October is....

...time to get my act together.  I have been asking a lot of my body, and in some ways I have not been giving it the respect it deserves.

While I was careful on my trip to watch what I ate and how much I drank, since I have returned, I have been awful about my eating.  Not just what I am eating (although I have been eating CRAP), but my habits in general- not enough, too much, not often enough, etc.  

I have pretty much cut alcohol out until the marathon, but that is not a stretch for me.  We had to spend 3-4 months 'dry' every season in college, so to go a few weeks is no biggie for me.

There is no way I can expect my body to recover from 19 miles if I eat crap for 24 afterwards.  And I can't be surprised that my legs still feel like crap today, and my stomach hurts, after what I have eaten today (read:  pizza.  For breakfast. And lunch.  Not on purpose. But....really? I feel sick just thinking about it)

I need to get my act together.  Tonight.

So for October, to allow myself a GREAT last two weeks of heavy training, I WILL EAT HEALTHY.  I am going to go to the store RIGHT  NOW and stock up on:

Kefir

Eggs

Oatmeal (yes, the instant kind, but it's a start)

Kashi Go Lean Waffles (LOVE these)

Greek Yogurt

Berries (to go in said yogurt)

Green things- spinach, lettuce, peppers, peas

Beans

Non Fat Cheese

Natural Peanut Butter

Whole Wheat Bread

Nuts

Berries

Banannas

Apples

Cappuccino (Fine, not the healthiest, but I am obsessed)

Whole Wheat Pasta

Ground Turkey

I will also go in my fridge right now and throw away the following: 

NYRR 18-Mile Marathon Tune Up

...or better referred to as 'Sarah's Tour de Central Park Porta-Potties'

Chip Time- 2:59:50 (9:59 pace)

Watch time- 2:48:50 (9:23 pace)

Yes, that is 11 minutes spent in the bathroom.  Mostly in the first six miles.  Fabulous.

HOWEVER, despite my tummy's objections, My legs felt GREAT:

My shins didn't (and still don't) hurt,

The pace I settled into felt comfortable

I felt strong at the end

And most importantly, I smiled the entire way through, and enjoyed the run in general.

I have noticed that about every other long run has been a great confidence booster.  This one is no exception.  After a not so wonderful first 18-miler two weeks ago, this was a whole different story.  I didn't let my tummy issues get me down mentally, just stopped when I needed to and continued to hydrate.  I didn't use the 100% humidity as an excuse to slow down.

After holding this pace for three loops of a hilly Central Park, I think I am ready to set some goals for the marathon.  However, I am going to hold off on sharing until I race the half next weekend.  That will obviously impact the 'faster end' goals....

(I think the tummy issue could be from the coffee I had before the race.  I am trying to think back, and I think this was the first long run that I had coffee before.  It is not necessary.  I will not do this again.)

Home Sweet NYC

My I-pod shuffle chose to stay in Durban.  With this view, I don't blame it.

After an incident free two weeks in South Africa, it only took 5 minutes in a NYC Cab to get into a car accident.  And have the driver blame me.  And then have him bitch when I refused to tip him for trying to give me whiplash.  Home sweet NYC.

But a music-free, car-free, perfect weather marathon pace run in the park welcomed me back with open arms- especially after 10 days on the treadmill.  That machine messes with my mind and confidence, but I'm ready.  Excited for the half in two weeks, and getting there with the marathon.

Excuse me while I find anything else to do to fight the urge to go to sleep.  I could unpack, but that is just WAY too obvious.

Talking Politics.

South African politics, that is.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/09/23/south.africa.resignations/index.html

Over my two weeks in South Africa, I have been able to experience a dramatic sequence of events that have led to the (forced) resignation of the president, and today to the resignation of a portion of his cabinet.  The country now hangs in a strange space, with an acting president being appointed on Thursday morning, and an election next April with an predictable outcome.

I am not well enough versed to come close to understanding all the politics and history behind what has occurred over the past few weeks (the Zuma trial, the 'verdict' of the courts, the recall, and subsequent resignation of Mbeki and the cabinet).  

However, I have had the unique experience to be surrounded the last few weeks with South Africans from all walks of life.  I have spent time with highly educated, politically motivated and politically connected academics and scientists, and also spent hours with members of the more general South Africa community- including men and women, HIV positive and negative, white, black, and Asian.  Native and ex-pat.  Hearing their opinions and watching their reactions has been a unique experience.  And it has been an experience in humility.

I say humility because sometimes we (in the general sense, myself included) have the tendency to lose perspective.  Yes, our country is in an interesting place in it's history and has a major decision to make November 2.  Yes, this decision will have drastic effects on the direction our country will take over the coming years.  

However, regardless of the election results, as an American- even if I am 'scared' about the results of the coming election- I am not scared for my security, my way of life, or the future of my younger sister and possible daughter.  I am not scared that my county could revert to political upheaval, a culture of violent crime, and economic disrepair.  And these are fears shared across the South African population, not in pockets or neighborhoods. 

I guess I am suffering from a case of a forever-adjusting sense of perspective, which is impossible to verbalize or put into words. I'm going to stop because what I want to say isn't coming out right, but I want to put the words down so I can try to keep the persepective.

