When You Can't Run, Volunteer

Today I volunteered at a race for the first time. Here are my observations:

1) Local races always need help: I am still tender in my right ankle, so though I was signed up for this local 5K race (sponsored by Carbondale's Neighborhood Food Co-op to benefit an area food pantry), I decided not to run it. I haven't gone for a run since I hurt my ankle at the Springfield Lincoln Presidential Half, and I didn't need to have my first run back after this minor injury be a race, even a small, local, friendly 5K. But I wanted to help, so I showed up (rode over on my bike). I was put in charge of course maps (no one seemed to need one) and was asked to help runners over a speed bump on the course. I was happy to do these small tasks to help the race organizers.

2) If you want sympathy after injury, show up at a race with a cane: Runners always seem to want to hear about other runners' injuries! So many people offered their sympathy when they saw me gimping about with a cane. They wanted to hear about how and where I suffered this injury, and wanted to know how I was taking care of it. This made me feel much better than sitting at home watching reality TV reruns.

3) Finish line applause is always welcome: After the racers left Evergreen Park, the park became oddly silent. I'd never been at a race when I wasn't part of the pack setting off on the course. The big timing clock looked awfully lonely! I started chatting with a man and his wife who just happened to be visiting the park, explaining what the race was for (charity), how long (3.1 miles), how soon the runners would be back (fastest man was around 17). We formed a little cheering squad for the incoming runners. I had no problem cheering for people I didn't know, and if I knew the person, I'll yell out his or her name ("Go Marla! Go Judy!"). Some folks looked like they really appreciated the support at the end.

4) Even if you aren't running, come by for your T-shirt: This race has great giveaways, if you are patient enough to wait around until after the kid races (which I discussed at length with a little blond boy who was waiting for his father to finish the 5K). It was so cute to see him and his brothers cheer for their dad as he crossed the finish line. Again I assumed my position as "Speedbump Girl" as the kids ran laps around the park (one lap for the littlest kids, two laps for the in-between kids, three for the oldest kids). It was not timed, and everyone got a ribbon for completing their laps. After the kids were through, there were prize giveaways, massages from students at the local community college, and an awards ceremony. Last year at this race, I hung around because I was pretty sure I had gotten an age group award. But this year, I stayed through the whole ceremony and cheered for every person who received an award. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon, and honestly, I didn't miss running.

When A Half Marathon Becomes a 10K: Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon

Today I started the Lincoln Presidential Half in Springfield, IL but I didn't finish the race. I can tell I've matured as a runner because I am not upset. My observations from today: This is a great fun race. Since Springfield is the capital of Illinois and linked with Abraham Lincoln, this is a history-themed race. I am a history buff, so it was fun to run at the start of the race through the Lincoln Homestead and past the Illinois Capital Building (the state may produce corrupt governors, but the building's still impressive). The race medal is a giant penny, and after the race, finishers get to post for a picture with Abe and Mary Todd (impersonators, of course). The race course also takes you through the streets and parks of Springfield--I passed the Pizza Machine (you may have seen it on tv--they make pizzas so big they use a crane to get them to the tables) and the Holy Land Diner (heard their food was great). I made it into Washington Park and a little beyond before I had to surrender for the day.

I was having a great day--3 miles in at a 9 min pace, 58:30 for 6.2. I noticed in mile five though that my right ankle was a little queasy, not terribly painful, but definitely uncomfortable. I made it to 6.2 okay, but in later in mile six and in mile seven, my ankle was definitely hurting me. I couldn't put weight on my right foot, could not push off, and therefore, my whole stride was out of wack. Right then and there, I had a decision to make. Keep walk-shuffling as the pain grew worse? Grit it out? Flag someone down to help me? Waves of runners were passing me, and I didn't see the point of trying to run through the pain, which was not severe, but plenty annoying.

