Let me go on, like a blister in the sun

I happily existed in the land of non-injured runners for about a month before my marathon in April, and miraculously made it through the marathon with no injuries to speak of. Somewhere in the weeks after, though, between gradually building back up to weekend long runs and my lame attempts to do speed work and hills, I've re-entered the running injury twilight zone. If it's not one thing, it's another. For one thing, my right hip has been bothering me on and off for the last few weeks. Not seriously enough for me to break down and call the PT, but just enough to be annoying on my longer runs. My right foot decided it needed to get in the game as well, and has been aching on and off. I mostly attribute this to some poor advice from an orthopedic "specialist" who looked at my foot for no more than 5 seconds and told me that I needed to switch shoes (when I had run in my Asics 2140s for years with no problems).

Well, my problem last night on my three-miler was not my right hip nor my right foot, nor even the 90+ degree temperatures and soup-like consistency of the atmosphere. It was the giant, quarter-sized, angry, red, possibly infected blister that appeared on the inside of my right heel somewhere toward the end of last week. It started off innocently enough, a tiny blister caused by my shoe rubbing a bit on that heel. I've had these before, so I wasn't very concerned about it. But last weekend's 10k race followed up by a 10 miler the next day turned that thing into a complete monster, the blister to end all blisters.

And yet, because I'm not smart enough to know what's good for myself, I took myself and the monster blister out for a three-mile run last night in the aforementioned disgustingly hot, nasty weather. Not without precaution, though, I did cover up the monster with a Band-Aid blister ampule, which I think is one of the best things ever invented for blisters:

I also duct-taped over the offending portion of my shoe and body-glided my foot, my sock, AND my shoe. This worked for about the first mile and a half. After that, I realized the band-aid was starting to slip and I was sweating so much the body glide wasn't about to do me any good. Long story short, despite my best attempts to keep it from happening my three miler tore that blister wide open. Which felt really awesome when I got in the shower. I was about to take a picture of the sucker and post it on here, but I think it might violate Blogger's prohibition of obscene materials.

Which leads me to my question for the day - I love the Band-Aid blister ampules (and have also used some sport-specific bandages that are very similar) but I have never been able to get them or any other type of bandage to stay on during a run long enough to do me any good. I once tried to duct tape over the band-aid on the suggestion of someone at the running store, but the duct tape just tore up my skin. Does anyone out there have any suggestion on how to treat running blisters and how to protect them during a run?

Rock Chalk Run 10k race report

Some days you race well. Other days...not so much. Saturday's Rock Chalk Run was one of those "not so much days" for me. I pretty much chalked it up to a learning experience and realized that it doesn't matter how much training you've done if you don't have the mental tenacity to push through the tough parts of a race. Saturday's time was completely the result of my brain (not my body) throwing in the towel about two-thirds of the way through the race.

The day was pretty much perfect for a run - temps in the 60s, overcast, a light drizzle, not too windy. It was humid, but the breeze helped with that. The course for Lawrence was surprisingly not terribly hilly - although the one steep hill the course did have owned me both trips up. The "hills" we have in Wichita just don't come close to preparing you for "hills" in other places. The race was very small, which surprised me, and therefore fairly boring. At times I felt that I was running by myself, which I think didn't help to spur me on. It was interesting in places to run past the set-up they had for the Ironman 70.3 being held there the next day, and there was one spot on the course with a particularly scenic view of Clinton Lake. But otherwise, the course was very quiet with very few runners and even fewer spectators.

The first two miles of the race were great for me, I was maintaining a sub-9 minute pace and was exactly where I wanted to be. I felt very comfortable. Somewhere around mile 3, though, I became aware of the giant hill that we were about to run up and my brain checked out. Mentally I started to doubt myself and pretty instantly lost my fight. I managed to get up the hill and make it to mile 4 still averaging a good time, but around mile 4 I completely lost whatever willpower I had left and decided this was just not my day to "race." I finished the race in 1:00:53, which is not even close to what I'd hoped to run or what I think I'm capable of running. Disappointing, but I think a lesson in the mental discipline that running requires. I know my body was capable of giving me more on Saturday, but my brain just wasn't taking me there so it didn't happen.

Overall, though, I can't complain - any day with a race is better than a day without a race. I got a cool bag, got to run somewhere I've never run before, and got to see my good friend finish her first race ever.

And my next race is...

.....drumroll please....................

The Disneyland Half Marathon on September 6, 2009. I just registered today!

No, this obviously isn't my next *marathon* - I still haven't decided on the next marathon yet! But for now, this is the next major race on the horizon. Because I did the Princess Half Marathon in March, if I complete the Disneyland Half Marathon I get the special "coast to coast" medal in addition to my Disneyland Half Marathon medal. Hey, I'm not ashamed of it - I run for bling!! And what can I say...I never grew up, so I'm a sucker for the mouse.

Gold Stars

Yeah, I realize that it may be a little dorky to give yourself gold stars, but I feel like I deserve three for the day:

Gold star # 1 - For getting out of bed this morning and running even though I woke up way late and really, really wanted to just go back to sleep for 15 more minutes.

Gold star #2 - For running 4 miles, when I started off planning to only run 3.

Gold star #3 - For running that extra mile, when it meant that I had to run up the longest, steepest hill that's anywhere near my house (to be fair, we are in KS, so it's not really that big) and rocking that hill to the tune of a 9:20 mile (which is fast, for me).

Okay, now that I'm done patting myself on the back, here's a little nugget for your day:

I did not drink all of these Hurricanes myself - I swear!!

Be sure to check out The Happy Runner's bloggie birthday giveaway - she's got some good stuff over there!

Laissez les bons temps rouler

Sadly, on Tuesday I had to come back to the real world after a long, sometimes relaxing, sometimes wildly entertaining weekend in New Orleans. Yes, I ran while I was there, and for those of you considering running in the French Quarter while on vacation I have this advice - do not run on Bourbon Street. Ever. I also shopped, ate ridiculous amounts of delicious food, and drank a few Hurricanes.

More pictures to come later (promises, promises) but here are a few to tide you over in the meantime:

Three gorgeous ladies listening to some jazz at Preservation Hall

I don't even remember where we are in this picture, but we were having a good time!

Me and the hubs and the whole group on a swamp tour - they fed the alligators marshmallows!

In Celebration

of National Running Day, I ran a great 6.2 miles after work this evening. Perfect weather, perfect run, I even saw a rainbow in the sky and a fox on the golf course as I ran by.

Short post, but I'm headed to New Orleans tomorrow for a long weekend, so forgive me if my mind is in other places right now. My running clothes are packed and I'm ready for a vacation!

get your run on

Yep, that's right - tomorrow is National Running Day, time to get your run on, people! Now, I can't say this is entirely original because I wouldn't have known about this except for the other wonderful running bloggers out there, but I felt it necessary to add my own personal homage to our sport on my blog. So, for all of my running, blogging friends out there, let's enjoy our day. For all of my non-running friends out there, if you've ever wanted to run, tomorrow's the day to start! And if you don't know how to get started, check out the National Running Day website for some great beginner tips.