Drugs, Set Backs and Rock and Roll

**Disclaimer: I was on a plane when I wrote this so it does go on a bit, ok it's really long, but bare with me, it's a pretty interesting issue**

With Marathon Monday just around the corner my own spring marathon goals have been on my mind. Over the last month I have been traveling to and sailing at different events in the Caribbean. The break from the cold was much appreciated and the sailing was fantastic but all that rum and sun caused my training to slip. I ran almost every day but my mileage was down and my speed training was practically nonexistent. Tempo runs were replaced with hill repeats and instead of 18-20, long distances were more like 10-12. Being hilly and hot makes Caribbean training hard, for sure, but by this time last year I had run an 18 in Antigua and two 20s in Tortola so that's not an excuse. The bottom line is I have put myself back about a month and probably won't race a full in May, as planned. I want to run my next marathon when I feel really ready and confident that I can decrease my time. I don't know how realistic a BQ really is for me but it is something to run towards and I want to run my next race with that in mind.

As for now I am turning my focus to the half marathon distance, with a race on May 3rd that is part of the Rhode Island Grand Slam half marathon series. Throughout the summer there are four half marathons around the state that count towards an extra t-shirt if you run all four of them. There is the option of running a full for the last event in Newport in October. The Newport Marathon is up in the air this year because of some drama involving the city, permits, Eident racing and sand dunes. Though it is not my favorite race, I still look forward to it because it's my home for now training ground. Eident and the City have both promised to host events, most likely on the same weekend so there will be something to run, there just aren't a lot of details yet. Obviously this has upset the people who have already registered for the series or race but since I don't believe in booking things in advance (or buying round trip tickets, or anything else that commits me to being someplace at sometime) this isn't an issue for me.

With my own training falling off the treadmill, as it were, and an injury to my sister causing her not to run, I have been thinking about goals and set backs. I'm not a goal setter, as I wrote about last year, and I'm sure, along with my unpredictable work schedule, it has a lot to do with the commitment phobia that keeps me from registering for races in advance. If you don't set goals you can't not reach them, right? But I do think it is important to set yourself up for success by setting goals that are realistic. I don't mean that whatever it is it should be easy. It needs to be something that challenges ourself that requires hard work with a big spoonful of self doubt, but something that is achievable. As fate would have it, as I was tuning over these thoughts in my head, I delivered a boat from St. John to The Bahamas and ended up reading one of the recent tell-all books about the Lance Armstrong/Tour de France/Did he or Didn't He/Is Doping Bad? affair. Though I know that it's not realistic, I like to believe that people are honest and hard working and can achieve amazing things and I'm always disappointed to hear about athletes that are striped of medals or honors because they cheated. Reading this book, Wheelmen, made me question my own opinions on the subject. I remember being upset to find out that Marion Jones had taken drugs to win her Olympic gold medals and was equally disappointed when Lance Armstrong admitted to continuous use of the same drugs that probably gave him cancer in the first place. I don't follow cycling and I didn't realize just how much controversy there was over him in particular and his repetitive claims that he was racing clean. It breaks the issue up in to a few different arguments; 

-Why is doping bad?

-Other than the individual athlete, who is it hurting?

-Is it the cheating / lying / legality that is the issue?

-Would you do something drastic to achieve your goals?

EPO, the most common performance enhancing drug, and Human Growth Hormones are two of the big things athletes are tested for. Taking injections of these cause athletes to increase their supply of oxygenated red blood cells, produce them for longer during periods of incredible strain and to feel less strain while pushing their bodies. Honestly, it doesn't sound that bad to me! How fast could I run if my hamstrings weren't straining?  Pain is weakness leaving the body, right? Sort of. Pain is our bodies way of telling us that something is wrong. Strain is different and knowing that difference is important. With pain you should probably stop.  It is a sign that something isn't working the way it is supposed to. Strain is probably fixable with more training and proper stretching or recovery or whatever. Taking a drug that masks the line between the two can lead to two things, achieving incredible feats of endurance and pushing to the point of break down or death, in the case of one TdF cyclist.

Obviously, death is bad but other than the individual athlete does doping in sports hurt anyone else? The main argument in Wheelmen was that the bar was raised so high by athletes and teams that were taking drugs that it made it impossible to compete at that level without it, it was part of the game. Young athletes coming up were encouraged or pressured into taking the drugs, no matter what their natural ability, they wouldn't be an asset to the team if they didn't take it.  Our elementary school teachers drilled into us that drugs are bad but isn't using science to reach new heights part of our culture? The team doctors that were prescribing EPO and blood transfusions monitored these athletes' levels of VO2 (volume of oxygen) and lactic acid and designed drug regimens around it. They were just increasing what the body produces naturally with exercise. Paula Radcliff holds the long standing record for the women's marathon and maintains that she did it clean. I'm inclined to believe her but after reading this book I don't know what to think! Her trainers and doctors have tested her natural VO2 levels and find them higher than most endurance athletes, who have high levels anyways. If her body naturally produces the things it needs to push harder for longer isn't using a drug or a blood transfusion that does the same thing just leveling the playing field?

