3 out of 4 Ain't Bad

I did it! I finished my first marathon yesterday! I had four goals for my race, that I posted the other day:

1. Finish the marathon--DONE
2. Get it done in the 6 hour time limit (don't get picked up by the SAG wagon!)--DONE
3. 5 1/2 hours--DONE
4. 5 hours--run the whole time.--not done

I was close to the goal--I finished in 5:17, which I think is pretty good. I didn't run the whole time but I ran 18.5 miles straight without walking, which is more than I've ever done before. The last 8 miles was back and forth walking/running.

I'll write a race report in the near future. Stay tuned!

Ready to go for the morning!

Carb loading

One of my favorite meals happens to be great for carb loading--chicken paprikas! 12 hours til show time!

I picked up my packet today at the expo. My bib number is 181. I think that's a lucky number! I also picked up some good deals on headbands and a running hat (beanie) with a ponytail hole.

26.2, here I come!

Goals

Three days out from the race. Do I have a goal in mind? Of course I do. I set a goal for myself right when I started training for this. Unfortunately I don't think I'll make my initial time goal but if I finish I'll be happy.

Here is a lowdown of my goals:
1. Finish the marathon
2. Get it done in the 6 hour time limit (don't get picked up by the SAG wagon!)
3. 5 1/2 hours
4. 5 hours--run the whole time.

My plan is to run with the 4:55 pace group--the last one they have. I'm hoping this will keep me motivated to run more, if not all of it.

442 miles since January 1st. This journey is coming to a close. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, yet sad to see this ending. I like how training keeps me disciplined in the routine of exercise. If I'm not training for something, I WILL find an excuse to not do it. So the question is... what's next? We shall see....

One Week to Go!

What a week! It started off with my 12 miler last weekend. Nothing interesting there, other than I ran the whole thing. I was a little worried because my left knee has been bothering me since the 21 miler two weeks ago. It doesn't hurt other than when I'm running, but I managed to work through it. Same with the right Achilles'... still excruciating pain for the first mile then it mostly disappears.

Then there was Monday. I started off pretty excited because we had several friends who were running the Boston Marathon and I was following them via the email updates. On my way home from work, I heard the tragic news of the bombings and panicked. I know our friends were done running, but they are the kind of people who stand a the finish line and cheer on others just for the heck of it and I knew they'd want to soak in the activities of the day. Fortunately, after about an hour of texts and Facebook messages, we found out our friends were okay. I'm still in shock about what took place there, but words cannot describe what I'm feeling--disgust at the suspects, confusion, pride for our fellow Americans willing to help, scared for the future, anger--I'm feeling it all.

I had to keep on with my training for the marathon. I'm not sure what to do because of my knee and Achilles' so this week I took it a little easier and did my miles on the elliptical. It doesn't seem to bother my knee as much and I'm hoping the non-impact will help in the long run, literally :)

This weekend I had 8 miles on the schedule and felt I needed to do an actual run this week. So I took to the country roads yesterday and try to bear the wind. Wow, was it windy! Luckily, the route I had planned out had the wind at my back the second half, which was completely different than last week's run. I had the wind at my face the last 6 miles last week. BRUTAL! Anyway, I felt really good during yesterday's run. My knee bothered me--I could feel it-- but it wasn't so much that I had to stop or anything. In fact, my pace was much faster than I have been (power of taper!)

So, I have a week to go. One week from today, I will be running my first marathon. How has it gone? Okay... I keep telling people that this will be the only marathon that I do, but a trail marathon has been brought to my attention and I'm considering it... The problem is that I'm so slow and the training runs get to 4 1/2-5 hours and that's a long time to be away from home and the kiddos.  I don't mind going out and doing a 2 hour run with friends because I know I need to be healthy and get out, but I feel selfish if I go out for 5 hours just for a run. Plus, I don't like how I feel after the long runs. I want to sit down, prop my feet up, and maybe take a nap while icing my knee and ankle. I limp around all the time and just want to get healed. We'll see what the future holds. Right now I'm going to pick some shorter distances (5k's), and maybe a fall half marathon. We'll see about that trail marathon....

Testing

I am testing out a new way of posting--from my phone. Let's see if thi works and I might be posting more often...

Taper Time!

Last weekend I completed my longest run ever, and it was not easy. M plan called for 20 miles. The local running club was putting on a run, which is typically the last long run for those training for the same marathon I'm training for. It's usually on a towpath and just an out and back. Runners could choose their distance and run whatever was needed for their plan. This year the route was changed and was a 10.5 mile route which was to be run twice for those with longer mileage planned.

 The run started at 8, with an early start at 7:00 am. Me, being the slow runner I am, decided to start early since I had a commitment later in the day. The first 9 miles were pretty uneventful. I ran with a girl the first 2 miles who was the same pace I was. It would have been nice to run with someone the whole time, but unfortunately, she was only running 4 miles so she turned around at the 2 mile marker.

At mile 9, I hear someone yell my name. I look into the woods and see one of my favorite running buddies (M). She and her daughter started at 8:00 and went backwards on the route. Luckily we found each other because the run would have ended very differently if we hadn't.

She and I finished the 10.5 mile route, stopped at my car to refuel and used the facilities, then we were off for Round 2. About a mile and a half in, however the flu that had been going around our house started to manifest itself in my stomach. I really felt nauseous, and was ready to throw up. I was HOPING I'd throw up. M and I took a short break waiting for it to pass. I never did get sick and the feeling never did pass, but I kept on moving. We continued running, but about my mile 13.5, I couldn't do it anymore. I told M to go on without me and I was going to cut my route short. I started walking while she went on.

Less than a minute later, my mantra came into my mind--No Excuses, No Regrets. This was my only chance to do this long run and I needed to do it. I took a gel (Montana Huckleberry, my favorite) and decided I was going to do this. Not only was I going to do the 20 miles, but route had me doing an extra one. I was going to finish the 21 miles, even if I had to walk some of it.

I caught up with M at a water stop and we finished the next 7 miles together. We had to walk some of it but we finished it. Both of us had our longest runs ever--me at 21 and M at 15+. Things may have ended up differently had we not found each other mid-run, but I'm so glad we did.

Now I'm tapering, which I love! 12 miles this weekend, 8 next weekend, then race weekend! My Achilles' tendon is still bothering me, mostly just walking. However when I start running, it only hurts (quite painfully) during the first 1/2 mile. After that, I can barely feel it. I just keep icing it and stretching it as much as I can. Just don't watch me walk--I limp a lot :) I'm getting excited about this race. I'm anxious to see what I can do with the "power of taper" and the adrenaline of race day.