didn’t catch the next thing he said.  After I said ‘huh” he responded with, “I’m talking to him” in reference to his dog.  He loves those little guys and you can tell they are very well taken care off.

Monday Night's Run

Wow.  I paid for this weekend on my evening run on Monday.  I should have hated the run because it was so slow but I actually really enjoyed it.  It didn’t bother me that my quads were so tight I couldn’t pick up my legs to resemble any sort of a running stride.  Or that I was going even slower because it was dark and I didn’t want to trip since I was dragging my legs.  I stopped caring about pace and just embraced the environment around me.  I saw kids playing, birds flying, and an old man walking his dog while on crutches who said he was glad to see me: these things I enjoy.

Running on Tired Quads

Sunday was awesome.  13 mile run despite the quads being really fatigued!  The weather was perfect at 71 degrees.  There was a sustained 17mph wind but didn’t feel like it the first half because we were running through neighborhoods.  The last six miles when we were on the open road there was only a tail wind!  This made it easier to keep up the pace.  I was worried at the start because for the first time I had inner right knee pain for the first mile.  It went away right around the mile marker and didn’t return: I’ll have to pay attention to that and make sure it doesn’t become a common trend.   I got a nice little break at mile 4 when we had to stop for the draw bridge to go up and down.  Ate at mile 2-4-6-7-8-10-11 and drank every 1-2 miles.  Nutrition was spot on even though I ended up with salt on my skin for the first time this year.  Not many more runs and I’ll have to start taking my salt pills to be able to survive.   Phil and I were both able to pick up the pace the last mile and a half.  I love when I’m tired but still able to push and be rewarded with a sold time.  The whole run was at a 8:39 pace: exactly the same as the last 13.

Both Saturday and Sunday I was hoarse because of all the mucus I have/had sitting on the back of my throat and coming out of my nose yet looking back at my times I really can’t tell I was fighting a cold.  So much further to go until I’m ready for the 100 but this weekend was solid.  It hurt, I pushed, great times on the garmin, good times in general, and I couldn’t be more excited I’m doing this!

Post solid 13 mile run!

The salt appeared on the skin for the first time since last fall.  The weather is quickly warming up.

I finished off the weekend with a swim to loosen everything up.  Normally I go straight from church to the pool on Sundays because they open at noon right when we get out.  Well since I ran first that wasn't the case.  As I walked in all the lifeguards gave me a hard saying it wasn't 12 and therefore I couldn't swim.  I figured we were on good terms so I asked them to tell me if my swimsuit was see through.  I have no clue and I don't have swimming buddies to make sure I don't embarrass myself.  Thankfully it wasn't and I can keep wearing it.