I thought I was going to be really good about posting on my Chicago Marathon training every week. 3 months later....my next post! haha, oops. Life got in the way from posting I guess. But let me give you a quick summary of how my training went through the months of June, July and August.
June:
My miles were still at a very enjoyable level, I worked hard on my speed and strength training follow my schedule to a T every week - M-Strength training and stretching for 45-60 minutes. T - 3-5 miles of hills (bridges here in FL) rotated every week with 3-5 miles of tempo work. W - Easy 3-4 milers with Sarah. Th - 3-5 miles of speed work on the UNF track with my Absentee running group. F - REST. Sa - 5-7 mile long slow distances. Su - Yoga and/or swim/surf for 45 minutes.
I had no pains. I could noticeably start to see my muscles get more defined and I had high energy during the days.
July:
Miles picked up to a level where I really start to feel accomplished after my weekday tempo and weekend long runs but not so many miles that all I want to do on Saturday afternoon is sleep and lay around. I was still following my schedule to a T but mixing up what days I did what runs depending on when I had someone running with me. M - Strength and stretch still. T - 4-6 miles of bridges. W - 5-6.5 tempo. Th - 4-6 Speed work. F - rest. Sa - 9-13 mile long slow distances. Su - Yoga and/or swim/surf for 45.
My right hip flexor and gluteus started tightening up towards the end of the month but not much pain in the SI joint during or after workouts. My body felt great!
August:
Miles picked up to the difficult levels and hip/SI joint pain caused me to change my schedule around quite a bit and even cut back and take breaks. I also started coaching TNT so my easy runs were moved to Saturdays with them and long runs to Sundays. M - strength and stretch. T - 4-6 miles at whatever pace was comfortable. W - Strength and stretch. Th - 3-5 miles at whatever pace was comfortable. F - rest. Sa - 10-16 long slow miserably painful miles. Su - Yoga.
My SI joint started to be very painful during and after runs. I was going to the chiro/therapist and was very good at doing the exercises he was giving me. It started out not hurting tremendously till 8-9 miles, then it wouldn't hurt tremendously till the end of runs, then it started hurting after 6, 5, 4, 3 miles and the pain after runs would hurt for longer. I tried kinesiology tape which seemed to work for two runs with no pain at all. Then I ran an almost tempo paced 5 miles with TNT and the pain started around 3 or 4 miles but I didn't stop because I was trying to catch up with another group to encourage them on. I got home and the pain was horrible the rest of the day. When I tried to run across the street later that day, I almost didn't make it from the extreme pain. It hurt all night and the next day when I looked in the mirror I noticed it was very swollen and had some bruising right around the SI joint. I iced, biofreeze, rest, repeat. Then ran an easy 2.75 miles on the bridges with TNT. It was hurting but not excruciating except for when I'd turn to look about for my Team. Immediately after it started hurting gradually more and then on the way home it was so bad I almost pulled over. The next day I went to my chiro/therapist and after I told him about the swelling and bruising, he immediately said, "you know I'm not one to take people off the playing field, but....it sounds like a bulge has formed and worst case a herniation." Either way, we'd treat it the same - Rest. The only way to tell the difference between the two is with an MRI. Doc said he isn't going to have me do that unless it starts affecting my every day life. Plus, treatment is the same, time to heal is the only difference. After much lecturing, I asked "So what you're saying is that I shouldn't run the marathon in a few weeks?" He said, have you not been listening?! (in a sarcastic polite away of course). He said continuing to run on it like this will only make it worse and possibly lead to me not being able to run ever again. Hmmmm. Guess I should listen to him!
So as of September 7th, I have not run, stretched, strengthed, cycled, swam, or zumbad (haha, ok I never do that!) and it has been 3 long aching days. Only 4 more days to go to re-evaluate doing any kind of activity for another week. But it could be worse, right?!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Not as strong as I thought was
I'm writing this in pain today....well not so much pain but excruciating soreness! Let me explain how this happened....
