Thoughts of the Boston Marathon explosion

My heart is heavy for all that were impacted by the terrible act of terrorism at the Boston Marathon today. A day that should have been filled with triumph, was tarnished by the unthinkable. Runners have trained months and even years for this day. It's not fair. As a runner and one who has completed a marathon, I am terribly upset about today's event. I have not felt this way since 9/11. It's simply unthinkable. Runners spend months preparing for a marathon. I cannot imagine all those months of training to culminate on a day of such evil. Approaching mile 26 is awful in itself, but to see explosions while crossing the finish line, I cannot even imagine. I am upset for those involved, I am upset for our running community and I am upset for our world.

My prayers are with the runners, spectators, city of Boston and our country.

I pray that we find peace in our world.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

It's been awhile...

It's been more than two years since my last post. Since then a lot has changed! After my knee injury in the Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon, I visited the knee doctor and was sent to physical therapy for about 8 weeks (But I got the clear to run the Broad Street Run in May 2011). I starting dating my best friend in February 2011 and now we are married! I can't imagine my life without him. It's funny how life works out when we're least expecting it!

In other running-related news, I ran a half marathon in September 2011. I continue to stay active, but I have not been consistent with running. I'm hoping to change that this spring. My goal is to enter the lottery for the Broad Street Run. If I don't get a spot in the race, I'm planning to run the Delaware Half Marathon in May!

My workouts lately have focused on high intensity interval training, kettlebells, BodyCombat and BodyPump. My knee still continues to bother me from time to time. I notice pain in certain weather conditions and when I don't properly stretch.

That's all for now! I hope to get back to blogging and running (SO I CAN EAT OF COURSE!)

A Running Update/Year-End Running Reflection

It's been more than 2 months since my last blog post. However, I have run since October 16 - the day of the marathon! Since the marathon I have run a 10k and a half marathon. The half marathon was on December 11 and was probably a mistake. I hurt my knee around the 3 mile mark and I haven't been the same since. I ran with my work friend, Lisa, and we had a great time, despite my kne pain! My time was 1:56:55 (I think) and felt decent until mile 8. At mile 8 nature called and I had to make a pit stop. I was never able to get back in my rhythm, but overall, I was happy with my time due to my limited training.

Here's a few pictures of Lisa and I with her Lewes Ladies Running Club! They were all super nice and I hope to run another race with them all!

Here is our group shot after our pasta night out:

And here we are post-half marathon!

Back to the discussion on limited training... I only ran a handful of times between the marathon and half marathon and I think that was a mistake. I should have been running at least three times a week, but instead did a long run once a week and worked out at the gym on the other days. The time change really put a damper on running and I haven't been able to get motivated to run outside in the cold.

This morning I met a friend for a run (keep up the good work, Alexis!) and my knee started hurting again. This was the second time I tried to run since December 11. The other day I could only go 1.75 miles before my knee started bothering me. This has been difficult for me to deal with because I want to go out and run. The Food Bank is training for the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon in March and I'm nervous I'm not going to be able to participate. I have finally made an appointment to see a sports medicine doctor on Monday. My inkling is it's nothing too serious, because I've been able to do other forms of exercising. Running is the only thing that hurts my knee. We'll see on Monday.

So 2010 is almost over and it has been a good year filled with lots of running. As I look back on all of the running I've done, it's really been an exciting year in terms of personal and physical growth. I ran 1 5k, 1 10k, 1 10-miler, 2 half marathons and the highlight of the year, the marathon. At this point, I don't think I will train for a marathon in 2011. I think I need to rest my body, but I will do several half marathons as long as everything is okay with my knee. But, never say never. I might get the itch for 26.2!!!

2011 fitness goals:

• Run several half marathons and improve my time from the first half
• Broad Street Run
• Get certified to become a personal trainer
• Do a mud run (Tough Mudder or Warrior Dash)
• Start TRX suspension training at the gym

Happy New Year, running friends! And remember you must run far so you can eat!

Peace. Love. Run.

26.2: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

I did it! I ran a marathon! The runner's high that I have experienced this afternoon cannot be described! It took some time after crossing the finish line to actually begin experiencing it. I feel like I am on the top of a mountain and can accomplish anything I put my mind to. It's very surreal to think I just ran for four-plus hours through hills and wind!

Before I talk about the 26.2 miles, I want to thank all of my family and friends for their support during this journey! You all cheered me on, encouraged me and listened to my incessant chatter about marathon training and how I think you should all become runners (I do think you should all be runners still!) I want to thank my mom and stepdad for dealing with my anxiety this week. I was nervous and when it was time for someone to get yelled at, it was typically them! Thanks for coming to the race, cheering me on and walking through Baltimore! Thank you to my brother, Rick, and his friends, Tyler, Whitney and JB, for cheering me on at mile 13. Seeing familiar faces helped me to keep going! Thank you to all of the people on the streets of Baltimore who cheered, gave me high fives, passed out Swedish Fish, gummy lifesavers, water and more! Thanks to the police who kept us all safe! Thank you to my Food Bank family for all of your words of encouragement and to my Facebook family for all of the encouragement and nice comments!

Now that my thanks are finished - let's get down to business.

So yesterday I went to Baltimore to spend the night with my cousin, Chris, and his wife Aryna! (Thanks for letting me stay!) When Chris got home from work he started making HOMEMADE, yes, homemade pasta. I know our family members are probably shocked reading this HAHA!

Here it is!

The pasta was delicious and after dinner we headed to Ravens Stadium for the Expo to pick up our race tags and t-shirts. The expo was nice and they had a lot of different vendors. I didn't buy anything, but the Under Armour marathon shirts that we got are BAD!! They are so nice!!! I can't wait to wear mine. It's a neon yellow longsleeve shirt. After the Expo it was close to 8:30 and I was getting tired. I ended up going to bed around 9:45, but couldn't sleep well because of th excitement of the race. I ended up waking up at 5:45 to start mentally preparing for the 26.2 miles ahead of me. I did my typical longrun morning routine... wake up, get dressed, eat a bagel with peanut butter (powdered peanut butter mixed with water - it's 85% less calories than regular peanut butter), drink water and the rest I will not discuss hahahahaha.

