Not Quite as Scheduled

Monday I planned to do my regular speed workout. I didn't sleep well the night before and I did an intense 12 miles Saturday, so I was a little more tired on Monday than usual. So, I altered my plan from the scheduled eight laps of 3 min. fast alternating with 2 min. of rest to six laps. After I started walking, I discovered I was much more tired than I realized. After four laps I was done.

Though I feel somewhat bad about ending my speed workout early, I've heard from several people I respect that sometimes it is best to do that. As Bonnie Stein always says, if you don't feel like walking, walk for 10 min. If after 10 min. you don't feel like continuing, then it is OK to stop. So, after 20+ min. I just could not continue -- it was time to stop.

Today I was scheduled for 45 min. easy. I knew it was going to rain and was trying to get out of the house before it hit. By the time I got out, it was cloudy and was just starting to sprinkle. The more I walked, the harder it rained. On my way back home, about a block away, it was raining harder and I was getting soaked. Those who know me know -- I do not do rain when it is cold! Rain in September is something I hate.

I finally decided to just run.

Yeah, I hate running. But my dislike of getting rained on was just a little bit stronger.

Last Long Walk Before Half Marathon

Yesterday was our longest walk before the Columbus Marathon (Half) in October. Deb and I wanted to do 12 miles, so our plan was to walk straight out on the Alum Creek Trail for 90 min. and turn around for a total of 3 hours. We estimated that even if we walked slowly, we would walk at least 12.

We started out with a few other walkers planning to do just 8 miles. (Don't you love it when I say "just" 8?)

Our first detour was a small group of deer. The doe and fawn crossed the trail in front of us, but the buck waited and watched. The closer we got to where the two deer crossed, the more upset the buck got. He even ran at us a little. (I suggested we NOT make eye contact and walk faster.)

When we got to one part of the trail that goes under a busy road, the trail was closed due to construction. We had to go up to the street and cross. Luckily at a little after 7:00, there were few cars.

After the others left us, Deb and I walked farther than we have gone on this trail -- almost all the way to Easton! After trying to map the trail on Map My Walk, I think we walked about 6.28 miles out then  turned around.

After we turned around, the trail looked very different. We also forgot how many times the trail veered off. At one point we were totally lost, it just was not obvious which way kept us on the main trail.

When we hit the one intersection with a traffic light and then had to cross the busy street, the traffic was heavier and it was harder to cross. We ended up back at our cars after 3:04, so we definitely took longer to get back.

So, it was a beautiful morning, and despite a few obstacles we walked for more than 12 miles. It was a good beginning to the day!

9/30/11 Edited to add: I forgot to mention that two huge apples or hedge apples dropped from a really tall tree and landed inches from our feet! We both jumped (and yelped) and laughed so hard, we had to stop walking for a minute. If we had been a second faster, we both would have been hit in the head by the falling fruit.

Walking Division Prizes at Columbus Marathon

The Columbus Marathon just announced that there will be prizes for walkers who sign up to be in the competitive walker division!

From the Columbus Marathon website http://www.columbusmarathon.com/race-information/walkers:

Competitive Walker Division Rules

All participants in the Competitive Walker Division must wear a special sticker on the front of their shirt and a special bib on the back of their shirt on Race Day. Judges will be located on the course. Any participant in the Competitive Walker Division seen running will be ineligible for Competitive Walking Division Awards.

 

The Competitive Walking Division stickers & bibs can be picked up at the Competiive Walking Division table at the Expo. This table will be located next to Number Pick-up. ONLY those walkers interested in competing for awards must wear the sticker & bib; walkers taking part in the marathon and 1/2 marathon who are not competing in the Competitive Walking Division do NOT need a sticker or bib.

 

Following the Race, all participants in the Competitive Walker Division will be required to write their name and race number on their back bib, and turn it in to the information table in Celebration Village for verification. Those participants who fail to turn in their bib will be ineligible for awards.

I'm excited!

A 10-Mile Saturday

I'll admit it -- today a lot of the Buckeye Striders were going to be out of town, so Deb and I went to a different location for the Saturday morning walk. (I know, it was divisive.)