My friend Sarah and I started running together after work 2-3 days a week when we both entered the "real world" and realized that we couldn't stay trim and fit without working out like we used to be able to do. Sitting at a computer 8+ hours a day wasn't cutting it. I never enjoyed running until we started running together regularly. We trained and ran the Gate River Run 15k after a year or so of running together but I still NEVER had any desire to run a marathon. A half-marathon, maybe if Sarah wanted to but nothing more. Then when the economy got really bad we stopped running as much and right as we were getting back into it, Sarah found out she was pregnant. Long story short, we stopped running, got busy and were out of shape again. When I found out my aunt was relapsing with lymphoma, Sarah was at the end of her pregnancy and I was itching to start running again. So I signed up for Team in Training to train for a HALF marathon and raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. After a few weeks I realized that training for the half wasn't going to be the challenge I was hoping to endure for the sake of my aunt and my donors so I decided to train with the full marathoners in TNT. Then I decided to actually run the FULL marathon in San Francisco. After the marathon I was on the sidelines, resting and doing a little yoga till my hip was healed and I got back into running in January of this year.
I trained for the Gate River Run again, snowboarding trip and to reduce my time in 5k races from January to April along with studying for my PE exam (even more of a sore story there!). Even though I wasn't running or working out over 3 days a week to concentrate on studying, I was in shape. I also started a "new" job. In April, I started working with my previous employer again and with Sarah. We both keep joking that they hired me back so that she could have someone to run with again. Hopefully that isn't the reason but it's been a nice bonus!
In June, I started training for the Chicago marathon and helping Sarah get back into shape. I'm working out or running 6 days a week now and she runs with me 2 of those days. It's been kind of a joke that our goal is to take advantage of the free week of gym membership at all of the gyms in town so we don't have to pay for a real membership for awhile. Last week there was a LivingSocial coupon for 5 fitness classes for $15 at one of the local gyms and a friend also gave us week passes to another gym where his wife works. So far so good on that goal! We have at least 4 weeks of gym membership for $15 so far....Another running joke is that I'm now Sarah's coach!
This week Sarah and I decided to do a TRX class at the gym with our LivingSocial deal. The website said Intermediate which we thought we were at least in intermediate shape. We get there and there are about 30 straps that split into two with handles and loops at the end attached to a metal pole on the ceiling. The instructor begins right away without stretches or warm ups. We begin with plank push ups where you put your feet in the straps and hold yourself up in a plank position and dip down in a push up. You do these for one minute, rest for 8 seconds, do another set for 45 seconds, rest for 8 seconds, do another set for 30 seconds. Rest for 15 seconds before your next set of three drills. Plank position again with 45 sec. of push ups, then 45 seconds of mountain climbers in plank position, then knee pulls in plank for 45....that's one set. Repeat 2 more times. I'm not going to go through the entire HOUR long routine but that is pretty much what it consisted of with 15 second breaks in between. Turns out, we aren't in intermediate shape! I couldn't walk, run, bend, MOVE for 2-3 days. I did manage to squeeze in 8 miles on Sunday morning but it wasn't easy.
My friend Sarah and I started running together after work 2-3 days a week when we both entered the "real world" and realized that we couldn't stay trim and fit without working out like we used to be able to do. Sitting at a computer 8+ hours a day wasn't cutting it. I never enjoyed running until we started running together regularly. We trained and ran the Gate River Run 15k after a year or so of running together but I still NEVER had any desire to run a marathon. A half-marathon, maybe if Sarah wanted to but nothing more. Then when the economy got really bad we stopped running as much and right as we were getting back into it, Sarah found out she was pregnant. Long story short, we stopped running, got busy and were out of shape again. When I found out my aunt was relapsing with lymphoma, Sarah was at the end of her pregnancy and I was itching to start running again. So I signed up for Team in Training to train for a HALF marathon and raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. After a few weeks I realized that training for the half wasn't going to be the challenge I was hoping to endure for the sake of my aunt and my donors so I decided to train with the full marathoners in TNT. Then I decided to actually run the FULL marathon in San Francisco. After the marathon I was on the sidelines, resting and doing a little yoga till my hip was healed and I got back into running in January of this year.
