Now that wasn't so bad

All that worry for nothing...

I ended up with 15.1 miles and it wasn't so bad afterall -- although my feet were getting rather tender. I ran with a friend on rim trails for the first half and then ran myself home with my music for the last half. The trail section was beautiful and she showed me a great new trail that I didn't know about. The hills were pretty small but the uneven footing was good practice for the Bighorn 30k that is right around the corner. I had a few hints of cramps in my right foot and left hamstring so will probably pick up some e-caps or something on that order.

Long Run Jitters

This Saturday my plan is to run 15 miles. The last time I ran 15 miles, I felt pretty miserable. Hubby and I meandered aimlessly around trying to get the miles in and it was terribly draining both mentally and physically. I suffered from serious negative self talk from about mile 2 onward.

So I'm trying to learn from those mistakes for this 15 miler. First, I need to figure out a suitable course. Point-to-points are much more interesting so I think I will drive myself to a point 15 miles from home and then I won't have a choice but to finish the run. No circling back early to find my car or to call it quits. I'll be locked in for the duration.

Second, I would really like to have some company on all or at least part of this run. Unfortunately, neither of my weekend running friends are available this Sat. and my husband may be preoccupied with some home remodeling. Looks like it could be me, myself, and my tunes for the entire run. That makes me very nervous.

Long Run Day

I'm trying to build mileage for a half marathon in Deadwood, SD and a 30 km trail event in Wyoming two weeks later. My goal is to get to 18 miles before Deadwood on June 8. I have never run more than 15 miles so this will be interesting.

Yesterday, I met my friend, Jen, and we did some jockeying of cars to run a point-to-point course. She only wanted to run 10 and my plan was for 13 so I ran 2 before we met and then a mile on my own afterwards. We started with 3 miles of single track trail with some baby hills and then ventured out on the asphalt. It went pretty well and we ended at City Brew where we had coffee and breakfast. We definitely need to do more trail work and more hills before Wyoming.

I've been doing some thinking about the Portland Marathon in October. Jen is already registered and now another friend is considering it. The pressure is on me to decide. Hubby is supportive and thinks I should just go for it. Honestly, I just don't know if I can get through 26.2 miles.

Fainting spells and cardiologists

Last week after a terrific medium long run with a friend, I went directly to a running club meeting and passed out cold when I stood up afterwards, hitting my head pretty hard on a concrete floor. Many friends encouraged me to get a physical so I relented. In retrospect, I knew where I went wrong that day and my primary care physician agreed that it was probably due to low blood pressure, poor fueling and hydration, and lack of cool down. However, he recommended an echocardiogram stress test thingy because, "afterall, you ARE 46 and deserve one."

I went to the cardiologist and sat nervously in the waiting room with 6 people who must've been in their 80's. I am too young and healthy to be here. My name was called and the test was performed. I was able to see my heart pumping on the ultrasound machine so that was cool. I lasted almost 16 minutes with an 18% grade. Results: My heart is fine. I have low blood pressure that gets even lower with exercise instead of raising like many people's. Poor fueling and hydration exacerbates this so I really need to be more careful with fueling, hydration, and cool down.

So if you see me passed out cold somewhere, please elevate my feet.

My new blog

I created this blog today with the idea of giving the technology a try and to see if I would enjoy writing in a digital diary.