Beer Cures What Ails You

All last week I was hardcore itching for a run.  In between rolling pin + IT band tears, I kept going knowing that it would get me out running quicker.  I had high hopes that Thursday would be the day.  But I failed the “jogging in place without stabbing pain” test that I had set forth for myself.  Luckily Friday afternoon I was passing with flying colors.  As soon as I got home from work I got changed and flew out the door.  I wanted to run somewhere in the range of 3-6 miles depending on how I felt.  Ok, full disclosure:  I wanted to run 6 miles, but I was willing to let my IT bands dictate the distance.  Annoying.

I was seriously flying for the first mile and a half.  My legs were FRESH.  And fast.  And fabulous.  And the air was cold.  Long sleeve tech tee and shorts weather is my FAVE.  But about a mile and a half in, my right IT band and quad started tightening up.  So I turned around at the 2 mile mark.  My leg got tighter and tighter and my pace got slower and slower.  Wah wah.

I did 4 miles in 38:18 for a pace of 9:35.

Let’s play:  When does the leg start to hurt??

1. 9:27
2. 9:18
3. 9:45
4. 9:48

It’s a new board game Hasbro is coming out with, I think. 

To celebrate commiserate my run, Kyle and I went out for dinner and drinks Friday night.  Oktoberfest mini tour?  Yes please!  I’m fairly certain I read somewhere that great beer heals IT band issues.  Bottoms up!  I had four 6 oz. samples of four of the tour beers….. and I called it a night.  Or I did after a mini dance party at my apartment with Kyle shaking his head at me in embarrassment.  Truly I just think he’s jealous of my moooooooooooves.

Saturday I was bummed to miss out on the group run.  I had high hopes of joining but after Friday’s run, I decided some biking/stretching/icing/rolling was in the cards.  I biked a boring 11 miles on the stationary bike at my gym, and then walked behind the building to get some froyo. 

P.S.  Whoever decided to put the great froyo place in the same building as my gym is awesome.

And because I could feel the beer working its magic on my IT bands, clearly we had to enjoy some more on Saturday night.  I got dolled up for the first time in 4 weeks.  True story:  I hate unpacking, and instead leave my suitcases open in my kitchen and “unpack” as I need the items.  I found my curling iron still tucked away inside.  Uh… sorry I look like a pile all the time KK. Ooops.

Since Bama was playing, I had to sport some crimson.  ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Sunday I was bound and determined to get in some miles, though I promised myself that as soon as my leg started hurting/tightening I would stop and just walk home.  I was concerned that continuing to run on Friday was just putting off my recovering.  I kept the pace slow, and made it 6 pain free miles.  WHOO!

I did 6 miles in 59:10 for a pace of 9:52.

My legs definitely didn’t feel fresh as a daisy, as they had on Friday.  Apparently biking zero miles and then trying to bike 11 miles fast will cause your legs to be tired.  Who knew?!?!  Towards the end of the run, my legs were feeling tired, and I started to get concerned, until I realized that they were just feeling fatigued vs. dead.

It got me thinking about the IT band issues from the race on Sunday.  It almost felt like my IT bands and quad were non-functioning after a certain point.  Instead of the muscle contracting and relaxing with each step it was just contracted and locked up.  It explains why my leg felt so heavy and my stride was so shortened, because my hamstring (which is definitely weak in comparison, and possibly part of the problem) was doing most of the work instead of sharing the duty.  It also explains why my hamstrings were insanely tight after the race (hamstring issues are about the one issue I haven’t had, knock on wood!).  Anyone have any knowledge or experience on this?

Either way, it was nice to have this worked out in my brain.  I know I couldn’t push through whatever it was, because I tried, but it was still annoying the heck out of me that I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t, you know?  Hmmm… now on to correcting!

Oh and then some more beer was consumed while watching the Packers win (although they were looking rough to start with).  Beer is medicine I can get on board with, clearly.

Fall Race Plans + Alabama Orientation Recap

My running has been pretty boring this week.  Easy paced miles with low heart rate, and striders thrown in at the end.  My allergies are attempting to wreak havoc on my system, and after 3 nights of sleep, my insomnia reared it's ugly head the last two nights.  Meh.  I figured it was high time to provide you with my Alabama orientation recap.

But first, I wanted to share that I had made a decision regarding a fall marathon.  But wait?  You think to yourself.  Didn't you already make this decision?  Like...twice or so?  Yes yes I did.  School is going awesome, and it's a ton of work, reading, writing, etc.  Much like I imagined it to be.  Surprisingly, I am adjusting better than I expected.  However, the more research I do about marathon training and specifically heart rate training, I realize that my endurance is not where I want it to be for a go at 26.2 miles.  I'm sure the race would go fine, and probably better than my last two injury fests, but I want to really knock it out of the park, and I don't think a quick 5 week schedule crammed in to heavy study sessions is going to do the trick.

Instead, I'm taking on my back up plan race of the Fargo FM half on October 8th.  The course is super flat, and should be nice and chilly.  I love the half marathon distance, sand that's what I'm most prepared to run, so that's what I'll do.  And then because halfs don't destroy your body like fulls do, I can still run some fun local races in October before the blizzards arrive.  :)

And shockingly, I plan to employ a standard length of marathon training for my spring race:  my 2nd go at the Green Bay Marathon!  And during the frigid winter months leading up to that training program, I will be working my tushy off with heart rate training to get my endurance where it needs to be.  #yaycloud

Ok, on to the bama recap. :)

I arrived in Birmingham, AL on August 17th, and met some of my cohortians at the airport.  (There are 43 of us in my incoming class).  A shuttle took us to our hotels in Tuscaloosa, and we got to see some of the horrific tornado damage.  Interesting fun fact:  I got my acceptance email an hour before the tornado hit, so I was glued to my tv as if it was "my" home being undertaken by storms.  Yikes.  We went to the nearby restaurant/bar to meet some of the other students and professors.

Thursday morning orientation started bright and early and it was go go go for about 12 hours.  There was a ton of information to cram in to our nerdy brains.  I kept finding myself analyzing the group, particularly in terms of introvert tendencies.  Typically in the librarian profession, you see a high number of introverted individuals, and orientation was true to form.  It was interesting to see people need to take breaks from interacting with people to "recharge" and people that would need to move on from group conversations when the group became too large, and thus unmanageble for them. :)

I guess the next two days were fairly similar to the first two, with lots of information thrown at us.  We did get to have a night out on "the strip" where we all felt like old farts compared to the little 21 year olds.  I managed to take a sweet photo ID pic, and then the worst photo of all time for our cohort "directory."  I'll have to share that on a day that someone needs a major laugh. :)

So enjoy the random pictures from the weekend.  I left my camera batter charger at home, so I had my cell to take pictures with.  I whined about this 1200x.

running + tuscaloosa..... yayzies

Gorgas Library. Pretty, right?

Denny Chimes.

Cool tinman sculpture.

roll tide!

Denny Chimes from the Gorgas Library steps.

Sweet library/harry potter shirt?  check!

Librarian cardigan?  check!

Bama pride?  check!

Sweet ID pic.  aka I WIN AT LIFE.

Surrounding the Denny chimes are the captains names, hand prints, and cleat prints.