I am a Half Marathoner: 3:02:31

Not the race I wanted to happen, this chip time was WITH walking most of miles 11 and 12. Tummy ache troubles, which I believe in hindsight was dehydration...I am a mixture of emotions, proud that I finished, grateful to my dh giving up the Sunday and minding the kids while I raced, then dealt with the after-effects of the HM. I don't know if I can do this again, but with all the problems in the last few miles and STILL flirting with 3 hours, well, maybe I just need to get my tummy better and my psyche better as well and wait a few days/weeks before I count myself out of this again in the future.

The highlights: People shouting "C'mon, Rutgers" to me because of my hat:-) Running with Larry the Lighthouse from mile 8 to 9:-) Texting my dh each time I finished a mile:-) Raising my hands in victory at the finish:-)
The low points: 2 portopotty stops mid race:-( The tears in Mile 12:-( Hitting a full-marathoner who was zipping to the finish line with me as I raised aforementioned hands in victory:-(

Will post a RR soon. I finished it. Here's a pic heading to the finish, thanks to dh for fighting off my son to get this pic (the boy wanted to finish with me:-)):

The Calm Before the HM

Funny about the best-laid plans. And the Road to He**, and all those quaint expressions about plans that went awry. But I'm calm. Mostly.

As Fate would have it, Tuesday's "Penultimate" run before Sunday's HM became the "Final" run before Sunday's HM. Was it the grades being due, the paper to write then present, the callback audition, the extracurricular fundraiser before & after school, or the headcold I've been battling all week that prevented Thursday's final run before the HM?

No, HA! None of that stood between our heroine, Wannabe, and her final 30 minute easy training run yesterday. Nope. It was 6pm last night, finally home from work & school that Son #1 said, "I don't feel so good." Oh no, the dreaded had come true: the second of my two children had fallen prey to the stomach virus, the poor thing. And then I realized that I hadn't eaten much of my lunch and was not terribly hungry for any dinner, either. Got the boy settled in, ran to school to prepare for sub tomorrow since I was sure I was next in line. It passed me by, but I still stayed home today with Son #1 (it was my turn to take care of a sick kid this week) -- post-virus for him, and nursing my own headcold.

And in the quiet of today's sick day, I remembered I had a dream last night...

I was running the HM! A sea of people were around me, we were running, and I had the feeling I was late, that I had missed the start! But I ducked into some sort of windowed tunnel along the route, took an elevator down to a bunch of TV screens, and was told by someone that no, I was in the right place, but the HM is tomorrow, not to worry. I took the elevator back up to the route with the sea of people and joined them running--and the amazing thing was the route was all downhill. I was running/floating with the sea of people effortlessly down the hill.

That is all I can remember. So what does it all mean...?

Here is how I am choosing to interpret it: I did not get in all of the last two weeks' midweek runs. My health is not 100%. But I have run this distance two times in the last five weeks, and lived to tell about it. Life happens, what's done is done. And given where I was this time last year (um, on the couch), and all I could not do back then (like, um, jog more than 60 seconds), the Penguin's addage gives me solace on Race Eve eve : "The miracle is that I had the courage to start." Like I did in my dream, I have to just go with the flow of people to where it leads, and trust in the miles I *have* run. And that is 163 miles this year. That is the distance from NY to Philadelphia and halfway back! Wowzer!

Thank you RBF-folk, for inspiring me to go from nothing, square one, to this weekend. Thank you for 10 months of encouragement and expertise, for pushing me and for patting me on the back, too. No matter how it plays out, see you on the other side. :-)

Penultimate Training Run

was cut short today by time constraints. Here's what I did in the beautiful, breezy 73 degree sun:

1.23 miles
14:01 (11:23/mile)

I was pushing the pace this run since I knew I'd only get a very short run in--yes, that is pushing the pace for me:-( I ran right to my 2 yr old's daycare, picked him up, and we walked home:-)

I am happy to say I didn't catch my 2 yr old's stomach virus (knock on wood), but I did catch a nasty head cold. Am hoping it stays in my head (and not down to chest) for just a few more days. Also tomorrow am giving a presentation for a paper I am *just* about to start writing now (big time procrastination on this one), after my presentation, I have a callback an hour away for a musical (yes, I have to SING!). Will be a late night tonight, busy day tomorrow with a lot of caffeine in between. I will drink water, too, though and try to get some rest on Thurs & Fri.

One more little run then HM!

T Minus 8 Days

Beautiful 40-degree weather this morning, got up and got a 3 miler in.

8 days to go till my HM. I am still trying to find a hotel room in the vicinity of the HM. It's over an hour away from my house and starts @ 7:30, so I was hoping to stay close to the race--but of course, everything was booked up months ago. Why didn't I plan ahead, you ask? Well, I wanted to be sure I could do this crazy HM. SO if I find a hotel room, great. If not, well, I will just get up at 2:45 to eat & drink my coffee, putz around a bit, and get to the race area by 6 (they start closing the roads then and I have no idea how I'll park). That is ok. I am excited!

