Post Marathon

It has been 9 days since I ran the marathon. I was basically sore for just a couple of days. Mainly in my calves since that is where I cramped up at the end. And my knee and hip were a little sore too. I went to the gym the Monday after and did 1 elliptical mile and 1.5 miles on the treadmill, running .75 of a mile and walking .5. The biggest problem was the blisters on my toes!!! Ouch. So I stuck a needle in them when I got home and then decided to rest and let them heal. I went to the gym again that Friday, no soreness in the muscles by then, and did 2 elliptical miles going at a regular pace for me and then going 1.5 mile on the treadmill. I felt really good. Then I rested Sat. and Sun. Today I went to the gym and ran 4 miles! Three of them at a 10 min mile pace and one at a 9:40 pace. My back started hurting a little and after the run my knee was bugging me. I think I pushed it a little. I'm going to stick to a elliptical/treadmill routine for a while I think. But it did feel super good to run. I was only going to go 2 miles, but I got in a groove right at 2 and had to keep going!

I Did It!!!!

To read ALL about my marathon experience.....grab a snack and click here!

Here's the new shirt.

My friend had these pieces of cloth that you can print on and then iron them on your shirt. So she made me this iron on piece for my shirt. Thanks Lois!

It's go time. I leave today. Less than 48 hours now until the gun goes off!!!

I can't believe race day is almost here!

More Shirt Drama/I Am An Idiot!

So I got my marathon mommies shirt fixed today. My friend cut off two inches from the bottom and redid the hem. It looked way better! I was feeling better knowing that I had something to wear on the top finally! Well, I went out and bought iron on letters. I practiced on a black running shirt first. I put one on the inside of the shirt. :) Then I put my A N G on the shirt and went to iron them on all at once. Well, I was very careful not to iron over the marathon mommies logo in the front. Because I didn't want the iron to touch that, I held it still on the shirt. When I lifted it up, I had totally burned the shirt. Yes, a big fat brown iron mark on the front of my light pink running shirt. ARARRRRARARRARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! 1. 32 dollars down the drain! 2. I now have nothing to wear.......again.

I AM SO BUMMED. Not so much about the money, but because I was really excited to be matching with the other marathon mommies. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now. Not really. But I am soooo bummed and so mad at my stupidity!

3 treadmill miles

I was suppose to go 4, but only had time for 3. My cousin Tina called me just as I was going out the door. We haven't talked in a LONG time, so 1 hour and 20 minutes later I told her I HAD to go since the gym was closing in 35 minutes!! I could care less that I only went 3 instead of 4 since I know this week is about staying loose and not about cardiovascular training.

Also, I have decided to take ibuprofen everyday between now and the marathon to hopefully help out with my back.

3 miles and a Breakdown

I read a fellow marathoner's blog last week and about how emotional this marathon journey is and how she had a breakdown. I read about it thinking that yes, it is a very emothional journey, but wasn't thinking I was going to have a breakdown. Well, not so. I guess I just had so many worries about this marathon and today I let it all out with a good cry. The main stresses are what I'm going to wear :), and how my back and knee are going to hold up, mainly my back. So on Sat. my back took a major turn for the worse. Go figure, one week before the race. I got my marathon mommies shirt that I ordered in the mail and it was bigger than I had hoped. It was just too much at the moment and I started crying. All of my worries just got the best of me. I got a hold of myself pretty quickly, thank goodness. I realized I could make the shirt work and I iced my back. (Not that it helped, but it made me feel like I was doing something.) Then I went to the gym and ran three miles. I just couldn't skip it, mentally. So I'm really not sure what to do about my back, but I don't feel like I can do much, so I just am praying for a healing miracle between now and Sat. Maybe you'd like to join me!!

8.5 miles

I got to run with a my friend Toni today. I have never run with her before and so that made the run extra fun. Toni is training for the Tacoma 1/2 marathon which is 4 weeks from today. We met at Lake Sammamish State Park. It was perfect running weather today, about 60 degrees. Sooooo nice. Toni is a faster runner than I am. We started out just above 9 min miles and then gradually slowed down. We ended up running an average of 9:32 min. per mile pace. So a little faster than I planned, but no biggie. I was kind of discouraged at the end of the run because my back hurt worse than it ever has before and my IT band was really acting up. (It has been all week) However, I'm going to be really good at icing this week and I'm going to go take some ibuprofen right now! I had been really faithful at icing and taking anti-inflammatories, but then I got feeling really good and totally stopped. Ummmm lesson learned. Also, I was disappointed that I could still feel junk in my lungs. I've just comes to terms that it is what it is at this point and there's not much I can do to fix it or change it. So come Sat. I'm just going to do my thing and hopefully dominate that marathon! Wooooohooooooooooo.

