Walking is not giving up

This weekend I decided I wanted to get in one more long (using that word loosely here) run before the Rock N' Roll Denver Half Marathon this weekend. Being lazy and not wanting to experience the disasterous trying to run the Res (oh right the marathon is going on), that's ok I'll run from Roger's Grove (closed through October)-again (still ran 12 miles), Josh and I set out to do a few loops around the neighborhood.

Now I have not been training for this race.  I honestly haven't looked at the awesome training plan I created for myself in at least two months. Yeah I've been bad. But you know what? Life happens. Stuff comes up, plans change and it's not always possible to get in all your runs. With all of this going on I decided that I wanted to test out run/walking. Now I haven't purposely run/walked a race ever. Ok well I did walk when taking gels in Seattle and mid-race decided to run/walk Nashville (only because of the horrid conditions) but I hate walking during a race. It's always hard to motivate myself to start running again. Plus it's only 13 miles. I know I can run it without stopping, but at what speed this time?

So the test began. I set my Garmin to alarm every 11 minutes. That way I'd run for 11 the first time, walk for one minute then run for ten and so on.  Josh broke off and headed home after the first lap but I continued on.  Here are my stats:

Time: 1 hour 25 minutes    Distance: 9 miles    Avg. Pace: 9:29 min/miles

Pretty impressive pace for taking walk breaks isn't it? Now when I say walk, it's not leisurely it's a fast pace.  This helped me realize that walking isn't giving up and is actually a great option for finishing a race you're not really ready for.  We'll see how it goes this weekend.  If I can maintain the pace I did this weekend I'd be on track to beat my time from last year easily.  Then again, my neighborhood has like no hills.  Here's what the course looks like:

It doesn't really have rolling hills but from mile 2-5 it's a pretty steady incline. Then again from 8 to mile 11 before it heads downhill.  Eek. 

My bottom line for this race: Have fun. Enjoy the sights and don't worry about pace.

Working on It

I keep telling myself today is the day I give the trip updates, etc. but there are just not enough hours in the day lately.  Couple bullets before I get my butt in gear:

-Trip was great. Paris is awesome and super romantic. Would totally go back for a third time.  London eh, kind of like being in America. Didn't dislike it but didn't love it. High Tea was a big highlight.

-Training has gone down the drain. Still doing the Denver Half but it's going to be sloooooooow. That's ok I think I'll be running it for fun with Shanna and her friend from out of state. Ran 12 miles on Sunday...slow but then again I wasn't really trying.  Ankle currently hurting even with insoles.

-Saw awesome concert with Rache, Josh and her friend Amanda. Darius Ruckers and Brad Paisley put on an awesome show! Few tears when the Justin Moore sang a song called "Grandpa."

-Got a promotion at work. Yeay!

-PAID OFF MY STUDENT LOANS!!!!  I can't believe it. Thanks to the sale of the Subaru and Josh's parents sending us a check for trip expenses I am now student loan free! Now we just have Josh's to contend with.

Little teasers for all of the update I need to do. I'm going to try to get them all done before Josh and I celebrate our 2nd anniversary this weekend (super excited for that!).

Training Commencing

I ran 7 miles yesterday. Yes they were on the dreadmill only because it was already really hot out. That is officially my first long run of half marathon training. It felt pretty good though I felt like I was moving like a snail.  I did 5.5 at a 10 min/mile pace, then .5 at 9:30 min/mile with the last mile at 9 min/mile pace. I was just so tired of being inside that I wanted the run to be over. I feel pretty good about it. I did stop at 5.5 miles because I was having chest pains reminiscent of the pain I had a few years back caused by Costochondritis.  After getting some water and walking around for two minutes I felt ready to finish. My legs were a little sore after the run which I expected as it was my longest run since Nashville and the first time in months I've run that much in one week.

Last week's stats: 14.5 miles  Avg. Pace: 10 min/miles (we're going to be picking it up this week!)

I'm still having some pains today, but hopefully it's just heartburn from all the crappy food I've been eating lately.  Super excited to throw myself back into training...for real this time. I'm picking up my orthoditics tomorrow morning. Yeay! I also finished up my training plan which goes all the way up until the Rock N' Roll Marathon in Arizona this coming January. I'm not commited to the marathon yet, but the course looks pretty awesomely flat and it would be nice to go somewhere warm in January. Of course there are other expenses with traveling like that and I only have two weeks of vacation each year which I'd rather not burn right away again. Regardless, I thought having a plan intact would be a good idea.

I would really like to run a sub-2 hour half. My last half in Moab I ran just under 2:06 which was an 8 minute improvement from Denver. Pretty nice improvement I'd say.  Because I've been out of the game and am totally out of shape, speed workouts are a must and are twice a week for this training session much like last time.  I wandered over to the McMillian Running Calculator and it spit out my paces necessary to achieve my goal pending all else goes well.

I'm feeling a bit itimidated right now, but I'm sure once I get into the swing of things I'll be fine. The long run paces are no problem. We'll see how the rest goes.

Rolling with it

This week I found out my friend Heather is getting married! Yeay! She met her fiance Dan just a few months before Josh and I started dating at a house party we went to. I remember going back to the sorority house that night and talking about that cute guy she met. Last year they had their beautiful daughter Kylie and unfortunately I was unable to go to her baby shower since she lives in Boise...sad. Needless to say as soon as I got the date for her wedding I booked my flight to Boise!  I'll be heading there the weekend of Sept. 17-19th...yep the weekend after getting back from Europe. I'm going to be one tired chica.  It's also the same weekend as the Crossroads Half Marathon.  As excited as I was about the race, Heather's wedding is way more important.  So my next half won't be until October.

