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September 29, 2004

Quick update

I have to go to bed pronto but I thought I'd write a quick update since I will be swamped this weekend with my older sister's wedding.

My sprinting session went really well. The drills worked out to be just fine because I was teaching at a basic level, quick feet, high knees, butt kick, A step, and B step (the B step was more complicated). I really enjoy teaching one on one. You can give so much feedback. I extended my time today, going over my 30 minute time limit. I went 45 minutes. I am not surprised because there was so much verbal feedback required. When I teach this same lesson to my entire class on Friday for a 1/2 block I better use my watch.

After the sprinting session I had a swim lesson by another graduate student. I swam for a 1/2 hour working on breathing drills. I had to focus on exhaling in one strong breath once hitting the water after a breath. I also had to focus on bringing my shoulder up so that my ear rested on my shoulder while I was looking forward. The drills are so good but I get so distracted trying to think about all of them at once. It is so cool to have a coach walking along the side of you and giving you feed back at the end of every 25 yards. I felt like I learned a lot but still do not feel like a fish.

I had to work at the library for 2 hours after my swim lesson and then I went to meet the head coach. We discussed middle of the season strategy for our women and then went to practice. I was up in the air about if I would run again today because I had already run in the morning. My legs were pretty stiff and I was feeling tired. However, once I walked to the field house where the team meets the atmsophere was just too inviting to decline a run. I decided I would listen to my body and after 10 minutes if I felt horrible I would turn around and head back. Well, it was such a nice pace and conversation that I felt great. I actually ran in the same area I ran in this morning with Alison. The one difference was instead of running back on the course to make it an hour, we ran along the levy near the highway and then added a loop around a cemetary before heading back through the downtown area and to the campus. The rain had cleared up by the time we did our run and the sky was a bright clear blue with awesome stratus clouds intersperced between the blue skies. The temperature was crisp but warm. I felt much better on this second run of the day but most likely because the pace was much slower than my first run of the day. We were running at a leisurely pace. I did about a 1/2 of lifting after the team finished their lifting session. I was pretty exhausted while I was lifting and was determined to get a good dinner once I finished my half hearted lifting routine. For dinner I had some noodles with vegetarian chicken. Since I was starving while I was waiting for my meal to cook I ate some pita chips with hummus. By the time I was finished with my meal I felt decently satisified. I have no idea what I'll do tomorrow. I feel like I should swim, aqua jog, or bike after my long day today. We'll see.

Posted by mary at 9:13 PM | Comments (0)

A.M. Run

I managed to get to bed close to my goal time on Tuesday night. I was hoping to get back to my room at 11 p.m. and be in bed by 11:30 to get 7 hours of sleep. As it turned out I was an hour behind. I got 6 hours of sleep and am enjoying some coffee now to help me jump-start the rest of my day. I had a nice start to the day and was so glad that I got up and ran to start my day. I really enjoy running in the beginning of the day. I never feel 100% great but I just love to be out there so early and see everyone starting their day. The air quality is different and when it is not raining, you might see the sun rising. It is nice to have an adventure at the beginning of the day.

Alison was my motivation to get up this morning. If I know I am meeting someone for a run I will show up. This morning we met at 7 a.m. and ran for about an hour. We ran along the cornfields and finished with about 20 minutes on the cross-country course. My left quad was a bit sore from my treadmill run on Tuesday night. I can't seem to figure out why my quad was not sore during the treadmill run. Perhaps it was because I was so warmed up and this morning I was not quite warmed up enough. After about 15 minutes my quad was tight but towards the end it felt better. Alison and I had a lot to talk about and I enjoyed the course. Running along the dirt roads by the cornfields is so nice because the surface is so soft. I am going to run with Alison again on Friday with Liz, which will be very exciting. I am really glad I was able to run this morning because it will make my day that much better.

Right now I have to go and give a sprinting lesson to one of the graduate students. I however, just learned that the sprinting drills that I am going to teach are very outdated. One of the graduate students, Erica Wheeler, is an Olympic athlete who was in the 2000 Sydney games throwing the javelin. Erica has been a professional athlete for the last 15 years and has been to numerous conferences and has had an enormous amount of exposure to the highest caliber of coaching. I was explaining me lesson to her about the A steps and B steps and she told me they now emphasize new drills. Unfortunately, this is the same lesson I am giving to my class on Friday. I am now worried because my understanding and my own form with these drills is pretty weak. I hope I can wing it and get away with emphasizing basic form, such as standing tall and keeping your head forward. I asked Erica to give a lesson to the class on the new technique drills so that in the future I can try something different. As a distance runner, I don't do drills that much at all. However, I do try to do strides every now and then. Yet, as a coach, I'd like to introduce the right form drills to my athletes. Ok, enough rambling, I have to practice these drills so I can teach them appropriately in a few minutes and then again on Friday!

Posted by mary at 6:46 AM | Comments (3)

September 28, 2004

Rainy Day

This morning I was hoping I would be up for a morning run. I did surprisingly get to bed by 11 and probably was asleep by 11:15. I was pretty beat and fell right to sleep. When my alarm went off at 6 a.m. I heard the rain coming down and thought how cozy it would be to sleep in until 8!!! That would give me a record for number of hours I have slept in the past month. I really did not think twice. I feel right back to sleep and when I woke up at 8 a.m. I thought the school should have a rain day in addition to a mountain day...............

You know those rainy days when you just want to stay cuddled in bed all day long and not do anything. No worries about what HAS to get done or what you SHOULD be doing. If there were a rainy day I'd propose that people "could" stay in bed as long as possible, all day if desirable. People could then have a fire in their fireplaces or in lieu of that put a nice warm television show on such as the Wizard of Oz. Then you could cuddle up on the couch with a fleece blanket or blanket of your choice and read a good book or watch a classic movie. You might want to have some hot cocoa or hot tea. Perhaps you'd make some popcorn or maybe have some soup with a little hot sandwich. This could all be done in the comfort of your home. It could be possible that you'd be feeling restless by mid-afternoon so you might put on your brightest cloths and head outside for some fun in the rain, maybe you'd go for a crazy trail run and stomp along the puddles or perhaps take an amazing mountain bike ride, or maybe you'd just watch those crazy rain lovers from your window seat of your room. When you returned from your outdoor rainy fun you could take a nice long warm shower or even better a great bubble bath and listen to the rain falling on the window. You could wrap up the evening with another warm fire, maybe a nice vegetable pie (home-made preferably by someone who is looking out for you :) ), and then maybe have some nice home-made cookies and slowly wander off to sleep. That would be a nice Rain Day! Maybe I can suggest that at a College Board meeting??

...............well.. I could not have a self imposed Rain Day today.. although, one of these days maybe I will .. and maybe I'll throw in a Snow day as well.... for today I had to get back to the drawing boards of my current life.........

Today's drawing board was packed from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. I had classes, work, and practice that occupied that time frame. I am getting better at my book repair job so I am relieved about that problem. The team ran a workout on the home course today and I rode my bike alongside of them and cheered them on. I had tons of rain gear on so I stayed dry. They had such good attitudes and no one complained. I was impressed.

At 7 p.m. one of the graduate students who teaches squash offered a squash class for anyone who was interested. I showed up about 15 minutes late and had a blast. It is a very fast, fun game. I am looking forward to playing again sometime soon (in all of my spare time!!) I played for about 45 minutes.

When I was done I was going to head straight home to start my work. However, I was already pretty soaked and really wanting to do a little run. I decided to run on the treadmill (can you believe I did that, after all of my dreaming about running in the puddles on Rain Day?). Why did I run on the treadmill? Well, I thought it would be an efficient workout. I had to meet my friend at 8:30 to work on a project so I figured this would give me enough time to do three miles. Since I was already pretty warmed up I decided to run 3 miles at 7 minute pace. I felt really good the entire time and picked it up to 6.45 for the last 1/2-mile. My quad did not bother me at all so I was very happy. I am always skeptical if the treadmill pace is accurate. It seems so different. I can stand it for about a 1/2 hour but after that I really want to get off and my first choice is always trails. The one downside to the treadmill was that I was running inside and it was really hot. I was sweating a lot. When I was finished I was really happy to squeeze something in. I started to do some sit ups and gave up after about 15 because I was pretty warm from the bike and anxious to take a shower and start my work. Tomorrow morning I am meeting Alison for a run so I better stop procrastinating and get to work so I can get up

Posted by mary at 6:43 PM | Comments (3)

September 27, 2004

Fun Easy Run

My day was pretty full today so I was really looking forward to my run. I was a little stressed because the job at have in the preservation is requiring a little more work than I would like it to at the moment. The main assignments they want me to work on I have never really done before so I have to learn how to do it on my own using a video. I am pretty sure I will be able to do the job. I just wanted a mindless job so that I could just relax. I think once I get the hang of it, recasing books (repairing damaged spines), I will be fine with the job. It is in a nice quiet space in a lab all by myself, which is nice, and only two hour of my day. The one concern I have is that if the job is going to cause me extra stress I am not sure I will stick with it. I am going to give myself a week before I make a decision. Most likely I'll stick with it.

