Three girls, two races, one weekend - Giblet Jog 2009

Running Dork. Running Worm. Running Lawyer. Wichita. Kansas City. Ten Miles. Half Marathon. Oh yes, my bloggie friends, it is the

It might be a soft "j." I'm not sure by apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild.

Yours truly along with Fair Weather Runner (running dork) and Ashley at Journey to a Better Me (running worm) have decided we're just way too hard core to limit ourselves to one race on the weekend before Thanksgiving. No, we're going to EARN our pumpkin pie (and maybe a little hard apple cider) in the 2009 Giblet Jog, a little challenge we cooked up for ourselves involving the Wichita 10 mile Turkey Trot and the Kansas City Gobbler Grind Half Marathon. Yes - it's three girls, two races, one weekend, and a whole lot of awesome.

Don't act like you're not impressed.

Always a lawyer to me....

You may have noticed I've been conspiculously absent from the bloggie world the last several days...I've had no time to even think about posting, much less think about reading any of your posts. I am a bad blogger. But as Inigo Montoya says "Let me explain.....no, there is too much. Let me sum up." For the last few weeks, my job has been all-consuming. More than all-consuming, really. If I'm not actually doing work, I'm thinking about work. In the last three weeks I've lost track of how many evenings I've brought work home with me, and I'm fairly certain I've spent the last three Sunday afternoons in a row working at home. I'm not complaining - in my line of work, being busy is a good thing. In this economy, I realize that any of us are lucky to have a job, even the lawyers. But the last few weeks I've definitely had to push some other things to the side and realize that my job and my obligation to my clients comes first, before my running, before my blogging, before my social life.

This hasn't stopped me from keeping myself busy with a few non-work activities, though. On September 20 I ran the Johnston's Wichita Half Marathon. It was my first experience with this particular race, but the nice thing about it was that most of the course was very familiar because a good number of the local Wichita races follow the trails along the river. I'll spare you the mile-by-mile race report, because truth be told - it just wasn't all that interesting. The first eight miles went great, and then it was totally downhill (and I mean this solely in a figurative sense) to the end. Here's the breakdown:

Mistake 1: Went out way too hard at the beginning in typical Running Lawyer fashion. You would have thought that I learned something about this after having great success controlling my pace at the Disneyland half two weeks prior, but apparently I'm a slow learner. Lesson learned: put the brakes on at the beginning of the race, unless I really want to hit the wall at the 3/4 mark.

Mistake 2: Running alone. No running buddies, no family or friends in the cheering section. Now, I was planning on doing this as a "fun" race and not so much worrying about my time, so I deliberately did not ask anyone to come watch. And I signed up for the race knowing I'd be without my Fair Weather Runner. This all seemed like a good idea at the time, until mile 8 when I was on pace to PR but lost all mental motivation. Had I been with a buddy who could have pushed me or knew that I only had to run another mile or two to see my cheering section, I think it would have helped tremendously. Lesson learned: never take your cheering section for granted.

Mistake 3: Coming home to work. Yes, I had work to do when I got home from the half marathon, it was just inevitable. And it totally killed any motivation I had left to push myself in the last few miles of the race. All I could think was "I have to go home and work, and then I have to get up early tomorrow and work, and if I keep running this hard I'm just going to be exhausted and sore in the morning." Honestly, if someone had given me a donut and a glass of chocolate milk around mile 12 I think I would have just called it a day. That is just NOT my running personality. At least I really, really hope it's not. Lesson learned: if life is getting in the way, maybe it's a better idea to just sit that race out.

At any rate, the last week was an extremely light running week. I had every intention of running five miles for RunningLaur's Fall Five Miler. We all know what they say about intentions...umm, yeah. The five miles just didn't happen on the 22nd, I was exhausted and sore and fighting off a cold. And then they didn't happen on the 23rd or 24th or the 25th, either. Ugh. So I settled for a 5k on the 26th. I ran a rather uninspiring time of 32:00 and some change, but given how my week went I was just happy to get a chance to get out and run for more than 20 minutes.

So there you have it, folks - the Running Lawyer's last week in a nutshell. I can't promise a triumphant return to daily blogging any time in the next week or so, but I CAN promise an awesome announcement coming soon...STAY TUNED.

You can't make this stuff up

And for today's breaking news:

Couple robbed while inside dumpster

BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle

WICHITA — A man and woman decided to give the phrase "dumpster diving" a new twist over the weekend, crawling inside one on North Waco so they could be alone.
But while they were engaged in what Wichita police described as "an intimate moment," they were robbed by a man armed with a pocket knife.
It all unfolded shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday in the 700 block of North Waco, police said, when the man and woman, both 44, crawled into a dumpster for privacy.
A short time later, a 59-year-old man and his 64-year-old companion interrupted the couple inside the dumpster.
With the older man encouraging him, the 59-year-old man pulled out a pocket knife and took shoes, jewelry and the 44-year-old man's wallet.
Police were notified, and officers found the two suspects a short time later. The stolen property was recovered.

Yep, that's just how we roll in Wichita.

Happy Monday, everyone! There are some great giveaways going on this week - Mel at Mel Tries to Run is giving away a great set of inspirational running books and Heather over at Run Faster Mommy put together an awesome package giveway for her 100th post. Be sure to check them out.

Bling love or: How I learned to stop worrying about the clock and enjoy the race

The Fair Weather Runner thought it would be fun if I wrote my race report in the style of an actual legal brief. So here's my best (likely to fail) attempt at writing a blog brief-style:

Introduction

The story really begins with the race expo, or should I say, line-a-palooza. My last experience with packet pickup at a Disney race was flawless. The packet pickup process at Disneyland was horrible. Disney people, if you're listening out there - this was not up to Disney standards!!! First we waited in line, outside, in the sun for about 15 minutes to get inside to pick up our packets. Once inside, I had to go stand in one line to get my race number, stand in a second line to get my coast-to-coast wristband, and then go into an entirely different building to stand in a third line for about 20 minutes waiting for my t-shirt, and then stand in a fourth line for my goody bag. All in all, I'd say it took me about an hour to get all of the junk I needed to even be able to do the race. At that point, I really had no desire to stay at the expo and shop but figured I should head over to the official race gear store to buy things before they sold out.

Lucky I did, because the official race "store" was more like a shark tank. I've never seen people so frantically grabbing jackets and shirts and hats in my life. At one point, as I was standing there holding the last of the "small" coast-to-coast shirts debating what size to buy, I realized that two women standing nearby who also wanted the small were about ready to tackle me so I quickly took the shirt and moved away. Once I finally decided what I wanted, I then stood in another line for about 10 minutes just waiting to check out with my stuff! By that point in time, I had absolutely zero desire to do any more shopping in the rest of the expo. I made a beeline to the Recovery Sock booth, bought a pair of black socks (which I love) and got out of the expo as fast as I possibly could. One friend of mine re-named this the "Disneyline" half marathon because the expo experience was just that bad. I really started to wonder how the rest of the race was going to go if Disney couldn't even get it together for the expo.

Argument and Authorities

I. Pre-Race Serendipity

The night before the race, I did my customary lay-out of all necessary items so that I wouldn't forget anything on race morning:

But I was running late on race morning per usual. Which ended up being a very lucky thing, because just as I was getting ready to walk out the front doors of the hotel, in walked my mom and my aunt. They were running late, too, because they had gotten slightly lost on the way to Anaheim from Palm Springs. I knew that had to be a good sign. So, after good luck hugs from both of them and a little pre-race picture taking by my mom I was off to find my start corral.

II. The Starting Line

I was more than a little worried about my legs the morning of the race. I really overdid it with walking the parks the two days before the race, my feet were very tired and I was starting to have twinges of pain behind my knees in both legs. But there wasn't much I could do about it except hope that my legs would hold up for 13 miles.

I was in corral B to start, thanks to my being overly ambitious with my expected finish time when I signed up for the race. I saw the 2:00 pace group; a few months ago I thought I'd be trying to run with them, but this morning I decided to hang around toward the back of corral B and let the faster runners get out in front of me. I didn't really think that 2:00 was going to happen for me, so I decided to let any idea of a goal time go. It was about a half hour until race time when I got into my corral, but the time passed by fairly quickly. Goofy pulled up in the Monorail, they shot off some fireworks, and we were off running.

