October 6, 2011 - Peace & Confidence

It has been strange to cut down on my mileage this week. I understand the concept of tapering yet I feel like a part of me that I’ve grown to love is missing. As I’ve said before, running is my “happy place” where this Mommy can be alone with her thoughts, be unreachable, and return home refreshed. I think this is a clear sign I should continue to run after the marathon.

The forecast on race day is for sunny and 80 degrees. Though this is about 15 degrees warmer than I had hoped it is not insurmountable. I’ve been assured that all of our training in the extremely hot and humid weather this summer has conditioned me for a warmer run. So that is what I am telling myself every time I see a weather forecast.

The marathon is just 3 days away and the butterflies are still with me. As a participant I have received at least 2 marathon related emails every day this week, which has prevented me from forgetting about it. Also, my plantar fasciitis still doesn’t feel healed so that worries me. I’m stuck wearing either my running shoes or my Teva sandals as they feel the best on my feet.

It’s crunch time, knowing I can’t forget about the marathon until race day I have to face it head on. To help settle the butterflies I’ve combined several inspirational emails, advice from friends, and the “Runner’s Prayer” into a document that I read parts of when I get super nervous. After reading the document I say the Runner’s Prayer out loud, add in my own prayer, and am filled with what can best be described as peace and confidence. My new mantra is “I trained for this, I can do this, I am going to have fun.” I am not going to worry about my time. I am going to enjoy the experience, the crowds, and the journey. So far, this mentality is working, talk to me on Saturday. :-)

October 2, 2011 - One Week To Go!

The marathon is in exactly one week. Everytime I think about it (which is about 15 times each day) I get major butterflies in my stomach. Thanks to my running group I feel prepared (the wild card being my feet) but am still very nervous. Then, the dreams started. You know, the ones like when you were in school and couldn't find your locker, your classes, etc? Well I keep dreaming that I cannot find the starting line and when I do five miles into the run I realize I've forgotten my shoe tag so my race is unofficial. Crazy.

Today I ran for the last time with the girls. Ten miles, it felt really short, which is good. It was a sunny but chilly 43 degree morning so again I was uncertain what to wear. They say runners should dress as if the outside temperature is 20 degrees higher than it actually is, which would make it 63 and sunny. The t-shirt and shorts I selected were not adequate until mile 3, after that I was okay. Needless to say I will be nervously watching the Chicago weather all week.

My feet are still hurting after mile 6 so that is a major concern for me, I will have to do some special stretching and icing this week and play around with the shoe inserts as well. If push comes to shove I know I can gut it out, it just won't be a very pleasant experience.

I do feel amazingly blessed to have ended the run today with two very excited women. Katie and Rita were filled with last minute tips and advice which I absorbed like a sponge. I will be sure to text them from my ice bath after the marathon is over :-).

September 25, 2011 - What to Wear?

Today is the first week of my taper so it was my last "long" run with the girls (over 10 miles). Just two weeks to go!!! I ran 15 miles today, Rita did 20 then she starts her taper. It was a cold, misty, nasty morning and I was stumped on what to wear. It has taken me all summer to determine which outfit rubs the least, is the most comfortable, matches, etc. but this morning the weather was much too cold for just a tank top and shorts. So I took an old pair of Doug's tube socks, cut the toes out of them, and wore them on my arms hoping I would warm up during the run and be able to discard them.

Unfortunately around mile 10, just when I thought about peeling off the socks it started to rain. Now I had these thick cotton socks that were soaked on my arms running around town. One of us had short sleeves, and we were all in shorts. We must've been an unbelievable sight because in the last 2 miles an elderly woman rolled down her window and asked if we were cold.

Despite the weather the run went great except for my plantar fasciitis again. It started to hurt in both feet around mile 6 and was very painful by the time we finished at mile 15. I did buy new shoes and new shoe inserts this week so I am hoping I just didn't properly break them in yet.... It is quite a shame that everything else feels great (muscles, breathing, fuel belt) but my feet ache with every step. That will not make for a happy marathon finish. I will need to do some experimenting with shoes and inserts this week.

September 18, 2011 - 20 Mile Run, Part 2

Today was an amazing day of support from my running buddies. Jody and Maureen started out with me as we covered the first 8 miles. It was chilly this morning so I wore a long sleeve shirt to begin the run.

At mile 8 Jody and Maureen had hit their goal for the day and were replaced by Rita and Katie who wanted to run 12 miles. I quickly changed to a sleeveless shirt as the sun was out this morning. In case it is cold on October 9th I am going to have to rethink my attire choice for the marathon.

I feel so blessed to have these 4 women in my life who rallied around me today. I truly cannot imagine running 20 miles by myself with only an ipod for entertainment. We even knocked 1 minute, 38 seconds off my time! And that was with the long hill back up to my house, which in retrospect I don't care to do again. :-) Good thing Chicago is flat.

As usual my wonderful husband and young daughters were waiting for me with a nice cold ice bath. Jenna again was SOOO excited for Mommy to sit in the ice cube infused water. This time however I didn't let her come in with me (she makes too many waves). Ten minutes later I was feeling quite good for running 20 miles. We will see how I feel tomorrow.

The plantar fasciitis is back in my left foot and was with me from miles 5 - 20. I've been advised that new shoes are in my future. I will have to go buy them this week and begin to break them in on my shorter runs so I can use them on the weekends and for the actual marathon.

With the exception of my foot I did feel much stronger this time and that gives me more confidence for the marathon and these magic 6.2 miles that you are expected to run despite not training for them.

September 11, 2011 – 1st Birthday Party

After my 20 mile run last week I soon realized what that little pain spot on my left foot was, my plantar fasciitis was back. Over the next 2 days it got progressively worse and seemed to travel from the side of my foot to the center where it was a few weeks ago. Ugh!

