Pictures

Click on the link below for my "official" marathon pictures. Then select Chicago Marathon 2010, type in my last name, and enter my bib # which is 28161. The one on the right in the second row is my finish line picture. Pictures that friends and family took will be up on Facebook soon.

Marathon pictures

Epilogue :)

Ok, I feel like I need to share some more highlights/lowlights and give some thank you’s before I end this marathon chapter.

I have heard many places that one of the reasons the Chicago Marathon is such a popular race is because of the great crowds. I believe it. There were a lot of very entertaining things I saw along the race and in the race that put a smile on my face, no matter how tough the miles were. Here are a few:

• The signs. Some of my favorite include, "Run? I thought they said rum!", "You people are crazy.", and "Your my hero." (As a teacher, you can see why this one was entertaining for me...)
• The crazy outfits. A guy running with a cardboard Eiffel Tower apparatus costume. Crazy. The superheros, bear suits, just a lot of ridiculous-ness.
• All of the different cultures throughout the 29 neighborhoods. Pilsen, Chinatown, Boystown, etc. Although I have been to all of these places before, it was amazing to see all of them come out and cheer us on in their own way.
  

There is absolutely NO WAY I could have taken on this feat all by myself. I need to give some major shout outs.

• First and foremost, my AMAZING husband. Rode his bike with me on nearly every long run, listened to me whine/complain/be crabby when my runs didn't go well, put up with the ridiculous time commitment that is marathon training, and most importantly, traveled all over the city of Chicago on race day to meet me at 4 different points along the course. He is truly the best.
• My friends and family. Amazing support through training with words of encouragement and also lots of fundraising support. Thank you!!!
• My "spectators" on Sunday. To all of you that came down to see me on Sunday, you were truly what got me to the next mile marker or the next place where I knew a familiar face was waiting for me.
• My running buddies, Natalie and Jenny. They ran from mile 20.5 to 25.2 with me, and it completely saved my sanity at that point.
  
• The good residents and firefighters of Chicago who had their hoses spraying onto the course to provide relief from the heat.
• The Zion Hills Mission Baptist Church. Honestly, might be the only reason I survived mile 18.

So now onto the aftermath. Everything I read and everything I had imagined about finishing the marathon included a feeling of, "Wow! I am amazing! I feel like I can do anything now!" but somehow I was lacking that on Sunday after I finished. I said from the beginning that I had no time goal and that all I wanted to do was finish. I ran with the 5 hour pace team, but even then I knew that my finish time would probably be over 5 hours. I think in my head though, I was expecting it to be closer to 5:15 instead of 5:35, and I definitely wasn't expecting to have to walk as much as I did. When I saw that my average minutes per mile ended up at 13:46 when I had run 11:30 through the first half of the race, I felt kind of defeated.

I think my other problem was that over the last several months, everything had been leading up to this. This was my big life event that was coming up, and it was now in the past. And it's not like a wedding or having a baby where the big event is over, but now you get to enjoy being married or raising a child. It was just done. That was it. Again, cliche, but it felt like this giant piece of me was gone.

All night, I tried to weigh the positives in my head:

• I finished a MARATHON. This time last year, running 2 miles was a challenge for me. I had never been able to run the mile in gym class.
  
• I raised over $1,100 for breast cancer research, a cause very important to me and my family.
  
• I still ran the last 2 miles of the race, even after feeling terrible for the 6 miles before that.
• My friends and family were proud of me.
  

It still couldn't shake that feeling of defeat though, and I was still feeling this way when we got home on Monday. I felt like I had faked my way through "running" a marathon by walking so much and taking so long to finish. I knew it was because of the heat and had nothing to do with how hard I trained, but I was still frustrated. I even began contemplating training for the Illinois Marathon at the end of April, just to see if I could do better. At this point I had a complete meltdown and started emailing friends who had run marathons to see if this was something I could even realistically consider. Thankfully, one of my college roommates called me. She had run the 2007 and 2008 Chicago Marathon when it was really hot, and she knew exactly how I was feeling. She basically talked me down from my ledge (figuratively, not literally of course) and made me realize that I had no control over the weather, and that I still had accomplished something great, and that I should be proud no matter what.

I finally started to realize that she was right. I think I needed to hear it from someone who was a runner and who had gone through the same thing. That, and I started thinking about all of the training that would be involved in trying to run another marathon in 6 months. Ugh.

I am happy to say that I am feeling MUCH better about things today, and I have finally found that, "Wow, I did it!" feeling that I was lacking before. I won't say that I will never run another marathon, but it definitely won't be any time soon. I will definitely continue running though, as it has surprisingly become something I love. I never would have said that a year and a half ago. I love being outside and running, and there's absolutely nothing like running a race. If I keep myself in good running shape, I may attempt another marathon in the future. I just think that for now I will stick to races of 13.1 miles or less. :)

The Marathon Experience

Alright, this is going to be a long one...

My race day started at 4:30 am. Wait, back up, I guess things really started at 8:30 the night before when I went to bed and had restless sleep for about 4 and a half hours. Once I finally fell into a deep sleep, I promptly woke up from a nightmare that I had woken up and it was 9:45am, and I had missed the start of the marathon (Seinfeld anyone?). After waking up Marc to have him assure me it was really only 3:30 am, I fell back asleep for an hour.

We walked to the start line from our hotel, and it was kind of surreal because although it was still dark out and 5:45am on a Sunday, there were lots of people out doing the same thing we were. After seeing the start line, we headed to charity village, where Susan G. Komen had a tent sent up as a meeting place for all their runners. I was able to avoid long gear check lines and just leave my stuff there. Marc's parents met us there, and soon it was time to head over to the starting line.

I was antsy to get to my start area and find my pace team, but once I got there, it was a lot of waiting. There was still a half hour until start time, and then another 20+ minutes until I moved up to the start line. The energy and crowd were amazing though. Nothing like it. I'm glad I had that long wait time to soak everything in. In the process of everyone moving up to the starting line though, I got separated from my pace leaders. They ended up behind me, but I figured they might end up catching up to me with bathroom breaks and aid station stops.

Well, little did I know, it's pretty hard to reunite with another runner in a marathon (go figure, right?) So, I just started keeping track of my splits on my own, and actually was doing a pretty good job of running fairly even 11:30 min/mile splits on my own. I saw Marc and his parents at mile 2, and it was actually pretty easy to find them in the crowd. It was then time to head north on the course. There was a pretty good crowd the whole way up and back, and I also managed to find Vlade (a fellow Legends employee) along the way for a high five. On the way back downtown was when it started to get hot. I felt ok though, and just made sure that I was getting plenty to drink at each aid station and run in the shade when possible.

Once I was back downtown, I saw Marc and his parents again before heading out west. I was still feeling ok, but I could tell it was starting to get hotter and hotter. I somehow missed my parents at mile 14, but did get a good cheer from the people of Komen at the charity block party. When I started to head back east was when things started to turn less than ideal. It was about mile 15, and since I was drinking more than I normally would at each aid station to try and stay hydrated, I was starting to get that sloshing feeling in my stomach and it was making me kind of nauseous. Yuck. By mile 16, my walking at aid stations was lasting longer and longer, but I pushed on to see Marc and his parents again a little before mile 17.

