Mapping the Seasons of my World

My Badass Husband and I staying warm during the Army-Navy game last weekend at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles. 

You're looking at 17 degrees F of pure superfan right here. Go Navy!

Want to know a secret? Now that I have officially figured out how to dress for comfortably for cold-weather running and not slip on the patches of roadside ice, I am ready to go home to San Diego (Gasp! I know!). BAH and I were laughing the other day because we were so excited for the cold, and after about 2 weeks of running in it, are kind of done. When you first move to San Diego from a northern latitude, you are so homesick for the changing of the seasons and the cold, especially around the holidays. It feels like perpetual summer, and to those of us used to the peaceful calm that winter brings every year, it can be very harsh on the senses, like you never get a break. After a couple of years though, you begin to realize that there are actually seasons, but they are very subtle, like a whisper. You learn to become an expert listener. You start to love and appreciate the warmth. That being said, the New England cold now seems like someone yelling in my ear.

Yes, I am spoiled and humbled.

One of my favorite things to do while I run, regardless of the weather, is to chew and digest words and numbers. Sometimes I count them; sometimes I organize them; and sometimes, I just taste and appreciate them. In a previous post, I mentioned that I am currently reading a breathtaking account of a blind traveler named James Holman, who lived from 1786-1857. I have no problem admitting absolute obsession with this book, of which I have earmarked almost every other page for its inspiration, beauty, and sweet complexity of descriptive structure, so as not to forget the tastes of these gifts.

Jason Roberts has authored not just an historical account of one of the most interesting people who ever lived, but also a reminder that we should all be better "listeners" with regard to our maps of the world, be they seasonal or other.

"Vision is an indiscriminate, almost greedily swift way of acquiring knowledge. The eye takes in everything in a single gulp - size, shape, position, texture, composition, color. It leaps about, flickering the window then back, all in a fraction of a second. The mind patchworks these dartings together into a precise, continuously updated spatial map, one that allows for rapid, assured movement through the assembled landscape.

No doubt the sight-centric consciousness developed as a crucial survival characteristic for our species, but it is not without its drawbacks. Our focus wanders to the bright and vivid. Our assessment of an object is skewed toward the portion facing us. And the spatial map that seems to orient us so firmly is, in reality, a thin thread, which disappears the instant sight is obscured."

- Jason Roberts, A Sense of the World, p. 68               

Worthy of Disintegration in 2010 (and possibly TMI)

When I find something I like, I hold onto it until it 1) disintegrates, or 2) I loose it. My runner’s bag consists of a crinkly old clear plastic race goodie bag with a drawstring that I think I picked up at the Carlsbad Half Marathon in January 2008, which replaced the same model from the same race in 2006. I like it because it’s see-through and water/mud/sand proof. In order to make it into my runner’s bag, products must have proven themselves to be worthy of disintegration, over-use, and/or unnatural attachment/superstition at some point in my running world. A couple times a year I like to go through and organize/clean it out. A person can only have 80 million safety pins, after all. 2010 approaches, and you may be looking for the perfect items to fill your own running bags as you set new running and/or race goals.  The contents of mine are perfectly awesome, but I'm always on the lookout for new greatness.  Standing the test of time, in no particular order, I heart:

Circa 1994, I love these Adidas adissage slides.  Best ever post race foot massage.

This is going to sound gross, but a lot of blistery, flaky, peely skin on the feet is actually caused by a fungus of some sort.  Besides trying hard to keep them dry, spraying an antiseptic on them after long runs/races will keep feet smooth and smelling lovely.

I use this on my face, lips, and hands.  It's one of the few things that can touch my skin that I am not allergic to in this world and it works better than Burt's Bees.  Plus, you usually end up getting these free at races, which is awesome.

I used to use this for anti-chaffing.  Works very well and is a lot cheaper than the anti-chaffing sticks sold at sports stores.  I don't really have the chaffing issues that I used to have (yeay), but my mind started associating the smell of this with race day, and so I apply it soley for the scent now.  I know, it's a little weird.

I don't really need this as much anymore, but combined with icing, this was a great plantar fasciitis helper.  It was also nice for putting on my knees after my first couple of full marathons, before I learned how to train properly and stop abusing my poor knees...I keep it on-hand anyway.

I keep a few of these in my running bag for after long run/race gatorade and french fries or for parking, etc.

Not going to get in to a lot of detail here, but long-distance runners require a lot out of their machinery.  Maintenance is key.  Consistency is priceless.  Surprises are not welcome.  Et cetera...

I put this in my running shoes and hiking boots.  I'm a little OCD about foot hygiene, but if you take good care of them, they usually seem to return the favor.

