Not Running the TC Marathon… And Really Happy About it
Author Archives: Kindeo
The Annual Idiot Run!
I complete this run once a year. I’m calling it the Annual Idiot Run. It’s that run where I think I’m a superhuman bad-ass, immune to the heat, humidity and sun that is summertime. This year’s run went a little something like this…
I woke up, realized I had over slept and woke up the husband. We picked up the boys from different sleepover locations from the night before, met back at our house and were off to the kids’ golf lesson. On the way we stopped at the gas station for some breakfast and I grabbed a protein bar and an iced coffee.
While the kids had their lesson, the hubs and I hit the driving range where we spent the hour mopping our foreheads and complaining about the heat.
After golf we went home and I realized I still needed to run. We had some other things going on later in the afternoon so I just figured I would quick change and head out while I had a chance.
Should I bring my phone? Nah, it’s just 5 miles. I’ll quick crank that out in about an hour and be back no problem.
Should I bring water? Nope, it’s just 5 miles. I’ll use the water fountains around the park. But I probably won’t even need that because… well, duh it’s only 5 miles.
Should I eat first? Totally not necessary. IT’S ONLY 5 MILES! I’ll be back in time for lunch.
So I sprayed on some sunscreen, grabbed my watch and my sunglasses and was off.
Mile 1 was warm but I powered through it just fine. The first mile is really just the sidewalk and bike path that leads into the park. Once I got there though, the park was just empty. This is a huge park is usually teaming with families and fitness enthusiasts, especially on a Saturday afternoon. But there was nobody there. It was at least 90 degrees and about 11:30 am, extremely humid. Seemed a little odd but I kept running.
Mile 2 was really just terrible. I was starting to feel every bit of the heat, wished I brought water. I kept running because I still had that tiny voice telling me, “It’s a little warm but who cares! You’re a superhuman bad-ass, remember!?” Grabbed a drink from a drinking fountain at about 2.5.
Mile 3 I realized I had made a terrible mistake and really wished I brought my phone. If I had, I would have called my husband to come get me. It was really just awful. I started to feel light headed and slowed down to run/walk intervals. If you can call them that… it was more like run when I could, walk when I had to.
Mile 4 I found another fountain and just made sure to get as much of it in me and on me as possible. It really wasn’t pretty. I just wanted to get out of the park as fast as I could. I tried to run whenever possible but down to mostly walking at this point. It was really scary to realize the park was seriously empty so if (at that point I really thought it was more like when) I passed out, there wouldn’t even be anyone around.
Mile 5 I just walked out of the park and back to my house. Went straight for the ice and water and just sat there feeling sorry for myself. I re-hydrated. I showered. I ate a giant plate of pasta for lunch. I took a 2 hour nap. I promised myself I would never ever ever take the heat lightly again. I’d follow all the rules from now on. Just like I did after last year’s idiot run.
Two good things came of the 2016 Annual Idiot Run.
1.) I realized I’m actually not a superhuman bad-ass who is immune to the heat and humidity. I learned my lesson. No more runs at noon when it’s 90+ degrees. Runs will now be very early or very late until sometime mid September. I will remember to take my phone and some water. I’ll hydrate before I go. I’ll carb up.
2.) I also realized I was not having fun out there. On that run I had a long time to think about running and the summer. I realized I was completely dreading training for another marathon. I just wasn’t looking forward to hours and hours away from my family. I wasn’t looking forward to feeling broken for three days after an 18 or 20 mile run. I was excited about the adventure of training for such an epic event when I was training for my first marathon. It seemed like an awesome thing to do. But I realized now that I know what it takes, and I’m just not in a hurry to do it again. I’ve been marathon training for almost 2 years now and I’m just tired of it.
No more idiot runs. No more 2016 marathon training.
There are other goals on the horizon for me though. I’m really excited about this new goal of mine, which is actually an old goal. I’ll be talking about it tomorrow on my YouTube channel. Stay tuned! 🙂
Are there Benefits to Lazy Running?
