Watch Me Pull a Foot Out of My Mouth!

It’s been quite some time since my last post.  In my absence, I guess you can say I’ve been doing some soul searching.  And in my search, I’ve discovered I haven’t been completely honest with myself.  First off, I love food.  Part of the reason I find myself running in the first place is to balance my love of food with my waist line.  I love foods good and bad.  So when I my so called “good” eating habits came under scrutiny, after comments from my last post (see “The Heavy”) suggested maybe I wasn’t “aware” of the amount of food I was eating, I was a little bothered to say the least.  Not because it was way off base. Probably because deep down I knew it was true!

From the beginning,  I pooh poohed the notion of keeping a food journal.  Food journaling was for emotional eaters and people with no self control or will power! Certainly not me!!!   And I mean who has that kind of time?  I can barely remember to balance my checkbook let alone take the time to write down ever morsel of food that happened to find its way into my mouth.  So me keeping a food journal was simply out of the question!

Well two months and zero pounds lost later, PERHAPS ( and I say this with the very distinct taste of shoe leather in my mouth) I was a bit hasty in pooh poohing the merits of food journaling.  Apparently I AM an emotional eater (loving to eat is an emotion, right? ).  And if you don’t attempt to put into practice self control or will power, isn’t that kind of like not having any?  And do I really want to own up to the nutritionally compromised crap that makes its way into my diet on a daily basis?  Of course not. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t put myself under a microscope publicly so you don’t have to!

So here’s what I’m thinking:

With about another two months of training left, and all of you all’s love and support (insert rapid eyelash batting here), I’m going to give this food journal thing a whirl as well as an intense focus on the nutrition portion of my training. (Yes, I know I should have been doing that in the beginning, but as you all know, a hard head makes a soft, in this case, belly!)  Beginning Monday, July 6  I will begin keeping a food journal.  At the end of each week I will blog about my findings, particularly, the obstacles, and God willing, the weight loss.  So I’m looking forward to reading all of your comments and your advice.

So here goes nothing.  Wish me luck!

Aches and pains

With the Running Start crew, we’re starting to hear more about some aches and pains. For instance, one of the ladies in our Tuesday evening group was having some calf issues — mainly tightness. I have this problem too, especially in the first mile or so, but after I’m warmed up I feel fine (unless we’re running up and up and up!). Naturally, my first thought is we should be doing some more calf stretching. I found these calf stretches on Runner’s World, which might be of assistance. Of course, if any pain persists, definitely go visit your doctor. As guest speaker and M.D. Bill said, if it’s sharp, stabbing and immediate, you probably have torn something so you should stop running and visit your doctor for evaluation. But delayed onset muscle soreness is a normal part of running.

Runner’s World is packed with info you might try out. Check out their “What Hurts?” feature under “Injury Prevention.” Anyone else having specific troubles? Post your problems below and we can all discuss some solutions.

Kim

PGRC at Run for Roses 5K

ALOT of PGRC women ran at today’s MCRRC Run for Roses, which was co-directed by PGRC member Christina Caravoulias.   Many are participants in the PGRC Running Start program and some were running their very first race.   After the race, we met for breakfast at La Madeleine.  Congratulations to all the PGRC finishers (and please let me know if I missed anyone).  

