Day 109

Is it time yet? I'm ready to do this thing. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get that "anxious" feeling out of my chest. I think people that die doing marathons don't die from the running - they probably die from all the stress that leads up to it! I know I won't die, but being on edge for 3 more days can't be healthy.

So what's contributing to all of this stress and anxiety? This.

90% chance of rain :-(

After much online investigation while at job number one, I also learned there will be 10-20 mph winds as well. So far, the weather peeps are saying it won't start getting bad until 10:00am. Obviously not ideal, but it did make me feel like there was at least a small glimmer of hope that I wouldn't be standing around for two hours getting soaked before it was even time to start running.

Anyway, my friends and parents are all being very wonderful and supportive which I appreciate very much. Waiting for me on my desk this morning was this great surprise from Lisa...

Look closely: Peanut Butter Acorns a la Martha Stewart!

Lisa knows me so well. :-) The peanut butter acorns are dipped in chocolate and have a pretzel sticking out the top to make the stem. Clever and delicious! Her card was also very sweet - I will be taking it with me on my trip. Rebecca also treated me to a pre-marathon diet coke during the afternoon (she also knows me very well) and even bigger... saved me from eating a chocolate cupcake I was given. Thank you for taking it away from me Rebecca!

After work I met Alyssa for my LAST TRAINING RUN!!! The temperature outside was unseasonably warm, so our 4 miles were extra sweaty. Alyssa and I have gone hundreds of miles together - and with each mile I love running with her more and more. If only she could come with me!! Alys also gave me a card that was really touching. I feel so lucky to be so loved.

Training runs are done!

I spent the rest of the night at a meeting for job number two. It wasn't terrible, and everyone wished me well on my race as I was leaving. Marcia even gave me a warm-up check list to use. She is so great!

Ok time for bed. I admit I splurged a bit eating too many peanut butter acorn treats (Lisa, they are sooo good), but otherwise I managed to stay on track. With only two days left, it's time to be super strict with food. I don't want to have an accident in my pants (although the rain might wash it all away...). Ok goodnight!

Total Miles Run: 388.73
Total Weight Change: -11.2

Day 108

Another day closer!

Today I went to job number one and actually got a lot done - only one more day to wrap things up before I'm out of the office for a bit. Yay! After work I went tanning (I know it's bad for me...but is makes me happy so I don't care). Then it was time to run. Once again I forgot my watch, so I logged three miles on the treadmill. I looked pretty ridiculous because during my run I decided to try out my new SPIbelt. I needed a place to carry some of my gels during the marathon so I got a SPIbelt (basically a slimmed down version of a fanny pack) - I wore it (with gels stashed in it) during my run tonight to make sure it wouldn't bounce around or make my stomach hurt. It's not perfect, but it will definitely serve it's purpose. Throughout the course of my time at the club, I got to see Anna, Lisa, and Alyssa - we all ended up on ellipticals next to each other. Workout party!

You'd laugh if you knew how hard it was to take this picture :-)

I spent the rest of the night on the couch watching the funny tv shows in my pajamas. I love Wednesday nights!

Tomorrow will be a busy day... last day at job number one, last run until the marathon, meeting at night for job number two, and then laundry so I can pack for my trip. I better get my rest!

Total Miles Run: 384.71
Total Weight Change: -11.2

Day 107

Last night I had a brilliant idea which led me to create this:

Everyone's who's done a training run with me

It's the size of my iPod so I'm going to slip it in my armband for the marathon. That way all of my training buddies will be with me the whole way. :-)

Once again I'm at work, looking up marathon info, and I feel like I'm going to puke. Remember how I mentioned awhile back that I've run in rain, snow, hot, humid, you name it. Well... I thought I'd done it all, but no. Not quite yet...

Tropical Storm Sandy

This is supposed to hit the East Coast this weekend. WHY?!!!???!?!? My body can't decide whether to have a heart attack or hyperventilate. Maybe both. How could this happen?!?! I'm going to puke. I wonder how far down the spiral-of-despair I can travel in 5 days... This is why I will never get married outside.

Time for job number two. This day can't end soon enough - I didn't sleep very well last night so I'm exhausted and already wishing it were time for bed. Hopefully my front desk friends will help wake me up!

Day 106

Six Days! The countdown is really on.

I got up nice and early to go for a 4 mile run with Katie. Katie worked until 11:30pm the night before, so the fact that she was willing to get up and run with me before I had to go to work was amazing (although I'm sure part of her motivation was the chance to get to use her new running watch she got for her birthday!). Even though it looks stupid on me, I wore my new Marine Corps Marathon hat! 

It's almost here!

Katie and I had a great run, averaging 9:18/mile. :-) I took a really cute picture of us once we were done, but I just accidentally deleted it. Boo. Try to visualize Katie and I looking sweaty but still happy and cute, haha.

I tried to be productive at work today, but eventually I started reading the Marine Corps Marathon website and could not stop. Reading all of the info made me so nervous, I felt like I was going to puke! This is going to be a long week at work...

