I Came, I Saw… I GOT MY MEDAL!!!

Posted on February 6, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

Whew!  NOTHING CAN PREPARE YOU FOR A MARATHON.  Nothing.  You have to DO IT to really know what it’s like.  That’s one of the things I learned this weekend.

I (with my husband and friend) ran my first full marathon on Sunday, February 5, 2012.  I finished it and I am SO happy, thankful and proud.  It was a feat like no other!

So, here’s my recap of how I got here – It’s long, but I have LOTS to say!!

Background

In December of 2010, I decided and said out loud that I was gonna run a full marathon.  I figured I’d run the Dallas White Rock Marathon in December 2011.  It was a crazy thought and I don’t know for sure if I was REALLY convinced that I could do it, but I was going to give it a try.

In the spring of 2011, I started to have some trouble with my hip again.  I’d ‘run through’ some pain the previous winter, but it was back and was worse.  I had to stop running for a little bit.  After getting cortisone shots in my hips and knees, and going through physical therapy, we finally realized (after an MRI) that I needed knee surgery.  I’d fallen last winter and broke cartilage in my knee that threw off my hip and caused it to hurt.

I ran as much as I could on the treadmill right up until my knee surgery on July 22, 2011.  After surgery, I was in physical therapy for almost 7 weeks.  After that, I started walking/running again trying to build back to the mileage I could do before surgery.

Training

I had an 18 week training schedule that included 5 days of running:  2 short easy runs, 1 tempo run, 1 marathon pace run and a long run.  It seemed like I was running all of the time.  Sometimes it was hard to get out the door to do the runs but I finished them on a majority of the weeks.  I only missed one long run after being sick the entire week.  Some of my long runs were great and some were REALLY bad.  I guess that’s normal, though.  Right??

I felt like I’d trained well and was prepared for the marathon.

The Week Before The Marathon

So…  I thought I’d trained well UNTIL it started getting closer to the race.  Then doubt started creeping up on me.  I was second guessing what I’d done to train wondering if I should have done something different or if I’d missed out on doing something.  I tried to focus on other things during that tapering week but some days it was tough.  I wasn’t running much and seemed to have so much free time!

When I wasn’t stressing about my training, I was stressing about the weather forecast for Galveston, TX.  It was NOT looking good.  There was anywhere from a 30 to 70% chance of rain for Sunday!  Ugh.  I started trying to get myself mentally ready to run in the rain – which I’d never done.

The Day Before the Race

The weather was still looking like it would be crappy.  Yay!  I was SO nervous and worried.  We drove the 5 hours down to Galveston and made it in time to pick up packets which relieved a little stress.  That was one less thing to worry about before the race.  The shirt, hat and race bag were really cute!  The race organizers so far had done a great job with everything.

We had dinner at a little dive of a place in Galveston named Sonny’s Place.  It is supposed to be the oldest bar in Galveston – and it kind of looked like it.  The food was okay, but the server gave us a free pitcher of Shiner Beer because she poured it on accident and thought we might want it.  🙂  Gotta love a free pitcher of beer!

A couple of times during the night, I told my husband and friend that I wanted the to remind me how much I wanted to finish the marathon when/if I start to complain of hurting or being tired.  I was serious.  At that point, I wanted to finish this race even if I passed out at the finish line.

The Shiner helped me fall asleep that night.  I slept reasonably well.

The Morning Of

I woke up and almost immediately heard the freaking rain coming down outside.  WTH???  Ugh!!  Alright.  So we’re running in the rain.  The weather forecast showed 50 degrees and a 50% chance of rain at 7 and it rose to a 70% chance after that until noon with winds of 20 miles per hour!  Oh, man…  This is not good.

We got dressed as well as we thought we needed to be dressed and headed out to the race.  It was about a 5 minute walk from the hotel.  Okay – It was COLD outside and the wind was blowing AND it was still raining.  Right about then, I was feeling pretty unsure about the whole thing.

When we got to where everyone was huddled around, it started to get exciting.  We were noticing how few people were running the full marathon.  I knew this meant it was going to be a lonely second loop.  I was still excited, though.  It’s amazing how just having lots of people in the same boat around you can change your mood.  Here’s my husband and me BEFORE the race:

AND WE’RE OFF!

Mile 1-5:  I felt pretty good.  It was a lot colder than I thought it would be and the wind was kicking up a LOT stronger than I’d imagined.  I ran along trying to look around at stuff and ‘enjoy’ the run but I also had to try to dodge puddles of water.  I was trying to NOT get my feet wet.  Ha!  That didn’t last long.  After I got them wet, I did have one less thing to think about.  Honestly, after a while, I didn’t really even realize they were soaked.  At about 4 and a half miles, my brother in law appeared on the sidewalk!  It was so exciting to see him there – it perked me up a little bit.  By then, we were running head into the wind AND IT WAS BLOWING LIKE CRAZY!  We found out after the race that it was blowing between 20 and 25 miles per hour and it was COLD wind. 

