I'm running a marathon?

Oh my god- that title just makes me take a huge gulp and get butterflies in my stomach. I have been training since tri season ended and actually some in the last weeks of the tri season to get ready to run Marine Corps Marathon. Last year we decided to defer and it was for the best but this year is on! I have put in the training miles. I have made sure to hit every long run- I know those are the most important. I have had some days where I haven't gotten out for my runs during the week and I know that isn't ideal but life happens. To be honest my job right now isn't what I want it to be and it is stealing my training time and energy which really is the most disappointing part- but that is a whole different part of the story. But I do know that I have twice run 16, 18, and 20 miles in my training. I can tell you I got to the end of those 20 mile runs and couldn't even think about running another hour.

I honestly think the main reason I signed up for a marathon 2 years ago was just to prove to myself I could do it. I have had many friends, family members, and others run marathons. It is just a block in my brain I want to check off. I want to prove that I am strong enough for 26.2. I honestly never thought running a marathon was easy. When people say to me you have done 70.3 miles, raced for like 6 hours come on... but a marathon is ONE activity for that time of 4 or whatever hours. The same muscles taking a beating. No change in mental focus just run... gulp.. just run. I have the drive to do something just to prove to me I can do it. That will be what I am tapping into when it gets tough. This is what I wanted to do when I first took on the 70.3 distance and that has turned into 6 more times of trying to better my time and my race.

At this point I have had more than one time in the training where I have decided I hate running. Not just a little but don't wanna run anymore. I have had long runs where I came in the house crying half way through. Everyone tells me training for a marathon isn't easy. I have to say I will take my training 3 sports anyway per this run, run and more RUN! I have been very careful to be sure that training for my first marathon doesn't result in the same issue my first half marathon did- Hip Surgery. I have been working hard to be sure and stretch, even do a little yoga every morning. I have found the new found pain but relief from ice baths. They have become a savior- though they are painful at the time. I've been foam rolling a lot. I tried to stick to yoga once a week but when the long runs got so long I couldn't stand the yoga standing series.

It is coming up fast- I am at the point of hating running again. I am ready to get this challenge done. I hope the goal time we have set will happen. Getting ready mentally for the fun of a marathon. I want to soak it all in. My friend suggested that as how to enjoy it- look around enjoy the spectators and I mean it is DC enjoy the sights. Wish me luck- here we go on a new adventure!

Nutritionist Trip- Under Fueling

So last week I had decided I had enough of the feeling like garbage at races and I didn't want it to happen at my big first marathon at the end of Oct. so I broke down and went back to the nutritionist. I figured I had an idea of what I was doing wrong. I wasn't eating enough. Not just not eating enough fueling through the race I mean not eating enough day in and day out. Anyone who has tried to lose weight knows to cut calories and you will drop weight. Well I was living that way.

I walked my nutritionist through what I ate in a day normally. We came up with around 1200-1500 calories. Well with my height and moving around for a work day then add in about 500 cals a day to account for my workouts I need about 2500-2900 calories a day. Anyone who can do basic math can see I am woefully under fueling my body. And I was living in a constant state of tired, cold, easily frustrated. Come to find out my candy cravings were my body just saying I"M HUNGRY!!! Yes folks I unlike most of America need to figure out how to eat more not live on your smoothie diet of 900 cals a day!


Not just was I not getting enough. I wasn't getting enough protein by about 10g a day. Not that far off but need that to keep training. And calcium was ULTRA low too. We went back through my day and beefed up my normal menu with calcium and protein options. We even added in a second lunch every day. Changing breakfast to 500 cals, Lunch to 500, a Second Lunch of 500, and Dinner of 500 or so will help me to end up fueled every day. I have a hard time making myself eat but I am going to try.

The hope is changing to eating enough will help me be well fueled for my work outs. Help me have better results on race day because I won't be living daily on the razor edge of under fuel. And not be so tired and irritable on a daily basis. I am having to track what I eat to help me understand how much food this is and help me get closer. I am still having a hard time with it. But I hope in the next couple weeks I can fix it!!!

Harbor View Island 5k

In early spring my friend Lisa on the LUNA chic with me asked if I would join her on a 5k on an island in Boston Harbor. One of her really nice clients offered to pay for our registration. Thank god b/c it was one EXPENSIVE 5k.  We hopped on a boat in Boston Harbor and headed off to the island with the other runners. I quickly started to realize this was more of a corporate challenge events than a real hard core race. The race was to raise money for a camp for inner city kids. As we got off the bus the camp councilors were giving us all high 5's. Yea not really a hard core race.

