The Good, [The Bad], and The Ugly (Runs 10 & 11)

Training runs 10 and 11 had completely different feels. Training run 10 ("The Good") was our second team practice run. "Halfers" were running for 40 minutes (for more on my actual training, check out my post entitled "This is how we do"). It was beautiful, a bit breezy, and clear at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 24. My Friday night are not very adventorous, as I have to be asleep in time to get up for my team practice runs--I have eaten a nice carb-y dinner (but, not too heavy) on the last two Fridays and crashed out by ten at the latest. No sugar and definitely no alcohol.

Anyhow, the 40 minute Good run was just that--I kept a great pace (except for the point when I was attempting to take off my jacket and my iPod (which was strapped to my arm on the outside of my jacket)), and I handled a couple of small hills with ease. I know one of my teammates, Susan, was behind me, probably wondering why my running motion was so spastic. After the team run, we had a shoe clinic at The Runner's Soul on Wall in Spokane. The Soul's owner talked us through foot mechanics and why you need a running-specific shoe. Great information. I had actually purchased my first pair of run-specific shoes that were fitted to me at The Soul earlier this year--a pair of Saucony Omni 6 Ultimates. They are ugly, but my feet love them. This was the first time that I had purchased running shoes for fit and not appearance. Don't expect this to extend to other areas of my life! I hear that Crocs are cozy, but I'd much rather wear a tall, pointy pair of Weitzmans anyday.

And now for The Ugly run (it was beyond bad)...Sunday morning. Saturday night I had a few glasses of wine and a Grey Goose and tonic at an event. Saturday afternoon, I was at my best friend Devon's baby shower, where I also consumed some sugar (an eclair "baby"--once you got past the initial weirdness about eating a "baby," they were delicious). Went to bed after midnight before my Sunday morning run, and I generally ate poorly on Saturday. Well, Sunday morning I went out for my easy 30 minute recovery run with Chad. I was dehydrated, sweaty, panting excessively, and I thought I might vomit. The best thing I can say about this run is that I finished it. My pace was a good minute per mile slower (at least) than Saturday's run. We did head to the lookout underneath the Monroe Street Bridge to watch the falls after. For those of you out of town, the Spokane River is at the highest it's been in forever. The lookout allows you to see the river run over the falls and through the dam--it is amazing and powerful. It was so loud we couldn't even hear each other talk, and we got treated to a spray of mist from the water down below (much needed after the Ugly run). I wish we would have taken a picture (I'll try to get one in the next couple of days to post).

Lesson learned: sugar is not my friend when running (which, I should have learned last week), nor is alcohol. I'm not much of a drinker, so the not drinking the nights before a run shouldn't be too hard.

Finally, I met Jan Giesa's sister-in-law Gayle at the baby shower on Saturday (my best friend Devon is married to the son of Gayle's brother-in-law). She was thrilled about my half-marathon training and fundraising, and she graciously offered to help sponsor my efforts. I really appreciate all the support I've received this early on in the training and fundraising. It's pretty amazing how many people's lives have been touched by cancer.

Runs 10 & 11 were fueled by the tunes of: Garth Brooks, Moby, Sheryl Crow, Duran Duran, Blink-182, Counting Crows, Lupe Fiasco, AC/DC, Chingy, Pilot Speed, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Nas & Jay-Z, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, The Crystal Method, and Korn.