Here’s an article that was in a local paper about the marathon and the weather:  http://galvestondailynews.com/story/291138

Mile 6-10:  The wind was starting to wear on me.  I remember muttering around 8 miles that we really needed to get out of the wind – because I was really using a lot of energy to run against it.  It was blowing me around – a couple of times, I sort of stumbled backward in the wind.  I’d only run once in this kind of wind and that was over a year ago! 

My brother in law met us again at around 8 or 9 miles (i forget!).  He gave me his gloves and my friend his jacket.  GOD SEND!!  By then my fingers were frozen and stinging from the cold.  I was having trouble moving them because it was painful to do so.  I couldn’t close them, couldn’t open them…  I was SOO glad to get those gloves!  Wow.

The other negative around this point came when a woman ran past us and said “I’m so glad I don’t have to run this loop again!”  All I could think was…  “Uh – I have to run it.  Thanks.”  Then I started thinking about how we had to do this ALL OVER AGAIN.  I generally don’t like running in circles but the Galveston marathon was the best fit for me:  The weather SHOULD have been cool and dry, it’s flat and the time of year worked.  Oh, well.  It WAS flat…

Mile 11-15:  I felt pretty okay through mile 13 although I did get a little envious of all of the ‘halfers’ who were standing around and celebrating their finish when I still had another half to go.  I signed up for this, though – nobody MADE me do it!  We called my daughter around mile 11 to ask her to bring me my jacket.  I just didn’t feel like I could keep going for another 3 hours with the plastic trashbag style poncho anymore.  It was COLD and I was feeling miserably wet.  She met us right before the 13.1 marker.  It was a group effort to get the plastic poncho off of me, wrangle with my earbud cord and phone and to get the jacket on me.  Our hands were all so frozen that they just weren’t working like they should have been!  But, we got it done and we were off!  13.1 more miles to go…

I started to become really aware of other runners at this point.  There weren’t many of them left and the majority of them were in front of us.  Kinda felt a little lonely.  I started to wonder if we’d finish in time all the while knowing that both my husband and friend could have easily run much faster.  It was motivation to run as fast as I could – which still wasn’t very fast!  We passed up a couple of people. 

I still wonder about one lady that we passed.  I never saw her again and we were within viewing distance of the woman who was very last.  My husband said that an ambulance that passed us may have gone to pick her up.  Who knows.  I thought about her for a few miles, though.  Didn’t want to get picked up in an ambulance…

My husband and friend had to kick in with the “You can do its” around 16-17 miles.  I think all of the effort I put into running against the wind and worrying early on was starting to take a toll.  I was getting REALLY tired and was having a hard time visualizing that finished line.  Uh oh. 

Brag Alert:  I have the ABSOLUTE best husband in the world.  He didn’t want to be running a marathon in the first place – he’d been there, done that – but he signed up for this one to help me.  When he knew I was starting to fall apart, he kept pushing me, telling me I could do it and reminding me that this was what I’d trained for for so long.  He was telling me he was proud of me and that made me want to keep going.  I feel so fortunate to have him – I honestly don’t know what I would have done without him.  He always seems to know exactly what I need – exactly when I need it. 

Okay – moving on…  Both my husband and friend threw in the ‘we’re gonna do this’ when I needed it.  I did make up in my mind that I was going to finish but I was still worried about the time.  I felt personally responsible for them perhaps not getting a medal because I couldn’t get to the finish line in time.  That is not a good feeling.

Mile 16-20:  TOUGHEST MILES EVER

It is still raining, it’s cold and the wind is still blowing HARD.  It’s just all around miserable.  There’s hardly anyone on the race course – just a few folks here and there and most were passing us.  I know I’m wasn’t supposed to have been concerned about that but it’s kind of hard NOT to. 

Up ahead a little bit, I noticed one lady that passed us had stopped and was bent over on the side of the road.  My friend stopped and said something to her but then she kept going and left the lady behind.  Later, we found out that the lady had bent over to “pee” as she said.  We were literally right around the corner from the port-a-potty.  I don’t know how bad I would have had to ‘go’ to do that!  She was in plain view and didn’t try to hide or anything.  I guess when nature calls…

Around mile 17-18, I started getting confused.  Really confused.  I couldn’t figure out how many miles we had left to go.  I asked my husband how much time we had left and when he told me, it really didn’t mean anything.  I couldn’t figure out how many miles per hour we needed to run to get to the end on time.  I was struggling – physically and now mentally.  I remembered a story my husband told me about when he ran his first marathon.  He said he got to mile 23 and started to think “This is stupid.  If I wanted to go 23 miles, I have a car.  I could have driven!”.  All I could think at that point was “This IS stupid.  What is the point of this anyway?  I have a car.” 

