26.2

 It's all over. 16 weeks of my life was devoted to trying to balance my home life, work life, social life and running life.

Ready to Leave the Hotel Room

I sacrificed 16 Fridays, lots of fried food & a lot of pain and hard work for those 4 hours and 11 minutes I spent running the Twin Cities Marathon on Oct. 2nd 2011. I was up at 5:30 drinking coffee trying to get my digestive system going. Then I ate my PB& J sandwich & drank about 16oz of water at about 6am. My race gear was ready. I couldn't decide what socks to wear or weather I should wear a water belt. My nerves were finally kicking in. I opted for the new socks I baught at the expo and to wear my water belt with endurance fuel in the bottles. I wanted to just wear a sports bra, but it turned out to be 45 degrees at the start... I didn't bring a running thank top, so I ended up wearing a cotton one - A "no, no" from about every article I have read about what to wear running.

Elevation Chart of the race

We headed out to the start, traffic was crazy, so many people. My brother in law droped us all off a few blocks from the start. It was cold. We headed to check our bags & parted with our sleeves and headed to gate 2. Lots of people in their, we made our way up to the 4:15 pace group.

In the starting Gate!!

Then we waited. I tried to stretch, not much room to do so. We wished each other good luck and finally it was our time to go. The first 15 miles were great. I warmed up quick, the crowds were awesome, weather was awesome, it was a beautiful day. We lost jer pretty quick, but had to take a bathroom break at mile 12, and when we got out their he was in front of us, so that was cool. We were running at around a 9m per mile pace. Faster than I had planned on going. Everyone I talked to said to hold back to start with, but Debi was chomping on the bit and i wanted to run with her and it felt easy. I walked through some of the water stations after about mile 12, all of them after mile 17. The fall leaves were turning, the sky was blue, it was fairly cool out... at mile 17 we got our Gue at the Goo station. I hate goo. but i "ate" it anyhow. At mile 18 my feet and hip flexsors started to hurt pretty bad. It was cool though, some spectators along the course had fruit to give out, or candy, one guy had a spray bottle and he was spraying people who wanted to be sprayed. One guy had a sign that said "free high fives" I needed some encourgaent and got a high five from him, it helped. Someone had a sign that said "26.2 because 26.3 would be crazy" At mile 20 I felt some more pain. I didn't think I could keep up the pace I did anyway. At mile 23 I felt sick, like I was going to puke. I had to walk. Deb walked with me, but then when I tried to run at her speed It made me sick again, so I told her to go.... I walked up a hill, I was so tired. my feel hurt so bad, everything hurt so bad, I felt sick, my teeth felt like they were rotting in my mough from all the gummys, gels and sports drinks I had eaten. I felt much pain, I didn't thnk I could do it. Then I thought of all my friends who knew I was running the race, and my friends on lose it who run and always enchorage me and I them. And I thought of the people getting my text updates as I crossed the check points.... I passed a few people that looked worse off then me... I started to run again. Oh, the pain. wow. I can't describe it. mile 24 - 2 left. I knew I could do it. I just had to take it easy. I kept going. Mile 25... 1.2 more, it was down hill, that was nice. I started feeling like crying, I was so happy that I was going to make it. Coming into St. Paul lots of people were yelling words of encouragement, I kept on going. Lots of people were walking at this point. I rounded the corner and saw the beautiful church with a dome roof, it was so beautiful. my vision was blurred, it hurt so bad but I didn't even care anymore. I was going to finish. Finally I saw the capital building. it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The finish. I ran under a huge American flag - it was beautiful, I was picking up my pace. Crossing the finish line was a crasy feeling. I can't describe it. it made me cry but i'm pretty sure I was chemically un balanced at that point too. It's a little comical now.... I started to walk and could barly do so. Never had I felt such pain. I grabbed food that they had out, I wasen't hungry. Someone gave me bread and then I droped all my stuff and that made me cry again...  I wondered around nibbling on my bread trying to hold off my tears. I just wanted to see someone I knew... Someone gave me a shirt... Finally I found the "H" and there was Deb. I crumbled on the ground, it hurt so bad.... then I just started sobbing and Poor deb didn't know what to do... Us Ostranders aren't too good at comforting each other. As I was sobbing I looked at her face and it was covered in salt, that was funny and I started to laugh while I was crying... I was pretty much just a mess. I've never cried from happiness before, but I think that was part of why i was crying that day. It was so hard. I never could have done it if I haddent though of all my friends and family who were thinking of me and who had listened to me ramble on about running for years....

After the Race - all together again

Pizza after YUM

I've never worked so hard for something

The shower after the race felt better than any shower I had even taken, after the initial sharp stinging pain from all my rub marks wore off that is.  We went out for pizza and wine after, hobbled around the city a little. Got frozen pizza and tater tots to make in the hotel room, watched a couple of movies with the food and 3 bottles of wine. Jer and I went out after deb went to bed and played pool and went to a bar to have more wine. It was a beautiful night. Perfect temperature. The next morning I discovered I had had too much wine. I also felt really bloated and gross from all the carbs and water the day before. my quads were killing me. it was a tough trip home because sitting then standing again was not the greatest. I read that muscles hold in water to help with healing, that must be why I felt so swollen. I also read that you are supposed to take a day "off" for each mile you raced. by "off" they meant not to run hard. Well.. I don't think that is going to happen. I have some speed to catch up on.
This is about how I felt the day after and the day after that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-hCuYjvw2I

While I was running the race, even when I felt so much pain and felt sick to my stomach, I never once thought "i'll never do this again"  I never once thought "this is stupid" I know I will run another marathon. I know I will qualify for that Boston Marathon someday and then I will run it. It may have hurt, it may have been hard, but somehow the feeling (not talking about the pain) at the end of the race, crossing that finish line, made it worth it all.

