Please join me in welcoming the newest member of my myofascial release team:
The Rumble Roller
How color therapy can help your running
I’m in to color therapy.
I notice when I’m having a purple phase (workout, work and lounge clothes all seem to be from this palette) or a green phase.
Going to the gym for a hour in the morning or evening, you can get away with wearing whatever is appropriate for your workout. This even works for short runs outside or on the treadmill. But when it comes to multi-hour runs, you better have some soothing, comfortable colors on. Hey - it can only help, right?
I was assessing my short colors, thinking, “I really only need some in yellow and I’ll have every color,” but when I went shopping, I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything in yellow. The thought made me hot and made me feel like yellow shorts on a run would make me have to go to the bathroom every mile.
The same thing happened when I was planning my 29-mile birthday run outfit. I wanted to wear my new bright pink Nike sports bra, but the thought of a warm color next to my skin on a hot day for 6+ hours made me feel overheated just thinking about it.
I like loose fitting, cool colors - blacks, blues, greens, purples, grays and whites - for long runs. They keep me mentally cool and fresh, and that’s got to come in to play physically as well.
Different people will have different colors that work for them. The important part is learning what those colors are and using them to your advantage.
Running to Cheney: 29 miles for 29 years
Cheney Lake has long been a destination. For lake things (swimming, camping, boating, jet skiing, windsurfing, waterskiing, tubing, etc.) lots of biking, and even a bike/run combination. Now that I have my mileage up for ultra training, I decided that this year was the year to run to Cheney.
So, Saturday morning my dad and I ran 29 miles from my house to Cheney Lake, as part of my upcoming 29th Birthday Celebration.
3 a.m. start time. Not a glamorous hour. We wanted to go early enough to beat as much heat as possible on the sunny, open, asphalt road to the lake.
Fritz, delivering us Gatorades in his new pack where Ian and my mom met us along the way for refueling.
Our reward at the end of 29 miles was a dip in the cold lake. There really is nothing more refreshing after a hot run.
And lots of swimming, leaping and paddling for Fritz.
Followed by a picnic, that due to wind and biting files, was eaten in the car and when we got home.
On the lakeside picnic menu:
- Open-face cucumber sandwiches
- Potato salad
- Chips
- Meat & cheese
- Strawberries & cantaloupe
- Lemon bars
Our adventures might not always be easy, or go exactly according to plan, but they are always fun.
Thanks family!
You cannot start thinking about the finish line on day one, two, three, because you’ll never get there mentally if you do. You need to make each day your life.
Polar Explorer Lonnie Dupre
Good to keep in mind for expeditions, running & life.
From Lonnie’s book Life on Ice, a must-read for any lover of the arctic.
Running Long (in the heat) Tips
It got hot early this year, but there are tricks to running long in the heat.
- Get up early. Sometimes very early.
- Run in the dark. Time goes by faster. The night is a distraction.
- Train with a friend.
- Fill your hydro pack (I LOVE my Nathan running vest) with water AND ice. If you use a water bottle, fill that with ice too.
- Make it fun. Run from Quick Trip to Quick Trip. Buy a cold Gatorade at each stop. Alternate the flavors. Fill your pack with more ice.
- Take advantage of sprinklers. Or, if desperate, public fountains.
- Use real water fountains for what I’ve dubbed a bird bath - a splash of water to the face, neck and arms.
- Walk. Utilize a run/walk plan.
- Seek a route with shade.
- Do an out & back. Or a loop. Have family and friends meet you on the way for cold treats and sunscreen refills.
- Make it an adventure. Run somewhere new. Run around your city or through it. On one summer 20-miler, we ran through the mall, to cool off and to make it to the next QT. Last weekend, we ran 22 miles to the new casino in Mulvane - bonus points for it being open 24 hours for H2O and bathrooms access.
- Lastly, when it’s all over, reward yourself with a Frappuccino.
Ballets, Russes, Ultras
This week I went to see the classic ballet Giselle by the Moscow Festival Ballet with my dance teacher friends Jessica & Tiffani.
It was an appropriate culmination of my foray in to the ballet world.
This summer will be devoted to running, running and more running, and I need to cut out the for-fun extras to properly train for my next ultra in the fall.
A little Russian adventure is still in the works too.
Feb. 22: Where you work
At the office. At home. On the bike run path.
Ultra Night Visions
Seeing things – hallucinating – during an ultra is par for the course. I like how the ultrarunning blog Running & Stuff says it:
“Don’t freak out when you hallucinate. It is normal for the brain when tired to see things that are not there. Your brain “sees” not by seeing everything but by looking at only a small area and “filling in” the rest itself. It’s how optical illusions work. It is easy for the tired brain to “fill in” your surroundings wrongly, like when I thought a pile of branches were a giraffe or some flowers in the dark were actually small faces with hats or when I thought the canal by night was a huge quarry. And don’t worry too much about the King of the Mushroom people. He ain’t that tough.”
During my 100k I kept seeing:
Broken-down buckboard wagons in the middle of the road.
This didn’t happen until night, on the second loop when I was tired, sleep deprived & ready to be done running. Instead of focusing on seeing the finish, the next aid station or a recognizable landmark ahead, I think my brain just decided to see, or “fill in,” the road up ahead with wooden wagons to ease any anxiety about being done.
Ultrarunners really are crazy.
Rewarding myself for running my 100k with a pair of leg warmers for ballet.
