The Rest of the Story

I know, I promised I would tell the rest of the story and two weeks have already past.

About 2 weeks before the race, I noticed a small lump in my bottom left eye lid. It continued to grow and the right eye got one too. Being the research queen that I am, I got online to figure out my symptoms and decided I had 2 styes. I followed the advice of warm compresses and cleanings 4-5 times a day, but they wouldn't go away and the left one was getting out of control. After a week or so, it was clear I had to go see a doc. The left one was so big that my vision was blurry and my face hurt down into my cheeks. Makeup was out of the question. I looked like I had been in a hell of a fight. Anyway, I finally get into the clinic (claiming vision problems gets you in pretty quick.) The doctor, who had the personality of a rock said that they probably needed to be lanced! You know the saying, I would rather poke a needle in my eye? Well, here was my chance! Yikes!

I still couldn't get in to see an opthamologist and have the procedure before the marathon, so I ran with blurry vision and a big honking goiter-looking thing growing from my eye. My plan was to run in sunglasses so I didn't scare anyone. Too bad it was cloudy and I would have just looked stupid in sunglasses. We will be doing some photoshop to those race photos! I did have them lanced Monday morning. By the way, it was one of the worst things I have endured.

Then...

Sunday morning of the marathon, Pete and I drove into Virginia Beach plenty early enough to find parking. We were competing for spaces with the half marathon people who had an earlier start than us. Every side street was full, so we drove around looking for open parking lots. Most business at the beach have signs forbidding parking unless you are customers, with threats to tow. We decided to stop at the Harris Teeter for a last bathroom opportunity and some provisions for the ride home in case they ran out of food. As soon as we got out of the truck, an employee came up to us and asked if we were running in the race? I guess our tights and numbers gave us away.

Him: You can't park the truck there.
Me: Uh, can I buy a banana?
Him: Sure, but you can't leave your truck here when your done.
Me: Maybe, I'll buy my banana somewhere else too. Sheese.

We did use the bathroom, but I didn't buy my banana cause I didn't want to give them business. So, off we go to find a parking spot. Now we see parking lots filling up, so we jump when we see an open spot and park. Yeah! I am sure you can tell where this is going. Everyone in this lot and others were runners. It is Sunday morning and we are in the lot of an evening bar. Point is that it is closed and not opening for many hours, but there is a sign forbidding parking. I feel confident we are fine. I have traveled many times to race and local businesses and police have always supported runners by overlooking parking violations. Marathons are routinely run on Sundays mornings so that streets can be closed and parking is available (with the exception of church parking lots).

So, after I finish the race, the plan is that I will meet Pete back at the truck. I can change clothes, eat something and hydrate. I was so cold and wet and emotional when I finished. I gimped back the several blocks to the truck only the lot was empty. OK, I am emotional and very tired. Maybe I'm not in the right place. It happens. I don't always pay attention to where I am or where we park. I was focused on the race, not the parking lot. So, I look around. Yep, that's the 7-11, that's the storefront we walked past, and that's the bar. Where is the the truck? I was completely calm, figuring that I was just not seeing things right. Maybe I was delusional. 26 miles is a really long way. I close my eyes. I open my eyes. Nope, no truck. Then I see a tow truck hooking up to a car in a neighboring lot. Now, I get it... Are you f*%#^& kidding me!?

What now? I don't know when Pete will finish. Do I sit in the spot that the truck was in? I am so cold and wet. Do I go back to the finish and hope that I didn't miss him? My cell phone, IDs and purse are all in the truck. I decided to go to the beer tent where it will be warm and eventually he will go through this same process and make the same decision and find me in the beer tent. So I walk again.

I waited in the beer tent and finally, he walked in with a big grin on his face. OK, I'm thinking he clearly didn't go to where the truck is supposed to be. I congratulate him, ask his time, and generally whoo hoo him. Then, I say, "let's get you a beer."

So, I tell him that the truck is not there and we walk back to the lot to get the number of the tow company that took the truck. Then, we walked 5 miles to the lot, only to be told they don't take credit cards and I don't have $125 in cash on me. So, we walked another 1/2 mile to an ATM and back to finally get the truck out of hock. We figure we covered about 31+ miles that day. I kept telling Pete, it would make a great story.

It is unfortunate that the business owners of Virginia Beach were not supportive of the race. Lots of cars were towed that day, which will affect the participation in the marathon weekend. Recently, I read an article that said that marathons and other large races are becoming the number 1 fundraiser for cities. They draw a lot of people who spend a lot of money. This is off season at the beach and you would think these business would be happy to have people at the beach. We were parked at an establishment that was closed. Even Harris Teeter can afford to offer a back row of parking. Oh well, I intend to follow up with the race director and depending on that feedback, the city council.

