Racing myself

Beware, there be squalls ahead...

I've really been struggling lately with my running.  After my last post Sunday night, I was determined to run 5.5 to get some distance in before the Disneyland Half Marathon in 24 days.  I set out that night but came up short.  Only 4 miles logged due to heat, weather and the inability to run on the treadmill.  Then, Tuesday morning I went for a maintenance run aimed for 3 miles but came up with only 2.  After I got home, I kind of broke down.  Then my husband reminded me something along the lines of, "You had MAJOR SURGERY 9 weeks ago.  You've only been running a year.  You've come a long way."  He's right. I know that.

And then, this all brings to mind the REASON I started all of this.  Which is here.  Which is why I keep running.  Which is why I'm going to keep running.  I'm going to keep running even if my running is never the same or if this is just some hiccup in my still-yet-short lifetime running adventure.

If I'd just remind myself, almost a year and a half ago, I was still dealing with LOTS of pain.  LOTS of discouragement from LOTS of unanswered health questions.  Now, all of those issues are gone.  I'm no Doctor and I'm no therapist, but running helped heal my physical and psychological pain.  And running continues to help with that, even though this rough running patch has been uncharted and unpleasant territory to navigate.

If I'm going to be honest with myself, I am only racing with myself.  There's no way in hell I'm racing with the front runners.  They'll finish their 26.2 miles before I'm even done with my 13.1.  More importantly, I'm not even racing with people in my sex and age group, who are more experienced and healthy than I am.  But most importantly, I'm racing against me.  

I'm racing against all the things I never would have dreamed I'd do.

I've never been athletic.  People always joked that I should be a basketball player since I'm so tall, but then they saw me trip UP the stairs and they reassessed quickly.  So, that I'm pounding the pavement at all is still other-worldly to me.  That I enjoy doing it is even weirder. That I ran THIRTEEN point freaking ONE miles and got a big shiny medal? Crazy town. That I did it again 2 months later? That I'm doing going to be doing it again 12.5 weeks after major abdominal surgery?! I may need to be checked out, cause that ain't right!  Never in my WILDEST dreams would I have thought I'd run a half marathon, much less 3 in the same year THEN start training for a full marathon!

I've never been "fit". And honestly, I'm still not.  But, I'm on the journey to getting there and running has helped me become more focused on it.  I'm more fit than I was 1 year ago.  And a little more fit looking than was a few years ago.  I could stand to lose maybe 10 more pounds to be in my "healthy" BMI range, and then maybe another 15 to appease the insecure, unhappy chubby girl inside of me.  But another thing I need to realize: even though I'd love to have the speed, grace, gazelle-intensity and sleek body of those front-runners, my body won't conform to those standards.  I'm curvy.  I don't have to be as curvy as I am NOW, mind you, but I'm not going to be them, speed or body-wise, and that's another realization.  God made me this way, and I'll just try to be as healthy as this body will allow me to be.  So, I'm racing to get there and be as content as possible along the way.

I've never been shy about medical issues.  I think sharing helps with easing the stigma of certain ailments.  And since I'm being honest, I think running, more than any other life circumstance, pushed me to get my Hysterectomy.  It had plagued me for 14+ years but after it began impeding on my running, I knew it was the final straw.  Read my post here.  I promise, it wasn't a flippant decision, but running has changed and helped me so much, and anything that stood in the way of it would be on my short list.

I've never been one to go after huge goals.  I'm not even 100% sure what gave me the idea last spring to try to tackle the 2012 WDW Half Marathon.  But, I decided to try.  Since setting that goal, and my success with it, I've set many more goals.  Goals for my health, my running, my hobbies, my traveling, and my relationships.  Goal oriented thinking has changed my outlook!  Things aren't out of reach if you're devising a way to get there!  It may take you a while, but with a goal and a plan, that's where you're headed!

So, with that, I've realized, I'm not even racing.  Don't get me wrong, it's still technically called a "race" but I'm not on the track to beat anyone.  And unfortunately, my competitive ego needs that reminder.  I'm on the track to run.  To run for me.  To run to reach MY goals.  To reach my goal of completing the task I've been working towards, in this case, a full 26.2 mile marathon.  Yes, I would like my speed to improve, but that's a goal I've set, a "want to improve if I can" kind of thing.  And now that I've given myself this public reminder of why I do this, I need to keep doing it, put the ego back on the shelf and put on my big girl panties and deal with it.

