Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for? (comments welcome)

[superchime]

Here are my catchup entries. I don't have notes for Nov 6 - 12 so I'm just piecing things together from my watch and phone data and rough memories.

Mon Nov 6 - still at Disney

Tues Nov 7 - home from Disney, late

Wed Nov 8 - reentry is hard. Plan: 3 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
Still recovering from Wine & Dine plus all the usual Disney walking. Took this one slower than planned. Avg pace 23:10 min/mile

Thurs Nov 9 Plan: 2.25 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00
Also took this one slower than planned. Total time: 50:25, avg pace 22:04 min/mile
First Kung Fu class back and I was encouraged to take it super easy, which is hard for me but I did it. Light stretching, not going all out on kicks, etc. I thought about skipping class but was glad I went and felt better after it was done.

Fri Nov 10 Plan: 4 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00
On the treadmill at the time. Total time 1:19:41. Avg pace 20:00 min/mile

Sat Nov 11 Plan: 5.25 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00
Ok, I wasn't keeping good notes at this point so I'm trying to piece together what happened for this week's runs... I have 3 miles at 15:07 min/mile pace and then another 2.25 at 17:32 min/mile... Maybe my watch was acting up? I really don't remember.

Sun Nov 12 - rest - and how.

Mon Nov 13 - Kung Fu - another good class, still taking it easy

Tues Nov 14 - Good kung fu class, starting to feel back to normal, probably overdid it.

Wed Nov 15 - 2 miles easy - treadmill 43:34 - headache
Definitely overdid it in Kung Fu yesterday. Very sore today. Woke up with a headache and had my Covid booster scheduled for today so it’s probably not going away.

Thurs Nov 16 - 1.5 miles easy - treadmill 28:27
Still feeling a little off, I guess from the Covid booster? Went to Kung Fu anyway and made it through class ok but wasn’t feeling great by the time I got home.

Fri Nov 17- 3.25 easy - got the good treadmill at the gym!
Woke up feeling fine, so I guess it was the booster. Hopefully that means it worked!

Sat Nov 18- 0.5 mile @ Easy + 3 mile @ 60/30 sec @ 15:32/20:00 paces + 0.5 mile @ Easy
 3.01 miles, 46:34 total time (not including the easy), 15:28 min/mile. I don’t know why I had a really hard time hitting the correct pace for this one. I felt like I was barely moving but kept ending up too fast.

Sun - Nov 12 - Rest, in the car, on the way to the beach for Thanksgiving!

 

[superchime]

I only have one Kung Fu class this week, a virtual class on Friday, so I’m shifting all of my runs earlier in the week since I won’t be doing anything else.

Mon Nov 20 - Plan: 3 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
Yay, beach running, but not running on the beach because that’s too unstable for me at this point in my life. Still, it was nice to have a change of scenery. I had a hard time hitting my pace. Maybe because my neighborhood is hilly and it’s really flat here, so the running is a bit easier? The elevation is also a bit lower, although not much.
3 miles 55:37, 18:30 pace

Tues Nov 21- Plan: 4.25 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
4.3 miles, 1:22:57. Forgot to stop my watch after I came back inside, so the time is longer than it should be. Still having trouble hitting the correct pace. Splits were 18:48, 18:28, 18:28, 18:05

Wed Nov 22 - Plan: 2.5 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
2.26 miles, 40:28, avg pace 17:53 - yep, still way faster than I should have run this. It was raining, though, and I just wanted to get it done.

Thurs Nov 23 - 5.75 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00
5.77 miles, 1:28:01, 15:14 min/mile
Again, faster than my planned pace. I will be very curious to see what my times and effort feel like next week when I’m back at home. It was a beautiful day, sunny but cool with a nice breeze (totally forgot to check the dew point, but the temp was 55). Started out too fast again, realized I was running negative splits, decided to see if I could keep that up. Not my smartest move, and I was a little sore the next day, but not too bad and I didn’t hurt myself so I’m calling it a lucky win. I will definitely not be pushing like this over the next few weeks, though, because my #1 goal is to head into my Coast to Coast challenge uninjured.
Splits were: 15:55, 15:39, 15:45, 14:39, 14:34.
The last .25 was a bit challenging but otherwise this run felt great.

