Do I Dare???

I just saw that I would have to almost half the time that I got when running the LA marathon. Is this something I want to work for in the next five years (and few months) before I move up to the next age group?

Not sure.

Just thinking about it...

Sometimes I Question My Sanity

I'm thinking about doing this.

I think I'm going to.

I have 7 weeks to train.

Not enough to really train properly, but enough to get ready enough that I'm not just suffering through the whole thing.

And this would help me with the thought I had of doing one a year.

The thing is - I would sign up for the half and call it good - except it's full.

It looks like it'd be a pretty run.

image fond here

Not This Year

Two years ago I entered the lottery for the St. George marathon with my sister, brother-in-law, and some of their friends. We got in. I couldn't run it. I watched my sister finish it. It was awesome.

This year I decided to enter the lottery again.

Turns out I'm not lucky on my own.

I already knew that.

I hope Ecquadee enjoys running it.

I really do.

Let the Madness Begin!

So... I started my training today. If you've looked at the schedule you'll see that next Saturday I'm supposed to run 12 miles. The farthest I've gone since the marathon was 6.2 miles and that was just a couple of weeks after the marathon. Other than that the farthest I've gone is 3.1 miles and that was on Thanksgiving. Other than that... well... I really haven't gone running.

I'd ideally take it much slower in training, but the training schedule that I like to follow (Jeff Galloway's walk/run plan) is a 32-week training. I don't have 32 weeks. I have 19. Of necessity, I've got to jump right in. Luckily this Saturday I get to warm up with only 4 (I still love how I now think of these distances as 'only,' when only a couple of years ago it was more like 'four whole miles?! no way!') before I hit myself with 12. However, because it's a walk/run thing, I can take it a bit slower than I normally would and not feel badly about it.

Thanks for all the well wishes for the marathon. I need them! (:

My Life for the Next... Months

just looking at it scares me.

sorry it's blurry.
when you click on it to enlarge it's clear.

Apparently, I Dare

I did it.

I signed up.

Not for the half either.

For the whole 26.2.

anyone know where I can find a cheap treadmill?

Do I Dare?!?

I've had the Salt Lake Marathon registration page open in my browser for over 24 hours.

Not sure if I want to do the marathon, or the half marathon.

Both would be wonderful.

Argh!

Marathon Images

Yes, I shamelessly pilfered pictures that I didn't pay for. I figure having "proof" sprawled across each one is punishment enough.

In the top one you get a glimpse of what part of 17,000 runners looks like
In the left one I'm taking one of many walking breaks (although it got to the point where I felt like I was taking running breaks from walking)
In the center one I'm about to cross the finish line... 7 hours after I started (although the top of the 7 is cut off, I don't think I could convince anyone to believe it only took me 1 hour...)
In the right one I'm walking with Suzanne, my partner for most of the 26.2 miles

Just thought I'd share.

Marathon Recap

This is the first thing I saw when I woke up a bit before 5 on Monday morning:

my niece wanted to sleep in the loft with me so I took the couch and gave her the (deflating) air mattress. the mattress was flat on the ground and her head and shoulders were on the floor. I'm not sure I understand what happened with the pillow. after taking a couple of pictures I moved her to the couch.

Bethany and me just as the race was starting. I think this was the last time I saw her face until after I was done.

After passing by port-o-potty lines that were 5-8 people deep, I encouraged my partner to zip into an open Carl's Jr. instead. Much faster. No lines. Running water!

While I was waiting for her I was tempted by the orange cream shake - good thing I didn't have any money with me.

This was my recurring nightmare during the race. I don't know how many times we passed her, then she passed us. I don't know if you can tell, but she has spiders tattooed on her lower back and bright pink highlights in her hair.

Suzanne and I stopped to lie down on the sidewalk and prop our legs up to attempt to lessen the swelling. Our legs felt great right after. ... for a few minutes.

Salvador and Rosheen.

Salvador qualified for the Boston Marathon (he had to run under 3:30 to do that!) when he ran a marathon earlier this year in February. He's running another marathon in San Diego this coming Sunday, so he decided to just walk the LA Marathon. He was holding a sign that said, "6 hour Walking Group." We joined up with him for a bit, then sped up for a while, then saw him come up behind us and pass us. He had a quick walking pace and was hard to keep up with. He ended up finishing at 5:58 and some odd seconds.

Other highlights of the day include, but are not limited to:

Crossing the finish line!
I decided I had to run across the finish line. Unless I'm walking the whole race, I have to run across the finish line. I was walking for a lot of the last half mile (finish line in sight) and decided to start running with about .1 to go. I decided about 15 feet into that last "run" that I had started too early. I was able to keep going and even sped up at the end. Though I was still extremely slow.