It wasn't just the pain, or exhaustion, or the relief that I made it across that finish line that caused the feelings I felt at the end of the race. It wasn't just all the hard work and sacrifice I had put in to the training...It wasn't that I had finally found Debi among the thousands of people - Those things may have played a part in the way I felt at the end of that race, but it wasn't just that. It was a closing of one chapter in my life and an opening to another - One that I did not know, one that was mine to write, one that had many options and choices. It wasn't because of running. It was because of more complicated life choices, things that were put on hold till the race was over. Those were the things that I had to face. You won't understand, because the circumstances are not for the public, however I will say that a person can have a lot of thoughts in 26.2 miles. After the race - I knew things would be different.

The Last days - Taper Carb loading Maddness

New Shoes - i'm not wearing for the marathon

Heading out from Yorkville

This is it. It's the night before the Marathon. I am depending on my 16 weeks of training to get me through 26.2 miles tomorrow starting at 8am. Last week We didn't run too much. Nothing really too eventful. It was actually nice not to run so much. My legs felt so pain free and relaxed... it was Great. This week I wanted to run more. I only did 6 on Tuesday, 5 on Thursday and 4 on Friday. I started eating lots of carbs Wednesday. 3-400 grams per day. I won't be craving pasta for a LONG while. Today we headed out at 7am - drove 6.5ish hours to the expo.

Pumpkin Pancakes to aid in Carb loading

Entering the EXPO

Dinner - It was Awesome

Got Chips, Greek Yougart, Sausage, some wierd veggie mix stuff & some other samples. they were good. Pineapple Greek yogurt is awesome. For dinner we made pasta and garlic bread in the hotel rooms.... Im so full of pasta bread and water. i'm so sick of drinking water. I want to move around and go explor the city... but NOOOO I have to rest. I feel good. I feel ready. I feel like I have lots of energy - rest - and gloyclosigin. I still have not decided what to wear. it's going to be around 50... i wante to wear just a sports bra and shorts, but i'm not sure. Also not sure abut wearing a wearing a water belt. Choices Choices.
So here is what I learned from the taper so far.

3rd week to the end of the training program = longest run.

2nd week till marathon = cut back to 80% of your mileage

1 week before the marathon =  Cut back mileage around 50%.

Week of the marathon (here is where it gets hard and complicated)

1/3rd of mileage. - 4 days of carbs - I tried for 70% of my calories

At least 8 hours of sleep all week

LOTS of water (this gets really annoying - I was up 3 times every night having to go to the bathroom! Not fun because my bathroom is all the way down stairs and my house gets rather chili at night)

Don't do anything new on marathon day (that means food, drinks, activities, clothing & shoes) I am however going to wear a new pair of socks I got possibly... Got them at the expo and they are AWESOME!

That's about it. I'll write about how it goes tomorrow - Hopefully all this prep and hard work and dedication will pay off and I will have a great run. I love all the sport I have gotten from my co-workers and friends. Lots of people have wished me good luck, my facebook page is full of little good luck notes and last words of advice - Even my runner friends from the web (Lose it) have sent me emails and written on my Lose it Page. Its awesome. They will defiantly help me through it. Sometimes I get sick of just how much I talk about running... but I still have people that at lest pretend to listen to me and be interested in what i'm saying. I think I have even started some new runners - or at least a desire to run - I have 2 running schedule requests! I guess that's it. I'm exited!!! a little nervous. hoping for the best. Looking forward to "life after marathon" Looking forward to the pizza and wine party tomorrow night & actually being able to explore the city. Here we go!

The "Runners High"

1 week till 26.2. I'm not nervous YET. I got my race packet in the mail and have read up on what to do before the race. I have started my list of things to bring. Still thinking about weather or not I will wear a water belt. I"m exited still - We all decided to sign up for the pasta party - it's a buffet the day before for dinner. I think it will be fun to meet the other runners.
This week On Monday we decided not to run till later in the day after work. We met at 5pm and went out for 6.5. It was warm because the sun was out, but not bad. I felt good. 8:25 pace.

Spoiled Matilda

Tuesday We did not run, but I took Matilda on a hike at Silver springs.
Wednesday I headed over do debs at 4:30am. It was cold, I was tired. and yet again, I wished I had been my dog.  She had a nice morning nap while I left to go run. Lucky dog.
We ran 7.3 miles at a 8:45ish pace. Felt fine. I can't complain.
Thursday I headed out to run with Boot camp at 4:45 - Deb skipped. We ran 5.5 miles @ 8:05ish pace. I don't know for sure because I forgot my watch. My wrist felt very light, maybe that's why I ran faster. Matt ran with me, finally I ruined one of his "easy" runs and made it into a harder faster run. At the end of the run I sprinted up the final little slope. If felt SOOO good. I just love the feeling of my feet only being on the ground for a split second and just surging forward. every muscle in my body working, my lungs taking in  as much oxygen as possible... everything working together for one purpose - to run faster. I felt great all day from it. just thinking of the feeling I got made me almost feel it all over again. That feeling - that's why I run. I get so tired of people bashing running - "it's bad for your knees" they say "it's the worse thing for your body" they say... but I don't agree. maybe it is hard on a body,but i'm pretty sure when i'm old no matter what I do my body is going to suffer, so I might as well have a reason now for how much it's going to hurt later. I do think that the health benefits out weigh the harm. I like this article :http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ans/psychology/health_psychology/running.html

But I like wine...

I go to start parks to hike too. 

This week I figured since I'm tapering my running, I will taper my wine as well... I made it till Wednesday for the week - thats pretty good right :)?

Tuesday morning Deb came over to my house at 4:30am - we ran 6.5 miles rather slowly (somewhere around a 9m mile pace) we were both feeling a little stiff from Sunday, and my butt was KILLING me. It was alright though besides that. Wednesday we planned on going in the morning, but I woke up like I have for the last 3 Wednesdays and texted "skips?" to Deb. She texted "skips" back and I reset my alarm and happy fell back asleep. She started the skips thing - I think she was really tired once and texted me that on accident, it's stuck since then. So, we didn't run Wednesday... Oh well. It happens. For me it makes getting up the next day a sure thing - i'd feel too guilty doing it twice in a row.

