Double digit miles of indecision

OK, I know ya'll are getting tired of hearing about this particular subject...changing my race schedule. Yes, I've done it yet again...actually I've changed it about 3 times since last night!! lol! I just keep adding more and more to the schedule. In fact, I've added my first full marathon to be done in October, just three weeks before my MUST DO half marathon (the WDW Wine & Dine) so that I can get my coveted Coast to Coast medal...which signifies that you have completed a race at Disneyland and a race at Walt Disney World in the same calendar year. I also plan to add the 5K  that weekend, which will have to be renamed due to the change in dates...it used to be the Disney Halloween 5K. Since the race was changed to early November maybe they'll rename it to the Thanksgiving 5K? This will be a prolific running weekend because I would, hopefully, be coming home with three medals at once!! :D

Anyway, I digress. So after thinking about it a little bit I've registered to do a virtual half marathon on Tuesday...For the Love of the Kids Virtual Run. As long as I finish the run I'll earn a finishers medal to add to my medal rack which is looking a bit barren right now with only 3 medals on it. I already had a 12-13 mile training run planned for tomorrow in honor of Sherry Arnold that I'll knock down to a 10 miler to rest a little for Tuesday. Then I've potentially added the Disneyland Half Marathon to my schedule for September which also means that I might as well add the 5K run in there as well!

I've also added the Wounded Warriors HM in Las Colinas, Texas on June 10th as yet another half marathon. I have a cousin, actually a few, that live in the Dallas area and one of the girls said that I'm welcome to stay at their house. I just have to figure out whether to drive or fly down there. Hopefully I can find a cheap flight and car rental...that'd make life so much easier!

Finally I've also decided to train for my first full marathon in Albuquerque on October 21st...both my choices are on the same day so I just have to decide which one I want to do. The Duke City Marathon is almost completely flat and follows the Paseo del Bosque Recreational Trail which is a beautiful piece of running/biking path. It's basically an out and back route so there's no chance of me getting lost when I'm the last runner coming in...hopefully before the cutoff!! lol! My other choice is Day of the Tread. This is a fully costumed race (from what I can tell from pics) versus what seems to be a conservative Duke City Marathon. I think that DoTT is probably the funner of the two but it also comes with a 400' change in elevation and a time limit of 6 hours versus a 7 hours time limit for the DCM.

Now, with all the additions I may have to take away a few races. My sprint duathlon and the metric century ride are first on the chopping block for potentially being put off until next year. I may replace the Firecracker Run 10 miler with a local 5K. Finally, if I do end up doing the Disneyland HM the Turtle HM, which was my very first race last year, will be chopped as well since they are on the same weekend (Labor Day) and I won't be home in time to do it. I've also decided not to do the Dirty Dash in Albuquerque as it is 2 weeks before Wine & Dine and I don't want to risk a major injury that would prevent me from participating in that race!

One of these days I'll come up with a final schedule but until then you can see what I have planned in the race schedule widget in the right sidebar along with a countdown of the next 3-4 upcoming races. So please, bear with me...I'm just a little addicted now to a sport I've literally hated for most of my life!! LOL!

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 41
• 30 minutes PT exercises

What I Ate Today:

• 60 oz G2
• 1 pack chicken ramen with 
• 1 small, shredded chicken breast 
• 1 cup mixed vegetables
• 1 full rack of BBQ Baby Back ribs (oink!)
• 1 scoop coleslaw
• 1 scoop potato salad
• 1 slice Texas toast
• 24 oz Pepsi

Alkalete Review Day 4:

A little sore today from yesterday's run. Tomorrow's run should be interesting. The soreness is uncomfortable but not painful. I really can't tell any significant difference. Still had to take a couple of short naps today because I was so tired. I was just advised by my distributor to take extra doses since I'll be running so much the next several days with longer miles than usual so maybe I'll be able to make more of a judgement after my HM run on Tuesday. There are still other forces at nature that might be influencing the fatigue and such so I'm really trying to give this stuff a chance.

My addiction(s)

What's your addiction? I first figured out that I had addictive personality back in the early 80's after I had been in the USAF for a year or so and found myself partaking in the alcoholic beverages on the weekends more than I care to admit. The fact that I was still underage didn't help...unless I was on base where I could legally buy beer. I basically quit drinking totally in 1984 when I found out that I was pregnant. Since then I've been very tipsy once and other than that have had maybe 8 glasses of wine and 2 glasses of champagne total. Luckily, I was able to nip things in the bud before it really became any kind of major problem.

My other addictions, at least until recently have included collecting shoes, purses, Italian charms, Tupperware, Pampered Chef and Calphalon cookware that I didn't really need. Since I've started exercising again beginning in May/June of 2011 I've become addicted to Zumba...which I'm having to give up for now. When I started running in July/August I never would have thought that I would ever become addicted to running races! This is really the least likely of addictions that I could have ever expected.