Full race results

Photos

Place Div/Tot  Num  Name                  S Ag Hometown           Time   Pace 

===== ======== ==== ===================== = == ==================

   22   3/42    342 Cindy Cohen           F 41 Washington DC      23:57   7:43

  136  18/53    438 Amanda Hartmann       F 38 Cheverly MD        31:16  10:04

  144   3/9     152 Clare Imholtz         F 62 Beltsville MD      31:42  10:12

  164  13/39    120 Sharyn Gordon         F 51 Mitchellville MD   32:41  10:32

  174  15/21     48 Kimberly Bruce        F 21 Bowie MD           33:23  10:45 

  209  30/53    425 Cassandra Logan       F 37 Landover MD        34:51  11:13

  210  24/42    367 Corrie Pettigrew      F 42 Upper Marlboro MD  34:51  11:13

  250  19/34    121 Valerie Grasso        F 55 Lanham MD          36:25  11:44

  256  45/54    243 Kim Ossi Van Brecht   F 30 Bowie MD           36:34  11:47

  263  47/54    375 Ivy McCormick         F 32 Greenbelt MD       37:06  11:57

  264  24/39    285 Wanda Sims            F 50 Beltsville MD      37:10  11:58

  269  27/39    335 Lucy Younes           F 54 Hyattsville MD     37:40  12:08

  274   5/9     312 Julie Trapp           F 64 Silver Spring MD   38:26  12:23

  286  27/33    136 Renee Harris          F 49 Upper Marlboro MD  39:54  12:51

  321  35/42    203 Lisa Lynk Smith       F 44 Bowie MD           43:11  13:54

  342  47/53    401 Lisa Harris           F 39 Upper Marlboro MD  45:30  14:39

  357  41/42     99 Mia Fair              F 41 Hyattsville MD     47:26  15:16

  358  50/53    353 Leslie Ingram-Johnson F 38 Laurel MD          47:27  15:17

  359  42/42    286 Gina Slade            F 43 Hyattsville MD     47:27  15:17

  370  52/53    144 Tammy Hines           F 39 Suitland MD        52:11  16:48

The Heavy

When I first started writing this blog, I made it very clear that my motivation for running was purely of a vain nature.  That, and the dress. Since I’ve started running, THE dress is now one of many dresses (and other assorted clothing) that I can’t get so much as an elbow in without assistance or am just too afraid to try on less I need the jaws of life to get out!  What I’m getting at people is, that I seem to be gaining weight (at an alarming rate, might I add) and I’m none too happy about it.  

Yes, I know, I’m “rebuilding my body.” “Muscle weighs more than fat.”  Blah, blah, blah. But cut me some slack here!  How much longer before this thing evens itself out?  I mean I have been careful to stay away from the sugar and the fried stuff.  I’ve all but OD’ed on salad. I’m drinking so much water you can hear it sloshing around inside of me on any given day.  So what EXACTLY is the problem?  

And maybe I wouldn’t be quite so sensitive this early in the game, if everywhere I went weren’t teeming with full size mirrors.  I went to yoga the other day and spent 90 minutes staring in the mirror at the “fun house” me trying to figure out when it got that bad and how do I make it stop!  No one would believe (myself included) that just a few short months ago I was 20 lbs lighter.  Yup, thanks to a harsh and inactive winter and a mother who believes love and banana pudding are synonymous, I woke up one morning unable to put my socks on without breaking a sweat.  

And I get it! I’m not bemoaning how I got here. I’m just trying to figure out how to get out of here.  Running was supposed to be my ace in the hole!  A chance to improve my cardiovascular health AND get me in that dress!  Sure, I can run for 12 minutes straight, but I can’t walk up a hill without rubbing the skin off my inner thighs!  Where is the balance?

Am I being a baby?  Probably. But I’m also quite sure that I’m not the only beginner frustrated at the lack of physical progress. And I know deep down that change takes time. But after weeks of aching muscles and the not so pleasant scent of sports creme, is it really too much to ask for some small sign that it’s paying off?  

Sigh.  

I’m sure many of you will think I’m just being silly.  And maybe you’re right. These things don’t happen over night. And honestly, I really like running.  I do!  I enjoy the challenge it brings;  the pushing my body a little further than I ever thought possible.   I guess I  just wish I could push my body a little further into that dress to bring this thing full circle, you know?

Tonight’s fun runs are CANCELED

Yesterday’s storm caused some damage in Greenbelt and the forecast is for more thunderstorms so no races tonight.  Sorry!

National Running Day and more!

