The long and winding road

Aaanndd... She's back!

After an extended hiatus, I remembered that I promised to blog about my marathon training. And just because the training hasn't been going swimmingly, I shouldn't abandon the blog. When things get tricky, it's even more important to tell the story of the marathon journey.

When I left off, weeks ago, I had tumbled to the ground, sprained my ankle and was sulking on the couch. It's 5 weeks later, we're 30 days out from the MARATHON and a lot (and a little) has happened in that time. My training took a total dive. For several weeks I barely ran at all, missing 2 long runs, only running once mid-week (and a short, slow run) each week and stepping back on my long run schedule. I had planned to KILL IT in September to make up for a lackluster August, due to a recurrent stomach issue. Instead I walked instead of ran and spent time worrying and feeling sore and sorry for myself.

Last year, when I trained for my first half-marathon, I did it alone. No training groups or long run buddies. It was difficult to get motivated and it wasn't always enjoyable. The best thing about the marathon training has been the long runs with the Summer Safari training group in Kalamazoo. However, just when I really needed my group that shuffles along at my slower than molasses pace, I picked up, packed up Penelope Cruze (Kari named my new car), and moved to Muskegon. I was now staring down the barrel of moving, a new job, recovering from injury, and running without my crew all at once.

Overwhelmed.

In the last 2 1/2 weeks I've managed to move many (certainly not all) of my things to Muskegon and get the newly remodeled house set up. The kitchen is in order and we've actually cooked meals, the living room has matching furniture and the TV mounted on the wall, the outlets and light switches are brand new - and that doesn't even count all the hired labor for the flooring, counters, painting, etc. The (mostly) clean house, with uncluttered counter tops and routinely made bed is peaceful and soothing, as my mind often runs much faster than my legs. The cat is enjoying the stillness of living on a street with next to no traffic and nearly silent neighbors. She sits in the open windows and listens to crickets - and stares down the cat next door. It's just right.

(Note: The one messy area in the house is "my room." The spare room with my dressers and things. I haven't gotten it together yet. I can sense your surprise from here.)

Back to the running. Since I've moved back I've gotten back to my long runs in an attempt to prepare for my longest training run (20 miles, this Saturday). My friend Kari has helped more than I can say in the last few weeks. She's significantly faster than me, but when I ran 12 miles on September 14th, she ran the first 6 with me, at my slow run/walk pace and interval - before going on to complete her 20 miler on her own! Last weekend, I wanted to run 16 miles (my longest by just a bit). I was waffling on when to do it, wasn't feeling motivated or excited. Kari and I hatched a plan to run around Spring Lake (with a 4 mile add-on) on Saturday morning. This time, she ran the entire thing at my pace, including walking intervals. I really don't know if I would have made it through so well without the companionship and support. The run was a great success, and I felt like I was flying afterwards. Granted, by 9:30 pm, I was demanding to go home from a party and go to bed - but that's what happens when you date a runner.

The road to the marathon has not been straight and narrow. It's been twisty, turny, LONG, and bumpy. And we're not done yet. 20 miles on Saturday and then the balancing act of the taper.

After 12 miles at Pere Marquette Park

Future topics for thought: "Surviving your runner's mood swings" (will Mike guest post?), "The agony and the ecstasy of the taper," or "Hey, what's with that _______ (insert unsightly skin/foot/body part)?"

A good place for the road to lead

There's No Crying in Running

Whew... what a rough day. Today was the long run for week 10 of my 19 week marathon training. And it sucked. Hard.

I've been struggling the past few weeks with ongoing gut issues that have hindered my midweek runs and caused anxiety going into longer runs. I'm gonna keep it classy and stop this conversation in its tracks.

This morning I woke up with an upset stomach and feeling nervous about not having run enough through the week. The group was running out in Gull Lake (25 minutes away), so I needed to get up and get it together early. I did all the usual things, ate my banana and waffles, got all my gear together and left in plenty of time.

I arrived at Gull Lake to find that the gas station with the 1 solitary bathroom stall for 150 runners was closed, and the bathroom was out of order anyways. I choked back panic and headed for the woods. And met this fence:

There's a reason I never picked up steeplechase

The fence did not look like that when I started. I tried to hop it and the wet, rotted wooden fence gave way. I fell to the ground, scraping my arm and landing on my right ankle. I sat on the wet ground, fighting back furious tears, not sure if I could get up - and I still had to pee! Adding insult to injury of peeing in the woods - now my skort was wet from the ground.

I hobbled back to the group, about ready to pack it in and head back to bed. A team mate encouraged me to consult another coach who is an athletic trainer. He basically said given my pain level, I could try it out, see how it goes and hopefully get some miles in. Because once I stopped, sat down and went home, it's going to swell and will be worse tomorrow. So no easy out - and I started.