I tried to repeat “This is what I came her for”, “One step at a time”, “I can do this”, but apparently, my mind is resistant to the repeating of a mantra because it had no effect.  Or maybe I needed a better mantra – I don’t know.  But it wasn’t working. 

Mile 21 to 25: Did I say mile 16 to 20 were the toughest?  On second thought, mile 21-25 were the worst!!  Confusion, sheer exhaustion and an overall will to just lie down had taken over.  I felt like I could lie down in the middle of the road and just go to sleep.  I realized that nothing was hurting anymore – I just had NO energy whatsoever.  Although I was drinking at every water station, using gel and eating the energy jelly beans, I was spent AND I was thirsty.  At one of the last water station – I don’t even remember what mile, I grabbed two cups of Gatorade and they were so delicious.  I was SO thirsty.

A couple of times, I closed my eyes while running and I started to feel like I was either going to sleep or passing out – either way, it was kind of scary.  I didn’t tell anyone this because I DID NOT WANT TO TAKE AN AMBULANCE RIDE back to the finish line.  It was weird sensation, though.  When I closed my eyes, I felt like I was just sort of drifting along – not really there but kind of there.  I don’t know how to adequately describe it.  Just trust me:  it was weird.

That’s about all I remember about 20-25. 

Miles 25 to TWENTY SIX POINT TWO!!!

I tried as hard as I could to pick up the pace on the last stretch – wasn’t that successful at it – but I was trying.  A couple of times, I imagined myself falling and hurting myself.  I imagined the race volunteers taking up the finish line and starting to clean up before we got there.  That made me try to push hard but unfortunately, I didn’t have much energy to push a little bit, let alone HARD.

We looked back and saw the very last lady in the race being followed by police cars.  That was crazy.  Woo Hoo!  We weren’t last.

When we got to 26 miles, I tried again to pick it up and I THINK I went a slight bit faster.  That .2 miles is a LOONG way when you’re hanging on to the end of your rope by a thread.

We did it, though!  I was so exhausted and in a daze that the people kept asking me if I was okay.  I wanted to cry but I was too tired – how does that happen?  I just wanted to sit down.  The photographer had us come over to the ‘Finisher” banner for pictures and as I was standing there, I felt like I was going to fall over.  My legs were jelly and I was getting that ‘falling asleep’ feeling again.  When I did get to sit, it felt so good.

We did it!  I was so happy.  It was a long road to the finish line but I got there! 

Posted in Running | Tagged | 12 Comments

Making a List and Checking it…. SEVERAL times

Posted on February 1, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

My very first marathon is only FIVE days away!  I am full of so many emotions:  excitement, fear, anxiety, nervousness…  I think these are going to be long days.

I am working on a list of all of the things I will need (or even MIGHT) need to take with me to Galveston.  There are great lists posted on the internet but none of them really lists all of the things that I need specific to me the sports tape, my contact lenses, etc. so I need to have my own.

Before I go further, here’s an update on weather updates:  I’ve only checked the weather in Galveston twice today.  It’s still not looking too good.  There’s a 40% chance of showers and the temps will be between 52 and 60 – so warm, muggy and possibly wet.

Back to my list.  I’m not sure what extra to pack for rain.  I’ve got a cheapie rain poncho (REALLY, REALLY THIN AND REALLY, REALLY CHEAP!), my visor and Body Glide (for which I usually substitute tape).  What else?  I wish there were a way to bring an extra pair of shoes but I don’t know that we should rely on my daughter (15 y/o) to meet us at a designated spot in the race to give us dry shoes.

Making sure I get my list together is really important, but the thing that I am most worried about is getting enough sleep.

TMI ALERT: 

So…  I am perimenopausal.

I DID ALERT YOU THAT THIS MIGHT BE TMI, RIGHT?? 

Some of the unfortunate symptoms that I have been having are night sweats, frequent urination (ugh) and inability to actually GO to sleep and STAY asleep.  I happened to have my annual ‘well woman’ check up yesterday.  My doctor suggested an OTC remedy that won’t work for me because it is soy based.  I’m allergic to soy.  (I know this because I’ve had the skin test.)  There is another OTC supplement that contains something called black cohash? but she admitted it might not be very effective for me.  I did get a prescription for low dose BC pills but can’t start taking those.  Not the right ‘time’ yet if you know what I mean.  So…  I wake up 5, 6, 7 times each night for various reasons:  it’s hot, now it’s cold, gotta ‘go’, just can’t sleep…

This is kind of stressful.  I wake up in the morning NOT feeling rested and sometimes in a bad mood because I don’t feel rested.  I am not sure to do.  Last night, I took an OTC sleep aid that didn’t really help.  I was awake for at least two hours after I took it.

Well, it’ll all work out – or it won’t.  We’ll see!

