As much as I try to plan these runs, nobody can really predict how a long run will turn out. The run began with Kris and I knocking on Darren's door at 5:50 as he was nowhere in sight at "our spot" at 5:30. We jogged back home and texted him with no answer. There have been some muggings of men in our neighborhood so I was all worried! It turns out, D's alarm is set to his cd player and it was just skipping along. Phew! Once we started we were all loving how it felt almost cold outside. It felt great. About 5 minutes into our run, i had to make a quick pee break which, little did I know, set the tone for our run. Kris had to make a couple of stops the first part or our run as well and I happily took advantage. I think it was all related to us being very cognisant of staying hydrated but the cool weather greatly decreased our sweating.
Ok, now comes to the subject that all of the sudden dominated much of the second part of our training run. Poop! Yes, I said it, poop. Come on, everyone does it and it is a part of our training so I will share with you. Kris, D and I have joked about it before as Kris's cousin, Stacy (who has run a half a dozen marathons), told us all about runners trots and how people get it (not her!). I won't go into it so you'll have to google it on your own.
Running the early morning long runs it's inevitable to come into play. I was the first person to have to find a creative place to go to the bathroom during a 9 miler in Door County. Last week, we were walking home from our 15 miler and all of the sudden Kris said, "umm, I gotta go" and he took off towards home. Well, yesterday, it was D's turn. I think his quick, fire drill to get out the door this morning had something to do with it. We were about 30 minutes from foster beach which has a full facility bathroom and all of the sudden D shared that it was his turn to "need the bathroom." We offered to stop somewhere at Montrose but he said he could wait. We came upon a long stretch and he said he was just going to go ahead 'cuz he had to go. He dramatically picked up the pace and as he was almost out of site, i realized, we were at the spot that feels like we are close to Foster, but really over half a mile away! Oh no! Darren would be sprinting for a long time and I was hoping he would make it. Good news! He made it. Bad news, I don't think he felt very well the rest of the run. Very proud of Darren though because he basically gutted out the last 5 miles of our run. Talking was limited and he looked very focused.
No matter how much we train and prepare, "stuff happens," literally. Nature is nature and it's these types of things that makes the marathon training always eventful. Sorry for the gross post, but I wanted to offer full transparency :). I'm off for brunch with the ladies this morning for some much needed, non poop talk. Have a great week!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
A Happy Place
Well, I have to say, after running 16 miles yesterday, I am finally getting to a "Happy Place" with this marathon training. I felt really good during the run and my muscle soreness is minimal compared to the first couple of long runs I did. I vividly remember visiting my friend and her newborn baby the day of our 13 miler and Kris and I could barely get out of the car or stand in the hospital room. I was worried the hospital staff would see us hobbling from the parking lot and bring out the wheelchairs! Yesterday, we were playing beach volleyball and hiking to my mom's beach. Once we hit our 15 mile mark I had this overwhelming feeling of "holy S***, we are going to run 16 miles and I can almost picture actually finishing 26.2." I don't want to get too cocky as I know we have more than 1/3rd of our training left, but this little training marker gave me some optimism. I tend to constantly think of what could go wrong. I don't wallow in it, but I do obsess about how to prevent it vs. enjoying when things go well. This marathon training is gently reminding me to enjoy sports and not fear them.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Freaky Friday
So, I ran about 3 miles last night on the treadmill and understand now why people call it the "dreadmill." I started my training on the contraption back in May and now I don't think I can ever go back. I missed the great outdoors! You know, that fresh CTA exhaust, the stinky smelly alley my CVS on Fullerton that D and I always remind each other to hold our breaths when we run by (I gagged once), and the stop lights on the way to the lake! I think I'll resort to the indoor track during the next weather problem. Kris ran inside on the track at the gym and said it did the job. I haven't talked to D yet but we'll be speaking later to plot out the big 1-6. Yep, that's 16 miles tomorrow morning.
I'm not dreading this run as much as the 15 miler. I actually am feeling pretty confident. I think that I was focus sing on that 15 miler so much from day 1 of training (as in, "the day I try to run 15 miles could be the day I die") that I'm finally feeling like I can possibly doe this. Not that it's not on my mind! I'm just a little less freaked out on this Friday and maybe only think about it every other hour.
Has everyone seen the news about that "maybe not a woman" who won the women's 800 meters at the World Championship this week? I don't know what to think. She didn't break the record or anything so it's not like she ran a man's time, but she does look, well, manly. I feel so sorry for her! I think she and her family at least think she's a she and have raised her that way and now, who knows! How horrible would it be if they had to do these lab tests on everyone before you entered a sporting event? "Please remove your sports bra and proceed to the men's washroom." The news this morning said 1 out of every 2000 people have some differences in their genes that could lead to non traditional male/female biological sexes. Just something to think about on this Freaky Friday :). No running today!