Getting over this most recent (and honestly very minor) injury, I went out for a 4 mile run this morning. I started off with what I thought was really good effort. When I run I mostly think about running. I watch my pace, I think about my posture, my foot strike, my balance, my cadence, my breathing etc. The entire workout is a constant physical and mental effort to produce the most quality run I possibly can.
But not today.
After 2 miles of constantly monitoring every breath and foot fall, I was honestly just so tired of it all.
I just wanted to run. So I did. I just ran.
I was appalled by my heavy feet and swinging arms but I just didn’t care. I just didn’t have the energy today. I bargained with myself that I would just let myself run however I wanted to just this one time, to relax and just make it home. I promised myself I would put in a better effort next time.
I paid attention to what happened next, but had given up on trying to control it. My light and skippy, forefoot strike transformed into a very solid mid-foot strike and I gained an exaggerated (for me) oblique twist. The last little bit of residual pain in my left leg completely dissolved. And I watched my Garmin in awe as my pace naturally and seemingly effortlessly went from a 13 minute mile to a 10:30 minute mile.
With only 2 miles of this, I’m not sure if I’m onto something or if it’s a total fluke. But I do know that it felt good. Really good.
Race Recap: Delaware Marathon
I finally did it. I ran my first marathon after 18 months of training, injury, recovery, and retraining. So happy to have survived this accomplishment. I will never forget it!
Here’s my video recap of the weekend and the race. 🙂
Marathon Countdown: 5 Days
So… I’m running a marathon in 5 days. But seriously folks, *I* am running a *marathon* in *5 days*! I’m freaking out. Like honestly seriously really really psyched up for this race. The good news is that this is following all the normal race feelings. I’m almost always cool as a cucumber until I get “the” email.
(Vlog from this past Sunday.)
“The” email is the one that has all the important stuff you need to run. It basically says this: You have to pick up your bib and swag, you need to park somewhere for that and you need to park somewhere on race day. You need to show up on time on race day. Remember to drink water so you don’t die. Here’s the giant course you have to run through and here are where we’ll give you said water so you don’t die. You have to finish by this time or else something not so cool will happen. You can store your stuff over here and your entourage can cheer for you over there. You can order pictures from said ordeal at this site. Etc., etc., etc.,
And so I read through this and all I can think is “oh crap”. I actually signed up for and trained for this giant thing and now I have to go do it. I talk myself out of the same tree every single time. Usually it’s just the first time at that distance and this is a big one.
The real bummer about this race is there is a very EASY out. After you run 13.1 miles you can take a simple turn, get your medal for the half marathon and call it a day. They’ll give you the appropriate time for the half and everything. All you have to do is stop running. Get your banana, take your pics! You can go home to air conditioning, naps, cupcakes, the works. Be done in half the time! That will be, by far the biggest challenge I am going to face on Sunday. I know that is going to be extremely tempting. Especially if it’s as warm as it’s going to be.
But I didn’t start this thing to run a half marathon. Been there, done that. This is my time, I’ve earned it, and I’m going to do this. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway. 🙂 If you have any other words of wisdom 5 days out of a big giant thing, please share. I could use it!
Marathon Countdown: 14 Days
Just two weeks from today I will run my first marathon. I’ve trained as well as I can up until this point and am just getting through the next couple weeks one day at a time. I’ve also started working on my dissertation for my Ph.D. this week which will make things a little more complicated. I’m going to focus on balancing adding the grad work back as the running continues to taper off.
As I’m writing this I realize I didn’t write about last week’s Hot Chocolate 15K at all! No PRs there but it was a fun day with friends and chocolate. Here are some pics from the event.
Also found a new bike path this week! Every time I think I’ve run every road I can get to from my house, this town surprises me. I really do feel lucky to live in such a run-friendly neighborhood.
