January 10, 2016

Hope & Despair

January 10, 2016/ Jennifer

When an athlete is injured, their mind often ping-pongs daily from hope to despair. I spent most of October through December in that state as I dealt with not one, but two bizarre (non-running related!) injuries that left me unable to run. I'd wake up hopeful: maybe today I'd feel better! But the despair would flood in: It's going to be forever until I can run again - and I'll be starting from scratch. The truth is, I often had a hard time choosing to be hopeful - even though I know that psychologists have proven that hopeful people live longer, happier and healthier lives. I tried each day to choose hope. To choose to be hopeful, to be grateful for everything in my life that was going right, even if the running wasn't going the way I'd wanted. I know that statistics say that around 79% of runners will be injured in a given year, so most of us are in good company when we do suffer an injury. Of course, that doesn't mean we like it. Running is a source of great joy - and for me the need to run feels akin to the need for a daily shower. It has simply become a part of my daily routine. So how do we keep our spirits up when we are forced to be apart from the sport we love? Do Something Different:

I decided I'd take the opportunity to try some things I'd never done - like a BodyCombat class - and surprised myself at how much fun I had getting my cross-training groove on. Yes, it definitely wasn't the same as running and I missed my running friends and routine, but thankfully I got to get to know several amazing women at my gym and their friendship gave me lots to look forward to when I was putting in miles on the elliptical instead of on the roads. If you are injured, use the time to do something you've maybe always wanted to do but hadn't had the time or energy to pursue. It doesn't have to be a physical activity, but trying something that you are interested in can help remind you that there are so many things in this world to be passionate about.

Count Your Blessings:

Study after study has shown the positive effects of practicing gratitude: happiness, reduction of stress/anxiety, better sleep, and improved health are only a few of the many well documented benefits. I tried hard during the weeks rehabbing my injuries to write down a few things each day that I was grateful for. Most of them were not athletically related and that's okay - it helped me open my eyes to the fact that while running is a big part of my life, it's not the only part. Taking a few minutes to write down three things you are grateful for each day can go a long way to improving your mood during a time of forced rest.

Keep Your ATHLETE Mentality

When I'm injured I tend to go one of two ways: I either let everything slide (nutrition, sleep, core work, stretching) or I use the forced time off to focus on improving each of those things. I'll let you guess which one helps more in the long run. :) I started off with the first option (way too many cookies!) but halfway through my time off I decided that I wanted to feel better - less down in the dumps about not being able to run. And in order to do so, I needed to get back into an "Athlete" mentality. That means realizing that even though you are injured, you are still an athlete. And you can choose to use this time to get stronger and to work on establishing good habits that will improve your running when you DO make your comeback. And speaking of that....

Believe You WILL Come Back

For most of us, though we may feel like we'll never run again, an injury just means we have to take a certain amount of time away from doing what we love. We are fortunate that for 99% of us, these injuries do not spell a total end to our running career. It simply puts it on pause for a bit while our body heals. While we rest, we are still allowed to dream of big PRs, of hard tempo workouts, of long runs on crisp fall mornings. Even if you have such a layoff that you are essentially starting from scratch, know that your mind and body will remember how to do this - the road back will not be as steep nor as long as you fear. You must believe that you WILL come back, and that it will be worth the work to do so. And your success will be all the sweeter for the struggle.

As for me, I was very, very cautious when I finally got back on the roads. I ran 2 days the first week, then slowly added in a day at a time. I am being rewarded for my patience - I am back to running 6 days a week and even had a small workout this week! I am just SO, SO HAPPY to be back out there.

Run happy, friends, and be grateful.

October 07, 2015

Rest and Reset

October 07, 2015/ Jennifer

Erie medal and race bib hung up with pride

Let's catch up, shall we? It's been three and a half weeks since the Erie marathon and I'm in a much different place (mentally). I've hung up my medal and bib as I always do, and I've hung the beautiful framed print that they gave me for 3rd place. I've had a chance to reflect on the race and take away a few lessons learned:

What went well:

The injury-free buildup. I think that sticking with the strength training and a similar running schedule that had worked for me in the past helped me get to the starting line injury-free. I'm so grateful for that.
Tempo runs this cycle. I'm shocked that these went as well as they did. I credit my friend Kevin to pulling me along on these and making me push a bit harder than I might have if I'd done them all on my own. Having him out in front of me at 5am in the morning helped wake me a up a bit and by "chasing" him I saw faster paces on my watch than I ever have for tempo runs.
Competing for placement. It's only been within this past year that I've been in races where I've suddenly been in contention for the top spots. This is a big mental shift for me and I'm still very new to the whole idea of racing against others - I've always just raced myself or the clock. I'm proud of myself that I didn't give up at Erie when I knew I wouldn't get my sub-3 - instead I refocused and worked on placing 3rd.

Lessons learned:

Carb loading. I think I overdid it a bit. I felt heavier (and WAS heavier - weight-wise) going into this race. I think a little less focus on carb loading (perhaps 1-2 days vs. 3) would have been a better idea.
Water & Fuel during the race. I am terrible at water stops. I have a hard time getting liquid from that cup into my mouth while running 6:50 pace. I need to practice that more often. I also need to adjust the gel intake, or be more diligent about it. Once I started feeling bad during the race and saw my pace slipping, I got lazy on taking my fuel. Which only led to more of a slowdown. Not the brightest idea.
My mental attitude during the last two weeks and on race day. After the half marathon didn't go as well as I'd have liked it to, I kind of got down on myself and started to doubt my ability to run the sub-3. And on race day when I saw my friend pick up the pace during the race, I thought immediately that it was too fast for me - that I couldn't hold that pace - and slowed down. I needed to kick myself in the pants and convince myself that YES, I COULD hold that pace, and put my head down to keep fighting for it.
Peaking for this race. I think I may have peaked about 4 weeks before the race. I'd been training since April and my awesome run in Gettysburg may have been my body telling me it was ready to go. I did seriously contemplate just tapering for two weeks right then and then trying to find a marathon to go run, but do to logistics and costs that wasn't feasible. But I felt READY. I hung on for the remaining 4 weeks until Erie, but I think I'll try a shorter marathon-specific buildup for my next one.