I'm not dreading this run as much as the 15 miler. I actually am feeling pretty confident. I think that I was focus sing on that 15 miler so much from day 1 of training (as in, "the day I try to run 15 miles could be the day I die") that I'm finally feeling like I can possibly doe this. Not that it's not on my mind! I'm just a little less freaked out on this Friday and maybe only think about it every other hour.
Has everyone seen the news about that "maybe not a woman" who won the women's 800 meters at the World Championship this week? I don't know what to think. She didn't break the record or anything so it's not like she ran a man's time, but she does look, well, manly. I feel so sorry for her! I think she and her family at least think she's a she and have raised her that way and now, who knows! How horrible would it be if they had to do these lab tests on everyone before you entered a sporting event? "Please remove your sports bra and proceed to the men's washroom." The news this morning said 1 out of every 2000 people have some differences in their genes that could lead to non traditional male/female biological sexes. Just something to think about on this Freaky Friday :). No running today!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Our run was cancelled this mornning due to rain. I kind of was looking forward to a run in the rain, however, I have to know how far I can push Kris and I don't think he would love being sopping wet at 6:00 on a Thursday. I run with a hat so the water wouldn't bother me too much, but I was picturing Kris and Darren running with their eyes barely open....hopefully the rain will hold off tonight and we can get our 4 in.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Grumpy Pants
I think everyone was a little grumpy for this mornings 8 miler. Maybe grumpy isn't the right word, perhaps more like, "lets get this fricking hour and a half run over with because I have to get to work and get through another Wednesday." Not a lot of chatting going on and I almost took Kris's head off when he questioned how far we should go on our route. I told him later I was just trying to put one foot in front of the other because I felt like I had cement blocks on my feet. I think I started feeling ok around mile 6. I also have this fear that I'm going to get home and check our run and realize we ran only half as far as we thought. Then I'll have to tell Kris and D, "rememember that sucky run we did this morning but we thought we were so fast, well, we acutally have to fit in another sucky run this afternoon." You see, I map out our runs using a combo of the lakeshore path map, google maps and map my run. Usually everything is ok once I come back and re-check. Only had one bad occurrence of running too far vs. not enough.
Darren sported a new shaved "do" during our run this morning; he looks very sporty! Last night we all went to bed around 10:00. I didn't know D was planning on this as well but my goal was to try and get a good 7 hours of sleep so I wasn't falling asleep at the 3:00 hour. I did get in my 7 hours and I'mm hoping it makes a big difference. No Blanche Button sightings today....D says he's finally going to make a post on this blog and maybe he'll share the back story for Blanche that he came up with in his head.
I just want to give a shout out to the Minnesota Vikings and thank them for drafting Old Man Favre. Nathan Vasher is counting down the days for the Vikings Bears game. If anybody has a grand idea of getting my husband a Vikings Favre jersey, I strongly discourage this idea; it will never make it past the doorway of our house. Although D and I might like one, to poop on!
Darren sported a new shaved "do" during our run this morning; he looks very sporty! Last night we all went to bed around 10:00. I didn't know D was planning on this as well but my goal was to try and get a good 7 hours of sleep so I wasn't falling asleep at the 3:00 hour. I did get in my 7 hours and I'mm hoping it makes a big difference. No Blanche Button sightings today....D says he's finally going to make a post on this blog and maybe he'll share the back story for Blanche that he came up with in his head.
I just want to give a shout out to the Minnesota Vikings and thank them for drafting Old Man Favre. Nathan Vasher is counting down the days for the Vikings Bears game. If anybody has a grand idea of getting my husband a Vikings Favre jersey, I strongly discourage this idea; it will never make it past the doorway of our house. Although D and I might like one, to poop on!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Day of Rest
Another Monday, another day of rest. It's also another day to prepare for the week ahead and try to plan out our runs. Darren was planning on running today as he has an early day at work tomorrow and social plans in the evening so Kris and I will be on our own Tuesday. We have a week of a 4 miler, 8 miler, 4 miler and then the big 16. Whoooo.
I think I'll take this time to share two things that have become super important to my marathon training. The first is the foam roller recommended by my life long friend, Beth N, who is also a physical therapist. It's basically a tool you use for self massage that works amazingly well to loosen up muscles and prevent soreness. I try to do it every night and bring it everywhere with me. My family members have witnessed many nights of me "foam rolling" Sometimes the roller turns into a weapon amongst my nephews if I leave it unattended. You Tube has great videos on demonstrating how to use the foam rollers and you can purchase one online and even at Target. I suggest a medium firmness roller for a beginner and then upgrade to a firm roller once you can roll out your quads without dropping f-bombs (it can be painful at first).