See, I do things besides run & drink. I like to climb too

Oh yeah... I was supposed to cut down on the wine..

Thursday we decided to do the 8 mile loop at Debs. I got up at 4:10am YUCK! and headed over to Debs. I had dragged my winter running shirts out sadly because it was 36 degrees! Totally suckie. I was angry. It was cold. I wanted to go back to bed. I wanted hot coffee and a fuzzy blanket but instead I was driving to my sisters house to go on a STUPID run. I wore a long sleeved running shirt with a short sleeved over it, Karpis, my newton shoes which I wasn't going to wear till the marathon but I figured i deserved to because I was actually going even though it was cold... I should have added a head band for my ears and light weight gloves for my hands... Ears and hands never did warm up, but everything else was warm after 2 miles. We went at 8:40 pace. I had forgotten my flash light so all we had was Debi's little tinny one - When cars came I'd pull back and get in a line behind her while she waved her tinny little light which probably gave about as much light as a match, if that... Most cars didn't see us till the last minute and unfortunately we seemed to be running at the same time as a shift change must have been happening at the Manards warehouse. I won't be forgetting my light for a while.

Friday I didn't have to go to work :) it was AWESOME. I got up at 7 and decided to run with Jer. Headed over to his house.... He told me to bring Matilda... So I did. We ran 12.5 miles. It was nice to run over in yorkville again, it had been a while. I felt alright... not too bad not too good. don't think I drank enough water the day before. When we got back... Jers living room was covered in papers... My little doggie must have had a LOT of fun. She had shown Runners world and Men's Health who was boss.

Matilda's fun

Saturday Deb ran by my house (she's 4 miles away) and I joined up with her for 10.3 miles. She haddent run Friday so this was her long run for the week. We went to sliver springs, around, and back on river to eldamain. I wore some shoes I shouldn't have and now, today my knee hurts :(. glad I don't have to run today - i'm not too worried about it though, I have time to heal. I am looking on ebay for a new pair of Newtons. I missed 2 auctions that went for really good prices... so sad....  That's it though for the week. Next week is even less. longest run is 8 miles. kinda crazy!
With all this talk of running, I wanted to talk about the other things I enjoy as well. All the running does cut into my free time, but I have made sure to still have some fun. I love to talk my dog Matilda - she's a 15MO American Bull dog. I got her for a running partner, but she doesn't really like to run endless it's for fun around the yard. we walk all the time though. every day. She also gets up with me in the mornings, goes out side, then when I leave curls up on the couch... when I come back from running I let her outside with me and she usually stretches with me. It's cute. I also really like wine tastings, hiking, and rock climbing, among other things. I was a little nervous 2 weeks ago rock climbing. it was rough on my knees and I could have gotten hurt before the race... but I didn't and it was so worth the risk. I have to be careful with my wine because it does dehydrate me - This coming week I will defiantly not drink much. I do enjoy watching movies & eating pizza.... Their is deffantly more to my life than running - and after this race I will have more time to enjoy everything else! I'm looking forward to it, but I won't say that this will be my last marathon. Someday I want to qualify for the Boston (real original, I know:)) I also want to run the Rim Run. My sister and I decided to do it when she's 40, then after that when i'm 40 we'll do an iron man, THEN....We will quit and just both get fat and old. the end

Our 22 mile rout. 

Matilda - My Dog. She's only good for about 2 miles.

The LONG run

The 22 is over! That makes me happy.Last weeks runs went like this - Tuesday 6.6 @ 8:36 pace - Wednesday 7.05 @ 8.35pace at my parents house after work in Sandwich - Thursday was a 5 mile lunch break run - Deb texted she wasn't going so I couldn't get up, figured I'd do something productive on lunch.. Didn't really enjoy coming back all sweaty, but oh well.... it was close to the end of the day. Friday was 6.4 @ 8:36 pace. Went to run with boot camp but they didn't leave on time so we headed out... Matt caught up with us and ruined our "easy" run because of course we decided to keep up with him after that...

Foggy sun coming up (Debi Haas)

Photo by Debi Haas

Friday I was very bad. I stayed up till 4am and drank quite a lot more wine than was really necessary. I didn't feel too good Saturday - I took a nap later in the day, drank lots of water and was a little worried about my long run the next day.... Also a little upset with my self for doing that so close to the longest run...I ate a big plate of my lasagna and some french bread prepped my  running stuff and went to bed around 9pm. I was up at 4:30 - had a peanut better and jellie sandwich and headed over to Debs. It was around 54 degrees, COLD. I wanted to go back to bed SO bad. I wore my Newton shoes which now have around 100 miles on them (LOVE THOSE SHOES!!! NEED MORE!!!) We headed out from Debs house running down Eldamain road around 5:45. I was cold to start off with of course. We were at about a 10 min per mile pace which I thought was too slow, but didn't want to leave Jer yet.... We got to river road, then to Ben and left on Fox road by Silver springs. The first water stop Deb had dropped for us the night before. I didn't need much. I had my endurance fuel and gummys and one jel that I ended up not eating (or slurping... what ever you do with those things) I filled up one bottle and we headed out again. all the way to high pint, then down to Bud road to the next water stop that no one needed so we didn't stop. It was a little foggy out, but finally light.

