Rookie on the Run

Well... I FINISHED THE MARATHON! It was tough. I was slow... even slower that I had hoped to be. But I finished it and still had a big smile on my face! My chip time was 6:44:32. See? I told you I was slow. I felt like I was doing great until about mile eight. I felt OK until about mile 13. After that, I hit that wall everyone talks about. I think there were a few contributing factors in play by that time: An annoying and painful blister had developed on the big toe of my right foot. My left heel started hurting pretty badly. I mistakenly thought there were going to be GU packs available around mile 14 so I didn't ration very well. As a result, I ran out of gel packs. The GU station was at mile 17 or 18. My hydration belt kept riding up on my waist and that bugs me. There were many, many positives about the race: The whole thing was very well-organized. The volunteers were awesome! The weather was overcast and drizzly... perfect. It was a fun race with lots of positive e...

Holy Cow!! The day I have been thinking about, training for, eating for, planning for, talking about, reading about, writing about for five months is here!! Well... tomorrow it's here, but you know what I mean. I can't believe it's been more than five months since the day I woke up, decided I needed something constructive to do, and figured I should run a marathon. I've blogged before about why I decided to do this so I won't bore you with the details... plus, I don't really know why. As I've mentioned before, maybe it was because I hated running so much that I chose this particular goal. Yes, I'm a little kooky like that. But anyway, I said I wasn't going to blog that again. When I decided to keep this blog about my marathon training, I had no idea how many wonderful runners out there in Blogland would come to my side, virtually speaking, and offer their support. So thank you, everyone, for your encouragement and words of wisdom. I will be...

Ready-Set-Pack! I feel like I'm getting ready to go on vacation, yet I'm only traveling one half hour away from my house. I'm talking about getting ready for the marathon (as if you didn't know that). I've been planning what I'm going to wear, what I'm going to eat, what I'm going to carry on my body during the race, and even which hair elastics I'm going to use. Normally, I'm not a planner but when it comes to getting ready for certain things (ie. work, trips, and long runs) I like to be ready ahead of time. I have found that it cuts back on my stress level in the early morning rush. The more unknown a situation is for me, the earlier I start getting ready. It's only Thursday, but I am as ready as I can be for now. Here are the items I have ready to go right now... Backpack Essentials Trader Joe's Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans in case I can't find coffee somewhere Electrolyte water from Trader Joe's Knee brace Face Sunscr...

Music for Running Inspired by Irene , today I created a playlist to listen to during the marathon. There are 92 songs all together. It works out to be six hours, 15 minutes, and 11 seconds. Then, because I had nothing better to do (translation: "Because I didn't want to wash the dishes") , I posted that bit of information on my Facebook status. Tall Mel wanted to know what my top ten songs are. Tall-in-Wedges Mel wanted me to list them all in a blog. I'm still not sure if she was serious. Well, since I still have nothing better to do (translation: "Since I hate putting laundry away") , I decided to respond to the Mels in a single blog. I'm going to list all of the songs on my playlist . I will indicate which are my 10 favorite running songs for Tall Mel. I'm going to write them in order of how they appear on my iPod playlist ( mostly alphabetical by artist). When I run, it's on "shuffle" so they won't be in this...

R est is best... Or so they say. I ce is nice Did it today. C ompression Works well for me! E levation ... High as can be. When did RICE become something you do ? Don't ask me, 'cause I haven't a clue! Rice used to be just something to eat... Now, it's something I do to my feet! My Old Codger Boot I'm doing all I can to get my heel as healthy as it can be for Sunday! I'm "RICE" ing it. I've been stretching and rolling it. I'm being good to my foot. It owes me- BIG time! I even purchased one of these beauties today: Ya, I know what you're thinking... "Those are some styling socks! Where can I get a pair of those?!" You may even be thinking... "That is one invasive splint. I sure hope that thing helps. And doesn't hurt someone in the process." If you're my husband (and I'm pretty certain you are not ), you call it an "old codger boot" and then you have to laugh at me. And you know what? ...

One week from this moment I will have have finished a marathon! I can hardly believe it. It is starting to sink into my mind that this is going to happen. I'm pretty good about keeping my nerves in check about most things. If I get nervous about stuff, I usually don't allow it to surface until the anticipated moment occurs. I have to admit, though, I am: Nervous Excited Scared Overwhelmed Anxious Happy Mostly, it's the unknown, small details that are making me nervous. Like: How will I get down there? What will I bring? Will it be chilly? How much coffee should I drink? Should I bring a little can of Lysol to disinfect the yucky blue port-o-potty before I use it? What will I do with my stuff? I know... they have UPS trucks taking all the "stuff" to the finish line, but then I have to find the truck... and my bag after the race. What if I get lost on the route? Trust me, I get lost easily! Very easily *. Should I wear some makeup? I want to look alive whe...

