Post Chicago
We eventually managed to get around and went out for the RBF meetup. It was very cool finally meeting everyone and I had a good time chatting with Lora, Haight, and Dice. After dinner some of us headed out to a bar and I got to hang out with Mouse, Walchka, and Running Rabbit. Huge thanks to Dice for walking me to the bar. What a gentleman! Having just seen two men beating the crap out of each other in the alley I decided I wanted an escort :)
We threw back some drinks and watched the only Tigers win (Boo! I can't believe they lost the WS). I had a great time and eventually made my way back to Running Jayhawk's place. We chatted a bit before heading to bed. I had to be up early to catch the Megabus back to Cleveland. $15 for my ticket. Not too shabby!
Well I guess you get what you pay for.
After a minor freakout about where the hell the bus was I found DL waiting for the bus too. The crowd was small so we got a table area on the bus to ourselves. We talked shop for awhile waiting for our trip to Cleveland to start. And waited...and waited...got angry....and waited....
We had a special bus because the normal Mega Busses do not have wheelchair accessibility. Well apparently even though this one had it, the people in charge did not have much experience using it. It took them about 40 minutes to get the poor lady onto the bus. During which time I decided I was starving and had to get a sandwich. We timed it just right and got back onto the bus just as they were finally gettind her on board. Well then the bus wouldn't start. After about 7 attempts to start the bus, each attempt taking about 2 minutes. The bus driver got off and opened and shut the wheelchair door. Except for now the door wouldn't shut and it set off an alarm.
I swear to you that that door got slammed about 30 times before they finally decided to try something different (despite passengers suggesting to them to try something new several times) Finally they realized that the door was locked and wouldn't shut until unlocked by turning the bus off. And thankfully after all of that the bus decided to start.
We threw back some drinks and watched the only Tigers win (Boo! I can't believe they lost the WS). I had a great time and eventually made my way back to Running Jayhawk's place. We chatted a bit before heading to bed. I had to be up early to catch the Megabus back to Cleveland. $15 for my ticket. Not too shabby!
Well I guess you get what you pay for.
After a minor freakout about where the hell the bus was I found DL waiting for the bus too. The crowd was small so we got a table area on the bus to ourselves. We talked shop for awhile waiting for our trip to Cleveland to start. And waited...and waited...got angry....and waited....
We had a special bus because the normal Mega Busses do not have wheelchair accessibility. Well apparently even though this one had it, the people in charge did not have much experience using it. It took them about 40 minutes to get the poor lady onto the bus. During which time I decided I was starving and had to get a sandwich. We timed it just right and got back onto the bus just as they were finally gettind her on board. Well then the bus wouldn't start. After about 7 attempts to start the bus, each attempt taking about 2 minutes. The bus driver got off and opened and shut the wheelchair door. Except for now the door wouldn't shut and it set off an alarm.
I swear to you that that door got slammed about 30 times before they finally decided to try something different (despite passengers suggesting to them to try something new several times) Finally they realized that the door was locked and wouldn't shut until unlocked by turning the bus off. And thankfully after all of that the bus decided to start.
Run Chi
The whole weekend in Chicago was an absolute blast. After all the paranoia about logistics, hotel, transportation, ITB issues, almost bailing etc. everything worked out just fine. In fact everything was better than fine.
For now I am just going to try to sum up the race. Hopefully I will find some time to cover everything else leading up to it because a lot of really great people made this weekend so much more relaxing for me than it could have been. And of course there was some fun drama to be had (post race thank goodness).
Sunday morning I woke up around 4:45. I had a bagel and cream cheese and a bottle of gatorade with carbo pro, also some green tea and a small cup of coffee. My stomach was not happy with me at all. Luckily for me my "donut" and I have a pact. It can be as distressed as it wants pre and post race as long as it shuts up and deals during. So far it has stuck to it's side of the deal and this race was no different. After about the 5th bathroom stop (only once in the portalet thank goodness) my stomach was calm and I was ready to drop off my gear bag.
I had come to the race with two running club friends and one of their brothers. We all walked to the gear check and then I went on my own way, paranoid that I would get to the start late if I didn't head out. Visions of Su's torn shorts from last year floating in my head.
Someone had the bright idea to put the gear check numbers in reverse order from right to left (45,000-1) of course my starting corral was now all the way back and to the far left. I think it was about a half mile walk, maybe more. I finally found the corral but could not figure out where the heck to get in. Minor freak out but I kept my cool after a volunteer exclaimed she had no idea either. I wound my way back out around a fenced in street and found the correct path to my Preferred 1 start.
My plan ever since Youngstown has been to aim for 3:40. Play it safe with the ITB, don't go out too fast, but try to negative split and BQ if I felt good. Hmmm. Anyone who knows me and my race strategies knows that went out the window as soon as I stepped into the corral. The 3:40 pacer was behind us in the Preferred II start so I lined up with the 3:30 group and decided to go out with them and see how I fared. I chatted with three other girls who were aiming for 3:30 and planned to run together, I told them I would try to hang but not to worry if I dropped back, filled them in on the ITB and found out one of them was having the same issues. I wish I would have got her number to see how she did.
I ditched my carbo pro gatorade mix with a few minutes to spare as the clothes started flying. The national anthem started and I started to get excited. I was stretching and everything felt loose. I had taken two tylenol 8 hours an hour before the race to protect against inflammation, but the ITB had been friendly with me the night before and I had high hopes that it wouldn't be a problem with or without the tylenol. I was honestly more worried about my shins. My two mile easy run the night before both shins were on fire the entire 19 minutes. I think that run was worse for me than anything else because I just kept thinking how the heck am I going to run 26.2 miles at 8:30 pace while my shins are about to burst.
All the ART therapy, stretching, strength training, and rest paid off though. We started and I felt no pain. As we made our way to the mats we were on the right. There were spectators on the left right and in the middle of the road, as well as above us on a bridge that we ran under. Pretty unreal. I kept the 3:30 gals in my sights but reeled it in a bit. I didn't want to blow the race in the first few miles. Miles 1-6 blew by. I felt fantastic. It was cold but I figured it was an advantage because it kept my legs cold helping to prevent inflammation perhaps? All I know is nothing hurt and 8 minute miles were feeling groovy.