Why do I say that I'm addicted to running? The fact that having just run my first half marathon, I've gone ahead and scheduled almost monthly half marathon races since returning from my first in Disneyland not even 2 weeks ago. Since I started running I've either started planning trips around races or looked for running routes in areas that I am visiting. I'm on several running themed Facebook groups and when a new race pops up one of the first questions in my mind is, "Wow, that race looks cool. I wonder how I can swing that trip/race?" At least I'm not alone in this addiction! Many of my Facebook running friends admit that they have similar behaviors. There's been many a night that we'll end up posting almost endlessly about a particular race looking to share expenses, where to stay, what the race bling (finisher's medals) looks like, etc. We tease each other with "Yes, go ahead and sign up...you know you want to!" Or giving reports on how well or how badly a race went/was organized.

Other than the cost of this addiction (race fees can range from $15 to $150) plus travel and lodging if needed, this is a healthy addiction...at least that's the way I see it! So, in honor of this addiction here's a little prayer that I wrote last night after a couple of us were working on how to swing adding another trip to Disneyland, in the most cost effective manner, for the Disneyland Half Marathon to be held during Labor Day weekend.

The Newly Addicted Runner's Prayer

Dear running gods...

Especially those dealing with newly addicted runners. 

Please provide me with the prudent judgement to make wise choices in adjusting my 2012 race schedule...

Yet again. 

Allow me to choose races that I can both afford and finish 

And let me not get sucked into the whirlpool of mania and addictive behavior that I'm known for at times. Amen

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 40
• 10.44 mile run in 2:20:12

What I Ate Today:

• 40 oz G2
• 1 whole wheat Bagel Thin
• 1 Tbsp reduced fat peanut butter
• 12 oz low fat chocolate milk
• 4 - 3" hot dog sliders with ketchup/mustard
• 1½ cups battered french fries
• 24 oz Sprite
• 1 Clif energy gel - Chocolate
• 1/3 of leftover baked potato from last night

Alkalete Review Day 3:

Just a brief note today. Feeling okay, no major changes and still feeling fairly tired. Didn't actually take a nap bur probably should have. Took a dose immediately before after my run, no significant change noted...feet still a tad  tender post run almost 12 hours since last dose. Not really feeling anything significantly changed. I have a 12-13 mile run set for Saturday, we'll see what happens then.

Goodbye Zumba! (For Now)

Today I made a gut wrenching decision. I'm letting Zumba go, at least for now, until I feel my pelvic malalignment issues have been permanently corrected. Up until I attended a couple of classes last week my pelvis/IT band has been feeling pretty good with only some slight aching. After attending the classes (regular studio classes) I began having increased pain to the point that I had to start sitting out some songs on the second day. Even now I have some issues with mild pain and tightness when I first start running even when running at a pace slower than my normal training pace of about 12-13 minutes/mile. My next half marathon is just over two weeks away, so I think that it is the smart move to stop Zumba now and allow as much recovery (between runs) as possible.It seems that the Aqua Zumba isn't causing me any problems, other than sore arms because I use swim gloves for more resistance, so I'll be staying with that. Luckily summer is headed our way in a few months so I'll be able to attend classes at the outdoor pool over the summer...woohoo!

So, what will I replace it with? Well, I should start training on the bike for the sprint duathlon in May. I still need to replace the MTB tires for semi slicks and my bike needs a serious tune up (it doesn't help that it's a cheap WalMart bike). I'm just not ready to fork over big bucks for a road bike...that won't happen until I find out how much I enjoy/or not enjoy riding. We have an elliptical but to tell the truth, I hate it. First of all my quads burn so bad within 10 minutes or so and well, I don't have the patience to stay on it...I think it's actually worse than the "dreadmill."

So, I'll have to decide fairly quickly. I definitely need some cross training in my routine as well as speed work (again something that I dislike). I wish our YMCA had a full on rowing machine...I've loved rowing in the past. I've read that rowing is a great cross training activity for runners as well. I could row almost forever I think. Maybe that's what I'll look for to add to the home gym in the future, a nice rowing machine. But that costs money. Ugh. Running is making me even more broke than normal!! Running is NOT a cheap sport...don't let anyone tell you it is!! LOL!

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 39
• 38 minutes of PT exercises for pelvic malalignment/ITBS

What I Ate Today:

• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 2 fried eggs
• 2 sausage patties
• 8 oz Mongolian beef
• 1½ cups white rice
• 1 pound baked potato from Something Different Grill with
• shredded cheese
• bacon bits
• chives
• sour cream
• butter
• salt
• pepper
• 32 oz Pepsi
• 20 oz G2

Alkalete Review Day 2:
Yesterday was my 2nd full day on the Yoli Alkalete dosing. After doing a 6 mile treadmill run late last night I woke up today to my feet feeling okay but some soreness in the legs/hips. As the day has worn on, the soreness had eased significantly although I did do some PT exercises and the soreness increased somewhat. I was also extremely tired today and yesterday having to take an extended nap each day. Now, I'm not saying that the fatigue is due to the Alkalete as there is also a change in my body's self-regulation that I noticed yesterday. Tomorrow is an 8-10 mile run so we'll see how things are feeling on Friday. The testing continues.

