Pitiful Pre-race Paranoia and a Terrible Tumble

It's now five days until the big day, marathon day.  It's the day I've been training for since Thanksgiving.  I've put in the miles.  I've done the long runs.  I've recovered from Runners' Knee with PT.  Now there's nothing to do but wait, rest, pray, watch the weather, and try to stay healthy until the race.  It all sounds so simple, doesn't it?

I floated around blissfully on Cloud 9 for several days after the Berry Half Marathon.  My knees were a little bit sore (shame on me for not stretching better after the race), but I knew I had two easy weeks ahead of me.  For some crazy reason, last Thursday morning I decided to go running around the neighborhood instead of running on the Silver Comet like I always do.  Turns out, that was a big mistake.

I didn't worry about speed as I started off.  I knew that I would be doing hills on this run, plus I needed to do some easy recovery running.  My plan was to run 8 miles that morning.  At about mile 4, I head up a steep hill, one that used to cause me to stop and walk every time.  That morning, however, I proudly bound up the hill without slowing a bit.  Just over the top of the hill was a speed hump.  Somehow my right foot underestimated the extra lift needed to clear the height of the hump.  I knew I was about to fall.  Instinctively, my right hand shot out to protect my knee from getting the worst of it.  With a hurt knee, I knew my race aspirations were done for.  My eyes were very close to my hand as I fell, so I could see them press the ground and then bend at an angle that I knew they were not meant to reach.  I felt like I was watching a Barbie doll whose fingers can bend in very wrong ways.  Even though my fingers broke the fall somewhat, I still hit pretty hard.

In a state of semi-consciousness, I lay there, sprawled across the street, taking mental inventory of my body.  Intuitively, I knew that I needed to move off the road, but I was not sure I could.  Finally, I made an effort and stood.  Even though I could see that my knee was bloody, I felt a small sense of relief that I could stand and even walk.  My hand, however, was in severe pain and I was almost a mile away from home.  I started walking and then I started running, trying to reach home to get my hand on ice.

Lots of swelling the day after the fall

As soon as I got in the door, my husband could tell something was wrong.  When he saw my hand and knee, he darted off to get some ice.  I had held off crying up until that point, but the pain and swelling was becoming severe.  I checked myself out and found that I had cuts and scrapes on my shoulder, elbow, knee, and both wrists.  My fingers started swelling a whole lot, and I started crying.  It was more than just from pain.  It was also from frustration over what I had done to myself.

By mid-day, I made another unpleasant discovery.  I was coming down with an unprecedented second cold of the year.  The tell-tale signs were there: a stuffy nose, chills, and extreme tiredness.  Emotionally, I took an extreme downhill turn.  Not only was it going to be hard to do normal things with only one hand, things like brushing teeth, washing hair, dressing, eating, etc., but also I was too tired to do any of it anyway.

...and gorilla knuckles!

Over the weekend, I was supposed to attend a 2-day choir retreat where a world-renowned director was coaching us.  I only made it to part of one day before I realized I did not have the energy to do more.  Everyone who saw my hand was alarmed, and many thought I should go immediately to the hospital.  It was all too much for me, so I went home and slept a whole bunch.

Today, five days after the fall and the cold, I am doing much better.  I am able to use my right fingers to type this note, and the swelling has gone down a whole bunch.  My hand ranges in color from blue and green to a lovely shade of yellow.  My knee still aches a bit, but I think I'll manage.

Five days after the fall

I do know there will be other races if this one does not turn out well.  It's just been a hard several days.  Now, I just wait and pray and watch weather and obsess, knowing that all I will do my best, and I will be proud of myself for undertaking this crazy mission.

The Berry Half Marathon: A Success Story!

I headed to bed at 11:00 the night before the race, knowing that I was doomed to toss and turn during the 5 1/2 hours before my alarm was to ring.  I had set all my things out so I'd be able to function on autopilot at 4:30am.  The plan was to meet up with several of my Adventure Runners friends at 5:30 in the parking lot of the Kennesaw LA Fitness.  I had brought along a mug of hot black tea to help me wake up.  Two friends, Elise and Isabel, rode with me for the hour's drive up to Rome, Georgia.  Elise had brought some yummy, healthy muffins and bananas, so we breakfasted on the way up.