Around mile 4 I heard Mouse screaming and I turned to wave as I moved forward. I was smiling. I feel bad I didn't see Trisaratops but I was so grateful to know there were people out there looking for me and cheering for me. Those girls have lungs! I think the three of us would be a serious spectator force to be reckoned with. But I wasn't in Chicago to spectate so I moved along.
I think Mile 5 was the first time I took aid. I grabbed a gatorade. I overheard two girls mention that they thought mile 6 had just blown by and that they had picked it up as we passed the marker, I glanced at my split and was surprised it was a bit slow. I definitely didn't feel like I had slowed down so I guess it must have been the gatorade stop. I wasn't too worried though because I had a few sub 8s to balance the 8:15 out.
Since my first marathon I don't use a pace band. I just know the average pace I should run and I try to keep it close to that. If I am within 5 to 10 seconds either way throughout the race I figure I will make my goal. This does get tricky towards the end when you start to try to calculate time left to the finish though :)
From 5 to about 11 I just tried to keep myself reeled in, I knew Mouse would be between 11 and 12 and I just tried to enjoy myself until I saw her again. There were spectators most of the way and despite the wind being a little strong the conditions felt good. Around 7 miles I realized that my choice in wearing my "fashionable" red Boston shorts was a bad one as I was chafing. Luckily I found a vaseline stop shortly after. I find it amusing that someone could get so excited about a cardboard square covered in vaseline :)
Around 12 I heard Mouse and Trisaratops screaming again and I smiled and waved. I was feeling really good at this point running just behind the 3:30 pacers. I was relatively confident I could hold pace and was even holding out for a negative split, possibly even a PR. I went through the half right on 3:30 pace at 1:45 and thought to myself that I felt just as good if not better than I did at the start of River Run and that negative splitting might be in the cards if I could gut it out.
I made a quick pit stop before mile 14. I struggled to get my shorts back on because my thighs were so cold they were swelling (if that makes any sense) and my fingers were a bit too cold to untie the darn things. I finally got them on though and headed back out onto the course.
So far I had had two gels, one at 5 and one around 12. I had two more in reserve and planned on taking those around 18 and 22. I think I ended up taking the third around 16 instead. After I hit mile 14 everything started going downhill. My left calf started its usual protest and then my right chimed in. By 15 my quads were threatening me with severe cramping. I was paying the price for not training enough on pavement. Every step hurt pretty bad but I just sucked it up. I figured slowing down wasn't an option because it would just mean more time on the pavement and possibly more damage.
About that time a pair of guys ran by me and one said to the other the good old mantra that pain is fear leaving the body. I repeated this to myself over the next mile or so to try and shut down the pain. After that I kept reminding myself that I would much rather be out running than doing much else and tried to enjoy every moment despite the pain. At one point we ran through a spectator area that had ACDC playing on speakers on both sides of the road. Right as I hit the speakers the words "THUNDERSTRUCK" belted out. I am not even a big ACDC fan but I swear I got chills. The crowd support was just amazing.
At 18 or 19 they had a gel stop. I never take the races gels, ever since I took a chocolate Gu at the Chicago Tri and almost vomited I avoid new stuff, but I figured a caffeine boost definitely wouldn't hurt and maybe some extra carbs would help out my protesting legs. So I eyed the signs for something fruity with caffeine. Strawberry with caffeine stood out and I made eye contact with the volunteer handing those out. I sucked that down and trucked forward. I had started doing math at 16 trying to figure out what mile pace I had to hold in order to hit 3:35 and 3:40. The miles were slowing down now despite my efforts to keep it closer to 8 minute miles.
About a mile after the gel station there were volunteers handing out bananas. I am normally totally grossed out by bananas but I was willing to try anything to keep my threatening legs from completely cramping. So I grabbed the banana piece and shoved the whole thing in my mouth at once. Disgusting but I think it probably aided against the cramping post race.
At this point I was looking for JG's family but I never did see them. I was a bit bummed but was enjoying China Town and all the fun music. A man came up behind me and asked if I was running for breast cancer. I replied that no I just liked wearing pink, but told him I had run for TNT before. He was running for his wife who was a breast cancer survivor and had raised about $6,000. I tried to keep up with him but the legs were having none of it so I wished him luck as he passed me for good.
Around mile 23 we passed a band singing Ride Sally Ride and they called out for everyone to sing along. I am sure they were talking to the volunteers but I didn't care I just needed anything to get my mind off the pain so I sang along too until I couldn't hear them any longer. For about a mile after that I kept singing it in my head willing my legs to pick it up.
Around 24 a man came running past and was encouraging all around him to pick up those knees. It was all mind over matter now. I changed my stride a bit and lifted my knees. But couldn't do it for long. It felt great changing my form though. 24 miles of the same motion on pavement was seriously taking its toll.
I tried really hard to pick up the pace after 24. I knew 3:40 was going to be tough to make if I didn't pull something out starting then. At 25 we turned straight into the wind. I was not prepared for that at all. It was ugly and unlike the rest of the race I wasn't close enough to anyone to draft and my legs were not willing to pick it up enough to draft off those just ahead of me. I put my head down and willed my legs to the finish. We finally turned out of the wind and up the only real hill on the course. Crowds were on the left over this bridge and I trucked up the hill as best as I could manage. Just before the corner we saw the 800 m to go sign and I glanced at my watch. I knew I needed to hammer to come in at 3:40 and hauled. I loved the signs as you turned onto Columbus and could finally see the finish line. 400 m, 200m, 100m, mats. 3:40:30
It felt great to stop running. My quads and calves were a wreck but I was able to walk through the chute and the crowds were not as dense as Boston so I didn't get claustrophobic or dizzy. I made my way to the Mylar blankets, then to get my medal. I took a banana and an apple which I never ate and grabbed a water bottle. This was the first marathon I wasn't starving at the end so I guess that 5th gel and banana on the course were a good idea. I made my way to get some ice on my left calf which had protested the longest and then headed to the gear check tents. On my way I found JG and his brother. They were headed to get beer which I had somehow missed so I went back with them to grab a few brews before finally putting back on my warm fleece pants that I had been upset about giving up that morning.