4 miles

I almost ran without my Garmin today, but then I decided that I wanted to be sure I got my whole 4 miles in, so I strapped it on. My goal for the run was to really just go at an easy pace and have a nice relaxing run. The weather was perfect! And I did just that. I had a great 4 mile run. And to my surpise, my average mile pace was 9:33. Yeah for that. Oh, today at the end of the road, I took a right onto flat land instead of a left up the hill. :) I would of had to turn around before I got to the top of the hill to make it four miles and that wouldn't have been good on my psyche. :)

Totally skipped out today!

5 outside miles

I got to run outside today which was great! When I got to the end of the road I always run down, I had to choose to go either left, nice and flat, or right, up the "connector." The connector is a huge hill, 3/4 of a mile long! I decided this would be the last chance I had to run up the connector or any hill before the marathon, so I turned right. I kept thinking about the one nasty hill on the marathon course that is around mile 7, or so I hear. Today I powered up the connector like it was nobodies business!! Then I had the joy of turning around and running back down it like a maniac! I looked at my garmin halfway down and saw I was running at a 7:30 mile pace. Hehe. I ran faster than normal back to home because I wanted to have an average pace of around 9:45, my anticipated marathon pace, and even though I was powering up the hill/connector, it was still slow. Well, I did it. I averaged 9:43. But it was harder than I thought it should be. So now I'm worried about trying to do that for the marathon. However, my five mile run had 1 full mile of serious uphill! Of course that means it had one full mile of serious downhill. I just have to try not to over think this too much!

4 Treadmill Miles

I enjoyed watching Law and Order during my run today at the gym. I did all four miles at a 9:40 mile pace. Trying to imprint that pace onto my mind. Holy cow, my count down is on 10 days and some odd hours. Oh my goodness. Let the nerves begin piling up!

3.6 Elliptical Miles

11.5 Miles

Technically I was suppose to go 12, but whatever. I ran in between conference sessions today and knew I was going slower than normal so I cut it a little short. It was a very tough run today. I have been sick all week. I'm coughing like crazy, but still, I had to go on my run. Mentally I couldn't skip it today. Not a "long" run. It was tough from the get go. My fuel belt felt like 50 pounds today. I was just weaker than normal. After about 4 miles I was feeling a little better. I tried GU brand gel packs today, flavors vanilla bean and chocolate outrage given that's what they are serving at the marathon and I want to know if I like them or not. Plus they have caffeine in them and I needed to see how that would affect my body, namely my bowels. T.M.I, I know. Anyway, the vanilla was way to sweet, but at least it was thinner and could be choked down. The chocolate was thick and nasty. I will definitely go for the vanilla at the race. And they didn't seem to have any adverse affects. Good. At least I got that figured out today. I love the Powergel more than any other brand. (Made by Powerbar) Anyway, at the end of my run, I had a huge hill to go up, the one that leads to my apt. if you've ever been here, and I started having the biggest coughing spell going up it!! When I finally made it home I swear I was wheezing. Ughh. It was tough to run with my lung full of junk, or whatever is wrong with me. Let's all just pray I don't get bronchitis or pneumonia! I've been a coughing fool since the run.


Me after the run. I couldn't muster up enough energy to smile. Oh, I averaged 10:22 minute miles just like last week.

Resting Again.

I'm still super sick. Ughhhhhh. Talk about tapering. It is not good on my psyche to not be running. And tomorrow I won't be able to run either. FRUSTRATING!!!

Rest.

I don't think I could have gone to the gym no matter what today! I woke up feeling 18 times worse! I don't think any signs of improvement are on the horizon either.

4 Should Have Been 5 Miles

I was going to do my speed training work out that I have done the past two Tuesdays, but I just couldn't do it. On Sunday Evening I noticed that I was getting a cough and it just kept getting worse and worse. I decided to still go to the gym because I don't want to skip any workouts. Well I did the first two miles fine, rested three minutes while getting on a new treadmill, and then did mile three at a 8:20 mile pace. Well, this was a bit much for my lungs. I was trying not to breathe in deep because that would cause a major coughing spell. It was just really difficult to get through that mile and at the end of it my chest was burning!! The lungs are not in great shape right now. So I did a fourth mile at a 9:40 mile pace and then called it quits. My back hurt and I couldn't breathe properly. I have been sick now for over four weeks and this newest bout of gunk has me worried. I really need healthy lung for the race in a mere 17 days!!! I'm pretty sure tomorrow I will have to rest because I can tell it's only getting worse!!!! So much for training for a marathon keeping your immune system up!!