My youngest is graduating from high school tomorrow. I am so slammed with graduation activities and then there is the dealing with the endless emotional turmoil. I have a lot to write about –
1). Shot Bloks
2). The demands of training for a big event
3). The last lunch
4). The amazing speech my daughter made for her baccalaureate
5). How it feels to be empty nesting – but not quite
6). etc.

Stay tuned- it’s coming! And as long as I’m so busy please feel free to make requests. Really – I need more ideas.

Today THE PLAN called for a 15 mile run. I got off to a little bit of a late start (that phrase is too, too familiar!) but did manage to head out at 7AM to run the same trail Jeanne and I ran when she was here visiting. That part was fine. As I got to the parking lot I saw a couple of running groups assembling – chatting and stretching. Not too far along the path they passed me and then it happened – the doubt crept in to my head.

“What am I doing out here?”
“Why am I doing this?”
“Who am I trying to kid?”
“What makes me think I can pull this off?”
“Why do I even want to do this”?

I was only at mile 2 or so and so I decided to chalk it up to the whiner within who always accompanies me on those first few miles. Only today it wouldn’t stop. I kept going and kept hoping I would feel better. I had prepared better and was carrying Cliff Shot Bloks (the new gel block on the fly nutrition – deserves its own review) as well as a pack of Gu. I left the electrolyte drink behind because those always make me sick. I hoped that my nutritional preparation would help me keep my energy up.

The good part of the run is that I had loaded Richard Wright’s Clara Callan on my shuffle and it is a great book. That man was a great writer and such a remarkable progressive. But I digress.

I got to the end of the trail where there is a water fountain and a restroom but I didn’t need the restroom and that was a bit of a worry. By then (8 miles in) I should have but oh well. I ate a couple of Cliff Shots, filled up the water, took a salt tablet and headed back, happy that I would running mostly downhill.

It was okay but at about 12 miles I started to lose it. I stopped, ate a couple more shots, gave myself a pep talk and motored on but those last 3 miles were hell and the doubt lingered and my feet hurt and when I got to the end and asked myself, “could you go another 9 miles?” the answer was a very loud “NO!” so that sucked. Then I reminded myself that that’s what training is for – to get you to the point where you can run 26.2 and it doesn’t just happen over night and please quit being such a drama queen.

But the doubt was powerful and it really sapped me. I just have to remember that there are bad runs and there are good runs and what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. On the plus side my ear is feeling much better. If only there were antibadruns that worked as well as antibiotics.

My splits:

I have an outer ear infection – a.k.a swimmer’s ear. It hurts like hell! I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t go swimming Tuesday. It’s a very good thing I didn’t go Thursday because the pool filter malfunctioned and the pool was apparently really gross. I think it was a little gross last week, too and thus, I have an earache – a bad one. I feel like a big baby.

Not big enough to skip tomorrow’s 15 miler. Oh no – that will happen. Today I ran 3 miles in 29:18. Good thing my ear only hurts when I’m not running.

I’ll try to think of something entertaining to write about while I’m running tomorrow because I sure have gotten boring! Sorry ’bout that.

I’ve changed my running schedule so that I can get in 4 days a week instead of 3. The former PLAN was to swim M-W-F and run T-Th-Sa and rest Sunday but that just wasn’t happening and even if it did happen my mileage just wasn’t going up the way it should. I have switched to run M-W-F-Sa and swim Tu-Th and bike Sunday. Only problem there is no rest day. So I skipped swimming Tuesday. See how that works? Oh well – something has to give sometimes and I’d rather it be swimming or biking than running given that I’m only 2 months away from my marathon – Yikes!

Monday I went out late (how often have we heard that story) so I decided to do 3 fast miles and thus it came to pass that I ran 3 miles in 30 minutes – booyah!

Today I went out late but told myself, “tough luck. You are running 6 reasonable, unremarkable miles”. And so it came to pass that I ran 6 miles in 62 minutes. And it seemed really unremarkable the whole way through – just right foot, left foot, right foot… and so on. And yet, that was my best time yet for a 6 mile run.

The really remarkable thing about it is that it seemed so unremarkable. Good times.

Saturday afternoon I fetched Jeanne from the BART station and brought her to Chez 21stCenturyMom where I discovered that we are really the same person! I’m not kidding. Look – you can see for yourself.