 "In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that." 
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

Playing dress up

Well, it's getting close! The Disneyland Half Marathon is less than one month away! I'm ashamed to admit that while I've been freaking out about how close it is, I haven't run at all this week :( I've had a recurring headache and I'm wondering if it's the weather? Either way, I have to run 5.5-6 today. After letting the headache win when my alarm when off for my early morning run, I will either have to run it outside tonight if it isn't thundering and lightning (40% chance) or on the dreadmill. I really, really hope it isn't lightning so I can do it outside!!

However, to keep myself from worrying about my current lack of distance training, I've been trying to decide on a costume to race in! I dressed up as red fraggle for the WDW half this year but it was kind of a failure (no one even new who she WAS!?!? What a crying shame!), other than the fact that my hair Pom-poms made me easier to spot for my family. But, I had a really fun time brainstorming something to wear and then getting the supplies and learning how to make the Pom-poms. It got me even more excited for the race and since I'm no Olympic speed runner, anything that makes these races more enjoyable is right up my alley! runDisney does a great job with the on-course entertainment but bringing my own excitement and fun along only helps!

So, for this race, I'm just gonna hope someone can figure out who I'm trying to be! I still haven't decided which one I want to dress as (I'll post as soon as I decide), but I have made a short list :) The one thing that I HAVE decided is that I want to make a tutu to wear for either this race or for the Tower of Terror 10 mile (I have 2 villain characters I want to dress as and this tutu will work for either of them!). So, I looked on pinterest and YouTube for some tutorials and went to the store last weekend.

I bought rolls of tulle instead of yardage on bolts, and I'm happy with the results! Here are my supplies:

Add caption

Scissors, 3 rolls of 25 yard long-6" wide tulle and elastic for the waistband (I could only find some with button loops but it worked fine)

I started by trying to decide how long it should be. I decided on 36" strips which would mean that the strips would hang down about 18" from my waist. The way I looped them through, makes the length of the strip cut in half once on the elastic. I then proceeded to cut lots of strips. I cut them about 10 at a time, then do some looping so I wouldn't get so bored! After I had a mound of strips, I started to loop them over the elastic. I'm not sure the name of this type of loop/knot (under and through?!), but there's a step by step right here:

Then:

I actually liked using the elastic with the button holes because it gave me a nice idea on spacing! I just kept doing that over and over until I reached the end. I knew I wasn't done since I wanted it nice and "poofy". So, I then decided I didn't want it all the same length, so the bare spots above are where I put the shorter strips. I cut those at about 18" so they would hang down about 9" from the waist.

So, another round of cutting, looping, cutting and looping. Finally, I finished and came up with this:

And here is the final shot that shows the "poof factor" :)

Overall, for a total of about $15.00 and a few hours worth of time, I'm very happy with it. The only thing that I may change is the length. Yeah, after making the whole thing, I think I like the shorter length strips the most. The main reason is knowing that if I'm wearing this while running, they might get caught between my legs and tulle chafing has got to hurt, I'm sure. But, I don't want to find out! So, I may try cutting the longer pieces to about 12" to see if I still like the look of layers, and if not, I'll cut the whole thing to the 9" length.

Lastly, I'm going to be wearing running shorts, capris or tights (depending on which character I choose) so the see-thru nature of this tutu won't be a modesty issue, much to Hubby's content! As he saw me making it, he was worried that I was going to use it as a skirt by itself. Note, this one is not setup like that, but I'm sure that if you added a slip and even dyed the slip to match, it could be a fun skirt to wear for a party or something!

So, now, after drinking my cup of coffee, watching the women's olympic marathon earlier and now writing this post, I've decided I have to get motivated and get this long run in!! What's on your agenda today? Getting out and conquering something, or taking a breather to give yourself some rest? Either way, I hope you succeed!

I'm slowly getting healthy!