We were scheduled to do 8 miles, but because we didn't get up to 10 miles last week, we left 10 as an option.

We went to Sharon Woods at 7 a.m. and it was still dark and it was cold! I hate dark and cold mornings! This park has a 3.8-mile loop and large mile markers. It always takes me a while to get warmed up enough that I can walk fast comfortably. Our first mile I thought Deb had set too fast of a pace, but it took us just 14:09, not too fast at all. We tried to hover around that pace, and even got down to 13:58 for mile 3.

The first lap was uneventful except the park was beautiful! The second lap we really slowed with our slowest mile 14:25 (Deb stopped to get a drink from the fountain, so I slowed to wait for her). After 8 miles we felt great, so we decided to do two more miles. I made the executive decision to pick up the pace for mile 9 to see how fast we could get. Though she was not entirely sold on the idea, Deb hung in there, and I would not let her slow down. We did that mile in 13:38! Because she was such a good sport, we used the last mile as our cool down and finished it in a very slow 15 min.

It was a beautiful morning! The temps were perfect, though I can't stand being cold first thing in the morning. And though we did not see any deer, we did see the flock of wild turkeys. (No, wild turkeys are NOT cute!)

I'm glad Deb talked me into leaving my jacket in the car, and she is glad I talked her into walking mile 9 fast -- and that is why we train so well together!

Speed Workouts with Motion Traxx

For years I have listened to audiobooks to keep me going on my long walks. Over the years I've been told music is better for maintaining a fast pace. I'm not really into current music, so it has been difficult for me to figure out which songs are good for what pace.

Recently I discovered a podcast called Motion Traxx. Deekron the Fitness DJ puts together play lists at a specific pace for set amounts of time. There are sets as short as about 30 minutes and as long as an hour or so. There are sets as slow as 120 beats per minute (BPM) and as fast as 180 BPM. Some are a steady pace and others increase gradually.

I downloaded a couple of podcasts to try for my speed workouts. Because I had never used anything like this before, I wasn't sure how fast I would need and guessed at 160 BPM.

The music is "techno" and most of the songs have an exaggerated beat. Most of the songs in the sets I downloaded do not have lyrics, however, the credits do list the artists.

At the beginning of one set, the beat was very heavy, and I found myself flinging back my right elbow with each beat. There was something about such a heavy beat that felt as if it needed more than just normal arm movement. And of course, pushing my right elbow back caused my left elbow to go back harder and made my feet keep the beat better.

What I discovered is that music with a consistent strong beat did keep me walking at a strong consistent pace. During my eight intervals or fartleks of 3 min. each, I ended at almost the exact same point for each interval. When walking with audiobooks, I am never this consistent.

I also found out that I hate techno music. Well, I knew this all along, but I really, really do not like techno music. But by using music with such a strong beat, I can keep the volume low and use just one ear of my earphones and still benefit.

When doing intervals, 160 BPM ended up being too slow. I found myself trying to go just a little faster than the music. For my next experiment I'll try something a little fast, like maybe 170.

There are several other options for pace music including more podcasts and applications such as Podrunner. (The few sections I listened to on Podrunner were less mechanical sounding.) I'm going to keep experimenting until I find music I like at a pace that will keep me going.

If you have tried programs such as Motions Traxx, let me know if it was helpful.

Back to Training

It was cold and wet Monday morning, so I postponed my training walk until nearly noon. I was scheduled to do 8 miles and just could not do that much mileage in my neighborhood. I finally went to Antrim Park which has a 1.2-mile loop and did six laps for a total of 7.2 miles. Because I had not walked hard since the Parkersburg Half Marathon, I felt comfortable with that distance.

I started slow, walking the first lap in 17:32 for a 14:36 per mile pace. Each lap was progressively faster ending with a 16:19 lap, or 13:35 per mile pace! I'm pretty excited about that. I averaged 14:09 per mile, which is not fast enough to break a 3-hour half marathon, but 13:35 is.

