Out of town long run

Long runs when away from home are always interesting. The last long run I did was in Michigan during Sandeep's cousins wedding, it was supposed to be 6 miles so I mapped my run out and went for it. I realized too late I didn't have any gu on me so I took some jelly beans with a little salt sprinkled on. Disgusting! But it worked and the run went off without a hitch.

This time, I planned for the gel, post run banana and the map of where to run. But this time, I wasn't alone. My brother-in-law needed to be back sooner than me so we tried to stick close to home. I figured, I would run with him, drop him off at home and get the rest of the remainder of the 7 miles on my own. But by the time we were done with the first part, I felt empty. So I stopped. I hate running in those subdivisions. It's all concrete on the roads.

Well it turns out, that may have been the way to go. Gilbert said, running on roads is really not good for you. Good thing I stopped at 4.5 miles even though I still feel so guilty about not getting my entire distance in.

But can it be cured?

I think I might have body dysmorphic disorder

While I was in physical therapy today my therapist had me do lunges for 12 minutes. It's a long time and your mind seems to wander. So I was thinking about how tiring this was the last time I did it and how much better I felt today.

So while I was in PT for for my weak hip and tender patella and weak hamstring and weak back and weak abs; I was congratulating myself on being strong!

That god, she is on my side today

Went to get a salad from chick-fil-a. Decided to get four nuggets as well (eat two today, two tomorrow). But they had only packets of 8 and 12, so didn't get any.

Went to the store to get some milk for tea. Saw what I thought was carrot cake w/ cream cheese frosting.
Crap, can't resist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

But it was actually banana cake with cream cheese frosting.

Phew.

Crises averted.

p.s.
The salad is delicious with sunflower seeds on it. Cheese on salads is overrated unless it's something like feta or gorgonzola.

I'm just sayin'

Runtex 10Miler recap

Now that the week of hell that lasted 10 days is over. I can post about the EAS/Runtex run for the water 10miler benefitting the gazelle's foundation.

The day started off great. We took off on the race with me running with Carol and Staley but I realized quickly that I wouldn't be able to hang with these guys so I slowed down (that's a good thing since Carol finished at a 8:30 pace and Staley at 9 min). Jessica (who had started out with Sarah and Allison, who were running the 5k) met up with me and we ran together from the half mile point.

It was humid but we started off feeling pretty good. But things went a little downhill from that point. Jess realized that she had been on her feet the entire day before the race (volunteering for the race) and then ate badly because she waited too long. So around mile 2 or 3, it became a very real possibility that she might throw up. I was just trying not to push myself because I still had most of my presentation for a class to work on for the rest of the day (~75 pages in all). So we ran, trying to remember that this was supposed to be a training run and not pushing ourselves. We talked the entire way to try and keep each other entertained/distracted.

Miles 8-10 were probably the most painful. The hills were done. We had successfully avoided pushing ourselves or throwing up but we were just exhausted and wanted to be done. We even took a walk break around mile 9.5 but we seemed to just be sick of it. I think we just wanted to be done.

The volunteers were amazing. They cheered us, directed us and some that we knew even ran with us. I'm not sure if we would have made it if it hadn't been for the familiar faces and encouraging yells and hoots.

It felt good to be done but I'm not sure I felt happy to have run it, just happy to be finished.

So, it turns out Decker 20M will not be happening. I can't deal with these baby hills. Decker's hills would make me cry for my mama.

I think that a hilly race may not be the best way to motivate yourself to run a longer race. During the second half of the race a question kept popping up in my mind: If I'm not doing so well with this mileage, how am I going to keep going for three more miles? But I need to remember that the half I'm running is qualitatively different. It's flat. In fact, some people tell me it's downhill a large part of the way. Supposed to be among the fastest races around.

I'm still in training. I just need to get stronger around hills and not plan to race during hell weeks.

OMG

It's tomorrow. So much hard work and it doesn't really end tomorrow, it just begins. The first race of the season, the EAS 10miler is tomorrow.

