Yesterday's official time...

...2:12:38!! 10:13 pace. 86th in age group out of 155. My October 4 marathon was 2:16:36...so I shaved a little less than F-O-U-R minutes off my time. Not too shabby. Now, to get to 2:10...then 2:05..then under 2.

November 27 - Outback 1/2 Marathon

Galloway Girls - Rachel, me, Laura

Me and Will, pre-prace


Katrine (1:41!!!) and myself and Laura (2:13)

Carabba's pasta dinner & sourdough bread last night, lots of water and orange Gatorade, and then peanut butter toast and banana this morning. It was about 46 degrees, clear skies for the start of the race. After much deliberation I decided on a long sleeve dri-fit shirt, running shorts, and gloves (ditched those after about 1/2 a mile). After Katrine, Laura and I waited in a long line for the port-o-pottys (and we were in the leftmost line...however no one mentioned the second one was "out of commission" b/c someone had "gone" all over the...floor?! Who does that, seriously?), we warmed up, stretched a little and got into line. Some 4,000 runners took their mark for the half marathon, meeting those doing the 6k race. We ran past some huge houses and the whole course was shaded and beautiful. Laura ran off to use the bathroom around mile 4, but met back up a few miles later. We ran until 6 miles in, then took a one-minute break every mile. I had some Sport Beans, and then my trusty banana Hammerfuel at mile 9, and water and Powerade along the course. Around mile 8 1/2 we saw a huge horse...wearing a plaid dress. Not sure if it weirder to see a horse in a dress, or the fact that it was plaid. Not sure. It was very bizarre, and I made sure to check with Laura. Yup, she saw it too. My other favorite sight of the day was around mile 2, we saw a much older man that was poured/packed/stuffed (you choose) into the tiniest black shorts ever. He'll need the Jaws of Life to get out of those later! The course took a one-mile loop at mile 10-11, then we zig-zagged our way out of neighborhoods. At mile 12 was Jennifer, my co-worker, yelling and cheered me on. It was so great to see a familiar face. And Laura and I knew we were really almost there. (or so we hoped!) We turned a corner and into the sun we went, it was warm but nice on our faces. A bit further, a group of small kids yelled "one more turn!" around mile 12 1/2, and after that turn, was indeed, one more turn and into the finish we went. Laura and I sprinted, Katrine snapped a photo from the finish line, and we finished somewhere around 2:13 - beating my previous time of 2:16! Will came over and gave me a huge hug and "congrats" but I needed water more than anything. As I took my chip off my shoe and got my medal I was lightheaded and felt like I may faint. That passed and we crossed the street (who puts the Gatorade and fruit/bagels/beer across from the race???) and I secured some orange slices and was good to go. It was wonderful weather. Rachel, from our Galloway group, beat us - 2:08, running the Galloway method (see, it works!). But we had fun and pushed ourselves. Now...time for some pumpkin pie!! Happy Thanksgiving.

Ice bath, post-race. Nothing like getting into a cold bathtub when it's 60 degrees out. Burrrr.

A special treat - Nov. 23 edition

This is my blister. I know you don't want to be so up close and personal with it, but it's not cool. And it really needs to go away. It's been here for 8 days nows and has outstayed its welcome.

November 22 - Burrrrrrrr! - 6 miles

Laura, Blythe, Hannah, Me, Kelly, Melissa

"38 degrees - feels like 30 degrees" is what was staring back at me on weather.com this morning before braving the elements and tackling a 6 miler downtown with group 3. I departed, after toast and PB, in Nike yoga pants, a Northface fleece, kid's mittens, ear coverers. We started off and ran over one bridge, then into a neighborhood, and back over another bridge. I met Kelly, from NY, and her friend (Melissa?) who just joined the group and are doing the half marathon. Blythe, Laura and I chatted about Blythe's big blind date tonight which was humorous enough to make us forget how chilly it was outside. The run went well, and I played doubles tennis for an hour and a half afterwards but it seemed much colder during that. Burrr!

 

November 21 - 2.5 miles

Slept in this morning, went to work. Had a celebratory lunch at Cantina Laredo (yum) for completing a big project - indulged in chips, salsa,  more chips and salsa and then an amazing enchilada and rice and beans. After work went to the gym with a co-worker and ran 2.5 miles (in 24 minutes) then played basketball. Blisters on big toes are growing in size -- I think there may be a small nation forming in the right one...but only 6 miles to deal with in the morning. And it is cold out there. Burrr.

