Mission Accomplished: Calistoga to Napa, 26.2 miles

Well, I finally did it: the Napa Valley Marathon, a year later than planned, definitely much more slowly, but with a wonderful running companion by my side the whole way and a pleasantly strong finish. Because I'm tired and writing this only for some closure, here's the brief version:

• Grumbling knees during training made me very nervous about completing the course within the 6-hour limit. My longest training run was just under 20 miles and my pace snail-like. My goal became simply to finish.
  
• The weather was pretty stinky - but after all, what kind of idiot signs up for a March marathon? :)
  
• The rest of the pack hared off like they'd heard there would be free wine at the finish. (Was there? Did we miss it?)
  
• We set out slowly and for several miles were in the rather depressing position of third-from-last. But we did overtake a fair few folk after mile 22 :)
  
  
  Photo: Napa Valley Marathon
  
  
• The only scary part was when my knee squawked suddenly and very loudly at mile 18. Yikes, 8 miles still to go. I fed it 2 Tylenol, walked for a bit and made a deal: if it settled down and allowed me to continue, I'd never ask it to go this far again. We reached a truce, the jogging re-commenced, amazingly pain-free.
• By mile 20 I figured out I had a 'budget' for 15 minutes per mile and would still be within the time limit. This gave me enormous confidence, and we started to overtake a few folk who had started out perhaps a bit fast. Far from hitting the wall, I realized I was plenty strong enough to finish and sped up a little for each remaining mile.
• We crossed the line in 5 hours 36. More importantly, our marriage had also stayed strong, with no cross words or insults traded!
• I was the very lucky and surprised recipient of a Wholefoods gift basket as a result of a random drawing during the awards ceremony. Hubby kindly carried it for me, and reported lots of respectful looks from people who presumably thought he'd won the race :)
  
• The distance was far, far easier than I'd anticipated, probably because my pace didn't drain my glycogen reserves. The training (both the time commitment and fatigue after long runs) were the truly hard part for me. That, and the deal I made with my knees, mean no more marathons for me. But I'd love to do some more halves and the Skirt Chaser sounds like a whole lot of fun! I'm switching now to shorter and hopefully faster distances.

Photo: Napa Valley Register

Tips & thoughts for slow/first-time runners considering signing up for Napa:

• This is a small marathon with lots of thoughtful touches and great volunteers.
  
• If your pace is likely to be under about 4.5 hours, or you have a running buddy, I reckon it's a nice one to do.
  
• But if you're on your own and slower, it's likely to be a long and lonely slog at the back of a thinly spread pack: I would have struggled hugely without hubby to chat to.
• If you're slow, bring your own Gu: this was supposed to be available at two aid stations but the first had run out.
• Also if you're slow, be aware of somewhat inconsiderate traffic which won't hesitate to share the road with you, especially during the first half :(
  
• Plan for rain and if you get better weather, that's a bonus. In any case, you'll be able to wait on the warm, dry bus until shortly before the start.
• Much has been written about the unkind camber of the road - in fact I didn't find this a particular problem. However, if you're slow, you'll probably have to run in the bike lane anyway, to steer clear of the cars.
  
• It's not an ideal course for supporters, but definitely possible at strategic points.
  
• Worst case, there is a sag bus to pick you up and get you home.
• Finishing facilities are great and indoors, with proper restrooms, showers, and food.

Many thanks to:

• The NVM organizers, especially for deferring my entry from 2010 to 2011 and allowing hubby to do likewise, so we could still run together.
• The hundreds of wonderful volunteers who worked in the rain and cheered us on.
• Oak Knoll Inn for their unofficial aid station featuring home-made sorbets!
  

New Years Resolutions (Yes, in September)

Suffice to say, reading a post about how half-hearted I've been recently in my running efforts will be boring for you. Heck, it's pretty boring for me to read my own repeated excuses. So let's not go there. If you care about my floundering efforts to juggle priorities, you can get more of that here.

