Portland Marathon: October 7, 2012

I DID IT!!!

Ok, guess I should start at the beginning of the day. I should have written this post earlier, but I've been a little marathon-ed out, so better late than never. And fair warning...this is gonna be a long post. So sit back, relax, and hope you enjoy! :)

Thursday, October 4th

Ready to make a plan!

This day started Marathon Weekend with the logistics meeting. After work my parents, my friend Dan and I all went to Lapellah for some food and to plan out the marathon cheering plan. Dan volunteered to be the driver for the day so we were planning out the different spots where my cheering section would cheer me on. Always helpful to know when you will see supporters, gives you something to look forward to. 

Very serious discussion regarding cheering locations. 

Friday, October 5th

Packet Pick Up Day!!! This was making it very real. After work Mom and I drove into Portland to pick up my packet. I had three missions: 1) get bib/packet 2) get new running headband 3) get some GU and Powershots. 

Got my running bib!

We made our way upstairs to the bib pick up and I got mine! I was so excited...until I noticed the "W" on my bib. W is for walkers. I went and asked if I was supposed to have the W even though I was a runner (albeit a slow one). They said since my estimated time was over 6 hours I was grouped with the walkers. I was kind of bummed, but nothing I could do about it, so oh well!

Then mom and I checked out the expo and found my new running headband (sparkly orange for my Beavs) and my GU and Powershots. 

We got home and Dad had already made my favorite and lucky pre-race meal... fettuccine alfredo and teriyaki chicken. :)

Saturday, October 6th

Carbo loading on the way home from
the Beavs game!

Today was a bit crazy, not the typical pre-marathon day, but in the end I am glad I was busy all day so that I didn't have to think about the race the next day! My parents and I headed to Corvallis to meet up with my brother and cheer on the Beavs. I was trying to eat healthy and drink lots of water all week, so at the game I went to the concession stand wanting to purchase an ice water.  Good grief, what a chore that was! Let's put it this way, they wouldn't give me tap water, so I had to buy bottled water, but since I wanted ice with it, I had to buy a cup with ice too. My ice water cost me $7. Ridiculous. Oh well. Anyway, the game started at 3pm (which we won - GO BEAVS!!!) so it wasn't until about 8pm when we were able to get on the road and head home. Since Dad had made my pre-race meal the day before, I reheated a bit of it at my brothers house so I could carbo load on the way home. :) We finally got home around 10 or 10:30pm, so I spent a few minutes laying everything out for the morning and went to get a good nights sleep. 

Sunday, October 7th

Heading out to the race. 

Marathon day!! I woke up early around 5am and was a bundle of nerves right away. I got ready while my parents did the same. Around 5:45 Dan showed up to be our chauffeur for the day. We left the house a little before 6am. I had my lucky' breakfast burrito and piled into the car to go. I was so nervous I could only eat a few bites of the burrito. My mom told me later she thought I was so nervous we were going to have to pull over so I could throw up on the way there! 

Once we parked I needed to figure out how to get to my starting corral. We took a few wrong turns and after a bit I just decided to say goodbye to my cheering squad and that I would find it on my own. Whether he would admit to this or not, my dad hates walking in large groups of people... like HATES it. I just decided to say goodbye to them early so I could find my starting spot and they could get out of the crowd a bit and find the first designated cheering spot. 

Saying bye before the race with Momma and Poppa Dubs

The driver for the day, my friend Dan

After saying goodbye to my cheering squad, I wandered around trying to find where I was supposed to go. After about 5-10 minutes I finally found my corral, the slow Walkers corral. :) From then, there was about 20 minutes until the race started, and then a wait until my corral got to the start line. Just waiting in the corral my nerves were still there, but I was getting so excited. I just wanted the time to pass faster so I could get started. 

At about 7:15am my corral finally crossed the start line, and I was off and running in my first marathon. 

The starting line

First time seeing the cheering section, mile 1.5!

I should mention that it was a beautiful Portland fall day. Sunny, crisp, no rain, and in the high 60's. It could not have been better running weather. About 1.5 miles in I knew I was going to see my cheering section for the first time. I kept looking and looking and finally I saw them! A quick wave, smile and I was off. 

I got about 3 miles in to the race before I realized I had to go to the bathroom. In all the races I've ever run, I've never had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the race before. But I figured I better go now, since I still had such a long way to go. Get it over with instead of thinking about it the whole time. I saw a few Port A Podies but there were lines and I didn't want to waste time waiting in line, so I ran on and figured I would use the first ones I saw with no lines. Then it got to be around mile 4.5 when I knew I would see my cheering section again, so I didn't want to stop before I saw them. So I kept running more and was on the lookout for my cheering section. Finally I see them up ahead. I start waving at them, they don't see me. I literally had to yell at them when I was right in front of them for them to notice me! :)

After I passed my cheering section again all I could focus on was finding a bathroom. I found one about .25 miles down the route and took a quick detour to use the restroom. After I got that out of the way I was off and running again. 

