nerves

I don't know why I am so nervous; the marathon is 6 days away! I hope my nerves settle down because they take the energy away from where I need it most. I've already started to make a pile of stuff to pack even though I don't leave for 3 1/2 days. That's partly to expend my nervous energy and partly because I have to be packed and ready to go Thursday morning and I have plans until late Wednesday night. In other words, I need to be packed and ready to go before bed on Tuesday. I am always afraid I will forget something, but honestly, when it comes right down to it...I can buy most things at a store! As long as I have my running shoes and my planned running outfit, everything else can be bought. (I guess technically I could buy new shoes and running clothes but runners know you should NOT wear anything new the day of a marathon!). I'm going to the expo on Friday to pick up my number and shirt, and to browse around. I'll also drive the course. That way, on Saturday all I have to do is drive to the B&B and RELAX! I don't even need to go NEAR the frenzy that will be at the Expo on Saturday!

Need some Motviation!!!

It's hot today. In the 80s and very sunny with no clouds. A perfect day for the beach. A perfect day for many outdoor activities. But not so perfect for me for running. I would rather run in a snowstorm than in heat. In fact, I'd rather run in just about any weather condition (except for lightning). But it's hot today. And I must run. I'm scheduled for only 3 miles today and 8 miles tomorrow. Sounds pretty simple given the earlier long runs during my marathon training. But even 1 mile for me in this heat is too much. I had planned to switch the mileage and do 8 today and 3 tomorrow because I have plans tomorrow and I don't want to have to cram everything in. As the day progresses, we'll see what I decide. I'm just kind of living in denial for a few more hours until I have to head out the door...

exhaustion

Well, I finally did that second 20 miler, two days after the tough run on Sunday when Wendy rescued me. I took the afternoon off from work, got home by 12:30 and was out the door by 12:40. I ran the first 10 miles, and then at about mile 10.5 I started to walk. I was getting dizzy and short of breath. However, I was determined to finish the 20 miles, even if I had to walk the second 10 miles. Luckily, I didn't have to walk the entire second half, but I did walk quite a bit. The dizziness and shortness of breath continued, and eventually my calf muscles got very tight. These are all signs of dehydration, but I couldn't understand why I would be dehydrated. Yes, it was a warm and sunny day. But I had hydrated with water for 4 days prior to the run, ate lots and lots of carbs, drank water AND Gatorade every 1.25 miles, consumed 5 electroylyte tablets during the 20 miles, and ate 6 GU packets. How could I have gotten dehydrated? The only thing I can think of is that it was the first really warm/sunny day on which I had a long run. Hopefully that's all it was and my body is now adjusting to the warmer weather. My final time was 20 minutes slower than the 20 mile race, which obvioulsy meant one minute per mile slower. But that's okay...I finished!

Today I was supposed to do a 12 miler, my last double digit run before the marathon. However, after spending 4 days babysitting my nephew, I was wiped out. Just plain exhausted. I did 4 miles and have postponed the 12 miler to Tuesday after work. Luckily it is light out late enough that I should be able to get the 12 miler done before it gets dark.

Less than 2 weeks to the marathon!!!! Tomorrow I volunteer at the mile 19 clock at the Boston Marathon. Hopefully it will inspire me! :)

fate

So I did all the "right" things to prepare for today's 20 mile run. I carbo-loaded on both Friday and Saturday nights, and I rested most of the weekend. And then I drove along my route (10 miles out and back) on Saturday afternoon to stash water and Gatorade. I slept VERY late today (almost 11) and when I woke up I ate a peanut butter sandwich and a Luna bar. Half an hour later, I was off on my run. Within a mile, I knew it was going to be a tough run. I felt nauseous. And shaky. But onwards I went, thinking that I had 20 miles total so the feeling would go away.

By mile 5, I knew the feeling was not going to go away any time soon. In fact, I started walking a bit around mile 5.5. Somewhere between mile 7 and 8, I started to walk quite a bit. I had water and Gatorade stashed at mile 8. I decided at that point to turn around and make it a 16 miler. I also decided that I would have to walk most of the second half. (This was a VERY difficult decision for me, as I typically push myself to complete the full mileage even if I'm not feeling my best. However, I decided that it was crazy to keep going at that point.) Not only was I continuing to keep feeling nauseous, but my heart rate went sky high every time I ran. Obviously your heart rate goes up when you run, but it was uncomfortably high.

