Coaching

• I was privileged to have my coach Jonathan Cane ask me to be one of his coaches for the JackRabbit UWS NYC Marathon Training Program over the summer. Throughout the16 week program, I was tasked with guiding a group of athletes through regular Tuesday evening speed sessions in Central Park and Saturday morning long runs in the park or along the West Side Greenway. I had never coached before and remember feeling quite nervous on the first run. Would I be able to pace appropriately? Would I run too fast? Or too slow? Would I be able to give them good advice? Would they like me as a coach? It was almost like your first day in school, except I wasn't the student, but the teacher.

• As I primarily ran with the same group of athletes, I got to know them quite well. I knew the running habits of each individual; who ran too fast, who needed work on proper nutrition, who was working with an injury, etc. Until this moment I never really thought about my ability to share the knowledge I have gained from my own training and experiences with others. I felt that I was still a green runner, still learning from my mistakes and evolving as an athlete. However, I quickly learned that one of the greatest gifts I could share with these athletes was my infectious joy of running and my unwavering perseverence. We discussed training, race strategy, nutrition, hydration, rest, and post-marathon recovery. They were sponges for any advice I had to offer. 
• One of my favorite moments of running the NYC marathon, besides running as an Achilles guide for the amazing Amelia Dickerson, was at the start of the Verrazano bridge. As we started across the bridge, I spotted a couple of my athletes, ran up to them and wished them luck. Their hard work and dedication paid off. The majority of the runners I worked with met or exceeded their goal time for the marathon. I couldn't have been more proud and excited.
• A few days post-marathon, I was touched to receive the following message:  "I wanted to say THANK YOU soooo much for all your help and guidance over the past 16 weeks to make one of the most memorable days of my life so far possible! Truly. What an epic experience and I could not have done it without your knowledge, wisdom, encouragement and inspiration. Thank you for all of your coaching and mentorship - it meant the world to me and always gave me the extra pep in my step I needed."
• In the end, I'm not sure if the program was more rewarding for myself or for the athletes I worked with.
• You might ask why I'm writing more about the NYC marathon almost two months later. Well, just a couple weekends ago, I went to the USA Track and Field Level 1 coaching certification course. It was a very long weekend of sitting in class for hours upon hours, but I learned lots of useful information on track events and endurance running. In the end, I took my culminating exam over this past weekend, passing with flying colors. I am officially a COACH. I'm not completely sure what's next on the horizon when it comes to coaching, but I anxiously anticipate the next opportunity. 
• Run Happy

Birthday Marathon - Belated Report

It's taken me way too long to write my birthday marathon race report, life has been very hectic. However, I always say better late than never though. So here goes...


Not only was I running a fall marathon for my birthday again, this time at the Wineglass Marathon, but I was also trying to break three hours. I have never raced with a plan. I usually just try to run smart and give it my all, but this time I opted to follow my coach's advice. He decided I should try the 10-10-10 approach. I would run the first 10 miles five seconds slower than my marathon goal pace of 6:52 min/mile, then run the next 10 miles at marathon goal pace, and finish off running the final 10k five seconds faster than marathon goal pace. It's a solid plan. One that I knew would help me break three hours, but also a daunting task. I needed to hold back in the beginning, which is quite hard for me as I have a habit of going out too fast. Then, I would  have to have enough gas left in the tank in order to gun it at the end, a time when I usually slow down a bit. The whole concept made me nervous. On top of that, my stomach wasn't cooperating with me so I wasn't sure how my gels would go down and if my fueling would be impacted. Oh, and the weather decided not to cooperate. It was a cloudy damp day, but the temperature was in the low-mid 60's with 94% humidity. I'm sure I've already mentioned how I don't run very well when it's warm out. The temperature wasn't really the problem, when I started it felt perfect, but I think over time, the humidity took its toll on my ability to oxygenate my muscles.


At the start, I positioned myself close to the line, sizing up my competition. I secretly wanted to place in the top three. There were two other women who looked quite fierce, likely elite women. That got in my head a bit as I knew there was no way I could beat them. After the gun went off, I barreled down the street, quickly realizing I was running too fast and having to work to slow myself down as we descended a small hill. Wineglass is known for being a fast marathon, with a relatively flat course and a net downhill. It can be quite hard to hold yourself back in the beginning of a marathon especially when it's downhill, however, I kept my coach's instructions in my head and slowed it down. The two fierce women were far ahead. I settle into an average 6:55 min/mile pace. At mile three, I was passed by a female, dropping me into fourth place.  It was all I could do to not kick it into high gear. I looked at her and thought, "she doesn't seem like she will be able to hold that pace". This gave me solace and comfort in sticking to my plan. I reminded myself that a sub-three was the main goal, placing would just be icing on my birthday cake. 

