My perfect running tank: a love story

When I first started training I went in search of the perfect running tank. Nothing I had really fit the bill, and I needed to make sure my new girls were well supported and I had plenty of pockets for stashing everything I would need on my long runs. I am pretty resistant to hydration belts (although that may change) and all of the pockets in running pants are never large enough for my needs. A girl's gotta be able to stash a fair amount in her pockets! 

I walked into Fleet Feet and ask for some tanks with pockets, and the saleswoman delivered! She must have put about 15 tanks for me to try on in there. I finally came upon these Nike tanks:

My perfect running tank!

I can easily stash/pull stuff out of these pockets, as they have no zippers. They are nice and roomy and I can run with confidence that nothing will fall out. I have been wearing them regularly, but this past weekend I tested it at the Women's 5K, since I was flying solo without my athletic supporter. I needed to stash my keys, license, credit card, CTA card, iPod + headphones, phone, $20 cash, the free granola handed out at the finish, and a partridge in a pear tree. I think I also had a banana in there at one point. Everything was handled pretty well back there, except at the finish sprint I could feel my phone bouncing. 

Look at me go in my Perfect Tank!

I've been told before that I shop like a guy, because when I find something I like I get at least 2 of them in different colors. True to form I picked up the pink (of course!) and highlighter yellow versions. Perfection does come at a price though, these set me back $50 each. But the ability to stash a banana in my back pocket? Priceless. 

Recommended Reading: Breasts

This has nothing to do with running, but recently I finished the book, Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History by Florence Williams. Of course I picked it up because I have spent so much of the last few years thinking about breasts, especially mine, and much of the last few months staring at them. This book was awesome, I was simultaneously amused and horrified about the contents. 

If you have ever read anything by Mary Roach (Bonk, Stiff, Packing for Mars), Florence Williams has a similar approach here: diving into a subject head first, coming at it from many angles, with an informative, interesting, and often witty perspective. I like this style, as it's a mix of scientific explanation and anecdotal research. Her book covers the cultural aspects of breast, their evolution, plumbing, breastfeeding, man-made industrial chemicals, breast cancer (in women and men), breast implants, and staggering science regarding the evolution of breasts in the modern world. If you own a pair, it's a good read. Even if you don't. 

Fun facts I learned from this book (there are way more):
1. Breasts are the only organs which don't begin developing until after birth. And they are only fully developed for pregnancy.
2. Breast feeding is both the best and worst thing you can do for your children. Formula companies have tried and not been successful in creating a breast milk replacement.  
3. There are a lot of women in Texas with breast implants. 
4. The anatomy of the nipple to facilitate breast feeding is fascinating!
5. There is a sort of feedback loop where a mother will alter milk production (at least in macaque monkeys) based on the needs and gender of the baby--fewer and fattier feedings for males, more frequent and thinner feedings for females. 

Anyone else have any good books to read?

Race Report: Chicago Women's Half and 5K

Yesterday was the inaugural running of the Chicago Women's Half Marathon and 5K. Not quite ready for the half marathon, I stuck with the 5K. Our group long run on Saturday was 8 miles and the conditions were less than ideal on Sunday (pretty hot and humid), so I wasn't expecting much more than a nice morning run. 

I went to the race solo--Tim stayed home for this one. He is normally right there with me, but I told him he could stay home (since it was a women's race and all). I also feel kind of bad making him come out for every race, especially if I'm not really pushing myself for a goal or time. The pre-race festivities included massage stations, fancy water, warm-ups, and a variety of vendors. Lots of smiling happy faces, camaraderie, and empowering speech surrounding the race--June 23rd marked the 40th anniversary of the passing of Title IX. The benefiting charities of the race were the American Heart Association and the Go Red for Women campaign. For all the attention breast cancer gets from the world, there are many other issues that women face that cannot be ignored. Heart disease is the number one killer for women over the age of 20, and it is the cause of death for 1 in 3 women. I guess the moral of the story is we all need to be taking better care of ourselves, and I hope that my running in the last couple of years sticks with me for the rest of my life. Sorry Tim, if all goes well you still have many more races to attend in the future! In fact, I signed up for the Chicago Half Marathon in September after the race. I had planned on it, since the timing is excellent preparation for the marathon.

Because of my long run the day before, I did a lot of stretching beforehand. I'm glad I got there early because normally I'm kind of frazzled and sometimes barely make it to the start on time, let alone get good stretching in. After all of my stretching I watched the half marathoners start. I got a little weepy then, watching friends, bridal parties, sisters, mothers, and daughters heading to the start line together. I love running races with my Mom, I am so grateful for the races I got to run with both her and Megan, but I am sad about the fact that I will never get to run a race with Megan again. At just the right time though, the announcer reminded us to be kind to each other and run empowered for all the women who can't run and couldn't in the past, so I made it to the start line and focused on the race ahead of me. 