I let a lot of the runners in the corral get out ahead of me but it was still very crowded. I was biding my time trying not to waste a lot of energy passing people, running at a very comfortable pace. Not far into the race I saw my mom and my aunt for the first time, holding up a big poster board sign with my name and picture on it. I waved. I was feeling surprisingly good for how tired my legs had been the night before.

III. Miles 2-4

The course in Anaheim starts on city roads and heads back into California Adventure and Disneyland after a couple of miles. It was hugely exciting to head into the parks the first time, the Disney volunteers that are out there do a great job of cheering on the runners. We ran through California Adventure and then out through the plaza between the two parks, where I saw my mom and aunt again - I high-fived my aunt and gave a big thumbs-up, still feeling great at that point. From there we ran into Disneyland itself, down Main Street towards Sleeping Beauty Castle and turned right to go through Tomorrowland. We passed through several groups of Disney performers along the way and before I knew it we were passing the carousel behind the castle. I think the whole crowd had slowed down a bit at this point; all the Disney Princesses along with Mary Poppins and Burt were riding around on the carousel waiving at the runners. After a trip through the castle we were off through Frontierland, past New Orleans Square, and out of the park onto city streets again. At this point I was having a great race; I was running a fairly quick pace (for me) but was feeling great so decided to see how long I could ride it out.

IV. Miles 4-9

Miles 4-9 were probably the least interesting of the whole race. Shortly after mile 4 there was a fairly steep overpass bridge that we had to climb; several runners in front of me stopped to walk up but I think my attempts to run hills over the last few months paid off as I was able to get up the ramp without losing much steam. Somewhere around mile 5, though, I started to get a cramp in my left piriformis. I hadn't had a solid long run all summer long, and wondered if the wheels were starting to come off already, when so much of the race was left. I really didn't want to stop and walk, so I coaxed myself into just running to the next water station. After a couple of sips I told myself the same thing - just run to the next water station. Amazingly the cramp started to fade and the heavy feeling in my legs went away and I started to pick up my pace again.

Although there weren't many spectators out that early in the morning in Anaheim there were several groups of cheerleaders and marching bands out to entertain the runners along with a Mexican folk-dancing group and a group of hula dancers. I'm not going to lie, though, for the most part the course between miles 4-9 wasn't very interesting and at one point we even ran a fairly long, circular route through the parking lot of the Honda Center (where the Ducks play hockey).

Close to mile 9, though, we started to get close to Angels stadium. The course takes you right through the stadium onto the field. When I first saw that I thought it woudl be interesting because my husband is a huge baseball fan. I was really unprepared for just how awesome it was to run through that stadium. The race organizers had packed the stadium full of 2,000 boy scouts and girl scouts, most lined up along the lower railing of the seats so that they could high-five passing runners. All of them were screaming at the top of their lungs, so loud that you could hear them coming up from quite a distance away from the stadium. An announcer was calling out runner names as they entered the stadium and in some instances where the runner was from, while a camera guy near home plate was getting shots of runners for the stadium big screen. At the same time, my theme song for the race, "Keep the Faith" had come on my mp3 player for me. I ran along and high-fived as many kids as I could, it was really a spectacular moment. It was incredible run into a stadium full of cheering kids who were just excited to see the runners go by. I didn't look at my garmin, but I could tell I picked up my pace going through the stadium. It wasn't much longer before we passed the 10 mile mark and I knew that I only had a 5k left to go.

V. Miles 10-13

I've only run one other half marathon before, but let me tell you - at mile 10 in my previous race, it was all I could do to keep one foot moving in front of the other. At mile 10 in this race, I wanted to jump up and down and tell all of the spectators out watching just how excited I was. I don't think I've ever felt so happy or so physically great in a race in my life. Ever. I knew I didn't have very far left to run and knew that I still felt so good, and realized that unless something disastrous happened I was going to beat my time from my previous half marathon. So after mile 10, I decided to just go for it. I was having such a fabulous time in my last three miles of the race that ran negative splits. NEGATIVE SPLITS. I have never, NEVER run negative splits in a race in my life. Not even a 5k! I still can't believe it. Coming back into the park for the last mile of the race as just the greatest feeling, I realized that I had done what I wanted, I was going to break my time from my last half marathon and I was having the time of my life doing it. It was truly incredible to see just how many spectators had lined up at the end of the race to cheer the runners on. And when I got to the finish line this time, I remembered to high five both Mickey and Pluto! It might have taken a few seconds off my time, but I didn't care.

VI. Blingity bling bling

Ah, how I love Disney bling.

Conclusion

Final stats:

Chip time: 2:09:45

Overall: 2805/11643

Gender: 1036/7262

Age division: 188/1340

A PR by a minute! Not bad after a completely terrible summer training season! Overall, this was the BEST race I've ever run. I think deciding to have a good time and not worrying so much about my time made a huge difference...and I ended up getting the PR anyways!

But I realized that I don't have any pictures of myself right now, because they're all on my mom's camera and she hasn't downloaded them yet! So, a picture post will have to wait until she gets back from vacation. That's okay, it just gives all of you a reason to come back for more!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Happy birthday to my amazing Dad today!! I know he's playing golf in Palm Springs right now and won't see this until he gets back, but I just want you to know, Dad, how much I love you and am thankful that you're my father!

Just so you know how wonderful my dad is, he sent me a text before my half marathon last weekend telling me to "run like an angel." And I know he was anxiously awaiting the text updates on my race that never showed up (thanks Disney). When we went out to dinner the night after the race, he gave me this necklace, that he made himself:

Isn't it pretty?! I know all the ladies out there are jealous now. I have some pretty bling-tastic medals from the race, but my new copper necklace made by my dad is by far the most special piece of bling I took away from last weekend.

So, happy birthday, Dad! Thanks for all your love and support and everything that you do for me. You deserve the best!!

Drumroll please....

First of all, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who left me bloggie love before my half marathon last weekend. It made a huge impact! Also, hello to all the new Running Briefs followers - I'll be stopping by all of your blogs later this week.





And now for the moment you've all been waiting for. The winner of the first ever, totally awesome Running Lawyer giveway is......Marlene over at Mission to a(nother) Marathon. Not only did Marlene know the artist and name of my song for this race (Michael Jackson, "Keep the Faith") but she left me a couple of great quotes for inspiration. So congrats, Marlene! Here's what you get:

The official Disneyland Half Marathon hat! Email me at runningbriefs@gmail.com with your addy by next Monday and I'll get your hat on its way.

And now for a brief (ha ha, get it?) race update for those of you dying to know...the race was amazing, I set a new PR, and couldn't be happier with myself. But you're going to have to wait until tomorrow for the full update complete with pictures! Yes, pictures I said. It will be worth the wait, I promise.

Dust off your butt and get your self respect back

Okay, two things here in this post - one, this is my last post before the Disneyland Half Marathon this weekend. Two, in honor of the Disneyland Half Marathon I've decided to give you all what you've been waiting for -- FREE STUFF!!!!! (Applause, applause). That's right folks, it's the Running Lawyer's first EVER super-duper fantastic free stuff giveaway! More on that to follow.

The title of the blog post is a line from a song that I've decided is my mantra for this upcoming race. As I've mentioned, training this summer has gone anything but smoothly for me. I've learned that my body really can't stand heat and humidity when running. I've also had some other "issues" that I will not discuss, although some of you (worm and dork) have already had to listen to the gory details. Needless to say, I'm not feeling very prepared to hit the PR goal I set for myself four months ago. This has been frustrating. Instead of feeling like my training has left me fresh and ready to tackle this challenge, for the most part I feel like my training this summer left me with very little self-respect as a runner.

So here's where the line from the song comes in - dust off your butt and get your self respect back. Yes, training has been bad this summer. Yes, I'm probably in no position to get that PR. Yes, I may not even be in a position to beat my last half marathon time, period. But am I going to let that diminish my spirits about this race? No. Am I going to let my time dictate whether or not I enjoy this race? Absolutely not. I'm going to go do this race, I'm going to high-five every single little kid I can find along the course, I'm going to soak in the scenery (which should be awesome), I'm going to cheer on all my other friends running the race, I'm going to get my two medals at the end and then I'm going to wear them around for the rest of the day like a true running dork.

