A Runner’s Balancing Act

After yesterday morning’s run in about 45 degree weather, I was starting to think about actually purchasing a pair of good running tights. I have a pair of semi-fitted “running pants” from Target that I purchased last year and have worn running all of about 3 times. They aren’t too bad, but I always end the run feeling hot and wishing I’d worn my running shorts. The waist band always stretches out and they feel a little too loose around my waist after I’ve been running for awhile.

We have a few cold spells a year when the lows drop to the 30-20′s. But for the most part, our winter lows are in the 40-50 degree range. Call me crazy, but I’ve always thought that temperatures over 40 degrees were too warm for pants. Especially runs lasting over an hour when there are quite a few miles left to put in after you’ve “warmed up”.

But I’m starting to rethink my position. I couldn’t believe how many people I saw running in tights at the NWM last month, and the temperature there was 52 degrees at the start. Fellow blogger Jill seems to do a lot of runs in tights or pants and her desert climate is similar to mine. Plus, this year I’m doing a lot more night and early morning running outside. In years past I’ve stayed on the treadmill during night hours.

So, last night I had to stop by Fashion Square mall to pick up a birthday present for my mother in law. As I was darting from cooking store to cooking store, looking for the perfect thanksgiving do-dad, I happened upon a new store I’d never seen called “FitChix”. How could I not stop? The sales people there were extremely nice. I think three different people descended on me to tell me about their stuff and ask me about my running and marathoning. They sell Sugio stuff there, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a retail environment besides at Marathon expos and mail order catalogs.

And there on the rack in the middle of the store were the famous CW-X Stabilyx tights and capris that both Chris and Jill rave about. I recognized them right away. The sales man saw me looking at them and immediately moved in to give me all the information I already knew about how they are supposed to be some of the most comfortable and supportive tights on the market for runners. AND he added that most girls don’t feel as self conscious in them as they thought they would once they’ve tried them on. Are you trying to tell me that I’m gonna like my butt MORE in these things?! Okay, its doubtful, but I was going to try them on anyways.

They didn’t have a medium so I had to try the smalls on. I was pretty doubtful that they were going to fit just looking at them on the hangar. They DID fit, and after looking at the sizing guide on the CW-X website today, it looks I was in the right size. I had to do the old panty hose maneuver that my mom taught me when I was little to get them on, you know where you bunch them before you stick your foot in. It wasn’t too hard, but not quite as quick as pulling on a pair of shorts.

Once I got them on, I have to admit, I think I did like my butt more! Not only that, but they felt fantastic. I could just tell I would like running in them.

I stood in the dressing room for way too long trying to decide if I should get them. The sales lady came in twice to ask me if if I needed anything. I really wanted to buy them, but they were $82 and that seemed outrageous to me. I’m a desert dweller who is used to a running wardrobe consisting of 9.99 tank tops from Target and two pairs of Nike shorts that I splurged on for $30 (on sale). Sadly, I left the store without them, and without the super light CW-X shirt I had also fallen in love with. I promised the sales girl I would be back as soon as I could get my husband to agree.

I’m going to visit a few more running stores in the next few weeks and see if I find anything better, but I have a feeling I will be back. I’ve already done some internet research and it seems that $82 is cheaper than most internet retailers and I wouldn’t have to pay shipping.

What do you guys think? Will I be too hot in them in 40-50 degree weather? I was thinking I’d get Capri’s, do you think my ankles will get cold?

If you are in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend the FitChix store. They just opened in April in Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale (it’s on the Nordstrom’s wing). According to their website, they also have a store at San Tan Village mall in Gilbert. The sales people were great and they had a lot of unique stuff that I’ve only seen in catalogs and their prices were better, if not the same as mail order. They also had a huge selection of sports bras, that I did not even have a chance to explore.

Happy running!

I went for one last “real” run with my running buddy this morning. According the Garmin, it was almost exactly 7 miles at about 9:30 pace. It was a cool crisp 52 degrees when I stepped outside at 5:45 am. The exact same temperature expected in San Francisco in the early morning hours of the race. Except our humidity was about 13% this morning and in San Francisco it was between 60% and 80% (depending on the source of information).  Not really sure if the humidity will be an issue at such cool temperatures. I’m bringing my baggy of Endurolytes just to be safe.