I was busy with the head coach before practice going over the weekend results and was disappointed to find out that MIT held out four of their top five runners from the meet. Our victory over them in the end is not all that impressive. I still think our team did a great job but it did deflate our bubble a little.

At practice today we had such a nice run. We ran out along the bike path towards Amherst and after 30 minutes did a little half-circle loop and ran along some cornfields and then on top of a levy. We returned back to the bike path and ran the same way back. It was a nice lollipop run. The roads around here are so flat. The first 30 minutes to 40 minutes were pretty relaxed. We were running at most an 8.15 to 8.30 pace. In the second half of the run, however, I got talking and before I knew it the pace was getting faster. When I realized the pace was increasing I checked to see if everyone was still running as a pack. The team usually all runs together. To my surprise everyone was hanging right in there. I spoke up and mentioned that we increased the pace and asked if everyone felt good. The women were psyched and all said they felt good. We ran the last 1/2 mile at a good fast pace. When we finished the run everyone was so happy and we all were so thankful for the nice fall day. The weather was so nice, probably around 75 degrees but not too humid. I got a few emails from the women on the team telling me how much they enjoyed the run so that was encouraging. Negative split runs are always a good thing.

Before dinner I did about 30 minutes of lifting. I felt pretty tired but was glad I was able to do most of my routine. Tonight I have a bit of work to do but am determined to get to bed at a reasonable time.

Posted by mary at 6:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2004

Rough Start to the Day

I slept in pretty late on Sunday morning to try to make up for my lack of sleep on Friday night. I was hoping to go for a run in morning. I was going to drive to a nearby trail to run. When I went out to the car I realized that one of my tires was flat and the muffler was beginning to fall off of the car. I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon with my Father trying to salvage the car to make it driveable.

We did our best to repair the car and then I had to drive back to MA to work in the fieldhouse. I spent a few hours working at my job in the gym in the late afternoon and then met some of the women on the team to lift. I observed them while they did their workout.

Around 6 p.m. I met my friend Ben at Forest Park in Longmeadow, MA for a run. I was so happy to be going for a run. I was wanting to run all weekend and was relieved to finally get a chance to go out and explore. We ran in the trails for about a half hour and then ran for about 40 minutes on the roads and sidewalks in the park. I felt pretty good and was wishing I had time for a longer run. After the run we got some dinner and I then had to head back to school.

For the rest of the night I have to work on about three different assignments. I am setting a time limit on my work to stop by midnight to make sure I can get at least seven hours of sleep.

Posted by mary at 7:02 PM | Comments (4)

Busy Saturday

My alarm went off at 6 a.m. and I did not think twice about resetting the alarm for 7:30 a.m. I could not even imagine getting up to run. I was exhausted. Once I woke up I had to head to the bagel shop to buy some breakfast for the team. The bus was leaving at 8 a.m. and fortunately I made it on time.

The women had their second meet of the season at Franklin Park on Saturday. The first meet of the season the women won. This meet on Saturday would be much bigger and the women would face more teams from our conference. I was really excited to see the team race on a course that I was so familiar with from my college days.

While the team was warming up one of the women fell and cut her knee very badly. The cut was so deep that she had to be delivered to the hospital in an ambulance for what turned out to be 21 stitches. This women was our 5th runner. Meanwhile, our #2 runner had a bruised toe from a bad landing she made in her dance class. Things were not looking very good. I was anxious for the race. Once the race started our women looked to be in good positions on the course. I ran all over the course and was able to see them about six times on the course. In the end our women took third place overall and we were the second collegiate team at the event. Bates, was the only college team to beat us. The entire team was very excited.

It was almost 6 o'clock by the time we returned to campus. I spent the entire ride back talking to two of the women on the team. I was beat when I returned to my house. I was hoping to go for a run but I decided to take a nap instead. I slept soundly for two hours. I then called up my very good friend who I was going to meet in Hartford, CT for some drinks. My friend had her wedding shower on Saturday afternoon and since I had missed it, I was really anxious to catch up with her before she went home to DE. I did not get in touch with her so I left a message. While I was waiting for her to call back I feel asleep again. When I woke up an hour later I had a message from her saying she was on her way to Hartford. By that time I was not in the mood to go but I knew I'd really regret it if I did not go. I decided to drive to CT and when I met my friend and her friends I was very glad I went. I spent about two hours with them before driving to my parent's house in CT to sleep.

Posted by mary at 6:50 PM | Comments (0)

Start to a busy weekend!

On Friday morning I met Alison for a pool run. Unfortunately, the life guard did not show up. It turned out to be ok because we were able to ride the stationary bike for an hour. It was really fun to bike with Alison. We talked the entire time and the workout was really fun. When I bike I try to keep the rpm's between 90 and 100 and I managed to do this for the workout. I am looking forward to doing more runs with Alison so I can get to know the area a little better. I am also excited because of Alison's focus with regards to her training. Her long term training is to be able to run a fast marathon, which I know she will easily be able to do when the time comes along. I too, would like to run a fast marathon. I however, get so easily distracted and tend to be disorganized with my training and run, bike, swim whenever I can fit it in or whenever anyone asks me to join along. It's hard for me to say no because I usually always have a good time. Yet, I know ultimately, the best way for me to be able to reach my potential is to set some goals for myself and make a plan and go for it. Spending time with Alison has inspired me to sit down and write a schedule for myself. I have not done the schedule yet because my weekend has been absolutely crazy. Yet, I know what I will include. I want to spend about 4-6 weeks working on my base training, strength and focusing on working out the knot in my quad on a daily basis. I then want to begin to incorporate some speed into my schedule and assess my fitness level and begin to plan some races into my schedule. My sister's wedding is next weekend so I am not sure I'll have a schedule written out before that time but hopefully over the next two weeks I can come up with a reasonable schedule to follow.

Friday afternoon I ran three miles with the team. They were doing a pre-meet run. The run was nice and easy. We ran along a trail that follows a stream along the side of the campus. I felt pretty good and had some great conversations with the women on the team. After the workout I went to the gym and did an hours worth of lifting.

Friday evening I killed my weekend. I stayed up until 3 a.m. working on a take home exam for one of my classes. I had started to work out in during the day Friday but did not get much finished. I decided I would try to finish the exam Friday so my weekend would be free from that assignment. The exam was very frustrating because is required us to quote sentences from many different articles that we have read. The class is called Seminar in Skill Acquisitions and much of the literature we have read for the class is very detail oriented. We have read articles from scientific journals which describe research that has been done by exercise physiologists to explain the neurological and physiological aspects of athletic training. Some of the articles are very pertinent and some are very hard to apply to coaching itself. I had no idea how quickly time flew by while I was working on the exam. I was very focused and by the time I looked up from my work it was 2 a.m. I was really surprised and a bit frustrated because I had to be up early the next day to leave for our cross country race in Boston. I only had five questions to go so I finished those and by the time my head hit the pillow it was 3 a.m. I was pessimistic about the reality of me being able to wake up at 6 a.m. for my morning run. However, I did set the alarm optimistically.

Posted by mary at 6:36 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2004

Afternoon rambles in Storrs, CT

I had a very nostalgic afternoon visiting my old campus in Storrs, CT. I have to admit that I really love the area. The farms and old houses and near by trails make such a great background for running and really typify the New England landscape. I spent the afternoon reparing books at my old studio in the Preservation Department. I am basically volunteering my time to repractice an old skill I developed almost 11 years ago when I first started my job in the lab. It was really pleasant to be sitting at my old desk working on manuels again. I was mostly preparing manuels to be sent to the bindery so I had to clean up the spines and repair any damaged pages with Japenese paper. I got to catch up with my old coworkers, Carole, Charlie, and Fred. I spent about three hours working on the materials. I will probably visit the lab three more times over the next month just to become more familiar with the process. Tomorrow I officially start my job here on campus so at least I feel a litte more prepared. When I finished working in the lab I visited my old friend Steve in the Reference Department. He is such a fun person to be around because he is always smiling and very positive. We caught up and shared stories over some iced coffee (I had decaf so I won't be up all night).

