Me and Brett around 1968 or 1969

Half Marathon Training

Today was the start of the ramping up of the training miles for the Shamrock'n Half Marathon.  I ran 9 miles today.  I was a bit scared of this run.  I have historically had stomach cramping issues after about 4 miles though none so far this year.  Through trial and error I have for the most part figured it out, finally!!! 

Here is what I have learned about long runs:

• If you are meeting at 8am, get up at 6am
• Don't drink too much alcohol the night before
• Don't eat fatty foods like lasagna and drink wine with it
• Don't eat ice cream or any other dairy products before the run
• Drink lots of water the day before, did I say drinks lots of water?
• Don't eat anything that is whole grain or has lots of fiber
• Put some calories in you before you run it gives you fuel
• Make those calories a meal replacement drink like Boost if you can't stomach solid food
• Take 2 Immodium an hour before you run (for me, this is the most important thing I can do)
• Go with a good attitude
• Make every run a good run
• Stay mentally tough

Long distance running really is about being mentally tough.  You can get your body into shape to log those miles in but sometimes the mind is the harder thing to get into shape.  When I first began running, my mind would tell me that I was running too fast or I was out of breath so walk or there is a pain in your shoulder so stop.  You really have to learn to quiet your mind.  You have to tell yourself you can do this.  You can run 10 miles even though you have never ran that far before.  You can run up that hill even though it will hurt and you will be sucking wind when you get to the top.  Today I heard something on a running podcast that really spoke to me.  I guess this is a well known running adage but one I had never heard before.  "Pain is just the fear leaving your body."  I was having some shoulder pain at the time so I kept repeating that over and over and pretty soon I forgot about the pain. 

Trail Run Part II

Map of 1/16 Trail Run at Folsom LakeToday my running group ran out at Folsom Lake again on a 6.2 (10k) course.  We ran 3 loops.  This is not my favorite way to run.  I am a person that likes running one big loop.  I don't know why but running around and around just doesn't fit my personality very well.  This was a group race with awards handed out at the end.  My running group, gO Running, is a lot of fun.  Everyone waits for the rest of the group to finish.  They cheer and clap when you finish.  How great is that? 

Afterwards, one of our members-Heather, cooked us breakfast.  She didn't run so she could cook us breakfast. Is that great or what?  We had eggs, monkey bread, bananas, oranges, hot cocoa, chocolate milk, coffee.  It was great.  I highly recommend running with a group.  They hold you accountable, they encourage you.  It is just the best running experience you can find.  I ran for 9 months on my own and it was hard.  I really like running with a group.

The trail run was tough.  You body has to work much harder to run.  The single track part of the run slopes on the left and the right so you better have some flexibility in your ankles which I do  not have on the left ankle.  I hurt it pretty bad playing soccer when I was 28.  It was never the same.  Nothing a few Ibuprofen won't cure at home. 

Earlier in the week a bunch of people from my running group went and saw the movie "From Hood to Coast".  I highly recommend it for it's entertainment value.  You don't have to be a runner to enjoy this movie.  If you like "characters"  you would probably enjoy this movie.  It has funny moments as well as poignant moments. 

In the coming weeks I plan on finalizing the purpose of this blog.  One is to hopefully motivate people with what I am doing.  I hope to provide some tools for people who like me are attempting their first marathon and for others the tools on raising money for a cause.  That is the underlying reason for this whole thing I am doing.  I would like to raise money for spinal cord injury research.

Trail Run

Today my group ran a cross country trail at Sierra College.  I ran two loops around it which is about 5.5 miles.  I had to stop and walk a bit because I am not in shape for climbing hills even short ones.  It's all good though.  Trail runs are fun and stimulating.  This was the first time in recent memory that I left my I POD Shuffle in the car.  I have been reading Jeff Galloway's Marathon Training Book.  I was reading last night about proper running form.  I had been running about 2 miles when I remembered I wanted to try out what he was talking about in his book.  He says to think of yourself as a marionette.  Head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees and knees over ankles.  When I thought about that I probably added 2 inches to my running height.  I realized I was pushing myself down when I ran. 

It was kind of hard to keep that form going.  I then realized that my arms were swinging side to side across my body  instead of pumping up and down.  I started to have a sore spot in my left shoulder so I tried to relax both shoulders and not to clinch my hand.  Then I remembered how it was when I tried to learn how to play golf.  There was just too much fine tuning of your body in order to hit that little white ball.  I soon gave up as I had to see a Chiropractor every time I tried.  Anyway, sometimes running is like that.  So many little things you do wrong can add up to a lot of discomfort either right away or down the line.  I think that during the month of January I will concentrate on having better running form. 