I went back to rubbing the ice bottles on the bottom of my feet, went out and bought another pair of Dr. Scholl’s inserts, and tried to stretch as often as possible. I even got the rolling pin out again. Friday the 9th I did a 5 mile tempo run and my foot felt pretty good.

Today (Sunday) is a “down” week, only 15 miles to do :-). My neighbor Jody joined us for the first time as she is tapering down from her half marathon, Katie is in Chicago running the rock ‘n roll half marathon, and so Maureen and I set out to do 15 miles while Rita has 20 miles. Rita ran the first 5 by herself and then Maureen and I joined her for the remaining 15 miles. The temperature has dropped significantly yet there is still some humidity out there that can be troublesome.

After our run I rushed home to finish setting up for my daughter Rylee’s first birthday party (actual birthday is 9/12). With the exception of a little Lions’ football, I didn’t have a chance to sit down from the start of our run at 7am until 9pm when we finally got the kids down for bed. We had over 45 friends and relatives come to help Rylee celebrate her big day, I am thankful for my family.

And thankfully I felt great on Monday morning, no soreness or abrasions at all! Next week, my 2nd 20 miler!

September 4, 2011- 20 miles!

Over the last 2 weeks I’ve had no issues (knock on wood). My quad has been fine, no plantar fasciitis, and minimal skin abrasions. Last weekend Rita ran her first 20 miler, it was very inspiring as the last half mile she sprinted and left me in the dust.

So today was my turn, my first 20 mile run. I was so nervous I almost vomited 4 times this morning and I barely slept despite the 3 alarms I set the night before.

At 7am I started my run with Rita and her husband Ken who had 12 miles to complete today. It was our plan to do 10 miles then pick Katie up for my last 10 miles so I would never be alone.

Ken, Rita, and I had a wonderful run but went about a mile over so were a little late to Katie’s house. Katie and her husband Chris were in their driveway waiting for us like expectant parents waiting for a kid who broke curfew, it was so cute.

I soon discovered that Katie had awoke this morning sick to her stomach but here she was running with me anyway determined that my last 9 miles would not be done alone. We did a loop around her neighborhood which allowed her stomach to settle down and allowed Ken and Rita to hit their 12 mile goal.

When we returned Chris was still in the driveway “on deck” waiting to hear if he was needed to sub for Katie. Katie decided she felt better and told Chris he could go back inside. How amazingly thoughtful my running group is, all this so I wouldn’t have to run alone!!!

True to form Katie chose a route that put me about two-tenths away from my car and the instant my watch beeped “20 miles” I stopped with my signature hands in the air triumphant gesture. I did it! The most miles I had ever run! It took me 3 hours and 23 minutes but we did it.

Katie had another mile left to run so she let me walk to my car alone. About 10 minutes later she found me half in, half out of the driver’s side door. After asking if I was dead or stretching I responded “my glutes and hamstrings locked up and I can’t move.” After another 10 minutes of stretching I felt like I could get in my car so I texted my husband that I was on the way and crawled into the drivers seat.

I came home to find a very excited 2 year old and a very proud husband. During my final stretches on my living room floor my 2 year old said “surprise upstairs Mommy.” So I followed my husband up to the bedroom expecting the blueberry pancakes and turkey bacon I had ordered before I left that morning but nothing was on the bed. Hmmm .....

Then my husband led me into the bathroom where I came face to face with a tub filled with ice cubes, ice packs, and the frozen water bottles I used on my feet. My husband smiled an evil smile and said “Ice bath, get in and stay in for 10 minutes.” I can tell you the only person excited about this was Jenna who kept saying “In Mommy, In!”

As I eased myself into the frigid water the familiar hot knife pain gave me a jolt to the lower back. I shrieked and asked my husband to look at my back, and sure enough in the fuel belt zone a 2” x 3” section of my back had been rubbed raw by my fuel belt—great.

As I sat in the ice bath, with Jenna wading in (because it looked like too much fun for Mommy to have by herself) for what I believed to be 10 minutes I smelled my breakfast being made downstairs. Famished I hoisted Jenna out of the tub and told her to yell down to Daddy if Mommy can get out now and much to Jenna’s dismay Daddy said yes and I got out of the tub.

I have to admit with the exception of a tight spot on the ridge of my outer left foot and the fuel belt abrasion on my lower back I felt terrific the rest of the day. I had some mild muscle soreness but nothing major, I think I felt worse after the 17 mile run a few weeks ago. Perhaps that ice bath was the best thing for me.

August 21, 2011 – Test It Out

The last few days have been filled with ice, stretching, and rolling pins. Yes, I said rolling pins. My athletic trainer advised me to use a rolling pin to help loosen the quad muscle. I wish I had a camera to capture the dumbfounded look on my husband's face when he came home to find me on the living room floor with a rolling pin feverishly kneading the heck out of my quad muscle. After a few moments he finally said "you know you can bruise that quad if you push too hard," and walked off. Hmmm...really?

Against my trainer’s advice I did play beach volleyball on Thursday night. Afterall, it was the playoffs and my competitive side couldn't just sit there and let a sub play for me. The best part about the night was despite the quad still being tight as I moved in the uneven sand it started to loosen up. Good, good….and by Saturday the pain and tightness was completely gone.

On Sunday my plan had me running 18 miles. No way THAT was going to happen. So I told my running group to go without me because if my quad even started to cramp up I was shutting down my run. I ended up running with a good friend Scott, who back in 2004 partnered with Lynda and Cathy to get me into running. We ran at our same 10 min/mile pace but only lasted about 7.5 miles before my quad started tightening up. I left that morning in tears concerned about the 10.5 miles that I should’ve completed that day.