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Posts tagged ‘marathon training’

Mar 19

Crowd sourcing marathon inspiration

In just 5 days, I will be running my 10th marathon with my friend Meghan. This one is going to be pretty special – not just because I have 5 friends doing the marathon relay right besides us. Not just because it will be the second marathon Meg and I have run together. And not just because my husband and two great friends will be there to cheer us on. This one is special because I will be running 26 one-mile loops. Yep, you heard that right.

CLM w o date

It’s in a park. And there is a one mile loop around the park. Me, Meg and 103 other marathoners will be running around that circle 26 times. To say it will be a mental challenge is an understatement. A marathon is hard enough. The distance, the stress on your body, the pain are just half the battle. At least for me, the distance is as mentally as challenging as it is on my legs. And without new scenery. New crowds. New pavement to run…this one could be really hard. (Conversely, it could be amazing! We get to see our cheer squad every single mile. We don’t need to wear a fuel belt. I have access to water, gels, chapstick every time around. So who knows, maybe we will love it.)

But in an effort to prepare for the worst, Meg and I are seeking your help. We want to crowd-source inspiration. We have 26 miles together which means each lap, we want YOU to plan a singular topic for us to discuss at length. Now let me preface, Meg and I don’t lack for words. We have run 9+ hours together in the woods and never had silence. We run 3x a week together and always have things to talk about. So this isn’t about boredom – this is about things that will help keep those miles moving for us. Entertain us. Motivate us.

Running through the woods for hours and hours

Running through the woods for hours and hours

Here is what we are looking for:

You donate $30 – you get to choose the topic of discussion and thought for one of our miles. The donation part is to support my Woman of the Year Campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Every dollar goes to support blood cancers – so you are doing good for not just kids with cancer, but also for Meg and I! You are making our marathon not just another long race, but one that is doing good for others. And you’ll entertain us as we go! When you go to the site to donate, be sure to put in the comment section what you want our mile to be dedicated to:

Maybe it’s a thought provoking question? (Ex: If you were going to time travel, would you go future or past?)

Or a “would you rather” question? (Ex: Would you rather have crab claws for hands or duck flippers for feet?)

Maybe it’s nostalgic: (Ex: Discuss your favorite childhood memory)

Maybe it’s inspirational: (Ex: Who is the one person you would dedicate crossing this finish line for today?)

Get it? We want creative. Fun. Motivating.

What you’ll get:

We will take the first 26 donations. We will then post all the ideas we get on this blog. And after the race, we’ll recap our answers, discussion points, etc. This is going to make for a good story and you get to be a part of it!

Donating to a good cause + helping Meg and I find inspiration and excitement during our marathon = you being awesome. It’s that simple. Let me know if you have any questions by commenting on this blog. We really appreciate your help and can’t wait to hear what you come up with!

 

 

Mar 10

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20 miles, 4 McDonalds and some adventures on the Monon.

I usually run on Saturdays. I usually start my runs no later than 8 am. I usually have anywhere between 3-8 other girls with me when I run. I usually wear long socks. Today was unusual.

It is Sunday. I started running at 9:30am. I was by myself. I had short socks on. And I ran 20 miles.

The Weekend

On Friday, JD and I attended the Evening in the Gardens Gala for Noble Indiana. I had volunteered on their social media committee which meant we got VIP tickets, dressed up and even got to be food judges! I was thrilled with my dress which I rented from Rent the Runway (I am a huge fan of RtR, by the way). We ate incredible food and drank lots of wine and loved being part of such an incredible cause.

On Saturday, we slept in, went to Cafe Patachou and then JD ran 7 miles and I went shopping. I went a little nutso shopping for new clothes, makeup and new bedding! And last night, we went to our friends house for dinner with two other couples where we played games and had great conversation. It wasn’t really the best way to prep for a 20-mile run – cookies and wine don’t really count as fuel – but it was well worth it.

The Prep

I slept in until 8am and frolicked around the house before forcing myself to get running. I wore my brand new Lululemon running tights (thanks to Matthew and Nicki for the bday gift!) and absolutely love them. They bought me a size 4 so when I got them, I assumed they’d be my “skinny pants” and serve as motivation to lose some pounds. But they actually turned out to be perfect! I tell ya… every pair of Lulu pants I wear are awesome because once they are on, there is never a need to adjust. I can’t say that about every brand of running wear!

new pantalones

new pantalones

I packed my gels, filled up my water bottles and selected a “cardio” station on Songza to listen to. I am a little sick of my playlists so wanted to let this iPhone app make the decisions for me. It was fantastic and I loved just about all the pop songs they played!

Miles 1-3

My plan was to run the majority of the miles on the Monon but I wanted to get a couple neighborhood ones in before running alongside that red line for hours. The weather was amazing – 50 degrees and such a far cry from running in the snow and ice. I have been so used to running with other girls that I was equally apprehensive and yet excited about going solo. I would push and pull as needed, break when I wanted and rely solely on how I felt vs making decisions on the group. That being said, I also had to rely on my own will to keep the feet moving. At mile 3, I took this picture and instagrammed it with the caption “This is my church.” And it is. Running solo is my church – where I self reflect and dig into my soul to make sense of the prior week, plan for the future week, determine who I want to be, play out scenarios and make important decisions. It’s where I get right in my head.

the city is my church

the city is my church

Miles 4-7.5

Right after I took that picture, a man ran by me and said “Meggie! It’s Matt Judge!” Matt and I haven’t met in person before but we have communicated over social media about running for at least a year+. He’s a seasoned runner and writer and also works in my same industry. He was about to his turn around point so decided to run with me for the next 4ish miles. My pace thus far was hovering anywhere from 9:30-9:50/mile which was slower than he is used to. But miles flew by as we chatted about past races, future ones, work, etc. By the time I got to McDonalds in Broadripple, I needed a gel break and he was going to continue on so we hugged goodbye. What a fun little addition to my solo run!