Talking to Suzanne
Bethany had a few friends from church that were running it too. Suzanne and I ran together for almost all of the first 20 miles. At about 19.5 I sped up a little bit. I don't think I finished much faster than she did, but she was having problems with her foot. No fun.

The Multiple Fire Hydrants They Had Open
Fairly often throughout the race they'd have firemen at a hydrant which had been opened up to spray onto the road. I think I hit every single one of them. It felt heavenly. There were also a few people in front of their homes offering drinks or candy or something. It was so nice! There was a man outside on his lawn spraying his hose into the street. We thanked him for it and he mentioned his water bill... but he was still willing to do it. I definitely appreciated it!

Trying to Pay a Bike Cop to Give me a Ride to the Finish Line
There were a few of them here and there along the race and while passing a small group of them I asked one if they could ride me to the finish. They were willing... but unable. Sad. I later tried to just buy someones bike. That didn't work either.

Taking 8 Ibuprofen
I took four before the race started and four more about halfway through. Either ibuprofen doesn't work for me or my pain was just that much worse than it could cover. I was in pain almost the whole 26.2 miles. Good times.

Going Straight From the Race to the Airport
The worst part of this was not being able to take care of the five blisters I had developed while running. Walking through both airports was pretty painful. I told my mom that she should allow for "hobbling" time when coming to pick me up. No need to be right on time when I'm walking that slowly.

The Great Treatment at the Security Check
I hate the security check at airports. That's the most anxiety-producing part of flying for me. I don't know what I'm really worried about, but nonetheless, I get worried. After arriving, I went into the restroom, changed clothes, washed up a bit, got more comfortable and presentable (put on my marathon t-shirt so everyone would know why I looked as pathetic as I did) and headed to security. While getting things ready, one of the guards came up to help me get things sorted out and started asking me about the marathon. He was helpful all the way through. Right after getting through, when I was putting my things back together, a guard from the other line came over to help and talked to me about the marathon. It was the most stress-free time I've had at a checkpoint. I loved it.

The Great Treatment on the Plane
While waiting in line to get back to my seat, the flight attended commented on my shirt asking how I was doing. I admitted I was absolutely exhausted, then hobbled back to my seat. When he was going through with the beverage cart I declined a drink pointing to my half-full water bottle. He offered ice, I said "no thanks." He offered peanuts and before I could say "no thanks" again, he quickly added, "Peanuts are legumes and have protein and you need protein after running a marathon." With a sales-pitch like that, I couldn't say no. So I said "thanks." Then he says, "I think someone who just ran a marathon deserves two bags." Nice. I only ate one.
Turns out he is training for the Provo River Trail half that's coming up in August (I think).

Overall, it was a great and amazing experience. I got slightly emotional right after crossing the finish line thinking, "I just finished a marathon!"

Thanks for all the well-wishes and congratulations!

Follow-Up After the Marathon:

I used the elevator when I got to work on Tuesday morning. Since then, it's been nothing but the stairs. I knew Dingo would get me outside on walks and, while painful, it was really helpful. Tuesday I only went a mile and it took me 40 minutes. Yesterday we went two miles, and though my muscles felt better, I was still dealing with blistered feet and now raw skin where the blisters have come off my toes. Downstairs is still harder than upstairs (not exactly sure why - I know it has something to do with how the muscles are used...) but overall I'm amazed with how well I'm moving around.

I did it!

It's all good.

Git 'er Done

I'm done. I finished. I survived.

I'm sore.

For a first marathon, it was good.

I finished in barely under 7 hours. 6:59:44. I was hoping to finish in less than six, but considering that I wasn't able to run for the last two months because of injuries, I'm feeling pretty good about it.

More of an update and a few stories to come. I just wanted to check in to let you know I'm alive!

And sore.
Very, very sore.
With blisters on both feet.

But yes, I'm already thinking that I would do it again.

And maybe I actually will.

... eventually.

Marathon Anticipation

I'm getting slightly more nervous as Monday approaches. I keep trying to remind myself that I ran 20 miles when I hadn't been following the training like I should... and I survived. What's 6 more? I mean, really? ...

Because I follow a walk / run thing, I think I'll be able to make it just fine. That is, I'm planning on making it. The only other alternative is to drop out and I'm not so cool with that idea.

Just for fun, there's a tracking thing here that you can use to follow any runner and get updates on their race. I just filled one out so I can follow Bethany - that way I'll know just how far ahead of me she is.

Yesterday I Ran...

miles.

And then I played this -

for two hours.

My body is tired, my legs are sore, I'm really stiff whenever I stand up and start moving.

I'd like to just lay in bed. Watching Sabrina.

All day.

But I won't.

Blast This Wretched, Wretched Foot!

(did you catch the reference?)