Even though I was only about 5 miles in I was feeling really really good. I figured it was the adrenaline and that it would pass, but I was enjoying it while I could. I wasn't able to complete my training plan as thoroughly as I had hoped, so in the weeks leading up to the marathon I tried to come up with a good plan to preserve as much energy as possible, and not use it all up too early. So my plan was: 

• For the first 10 miles I would run 2-2.25 miles then walk .25 miles
• For miles 11-20 I would run 1.25-1.5 miles then walk .25 miles
• For miles 20-26.2 I would run .75-1 mile then walk .25 miles, but honestly at that point I was going to be happy to still have my legs moving. 

I was able to stick to my plan fairly well, which I really think helped to conserve some energy in the end. 

My cheering section: Mirranda and Dan!

The next section of the race was an out and back through the industrial area. Not the prettiest part of the race by far. It is kind of fun to run this part though because you are running past other runners going the other way, so you either get inspiration from the people going faster than you, or you get encouragement from you going faster than others. The back part of the out and back was a little difficult only because the sun was coming up  and was right in my eyes. The out and back was good though because at the end of it I knew I would be done with the first 10 miles, and I would get to see my cheering section again. 

I felt a lot better than I look in this photo. 10 miles down!

I stopped to say hi to my cheering section for a couple minutes, and get some water and more Powershots. Mirranda had also joined my cheering squad by this point so I wanted to say a quick hi to her. I'm so glad I took some of the Powershots with me because I thought I would get more in a few miles, but as it turns out I didn't. That story to come :)

As I ran through miles 10-12 I was still feeling good, still had lots of energy. About mile 12 I rounded the corner and saw my friend Michelle! I ran over, gave her a quick semi-sweaty hug and was on my way. She was supposed to meet the other members of my cheering section at that spot, but I was too speedy and got there before they did. This is not the first time that this happened. 

I knew that the hardest mile of the race was coming up, and I thought that I was going to see my friends and family before then to get an energy recharge, but I must have miscalculated the stops in my head because I didn't see them again until many miles later!

Roughly mile 17. Just finishing the huge hill and
going over St. Johns bridge. 

Mile 16-17 is the hardest on the course, at least it was for me. This is the hill going up Hwy 30 towards the St. John's bridge. I am horrible on hills, they take so much of my energy. Plus at this spot on the course there are no spots for spectators, so you really are in it all by yourself for a mile or two. To save myself energy I had planned on walking during this stretch, just get to the top of the hill I told myself. I did this, and the top of the hill is at the top of the St. Johns bridge, once you get there it really is a beautiful view. Once I got to the top of the hill I started running again, knowing that my family was waiting for me at mile 18. Just another mile to go till I would see some friendly faces, it was all the encouragement I needed to keep going. 

About half a mile after I started running again I felt some pain in my toes, my pinky toes to be specific. I knew that I was getting blisters on them, but I was so used to getting blisters there that I was just running through it.  Not this time though. Nope. The blister on my left pinky toe burst. It was so painful I had to stop running and for a few minutes didn't know if I was going to be able to run anymore. I walked for a couple minutes and then just powered through. It hurt a bit, but the more I kept going the less it was painful. 

I was coming up to mile 18 and the intersection where my cheering section was supposed to be waiting for me. I was so looking forward to seeing them, having just made it through the tough hill and the blister popping. Mile 18 came....and went... mile 18.5 came...and went. I was so disappointed. I texted my friend Dan to tell him I was at mile 18.5. He responded with "we will see you around mile 20-21. You're doing great". 

What I had suspected was happening. I was running faster than expected, they had stopped for lunch and didn't make it to the stop on time. What I learned after the race is that it was mass panic when Dan got my text. They thought they had a lot more time. They all had to get their food to go in order to meet me at the next spot on time.  

So after waiting for about 6 miles or so to see them, I was going to have to wait another 2-3 miles. These ended up being the hardest 3 miles of the whole race. I was a bit discouraged when I didn't see cheering section, plus it was getting close to the mileage that I had never run before. 18.5 miles was the farthest I had gone in training, so I was very nervous about anything past that. It was also during this time that the blister on my right pinky toe popped and again I was in some severe pain for about a mile or so. But once I hit mile 20 I knew two things: 1) I WAS going to see friendly faces soon and 2) only a measly 6.2 miles to go! 