Fri - Virtual Kung Fu - I’ve missed a lot of classes lately so I wanted to try to squeeze one in this week. I didn’t bring my stick so I ended up doing my weapons form with a broomstick. It was fun. A lot of jumping jacks and push ups.

Sat - rest

Sun - more rest. What luxury!

A pic of my running path this week:

 

[superchime]

Oh, I totally forgot! I tried out new fuel on Thursday too. I usually use Mott's fruit snacks so I'm excited to explore alternatives. This week I tried the Ucan Pineapple Edge. I did notice towards the end of the Wine and Dine half that I would start to feel a little dizzy before it was time to eat another pouch of fruit snacks. The Ucan is corn starch based, no sugar, and they're supposed to help keep blood sugar more stable.

One Ucan pouch is 70 calories, 45 mg sodium, 19g total carbs, and 90mg vitamin C. For comparison one pouch of fruit snacks is 80 calories, 35 mg sodium, 19g carbs, and 54 mg vitamin C, so pretty similar to the Ucan.

My stomach didn't object to the Ucan and the pineapple flavor was nice. I can't really say how it affected my blood sugar as compared to the fruit snacks since I only experienced issues towards the end of the W&D half and my test run was only 5.75 miles. The only negative is the pouches are huge compared to the little fruit snack pouches. If I'm trying to take in 60g of carbs per hour, that's three pouches per hour. I'm slow, so that would mean carrying 9+ pouches for a half marathon. Unless I'm going to start wearing a vest, that's just too much to carry.

I might bring one or two, to use towards the end of half marathons, which is when I started feeling dizzy at W&D. Otherwise I think they'd have to just be used for shorter distances for now.

 

[superchime]

Nov 27 - Dec 3

Mon - Kung Fu - back in person. Ow.

Tues - More Kung Fu. Not as bad as Monday, but so many push ups.

Wed - Plan: 2 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
On the treadmill (it was 21F outside! we don’t see cold like that in November very often) 2.00 miles, 38:50 total time

Thurs - Plan 1.5 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
Treadmill again because it’s still cold outside. 1.5 in 28:33

Fri - Plan 3.25 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces 1:03:52
Got the good treadmill at the gym and watched Christmas movies the whole time.
3.25 miles, 64:14 total time

Sat - Plan 0.5 mile easy + 4 mile @60/30 @15:32/20:00 paces + 0.5 mile easy. Nutrition strategy day.
Just the info for the 4 miles: 4.00 miles, 1:06:00, splits: 15:56, 16:38, 16:29, 16:47
T+D 66 + 63
In the rain! I thought it was done when I headed out, but I was wrong. At least it wasn’t cold. And, yeah, compared to the beach my neighborhood is not flat. I think that, combined with no Kung Fu, explains why I felt like running faster last week. Hopefully that translates into running faster in flat Florida in January!

Also got started on my costumes for January. I'm doing a Wilderness Explorers costume as part of a group for WDW and a purple 100 Minnie for DL. I still have plenty to make and do but at least things are in the works now.

I'm horrible about putting costumes off until the last minute, so I also took the time to sketch out plans for the rest of my costumes for this year and I'm pretty excited about a couple of them.


Pics of my acai bowl from Friday (parking a food truck outside the Y is genius) and my rainy Saturday run.

 

[superchime]

Dec 4 - 10

Mon - Kung Fu - Pretty ok class. We’re gearing up for Chinese New Year, so the lions are working hard. Lucky me, I’m just playing cymbals, so I didn’t have to do a bunch of jumping tonight.

Tues - More Kung Fu.

Wed - Plan: 3 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
3 miles, 1:26
On the treadmill. Feeling really crappy today (not sick, just… stuff), so I took it slower than planned but got it done. This was one of those runs that was supposed to be easy but was just really hard mentally and my mind was giving me all of the reasons to quit (aren’t you dizzy? think you need a bathroom break? left foot kinda hurts, doesn’t it?) which gave me the opportunity to assess and realize that I was actually fine and didn’t need to stop. So, training of a different kind, I guess.


