New and Improved?

We're in the middle of taper week number 1 out of 3. I think I might end up just doing 2 out of the 4 runs this week and letting my feet recover a bit after the 20 miler. We did 8 last night and for some reason, we ran at a pretty fast pace. I think we just wanted to get it over and done with.

I forgot to mention that I ran in some new shoes this past weekend. Last week, I went back to Fleet Feet to get another pair of my Asic's Kayano's; my original ones were pretty worn out and I needed to swap them out with some time before the marathon. Well, when you go to Fleet Feet they make a big stink about "not picking shoes based on color." They even post signs everywhere. I get the point they are trying to make. My first pair of Asic's were a light blue. Not my first pick by any means but it was the only color in stock for the shoe that was needed for my wonky feet.

So, before I went to Fleet Feet this time I went online and checked to see what other colors this style of shoe came in. They have one called "lightning" which is a cool orange/red color. I just knew I had to have lightning. Sounds fast and sporty, right?

I go in to Fleet Feet, tell the 22 year old shaggy haired guy what model and size shoe I need and ask him to, "bring me some Lightning Baby!" Ok, I didn't say it quite like that, but I did ask him to check for that color. He came back with a couple of boxes and I was excited. He opened the lid of the box and time kind of stood still for a second. I blinked a few times and my brain registered what my eyes saw. Arghhhhhh! Pink Shoes!

Pink Shoes? I looked at Shaggy and said, "umm, do you have any other colors besides pink? I see your sign over there, but I don't know if I can get these." He said, "yeah, umm, I get it, but this is all we have left." He looked at me with pity as he slipped on what were soon to be my first pair of pink athletic shoes. I really needed to get these shoes that day, but I had to think long and hard about that fact that I would be running the marathon in pink shoes. Now, please understand, I think pink shoes are cute and I even like them on other people, but they just don't say, "Starrin."

I took the shoes, and as soon as I walked in the door I told Kris. I didn't even have to explain. He responded with an "ooohhhh no!" When I went to work out with my trainer the next day he noticed right away and said, "what's up with the pink shoes, Starrin!" D had his new shoes on the next morning and he was worried they looked to white (his previous pair were CLC orange). I said, "take a look at MY pink shoes," he kind of replied with a low ,"unhhhhhhhh" and probably was thinking white wasn't so bad.

Who knows, maybe the pink power will project me to glory on October 11th. I'll be passing those ladies with lightning color Asics at mile 20. Yeah, lightning is for losers! I didn't want those anyway.

To the Tippiest Indiana Smoke Stacks

The Big 2o Miler! I had to make sure I had some time to settle in to write about this event as it was almost 4 hours of running and an event total of 6 hours. So, without further ado, this is the story of my 2009 CARA Ready to Run 20 Miler.

Our goal was to run 20 miles south beginning at Foster Beach and following the running path along the lake to the South Shore Cultural Center. The morning started with Kris and I picking up D at 5:45 just before dawn. We drove to Foster Beach which ended with us parking at Montrose Beach due to the majority of the 5,000 participant’s decision to drive to the event. We began our walk to the gear check and port-a-potties with a gorgeous view of the sunrise over Lake Michigan. It's moments like those that make me appreciate this great running town we live in. Not sure if it made me "ready to run" though.

We checked our gear and D all of the sudden realized he left all of his gels in his bags. Uh-oh! I think I'm going to make him a check list for the marathon. I think we were all pre-occupied with everything going on around us. By this time, 6:30am, people were already beginning their runs as waves of runners took off every 30 seconds to the sound of an air horn and a chipper woman over the microphone. You knew what waive you were in by a number on your bib which reflected the pace time requested at registration. The three of us all went to D's "69 waive” of an 11 minute pace which was to take off at 7:03 am.

I almost began this race the same way I ended the CL half marathon (reference, "projectile vomit”). The bathrooms were so gross and there must have been a lot of nervous runners. Ok, I'm gagging right now thinking about it. Kris said he almost puked himself and D avoided the bathrooms at all cost.

Our waive was called, we went to the start line, the countdown started, the horn went off and our fricking pace lady sprinted off the start line. I was ticked off! This woman was supposed to know what she was doing and lead the 15 or so of us in the group to a 20 mile run that included staying alive! Seriously, I wanted to pull the lady by her pony tail and say, "Slow the eff down, you are going to kill us." I was enraged! I don't even remember running that first mile because I had steam coming out of my ears. She had no intention of slowing down so the three of us quickly settled into our own 3-some, just like old times. I relaxed and had a feeling I would be seeing that pace lady somewhere near mile 18, crawling alongside the running path.