Here I come, about mile 21.5

It was about mile 21.5 when I got to see my cheering section again! They split into two groups, so I got to make two stops :). First stop was mom, dad, Jody and Michelle. I got some much needed energy shots and stopped for a quick hi. Then Jody ran about block with me to where the rest of the group (Dan, Mirranda and Cath) were. I really needed to see them and get some encouragement at that point, so it was wonderful!

Jody, Mom, Michelle and I. I felt so good I could
even smile and wave! :) 

Jody running with me to meet the other part of the group. 

At this point I knew I only had a little over 4 miles to go. After 22 miles, 4 miles is nothing!  I was feeling really good still, at least much better than I expected. I'm pretty sure it was the adrenaline of being so close to finishing my first marathon, but I didn't care what it was, I was almost done! 

The best part of the last few miles is that most of it is downhill. So you get some extra momentum taking you to the finish line. Plus, you start to get back into downtown Portland, so you know you are getting close. And finally, all the people telling you that you are almost there. People who are cheering racers on have such an impact on the runners, especially the ones they don't even know. It is amazing to run a race and see all the support you get from the spectators. 

Only about .2 to go! Finishing strong!

As I headed toward the finish line I saw my family and friends right there to cheer me on. I picked up the pace and finished with a strong run to the end, even passing a lady on my way. I heard them announce my name as I crossed the finish line, and I was so incredibly happy. I had finished my first marathon ever. Something, with bad knees, I never thought I would be able to do. It was overwhelming. 

I made a bee line, ok a very slow bee line, for my finishers medal, and finishers shirt. Next was to make my way out of the finishers area to meet up with my family and friends. As soon as I saw my parents I just wanted to start sobbing, I was so emotional.  Then the rest of my friends made it over. I still couldn't believe that I had finished, and even better, I was so thankful to have such wonderful friends who would spend their Sunday standing outside watching people run by. I really have the best friends ever. 

Seeing my family for the first time after finishing!

The best friends a girl could ask for!

With Momma and Poppa Dubs

I FINISHED!!!

I officially finished in 6 hours, 9 minutes and 23 seconds. I was just hoping to finish period, and then maybe finish in less than 6 hours and 30 min, so I was thrilled with my time. Plus, I figure without three bathroom stops and saying hi to my friends and family, I would have finished in less than 6 hours :). 

L-R: Cath, Jeremy, Michelle, Momma Dubs, Poppa Dubs, me, and Dan

After the marathon I went home, iced, showered and tried to sleep. I couldn't though, I was too excited about what I had just done. I still couldn't believe it. Later in the evening I went out to my favorite restaurant to celebrate with my parents and friends. It was the perfect way to end the perfect race day. 

This was the perfect way to run my first marathon. Had wonderful support from my friends and family, had great weather, race was wonderfully organized, it was just fantastic. 

People always joke that you should sign up for your 2nd marathon before you run your 1st, because after you are done you will wonder why you ever signed up for it in the first place. I didn't find that to be true. I had difficult training days, but on race day I loved it. I was walking mostly normal later that day. I would have signed up for another marathon that same day. It was such a rewarding experience, especially being something I never thought I would have the ability to do. I will definitely run another one again. 

The day after the race I saw a tweet from Bart Yasso who asked his followers how their runs went that weekend. I replied saying I had finished my first full marathon, and he wrote back saying "Congratulations, you are a marathoner". Yep, that's right, Bart Yasso told me I'm a marathoner. And I am. I'm slower than I want to be. I will never win a race. But I am a marathoner. 

10 Days!!!

Holy Crap it's only 10 days till my first ever MARATHON!!!!! I can't believe it's so close! I'm scared, nervous, excited, anxious, ready, not ready, terrified, pumped.

Since September is so busy at work I didn't get in as much training as I had hoped to. It's my fault, I could have worked less and trained more. I could throw out tons of reasons why I made it ok in my head to work instead of train, but none of them are probably good. In the end I'm where I am training wise and I just have to do my best with what I have.

I've done two more long training runs since my last post:

Sun, Sept 16th: 15 miles
I felt better during and after this run than I expected. It got pretty difficult around mile 12, but I figured that since it was my first long run in a while. The best part about the whole run was that the next day I felt great! I could walk, wasn't too sore...I was very surprised. It told me that even if its hard to get through the miles my body is ready for the recovery.

Sun, Sept 23rd: 18.5 miles
I left the house telling myself I was going to go 20 miles. I felt super great through mile 11, a mile shorter than where it got hard the week before. The last 7 miles were TOUGH. I walked most all of it. I just kept telling myself that its about getting the miles in, the time on the road, even if I'm not running it all. Even though the actual running didn't go how I wanted on this last run, I w proud of myself for getting almost all the miles in and to just keep on going.