We arrived at the Berry College campus a little before 7am, and stepped out into the chilly air to search for the place where we could pick up our bibs.  I was so thankful that the rain was scheduled to hold off until after the race.  The cold was one thing, but cold and rain would have been totally miserable!

Even though we arrived early, we discovered that the packet pick-up location was a half mile's walk from the car.  We grabbed our race bags and headed back to the car where the heater and handy butt-warmer awaited us.  The short-sleeved tech tee-shirts looked very nice, and there were lots of other goodies, including chap-stick, a band-aid holder which keeps them from getting wadded up in a purse or running belt, several energy bars and gels, a magnet, and, of course, upcoming race advertisements.

At 8:15 we braved the cold again and waited in line at the porta-potties before hiking all the way back to the start line.  I ran into Tad and Chris, and was able to introduce them to each other and to Elise.  It really is fun when virtual friends become real-life, in-person friends!  Elise and I planned out our race strategy and decided we would each benefit by starting out together and targeting an 8:14 pace.

As the gun went off, I was very glad to be able to start warming up from the heat of exercise.  The campus was very pretty, and the crowd of locals cheered us on with great enthusiasm.  At the first sign of a down hill slope, I just let go and sprinted.  It felt really good since I was used to running on almost completely flat surfaces.

After running around campus for a couple of miles, the course led us down a long, straight flat path toward the mountain part of the campus.  I kept the pace steady and felt pretty strong.  As I passed about the 4 1/2 mile mark, I decided to go ahead and take a gel.  Even though it was a bit early in the race, I knew it would benefit me as I hit the oncoming hills.  Luckily a water station was not far ahead because I was already regretting not having hydrated quite enough.

More crowds had gathered at this part to cheer us on.  They has also planted inspirational and sometimes comical signs all along the way.  I had been bracing myself for a tough ride on the hills, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by how mild they seemed compared to the giant hill at the Tartan Trot 10K.  Also, there were lots of downhills to relieve me as soon as I ran out of breath going uphill.

On the two out-and-back places I ran into Tad as he was finishing and I was starting.  It was nice to know I wasn't embarrassingly far behind a really super-fast runner.  The two places were my least favorite because they were not paved.  The second one, in particular, was really tough because it had lots of sharp rocks embedded in the dirt, and the path led up to some rather smelly horses.  After that, we hit a rather extreme downhill patch where I could just let go because I felt I might tumble if I did.

Finally, we hit the paved road again, and I was very grateful to be sure of my footing once more.  This was the beginning of the long, straight stretch back to the main campus.  The crowd had thinned out by then, and I started feeling a bit more tired.  Luckily, there were more signs to keep me entertained.  These had senseless trivia on them - things like:  Did you know that the item most choked upon is a toothpick? and (something like) Termites produce 90% of the world's farts?  They were so silly, but then, my mind could not have digested anything more profound anyway.

The last two miles were very, very tough and lonely.  In looking back at my splits, I see that I carried them both at a sub-eight pace.  However, they took their toll on me.  I felt like a zombie and I wanted so bad to stop.  However, I wanted equally badly to just finish up, so I pushed on.  I once considered barfing on the side of the road, but I stuffed that impulse down.  There were no girls around me, and there were some college-aged boys nearby, so that made me feel reassured.

I looked at my watch at mile 12 and discovered that I had a tiny shot at hitting a 1:45 time.  This indeed motivated me to keep going strong.  In the last stretch where I could see the finish line, I might have sped up a little, but I had no true sprint left in me.  I also felt that my blood pressure was low and that I did indeed risk passing out.  Finally I crossed over the line and saw that I had indeed beat 1:46!  That made me so incredibly happy.  I never thought I could run that far, that fast!  It was such an unbelievable thing that I walked around in circles for a second, trying to shake the cobwebs out of my mind.

