So the running isn't going too well thanks to this sciatic/S.I. issue plus my left leg/knee bone is still sore 5 weeks after my fall during my Bighorn trail run. Hubby thinks I need an xray and I'm wondering if he may be correct. There is some improvement but overall a significant amount of tenderness remains. I'm trying to view this period of downtime as an opportunity to explore other interests and to catch up on some things I've been meaning to do.
You may wonder how that's working out for me. Well, honestly, not too well. I've been doing a fair amount of biking but it's just not the same. I miss going on long runs with friends and the satisified and exhilarted feeling you get afterwards.
I keep reminding myself to be patient; this is a good time to back off for a while. Patience... patience...
PATIENCE
If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it.
I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil
and its head bent low with patience.
The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish,
and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.
~RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Let it snow!
I had an interesting yoga class last night. After a month or so off, I'm trying to get back into shape and regain the strength I lost. I arrived at the 7:00 class and the room was already warm. I changed clothes and swiped on a little deodorant - a free sample of some untested brand that I'd tossed in my gym bag. I unfurled my mat between 2 people: Valentina from Russia who is so flexible she could be her own circus act and a new guy who has a shaved head and a very fit looking body AND the longest mat I have ever seen. I commented on the size of his mat in my best imitation of Little Red Riding Hood, "Myyyyyy, what a long, black mat you have!"
Shaved Head Guy is doing a little warm up. Actually, what he is doing strikes me as showing off because he is doing all kinds of tricky yoga stuff that is great for impressing friends at parties and that I cannot do . So the teacher arrives and asks the new guy what kind of yoga experience he has. "OH, I used to do a lot of ashtanga but it's been a few years." Great, that means Jeff is going to ratchet the class up a bit to accommodate this guy and I'm really not up to that.
We start our practice and our body temps quickly rise with our exertion. The new guy's shaved head is covered in beads of sweat and his shirt is soaked. I'm having my own struggles trying to keep up with all the sun salutations. Plus the smell of this new deodorant is really starting to gag me. The more I sweat, the more it seems to engage and I begin to fear that everyone is smelling it. I glance at Shaved Head's mat and notice it is covered with mini sweat puddles. I look at my own yoga mat and notice there are tiny white deodorant balls all over it. I'm snowing deodorant balls from my arm pits. I think I'd rather have sweat puddles than deodorant snow.
I quivered and wobbled my way through the class and I have to say it feels DAMN good to be back in yoga again -- deodorant snow balls and all.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Decisions....decisions....
For the last few months I have agonized over whether or not I should sign up for the Portland Marathon. Initially, it seemed like a good idea because a good running friend was going to make that her first marathon and we could've trained together. Plus, I love Portland and would enjoy another trip there. Initially, I wasn't sure I could get through an entire marathon but after finishing the Bighorn, I decided I could do it. There were lots of good reasons to make Portland my first yet I still struggled.
Finally, I decided that if the decision is this hard then maybe it isn't the right thing for me to do. My heart simply isn't into training for a marathon. There are too many other ways I want to spend my time other than running. Maybe I will feel differently in the future but for right now this is the right decision. Besides, the half marathon really is the perfect distance.
Finally, I decided that if the decision is this hard then maybe it isn't the right thing for me to do. My heart simply isn't into training for a marathon. There are too many other ways I want to spend my time other than running. Maybe I will feel differently in the future but for right now this is the right decision. Besides, the half marathon really is the perfect distance.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Non-Stop Thrill Rides
It's official: I've done the Bighorn.
I had to find out why this course seductively entices our local runners to its trails each year. What makes it so special? Could I do it and would I enjoy the adventure? I went in search of Epic.
Miles 1 - 7: Like riding a new roller coaster for the first time, the climb upward heightened my anticipation for the thrill the downhill would bring. The first climb trudged from 7300' to 8000' and then dropped back down to about 7300. Then back up to 8100' before the next really long downhill segment. The trail ranged from decent jeep trails to single-track with a variety of large, embedded rocks or loose rocks. The Mile 5 aid station supplied runners with a bountiful smorgasboard of boiled shrimp, fresh fruit, Heed, gels, chips, crackers, etc.
I quickly found out that none of my training prepared me for the difficulty of the single-track trail. All of my long runs had been on the dirt and rock trails along the Rim Rocks but did not come close to simulating the difficult footing and steep downhills. I had to stay mentally focused the entire time or risk tripping. Letting my mind meander like I normally do on long runs was not an option and I became mentally and physically tired. I felt unbalanced and rather out-of-control. The course loses over 5,000' in elevation. How does someone prepare for that on a local level? I envied the good trail runners who floated over the rocks and down the hills effortlessly.
Mile 8: My toe finally caught a rock and I went down on hands and knees in the loose rock. It was jarring but overall I looked pretty good with just some minor trail rash on my left leg, a skinned knee, and a quickly bruising left palm.
Mile 10: I stopped to have my blistering feet taped by a handsome young man at the aid station. I was slightly horrified to have someone so precious tending to my dirty, sweaty, and blistered feet but he didn't seem to mind. What an angel.