halfway done

halfway done

Miles 7.5-11

I ended up continuing north until I hit 10-miles on my GPS watch. I turned back around and immediately thought “oh good! This wind will cool me down.” I was starting to get hot in my long-sleeved top and the wind made it more comfortable. But it also made it much harder to run – we’ll talk about that more later. At mile 11, I noticed a crowd had gathered in the middle of the trail. There was a girl on the ground and as I passed her, I noticed she was wearing an ExactTarget tshirt. I turned off my watch and music and approached her. Sure enough, I know her. I asked what was going on and the woman who seemed to be closest to the situation said she was in bad shape but someone was coming. I bent down to talk to her and she told me that she was having horrible cramps. She had goosebumps up and down her arms and was laying in the fetal position on the cold concrete. Once people could see that this other woman and I were staying, they all left. The woman told me that she found my colleague on the ground, white as a ghost. No one else had bothered to stop! The girl asked if she had a phone to call her sister but she didn’t, so she flagged down a guy on a bike to see if he had a phone. Low and behold he (Jake) also is a coworker! He lives close so rode his bike home to get his car and to take the girl home. We stayed together and within about 10 minutes, Jake came driving up the Monon in his car! I loved his dedication to getting this girl back home! When they left, I talked with the other woman who was obviously incredibly nice and helpful to this complete stranger. And I am so glad I passed when I did to give her a familiar face to look at as she was in so much pain. We’ve communicated since and she seems to be better now.

Miles 11-14

I was still feeling pretty darn good, all things considering. My knee and hip started hurting in mile 3, but I was running through it. I definitely didn’t feel fresh and light on my feet, but I was hanging in there. JD was also running 20 miles and found me around mile 12. After that, I stopped and stretched out my hips which gave me a little boost of energy to keep going. I also took my second gel around mile 14. You’d think that knowing only 6 miles remained would give me hope and encouragement. But things were starting to hurt so 6 miles sure felt like a really long way to go.

Miles 15-18

These miles were slow. I hadn’t taken many breaks but I wasn’t running very fast. And worse was that damn wind! Sure it was keeping me cooler, but it was strong as hell and at times, seemed to stop any forward movement. I caught myself barely moving my feet at times and so would pick it up as much as I could before another gust came through. I was very ready to be off the Monon at this point so I wouldn’t be running into the head wind. My hips hurt, my knee hurt and my plantar fasciitis wasn’t feeling so fabulous either. I seemed to be fine from an energy and cardio perspective, but my legs were done.

Miles 18-20

At mile 18, I turned off the Monon and started heading home. Going west vs going south made a massive difference. And by the time I got to my house, I was 18.88 miles in and feeling a bit better. I dropped my water belt off on the porch and created a route that would get me to 20 miles and finish at the neighborhood McDonalds. All week I had promised myself that if I ran 20 miles, I could eat a Shamrock Shake. I imagined myself double-fisting a diet coke and SS while walking back to my house in the warm, sunny weather. Bliss. That last mile seemed to take forever but as I pulled up to McDs, my watched clicked to 20 miles. I had done it. By myself. Through the pain and without fun socks. I had fought through it.

I entered the very crowded McDonalds and got in line with my soaking wet $10 bill that had been absorbing my sweat for the past 3.5 hours. At the counter I asked for a Large Diet Coke and a Medium Shamrock Shake. And then the lady behind the counter broke my heart. She said “We are out of Shamrock Shakes.” My face fell as I asked “Are you kidding?” Truly, I was fighting back tears. She told me I could get chocolate or vanilla or strawberry but clearly she had no idea that for 20 miles I had been imagining that tasty fake-green frozen delight and  nothing else would do. I texted JD that I was finished and almost in tears and he told me to stay where I was…he was on his way. I started walking home and he met me. We strolled through the neighborhood on a glorious day, each with big runs under our belt. You’d think I would have been thrilled! But I was downtrodden about my shake.

2-0

2-0

We stopped at my house to take the signature 2-0 picture and you can tell by my face, that I was pouting over my shake. So after cleaning up, JD and I went on the hunt. The second McDonalds we tried said their shake machine was broken. The third McDonalds said the same. At this point, I was ready to move to Canada because clearly something was very wrong with our country. But at last! The McDonalds at 75th and Keystone came through and all hope was restored. DELICIOUS.

photo 5

So my 10th marathon is 2 weeks away. I have done only two 20-milers and haven’t stuck to a training program strictly. There won’t be a PR this month but I am hoping for a 4:30-4:35 marathon? I know this race will be unique and different as I am running 26 1-mile laps. It may mentally kill me or I may fall in love with it. (I am guessing there won’t be any grey area of opinion on this course.) I am tapering the next two weeks and will work with Meg on race strategy next week. We need to plan out pace, drinks, gels, breaks and inspiration. Just like today, I’ll be digging deep on race day to get through the distance and push myself hard. And maybe a Shamrock Shake will await me that day too.

Feb 17

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Solo half marathon.

Today I ran 13.1 miles faster than I have in the better course of this past year. Let’s review.

JD and I made an impromptu trip to Chicago this weekend. We left on Friday night and returned by early afternoon today. It was a wonderful weekend with some of my all-time favorite people. On Friday, we hung out at my brother and sister-in-law’s house with them and our good friends, Nathan and Hunter. On Saturday, JD braved the cold, windy temperatures to run 20 miles along the lake. I really didn’t have the motivation to run on Saturday morning anyway but after feeling the 4-degree air and picturing how much worse it would be by the water, I opted to sit in my jammies until noon and play with my awesome niece, Wynne. And by awesome, I really do mean awesome. She’s beautiful and sweet and funny and happy and hilarious. We watched the Lion King, we danced, we put my dog in a baby stroller. And we both rocked our bedheads until we were forced to shower (well, she took a bath). Then Nicki, Nathan, Wynne and I went shopping and had beverages while the boys (JD, Matthew, Dayne and Hunt) went to a brewery. That night, the 6 of us went to dinner and out to a dive bar where we took over the jukebox, ate a “bushel” of popcorn and laughed. It was food for the soul.