Okay so I’m a little shorter but other than that we are undeniably cut from the same cloth. She not only didn’t mind that my house is riddled with half completed projects, she didn’t even notice! She may even think that’s the way to go. I’m not sure but by the third time I had pointed one of them out and she responded with , “Huh? what are you talking about?” I decided to drop the subject.

Our visit got off to a bit of slow start due the exigencies of my maternal life which dictated that we sit around tapping our toes while I waited for my son to call for a ride. We had tea and chit chated and I got caught up on her visit to San Francsico and her family history in general.

Finally the kid called and we got to go to the lovely downtown area of my bucolic hamlet. It didn’t take long to establish that we could be in East Stump Hole Indiana and the place would look pretty much the same – Banana Republic, Anne Taylor, Eveyln and Crabtree – you know the drill. We were starving but had no time for a real dinner (due to son’s transportation requirements) so we went to the California Pizza kitchen and had foccacia bread with melted cheese and artichoke dip with chips. We ate the bread and butter that showed up, too. Ummmm…. fat and carbs, fat and carbs. But hey – we had a run to gear up for.

The kid called, we delivered him and then … then… then what? We weren’t starving anymore so no dinner. Instead I took her on a ride in the car to show her where I like to ride my bike. I’m telling you – I really know how to entertain guests! I was gratified at how impressed she was with the hills I tackle so it all worked out for me.

At that point it was time for some delicious California wine or at least that’s what I figured and since I was heading up this West Coast Livin’ Large extravaganza we headed back to my house. For all I know Jeanne was still starving but she didn’t say anything and neither did I. I popped the cork, poured the wine and we decided to watch ‘Walk the Line’ which had arrived that very day from Netflix. I drank a whole glass of wine but Jeanne only managed a few sips. Party animals – Toga! Toga! Toga!

Exhausted from the wild bacchanal we headed for bed. The plan was to get up at 7 and go to the trail to start our run. We did manage to get up but that heading out the door thing took a while. We each had a piece of healthful, whole wheat cinnamon raisin toast, filled our water bottles, stuffed a packet of Gu in our pockets and were off – at about 8:00.

We ran to and fro:

I ran with Jeanne to the 3.5 mile mark and then sent her back to get my car and head to my house. I continued to run to what was supposed to be the 5.5 mile mark but I really needed a potty and I knew one was just up ahead so I sort of overshot the mark by about a mile before I turned around and ran home covering a total of 13.5 miles. I felt good, too. Jeanne felt good. We are GOOD! We did it.(ps- the butt shots are Jeanne’s idea. The one teeny difference between us is that I don’t really get it but I’m going along with the program because I’m a team player).

After showers and the downing of electrolytes we decided to go in to Berkeley. We poked around in fun little shops and looked at shoes some more as well as going on an extensive tour of athletic clothing. Hungry again I decided she needed to try the world’s very tastiest pizza and it was back to fat and carbs. Yum! Note, we did not have hot fudge Sundaes.

Next on the agenda was a trip in to San Francisco – until I discovered that the inside edge of my front tire now exposed because I hadn’t bothered straightening the wheel after parallel parking, was beyond bald. It was down to cloth. Yikes! So I had to treat my out of town guest to a trip to the tire store (Big O because a Big O is always a great thing, right?) instead. I just hoped that we didn’t have a blowout on the freeway on the way home because as dull an entertainer as I am I wasn’t interested in putting my guest into the middle of a scene from an action movie .

With new tires on the car we finally headed in to the Big city only the traffic was horrendous so we got to spend lots more quality time gabbing while we inched our way across the bridge. When we finally got to Pier 39, the biggest tourist trap available, we finally connected with Jeanne’s NOD who was, coincidentally enough, also in California visiting her boyfriend. After meeting up with them Jeanne got a “fruit smoothie” (which looked suspiciously like a chocolate milk shake), I scored a graduation present for my little Pookie (which was why I chose Pier 39 where the jewelry store that had the goods was located) and we all perused the tourist shops.

Sadly enough it was soon time for Jeanne to head back to the airport so I took her to BART (getting her there a little bit late for comfort) and came back home. It was a great visit while it lasted, if not a little understated in terms of the activities. The part that counted was the getting to know each other and that part was unequivocally great.

Saturday afternoon I fetched Jeanne from the BART station and brought her to Chez 21stCenturyMom where I discovered that we are really the same person! I’m not kidding. Look – you can see for yourself.