We shuffled over to the family meeting area and made our way to the Grant Park parking lot to get my stuff. They headed back out to Wheaton and I hauled my suitcase and backpack back towards the finish line. I wasn't really sure what time Running Jayhawk and her hubby had started so I called their cells and left them a message as to where I thought I could meet them. Eventually I figured out that I could get to the TNT tent and I headed that way. After some chatting and some free smoothies and gatorade recovery drinks I found Running Jayhawk's parents and we went into the TNT tent to stay warm until RJ and OOSG were finished. Eventually we got in touch with them and were able to retrieve their TNT pins and go find them at the massage tent. We made our way to the subway and back to their place for some well deserved beers and showers!
Splits for those that love em'
7:56.31
7:58.97
7:59.31
7:46.50
7:48.57
8:14.56
7:59.85
8:01.66
8:04.39
8:03.94
8:01.81
8:14.10
8:16.07
8:54.52 (bathroom)
7:53.23
8:04.68
8:31.07
8:34.77
8:44.86
9:00.42
9:18.07
9:15.91
9:12.70
9:12.81
9:00.80
9:28.50 (wind,hill)
52.36
Post Race Activities To Be Continued
Post Race Analysis Coming Soon
For now I am just going to try to sum up the race. Hopefully I will find some time to cover everything else leading up to it because a lot of really great people made this weekend so much more relaxing for me than it could have been. And of course there was some fun drama to be had (post race thank goodness).
Sunday morning I woke up around 4:45. I had a bagel and cream cheese and a bottle of gatorade with carbo pro, also some green tea and a small cup of coffee. My stomach was not happy with me at all. Luckily for me my "donut" and I have a pact. It can be as distressed as it wants pre and post race as long as it shuts up and deals during. So far it has stuck to it's side of the deal and this race was no different. After about the 5th bathroom stop (only once in the portalet thank goodness) my stomach was calm and I was ready to drop off my gear bag.
I had come to the race with two running club friends and one of their brothers. We all walked to the gear check and then I went on my own way, paranoid that I would get to the start late if I didn't head out. Visions of Su's torn shorts from last year floating in my head.
Someone had the bright idea to put the gear check numbers in reverse order from right to left (45,000-1) of course my starting corral was now all the way back and to the far left. I think it was about a half mile walk, maybe more. I finally found the corral but could not figure out where the heck to get in. Minor freak out but I kept my cool after a volunteer exclaimed she had no idea either. I wound my way back out around a fenced in street and found the correct path to my Preferred 1 start.
My plan ever since Youngstown has been to aim for 3:40. Play it safe with the ITB, don't go out too fast, but try to negative split and BQ if I felt good. Hmmm. Anyone who knows me and my race strategies knows that went out the window as soon as I stepped into the corral. The 3:40 pacer was behind us in the Preferred II start so I lined up with the 3:30 group and decided to go out with them and see how I fared. I chatted with three other girls who were aiming for 3:30 and planned to run together, I told them I would try to hang but not to worry if I dropped back, filled them in on the ITB and found out one of them was having the same issues. I wish I would have got her number to see how she did.
I ditched my carbo pro gatorade mix with a few minutes to spare as the clothes started flying. The national anthem started and I started to get excited. I was stretching and everything felt loose. I had taken two tylenol 8 hours an hour before the race to protect against inflammation, but the ITB had been friendly with me the night before and I had high hopes that it wouldn't be a problem with or without the tylenol. I was honestly more worried about my shins. My two mile easy run the night before both shins were on fire the entire 19 minutes. I think that run was worse for me than anything else because I just kept thinking how the heck am I going to run 26.2 miles at 8:30 pace while my shins are about to burst.
All the ART therapy, stretching, strength training, and rest paid off though. We started and I felt no pain. As we made our way to the mats we were on the right. There were spectators on the left right and in the middle of the road, as well as above us on a bridge that we ran under. Pretty unreal. I kept the 3:30 gals in my sights but reeled it in a bit. I didn't want to blow the race in the first few miles. Miles 1-6 blew by. I felt fantastic. It was cold but I figured it was an advantage because it kept my legs cold helping to prevent inflammation perhaps? All I know is nothing hurt and 8 minute miles were feeling groovy.
Around mile 4 I heard Mouse screaming and I turned to wave as I moved forward. I was smiling. I feel bad I didn't see Trisaratops but I was so grateful to know there were people out there looking for me and cheering for me. Those girls have lungs! I think the three of us would be a serious spectator force to be reckoned with. But I wasn't in Chicago to spectate so I moved along.
I think Mile 5 was the first time I took aid. I grabbed a gatorade. I overheard two girls mention that they thought mile 6 had just blown by and that they had picked it up as we passed the marker, I glanced at my split and was surprised it was a bit slow. I definitely didn't feel like I had slowed down so I guess it must have been the gatorade stop. I wasn't too worried though because I had a few sub 8s to balance the 8:15 out.
Since my first marathon I don't use a pace band. I just know the average pace I should run and I try to keep it close to that. If I am within 5 to 10 seconds either way throughout the race I figure I will make my goal. This does get tricky towards the end when you start to try to calculate time left to the finish though :)
From 5 to about 11 I just tried to keep myself reeled in, I knew Mouse would be between 11 and 12 and I just tried to enjoy myself until I saw her again. There were spectators most of the way and despite the wind being a little strong the conditions felt good. Around 7 miles I realized that my choice in wearing my "fashionable" red Boston shorts was a bad one as I was chafing. Luckily I found a vaseline stop shortly after. I find it amusing that someone could get so excited about a cardboard square covered in vaseline :)
Around 12 I heard Mouse and Trisaratops screaming again and I smiled and waved. I was feeling really good at this point running just behind the 3:30 pacers. I was relatively confident I could hold pace and was even holding out for a negative split, possibly even a PR. I went through the half right on 3:30 pace at 1:45 and thought to myself that I felt just as good if not better than I did at the start of River Run and that negative splitting might be in the cards if I could gut it out.
I made a quick pit stop before mile 14. I struggled to get my shorts back on because my thighs were so cold they were swelling (if that makes any sense) and my fingers were a bit too cold to untie the darn things. I finally got them on though and headed back out onto the course.