So today, when we got back to Indy, I didn’t waste much time getting outside to run. I knew if I allowed myself too much time to relax I’d either end up on the couch catching up on my DVR or finding something more fun to occupy my time than running. I shoveled in a sandwich and took off. I didn’t have a distance goal – I knew I at least wanted to do 8.

It was about 30 degrees but the sun was out so it felt pretty fantastic. I left from my house and headed to the Monon Trail. My first goal was to just run until I got through the entire “Matt & Kim” album (which turned out to be 3.5 miles). When I looked down at my watch, I was extremely pleased to see my pace! Most of the time, there as an 8 in front! I felt good, felt fast and so just kept running.

I am so used to running with people now – both on long runs and week runs. I love the accountability and conversation and distraction that group/partner running provides. But today I actually loved running alone. All those minutes just to myself – thinking, organizing my thoughts and feelings, playing out scenarios in my head and letting my brain just jump from one place to the next. I used to run alone all the time and though I’d never want to go back to it exclusively, there is something very therapeutic about putting one foot in front of the other all by my lonesome.

3 miles in - Monon Trail bridge

3 miles in – Monon Trail bridge

At three miles in, I decided I was going to run up to 54th street which would mean 5 miles up and back for a total of 10 (in case you are really bad at math). But you see, I had this little problem of needing to find a bathroom. So I could have turned around at 54th and had 5 miles to run through before getting home, OR I could run 1.5 more and be in Broadripple where I could jump into McDonalds. I still felt good and was running fast (for me, at least) so carried on. By this point, I had put the M&K album on repeat and plodded along.  The Monon was crowded – clearly I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the sunshine.

At 6.5, I turned around and checked my pace. I had averaged 8:58/mile for the first half of the run!

halfway photo (yes I am in the McD's bathroom)

halfway photo (yes I am in the McD’s bathroom)

The second half was a bit slower. The wind was right in my face which made it colder and harder to run through the resistance, but I never let myself dip past a 9:20/mile. My best half time from 2012 was a 2:03 and I honestly was convinced I could beat it today. No idea where the energy came from (maybe the beef jerky I ate in the car this morning? :) ) but it was a great, great run. The last time I had a working watch was around 11.5 miles and it was around 1:45 total time. I was closing in on that sub-2 hour time. But then my watch died. Kaput. Toast. My planned instagram photo of my watch time and pace fell to the wayside. But I knew that I had a great run -no need to prove it to anyone else. So as I cruised into the final stretch and then collapsed onto my front lawn, this is what I saw:

looking up

looking up

What a glorious winter day and a pretty fantastic run.

photo 3

Feb 1

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Marathon Training update

Wake up, wake up, wake up. It’s the first of the month. To get up, get up, get up…

(Who doesn’t start the month listening to this song?!)

It’s February first and we made it through the dreadful month of January (Blanduary). I have exactly 7 weeks and 1 day until my 10th marathon: the Circular Logic in West Lafayette, which means I am a bit over halfway through my training program. And as I face my first 20-miler of the season tomorrow, I thought I’d reflect on some of the fun runs over the past few weeks.

I realize I have been kind of quiet on this blog. As much as I typically hate January, this one wasn’t that bad! I have been crazy busy with work and being sick (I’m on day 16 of this damn cold!) and travel and fun. Though I haven’t done too bad a job of keeping up with my training, I haven’t done well at documenting it. Without further ado, let me introduce you to a few snippits of the past 8 weeks:

Now that I live downtown, I have taken it to the streets. I love running in the Herron-Morton neighborhood. I have mapped out quite a few routes and whether it’s light or dark, I always enjoy navigating the sidewalks. For some reason, I always feel fast when running these routes and sometimes I’ll challenge myself to intervals “Run as hard as you can to the next stoplight.” And occasionally I’ll take a really cheesy self-portrait because whenever I’m running in the ‘hood, I am happy.

Running in the 'hood

Running in the ‘hood

As I mentioned earlier, I have been traveling a lot this month. The end of 2012 was pretty quiet from a business travel perspective but I have already made up for it in January. Chicago, Sedona, Miami, Cincy, Kansas City – I’ve been racking up the FourSquare Airport badges. :) Only problem is that it makes running difficult! One of my more hilarious runs was in the hotel fitness center at the Ambassador in Kansas City. The hotel was pretty awesome – very new and trendy. But the fitness center? Well when I walked in, I saw a sign that said “Maximum Capacity: 3.” There was one treadmill, one elliptical and a bike in a room that was the size of a walk-in closet! A little cramped and very quiet, I knocked out a 3-miler and got the heck out of there!

action shot!

action shot!

For any loyal blog readers, it will come as no surprise to you when I tell you that I hate running in the cold. So earlier this month, when Meg and I had to run 14 miles, we decided to do it running circles on an indoor track rather than bear the elements (112 laps to be exact.) Some people think this is crazy (probably the same people that think our marathon is crazy) but the temperature in there is perfect and as long as we have company, it really wasn’t so bad. We ran based on time and took breaks every 40 minutes or so. Plus, we got to wear minimal layers!

new socks!

new socks!

