Hip Stretches from Sara and Ryan Hall. These are exactly the type of hip and glute stretches I do for my stiff right hip. (Well, it’s the type I do when I remember to do them.) (Link courtesy of Running to Disney.)

Geek Girl Runner Episode 008
Here it is! My long-awaited EPIC next episode. Hey, only 2.5 weeks between shows! I think that’s some sort of record. This is also probably the longest show I’ve done so far. This episode features: what’s been keeping me busy lately (both running and otherwise); a training update; emails, comments, and shout-outs; and a weighty (HAR HAR) discussion on the topic of sports bras. Thank you especially to all of the women who gave me interviews at WWKIP Day and to those who contributed to the online discussion. I hope you like the episode!

Show links:
World Wide Knit in Public Day
Elkhart County Fair 5K Road Run
You Don’t Have to Run Alone – blog and podcast of Ted
Blackmore’s Half-Marathon – part of Sydney Running Festival
Kelly in Motion – blog of Kelly
Marathon Woman Returns! – blog of Elma
Wikipedia entry on Sports Bras
7 Rules of Sports Bras
Sports bras: the lowdown
Australian Institute of Sport: Berlei sports bra testing results
Biomechanics of Breast Health

Thanks as usual to Nick Arthur for the use of his song “Little Donut Party”!

The topic of the next GGR episode (to be recorded today or tomorrow) is sports bras. I managed to get several interviews yesterday at WWKIP Day with women who participate in a range of sporting activities. If you’d like to contribute, just drop me an email or leave a comment on this post. I’m interested in hearing which type of sports bras you prefer, problems you’ve had with them in the past, features you particularly like; etc. If anyone has ever undergone a breast reduction, I’d love to hear about that too.

Another light week of running, mostly because the weather has been so completely miserable. It’s rainy and horrible and I just haven’t been able to drag myself out of bed in the morning. I did manage two workouts at Spudds though, where I am still kicking some major ass. (I’ve had double 100’s on the rower at my last four sessions now.) I also went for two easy runs around the neighbourhood on the weekend. The really amazing part is that the Snook came with me for Sunday’s run! He’s agreed to run the Elkhart 5K Race with me and Mom in July, so he needs to train a bit. It was so fun being out there with him.

May 29: 5.36km
May 30: 5.36km
Total this week: 10.72km (6.7mi)
Total in 2010: 437.84km (273.65mi)

To meet my goal of running 1000km in 2010, I should be at 423km. So I’m still ahead. I’ll ramp it back up slowly.

The other amazing news of the week is that @AirForceTed (of You Don’t Have to Run Alone) and @Passinthrough are both going to be running the Elkhart 5K too! It’ll be an International Running Buddy Meet-up of Epic Proportions. 🙂

While those of you in the U.S. are celebrating Memorial Day weekend, Down Under we’re counting down the last two days of Autumn before Winter begins in earnest. It’s been cold, windy, and rainy in Sydney; the kind of week where you prefer to curl up under a blanket rather than drag yourself out of bed to exercise. I recorded the long-awaited Episode 7 of the Geek Girl Runner podcast tonight – IN A SINGLE TAKE! – huddled in my cosy closet. This episode features: what’s been keeping me busy lately (both running and otherwise); recaps of the two races I ran this past month; a training update; emails, comments, and shout-outs; and ruminations on running for goals versus running for fun. I hope you like it!

Show links:
Mother’s Day Classic race report
Sydney Half-Marathon race report
The Secret Life of Kris – blog of The Other Kris
Corso La Meta – podcast and blog by JayDub
Elkhart County Fair 5K Road Run
Fun Run Pink 10K
Blackmore’s Half-Marathon – part of Sydney Running Festival
Runners Round Table
“Mixed Media: Podcasts you can run with” from The Buffalo News
Marathon Woman Returns! – blog of Elma
Chacos on the Run – blog of Shayna
One Girl Running – blog of Heidi
You Don’t Have to Run Alone – blog and podcast of Ted

Thanks as usual to Nick Arthur for the use of his song “Little Donut Party”!

I just learned over at Other Kris’s site that the women-only Fun Run Pink will be happening a week after we get back from the States. Perfect! So even though I’m missing the Bay Run and City 2 Surf, I can still do a 5K on my trip and a 10K when I get home.

A very light week for running! I’ve only done one short run since the DNF at the Half-Marathon: a slow and easy run/walk around the neighbourhood on Tuesday. I could tell that my foot was still sore, so I didn’t push it. I’ve done four classes at Spudds since the big race though, so I’m still keeping up my fitness level. (Oddly, running for a couple minutes during a gym interval is okay. The soreness only appears past a certain distance/time threshold.) I managed double-hundreds on the rower twice this week, which was very gratifying. It’s starting to happen more frequently than not. (I’m tearing up my hands though.)

