in case you were wondering

Cait and I are still alive and well. Actually, we're both slightly more alive than we are well, as we both suffered from something of a cold this past week. (Yes, shortly after Cait published her previous post describing her ailments, I began to experience similar symptoms. We're mostly better now.) This put a slight damper on my training because there are few things less enjoyable than plowing through a 5-mile while unable to breathe. So I kept at it with the shorter runs and trimmed down some of the longer ones, all while pumping my nasal passages with decongestant. I anticipate a full recovery by tomorrow.

Now while I'm listing excuses for why I've potentially fallen behind in my training, let me tell you why I've also fallen behind in my posting. I'm going to go right ahead and blame it on my other blog, "Lollipops & Crisps." (See screenshot.) While my updating in that blog is semi-frequent at best, it's notably more consistent than my work in this one. I apologize, but L&C is for class and "class comes first" is a policy I live by. But hey! Here I am, and posting, so give me some semblance of love.

Now let's take a look at something that popped up in Christine Luff's About.com running blog. Last Friday, she wrote a little piece on the way music affects exercise titled, "Study: Listening to Music Increases Endurance." I think this brings an interesting perspective to counter Cait's from two posts ago. While Luff emphasizes the importance of listening with care while running outdoors (please turn the volume down or remove one earbud), she does highlight a fact discovered at London's Brunel University: music can increase one's endurance by 15 percent. According to the study, music affects the mood of runners, helping them remain positive. While this certainly depends on the music, I tend to agree with what they're saying. A poll to the right of the article asks visitors: "Does music help you run longer?" Out of the 75 responses, including one from yours truly, 70 percent chose the response: "Absolutely," 9 percent said "Sometimes," and the remaining 20 percent do not listen to music while running.

Below the article, Luff presents links to a series of recommended playlists for runners who desire certain soundtracks to their exercise. These lists, also compiled by Luff, include genres like Top 40, hip-hop and power songs. Several of the songs, including Kanye's "Stronger," are staples in my running playlists. And I've tried to use my Genius Sidebar to combine similarly inspiring tracks, all to no avail. So I guess I'm going to open this up: any suggestions for running music? Music for a long, slow jog? How about for a short, quick run? I'm willing to purchase, so don't you even hold back.

iRun

One of my first thoughts after realizing that I would not be able to listen my iPod while running the marathon was, "No way." I vowed that I would try to slowly wean myself off of the iPod, but that was probably going to be more towards the 2009 end of things. Then, tragedy struck. I had to run 10 miles without my iPod, a daunting prospect. But it wasn't that bad. I realized that I actually prefer running without one and haven't run with music since.

It sounds crazy, I know. I would have laughed in your face if you told me that I would voluntarily run without music to distract me, but here I am. I can remember reading running articles in which the author describes running as meditation or reaching a zen-like state of mind. I never bought that. Running is hard. It still is, but that's part of why I like it. But now I get what all of those people, I think.

Using your head to push your body 2, 5, 7 miles further when you already feel fatigued -- that's something a lot of people don't engage in on a regular basis. There's a reason why half of all cross-country shirts ever made say "mind over matter." Listening to music let me tune out what my body was feeling and why. In fact, life can be a lot like that. You can choose to tune out and find things to help you do that, or you can face it head on and really dig in. I feel like I do that when I run. Eventually, my mind and my body find an agreement and I just run. And run and run.

Before that agreement can happen though, I have an argument with myself that goes something like this:

Me: Yeah, this actually is not even a good idea. And my ankle huuuuurts. You can probably just stop and go back home now. Stopping this running thing will probably make it feel a lot better.
Me: Mmmm, yeah, but I'm supposed to run seven miles today.
Me: Pffft. Pleaaaaase. I am wheezing over here.
Me: No, no, how about I run over the Mass Ave bridge and see how that goes? If running continues be this unpleasant, I'll stop. If I don't finish this workout, I'm going to blog about it and I really don't want to say that I gave up on a run for no reason. So I'm going to keep going.
Me: Okay, yeah, that isn't that far. Besides, I kind of want to be able to say I ran seven miles today...

Maps

Maps and I have a very special relationship. So special that, when my computer started playing "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs earlier, it immediately broke me out of the my-brain-is-numb-from-too-much-reading slump. Maps are magical. This spring would not have been the same without them. And I'm pretty sure they've helped out other people at one point or another. Maps rule. Which is why it's only natural that I'd want to add them to my blog.

Plus, I think as the previous post demonstrates, pictures add a whole new dimension to Life Ain't A Track Meet. Please view the map below to see today's run.

It was one of the hilliest five miles I've experienced in a while. Brutal. The worst part by far was Jamaicaway's terrible hills. By that point, I was ready for the run to be over so my mind wasn't really in the game anymore and my lungs were less than thrilled. But I put in the extra effort at the end and finished strong. I was pleased with myself. And it was brilliant to hang out with Padmani afterward.