Hey runners! Some things of interest:

• Tomorrow, June 3rd, is National Running Day! So get out there and wave to all the other runners.
• One of our Running Starters, Corrie, mentioned that Charm City Run has a new location in the newly opened Annapolis Town Center (here are hours and directions). I’m going to check it out tomorrow.
• I am so happy to see everyone posting. But, um, who are you? Can you introduce yourselves or sign your posts? Of course, should you choose to stay anonymous, that’s OK too. I’d just like to be able to say hello when I run into you in person! I’ll start: I’m Kim, the tall (and admittedly quite pale) girl usually wearing a baseball hat — and typically attached to a clipboard — out at the Running Start program. I run with the 30:30 group (Shoutout to my girls Denise and Liz and manly Randy! I’m so proud of you!).

See you at the race THURSDAY evening! Wait, you didn’t know about any race? It’s part of our FREE summer race series. And it’s FUN, so bring your friends! Details:

Thursdays, June 4, June 18, July 2, July 16, Aug. 6, Aug. 20, 7 PM

Buddy Attick Summer Fun Runs  (NEW!) - 1.5 miles or 3 miles

Meet at Greenbelt Youth Center parking lot by 6:45 PM  FREE!

Dreaded Druid Hills race report

I went to Baltimore’s Dreaded Druid Hills 10k last Saturday with fear and trepidation in my heart. There were four PGRC runners there, all of us for the same reason: this year the Dreaded Druids was Race No. 3 in the Maryland RRCA Grand Prix series, where showing up is 9/10 of the game. Since I had not been able to run the first 2 races in the series, I really needed this race, but still would not have had the nerve if I didn’t know that some of my PGRC teammates would be there. The hills in this race have been called torturous, wicked, mean (and worse)—and I was convinced they were far beyond my ability. Nor had my training runs gone longer than 8k yet this spring. Strangely, very strangely, it turned out to be fun. I just decided to relax, walk when I couldn’t run straight up anymore, and the heck with worrying about my finish time (expecting anywhere from 1:20 to 1:40). To my great surprise, my time wasn’t much worse than in the Jingle All the Way 10k (which admittedly had been disastrous for me), and I felt great when I finished. Due to a low supply of older runners, I managed at 1:13:53 to be the third woman in my age group. Laurie Fisher easily took second in her class with 1:04:06 and Sharlene Deskins was right behind her with 1:05:46. Other PGRCers Chris Caravoulias (albeit running under a rival flag) and Lucy Younes finished in 1:19:05 and 1:33:47, respectively. Hail Druids!

– Clare Imholtz

Adventures in Cross Training

So far everything I’ve read suggests that cross training is a crucial part of running.  Apparently, if you run too often you’ll get injured (ouch!).  And if you run too little, you’ll get injured (double ouch!).  So it’s important to run just enough and find something else to do in between.  Weight training they say is best, but that generally requires a membership, and you all know how I feel about that (see “Running Scared”) or equipment that requires space I just don’t have.  So I thought why not try a yoga class!  It’s kind of a workout, right? AND there’s all that lovely music and infinite opportunities to lie down!   ( I LOVE the lying down parts). But in the interest of making it a real workout, I thought why not make it HOT YOGA!

For a better idea of what Hot Yoga is, go to your oven. Turn it on to say… 450 degrees. Open the door. Get inside.  And proceed to strike a series of yoga poses for 90 minutes!  THAT, in a nutshell is hot yoga!  When you walk into the room, the heat just  SMACKS  you in the face.  Mind you, they hadn’t even turned on the ovens yet.  My little pink workout ensemble, which seemed like a really good idea at the time, was getting a little sticky, but I didn’t panic.  The class begins and the ovens come on (yes, I know they weren’t actual ovens, but whose story is this anyway, huh?).  Now from where I was, I couldn’t see the thermometer, but all said, I was told the room got up to a stifling 105 degrees with 50% humidity.  It was essentially August on the Equator in that room and I paid to be there!  Our “Instructor” enters the class and politely tells us new kids that she will NOT be demonstrating the poses but will be rattling them off at break neck speed (thus the name INSTRUCTOR) and if we get stuck, look around the room for someone who looks like they might know what they’re doing.

WHAT?!?!?!?  