The other big issue with the Armstrong case was the fact that everyone was lying and lying about lying. Again, from an early age we know lying is bad. Lance Armstrong never felt bad about using drugs to enhance his performance he was just eventually felt bad about lying about it. (Well, at least he told Oprah he felt bad about it, but I would say whatever I thought Oprah wanted me to say too …). If all elite athletes are doing it, should they at least be honest about it?

Then there is the legal side. Using these drugs is against the law and breaking the law is bad. But alcohol and cigarettes are legal and kill more people every year than EPO use. For that matter shouldn't fast food be illegal if it can lead to diabetes, heart disease and death? We're mad at the people that are trying to run 26 miles or bike over the Alps for 3 weeks faster than anyone else. People are upset that these athletes aren't good roll models for their kids or that they let us down in some way but we're perfectly happy to let those young kids become obese and 18 year olds to fill their body with known carcinogens.

We know that dying, lying, cheating, and breaking the law are all bad things and if athletes are doing these things in order to achieve their goals does that make doing anything to meet a goal a bad thing? I don't know, it all makes my head spin. It's a good argument to take on a long training run though! Thankfully, I am not an elite athlete or world record breaker and I'm pretty sure I won't ever be faced with the moral dilemma of taking EPO or HGH. I will admit to taking a strong shot of caffeine, which is a drug, before running. I hope you're all not too disappointed in me. 

As for the comings and goings of this mortal runner, I managed to get home to Newport for about 30 hours this week and was very pleasantly surprised to find that the snow was gone and spring is here! I dropped my bags and turned right back around to run ocean drive, unwilling to pass up an opportunity to celebrate the change of season appropriately. I had an awesome run. All of the doubts and debate about the full were far from my mind as I crushed 11 miles and felt great. I didn't take my GPS with me and mapped it when I returned home. I was pretty happy to see that I averaged an 8:09 pace, way down from last week's 9:21 12 miler. The air was fresh and just a little bit cool and it reinvigorated me completely. Congratulations to everyone who made it through the winter in New England, get out there and celebrate this week, it's only going to get better! 

Did you just call me fat?!

One of the guys that I sail with asked me the other day, "If you run so much, why don't you look like a runner?"

My female intuition kicked in and I automatically responded with, "did you just call me fat?!" After watching him bumble around for a bit trying to dig himself out of that hole I kindly explained that I run often and I run a lot but I'm certainly not winning these marathons and am definitely not an elite athlete. I just enjoy running. It did get me thinking, though, about size and shape as well as the plateau. 

-What does a runner look like? 

-Do genetics control our size and shape more than a work out regime? 

-Is it a nature vs nurture argument? 

Having a consistent regime can cause people to stop seeing change in their bodies. The raving that goes on about different diets and supplement routines  having near instant results is great until your body gets used to the change. As you lose weight your body burns fewer calories per the same amount of exercise or calories eaten.  

The theory behind the Cross Fit phenomenon is to keep your muscles guessing by breaking them down again and again with different activities. Running doesn't do this. Sure, we vary our training with intervals and cross training days but for the most part it's one foot in front of the other. 

My best friend has just celebrated returning to her pre baby weight 2 years after giving birth to her beautiful daughter. I'm incredibly proud of her for setting her goal and having the drive and patience to reach it. Over the past year she has focused on calories and exercise. She has figured out ways to workout while caring for her daughter full time.She maintains her caloric intake by removing tempting foods from her vicinity and she tracks her exercise and calorie burn with a Fit Bit because being a mom burns a lot of calories that are hard to track using traditional methods. I don't see 'chasing a toddler around in attempt to get her dressed: 95 calories' in any of the exercise tracking apps! 

Personally, I rarely change weight. I am and have been 150 lbs since I can remember. It doesn't seem to matter if I am in full training or sailing across oceans, that number doesn't move more than a few pounds. There have been a couple of deliveries when the weather wasn't great that I didn't feel up to eating and stepped off the boat about 10 lbs lighter, but short of starving myself for a couple weeks, I don't see a real possibility of living at the ever elusive 135lbs.  When I'm training a lot my body tones up in different areas and there is definitely some firming of thighs and things but no real weight change. I think I used to get stuck on the number and thinking that I needed to be down below 140 but I'm happy now with it just being my shape. 

What do you do when you plateau?

Do you have a non-traditional runner's shape and size?

Do you change up your routine? What do you do?

Here's a great article about what it will take to run a sub 2 hour marathon, perfect conditions, boring course, cool weather and a short guy with long legs!