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Too Much Time on My Hands

Posted on January 30, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

Okay, so now I know what I will do this week since I’ve freed up some time not devoted to running. 

I am going to visit Weather.com and check the weather in Galveston 16 times a day and then send my husband an update.  I secretly believe that he only reads some of my emails – now, I’m pretty sure he won’t read them at all after today.

In case you are wondering:  Currently, there is a 40% chance of ‘scattered t-showers’ with 16mph winds.  Yay…

Ugh…  breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.

Oh!  I ordered this today:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003V4A91W/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

I’ve been wanting one and I’m wearing it for the marathon.

Posted in Running | 4 Comments

Attitude & Effort

Posted on January 29, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

There are only 7 more days until my first full marathon.  WOW!  It doesn’t seem exactly like YESTERDAY that I started training, but in the words of some old cliche maker:  Time flies when you’re having fun.  I confidently declared over a year ago that I was going to run a marathon.  I’m not sure how I made that decision, but I’ve been determined to follow through. 

A month after I made that declaration, my hips started hurting so much that I nearly stopped running.  Several visits to the Orthopedist, a couple of cortisone shots to the hip and knee, X-rays and an MRI later, it was determined that I needed knee surgery.  So after knee surgery, physical therapy , slow recovery and NINE months after my initial decision, I started ‘officially’ training for my first full marathon.

It’s been an interesting 18 weeks.  I’ve learned lots about myself and the people around me.  Some of it’s been great and some of it, I could have done without.  😦  SURPRISE:  Some people don’t want you to be successful.  Some people are going to be jealous (yes…).  Some people just don’t get it.  That’s okay, though.  What I’ve gained from this far outweighs the few discouraging things.  More on those things in a later post.

Training is not over, yet.  My last week might be the most critical.  I’ve got to get my mind right!  Yesterday I was in the car with my husband and he had sports radio on.  I REALLY don’t get sports radio sometimes.  Seems like a bunch of people just rattling on and on about the same thing over and over…  (I’m getting sleepy thinking about it.)  BUT.   The point of this was that there was a man on who talked about attitude and effort.  He thought these were the two most important aspects of sports and I my husband and I agreed.  (The guy has a website in case you’d like to visit it: effortandattitude.org)  I started thinking about my own attitude and effort. 

Have I given this training my all?  Has my effort been worthy of the goal? I’ve often taken a few seconds to decide if I ‘gave it my all’ after a run.  Could I have done more?  I don’t mean I wonder if I could have run further or faster, but if I ran strong.  Did I use the run to focus on my form and my breathing or was I just dragging myself along any way I could?  Was there a purpose for each of my runs?  Was the effort that I put into each of my runs worth the time to do the run?  I guess the answer is ‘sometimes’.  No, I think ‘usually’.  Sometimes the only ‘effort’ could put into my run was to actually get out of the house and go.  Some runs were great:  focused and purposeful, tough.  All in all, I think my effort was worthy of the goal of finishing this marathon. 

How about my attitude?  Have I let myself get down, mad, sad, discouraged so much that it’s affected my outcome?  Have I pushed people away?  Have I made this l sport seem attractive to someone else with my attitude about it?  I know I’m not the official running ambassador, but I DO know that my attitude about it to a ‘non-runner’ might affect how they think about all runners.  More importantly though, have I had an attitude that would keep ME attracted to the sport, to my goal?  Have I second guessed myself too much?  Have I NOT taken criticism or questions about my training serious enough?  Have I poo-pooed an idea that maybe could have helped me?  Hmm…  I. don’t. think. so…  I’m going to work on something that my sister talked about and I’ve always been intrigued by:  Positive visualization.  This week, I am focusing on a vision of myself at the FINISH line with that FINISHER’S medal in hand.  I know I can get across that line.   Positive attitudes reap positive results. 

So, this is my very last week of training before my very first marathon.  I have three 3-mile runs left (Monday, Wednesday and Friday).  I’ve looked at the weather forecast for Galveston and the temp will be between 50-55 degrees with humidity between 70-76%.  So…  I’ll be REALLY focusing on HYDRATING as well as my glycogen stores this week.  I need to channel my inner child-that-grew-up-in-Houston this week to get ready for the humidity…  It’s all good, though.

I CAN DO THIS!!  OH, YES I CAN!

Posted in Fitness, Marathon, Running, Training | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Ten Days til My Marathon!

Posted on January 26, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

The countdown begins!  Only 10 days til my very first (only??) full marathon!  I am excited, nervous, scared…

 

Last night, I asked my husband this question:  “What if I can’t finish the race?”  He answered, “It’s not just about the race.  It’s about the whole journey.  You set a goal and worked hard to achieve it.  Lots of people start marathons and don’t finish.  Lots of people have bad runs – even elite athletes get hurt and can’t finish.  I wouldn’t be too disappointed for not finishing….(insert some other words that start to run together and all sound the same…)  Are you tearing up thinking about it?  What were you expecting me to say?” 

