My list of upcoming races has been slowly dwindling as the season is in its final month for Minnesota. The Square Lake Short Course is on September 12th and then the TC 10 Mile is on October 4th. I’ll spend the next three weeks training for both races and then concentrate on the 10 Mile. I’ve been thinking about what goals I have for these last two races.

The Short Course race is longer than a regular Sprint but shorter than the Olympic distance. It will be a .5 mile swim, 18 mile bike, and a 5 mile run. My understanding is that the bike and run courses are very, very hilly. Hey, at least the swim course is flat! Ha… ha… Hills and I are not the best of friends. Gentle, long upward slopes and I are good buddies, but steep hills are my enemy. I’ve never done a hill workout before, but I think it’s time that I put some on the schedule. A 5 mile run after a hilly bike ride will be a real challenge for me. My training for Square Lake will focus on the run. Even if my time is slow, I want to run the whole way and conquer the hills.

Luckily for me, I understand the the TC 10 Mile course is also very hilly (note sarcasm). My Square Lake run training will fit nicely into my training for this next race. In addition to running, I’ll be continuing to address some physical issues I’ve been having. Since the 14 mile charity run I did at the beginning of August, I’ve been struggling with hamstring tendinitis in both legs. I mentioned that people were asking if I was limping or hurt, so I decided it was time for some medical intervention. I got my hamstrings worked on, did some ART (Active Release Technique) Therapy, and I’m doing exercises to strengthen the hamstrings. It’s all working and they are feeling better, but my pace is consistently 30 seconds a mile slower than it really should be. My goal for the TC 10 Mile right now is to forget about pace and get the training miles and exercises done. If I can make it to race day injury free and run the race without pain, that will be a success. I love running in the fall and winter, so I want to be healthy when the race is over so I can enjoy the cooler temps.

So I guess I have a lot of hills in my future. I’ll do my first hill workout this weekend. I’m a little nervous about it, but it will be fun to try something new. I was nervous for my first track workout and it turns out I like track workouts. Unfortunately, I’m not optimistic!

Today was my last double-digit mileage run before the Fargo Marathon. I was a little nervous about it because last week I had a mini-anxiety attack prior to and during my 20 mile run and it didn’t go so well. I had pretty much decided that the panicky feeling was due to drinking some caffeine before my run, but I still had some lingering doubts. I tend to be the anxious type, so maybe I was truly having some mental problems. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if I had just psyched myself out.

Since last week’s run, I’ve been trying to stay away from caffeine. I’ve also been thinking about a book I read and wrote about here on my blog, Mind Gym written by Gary Mack. Gary is a sports psychologist and gives a lot of helpful advice. He talks extensively about self talk and how it effects performance. Gary says that research shows that if a batter tells himself, “Don’t miss the ball,” that his brain just registers “miss the ball” and he is statistically more likely to miss. If he tells himself something positive, like “swing strong,” he is much more likely to get a hit. I’ve been thinking about my self talk and how I may be sabotaging myself.

One of my goals this training season has been to have more fun and not be so results oriented since, quite frankly, my results are kind of crappy anyway. As a result, I find myself thinking things like, “It’s okay if you walk” and “Just try to make the distance.” By lowering expectations, I figure that I’m removing any performance pressure and will hopefully feel less stressed. Of course, I also say things to myself like, “I think my heart is going to explode,” and “This sucks.” I’m guessing that this is also not helpful.

This morning I stayed away from the caffeine and the carbonated drinks and went to my favorite summertime trail, Baker Park. I had 12 miles to run and Baker is a 6.2 mile loop which was perfect. I dropped a cooler around mile 3 and put one at the start. It was a beautiful day even though it was windy. Since Fargo is likely to be windy, I figured it would be good practice.

Even before I started, I felt better than last week. I felt calmer and more focused. I tried to think to myself positive thoughts, like “feeling strong” and “enjoy the day.” I actually did feel more relaxed and was able to get in a groove within the first few miles. I always think that after running 20 miles, that a shorter distance like 12 miles will seem short and easy, but it never does to me. I envy people that can crank out that kind of mileage easily. It was still hard for me, but I never felt panicked and overwhelmed. My heart rate stayed at a reasonable level and my legs felt strong the whole run.

Today’s lesson for me: no caffeine, lots of positive self talk. Pretty soon I’ll be the running version of Stuart Smalley… I’m good strong enough, I’m smart fast enough, and doggone it, people like me!

It looks like it might rain here on Thursday, my usual long run day. The thought of worrying about the weather for the next three days was too much for me, so I decided to get it out of the way today. It was really cold, 5 degrees, but sunny and not very windy. I loaded up my cooler and headed out to my home course for 16 miles. Each lap around my house is two miles, so I had 8 laps to crank out.

Sometimes when I think about my long runs, I have to fool myself into thinking that it’s really not that far. I just tell myself that it’s only a mile or two longer than last week’s run, so what’s the big deal? Turns out, 16 miles is really far. I’ve trained for two marathons before, so it’s not like I haven’t run that far before. I felt just the usual level of crappiness for the first 14 miles, but the last two miles were hard. I’m pretty sore and my heel is reminding me that the PF is still an issue.

All of that wouldn’t be so bad if my stomach was not still rebelling 9 hours after I finished. I changed from regular GU to GU Roctane for this run. It’s the same as regular GU but with an amino acid added to it. I have no idea if this is why I am feeling so terrible, but I definitely need to get it figured out in the next couple of weeks. Anybody have issues with Roctane? It could be that I washed it down with G2 instead of water. I’ve heard of people having issues combining gels and Gatorade. I thought I would be okay with G2 since it has less carbs, but maybe not. I’m just glad I finished my run before the “trouble” started.

Tomorrow I’m running with a friend for 5 miles. Hopefully a good night sleep will settle whatever it is that is bothering me. It is supposed to warm up here over the next week. Maybe today was my last run in single digits. That would be wonderful!!