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!
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.
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. 🙂
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.
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.
I went through a period of feeling like I would never run again, never race again. I know that sounds melodramatic, but it’s where I was mentally. The ankle pain was ridiculous for weeks and when you’re in that mode it gets difficult to imagine doing the things you love again. But, now that my ankle is feeling stronger I’ve been more confident in registering for races and looking toward some pretty nifty new goals in 2016.
My yellow brick road. 🙂
I had thought that once I had finished 2015 I would have completed my first marathon. It didn’t happen and won’t at this point. I’m okay with that. However, I thought that I would have moved on to some other things. I wanted to start looking at multiple marathons in one year, a 50K, Ragnar Relay and I’ve been interested in triathlons for a few years now.
The 50K is not going to happen, so let’s just scratch that right now. Goals need to be realistic. I think 2 marathons in one years is a pretty good start as far as endurance running is concerned. I want to get those under my belt and then see how a longer distance feels after completing those.
My ruby slippers. 🙂
However, the rest of it seems… kinda feasible! Multiple marathons should be a go as long as I’m diligent in my recovery, pay attention to my body, and avoid injury at all cost now that I know injury is an actual thing that actually does happen if you’re not careful. My BRF is captaining a Ragnar Relay team that we’re organizing for August, and I’m looking into triathlons. By “looking into” I should have said “learning how to swim”. So stay tuned on that one. Adventures in not drowning soon to come!
So that is what is going on this week. Otherwise I’ve just been focusing on getting back into shape, losing a little weight and making sure I don’t forget to take care of this ankle and take it for granted.
So many updates! I finished and passed my very last Ph.D. course, we got the house on the market to move to another area of town, and I’m starting to ease back into running! Just a little running but it’s enough to keep me sane for now. 🙂
In even more exciting news, I’ve registered for another marathon. It’s an interesting experience, registering for your first marathon for the second time. The first time was filled with pure adrenaline and the excitement of “Wow I can’t believe I’m doing this! I’m going to run a marathon!”. The second time was more bitter sweet and hopeful. I really hope I can pull it off this time. I am also filled with an intense grit and determination to do this. Several people have asked me why I won’t just wait until the Twin Cities marathon in 2016. The answer is simple, I just can’t. I would rather train through sub zero temperatures, snow storms, slush and sleet that is Minnesota Winter instead of wait another whole year to have a chance to accomplish this. I only hope I’m not jinxing it by registering before I’m even fully recovered from this injury.
I picked the Delaware Marathon in Wilmington, DE. The reason I chose this race is simple – it’s a chance to return to where I grew up and see the city in a whole new light. I’ve learned that running through a city truly gives you a new perspective and I didn’t start running until years after I had moved away. My parents and grandparents live relatively close to there which will make it a fantastic family get-together as well. I had been looking at a few races but when I found this one, I had such a good feeling and knew it was the one. It’s a smaller race and I didn’t want to miss my chance so I registered. I registered for my first marathon, again.
I also just registered for a race in February (RNR Half Marathon – New Orleans)! I enjoyed the Rock and Roll Chicago so much and when I heard my BRF was running this one I just couldn’t pass up another girls weekend and fun race experience. 🙂
At this point I’m done with all races for 2015 and looking forward to complete recovery by the end of the year. I can’t wait to put my all into training for this awesome home town marathon. 🙂
After a short yet very painful run on Monday I realized this isn’t my marathon year. Letting go of something I’ve worked so hard for for 11 months is not easy. This injury has hurt in more ways than one. I spent a lot of time negotiating with myself and trying to find a way to just run it anyway without the training build up. After a lot of research and consulting with my coach I just don’t believe that is a healthy option for me at this point.
Once I realized that I was really out of the race, I had a week of what I will just call an adult (okay maybe not even that grown up) hissy fit. I wanted to run this marathon so badly. I had honestly been looking forward to this last month of difficult long runs more than the race itself and I never even got to run my longest distance in training. It sucks. Am I over it? Nope. But I’m definitely getting there. Here is a video recap of that decision, and a new (and probably smarter) plan for 2016.
News flash! Marathon training is hard! This week has been especially difficult because I haven’t done anything. One might think that a week off of running would feel good after so much running. Far from it. I have been loving the increase in mileage and miss it very much. I’ve had to take the week off due to an ankle injury. Specifically peroneal tendonitis. My friend Scott explains it well here:
In talking with my orthopedic surgeon, this happened from the combination of increasing my mileage and also changing my form. I had been a solid mid foot runner until late last November when I did some research, read some books and figured fore foot running was the new awesomesauce and so I need to do it. I completely changed my form and specifically my foot fall. This was okay for the first few months but now that I’m running higher mileage it’s impacting me in a negative way. So the new focus is now rehabbing this ankle injury, getting back into shoes that I know work (hello Asics!) and getting comfortable with my comfort zone which is the mid foot running again.
I honestly thought marathon training was going to be difficult due to just the sheer volume of extra miles and time on the road. I was not anticipating any injury (I’m lucky to be a pretty healthy person). I was also not anticipating the need to find this special combination of things that work. And there is a LOT of experimentation that goes in to this. Nutrition, shoes, hydration, socks, speed, form, the list goes on.
And, Summer is almost over. I decided I wanted to run this marathon last October. I’ve been working on and dreaming of this for a year. I still need to get this ankle functioning again, find the perfect combination of everything, and finish building up my mileage.
My new coach had a 13 mile run on my schedule yesterday. While I have run plenty of half marathons, this was my longest training/unsupported run yet. I left my house at about 7:00 am ready to start my run through the park that backs up to my neighborhood.
Let me take a moment to describe this park.
My park.
Bunker Hills Regional Park is filled with a maze of paved bike paths on undulating hills. I know these twisting bike paths better than I know the lines on my own palms. When I started running, I ran Bunker. I’ve run two 5Ks through Bunker. I’ve participated in running groups through Bunker. However, I prefer to run alone. And it is usually pretty quiet. Only a few other people pushing strollers, jogging or walking.
Much to my dismay, yesterday the park was packed with people! Lots of them! Everywhere! People riding bikes, people walking, people pushing strollers, people roller blading, people on skate boards, people sitting around, people running. Lots of other people running. I literally wanted to shout “GET OUT OF MY WAY! GET OUT OF MY PARK!”
But as I was heading out of the park (frustrated and sweaty) and on to the next leg of my run I wondered what were they all doing in there today?
And a thought occurred to me. I bet some of these people are just kids looking to have fun outside on their bikes, just like I was. I bet some of these mothers pushing strollers are just looking for some time out of the house and an opportunity to work off that baby weight just like I was. I bet some of these people are learning to run just like I did. And… I bet at least some of these people are training for the same damn marathon I am.
I knew I needed to check my mental game at that point and I did. There will not be a field of 1 starting this marathon, nor would I want there to be. Everyone has their own fitness journey they are working through, and yes some of those journeys happened to be through my park yesterday.
This morning I ran through Bunker again as usual for my scheduled 3 mile run. It was almost empty. Which actually made me a little sad. Come back everyone! I will share next time. I promise. 🙂
Run to Race 