Last night I took to creating a training plan for myself with thoughts of training for the Arizona Rock N' Roll Marathon which is in January.  Not that I really want to go support the state of Arizona and their ridiculous, racial profiling, anti-immigration law, but it's an available winter marathon. Anyway, it's that or Vegas which is in December but I won't have vacation time until the start of the new year.  So I set out to create a training plan which is almost done. Heather just ran her first half so we'll see if I can talk her into heading to Phoenix for the race with me. My plan is based off of the Runner's World Less is More plan which has only 3 days of running. One speed workout, tempo run, and long run. It's all about quality and not quantity which works well for me. I'm also going to continue to cross-train and take a couple rest days per week.  We'll see how it goes.

Josh and I ran around our neighborhood last night. I have to say it was not my finest run.  It was only 3 miles but felt like eternity. It was my first outside run since Nashville and I could feel it. The treadmill is awesome because it keeps you at a steady pace. Last night my pace was all over the place. I ran as slow as 10 min/mile pace all the way up to 8:43 min/mile pace. Yeah, all over the place and panting the entire way. I'm not sure if Lucky's tongue or mine was hanging out further.  I felt so out of shape. Of course Josh was there to remind me that I've been injured and I'm out there doing it. It's going to take a little while for me to regain all my fitness. At least that is two runs this week for a total of 7 whole miles. Haha. I'm considering trying to get in a run early early tomorrow morning before we head to the lake but I'd have to be out the door at like 5, not sure that's going to happen.

Sad Decision Day

Well this week marks the start of July, which means the Denver Marathon is only 3.5 months away. You may say, well that’s pretty far away…ha nope. If I started training next week, I’d only have about 14 weeks of training which would need to include a 3 week taper. That means I‘d only have 11 weeks to get myself back up to 20 mile runs. That’s just 2.5 months to get from zero to 20 without injury. Even though I've been cross-training my butt off, it just seems like I'd be asking for injury.

As much as I’m desperate to train for the full marathon, I’ve come to the decision to drop from the full to the half marathon. I’ve been going over all of this in my head, on paper, trying to figure out training plans that would get me prepared enough to run a strong race, not a fast one, but a strong one. It’s just not in the cards for me. If I were up and running even just 10 miles a week right now I’d just go for it. Maybe only do one 20 miler. But without the base, I’m not going to risk injuring myself even more.

I HATE giving up which is what I feel like I’m doing. I’m trying to remind myself that I need to listen to my body and my body is telling me that I am not ready to jump into training for a full. It's not my fault mother nature robbed me of my full marathon for the year and left me injured. My plan now is to train for a fast half marathon with the goal of setting a PR. After all, a half marathon is better than no race at all. Maybe I’ll even find a winter marathon to run in November or December. That will give me more time to prepare. I’m beyond frustrated but know that you can’t make your body do something that it’s not ready to do. It’s not like there won’t be other marathons in the future right?

From two legs to two wheels

I'm considering taking up a new physical hobby...cycling. Now I'm not what you would call a cyclist. I didn't even learn how to ride a bike until I was 7. Thanks to my friend Whitney who let me practice on her bike until I could ride it on my own.  Since then I've had a couple of bikes including my pretty pink cruiser than is collecting dust in our garage.  It got a lot of use when we lived in Ft. Collins, but since we moved and there is not Old Town to ride to it's been sadly neglected.

Anyway, I've been thinking about doing a sprint tri for which I'd need a bike other than my cruiser.  Yesterday Josh and I stopped at a shop in Longmont so that I could try out a road bike.  I was really nervous about the super skinny wheels.  Once I was on and actually pedaling it wasn't so bad.  Of course it will take some getting use to but I think I can do it especially the whole leaning over and the weird braking. I will definitely not be keeping up with Josh anytime soon or using toe clips. The last thing I need to to have my feet stuck to the pedals. I'd be the person at the stop light like this:

I'm not sure if I'm going to love it so we're going to keep our eyes peeled for a used bike. No sense in spending $1000 on a bike until I know whether or not I like riding.  It will be great crosstraining exercise.

Any tips for a newbie cyclist?

By the way, running is not going great. Last week I ran twice for a total of 7 miles. I was going to run 7 on Sunday but I took a few steps and the shooting pain returned. Luckily I have PT tomorrow.  If I can't run three times a week in the next couple of weeks I'm going to have to seriously consider dropping from the full marathon to the half.  Booooooo.

What a weekend and training

This was a busy weekend and it flew right by.  Highlight of the weekend...of course other than seeing Maegan be so happy saying I Do to Ahearn...running! Yes, that's right, I ran again. I knocked out 6 miles at a 10 minute pace. My ankle hurt, it felt like a constant pinching sensation but I did not once have shooting pain up the side of my leg or my shin.  I'm jonesing for some speed work but know that I need to not push too far too fast. I think I may even try to do a short 3-4 miles tonight after work. For now I'm sticking to the dreadmill because it has some play to it which helps reduce the hard impact. 

On the running note, now that I'm running, well kind of, I'm starting to think about marathon training plans. I'm going to create my own using a hybrid of a couple of different plans.  I'm going to refer to my TNT schedule from last season (abbreviated since I will not be training for 19 weeks this time), the Hal Higdon plan and Runner's World's Less is More. I think running three-four days is the most my body can handle for training. I'm definitely going to continue crosstraining as well. I cannot wait to get my orthoditics and get out there. I refuse to train for a marathon on the dreadmill!

Back to the weekend, Saturday we watched the USA vs. England World Cup game with Ryan and Claire. I decided I liked the game because there were zero commericals until the half and there was always action going on. It was kind of anti-climatic without a winner though.  After that we headed to Denver for Maegan and Ahearn's wedding. She got the same crappy weather or her wedding day that we did. Boo. But it was nice anyway. We caught up with some of my sorority sisters I hadn't seen in years!