Since my surgery, I've made a resolution of sorts about my eating habits:  No fast food burgers, tacos, fries, fried stuff, etc and no pizza.  Well, I had pretty much kept to that until this past weekend, I started off great Saturday morning with the delicious grilled protein omelet here (which I couldn't even eat half of-I didn't eat the biscuit and only ate half the potatoes), but after hanging with some friends that evening at the local burger joint, I decided to cheat & eat a burger.  However, my tummy wasn't so happy that I was eating grease again so my "first post-op run" that was scheduled for Sunday morning got pushed back to that evening.

Yummy grilled protein omelet!

So, Sunday night, I did it!

I RAN!!! After almost 7 weeks of no running, and only a couple of walks, I ran 2.5 miles (did the Galloway run :30/walk :30 method) and I went slow, just to make sure I didn't injure my now-untrained-legs or my incision sites.  I mean I went REALLY slow.  Like, I was walking faster than I was running.  BUT! I didn't feel any pain from the incision sites or any discomfort and, I can say that 2 days later, I have no soreness either!! Also, even though it was SO hot and humid, it felt GREAT to be hitting that pavement again!  Which means that tonight, I'm hitting the road again with a 3 mile goal as well as to try a faster pace!

Here is my time/stats from the "First Run"

I'll be sure to report back after tonight and let you know how Run # 2 goes! :)

On another note:  I would like to dress in a Disney related costume of sorts for the Disneyland Half soon... Ideas? I'm a big fan of Tron and Tron:Legacy (see my photo below from this weekend!) and think with my new Brooks Pure Connects or Even my Asics that a Tron:Legacy Quorra costume would be fun but all black might get hot really quickly... I dressed as Red Fraggle for the WDW Half this year (although NO ONE knew who she was or that I was trying to look like her FAIL!) and it was fun trying to figure out a costume, so I'd like to do it again.  I don't want to be Minnie or any of the princesses, everyone dresses like them.  There's nothing wrong with that, but I'd like to err on the side of originality!  I'd love to hear suggestions or ideas!

My Tron shirt from my husband, I love this shirt!!!

Thanks for reading and I'll be back tomorrow with a run update!

Expedition Everest 5k Challenge race recap

In my last post I teased my race photo, (here it is for those that missed it) and said I'd share my race recap and here it is!

Expedition Everest 5k Challenge race recap

I wasn't planning on being able to race up until the last minute. But, I was lucky and secured a last minute spot and thanks to a wonderful friend, got a great deal on a condo rental. We even ended up getting to invite and share the trip with our friends Allison & Kevin, who I was able to do a mini photo session with in the Magic Kingdom.

But, back to the race! I had been trying to work on speed a bit more in April but mainly, I wanted to run this race as my first timed 5k and add to my runDisney medal collection! So far, I have the Fiesta 5k plastic medal from January 2012 but it's just a family fun run, not an individually timed race, as well as the 15th anniversary Donald Half Marathon medal from January 2012. Also, with this race, the runner and family or friends who want to purchase tickets can experience select rides at Animal Kingdom after park closing after the race is over during the after party! Too cool and I love seeing Animal Kingdom in the dark, it's so majestic!

I knew this medal would be shaped like a compass (very cool!) and it was the 5th anniversary as well. One thing that I've learned in my short time running, anniversary years are even more fun because they normally have special medals to commemorate the occasion and I LOVE medals especially special commemorative ones (swag hag!!)!

Also, I knew multiple people running this race and was really excited to see them again!! So, after getting in that afternoon after an 8 hour drive, we drove straight to package pickup at The Wide World of Sports Complex. I walked into the package pickup area and all the names were on boards correlating to your corral and bib number. This race can be run by individuals (like I was) or as a team (like a majority of people did). I found my name on the individual list as bib number 9, in wave/corral 1.

Hahahahahahahaha!!!! If you're a runner, you know why that's funny. If you're not a runner, what it normally means is that you're in the fastest group of elite runners. At large races, they group the elite runners with the lowest bib numbers in the first corral. When I say elite runners, I mean like Kenyans and Olympic record speed peeps. Well, I am NONE of those. Totally not even close. Like they look at me and wonder why I'm walking at a race. You'll see below how not speedy I am when you see my time, but it was a PR for me! But for a second there it was hilarious and it continued to be for the rest of the night really.

