MileGrams - September Days

Started the month off with a brutal 16 mile Team run on the Riverside Park path.

 Latest installment in the early Saturday morning pictures of drunk hipsters. I've decided that this guy must have gotten down onto the platform, only to be greeted with the news that the next train wasn't coming for 20 minutes. So, he made the brilliant decision to take a nap. Here he is, hours later.

 Beautiful view of boats along the path. The group I'm supposed to be running with is just in front, slowly pulling away.

The George Washington Bridge! Everything is hazy because we were basically running through soup. That lady in yellow is actually in the nasty water, risking becoming a mutant just to cool-off. 

 Little Red Lighthouse! Water-break and turnaround point. 

About-to-vomit selfie. I had to sit and drink Gatorade for 15 minutes before I could muster the energy to find a cab. 16 ugly miles in the bag!

September made for some beautiful neighborhood runs.

 Pretty clouds during sunrise at McCarren Track.

 Pretty clouds on our street corner.

 Kent Ave. view of Manhattan, part 1

  Kent Ave. view of Manhattan, part 2

An amazing hipster running outfit. The shirt was cut in the middle of the front and flying like a cape. She was wearing a regular, red bra. The shorts were regular shorts you would wear out. The socks....I can't.

Attended my first Wednesday Team practice in Central Park.

In the middle of Central Park, you can actually pretend that you are in the countryside. 

The subway stop to head home after practice is the American Museum of Natural History stop. The walls on the platform have Dinos. My nephew, Gus, would have loved it.

Sunday, September 14th was the New York City Marathon Tune-Up 18 mile Race!

 Runners entering Central Park and heading toward the Start gate.

 Coach Scott giving us instructions after warm-up.

 Runner's waiting for the start. 4,861 runners finished the race!

 Rock-star old lady group. These veterans were talking about their previous marathons and making brunch plans. Check-out the lime-green outfit with the bright orange hair!

 The course consists of 3 loops within Central Park. A very hilly course, this is a pic of the infamous Cat Hill. It is hard to see but that is a cat statue, which stands nearly at the top of the hill. 

 Managed to keep a slightly faster pace throughout!

Official race picture taken by the race photographers. I finally put my name on my singlet and it is incredible how motivating it is to hear people call your name. 

After the 18 miles, we enjoyed a lovely step-back week.

 Made it to another Wednesday practice! The team meets in front of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. 

Entrance to the park next to the Met.

 View of buildings from the Great Lawn.

 On the subway ride home, I caught my first glimpse of a subway driver in action! Here he is, throwing shade at some poor tourist trying to ask him directions. 

Creepy runner's legs I saw on the L train. Something just isn't right.

Starting to incorporate a Williamsburg Bridge run once a week. Time to get ready for all of the hills and bridges!

View of the Manhattan bridge.

Finished the month with a gorgeous 14 mile run along the waterfronts of NYC.

Lead-up to the Brooklyn Bridge.

 Freedom Tower view from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge.

 Pretty boat at water stop in lower Manhattan.

Surprise achievement!

Heading into the last month of training!

Nerd Facts - Runner's High

As I'm hitting higher and higher mileage, I've started noticing some trends in my post-long run behavior. For the first couple hours immediately following my run, I'm usually incredibly giddy and energetic (despite the fact that my muscles are feeling otherwise). I'm a giggly person already, so it can reach some pretty embarrassing levels. If you are ever having low self-esteem, feel free to offer to bring me some snacks and hang out after a long run. I promise you will leave feeling like you are the funniest person on the planet. Luckily, the only people to witness this on a regular basis are my teammates (who are sharing my experience), and Ryan, who just looks at me like I'm crazy (more than usual). 

So, what is this phenomena? The first suspect that came to mind was the oft discussed "runner's high." Merriam-Webster defines runner's high as, "a feeling of euphoria that is experienced by some individuals engaged in strenuous running and that is held to be associated with a release of endorphins by the brain."

Is there science to prove its existence? Apparently, the search for the runner's high was the holy grail quest for scientists during the last 25 years. While some thought the idea was total crap, others continued to do studies searching for the mythical creature.