Mile 12.5: We had lost significant elevation and the temps were become brutally hot with very little air circulation in the canyon. I was over-heating and the sound of the Tongue River rushing with the winter run off could be heard and seen in the valley just below the trail. What a cruel joke that was -- all I wanted to do was take my shoes off and cool my feet in the frigid water.
I felt seriously light-headed at this point and some running friends wisely encouraged me to take some Heed and Endurolyte capsules at this aid station. I also ate some watermelon and orange slices. Volunteers soaked us with cool water. I walked a while and began to feel better.
Mile 15: I felt pretty whiny until I came across a woman who was finishing the 100 mile route. She was barely putting one foot in front of the other so I slowed to walk with her a bit to help encourage her. She was at about Mile 97 and really hating life. She told me about her night alone on the trail and how she had been really afraid of bears. We talked about what motivates her to run the ultra distances.
A little boy with a garden hose thoroughly soaked us both at this aid station while his mother ran to fetch me a popsicle. I drank more Heed. The ultra woman and I parted ways and I didn't see her again until the finish. She shaved 3 hours off her last year's time.
So it wasn't pretty but I finished my mere 18 miles and found my husband who was nervously waiting at the finish line. My finish time was 30 - 45 minutes slower than I'd hoped but I lost significant time in the aid stations. "Never Again," I said. "That was the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life!" A male running friend smiled at me and said, "Well, now you've done THE BIGHORN."
That's been nearly 2 weeks ago and I find the pain has been replaced with a real sense of accomplishment and pride. I can already hear the seductive Bighorn sirens crying and calling to me. I will go back next year.
My GPS lost some mileage on the course but here's the overall profile.
I had to find out why this course seductively entices our local runners to its trails each year. What makes it so special? Could I do it and would I enjoy the adventure? I went in search of Epic.
Miles 1 - 7: Like riding a new roller coaster for the first time, the climb upward heightened my anticipation for the thrill the downhill would bring. The first climb trudged from 7300' to 8000' and then dropped back down to about 7300. Then back up to 8100' before the next really long downhill segment. The trail ranged from decent jeep trails to single-track with a variety of large, embedded rocks or loose rocks. The Mile 5 aid station supplied runners with a bountiful smorgasboard of boiled shrimp, fresh fruit, Heed, gels, chips, crackers, etc.
I quickly found out that none of my training prepared me for the difficulty of the single-track trail. All of my long runs had been on the dirt and rock trails along the Rim Rocks but did not come close to simulating the difficult footing and steep downhills. I had to stay mentally focused the entire time or risk tripping. Letting my mind meander like I normally do on long runs was not an option and I became mentally and physically tired. I felt unbalanced and rather out-of-control. The course loses over 5,000' in elevation. How does someone prepare for that on a local level? I envied the good trail runners who floated over the rocks and down the hills effortlessly.
Mile 8: My toe finally caught a rock and I went down on hands and knees in the loose rock. It was jarring but overall I looked pretty good with just some minor trail rash on my left leg, a skinned knee, and a quickly bruising left palm.
Mile 10: I stopped to have my blistering feet taped by a handsome young man at the aid station. I was slightly horrified to have someone so precious tending to my dirty, sweaty, and blistered feet but he didn't seem to mind. What an angel.
Mile 12.5: We had lost significant elevation and the temps were become brutally hot with very little air circulation in the canyon. I was over-heating and the sound of the Tongue River rushing with the winter run off could be heard and seen in the valley just below the trail. What a cruel joke that was -- all I wanted to do was take my shoes off and cool my feet in the frigid water.
I felt seriously light-headed at this point and some running friends wisely encouraged me to take some Heed and Endurolyte capsules at this aid station. I also ate some watermelon and orange slices. Volunteers soaked us with cool water. I walked a while and began to feel better.
Mile 15: I felt pretty whiny until I came across a woman who was finishing the 100 mile route. She was barely putting one foot in front of the other so I slowed to walk with her a bit to help encourage her. She was at about Mile 97 and really hating life. She told me about her night alone on the trail and how she had been really afraid of bears. We talked about what motivates her to run the ultra distances.
A little boy with a garden hose thoroughly soaked us both at this aid station while his mother ran to fetch me a popsicle. I drank more Heed. The ultra woman and I parted ways and I didn't see her again until the finish. She shaved 3 hours off her last year's time.
So it wasn't pretty but I finished my mere 18 miles and found my husband who was nervously waiting at the finish line. My finish time was 30 - 45 minutes slower than I'd hoped but I lost significant time in the aid stations. "Never Again," I said. "That was the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life!" A male running friend smiled at me and said, "Well, now you've done THE BIGHORN."
That's been nearly 2 weeks ago and I find the pain has been replaced with a real sense of accomplishment and pride. I can already hear the seductive Bighorn sirens crying and calling to me. I will go back next year.
My GPS lost some mileage on the course but here's the overall profile.
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