So... I haven't been on a regular training program. Most the time I haven't done the M-F running, and for a month or so I wasn't even doing the Saturday running. Last week I went 8 miles on Monday with Jen, then on Saturday pushed myself to go 12 miles in order to try to catch-up with my training program. I kind of twisted my ankle in the snow potholes, and hurt my foot from the run itself. Sadly, it felt a lot like it felt when the doctor told me I had a "stress reaction" which could lead to a stress fracture if I didn't take it really, really easy. Well, I did, and as a result of that (and a locked hip - btw, I think my other hip is locked now...) I had to back out of the St. George Marathon. That's not going to happen this time!

I took it really easy this past week, not walking very much and wearing sturdy shoes to give my foot support and by Thursday I couldn't feel a thing, and Friday it was even better. So, I figured I was healed.

This morning I went out to do my 4-mile run, hoping to use the shorter run to really work on speed and get my average mile faster than it's been recently. I wasn't two blocks into the run when my foot started to hurt. I ignored it for a few more blocks then decided I needed to be "grown-up" and "smart" about this, so I stopped running and walked the rest of the way home. With an aching foot.

This is driving me crazy.

My Life for the Next Few Months...

Yup. I'm really doing it. I'm glad I've laid it all out. From the training schedule online (which was just labeled week 1, week 2, etc) I kept getting confused as to what I needed to be running when. I was sure I needed to attempt 17 miles tomorrow. Thankfully I was wrong and that won't happen for another three weeks. I've never gone farther than 14 in my life and that was almost a year ago...

ps - the schedule is set out to run the marathon on Saturday, but with it being on Monday, I'm trying to decide how to best spend that Saturday. Maybe a two hour walk isn't the best idea... we'll see...

I'm Doing It!

On Christmas Eve, I spent $150 in no more than 10 minutes. No, it wasn't on last minute Christmas gifts, it was on this:And this:


That's right, I'm back into marathon training. Although that hasn't been going so well... I'm hoping by telling more people about it I'll be more motivated to train.

I'll keep you posted.

Oh, and a week and a half later, I paid for this:
It's the Camp Pendleton Mud Run again. This time in June. I'm so excited! It was awesome last year!

My Sister Rocks!

I went to St. George this past weekend to watch my sister Bethany participate in the St. George Marathon. Originally, I was going to run it with her, but the Dr. nixed that plan about a month or so ago. I stayed with her and her family at their friend's home, then drove over with the kids and her husband to watch her cross the finish line. It was awesome seeing her finish her 26.2 miles in 4:59:10!!! She was hoping to come in around (or under) 5 hours, and she did! I am so glad I was able to be there to see that. It completely inspired me, and motivated me to follow-through with my plan to run a marathon myself. Maybe the Salt Lake one in April? Maybe. For now, I'm working towards a 10k in a couple of weeks. Bring on the 6.2! But, back to where I began, go Bessie Mae!

**Updated** As she left in a comment, Bethany corrected the time as 4:59:50. But still, totally awesome!

Learning to Deal... Blast it!

There's good news... and there's bad news... which do you want to hear first? They're actually very closely-related, so maybe it doesn't matter that much.

The good news is that my hip hasn't been locked for almost two weeks! Yay for that! For the last... years... my hip has hurt when I walk, and it's been worse when I run. I just figured that's how it was going to be for...ever. At the encouragement of my sister-in-law (thanks, Jen!) I finally went in to see a physical therapist. Since I thought nothing could be done, I wasn't in a rush to go in. First visit, he told me my hip had been locked (the joint just wasn't in the position it needed to be in to move smoothly) and unlocked it for me. When I left the office, for the first time in almost as long as I could remember, I walked without pain. It was incredible!

I've been going to the physical therapist about three times a week for the last month or so. Last week he told me I was unlocked and I could (finally) start running. Slowly. First 1/4 mile, then 1/2, then a full, then come back and we'd talk. I went running, then went to see him yesterday. He knew I had been entered in the St. George Marathon and I was hoping to be training for that, but "healing the hip" took priority. He wants me to add 1/4 mile to my run every other day, with a good rest during the day off.

Now for the bad news... the marathon is off. At least for me. I was really excited for this because it was to be my first marathon, and I was going to be running it with my sister and her husband (their first marathon too).

Anyway, that's what I'm trying to learn to deal with. So, definitely not "yay" for that. But, yay for me being able to run a 10k on Oct. 18 (a mud run that multiple members of my family are signed up for!) and maybe running a half-marathon in November that I should be able to train for just fine.

So, I guess it's good news that my hip is better and I'm actually being smart about this injury and trying to take care of it so it will just keep getting better.

And... I suppose that when I'm finally ready for 26.2 miles... somewhere, there will be a marathon that I can sign up for. (hey, I'm trying to be positive)