Also, this week was the beginning of our training for a half marathon in March called Shamrock'n.  It begins and ends at Raley Field in West Sacramento.  At least I know what I am getting myself into this time unlike my first half marathon.  I am learning by trial and error what I can eat and not eat, and drink and not drink in the days leading up to a long run.  As time goes on, I will be posting those issues.

A little bit about me, a little bit about him

My brother and I are four years apart.  In fact my Mom brought him home on my fourth birthday.  I told her to take him back because I already had a brother and I wanted a sister.  So much for great starts!!!  We didn't always get a long while growing up.  It wasn't until he got into Junior High and then High School that we started clicking in a way that would ultimately lead to a real friendship.  My brother loved sports. He played baseball and football.  He was very good at both.  For a boy so young, he really took to the physicality of football.  He liked the discipline, the training that it took.  He did a lot of weight training which remade his body from a skinny kid to a very muscular young man.  He did all of this before he turned 17.   I had always been a tomboy.  I rode mini bikes, skated, water skied, skateboarded and was always competitive with the boys in the neighborhood.  That is until I became a teenager and stopped being active.  This led to rapid weight gain which I didn't understand. By the time I was a Junior in High School, I had gained 20 pounds and really didn't know how it had happened. 

My brother broke his neck in a diving accident at a Lake near where we lived. He wasn't even 17.  I had yet to turn 21.  I was heading off to college and my brother was fighting for his life in a hospital in Santa Clara.  I think I cried everyday at school.  I know I gained 10 additional pounds that year.  When my brother was getting ready to come home after being in the hospital for six months, the Shriners had a fund raiser for him.  It was a fun run.  I don't remember the distance but it was called Run For Brett.  I did not participate because I was too out of shape and embarrassed to try and run.  The money that was raised went to modifying my parent's house so they could enlarge the shower in their bathroom into a roll-in shower for my brother.  The money also was used to make a raised platform from the sidewalk to the doorway so he could get in the house with his motorized wheelchair.

My brother's injury is at the C-4/C-5 level. C is for cervical, 4 and 5 are the vertebrae that are involved.  This is what makes him a quadriplegic.  His spinal cord was compromised between the 4th and 5th vertebra. He has complete nerve damage.  He has partial  use of his arms because he had a little bicep and tricep muscle movement come back.  He worked very hard to get those back and be able to use his arms in his every day life.  He has learned to feed himself, and he and his attendants are very ingenious in what they have done to modify everyday things for his use.

My brother graduated from High School with his class. He went to Junior College and from there enrolled at UC Berkeley.  He graduated from Berkeley with BS in Business and went on to get an MBA from there also. He worked for IBM and for the State of California. If my brother can do all of that, well I can run a measly 26.2 miles.  So little brother back in 1980 I couldn't run for you, but I can do it today.  This is why Lori Runs for Brett.

First Run of 2011

So today  my running group met at 8am for a trail run at Folsom Lake, yes as in Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues fame.  It was raining and about 45 degrees.  Runners are not wimpy people.  There were probably 15-20 of us out there running in the rain.  We ran on a single track most of the way through puddles and mud and over rocks and stuff like that.  Really it's like being a kid again.  I've gotten just as wet if not more wet playing soccer in the rain. 

I found this website, DailyMile, and am using them to track my mileage.  It was great to see that it works. Yeah, one less thing to worry about with this blogging thing.  I was getting all worried on how to track my mileage and really didn't want to keep up an Excel spreadsheet as I already do that with my running group and I make lovely spreadsheets at work. 

About half way into my run today, the ol IT Band started aching.  It had stopped hurting prior to the CIM (California International Marathon) where I was part of a relay team.  I took off the month of October and half of November to rehab my knee. I think I ran too many miles too soon and that activated the IT Band.  I took a month off again and worked hard on rehabbing with weights and the elliptical and only walks with the hubby and Joie my dog.  So now I have an achy IT Band, which is becoming a dirty word to me.  I religiously use the foam roller on it to the point I want to cry like a big baby.  I can never get the tension to release.  I follow up the foam roller with about 7 minutes of stretching the hamstrings, the quads, the inner thighs, the glutes, and the calves.  Sometimes it feels like I spend more time on the rolling, stretching routine then I actually spend running.

I hope to find an answer for the IT Band.  I may go to my Podiatrist and see if I have any problems with one leg shorter then another.  My brother has a significant difference in his leg length so it is worth checking it out.  I've read that differences in leg lengths can exacerbate the IT Band.  We'll see.