Track of the Day...and musings

I'm not doing the greatest job at updating my TODs lately - not because I haven't been running, but because I'm lacking a twee bit of motivation.  I feel much better this week than I did last week, so I'm taking that as a sign that this week will be better for running...it needs to be, since next week is my "taper" week before the race and I likely won't run more than a few miles next week before the half-marathon on Sunday. 

Last week I ran about 5 times, but I just felt incredibly blah about the whole process.  I did everything I usually do...ate enough carbs to give me fuel for the run, adjusted my music to play exactly what I'd need to motivate me, wore the right clothing for the weather, and went out when the sun was shining the brightest to maximize the beauty of the day.  Physically, the runs were easy and continue to get easier - but mentally, I might as well have had a 50-lb pack on my shoulders. 

I tried to change it up a little yesterday, and went running around my neighborhood and some of the surrounding developments.  That helped a bit, although in new neighborhoods, I always feel a little wary that a rogue dog may appear out of nowhere.  No dogs, and no other people, and I managed to enjoy the run. I also managed to find a track of the day, which last week seemed near impossible because the music wasn't doing anything for me.

What a Debbie Downer blog, eh?  Things are better now. I'm feeling much more motivated.  I'm looking forward to running this afternoon.  I may want to take it down a few notches, though - I wonder if part of my lacking motivation had anything to do with the fact that I'm running a lot more during the week. I know burnout is something to beware; yet I don't feel burned out, if anything, running is become as routine to me as washing my face and getting dressed in the morning.  Do anything for three weeks and your mind and body begin to see it as a habit, which I like.  

(Also, just for kicks, I tried on a skirt that I haven't worn since senior year of college...and yes, I realize it makes zero sense that I still own this skirt since I obviously am not using it...and it fit perfectly. Another benefit of running that I'm not technically looking for, but am happy to have nonetheless.)

OK.  Yesterday's track of the day is more or less what I started and ended the run on, just by chance - the iPod decided to play it twice, and it just so happened to be the first and the last song of the run, so here it is. It's a happy song that reminds me of the weeks before our wedding, and so I'll always like it. (Even if it totally doesn't seem like a running song.)

10.5 miles of good times and the Track of the Day

I'm definitely a huge fan of the website MapMyRun, which allows you to do several neat things; first, you can go ahead and just use a cursor to map any random run you decide to do, as long as that run shows up on Google maps (those of you who run on military installations may have a little trouble doing this).  Secondly, it allows you to find runs that other people have created in your area or hometown. 

I thought it would come in handy to highlight the loop I did yesterday for a total of 10.5 miles. The lakes at Notre Dame, which are easily my favorite place(s) to go in Indiana, make up a two mile loop if you do a figure eight around them.  The little leg jutting to the northwest is something I did in the middle of the 10-miler to break up the monotony. You see, as lovely as the lakes are, I occasionally have to do something to distract my mind from the fact that I'm running a double-digit distance...so I took off up St. Mary's road (the road that leads to St. Mary's University, an all-girls' Catholic university just across the way) and through a little path that leads out to Douglas. Douglas is a main thoroughfare, and South Bend drivers are mostly terrible at driving with respect to runners, so I decided to just loop and come back.

I would say this run easily made my top five favorite distance runs of all time. It's pretty difficult to beat any run that I did in the mountains of New Mexico or Colorado, for the sheer facts that one, I usually did them at a time where I wouldn't see other runners, so I felt like I had the scenery all to myself, and two, the environment and the weather were breathtaking.  This run, while definitely pretty, takes a top spot because I didn't know I'd be able to do it - whilst running the entire thing, mind you, even if it was at a slower pace - and it is the first double-digit run I've completed in over three years.  That, to me, marks a huge achievement.  I'm in some of the best running shape of my life, and that feels pretty good.

Ironically, one might think that I'd consider beach running amazing, but after three runs on Grand Cayman, I've come to the conclusion that I love walking on the beach, but not running on it...although it's a great leg workout, the sand is far too uneven and even with my gimpy orthotics, it's still too painful to make it enjoyable on my knees and feet. 

I think some of the great pleasure in this run came from the confidence of knowing I could do it. I'd felt a little unsure earlier in the week, from a combination of a post-vacation hangover/depression and a lack of long runs while in Cayman, but I feel fully restored now. Even better is knowing I only have two more long runs before the race. I'm more than on track to complete a marathon this year, a marathon that I'll be able to run in its entirety...no more walking!

(I should note that there is absolutely nothing wrong with walking during a race, and I certainly walk on water stops and for brief 30-second intervals when my heart rate monitor indicates to me that I'm pushing too hard.)

