Waving The White Flag

Mother Nature, can't you cut me some slack? Apparently not.

So this past week I did what I said I'd do: I managed all of my mid-week runs (all two, mind you). I did them at 9 PM when it was still close to 90 degrees, yet the sun was down. I was wringing wet, yet happy to be accomplishing the training.

As I touched on in my previous post, this week was my church's "City Project Week." It is a week in which most everyone puts forth time and energy to helping fix up the homes of a few needy families, basically (to be brief - but it is SOOOOO much more that - but for the purpose of how it may have affected my running, let's stick with that description). Each day Isaac and I arrived at church at 8 AM (up and at em'!!!) where he spent time in the nursery with his second best gal (I am #1, just to be clear... ha!) until I picked him up again at 12:30. My site was the home of a single mother of four children who has terminal cancer. Oh the things I did! I dug a spot for new front porch steps, I dug earth for new planter beds (I am now a shoveling expert), I scraped glue off concrete floors (my least favorite task), I painted (always my favorite!), I cleaned cabinets, I stained cabinets, I cleaned a bathtub... I did a bit of everything, mostly outdoors in the heat. So each day I'd pick up Isaac completely filthy and wringing wet with sweat. Just lovely! So once we got home I'd get a quick shower and then we'd both nap for several hours. Then we'd all go to a dinner each night (out in the heat!) to talk about all of the projects. It was a GREAT week. For everything I put in, I got it back tenfold, as I was able to be present when the mom returned home to her newly repaired/spruced up house.

As this was all wrapping up, it was time for my 23 mile run. I prepared a jug of Perpetuem Endurance Fuel, which I had discovered via the Extra Mile Podcast. I thought it would solve all of my problems, as it actually has a higher protein content than my normal choice of hydration. I also prepared my new Brooks Defeyance 3 shoes - which are white with purple and plum trim. Look out world, the grape ape is comin' through!

Like I have harped about before, when the sun goes down is the ONLY time to run around here. So I began at about 9 PM, armed with many gels and a flashlight (which I didn't even need as my chosen path is extremely well lit). It was 86 degrees. I'll give you the short of it: it was soooooo dang muggy that I only made it one loop of 8.05 miles. And they were 15 minute miles. Yuck. I was just out there thinking "This is crazy. It's just too hot." So I QUIT. That's right, q-u-i-t. I feel bad about it, but I also feel good - and proud. I figuratively gave Mother Nature the bird and chose to get home to my air conditioned home and sleeping family in hopes of preserving my health. I hope I made the right choice.

I don't know, now, if I should attempt it next weekend or just stick to the plan and do the *gasp* 26-miler in a few more weeks (which will be followed a few weeks later by a 29-miler -- no joke). It's so hot... what's a girl to do?

The good news: even though I only went 8.05 miles, as far as I can tell the Perpetuem worked great. You see, normally I get hungry WAAAAAY before time to take a gel. While sipping Perpetuem (which is not nearly as refreshing/good as water or a typical sports drink, by the way) I felt 100% "full" the whole time. Thank you, protein! I will definitely use it again when I make it out next weekend, no matter what the distance may be.

I have resolved to never train for such an early fall marathon again. Chicago, you better be a humdinger!

Where Have I Been?

Well, Chasen has been in Texas for work, for starters, which equals little to no "free time" to blog. When he had to be gone for eight days in May I learned some big lessons in dealing with being a "single parent" for a while. The most important lesson was to keep Isaac and I booked solid with activities to keep us from going stir crazy!

Isaac had big fun at the Mud Island River Park. Splashing is his #1 activity!

Cruising Target in his Japanese ninja pajamas from Martina.

After my 20-miler, real estate talks, preparation and looking led to me missing 8 miles of speedwork. Doh! (More to come on the real estate front.) Then Chasen's travels began. In order to avoid major stress, I gave myself permission to NOT stress about missing weekday runs, as it would be virtually impossible due to the heat and no help with Isaac.

Huckleberry Isaac (I made him a costume). Ha!

Chasen returned and I finally got out for 7 miles of speedwork late Saturday night. I had NO gas in the tank. It was a complete failure. But hey - you can't win 'em all. So I vowed to make this week better. Even though I am going to be working outdoors every morning this week (in the heat!) on a church project, I am determined to catch a cat nap every afternoon with Isaac and do my runs at dark. In fact, I just returned from one and it went wonderfully.

We are trying to figure out the best way for me to accomplish my 23-miler this weekend since we have very little time for it. We'll come up with something, I'm sure.

Beating The Heat

Good news! My bad eye is on the mend! Just in time for the other one to go south... really. Fortunately I took Chasen's advice and began putting antibiotic drops in both. So now they both look almost normal. I think from a distance you wouldn't know anything was up.

