Saying Sayonara to Summer and Aloha to Autumn

With summer heading out and fall heading our way, I know a lot of my fellow walkers are thrilled to get all the benefits of autumn training and racing. Cool temperatures! The smell of falling leaves! Hidden slugs everywhere! What's not to love? Answer: nothing. But lest you think summer was just a ball-broiling waste of your time, consider the following:

1) Nothing gets a person conditioned like training in heat and humidity. Nothing. If you've kept up with your training all summer long, right now you are basically a MACHINE. Once the moisture leaves the air, you will practically find a whole other gear. My running husband says fall is when you capitalize on your summer training. He is correct. You have spent the summer paying your dues and now they will be repaid with interest.

2) Your refuel strategy is probably amazing. In the heat, you have to hydrate. In the cool weather, you will be USED to hydrating a lot, and therefore you will have a massive advantage in any distance events or workouts you do. Don't slack on your water intake because the weather is colder. You still need it.

3) Hello to the falling leaves! So beautiful! So slippery. Be careful on those leaves, especially when they're wet. Also, fallen walnuts and such will really ruin your day if you aren't looking out for them. They call it "fall" because a lot of crap is falling all over the place. Break yo'self.

4) Bust out the cold-weather gear! But be hesitant to overdress. Remember, if you are working hard you can wear shorts and a tank top even in 40-degree weather. But you don't want your extremities to freeze, right? Strike this delicate balance with accessories. A headband and light gloves (or arm warmers) might be all you need, and they are easily removed and carried if you get too warm. Also, don't bring a jacket if you will only need it for a mile. Do you really want to tie that around your waist and Sherpa it home like a menstrual woman in a Mentos commercial? No. No, you do not.

5) Fall races! They are everywhere! Look some up. Train for something. Take advantage of the gorgeous weather and set a new PR. Keep your momentum going into the winter. On that note...

6) Make a plan for winter. Make your plan NOW. A lot of people let themselves get out of shape in the winter, only to have to "get it back" in the spring for their next race season. Do not become a statistic. Do not gain winter weight. Stay in shape. HAVE A PLAN. Write the plan down. Make it your mission to get in even better shape through the holidays. It is easier to stay in shape than to get in shape. Remember this and plan for it!

Enjoy a beautiful autumn of walking!

Race Recap: Fox Cities Half Marathon

Fox Cities Half Marathon Race Report

When: Sunday, September 18, 2016

Where: Appleton, WI

Weather: 60s and sunny

Division: Competitive Walk, with age group awards

I was really looking forward to this one, because it is the first time I’ve done a race that had a proper walking division with three awards per age group (the age groups span 10 years each instead of 5 in the open division). My goal was to walk around 2:50 (13-minute miles) and place in my age group, preferably to win my age group. The weather was fairly nice, although I could have gone about 10-20 degrees cooler at the start. Still saw tons of people dressed in multiple layers.

Gun went off and the first 2 miles were into the rising sun. Very blinding! I missed the first mile marker. We turned north right before mile 2 and I saw that I was at exactly a 13-minute mile. Kind of disappointing because there was no room to slow down, but it’s tough at the start of a race. Competitive Walk starts 5 minutes after the Open Division, so I had to walk around a lot of slow runners and run/walkers in the early miles. Many of them like to walk in packs, which is frustrating to circumnavigate.

At around the 4-mile mark I heard a woman behind my right shoulder “whisper” to her friend, “let’s hurry up and pass these WALKERS.” As she and her friend jogged ahead, I yelled to her “STAY ahead of me, then!” Besides that one awful woman, I didn’t get any disrespect as a walker in this race. I think most of the people who were in the back of the pack in the Open division had a normal level of humility and grace, and they were pleasant race companions.

Near the 5-mile mark, we had to cross a major road, and there were cops directing traffic. Unfortunately, one cop kept letting people in cars go past and made the racers stop. We had to wait until this cop decided to stop letting cars go through, and a bunch of us were pissed. We had momentum going and he was ruining it. Finally after about 20 seconds at a dead stop, we were able to go again. This is not acceptable and I hope it doesn’t happen again in the future. Future Cops: stop the cars, not the race. They knew about the street closures beforehand and they could have gone a different way.

