The Chafing Dish

Well I'm back!  Back to the certifiable practice of torturing my body with excessive exercise.  It is a means to an end - I am doing this because it is a lifelong dream of mine to run the NYC Marathon.  I am feeling strong these days, which means my muscles are adapting to the training and my heart and circulatory system are up to the task.  The weak link in this whole training process is my skin.  Frankly, it is pissed.

Not a long run goes by where a new chafing area doesn't turn up.  Now when we think of chafing, we cringe a little bit because the "unmentionable" areas that are typically associated with the problem come to mind like the groin, upper thighs and even nipples (yikes).  My body is, shall we say "getting creative" with where it chafes.  The center of my back, the insides of my arms, my upper chest and even dead center in my lower back.

I always considered myself to have a tough skin, both figuratively and literally.  I may have overestimated the literal side of that.  My skin is seems is not so tough, but it's got an attitude, that's for sure.  It's the little things that set it off - my loose fitting dry-fit tank top or the cloth tag on my running shorts.  I guess, if I'm being fair, no matter how little a nuisance may seem it does get pretty freaking annoying after 3 hours of relentless assault.

Have you ever had chafing? The markings look worse than it feels, with one blazing exception....when you first step into the shower.  When the water first hits it, for a nanosecond, get a flash of the darkest side of Hell.  The anticipation of that flash can also do a number on your head - to the point where you seriously wonder if you really do need to shower after a 15 mile run (you do, by the way).  It is gone as quickly as it hits, but after that tense build up of the pain and the flash of pain you're left exhausted even more. Then if you listen closely you can almost hear your skin saying in the most sinister tone "why do you make me do this to you?"

So what's a girl to do?  Since giving up is not an option,  I'm going to power on through.  I've purchased 8 different kinds of gels, bars, creams to prevent it.  I'll dip myself in a vat of Vaseline before the race if that's what it takes.  I will finish this race in the greatest city in the world.  I <3 NY

Don't forget to donate to my fundraising drive for Team for Kids !  October 6th is the deadline!

https://www.runwithtfk.org/Donate/Member/6567

Pics from LI 1/2

Joe and I get our cheese on and pose for pics together.  God bless America.

Me nearing the finish line.  I was going for "determined" here, but am coming across as "damn angry."

Joe and I on the on-ramp to the Wantagh Pkwy.  

Playlists: Run Jaime Run

I have a few playlists for running, I'm mostly sick of them all, but this one entitled "Run Jaime Run" still proves to be the most reliable...


Ready to Run - Dixie Chicks:  Great way to start a run, think of the run as a good time and get going. 
Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet:  I feel like Matthew Sweet is flirting with me when I hear this song.  It's possible. 
Call Me When Your Sober - Evanescence: Sweet anger, a great motivator. 
Bad Reputation - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts:  Such a badass song and is insta-adrenaline for me. 
We Belong - Pat Benatar: If Joan Jett is the coffee, then Pat Benatar is the Kahlua.  Still packs a punch, but makes it a little sweeter going down. 
Friends - Band of Skulls: Love the opening guitar of this song.  Sounds like trouble is coming. 
Meet Me On The Equinox - Deathcab for Cutie:   This song helps me visualize the end of the run. 
Quiet Dog - Mos Def:  No bigger inspiration then hearing Nelson Mandela talk about his own focus and drive.  It puts things into perspective.  My running may not start a movement, but I should keep on moving.  And the beat is killer. Simmah down now...
Salvation - The Cranberries: Dolores and the boys talk about living a life that's good for you.   
Take it and Run - Dropkick Murphys:  One of my favs from this band!  It's all about taking control of your life.  
Five Minutes to Midnight - Boys Like Girls:  This song is fun, upbeat and all about just "going for it"  
Long Road to Ruin - Foo Fighters:  Great driving tune, keeps the legs the moving. 
Mother - Danzig:  This song comes in handy when I need to dig a little to find some motivation (See "Home Run").  I don't really know what Glenn Danzig is talking about, but his angry voice helps me feel angry too and I forget about any walls in my way.
Perfect Games - The Broken West:  itunes once suggested this song to me and it was love at first listen.  This song serves as the calming salve to "Mother", when its over I am once again balanced. 
Run - Vampire Weekend:  VW is my obsession of 2009 that has not gone away.  Since this title is "Run" it pretty much had a seat at the table the minute I named the playlist. 
Everlong - Foo Fighters:  The tune is awesome and always keeps me moving.  It also gets me day dreaming of Dave Grohl.  "Got to promise not to stop when I say when."  OK Dave, anything for you.  (swoon)

Home Run

Two weeks ago I ran the LI 1/2 Marathon.  A hometown run that had all the comforts of home.  I ran with my brother Joe and my friends so we had the benefit of having multiple crowds cheering at different mile markers to keep us motivated.  It was fantastic.  Liz, the Sainatos, the Buccios, Mom, the Karma girls all kept me going strong.

