Ididitididitididitididit!!!!!!!!!
I DID IT!
And by that I mean I ran the 13.1 without walking!!!!!!
Time: 2:53:43
The music was great. Dead or Alive came on at mile 7. You're right, Mike. I was dancing on the trail like a record, baby. Mile 10 was I Am Superman (and I can do anything). Jamie Lidell told me it was just a little bit more at 12.5.
Never again.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Almost Famous
Shells arrived this afternoon. We hit the road around 9 (after a couple of games of bowling) and just settled into the hotel. We got crappy directions from the Marriott Web site. There were a couple of places where there was a choice to go either east or west--but with no indication which direction was the correct direction. I guessed wrong the first time. The second time, we went with what the directions seemed to be saying, although I knew we wanted Berkley and not San Francisco. So after a nice scenic detour on the Oakland Bay Bridge, we turned around again. I hate bridges. But we're here now. Tomorrow: 13.1 with an awesome race mix. I had a great time putting it together. I'll have to do some more races now so I can perfect it further.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Music
It's time to put together my final mix of running songs. Any suggestions? I predict this race will take me 3.5+ hours. That's a lot of music, so bring it on.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Science of Aging
I was watching some of HBO's Alzheimer's Project documentaries today. Having had a granfather who suffered from the disease, I was rather interested in learning more about the whole subject.
Here are a few things you should know.
Exercise is good for your brain. Alzheimer's is caused by a build-up of Amyloid Beta protein in the brain. One way to help your brain clear out this protein is through exercise. It seems that it's just good for your brain in general: it stimulates some chemical that clears away the Amyloid Beta. Of course, thirty minutes of exercise a day also helps guard against diabetes. A healthy diet (low sugar, low bad-fat, low salt) also helps. All those things that are bad for your arteries make it tougher for your brain to clear away the Amyloid Beta. You see, all these health risks tie in together. So, exercise and eat right.
Also, people with more friends have brains that are better able to remember things the older they get. The less stress you experience (or maybe, the less you stress out) also helps your brain as you get older.
All of this was rather heartening. I do not have to experience my grandfather's fate. There are things I can do about it. There are things my parents can do about it. I recommend watching the shows if you have the opportunity.
Here are a few things you should know.
Exercise is good for your brain. Alzheimer's is caused by a build-up of Amyloid Beta protein in the brain. One way to help your brain clear out this protein is through exercise. It seems that it's just good for your brain in general: it stimulates some chemical that clears away the Amyloid Beta. Of course, thirty minutes of exercise a day also helps guard against diabetes. A healthy diet (low sugar, low bad-fat, low salt) also helps. All those things that are bad for your arteries make it tougher for your brain to clear away the Amyloid Beta. You see, all these health risks tie in together. So, exercise and eat right.
Also, people with more friends have brains that are better able to remember things the older they get. The less stress you experience (or maybe, the less you stress out) also helps your brain as you get older.
All of this was rather heartening. I do not have to experience my grandfather's fate. There are things I can do about it. There are things my parents can do about it. I recommend watching the shows if you have the opportunity.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
T Minus 7
The plan was to run about 11.2 miles today. I looked it up online, and thought I knew where the turn-around was -- the park with the volleyball court, duh! I wanted to run the way out, and then try to run the whole way back.
I did run the whole way out. Yay! And on the way back, I started walking. As I got closer to the end, I walked more and more. The last mile/mile and a half was almost all walking. My knees hurt. I didn't take preemptive ibuprofen. Big mistake.
Earlier, somewhere around mile 7 (?), I realized a) I had been running much longer than I thought (almost two hours) and b) I might need some calories and water. There, ahead of me, was a gas station. So, a bottle of water and a Crunch bar later, I was feeling a bit better. Even 11 miles is long without any additional calories, and although I have been convinced that it's better to under hydrate than over, water is still a good thing.
Anyway, I finished the run (with actual running, no less) and headed straight to REI for some Gu. Turns out Gu is the only no-chew energy substance with vitamin B. And yet B is what helps you process energy. B doesn't stay in your body long, but while you have it, your body uses its energy more efficiently (or something). So, I bought a bunch of Gu for next weekend -- and had one immediately.
Then, I found a restaurant and had a pretty decent bacon cheeseburger. I would tell you more about it, but I totally forgot to take any photos in my haste to stuff my face. (It was 3pm by this point.) While waiting for said burger, I played with the iPhone, and realized I might have run further than I thought. I drove home the way I ran in, and yes, I ran at least .3 miles (each way) further. Turns out the street I googlemapped last night is not visible from the bike trail.
That makes this weeks run closer to 12 miles... maybe even a bit more than 12 considering I have to do some ups and downs to go around various highway on-ramps. So, I am now less surprised that it took me about 3 1/2 hours and my knees really hurt.
