Week 19 IMCHOO144.6

The count down continues! 19 weeks till IMCHOO.. and I do a very stupid thing! Well, I do often tell new runners not to do anything NEW on race day, but it's good to try things out when training so you know before race day what works and what doesn't work for you.  Let's just say I KNOW old shoes don't work for me. :>) 

Saturday before last I was in such a hurry to get to town to meet my friends for a long run.  My husband was leaving also at the same time driving to the airport for a visit to see his mom.  I had so many things on my mind that when I stepped out of my car to run, I realized I had on flip flops!!! I had forgot my good running shoes with my inserts in them!  I was so mad at myself.  I keep an old pair of sneakers in my trunk in case of emergencies and against my best knowledge, I decided to do my 16 mile run in them!  So not a good decision!  

The group heading out.  I'll be doing Hawaii - Kona marathon with several of these peeps! 4 weeks! 

However, I had one of the best runs I've had in a long time!  Since my bursitis and bladder surgery, I've done mostly run/walk long distance runs.  I often get pumped when running with others and to me it's easier to run faster than normal.  We started off with a warm up walk followed by running.  It wasn't long before me and Ms Be ventured off in front of the others.  She's training at a much faster pace than most of us.  She would like to qualify for Boston so she pushes to stay strong. :>)  As my watch began to beep showing my pace on each mile, I noticed we were staying between 9:15-9:45 pace.  I was so pumped!  I couldn't believe I was running so good and that my body felt great.  It was also a cool morning which  made running easier.  Probably the last cool morning we will see in south Mississippi! Humidity 100% today with 90 degrees! GRRRR 

At the end of the 16 miles,  I felt great. 

So I thought the shoes really didn't bother me.  However, then I went home and cooked, cleaned, moved patio furniture, and got ready for my family to come over for a mother's day weekend get together.  I was on my feet from 6am till midnight that day!!! When I woke up on Sunday morning and put my feet on the floor I cringed.  Oh the pain! I felt like I had run barefoot on rocks.  Felt just like the worst stone bruise ever!  I was so glad it was rest day on my training program! 

During the week my left foot quit hurting, but not my right foot.  This is also the foot that I tend to strike the ground harder with when running due to my nerve damage in my spine.  I rested it until the following Saturday.  I then tried to run, but got 3 miles into the run and the pain in my heel was just too bad.  I turned around and walked back to my car in tears.  I decided to go on to the doctor to get it checked out.  He said it was PF (Plantar Fasciitis) probably from the old shoes without my inserts. 

Yes, each time I buy running shoes, I also buy inserts.  They aren't cheap either! Usually $99 unless I find them on sale.  So for me a new pair of shoes on average $125 plus my inserts $99 = $224 cost about every 3-4 months depending on the miles I'm running.  Got to take care of these feet! :>) 

The inserts that I love! Protalus M series

What Causes PF? (according to web med)

A number of things can contribute to plantar fasciitis. While men can get plantar fasciitis, it’s more common in women. You're also more likely to suffer from this condition as you age or if you’re overweight or on your feet for several hours a day.
Your risk also increases if you:

• Wear worn-out shoes with thin soles
• Have flat feet or a very high arch
• Often wear high-heeled shoes
• Have tight Achilles tendons, or “heel cords”
• Have an unusual walk or foot position

So it's 19 weeks to IMCHOO and I'm resting from running to let this PF maybe heal up some!  So many people have told me that they took a full year to get over their PF. :<(   I'm hoping mine is not that bad.  I will continue to bike and swim as much as possible to stay strong.  My foot actually feels much better today and I may try a short run this weekend to test it out.  But If I have pain, I'll stop.  I do not want to make it worse.  Kind of makes me think about food also.  If we put junk in our bodies, our body turns out junk.  Wearing junk shoes.... turns out bad results. :>) 

So that's how my training is going on week 19.  My swim continues to get longer and my bike stronger.  I won't stop.  I won't quit.  Just a bump in the road.   

When you feel like you're drowning in life, don't worry--

your lifeguard walks on water!!

Love, D

P.S. .. glad Kona marathon will be about fun not running fast. LOL  The girls I am going with are the ones I did Disney with and they'll be lots of picture stops.  And we have an 8 hour time limit so we can walk most of the race if need be. :>)  

Natchez Trace Century (100 miles) Bike Ride 5-5-2018

Natchez Trace Century (100 miles) Bike Ride 5-5-2018

Lately we have more weekends that are full of rain than sunshine for 2018.  I think there is a saying that a rainy spring breaks a very hot summer.  I hope NOT.  :>)  For weeks I had been building up on my bike miles to get ready for the 100 miler.  I was determined to do it, especially since I am training for this full Ironman.  It would be good practice.  All week the forecast was calling for 80-100% chance of rain.  I kept praying all week that it would blow over.  IT DIDN”T. 

Morning of ride … wake up 3:45 am … check weather… still calling for 70-80% chance of rain and looks like heavy stuff between 9-11 am when I’ll be in the heart of my 100 miles.   Decide to drive to Jackson anyway and meet up with friends.  Two of them planning to do the 62 (metric century) and two of them doing the 25 miles.  I needed the long bike as part of my training and I know come race day for ironman if it is raining ….. .I will still have to ride unless it is lightening and they cancel.  No rain on the drive there so I keep hoping it is a good sign.