No half.

I'm not going to run the half.  I am having a bit of shin pain (haven't been able to ice since being away), and really want to go into my last three hard weeks of training 100%.

I also really don't want a 4am wake up call, which would be required for a 6:30am start in Pretoria (I am staying in Johannesburg).

Also- I want to be a tourist.  

Last time I visited Johannesburg, I worked for 3 days and flew out.  This visit I have a Saturday stay in the city and would rather spend the day seeing the city than recovering from a 4am wake up call.

We are going to go on a tour of Soweto, to the Apartheid Museum in Sowetwo, and to the Farmer's Market, which sells crafts from all over Southern Africa.  Very excited.  Just have to get through the 2nd of 3 clinic visits today.  Here are some pics from our clinic outside of Cape Town, in a township called Gugulethu:

The entrance to the clinic

A beauty salon in the township- they are made out of old shipping containers

A house in New Crossroads Township (I think). There really isn't a 'typical' house in the townships, they range from hand-made shacks constructed of scrap metal with no running water or electricity, to brick multi-room houses. The house pictures above is made of ASBESTOS, and provided by the government, nonetheless. Crazy...there is currently a court case surrounding these asbestos houses.


This little boy was scared to death of me. Our driver, from a neighboring township, said I was probably the first white person he had ever seen. Even though he was scared and crying, he still managed to say "MoloSisi" (hello to a friendly female, in Xhosa).

Over-analysis

I was finally able to find some info on the half marathon I want to run this Saturday. I found a course description on the RunnersWorld South Africa Discussion Boards, by the race director:

Briefly, the race starts outside the CSIR International Convention Centre. The route is almost immediately uphill into the CSIR grounds for about 2km followed by a 1km downhill. You then have a fairly easy 3 to 4km loop out of the CSIR around the suburb of Brummeria - it's relatively flat here. Then back into the CSIR grounds for another serious climb and then a fast 1km downhill to the finish. The 21km splits from the 10km at 9km and besides an extra loop to make up the extra km, does the same lap again.

Yes, it is a tough course - make no bones about it. But there are some wonderful views from the highest points and last year we received far more compliments than complaints, which is why we've not changed it.

And here is a course profile of the 10k race, (so basically double this for the Half):

I laugh at this profile because the first climb is literally 'off the charts'. This person's motion based says there is about 1200ft of elevation gain/loss.

I'm over-analyzing not because the course seems difficult. I know myself all too well: I am worried I will get to the race and not be able to just run it as a long training run. I will want to race. I have been running more than ever before and haven't done a road race since last December.

However, I have an ambitious few weeks ahead of training before I start to taper (NYRR 18ish miler, Half Marathon RACE, 20 miler).

I wish I could decide last minute, but doing the race requires a driver and a 4am wake up call.

Hmmmmmmm...maybe I should just focus on work and getting to Johannesburg tomorrow?

Another reason to hate the treadmill.

Today I ran on the same treadmill that I ran my first miles after my injury.  It was in Cape Town in March that I started to test out my newly healed femur, with dismal results.  I was discouraged and sore, but so happy to have the confidence to give it a try.

So, 5 months later, I returned to the same treadmill.  Not by choice.  It is raining and hailing with gale force winds in Cape Town. 

I hopped on, walked a bit to warm up the legs.  I knew the treadmill would be in kilometers, but I figured 10k in an hour was a good recovery pace after the 18 on Saturday.  However, something was wrong.  10k/hour felt REALLY fast.  I thought maybe the 18 miles took more out of me than I thought.  I seriously couldn't hold 10k/hour pace...

I was sweating all over, sucking my water bottle, and my heart rate was through the roof.  I just couldn't do it.  I settled into a comfortable 8.6kilo/hour pace.  I was bummed, but then started to think more.

There is NO WAY this treadmill was right.  Then I started to do math....

Maybe the treadmill wasn't in kilometers after all?  NO WAY....no way I had been trying to run10 MILE/hour pace.  Wait....

So I sweated through 8 kilometers (miles?).  My heart rate was under control, but I just couldn't figure out the pace.  Hmmm, 8 miles in 57 minutes...hm, just over 7min/miles.  No freaking way.

Two of the cutie trainers that been watching me struggle (and probably laughing hysterically at the silly American girl) came over and said hello.  I politely smiled, tried my best to bat my eyelashes while still profusely sweating and said

"This may be a silly question, but is this treadmill in kilometers or miles?"

They looked at each other and laughed.  I wanted to run away and hide.  They asked what I thought it was.  I told them that I had just run the slowest and hardest 8k of my life, or just ran a 10k PR.

They laughed a bit more, then assured me the pace on the treadmill was fast.  They said there had been problems with the belt and that when they got it fixed it came back a bit 'fast'.  They were not sure exactly of the discrepancy, but said people estimated 6kilo/hour speed was more like 8, and 8.5 was more like 11.5.  So using that math, I ran 6.9 miles.  

Sweet.  So I accidentally did a tempo run.  And now when I think back, I actually felt pretty damn good at that pace.  Hopefully tomorrow I can just run outside.