I was able to cheer on several of my friends who came in not long after I did.  Then we collectively headed over for some refreshments.  Elise and I picked up our time printout and were sad to see we had both landed 4th place in our age group.  Damn.  Must have been some really fast ones ahead of us!  What we did not consider, however, is that, unbeknownst to us, the 1st place winner in both of our age groups was named masters and grand masters winner, so that had bumped us each up to third.  Since our tired minds did not consider this possibility, we bolted early and missed our chance to receive our respective awards.

We finished off the morning with a group picture and a hearty lunch at Waffle House.  It had been a great day and a great race.  I'm thrilled with an official time of 1:45:54 (a pace of 8:06), even though I was really sad to have missed a Corral A qualifying time for the Peachtree Road Race 10K by 7 lousy seconds.

Today, as I rest my tired legs, I still feel that I ran the race well, shattering my goal of 2:00 and even my dream goal of 1:52, while setting myself up nicely for my very first marathon in two weeks.

Monthly Recap & Goals - January

I'm a little late in doing this, but it's a good exercise to review and plan on a regular basis.

January highlights:

• Total miles run: 184 miles
• Total number of workouts: 22
• Longest training run: 20 miles in 3:17:21 (9:53 pace) on Jan. 22
• Fastest training run: 6 miles in 48:12 (8:02 pace) on Jan.15
• Ran PT Solutions Resolution Run 10K in 51:59 (8:24 pace) on Jan. 1
• Ran Tartan Trot 10K in 49:05 (7:54 pace) on Jan. 28 - set new 10K PR!!!!

(Being the techie nerd that I am, I can see a chart or graph coming up in the future as I accumulate these stats. - ha ha)

January was truly a great month of running!  I finally got over my Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (AKA Runners' Knee) that started last November with some help of a great physical therapist.  I did all sorts of awkward and challenging exercises and stretches, but it was all worth it.  Now I am extremely thankful for every day that I run with virtually no pain.  Interestingly, even those guys at PT looked at me like I had grown a third eye when I told them I was training for a marathon.  Truly, other runners are the only ones who understand.  Thank goodness for each and every one of you who "gets me" and my running obsession!

I also enjoyed doing a few group runs with Adventure Runners and with friends Elise, Chris, and Ken.  Although I generally prefer to run by myself on weekdays, I really look forward to doing weekend runs (especially long ones) with a partner or group.

My time on the Tartan Trot really built up my confidence and helped me get over my fear of hills.  It also earned me a spot on Corral B for the Peachtree Road Race 10K on July 4.  My husband has been in A for several years now, and I wish to one day be up there too.

Looking into February, I have the following short and long term goals:

1. Run the Berry Half Marathon on Feb. 18 in under 2 hours.  If I am lucky, I hope to break 1:52, but I don't want to push too hard because my first marathon is coming up on March 3.
2. Plan to run a race every month in 2012.  I'm pretty much set for this except for the month of June.  Ideas, anyone?
3. Complete my first marathon.  I actually would love to run it in under 4 hours, but I'm sure I'll cut myself a lot of slack if I don't reach that goal.
4. Get a 10K time of 47:59 some time in 2012 so I can be up with the big boys in Corral A for the 2013 Peachtree.
5. Stay healthy and injury-free.  I must really not let ego get in the way of this goal!  I still remember how down I felt when I could barely walk, much less run, when my knee began to hurt.

Today is a day off because yesterday I did my third-ever 20-mile training run.  This is going to be the last one before the marathon.  Whew!  I'm thankful to feel pretty good today even though I was a bit hobbled yesterday afternoon.  :-)

More to come after the Berry on Saturday!

Runners Are Kindred Spirits

I find it interesting that people who don't run often have very similar negative reactions to those of us who do.  These reactions range from staring like we've sprouted a third eye, to telling us how much they hate running, or even complaining about how bad running is for one's health.  At least I find comfort in the fact that, as exasperating as these looks and comments can be, the support from fellow runners is even more powerful and positive.

