Runner Insight

(Half) Marathon Madness!

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 Oh Boy, 4:40 a.m. came way too fast! My eyes snapped open – I was excited and animated and ready for the day to begin. But with only abut 4½ hours of sleep, it was difficult to get my eyes to stay open and make them focus (or at least my version of focused ).  But since I was pumped for my half marathon, the sleepiness left me fairly quickly. 

First thing I did was head for the kitchen for my pre-race meal.  I had asked a fellow runner who was preparing to run the full marathon what he eats for his pre-race meal, and he said pancakes. Good for him, but I couldn’t imagine eating that heavy of a meal before a race.  I slurped down my usual yogurt with maple syrup, and chewed on a small banana.  This was a little more than I normally eat before going out for a run, because first off, I was eating quite a bit earlier as the race wasn’t until 6:00 a.m., and secondly: I knew I would be running at a faster pace than I normally do on my training runs.

Then it was time to get dressed which, of course, took no time at all since I had laid out my half marathon running clothes the night before. 

We had the cameras and water packed, and we were off.  We arrived at the race site around 5:20 a.m., and there was already a big crowd gathering.  We heard on the loud speaker that there were about 1,000 more racers registered in the half marathon this year.  That is a big jump in one year!

We were hanging out when my chiropractor, Dr. Kevin Krieg trotted up.  He looked ready to run, and as always…excited to see me. That man has more positive energy exuding from one eyelid than most people have in their whole body. He is a force of nature!!

I asked him what kind of nutrition he was going to eat during the race.  He pulled a Luna Moon from his pocket saying, “They’re for women.”  We laughed at the way he said it.  But no worries, men can eat them too.  Then he went off to stretch, wishing me good luck in the race. 

Within a minute another friend of ours, Leslie and her 16 year old daughter Jade showed up.  While it wasn’t pre-planned, we decided that maybe it would be easier for me, if I would run just behind them.  We made our way over to the starting area.  We positioned ourselves in the middle of the pack.  T snapped a quick pic, and then got out of the way.

Vision Runner and Leslie and Jade starting line Missoula Half Marathon 2009

If I had it to do over, I would have started closer to the edge of the road, closer to the white line, as I lost Leslie and Jade soon after the starting cannon went off at 6 a.m.  There were just too many runners vying for position, and I can’t blame them: I used to do the same thing. 

But once I found the edge of the road, and the crowds thinned out some within a few minutes, I was fine running my own pace.  I ended up passing many of the runners who started out too gung-ho, as they were already walking! 

Unlike the year before, the first few miles were fairly crowded with runners.  Last year I could hear the wild turkeys, but not this year; only the sound of fellow runners’ feet slap-slapping the pavement.

The river was beautiful as the sun started to come up.  But it was the sun that got me as we turned right into its full force.  I had to stop and break out my white cane. 

This served two purposes – one, it let my fellow runners know I did not see well, and two, it kept me from running off the road!  Once I got my bearings, I could see the silhouettes of other runners, so I followed them.

It was not until I got over McClay’s Bridge, that I almost ran into a problem. . . 

How ’bout it?

-Vision Runner   

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Baby Steps

 We have always made changes in our lives by taking baby steps.  We did this when we wanted to start eating healthier, when we switched over to drinking more water by getting re-usable BPA-free plastic water bottles, and more recently here, we have done the same thing with our desire to be more environmentally conscientious.  One of those “baby steps” was to buy reusable shopping bags.  Now the ones we bought to put our groceries in, we keep in the van.  And they are easy for us to remember when we pull up to the store.  But we also use the bags to haul in stuff from the van, such as mail and other items we have accumulated while out running errands. For example, if I have to go to say, maybe the running store to buy a couple of things, for example maybe a new running shirt!! (Yee-ha!) and some energy gels, we don’t have to get a bag from the store, we just drop them into the re-usable grocery bag on the back seat. In fact, sometimes we refer to it as “the errand bag.”

When it was light enough out for me to start running home from work in the morning, I needed to bring my lunch and running clothing to work with me.  I was using a backpack during the months I would walk or take the bus home, but I didn’t really want to run home with a backpack on.  So at first I started using plastic grocery bags. But since we were trying to cut down on our use of plastic bags, I thought I would get several tote bags to take to work.  Later during the week, when we were out running errands, we could swing by the hospital and pick them up with all my re-usable lunch containers and work clothes. 

So off we went in search of tote bags.  My plan was to buy four, one for every day I worked during the week.  I found some small tote bags that would work, but then T pointed out a nylon re-usable grocery bag that folded up into a little pouch with a small carabineer on it.  It seemed perfect, as I could just get the one bag instead of four, and bring it home each morning clipped to my running shorts.

So that’s what I got and it’s worked out great!  I no longer use the plastic bags to carry all my stuff to work.

It’s just one more baby step we are taking to go green.

How ’bout it?