Thurs - Plan 3 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
3 miles, 1:00
Back on the treadmill, still a little slow but feeling better this morning. This is just such a tough time of year for me (and for a lot of people, I know). I’m glad to have January races to be training for because it helps me to have that to focus on, otherwise things can get dark fast.
Kung Fu - Landed a jump wrong and tweaked my touchy left foot. I took it easy for the rest of class. I think I’m going to really dial it back between now and Disneyland. I don’t want to get hurt, and we’re mostly working on the CNY show anyway so I do not need to be going as hard as I am right now. I am also on the hunt for better Kung Fu shoes. The ones that come standard with our uniform have no cushion. I’ve tried a few other popular brands but they all slip off my heel.

Fri - Plan 4.5 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces 1:03:52
Treadmill again. Foot felt ok-ish but not 100% this morning, so I put on a Christmas movie and just took this one easy.
4.5 miles in 1:32, avg pace 20:41


Sat -Plan: 6.25 miles @20/30 @ 14:45/20:00
On the treadmill, again. Woke up with a headache and the left foot feeling a little stiff, also some stomach issues, so I opted for the treadmill again today. It just hasn’t been a great week. Once I got going, though, everything was fine. I swapped out my shoes for a fresh pair (same brand/model/version) and my foot felt much better. My old pair only has about 200 miles on them but I wonder if maybe that’s just the max for me with these shoes? I seem to remember having foot issues back in the summer, and it was also fixed by switching to a new pair (plus moving away from running on the side of the road). Guess I need to stock up on this model, then, because I don’t like the heel on the newer versions.
6.25 miles in 1:50


I went to Fleet Feet earlier this week and picked up some new fuel. Today I tried Huma chia energy gels. I’ve been wanting to try these for a while so this was a great opportunity. Each pouch/tube/what do you call the containers? has 100 calories, 105 mg sodium, and 21-22 g total carbs. The packets are a bit smaller than the ucan ones, but still a lot to carry for 22g carbs. I’d still need to carry 3 pouches per hour, if I want to hit 60g carbs per hour, so 9+ pouches for my slow self to finish a half.

Flavors I tried:
Strawberry - ok flavor (tasted like actual strawberries, not strawberry flavoring).
Blueberry - didn’t really taste like either real blueberries or blueberry flavoring. A little too earthy. Pass.
Mango - my favorite of the three. Still not sold on the texture, though.

Overall they were fine. Less bitter than the ucan and my stomach didn’t mind them, even with it’s earlier issues. Consistency was not my favorite… a little too slimy, which I expected from the chia. Def preferred the edge consistency, but these weren't terrible.

And a pic from last Sunday's "Christmas trees with goats" trip. We also go carve pumpkins with the goats at Halloween time, which is just as much fun as you'd imagine.

 

[superchime]

Oh and I got my Runkeeper total for November - 50.3 miles! Of course 22 of those were from Wine and Dine.

It's probably a little short, though, because I don't always remember to add the treadmill miles in there. I need a better strategy for keeping track of my runs besides piecing things together from the various apps I use.

 

[Scootin'By]

Wed - Plan: 3 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces
3 miles, 1:26
On the treadmill. Feeling really crappy today (not sick, just… stuff), so I took it slower than planned but got it done. This was one of those runs that was supposed to be easy but was just really hard mentally and my mind was giving me all of the reasons to quit (aren’t you dizzy? think you need a bathroom break? left foot kinda hurts, doesn’t it?) which gave me the opportunity to assess and realize that I was actually fine and didn’t need to stop. So, training of a different kind, I guess.

Running while meh, definitely a real thing. Starting is always the worst. I usually find that after the first 5-10 minutes I am feeling better. But there's been a few times when I get through the whole thing and think, "That was a waste of time."

Hang in there!

 

[Herding_Cats]

I went to Fleet Feet earlier this week and picked up some new fuel. Today I tried Huma chia energy gels. I’ve been wanting to try these for a while so this was a great opportunity. Each pouch/tube/what do you call the containers? has 100 calories, 105 mg sodium, and 21-22 g total carbs. The packets are a bit smaller than the ucan ones, but still a lot to carry for 22g carbs. I’d still need to carry 3 pouches per hour, if I want to hit 60g carbs per hour, so 9+ pouches for my slow self to finish a half.

Flavors I tried:
Strawberry - ok flavor (tasted like actual strawberries, not strawberry flavoring).
Blueberry - didn’t really taste like either real blueberries or blueberry flavoring. A little too earthy. Pass.
Mango - my favorite of the three. Still not sold on the texture, though.

