Broken Foot Benefit #22

Warning: this post is not about running. Males may want to disregard at this point...

I am in Austin for work this week. One thing I was really looking forward to doing while here, is going for some good runs on the lovely local trail system. Since that ain't happening, I guess I will have to focus on work instead...booo. Or try the lap pool at the schwanky hotel spa. Ooh, and the steamroom, definitely the steamroom.

Anyway, while frantically gathering all my crap to pack last night, I came across one surprise benefit to having a broken foot. Typically, it takes quite a bit of strategic planning to pack for a work trip, especially when there are also "casual" activities on the agenda. I am forced to choose shoes that do at least double-duty. I am forced to choose outfits that correspond to those that certain pairs of shoes. But NOT this time! Fancy heel that only goes with one dress? Bring it! Clarks Wallabee? Why not! Black flat? Toss it in! Comfy mid-heel? In you go!

Because I only have to pack ONE shoe (the left one), I was able to include twice the shoeage! And I could choose my preferred outfits, not just the ones that would go easily with my shoe. Also, I did not have to pack 3 running outfits...so that lightened the load. Unfortunately, I am not sure the presence of the perfect shoe on the left foot can overcome the distraction of the hideous black boot on the right. Sigh.

I might cry

Seriously, I might just cry. Seriously. I mean, seriously.

Rewind to Saturday. I ended up going for a run in the afternoon instead of the morning. I went on the nice, soft dirt trails at about 3:00. Beautiful day, feeling good...except for a very slight discomfort in my right foot. Ah! My shoe must be tied to tight. Easy to fix. Shoe loosened, continued on run. Foot discomfort gets more pronounced. 3 miles in, foot discomfort is now actual pain. Every strike of my right foot: pain. I stop to stretch, thinking perhaps it's a cramp or a tight muscle somewhere. Continue on run. Enter stronger foot pain. I now cannot run but must walk and the whole situation is bringing stinging tears to my eyes. I still have a mile home, I am in severe pain, and yet it's a beautiful fall day, the kind you just live to run for. My race is in two weeks and this feels like a very, very bad sign.

Flashforward to today. My foot is still in pain, it is swollen, I cannot walk without a limp, cannot bend it, cannot do steps. I fear fracture. Tomorrow I go see some fancy schmancy foot specialist that happens to be here in Vail (which, Vail, by the way is faaabbbbuuulooouuusss, it even snowed the pretty kind of powdery mountain snowflakes tonight). I have resigned myself to the distinct possibility that I will probably not be running my first-ever marathon in two weeks at the 2009 Denver Marathon. (SOB!) But I guess as long as I can heal whatever is wrong, and eventually run again....I'll be all good. Right after I stop crying and feeling sorry for myself.

The "X" being the spot in which centers the
severe pain; the arrow pointing to the region
to which the general swelling and puffiness radiates.

Back in the Saddle

Thanks guys, for your well-wishes. And Jeneric, you are right; I think I will have a great marathon experience, regardless of my time or whatever life throws at me. I am just too excited for the experience, not to enjoy it! Thanks for reminding me of that.

And, after a week of ill, I am finally feeling better and got back in the saddle and went for a run last night. I managed 25 minutes, and it wasn't as bad as I expected, but I certainly wasn't challenging any land speed records. (Or any underwater or outer-space speed records either, for that matter.) It felt like 6 days of illness had managed to undo 14 weeks of training. However, tomorrow morning I am back with the running group for a long run on my favorite Highline Canal; here's hoping I can still breathe afterward. Then Sunday I am off to Vail for a company retreat for a few days, and will try some at-altitude running to see how that goes. Running amidst the yellow aspens is just too enticing to pass up!

Only 2 weeks to Denver!!!!!!! Gaaahhh, I can't wait!

Happy weekend everybody, and good luck to those of you racing this weekend!

VAY-KAY

Ah, vacation. How sweet you are...and so where am I, you may be wondering? Am I in beautiful San Francisco, preparing to run the half or full marathon? Negative. Am I by the beach, sunning and relaxing? Alas, no. Ah, perhaps camping in the serene Rocky Mountain wilderness, with nothing by my wireless card and a bear-proof cooler, and a long leash for Shorties 1 and 2?Still no.