Sunday we did an Indian cooking class. Needless to say we were stuffed when we got home!  If anyone is interested in going to the class in August, let me know! It's only $18 and you get tons of food. I bought a cook book and am ready to try making some of my own Indian food at home.

Being Still is Hard

So is waiting. Yesterday morning I had my MRI on my ankle. I haven’t ever had one before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. All I knew was that I couldn’t have any metal below my hips which was no problem. They laid me on the bed and packed my foot in. They were also nice enough to put a blanket and headphones with XM radio on me. They said the machine was loud and they were not kidding! Man the noises it made were so loud it made the entire bed vibrate. I was totally paranoid I would ruin the pictures because they said even the slightest movement can skew them.

About 15 minutes in my legs began twitching of course. I was focusing so hard on holding still I’m pretty sure I could have made myself levitate with the same power of thought. The entire thing took about a half hour. They handed me a disk of images and sent me on my way. The orthopedic surgeon should have received them yesterday. Now I just have to wait. I tried looking at them to see if I could tell what was wrong, but of course everything looks all jacked up to me. I assume I won’t hear from the doctor until Monday afternoon sometime. I’m trying to be patient.

My ankle is sore from my PT rubbing on Wednesday. It hurt so good that it bruised me a little bit. I got all set up to meet with the owner of my PT practice. He’s going to do a gait analysis and get me fitted for custom orthotics. $200 ouch! So worth the money if they help me prevent future injuries.

I’m starting to think about my training plan for the Denver Marathon. I think I’m going to have it start 4th of July weekend. I should have my orthotics by then and with several weeks of PT under my belt, fingers crossed, I’ll be ready to run my little heart out. That is pending the MRI indicates it was only tendonitis.

I’m ready for a super busy weekend after two weeks straight of work. Tomorrow Ryan and Claire are having a party for the World Cup and my friend Maegan is getting married. It’s going to be a fun day! Sunday Josh and I are doing an Indian cooking class which is a fundraiser for LLS. I’m excited. I love love love Indian food. At least I have distractions while I’m waiting for the doc to call.

I'm 26, are you sure?

Well it’s been 26 years since my terrified parents became my mom and dad. Contray to what my mom may say, I was not a beautiful newborn.  Yeah that's me with the conehead.  Luckily it is now normally shaped and I have hair.

I cannot believe I turned 26 today. I am officially at an age that, even at 22, I thought was old. Now I’m not saying I’m old, because I mean come, 26 isn’t even close to the midpoint of my life. I just cannot believe that I'm not officially closer to 30 than I am to 20.  How did the time fly by so fast?  I swear I was just graduating from high school like five minutes ago.  Even more strange, I feel like my parents just turned 26 not that long ago. In fact, when my stepmom Liz started dating my dad Lmost 18 years ago, she was 26.  What a brave woman to take on a man that had a 8 year and 5 year old.  It's just crazy scary to think that at my age my parents had kids in elementary school. 

My mid-twenties, yes Josh I’m still in my mid-twenties, have been awesome so far:

Age 24-Married my lobster
Age 25-Ran my first marathon and went on an amazing trip to Italy
Age 26-????-We'll see what the year brings.

What I do know is that I’m just a super lucky girl woman. I have wonderful friends and family. I even have wonderful coworkers, case in point, Lisa who brought me this delicious and super cute cake for my birthday. (Thank you one last time!) Nothing better than the smell of cake in the morning when you arrive to your cubicle.

This year is going to be great I know it! How could it not be? I’m happy, healthy (well almost), I have a job, a house, a wonderful, loving husband and dog. Bonus-I get to go on another fabulous European adventure to Paris and London in September, two races already scheduled (hopefully I’ll be able to do them), and all sorts of surprises that are going to pop up. Yeah, it’s going to be good. ;-)

Thanks for all the love and support!

Josh took me out for an amazing dinner at this tiny little restaurant called Praha.  It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.  I had the Pepper Steak "Galleria". So delicious and beautifully presented. I should have taken a picture but felt silly. Excellent birthday!

P.S. I scheduled my MRI today. I know I wasn't going to do it, but I tried to run again last night...no dice.  It hurt bad.  I have PT on Wednesday and I'm going to order custom orthodics.  MRI is scheduled for first thing on Thursday morning...booo.

Time for Vacation Yet?

Well of course not.  Nope, not until September. Even though the month of May is flying right by, September seems so far away!  It's only 3.5 months away which means October is only 4.5...I have got to get back on the road. I may have to start a countdown. One of the days until our trip to Paris and London (yes, we're going on another fabulous vacation this year. Yeay!) and the other one for the days until the Denver Marathon. 

Still going strong with the challenge and my body is feeling it.  I don't know that I really see any huge changes except that I can get further into the poses than when I first started. The number on the scale has dipped slightly but I think that is because when I get home from a sweaty session at 7 or 8, all I really want is a green monster and some peanut butter graham crackers.  That combo definitely does not replace a real meal. Last night Josh and I forced down some steak and veggies so that we got enough calories for the day.  Last week ended like this:

Wednesday-50 minutes Elliptical+Bikram
Thursday-Bikram
Friday-Off (first day in weeks)
Saturday-75 minutes Elliptical +abs
Sunday-Bikram

This week has started off pretty well though I'm taking today off to grab a beer at Lefthand after work and PT.

Monday-55 mins Elliptical+abs+Bikram
Tuesday-Bikram
Wednesday-Off (I've forgotten how awesome rest days are)

Sarah G. came up to do the class with Brenna and I on Monday. She was suprised at how much of a workout it is. She's going to come next Monday too. I swear the studio should be paying me to do yoga there since I'm bringing in so many newbies. 

