My Fourth Half Marathon

I thought about titling this “what else could go wrong?” but then decided that I didn’t want to focus so much on the negatives. This weekend was the long-awaited Rock N Roll Chicago Half Marathon. In addition to just being excited about being a member of team DetermiNation and giving back to the American Cancer Society, this race was all about showing myself what I could do and redeeming my last less than optimal race performance. The goal … a PR! My previous PR was 3:16 and I was thinking that I could beat it. I was hoping to come in under 3:15 and secretly I was dreaming of 3:11.

But before I tell you about the race … I have to tell you about the weekend first (trust me it’s worth the read for comedy sakes)!

So three days before the trip to Chicago, I find out my friend is unable to go. So, love that hubby of mine, because he worked late every night for the rest of the week so that he could get off work on Saturday to go with me.

Saturday morning we had big plans – get up early and head out to Chicago early. Ummm, we overslept and did not leave the house until 9am. We finally got to Chicago, checked into the hotel, and off to the expo we were … on a bus. Now mind you we are small city people … a lady on the bus was singing off key opera and the 1 mile bus ride took like 30 minutes! We finally arrived at the expo and had a FABULOUS time! Up and down all of the aisles looking at stuff, trying different bars and gels. Saw the Biggest Loser Team Orange again (met them in Miami 8 months ago) … and they actually remember who I was … and commented that I had lost even more weight (WINNING)!

After that back to the hotel to get on a tour guide bus … on the way back the skies opened up and it started down pouring with thunder and lightning (EPIC FAIL) so no bus ride for me. Back to the hotel to just rest and relax… I decided to get ready for dinner, and then it happened.

I was wearing capris with ties on the side… all I can tell you that all I remember is stepping wrong, getting my toe caught in the loop and falling backwards. I hit my head on the back of the bed frame, and then bounced off the side wall, and finally the back wall. Holy OUCH! I have a high pain tolerance, but I literally sat there laughing and crying at the same time. I have had a headache since that time … and I had double vision for a while that night as well. But, thankfully nothing broken (but my skull) and nothing injured (but my pride).

After the fall, it was time to head to dinner at Fogo De Chao. This was NOT a coach approved meal, but it was where my running partner wanted to eat. I have a strong stomach so I wasn’t worried. It’s a Brazilian steakhouse, so protein, protein, and more protein was on the menu. I was smart, I stopped when I even started getting full, but even still I was pretty stuffed. After a short walk to Ghirardelli’s (YUM) and a short walk back to the hotel, I finally made it to bed at about … uhh 11:30pm. Oooh but before I made it to bed I noticed a huge sign on our door that said “Rock the Windy City, Team Determination” – that made me smile! Man, 4:15am was going to come early!

**Beep** the alarm goes off and I stagger out of bed while hubby happily sleeps. I grab my stuff and head downstairs. There were other Team DetermiNation members downstairs. My running partner shows up and we walk over to the tent chatting with other members. We strike up a conversation with Jessica, a young college student from Minnesota, who was traveling alone. After arriving at the tent, we meet up with Coach Jim... who promptly grabs the 14min pacing sign. Panic starts to well up in me… I can’t do this pace. Jessica asks if she can run with us for the race, and of course say sure. Oh and Coach Jim is totally wearing a giant cheesehead hat!

The race starts, and I reach to turn on my Jeff Galloway run/walk timer (umm like the one thing I cannot live without, I have never run a race without it and only run one training run EVER without it) … and it won’t turn on. Well actually more to the point, it won’t turn off … it continuously vibrated on my shoulder for 6 miles until it finally died. I tried hard not to panic … OMG how was I going to know when to run and walk … and amazing enough it kind of just happened.