Mother/daughter team at the race

My goal for the race was to only take 1 walk break at the halfway water stop, as I have been struggling with my pace/walk breaks recently. I succeeded in that--I ran to the turnaround, mixed the water and Gatorade, walked for about a minute, and finished the race. My time was 33:46 (10:53 pace). I've definitely run faster 5Ks, but not after running 8 miles the day before! I'm totally happy with myself, and it was a great day. The race finisher prize was a yoga mat, which is actually the most useful goodie I've ever received, and they did a yoga session after the race. I wish I could have stayed for that, as increase in running and decrease in yoga has made me pretty stiff, but I was pretty beat and just wanted to get home. 

I've done a fair amount of 5Ks and this one was pretty great. Next year, let's hope for the half marathon!

It's getting hot out there

With the official start to summer yesterday, there is no surprise that it's getting super hot outside. Chicago is having its warmest hot spell in 35 years. I don't really know what that means, but if Weatherman Tom Skilling says it, I believe it!

The weather bell downtown at Clark/Monroe. Red = HOT!

Runner's World has a whole slew of articles about running in the heat, including tips from runners and cautionary tales. Most are common sense, including lots of hydration and taking it easy on the pace, but there is a lot of useful information from other runners and experts. Even the articles on hydration are interesting, I always figured it was best to just drink 64 oz of water per day and be done with it, but (TMI!) you can really judge how much water you need by the color of your pee. You're looking for something like a light straw color not dark (underhydrated) or clear (overhydrated). I am very good about drinking water at work, but I'm trying to be better about it when I'm home at night and the weekends.  

Also, according to a lot of the articles it will take about two weeks for me to get used to running in the heat. It also stands to reason that since it's harder to run in the heat, it will be that much easier for me when the fall (and the race) comes around. Provided that it's not too hot on race day (as it has been in the past), I should be much better prepared. That's encouraging. 

While I normally prefer running after work during the week, I might have to start heading out for one of my weekday runs in the morning. I always thought that the noon hour was the hottest, but according to this article, "Although the sun is highest in the sky at noon, the earth's surface heat peaks between 3-5 pm." I can attest, as I was drenched when I got inside from my runs on Monday and Wednesday, even though I got in at 8/9pm. And it's not just the heat, it's the humidity! High humidity alters your internal cooling system (sweat), making it harder to function properly. So it's actually a huge problem if you don't sweat when it's hot out. 

5 am is starting to sound a whole lot better, but let's see if I can get 5am Jocelyn to agree with 5pm Jocelyn. That's always the hard part! Anyone else have any tips for staying cool? 

There and back

Whew, what a week! I ran in 3 states, starting last weekend in Atlanta where I was visiting some of my knitting friends, Marianne and Erin, and then to Las Vegas for a conference. Atlanta was fun. I had a nice run in my friend's neighborhood, except for the damn hills! They may not seem like hills to the natives down there, but to this Chicagoan they were huge. I made it though, even with a bit more walking than I hoped. I'll take it. 

Then off to Vegas. Well....that was an experience. I was staying in Excalibur, which is at the south end of the strip for my conference. I figured instead of just using the gym, I would run on the strip. When else would I get to run on the Las Vegas strip? Let me tell you, it was interesting, starting with walking through the casino and out the door around 5:15am (since it was wicked hot when I was there, highs of 105). At first I felt strange walking through a casino in my workout clothes, but then I walked by a group of people seeing 5am from the other side, dressed in neon and furry go-go boots. I saw lots of characters on the strip: other runners, people stumbling home, women of the night (or dawn, as it was), people giving me the thumbs up, a few hecklers, a "nice booty", a guy tried to run with me (he didn't last long), and someone who should have been in bed yelling "Why are there so many runners?!" It was interesting I tell you! 

View of New York, New York hotel on my run. 

On the con side, if you haven't visited Vegas recently (or ever) there are lots of pedways (escalator/stairs up, bridge across the street, escalator/stairs down) to cross the major streets. I'd say there and back for 3-4 miles I must have come up to 6-8 of these. That kind of put a damper on my pace. The first run, I wasn't really expecting that and I was extremely frustrated. There was NO WAY I was going to run up and down all the stairs, so there was a lot of walking. Also one set of stairs were being cleaned, so I ran through a building and rode an elevator in another spot. Pretty crazy! 