After that fun discovery, I stopped for this cute photo op, where I kind of look unclothed due to the sign covering 75% of my body:

I was hoping against hope that there might be some extra pins (race and tour pins are really the only ones I "collect") at the teeny tiny "expo" but alas, they were sold out just like the website said. We walked down to pickup the shirt and I was stuck with a large (that I'll never wear) since I had registered so late.  Maybe my husband will wear it?

After a quick trip to Epcot to celebrate a little Cinco de Mayo through food and beverage in the Mexico pavilion (see below) we went back to the room so I could get ready for the race. I wore my purple shirt since its dark and I figured I'd be pouring water all over myself since it was so hot and my go-to Adidas capris as well as my compression sleeves and Asics shoes.

I packed my bag that I was going to check with Gatorade, fresh socks and shirt for post race (since I knew I'd be drenched with water & sweat), Chapstick, body glide and a few other items and headed over to meet my friends Larry & Kayce who were running as a father/daughter team and who graciously let me ride to and from the race with them.  They're such a fun family and it was their first ever race!! (They did awesome, by the way!)

We got to the starting area in the Animal Kingdom Parking lot and it was crowded and hot!!  The blacktop was sot hot my shoes were getting warm!  There were a lot of people there already and the line for bag check was crazy long so we hopped in and waited and waited some more! Finally, after dropping the bags off, I was able to meet up with my running buddy Deanna from Canada as well as a few new people who I have become acquainted with through twitter (it's like a massive pen-pal service I think!). As I was standing there with them, they called for the first corral and we traded a couple more jokes about me being a Kenyan, they wished me luck, and I was herded into the corral to begin the race!

While standing listening to the announcers, I started to feel my feet burning.  A lot!  I started jumping around just to get some air under them!  Finally, the fireworks went off, I started my MapMyRun app (which didn't end up recording my race route BOO!) and my music and we were off!  The first obstacle was hay bales.  Oh, did I forget to mention, this race has 1. Obstacles during the 5k and 2. A scavenger hunt after the 5k race which is included in the overall time (more on that later).  Well, I am about as graceful as a brick.  I fall UP the stairs.  I trip on cracks in the sidewalk.  I broke my baby toe in a laundry basket.  I broke my shoulder falling off the bathroom counter (long story-I was 13 & stupid).  So, these obstacles had me worried, but as we approached, the runDisney volunteers assured us we could go around them if we didn't think we could do it.  I wanted to try and I hopped over all of them (but I'm sure anyone watching me would've thought I was flailing my arms like I was trying to fly away or something!).

We continued to run through the parking lot of Animal Kingdom and headed toward the entry gate to begin running through the park, as I approached mile marker 1, I realized that since I was in wave/corral 1, the projected time was actually mine, and not the total race time that I normally see during the other races I've been to.  As I approached, It was still under 11 minutes, I speeded up and crossed mile 1 right as it hit 11:00 (I was actually 6 seconds behind that based on the Disney time, so it was technically a 10:54 minute mile!!) and I yelled out "I JUST RAN AN 11 MINUTE MILE!!!" Haha! Everyone around me could've cared less and I got a couple crazy looks, but that was probably a personal best, much less in 90 degree + heat!!

I really did enjoy getting to run through Animal Kingdom, I think it's really underrated as far as design goes.  Maybe it's because I love animals so much, or that Animal Kingdom isn't always packed with people, but I enjoy the time we spend there.  Those park days are always relaxed and laid back.  However, the race route was wet in many areas and I won't lie, a few times I was worried I, or other people, might slip!

As the race went on, it was so hot and humid, it was pretty miserable! I poured a little bit of water from my bottle on my head and neck and pressed on.  Obstacle 2 was a "silent obstacle" and don't even ask me what they meant by that other than you weren't supposed to talk.  It was as weird as it sounds.  Anyways, like I said, I'm not graceful or coordinated but I wanted to try it.  It was a tire hop obstacle, I tried hopping in about 4 and fell over, right on my butt.  Yep. So graceful.  I decided, I tried-but better to not injure myself on a 5k, you know?! So I skipped the rest of the tires and pressed on.

