And today, I officially got my EBR 2011 training party started with Day 1 of Couch to 5K. (Actually, I accidentally misread the chart and started with Day 7…oops.) It was shockingly doable – I mean, yes, in general my body is pretty tight all over, but it wasn’t a problem to run the 3-minute intervals. I was happily surprised!

In fact, the only uncomfortable part was the boob situation. I nursed Violet before I left, and I was thrilled that I fit into one of my typical sports bra tops, but I felt pretty bouncy out there. I’d be curious to hear from other nursing moms (or well endowed women in general) what running tops you recommend. At this point, I’m thinking I’ll wear two sports bras out on my next session. Thoughts?

When we first arrived, we were greeted with this fruit and electrolyte drink basket in our rooms, perfect for us running athletes! There was a kind note from the manager thanking us for staying with them and giving us encouragement for our long running weekend ahead. They even filled our refrigerator with chilled water, Gatorade and Olade! It was very nice and unexpected.

We also hit up the buffet for breakfast each morning and wore our fantastic sparkley skirts. I bet they’ve never had so much bling going through the breakfast line! Waffles anyone?

One of my favorite things about the hotel was their toilet flush in their bathrooms. This might seem a little silly to blog about, but I found it refreshing that they are trying their best to be aware of the environment. The half filled dot is for a light flush and the full filled dot is for a more powerful flush. I need one of these installed in my house, as my little ones like to flush the toilet all the time just to see it swirl down. At least with this toilet, they could do so without wasting so much water!

Thank you to Country Inn and Suites for making our stay during our race a little sweeter!

• Flexing and extending my foot. A lot. My ankle is feeling very warmed up and limber. I should be able to brake AND accelerate NO PROBLEM.
• Staying up late watching old episodes of 24. Season 2 was pretty awesome. How is an atomic bomb not awesome? I digress. All this TV watching was a total sacrifice for the team. If I can’t keep myself up for Jack Bauer, how am I going to for a bunch of crazy runners? I’m ready. Jack has trained me well. Including how to really effectively torture someone…no slacking off, runners. I have powers of persuasion you will not want to experience. That should keep you running. None of this “Rah rah rah! Shish koom bah!” nonsense.
• Planning my outfits. This may have been the hardest part of my training. There are two completely opposite ways to take advantage of the fact that all the people I will be with for 2 days will be sweaty and, well, gross (no offense). 1) I just relax, wear sweats and sneakers, pull my hair back in a ponytail and enjoy not being stressed about how I look. OR… 2) Um, hello?! With minimal effort I will look 10 bazillion times better than anyone I’m with this weekend. Normally I’m the schlub at preschool pick up with the perpetual ponytail…now’s my chance to shine. If I flat iron my hair, throw on some lip gloss and wear some cute shoes, I’ll look like a supermodel in this sweaty crowd.  Since one should not divulge all training secrets before the big event, you’ll just have to wait and see what approach I take.

So there you have it. The grueling training regimen of a running relay van driver. Those runners should be GRATEFUL all they had to do was RUN. Easy peasy.

When it comes to sports and working out, I consider myself a runner.  It’s not something I’ve ever really loved (or hell, even enjoyed until very recently), it’s just something I’ve always been able to do.  In high school I loved soccer.  And sucked at it.  Horribly.  Cross country?  Loathed.  But routinely scored in the top five of my team.  Go figure.

I haven’t been in race shape since, and more to the point, haven’t kept running as a daily part of my life.  Especially during my travels.  I’ve had bouts of fitness here and there where I’d run a few times a week, but always to be “healthy” and “in shape” and never racking up mileage or gunning for speed.

All this to say, I hadn’t run like it mattered in years.  And when you start running again, it’s hard.  Huffing and puffing, lumbering like a water buffalo, with only one thought going through my brain: WHENISTHISGOINGTOBEOVER?!

There were concerns voiced about doing too much too soon and injuring myself and training wisely, not foolishly.  My knees would be a little stiff or sore after runs, which hadn’t happened since my race days.  I wanted to keep pushing myself and improving, but I didn’t want to hurt myself.

So I did something I’ve never done before: spinning.

Have you taken a spinning class?  Holy Hannah that stuff is hard.  We’re talking dripping with sweat, soaking through everything you’re wearing, hating your life, flat out DYING on a bicycle.  I mean, I’ve heard spinning is hard stuff.  But spinning is HARD STUFF.

I have absolutely no idea if spinning will help with my runs or The Relay, but it was a high-intensity workout that was easy on my knees (and hard on everything else).  I figured not running for a day would give my joints a breather, but I’d still get in a full load of conditioning.  And then on Thursday I doubled up and did spinning in the morning and ran in the afternoon — and then promptly died.  It was so hard I was practically dragging myself across the pavement.  Which is probably how I’ll feel come leg #3 this weekend.  Oof.

No idea if I’ll stick with spinning post-relay; at the moment I’m leaning toward not.  Today was my third (and final) spinning class in preparation, and it was marginally easier than my first two.  Which is always encouraging.

In any event, I’m pleased I squeaked in some solid conditioning.  I’m sure it’s all mental, but it feels good feeling better prepared for the big race.

I’m Leg Nine. I know I’m Leg Nine. But in last night’s freak-fest, I thought I was Leg Six, which in my math-deprived state meant I thought I’d be the first runner of Van #2, rather than the last of Van #1. But for the purposes of my nightmare, Leg Six was indeed the first to pop out of Van #2.

Run, Run, RUN! God Kari, just GO!

