Argh Hills!

It's official: I've signed up for the Maine Marathon. 153 days to go. The weather is warming up, almost as if we jumped right from winter to summer, but I know it's going to get a lot worse by the time training gets intense. Hydration is going to be a HUGE issue. After doing a bit of research, I'm planning on picking up 20 oz. Amphipod hand-held water bottle. I can't take the water belt any more. I put in on for a 5-miler last week, and was surprised by how bulky and uncomfortable it was. Did I really run an entire marathon with that thing? I'm over it. I'm hoping the handheld option will be better.

 I'm excited about the Nike+ Running App I've been using to track my runs. It's free, and for the data-usage-conscious, it uses maybe 2 MB/hour. It provides SO many stats, and the leadership board is kind of addictive and encouraging. Definitely recommended.

Today's run was the longest one yet this year - 6 miles. Since the last marathon, I've relocated to central VT, where it's incredibly beautiful and there's a lot less cars, but WAY hillier. I've been taking on this route towards Sugarbush, and the hills are RIDICULOUS, and kind of just keep going for miles and miles. It almost makes me miss that one little half-mile hill on Battery Street in Burlington. One way or another, I'm going to have to make my peace with hills.

On the way back down. This hill just keeps going forever.

I was happy to get in the 6 miles today, but not ecstatic about my pace. I'm not going to make excuses. My fastest 5-miler so far was 9:07/mile, last Tuesday. Since then, I haven't been able to get back to it. I really want to be able to do 5 miles in under 45 minutes, and I think I can make it happen - particularly if I keep training on these hills!

I do know that mindset is more important than anything. The mantra I am repeating to myself, which admittedly was most prominent in my mind during the 9-minute miles, is "mile 20 is going to be way harder than this." It somehow puts things in perspective, knowing that the more I push myself now, the more it will pay off later.

Have I mentioned that the "official" training doesn't even start until June?

Hills and Frills

Following last week's 16-mile run, I had a bit of a breather with a 12-mile run yesterday. It's strange to think that I'm now at the point that 12 miles doesn't feel like a big deal. However, I'm not thrilled about next week's 18-mile run. That sounds impossible. Will I ever stop thinking like this?

Poor LTB's feet are in bad shape. He went down to PA to visit some friends for a few days and returned without his sneakers. His friend will ship them back, but we still had the 16-miler to contend with. Like a rockstar, LTB slipped on his Vibram FiveFingers and hit the pavement. He got the barefoot shoes last summer and has walked all over town with him, but this was the first time he ran for a long distance.

I don't know how, but he made it 14 miles before he started walking, practically leaving a trail of blood on the sidewalk. He took pictures upon returning home, but I'll save you the gross-out and post the day-after-bandaged-feet instead.

He's managed to continue with all the scheduled runs, and he's slowly healing. Blisters are the worst. A few weeks ago, I had some bad ones on the back of my heels thanks to my fairly new Doc Martins, and then my sock slipped down my heel at some point during the run. It hurt a lot, but enough to block it out and continue running. By the time I got home my sock was soaked in blood. That's alway nice to see. Ah, the joys of running.

A weird thing happened during yesterday's run. It was a Saturday, which meant there lots of people downtown, and lots of bikers, pedestrians, dogs, etc. on the bike path. I turned the corner onto the waterfront path, and suddenly found myself surrounded by runners with bibs pinned to their clothing. I suddenly panicked, feeling for sure that I was not where I was supposed to be, and someone would be escorting me off the path at any second.

Not to worry, it was the Burlington Unplugged half-marathon. I actually ran this a couple years ago, and remembered my frustrations with the number of non-racers on the path. That's kind of the deal with this race. I thought about doing it again this year, but wanted to save the money, and completely forgot about it until I was pretty much in it.

It was kind of fun. Conveniently, I was running 12 miles, about the length of the race. People were cheering on, trying to pass me, handing out water (I didn't take any, feeling certain someone would call me a fraud. 4 miles later, when I ran out of my water and off the race path, I regretted this decision).

My times have been ... acceptable. I don't feel I'm as fast as I want to be, and I'm afraid I won't make my sub-4-hour goal. For long runs, I'm closer to 10 minutes/mile than 9:10. I know I still have time, and ultimately, I think it's more important that I finish the thing and run the whole time without any injury.

I have noticed that when I do time my runs (which I do most of the time), my minutes per mile is definitely related to the changes in elevation, which I suppose is not too surprising. I'm also not sure if I've measured my miles correctly, but that's a different story. So, when I'm running a mile that's level or downhill, I can do it under 9 minutes, even if I'm on my 11th mile (the 15th mile may be a different story). However, the hill on Battery Street? The 6-block half-mile hill that is the bane of my existence? That takes that mile up to like 10:15.

Obviously there's hills in the marathon, including the Assault on Battery. I don't even know how I managed to do the first half of the 2010 marathon in under 2 hours. But I did. Let's see if I can do it again.