Boo...

I am sorry to say that I was unable to finish the second of my "twelve half marathons in 12 months" challenge...

The alarm (well Chris woke me up with what sounded like an alarm clock) went off at 645 on Saturday morning. We got up, bundled up, and were out of the door by 7:30. The race was in Moon Twp so we got there in no time. I had originally thought the race started at 8 but we waited around until 8:30 to start. It was pretty chilly! We had to scrape ice off my car before we left and pump the defrost full blast to keep the windows from frosting. Luckily, this time I did not have to dig for my scraper under three beach chairs and the beach blanket from our Labor Day weekend Ocean City trip like I had to the first time I needed it. Anyway, we got to the church (St. Phillips) around 7:45, picked up my packet, used the restroom (having to go to the bathroom during a run is almost as bad as this knee pain), and relaxed a little before the race started. Waiting around for the race to start is the hardest part. I am already nervous to begin with but seeing everyone else there who I am running with/against only intensifies my anxiety/nerves.

The race started promptly at 8:30 (here is the map of the run). There was a 5k and a 10 mile race. I was feeling great during the 5k loop and continued to feel pretty positive until about mile 4.2. My left knee (that has been giving me problems) was starting to hurt a little when I saw Chris at the point where the 5k runners turned in to finish and 10 milers kept running. I was feeling very positive and thinking I could definitely run another 10 miles. It wasn’t until just after the 4 mile mark that the knee pain started to become unbearable. It is the strangest thing! It goes from there being hardly any pain to excruciating. It feels like my knee is just going to break in half or tear if I run another stride. Luckily I had Chris' cell phone with me (he had mine so he could browse the internet while he patiently waited for me) so I called him to pick me up.

I only blame myself for the knee pain. The last time I got out for a long run (when I didn't last more than 4.5 miles) I was doing a pretty good job rolling out my IT Band with a foam roller consistently Unfortunately, I got out of that habit about as fast as I got into it. I had planned on rolling it out after my workouts last week but once I got in the house, I got sidetracked with something I needed to do/or would have rather been doing. My knee throbbed for most of the day after the race and didn't feel too well when I tossed and turned while sleeping but felt a lot better yesterday. It has only seemed to cause me pain if I put too much pressure on it, stand on it for too long, or allow my leg to hang without any kind of support underneath it.

However, I was able to stick to my training/working out schedule last week. I did all of the workouts I was supposed to do on their scheduled days. On Monday Chris and I did 8x200 meter sprints. Our street is pretty flat and straight so we were able to do them right in front of our house (I am sure we looked crazy to our neighbors – I am not really sure many people in Beaver County workout because I get lots of “you're crazy” looks). I completed the sprints in 39, 48, 47, 50, 51, 49, 53, and 47 seconds with an average being 48 seconds. I went to Crossfit on Tuesday and Thursday. On Wednesday I did 10x200 meter sprints in 46, 48, 46, 49, 45, 48, 48, 50, 48, and 46 seconds with an average being 47 seconds. So, despite the disappointing run on Saturday I am proud of myself for sticking to the workout schedule I had for for all of last week.

After Chris picked me up during the race, we headed straight to the REI in Robinson to shop for some five fingers. The first thing Chris said to me when I got in the car was “we need to get you some five fingers. That will help you so much.” He even said he used to have the same knee pain I have had but ever since he has been running in his five fingers he has not had any problems. I first tried on the Treks. They were a little snug but unfortunately they didn’t have the next size up in those (surprisingly I need the bigger size – I have small feet and usually need the smaller sizes). Then I tried on BIKILAs. They were almost impossible to put on. These shoes fit like gloves so I have to spread all of my toes wide for each toe to fit in their designated location. This is much harder to do than one would think! Our toes are so used to being squished together that they do not want to spread easily and for some reason the BIKILAs were much harder to put on then the Treks. Anyway, after finally getting my left foot in the “shoe” (took me about 5 minutes – it was getting a little embarrassing) I was able to put the right one on almost immediately. The BIKILAs felt better than the Treks but Chris was afraid the BIKILAs have too much traction on the bottom compared to the Treks which could end up defeating the purpose of buying the five fingers to begin with. Since I could not make a decision, we shopped a little at REI (found myself a nice down winter coat) then went to Barnes & Noble to look for engagement calendars we like to use for training/daily schedules/work schedule (I bought an Andy Warhol one for my personal life and a Zen one for work – I figured I would need to be reminded to “Zen out” more often at work than I would at home). Once we got home (Chris and I both get very overwhelmed while shopping so we did not last long) I hopped into a warm bath with Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets while Chris browsed the internet (his favorite thing to do) for five fingers. Knowing how much I love the color pink he found the BIKILAs in hot pink and orange. However, I did not end up purchasing anything yet but I think I am leaning toward the BIKILAs because they felt the most comfortable AND they are hot pink (obviously!!).

I will let you know if I end up purchasing them and what I think as I start to run in them. I am actually pretty excited to give them a try! Hopefully running in the BIKILAs will also help some of this knee pain that is causing me so much trouble.

Happy November and Monday! I hope you have a fabulous week!

Alyson