Instead, let's focus on the future. This time of year feels even more like New Year to me than January, probably because of the new crispness in the air and all the back-to-school marketing in the media. Oh yes, and because I work at a university where 1600 newbies just arrived :)

I'm older and wiser than I was this time last year, because I recognize a marathon may not actually be within my grasp, and because I now see that signing both myself and my husband up (without asking him) was a tad foolish. However, there's no point crying over spilled milk.

Here's the plan:

• I have just under 6 months to train, to get from 6 miles to 26. Should be perfectly do-able, and if I can manage 20 in training, I'll gamble on the rest.
  
• Knee-strengthening exercises have now been promoted to the importance of "don't go to bed until they're done".
• My goal is simply to complete the course on feet, hands, or elbows, in under 6 hours (the cut-off time). Speed is now irrelevant!
• I will run 3 times per week and do a strength workout twice. Turning the alarm clock off is no longer an option, no matter how dark it is outside.

Last weekend, hubby and I ran together for the first time in ages (he's battling knee pain too) and it was great to be back trotting beside my soul mate. We were also rewarded by spotting a seal lounging around on a rock, which is a rare thing in our neighborhood.

I'm taking that as a good omen, and a timely reminder of the pleasures of running.

Quick housekeeping note: Struggling to be Speedy is the younger and more reclusive cousin of Struggling to be Stylish. If you're kind enough to be visiting from a home decor, crafts, design or organizing site, then you might feel more at home over there.

Image thanks: Edgewater Technology

What Was I Thinking?

I've not exactly been neglecting my training, but I haven't been totally diligent about it, either. The past few weekends have seen me working hard on some house DIY projects, and my typical Saturday habit of run~eat~sleep is not a big help in getting a bedroom finished. And while I've been doing a few knee exercises here and there, I find I'm surprisingly forgetful in sticking to the "every other day" rule.

So it's not surprising that I'm plodding on a bit of a plateau, and, with no particular progress to report, a blog posting has not come easily to mind.

Today, however, in the middle of my regular lunchtime fitness class, I found myself firmly at the back of a very mixed pack and wondering what the heck I was thinking in signing up for a marathon? I'm feeling sluggish and all my workout gear is tight. My soul mate and running buddy has switched to biking and swimming to relieve his own cantankerous knees. Recently, my "long" runs have been just 7 miles. I need to pull another 19 out of somewhere and I honestly don't know if I have it in me. Would it be so terrible just to give up quietly and settle for running in 10k events?

How do you decide when a goal is just not within your reach? Do you keep plugging away, or give up gracefully?

Image thanks: Runnerdecals.com

Re-thinking of Goals

My goodness, how can half the year be gone already? As I trotted a very modest 7 miles on Saturday (only just over a quarter-marathon, how tame!) I was thinking how this year has not quite gone to plan.

My goals for 2010 included:

• running my first marathon...
  
• ....alongside my husband
• and completing a half marathon in under 2 hours.

Oh dear. Best laid plans and all that. Instead, I'm now praying hard that I'll be healthy enough to run a single once-this-lifetime marathon next year, and I've kicked any ideas of speed out the window, in favor of good, solid knees. One day, sure, I'd like to break 2 hours for the half, but until I get 26.2 under my belt, I'll settle quite happily for a slow jog, if that's what it takes to get round.

As for Beloved Husband (my trusty wing-man), his knees are also giving him grief and he's not running at all at the moment. We're both hopeful that with some care and rest, he'll bounce back, but I have to be prepared for the possibility that I'll be running entirely on my own for the next few hundred miles. (That'll teach me to sign us both up for things without checking with him first!)

So, not exactly a stellar year in terms of fitness goals. But the strange thing is, I'm OK with it. Every time I go out and manage more than 3 or 4 miles without pain, I'm grateful to be able to run at all. And I firmly believe that if I build up really gradually, there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to do a 26 mile course within the 6-hour limit. Everything else can simply wait.

How are your 2010 fitness goals going?

Photo thanks: Sanja Gjenero

Catch Us If You Can

Depending on your point of view, you might think this race series is a whole lot of fun, or in very bad taste. Memorably named the Skirt Chaser, it's a 5km dash where women start 3 minutes ahead of men. The first athlete across the line, regardless of gender, wins the prize money.