So I told Kathy (our pace group leader) that there's no crying in running - and then quickly amended the statement. Who am I kidding? There's definitely crying in running.

I won't give you a play by play, but will say that what could go wrong, did - including the stiffness in my ankle after stopping at water stops, cramping in my calves and hamstrings, and getting stung by something on my left foot. At the 13 mile point, we were back at the start - and I wanted to stop, but Kathy told me to put on my big girl panties (direct quote) and do the last few miles out and back. Fine. FINE. I did it. It was quite hilly and I walked more of those last few miles than I would have liked, but I did it. And now I'm icing and watching "The Spirit of the Marathon" on Netflix.

If you need me, I'll be on the couch.

A banner week

Sunday night... And week 7 comes to a close. (ok, I didn't get this posted on Sunday, but you get the idea)

It's been 7 weeks of training for the Marine Corps Marathon with the Gazelle Sports Summer Safari crew and I'm enjoying it more every week. It's taken me a while to settle in and I've had some set backs, but with just over a third of the training completed, I'm feeling calm and confident. Of course we haven't gotten to the tough runs yet, but I think I'm ready.

This was a GREAT week! I finally made it back to EcoTrek on Monday night, had a decent 4 mile run (including the dreaded Maple St. hill) on Wednesday, did 5.6 on Thursday with Shawn and Jenn, 8 miles with the Summer Safari crew on Saturday and hit my first ever Dirty Herd today for 4.4 miles of trails at Al Sabo. While the long run was shorter this week, I'm incredibly happy that I did 4 solid runs and EcoTrek. A really successful week.

I said a few posts ago that I would talk about being an "achiever" and a runner's body. As a "back of the packer," I'm currently at what I'd call "participant" status. I tend to categorize runners in three main clumps: Performers - those who win their age group, win overall, continually work up the ranks and really, you know who they are. We don't know many of these people.

Then there are the Achievers: those runners who have been running for years, have made steady progress in their PRs, finish in the top half of their age group and have a healthy dose of experience under their belt. I know a lot of people that live here. And a lot more on their way to this level.

I'm in the third category. Participants. We make sure there is someone for the rest of you to finish in front of. We are the beginners or veterans who are in the back of the pack, running 2:30+ half marathons. Hoping to run a 5:45 marathon. In the 12:00+ pace group. Our long runs take twice as long and our fast runs clock in at 5 miles/hour.

This sounds a bit like slow runner whining, but it really isn't. On Sunday afternoon, I pulled up to Al Sabo for the Dirty Herd, expecting at least 25 people, as the Urban Herd easily draws 50 - 75. There were 10. All experienced trail runners, marathoners and ultra-marathoners. I hesitated and almost got back in my car and left. Then the group leader recognized me from Summer Safari. As expected, I was the only slow runner. I did not expect to be the slowest by 3 - 4 minutes/mile. This was also my "recovery" run after 8 on Saturday so I wasn't planning on going hard. The group leader and his running partner kept looping around back for me, to make sure I didn't get lost and didn't make me feel bad about my slow pace, walk breaks or causing them extra miles. Considering they had run in the morning, run 5 miles before everyone got there and the running buddy said her last race was a 100 miler, I'm guessing they didn't mind. Talk about performers.

At the end, they asked if I got in the miles I needed to, if I felt good and if I had fun. The answer to all 3: a resounding YES! A huge push out of my comfort zone to go out and run with the gazelles, but I'm working every time to not be embarrassed by my pace or ability. Running trails is good for my strength and (relative) speed and if that means causing some speed demons to loop back to check on me, I'm ok.

Showing up is half the battle.

I'll leave you with a quote that Dave wisely posted several weeks ago:

"I don't have a runner's body, but I have a runner's heart - and that is all you need." - Sergeant Jennifer Morris, United States Army

Al Sabo Preserve, Meadow

OK... one FINAL word. I've made HUGE leaps in my fundraising for the Epilepsy Therapy Project. Please consider bringing me closer to my goal of $1500!

Choices... and the wizards who inspire us

Welcome to July - the dog days of summer, steamy, sweaty, perfect running weather if you find yourself over-hydrated and masochistic. 

While my blogging and working have been on vacation, my running has not been. I'll admit to missing a run or two due to jet lag, severe thunderstorms, and the ongoing saga that is my OLD car. Oh, and least excusable: delaying a long run due to a pub pedal/crawl the day before, as my nutrition consisted of beer, a bloody mary, wasabi peas, spicy salty mix and wheat thins. Runners/walkers/humans can assume this isn't ideal pre-run fuel.