Considering that I finished feeling strong and I was not breathing overly hard, I think I should be able to maintain that pace to achieve my goal. And with any luck, I will be able to do it at the Columbus Marathon Half in October.

Fiber One 80 Calories Cereal

As a participant in the General Mills Pssst... program, I periodically receive samples of General Mills' products to try and to review. Recently I received a box of Fiber One 80 Calories cereal. It was the Honey Squares flavor.

The cereal had a nice flavor and texture. If I didn't know it was a high-fiber cereal, I would not have guessed based on the texture or taste. I also liked the fact it was not overly sweet like garbage cereals. Because I use skim milk, I have almost given up eating cereal -- most get way too soggy too quickly in skim milk. Though this cereal did start to get soggy near the bottom of the bowl, it stayed fairly crisp for a while.

I am not a nutritionist or dietitian, so I'm not going to give a full nutritional review of the cereal. That said, here are some things from the label: 3/4 cup provides 10 grams of fiber and 1 gram of protein. With 1/2 cup of skim milk, it provides 50% of the calcium needed in a day. It provides 25% of many other nutrients. Though the label says it has no trans fat, it does provide 0.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat. Because it also says it has 1 gram of total fat there has to be some somewhere else that doesn't get reported because it is below a certain level. (I don't remember the rules on that.)

How the Altras Handled a Half

Too close to my most recent half marathon, I bought my first pair of zero-drop shoes made by Altra -- the Intuition. In theory, I knew they would be light and flexible enough for racewalking. (The brochure says they are designed for "toe off.") I wasn't sure they would have enough support for me to make it through an entire half marathon without killing my feet. (I've tried other lightweight shoes before and around mile 10 my feet were killing me!)

Zero drop means that the sole of the shoe is flat -- the heel and toes are the same distance off the ground. This pair is extremely flexible and is intended to encourage a natural foot motion. To learn more specifics about the shoe, read my July 31 blog post.

I was a little bit worried about blisters. The back of the shoe rubs a little along the top. In training walks, I felt a hot spot on the left foot and ended up with a small blister on my right foot. To be proactive, I applied Body Glide on my right foot and a Blister Blocker patch on my left. The Blister Blocker was pretty old, and didn't adhere quite right, but I didn't know for sure until after the race.

For the most part, these shoes performed great! It is difficult to walk in them if I am not attempting to racewalk. I could tell almost immediately if I wasn't using proper form and I was able to make adjustments before going too far "plodding" as opposed to "floating." (As if I ever really float!) I was especially amazed at how they performed on hills. They are so flexible, my feet seemed to roll with every step uphill. It felt like a very natural motion.

Going downhill was a little bit different. My feet seemed to slap the ground more than I would have liked. But that could have been more my fault than the shoes.

At about the eight-mile mark, I picked up the pace. As I approached the 10-mile mark, I started to get nervous. I could "feel" my feet a little bit, but there was no pain. As I continued, pushing when not going uphill, I felt OK.

But the test is often how you feel AFTER the race. I did not have blisters on either foot. I could still feel my feet, but I did not have pain or an overwhelming need to rip my shoes off. I would not have wanted to go much farther, though. More mileage would have started to get rough. My feet did feel much better when I finally put on my Croc sandals, but they always do. The next morning, my feet were sore when I first got out of bed, but that is pretty typical for me, too.

The main reason I need a little support is that my right ankle can be wobbly, causing my ankle bones to rub in a bad way. (I discovered this at mile 19 of my first marathon.) I did not feel any of that rubbing pain, though my ankle has been popping more than usual since finishing the half. 

So, in conclusion, the Altra Intuition is great for short-distance racewalking and is also pretty good for distances as long as a half marathon. Because I was proactive, I didn't get blisters. Because they are light, I felt the need to work harder to use racewalking form and did not plod as much as typical for me. It is possible that my feet hurt less because I was plodding less. Either way, it is a good thing. As long as there are no major negative changes to these shoes, I will most likely buy another pair.

