Updated Goals List

Time to update the goals list!  A lot has been achieved in the past year:

Go To A Race
Run 5 Miles
Run < 10 Minute Mile
Run 10K
Run Half Marathon

I also learned about the Ragnar Relay, so it is going on the list!

My 1st Half Marathon / Playlist

Generally I just put my mp3 player on random, but I decided it was time to assemble a playlist a couple of weeks before the half marathon.  I wasn't sure how many songs I needed, so I overestimated.  Then I used the playlist for a couple of long runs to make sure these all worked for me.  Based on how well those runs went, and the amount of singing along I did, I did not make any changes.  (I had to force myself not to sing along on the race course.)  Since this blog has always had a bit of a music tie-in (see title), I decided to share the list.  Every single one of these has a reason for being on the list.  I toyed with posting those reasons, but decided to do that only on an as-asked basis.  Also, I didn't put these in any order - this is the order the mp3 player put them in and I listened to them in this order.  While I was distracted a lot of the race with all the excitement, I do actually remember hearing most of the list.

1. "American Idiot" - Green Day
2. "Are You Gonna Go My Way" - Lenny Kravitz
3. "Bad" - Michael Jackson
4. "Feel Like Funkin It Up" - Rebirth Brass Band
5. "Hurricane Season" - Trombone Shorty
6. "Little Willy" - Posion
7. "Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
8. "Nothin But A Good Time" - Posion
9. "That's Amore" - Dean Martin
10. "The Sound of Sunshine" - Michael Franti & Spearhead
11. "Glory Days" - Bruce Springsteen
12. "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" - Cage the Elephant
13. "Gold on the Ceiling" - The Black Keys
14. "Hollaback Girl" - Gwen Stefani
15. "My Generation" - The Who
16. "Unskinny Bop" - Poison
17. "Fat Bottomed Girls" - Queen
18. "Ghost Town" - Shiny Toy Guns
19. "I'll Fly Away" - John Boutte
20. "Runaway Baby" - Bruno Mars
21. "Won't Back Down" - Eminem
22. "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" - James Andres; Trombone Shorty
23. "Over in the Gloryland" - Glen Andrews & The Lazy Six
24. "Tainted Love" - Marilyn Manson
25. "Caught In A Dream" - Tesla
26. "Drinka Little Poison (4 U Die)" - John Mooney; Soul Rebels Brass Band
27. "Marry You" - Bruno Mars
28. "You Can Make It If You Try" - Sly & The Family Stone
29. "You" - Atmosphere
30. "Dead Flowers" - Poison
31. "Not Afraid" - Eminem
32. "Cousins" - Vampire Weekend
33. "Rich Girls" - Fitz & The Tantrums
34. "Shame Shame Shame" - Steve Zahn
35. "Dig A Little Deeper" - Jenifer Lewis featuring The Pinnacle Gospel Choir
36. "Look For The Silver Lining" - The New Orleans Moonshiners
37. "Squeeze Box" - Poison
38. "Buona Sera" - Louis Prima
39. "Go To The Mardi Gras" - Professor Longhair
40. "When the Saints Go Marching In" - Dukes of Dixieland
41. "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" - Posion
42. "Eh La Bas" - New Orleans Moonshiners

This is the remaining list, which I didn't get to, since I ran SO freaking fast:

43. "Higher Ground" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
44. "Thank You" - Sly & The Family Stone
45. "Your Momma Don't Dance" - Poison
46. "Smile" - Glee Cast
47. "Let's Dance" - David Bowie
48. "Man In Black" - Johnny Cash
49. "East St Louis Baby" - Professor Longhair
50. "7" - Prince
51. "2008 New Kids on the Block Mega Mix" - NKOTB
52. "Hey Jude" - The Beatles
53. "I Wanna Be Sedated" - The Ramones
54. "Let It Be" - The Beatles
55. "Because I Got High" - Afroman
56. "Believe It Or Not I'm Walking On Air" - Joey Scarbury*
57. "Black Betty" - Ram Jam
58. "Blister in the Sun" - Violent Femmes
59. "Call Me Maybe" - Carly Rae Jepsen
60. "Centerfield" - John Fogerty
61. "Centerfold" - J Geils Band
62. "Darling Nikki" - Foo Fighters
63. "Gold Digger" - Kanye West
64. "Goody Two Shoes" - Adam Ant
65. "I Used To Love Her" - Guns N Roses
66. "Holiday Road" - Lindesy Buckingham
67. "Run Rudolph Run" - Chuck Berry
68. "Ice Ice Baby" - Vanilla Ice
69. "Icky Thump" - The White Stripes
70. "I Hate Myself For Loving You" - Joan Jett
71. "I Love Rock N Roll" - Joan Jett
72. "Kick Some Ass" - Stroke 9
73. "Little Less Conversation" - Elvis**
74. "Everybody Talks" - Neon Trees**
75. "Paralyzer" - Finger Eleven
76. "Sexy Back" - Justin Timberlake
77. "Signs" - Tesla
78. "Lump" - The Presidents of The USA
79. "Think (Freedom)" - Aretha Franklin
80. "Walk Like An Egyptian" - The Bangles
81. "What A Wonderful World" - Joey Ramone
82. "Joker & The Thief" - Wolfmother