Bottom line is, the self respect is coming back RIGHT NOW. We all go through tough times as runners, we all face difficulties in training, we all face injuries, we all go through low periods where we doubt ourselves and wonder why we keep doing this. But in the end, we're still runners and we'll still cross that finish line.

But what about the GIVEAWAY, Running Lawyer, you say?? Well, it's simple - I'm going to send one lucky reader something really cool from Disneyland. It may be a hat, it may be a shirt, it may be something entirely different - it's going to be whatever my pretty little head picks out while I'm shopping this weekend. Needless to say, because it's coming from me it will be AWESOME. So how do you earn entries?? Here's how:

1. Become a follower! Drop me a comment to let me know you're new!!
2. Give me some inspiration for my upcoming race - leave me a quote, a good song, an inspiring story - anything! I'll give you up to 5 entries, I need some motiviation here, people!
3. Leave me a comment with the name of the song the line is from - no cheating by looking at other comments! :)
4. Shout it out! Link me up on your blog, leave me a comment so I can stop by and check it out.

You have until Tuesday the 8th to get your entries in, I'll be announcing a winner (and my race report) next Wednesday morning!

Legal ease (what did you expect? I am a lawyer!): family members of the Running Lawyer not eligible. Sorry, but you'll get your own gifts from Disneyland!!

The more you know...

A Wednesday PSA, courtesy of Ashley at Journey to a Better Me:

To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine... and those who don't.
As Ben Franklin said:
In wine there is wisdom,
in beer there is freedom,
in water there is bacteria.
In a number of carefully controlled trials,
scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than
1 kilo of Escherichia coli,
(E. coli) - bacteria found in feces.
In other words, we are consuming
1 kilo of poop.
However, we do NOT run that risk when
drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whisky or other liquor), because alcohol has to go through a purification
process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.
Remember:
Water = Poop, Wine = Health .
Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid,
than to drink water and be full of shit.
There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Don't forget to check out FWR's blog, she's giving away some awesome protein powder (I should know, she got me hooked on it!) and Erica's fun running jewelry giveaway here.

TIaRT - When Did You Become a Runner?

Today's Runner's Lounge topic is "When did you know you had become a runner? Was there a defining moment, or was it a gradual progression over time?"

I think I knew I'd become a runner somewhere in the middle of training for the marathon, when running started to become something that I did on a routine basis, something that I looked forward to, rather than just something I did because it happened to burn calories. The funny thing is, even after completing a half marathon and a marathon, and planning to run two half marathons two weeks apart in September, I feel like I am constantly having to re-define myself as a runner.

There are days where I just don't feel like much of a runner at all. And days where I don't feel like much of a runner have a tendency to turn into weeks where I don't feel like much of a runner. There have been a lot of those lately. Lots of bad runs, tiring runs, frustrating runs. Not many of the exhilarating runs that used to keep me going out the door early in the morning when I'd rather be in bed. On days and weeks like those, it seems like it takes a little extra effort to remind myself that yes, I am a runner, and that's why I'm still out there pounding the pavement even though it's not going fabulously for me right now.

In a couple of weeks I'll be headed out to Disneyland to run the Disneyland half marathon. I'm going to be lucky to join some fabulous women that I met while training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. One more long run is in the cards before that race, and although I'm not super-excited about that long run right now, I'm excited that it's almost race time. Nothing reminds me that I'm a runner quite like lining up at the start line with thousands of other runners all working towards a common goal. And I'm not going to lie, I'm also pretty excited about my (soon to be a tradition) post-race cheesecake.

I'm not entirely sure how this race is going to go, but I think the fact that it's been a little mental struggle to get there will make finishing the race even more sweet. The days when it's the hardest to get out the door, and yet I end up having a fantastic run, are the absolute best because it reminds me of why I do this in the first place. If it was all easy, if there were no struggle, no pain, no challenge, no hard-fought gains, nothing given up, the ultimate reward would feel just a little more empty. So, here's hoping that in a couple of weeks I'll have the kind of race that reminds me of just why I became a runner.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad

Well, bloggies, you may or may not have noticed that I've been taking a little blog sabbatical the last couple of months. I thought it was necessary to take a break for a lot of reasons - life, work, over-extension of myself on summertime activities, too many weekends out of town, that sort of thing. But I thought today might be a nice day to come back because I get to wish Happy Anniversary to my very wonderful parents.

Let me give you some idea of how great my parents really are. My parents drove down from where they live early in the morning to watch the very first 10 mile race I ever did, and proceeded to stand outside and watch the whole race even though it was about 40 degrees that day. Then when I decided to run my first half marathon in Disney World, they surprised me by buying plane tickets to Orlando to come see me run, which I didn't expect. They drove down to Oklahoma City to watch my first ever marathon, and put up with having a completely crazy dinner the night before with about 20 other runners, bloggers, and family members. After the marathon, my Dad sent me the following comment to add to my blog about the race:

Just a note from a proud mom and dad who were honored by being allowed to be a part of Bubbles' "race team".Your persistence and desire have allowed you to perform a task that only a small percentage of the world will ever attempt, and even fewer will be successful. I challenge any naysayers who question the difficulty of a marathon to try to run just the last 8 miles of this race facing a 40+ mph headwind and then try to find the breath to speak negatively about those who do what you just did.

To Bubbles and FairWeatherRunner, it was such a pleasure to watch you cross that finish line although it (and typing this note) was done with a few tears in the eyes which were not caused by the wind. Your tangible reward is a medal which may tarnish and become less valuable with time, but you have also received the intangible reward of knowing that your future successes, both in running and life, are only limited by your desire. I am sure that finishing the marathon was important to you, but what was most important was that you accepted the challenge and risk of failure that a marathon involves. You have proved to the world (and have the medal to back up your claim) that you have the skills, spirit and desire that make you some pretty fantastic people.Congratulations!! You go girls!!! Love, Mom and Dad

And to top that all off, I'm fairly certain that on Labor Day my mom is going to be getting up at some completely ridiculous time of the morning (3am?) to drive from Palm Springs to Anaheim, California with my aunt to watch me run the Disneyland half marathon.

It was about a year ago that a friend talked me into training for that 10 mile race, which convinced me that I could do a half marathon, which lead to the full marathon, and the next two half marathons that I have coming up in the next few weeks. I'm sure it probably seemed a little crazy at times, with the constant training and the repetitive injuries and multiple doctor visits and physical therapy. But every step of the way, my parents have been there to cheer me on. So this is my little tribut to them today, on their anniversary. Thanks for everything you do Mom and Dad, I am the person I am and can do the things that I've done because you believed in me every step of the way and above all, taught me to believe in myself.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!

Let me go on, like a blister in the sun

I happily existed in the land of non-injured runners for about a month before my marathon in April, and miraculously made it through the marathon with no injuries to speak of. Somewhere in the weeks after, though, between gradually building back up to weekend long runs and my lame attempts to do speed work and hills, I've re-entered the running injury twilight zone. If it's not one thing, it's another. For one thing, my right hip has been bothering me on and off for the last few weeks. Not seriously enough for me to break down and call the PT, but just enough to be annoying on my longer runs. My right foot decided it needed to get in the game as well, and has been aching on and off. I mostly attribute this to some poor advice from an orthopedic "specialist" who looked at my foot for no more than 5 seconds and told me that I needed to switch shoes (when I had run in my Asics 2140s for years with no problems).

Well, my problem last night on my three-miler was not my right hip nor my right foot, nor even the 90+ degree temperatures and soup-like consistency of the atmosphere. It was the giant, quarter-sized, angry, red, possibly infected blister that appeared on the inside of my right heel somewhere toward the end of last week. It started off innocently enough, a tiny blister caused by my shoe rubbing a bit on that heel. I've had these before, so I wasn't very concerned about it. But last weekend's 10k race followed up by a 10 miler the next day turned that thing into a complete monster, the blister to end all blisters.

