Last Race of 2012 and First Race Planned for 2013

This past Sunday I ran in my last race of 2012. It was listed as a 4-mile race (turned out to be 3.7, which means my pace kind of sucked) in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I had never been to Prospect Park, and certainly had never run in it, so this was a new experience for me.

The race was a Jingle Bell Jog, which helps raise money for Toys for Tots. They even had a booth at the start/finish where you could donate toys for the charity. Because this was a kid-friendly race, there were a lot of kids and entire families participating. It had a really festive feel to it.

It was nice to run somewhere other than Central Park, but I don’t plan on participating in another race there. The road in Prospect Park is slanted, I guess to prevent puddles in the middle of the road, but for a runner like me who normally runs on the side of the road during races, this could be a problem. Because I am not fast, I usually stick to one side to allow those faster than me to pass. However, a slanted road can really cause an injury, so I was forced to move to the middle of the road. Also, I traveled a much farther distance than I usually do to participate in the race. It was nice to run though and complete my last race of the year.

It was especially nice to finish this race because it was the last race I needed to qualify for the 2013 New York City Marathon! (Why else would I have traveled over 2 hours for a race that I would finish in half that time?) Yes, I ran a total of 8 (it would have been 9 if the Dash to the Finish 5K, which I was supposed to run the day before the marathon, wasn’t cancelled) New York Road Runners events and volunteered for another. I also ran two other non-NYRR races this past spring, bringing my total to 10 road races this year. I am glad and proud that I completed this goal and that I was able to. I never would have imagined completing a single race when I started Weight Watchers; forget about 10 of them!

And I have already started planning for 2013. As I wrote in my last blog post, I plan on running/walking a half marathon. Well, I have taken some steps to start on that journey. I now have a gym membership. The last gym membership I had was in 2010 and I went maybe a dozen times. I realized it was because it just wasn’t convenient for me. I also don’t love the gym, but I need to cross train on certain days so I can continue to get exercise in and get stronger without wearing out my legs and causing injury. I can weight train or use the stationary bikes or even take a class. Winter is also approaching, and although I prefer to run/walk outside, it is better to run on a dreadmill (yes, you read that correctly!) on my shorter, weekday runs than not run at all. I also got a membership where I can go to any location and there is one near my office and one not far from home.

I also took a blank calendar and indicated what I should be doing each day (since each day I do something different). When I was planning my training, I consulted with WW leader extraordinaire Melanie (you might remember that I mentioned that she’s run 10 marathons and about a zillion other races) on how I should approach the training and when I should start. The training schedule I found was for 12 weeks, but because it’s my first half marathon and because I’ll be training in winter, she suggested I start sooner, giving me a longer training schedule.

I also started my training schedule this week. EEEEEEEKKKKK!!! (I’m Sorry, but I just had to be a bit of a girl for a second.) The first few weeks I will be training for about 45-50 minutes and my long runs/walks to be four to five miles. I’m not nervous or anything about the next few weeks, but I am for what’s to come in the next few months. I’m also just so excited because of all of the new things I am about to experience. It also means that by starting my training, I am committing to this 100% and that can be scary (in such a good way).

Over the next three and one-half months, I will be stepping way out of my comfort level so many times. I will be testing my body for all it can do. I will need to track my food and water intake so carefully as it is so easy to overeat when you are training (thank you for already giving me this WW!). And I will be trying different sports drinks, gels and fueling devices to see which work best for me.

Yes, I am excited and nervous, but I am also so eager to experience all of these things. Yes, I could have continued only doing 5Ks and 4-milers (and I plan on doing a bunch of those as well) for 2013, but I won’t really ever see what I’m capable of if I never push myself to do more.

The Tale of Two Races

I had two completely different race experiences recently. The first one was another 4-miler in Central Park the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I hadn’t run in about a month, so my expectations weren’t high that I would have an amazing race. And the weather had changed since the last time I ran, so I was also not acclimated to the cold yet. Yeah, I basically just wanted to run when I could, walk the rest and basically just cross the finish line.

