The Race

Wow, can't believe it has come and gone. Here's how it went down: I arrived feeling cold because it was still dark and 6:15 in the morning. I had my long sleeve shirt on to keep me warm. I stood around for a little while wondering why they wanted us there so early. Picked up the ankle chip, began stretching and chatting with Danielle and Theresa. We decided to do a a warm up lap around the track to get our hearts pumping and soon after, the race began. The sun had begun to peek over the mountains and right away I was getting hot! By mile 4 I was running and peeling my long sleeve shirt off and re-pinning my number! After that, everything felt great, my speed was good (for me at least), I could breathe and I was enjoying the scenery and peacefulness of the event. I made sure to eat a bit every 20 minutes which did worlds of good. My energy levels stayed high and there was no tummy ache. I even brought along a bit of a chocolate bar!

It was great until...mile 13...everything started to tense up and hurt with each step. My feet, knees and hips felt like they were going to shatter. I started wondering if it was ever going to end. Somehow I distracted myself with thoughts of laying down, taking a nap, anything to not think about the pain. Approaching the entrance to the parking lot that led to the track, I got a surge of energy and began to power through the pain. As I entered the track area, a friendly face was there to welcome me back: Ashley! Sprinting to the finish line, I had all these emotions that caused me to smile and cry like a baby at the same time. Crying because it hurt so much and smiling because it was over and I had done it! Tears bursted from my eyes and I tried to catch my breath to thank my audience (my husband John, Ashley and her husband Jeremy). Finally I calmed down, stretched out and realized what I had done. I ran 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 33 minutes.

The whole journey was challenging, rewarding, confidence taking and giving, adventurous and wonderful. I had a lot of fights with myself about quitting and doubts about whether or not I could or even wanted to do it. I am glad that I stayed.

Thanks and appreciation to:

My husband, John, for listening to my complaints, encouraging me to continue and letting me take naps after long runs!

Ashley, for inviting me to the training group, bringing this activity back into my life, listening to my complaints and getting Starbucks with me after our long runs.

Me, for setting a goal and accomplishing it.

It's not my story...

It's not my story to tell, so I won't. But I want to say that I am so extremely proud of Missy. She kicked butt. She ran her heart out and did it all by herself. She ran even when it hurt, even when she didn't want to and she ran and ran. Good job lady. I am so proud of you.

You ARE stronger than you think you are. You did more than you thought you could.

Night Before the Race

All day I have trying my hardest to think of race day as just another long run. The word "race" gets me all nervous. I am just focusing on resting and getting some sleep tonight. I am having trouble deciding on whether I should wear just the short sleeve Fleet Feet shirt while I run or if I should also wear my long sleeve layer over top of that. I don't want to be too hot but I don't want to freeze either...I bought some compression base layer shorts to wear underneath my pants just for fun. I love work out apparel.

At the beginning of this journey, the deal between my husband, John, and I was that I could name our first child (I think he thought I wasn't going to go through with it!). I think I will also reward myself with a pedicure! What a journey this has been. I have wanted to quit every other week but I just kept going. Ashley's mantra is proving to be true: "You are stronger than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can." Brilliant.

1 Week To Go

This weekend I ran the 7 mile route which was the last long run until race day. It felt mostly good and at the turn around I even thought, "that's it?" It was difficult this week because I had inlaws at my house for a week. I had to forfeit most of my workouts and only ran once! This week there are no excuses. I will do something everyday. I will admit I am nervous about race day. I am nervous to be going at this alone and nervous because I remember how I felt at mile 11 in the 12 miler. I have to remember to eat during the run! I can't believe I made it this far. It feels good to commit to something and see it through. I have to say, I am looking forward to getting up at a normal hour on Saturday morning. I will have to think about that during the race. I don't even want to think of it as a "race," that term puts butterflies in my tummy. I will have to think of it as just another leg of the training. Wow, what a journey.

Every time I think about not running on November 1, I cry.

I've been going to physical therapy for almost three weeks now. Maybe, I don't remember when I started.

My Dr. cleared me recently to run less than 1 mile (and just today uncleared me). Yesterday Waffles and I ran far less than 1 mile. It felt so good for my body, except the GIANT cramp in my side, but my leg still hurt. It hurt less than it did when I ran 10 miles, but it still hurt.

Today when I went to see the Dr. she got to palpate (my new favorite word) my leg. She said my leg is a little squishy. Squishy = swollen. I KNEW something was wrong with it. I didn't think the whole thing could be just in my back. So, she spent close to 20 minutes massaging the heck out of my leg. It hurt. It's tender and I'm a softie. So, while I did something to my back that pinched a nerve... there's also my IT band. I feel like I am a big bag of mess. I'm only 24 and I feel like I'm 48. Yuck. There's nothing wrong with being 48, except that I AM NOT 48.

Anyway... hopefully we have found what is really wrong and we can go on making it better. She gives me exercises, I do them. We find ones that work, ones that I think are awesome, ones that kind of suck and ones that make my knee hurt worse. My favorite one has been the plank... and the one leg dead lift... which killed my knee but it was awesome. I have the best personal trainer ever.

12-Miler

What an experience! At 5:30 on Saturday morning, before the sun came up, I embarked on the longest run in my life. It was completely dark out and I could not see a foot ahead of me. I kept hitting pockets of hot air and soon regretted wearing my new Nike long sleeve layer. We ran toward the sunrise and it was beautiful. Early on I hit a nice stride, didn't have to fight to breathe, and just enjoyed the views. I actually ran without music and enjoyed more than when I did run with music, which surprised me. I felt like it helped me clear my head and be more present in the moment. I also wore a knee band that supported my tendon and it did worlds of good. I felt great....until mile 10. My knees started getting stiff, my hip flexor ached, my side hurt and by mile 12 I was sure I was going to toss my cookies. My body actually freaked out. Every part of me felt like it was abandoning the mission. Yet, as I saw the end of the course, andrenaline kicked in and my aches and pains subsided. During the last mile a kind person actually turned back for me and having that support really helped me keep going. Otherwise, I think I may have laid down and died.

All in all, it was enjoyable and I surprised myself again. I think I am learning a lot about my capabilities and my limits. I realize I enjoy running courses that are 10 miles or less, at lease for now! Today, I am feeling some soreness in my quads and hamstrings and my abs even hurt. This experience is forcing me to live a healthy lifestyle. I recently read some articles about the importance of having a strong and flexible body (abs, back, arms in addition to legs) in order to be a strong and efficient runner. My Dad, of course, cheered me on and I often use his advice, "when you feel like stopping, just think about putting one foot in front of the other." This has helped me get through some tough mental blocks. Ashley reminded me an important motto, "You are stronger than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can do." Words to live by.

hi again!

There's another post that will be coming soon about everything that's been going on in my non-running world. Hopefully Missy will update about her awesome 12 mile run today!

In the mean time, I was cleared to run one mile sometime this weekend. Now, I haven't done that, but towards the end of a long walk, I ran about 200 feet with Waffles and overall it felt pretty good. I can feel some tightness in my leg, but hopefully it's not a bad sign. I can't wait to get started again!