After mile 18 was when things got really bad. There had been an aid station a little before that mile marker, and then we headed on a stretch down Ashland. Somewhere along this stretch, the heat and sun really got me. There was no shade at all and the temperature had climbed into the 80's. I started to walk, and as I did, I started feeling really weary and felt like I had the chills. I just remember thinking, "Great, I know there's not an aid station coming up because I just passed one." I really wasn't sure how I was going to keep going. Then, I came to what I believe (according to my blurry memory and Google maps) was the Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church. These kind folks had a little card table set up in front of their church and were handing out cups of ice water and ice. I promptly took one of each, drank the ice water, and just held the ice on my head and let it melt. I still felt horrible, but instantly felt better and knew I would at least be able to keep on walking. I walked for a while, stopped to stretch out my legs that were starting to cramp up because I wasn't running, and remembered that my fantastic sister-in-law/friend was going to be at mile 19 with a sign. :) So I slowly started to run again, and I got a small burst of energy seeing Elizabeth and Devon on the corner of 18th and Ashland.

The sloshing stomach and heat were still getting the best of me though, so I did a lot of walking between there and about mile 20.5 where I knew my friends Natalie and Jenny were waiting to jump in and run with me. Although I still felt terrible, it was SOOO good to see some more familiar faces and know that they were going to be with me for awhile. We ran slowly for a bit, and then walked for, well, awhile. I just couldn't run. It wasn't even my legs that were bothering me, it was just the heat draining everything out of me. We got close to mile 23 where Natalie and Jenny had planned to jump back out, but they offered to stay in with me until mile 25 where Marc, Elizabeth, & Devon were waiting. I was so incredibly thankful for that. Although we did a lot of walking in those miles, it definitely helped to have people with me to talk to. Otherwise I would have spent those miles beating myself up mentally for walking and just getting down about how things were going.

Once we hit mile 24, I knew we were going to be seeing Marc, Elizabeth, & Devon soon, and after that it was only one more mile, so I decided to start running again. That mile was pretty eventful as we had a wonderful Chicago rat run in front of us! I wouldn't even call it scurrying across. He literally came out onto the street, was kind of looking around, and then slowly started making his way back to the curb. We had to jump over him to avoid stepping on him! Definitely gave me a slight adrenaline rush to keep running!

As we made our way to mile 25, I found my friend Anne along Michigan Ave. who had borrowed a pair of running shoes from her aunt that lived there and jumped in to run a few blocks too! Her excitment for me gave me another push to keep going!

Natalie, Jenny, & Anne jumped out when we got to Marc, Elizabeth, & Devon, and I knew I only had a mile to go. There was a HUGE crowd at the turn onto Roosevelt, which little did I know, my parents were in. For those that aren't familiar with the Chicago Marathon course, the very end of the course turns east onto Roosevelt, where there is a "hill" where the road crosses the railroad tracks below. Once you get over this hill, you turn left onto Columbus, and are within 200 feet of the finish line. It's right there. So this "hill" is the like the final obstacle. It doesn't seem like that big of a hill just looking at it, but when you're running, and have 25 miles behind you, it's a bit obstacle.

I had decided months ago that I wanted "3 to 10" by Lucky Boys Confusion to be playing on my iPod when I crossed the finish line. Many of you know I am a huge LBC fan and have been to many, many of their shows. This song is the song they always end with, and it has a lot of energy. So as I was about to turn onto Roosevelt, I skipped to that song in my playlist.

The next part was really surreal for me. As I went up the hill I remember thinking, "Just get to the top and you're pretty much done." I also remember hearing "Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash playing in the crowd, and the trees along Roosevelt had little yellow leaves that were falling like snow. I know it sounds cheesy, but it felt like something from a movie.

I made it to the top, and as I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I definitely got choked up. There was no problem finding the energy to keep going then. The crowd was screaming, and I was about to finish a marathon. After my finish line photo experience in the Shamrock Shuffle, I made sure that no one was directly in front of me so the finish line camera could see my bib number (that's how you find your picture). I crossed that finish line, and couldn't believe it was over. I had finished the Chicago Marathon.

After getting my medal and collecting my free food and water, I headed to the designated meet-up spot. My in-laws were the only ones there at first, and although I was feeling a little bit down about my time, their excitement to see me finish made me feel better. My parents came over next, and then everyone who was at mile 25 came over. We took lots of pictures, and then everyone headed home or back to their hotel. Marc and I headed back to the Komen tent, where a few other Komen runners were hanging out. I got some Gatorade and snacks, we took some pictures together, and then headed back to the hotel. (I must share that I was willing to walk back to the hotel, but it was my husband who insisted we take a cab because his legs were beat from walking all over the city...) :)

After showering up, I headed down to one of the conference rooms where I was able to get a 1/2 hour massage, compliments of Susan G. Komen (Yep, that's it, now you all know my true motivation for fund raising! Just kidding of course!). It was the greatest thing ever. I was still definitely sore, but felt a lot better. We then headed out for dinner with my parents to celebrate the marathon, and my mom's belated birthday. And then it was time for bed. At 7:45. Yes, you read that right. :)

Stay tuned for one more post tomorrow (if you made it to the end of this one). I feel like there's a lot of stuff I still have to say about the experience, but I think you've read enough for now. :)

Only hours away!

I'll make this short because I need to get to sleep soon...

We came down to the city this afternoon, and there was already a buzz going through the city. You could just pick out the people on the street who are running tomorrow. We headed down to the expo at McCormick Place for packet pick-up. It was almost surreal seeing all of the 10-10-10 stuff, and seeing all of the thousands of people I will be running with tomorrow. I have got my bib number, got my marathon technical shirt, signed up for my pace team, and stopped by the Susan G. Komen booth. And most importantly, I got my 26.2 sticker to go on my car. A Marathon for the Cure one, none the less!

My gear check bag is ready, my clothes and shoes are laid out for the race, I have the locations of my "fans" written down, along with the points where I need to "fuel" (ie eat pretzel M&M's). I will be transferring this information onto my arm with the help of a Sharpie so that I can keep everything straight while I'm running. I've done everything I can to prepare.

So this is it. 26.2 in the morning. Let's do this.

It's the Final Countdown...

Hope I just put an amazing song in everyone's head with that title. :) Yes, the final countdown is here. In 3 days, I will run the 2010 Chicago Marathon.

This morning I did my final training run. It was only two miles, but thanks to a reminder from my dear friend Anne last night, I got a little emotional when I finished the run. Stupid, yes. It was just weird that after months and months of being a slave to a training program, this was the final run. The next time I start running, it will be at the start line of the marathon.

I started out the week feeling not so pumped about the race, and my confidence was kind of at a low. After getting out and running on Tuesday and Wednesday though, I started to feel better. And yesterday, I got two "good luck" emails from friends that really started to get me excited. Then last night, Marc and I started game planning where he and everyone else would be along the course. As we were doing that, I got 2 phone calls from friends saying they were coming down to watch. To top it off, I had a student bring me some Jelly Belly "Sport Beans" this morning and said, "My mom says, 'Good luck in the marathon!'" So cute! That put me over the edge, and now I am super energized for Sunday.

I now have more people coming down to cheer me on than I ever thought I would, and I am soooo incredibly thankful for everyone who is coming, or even thinking about coming. I know that everyone has their own busy lives, so the fact that so many friends and family are taking a big chunk of their weekend to come cheer me on really means a lot. Between the people that are coming down specifically for me and the people who I know that will be there anyway, I know I will have plenty of motivation to keep chugging through those mile markers.