So far I had had two gels, one at 5 and one around 12. I had two more in reserve and planned on taking those around 18 and 22. I think I ended up taking the third around 16 instead. After I hit mile 14 everything started going downhill. My left calf started its usual protest and then my right chimed in. By 15 my quads were threatening me with severe cramping. I was paying the price for not training enough on pavement. Every step hurt pretty bad but I just sucked it up. I figured slowing down wasn't an option because it would just mean more time on the pavement and possibly more damage.
About that time a pair of guys ran by me and one said to the other the good old mantra that pain is fear leaving the body. I repeated this to myself over the next mile or so to try and shut down the pain. After that I kept reminding myself that I would much rather be out running than doing much else and tried to enjoy every moment despite the pain. At one point we ran through a spectator area that had ACDC playing on speakers on both sides of the road. Right as I hit the speakers the words "THUNDERSTRUCK" belted out. I am not even a big ACDC fan but I swear I got chills. The crowd support was just amazing.
At 18 or 19 they had a gel stop. I never take the races gels, ever since I took a chocolate Gu at the Chicago Tri and almost vomited I avoid new stuff, but I figured a caffeine boost definitely wouldn't hurt and maybe some extra carbs would help out my protesting legs. So I eyed the signs for something fruity with caffeine. Strawberry with caffeine stood out and I made eye contact with the volunteer handing those out. I sucked that down and trucked forward. I had started doing math at 16 trying to figure out what mile pace I had to hold in order to hit 3:35 and 3:40. The miles were slowing down now despite my efforts to keep it closer to 8 minute miles.
About a mile after the gel station there were volunteers handing out bananas. I am normally totally grossed out by bananas but I was willing to try anything to keep my threatening legs from completely cramping. So I grabbed the banana piece and shoved the whole thing in my mouth at once. Disgusting but I think it probably aided against the cramping post race.
At this point I was looking for JG's family but I never did see them. I was a bit bummed but was enjoying China Town and all the fun music. A man came up behind me and asked if I was running for breast cancer. I replied that no I just liked wearing pink, but told him I had run for TNT before. He was running for his wife who was a breast cancer survivor and had raised about $6,000. I tried to keep up with him but the legs were having none of it so I wished him luck as he passed me for good.
Around mile 23 we passed a band singing Ride Sally Ride and they called out for everyone to sing along. I am sure they were talking to the volunteers but I didn't care I just needed anything to get my mind off the pain so I sang along too until I couldn't hear them any longer. For about a mile after that I kept singing it in my head willing my legs to pick it up.
Around 24 a man came running past and was encouraging all around him to pick up those knees. It was all mind over matter now. I changed my stride a bit and lifted my knees. But couldn't do it for long. It felt great changing my form though. 24 miles of the same motion on pavement was seriously taking its toll.
I tried really hard to pick up the pace after 24. I knew 3:40 was going to be tough to make if I didn't pull something out starting then. At 25 we turned straight into the wind. I was not prepared for that at all. It was ugly and unlike the rest of the race I wasn't close enough to anyone to draft and my legs were not willing to pick it up enough to draft off those just ahead of me. I put my head down and willed my legs to the finish. We finally turned out of the wind and up the only real hill on the course. Crowds were on the left over this bridge and I trucked up the hill as best as I could manage. Just before the corner we saw the 800 m to go sign and I glanced at my watch. I knew I needed to hammer to come in at 3:40 and hauled. I loved the signs as you turned onto Columbus and could finally see the finish line. 400 m, 200m, 100m, mats. 3:40:30
It felt great to stop running. My quads and calves were a wreck but I was able to walk through the chute and the crowds were not as dense as Boston so I didn't get claustrophobic or dizzy. I made my way to the Mylar blankets, then to get my medal. I took a banana and an apple which I never ate and grabbed a water bottle. This was the first marathon I wasn't starving at the end so I guess that 5th gel and banana on the course were a good idea. I made my way to get some ice on my left calf which had protested the longest and then headed to the gear check tents. On my way I found JG and his brother. They were headed to get beer which I had somehow missed so I went back with them to grab a few brews before finally putting back on my warm fleece pants that I had been upset about giving up that morning.
We shuffled over to the family meeting area and made our way to the Grant Park parking lot to get my stuff. They headed back out to Wheaton and I hauled my suitcase and backpack back towards the finish line. I wasn't really sure what time Running Jayhawk and her hubby had started so I called their cells and left them a message as to where I thought I could meet them. Eventually I figured out that I could get to the TNT tent and I headed that way. After some chatting and some free smoothies and gatorade recovery drinks I found Running Jayhawk's parents and we went into the TNT tent to stay warm until RJ and OOSG were finished. Eventually we got in touch with them and were able to retrieve their TNT pins and go find them at the massage tent. We made our way to the subway and back to their place for some well deserved beers and showers!
Splits for those that love em'
7:56.31
7:58.97
7:59.31
7:46.50
7:48.57
8:14.56
7:59.85
8:01.66
8:04.39
8:03.94
8:01.81
8:14.10
8:16.07
8:54.52 (bathroom)
7:53.23
8:04.68
8:31.07
8:34.77
8:44.86
9:00.42
9:18.07
9:15.91
9:12.70
9:12.81
9:00.80
9:28.50 (wind,hill)
52.36
Post Race Activities To Be Continued
Post Race Analysis Coming Soon
Chicago Marathon Prep
So I know posting has been sketchy heres a quick run down of the injury progression.
September 3rd 20 mile run ending in pretty bad ITB pain. Took a few days off and felt fine.
September 10th- River Run Half Marathon screwed up right hamstring, took whole week off
September 16th- Trail marathon resulting in really bad ITB pain, moved to hip and knee now
September 22nd- 18 minute run resulting in so much ITB pain I could not run and had to walk back, schedule ART therapy for the next Monday
September 23rd- Youngstown 50K relatively pain free (This is why we love trails kids)
September 24th-October 3rd horrible chest cold starts
Sept 25th first of 6 appointments with the ART doctor
September 30th- Akron Marathon Relay 5K pretty bad pain and still sick as a dog
October 7th- 18 mile trail run, ITB a little tight I think I had a 3 mile run one of the nights that week
October 17th-October 19th 3 runs ranging from 30-40 minutes. ITB sore during the day afterwards
October 21st- 2 mile run no ITB pain, shins on fire the entire run
I basically had a bunch of long easy trail runs and had not run fast for more than 5k since River Run and was not feeling too confident.
