Loooong Runs

So the last two weekends my long runs have surpassed the furthest distance I've ever run--which is 13.1 miles. I've trained for and completed 5 Half-Marathons so you'd think that one or two extra miles wouldn't be that big of a deal. BUT IT IS.
You see there is a big difference between training for 13.1 miles and just running that distance as part of a training program. The furthest I've run while training for a half is 10 miles. So I wasn't really looking forward to getting up SUPER early last Saturday to essentially run a half-marathon...by myself.
When I'm getting ready for a race its much easier to prepare--I've tapered my mileage for the week before and gotten lots of rest. But since this is just another week of training I wasn't tapering...during the week I ran 15 miles...and I wasn't feeling all that rested! I was sore and I was really crabby that I had to get up at 5:30 to get the long run out of the way. From now on these long runs are going to take well over 2 1/2 hours...yikes! So I'll have to go to bed early on a Friday or Saturday night, stay away from alcohol, eat only healthy food, and not make plans to go out or put myself in any situation where I might injure myself....which for me means walking down stairs in high heels...Sigh.
But I DID IT!!! I got up early on Saturday...well not as early as I wanted...the alarm was set for 5:30 but...well...come on its SATURDAY! But I wanted to be done with the 14 miles by 9:30 because we were leaving to go camping with friends at 11:00.
The run didn't start too well. I was feeling really tired, lethargic and bored. I brought my ipod but decided to leave it in the car for some reason. After about 10 minutes I regretted that decision but there was no way I was going back for it. But after the 4th mile, I started to feel better! I've officially decided that it takes me 4 miles to warm up. After that I get into my groove and feel pretty good. I wouldn't exactly call it a "runners high" or anything, but I feel like I really settle into my stride, my breathing...its almost peaceful. ALMOST. Don't get me wrong--if someone came up to me at mile 7 and said "I will pay you $25 to stop running now." I would seriously consider it.
After I had gone 11 miles I stopped to get a drink. Which wasn't the best move. You'd think that after 11 miles another three wouldn't seem too bad. But while it might hurt to run, it hurts even worse to start up again. I was really getting sore and tired and, YES--bored so I decided to put on my ipod. DUH. I guess all I needed was a little Rhianna and Black Eyed Peas to get me going because those next three miles flew by! And before I knew it--I had run "the furthest I've ever run!" Woo hoo! I'll be saying this a lot from now on....its exciting! Especially when its over!
Today I ran with Anthony which made things MUCH easier. We definitely ran faster than if I had been by myself but he had his SUPER COOL Garmin GPS/robot/personal trainer thing with him (which I REALLY want and NEED by the way.) so it was fun to be able to accurately track how far we'd gone, our pace and the best part...how many calories we burned!
Anthony is one week ahead of me in his training schedule so he only had to run 11 today. But at least I had someone to run with for the majority of the time which was great. According to his Garmin we did 11.6 miles together. So after he left I did the rest of my run--about 3.5 miles....ok...truth be told it was probably just under 15 miles but I really didn't care at that point. The point is its done.
And next week I only have to run 11 miles! Ha! That is so funny to me...ONLY 11 miles.

I told you so....

Well as per usual I have done a really terrible job of keeping this blog up to date. But things have been busy these past few weeks! The first two weekends in July Jeremy and I were in Iowa--first for his cousin's wedding then for his 10 year High School reunion (oh he's such a youngin'!) Then I went to Colorado for a week and just got back yesterday.
But this blog isn't about the fabulous jet-set life of Jeremy and Erin Stoll--its about running so I guess I should start talking about my marathon training progress....or...er...lack of progress I should say. You see I hit a little bump...well...a big bump actually. Here's the story:

If you have ever been to our little bungalow of a house, you know that it was built in 1950 and that houses built in 1950 have attic space or as its sometimes called "dormer" rooms upstairs. Well this is where our bedroom is. Anyone that has been to our home has commented on how steep and narrow the stairs leading up to our bedroom are.(see picture) "wow you should really be careful!" or "Wow when you are pregnant there is no way you should be going up and down those stairs" ok, fine. Yes we know--they are steep, the steps themselves are pretty shallow and they aren't carpeted so yes...we need to use caution going up and down the stairs. But we've lived in this house for over 2 years now. I've been up and down those stairs a million times--in the dark, with laundry, carrying the dog, barefoot, with socks, hell I even managed to carry an extremely large and heavy suitcase down the stairs in the dark at 4:30 in the morning when I surprised Jeremy last year on his birthday with a trip to Washington DC. All of these treks up and down stairs were incident and injury free. In fact, up until this point the only Stoll family member who hasn't fared so well is Gus. Sometimes he overestimates how many steps he can jump down before he lands face first in the hallway.
But three weeks ago this all changed.Jeremy and I were getting ready to go to our friend Brandon's going away party at The Max--a super-duper gay dance club. So of COURSE I HAD to wear my most fabulous, high heeled, knockout shoes to this event. Here comes the "I told you so" part of the story. So lately Jeremy has been asking, telling, begging and insisting that I NOT wear my shoes (which 99% of the time are of the high heel variety) down the stairs. He claims that this is a safety precaution, of course, but he's also quite concerned with the state of our wood floors. Upon close inspection of our treacherous staircase you will see....um...hundreds? No---dozens of pockmarks on the stairs....yes these are from my high heels. Ok I admit--no one to blame but myself here. I understand his concern for our stairs, but really I've become quite good at making it down our stairs in heels just fine, so for weeks--I've been ignoring my husband's request.
HOWEVER....the night of the party at The Max we were running late (of course) so I was hurrying about upstairs trying to build an outfit around my silver snakeskin, four inch, Michael Kors shoes that I love, love LOVE. (Look, when you love a pair of shoes that much--yes, you build the outfit around them. Just look at the picture...hello.) As usual, Jeremy is yelling at me from the sofa "Hon, we are supposed to be there now!" So I get myself together and hurry down the stairs and then....

I slipped.