I slowed down a bit at mile five and six due to a small hill, but was able to settle back into my pace. Around that time, I was passed by yet another female. She was running with a couple of guys at what appeared to be my marathon pace. It hit me hard as I wanted to pick it up, but I told myself to just stick behind them because in a few miles I could pick it up and work to pass them. I, again, reminded myself it wasn't time to run that fast yet. So I held onto the my coach's prescribed pace. Eventually they caught the first female who had passed me at mile three. She appeared to be struggling a bit and slowing down. I thought to myself, "I knew you went out too fast", and was thankful I was working on a well strategized plan to hopefully prevent this from happening to me later in the race. I was maybe 400 meters behind them and was able to quickly pass her as well. 

At mile ten I picked it up to run my goal marathon pace. As I got closer, nearing mile thirteen, I positioned myself right behind this male-female trio. I stayed behind them for a couple of miles in order to block the head wind. As usual though, I became frustrated because I wasn't able to open up my stride from the crowding, so I slowly moved next to them and then in front of them. I continued to maintain my pace, always knowing how close they were by the cheering of the crowd as we passed. 

As I ran, people in the crowd would call out my position among the females. However,I was confused from the beginning, not truly knowing where I stood in the lineup. They at first said I was second, then when the first female passed me, I was third, and finally, I fell into fourth. Now I had moved back into second place. I kept wondering what happened to the two elite women at the start. Was there only one? Was the crowd wrong? At this point it didn't matter, I just knew I needed to hold onto my positioning from here on out so I could make the podium. If I was second or third, it didn't matter, just as long as I held on. 

At mile twenty, there was another small hill that slowed me a bit, but I was ready to give it my all for the final 10k. I slowly increased the gap between the trio and myself. As we passed the crowds and they yelled out our positions, I would listen to hear how long it was before they told the other female she was in third place. Gradually that comment came later and later, so I knew I was getting ahead. Just what I wanted and needed to happen if I was to maintain my place. 

I remembered the course from running it in 2011, so I knew what was coming ahead. There would be a good number of turns, a small bottleneck, then an opening onto the bridge prior to hitting downtown Corning for the straight away to the finish. I tried to hug all the tangents as much as possible. With about three miles to go, I started running into the half marathoners, having to run around them, which perturbed me. Then a male course marshal/escort approached me on his bike asking,  "Do you know you're the second female?" I told him I did through heavy breathing and asked where the third place female was. He responded, "I don't know". that frustrated me and my immediate thought was, "What use are you then?". He continued on to say, "I saw how fast you went out and didn't think you would hold that pace." For anyone who knows me well, they will know just how much this angered me. I knew the sentiment came from the fact that I don't look like your typical fast endurance athlete. I have curves. I have thick muscles. But, you can't judge a book by it's cover. I'm strong. I'm speedy. I just preserve my sexy. I was more than happy when he pedaled ahead and I was left to continue with my own thoughts. He made my blood boil, but it just gave me fuel to keep pushing hard at a time when all I wanted was to be done. I kept telling myself I just had to hold on as I was almost there. 

At this point, I knew I wouldn't break three hours. I calculated my splits according to the race clock and my Garmin. I wasn't running as fast as I needed to for this final 10k and hadn't run all the tangents well due to weaving on portions of the course, so I had added unnecessary distance. Normally this would frustrate me to no avail and I would start giving up on the push, but I was the second female in a marathon. There was no stopping now. My spirits were also lifted by seeing one of my coach's cheering away, which was a complete surprise. I knew I was tiring and looked like crap, but seeing him gave me more energy to push the last two miles to the finish. 

As I went around some of the corners, I looked back to see how far behind the other female was. As far as I could estimate, she was about 400 meters, so I knew I had to keep pushing, and that is exactly what I did. I pushed and pushed, sprinting as hard as I could across the finish line, crowds cheering. I still wondered about the other elite female, and of course no one could tell me if I was actually second or third. I had to wait for the results. In the meantime I got something to drink and walked towards the baggage claim. The other female and her male companions approached me, congratulating me on my race. This is what I love about smaller racers. The camaraderie. I did the same. It really was a great race even. I didn't meet my goal, or even get a PR, but I knew I had raced as hard as I could given the weather. I had given it my all and followed my coach's plan. I knew he would be proud. 

In the end, I was the second female, with a time of 3:02:08, winning myself a large carafe trophy, some champagne, and a little birthday money. I celebrated with friends from my old team, many who also brought home prizes. It was a fabulous day for a birthday!