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NOTE: The Altra Intuition comes with two different insoles: Strengthen and Support. For obvious reasons, I have been using the Support insoles. They have a little bit of arch support and are a little bit stiffer. I am currently doing ankle-strengthening exercises. If my right ankle ends up no longer needing support, I will try the lighter strengthening insoles.

I had a pair of lightweight trainers I wore in the Country Music Half Marathon a few years back. By mile 10 my feet hurt so bad, I was miserable. I picked up the pace to finish as fast as possible just to get off my feet. Even walking back to the hotel was miserable. Since then, I have been a little more cautious about buying light shoes.

Parkersburg Half Marathon Review

I love the color!

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half Marathon is one of my favorite races! Not only are the race fees very reasonable, but the entire town gets behind the race. The volunteers and the people in the town are friendly and welcoming.

For the $45 registration fee you get: pre-race pasta dinner, post-race pizza lunch, technical shirt, finisher medal, ice-cold wet towel at the finish line and awards for walkers. There was more than one water stop per mile (closer together near the finish line), Gatorade at many water stops and ice at many water stops! There were even wet sponges at two or three stops. The finish line offered cold bottles of water, soft drinks, fruit, Panera bagels and free massages.

Along the course, there were monitors to verify that the more than 140 walkers all walked the entire race. The walker bibs were a different color and we wore two bibs -- one on both the front and the back for easy identification. That makes the fact that awards are given to walkers much more meaningful.

Most of this course is very scenic. Walking through historic neighborhoods, or along the river, looking out over the hills of West Virginia, crossing bridges -- you almost forget that it is very hilly and sometimes pretty darn hot.

The flag was lowered as trumpets played the
National Anthem.

At the start of this year's race, a giant U.S. flag was lowered from the roof of a downtown building as trumpeters from the high school band played the National Anthem. It was beautiful!

The temps were in the high 60s and the day was expected to be sunny and a little bit warm.

Deb and I did a pretty good job of walking at a quick pace, averaging 14:20 to 14:30 per mile for the first eight miles. Around mile eight, Deb was slowing a little bit and I was ready to pick up the pace, so I went on ahead. Mile nine was 13:41 for me! From there I slowed with mile 10 14:07, 11 was 14:11 and mile 12 (with the huge hill) was 14:46. The last 1.1 miles I really tried to push, passing people left and right. It took 15:13, which ends up being a 13:49 pace. I love it when I have enough left at the end to really push!

I felt good the vast majority of the race until the hill between 11 and 12. It took me a couple of minutes to recover and catch my breath.

The temps got into the mid-80s, which is pretty hot for a hilly race. The ice was a wonderful addition to the water stops! Though I chewed a few pieces, most of it ended up in my hat. (How do you explain to your doctor that you got frostbite on the top of your head in the middle of August?)

One of my favorite parts of this race is, as you approach the finish line, there are people lining the streets cheering. It is great hearing the announcer say, "From Columbus, OH, one of our racewalkers, Cindi Leeman!" And the crowd goes wild! It makes you feel like an Olympic athlete! (I am sure they didn't quite go "wild," but there was cheering.)

Though the people on the street are really waiting for the parade that starts after the race, they are familiar with racewalking and do a great job of encouraging us back-of-the-packers to finish strong. It is a lot of fun!

There were just a couple of places where traffic could be an issue. The local police did a great job of stopping the cars for us. On two roads cars drove past us in the other lane, but because of the bike patrols and the traffic cops, I felt totally safe.

The only thing I would change about this race is the shirt. The shirts are offered in men's sizes only and even the smalls are too big for small women. In the overall scheme of things, that is not such a big deal.

So, if you are tired of the over-the-top costs of destination races that do not even acknowledge walkers, I would highly recommend trying this race. I can almost guarantee that you will come back.
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For this race, I paid $45 for the entry fee, half the hotel room rate of $75 and $14 for gas. We bought no food until we stopped to pick up drinks on our way back home.

Great Idea! Saving Food for the Final Race Finishers

At the end of a long race, I want my bagel!

It happens to us walkers all of the time. We get to the finish line of a runner-dominated race, and there is nothing left -- no bagels, no water, not a banana to be found.