Update I want to say thanks to everyone who left such kind and encouraging words about my dad. It was so nice to read your comments. My dad is doing better. He is still in the skilled nursing facility, but hopes to get out next week. He has been receiving physical therapy twice a day and pretty much has his fine motor skills back. Walking is still a struggle, which isn't surprising since he was still recovering from back surgery when he had the TIA. I really appreciated all your well-wishes and prayers! What an amazing group of people you are, Running Blogger Friends! I Said I Was Not... But I Did Last week, I blogged that I was not going to run until the marathon in order to give my knee and heel a chance to recover. Well, today I broke down and ran. I felt I needed it since it's been such a stressful week and because I'm dealing with the how-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-this-marathon-if-I-don't-run jitters. My group was scheduled to do six miles today. My kids s...

Today my four year old "trimmed" our cat's whiskers. Poor kitty. Sigh... I need to run!

Saturday's 10 Mile Taper Run It is often said that running is a mental sport. I believe that. Yesterday's group run was 10 miles and I have to say, it was more difficult in some ways than the 21 miles the week before. My perceived difficulty most likely came from these sources: Although the run was partially along the Mission Bay area, much of the run was not very attractive. We hardly ran along the beauty of the ocean at all. Instead, we ran through neighborhoods with too much traffic and bad roads. It was overcast. While that made it cooler, it also made the run more dreary. I had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to meet my group by 6:00. I was TIRED! The biggest factor was my own frame-of-mind. Before the run, I thought of it this way, "Oh, it's just 10 miles. Easy-cheesy! Compared to last week, this will be a quick little jaunt along the coast." The problem with that frame-of-mind is, 10 miles is still 10 miles! It still takes time to run that distance. In ...

Why am I up? I have to get up early and do 10 miles tomorrow. I still need to get my stuff ready. It's 9:50 p.m. here and I have to get up at 5:00 a.m. Guess I better get off of blogger. G'nite all! Have a great weekend of running, racing, doing nothing, or whatever is on your agenda!

My New Pal As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I am now keeping track of what I eat. I'm hoping to lose 5 pounds, which will put me at my ideal weight & help decrease the size of the muffin-top that hangs over my lower-rise jeans... aren't all jeans lower-rise, these days? A couple of you suggested FitDay as a tool to keep track of my food and calories. I checked it out but found it to be slow and had too many ads. I did some searching around and found another free food journal site called MyFitnessPal . So far, I like it. It's easy to use and there are lots of different types and brands of food in their database. What?! I've Already Had That Many Calories?! One thing I've noticed with my eating habits is that I eat a lot of calories for breakfast. I love breakfast! It is my second favorite meal... dessert being my all-time favorite meal. I consume too much cereal, too much creamer with my coffee, and too much chocolate in my milk. Today was even...

As I write this, my four year old is in his room. He was banished to his room because of his naughty behavior and because he needed to cool down. Yes, my adorable snuggle-bug can be a firecracker! And when he explodes... watch out!! His four minute time-out was finished several minutes ago, but he refuses to come out. I think he thinks he is punishing me by not coming out. Ha ha ha... I'll just let him think that. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying some peace and quiet. A perfect time to write a blog that is sure to bore everyone to tears. Heck, it will probably bore me to tears. The thing is, I need to get strong, do my physical therapy exercises, and keep up my cardiovascular work. I also need to drop about 5 pounds... five very stubborn pounds. I decided it might help if I make a list of my workout plans and keep track of what I eat. I figured it might help even more if I share my lists with you. Now, don't get so excited... I'm not much of a list person and many of my...

When I say "behind", I'm not referring to my Gluteus Maximus. I'm talking about my reading of blogs. That's what happens when I have a life for a couple of days. I really enjoy reading everyone's blogs! I get so much encouragement from my running blogger friends and I find myself wondering what is going on with you all. With that said, I have to plan my grocery shopping for the day. Yes, more "life" getting in the way of my blog reading.

Heck, I think I should pack up my bags and head out to Vegas... I'm on a winning streak, here. I just got an email from Amy at the Runners' Lounge informing me I am one of the winners of the book, Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti. In order to win the book, I had to finish one of three sentences about moms and running. I chose to finish "Running and motherhood are a lot alike..." I finished it this way: Running and motherhood are a lot alike... both push you beyond limits you never thought you could reach. Both come with good days and bad days. Both make you question your sanity. Both come hand-in-hand with hurt. Mostly, both result in rewards far greater than ever expected. I don't know if the winners were drawn randomly or if they actually read what people wrote. Either way, I don't care... I've wanted to read this book ever since I read about it on another blogger's site (I just can't remember who wrote about it... anyone else know...

Exhausted Right now, as I write this, I am exhausted. But it's a good exhausted. It's the kind of exhausted you get after going a distance longer than you ever thought possible. It is an invigorating kind of exhausted. Twenty-one Miles and Still Smiling! I'm sure there are people out there who would label me as crazy for thinking getting up at 4 in the morning and run-walking 21 miles is great fun. I know you don't think that, RBFs . You are all crazy, too! And it really was fun! I ended up with three other girls who were going at the same pace I was going. Better yet, they were run-walking like me. We decided on 3 minute walk:3 minute run as our walk:run interval. One of the girls had a Garmin so it was even easier to keep track of our pace. I ended up going on ahead of the group at about half-way through because I felt their walking pace was a tad slow for me. I felt like we were out on a leisurely stroll every three minutes. I didn't mind too much, t...

