Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Running Randomness.

It was about 4 days since I ran so I decided to get back on the trail last evening after work and completed 5 miles without a problem.  I'm sniffling and tired at work today and debating doing an easy 3, but I think more rest is what I need.  I'm trying hard to do everything I can to get rid of this freakin' cold so I'm able to complete 18 miles this Sunday.

This blog is dedicated to random thoughts so because of that, I will be numbering my randomness:

1 - You can ask Brad, but I literally research everything.  If something is wrong, I google it.  If I need an immediate answer, I google it (I've also been referred to by friends as a google stalker.  Ask me to look up anyone or anything and I can give you any information you need to know).  So of course, what did I just look up?  Is running with a cold bad for you?  Of course answers on the internet are always biased and extreme one way or the other so, the answer?  Don't do it!  Anyway, while randomly researching other answers, I came across this article:  "What Happens If I Don't eat enough Carbohydrates?"  Well let me just tell you, this article made me laugh.  I am a lover of all carbs and never thought I'd see a day where I needed to worry about not eating enough carbs -- I've always had the problem of eating too many!  That being said, I've probably had about two different instances both happening on Tuesday mornings at work where I clearly didn't eat enough carbs/calories after a long run on Sunday and following the day after on Monday and my body felt it a few days later.

Some of the side effects of not eating enough carbs:
- headache
- dizziness
- severe lethargy

Yup.  I experienced all of those things at work.  I sat at my desk feeling terribly hungover and asked myself if I drank the night before.  Nope.  Hmmm...then why do I feel like I've been hit by a bus?  It really was the same awful feeling after partying the night before and forcing yourself to go to work the next morning.  There was one Monday that I had an event the day after a long run and I was on my feet all day and didn't have time to eat a complete meal, just snacking here and there.  By Tuesday my body was dyyyyying.   An egg and cheese everything bagel did the trick and from then on, I remembered to overload on carbs the day of and after a long run (clearly, a problem that would be easily fixed).

2 - I've been following MCM on FB and they keep putting up race countdowns...I think by now we're in the 30 days left mark, which is hard to believe.  They put up a FB status today that said there will be 12,000 first time marathoners running.  This is really awesome, and I'm looking forward to running with other first timers!

3 - We just got the new Mumford & Sons CD in the mail yesterday and I played it on my way to work this morning.  It ROCKS.  Mumford & Sons has been my saving grace through some long runs and they might be one of the only bands so far that can help me get a runners high.  New favorite song on the new CD:  I will wait for you.  Can't WAIT to play that song and get pumped up during the race!

4 - Last random thought:  I love everything pumpkin.  Who doesn't?  Today I indulged in Pumpkin Spice eggos for breakfast (it had been mayyyybe 10+ years since I tasted an eggo and they are just as good as I remember as a kid), and a pumpkin whoopie pie at lunch from the farmers  market at work.  <3 fall.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Running hiatus.

Unfortunately I have nothing good to blog about related to running because...we haven't been running.  After our awesome 16 miler in Pittsburgh last weekend it was a short 3.5 day work week for us as we had another wedding (that Brad was in).  We were on the road yet again on Thursday afternoon....headed back to Pittsburgh for weekend #2.  Mid-week I started coming down with that dreadful feeling when you know a cold is coming on.  By Thursday night as we were on the train headed to Pitt I could feel the sore throat and cold start to hit.  Our initial long run plan was to wake up early on Friday morning for our 17-miler, rest during the day, head to our friend's rehearsal dinner that night and feel great the rest of the weekend knowing that our long run was out of the way.  Unfortunately that didn't happen.  Apparently from what I hear from other runners who train this long, a cold and a slight deviation from the training plan is pretty normal so I guess it's a good thing we are getting it out of the way now instead of a month from now, right?

We hit the local trail near Brad's parent's house on Friday morning, which was 3.2 miles up and back.  We ran it 2 times and not only is the trail extremely hilly, but I had very low energy while running and knew I couldn't do much more.  My body felt fatigued and mentally I didn't have it in me to run more.  We left the trail and headed to Brad's nearby high school and did a few laps around the track before calling it quits.  What was supposed to be 17 miles ended up being 7.   The weekend is now over and as we approach a new week unfortunately I haven't turned the corner yet, still feeling rather crappy with a sore throat and cough and have inevitably passed it onto Brad.   Knowing how much more hardcore he is than me, he will probably be back in the saddle sooner than me, but for now we're both feeling like shit.