As I passed the 2nd water stop, I poured part of a cup over my head to wet my hair and a bit over chest and then a well-meaning volunteer proceeded to pour a full cup down my back.  A full cup of water ended up down my shirt, pants and underwear.  NOT what you want for a race and pretty over the top for a 5k.  I was pretty mad, but just kept going.

By the end of mile 2 I was getting ready to be done.  It was just so hot and my feet were on fire still.  The 5k finish was in sight and as I rounded the bend, the last obstacle was a crawl under a rope net.  I wanted to just walk around it, but I stood there for 2 seconds and decided to "just do it!".  The astroturf we had to crawl on hurt my knees like heck, but as I crawled out I was proud that I decided to try all the obstacles.

After crossing the 5k finish, we were given a mini sharpie and a clue.  At this point, I was drained from an 8 hour road trip in that morning, walking around Epcot, running a 5k at 9pm, then they hand me a clue and expect my brain to work?! Eh, let's just say that first clue was rough!  I don't even remember what they all were, other than word and number puzzles that my brain was not happy about having to complete.  And, the clues are just part of it, you have to get to other areas of the Animal Kingdom park to get more!  So, a lot of people kept running to get good times, I just walked since I was pooped and thanks to that oh-so-sweet volunteer lady, I was now a soggy-bottom girl.

During the "scavenger hunt portion, I remember starting outside the park again, thenvisiting The Camp Minnie-Mickey area, then on to Africa, then the walkway between Africa & Asia and then crossing over the 5k track which still had runners, and then on to the Expedition Everest ride where the official "Finish Line" was.

I "ran" that finish since I has recouped some by then and then grabbed my shiny new medal, a banana, a yellow powerade and I walked straight on to Expedition Everest!!! It was really fun to run a race based on the ride and then hope RIGHT ON IT!  Not only that, but Expedition Everest is a great ride, but it's MAGICAL at night!  I hopped in the first row, and by this point, my body has cooled down enough that I'm chilly from the sweat/water soaking incident and the breeze on the ride.  I actually felt like I was at Everest in May in Orlando, FL! Pretty fun!

After I hopped off the ride, I decided to go to bag pickup and I'm glad I did because bag pickup got CRAZY BAD as the night went on!  I changed my shirt and socks and then waited for my friends Larry & Kayce and then we all rode Everest together which was a blast all over again!  We decided we were pooped and walked back to the car where we happened upon Brett & his wife, new runners who we know through the Disney Flickr photography community!  We were parked on the same row and everything!  It really is a "small world after all!"

All in all, I enjoyed the race, the people I got to see again, and the new people I was able to meet.  The medal is really cute and the course was fun and obstacles/scavenger were pretty challenging, although I'm no navy seal or rubik's cube champ! Haha!  I wasn't sore the next day and I wore my medal although no one seemed to notice it, but I was proud of it!  While we were waiting in line at the Epcot Character Spot I saw a tweet that times were out and so I found my time and for the 5k it was 34:42!! That's a PR any way I slice it, since it was my first timed 5k, and probably the fastest pace per mile on any race or training run yet!  I'm very happy with it and maybe one day soon I'll be able to do a sub-30 5k!

Until then, I'll just have my shiny new compass medal, my #9 bib and keep dreaming of being Grete Waitz ;)

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have ever run this race or if you want to!  I'd do it again, especially if I have a partner or team, I think it would be extra fun!

-Diana

Hit the Road

So, in my last post, I explained my absence quite succinctly with a trip and surgery.  Well, the surgery was pretty major; I had a total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo oophorectomy.  "Say what?"-you say?  What it means is, they took out my ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus & cervix.  I've dealt with endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome the past 15 years and I'm done.  Every person is different, and needs to make their own life and medical decisions after much thought, and I made this one.  I opted to remove my reproductive organs to help curb a majority of my pain and symptoms from those conditions.

I dealt with a lot of pain, bleeding, multiple procedures, a lot of worry and then a lot more worry, not to mention a lot of hormonal ups and down for way too long.  I'm really glad that I decided to have this surgery and my recovery has been great, albeit longer than I thought.  I thought that I would be back up and almost normal within a week or 2, but when they say 6 weeks for recovery, they mean it!  I missed 3 weeks of work, then did half days for a week, then back to normal.