Nov. 18 & 20 - a combined 12 miles

Tuesday I went to the gym after work, after a very busy day, and ran 7 miles in about 70 minutes, including walk breaks. Felt good, HR was low, got up to 8 MPH at the end. Hadn't been to the gym in the afternoon to run in months. Enjoyed the change of scenery, and was also able to secure my "favorite" end treadmill. This morning (Thursday), after taking yesterday off, I ran 5 miles in about 51 minutes, including walk breaks. HR was higher but felt considerably fine despite that. Could be from less than 7 hours of sleep, or from a small dinner last night. So, that's 12 for this week so far and not even up to Saturday's 18 yet!

November 17 - "Run faster!"

The two blisters on my big toes from Saturday's run aren't much fun. The perks of running I guess. I went to the gym and did the bike for 15 minutes then was going to jog, but the blisters weren't really having it. I did a bit more than a mile. An older man came up to me and smiled, "Run faster!" I laughed and said "well, I ran 18 miles Saturday so this is as fast as I'm going to go today." (and I was running 6.0 mph - that's not exactly a crawl  is it?) I explained it was more about endurance rather than speed, when training for a marathon. He paused and said ...."oh, you're one of those." And walked away. A few minutes later he was there again and informed me that his daughter had run 19 marathons. I told him I was training for my first, and that I'd gauge if I was up for another 18 marathons after I finish this one....

November 15 - 18 MILES!

      

Donna Deegan (it's her marathon) and then me post-18 miles!

I did it! After a not-so-substantial dinner and certainly not enough shuteye, I was able to pull out 18 glorious miles. I was up at 4, but managed to eat some toast/pb/banana at 5:30 and met up with the group at 7. The first four miles it rained, and appeared to put a damper (no pun intended) on my already worn down mood. Thankfully it stopped by mile 5, and the temperature was perfect (mid-70s) where we dropped off the half marathon group to their cars and were told "Okay, it's time for your 13-mile cool-down." Oh, fun. We ran up and over two bridges, and then into San Marco all the way to Epping Forrest Yacht Club and back to the starting point. (for those not in Jax...this is f-a-r) Thankfully the water stops and Powerade stops were plentiful. I had some Sport Beans at about an hour and then my trusted banana Hammerfuel 2 hours in. I wasn't hungry but knew I needed to have something. Summer was there and kept me company for most of the run, and Laura and Sarah joined the group too from our old group. We all chatted and kept each other's hopes up. The sun came out around mile 13 and was warm, beating down on our already soaked bodies. It was long (4 hours and 4 minutes for Group 4 - fitting!), and my feet are tired (wore the newer 1223s for the first long run), but the accomplishment is very satisfying: 18 miles...over and done like that. 

Voices

The schedule reads "18 miles" for this morning. I haven't slept a combined 18 minutes all night. I'm hungry, but I'm not. I'm tired, but awake. Part anxiety, part complication. I still haven't made up my mind about these 18 miles. One side says...you're jittery, tired, beat down from a week to end all weeks. Another says...what if all those people you told you were running 18 miles ask how it went? One says....you have to go, but maybe you can just do the five miles with the half marathon group and then worry about the other 13 (13!?) later. And yet another says...you can do this, you've been through tougher things lately, this will be a good time to clear your mind - you can give 18 miles. I don't know how to respond; which voice to listen to. And since I don't run with headphones or an iPod or MP3 player, it's just me out there. Me and my thoughts for 18 long miles. That is harder than the physical act of running 18 miles. I really don't want to make deals with myself, I know I need to honor the commitment. The commitment is just proving to be harder than I would have ever imagined. Amongst other things.

November 13 - 5.85 miles

After taking yesterday off to sleep in, today was the last run before the looming 18 miler coming up on Saturday. I did 5.85 miles in an hour, and average HR was 168 and average speed was 5.8 m.p.h. Since I do no wear headphones while running (whether inside, or out) and occasionally instead of watching the treadmill's "odometer," I'll watch the morning news. Since there's also no closed captioning, so it can be boring sometimes to watch (i.e. today's segment on the largest ball of twine), or even depressing (crime, murder, car accidents, etc.). Today I decided I'd make up my own stories for each segment. A SWAT standoff - well, that would end peacefully. Two ladies and their Christmas bazaar - well, they're selling stuffed reindeers of course. Whatever makes the time go by faster, I guess...right?