I hope to write one more time before the race, probably on Saturday from the hotel. If I don't get around to it though, the next time I write, I will officially be a marathon runner. :)

Mile this week: 8 miles
Weeks of training finished: 29 weeks
Total miles of training: 453 miles

I thought this was supposed to be the easiest part...

Two weeks ago, after my 20 mile training run, the tapering phase began. The purpose of tapering off your mileage the three weeks leading up to the marathon is to give your body some time to recover and rest up for the race. I was really looking forward to this stage, and thought it would be a breeze. I'm finding out that it's not though.

The past two weeks have been incredibly busy and stressful at work. Just a lot going on, exhausting days with kids that are much more immature and needy than my past classes, not to mention having a student teacher thrown in with me. So, the first week after my 20 mile run, I completely blew off all of my mid-week runs. I just could not fit them in. I felt better though after doing my long run (12 miles) last weekend. It was easy, and it reassured me that I hadn't set myself back by skipping my mid-week runs.

I was only slightly better this past week. I only did one mid-week run of 4 miles. Again though, I thought I would feel better after doing my long run yesterday (8 miles). Then I came home from work on Friday feeling like I was coming down with some sort of cold/sore throat thing. I woke up on Saturday morning not feeling terrible though, so I still went out for my long run. It went ok at first, despite the 45 degree temp and 18 mph wind burning my throat, but around mile 5 I started to get that achy sick feeling, and I couldn't shake it. So I stopped. :(

So now I'm freaking out about the fact that I haven't done the miles I was supposed to over the past two weeks. I know that I have the strong training base that I need, and this is only the tapering phase, but I still don't like not finishing my mileage, especially a long run.

I did find a great article yesterday about the woes of tapering, such as phantom pains, anxiety, and just a general feeling of sinking confidence. It reassured me a little bit that a lot of this is common during tapering. I also read a few places that it's pretty common to get sick while tapering because your immune system is so run down from the heavy training the previous few weeks.

I'm feeling better today and hope to have this sickness kicked by tomorrow. In which case I will make sure I get in my midweek runs this week. I have a feeling the fact that the marathon is next weekend will light a fire under me to get me going...

P.S. If you read this and know anything about marathon training, and in your head you are thinking, "You haven't done your mid-week runs??? You are SO screwed!" please do not let me know. Just let me find out for myself around mile 20. :) I don't need anything else to weaken my confidence at this point.

Miles the past two weeks: 21 miles
Weeks of training finished: 28 weeks
Total miles of training: 455 miles

All that remains is 26.2

I have officially completed my longest training run: 20 miles! I knew this run was going to be a big obstacle, physically and mentally, so when I saw that there was a 20 miler "race" in Elk Grove, I decided to register. I call it a "race" because it wasn't timed and there were no "winners", but everything else was set up like a race: pace teams, aid stations, etc. I always do better when I'm running in a race setting so I figured this would help my motivation.

After only about 6 hours of sleep last night due to attending a rehearsal dinner, I sleepily drove myself to Elk Grove. It was still dark out when I got there, but I could feel the race atmosphere as soon as I pulled into the parking lot. I love that feeling. Then I started noticing that at least half of the cars there had "26.2" stickers on them. It made me excited, but also a little intimidated. Where were my fellow first timers?? Luckily the running community is a friendly one, so as soon as I got out of my car and the person parked next to me struck up a conversation, I knew I had nothing to worry about. That may be one of my favorite parts of running: how friendly and accepting everyone is. No one cares how long you've been running, no one cares how fast you are, we're all runners and we're all in this together (Ooh... High School Musical idea for playlist... also, what is with my overuse of colons in this post... can you tell I need sleep???)

The race started in waves, and each wave had pace leaders. Except for my wave. Our pace leader was apparently MIA. We were orphans. :( So we set our own pace. With people walking through aid stations and stopping at bathrooms though, most of the groups broke up anyway within the first 5 miles. I was on my own for most of the run, but I was ok with that because there was still a group feeling along the whole course.

Around mile 14 (right before the last turn around), it started to rain a bit, and the sky was pretty dark. And then that little bit turned into A LOT. The rain was literally coming down in sheets, and the thunder and lightning was pretty crazy, but at that point we were no where near a shelter or aid station, so our only choice was to keep going. When we did get to the aid station, they were encouraging everyone to stop and go under the shelter until the lightning past, however I knew that if I did this, physically my legs would cramp up, and mentally I would be out of running mode. So the girl next to me looked at me and said, "The lightning would probably hit a tree before it hit us, right?" I agreed, and we kept going. Needless to say, the last 5 miles of my run involved a lot of sloshing in my shoes, and my shirt and shorts plastered to my skin. FUN!

Other than that, the run overall went very well. I felt great (well, as great as you can when you're running 20 miles), and I only had a couple moments where I really had to battle it out mentally. I'm still not sure how I'm magically supposed to add 6.2 miles to my distance for the marathon, but I know it must work since that's how almost all of the training plan work. If I've learned anything from these long runs though, it's that this is mostly a mental feat, not a physical one. I'm sure that I can physically run 26.2 miles, I just need to get beat the mental aspect of it. I'm sure though that running with 40,000 other people and having over a million people cheering me on will help me get through that.

But for now, I shall enjoy the glory of tapering over the next 3 weeks. Oh, and a pedicure. I get to go have one of those in an hour because of the wedding I'm in tomorrow. It's going to be amazing.

Miles this week: 27 miles (Yes, I am completely slacking on mid-week runs. Whatever, I still did my 20. That's what matters in my mind.)
Weeks of training finished: 26 weeks
Total miles of training: 434 miles

Did that really just happen?

I've been bad about updating since I started training again, so I will try to get things up to speed...

The first week back: I had two mid-week runs right after finding out that I could start running again, so in order to ease back in I ran 4 miles that Wednesday, and 5 miles that Thursday. They were the first times that I had gone running before work, and I hadn't really thought about the fact that I needed to run at 5am, and the sun doesn't rise until 6am. So it was a bit interesting/creepy running that early while it was still dark, but I stayed within our subdivision. Both runs went well!

Last weekend's long run: I was scheduled to run 18 miles last weekend and drop-back to 14 miles this weekend, but since I was supposed to ease back in, I flip flopped those two. The weather was absolutely perfect last Sunday morning, which was a welcome change from the hot, humid summer. Considering that it was my first long run after being off for a week, 14 miles went pretty well, and more importantly, pain free. It was a little tough at the end, which made me very nervous to add on 4 miles the next weekend...

This week: I've been struggling with mid-week runs for awhile now, and while I haven't been too concerned about it because I'm completing my long runs, I still have a feeling of guilt when I don't get in the miles I'm supposed to. I ended up running after work on Tuesday because of the 25 mph winds on Tuesday morning. I was supposed to run 9 miles after work on Wednesday with a co-worker who is also training. We were going to change right after school and go right from there. Of course as I went to go change, I discovered that I had left a key piece of clothing at home... so I told her I was just going to go home and run when I got home. Luckily, another co-worker decided to join her. So, I got home, and of course got distracted by things that needed to be done around the house and didn't get going as soon as I wanted. And then when I did start running, my legs felt like lead. I went about 3 miles and said screw it. I was already nervous enough for my 18 mile run that weekend that I decided I was better off resting my legs for Saturday. So I skipped my Thursday run also...

