Training for a marathon during the Summer in the South is dangerous!

You might be thinking I'm referring to the heat (96 right now) or the humidity (lots). Or maybe you even read a previous post about a snake encounter.

Yes, those are all real Southern dangers. But yesterday we discovered yet another...

GNATS!

Check these guys out!

36 Gnats

3 x 1600m

That's one gnat every 133.33 meters.

It's a jungle down here.

Powered by...Too Tarts!

Really, we are literally powered by Too Tarts. Being part of Team for Kids means that we have to raise money to support the great work that Team for Kids is doing to engage low-income youth in running programs. Last week, Tar Heel Team for Kids received what we're calling our first corporate "sponsorship"--well, it's not officially a sponsorship, but saying so makes us sound like pro athletes. Anyway, Too Tarts, (www.tootarts.com) makes crazy kids candy--super sour, super sweet--that has no refined sugar and, and they're powering up Tar Heel Team for Kids. While we won't be able to wear these lovely green shirts running the NYC marathon, you might see us spraying some "Gween Appol" sour spray around mile 19 for a quick boost of energy!

track it up, yo.

I (Noel) want to be reflective about my running, and think about how I’ve changed as a runner over time, but mostly it comes down to two phases: Noel Before the Initiation of Track Workouts and Noel After Trackin’ it Up.

Before track workouts I ran because it allowed me the solo time to slowly clear my head and simply be present in my body – feet hitting the pavement, arms relaxed, abs slightly engaged, air coming in, air going out, ahhhh, gratitude practice, just this. I didn’t think to try and run as fast as I could – WHY would I do THAT? Everything changed when our group decided to get serious about training. I still have my solo slow fun runs, but thanks to Meghan our running group had to start “training” if we were to run a marathon. Haha! Psshhhttt. I can do that, no problem, was my first thought. That is, until Meghan was revving her little Honda engine outside my doorstep at 6:15 in the morning (i.e., pre-coffee) ready to drive our group to the UNC track. Noel Before the Initiation of Track Workouts had quickly become a thing of the past.

I like to observe my thoughts on the walk from the car to the track – the mental “psych-me-ups” is what makes me laugh. I can do this, I tell myself. Yeah right, it’s gonna suck, my cynical self says. Fire it up, my inner coach retorts. Forget about it, yells my slumbering self from the sidelines. You’re an athlete - DO IT – is the final phrase that ends the conversation.

Since I’m the resident track workout complainer, and being in DC away from my NC peeps, I skipped out on the last two Monday track workouts in favor of a “rest day.” (I did, however, strength and core train on Sundays, so my rest days were well deserved). Lucky for me though, my coworker Joel stepped up to the plate yesterday and decided to join me at the track for an after-work 15-minute warm-up, two 800m quick laps with a 90-second rest interval in-between (times six), and a cool-down of 10 minutes. We each had our ipod shuffles and warmed up no problem. Two sets of speed intervals in and Joel had fallen by the wayside in favor of doing pushups. I kept looking over to make sure he was working. He was. On the third set of speed intervals Joel’s brother Neil joined me on the track and put me to shame - talking about the Marine Corps marathon as I was huffing and puffing, running in the far right lane as I ran the inner circle, and sprinting around the track to clock in a six minute mile as I walked for a rest interval.

The really neat thing about track training with others is that they hold you up, no matter what. We each fell into different slots on the running continuum, yet we kept on going. If I was out there by myself last night, I would have stopped after three sets of intervals, but because of Joel and Neil I kept moving. Afterwards, I felt great. In fact, for me, one of the best parts of a track workout is not challenging myself and expanding my lungs and feeling my rubbery legs swiftly carry me the distance, it’s the celebratory teammate high-fives and overall rockstar feeling I get afterwards. Because of this, and because I want to be a better runner, I’ll continue to track it up, no matter what.

Unwittingly, carrying on a tradition

In Korea there is a tradition called Baek-il, a celebration of a child's 100th day of life and the return to good health for the mother. The celebration stems from a time in premodern Korea when infant mortality was high and living to 100 days was a sign that the child would survive to see its first birthday. Only then was the child officially welcomed to the family with a celebration for family and friends.

Today, we are officially 100 days away from the marathon. It's fitting, then, that Meghan's having a backyard gathering...a potluck with good drink, great food, and close friends. We might not have a spread as decadent as this little fellow (on left) did for his 100 day celebration, but it will certainly be delicious and I suspect that we might all leave Meghan's feeling the way he looks.

Good thing we have 11 miles tomorrow to work it off...

Why I Run

One of the first times I ran with my teammates, we filled rest-time between track intervals with a discussion about the sports we participated in in high school. The convo kind of went like this: Noel, "basketball"; Natalie, "tennis": Meghan "shot put" (I didn't even know they had this sport outside of the Olympics!); Kiyah, "volleyball, field hockey"; and, Kelley, yes, me, "um, does being president of Drama Club count?" The answer, if you're guessing, is no; being president of Drama Club doesn't count. I wasn't an athlete growing up, far from it, in fact. Below, you'll see evidence of my non-athleticism--check out that round face!






