Just getting to the race was hilarious, though it didn't seem that way at the time.  I stayed at my brother and sister-in-law's the night before.  We were running late and got stuck in traffic on the off-ramp of the Meadowbrook.  The clock read 7:32, start time was 8:00 and neither of us had a clear idea on where exactly the start line WAS.  I started melting down, but Joe took charge and then took his car off-road.  He pulled out onto the grass, mowed down a field of dandelions and slid into the front of the line.  We pulled into the first parking lot we saw and double-timed it to the starting line.  We didn't know exactly where we were going, but we followed the other tagged people and made it to the start line at 7:49.  I like to call that run a "Panic Warm-up."  It really gets the blood going.   We checked our bags, found my friends and even managed to get a little stretching in before the starting gun.

The run itself was hard because it was HOT.  89 degrees and about 163% humidity.   I guess all my training in the cold, wind, rain prepared me well.  Gina, Joe, Adrienne and I ran together for the first 2 miles.  It was overcast and early enough that the heat wasn't too bad.  We were pacing about 10:41 miles, which is fast for me but it felt good.  Gina broke off and ran ahead and then so did Adrienne.   Then it was just the Costellos.  Shortly after Joe and I started to feel the effects of the heat and lack of enough hydration.

I hit my wall early…at mile 4, which had me very worried.  I started taking two cups of water at each station and conceded to walking through them so I could actually drink the water instead of tossing it up my nose. I Gu'd up (vanilla bean, the least gross of the energy packs) and started to feel a second wind.  About an hour or so in, I needed to take a walk break and Joe needed to take a, uh, nature break.   He peeled off and I got out my ipod,  put in my ear buds and selected the playlist "run jaime run." I started doing a light jog and that's when we ran into Pam, a good friend I grew up across the street from.  We chatted for a bit and Joe caught up with us a few minutes later.  Heritage Court in the house.

We saw our first cheerers around mile 6....first Liz and then the Sainatos and Ellises.  I was amazed at what seeing their faces and hearing my name being called did for my energy level.

The run down Jericho was the hardest for me.  It seemed to go on FOREVER. The sun had come out in full force blaring down relentlessly and I could feel the radiant heat from the concrete underneath me.   There were also almost no people cheering, except for one priest.  Joe and I kept looking back at one another saying "we're going to do this.” Half to ourselves, half to each other.  

At the end of Jericho, we saw the Buccios and Sturianos to the left.  To our right was our mom, camera in hand and cheering us on. Proud as mother can be.  I paused for a kiss. Thanks Mom!

The next seemingly endless stretch was the Wantaugh parkway.   Sun was out in full force, all blue sky and no wind, no hope for shade and a HOT blacktop.  I Gu’d up again (pomegranate flavor this time, blech), put on Danzig’s “Mother”, dug deep and fixed my eyes on the ahead searching for the offramp.

Mile 11 we came across the Karma Krew.  I saw them first “Sistas!” I shouted and the sistas, Ali, Kim, Debbers, Kat and Alison all cheered back “Coz!!”  I was reborn.  Joe on the other hand was losing a little steam. My running mate for 11 miles gave me the go ahead to go ahead.  So on I went.

I caught up with Gina and we ran together for a little while.  We separated once we re-entered Eisenhower Park.   I upped my tempo and headed towards the finish line.  On the last turn I hear “Jaime!” coming from the bleachers.  It was Mrs. Sainato cheering.  It was the perfect last boost I needed to charge to the finish. 

Crossing the finish line was AWESOME.  It felt so good, to (A) be done and (B) have actually done it!  It was a great race.  I finished in 2:31:42.  That time would have been far worse without the love and support of all our cheerers.  Big thank you to all of you.  Also, big thanks to Joe for running this race with me, the girls for keeping me sane throughout training and Michele for hosting a wonderful after-party. 

Home sweet home. 

 

Trainin' 'n Travelin'

I the past 3 weeks I’ve been bouncing around for work and pleasure.  Now with training as a part of my life, I have a good sense of how a pet owner feels when they are planning a trip away from home.   How am I going to make sure that this training is taken care of?  You can't just hire a sitter for your trainer, you have to take it with you.  I was a surprisingly reluctant at first, but then came to my senses and realized I didn't want to flush 12 weeks of training down the toity.  So I loaded in the running gear (including my dork-cred fuel belt) on my first trip of the training season....Los Angeles.