Amelia and Her Achilles Team

It is now Tuesday and I am just sitting down and capable of sorting through the overwhelming emotions I felt running the New York City Marathon on Sunday as an Achilles guide. It was by far the best marathon experience I have had to date! Even better than my second place marathon podium finish 4 weeks ago! It all started with a text message from my steady running partner Jonathan Stenger. "Any interest in being an Achilles guide with me? Looking for another 3:30 pacer for a blind runner. I want YOU." There's no arguing with that.

I met Amelia Dickerson, a member of the Colorado chapter of Achilles International, at the marathon expo the Friday before the race, where we were picking up our race bibs and getting final race day instructions. Amelia has an indomitable spirit and is an exceptionally resilient athlete. She has proven her talent in the short distance as she holds the national blind 5,000 meter record, but this would be her first marathon. Along with the rest of the Achilles team, I would be responsible for guiding her 26.2 miles from Staten Island to Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and finally across the infamous finish line in Central Park. Needless to say, I was honored for the opportunity, excited for the adventure, but also nervous. I didn't want to let Amelia down, as anything can happen in a marathon, even if your personal best is nearly 30 minutes faster than the goal finishing time. 

Amelia was lucky enough to have a rather large Achilles team to support her through the course. The plan was for Jonathan, Othman Doubiany, Becky Popiel, and myself to start out on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Staten Island. Becky, who was filming a documentary (An Unseen Run) about Amelia would be running just a few miles and then join us again upon entering Central Park. At the half-way point, we would have two other guides join the team. The starting team met in midtown at 5 a.m. From there, we took the Athlete's with Disabilities (AWD) bus to the athlete's village in the starting area. It was early, we were tired, and as we walked to board the bus, someone exclaimed "Where's Amelia?" Yes, we forgot to guide her along with us, but that was a solitary incident, from that moment on, the team was in check.

I had no race jitters as this wasn't my race. As Jonathan eloquently wrote for Slate magazine, I was running for Amelia. This was her race. I tried to imagine all the thoughts going through her head, all the emotions she was feeling. As we sat in the warmth of the AWD tent in the athlete's village drinking water, coffee, and consuming last minute calories, we discussed racing strategy. If we were to guide Amelia to the finish in her goal time, we needed to know her plan, as it wasn't just her plan, but would quickly become ours as well. Amelia had no fueling plan at that point, so I took charge, recommending a strategy and taking responsibility for seeing it through on the course. 

The marathon start was hectic as usual. We didn't have an earlier start with some of the other athlete's with disabilities, but started in the 18th corral of green wave 1, putting us with everyone else who planned to run a similar time. Jonathan and I set the pace in front, navigating the discarded clothing or kicking it aside to ease the ability for Othman to guide Amelia over the bridge. We did a lot of weaving in the first 10 miles, with only one minor spill across a timing strip around the 15k mark. Amelia bounced back up as if nothing had happened, not losing a beat. She was relentless. At that point Jonathan took the reins of the guide rope, allowing Othman and I to continue pacing, crowd clearing, and running for water/Gatorade. It was a constant check-in, not only with Amelia, but also with the other guides. We had to take care of each other, all while not forgetting to take care of ourselves. I found myself juggling when to take gels as it was more important for me to grab water for Amelia or Jonathan than for myself, but I too needed water to wash them down. At one point around mile 7 I had to take a detour to use the port-a-potty. As soon as I finished and opened the door, I set out in a sprint. My nerves were a mess as I frantically searched for my team. My worst fear was that I wouldn't find them and that I would let Amelia down. I think it took a mile of sprinting, weaving, and searching before I finally spotted them in the crowd. My whole body breathed a sigh of relief as I relaxed back into Amelia's pace, I couldn't have been more happy to be back with my team, running with Amelia.

At the half-way point things became much easier as we were joined by two other experienced Achilles guides, Angela Riordan and Charles Wilson. This was my first time meeting them, but they were filled with enthusiasm, giving us energy to keep moving forward. We lost Othman at that point, but these two immediately took the reins, quickly clearing the road, yelling "blind runner...on your left...on your right....blind runner". In retrospect, we were too nice in the beginning, it was much more effective to be a bit pushy. Some people understood the message and moved aside, others didn't speak the language, some looked at us confused, while others had on headphones and couldn't hear a thing. We simply plowed the way for Amelia to run. All the while the crowd was cheering and we revved them up to cheer even louder for Amelia. She fed off the energy. We fed off the energy. 