Other runners "get" us in a way no one else seems to.  Whenever I meet someone who runs, I instantly feel drawn to them, and want to get to know them better.  I guess that's why I love the Daily Mile web site.  Daily Mile is like Facebook geared especially for runners.  Not only does it keep track of daily, weekly, and monthly miles, but it also serves as a place where runners can comment on the postings of friends.  Each day (and especially on the weekends) I look forward to posting my run stats (distance, pace, location, and general remarks) and to viewing those of fellow running friends.  We routinely congratulate each other on great race times, fast or long training runs, and other milestones.  We also console each other or commiserate when one of us has an "off" run, an injury, an illness, or just a temporary lack of motivation.

I feel so lucky to have such great friends on Daily Mile.  Some are far better athletes than I can ever hope to be, and some are right in my same range of ability.  No matter how fast they run, though, they all reach out through cyber space to support fellow runners by commenting on the runs of others.  I definitely feel understood when I read the comments made to my own posts.

It's only four short weeks until marathon time, and I still can't quite believe I am going to join the ranks of those who proudly display their 26.2 bumper stickers and medals.  I'm just so glad that several of my Daily Mile friends will also be there with me in Albany, Georgia, so we can all celebrate at the finish line!  Until then, I still have a few "miles to go before I sleep..."

http://www.watchmegorun.com

A new 10K PR!

This morning I ran the Tartan Trot 10K at St. Luke's Presbyterian Church.  Each year they hold this event to celebrate the Scottish origins of the religion.  Being Presbyterian myself, I was glad to have the opportunity to run in this race.  I noticed several wore kilts and had chilly bare legs hiding underneath.  A few others donned plaid scarves.  We were even treated to the tunes of a bagpipe band in full costume.

I had my doubts as to how I would do on this race because 1) the bottom of my right foot near the outer edge had been hurting for the past few days, and 2) because two days ago I experienced the tell-tale signs of an oncoming cold.  Making me even more doubtful was the fact that I tossed and turned all night because of my sniffles.  I just decided to take the pressure off myself and run it for experience.  My original intent had been to try for a qualifying time of 47:59 which would put me in Corral A in the Peachtree Road Race 10K.

The morning air was quite chilly, so I was thrilled when I found they were letting us wait inside the warm and cozy church until right before the start.  It also meant we had indoor plumbing - a runner's delight!  After scanning the crowd for a new friend I met on Daily Mile, I decided to head outside and do a little warm-up run just before the start.  I've noticed on my training runs that the first mile is always the slowest, so I decided a warm-up might help.

I still haven't really learned how to use my new Garmin Forerunner 410 sports watch, so I started fiddling with the settings.  Unfortunately, I forgot to lock in the satellite ahead of time, and it still hadn't set when the gun went off.  Therefore, I lost half a mile in tracking my time.

As I rounded the first mile, the timer called out 7:38.  I realized that I was really pushing it, but I felt okay.  Mile 2 and half of mile 3 were mostly downhill, so I sailed through them as quickly as possible.  I knew that the upcoming hills were going to be torture.  As I started up the first long, major hill, I slowed my pace and just tried to keep my breathing in control.  That mile was the hardest of the whole race.  I think I stopped and took short walk breaks three times.  However, they rested me enough to tackle the rest of the run.

A big part of running is psychological.  You're in the pack of runners, feeling all sorts of emotions.  I tried to tell myself that I was doing my best, and that no one can ask for more.  When I got tired, I just tried to focus on the fact that I was almost done.

A wonderful thing happened at the last two-tenths of a mile.  A nice man in a red shirt ran up beside me and said, "Come on, let's do this together."  He sped up.  I sped up.  He sped up some more, and I managed to keep pace.  I pushed it with everything I had!  Right as we crossed the finish line, he said, "You had more left in you than I thought!"  I was so very thankful to him for giving me that little push!  It was really, really great zooming across the finish line and shaving several seconds off the time I would have had.

Because my brain left me in that final sprint, I did not even think to look up at the clock.  The runner in red told me we finished in 49:05.  No matter what the official time is, I'm already sure that I beat my next best 10K time of 50:23!  Just knowing that makes me feel that all my training really is paying off.