Marathon Countdown: 23 Days
Training for my first marathon has surprised me in so many ways. This past week has just been a complete roller coaster of emotions. I’m starting to obsess over this race. I’ve planned for races before. I’ve looked forward to them, but I’ve never obsessed quite like this. I think I’m probably driving my family bonkers with my constant running chatter.
Last weekend I ran my first 22 miler. I ran it in the evening after traveling all day to get home from (an awesome!) visit with my little sister and her new baby in NC. It was just a really long way to run after an already full day. It took me over 4 and a half hours which just felt like a long time. I did feel very strong at the 16 mile mark which is usually my “yikes, this is really hard!” mileage.
At this point I have no doubt in my ability to run this race. I feel completely confident I can run it. Which feels pretty darn good!
But I don’t want to.
What!? I’m just really sick of running at this point. I don’t want to do it. I don’t like doing it. I want to do other things for exercise. I used to take lots of classes at the gym. I used to cycle. I used to jump rope. I used to do HIIT and tabata and kick boxing and weight lifting and paddle boarding.
And now I run. I run a lot (for me anyway). And I’m tired of it.
But marathons are hard right? There are supposed to be moments that aren’t super fun and rainbow sparkles with sunshine!
I think the problem may be that I’m doing a lot of running and not a lot of racing lately. I am so close to this thing I really want to see it through. I don’t want to be this close and say “yeah, I almost ran a marathon and then didn’t”. I’ve already been there and done that. So I need to figure this thing out and learn to like running again.
As it turns out, I actually do have a race tomorrow morning and I’m hoping that will jump start my love of running, racing and training again. Because I am going to run this marathon.
It would be nice if I didn’t hate the next 23 days of preparing for it. 🙂
Big Milestone – The 20 Miler!
So excited and relieved to have been able to run this distance today! Feeling more excited about and committed to my training than ever this week. No long blog post today but here is a short video recap of today’s marathon training run.
The Super Soggy Sixteen Miler
What’s fun about running 16 miles when the first five are through a cold rain? You might think not much but when we look for it, we can find the sunshine in just about anything. Even what I’m calling the Super Soggy Sixteen Miler.
Wet and rainy view from this Saturday’s long run.
I spent most of last week not allowing myself to recall past difficult 16 milers (see Race Recap: Zumbro 17 Mile Trail Race and Marathon Training is Hard). Or the fact that I’ve had issues spring up including “the injury” and now this pneumonia right around the 16 mile training run. It would have been very easy to allow myself to start thinking some really negative thoughts such as “I’m not meant to do this”, “the universe doesn’t want me to do this”, “my body’s not cut out to be a marathoner”, etc. Every time I would start to think those things I would purposely stop myself and remember that it’s just about a half marathon followed by a 5K. Piece of cake right?
The first few miles were cloudy with mist. Not lovely but not bad either. And then at about mile 3 the heavens opened up and the real rain came out until about mile 5. Two miles of rain is enough to get seriously wet. I felt like a swamp monster for the remaining 11 miles. But that was IT! That was really the only problem with this run. Just the sheer discomfort of running in wet clothes. No injuries, and I finished the planned distance. My feet were a little more raw than they might have been from the wet shoes but I’m hoping that will turn into better callouses. (A girl can dream right?)
On to 18 or 20 and beyond from here. It’s about to get fun. Trying to find new routes and ways to keep it interesting. Look out Delaware Marathon. I have 6 weeks. And I’m coming for you.
Race Recap: Rock n’ Roll New Orleans
It finally happened! I ran my first race after injury recovery. This was also the first race I’ve ever traveled to via plane. Here’s a breakdown of the weekend’s events and the race itself.
Friday
I took Friday off of work. I woke up and ran, dropped my husband Luan off at work, came back home, ran again (had to catch up on the Fitbit challenge!) to total 4 miles. Showered and finished packing. I’d had a sore throat for the past couple days and continued chugging airborne every chance I got. Tara got to my place right on time. We loaded her stuff into my car and went to pick up Luan so he could take us to the airport. Check in was a breeze (we used the super secret extra checkpoint with virtually no line for security clearance) and had a leisurely lunch before boarding our direct flight to New Orleans. Once there we checked in at our gorgeously historic hotel (so pretty, we lucked out!) and had lunch with some friends from one of our running groups online.