I trained for the Gate River Run again, snowboarding trip and to reduce my time in 5k races from January to April along with studying for my PE exam (even more of a sore story there!). Even though I wasn't running or working out over 3 days a week to concentrate on studying, I was in shape. I also started a "new" job. In April, I started working with my previous employer again and with Sarah. We both keep joking that they hired me back so that she could have someone to run with again. Hopefully that isn't the reason but it's been a nice bonus!
In June, I started training for the Chicago marathon and helping Sarah get back into shape. I'm working out or running 6 days a week now and she runs with me 2 of those days. It's been kind of a joke that our goal is to take advantage of the free week of gym membership at all of the gyms in town so we don't have to pay for a real membership for awhile. Last week there was a LivingSocial coupon for 5 fitness classes for $15 at one of the local gyms and a friend also gave us week passes to another gym where his wife works. So far so good on that goal! We have at least 4 weeks of gym membership for $15 so far....Another running joke is that I'm now Sarah's coach!
This week Sarah and I decided to do a TRX class at the gym with our LivingSocial deal. The website said Intermediate which we thought we were at least in intermediate shape. We get there and there are about 30 straps that split into two with handles and loops at the end attached to a metal pole on the ceiling. The instructor begins right away without stretches or warm ups. We begin with plank push ups where you put your feet in the straps and hold yourself up in a plank position and dip down in a push up. You do these for one minute, rest for 8 seconds, do another set for 45 seconds, rest for 8 seconds, do another set for 30 seconds. Rest for 15 seconds before your next set of three drills. Plank position again with 45 sec. of push ups, then 45 seconds of mountain climbers in plank position, then knee pulls in plank for 45....that's one set. Repeat 2 more times. I'm not going to go through the entire HOUR long routine but that is pretty much what it consisted of with 15 second breaks in between. Turns out, we aren't in intermediate shape! I couldn't walk, run, bend, MOVE for 2-3 days. I did manage to squeeze in 8 miles on Sunday morning but it wasn't easy.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Kickoff for Chicago 2011
Well, here I am again. Training for another marathon after I said I would NEVER run a marathon! This time is a little different. There is less pressure because I'm just running for myself and not for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society but I'm more nervous because I won't have that great support from my Team in Training coaches and teammates.
This year I'm running the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9, 2011. My friend, Mary-Claire and I signed up together back in the winter when I was still hurting from my first marathon. MC ran Nike Women's with me in San Fran and we did most of our training together along with our other TNT friends so I'm really glad I'll at least have her to suffer with me! Haha. Really, there were many times when I thought why am I torturing myself?? And as I said before, here I am again!
I officially started my training this week and it feels great to be running and working out this much again! I'm starting off with just 5-6 mile long runs and 3-4 milers during the week which is what I was pretty much doing this year but I'm doing it more days a week. I really battled with my hip at the end of my training, during and after the mary so I took a good 2 months off before running again. The first 2 months after my hip was still hurting so I took it real slow and steady.
When the pain was finally gone I started running a few short races to get motivated again and they sure were motivating. I ran the Downtown Melbourne 5k in March and got 3rd in my age group which was exciting to do in my hometown. I then ran in the Shannon Miller children and women's 5k here in Jacksonville after hearing about the battle she's been going through with ovarian cancer. Anyone who knows me, knows I was a competitive gymnast up till I was 17. Shannon Miller was and still is my all time idol/hero/role model! I was just excited to see her and hopefully meet her. When I finished the race, I noticed hardly anyone else had finished or walked over to the festivities. So I grabbed some water and saw Shannon standing there under a tent. I was able to introduce myself and tell her how great she is for all she does. I was shaking so bad, don't completely remember the whole conversation and I'm pretty sure I was teary eyed from actually getting to speak with my childhood/adulthood idol!! My day was set.