Which brings us to marathon day :)
Coming into this marathon I felt completely unprepared. I had not seen the track or slogged through a tempo run in what felt like an age (what was actually about 5 weeks). I also had not run during the week at all during those 5 weeks except for last week and all three of those runs ended in IT pain, not bad pain, but not non-existant like I was hoping for. I continued to do my strength work and stretching though and hoped for the best on Sunday.
September 3rd 20 mile run ending in pretty bad ITB pain. Took a few days off and felt fine.
September 10th- River Run Half Marathon screwed up right hamstring, took whole week off
September 16th- Trail marathon resulting in really bad ITB pain, moved to hip and knee now
September 22nd- 18 minute run resulting in so much ITB pain I could not run and had to walk back, schedule ART therapy for the next Monday
September 23rd- Youngstown 50K relatively pain free (This is why we love trails kids)
September 24th-October 3rd horrible chest cold starts
Sept 25th first of 6 appointments with the ART doctor
September 30th- Akron Marathon Relay 5K pretty bad pain and still sick as a dog
October 7th- 18 mile trail run, ITB a little tight I think I had a 3 mile run one of the nights that week
October 17th-October 19th 3 runs ranging from 30-40 minutes. ITB sore during the day afterwards
October 21st- 2 mile run no ITB pain, shins on fire the entire run
I basically had a bunch of long easy trail runs and had not run fast for more than 5k since River Run and was not feeling too confident.
Which brings us to marathon day :)
Coming into this marathon I felt completely unprepared. I had not seen the track or slogged through a tempo run in what felt like an age (what was actually about 5 weeks). I also had not run during the week at all during those 5 weeks except for last week and all three of those runs ended in IT pain, not bad pain, but not non-existant like I was hoping for. I continued to do my strength work and stretching though and hoped for the best on Sunday.
3:40
and some change, it hurt, but I'll take it ;)
I am back to the land of Cleve after a long day on the bus. Incredibly sore. The ice bath was....pleasant? Not walking too well so I am off to recover with some chocolate milk and snuggling with my awesome husband.
Really everyone thank you so much for all your support in comments, text messages, phone calls, and well wishes. I continue to be amazed by all the wonderful friends I am surrounded by.
A couple pics till I have time to recap...
SERC Rules! From left to right 3:40, 3:09, 3:17, 3:08
And a little Phog for Mouse (who totally rocks and is super awesome).
I am back to the land of Cleve after a long day on the bus. Incredibly sore. The ice bath was....pleasant? Not walking too well so I am off to recover with some chocolate milk and snuggling with my awesome husband.
Really everyone thank you so much for all your support in comments, text messages, phone calls, and well wishes. I continue to be amazed by all the wonderful friends I am surrounded by.
A couple pics till I have time to recap...
SERC Rules! From left to right 3:40, 3:09, 3:17, 3:08
And a little Phog for Mouse (who totally rocks and is super awesome).
6401
Heading out. Current race plan is to take every mile at a time and listen to my body. Try not to irritate the ITB and have fun.
Good luck to all those racing! I hope to see you all afterwards at the RBF party!
If you want to track the number is 6401. If I keep popping up at checkpoints you'll know I am meeting the primary goal which is to finish without too much damage and count this as my last long run before JFK in one month. I am going to try to hold 8:30 pace most of the race and hammer the last 2 miles in to get under 3:40 but that will be left up to my ITB to decide. Dreams of the 3:25 finish will have to be put on hold for another race.
Good luck to all those racing! I hope to see you all afterwards at the RBF party!
If you want to track the number is 6401. If I keep popping up at checkpoints you'll know I am meeting the primary goal which is to finish without too much damage and count this as my last long run before JFK in one month. I am going to try to hold 8:30 pace most of the race and hammer the last 2 miles in to get under 3:40 but that will be left up to my ITB to decide. Dreams of the 3:25 finish will have to be put on hold for another race.
Random Friday Photo
Imitating ANTM models doing "extreme" posing at my birthday celebration. Fun was had (if you couldn't tell from this photo) 
Check out the CW lounge and the Bonus Footage: Bend It video for reference
25
I am moving on up into a new age group! Yeah! Spent the birthday washing windows and packing for Kalamazoo and Chicago.
I will be at a work conference all week, back Thursday night then leaving Friday morning for Chicago.
Am not prepared at all for this marathon. Let's hope that I haven't lost too much fitness and I can hold 8:30-9 minute pace without beating the crap out of my quads!
Internet useage may be sparce this week. Wish I would have more time to reflect on the marathon coming up etc but I have been super busy and this week will be more of the same!
Hopefully I will be meeting up with some super awesome RBFers next weekend in Chi Town!
Posts to come post Chicago of Birthday party fun (some pics here), Youngstown 50K, and life in general.
Great job Brian, Janet, and Lou today in Columbus! Very proud of you guys!
I will be at a work conference all week, back Thursday night then leaving Friday morning for Chicago.
Am not prepared at all for this marathon. Let's hope that I haven't lost too much fitness and I can hold 8:30-9 minute pace without beating the crap out of my quads!
Internet useage may be sparce this week. Wish I would have more time to reflect on the marathon coming up etc but I have been super busy and this week will be more of the same!
Hopefully I will be meeting up with some super awesome RBFers next weekend in Chi Town!
Posts to come post Chicago of Birthday party fun (some pics here), Youngstown 50K, and life in general.
Great job Brian, Janet, and Lou today in Columbus! Very proud of you guys!
Akron Relay Recap!
My friend A LOVES the Akron Marathon. This was her third year participating in a relay of some sorts. Last year she was on the run for beer team carrying cardboards signs. This year it was Five Fast Freaks. With a name like that how can you go wrong?
Initially I was recruited to run 10.7 on a 2 man relay but had to back out because of my ITB. A insisted that I do the 5 man relay with her and T, oh and that I find two other fast people to join us. Hmmm. We have plenty of fast friends so i put a call out on the CTC forum and sent an email to my SERC peeps. B and Papa Louie replied and we registered the team.
I had not run all week since the 50k because of my cold. My nose was still running a lot and I was still hacking up a lung but I figured I couldn't let my team down, and it was only 5K!
