Shopping Mission...Accomplished!

Okay, my confession: I hate shopping.

Yes, it is true. I'd almost rather do anything than shop, especially around this time of year. I'm afraid that being trapped in a claustrophobic mall/big box store with hundreds of other stressed out people and crying kids is the last place I want to be. I usually try to do the catalog shopping, but I'm afraid I've waited a bit too long to get my Christmas-shopping behind in gear.

Sigh.

So this past weekend (a good, solid running weekend) I had a slightly crazy, but different idea. My Saturday morning run was a planned 6-miler. It was very cold, and the ice from the night before had been coated with snow. I had recently purchased a set of Yaktrax to attach to my sneakers so that I don't go ice skating instead of running when I'm out on the roads. (I would, by the way, wholeheartedly recommend the Yaktrax --- they fit snugly, and as soon as I got used to the feel of them on my feet, I was able to relax into my stride without fear of falling. I would not, however, recommend using these, or anything else, on sheets of ice --- or, on a linoleum floor, which I foolishly found out after I'd landed on the floor on my previously mentioned Christmas-shopping posterior). Anyway, I strapped the Yaktrax on my feet and tried to figure out where I wanted to run to. Then an idea started to formulate...

I'd also seen on a commercial Friday evening that Toys R Us was having a blowout sale from 6 - 1 on Saturday. And I remembered that my eldest niece, Grace, is getting a Fisher Price Loving Family dollhouse and my sister asked me to get Grace some furniture sets to go with her house. And...well, I really needed to get started on the shopping.

So my brilliant idea? Combine what I hate to do (shopping) with what I love to do (running), and hope that what I love overcomes what I hate.

It turned out to be one of the funniest runs I've had in quite some time!

First, I took a route away from major roads because of the weather and the traffic flow near the shopping plaza that Toys R Us is located in. It's a bit more than three miles from my house, so I weaved my way through the neighborhood until I needed to cross a larger street. I did, and cut through the Northtown Plaza parking lot up to cross Sheridan Drive. From there, I ran up a block, turned left for another two blocks...and there I was at Toys R Us.

I walked through the main doors into a heated foyer area. I took off the Yaktrax, having learned my lesson after slipping on my linoleum floor earlier that morning, and took off my gloves. Then, I walked into the store...

...and tried really, really hard not to just burst out laughing at the looks I got from the shoppers who were there. I know I must have been a sight: in my Brooks cold-weather pants, my two Under Armour cold-weather shirts, a vest over them, and then my earmuffs and headwarmer on top, having just completed a three-mile run in the freezing cold...yeah, I definitely got some strange looks! But better yet, I was able to (eventually) find the dollhouse section and purchase a Loving Family Work-At-Home Office set, complete with toy cat, for my niece. The poor cashier did a double-take when I walked up to her register, and again, I tried hard not to laugh!

The set was medium sized, so it wasn't too tough to run all the way back home with a Toys R Us package in one hand. I'll have to remember to tell Grace on Christmas morning that her Aunt Erin ran six miles for her dollhouse set!

And my experiment worked...it's a lot of fun to go shopping when you run to get there! If only I could do that with all the rest of my Christmas shopping...

A Real Turkey of a Trot...

Well, it's official.

I've actually run my worst race...ever.

Today's 114th Annual Delaware YMCA Turkey Trot 8K has more than humbled me...it's actually brought me my most embarrassing and humiliating moment in my entire running "career" (and I'll throw in my old high school track days just for emphasis).

I remember one of my old friends from high school, Renee, always stressing to me that "bad things happen in threes." Today was a verification of that old adage, only to the extreme.

Let me explain...and an added warning: you probably don't want to read this entry while eating.

I had a lousy night's sleep, including a really bizarre dream about showing up late for a half-marathon, not being able to locate my chip, and then having to start the race five minutes after the gun had gone off. That was hovering in the back of my mind as I made my way to the "Drop-off " location. With water bottle in hand, my husband dropped me off in front of my school at Delaware and Cleveland, and I jogged the 1.5 miles back to the starting line as my warm-up. I got there, finished my drills, finished my water, climbed over the guard railings that were in place to keep the runners penned in before the race started, and got a spot relatively close to the front. All in all I felt good, I was in a better race start than I was for last year's Trot, and I felt ready to go.

And I was surrounded by 12,000 other runners. Yes, that is not a typo. There really were 12,000 entrants there. It was a madhouse.

