Two Long Runs and a Celebrity Sighting

Wow, I guess I've been away a while. But I'm sure we've all been busy with the holidays, so hopefully I'm not the only one who's been absent in the blogging world. This week is another short week for me (although I'm working 3 days instead of just 2), but hopefully I'll have more time to blog, since I won't be as busy with Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, and food preparation.

I've been running, and the half-marathon training continues. In my last post, I talked about my upcoming 9-mile run. I am proud to say that I completed the 9 miles and then some (I added my cool-down to the end of the run, since it felt pretty good). Last Saturday (the 20th), I woke up around 8:00 and headed over to the rec center nearby. They have an indoor walking track, and I didn't want to deal with snow and ice for such a long run, so I figured it would be a great idea. Also, I had received a free pass from the Thanksgiving 5k, so I wouldn't even have to pay the usual $5.

I had no idea how long the track was, only that they had one. I was hoping that it was similar in length to a regular track (1/4 mile), otherwise I would be doing a lot of laps. Well, I headed upstairs, and was reading the sign on the wall about the track to see what info they gave, and I laughed out loud when I saw that the track was approximately 1/9 of a mile. That meant I would have to do at least 81 laps to finish my 9 miles!! But I was in good spirits, and I hunkered down for the long haul. I had my fuel belt (I'll explain that more later- thanks Nicole!) with a water bottle, and the gel flask filled with Powerade. In the pocket, I also had a package of sport beans (thanks Viv!).

The run itself went pretty well, although I forgot to use the restroom before starting, so I had to stop half-way through. I took the opportunity to grab a paper towel and wipe off some of the sweat that was dripping off of me. I started back up, and I drank my Powerade at around 5 miles (it's actually Powerade Zero), and ate half of the Sport Beans around mile 6. It was amazing what a boost I got from the sugar in the beans, and I realized that in future long runs, I should probably take in some carbs sooner than 60 minutes. I did have a little bit of arch pain toward the end, but it was actually a pretty decent run. Not including my potty break, I only took 3 walking breaks during the whole run (of about 1 lap each).

I ended up beating my 7-mile and my 8-mile times (around 1:09 for 7 miles- previous was 1:13, and 1:17:30 for 8 miles- previous was just under 1:20). I knew that my longest run before was 9.42 miles (although I had walked the last 3 miles- I should have turned off my Nike+ during that "run"), so I really wanted to try and beat that. I hit the 9 mile point at around 1:24!! Holy cow- that's 9 miles in 84 minutes, which is a 9:20 pace. I then continued with my cool-down, walking another 4 laps. When I finished I was at 9.55 miles, and I got the shout out from Lance Armstrong on my longest workout yet- awwww yeah!! And somehow, my Nike+ was exactly accurate, which it never is. It's usually off by at least .2 miles (which isn't much, but still). I did 86 laps (at 1/9 mile each), which makes 9.5555555 miles. Unbelievable!

It felt really good to be able to run the farthest that I've ever run, and to cross off another milestone on my training plan. Plus, to have so little pain was very encouraging. In fact, I felt like I could have gone another couple miles if I had to. The next part of my plan was an easy 3 mile run on Monday (the 22nd). I planned to leave work early, because we were having a b-day party for my sister-in-law (from Denver). Well, unfortunately, with shopping and making minestrone, I ran out of time and never did run. Oh well, I would still do my next planned run of 5 "easy" miles on Christmas Eve- but I'll get to that.

Tuesday, was a planned rest day (instead of the elliptical like usual), because the Hubs and I were going to Temple Square to look at the Christmas Lights. We were going after work, and I didn't plan to go home afterward. I brought warm clothes to change into, and after we found a parking space, we headed over. As we were crossing the street, that's when the Hubs saw someone who looked like an actor. Here's how the conversation went:

Hubs: You've got to look at this guy, he totally looks like the guy from Dawn of the Dead.

Me: Which one? (looking around, trying to see anyone who looks like a guy from the movie)

Hubs: The crazy boat guy (that's a direct quote- but I knew who he was talking about, the character Steve).

Me: Where? (still looking around, at all the people in horse-drawn carriages passing by, and all the pedestrians crossing the street with us).