LA:

In LA Wednesday-Saturday.  I knew I had to get my long run in on the West Coast that Saturday morning.  This actually took a degree of sacrifice in relation to Friday night.  It's a rare occasion to have all your most fun co-workers and clients in LA on a weekend night with no early call times the next day.  Lounging poolside sipping cocktails in the evening at the Viceroy, a cool ocean breeze, great company, light buzz after a lot of hard work and magical shoot days... a tough act to walk away from.  But after two wines, I mustered the will power, said my goodbyes and headed back to my room.   Saturday early morning I suited up and made my way to the ocean.  

I originally started running with my headphones, but it occurred to me that I was missing the chance to overhear local chatter amongst other runners and the crazy murmurings from the colorful characters along Venice beach - all set to the sounds of the Pacific in the background.   Way better than music (and frankly, I am so tired of my running mixes).   

I ran from Santa Monica past Venice and into Marina Del Rey.  About 3/4 through Venice, the running path ends. I decided to run along the beach vs. navigate the back roads.  I regretted this decision almost immediately, but continued to run along the shore for 10 more minutes.  Stupid pride.

I made it to Marina Del Rey and started my way back.  I decided to take a little detour and  run along Venice Pier, where I got to see a cool dynamic cross-section of California types.  The fishermen, the roller bladers, the casual hollywood-type on his cell, the hottie with the cute dog... The highlight was witnessing close up a surfer tossing his board and jumping off the very high pier.  It was rad.

I finished the 2 hour run feeling strong but ready for an ice bath.  Psyched that I had the luxury of room service still, I went back to my room and ordered 4 buckets of ice.  They didn't understand at first, but after some explaining and a good amount of waiting, I got my nice ice.

Costa Rica:
Running in Central America where you are 10 degrees from the equator requires a different kind of strategy.   First off there's the heat.  Opening up your door each morning you are greeted with a wall of humidity that insta-thaws you from the AC chills and will have you sweating in seconds.  It's like walking into a steaming bowl of pea soup.  Not ideal for the girl who has been running in the NE Winter and Spring weather for 3 months.  Then there's the safety factor.  My friend Irene shared a cautionary tale about a friend of a friend who went to Tamarindo on vacation.  He went for a walk on the beach alone one night  and wound up disappearing.  He's still not found, we saw his "missing" poster at the bank.  (shudder).   So when I say I needed a "strategy," I really meant "indoor gym."

I found a gym in Tamarindo, rather THE gym.  I paid my 2,500 colones ($5) and hopped to it.  Buttons in Spanish, distance in km....I made do.  My second visit was after a very late night out and many days of surfing.  So I was hungover, dehydrated, wounded and bruised.   I eaked out a 35 minute run and then stood in front of the fan behind the front desk for 10 minutes in a sad attempt to cool down.  A cold shower didn't even help.  What did help was a catamaran cruise and some margaritas.  I'm looking for ways to integrate this cool-down strategy into all my runs.

The fact of the matter is 5 days of surfing is plenty of physical activity. I'm glad I ran, but I probably didn't have to.  On the positive side, you get to read this post and I got to meet some ex-pats at the gym, no natives.  The natives of Costa Rica don't need gyms, they live la pura vida, which seems to keep them naturally tan and fit.

LI 1/2 is this weekend, but I still have a few more trips to take before the San Diego 1/2.  Florida, LA (again) and Fire Island....I will be packing my training (and my fuel belt) every time. 

M.C. Escher

There are hills that go up and hills that go down.  Today's run felt like I was only going uphill, like I was running in an M.C. Escher painting.

Silly, Ridiculous and Obscene

The Silly:   I feel pretty foolish wearing a fuel belt, even sillier throwing down $35 for one.   Fuel belts are elastic waist bands with 4 little 8 oz. water bottles all around and a couple of pockets.  It resembles a military-issue grenade belt except it's not camouflage and you're not wearing it in combat.   Functionally, it's heart is in the right place.  Staying hydrated during a 2 hour run is important...but it is far and away the dorkiest thing I own.  It's the runner's equivalent to a pocket protector.

The Ridiculous:  "Recovery runs"  There is a logical reason for scheduling a 5 mile run the day after a 2 hour run, but it's not help you recover.  It's a misnomer that misleadingly triggers visions of spas or tranquility fountains. These are not the images that I conjured when actually on these runs nor did I really feel recovered after them.  I will continue to do these "Recovery Runs", but they would be more aptly named "Ridiculous Runs."

Runner up for "The Ridiculous" was ice baths.  Not because willingly putting yourself in a bathtub with ice is ridiculous, but because 2 bags of ice in NYC will cost you $8.  That's ridiculous.

The Obscene:   The blister on my pinky toe or rather my blister that used to be my pinky toe. Gross.

BTW - Recommitment is today. Despite the Silly, Ridiculous and Obscene,  I'm 100% in!  Let's keep the fundraising going!

  http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/rnr10/jcostelryq