But there are times that the cold is worth it. One morning, Dana, Meg and I met to run 10 miles in the snow. The problem was that the snow was fresh and fluffy and just impossible to run in. We made it only 4 miles, but it was a gorgeous run. And we made sure to have some fun as well.

winter wonderland

winter wonderland

Dana and Meg making snow angels

Dana and Meg making snow angels

a whole big field of snow all to myself

a whole big field of snow all to myself

And typical of Indiana, one minute we are running in the cold and ice, and another we are running in 50 degrees! A couple of Fridays ago, I left work a little early to get in some daylight miles. I am currently obsessed with running to “Matt & Kim’s” latest album. It’s upbeat and loud and just enough cuss words to fire me up, so this was a fun one. When I finished, I collapsed in my front lawn and took this pic. I can hardly believe it was taken in January!

laying in grass

laying in grass

But have no fear, the Perfect Strangers haven’t disappeared! In fact, the majority of us have marathons we are training for so Saturday long-runs are still on the calendar. We may not always run together based on schedules, pace, distance but when we do, it makes all the difference. This pic was taken on my 18-miler a couple of weeks ago. The weather was decent and the conversation made the miles fly by!

reunited.

reunited.

And finally, one of my favorite runs of all time actually occurred last night. It is bitterly cold outside. Unrelenting wind. Temperatures are just dumb. There was no way I was going to run in this weather and thank gosh Meg felt the same. But neither of us were too excited about a treadmill either. So we came up with an idea: let’s run through the Convention Center. This idea spawned from our friend Stacy who (no lie) ran through Costco recently. She ran up and down the aisles and ended up getting around 2 miles in (the only person who stopped her asked why she had earmuffs on, not why she was sprinting through the store)! We thought if she can do that, surely we could disappear in the halls of the Convention Center. So last night we found the doors open with only the cleaning staff around. We ducked into an empty corridor and started running. At first I felt very anxious about breaking some unwritten rule but the more we ran, the more confident we felt. We ran up stairs and around posts and opened doors we probably weren’t supposed to. We ran into quite a few people, but without breaking conversation or looking the least bit guilty, not a single person questioned what we were doing. In fact, had the cleaning staff not collected our jackets (which we left in the food court), we could have gone for hours!

sneaky!

sneaky!

Now tomorrow Meg and I are running 20 miles. By gum, we will run 20 miles. Cold temperatures be damned, we have a plan. We are re-doing our AWFUL Super Bowl run from 2012 with some new routes and hopefully a much better performance. Wish us luck!

Jan 7

Running in the deep freeze.

I am a few weeks into marathon training now and it’s gone fairly well. When you factor in the holidays,  I am doing the best I can which isn’t to say that I am hitting every run. I am in fact, not. But I am getting my long runs in and at least feel like I am in better shape than I was at the start of December.

That being said, running in the winter presents a whole new set of obstacles. Some big enough that they can become excuses. It’s dark…..always. It’s cold…..always. There is snow on the sidewalks. The streets are slushy. The Monon is iced over. So this week, when the Facebook wall posts started popping up from the Perfect Strangers, organizing a Saturday run, I was thrilled to have something positive to add to that list. A run with my girls? Yes please!!

It was Friday night and I was sitting at a bar waiting for my friends to arrive so we could go into the basement of the Murphy Building (Fountain Square) and go ghost hunting. I was so excited and nervous to talk to the paranormal but more than anything, I couldn’t shake the sheer dread I had for running in 17 degree weather. Last winter, we were so spoiled with mild temperatures that I really didn’t have to run in horribly frigid weather. This winter is already telling us it’s gonna be different. Welcome back Indiana winters.

I went to bed at 1am that night after communicating with at least one spirit (yes, I know you want to know more about this but I’m trying to talk about running ok? Maybe later. Focus.). I woke up at 6:47am and started the laborious task of putting on an entire laundry load of clothes. Long sleeved tight undershirt? Check. Fleece lined turtleneck? Check. Neck Gaitor? Check. Wind resistant running jacket? Check. Mittens. Shoes. Fleece-lined tights. Running belt. Watch. Stocking hat. My heavens I was accessorized.

I instagram weird things.

At 8am, I pulled up to the deck in Broadripple and the girls started piling into my warm car as we waited for everyone to arrive. Martha, in all her happy glory, brought us brand new matching socks to wear! I was equally excited about the cute-factor as I was the added warmth.

Meg, Jaime, Christi, Dana, Martha, Christy, Amy and I eventually left the warmth of Bernice (my car) and started running. I was eager to talk about the ghosts (I know, I am taunting you, aren’t I?) but within the first half mile, no one could hear me over the crunching of our feet on ice. We had planned for the cold, but we had never considered that the Monon Trail would be still packed of ice and snow. No matter how much we tried to keep conversation up, we had to focus mostly on our footwork. One wrong footfall and we’d be on our bums. It was brutal.

the trail.

We were going slowly – about a 10:30/mile pace and really had no choice. The minute we’d find a tiny patch of clear pavement, it would disappear only to reappear on the other side of the trail. We bobbed and weaved, trying to land our feet on clear cement or where there was crunchy snow. The absolute worst was just the plain ice – which dominated the ground by about 85%. With every step, our feet flew out behind us and though we were going slowly, we realized quickly how much of our minor muscles we’d be using on this run. And it was exhausting. Meg and I had hoped to run 16 miles on Saturday. Once we got to mile 4, we were already modifying this plan greatly. But also at mile 4, we saw the most glorious sight: pavement! Thank heavens Carmel parks has their act together as the trail was 100% clear from 96th street on.

We reevaluated what our mileage would be and Christy, Christi and Dana planned on doing 12 so they went ahead. The rest of us settled for 10 just so we could run 2 miles on the clean, easy-to-run-on pavement. But before we split, we took our signature group shot.

Amy, Meghan, Jaime, Christy, Dana, Christi, Martha, Me

For some reason, the trip back was more brutal. We blamed it on our tired legs and the fact that the sun was starting to melt the dusty snow on top of the ice only making it more and more slick. For me, my ankles and hips hurt. I am guessing it was because of balance and the dodging and weaving but for such a slow run and not that many miles, my body was tired. So we took another break and luckily Blake, our friend who was also running out there, stopped to take a picture of us 10-milers.

