bit the dust

well, i didn't "bonk"...i find all these terms so funny. the terms that are running-specific. like "hitting the wall" and "bonk-"ing. bonk. i really like that one. and, in all my yrs of off and on reading about running and off and on being in the circles, i only heard this term OF LATE! weird.

"fartlek" is another one. wait till i tell my kiddos about that one! GU is another unique thing. i can't remember if i 1st heard of that as "G-U" or "goo"... i can't even remember...don't even know if the latter is appropriate. but, boy, that took me a long time to figure out.

"splits" is another one. while i know most of the terms, this is one i still have not figured out. and sarah, i tried to figure out how to hyperlink w/in my posts but alas...i cannot.


well, here's the deal. about the dust...
i set out today, in the rain (have i mentioned, time and again, that i live in the desert? well, right now, this desert is just about FLOATING), trying to find a place to do my TEN (to 11) mile run. i wasn't sure i was going to do 11. i'm a week ahead of schedule in the 16 wk plan to run the Yakima marathon (also in the desert)...so i thought, i could run 10 and still be on track.

also, WHERE TO GO? i was going alone...so the possibilities were endless...sorta. i mean, doing 10+, you have to have a place to go potty if the need arises. also, you have to be able to park your car (if you have no other recourse) somewhere in the middle so you can stop there for fuel, or to strip or whatever.

i needed a change of venue. (did i mention my middle name is "I-need-change?" nice to meet you.) ( sorry, mom and dad, i've renamed myself. did i neglect to tell you? oops.) so, i headed down to the river. i've written a lot about running along the path down by the river. there are at least 3 main places to do that here. starting in Richland, start. in Pasco, or start. in Kennewick. Kennewick being the closest, i thought, well, i'll try that.

unfortunado, that (Kennewick side--tho all of Kennewick is most certainly not like that...just down by the river) seems to be where slimy things happen. you take a chance when you are down there alone. i thought better of this plan as i drove thru the park. there were lotsa sleazy looking vehicles down there...and, every once in awhile, it looked like the folks coming outta those cars, just woke up and rolled out. ugh. i decided against this place.

running low on gas i "temped fate" and got back on the highway, headed to Richland's section of park and path-along-(The Columbia)River. it's my fav. but it is still a little redundant...when you have to run out 2.5, back 2.5, re-fuel @ car and potty (at the very convenient, WARM bathrooms), then head out (in opposite direction) another 2.5 then back 2.5. OR, if i'd gone w/ 11 i could do the math (gasp) and go 6 to begin or 6 on last trip. whatever.

does that sound redundant to you? maybe i'm just a wimp. it seriously takes a LOT to get me out there (anywhere) in the first place. so, i'm not sure the route matters as much as just GETTING out there in the first place. but, truly, the first step is finding the route.

well, i did a very stupid thing. you seeeeee, my dear friend, sarah-the-Canuk (did i get that right?) of 'sarahspace'...she put together these GGGREAT running and cardio cds and SENT THEM TO ME!!! can U believe it? well, i had not the time to put them on my ipod yet. so i took the ANTIQUATED "jogger" cd player...it's claim to fame is that the cds don't skip even tho you're jogging. does this sound like something you'd do in 2006? I ASK YOU.

yep. only me. i took my un-handy little (not) zippered pencil bag (y'know, the kind that you store your pencils etc in ...in your notebook?) (in high school) that i discovered might work on my long run last week. pardon me if i do not YET have a "fuel belt." (yes, they really make little belts...it's a thing you put around your waist ---you must HAVE a waist--- and it has pouches, i guess, to contain your water bottles, gu packets, cell phone...whatever. i've only seen them from afar.) but anyhow, the PENCIL bag WAS my answer to that. i put the HUGE (discus size) (and yes, i've hucked it before!) cd jogger thingy in there, along w/ my car key and a candy. why didn't i just hold it in my hand, you ask? well, that would be becuz of the TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS happening this morning.