Well, lunch is over and it's time to get back to work before I head off to PT this afternoon. Update to come.

Bikram Challenge

Saturday marked the start of my new challenge. Josh and I headed to The College of India Bikram Yoga Studio near out house after a trip to the Boulder County Farmers Market (so glad it's open!) and Great Harvest for our loaf of bread for the week.  We were warmly greeted by Zach who was our instructor.  He was very welcoming and made us feel comfortable right away. 

We grabbed our towels and mats and headed into the hot room.  Hot is was. As we walked by the thermometer we saw that it was 106 degrees.  I was sweating already.  We should have arrived a bit earlier as the Saturday morning class is the most popular. Poor Josh got stuck by a guy who he swear he could hear sweating.  I wouldn't be surprised, they guy looked like he'd peed his pants when he stood up. Not that I can say much because I was a sweaty beast at the end of the class.

The last time I did Bikram yoga was with Liz back when I was in high school so I wasn't sure how my body would respond. I was relived to discover my body was very happy to stretch and bend in the poses.  By the end of the 90 minutes I was drenched and so was Josh!  My body felt great, especially my calf. It was really sore when I woke up but after class I could barely feel the tightness anymore. 

I did some Googling on how many calories you burn during a 90 minute Bikram class and I found out it's anywhere from 600-1100 calories. Wow!  I used this calculator to figure out that I burn about 886 calories per 90 minutes. No wonder I was so hungry when I got home from class.  After attending class again yesterday, I'm really feeling my muscles.  The balance is a killer workout for the legs and I even feel it in my arms and shoulders from holding my arms out.  Amazing the strength it takes to hold up your own body parts.

The Beginners Challenge is in full swing.  Tonight will be my third class, third day in a row. Josh's friend from college Brenna is going to join me. She said she needs some motivation to get into some sort of exercise routine so I'm helping her out.  Plus it's really nice to have some company. Anyway, back to the challenge.  Here are the milestones and what I get:

Do: 25 Classes Get: $50 Monthly Unlimited
Do: 20 Classes Get: $60 Monthly Unlimited
Do: 15 Classes Get: $75 Monthly Unlimited

I plan on going to class at least 4 days a week for the month.  Ideally I'd  like to go every day this week to start off the month right and get my body into a routine and more used to the heat.  But of course I still need time to go to the gym so we'll see how my schedule works out.  I'm aiming to get to the 20 classes this month.

So why Bikram and what are the benefits?

Well I wanted to do something totally different.  So many runners swear by yoga for helping them improve balance, core strength and overall mental fitness. I figured it worth a shot especially since I am sidelined from any hard cardio activity because of my stupid ankle and calf.  Some of the benefits I've found online:

• Warm up the muscles for greater flexibility
• Help achieve a deeper stretch
• Reshape the body & restore flexibility
• Expands one’s capacity to breathe deeply and fully
• Flush out toxins
• Burn calories by balancing metabolism, simultaneously raising energy levels and improving the efficiency of the immune system
• Reduces levels of stress
• Increases balance, coordination, focus and discipline

Check out this interview with the 'inventor' of Bikram. Pretty cocky I'd say.

Side note, I registered for the Rock N' Roll Denver Marathon on Friday. Yes, I know I'm taking a break but it's like five months away and I had to use my discount from Nashville before it expired. 

A Whole New Attitude

Yesterday I woke up with an entirely new attitude. I finally started calming the demons in my head. I asked myself a few questions:

1. Why do you want to register for the Colfax Marathon? Because your race was cut short, because you feel like people will see you as a failure for not doing it or because you want to?

Answer: Because my race was cut short and I feel like people will think I’m a failure for not doing. Is that the right attitude to go into a race with? I think not. It’s not even healthy. I’m pretty sure that no one thinks I’m a failure (at least I hope not).

2. How does your body really feel?

Answer: Tired. I’m not sore from Saturday anymore, in fact the soreness was gone by Tuesday night. My calf however is still screaming. During a practice booth setup session yesterday I could feel my muscle pulling every time I stepped on and off the step stool. It’s not an oh the muscle is tight, it’s an owe my muscle is tearing sensation. Also not good going into a race.

I knew the answers to these questions all along, but it was hard fighting the nagging voices of self doubt in my head. My decision is not to run Colfax because I don’t really want to and my leg hurts. Is it worth tearing my calf muscle which would endanger all of my future races for? No way! Plus you know what, I may have had an act of God ruin my marathon but I still raised more than $4500 (nearly $10,000 in the past 12 months) for cancer patient. That makes me a winner regardless of race status!  Cheesey moment of self esteem boosting positive reassurances done.

Of course I cannot go without some sort of challenge or activity in the mean time while my legs heals.

Enter the Bikram yoga challenge. A local Bikram studio just a few miles from my house has a pretty awesome deal for newbies. For $65 I can get a month of unlimited classes, a yoga mat and a water bottle. This is a great deal considering monthly memberships start at like $100…ouch. During this month, I’ll be challenged to do as many classes as possible. If I can do 15 or more I’ll get a discount on my future months membership. As it happens Saturday is the first of May (aka May Day for you silly Coloradoans that haven't heard of it). No better day to get started on a new challenge than the first day of the month. It’s also the only month this summer that I don’t really have anything going on so that just works out perfectly.

Also in the mix is going to be a boot camp class offered at the Longmont Rec. Center. It’s M/W/F in the evenings. So I’m thinking that once my calf feels good, not right now, that I’ll start adding those classes to the yoga. I’ll be getting full body workouts doing both classes. I’m really excited to get started!