I ended up running into my boss and his family so I stuck around for a bit longer since I was no longer standing around alone; no one could make it there with me but I didn't care, I met Shannon Miller! I walked over to see my official time and.....I won my age group!! So of course I stuck around till the award ceremony, went back over to Shannon's tent to get her to sign my TNT running hat, signed up for a free massage and sampled the goodies on display. Right when they called my name for next massage the MC announced the beginning of the awards ceremony....Hmm, free massage or get a first place plaque from my idol?! I think you all know what I choose...
When they called my name for my first place finish Shannon made eye contact with me and gave me a huge smile with a nod of recognition and congrats! Something, by the way, that she did not do for the other winners! I'm pretty sure she was just excited to see a fellow ex-gymnast win but whatever the reason, I was elated! The only thing I said when she handed me the plaque was, "maaan, I wish I had a camera with me today!" She laughed and I felt so childish but I didn't care one bit!
My boss actually got me an autographed poster from her while he was in line with his daughter which I was really excited about, though I tried to act cool and pretend I wasn't a child on the inside. I don't think he bought it! haha
My next race was the next weekend. The Melbourne Beach Founder's Day Pineapple 2-mile run. I won my age group the year before and the prize is a half century old tradition: a pineapple. I was determined to defend my pineapple which was the only race I had planned this spring. There were a lot more runners in my age group this year but I managed to defend my pineapple my a matter of seconds! An old friend was a close second and a new friend came in third. That is what I love about Melbourne Beach. You always "run" into friends no matter the event, weather or day!
And now, I'm following my race schedule! I FINALLY uploaded my runs from my new Garmin GPS watch and it is soooo cool! Once you upload your run, you can view your route on bing maps! It measures all sorts of stuff like distance, average pace, fastest and slowest pace, elevation change, etc. No more mapping out my runs before and after, calculating my pace with my Timex digital watch (which I still love and wear, don't get me wrong) or posting my runs manually on LogYourRun.com. Here was my first Tempo Run for the season. Not sure if this will work for you, if not I'll have to do some more playing around to figure out how to share my posts. And here is my training schedule for the month of June:
This year I'm running the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9, 2011. My friend, Mary-Claire and I signed up together back in the winter when I was still hurting from my first marathon. MC ran Nike Women's with me in San Fran and we did most of our training together along with our other TNT friends so I'm really glad I'll at least have her to suffer with me! Haha. Really, there were many times when I thought why am I torturing myself?? And as I said before, here I am again!
I officially started my training this week and it feels great to be running and working out this much again! I'm starting off with just 5-6 mile long runs and 3-4 milers during the week which is what I was pretty much doing this year but I'm doing it more days a week. I really battled with my hip at the end of my training, during and after the mary so I took a good 2 months off before running again. The first 2 months after my hip was still hurting so I took it real slow and steady.
When the pain was finally gone I started running a few short races to get motivated again and they sure were motivating. I ran the Downtown Melbourne 5k in March and got 3rd in my age group which was exciting to do in my hometown. I then ran in the Shannon Miller children and women's 5k here in Jacksonville after hearing about the battle she's been going through with ovarian cancer. Anyone who knows me, knows I was a competitive gymnast up till I was 17. Shannon Miller was and still is my all time idol/hero/role model! I was just excited to see her and hopefully meet her. When I finished the race, I noticed hardly anyone else had finished or walked over to the festivities. So I grabbed some water and saw Shannon standing there under a tent. I was able to introduce myself and tell her how great she is for all she does. I was shaking so bad, don't completely remember the whole conversation and I'm pretty sure I was teary eyed from actually getting to speak with my childhood/adulthood idol!! My day was set.
I ended up running into my boss and his family so I stuck around for a bit longer since I was no longer standing around alone; no one could make it there with me but I didn't care, I met Shannon Miller! I walked over to see my official time and.....I won my age group!! So of course I stuck around till the award ceremony, went back over to Shannon's tent to get her to sign my TNT running hat, signed up for a free massage and sampled the goodies on display. Right when they called my name for next massage the MC announced the beginning of the awards ceremony....Hmm, free massage or get a first place plaque from my idol?! I think you all know what I choose...