Okay so I’m a little shorter but other than that we are undeniably cut from the same cloth. She not only didn’t mind that my house is riddled with half completed projects, she didn’t even notice! She may even think that’s the way to go. I’m not sure but by the third time I had pointed one of them out and she responded with , “Huh? what are you talking about?” I decided to drop the subject.

Our visit got off to a bit of slow start due the exigencies of my maternal life which dictated that we sit around tapping our toes while I waited for my son to call for a ride. We had tea and chit chated and I got caught up on her visit to San Francsico and her family history in general.

Finally the kid called and we got to go to the lovely downtown area of my bucolic hamlet. It didn’t take long to establish that we could be in East Stump Hole Indiana and the place would look pretty much the same – Banana Republic, Anne Taylor, Eveyln and Crabtree – you know the drill. We were starving but had no time for a real dinner (due to son’s transportation requirements) so we went to the California Pizza kitchen and had foccacia bread with melted cheese and artichoke dip with chips. We ate the bread and butter that showed up, too. Ummmm…. fat and carbs, fat and carbs. But hey – we had a run to gear up for.

The kid called, we delivered him and then … then… then what? We weren’t starving anymore so no dinner. Instead I took her on a ride in the car to show her where I like to ride my bike. I’m telling you – I really know how to entertain guests! I was gratified at how impressed she was with the hills I tackle so it all worked out for me.

At that point it was time for some delicious California wine or at least that’s what I figured and since I was heading up this West Coast Livin’ Large extravaganza we headed back to my house. For all I know Jeanne was still starving but she didn’t say anything and neither did I. I popped the cork, poured the wine and we decided to watch ‘Walk the Line’ which had arrived that very day from Netflix. I drank a whole glass of wine but Jeanne only managed a few sips. Party animals – Toga! Toga! Toga!

Exhausted from the wild bacchanal we headed for bed. The plan was to get up at 7 and go to the trail to start our run. We did manage to get up but that heading out the door thing took a while. We each had a piece of healthful, whole wheat cinnamon raisin toast, filled our water bottles, stuffed a packet of Gu in our pockets and were off – at about 8:00.

We ran to and fro:

I ran with Jeanne to the 3.5 mile mark and then sent her back to get my car and head to my house. I continued to run to what was supposed to be the 5.5 mile mark but I really needed a potty and I knew one was just up ahead so I sort of overshot the mark by about a mile before I turned around and ran home covering a total of 13.5 miles. I felt good, too. Jeanne felt good. We are GOOD! We did it.(ps- the butt shots are Jeanne’s idea. The one teeny difference between us is that I don’t really get it but I’m going along with the program because I’m a team player).

After showers and the downing of electrolytes we decided to go in to Berkeley. We poked around in fun little shops and looked at shoes some more as well as going on an extensive tour of athletic clothing. Hungry again I decided she needed to try the world’s very tastiest pizza and it was back to fat and carbs. Yum! Note, we did not have hot fudge Sundaes.

Next on the agenda was a trip in to San Francisco – until I discovered that the inside edge of my front tire now exposed because I hadn’t bothered straightening the wheel after parallel parking, was beyond bald. It was down to cloth. Yikes! So I had to treat my out of town guest to a trip to the tire store (Big O because a Big O is always a great thing, right?) instead. I just hoped that we didn’t have a blowout on the freeway on the way home because as dull an entertainer as I am I wasn’t interested in putting my guest into the middle of a scene from an action movie .

With new tires on the car we finally headed in to the Big city only the traffic was horrendous so we got to spend lots more quality time gabbing while we inched our way across the bridge. When we finally got to Pier 39, the biggest tourist trap available, we finally connected with Jeanne’s NOD who was, coincidentally enough, also in California visiting her boyfriend. After meeting up with them Jeanne got a “fruit smoothie” (which looked suspiciously like a chocolate milk shake), I scored a graduation present for my little Pookie (which was why I chose Pier 39 where the jewelry store that had the goods was located) and we all perused the tourist shops.

Sadly enough it was soon time for Jeanne to head back to the airport so I took her to BART (getting her there a little bit late for comfort) and came back home. It was a great visit while it lasted, if not a little understated in terms of the activities. The part that counted was the getting to know each other and that part was unequivocally great.

I went out tonight and ran 6+ miles including the big hills. It was good – no problems, no pain, no whiner within and I did well – phew!

Thanks to everyone for the nutrition and hydration suggestions.