There was a party environment folks are chugging beers before hand. I couldn't find a spot to warm up so I decided I would just run it with Lisa and see how it goes. I should have let the whole party thing not throw off the fact that I was there to race but I couldn't get myself to focus with everything around me.STUPID I know.

So Lisa and I ran and had fun and she pushed me a bit up the hills. Silly trail runners have good hill work. We still finished in a 26:56. With cartwheels over the finish line :-P As much as I am a bit upset we didn't race it I am happy we had fun.

They had a great post race spread of food. And I even had a hard cider. Just as we were eating the sun was setting over the Boston skyline it was really pretty. I will probably never run this race again but it was a great opportunity and the views of the city were GORGEOUS! Not to mention it is kinda crazy that my not pushing it and just enjoying a run speed is a 26 now... not bad!

Mill City Race Recap

So it seems every year this race comes up and I can't help but sign up. The race is rather small and local but there is something really nice about knowing all the logistics of a race with no new variables. I mean I know this one so well that I know the race director is going to start about 5 min late because something will come up at the last minute. I know there will always be a USAT official at the race. There will always be homemade awards for the overall winners and top age group winners. And if it is sunny the run course will suck!

We headed out to the race not so stressed about logistics which was nice, not having to rush since we knew most variables and didn't have to control them. Checked in race morning. Got marked. Strangely no age on your calf this year. No one could explain why only they though it was strange too.

Layout was pretty good.The transition area could have stood to have been swept. HOLY ROCKS! I did a little shake out run and headed back to the car with the rest of my stuff. The weather was holding at a cool temp, thankfully.  We headed over to the swim start across the street. There weren't a ton of people participating this year but that doesn't matter to me.


Swim- 28:21- There is always a current in this river- I was 17 min to the turn around and 11 min back - hello current. It is always a bit long too 1.25 mi. A bit faster than the year before so can't fight with that.

T1- Long run across the street. 2:00 and ouch those rocks! Got our fairly quickly. D came running in from his sprint swim as I was heading out on the bike.

Bike- 1:19:53- I knew as I headed out on the bike I was toward the front. The plan was to keep it around 19mph. I pushed when I could. The course is fairly flat in spots so I used that to my advantage. The road was rough in spots so I tried hard to avoid a flat. D went by me in the first 5 mi. then he had some sort of bike issue and I passed him but not for long :-P. I had a few women get by me on the bike so I figured I was in 3rd or 4th. Bike is 26 mi and last year I did 1:24 so some good gains!

T2- 0:59- love when my T2 is sub 1 min! D had finished his race and was there yelling for me. Focus was to RUNNNNNN!

Run- 53:32- It started to get warm as I hit the run course but just dig in and get through. I was hoping to stay around 8-8:30 pace. 8:38 was the final pace- not too shabby. Last year I was 1:00 so big gain here. I had one more woman pass me on the run. I figured that meant I was out of the contention for overall. But I tried to keep my focus on my gains in this race.  As I came into the finish D was screaming!!!

I ended up finishing 19th OA, 4th female OA and 1st in my AG. Last year this was the first race I went sub 3 at 2:59. This year 2:44:46. I am so happy with the improvements! I made huge improvements on the run. A little on the bike and swim. This was great to see going into Nationals in a month. It is great to see some of the hard work I did paying off.

Reward

I have a terrible habit. I know how to work really hard, train, beat myself in sessions all to actually achieve pretty great results but somehow I can tear those results to shreds. I can sit and rip apart every detail of a race and the little things I didn't do in training, or didn't do in the days leading up to the race or didn't do in the race that lead to the not exactly perfect performance. My new coach is about setting big goals. Like those big scary goals that you only want to tell a few people because they even scare you to say out loud. Yes I have a new one and NO I will not be saying it out loud in public because it scares the crap out of me.

As I got ready for Patriot I came to the decision if I were to achieve the goals of a sub 6 and running the whole half marathon (or either I would think) I was going to get myself something. I started to think and I don't really need any new tri gear. Ya I needed running shoes but that is just part of training not really a reward.... what to do what to do?!

I started thinking a piece of jewelry might be nice. And I found stackable rings. I thought hey I can start with one. As I achieve new goals I can add to the stack. So I did a little research before the race. Enough to know that was what I was going to get myself. I told D and my coach the plan. Race day went well. I didn't do 5:39 to 5:49. And in my typical fashion I wasn't going to get my reward since I didn't get the A goal. But my coach messaged me and said after the race time to get shopping for my ring. I realized she was right. I may not have gotten the exact high goal I wanted but I achieved 2 big goals after a lot of hard work. It was time to get something to remind me of all the hard work paying off.  So this is what I got...... I wear it everyday to remind me of all the hard work pays off! And it is hard work that will get me to achieve the next goal.

