Hat’s Off

This week’s photo challenge from Maggie:

What is your favorite running “thing”? Something that you either HAVE to have for every run or race, or something you don’t always have or use, but look forward to eating/using/wearing before, during or after a run. Maybe it completely changed your running, or is something you just really like. It can be something you wear, something you eat, something you use (in reality or digitally), etc, but it has to be a thing.

When I first started running, I wore a bandanna to keep the sweat out of my eyes. 

It was sort of my signature accessory.

But when I started training for my first half marathon in 2009 I realized that the bandanna was actually trapping heat on my head and not letting the sweat evaporate.

And, by the way, I sweat.  A lot.  If I don’t have some kind of head covering sweat just runs into my eyes and stings.  And it’s no fun to be running or racing with sweat in your eyes.

So, I upgraded to a visor.

 

My collection of visors grew.

 

And then my mom pointed out that while the visor let the heat escape, it wasn’t doing any favors for my scalp and my hair.  With the sun beating down on both she worried that I would have a sunburnt scalp and fried hair.

So, I found a hat.

This hat and I are now pretty inseparable.  It needs to be washed something fierce but I just can’t bring myself to wash it.  I wouldn’t go so far as to call it my lucky hat, but I have run quite a few PRs in it.  It keeps the sweat out of my face, protects my scalp while keeping me cool, keeps my frizzy hair hidden and looks pretty cute to boot. 

So, yeah, I’d say that a head covering (currently this hat) is my “thing” I have to have for running. 

Monday Night Slog

Say "Hi" to my new running hat. Would you believe that on Monday night while running in that hat and my sunglasses (yes, mom, I wore my sunglasses) that someone mistook me for Coach Holly? That may be the best compliment I've ever gotten!

Not that I was running like Coach Holly. No way. I'd already decided before I even left the house that while I was going running it was definitely going to be more of a run/walk/slog type of evening.

I originally had 8 miles on my schedule but with the temps hovering near 90 and the dew point hovering near 70 I figured I'd do what I could. I recently read this Runners World forum post where they discuss how much humidity and dew point affects running. Basically it boils down to if you add the temperature and the dew point together and it's above 150 then you should just be glad you survived your run.

So I should just be glad I survived my run. I started out pretty strong for a hot, gross night but faded over time. That's okay, though. I was running with a guy who was pushing his daughter in the jogging stroller for the first time so I was slowing down for him. Yeah, that's it.

Anyway, I ended up only doing 5.5 miles. I was starting to get a mild headache and I know that's a sign of heat illness. Even though I brought water with me it didn't seem to make a difference.

The temps are supposed to be horrible all week. And of course I signed up for that 10 mile race this weekend. I forsee some walk breaks during that event, too. Good thing I'm just using it as a training run!

Monday Night OPRC Slog by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Thursday Night Light

Have I ever talked about my hat light? I can't remember. Either way, that's it up there. Isn't it cute? I get a lot of compliments on it. It's been coming in pretty handy on Thursday nights when we do our intervals. The streets we run on don't really have street lights and last night there were still some snowy areas.

Yes, I ran outside Thursday night. After the blizzard. In the single digit temperatures. Believe it or not, it wasn't half bad.

Only three of us were able to brave the elements for various reasons so I ran by myself for much of the time. We warmed up together and then I was on my own for the first 3 intervals. The plans? 4x5:00 minutes at 5K pace w/3:00 minute rest intervals.

My goal according to our leader? Work on my cadence. Move my feet faster without necessarily working harder. By the way, this is just as difficult as it sounds. Still I ended up with the following times:

Warm Up - 2 miles @ 10:03 pace
1st 5 minutes - 8:00 pace
3:00 recovery jog
2nd 5 minutes - 8:09 pace
3:00 recovery jog
3rd 5 minutes - 8:26 pace
3:00 recovery jog
4th 5 minutes - 8:04 pace
3:00 recovery jog
Cool Down - .5 miles @ 10:09 pace

Total mileage: 6.14

A HUGE thanks to our leader who hung back with me during that 4th interval. She pushed me hard, gave me encouragement, and basically made it so that I almost matched my last interval to my first one. Otherwise, as you can see, the trend was to slow down.

Also, in case you're curious, this is what you wear when it's single digits outside with a possible windchill of below zero -

2 pairs of socks
1 pair of capris
1 pair of tights
1 pair of windpants
1 tank top
2 long sleeved tops
1 jacket
1 neck gaiter
1 pair of mittens
1 fleece ear band

Winter running sure does equal a lot of laundry. Thankfully the adrenaline rush is worth it.

Let It Snow

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,



But my new running shirt (from Kim!) is so delightful.