The other must have that I use, much to the demise of my husband, is icy hot! I love it. I use it almost every night on my legs and sometimes my back. Kris says I smell like and old man but I think it smells great. I think I might have a slight addiction. And just so you know, generic brands don't work the same. Also, stay away from the gel or easy applicator. The balm really works the best. I have tried them all! Ok, now I'm all excited for my icy hot.
I think I'll take this time to share two things that have become super important to my marathon training. The first is the foam roller recommended by my life long friend, Beth N, who is also a physical therapist. It's basically a tool you use for self massage that works amazingly well to loosen up muscles and prevent soreness. I try to do it every night and bring it everywhere with me. My family members have witnessed many nights of me "foam rolling" Sometimes the roller turns into a weapon amongst my nephews if I leave it unattended. You Tube has great videos on demonstrating how to use the foam rollers and you can purchase one online and even at Target. I suggest a medium firmness roller for a beginner and then upgrade to a firm roller once you can roll out your quads without dropping f-bombs (it can be painful at first).
The other must have that I use, much to the demise of my husband, is icy hot! I love it. I use it almost every night on my legs and sometimes my back. Kris says I smell like and old man but I think it smells great. I think I might have a slight addiction. And just so you know, generic brands don't work the same. Also, stay away from the gel or easy applicator. The balm really works the best. I have tried them all! Ok, now I'm all excited for my icy hot.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
15 There's Still Time For You
Woohoo! We finished our 15 miler on Saturday morning all feeling pretty good. We me at our spot at 5:30 am (it was set to be a HOT day) and we had the pleasure of crossing paths with a couple of groups on their way home from Friday night activities. We had to give props to our mirror image foriegners who were about 50 feet in front of us and when we looked up they were stretching and doing lunges and pretending to run. 2 guys and a girl from either England or Ireland. We had to laugh! We made it to the lakefront and saw all of the people who were already gathering their spots for the air and water show; crazy! There was a beautiful red sun rising over the lake for the first 1/2 hour of the run. I was on the look out for Blanche on her bike and sure enough, she drove right by us right by oak st. beach; full makeup on. Our new guess is maybe she's like Benjamin Button and just wants a bike to reflect her true age.
Blanche Button!
By the time we finished our run around 8:30 Fullerton was jammed with cars and angry people who couldn't find parking for the air and water show. I frequently question suburbanites who constantly complain about traffic in the city and then drive their oversize SUV's to Chicago especially on a Cubs game day and the Air and Water Show.
Now for Sarks in the Park. It was nice to get a table right outside and right by the stairs (less walking :)). We sat down and ordered chocolate milk. For those of you that don't know, chocolate milk is one of the ideal recovery drinks/foods to have after a hard workout. Darren loves this fact. We instantly fell in love with this place when the waitress brought us giant glasses of super cold Dean's chocolate milk. We ordered breakfast (sad to say, they had no fruit) and chugged our milk. It was delicious, however, when they brought me my scrambled egg whites and wheat toast, i was nauseous at the thought of one bite! One thing I've learned is I'm famished after these long runs but have a hard time eating for a while afterwards. I tried to take a bite of the toast and i couldn't even swallow. Ugh! I think the guys felt the same (wait for their review) but were able to finish theirs. This place is a greasy spoon but nice service and great location. Our waitress said they could give us chocolate milk to go and we might go that route next time!
Blanche Button!
By the time we finished our run around 8:30 Fullerton was jammed with cars and angry people who couldn't find parking for the air and water show. I frequently question suburbanites who constantly complain about traffic in the city and then drive their oversize SUV's to Chicago especially on a Cubs game day and the Air and Water Show.
Now for Sarks in the Park. It was nice to get a table right outside and right by the stairs (less walking :)). We sat down and ordered chocolate milk. For those of you that don't know, chocolate milk is one of the ideal recovery drinks/foods to have after a hard workout. Darren loves this fact. We instantly fell in love with this place when the waitress brought us giant glasses of super cold Dean's chocolate milk. We ordered breakfast (sad to say, they had no fruit) and chugged our milk. It was delicious, however, when they brought me my scrambled egg whites and wheat toast, i was nauseous at the thought of one bite! One thing I've learned is I'm famished after these long runs but have a hard time eating for a while afterwards. I tried to take a bite of the toast and i couldn't even swallow. Ugh! I think the guys felt the same (wait for their review) but were able to finish theirs. This place is a greasy spoon but nice service and great location. Our waitress said they could give us chocolate milk to go and we might go that route next time!
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