Oh, and neese, this one's for you--I'm auditioning for a summer musical this week, ha! :-)

One more little training run to go!

SUNDAY ETA: My nearly-two-year-old woke up middle of night with stomach virus. Up all night with him, poor thing. Am spraying Lysol everywhere, washing hands, and PRAYING he is the only one here that gets it ((((crossing freshly-washed fingers))))

Getting back in the groove

Ran a basically unlabored 4 miles today. It was a cutback week, woo hoo.
4.05 miles
49:50 (12:18/mile)


Is it normal to not want to run after achieving a new long run goal? I miraculously did 13.6 last weekend (don't forget that "point six"!) and when it got cold this week, I just didn't want to run. I think I wanted to rest on my laurels. Typical? Or just lazy? Things that make you go hmmmmm.....

Hope it's not in the 30's for the HM in THREE WEEKS!

Mid-Week Recovery

A labored run, it was hot (77!!!), but I'm not stressing, as I'm resting on my 11.5 mile long run laurels:-)

Here is what I did:-)
2.56 miles
32:53 (12:50/mile)


I'm getting excited for the HM. I feel like each run I get out for now will hopefully make each mile of the HM just a little bit easier ((crosses fingers)). Two more long runs to go!

There is a 5K in our town in June...my five year old said he wants to run the race with Mommy. Soooo, on Thursday's track run, we'll see if he can go around the track, say, 8 times, walking as necessary. If he can do it, I'll try to help him do a little more each time (1x/week). And maybe I will do the 5K with my little guy with time as no object. Must look much more into little kids running!!

Snowy short one

Was supposed to go long today...I was not mentally up to it, I admit it. There are 7 inches of frozen snow on the ground, our whole town's sidewalks are not shoveled, and it is windy (gusts up to 28 today). I went around my block six times to get these three miles in, the neighbors must have thought I was bonkers, I know *I* did:-P

So here's what I mustered. I figure, I had my 10 mile triumph last weekend, this can be my cut back week and I'll keep building the mileage of my long run next weekend The HM is exactly six weeks from today:D

3 miles
34:39 (11:33/mile)

Just realized I've already run 100 miles this year (102.77, actually!). I am a little ahead schedule for my goal of running 400 miles this year, that's cool! Hope I keep it up!

PS--By the time I'm posting this, Javamom will have completed her first HM! Go send her a cyber high five!

I am a 10 Miler!

I ran today with members of a large Jersey run club that will be hosting (or at least playing a big role in) next month's NJ Marathon. What a great bunch of folks, they stayed with me, constantly checked in with me if they were going too fast for me (yes, they were a few times), if anything hurt me (mostly good), and vowed to not leave me behind. They are all running the full, I was the lone prospective HMer in the group of 5. I stuck mainly with one gal who also preferred the back of the pack, she was terrific for me, they all were, really! These people didn't know me from Adam, and yet they took me in, told me I looked like I could go the whole 13.1 they were planning, and just really "Buil[t] Me Up" (in the words of Josh Groban:-))

I bailed on them at 8.75 miles and doubled back to my car along the Long Branch boardwalk, what a lovely day (started the run at 32 degrees, at the end of the 2 1/2 hrs (after the water stops and press photo--more on that later) it was 45, GAWGEOUS, as we say in Jersey.

At mile 6 water stop (coolers set up in front of several houses on the route, so well organized!), a guy drove up and said he was from a local newspaper and could he take out picture. Yes, my first run with other humans EVER, I'm not even a member of this club, and my photo will be in the paper with them:-)

So here are the stats:
10.0 miles
2:01:29 (12:08/mile)

Do you BELIEVE that pace??? These people definitely pushed me, AND I did not Gallowalk this go 'round. Just ran. Walked once or twice for a min or two early on because they set out too fast for me, but that is all the walking I did.

The lack of regular walk breaks probably explains my sciatic nerve barking at me for a lot of the run. It really hurt at the end. But I'll take it easy for today & tomorrow.

Here is the breakdown:
Mile 1: 10:50 (way too fast)
Mile 2: 11:14 (still too fast)
Mile 3: 12:48 (got a little lightheaded here, walked a bit)
Mile 4: 11:58
Mile 5: 12:13
Mile 6: 12:25 (had to walk a min or two to start up after the photo op)
Mile 7: 12:12
Mile 8: 12:11 (one negative split, woo hoo)
Mile 9: 13:10 (did these last 2 miles by myself, boo hoo)
Mile 10: 12:43 (very sore at this point--are we there yet?)

Stamina-wise, I felt good; pain-wise, my sciatic thingy was really hurting at the end, so I was glad to be done. I survived, I loved running with this nice bunch of folks. I am definitely sore now, but I hope this helped my mileage building, and I'll be glad to look for some new friends on HM day.

Good news, cold news, cool news

The best news first, my mom's operation went well! The doc thinks she got all the cancer, and best news of all is that it did not appear to have spread. Lab tests will confirm that later this week - seems like my mom caught it early and will LICK it.