And yet, because I'm not smart enough to know what's good for myself, I took myself and the monster blister out for a three-mile run last night in the aforementioned disgustingly hot, nasty weather. Not without precaution, though, I did cover up the monster with a Band-Aid blister ampule, which I think is one of the best things ever invented for blisters:

I also duct-taped over the offending portion of my shoe and body-glided my foot, my sock, AND my shoe. This worked for about the first mile and a half. After that, I realized the band-aid was starting to slip and I was sweating so much the body glide wasn't about to do me any good. Long story short, despite my best attempts to keep it from happening my three miler tore that blister wide open. Which felt really awesome when I got in the shower. I was about to take a picture of the sucker and post it on here, but I think it might violate Blogger's prohibition of obscene materials.

Which leads me to my question for the day - I love the Band-Aid blister ampules (and have also used some sport-specific bandages that are very similar) but I have never been able to get them or any other type of bandage to stay on during a run long enough to do me any good. I once tried to duct tape over the band-aid on the suggestion of someone at the running store, but the duct tape just tore up my skin. Does anyone out there have any suggestion on how to treat running blisters and how to protect them during a run?

Rock Chalk Run 10k race report

Some days you race well. Other days...not so much. Saturday's Rock Chalk Run was one of those "not so much days" for me. I pretty much chalked it up to a learning experience and realized that it doesn't matter how much training you've done if you don't have the mental tenacity to push through the tough parts of a race. Saturday's time was completely the result of my brain (not my body) throwing in the towel about two-thirds of the way through the race.

The day was pretty much perfect for a run - temps in the 60s, overcast, a light drizzle, not too windy. It was humid, but the breeze helped with that. The course for Lawrence was surprisingly not terribly hilly - although the one steep hill the course did have owned me both trips up. The "hills" we have in Wichita just don't come close to preparing you for "hills" in other places. The race was very small, which surprised me, and therefore fairly boring. At times I felt that I was running by myself, which I think didn't help to spur me on. It was interesting in places to run past the set-up they had for the Ironman 70.3 being held there the next day, and there was one spot on the course with a particularly scenic view of Clinton Lake. But otherwise, the course was very quiet with very few runners and even fewer spectators.

The first two miles of the race were great for me, I was maintaining a sub-9 minute pace and was exactly where I wanted to be. I felt very comfortable. Somewhere around mile 3, though, I became aware of the giant hill that we were about to run up and my brain checked out. Mentally I started to doubt myself and pretty instantly lost my fight. I managed to get up the hill and make it to mile 4 still averaging a good time, but around mile 4 I completely lost whatever willpower I had left and decided this was just not my day to "race." I finished the race in 1:00:53, which is not even close to what I'd hoped to run or what I think I'm capable of running. Disappointing, but I think a lesson in the mental discipline that running requires. I know my body was capable of giving me more on Saturday, but my brain just wasn't taking me there so it didn't happen.

Overall, though, I can't complain - any day with a race is better than a day without a race. I got a cool bag, got to run somewhere I've never run before, and got to see my good friend finish her first race ever.

And my next race is...

.....drumroll please....................

The Disneyland Half Marathon on September 6, 2009. I just registered today!

No, this obviously isn't my next *marathon* - I still haven't decided on the next marathon yet! But for now, this is the next major race on the horizon. Because I did the Princess Half Marathon in March, if I complete the Disneyland Half Marathon I get the special "coast to coast" medal in addition to my Disneyland Half Marathon medal. Hey, I'm not ashamed of it - I run for bling!! And what can I say...I never grew up, so I'm a sucker for the mouse.

Gold Stars

Yeah, I realize that it may be a little dorky to give yourself gold stars, but I feel like I deserve three for the day:

Gold star # 1 - For getting out of bed this morning and running even though I woke up way late and really, really wanted to just go back to sleep for 15 more minutes.

Gold star #2 - For running 4 miles, when I started off planning to only run 3.

Gold star #3 - For running that extra mile, when it meant that I had to run up the longest, steepest hill that's anywhere near my house (to be fair, we are in KS, so it's not really that big) and rocking that hill to the tune of a 9:20 mile (which is fast, for me).

Okay, now that I'm done patting myself on the back, here's a little nugget for your day:

I did not drink all of these Hurricanes myself - I swear!!

Be sure to check out The Happy Runner's bloggie birthday giveaway - she's got some good stuff over there!

Laissez les bons temps rouler

Sadly, on Tuesday I had to come back to the real world after a long, sometimes relaxing, sometimes wildly entertaining weekend in New Orleans. Yes, I ran while I was there, and for those of you considering running in the French Quarter while on vacation I have this advice - do not run on Bourbon Street. Ever. I also shopped, ate ridiculous amounts of delicious food, and drank a few Hurricanes.

More pictures to come later (promises, promises) but here are a few to tide you over in the meantime:

Three gorgeous ladies listening to some jazz at Preservation Hall

I don't even remember where we are in this picture, but we were having a good time!

Me and the hubs and the whole group on a swamp tour - they fed the alligators marshmallows!

In Celebration

of National Running Day, I ran a great 6.2 miles after work this evening. Perfect weather, perfect run, I even saw a rainbow in the sky and a fox on the golf course as I ran by.

Short post, but I'm headed to New Orleans tomorrow for a long weekend, so forgive me if my mind is in other places right now. My running clothes are packed and I'm ready for a vacation!

get your run on

Yep, that's right - tomorrow is National Running Day, time to get your run on, people! Now, I can't say this is entirely original because I wouldn't have known about this except for the other wonderful running bloggers out there, but I felt it necessary to add my own personal homage to our sport on my blog. So, for all of my running, blogging friends out there, let's enjoy our day. For all of my non-running friends out there, if you've ever wanted to run, tomorrow's the day to start! And if you don't know how to get started, check out the National Running Day website for some great beginner tips.

The Great Race Debate

I have no idea what my next marathon should be. Seriously. I'm aiming for something in the late November - March timeframe, but there are so many great marathons out there, so many places I want to visit, and so little time. I'm overwhelmed!! As I am not one of those people blessed with the ability to run multiple marathons in a year without injury issues, I have to pick my races wisely. So I'm throwing this out there, bloggie world: What race do I do next?? The Shamrock in Virginia Beach? The Cowtown 50K in Forth Worth? The Sun Trust National Marathon in DC? Seattle in November? Big Sur? One I haven't named? Help!!!!!!!!!!!!

a running haiku for the day...

so wanted to sleep.
got up and ran five instead,
so proud of myself.

TIaRT - Running Injuries and Treatment

This is for Runner's Lounge Take It and Run Thursday. This week's theme was running injuries and treatment, which is a really interesting topic for me. I've always envied those runners who seem to effortlessly run 100+ mile months, run days and days in a row without rest in between, or who can run half marathons and marathons on back-to-back weekends without becoming crippled. I am not one of those runners. So much so that the other evening when we were out and met a massage therapist and I said I could use a massage, my husband agreed and said "there's always something wrong with her."

Well, I wouldn't go quite that far, but I have had plenty of times where it feels like I'm moving from injury to injury to injury, getting one ache and pain healed only to find another on the next run. I had a particularly nasty string of injuries training for my first half marathon that went like this: left hip flexor, right hip flexor, right foot, left piriformis, right piriformis, right knee, right shin, right foot again, left foot. Along the way I made several visits to the doctor, the physical therapist, an orthopedic specialist, and the bone scan people. The best thing that I heard through the entire ordeal was this from my friend and yoga teacher who was training for her first Full Ironman at the time - "if you're any sort of athlete you're going to end up dealing with injury problems like this at some point in your life." Well, that hit it home for me. I never considered myself any sort of athlete before - but maybe after running my first half marathon and my first full marathon in back-to-back months I can finally call myself that.

At any rate, that doesn't resolve the issue - what do you do with all those injuries? I'm certainly not a pro, but here are my top 5 ways of dealing with my own injuries:

1. Yoga, yoga, yoga - I've found yoga to be amazing to both help me prevent injuries and treat them after they happen, and even when I can't make it to class I use yoga poses at home to target areas that I know are problems for me, like my hips.

