I Am A Marathoner!!!

This adventure started in a bar (where most important decisions are made) in February 2010. A couple of things had happened just prior to that night… I had started the Couch-to-5k program that I had been considering for a while. I had also found a friend from my childhood (thank you Facebook) that was an avid runner, more so than I knew at that point. So I mention to Brenda that I was doing the C25k program and she asked which 5k I was going to do. What? Actually do an event? Like with people? A beer or two later I had agreed to a 5k in Seattle in September. We had such a fun trip that when a Half Marathon in Portland in May was suggested, I was in! Silly me, I signed up for my second half before tackling my first. I recall commenting that I was doing things out of order – none of my friends tried to talk sense into me. Perhaps I should have talked things out with my non-runner friends :) I suffered a mental and emotional set back in my training for my third and I ended up sitting out that race. I swore I would never, ever pay a race fee and not finish the race again! So my actual third turned out to be in Seattle, the same day Brenda was doing her first full. Oh my, it was pouring rain the entire time! I was so excited to finish and shower and be back at the finish line for her I ran my heart out! I missed my PR by less than a minute, but considering all the hills in Seattle vs. no hills in Portland, I was ecstatic about my finish time!

Then came the decision to run my own first marathon! The fun and excitement of training with Brenda for hers was just too enticing! We discussed it for the entire month of December, agreeing that we would make the commitment right before midnight on New Year’s Eve. Armed with a strong beverage, I hit “submit” and I was going to be a Marathoner!

So the Friday before the marathon I was on cloud 9! I was excited and getting all my errands run and set out my race gear and fixed the lawn tractor and used the lawn tractor and and and… I realized I was overly excited when a friend told me meth was bad for me! Too funny! I went out with some friends to celebrate a birthday, with a glass of water, or four and was home in bed at a reasonable hour.

Saturday was not so fun. I woke under a very black cloud after having a reoccurring nightmare that was more vivid than ever. I was really bummed and laid back down and woke up again 2 minutes before I was supposed to meet some friends for a swim. I was even more bummed and now two hours behind to get everything done. I had to miss my friends and the pool in lieu of making a play list for the marathon, which of course took longer than planned. I had an appointment at noon, then went to packet pick up, and finally the park for Sophie’s birthday party. As the party wrapped up, anxiety set in. I had completed everything except sleeping and running. I had nothing else to think about. I just wanted to hurry up and go to bed already! Just as I crawled in bed (you know at the super late hour of 8pm) I got a text from a friend that she was at the hospital with her daughter and her first grandbaby was on the way! I went to sleep filled with excitement, and nerves, and excitement!

I woke at 12:17 am in a complete panic! I was certain they were going to name that baby Ezmerelda! It took over an hour and a half to fall back to sleep. I thought about every single thing on the planet, it seemed! Then came the crazy dream… I was an hour and a half late for the race, my cell phone was dead so I couldn’t tell Brenda, I forgot Body Glide and was desperately searching for some, and it turned out to be more of an adventure race than a marathon. I remember trying to climb a hill, on my stomach, actually scurrying along a rope on dirt, holding a hose in my left hand while my team mates were pouring water down it from the top of the hill… When the alarm clock went off I could not wait to get up and end that dream!

About a week before the marathon I had a complete and total meltdown and decided to switch to the early start with the walkers. This way I knew I would have enough time to complete the marathon without having to panic. With the early start, I wasn’t eligible to place (you know take 1^st or 2^nd) and I wouldn’t qualify for Boston. Gee – I think I can handle those penalties!