When I left the library I did get to squeeze in a short run. I ran about five miles. I started on Horsebarn Hill road on a dirt road that led me to the Nipmunk trail. I ran for about a half hour on the trails and came out on Gurleyville Road, one of my favorite roads. The last 10 minutes of the run were on the road.

Along the way I passed the nicest farm house with the name FireFly Farm written on a post. I thought that was such a nice name for a farm.

I did manage to run up one hill that was at least a half mile long which is only relevant because some of my friends in CA are convinced that there are no hills in New England.

I felt really good on the run. It was becoming a little dark out but the visibility was still pretty decent. After about a mile on the trail I ran into two mountain bikers and one of the bikers commented, "Wow, there's a fast girl!". I have to admit I turned around to see if anyone else was behind me. Then I realized he meant me. I don't think I was running that fast but I think because the trails are technical most people don't run them at a decent pace. I was really happy to remember most of the footing from my college days. My feet just picked the right place to be.

The trails had neat east coast smells that I have missed whlle living in CA and also lots of bugs. At one point I went through a field in which tons of microscopic bugs were flying all around me. If I had been sweating my face would have become plastered. I remember one college workout in which it was extremely hot and those tiny bugs were flying all around. When I finished one of my repeats one of my teammates told me she could not look at me because my face was covered in bugs. My team mate did not sweat much on her face so her face was bug free. I thought it was kind of funny and figured I must have swallowed a few which would be a good protein source.

I am glad I was able to squeeze in the run because I was in a rush to head back to campus. I had an hour trip back to school and was able to meet my friend in time to be shown around the gym. On Sunday night's I am a night supervisor at the gym so I had to find out what all of my duties were tonight. I am really glad my legs are feeling better and am excited to work on my hamstring and quad strength so that I can start to train again by mid-October.

Posted by mary at 6:50 PM | Comments (2)

Slow Start to my Day

This morning I wanted to get up and do a run because my day today is going to be pretty busy. I went to bed at 11:30 p.m. and set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. When I woke up I felt really exhausted so I decided to sleep until 8 a.m. so I could get at least 8 hours of sleep. I felt much better when I woke up but did not have time to run at that point. I had to take off for class. The rest of my day is pretty packed with one more class. After my class I have to drive to Storrs, CT. I am going back to my undergraduate school, UConn, to meet with my former boss in the preservation department. While I was an undergraduate and graduate student at UConn I worked at the library fixing books for six years. Now, five years later, I will have the same job at my current school. I however, will be teaching undergraduate's book repair. There is one technique that I am not 100% familiar with and no one really knows how to do the job here at my school. Therefore, I am going to spend the afternoon working at my old lab with some people who know how to do the work. I definitely want to know the proper technique if I am going to be teaching the method. Unfortunately, I will only have about an hour to squeeze in a run. I'd love to be able to do a quick run on the Uconn campus after my lesson. I will have some time constraints because I need to get back to MA by 8 p.m. at the latest to work in the gym. We'll see if I can swing in a fun trail run on my way home.

Posted by mary at 7:44 AM | Comments (3)

September 22, 2004

Mountain Day

Today was the official Mountain Day for the school that I am attending. Mountain Day is a tradition that has been held at this school for many years. The President of the college randomly picks one fall day that looks like it is going to be perfect, nice weather clear blue sky and designates it Mountain Day. On this day the bells ring at 7 a.m. all over campus to announce the official day and state that no classes will be in session all day long. Students are encouraged but not required to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, take a break from class work, and go explore a new area. It is a great idea.

Our cross-country team had decided that whatever day was Mountain Day we' d hold practice at 9 a.m. so that the rest of the day would be free for various activities. True to that we all met this morning at 9 a.m. The team was scheduled to do a fartlek run. On workout days I do not run with them unless someone really needs help pacing. Today no one needed help so I was able to bike during the workout. The team did their workout at a nearby park and ran about 25 minutes worth of hard running. After the workout the team lifted and stretched.

By the time practice was over it was 12 noon and I was scheduled to coach a fellow graduate student in the art of sprinting. One of our assignments is to teach someone else a skill in our sport over a 10-week period. I am being taught the skill of swimming. I taught a 30-minute lesson, which basically entailed a warm up, dynamic stretches, strides, followed by a time trial 200-meter run, and a cool down. I then had my swimming lesson, which lasted 30 minutes. I am actually very excited about my lessons. The graduate student teaching me is very knowledgeable and has worked with many elite swimmers. When I was doing the drills today it was very hard but I felt like I was learning a lot. I'd love to become a better swimmer so I could swim as a cross training option more often. Swimming would also be a key skill if I were ever to take the triathlon more seriously as well.

Once the lessons were over I wanted to take advantage of mountain day. I drove to my head coach’s house in South Hadley and met her for a run. She currently cannot run but is able to mountain bike. I really wanted to explore some of the trails in the area because I miss trail running so much. I was able to run for about an hour in Skinner State Park. Parts of the trail were very muddy and wet but the other parts of the trail were very fun. The trails were rolling and winding with lots of little rocks. They however, were not extremely technical. The weather was perfect. I felt like I could have run a lot longer and been out there for a few more hours. That was a really good sign that I am starting to recover from my long race. I am really excited to explore more trails and plan to set aside at least one day of the week to run somewhere new on trails.

After the run I went to the gym and finished my lifting routine that I did not finish on Tuesday. I am starting to feel a little bit stronger but I still have a long way to go. Consistency will be the key here. I did not do my full ab routine because I was anxious to take a shower and get a hot meal inside of me. I actually took my time tonight and made myself a decent meal. I usually heat up some rice and beans and eat them, as they are which can be pretty plain. Tonight I varied a bit and actually made some chili to have with my beans and then had some nice mozzarella to put on top of the chili and rice. It was very satisfying. I also complimented the meal with some blue nacho chips. I had to plan time to make the dinner because a group of us from my grad program were headed to the movies at 7 p.m. We went to see the movie Wimbledon. It was a very predictable movie but it was fun and light, which is what Mountain Day, calls for. I think there should be one Mountain Day a month, at the least.

Posted by mary at 6:52 PM | Comments (4)

September 21, 2004

Great Fall Day!

Today was one of those perfect fall days! The weather was so nice today. The sky was blue and the temperature was a warm but not oppressive 70 degrees. I wish I could have spent more time outside than I actually did today.

This morning I had three classes in a row followed by an afternoon of team meetings. Our team practice did not start today until 5 p.m. Tuesday is our late day of practice. At this college, no team practices can begin until all lab classes are finished. It is great because it means everyone can attend practice. However, it will be challenging once day light savings begins and we have to change the clocks.

I was able to run about 8 miles with the women's cross country team this evening. It was a nice conversational pace. I ran with four of the women and shared different racing experiences with them and collected some stories from them as well. We ran along a trail by a stream near the college for the first mile and then ran near the local high school. We then ran along the Northampton bike path for a long stretch and finished on a stretch of road that lead us back to campus. The run took 1 hour and 6 minutes. My hamstrings felt really sore in the beginning of the run but after a few miles they felt pretty warmed up. The team did drills and strides when they finished. I observed these and gave some feedback. When practice was over I went to the gym and began my lifting routine. I only made it through two exercises. I realized I was pretty hungry and I would have a lot more time on Wednesday to lift. I left the gym and went back to the house and made some pasta for dinner. I had to meet some graduate students later in the evening to work on an assignment so it felt nice to have a shower and get dinner before the hard work began.

I haven't decided if I will run tomorrow. I may swim and lift tomorrow. I will have to wait and see how I feel. If the weather is as nice as it is today I may have to go out and explore some new trails which I have been very anxious to do. We'll see how much time I have in my day.

Posted by mary at 6:59 PM | Comments (19)

September 20, 2004

Winter is Coming Too Soon!

Last night I was freezing when I went to bed. The temperature was definitely below 50 degrees. Unfortunately, I have a very pathetic thin summer blanket that I am currently using. Last night I had to use my two fleece blankets and had to get up around 2 a.m. and put on some running tights and a sweatshirt to warm me up. I was really cold. I was hoping to get up early and do a morning workout before my first class. I always feel better if I do a little jog or some light lifting before I have to work. When the alarm went off I was exhausted. I had been restless all night. I decided to sleep an extra hour and a half and squeeze a workout in during the day.