2. Ice, ice, ice - I never really bought into the ice thing until I started running. Now the minute something starts to hurt, I slap ice on it. And when I started being religious about my icing after 13+ mile runs, I noticed a huge decrease in soreness and achiness the day afterward.

3. Rest - I really hate to take days off. I mean, I REALLY hate it. But I've gradually had to accept that sometimes it's better not to run than it is to run. And that it's okay to run easy some days. Some days I have to remind myself that I don't always have to run until I'm exhausted or something hurts.

4. Foam roller - I love my foam roller so much, it sits out right next to my bed. I can't afford to get a massage every week, so this thing is a lifesaver for my hamstrings, quads, and IT bands. BUY ONE!

5. Don't be afraid to ask for PT - There's no way I would have made it through half marathon/marathon training without my PT. Luckily I have a doctor who is a runner that understands the problems we runners have, and doesn't hesitate to refer me to PT if I need it. And I think that it definitely helps to get a sports-medicine PT who understands running and the unique problems runners have.

getting back on the horse

I think running a marathon is a bit like falling off a horse - you can see it coming, everything seems to be moving in slow motion, and yet you can't really do anything to avoid the inevitable crash. (I've fallen off a few horses in my day, and that was generally my experience). But at some point you just have to get back on the horse, even if you might not want to.

I got back on my racing horse last weekend by doing the River Run 10k in Wichita, Kansas. I'm pretty attached to the River Run, it was the first race that I ever did, and I think it's one of the best local races there is, period. Tons of runners, a great course, lots of cheering spectators as you turn the corner toward the finish line. This year was really exciting because I was expecting to set a new PR in this race and had lots of friends running this race with me.

The weather was pretty close to perfect for a race - cool but not too cold, not much wind (for Kansas) and slightly overcast. Not to mention that I was wearing my awesome brand-new running dress thanks to my mom (thanks Mom!!) who just happened to be down in Wichita to watch my race. As the race started off, I just felt really happy to be running and racing just two weeks after my first marathon, because I know that things could have turned out much differently. In fact, within the first couple of miles of the race I passed (yeah, you read that right - I passed them) two guys talking about how one of them had run a marathon and afterward completely lost his desire to run again for awhile afterward. And I thought "not me!" Running the marathon just made me want to run more, work harder, train smarter, get faster, build more endurance - so that when the next marathon rolls around, I'll go into it knowing that I did everything in my power to have a great race.

Saturday was a great race. I felt great the entire time, I held a good, steady, fast (for me) pace for the entire race, and in the end I had a new PR of 57:53. Definitely not the fastest 10k time ever run, not even close to "fast" for some people, and not even the fastest I've ever run in a race (that would be an average of 8:45/mile in a 4-mile race). But to put that time into perspective, you have to know that a year ago my time for the River Run was 1:09 and that just before the marathon my 10k time was 1:00:24. Given the circumstances, I'm thrilled with the 57:53.

That's me, bringing it home in the green dress. Best part of the day? Celebrating my new PR with my wonderful Mom and my #1 cheerleader the Fair Weather Runner.

26.2, the race report

It's impossible for me to put into words the multitude of emotions that I have about finishing my first marathon. Elation at the success, disappointment for a goal not reached, frustration at the pain felt afterward, joy in sharing the whole experience with my family and friends. I have so many thoughts, I'm not sure they'll all fit into one post either . . . so I'm choosing to share my favorite moments of the race here and will save my other thoughts for later. From OKC I will remember...

- The 168 seconds of silence to honor the 168 victims of the OKC bombing before the start of the race. Immediately before the 168 seconds I'd been particularly frustrated because we were having a difficult time getting into the start corral and I was anxious because I was afraid we wouldn't make it. The hush of 19,000 runners observing the 168 seconds of silence was humbling, and gave me time to think about how fortunate I was to be there.

- Actually starting the race. It was a completely surreal moment, crossing the start line to attempt a marathon.

- Seeing two little boys in the neighborhoods around mile 6 who were very shily holding out their hands to high-five the runners. It's easy to get caught up in your own world out there and focus only on how far you've left to go, but looking at those faces it was obvious they were in awe of the runners. It made me mentally stop and go back and think about what an accomplishment running a marathon really is.

- In the same neighborhood seeing two adorable little girls handing out trays of chocolate...and bacon. Bacon? Really?? Beka tells me that the guy next to her took a piece, which makes me feel better because I can't imagine many runners were eating bacon at mile 6 and I can only imagine these little girls would be crushed if no one ate their offerings.

- Watching the half marathoners turn left at mile 7.5 to finish the last portion of their race, while the marathoners continued straight on up the road. I don't know why, but that moment was very emotional to me - thinking that the half marathoners were very close to done with their journey, while I was just starting mine.

- The Big Top Water Stop. Seeing the guy on stilts actually made me break into a huge smile even though I was really feeling the heat at that point.

- Seeing Matt at mile 12, and nearly breaking down because I was already so tired and knew I still had over 13 miles to go.

- Seeing my parents at the halfway mark, knowing that I was halfway done, but that the second half would be the true challenge.

- Turning onto the road that takes the marathoners around Lake Hefner. I saw Beka at this point on the other side of the road, and was screaming and waving my arms like crazy. The guy next to her saw me, but didn't realize I was trying to get her attention. He must have thought I was completely crazy.

- Hitting the wind head-on for the first time as we turned to go south along the lake. Realizing that the next 12 miles were going to be tough.

- Passing two women with Princess Half Marathon shirts around mile 15 and cheering for them "yay, Princesses!" and hearing them cheer for me after I told them I'd done that race.

- Hitting mile 16 where they started handing out Gu. I didn't need any Gu because I was carrying plenty, but somehow the fact they had it on the course made me feel better.

- Mile 18, where I realized Beka was about 50 feet in front of me. I couldn't believe it. I started running as fast as I could to catch up to her, not necessarily so that I could catch her, but because I wanted to make sure she was okay. It's a true testiment to my love for her that after I'd already run 18 miles and was really starting to feel some pain, I was giving it all I had to run a 9 minute mile to catch up. I kept praying "please let her slow down, please let her slow down!" and of course, she didn't. I think my first words to her after I managed to tap her on the shoulder were "do you know how fast I just had to run to catch up with you?" Feeling relief that I had someone to keep me going.

- Running the last 8 miles of the race with Beka. It was such a relief not to be alone. - Being passed by a guy around mile 19 who went dashing by Beka and I yelling "come on, only two 5ks and a mile left to go." Beka, who is normally so chipper and upbeat, said "yeah, why don't you map it out for us, buddy." Which got a few chuckles from me and some other runners around us. I didn't have the energy left to be sarcastic.

- Seeing my parents, followed by Beka's family, at mile 20. That was a huge pick-me-up, and I knew we were on the downhill slide of the race.

- Around mile 23, my knee started to feel weird. Around mile 24, I stopped to walk and felt searing pain so bad I could barely walk normally, much less run. I was so close to the finish, I could only think about how devasted I would be if I made it to mile 24 and didn't cross the finish line. Beka stopped to walk with me, and miraculously my knee started to loosen itself up. A few minutes later I was pain free - just a muscle cramp. What a huge feeling of relief.

- Passing the last water stop completely around mile 25, knowing we were so close to the finish and not wanting to stop at all.

- Finally rounding the last corner and seeing the finish line - what an incredible feeling. Words can't describe it. Ripping my earbuds out so that I could listen to the crowd as we headed down the straighaway to the finish. Feeling like that banner was so far away. Seeing my parents and Matt just before the finish, and hearing the announcer call out first Beka's name, and then mine. Beka and I started this thing together in January, and we finished together. For a few moments, I didn't feel any pain or exhaustion, I only felt incredible joy that we'd just finished the race.

26.2 miles later...

I'm a marathoner!! I finished the OKC Memorial Marathon on Sunday in 5:03:19. Not really close to my goal time, but considering the hills, the weather, and the fact that this was my first race, I can't be disappointed. I'm just so glad to have done it.

Major props to OzRunner, who finished his first half marathon this weekend, and to Fair Weather Runner who finished her first marathon this weekend and is almost single-handedly responsible for keeping me going for the last several miles of the race.