I hated the bridges so much I didn't take a picture, so this pic is from here. 

Despite my grousing, it didn't stop me from running the strip again a few days later. The next time I tried to think of it as an obstacle course, it worked (sort of). Even though they weren't the greatest runs, last week's certainly weren't boring. Because the training schedule is so aggressive (at least for me--I'm not used to running 4x per week), I'm finding it easier to get out and do the runs, moreso than when I was just running casually. I know even if my runs aren't the best, I've got to get out there and do them I'll never make it. I was actually really surprised at myself for waking up at 5am in Las Vegas, of all places, to run.  

And now I'm back to good ol' flat Chicago. We had a group long run last weekend on the lakefront, where I met more of the Bright Pink team, I went for a nice long bikeride yesterday to McCormick Place, and another run today. I'm still trying to find my pace, but at least my only obstacles in the near future are the heat and myself!

Anyone else want to run the Chicago Marathon?

Seriously, if you want to, there's still time! It's only the first week of training:

Run the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon with Team Bright Pink We have additional bibs for Team Bright Pink for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon being held Sunday, October 7, 2012. All kinds of perks are being offered - FREE registration, FREE 18 week FFC Tri-Monther Training Program. 24 hour injury hotline through NovaCare, goodie bag, pasta party, celebration party and lots more. Plus, if you are signed up for the Marathon and sign up another runner, you will receive a FREE pair of running shoes and a pair of Lululemon pants. Sign up two runners and you will receive the new, awesome MOTOACTV watch. Remember, if you can run a mile, you can run a Marathon. Don't be left out! Email wendy@bebrightpink.org today for all the details. 

I could use the new pair of running pants :) Team Bright Pink 

Training Week 1

This week marks my first (of 18) weeks of marathon training. I started off my running (or attempted to) with 3 miles at Miller Beach, IN on Sunday, where Tim and I were staying for a little vacation. It was pretty hot and I hadn't hydrated (unless you count whiskey and beer), so it was kind of a slog. Not a good way to start my training, but I figured it could only get better. 

And it has! Yesterday was a good run, we were supposed to do a 3 mile tempo run (where you have a warmup, then 20 minutes of hard running, little cool down). I decided to run around Graceland Cemetery by my house, which has the benefits of being a 2 mile loop (approx 4 half mile segments) with no stop lights. I had trouble keeping up the hard pace for the required 20 minutes, so I kind of went easy for one segment, hard, easy, hard. For the first few hard segments my pace was better than I've ever seen! Hopefully I will get better at those hard segments, but I know it doesn't happen overnight. I also ended up running over 4 miles (whoops), which is further than I have since before my first surgery in February. I'd call that a win. 

I have my first Team Bright Pink group run on Wednesday, and then this weekend I will be out of town (visiting my friend Erin in Atlanta, then off to the NFPA conference in Las Vegas). After this trip I will have trained in 4 states in a week and a half! It's pretty hot in Atlanta and Las Vegas, so I'm not expecting any stellar times, I just want to put my miles in and start getting used to the heat. 

View my Marathon Training map in Google Maps

Aced this one

Today I had my follow up appointment with my plastic surgeon. He is happy with the progress of my thin skin, but it's still not completely healed. He recommended I wear an Ace bandage, because it seems like whatever bras I have been wearing are pressing against the area and creating pressure. So for now, this is my new favorite sports bra:

But more importantly, I can run! I phrased the question in about three different ways just to be sure:

Can I run? Yes. 

Because you know, I signed up for the marathon. No problem. 

So just to be clear, I have zero restrictions on exercise. Correct. 

Zero. He told me to run with the ace bandage, or nothing if I wanted. Imagine that, running with NO sports bra! Again, because the implants are underneath my muscles, they are very well supported already. But I wouldn't want to risk any chafing damage to my skin since I don't have much feeling, so I'll just stick to the Ace bandage until I'm ready to graduate back to my awesome sports bra. Heck I'll wear that thing through the marathon if I have to (I'll replace it once it gets stinky, don't worry). 

In fact, now that I think of it, I don't think he ever explicitly told me last appointment that I couldn't run, just that I couldn't wear a sports bra. At any rate, I wasn't supposed to be running until 6 weeks after my last surgery, which was actually only the day before yesterday. In the meantime, I've become BFFs with the other machines at the gym, including the treadmill, elliptical, and bike. 

Training starts next Tuesday and Tim and I are off to Miller Beach for the weekend. We should be doing a fair amount of walking, but hopefully I can sneak in a quick run!