Around 7 a.m. my mom and stepdad picked me up so we could head down to the start line. After some issues with directions we parked and got there. We had a few blocks to walk. The race started at Camden Yards and we we arrived around 7:35 there were tons of runners already there. I made one last pee stop and headed to the start line. A little background on my outfit because the colors were deliberate. The black shirt was in memory of my friend, Michelle, and the pink shorts were in honor of someone very near and dear to my heart who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer (however, she is a one beast of a woman and is going to come out of this STRONGER than ever!!)

They had start areas based on your finish times and I chose to start at the back of the 4:00 pace group beginning of 4:15 pace group. When I got to the start line I was pleasantly surprised to to see Steve, a friend I went to high school with! It was nice to have a familiar face at the start line! A few minutes later the Star Spangled Banner was sung and a sky diver came from the sky with an American flag and red smoke coming from him. I got chills. First off, I love this country and at that point, I was like, wow this is really happening - I am about to embark on probably one of the most challenging journeys of my life! And then the race began!

There I am waving!

My strategy was to take the first five miles a bit slow (thanks Mark for the good advice!). At mile one my split was 10:01. I was happy with that because I knew I didn't go out too fast. Each mile after that got a bit quicker (until probably mile 8). I don't know what my fastest split time was, but I didn't care because my knees didn't hurt, the weather was nice (very windy though!) and I was feeling good. I kept telling myself to enjoy feeling good because I knew eventually fatigue would set in. I had to pee around mile 5, but I didn't want to stop and the lines at the portapotties were long. Around mile 7.5 the line wasn't long and I decided it was a good time to stop. From waiting in line to actually peeing probably took 2.5 minutes and I'll talk about those minutes later. My mom also told me not to talk about the portapotty in my blog so I'll leave those details out.

At mile 9 we were in the Inner Harbor and I saw my mom and stepdad for the first time! My mom gave me five! Here she is... she has nice nails LOL

View from behind HAHA

I got a little distracted at this point and I think I slowed down trying to look at all of the people. I eventually got a rhythm going again and we started heading towards Key Highway. When I did my training run a few weeks back I felt really crappy at this point of the course, but today I was feeling good. At mile 10 I was clocking in at 1:34 and I was feeling good with this split. By mile 13 my time was 2:02. I probably lost speed around mile 15. I started getting tired and the bottom of my left foot really started hurting. Despite the pain, Tim's (our Chef at the Food Bank) advice of "pain is temporary" kept going through my head and I trudged through the pain. Ed (Food Banker and multi-marathon runner also advised me to not leave anything on the course and that also played through my head!) At the 16-mile mark the marathoners merged with the half marathoners. They had a shoot off to the side for marathoners so that helped to keep me going with my rhythm, but that shoot eventually merged. I was a little annoyed because a lot of people were walking and I needed to keep moving. Every mile I completed I kept counting down and still couldn't believe I was running a marathon. Mile 17 was tough - it was uphill and we were running against the wind. I wanted to stop and walk, but I didn't. I just told myself to get to the next water stop (I walked through all of the water stops so I could drink - on a side note that I forgot about... a little past 11 miles I ate some Swedish Fish and gummy lifesavers that were on the course and they made my stomach hurt!) My foot was throbbing at this point, but I just kept running. Mile 20 was close and by that point the hilly part of the course would be over. The 1.3 mile run around Lake Montebello was not too bad, but it did play with me mentally a little bit because I could see the runners on the other side of the lake. Liz Phair's Extraordinary was playing on my iPod so it helped me stay motivated. By mile 21 I was tired and just wanted to be finished. I kept saying just 5.2 more miles - that's a piece of cake run, but it really wasn't cake. By mile 22 I was starting to hit a wall. I stopped to stretch and then kept going. A water stop was near. At this point of the race adrenaline, praying and thought of sitting kept me going. I prayed and asked God to help get me home! Mile 23 was intense - it was hilly, but at the top was a man dressed in a tiger costume dancing on the top of his car playing "Eye of the Tiger!" It made me laugh and I read about him in the Baltimore Sun this morning! Tons of gummy bears were being passed out, but I decided against them. I was too tired to eat anything. Mile 25 was hard because I knew I was almost there. Tons of people were cheering. It helped me get through, but I was so tired at this point. I saw the 26 mile mark and it was just .2 to go! Whew! I saw the finish line and I kicked it in (as much as you can kick in after running for 4+ hours) My goal was to run under 4 (I did not accomplish that) or 4:15. I finished in 4:18:10. I was very happy with this time considering how challenging the course was and the winds! But I would have met my goal of 4:15 had I not stopped to use the portapotty!!! But I would have peed my pants, so that wouldn't have been good! After crossing the finish line there was an exodus of runners and I was actually really angry that it took so long to get a cup of water. We were hearded like cattle and my legs were tired and I'm not patient anyways so I was HEATED! People were everywhere. I didn't even get to have food after the race because the line was so long. I wasn't about to wait. I just wanted to sit! I eventually found my mom and stepdad, but it took some time because the clowns moved from where we were supposed to meet. I started crying because I couldn't find them HAHAHA!