You’ll notice that I have yet to really talk about the cold. It just wasn’t that bad out there. Sure, the temperatures were in the teens but the wind was low and we had all dressed appropriately. I must remember this when I am dreading these winter runs. They really aren’t so bad once you get moving.

Martha and Amy inched ahead of us as we waited for Jaime to deal with some business on her phone. Despite how miserable it was running on an ice rink, it did make for good scenery.

When we finally finished, we met up with all the runners as well as Kelly (and her two girls) and Bri who didn’t run but wanted to have breakfast with us! We sat at Einsteins for hours….catching up, laughing, sharing new updates and sharing horror stories of that ice! I also talked more about the ghosts.

Fast forward 24 hours and Meg and I decided to make up those last 6 miles on the downtown Monon this past Sunday. The weather was 15 degrees warmer and the Monon was completely clear. Though my legs were a little tired from the ice the day prior, the run actually felt good. Hovering in the 9:30/mile range, it was significantly more enjoyable too!

Overall, for the week I ran 25.5 miles. Certainly not the total that I am sure my training program called for but given the New Year, not too shabby. Onwards and upwards!

Dec 6

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And may the odds be ever in your favor.

This week started my 10th Marathon Training Season. Though I only ran a total of 34 miles in November (EEK!), I was at least planning and plotting for my next big race. For my 10th marathon, I wanted something driveable, new, ideally on a Saturday and in the month of March. (I chose March because it would force me to get back on the wagon of running sooner rather than later.)

I found this: The Circular Logic Marathon. It’s located in West Lafayette, IN and takes place on March 23rd – a Saturday. Perfect.

Well, maybe not perfect. This race takes place on a 1-mile loop. Yes, do the math. That’s running the same circle 26 times. They only allow 105 individual runners + 21 relay teams as the course is too small for anything beyond that. Did I mention the 26 laps?

Now did I think that this may just be a little crazy compared to some of the beautiful courses I have been lucky enough to run (next to Golden Gate Bridge, running next to Big Ben, finishing on a Lake Michigan beach, running through Boys Town in Chicago?) Nope, sure didn’t. In fact, I saw it as an adventure of sorts. So I emailed my friend Meghan and tossed it out as an option for her to do as well. She bit. Within an hour, we were both registered.

AND! Three of our other Perfect Strangers will be running the marathon relay (Jaime, Bri and Kelly). PLUS! I get to see my fans every single mile! I never have to wear a water belt or carry gels with me. JD can tailgate with a crew of supporters and could jump in at any mile to run alongside me. And can you imagine all the pictures I’ll have? One every single mile! See? This is looking better and better.

Now as for training….the past two races I have completed the FIRST Marathon Training program. But despite it giving me a PR this past spring, I didn’t do so well with it this summer. I can chalk that up to a whole host of things but I know that for this race, I am going back to my roots: Hal Higdon. I have used his programs time and time again. What I like is that you have a variety of schedules to choose from depending on ability. This time, I chose an intermediate program and added some modifications to toss in some intervals and tempo runs. In the end, the program looks something like this.

This program has me running 5x a week which is ambitious, but if I can strive for 5 and end up at 4, it will be acceptable in my book. What I love about this schedule is that it ramps up slowly but still has some aggressive distances in there (3 20-milers). Had I been doing the FIRST program, I’d be gearing up for my first 20-miler in just two weeks! (Oh helllll no. This body is not ready for that!)

So on Monday, Meg and I kicked off our training season with a 6-miler after work. It was quite hilarious as the weather was incredible (Tank Top December!) so I think we just got a little distracted and forgot what month we were actually in. We were 1.5 miles into our run when it became PITCH BLACK. There we were, on the Monon Trail in downtown Indy. Without lights. Without reflectors. Without mace. So we picked up our pace and tried to get back to the safe neighborhood as fast as possible. There were a few times where our hackles were up and all conversation stopped as we crossed some passerbys. At one point I said to her “Meg – we have done some smart things and some stupid things in our friendship together. This? This is a stupid thing.”

We, of course, are safe and ended up finishing our 6-mile run in my lovely neighborhood. Then Tuesday we ran 3 miles around the same ‘hood. And this morning, I started my day with another 3 miles with JD. So I am four days in and have run 3 times. It’s a start.

I feel slow and out of shape. I can’t carry on conversation as easily as I used to. But I am excited to get recommitted to running. To make it a habit again. To make it a priority.

I think maybe I got a little overconfident this summer. After 8 marathons, I figured I could make minimal effort and still pull off a decent race. But I was brought back to earth by the Chicago Marathon. That rude awakening + 6 weeks of relaxation was the perfect equation to get me back on the wagon.

Happy Marathon Training. May the odds be ever in your favor.

 

Sep 16

18 Comments

20.5

This marathon training season has FLOWN by. I swear it was just yesterday that I was doing my first 20-miler and saying “the marathon is SO far away, we’ve got plenty of time to get in race shape.” And now here I am, three weeks away from the Chicago Marathon: my 9th battle with 26.2 miles.

This past weekend was my final 20-miler before tapering begins. It was the 5th 20 miler of the season and also my favorite. The original Perfect Strangers crew – PS11 if you will – all promised to run our final 20-miler together before any marathon. And so last week, after a great dinner with the girls, we made our plans for Saturday. Not everyone could be in attendance: Kelly was sick. Bri was out of town. But Meg, Christi, Karen, Amy, Jaime and I all met at 96th street at 6am for our long run. The weather was perfect – 52 degrees. The humidity, though high, wasn’t an issue due to the cooler temperatures and we all reveled in the ability to wear arm sleeves (tubes!) or a long sleeved tee and of course, our signature tall socks.

