ooh la lost!

the French Trail is the 4th segment of the golden hills trail marathon route and it pops up pretty quickly along the east ridge. a long steep descent that tapers off for a good long stretch (no clue how far the garmin signal was M.I.A.)before you start climbing. this is by far my favorite section yet.

on the way in i came across only 2 hikers going the opposite way...they seemed as surprised as i to see anyone there...you've got to really work to get down in the canyon....not to mention work to get back to the main trail.

cruising along i would stop to check my map every so often but i think my over confidence led me astray and before i knew it i had passed my turn and found myself at the end of the French trail instead of the Chrown trail that would take me to the 5th segment.

i say surprised but i'm not really. it's a given that i will get lost the first couple of times before i figure out the right path. it's been that way pretty consistently since learning this race route.

i think i only covered 6 maybe 7 miles. i thought briefly of running on the west ridge to make up some mileage but i was too lazy.

i'm thinking i might want to switch my long runs to saturday since the race will be on saturday. which means more tweeking of the schedule.

i love grey days

T and M are kicking butt with the yard sale. after the obligatory helping set-up i've been happily holed up in the house plotting my take over of the dining room...soon-to-be my sewing room. i decided to not run today and am good with the 30 miles i logged this week. tomorrow's long run will be 8-11 trail miles.

my mom stopped by earlier for a few hours and help kick start the sale. M is quite the sales girl and has gone from unenthusiastically giving up her stuff to jonesing for cold hard cash. she's convinced her father that they should do it again tomorrow and wants to go through more of her stuff tonight!

woohoo...mission accomplished! maybe just maybe we've nipped the need to hang-on to crap in the bud?

the past few days i've been pouring over quilt books and pulling out my stash and sewing supplies. the blustery weather sure sets the right tone. i am going in yet another direction with M's quilt and am in complete awe of my geniousness.

i am by no means a skilled quilter. i rip out as much as i sew. i make a ton of mistakes. my work is not fine or precise. i don't follow directions very well and tend to learn best through trial and error. it takes longer, he! a lot longer but for me it's about the journey. which could explain the lack of discipline in my running life too!

i love fabric and i love quilts and i just have to be working on something. i like feeling creative and the process of figuring out a technique or design is very satisfying. i see the world in a better light. beauty in places i hadn't noticed. i think my foul mood of late has been in part due to the lack of creative outlet.

i feel the same way about running. i'm not fast, i walk alot and sometimes stop and weep for joy because am so greatful that these very-soon-to-be 44 year old legs finally found a way to fly and stay grounded. my race calendar is by no means full but i like to have a couple of races on schedule. mostly though i just love being in nature.

since starting to run the past 2 years have been pretty much about running and other athletic endeavours. quilting has been in the backseat...where i could still keep an eye on it ...in the rearview mirror...a couple of small projects here and there...to still feel like i was quilter.

my sewing room also happens to be the dining room and while we never eat in there we have had more gatherings here than usual and so i packed up my stuff and haven't sewn much over the last year. quilting went from the back seat to the storage unit.

our recent urge to purge has me feeling lighter and wanting to tie up loose ends. this quilt is going to keep me grounded as i figure out this marathon training stuff. i was getting a bit anxious about not liking my current training schedule, a blend of beginner and intermediate marathon training from coolrunning. i have a solid base but i want to go from 1 to 2 days off. i think as long as i put in the time and quality i'll be okay with 2 days off.

i want to run and i want to quilt. i need to find a place for both of them. when i think about it quilting actually led me back to running. when i quit smoking i found a quilting class at the local adult ed. center and quilted like a mad woman for two years. after finally getting healthy i started to run a little around my neighborhood. at the time we were renting a place in the berkeley hills about a 1/4 mile from tilden. it was there my love for trail running began.

so that's my quilting running rant for now. it's clear to me that i need both. i'm not going to compromise the marathon training in any way but feel as strongly about the need to be creative.

walls

ok so it was bound to happen. running is becoming less enjoyable. i think i've come up against the first of many "walls". the daily runs are getting tedious...i don't know if it really suits me.

i hit the trail weds for a seriously tough hilly ass not-quite-6 miler. i was whooped afterwards. getting to bed a little late didn't help me the next morning and despite schlepping my gear to work...by the time lunch rolled around i was still too tired to run. i'm not even going to explain why i ate that big ass cinnamon roll at 3 pm....

this morning is really perfect running weather and i have to log at least 5...ideally 7 so i can be free tomorrow for the dreaded yard sale....

questions for experienced marathoners....

can a person properly train for this distance by running every other day?

can i get away with fartleck/tempo runs vs track works?