We ran with various pace groups for the first couple of miles and chatted briefly with different people. Around mile 3 D said if he felt good at mile 18 he would push it pretty hard for the last 2 miles. One woman quipped that he would probably feel like dying at mile 18. Nice, thanks for that. I'll have you know, she was wearing a running skirt.

It takes me about 4 miles to hit a comfortable stride in these long runs. Yes, I know, for those of you who haven’t run a marathon, that sounds crazy…it takes me 4 miles blahblahblah. When I say these things they sounds crazy to me too. But, it’s my new truth. Ok, so, I was feeling pretty good around Diversey and then the dreaded hip tightness settled in. I tried doing some adjustments and I'm pleased to say that by mile 8 the tightness had disappeared. One small victory less than half way in gave me some hopefulness.

Around Soldier Field D went a little bit ahead of us and picked a woman to use as his "rabbit." A couple of minutes later a middle aged guy with a "do-rag" decided Kris and I were going to be his "rabbit." Well, this was not good. I'm not sure what was up but it sounded like he had a peg leg and I could feel his breath on my neck. Step, clomp, step, clomp, step, clomp. As noted by my childish desire to pull the pacers pony tail, my tolerance during athletic events is non-existent. I can handle few annoyances. I told Kris, "we have to get out of here," and we speed up to run with D. We told him some guy with a peg leg was driving me nuts and he responded with, "I didn't know they let pirates run the marathon." Hehehehe.

Pretty soon we were as far South on the running path as I had been. I think this was definitely helpful in our endeavor to conquer 20 miles. The scenery was gorgeous and I made sure to take it all in. It was starting to get later in the morning and more people were coming out for after church morning strolls and were faced with thousands of runners invading their, I imagine, usually serene space. Instead of getting grouchy many cheered us on and one guy said, "You guys are bad, (as in Michael Jackson bad) it's Sunday morning and you're out here runnin’." I love Chicago! Just after the MJ impersonator made this comment, the three of us hit mile 13 and passed the majority of the people from our "69 waive” group." They were walking! That pace lady killed these runners. The pace lady wasn't there so she obviously did not feel responsible for her group and that really left me feeling disappointed. The running community is so supportive and she is a bad egg. Boooo to you pace lady, boo to you!

By this time it seemed like the path was getting very crowded with big groups of runners clumping together to help manage the run. I actually don't mind running in a pack. I'm happy to tuck in behind some people and just run with them and not think about it for a while. D hates this! He went ahead and Kris and I decided to stay with one group whose leader seemed to really know what she was doing. We stayed with them for about miles 14-16 until Kris couldn't take the group anymore; too crowded for his long legs. This is when I realized I had no idea where we were. We were no longer following Lakeshore Drive and the neighborhood was very unfamiliar.

Kris pointed out the smoke stacks that you could see in Indiana. He said we would probably be running to the "tippiest Indiana Smoke Stack." It sure seemed like we were running to Indiana. This is also the time I started to get a little nervous. I had such a great 15 and 16 mile run and a horrible 18 miler that I was worried the wall would come crashing in front of me. I could be the person crawling along the running path with people looking at me with pitiful eyes. I have to admit, I was scared at the possibilities; the unknown. Then we hit mile 17 and my prayers were answered...Clouds! It had been such a sunny morning and the clouds offered instant relief. I also received a little boost of energy which I think came from my last gel intake at 15. I decided to just settle in and put it in my mindset that we had just a 3 mile run; our house, to the lake and back. Sometimes you have to play these little games to get through something as ridiculous as conquering 20 miles..

Next, Kris and I had a run in with Debbie Downer herself. There was a building that looked like it could possibly be what one would call the "South Shore Cultural Center” but it was definitely too close to truly be the finish line. Well, Debbie starts yelling (by yelling, I mean speaking too loudly to no one in particular with a hint of hysterics) that if that is our destination and they make us run past it and loop around, she is going to be pissed. She was having a verbal temper tantrum. Nobody was responding to her complaint and she looked like she might start kicking and screaming so I just told her that no matter what, 20 miles is 20 miles. She said, "I guess," then took off in a sprint. We passed her 5 minutes later as she was walking. It was a pure example of how mental this marathon training/running is. If you let it inside your head you are a goner.

