Fun with the number 10

In recognition of my back-to-back 10 mile runs and Katrina's 10th Half Marathon in 10 days, I figured I would have a little fun and come up with a list of things that never made it to 10:

1. Star Wars — 6 movies
There were the original trilogy (films 4-6) and the prequel trilogy (1-3) and you could event try to count the Holiday Special, but at most that would give you 7.

2. Michael Jordan — 6 championship rings
His Airness went three-peat twice with a two year hiatus playing baseball after the loss of his father.

3. Nirvana — 6 years
They recorded together for 6 years between 1988-1994 ending with the untimely death of lead singer Kurt Cobain from a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

4. Harry Potter— 7 books
There are a total 7 books to date and we can most likely rely on a seventh film (currently at 6).

5. Freddy Kruger — 8 movies
There were eight movies made between 1984 and 2003 (including Freddy vs. Jason). Note: They are remaking the original Nightmare starring Jackie Earle Haley.

6. George Foreman — 76-5
The man with his name on the grill only lost 5 fights between 1969 and 1997, losing his first fight to Muhammad Ali at the "Rumble in the Jungle." Overall he won 76 fights; with 68 by way of knock out.

7. The Tim Burton produced film: 9

8. Angelina Jolie — 6 children

Brad and Angelina have six children: Maddox , Zahara, Pax, Shiloh and their new set of twins; Knox Leon and Vivienne.

9. This list.

Running Nirvana

Decision made! I will be running the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon on Saturday, June 26, 2010. There is a price increase this Sunday, so if you are on the fence, now is the time to register. Here is a quick RUNdown about the event

Location: Seattle, WA

Start Line: At Village in Tukwila’s Gateway Corporate Center, you will find refreshments, sports drink, water, medical support and the Official Gear Check.

Finish Line: Finish outside of Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahwaks.

Finish Line Festival: After the race, reunite with family and friends in the Family Reunion area and relish in your post race accomplishment with refreshments and live music at the finish line stage. (Concert TBA)

Course: Both the marathon and ½ marathon start together at Gateway Corporate Center and run the same course for over 9 miles, culminating in an exciting side-by-side downtown finish outside Qwest Field. Keep your eyes and ears open as you run past some beautiful Seattle sites and hear the talents of local musicians on the entertainment stages. DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE COURSE MAP

Course Description: Both the full and half marathon start together on Interurban Ave in Tukwila, south of downtown Seattle. The course runs through Tukwila and makes its way to the scenic shores of Lake Washington for miles 4 through 9. Full marathoners only split off for 2 miles on the floating Lake Washington Bridge. Both courses merge together again, and all participants head toward downtown Seattle on Interstate 90, where the half marathon will split and finish downtown outside of Qwest Field.

The full marathon will continue north onto the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Hwy 99, with views of Elliott Bay, passing the Space Needle and Lake Union as the Alaskan Way Viaduct/Hwy 99 becomes Aurora. Runners will u-turn and head back toward downtown on the highway before finishing outside of Qwest Stadium downtown. There are some rolling hills in the latter half of the full marathon course.
Important note: There will be 2 different split points on the course for marathoners and half marathoners.  

Elevation Chart:
Over the next few months, I'll be including more information about this destination race. And for those that live in the area or ran the inaugural race last year, I'll be asking for course, weather and sight seeing insight. Hope to see you out there!

5th Half in 5 days

My continuing coverage of a friend of the blog's journey in running 13 half marathons in 13 days. Here is day 5:

I ended up starting the 5th half marathon a bit behind my normal running schedule. Totally not a great thing to do :) Waking up at 11AM isn't a normal routine for me (at all!!!!) — but I'm guessing it had more to do with the house being really empty and quiet — and less with my body being tired from yesterday's run. I hope :)

After walking around a bit to feel how my legs were — I decided that today would be a challenge — just because I was starting my longer run — late in the day. I will have to see how tomorrow's run (6th half marathon) goes, because I usually like to run early in the morning — so I have a full day of recovery for the next morning run. With me running really late today — I'm hoping it doesn't affect tomorrow.

Before getting on the treadmill, I went about my normal routine of putting some IcyHot on the lower half of my legs (and the knee area) — really focusing on my calves — since they were pretty tender from the run the day before. Well...I ran out of my old IcyHot that I've had for a couple of years — and when I went to the store to get some more — the store was pretty wiped out of EVERYTHING. Not a shocker, since I live in a hub of many suburbs. Lots of people.

But, dude — how many people need Bengay and IcyHot?! Really???