We were like a well oiled machine! Jessica would spot the mile markers ahead and call them out. Coach Jim would call out what our goal was by that mile marker and we would pick up our pace to hit those goals. At water stations he would let us keep running and he would get water and cytomax for us. We had a blast, laughing and hand slapping. People calling go “Go Cheeseheads” and asking where in Wisconsin we were from. Poor Jessica, she was an honorary Cheesehead for the day I guess (shh we won’t tell anyone in Minnesota). Oh and at the beginning of the race Jessica picked up the Team DetermiNation cowbell and carried it for the ENTIRE race. We were our own cheering section.

I knew we were doing ok, but it wasn’t until mile 10 that I realized I was almost 5 minutes ahead of my 10 mile PR… holy crap, I thought,  if I can just keep this together I am going to PR. Coach Jim hollers out “it’s just a silly 5K ladies, we can do a 5k without even trying.” Umm, I’m secretly thinking “oh man that’s another 40 minutes.”

At mile 11, Coach Jim hollers out “it’s not a matter of it you are going to PR it’s only a question of how much are you going to PR by. How bad do you want it?” Shortly after that, I just really pushed it hard … adding a long run section without walk breaks. It wasn’t long after that Coach Jim yells out to the surrounding runners “we are gonna PR … come on all aboard the PR train toot toot.” Seriously… what else could I do but laugh. We also picked up another couple of runners that were hanging with our group; one in particular really pushed me. Her friends had left her behind and she was struggling. She was less than half my size… and I was doing this and not struggling as much. At that moment while going up an incline, the song “Let's See How Far We’ve Come” by Matchbox 20 came on … I smiled, that was pretty fitting.

At mile 12 I was struggling but still pushing along. I was starting to cramp pretty badly and my hip was quite sore. But I was NOT giving this up. As we were heading down the homestretch I could see the finish line ahead. I was taking a short walk break and I saw Larry on the sideline … and I HEARD Larry scream “you and NOT walking it in” and that was all it took. I was off, as we got close Coach Jim yells out “let’s finish at the fastest pace you have ever done” and we took off – happily crossing the finish line in 3 hours 11 minutes and 56 seconds.

Yep … I got my dream! I managed to HIT my dream time! Oh and as I was starting that final sprint, the song on my IPod was the Biggest Loser Theme song “what you have done today, to make you feel proud?” I think I know the answer to that already …

More moments from the race that I want to remember …

1.      Jessica and her wonderful attitude: How amazing it was that I found her, and what a great race partner she turned out to be. At one point at mile 7ish I was struggling and bit and she grabs my hand and says “we got this; I am not crossing the finish line without you. How amazing to feel so much closeness to someone I just met.

2.      The amazing church group on the side of the road with the sign “You are anointed to finish” they cheered us all through the race.

3.      Team MGR (huge group of like 30 some people) … we don’t know who you are or anything about you, but we chased you down for the longest time. Coach Jim wanted us to pass you and I didn’t think we could… In fact I even said it once during the race “there no way we can pass them,” but slowly and surely your caller’s voice got quieter and quieter and I realized we were passing you. When we couldn’t hear you anymore, I knew we had success!

4.      Coach Jim “coaching” all of the runners at the end. Every struggler he found we just adopted into our group. He was coaching like 10 people and it was hysterically funny. There was a lady with a tutu on and she was struggling and Coach Jim yells out “come on tiny dancer you can do it” – seriously I almost choked on my water!

5.      Although Fogo de Chao was a fabulous restaurant, I would not recommend it for a pre-race meal. My running partner Larry found that out the hard way. He was well onto a PR for him… when the meal started to fight back. He gutted it out though, was within sniffing distance of a PR, he and beat Al Roker!

6.      Last but not least, how amazing it was to be a part of Team DetermiNation: I knew it was going to a good cause, but wow they made this race amazing. From the water/bananas/peanut butter in the morning, to the team picture with the beach balls, to all of the support all through the race, it was an amazing experience. Every time I turned around, there was a Team DetermiNation coach on the sidelines cheering us on and yelling “go Team DetermiNation!” Even at mile 12.5 when Coach Jim was just a few steps ahead, I must have looked like I was struggling because a coach not only cheered from the sidelines, but hopped off the curb and started running with me. The hot dog and cake at the end was the BEST food I have ever had (ok my husband had it and says it was not, but maybe food tastes better after running 13.1 miles).