Here's a nice view from a plateau in St. Barths

Caribbean hills and track workouts

I was able to hang up my tights, gloves and hat for a couple weeks while I sail a few races in the Caribbean this month. Winter weather training has certainly been a challenge this year and I know I have a bit more in store for me when I get back. That said, it's definitely nice to have a break from the snow and freezing temps, even if it includes very steep hills!

I was back in the BVI last week racing and running around my old turf in the North Sound, Virgin Gorda. It was great to run a couple of my old routes, out to Oil Nut and up to Hog Heaven. I snuck in an interval workout on the horse track, too, the only flat area on the island!

This week's track

We had a day off of racing on Sunday and I headed out of the house without my shoes but decided to hike over Guy's Trail in my flips anyways. 

Running or hiking it is good to get to the top of the hills here because the views are always worth it!

This morning in St. Barths I found a great 8 mile loop that ran along some of the quieter roads on the island. I headed down into Toiny and around the south facing side toward Saline. As I circled back into St. Jean I was back on the main road and had to play the shoulder hopping game when the big trucks came by (the roads are really small here). All in all a good run and a part of the island I haven't seen before. I think I'll head down to the beach and get in a little cross training with a swim. 

Sometimes

Sometimes you go to bed early on a Friday night so you can wake up early on Saturday morning to meet up with a new running group and run your first 20 of the season. Sometimes you get up extra early to ensure you have time to eat a banana and peanut butter and drink some water before getting in your car and driving. Sometimes you aren't able to poop before leaving the house and you stop at a Dunkin' Donuts on the way to meet the group and use their bathroom even though you weren't a customer that morning. Sometimes you meet up with a group and start your run but in the back of your mind you realize that even though their pacing at the same pace you would for this distance you are struggling to keep up. And you realize that the pit stop at the DD bathroom didn't quite cover it. And your hamstrings, which are always a little tight, are starting to complain a little more than usual. And as the distance between you and the pack grows you start to panic a little because you didn't bring your phone and you are running in a new place and you don't know your way around. And the complaining from your hamstrings is starting to sound more like yelling. And even after you find a side of the road Porto to use you still can't shake your tight muscles and sore knee. And you eat your chomps and you drink your water and your pace slows to a crawl and your hambos start to really scream at you. And you check in with yourself and know that, though they're screaming they are not tearing, just tight and sore. And you go back in forth in your head about how much distance you should cover and is this an injury or just something that hurts. And you turn around so that your total distance will be just over 16 instead of 18 or 20 that you intended. Sometimes you do everything right the week before and the day before and the morning of and you still have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad run.

Running is an amazing sport and it is as unforgiving as the road we run on. It doesn't matter if you are training for your fourth marathon or your 50th you still have to put in the miles and some of them are going to hurt. For the good or the bad of it, each run is a new day of running. The bad is that you can't bank last year's training sessions or miles, you have to run them again this year. The good is that we can start over after having a terrible run and know the next one will be better. Running keeps you honest and humble.

And sometimes, very rarely, but sometimes, you hit a runner's high. 

TbT

This Throwback Thursday thing seems to be, well a thing, so I thought I would do a sort of year in review. Last Saturday was the 8 Tuff Mile race in St. John and though I was at a similar elevation, this year I was skiing down a mountain instead of running over one. And as I train for another May marathon, this time in the snow, it's fun to think back to where I was last year and where I went to get to here.