Me:  “Uh, not that.”

Husband:  “You asked me what if you didn’t finish.  I think you will finish but that’s not what you asked me.”

 

So.  Let me just say up front.  I am not fishing for ‘atta girls’ or ‘you can do its’.  I appreciate them but please don’t feel compelled to sling them at me.  I just want to share how I REALLY feel right now.  This IS (has been?) a  journey.  I have traveled between high, chest pounding self confidence to considerable self-doubt, to mind numbing devotion to the plan – just get it done at all costs devotion, giddiness (yes, I get giddy!) and sheer, spirit crushing sadness.  I’ve traveled all of this way on my over-pronating feet, knock knees, wide hips, ‘ample bust’ (well, I guess I wasn’t traveling on my bust literally…), my faithful Brooks Adrenalins, my faith, my husband’s shoulders, my friends’ well wishes and last but not least, on sheer naivete.  What in the world was I thinking?  “I’m going to run a marathon…”  Sigh.

 

My husband was right last night.  I DID ask “What if I don’t finish”.   My focus lately hasn’t been on whether or not I’ll finish  but it’s been on ‘what if i don’t finish’.  What if, indeed.  What if?  I am scared and actually dreading February 5.  “What If” has set in.  What if it’s raining?  What if it’s hot?  What if it’s too humid?  What if my knee hurts?  What if my hips start hurting?  What if i have another anxiety attack (if that’s what it was)?  What if everyone finishes the race except me?  Ugh.  Yeah.  This is a journey – to crazy land! 

 

When I think rationally, I know that I have trained as well as I knew how.  Was it good enough, though?  Did I miss something?  Should I have run harder, further, faster, less?  There’s stuff that I know I should have done:  like lose weight.  I’ve lost a pound or two but what if I had dropped 10-15 pounds, would I feel better about things, now?  Maybe.  I don’t know.  I toyed with the idea of getting those knee straps to run with.  I also thought about wearing a compression wrap on my knee during runs.  Is it too late?  I’ve still got a 10 mile run in two days.  What if I did those things?  Would it help?  The race changed the fuel gel from Accel to Gu.  What if Gu makes me sick?  I’ve trained with Accel.  Do you get a picture of the turmoil going on in my brain right now?  I am stressed out.   It’s not much fun.

 

I approached this, as I do most things, with the idea that if I work hard and do the right stuff, I will be successful.  I’ve been using my ‘journey’ and this blog to hopefully encourage someone else to give running, exercise and fitness a chance.  I’ve used the “if I can do it, you can too” motto.  I’m supposed to be proving that hard work pays off.  It’s a journey, but I WANT TO GET TO THE FINISHED LINE of this journey.  I know that all of the steps that I’ve traveled to get this far are important but I traveled all of these steps to FINISH.  What’s the use in walking to the bakery only to peer into the window at the cakes?  Why climb NEARLY to the top of a mountain?  Why learn the dance steps and never dance at the ball? 

 

What am I willing to do to finish?  I am going to go until I can’t go any more.  Honestly, I don’t care what shape I’m in on Monday.  Just.  Keep.  Going.  I watched a video of a lady approaching a marathon finish line and she was slowly falling apart until she just fell down, ran out.  She and some other person were crawling toward the finish line.  The video is titled “Hilarious Marathon Finish” but I didn’t think it was funny.  It made me start to cry.  I will crawl across the line if that’s all I have left…(click to watch video)  “Ain’t no shame in my game!”

 

Alright, I know some things are simply beyond my control.  If I hurt myself, pass out, get sick, cramp up or crap out and can’t finish the race…  I still have all of the experiences that got me TO the race.  That might have to be enough.

Posted in Fitness, Marathon, Running, Training | 7 Comments

Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Runners

Posted on January 19, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

The other day I read a blog titled Top 10 Reasons I Hate Runners – or something like that. CLICK HERE TO READ IT:  http://www.chicagonow.com/lists-that-actually-matter/2010/10/top-5-things-to-hate-about-marathon-runners/

I’m pretty sure it was meant to be satirical but there was some serious hate in many of the comments.  Can’t say it was unwarranted if you didn’t get that it was a satire.   The author talked about ‘fatties’, runners talking about missing toes, runners ‘bragging’ about how many miles they’ve run, etc.  It really was kind of funny.  Anyway.  I decided to write about why I love runners – or at least some of the stuff that runners do.

Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Runners

#5:  Runners are disciplined and determined.  How many times have you seen that crazy person running along the side of the road when it’s raining or a 100 degrees?  They may be crazy BUT it is hard to stick with a program when the weather isn’t cooperating.  Have you ever been out on a Friday night and your friend (the runner) ends her night early because she has to run the next morning?  Discipline.  Trust me.