During the afternoon I was able to do a one-hour pool run with the head cross-country coach. This week we are having individual team meetings with all of the members of our team. Before we did our pool run we had already met with two athletes to discuss their goals and expectations for the year. While in the pool we were able to discuss these goals and start to develop some rough ideas as to how to help those runners reach their goals.

Around 4 p.m. we met the entire team for their workout. The team was scheduled to do 4 x mile repeats on the cross-country course. They were to increase their pace with each repeat. I decided to do the warm up with the team to get myself warmed up. I ran 20 minutes with the team and felt pretty good. My legs were a little sore but better than they have felt in a week. I was really happy about that and decided not to push it any further. While the women ran their workout I was on a mountain bike riding around and cheering for them. They had a great workout. Our top runner looks awesome. Her form is so good that I have a hard time knowing what type of advice to give her. She is also always right on pace and always looked relaxed. She is definitely a natural. Every runner on the team surprised us with the strength that they had on the workout. They all ran negative splits during the race. This weekend we race at Franklin Park. I am excited to see if we can get five runners under 20 minutes. If we don't accomplish the goal this weekend we'll have one more chance in about three weeks. We'll see...

After the workout I stopped at the gym and did a 10-minute ab routine. I then decided to try some push-ups again. I was pretty good with my push-ups in the spring. I would go to the track workouts organized by my former running club, Tamalpa Runners, and organize a push up contest at the end of each workout. I would set my watch for a minute and find out who could do the most push-ups in a minute. Our president could do over 60 in a minute. He is incredibly strong. I, at that time, could do 42 for my best effort. I was working really hard on overall strength and conditioning in the spring because I was unable to do a quality speed workout. Now, that I am slowly building my base again, I'd like to focus on this again. Today I managed to squeak out 3 sets of 10 push-ups. It was a sad sight on my last set. I have my work cut out for me.

Now I have got to go get some dinner and then return to my office and do some work. It’s funny that I call my workspace an office. It isn’t an office at all. It just sounds so professional. It is more like a desk with a computer. I tend to do all of my work here so I can keep my house a place to relax. My workspace is only about 10 steps from my house so it is very convenient. Anyway, I am always procrastinating... so I should go eat and then get to work. I am pretty excited because I think I updated my blog before my twin sister did today. She has really inspired me to be more diligent. I told myself that I would not eat dinner tonight until I updated my blog. Anyway, thanks Liz!

Posted by mary at 5:08 PM | Comments (493)

September 19, 2004

Post Race Recovery Workouts

Tuesday Pool Running

I arrived back to campus early Tuesday morning after a long day of traveling on Monday. I stayed at my parent's house on Monday night because I was too tired to drive back to campus. My first class of the day was at 9 a.m. I had three classes in a row on Tuesday. My friends in the graduate program gave me a warm welcome back and informed me that they were watching my progress on line. Again, I was relieved to have finished the race, because initially I had not been unaware that anyone would know the results until I told them.

At 1:00 p.m. I met the head cross-country coach at the pool and we pool ran for an hour. It felt so nice to be in the pool. My legs were still very tight and sore. I had one very bad blister on one of my toes. (It is pretty amazing how something so small can hurt so much and be such a distraction. I had to carefully choose which shoes I would wear so that I could prevent it from pinching the one little toe too much. ) The blister felt much better in the pool. Once I got out of the pool I felt refreshed and ready to meet the team for practice.

The women’s cross-country team was running hill repeats on the course. I decided to walk out to the hills and cheer for them at the top of the hill. I reminded them to run all the way through the hill. It felt really nice to be outside in the fresh air. By the time the practice was over and I was headed back to my house I realized I was ready for bed.

Wednesday Biking and Lifting

On Wednesday I had the afternoon free so I decided to go to the gym and do some easy pedaling on the stationary bike. I felt lethargic all morning so I thought some movement might wake me up. Initially the effort on the bike felt really tired and after only five minutes I was counting down the 15 minutes I had left on the bike. I could not believe how long it was taking for the time to go by. I was frustrated to be so bored when I had just been running for over 8 hours over the weekend. After thinking about it and realizing how high my heart rate was, over 130 for a very easy effort, I realized I was still pretty fatigued. I tried to zone out and people watch for the last 15 minutes.

I was relieved when I got off the bike. I debated if I should lift or not as that was my original plan. I decided to start lifting and if that felt too tiring I would stop. I had been lifting on a regular basis from January until about mid-May, early June. At that point I became really uninspired and decided to focus 100% of my collected attention towards trail running. I have noticed a decrease in strength having not done any lifting or ab work for three months. When I am tired on a run I can feel my arms start to drag a bit and I can see a physical difference in terms of muscle tone. Once I started lifting I felt fine and was not bothered by the amount of work it required. Since each set only takes about 20-30 seconds it did not seem like a long time to focus. I felt very relaxed lifting and concentrated on light weights since it was my first time back in awhile. I have about 8 or 9 exercises that I consistently do when lifting and then a 10-20 minute ab routine depending on how ambitious I feel or how much time I leave myself. When I started my ab routine on Wednesday I was pretty tired and decided to make it a short routine.

Thursday 2 x Pool Running

On Thursday I met Alison for a pool run at 7 a.m. in the morning. I was so glad to be able to catch up with her and to have company during the run. It can be so monotonous and boring running in the pool by yourself. Alison and I talked nonstop and the time flew by. I felt much better than I did on Tuesday and was so glad to be able to get up early and start my day off with a relaxing exercise.

In the afternoon I met the head coach for another pool run. We ran in the diving pool near her house. It was great because we did not have to worry about our feet touching the bottom of the pool. We were in the pool for another hour and talked the entire time about plans we had for the team’s upcoming practices. When we finished the pool run I felt refreshed from my two pool runs and felt like I had two good workouts for the day.

Friday Pool Running and Lifting

On Friday I wanted to get up early to get in the pool for an a.m. run but I was so tired I could not get up when the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. I slept until 8 a.m. and decided I would try to get in the pool around noon. Happily I was able to get in the pool a little after noon. I jumped in at 12:20 and was able to run in the water for about 40 minutes before the pool shut down for the official swim team practice.

A few hours later I went to the gym and did my lifting routine. I felt much better than I felt on Tuesday and had a little more time for my ab routine. I was able to work on my core body strength and do about 15 minutes of yoga stretches. My quads and hamstrings were still really tight from the race. My blister however, was getting better and almost unnoticeable.

In the late afternoon I borrowed one of the head coaches mountain bikes and road out to the dirt roads by the airport. The cross country team was doing a tempo run on the roads and I was going to ride along next to them to encourage them to stay on pace and stay focused. The area is a great place for an easy tempo run because it is absolutely flat and it requires a lot of concentration. Along either side of the dirt road there are fields of corn. The scenery does not change that much throughout the run. Although, in one direction you can see the silhouette of a mountain, perhaps it is the Holyoke range. I still do not know the area that well but hopefully I will soon be able to recognize these types of features in the landscape. I am looking forward to feeling better and being able to do some tempo runs here myself.

Northfield Mountain Run – Saturday

The weather on Saturday was very challenging for our team’s long run. It was raining and quite cold and windy. I was reminded of how spoiled I was running in CA where it rains maybe once a year. The team met at 8 a.m. to van out to Northfield Mountain for the long run of the week. It took us about an hour to get there. We choose this area to run because there is a nice visitor center at the park where we were able to stretch before hand and leave our warm cloths. The team stretched and got ready for the run in this area and then we headed out for the run.

The team stayed together in a pack for most of the run. I was not sure if I’d be able to accompany the team on the entire run. I forgot to mention that on Wednesday I had tried to run with the team on their 8 mile run and after a quarter mile I turned around. My right quad was killing me. It was cramped up almost as tightly as it had been in the race. When I started running on Saturday I could feel the tightness in my right quad. I decided to evaluate it every few minutes and if it got worse I’d stop. One aspect of the run that encouraged me to think I’d make the entire 12 miles was that we were running on grass or very soft trail the entire run. We ran the first 3 miles in a little circle of half-mile trails. We had to loop over the trails several times but it was hardly noticeable that we were repeating trails because the rain was coming down so hard. We were all so focused on trying to avoid the biggest puddles, which of course was ridiculous because we were soaked within 10 minutes. After 24 minutes, I realized I did not feel as bad as I expected. I was really excited to be out running but very thankful that the pace was nice and relaxed. We were probably running a 9-minute pace.

