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August 30, 2005

Ch-ch-ch- changes

If anyone is planning to come to Austin for the marathon this winter you should know that there have been MAJOR course changes announced recently. Unfortunately I can't find anything official online, but I know the start location will be different and I don't think the course will run through East Austin anymore. I'm interested to see how it turns out, although I must admit that it makes me sad to see it change so drastically. I have had some of the best and worst races of my life on that course (which hasn't been exactly the same each time I've run it, but the major chunks and phases have all been the same.) '98 was good but painful; '99 was my first Boston Qualifier, '00 was a p.r. and an age-group award; '02 was a crash and burn and pout; '03 was a hard-won p.r.; and '05 was a big fat ugly mess! R.I.P. old course; I'll certainly miss you!

Everything is still sailing along smoothly with both the running and the "other thing." The wardrobe is still a challenge, and even my running clothes have been more problematic. On Saturday I wore a "comfy" pair of shorts and got all kinds of commentary from the group. I guess they did look a little ridiculous. And running in large shorts in the humidity results in even worse sagging and clinging and overall yuck! But again, the swim in Barton Springs made everything better (except maybe the shorts puffing that happens as you descend the stairs into the water.)

Andy has been making me pretty jealous lately with his running. He's become the running slut that I was last summer; running with different groups throughout the week. I think he has a plan for the winter but he's not sharing. I wish he could do Houston again, but it's just a little to risky with the due date being less than a week after the marathon date! And if he shoots for Freescale his taper won't include a whole lot of sleep; plus I think he'd hate missing out on pacing, too. (Man, it's almost as fun to think about *other* peoples' marathon goals. Almost.)

Posted by jenandmats at 8:38 AM | Comments (5)

August 20, 2005

Consistency is the key

Last summer when I was running with the ARC Monday night group I ran with a guy who wrote for the ARC newsletter. He's a really nice guy and easy to talk to, and he asked me last summer if I would be interested in being the subject of the newsletter's "Runner of the Month" article and I agreed (it didn't seem to bother him that I'm not even an ARC member.) I answered his questions last fall, and the article ran last month. The article says that "[my] training philosophy is to minimize the stress, as [I believe] that less stressful running may result in more consistency, and that consistency is the key to running well."

That certainly has been my philosophy lately, although my definitions of "running well" and "minimizing stress" have been modified somewhat: now the goal is to be able to continue participating in an activity that makes me happy ("running well") but in a way that doesn't physically stress me and my new little friend too much. (Which is obviously harder to do in Austin in August than it would be in Austin in October!)

My friends have been accommodating me, and I've continued to do the 4-mile loop three mornings a week with strides at the end of two of the runs. And then on Saturday I've managed to find people to keep me company for 9-10 miles, tippy-toeing our way up the bigger hills, and stopping at every single possible water stop for a drink and a hose-off. And I've continued starting and ending at Barton Springs, and have gotten to be much less of a wussy about getting all the way in. In fact, both last week and this morning I actually did a few swimming strokes away from the stairs! So brave.

In the past two weeks I've been shopping for new clothes three times. My first stop, last week, was Motherhood Maternity in the mall. I would *not* suggest this as a first step for anyone - especially not on a slow Tuesday night. There was a *ding* as I crossed the threshold and then the saleslady approached with all kinds of questions. I had really hoped for a little anonymity. And then, when I checked out there were even *more* questions and information about all the deals and promotions that are now available to me. I bought a pair of yoga pants and a skirt and my bag weighed 5 pounds or more with all the crap - I mean, helpful information - they put in there.

But my running clothes still manage to work, with a double-up accommodation on the top. Those of you who find it difficult to run without a shirt will be appalled to hear that I am stubbornly refusing to run *with* one despite the fact that I'm now at the stage where it's 80% certain why I look the way I do, but there's still the chance that people still might think I've had too many twinkies this summer. I really thought I would struggle with this more - early on I woke up in the middle of the night completely frustrated (anybody else find that their mind completely blows things out of proportion in the middle of the night?) about the fact that the only way that I could be discreet with my changing midsection be to cover up, which I just hate unless I'm uncomfortably cold. I feel smothered with a shirt on when I'm running in most cases. My solution has been to just not look at myself in my running clothes. It's hard to be self-conscious about the way you look if you don't really know what you look like. I just hope Andy or my friends will let me know if I really need to fix something.