When they called my name for my first place finish Shannon made eye contact with me and gave me a huge smile with a nod of recognition and congrats! Something, by the way, that she did not do for the other winners! I'm pretty sure she was just excited to see a fellow ex-gymnast win but whatever the reason, I was elated! The only thing I said when she handed me the plaque was, "maaan, I wish I had a camera with me today!" She laughed and I felt so childish but I didn't care one bit!
My boss actually got me an autographed poster from her while he was in line with his daughter which I was really excited about, though I tried to act cool and pretend I wasn't a child on the inside. I don't think he bought it! haha
My next race was the next weekend. The Melbourne Beach Founder's Day Pineapple 2-mile run. I won my age group the year before and the prize is a half century old tradition: a pineapple. I was determined to defend my pineapple which was the only race I had planned this spring. There were a lot more runners in my age group this year but I managed to defend my pineapple my a matter of seconds! An old friend was a close second and a new friend came in third. That is what I love about Melbourne Beach. You always "run" into friends no matter the event, weather or day!
And now, I'm following my race schedule! I FINALLY uploaded my runs from my new Garmin GPS watch and it is soooo cool! Once you upload your run, you can view your route on bing maps! It measures all sorts of stuff like distance, average pace, fastest and slowest pace, elevation change, etc. No more mapping out my runs before and after, calculating my pace with my Timex digital watch (which I still love and wear, don't get me wrong) or posting my runs manually on LogYourRun.com. Here was my first Tempo Run for the season. Not sure if this will work for you, if not I'll have to do some more playing around to figure out how to share my posts. And here is my training schedule for the month of June:
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Final TNT Webpage Posting
Dinner at House of Nanking on the eve eve of race day in San Francisco. Lindsay’s untouched dinner was the focal point on this photo; the other meals had their own stories as well…. We were all afraid to ask anyone to take this photo so somehow I managed to stretch my arm out far enough to just barely capture all of us.
I'm finally taking the time to update everyone on my race. I know you've all been waiting in anticipation to see the photos and some may be wondering if I actually made it! Well, I made it 26.2 miles!! It wasn't easy, I was in pain for most of the second half of the marathon, I was almost miserably sore for a week, the weather was not good, I'm still not back to running full time again because of injuries from training and I never got that "runner's high" during the race. BUT, I wouldn't take it back for anything!
During my training and fundraising, I pondered every once in awhile what is the point of running a marathon other than to show my commitment to the donors? Why not just raise the money for the LLS? I now know why. I'm not sure I can explain why or explain my feelings that I had when I finally saw that finish line and heard the announcer and my friends cheering me on as I RAN across the finish line. It was a great feeling, my body was numb for a few minutes and I didn't feel the pain or frozen limbs. It's a feeling I suppose a chemo patient probably feels when they find out they've beat cancer and are done with treatments. And that is when I realized why I ran and raised money, because going through chemo is like running a marathon and because I can! I did it for those that can't. I did it to make a difference and not only raise money but raise awareness.
It's unfortunate that I didn't get around to writing this sooner and it's more unfortunate the reason that I'm finally writing this update. Just like a previous update I wrote, I write this one with mixed emotions once again. My teammate Cecila's twin sister, Monica passed away last week after complications with her treatments for a blood disorder, similar to Leukemia. Cecilia ran the Nike Women's Marathon in San Fran with me as well. Cecilia and Monica are identical twins and Cecilia was her bone marrow donor when she got sick. Monica was also a runner and was diagnosed just two weeks before graduating from FSU. She relapsed a few times and received many bone marrow transplants through her couragious battle. Monica was 25 and fought a hard fight, especially towards the end. She is in a better place now with no pain, looking down on her sister and running a marathon for her now. I'm attending Monica's funeral service this morning along with our Teammates. (Post was actually written in November 2010)
Our final team bridges run before heading to San Fran. L to R: Megan, Cecilia, Coach Rob, Mary-Claire, Jenny, Heather
Now that I probably turned everyone off from ever wanting to run a marathon or maybe even join TNT because of the emotional heart aches, I'll tell you about my emotions and feelings through the whole 26.2 miles. After all, it was one of the most amazing accomplishments of my life and I want to share it with everyone!