After that there might be a very scary (read: hilly) 20K (~12 miles) in our near future called the decker 20K. We'll see, I'm not supposed to know about it since Jessica has only started thinking about it.
And to end it all, the 3M half at the end of december.

But for tonight, I working on my presentation for monday (which is sucky BTW, thanks for asking) and really excited about the race tomorrow. I think sometimes, my need for speed (and I use the term "speed" very loosely here) might be the only thing that keeps me going through 70 pages of dry, inane reading that I need to talk about for 2 hours.

It's tomorrow. I can't wait/I'm petrified of those hills on pecos and scenic drive. But I have a mango flavoured clif shot that deserves to be tried in the field.

Breathe

1st year research presentation in 1.5 hours. So pucky. Need to lay down. Or just throw up and get it over and done with.

Eight days a week...

I don't need a whole extra day, just an extra hour a day would be helpful. Although, I'd probably just use it for sleeping. Also, on a related note. Sandeep and I are having a really hard time adjusting to the daylight savings change. It seems that it takes the body up to six weeks to adjust to the fall change and up to four weeks to adjust to the spring daylight savings change.

JP's irish breakfast at 2 in the afternoon really does make things a little more bearable. It also helps when cute UPS men stop by. Ooh, caffeine and eye candy. Excellent!

The EAS 10Miler race is this sunday and for a brief period of time this morning I considered not running it so that I have more time to prepare for my presentation on Monday. Then I remembered just how much time I've put into training and that it's the only thing I'm looking forward to. Also, I think Ms. "I don't like road races" would kill me after I used what she called my puppy dog eyes to get her to run with me for the race.

Must post

But school demands attention. Will post on Friday.

On Second Thought

Maybe not. Maybe I don't want to run this race.
Jessica and I (and two other girls) ran the bulk of the course set for the runtex 10 miler in preparation for the race. It's behind lake austin boulevard and just so pretty. There's something about running in the neighbourhoods of Austin on a cold day. I get nostalgic/pensive/joyful (all of the above). I can't describe it. It involves feeling so glad to be part of something and at the same time so small and wanting to do something worthwhile. To give back to this world that gives me so much to be happy about.

But that really is where the joy ends. It turns out these beautiful areas of Austin are also substantially hilly. The portion of the run that we tried out will be spank in the middle of the race and it's a mixture of rolling and steep hills. I'm a little worried since I really don't do well around hills.

But that being said, I feel a change. It's as if I'm no longer a girl and I'm sprouting into... I kid. Its just that I feel really strong lately, where in the past I would have needed to walk up one of these hills, this time, I ran every single one.

I will run the race. I will run those hills and walk if I have to. Jessica will run them with me and we will show them who is boss.

Unexpected realizations

Monday workouts with the gazelles are supposed to focus on strength. We were doing circuit training this week. That means run a lap on a track, do a bunch of exercises and then do that all over again. On a good day we can fit in 4 reps. On a really hot day we're lucky if we can get 2 reps in.

Last monday, we were doing core work which involves passing these 6lb medicine balls between partners. I could have sworn the one we (Sarah and I) were working with was heavier. Sarah thought so to but Gilbert overheard us. He said something to the effect of "Gayatri, I thought you were a tough girl. I'm disappointed"
I replied with "It is heavier but that doesn't mean I am not going to do my share!"
I'm kinda proud I said that. So many people tend to presume that just because you would say something about a task being difficult means you're complaining and plan on not doing it. We were just making conversation to distract from the pain.

But the thing that really floored me was how annoyed/defensive I got after he said that. He didn't mean anything by it, he was just pulling my leg. But I didn't like hearing that. It seems a lot of my self-worth in terms of working out is tied up in the fact that I believe that I am not lazy about it. I'll take days off when needed but when I'm there (be it running, yoga or VT as it was in the days of yore), I'm there to workout.

What was my realization you ask? That while most people would be proud of starting or sticking to an exercise regiment or being really good at a sport, I guess I'm proud of the fact that I am persistent at sucking at a sport.

Miscellanea

It makes me laugh every time someone is surprised that yoga can make one sore. Let me count: upper abs, shoulders, biceps, inner thighs, hamstrings, palm right underneath the thumb etc etc so on and so forth.

