I run to be….sore?!

I did not expect to be this sore after Nike. Yes it’s the hardest half course I’ve ever run. Yes, the hills were endless. But I did not run very hard for the majority of the race so needless to say, I am surprised, disappointed and a little freaked out about how sore I am.

{cheers for awful race photos – what a fake smile}

My legs were tired post race on Sunday, but I didn’t think they were too bad. I slept well that night, but on Monday morning I woke up with a terrible headache. I was also so tired that I couldn’t even get out of bed. I felt like I had run a full marathon – not kidding. I had ambitions of doing an early morning Bikram Yoga class, but I couldn’t even make it to the office, let alone the yoga studio. I (barely) managed to drag myself from the bed to my couch where I spent the day working from home. I think the massive headache was from dehydration but I managed to get an RX from my doctor for it and also hydrated like a mad woman.

{i have no idea where this photo was taken – i have no recollection of various points on the course}

Later that the day I had a 2-hour massage. After the San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon destroyed my legs I had called my massage place and asked them to schedule me with the therapist who had the most knowledge on kinesiology and physiology. They scheduled me with the most amazing and knowledgeable therapist and I have seen him after every race since.

{thank goodness they didn’t catch me walking up this hill…}

As usual, he spent the first hour doing Thai massage. I had never had a Thai massage before I started seeing him but now it’s my favorite kind of massage. Its involves a lot of stretching and deep tissue work, and is highly interactive. The best way I can describe it that it’s essentially “passive yoga” meaning the therapist helps situate you in different poses.

{I’m still heel striking – so much for the magic shoes…}

It was during the first hour of my massage that I realized (which is a nice way of saying I yelped in pain) just how beat up my legs were. I tried so hard not to destroy them too much during the race, but I guess I did. My glutes and quads are so not happy with me.

The second hour of the massage was a “Flush” aka a deep/sports massage. My therapist found all sorts of knots I didn’t know I had, and not just in my legs either. He told me I had “boulders in my shoulders.” I honestly think I could have used a third hour.

Today I felt more rejuvenated and finally made it to a Bikram Yoga class after work. It had been 6 days since my last yoga class and it felt like I had taken 10-steps backwards. I couldn’t even touch my toes until the very last sit-up of the class. My right hamstring/glute is chronically tight, but I always still touch my toes. Sad.

Overall, both the massage and Bikram class left me feeling improved – a lot better. My quads are feeling almost back to normal, and I’m hoping with a few more classes this week (my goal is at least 4 more by Saturday) I’ll find that limber feeling again.

But I have to admit that right now, my mind is a little in panic mode. If I am this tired and sore after running just a half-marathon, how am I suppose to run a full marathon in less than 7 weeks?!

{can someone please photoshop me into this photo instead of this girl?}

I think I may have felt more sore and exhausted after Sunday’s half-marathon than after the full marathon I ran in May – seriously, no joke.

I was all kinds of sore – feet (blisters!), hamstrings and especially quads. The San Francisco hills were not nice to me. Since I’m a member at Massage Envy, I booked a 90-minute appointment the very next day. I asked for the therapist with the most knowledge on sports physiology and kinesiology. The therapist assigned to me had other regular clients who had run the full marathon at SFM, as well as the Vineman Ironman that same weekend, so I knew he knew his stuff. And he did not disappoint.

As soon as he started working on me he said, “You’re the type of person who keeps people like me employed. You should have booked a 3-hour massage.” That’s how bad of a shape I was in.

He used a combination of Thai, Acupressure, Lomi Lomi and Shiatsu techniques and worked out all the knots in my shoulders, back and legs. I had never had a Thai massage before and I must say – I think it’s my favorite type of massage now. The stretches really helped to loosen my screaming hamstrings; and my quads that were sore to the touch felt almost back to normal.

I already have a 2-hour appointment scheduled the Monday after my next race at the end of this month.