Though not having food by itself is frustrating, the attitude of the early finishers and the race directors is what is most frustrating. Often, complaining does nothing. It doesn't stop me from complaining, but it usually does no good.

Rather than re-hash a bad situation, I'm going to fast forward to 2011 to recognize a race doing something I think will be great!

In this month's email newsletter, the Columbus Marathon announced that new this year, "More, easier-to-carry finish line food  – we will have it packed in a bag for you!"

I'm sure many people read that and didn't think a thing about it. My first reaction was, "Wow! They listened!" If you are one of those you do not get the significance, let me explain. When there are just open tables of food, early finishers grab all of the good stuff, more than enough for one person sharing it with their non-racing friends and family, meaning the people at the back of the pack who actually paid to be in the race and need food get nothing. (I'm sorry. I am not going to re-hash.)

When finishers can go through the food line and just be handed a bag of food -- one of each item, enough for one person -- then there is plenty of food for everyone, and the people at the end of the race (who paid to be in the race) get food too!

My friends and I saw the success of this type of finish line food distribution at the Detroit FreePress Marathon. (Back when I was boycotting the Columbus Marathon.) We finished the race, entered the food line and each of us was handed a bag with a bagel and other goodies, we grabbed a bottle of  water, and then we moved to an area to rest. Somewhere along the food line, a volunteer put a mark on your race bib indicating you had received food and you could not get back in line. It worked great!

To some this will seem a little severe. What if you don't want a bagel, but you would rather have two bags of chips instead? And I hate to think about the number of volunteer hours that will be needed to make this work.

But measures like this ARE necessary if we want to have large races with people taking as long as 7 or 8 hours to finish. As long as you have 4-hour marathon finishers who see the TONS of food and think it won't matter if they take a couple of extra things for their friends, we need strict regulation of finish-line food.

I thank the Columbus Marathon for listening to those of us who take a little longer to finish! I really appreciate your trying to make a tough situation work for everyone. And I especially appreciate your putting such a positive spin on this new program. Thank you!

First you offer shirts in women's sizes and now you are working to make sure everyone gets food! It just keeps getting better and better!

PS: To the guy at last year's race who walked off with a BOX of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and ignored me when I said, "Someone behind you might like a doughnut, too" -- plans like this are because of you!

The Week Before the Half

You gotta love a taper week!

Yesterday we stepped down our training miles to only 8. (I just LOVE saying I walked ONLY 8 miles.) Yep, this is the official taper week before the Parkersburg Half Marathon!

At 7 a.m. we started walking along the Alum Creek trail 4 miles out and back. We couldn't find enough mile markers to be accurate, and not one of the three of us has GPS, so we decided to walk straight out for 1 hour then turn around. We tend to be faster than a 15-min mile on most days, so it should work out that we walked a little farther than 8 miles.

The temps were perfect for a long-distance day! It was warm enough that we could wear shorts and a T-shirt, but chilly enough to keep us from getting over-heated. The skies were overcast and we even had some pretty light sprinkles that didn't last long.

At one point I asked Deb and Elaine if I was going too slow. (For some reason I was setting the pace that morning.) They both said no, I was going too fast. Though I had forgotten to wear my heart rate monitor, I wasn't breathing hard at all and I felt I was not working hard enough. What a nice switch for me!

With about 2 miles left to go, we joined up with the Buckeye Striders who started after us, and Elaine and I did pick up the pace a little bit. We ended up finishing the walk in about 58 min. Though I'm sure our faster pace did add to our faster than 2-hour finish time, I think the amount of time we spent waiting for one traffic light to turn green also had an impact. We crossed the road easier on our way back than we did on our way out.

It was a nice, early Saturday morning walk. We've trained harder than we typically do for a half marathon, and it will be very interesting to see how it affects next week's race.

Best Hill Workout!

Yesterday, I decided to do a more intense hill workout than typical. The hills at Sharon Woods are my closest option, plus the park is pretty.