Up and at’em at 4:30 in the morning. Dress. Apply Body Glide. Eat yogart. Text Brenda about my crazy dream. She too had crazy dreams. We had a good laugh. I looked at the clock, 5:15, holy crap! Why am I still in my kitchen when I start in 15 minutes? I head out the door in a panic. Realistically I live like 2 minutes from the start line, so I was being quite silly. Brenda and Fenway came down to cheer me on! So sweet! I couldn’t remember the name I had thought they were going to name the baby. About mile 4 it came to me and I texted Brenda just the name. She laughed knowing exactly what it meant! I had fully intended to dedicate miles to people and I did to an extent, but things got fuzzy and some people got extra miles and some people shared miles and the like. It all worked out in the end. Mile 1 was for Mom and Dad because without them I could have never started this journey. Three was for Sophie, because she is almost 3. Michelle was 4 and Emily 5. Heidi claimed 9 and Nicola 14. I chose 16 for Cindy and 19 was for Heidi’s “lil bean.” Sneaky lil Ada picked 21 and Brenda chose 23 (because 34 wasn’t an option – sorry darling, not running 8 more just to dedicate your number to you!) 26 was mine. All mine!

So I am running and speed walking (yes, silly looking speed walking) and running and walking. I had a number on the Garmin that I did not want to see, so if I got that slow I made myself run. I felt great! I was beyond ecstatic with my time for the first 15 miles. I was 2-3 minutes faster than my training pace and delighted. My friend Kevin was at the top of Bennett Hill cheering on the girls he had been training! He cheered for me too! Brenda started at the normal time and I had tried to do the math on when she would pass me. Her pace vs mine. Plus the head start. All the numbers made me dizzy so I started guessing. I finally got to see her right around mile 16. I had already hit the turnaround at Higgins Point and was making my way back towards town. She had made a big deal about texting each other every 5 miles. Said it was a mental thing for her on her first marathon to break it up into 5 mile increments. So I just went along with it and sent her a picture of each sign as I passed. I knew her boyfriend was going to be cheering for us at 20 miles. I was ready to see another familiar face! Then, at 19ish, I look up and there is the cutest little pregnant friend alongside the course. I haven’t seen her in years, but well, we Facebook. She cheered when she saw me! It was awesome! Then I saw the 20 mile sign and looked down the hill and saw Dan. Right where he said he’d be. Cheering! Yay! I turned the corner and there was my lil pregnant friend again. This time she walked out onto the course to high-five me! I loved it!

On I go. My left IT band started to ache. My pace had slowed. I was going about a minute per mile slower than I did the first 15. I wanted to go faster, but I was okay with this pace too. Making my way back down to Sanders beach and I turn the corner and see the biggest bright pink sign that has my name on it! At first I thought it was cool someone else in the race shared my name. Then I realized that sign was for me!! My darling friend Ada, who I also have not seen in years (but we Facebook), had come out to cheer me on! Her darling little girl was waving to me and little Asher Man, well he was hanging out in the stroller. I wanted to cry. Okay, I did. Then I was mad at myself for not taking a picture. I was too in shock! I almost turned around to go back for a picture. I kept going. Brenda finally passed me just a few minutes later. I asked if she saw the sign for me on the corner. “Oh, Ada, yeah I called her when you passed mile 15.” Yes, I cried again. They were in cahoots! Soooo this is why I had to check in every 5 miles. This is why Ada chose mile 21. My friends rock!

I continued on and around mile 23 my IT band was really hurting. I wanted to cry. Like I hadn’t done that already this race. My breathing was labored. I stopped at the city park to refill my water bottle and stretch my IT. I kept going. I wasn’t really enjoying this anymore. A marathon should only be 23 miles. I’m gonna start a petition! Then I started trying to talk myself down from this ledge of frustration. While I was awake in the night I had told myself that no matter how hard things got, I wasn’t allowed to hate any part of this race and so far I had done a really great job following my own rule. I had to point out to myself that while I hurt badly, my body was far from giving out on me. My labored breathing was just ridiculous. It was just some pain. I was really blowing things out of proportion. This kinda worked for me. I had slowed down quite a bit thought. Mile 24 went better. Mile 25 was my favorite. Sort of. See my Garmin told me I had hit each mile marker 4/10’s of a mile before I reached the official race sign. So the first time I reached 25 I was excited because I knew I was done. Even if I had to 911 my friends to carry me to the finish line, they would! Then I got to “their” 25 sign and was frustrated. When my Garmin hit 26.2 I wanted to sit on the pavement in protest. I’m done! Dammit, I can’t have my medal if I do that!