*This is the one song I did not get to that I wish I had.
**Greatest back-to-back set of the list

Madness is setting in

It's been awhile, but waking up is starting to be less painful again. Excitement about getting to run is taking over. Although I must say, I feel like a total psychopath waking up before dawn to drive across town and run in place for an hour..

I spent a little time figuring out the monitor on the treadmill this morning. Set the goal for 2 miles, made it so I could watch tv AND the distance goal, turned the fan on, and set off at a super slow pace, which I adjusted periodically...especially when it began to feel like I would never meet my distance goal if I didn't hustle a bit.

But, because of the super slow pace, around the 1.25 mile mark, I was feeling pretty sure of myself and even managed to up my goal to 3 miles.

Before I made it too much further, I reset that to 2 miles.

Regardless, I was happy I made it 2 miles. Even if it did take me 28.5 minutes.

Weather: indoors (still warm...and slightly breezy thanks to the fan.)
Time: 6am; Run 28.5, Walk 1-2 (didn't quite figure out the monitor's cooldown function/didn't have time to worry about it)
Distance: 3.22K/2.0 mi
Elevation: 0
Pace: 14.25

Debating running outside tomorrow. It's gonna be hot...it's currently hotter here than in Death Valley...even though the sun is still up in Death Valley! I think I can make it 3, though, if I run outside. The treadmill just makes me crazy dizzy and crazy bored (although I LOVED getting to watch I Love Lucy this morning)..

Defeat by Procrastination

I wake up at 5 am on weekdays. Yesterday I slept in all the way to 7. Imagine my annoyance to not wake up until 9 this morning. Actually, it was 20 till 9, then I laid in bed till around 9, then I dawdled around and checked facebook, and debated whether I was going to wear toxic sunscreen since I have no alternatives at the moment, and played with the dog, and fed the cat...all the while knowing that when I checked the hourly forecast last night, I wanted to have my run in by 9. I prefer to run when the "feels like" temperature is under 85. I can do 90, but it blows.

I know part of the issue was that my back has been hurting pretty bad since running on the treadmill. Yesterday I spent the better part of the day catching up on blog posts, and I'm sure sitting at the computer all day did not help my back. I definitely had a strain of fear running through me from the time I woke up about what another run would do to my back.

According to the training plan, today should be a 3 mile day. I could barely knock out one mile on the treadmill 2 days ago. I was optimistic, though...just...well, it took something like 9 runs before I could do 5K when I started back up in May. Not 3.

With annoyance and slowness, I slathered on toxic sunblock, put each and every hair up with 100 pins, threw on my under armour shirt, and headed out. I'm out of contacts, so I couldn't wear sunglasses, which sucked, because it was frakking bright out when I finally left at 9:45.

I ran from the driveway, to the street, around the corner and back up the next street until I was about even with the house (.11K/.07 mi)...and I realized I forgot my knee straps. With a string of curse words (on Sunday morning - I am a bright ray of sunshine in people's lives), I turned around and walked back to the house.

Got the straps, waited until 9:50 to make it an easy to remember time, and set out again.

It was hot. Excruciatingly hot. And although there are a lot of trees on my route, the sun was just at the right angle where there was virtually no shade. I psyched myself out of this run from the get-go.

I made it to the little street past the school in 8 minutes (1.08K/.67 mi -- not including intial out/back, although I do include it in the totals below), but the idea of climbing the next hill made me crazy, so I walked up it over the course of a minute (1.21K/.75 mi). Crossed the busy street, and ran just to around the curve over another minute (1.35K/.84 mi).

This was not going well.

I decided to go ahead and turn away from home to walk my two blocks out/two blocks back, basically affirming that if I had to alternately run/walk every minute for the next 45, I was going to finish the 3 mile goal today. It was 5 minutes of walking before I got back to the intersection (1.7K/1.05 mi).