I've mentioned before but I hate missing runs.  I know my body won't get out of shape by missing a few runs, but knowing that I've missed a long run makes me nervous...especially as I get so much closer to the big race day.  I'm hoping by Tuesday I will start feeling 100% and can tie up my laces again soon.  The last thing I want to do is get worse, so I'm going to rest until I'm close to feeling completely better.

As a random side note, while I was on the train headed to Pittsburgh I was surrounded by other runners and bikers who were discussing races and training.  I got into a discussion with a 30-something man who was giving me some first-time marathon tips.  He was being very honest and was providing me with all kinds of feedback both positive and negative.  He said after he ran his first marathon he couldn't walk for about a week.  {Awesome}.  He told me to pace myself.  He said you can get easily pumped up at the start of the race and it's easy to go fast in the beginning with all of the spectators cheering you on.  Make sure to keep going slow, I reminded myself.  That shouldn't be much of a problem, as I am training VERY slow as is!   He also said finishing the marathon was one of his biggest accomplishments and it can become very addicting.  We'll see about that... :)

On that note, I'm sitting on the Megabus right now as I type and I can feel the Nyquil start to kick in so I am going to wrap up. Hopefully in a few days I'll have turned the corner and be running again and have better stories to blog about.

Until then, here's to staying healthy!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Challenging yourself

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.  They're what make the instrument stretch - what make you go beyond the norm." 
 -- unknown.

Today's post will be about.....can you guess?  Challenging yourself.  I realized over the past few weeks that I've been asked by a number of people why I am training for a race that is so torturous and why the heck I'd want to do something like this.  My answer is that this is a personal goal and so far, through these 11 weeks of training, I've learned so much about myself.

B and I had a wedding this weekend out of town.  We knew we would have to incorporate a long run into our already jam-packed weekend.  The weekend included a visit to Heinz Field to watch our Hokies play Pitt (and get disgustingly crushed), a wedding, and then of course, a long run.  So where would we squeeze in this long run?  There are a few factors that go into planning a long run when a wedding is involved.  1). Do we get up early on Saturday morning and run 16 miles before the wedding and be exhausted at the wedding or do we 2). Not drink a lot at the wedding but instead consume a lot of water and carbs, and wake up early the morning after?  We opted for the latter.  This means one glass of wine at dinner for this lady.  What do I love the most about weddings besides the dancing, traditional cutting of the cake and dances, bridal party introductions and watching a newly married couple very much in love?  I love drinking at weddings!  Yes, I said it.  Who doesn't love drinking at weddings???  So, there ya have it.  I challenged myself not to have more than 1 drink at the wedding and did I do it?  Yes!  

But really, that's not really what this post is about because only having 1 glass of wine at the wedding wasn't difficult.  Looking back on this busy weekend, what was really challenging was prioritizing and actually fitting in the run.  We got home late from the wedding and I set my alarm for Sunday at 6:30  I've mentioned before that I am not a morning person, so getting out of bed this early for a long run is hard.  By 7:00 I was dressed, ready to go, and eating breakfast with my husband and in-laws while we watched the sun rise.  Once I was awake and in the mindset to run, it was a beautiful morning.

We ran 16-miles again yesterday and it was hard.  I debated whether to run this weekend's long run because I've been having a lot of pain in the arch of my right foot.  "Coach Brad" thinks it's normal and once you hit a high mileage such as 16, all sorts of new pain arises.  However Sunday morning it hurt a lot (probably b/c of the dancing and standing at the wedding), and I didn't know if running was the best decision.  We decided I would start the run and see how it felt.  At about mile 4 it loosened up but by mile 12 it started cramping really bad again.  Do I stop, do I keep going??  I didn't know what to do so I kept going.  This morning I'm icing it and again, taking it one day at a time.  The good news is that I finished the 16 miles.

Looking back, yesterday was another challenge that I accomplished.  Every long run (although supposed to be enjoyable for most) is a huge challenge for me.  I laugh thinking about how I used to be a 3-4 mile girl and that was the most I'd ever run.  Sometimes I have moments where I take a step back and realize holy sh*t I am running 16 miles and this is freaking awesome!!!!!  

So why am I doing this training?  Do I think I'm crazy?  For the most part, yes.  Do I enjoy it?  Sometimes yes and sometimes no.  Do I feel like a million bucks after a long run is done?  YES!  Is this entire training making me realize that I can do anything that I put my mind to? Absolutely.  