As I approached the last turn I see Michelle standing there with a sign “Run like you stole it.” I laughed! I got thru the finish line. Garmin said 26.65. There was Brenda! Big hug! I hadn’t even gotten my medal yet! I love you girl, but let me have my medal! Hehehe! My sister was right behind her. And Brenda’s Mom and her dog Sparky. And Dan of course. Then there was Nicola and Matt and Emily and Sophie. I immediately forgot all pains! I downed a bunch of water and in true celebratory style, we hit the beer garden! Home for the ice bath. It was colder than I remember. Then there were gifts! Michelle is getting me a race photo. If I don’t like any of me, she said I could pick one of anyone in the race. Hahaha! My sister got me the coolest medal hanger…

And Brenda had this made for me…

Okay, we’ve agreed the yellow is a bit much, but that was the bib color so I love it! She got a hold of the race director and they scanned a bib and sent it to her for the plaque. She went and picked up the medal in advance too. Totally ruined the surprise for her. She loves herself a medal. It’s part of the fun for her to see what they chose for the design. She ran 26.2 miles and didn’t get her surprise. I was in shock. I really love it!

I spent the afternoon with my sister and friends and just enjoyed every second of it. That evening I sat in Nicola’s back yard and watched her girls run around the back yard and cheered for them! It was the perfect day!

Today I am sore. I’m still smiling. I am so happy to have achieved this goal!

Will I do it again someday?

Something’s Gone missing …

Please be on the look out… for my legs… or more specifically for the muscles that comprise them… they were absent for class today!!

My, oh my, was that a rough run! I felt as though I was running on logs instead of legs the entire time. It was as though I didn’t have any muscles. Just logs. Not the heavy bricks-for-legs feeling that signifies dehydration. Logs. Except when I walked, then it seemed as though I had gummy legs with really big shoes. I kept envisioning Goofy, possibly a drunk Goofy, swinging his legs in front of him and plopping down his big feet. I don’t know why.

Weird. Rough. Done.

I alternated between frustration and hysterical laughter. I sang along with the music. Sometimes out loud. The highlight being around mile 16 when I thought I was all alone on the trail, singing loud and possibly off key and looked up and there was my friend. Oops!!

I had a ton of random thoughts while I was out there. Here is a sampling…

1 – I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the very last person in the marathon. You know the one that is followed by an emergency vehicle. I have a rule about being followed by the PoPo. It’s not allowed. Ever. I would hate to be followed by an Ambulance because I would be certain they were just itching for me to collapse. Therefore, I would like to be followed by firemen please. If anyone can make this happen, I’d be grateful.

2 – I loved being cheered on during my run! A couple of cyclists happened by at different points in my run and shouted my name! It was just cool!

3 – I reflected back to a 14 mile run where I suffered a very odd, very excruciating pain on the top of my foot. I woke the next morning and actually had a bruise. So bizarre. I told a friend, who told a friend, who told a friend, which resulted in an unexpected, very supportive phone call from a guy who runs like 700 miles a day. After sharing the incident with him, it turned out my shoe was tied too tight. Oops!

4 – People are so supportive. I always downgrade my successes by saying “well I walked a lot.” Turns out that really doesn’t matter to anyone but me. 20 miles impressive. Run. Walk. Whatever. It’s a long way.

5 – I am the only one who cares that I haven’t lost any weight during this training. Oddly I am the only reason I haven’t lost any weight during this training. Interesting. Very, very interesting.

6 – I stopped to take this picture. Just two little flowers hanging out in the pavement. Required getting the right angle so I wasn’t shadowing them. Oh and bending over. That hurts during a long run. A lot.

After I finally got the picture I wanted, I looked across the trail and there were thousands more. I just had to laugh!