If you have been reading this blog since my last "vacation" in the spring (though I wager most probably haven't) you may recall that all my "vacations" involve trekking back to the Motherland: Nebraska. Nebraska. Nebraska. In July. Yes, folks, I am once again in the Flatlands, visiting relatives. While calling it vacation might be a bit of a stretch, a Polish family reunion is the impetus for the trip. I know there will be Polocks, of course there will be beer; I am praying for [drunken] polka.

While it is nice to have a couple days off work, and it is fun to see the in-laws, the best thing (ok second best--the best is that it's flat here despite being wetly humid and exponentially buggier than Denver) is that we arrived in town today to have the father-in-law announce that there is a 5-mile race on Saturday, and were we runners interested in participating? Hell yes. So, just like that, my "fun" family (by marriage only) reunion turned into a racing trip, whee! Since we actually remembered the camera for once, I will attempt some action shots of the excitement that is sure to be the Run Around Town.

Tomorrow I will show my full geekiness and write about my and semi-failure (which turned into a-bit-less-of-a-failure due to my sheer and utter stupidity) on my current training plan for the Denver Marathon in October.

Race Report: Rocky Mountain Half Marathon

Ran into my running club buddy Massud as I was lining up in the corrals, which was a nice surprise. There are a couple race pictures here, but as they are copyrighted, I am not savvy enough to snatch them with the right-click function disabled, and am too cheap to actually purchase them, you have to be stalkerishly interested enough to click through the link to see them. For those only mildly interested, I'll summarize: ignoring the camera X 3; waving to the camera X 1 (because the girls in front of me did); and my clothes look about two sizes too big.

Miles 1-3
Ran with Massud. Since this was his first-ever race and he'd been training for this half for over a year, I went out a little faster than I'd planned, in an attempt to keep him from going out even faster, so that he'd have a good first race. Though it was a beautiful morning, it was warm out already was a little worried that this faster-than-planned start might not bode well for me. But by that point, I'd already decided I'd just roll with it and see what happened...so much for my race plan/strategy.

Mile 4-7
Was already sweating like a mutha at this point, so made sure to have my water at the aid stations. And, as a result of vigilant hydrating, had to make a porta-pottie stop about mile 5. Damn...but I was NOT going to try and hold it (been there, done that, and not by choice). Had a Gu at mile 6 as I jog/walked up the big hill by Bronco Stadim.

Mile 7-10
A lovely loop around Sloan's Lake, which was nice and flat and beautiful. Picked up my pace a little more after the nasty hill up, and was feeling better.

Mile 10-12
Enjoyed the return trip back down the hill by the stadium. Had another Gu about mile 11.5 and more water as it the sun was hot.

Mile 13-13.1
Another little downhill and then short uphill going up 20th Street to the finish. I won't lie, the hills wore me out but overally I enjoyed this race and I'll do it again. As for my assessment of the race? It was well-run, there were plenty of aid stations, parking was fairly easy and the corral was more organized that the one at Colfax (this was also a smaller race, though). There were plenty of snacks afterward and I didn't have to wait in any lines to get water, bananas, goldfish crackers or bagels. This race is run run by the same crew as the Denver Marathon, and shares part of the same beautiful course with it, so it seems like they have their stuff together and I am looking forward to that race in October. Though cotton, the shirts at least look good, as do the finisher medals: I highly recommend this one!

FINAL RACE RESULTS
Time: 2:11:34
Pace: 10:02
Place: 881/1497 overall
438/912 women
105/203 division

So, I didn't get the sub-2 hour finish that I was shooting for...heck, I didn't even beat my time from the Colfax Half last month, but I think I am actually ok with that. My running is strong, I feel good, and most important, I had fun. I enjoy pushing myself and running hard, but the whole point of why I run is because I simply love it and enjoy it and it's fun for me. So as much as I want to achieve some better race times, I'll know I'll never push so hard that it becomes "not fun" for me. This race was fun.

That said, I will be doing some more targeted speed training (like 1600 interval repeats) this summer and I'll be signing up for another half in the near future to see about that sub-2 hour race. It's in there, and I'll pull it out eventually. Also, I think the Recovery Socks post-race definitely helped. I am a fan.

Product Review: Itty Bitty Bra

At long last: my review of the Itty Bitty Bra. It's a Yay.
Overall Score: A

***First and foremost, I must tell you upfront (pardon the pun) that if you truly aren't itty bitty upstairs, these bras are in no way going to work for you.****

If you are a full B in most bras, you are out. In fact, an A in other bras may be able to get away with a B from Itty Bitty. (I shudder to think what the AA bra cup looks like; My First Training Bra, anyone?) [Un?]Luckily, that is me: truly itty bitty. This may be TMI, but in the interest of accurately explaining the product, I will admit that in most bra brands I am an A or B cup, depending on the style and fit, so I was looking forward to checking the Itty Bitty out.