I didn't start running until I was in my mid-twenties, and when I started, I didn't love it. In 2004, I trained for my first half-marathon, hoping to run it with my dad, a marathon-running maniac who didn't start running until he was 50! Frankly, I hated the training, running 10 miles all alone when you don't love running isn't the greatest. After the half-marathon, I basically wrote off the notion of running a marathon--no way was I going to do THAT training alone.

Fast forward to fall 2007, when happenstance brought me together with "the athletes." I learned that running could be fun if you did it right--stayed strong with weight training, cross-trained, mixed it up with long runs and interval training, and, most importantly, ran with fun, smart, interesting women. So, I find myself training for the New York City Marathon to raise money to teach children to lead active, healthy livestyles (something I wish I learned before I was 25!). And, I can tell you that the reason I run is because I like it! Who knew that the little round-faced girl in the photo above would turn into this lady below:

Powered by Slurpee.

Against my better judgment, I (Noel) bought a new pair of Nikes.

Last Friday after the black toenail episode I went to the running shop to purchase a new, larger pair of my favorites, the Asics Gel Kayano, and because they were out of my size I was persuaded to try on a “comparable shoe” before making my decision. I had plans with Jake and Kevin to run a 10-mile loop around DC in the morning and couldn’t run without shoes. The sales clerk came out with a Nike box. I shuddered.

In the mid-1990s I purposefully switched from running in Nikes because of their poor labor practices and workers rights (not to mention human rights) violations. The clerk assured me that because of the backlash among consumers (and the world at large) Nike had cleaned up their act and was now one of the most respected in the business. After trying on the shoe, I acquiesced. The shoe fit magnificently – a wider toe box and cushiony insoles cupping my heels felt like a walking down Easy Street in a lazyboy recliner. I was ready for my run around Capitol Hill.

I met Jake and Kevin at the Eastern Market metro station. We three were suited up and ready to go – heart rate monitors, water bottles, and new shoes for me. Our intention was to run thirteen miles with the promise of a 7-Eleven slurpee at the end. I can roll with that, I thought. No problem. I haven’t had a Slurpee since high school and I ran thirteen miles a few weeks ago. We started off quick – my heart rate shot up. I suddenly missed the plentiful and freshly running water fountains scattered around Rome. We were lucky to find one working fountain in DC. Jake, Kevin and I were talking, catching up, admiring the sights along the mall and sweating under the DC humidity. It’s been a while since I’ve run in a group – it was great! But, by mile seven I was spent. I needed to walk. Running 10 beats per minute above my normal heart rate range left me feeling like I was continuously sprinting for the finish line. But the Slurpee, I thought. I’ve got to earn the Slurpee! Finally, my legs downshifted and my lazyboy feet fell into walk mode. When I caught my breath I started running again, slowly, still smiling, and trying to keep Jake in view as we ran the final stretch up Pennsylvania Avenue toward the 7-Eleven on 8th Street.

Now I know my nutrition friends may not promote sugar-sweetened frozen beverages on a daily basis, or on any basis, but what about the glycogen window? And what about the disgusting (to me) goo that some of my teammates ingest (a-hem, I won’t mention any names here - wink)? Isn’t that stuff is exactly like a Slurpee but without the spoonstraw?

This is what I know: after such a long run in the heat, that Slurpee tasted like an elixir that would let me live forever. I immediately went into robot mode and walked into the CVS to buy camera batteries muttering under my breath “Powered – By – Slurpee! Powered – By – Slurpee.” Jake and I even went back for refills.

Ten minutes later I was wandering through the United States Botanic Garden admiring the pineapple plants, the beautiful Don Juan flower, the exquisite Bleeding Hearts from Africa and (yes, this is true) the Clematis Sugar Candy. See? The world is powered by Slurpee.

Tree roots, mud puddles, and snakes...Oh My!

Natalie, Kelley and I decided to brave the Carolina North trails on Saturday for our 10 mile run. We debated abandoning the plan in favor of the Duke Forest trails, which we all know better, when we learned that Alison and Kona (her chocolate lab and our trailblazer) had a change of plans, but decided against burning the extra gas and stayed closer to home. I had run the trails earlier that week and realized that, what initially seemed like a winding & disconnected series of trails were really just two big loops with optional off-shoots. These off-shoots always lead back to the main trail, and I thought if we do manage to get lost in there we might deserve it.

As we headed into the woods, the paths we had followed the week prior became quite obvious and soon our conversation drifted to more interesting topics than "Do you remember this [fill in the blank object that would indicate we were on the right path]?" and "I think it's just a little further ahead and then a left." After 20 minutes we had hit our stride.

As Natalie outlined her potential dissertation topics, and I glanced down at my heart rate monitor, I hear Kelley, just a few steps in front of me on the single track trail speak a single word. "Snake," she said, as calmly as though she were answering a question about what she had for dinner last night..."pasta." I looked down to see it stretched across the path right before me.
Ok, so that might be a slight exaggeration...but only SLIGHT. Once we were a safe distance away and I slowed to a pace where I could talk again (there was no question which of the "fight or flight" responses my body was choosing) I asked Kelley if it was a copperhead. Learning that it was not, I realized that Kona was good to have around for reasons other than simply showing us the way through the woods.

If Kona had been at the head of the pack, she surely would have shown that snake who was boss. Unlike I did...who ran as fast as possible... in the opposite direction.

-KJD