The hills are within the first 2 miles of my usual starting point, but the rest of the loop is pretty flat. My plan was to walk 2 miles out, turn around and walk the 2 miles back for 4 miles of hills. However, when I got to the top of the last hill, I estimated I had walked only about 1.5 miles. Because my goal was to walk hills,  I just wasn't interested in walking an extra half mile with no hills. Here's where I made an easy decision, but it is a little bit hard to explain.

At the top of that last hill, I decided to turn around, repeat the last half mile of hills then go back to the 1.5-mile point. I turned around and went back to my starting point for a total of 4 miles. (I know it is confusing, but I can't figure out a clear way to explain this.)

The workout was great! The hills were challenging and today I even felt a little bit sore. A "you did a good workout the day before" sore. I thought I was ready for the Parkerburg Half Marathon before this, but after this hill workout, I feel even better.
__________

NOTE: Sharon Woods doesn't have half-mile markers, just mile markers. When I got to the top of that last hill, I had walked 7:36 min past the mile marker. Though I walked the first mile in 14:30 and the last mile in 14:00, I decided to estimate that 7:36 was a half mile just to make my life easier. I'm sure I walked a little farther that 4 miles.

Tapering to "Only" 10 Miles

This weekend's 10-mile training walk was moved from Saturday to Sunday. Though Deb did 8 miles Saturday, she agreed to do 10 more with me on Sunday at Sharon Woods! Now that is a good training partner! (And part of the reason we do so many races together.)

It was humid and the air felt thick, but it was not as hot as it has been for the past few weeks. It was overcast and we thought that it might rain.

We started out at our goal pace of 14:30-mile and tried to maintain that the entire time. The pace was easy for us to maintain and we did a good job of it until the last mile or so. (On long slow days, we have no problem going slow.)

Less than a mile from our starting point, we saw a flock of wild turkeys! Unfortunately, I did not have a camera with me. There were 10 turkeys and it looked as if four of them were adults -- I think two were adult Toms. I had never seen turkeys at this park before -- in fact I have never seen wild turkeys before -- but Deb saw the flock on the other end of the park at least once prior to this. (For the record, each time we saw the turkeys, we slowed a little bit.)

After about 7-miles Deb ended up with a stitch in her side, and we slowed a little. We were not out to beat a speed record, and besides, she walked 8 miles the day before, so I had no problem slowing until the pain subsided.

Toward the end of our last lap at Sharon Woods, we had to decide which direction we would go to complete the last 2 miles -- toward the hills or toward the flat section we just finished. (Sharon Woods has a 3.8-mile loop.) Because we are preparing for Parkersburg, we decided to head toward the hills. In this direction, you go down a fairly steep hill, then at the 1-mile mark, you turn around and go back up that same steep hill. We felt great climbing back up! It was not nearly as difficult as these same hills earlier in the workout!

It didn't rain, but in those last two miles the sun came out. Though that would normally be a good thing, this day it just made the air thicker, muggier and the temps hotter. Thank goodness we were nearly done.

It was a good walk at a good pace! It was nice cutting back to "only" 10 miles. Next weekend we cut back to just 8. I am feeling very ready for Parkersburg!

Hills Again

Until after the Parkersburg Half Marathon, I have replaced speed workouts with hill workouts. Usually when I do hills with my walking friends, we do four repeats -- up one hill, down the other side, then turnaround to go back up the hill and down to the starting point.

The temps were a little milder today, making it much easier to do hills. In fact, I felt so good after the usual four repeats, I did an extra one!

After 12 miles Saturday and hills today, I know I am ready for Parkersburg! (Now if only I can figure out which shoes I'll wear.)

New Shoes -- Altras

I have a love/hate relationship with shoes. I love having a great pair, but I hate the buying process -- never knowing for sure if the shoes are right until after you have worn them a few miles.

What adds to the difficulty for me is that I wait until my shoes are way too worn out before buying a new pair. Under these circumstances, EVERY pair of shoes feels great!