#4:  Runners like to share information and tips with other runners.  Don’t believe me?  Just walk into your local running shop and ask for advice about something, anything.  Of course the Chatty Cathys and Charlies will talk you up, but even the Closed Lipped Larrys will be surprisingly talkative, too.  It’s pretty nice.  More experienced runners will almost always try to help us newer runners wherever they can.

#3:  Runners often have GREAT stories to tell.  The subjects of these stories can range from crazy race experiences to losing toenails to incredible stories of triumph and beating the odds.  Some of the stories are so inspirational they can bring tears to the eyes.  Some are so funny you’ll wet your pants laughing!

#2: Runners are tough.  Missing a toenail?  No big deal – run anyway.  Dog chasing you?  No problem, stare it down…  okay – RUN FASTER!  Fall and get bruised up?  That’s okay – get up and keep going.

#1 Reason I love Runners:

Runners are encouraging and accepting of each other.  I know this first hand and have been the beneficiary of this encouragement and acceptance so many times I couldn’t count them.  Here, on my blog, I’ve written some pretty ‘down in the dumps’ type posts about my training and it never fails:  someone will post something to cheer me on or encourage me to keep going.  It seems like such a minor thing but it really means a lot.  There are countless sites devoted to runners’ forums, lots of facebook pages/groups where members post and receive encouragement.  There are also many, many running clubs, runners groups and runners meet and greet events that exist for the purpose of lifting up and encouraging each other.  That is pretty nice!

These are just some of the reasons I love runners.

Why do YOU love runners?

p.s.  17 days til my marathon!

Posted in Fitness, Marathon, Running, Training | 3 Comments

Don’t You Just Love It?

Posted on January 17, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

Isn’t it great when you are struggling with something and BAM!  you see something that speaks right to you?

Here’s the Runner’s World Quote of the Day:

“It’s about you. It’s personal. You’re not racing against anyone else.

You only get one first time, so just enjoy the experience.”

-Kristie Cranford, Runner’s World Challenger of the Week

I should listen to my own personal advisor.  He’s been saying this all along.  I heard him but I guess I keep forgetting!

Posted in Fitness, Marathon, Running, Training | 2 Comments

Not Sure What to Think Now

Posted on January 15, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

This has been a weird, weird week for me.  This was my do-over week because I was sick last week and only ran two times (on Monday and Tuesday).  I felt so good after my all of my runs that it was almost surreal.  I got tired on the tempo run, and was bored on the 8 mile marathon pace run on the treadmill (it was too cold to run outside), but other than that, I felt GREAT!  I did not do my Friday run, though.  I opted to spend that day getting a deep tissue massage and having lunch with a friend.  I sort of thought I might get out and do the easy 4 miles Friday evening but I didn’t do it.

I felt so great after my runs this week that I was sort of glad that my cold (or whatever I had) forced me to get some rest.  I was ALL OVER THE ‘REST‘ BANDWAGON!  Rest is my friend.  I was feeling really ready for the long run – as ready as one could be.

So…  (Already see where this is going?)

We ran White Rock Lake.  It was cold and windy but sunny when we started.  It was a beautiful day.  I was well rested, had eaten a little bit, I’d taken allergy medicine and Aleve, my clothes were comfortable (except for a little bra issue), I was feeling pretty good about the run.

We started off going too fast but slowed down to a manageable pace after a couple of miles.  After about 5 miles, my right hip started hurting a little.  Uh -Oh.  By 7-8 miles, my left hip had joined the fun.  Not good.  I kept thinking that I’d run through it.  Had the quick start caused this?  Maybe this is what happens after not having a long run the weekend before, I don’t know. By 11-12 miles, I was in flat out pain.  My hips were stinging.  In hindsight, maybe I should have stopped then.  I ran until about 13 miles and had to stop and walk.  After walking a little bit, I tried to run again but realized after about a quarter of a mile that it was a no go.

I had to walk most of the way from 14 miles to 21 miles.  I trotted a little bit here and there as I was able but I was mostly walking.  Should I have just quit?  I didn’t think so because the pain went away almost immediately after I stopped running.  From about 15-19 miles, I didn’t have any real pain while walking.  After 19 miles, my left shoulder started hurting, my knees had begun to hurt and I was feeling pretty freaking depressed about the whole situation.