I think this break is just what I needed. I get to try out new exercises and really listen to what my body wants. It may also be the jolt my system needs to move past my fitness plateau, not to mention awesome cross-training for running. This being said, I am not abandoning running. I’ll add runs in there here and there to keep my running fitness as well. Again not until the calf feels better.

Anyone want to join me for some hot yoga?

So What's Next?

I’ve been asking myself this since Saturday. I tell ya, not being able to finish a race that you trained nearly six months for really messes with your mind. I can’t stop thinking about how my training is going to go to waste if I don’t hurry up and do a full marathon. Or that people think that I’m a quitter because my race got cut and I didn’t do another one to make up for it. Last night I even dreamt about running the Colfax Marathon which I honestly have no desire to do at all.

When I heard that there was a chance our race would be cancelled or cut short before I headed to Nashville I immediately started investigating other race options. The first one that came to mind was the Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins. Of course it is sold out. It must be one of the easiest courses ever. It is completely downhill and has an 18 % BQ average. Maybe next year I’ll be able to register before it sells out.

The other option was of course the Colorado Colfax Marathon. Now that thought of running down Colfax for hours on end does not excite me at all. In fact is makes me want to sleep. At this point it would be feasible for me to run it. It’s less than three weeks out and it’s convenient for me, no real travel required. Plus it’s not sold out. I not really considering it but should I feel the urge to do it I have the option. My fear is that I’ll hit a wall half way in a think why the hell did I do this to myself? I should have listened to my body and taken time off to let it heal. On the other hand that voice in my head is saying come on, you need to do a full marathon since your race was shortened.

But as I’m typing I’m sitting here taking no action. Honestly I am just burned out. I spent 23 weeks training through the holidays, winter weather, another bought of tendonitis and a calf strain. I am mentally and physically exhausted. I think the best thing I can do for myself is take some time off. Does this mean I’m going to stop running until it’s time to train again? Not a chance. But I think I’m going to take a break from the distance. I’m definitely not going to do another 6 month training cycle ever again. Four months is more than enough thank you.

I’m thinking about trying out some Bikram Yoga or getting back in the pool. Mix up my workouts a bit. Plus doing activities other than running will give my ankle and calf time to heal. I do have some races in my sights for this summer/fall.

I’m already registered for the Crossroads ½ Marathon on September 19th and I’m planning on doing the Inaugural Rock N’ Roll Denver Marathon on October 17th. Those are the only two distance races on my plate for now. I’m going to run the Bolder Boulder 10k on Memorial Day and definitely Rogers River Run 5k which is the race that started this all. I’ve been so wrapped up in training for my distance races that I’ve forgotten how fun it is to do a short, fast race. I’m bound and determined to set some awesome PRs this summer.

If you weren’t able to finish the marathon you trained for, would you run the next available one? Or would you take a break to recover from all the training?

Marathon Interrupted

Race morning came way too early.  Late Friday night we heard they may start the race early so instead of meeting at 4:30 we had to meet at 4 am.  Which means I needed to get up around 2:45.  Of course I woke up at 2 and let myself get out of bed about 2:15.  I didn't want to disturb Deanna so I went into the bathroom to start my prerace routine. 

Mini coffee pot was awesome for boiling the water for my oatmeal.  I forgot to bring  a spoon so my toothbrush stirred it and I tried to pour it in my mouth.  Needless to say I was a mess.  I taped the crap out of my leg and ankle with hopes of a pain free race. 

As you can tell I was having some race day nerves. It was time to get dresses and head out the door but not before a few more pictures...

Yes I know I look silly. I got lots of stares and looks, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to hold the legs together. I was determined not to let my ankle tendonitis or calf strain slow me down!

When we got to the starting line it was already pretty warm out and cloudy but not raining.  We dilly dallied for a while but then it was time to head to the starting line. I got right behind the 4:30 pacer who looked all of 18 maybe.  But she sure could run.  About 25 minutes after the first group headed out at 6:45, I crossed the starting line.  Holy hills and humidity.  Remember when I said the course is fairly flat?  Ha, dead wrong. No the hills weren't big but they were long and steady inclines one after another.  The humidity was killer.  Apparently 95-98% humidity negates any sort of altitude advantage.  Regardless I was sticking with the pacer who was actually moving quite a bit faster than the goal pace.

By mile 6.5 I had to start pouring water on my head.  Every water stop, one down the throat, one down my shirt. I could not get my temperature down and it was starting to hurt my pace.  I held on and decided well small change of plans, I'll run/walk...no biggie.  So that's exactly what I started to do.  I passed the 11.2 half marathon turn off and it finally started to get a bit cooler.  The wind picked up and the clouds really moved in.  A few miles down I heard from some other runners that they had closed the course and were making all of the people behind us do the half regardless of it they were registered for the full. I was so happy that I had made the cut!

Three port-o-potty stops later I was almost to mile 16 which means yeah only 10 miles left!  It also was when my calf, ankle and IT started really screaming. I had been stretching my calf every few miles but it just wasn't enough.  I think I must have changed my gait which inflammed my stupid IT band.  A very nice TNT coach from Tennessee was nice enough to hang with me for a few miles and even refill my water bottles.

We were hurried off the greenbelt by the river as the lightning started.  A few minutes later it began to rain. Rain really hard. It was hurting my body when it hit.  It was coming down so hard that it was washing my sweat into my eye which caused burning. So I'm sure I looked ridiculous trying to waddle in the rain with my eyes closed.  Actually it makes me laugh to think about it now.  The police were shouting "Take cover...or you can keep running." I was thinking well which one is it? 

My shoes became cotton and rubber pools.  It got more and more difficult to hold a steady pace at all.  Many runners ran into gas stations and entry ways to take cover from the rain.  Not going to lie it was getting scary out. Between the rain, thunder and lightning it was nasty.  I was definitely looking around for the nearest ditch just in case the tornado sirens went off.