To combat the post-race/long run low-blood sugar grouchies

First of all, I think PowerBar gel is the best gel ever.  I prefer gel over other things such as sport beans, chews, etc.  Chocolate is the best flavor, in my opinion, aside from Double Latte, which everyone is always out of.  It tastes like frosting, which I normally think is gross, but at miles 9 and 15, it's my BFF.

I take an Omega complex daily for good skin and digestion, but I threw one of these in my bag to make sure I take one after long runs because I have read in a few places that it helps with focus/clarity of mind.  I don't know about you, but I get super spacey after long runs and can use all the help I can get :)  Why not?

The foot thing again.  I love the feeling of stripping off my sweaty socks and putting on dry ones.  I like this brand for my running shoes and use the same brand of sock for my hiking boots also.  They're kind of pricey, but they last forever and ever.

These are nice if you do not have access to a shower for a little while after your race or long run and you have to meet friends for a beer or go grocery shopping or something after (by the way, I don't recommend grocery shopping after long runs or races...bad idea in general).

 

Winter is Here!

More snow is in the forecast for this week! 

After a post-race week of getting over the flu and partying like it's 1999 with BAH and the Father-in-law, I am once again ready to hear the familiar soundtrack of my favorite running music that includes black-capped chickadees singing and honking Canada geese as they fly low, overhead, in formation by the hundreds! The leaves have completely fallen off of the maple trees here in Newport, and their grey skeletons illuminate the deep blue-green conifers and red-berried shrubs that guard them. 

As timing luck would have it, I just started reading Henry David Thoreau’s The Maine Woods as well as a wonderful book by Jason Roberts called A Sense of the World, about a blind man named James Holman, a great and most underrated traveler-adventurer who lived from 1786-1857. Phenomenal read and so well put together is the portrait of this man’s life and legacy.  Together with the latest issues of Scientific American and Taste of Home, I think this might be the best list of Newport-in-winter reads that could ever be.

This week has also allowed me to see clearly the finish line for one of my own recent pieces, which is just a little fictional story about a history and drama-rich floodplain farm town similar to where I grew up in Snohomish, Washington. I’ve enjoyed writing it here and have found Newport to be the perfect place for inspiration, maple-frosted donuts, and newlyweddedness, in general. If the Navy ever brings my husband back here again, I would gladly drop everything and hitch a ride back with him.  Time together is a priceless gem in this lifestyle.  Carpe diem, and happy winter!     

Mississippi Gulf Coast Half Marathon

I highly recommend the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon/Half Marathon, which is put on by the Gulf Coast Running Club. I have built up superstitions about running races the Saturday following Thanksgiving now because regardless of my varying levels of fitness over the years, this day is always the perfect day for a race. I’ve never been sure about the reason for this. It could be the turkey and pumpkin combo, it could be that it’s in the middle of a long weekend, or it could be that this is usually a very happy time of the year for me. Who knows…could be the combo of all of these things. Finding out that the MS Gulf Coast venue was a marathon AND half marathon was very exciting, as this distance suits my current fitness level just fine and was only about an hour away from Hattiesburg, where we stayed this year with BAH’s family.

The course was flat and pretty, winding around the perimeter of NASA's biggest test center for rocket engines. We ran on paved, open roads surrounded by pine trees, and it seemed like a fairly small group of runners, which was nice given my growing aversion to running in large races. Everyone was so friendly, and it was pretty cold the entire time, so it was a real treat at the end, to be handed a steaming hot bowl of turkey gumbo, which was made by the sister of one of the race volunteers!

Personally, this was my third worst time ever for a half marathon (2:20), but considering the fact that it was only the second half marathon post plantar fasciitis and the fact that my training really focused on slowly building strength and mileage rather than speed (really, I did zero speedwork) and the fact that my feet felt wonderful after, I have no complaints. Another datapoint is that I ran sick (just starting to get sick, actually), but as weird as this may sound, I ran my best half marathon time ever (2:02) with the full on flu, so I secretly hoped that being sick would help my time.  Most likely, the reality is that it didn’t do much to help or hurt my time. I think your time is going to be pretty much exactly what you train for it to be, and being sick has little to do with any of it.

As much as I was looking forward to training for and running the Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon with my hubby in March, I think I have officially decided that I’m going to do a few more halves first and get my time back down. Truth be told, I am not sure at this point in my life if I still have a huge burning desire to train for and run full marathons, although I do intend to run the Antarctica Marathon one day. I’m kind of excited to just bump up the median weekly mileage, enjoy the rest of my time here in Newport (it’s getting coooold), and find a fun half marathon in the spring to start chipping away at my times. One of the things I did in my past running life that really helped get my times down was sprinting uphill, so I’ll probably start working on designing some fun workouts that incorporate hill work again instead of the track intervals.  Yeay running!