I have a bit of a mental barrier about running far north into Carmel along the Monon, but pushed past it this weekend. We ran 4.5 miles north, turned around, and then continued down to 54th street before turning back towards our cars. Karen and Christi wanted to do 22 and Jaime could only do 9 because of a time commitment.

As we started in the dark, just a couple of knuckle lights lighting our way, I already knew this would be a great run. I was running with my best friends. Whether we see each other every week or not even every month, our conversation picks up right where we left it. It’s easy. It’s fun. It’s emotional. We talked about relationships and jobs and our bodies and of course, running.

At mile 6ish, we stopped on a bridge to take a picture with the sunrise.

PS11

When we dropped Jaime off at mile 9, I took my first gel. I bought a new variety this week and I can’t say enough about the Hammer Gel – Cinnamon Apple! It tastes like the middle of an apple pie and I am obsessed!

my infomercial on Apple Cinnamon delight

I told the girls I was going to try to stay around a 10-minute mile and that meant Christi and Karen were going to go ahead. They have some aggressive goals for Chicago so we wished them well and watched them surge ahead. Amy, Meg and I continued on. I felt slow, but felt good. My legs never hurt too much (sure I had some pain in my heel, achilles, hips, feet, etc but nothing major!) and I felt more energy than in the past. Even Meg commented that my mood was the best it’s been all running season.

At one point, I was discussing a video that Meg and I saw earlier in the week about crossfit. As we debated how “strong is the new sexy” and fake boobs, a man walking in front of us turned around “Ladies, I have to say your conversation is quite interesting. Can we extrapolate on these subjects?” He started running with us and for the next 2 miles, we ran alongside Martin. He is in his 50s and is out on the Monon every week with his friends (one of which is the blind man that runs on the Monon every Saturday). He has run 21 marathons (one of which was a 3:22!) and is from England. We talked about WWII and airplanes and good running form and marathons. His spirit was happy and we absolutely loved his company. When he said goodbye to us, we had the biggest smiles on our faces.

We stretched at McDonalds and continued south of Broadripple. We came upon a father who was pushing a stroller next to his maybe 2-year old who was running alongside him. We stopped and I asked if I could have a high-five since he was such a good runner. He pointed to a rock, I fastened his velcro shoes and then he gave me a huge high five. We then decided that Connor the 2-year old and Martin the 50-year old were the only men we would allow to run with us on Saturday. We loved them both.

Our breaks were not as frequent or long as in the past and our pace was pretty consistent. So many people commented on our socks and told us good luck or to keep going that we finally asked ourselves if we looked like we were really struggling and therefore needed the encouragement. But what we soon realized is that the cool weather just put EVERYONE in a good mood. Runners weren’t pouring sweat as in Saturdays past or dying of heat. We were all just joyful to be out on such a gorgeous day.

At mile 16, we took this picture.

all smiles

And soon after Karen and Christi came up behind us. They had run an extra 2 miles with no breaks and had caught up to us! We wished them on their way as they were definitely killing this run. We stopped to stretch at mile 17.5 and met two other women who were running 20 that day. And when we hit mile marker 18, we turned on Gangnam Style. If you haven’t heard it, you will soon become obsessed. It’s the latest internet meme and is not just a catchy tune but has some awesome dance moves. We listened to it for an entire mile, on speaker as we passed people. Given the song is in Korean, we only know a few words (Sexy ladies!) but the tune gave us the boost of energy we needed.

At mile 19, we saw JD waiting for us. He had just finished 21 miles and wanted to run the last mile with us. So we had him take a picture of our Gangnam dance moves and we turned the music back on for the final stretch.

Gangnam Style

With only 50 yards to go, Christi and Karen found us. They had doubled back so we could all run together. It’s the Perfect Stranger way.

20 and 22

We rested at the 96th street park and told tales of our run. My legs were tired. But my heart was oh so happy.

2-0

We met Dana at Kilroys and enjoyed a post-run beer and breadsticks. She did 23 miles with 3 girls and killed it. Overall, it was a great day for everyone, including Bri who rocked out her final 20-miler in Michigan.

What I learned from this run is that my body is ready for the distance. My injuries are present, but not damning. And I will do 26.2 on October 7th. But it won’t be a PR. I am just a little slower than normal right now. The only thing I can attribute it to is my lack of during-the-week runs. I know I have let life get in the way of consistent training. This running  season has flown by but I also haven’t made it the priority that I should have.

And I am actually ok with that. My 9th marathon doesn’t have to be my best. I got my PR last spring when I ran 4:15:01 in Champaign. This race is going to be about doing my best and having fun. Surely, I’ll fare better than I did last year in Chicago when I was injured and had to walk a lot. And after Chicago, I’ll make a game plan about what’s next. Though I am burned out, I am also a bit rejuvenated. Knowing that I am not in the running shape I want means that I want to work harder. And that’s exactly what I’ll do for Marathon 10, 11, 12, 13…..

Thank you to my girls for such a perfect Saturday run. It wasn’t my fastest. It wasn’t my best performance. But my heart and head needed those miles with you.

Sep 8

8 Comments

20 miles + Color Me Rad

As you guys know, running has been a bit of a chore for me lately. Two weeks ago, I talked about this big wall I am trying to run through and though I ran 5x last week, my long run capped at 14 rather than the 20 I attempted. The humidity was 90% and my body was just drained of energy.

This week, life got in the way of running. Buying/selling a house + work + a short work week meant I got 3 miles in on Monday and nothing after that. So yesterday, as some of the girls were going to run Friday morning instead of Saturday, I decided I was going to do 20. No excuses. I just had to get the full 20 miles in.