At about 6 miles I was on track to finish in under 2:50, but I was starting to fatigue. It was fairly hot by this point (upper 60s) and not as breezy as I’m used to in my windy hometown. It was also an extremely flat course. I have written in my blog about training for specific race conditions, but I had been doing my long workouts in fairly hilly conditions, and as a result my glutes and quads were on fleek. My hip flexors, however, were dying in this race, and I could feel it. I had no idea this course was so flat. There was no elevation chart on the website. My bad. It was flatter than the Chicago Marathon. It was flatter than Disneyworld! There were maybe two or three tiny slopes the entire time. Yeah, my hip flexors were struggling by mile 10. Lesson learned: do more flats in training.

The last three miles were extremely scenic. At two points we crossed long pedestrian bridges over a picturesque lake and through lovely parks. Then around mile 11.5 we entered a brief industrial slum, which made me laugh, because literally EVERY race takes you through a brief industrial slum, and it’s usually near the end. It was very brief, though, less than half a mile, and we ended up in downtown Neenah. The fire department had a sprinkler out front which I enjoyed. All the volunteers and spectators were great this entire race, actually. Every water stop had water and Gatorade, and several had oranges, bananas, and Gu. It helps that the half marathon course runs concurrent with the marathon course for the first two miles, then the last 9 miles. All the “last 9 miles of a marathon” refueling perks were available to us halfers!

The finish chute was lined with people, none of whom were cheering at all. That was a bit odd, but I’m used to it. People don’t really cheer much for walkers in general. They did stare at me as I walked on through, though. Crossed the line about 2 minutes slower than I’d planned, but considering the flat and warm conditions I wasn’t surprised. Got my finisher medal and finisher shirt, a few bites of food, and stretched out while my family found me.

I went to the results tent to see what the verdict was. And I won my age group! By 12 minutes! I suppose other folks had issues, too. The awards will be mailed out in a few weeks, so I didn’t have to stick around for a ceremony.

Race Pros:

Walking division with age group awards. This is rare.

Great water stops.

Good weather for an early-fall race.

Everything ran on time.

Indoor areas to hang out in pre-race, including real bathrooms.

Flat course. (Most people love it.)

Race Cons:

Flat course. (A bit TOO flat for me.)

Post-race food was limited a bit, especially for being the end of a full marathon as well. I got a quarter of a bagel, only to find that it was GARLIC flavored. Whoever thought garlic bagels were a good choice for nauseous runners post-race has never done a race before.

Point-to-point course. This is not my favorite, sorry folks. I prefer a loop. I don't like having to take shuttles around to get my car afterward (or a shuttle beforehand to leave my car at the finish). Fortunately my fast husband finished over an hour before me, so he got the car solo.

Confusing organization. Don’t get me wrong, this race was very organized, it just came across a bit poorly in certain respects. Like, if you wanted to find the bag check area pre-race, you better have a map of the start area, because it is not intuitive and there are no signs. Also the expo/packet pickup was a bit of a cluster. There were two different areas you HAD to visit to get all your pre-race stuff, and they were on opposite ends of a labyrinthine building.

Overall, I will give this race a solid A-. The flat course and garlic bagel took it down a tiny bit, but the fact that there is a walking division is a huge plus.

Choo-Choo-Choosing Your Route

There are a lot of things to consider when you are choosing a walking route. Some of these things, ironically, you may not have considered so far. Here's a breakdown.

How far are you walking? (I mean, duh.) But what I mean is, is this a new distance for you? Are you nervous about going farther than you've gone before? If you are feeling a bit uneasy about your ability to finish, there are two ways to handle it. If you want to give yourself an out (due to injury, fatigue, whatever), consider doing multiple loops near your residence, or do a snake-style up and down side streets near your residence. That will give you opportunities to abort mission safely. If you want to push yourself and require completion of the entire distance, perhaps an out-and-back would be best. Once you get, say, 4 miles away, you will HAVE to come 4 miles back.