You know you're in training when strange parts of you ache and you don't even stop to think about it. e.g. "Oh, that was inside the right butt. Good one". Wait, I think that counts as thinking about it.

I feel like such a loser when I get out of the yoga class and then sit with my back hunched. You would think I would know better. Oh yeah, back is also sore. Nice sore. Like my muscles may get over their shyness and come out to play.

EAS 10Miler is only 2.5 weeks away. I can't wait. And by can't wait, I mean I'm really excited/anxious. I also think I'm worried I might injure myself and not be able to run. That would possibly be the worst thing that could happen.

My protein tragedy

I'm supposed to get 30% of my calories from protein. So says my nutritionist. I can barely make it to 26% on a good day. I'm to a large extent a vegetarian and a carboholic. So trying to get 30% protein is indescribably difficult. I tried to help myself out by having an omelette with two eggs and an egg white. We've all been told that almost all the fat is in the yolk and almost all the protein is in the white. Well, we've been told wrong!

Fact:
2/3 of the protein is in the white, 1/3 is in the yolk. So if you expect 7 gms of protein from an egg white, you are going to be sorely disappointed. It's more like 3.6.
In a sense this is good news to me because the yolks are the only reason why I eat eggs.
Another justification for eating the yolk? All the good stuff in an egg, all the nutritive stuff, vitamins, minerals etc are all in the yolk. This also makes sense since that is the food sac for the embryo.

So besides meat, what else is there that delivers protein. No carb-protein compounds like beans but just protien. Dairy?

Long run Oct 20th

We hit the big 1-0. 10 miles at 6 am on saturday and it was amazing. It was just Jessica and me since both Staley and Zaundra ran the IBM 10K today.

I can't believe we did the entire 10 mile trail!
The south first bridge divides the trail into two distinct halves. There's the four mile half which is more populated and more consistently pretty. Then there are the other 6 miles. There are some amazingly pretty portions to this side of the trail. Unfortunately, you have to put up with a few things to get to the pretty portions. For example, a lot of homeless people sleep long the trail on this side for some reason. All the crime on the trail has taken place on this side. Also, you have to run along the street for about a quarter to half of a mile and cross a highway (I-35!) to get to the trail. Uphill (ok, not the entire way, but there is one killer). Still, its relatively quieter on this side and I think overall just a prettier run. Its my favourite side.

So, since it was still dark outside, we decided to run the 4 mile side first and continue onto the 6 mile side hopefully around sunrise. The nice thing about that would be that we still get to do the side that both Jess and I like and the killer hill on the street would now be all downhill. Yaa! Did I mention I HATE hills?

We started the first mile out really slow to warm up. We meant to speed up after that but the trial was so dark that we had to keep going slow for at least the next mile if not more. We took breaks every two miles or so for get a sip of water or take some gel. I think this was key in keeping us going. Since the breaks came so frequently, we never felt it get too hard to keep going. Wait, it might also have something to do with the fact that we stretched our backs out during these breaks too (both our backs were a little vocal during the run). We took it easy and talked the entire way. We walked maybe around a quarter of a mile in total so I have say this was a good run. I felt strong most of the way except at one point when my knee complained a bit. Stopping and walking for a little bit was all it needed and we finished strong.

Notable Sights:
- sudden daylight. I know it wasn't really sudden but it seemed like at one point it was still dark and it was dawn the next.
- a huge, obnoxious house with lines like the alamo along the road part of the run.
- a cocoon that was at least 3 inches in length suspended between two silk wires in a tree. Come to think of it, it might have been spider food suspended in a web not a cocoon. That's going to be one large snack for a spider.
- a duck on the lake gunning it towards breakfast. It was far enough away that we could just see it's silhouette and the massive wave of water it left behind it.
- Andre and josh (/jake/john?) leaving a whole hour after us to do 10 miles and getting done with us.
- Mocha Jess. She has trouble opening the gel packets with sweaty hands. So this week she tried to slit one open and reseal it with foil. She then put this sachet into her shorts with the cut side above the band of her shorts. At mile four when we took our first gel, it turned out, her shorts and her hip also got a little snack.