It’s official; we’re running the full and half marathon in less than 48 hours!
San Fran skyscape. Why we run!
TNT Inspirational Spaghetti Dinner
Team Susie supporting our schools on the west coast
They said not to do much the day before the race…uhm, that didn’t happen! We walked just about the entire city, including the cable car roads
The night before the race TNT hosted an inspirational dinner for all of the Nike Women’s TNT participants and their families. They held the dinner in a huge convention center and as all of the participants entered the convention center we were greeted by all of the TNT coaches, organizers and volunteers that helped us get here. This was an experience that words can’t describe. Everyone was dressed head to toe in purple and green, hooting and hollering, using noise makers, singing and cheering for US! They lined the lobby, down the stairs, through the hallway, all the way to the room where the dinner was served. Talk about motivating and emotional, this was beyond that! I’m pretty sure all of the participants were holding back their tears; I know my Team and I were. It made me remember what a difference we made and how appreciative patients, survivors and loved ones were of all that we had done to this point. When I woke up I was provided with even more motivation; a nice congratulations card and gift bag from my parents, my biggest supporters! J
My decorated jersey with the names I ran in honor and memory of during training and the race
The day of the race started very early. Our minds were still on east coast time so we expected to wake up earlier than we needed to but 2am was a little earlier than expected! There were four of us in our room that night; Lindsay, Kara and our friend Cassie came to cheer us on. Lindsay, Kara and I all woke up around 2 but none of us got up or said anything, we didn't want to wake up Cassie who lives in California. You could just hear us one by one, tossing around to try and go back to sleep for a few hours. Eventually we all got up, put on our race gear and walked about a mile to the other girls' hotel room which was in front of the start line. Everyone's adrenaline was pumping, Union Square was as crowded and loud at 5:30am as it probably is on new year's eve, and we all went to the restroom 4+ times, just in case because of our nerves. It was finally time to line up behind the start line according to our pace. Lindsay, Kara, Mary-Claire and I all lined up together dancing, singing and stretching, trying to ignore our nerves. The atmosphere pre-race was amazing! There were so many ladies cheering and singing that early, waking up the residents of Union Square one by one. You could look up at the windows and see lights turn on with each cheer. People were taking pictures from their windows, enjoying a warm cup of coffee on this cold rainy morning.
Teammates pre-race and proof of my "sold body parts"! Sorry for the quality, we asked a stranger to take them with her phone and she emailed them to me right then and there. Gotta love technology! :-)
L to R: Natalie, Jenny, Lindsay, Mary-Claire (North and Central Florida Chapter)
3....2.....1...Bang! And we were off! It was a slow start with lots of congestion. Mary-Claire and I stuck together in the beginning, bobbing and weaving our way to a clear space. Lindsay and Kara stuck together doing the same not too far behind us. The rain let up right before we started and by mile two we were warm so off goes the jacket, thrown to the side to be donated to a local homeless charity. That would be a mistake down the road, but I'll get to that soon! The first two miles were basically all downhill, a "small" hill around mile 3 and downhill again as we passed FIsherman's Wharf. There was a TNT cheer zone at the 5k mark (3.1 miles) where I briefly saw our TNT coordinator decked out in purple and green cheering on the crowd. I lost Mary-Claire somewhere on that downhill in the crowd. MC is a great runner so I assumed she took off and left me in the dust :-)
10K markers (6.2 miles)
Next obstacle, the Presidio at mile 6..... Over one mile, up a steep hill, without a break. Apparently the scenery was beautiful overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge ahead of us and Alcatraz just offshore but I didn't want to look around too much in fear I would lose my stride or trip and fall on my face. Though the uphill burned my lungs, thighs and calves, it generally felt better on my hurt hip than the downhill. I used to make up my time on the downhill but since it hurt my hip, I tried to control myself going down the steep hill on the backside of the Presidio. At mile 7-8 I was still feeling good, no hip pain despite still limping when I walked the days before, muscles were just getting warmed up and it wasn't raining...yet.