Our Hotel: Le Pavillon
Saturday
On Saturday we slept in a bit and had lunch at the Ruby Slipper.
The food was amazing! After breakfast we picked up tickets to the city bus tour and rode that to the race expo. After picking up our packets, gels, and a few other unnecessary items we got back on the bus. We were especially excited to visit one of New Orleans creepy cemeteries. At least I think they’re extra creepy since the dead are kept in tombs instead of underground. On our way we went to stop at a restaurant for lunch. Turns out it was only the 4th day this place was open and the service was extra slow. We wound up waiting an hour for salads before leaving with only mimosas in our tummies.
After touring the graveyard we got back on the tour bus and enjoyed a tour of the rest of the city before returning to our hotel. We had Mexican food for dinner at Juan’s Flying Burrito – yum! 
Sunday/Race Day
I didn’t sleep well the night before the race. Big mistake but what can you do? I was a giant bundle of nerves and just extremely excited for the race the next day. I was still nerves and anxious energy in the morning and didn’t have an appetite so breakfast was not what I was used to. My usual giant bowl of oatmeal or bagel was substituted by a cereal bar. We then went down to the start which was only a couple of blocks from our hotel. So completely convenient! I’m used to spending 30-45 minutes driving around trying to find parking and walking to the start so this was really amazing.
I’m not sure how many people ran but it was a very popular race. We were back in Corral 22 and waited maybe 45 minutes to an hour after the gun to start. As I was waiting it hit me. I was starving. Bummer. With only 3 gels I knew this was going to be a challenge.
Mile 1-3: I was just so happy to be racing! I kept an eye on my Garmin to make sure I wasn’t going out too fast. I new I wanted my pace those first few miles to be at about an 11:30 minute mile. By mile 3 my stomach couldn’t take it anymore and I popped the first gel which I wouldn’t usually use until mile 4.
Mile 4-8: The next few miles I just really did my best to keep my pace and not slow down too much. At this point I knew the lack of fuel was going to turn into a real problem sooner than later. My left foot also started to get numb around 5, which I was actually really freaked out about. Usually when that starts I can’t get it to go away but it was gone by mile 8 (small victories!). Wound up using the second gel at mile 7 (again, ahead of schedule).
Mile 9-11: Used the 3rd gel and just tried to hack it as best I could. They had a different kind of nutrition I’d never heard of before but I didn’t know if something new would be better or worse than nothing. The heat started to mess with me at this point a bit too.
Mile 11-13: I had been looking forward to these last few miles of the race and had hoped I’d be able to pick up the pace. I was just completely exhausted. Started taking a couple really short walk breaks here and there but just slowed overall.
Mile 13-13.1: I finished! I can’t explain how happy I was. I was tired, spent, starving, nauseous but no joints or ligaments or tendons were hurt and I was done. 🙂
Moments after finishing I started feeling really ill. All the cold/flu symptoms I had been fighting just hit me all at once like a ton of bricks. I took a few minutes to just sit and waited for Tara to finish. After the race we were both ready to call it a day and head back to the hotel for some serious R & R after the Rock ‘n Roll. A few hours of sleeping and cheesy movies later and we were ready to check out Bourbon Street.
Bourbon Street was (I think?) relatively peaceful on the evening we were there. It was Sunday night and there were people milling around with a party atmosphere but nothing ridiculous. This was my first time to New Orleans but my assumption is also that most of the crazy was probably going on a few weeks earlier during Mardi Gras.
And just as we were settling in for a quiet balcony dinner, there was a parade! A parade! On Sunday night! Totally random but we really enjoyed it. It almost felt like celebration for finishing the race. 🙂 And maybe it was.
Run to Race 