And speaking of good times – Jeanne is coming! We are going to have a PJ party complete with tasty California wine, hot fudge sundaes,pillow fights and a nice run. I’m so excited! It now appears that 7 miles is the magic number for that run. I just hope Jeanne doesn’t notice when I turn the Forerunner off for a while – shhhhhhhhhh don’t tell her!

That’s what yesterday’s run felt like. When I got home I thought, “I’m never running again – ever!”

Things started out a little shaky. I didn’t want to go at all but I thought maybe that would make it a great run – you know how that goes. Less than a mile from home my iPod ran out of battery. I started to wind up the headphones and put it in my pocket but it came unraveled immediately and I decided to run home with it, instead.

When I got home my kidlet came out to take it from me and looked at her longingly and said
“I really don’t feel like going for this run”

She looked at me and in a disapproving tone of voice said, “Mama”

I was sure she was going to say, “You need to listen to your body” and let me off the hook. But no – she’s a rebel and she said

“Mama – you have to do this for the team”

Crap.

So off I went to run another 10 miles.

The running wasn’t so, so bad. I had already covered the dreaded first 2 miles and I was in a rhythm and trying to keep my pace down below 10:00. After about another 2 miles my feet started to hurt. I also made the mistake of deciding that it would be okay not to take any nutrition with me other than the diluted Gatorade I had in my bottle. I got to the drinking fountain at 5 miles and diluted it some more and kept going. I was so done already but forced myself to run to the 6 mile mark (on my Garmin) so that I would get in a full 12 miles.

Heading back I stopped at the fountain again and diluted the Gatorade some more and drank some water. On and on I went but it was really hard and I had to give myself a constant pep talk.

“Keep it up – you feel fine! You can do it! Keep going! Do not stop at a friend’s house and call Pookie to come get you – don’t do it! You can do this!” ad nauseum.

My feet were killing me. My thighs felt sluggish and done. I looked at the Garmin and my pace was down to 12:20 – ugh. I sped up. I kept going.

Finally, at 11 miles I gave it up. I was at the bottom of a hill and I just threw in the towel. When I got to the top I ran the rest of the way home.

When I got home I really wanted to hurl. This used to happen to me when I trained with Team in Training and took Cytomax on my runs. After every single long run I would be totally nauseated and all I could do was drink water and sleep. Horrible.

So I learned a few lessons:
1). No more long runs without taking Gu. I asked the people at the running store how often they take a Gu and they both said every 45 minutes. Got that?

2). No more Gatorade while running. I’m going to pick up some electrolyte tablets. The drinks just don’t work for me.

3). It’s all about pace. I need to remember that if I run the marathon at a 10:30 pace that means I need to train at something slower than that. The whole thing about a race is that you get totally spent doing it. I have to stop depleting myself so much when I train.

So what do you all do for nutrition and hydration? How about recovery – is there something in particular that works for you?

First of all I would like to thank my supportive and ardent fan club for having so much faith in my ability to transcend reason and physical limitations and pull off doing a Half Ironman 2 weeks after running a marathon. I’m sure I could finish but I don’t think it would be pretty. Thanks to the tri-athletes who gave me their informed opinions, all of which pointed to not doing it.

The reason I even considered this race is because my Women of Iron biker friends* are considering doing the AquaBike race on that day. This is just the swim and bike portion of the Half IronMan. When I looked at the registration price I almost choked – it is $160. For that same amount of money you can toss in a run, too so I was looking at the volume discount! Hey that makes sense, doesn’t it?

The other reason I wanted to do it is because it doesn’t involve a wetsuit. I have this weird wetsuit phobia going on that is a real impediment to trying to find triathlons in this area. Most of the water around here is snow melt or freezing cold Pacific Ocean water (it ain’t all the tropics, my friends). There is a series of Tri for Fun sprint distance triathlons and I may just stick with those for the foreseeable future.

The reason I’m not going to do it is that I’m not that strong and I am not really putting in enough training to pull it off. Part of the reason I’m not putting in the training is because I have been on the verge of an overuse injury for 2 months and I have to be careful. As a couple of people pointed out, if I didn’t get injured in the training I would likely suffer an injury from the event and that’s just no good at all.

For now I’m going to focus on my marathon and remember that I am going for a PR here and that I will probably be sore for several days and then recovering for a couple of weeks.

Thanks again for your votes of confidence and your informed opinions and your support in general.

*not Iron as in IronMan, just Iron as in Fe as in one of these women is a scientist.