I know 18.5 miles is still a long way from 26.2. I know I could have been more dedicated in my training. BUT... I'm proud of the training I did, and I am confident that I am going to finish, and finish well!

With less than 10 days left there is a lot to prepare for this next week...
Friday the 28th: Happy hour with co-workers, celebrating making it through a loooong summer.
Saturday the 29th: relaxing, watch Beaver game
Sunday the 30th: Run 8-10 miles
Monday the 1st - Wednesday the 3rd: rest and stock up on Gatorade, food, water, energy gels
Thursday the 4th: Logistics happy hour with friends and parents. Going over the race route, where they will cheer me on, etc. I will not be able to partake in the actual drinking part of happy hour :-(.
Friday the 5th: Packet pick up day!!!
Saturday the 6th: OSU game in Corvallis with the family
Sunday the 7th: MARATHON DAY!!!!! Run marathon, come home, shower, nap, then celebratory dinner with friends and family.

Going to be an exciting 10 days!

Days till Marathon: 10
Total training miles: 401.35

A Month To Go!!

It's been over a month since my last post...heres a quick recap of why it took me so long: lazy, vacation, sick. There you go.

Here is a quick recap of the last month or so.

Sun, Aug 5th: 13 miles
Sun, Aug 12th: 8 miles....I may have had a mini-breakdown after this run.
Sat, Aug 18th: 10 miles...early morning run before heading to vacation in Vegas
Tues, Aug 21st: 6 miles...ran at the hotel gym
Fri, Aug 24th: 5 miles...ran at hotel gym
*****THEN I GOT SICK***** I was sick for almost two weeks and could not run
Thurs, Sept 6th: 3 miles...first run post sickness was brutal
Sat, Sept 8th: 10 miles...I felt better than on the 6th, but still need to get back to pre-vacation/sickness conditioning.

I've got less than a month until the marathon. I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be in training purposes, but run, walk or crawl I'm going to get over that finish line!!

September is a crazy busy month at work, but I hope to update more frequently as I get closer to the scariest day ever!!

Days till Marathon: 28
Total training miles: 367.85

2 months to go

I got a little lazy, so here is a recap of the last two weeks:

July 23-29th
Yeah, so about that laziness...I didn't run all week. I don't even have a good excuse. I just didn't. And since I am beating myself up about it now, I don't want to talk about it anymore.

Monday, July 30th
Finally able to go back to my personal training sessions, so I had a session tonight. Normally on Mondays I do personal training, then do my scheduled run for the day but I think. Am going to have to readjust that. I find that I try and save my legs in my training session, in order to have energy for my runs, which just defeats the purpose of going to personal training sessions. I think I am going to have to not do any runs on Mondays. This way I alan get the most out of my training session, and move this run to another day in the week.

Tues, July 31st
Legs were still pretty sore and tired from Mondays training session, but I dragged my ass to the gym anyway. Ran 3 miles and my legs felt like bricks every freaking step.

Wed, Aug 1st
Day off!

Thurs, Aug 2nd
5 miles. Felt pretty good.

Fri, Aug 3rd & Sat, Aug 4th
Days off

Sun, Aug 5th
Was supposed to run 18 miles. I had a few sore toes from my Thursday run so I figured I would have to power through. I felt good from miles 1-10, even when I could feel a blister on my toes from the first half mile. Once mile 10 I realized that my hip was starting to hurt. I was over compensating on my hip for the blister on my toe. I told myself I would do the remaining 8 miles no matter how slowly I had to go. Once I got to mile 12 it was really starting to hurt, but I kept going. Once I got to mile 13 I realized that if I kept pushing I would just be chancing a serious injury that would take longer to heal than a blister. I'm upset that I didn't/couldn't get all 18 in, but I have to take some positive out of it...it was still 13 decent miles, I still have momentum, and I didn't seriously injure myself.

Now onto another week and hopes that I can get through the 20 mile run scheduled for this weekend! :-)

Days till Marathon: 61
Total training miles: 312.85

74 days

I was so out of sorts on my last post that I said I had 86 days till the marathon, when it was really less than that...I do have it right this week. :-)

As usual, here is a recap of my training week:

Monday:
Today I was supposed to do a training session and then run 6 miles, but I cancelled both. I'm not supposed to do either until my ear situation gets figured out. I can't stop running but I can stop lifting weights until then.

Tuesday:
I gave myself this day off too. I know it doesn't sound like a good decision with the marathon so close, but there were more pressing things on my mind. Not even a good run was going to solve these problems.