and, genius that i am, i thought, well, i'll just CONTAIN this relic inside this pouch. it will be EASIER to hold than just cradling it in my hand, discus-style. hmmmmm...

nope. the thing inside the pouch is the same size. (duh) and that remains too wide to hold comfortably unless i spread my fingers completely wide and hold w/ pinky and thumb. wearing gloves made it...and pouch is made of plastic on one side and vinyl on other...well, a little slippery. i tried folding one half over...and ultimately, i kind of held it by the edges...but then LO AND BEHOLD it did skip a mite.

well, for what it's worth ( a lot to me, sarah ) the music was AWESOME! I used my shuffle's earphones. they are awesome. well, my favorite HAD to be when i was ascending a hill (mountain to me...but i live in a flat desert. incase i haven't mentioned that yet. it's flat here. and a desert. altho you'd think it was seattle lately) and EYE OF THE TIGER came on! i have always DREAMED of running to Rocky tunes! aweSOME, Sarah! no wonder you love running!

other than that, i MUST SAY, that my fav tunes were the SPANISH ones! awesome beat. dunno what they were singing...i'm sure they were ALL praise -to-Jesus songs. ha ha! but they were great! truly. hope you don't have lotsa requests, now, sarah. for a fee, maybe? =)

all that to culminate in this sad-sack story of mine: the PITIFUL ending to my illustrious tale is that wimpy, whiney, painful kt got back to the van (you know, for the refueling, potty break, and to take off my outer layer?) and hopped in and drove home.



nice.

at like 3 miles i was feeling great. at 4 miles i just wanted to ditch the jogger cd player once and for all. i could NOT wait to get to van so i could either switch out to ipod or forget the tunes altogether. (well, that was anticipated from mile one but around mile 4 it got to be such a burden it started to affect my running.)

i think it was also at 4 miles when i started noticing my lower leg. you know the pain UNDER where you would normally have shin splints? yeah that. my never-ending-pain-place-that's-not-a-stress-fracture-but-WHAT-THE-HAY-IS-IT-place? YEAH THAT!

approaching 5 miles i was getting more and more fatigued. i stopped and walked a bit. i imagined myself flying on eagles' wings after letting down my burden. ( you can't imagine what a burden it was. )

my leg hurt. if you've been reading a LONG time, there was a day last fall, when i got to my longest run of my life: 8 miles. i was planning on running to my folks' house. excited me, WENT for it. at 4 miles i came to a crucial point: run straight and down to my own house, or turn and head to my parents. i was on such a HIGH that i could run this far, i IGNORED the throbbing pain in my knee and went for it. well, that was the last run for a LONG time and really set me back.

so, at 4.84 miles i guess i didn't want to push it any more. if i'd been running with someone, i am sure i woulda pushed thru. i thought of olga (friend of robtherunner)...she posted recently that she needs people to help her push thru the pain. and i thought, if she was here, would she push me? is it sane to push thru?

i can almost guarantee that my probs would mostly go away if i lost a ton of weight. isn't that part of the overall plan tho?
should i run no more than 5-6 miles ... condition my bod for a yr and try to lose this weight, THEN try for a marathon? what am i doing? who am i kidding, if not myself?

i'm floundering here. i've shed the no-sugar/no-flour diet. why? becuz i have to eat carbs to run long mileages. i know i don't have to eat lots of extra carbs when i'm just running lower miles. i was actually doing fine, earlier in the fall when i was running 3-6 mile runs and eating no sugar/flour.

NOW i've started eating whole wheat bagels, tortillas, etc. trying to cut down on the fat. staying away from sugar except in gatorade and a little hard candy every once in awhile...esp 1/2 way thru a long run. dunno. bro thinks (rightly so) i should join a gym & do wts. maybe. i really hate that idea. $$$ etc. but i'm not looking for pity. you'll see me, here, keeping on! whichever road that leads down!

so, this is where my lazy week culminated. i bet y'all were just waiting w/ baited breath!
crazy! ~~~~~~~~~~~~sionara! kt