We met at T's early in the morning and carpooled to the race. It was cold and drizzling. It stayed that way the whole day. But we were in good spirits as we dropped our 1st runner T off at the start and headed to our buses to get shipped to the relay points (after a quick pic).
Papa Louie and I said goodbye to B as we waited for our shuttle, in retrospect we probably could have watched the start. But we had fun chatting about Lou's upcoming marathon and predicting what time our relay partners would make it to each point. We both agreed that we would run about a 3:20, boy did we overestimate :)
Lou got dropped at my relay point with me so he could do my 5K leg as a warmup for his 12K. After hanging out in the rain for a little bit Lou headed off to avoid the traffic once the leaders came in. I waited until I thought I had a minimum of 10 minutes before A would arrive and gave up my bag and outer layers. I headed out for a warm up of my own.
I ran backwards through the course for 5 minutes, spotting some of my speedster friends along the way and cheering. Then I made a turn around at about mile 15 on the actual course to head back and wait for A, well remember that overestimating? A was right behind me, and she was flying! So I had to haul tail with her to the exchange. Not exactly the easy warm up with post stretch I was planning on.
I was stripping my third layer, taking off my hat, leaping over ropes so as not to hit the timing mats, and after that 3 minute tempo warm up I handed my hat to A and took the snap bracelet (Like the ones we all wore in the 90s, you know the neon ones?). It was pretty wild, they are calling our number in the relay zone and I am supposed to be waiting in my corral and here I come running with my partner on the course, but the hand off went fine, and I was super glad I had that third layer tied around my waist for after my leg.
The first half mile or so I wasn't really thinking about the course. I think there was a short downhill before the 3 mile incline began. I was just trying to focus on breathing, keeping my arms from swaying in front of my body, and trying to run like I was in a 5K race. Well I can honestly say I have never run a 5k race uphill before, and it is much different starting off on your own than in a pack.
I hammered up the hills as best as I could. I had screwed up my watch during the hectic warm up so I hit the split at marathon mile 16 to check my pace at 17. As I closed in on 17 the number 3 and 4 women marathoners inched by me and seemed to float away. Here I am busting my snotty arse up this long incline and I get passed by two women running the full marathon. Holy cow. My first mile split I got was 7:40ish, definitely not breaking any records. I hoped to hold onto that pace and trucked on up the hill.
I think it was somewhere between 17 and 18 that there was a slight decline before you ran over a little metal ramp to keep your feet from getting wet in the stream flowing over the road. I tried to focus on not slipping in front of the only spectator watching the bridge.
My next mile split was around 8, certainly not what I would normally hope for in a 5k, but at this point I was just suffering until I could finally hand off to Lou. My knee was bothering me and I was having trouble breathing so I just wanted to be done! They saved the steep incline for the last length before coming around a corner to the sound of spectators and the loud speaker calling out the relay exchange numbers. I hammered in until I found Lou waiting at our corral and handed off the snap bracelet. My total time was around 24 minutes. Just a wee bit faster than 8 minute miles. Lou took off and ended up passing and completely overtaking the team in first place for the mixed 5 man relay.
Our final time was 2:57 and some change. Not too shabby!
After my leg I wandered a bit. I couldn't find the buses after I got rid of my chip so I walked backwards through the course cheering on other marathoners and relayers. Eventually I found the bus and got on. As we were waiting for the bus to take us to the finish I noticed the race was getting more crowded and commented that this must be the 3:40 crowd because it always gets more crowded then, and sure enough I looked out and saw Lloyd round the corner holding his 3:40 pace sign. I leaped off the bus and started screaming for him. I saw him turn and make eye contact so I was hopeful that I helped a wee bit. After all they had been running in the cold and rain for much longer than 24 minutes!
The people on the bus informed me I had much too much energy for just having raced. I guess that's the difference between racing a marathon and a 5k for me, after a 5k I can still run and scream, after a marathon, I have to stay in one spot and scream.
We made our way back and I headed into the stadium hoping to catch Lou finishing. After waiting about 20 minutes and then starting to see people I had passed on the course I realized Lou must already be done. I wandered back to the bag pickup and found Lou looking for his warm clothes, which I had, poor guy he was shivering up a storm!
T went to check the results and found out we were in first. We tried to find someone to find out when the awards were and if we would get one. We were informed the awards were on the field at 12:30. We went and got our 3 free beers each and hung out until the awards. At 12:30 we headed down to the field only to find out the awards were really out on the street! Ooops. So we rushed out there to find some SERC friends who had placed in the two man mixed relay and the 5 man male relay. I looked behind us and there was Bill Rodgers! We went and chatted him up and got a picture. He was really nice and had a lot of good things to say about the Akron marathon and especially the relay.
We waited a bit longer for them to get the awards going, there wasn't much of a crowd as everyone was back at the stadium because there were still some marathoners coming in. We were all excited we got first and then they awarded us second, WTF? We were a little miffed but I was just happy we placed!
Afterwards we found out there was a glitch with the team that beat us. Their anchor leg was either Superman or a cheetah because he did the last 12k in about 7 minutes, now that's fast! So the race director corrected the error and we got our names in the Akron newspaper!
How cool is that?
The weather wasn't great and I felt and ran like shit, but it was a very fun race and I was super glad my team did so well. I will definitely consider doing it again next year, except next year I am taking the 2nd 10K leg because I heard that was flat and on Towpath! No more of this uphill for 5k!
Initially I was recruited to run 10.7 on a 2 man relay but had to back out because of my ITB. A insisted that I do the 5 man relay with her and T, oh and that I find two other fast people to join us. Hmmm. We have plenty of fast friends so i put a call out on the CTC forum and sent an email to my SERC peeps. B and Papa Louie replied and we registered the team.
I had not run all week since the 50k because of my cold. My nose was still running a lot and I was still hacking up a lung but I figured I couldn't let my team down, and it was only 5K!
We met at T's early in the morning and carpooled to the race. It was cold and drizzling. It stayed that way the whole day. But we were in good spirits as we dropped our 1st runner T off at the start and headed to our buses to get shipped to the relay points (after a quick pic).