After slowing a bit near mile 20, Amelia picked up her pace as we approached 5th Avenue, all while everyone else was slowing down. I can't say I minded the previous slower pace. At mile 18, my foot began to burn with pain. The bridges and downhills were torture. There was no stopping though, and no complaining. This race wasn't about me, but about Amelia. Even if she had other guides by her side, I made a commitment to run with her across the finish line and a little pain wasn't going to stop me. I focused on Amelia. Thinking back to my own first marathon through the streets of NYC, remembering the pain I felt, knowing she was feeling the same way. I used those thoughts and feelings to encourage her to the finish, running strong. And that is exactly what she did.

We crossed the finish line in 3:35:44, a time just 44 seconds shy of qualifying for Boston, and still setting the national blind record for the marathon. She didn't meet her goal of running a 3:30 marathon, but she was happy as she gave it all she had, evidenced by her collapsing into our arms as soon as she crossed the line. I was filled with emotions, but had no time to process as my guide hat quickly switched to a nurse hat. Arms around shoulders, we walked to the AWD family reunion area, guiding Amelia into the medical tent to warm up. She was medically fine, just cold and tired from the arduous feat she had put her body through. I could not have been more proud of this amazing woman sitting before me!

Amelia may have been lucky as she had her own entourage guiding her safely to the finish line, offering words of encouragement, clearing the streets, and monitoring her nutrition. This is something I have never experienced, something that very few runners do, as a marathon is a solitary adventure, but I consider myself even luckier. I am in awe of her determination and resilience, I am honored by her unwavering trust in our ability to safely guide her through the crowded streets of the NYC marathon, and I am inspired by her infectious love for running that pushes her to keep moving forward even when she can't see where she is moving. Amelia is a hero in my books! I am blessed to have met her and been given the opportunity to run by her side. As my coach would say, she's going to "break some hearts". 

Ready or Not, Here I Come

As many athletes know, training doesn't always go as planned, but if I've learned nothing else it is to stay positive and always believe in your abilities.

I started this round of marathon training about 12 weeks ago, at the height of a plaguing stomach issue and just after losing my job. Needless to say, I was under a high amount of stress and not able to draw on my usual impenetrable training focus. I had a goal, but no desire to put in the work, I was feeling sluggish with swollen legs...and just plain yucky. My solution was to psych myself out by hyping up the traveling I had planned and looking forward to various running adventures.

I started out training in Maine, running along the beach, swimming in the ocean, fueling with lobster. Thankfully, some of my stress started to slip away as I relaxed in the sun with my mom. Then it was off to Montreal with a dear friend for a few days of carb-loading on delicious French pastries (oh, yes and it was all gluten free) and a little gluttonous shopping. I had a blast, melting away more stress. If only my stomach wanted to agree with all the sugar I consumed.

After Montreal, I headed to Vermont to visit with my family. But mostly to see Barley, my baby boy, who has been vacationing with my mom, enjoying the countryside and playtime with his "cousins", while his "mommy" puts her life back together. It was heaven to be reunited with him, I miss him dearly!

I always look forward to running at home, but I was starting to feel sluggish again and my legs were swollen and heavy after my Montreal binge. I was highly unmotivated, but I pushed through, trying to enjoy my favorite route past the cow farm, across the covered bridge, and through the fresh country air. It just wasn't the same though. I finished in a frustrated state as I was unable to hit my target tempo pace, feeling defeated by my symptoms. I did, however, enjoy some TRX in the front yard with Barley. I have to say it's so much nicer to hang the TRX outside on a tree compared to inside on a door.

After a few days at home, I headed to Maryland, just outside of DC to visit a friend and her family. The plan was to stay for a week, but my stomach and symptoms continued to worsen, preventing me from training and causing me to feel miserable, so I left early and went to a naturopath. Given my symptoms and history, we thought maybe I had an overgrowth of yeast in my GI system, so I was put on a no dairy, no sugar (not even healthy sugar alternatives), very limited fruits, low carbs, and gluten free diet. Wow, this really dampened my training for a week or so as my body adjusted. If I was sluggish before, now I had even less energy and struggled to consume enough calories to manage 70+ mile weeks, as well as to figure out what to eat while running. I made Zenberry Green Raw Energy Balls, but they melted into a blob of brown goo on the run. I tried to make my own "gummies", but the calorie content was too low, and my stomach couldn't handle the amount I would need to consume to make any impact on my performance. I ended up using applesauce on the go packs, which were technically not allowed on my diet, but I figured it was the least harmful of all my options. It worked out fine and I gradually adjusted to running on a low-carb diet.

When back in NYC, I began coaching with Jack Rabbit for the NYC Marathon. From the beginning, I loved it. Coaching has given my training a whole new perspective over the last few weeks. I have been forced to incorporate long slow runs, and double long runs. I have been forced to be energetic and cheerful on days when I had no desire to run or move from my bed, for that matter. Most of all though, it has allowed me to share my knowledge and inspire others, which is in and of itself motivated me.