Today was a “test run” in every way.  I wore everything I’m planning on wearing during the race including my Nathan hydration belt fully loaded with four water bottles. I’ve never actually run with all four bottles! My friend Sheila is going to run with all four and I don’t want to slow her down by having to stop for water if she doesn’t need to.

If you have a Nathan belt, let me share a tip. The bottles made by Amphipod are much, much better and do not leak all over the place like those blasted Nathan ones (you can order them online here for $4 a piece). They are a tad smaller (8 oz as opposed to 10 oz), but I don’t mind that since it makes the belt not quite as heavy as the Nathan bottles. They may not carry as much water, but at least you don’t lose half of it leaking out as you run!  The Nathan belt holds the smaller bottles quite securely, but they are actually much easier to retrieve on the run since the fit isn’t quite as snug.

So this morning I wore my new purple TNT jersey, along with my long sleeved Nike running shirt over top to test out the temperature. I’m still not sure if I want to start the race with a long sleeve shirt or not. It was nice to have it on the first few miles, but also nice to take it off and feel the breeze on my arms after I got going. If I start the race with it, I will have to wear it around my waist most of the way. Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal, but since I’m going to be all loaded up with my full hydration belt, I’m not sure how much I’m going to want something else around my waist. I’m already feeling like I’m going to be lugging everything but the kitchen sink.

I’ve never run a marathon with this much stuff. I have decided that this will be my marathon of experiments. There is just absolutely no way I’m going to break any personal records with all those crazy hills in San Fran. I figure, if I already know I’m going to be disappointed with my time, why not test out a few things that may help (but could hurt) my marathon time.

Here is the list of things I am testing for the first time:

1. Hydration belt – It could make me faster if I can skip having to walk at the water stations. I have tried and I just cannot drink from a paper cup while continuing to run. I always inhale while trying to drink and end up choking! Or the contents of the cup ends up all over me. It’s like throwing the water at my face and hoping some of it makes it in my mouth! However, I can drink pretty easily from a water bottle with a sports cap.  The downside is, it’s going to add an extra 2-3 pounds and I’m sure it will be super annoying by the last hour of the race. Will that slow me down? Not sure.

2. Camera – I’m not expecting this to make me faster, but it could make the run more enjoyable and more memorable. Something to take my mind off the pain perhaps? I’m not sure if the pictures are even going to be good enough quality if I take them while I’m still running. I’m also not sure if I’m going to even have the energy to mess with it during much of the race, and if I do, it could definitely slow me down. I’ve already had several frustrating moments with it where the picture won’t take or I accidentally change the settings by pushing the wrong button. It could end up just being more dead weight to add to my already heavy hydration belt. And there is always the chance that I could fumble and drop it or it could get wet and ruined in my belt. That would really ruin my mood and slow me down.

3. Running with a friend who runs the same pace – Sheila and I have run almost all of our long runs together through the summer. She was definitely a stronger runner than me earlier in the season. I think it might have been that she was more acclimated to running in the heat than I was, but it’s hard to tell. Some of our early long runs I struggled to stay at her pace in the last few miles and actually had to drop back and let her go. Our pace and effort seemed much more evenly matched during our 18 and 20 milers. Initially, I thought I would never want to try to run a race with someone for fear that I would either run too fast or too slow in attempt to stay with them. But when Sheila asked me if I wanted to try to run the race together, I immediately felt really positive about it. It could make the race so much more fun to share the experience with someone. She could actually make me faster by forcing me to keep running when the little voices in my head start telling me to walk during the last 10 miles. Of course it could be a big bummer if I have to let her go because she is truly faster than me or if one of us has to use the porta potties along the way. You never know.

4. Forcing myself NOT to go ahead of the 4 hour pacer. Seeing as there is a HUGE hill between miles 6 and 7, that may not be too hard. In both of marathons that I’ve run, I’ve started with one pace group (4:15 in my first marathon, 4:00 in my second marathon, both of which I think were appropriate at the time), only to pass up the pace guy in the first mile and continue with the next pace group for the first half. At P.F. Chang’s (’08), I let the adrenaline carry me all the way to the half marathon mark at an 8:35 pace. Not smart when I know my natural pace is really more like 9:00- 9:30. After 15 miles, I was hurting big time and telling myself I never wanted to run another marathon. Most people experience these these thoughts during the marathon, but NOT at the 15 mile mark!