Sorry for the length of the blog – and if you are still reading THANKS! I just wanted to document such an amazing experience. Next up… Fox Cities Half in 1 month (and after recovery week the famed Coach Jim marathon training plan begins)!

I feel amazing...

yep thats my description of this run today. I feel simply amazing...

Today was the last long run (well taper run) because my half in Chicago in 8 days. I have been fighting the heat, hydration, and hip injury! I think I have been also battling a mental games of telling myself that I cant do it... even though I know I can. I think I got caught up in the "race" worry... gotta PR etc.

So I told myself, self ... just finish today... dont worry so much about the pace ... just finish...

And I had an amazing run. In fact my splits for the run are a bit screwy: faster, slower, faster, slower ... its almost like when I stopped thinking about it my body took over. Sure I had moments when it was tough ... but overall I am ecstatic about my run today.

I also think I may have figured out my hydration issues. You see due to lack of a colon, I get very dehydrated very quickly. I have tried drinking more and more on a run ... and it doesnt seem to help. So I analyzed my runs and realized that my body probably cannot absorb 3 glasses of water at once... so today I sipped. Constantly... yes it got annoying... about every 4 minutes I would sip for 1 minute... and I took my Chomps at every mile.

And ya know what ... I feel amazing! Not only during the run ... but after! Instead of feeling tired and sluggish... I feel amazing. I wish I could bottle this feeling!

So looking at the numbers... my half PR is 15min/mile... my run today was 14:40/mile... and the after the run coach was talking about how close can I get to 3 hours... 3 hours are you kidding me.... I DREAM of breaking 3 hours!

I feel like anything is possible... this is such a great feeling. I will give my best ... and that is all I can do! :) Thanks to everyone here for all of the great support!!

Run, Walk, Crawl, FINISH!

Today was the dreaded 12 mile hill run. I found out two days prior that my running partner would not be able to be there. Then I found out the night before that due to the few numbers of people running 12 miles (there is another training group that is up to 8 miles) I would likely not have a coach by my side for the whole run. As someone who ran alone for a LONG time, I have grown accustomed I have someone.

But I decided I needed to toughen up ... buck up and push on. Coach Jim had emailed me and said the original 12 mile route wasnt going to work ... and so he wanted me to run the 8 mile route with the other group, finish and then head back out. That seemed like a cop out to me... so I told him I was going to do the original plan, with or without my running partner. I asked if maybe he could come back and get me when the 8milers were done and he promised to do so.

So this morning... humidity was high and the air was thick, but temps were  supposed to be in the mid 70s and it was cloudy. This is my kind of weather! We started off ... and would you believe I was NOT in last (I am bringing up the rear every single week) I was holding my own ... heck I even passed someone. I felt STRONG untl about mile 7 ... I gutted it out through mile 7 but my mile 8 or not only were my calves cramping but I was starting to cramp in my back ... I stopped at the gas station to get some gatorade ... and just a few minutes later I see Coach Jim.

At this point, he offered me to run back to the park the short way ... and we could do laps around the park (lots of hills) but that felt like such a failure to me... I felt ok, I was still sweating and I was not cramping too bad, so I felt like I could honor the original route. I was able to hold in until mile 9 at the base of the big Josh's Hill. I made a mistake at the last water stop (one mile earlier)... I was wheezing so I took a puff of my inhaler. I always carry it, but I have never used it during a long run or race. And now I know why ... after that puff my heart rate was out of control... so at the base of the hill, Coach Jim made me lay down and put my legs up and rest for 5 minutes.

I made it up the hill ... walking it mostly (and wanting to die) and was able to run for another mile or so ... but at 10.2 I was done. It felt sooo hot, I was dizzy, I was cramping... and I just couldnt do it. We had one more big long hill to make it up. I asked Coach Jim if I could just wait in the shade and he could get the car. He said ok (pretty sure he was a bit worried about me) ... and before he left I spontaneously just started crying (I am NOT a crier) ... and said "I feel like such a failure."