After a couple of weeks of adjusting to the increased mileage and new diet, I was lucky to have the opportunity to head back out of the city. This time to New Palz with my coach and his family for some running on the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail and one-on-one bike skill sessions. I had a great time! Got in some good training and even some relaxing. After strictly following my diet for almost a month, I was starting to feel like myself again.

If only these feelings could last forever. My motivation over the remaining month and a half of training waxed and waned. I struggled to hit my pace goals on the track, which again, frustrated me. I struggled to run my marathon pace runs without stopping, meaning more frustration. My coach wasn't quite satisfied with my 16 mile marathon pace run because I stopped too long, which dampened my confidence. I knew I could do better, but I wasn't mentally in the game, my drive was weakened. So, I made it a point, with 1 month to go, to push hard and increase my confidence, and prove that I had a chance at accomplishing my goal of running a sub-3 hour marathon. The following week I ran 22 miles on Saturday and then followed my coaches plan for the 18 Mile Tune-Up in Central Park the next day. I was to start out 40-45 seconds slower than marathon pace and then increase my pace for each lap by 15-20 seconds, without stopping. I ran it beautifully, never feeling tired despite the mileage the day before, and never stopping. I actually started the run thinking, "there is no way I am going to pick up the pace, my legs are dead", but as I warmed up, I did. In the middle of the run when I realized how nasty my new all natural gels were, I stayed calm about the lack of nutrition for the remaining miles. Towards the finish, when I just wanted to be done, I used another runner to drive me home. My determination was back and my confidence was boosted.

Then, last week, I was fortunate enough to get the good news from my naturopath that I could add back a lot off foods to my diet, just in time for carb-loading. This doesn't mean that I am in the clear yet though, just that the test results found no yeast (which thrives on sugars and carbs), but instead an overgrowth of some bacteria and a parasite. So after the race, I will begin treatment and work on healing my stomach. Until then, though, I am trying to keep it happy while still refilling my glycogen stores on things I haven't been able to enjoy in quite some time. I have tapered down in mileage as well as cross training activities. I completed my final longish run on Sunday, running the Bronx 10-Miler. It was an act of pure determination as I started out in the first corral and forced myself to remain at my training pace while runners passed me throughout the race. It was a great learning experience, a great run, and great motivation for the big day as my desire to race was heightened.

Most importantly, after a bit of contemplation, my coach gave me the green light and a plan to attempt my sub-3 goal. This Sunday will be my first time running a marathon with an actual plan. I usually just wing it and hold on for dear life at the end. I know that in order to accomplish this goal I will have to work hard, taking even 90 seconds (my PR is currently a 3:01:25) off your marathon time at this level can be challenging, something that takes some people multiple attempts. If I don't manage a sub-3, I would feel better knowing that I ran smartly, following my coach's well crafted plan, than that I threw away the race and 3 months of training by winging it. And the plan, you are asking, is the 10-10-10 approach. Run the first 10 mile 3-5 seconds slower than marathon goal pace, the next 10 miles at marathon goal pace, and then pick it up and race the final 10k. It's a fine line, but I am staying positive and visualizing success on race day! I CAN DO THIS!

 

Time for a change

In December I started thinking about joining a new running club for a few reasons. (1) I wanted to train with a club for multisport events and (2) I wanted to train more competitively.

I have been a member of Van Cortland Track Club (VCTC) since November of 2010. They are a great team, one which has become like a second family. They helped me go from being a casual runner, to running my first race, to running my first marathon. They have been there, and continue to be there, to support me through life's conflicts or to celebrate positive changes/events.

I have religiously followed the Pfitzinger marathon training program with a few modifications and have been quite successful. I have brought my time down from a 3:50 to a 3:01 in just 2 years. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with my intense dedication and determination, but the program also helps. That being said, it took me away from the VCTC workouts for a good chunk of the year. Most of my runs are quite structured with a specific purpose, so I would often try and coordinate with someone else who was running a similar pace and distance to my scheduled workout. As I became faster, however, this became harder. It's always wonderful to enjoy a new running partnership by finally being able to run with someone who was always faster than you, yet sad at the same time to not be able to run with partners whom you previously ran with, but are now too fast for. Over time, it felt hard to find people to run with during our usual team runs and I longed for new running partners that would allow me to continue to grow as an athlete. I also wanted to join a multisport club so I could better my bike skills (and let my mom stop worrying about my clumsy self). My goal for the coming year is to become a better triathlete and compete in Triathlon National's, maybe even making it to World's.