Mile 18 and 19 felt pretty good for both Kris and I. My glutes started feeling a little fatigued but my quads felt pretty good which is where I normally get the most fatigue. When we hit mile 19 I started to get excited. This was the farthest we had ever run! The Indiana smoke stacks were truly in clear view! The possibility of finishing 20 miles without foaming at the mouth was a reality! With about a 1/2 mile to go Kris and I kicked it in high gear and wove around the many turns that faced us at the finish line. People kept saying, just around the corner. This almost tried my patience because there were about 20 corners. However, we kept up the pace and crossed the finish line at 3 hours 48 minutes and D met us there with a red, happy face. He finished about 8 minutes ahead and said he felt great too.

I grabbed my Gatorade and SIPPED it to the post race party. I was surprised how well I felt. A little light headed at first and my feet were sore, but that's really it. I was super excited to see an area of Physical Therapist students who would stretch you out. I waited in line for about 5 minutes when this super nice girl stretched out my legs while I just laid there. After a little bit of chatting, I found out she is cousins with my neighbors from growing up. These were neighbors who I babysat through all of high school and grew very close to. Such a small world!

We didn't hang around the party for too long. We had some bagels and amazing "Pucker Pickles." Delish!!!! I actually wanted the two beers we were given for finishing the race but none of us brought ID's. Someone did give D a beer when he gave them our tickets. D shared it with me (‘cuz that's what teammates do) and it might have been the best beer ever. I never did see our original pace lady and I have a feeling we may have passed her but I was feeling so good I didn't even notice!

Our bus ride back to Foster Beach was over half an hour. It made us realize how far we actually ran; almost to the tippiest Indiana smoke stack. We walked to our car, turned the radio on and I started getting that runner's high! We had run 20 fricking miles and the next three weeks would offer less and less mileage; a break we all needed. As we rounded Lakeshore Drive, "Baby Got Back" came on the radio. Hollllaaaahhhh! Who doesn't love that song; instant smile! I sang, Kris drove and D texted. We are quite a group. A group that ran 20 miles this weekend.

Put it in the Books

Our 20 miler is over and the taper can now begin! All three of us felt really good and actually enjoyed ourselves for the almost 4 hours of running. I'll post tomorrow about the entire "Cara 20 Mile Ready to Run" event, but I did want to let everyone know we are all alive and kicking :). I'm laying on the couch with a little bit of a swollen foot with and ice pack. I think it might have been due to the multiple pickles I ate at the post race party and the superpower icy-hot like product "Bio-Freeze" I put on my foot on the bus ride home (I think I read somewhere that it is bad to use topical ointments after a long run but remembered it after seeing my puffy foot). I'm pretty content just watching the Emmy's and even better; i feel great after a tremendous dinner. My sister, Brittany, came over and cooked dinner for Kris and I and it was an awesome treat. Tomorrow was declared "National Pajama Day" by a woman on our run and i will definitely be following this decree.

Skirting the issue

There is a new trend sweeping women's running and I have to say, I hate it! I've tried to hold off on sharing my disdain but I can't do it anymore. It's the ridiculous running skirt. Yuck.

I imediately have images of the movie, "A League of Their Own," and the women having to wear skirts to offset the fact that they are playing a mans sport. I say, leave the skirts to tennis where the Williams Sisters have taken them to new fashion heights. Skirts have never been a requirement in women's running and I sure hope they don't show up on the proffesional circuit. I would hate to one day have a daughter and have to say, "Go run your hardest and don't forget your skirt."

I was in the store a couple of months ago when i showed Kris one of those puke worthy pieces of clothing. A woman piped up and explained that she felt more comfortable running in the skirt because it covered more of her backside. I kind of took a moment and understood her point and considered it for a while. Then I saw multiple women at the gym with their tight short skirts on and their cropped shirts and realized that the running skirt is now what the unitard thong was to jazzercise in the 80's. Ridiculous. I'll also have you know that Kris and I saw many women with running skirts on at the CL half marathon and while they may have felt more covered up, all it took was for a light wind to blow their skirts to the side and defeat their purpose. Also, encouraging these athletes to cover up vs. being confidant with their bodies takes away what running truly offers women. If you really don't feel comfortable, take it from a female runner who has seen better fitness days, and go with the running capris.