I knew I was going to have this procedure at some point, but I decided to do it this year, at this time because of my running goals.  It might sound flippant or crazy to a non-runner, but I really enjoy setting new goals and chasing after them and running has provided me a healthy, low-ish cost way of doing that a rewarding myself with the accomplishment of finishing and getting sweet medals (I'm a swag hag!).  So, again, I decided to do it at the beginning of June since I knew recovery would be 6 weeks, and my race schedule as of today is the Disneyland Half over Labor Day weekend (now less than 7.5 weeks away ahhh!!) and then, the full marathon in January at Walt Disney World!  I knew I'd need as much time as possible to train, I didn't want to suffer in pain any longer, and if I put it off, I wouldn't be able to do the former, and would have to deal with the latter.  So, surgery was scheduled and completed in probably record time on June 5th.

My Dr. was great, the surgery went great, I stayed overnight in the hospital and had some friends and family visit in my drugged-up state, and then I was released the next day.  My mother came into town to help out for a few days while my husband went back to work which was really nice.  After she left, my husband took great care of me and I've been getting better slowly each day.  The major changes: no more of the old pain and surgical menopause.  Yep, I'm now a 29 year old-old lady.  Haha, seriously though, night sweats, hot flashes, changes in my skin, hair, mood, all of it changed like the flip of a switch. But, I'm working through it and it's totally worth the no pain trade off!

Lastly, when I met with the Dr. pre-op, I told her my racing plans and she said she was proud I had it all planned and that I could start running again after 6 weeks.  Well, I saw her this week (It's been 5 weeks) and she was hesitant to release me to begin activity, but after explaining my training plans and pacing, she released me to begin walking this week and start jogging next week!!! I have been really struggling with not being able to run when I want.  I didn't feel up to it for the last 4 weeks, but I still missed it a lot.  Well, last night I hit the road for the first time since the surgery and it felt great.  I could still feel some pulls here and tugs there from the incision sites on my stomach (there are 4, they used the da Vinci robot assisted method for my surgery), but otherwise, no pain!

The only pain I felt was some discomfort from my new shoes!  Since I haven't run since May, I decided to try to make the switch to more neutral shoes and after checking my stores, I landed on these babies:

They're the Brooks Pure Connects and I really like them, but I can definitely tell a difference from my old Asics support shoes but I think I'm going to switch completely since I'm starting out at square one with walking and working back up to long distances.

And, last but not least, a teaser for my next post, the Disney Expedition Everest Challenge recap!  Here's my post-race photo!  Come back soon to see my race recap!  Thanks for reading!

Expedition Everest Finish ©Brightroom.com

Yeah, I still blog!

Yep, I'm still alive!  May and June were pretty busy in crazytown!  There was a trip to Walt Disney World (yay!!!) at the beginning of May and a surgery at the beginning of June (boo!!).  So, I'll go with the happier of the two first:  Vacation photos! We went to Walt Disney World with friends at the beginning of May and it was a blast!!! I mean, absolute blast, maybe me favorite trip ever even!  Points that made this trip rock:

• It was Flower & Garden Festival (which we've never experienced)!
• Antonio Ballatore (who I love!) from the HGTV's The Antonio Project was the featured speaker and I got to meet him!
• I got to run in the Expedition Everest 5k Challenge (and I PRed!- I ran under an 11 minute mile the first mile, that was a first!!)
• We got to eat at Le Cellier-So good!!
• We got to enjoy the trip with friends, visit with some far away friends and meet new ones as well!
• I took some fun portrait photos in Magic Kingdom park!
• We FINALLY rode Dumbo, I don't think we've ever done it!
• We got to experience the new Storybook Circus area-Loved it!
• Got to be in Walt Disney World, doesn't get much better than that!!!

So, without much ado, here are my favorite shots from the trip:

Character shots with yours truly showing my pretty new medal!

The splendor of Epcot during Flower & Garden Festival- a must see!!

Bambi's Butterfly Garden

My Magic Kingdom portrait session with our newly engaged friends Kevin & Allison-I absolutely loved doing these!