Also shout outs to my friend Katie who also ran the marathon and finished in 3:33! (BEAST!) and my cousin who ran the half in 1:50!! So that was the marathon! It was so awesome after the feeling set in that I finished! I am so proud of myself. It was a lot of work, but the training paid off. I feel like I am in the best shape of my life and I'm excited to hit up the Concordville Inn brunch buffet with Naty, Mr. Russo, Anna and Bill tomorrow. It will be a true Fat Girl Check-In! After experiencing the torture of 26.2 I am looking forward to doing a quick 10k on Thanksgiving Day and a half marathon in Rehoboth with Lisa from the Food Bank on December 11! A half will be a piece of cake after 26.2! But, I think I have caught a serious long distance running bug and at this point I plan to run another marathon. It's a thrill that cannot be explained unless you've run one before. And I like to eat so training for a marathon allows me to do my two true loves, run and eat!!

So that's all! My first 26.2 is in the books! If you are interested in viewing the course map, click here. If you want to see the elevation chart, click here!

ROAR I'm a beast! On another side note, October 16 is special to me - last October 16 I bought and moved into my very first home and October 16 of this year I ran my first (and not last, sorry mom) marathon!

Peace. Love. Run.

Random thoughts going through my head

There's less than 48 hours until the marathon....

Here's what's going on in my head!

• I'm nervous - very nervous. My anxiety levels over the past two days have been at an all-time high
• I'm also excited!! Just get me to the start line! I have a good playlist that I'm excited to listen to! I'm not going to listen to my iPod at the start line... I want to take everything in
  
• The anticipation for this marathon feels like the anticipation for Christmas morning when you are 7 years old
  
• Pain is temporary
• Gummy bears at mile 23
• Expo tomorrow - free stuff!
• Seeing my cousin, Chris, and Aryna in Baltimore tomorrow. Chris is doing the half marathon! And did the Seagull Century Bike Race last weekend (100 miles) - what a beast!
  
• Good luck to my friend I've known the longest, Katie H., who is doing the full marathon!!
• I've been training since the middle of February - first for the Broad Street Run, then the half marathon and then this full marathon.
  
• I'm running a half marathon in December. I have caught the long distance running bug!
• I have set two goals for myself. Goal one - finish in under four hours; goal two, which may be a bit more realistic - finish in under 4:15
  
• Drink water
• Start slow
• Envision the finish line when I hit the wall
• "If you feel bad at 10 miles, you're in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles, you're normal. If you don't feel bad at 26 miles, you're abnormal."
• I don't want to leave anything on the course. When I finish I don't want to feel I could have pushed it harder
• I'm excited to go to brunch at the Concordville Inn on Sunday morning with Anna, Bill, Naty and Mr. Russo
  
• I may consider running another marathon. If I do, I want to do the NYC Marathon
• Good luck to Tarra who is running a marathon in San Francisco this weekend!
  
• "I've learned that finishing a marathon isn't just an athletic achievement. It's a state of mind; a state of mind that says anything is possible." This will help me get to the finish line
• 10 with your legs, 10 with your head and 6 with your heart
• This marathon is going to be painful, but I'm looking forward to the pain in a very sick, demented way that only other distance runners would probably understand
• Get to the start line early. I will be NERVOUS - a hot mess nervous wreck probably
• I can't believe it's almost here
• But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. -Isaiah 40:31
• GYRO for life!
  
• Bring it!!!

Peace, Love, Run

The Wall

Okay... so I started writing this post right after I did 20 miles and part of was deleted... I got mad and haven't blogged since. But I'm ready to be a good blogger again as the marathon is in less than 2 weeks!

Hello! So this past weekend I ran 20 miles (again). Two Saturdays in a row at 20 miles. I'm not sure that's very smart, but whatever, I paid for it.


So this weekend there was an organized run of the Baltimore Marathon course by the Falls Road running club. My friend Katie (Katie is my friend I have known the longest - we've known each other since we were about 4 or 5 years old!) lives in Baltimore and is also running the Baltimore Marathon. We thought it was a good idea to participate and check out parts of the course. The course is not bad at all. I was a bit concerned about the hills, but after running them, I am confident. They will be challenging, but not impossible and they are definitely not steep hills - just gradual inclines. Anyways... there were two possible loops for the day - a 21-mile loop or 10-mile loop. Because I ran 20 last week I planned to run 18.7 cutting off two parts to shorten the run. I guess there really isn't much of a difference between 18.7 and 20 miles, but for my crazy mentality there is.



Katie and I woke up on Saturday morning around 5:45 and prepared for the 7am run time. I woke up really thirsty and I didn't sleep well either. I ate an English mufffin with powdered peanut butter and we were out the door. The starting park was just a few blocks away so it was a quick walk. We signed our waivers, gave a donation and waited for the run to begin. A little after 7 we began. The run began in Patterson Park and this is approximately the 16-mile mark of the marathon course (and a pretty hilly part of the course). I felt good on the hills, but I was also not at mile 16! I skipped 1.3 miles around Lake Montebello and started running with some people that were doing a 10-mile loop. A water stop was soon and this is where our practice course split. Since I was doing the 20-mile run I went straight. I was ahead of the other runners as I skipped out on part of it and I was running alone. I wasn't nervous about this, but I did end up making a wrong turn and probably added about a half mile on my run. Eventually I turned around and saw a bunch of runners and followed them. Up to Druid Hill Park which is the highest point of the course and comes around the 3-mile mark. The hill didn't seem like anything that would scare me. So I kept running... kept running and kept running. This training course kind of played with my head because I ran the last 4 miles of the course last year with Sarah and I knew mentally that at this point during the marathon I would only have about 4 miles left, but during the practice run I had about 15 miles.

The training run really threw me off because I didn't know how much further I had at any point of the run. It was also really hot that day. Fortunately, the running club had water stops set up so that was really helpful. Everyone around me had fuel belts and I was so thirsty the whole run that I just wanted them to share their water with me!!!

So around mile 15 I really hit a wall. I just couldn't do it anymore. I started walking for a little bit, and then would run again.... walk again, run again... and then boom. I just couldn't do it anymore. My hips hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurt, my feet hurt... everything hurt. It was terrible. I didn't know how much further I had either so I just walked the rest. It took about 3:30 minutes and I wasn't really pleased with that time, but whatever... it was just practice.