My approach to running apparel during this phase is somewhat consistent with my approach to the project in general. I don't know what I weigh until the dr. tells me and I haven't been keeping tabs of my waist size or anything. We don't have a photo journal of my progress. (I'd actually rather not have my picture taken ... probably for the same reason I don't look at myself in my running clothes. What I don't know can't hurt me!) My mom thinks that I'll regret it later to not have anything recorded, but I guess I just want to let my body do it's thing without my overanalyzing or worrying too much.

Oh and some more rambling on the subject: One of my friends gave me The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy, and it's been an entertaining read. I don't really agree with the author's approach to exercise - she admits she only exercises to stay thin and she feels there's no reason really to exercise during pregnancy. How about ... it makes me happy? Plus, she seems to really focus on the weight gain, no matter what subject she's talking about. She makes light of the subject by poking fun at herself, but by doing it so often (and with adjectives like "bulging" and "dimpled") she really emphasizes what an issue it was for her. She tells you not to worry about it, that it'll all come off, but her constant focus on the subject undercuts her point. I think a better approach would be to just tell you it's going to happen, get over it, and not mention it again. I'd prefer not to worry about it, but with all her chatter about it I get the impression that that's all people are going to care about!

We saw March of the Penguins this afternoon. I want a baby penguin. Matty would keep it good company.

Posted by jenandmats at 3:38 PM | Comments (3)

August 10, 2005

Didn't leave my heart but I had a good time!

Handy trick I learned this week: when your pants get too tight to button up anymore, just take a rubber hairbob and thread it through the button hole and then take the two ends and hook them around the button. I'm using that right now. Unfortunately, I can't zip the zipper up, either, so although my shorts are technically hitched together my fly is wide open and I'm having to cover up with my shirt. So the problem is not entirely solved.

We spent the weekend on the California Coast, shuffling between Carmel, where my parents were vacationing, and San Francisco, where my brother lives. I got two decent runs in while we were there - the weather was great for running.

On Friday afternoon Andy did a run in Point Lobos State Reserve that he declared was the prettiest run he'd ever done. I missed out. I napped that afternoon and decided to hit the park first thing in the morning, but it turns out it doesn't open until 9 and we needed to be on the road to San Fran by then. So my dad and I ran the Mission Trail Nature Preserve, which is highlighted in this CNN.com article that came out last Wednesday (and that I didn't see until now!) Our run was pretty, but not as pretty as Andy's, and my dad was such a baby about running uphill the first half! He complained about it for the rest of the weekend! (It was kind of a pain.) I'm going to need to toughen that guy up. He's gotten too used to running in the flat parts of Phoenix! When they move out here I'll have to introduce him to some *real* hills!

On Saturday afternoon I made my first trip to SBC Park to see the Astros roll over and play dead to the Giants. I would have liked to see a better game, but I was secretly glad the Giants won; they're still one of my teams, and it's moderately depressing to be two (maybe three - I couldn't tell if my dad was pulling for them) little lonely visiting team fans in the far reaches of the park among a sea of depressed home team fans if the home team loses. This statement does not apply in September or October, however. Beth's entry from a while ago made me stop and count the number of MLB ballparks I've been to, and I think I better her by just one, although a lot of mine are repeats in the same city: Oakland Coliseum, Candlestick, SBC, Astrodome, Minute Maid, New Comiskey, the BOB (Bank One in PHX), and Fenway this past June. Actually, I *could* say I better her by two since I'm pretty sure I went to "The Maid" (I don't know if they actually call it that; I think that's hilarious) when it was still Enron. I must say, though, that if this were a real competition I'd have to cry foul; we Westerners are at a serious disadvantage to you East Coasters who can hit six parks in a weekend if you wanted to!