Photo By Debi Haas

We went all the way down bud road and then through Milbook. That was a long road, my least favorite part of the run. Next water stop... Still didn't need much. Felt good so far... We picked up the pace to about 9:30's at this point. Crossed the bridge, up the hill and took the first left down a LONG gravel road. finally we got to Sheridan Black top, the home stretch. we were at mile 18, the miles started getting longer. My hip flexors started hurting, my feet arches felt like they were clasping. I had music on, but I don't remember listening to it. We had started counting cans.... I think Busch Light ended up winning for the most cans on the road. The things I thought about on those last 2 painful miles... I don't know what it was I was thinking about, but I remember thinking that it was weird I was thinking it... Finally we got to 45th road... too bad we missed a turn and still and 1.5 miles left. We had to go down a little road and come back then very sadly go past my parents house, ALL the way to the top of the hill and back... and finally my watch beeped and showed me the time for my last mile of the run.

Suns finally up - Bud road (Debi Haas)

I really enjoyed my smoothie - I had one last week and froze half for the 22 - it dethawed nicely and was quite satisfying.

My Brother In-Law drive us back to Deb and his house - THen on the way home I stopped by the gas station for coffee and ice.... When I walked in the doughnuts smelled SOOOO good I just had to buy one. After my ice bath and coffee I had plenty of energy. I decided to do laundry and clean the house....  It did catch up to me later that night after I wolfed down pizza so fast I burned the roof of my mouth - that hurt. then I was really tired and could barley keep my eyes open.

I did not feel guilty.

DONE!

The next day I felt like I had a hang over. I was so tired and pretty stiff. My

Final time

lower body felt a little like a truck had ran it over. but nothing hurt too bad, or like I pulled or strained anything, so I was happy about that.

After this run i'm feeling pretty confidant about the marathon. If the weather is good - I think i'll make it!

Sunrise from another day (Debi Haas)

4 more weeks

I can't believe that it's September already and we only have 4 weeks left to train. One hard week - this one. then we taper down to prepare for the race. Pretty exiting. I better put together a list soon!
Last week went pretty good - Monday we ran from my house at 5:30am - YUCK. It's been SOOOOO hard getting up in the morning - I just want to sleep all day, but when I have that option I don't have too much trouble getting up. Anyhow - it was pretty warm still - we did 6.5 down to Ben street past all the Super Man set security (i'm so sick of them!) then down to river, up Black hawk hill and back on hale. pace @ 8.28 - not bad for the heat - i'm glad my normal easy pace is pretty much back.

Tuesday I couldn't drag myself out of bed and then deb decided to skip too - like I said, it's just hard getting up! I did go for a 2 mile run with Matilda. She was not a fan and kept lagging farther and farther behind. I know she has plenty of energy because she had no problem running around my yard afterwards, but she just dosen't like running to just run, it has to be fun - my type of running is too much work. Lazy dog. We rounded the super man set which was quite blocked off only to find a rather large crowd of people gawking at the 3 helicopters flying around. "Wow - LOOK - what is that?!?!?!?! I think I will watch it all night because I have nothing better to do!" I don't get the fascination people have with the movie - I want to see it but spending hours standing next to a fence you can't see through hoping for a gimps of something seems a little silly.

Wednesday: Ran at 4:30 from Debs - Big loopl she was still sleeping when I came over. wanted to do speed, felt tired. and hungry. and thirsty. knee and shin hurt a little. I can just feel my knee swell - it feels "floppy" kinda. not bad. but I need to do more core work outs. I'm just so tired these days.....Pace 7 miles @ 8.44


Thursday: Knee hurts a little, shin hurts a little. no worse I don't think. did back excersises, going to do more.  it was 70 degrees and humid. very humid. I was SO sweaty it was gross. Yesterday I ate Kashi cereal for breakfast - regular snacks - sandwich for lunch, baked fries, brownies and a chicken sausage wrap for dinner. felt pretty fueled, just hot and hard to breath. 6.5 same route as Monday @ 8:44 pace

Friday I "rested" but I did mow the grass - Went to bed early :( No wine for me.

Saturday I picked deb up and we headed over to meet Jer at the Gillman trail in Sugar grove. I thought it was going to be really hot, but it was not as bad as I thought it would. we re scheduled our 22 mile run for this week because of what we thought the weather would be - as it was I think we could have done it, however I read some stuff that says that the longest run should be 3 weeks before the marathon, so this way it will be - AND we'll do it on a sunday and the marathon is on a sunday. So it'll work out just fine I think although I wish it was already done. I decided to go shirtless and my waterbelt ended up tearing me up pretty good. I dropped a bottle of water at about mile 3 - I didn't use any gummys, just endurance fuel - I felt fine. Good actually we did 15 miles @ 9:30ish pace. All of us together the whole time. That hasen't happened in a while. I think I might have been able to keep it up for 5 more miles at that pace - if the weather is good im going to try to do that for the 22. I had a PP&J sandwich before the run and I have a new running recipe for you!
Smoothie: One package of silk Tofu all blended together with milk, Cherrys, strawberrys (both frozen) Some honey, and whey protein dry mix. I put it all in 2 containers and I will have the other one this sunday - not sure how it will deThaw, but only one way to find out. I like the Slik Tofu - it added some thickness to it. The smoothies did however make my freezer not freeze, so it was on all night bowling ice all over all of my food - so I will be more careful about that.

The next day we went rock climbing for 5 hours - we were a little sore the next day.
To sum it up for this week I think I have learned not to stress about time when it's hot - or at all right now - not for this marathon. I also learned to make time for strength training - you have to do more than just run, or at least I do, to minimize the risk of injury. Make sure your not going to wear a swim suite the next day after letting your water belt tear up your skin - I wish I had wore a shirt.
I guess that's about it.
I decided I am going to bring my camera with me on the marathon run. We talked to someone else who said that the race is really beautiful with rolling hills - I think that will be perfect for me - hill make it more interesting and make it so i'm less board.