The cold news is that it was in the 20s today and I bailed on the run. Lame. And I heard it's going to snow tomorrow. Crud.

The cool news is that my mom's hospital is in the town where my HM will be on April 29. In fact, it's on the HM route! So after I left my mom, I drove about half of the HM route. This really whet my appetite for this HM, I really am getting excited! And found out there is a training run put together by the run club organizing the HM, complete with water stations(!) this Sunday on the route as well, so I *think* I am going to do my 10 miler with the training run! I've never run with people, that should be interesting.

Perplexed..doubting...question marks...

Doubts...

Spent a good half hour talking with my phys ed teacher colleague at school today. He is resuming regular exercise after about 3 yrs off (quit coaching for arrival and caring of newborn, house built, etc., just real life), he mentioned that he is getting a stress test and full physical before resuming exercise, a good idea for anyone. Told him about my normal stress test last week, which made him say "Yeah, I should have picked up on this when you first told me about your heart rate stuff...the way you're running--you're anaerobic!" AAAAAahhhhh, sounds as bad as "overpronator" does to the uninitiated...

He basically told me that I am not building endurance or really burning fat if I take such frequent walk breaks. That I am not maintaining for a good 15-20 min at an aerobic level, approx. 50-60% of my max HR (which is approx. 183) and that ultimately, I am not doing my heart any favor by racing it up and down for every workout (speed workouts would be different, but they would be shorter in duration and not every run). I told him I really dig my one minute walk breaks every 3 or 4 minutes, and he told me to find another way to reward myself, lol, to eat dessert or something:-) But he would recommend running straight through.

He also told me that--and this is scandalous!!--he does not stretch before exercise nor does he advocate that with his students: rather, he does "dynamic" stretching--gentle rolling of ankles, moving of joints, maybe some--we called them this in dance class--grapevines ("dynamic" stretching as opposed to "static" stretching, which is the traditional stuff I do before & after a run). And yep, stretching after is a good thing (phew, I'm doing THAT right at least).

He was not prechy or judgemental, he gives me all the props in the world for getting out there and starting to run! He's just giving me his solicited thoughts on it all. I respect this guy. He was a track coach for years, before that he ran all kinds of races, 10Ks, etc., his dad was a track coach before him...the guy knows his stuff. He is clearly on the other side of the philosophical spectrum than the one I've been reading--fine, the world is more interesting with differing opinions by knowledgable folks, would be boring if we all only ate chocolate ice cream and all that. But it's completely at odds with the Galloway training (advocating frequent walk breaks) I am doing. Crap. The doubts are creeping in again.

I run 30 minutes tomorrow, and I will run--slowly--straight through. I've done it before. And I will continue to read up on this. Can't imagine running 13.1 miles straight through. But maybe it can be done. But I'd better take some more baby steps before, well, running a [Half] marathon.

Day Run and Training Partner

Blogger ate my first post, here is the abridged version.

Ran in daytime today, R3/W1, no real probs, just a labored run. Got it barely in under 12 min miles:
3 miles
35:55 (11:58/mile)

Also found a training partner for HM. SIL is an Air Force Academy grad who finished a marathon in the 1990's in 4:10--clearly, a LOT faster than I am. She is glad for the excuse to get out and exercise again, I am glad for the expertise and companionship. We'll probably only do a few long runs together due to schedules, but on race day, I told her she does NOT have to stay with me, she can zip ahead if she wants.

Showed her my training plan, Galloway's To Finish plan. She was suprised there was a long run of 14 miles a few weeks before the HM.

Peace out.

In the 10's, YES! And my *real* running dream

Awesome Halloween night! 58 degrees, decent humidity for Jersey, and I feel so good now that I've done this run I had been dreading. After running 5 miles this weekend, I wondered if that was a fluke, if I could really run, etc., etc. You know, those doubts that creep up on you after kicking butt in some fashion when your confidence should be really high...

BUT...I had a regular run tonight, pushed the pace a little but never to the point of desperation. And woo hoo, I ran a couple miles in the 10 min range, woo hoo. Did I say woo hoo yet? Woo hoo!

2.63 miles
28:09 (10:42/mile)

So running a HM seems nuts and beyond my reach to most folks, but here's the real reason I want to do it. I fell in major "like" with Disney World this past summer when we took the kiddos there. As a slow newbie runner, I could never justify the expense of entering an expensive "destination" event like that (airfare, staying at Disney, etc.) unless I knew I could complete the task. Nor could I justify the day or two off from work--schools don't look too kindly on teachers that ask for days off right after a 10 day Christmas break, ya know? So I want to run the local Jersey HM this Spring, be sure I can do it, then aim for Disney in January 2008.


So that is my dream. My past two runs make me believe I could do it. Definitely not easy, undoubtedly crazy for this thirty-something wife, mom, teacher and recovering couch potato. But by golly, I want to take my kids on the Buzz Lightyear ride in January '08 and "earn" our time there, so this seems like a cool way to do it:-)