After 30 minutes we decided to take the main trail that would take us to the peak of the mountain. We took several winding trails that were all pretty wide and covered in grass up the mountain. Some parts of the trail were very steep while other areas had slight up hills. The air temperature was very cool but it was warm once we started to head up hill. When we reached the top of the mountain we had no view but we were able to see a nice reservoir that was on the backside of the mountain. We did not wait very long at the top because we were all getting cold. It took us about 30 minutes to climb the mountain and about 20 minutes to get back down. We had to do another 15 minutes of loop running at the bottom to achieve our 1 hour and 40 minute goal. During this last part of the run everyone had a lot of run jumping in puddles and winding back and forth through the mud.

When we got back to the welcome house of the park we were all ready to change and get into some warm cloths. The team stretched together and then headed back to campus. I was pretty tired when we finished but my quad felt better than it did all week. It did not feel 100% better but it felt good to loosen it up a bit on the run.

After dropping the students off at their respective dorms I jumped into my car hoping to make my nephew’s race in Windham, CT. Luckily, I called him about 1/2 before I got to the race site. When we talked he told me the meet had been canceled. I decided to spend the rest of the day visiting my Grandfather in the convalescent home and then visiting my parents. In the evening I went to dinner with my Mom and treated myself to a huge Italian dinner. The food was great!

A Long Sunday

I had a rough start to my day today. I stayed at my parent’s house on Saturday night and was woken up by my Father. He told me that the back tire of the car was flat and I should get up and take it to the mechanic before they had a line of other people to take care of for the day. I was very disappointed. All week long I was looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday. The main reason I stayed at my parent’s house was to sleep in their guest room that has the most comfortable bed. It also has great blinds, which keep the room very dark in the morning. I procrastinated in bed as long as I could and then hopped out of bed and drove the car in to get fixed.

When I got back from taking the car in I did some work on the computer and then went to visit my Mother at work before heading back up to school. I had some lunch with my Mother and realized how much I missed sleeping in that morning.

I arrived on campus around 3 p.m. and met some friends to get some of our class work finished. It was nice to have company doing the work. Around 7 o’clock I went to the gym and did about an hour of lifting. I had decided that I wanted to take a break from aerobic work after the long run on Saturday. I took my time lifting and tried to do everything very deliberately. It felt good to do one workout.

Posted by mary at 7:03 PM | Comments (275)

Getting Settled into a Routine

Since returning from the Netherlands I have felt very tired and unmotivated. The race effort in combination with the long travel days really wiped me out. I also felt overwhelmed going right back into classes and coaching. Currently, I am taking classes full time for my masters in exercise science and sport studies. In combination with the course work I am also acting as the assistant cross country and track coach at the college. The aim of the program is to provide each graduate student with enough experience so that when we graduate we can get a full time job coaching at the collegiate level. The program is great and very rewarding. However, it is more work than I anticipated. There are multiple assignments due each week, such as reading assignments, presentations, and journaling. This is on top of about three to five hours of coaching duties and responsibilities each day except Sunday. I am always busy and stimulated which is great. This past week, however, I felt very disorganized and felt as if I was just going through the motions. I really hope now that I feel more recovered I can get into a better routine this week.

My twin sister, Liz, who writes Action in the Line of the Greatest Resistance (blog) has inspired me to update my blog on a regular basis. She has been doing such a great job with her own blog that I feel like the least I can do is update mine daily. If I can keep up with mine I won't feel so back logged when I finally do sit down to write an entry. It is awesome to read Liz's blog each day. It was less a little over a month ago that I moved from CA to MA. For the past five years my sister and I have lived less than ten miles away from each other and have had the luxury to train together and interact on a very regular basis. I have definitely felt lonely without that constant interaction but I feel like I know what is going on with her since I am able to read her blog.

I feel like once I have a routine set I will be able to keep on top of everything that needs to be done. I still feel like I am living in CA and MA. My thoughts are constantly going back and forth between the two places. I get myself into trouble sometimes thinking that I am on west coast time and then realizing I actually have to be up in six hours. This week I will have a pretty routine week so it will be interesting to see what type of routine I can fall into that will satisfy all of my needs.

Posted by mary at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2004

100k World Championships - September 11th!

Race Day

The morning of the race I was up at 8 a.m. but again decided to rest in bed until 9 a.m. I could hear my team mates downstairs getting things ready and talking about race details. I wanted to try to relax as long as possible. At 9 a.m. I had breakfast, I decided to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a roll and drank about a liter of water over the course of two hours. I spent most of the morning resting of the couch, gently stretching, and drinking water. Around 11:30 a.m. I had about 6 saltines to put a little bit of salt into my system. At 11:45 a.m. the team left for the race.

When we arrive to Der Klinker, where the race would start and end, there was a lot of activity happening. A children's race was taking place and the young athletes were finishing and celebrating their race. Teams were jogging around and stretching. Managers were setting up their crew tables to have the supplies ready for the runners on each lap.

At Der Klinker I met the second American Team. The second American Team consisted of three of the best ultra runners in the United States. It consisted of Anne Rhiddle, Niki Kimball, and Ann Heaslett. They were running for the American Ultrarunning Association Team. This was a confusing situation because this team would not be able to score in the team competition. All of these women were invited to be on the team that I was running with, the official USATF American team. However, due to a misunderstanding of some nature with regards to what the official team was they ran on the AUA team. The team members on this team were frustrated with the situation but determined to run well despite the situation. I was really excited to get to talk to Anne, Niki, and Ann because I have read so much about them and they have accomplished so much in the sport. I spoke to Niki until the race started and learned that our goals for the first half of the race were very similiar. I decided I would try to stay with her if I felt comfortable and listen to my body the second half of the race.

At 12:45 p.m. we were called to the starting line. We started inside Der Klinker. The starting line would be the 10k point of each lap. A red mat was there which would record our laps each time around with the timing chip we were wearing. I started with half of my team mates and the AUA team. The starting line was very conjested as we were starting with over 300 individuals. There would be 300 inviduals competing for teams and about 200 individuals competing unattached. I was really nervous that I would fall when the gun sounded because of the proximity of all of the runners to one another.

To my surprise when the gun went off, no one that I am aware of tripped and the pace where I was located was controlled and not blazingly fast. Every kilometer of the race was marked which was great because it would allow me to keep track of my effort. I knew that 5 minutes per kilometer would be an 8 minute pace so I dediced to aim for that pace. The first kilometer I was running with Ann, Niki, and Siri. Our time at the 1k was 4.42. It was too fast but to be honest it felt extremely slow. We all decided to try to slow down. We chatted and tried to relax into an easy pace. Along the side of the course fans were lined up with flags and tents and signs. The atmosphere was very festive. The first 2k were cobblestone. The remainder of the course was pavement on roads with a 1k section on a sidewalk that meandered through a park. During this first loop we had several supporters on the side of the road telling us (the American women) to stop talking and start racing. We were not talking non-stop but every now and then a conversation would come up and we'd talk for about five minutes. We took turns leading the pace and went through the first 10k in 47.14. This was faster than my planned 50 minute 10k goal but I felt really good and relaxed and it did not feel like too much strain on my body.

I realized in the first lap that as long as there were people on the course it would be very hard to get bored on this course. The first 5k of the course went through a downtown area of Winschoten that was decorated with flags from all the countries running and signs that wished people good luck. There were people sitting outside of cafes and restaurants cheering. The second 5k was more residental and to my surprise equally fitted with supporters who had huge tents set up outside their homes, water tables set up to hand to the runners, and signs and lights to cheer the runners on. The atmosphere was very festive. There were people playing music with instruments in some sections, there was music from radios in other sections, there were people with noise makers in other areas, and there were a lot of people who had race brochures who would look up our race numbers and cheer for us by name when we ran by. Being cheered by your first name was extremely motivating and really forced me to dig deep at certain times during the race.

The second, third, and fourth 10k loop all were pretty smooth. I did stop on each of these loops to go to the bathroom in a small stretch of woods along one of the roads. I was a little worried that I might be sick because of the number of times I went but frankly I think it was the sauce from the night before. I decided not to worry about it and just use the time I stopped as a quick break, stretch, and gradually get back to pace. I did not want to stress about catching up to my pack of American runners once I started running again so I did my best to relax. After about 10 minutes I'd usually catch up to them, I am sure it was competitive instinct. These laps were 47.55 for the second lap, 48.30 for the third lap, and 51.45 for the fifth lap.