I bent down to double knot my sneakers, just to make sure everything was tied and in place. The guy next to me did the same thing, and I kind of joked about how hard it was to do this when you can barely move because of the amount of people around you. It was amusing...then. It wasn't right before the first mile mark, believe me.

The gun went, I got a nice break, headed to the right outside, and had a nice, fairly clear go of it to the first mile marker. I knew I was moving a bit faster than I would have liked, but I felt really good. And then I felt it...slap, slap, slap, slap. I looked down and couldn't believe it. My left shoelace had come untied. This was after I had double-knotted it before the race started. And I know I double-knotted it because I did it twice. Yes, I am that kind of super-detail-oriented anal retentive person. That's why I couldn't believe was I was seeing.

The first mile marker was just ahead...I would have hit it at about 6:55. Instead, I had to pull off to the side to tie my freaking shoe.

This being done, I tried to hop back into the race. This was easier said than done because of the amount of people around me, and because my legs just suddenly got sluggish. I couldn't get back to the pace I had been running before, no matter how hard I tried. At this point I was approaching the infamous Hill on Delaware Avenue, so I just focused on getting things under control again. Coming down the back side of the Hill, I started to feel better, and since most of the remaining course was flat I thought I had a chance to make up some time. I understood that a PR was out the window, but if I could finish a respectable 38:00 or so, I'd be somewhat satisfied. With this in mind, I began to pick up the pace by Bryant Street...which is right when a man carrying his young child in his arms, decided to cross the street, and proceeded to step off the curb and walk right in front of me.

If I hadn't been so exhausted at this point, I probably would have yelled something rather impolite at him --- not that he'd care --- but all I could do was gasp, "No!" and pull up short to avoid running into him.

So really...what are the odds of that occurring to me in this race? Astronomical? Well, guess what...it happened two more times shortly after that! I wish I was exaggerating, but two other men, again carrying young children in their arms, walked (not even quickly walked, or trotted or even jogged), walked out in front of me and the runners right next to me. Again, I had to pull up to avoid a serious accident. Bad things happen in threes, right?

Then I got to the 3.5 mile mark, right near one of my favorite bar&grills in Buffalo, Colter Bay Grill. And that's when things began to sound really far away and I started to feel nauseous. I had eaten my normal PowerBars and water breakfast, nothing had changed there. But for some reason, I started to feel really out of it --- like I was running a race underwater. But I was moving, picking up time, and I knew that, so as I passed the four mile mark I knew I just had to hold on for one more.

It was too much to ask for.

I was coming around Niagara Square, and had just passed City Hall when the first dry heave hit. Then the second. And, you guessed it...the third.

And then, well, my most embarrassing moment ever: I had to stop to the side, right on the nice grassy circle, to vomit up everything that had been in my stomach --- all liquid. The crowd of onlookers nearby all went, "OHHHHHHHH...." Then, I threw up again. And finally...yes, a third time. Each puke session caused the people lining the street at Delaware and the BAC gym to emit further groans of disgust and dismay.

Finally, having expelled every bit of fluid from my stomach, I continued running. The onlookers cheered, with one guy enthusiastically yelling, "Yeah! Yeah! YEAH, Number 1613!" Apparently, he was impressed with my ability to throw up the contents of my belly and then keep running. With my luck, I'll probably be the next viral video clip on YouTube or something: "The Girl Who Puked Her Guts Out at the Turkey Trot."

I lost about a minute there, and it was a costly minute. I did my best to get to the finish line, and my chip time was 39:41, two minutes off where I should have been. I finished 24 out of 516 in my age group. If I had run the race I should have, I would have been in the top ten.

I'm so disappointed in this race, I don't even know what else to think. Who else does this stuff happen to? Anyone out there with a good story to make me feel better, to let me know I'm not the only person permanently afflicted with bad luck and Murphy's Law syndrome?

And what's even worse...I now have no appetite for Thanksgiving dinner today!

So there ends the saga of the 2009 Turkey Trot.

I hope I never run a race like this again.

The Phlegm 5K...

Okay, I know that's not an attractive blog title, but I'm being honest here.

Today I ran my last 5K before the Turkey Trot, and while my time wasn't the greatest, it was a really fun experience and a good effort despite running with a persistent sinus infection.

And that's where the phlegm part comes into play...

The race I ran this morning was the 1st annual Maritime March 5K. I usually run another race on this Saturday, a very flat and fast one in the city of Tonawanda, but I decided to try this new race instead. It's not that there was anything wrong with the old one --- in fact, if I'd run it I'd probably have managed a better time --- but it was one of those races that became so successful that the space the post-race party was held at was simply too small. The last two years I found myself literally trying to find space to move...so I decided to give this new race a try today. And while the course was a fairly tough one, it was well worth it.