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i ran 8 flat miles in 1:15:00 this morning.

i was gonna skip running tomorrow but if i run just 5 that will make 35 miles for the week!

necessary evils

so with a few good runs under my belt this week, easing back into things has come pretty easy. yea, it's all good again. friday's post work run of 7 miles was especially nice. i explored a new neighborhood and found some long hills for an exceptionally good workout.

yesterday i skipped my short run and attacked the storage unit. we're gearing up for a garage sale next week and can i just tell you I HATE HAVING YARD SALES! i've been putting this off for the longest time. my front porch is a scene straight out of Sanford and Son...much to the dismay of a few neighbors (in fact yesterday some neighbors were walking past our piles of crap and T whispered to me "tell them what we're doing" i suppose as a way to assure them that no were not going into the junk yard business and setting up shop in our front yard.) but, as they say it gets worse before it gets better.

i like getting rid of stuff but i really hate having to sort and price and worse haggle with people. if it were up to me we'd bypass the yard sale all together and it would all end up in a Big 'ol FREE PILE....and sitting next to it would be a guest book so i could send thank you notes!

once something has reached yard sale status i pretty much am over it and have no real need to get top dollar. i mean it's served it's purpose and now i want it the hell out of here. my husband on the other hand.....

i blame it on some kind've genetic birth defect...being the eldest son of depression era parents...his mother was the WORSE when it came to yard sales. she'd argue and get insulted when a potential customer would have the audacity to counter offer on some piece of crap. i remember one sale in particular...i don't even recall the piece of crap being sold but it was the end of the day and i just wanted to be DONE and i agreed too swiftly on a price and i swear to god my mother law called me stupid!

needless to say from that time forward she was banned from participating in future yard sales.

we don't have all that much to unload: a decent set of bunk beds is at the top of the list. all the bags of M's clothes i hauled out of storage would be better off passed along to younger cousins. don't even get me started on the stuffed animals. would you ever buy a stuffed animal at a yard sale?

truth is i don't accumulate all that much stuff. i laugh when i hear about men being designated a tiny corner of the closet for their stuff. HA not around here. t has at least 5x's more articles of clothing than i do (i wear scrubs, work out clothes, and a have few "nice" outfits) he on the other hand still has crap from the 70's. stuff that hasn't seen the light of day in decades. seriously, i have a chest of drawers and an small armour in the laundry room.

i'm married to a pack rat...and it's not limited to just clothes. in the eyes of an artist everything has potential. i can relate here as i tend to hold onto fabric, buttons, ribbons, doodads, and the like for YEARS in the hopes of using it in a project. but unlike T i do get the occasionally urge to purge which keeps things sane around here and the health inspector off my back.

okay, enough of that. i'm adequately caffeinated and have a long run to tend to(10 to 14 miles, depends on how i feel). the cool grey weather isn't exactly urging me to get out there but will make things comfortable temp wise. i'm working tomorrow (got to love that time and a half pay), but i hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend.

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i'm back from my run now. head and crosswinds added a bit of texture to an otherwise boring run. the grey never burned off and i feel kinda bad for those folks trying to get their BBQ on in the park. it's really just bleh out there. i followed gilman to the bayside trail that goes out to richmond.

i had an interesting experience around mile 9-10. i felt some pain and stiffness starting to settle in around my hips and at the same time that fuzzy feeling i get when the endorphins start to kick in. it was a well timed lift i tell you!

14:05 FLAT miles in 2:48 was about all the pushing i was up for today. after reading NYTROS marathon report. i had to laugh at the part about ass cramps. all this pounding the pavement was working my sciatic nerve and i knew what i was in for when i got home.....my first ice bath!

unlike nytro and her 3 bags of ice i opted for one bag in coolish water....hoots and howels ensued as M sat on the toilet laughing HER ass off as her mother writhed in agony for 6 whole minutes.

so now it's all good again. think were going to go see the new Pirates movie later and call it day.

Baby Steps

after 3 days off of running i feel more than a bit apprehensive and can't seem to get out the door. i'm dressed and currently nursing my second cup of coffee. i didn't need to take ibuprofen for the first time this morning and my throat while still sore is feeling better. no aches or pains just a bit sluggish.

yesterday was my first day back to work...ugh. lastnight i pulled off all the patches from the audition board and started to rearrange them. easing back into quilting has been awkward too.

as with my running i have all these expectations for this quilt and i want to pick up where i left off....but that's just not realistic. still as i step back and look at my work i am thrilled by all the possibilities. a quilt is alot like marathon because it's the consistency of the work that creates this amazing thing in the end.

today i will just get out there. no expectations other than to get back into the groove.

sick days

seems my uber workout on sunday exacerbated whatever bug was brewing. i've been home sick for 2 days. i woke up several times through the night on sunday and on monday morning i felt like i'd been hit by a truck. i was able to get a massage on the spot at a place not far from home...it was pretty good...though her draping techniques left something to be desired (it's customary to cover whatever body part is not being attended to as it is a little hard to relax when your ass is exposed while your upper back is being worked on) and she used mineral oil (eeewww) and then wiped it off with warm towels afterwards...time she could've been spending on my legs... but i felt better afterwards...the 800 miligrams of ibuprofen every 6-8 hours seems to be helping as well. this morning my t-shirt was soaked ...the fever finally broke but my throat still hurts alot and i'm still using the meds.