Aug 22nd - Aug 27th

Five weeks to go! This week was the step down week I have been looking forward to. The weather was great for all of the runs - made a huge differance. Monday Debi met at my house at 4:30am - we headed out and did a 6.5 mile run. We never even saw the sun rise - it's crazy how late it it coming up now. Tuesday we ran the 7 mile loop at Debs house. I got to her house at 4:40 and knocked.... she didn't anwser - her alarm haddent gone off or if it did she had turned it off. So we got off to a later start, but saw the sun rise & it was beautiful - I really felt low on sleep - very tired. Wednesday Deb met at my hosue again for a 6.2 mile run. for the first time in months I walked down the staris and it didn't hurt. It was actually strange. we met at 4:30 at my house for the run. it was alright. not awesome, but not bad. Thursday we met with Boot camp and ran with the group. It was the fastest 8 mile run I have run since I got hurt. Dawn is traing for a marathon 2 weeks after mine and she wants to qualify for the Bosten - she's fast. But I kept up somehow. we ran at an average pace of 8:03 or something like that. one mile speed was 7:45 and it was right up a hill. I wore my newton shoes for all of the runs last week and they still feel great. I kind of love them. I was afrade that I would agravate my healing knee and shin, but Friday I felt fine. Went biking all day in Chicago - Was fun. Debi worked Saturday morning so I slept in and had a nice leasure morning. We decided to run at 5:30 from Siliver Springs. It was a really nice run - I felt great. Debi didn't feel as good but she still made it - her calves were tight. we ran 11.5 in about 8:30 - 8:45's it was nice to feel good for a somewhat longer run for a change. Nothing really too eventful happened last week with running. Pretty much all the runs were good ones. IT's got to be me healing and the weather getting cooler - maybe the Newton shoes too. This coming week is the big 22 miler week. I'll admit... i'm a little afrade.

20 on the 20th = DONE

6 more weeks left - AGAIN. I miss calculated last week. Training is going alright. I ran Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday last week. Discovered sprinting, as good as if feels at the time, is not good for my knee right now :( Sadly I think I will have to cut all the speed work outs out of my training. I sprinted Tuesday and it felt AWESOME, but then my knee was really sore Wednesday.... So I better not do that. Monday was a really fun 4mile trail run, I liked that. we went to sliver springs after work and ran in the woods and by the river and lakes. I wore my Newton shoes, they rock, however I don't think my knee likes them - could have just been the sprinting though. Nothing really eventfull happned on the runs. Thursday we were going to run, but Debi and I and Jer all decided not to because we were hurting a little and needed to be good by Saturday. Debi and I biked Thursday, that was fun. Friday I pretty much rested exept for of course riding horses and mowing the lawn and walking Matilda.... I guess I didn't rest too much.

I did eat good though. Managed 70% carbs for the day and about 80oz of water. I thought I was going to have a good run and felt fairly Prepared mentally. I slept ok and got up at 4:08am. Ate 2 pieces of toast one with peanut butter and one with honey, and half a bannana. We left Jers at 4:50 and started out at the canal around 5:45 I think. I didn't feel that great the whole way. it was about 70 degrees with 90% humidity. we stashed water at mile 5 - turned around at mile 10. Jer picked up the pace and I tried to keep up. I couldn't breath - my chest felt tight, I felt exhosted. at mile 16 I got Debi to go ahead and I walked 0.1 mile out of each mile after that. I made it but my average pace was around 10:30. HORRIBLE, but I made it. I was so tired... We met people who were training for the chicago - one of them had run MN and said he didn't think the hills were that bad - maybe he repressed the memorie, I don't know.

We were about ready to pack up when the girl we had met came running up that someone needed to call 911 because their friend had passed out. Jer called and they very impressiveally came in about 4 minutes. The guy had gotten up by then and was down in the parking lot. He ended up being ok but I heard the emergancy crew say that the previous week they had a call and couldn't get the guy to wake up. sounded like he died, but I don't know for sure.

Learned: Don't freze the water bottle you intend to carry in your hand.... No matter how hot it is, it starts to freze your hand.

Plan to run fast when Debi has new music

Its really awkward to have your Gynecologist/Doctor ask you about all your running rub marks

Sleep, Nutrition & quality work outs matter in a marathon training plan - in that order.

Corn fields are your friend

Make sure you dethaw your frozen fish before you put it in the oven - Otherwise the middle is sushi

Sweet Potatoes are good mashed

When making Lasagna make sure to add eough sauce on top of ALL noodle layers. If you don't they stay crispy - and that's just no good.

Week Nine done - 7 to go

Yorkville to Sandwich Photo By Debi Hass

Strange dead bird - Photo By Debi Hass

 Week 9 of Training is over & I'm feeling some improvement from my injuries. Monday I ran 1.5 miles with Matilda, Tuesday I ran with Debi, Vicky & boot camp almost 7 at 5am, we went to from Debs to YMCA to blackhawk hill back to Debs. Wednesday we Met at my house at 4:30 and did my 8 mile "flat" rout past the highschool and down rock creek road - Thursday we ran with boot camp again from Debi's house - almost 8 again I think. Friday I just went biking because we were going to do our 16 mile run at 6pm because Debi worked in the morning on Saturday. HOWEVER, it didn't work out. I had pasta at 3pm in preparation, had been guzzling water all day and was all mentally prepared for it (not drinking Fri. night etc.) then a storm came around and had the potential to land in our running path with large hale. Turns out it did hale in Sandwich around where we would be running around the time we would have been their, so I guess it was a good call, but I hated that I hadn't run Friday AND Saturday in preparation - and that I had eaten a large amount of pasta. But... what can you do? So, we met at Santa fe and had drinks and Mexican food -

16M long Run - Bud Road. Photo By Debi Hass

then Jer and I headed out to hide water on mile 10 of the route, then back home for me for yet another early night. We headed out at 7am it was a perfect day. Nice breeze, great temperature. I felt pretty good the whole way. The 10 mile water stop worked really well - We did sprints at the end and that felt pretty good too. This was the route that we did for our first 15 mile run last year - I have to say, it was a LOT eayser than it had been last year. As far as what's wrong with me this week it's pretty much the same thing - Knee hurts after a while on the long runs still and my shin hurts the first few miles. nothing seems to be getting worse - not better too fast, but what can I expect the way I keep running on it... I still haven't felt up to speed work, but with the sprints on Saturday feeling so good I think I may be ready this week.

elevation map for the marathon - mile 20-24 = ouch

Next week we're doing 20 on the 20th - Longest yet. at least I have the step down week to look forward to.