First, I didn’t dress properly for before, during or after the race. I didn’t want to check any stuff at the race, so I didn’t have my winter jacket or a change of clothes with me. I also overdressed for the race itself, wearing a heaving Under Armour cold gear turtleneck underneath a fleece jacket and a long sleeve tech tee. I was freezing before and after the race and way too hot during the race. My lungs, due to the air that I was not used to running in, burned for the first mile or so of the race, causing me to stop running and walk often. It was not a fun race and the best I can say about it was that I crossed the finish line.

The second race was a 5-miler this past Sunday and the longest race I ever participated in. I decided I would walk at least half of the race, especially the first half, so I would have enough energy to finish the race. I decided to walk most of the first half of the race and then run most of the last two miles and hoped I could finish strong. This is a change from how I usually race, where I start off really strong and tire out during the second half.

This turned out to be one of the best races I’ve ever had (to think, I didn’t even want to do this race at all). I think there are several reasons for this. One, I think is because of what I ate. I seem to have a very sensitive stomach when I run, so I usually have stomach issues during and after my races. To combat this, I have been experimenting for a while with eating different types of foods before a race and experimenting with when I should start eating these different foods. Almost two days before this race, I started eating more carbohydrates, bland protein (chicken mostly), and less fiber and staying away from most dairy and very little fat. No, I wasn’t running a marathon, but I was trying to stay away from foods that take a long time to digest and might cause distress. Basically I ignored the good health guidelines for those two days and it seemed to work. No issues before or after the race. Success!!

Two, I didn’t get any cramps in my side during the race. I seem to get this usually about half way through most of races I’ve done. It is really painful and actually takes my breath away, so I find I have to slow down and walk until the pain subsides. I don’t know why I get this (it is always on the right side). I’ve done research on this and the experts don’t have any answers, so I don’t know how to avoid them. Maybe because I did more walking in the beginning of the race and was really able to warm up a lot, but I just didn’t get them this time. I hope this was the answer, but I will continue to experiment and hopefully will get an answer.

Three, I dressed appropriately for the weather this time, for during the race and even when I wasn’t. This time I wore my winter jacket to the race and took it off just before the race time (my honey Pete was there to hold my crap for me – thank you and <3 you Pete!!). For the race itself, I wore running tights, a long sleeve tech tee, a fleece vest (it’s not designed for running, but I’ve had it for years tried it out last year and found that it was perfect for running in the 40s), a running headband to cover my ears (I wore a hat last time and my head was really hot), and running gloves (was able to take them off easily when my hands got too hot). I also brought a change of clothes with me so I wouldn’t be walking around all day in wet sweaty clothes (once I stop running, I have about 5 minutes in cold weather before I cool down and get really cold).

Fourth, I just felt really good when I crossed the finish line. For the first time ever after a race, I felt as though I could have gone longer. I know it was partially because I walked so much of the race and was slower in the beginning of the race instead of at the end. I think it was also the other reasons I mentioned. I actually was smiling when they took my picture! And I smiled when I crossed the finish line! Of course, this was also because of the other reasons, but I just started to enjoy it again.

Running the 5-miler also made me realize how hard I was being on myself. I was taking this all-or-nothing approach to running. I felt as though I HAD to run the races in their entirety. When I would stop to walk during a race (as I have for ever race I’ve ever done), I was disappointed because I wasn’t achieving my goal I would set for myself. Then I would get frustrated and stop running for a while (like I did last month). This is what is known as the all-or-nothing approach and a lot of people trying to lose weight and get healthy take this approach. I don’t approach any other aspect of my health journey this way, so why was I being so hard on myself when it came to running these races?

Please don’t think I am saying a person shouldn’t push herself to do better. I’m saying that goals should be something harder to attain than something you already have achieved, but not so hard that there is no way to attain it. I think I was also just looking at these races and seeing what I hadn’t done and not being proud of all I had.

My goal for the 5-miler was different than any other race because I needed it to be if I wanted to be successful. And I was. I think the last time I felt that good about crossing the finish line was my first race in April 2010. It was great to feel that way again.

Next week I’m starting to train for running/walking a half marathon that I will do in March. It IS an ambitious goal, but I have run/walked over eight miles in one day, so I know I can run/walk 13.1 on race day. And yes, the goal is run/walk the race, not run it. Besides, a mile is still a mile, whether I run, walk, or crawl it. I’ll just have to do it 13.1 times.