At 50 kilometers I was halfway done. My time was 4.03.57. I was really happy with this time and hoping I could run at least a 4.15 in the second half so that I could finish under 8.20. At this point in the race I felt very good. The time for the 50k was pretty fast but I figured my all time best 50k time of 3.58 was on a trail which was no where near as flat as this course. In terms of my energy level I felt great. I was drinking lots of water and started taking gus every half hour after 10 miles. At one point on the second lap, I was given one of my team members aid station supplies. I was handed her water bottle and her gu. I was really nervous about having her things because I did not want to throw her off. I decided not to use them and gave the supplies to the AUA team manager and asked that they run it down to the American Aid station table. Thankfully they were able to do this and for the next 5k I used no water which I don't think really killed me.

On the 5th lap the group of women I was running with started to break apart. Niki pulled ahead, Siri and Ann dropped behind, and I tried to concentrate on running evenly in between each kilometer. About half way through this lap I started to feel my quadriceps getting very tight. My right quad was getting very sore. I decided to focus on running as evenly as I could through each stride so that I would be using each leg evenly. I finished the 5th lap in 51.45 and started to think about what additional supplies I could use at the aid station to help my quads feel better.

By the time I got to my first aid station in the 6th lap my quads felt trashed. With each step that I took they killed. I told my team manager that they were killing me and I was very frustrated. She gave me some advil, a salt tablet, and some coke, along with my gu and water and told me that one of the members on the men's team had the same problem and after one lap he felt better. This was encouraging but the thought of running 4 more laps with each step hurting was very daunting. A half mile after the aid station, I started to walk. I was very frustrated and did not know how I could run a descent pace with the constant reminder of tired legs that killed with each step that I took. I was walking for about 100 meters when a member of the Argentina team who was lapping me, stopped for a minute, and encouraged me to keep running. He told me the slower you run the harder the race is going to be for you. He was absolutely right. Part of the reason my legs were getting so stiff, apart from the terribly flat roads, was the shortened stride I was using to run slower. I decided to put my best effort in and try to take it lap by lap. His words encouraged me to start running again. At the 7k mark, after only 2k of running, I began to feel really nauseus. This really upset me. I had no idea how I'd run on fatigued legs and with a sick stomach. I stopped to go to the bathroom again and when I finished I definitely felt better. I decided to run from aid station to aid station and look forward to the coke at each station. I finished this lap in 58.15 and even though I was disappointed that it was so slow was really proud of myself for sticking with it. This was the only lap that I seriously considered dropping out. I don't think I ever really could have dropped out because my team manager was amazing and extremely encouraging. I also knew that my friends and family in the U.S. were keeping track of my splits. They would expect me to be seriously injured had I dropped out.

From this point on in the race I had a coke at each aid station, well a small cup of coke, and continued to take the gu and water. I did walk quickly through each aid station from this point on. For the first five laps I ran through and just exchanged bottled. I decided however, that I needed a quick walking break, to give my legs a break and mentally refocus. On the 6th lap I was passed by my team mate Rena, she looked great. I decided on my 7th lap I would try to regroup and catch up to her again to give me some additional focus. I did not see her on my 7th lap but was able to run the individuals who were running in the 10 x 10k relay to help me keep my pace even. Anyone in the race with a bib number over 1000 was in the relay. A lot of these runners were in the 8 minute pace range. On the 7th lap using these runners helped me and got my lap pace back to 52.30. I was really encouraged and very happy knowing that I had only three laps to go. I was really anxious, though, to have only one lap to go.

By the 8th lap the temperature was getting cooler because by now it was almost 7 p.m. It was not at all chilly but compared to the 75 degree weather we had in the first four laps it felt nice and cool. I wanted to run this 8th lap in the same time as my 7th lap and decided not to get distracted in this lap. My main distraction usually was thinking about how heavy my quads felt or worrying about how many more laps I had or worrying about how I would run 12 miles farther than I had ever run in my life. I accomplished my goal on this lap and ran it one second faster, running 52.29. I saw my team-mate Rena towards the end of this lap and ran with her for about 1 kilometer before moving ahead of her.

The 9th lap began to get difficult again. I started to have spasms in my calves. Up until this point the only pain I experienced was in my quads but now my left quad was beginning to spasm. I knew I needed some salt and was really annoyed that I had not brought any gatoraid to drink during the run. I should have alternated between water and some type of electrolyte drink between each aid station in each lap. When I arrived at the aid station I told them my calves were cramping and asked if they had pretzels. They had no pretzels but they gave me some pringles. The pringles tasted great, very salty. I ate about four of them with my coke while I was walking quickly through the aid station. The last 5k of this lap I experienced my cramping in my other calf. It became very difficult to focus on running while my calves were knotting up on me. This 9th lap was 55.12. I stopped around the 7k mark to stretch but realized that stopping was only making it worse.

I was disappointed that my time had slowed down but very motivated to have only one lap to go. I decided that no matter what I would move constantly on this last lap. The charlie horses in my calves seemed to be getting worse or it could have been that my tolerance was weakening. My energy level was good. I did not feel very hungry and my arms felt fine and my breathing was fine. I did however, feel that I was limping around this last lap because of my cramping calves. At this point my quads were still very achy but the pain in my calves overpassed the pain of my quads forcing me to forget about it. With 5k to go I was really excited. I decided to take in the scenary and focus on the crowds and the experience. The same supporters were still on the sides of the road who were there at 1 in the afternoon. They had built bon fires now and were singing and cheering for us while sitting next to their bon fires. There were small ornamental lights lined up along the streets and loud cheers from spectators knowing it was the last lap for me of the race. I was getting really excited and really looking forward to sitting down once I crossed the finish line.

At the last aid station, with 1 kilometer to go, I threw my water bottle to them and jogged into the finish. My team mate Laura who I had not seen the entire race put on an amazing kick with 800 meters to go. She passed me and it looked like she was running a 6 minute pace. She finished first for our team and finished one minute ahead of me. I was disappointed that I could not stay with her but there is no way my legs would have let me run that pace at that point in the race. Laura was sprinting to try to get her pr. Her previous best was 8.43 so she did beat that by running an 8.38. I was really happy for her. I finished in 8.39 which was an 8.22 pace per mile and my team mate Siri finished one minute behind me with an 8.40.

When I finished my calves really gave out on me and some of the race officials had to help me over to a wheel chair. They put a blanket around me and asked me if I was ok. I told them I was fine. One of the members of the men's team, Scott Creol, came over to congratulate me. I asked him how his team had done. Unfortunately, only 3 out of the 6 members of their team finished. 3 individuals dropped out because of bad leg cramps. When I heard this I was really glad that I finished and really proud of my team who had all of its members finish. I sat in the chair for about 10 minutes and then decided I needed to put some warm cloths on.

I got my back pack and congratulated all of my team mates. I was really happy and talking a mile a minute. I don't think I was really sure in those last 40kilometers if I could actually finish the race. I went to find the showers and went to the bathroom. When I went to the bathroom I realized I was extremely dehydrated as I had a small amount of blood in my urine. I asked Carolyn, the doctor, about it and she told me to drink lots of water. Over the next two hours I drank about 2 liters of water and my urine returned to a clear color. After my shower I was given a snickers bar by a runner from the Italian team. I gladly took it and at half of it. As soon as I ate it I realized I was starving.

When the team was united we all went out for Chinese food. By the time we got back to our bungalo it was almost 2 in the morning. Everyone was pretty tired so we all went to bed. I have a really hard time sleeping after any ultra races that I run. My legs usually shake all night long. I tried my best to sleep but I was laying there awake all night. My legs were aching and I just wanted to forget about it and go to sleep. I decided to try to meditate but that did not work. At 7 a.m. I got up and went for a walk. I could barely walk down the stairs and my walk was pathetic because I was moving so slowly. I did feel better when I got back and decided to have some breakfast and take a shower.

The team went to the awards ceremony at 10 a.m. We found out that our team took fifth place overall. I was really happy about that. The top American women from the AUA team took 6th overall and was 3rd in her age group. She got a special award for that. Anne ran a terrific race, running a pr of almost 20 minutes. Her previous best was 8.10 and on the race course in Holland she ran 7.50. I was so impressed.

I spent the rest of the day after the awards resting, watching a movie, taking a few short walks, and drinking lots of water. I went to bed very early and fortunately was able to sleep.

I spent the entire day on Monday traveling and by the time I got back to CT realized I had been up for 24 hours. I was exhausted.