My Bannana cranberry nut bread. YUM

08-15 run went good 5:50pm Silver sprints - Debi and I did a 4 mile trail run that was actually really fun. our average pace was 9:30 however we had to turn around 3 times because our trail turned into a rabbit trail... I felt really good and wore my Newton shoes.  08_16 run went good too - 7.17 miles at 9 min. mile average pace. I wore the newton shoes again and they were AWESOME. my foot feels a lot more free to move and I love

Pre run (night before) Dinner

how the rubber wedge pushes my foot forward more. they were really comfortable, no chance of a blister. They are also really light which is a nice change from my super structure shoes. We met at Debs at 4:45 and headed out down Faxon and did a loop back on Eldamain to her house. We sprinted the last quarter mile or so and it actually felt great. I feel like i'm coming back - i'm sure it has something to do with the weather, but it also feels like my burn out is finally fading. My shin is throbbing just a big right now - and it hurt a little most of the way, but it seems to feel about the same as last week, so i think i'm ok to keep going.
A few things I have learned lately is that all calories are not created equal.  Diet is SO important to train for a marathon. I always have pasta the night before long runs. usually half white noodles and have wheat. I also try to have a couple pieces of bread and light meat. Pop corn is a good snack I think. I have made pasta with home made sauce or just beefed up a canned sauce with squash and zucchini. Another thing that I really like and feel that it helps my performance is my recipe for Banana nut bread.  the recipe is: (in the bread maker in this order)
.5c warm water
1 egg
1tbs Oil (I just use what ever i happen to have, olive now, but I bet veggie would be better
4tbs Honey
1tbs butter
dash of salt
2 ripe bananas sliced
1.5c white flower
1.5c wheat flower
2-3 tbs dark brown sugar
dash of nutmage
dash of Cinnamon (when I say dash it usually means .5 to 1 tps but I just put some in :))
1/4 - 1/2c chopped walnuts
1/4 -1/2 dried cranberrys
1 pouch of active dry yeast
Then all you do is set it as a med. loaf (think it's 1.5) and press start. THEN here is the REAL secret - once the dough gets to the ball stage and the bread maker is doing it's thing - you add more flower (white or wheat, your choice) you add it till it isn't all sticky and it is in a nice ball. then once it rises and starts to spin again check it again. kidna use butter knife to help it get un stuck and rolling in a nice ball.... Give it a shot, it's AWESOME.
Lastly it's the recovery drink, ice bath and foam roller. I try to get around 20  grams of protein with in a half hour of the end of my long run (the sooner the better) then with in 2 hours I try to sit in at least cold water (the coldest my tub will bring me) I would rather add a bag of ice though. After that, I make sure to roll out my legs on a foam roller. I know it sounds like a lot of work - and it is - but it's worth it. I have neglected to do these things a time ago and have taken a lot longer to recover with out it. All for now :)

Well... I guess I'll keep training then



 After my amazing week off I continued my plan to take it easy for a week. I ran a 5m run alone, then a 6.5 mile run with my sister and then a 5.5m run with boot camp at silver springs. Felt pretty good, but deffantly suffering with my breathing because of the time off.





Sunrise run with Deb

Friday night I had corn on the cob, pasta with a sauce made from yello squash and my home grown tomatoes, topped with grilled chicken. I also ate 3 fig bars :). I was in bed and sleeping by 8:15pm. Saturday I was up at 4:10am for a 18 mile canal trail run. I was supposed to meet jer and Deb at Jers house at 4:45, but I got pulled over after my first turn :( Aparently I didn't stop fully at the stop sign going out of my street nor did I signal) The officer also let me know that I could get a ticket for not having my licance changed over to my new addeess - but he didn't give me a ticket or a written worning - he just made me late. I think this is the 4th time I have gotten pulled over in Plano with Matilda - she didn't even care - she was half asleep the whole ride and i'm sure she was curled up on the couch at Jers the whole time I was out running. Lucky dog. We got out to where we wanted to start and the gate was closed - so we headed to the place we started at last time - we were trying to avoide the .6 mile treck of black top on that part of the trail, but oh well... We started out at a good steady pace and kept it up pretty much the whole run. I ended up having 2 gummys but all my water bottles were with endurance fule. it worked out pretty good but I did get sick of the stuff and really craving regular water. but it gave me energy, so that's ok. We put some bottles on a rock at mile 4.5 again.

I actually stayed pretty hydrated - I even had left over water, it was nice. The last 3 miles were tough, my hips really hurt and I just wanted to stop. but it was better than last time - last 18 mile run my knee hurt the first 5 miles and the last 5 miles I felt pretty awful, so deffantly an emprovement.



post run stretching - so
glad to be done

Jer finished about 7 minutes behind us - it was funny watching him run the last few tenths of his run, he looked about like I had felt. After the run I had some breat and protine drink. Then I took a cold bath at home, had coffee and used my foam roller. Yesterday I was a little sore and I am today as well, but not too bad. My knee feels just fine, but my shin hurts. I didn't run this morning - I might tonight. not sure. Might just give myself more time to revover... 18 miles is no joke. This week I'm going  to try to do my speed work out - Might go for a little run tonight - then run with B.C tomorrow. Wednesday speedwork out, Thursday boot camp run.... 16 mile run this weekend, however I might wait for Sunday to go with Deb. Probably will, i'd much rather run with her than run alone.