I finally got back to the park and drank a lot of water. Katie was there waiting and we walked back to her house. I complained the whole way back. I just wanted to die. So after we took showers and I came back to life we walked to the inner harbor. After our 20-mile run we ended up walking about 4 miles through the city. It was a good idea because it loosened us up and the next morning I wasn't sore.

So that was the second 20-mile run and it SUCKED!!! Let's hope the marathon is better!!!!

Random thoughts on running

This is going to just be a free flow of thoughts tonight. I am not concerned about grammar.

I ran 20 miles on Saturday. I started at 7am and it took 3:15. I had to make one pit stop at a porta-potty. Thank God for the random porta-potty on the side of the road or I would have been in serious trouble. I felt pretty good for most of the run. My calf was hurting, but no knee issues. I went through pretty much 2 playlists on my iPod. Nothing really interesting happened during the run. At mile 19 I wanted to start crying. Running can be really emotional. On my 18-mile run I got really angry. This time I wanted to cry because I just didn't want to run anymore. I was tired of running. I had to go down Main Street towards the end of the run and people were there so it was a good distraction. Then I went down Cleveland Avenue and had a small fit of anger when these bikers rode by. They didn't anything wrong, but they just annoyed me. I got over it.

The next day I ran a 5k. Who runs 20 miles and then does a 5k? It was for a good cause and I needed to be there to run in memory of my good friend, Michelle. I wasn't sure if I was going to walk or run, but that morning I felt good. My muscles didn't hurt for some weird reason. I was planning to run with my friend, Gweedo. I ended up getting third place in my age group and finished in 26:09. That's my best time ever. I'm happy about that. I'm going to try to get faster once I'm finished training for the marathon.

Fat Girl Check In. Today I was talking to two friends about eating. One said I was going to get really fat when I finished training for this marathon because I love to eat. Well, I don't really eat like a fat girl most of the time. My diet is pretty healthy and I'm planning to continue running once I finish training. I'm just not going to be running 20 miles. Unless I'm really compelled too, but I doubt that will happen. HAHA.

26 days until the marathon. Tomorrow I'm going to run about 5 miles. Wednesday I'm going to do Body Pump, Thursday run, Friday something, but I'm not sure. Saturday I'm going down to Baltimore to do a preview run of the marathon course. You can choose a run anywhere between 14-22 miles. I will probably do 15 or 16. Then I begin to really taper my mileage in the coming weeks.

That's all.

Peace. Love. Run.

One month

Today is September 16. My marathon is October 16. That means it's only one month til the big day. DANG! I think I'm ready. I say this as I lay in my bed typing with two ice packs on my shins. I'm hurting tonight. I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on this new elliptical they have - and it's no joke. After 30 minutes on that I ran 30 minutes on the treadmill. I was planning to run outside today, but it started to POUR at 4:30 and it's been raining ever since.

So I guess in my last post I wrote about how I was planning for my first 20 miler. Well... that never happened! It rained when I was supposed to run and 20 miles in the rain isn't my cup of tea. So 20 miles is definitely happening this weekend. Saturday morning to be exact! This weekend is jam packed! Between running and going to a wedding, I will be busy! Saturday is 20 miles and Sunday is a 5k. This could be a major fail. Sunday is the Miles for Melanoma 5k and I will be there to honor my late friend, Michelle. I'm anticipating that I will be in pain on Sunday morning after Saturday's run. I'm going to do my best to run the 5k, but if I have to stop and walk I'm cool with that. This is all about running/walking/crawling for a good cause!

I'm ready for this marathon training to be over. I'm starting to get bored with running and it seems like I'm getting slower and slower each day. The days are getting shorter and I'm finding it hard to get motivated to run after work. On Monday I ran 8.5, Tuesday 6. My weekly mileage is not very high for training for a marathon, but it seems to be working for me. I haven't run more than 12 miles since my 18-mile run a few weeks ago. I think once I do 20 miles this weekend my confidence will improve.

That's all. Another rambling post.

Peace. Love. Run.

A few things

When I posted last I was talking about a shady looking man hiding behind a tree! Well, trust your instincts, people, because that man turned out to be a REALLY shady man. Today one of my co-workers and fellow runners told me how a man was arrested in White Clay Creek for hiding behind trees... NAKED! And he was taking pictures of female runners. That's very unsettling and I'm so happy I listened to my gut and turned around last week. I am going to be more careful about where I plan my runs out.

So Saturday was my long day and it was only 12. I'm happy that I am at the point in my training where I say only 12. It was a good run and I was conscientious to include more hills in preparation for the hills of Baltimore. Let me rewind a bit... prior to the 12 miles I was complaining of a lot of knee discomfort, hooray, the pain is gone. I started taking a vitamin and yoga on Friday seemed to help because I felt good during Saturday's run. I even felt good the next morning and did a quick 4 miles. Monday I did Body Pump and it was my first class in a few weeks. I felt good with the weights I was using (same as usual). I was a bit worried it was going to irritate my knee, but it actually feels better after the workout. My muscles are sore, but that's mainly because I've been working out a lot lately. Yesterday I ran 5.25.

Tonight I did a hill workout at Carousel Park and it was BRUTAL, brutal in a nauseating way. I pushed through though and did all 7 repeats as planned. I wanted to quit, but I didn't because I know these difficult workouts now are going to make the marathon that much easier in almost a month! Quite honestly, I would rather run 20 miles than do hill repeats. It takes a lot of self-discipline to train for a marathon alone. There were times trudging up that hill that I wanted to quit... but I didn't. I kept going. And going. And going... seven times!