Kudos to Online Shoes I got my shoes from Online Shoes today! First of all, let me say that I was very happy with the service I received from Online Shoes. I had a question about the gift certificate transferred to me by Christy at Run Like a Girl . I emailed my question and received a very prompt, helpful reply. After I placed my online order, I accidentally canceled it(duh!). The lady I spoke with at the customer service center was not just helpful, she was very friendly. I like that I had no problem reaching an actual human being! The shipping is free if you have it sent via UPS Ground. I received my new shoes and the running skirt I ordered today... just three days after I ordered them. I must say, I am impressed with Online Shoes. My Saucony Grid Excursions TR3 s Now that I've established how happy I am with Online Shoes, I'll tell you what I think of the shoes I ordered through them. When I first put them on, I was a little concerned that they didn't fit... ...

All I Want for Mother's Day My husband has been asking me for days what I want for Mother's Day. I usually know exactly what I want, but with the budget being tight and the fact that I don't really need anything, I was having a hard time trying to decide. I'm happy to report... because I know each of you is just dying to know... that I figured out what I want. I told my husband that I want to sign up for the Surf City USA Half Marathon . I can't sign up until June 1st Um, never mind... I just signed up!! I've been visiting the website every couple days (including last night) and it has only been open to past participants. I wasn't supposed to be able to sign up until June but they must have changed that. Woo-hoo!! So, Happy Mother's Day to me! The race isn't until February 7, 2010 but that's just fine with me. With the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll still up in the air for me, I will have this race to help keep me motivated... and...

Huh?! So... I'm watching The Biggest Loser right now. The contestants have to run 26 miles as part of a challenge. They have 26 days to train. Am I the only one who feels uncomfortable about this? I mean, these people have done incredible things, but a marathon?! It's not that I don't think they can do it, but it seems unhealthy to me. But then, who am I to say? I'm no running expert... just someone who over-did it in the training and am suffering the consequences of that. My Workout I made it to the gym today. My plans were to do strength training for my upper body and then do a run on the treadmill. The whole time I was doing my upper body work, I was looking forward to trying out my new shoes and logging in some miles. Once on the treadmill, I warmed up by walking a lap and then upped the speed to running level. I could not do it! It was not just the pain in my right leg, which I'm used to... it was my left leg rebelling this afternoon! It didn'...

Here's the Deal I have eaten more Peanut M & Ms today than I care to admit. There were lots of small bags of them left over from my son's birthday party yesterday. They are yummy. Very. Yummy. I think they are all gone now and that's a good thing. New Shoes! After my group run on Saturday, I was chatting with my friend, Elvi, about knees and shoes. She has very similar knee issues to mine. Elvi was sharing how much she loves her Asics GT-2140 s . I mentioned that I had tried those but traded them in for a pair of Asics GEL-Kayano 15 s due to ankle pain. Elvi looked a little surprised and told me how she tried those until her knee pain got unbearable and her sports doctor told her the Kayanos are more suited for people who are heavier than she is... the Kayanos' cushioning is only effective if you have enough weight to place enough pressure on the cushion (or something like that). I'm a little heavier than Elvi... she practically disappears if you turn...

My Longest Distance! Today was our group long-run... my longest distance at 14 miles (I missed the group's 16 and 18 mile runs). I'm going to use this blog to share some of the things I learned on this long-run Saturday. Fourteen things I learned since the time I woke up... one for each mile I ran/walked today: It's dark at 4:35 a.m. when the alarm goes off. It's still dark at 4:45 when the alarm goes off again. Hitting the snooze button makes you late. Instant coffee isn't half bad... when you're desperate. Don't wash your running clothes the night before, chances are they won't be dry. Plain Greek yogurt with ground flax seed is not a yummy breakfast. Just because the running skirt looked awesome on the size 0 model, that does not mean it will look as good on a size 6 (or 8 depending on the time of month) real-shaped woman. It's good to shuffle your feet when walking through a dark house in order to avoid stepping on the cat. It's still dark a...

It may not have been pretty. In fact, it probably provoked the pity of passers-by. It wasn't the best feeling of my life. But I did it. For better or for worse, I did it. Yes, folks... for the first time in weeks, I ran . If you can call it that. My left leg ran while my right leg grudgingly tried to keep up. I tried to run like a graceful gazelle, effortlessly bounding along the road. That's not me. Now, imagine this tortoise limping along... That's me. Don't worry... I am exaggerating. It was not that bad. I tried to do a repeat of my Tuesday walk, except faster. I walked faster and since I was feeling pretty good... and because I got jealous of people running past me... I decided to give running a try. I started slow and stayed slow. It was labored, a little limpy, but so lovely! When I felt too labored & limpy, I walked. I mostly walked the 4.6 miles. I ended up with a pace of 14:58. A heck of a lot better than my 18:something pace on Tuesday * ...