Overall they were fine. Less bitter than the ucan and my stomach didn’t mind them, even with it’s earlier issues. Consistency was not my favorite… a little too slimy, which I expected from the chia. Def preferred the edge consistency, but these weren't terrible.

I really like the lemon(ade?) and the raspberry huma gels. They're my preferred gels at this point. The raspberry is like warm raspberry jam (especially if it's been sitting in a pocket next to my leg for awhile) and the lemon is like a slightly gritty lemon curd.

I also like gu "birthday cake" because it tastes exactly like rainbowchip frosting that comes in a can. And as an elder millennial, that means it tastes like my childhood.


If you haven't, you might consider non-gel (not sweet) fuels to try if you are going to try for that 60g/hr for the half. I have a hard time getting past about 5 gels before they start to become the last thing I want to eat, and "too many sweet things" is definitely a common thread when people start to figure out fuel strategies for the longer distances.

 

[superchime]

I also like gu "birthday cake" because it tastes exactly like rainbowchip frosting that comes in a can. And as an elder millennial, that means it tastes like my childhood.

Ooh, this one is in my stash of things to try! Now I'm excited!

If you haven't, you might consider non-gel (not sweet) fuels to try

Yeah, I'm definitely open to experimenting. My fruit snack strategy worked pretty well for me at Wine and Dine but something a little less sweet might work better. I tried peanut butter pretzels at one point but they were so dry and I started to hate them pretty quickly. Any recommendations?

 

[superchime]

Running while meh, definitely a real thing. Starting is always the worst. I usually find that after the first 5-10 minutes I am feeling better. But there's been a few times when I get through the whole thing and think, "That was a waste of time."

Hang in there!

Thanks! Yeah, that first bit of a run is always rough for me but usually things improve after a bit. It's such a surprise when an "easy" day ends up being anything but. So far this week is going much better, thank goodness!

 

[Scootin'By]

I also like gu "birthday cake" because it tastes exactly like rainbowchip frosting that comes in a can. And as an elder millennial, that means it tastes like my childhood.

I have never wanted to try anything called goo ... until now! Rainbowchip frosting?! Are you kidding. And you get to eat it as a healthy snack while exercising?! I'm in

 

[Herding_Cats]

Yeah, I'm definitely open to experimenting. My fruit snack strategy worked pretty well for me at Wine and Dine but something a little less sweet might work better. I tried peanut butter pretzels at one point but they were so dry and I started to hate them pretty quickly. Any recommendations?

I'm not hitting anywhere NEAR 60g/hr for fueling. I usually also finish the half in about 3-3.5hrs at Disney (once you factor in some photo stops and a couple of bathrooms stops) and the amount of water I'd have to drink with 9 gels.....I would be making a stop every 2 miles. I think I usually have a gel in the corral when they start the corral before mine (I'm usually near the front of my corral), and then one about every 40-50min. I also take a powerade and a water at pretty much every aid station (so I'm getting some carbs, some electrolytes, and some hydration) but may not drink all of either of them depending on how I feel. I try to time out my gels so I finish it a few min before the aid station so I can "wash it down." Because of the breaks along the way, the race isn't overly taxing like a PR effort would be, so I don't worry as much about fueling heavy. I'm probably somewhere near the 40g range between the gels and all the powerades. It's adequate for me and obviously YMMV. If you haven't practiced at fueling 60g+ per hour, you probably want to try that soon to make sure your body doesn't react negatively.

I also use stroopwaffles (gu's brand or the honeystinger brand) to break up the textures (aka, not all slimey, gooey, gels)

 

[WillRunForPizza]

One time I tried just straight up almond butter on a long run. I liked the different sort of taste and having some protein, but I found it much messier than a gel, and it made me thirstier

 

[Herding_Cats]

One time I tried just straight up almond butter on a long run. I liked the different sort of taste and having some protein, but I found it much messier than a gel, and it made me thirstier

I've done this too! I used Justin's almond butter (with cinnamon) because i could get it in a squeeze packet about the same size as a gel. Totally agree with the 'made me thirstier' comment.

 

[superchime]

If you haven't practiced at fueling 60g+ per hour, you probably want to try that soon to make sure your body doesn't react negatively.