I dressed well for the cold and windy conditions, but I dressed to RUN. Once I started walking, I started getting cold. All of my clothing was soaked with sweat, and all of this sweat became like a sheet of ice against my skin. I pulled my sleeves down over my hands to keep them warm, and kept walking forward. I had walked about 3 miles when I heard an angel's voice. It turned out that my friend Wendy from my Massachusetts running club was getting gas and saw me walking by and called out my name. She asked if I was okay. I replied "no" and walked towards her. She told me to get in the car and she offered to drive me home from there. THANK YOU, WENDY! I had 5 more miles to go and honestly I think I would have frozen solid if I had had to walk those last 5 miles. It was FATE....and it worked in my favor...BIG TIME! Honestly, how long does it take to fill up a tank of gas? Maybe 5 minutes? How did I get lucky enough to be passing by Wendy at the right moment and how lucky was I that she saw me and recognized me? I was so grateful for that fateful moment.

So I'm going to try the 20 miles again on Tuesday; I'm taking the afternoon off from work. This time I will avoid any food within a few hours of the run! We'll see how it goes. Just to be safe, I'm going to start from home, run out 5 miles then back, returning to my condo at mile 10. Then I'll do it all over again. This way, I'll never be more than 5 miles away from home.

Cross your fingers... My marathon is 3 weeks away and I need to complete this final long run!

racing in the rain

A few months ago I signed up for the Eastern States 20 mile race on March 29th as it is 5 weeks before my marathon and my training schedule called for a 20 mile run that day. I ran the race in 2007 and volunteered at the race for 2 or 3 years before that. It’s a BEAUTIFUL route, mostly along the ocean. It starts in Kittery, Maine and ends in Salisbury, MA so you are able to say that you ran through 3 states during the course of the race!

The weather prediction for the race was not good (rain, rain, and more rain) but I always say it could be like that on marathon day so I might as well get used to it. Well, when my alarm went off early Sunday morning (race day), I came VERY close to bagging it. I figured why drive all the way up to Maine to run in the pouring cold windy rain when I could just run 20 miles here? However, knowing I’d probably not get out of bed until late afternoon if I stayed home, I got myself out of bed.

It’s a point to point race, so they bus you to the start and then from the finish they bus you to the post-race party where your car is. I don’t like dealing with the bus (for a lot of reasons, which I won’t mention since they are boring), so my friend Christina agreed to meet me at the finish area, where I parked my car. She then drove me to the start. The whole way there, I was questioning whether or not I really wanted to run the race. As the raindrops became more and more heavy, I was wondering why I would be so crazy as to do this. When I showed up at the starting area, I discovered that hundreds of other runners were just as crazy as me (though I discovered later about 300 people who had pre-registered did not show up).

I’d say it rained for about 95% of the race; sometimes the rain was heavy and sometimes it was not. But it always seemed to be there. It was also a bit cold. And VERY windy. For the most part, the wind was at my back, but in certain sections the wind drove the rain straight into my face; and since it was cold, I felt like my face was going to fall off or freeze. I just kept moving, knowing that I needed to get to the finish line to get to my dry car. I had to force myself to stop for water or GU or electrolyte pills, as stopping meant I would get cold, and it would prevent me from moving forward to where my car was.

Now keep in mind that I was still sick with a sinus infection, and had been all week. Needless to say, I had snot on my face for most of the race. J Sorry to gross you out, but these are the things that happen on long runs when the weather conditions are as they were and you are sick with a stuffy head! But I didn’t care. I just wanted to get to that finish line. In fact, a friend of mine was directing traffic at mile 18 and he tried to stop me to tell me I had snot on my face and even tried to wipe it off. I repelled him as it would only delay me from the finish.

My goal was to finish the race. And I did. My secret goal was to finish in under 4 hours. And I did. My super-secret goal was to finish in 3:40. But I did not. I was 6 minutes slower. Given the weather and my sickness, I was thrilled just to finish. I headed straight for the car, turned up the heat, and drove to Christina’s house for a shower. My clothes were not just wet; they were saturated! It was as if I had gone swimming in my clothes. No exaggeration! A warm shower never felt so good!

