Geese, toes, and Mindful Practice

Training has been TOUGH this year.  The weather has not been all that helpful, my schedule is more full than last year, and I've been dealing with some injuries.  Remember how I fell first run out?  I'm in PT for neck/shoulder/back pain most likely from that.  It's helping!  Just a pain.

In my last few runs, I've revisited some old running routes.  Horn Pond turned out to be mostly ice and snow free.  It's been busy since the sun has been out the past couple of weekends.  The geese and ducks are back.  And the geese still scare me. (One totally came at me today... never make eye contact)

scary

quack

Normally, my toes cause me the most pain during my long runs.  I mentioned this to the Mindful Practice instructor at the YMCA.  Usually, when they start to hurt, I try to pretend they don't.  I try to tune in to my music or focus my attention on another body part that does not hurt.  Her advice was to acknowledge the pain without judgement.  I'll be honest, I was skeptical and I also wasn't 100% sure I knew what she meant.  I decided to give it a try today on my long run.

First of all, the weather was great! Yesterday was a little bit warmer, but I taught Zumba in the morning and didn't think a long run after was a great idea.  When my toes started to ache, I thought about the advice.  It was hard!  Of course my first thought was "OUCH!"  But then I thought "Ok, they hurt.  Let's just see what happens"  Eventually, it stopped bothering me.  The less I thought about the pain as "Ouch", the less it bothered me. 

Unfortunately, my hamstrings joined the "ouch" party towards the end, but I didn't have the miles and time left to see if it would go away. 

I'm going to start going to Mindful Practice since I have a month off from theater.  If I can get my toes to stop hurting, I can't wait to see what else it does for my training!

Marathon Training- week two!

Week two.  It certainly was better than week one (no head injuries or being splashed by puddles).  I got in my speed work, ran on the indoor track at Shad, and my long run felt pretty great yesterday.  The weather was perfect, the ice was mostly melted, and I felt comfortable during the run. After, though...

Injuries, though, can be a funny thing.  Keep in mind, that I am not a doctor and I am not giving any medical advice.  I'm just a clumsy person who has experienced some weird uncomfortable injuries.

I'm definitely dealing with some leftover pain from my stupid ice fall.  My knee is a little painful, my back hurts, and my shoulders are kind of tight.  I'm heating, icing, rolling, and stretching, plus backing off on the weights in my class when I need to.  It's getting better.

Something that I hadn't thought about in a long time is chafing.  It's a terrible thing.  And, for me anyhow, it's only sort of predictable.  I trained for (and ran) two half marathons before last year and I had only had trouble with it once (I tried to wear my fuel belt on my hips to try to look a little less lame.  Not a great idea).  Once I hit the 14-15 mile long run, chafing became an unwelcome part of my life. 

Just get some.  Right away.

Body Glide is a great thing.  I finally bought some last year when I noticed vampire bite marks where the bottom of my sports bra sat.  After that, I discovered new and exciting chafing opportunities during almost every run, long or short.  If you're thinking of running any kind of distance, just get yourself some Body Glide (it's cheap) and put it any place anything touches your skin.  Seams, bands (bras, pants, shirts), even on your feet if you get blisters.

The WORST problem I had was during the actual marathon.  It's cold when you train for Boston. I did most of my runs in long sleeves.  I definitely did some trial runs with my race day outfit, but by the time the temperature was right, the runs were tapering off.  It never occurred to me that my iPod armband would cause trouble.

Arm

Under my armpit

Toes.  Just forget about your feet looking ok in sandals.  Get ready for the horrified looks you'll get from nail techs as you try to explain why your feet look the way they do.  My poor second toe on my right foot really got the worst of it.  I didn't blister until the actual marathon, but there was pretty much constant pain in that toe after the long runs hit 13 miles.  I did eventually lose the nail and it felt about 1000 times better when it finally went.  I'm trying out some new shoes (Brooks Defyance 7.  The Defyance 6 were pretty great all fall) and am hoping to avoid some toe problems in the future.

If ugly feet and lost toenails gross you out, you should probably just look at this picture of Winston and not scroll down anymore.

Gross.

Tah-dah

It's just nail polish... but still gross, sorry