Keeping yoga in the mix is making sure that I have just the usual aches and pains that one would get from increasing mileage like this. Nothing that causes concern.

When I started running, if I started out slow, I would finish slow but we're getting to the point that we are making up all the time we lose when we start. I can't believe this 10 mile run was easier than the 9 mile run two weeks ago. It's not simply that I am getting better at this running thing but I think I'm also getting over my fear of running long distances.

I need to start keeping track of what I eat. What works and what doesn't. That can be the next post, I suppose.

Long runs for 6/9 and 13/9

Three weeks ago Jessica, Staley and I ran our long run together, 9 miles. This was the longest run I had ever done uptil that point and I was really nervous the entire night before. I had trouble falling asleep but thankfully not too much trouble getting up. The last two miles were a little tough but having Jessica there made a world of difference. The strange thing about that is that I wasn't exhausted. To a large extent, it was mental. I knew I was past 7 miles and I'd never run this far so my brain was telling me that I had to be tired for the last two miles.

Last weekend we were supposed to run 7 miles but I decided I didn't want to drop so far down so ran 8 instead. This time, Staley and Jessica and Zaundra were with me, which is good because we started at 6 in the morning and it was still dark outside. Jessica and Zaundra had planned to do 7 miles while Staley was willing to do 8 with me. Midway through the run, we were discussing how to add the one mile in and he tried to trick me into doing more than 8 miles. His argument was that once I was done, I would feel like I had accomplished so much. But for me, I don't like being misled. I need to mentally prepare for the work ahead. He also will say things like "that's it, now we have only 4 miles left" but in actuality, we have 4.5 or 5 miles still left and needless to say, I don't like that either.
It took a little while to shake the irritation off from that encounter but I think at the end of the day, I would still rather have someone running with me that I get along with than have to do this alone.

Weightwatchers

I think weightwatchers is too concerned with fat and not concerned enough with protein. For example, an ounce of nuts are the same amount of points as a can of coke. Someone on WW please comment.

Whoa Spinach

Is there anything you can't do?

I knew you had fiber, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, folate etc, etc.

But now you tell me you are pretty high in protein. What? Should I be calling all my past, you know... partners to let them know about this?

Different goals

I was eating eggs for breakfast today and thinking about how body builders can eat food the way they do. They eat the same things everyday, in massive quantities and get sick of it. But they still eat it. Similarly, people with eating disorders don't like the purging or the starving but they do it anyway.

I think I know what the difference between them and me is. The end goal is different. They see that the ultimate goal is to get your body to look a certain way (not always a healthy way, mind you). My end goal seems to be to eat and enjoy the food I am going to eat in an attempt to get my body to look a certain way. You see the problem?

I think the saying "you can't have your cake and eat it too" works really well here. I can't eat to enjoy my food and still expect to see results of weight loss from it.

Food doesn't do double duty. It can't be entertainment and sustenance. If it's entertaining, it ain't doing anything good for your body and if it is fuel then it sure as hell ain't going to be fun to eat (except maybe steel cut oats)

things you learn on a long run

apparently you can chaff (chafe? I don't know the spelling) unexpected 'areas' on your body when running really long.

huh.

Weird Wants Wednesdays

Crazy craving for the day:
apples
polenta

SoF- part deux

So some really odd and good things have come from this:

I have returned to yoga after close to 7 months off.
My running is so much stronger and happier because I know I can push myself now.
I have learnt that I can workout in a way that is good for me. By that I mean, workout just to work out. No other agenda. With the injuries, I was just glad that I got to even move so I couldn't workout to lose weight or build muscle etc. This is good to know because it means that I can trust myself not to push me to far.
Its been kind of fun to see how different the two sides of my body are. Especially during yoga, my left hip is so unsure where my right can do things effortlessly. I think its also going to be a good day when both hips can do the same things.
And lastly, it turns out I have a stronger core than I thought I did, my PT didn't need me to do the core exercises that most people in my situation would need to do. Yeah! that one month of ab-lab really helped, eh?