I ran the two blocks back to the school in the two minutes, then called it (1.95K/1.21 mi). I was still debating finishing the 3 miles, even if I had to walk it all. Part of the reason I wanted to stop is because it's just too hard to remember all these times and points and figure out what I want to count in my numbers for the day. Stupid. Part of the reason was because my flesh was on FIRE. I didn't feel too bad - I wasn't dizzy or sick, but it was horrid to be out in it. Even though it's hotter in the evenings, I think there's something to be said for having more shade and a day's worth of fuel in you. This, today, just wasn't working.

So I headed for home. It took me another 13 minutes to get there (3.05K/1.9 mi).

Not sure where this leaves me on the plan for the half. In theory, I should be running 4 miles next week, something I have only done once. I had already decided I would run 2 miles on each of the run days this week (ala week 3), even though Wednesday of week 2 is supposed to just be a mile. We'll see. One way or another I'm getting up to 13.1, and now that I have gotten my refresher course on procrastination effects on summer runs out of the way, I think it will speed things along.

Weather: 81, sunny, 5 mph (no), 79% humidity, feels like 87
Time: 10am; Run 1, Walk 1, Run 8, Walk 1, Run 1, Walk 5, Run 2, Walk 13 (absurd.)
Distance: 3.27K/2.04 mi
Elevation: +43/-44.2/net -1.3 ft (doesn't include initial out/back)

Just run: 12:00
Distance: 1.58K/.99 mi
5K/10K: 41:39/1:28:02
Pace: 11.94

So ends my rage against treadmills (partially)

Yesterday I told my coworker that I was going to trail behind her on the Half training plan. I didn't want to steal her thunder, as she likely will be able to complete the plan and intends to run the race. However, she got excited and said I should run the race, too, even though I would have to jump ahead on the schedule. I told her I would see.

But now I am committed to sticking with the schedule.

So it hasn't rained in weeks, but now that I am back on the running horse, rain is forecast for my second running day. My plan calls for two miles, which will take me at least 25 minutes. I want to walk to cool down. Sun comes up at 6, have to be home by 6:30 to have time to get ready for work. Factor in a chance of storms, screw it. I'm getting up early and going to the gym.

What's this gym I speak of? Oh, yes, we're members. Husband goes periodically, but I do not like many aspects (candy and soda machines in the lobby? bugs crawling all over the yoga room? irrational ever-changing schedules? no web presence?), so I have been begging him for well over a year to change the family membership down to a single. He has not, so it's up at 5 to go to the gym.

I've walked on treadmills a lot. They make me dizzy. I think I've only ran on one once, and it seemed way easier than running on pavement. Since that day I have labeled treadmill trainers as taking the easy, er, "road."

Thankfully, the gym is all but empty at 5:30, so I hop on and take off. I didn't stop to calculate the mph I needed to set it to to achieve my 13 minute or so pace that I am used to. I left the terrain 100% flat. After a minute or so the pace scrolls across the screen and I was somewhere in the lower 12s. Uh-oh. I won't be able to maintain this.

The mileage was not moving. I mean, it was barely ticking along. I was bored. There are tvs on the monitor, but then I couldn't watch each 100th of a mile crawl by. I didn't have my mp3 on at first, but I finally got Eminem fired up again. I was so bored. It was like the longest straightaway of all time.

And I was getting quite tired. I was stiff and it was awful. The only things I wanted in order were 1. to stop running, 2. to rest my hands on the sidebars, and 3. water. I slowed the pace down to the 13s.

I barely made it to a mile. But I ran 1.04 yesterday and I refuse to stop short of the previous run, so I went 1.1 mile, then leaped off to the side. I nearly fell, for real. I can't stand treadmills (ok so not all the rage is gone) - they make me so deliriously dizzy! I slowed the pace down to a walk for a tenth of a mile.

I really wanted to go 2 miles, but I didn't have time to walk it, so I took off running again. I made it another .5 mile, then walked the rest of the way to 2. I managed to keep my arms off the bars until that last .3 mile walk. I think I finished the 1.7 miles around 23 minutes. Youch.

So training on the treadmill: Harder than I thought.
Training for a half: Not going so well.
Going to the gym pre-dawn: Good option.

Weather: Indoors, but still quite warm
Time: 5:45am, Approximately: Run 14.4, Walk 2, Run 6.6
Distance: 2.57K/1.6mi (just run)
Elevation: 0
5K/10K: 43:01/1:30:55
Pace: 13.13

Post Run Health Update: My lower back was really sore all day today. Sore, like the way it was after the blood patch. Ugh. Pounding the treadmill was likely not any more gentle than pounding the pavement, especially since it makes me run in such an unnatural way. Slight headache, not as bad as Wednesday. Legs very sore. Knees fine, right knee "bruising" didn't occur today (more time taken to align the strap).