I missed the post-race party as I did not want to drive there. I just wanted to shower and change into warm clothes. I didn’t care, though. I ran a 20 mile race in crazy weather! Enough said.

am I cursed?

Just when the calf/foot injury started to feel tolerable, a sinus infection reared its ugly ahead. Symptoms emerged on Monday afternoon, and by Monday night were in full force. Tuesday morning I woke up very early, as I could not sleep due to an irritated throat from post-nasal drip (sorry if you're grossed out). I debated whether or not I should go to work. I remembered that I only had one meeting that day and it wasn't mandatory. I decided to stay home. I was able to sleep for most of the morning but I couldn't sleep at all in the afternoon. That's because I was waiting for an email back from my doctor which I was hoping would say "I've called a prescription in" and because I was scheduled to have a date on Tuesday night and I was waiting for him to call back to figure out what to do (and if I should even venture out). The doctor's message never came, but the date did call at 6:15 for a 7:00 date. I basically told him that I shouldn't go out but if he did in fact want to see me in my sick state, that I could motivate to take a shower if he wanted to drive all the way out to where I live (about a half an hour) and have dinner. I figured taking a shower and getting fresh air might help. I'm not sure that it did, but it was nice to re-join the land of the living for a short while.

Wednesday morning I was still not well so I slept in, then called my doctor's office. They were of no help so I went to the new Minute Clinic at CVS. Heather Beane, R.N. graciously and thoroughly helped me. By Wednesday afternoon, I was on amoxicillin, Sudafed, the Neti Pot, and Afrin spray. The hard part was that I had no energy to run. In fact, I took Tuesday off from running; and Monday is always a day off so I had 2 days off in a row. This is tough for any runner, but for one training for a marathon, and with a 20 mile race in 5 days, it was bad.

I had plans to run 5 miles with my friend Sue on Wednesday, so I kept the commitment. Heather (R.N.) told me that I should be fine to run. Other than having little energy, the sinus infection didn't really bother me during the run (other than that I had to blow my nose more often!). Thursday I was able to run 8 miles and Friday I did a VERY slow 5 miles. Tomorrow it's another 5 mile run and then the 20 mile race is on Sunday.

At this point I am just hoping to finish the race. If I can do that after being sick with a sinus infection all week, I will be happy. Even if I come in last!

desperate times

Yesterday was the first time I brought money with me on my run (and I’ve been running since 2002!). Little did I know at the time how important this decision was. I’m not quite sure why I did tuck a 20 dollar bill in my pouch; perhaps I was reminded of my friend Sue who stuck money in her Fuel Belt the day we ran 17 miles together. Interestingly, though, I didn’t pack any money during my 18 mile run last weekend. Perhaps I had a feeling of things to come.

The route I took was 6.5 miles east on the Boston Marathon route from Natick to Wellesley, with a turn-around at the 6.5 mile mark to get back to where I started. The whole way east I had a tail wind, which was quite lovely in many ways. One of those ways is that I didn’t get cold. I’d say it was in the upper 40s, maybe even 50 degrees. I wore shorts, a short sleeved shirt, and a long sleeved shirt over that. I was quite comfortable. The sun was also shining brightly.

Well, guess what happened? I turned around at the 6.5 mile mark and was faced with a terrible head wind. And the clouds had emerged so the nice warm sun was gone. What did this mean? I was COLD!! I think this may have only been the 2nd time ever during a run that I actually got cold (usually the opposite happens to me). I knew that running in these conditions for 6.5 miles was going to be very tough. And as tough as I’d like to think I am, I didn’t want to get myself sick (not this close to marathon day)!

I remembered I had the 20 dollars in my pouch. The turnaround point was near a great store in Wellesley called Thunder Sports. I remembered that they have a “Clearance” rack that has GREAT deals on athletic clothing. So I went into the store, sweaty and smelly as can be, and bought a pink Champion sweatshirt for 20 dollars. Luckily there was no tax! I asked the cashier to take the tags off, I put the sweatshirt on, and off I went. Warm but not overheated. I can’t imagine how cold I would have been without it. You must know that I was desperate if I actually wore COTTON to run in! I never wear cotton, as it absorbs sweat and doesn’t wick it away. But I figured for the purpose of the day, it would be fine. And it was. Now I have a nice new sweatshirt for those cold nights. J

I think I’ll carry money with me on every run from now on…