Wednesday:
Today I didn't have any training scheduled. What I did have scheduled was my CT scan and MRI. So while I don't know my test results yet (although it's been a few days and I haven't heard anything from my doctor yet, so I'm taking that as a good sign), what I did find out for sure is that I am officially claustrophobic. Holy moly.

I had the option to make some medication prior to the appt to relieve any anxiety, etc., but I decided not to take it since I had to go into work and was planning on driving home to my parents house that evening.

I got into the CT machine and freaked out. Like majorly freaked out. I laid down, the tech started moving me backwards into the machine and while she was doing that, didn't tell me what she was doing as she was doing it. It freaked me out. I needed to know how far I was going in, for how long, etc. she didn't give me any of that. I cried, I apologized, I got through it. But I knew the MRI would be worse. So for the 30 min in between appointments I was scared out of my mind.

When the MRI tech called me back, she said she heard I had some trouble with the CT scan and I just started crying. I was so scared. I got in the machine and the tears just rolled down my cheek. I hate small spaces, I hate being in something that I cannot get out of if I need to. It's horrible. This tech was great though, she talked me through each step. I was scared but I just closed my eyes, counted the seconds through each scan series and after about 20 min it was over. I hope I never have to do that again.

The doctor is supposed to call me for a follow up appointment to discuss the test results, but as I mentioned earlier since I haven't heard anything yet I am assuming that all is ok. I will still feel better once I know for sure.

Thursday:
Planned day off.

Friday:
I ran 6 miles on Friday, and felt really good at the end of it. Felt like I could go run another 6 miles. Was great!

Saturday:
Day off!

Sunday:
Today I was scheduled to run 16 miles. I was nervous, since it would be the longest distance I had ever run. I woke up early (so I could still get back to watch the Open with my dad), had a smoothie and I was off! I ran on the Olympic Discovery Trail. I thought I would run 5 miles east, then back, then 3 miles west, then back and have my whole 16 miles done. The weather was perfect running weather a little misty and nice and cool. I was enjoying the run and scenery so much that when I got to 5 miles I just kept going, and going and going, until I was in my hometown of Sequim. My parents house is outside the town by 8 miles. When I reached Sequim and 8 miles I turned around and made my way back. It was gorgeous. I felt good for the first 13 miles, but the last 3 were HARD. Probably ran 1/2 and walked 1/2 of the last three miles. But either way...I made it!! All 16 miles done! I almost still can't believe it. The best part...I wasn't sore at all the next day! One of my toes hurt a bit, but that was all! I'm finally starting to feel more confident that I can complete this marathon!

To end this post, here are a few pictures from my trip home and my run on Sunday.

Days till Marathon: 74
Total training miles: 291.85

86 days

This week had a lot of downs but ended on a good positive...here it is...

Monday:
I had another personal training appointment on Monday. I really like the group that goes at 6pm on Mondays. Very encouraging of each other and fun to be around. It can make all the difference. So the training session was good, plus I got 1 of my 6 miles out of the way during the session by doing sprints on the treadmill.

After the session ended I still had another 5 miles to go. Maybe my legs were tired from the run on Sunday, maybe my mind wasn't there, but whatever it was I only ran 3 of the 5 miles. I felt a little bad about it until I told myself it was still 2 good hours of working out and that I would come back strong next time.

Tuesday:
Had the day off, and got to see Charisse and Kim for dinner! Always fun times!

Wednesday:
Today was the day that literally changed my life forever. A few weeks ago, during one of my training sessions, I felt my ear pop and/or get really full all of a sudden. It felt like my ear had filled up from water from swimming, or it needed to pop. I continued on with my workout and figured it would pop and go back to normal. When I got home from working out that night I was very shaky and felt like I was going to pass out. Even a little nausious. After all my years in sports and working out I had never felt that way at the end of a workout.

The next morning I woke up and felt nausious as well. My ear was still full and along with that I could hear a very high pitched noise in my ear as well. It sounded like a high frequency. It never went away. At work I also noticed that my hearing wasn't the same. I couldn't hear low tones, or nearly as well as I used to. After about 4-5 days of this, with no change I made a Dr appointment to see what was wrong.

I initially went to my family doctor who told me it was probably allergies (I have never had allergies in my life), and to take Clairitin. She said if it didn't get better in 2 weeks to call and get a referral to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor. Well all the Clairitin did was make me fell worse. So I finally got my referral to the ENT and this leads us to Wednesday.

My appointment was Wednesday. I went into a sound proof booth and did all sorts of hearing tests. When I was done the nurse said I have outstanding hearing for the most part, until it gets to the low tones in my right ear, then I can hear almost nothing. She said a name for what she thought it was, and I got excitied. A name! That has to mean there is a cure right? Yea, not so much.

