I Came To Move

After my 14 mile split, I felt totally abused. What happens to you personally when your electrolytes get low? I get whacked. I'm moody, my muscles cramp and I feel hungover. I took it light the next few days, went to my Hatha Flow classes and that was about it. I am actively trying to take care of my muscles and joints, as opposed to my normal routine of abuse and neglect.

A month ago, the KC Marathon was the only race I had in view. Honest? I FREAAAKKKEEED me out so I've been avidly signing up for every 5k I can get my hands on. This includes this weekend's Kansas vs Missouri Rivalry Run 5k. It was definitely a cool idea, basically runners from Kansas and Missouri sign up-each runner gives a point to their state, division winners and overall winners get more points for their state. There is a big rivalry between Kansas and Missouri, so it was fun way to put it to a foundation's benefit.

I had an awesome feeling about this race. I'm trying to get more comfortable with this distance because so far I have not lived up to my potential. Dead set on setting a PR, I anxiously drove to the race which was in the Power and Light District of KC. Well guess what? You need to pay to park in the lot next the race, and somebody had no cash. So I frantically drove around downtown trying to find a free spot. Finally, a mile from the start and nine minutes to gun time I parked. I sprinted to the starting line, which I guess was my warm up. Slurped some GU and then...oh...no...felt that old familiar pang in the gut. There was no time, the anthem was being sung so I pushed to the middle of the pack and BAM! Gun time.

Look at these people! So serious!

I made a rookie mistake of going out to fast from the gun, and within a quarter mile I was tiring out. Before I knew it, I was passing mile one. I peeped down at the 405 and GASP! I ran the first mile in 7:20! Holy Hell! I needed to slow down, and quick-oxymoron huh? Lucky for me, Mile one was at the bottom of a glorious monster of a hill. So clearly no trouble slowing down. Hoo-dogey, we have some hills in Missouri but this one does take the cake-apparently it's the hill that use to weed out people during the KC Marathon, but they have since changed the course.

What goes up must go down, so the downgrade from that scale was a relief and I whirred down it-and by mile two I knew I could pretty much do anything and still set a PR. I took a brief walking break by the water station, and carried on. I'm glad I did because we took a left turn on our last half mile, and DWAM-60degree grade of incline. Who does that?! Who makes the finish on that high of a grade??

Those hill repeats have paid off, and I feel pretty confident saying this but hills are a strength of mine now-I have the butt to prove it. When many of my counterparts were throwing in the towel, I spotted my mom just at the right time-who screamed "HEY GIRL YOU KEEP RUNNING...RUN FASTER!! YOU LOOK GOOD!" God, I love that lady. She's the best.

I finished in 26:30, which is an average pace of 8:33-and sets my 5k PR in a race. Obviously, I can run a lot faster with G-and maybe I'll be able to set a new PR at the Strut your Mut 5k in September. No division win for me, I wasn't even in the top 10-depressing for a PR, but it's all good. Here are my STATS:

bib number: 454
age: 22
gender: F
location: Overland Park, KS
overall place: 119 out of 424
division place: 19 out of 107
gender place: 32 out of 259
time: 26:30
pace: 8:33
RACE STATS:
Number of Finishers: 424
Number of Females: 259
Number of Males: 165
Average Time: 30:57

I came home and ran Goliath on his very own 5k, so I got a total of six miles in for the day-not counting the mile to and from my car

Total Mileage: 6.06

Time: 54:35.42

All The Gold

Last night I had a dream that I ran a 5k in under seventeen minutes. I placed first, and it was magical-but no one cared. Not even my mom. Thanks Mom! While, I know this will likely never happen at least I can dream, literally. What does it mean when you are actually eating, sleeping and dreaming running?

Sundays are for long runs aren't they? Well I thought so-but I keep pushing it back so this week my long run fell on Tuesday. Odd I know. I had what I thought was ample time before work on Tuesday to squeeze in fourteen miles. You can't really squeeze in fourteen miles can you? Ideally I should be able to complete that in under two and half hours-but when you run with a dog you kinda gotta plan for some variable stops.