I slipped and slid...yes SLID down 4 stairs before finally stopping just before the hallway. My left butt cheek hit the edge of one of the stairs as did my left elbow and the outside of my left ankle scraped along the side of one of the stairs as well. OUCH.
I think I screamed a little, but of course Jeremy heard the entire thing and probably felt the whole house shake, lets be honest. But I heard him yelling "Ohmygodbabyohmygod" and he reached the staircase in time to see me land...if you want to call it that. It hurt so bad that the pain didn't really even register till a few minutes later. Sort of like when you stub your toe and it takes a few seconds for the pain signal to really reach your brain. Why does that happen anyway? Well the pain was like that times 10.
We assessed the damage. My butt was sore for sure but only red at that point. Same thing on my elbow and the ankle was fine which was surprising considering I've sprained it like 17 times just walking down the street...in completely sensible shoes I might add.
So what could I do? Get up and go to the Max of course! I was sore, but not overly so and since the ankle was fine, no need to change the shoes! In fact immediately after the fall the staircase looked worse than I did. There is a 3 inch long groove or as Jeremy likes to say "skid mark" that my heel made in two of the stairs from when I slipped and another stair has a hole--yes HOLE, from my right high heel when I finally landed. Sigh.
So the next day I reassessed the damage to my body...mainly my er...bum...and oh dear god was it bad. I didn't take any pictures because, well, there are just things that you don't need to see, my bum bruise being one of them. So I'll just paint you a picture: The bruise, which Jeremy lovingly referred to as "The License Plate" was nearly 7 inches long, 3 inches wide and roughly the shape of Madagascar. And it was black, yes BLACK in the middle (where the cheek first hit the edge of the stair) and then various shades of blue, purple, green and yellow around the edges. And oh did it HURT.
But have no fear--I figured that since it only hurt when I was sitting and not walking that running should be fine too. Oh dear god was I wrong. Two days later (on 4th of July) we were planning to leave for Iowa at 9am. I was scheduled to run 11 miles that day so I got up at 6:30, got ready and headed out for a quick 11 miles.(hee hee--I'm totally joking of course. This distance would take me at LEAST 2 hours, who am I kidding?) From the very first running step I knew that the damage on my butt went way beyond an external, Madagascar shaped bruise. With every step it felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife in my left butt cheek. I thought maybe if I kept running it would feel better...not really. Going up hill, running on a flat street and downhill--it didn't matter. The stabbing pain was intense and there was no way I would be able to keep going for 11 miles. So I had to go home and walk on the effing treadmill. I've never been so mad and so frustrated! Its not that running 11 miles is great fun, but when you are training for a marathon, its important that you do the long runs--this is how you build endurance and they are the most important runs you will do in your training. I sent a quick text to my virtual running partner in Houston, Kim with my dilemma. "You'll be fine!" She said. "We've still got 14 weeks of training to go. Don't keep trying to run because you'll overcompensate with your other leg and end up in worse shape." She had a point.
So needless to say--running took a back seat (no pun intended) for the better part of 2 weeks. I had to skip my 11 and 12 mile long runs. During the week I walked, biked and swam (which was HARD let me tell you! I've never been so tired than after 45 minutes of swimming! No wonder Dara Torres looks so amazing!) But slowly, I've been able to run a little more.
This past week I was in Colorado, so slightly out of shape and in extremely high altitude I decided to try and run anyway! WTF? The most I ran all week was (I'm hoping) 3 miles. But I was S-L-O-W and felt like I was working really hard due to the thin air. But I noticed that as I ran, my bum would actually start to feel better and toward the end of the runs the pain had almost completely gone away.
I'm reading "Marathoning for Mortals" and it says that if you miss a workout, to just keep going and don't try to make it up. So I was scheduled to run 9 today, but tried to eek out 10 miles just for the hell of it. It was not easy. I'm guessing that I did closer to 9 just by the time, but I'm thankful to be able to run again--although I'm slow as hell.
So did I learn my lesson? Hell yes I did. And I'll let Jeremy keep this "I told you so". But will I stop wearing heels? NEVER.

Running Tunes

I thought I would share my latest running mix. Its definitely...um...eclectic, and yes there is a lot of Kelly Clarkson (shut up, they are great songs to run to!) but these songs have a great tempo and I know if I run through the whole thing, I will have done close to 3.5 miles. Enjoy!

Love Sex Magic--Ciara (feat. Justin Timberlake)
No You Girls--Franz Ferdinand
I Do Not Hook Up--Kelly Clarkson
Since U Been Gone--Kelly Clarkson Dance Vault Mixes
My Life Would Suck--Kelly Clarkson
Never Again--Kelly Clarkson
Supernatural Superserious--R.E.M.
Don't Stop the Music--Rihanna
Breakin' Dishes--Rihanna
Don't Stop Believin'--Journey
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin--Journey

56 miles....Soooo many more to go!

So I've completed three full weeks of marathon training and I am surprised to say that I feel great! The last few weeks have been strange weather wise--super hot, then really nice, then hot again. But I've been doing shorter runs on the treadmill on the days that are too hot to run outside and getting up early enough for my long runs to beat the heat. But other than the strange summer weather, the runs have gone well and without problems. My hip hasn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would (I think the new shoes are really helping) and I've been incorporating speed work into my training too, which I've never done before but I can already tell that it is helping.
Speaking of speed, last week I did my long run (9 miles) with my friend Anthony--who completed the Lincoln 1/2 Marathon in 1:40 (I think...) Well at least a good 40 minutes faster than me! So I was nervous to run with him for a long run since his usual pace is quite a bit faster than mine--even if he slows down! But I think it was really good to run with Anthony--he helped me keep my pace up and we did 9 miles in 1:27! That is probably the fastest I have ever run 9 miles! So thank you Anthony for keeping me going!
All in all the first 3 weeks have been great, but I'm honestly worried about the next three weeks. I have a few "vacations" coming up--4th of July we will go to Iowa for Jeremy's cousin Liza's wedding, then the next weekend we go back to Iowa for Jeremy's 10 year reunion, THEN I leave for Colorado for a week. So when am I going to get my long runs in? This weekend I'm supposed to do 11, 12 the next and then 9. I think I can squeeze my 11 miles in this Saturday before we leave for Iowa, but I'll have to get up SUPER early. Ok, so that's part of training. Ok I think I can live with that. But the next weekend I honestly don't know how I'm going to fit 12 miles in--the weekend is packed with reunion activities and a lot of eating and drinking...hmmm...anyone have suggestions? Should I do it early on Friday? Wait till Monday? Try to run as long as I can on Saturday or Sunday and call it good?