Tomorrow I'm spinning at 6 a.m. and then I'm resting for 2 days. Sunday is my first 20 miler. I did 18 a few weeks ago so I'm not too nervous about 20. I'm hoping one of my brothers will run the last 5 miles or so with me. It helps to break up the run and gives me something to look forward to. If not, I'll run it alone. After this 20 miler, I'll have one more... and that one I'm planning to actually do in Baltimore as part of a preview run of the marathon course. I'm a little iffy about knowing the course ahead of time, but I think it will be helpful. I'm planning to run that with my friend, Katie, who is also doing the marathon!

That's all.

Peace. Love. Run.

Fail.

So I was supposed to run 8 miles yesterday. I didn't. I got dressed, went to the park, started running - about 30 seconds into my run I saw a shady man near a tree and ran back to my car. I just didn't feel good about it so I listened to my gut. My plan was to go to my mom's, hop on the computer and map something out on mapmyrun. It was 98 degrees out and I was just frustrated and not feeling like running so I got dressed in my regular clothes and went out to dinner!



Last night I was really down about running. My legs and knees were hurting and overall felt tired of training. It's been a long road and I'm not about to quit now, but I miss just working out without a schedule. I know the hard work will be worth it in the end though. I just need to keep imagining that finish line. 26.2. Dang, that's a far distance.



Today I was talking to my chef co-worker and a personal trainer, Tim. I told him I was tired of training because my body just aches everyday and he recommended I start taking a multi-vitamin. He was shocked I wasn't taking one. He said I'm sweating out a lot of nutrients. Now that I think about it, I've been feeling really tired lately. I'm hoping this will help with the tiredness, fatigue and any muscle aches. Tomorrow I'm planning to go to hot yoga. I'm going to start doing it at least once a week, because I am feeling TIGHT. I need to do a MUCH BETTER job stretching. Saturday's long run is 12 miles and I'm hoping to put some new music on my iPod to keep me motivated. It's the little things that help runners. Everytime I have a new playlist I'm really excited to run.



I said I'd update more... so here's today's update! I'm hoping for some positive vibes in the coming days to get me back on the right track. Right now my knees and legs are feeling good!!



Peace. Love. Run.

Aches and pains of marathon training

My lil body is starting to hurt from marathon training. Tonight my knees are hurting. I iced them for a bit and now my foot is hurting. HAHA. Tonight I ran a fast 3 miles. I felt good while running and for some reason I am more nervous about my short runs than my longer runs. At this point it seems to take my body a few miles just to warm up. I couldn't find my watch to time my run, but I would estimate that I finished around 28-29 minutes or so. Tomorrow I'm running 8 miles and I'll be incorporating 2 fairly big hills in the run. I've been reading quite a bit about the marathon and it is quite hilly according to the reviews. I've been running on some hills, so I think I'll be ready, but it can't hurt to do a few more hill runs.

This week my long run is only 12 miles, so I'm looking forward to the shorter distance. I'm also planning to take an RPM class (cycling) and yoga class. The cross training has really made my running stronger so I plan to continue with it as the marathon approaches. I haven't been to Body Pump in about 2 weeks, mainly because of my schedule.

Marathon training is tiring. I've been training since March and I'm starting to get tired, but 45 more days until race day! I'm beginning to think what I'll do after the marathon is finished. I am definitely planning to run the Broad Street Run again and the Delaware half marathon. I think the half marathon is a distance I want to do more of and continue to improve my times!

That's all for now. Just a quick update. I'm going to try to update more as we get closer to Baltimore!

Peace. Love. Run.

18 Miles!

A very rambling blog entry...

18 MILES! Woo. I did it. This morning. It's been a pretty long training process and I am finally getting to the workouts with BIG miles! I'm proud of the progress I've made... I still have some work ahead of me, but after today's run I finally feel like I've reached the point where I am confident in my physical ability do this marathon. Mentally, I'm still working on it! If I had to do the marathon 2-3 weeks from now, I feel I could do it!

The day before my big runs is always a day to prepare for the next day's run. I watch what I eat and I am hydrating all day. It seems to be working because my long runs have been pretty successful so far. Last night I iced my shins - they started bothering me yesterday and my knees have been a bit sore and I've been icing them as well.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 to get ready to start running at 7. I got to talk to my BFF Jessimba who happened to be up I so that was a nice, encouraging conversation before I embarked I what I'm calling "Kim's Parade Around Newark." I started my run at the Newark Reservoir and went practically around the entire city. It was a good mix of scenery and flats and some hills. Most of the run was flat though. I was really feeling good through most of the run - surprisingly good. I broke the run into 2 sections. Miles 1-11.5 I ran alone. At 11.5 I ran by my friend, Anna's, house and she joined me for the rest. She was a great help and kept me motivated!! I was tired from mile 12 on, but didn't really hit wall until 16.5 miles. And it was more of a mental than physical wall. At that point tons of obscentities were running through my head. I tried to think positive thoughts but it wasn't working well until I realized I was going to finish my run in under 3 hours so I kicked it in gear. I finished strong - the strongest finish of all of my long runs to date and I was really sore when I finished. After driving in the car, I definitely struggled to walk. As the day went on, my legs got looser and I'm feeling okay. Just okay though... I did run 18 miles afterall. At some points of the day I felt a bit naseuous, but I think it's because I needed to eat more.

A lot of times when I run I think about the progress I've made since the first day I attempted any long distance run. My first cross country meet (3.1 miles) I probably finished around 38 minutes. I walked and I complained... but eventually I grew to love running. Hence why I'm crazy enough to train to run 26.2 miles. I think anyone can become a runner if they really want it bad enough. I am amazed everyday I lace my sneakers up at how powerful the human body is. The thought of running 18 miles always seemed so daunting, but with each week of training, my body gets stronger, but more importantly, my mind gets stronger. The fact that I could run for almost 3 hours straight is simply amazing. Respect your body, people it does great things!