Coach Jim then said... no im not getting the car you are going to make it home. We are just going to walk ... as slow as you need to. But you can make it home. You worked too hard up many hill for 10miles to consider yourself a failure... and slowly I walked home. The last mile was a 18min/mile, but yes I finished!
I cant help it though... I still feel like a bit of a failure. I know I shouldnt, but I wish I could have myself push through.

Including the walking... my time was 3h and 1 minute for 12 miles. My PR for a half is 3:16 ... up until the 10 mile mark I was ahead of my PR.

I know the hill runs are good for me... and make me a better, faster runner. But I am terrified now... terrified of how my next half marathon will go  ... terrified of the 13.1 run next week ... my confidence is really shaken...

But then I got home ... and even though I am disappointed with myself I had the best comment on my page "I dream of doing what you do" WHAT someone dreams of limping their way through 12 miles... and I realized no matter what the pace, the speed, or the time its about finishing. I also realized that I was in the sun from mile 6 on out (as evidence by my sunburn) ... and my mid 70's.... well the weatherman lied. It sure felt hotter than 70's ... turns out it was 84 degrees and with the high humidity the heat index was 91 degrees. Hmmm no wonder I felt terrible...

My headband today read: Run, Walk, Crawl, Finish!

Conquered the hills today .... what else should I conquer?

Hmmmm ... well just keep reading!

So this week has been an epic week for me. My class that I am teaching is finally over, IRB approval finally came, and I finally found myself a running partner!  Yep, I have been running alone for a very very long time, never believing that my prince or princess would come. Always believing I was too slow, and that no one would want to run with me. Thinking... "I think Im fun" but alas just too slow.
Well this week my prince came! So last weekend one of the guys in our training group Larry, decided that he was going to run the long run with me since he was recovering from Gramma's marathon. I was suprised, but glad for the company. The run, although hard, did go much quicker and nicer with a friend to chat to (or yell at)!

Imagine my suprise when he sent me a Facebook msg asking if I wanna run the hills AGAIN this week. I happily agreed. Monday I ran alone and struggled to do 3.5 miles but with Larry by my side I not only crammed out 7.5 miles .... it was 7.5 miles of hills, hills, and more hills. As we were running, he was talking to me about the races he is training for (including a marathon) and how we should start running the hills during the week too. I of course was game... running in the summer is really hard for me!
Unfortunately... I have this problem. I am a highly suggestible person! I cannot be trusted to watch infomercials because I am convinced whatever product they are selling is going to be the best ever. And yes... after 7.5 miles of discussing marathon training, I was starting to believe I could do it. Alas but what marathon to train for. Cellcom is in May ... and I figured to train with Larry for a race in January and then not run one would be depressing.

So off to MFP I went... and as usual my friends were full of nothing but encouragement. See I was worried that I couldnt run the Disney marathon because I will be out of the state the week prior ... but everyone just said ... go for it... so I thought about it.
And today ... was the 9 mile hill run. I laughed when I saw the route because in adding one mile Coach Jim managed to add FOUR MORE HILLS! The bottom of his email said it all "its time to push through another envelope guys."

It was hot this morning, with a bit of a breeze. My pace for me was blistering through 4 miles... mile 5 I struggled a bit. Mile 6 I struggled more... but I just kept pushing through. Coach Jim upped the anti this week by not only coaching us up the hills... but making us RUN up every hill.
Jesus Hill was at mile 8 and OMG I thought I was going to die. Huffing and puffing and just pushing it hard. Coach Jim is hollering "everyone driving by thinks you are f'ing awesome and they wish they could be you" Haha that helped a bit. The last hill of the day at Mile 8.75 I BEGGED to walk ... Coach Jim said "I dont care how slow you run, I care that you run it" I was literally whining like a child. Larry said "I KNOW you can do this" And slowly .... slowly... up that hill I went.