Down with the skirts! Seriously, running is a sport. I'm all for looking cute, but I don't like the conotations a running skirt brings to the playing field. To me, the running skirt just takes a woman athlete down a notch. Just my 2 cents.

Second Wind

I think I'm back on track with some excitement for this marathon training. I'm running 20 miles this weekend and I'm ready to run baby. Perhaps the heavily bearded man at the coffee shop this morning slipped something in my drink to give me this reborn giddy feeling. Really, I think it's the notification I received about spectator information for the big race. I love watching the marathon! I love the fact that this is one of the few events in Chicago, besides St. Patrick's Day, that can pull hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans out of a deep Sunday hang over sleep to cheer on strangers. It's a definite Chi-Town bonding moment. Kris, D and I have gone many times to cheer on friends and arrive early and stay late to see the thousands of road warriors we don't even know. This year we'll be with them and can't wait.

For those of you looking to spectate, I have some info. for you supplied from the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Site. First is a spectator's guide which lists a way you can track us via text messaging and some fun events on the route and the second is a one sheet of the course map. I know that some Chicago locals will be boarding their bike's in the attempt to follow us at as many stops as possible, but I'm going to share a recommended route that my friend Jess M. and I did to follow Stacy C when she ran. We saw her at 4 spots and it was not stressful and quite easy.

1) Feel free to use our house as a base. The gun goes off at 7:30 so you can probably watch most of the elite runners finish on tv before heading out to see us. We'll figure out the details later about who will be there to let people in etc. We could start anywhere between 8:00 and 8:30 depending on how far back we are.

2) Walk up to Fullerton and Clark at mile 9 3/4's and stand by Emilio's Tapas. Estimated time of arrival is anywhere between 9:30-10:00 depending on when we start. We will be running with a pace group and they will have signs held high in the air. We'll post later what pace group we will aim for and this should help locate us. If you're adventurous, you could run across Fullerton and see us at mile 6 just down to Stockton, but that gets dicey!

3) Walk back West to Halstead and get on the Halstead bus going South. Exit at Adams. You'll be able to see us at miles 13 1/2 and 16 1/2 without crossing the runners paths.

4) Grab a cab to finish and climb up into the grand stands to watch our glorious and hopeful non stumbling finish.

Now, the one place everyone says is so great is China Town, however, I think it's kind of crazy to get from there to the finish if that's your goal. Either way, you can use the spectator guide to plan out your day to your likings!

If it Hurts, it Must be Working!

So, I just went for my second treatment today of ASTYM for my tight glute and hip. From my previous post, you might recall my "electric" but pleasant experience with e-stim. Well, when I went back for my second treatment last week there was a floating therapist who took my case on and after a few questions she declared, "you would be a perfect candidate for the tool." Boy was I excited! I was only imagining what a great massage "the tool" could provide. Hahaha, silly me! I soon learned "the tool" referred to the not very well known procedure, ASTYM, which has a nickname of; scraping! I can't recall anything that is as painful as ASTYM.

You can look up the procedure but basically it involves the therapist rubbing a plastic like squeegee over areas that cause problems. It causes the sking to get red and puffy and feels like someone is ripping the skin away from your muscle. It sounds like scratching sandpaper! The proccess is used to stimulate the recovery process of your body to repair your tissue. The therapist encourages serious stretching and working out which is great news for people who don't want to Rest to Recover!

When she did the therapy I was literally squeezing my pillow and gritting my teeth. At one point I just started laughing because I couldn't believe the pain. Of course, I wasn't going to cry uncle! The aftermath is not pretty. My whole right leg looks like I was hit by a car. When people see it, their eyes pop out and they hold their breath for a second. Kris just laughs at me and my sister squealed with crazy amazement. I'm trying to figure out how I can post some pictures without showing too much of my glute because you would never believe it until you saw it. Really, though, the pain was only temporary and the bruises don't hurt. I'm having a lot more relief than from the e-stim, so much so, that I went back today and I'm typing this with a puffy leg and glute. A lot of professional athletes use this so it must be good, right? Plus, I kind of come from the school of it hurts, it must be working. I'm really learning about a lot of random stuff during this marathon training.

There's No Place Like Home

Kris and I completed the Crystal Lake Half Marathon on Sunday morning and had a great time. My first thought after running this race was, "what the heck am I doing training for a full marathon, the half is really the way to go!" We stayed at my in-laws house on Saturday night and it was like a running re-treat. They cooked for us all weekend with specific meals tailored to our running needs and did all of our dishes...we were spoiled rotten.