18 miles: Needless to say, I was really worried about my 18 mile run. With the way 14 miles went, and the way my mid-week runs went, I wasn't sure how 18 was going to happen. And of course when we got up on Saturday, it was rainy. We drove to the trail anyway, hoping it would let up. It was coming down pretty hard when we got there, and it was chilly. I really didn't want to push my run until Sunday, so we waited it out in the car for a few minutes. It finally let up a little, and we got going. We stayed fairly dry until about mile 11 when it started coming down pretty good. It was short lived though, and I pushed on. I found myself not really feeling worn out until about mile 13. It was bearable though, until about mile 16 when I really felt it. At that point though, I knew that if I stopped to walk, I would cramp up and it would be that much harder to start again. I also knew that I would be EXTREMELY upset if I didn't finish, so I pushed on. I'm not sure how, but I successfully ran 18 miles, and my pace was somewhat acceptable (for me, at least...)

So there are a few things that got me through those 18 miles. I'd like to thank:

• My husband, once again. No way I could do that carrying my own water. :)
• My refreshed playlist. Every time I started to feel myself lagging, a new addition to my playlist would come on and get me fired up.
• My new fuel of choice: Pretzel M&M's. As you know, my stomach does not tolerate carb gels, so I have been using Swedish fish. Lately though, they haven't been doing it for me, not to mention how unpleasant it can be to have gumminess in your mouth while running. I found myself craving salt later in my runs, so I had an epiphany when I bought some pretzel M&M's for a cookie recipe: pretzel filling=saltiness, candy outside=sugar to digest quickly and get fuel to my body. They worked really well, and I felt like they did the trick better than the Swedish fish. Plus, they are higher in calories, so I don't have to carry as many!
• The glorious fall temperatures
• The academy
• You, if you have read this far
  

Next weekend will be my longest training run, 20 miles. After that, it's taper time!!!

I still can't believe I ran 18 miles yesterday...

Miles last week: 25 miles
Miles this week: 26 miles
Weeks of training finished: 25 weeks
Total miles of training: 408 miles

I love a good quote...

My friend Natalie (who is also one of my biggest cheerleaders), sent me a running quote today:
"Your legs must be strong, but your head must be stronger." I do not have a credit for it, but it is so true, and got me searching for other running quotes. I came across this one that really hit home with everything that has happened over the past week:

"It is difficult to train for a marathon, but it is even more difficult to not be able to train for a marathon." ~Aaron Douglas Trimble

Still incredibly thankful. :)

Still on for 10-10-10!

That's right! I got the news this afternoon that I do NOT have a stress fracture, and will indeed still be able to run the 2010 Chicago Marathon!!!! I cannot even put into words how ecstatic and relieved I am right now!

I was literally on the verge of tears while waiting for the doctor to come in. I had definitely prepared for the worst. I had even looked into an upcoming marathon in December, and had brought my training plan with me to go over options with him if it was a stress fracture. The first thing he told me was that my MRI looked great, and there was no stress fracture. At this point I almost cried from relief, but held myself together. I asked him why my hip was still hurting then, and he said I did have some swelling in the joint from inflammation (bursitis). He started telling me what we could do to treat it, and I promptly interrupted him to confirm that I would still indeed be able to run the marathon. :) I then let him continue explaining my treatment which is just a prescription anti-inflammatory and some stretching exercises. If the prescription doesn't work, I can also go back for a cortisone shot, but I opted to try the prescription first because I hate needles... He then said that I could ease back into running this week, and be back on track next week.

This past week has been absolute hell, not knowing what was going on, not being able to run, and most of all facing the possibility that after putting in so much training since the spring, I might not be able to run the Chicago Marathon. At the same time though, I am actually slightly happy that this whole thing happened. First off, I was able to skip a week of running without too much guilt because it was on doctor's orders, and that made my life a bit easier with the start of school and a big wedding over the weekend. More than that though, it made me appreciate my training. I was at a point where I was getting very burnt out on my training, and although I wasn't thinking about quitting, I was getting very crabby about everything and had a very negative attitude. After facing the possibility of having to give everything up though, I am just so thankful that I can still go through with this that I can't wait to get back to my training. There is only a little over 5 weeks until the marathon left, and I only have 2 more training runs left that are longer distances than I've run before. I can do this, and crossing the finish line is going to be so much sweeter now that I have even more appreciation for it. :)

My worst day yet... although it could get worse

When I started marathon training, all of the first time marathoner stuff that I read said that basically if you stuck with your training plan, you would be able to finish the marathon... barring any injuries. Easy enough, right? Well, I've clearly found out that sticking with a training plan isn't always easy, but I've been able to do it. And I've also been pretty much able to escape injuries... until now.

Today sucked. There's no other way to put it. For the past couple of weeks, I've been having some pain in my left hip joint area. It usually would hurt when I started running, and then would seem to feel better after a mile or two. Some runs it didn't bother me at all. Then Saturday it began to hurt more, and I think it's the reason my 16 mile run was so hard. I was running with bad form because I was trying to favor my other leg, which caused my legs to burn out before they should have. Then this morning, I couldn't even finish 2 miles, the pain had gotten so bad. I started to look around on the internet at what it might be, and when I saw that it could be a stress fracture, I knew it was time to call a sports med doc.

As if the day before school starting isn't stressful enough, I was able to squeeze in an appointment that they thankfully had open. Before the doctor even came in, they took x-rays of my hip. The doctor then came in, asked me a bunch of questions about the pain, and had me do some different movements to see if any of it caused pain. None of it did, which he said meant it probably wasn't a hip flexor strain, which was one of the possibilities. The other possibility... a stress fracture. My x-ray was clean, but he said that if it's a fairly new fracture, they don't always show up on x-rays, so I need to have an MRI done. And I'm supposed to not run until my follow up appointment after the MRI. He then added the news that I was dreading. If it is a stress fracture, I'm done running for at least 4 weeks. That pretty much means no Chicago Marathon for me.

Although I know nothing for sure right now, and won't until my follow up appointment on Tuesday, there have been many tears already today. I can't even imagine putting in everything that I have done so far only to have it go to waste. Undoubtedly, I'm not completely giving up running a marathon. If it is a stress fracture, and I can't run Chicago, I'm going to talk to the doctor about when I can start again, at what point in my training I would be able to start at, and look into any possible marathon within driving distance. But I'm waiting to worry about that until I know for sure what is going on. I really had my heart set on running the Chicago Marathon. I've been picturing the finish line there every time I go for a run, and we even drove the course a couple weekends ago. So send me some positive vibes, and let's hope for some good news on Tuesday...

Up and down we go...

I wish this training wasn't such a roller coaster of emotions. Did 16 this morning because the weekend is too packed with activities to fit it in Saturday or Sunday. It was rough and I was not at all happy with how I did. I don't understand how 12 was easy, yet 13 was terrible, and then 15 was a breeze, but 16 was tough. I hope this means good things for 18 in two weeks... That is all.

Miles this week: 25 miles (I plan on posting later this week about my dilemmas with mid-week runs...)
Weeks of training finished: 23 weeks
Total miles of training: 357 miles

Out of a rut and on with the running!

I know I was really excited about finishing 13 miles last week, and about reaching my fund raising goal, but at the same time, my rut was still kind of continuing. Yes, I finished the 13, but I did it in a time that I was not so happy with. Yes, when I started training I said that my only goal was to finish the marathon and I didn't care how long it took me, but last week was a little on the slow side for me.

