Blister In The Sun (Race & Stilettos Don't Mix)

Last Saturday morning, I ran a small, local 8K race. It was a pretty slow time for a just-under-five-mile run, because about halfway through, a blister on the ball of my right foot burst.

I am pretty religious in my application of Body Glide/Sport Block to my feet. I wear running shoes that are right for my gait/running needs/pronation/foot shape. I wear moisture-wicking, run-specific, left/right socks. I also wear stilettos.

Friday I wore a gorgeous, nautical-inspired pair of BCBG Max Azria heels. They are tenuously held onto my feet by two small rope/twine straps--one just over my toes and the other at my ankle. They are 4 inches tall, and they lack in padding, but are very well constructed. They are fine at the office, at dinner, or really any place where walking is not really involved. They are not fine for a walk home in the heat, while carrying a tote full of stuff that has accumulated at my office all week.

Bottom line: I had a quarter-sized blister on my right foot that evening, which was still there Saturday morning.

I taped the blister up as well as I could and hoped for the best. I could feel it stinging as I started the race, and I definitely felt it burst (I think I even heard it). I didn't quit; I just kept going at the best pace I could maintain, knowing that I would literally have to peel my sock off of my oozing right foot once the race ended.

I spent the weekend with a heavily-taped up right foot (which looked lovely with my black heels and black dress on Saturday night when I attended a bachelorette party), covering a now half-dollar sized blister.

And, today is Friday. I am in heels. I will not be walking home in them.

Running Therapy

Tuesdays I run "Quality" runs. These can be any kind of hill or speedwork. I overslept Tuesday morning, and I planned on a nighttime hill run. I did not plan on a stressful, emotionally-challenging phone conversation right before the run. Well, my Tuesday night hill run was the best therapy I could get at that time (and the cheapest and least destructive).* I ran what most Spokanites would know as part of the Bloomsday Run (heading west on Riverside to SFCC), but instead of heading up Doomsday to enjoy a mostly downhill finish, I turned around at SFCC to rerun the hills by the cemeteries,** and to run back up the large hill on Riverside that leads from the M.A.C. to Peaceful Valley. This is a challenging run, but I was a runner with a mission, and I easily ran up and down those hills as if I were running on a flat trail. I barely noticed my hard breathing, focusing instead on my playlist (including a heavy does of Motley Crue) and getting out of my head.***

I came home and barely got out of my sweaty running gear before passing out for the night, and this morning--no more stress. All I could think about was my morning "easy" run.****

*I'll admit that retail therapy is my favorite form of "R" therapy, but I have been discovering the benefits of running therapy. I also considered sweets therapy, carb therapy, and wine therapy. I'm glad I decided against these options.

**I don't know if these are actually separate cemeteries, or one big cemetery split by the road.

***Primal Scream is a fantastic running song.

****This morning's easy run was less than easy. My amazing and hard hill run + less recovery time than normal made it challenging, but since I finished, it was still a great run.

Treat Your Feet

Today was long run day--as will be every Saturday between now and Portland. Running wrecks your feet. Callouses, blisters, broken toenails, dryness...and, I have heard that black toenails are very common closer to the race and during the race.* I also live in high heels.** Finally, summer has hit Spokane, and it's dry and hot.

The bottom line: my feet are gross.

I will paint my toenails and put lotion on my feet (sporadically), but I kind of neglect my feet.*** Not today. Today, I received a pedicure. Pedicures are pure pampering: foot massage, scrubs, lotions, and for me, hot pink toenail polish. I rarely get them, but this might change, since my two neglected feet are getting me through my Portland Training. I have only missed 1 run in the last 4 weeks of training (if you're counting, it means that I have completed 19 training runs, as my training schedule includes five days of running). My feet are responsible for helping me meet my current and, it seems, long-term love: running. I'll be going back in a few weeks to treat them again.

*Word on the trail is that the pressure and friction of long runs can lead your toenails to turn black and sometimes fall off. I have seen it on other runners' feet. Not pretty.

**I don't want to hear that high heels are bad for me. I know they are. I don't care. I do not have very many vices. They are pretty; they make barely 5'2" me taller; they can be the pop of color a dull, conservative outfit needs; and, as someone who thinks I have great style (not me) recently said , "they are sexy." These sexy shoes are from Michael Kors, and they are shown with my pretty, prink, post-pedicure toes.

***This is in stark contrast to the amount of money and time I spend on skincare for my face. Sunscreen (every single day no matter what), lotions, scrubs, masks, eye creams...I have and use them all.

Queen of the Hills

Running teaches you things you don't know about yourself. Last summer, running taught me that if I really put my mind to it, and gave something the effort it deserved and needed, that I could do anything. Well, at least it taught me that if I kept going out, putting one foot in front of the other, worked through the pain and occasional heartache, that I could indeed become a runner.* I also learned about some of the secrets of the running life: body glide is not something you buy at an "adult" store; even a bad run can be a good run; learning how to properly spit is a necessity; black toenails have nothing to do with nail polish; not all gels are created equal (flavor wise); and G.I. distress is a frightening thing.**

Running also taught me that if you don't follow the rules--and even if you do--running might punish you. I tried to take advantage of running last summer, and I got punished with two broken metatarsals, which meant months of not running and a walking "boot" that I hated. So, while I have been seriously running since late May of last year, I probably have less than a year of real running in my legs because of the injury.

In the last 3-4 weeks, I have really become serious about my Portland Training. Giving a lot of effort to my runs, listening to my body, suffering through ice baths, watching my nutrient intake, getting more sleep, consuming less alcohol and sugar, and really focusing on the specific goals of each training run. I am a noticeably stronger runner than I was last year at this time, even though my running had been more consistent for a longer period at that point. I am definitely in worse physical shape than I was last year, but I can run harder and faster, and, unexpectedly, I have fallen in love with hills.***

Every runner knows that hills are a challenge, both uphill and downhill. The uphill challenge really needs no discussion--even the non-runner can appreciate it--but downhills offer their own challenges.**** Still, I have really been pushing myself on hill training, and I have gone from a little bit of distaste to a bit of an obsession. Hills have become Benicio del Toro or Javier Bardem or Jonathan Rhys Meyers--each of these men has a decidedly unique look, one that would not be considered conventionally attractive, but I cannot tear myself away from them. Hills are mini-reminders of how much better your running is becoming. It's great for the ego to conquer a hill today that conquered you yesterday. The fact that hills whip you into shape quickly and are great for your glutes certainly doesn't hurt either.

*I previously wrote about what a runner is here: http://runnergrrl30.blogspot.com/2008/07/running-just-might-be-pearl-izumi-ad.html

**Last summer, running made me vomit and not figuratively. My stomach was extremely sensitive about what I ate before a long run. There was a particularly nasty huckleberry pancake incident that I wrote about in a post last August. I spent quite a bit of time figuring out what fuel works for me. That fuel is definitely not GU. I would compare the taste of the caffeinated berry flavor to sucking on a cherry-cough syrup coated penny. Fortunately, the apple-cinnamon Carb Boom reminds me of the filling in an apple donut and stays down.

***I consider the first half of 2009 to be six months of excess. Coming on the tail end of recovering from the broken foot, I was set back by a broken heart. In the past, I handled heartbreak by hours in the gym. Not this time...I solaced myself with sugar and libations; late nights out with friends; not a lot of sleep; and even less gym time. This is BAD for your fitness level. The flat stomach I was so pleased about making it through the holidays with was replaced with my "break up belly." That little belly...and a little more everywhere else...is hanging on still, but my new lover running is showing it who's boss, albeit slowly.

****I'll write about downhills in a later post.