Around mile 18 I was told that we were all going to be taken off the course just before 21 miles.  At this point I just started walking.  My time wasn't going to count so why should I be pushed myself and giving myself blisters for nothing?  I don't know if I've ever felt so many emotions at the same time. I was mad that they let me get this far just to cut me short, sad that I even though it wasn't my best race ever that I was going to be given a medal that I didn't really earn, relieved that I wasn't going to have to run 5-6 more miles in the nasty weather especially since I was about 15 minutes behind my goal time...so much was running through my head.

I was really excited when I saw Deanna at mile 19.  We walked and chatted about the adventures on the way to the half marathon finish line.  She had helped people that had gone down on the course and saw the AT&T building get struck by lightning twice.  Apparently between the heat and humidity of the morning and the severe weather of the afternoon there were a lot of people who needed medical attention.  I crossed the finish line and did my best to force a smile on my face.  Medal in hand I went to check in at the TNT tent.

I didn't bring my camera or phone with me so we're going to have to wait until the official photos come out for you to see what a wet dog I looked like. This is a picture from out the window in our room.  I had to immediately hop into a hot shower when we got back because I could not warm up. Every inch of me was drenched.  Taking off my clothes was like peeling off a wet swimsuit.  Awful. This race goes down as the WORST MARATHON EVER!

I don't even know how I feel about this medal I have.  Techinically I didn't earn it. Was that my fault or something I could control?  Nope.  Do I feel like I can say that I've done two marathons? Nope.  Did I suffer through extremely shitty conditions to get it? Yes sir. So I suppose I'll say I've done 1.79 marathons? 

I'm in Music City

Well getting here was a bear.  Somehow in between the time I left my office and arrived at the airport just a half hour later my flight had been delayed. Ugh. At that point it was only delayed about a half hour which wasn't bad at all. 6:35 came and went, 7:10 came and went as did 7:30. Finally a quarter to 8 we finally boarded and took off for a bumpy ride. We landed in Nashville just after midnight.  I picked up my very wet (they must have left it on the tarmack while it was raining) bag and head to the hotel.  My head finally hit the pillow around 1 am.

I woke up way to early this morning around 8ish.  Of course I couldn't fall back to sleep so when Deanna called to say she was down the street at Panera around 9 I was all over it.  The expo opened for the day at 10. I was looking forward to getting some free swag. Love expo samples!

I picked up my bib and headed over to get my t-shirt and goodie bag.  I noticed this little countdown they had going on.  Looking at this picture now I notice that it was off by about 12 hours. Someone doesn't know how to tell time apparently. Or maybe they got confused and thought it was supposed to be the countdown to when the expo closed. 

Last year in Seattle I didn't really purchase anything which was kind of a bummer. I missed out on getting a regular t-shirt to wear around which I didn't want to do this year.  I got a cute little Rock Star t-shirt amongst many other things. 

Including:  more KT Tape (why can't I find a store in Colorado that sells it?), Bondi Bands (one of them is for Nancy), and The Stick. I'm pretty excited about all of my purchases. I'm definitely trying out The Stick later.  I also got an awesome reuseable bag courtesy of Publix and misc samples. Overall I was kind of disappointed with the expo. There were really not many samples or freebies. Clif wasn't there which made me sad. Love Clif Bars.

Anyway, after the expo I was finally exhausted and headed to the comfy hotel bed. Two hours later I was refreshed and headed down to Broadway to check out all of the music joints. 

Deanna and I met for lunch shortly thereafter then it was off on a trolley tour. Totally cheesey I know but it was the only way I was going to get to really explore Nashville (well other than the race). I was the only single person on the tour and it was actually kind of lame. Here are a few pics from it.

As was the norm for my weekend, the trolley tour ran late which made me late for the Inspiration Dinner.  I was so frustrated at this point. I hauled ass to get there, hurting calf and all. The Penguin spoke again. Even though I heard the same speech in Seattle I still laughed. He's a good speaker.  I was so ready to head back to the room after dinner. 

I got back to the room and had a mini breakdown.  All of the doubts in my head coupled with not having any of my loved ones with me at the race just got to me. After talking to my mom and watching Deanna burn a huge hole in her TNT Coach shirt I felt much better. So funny!

Everything is laid out and ready for tomorrow. Time to try to get some rest. Oh yes and the latest on the race.  Runners of the full marathon must reach the 11.2 mile point by 10:40 am in order to be able to stay on the marathon course. Runners not there by that time will be diverted to the half.  I don't think I'll have any problem with that but it certainly puts a lot more pressure on me.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I’m packed and ready to go. Last night was a very busy night. I stopped by the store and picked up a new ice pack that I can strap around my leg…awesome and some Tylenol since IB Profin is a no no. As soon as I got home I was running around and talking to myself like a crazy person. After wearing my compression socks for basically 3 days straight it was time for a wash. No I do not have stinky feet. Load of laundry in, it was time to get together all of my race day stuff.

Race Day Gear:

• TNT Singlet
• Running skirt
• Sports bra
• Moisture wicking sock
• SHOES
• Garmin (fully charged)
• Fuel belt (don’t forget the water bottles)
• Gels, Nuuns and Oatmeal
• Gatorade mix
• iPod (fully charged w/ new earphones)
• TNT information packet
• Josh’s Speedo sandals for post-race
• Throw away jacket

But let’s not forget the most important things. I’m going to go ahead and call this my injury repair kit. I should market this idea…seriously. Mine includes:

• Travel foam roller
• Compression sleeves
• KT tape
• Shaklees Muscle and Joint Cream
• Herbal tendon and muscle recovery gel
• Extra Strength 8 Hour Tylenol
• Warm around ice pack (Not pictured because I was wearing it)

Oh how I love you all! Well not really the foam roller because it hurts me until I have tears coming down my face. But you know it hurts so good.