Arrive at ride sight start unloading and it starts raining.  We grabbed a quick picture in between rain showers while I was eating my oatmeal and waiting on 7am for the start.  I am still hoping the rain will go away at this point.  Then I notice people loading their bikes back up.  I heard the guy parked next to me tell his wife that according to the radar the rain was headed our way and he was not going out in it.  They soon called for us to line up to start.  I heard a worker of the ride say that they had went from 700 riders to 300 due to the weather.  They also announced there was going to be no timing of the event.  I guess they didn’t want to put out all that equipment in the rain.  I was bummed about that because I wanted to know how many actually finished the 100 miles. 

 

Oatmeal still in hand.

And just like that they blew the whistle and we were off.  As we pulled out of the park, the rain started up again.  Mel, Sonya, and I rode beside each other for a while until the crowd thinned out.  None of us could believe we were going on with the ride in the rain.  I was so glad I had grabbed my lightweight rain jacket.  Which it is not fully waterproof.  It is more water repellent so after hours in the rain… trust me I was DRENCHED.    Take a look at how wet Mel and Sonya look when they finished their 62 miler.

Proud of them for doing it! 

As for me and the ride…. Well it was WET.  I felt pretty good the first 42 miles.  Even though I was scared to death of wrecking due to the water, I was maintaining a 17 mph pace.  I was in a group of guys and two girls that were all hanging together.  They helped keep my pace up.  However, right before mile 50 we hit the sign that said for the 50 & 62 milers to turn and the 100 to keep going straight.  Well they all turned!  I wanted to cry. LOL  Now I was alone for several miles.  I keep wondering if I had missed a turn due to the rain. When it would rain hard, I would keep my head down.   Finally, I came up on a rest stop and there were like 20 guys stopped.  They were all checking their bikes and eating.  I was so ready to get the ride over that I kept going.  I actually didn’t stop but 2 times the whole ride.  I would have only stopped once if the bathroom had not hit me real bad around mile 25.   It was not my plan to only stop those 2 times, but due to the rain, I didn’t want to stop at all.  My plan had been to stop every 30 miles or so and only stop 3 times if possible.  The last time I had done the 100 with Mel, we stopped at every rest stop but one and they were every 15 miles apart.  Our ride time was 6 hours 40 minutes but our total time to get back to finish was like 8 hours due to all the stopping.  I did not want to do that again.  :>)  I did a ton of praying while riding.  The course has several hills.  Some hills you come down to a hard turn.  I prayed each time for my bike not to slip.  I had let out some of the air in my tire as suggested on the tips I had watched on the video.  It said lower your tires 10-15 psi to have better grip on wet roads.  I really don’t know how tires that are so little could have any grip at all, but I did what the video had said.   I sure didn’t go coasting down those hills enjoying the speed.  I held on for dear life and prayed.  I didn’t want to wreck and end up with a broken bone and all this training go to waste. 

Therefore, I passed the rest stop where all the guys were at and continued.  Soon I could see a biker way up ahead of me…. However, I never caught him. LOL  But a young guy caught up with me around mile 80.  He got right up beside me and asked me if I knew how many more miles we had to go.  I told him 19.  He said his Garmin watched had died and he was so aggravated.  It must have been his first 100-mile bike… or he’s just crazy like most of us and we want all our data recorded. :>) 

He stayed right on my tail.  The rain had finally slacked off and I tried to get some nutrition out and eat.  Every time I had done that earlier the rain would literally wash it out of my hand or I would drop it because everything was so WET and SLIPPERY.  So as I slowed down to try to eat, he got in front and then I pulled on his tail but soon I was back in front.  We FINALLY crossed the finish line!  He thanked me for pulling him in those last 19 miles.  He was real sweet.  I was so happy to see my two friends waiting on me at the finish line.  They could have left and went on back home since we ended up not riding together.  It really made my day that they waited on me and of course Mel said let’s get picture. 

I ended up riding the 100 miles in 6 hours and 12 minutes which is a 16.1 mph pace.  That isn’t fast, but it was better than my 15 mph pace 2 years ago on the 100.  :>)   I was just so glad it was over.  The rain did feel good in the fact that I was never hot, but it was nasty to ride in.  So 100 miler done!  Which I’m sure I’ll do another 100 probably in my training before ironman, but at least that one is over with.  And my coach sent me a message and said, “BRAVA … great ride.”.    That made me smile. :>)

If you want to do a challenging ride, try the Natchez Trace Century ride.  Trust me there is one hill that everyone wants to cry on!  I can’t wait till my friend Krista does it one year.  Oh BTW, her and Frank were supposed to do the 25 miler.  Their ride started at 7:30am after us.  They said it was raining hard so they decided not to ride.  WE all gave them a hard time on how we were out in the rain and they decided not to ride. :>)  Friends love to torture each other. Hee hee

Oh and I rode in new shoes with no socks.  I wouldn’t have done that if the event had been a RACE.  Remember don’t do anything new on a RACE day.  But since it was just a ride, I wanted to try them out.  I love them and no socks were great.  My black ones have a broken strap from my wreck two years ago.  I’ve just been riding with them anyway because these shoes are not cheap!  I wanted to get my money out of them. :>)   Out with the black in with the pink & white. 

 Thank you Frank, Krista, Mel, & Sonya for supporting me in the ride!  You guys rock! Love y'all!