48 Hours

I've been waiting and waiting to write this post, thinking that magically during my waiting wise and brilliant and heartwarming words about running my first marathon 48 hours from now would come to me. They haven't. Mostly what's running though my mind are a series of what-if's:

-what if I oversleep?
-what if my stomach gets upset?
-what if I drink too much and get stomach cramps and/or hyponatremia?
-what if I don't drink enough and pass out from dehydration?
-what if it rains?
-what if it's really windy?
-what if it's 85 degrees?
-what if I get blisters?
-what if my mp3 player dies or they take it away from me?
-what if my garmin dies?

And so on and so forth. It's exhausting, really, continuously running through the list of what-if's and trying to make contingency plans in my mind to cover all of them.

The thing is, most of the what-if's are largely out of my control at this point. I can't control the weather or the bizarre way my stomach chooses to react to nerves or the race volunteers. The only thing I can really control is myself. So, I've made these promises to myself:

-I will enjoy this experience. Every single moment of it. I'm going to savor the pre-race atmosphere, the post-race activities, and every minute of the race itself.

-I will run my race. Not Beka's race, not Oprah's race, not the person in front of me's race, not anyone else's race. My race. If I'm fast, I'm fast. If I'm slow, I'm slow. If I walk, I walk.

- I will be happy with whatever finish time I have. It may not be record-breaking, it may not be a Boston qualifier, it may not even be in the top 50% of all the participants - but it's an accomplishment, nonetheless. One that I never in a million years thought that I'd have.

-I will rejoice in my ability to run this race, and in the fact that I can share this experience with my family and friends whom I love dearly. I will thank God for giving me the strength and ability to do this. I will remember Isaiah 40:31 if I start to struggle.

Thanks to everyone out there who's sent good thoughts and well-wishes my way for this race, and thanks to everyone out there who's lent advice and support and encouragement along the way. It means the world to me to know that people out there are thinking about me and praying for me to do well on Sunday. Wish me luck! Hopefully the next time I post, I'll be able to say that I've officially run 26.2!!

You only think you hate running on a treadmill

The OKC Memorial Marathon calls itself the "Run to Remember." Today my DH sent me this link with a story of an amazing person who has taken the "Run to Remember" even one step further. He's a true inspiration to anyone who's running the OKC Memorial Marathon on Sunday, and an inspiration to anyone to take something ordinary in their life and make it something extraordinary.

newsok.com/article/3363152

Less than two weeks left and I've been tagged...

Less than two weeks left until "M" day, as the Fair Weather Runner is calling it. I'd been feeling a little down on my training until last weekend, when the Fair Weather Runner, Liz and I did the 10k Easter Sun Run. I was exceedingly happy with the way I ran that race, I kept up a pretty good pace for me despite the fact that it wasn't my best morning and I'd already run 5 miles before the race. I don't remember exactly what my last 10k time was, but I know that the Easter Sun Run was a good 8 minutes faster, if not even faster than that. My new PR and the fact that it was Easter weekend got me started thinking about what a strange journey I've gone through in the last year to get to this point where I'm less than two weeks away from my first full marathon and what an emotional rollercoaster it's been. I can honestly say that after all the ups and downs of training, I feel like whatever I do in OKC, even if I don't have the world's greatest time and even if I don't beat Oprah, is going to feel like a huge success. And I'm very happy I get to share that with my husband and family and friends.

With that being said, Beka the Fair Weather Runner tagged me so this is the objective: fill out the survey, add one question of your own, and tag someone else.

1. What are your current obsessions? My upcoming marathon, eating, furniture shopping, unpacking all the boxes in my new house

2. Which item from your closet are you wearing most often? Black ballet flats - I'm pretty much wearing them everywhere, I'm not wearing heels before the race because they aggravate a certain running injury and lord knows my feet are NOT appropriate for sandals at this point...

3. Last thing you bought for yourself? Trek bars from Great Harvest Bread Co. Yum.

4. What’s for dinner? Probably Chipotle - I have no energy to go to the grocery store and/or cook this week

5. Say something to the person who tagged you: Beka is my running heart. Without her (and Emily) I never would have believed in myself enough to train for this marathon. Every time I've gotten down, in running or in life, she's picked me back up and cheered me on.

6. What is one item you could not live without? Peanut butter

7. Vacation spots you must visit before you die? Maui, Ireland, Spain, Santorini (Greece), Australia and New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands

8. Three things to do before you die: Have a child, dive with whale sharks off the coast of Mexico, learn the Argentine Tango

9. What are you reading right now? I'm stuck in the middle of Breaking Dawn right now...I started reading it and got interuppted, then started reading it over again, then had to move, I'll probably have to start all over again after the marathon...

10. What is the last movie you saw and enjoyed? Twilight

11. What’s your guilty pleasure? Robert Pattinson (hmm...I'm sensing a theme here), cheesecake, Cadbury Creme Eggs, shopping, anything Disney

12. What’s your favorite smell? Gardenias, Tuberose, vanilla, pumpkin pie

13. If cost wasn't an issue and you could run any race in the world what would it be? The actual Marathon in Greece

14. Do you have a goal that you are trying accomplish before 2009 is over? Run a marathon (done in two weeks, I hope!), run a sub-2 hour half marathon (maybe in September?)

15. Describe one of your happiest moments. My wedding day was one of the best moments of my life - marrying the man I loved and celebrating that with all of my friends and family. Followed closely by the day that I graduated from law school, which was on Mother's day and was 29 years to the day after my Dad had graduated from the very same law school. My mom made me a cake that said "Like Father, Like Daughter" with both of our graduation dates on it.

16. What was your best Halloween costume? I dressed up like Snow White one year, which isn't terribly exciting but I do have the dark hair and fair skin to pull it off pretty well.

17. What do you have an addiction to? Definitely food. Running and yoga. Shopping for running and yoga clothes.

18. What do you do that you would be embarrassed for others to know about? I eat peanut butter straight out of the jar.

19. What is one totally irrational fear you have? I hate lawnmowers, weedwhackers, saws, and anything else with large, spinning blades that could rip your limbs off.

20. Do you have a favorite training tip? Stretch aftewards. A lot. Ice everything. And don't assume that just because you've never had blisters in training that you won't get them during the race - use bodyglide!!

21. What's your most embarrassing moment? I'm pretty sure the Fair Weather Runner and I may have done push-ups in the middle of the floor in our dressy clothes at a work party last summer, but I don't remember all the details because I'd had at least a whole bottle of wine to drink...

22. What is a little known fact about you? I'm really just a big kid at heart - I still love Disney, cartoons, animated movies, stuffed animals, and toy stores.

23. (my addition) Do you have a pre-race ritual? I always lay out all my clothes, my shoes, my Garmin and my mp3 player and pin my race number to my shirt the night before. I have to eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich before every race, if it's a shorter race I'll just have one slice of bread with peanut butter and sliced banana. No exceptions. I will be taking peanut butter, bread, and bananas and plastic utensils to OKC with me!

I'm tagging...RunnuRMark over at the Life and Times of RunnuRMark since he's a Spark friend of mine. http://runnurmark.blogspot.com

Friday Foto

Okay, since someone asked here's a picture of our new house that we just moved into last Friday. These were taken pre-move, the first is a picture of my absolute favorite thing in the whole house, the stone fireplace, and the second is me in front of the house with our lovely trash dumpster that was blown over by the wind in the foreground.

Things I'm excited about today...

1. Our new house - even though it's a mess and there's still a ton of work left to do, I love the new house and deep down am glad we moved.

2. I walked my dog last night in our new neighborhood, and I LOVE it - so quiet and peaceful, all sorts of ducks and geese in the ponds, it was great.

3. Peanut butter - basically my favorite food. The grocery store next to our new house has a machine where you can grind your own fresh peanut butter. Who knew such a thing existed??!!

4. My upcoming 10k this Saturday - I've promised myself that I am not "racing" this race because of the upcoming marathon, but it's going to be nice to get out and have a "fun" run instead of the "serious" training runs I've been doing the last few weeks.

5. Nice weather! Well, we're supposed to have storms this afternoon and the next couple of days, but overall we're on an upswing in temperature and I'm hoping it stays that way. No more snow, please!!