So today was to be the *dunh dunh dunh* 20 miler. I laid out everything last night and got into bed at 9 PM. Unfortunately I was still awake past 11 PM, and my alarm was set to ring at 2 AM. I did NOT sleep well. But I got up at 2:10 and started the process. At first I was ELATED to discover that my eye was not very "gunked over" until it dawned on me that it had only been shut for less than three hours. Oh well! Tonight will be the real test of just how much better it is.

Mind you, I gave PLENTY of thought to picking 3 AM as a time to run. There's just no other option to beat the heat. I mean, it's 80+ degrees by 8 AM usually, and it's still 90+ degrees at 9 PM. That basically rules out the whole day in terms of distance running, in my book. That leaves darkness, which brings cooler temps and no blazing sun to contend with. Now I have to vent a bit. Please indulge me.

Some nay-sayers have inquired as to whether or not it is safe. Well, check this out. Heat exhaustion or heat stroke is NOT safe. Suck it! Here are my safety measures:

1) wear blinky lights on both front and back
2) wear a small flashlight on my shoe (Road ID is on the other shoe)
3) wear a reflective hat
4) carry a flashlight (which I really only needed for my Garmin at times)
5) only go down main, well lit, highly 'policed' roads

Do you know how many of those steps I used to take pre-Isaac when I ran in Benton, Arkansas? None. Stupid, I know. But times have changed, peeps.

Here are the perks of nighttime running:
1) no sunscreen required
2) practically no traffic (you can't get hit by a car if there are no cars)
3) PLENTY of police cars out there to watch me
4) much lower temps (trust me, here in "Memphississippi" the sun alone is blazing hot!)

So there you have it. I am sticking to my guns. If you were in my shoes, you'd probably do the same.

On to the running! I hit the start button at 2:55 AM. I was aiming to finish by 8 AM. I did a 5-mile out-and-back first, but at 8.5 I just HAD to get to a restroom. Thankfully my local grocery store is 24-hours. This brings up a good topic. I used to NEVER have to make a pit stop until I started adding protein to my pre-run breakfast. Do you have the same issue? Let's face it... we can hold in pee for a LONG time but not the other...

I got back to the front of my neighborhood at 10 miles and headed out the other way. This time I ran to my church and back which put me at 15 miles. I did pretty well for the first 15. My splits were pretty consistent. I should note that when I ran 17 a few weeks ago, I did well until mile 12. So I guess I am pushing the wall back about one mile per week. Good! My next long run, several weeks from now, will be 23 miles. Hopefully the wall won't crop up until mile 18 or more.

The final five miles (all done in the HOT SUN, mind you) were basically walked. Ick. But I covered the distance and that is what matters to me. As I said, I managed to push back the wall. I still have training runs of 23, 26 and 29 miles to go. You better believe I'll be starting them even earlier!

Jeff Galloway says to add about 2 minutes to your goal race time during the long runs, and he also stresses that you can not go too slow during the long runs. AND you're supposed to slow down even further for temps over 60 degrees. My kind of guy! My splits (all done at 2:1 until mile 15) were 14:13, 14:44, 14:31, 14:45, 14:27, 14:43, 14:28, 14:38, 14:25, 14:22, 14:40, 14:21, 14:43, 14:47, 14:59, [the wall] 15:46, 17:18, 19:38, 19:33, 19:10. Obviously I was dragging at the end!

Of course I took my traditional ice bath afterward and am doing quite well now. How 'bout them apples?!?

If It Ain't One Thing...

... It's a bacterial infection in my left eye!

Trust me... this is a GOOD photo. See how puffy and red it is?

So on Monday my left eye started to get a bit red, which I thought was odd. By Thursday it was [pardon my descriptive nature] oozing gunk all night long and was sealed shut by the morning. Eeeew! So Isaac and I loaded up and headed straight to the eye doctor. Bam! Bacterial infection! How on earth??? And you can thank me later for not posting the pic from first thing in the morning! Triple eeeew!

So let's recap: last week I had a sinus infection with fluid in my ears, Isaac had an ear infection, and then on Friday I burned my finger on the oven. Aye aye aye! Now this! I have had just about enough.

Isaac's first time in a mini-van (and out of our cars, period).

Two sleepy boys... and we weren't even at the zoo yet!

My friend from Arkansas and her 9-month-old came to visit right after we got back from the eye doctor. I was glad, because I hate putting in eye drops. She helped! I have since had to "woman up" and do it myself when Chasen is not here. I have to do it four times per day.

Her boy has foam FANS on his stroller.

I am supposed to be doing a 20-miler tomorrow. Given how I feel (like my eye is oozing most of the time, which it is not, but the vision is sometimes cloudy) I am going to postpone for 48 hours, I think. I can make that happen because Chasen has Monday off work. Otherwise, I'd be up the creek! I don't think it is eye-related, but I have just been feeling worn-down, so I think 48 hours would do me good. My sore throat is slightly returning, also. Calgon, take me away!!!

More to come.