P.S. This is such terrible rambling jibber jabber.

Peace. Love. Run.

15 miles - DONE

Saturday was my longest run ever - 15 miles. I was really nervous about it. 15 miles is far. I mapped out my run a few days before to prepare myself mentally. On Friday I drank a lot of water, but went to bed late (David Gray and Ray LaMontagne concert - Amazing musicians!!) so I didn't start running until about 10. It was fine to start this late in the morning because it wasn't very humid. I started my run at the Newark reservoir parking lot and pretty much did a complete tour of the city of Newark. I was really out of breath for the first mile or so... I'm not so sure why. Around mile 3 I started getting terrible "girl cramps," but I worked through it and started feeling good around the 4 mile mark. For most of the run I felt good, besides some leg stiffness and the bottoms of my feet were hurting at about 1:40 minutes of running my feet really started getting tired and all I could think about was sitting down, a cold shower, a swimming pool, Rita's water ice and freeze pops. I knew I had some more work ahead of me before any of these were possibilities. I estimated that I would finished in 2.5 hours and I came in at exactly that time. I stopped a few times to stretch during the run. The course I mapped out was 15.07 miles at at mile 15 I was just ready to be done, but I felt a sense of achievement. I had almost finished running 15 miles! What an accomplishment. Once I was finished my legs really hurt. I drove home and ate a bowl of cereal, tried to stretch out a bit, but I knew it was going to be slow moving for the day. I rebounded pretty quickly and was able to clean my house later that day. The next morning I felt stiffness especially when sitting for long period of times.

Today was back to training. I did an RPM class at the gym, did ab work and some weight training. Tomorrow I'm doing 4 miles miles and looking ahead to Saturday - 18 miles! WOW. I knew I would make it, but it's still crazy to think about running 18 miles. I'm feeling confident this week!! After 15, I'm really getting excited for the marathon. I've decided I'm aiming to run under 4 hours and 15 minutes, but my ultimate goal is to just finish.

Peace. Love. Run.

Running Running Running

I'm not a good blogger. Between writing all day at work and writing for school, I just don't feel like writing about running. But I will. I've been doing well with running lately. Tonight I ran 3.1 miles at White Clay Creek on the cross country course and I finished in 28:08. Since I haven't updated since July 25 I don't really feel it's worth writing about every single run since then. However, my long runs have been 12, 13 and this week is 10. It will be nice to only have to run 10 miles - only 10 miles. HAHA! Next week is 15 miles though - my longest run ever. I'm not worried about it. At this point it becomes a mental game. When I prepare myself to run the longer distances, I do fine. With the heat I've been carrying a water bottle and it's really helped. After the ten-mile debacle a few weeks ago I always carry water on the long runs.

My times have been a bit slower than I'd like, but I'm not really concerned. 1. it's hot out. 2. my only goal for the marathon is to finish. The talk of trying to finish in under 3:55 (mile pace of 8:55) is nonsense talk. This is 26.2 miles, people. I know my pace for the half was 8:39, but another 13.1 miles is a whole different ball game. I'm trying to live!!! However, I am still competitive and I'm going to start trying to incorporate more interval work in my training schedule. Lately, I've been working to just build the mileage, but now I think I can start doing some more speed workouts.

I bought new shoes last week; Asics Gel Kayano 15s. I like them a lot. They say to change your running shoes every 250 miles and my old shoes definitely had more than 250 on them. These are the most expensive sneakers I have ever bought, but I have a lot of running until October so I might as well get some quality shoes. I've also bought some new running shorts and shirts. I am not buying anymore running crap. I've spent way too much money!

Well that's all.

Peace. Love. Run.

Perspective

Running puts life in perspective for me. It's therapeutic. I wasn't really planning to run today since yesterday was my long run of 10 miles, but I wasn't in a good mood for most of the afternoon and I knew the only way to get me out of this funk was to run. Before I talk about today's run let's back up to yesterday.

Yesterday's weather forecast called for 98-degree temperatures with the heat index around 110 degrees. That's definitely not running weather (or any activity besides sitting in a pool) so I knew I had to run early or it wasn't going to happen. I woke up at 5:15 to get ready to start running at 6 a.m. I mapped out a course on mapmyrun.com - I always map out or pick these crazy routes that require me to carry directions - who carries directions to run?!??! Here's directions for yesterday's run.

So when I began my run around 6 am it was a cool 77 degrees out. I felt good and I carried a water bottle because I didn't want to have a repeat of last Sunday's epic fail attempt at 10 miles. I finished in 94 minutes.

Here's a look at the morning sunrise!

Onward!

So this afternoon I was feeling a bit funky. I was in a bad mood and was sort of frustrated about a few things. Where does a girl find a nice, educated, respectful, successful, intelligent man these days?! Whatever! I decided the only way I was going to get out that funk was to go running. One of my coworkers gave me a pair of Nike Free 5.0s. I've been wearing them around and ran on the treadmill with them once but haven't run outside with them on yet. I know this sounds silly, but I felt like they made me run faster! They are really lightweight - I was running on clouds! I ran 5.25 miles in 44:38. The temperature was cool and by the end of my run my mind was clear of nonsense.

This week my long run is 12 miles. The next two weeks will increase in mileage before a slight dip and then we head back up again. It's going to start getting interesting.

That's all for now!

Until next time,

Peace. Love. Run.

Running Craziness

So.... I last blogged on Thursday. On Friday I ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream and Saturday I ate a piece of chocolate raspberry cake.