Nov. 11 - 5.8 miles

With about 7 1/2 hours of sleep under my belt, I braced myself for the dreadmill this morning. Since I only ran 1 mile yesterday before doing weights, I knew I had to step it up a notch today. Warmed up for a few, then ran 1 mile, walked 1 minute, then walked every now and again intermittently - finishing 5.8 miles in 60 minutes. Lisa joined me around mile 2.5 for 20 minutes, so that made the middle mileage go by a bit quicker.

Awesomness.

Check it. This Nike commercial is well done...

"I have a headache...shin splints...homework. It's too dark...too cold...too dangerous...not in my genes. My dog is sick. I ate too much for breakfast. I'm bloated. I got a case of the Mondays. Tuesdays. Wednesdays. My blister hurts." 

8 miles on the 8th

Peanut butter toast and banana, and out the door to an 8-miler back at one of the locations we visited in the first weeks of the program for 4 miles. My buds from group 3, Laura and Rachel, were M.I.A. this morning so I decided to try group 4 instead. I was happy to see my friend Blythe, who just started in the half marathon program, and she also joined group 4. About half a mile into the run, all groups were about to cross over a small bridge when the sirens sounded and down came the arms - we were all stopped for a few minutes. Then later, when were heading back we heard those same sirens but a brave Blythe yelled "let's go - just go!" and we all hesitantly sprinted across the drawbridge towards safe ground. At the four-mile mark we got water and turned around and did it again. Kurtis was videotaping our group in action today for his blog. Aside from his urging us to tell jokes, at one point we were told to participate in a symphony and play make believe instruments - first the violin, then a flute, then a cello and eventually a  clarinet. (yes, he has this on film...) That'll be one interesting video. But today was fun, the girls in group 4 - Hannah, Helen, Megan, Blythe, etc. - were chatty, and the weather was great - 62 degrees with 90% humidity with an overcast sky.

And then there were three....

Kim, Carey & Caron

For our quarterly marketing newsletter at work, this photo was snapped of the "three marketeers" that completed the Oct. 4 Marine Corps. Three out of 130 people....not bad.

November 5 - 3.8 miles

I woke up at 5, snoozed for a few, got up, got my gym clothes on - then decided I was not going to the gym and not in the mood to run (seems to be the trend, as of late). So I showered and went to work early, swearing to run after work instead. Thankfully I was able to accomplish my goal and headed out for a 3.8 mile jaunt. I walked 3 times for a minute each time and finished in under 40 minutes. Another day.

November 3 - 5 miles

Up at 5:10 today and on the treadmill at 5:30. Jogged/walked about every mile or half mile. Finished 5 miles in 52 minutes. It was humid in the gym, but the run was good. At about 6.2 for most of the run. 

November 1 - 7 miles

7 miles = piece of cake compared to 16.

Publix turkey sub and Kashi whole grain rice for dinner last night and a slice of toast and water for breakfast pre-run today. The Galloway groups got a slight reprieve this morning as we started an hour later, at 7. It was 60 degrees and 90% humidity, with a chance of rain. I opted for dri-fit long sleeves - my first of the running season. We met at a beaches location for a "magic mile" (times mile) and 7 miles total. Our group, which was seemingly much smaller this week, jogged 1 mile then we did the magic mile - Rachel and I ran together and didn't really care to go all out, and we finished in 8:30. We then ran 5 more. One of the ladies in the group, an older lady named George, shared a few of  her past racing experiences (including last year's breast cancer marathon - "it was HOT out.") with me. She said there's a great book by the University of Iowa on the mental side of running. She also said she lives by the saying..."It doesn't matter." So if she doesn't feel like running, she thinks "it doesn't matter" and goes out and does it anyways. All in all, today was good. Not sure if it was the shorter distance, the fact that gas is down to 2.24$ (I filled up after!) or that I have a warm cup of coffee in hand.