We arrived at Lippold Park around 7:00 am and signed up for the race rather quickly. We figured out there were around 600 runners. I also was quickly reminded that C.L. is a running community. Most of the runners were very fit and very competitive. For a second I wanted to go out and run hard but then remembered our goal. After a mile warm up and some stretching we loaded ourselves into the starting area for the 8:00 am start. I had us go to the back 1/4 of the group out of respect to the "racers for the day." We were just kind of standing there and all of the sudden we heard a "Bang" and everyone took off. No announcement, no "Attention Runners."

About a mile into the run Kris and I met this middle age gentleman whose shirt read, "50 marathons in all 50 states plus D.C." I asked him if he did this and he said it took him 17 years, but yes, he definitely did. I asked him if he had any suggestions or tips for our first marathon and he responded with, "tape your nipples." I was hoping for some inside tip and that was all I got.

While we were definitely back of the pack runners for this race, I knew that we would be passing some people towards the end. There were about 100 runners who were more of the social training groups whose goal was to just train for this race and hadn't done many runs over 8 miles. We picked a goal (we needed something to make us feel like we were some type of racers) to pass all the women who were from the Crystal Lake Running Depot with their orange singlets. Kris also wanted to make sure we passed the guy who had his IPhone strapped on his arm playing music for all to hear. When he ran by us, Rush was blaring out so we called him Rush. The good news is, we hit our goals! Rush was close, but we passed him right in the last mile. As we passed each person/group that we had our eyes on we said some generous words of encouragement, but inside our heads we were really saying, "see ya' later sucka's!"

At one point along the race route there were some young kids who wanted to give us high fives but Kris reminded me, "give them your elbow, you don't want swine flu!" So, sure enough we went elbow to elbow with the 7 and under crowd. We also received words of encouragement from one of the fire/police stations as the goal of the run was to raise money for families of fallen police officers and fire fighters. It was a nice reminder of an extra bonus to running this race.

As for race conditions, it was pretty stinking hot outside. The late 8:00 start didn't help and we ran on a lot of open roads with some major hills. The plentiful Water/Gatorade stops were helpful and I took advantage of pouring the water on me. This is a huge help in cooling off as it gets rid of the resting salt on the skin. And trust me, I get salty. So salty, that I could attract deer! If it ends up being hot on marathon day I will definitely be more aware to do this more often. I may even have some friends/family hold some wet towels for me on the sidelines.

The high school kid volunteers were great, clapping at every aide station and turn that kept us on course. The only negative was how they were a reminder of how old I was and how quickly I became the opposite of what they are now; a competitive runner. One kid was wearing a St. Thomas grade school sweatshirt and I said to him, "Hey, I graduated from there in 1992." Wow, that sounded archaic!

At the end of the race I was pretty pooped out and just as we saw the finish line ahead, we had a great greeting of our friends Jeff and Terri Templin, their adorable son Brody and my father-in-law/Kris's dad. I didn't think having people at the finish line would be that big of a deal but it was really a nice treat and an extra incentive to finish quickly! We finished in about 2 hours 18 minutes which was a little faster than planned but sometimes we couldn't help ourselves with the pace. We received our ribbons (side note, Kris was happy to get a ribbon until he saw another guy walking around with a medal. He got all pissed and I told him that he was probably a top finisher and if he wanted a medal, all he has to do is run faster) and a bottle of water. That's when I threw all caution to the wind and paid the price.

I chugged my ice cold water! I couldn't help it, I was so thirsty. I then went to the car after saying hello/goodbye to the Templins and chugged my Gatorade. Within 5 minutes, I felt so nauseous. We drove home to Kris's parents, walked in, and smelled the yummy smells of breakfast cooking. However, I kept feeling worse and worse. I thought the cure would be to chug a chocolate milk. I felt instant relief...for about 30 seconds. Then, the smell of bacon filled the house and I sprinted to the bathroom and basically projectile vomited right into the toilet. Thankfully, I have good aim. I had to miss out on the great breakfast and it took about an hour and some cantaloupe and pineapple to cure me. All of the tips I have read say to, "sip, sip, sip," after a long run. Well, I learned my lesson the hard way.

I'm enjoying the day off of running today heading into the most difficult week of training. We have 5, 10, 5 and thennnnnnnnnn TWENTY! 'Nuff Said.