 

Hurt again :(

Well - I have a few problems now.
I think I know why too -- when I was training for the 5k I had planned on taking about 3 weeks easy before marathon training -- but I felt so great at the time, nailing most of my speed works outs etc. I decided not to... BIG mistake. I should have known when I was starting to get tired and struggle with the workouts to take a few days off and rest... but I didn't. and now.... here I am.

Last week I didn't make it through my week. I ran 7.5 Monday - it hurt. Knees, Shin, ankle.... Tuesday I made it 4m on a DREADmill it was horrible - HATED IT. Wednesday night in the heat I made it 7.5 at a walk - run. I couldn't make it more than 4 miles with out breaking down. it just hurt too much, Deb was with me and was nice enough to stay with me.

I decided it was not worth it. This Marathon is not worth ruining my summer for. So, I decided to take a week off - off from everything. The workouts in general, definitely running & eating healthy, all the things I had been forcing myself to do.

So Thursday I slept skipping my 9 mile run, then I had pizza for dinner and stayed up late with a friend (I did walk Matilda)
Friday I slept in, I went hiking and biking with Debi but that was for fun not for the work out, then I ate junk food and closed the bar down with a friend staying up till 2am.

I relished my Saturday morning not having to get up early to run my 20 mile run - it was great. I didn't miss running one bit - my knee and shin still hurt. I went to garage sales made eggs and toast for breakfast & went for a 15ish mile bike ride to run some water out to jer who had to run 17 miles. I didn't envy him and had fun biking with him for a while - took some pictures of some georgious flowers along the way. I mowed the grass, walked Tilda... then I stayed up late watching a movie with neighbors and grilling out. Popcorn with the movie of course!

Sunday I was a little junk fooded out so I just had oat meal for breakfast I think..... Didn't do much Sunday, just walked Matilda and went for a bike ride, drank wine and watched a movie before bed - knee and shin still hurt.

Monday I slept in, I was starting to get use to it, it was great. I didn't have to worry about my protein content so I ate things I normally wouldn't for breakfast, was early to work because I didn't have to clean up from a run... Monday I was supposed to run 10 miles. I ate  pretty much what ever I wanted. I went for a bike ride and hiking with Debi and Tilda, it felt like Tuesday but it was Monday. I stayed up till 10 reading... so relaxing to know all I had to do was go to work in the morning....

then Tuesday I  slept in again.... Went biking a few miles, walked Tilda after work went roller blading with Pris. banalced on my balance thing and stretched.... Finished my 8th or 9th book of the year.

Yesterday I slept in even though I was thinking about getting up early... that didn't happen I didn't sleep well...I did feel sad I missed the sun rise... then on lunch break I went to star bucks and went ahead and ordered coffee AND an apple fritter, it was worth every each and every one of it's 420 glorious calories. I enjoyed every bite.  I have been working on a bag of dove chocolates and a bag of cookies at home, i'll actually be glad when they are gone because i'm getting a little carried away with them - YUM. For dinner I had mashed potatoes mixed with beans and some fresh beans from my garden. I took tills for a walk and went for a 8 mile bike ride with my new bike. I want to ride it ever day, it's fun and SO much more comfortable than my old one. My old one feels like a piece of junk now. Some day I want to get a REALLY nice bike, right now new this one would cost around 450, but I got it used. It's a diamond back - i'm going to get racing handle bars for it and a water bottle holder once pay day comes. I also bought a camera to carry with me, its adventure proof. I like to buy stuff when i'm sad - it makes me feel better, and I do feel better from all my rest and indulgences. I think i'm ready to go back, and I did this morning.

Slowly, but I did. I ran 5.3 miles with boot camp at a 9:45 pace. SO SLOW I know, but I read that when you come back from an injury that's what you have to do, so that's what i'm going to do. and I like it. going slow is NICE. I think I will keep going slow, it's more fun right now. I'll be fast again someday, but not till i'm 100% again which i'm guessing will not be till after the marathon that is, if my coming back slow this week works and I continue to run somewhat pain free. My new plan is:

Run 3 days a week.
Once I can I will start doing tempo runs and some speed work, but not till i feel better.
I want to run with boot camp and Debi and Jer when ever possible -  it's more fun.
I want it to be fun - why should I do it if I hate it? life is too short for that.
I don't want this to ruine my summer - so I wont' let it!
I will NOT make all my desisions based on running
I will indulge in yummy food that may not be too healthy because I like them and they make me happy
I will do other things besides running anytime I want to reguardless to the fact that they may get me hurt and hinder running.
I will stay up late sometimes!
I will like running or I will not run - maybe not every run, but in general
If I really hurt I will stop
If i'm really tired I will sleep more and run later
I will listen to my body
Running will not be my life
This summer will be fun - I think I just had the best week of the whole summer last week when I wasn't running - I don't want to go back to the way things were, but I am ready to run again - I think I can make it work.
Live and learn, right?

Sick, Tired & Sore

Running through geese

After the first 18 at I&M Canal

As if my training was not going bad enough.... I made it through my first 18 mile run. It was tough. The last 3 miles just about

I&M Canal view of the river

Death Run in 90 degree heat

killed me, if it wern't for Deb, I would have walked. But we made it, all 18. Then I got sick. Now I am SOOOO tired, I can't even run. I tried, twice, and failed, making it about 7.5 miles between the 2 attempts which is only 1.5 mile short of the days goal, so thats not too shabby I suppose. I just don't know when i'll be better. My aches and pains have moved all over the place again. One thing gets better, something else starts hurting worse.  So many factors go into this whole training thing - nutrition, social life, stress, work, home life, family life, personal wellness - it all plays a role. This marathon thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be
Photo credit give to Debi Ostrander Haas
.