WOMEN'S APEX CLIMATEBLOCK FULL ZIP

And since North Face let us wear these nice jackets to go,

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.


WOMEN'S SINGLE-TRACK

North Face let us run in these fun shoes.




And gave us this free gaiter, too.



Add on a free stocking cap. Whoa!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Oh, I might not have won the raffle.

And I might have run kind of slow.





But we runners are crazy, don't you know?

So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.


P.S. That jacket was really nice. But I don't know if it was $160 nice. And, no, we didn't get to keep it or the shoes.

Three Things Tuesday

Instead of running last night I bought this compression thigh sleeve at Sports Authority using my 10% off coupon. I wore it around the house for several hours before bed. When I went to bed I rubbed a small amount of Biofreeze into the sore area. My leg feels much better today. It's probably at about 85%.




While at Sports Authority I remembered I was out of Body Glide. I went on the hunt for some but all I could find was the Body Glide "for her". I'm 99.9% sure this is identical to regular Body Glide just with a pink cap the word "bra" on the packaging. It probably costs more, too. The wonders of marketing.



My marathon participant confirmation booklet arrived yesterday. I'm a little terrified to open it. It reminds me of the first day of class when the teacher hands you the syllabus and you get totally overwhelmed by hearing about all the things you'll need to do. Or is that just me?

Keeper of the Newbies

Last night was the weekly Monday night run with the running club. It was also the "run of the month". This month's run was sponsored by Asics. They raffled off two pairs of shoes (I didn't win) and provided pizza and chips with guacamole. After the run I went out to a bar with some of the club members where we ate the free popcorn and had some beers. Even the run itself was fun!

We had one new guy show up last night. The furthest he'd ever run before was 4 miles. Another woman showed up who I'd run with a few weeks back and for whom this was only her second time running with the group. The club president, who actually remembered that I'm "slow", asked me what pace I planned to run and paired me up with the two "newbies".

The three of us ran together, chatting, and I managed to keep us to the "between 9 and 10" pace I'd promised. We finished 5.4 miles at an average 9:26 minute/mile pace. This was my first time actually pacing anyone else so I was pretty proud of myself for A. doing what I promised, B. not walking at all, and C. being the welcoming group member I would have wanted on my first day.

Also, now that the sun sets before we're done running, I wore the headlamp Jason bought me over a year ago.



It's an LED light that clips on the bill of your hat or visor. The other runners were really impressed with it. They said they could see me coming from blocks away. It seems to work pretty well for seeing the ground in front of you when it's pitch black, but it can't compete with the occasional street lamp. Also, it doesn't help cars see you from the back. I'm thinking I should get some reflective wristbands or a strobe light that clips to my shirt or shorts.

Overall, it was a great run with good company. THIS is what a running group should be like. So, from here on out, I will call myself the keeper of the newbies and the pacer of the "slow". At least, when there are others that need me. Otherwise, I'll do my best to keep up with the pack. And bring my phone. And write down the course on a piece of paper in my pocket, just in case (and, yes, I did those last two things last night).

Also, I am taking a well-deserved rest day today. I ran almost 20 miles in three days. I think my legs need a break.
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Stats

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 628 ft Location: Forest Park, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/21/09 Up/Downhill: [+19/-19] Time: 06:38 PM Difficulty: 2.0 / 5.0   Weather: A Few Clouds   67 F temp; 75% humidity   67 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 5.40 miles Time: 0:50:58 Speed: 6.4 mph Pace: 9' 26 /mi Calories: 642 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 21 -0' 05 6.4 +0.0 -3 ft 2 9' 45 +0' 19 6.2 -0.2 -6 ft 3 9' 34 +0' 08 6.3 -0.1 +6 ft 4 9' 13 -0' 13 6.5 +0.1 +3 ft 5 9' 23 -0' 03 6.4 +0.0 0 ft end 8' 58 -0' 28 6.7 +0.3 +3 ft Versus average of 9' 26 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Better Stuff

So, I've got this 8K race coming up on the 27th. I'm not REALLY training for it. I mean, I want to, but my schedule is just all sorts of screwy. I printed out a 10K training plan that actually has me running an 8K on the day I'm truly schedule to run one. I've kind of been following the plan...when it works with my schedule. This weekend, it happened to work perfectly with my schedule. Meaning Saturday's run was supposed to be six miles with two at race pace.