On a side note, my knees have been hurting a bit lately. Then I realized I'd stopped doing the wet sock trick at night. So, it's back to the wet socks at night for me.
I did run the whole way out. Yay! And on the way back, I started walking. As I got closer to the end, I walked more and more. The last mile/mile and a half was almost all walking. My knees hurt. I didn't take preemptive ibuprofen. Big mistake.
Earlier, somewhere around mile 7 (?), I realized a) I had been running much longer than I thought (almost two hours) and b) I might need some calories and water. There, ahead of me, was a gas station. So, a bottle of water and a Crunch bar later, I was feeling a bit better. Even 11 miles is long without any additional calories, and although I have been convinced that it's better to under hydrate than over, water is still a good thing.
Anyway, I finished the run (with actual running, no less) and headed straight to REI for some Gu. Turns out Gu is the only no-chew energy substance with vitamin B. And yet B is what helps you process energy. B doesn't stay in your body long, but while you have it, your body uses its energy more efficiently (or something). So, I bought a bunch of Gu for next weekend -- and had one immediately.
Then, I found a restaurant and had a pretty decent bacon cheeseburger. I would tell you more about it, but I totally forgot to take any photos in my haste to stuff my face. (It was 3pm by this point.) While waiting for said burger, I played with the iPhone, and realized I might have run further than I thought. I drove home the way I ran in, and yes, I ran at least .3 miles (each way) further. Turns out the street I googlemapped last night is not visible from the bike trail.
That makes this weeks run closer to 12 miles... maybe even a bit more than 12 considering I have to do some ups and downs to go around various highway on-ramps. So, I am now less surprised that it took me about 3 1/2 hours and my knees really hurt.
On a side note, my knees have been hurting a bit lately. Then I realized I'd stopped doing the wet sock trick at night. So, it's back to the wet socks at night for me.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
New Duds
I was at school for 12 hours today. I had this very annoying, very long waste-of-time, er, I mean meeting, oops, no it was a "celebration" of all the very "important" work I did in my mentoring program. Of course, it meant very little time for food. So I ran out and got a burrito with another teacher, so that was meat and carbs for dinner (in this town, burritos do not come with veggies or cheese). There was dessert at the meeting, and my Support Provider (SP) wanted a cupcake, but they were huge so I was a team player and had half. I mean that seriously, I did not want the cupcake. It was nasty, plasticky, store-bought cupcake with shortning frosting the flavor of nothing. I do not like store-bought desserts. Now, if they were chips, I would have eaten the whole bag, but they weren't chips, they were cupcakes.
On the way home, I thought to myself, "Self, why don't we go for a short run when we get home?" So, I did. To make it even better, my new running clothes had arrived. I ordered a pair of spandex shorts (since I still can't seem to find anything but capris or shorts with chamois) and a new, stretchy Terry skort (since mine gives me skort burn along my waist when worn for long periods of time). So, I just ran 3 miles. Like that.
Of course, I think I the skort is too big. It's larger than the other one (since my other one is a bit too small), but I think it's too big. So I've got to see what it takes to trade it in for one smaller.
On a similar note, while trying on clothes for today's meeting (where administrators and district muckety-mucks were in attendance by the dozen), I had to wear a skirt I haven't fit in for a couple of years. The one I was going to wear was too big and looked just awful. Of course, the one that now fits is a size 12 while the one that is too big is a size 10. Women's sizes. What a pain.
On the way home, I thought to myself, "Self, why don't we go for a short run when we get home?" So, I did. To make it even better, my new running clothes had arrived. I ordered a pair of spandex shorts (since I still can't seem to find anything but capris or shorts with chamois) and a new, stretchy Terry skort (since mine gives me skort burn along my waist when worn for long periods of time). So, I just ran 3 miles. Like that.
Of course, I think I the skort is too big. It's larger than the other one (since my other one is a bit too small), but I think it's too big. So I've got to see what it takes to trade it in for one smaller.
On a similar note, while trying on clothes for today's meeting (where administrators and district muckety-mucks were in attendance by the dozen), I had to wear a skirt I haven't fit in for a couple of years. The one I was going to wear was too big and looked just awful. Of course, the one that now fits is a size 12 while the one that is too big is a size 10. Women's sizes. What a pain.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Mad Props
There is a teacher at work that I often run into at the copy machine in the morning. She "lives" on the other side of campus, so I don't even know what she teaches. At a PTC, she once described me as "the teacher running a half marathon". So I saw her this morning, and told her about the 10k. She was duly impressed. Couldn't shut up about it. It was the best response I've gotten so far. Everyone else is all "oh, that's cool". But I'm not in this for my health, I'm in it for the fame. Bring it, Baby, bring it!
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