This week I went to one of my favorite running shoe stores to get half marathon shoes. There is a difference between the shoes you wear for short fast distances and longer distances. The short-distance shoes can be super light and very flexible with no padding. The long-distance shoes (for me) need to have some support and more padding. But when in the shoe store, the more supportive shoes can feel very clunky, making it hard to know if they are right.

Altra "zero drop" shoes. Look at that low heel!

After trying on some clunky shoes, my sales guy asked if I had ever tried "zero-drop" shoes. He explained that these shoes have a very low heel -- in fact the sole is the same height almost the entire length of the shoe. Since racewalkers prefer a low heel, he thought I should try them.

As soon as I put these shoes on, I loved them! It is really difficult for me to walk in them and NOT use racewalking form. It feels natural to hit the heel and roll my foot. And my foot really can roll in these shoes. The toe box is huge so the toes can spread out and grab the ground. Of course, this is supposed to be for runners trying to run more naturally, but it feels pretty good for walking too.

My main concern with these shoes is there is very little support or padding, which is why my feel roll so well. How will my feet feel after a couple of miles? I had a bad experience during the Country Music Marathon starting at mile 10 in too-light shoes.

Despite these concerns, I bought the Altras. So far I have worn them for about 8 miles, 2 to 3 miles at a time. The manufacturer recommends gradually adding mileage because the shoes are so different. I can tell that my shins feel different. They are pushing harder when I walk, which is a good thing. It also feels as if the very back of the shoe might end up with rubbing issues. I'm keeping an eye on that. If I'm setting my feet down in a racewalking "floaty" step, I think they will be fine. However, if I get into a plodding motion, as I do sometimes, I think my feet will hurt.

So, here I am just three weeks from the half marathon without shoes for the race. I can either wear a pair of old, worn out clunky shoes, or I can try these super light "will probably make my feet hurt" shoes. Or, I could buy another pair of shoes and hope I can break them in in time for the race.

I'll let you know what I decide.

12 Miles

A group of Buckeye Striders met at 7 this morning at Griggs Reservoir. We all had different goals today, ranging from simply finishing 12 miles to getting in a fast 6 or 8. It was a pretty casual workout. We started at a very slow pace of about a 15-min mile picking up to about 14:30. As we walked, a few people would stop to use the restroom and we all slowed down. As people reached their mileage goals for the day, they would peel off. Eventually, the only ones left were me and Deb! We were the only 12 milers.

We neared our cars with 3 miles left, so I stopped to switch shoes to give my new Altras (zero-drop shoes) a few miles.

Near the police station we stopped to get water from the drinking fountain thinking it would be cooler than what we were carrying, but it wasn't. A guy resting near the fountain offered to give me a cold drink from his car, but I declined. We had just 2 miles to go, and there was cold water and Powerade in my car.

Though it was extremely humid this morning, it wasn't overly hot until that last couple miles when we climbed the hill. Before that, the skies had been overcast -- near the end the sun popped out and the temps rose quickly. We ended up slowing even more, turning this into a casual walk for the last half mile. But that was OK. Our goal was to finish, not finish fast.

Despite the heat and humidity, we felt pretty good at the end! We didn't walk very hard and that was OK. (Normally it would drive me nuts to slow down while people used the rest room or to switch shoes.) My HR monitor indicated I didn't go above 144, which is way below race pace. With all of the slowing down and stopping, etc., we still averaged about a 15-min per mile pace! That was much better than what I thought.

So, it was a good workout in heat! I think we will be ready August 20th!

NOTE: Though I do lots of half marathons, I don't recall completing a 12-mile training walk before. Usually we top out at 10 miles. Ten is enough to finish a half marathon, but I'm trying to break the 3-hour mark. I'm hoping that by increasing our longest day to 12, it will help me to have more stamina and finish faster.

Walking This Week

Lots top catch up on!

Saturday we did 8 miles on a multi-use trail along the Olentangy River. It was hot and we took it easy. I tried to sprint for the last 1/4 mile and did OK. The Parkersburg Half Marathon will be hot and I like to finish a race strong. Sprinting at the end should be good practice.

Monday I switched out my speed workout for hills. Parkersburg is hilly -- I think hills are a little more important than speed right now. And as many of you know, hills will help with speed, too.