Big, Absurd News

Well, my coworker has decided she's going to train for a half. Since she has been pretty regularly running 3 miles, this makes sense. Since I have been flat on my back for a month, I asked to see her training schedule, knowing full well it would be inappropriate to think I would also train for a half. The schedule started a couple weeks ago, but she's going to jump in on today's date. The training starts so easy, I decided to get up and run today and see if I could make it one or two miles, then place myself on the schedule accordingly. Let's face it, it's unlikely I can stay healthy, consistently, long enough to train for a half, so why push it.

Speaking of pushing it, I had to freaking force myself out of bed. I wasn't having it at all. Of course, this caused me to rush through my stretches (first time I haven't fully enjoyed my stretching time - there's a yogini in there dying to get out), and half-arse my knee straps.

But, off I went. I opted for an easier route - if I'm only trying for 1-2 miles, why spend that time in Hill Hell? I took off without a warmup walk (no time), took the regular route, but turned away from the hills, toward the main road, down the long hill, and stopped at 13 minutes, half a block from the big uphill at the end, precisely 1.04 miles from home. I felt better than I expected to, but I reminded myself I was "only" off a month this time - not several months like my last big break.

I had lower back pain for the first 2 blocks or so - it felt like pressure shooting up from my feet pounding the pavement. Eminem came on and I realized I *needed* to keep Recovery on for the whole run - I was definitely running angry. Despite being in the middle of a massive heat wave (aka "summer," at least that's what we used to call it), the heat didn't seem so bad.

I was trying to get home by 6:30 so that I would have adequate time to get ready for work, but I was far enough away from home that it felt like I would never get there walking, so I had a wee block and a half burst near the end and got home at 6:31.

I was a little disappointed that I only ran a mile, but I knew I had only run 13 minutes. I likely could have gone further but I didn't want to face that hill just yet. So, now I am putting myself on the first Wednesday of the training schedule and we'll see if I can manage to catch up. I don't think I want to actually run the race, but I want to run 13.1 miles and I definitely want to Yay! off some of those goals on the side of my blog. Watch them fall.

Weather: 79, dawn, 11mph (nope), 74%, FL 82
Time: 6am, Run 13 minutes
Distance: 1.68K/1.04mi (just run)
5K/10K: 42:14/1:29:16
Elevation: +21.7/-50.2/net -28.5 ft
Pace: 12.50

Post Run Health Update: Back pain didn't return, but I did have a slight headache all day (possibly unrelated). Legs were quite sore, knees felt fine. That right strap didn't get put on right (I knew it!) and rubbed the back of my knee in such a way it felt bruised. Lovely.

A Month in Review

After my last run, I took a couple days to recover from the cramps from hell that attacked in that last run.

I had a neurology appointment on the 28th that was not anticipated to affect my running, but he ordered a spinal tap for me for the following day. Uh, pardon me? That's right, still trying to rule out stuff in regards to the Brain Cloud. I swear if someone would just buy me a gourmet set of travel trunks and send me to a tropical island where everyone drinks orange soda, I would be just fine.

Anyway, even that wasn't really supposed to affect my running. The neuro actually told me to take it easy - don't go for a run that same day. I considered going for a run the night of the 28th, just in case, but what was there to worry about...paralysis? Oh and...

He did warn me of "spinal migraines" that I would be apt to be suffering from. In case of such event, you go back into the hospital, they draw blood out of your arm and shoot it back into the hole they used for the spinal tap and that makes your headache go away. I literally had to look this up after the appointment because it made me laugh so hard. I would rather jump from a plane than have such a "blood patch" done to me.

So I have the spinal tap. I get the migraine. I can't get off the couch from the 29th until....well, on the 6th I had the blood patch, which put me back on the couch after my limited efforts to start functioning around the 4th.

I was better on the 7th, but had extreme lower back pain. The back pain traveled down to my legs. I couldn't bend over, pick things up, or stand up too long. The very thought of running terrified me, and not just because I had had a bad experience on my last run, before western medicine got it's devil-led talons into my spinal column.

By the 18th, the pain was very rare. Through all of this my sitting and resting postures have been affected - I'm sure that did not help my pains. Any stretching at all still hurt like a mfer. But, still, the pain was practically non-existent by this point. I did not want to push my luck with anything too strenuous, though.

Enter the heat warnings and the temperature not getting below 80 degrees for two weeks, and counting.

Irregardless, I started taking the dog for walks in the evenings a few times, just to try to get going again.

Then one day my coworker went crazy and apparently that is contagious...