Hubs: This guy right here (pointing to the guy right in front of us). You've got to look at him- it's uncanny!

Me: Okay. (We speed up to walk in front of him, because I can't tell from the back. When we're in front of him, I turn around and look, and the guy does look like a scruffy version of the guy from the movie).

Hubs: (still freaking out that the guy looks so much like the actor) It's got to be him. (he was walking with an older lady, who was most likely his mother)

At that point, the Hubs decided to talk to him, so he asked him if he was an actor, and the guy said yes, and the Hubs was like, "I recognize you, from Dawn of the Dead". The lady that was with him made some comment to the effect of he knew it was you, even with your beard. So that was our celebrity sighting in downtown Salt Lake City (and Sundance isn't even until next month, LOL). We saw Ty Burrell (if you click here and then click on the picture of him with the red background- with the scruffy beard-, that's pretty much what he looked like when we saw him).

Anyway, Christmas Eve morning, I was up early (6:30) so that I could do a 5 mile run outside before we headed to my in-laws. I bundled up and headed out, hoping that the sidewalks would be somewhat clear of snow and ice. For the most part, it was pretty good, but there were still several snowy and/or icy spots. I was really wishing I had some Yak Trax at that point, but I managed to finish in a decent time, just over 51 minutes.

For now, I'm skipping over all the Christmas stuff to talk about my other long run (the reference in the title). This past Saturday (the 27th), my plan was a 10 mile run, again at the rec center. Due to some customer service issues when I registered for the Thanksgiving 5k, I scored a few more free passes. But anyway, since we had yet another family party, I planned to start running at 8:00. Well, I was a little late, and didn't get out the door until 8:15, so I started running around 8:25 (this time I remembered to use the restroom before my run). Although it was a bit daunting to realize that this time I would have to do at least 90 laps, I figured it really wasn't much longer than my last run, and it should be fine. But for some reason I was really nervous about doing 10 miles (possibly because I had done only 1 other run during the week).

The run was going well. Due to the lessons learned from the previous run, I ate the sport beans a little sooner (around mile 4.5) and then drank some of my Powerade a little bit after that (but not the whole 5 oz. bottle). It definitely helped. Unfortunately around mile 6 I started having some hip pain (due to my IT band- which no longer causes knee problems, since I have my strap). I stopped a few times to try and stretch, and took my regular walk breaks, but it was still giving me trouble. I tried slowing down, speeding up, but nothing helped. Toward the end, it was hurting really bad, and after a walk break I made one last effort to try and run again (still hoping to finish the full 10 miles), but realized at that point, it was not worth it to try and push through it (the pain was pretty severe by then). So I just decided to stop, somewhere just before 8.5 miles (I'm not even sure of my exact time for distance, because for some reason my Nike+ didn't save my workout info- the last run it had saved was from 12/24, grrrrr). I ended up doing 78 laps, which is 8.66 miles, but I think because I did my warm-up on the inner lane, it was measuring a bit less than that through most of the run.

After I stopped I was limping pretty bad, and by the time I got home, I was pretty upset. It was a combination of not completing the run, and wondering how that will impact my training plan (not much room for adjustment, since I'm on the short track), and also worrying that the pain won't be gone in time to even do the race. Plus, on top of all that, I had a big goose egg on the side of my forehead, from my klutziness that morning when I banged my head on the bedroom door (yeah, I'm a paragon of grace), but it was dark, so give me some credit. I was in quite a bit of pain all day Saturday and Sunday, and today it's still bothering me a bit. I'm supposed to do an easy 3 mile run, so I'm going to test it out and see how it goes. Plus, I'm excited to try out my new Yak Trax!! Yes, Santa (meaning the Hubs) was very good to me, and totally surprised me with a pair of the Pro variety. He is so awesome!!

I'm still depressed about not finishing my 10 miles, and I'm worried about the pain, but I'm still planning to do the race. If I have to just take it easy and cross train for the next 2 1/2 weeks, so be it. I'll keep you updated on how things go. Plus, I also still have to talk about football, and some other junk, so I'll try to post again soon.