On three occasions during the ‘run’, I had flashbacks from my awful long run in Houston in the heat and humidity when I thought I was going to die.  Just like then, I was gasping for air and my throat felt like it was closing in.  I’ve decided that part of it was anxiety.  When I started to get really upset about having to walk and was feeling like maybe I couldn’t complete a marathon after all of my training, I got a choked up feeling and then the gasping started.  When I could get myself to relax and calm down a little, it went away.  😦

After the ‘run’ was finally over, my stomach started to hurt – I mean REALLY hurt.  It was terrible.  I had to GO so badly…   This was a new experience for me – one that I could have done without.  In addition to the stomach ache, I became so sleepy that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.  We had a little bit of a drive before we could go home and I slept for most of it.  I was groggy and just out of it.  I’m kind of in disbelief just thinking about it.  I don’t know what happened to me.  I wish I could do over this do-over…

When I got home, I had another first:  an ice bath.  Okay, I know it’s an ICE bath, but I was not prepared for how much the cold water would hurt.  My feet were screaming!!!  After I inched my feet out of the water a bit, I was able to sit semi-comfortably – okay, no….  I was able to ENDURE the cold.  I got out after the ice had mostly melted away and got into the hot shower.  Did I undo the ice bath?  Who knows, but the hot water felt great!  After my bath and shower, I got in the bed.  Called it a day.

As I’m writing this, I am getting teary eyed.  I feel so sad that my ‘run’ was so terrible.  What in the world happened to me?  I don’t know for sure what went wrong or what to do differently at this point.  I found a training program that made sense to me, that I felt was doable and would help me to complete the marathon before they take up the finish line at 6 hours.  I still feel like I’ve done the right things for me but I can’t help but wonder if some of the comments that I get about my training might be on target.  Well, honestly, there’s only one constant theme for the  comments that I get and they goe something like this:  “You run too much”  “Wow, you run a lot” “That’s a lot of running”.

So, let’s examine this.  Yep, I run 5 days a week but each run serves a purpose:

  1. Monday:  slow, easy run just to get out and stay loose – is supposed to be taken REALLY slowly and that’s what I’ve done, they’ve been either 4 or 5 miles
  2. Tuesday:  marathon pace run – to get used to running at the pace that I plan to run during the marathon
  3. Wednesday:  tempo run – to get used to increased intensity/increase anaerobic threshold
  4. Friday: – just like Monday’s run
  5. Saturday:  long run – to get used to running for a long period of time – increase in mileage of long has been around 10%

It doesn’t really matter whether I run too much or not at this point.  I can’t take any of it back.

I don’t know what went wrong for sure.  It could have been any number of things:

  1. I just had a crappy day
  2. I started off too quickly
  3. My shoes are still too new
  4. I hadn’t stretched enough this week
  5. I didn’t do enough of my strength training this week
  6. It was all in my head
  7. I run too much

In the end, I know I need to do what my husband kept telling me on Saturday.  “Don’t read too much into the run.”  That is so opposite of how I normally react to things – as you can tell from this long blog…  I guess I’ll end with this:

What went RIGHT on Saturday:

  1. I covered 21 miles

  2. I didn’t quit.

  3. On the day after the ‘run’, I feel great.  Nothing hurts.  I’m not sore or stiff.

  4. It wasn’t the marathon.

  5. I got to cheer on some guy who was running a 5K.  He was hot on the heals of the guy in first place.

  6. I learned that I can keep going (however slowly) even when in pain.   So – if I fall apart during the marathon, I will know that I can keep going for a long time still.

Maybe I’m rationalizing;  I don’t know.  I’ll try to focus on the positives.  This was my very last loooong run and even though it sucked, I need to move on.  I’m moving into my ‘tapering’ weeks.  Twenty one days til my marathon!

OOPS!  BEFORE I END

This week:

  • Monday:  5
  • Tuesday:  8
  • Wednesday:  5
  • Thursday:  rest
  • Friday:  0 – was supposed to run 4 miles but I went to the spa instead
  • Saturday:   21 – was supposed to do 22 but I just did not have it in me
  • Sunday:  rest

Here’s what’s up for next week:

  • Monday:  3 easy miles
  • Tuesday:  6 miles at marathon pace
  • Wednesday:  5 mile tempo run
  • Thursday:  rest
  • Friday:  4 easy miles
  • Saturday:  14 miles (okay, that’s kind along, but not CRAZY long)
  • Sunday:  rest
Posted in Running | 3 Comments

Taped Up and Doing Okay

Posted on January 11, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

It’s midweek on the week after I was sick and didn’t run.  I’ve run 3 of my 5 runs for the week and I’m doing pretty good!  The rest seems to have really helped.  Go figure!  I’ve run all 3 runs on the treadmill.  It was raining Monday and Tuesday and I ran at 3:30 am today.  I’m not too concerned about not having a run on the street, yet.  I’ll do my 4 miler on the road before the big one on Saturday.

 

About a month or so ago I started having some rubbing/chafing issues with the band part of my bra.  It rubbed me so hard that I was actually bleeding the first time it happened.  I’ve tried a few things to stop the rubbing:  bandaids (fail), gauze (epic fail), tape that holds gauze down (fail) and finally “Sports Tape”.  DING, DING, DING!  WE HAVE A WINNER!