Summer Solstice Sprint- Friday Night Racing

Just as I was finishing my taper for Patriot Half I found a race the Friday night after. Yes I know- Saturday 70.3 then the following Friday do a sprint?! But the race looked like fun. How often do you get to do a tri on a Friday night? I mean Saturday tris are rare here never mind a week night. I figure whatever lets do it for fun and my coach gave me the green light on a fun race. It was so strange to get ready for work pack my tri bag and my bike for after work. But that was the point of this- do something different and fun.

Parking was a bit of a distance from the race site- luckily I had a bike to ride. Poor D was on race support and hoofed it down to the race site. Check in process was really smooth. Lots of volunteers around to answer questions. I racked up and did a little recon. The T1 was going to be long run from the bottom of the hill where the lake was up to the transition area. I started to do the its just for fun no I want to race this... D and I chatted and he was like have fun but GO FOR IT! I knew my body was going to be tired from racing 70.3 miles but why not see what can happen?!

Swim- 1/4mi- 6:45 I decided to go wetsuit less- I figured it was another thing to deal with in transition  and I don't really need the wetsuit. Another race with the strange wave start. This time they went with 3 seconds. I guess it works- but as soon as I hit the water I was running into the men who put themselves toward the back of the male wave. Usually I can get some clean water. It was really choppy with the amount of people. But I just decided block it out and swim HARD its a sprint SWIM SWIM SWIM!

T1- 1:41 long up hill run! I knew I was out in front when I came up the hill. There was one woman right with me but I passed her up the hill. As I went out of transition I thought I was either 1 or 2 woman. Nice DON'T LET THEM PASS!

 Bike- 10mi- 31:14 Just went with pedal to the medal. I would say it was a flat course. I think I got out of my saddle once to climb. I pushed as hard as I could. I figured if I stuck close to 20mph I would fend off most women. Just as I came to the final turn. I heard a car come up next to the riders behind me. Tell her her pace. Tell her how she was doing. I was like really- motor pacing?! What?! So just as I turned 2 women got by me. Okay still in top group. Let's see how I can run.

T2- 0:56 Shoes off, shoes on, grab and go. As I came out of transition I tripped on a cone and took a good fall. Even got some road rash on an elbow and hand- luckily I rolled onto my side.

Run- 5k- 26:59 Just tired to get my legs to go as hard as I could. The 70.3 started to catch up with me.  It was a little rolling but not too tough. I think without the 70.3 the weekend before I would have had no problem with the run course. I tried to focus on cheering for folks as they went by and I had I saw the top girl go by then the 2 women who had passed me on the bike. 2 more women got by me  and I saw one more getting close as I took the last turn but pushed it to make sure to not let her get by.

Finish 1:07:17 Good enough for 6th OA Female. Which is my highest finish yet. 1st in my Age Group! And a 8 min PR for the same distance (on a different course). Had a good day even with being tired from a 70.3!

This race director had an AWESOME BBQ at the finish. Hamburgers hot dogs cook out style. It was great. Just as they were doing the awards the sun was setting. They do a really cool award. You get 50% off another race with them. Not a bad deal! I finally looked at the race bag too- instead of the usual t-shirt there was an awesome visor that has some really nice reflective on it. I will definitely try to work this one in next season's plans! I highly recommend it!!!

*NOTE: As for the woman who had the car pacing her- I told the USAT official on site. She said she can't penalize for what she doesn't see but- that it was a first for someone reporting that! haha

Patriot Half Iron Race Report

It took me a while to get this together- its been 2 weeks since the race. At first I was really emotional about the race so I couldn't get it all out there but I think I can ... I think I can...  By the end of this you will probably understand why I had a bit of an emotional day.

The reason I signed up for this race was it was a flat course. I thought it might be my chance to have a PR maybe get my goal of a sub 6 on the season! The other big thing I have been wanting to do so badly is run the whole half marathon. With a flat course I thought it might increase my chances. Being local little travel was involved- so nice to sleep in your own bed before a big race.  I woke up at 3am and my stomach was STARVING! Oh no- not good! Need to make sure I get food in me now... what did I not do yesterday? I had pasta for dinner... urgh okay do what you can focus on food now! I had my usual oatmeal with PB and packed up a bagel for on the way and even grabbed a clif bar. I figured I could try to push in some calories.