After mile eight, one of the race volunteers (many of them on course on bikes) spotted me and asked me what was wrong. I hobbled over and sat down. Race was over for today. I told Derek (a local high school track coach, and might I add, quite a handsome young man) that I thought I had an ankle sprain. He called for help, and I sat and waited for one of the personal trainers who was also a volunteer to arrive. Derek asked if this was my first half; I told him, "no this was supposed to be my eleventh." We talked running for a bit and he filled out a report on me, but knew I was not in trouble from the heartbeat/blood pressure perspective. I was not in massive pain, just in the kind of warning signal pain that said to me, better stop now and take care of this. The trainer (whose name I have forgotten, forgive me, handsome trainer man) helped me peel off my compression sock (he noticed that I wasn't yelping in pain while taking it off, a good sign) and checked my ankle and got me ice for it. No massive swelling but definitely tender, pretty much only in one spot (on the right, just below my ankle bone). I got a van ride back to the starting line at Prairie Heart Hospital.

Back at the start, in the medical tent, another volunteer taped my ankle. I could see all the bright shiny penny medals around finishers' necks, and felt a twinge of jealousy. But there's always another race (in fact, I'm signed up for races in May and June). I think this is a relatively minor injury, but I knew deep down that I was taking a big risk toughing it out. And what would be the point of that? One of the reasons I run is that I enjoy the sensation of my body in motion, and to run a race where something was definitely out of wack was not what I was up for today. Now I'm back home, and I'm resting and recuperating with more ice. And chocolate. If this had been last year, I would have been mega-disappointed and filled with anger at myself and other factors(did I run too much this week and make myself susceptible to an injury? Were the brick sections on the course to blame for my unstable ankles?) The answer to both questions is probably yes, but there's no use getting mad at myself (or the brick streets of Springfield) for this injury, which I hope won't take long to take care of. I hope I get that finish line penny-pic with Abe and Mary Todd next year!

Race Day at McKendree: Ramble Into Spring 10 Miler, Lebanon, IL

Today I ran the McKendree University Ramble Into Spring 10 Mile Race. I finished at approximately 1 hour, 34 mins (official race times to be posted). Here are my observations for the day.

1) Don't underestimate a 10 miler. If you do a lot of half-marathons (13.1), you might fall into the trap of underestimating races that are slightly shorter (like 10 milers and 15Ks). I did not underestimate this race located on the campus of McKendree University, a liberal arts school about an hour and 45 minutes from where I live. The reason? I ran the Harvest Challenge Half Marathon at McKendree back in the fall, and I knew the course would have hills. The half-marathon was challenging; there was no reason to believe that the 10 miler would not be as well.

2) A bunch of races: Actually, there were three races this morning: a 5K run/walk, a 10K, and the ten miler. They all had the same 8 am start time, and they shared the first 2 miles. Despite this, all the various courses were clearly marked and there was no confusion.

3) For cheapskates like me: The price tag of this race appealed to my cheap side: $13 if you registered beforehand, $18 on race day. For your $13, you got a t-shirt, a car decal, and some flyers for upcoming races in the area. Medals and trophies did go to overall and age group winners, however.

4) A friendly group of volunteers, students, faculty and staff: This is not one of those big city races where there are bands and music and a lot of distractions. There were however friendly folks at each water stop--I never had to fight to get a drink. In addition to water, the five-mile stop had GU (Tri-Berry flavor), and several stops had Gatorade. I used some of the Tri-Berry packet, but before I got most of it down, I dropped it at one of the water stops. Immediately one of the student volunteers said, "Don't worry, we'll get it." So even though there were not a lot of cheering onlookers, I appreciated the work of all these volunteers.

5) Hills, hills, hills: This was not as hilly as the Harvest Challenge, where there's a section dubbed "Hill Country." But there were quite a few rolling hills, especially out on the country roads. Because we were running on one-lane country roads, the race director cautioned us at the pre-race briefing about listening to headphones. I did not listen to music during this race, and it's a good thing I didn't, because I was the one yelling "Car!!" when cars would come up behind us. A girl running in front of me was so into her music that she didn't hear me, so I kept yelling "Car!!" until she moved out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. No, she did not "Thank Me Later."