Now, a Walt Disney World Photo Tip:

• Rain is no reason to run inside and hide at any park!  Rain and especially puddles can provide a wonderful opportunity for fresh views of the castle or any details of the park.  I was really eager to try it out and a rain shower one afternoon provided the perfect opportunity for the shot below!  I really like the way it came out!  Try it out next time, but of course, be sure to keep your photo gear nice and dry!

So, thanks for stopping by and I hope you had a great Memorial Day and Independence Day!  More to come soon, I promise!  No more 2 month hiatuses!

Running tips I've learned the hard way

I'm not always one for learning things the hard way, but sometimes, it just happens.  That's what happened for these points that I've gathered along my running journey in the last year.  I'm still learning each day, and sometimes I make rookie mistakes, my run this past weekend missed the mark on shade, but either way it's helpful to try to remember these tips:

1. Bodyglide does a body good.  Before I started running, I thought Bodyglide was some sort of weird personal lubricant that people strangely used for running.  No.  It's like a wax stick that you use to prevent chafing.  I had heard of it, but finally purchased it after I actually starting adding running into my training.  I can say, whether it's hot or cold out, I use it.  I'm "that girl" that sweats a lot.  So, I learned quickly where I need to put it and how effective it is!
2. Track your shoes' mileage!  With the amount of money that you invest in your shoes, and the protection that they offer your feet, do yourself a favor and track how much you run in them.  Whether you mark the box they call home, whether you track it through your Garmin or running app, just make sure to keep a running total.  I learned the hard way that my shoes that I had the ENTIRE year last year were in fact, NOT still ok to be wearing AFTER I ran the WDW Half.  Learned the hard way and got new shoes as soon as I got home and now I'm tracking their mileage!
3. Hydration and Fuel choices matter. Every person's body is different, but I have found what brands/flavors I like to use to fuel before, during, and after runs.  You may find that some don't agree with your stomach or your tastes (I hate chemical aftertastes).   Just make sure to start using them once your runs get longer, they help during your run and recovery afterwards!
4. For the girls: Good support makes sense. Everyone shells out the big bucks for shoes, so women of all shapes and sizes should invest in a good support sports bra or 4.
5. Blisters happen and your feet will not stay pedicured for long.  I haven't had a toenail fall off, thank goodness, but I know it can happen.  I do have blisters regularly due to the heat & humidity where I live and sweating but the best thing I've found is duct tape.  Bodyglide doesn't cut it on my feet for long runs.
6. For runs during intense heat (which I have to deal with in the Dirty South): Pouring water over your head and down your chest and back is a lifesaver.  Make sure you stay hydrates and replenish sugar and electrolytes since you'll be sweating so much.  Try to stay out of the sun as much as possible and run before the sun rises if you can.  Also, I use a Frogg Togg Chilly Pad for cooling off and wiping away sweat.
7. Form determines Function! For me, I've found that when my form suffers, so does my running.  Whether you run more upright or falling forward, find what works for you and stay true to that form.  I often repeat out loud "Run right, walk right" when I can feel that my form is faltering.  I have to remind myself often that if my form is making me hurt mid-run, that it's only going to hurt more during recovery!
8. Forethought in mapping your run is smart! Whether you map your run for the views, the breeze (me and the beach) or just for whatever is close by, keep these things in mind:

• Shade is your friend!
• Be careful running near heavily traveled roads (drivers nowadays are distracted!)
• If it is hot, carry water, place it along your route or map your route near an area you can get some water to pour some over your head to keep from overheating (my beach has shower heads that I run by!)
• Sunscreen is a must, no one wants sunglasses raccoon eyes OR skin cancer.
• I don't like carrying anything if I dont have to, but while training, I carry my phone (it is also my running app.gps and music) and mace in case of emergency.  Be sure to run in safe areas!
• Remember: runners travel against traffic, not with it! It kills me every time I see someone breaking that rule.
• Lastly, no matter where you're running, be aware! If you run with music, keep it low to hear your surroundings. Also, I like to look around every few minutes just to make sure who is or isn't near me. There have been many stories in the news lately about runners being harassed, kidnapped and killed and a majority of them were wearing headphones.

I hope these tips help you on your run. If I find any other tips along my journey, I'll be sure to share!

-Diana