After work I quickly changed and went for another run - I was (sort of) trying to make up for the 10 miles I missed on Sunday. I only managed to squeeze in another 2 miles before it was time for zumba - better than nothing! Class was fun, although half way through I panicked that I had lost my running watch (I took it off before class started). It's amazing how attached to that thing I am!

My night ended with a phone call to my parents. I talked to my dad a lot about the race and got really excited again! I'm just going to apologize in advance because I know I'm going to be super obnoxious this week. I can't help it!

Total Miles Run: 381.70
Total Weight Change: -8.7

Day 103 + 104 + 105

Holy epic blog-update fail! I'm so sorry, but I promise it was not a result of laziness - I just had a really busy weekend. Here are the highlights.

Friday: Started with a text.

Sarah is a running buddy and alarm clock all in one!

I know I've said it about 10,000 times over the last 100+ days, but can I just say again that I have the best friends ever? Sarah AND Katie agreed to run 4 miles with me to make sure I'd get out and do it. Andy decided to come too, so it was quite the running party.

Super Friends!

I'm not sure Andy, Sarah, or Katie were particularly thrilled with the run, but that just makes their commitment even all that more remarkable. Thank you friends! 

The rest of my Friday was spent at work, then getting my hair cut and highlighted... the color is nice but it is shorter than I'd like - so much for a pretty ponytail during my marathon. That night Andy and I went to dinner and then met people at The Old Toad to celebrate Katie's birthday! It was a pretty fun day. :-)

Saturday: Worked job number two - it actually went by fairly fast so it was fine. After work I was off to a race, only this time... I wasn't running! Sarah signed up for a 5k and I just went to watch. It was really weird to go to a race and not run it, but I'm so glad I was there because.... SARAH CAME IN FIRST PLACE IN HER AGE DIVISION!!!! It's about freaking time!

No longer a 1st place loser. ;-)

That night we went out to dinner/hung out to celebrate her big win and my upcoming marathon. I had a great time and definitely enjoyed my last night of unrestricted fun. Why was it the last night?? Because....

Sunday: The marathon is one week from today!!!!!!!!!! Time to watch what I eat, drink lots of water, and get as much sleep as possible. I plan to be the most boring person on Earth this week - the lamer I am, the happier I will be, haha. However, today was about as un-boring as possible. After a late night on Saturday, I slept in until a little after 9:00am. Amazing - Put a tally in the "lots of sleep" column! Then it was time to go to the club to ambush Katie (today was her actual birthday).

Happy Birthday!!!

Poor Katie had to work her two jobs ALL day long, but I'm hoping her birthday ambush made it a little less painful. :-) Surprisingly Katie wasn't the only one to get presents today. My Adopted Mom (Sarah's mom) brought me one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.

See the 13.1 and the 26.2??

Friends... she MADE this! As in painted the fabric and everything! The back says energy... the inside has pockets made out of fabric covered in music notes. Could anything be more perfect?! Oh, but it gets better... because inside was.... a jar of chocolate peanut butter amazingness. I'm not going to let myself have any until I finish my race - I think staying out of the jar this week might be harder than running all 26.2 miles! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!

My own real mom and dad sent me some love from 2,500 miles away too - the best card, full of support and encouragement, plus a gift card to Panera! My mom wrote a note saying to thank them for all of the free water. It's perfect! I love Panera!! And the card was just what I needed to feel encouraged to keep on track during this last stretch. I feel so loved. :-)

Anyway, back to my Sunday... Since it was later in the morning and I was already at the club I went to zumba! Now this was sort  of naughty, because I was supposed to run 10 miles today. But guys... I had so much fun! For the first time in easily a month, I felt like I could actually do most of the moves without my knee killing me. I wasn't "Old Lady Zumba" for a change! I felt a little guilty for not running, so after class I went out and ran 3 miles. The weather was gorgeous and I wish I could have gone longer, but my stomach was growling (I needed some lunch!) so I wrapped it up. At least I did something.

The rest of the day was spent with a visit to Sue's house (she was hosting a jewelry party) and then a trip with Andy to meet his parents and brother for dinner. It's amazing to think that I have not seen them since my first 10 mile long run back when training started (the first time I tried a gel!). Thinking about it that way made me realize how long we actually have been training for. I can't believe it's almost here... EEEE!!!!!

Ok, I better sign off so I can get that extra bit of sleep! And I promise to also get back on track with regular blog updates. Only a week left! I sort of want to keep the blog going though.... what could I write about next? Any ideas??

Total Miles Run: 375.6 (If I don't run another step until the marathon, I will still break 400 miles! Wow!)

Total Weight Change: -7.7

Day 102

Back on track! And it's high time too because... there are only TEN MORE DAYS!!!!! AAHHH!!!!!!!!!

The morning started off with Andy buying his plane ticket to DC. Yay! That was the last piece of the puzzle so now we're all set to go. Well, I mean - I still have to figure out what I'm going to wear and all that fun stuff, but at least the biggest puzzle pieces are in place.