The race was a benefit for the Maritime Charter School scholarship fund. It started and finished right by the Connecticut Street Armory on the west side of Buffalo. The course itself was challenging. It started with a brief uphill into a downhill then a small, flat area before hitting Porter Avenue, and "the hill over the Thruway." It's a fairly steep one, and it was one that I'd have to run back over around the 2.5 mile mark after running through Lasalle Park. Despite the various aches and pains that cropped up in the first mile (achy right hamstring, twinge of pain briefly in my left knee, ache in the right quad), and "the hill," I clocked in at 6:40 at the one mile mark.

Oh, crap.

I screwed up my race right there. The worst part about it was that I really didn't think I was going that fast. Something is totally wrong with my "rundar" and I blame it entirely on my sinus infection. That infection, of course, really kicked in around the two mile mark. As if the literally rocky road around Lasalle Park wasn't difficult enough (Pothole City, USA), I had to also deal with the excessive amounts of phlegm that I started to cough up. Yeah, I know...not a pretty topic so I'll keep it short and sweet. The bottom line? After many snot rockets and dry heaves (including a real classic around the 3 mile mark), I think I may have finally gotten rid of this infection. I can't possibly see how anything could be left in my system at this point. I left it all out on Porter Avenue and finished the race in 23:23. That was good enough for first in my age group and fifth female overall.

The post-race party was really cool because it took place in the Armory. I've included some pictures of this incredible building, built in 1899 in the style of a 19th century castle. I was in this building once when I was 18, when my then-boyfriend-now-husband convinced me to go to a White Zombie concert (something I've regretted ever since). It's just one of the coolest buildings in Buffalo, and I spent most of the post-race party just wandering around the main hall and looking at the fantastic architecture. It was an incredible experience, and it was especially important considering the Veterans' Day Holiday this past week. I really hope this race is held next year because I'd like to participate in it again.

This was my last 5k before the biggest race of the fall, the 114th Annual Delaware YMCA Turkey Trot. While I can't say I'm really pleased with my time, I know I did my best while fighting this infection. The next two and a half weeks will be dedicated to training for the Trot, and I'll blog whenever I can about my progress. I'm hoping for a Trot PR this year, and if we continue to have this wonderful, unseasonable weather, and if I can stay healthy, I think I might just manage to do it.

Time will tell!

With a Little Help from a Four-Footed Friend...

The past week has been utterly miserable.

After last weekend's running "double whammy," I received the illness version of the same thing.

Yes, once again...the dreaded head cold that turned into a sinus infection --- one that I am still trying to kick even as I type this entry.

I'm afraid that the very busy work week, including extended evening hours, leading up to the races last weekend proved to be too much for me. That, and being in the same vicinity of roughly 800 teenage students, most of whom are sick themselves (everything from colds to H1N1), also wore me down.

The result? Five days without running one bit.

This was tough for me, because in the past I've taken the "I'll-just-run-the-illness-out-of-me" approach, which has worked wonders --- in terms of making me more ill and for a longer period of time. So it took a lot of self-discipline, but I made myself rest whenever I could around work. As difficult as it was to do, I didn't run at all during last week. This had me feeling really down, especially as I had been running well and had been dreaming of getting a PR at the upcoming Turkey Trot.

I felt well enough to get a slow (very,very slow) run in Saturday afternoon. I barely made it 3 miles and had an asthma attack afterwards to boot. I felt like my legs weighed a ton, and I was going nowhere. I was thoroughly discouraged, and wondering if I should even bother to continue to try. Maybe I'd been too sick. Maybe there wasn't enough time to re-train before the Trot anyway.

And then I saw something Saturday evening that made me think differently.

I am a horsewoman --- strange, I know, for someone who lives on a city border, but I've ridden since I was eleven, and most recently have had the chance to ride English style and jump horses over fences. I absolutely love these beautiful creatures, and to see them run is, to me, breathtaking. I've watched horse racing since I was a little girl, and was always thrilled to see these gorgeous animals --- true athletes --- who were as competitive as a human when it came to winning a race. I've had my share of issues with the horse racing industry in the last few years, and I've gotten away from watching many of the big races. But I happened to be changing TV channels last night and caught the Breeders' Cup Classic, the biggest and final championship horse race of the year. And I'm so very glad I did.