6) I was overdressed, I admit. I am constitutionally cold, so I had on more clothes at the race start than I probably needed. I was in a pink jacket, pink long-sleeved wicking shirt, long compression pants with compression socks underneath. and a sturdy pair of Asics. As the day warmed up, I slightly regretted my choice to wear the jacket, but I didn't take it off and tie it around my waist (too much time would be wasted by that).

7) I want to thank Jon, my husband and runner support, for getting me to this race. Jon has not been feeling great lately, so he didn't get a finish line pic of me. No problem though, this race was chip timed (the disposable kind that you tie on your laces), so the results will soon be posted at
Race Day at McKendree. If you are in the Saint Louis/southern Illinois area and you are interested in the races at McKendree, visit that link.

Update 9:03 pm: race finish times now available

finish time (chip): 1:34.05
overall finish position: 94 out of 178 10 mile runners
age group (F, 30-49): 26 out of 62
average pace: 9:25/M

Tenth Half Marathon: Berry College Half Marathon

Today I ran my tenth half marathon, the Berry College Half Marathon, in a time of 2:05:16. I'm away from home on a slow internet connection, but will post a full race report when I return to my own laptop, which I didn't bring :(
But I will say this was a great race in a beautiful setting!

2/20/12: After getting home, I now have time to reflect and write my race report!

1) Destination race: For most runners, a destination race is an event in an exotic faraway place, or maybe is a race set in a place with warmer temps and luxury shopping. Doing the Berry College Half Marathon was a destination race for me. I had the good fortune to visit Berry, a beautiful college located an hour outside of Atlanta, GA, several years ago when I was a visiting poet. This time I again had the opportunity to give a poetry reading. The day after my reading, I ran the half marathon, and later in the day, I met with Berry students for a Q&A session about poetry and writing. This may not be someone else's idea of a destination race, but for me, a poet who runs, it was perfect.

2) A scenic race in a scenic place: Berry has one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, with ornate gothic buildings and acres and acres of green space! This race essentially had two components--the first part led us up to the mountain campus, where the school's original buildings are, and the second part brought us back to main campus via the Viking Trail, a flat, somewhat narrow paved path with Georgia pines on either side. Up to the mountain campus was tough--I saw a lot of folks walking. I did not, because of my fear about not running again if I start to walk!

3) College spirit: I love doing races on college campuses. There are always a lot of volunteers, and there's a real community spirit on race day. In addition to the half marathon (which was the sixth one done at Berry), there was a 10K, a 5K, and a fun run for the kids. There was an all-you-care-to-eat pasta dinner the night before the races, and abundant post-race reception food. Out on the course, there were six water stations. Gatorade, GU and shot blox were also available on the course. The only glitch was that they ran out of safety pins for the race bibs!

4) This was not a huge big-city race (about 600 did the half), but there were a lot of nice touches nonetheless: a medal for all half finishers, a wicking t-shirt, lots of freebies in the goody bag (including a coupon for money off the GA marathon). Timing was quick and efficient due to built-in chips on the race bibs. You went to a little table, gave your bib number and a few seconds later, you received a little print out with your chip time--very efficient.

5) The race did not have pace groups, but just before the race began, I was handed the 2:15 pace sign and told to stand there with it. So runners proceeded to line up behind me, asking "are you the pace runner?" I quickly corrected anyone who thought I was going to lead them to a PR! I thought back to my race in Madison, and how the two runners who lead the 2:10 pace group had to hold that sign high for 13.1 miles (they did switch it back and forth between them, but still). As soon as the race started I handed the sign off to a volunteer!

6) Travel considerations: This is the first time I've travelled alone to a race. I'm actually more tired from my travel on Sunday than from the race on Saturday. I want to thank my friend, poet and Berry professor Sandra Meek, for taking my race photos. If and when I travel solo to another race, I will make sure I have the following things: a rolling duffel bag (carrying my duffel by hand quickly got old), noise cancelling headphones (in addition to whatever headphones I use for the race itself), earplugs and eyeshades (sleepmask). All of those things would have made my travel more pleasant.