I waited for the doctor with excitement, thinking soon I would be back to normal, but within 4 minutes of him being in the room I was crushed. Here are the main points of what he had to say:

*I have tinnitus. A condition where people have a constant ringing in their ear.
*If the condition does not go away within 1 year, it will never go away.
*There are a few steroid treatments to try but they are typically unsuccessful.
*He thinks I was born with a pre-disposition for a 3rd bone in my ear to move, causing this diagnosis. I need to have a CT scan done to see.
*I should not work out or run until we find out what caused this to happen.
*And, oh by the way, there is a small possibility it could be a brain tumor so I am going to order you a MRI too.

I'm a pretty emotional person, so I nearly lost it. Within 5 minutes I heard a) I'll never have my hearing back, b) you can't work out (not good for a marathon training plan) and c) it could possibly be a brain tumor.

For those of you who don't know me, brain tumor is the biggest trigger word I could hear, as my sister past away from a brain tumor when I was 12. So precautionary or not, it scares the shit out of me.

I know there are a million other things that could be wrong with me that would be way worse, but anytime you hear you won't be the same ever again, it takes some getting used to. I've been having quite the mourning party for myself this week.

You can call this overdramatic, but I challenge you to live every freaking second with a ring in your ear, and not be able to hear someone whisper next to you, or not be able to hear a normal conversation in a loud restaurant and then you tell me it wouldnt take you some getting used to and that it doesnt change things.

As a side note, doctors should not be able to pass med school without an A in bedside manner. My doctor couldn't have cared less that I was upset or that he rattled off live changing things like it was a grocery list.

So the rest of Wednesday was spent coming to terms with that news, and working late...so no run this day.

Thursday:
I was supposed to run 6 miles this day, but I didn't. I was still grappling with new about my ear, and with my doctor telling me not to run. I thought the running bit was ridiculous but I was worried I would do more damage, so I gave myself another day off.

Oh, I also had a 2nd appt with another ENT doctor at the same clinic to see if the steroid therapy would be an option for me. He wasn't in the room for more than 2 minutes before he said I wasn't a candidate. First, I was kind of ok with this, as the thought of steroids getting shot into my eardrum didn't really have me excited. Secondly though, I was pissed I took all that time off work to drive there for literally a 5 minute appointment with another doctor with no bedside manner.

Friday:
Day off!

Saturday:
Day off!

Sunday:
Long run day! I said screw the doctor, I've run since this ear thing happened and it hasn't gotten worse, so I'm gonna keep running (taking a break on the weight training though). 14 miles was my distance. I was nervous about it since last week I was supposed to do 12 and stopped at 11, but I started and felt good almost the whole way! I did walk a few times, but I finished the whole 14 miles in just about 3 hours and 17 min!! I was so proud of myself for finishing, for winning the mental game. I finally felt like I could do this marathon. Even better, the next day my legs felt great!

Only 86 days to go!! I can do this! One day at a time!

Final side note: if anyone reads this before July 18th, please send me good thoughts the morning of July 18th. I go in for my CT scan and MRI that morning. I'm sure that everything will be fine, but I won't stop worrying about it until I know for sure. Thanks for the good thoughts!

Days till Marathon: 86
Total training miles: 269.85

91 days!!

Here's how my week shaped up:

Monday:
I had my weekly personal training appointment on Monday. I had been doing them on Wednesdays, but moved them to Mondays to fit with the training plan better. I told my trainer, Rey, that I always have to run after the training sessions, so in order to save my legs a bit he would tell me when to do lower weights and not strain myself too much.

It's a group training session and there was a new guy in the session. Poor guy made it all the way through the session, then puked at the very end. The session was by no means easy, but of all the sessions I've done it was the easiest. Hope the poor guy comes back and can tough it out again.

After the session was over I headed upstairs to do the 7 miles of running I needed to get in. It was the first time I had done training and running on the same day, so I was a bit worried about how my legs were going to hold up. To make sure didn't overt do it I ran .5 miles then would walk for about a minute and so on. Got all 7 miles done, but I sure was feeling it at the end.

Tuesday:
Day off!

Wednesday:
My training plan had me doing a speed workout on Wednesday but I had the day off from work, and decided to go on a pretty extreme hike instead. I figured it wasn't running but it would be a good workout and a good compromise. Oh my god. Maybe one of the stupidest decisions I have ever made. The uphill climb was torture. I kept going, albeit slowly, but I wasn't going to be the one keeping everyone from the top. We got maybe 4-4.5 miles up and I could feel the extremes muscle fatigue in my legs. Every part of my willpower wanted to keep going by my legs wouldn't let me. We turned around, they guys I was with we're so wonderful and supportive. We made it to the bottom and after all was said and done it really was a wonderfully fun day. Lots of laughs and fun times.