I needed 2 full days of rest before having the energy to attempt any type of exercise. Because not only was I sore, I was exhausted. I was getting 8+ hours of sleep at night and it still didn’t feel like it was enough. At first I didn’t understand why, I never get this tired after a half-marathon. But then I factored in all of the work stress that I had been under. We were told a month ago that there would be a large Reduction in Force between August 2-4. The weeks and days leading up to this were filled with speculation and anxiety. I truly did not care what the outcome was for me; I just wanted the suspense over with. I’m happy to report that I’m still employed but all the stress from this experience, plus the race just took a lot out of me.

I’m slowly easing back into things by taking a Spin class yesterday and swimming today. This has been a good reminder of how stress and other factors in our lives can take a physical toll on our bodies.

Here’s a few other race day photos:

I just woke up from a 2-hour nap, and my evening plans don’t commence for another 2 hours so I thought I’d write a post recapping today’s long run.

I have a process, a ritual if you will, for long runs. I’m sure each runner has one. Here’s mine.

I’m finishing Week 4 of marathon training for the Marin County Marathon. Today’s schedule called for an 8-miler.

The Night Before
I make sure to have a good dinner. I don’t go overboard on the carbs, but I make sure I have a balanced meal. Last night I had leftovers of the Lemony Shrimp dish I made on Wednesday, a green salad and fresh strawberries for dessert. Then I had a bowl of Erin Baker’s Dark Chocolate Chunk granola. What can I say – its my weakness. And if there’s ever a right time to indulge, its the night before a long run.

I also make sure I get a good night’s sleep – or at least try to. Ironically, I have been going to bed the earliest on Friday nights, compared to the rest of the week. Last night I was in bed by 9 pm and must’ve fallen asleep right away because I woke up at 1 am with the lights still on. Thankfully, I was able to fall back asleep right away and didn’t get up until 6 am, feeling refreshed for the day.

The Morning Of

* Breakfast:
My intent was to give oatmeal another try. I have always wanted to like oatmeal. I have read how healthy and beneficial it is, but 1. I can never make it right (instant or original) and 2. I can’t get over the texture. I don’t like it. But I decided, it wasn’t a good idea to try a new thing before a long run so I stuck with my favorite again – Erin Baker’s Dark Chocolate Chunk granola. Usually I have 1 serving (1/2 cup), but today I had 2 servings.

* Route:
I usually have my route planned the night before, but with the unpredictable rain, I left it to be a “game day decision.” The original plan was to run along the Embarcadero again (in downtown San Francisco), then meet my friend Medha at the Ferry Building for lunch. While the weather looked like it was going to be a nice sunny day, I just wasn’t feeling it. There was also a motor cross event scheduled at AT&T Park and I wasn’t in the mood to be dodging through people.

I also wasn’t all that jazzed to head out to my normal trail – Sawyers Camp. It would have been perfect terrain, what with all the rain we’ve had, but I am bored with that place. I’ve run it so many times that I know every nook and cranny of it.

So I decided to stay local and started out right from my front door. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I would just run until I hit 8 miles.

* Tunes:
I added some new tunes to my running play list. Have I also mentioned that I renamed it? I use to call it “Burn”, but now I call it, “Run This Town.” Anyway, I got some new tunes from Chic Runner’s recent post. She always seems to know when I am in need of new material. I also added the following songs to my list:

- “Whataya Want From Me” by Adam Lambert (thanks for the tip V!)
- “Put It in A Love Song” by Alicia Keys
- Re-added “Crazy In Love” by Beyonce
- “Hey Ma” by Cam’ron > got reacquainted with this song via Shoop Radio on Pandora, thanks to Alli
- Re-added “Love Sex Magic” by Ciara
- “On to the Next One” by Jay-Z
- “Paper Planes” by MIA
- “Feel Me Flow” by Naughty by Nature (again, a Shoop Radio find)

* Accessories:
After running in the rain last weekend, I decided I needed a hat with a visor. I don’t mind the rain (if its not pouring), but I don’t like it in my eyes. After seeing a posting about a hat on the Lulu Addict blog, I ventured to my Lulu store and found just the hat I was looking for!