In terms of my running schedule for the winter, my Mom is registering us (her, me, and the Snook!) for the Elkhart County Fair 5K Road Run while we’re there visiting. That’ll be fun! I’m also thinking of training for the Blackmores Half Marathon in September. If I do Higdon’s 12 week program, I’ve still got a few more weeks before I have to start. That will give me more time to rest this blasted foot and hopefully start the program injury-free!

May 25: 4.83km
Total this week: 4.83km (3mi)
Total in 2010: 427.12km (267mi)

The rest week has eaten into my cushion a bit for my 1000km in 2010 challenge. I should be at 403.8km, so I’m still ahead a bit.

I have to say, Elma’s review of my podcast made me laugh and laugh. “It’s great, she warbles on about knitting and her contraceptive implant and leeches before getting around to any running talk…” Just about sums it up, really!

Which reminds me – Elma also emailed to say she was having trouble seeing my previous episodes in iTunes. So I did some investigating and found out that my RSS feed was only showing episodes for the past 30 days. Whoops! I’ve fixed it up now. So if you need to get any back episodes, you should be able to find them in iTunes. If it doesn’t auto-update, just right-click on the podcast title and tell it to “Update podcast” or “Show all episodes.” You’ll see ’em.

And hey, maybe I could even, you know, record a new show this week? I’ll give it a shot. 🙂

It’s turned out to be an eventful week for my running non-career. After a last gentle 5K run in the taper, there was the debacle of the Half-Marathon DNF. That forced me to re-assess my race plans for the rest of the year. There’s no way I can think about a marathon right now, and I’d even put a half-marathon on hold until I can finally get my right foot back to 100%. Then, last night we booked our plane tickets home to visit my family in July/August… and I only just realised I am going to miss both the Bay Run AND the City 2 Surf. Those two are pretty much the highlight of winter running in Sydney. I’m going to have to motivate myself without the pressure of an event for the next few months, it seems. On the plus side, I’ve done two training sessions at Spudds this week and I’m kicking some ass. I think this cross-training is going to become a much more important part of my fitness plan now that I know I need to give my foot a rest.

May 14: 5.09km
May 16: 12.48km
Total this week: 17.57km (11mi)
Total in 2010: 422.29km (264mi)

I’m still ahead of the pace I need to meet my goal of running 1000km in 2010…

Let’s just get it out of the way, shall we? I didn’t finish the Half-Marathon. Yep. DNF. I made it to 12.5km before pulling out. While I think it was the right decision, I’m still kind of disappointed I didn’t finish. Let’s go back to the beginning.

In terms of race preparation, this was my best ever. I drank about 2 liters of water every day last week. I had a couple doses of Endura the day before the race. I got plenty of sleep, even on the last night. I got up that morning feeling ready. I slathered my injured right foot in anti-inflammatories and popped a Mobic. I filled my water belt and packed it with energy gels. I got dressed, had a cup of coffee and a piece of toast with peanut butter, and headed off for the bus stop. I felt cautiously optimistic.

The day was sunny but chilly, but I didn’t feel the cold much. I did some stretches while I wanted for Venks. After he turned up, I hit the porta-potties for one final pit stop before the start. Just as the gun went off, we met up with Other Kris (who has a cracking race report here). We hit the road. I had been telling Venks that we needed to go slow at the start, but the energy of the crowd was hard to fight. Our first kilometer was way ahead of our needed pace. We ran together all the way down to the Rocks and then turned onto the hill at Argyle Street. Without even thinking about it, I powered up the hill much faster than I normally would have, leaving Venks behind me. My legs felt great. As we came down into Hickson Road, I actually passed a couple people. I started to think that I was going to have the race of my life. I ran into my friend Emma (as I always seem to do) and said hello as I passed her. I ran all the way to the first water stop, which was around the 4km mark. I slowed to a walk while I sucked down a few gulps. Then back to running. I hit the 5km mark at about 33:25 (according to RunKeeper), which is probably a PB at that distance. Note: To reach my goal of 2:30:00, I needed to run about 7:10/km. So I was going way fast. I was fixated on making the 11km checkpoint though, so I kept pushing. I had an energy gel at this point, then started the climb back up into the city. I had to walk on Hunter Street. I could still see Venks only a short distance behind me. I kept telling myself that I felt great. The wheels were about to fall off.As I reached the top of the hill, I got a wicked side stitch on my right side. I wasn’t sure if it was from the water and gel I’d taken, or if it was just from going too fast. At any rate, I had to walk a bit more and belly-breathe to try to get rid of it. As we entered the Domain around the 7km mark, Venks caught and passed me. I think he asked how I was doing. “Side stitch,” I gasped. I decided it was time to switch to my 3:1 run/walk intervals, which I’d had playing through my (one) headphone the whole time. I made it to the water stop at the end, but the stitch was still bothering me so I just dumped the cup on my head and kept going. That section from 9 to 11km just SUCKED. I had another gel but it didn’t help. Did I hit the wall? I don’t know. I just know that what seemed effortless for the first 5km suddenly seemed insurmountable. The stitch lessened but there was a pain in the pit of my stomach. My pace was dropping off. I started to notice that my arms felt cold and clammy and shivery, and my head felt a bit dizzy and faint. (Upon further research, I may have actually hyperventilated in my attempt to deal with the stitch.) I came out of the Domain and hit the 10km mark at around 71min. My pace had dropped off considerably, and I was living for the walk breaks. I hit the 11km mark at around 79min, but once again I could see that they weren’t actually pulling anybody off the course for not making the 75min cut-off. There were plenty of people behind me. I slowed to walk again. “Are you feeling all right?” asked a Race Marshall. “Oh yeah, fine!” I lied.