On my way home from work on Friday my $100 Bose in-ear headphones crapped out on me. They're doing that thing where the connection somewhere inside the wires goes flakey and one side loses sound intermittently. As you can guess, I'm pretty irritated about it. I went to Best Buy to look for replacements. Sadly, our Best Buy no longer carries these headphones. I guess they ARE two years old. Anyway, I have lots of headphone issues due to having a small head and tiny ears. Most in-ear headphones just fall right out of my ears, especially when I'm running. So, after wandering the aisles for 30 minutes, I finally decided on these Sony ones:



They're not perfect. The part that actually goes in my ear is a little too big, they take some skill to put on (especially when my hair is down), and the tops interfered at first with my visor. But, they stayed put during my run and did their job of conveying the music to my ears. I have to say, the staying put thing was a leg-up on the Bose ones. Even those would fall out of my ears occasionally. I still want to replace my Bose ones for commuting purposes, but I think these will do for running purposes.

While at Best Buy I also picked up an armband for my iPhone. Strangely, they only carried one option. This Rocketfish brand one:



It gets cruddy reviews on the Best Buy website and I can sort of see why. I, however, took it entirely out of the packaging at the store so that I could try it on. It fits great and the neoprene is soft on my bare skin. However, it is neoprene so it certainly holds in the sweat! Blech. I agree with the reviews that it's a pain to change the volume and I can totally see this thing falling apart in less than six months. But, it was all they had and it was still better than my jerry-rigged armband.

So, with my gear upgraded, I set out on my 6 mile Saturday morning run with the goal of doing two miles at race pace. I decided "race pace" would be anything under 9:25 minutes per mile. Now, I know the goal is to run those fast miles in the middle of your run, but I hadn't run at all since Wednesday and that was only 1.5 miles! Plus, the weather was perfect and I actually felt good for once. I'd tried a new pre-run fuel routine of a Mini Clif Bar and a small glass of skim milk with Hershey's syrup. My fresh legs combined with the new fuel put such a spring in my step that my first two miles ended up being my race pace miles at just under 9:00 minutes per mile each! Whoa! And, believe it or not, the next four miles all stayed under 10:00 minutes per mile each. I didn't run negative splits, but all six miles were strong and I didn't have to take any walk breaks.

This is definitely better stuff.

Oh, and speaking of that 8K I'm running, it's serving double-duty. I'm not only running it as an actual in-person race, it's also counting as my run for the Fall Five Miler being hosted by RunningLaur. Definitely check it out. I mean, look at the adorable race bib!



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Stats

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 627 ft Location: Forest Park, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/19/09 Up/Downhill: [+134/-134] Time: 08:32 AM Difficulty: 2.1 / 5.0   Weather: Mostly Cloudy   65 F temp; 70% humidity   65 F heat index; winds S 6 Performance Distance: 6.03 miles Time: 0:57:40 Speed: 6.3 mph Pace: 9' 34 /mi Calories: 713 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 54 -0' 40 6.7 +0.5 +3 ft 2 8' 52 -0' 42 6.8 +0.5 +10 ft 3 9' 48 +0' 14 6.1 -0.2 -6 ft 4 9' 59 +0' 25 6.0 -0.3 +13 ft 5 9' 55 +0' 21 6.0 -0.2 -17 ft 6 9' 54 +0' 20 6.1 -0.2 -3 ft end 9' 10 -0' 24 6.5 +0.3 0 ft Versus average of 9' 34 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Fall Run and Full Review

As you can see from the above photo (taken on my run on Saturday) it appears that fall is descending. As much as I will miss summer, I'm excited about cooler weather. My 8 mile run on Saturday was not nearly as much of a struggle as many of my shorter runs from the past few months.

The only downside to cooler weather is figuring out what to wear on your run. I usually go by the 20^o rule. Meaning, you dress for weather 20^o warmer than what the thermometer says. But it's really difficult to put on shorts and a tank when you're standing in your house freezing. So, I ended up in capris and a short sleeved shirt on Saturday. Ended up working just fine.

I didn't start out my run with any goals other than to go 8 miles. This would be the longest run I'd done since my half marathon in July so I just wanted to do it. And although my average pace looks speedy, I find it slightly suspect. And, I admit, I did pause my watch at the major intersection, at the halfway point (while I returned a text message) and when I stopped to take the photo.

I almost paused again during the first half of my run. I can around a corner and just a few feet to my left was a doe, happily chomping on my plants next to the bike path. I really should have taken a picture. She seemed unconcerned about all the runners and bikers flying by. I just love it when I see deer while running. Always brings a smile to my face.

Regardless of my original intentions, I decided after a few miles that I was going to try and run at least two miles at "race pace". That is, I wanted to do them at 9 minutes per mile. If you subtract the time spent paused, then I did it. If you don't, then I only got close during mile 6. But I still think it's pretty cool that I managed to hit that after already running 5 miles.