Papa Louie and I said goodbye to B as we waited for our shuttle, in retrospect we probably could have watched the start. But we had fun chatting about Lou's upcoming marathon and predicting what time our relay partners would make it to each point. We both agreed that we would run about a 3:20, boy did we overestimate :)
Lou got dropped at my relay point with me so he could do my 5K leg as a warmup for his 12K. After hanging out in the rain for a little bit Lou headed off to avoid the traffic once the leaders came in. I waited until I thought I had a minimum of 10 minutes before A would arrive and gave up my bag and outer layers. I headed out for a warm up of my own.
I ran backwards through the course for 5 minutes, spotting some of my speedster friends along the way and cheering. Then I made a turn around at about mile 15 on the actual course to head back and wait for A, well remember that overestimating? A was right behind me, and she was flying! So I had to haul tail with her to the exchange. Not exactly the easy warm up with post stretch I was planning on.
I was stripping my third layer, taking off my hat, leaping over ropes so as not to hit the timing mats, and after that 3 minute tempo warm up I handed my hat to A and took the snap bracelet (Like the ones we all wore in the 90s, you know the neon ones?). It was pretty wild, they are calling our number in the relay zone and I am supposed to be waiting in my corral and here I come running with my partner on the course, but the hand off went fine, and I was super glad I had that third layer tied around my waist for after my leg.
The first half mile or so I wasn't really thinking about the course. I think there was a short downhill before the 3 mile incline began. I was just trying to focus on breathing, keeping my arms from swaying in front of my body, and trying to run like I was in a 5K race. Well I can honestly say I have never run a 5k race uphill before, and it is much different starting off on your own than in a pack.
I hammered up the hills as best as I could. I had screwed up my watch during the hectic warm up so I hit the split at marathon mile 16 to check my pace at 17. As I closed in on 17 the number 3 and 4 women marathoners inched by me and seemed to float away. Here I am busting my snotty arse up this long incline and I get passed by two women running the full marathon. Holy cow. My first mile split I got was 7:40ish, definitely not breaking any records. I hoped to hold onto that pace and trucked on up the hill.
I think it was somewhere between 17 and 18 that there was a slight decline before you ran over a little metal ramp to keep your feet from getting wet in the stream flowing over the road. I tried to focus on not slipping in front of the only spectator watching the bridge.
My next mile split was around 8, certainly not what I would normally hope for in a 5k, but at this point I was just suffering until I could finally hand off to Lou. My knee was bothering me and I was having trouble breathing so I just wanted to be done! They saved the steep incline for the last length before coming around a corner to the sound of spectators and the loud speaker calling out the relay exchange numbers. I hammered in until I found Lou waiting at our corral and handed off the snap bracelet. My total time was around 24 minutes. Just a wee bit faster than 8 minute miles. Lou took off and ended up passing and completely overtaking the team in first place for the mixed 5 man relay.
Our final time was 2:57 and some change. Not too shabby!
After my leg I wandered a bit. I couldn't find the buses after I got rid of my chip so I walked backwards through the course cheering on other marathoners and relayers. Eventually I found the bus and got on. As we were waiting for the bus to take us to the finish I noticed the race was getting more crowded and commented that this must be the 3:40 crowd because it always gets more crowded then, and sure enough I looked out and saw Lloyd round the corner holding his 3:40 pace sign. I leaped off the bus and started screaming for him. I saw him turn and make eye contact so I was hopeful that I helped a wee bit. After all they had been running in the cold and rain for much longer than 24 minutes!
The people on the bus informed me I had much too much energy for just having raced. I guess that's the difference between racing a marathon and a 5k for me, after a 5k I can still run and scream, after a marathon, I have to stay in one spot and scream.
We made our way back and I headed into the stadium hoping to catch Lou finishing. After waiting about 20 minutes and then starting to see people I had passed on the course I realized Lou must already be done. I wandered back to the bag pickup and found Lou looking for his warm clothes, which I had, poor guy he was shivering up a storm!
T went to check the results and found out we were in first. We tried to find someone to find out when the awards were and if we would get one. We were informed the awards were on the field at 12:30. We went and got our 3 free beers each and hung out until the awards. At 12:30 we headed down to the field only to find out the awards were really out on the street! Ooops. So we rushed out there to find some SERC friends who had placed in the two man mixed relay and the 5 man male relay. I looked behind us and there was Bill Rodgers! We went and chatted him up and got a picture. He was really nice and had a lot of good things to say about the Akron marathon and especially the relay.
We waited a bit longer for them to get the awards going, there wasn't much of a crowd as everyone was back at the stadium because there were still some marathoners coming in. We were all excited we got first and then they awarded us second, WTF? We were a little miffed but I was just happy we placed!
Afterwards we found out there was a glitch with the team that beat us. Their anchor leg was either Superman or a cheetah because he did the last 12k in about 7 minutes, now that's fast! So the race director corrected the error and we got our names in the Akron newspaper!
How cool is that?
The weather wasn't great and I felt and ran like shit, but it was a very fun race and I was super glad my team did so well. I will definitely consider doing it again next year, except next year I am taking the 2nd 10K leg because I heard that was flat and on Towpath! No more of this uphill for 5k!
Falling Behind
Not much posting going on over here and I am sorry, sorry for my readers, but more sorry for me because each day I postpone my race recaps is a day when I am more likely to forget key parts that I intended to hold onto forever by posting them here on this blog.
I need to remind myself that blogging isn't a chore, it is something I do for myself, a place where I can rant, rave, brag etc. and really it is for no one other than myself.
On that note I will try to get some real posting going on here soon.
In the meantime if you haven't been reading posts over on the complete running network you should check them out.
I really enjoyed Jon's recent post.
Also welcome back to blogland Su! Glad to see you are doing well. Go catch up with Su if you haven't already.
I need to remind myself that blogging isn't a chore, it is something I do for myself, a place where I can rant, rave, brag etc. and really it is for no one other than myself.
On that note I will try to get some real posting going on here soon.
In the meantime if you haven't been reading posts over on the complete running network you should check them out.
I really enjoyed Jon's recent post.
Also welcome back to blogland Su! Glad to see you are doing well. Go catch up with Su if you haven't already.
Cleveland- The Windy City?
Last night I ran for an hour dowtown, rather I got blown around by the wind for an hour. Holy cow, it about knocked me off my feet! The knee was a little sore but I stopped and stretched my hip flexors and it felt better after that. A little tender this morning but not too bad.