Tired as Hell!

a hectic week wrought havoc on the training schedule. entertaining out of town visitors and chaperoning an overnight field trip to Sacramento. we stayed in a fancy old victorian masion youth hostel. between being on my feet all day touring the capitol and a room assignment on the third floor(many trips up and down, my hips and buttocks were sore that night!) it was hardly a day off., less "real" training, bad food choices all conspired against me and yesterdays long run was probably the toughest physical and mental challenge i've faced yet.

i hit the trail just before 9 am....i've been doing this to simulate race day. my plan was to get to Sibley, see how i felt from there and than decide if proceeding further was an option. the morning cooleness was deceiving. i was dressed lightly on top and wore capri length tights. as i worked my way up the first long gradual hill. my feet felt a little weird on the trail...i hadn't been running on trails since last wednedsday and my feet cringed and balked at the rocky uneven terrain. it took me a while to find my footing.

no sooner do you arrive at the top of curran you briefly cross a flat section than continue climbing out of this section of the park up to the road...again another brief flat section than you start up again. i got about halfway and had to stop. i gued and hydrated than continued to walk up the next long steep section.

there is a distinct difference between walking, hiking and shuffling. i did a mixture of the 3. some sections were flat and cool allowing me to pick it up a bit but the truth is i never had any get up and go the entire run...more like relentless forward motion.

being more familiar with this route i expected to get there faster with less stopping to check the map, more walk breaks seemed to make a difference too, plus i added the curran section (i started from the road last time) and in fact it added only 23 minutes to my time.

this run was about sheer will. i didn't feel great and i knew that the previous weeks choices were coming back to haunt me. i had plenty of fluid and just took my time walking when i felt like it. pushing on when i could muster my legs to move a little quicker.

walking early on was a good move.

there's an especially long steep section, i'd say the last mile before you reach sibley (i was sans garmin, forgot it!). last time i walked most of it. but i was able to maintain a decent shuffle all the way to the top. i lingered at the rest area for about 10 minutes before heading back....going further on would not be an option today. a slow shuffle on hills requires alot more exertion...later i read that the shortened stride and faster cadence while hiking and (shuffling) builds leg strength. walking is about running economy. hiking and shuffling is about strengthening.

so far i was into the run 2 hours....i knew i'd need longer to get back. by now things were really warming up, though not as hot as last time i ran here (though based on the low grade fever i have today...i'm thinking that's why i felt so crummy) but warm enough to cause me to slow down significantly even on the down hills. like i said i just didn't feel great. i alternated hiking with shuffling and gued twice on the 2.5 hour trip back to my car.

tingling and numbness

i've mentioned feelings of numbness and tingling in my arms before. i first thought it was due to under hydration, because my rings and skin often felt tight. over the last few months the sensation has grown more pronounced, that crappy massage therapist suggested it might be thoracic outlet syndrome, i'm not even going there...my symptoms are similar but i'm not in constant pain and if i pay attention to posture and bodymechanics i'm hardly bothered by it. during a restbreak on the field trip i got the brilliant idea to do a cartwheel on the grass. OMG the shock reverberated through my arms and i being the pig headed fool that i am did it again just to be sure that the cartwheel was the trigger. again, PAIN. i was literally shocked and the weird sensation/pain did not subside until well into the next day.

other aches and pains

on the way back from sibley yesterday, i was irritable, hot, tired, and had to play mental games to make it back. i kept telling myself no matter how bad i felt now it was better than being at work. seems i've found a way to put unpleasant work scenarios to good use. i'm an occupational therapist and i spend alot of time in the bathroom with people...i'll spare you...i just focused on the fact that i was outdoors, choosing to take on this challenge and decided that while this run was in major suck mode it was better than the best day on the job. the last downhill stretch seemed to take foreverrrrr and everytime i saw hiker coming towards me i kept thinking "they look pretty fresh, this.is.almost.over. almost there, almost there!"



today i have a sore throat, a fever, a backache and the chills. i called off work and will work on wednesday instead. after i got home yesterday i hit the books and determined that the pain on the top of my right metatarsal is NOT a stress fracture. it's not red or swollen and it never seems to hurt when i'm running just when i walk at non training times, like when i woke up this morning, the pain is around a 4-5 just walking around the house...didn't hurt during yesterday's session at all. i think i'm lacing my shoes too tight. hiking hilly terrain is a great way to stregthen the cartilage and legs. i was wise to incorprate walk breaks early on, it's what got my butt through 14 weary miles in one piece.

so i'm officially in marathon training mode. base training is over. and now the focus is on uping my mileage and gradually introducing speedwork. on saturday i pulled off a 8.3 minute mile on the track a mile from my house. i looked over at a dad pushing a jog stoller and said "boy this sucks!" and he just blanked stared me...whatever...apparently it wasn't obvious that i was running fast. LOL


so what did i learn?

other stress factors and change in routine greatly effected my training this week.
it seems smarter to go longer on the roads, faster on the track and flatter trails and keep hills workouts shorter. i still have half the official race route to learn and need to base intensity on how i feel and how long it takes to recover. maybe it was foolish to work so hard yesterday, maybe it was foolish to count on prior training to get me by but then again.......maybe it wasn't. maybe i learned a few things by experience rather than just by reading about it. i tend to roll that way. the verdict is still out.



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