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After my run, I hit up Cosi for some post-run replenishment. I had one of their Strawberry Banana smoothies (it has real bananas in it, at least. I watched the employee cut it up) and a "break bar".

The break bar is an awesome combination of nuts, honey, and dried cranberries. It tasted like peanut brittle but better. I ate half of it and drank my whole smoothie. Both were phenomenal. I will definitely keep Cosi in mind for after my run! I think the smoothie and the nut bar were the perfect combination for post-run refueling.

I also ran in a pair of new Wrightsocks. I received two pairs to try out after posting about socks in the Runners' Lounge forums. Last Tuesday I wore the Running II style for my speedwork on the treadmill. I love that they have the arch support band and, as a fan of cushioned socks, I liked the thickness. The double layers felt funny when I first put the socks on but I didn't notice them after that.

On Saturday, though, I wore the Coolmesh (quarter-length) pair. I didn't like the height since I am more of a lo-quarter gal. I felt like they were too much sock around the ankle. I suppose, though, they would be good with pants instead of shorts or capris. Anyway, they felt good going on and while I was running, but walking around after my run I felt like they were too thin and that my foot was sliding around in my shoes a lot. I did like, though, that I didn't feel the need to adjust the toe area after I put on my shoes. Sometimes socks have those little nubs on ends of the toe seem that seem to sit on my pinky toe the wrong way. There have been days when I've had to take my shoe off, adjust my sock, put my shoe back on and repeat the process a few times before the sock sits just right. I didn't have that problem with this pair.

I don't suffer from blisters (unless I wear strappy sandals and walk over 3 miles) so I can't really comment on how well the double layer technology works. In fact, I've been perfectly happy with my Target and Walmart socks. That is, until I ran holes in my latest pair from Target. I can definitely tell that these Wrightsocks are better constructed. Hopefully they will last longer! I appreciate getting to try them out since I don't think I would have ever bought "fancy" socks on my own. Thanks, Wrightsock!

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Stats

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 621 ft Location: Brookfield, IL Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 08/29/09 Up/Downhill: [+187/-190] Time: 08:35 AM Difficulty: 2.4 / 5.0   Weather: Mostly Cloudy   62 F temp; 67% humidity   62 F heat index; winds NW 10 Performance Distance: 8.00 miles Time: 1:18:29 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 49 /mi Calories: 951 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 16 +0' 27 5.8 -0.3 -3 ft 2 10' 05 +0' 16 6.0 -0.2 +6 ft 3 10' 01 +0' 12 6.0 -0.1 +10 ft 4 9' 25 -0' 24 6.4 +0.3 -13 ft 5 10' 49 +1' 00 5.5 -0.6 +4 ft 6 9' 07 -0' 42 6.6 +0.5 -7 ft 7 10' 08 +0' 19 5.9 -0.2 -6 ft 8 10' 03 +0' 14 6.0 -0.1 0 ft end ** ** ** ** ** ft Versus average of 9' 49 min/mile ** Insufficient data to calculate this split

Posted from bimactive.com

My Eyes Are Buggin'

Just for fun, I thought I'd share what happened in the aftermath of losing my sunglasses at the race on Thursday evening. I have no idea what I did with them. In the chaos that was me trying to find our team tent and get situated, I either set them down somewhere, they fell off the top of my head, or I lost them when I was using the port-a-potty. Whatever happened to them, it's not nearly as fun of a story as when I lost my previous pair to a hungry Atlantic Ocean. Anyway, I had been hoping they would turn up at the bottom of my purse or at the bottom of the bag I packed all my gear into. They didn't. I was pretty bummed since it's a pain in the behind to find sunglasses that fit my face. Especially since right now the style seems to be the bigger the better.

So, Jason and I trotted off to Target on Saturday to check out their sunglasses selection. I was hoping to find something that looked nice enough for every day wear but could also double as "sporty" for when I'm running.

I present you with photographic evidence as to why I hate buying sunglasses. Please ignore my post-run ponytail. I didn't shower between running and running errands.

First up, we have the orange and purple pair



Next, I model the white and silver ones





Finally, the ever so popular 80s rap star red sunglasses





Hilarious, no?

Anyway, I tried on quite a few "normal" ones as well and finally settled on a nice polarized pair.



Thank goodness I had Jason with me to help me figure out which ones to buy. I just don't know how I would have ever decided otherwise!

Hopefully these will work for running, too. I should have taken a lap around the store with them on my face. Alas, I didn't. So, we'll find out if they'll work the next time I go for a sunny run.

P.S. Apologies to those who saw this post twice. I just felt it was too funny not to share with multiple crowds.

Hydration Equation

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