I wasted too much time drinking coffee, so much so that my "ample" time four fourteen became "ample" time for half of that. So I set out for seven, with the idea that I'll run the remaining after work. By mile two, I quickly realized that I hardly have time for five. We weren't running at a snail's pace or anything-but Goliath had a few detours that he decided we MUST make-including a little play time with a boxer named Barron.

Once that five was complete, I felt refreshed and ready to conquer my work load. Eight hours later, I came home and without hesitation strapped up the nikes. Goliath was well rested, so even though fourteen miles might be pushing it-I took him with.

We took it easy, I know the point of long runs is to build endurance not speed. So 'twas a nice jaunt through the woods and over the hills and back. I usually run in the mornings, so one thing I came to know is that after 5pm my trail is cyclist central. Yes, MY trail. I'm all for sharing the pavement, but it's a little irksome when someone clearly doesn't know trail protocol or gets huffy with me. I'm always apologetic if I impede someone's workout, but that's only ever happened once. So when people act like our running duo is a hindrance, I can't help but laugh. Really? Our six legs bother you? In case you forgot you have a pulley system attached to WHEELS to cover your mileage. Give us a break. Don't get me wrong, nothing against people who cycle-good for you, it's an excellent work out-but please don't act like bike/hike trails are just BIKE trails.

OMG SO GROSS! I will never be wearing this clothing combo again, muffin top by leash!

The weather was phenomenal! ARGH! I can't wait until fall and not just because I'm running a marathon! We clocked our fourteen miles total for the day,but I feel cheapened since it was in one solid session. Split sessions by definition are misery. I came home feeling like absolute garbage. My legs were cramping, I was extremely tired and nauseated. Interested parties believe my electrolytes were way off, so I'm going to be drinking for gatorade. It took me about 24 hours to fully recovery from that abuse, but I'm glad I got it under my belt.

Total Mileage: 14.01
Times: 2:11:23

Wag Your Tail

THIS JUST IN: I HAVE MY MARATHON SHIRT!

Huge thanks to my good friends who always have my back!

Ridin' Solo

So I had this giftcard to this place with all this stuff for this thing called running. This place is called Gary Gribble's Running Sports. This place is second to none in my area for all things running. It's a scary place for me, I can drop three stacks in a minute on things that I "need," for my nest run. I will convince myself it's imperative to my success and splurge-so I have to have a really good reason to go in there. Like a gift card!

With no real needs, I mosied on up to the store and crossed the threshold into Running Nirvana. Upon my entry, a clerk asked me: "Picking up your packet?" Packet? Why no...but...why YES, I am picking up my packet. Packet for what...I dunno, Yes, I will be getting that! I walked to the Race Day packet table and said "Uhm, let's sign me up" and the two ladies clapped and said "Oh good!!" Their applause made me a little smug, like Yeah, you know you want me in your race. They got all my information, handed me a bag full of race materials and I walked away. Then it hit me-what did I just sign up for? I turned around and questioned "Don't laugh but...how far is this race?" A brief moment of fear struck my gut, what if I just signed up for one of those crazy 50k trail runs in Wyandot Park.

"It's a 5k in corporate woods!"
"Oh thank God! Thanks! See you tomorrow I guess!!"

Being impulsive gets me in trouble sometimes, but I had a five mile scheduled anyway. Corporate woods is exactly a mile away from me so I figured I'd run to the race (1 mile), run the race (3.1 miles) and run home (1 mile) which equals *drum roll* 5 MILES! Shocking! I figured it'd just be a way to get some miles in, not take the race super seriously and get another 5k under my belt. The morning came around, I jogged up to the start and BAM! Gun Time!

It was a quick 5k through Corporate Woods, ala The Gobbler Grind. The course was really familiar to me since I do train there every day. That being the case I kinda felt like maybe I should try and set a PR. I cranked up the ipod, and pushed. I burnt out a little by mile 2 and slowed from a 7:55/mi to 9:48/mi. I was NOT enjoying the run pushing that hard, so I settled into a more natural pace and finished strong.

I stuck around and watched most of the finishers cross the line. As I was stretching out my hammies, a girl about my age walked up and said "Hey! Good race! I tried to keep up with you the whole time!!" I was so flattered, like what? Me? Really?! I told her she should have smacked me out of my zone, and told me-that I would have loved to pace with her. Maybe next race? Sweet! You're not invisible at races, who knew?