And so it begins.  I promise you not five minutes into this thing, I notice the lady in front of me has sweat pouring down her ankles. I’m thinking, “Eww! Whose ankles sweat?” HELLO! Apparently mine do, because not two seconds later when I went to touch my toes, I saw my own line of ankle sweat.  And that ain’t all that was sweating!  But I stay the course!  I continued to participate, because let’s face it, I was there and I needed the material for the blog!

With every movement I could feel the sweat pouring off of me. And had there not been a towel under me to lay witness, I would never have believed it myself.  All done, that towel contained the sweat equivalent of a toddler. I sweated a two year old!  And this is all in the first 30 minutes! My little pink ensemble is now sticking to me and rolling up my body like a shade!  I’m looking more and more like a pink dumpling as time goes on. So now I’m not only drenched, I’m super self conscious. But we get through it!  After 90 minutes in hell (because that’s what it felt like), class ends and we stumble out and to the showers.

By the time I got home, hot yog had started to settle in. I felt like I’d run two marathons through the Mojave desert at high noon. I had just enough strength to shower (again) and inhale dinner (literally) before I had to lie down. Folks, it was 8:45 pm and still partially light out when I laid down. I did not get up again until 4:45 am the next day!  I have never slept so deeply and so soundly in my entire life!  

Now most of you don’t know this about me, (hell none of you do, who am I kidding?) but I carry a lot of stress and tension in my upper shoulders and neck area. This makes it nearly impossible to truly relax, which interferes with my breathing during runs.  Not after a day of hot yoga! I ran without ANY of the usual breathing issues. In fact, I think I had more energy than I’ve ever had on my Saturday morning runs. My legs gave out much sooner than my lungs did this week! (Trust me, that’s a good thing here)

So what’s my assessment?  Was it the 50 hours of sleep after self inflicted heat exhaustion that made the difference? Or was it the healing benefits of yoga in a sweltering room?  Who knows. But if for no other reason than the sleep, I still have a week long pass to check it out ONE more time to see if there’s really anything to it.

Any takers?

(Shout out to Camille Rice for taking on Hot Yoga with me.  Thanks for being a good sport in spite of it all!)

Hazardous PRs

We have our link for submitting your PRs — Personal Records — over on the left, or its own tab up top. Thinking about PRs is often a good idea. The thing is, it can also be a hazard.

The good part, which is very large, about PRs, is that it puts your attention where it belongs — on your own running, rather than on the speedy folks. I was introduced seriously to this when I ran in high school. Our speediest (ran jr. national cross country, and finished in the top 10) guy was loafing through the 2 mile race as I was racing full out. He lapped me and easily won the race. For him ‘loafing’ meant a 10:20 or so 2 mile. I, on the other hand, turned in my PR, breaking 12:00 for the first (and only) time. Since mine was the PR, the team — winner included — were cheering me, not the winner. (He lapped me as he was finishing, so I had a good view of his finish He’d loafed, I’d set a PR (11:56). Even if much slower, mine was the harder effort.

The hazard, which I’m very familiar with as I violate the rule so often myself, is to focus too much on your PRs. This is especially a danger for beginners and for people returning from layoffs (injuries, getting married, graduating from school, vacations, moving, … whatever).

For beginners, if you start looking at PRs, there’s that attraction of trying to beat the previous one — every time you go out for a run. The thing is, when you’re beginning, you’ll naturally beat your prior times pretty frequently, without increasing your effort. It’s also, unfortunately, easy to beat prior times by running harder and harder. The problem is, you’ll get injured.

For returners, depends on your layoff. I didn’t run at all for 15 years after setting that 11:56 best at 2 miles (or, more accurately, my 2:21 half mile at the conference meet two weeks later). I remembered all the numbers. And my first figuring was that ‘Ok, I’m slower now, for having not run, but that means, say 8 minute miles instead of the 7:30s I ran in training then, and a 6:00 mile race, instead of the 5:30 or so I turned in back then.’ Horribly wrong, it turned out. It wasn’t until I was able to ignore those old times that I was able to train regularly. (There’d been a few 1-5 run spells in the 15 years.) If you’re coming back from a long time layoff, the one plus here is that your body simply will refuse to do what you think it should. The down side is, too much looking at those old times is depressing and will prevent you getting out enough to train. And, once I finally did train routinely, I did start getting much faster. But it was the routine training that was the key. Not the paces.