Morning packet pickup for a half?! So strange. Got all racked up. I actually know this routine for a half so well at this point so I don't have to try too hard. I made sure to get in my Osomo pre-load and my bagel and clif bar. Chatted with some friends and tried to stay calm. The goals were fairly simple A goal time was 5:39-5:49; B goal was sub 6; C goal FINISH! I knew I would achieve C.

Swim- Goal: 33- Result: 36:29
As I stood at the swim start I felt like I could vomit and crap my pants at the same time. This is different usually I have a nervous stomach but this was a different one. Okay eat your gel and focus on the race. They changed the swim to not a wave start, it was every 10 seconds 3 people go in. I freaked why are we changing this for the people that can't swim?! Now I can't do my thing!!! And I will have no idea where I am in my wave. It didn't fix the problem. People ended up in packs of 5 or 10 that I couldn't get through so I decide to go wide. Which meant my watch had me swimming 1.7 mi. Might explain the time! All my other friends 1.3 and 1.4 mi so I could have been closer to the goal time with a correct course. I was not happy coming out of the water seeing that time! But oh well move on. Wait a sec is that D's bike still hanging.. okay he'll pass me on the bike.

T1- Goal: 3- Result: 2:07
I could not get my feet out of the bottom of my wetsuit. But I was able to get in and out and on my bike. After the swim I knew I had some making up to do.

Bike- Goal: 3 hours- Result: 3:01
Its a 2 loop very flat bike. I was going to go out stay in Zone 3/4 and evaluate after 1 loop where I stand. I was STARVING. I ate more than I usually do on the bike. But I knew with the starving and the fact that I can't eat much on the run I was in for trouble if I didn't get down calories. I had 2 women who we went back and fourth the whole race. Which helped me stay focused. It was nice. And the 3 of us were laughing about it. The water stations on this race were 2 of them right at like mile 20 and 25 not really conducive to refilling the water bottle but I did grab a bottle at each station to top off. When I got of the bike I knew I had a decent ride but not great I mean avg close to 19 but not fast enough to hold off D on a decent day I was a little worried. I ran into transition thinking about it.

T2- Goal: 3 Results 2:48
What a crazy long transition. You had to run all the way around with your bike. Whew. I racked the bike then threw on my run shoes grabbed the rest and GOOOO! Wait is that D's bike?!

Run- Goal: 2:05 Result: 2:11

As I ran out my friend Jen was playing support. I asked "is he okay?" She said " Ya he's fine." I knew she was lying. I have known Jen since we were babies. But D and I had a talk a couple days before the race. If anything happen to him I was going to finish my race and have my day. So I replayed the talk in my head and hit the run course. Changed my watch to HR and tried to stick to zone 3/4. I realized it wasn't about hitting the 9-9:30 minute mile goal. It was RUN the whole half marathon. I had talked to my coach when she was visiting about some run mental games. She said she counted foot strikes- counting to 8. And she was always sure to cheer for the people that passed her. Doing these things kept my mind off the running. At mile 6 I was able to down a gel with a HUGE swig of water. At mile 9 I did the same I needed to make sure I got calories in. I just kept telling myself can't walk now we are almost there and the goal is to run the whole half marathon. I knew it was going to be close on the sub 6 but I just wanted to get that one monkey off my back of running the whole half.

As I came into the finish. I could hear D screaming like always! Part of me gets mad because when he says push it push it. I am like what does he think I have been doing?! IT is so great to have him there and so supportive! A guy screamed as I was running and he was yelling. "Hurry! You're going to give him a heart attack!" I laughed.  D screamed your gonna do it your 5:54! As I crossed the finish I looked at my watch HOLY CRAP- 5:54!

The flood of emotions made it so I cried as I hugged D. Then my brain was like wait... What happen?! So I got the story- he didn't have a good day and got sick and took himself out of the race. I am really proud of him that he learned his lesson from Syracuse's heat stroke to take himself out of the race before it ended in an IV. It really sucks that he didn't have a good race! But- I am so proud that I ran the whole half marathon. That was the biggest win! I was so happy that my training hard work paid off to be able to run the whole half marathon and get my sub 6 goal so early in the season.  Next race I can focus on a faster run time and get that time to come down.

Big Lesson Learned: I NEED to learn to Carb load!!!Not a bad result getting my sub 6 and running the whole half marathon. I even got 11th in my AG. Not a bad day at all!