From what I could find, among the believers, there have been two hypotheses for the runner's high: the endogenous opioid hypothesis and the cannabinoid hypothesis. The endogenous hypothesis is, in simplified terms, the Merriam-Webster definition. Endorphins, or endogenous opioids, are released after intense physical activity. Allegedly, these endorphins would attach to opioid receptors in the brain, the same receptors affected by opium and morphine. In turn, these receptors would release dopamine, that magical pleasure chemical and BAM, you've got runner's high. 

However, most of the science has debunked this hypothesis, since endorphins are too large to pass the blood-brain barrier (i.e the brain's awesome bouncer). If you can't get into the club, nobody be getting high! 

So, that brings us to the cannabinoid hypothesis. In 1990, scientists discovered the cannabinoid receptor, a brain receptor affected by THC in marijuana and other synthetic drugs. Since brain receptors do not develop out of nowhere, scientists discovered that the body actually produces a natural body chemical named anandamide ("bliss" in Sanskrit). Similar to THC, anandamide stops pain and produces wonderful sensations of relaxation. 

But, does the body release anandamide after strenuous exercise? Neuroscientist Arne Dietrich, Ph.d., also an avid marathoner, performed a study on a group of runners and bikers. He had their blood tested immediately after each person performed 40 minutes of biking or running at 76% of their max heart rate. The blood samples showed all participants as having higher levels of anandamide in their blood post-exercise, with the runners having the highest change in levels. Additionally, as Dietrich puts it in this article, "anandamide is a tiny little fatty acid that crosses the blood-brain barrier like nobody's business." While endorphins get stopped short, anandamide breezes into the club. 

Dr. David Reichlin, an anthropologist, also performed a study on anandamide. Interested in the evolutionary aspects of anandamide, he compared humans and dogs (historical runners) to ferrets (historical non-runners). He had the dogs and humans walk for 30 minutes while the ferrets rested for thirty minutes. Then, he had the the ferrets, humans and dogs run for 30 minutes at 70% of their max heart rate. The blood samples taken after both sessions showed that none of the participants had changes in anandamide levels after walking/resting. However, dogs and humans had increased levels after running, while ferrets showed no change. While the dogs and humans enjoyed a neurobiological pleasure from running, the ferrets received no pleasure. 

So yes, scientific evidence exists proving the occurrence of runner's high. My favorite part is that dogs experience runner's high as well! 

I'm also convinced that house cats definitely do not experience runner's high.

So, the moral of this post is that, instead of booking a trip to Colorado or Amsterdam, all of you should just join me for a 8+ mile run. Afterwards, we can eat nachos and brownies and giggle incessantly at some bad tv.

All of the fun, calories burned and none of the paranoia. 

Monthly Musings - Comfort Zones

Exercise and playing sports have been a large part of my life since childhood. I truly enjoy the adrenaline rush and the resulting flood of endorphins you get from intense physical activity. Blessed with pretty good coordination, I usually did fairly well at sports. 

I excelled the most at dance, but I could usually keep up enough in most team sports. Interestingly, most coaches/teachers usually saw a lot of potential in me. However, I had a bad habit of wanting to quit teams and activities once I started feeling the pressure to excel. The only times I actually continued on through the pressure were with Flamenco dancing and cheerleading. Even when the competition was tough and/or the internal politics demoralizing, I loved both activities so much that it was worth putting up with the stress. 

But, for the most part, I left a trail of disappointed coaches in my wake. 

I hadn't thought about those experiences in a while, since my physical activity after high school became solo workouts. Although my parents often joke about that time, my mother bemused and my father slightly frustrated, I hadn't personally reflected on my own motivations. Apparently, when I was on the swim team, my mom caught me trading my blue and red ribbons for pink and yellow ribbons. Instead of focusing on winning, I was more interested in making a rainbow. 

As a young gymnast, my coach wanted to move me up into the group of older girls. My parents, delighted at my potential, scratched their heads when I refused. I didn't want to leave my friends.  