-Vision Runner

 P.S. Way to go Robin! Robin won the Runner’s Edge running socks that we gave away in the donor’s drawing over at my fundraising project for Guide Dogs for the Blind www.RunOverToEllens.com. If you haven’t donated yet, go to www.FirstGiving.com/VisionRunner and donate your $1 to be entered into the future drawings…and once you donate, read your email for the special private donor’s only access link to be able to watch the daily video blog.

 Thanks!

If you’re getting value out of this blog, you can do me a favor by linking to us and mentioning my Run Over To Ellen’s fundraising project to friends and co-workers. Here’s the link information for this article:
Title: Baby Steps
URL: http://runnerinsight.com/2009/06/15/baby-stepsbaby-steps/

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Preparation For Marathon Race Day – Forget the Miles: It’s All About the Running Clothing! Really!

As the marathon day drew near, I was well into my marathon training program, and as long as I stayed healthy, there was no question – I was going to run this marathon! 

So before the cut-off date when the price to register went up, I registered for the marathon.  Now I was committed – no backing out – not that I would have, I was excited, and the excitement just kept building as I started planning what to wear for the big race.

Of course this monumental event called for a new outfit.  I knew I wanted to wear red for sure as I like red, plus there’s the psychological edge it gives to wear a fast color. But I was having trouble finding just the right pair of red shorts. It was hot, Hot, HOT in Montana that summer, and I wanted a stratus-cut for lots of ventilation.

I looked online, but was disappointed with the choices, so one afternoon I walked down to the Runner’s Edge, our local running store, and found just what I had been so desperately searching for: a pair of red Hind stratus-cut shorts.  Albeit in men’s, but that didn’t matter, as they had a size small. 

So now that I had the running shorts, I needed the right running shirt to go with it.  I found a nice blue one and I was set. I had my WrightSocks ready, and a new outfit in hand: I was stoked.

I didn’t wear my new clothes ahead of the race day, except for a short trial run.  Some runners run their long marathon training runs in the clothes they will run in on race day, so there will be no surprises as to how the garments will feel and perform – to ensure there are no unexpected seams rubbing the wrong way, etc.  But me, I bathe in the rush of new running clothes, so just a short, quick test-drive of my new race day running outfit was fine. Oh and I also got a new running hat…red, from the Runner’s Edge, too. Now I was set.

The forecast was calling for more hot weather and it ended up being one of our hottest summers on record. I thought we could find some cool neck wraps. These things are great.  We had used them the summer before, and so I knew that by soaking them in water and then putting them in the refrigerator, they get nice and cool and the refreshing coolness lasts quite a while. 

So off we went in search of neck wraps.  We found some at Wal-Mart, but when we soaked them in water they turned slimy!  Yuck!  I couldn’t wear that!  So we returned those.  We eventually found some at a sports warehouse that didn’t turn slimy. I wanted about three so that T could meet me on the road and change them out for me during the race. 

My other quandary was finding a running pocket.  I had stuff I wanted to take with me on the long run, but the little pocket in my shorts would not be big enough to hold my mints, ChapStick, energy beans, and extra battery if I decided to take my MP3 player.

I didn’t want a fanny pack as I didn’t want to deal with the bouncing of a fanny pack on my waist for 26.2 miles. So I looked in all the stores, but all I could find were cell phone cases.  I bought several of them hoping I would find the right fit, but none were what I was looking for. I even looked online, but no luck.  So I settled for a carrier a little bit larger then a cell phone case.  It was a bit bulky, but it held all the stuff I wanted to take, so it would have to do.

A year later I found the perfect running pocket by Amphipod. It was in Illinois while visiting family – right there in a local running store! I can’t seem to find it available anymore, so I’m a little afraid that they may have stopped making them.

Another last-minute buy was a pair of wrist sweat bands.  Knowing race day was going to be extremely hot, having the wrist bands would be vital to keeping sweat out of my eyes. And I was right; my hat could not keep all the sweat from running down my face as it ended up being over 90 degrees F that day!  So I got wristbands in both light blue and red, not sure which would coordinate better with my running outfit. 

Okay now you might be thinking that I was spending way too much time on what I was going to wear, more then any sane person would. But if you’ve been following my blog, you know how much I love running clothing. And for me, it’s all a part of the excitement and for sure, choosing the best running outfit is a huge motivation factor, as well.

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Just to update you on my RunOverToEllens.com 1,222.25 mile Fundraising Run, I’m over 25% of the way to Burbank, California. We’re having a drawing for anyone who’s donated at least $1 by Friday June 12. The winner will receive a free pair of Runner’s Edge running socks. Don’t fret if you’re not a runner, they work for walking or sitting, too.   So get your donations in by Friday! Just go to the secure website at www.FirstGiving.com/VisionRunner . Or you can click on the FirstGiving widget in the sidebar. Thanks a lot!

How ’bout it?

-Vision Runner

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