Then my mid-week runs started. Oh, where do I begin... Tuesday I was planning on getting up early enough to run my 3 miles before a class that I was going to that morning. Except my alarm didn't go off. Awesome. Well, just run it after class, right? Too bad it was a glorious 90 degree and humid day... So I was forced to run the 3 miles on the wretched treadmill. Terrible.

Then there was Wednesday, when I was supposed to run 7 miles. Another 90 degree and humid day. So I got up, but by the time I got out, it was already in the upper 70's and nice and sunny and humid. (Insert side rant: I'm really starting to get annoyed with the people who respond to me complaining about the hot, humid weather by saying, "Just wait until January! You won't be saying that then!" No, really, I don't think you understand how frustrating it is to have to get up before 5am just to be able to run in decent weather, and even then it's humid. I honestly would rather run in cold and snow. Just had to get that out.) So I ran a whole mile on Wednesday and quit. I attributed it to the weather, but in all honesty, my head just wasn't in it. My day continued downhill from there.

By Thursday I was really not happy about this whole training thing. It was controlling everything. It determined when I went to sleep, when I got up, when and what I ate, how much time I had in my day, and most of all, my emotions. In spite of all this, I attempted the 7 miles again and this time finished it. But oh how wonderful it was was to be up before 5am yet again.

You can imagine how absolutely delighted I was to leave the house at 5:30am on a Saturday morning, already 70 degrees and humid, with 15 miles of running ahead of me. Oh, and a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast. Fantastic. Somehow though, along those magical 15 miles, I found myself climbing out of the rut I had been in. The last few miles were hard, but nothing compared to the last few miles of the 13 miler where I was literally exclaiming, "Who the @%*$# thought training for a marathon was a good idea?!" (To which Marc cautiously responded, "You did?") There was no whining this week, no excruciating pain, and to top it off, as I reached the end, I discovered that I had taken a minute off of my per mile average from last week! I was so happy that I was actually smiling on the car ride home, which rarely happens after a long run! :) I'm not sure that I've ever experienced this so-called "runner's high", but I think I came pretty close today.

Miles this week: 26 miles
Weeks of training finished: 22 weeks
Total miles of training: 332 miles

Complete 180 from last week!

Nothing but good news to report this week, but I will keep it short! I successfully completed 13 miles on Saturday, which was a refreshing change from last week. It was tough towards the end, and a little painful, but I made it. My new fuel of choice? Swedish fish. My marathon training book had a list of alternative carb replacements for while you are running, since the carb replacement gels are not my thing. One of the suggestions was Swedish fish, so that's what I did! My stomach had no problem with them, and they seemed to give me an extra boost when I needed it towards the end of my run. I still may experiment with a couple other foods, but at least I know there's one thing that works for me!

The other great news is that I have officially met my fundraising goal for Marathon for the Cure! Yay! It actually happened while I was out running on Saturday morning, so it was a great thing to come back to. Now, I know there are some of you that are just dying to donate money, but haven't gotten around to it yet, and now are saying, "Oh no, does this mean I can't still donate?" :) $750 was just my minimum goal, so I am happily still accepting donations! Just click the link in the upper right corner of this page.

Next up.... 15 miles....

Miles this week: 27 miles
Weeks of training finished: 21 weeks
Total miles of training: 306

I've had better weeks

This past week has definitely not been the best of my training so far. It started with my 12 mile run last weekend, which went well, but ended with some pain in my lower calf. It happened around mile 5 of my run, but wasn't bad enough to make me stop. After my run though, it began to hurt a lot more. Still in some pain on Monday and Tuesday morning, but thinking maybe it just needed to work itself out, I still went for my 3 mile run on Tuesday. Not a good idea. So I went to the doctor on Tuesday afternoon, who thought it was probably a strained muscle, and told me I needed to stay off of it for a few days. I was not happy about this because the thought of falling behind on training freaked me out, but I knew I had to do it. I skipped my 6 mile run on Wednesday, and pushed my other 3 mile to Friday. I was feeling back to normal when I ran on Friday, so I felt like I would be able to handle my 13 mile long run on Sunday.

Let's rewind a little bit to last week when I was buying my new shoes. While at the store, the lady who was helping me asked if I was using carb replacement gels on my long runs. She asked this in a way that notified me that I definitely should be. I had read about these when I first started my training, but at that point I was not running far enough to need them. Then I honestly forgot all about them. So, I lied and said, "Oh yes, I am", then headed to Sports Authority to buy some... :) So my 12 mile run last week was the first time I used them. They definitely did seem to help with that burn out towards the end of my run. My stomach was a little upset after that run, but I just attributed it to the long distance.

Back to this past week. I started out my 13 miles feeling good with no pain in my leg anymore. Phew. I had eaten some Clif Shot Bloks before my run, so I was all fueled up. Things first began to go downhill (and not in the good way that makes it easier to run...) when Marc and I couldn't find the point on the trail where we were supposed to turn around. Long story short, we ended up a mile and a half to two miles further down on the trail than we should have been. I was annoyed, but figured I would just take that into account and stop earlier and just walk the rest back to the car. And then the upset stomach started. I tried as best I could to tough it out, but it got to the point where I just couldn't run anymore. At this point I was extremely frustrated. I do NOT like leaving something that I set out to do unfinished. Marc offered to ride back to the car while I walked to the closest trail access point, where he would come pick me up. I begrudgingly agreed. We'll just say there was some definite door slamming as I got in the car. :(

Ok, enough Debbie Downer. Let's look at the bright side of all this:

• I was supposed to run 10 miles on my long run next week (drop back week). I did get in 10 miles this week before I had to stop. So I can just flip flop the two weeks and run 13 miles next week instead.
• I found out well before the marathon that my stomach does not like carb replacement gels, so I now have plenty of time to experiment with something else and see what works.
  
• There are plenty of other things to use besides the gels to fuel during a long run. Nancy Clark's Food Guide for Marathoners even suggests things as simple as gummy bears or Twizzlers.
• My husband is awesome enough to listen to my crabbiness while I pouted about not finishing my run.
  

I hope to return next week with a more cheerful report. :)

Miles this week: 16 miles (should have been 25, but who's counting...)
Weeks of training finished: 20 weeks
Total miles of training: 279 miles

Christmas in July!

This week I discovered the best part about training for a marathon... You can say to your husband/person you share finances with, "Honey, I need to go buy a new pair of hundred dollar shoes," and there's no questions asked because it's a legitimate need! Ok, so the shoes are running shoes, not a new pair of cute heels or anything, but still! Yes, this week was new running shoe week. The guideline to replace running shoes is roughly every 6 months, or every 300-500 miles (I've seen a few different ranges). I figured my current shoes have a little over 300 miles on them and they're about 7 months old, so it was time to get a new pair that could be well broken in by the marathon.

When I bought shoes back in December, I went to Dick's Sporting Goods, and one of the salespeople helped me pick out my Asics 2140's. I have really loved these shoes, and haven't had any problems with them. This time though I wanted to go to an actual running store and have someone who specializes in running help me make sure I had the right shoe. So, I took my old pair of Asics to The Running Depot in Crystal Lake and told them I was training for a marathon and needed a new pair. The woman there looked at the wear pattern on the bottom of my shoes, and said that it was right down the middle which is good. She asked if I had any problems with the shoes, I told her no, so she suggested I go with the Asics 2150's, which is just the new version of what I had. Basically, if they're working for me, why switch? She checked the fit of the size I had been wearing, and that was correct too. I just have a brand new version of what I already had, in a new color, and the assurance that those shoes are a good fit for me!

