A 10 Mile Race The Heart Run

Ten miles at a pace of 9.21.  I’ll take it.  Considering I stopped for photos, it was a good pace.

Let’s start this run re-cap with nutrition.  That’s always been my greatest concern when thinking about running longer distances. I began my ten mile run nutrition yesterday and it went like this:

• Breakfast:  1/2 cup Gluten Free Rolled oats cooked in water with 1/2 a banana, 1 TBS raisins and cinnamon. Topped off with 1 TBS Natural PB.  1 scoop of protein powder (20 g) with water and ice.  1/2 an orange.
• Mid Morning Snack:  3/4 of a  protein bar.  *I made sure the bar had less than 20 g of sugars in it because the sugar alcohols or the sorbitols in the bars can cause stomach upset. That goes for chewing gum as well. I cut down on the gum thinking I wanted to save my system.
• Lunch:  1 1/2 cups baby spinach + 2 radishes + 3 cherry tomatoes + 1/2 red bell pepper + 1/4 cup brown rice + 1 Veggie Burger.  Topped with balsamic vinegar mixed with a low fat raspberry dressing.
• Mid Day Snack:  1/2 cup Greek Style Fat Free yogurt + 1 TBS raisins + 1 TBS Tamari Almonds.
• Dinner:  ….Ahhhhh Friday night dinner.  We went to Chesterfields and here is my night before a run eats. NOTE:  I never have pasta but since that seems to be runners fuel, I opted to exchange bread for pasta.

I had to have my wine. It was a Cabernet.  Red wine = heart health, right?   

I couldn’t go with out the wonderful garlic bread offered at Chesterfields so we asked for it less all the oil on top.  I had one tiny slice off the end.

A wonderful garden salad with oil and balsamic vinegar and crumbly bleu cheese.  Before I tell you about my entree,  what Ted had was most interesting.  It was Sea bass on top of a Gorgonzola sauce.  Those 3 olives?  They are stuck on that fish with a piece of FRIED SPAGHETTI!  How cool! He said it was SO GOOD!

I had Tuna Puttanesca off the Lenten menu.  I didn’t eat much of the sauce, but it was wonderful and vibrant in flavor.  The pasta was sauce-less but I topped it with Parmesan cheese. I really wanted my dinner to be as bland as possible although the tuna was far from being bland.

I had to have my coffee. The first at Chesterfields, and the second at 8:15 pm when we got home.

I fell asleep on the couch about 10:00 pm and woke up 3 times during the night.  I drank so much water later in the day, plus the wine, then the coffee, my system can only hold so much.

The Day of The HEART RUN

Recap:  This was my takings from the Expo yesterday:

For the run, I wore my bib #1950.  I used the chapstick.  It was a nasty 18 degrees this morning. What happened to a nice warm run?!!! I didn’t wear the shirt but as I’m sitting here typing now, I have it on and it’s nice and comfy.

For the race, even though it was only 18 degrees, the sun was suppose to come out and I would much rather be cold to start and warm up rather than getting too hot early in the run.  I wore a sports bra, a turtle neck running shirt, a short sleeve running shirt over that, my long running pants, hiking socks, thin runners gloves (my thumbs did get a bit cold but by the end they were fine), a head band for my ears, visor, and my APPLE CRUMBLES EARRINGS.

I took a running belt so I could carry my car keys and camera. This is what I put in it:  2 tissues + chapstick + 2 natural pineapple energy chews (those were good but didn’t do much) + E-Drenaline + drivers license (didn’t want to leave my purse in the Jeep) + camera and keys.

At 7:50 am, I ate 1 banana with 1 TBS Natural PB.

At 7:20, I set off to drive to Home Depot where I like to park.  Then I jogged 1 mile up to the College to catch the bus for the run.

They were broadcasting the event in the gym

At 8 AM there was the call to get on the buses.  I saw Alex Carbone who flagged me down. He was so excited and he said  “I saw you and just had to tell you, I got a German Shepherd”.  You see Alex sees Shane and I running or walking early in the morning and he has a love for the breed. He gave in and got one, 7 month old German Shepherd pup. He plans on running with him in another year. Yay Alex!

We all got on the bus and waited. Waited some more. I sat with a nice lady named Karen.  We chatted and both got impatient waiting.  Finally, we pulled out and as the bus approached the start, it got amazingly foggy. Where’s the sun?!!!  It was cold!

See people blowing on their hands, stomping fee, and hugging themselves? 

I started slow, wanting to pace myself and feel good all the way from start to finish. I got behind 3 men, approaching their fifties, one was sixty and used them to pace myself.  The sixty year old started blowing out his nose.  You know, the one finger SNORT deal?  He did that, then said “I better be careful I’m used to running alone.”  As he looked behind and saw me, I said “Yeah. You’ll end up washing my shirt”.  All in good fun. 

Then Larry, a long time Road Runner – Runner, comes up and I picked up the pace, ran past the B-Blower, so Larry and I chatted for a while.  Alls good with Larry.  He told me they had 20 runners last week on the training run from Planet Fitness. Wow!

By the time I got to the 5 mile runners start, they had already gone, but there was an increase in road support by way of music and flags.

At about the 5 1/2 mile point, I met up with a work buddy of Ted’s, Kim Luker.  Kim is a fast runner and I chatted with her for as long as I could keep up with her. But we did some catching up. It was fun.

As we past the 3 mile runner start, they had just gone off and the crowd ahead increased tremendously.

Now there were all sorts of radio stations playing music and offering support. All sorts of people along the road with lollipops, oranges, water, and even coffee.

At mile 6.5 I drank 1/2 of the E-Drenaline shot.  I thought I might need it for HEART BREAK HILL!

That  is the beginning of Heart Break Hill. THAT is where the support for runners and walkers knows no bounds.  The roadside is lined with supporters and signs for their runners. It’s fantastic.

Even the dogs are out for Whitesboro Runners!

The hill is in two phases. You make it up the first “heart breaker” then there is a plateau, then the second incline.  I was really surprised at how easily I managed the hills. It was a breeze.

Now I’m approaching Utica College where the walkers are lined up in masses.  I met “Calli” the registered Llama…

Such a pretty little girl.  I didn’t ask to pet her because I didn’t know if 1. she would spit at me like camels do (not that a camel has ever spit at me, but I don’t want to take the chance) and 2. I heard, long ago, that llamas prefer men.  I don’t know…just what I heard?????

I stopped and asked a Fireman on top of his Fire truck to take an “aerial” view photo of the walkers

Wow! That’s a lot of walkers! BUT…glad I was done..

As I ran under the sign, I heard the guys back there under that blue tent say “and here is Joanne, congratulations Joanne”.  Was that me?!  They had the list of bib numbers and if you came through without being surrounded by a crowd, they were able to call out your name.  That was pretty cool!

I grabbed a bottle of water and jogged one more mile to my Jeep.  I just wanted a hot bath and a BIG breakfast.

It was a good run.  It wasn’t difficult.  I think I paced myself just right. I didn’t get cold once the run began, and I didn’t get hot. My temperature was good except for the initial cold thumbs.  My sensitive hamstring “spoke” to me while running one of the down hills but quickly “shut up”.   The course kind of rolls. No extremes until you get to Heart Break Hill.

I think more people knew each other in the ten mile crowd. Maybe that happens as you get into higher mileage because the runners are “seasoned” and probably know each other from over the years or group runs, etc.  I liked it. I most enjoyed chatting with friends along the way.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see my friend Jim. M. and his group from the Valley, but I’m sure I’ll catch them for the next event.

GREAT JOB RUNNERS AND WALKERS!

Joanne