7 – I love the support I get from those of you reading this! I blither on and on and on and you keep coming back for more! YOUR success stories motivate me! Keep ‘em coming!!

8 – I’m terrified I won’t make the finish line before they pack it up. Super terrified.

9 – I laugh that I keep saying I’m not going to sign up for anything more, then find myself committed to another event. It’s addicting.

10 – I’m really excited that my next “race” is totally different from anything else I have done! It’s a relay! I get to run 5 miles three times in a 30ish hour period. One run is guaranteed to be in the heat of the day and one in the black of night. Training for this race will be totally different!!

11 – I’m slightly bummed at the thought of not running Seattle this year. I can’t explain why, but Seattle has been my favorite race so far. With the trip to San Fran a month before for the Nike Women’s Half… it’s just a lot to cram into a short time, particularly money-wise.

12 – On my very last lap I had to stop and look at this…

Do you see him?

Here, let me zoom in…

The most determined dog ever. He had a goal and nothing was going to deter him. Not the really steep rough to the water. Not the swim out to the middle of the lake (or so it would seem to a dog). He was swift and determined. He got his prize. I shall be like the dog. Swift(ish) and determined. I want my medal!!

13 – I wonder what I will do with my Sunday mornings all summer. I mean without long runs… it’s almost a little sad to consider, actually.

14 – I have been beyond blessed with a wonderful training buddy. She pushes me and encourages me and tells me I’m being dumb when I am. She also credits me with motivating her, which blows my mind!

15 – I’m excited and scared and proud. I’m really looking forward to that finish line! Please, oh please don’t let them pack it up before I get there!!

I'm Alive!!

The Big Two-Oh!

Freaky!

Very Freaky!

The day before the Big Two-Oh I realized that denial was working for me for once in my life! I can name a million times where it hasn’t, but where running is involved, I seem to over-think things. Denial is totally helping with that!

Throughout this training I have attempted to stay, well, let’s just say properly hydrated. That is until this past week.

Wagon.

Me.

Fell.

Hard.

I was a little concerned that I had given myself another reason to be a little concerned. Damage is done. Can’t change the past. Look ahead. So I did.

We had planned to incorporate Bloomsday into our 20 miler. Initially we were going to complete our extra 12.5 after the community event, but a last minute change of plans worked out really great for us!

The night before the run I was very anxious. I went to bed without having actually mapped out my run. I had a general idea. We had run in Spokane the week prior just for this reason. I hadn’t seen it on paper. I didn’t have my index card. I was panicked.

A short chat with a friend and all of that was resolved. I still didn’t sleep well. I was nervous. Excited. Nervous. Pre-race nights are often hard to sleep through. Anxiety about oversleeping and all. Never fear, I woke at 4:41 am – 4 minutes before the alarm was to go off. Lovely.

I dress. I drive. I spend far too much time trying to decide where to park. The business parking lot right in front of the “violators will be towed” sign? The neighborhood with more cars on cinderblocks than on tires? Decisions. Decisions. I found a street that contained neither. Winner!!

6:15 I’m off. Strolling. Strolling. I’m pretty sure the idea of running (alone) in this “top-notch” part of town, at some unfathomable early hour, fed my anxiety a bit. Quickly finding familiar territory and plink, It turned out to be a beautiful and peaceful morning. (Note: After my run, I learned some statistics of this “top-notch” area… they weren’t pretty).

At one point I stop to stretch my IT bands. I’m holding onto a stop sign for balance and someone stops to ask me how Bloomsday was going to affect traffic in his neighborhood. Uh. Well. I made up some answer that must have sounded legit because he went on his way appearing quite content.

I looked at my phone at this point and saw that my running buddy had gotten to Spokane early and was going to start running early. Crap. She’s ruining my plans! See, Speedy Gonzales and I had coordinated start times so we would both arrive at the Bloomsday start line at the same time.