Running through runners knee is not so fun

So, I guess I might kind of have runners knee. it hurts. I don't like it. Other things hurt too - seems like everything in my lower legs hurt. My quad that I pulled in soft ball seems pretty much fine now though, so apparently my body is capable of healing although it seems to be choosy as to what it actually heals. I thought I was going to just run through the pain and strengthen the things that need to be strengthened to fix these problems and just sort of heal as I go type of thing... However, yesterday as I practically limped  the first mile of my 9 mile run I decided I was getting a little tired of pain. Especially when I wanted to run after my dog and play with her and I couldn't even do that because it hurt too much.... I don't want to ruin my summer because i'm in pain all the time and don't want to go for walks with Matilda, or do ride horses with Pris because of my knee. I'm tired of limping. I need to heal. This week is my "easy" week. I think  I will cross and strength train for 2 of my running days (Wednesday and Thursday) and then run on Saturday. It sucks though. I just want to feel better and run and continue with my training, but I just don't think running through it is working - at all. So that's my plan. hopefully I will do it and feel better and start slowly back up to regular training, hopefully it wont be too hard to get back to the schedule. I'm not happy about this, but I think it must be done. My new cushion shoes should be in soon, I"m thinking about getting custom orthodontics...  Not sure if I need them though. Last week I got all my runs in. One of the 8's turned into a 6 because it was hot and after the speed workout that I shouldn't have done the day before I was really hurting. The long run was supposed to be 16 but very sadly it was only 15.3 somehow I missed a loop that I should have gone on. it was really hot though, not fun. i was so sweaty. it was 75 degrees with around 80 percent humidity at 5am. Crazy.

Thursday 7th - so far I have stuck to my plan. Tuesday I biked 34 miles, yesterday I did the elipitcal for 45 minutes, then arm work out then biked 10 miles. Today i'm going to bike 12 miles and do the elipitical tonight for 45 minutes. probably add some weighted squats and my knee work out. I want to run :( Saturday can't come soon enough, I just hope I will be healed by then!

Tuesday the 12th - So I stuck with my plan - I worked out about 2 hours a day to make up for not running - I have been bike riding on my lunch break and if I work hard I can get 13 miles in (tops so far) then I did the elicpital 2 days (for the run days I skiped) and did other strength work outs.  It was a lot of work, but it payed off. I ran 9 on Saturday morning and felt pretty good, it was hard because 4 days with no running will do that to a runner, but I made it and my knee didn't hurt at all. Yesterday I did 9 again and it was super humid. My ankles are starting to hurt now though :( its annoying. always something. also the sides of my knee hurts, but not like before at all.... I still need to get my core stronger but I think i'm on the road to recovery! I have 2 8 mile runs this week and then Saturday is a 18 miler although we may cut it to 16ish. I'm glad I stuck with my plan, it was hard, but defiantly worth it. I still hurt a little when I get up but not even close to how it was before.

Thursday the 14th - I"m still running. it hurts. Blisters, shin splints, sore knees (surprisingly that's not my main problem anymore)  I need to go to dicks and get some low arch shoe inserts - my new Sauconay cushion shoes need some more support - I also think I need to order size 9 shoes not 9.5, the 2 pairs that are 9.5's have given me blisters on the bottom of my feet (on the arch, or what little arch I have) So that's annoying because those shoes have a lot of miles left on them. I ran 6 with boot camp this morning, it was a really awesome morning, the coolest it's been in FOREVER. I need 9 though, so I am going to do a split and run 4 or 5 tonight. I think next week i'm going to try to add tuesdays back in and see what happens. Maybe i'm just being a wuss. I need to toughen up.

Humbled....I limp to the Dr.

So, marathon training.... it's going to be fun, easy, exiting, no problem, 26.2 miles....not even that far....I WILL make it to the marathon and I WILL be under 4 hours. Training for the 5k with my 40+ miles a week I felt great, I got to the point where I was hardly ever sore. I ran up hills 10 times in a row, no problems... I was starting to feel rather invincible. I was depending on "I" too much....

Then I started to train for a marathon. My miles haven't even been past 45 yet and i'm dieing. falling apart. Legs, knees, ankles, heel. you name it, it hurts. I wake up and hobble down the stairs, limp through my morning run, head for the ice... My legs throb all day through work, I conciser walking to the close bathroom instead of the one I usually go to. No longer do I feel like going for a lunch break walk.... Running just hurts and is not fun, I feel slow and tired....Humbled and battered. I am not invincible, running is not always fun & defiantly not easy, training for a marathon is not going to be easy, 26.2 miles is very far even in a car. I will try to run a marathon. I will try to finish in under 4 hours. But I'm going to need some more help. I can't do it alone. I need a we to depend on, not just a I.

God: Please help me run this marathon, not for me, not so that I have something to boast about, but for me to be better because of it. for me to be stronger, more confidant. for me to learn to stick with something and stay strong even when I'm ready to break down, for me to keep going when I'm tired, for me to know when to stop before I break, for me to learn how to get help from others when I need it, and for me to learn to listen to the advice of others who have more experience than I.

Humbled... today I am going to see a doctor. I need help to get through this. I don't know when to stop to rest and heal, or even why I am breaking. If Dr. Vicky Swenson tells me I need to rest for a week, I will. I also want to run with people more -- I want more of a support system. Yes, sometimes running with others is annoying, they are late, or I am late and feel bad because I am, they run too slow, they run too fast, they disagree about a rout, they drink all my water, they have to stop at the out house.... but somehow the good out weights the bad. I must remember this and not get annoyed about the bad....

Anyway, me and my new attitude are going to wait to run till tonight and that's only depending on how I feel and what the Dr. says. I am feeling better today... Maybe I just need new shoes... That dosen't seem right though because I have 3 pairs that have under 200 miles on them....
I only have a 8 mile speed work out (Might just run regular) and a 14 mile weekend run left. Hopefully we'll figure something out today as to why i'm hurting so much.