Thursday:
My training plan was to do 6 miles on Thursday, but I made the decision to rest my legs another day. I felt better after the hike than I expected but another day of rest was probably good.

Friday:
Day off!

Saturday:
Day off

Sunday:
Ugh, long run day. My plan had me down to do 12 miles today. It's so freaking stupid, I did 11. How ridiculous right? I couldn't push through for 1 more mile. Ugh, so mad at myself. On the positive side, I ran 11 miles. I feel like after each run I should be feeling better about is marathon, but I just end up feeling worse and more scared.

Tomorrow I start another week of training, with runs on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Let's hope I start to feel a little more positive about the race this week.

Days till Marathon: 91
Total training miles: 251.85

Less than 100 days!!!

Less than 100 days to go!

Ok, I've said it before, but this time I really mean it...I'm going to start posting more frequently. I'm going to try and post after each training run, this way I won't feel so overwhelmed (like I do now) trying to write a post to catch up on everything.

I have less than 100 days till my marathon, 98 days to be exact. And I'm kind of freaking out.

It's been forever since I've posted last, so here is a quick update on what I've done:
•After the Rock 'n' Roll: ran 25.5 miles
•Vancouver USA half marathon: 13.1 miles
•After Vancouver: 5 miles

I'm a tiny bit behind where I hoped to be at this point. But this morning I updated my training schedule, rearranging runs around the late nights at work, vacations, etc. I feel good about the plan. A few of my thoughts/concerns:
•The plan has me paced to run the marathon in 5 hours, 43 minutes. That would be great, but honestly as long as I finish in less than 6 hours I will be ecstatic!
•my hardest training days will be Saturdays and Mondays. Saturdays are my long run days (with a couple Sunday exceptions), and Mondays I have personal training appointments in addition to my running mileage. If I can get to Wednesdays it is downhill from there.
•I have two vacations this summer and know it will take tons and tons of will power to make sure I get my runs in. My trip home to Sequim should be fairly easy to get the runs in, but I'm slightly worried about getting them in when I am in Vegas. Luckily it is a rest week in the training plan, with no run more than 7 miles. I'm planning on going to the hotel gym to run 3 times while I am there. I think that should help keep up my fitness while doing all the horrible things you do on vacation. :)
•Lastly, my weekends for the whole summer are shot. My long runs are on Saturdays, and when I am done with them all I want to do is sleep for days. It's a good thing my social life isn't very active :).

Tomorrow I start again, the official marathon training plan. I start with a personal training session then 6 miles. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.....

Days till Marathon: 98
Total training miles: 233.85

Portland Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon

Yesterday was the inaugural Portland Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon. I signed up for it a year ago on the first day of registration. A co-worker told me if you sign up then the cost was only 55 bucks! What a deal! As I put in my last post, I've been really slacking on my running lately so I didn't expect to do very well, was just hoping to finish in around 3 hours.

The race experience started when they sent out a notice that the I5 bridge was closed the morning of the race. So instead of dealing with bad traffic in the morning I stayed with my friend Jody in Portland. Race morning I got up and drove to the start line, there were a few sprinkles coming down which I didn't expect because I thought it was supposed to be sunny for the race. As we waited to start the sprinkles kept coming down, nothing to big but enough to realize it wasn't going to be a nice sunny day like I expected.

At about 8:20am my corral finally crossed the start line and we were off! I was excited to get going but did my usual reminder to myself to not start out too fast. We started off running the regular streets in downtown Portland, but around mile 1.5 we crossed over the Hawthorne bridge to the east side of Portland. It was exciting to have a race on that ran through the east side since most stay on the west side.

When I'm running I like to have little goals to get to, whether it's getting to the next mile marker, or the next water station, or where my supporters are cheering me on, either way I like having something to run towards. So for this race I wrote all the water stops on my wrist, right next to my breathe tattoo, so. Could have some more milestones to look forward to.

Things were going well around mile 4 or so. I'll admit, I had stopped to walk a couple times for short periods but was keeping a good pace when all of a sudden I could feel my toes on my left foot start to feel restricted and tight. I kept running and figured it would go away and I could just run through it but this time I couldn't. So I stopped, took off my shoes and adjusted my socks (which are 5 toed socks). After the brief stop I was better and back on track.

Miles 3.5 through 5.5 were on Hawthorne which was a long, slow, gradual, sneak up on you hill. Oh it was painful. I knew my friend Jody was going to be cheering me on a little after mile 5, so I had something to look forward too. I saw Jody, did some high five-ing, and was on my way. As a sidenote: I know you only see the people you know who are cheering you on for a few seconds during the race, but those seconds really matter. It is something the runner really looks forward to. As a supporter you never know how much those brief few seconds of support can help the runner. For me, it gives me the perfect pick me up and dose of adrenaline I need, no matter how much pain I was in a few seconds before, seeing your supporters makes all that go away for a bit.

