Run Streak Ended by Massive Rain Storm, 40-50 MPH Winds and Flooding

At least I have a good excuse. My 3 month, 5 day, running streak came to a halt this past Sunday due to the massive rain storms that brought 40 to 50 mile winds and 5 inches of rain to the Conejo Valley.

My plan was to run 16 miles in 2 hours, but when I awoke up to torrential downpours I decided I'd wait it out. I waited and waited and the storm got worse. We have a large trampoline in the backyard and the howling winds blew it across the yard. I thought we would love some trees but they managed to stay planted to the ground (but hundreds of other trees around town weren't so lucky).

Then I discovered that the rain gutters in the back side of the house were clogged. So in rain pouring down as hard as 2 inches per hour, I was out in my jeans (I lack proper wet weather clothes...native Southern Californian that I am), soaked, on a ladder. I had attempted to band-aid the rain gutter issue by placing the green waste bin under the area where water was falling down. But it was full within 40 minutes and immovable.

And there were the drains in the backyard. The rain came down so hard that every leaf and piece of bark in the yard was inserting itself into the downspouts, clogging them up. So I spent over an hours in a 2nd pair of jeans clearing the drains and sweeping the water towards the front of the house.

After a trip to Home Depot and a Pinewood Derby appearance, I was beat. My body was sore in new places on Monday. And after seeing and reading about how many trees were downed, running outdoors on Sunday would have been a treacherous experience. Guess I could have run at the gym...but I hate treadmills.

So while my run streak has come to an end, I'm actually feeling pretty good. I think I needed that day off, with or without epic rainstorms.

Hour and 45 Minutes, No Water, No Gels, But a Bit of Chafing

With nearly 18 years of running and 45,000 miles under my belt, you'd think I'd have learned from all my mistakes. But nope, from time to time, I subconsciously must seek some self-defeating behaviors. But it's all good!

Sportslick is a nice alternative to Vaseline to maintain chafe-free skin on long runs

           On Saturday morning I decided I should run for 1 hour, 45 minutes, or 15 minutes longer than my previous longest run of the year the previous Saturday. It was somewhat cool outside so I decided I would wing it and not bring any fluids or gels, like my typical 40 to 60 minute weekday run.

Usually on my longer runs, I have a pre-run routine, but since this was kind of an ad hoc decision, I hadn't given much mental thought. But I did do the basics....bandaids on the inner circles of my chest (a.k.a. nips) and for chafing and blister prevention, some Vaseline on the inner thighs, some on the toes and heel and the backs of my armpits. You know, anywhere.

With some light sunscreen and a hat on my head, I ran off, feeling perky. Felt good outside, this last day pre-Daylight Saving time.

About an hour into the run I started feeling very slight irriation on the left side of my upper leg, where the inner thigh meets the running short. The telltale sign that something was amiss. But I've run thousands upon thousands of miles with no significant chafing issues that I didn't worry too much, though something told me perhaps I didn't put enough lubrication down there.

Sure enough, it became a true annoyance over the next 15 minutes, to the point I had to decide, should I cut the run short by 15 minutes to minimize the what was now obvious chafing issue, or do I grin and bear it. I chose the latter. I'm no wimp.

And so I continued running on a path I knew would achieve my 1 hour, 45 minute goal. Adjusting my crotch every few minutes (drivers must have wondered what I was doing), I made it home. But I was fully dreading the shower. Ooch, ouch, ooch, ouch as the water drove the pain factor up.

But I survived. Two days of Neosporin and other topical creams later, I was pretty much o.k.

So bottom line, make sure you LUBRICATE ADEQUATELY for your long runs. Take it from me.

And one other thing. I wore a cotton t-shirt on this run. Fortunately it did not do too much chafing damage, but the bottom part of my back felt a bit irritated from the shirt.  I usually where a "technical" top (e.g. a shirt made out of a synthetic material). But once again, I was feeling foolish Saturday morning.

Lastly, even with the red welts on my inner thighs, I was able to run 3 miles on Monday morning and maintain my running streak. It is now March 15th and I've achieved 3 months straight of running. I'll be taking a day off soon though.

Got Me a Run Streak Going on Nearly 3 Months!

Of course now that I wrote this, my streak is bound to end. Which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Miraculously (knock on wood), I've survived all of 2011 so far with getting sick. My runner friends will be amazed by this because of my long string of medical malfunctions.

But even on an average of 6 hours' sleep, I've been able to stay healthy. So it dawned on me that I haven't taken a day completely off from running for a long time. Looking at my monstrous Excel running log, I've been running daily since 3 days after the Tucson Marathon, or December 15th.

I got me a running streak!  If I can keep this up until next Tuesday, I'll have a 3 month run streak! Yippee!!

The reality of it is that I'm not a big fan of running streaks because they aren't particularly healthy. It's nice to have goals and to be dedicated to running, or anything positive for that matter, but it is perfectly find and a good thing to take a day off now and then.

But...since running "gets me going" in the running and makes me feel good, if I'm not sick or injured, I go for a run. Mind you, some days I run more, some less. My average daily run so far in 2011 has been 5.9 miles. From time to time I'll run 2 to 3 easy miles as my "off" day.

Since I don't usually track running streaks, I'll have to look back in my running log to see what my longest running streak is over the last 17 years. For all I know I may be in the midst of it!

On that note, so far this year I have zero races under my belt and pretty much zero plans, other than I bought an entry into the Calabasas Classic 5K all the way in November (great race). My longest run of the year so far was this past Saturday, with roughly 14 miles. Time to start thinking about my plans...

Marathoning: It's All About the Mileage

Call me a purist, but for me and all of my competitive running friends, marathon training is ALL ABOUT THE MILEAGE!

As I've discovered over the last several years, you can't fool your body into running a fast marathon without doing the homework. Putting lots and lots of miles "in the bank" is the way to go.

Forget about speedwork. If you are stretched for time, get more miles in.

I started running in May 1993. I gradually built up my mileage and for the year 1996 through 1999 average 3,500 miles per year (yes, that is an average of 9.5 miles each and every day).

That was a LOT of work, but those were my best marathon years, when I ran a 2:37 in 1996, 2:35 Personal Best in 1997, 2:37 in 1998 and 2:36 in 1999.

Things kind of went downhill after my 2:35 because I didn't let my body recuperate long enough and injured myself doing speedwork and too many races. That led to groin pulls, hamstring ailments and other problems.

That was a long time ago and I'm a lot older now, not to mention tired, working a full-time job with a family and kids while I blab away about my training and other topics here on Conejo Valley Guide. But I'm just happy to be training, fit and healthy.

Last year's mileage for me was 2,092, slightly higher than my 2008/2009 total mileage. I've averaged roughly 2,000 miles per year over the last 3 years. That's quite a bit less than my peak mid-1990s mileage, but enough to enable me to run moderate marathon times in the low 3 hour range at my advanced age of 46.

I've been tracking my mileage on an Excel spreadsheet that has grown to over 6,500 rows since May 1993. It shows I've run 44,993 miles through December 2010. Maybe I do need to get an oil change or have my filter replaced at least!

I also track the number of minute run each day. As of 12/31/10, I had run 15,744 minutes in 2010, which equates to 262 hours. Damn, that's a lot of time! But worth it.