I kept going. I still hadn’t really entertained the thought of stopping. I just knew that what my body really hated what I was doing, and I was fighting it every step. On Hunter Street, a random guy – who I later found out was JayDub – yelled a greeting as he passed going the other direction. I made it back to the Rocks and turned onto the Argyle Street hill, planning to walk it. I fumbled for another energy gel and ended up squirting half of it on the road. My breathing was still ragged, though my stitch was mostly gone. My skin still felt cold and clammy even after more than an hour of running. All I could think was that I wanted to sit down. “There’s no way I can face another hour of this,” I suddenly thought. Another Race Marshall asked if I was okay. “I’m just going to sit down for a second and catch my breath,” I told him. The two sides of my brain fought. One side wanted to grit it out, Steve Runner-style, dragging my body across that finish line come hell or high water. The other side argued that my body was trying to tell me something, that I didn’t feel right, and that I wasn’t having any fun. That there was no shame in cutting your losses and living to run another day. Still, I was reluctant to quit. I stood up to resume my walk up the hill… and suddenly I was limping. It was the overuse injury I’ve been fighting since February – the one that has never fully healed, the one that I’d tried to stave off with my pre-race anti-inflammatory regimen. The race day adrenaline must have been masking the pain. Well, that pretty much sealed it. Running another 10km on that foot would have been pretty stupid. I hit “stop” on RunKeeper and sent the Snook a text message telling him what had happened. Then I left the course and started my long, slow, cold walk back to the finish line. I unpinned my race number on the way, not wanting anyone to think I was a finisher.

Eventually I made it back to the park and sat on a bench, huddling and stretching my legs. My calves and feet started to cramp. I sent out a couple tweets about what had happened, and I was so grateful for the response you guys sent back. The wonderful Snook showed up with a backpack full of warm clothes and snacks. He felt my cold arms and took me over to sit in full sun, which still didn’t help much. We hovered near the finish line, waiting for Venks to come in. He finished at 2:40, and we cheered him in. Then it was over to my planned meet-up with Other Kris (who’d finished in 2:20) and Major (who’d finished in 1:45). I was so happy for them all, yet still disappointed that I hadn’t finished. We left to catch a bus home, and I was still shivering. The Snook thought that I was in some sort of shock. It took about 30 minutes of sitting in a very hot bath at home for me to start feeling normal again.

Okay, so what’s the upshot of all of this?

Negative: I feel disappointed that I didn’t grit it out til the end. I feel like a big ol’ quitter. I feel like some folks might judge me negatively for pulling out.

Positive: I actually ran a really good 5K at the start, and a semi-decent 10K (despite it sucking towards the end). Physically, I feel pretty good today. My quads are a bit sore (probably from powering up those hills) and my right foot is still tender, but otherwise I’m fine. I’m planning to do some cross-training at Spudds tonight. I should be fine to continue my normal morning runs, I think. I’ve had a lot of comments and emails and tweets from people telling me I made the right call, and that I still managed more than most people for getting out there.

Going forward: I’m starting to realise some things about my running. When I think about my “best” races, they aren’t necessarily the ones where I ran farther or faster than before. They’re the ones where I had the most fun. City 2 Surf? Those have been so fun. (Well, except for that one I ran the day after flying in from L.A. That was hell.) Running the Bridge Run with the Snook? Fun. The Mother’s Day Classic last weekend was Super-Fun. I think I have this tendency to get caught up with goals and numbers, which is why I sign up for these big events in the first place. I’ve always thought that if I didn’t have some big goal and plan in place, I would lack the motivation to get out there. But I’m starting to figure out that the numbers make me sad more than they make me happy. It’s kind of like the bathroom scales. That damn number hasn’t budged, but this morning I pulled on another pair of pants that used to be too tight to wear. I need to define new metrics of success because numbers don’t always tell the full story. The point of all this running for me isn’t to collect a new race medal or set a new PB. It’s to get fit, have fun, and be part of the running community. I think I need to just focus on meeting those goals and not worry so much about everything else. So I’m going to cut back my distance a bit, increase my cross-training, and focus on finally letting this foot heal completely. I’m looking forward to the Bay Run and the City 2 Surf not because I want to set a new time goal, but because of much fun they’re going to be.