Indeed I can run it, run it

Julie and I conquered the Big Dog 5K this morning! We met up at 8:30 for some much-needed sustenance and coffee from Espresso Royale. After that, we headed over in the early morning chill to the Esplanade. Julie got her very first number for a race, which is very cool. She was 167, I was 168. Not surprising, considering we signed up for the race together.

As usual, we were there entirely too early, so we spent a lot of time scoping out the scene, stretching and listening to Brian Bergeron playing live before the race.

I've never actually run in a race outside of school ones, so this was definitely interesting. This race wasn't seeded at all either (why would it be?), so the first two or three minutes after the gun went off, I spent most of my time trying to navigate past people. It was frustrating because I was running slower than I wanted to for those first few minutes, but that's okay.

My first mile split was 7:23. The distance between mile 1 and mile 2 seemed much further. The last mile and a tenth was definitely the slowest, but I finished 21st for the ladies in 23:49. I stand by my statement that middle school me would have whooped me in this race. Even though this was only a 5K, it made me remember how different running for training runs and running for races is.

I am sure Julie knows this, but her much better (25:13!) 5K time does not appear in a Google search. Yet. I guess we'll have to keep running these things to knock that other time out of the 50 links or so associated with her name.

Monday, Monday, Monday

So, this is kind of a big deal for me: I ran 10 miles straight without stopping. I thought that this was simply impossible.

Of course we had to pause at traffic lights, but we didn't actually stop -- more like danced to imaginary music around the traffic light until we had the walk signal. Well, we did stop legitimately for a hot minute because Julie tripped over a treacherous root while we were running along the Charles. I was just about to tell her to watch out for something else when I heard a distinct thump, clunk, crash behind me. I thought homegirl might be down for the count but she got up and kept on running like a champ.

Our route took us along the Charles, into Charlestown, past the U.S.S. Constitution, back into Boston through the North End, along the Harborwalk, through the Financial District, Downtown Crossing and down Boylston Street. All in all, a pretty glorious run. I was incredibly sore this morning. My lower back ached, my right knee expressed its displeasure quite loudly and I had knots in the arches of my feet. I feel great right now though.

Another thing to note is that we both ran without iPods or any sort of timekeeping device. We ran perfectly on pace. More on this later.

Husky pride

You already know that I have no internet. Well, now I'm computerless as well because I'm getting my computer's optical drive repaired. As a consequence, I cannot charge my iPod. I'm posting from my alma mater's library, in search of a running route and bracing myself for a 10 mile run that will be music-free. I wonder if I will have the mental toughness to do this without tunes. I know that the big day will be a tune-free zone, but I don't know if I'm quite ready yet.

As Julie had previously mentioned, we both just signed up for Northeastern's Big Dog 5K. It looks like it will be a really fun race, even though I can't quite make out the map of the race route that's on the website.

I love running along the Charles. In fact, on my lunch hour at work, I often run what is known as the Mass Ave loop. Sort of self-explanatory, but it's a just-short-of-4-miles run around the Charles that includes running over the Mass Ave bridge. I usually run it between 12-2, which is of course the hottest time window during the day here.

So, on the agenda for today: making a trip to Marathon Sports and City Sports for some much-needed running apparel, figuring out what our 10 mile route will be tonight and finding a half-marathon to run between the Big Dog 5K and December 2008.

this is the story of my red right ankle

Cait apologizes for her absence. She does not have internet at her apartment - or an apartment, really - and consequently finds it more difficult to post. I, on the other hand, am ethernetting it up real hard in my new digs.

And what you need to know right now is: less than two weeks into my training, I have encountered a serious problem. Those of you who know anything about my feet are aware that my right one has a less-than-flattering bump. I've been rocking it for a while now. Earlier this summer, I went to the foot doctor and had it examined via X-ray and otherwise. It was concluded that I have a rather mild case of osteoarthritis and that it does not need to be dealt with unless it becomes a problem. This was good news at the time: it meant that I would not need imminent surgery and that I could potentially fulfill my dream of running the marathon in 2009. Surgery, on the other hand, would have knocked me off my feet for weeks if not months and I would be hesitant to put the kind of grueling pressure on it endured during extensive running.