On Tuesday I had to return to school for classes and coaching. By this time I could walk and was feeling better but still very sleep deprived.

Today, I feel better, having had a good nights sleep. My right quad is still pretty sore especially going up stairs. I am definitely going to take a few more days off from running. I would like to run on Saturday with the team so until then I will be in the pool and maybe start my lifting routine today or tomorrow. I am still thinking about my next training plan and will probably post that within the next day or two. I want to run the US National 50k Championships in December but for now I want to recover and wait until November to make the decision to run.

I am really thankful to everyone who was so supportive of me running in the 100k race. It was awesome to have so many people thinking of me. During the race I never wanted to run the distance again but now, just a few days after the race, I am tempted to try it again. However, in the future I will want more than 3 weeks notice to run the race so I can feel like I have trained for the event. Ok, now I am going to grab some lunch and maybe try to do some light lifting before the team meets for practice.

Posted by mary at 8:25 AM | Comments (11)

Pre-Race Events

Getting Adjusted to the New Time Zone/Parades/and Race Preparations

As much as I wanted to sleep in until noon I only managed to sleep until 8 a.m. I forced myself to stay in bed until 9 but then got up because I realized I was really hungry. I was staying in a bungalo with three women who were on my team. I went downstairs to eat some breakfast and met the five members of the team that I would join.

The team consisted of six individuals. Laura Nelson from Woodstock, VI, is a very experienced and accomplished ultra runner. Lucy Carr, lives in France and is a terrific road and ultra runner. Siri Terjesen lives in England and has been the UK Ultra Runner of the Year and has earned many victories in ultra races throughout Europe. Carloyn Smith who is the Director of Clinical Services at Marquette University Student Health Service and the Team Physician for the Athletic Department has a mile pr of 4.54 and a marathon pr of 2.45. She also just completed the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon through Death Valley to the portals of Mt. Whitney this July. The fifth member of the team was Rena Shuman. from CA who moved from the marathon to ultradistance, and has amassed 106 ultra performances and numerous wins, primarily on trails. I realized I would be running with a pretty amazing group of competitive and experienced ultra women.

After breakfast, I went for an easy four mile run to loosen my legs up after my long day at the airport. The temperature was very nice, around 68 degrees and the terrain was flat and scenic. We were staying in a small village that consisted of many nice homes made of brick and farms where there were mostly sheep and pigs roaming. The streets were very narrow. By the time I finished my run I felt more awake and was looking forward to going into Winschoten for the late afternoon festivities.

We left for the town of Winschoten around 3 p.m. and entered Der Klinker. Der Klinker was a small stadium that had one huge room constructed of cement with high ceilings and huge garage doors that opened on opposite sides of the building. The building also had several smaller meeting rooms and a shower facility. All of the teams competiting in the 100k race were to meet here with their warm up uniforms on to prepare for the parade through the town. I was really surprised to see so many teams from all over the world. Teams from Australia, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, just to name a few were present.

The mayor of the town met us in a traditional costume and led us to the center of town. When we arrived to this point we were greeted by many of the towns people who were lined up along the street and hanging outside their windows. There was a stage set up where singers were singing traditional Dutch songs and music was being played with a variety of instruments. Each team was given their countries flag and told to step forward with their team once their team sign was carried to the front by one of the young Dutch children. The teams were called up alphabetically with Netherland leading the way since they were the host country. The US was second team called. All of the teams marched around town for about a mile being led by the mayor of the town and a local marching band. It was very exciting. Citizens on the side of the road were waving small flags and cheering for various teams. It was really exciting to take part in the parade and see all of the different team uniforms and team members.

Once the parade was over we met in Der Klinker for a huge pasta feed. There was four different types of pasta, rice, bread, salad, and yogurt for dessert. The pasta was great with the exception of the sauce which had a sugary taste. The yogurt was also very sweet but all in all it was a great meal and it was very nice to eat in a huge hall with all of the other athletes. Supposedly some of the top athletes were not present at the dinner or parade because they needed to rest for the race the following day.

When we got back to our bungalo everyone started to get their drop bags ready. The drop bags would be place at the 5k mark and the 9k mark of the course. Each athlete had a manager who would have drinks, food, or advil (salt tablets) ready for them at each of these locations. I felt really ill prepared at this point in the day. All of my team members were mixing various electrolyte drinks and marking their bottles for each lap number of the race. They each wrote down very specific directions for each lap of the course. Meanwhile I had three water bottles, one to be held at each station, and one for me to hold during the run. I would just exchange with my manager at each stop and have only water. I only had enough gus for each station - 20, although, I doubted I would use all of those especially early on in the race. The atmosphere was getting excited as my team members were getting worried about various details. I decided to call it a night and go to bed so I did not have to worry about something I did not have. It was about 10 o'clock when I went to bed so I felt confident I'd be able to get a good nights rest. The race the next day would not start until 1 p.m. so I had a lot of time to rest before the event began.

Posted by mary at 7:54 AM | Comments (0)

Lots of Traveling!

Plane Ride to the Netherlands

On Wednesday morning I was hoping to get up and run about 4 miles on the track to practice running an 8 minute pace. I however, was too tired and had too much to do to get ready for my trip so I decided to take the day off. I had to pack my bags and attend one morning class before driving to CT to drop my car off and then be driven to the airport in Windsor.

My plane for the Netherlands left CT at 4:30. I had to fly into Newark, NJ and wait one hour for my next flight. I was pretty excited and anxious to get the main trip started. In the airport I walked around a lot, knowing that I'd be sitting for a very long time. My second flight left on time and was scheduled to be a 6 hour flight. I would land in the Netherlands at 8:30 in the morning. I knew I would not be getting much sleep but I decided I would sleep and rest all day on Thursday at the bungalos where the team would be staying.

It was very difficult to sleep on the six hour flight because of the lights that were on for most of the trip and the three service meals that they delivered during the flight. I did my best to try to nap but it was very uncomfortable and I unfortunately was stuck in a middle seat. I was looking forward to arriving and meeting my team to find a bed and get some real sleep.

When I arrived to the airport I realized I did not know exactly where I was meeting the team. I decided to find a phone and check my voice mail. When I checked my messages I found out that my ride would not arrive until 5 p.m. This would give me eight hours to explore, wait, and try to rest. I was really disappointed and frustrated that I had to wait so long. Initially I thought I'd put my bags in a locker and take a train into Amsterdam to enjoy the local sights. However, I realized I was totally exhausted having gotten very little sleep. I decided to look for a quiet place in the corner of the airport to try to nap for a few hours and then decide what to do once I felt more rested. I found an area where there was very little traffic and decided to extend my legs out over onto my bags and sort of wrap as much as I could around me to prevent anything from being taken from me should I actually fall asleep. I dozed off for about an hour and a half and decided to walk around and get some food to increase my energy level. The airport had a grocery store located in it which was very nice. I was able to get some fresh bread and fruit and a drink. I felt much better after this but realized I did not want to go into the city alone when I was feeling so tired. I was afraid I would not make it back to the airport on time and then totally miss my ride. I spent the next five hours in the same routine, dozing on and off, walking around the airport, and doing a little bit of school work.

Close to 5 p.m. I found one of my teammates wandering around the airport. This was a huge relief. We waited together for our team manager to arrive. It was not until 7 p.m. that we were all united together with the rental car and all of the individuals who would be driving to the race site with us. The drive to our bungalo took over three hours. We were all pretty exhausted and getting very hungry. Once we arrived into our destination town of Winschoten we realized that all of the restaurants were closed. By the time we got to our bungalo it was well past midnight. I was really beat and decided to eat a free saltines with peanut butter, hit the sack, and not wake up until noon the next day.

Posted by mary at 7:35 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Run Around Northampton

Early Run with Alison

On Tuesday morning I met Alison at 6:30 a.m. on the campus for an easy 8 mile run. I was looking forward to the run to hear about the 5k race she ran the day before. I also enjoy her company and enjoy learning new routes to run.

We ran a nice pace starting off on the cross country course and heading up to the community gardens. Once we left the trails we ran on the roads for about four miles before heading onto another trail that parallels a stream that enters onto the main campus. When we returned to our starting point we added on another two big loops around the athletic fields to make our run about 65 minutes.

The run was really nice. I got to hear all about Alison's 5k race which was awesome. I am really looking forward to more runs with Alison. She is great company and knows the area very well and knows a lot about running.