Today I did 30 min. easy in a new pair of shoes. (I love easy days!) The interesting thing is, it is hard to walk in the new shoes without racewalking. Hmmmm. I'll post about the shoes tomorrow.

My training is going well, and I'm getting excited about the race!

My Favorite Piece of Fitness Equipment

I am not the most techno-savvy athlete. Though I use sport watches and a HR monitor, one of the many reasons I like walking is that it doesn't require a lot of gadgets. With a good pair of shoes and good socks I can walk out my front door.

Because of this, it is surprising to me that I am becoming obsessed with my new favorite piece of fitness equipment -- my iPod Touch.

Just like with my old MP3 players, I use my iPod to listen to audio books on my long-mileage days; however, it is the many other features and applications that make this such a valuable fitness tool. With my iPod and a good Wi-Fi connection, I have access to all kinds of great health, nutrition and fitness products and information -- much of it free.

Apps
Apps (applications for those of you who live in a cave) are great! Some of the options include calorie counters, exercise trackers, recipe apps, health magazines, exercise workout programs, progress trackers, calculators for calories burned and apps for specific gym chains so you can check out what classes and programs are available in any city.

Podcasts
These "mini-radio" programs also cover a variety of topics: nutrition, diet books, beginning running, marathon training, yoga, stretching and exercise in general. There are talk-show formats featuring well known fitness experts. There are even programs featuring music to use in training: some for mood, others to help set a pace using a set number of beats per minute. If you have ever tried to create your own music "mix" to maintain a pace, you know it is hard to do well.

Though at first I was hesitant to switch from a cheap, sturdy, who cares if it breaks MP3 player to an iPod, the access to all of the available fitness tools makes it invaluable! I wish I had given in years earlier.

NOTE: Over the next couple of weeks I will review some of my favorite apps and podcasts.

Hills in Heat

In preparation for Parkersburg,  I have replaced speed days for hill workouts. Parkersburg is very hilly, and the half marathon is August 20. It will be hot.

With that in mind, I followed through with my plan to do hills at Griggs Reservoir tonight even though the temps were in the 90s. My goal was to do four sets at an easy pace so I could get the workout in, but not be over-exerted in this heat.

Going up the first side of the  hill was not too bad because it isn't very big. Heading down the other side was really nice! There was plenty of shade so it was a couple of degrees cooler. I didn't even mind turning around and going back up, even though this side of the hill is steeper and much harder to climb.

The workout lasted about 55 minutes and my heart rate didn't go above 144, so I know I did not overdo it. And though my legs felt heavy when I started out because of the 10 miles on Sunday, after that first hill, I felt great.

Today, I'm glad I did hills in the heat. In August, I know I'll be even happier I followed through with today's hills.
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When I started, the temperature was 91 degrees and when I finished it had cooled to only 86. Woo hoo!

10 Miles -- Again

Because I do a lot of half marathons, I always get a thrill when I reach the 10-mile training days!

There are several reasons:

• Not just anyone can walk 10 miles.
• It takes training and dedication to work my way up to 10.
• It is one of the first true measures of how I will do in the half marathon. If I do well with 10, I know I'm on track. If I don't do well? I need to do something quick to make a change.

Today's 10 started a tiny bit too fast because I was with three other walkers. Laura and Catherine went ahead pretty early on. Nancy decided to make it a slow day for her and stayed at my pace. We did slow down a little after a couple of miles, but I didn't realize until about mile 7 that we probably slowed too much. But for long slow days, that is OK.

We were heading north on the bike trail between the Park of Roses and Antrim Park. Nancy and I decided to do a couple of laps around Antrim then head back to the Park of Roses. I think this is where Laura and Catherine went past us without our seeing them.

We turned back, realized we had not walked a full 10 miles, went south a little more than half a mile, then went back to the start.

10.38 miles in 2:30 -- a 14:30 pace average (what I was hoping for), but I think we were slower overall. We sprinted for the last quarter mile, and I think that made our overall average more respectable.