My plan was to wear my new shoes for my shorter mid-week runs for the next couple of weeks in order to break them in and continue to wear my old pair for long runs until the new ones were broken in. I did wear them on my Thursday run, but in my 6am delirium this morning before my 12 mile run, I just put on whatever running shoes were by the door and set off for the trail. It wasn't until about a mile into my run that I realized I had put on my new shoes. There was nothing I could do except hope for the best, and that's what happened! I managed to get through 12 miles with no blisters (but man are my legs sore...). I guess these really are the shoes for me!

Miles this week: 24 miles
Weeks of training finished: 19 weeks
Total miles of training: 263 miles

I'd like to give a shout out...

High five to anyone who read that title and in their head/out loud finished, "... to Seagrams gin. 'Cuz I drink it, and they payin' me for it." :) Anyway, last week was a pretty boring running week. The usual short-medium-short runs during the week, and then my long run was a "drop-back week", so it was only 7 miles. So I thought I would give some shout outs this week. There's no way that I would be running the Chicago Marathon in less than three months if it wasn't for certain people. Here we go...

First off, I need to thank the people that are the reasons I even considered running a marathon. Two of my college roommates, Jamie and Jenny, both ran the Chicago Marathon. Now, both of these lovely ladies are more athletic than myself, so even when they did it I thought, "Wow, that's amazing that they did that. I could never do that." BUT, it put the notion in my head that you don't have to be a professional runner to run a marathon. They planted the seed. Then last year a friend/ex-girlfriend of Marc's from high school (yes, you read that right) :) caught wind that I was considering training for a marathon, but was reluctant because I wasn't much of a runner. She contacted me and told me that she had run the 2009 Chicago Marathon, and prior to that had not been much of a runner either. Hearing someone who was also admittedly not a great runner at one point tell me that I could do it pushed me over the edge to go for it.

Next I need to thank everyone who has supported me in my training and fundraising efforts. The words of encouragement, blog comments, even just asking how my training is going really keeps me accountable and reminds me that if I were to suddenly give up (which I don't plan on doing), there would be a lot of people I would have to tell that I gave up, which would not be fun. So thanks for keeping me going. :) And, I have raised almost 75% of the $750 I committed to raise for Marathon for the Cure, so THANK YOU to everyone who has donated! If you haven't donated to and would like to, the link is in the upper right corner of this page!

And finally, my biggest supporter, my waterboy on a bike/amazingly supportive husband. It began when I told him I was thinking about training for a marathon and instead of saying, "What are you, crazy?" he said, "Do it!". Then once I had registered, he made the committment of riding his bike with me on long runs. Now, when this poor man made this verbal committment, I'm sure he thought to himself, "How hard can it be to go ride my bike once a week?" Little did he (or I) know at the time, that when summer rolls around, it gets very hot. This hot weather is very hard to run in. So how to we avoid said hot weather? We get up before it gets hot. Which is sometimes 6am. Even though it's Saturday. Needless to say, he has been up bright and early with me every Saturday (with only a minimal amount of grumbling) except for the two weeks when he had social events already scheduled. He's pretty much a rockstar. Love you, babe!

Miles this week: 18 miles
Weeks of training finished: 18 weeks
Total miles of training: 239 miles

Into the double digits we go!

My long runs have officially moved into the double digits! I successfully ran 10 miles this morning! I was actually really nervous for this run. 9 miles last week was rough, so I wasn't sure how I was going to do 10. Plus, my waterboy on a bike/supportive husband was gone on a camping trip, so I was going to be completely on my own. Just like the 9 mile run last week, everything was fine until about the last mile. That's when my legs started to say, "We are done. Please stop making us move."

At that 9 mile mark, I kept thinking about tired my legs were, how badly I wanted to stop, but also how I only had one more mile to go, and that really wasn't that far. I started to feel better knowing that I was almost done, but then all I could think about was how in two weeks (next week is a drop-back week), I have to run 12 miles, and that seems so far!

My mind then wandered to a section I had read in the book The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On With Your Training by Dawn Dais. I love this book. The author is absolutely hilarious and wonderfully sarcastic. I highly recommend it to any woman training for a marathon, half-marathon, or just any length of race that seems impossible for you. Anyway, in one of the chapters she talks about "the moment". She talks about how great the moment when you cross the marathon finish line is, but she also talks about how you shouldn't forget about all of the little moments along the way. She says it's so easy to get caught up in worrying about how long you have to run next time, that you forget about what you are accomplishing along the way. At this point it really hit me that I was about to finish running TEN MILES. Yes, that is less than half of the actual marathon, but a year ago I could barely run two miles. I had never run ten miles in my life until today. That's a pretty amazing feeling.

I guess it's just like Miley Cyrus says, "Ain't about how fast I get there, aint' about what's waiting on the other side, it's the climb." Yep, I just ended by quoting Miley Cyrus. :)

Miles this week: 21 miles
Weeks of training finished: 17 weeks
Total miles of training: 221 miles

Um... this is hard...

Yep, training for a marathon is hard. And yes, my name for today is Captain Obvious. Don't get me wrong, I always knew training for this marathon was going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done. Up until this week though, my long runs haven't been that hard. I think it was because I was so comfortable running 5 miles for a few months, that going up to 6, 7, and even 8 wasn't that bad. Now I'm getting into the continuous climb of mileage though, I'm definitely starting to feel it. My long run yesterday was 9 miles, and it wasn't too bad until the last mile, which is when my legs really started to bother me. Cardio and breathing-wise I was fine, but my legs were just done. It wasn't injury pain, it was just that my muscles had had enough. So those "drop-back weeks" that I said I wasn't sure if I wanted to follow? I think I'll be following them now. Pretty sure my body will need that slight break every few weeks in order to keep going.

Miles this week: 19 miles
Weeks of training finished: 16 weeks
Total miles of training: 200 miles

Uneventful week

Nothing too exciting this past week. I woke up on Wednesday morning to some pretty crazy thunderstorms, but when I checked the weather, it looked like I would get about a half hour break to get my 4 mile run in. When I went out to run, the sky looked pretty mean to the west, and it did start to rain about a mile into my run. I could hear some distant thunder, but never really saw much lightning, so I finished out my 4 miles in the rain. I don't really mind running in the rain, but I love the looks I get from people as they drive by in their cars. Their look either says, "Wow, you're dedicated!" or "Wow, you're crazy. What's wrong with you?". :)

Saturday was a fairly uneventful 8 mile run. I did have to do it without my trusty waterboy on a bike/husband as he was golfing in a tournament that morning. So, I got to experience running with a water bottle in my hand the whole time, as I do not own one of the water belt thingys (I know that's the technical name...). I do have to say that the water bottle really threw me off (both in rhythm, and my arm got tired), so I am going to have to decide what to do for those times when I don't have a waterboy on a bike with me!

That's about it for now!

Miles this week: 18 miles
Weeks of training finished: 15 weeks
Total miles of training: 181 miles

Frustration!!!

I am so frustrated right now! I'm mad at myself, although my reason for being mad isn't something I did knowingly.

My run on Saturday morning was supposed to be 7 miles. I use a Nike +, but it's not always completely accurate, so I always map out my route on mapmyrun.com before I go to make sure it's the right distance. I had a route planned out that was actually about 7.4 miles, so I decided I would either stop running at the 7 mile mark and walk the last part, or run the whole thing, depending on how I was feeling.