5. Speed up on the downhills. I know most coaches say to take it easy on the downhills, but why? It’s effortless speed! Why not? Maybe it will average out with my slower uphill pace. Obviously, I’m not going to sprint, but I AM going to let the gravity do what it does best. I’m not going to fight it! Everyone says its going to wear me out. Guess I will find out!

So those are my marathon experiments. I will fill you in on the results of the experiments when its all over! I doubt this will be my last post before the race. I have too much race anxiety and excitement right now, I need a place to unload it! The computer is going with me to San Fran, so hopefully I should be able to blog from there. It sounds like I will have ample free time. Until tomorrow…

Happy running!

Its been pretty crazy over the last few days. I had been hoping to sit down and blog at some point this weekend, but the opportunity never arose. I leave for San Francisco early Friday morning and there are so many things I needed to do before I leave.  I know that if I didn’t do laundry, pack and run all my errands by the end of the weekend, I’d probably be up all night on Thursday night trying to get it done last minute. I really want to avoid that because I always try hard to make some “deposits” into my “sleep account” during the week before a marathon. No staying up late!  That way, even if I don’t sleep well on the night of the race, I will have some rest “saved up”.

I have so many things to tell! First, MY HAMSTRING FEELS FINE! PHEW!!!  I ran 7 miles with TNT Saturday morning and no pain whatsoever. I went out Sunday morning for an easy 3 miler and ran some medium hills just to see how it felt,  and still no pain. So I am in the clear. Thank you all for your suggestions! They really worked! I’m going to continue gentle stretching and massage up until Sunday, just to be sure.

More good news… my husband and I celebrated our anniversary this weekend. We don’t normally give each other expensive gifts for our anniversary, but this year I was pleasantly surprised when Joe pulled out an Amazon box and told me it was my anniversary gift.  Guess what it was?  A GARMIN 205. YIPPEEE!!!!!!!!  I have the best hubby! I took it out Sunday morning on my 3 mile jog. I was able to get the software installed on my Mac yesterday afternoon and have already figured out how to program workouts with the “virtual partner” and set it to record my my splits.  Has anyone ever run a marathon with the “virtual partner”? I’m not sure if I should mess with that this time or not.

I also got a new camera phone this weekend. Thanks to Verizon’s “new every two” program I didn’t have to pay too much for it.  I had been researching this one for awhile. I got the Samsung FlipShot which has a 3 megapixel digital camera incorporated which is like 1000 times better than the crappy little thumbnails that my old phone produced. It’s pretty cool. The top part of the flip phone spins around so that the screen becomes a view finder just like a digital camera. It’s still not quite the quality of a good digital camera, but its decent for snapshots and small enough to carry with me in my hydration belt. During the 7 miler on Saturday, I practiced taking it out of my belt and snapping pictures on the run. It was pretty easy.

Hanging out at the park with the team after the run.

Shelia and Liz

Unfortunately the photos were kinda blurry if I didn’t stop running before I hit the button. The sun had yet to come up, so the lower light no doubt slowed down the shutter speed. I’m hoping that with more sunlight the blurriness will be less of an issue. The photos I took standing still were great. Hopefully I will have the energy to take a few shots throughout the Marathon on Sunday. Since I won’t have any family traveling with me, there won’t be anyone to take pictures for me. I’m sure I will be shelling out the bucks for my photos from the pro photographer.

The other neat thing about my phone is that it’s also a music player. So if I really wanted to, I could convert some of my itunes playlist to mp3s and upload them onto my phone. It has a memory card slot so I can expand the memory. Now that I have the Garmin, I don’t need the nike+ as much. If I ditch the ipod, I could be down to just two gadgets!  Although I’m not totally sure if I’m ready to part with my ipod nano. I’m definitely bringing it along on Sunday, in case Sheila and I get separated and I need an extra pick-me up.

Tonight I have a Team in Training “Travel Meeting”. I’m so excited. We get all the details of our itinerary as well as our purple jerseys (finally!). I’m sure I will be super excited after the meeting.

Happy running!