In-laws, Sue & Dean who biked with us and served as our "mules" for 16 miles!  Awesome support!
Only while running in Western PA do you find a random train to hop on for a photo opp.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

First post from the other runner

Brad here.  I've been meaning to get a blog post up here for a while now and thanks to help (aka convincing) from Annie, here I am.  I'm not too sure what to write besides, uh, I like running.  Cool.  K, Bye.

Just kidding.

Anyway it's September now which means less than 7 weeks until MCM.  September is my favorite month of the year for a lot of reasons which are all related to the awesome weather.  It's the month that we reunite with football, Punkin Ale, good friends, and awesome running weather.  I've always told Annie that when you start training for a fall marathon in July you won't believe how great it feels once you hit the road for a COOL long run in September.  Battling 90+ degree heat & DC humidity will all be worth it when the weather breaks in September.  

Well this week we welcomed the fall weather with an early morning 16 mile run from Grovesnor metro to the Lincoln Memorial.  The weather was a perfect 55 degrees and the sun was shining.  We started off running a section of the Parks Half Marathon in Rock Creek Park bandit style (aka without a bib).  This is the second year I've done this race bandit and it's a hoot.  Competitive instincts kicked in and I started racing, running way too fast, as soon as we got on the course (leaving Annie behind).  Eventually Annie let me go, opting to stick back at her comfortable long run pace while I got it out of my system.  Smart move!  

We left the Parks course at the split of Capital Cresent and Rock Creek Park and continued down to Foggy Bottom.  Annie did a great job keeping a comfortable pace and we enjoyed the beautiful day on the way down.  16 miles this week felt easy compared to 14 miles in last week's heat.  The best part for me was hearing Annie say for the first time, "wow I really think I can run a full 26.2!"  The training is starting to pay off and I couldn't be more proud of her.

After the run we grabbed a cab to the Dupont Circle metro stop.  Apparently after running 16 miles walking an extra 1 mile isn't cool.  Also not cool is stinking up a cab then realizing you have no cash and the cab driver doesn't take plastic.  Lucky for us the nice gentlemen from <insert random DC cab company here> gave us a freebie.  We grabbed a gatorade and candybar for some post run fuel and then browsed the Dupont farmer's market before taking the metro home.  

These are the kind of runs that you remember.  

Just finished 16.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Holy CRAP. This is getting real.

I was scrolling through my FB newsfeed today and came across THIS little update:


50 days?!  50 days???  How could that be?  50 days will be here before I know it!  I saw this picture and literally got goosebumps thinking about running this race!  I can hardly believe that I'm strong enough right now to be running 16 miles tomorrow morning.  When I stop to think about this whole training, it's just kind of crazy and I don't know how I got to the point already where theres only 50 days left until 26.2.

On that note, the training has been very exhausting.  Obviously exhaustion is something that is expected when you sign up for a marathon,  but it's even more difficult when you have other things going on in your life that make the training extra challenging.  Somehow...some way....you can never lose sight of the end goal and lose motivation.

Work has been insane the last few weeks since school started.  I'm typing this post after a long day of work on a Saturday as we had an all day event for our students and have another event on Monday.  It was an incredibly stressful week and when I thought about having to squeeze in running, it was another stressor added into the mix.  After a long day of work, the normal person prefers to put his or her feet up, lay out the couch, and drink a glass of wine.  But my outlet has had to be slightly tweaked...and now it is running (not exactly always #1 on my list of what to do after a stressful day...). Friday was the busiest day all week because I was wrapping up loose ends for the event on Monday and I had a 7-miler after work.  Surprisingly, the run was awesome and I felt so amazing after it was over with a completely cleared head. (It kind of made me wish that prior to starting this training that has now forced me to run on Fridays that I had chosen to run every Friday after work to clear my head/separate a stressful week with a fresh start to the weekend!)

Knowing how challenging training has been, I came home to a great surprise from my "coach"...aka, my sweetest husband Brad.  He could tell the type of week it was for me, so he had a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a motivational card waiting for me when I got home.  Jeez, what a guy!  

I know I can't do this training alone.  The little things such as B's thoughtful card and flowers made such a difference and made me realize that yes....I can do this...and I sure as hell couldn't be doing this without the motivation of my husband and the support of some of my great friends who have also been cheering me on!

Thank you!