So I did. I started at 5:15am and ran 4 with Jen and Meg. Then we met Karen, Lori and Ashley for the next 10. Ashley, Karen, Lori and I ran the next 2 together and Karen kept with me for the last 4. I felt REALLY good between miles 9-15. The last four, however, were SLOW. But I did it and was so happy to get over the mental block of doing 20 miles.

completely drenched

Last spring I felt like I was doing 20 every other weekend – no big deal. But this training season, it’s become this behemoth that has stressed me out. With 4-20 milers under my belt I have one more before I start tapering for the Chicago Marathon. And at least now I know I can do it. My shoes were soaked from all the sweat and humidity. And my body just hurt. I have self-diagnosed myself with plantar fasciitis and I can feel my achilles tightening again. My hip (piriformis) hurts. My calf is tight. This body is no wonderland. But the positive of all this is that I am seeing a sports massage therapist today at 1:45! He promises to work out my calves and hammys and for a full hour! I will be sure to report on it’s success but I need something. I can’t risk achilles tendinitis again.

Fast forward to this morning….the Color Me Rad 5k! I had quite a few free passes I was able to give out (thanks, Gretchen!) and so Dana, Christi, Adam and Stacy met at the Fairgrounds to take on this rainbow adventure. The idea is to wear all white, pick up as much color as possible while running and end up colored rad.

tatted up

Christi and Dana ran 9 miles beforehand and Adam planned on 16 after. But Stacy and I were plenty happy with just 3.1 today. In fact, this was her FIRST 5k! You can read all about her fitness adventures on her blog. She wanted to run today’s race in 38 minutes and typically runs by running a minute, walking a minute. Not today…..today she rocked it!

dressed in white

Before the race began, some of the participants had purchased extra bags of color so were already getting messy. We stayed pretty clean until the first half mile when we reached the purple station. As we approached, I put on my sunglasses so I wouldn’t get the food colored corn starch in my eyes. I wanted to get blasted and blasted I got! As we ran through, a volunteer threw a huge handful at my face. It was awesome.

headed toward a cloud of purple

Adam's awesome action shot

all smiles

We all stayed together throughout the entire race and hadn’t walked once at this point. Stacy was incredible! She ran much better than I think even she thought she could! Plus her bubbly personality just made everyone around her happy. I’m guessing that’s pretty common in her world. The next station was a green blast of water which was cold and yet awesome. Although at this point I realized I needed to protect my phone just a little better from the blasts!

Stacy and I

From there, we hit the pink cloud of color and were just covered. Christi looked like a pink serpent. :)

after pink

We took a few brief walking breaks but overall kept a steady pace. And all of us just reveled in the fact that this was such a fun way to run. There were good runners and walkers. Kids. People of all ages and shapes and sizes. I didn’t see a single person NOT smiling. It was exactly what I needed to remind of why running can be fun.

As we neared the end, we were handed our own packet of color so at the finish, there was just a dense fog of dust. We shook color all over ourselves and others and crossed the finish line strong and laughing. Stacy’s boyfriend, Greg, was right there cheering us on. Even he had picked up some blue dust! We washed the color out of our teeth and then surveyed the damage. We looked absolutely ridiculous and yet awesome. This is exactly what we wanted.

Looks like we emerged from a skittles explosion!

It was immediately decided that we needed to cap off this awesome morning with a Bagel Deli breakfast so we took our blue bodies north. We definitely got some stares as we entered the restaurant but thank gosh we had strength in numbers.

I couldn’t be happier about this weekend’s running. Though the 20 miler wasn’t easy, breezy beautiful, I got through it. And this morning’s 5K gave me such a renewed sense for my love of running. Being able to share with people who had just as much fun as I did made it a perfect morning.

Aug 27

15 Comments

The Wall.

You can compare my current mental state about running to hitting the wall in a marathon. Though I haven’t hit it in every marathon I have run, when I have, it’s unmistakable. My hips lose all forward-movement power. My legs feel like steel. My energy is low. My mind is swarming with demons.

The first time I hit it was during the Monumental Marathon, 2010. I had five miles to go and was running with my friend and Sherpa, Martha. I just couldn’t fathom how I would get through those last miles when my body just had nothing left. But I put one foot in front of the other and with only two miles to go, not only did I get past the wall, I busted through it! I crossed the finish line with pep in my step.

Right now I am trying to find my pep.

This past weekend was yet another 20 miler attempt. Though my training plan only called for 15, the girls swapped out this past weekend with the upcoming holiday weekend for a variety of reasons. And on Friday, I was very conscious of wanting to have a great long run. I tried to hydrate more and planned for a good pre-run meal and an early night’s sleep.

But of course, that didn’t happen. We are currently looking for a new house and spent our entire Friday night walking through listing after listing. By 9:30pm, we were finally home. I was dehydrated, tired and hungry. Mostly, I was stressed the heck out. I needed to eat. I needed to sleep. I needed a good 20-miler the next morning. So I hoofed down some cheerios and was in bed by 10:30pm.

I awoke on Saturday with a splitting headache and a surprise visit from the Frodo (you’ll figure it out). I had no running gels in the house so grabbed some Spiderman Fruit Snacks. I met all the girls, wearing pink, at the deck in Broadripple at 6am. And off we ran. Though I was still a little nervous about the run, I was so excited to run with my knuckle lights for the first time!

weird arm pic but I love these lights!

I was a little dictator about the pace on Saturday and led the group around a 10 minute/mile pace. It was slower than I normally like to go but I didn’t want to start off too fast.

The girls were great as always with entertaining stories of almost-stolen cars, Karla Maroney jokes and typical weekly updates on jobs, boys, etc. The weather was cool but humid. The trail packed with people. It was a very familiar day. It’s how I spend every Saturday.

attack of the pink

Pretty early on, I decided I was going to back off and only do 14. Given we were supposed to do 15 originally, I knew it wouldn’t hurt my training. And my body just didn’t have it. Errr, or maybe my mind didn’t. Regardless, I wasn’t going to do 20 miles.