The big story here? A five year old mare named Zenyatta was going up against an all-male field, one of the best in a long time. The talent here was awesome, and there was a great deal of skepticism from critics about whether the mare, despite being 13-0 in career starts, would have the skill to even keep up with the males. This mare faced a series of challenges --- the odds, the crowd of 58,000 screaming people, a fellow horse who freaked out in the starting gate and had to be scratched from the race, being re-loaded into the starting gate, and then...

The gates opened, and every horse plunged through out onto the track.

Except for Zenyatta.

Her jockey, Mike Smith, later stated that she just didn't go. He had to work to urge her out of the gate and then, once she started running, she settled down. But she was dead last.

It looked as if Zenyatta would be a non-factor in the biggest race of the year...until near the final turn, where Smith kept his mare along the inside railing to conserve ground, and then made a move at the final turn for home. One spot opened up between horses, but it suddenly disappeared as quickly as it had been created. Smith had but one choice --- to take his mare wide out around all the other horses.

He did, and Zenyatta responded by blowing past every horse in that field, and in dramatic style, won by a length (you can watch video of the race here).

I found myself jumping up and down in my living room, and I was further surprised by the fact that I was a bit teary-eyed afterwards. But what a horse! What an athlete! And what an inspiration.

I went out the door today and put in a solid five and half miles. I'm still not pushing it, just to be on the cautious side, but I'm also not carrying around a defeatist attitude either. You see, a horse taught me something important yesterday --- sometimes it feels like you're just stuck in the gate, going nowhere, but if you have faith in your ability and in your training, and if in your heart you know you can do it, then eventually you will.

I guess I just needed to hear that from someone who wasn't human. Thank you, Zenyatta!

Three Rights, Two Lefts...and Squeezing Through...

The second part of my "double whammy" running weekend consisted of a 4-mile cross-country race this morning at the absolutely beautiful Seneca Park in Rochester, New York. As if running a 10K yesterday morning --- a 10K that was very hilly and run in rather miserable weather --- wasn't enough, I felt like throwing myself at the mercy of this cross country course that I've never run before.

Well, why not?

That was my thought until the 2K mark of the race, when I was trying (emphasis on trying) to run headlong downhill only to realize that there are few things more unintelligent than running headlong downhill when you can't see the ground that you are running downhill on. Yes, the course trail was entirely mud-laced and leaf-covered, which meant that those "unsuspecting" rocks that you couldn't see because they were buried beneath wet leaves became a serious hazard.

Of, if only that were the only hazard I ran into...

I wasn't running for time to begin with, but to help my track team field a full women's team. We managed enough women, which was awesome, because I knew I wasn't going to run my best, especially on any course with hills after yesterday's 10K race.

And there were certainly hills...

I managed them, with some difficulty. I was sore enough from yesterday, but you try to forget all of that when you are out in the race. It's the other rather, um, interesting aspects that end up coloring your experience. Such as:

1) Running uphill in mud and rocks. Enough said.

2) Running downhill in mud and rocks, most of which were covered by leaves so you didn't know what you were running on: a recipe for disaster. At one downhill, I just stopped and stutter-stepped my way down. It crossed my mind that injuring myself now, for a XC race that wasn't that big a deal, would be really, really stupid. So this time, unlike yesterday, I took it easy on the downhills.

3) Three rights, two lefts equals the amount of times that I twisted my right foot and then my left. Thank goodness for all my barefoot training this summer, or I swear I would have done myself some serious damage. Even still, it wasn't fun twisting my ankles and nearly pitching forward onto my face every time it happened.

4) And then the moment I will never forget... the Squeeze Through. Right after the 5K mark, the XC trail, which had run along the back of the Seneca Park Zoo, had a fenced-in area along the back of the zoo which ended with a very small space --- about two feet wide --- which all the runners had to squeeze through to continue with the rest of the race. If you were someone say, oh, a size negative-2, this was no problem for you. But if you were someone built, um, like I am...well, this meant slowing down and actually inching though this very small space. And, well, the most polite way to put this is...this was rather tough on "the girls," who are, well, um, large to being with. Yes, give it at try sometime, squeezing through a small space with two considerable-sized melons attached to your chest. It actually made me laugh out loud at that point in the race. And truly, what else can you do at that point? Laughing there got me through the last 1K of the race.

The bottom line? I finished a very tough XC course in 33:55, one day after running a difficult 10K. I certainly wasn't the fastest today, but I finished nonetheless. And while I may be sore right now --- very, very sore --- I'm proud of what I accomplished.