I ended up buying two bins of IcyHot Balm. I've never used the "balm" version — I've only really known of the tube/cream sort. But for the price and the ounces — it was better to buy the "balm" then the small tubes of IcyHot (since it was all the store had of IcyHot)... so I bought it.

It's much more "solid" than the normal IcyHot — kind of like Chapstick — hard and waxy...so in order to get some out of the bottle you have to really "scrape" it out. Not the best for application — but it does smear well once you get it on your skin. However, I had compared ingredients of the balm vs. the cream while in the store — and according to the boxes, the IcyHot Balm was supposed to be a bit "less" intense.

Holy....MOLY....it SO wasn't. Either I had really "old" IcyHot cream before — or I put wayyyyyy too much of the IcyHot Balm on my legs; this stuff was INTENSE. So intense — that I thought my legs were on fire and that I was seriously going to have a burn on them.

Yeah. That bad. I ended up taking a paper towel with some water on it — and rubbing some of the excess IcyHot off my legs. It got a bit better — but I highly highly recommend to be very careful when applying IcyHot Balm to your sore muscles! Less is definitely more with the IcyHot Balm — word to the wise :)

After that — I hit the treadmill and finished my 5th half marathon in 5 days. I'm glad to say that it went REALLY really WELL! I'd say almost better than yesterday — except for the fact that it was pretty late in the day by the time I got done.

I iced and ate after I was done — and stretched my calves — but everything is feeling pretty darn good. I think I've found my gait now — and it's just going to be taking each day and each stride carefully and being aware what's going on with my body. Strange as that sounds — anyone who's a runner or who's been running a huge part of their life — knows that running and being self-aware of one's body — go hand in hand.

Only thing to note (besides the IcyHot Balm overload): my stomach has been a bit sensitive tonight after the run. Not in the Runner's Trots sense — but more in a food-overload sense. Because the run was so late in the day — my supper and quick meal after my run sort of *merged* as one — and this didn't settle very well for my runner's tummy. Usually I try to put a good hour or two between my run quick meal and a bigger meal (like supper) but tonight, I wasn't really able to do that. It's been a couple of hours now — and I feel much better — so that is just something to watch. Runner's tummy is a strange thing. Sometimes, I think I get it from the up/down jostling from running. Sometimes, I'm either really starving and hungry — or then just the opposite; thirsty and less hungry.

But another good half marathon — and now 65.5 miles stronger :) We'll see how tomorrow's run goes —with the short amount of time I have for a recovery. I am using a heating pad on my legs to help speed it up — so we'll hope for another run like today!!

* * * *

Great job Katirna. Thanks for sharing your icy balm experience. Always great to have insight into running treatments. 5 for 5, keep running strong Milly.

13 Half Marathons in 13 Days: Day 1 & 2

A facebook friend (and friend of the blog) Katrina, is aiming to complete 13 Half Marathon distances in 13 consecutive days. I've asked her if I can share her story as she writes daily about her 13.1 mile experiences. She attempted this earlier in the year and had to stop short due to a nagging injury and is giving it a second go around. Here is the kicker, she's doing these on a treadmill in her basement. (Inside joke, I'm calling her Milly.) Here is day one and two:

2/17: First 13.1+ down ... and a blown breaker ... or two!

I woke up this morning and wasn't planning on starting my 13 half marathons 13 days in a row until after Saturday, maybe Sunday. H has to go on another training trip and leaves Saturday — so I was planning on just starting it after he left. BUT ... the minute I hit the treadmill, I knew it was going to be a good run, and that I might as well just start :)

At first, I thought the treadmill was running/going *slower* than it usually does — or maybe it was just me. I felt like the treadmill couldn't go fast enough! This is a pretty rare feeling for me — so I went with it and enjoyed it for as long as it lasted (throughout the whole run!)

I had no problems whatsoever during this first run — I drank water throughout it — and was glad my iPod didn't die! This picture is of my post-run first meal. Classic. I was thirsty, so I had a Fuji apple with yogurt. And some juice! But...

... Because I do run a small space heater while I am running (I'm in the basement — and when you're covered in sweat at about the 8th mile — you start to get a bit chilled ...) I did end up blowing the breaker ... TWICE. Talk about FRUSTRATING! And this is actually quite odd — because I run every day with the space heater (and I set it so that the heater does not kick off — and then back on - creating the surge to kick the breaker.) Not sure what was going on, but because of this — I had to restart the treadmill both times.