After packing the important things it took only a few minutes to pack the rest of my gear for the weekend which was great because I still had work to do at home. The camera is charged and ready to take pictures in Nashville. Maybe I will pick up a disposable to carry with me at the race. Eh, I’ll probably get sick of holding it and toss it. I may as well save myself a few bucks for some ice cream.

Calf/Ankle Status Update: Both still a bit sore but feeling 10x better than they were last week. Currently sporting my nice, clean compression socks and icing with the new ice pack for 20 minutes at a time. Fingers, arms, legs and toes still crossed for race day.

P.S. Totally hoping to bump into some stars in Nashville...like Keith Urban (hot) and Nicole Kidman.  Just casually getting coffee.  I'm sure all famous people are hiding out during the crazy weekend but a girl can hope right? I will be armed with my camera while exploring the city just in case.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Just a day until I leave for Nashville which means I’m only 2.5 days out from the race. I would say three, but its lunch time on Wednesday so technically I don’t have a full 36 hours until race time. I’m not going to lie, I am totally FREAKING OUT. My calf is still hurting, not all the time but when I jump up and down I can definitely feel it. If I can feel it jumping up and down, I’ll definitely be feeling it while I’m running. I tried to get into PT but of course no available appointments in either of the offices. I’ve been wearing compression socks for days and the past two nights I tried my hot rice pad on it. I’ve been rubbing my herbal gel on it as well. I even brought it to work with me today. It doesn’t smell the greatest, but eh, I’m not impressing anyone. There is not bruising or swelling, I can stretch it without pain and I don’t remember ever hearing a pop so I’m sure it’s just a strain but eek. Isn’t this just my luck. Seriously, ugh.

Last night after work I headed to Road Runner Sports to pick up some compression sleeves which are basically the sock without the foot part. Didn’t find them there but I did find a travel size foam roller. I was all over that! After an appointment I stopped by The Boulder Running Company. They had the sleeves! So on race day I’m planning on taping the calf as well as wearing the compression sleeves (mine are white...not pink). I’m hopefully that once I’m going I’ll be just fine.

From now until race day, I’m wearing my compression socks nonstop, icing, rolling on my foam roller and downing anti-inflammatories. That’s really all I can do now. It will be fine right? I keep trying to visualize myself crossing the finish line strong but right now that image keep getting rudely interrupted by flashes of me being hauled off by a medic. In my heart of hearts I know I can do this race. I did a marathon with tendonitis before right? I need to learn to stop Googling and freaking myself out. Half of the information online is not accurate anyway. They guys at the running stores didn’t seem to be too concerned when I told them what was going on and that I had a race on Saturday which made me feel better.

Fingers, toes, legs and arms crossed for a good race. One thing is looking up, the expected race temperature has decreased from 79 to 74. Rain is still in the forecast but maybe it will just be cloudy.

P.S. I haven't packed a thing. Tonight I must eat, pack, clean, work. It's going to be a long night!

Taper Time

Well it's official...time to taper.  On Saturday I was eager to get out there and do my last long run before the race (only three weeks to go...eek).  I met Deanna, her friend whose name now totally escapes me and Tina.  We started off and got two great loops of the Boulder Res completed. Tina decided to take a break since she's not in training while De, her friend and I ran Eagle trail...bad idea.  The wind had been picking up but by the time we tried to do Eagle it was ridiculous. We were running straight into it and at one point, no matter how hard I was trying, I was not actually moving forward. A little over a quarter mile in we turned around.  Ugh!  With 11.28 miles down, I headed to the gym.

Torture...pure torture. That's the best way to describe the gym.  When I got there I had to wait for a dreadmill which irritated me. Come on people, you're barely moving on the thing while talking on the phone. Get off for those of us that are actually planning on working out!  Anyway, I finally got on and walked abotu a quarter mile to get my legs back in running mode, 2 miles down, so hot so I take a break.  Another mile and a half down, gel digestive failure.  Back from the bathroom, half mile in my IT band totally seizes up.  I hope off, stretch and roll on a foam roller. At this point these two women in the abs area are staring at me.  I casually tell that they my legs is not actually held together by the tape but it's simply keeping my knee cap and ankle in line and that I'm doing my final long run before a marathon. They looked at eachother, looked back at me, and tell me that I'm crazy. At this point I totally agreed with them.

I pick my sorry looking ass up and get back on the stupid running device. I walk a half mile to get my legs warmed back up. A mile and a half later I'm spent. I just cannot take the heat of the gym, the stupid people on the phone and my freaking IT band seizing again.  I gather up all my crap and head home. At this point I'm exhausted, frustrated and grumpy. Poor Josh was on the receiving end of this...sorry babe.

I roll on my foam roller again and head back out to brave the not-as-bad-as-the-Res wind.  With tears in my eyes I finally finished the run. All 21 miles of it.  Other than the last marathon I don't think I've ever been so happy to be done running.  Had I been able to do it all at the Res it would have been over with in about 3.5 hours...with all of the dividing up, driving time, waiting time, etc. it was like 5 hours.  I still survived and I am feeling pretty confident going into the race.  I'm even thinking about joining the 4:15 pace team...we'll see how I feel when I get to Nashville.

The rest of the weekend was spent nursing my sore legs and enjoying family time. I did get my long awaited Blizzard right after church on Sunday. So happy Lent is over and I can have my sweet indulgences again!

P.S. Thank you to Kirsten, Brandon, Jill, Grandma Walker, and Kim Greenlee for donating this week!  You guys are amazing!