Fly With the Eagles Half Marathon: 2/11/12 (Ninth Half Marathon)

Today I ran the Fly With the Eagles Half Marathon--my ninth half marathon and the first half marathon I have run twice. I finished with an unofficial (Garmin) time of 2:07:08. (Official time posted on 2/14: 2:06.53) Here are my race observations from earlier today:

1) Support your local running club and its signature race.
This race is put on by my local running club, River to River Runners. This was the sixth time for the race--the first time the race was held there were 78 finishers. Today there were over 200. Great growth for a small town race.

2) The race itself takes place in the beautiful Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. We had a tiny bit of snow last night, so trees, branches and both the gravel and paved roads in the Refuge had a light coating of snow. I had to watch my footing. It was so cold at the start of the race (20 degrees, but wind chill made it feel like 14). Fortunately I was dressed for the weather with lots and lots of layers. I even had "hot hands" in my gloves, gloves which were then topped by mittens. Mittens always make me feel like a little kid!

3) Since this is a small town race, there's not a lot of "bling," but there was more than last year. Someone must have got money from the local tourism bureau because this year everyone got a finisher's medal, which didn't happen last year. We also got a very warm sweatshirt hoodie and a drawstring bag. What to do with the hoodie and the bag became a problem because Jon (husband and runner support) had already dropped me off. I put the sweatshirt on over my long sleeve wicking shirt and put my zip up jacket over the whole array of layers. I folded up the drawstring bag and put it in my waist belt. I feared for a moment that I'd be too hot, but I'm constitutionally cold. I'm cold in regular clothes. So I looked a little like the Stay-Puf Marshmallow Man in my layers, but I never got too cold.

4) This is the first half that I have done twice. I finished last year in 2:09:58, so this was quite an improvement. One thing that had taken on mythic proportions in my mind was the hill between mile 7 and 8. Last year it seemed so huge. This year I looked at it and thought, "well you're not so big." I even wondered if this was the same hill. Well, of course it was. I've just become a stronger runner. I dealt with the hill and with the wind--it threatened to push me off the course at several points. Winter running is not for the meek, no matter how fast or slow you are.

5) Though I have improved a lot from last year's running of the race, I was shut out of the age group awards (this was my first half in my new age group). I was prepared for that, however. I know, from reading race results, that many of the really fast women in this area are in the 45-50 age group. But what impressed me was that everyone seemed to have gotten faster from last year. Lots of folks I spoke with talked about PRs and minutes shaved off. Since the conditions were not optimal, I can only conclude that the more you run, the faster you get.

6) I had a weird mantra throughout the race. The word "walk" kept going through my head, not as in "I'm so tired that I'm going to walk" but more "this is easy, this is a walk." I would breathe out on that one short syllable---"walk"--and feel calm and centered.

7) The only rough spot was the .1 back to the finish. Last year was warmer, so the area was a muddy slog then. This time, it was rutty, bumpy, uneven terrain. I kept stumbling, but since it's only .1, it was over faster than I knew. This patch would be grass in summer, but in winter's end, it's a crusty little piece full of tire tracks and bunchgrass.

8) I don't have a post-race photo because I thought I'd be slower than last year because of the weather and because I didn't give my self enough credit for the work I'd done in preparation. I hadn't done a long run of 13 in a while, but I've been running consistent 28-30 mile weeks for quite a while. So I told Jon to look for me at around 2:15. He missed me.

9) I'm very happy with my finish time and plan on giving myself more credit for my hard work in the future. Next week I run the BCEMS Half Marathon in Rome, Georgia on the beautiful campus of Berry College. I hope it's warmer there!

Half Marathon Checklist: February 7, 2012

My first race of the year, the Fly With the Eagles Half Marathon (Marion, IL), is this Saturday (February 11)! I can feel my anticipation and excitement growing. On today's training run, I thought it might be a good idea to make a list of everything I'll need to make this race a happy experience. So here's my list for a happy half--your needs may differ:

Tangibles:
1) Attire:
I need compression tights and socks, a good supportive bra, a wicking t-shirt, and either a long-sleeved wicking shirt or a zip-up jacket or both. I like a knit cap (usually self-made) for winter runs and a baseball hat for summer runs. I tend toward being cold, so I dress warmly for winter runs and races. The weather looks really good for this Saturday so I'm hoping I won't have to do too many layers. I wear gloves (cold hands, runny nose).

