Saturday, February 12, 2011

Updates... Ramblings.... Other Things

Long Run Recap (10 Miler Today)
Today I completed run #1 of 13 in my training cycle. Technically I started training before this but since I've been doing long runs for a while long I'm not sure where to start it and in all honesty, I PAID for the marathon this week so I feel like I'm truly "training" now. LOL. But, the important thing is that today's run went well.... considering.

Considering the fact that I set my alarm for 4:30am but when it went off I fell back asleep. Woke back up at 5:10 (supposed to leave the house at 5:15) totally panicked and threw myself together and ran out the door with only a handful of pretzels and a diet coke. Didn't foam roll beforehand and didn't really stretch all that much (big no-no on long runs!) and was cold as HECK this morning. I didn't have time to check the weather so I threw on my "49-ish" degree outfit when I really needed my "42-ish" degree outfit but thankfully someone from the running group lent me their extra layer.

So... all in all I'm glad it's over. Everything feels fine except my hamstrings are tight and my right IT band is a little angry with me. I'm not surprised since I barely stretched beforehand. I just foam rolled and it seems to have helped a bit. Hopefully a few more rounds of that today will calm anything else down.


Race Update
I talked to the race director this week about some questions I had about the race that weren't on the website yet. He told me that they are expecting only 700 or so full marathoners. That makes me SO happy. I do my best when it's just me myself and I and a few other people. Rock n' Roll Chicago was one giant mass of people and honestly that didn't make me too happy. I'm getting more excited about this race every time I find something new out :). I researched flights, I should be able to round-trip it for around $165 (total!) and it looks like I can get a cheap hotel around there for around $70/night. Hopefully my dad and I will split a room so that'll come out to $35/night. I also have to help pay for the rental car we'll be getting, so that's another $15-ish"/day. Not too shabby.

I also decided to cancel all my other half marathons and whatnot until the race. Focusing on one goal at a time. I'd still like to see a sub-2-hour half but perhaps that's in the cards for later this year? Maybe??


Foot Doctor
Due to my coach's suggestion I finally went in for an orthotics evaluation. He said that I didn't need anything too drastic but basically the inserts I HAD in my shoes (the special "superfeet" ones that I keep buying) are good for me, but they wear out really quicky and don't provide consistent support. So I'm getting orthotics but not crazy ones, just basically the inserts I had but in better quality material that won't wear out. That way they should support me evenly throughout my training. The price tag on those gave me heartburn but I decided that I'm going to do it. I decided not to sign up for Marine Corps because it seems all-in-all the orthotics are going to be about the price of a marathon + travel. So, I'll break even for the year. If I really want to do a fall marathon I can find one here in Florida to jump into. I feel like the orthotics are more important. So, those should get here in about 2 weeks hopefully! Until then, I'll just keep doin what I'm doin :)

Other Things
I read this article in Runner's World last night and it almost had me in tears. It describes perfectly what I've been feeling for so long and yet find hard to explain to people. I scanned it in and hopefully won't get hit with a copyright suit, but I'm hoping that it's okay since I'm saying RIGHT HERE that it's from RUNNER'S WORLD, NOT me.... =]

Runner's World Article Link

6 comments:

  1. Why are they recommending orthotics? What's your diagnosis? I am skeptical of them just because they are so expensive and docs seem to recommend them too quicky.

    One doc told me I needed them, the second doc said no way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Answered that question over at your blog but for anyone else who wants to know, I overpronate pretty bad. I'm not getting any "drastic" orthotics, just some simple inserts that are like the ones you buy at the store but just out of better material. Doc said they should last 3+ years rather than the 4ish months I've been getting out of my regular inserts :D.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay for the low numbers for the marathon!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, 700 for a marathon kind of freaks me out. I didn't like how big CHI was, but 700? That would make me scared that I'd be last...or out on the course all alone. Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My next marathon will cap at 1,000 so I'm kind of wondering what it will be like. It's a loop course, around a lake, so it should be interesting. It's before yours so maybe you'll pick up a few tips from my experience :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just got those superfeet inserts too. The guy at the store said they last about 1000 miles. I guess that's not right, huh?

    ReplyDelete