6. Paint - we had most of the rooms in our new house painted, and I can't even tell you how much of a difference this made in making the house feel like "our" house. And the colors look fabulous - no more boring tan everywhere!!

7. It's almost the weekend! And our office closes early tomorrow for Good Friday.

8. Just a little over two weeks until the big 26.2 - the nerves are starting to build up a little now, but I'm ready to do this thing and see what I'm made of!

9. New running shoes - I'm testing out a slightly different model, they get their first test drive this weekend.

10. Friends and Mexican food- even though our house isn't even close to presentable, we're having good friends over tomorrow to see it, then heading out to try a Mexican restaurant I discovered a mile away from our new place.

Lawyer joke of the day

Dice, n. Small polka-dotted cubes of ivory, constructed like a lawyer to lie on any side, but commonly the wrong one.

--Ambrose Bierce,
The Devil's Dictionary

Friday Foto

This is Beka, the Fair Weather Runner, and me after the 2008 River Run 10k in Wichita, KS. (Mad props to Beka, who worked her photoshop magic on this picture) The 2007 River Run 10k was the first race that I EVER did, so this event will always hold a special place in my heart.

I've never really "trained" for a River Run before with any sort of strategy. So, I'm really looking forward to this year's race because after training for a half marathon and marathon, I feel like I've never been in better running shape. I have a plan to whip last year's River Run time by over TEN minutes.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is the 2010 River Run. Yes, it seems a long way off - but I'm looking foward to it because I have a friend from Texas coming to run it with me. This particular friend has just started running in a Couch to 5K program, and I like to think that I helped inspire her a little bit to take those steps towards becoming a runner. I met this woman through my involvement on a site called Spark People, which I joined when I was training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. Several of us on the Spark site were training for the half, and when my friend read my story about training as well as another woman's story about training for and completing the half marathon (who is far more amazing, wonderful, and dedicated than I ever will be) she was inspired enough to try running herself. So she's committed to doing her first 5k in April, and decided to come do the 2010 River Run with me.

Finally...a good run

Last night's run was beautiful, the type of run that makes me remember why I started running in the first place. The weather wasn't particularly wonderful (in fact, it was still a little windy, and chilly) and I wasn't particularly speedy, but it was just a nice, hard, constant effort and I felt really good at the end of it. I ended up doing 7 miles well under my goal marathon pace. I didn't feel great the entire time, but I'm particularly happy that I pushed through the difficult parts of that run and finished strong at the end. It was exactly the sort of confidence boost that I needed after having two extremely disappointing long runs in a row.

20 Miles DONE

You know it's going to be bad run when you get to the park and can't even open your car door because it's so windy. When I left my house yesterday, the forecast said sustained winds of 16 mph with gusts up to 22 mph -- but let me tell you, it was WORSE than that at the park. And the wind just got stronger and stronger as my run progressed.

But when you have to run 20 miles, what else are you going to do but run outside? So I told myself to just quit thinking about it and go, and I stayed on the inside loop of the park for the most part to keep myself somewhat sheltered. The first 14 miles or so were fine, I was actually feeling really good and even managing to keep a pretty good pace on the stretches where I was forced to run directly into the wind. The last 6 miles...well, let's just say that I'd rather not relive that experience. At some point after I'd been running for at least 2 1/2 hours, I saw another guy pull up in the parking lot and get out for a run. I was thinking, "good luck, buddy." Of course, he came cruising along and passed me, and eventually got so far ahead of me that I couldn't see him anymore. When I finally made it back to the parking lot on that loop, he was getting in his car to leave. I wanted to yell at him, "yeah, I could have run a lot faster, but I've already been out here running for THREE HOURS!!!" Clearly running straight into the wind for 1 mile out of every 3 that I was running yesterday was making me a little crazy.

The most frustrating part of the whole run yesterday was feeling afterward that if it hadn't been for the ridiculous wind, I would have had a great run. Instead of getting the heavy, aching feeling that I'd gotten in my last couple of long runs, my legs felt great the whole time. I didn't have any pain in my hip joints or nagging stomach cramps. Other than getting hit by blasts of wind that would literally stop me dead in my tracks, it was a pretty good run. And I feel surprisingly good today, with minimal soreness - not at all how I expected to feel after my first 20 mile run.

The only positive about the wind is that at least I'm prepared for it if it's windy on marathon day in OKC. I won't enjoy it any more, but I am prepared. And I am glad that I ran yesterday instead of today, when the winds are 39 mph sustained gusting to 49 mph.

Running is a mental sport, and we are all insane

Hi, my name is Kristen, and I...am a runner. There, I said it. I've fallen victim to the addiction that must grip everyone who decides to train for a marathon, because I've decided there's no way anyone would ever do something so ridiculous unless someone was addicted. And I knew it had hit me when I found myself duct taping - yes, DUCT taping, as in the stuff they tape ducts with - over the raw spots my shoes wore on my ankles during the half marathon so that I could run 18 miles this weekend. Duct tape. To cover raw spots. Seriously.

It's a good thing that I'm addicted and maybe a little insane, because if I weren't nothing, and I mean NOTHING - not even my small, obnoxiously chipper running partner the Fair Weather Runner - would have kept me going through the 18 miles of pure hell that was this weekend's run. Don't get me wrong, the run was perfectly fine for the first 3 miles or so, I was even pleasantly surprised at the pace I was keeping being just a week removed from my race. Then we turned south. Into the wind. The gale-force, take-your-breath-away-and-suck-the-life-right-out-of-you Kansas wind. That wind. After about a mile of that, when we'd finally turned another corner, Beka looked at me and said "that was like running into an effing wall."

The Kansas wind comes at you from all sides, there's no avoiding it, no matter how much you try. And try we did - running 18 miles (me) and 20 miles (Beka) we had plenty of time to try and figure out how to avoid running directly into the wind for extended periods of time. The only thing we figured out is that it wasn't possible to avoid the wind. Every mile into the wind sucked more and more life out of my body, until there was nothing left for running. My legs were like complete dead weights. I seriously doubt that I've ever wanted to quit a run as much as I wanted to quit that one. And I seriously doubt that I've ever questioned my sanity in training for this marathon quite as much as I did during that run.

I can't even say that I gained any wisdom or insight from that run. The only things that I learned are:
1) running into the wind sucks, and
2) having duct tape on your ankles when you're running also sucks.

Next weekend I need a good 20 miles. With no wind.

Friday Foto

I have two Friday Fotos this time - this is me with my husband and my parents after running the Disney Princess Half Marathon on 3/8/09.

2:10:43

I really can't imagine a better weekend to have done my first half marathon than the Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend. Everything from the race expo to the course to the crowd support was just incredible, and it was that much more amazing to be able to share the whole experience with my husband and my parents.

The weekend started off for me with the race expo on Friday. Since I love to shop, the race expo was almost heaven. After I'd picked up my packet and goodie bag and other necessary items the challenge became to restrain myself from overspending. It was more difficult than you might think - because it was a women's race, the race expo was full of all sorts of cute running skirts, sparkly tops, fun jewelry, interesting bags - you name it. I settled on some of the "official" race gear which I decided I wouldn't wear until I'd actually finished the race.

Saturday my husband and I woke up early to go experience the Magic Kingdom. Much to my surprise, we were able to walk right on to every ride without a wait. I took tons of pictures of Cinderella's Castle, and even had my picture taken with the Fairy Godmother. After a few hours in the park I was ready to rest my legs, so we headed back to the hotel for a break. Saturday afternoon I headed off to Downtown Disney to meet up with the ladies from my Disney Princess Half Marathon Spark Team. What a great experience!! It was so nice to put faces with the people who I've become friends with over the last few months of training. Most of us chatted like old friends, but eventually we all had to go our separate ways so that we'd be ready for the race. I had a nice pre-race pasta dinner with my parents and my husband, and then it was back to the hotel to get things ready for the race and head to bed.