On Sunday Andy and I headed out from my brother's house and ran the three blocks to Golden Gate Park. The last time I'd run through the park was ten years ago during Bay to Breakers; I was *amazed* that I was still moving so well after already running 6 miles! These days I'm amazed at every run that still goes well (and it has been going well, except for the constant feeling that I have to pee.) We were just going to go out 20 minutes and turn around, but at about 17 minutes we spotted a directional sign for the Golden Gate Bridge and decided to head out that way (up 25th St.) We didn't really know where we were going, but one of the beauties of urban running is the abundant bus stops with maps (which, unfortunately, also tend to also come with random smelly dudes who may or may not be leering at your short shorts.) Another one of the beauties of urban running in a city with lots of renovation is an abundance of porta-potties which also came in handy. We made it down to the Presidio, ran on the beach to where we swore we should have been seeing the bridge but the fog was too thick, and then headed up a serious hill back up to the road and a scenic overlook where we *knew* we should have seen the bridge but we couldn't even see 20 feet in front of us because of the fog. So we gave up on the stupid bridge and headed back UP to the park. And back through the park, which by this time was crawling with people, including a group doing a race or time trial, and there was one fast girl in compression socks putting the hurt on a bunch of guys. I briefly wondered if it could be Liz, but according to her blog it was not. When we got back to the house we showered and my brother made brunch for all of us. Perfect!

Aside: Right now I'm listening to Boz Skagg's Lido Shuffle and can't help but think back to last summer's canoe trip - every time we'd shove off from a break somebody would always ask who needed one more [beer] for the road. And I couldn't help but follow up with "Lido ... whoaaaa-oh-ooooh" at the top of my lungs. Actually, there were two of us doing that. The other guy became a dad sometime earlier this year. Can't help but wonder if we'll have another canoe trip like that. Is canoeing sober fun? I would imagine so, but don't really have any experience with it.

Fun trip. I love San Francisco. I love hanging out with my family. The fog and cold wore on us a little; we were borderline giddy when we got back to the car in the airport parking lot at 4pm - now THAT is what August is supposed to feel like!

Posted by jenandmats at 8:52 PM | Comments (4)

August 1, 2005

Inspirational baggage

Well the new doctor didn't jump for joy that I was running as much as I was - I laid it all out for her - but she didn't say it was too much and just emphasized that I 1) stay hydrated and 2) not allow my heart rate to exceed 140bpm ... for "an extended period of time," which she further elaborated was more than 5 minutes. The only thing strenuous I'm doing are strides, which total about 7 minutes total, with 6-8 30-second bursts. So I'm pretty sure I'm ok, even by her bright-line, never-asked-me-about-my-exercise-history standards. Maybe 140 is a lot lower than I think it is, though. Maybe when I go back I'll ask her what she'd recommend for an Olympic athlete and then extrapolate back from there. It just can't be the same for me as it is for a recreational runner (i.e. "normal person.")

This was Andy's first trip to "the doctor" with me. When we left I asked him if he felt privileged, and he said yes, he felt like he'd been let into the secret club. In the considerable time we spent waiting in the exam room he had a good time pulling out all the different drawers and shelves on the table and giggled over the stirrups. It was his first time to hear the baby's heartbeat, which I insist (and he agrees) sounds like Matty when she's breathing hard after we get back from throwing the ball at the park. (It's around 160bpm.) Maybe we're having a little yellow lab! Ok nevermind that's gross.

In my last post I didn't mean to imply that I thought that having kids necessarily means the end of pr's. I certainly hope not! But practically speaking it's just a lot more difficult in terms of time and energy level and flexibility to get in the 80+ miles per week that I'd like to get in for marathon training. In my ideal little world I would have nailed that damn marathon in February and then moved down to the shorter distances that take less time to train for. Plus, I wanted to be open to the possibility that after I had a kid in my world running just wouldn't matter to me as much. I doubt that'll happen but I wanted to be ok with it. As it turns out I have a little marathon baggage that I'll have to carry around with me for a while!

MAY-be it happened this way for a reason. I really am a pretty lazy person, and maybe this marathon baggage is meant to keep me inspired when I reach that point in life (becoming a parent) when a lot of people stop exercising or otherwise lose sight of what made them "them" before they had kids. Not that my friends would ever let that happen. They're all back out running and would harass me to no end if I just quit getting out there. Still, maybe that baggage will maintain that little flame until I'm ready to get out and push myself to the brink physically (and mentally and emotionally!) again.

Posted by jenandmats at 7:51 PM | Comments (2)