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Movin' on up (in mileage).

This past Sunday was a long run...14-miler, and I've put off writing this post because I don't even know how to explain how long and (towards the end), how incredibly difficult it was.  I've also been very busy at work now that the students are back on campus and fall semester is officially in full swing.  Marathon training + a very crazy work schedule + husband and I both in grad school should make for one busy fall.

The 14-miler.  Wow.  It took forever.  Our entire morning was essentially running and the afternoon was all recovery. Whenever I finish a long run I always wonder how I'll actually be able to add on {insert extra mileage here} to complete 26 miles by the end of October.  But the more I talk to people who have run marathons before, the more I realize I am gradually building up and adding more miles each week during my long runs than I thought I was capable.  It's true though, as I (barely) finished 14, I reminded myself of what a big accomplishment it really was and how just 3 weeks prior I didn't think I was capable of much past 10 miles.

14 miles is officially the longest I've run so far (as in ever, in my life...) :)  The longest race I've done is a half marathon and the most I trained for that was 12 miles, so I'm 2 miles beyond what I thought was possible!  Woo hoo!  Anyway, back to the long Sunday run.  Brad and I ran together and left our house and drove to the Grovesnor metro stop on the redline and left our car there.  We hopped on the Rock Creek trail and ran all the way on the trail to Dupont.  Our end reward was my 2 favorite things:  beer and delicious pizza at Paradiso. After we left Paradiso (and I was happily buzzed after 1 beer...can you say super dehydrated?!) we metro'ed back to our car, I took a bubble bath, popped a muscle relaxer (for my back) and crawled into bed for the rest of the afternoon.  A nice little Sunday with a day off of work the next day.  

Pizza Paradiso, Dupont
All and all, the run went pretty well.  It was mile 11-14 that seemed to last forever and particularly mile 13-14 that truly became a mental game as I was pretty confident my legs were going to give out from below me (likely the feeling I'll experience from 20-26???).  As we approached mile 13 we had to climb (walk) up a hill to get onto the bridge that we ran into Dupont Circle.  I literally couldn't walk as I attempted to make my way up this hill.  If Brad weren't there pulling me up I probably would have just sat on the hill and watched the world pass by until my legs stopped throbbing.  So, is this normal?  I have no idea, but according to Brad's insight, every long run is difficult for every runner going through marathon training.  I guess that makes me feel a little better.  I hope it gets better and feels a little easier each week because 14 certainly wasn't easy.  The great news is that today is only 3 days after running and I'm not sore at all.  I'm pretty sure this is a positive sign!

Celebrating the completion of 14!
Some randomness about the 14-miler:
  • A few times throughout the run we would see a large group of 30 runners also training for the Marine Corps.  Turns out they were part of the "First Time Marathon Beginners Run Club," and I told Brad that seeing people on the trail like that makes me feel so much more at ease and doesn't make me feel half as crazy when I know other people are sharing in the same experience.
  • New craving post-run:  As soon as we concluded the run there was only 1 thing I wanted and 1 thing that would make me feel energized.  A regular coke.  From a bottle, not a can, and not a fountain.  Clearly the sugar was calling my name.  The funny thing...I don't drink regular coke.  I rarely drink soda.  So it was a funny craving, as Gatorade or juice just wouldn't cut it. I chugged that bottle of coke so fast and in that moment there couldn't have been anything more amazing.
  • I bought a pack of these Keebler fudge stick cookies that you see in the picture below, as they were a favorite wafer cookie of mine growing up.  My mom used to put them in the fridge (she still does), so I bought them at the store this weekend and stuck mine in the fridge too.  I finished the whole pack of cookies in about 3 days (Brad does not have a sweet tooth...lucky him).  The afternoon after the run while I was in bed, I heard Brad in the kitchen.  I told him to bring me 5 cookies, and I ate all of them....and then I went back for more...and have had about 5-6 a day since then.  They are like crack to me right now (especially chilled from in the fridge).  My sweet tooth is out of control and I need to find a better way to help my carb cravings besides proceeded cookies and chocolate.
    One cookie left tonight....oops!
On that note, I will be wrapping up this post and heading to bed!  Somewhere between now and Sunday I need to squeeze in a 7 mile run and it's becoming more difficult after work with it getting darker sooner and my fall schedule filling up rather quickly.  Sunday will be a 16-miler for us, so I'll be writing about that very soon!  Thanks for reading!