So that's the Erie Marathon post-mortem. Onward and upward, right?

Indulging in local spirits - had this in a cocktail out at dinner. Amazing! I love spice so this was the perfect way to make a cocktail with a kick!

After taking 11 days totally OFF (expect for teaching BodyPump), I was ready to get out there and enjoy a good two weeks of nice and easy running. My usual post-marathon routine is two weeks off, followed by two weeks easy. I didn't make it quite two weeks totally off, but the weather was so beautiful that I was eager to get out there and enjoy Richmond's limited run of Fall weather before it switches over to FREEZING. I ran with friends, ran some with my Dad, and enjoyed eating all of the delicious bad-for-you foods that one indulges in post-marathon. (Beer! Doughnuts! Ice cream! Yes I DO, in fact, want that second slice of cake!) Last week I decided to get back into a bit more easy running and aimed for 30-35 miles in the week. Things were going great until....

Ouch. I stepped out of bed one morning and....my heel hurt. "Huh. That's weird.", I thought to myself. I shrugged it off since it didn't hurt while running but the next morning...there it was again. That weird heel pain. At this point, the dreaded thought occurred to me: Plantar Fasciitis. My mom has had it. My running partner Kevin struggled with it for months. A visit to the podiatrist confirmed it: a mild case of Plantar Fasciitis in my right heel. ARGH.

So, this week has been filled with cross-training and lots of stretches, icing, and an appointment for Graston work on my foot. I'm hoping that I can nip it in the bud if I take the time now to rehab it. My hip is a bit tight (same side - right side - of my body as the heel) so I'm headed to the sports doc tomorrow to make sure that's just a tight muscle and nothing else. Thankfully I don't have a race looming on the horizon and I can focus on getting my body healthy and ready for the next round of training. So that's what I'm working on now. Getting healthy so that I can get back to doing what I love.

Thankfully, I'm able to live vicariously through several friends who are running fall races! (Hi Jessica, Shawn, Tia, Lesley and Kris!) I will be watching Chicago play out this weekend and cheering in spirit for my friends chasing PRs in the coming weeks.

I'd love to live vicariously through you guys too - who is racing in the next few weeks? :)

September 02, 2015

Taper Time: Two Weeks You Love To Hate

September 02, 2015/ Jennifer

It's taper time over here - just 10 days to go until it's time to unleash the 1400+ miles of training on the Erie Marathon course. I'm working this week to hold on to my sanity and convince myself that my fitness has not suddenly evaporated overnight and that yes, the hard work has been done, the hay is in the barn, etc. etc., and that there is nothing else I can do besides relax and try not to freak out. (key word: TRY)

These two weeks always remind me just rough the taper can be on a marathoner's psyche. It's the feeling of being somewhat helpless while you wait and wait to finally get your chance to line up and just RUN the darn thing. Sure, there are things you need to do this week to stay on track, to maximize your nutrition, to make sure you are physically and mentally ready for race day. But on the whole, the theme of these last two weeks is: DON'T SCREW IT UP BY DOING TOO MUCH.

So I'm doing my best to relax and silence the voices in my head that say "Hey, all this extra non-running time would be a GREAT time to clean the attic...or go on a house-project spree and finally install those shelves/paint/organize....or head to Lowe's and exhaust yourself by lifting 35 bags of mulch and carting them around the entire yard!! YES!!!!"

As you have probably guessed, I don't do "rest" very well. This week has also marked the emergence of my tendencies to over-research and second guess myself. Stick with my normal 3-day carb load w/no depletion phase? Try a 10-day "fat load" and THEN carb load? Cut out caffeine? Keep caffeine in and just load up on race day? You can see where this is going.

So in an effort to silence my own thoughts and commit to a plan, I present to you:

The FoxRunsFast Non-Crazy Taper Plan

Nutrition: I'll continue to eat pretty normally this week, while focusing on (slightly) decreasing calories as I run less and rest more. I'll also skew my diet towards the protein side this week to help with muscle recovery and repair. On Saturday, I'll have my last caffeinated tea or coffee and start my week-long caffeine fast. (Apologies in advance to everyone who comes in contact with me during that last week of taper.) With three days to go I'll start the carb load phase, aiming to get 65%+ of my calories from carbs in the final days.
Mental prep: I've got a mental visualization CD that a sports psychologist made for me a few years ago. I've used that in each of my past marathon buildups in the final two weeks and I'll listen to that again this time. I'll also re-read some key passages from Sage Rountree's "Racing Wisely" and work on some mantras to use on race day. I'll spend some time thinking about possible race-day obstacles (and how to overcome them) and then work on getting my pace chart and race plan ready.
Strength training: I talked about the optimal time to discontinue strength training before a marathon and I'll try to take my own advice. Unfortunately I can't stop as early as I'd like due to teaching commitments (I'm teaching Thursday, Friday and Sunday this week), but I'll be using very light weights starting Friday, and Sunday will be my last day of any extra gym work before the race.
Running: Finally, I'll be cutting back mileage and resting more. I will run my last "speed" workout tomorrow (3x1 mile) and will have one more workout next week (2 miles at marathon pace). All that's left is easy, shorter runs and a rest day.