This is why my first day mileage is at 13.1+ because I am pretty sure I went over a half marathon mileage. I think I might have run 13.5 miles — I'm not sure — but I ended up rounding my mileage DOWN every time the treadmill shut down on me — so that I didn't cheat on my mileage :)

Overall thoughts: No pain — no calf pain, no feet/toe pain — a great first day run. However, the first day is ALWAYS a good day. I found this out on my first 13.1 for 13 days trial — AND — I found this out while running these past 10 years. No matter how many miles I ran on the weekend, my Monday (first day of the work week) mileage was always a good run. My Tuesday run — even if it was the same — was always ROUGH.

I think you can tell what my next run blog is going to be like

2/18: Day 2 Half marathon knocked out!

Today's run started a little rough — which I expected — but as I warmed up and shed my long-sleeved layers — I started to feel a bit better. I wasn't sore until the very end, the last few miles were a little rough. I also sweated a lot *more* this run, than I did yesterday. I ended up drinking my whole quart water bottle BEFORE I was even done with my run.

Yesterday's run - I barely drank half a bottle. So I'm guessing my tired-leg feeling came from being a bit dehydrated — and from yesterday's run, too. But it wasn't too bad. I expected today to be rough — because the second day — ALWAYS - is.

As far as injuries go — no foot pain/toe pain at all. Since my last trial at this — I've been watching my pinkie toes especially — but they are completely fine. It also helps that my Asics (3 pairs) for this trial are all broken in :) Hopefully this will pay off!

Tonight I did notice a bit of posterior shin pain — shin splits — nothing *too* bad — I don't feel it when I walk - but only when I actually *touch* my shins or the front of my legs. I didn't feel it at all when I got done running — but since I only started to feel the tenderness now — I have sat for about 2 hours with a heating pad on both shins — and it feels better.

I will probably heat them tomorrow before I run — or rub some Icy Hot on them to just massage/warm them up a bit — and then see how the run goes tomorrow. If I still feel the pain — I'll be sure to watch it — and ICE IT right after my run. Since I didn't feel the tenderness immediately after running — I didn't ice my legs - which would have reduced some inflammation. However, tomorrow — I am going to specifically check for this — and ice it if it happens. Should help nip it in the bud.

I'm also going to do some specific stretches aimed at my shins — along with the rest of the stretches that I've started doing quickly before I run (since my last 13.1 trial.) This usually consists of some calf stretches and thigh stretches - and then some lunges and jumps to get my legs stretched gently for impact.

Overall — a good, but harder, second half marathon! We'll see how tomorrow goes! I've now ran the mileage of a full 26.2 marathon over 2 days.

(p.s. - Rihanna and Lady Gaga sure do make that extra mile go easier! ;-)

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Thank you for reading. I'll be sharing her write ups over the next 11 days. Feel free to leave comments below, advice, cheers, words of encouragement, etc. You can also leave them on my facebook page (link to the right). Go get em Milly! and thank you for sharing your story with us. :)

US Half and a Giant Race

US Half Marathon 2 "The Other Half"
Race Day: Sunday, April 11, 2010
Course: Hilly, includes out and back along the Golden Gate Bridge
Registration: $60 until March 1st
Coupon: "RUNLOCAL" $10 off, expires tomorrow, 2/19

Tid Bit: This race is normally held in November, but they are adding a Spring race. Same course, just in April. This will be the inaugural event. I ran this course back in 2008 and was planning to run in costume as the Incredible Hulk (it was being held the day after Halloween), but unfortunately it was raining on and off leading up to the race and I didn't want to run in a padded muscle suit in the rain, so I didn't go in costume. Nice course, but it includes my arch-nemesis: the Golden Gate Bridge. This will be my first Half Marathon for 2010 and 8th ever. See you out there?

Giant Race (Half Marathon and Plate to Plate 5k)
Race Day: Saturday, June 12, 2010
Course: Mostly flat, along the Embarcadero, finishes inside AT&T Park.
Registration: $90 for Half Marathon, $40 for 5k
Coupon: "stadium" $10 off, not sure of expiration date

Tid Bit: This is the first year that they have a half marathon as an option. Registration includes a FREE Giants Ticket (while supplies last) for the day before race day so you can watch a Giants game the day before and run the following morning. You finish crossing home plate INSIDE Giant stadium. I finished inside Candlestick Park a few year ago at the Stadium to Stadium 10k and it is quite an experience to be on the field. Unfortunately I won't be participating in this run this year, but I'd love to hear about it if you do. Enjoy.