The good, the bad...whatever.

Had some somewhat major milestones today. I said goodbye to my purple hair and hello again to brunette. My  hair is now back to a very deep auburn and in good light you can still see some of the purple shimmer through the auburn. I kinda feel strange having "normal" colored hair again...much like I felt weird when I first went purple. At least it should take less time to get used to this color than the bright purple. The thing I'm looking forward to after the first couple of days is the lack of the hair color bleeding. With the purple, a semi-permanent dye, anytime I sweat I'd have streaks of light purple sweat and actually ruined one of my running tech shirts due to the bleed. It was really strange though...got my hair colored at the cosmetology clinic at the college and seemed to be drained of all my energy. Could it be that the purple hair was some type of energy magnet for me? Hmmm...after going back to brunette I ended up sleeping through the local run club meetup and the first part of my hatha flow yoga class. Not a good thing.

The second major thing to happen today was finally getting my Tinkerbell Half Marathon tattoo to commemorate completing my first half marathon. For those of you counting, this is number 23 in my collection of skin art. This has been a long time coming...6 months to be exact! The place I got it at offered to do it the week before the race but I was like, "I don't want to jinx anything! I don't want a tat I haven't earned." So now that the race was done and I finished with a decent time it was the right time to have it done. Now I just need to finish my duathlon, and eventually a triathlon, to balance out my arm in May...

My training run today was a treadmill run of 6 miles and was truly a bear. My left hip/IT band issues are starting to rear their ugly heads again. I could only manage a max of 1% incline and a very short burst of max speed at 6mph. Otherwise I was doing 1/4 lap walking at 3mph and 1 lap at 3.8-5.5 miles per hour. Things seemed to loosen up late in mile 4/early in mile 5 where I was able to run up to 3/4 of a mile at a time. I'm beginning to worry what's going to happen at the half at the end of the month. I also beginning to think that Zumba is the root of my hip/pelvic issues so I'm afraid I may have to abandon it all together. :(

Overall my eating and drinking habits are sorely lacking...gave in to my lack of willpower and had a Pepsi today. I've really gotta get back on board as training really has to get serious. Time to really try hard to suck things up! Until tomorrow or the next day...

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 38
• 6 mile treadmill run in 1:30:10

What I Ate Today:

• 3 pieces of fried chicken (2 thighs, 1 drumstick)
• 1 cup of white rice
• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 24 oz low fat chocolate milk
• 1 Weinerschnitzel bacon croissant
• 1 Weinerschnitzel hash brown patty
• 8 oz orange juice
• <¼ of a Taco Box New Mexicali taco salad
• seasoned ground beef, refried beans, green chile, guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheddar, black olive slices, tomato, iceberg lettuce
• 34 oz Pepsi

Alkalete Review, Day 1:
Yesterday was my first full day taking Alkalete (manufactured by Yoli) which by all that I've read basically an alkalizing compound to neutralize the acidity of the body. I currently trying the product out on a 10-15 day trail for $9.95. It is supposed to help with delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) something I experienced after my first half marathon a week and a half ago where I felt pretty much fine for the first 3 days post-race but ended up with significantly sore feet an legs late on day 3 and most definitely through days 4-7 post race. I took the first half of a loading dose on Sunday in the evening after my 8 mile long-ish run and by Monday morning did notice a significant change in the soreness of my feet and lower legs. Yesterday I took the full 2 doses at loading levels and this morning my feet and legs feel fine although I am having some stiffness of the knees (nothing new) and some left hip/IT band pain (again, nothing new as I had been in PT for 2 months for this). The Alkalete is also supposed to help those suffering from acid indigestion/heartburn something that plagues me off and on. I am not a distributor...I'm simply sampling it for myself since I plan to run at least one half marathon a month this year. I'm hoping that it helps my recovery time so that I can start training for the next race as soon as possible.

DOMS has been described by some as occurring due to lactic acid buildup lasting up to 72 hours after strenuous activity and others describing it as being due to microscopic tears after heavy activity. However, most seem to agree that lactic acid breakdown (or neutralization) occurs within the first hour after activity. Since I added the Alkalete so late after my race I'm basing my review on using it during my training for my next half marathon late this month. After my run  on Sunday, I experienced very little muscle soreness considering how tender my feet were Sunday morning. So, stay tuned...we'll see how this goes.