Recovery and Lessons Learned

I don't know if it was the downhill or that I ran the half faster than I normally do for that distance and on cement, but my legs were actually sore. It was so strange.  I didn't exercise on Sunday since we were in the car and then running errands all afternoon, but I did hop on a stationary bike on Monday which really made my legs feel much better.  My ankle hurts but what else is new?

So you know how I said that you should never wear anything new on race day?  I didn't follow my own advice. I sported Josh arm sleeves and I'm paying for it. It chaffed the crap out of me. I have two nice scabs near my armpits.  They hurt so bad pretty much every time I move my arms by my body.  Point made body, I will never wear anything new on race day again.

Also nice are my now, two purple toenails.  My second toe curls over and I lost that toenail last season. I wasn't surprised to see it trying to come off again. I think my third toe's nail is coming off because at the start of the race I couldn't feel my feet so I'm sure I was digging it into my shoe and didn't even realize it.  Oh well, badges of honor right?  At Josh's request I did buy some new polish to paint them...they do look pretty bad.

When I went to the gym I did sport my new Canyonlands Half Marathon shirt.  Maybe the color isn't that bad when not wearing the hat at the same time...it's still pretty ugly though.

Don't you think?  Yikes on a side note my thigh looks huge in the picture...eek.

On my way out of the gym I had a complete stranger tell me how awesome it was that I just ran a half marathon. When I told him I had a full to go next month he said he thought that was amazing. It was kind of nice to hear.

It's snowing like mad so I'm not going to the gym.  It took me nearly two hours to get home from work and it's just not worth going out in the weather for. Hopefully tomorrow night I'll be able to get in a great workout.

Canyonlands Half Marathon

Believe it or not I got to sleep in for this race!  I didn't have to get up to until a little after 5 am...it was awesome!  When I woke up I snuck out of bed and warmed up my oatmeal.  Josh was still sleeping so I pretty much hung out in the bathroom while I ate and read magazines and surfed the web.  By around 6 it was time to start thinking about taping and getting dressed since the team was meeting in the lobby of the hotel at 7 am to get on the buses to the canyon.

Once taped up I started getting on all of my layers.  I put on my race gear including Josh's arm sleeves then the sweat pants, windbreaker and hoodie.  I knew it was going to be cold up there while we waited.  With my gear check bag packed I headed out the door to meet the team.

We all walked to the park where the race was going to end and jumped on school buses up to the canyon.  We got to the bus stop in the canyon at 8 am..to wait to very cold hours for the race to start.  At least I was able to kill about 45 minutes waiting in line for the porta-potty. Apparently a lot of people have never used one and didn't realize when any number of porta-potties open, you jump in regardless of if it is the one right in front of you. Why this concept was so hard for people to wrap their head around I have no idea. I mean come on...not that hard. Jenn and I started cheering people on to get them into them. 

After about a 1/2 mile walk up to the starting line I stood with Aaron, Amanda and Tina anxiously awaiting the start.  The race actually started a bit late but that's ok. Having all of those people around me really kept me warm.  The race started and we were off. For about the first 2-3 miles it was pretty crowded. Slowly people started dropping bag so it was easier to get through the crowd. 

My legs felt like they were made of cement. They felt heavy and sluggish but I was able to maintain a pretty good pace.  By mile 6 or so I saw some awesome TNT volunteers cheering me on which really helped me get my feet moving.  I ran into Deanna shortly thereafter and she was nice enough to run with myself and Amanda for a few minutes.  After mile 7 I was off.

I knew there was a hill coming up around mile 9 but I was determined not to let it slow me down.  My legs started to feel much lighter and before I knew it the hill had come and gone. I could almost see the end of the canyon where we made the turn into town.  The stretch from the hill to the turn seemed to fly right by.  The weather and scenery were beautiful and I was feeling good...no gel digestive failure finallly!

I made the turn into town and knew I needed to pick up the pace. I was on track for a new personal record which was super exciting and unexpected.  About a mile from the turn in I saw Josh and a group of TNT supporters. It was awesome seeing them. 

I handed Josh my fuel belt because it was dragging me down.  I didn't realize he was going to run along with me. Jeans and all Josh ran the last mile or so with me to be my personal photographer.

One final turn and the finish line was in sight.  Right as I saw the finish Hero by the Foo Fighters came on...perfect!  My iPod apparently read my mind.  I wanted to finish strong and for the first time in a distance race I was able to not only pick up the pace but move into an all out sprint.  For the last 200 feet or so I race as fast as my legs would carry me.

I even passed several people along the way, including this guy right at the finish line.

Time: 2:05:52  Avg. Pace: 9:34 min/miles

My Garmin actually said I went 13.18 miles so my average pace was actually a tiny bit faster, you know a few seconds.  There it was, a new personal record. I was so happy!  What amazed me is that I wasn't even trying to PR. I didn't even think about it until I was about at mile 7ish when I looked down and realized that I was on track to beat my Denver half time.  Not only did I beat it, I beat it by about 8 minutes!  I'm hoping that I'll come in under two hours at my next half marathon. 

Afterwards I took my finishers photo and went to check in at the team tent.  I was super disappointed to learn that they stopped giving out medals. Instead I get that dayglow shirt and hat I was telling you about. I'll have to take a picture. Luckily TNT brought us medals. I think that I'm going to get mine engraved with Canyonlands 2010 and a kokopelli runner. 

The rest of the team started trickling in. It was such a beautiful day we hung out and soaked up the sun before walking back to the hotel. 

You better believe I rocked my compression socks. Those downhill portions were brutal on the legs.

I got back to the hotel, iced, rested and relaxed before our victory dinner.