For shorter layoffs, the problem I’ve found is, my mind knows in detail how to extract the most from my body, and the body can pretty much respond to do it — even though the next day it’ll be hard to move, or, worse, even though it’ll create an injury for me.

So .. Saturday, the 23rd, I went out after my warmup with the club and visited the track for ‘reasonably hard’ efforts at 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m. If you look over at my PR list, the 100 m, 400 m, and 1500 m bests were set on the same day, within about two hours start to finish. They were all flat out efforts (100%) not ‘reasonably hard’ (should be 90%), and I felt good then and after. After ‘reasonably hard’ efforts, you should be able to run normally the next day. On the 23rd, I turned in 18.5, 41.1, 95.0 for the distances. These are all close to what I expected. And that’s the problem. Given my current base (very little) and such, I should have slowed down substantially from these marks, more like 21, 48, 105.

Having over-pushed for what the body can really tolerate, I didn’t run again until Wednesday, rather than being out again Sunday and Tuesday evenings. There’ll be 2 runs this week instead of the proper 4. Halving my training is not a good idea! So it will be some time before I run any faster than ‘brisk jog’, for any distance.

Running from the Ankles Up!

Someone once told me that fitness begins from the ankles up.  Whether or not there is any scientific proof surrounding this, is anybody’s guess.  Although my ankles look pretty much the same, I have noticed a change in my knees.  Yes, my knees.  You’d have to know the story of my knees to know why this is so exciting for me.  (I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version, if you insist.)

I have always had, for lack of a better word, fat knees. I know this to be true, one, because my grandmother pointed it out to me once. I think she called them “cow knees”.  (She was a very sweet woman, I promise you, despite that statement. ) and two, a trainer I once had, made a very convincing argument for why more reps on the leg machine was in my best interest. (In his very thick Jamaican accent: “You got fat ’round yer knees.”) So to look in the mirror at a more shapelier knee, let’s me know a little progress was made. And I might not have been paying attention had it not been for grandma and the Jamaican trainer.  

Other more obvious physical changes are happening too. Now, whether or not they are direct results of running or eating, is where things get a little fuzzy.  My thighs are huge.  In fact, they are a little more huge-er (yes, I said it!) than they were before I started this program.  Getting my jeans up has become a sport unto itself and walking up even a small incline, feels like I’m wearing metal leg irons.  Either, I’ve gained some serious muscle OR someone is spiking the water with creatine!  PLEASE tell me this is normal!  

Also, I have been reading everything I can get my hands on about running. Everything from correct posture and breathing to post and pre-run snacking.  So far, a really good book for women (sorry, fellas) is The Complete Book of Running for Women by Claire Kowalchik.  This book gives some very basic information about running and nutrition, as well as some very specific information about the female runner. I highly recommend it.  But as I was going through the book, and the countless other articles and magazines I’ve picked up over the past few months, they all talk about how relaxing running is and should be.  Can I just say, how in the heck can I relax with so many things to try and remember? This is what’s going on in my head when I’m running:

Back straight! Head up!  Drop your shoulders!  Plant your feet! Don’t forget to breathe.  Back straight! Head up! Unclench those fists!  Plant your feet! Are you breathing?!  Back straight! Head up! Drop your shoulders!  Plant your feet! Breathe! 

Who can relax with all this going on??  I’m sure I must look like Pinocchio’ s little sister  limping around the track every week. Trying to keep up.  Trying not to pass out.  Sure, with time, I WILL relax and I won’t look a wooden rag doll but  a real live girl!  But until that time, I will not use the word “relaxing” to describe my running experience. 

So far I’m up to a steady three times a week, not including Saturdays.  This is in HUGE part to GREAT Pace Coaches! Thank you, Charles for not giving any of us an excuse NOT to run. This man will meet you anywhere if it means you’ll get some running in.  Also big shout out to Arneda and Cass for all your support and more importantly, for keeping Charles in line!