2) Shoes:
I would not call this a trail race at all, but it does take place in a national wildlife refuge. I remember last year the really fast folks had mud all over the backs of their legs! I had some mud myself. I will wear a pair of Asics that are pretty sturdy and mud-resistant.

3) mp3 Player:
I've done halfs with and without music. This is a rural race, so I'll use music. I like to zone out with some steady-paced music and look at all the trees! I use crappy headphones because I sweat all over them! I use the over-the-head or behind-the ears kind of headphones because I can't stand anything stuck in my ears for any length of time, much less two hours!

4) Waist Belt:
Yes, they look dorky. But they are where I stash my gels (which I usually break out at mile 7), my phone, and anything else I might need. I don't use a water carrier belt for a half, but if I ever run a full, I'll definitely use one. If my mp3 player doesn't have a clip, it goes in my waist carrier.

5) Watch:
You can go old school with a regular watch or fancy with a Garmin or Polar. I've done races with my Garmin but I have had times when I've forgotten any kind of timing device! It's great to have a watch on just to know what your pace is.

6) Duffle Bag:
This bag has my own stash of safety pins (after enough races, you end up with a bunch of them), vaseline (body glide if you want to spend money), a change of clothes and shoes for after, a snack for after (lots of races have great post-race food, but bring your own if you are picky), a towel, and wet wipes and/or cleansing pads. It is also good to have a duffle along for any t-shirt or other freebies given to you by race organizers. Some are generous with free samples, etc. And leave room for your medal!

Intangibles:
1) A training base:
I've been logging 28-30 miles a week. For me, this is enough mileage to know I'll finish my halfs pretty comfortably. It's also do-able given my teaching schedule and other weekly commitments.
2) Racing weight:
I race best at 132-133 lbs. I don't freak out if I'm heavier, but if I'm lighter, I feel too fragile.
3) Confidence:
I know I've worked hard and whatever finish time I get, I'll be proud of my achievement.

Running Resolutions for 2012

Traditionally, the end of the year is the time when people join a gym, pledge to eat healthier, start an exercise plan and vow to get in shape. My journey to getting fitter did not start with a New Year's Resolution, but with a late spring hospital stay, so I had a headstart on establishing better habits. Over time, running has come to mean more than merely a way of staying in shape and burning calories. It has become a form of meditation, of calming and controlling scattered emotions, of letting my body and mind get to know one another better. With all this in mind, here are my running resolutions for 2012:

1) To continue to take my running day by day, but to observe trends over weeks, months, and years.

2) To not care so much about speed. I am not naturally gifted with speed, and though I would love to run faster, I must realize not every run will be fast. Some runs should be slower than others. Some runs should be walks, or have walking in them.

3) To not be afraid of hard workouts--hill work and interval workouts especially.

4) To run a marathon's worth of miles each week, barring extremes of weather. I may never run an actual marathon, but 26 weekly miles is doable!

5) To get the right gear to run in cold weather, or rainy weather, or hot weather. This means I will not use the weather as an excuse, unless the weather is truly dangerous.

6) To hydrate more frequently, so I don't get the mid-run parched throat blues. In connection with this, to reduce my salt intake so that my running can work hand in hand with my HBP medication. One of the reasons I keep running is that it has reduced the amount of high blood pressure medication I'm taking to a single pill.

7) To have a good time at races, no matter how I finish. To enjoy the race, whether it is a small local one or a bigger shindig with lots of runners. To thank race directors and volunteers for all their hard work.

8) To learn to love 5Ks just a little more. If I could run a 24 minute 5K, that would be great. But if I do one in 28 instead, it's not the end of the world.

9) To run light--by that I mean to take running itself seriously, but not to take "being a runner" seriously. To have a fun attitude to go along with my ability to work hard.

10) To volunteer at a race and support other runners. Time to give back!