How's the weather? Generally speaking, you will want to be protected from the elements. Sun and wind are the "silent killers," and buildings and trees will provide more shade and wind blocking than wide open prairies and such. It is also wise to avoid lots of concrete in the heat, since it will make your path much hotter than it usually would be. Forests can also offer some protection from rain, if you're into that sort of thing, but I'd just wear a hat.

How are the road/trail conditions? In the winter, if you are in a snowy or icy area, you will want to take trails and pathways that are plowed/shoveled and salted or sanded to avoid slipping. If there is a trail that gets muddy or flooded and there has been a lot of rain recently, avoid that trail.

How safe is it? You will want to consider both safety from injury (avoid trails and sidewalks that are potholed, uneven, and neglected) and safety from crime. Avoid paths that take you too far from civilization for too long, because that may leave you vulnerable to any number of threats (such as wild animals and your own body collapsing and nobody around to call for help). Avoid areas that are dangerous or unsafe, rape and assault-wise. On that final note, ALWAYS LOOK ALERT when you are walking. Even if you feel like death, don't let it show on your face or in your body language. Avoid being a victim by avoiding looking like an easy target.

How hilly is it? Contrary to popular belief, flatter is not always better. If you are training for a race, try to find long-walk routes that are similar to your race course. If you are training for a marathon with a hilly first half, do your long workouts on a route with a hilly first half. If you are training for a pancake-flat half marathon, do your long workouts on pancake-flat trails. You want to get your muscles used to whatever terrain they will need to be used to. On the other hand, you should try to walk each week on a different style of terrain at least once, just to keep in good general walking shape.

Where do you like to walk? Urban vs rural. Forests vs lakes. Recreation trails vs sidewalks. There are a ton of options and every person is different. If you choose routes that you think are scenic and lovely, you will enjoy your workouts more. My six-mile short workout takes me past a golf course where I am motivated by occasionally finding golf balls. I've collected 8 of them so far. Whatever keeps you going, gang.

Are there any obvious issues with your route? You may not notice this until you try it, but various things like trains, unleashed dogs, farmer's markets, scary hobos, creepy people, cigarette smokers, and any number of things that may be along your route all the time can be avoided. Some of these things are one-time events, but some of these things may be a regular occurrence.

There are a couple of good mapping tools that I enjoy using:

USATF Map It - this lets you click out a course wherever on the map you want. It is my personal favorite mapping tool because it lets to create "shortcuts" (say, you can cross a grassy strip, or something) and it has mile splits that automatically show up.

On The Go Map - this is a very accurate mapper and will automatically fill in the gaps between your waypoints. Unfortunately, it does not allow for shortcuts, since it must stay on the street or recreation trail. This can also lead to occasional baffling moments when creating your route. If your route is very simple, though, this can be a great tool. No mile splits, sadly.

Once you find your favorite routes, it will be easy to feel motivated to get out there! Choose wisely!

An Ode to Petroleum Jelly

There are a few anti-friction agents out there for runners and walkers. Body Glide, which is essentially a glorified deodorant stick. Talcum powder, which is quite a mess. But, my friends, one lubricant stands alone as the best multipurpose tool you can get for the cheapest price.

Petroleum jelly.

AKA Vaseline. Good, old fashioned Vaseline. It comes in a giant tub for a few bucks and will last you YEARS.

I always had issues with blisters...until Vaseline. I started using a Q-tip to apply Vaseline to my foot's "problem areas," basically anywhere that caused me any problems at any time. My little toe tends to get a huge blister, so...Vaseline. The tips of my toes around the nails can bleed on occasion. Smear 'em with Vaseline. A couple spots on the bottom of my foot that can rub excessively - you guessed it! Vaseline!

Let me tell ya, friends. I haven't had a show-stopping blister in MONTHS. And I did 16 miles this morning.

As a bonus, Vaseline is also fantastic for chafing. If you have areas that rub together, smear Vaseline on 'em! I constantly deal with underarm chafing, so before I go out I now put Vaseline in my armpits. I still get a bit of chafing (hard to avoid when you're going really far), but it's infinitely more manageable.

Put it on your shopping list. Put it on your pre-race packing list. Put it on your damn Christmas list! Petroleum jelly is something you NEED!