15k markers (9.3 miles)
Mile 8-9 brought on another long steep hill. This one wasn't as long as the Presidio but it seemed steeper and the sharp pains in my hip started right before I reached the top of this hill. That is when I started a sort of stretching walk through every other water station. The sharp pains only lasted about a mile or two; I think the stretching walk helped! After this hill we ran by the finish line and a TNT coach from some other chapter ran a short distance with me. He asked how are you feeling? I asked if there were any more hills?! He said “Well…the rest of Golden Gate Park is a gradual uphill the whole way.” What?! I did not remember seeing that on the race course elevation map! I felt a bit of disappointment here and a feeling of oh boy, can I really do this?!
Golden Gate Bridge Park brought on miles 10-16. As the TNT coach said, it was a gradual climb uphill all the way to the end of the park before we finally got to turn around and go downhill. I made the 13 mile mark in less than 2 hours. Because of my hip, my goal was to just run across the finish line and still be able to walk. Prior to my hip injury, I wanted to finish in less than 4 hours but knew this was no longer feasible. This part of the run was the most tranquil part for me despite my lungs starting to burn on that "gradual" hill. This Florida girl started to regret signing up for the full marathon at this point because the half marathoners turned around half way up the park. My muscles still felt ok and I wasn't struggling mentally but it started to drizzle somewhere around the turn around point and it got cold. Not far past the turnaround I saw Cecilia on the other side, so I cheered her on and thought, whoa, I'm going faster than I thought! Cecilia was always faster than me in the long training runs, I hoped I wasn't running too fast so I couldn't finish. Then I saw a girl who had on gloves and I felt like I couldn't stop staring at her in jealousy, wishing I had a pair! Despite the cold I was still cheering on people when I passed them.
Golden Gate Park and the girl with the gloves
Then the turn south along the beach on The Great Highway and passing the finish line once again. As you can imagine, a long 3 mile stretch right along the windy cold beach in the rain was not fun. I began to realize this race was really geared towards the half marathoners. The first half of the course was filled with scenery, turns and a change in landscape. I also began to wonder, where is that runner's high everyone talks about?! I still have 9 miles and have to come back up this miserable stretch of sand and bumpy asphalt. I was trying my hardest to concentrate on breaking up the race in 2-3 mile segments and it was working, for now. As I was running down this stretch, I heard my name being yelled from just behind me. I had just passed my teammate Megan! Megan started in the early start to avoid running too late in the day. I turned around and Megan yelled, Looking good Jenny! Go Team! I brought my hands up to cheer her on and yelled Way to go Megan, Go Team! I had a little extra motivation for the next couple of miles....
Mile 20, my right calf muscle started to hurt, my hands were going numb from the cold and it started raining harder. Miles 19-23 were around a lake and it was a long, boring, cold, enduring stretch. At mile 21, I thought I should've run 22 miles in my training. I wasn’t sure I could make it to the end. Up until this point, I enjoyed having my name on my jersey because strangers would cheer me on and it was like they were my personal cheering squad. I think it was mile 21 or 22 when the 4 hour pacer ran by me and some man yelled way to go Jenny, you're going to make it in less than 4 hours! I don't know if this overwhelmed me or if my calf muscle just started to hurt more but I slowed down a good amount. I was still wondering when that runner's high would set in and still trying to take it in segments. I was now down to segmenting the remainder of the race into 1-2 miles and even that was a struggle. My stomach started to hurt because I was hungry, so I ate a few of the GUs to hopefully fill my stomach and give me some much needed energy. At the end of the lake portion I really started to struggle. TNT supporters would cheer for me and I would think, shut up why aren't you running with me?! I got mean and bitter in my head and was thankful no one I knew was running with me or else they may not be my friend after this! Someone yelled, only one more uphill and it's all downhill from there. It was a small uphill compared to the other hills but my calf was killing me and I couldn't move my hands or face from the cold. I had to do the stretching walk half way up that hill. Once I got to mile 24 or 25 I was so mad and thought why did I did this, I am NEVER doing a marathon again?! I stopped looked up and cried. I was thinking where is the finish line and why aren't any of these TNT coaches running with me?! Then a girl that was running along with me most of the way clapped, cheered me on and said come on, you've got this, don't give up now! That was exactly what I needed, another RUNNER cheering me on saying I've got this! I'm pretty sure my pace slowed to a crawl but I didn't stop again until I crossed the finish line.