The results were posted, I was satisfied: 64th overall and 7th in my division. I snagged a bagel and ran home with it in my mouth:

Why is my shirt DUDES only?! Lame!

By the time I had showered, changed and eaten there was an email in my inbox:

Congratulations on finishing the A Chance For Children 2010
on August 21, 2010. For your records, the weather that day was
clear sunny 90 deg day.
There were 19 finishers in the Female 20 to 24 age group and
245 finishers in the race.
Your overall finish place was 64 and your age group
finish place was 4. Your overall finish percentile was 26 while your age
group percentile was 21. Your time of 28:38.6 gave you a 9:14 pace per mile.

I'll take FOURTH! Wooo!

Make Me a Rainbow

Want to know a secret? I love food. Oh you knew that? Well then aren't you just a super sleuth. If you hadn't discerned this about me, you either a) just subscribed this morning or b) don't read. My relationship with food can be described as lusty and tumultuous. We've been long distance, we've moved in together too soon, we've broken up a few times and don't tell my mom-but me and food go all the way. That's a metaphor, sicko-gawd. You don't gain 40 pounds in three months by having a fair-weather relationship with food.

Growing up I developed a warped idea of how to eat from my dad. He cheered me on when I downed a Big Mac in record time or ordered a "man-sized" meal. No, this post isn't about daddy issues-so please keep reading. My mom never bought junk food and we never had soda in the house. In my little environment at home, I was healthy but wherever else I'd go berserk. At a friend's house I'd got nutty over a nutter butter or eating out it'd be three courses. Truth be told, I didn't know how to behave around things like sweets. They made me hulk out. JULIA MUST EAT ALL CHOCOLATE NOW!

It pleases me to know that over the last two years, I've made dramatic changes in my approach to food. I no longer boast my ability to clean plates. I no longer eat in closets. As hackneyed as it is, my relationship with food grew up. This maturation didn't occur over night. I said TWO YEARS. In this period, I've learned how to moderate and how to indulge without guilt.

Yesterday at work I sat with my coworkers at a potluck with a plate full of broccoli and spin-dip and a sole piece of cake. Old school Julia would have had no shame going back for thirds and fourths, and probably a second piece of cake. By no means are spin-dip and cake health foods but it's certainly better than the alternative. I was more excited about the lunch I brought than all the other options sitting a few feet away.

No, I was never morbidly obese. But I was the girl who joked about the crazies who ran marathons but sobbed when I couldn't fit my size twelve jeans up my thighs. I, Julia, have changed and I love it.

Why this post? Why all the self-reflection? The Bosky Blog has been getting a few emails here and there and while most of them deal with running and training specific questions, a good deal of them ask me: WHAT DO YOU EAT?! For your viewing pleasure, he's a diagram of my fridge:

It's pretty clear where I shop: Costco and the Farmer's Market. I eat organic when possible and keep as Gluten Free as possible. I LOVE FOOD, just in a different more stable-married-for 50 years kinda way.

Today's Mileage: 7.04
Time: 1:02:55

A Cryin' Shame

Am I nuts? You guys can tell me...be honest, I'm nuts right? Only clinically crazy people think they can go out and run 16 miles without having ran anymore more than six in the last three weeks...right? I'm pretty sure attempting that makes me eligible for commitment, because I sure did attempt that. AND I sure did not accomplish that.



I'm well aware that I've been sleep deprived, not properly fueling, just got new shoes-oh and haven't really been training....but what the heck? I had the day off, so I figured I had all day to get in sixteen miles and I told myself that I'd get every inch in even if it took six hours. Well, I did get quite a few inches in...just not 1,013,760 inches.

Goliath and I ran three miles out, and I could tell he was pretty tired. After a long weekend of running and the dog park, I figured he could sit this one out. So I ran him back home, and by the last half mile I was leading him. I dropped him off, and with ten more miles to run I turned right back around and ran the same course.

This bush now property of Goliath

By that same three mile mark, I was spent. Like WAY done. I was ready to collapse, and my legs felt like monoliths. By this time, I had completely dried up. My body had stopped sweating so long ago, that my clothes had time to dry. Not a good sign. Just a short time earlier, I was standing in my living room soaked in sweat. Generally, this is the first sign of dehydration. Apparently, all the water along the way wasn't enough. I did a jog/walk/crawl combo home. This was a wall I needed to hit, so I can learn from it.