It was a beautiful morning for a run, and I was feeling good. Then about 1.5 miles in I realized that, well, let's just say I did not give myself enough time between my pre-run hydration and my actual run. I realized I needed to change my route to include a bathroom of some sort. I knew there were bathrooms at the public park, so I decided to skip one loop of road and detour through the park. My thinking was that going through the park was adding on some distance, so by taking away that one loop, everything would even out. Plus I had that .4 extra miles on there anyway. I figured I would still end up reaching 7 miles.

After my brief stop and a city park port-a-potty (EEWWWW!!!), I was feeling good about the rest of my run and knew I would be able to do 7 miles, no problem. I knew that my Nike + was a little bit ahead of where I was distance wise, so I knew that when it told me I had hit the 7 mile mark, I needed to go a bit further. I ran all the way to my end point, and when I got there it told me I had gone 7.3 miles. I figured that was a safe amount over, and that it was probably actually about 7 miles.

I still wanted to double check, so when I got home, I plugged in the route I had actually run on mapmyrun.com. 6.65 miles!!!! GGRRRR!!! I was so mad that I hadn't actually gone my 7 miles! Now, the bright side to this is that I felt great when I finished running, so I know that I could have easily run another 1/2 mile, but I was lacking that satisfaction of reaching a goal and running the distance I set out to run. Very annoying.

This coming week is supposed to be a "drop-back" week. In the training plan that I'm following, the long runs get progressively longer each week by one mile, except every third week goes down a bit. So instead of going 6-7-8-9, my plan goes 6-7-5-9. I already am not a big fan of this, and had decided that for now I was going to go with 6-7-8-9, until I get into the really high mileage and maybe need that drop-back. Saturday's run also confirmed for me that that is what I want to do. So, 8 miles this Saturday! Hopefully that will give me that goal-reaching-satisfaction that I'm itching for!

Miles this week: 16 miles (we'll just round up to make it easier...)
Weeks of training finished: 14 weeks
Total miles of training: 163 miles

Oh, Mother Nature

I never thought I would have such a strong love/hate relationship with the weather. Sure, we all have a certain type of weather that we dislike and a certain type that we enjoy, but mine has become even stronger since I began training. The type of weather I love and the type of weather I hate have almost become opposite too, when it comes to running as opposed to any other time.

Normally, my favorite type of weather would be a sunny, breezy day, not a cloud in the sky, and in the upper 70's or lower 80's. Not when it comes to running though. My ideal running weather would be low 50's, little to no wind, and overcast. The warmer it is, the harder it is for me to run.

This weather talk brings me to my long run this past week. First of all, I have to point out that this was the first official week of the Novice Marathon Training Schedule by Hal Higdon. The Novice Supreme Schedule that I've been following is actually a combination of the marathon training and a spring training schedule. So I have now entered the marathon training portion. Woohoo!! Ok, back on track. (This is what I get for waiting too long to post. My brain is all over the place...). This week and last week were identical in schedules. Both long runs were 6 miles, and I completed the 6 mile long run last week with no problem, so I figured this week would be the same.

Wrong. Last Saturday, I got up early before it got warm out. I had a nice, crisp morning to run. This past weekend looked like it would be the same. Friday night I did my usual night-before-a-run-stalking of the hour-by-hour forecast on weather.com to see when it would get too warm to run. It looked like it was going to be below 70 until about 7am, and then would get warmer from there. Perfect. I could do my 6am run with a nice cloud cover, and cool air. Until I actually went outside Saturday morning. And it was almost 70 already. And the humidity was about 1000%. (Dad, if you're reading this, yes, I realize that's not actually possible) It felt like I was in a jungle. Not ideal.

Well, I toughed it out anyway, but it was a rough run. I may as well have been wearing a plastic jumpsuit because there was absolutely no evaporation going on. I was actually thankful that I had already completed 6 miles the week before so I knew that my terrible experience wasn't because 6 miles was too much to handle, it was due to Mother Nature. And the kicker of the whole thing? That temperature that was supposed to climb after 7am... actually ended up dropping. About an hour after my run, it was about 5 degrees cooler and not nearly as humid. Curse you, weatherman!

Miles this week: 15 miles
Weeks of training finished: 13 weeks
Total miles of training: 147 miles

The Next Big Decision

Deciding to train for the marathon was a big decision for me. I had come a long way in my running, but registering for the marathon meant that I was committing to keeping up with a training schedule for over six months, and committing to run a distance much longer than I had ever run in my life. Once I told people that I was training for a marathon, I knew I couldn't back out.

My next big decision was whether or not to fund raise. When you register for the marathon, they ask you if you will be running for a charity or not. At the time when I registered, I said no, but it definitely put the idea in my head. I knew that if I was going to try and raise money for any charity, it would be something related to fighting breast cancer because both my mom and my aunt are survivors, and it feels like almost every woman I'm related to has had it. Not quite, but it's safe to say it runs in my family.

This was a tough decision for me though because most charities make you commit to raising a minimum amount. I couldn't just sign up and raise as much or as little as I could. This was scary for me because I hate asking people for money. I am definitely no Holly Robinson Peete.(Celebrity Apprentice? Anyone? Anyone?) I began to look around at marathon related charities though, and found that Susan G. Komen, a pretty big name in breast cancer research fund raising, had a program called Marathon for the Cure, and that the Chicago Marathon was one of the races they were associated with.

I finally decided that I would join Marathon for the Cure and commit to raising at least $750. I figured I'm at least doing something to give people reason to donate. I'm not asking for donations just 'cause, I'm running 26.2 miles for the donations! (Not to mention the many, many miles of training). So, I will try not to be too much of a pest about it, but I would love it if you would consider donating. Even the tiniest amount is helpful! There is absolutely no problem with using that "other amount" field and donating ten or even five dollars. I've even put a link to my donation page here on the blog to make it nice and easy! :) And a big "thank you" to those who have donated already!

Miles this week: 15 miles
Weeks of training finished: 12 weeks
Total miles of training: 132 miles

Maybe I really am a morning person. Who knew?

Remember last week when I complained about waking up on the weekend at the same time I usually get up for work? Well, what happens when it's hot out during the week and the only time it's cool enough to run is in the morning? I'll tell you what happens: I have to get up earlier than I usually do for work!

This week was a hot and humid one, so Tuesday-Thursday I wanted to do my running before work because it was still going to be hot after work. Personally, I cannot run on an empty stomach, and I also cannot run immediately after eating. So, what does this mean? It means I not only have to get up early enough to give myself enough time to run, but also to eat, digest, and then run. Despite the ridiculous time that my alarm was set for on Tuesday morning, I managed to get up, eat, pack my lunch while I was digesting, and run. It was actually kind of refreshing to be up so early and get so much accomplished before I felt like my day had even started. I even ended up getting to work earlier than I usually do!

Wednesday was not the same story. I don't know if it was the fact that I had done a longer run the previous weekend and then a "longer than usual" Tuesday run, or the fact that I had gotten up so early the day before, or the fact that I knew in the back of my mind it wasn't going to be as hot that day, or a combination of all of those, but I could not drag myself out of bed when my alarm went off ridiculously early. Luckily the temperature was below 80 by the time I got home from work that day, and I was able to run then.