8 Tuff, St. John USVI

Sugarloaf Marathon, Maine

 Reach the Beach , NH

United Marathon, Newport, RI

Element Racing NYE 10k, Las Vegas, Nevada

Belleville Pond Trail 10K, North Kingston, RI

Letter to a Treadmill

Dear Treadmill,
I wanted to write you this letter to say thanks for being part of my running/training team. I know you often end up with a bad wrap and I wanted to put out there that I really do appreciate you and I wanted to tell you about a recent workout of mine.
This winter has been pretty interesting for me. I packed up my flip flops and dug out my snow boots for a few cold months in Rhode Island. I started training for a May marathon in January and it was going pretty well until it started snowing and just wouldn't stop. With snow banks rebuilding at least once a weeks the sidewalks were barely clear(ish) for any amount of time and the roads weren't much better. Though running on ice can make the miles slip by, (see what I did there? Ice. Slip) it doesn't do a whole lot for pace runs or long distance runs.
The other issue we have been having is the temperature outside. Though we feel clever when we can talk about running as many miles as degrees Fahrenheit that gets old pretty quickly. Finally, it got so cold and windy that I couldn't take it anymore and I headed over to the gym at the Shipyard to pound out some miles on the Treadmill there.
Before leaving my apartment I loaded up my iPod with new mixes from RockmyRun, anything to help pass the time. No offense, but workouts can get pretty monotonous when running in the same place staring out the window. As I settled in to a comfortable pace I decided on my plan to run 5 miles at a decreasing pace with a mile on each end to warm up and cool down. The first mile felt good and I decided to add in some incline bursts to each of the fast miles. Having the computer to do all the pacing work makes zoning out or tuning into my music so much easier. I am currently in a fight with my running watch and can't seem to ever get a good pace read off of it so it was nice to hit a button and know that my pace was constant. Knowing that I was running at a constant speed let me analyze if I could be going faster or pushing harder on each burst.
As I got into mile 4 and mile 5 the old running buddy, Doubt, started to surface. A run on a treadmill isn't only a workout of the legs but a can be a major test of will power since the urge to reach forward and tap the speed button can be irresistible. Instead of lowering the speed I tried adding in some incline, figuring that if I could run that pace with 3% grade for 0.2 miles than it would feel easier for the rest of the mile. Though it took a bit of restraint I finished my workout with more challenge than I had set out to do. I really enjoyed being able to run at any pace I chose, and let the belt carry me forward. It was a relief not to have to worry about traffic, slush, spray, ice and snow as well.
In closing, Treadmill, thank you for pushing me and my perceived limits. Though you encourage that little piece of me that says, "quit, quit!" you also push the part of me that says, "go harder! go faster!" You don't deserve all the bad press that is out there, runners know that there is a time and place for you and are happy that you exist. Though I don't see myself breaking any half marathon records by running on you for 13.1 miles (that's batshit stuff), I do see many more interval workouts in our future together.
Thanks again,
L

Winter Wonderland

I'm procrastinating on my taxes. So far today I went for a long run, went grocery shopping, pulled the meat off a roast chicken and made stock out of the carcass. I had run out of things to do instead and had actually sat down and started my 1040 when I remembered that I haven't blogged in ages! Excellent. At this rate I can put the forms off until tomorrow.

I have gotten into the swing of running long on Saturdays. Usually my marathon training is set around my crazy work schedule and ends up with long runs whenever I can fit them in but with my very normal M-F 9-5 (ok 3:30, let's be honest, it's cold at work) winter work schedule, I have been able to meet up with the Rhode Island Road Runners for the past few Saturdays. My first 10 miler was a few weeks ago by myself down the Cliff walk and around Ocean Drive. I ramped it up to 14 last week in honor of the holiday. I met up with a couple from RIRR and we ran a great route in Jamestown from town out to Beavertail and back with a couple loops tacked on. This weekend I met up with RIRR again at their usual spot in Bristol at Colt State Park. I arrived early so that I could run a few miles before the rest of the group arrived to do 11. I wanted to run ~16 but was feeling pretty sore from this week. I fit in 3 before the group arrived and we pounded out another 11 by doing two laps of the park and a little street running. All of the runs have been great and not too cold. Saturday morning seems to be the time when the weather takes a breather. The wind dies down and the snow stops long enough to get a few miles in before it all comes back on again. The weather has been a determining factor in when and where I have been putting my workouts in. It was so cold two weeks ago when I headed out for a Friday morning 6 that I had to turn in a mile early. The next week had 7 on the docket and it was a slow, slippery, painful 7. I finally admitted to myself that I might have to find a treadmill or other workout options.
I started looking around for anything other than the dreaded T. One of the local running groups meets up at URI and uses their indoor track for repeats on Tuesdays. I drove out there last week and fit in an interval workout. It was great to focus on speed instead of footing and staying upright!
I also signed up for a circuit HIIT class at Pulse. I have been meaning to try their classes for awhile and was very happy I went. The class was for an hour on Thursday morning and was great! Circuits are fun and hectic and it's nice to wake up some other muscles from time to time, too.
And what would winter in New England be without a bit of skiing? So I have been trying to get back into it. I've managed to fit in 2 weekends and a couple days here and there at various mountains. I haven't skied very much since middle school so I'm pretty rusty but I'm getting back into it for sure.  I also haven't had a set of ski gear that was my own since high school. I didn't really ski in college, choosing to sail in the winter because I had the gear and it was cheaper, and moving to the Caribbean afterwards meant not having a lot of wintery things. The few times I've managed to be around snow I have rented gear and been pretty happy with that. Luckily I have very talented and generous friends, a few of whom have spent their winters on mountains instead of beaches. This winter a friend of mine gave a pair of K2s that were too long for her and fit me pretty well. Another friend had found a pair of ski boots at his town dump and grabbed them for his wife. Unfortunately, his wife has size 7 feet and the boots were size 10. Good for me! Finally, having huge feet has paid off! With my new skis and old boots I am rocketing down the mountain. Sort of.

All of these activities make all of this crazy snow not so bad. I would be disappointed if I spent a winter here and it wasn't snowing, honestly. They also make for very little time to do tedious things like my taxes....