Onto Sunday... My plan was to wake up early and run before it got too hot. The alarm went off at 7:30, but I did not rise or shine. My thought was to run after I finished working - BIG MISTAKE. I worked at National Ice Cream Day at Woodside Creamery. I sat outside in the heat all day and sweated. I stayed hydrated, but of course I needed to have some ice cream. Chocolate chip peanut butter - BANGIN'. I finished working at 4:00. Packed my exhibit table and headed home. I got dresssed and was ready to run. I mapped out a 10 mile course throughout the city of Newark and headed to my starting point. I felt good in the beginning. I felt good until about mile 4 and then it all went down hill from there. I had to pee the entire run. I peed myself. I told you all in the beginning that I was going to be honest in this blog. So there it is. HONESTY. I peed myself. Moving on. I was so hot and exhausted. I was in desperate need of water. Around mile 4 I was on the University of Delaware campus. As an alum, I'm familiar with the campus and I knew there was a fountain near Kirkbride Hall. I walked over, splashed my face and I felt some relief. I told myself "you can finish." Boy was I wrong. Not even a half mile after that I was searching for water. This time I found a hose hookup on the side of a UD building (don't arrest me, please.) I turned it on and got some water. Keep moving I told myself. I was feeling a little better, but it was HOT! I got to about an hour and two minutes and I just stopped. I couldn't do it anymore. I was too hot and thirsty and I knew I needed to listen to my body. I walked the rest of the way to my car. I finished my run feeling discouraged. The entire run was one mental beat down. I kept telling myself I was stupid for signing up for a marathon. "You can't even run 10 miles - how are you going to run 26.2?"

Monday: My plan was to run a few miles on Monday evening, but it rained, so I headed to the gym. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and did some weight training and ab work.

Tuesday: REDEMPTION! On Tuesday I headed to the Nature Center at White Clay Creek with the intention to run 8 miles. The course is all in the shade (besides for one part on the road). The humidity wasn't bad that day and I was feeling GREAT! It was a nice feeling after Sunday's crappy outing. I was booking it at one point. I love trail running. My 8 miles ended up being about 9 miles and I finished in 1:21. My runner's high returned!!

Today: This morning I did Body Pump, but let's talk about an interesting running experience. Two of the guys at work run with this group called the Hockessin Hash House Harriers running group (it's an international group). It was interesting. I was prepared for this group because I did a little research on the internet. I knew that when I showed up people would be drinking beer before the run (gross) and they all have really profane, offensive names. I will not repeat them. Look them up online if you're really curious. So we waited for the run to begin. We all had to form a circle and the newbies aka virgins were called to the middle. We had to introduce ourselves. My name was "Just Kim" and I had to tell the group who invited me. After we did the intros the leaders of the group talked about today's trail. Each week a new "hasher" lays a trail using flour. There are different signs in flour out on the course. Some indicate you're going the right way others tell you you're on a false trail. We started behind the host's house which was all wooded. The hasher term for this is "squiggy" (I think... maybe swiggy - It's something that rhymes with jiggy because I started singing gettin' swiggy with it - or whatever the name is). So we started running. It wasn't bad at first. I followed the leaders and we had to backtrack just a few times. We were going through neighborhoods and then out into a big field. Then the fun began. It was time to cross the White Clay Creek. So I knew if I walked across the creek with my shoes on I was going to pay for it later. HAHA. RIGHT. So I crossed the creek. I took my shoes off like the little priss I am. I get to the other side and realize we have to walk down the creek. At that point I was like whatever, I'm walking down the creek in my shoes. So the water was about knee deep and it was pretty refreshing. I finally got to area where we needed to get out of the creek. Onto another big field and then out onto a road. We were on the road for a bit and the road was marked with a BN. That means beer is near. I had gatorade. After a bit of a break the hashers kept on. We walked up a huge hill in the woods (no trail) just walking through bushes and sticker bushes. Then down the hill. Then coincidentally we ended up at one of the trails I ran on yesterday. We ran on that a bit and then crossed another creek. This time the water was thigh deep (at least on me). Keep running (in wet shoes - yay blisters!). So we finally finished about an hour and ten minutes later. We didn't run anymore than 5 miles. But there were a lot of nasty hills so overall it was fun and good opportunity to get some hill training in. After the run everyone gathered again and ate some snacks and people drank more beer (see the beer trend). Then they all started singing songs (of course they were profane). After this silliness everyone was invited to eat dinner. The outing was interesting. I'm not sure I dig all the cursing and weird songs, but overall it was fun. The course was cool because it was extreme cross country and it was an adventure!

Looking ahead... tomorrow I'm going to RPM class in the morning, Friday I will probably take a day off or run a few miles. Saturday I'm going for 10 miles and Sunday will definitely be an off day.

That's all.

Peace. Love. Run.

Bad Blogger

I'm such a lazy blogger, but not a lazy runner. I've been training hard lately.

I don't remember everything since my last update, but last week was SMOKIN' HOT in Delaware. Some planning was required!

Last Monday I was still in Georgia, but ran a little over 5 miles at a really nice trail with Katie. It was a combination of boardwalks and cement and through the woods and past cow pastures. Very pretty! On Tuesday I ran the cross country course (3.1) at White Clay Creek. It was hot, but the shade was nice. I finished around 28 minutes. I was happy with that time especially with the temperature and the hills. Wednesday I did my long run because I went away for the weekend. I did a nice 9 mile run and it was hot, but I was feeling good. I finished in 81 minutes. Thursday I went to RPM class and Friday I did Body Pump. Saturday and Sunday were both off days. Overall it was a really good, productive week. I'm getting my eating habits under control and I'm happy to report that I've been eating better and my pants are fitting better. I think it's mostly in part to the increase in mileage.

So this week...