In the past few weeks and months of training, I have made so many new runner friends.  They are all wonderful people, and they identify with me where most other people on this planet don't.  We celebrate with each other when results are good, we commiserate when one runner is injured or sick, and we watch each other's progress which makes us try even harder each week.

My next race is a half marathon in three weeks.  I'll write more about that in another post!

I finally got the courage to take the plunge and sign up for my first marathon.  It will be the Albany/Snickers Marathon in Albany, Georgia.  I chose this one because I heard it was nice and flat, not too far away, and far enough in the future to ensure adequate training time.

So, I now have 12 weeks to get myself ready.  All the sudden that doesn't seem like very much time.  The longest I have run is 20 miles.  This should make me feel more confident.  However, I recently suffered a set-back with my knee.  Specifically, I have developed what is commonly known as "runners' knee."  The week of Thanksgiving it got so bad that I decided to have it looked at by an orthopedist the next week just to make sure it wasn't something more serious.

Now I am going to physical therapy and trying to run/walk through the freezing mornings to keep up my mileage.  I feel sure the therapy will help a lot, but it's hard to face the fact that it's going to take time and patience, both of which are in short supply.

I figure that blogging about my runs will help me stay encouraged, focused, and honest with myself as to what I think I can accomplish.  So far this week I have logged 29 miles, but 40% of them have been walking miles.  I wish each day to be pain-free in my knee and am working to get there.

The only other thing that concerns me is how I will handle the extreme cold.  I'm just not much of a treadmill runner, especially when there are many miles to run in one session.  I also have no choice but to run in the early morning in the dark because I am a homeschooling mom.  Hopefully, as my walking miles turn into running miles, the cold will not be as problematic.  I do think I have the determination not to let this stop me from training.

Time will tell the full story though!

A Weekend of Memories: Old and New

I had the wonderful opportunity to go visit my best friend since middle school this weekend, and I seized upon it mercilessly!  I started the trip with a quick stop to the Big Peach Running Company, armed with a 10% off coupon courtesy of my best running buddy, Ken, I put myself in the capable hands of the shop pros.  They tested the arc of my feet and analyzed my tread on their testing equipment.  Then, out came a variety of shoes to try.  I left with a pair of Brooks DNA Ghost 4s.  I'll post a review Monday after my run.

The trip to the farm took me through Chattanooga and then through some back roads through a gorgeous mountain range.  I hardly stopped to look, though, because I was so eager to see my friend Kristin and her family.  Although they have lived out in San Jose, CA, for many years, they still travel once a year or so to visit Kris' parents and the farm that has been in her family since the early 1800s.

I met up with Kristin at her parents' house in McMinnville and we drooled over each other and told lies about how we still looked like teenagers.  Then we went in, toured the house, and shared family photos.  After a nice dinner and visit, we headed out to the farm, a 20-minute drive.  I couldn't see much in the dark, but I instantly felt right at home.

The next morning, Kristin's hubby, Philip, and I took a nice 4-mile run through the meadow and onto the back roads.  The first overgrown rutted track led us straight up a hill and I thought I was going to die before I even went a quarter of a mile.  However, we found the road and I found my stride.  Forty minutes later and we were back at the farm, steamy and smiling!

The rest of the day included delicious jambalaya, a tour of the farm, a nice swing in the front yard, and lots and lots of good conversation.  Kristin's family is wonderful.  Her kids are as sweet as they are beautiful!  I didn't expect anything less.  It is always so easy to pick back up from wherever we left off last.

This morning, Phil took Kristin and me for a WILD ride in the old pick-up truck, bouncing through the prairie and over to the spring.  It was so cool and dark among the rocks and water trickles.  We took a bunch of photos, some really nice and others quite goofy.  I couldn't wait to post them on Facebook!

It was very very hard to say goodbye when I left this afternoon, and I sort of felt like Cinderella turning back into a pumpkin.  I wish so very much that we could see each other more often.  I think our whole families would get along marvelously.  I'm just thankful for this time and hopeful there will be plenty more such times.  There's nothing like having a friend who knows just about all your deep, dark secrets and your shining moments as well, and can laugh and cry over them with you as needed.  Kris, I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!