FIT
Score: A-
It fit well. (Why yes, I did take that picture myself in the bathroom mirror reflection, thank you for noticing.) The cups are definitely smaller and cut for smaller-chested users. There was no sagging or bagging in the cups, and the cut of the cups was comfortable. I would be ok with them adding another style with slightly more cup coverage though--without increasing or changing the cup shape--but this style fit me pretty well. Both the shoulder and ribcage straps are thin, and did not cause any weird bumps or ripples. Single clasp on the back, with 4 different hook adjustments--a bonus over the usual 3 found on most bras. This allowed for perfect adjusting to my body. Also, there was plenty of room to adjust the shoulder straps length, which I liked. (I hate when you have to cinch it all the way up or down and it still doesn't fit correctly and the straps are too short or falling off your shoulders.) I wore the bra all day on two separate days, and was comfortable both days.

MATERIALS/CONSTRUCTION
Score: A
It seems well-made and the stitching looks solid. The real test will be after a few washings, though, so I'll update if I notice any extraordinary wear-and-tear. The double-mesh fabric was comfortable and breathable. (Marcy likes to let her, ahem, "girl downstairs" breathe, apparently I like to let mine upstairs do the same? Well yes, I believe I do...) The elastic bits were not scratchy, but kind of a soft micro-fibery feel, which was nice. Even the little decorative bits (rhinestone and some loopy/lacy trim) did not rub, chafe or scratch. The cups were slightly padded--enough to hide the cold-weather radars if you know what I mean, but not so padded that they felt like extra-terrestrials had set up camp on my chest. BIG bonus points there.

SERVICE
Score: A+
The folks over at IttyBittyBra.com were friendly and fast, getting me two bras in just a couple days' time. Course the test of service is always if there are problems with the order or product, but hey when they are fast, friendly, and right the first time, I give that a good score.

I would compare this bra to a couple of Calvin Klein ones I've had in the past, in terms of fabric and style and construction, except that it fits my itty bitties better. If you are by most American standards flat-chested and tired of buying bras that look like they were made for a 12-year old, or fed up with bras with tons of ridiculous padding and inserts (don't even get me started on the rubber filets), you will probably like this bra. I definitely recommend it, but you really do need to be pretty flat-chested to wear it.

The Facts of [Running] Life

"You take the good,
you take the bad,
you take them both
and there you have
the facts of [running] life,
the facts of [running] life..."
Holy bejezus, that Mindy Cohn could act.

BOO
A humbling pursuit sometimes, the running. Saturday was my 10k race. It was cold, it was wet, it was windy. But dammit I paid for that race, I practiced that hill, and I was not going to surrender. The first half of the race was decent, I started out strong and a fair pace on the big hill. I slowed in spots on the ensuing trail hills......picked it back up.......and then crashed on the last big uphill. I was just tired, cold, and by this point we were running up a large hill in what felt like a 40 mph headwind and spitting rain. I jogged some sections, but I mostly walked. And this, this is what caused me to come in about 10 minutes slower than what I had anticipated I would do. Or perhaps just what I had hoped I would do. Anyway, when I was running, I did fairly well for me, staying between an 8:00 and a 9:00 minute mile, depending on the terrain/wind. Unfortunately, the walking killed my time. Hey, at least it will be easy to beat that time next year....

YAY
And then, in answer to my resounding defeat on Saturday, I did my long run yesterday at one of my favorite spots, the Highline Canal Trail, and completed my longest run to-date: 12 miles. It was still cold and damp, and rainy for part of it, but somehow, it felt great out and seeing all the other crazy people out there running, too, justifed me doing it. I think that is one of the things I love most about Colorado--no matter what the weather, you'll see some loon out running in it. And probably in shorts. Anyway, I managed to keep a very consistent pace of 9:30-9:45 and then picked it up the last two miles to 8:45-9:00. No walking, finished strong, felt great, and am not too sore today.

So, I'll take that bad race on Saturday because it meant I got a superb 12 miles on Sunday. And that's just the facts of [running] life. Now, finishing my taxes today is another story...