When we finished ... we finished at a pace of 14:35/mile ... light years ahead of what I have ever been able to do! I am feeling completely amazing about this run.

Ok so my news.... thanks to the support of my running husband Larry, my coach Jim, and my wonderful friends on MFP. Its official... I just signed up for my first MARATHON! I am going to run the Disney Marathon the first weekend in January.

We can do anything that we want to! And I am about to prove that ... so who wants to join me and "push through another envelope." What envelope can you push through?

Bellin 10K Race Report

Before I tell you about the race ... I have to give you some history. On 10-10-10 I ran my first 10K ... I thought I was going to die. I ended up walking most of it ... in fact as I was walking with my friend (who was 100pounds less than I) she says "what a great day for a stroll!" Ha! A stroll... I was near death. I finished dead last at 1h47min....

On 4-2-10 I ran my next 10K ... it rained, snowed, and hailed on us. We got left out out on the course, got lost, and actually had to have a race official come and get us. I busted my butt -- finished in dead last again at 1hr30mins and 30 seconds!

Today 6-11-11 was my third 10K. The ellusive Bellin run. If you dont know what I am talking about - stop now and read my blog from yesterday.
Hubby and I are standing at the start line... and the excitement is building. The gun goes off... and we dont move... and dont move... and dont move. Finally about 20 minutes later we are at the start line (there were 18,000 runners this year)! I take off ... and I settle in quickly. There are a few light uphills and I am just cruising. I pick a runner ahead of me and concentrate on passing her. I even threw in a few sprints just to get past some groups of walkers! At mile 2 ... I try to get the water station ... and get blocked out by not one, not two, not three, but literally four strollers. I decided water is not as important as my PR ... so I refuse to stop or break my stride!

My first mile is under 14min/mile... and my second is pretty close too! I am feeling good - but at mile 2 the stupid foot pain starts. Thankfully... it went away pretty quickly. One downhill I decided that I was going to really "give er" for the downhill...... I ran my fastest mile ever during that stretch... 13:20/mile.

At mile 4 I was starting to tire... I realized that I had taken it out a bit too fast... but onward I pushed. Bands on the side of the roads and people cheering with signs made me laugh. Since the race was through neighborhoods, people had their hoses out and were spraying the runners!
Somewhere around mile 5 I notice Coach Jim standing off to the side of the course. I waved, he waved ... and when I looked down he was right next to me on the left side. I was suprised ... he says "well I came back to find you and run it in with you ... you want a PR right?" Onward we pushed... and pushed .... and pushed...

With about 3/4 of a mile to go, people along the street were holding signs saying "Go runner I dont know" so Coach Jim introduced us. Suddenly crowds of people on the street are screaming my name and cheering for me.... me ... I was in shock! Coach Jim told me to keep running... and he went to the water station and got me some more water.

At the very end, there was a hill..... the old me would have walked that hill. Afterall I cant do hills right... Coach Jim started coaching me before the hill. Little did he know I didnt need it... He said "thats a little hill you can do that" I replied "of course I can ... thats not even a hill we do worse than that."

I not only did not walk up the hill.... I didnt jog up the hill.... I charged up that hill as fast as I could. At the end, I saved enough for a full sprint (apparently a fast one too because Garmin said it was at a 8min/mile pace at the end)!

I finished in 1hr28min57sec .... PR baby! Im not sure which is better -- the PR or that fact that I know that I am one tough cookie!

(PS. I did NOT beat the husband. You know the husband who barely trained, who is 6'3. Apparently although he only runs a 15min/mile on treadmill out of NOWHERE he pulls out a 11:35/mile pace to beat me by 17 minutes. I could be bummed, but I am just proud of him... and maybe I will get there someday... )

One Year Ago

I was sitting on the sidelines watching longingly at all of the fit people.... the fit people who were going to run the Bellin.