The Shamrock Sportsfest was this weekend. There was an 8K, 1/2 Marathon, and a full Marathon. The expo was a fairly good size. Pete and I volunteered at the expo Friday night scanning timing chips. I have to say, we had so much fun. It was so great to meet all these runners and feel the energy. Some were too cool to be excited, others were bubbling over with nerves. I have always loved packet pick-up. For me, it is exciting; it is when I appreciate the training and hard days. I love being around a bunch of other crazy people like me. And yet, I love how different we all are. Experience levels are different, as well as, expectations and even body styles. But, we are all in this thing together now and the adrenaline is pumping. Anyway, I also love the volunteers that work expos. So this time, I got my chance to tell everyone good luck or to have a great race or your going to do fabulous. I would love to work an expo again, even if I can't run.

So, yesterday was the marathon. Let me start by saying that the weather was tough. Although I have seen worse, it was certainly a challenge. We checked weather forecasts constantly for days hoping it would change. No rain, but the night before we had gale warnings. Great! It turned out to be mid-40's with lots of wind with gusts up to 25mph. My plan was to stay with the 3:30 pacer group, but I ended up leaving them at mile 5. With the wind, I felt they were running too conservatively. Wind is fatiguing and I wanted a bit of time in the bank for later. They were also a bit inconsistent with pace and that drives my crazy. I tend to settle in and stay there. Finally, they had a very large group and I hate running in a crowd. I had hoped to be able to do some drafting when the wind got bad, but I was way too claustrophobic.

My goal was to run 7:50 miles. To run a 3:30 is an 8 minute flat pace, but it doesn't give you any room for water breaks, really bad mind thoughts at mile 18 or 25mph wind gusts. I did great for the first half and was under time. The second half was really tough. There was a long stretch out to Ft Story starting at mile 17 that was horrible. It was a long slow incline, no spectators (did I mention that the weather sucked), and by this time people get really quiet. I ran with a young sailor who was doing his first marathon and this is the point that he started complaining about the monkey on his back. I told him he was not only trained, but authorized to kill the damn thing. I made it to mile 16 before my neuroma started hurting, so I had my own monkey. We talked each other through. At this point, what are you going to do? Walking only means you are in the weather longer. Unfortunately, his monkey got the better of him at mile 20 and he had to drop his pace.

Mile 22 and on, I just hurt like hell. My hips hurt, my feet were screaming, my lower back was aching. Thankfully, we had more spectators as we got closer to the finish. There really should be a training meeting for spectators, or at least a handout of what not to say to a runner. The first rule, do not tell runners they are almost there at mile 22.

The finish was very emotional. I was completely spent and I knew I would make my goal. Here are my stats:

Time - 3:28:54
Boston Qualified
6th Masters Woman Overall
1st in Age Group
2nd Mixed Team
You may remember that we joined a team that was started as a memorial/scholarship for a Seal that was killed in Afghanistan. You can have as many people on your team as you want, but they take the top 3 times and at least one has to be female. I was the fastest female on our team, so I am one of the three team members that placed our team 2nd. This is really cool because this team was never put together for the purpose of competition. It was a way to celebrate an athlete's life by his widow. How cool that we placed?

They didn't have an awards ceremony, which was great because I just wanted to go home and get warm. They will mail my awards this week. I am a bit sore today, but not bad at all. I have more to add to my story, but I have already gone long so I will tell you later. By the way, Pete did great! He was strong through the whole thing. We met up in the beer tent and he walked in like no big deal, as opposed to the gimping that I was doing. His time was 4:26.

Rate Your Workout

My workout journal, the Ultimate Workout Log by Suzanne Schlosberg, (which I love) has you rate each day, 1-5. That number goes on a chart and at the end of the week you rate your week (at a glance you can see the whole picture, etc). Now that I am in the middle of training with less than 7 weeks to go for summer event #1, one of my weekly goals is to have weekly rating of 4. So I went back through the first 14 weeks I kept log to see what made up a number four and had to laugh... whoa, a 4 back then is definitely not a four these days. I would now give those workouts a 2-2.5. I am always conservative with numbers, but was very glad to see I have been making significant progress.

Yesterday was my first 5! I did a leg weight routine, followed by 40 minutes of intervals on the stepmill, 10 sets of 12 burpees/suicides/dropouts (whatever you wish call them), then set out for a 60 mile bike ride of hills. It was also my third day in row that I made it outside for a ride, (yeah, but now we are back to more winter, boo) and my body today feels like it did a 5 yesterday.

I look forward to seeing at the end of the summer, before my planned half ironman, was makes up a 5.

What would you do?