And as Meghan and Jen agreed to do the same, I really analyzed why my running just isn’t where I want it to be. And I came to a few conclusions:

  • My training program only calls for 3 days of running a week. And though you’d think this would help me not get burned out, what I fear is that it has actually just made running more of an after-thought for me. I start each week thinking “surely I can find 3 days to run this week” and then I don’t plan. I get busy. And by Sunday, I have run twice. During past training programs, when I had to run 4-5x/week, I always planned them out and never faltered. I think I need a renewed and more intense focus, and maybe a different plan.
  • Crossfit. I am currently going to Crossfit 3x/week. And though I am still really bad at some things (like snatches, pull ups, cleans), when I leave that gym, I feel strong. I see improvement and like the parts of my body that have changed as a result of the hard work I am putting in. And sure, I am sore often and maybe that makes long runs harder. But I think the big issue here is that I am making time for Crossfit because it makes me feel strong. And I am slacking on running because it currently makes me feel weak.
  • I am burned out. Plain and simple. I started training for my first marathon in December of 2008 and since then have done 8 marathons, 6 half-marathons, 1 ultra-marathon. In any given year, I train for 10 months. The only real “break” I took was last fall when injured. And though this is certainly nothing as demanding as what elite athletes go through, it is taking a toll on me. I just don’t get the same enjoyment out of it as I used to.

So I hit the wall. I am in the wall. And there is only one thing I can do to get past it:

RUN THROUGH IT.

Which is exactly what I am going to do. I got up this morning and ran 3 miles. And each week, I am going to have a renewed focus on running. This weekend, I am going to do 20 miles come hell or high water. I will fake it until I make it. The Chicago Marathon awaits me and I have just enough weeks to get out of this funk and to still make myself proud.

And I promise soon that this blog will go back to the happy, positive discussions about running soon. Until then, I’ll keep the real talk going. Because I am certain I am not the only one who has felt this way.

Aug 13

20.3

This past Saturday, I completed my 3rd 20-miler this summer. (Quick recap: I am training for my 9th marathon, the Chicago Marathon, and doing the FIRST Marathon Training program which calls for 3 days of running/week but a total of five 20-milers during the training regiment).

Last week, I committed to you that I would get out and do my 3 days of running. Oopsies. :) I did get through 3 Crossfit workouts and 2 days of running. But with a very late night stuck in an airport, I chose sleep over running on Friday. But I couldn’t wait to see all the Perfect Strangers on Saturday, dressed in their tall socks to knock out the miles together.

The weather was cool and lovely. It was 6am and the first few people to show up at the meeting spot were strangers to me. Friends had invited friends and so in addition to the OGs (Karen, Dana, Bri, Jaime, Meghan, Kelly, Christi) we had Ashley, Kate, Farrah, Jen (in dri-fit!) and Natalie. THIRTEEN women strong, we started down the Monon in a herd. I was near the front and could hear the drum of voices behind me.

I definitely don’t know everyone in our group. But that’s how we got our name. We all came together with some degrees of separation among us all and started running. Saturday was no different. Some were running 8, others as many as 20. But had I been a runner on the Monon Saturday morning, I would have been damn impressed to see this group of ladies hoofing it north at 6am.

Mile 4

(As I took the above picture, I joked that there wouldn’t be any tagging on Facebook because I don’t know who these people are!)

At mile 6.5, we stopped for the bathroom and Bri, our resident Boppy Fairy, asked me if I was ok. She noticed I had been quiet. And I was. I don’t know why, but I was just in a mood. I physically felt fine (at that point, at least) but was grumpy. In fact, I told her I felt “crotchpunchy” which in my terms means that I could punch someone in the crotch. (Delightful, aren’t I?) Luckily, there was no one in particular I wanted to punch, I just needed to shake the tude. Knowing that she picked up on it so quickly meant the world. These girls know me so well.

We were running quite quickly and I started to fall back with Jen and Bri. My watch kept reading around a 9:30/mile pace and that was faster than I wanted to go, yet still in the back of the pack with these girls. Long run pacing is crucial and I still don’t have it mastered.

We lost Jaime and Christi at mile 8, but not before playing a little dress up in the parking lot.

At mile 10.5, we lost Natalie and Farrah. And at mile 12.5, we lost Jen and Kate.

The final 5 trudged along, still feeling good with plenty of chattiness to go around.

Twenty-ers

Right around this time, we saw JD running towards us. Saturday was his 31st birthday and just like last year, he ran as many miles as he has in years. THIRTY-ONE miles. He ran them all on his own. With just a fuel belt and some gels. And it only took him 4:20. He’s the best runner badass I know.

mid-run pic

Dana and Bri had a lot of pep in their step on Saturday. Karen got a little quiet. Meg hung back with me. I was the Eeyore of the group. Though I had lost the tude by then, I was just a little trudgy. My legs felt FINE. But when I stopped, instead of regaining my breath immediately, I would pant for a minute or two. My energy was just depleted.

Maybe it was the fact we went a little faster in the beginning. Or the lack of sleep throughout the week. Or the fact that I was sick earlier in the week. Either way, there was some perfect storm that led to my bodily malaise.

At points, I wanted to walk it in but Bri wouldn’t let me. And with Meghan by my side, we got through the total 20 miles. Better than the first twenty miler, worst than the second. But we did it.

Traditional 20 pose.

Later that night, we celebrated JD’s birthday out with friends. My stomach was a mess and every time I stood up, I got out of breath. Something was just not right with me that day. And yesterday, my body wasn’t sore at all. So though I could easily freak out over not having a good 20-miler more than halfway through marathon training, I am not going to. I have two more left to prove to myself that October 7th is 26.2able.

Plus. I have Vegas to look forward to. The Perfect Strangers are taking LV by storm later this week. We’ve planned this for months. We’ve done virtual style shows about outfits we are bringing. We’ve discussed this trip every run for the past 8 weeks.

I. CANNOT. WAIT.

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