You see, the Bellin 10K is a huge run in our area ... actually more people register for the Bellin 10K than for our half and full marathon. This year they are expected about 25,000 people to participate. Ever since I have been an adult, I have heard people causally say "oh Im running the Bellin this weekend." I never felt part of that crowd...

It was one year ago while working with Trainer Tyler that he again casually mentioned that he was going to "Run the Bellin" and I said ... did you train? and he says "nah its only a 10K." ONLY a 10K... I only dreamed of completing that. Trainer Tyler told me I should just walk it .... I sighed "no, I dont even think I could walk that far."

It was shortly after that that I started training for a 5K run. I trained all summer ... from June 21, 2010 to my first race on Sept 19, 2010. I dreamed of someday running the Bellin ... and set that as my goal to accomplish in 2011.

Tomorrow is the Bellin ... and guess what ... its no big deal. Since finishing that 5K I have went on to finish 3 half marathons... so the elusive "Running the Bellin" is actually pretty anti-climactic for me. The distance of the Bellin (10K) I run in my average training run!

And today ... it happened. Someone asked me what I was doing this weekend and I causually replied "Oh I'm Running the Bellin" and that person said ... OMG isnt that like 6 miles, I could never do that... and I just smiled .... and told them that I would be happy to help them learn to run!

Week Two with Coach Jim

Well ... today was the long awaited week 2 hill run with Coach Jim. Based on my previous blog posts this week, I was feeling like less than a rockstar... but of course I wasnt going to give up.
The temp is hot and humid - by 7am it was already almost 80 degrees. This week we were joined by 3 other runners (2 girls with a lightning fast 10min/mile pace and a guy who was always visible to me and ran about a 13min/mile pace I am guessing). We take off ... uhhh at a pace I cant maintain. After a couple of minutes I need to take a walk break ... and I fall behind.

Right away the negative self talk starts -- and I tell it to shut the &*^% up! There will be no negative self talk today. Its hot and I am feeling the heat and struggling a bit to get my heart rate down during the walk intervals. I decide right then and there that I am going to switch to 2:2 intervals but if I allow myself to do this there will be NO extra walk breaks. Myself agrees with this plan ... but my conscious reminds me that the rule remains "If you are running downhill you MUST run another interval.

Ok plan in place I push on ... Coach Jim checks in with me "how is my tough girl doing" I smile... Im a tough girl alright! I push on ... and over the major hills. The last hill on the way out was HUGE and I am pretty sure I am not moving but I keep pushing on and on ... look at the top of the hill... you must keep running... you can do anything for two minutes!!

Soon its time to turn around ... I get some Chomps from coach Jim. Suddenly I am on this amazing downhill.... I feel like I am flying... I run for 8 minutes straight, turn the corner and its back to being uphill.
This moment was crucial because I was struggling... and Coach Jim was up ahead. I seriously thought about taking an extra walk break ... walking up that hill because no one would know, right? But guess what I WOULD KNOW! And thus no extra walk break did happen!

I finished 6.1 mile today ... with major hills... I am a rockstar! Coach Jim kept calling me a warrior and "tough girl". Im so lucky to have found such a great coach who really, truly seems to believe I can do it!

I had to laugh near the end where we had our water - a extremely fit man with a bike was walking up the same hill that we ran up. Coach Jim says to me "wow if I was a mean guy I would tell him that you ran up that hill... but I wont" Haha!

I had another thought about P90X too.... you know what 25% is better than 0% right?
Most of the people of my size and fitness level would ever attempt it. So you know what ... if I can only do 20 or 30 minutes its STILL better than ZERO minutes! I am clearly sore... which clearly means that I pushed myself (for god sakes I am still sore today before the run) ... now if I only did 20 minutes and didnt feel it the morning I would argue I wasnt pushing myself... but I am ... and will continue to do so.

Thank you so much to all my friends for the awesome comments. I still see myself as weak ... and it meant so much to me to know that others see me as strong!