Then there is Colorado. The good news--I'll have lots of time to run. The bad news: Altitude. I'm not sure I'm "elite athlete" enough to start high altitude training yet! I remember trying to run last year when I was in Colorado and I wanted to die after about 5 minutes! I might just try to keep up with my runs during the week and take more walk breaks? I think I can do the long run on the Sunday after I get back--and after my high altitude training week 9 miles should be a breeze, right?

I'm proud of the 56 miles I've accomplished so far and that I have felt good. I am getting nervous for the upcoming weeks of vacation and increased mileage, but as long as I'm consistent I should be fine, right? Right? Well we will see!

3,5,3,8

So this week officially kicks off my marathon training program. As I was looking for training programs I consulted a variety of sources: friends, Runners World.com, Women's Running magazine, books, blogs...the list goes on. And I realized that there is a LOT of conflicting and confusing information about the best way to train for a marathon. So I decided to go with a plan from Hal Higdon, which is what my marathon running partner/brother's girlfriend/pen pal in Texas did when she trained for Chicago a few years ago--and she survived and is even doing it again so it must work! Its an 18 week schedule which will take us right up to the day of the marathon. Our longest run will be 20 miles in week 15 and I am already dreading it!

My friend Anthony, who will also be running Chicago says that his plan includes SEVERAL 20 mile runs during the 18 week training. This makes me nervous and makes me want to throw up. I'm not so sure that is a good plan for me, but Anthony is in great shape and can totally handle it. If anyone thinks that I am way off by not doing a run before the marathon that is longer than 20 miles, speak now or forever hold your peace....

I was hoping to post the training schedule here on my blog for you all to see, but I am stupid and can't figure out how to do it...so if you really want to see it then please help me figure out how to post it somewhere.

Anyway, 3, 5, 3, 8 are the distances we are supposed to run this week. I did 3 miles yesterday, I'll do 5 tomorrow, 3 Thursday and 8 Saturday. Normally I will probably do my long runs on Sunday, but this Saturday my friend Julie is getting married and there is a good chance I will be out late that night...drinking, dancing and cake eating. The last thing I will want to do on Sunday is run 8 miles.

So there you go... 3 miles down...hundreds more to go!

New Shoes!

I FINALLY got new running shoes! I'm pretty sure I was well overdue for a new pair. I got these a few weeks ago and they have been great so far. These are Asics Gel Nimbus...which I have had before...and the name always makes me laugh--wasn't this the name of the broom or something in Harry Potter? Anyway, they feel great! You don't realize how badly you need new shoes until you get a new pair. Its like running on pillows or something. I'm not too crazy about how SHOCKING pink they are, but I think they will serve me well these next few months of training and in the marathon too!

Bondi Band

Here is my new favorite running accessory (no, not Gus...he is DEFINITELY not a good running accessory) Its my headband--its called a The Bondi Band! It is a really cute fabric headband that comes in all kinds of fun colors and patterns. Here is a picture of my favorite Bondi Band. I got one for Kim and Kayla too! I think Kim and I should get matching ones for the Chicago Marathon! Sorry the picture isn't very good--I downloaded it from my blackberry. But you get the idea....