Hope that Chicago is a little less windy on the 22nd! So I think I have to come to grips with the fact that I may not be able to race Chicago. I just don't have the speed workouts in that I think I would need to hold 7:40 pace. So backup plan is to try to BQ with an 8:24 pace as long as that feels relatively easy. I don't want to shred my legs 4 weeks before JFK unless it is going to end in a PR.
I have updated my sidebar with my plans for 07. I am trying to back off a bit next year. I am feeling a bit burned out, still excited about my races but wishing I had a bit of time off before them. I think December will contain little to no running this year. I want to start 07 fresh. I am also trying to stick close to home, all this racing gets expensive.
On another note can I just say how awesome my hubby is? We have been in our house since last November. We bought this house because it doesn't have much fixing to do to it, we are NOT handy at all. The only problem that we have really had is the shower. The diverter was broken and the fixture probably was built with the house in 1930. Picture showering in a tub full of water because the water is shooting out of the faucet and the showerhead at full force.
So Monday night I come home and David suggests I take a shower because I stink, nice. To my surprise I find that he and a buddy have spent all day getting a new fixture and fixing my tub! Now that is true love! The whole thing was tricky because the old fixture was huge, so there was a big hole in the wall. They had to be clever and modified one of those big panels used to take the three handle fixtures to one handle but turn it on its side to cover the hole. It looks good, I'll post a pic later.
Tonight we are off to the comedy club with my office, should be fun!
Hope that Chicago is a little less windy on the 22nd! So I think I have to come to grips with the fact that I may not be able to race Chicago. I just don't have the speed workouts in that I think I would need to hold 7:40 pace. So backup plan is to try to BQ with an 8:24 pace as long as that feels relatively easy. I don't want to shred my legs 4 weeks before JFK unless it is going to end in a PR.
I have updated my sidebar with my plans for 07. I am trying to back off a bit next year. I am feeling a bit burned out, still excited about my races but wishing I had a bit of time off before them. I think December will contain little to no running this year. I want to start 07 fresh. I am also trying to stick close to home, all this racing gets expensive.
On another note can I just say how awesome my hubby is? We have been in our house since last November. We bought this house because it doesn't have much fixing to do to it, we are NOT handy at all. The only problem that we have really had is the shower. The diverter was broken and the fixture probably was built with the house in 1930. Picture showering in a tub full of water because the water is shooting out of the faucet and the showerhead at full force.
So Monday night I come home and David suggests I take a shower because I stink, nice. To my surprise I find that he and a buddy have spent all day getting a new fixture and fixing my tub! Now that is true love! The whole thing was tricky because the old fixture was huge, so there was a big hole in the wall. They had to be clever and modified one of those big panels used to take the three handle fixtures to one handle but turn it on its side to cover the hole. It looks good, I'll post a pic later.
Tonight we are off to the comedy club with my office, should be fun!
I'm Alive!
Wow I am so far behind on blogging it is ridiculous. Just a quick post to remind myself of what I still want to blog about and to bring everyone up to speed on my life.
The past 4 weeks have been wild. On September 10th I ran a PR half marathon, and injured my right hamstring. I took a complete week off running and came back on the 16th and ran my first trail marathon with Mouse, injuring my left ITB in the process (It was SO worth it). On Friday the 22nd I attempted to run with my girls in the morning but after 18 minutes of incredible ITB pain I threw in the towel and walked back to my car in the dark. On the 23rd I woke up and stretched and drove down to the valley to meet Wild Bill and friends and carpool to the Youngstown 50K. I went with the intention of quitting at the first sign of pain. The running gods smiled on me and let me finish my first 50K relatively pain free. Sunday I woke with a sore throat. Monday Sept 25th I went into see the ART doc and start the process of fixing my biomechanics and getting my ITB back to pain free. By Tuesday I had a full blown cold which is just now starting to subside. I continued to stretch all week and saw the doc again on Friday. With no running since the 50K I showed up on the 30th to the Akron Marathon to run in the 5 man relay with some friends. I suffered through a rainy 5k uphill with knee pain and sucking down snot, but it was worth it as the rest of my team members were super fast and snagged first place for us. Monday I was in to the ART doc again and he has cleared me for light running this week. I plan to run easy tomorrow night.
In the mean time I have been doing a lot of stretching, drinking lots of OJ, Tea, and chicken noodle soup, watching lots of LOTR, and trying not to go crazy with the lack of running. It's not like I have a marathon to run in three weeks or anything :)
I have been lurking a bit on blogs but still have a bunch of reading to catch up on. Looking forward to checking in on everyone.
Race reports and pictures to come soon, hopefully!
The past 4 weeks have been wild. On September 10th I ran a PR half marathon, and injured my right hamstring. I took a complete week off running and came back on the 16th and ran my first trail marathon with Mouse, injuring my left ITB in the process (It was SO worth it). On Friday the 22nd I attempted to run with my girls in the morning but after 18 minutes of incredible ITB pain I threw in the towel and walked back to my car in the dark. On the 23rd I woke up and stretched and drove down to the valley to meet Wild Bill and friends and carpool to the Youngstown 50K. I went with the intention of quitting at the first sign of pain. The running gods smiled on me and let me finish my first 50K relatively pain free. Sunday I woke with a sore throat. Monday Sept 25th I went into see the ART doc and start the process of fixing my biomechanics and getting my ITB back to pain free. By Tuesday I had a full blown cold which is just now starting to subside. I continued to stretch all week and saw the doc again on Friday. With no running since the 50K I showed up on the 30th to the Akron Marathon to run in the 5 man relay with some friends. I suffered through a rainy 5k uphill with knee pain and sucking down snot, but it was worth it as the rest of my team members were super fast and snagged first place for us. Monday I was in to the ART doc again and he has cleared me for light running this week. I plan to run easy tomorrow night.
In the mean time I have been doing a lot of stretching, drinking lots of OJ, Tea, and chicken noodle soup, watching lots of LOTR, and trying not to go crazy with the lack of running. It's not like I have a marathon to run in three weeks or anything :)
I have been lurking a bit on blogs but still have a bunch of reading to catch up on. Looking forward to checking in on everyone.
Race reports and pictures to come soon, hopefully!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)