That's where City Coach comes in. I met Coach Jonathan Cane at the TriMania multisport expo in March of this year. One of my dear running friends told me about him as she had been training with his team City Coach and really enjoyed it. I noted he was on the speaker panel for the expo and sought him out. I felt welcomed from the get-go. When I got home, I had a Facebook message from both he and his highly talented wife, Nicole Sin-Quee (NSQ), enthusiastically encouraging me to join a workout..."We like ambitious, fun people, and it's clear you'd fit right in." I couldn't join a workout for a few weeks due to my school schedule, but when I finally did, I was sold. The bantering and smack talk, often instigated by NSQ, made the workout more fun than any I had had in a while. "I can see your panty line...maybe you should run faster so your not staring at my a$$."..."You're faster than me, I shouldn't be passing you...for real though, if I pass you again, I'm gonna tell coach you were walking". I laughed so much, I almost forgot how hard the actual run was. I love some good smack talk! I was more excited than ever and officially joined in May. On top of new running partners, I also acquired multisport partners, and my own coach.

At the end of August, I spent a few days in New Palz where Jonathan and NSQ were house sitting. It was my own private Sin-Cane training camp. I enjoyed running along the beautiful Wallkill Valley Rail Trail. I cross trained by chasing their adorable son Simon around. (Yeah, it was a good thing I still had energy after running 16 miles, cause this 22-mo-old boy never stops. He's like the energizer bunny!) I fueled my endeavors with delicious veggies from the organic garden and fresh eggs from the hen house. As for multipsport training, Jonathan worked with me on learning how to clip into my pedals and better my bike handling skills. I still have work to do, but am making progress. Then, the best part, an impromptu brick workout in the quarter of a mile driveway. Jonathan and I rode single gear mountain bikes completing 1.5 miles and then switched to the run for 0.5 miles. We did this 5 times, for about an hour. It was a blast! He would pass me on the bike, telling me "you're a rock star...you're gonna hurt someone's feelings". Then I would pass him on the run and he would exclaim, "take it easy on an old man", "you see the grey hair?". We finished, he ahead of me as I crashed, to the cheering of NSQ, Simon, and other friends! It was the best workout ever! I want to go back just to do it again!

Jonathan and NSQ have quickly become more than just my coach and training partner, they are great friends. The positivity that radiates from the duo is contagious. I always appreciate their complements on my ability as I see them as a couple of the best. I mean, NSQ is a World Champion! And my coach, he just kicks a$$!

ASS (Acute Stress Syndrome)

I have not been feeling well since the end of last November when some symptoms of Over Training Syndrome began. I took a couple months off and then ramped up for a 2 month Boston training program. I did well during training, but couldn't seem to drop down to my racing weight no matter how I tweaked my diet, and I still suffered from an exceptionally low level of energy. On top of that, my stomach began acting up again. I have battled with stomach issues for years and nothing conventional medicine suggests seems to provide relief.

Right after Boston, I embarked on a 21 day guided detox with my friend Emma. Unlike many detoxes and cleanses out there, this one consisted of eating a lot. It focused on whole foods, mostly plant based and then adding fish and soy, cutting out dairy, gluten, sugar, and other chemically processed foods. I felt amazing! My stomach was finally working properly. No more bloating or constipation. The weight fell off and I was full of energy. But, sadly, all good things must come to an end, and my symptoms quickly resurfaced once I began adding back "regular" foods. As my symptoms worsened, so did my body image. My eating issues were beginning to recur due to this as well as a surge of life stressors. On top of that, my running slowed down tremendously. I equate this to the pitting edema I was having in my legs. As the day progressed, my calves became tighter and tighter with edema, making them heavier to lift on a run. Even in the morning, they weren't normal. Needless to say, I felt like crap and was completely frustrated!

Then I went on a short vacation to Burlington, VT to visit a dear friend and relax. We ate amazing and healthy food, again mostly plant based and gluten free, and drank a lot of delicious hard cider. 

I love these girls!

After a day, my stomach was feeling better. I had some bloating one day, but guessed it was the sugary processed frozen drink we indulged in while relaxing at the spa. I enjoyed a few beautiful runs and was finally able to hold my usual pace. The first day's run was hard as I completed a long run during the mid-day sun with heavy legs. But the beauty of Shelburne Farms, which is situated along Lake Champlain, made it all worthwhile. And after a couple of relaxing days hiking and swimming, I set out for a recovery run, that quickly turned into a speedy 10 miles as I whipped through the trails by my friend's house. They were narrow with sharp winding turns bordered by a river on one side and farms/fields on the other. I couldn't help but run fast! I was ecstatic to finally be feeling better.

