My Sister, The Dietitian

Apparently I have this untapped resource in my family tree.

She may not be an officially licensed dietitian yet, but my sister Olivia plans to make a career out of counting calories and fighting fat. Currently cramming through a nationally accredited Coordinated Program in Dietetics, she's well on her way to making Thanksgiving the most guilt-filled holiday in the Zamora family calendar. Yes, even more guilt-filled than Mother's Day.

So today I was talking to her about my run this weekend. I expressed my concern about not being ready and how I may not live to see anything past mile 8. After some 'just do your best' and 'as long as you finish' nonsense, the real words of wisdom started flowing.

"Are you tapering your workouts and carb-loading?" she asked. It kind of caught me off guard. You see, I had asked my sister a while back about this whole carb-loading business. Apparently they hadn't gotten to that chapter yet, because she offered little help. Suddenly she was a wealth of information. I may butcher some of the stuff she said, but this is what I gathered from the conversation:

There is the old way of carb-loading, she explained, where you limit carbs during the week, then increasing your consumption to 90 percent of your caloric intake the day before the race. The new way involves balancing carbs at the beginning of the week, then consuming about 70 percent carbs the last three days before the race. By reducing your training at weeks end and resting the day before, you allow your muscles to become loaded with glycogen. Apparently you want to start the race with as much glycogen as possible.

She said to eat a more complex carbohydrate about three hours before the race, which will break down slowly during the run. About 15 minutes before the start, drink a little Gatorade or some other kind of sports drink to start you off at a good blood glucose level.

Now, this is all a little confusing to me. The nutritional aspect of running, unfortunately, has never really been a priority. That clearly needs to change. Fortunately I did follow my half-marathon training schedule for the last week, which had me running much shorter distances. Clearly, though, just hammering out these runs isn't going to get me to where I eventually want to be.

In the future, I may be leaning on my sister a little more for more nutritional insight. As for now, I'm three days out from the race, so let the carb-loading begin.

I Wish I Knew How To Quit You

It was a moment of weakness. I know better than to go back to that unhealthy relationship we had, but I was desperate. I needed it, and you were more than willing to give it to me.

Tonight I cheated on my outdoor running with that gym whore called the treadmill. The treadmill makes you weak, I say. It doesn't prepare you for the beating your body really takes running on the street. It gives you a false sense of your abilities. The impact is lower, the running is easier and the TV affixed to the front of the machine offers you a distraction you can't get when you are outside. Somehow, though, I convinced myself it was what I needed. My knee is still bothering me, so an easier run is better than no run at all, right? I had also tried to put it off until Sunday evening to get in a little more rest time. Time had gotten away from me, though, and I knew if I ran outside I would be out there until well after dark. When I read stories like THIS in my own paper, I try to avoid running late at night.

On a good note, I did the ten miles. All of them. Straight through. My knees felt like they were on fire by the end, but I finished. It may have been on a treadmill, but there was something satisfying about seeing the time on the screen have to reset when it went past 99:99 minutes. According to the running schedule, the week before the half marathon is supposed to be an easy week. It includes shorter distances and even a walk. Thank God. Once this week is over I'm definitely gonna need some recovery time before I sign up for my next big run.

Do (Do) You Got A First Aid Kit

Well, I spent yesterday morning trying to patch up a wound. Several wounds, actually. On my Thursday morning run I caused a little damage to my knee, my hand and my forearm when I took a tumble at the end of a sidewalk.

It was right there in the first mile, I was kind of distracted and thinking about work when I came up to an intersection. At the last minute I tried to quickly turn behind me to see if any cars were turning onto the road when BAM. It took just a second. My body was out of balance the instant my foot caught the end of the sidewalk, and all of a sudden I was down on the ground. Pain shot through my left arm and my right knee as my water bottle slid into the middle of the street. After screaming several obscenities and gathering myself off the ground, I continued on. At that point I was more embarrassed than anything. I had skinned a little bit of the palm of my left hand, but hadn't really got a good look at the rest of my wounds. I can't miss a run, I kept thinking. You're not hurt that bad. Keep going. When I finally finished I took a moment to check everything out. My forearm was actually skinned pretty bad, and by that point blood and sweat was kind of running down my elbow. My knee had some scratches, but didn't seem too bad until I started trying to stretch. My knee was not happy. It was stiff and painful and bruised. Damn it. This isn't what I need.

So this morning I had to run again. My training schedule requires I run four days a week, so the running days come back to back on Thursday and Friday. I tried to stretch out as best I could, but my knee was still giving me problems. That first mile was rough. My body really wanted me to stop, but I had to push through. The rest of the run went OK, but I probably didn't do myself any favors. Tonight my knee felt so sore. I had to shoot high school football tonight, and those trips up and down the bleachers were not fun. I really want to get in one long run this weekend. I need to. I have yet to run over 8 miles outside. They say if you can run 10 miles, you can run a half marathon. I'm not sure I believe that, but I need to try. Hopefully by Sunday I'll be able to run without pain.

Half (of Half) Way There

So over the weekend I ran in the Harbor Half. It was actually pretty fantastic. The 13-mile race starts out at Whataburger Field, travels over the Harbor Bridge and across the causeway to Indian Point Park and back. I had originally wanted to run the whole thing myself. A couple of missed, crucial runs, however, really set my training schedule back, so I opted for the relay. I ran the first part, and friend and coworker Denise ran the second part.
The last month or so I've been so worried about running over the Harbor Bridge. I mean, sometimes my car can barely make it over, how was I going to run across it? My biggest problem was that the majority of my training had been done inside. On a treadmill. Sure I ran 8 miles a few weeks ago in an air conditioned environment, but I quickly realized how that doesn't really translate well to the streets. The last couple of weeks I've been running strickly outside, trying to incorporate as many hills and inclines as possible. The result? That bridge was a piece of cake.
Yeah, I get excited about it until I think about how 6.5 or so miles is only half of half way there. Against my better judgment, I've been talked into doing a half marathon in a couple of weeks. I don't think I'll be ready. I just have to really try and stay focused (and not catch my roommates cold) the next two weeks.

OFFICIAL HARBOR HALF MARATHON RESULTS:
Chip Time: 1 hr, 08 min, 51.2 sec
Combined Time: 2 hr, 22 min, 49.5 sec
Mixed Relay Position: 24
Overall Relay Position: 88