The Mill

Yes! I finally feel like a runner again. It’s been hit and miss over these last few weeks, and this was the first solid 6 days of running I’ve had since…. can’t remember. The caveat in this confidence building episode - my new friend the treadmill. With temperatures everyday hitting the mid-90’s and stifling humidity - I’ve conceded the outside realm to the weather. They win. So I loaded up my I-pod, stuffed my gym bag and scurried off to SLU for a very successful training week. Tuesday was an easy base run anywhere from 4-8 miles depending on how I felt. I hopped on, started her up, and couldn’t believe how easy it felt. I could BREATHE, I wasn’t immediately soaked to the bone and my head - well it felt like it might just be making a major comeback from the migraine attack. I think on Tuesday I could have run 15-16 miles without effect, but I listened to my plan and scooted out after 7.5 when the music player lost all battery.

Wednesday was a speedwork day. Now - speedwork on a treadmill is easier for sure - it guides you. But this speedwork was still quite an unexpected breeze. After my run I told Conrad that it felt too easy, and I that I should really amp up my speed and shorten the recovery times for next week. This literally never happens to me on speed days. On the good ones, I come home tired and satisfied, on the tough ones I am exhausted, but never, ever do I feel like they are easy. I took this as a very good sign. Perhaps getting some new asthma medicine coupled with 3 breathing treatments really did the trick. The only disappointment for me this week was my lack of swimming. I’m nursing some chest soreness and can’t really get in the pool just yet. So I did add some mileage to Friday’s tempo run to make up for the cross training deficit and still felt great. The week ended with a 14 mile easy base run, with an extra 2 miles tacked on for good measure upping the total to 16.

This is a major breakthrough in the running life of me. I have always, always, always HATED the treadmill. It gets on my nerves, it’s boring and it’s at the gym - talk about sensory overload. It’s totally the opposite of what running is to me - peace, tranquility, time alone. Plus you can’t just walk out your door and go. There’s a whole process to it: the bag, the ID, the inevitable wait period while you glare at someone walking, reading a magazine, and talking on the phone while taking up the last treadmill. Ok, point taken - I hate it. So I was beyond surprised when I had no issues with former public enemy #1. What’s going on? Have I found a new friend? Or is it just the ease and comfort on the joints of the treadmill, mixed with the tunes and the A/C that have me feeling like I could tackle the marathon tomorrow? I’m not sure what this magic is - but I’m crossing my fingers that it continues into next week in the big D heat - where my new friend will not be making the trip, and it’s just the melting pavement under me.


Miles Run 50 +2 hours resistance/yoga

Just Not That Into You

All week I considered breaking up with running. My relationship with it just isn’t satisfying these days. Running isn’t sparking my interest at the moment. Partly it’s the heat, partly its the headache that comes along with this humidity, partly it’s just being plain tired. Thankfully this was my down week, lots of easy running and low key exercising. I ran twice on the treadmill and twice with Conrad, which was quite nice. I accompanied him on his track workout Tuesday night @ Wash U, and we had a lovely run through Tower Grove Park on Saturday evening. It’s nice to get outside of your own neighborhood and run some different routes every so often. But even with the change of scenery and the delightful company, I just had no umph in my step. I’m grumpy with my good friend running and just want it to go away for a little while so I can be lazy. I missed my easy long run on Sunday entirely. I just couldn’t get myself out the door.

From the age of 11 I’ve suffered from debilitating migraines - another genetic hiccup passed on from the Rice’s. Some years they’ve had me in the hospital, some years I can make it through with just a touch or two of the noggin. I’ve always fared poorly in humid conditions, and this summer is shaping up to be a doozy. I can’t swim when my head hurts this bad. Going underwater makes it feel like my eyes are going to explode. It’s no fun. And running takes a backseat as well. If my head isn’t pounding up a storm, I’m on a very strong vasco-constricting medicine, causing all my veins to tighten up considerably - making running and sucking in for oxygen a rough experience.

I find myself talking to my cranky self - telling me that it’s the headache, it’s the medicine, it’s the heat that are wearing me down and rubbing off that love of running. AND I’m hoping that’s all there is to it. If we can get a one day break in this weather pattern, and I can break the cycle of headache/meds, perhaps I will fall in love with my fitness partner all over again. So, I’m off for a nap to try and shake this headache that’s on its 7th day, and will wake up ready to tackle a hopefully heavy training week!

Miles run (a paltry) 30 +1 hour resistance/yoga

The Joy & Misery

Well, I’ve knocked about ideas all week for the essay. But my brain is fried - (from the heat) - and I’ve got no umph in my intellect or my running. I missed 12 miles on my schedule this week, one run on Saturday all together and the odd mile here and there throughout the week. The heat continues, the humidity smothers and the speedwork has all but ceased as I’m just trying to keep my endurance up in these miserable days. I missed 1 day of resistance and had no energy to do yoga. I even cut out my joy, the swim, on Saturday as I was just to blah… It’s depressing, and I’m working on a solution to this early weather assault. I’ve got my suspicions its just going to be one of those summers. As much as I HATE the treadmill, I think it will have to become my friend if I hope to continue serious training, building on the miles and upping the ante on speed.

Miles run 40 +1 hour swimming +1 hour resistance/yoga

The heat is on...

I like to think of myself as a strong, hardy, independent person. At the age of 12 I would beam with pride when called stubborn. I was downright giddy that my parents had a book in their library entitled The Strong Willed Child. As I got a little older and my worldview grew less myopic, the harsh reality of my limitations and inferiorities came crashing down. Losing championship games, not making the grade I expected, actually confronting failure - ouch. But I did manage to dust myself off and move on - most of the time capturing some positive essential from the experience. There is however a little piece of me that is still an obstinate and overly- sure 10 year old, and boy did it come out this week.

June in St. Louis got off to a hot, hot, hot and mighty humid start. No bother for the strong and capable me. 108 lbs of sheer force and will, I woke up Monday morning absolutely sure I could tackle this weather, any time of day, with aplomb. Well - not even close. I withered and withered and withered some more, and by Saturday, when I finally ran at a reasonable time for the heat, I just couldn’t make it more than 4 miles of my scheduled 8. I limped home - tail between the legs - slumped on the couch and felt sorry for myself and my lack of fitness, wallowed away for an hour or so wondering if I’m just too old to keep up and how in the world I would ever make 50 miles if I could barely scrape out 4. Eventually I decided to just zip the brains negativity and go have fun. It worked! I woke up Sunday morning, humbled and ready to tackle a 14 mile run - weather be damned. I took it easy, ran well within my comfort zone and finally, somewhere around mile 8, I began to feel like me again knocking the last 6 out of the park with some decent speed.

14 miles - not that big of a deal. I run that distance 2-3 times a week while marathon training, but 14 miles after a week of getting my esteem chomped up = priceless. And I relearned, which I think I have to every year, to be smart about running in the heat. It accumulates on your body and taxes you in a way that running in mild temperatures just does not. I tend to get into a zone when the weather warms up in the spring and I am running well - where I think I can do anything - run Badwater 135 miles in the searing heat, no problem - Leadville, I could do that in my sleep - Sahara 1 week across the desert run, without a blink - and then my reality sets in, brings me back to earth, smacks me around and helps to center me back on my own realistic goals. It stings every time, and every time I come away with a little more knowledge of myself. So while I wouldn’t call this week a good running week - it sure was a positive self examination week, and I’m hoping that I can cater my goals to the reality of my body and it’s limitations in a way that keeps me satisfied within but still reaching just beyond the line.

Miles run = 49 +1.5 hour swimming 2 hour resistance training/yoga