Shelburne Farms = So peaceful and beautiful!

Trail running = my favorite!

The same day I returned to NYC, my stomach began to act up with a case of the bloats. I went to my best friend's fundraiser for his NGO Calcutta Kid's and ate pretty much anything, tasting all the delicious hors d"oeuvres and goodies. The next day my stomach was so bloated I looked pregnant, and my feet and legs were so swollen they looked like those of a pregnant woman. And I assure you, I am not pregnant! I felt awful! All I could do was lay on the couch with my feet up.

Oh, and I got another yeast infection, my second one in 2 weeks. My thought, a systemic yeast infection, which could be the cause of all my symptoms. The answer, some supplements and a major diet change. The problem, my nutritionist didn't want me to cut out so many of the foods required. Eating too many carbs feeds the yeast, so you need to cut out most fruit, processed grains, and of course sugary products. I've had a love/hate relationship with carbs and know from experience as per the advice of my personal trainer that I can drop weight quickly by cutting down on my carb intake (although, frustratingly, it hadn't been working as of more recently). I previously followed a cyclical diet where I would fuel up on the weekend with carbs but eat less than 100g the other days, focusing mainly on increasing my protein intake. It is quite contrary to the popular notion that endurance athletes need lots of carbs, but it worked for me. However, with the nutritionist, I have been working on developing a healthier relationship with food, and therefore, eating the things that I fear will cause me to gain weight. Needless to say, this was already happening and freaking me out!

However, I felt so awful and thought it was best to give my body some rest, so opted to take an entire week off, meaning no exercise at all. I also haphazardly tried to eliminate the most likely culprits in my diet. Sugar of course, as well as dairy, which I'm allergic too (casein causes me to develop eczema) and gluten, which is often linked to dairy allergies. None of this helped until I was super strict at cutting out the possible culprits and began a food/symptom diary. After a few days, I will say that I felt better. My stomach was less bloated and began digesting properly, the edema was dissipating. When I started running again, I was still sluggish, but that might have also been due to the heat wave. 

Sluggish and tired while running + tripping and skidding = OUCH!

But then I suddenly developed a rash on my eyes and my stomach began to act up. I thought maybe it was the gel I had on my long run or the excess of watermelon post-run (who can't resist ice cold watermelon after a sweltering workout?). So, I decided to test it out and eat more sugar. Big mistake! I felt awful again! This confirmed for me that sugar was an issue.

However, I was having some other symptoms that were odd and scary at the same time. They were suggestive of a pituitary tumor versus stress versus who know what else. In fact, I have long though that I have some abnormality of my thyroid due to my ongoing symptoms, but my labs have always been normal, and this time was no different, both my pituitary and thyroid were functioning fine. I still question it, and wonder about some sub-clinical diagnosis not recognized by conventional medicine. As a medical practitioner, I make the worst patient because I'm always trying to diagnose myself and I never like the advise given to me.

The next test was to see how I felt after getting away from all my stressors at home. This year has not gone smoothly for me. After 2 years of working full-time, going to school part-time, and training (on top of my best and hardest bout of racing last year), I am burned out. Then you add a couple of family deaths, family drama, and losing my job. I guess you could say I have a lot of stress.

So after my last day at work, I left NYC to vacation in Popham Beach, ME with my mom. I am already feeling better, not 100%, but at least I can run at my regular pace again, just in time for marathon training to begin. I am still questioning a systemic yeast infection versus a subclinical hormone issue versus what I have termed ASS (Acute Stress Syndrome). I think it's time to visit a complementary MD and get to the bottom of the issue! Time to take charge so I can get back to training hard!

Happy at the beach with my momma

Having fun...Ripping it up

I've been trying to get excited about racing again. I miss feeling my nerves swelling through my body and the butterflies fluttering through my stomach up to my throat as I toe the starting line. I miss the joy of racing as I have focused on the clock and pacing way too much. I need to bring my racing back to a RunHappy state. I can't say that I was excited to race on Saturday, but I am happy to say that I had a lot of fun!

It all started with a sleepover at my good friend Amy's. As we prepared our race gear for the next morning, we noted that our numbers were extremely close. As in, she was 1308 and I was 1309. How that happened, I don't know. But I considered it a sign of good things. Amy has her pre-race dinner set in stone, she is a very ritualistic kind of girl. I on the other hand, haven't quite ironed these things out. My stomach has been very delicate lately. I've been playing around with my diet as I've found that I don't function well with sugar or grains (of any kind) and had a mish mesh of dinner: sweet potato and red lentil stew, sushi, broccoli, and a little salad. Only time would tell how it would work for me.