And the bump has not been a problem. The most recent dilemma I had with it was after walking miles upon miles in Copenhagen. My muscles throbbed and the bump caused severe discomfort. My foot simply could not take it any more and I had to go home early. I felt fine the next morning. Again, that was the last problem I had with it, until tonight. Cait and I went out to dinner with Megan and Mary Ann, then hung out for a while waiting for our food to digest. Once we had reached a satisfactory level of digestion, the two of us embarked on a quick run to the State House and back. It was going wonderfully. We stretched in the Christian Science Center grass, after I got my groove on real hard to Radiohead's "Bodysnatchers." Then we made our way down Boylston Steet. Some time after passing 500 Boylston, my right foot delivered the bad news. Bones rubbing together. Too much. Too hard. Too little cushion. And it frustrated me immensely because I had just slipped into the right running pattern. The rest of my body felt awesome and I was good to go. After a minute or two of suffering, I informed Cait of my pain, asking her if it would be OK to cut the run short. We turned at the Public Garden, hoping to make our way back to Mass Ave via Commonwealth. But my foot was too much to handle and I was forced to call it a night.

Imagine the frustration. I wanted to rage. I wanted to cry. If my foot does not get back in gear, then I physically can not run this marathon. And I don't even want to think about that this early in the game. I'm too excited about accomplishing this. But I also don't want to cause irreparable damage to my body. Yes, weight loss is fine. Muslces are acceptable. Sleeping better at night is also fine by me. But bone damage and the inability to walk comfortably is not really my beat.

So I'm going to do something I should have done days ago, when my toenails began to turn purple. I'm going to buy some new shoes immediately. Tomorrow morning, rather. No, they can't cure my arthritis, but they can improve the overall situation and hopefully provide some more support for my limbs. Please let this work out for me.

15 steps, then a sheer drop

Last night, I went to bed expecting to feel positively abominable this morning. Positively atrocious. So I stretched it out and prepared my mind for the worst. I woke up at 10 a.m. feeling just fine. Well, fine except for the fact that I had just endured a painfully realistic dream that one of my favorite guitarists died (turns out he's still alive and well). Absolutely no part of my body was sore. Not my legs, my arms, my neck, my anything.

This came as a shock because Cait and I worked it pretty hard last night. We ran from Northeastern, up Huntington Avenue and then up Massachusetts Avenue to the Mass Ave bridge where we stretched it out. Despite the brevity of this warm up, my heart rate was still all over the place. I blame the music. Remind me in the future to create a playlist with consistent upbeat jams. We then polished off a run to and from Harvard that clocked in at just under 8 miles total. This is the longest run I have done in quite some time and I paced us for such. I spaced out pretty hard to all of "Kid A" - OK, I skipped "Morning Bell," "Treefingers" and "How to Disappear Completely" - then tapped into the beginning of "In Rainbows." Maybe it's strange that I listen to Radiohead while running, but their music is exactly what I want to hear always so it only makes sense. And "Kid A" has this hypnotizing quality that makes it well-suited for longer runs. It was lovely.

And none of this is to say that I was not exhausted after the run. I certainly was. Cait and I downed some Vitamin Water like it was Jesus, while discussing our workout plan for the week. My legs felt like lead, but most of me was pretty excited to get my exercise on really hard over the next six days. Today is a rest day, despite both of us feeling totally fine after last night. Tomorrow we're going to do a shorter, quicker run and a lot of track exercises. Then I'm going to get up bright and early to see what kind of registration I can do on the marathon's website. I'm not sure if Wednesday's registration is strictly for qualified runners or if it includes those partaking in charity. Regardless, the applications for most of the charities will be released on or around that day so that should start getting exciting.

In other running news, Cait and I are hoping to partake in Northeastern's first "Big Dog 5K" along the Esplanade on September 20. I don't plan to be remotely competetive, since I'm sure there are tons of runners who have been running a lot more frequently and for a lot longer than I have, but I think it should be fun. It's considerably shorter than I'm used to running, which could be interesting or terrible. We'll see.

drove through ghosts to get here

The 8 mile run last night felt surprisingly good. In all honesty, I was expecting a struggle to make it any mile past mile number 4, but the run felt easy. Julie and I met up on campus, although there was some meet up location confusion. I should also mention that we met up for our run after 10 p.m. On a Sunday night. That's dedication right there.

We ran up to the Mass Ave bridge, which was about a mile out from out starting point and stopped to stretch it out. I always feel terrible while running the first mile. I had started getting into what I call the "warm zone." It's the point at which I finally feel like a runner and find my rhythm because my muscles are warm and loose. Once I got to that point last night, I went into autopilot mode and just kept the same pace the entire run. I felt like a running machine.

For the duration of the run, I listened to 65daysofstatic's One Time for All Time. I don't what it is about 65, but whenever I listen to them, my focus increases by a factor of at least 5. I usually listen to something upbeat (i.e. Girl Talk, almost exclusively), but I knew I needed to pace myself for this run. Turns out I chose correctly.

The last surprising thing about this run is that I'm not sore this morning. I have no doubt I will feel it tomorrow morning though. It's always the day after the day after.