Me, I think it sounds like a great caper, regardless of whether you're being chased by someone special, a friend you have challenged, or are perhaps interested in meeting someone new on the course or at the party afterward.

Interestingly, looking at previous race results, it does appear that a woman usually wins, but only just. I'm pretty sure Beloved Husband would be able to catch me, but the question is, where? Knowing he's hot on my heels might just help me get more of a wiggle on than usual. It's a long time since I entered a 5km event, but with a pathetic knee in tow, that might just be my new race distance.

The next Skirt Chaser event seems to be in Atlanta in May, but I'm hopeful it will return to San Francisco this November. If this sounds like your cup of tea, you can vote to bring it to your city too.

Photo thanks: Convert to Skirt

Knees on the Piste

If you come here regularly, you'd be forgiven for thinking I've stopped running.

Happily, this is not so - I'm just struggling a little to describe each and every run in an exciting new way for you - hardly surprising, as 3 miles on local sidewalks before it gets light is hardly the stuff that Olympic dreams are made of. In addition, I'm feeling the pressure in other areas of my life, so a blow-by-blow account of every trot around the block is not viable right now. I am, however, logging updates at Daily Mile which is a tool you might like to check out, if you're not already recording your workouts anywhere else.

I started this blog pretty much as a running diary and while I'm delighted to have a small band of followers and commenters, I won't be at all offended if you float off in favor of more inspirational fitness blogs.

Still here? Oh, OK, I guess I'll update you then. The last couple of weeks have consisted of some basic, short runs; usually I get to about 5 or 6 miles before having a discussion with my knee about whether it's happy and whether I'm imagining any discomfort. It has every right to be grumpy, since not one but two skiing weekends are in the plan for March, and I've always found parallel turns (or any type of turn, for that matter) to be pretty punishing on the patellas.

I took it very easy on our recent trip to Northstar and frankly I'm not sure how much skiing I'll be doing next time we go. Beloved Husband, meanwhile, whose knees are not much better than mine right now, seems to be enjoying bruising his ribs on his inevitable snowboarding falls and is probably doing his joints lasting damage as he gets the hang of carve turns.

This snow-shaped craziness can be solely attributed to our impetuous purchase of cheap-rate season tickets last Fall, back in those innocent days before I realized my body could and would let me down regarding sporting pursuits. It's probably the last time I'll commit to any physical activity months in advance, and could make for a very depressing posting if I allowed myself to dwell on that thought.

So instead, I'm going to keep on trotting (hey, I'm already doing quarter marathons, right?) and will be doing some serious research into the medicinal merits of waffles and hot chocolate at 8,000 feet.

Photo thanks: Marmit

Twinges & Irony

He probably won't thank me for sharing this with you, but since we're a small and select group of friends here, I will confide in you that I had to run on my own on Saturday....
because Beloved Husband was resting...
a painful knee.

The good news is, it's his left one, so between us, we still have a working set. But nonetheless, I'm shaking my head at the irony that I'm back out there trotting with some level of comfort, and my trusty wingman now gets twinges. Thank goodness we are not running 26.2 miles this Sunday as we'd be a collective bag of bones by the end of it!

I switched my day around and ran in the late afternoon rather than early morning. The forecast was rainy, but instead I was blessed with beautiful Bay Area sunshine. As a result, I was wearing too much and found it a huge effort to hold a 9.5 minute pace for 7 miles. But the important thing is, I held it, and that may just be the fastest I've ever covered that distance.

I had finished the run and was walking the last few yards home when I became aware of a nasty, nasty pain in the arch of my left foot. It wore off after a few hours but I have some fresh hypochondriac Googling to do, to find out what novel problem this might be. I've never experienced anything like it and am hoping it's solely (no pun intended) attributable to my not-broken-in-fully new shoes. As long as it doesn't cost me another $160 in remedial kit, I don't mind too much :)

Photo thanks: Cheeriotown Photography