Sunday morning came really soon - I woke up at 3am, because I wanted to give myself plenty of time to eat and get ready and be on a bus for the race by shortly after 4. I ate a couple of pieces of wheat bread with peanut butter and a banana (thanks to my parents, who went grocery shopping), downed a bottle of gatorade, grabbed my gear, and headed out to catch the bus. Because it was still dark outside, when we got over to Epcot where the race started the giant Epcot ball was still lit up and looked beautiful from a distance. My nerves were really starting to get to me at that point, and I realized we still had a long time to go before the race started. Luckily, my parents bought me entry into the race retreat, and as soon as I got there I recognized some familiar faces from my Princess Spark team. The race retreat was money well spent because it gave me a place to be and something to do in the time that I was waiting for the race to start. I had my picture taken with Goofy and with Snow White and was able to stretch and relax, and gradually tame some of my nerves. Eventually, though, it was time to start heading to the start corrals.

The walk to the start corrals was painfully long, but I was glad to have friends to walk with and friends to hang out with once I made my way into Corral A. As soon as we got into the corral I was wishing I had a camera with me, because I'll probably never be that close to a start line again in a non-local race. It was cold that morning, but not painfully cold, and I had a throw-away sweatshirt with me to keep me warm. There were still 25-30 minutes left to race time at that point, and the minutes seemed to tick by really slowly. The nerves were definitely mounting when someone sang the national anthem, and then all of a sudden - the gun went off, and we were making our way toward the start line. I hit the start on my Garmin, and it was time to run.

For the first mile or so, the course was very congested. I couldn't go any faster than an 11-minute mile for quite some time, until I eventually got frustrated and started to jog off the trail in the grass to get out of the pack. Eventually the crowd thinned out and I struggled for a little while to get into a comfortable pace, finally settling somewhere around a 9:15 or 9:20 pace. I didn't want to push it too much at the start, but I was feeling good and decided to go with it. The first few miles of the course were pretty uneventful, until the dip in front of the Contemporary Resort. The "dip" is by far the steepest uphill portion of the course but not the worst hilll I've ever run up, and as soon as we got over the dip I knew we were headed into the Magic Kingdom. Running onto Main Street USA and through the crowds of specators on our way to Cinderella's Castle was awesome, and I was still feeling really good at that point. Somehow I'd managed to time my playlist just right, because right before I stepped through the Castle - about the halfway point of the race - I heard "whoa, we're halfway there, whoa-oh, livin' on a prayer!!" Incredible. I threw my hands up for the photographer on the other side of the castle, I was in such a good mood.

The mood started to fade, though, and as we headed into mile 7 my legs were starting to feel pretty heavy, and I could tell I was starting to struggle. I was still maintaining my pace but definitely feeling the effects. By mile 8 I was definitely struggling, and the course had gotten significantly less interesting. But I could tell from my Garmin and the race clock that I was still on pretty good track to come in around my goal time of 2:10. All of the overpass ramps and uphill slopes on the course seemed to be concentrated at the tail end of the course, and I was struggling with the pain in my quads and pain in my ankles where my shoes were rubbing little raw spots. The last few miles were mostly about survival less than enjoyment, up until mile 12 where we rounded a corner to run up another (!) bridge - and could finally see Epcot again. Once I passed mile 12, I knew I was going to finish, I knew I could finish without walking, and I knew that I was really close to making my goal time, so I buckled down and gave it all I was worth for the last mile. The last part of the race course winds around several times through Epcot, and according to my Garmin I'd already run over 13.1 miles and still couldn't see the finish, and was so frustrated because my legs were like dead weights and it was taking every ounce of effort I had to keep going. It was an overwhelming feeling to finally turn one last time, see the finish line, see Mickey and Minnie standing there, see the huge crowd, and realize that I was going to finish my first half marathon. So I ran as hard as I possibly could (which wasn't that hard, at that point). 2:10:43 - not too bad for my first half marathon.

I'm thrilled with my first half marathon experience. Part of me wants to sit here and second-guess myself, second-guess all the places I could have shaved off 43 seconds, wonder if the last few screwed-up weeks of training and missed tempo runs cost me some time. But most of me doesn't care - most of me is just happy that I did it, happy that I enjoyed it, happy that I can finally walk down stairs again today without grimacing in pain. Happy to be going for a run again tonight. And slightly mortified that I'm going to attempt an 18-miler this weekend.

When the gun shoots...

"When the gun shoots, you got to go." ATO BOLDON

I haven't done a Runner's World thought for awhile, but I liked this one because as of today, my first half marathon is five days away. FIVE DAYS. After several months of training, all the ups and downs, the good runs, the really bad runs, the cold weather running, the injuries, the physical therapy, the new injuries, more physical therapy, the two sinus infections, the stress fracture scare, and the road testing of multiple running skirt/short combinations, it's hard to believe that in five days it all comes down to something so simple - when the gun shoots, you got to go.

But in the end, it really is that simple. I like to think that I've done everything in my control to make sure that I'm ready for this race. Did I miss a couple of training runs? Yes. But I'm human. I've taken care of my body as best I know how, eating properly, hydrating properly, strength training, remaining as faithful to my regular yoga practice as possible, going to physical therapy, and allowing myself to rest when I was injured or sick. I hope that my dedication to my training plan and my efforts to take care of myself pay off on race day. The fact is, at this point there are a lot of variables out of my control. I can't control the weather, whether it's going to be 65 degrees or 85 degrees, sunny or cloudy, windy, or incredibly humid. I haven't trained in warm weather, and there's nothing I can do about that. I can't entirely control how my body will respond to the heat and humidity. I can't control the other runners or the fact that it will likely be congested during the first part of the race.

What can I control? Myself. When the gun shoots, I will go. I will put my heart, my soul, and my body into this race just as I've committed myself to my training for the last few months. I will run with everything I have. Whether I finish under my loftiest goal time or not, I will be proud of myself for finishing my first half marathon. I'll cross the finish line with a smile on my face, even if I feel pain. And I'll remember - when the gun shoots, I got to go.

Why Marathoners Make Great Employees

At least once a day someone that I work with makes a comment something like this:

"I just think it's crazy to run that much."

"Why would you ever want to do that?"

"Don't you think your injury is a sign that people shouldn't be running this far?"

It's getting a little difficult to deal with the naysayers, especially when I'm now less than 10 weeks from running my first half marathon and desperately trying to keep myself in good shape (i.e., not injured or sick) until the race. So it helped today that on another forum I belong to, someone posted this blog about why marathoners make good employees. And, in general, how training for a marathon changes you for the better.

http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/why-runners-usually-make-great-employees/

Sweet 16

Those of you who've been following my foot saga probably know why I was feeling a little iffy about the 16 mile run I had planned yesterday. On top of the foot saga, I'm still trying to fight off the sinus infection I came down with just before last week's long run. I purposely ran at the park again so that I would never be too far away from my car if my foot started to hurt and I needed to stop running.

For the first four miles I was overly focused on my right foot, constantly analyzing every step, waiting to see if pain was going to start. But the first four miles were fine. After that, I started to relax a little more. At eight miles, I still had no pain in my foot and was feeling great. Around mile twelve my hips were starting to get a little tight on me, but nothing so bad that it affected my pace. At that point, I was just thrilled that I'd made it through the majority of my run without any stomach pains or cramps. As I set out for the last four miles of my run, I wasn't thinking about my sore hips or whether my foot was going to start hurting, I was just really, really excited that I was going to finish my 16 mile run. I think on those last four miles I experienced a little bit of the elusive "runners' high" - from mile 15 to mile 16, I was so ridiculously thrilled with myself that I wanted to sing along to my mp3 player out loud at the top of my lungs, even though my hips were really getting to me at that point.

Today I am S-O-R-E, but it feels amazing to get that run under my belt before the half marathon. Tomorrow I have to deal with a bone scan, but for today I'm just going to really enjoy the fact that I ran 16 miles yesterday.

And the quote of the day is...

"Some women your age run marathons. I say good for you...leaves more margaritas for the rest of us."

From a Hallmark card given to me by my mom.

Happy Birthday to Me!

To all of you out there in blog-land, I just want you to know that today is my birthday. I plan to stuff myself with delicious Mexican food from my favorite restaurant, and then indulge in at least two slices of my very favorite kind of cake (thanks to my mom, who is making it for me). Tomorrow I will be wheeled into work in a wheelbarrow.