After I saw Jody I continued on, and about a mile later I felt the same restriction in my left foot again. I stopped again, fixed my sock again, and hoped this would be the last time.

Around mile 7.5 we turned on to Burnside, which meant we were over halfway there, and most of the rest of the race had a bit of downhill to it. :) I knew I was going to see Jody again around mile 8.5, so I kept my focus there. It was about this time that I could feel my ITB starting to act up. On the up and down hills I was having to limp a bit as to not flare my knee up even more. When I saw Jody it was at the very bottom of a hill and I was limping pretty badly. I saw her and wanted to get a quick picture with her. She was so great, standing out in the rain to cheer everyone on. Thank you Jody, it meant so much! So we got our picture taken and I was off for the rest of the race.

After I saw Jody I knew there was about 4.5 miles left and my goal was to finish it in just over an hour, to finish the whole race in less than 3 hours. Once I got to 9 miles I just focused on keeping my pace to less than 15 min per mile. Which was easy when running but there were some walk breaks in there, so I wanted to make sure I kept up a good pace when I did let myself walk for a minute or two.

In the last few miles of a race I look for those small milestones more than ever, next miles marker, next water stop, next band station, etc. Miles 9-12 were just that. Looking for anything I could to just keep going. I fully admit it helped that there was a slight downhill for a majority of these miles. My knee was in quite a bit of pain at this point, but I knew it would be over soon.

Around mile 11.5 I got stopped at a couple intersections for cars to go through. After the second time I was thinking about the stoppage when I felt a pop in my left foot. My left pinky toe had blistered and popped! So much for anti-blister socks! After the initial pop it didn't hurt, so I just kept on going.

Once I got to mile 12 I got excited. I knew the Steel bridge was coming up, which meant there was by about .75 of a mile after the bridge. After watching my pace I knew I would get in under the 3 hour mark, just how much under was the question. The downhill of the last few miles was really putting a strain on my knee but I knew I didn't have far to go. When there was only about .75 miles to go I really wanted to stop and walk just for a minute or two, but I was almost there, I wasn't going to let myself down. So slowly but surely I ran the next .5 of the race, trying to just do anything to not make myself stop. I saw a sign that said "don't walk now, people are watching", which is EXACTLY how I felt! With about .25 miles to go I just wanted to be done, I could see the finish line, and I wanted to finish strong so I picked up the pace. Not a sprint, but a good fast pace, and I crossed the finish line!!! Yea me!!!

I ended up finishing the race in 2 hours, 53 min and 11 seconds. Just under 4 minutes off my PR. I am very happy with the time considering I didn't train much at all. Then there is a small part of me that says if I didn't have to stop and fix my socks twice, or take a picture with Jody, I might have beaten my PR. But I would rather not have injured myself more, and have a fun pic with my friend who sacrificed her morning to cheer me and others on, than getting a PR. I was very very happy with my time, the race, even the weather! Rather have a consistent sprinkle than the heat any day!

And now my sixth half marathon is done! One more half to go, the Vancouver Half Marathon in June, then the full marathon in October. After this last race I am feeling pretty good about how I will fair in both. Can't wait to get out there again!


Days till Marathon: 139
Total training miles: 190.25

Slacker

Well it's been a month since the Corvallis Half, and the night before the Portland Rock 'n Roll Half. All the time in between has been difficult...really really difficult to stay motivated.

Week 1 after Corvallis:
No motivation, told myself I would only give myself a week off. I should have known better.

Week 2 after Corvallis:
3.5 miles
4.75 miles

Week 3 after Corvallis:
Felt like I was getting back into it, and back into a regular training schedule:
5 miles
8.5 miles

Week 4 after Corvallis:
Got lazy at the beginning of the week, and had horrible headache at the end of the week. Tried to run on Sunday and could only get 2 miles done before my head hurt too much that I had to stop
2miles

Week 5 after Corvallis:
On Wednesday I had my first personal training session. I ridiculously thought i would get my run in after my session...yea right. Got a great workout in, but was tired. I should have ran that day because I was so sore on Thursday and Friday I couldn't get a run in either!

So after a month of horrible, or more so non existent, training I am getting up at dawn tomorrow to run the Portland Rock 'n Roll half marathon. I will finish, maybe not a great time, but I will finish.

After basically a month off I need to tell myself that was the last time I can do that. Until October I have to focus, focus on the 26.2 miles.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a good start!

Days till Marathon: 141
Total training miles: 177.15