Way back when I played softball in grade school, I became seriously dehydrated after a tournament and spent the next two days vomiting my brains out. Therefore, dehydration scares the patootie outta yours truly. I drink water like I get paid by the ounce, and so for me to experience this was slightly confusing. Until it was brought to my attention that a) it was hot, and I needed to be drinking twice as much as I'm use to and b) I also need to be replenishing electrolytes. The conclusion? Invest in either salt packets, more GU (which I run with on the reg) and some gatorade.

The rest of the day was spent in self loathing and disappointment so naturally I took my main-man to his favorite store to splurge. Goliath loves retail therapy. He prefers the treats at PetSmart but we went to PetCo, because I had a coupon. This dog has made me world's biggest sucker. My theory is this: he's only with me for such a short period of time and he's absolutely changed my life, and made me the happiest person-so why shouldn't I give him everything in my power to give him a plushy-treat-toy-filled life? I AM that crazy lady who talks to her dog, and let's him pick out his toys, even if I know he'll destroy in in 0.5 seconds. Hey, it might be $20 but he'll get solid minute or two of disemboweling joy and to me that joy is absolutely priceless.

What has been your biggest mistake during training, and how have you gotten over it mentally?

Total Mileage: 12.0
Time: 2:17.23

If I Die Young

It will be because of stress, and said stress making me push myself too hard during a run. Obviously, things haven't been going my way and my training has been kinda wayward. I run when I can, and when I can isn't very often. So my lack of updating is due to my lack of real training. Not that I'm not running I'm just not really training. I'm still running, but more for my sanity and more like "Oh Ok I have twenty minutes lets get two miles in and head to work stinky."

In the last two weeks, I have worked nearly 200 hours. No lie. Two jobs, and one coming to an end really took a toll on me: mentally, physically and emotionally. My head and my heart are in a million different directions, and my to-do lists have escalated and when I sit down to accomplish something I'm ignoring something else that has equal priority. Like right now? I smell so bad. I need a shower, clean and do laundry-my poor husband wore his swim trunks out last night. HE could easily do the laundry but it still made me feel guilty.


When push comes to shove, me and my family priorities fall by the wayside and everything else comes first. It's just a huge character flaw. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE. So I did. I resigned from a position, and had my last day yesterday. It was so bittersweet, and I cried my whole way home. It's hard for me to be the one to "give up" or "quit" especially on such a personal employment and commitment. But the bottom line is this: if I didn't stop this commitment my other commitments would ultimately terminate because of my lack of focus.


I know this post doesn't seem to be directly about running, or marathoning or being a dog-mom-but it is. Indirectly. Whatever it is you commit to do, you really have to have to confidence and desire to put 100% and sometimes even 70% will get you there-but if you commit to five things how do you give 100% or even 70%? You can't. Exerting yourself 20% gets mediocre results.




Ya'll know how I feel about mediocrity.


I finally feel like I'm getting caught up on sleep, and laid around this morning until about 10. Golaith whined all morning, and I had no reason not to run this morning. After a week of ignoring my 5am alarms to run-I finally laced up and press start on the 405.

As hot as it has been, it was VERY decent outside. Very decent? That makes no sense, but I think 86 degrees with 70% humidity and the heat index at 93degrees calls for "very decent."

Goliath and I had an awesome 10k run. I stopped frequently to let him drink, and cool off-so don't call me negligent. We have a need to feel that thunder, so we pushed 9s and then a negative splits of 8s. Amazing run, and I don't think I've been this sweaty in weeks. Heat exhaustion tried to set in, I felt myself getting chills around mile 5-so I took out the headphones to pay closer attention to my body, eased up and ultimately finished strong.


On a run like this, I know DOMS will arrive sooner than later so I'm off to spend a solid half hour on my foam roller.

Mileage: 10k

Time: 50:02.15

!!!

skfjnsghrbgjksdn sh!! jnfbjdfn!!nbjkfndkfjnv1! bnfjn!

ARGH!

That's how I feel right now.

That's how the last two weeks have been.

There's your update!

Come tomorrow, things will be different.