Only two things about this run were not perfect, but those are not so severe that they would keep me from basking in the glow of happiness for completing this.  One is the grumpy old man who actually accelerated as I was crossing the road and would have hit me if I had slowed for even a second; on a college campus, that is very poor driving behavior indeed. However, I would guess that he's just angry about something else in his life and it had very little to do with me.  The second is my slight fear of geese.  The Canadian geese at Notre Dame are plentiful and sometimes angry, and they crossed in front of me no less than 15 times at different spots in my run, thus forcing me to take a wide berth through the grass to avoid them as they honked at me.  Not a big deal, but I do always worry that one of them will eventually come after me, honking and flailing its wings, and I should get nipped.

Lastly, the track of the day. I went on a twee iTunes shopping spree yesterday before my run and downloaded this song. It played at mile 2 or 3, so it was hardly the song to push me through till the end, but it made me smile the entire time it was on and I would have been singing along if it wouldn't have offended the other runners on the path.

Jellyfish stings and being mrrr

I'm extremely mrrr today. Mrr, a word I picked up in college, is commonly used to indicate a feeling somewhat similar to "blah," "meh," or "giau," (pronounced 'goo') indicating that there is a source of great malcontent or displeasure in the mind of the person emitting the sound.


Right now, I'm mrrr.  I realize after a week in Grand Cayman that I miss the ocean life desperately.  Like most teenagers, I took my youthful environment completely for granted - I failed to understand that not everyone went to the beach every weekend, that not every teen had a boat in their backyard, that not everyone made haste down to the Keys for the lobster mini-season every July for scuba diving and lobster hunting.  I was more likely to complain about my Olympic-caliber track coach making me do 15 600-meter repeats in 90 degree weather with 90% humidity, or to be frustrated that the seas were running 5-7 feet in the bay, thus making it too choppy for a friends and family day on the ocean in our 24-foot Grady White (aptly named "Su-Kay" after my Mom and I).


After joining the Air Force, and seeing quite a bit of the other landscapes the good ol' US of A has to offer, I realize that I'm happiest in one of two places: either an ocean or a mountain range.  I take the mountains second to the ocean, because the one place I feel truly me is in the water.  When I'm scuba diving, for instance, I feel completely at peace.  There's something truly majestic about the world that exists beneath the waves, something that puts me in touch with a part of my soul that stays dormant when I'm away from the water too long.  Likewise, if you put me on a beach at sunrise or sunset, I'll tap into creative energies that seem to wither and go into a semi-permanent state of hibernation when surrounded by dirty snow and ice in the Midwest winter.


As I sit here in my office in South Bend, enjoying the ability to write my feelings at will and to ponder what really makes me happy, I have but two physical reminders of this amazing trip to the islands - a tan (which is still pretty dark, thanks to my genes, I suppose) and the remnants of my jellyfish sting.  Even a day where I was attacked by a fairly blobby, tentacled, gooey undersea native beats a normal, jellyfish-free day in a landlocked environment in sub-freezing temperatures (see below for picture of the offending creature - let's be honest, though, I was on his turf).  The sting is fading, although the series of brown spots left behind look suspiciously like scars. I suppose they will go away, too, although if they don't, I won't mind.  I could consider it my all-natural tattoo, a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling at 60 feet below the surface of the ocean. 

Truly, it's no wonder that one of my favorite quotes is simple: "The cure for anything is salt: sweat, tears, or the sea."  I leave you with a picture of me where I feel happiest (and where, 20 minutes later, Mr. Blobby Tentacles would latch onto my right hand for 10 seconds of pure stinging ouchiness.)

Track of the Day

Sigh. Today's track of the day comes from yesterday, and it is a pretty intense one. I tend to think that this music matches the mood I've been in the past three days - complex, a little dark, haunting at times...you could say I'm pretty bummed to be back in a landlocked state with no ocean for many miles. 

Anyhow. I digress. Here's the song..."Hysteria" by Muse.

Track of the Day

Today's track of the day...well, yesterday's track of the day, actually...is from Lady Gaga.  I find Lady Gaga to be somewhat off-putting, but there are a few songs of hers that I really find myself liking. And "Telephone" is one of those songs. I don't know how she gets in my head, but she does. Last night's run took place at about 10 PM, and was a quick three miles. I intended for yesterday to be a long run day, but I saved it for today or tomorrow because I'm going to be in Grand Cayman next week and I'm not sure how my long run is going to work out. I'm squeezing in just a bit extra this week.  Note to self: need to check the Ritz-Carlton website to see if they have a pay-per-day gym pass I can get, since the hotel is next door to where we are staying...


Also? John's orthotic recommendation has been a great one - no foot or knee pain since I began running with them full time :)