I get hypoglycemic pretty easily, so I definitely feel like I do better with more fuel rather than less. If I ever attempt a marathon I may need to pull a wagon behind me!

I got pretty close to 60 at Wine and Dine with my fruit snacks, plus the sport beans they gave us and one small PayDay bar (that was the best thing I had ever eaten in my entire life at that point). Towards the end of the race I'd start to feel a little dizzy, then better after I ate my fruit snacks. That's why I was experimenting with the ucan, because they're supposed to stabilize blood sugar better. I just wish they weren't so big!

I've got a couple more weekends to experiment (and that birthday cake gu to try, for sure!) but I'm thinking right now I might just take an assortment of things that I know work. Mostly fruit snacks just for the size, but maybe a couple of ucans and a couple of paydays to break up the fruit snack monotony.

Then after Disneyland I'll have more time to really experiment with other things. I've heard of people carrying sweet potatoes, and I'm definitely not above stuffing an uncrustable in my pocket. I tried honey packets at one point and they were ok but I got tired of them quickly and I ended up so sticky! Stroopwaffles and I had a falling out last marathon weekend and I can't even look at one now without feeling queasy. Almond butter is interesting! There are so many options!

 

[superchime]

Dec 11 - 17

Mon - Kung Fu - I got to start learning how to be Buddha for the lion dance! That was a lot of fun.

Tues - more Kung Fu - leg work. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine.

Wed - 2 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces 0:39:18
On the treadmill, multitasking because everything in the world is happening this week.
2.03 in 39:14

Thurs - 1.5 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces 0:29:29
Back on the treadmill. 1.5 in 28:56

Fri - 3.25 mile @ 25/30 sec @ 19:15/20:00 paces 1:03:52
Got the good treadmill at the Y. 3.25 in 1:02:25. Going to pretend it's not sad that I have a favorite treadmill and that scoring it makes my day.

Sat - 0.5 mile Easy, 4 mile 60/30 @15:32/20:00 paces + 0.5 mile easy 1:26:47 total
I didn’t time the warm up/cool down 0.5 miles, just the 4 miles total - 1:09:24. This felt maybe a little harder than it should have, but nothing hurts. I think I'm just tired, and the fuel sample situation (see below) didn't help.

Sun - Rest - It rained all day. My yard is one big puddle.

This week’s fuel test was Gu, which I have never tried before. The packs I sampled were each 100 calories, no caffeine, 23g total carbs.

Birthday cake - yep, just like eating a spoonful of icing. I normally love icing but it turns out that’s not what I want when I’m running.
Raspberry lemonade - also really thick and sweet. Not as bad as the birthday cake but... no.

Ok I guess Gu just isn’t for me. Good to know.



Pic for this week is the cute candle my friend got me for Christmas. Pictured in the background is the bowl that is still full of the Halloween candy we got at MNSSHP. It was a lot of candy.

 

[azrivest]

This week’s fuel test was Gu, which I have never tried before. The packs I sampled were each 100 calories, no caffeine, 23g total carbs.

If you weren't put off by the texture, you might not want to give up right away. I use Gu & Maurten on my runs cause I hate chewing while running. I only buy the "brown" GU packets, like Espresso Love and Caramel Macchiato. They don't taste nearly as sweet as the fruity packets. But again, everybody is different and has different tastes.

 

[superchime]

If you weren't put off by the texture, you might not want to give up right away. I use Gu & Maurten on my runs cause I hate chewing while running. I only buy the "brown" GU packets, like Espresso Love and Caramel Macchiato. They don't taste nearly as sweet as the fruity packets. But again, everybody is different and has different tastes.

Yeah, the texture didn't bother me, just the sweetness. I'll grab the flavors you suggested and give them a try. Thanks!

 

[jmasgat]

I have used Gu in Salted Carmel and Salted Watermelon (current flavor--if I was actually running, that is). I think the extra salt--which is helpful from an electrolyte standpoint--also takes the edge off the sweetness.

 

[superchime]

I have used Gu in Salted Carmel and Salted Watermelon (current flavor--if I was actually running, that is). I think the extra salt--which is helpful from an electrolyte standpoint--also takes the edge off the sweetness.

Thanks! This is good to know! I'll look for salted flavors the next time I'm picking out some to try.