I spent miles and miles doing mental math to determine when she would pass me. I was at mile 3 when she texted and she runs X miles a minute and the sun rises in the east and oh hell! I don’t know. I finally decided I would see her at mile 7. Or 8. Definitely mile 7 or 8.

Whenever I was waiting at an intersection, I would look back. No friend. Sad. Shouldn’t she be here by now? Maybe she is running slower than normal. That’s healthy on these super long runs. Maybe I’m running faster than normal. Oh I just crack myself up!

I step into the street to pick up a penny and glance back and see a white shirt at the intersection behind me. It’s my friend! I mean I only saw a glimpse of white. Never mind there were dozens of people making their way to Bloomsday. It really could have been anyone. I didn’t see hair color. I didn’t see body structure. Just a two second glance and knew it was my friend.

Friend didn’t realize she had been seen. She snuck up alongside me, accused me of stealing her penny, and she was off.

I was behind. Again. Miles 10 and 11 were crazy hard. I got back to my car at 10.1. Emptied the rocks from my shoes. GU’d – or rather Clif Shot’d – I think I like those better. Anyway – I continued on. Those rough miles had really messed up my time and I decided to scrap the plan of getting the additional 2.5 miles before Bloomsday and took the first right I could and made my way downtown.

I finally got to the race course and ended up a color group behind. I was bummed. I knew I was going to have to deal with walkers and leap over children in my color group, but now I was even further back. I didn’t get to meet up with my friend and wish her a good Bloomsday. Bummed. Plus we had another friend joining us. He brought us space blankets to keep us warm while waiting to cross the start line. I didn’t get to wish him a good run either. Really bummed. Then I dropped all my plink on the ground.

Picture it – some fraction of 48,000 making their way to the start line and then there is me. Crawling around picking up pennies. And a nickel. And a dime. People were kind, pointing out where they had rolled. They looked at me like I was crazy when I thanked them and told them I had been collecting them for 12 miles.

And we’re off. Runners are on the left. On the curb. Sidewalk. Grass. Wherever they could. Walkers dominated the street. I jumped over small children and scurried around walkers. I was frustrated. I was tired. I was HOT. Who the hell wears black on a sunny day? Never mind it was 36 degrees out when I started. Okay, I made that up. I didn’t actually look at the temperature, but it was forecasted to be something like that.

Around mile 14 I knew that if there was ever a day I would quit, this would have been it. I’m not certain as to why. I think the whole cattle-car concept was really wearing on me. Plus, I’m pretty sure I looked like I was dying. That frustrated me even more. No one could understand why I looked like hell just 3 miles into Bloomsday. I wanted to show them my Garmin. See?! I’m at 15 miles. I have a right to look like this. Hey, old man, slow down, you’re making me feel like a wimp here!

Alas, quitting wasn’t an option. Bloomsday doesn’t provide a cab service. I had to keep going. I watched my watch closely as 18.00 passed. I was excited and reenergized by the new longer than ever distance.

Then there was 19.00! It was beautiful!

I finished the race. Stopped to hug a college friend that volunteers every year. Pushed my way thru the t-shirt tables. I needed just a little more mileage to hit that magic number!

20.00

I stop my Garmin. I am nowhere near my car. I had forgotten my ID and beer $. I trudge my way up to the car. Unfortunately during all our adventures, my friends’ tire had gone flat. So, Speedy Gonzales and Even Speedier Gonzales dealt with all that while I finished up my run.

All said and done, my super awesome, super amazing friends had an ice cold beer waiting for me when I finally caught up to them.

I just kept wandering around saying “I’m Alive!”

I’m pretty sure I thought that 20 miles was going to kill me. I was in denial though, so I didn’t really realize it.

I just kept wandering around saying “I’m Alive!”

Could I have done another 6.2 miles?

Yes.

It wouldn’t have been pretty.

I would have survived.

Today I feel great.

Really great.

I’m bummed.

I could have pushed harder.

I have one more week of 20.

Then a 10.

Then the real deal.

I’m excited.

Oh so nervous.

But still excited.

At least for today…