I wasn’t prepared. It came on too fast. I hadn’t changed yet! What, were the Van #1 runners really that speedy that Van #2 wasn’t even ready? Worse – why was I wearing the aforementioned sweater set? After all, as thankful as I am to the fabulous GM folks, I don’t think I’m wearing a delicate sweater set and pearls to our dinner with them Friday night; and I certainly wouldn’t wear pearls to bed.

Realistically, had I been caught off guard Saturday morning I should be in sweats, hair all askew. Instead, I looked like I was doing the interview portion of Miss America. What I feared most though, as I took off running in my pumps, wasn’t that the sweater would rip, or that my skinny dark jeans would be too constricting. I didn’t mind my hair curled around my face just-so, which would likely bug me once the sweat came. Nope, it was all about the bra. After all, when wearing a delicate sweater set, the bra is dainty, not heavy armor.

I found a bathroom to change my bra - yup, just the bra – during which time I saw tons of The Relay runners sprinting by. They all wore those underwear-like track bottoms that shows every inch of their well-groomed-down-there-anatomy with sleek singlets displaying their endorsements. They looked like they were doing 50 meters, not a race involving “miles.”

When I emerged, the runners were gone. Instead, I saw a bunch of skinny folks on lounge chairs by a spectacular pool. Not knowing which direction to run,  I took off into the forest. Why I chose the scariest place, I’ll never know. But believe me, next time I have that choice, I think I’ll just hang by the pool.

So apologies in advance if I show up this weekend wearing pumps, pearls, and a delicate pink sweater set.

In order to combat this inevitability, Coach T told us to start hydrating earlier in the week. He wanted us to drink at least a gallon of water by the time of the first game. What Coach T forgot was that we were teenage girls who left EVERYTHING to the last minute. Including hydrating.

That little oversight on his part meant that on the drive to the tournament, during warm-ups and even during the game (!), each of us took turns running over to the bathroom to relieve ourselves.

I learned that day that waiting until the last minute to hydrate is a very bad idea. With The Relay just four and a half days away, there’s no time like the present to get hydrated. Exhibit A:

My desk along with six bottles (101.4 ounces) of water so far today.

Why do I love these guys?
One reason is the high quality ingredients. According to the Luna website:

We use 100% natural, organic, wholesome ingredients – good stuff like heritage whole grains, soy protein, nuts and seeds. And we’ve got you covered on the nutrients women need most like calcium and Vitamin D, folic acid, and iron. Our food has no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives either.

If it was just up to me, we would have chocolate brownie, chocolate chip peanut crunch, cool mint chocolate Clif Bars chased by peanut butter cookie, nutz over chocolate, and chocolate peppermint Luna bars. Good thing I asked the ladies, because there are some fruit bar lovers in the mix so we added in a few surprises like apricot and carrot cake (carrot might not be a fruit, but it sure ain’t chocolate!) into the mix.

Luna Bar recently created protein bars so we’ll each have the chance to try them after our running legs.

When I ran my 8.2 mile practice run this weekend, I was fueled by the Clif Shot gel (chocolate flavor, notice a trend?!) and I loved it so I’ll be packing some of that as well.

A huge thank you to Clif and Luna. We’ll be thinking of you many many times as we run (and recover) this weekend!

• Shave your legs. Maybe this has been my problem for being so slow. If I shave my legs, maybe it will cut minutes off my time!

• Middle of the night run. Try waking up in the middle of the night and putting your running clothes on. Just see if you could run at 3:00am, then you can go back to sleep… this time.

What else needs to be prepped?

Anyway, yesterday I did something that would have seemed impossible when I started experimenting with running last summer: I hit the 8 mile mark. And it actually felt good. I mean, I still don’t feel like a natural runner in the sense that I don’t run along breezily, able to carry on a conversation, but I now am at a point where after I hit the halfway point in my run, I feel an energy lift as I turn and head towards home, excited as I pass each landmark that reminds me that I am doing it. I am running. Which I never thought I could do.

My leg of The Relay is about 13 miles; I now know I can do at least 8 of that. I think I’m ready to rock this party.

About 15 years ago, after a soccer injury in high school, I had a series of three knee surgeries.  A.C.L. replacements, double meniscus repairs, the works.  I was down for the count each time for at least six weeks.  I even tried on my wedding dress with a pair of crutches.  Good times.  I thought I’d never run, or do any kind of aerobic activity again after the horrifically painful and rehab intensive recoveries of my knee surgeries.  Over time, I tested myself with different levels of fitness and in the last five years I became confident enough in my knee to start running.  It’s been pretty great.  I still have pain in my knee, but I’m thrilled to run after everything I’ve been through.

So a few months ago when I was reading this awesome blog, Running Relays,  I happened upon a review of a company called Moji which sells icing products for runners.  For anyone actually, but obviously I thought of my knee, and my knee after running.

This ice pack is awesome and I’ll tell you why.  It fits around my knee.  I’ve spent a lot of time with ice packs on my knee and none of them have conformed to my knee.  Frozen peas, Zip Locks filled with ice, you name it, I’ve tried it.  Until I tried the Moji Knee I’d never used an ice pack that actually straps around the circumference of my knee and cools it on all sides.  This thing is awesome.  I keep it in my freezer and when I come home from a run I strap it on for a half hour while I cool down from the run.  It’s pretty ingenious, the little gel cells freeze separately and can be thawed and refrozen as many times as you need to use it.

I love this brace.  I wear it every time I get done running and pop it back in the freezer to be used over and over again. 

Brilliant.