Tomorrow will probably be a rest day, but it will be a well-deserved one!

Downhill With Reckless Abandon....

The first of the "double whammy" running weekend has been completed. And boy, has it left me sore tonight...

This morning was the Chestnut Ridge Challenge 10K, at Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, NY. It's an informal yet certified 10K race that is, in my opinion, one of the toughest races to run in my area. The course is run on the roadways in the park, but that doesn't make it easy in the least --- especially when the weather, in typical Buffalo end-of-October style, is, well, just short of miserable.

At 6 a.m. this morning, it was rainy and windy out, but rather warm. By the time 8:30 rolled around, the temps had dropped significantly, and the moderate rain and high winds made for cold, wet race conditions.

But, hey, since when has that stopped me?

The trick to this course, as I learned last year, is to keep it steady the first 5K to conserve some energy for the second half, which is by far the more challenging portion of the race. I did well in the first half, hitting the 5K mark around 23:45 or so. My first mistake was to slow up briefly to grab some water at this point. For some reason, it took me a good 400 meters to get my feet going again.

And then came mile 4.

And "Mother."

Yes, there she was again, the infamous, never-ending hill feared by runners all over Western New York. I was facing her for the second year in a row, only this time around I knew what to expect. Despite this knowledge, she was still a pain in the arse to climb up. The worst part about "Mother" is the fact that you think, okay, just a bit more to go, only to look up and realize that there's still another 200 yards to run...up. Actually, maybe the worst part about "Mother" is that you expend such energy running up her that you've got nothing left for the hills that follow.

But I made it...barely. I then had to try to make up time by picking it up on the downhill portions of this part of the course. There really aren't any flat parts in the second half of the race, plus I knew that I had to be careful --- I was running on wet, slick, leaf-covered roads, so the danger of slipping uphill or downhill was a realistic one. But I guess I felt like living dangerously, plus I was soaking wet and wanted to get the race done with! So I threw myself down those hills with, as my English major and English teacher mind phrased it, reckless abandon.

And it was a lot of fun.

So in the end, I did very well considering the course and the weather conditions. My time was 52:02, I was the third female overall, and the first in my age group (this won me a very tasty reward, a loaf of homemade Cinnamon bread -- yum!). More importantly, I improved my time on this course from last year by one minute and one second. I also got to see Coach Ken from my track club and my friend Trish who was my Team in Training running partner during my training for the Buffalo Half-Marathon last May. It was really cool to be able to visit with them.

Finally, a special shout out to FGR, from One Fat Guy Running, one of my fellow WNY running bloggers. FGR had a great race today, and he caught me right at the end to beat me by two seconds! Congrats again, FGR. This could be the start of a great rivalry --- like the Sabres-Leafs or Bills-Dolphins --- actually, I have a feeling that with the way he has been running lately, I'll probably be the one trying to catch him next time!

So onto tomorrow... a 6K cross-country race at Seneca Park in Rochester.

I am such a glutton for punishment.

The Streak is Broken...

Well, it was nice while it lasted!

My last three 5K races have been a string of successes --- 22:53, 22:58 and 22:46 --- and on that note I decided this past Sunday morning to run in the 1st Annual BobKat 5K for the Boys and Girls Club of Tonawanda. I've had the race up on my calendar, but hadn't officially settled on running it. I wanted to see how much mileage and training I was able to get in the week before, and then make a decision.

Now that would have been the logical thing to do. And we all know how terribly logical I can be at times.

Instead, I had an overwhelmingly busy week, the kind where you feel like you can't breathe because every time you turn around there is something else you need to get done right now and the stress level is high enough to make me start questioning my own sanity.

And because of this craziness, I only got 15 miles of running in. That's it.

So Sunday dawned and while it was a bit nippy out, it was an absolutely gorgeous fall morning. And I wanted to run. And there was a local race ten minutes from my house. What more needs to be said?

So logically, I decided to run the race. Yes, a race that I hadn't done nearly enough preparation for this week. Therefore, I shouldn't be surprised with my less-than-stellar result. I finished in 23:14, first in my age group, and the third woman overall. Decent, but not what I had been running prior to this race, so I was rather disappointed with my efforts.

I will try to rectify this situation this week, as I've got a running "double whammy" on the way. Next Saturday morning is the infamous Chestnut Ridge 10K (complete with the more infamous hill called "Mother") followed by a 6K cross-country race in Rochester on Sunday.

I think I've got my work cut out for me!