We stayed up way too late. We had to get up at 4:15 a.m. in order to get to Brooklyn in time, so we ended up with less than six hours of sleep. I desperately wanted to stay in bed, but alas, I dragged myself up and performed some morning rituals to ease my stomach. For some reason, I can go to the bathroom (if you know what I mean) every morning with little issue, but on the day of a race, nothing happens. I don't get the urge until I get to the race. As we got to the starting area, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to christen a pristinely clean port-a-potty with plenty of toilet paper. When does that ever happen? Port-a-potties, might just be one of the nastiest things about running! I can handle some chafing, even in unmentionable areas. I can handle vomiting from a hard effort. Hell, I can handle peeing my pants if I have to just to save a few precious minutes on my race time. Port-a-potties though, they are just nasty...Runner Problems

So anyways...as we crowded into the corral, I ran into some of my new teammates (more on my switching teams in a future post). NSQ (a.k.a. Mrs. Coach Cane) is by far one of the awesomest women I know! For real, if you don't know her, I feel sorry for you! She is not only an extremely upbeat person, but also an amazing athlete. She challenges you to excel to your highest potential. Who doesn't want to be around a friend like that?!?! We discussed race strategy. The plan was to run a negative split, running slower through the hilly first half and faster on the flat second half. We all had similar goal times in mind, so we would stick together as much as possible. As the gun went off, we started running. We weaved through runners a bit at the beginning. It's hard to keep track of everyone when there are multiples, but we did our best. After about a mile, I realized I was ahead of most of the group and following Lete, an amazing Ethiopian runner. I didn't know at the time how fast she was having just met her the first time. Now I know!

I always go out too fast, but I had no idea how fast I was going until I looked at my Garmin. I had just been focusing on following Lete. Oh well, my only strategy was to keep running as fast as I could. In the end, I lost sight of Lete by mile 2, but then a colleague of mine, an Iron Man, ran up beside me. He tagged along with me for a couple of miles, but it was just a training run for him so he eventually fell back (although, I will say he ended up with a half marathon PR). It was fun to chat for a bit and keep my mind off the approaching hills in Prospect Park. They weren't as bad as what I was prepared for, but I did end up slowing down some. I kept my eyes peeled for Amy's "groupies" (a couple of supremely awesome women) who were out cheering at designated locations along the course. I missed them at the first spot, but they saw me and yelled, so I kept my mind focused on looking for Sharon's hot pink socks towards the exit of the park. Sure, enough, she was hard to miss. I was ecstatic to see a familiar face. I was ecstatic to know that I was halfway done and the rest of the course was flat, well relatively flat. As we exited the park, there was a slight incline on the ramp to Ocean Parkway, just when I thought the hills were over. 

By mile 8, I was starting to slow down a bit, but I urged myself to continue running hard. My stomach was hurting from the gel I took a few minutes earlier and I suddenly felt the urge to pee, which was likely due to stress versus actually having a full bladder. I so wanted to let it flow. as mentioned before, I refuse to stop in a race to go. However, I have never mastered being able to pee while on the move. As I was thinking about all this and contemplating my options, I remembered that I was wearing white shorts. I am taking an antibiotic that turns your pee bright orange, and I really didn't want to advertise to the world that I had peed myself. With no port-a-potties in site and no safe place to hide, the only other option at the moment was to hold it. So I squeezed and squeezed as I ran.

In order to keep my legs turning over quickly, I kept my eyes focused on specific women, targets to either pass or not let get too far ahead of me. I focused on my breathing in order to relax and work the oxygen through my muscles via deeper breaths. I repeated mantras ("hurts won't kill you"...thanks again to my dear friend Elena for that one..."persevere"..."you are strong"..."can't stop, won't stop"). I stopped focusing on my time and pace, as I was running steady, and instead focused on getting to the finish as quickly as possible. It worked because I kept running steady without slowing down further. As we approached the boardwalk, I became more and more excited, knowing that the finish was getting close. With 200m left to go, I sprinted, crossing the finish in 1:25:31, a 3 minute and 26 second PR. Even better, Lete was there waiting, and we waited for the rest of the team, including Amy.

I did everything wrong in preparation for this race. Eating something new for dinner and breakfast for that matter, wearing an untested outfit with questionable chafing potential, not getting enough sleep, going out too fast, but it all worked out in the end. Maybe it was because I tapered really hard, taking a few days of full rest. Maybe it was because the stars were aligned for a good outcome. Whatever it was, I will take it! I couldn't be happier for having such amazing teammates and friends to share the experience with! I look forward to racing again soon!