To catch up without detailing every run in the past few weeks, here's a takeaway lesson from my Summer Safari group. My team lead gave us this quote: A very credible running coach, Alberto Salazar, was once asked "What is the biggest mistake average runners make?' He answered 'Running the slow runs too fast and the fast runs too slow." 

So I've slowed down, especially on the long weekend runs and it's made all the difference. I can't bring myself to discuss how slow my pace is, but it's comfortable, I'm able to finish the increasing distances and I don't have cramps, side-aches or feel terribly out of breath. It's glorious. 

However, my consistently slow pace and the runs that I have missed have left me feeling unsettled, especially when I stack myself up against the mileage and pace of others. It's time to step back and let some wiser people take the reigns.

"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -- Lord of the Rings

I have many natural abilities, and I could list them all here, but you would then see that like running, humility is also not one of them. However, as my favorite Headmaster said, it's not my innate abilities that prove my worth, but how I choose to work what I have. I don't have long legs or quick turnover. But I can choose to spend my time pounding the pavement, trail and track to build strength, stamina and perhaps even speed (all things are relative, m'kay?).

Gandalf's onto something. Despite a bad situation or our lot in life, we can't squander the time we've been gifted with. So I dragged by ass out of bed at 5am and chose to spend that time running in the muggy summer heat. Because I can. Because I want to. Because these moments and choices are proving who I am. 

I'll sign off here, with the promise that I have a bit more to say on this topic. 
Coming up next time: a runner's body and becoming an achiever.

With apologies to Tom Petty

Well she was an American girl
Raised on promises
She couldn't help thinkin'
That there was a little more to life somewhere else

Week 1 of training done. 

If you know me well in the real world, you know that June has kicked my butt and the last 2 weeks have left me a ball of nerves.

My grandma died on June 8, my boss, who I see as a mentor and a friend, had her last day on Friday, and on Saturday morning, the car gave out... again. The day-to-day issues and inconveniences would be enough to up my stress level. But it's the larger picture - the uncertainty that accompanies change, the constant tug of weighing one decision over another, the sheer exhaustion from a dozen tiny stressors too inconsequential to name.  

After all it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to

I set the alarm for 6:00 am on Saturday morning, to make sure I'd have time to eat, dress and fully wake up and make it to Summer Safari training by 6:45 am. Well, to paraphrase Meatloaf, three out of four ain't bad. I was on my way downtown when the car just stopped running at an intersection less than a mile from my house. I got it started again, up a hill and onto a side street when it gave out again. 

Thankfully, on Saturday morning there's not a great demand for tow trucks so the wrecker arrived in record time. After banging around under the car for all of 30 seconds, the driver said, "yeah, your fuel pump isn't working." And that put an end to the hope of making it to Summer Safari, as it was already past 7:00 and I was a mile away. 

I walked to my office nearby, gathered a bag for my things and began the 1.5 mile walk home.

And if she had to die tryin'
She had one little promise she was gonna keep

Come 9:20 am and it was hot, muggy and I'd already walked over 1.5 miles, changed my sports bra, top and socks due to sweat and had to map and run a 6 mile course alone. (I'd also eaten a little more, lounged on the couch and felt sorry for myself for awhile as well).

Week 1 total activities:

Monday: 75 minutes EcoTrek
Tuesday: 75 minutes yoga
Wednesday: 4.15 mile run
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 30 minute walk
Saturday: 6.1 mile run
Sunday 2.5 mile run

God it's so painful when something that's so close
Is still so far out of reach

So today we begin Week 2, with high hopes for a better outcomes. Waiting for the call on what it will cost me to get 4 wheels back on the road. Wondering what direction the meetings on "next steps" for our department will take. Wishing I knew how to get rid of this distracting ache in my back. Ready for a speed workout tomorrow - as long as I can get to the track by 5:45 am.

Support my Epilepsy Therapy Project fundraising!

And away we go!

Summer Safari kicks off this weekend! Saturday will be the first "long" run - thankfully only 6 miles, which is manageable for me right now. I'm following Gazelle Sport's Summer Safari program, so I will need to get out there and log a few miles today as well. I'm hoping to some shade tonight, as my butt slept in after a challenging EcoTrek session last night and didn't get a cool morning run.

Wish me luck as I start my official marathon training. It's going to be a long, hot summer and come October I'll be leaner, hopefully not too much meaner, and will have a great story to tell. I promise you more funny stories and introspection next blog post. Just wanted to put it out there that we're kicking off and ready to run!

Please support my fundraising efforts as I work towards my BIGGEST RUN EVER, the Marine Corps Marathon! I'm raising money for the Epilepsy Therapy Project. 

Safari, yo