The team had practice in the afternoon. They were scheduled for an 8 mile run. Due to my upcoming weekend race I did not think it would be wise for me to do a second run even though I was really tempted to be out there with them. Instead I got their team uniforms ready for the upcoming weekend meet.

Posted by mary at 7:29 AM | Comments (0)

September 6, 2004

Hill Repeats with the Team

Today the women's team was scheduled to do hill repeats on the cross country course. I decided I would run with the women in the back of the pack so that I would not tire myself out too much. The loop that we ran was about 1300 meters and had a 30 meter hill about half way through the run. Each athlete was given a time range to hit during the hill repeats. Most individuals would be running 4 repeats with the exception of two juniors who would run 5 repeats. The team did a twenty minute warm up followed by striders. I did not do the striders.

I ran with an individual on the team who I think can be running faster than she currently has been. I make this assumption based on her strength in the weight room and some of her results from last year. For the first interval that we ran the entire team started out much too fast. I had not done any striders so in the first 200 meters I found myself breathing much harder than I would have liked. I then realized we were probably running 80 second pace for the first part. I attributed this to pre-workout jitters and the adrenaline rush that comes at the start of a race. I suggested that we ease into a pace and try to settle. We ran our first loop about 20 seconds faster than the target range. I thought this was ok considering how fast we started. I suggested that we try to even out the pace for the next interval. For the next three intervals are range was consistent within five seconds of each other. I realized that a lot of the women had a hard time maintaining their pace throughout the entire session. I am not sure if the hill made it difficult to gauge pace or fatigue due to inappropriate surges within the workout. I think it helped the athlete to have me run with her as she usually has to run by herself. I am guessing our pace per interval was between 6.50 and 7 minute pace.

The team finished this workout with a 20 minute cool down. I ran for about 10 minutes and then discussed the workout with the head coach.

I am looking forward to a morning run with Alison tomorrow so I have to get some sleep now.

Posted by mary at 7:06 PM | Comments (8)

Manchester Road Race Preview

On Sunday after my orientation meeting I met my CA friends again. They will be making a big move themselves from CA to CT in about two weeks. They were in CT looking for a place to live. One of my friends is a runner and has heard a lot about the Manchester Road Race. Each Thanksgiving that I spent in CA , my twin sister and I would lament that we were not running our favorite race. Our CA friends therefore, are all very familiar with the race. My friend wanted to preview the course on Sunday so that he could start training for the course. I decided to look on line and write down the course directions in case I had forgotten them (it's been five years since I have done the race). I met my friend at 6:00 p.m. at his hotel and took him to the race start. We started to run around 7 o'clock so it was nice and cool. I told him about the hill at mile 2 and initially he did not think it was that tough but once we were half way up he started to ask how much longer was the hill. After the hill, the rest of the course is downhill. I could feel the pace pick up as we ran the final 2.5 miles. I felt really good running on the roads and by the time we hit Main Street I felt like I was in the race. I started to sprint. My friend asked me to slow down but when he saw my car he started to sprint for the last block. We finished the course in about 33 minutes. I guess we ran around 7 minute pace. I was happy about the effort. The course is just under 5 miles. My friend liked the course except for about a mile and half section where the road is being worked on and there are a lot of bumps in the road. I actually liked that section of the road because it reminded me of trail running. I personally hope the course is like that on race day. We'll see. Now I just have to jump into a 5k or 10k and try to get a time to put me in the under 35 min. group. I don't think I have enough speed these days with all of my ultra running to put me in the under 30 min. group. Hopefully, in October I can find a 5k to run.

Posted by mary at 6:57 PM | Comments (0)

Team Long Run

On Saturday the cross country team met for a long run. The women on the team had decided to do a point to point course. They wanted to run from Northampton to Amherst on the bike path. The longest scheduled distance for the run was 12 miles. Most of the women would be running 10 miles. We looked at the map and determined that the women would have to add on a few more miles once they got to Amherst as that would only be about 8 miles. The longest mileage group would meet about ten minutes before the rest of the group to run a mile before the main group left for their run.

I met the team at 8 o'clock and was unfortunately only able to do 3 miles out with them and then had to turn around to go back to campus. The team stayed together for the most part. The bike path was nicer than I thought. It was very shaded and had some nice scenary. When we first started on the bike path we had to cross over the CT River. The bike path is a converted railroad path. The path is very flat but I thought it could be useful for mile repeats when I start doing those types of workouts again. The run was nice and easy and the weather was not too hot.

I had to be back and showered by 9 o'clock so I ran the second half a little faster. At 9 o'clock I had a coaching certification to attend. The certification is for the Canadian Coaching Certification up to Level III coaching (the high school level). It was a two day course that was poorly timed for the Labor Day weekend. My fellow graduate students were in the class as well so at least it provided us more time to get to know each other. The course was from 9-5 on Saturday and Sunday.

When the course was over I considered going for another run but I had some friends call who were visiting from CA and decided to go out with them instead. They have never been to Northampton before so it was very nice to show them around. We went to dinner and then went to see a movie.

Posted by mary at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)

Meeting Alison

On Friday morning I finally got to meet Alison. I was really excited to meet her. My twin sister, Liz, was the first person to tell me about Alison and her maintenance of the website www.fastwomen.com
Liz had gone to Colby College and remembered Alison from the Bowdoin cross-country team. When I realized I would be going to school in Western MA, Liz told me to get in touch with Alison and introduce myself. I was really excited to have one local connection in the area, especially someone as knowledgeable as Alison.

Since arriving on the east coast I have been trying to get connected with Alison to meet her. Due to our hectic schedules we were unable to meet until Friday. Alison agreed to meet me on campus in the morning for a ten-mile run.

Alison showed me a lollipop type course that took me around an airfield. We ran on the roads for about two miles before getting to the airfield. Once at the airfield we ran around some cornfields and runway for about two miles or so. The terrain was really nice. It was flat and soft. We were running on some dirt roads that had no traffic on them. We then ran about two miles back to the campus. When we arrived at the campus we added on another loop that was about three miles that led us up to the community gardens and back through the cross-country course on to campus again.

I really enjoyed meeting Alison. She was very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. She showed me where she used to live which is about three minutes away from where I am currently living. She also told me about her twin sister which I enjoyed hearing about. Once I started running with Alison, I was extremely thankful to my twin sister who made this connection for me. Over the past few months I have been inspired by Alison's blog and impressed with her diligence and commitment to her work and the goals that she sets for herself. When I met her on Friday I could see those qualities of dedication and sincerity in her. Living so close to her is going to inspire me even further. I am really looking forward to more runs with Alison and a chance to get to know her better.

Posted by mary at 6:37 PM | Comments (0)

More Errands - Another Easy Day

Busy All Day

On Thursday I had meetings all day long. I had to meet with various adminstrators, educators, and fellow graduate students in my department. We had to get our computers set up, make sure we had all of our paper work filled out, and get acquainted with how the department works. I did not realize how tired I was until the team practice came.

I had to miss the morning team practice due to a mandatory meeting. Originally I was planning to get up and run on my own but when the alarm went off I realized I was too tired to do so. The afternoon practice was a nice 40 minute pond run at Puffer's Pond. I thought I might run a few miles after the pond run but I decided to consider the day a rest day.

In the evening the department got together for an evening social. Everyone went to the local brewery and enjoyed a dinner and some drinks together. I had a nice time and was glad I was not too tired from any additional running I thought about doing for the day.

Posted by mary at 6:32 PM | Comments (0)

September 3, 2004

Busy Day - Easy Run

Busy Day

On Wednesday I was really tired from three days of commuting from CT to MA. I have had to leave my parent's house in CT at 6:30 in order to avoid Hartford and Springfield traffic. In the evenings I have been staying up late to organize my things to take to my new house in Northampton. I have been feeling very run down.

The official graduate school orientation began today. We were able to meet with fellow students in our exercise and science department and meet with our professors. Unfortunately, due to mandatory meetings, I had to miss the morning Smith practice. I was able to attend the afternoon lifting session with the team.

Before the afternoon meeting I had about an hour to squeeze in a run. I decided to just do some loops on the trails that are right around the community gardens. I felt very very sluggish for the first twenty minutes. I almost stopped running all together. I decided to just run really slowly and use the day as a loosening up day. With about five miles to go I had some spring in my step and was able to pick up the pace a bit. After the run I decided it was time to get more sleep. Unfortunately, this was not going to be the night to get more rest.

The team had a dinner at the Coaches house which was great. Everyone got together for a barbeque and some games in Holyoke.

Posted by mary at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)