One would think that I completely lacked a competitive spirit. But, if you know me, you know that definitely is not true. I may not be as competitive as most, but I am definitely very self-motivated and have a desire to excel. 

As you all know, I've been running with the slowest group at practice. 13:00/13:30 is an incredibly comfortable pace. I was in a groove with this pace, convinced that this would be my marathon pace. Then, during our 15 mile team run a few Saturdays ago, Coach Scott found me at mile 13. He asked me how I was doing and I responded with an enthusiastic, "great!" He told me that he was going to pace out my last couple miles and that I just needed to keep up with him. He picked up the pace slightly, then faster and faster. By the end, we were running at 8:40. As we slowed down, he told me very matter-of-fact that my marathon pace should be closer to 10:30/11:00 and that I should start running with the 10:00+ group for my next long run. And, just like that, I was right back to 6 years old, about to throw a tantrum because I didn't want to leave my friends. 

So, why do I react that way? Finally, the adult me can tackle this question. I will start with the positive reason. I like fun. I like easy breezy. Luckily, I've been fit enough to maintain my desired level of fun and still attain a decent level of ability. Here is a graph:

Whenever I pass the ideal intersection of fun and work, my interest starts to fade. However, I do believe that my threshold of fun regarding physical activity tends to be higher than the average. Some people I know have graphs that look like this:

Most adults quit sports or physical activity if they can't play at the level of their high school selves. Being okay with being mediocre actually keeps me exercising longer and more often. I may be slow as hell but I'm out there covering major mileage! 

Now that the positive reason is out of the way, let's discuss those negatives. "But, I don't want to leave my friends!" This one is utter bullshit dressed up as a Ms. Congeniality sash. First of all, my friends in my slow group don't need me. They were running before I caught up to the team, and they will continue on in my absence. Plus, it's not like I won't see them during warm-up and cool-down. Now, there is some legitimate fear mixed-up in this reaction. As an introvert, making new friends is stressful for me. 

Ryan and I joke that he brings in new friends and I keep them. But, my life experiences have proven this fear unfounded a thousand times over. I've attended 11 different schools in my life and lived in 10 different cities. Somehow, I managed to make new friends every time. And, it's not like they are asking me to join the 7:00 pace group, where everyone looks like this: 

By Tom Page from London, UK (IMG_2987  Uploaded by Kafuffle) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

So, why does increased pressure automatically equal zero fun? When phrased in that manner, I have trouble finding a good reason. I'm clearly not afraid to disappoint others, given my tendency to quit on them. I think the real answer here is that I'm afraid to disappoint myself. The outside pressure threatens to crumble my carefully built comfort zone where I always feel successful. I was knocking 13:30/13:00 long-runs out of the park! Now, an outsider has confirmed that my standards are too low and my little house of comfort has been destroyed. What an asshole.

But, that is the problem with standards and graphs. If you rely on them too much, they take on a life of their own. They hold us in little boxes, promising protection from disappointment and leaving us in arrested development. 

The only way to get out is to realize the truth. Those little boxes are figments of our own mind. We can control their shape, size and color. After a couple days of mourning the destruction of my comfort zone, I got up and ran 6 miles at an 11:30 pace. A few days after that, I ran 11 miles at an 11:40 pace. This past Saturday, I ran 16 miles at a 12:20 pace in the worst heat and humidity possible. It was all in my mind. Now I truly understand when runners talk about mind over body. 

Since my habit is to immediately start building a new house of comfort, I'm working on keeping my mind free. The only thing that should dictate my performance is my injury and my actual capabilities. That means my pace can change in either direction, and I should be okay when that happens. If you keep your mind open, you can't be disappointed AND you won't be limited. Also, I'm going to be open when my coaches tell me to run faster. Coach Scott once again made me basically sprint the last half mile of the 16, up a hill no less. During that miserable time, I just thought of different ways I could inflict the same pain on him. 

But in the end, he was right, I did have it in me. Thank goodness for coaches who push and motivate us when we can't do it ourselves.