On Monday I ran on the treadmill at the gym for an hour because it was pouring out! I kept my speed between 6.4-7.0. My average pace was 6.5 and I burned more than 770 calories. Woop woop! Tuesday I ran at the Nature Center and did the White Bridge loop. I think it's close to 6 miles. I'm not really sure - but I finished in 51 minutes. I felt I was going at a pretty good pace so I'm pretty sure the run was closer to 6 miles. On Wednesday I did Body Pump and they just released the new workout! The second half of the workout is much better than the first. This morning I went to RPM class and the new workout is AWESOME!! I worked it! This weekend I need to find time to run 10 miles. I'll fit it in, but it will be interesting to find the time!! Next week I want to focus on some more speed and hill workouts and my long run is only 7. We decrease a bit in mileage so it will be a good time for the other workouts. The following week we bump it up to 12.

That's all! Just wanted to give my 2 fans an update.

Peace. Love. Run.

Finally Inspired Again

After Sunday's run I was feeling pretty down about running. After finishing the half marathon with a really great time, I've been putting pressure on myself to keep getting faster. It was starting to take the fun out of running. I've been in a running funk lately - I haven't been looking forward to running. All of my runs have been about beating the clock instead of running for pure enjoyment . Tonight I finally found my running spark again, but it didn't come until mile 5. I started my watch at the beginning of my run, but decided I was going to keep my watch set to the clock and not the stopwatch. Time was not of importance tonight. Tonight was all about going the distance (7 miles) and enjoying the beautiful evening. Lately, I've been running a lot in the morning before work. Because time is tight my runs have been rushed and running hasn't been as enjoyable.

Tonight I was inspired. My thoughts were all over the place and for the first time in weeks I was really able to reflect on life while running. Tonight I took time to reflect on how blessed I am to be able to run. Two people at the park really inspired me, a man with a prosthetic leg and a woman who had problems walking. Despite their handicaps they were still out there. Seeing them made me appreciate the fact that I can run without problems. I need to learn to appreciate my body more. The human body is an incredible machine. Despite all of the crap we put it through with our diets and bad habits it keeps chugging along. I am fortunate that my legs are able to train for a marathon. I know most of us have body image problems. I know I do. So from here on out, instead of waking up every morning and saying - my butt looks big in these pants or my pants must of have shrunk in the dryer because they're feeling tight, I am going to start appreciating my body. Our bodies do amazing things. Just think of all the muscle fibers, nerves, bones and other systems that all must interact for us to live our daily lives. It's pretty fascinating when you actually sit down and think about how powerful the human body is.

I am going to learn to respect my body more. If I have a bad run, I am not going to get discouraged. My body did the best it could that day. And if I don't have a good time during a run, I'm not going to stress about it. My goal for the marathon is to finish. That's been the goal the whole time. I'm not going to be concerned with times anymore. I am only at week 3 of this 18-week training program. It will be a long road; it's just started.

So here's what the past week has looked like in terms of training:

Sunday I blogged about my hot, not-so-successful run.

Monday: Elliptical
Tuesday: A 34 minute hill run (not sure how far)
Wednesday: 3.5 miles (my time was 30:05 although I am not concerned about times)
Today: 7 miles (1:03:11)
Friday: Off
Saturday: Not sure
Sunday: Not sure
Monday: Not sure

"Hard Run"

Whoever named this run the Hard Run is crazy. "Torture Run" is more appropriate. Last night I picked out this run and I knew that it was going to be hard. But I didn't know how mentally challenging it would be. Mentally, this run has been my most difficult run thus far in the whole training process. Before I even hit the one-mile mark I already encountered my first big hill (the hill is located in Carousel Park and it is a good place to do hill repeats for anyone interested). The Paper Mill Road hill was killer and I had to stop once I got to the top. I just couldn't think straight at that point (at the 6-mile mark). My thoughts were wondering, but I got it together and kept going. Once I was out on Limestone Road I could feel my stride getting better, but I hit another wall not too far down the road. At the shopping center where Purebread and Wilmington Trust are I stopped again. At this point I contemplated walking over to the fountain in the parking lot to splash my face and I also realized my house was closer than where my car was parked at Carousel Park. I just wanted to quit and walk home, but then I realized I wouldn't have been able to get in my house! So I manned up and started running again, but my body was really not feeling it. From now on I will not park my car in a spot that's further than my house. It really played with my head.

The hills in this run didn't necessarily kill me - it was dehydration and heat. I worked through it, but I had to keep telling myself positive thoughts. All I could think about was... dang, 26.2 miles is really going to be hard. But then I reminded myself that there will be water stops and hopefully it won't be super hot. I HAVE to start drinking more water. I am also thinking about buying once of those silly looking fuel belts. I don't know if I can wear it though. What are your thoughts on the fuel belts? If I don't buy one of those, I am just going to plan to have someone meet me at the halfway point of my runs with water. I ate 2 ShotBloks during this run and they did help a bit. I am also going to start looking at the weather forecast and use that in addition to my schedule to plan my long runs. Looking back on the past week this is what my training looked like:

Monday: Mountain cycling class (I'd really like to thank the instructor for making us do hill climbs for an hour straight. I honestly think they helped me get up the hills today)
Tuesday: 3.5 miles
Wednesday: Body Pump
Thursday: 5.25 miles
Friday: Body Pump
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 7.78 miles

This week (training week 3 of 18):
Monday: Cycling class
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: Body Pump
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: 3.5 miles
Saturday: Anywhere from 3-5 miles (my training schedule calls for my long run to be 5 miles this week)
Sunday: Off

Peace. Love. Run.

Blogging Machine!

My blog has been rejuvenated! I've jazzed it up a bit with a fun template and a new header!

This morning I ran 5 miles and, boy, was it hot!! I was really feeling it today. I definitely wasn't prepared to run. I need to drink more water. I was doing really well with my water intake last week, but I fell off the wagon. It's been 90+ degrees here in Delaware for at least five days now. I encourage everyone who wants to get their runs in to either do it early in the morning or in the evening as the sun sets.

I'm looking forward to this weekend's long run. I'm planning to do 8 miles and it will be my longest run since the half marathon on May 16. I like using mapmyrun.com to find new running routes.