I am not a hat person – at all – but this one fit great! It is seriously awesome. Even though it didn’t rain, it kept the sun out of my eyes (because I also don’t like to run with sunglasses) and didn’t bug me once. Its definitely a keeper.

While at Lulu, I was talked into trying their new running socks.

Actually, I don’t know if they’re new, but they’re new to me. What’s unique about them is that they specify which one isfor the left foot and which one is for the right. Its a good thing the sales girl pointed that out to me or else I honestly don’t think I would have noticed. The socks were great! They were high enough to protect the back of my ankles from rubbing against my shoes, and no blisters at all. I think I need to head back to the store and stock up on more.

* Gear:
Any time I run longer than 7 miles I bring my fuel belt with me. I filled the bottles up with my usual Grape Propel, but today I tried the powder mix. Not my first choice, but Target was out of the bottles at the time. It worked fine and I hydrated every 2 miles, as normal.

Since I was only planning on running 8 miles, I wasn’t sure if I should bring a GU. I didn’t think I’d need one, but just in case, I brought one anyway. Better to have one and don’t need it than not to have one and do need it.

* The Run
I started out with a 1/2 mile walk to warm-up. It was in the mid-40s. Although the sun was shining, it was the type of morning where it was cold in the shade, but warm in the sun. I decided to start out with my Marina Loop route and then see where my feet took me from there.

This was the first time I’ve ran longer than 5 miles through my town. One thing I learned is that there’s a lot of opportunities to rest because of all the darn stop lights (which aren’t timed very well, I might add).

As I ran, I did a mental calculation of my total miles for the month. If I added correctly (which is always questionable with or without a calculator), 8 miles would put me at 49 miles for the month. 50 just sounds so much better, so at about 3 miles in I decided today would be a 9-miler, not 8.

As I previously mentioned, Foster City ain’t that big so getting 9 miles in was tough. I stuck to the major streets just because there’s tons of tiny roads and cul-de-sacs and its very easy to get lost in Foster City…and I don’t have the best sense of direction.

Here’s a photo looking over Highway 92, looking towards the San Mateo Bridge.

Here’s a photo of my favorite spot on the run. I don’t remember the street name, but its the one just before Edgewater, and looks out to the many lagoons in FC.

Because of all the stoplight breaks, I didn’t feel tired at all (although my legs did start to get heavy at 7 miles). But my annoying Garmin kept beeping the entire time to tell me my heart rate was too high. I don’t get it. I wasn’t huffing and puffing, my heart wasn’t racing (at least it didn’t feel like it), I was running at cruising speed and yet I was in the max zone. My plan tells me to stay in Zone 3 or 4 for long runs. I think I’d almost have to be walking to stay in Zone 3 at this point. I just don’t get it.

And can someone please tell me how to turn off those HR alerts? I swear that thing must have buzzed a thousand times…

I finished 9 miles in 1:43:40, for an 11:31 min/mile pace. I wasn’t trying for any time at all, and in fact, didn’t pay attention to my pace during the entire run, so this was fine for me. The point was to keep things slow and easy.

Post-Run
When I hit 9 miles I turned off the Garmin and walked the rest of the way home. The nice thing about running from your front door is:

1. You can stretch in your living room, which is what I did for about 20 minutes.
2. You can eat right away – I made myself a strawberry – banana – peanut butter – chocolate milk smoothie.

3. Change your clothes right away – no driving back in the car in sweaty clothes.
4. Take an ice bath right away. I threw in epsom salt too.
5. Shower right away
6. Eat lunch right away. Thankfully I had food in the fridge and didn’t have to get in the car and drive somewhere to get takeout. I was famished!

I spent the rest of the day RICE-ing (rest, ice, compress, elevate), and took a great 2-hour nap!

Tomorrow I’ll hit the pool for some cross-training and to workout any kinks in my legs.

This is pretty much my typical weekend when on a training program. Keeps me from hitting the shops on weekends.