Comparing these two days, I must say that as much as I hate waking up to an alarm and getting up earlier than necessary, I would much rather run early in the morning than later in the day. It is always so much easier because I don't feel like I'm carrying around the food that I've been eating all day, and my body isn't tired from managing 24 third graders all day. Not to mention the peaceful quiet and getting to watch the sunrise! It's also a great feeling to have a big item on the day's "to-do list" checked off so early in the day. Obviously now that school is out I won't have to get up quite as early during the week to run, but when school starts again in the fall, this may become my new routine!

Miles this week: 12 miles
Weeks of training finished: 11 weeks
Total miles of training: 117 miles

A Taste of Summer

I have had a pretty interesting week of running! Ran with a student, reached the point of being 1/3 of the way through my training, got a taste of what summer will be like, and reached a new distance. Not bad for just another week of training!

Yes, that's right, 1/3 of the way done! I know the real tough stuff hasn't started yet, and my mileage isn't very high yet, but a milestone is a milestone. I think the fact that I've stuck with it for 10 weeks says a lot! My long run this week was 5.5 miles, which is only 1/2 mile longer than I've done before, but it's still a new personal high for mileage!

My shorter runs during the week are usually pretty "blah" because they're short, and therefore I just run in our neighborhood. My three mile run was exciting this week though because I got to run with one of my students! Last year my school became a site for a program called Girls on the Run. Girls on the Run is a program that helps pre-teen girls build self-esteem and confidence while training for a 5k race. Each girl has a running buddy that runs with her during the final race for encouragement. I was planning on volunteering to be a running buddy this year anyway when one of the girls in my class who was participating in GOTR asked me out of the blue if I would run the race with her! How could I say no to that??

This week was the "practice 5k", so all of the running buddies had to attend practice and run with their girl. Ok, so my three mile run wasn't as fast as I would train on my own, and we didn't run the whole time because she needed to take walking breaks, but how awesome to be able to run and bond with one of my students! (I know, cheesy teacher moment...) I think my favorite part of the whole run was when she was telling me a story and then, mid-sentence, punched me in the arm and said, "White one!" I was completely caught off-guard and confused as to why my sweet little student just hit me, and then I saw the white VW Beetle drive by...slug bug! I couldn't help but laugh. :)

This morning I had a somewhat rude awakening as to what training in the summer is going to be like. I decided to do my long run on Sunday this weekend instead of Saturday, and the high for Sunday was supposed to be almost 90 degrees. Not exactly running weather in my mind. I realized that on hot days, I would need to get up early and run before the temperature started to climb. So, that's exactly what I did! With an early bed time on Saturday and an alarm set for the same time I usually get up for work (ugh), I was able to get up and run my 5.5 miles before the thermometer read 70 degrees. Thankfully I was able to drag my trooper of a husband/water boy out of bed early too so that he could ride his bike with me while I ran. :) I suppose my beloved "no-alarm Sundays/Saturdays" may be few and far between this summer...

Miles this week: 13 miles
Weeks of training finished: 10 weeks
Total miles of training: 105 miles

The road to 26.2... so far

Since my training actually began about two months ago, I thought I would bring you up to date on what I’ve done so far.

I suppose my training actually began when I was getting ready for the Shamrock Shuffle. Once I made the decision to run the marathon, it was suggested that I sign up for the Shamrock Shuffle 8k. It’s a scaled down version of the marathon, but it has the same start and finish line, and it’s a large race with tens of thousands of participants, like the marathon. I had about two months to get from my three mile point to five miles, and I was able to reach that goal about two weeks before the race.

Running the Shamrock Shuffle was a lot of fun! My friend Natalie and I ran it together, and I was very proud of the fact that I not only finished easily, but was able to chat the entire race. That was something I could NEVER have done while running a year ago. It was the first actual race I had ever run, so there were a lot of new experiences that went along with it. I found that even though I had gotten to the point where I actually enjoyed running, running in a race with that many people through the streets of an amazing city like Chicago was even more of a thrill. It really got me excited for my marathon training!

There are many, many marathon training plans out there, even for first time, non-runners. Many of the plans that I looked at though were only 12, 16, or 18 weeks. I felt that I wanted something longer in order to give me more time to build up not only my endurance, but my confidence. I decided to go with Hal Higdon’s Novice Supreme program. It is actually designed to start the week of the Shamrock Shuffle and end with the Chicago Marathon! I also liked it because it was 30 weeks long, and the longest run in the first week was only three miles. I figured that would be a nice confidence builder after running five miles in the Shuffle.

So, I began my actual marathon training right after the Shamrock Shuffle. It has been easy so far, but I have felt like I was in a holding pattern for the past few weeks. I finally went back up to five miles on my long run last weekend, and this coming weekend it will be 5.5 miles. I finally feel like I’m moving forward again. I’m glad that I chose a plan that started off so low, but I’m glad that the mileage is finally starting to climb again!

It’s been a bit of a challenge at times trying to fit in my runs between work and social commitments, but so far I’ve been able to make it work. I even was able to take one of my runs along U.S. 1 in Key Largo while we were there for a friend’s wedding! The Race to Wrigley 5k also fit nicely into my training schedule, so I can’t really complain when I get to start one of my runs hearing Ernie Banks say, “On your mark, get set, go!”, and end it by running through the concourse of Wrigley Field. :)

Miles this week: 10.5 miles

Weeks of training finished: 9 weeks

Total miles of training: 92 miles

Natalie and I running the Shamrock Shuffle

Getting ready to run the Race to Wrigley

Am I crazy?

So, I’ve decided that I’m going to run the 2010 Chicago Marathon. Yes, you read that right: me, the non-runner, running 26.2 miles less than 5 months from now.

Many that know me know that running has always been incredibly hard for me. I have always dreaded it. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, I hated nothing more than the day we had to run the mile in P.E. class. I could never finish without walking half of it. Forget any Presidential Fitness awards! Despite all this dread, I have always wished I was better at running. I wanted to be able to run, it just seemed like every time I ran for more than 3 minutes, I was doubled over with a cramp in my side and gasping for breath.

A couple of years ago I decided to give running a try. I found the couch to 5k running schedule and was encouraged that to start, I only needed to run for 60 seconds at a time. I gave the plan a try a couple of times, but it seemed like every time I got to week 5, I would hit a wall and not be able to complete the runs. I would always get discouraged and go back to some other form of exercise.

Then last spring, I decided I was going to conquer this running thing and not give up. My goal to start was to be able to run 2 miles without walking. I made myself stick to it, and although there were some weeks that I had to spend more time on before I completed the runs, I did reach my goal. It may have been only 2 miles, but I’m pretty sure at that point it was the furthest I had ever run in my life. I realized that running was something I could conquer, I just had to train and stick with it. At this point, the marathon started to creep into my mind.

I had always thought of a marathon as something that only highly trained, Olympic level athletes can do. Over the past few years though, I have seen several friends and acquaintances train for and complete marathons. This planted the seed in the back of my mind that a marathon was something I could maybe complete someday. Someday.

I began to think more seriously about running the 2010 Chicago Marathon last fall. I was slowly (very slowly) adding distance onto my 2 miles. I decided that if I could get myself to run 3 miles easily, I would commit to training for the marathon. I got there before registration for the marathon opened in February, and managed to not talk myself out of it before I registered.

There it is: how I came to the crazy decision to run a marathon. I decided to start this blog as a way for family and friends to keep up with my training. I know we’re all busy, so I honestly will not be offended if no one ends up reading this, but I figure that if I’m at least under the illusion (delusion?) that someone is reading it, it will keep me accountable for my training. :) (And I promise every entry won’t be this long…)