The first time I used the Sports tape, I wrapped it around my entire rib cage so that it sat right under the bottom band of my bra.  It worked, but unfortunately, when I put the tape on, I was exhaling.  When I inhaled, the tape was kind of tight and uncomfortable.  I wore it like that anyway just to see if maybe it would loosen up and feel okay.  It did not loosen up BUT it did provide a barrier between the bra and my skin that didn’t move.  The next couple of times I used it, I just put a strip across my rib cage so that it covered the area where the bra was rubbing.  It worked perfectly!  I am going to test it out on the long run this weekend just to be sure.  So far, it stays put, keeps the bra from rubbing back and forth and it also pulls off fairly easily when I’m finished.

Posted in Running | 2 Comments

This Week is a ‘Do-Over’ Week for Me

Posted on January 9, 2012 by RunDedeauxRun

Last week, I ran woke up on Monday not REALLY feeling like running but I got out and tried.  On Tuesday, I had a headache, my throat was hurting and I felt tired and out of it, BUT I got on the treadmill and ran anyway.  When Wednesday morning rolled around, I had no energy, my throat was REALLY hurting, I had a runny nose, headache and my body was tired and hurting.  I didn’t run on Wednesday.

 

I didn’t run on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  It was pretty stressful.  Saturday was supposed to be my final long run before the marathon.  Oh, boy!

 

I went through a myriad of scenarios during the week.  At first, I thought may be I could just rest a couple of days and do a short slow run on Friday and then just gut it out and run 22 miles on Saturday.  I just had this gnawing feeling that I shouldn’t run.  Then I’d have this awful feeling that I should at least TRY to run.  I went back and forth like that for most of the week.  As the days ticked by, it was obvious that I wasn’t going to run so I think I just gave up the idea – which actually felt good.  That good feeling was eventually replaced by the worry that I would be out of shape after a week of not running.  Would I be able to just pick up where I left off?  I’ve struggled during my training if I took two days off between runs.  I need consistency.  Sitting on my butt for 6 days without running is not consistency.

 

I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.   I was doing so well, too.  I hadn’t been sick, had a headache or had anything that got in the way of my training for 16 weeks!

 

On another note, my running shoes have been on their last ‘leg’ for a couple of weeks.  The shoes I got 3 months ago have 400 miles on them!  That is crazy!  On Sunday, I went to Luke’s Locker and tried on some shoes.  I always TRY to find a different shoe than I already have but it never works out.  If I weren’t so close to my marathon, I would have tried some Asics this time.  They felt very similar to my current Brooks Adrenalines and they were PURPLE!  I’m not that hot on purple, but this blue/grey that I’ve been wearing for two years is so boring!!!  I got the Adrenalines again.  (snooze)

I wore them this morning for my easy 5 mile run and they felt pretty good.  I was starting to have some arch pain in the old shoes.  The guy at Luke’s Locker explained how the compression of the sole caused the arch part of the shoe to be too elevated and thus ‘poke’ my arches too much.  (Okay, I’m not explaining it well, but it makes sense.)  My new shoes feel a little too new right now, but by Feb 5, I’ll have over 100 miles on them and they should be perfect. 

 

So, I ran 5 miles today.  At least I THINK I ran 5 miles today.  I ran for an hour and 4 minutes.  ALL of the regular treadmills were full at the gym today.  It IS January…  😉  The only treadmill that was open was one of the big fancy ones with WAY too many buttons and options.  I couldn’t figure out how to fix it so I could see the speed and miles that I’d run.  Every time I tried to fiddle with it, it started over…  That is annoying.  So anyway.  I just put it on a speed that felt like 12 minute miles. 

 

I FELT PRETTY GOOD!  I was so worried that I would somehow forget how to run or I would be overly tired or something.  That didn’t happen.  I got a little tired/bored after about 45 minutes, but that’s what happens when I’m on the treadmill.  Nothing hurt, I wasn’t out of breath.  I felt pretty happy.  I guess I was worried for nothing last week.  Everyone said I needed rest.  I knew I needed rest.  Everyone said that I’d be fine this week.  I didn’t believe it.  I guess I was wrong!

This week, I am going to run last week’s miles.  I’m basically pretending that last week didn’t happen and that I have one less week of tapering than originally planned.

 

So, here’s what I’ve got planned for this week:

  • Monday:  5 easy miles (it’s raining so I ran on the treadmill – considered running outside anyway but since I was JUST SICK last week, decided that was a stupid idea)
  • Tuesday:  8  miles at marathon pace
  • Wednesday:  5 miles at tempo pace (or doing intervals – I’ll decide Wednesday)
  • Thursday:  rest
  • Friday:  5 easy miles
  • Saturday:  22 miles
  • Sunday:  rest

This week, I am going to work on not getting too stressed out about my long run, making sure I’m hydrated during the week and eating better. 

26 days til my first marathon

 

Posted in Fitness, Marathon, Running, Training | 2 Comments