Back when I went to the gym religiously (last year and in a different city), there was a guy at the gym that I really wanted to talk to. He looked to be in his late teens/early 20's and was at the gym quite often. What set him apart was that he weighed somewhere in the 300+ range by my estimate.

He was losing weight and working hard to do it, and I really wanted to say something to encourage him/let him know he was getting noticeable results. Once, a personal trainer who was working next to me said to her client, "Keep it up and you'll be looking like E. here before too long!" Obviously she knew me, but maybe she wasn't just being nice. That really made me feel good to think I was getting results and I wanted to say something similar to this guy.

I never did. Mostly it was because of my shyness, but I also didn't want to make him feel self-conscious. I asked myself, "Would you say something to a guy who was at the gym everyday and weighed 200?" No, I wouldn't, even if I did notice a change. So I didn't say anything to this guy, thinking he would know I was singling him out only because of his size.

I often wonder though if I should have said something. He might not have ever heard anyone congratulate him or encourage him to keep it up. I know it took a lot of courage for him just to walk in the gym and be surrounded by fit people and possibly feel so out of place, let alone to keep it up. Sometimes I feel like I missed an opportunity to boost someone's day, and other times I think I did the right thing by not giving him attention that may have been unwanted. What do you think?

Rest is Good

I already posted that I had a great run on Tuesday. Today, I went out for 7 miles. It is a beautiful day. It is warm enough for shorts and a T-shirt. I decided I would just take it easy and enjoy the day. My first mile was 8 minutes, flat. Mile 2 was a 7:28. Whoa, I need to slow down. But, I didn't feel like I was working at all. Mile 3 was 7:30. So much for slowing down. Mile 4 - 7:26; mile 5 - 7:15; mile 6 - 7:12 and I brought it home with a 7:09 for mile 7. I honestly do not feel like I had a hard run. I didn't even feel the need to cool down before coming in the house. I wish I had out my heart rate monitor on, but I would be willing to bet that my heart rate was in the 150's. One more week of rest and I will be stomping my feet to race. I can taste that 3:30!

Sorry to toot my own horn.

Ready or Not!

Well, it is taper time. 2 Saturdays ago, I did my last 23 miler. I did it in 3:10 this time and finished much stronger. By the way, I did it in the pouring down rain on muddy trails. The trail had puddles so big you couldn't go around them and you couldn't jump over them. I have never been so wet in my life. It could have been worse. At least the wind was down and it wasn't very cold. I ended up with the worst rash I have ever had under my arm. I completely ruined my shoes, but it was probably a good time to get a new pair anyway.

So, this new pair of shoes... I don't know when I am ever going to learn. I have run in Mizunos for years now. Every time I try something new, I get hurt. So, my running store hosted the last long run with support from Brooks shoes. A Brooks guy was there with all the new shoes and of course, they are the "best." I know better than this. So why is it that I think 3 weeks before I run a marathon it will be Ok to try a new shoe? 15% off should not have that much influence over me. The guy tells me I will never want another shoe after I run in this one. The selling point was the additional cushion in the forefront where my neuroma is. It did feel better when I walked around in them. Mind you, I had just finished 23 miles and my shoes were ruined. Anything would have felt good. So, I bought them.

I didn't put them on again until I ran on Monday. They felt too big. I had Pete feel them (like I am 5 years old and can't tell if my shoes are too big). Yep, they are too big. Apparently, my feet were so swollen after the run that I needed a 1/2 size bigger than usual. My street shoes are a 6. My Mizunos are a 7 1/2 for plenty of toe room. The Brooks 7 1/2 were way too big.

Oh well, I decided I could run in them anyway. I laced them to be tighter around my ankle and took off for a 7 mile tempo run. I had a great run, but my feet hurt like I had tied my shoes too tight. I checked, they weren't. The tongue of this shoe is kinda weird. There is a cut out in the middle which leaves a pointed edge on either side. Would you believe, they bruised me? I thought I may just need to get used to them and get a smaller size. I exchanged the shoes and tried again. This past Saturday I did 14 miles and they hurt the whole time. This is stupid. Thankfully, my store gives you 30 days to try a shoe and if you don't like them, you can exchange them for something else. I am running back to Mizunos. If I ever say I want to try something new, please slap me.

On another note, I am starting my taper. I have decided to really cut my miles but increase my intensity when I do run. I know some of you are thinking I am already too intense. You may be right, but I just am not fit to live with if I cannot run hard every now and then. So, I have not run since Saturday and this morning, I did 5 in 36:50. I feel great. I will run one more time before a weekend run of 10-12. Then, I have one more week before the big day. I probably won't do much at all that week, but rest, stretch, eat and hydrate. Instead, I will get my hair done, finally see the dentist and start organizing for the move. I'd rather run.