Turn back on to The Great Highway (~mile 24)
Though I’m smiling, I’m thinking get that camera out of my face!
And I’m sure you’re all thinking, “Why on earth would you share these horrible pictures of yourself?!” I guess to show that I gave it my all, to confirm these written thoughts and the weather.
And then, I saw the finish line about a quarter mile up road. The biggest smile came across my face and an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and joy hit me. I thought, oh I'm so doing the “arms up like I won” as I run across the finish line. I heard the announcer say, Go Jenny! You've got a lot of people cheering you on here! And then I heard more cheers from the crowd, my smile seemed to get even larger than I thought it could. Lindsay, Kara and Cassie were waiting in the rain at the finish line for me and I couldn't have felt more special and blessed to have them there!
Finish line in sight, finally a real smile! (~mile 26) (Notice the rain is coming down pretty hard
As I crossed the finish line and took my Tiffany Finisher's necklace from the firefighter in a tuxedo I was so excited that I made it and was still on my feet. The feeling I had cannot be explained and it has only been felt by 1% of all people! I soon felt like I was not going to be on my feet for long if I didn't get something in my stomach though so the first thing they handed me, a soggy wet bagel, went directly into my mouth and it tasted so good. After gathering my goodies and wrapping up in the much needed thermal blanket I walked over to my friends. Lindsay wrapped her shawl around me and they led me straight to the heated stretch room. After attempting to roll out my tight feet, calves, thighs and hips I headed to the changing tent to put on some dry clothes but realized I didn't have a sweater or jacket and it was still raining and cold. So that $60 sweater that I really liked from Nike but I just couldn't stand spending that much money for it, well I'm wearing it right now :-)
Couldn’t pick just one finish line shot. I did spend $70 on these photos so I may as well get my money’s worth
Remember when I said to myself at mile 24 that I would NEVER do another marathon again? Well, apparently I got that runner's high once I got back to the hotel because we were all planning our next marathon already! I'm still not sure when that will be, hopefully next October or sooner.
After the race Lindsay, Kara and I headed to Napa for a night and then down to Santa Barbara to visit my Aunt Susie and George. Susie is the reason I did this and it was the perfect ending to the perfect trip. Because of me; Lindsay and Kara signed up for Team in Training and we raised over $16,000. NE Florida chapter - NWM2010 rose over $33,000 and the NWM 2010 rose $13M for the LLS! My experience with TNT has had ups, downs, injuries and heartaches but I would do it again a million times over knowing I'm making a difference. I met some great friends along the way and without TNT, Cecilia wouldn't have that extra support team there today at Monica's funeral. And that is just one more benefit that TNT offers for patients and their family.
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| Cakebread Cellars |
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| Elan Vineyards |
Napa Valley – Cakebread Cellars and Elan Vineyard (Stags Leap’s grapes)
Road trip down The Great Highway…in a car this time!
Santa Barbara, CA and the view from Susie and George’s
Thank you to everyone who supported me along this journey and donated to the LLS. I hope my experience has inspired at least one more person to make a difference so we can put an end to cancer. After all, there is no finish line until there is a cure!
Go TEAM!
Jenny
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