Before heading off to work, I had a running date with Marcia. Thank goodness I had made that commitment earlier because I reaaally didn't want to run, but the second I started... I was in love all over again. The weather was great, my knee felt good, our pace was solid (9:30) - we ran 4 miles around the neighborhoods by the club. I had a great time chatting with Marcia during our run, and was also rewarded with some very pretty fall scenery.

Now that's a pretty street to run down

For those of you that don't know Marcia, I will take two seconds to tell you about her and why I love her so much. Marcia is married with four kids, she works at job number two, and she is about one of the most athletic people I've ever met. She is also one of the most kind/supportive people I've ever met. Being friends with Marcia is like having your own personal cheerleader - she has been rooting me on since day one of my running adventures. I've gotten high fives from Marcia during races while she has volunteered as a road marshall, I got hugs at the start and finish line of the half marathon we both ran in the spring, she's given me running books/socks/and a shirt as gifts, she's covered my shifts at job number two every time I've wanted to run a race on a Saturday, she's made me cards encouraging me on my journey... and best of all she's given me her ear and endless enthusiasm as she's listened to me go on and on about running. Today was another gift - Marcia knew how much I was struggling to stay motivated during my taper, and so despite battling a summer-long stint with severe plantar fasciitis, she got me out the door and got me running again. Thank you Marcia!!!!

Marcia - Today's Running Hero!

Then it was time for work. Even though it's nice to sleep in a little and take extra time getting ready for work, I feel so much happier when I exercise beforehand. Of course, it didn't hurt my mood when my phone and computer got moved to my new office either. I'm officially moved in! Time to decorate!!

After work I went to zumba, but before going to class I decided to hop on the treadmill for a quick mile... that totals 5 for the day - I know it's not exactly how you're supposed to do it, but eh... at this point I think it is close enough. Plus it means now I only have to do 4 tomorrow morning. ;-)

Total Miles Run: 368.5
Total Weight Change: -7.1 :-( I know I ate poorly, but I didn't think it was 4 pounds worth of baddies...

Day 101

Another late post - sorry guys! Here's the scoop on my day yesterday...

Wednesday: Worked job number one... computer still in old office... very annoying to walk back and forth... had some meetings... succumbed to the siren song of the chocolate dish... talked to Rebecca and agreed to hop back on the wagon on Thursday - this of course gave us a pass to go to a coffee shop and get an afternoon baddie since it wasn't Thursday yet.... stayed at work an hour late - which gave me an excuse not to do my 5 mile run. Blah. :-( I was very bad.

After work I had a girls date with Katie and Kristin - by far the best part of my day! Kristin hadn't had pho before, and being West Coasters, Katie and I are big fans. I haven't had pho since last winter... I forgot how good it is!

Kristin and Katie - we're having so much Pho-n!!! (get it? fun?) 

Andy was sad that he wasn't invited to girls dinner, so I brought some home for him. Tricky thing with pho is you need a really big bowl.

Thank goodness for mixing bowls!

We spent the rest of the night on the couch watching all of the funny shows on tv. It was a nice way to end the day, but I did really regret all of the garbage I ate and also that I didn't end up running at all. :-(

Day 100

Can you believe it's been 100 days???? Sometimes I feel like I've been training forever - that I've sacrificed a trillion weekends to my long runs. Then other days I feel like I've barely trained at all and I don't feel anywhere close to being able to run a marathon. I know I really will be okay and that I'll be able to finish, but I can't believe it's almost here... I also can't believe I've run over 350 miles in 100 days!

Anyway, sorry to be posting late, but day 100 turned out to be really busy and not that great. By the time I got home, I just wanted to eat ice cream, watch the end of the presidential debate, and go to bed. Here's what went down:

Job number one - frustrating because although all of my office furniture has made its way to my new office, my computer and phone have not. I was amazed at how much I got done considering I had to constantly go back and forth between the two spaces (I should have worn a pedometer). I'm completely capable of moving my computer, but if I so much as make a peep that I could do it myself, I think our IT lady would start WW3. It's just not an option.

Job number two - this one was actually fun because I really like the people I work with on Tuesday nights, and there wasn't any member drama to put me in a bad mood. Sadly Kristin got really sick and went home. I ended up staying an extra hour to work with Katie until our boss could come back to the club to cover for Kristin. I always have fun working with Katie so I enjoyed myself while I was there, but that extra hour of work made it feel like a suuuuuper long day and I was pretty tired by the time I got home.

Now for the confession - I was very bad with food. It started with the chocolates in the office. I know! I only had 8 days to resist them, but I failed. And as always, that set off a chain reaction of hunting out baddies all day. :-( I tend to self-sabotage a lot right before a big event, but I can't think of a worse event to do that for than a marathon. What is wrong with me?   

Day 99

A bonus of having concert duty on Sunday meant I didn't have to go into the office until later in the afternoon.  My morning was great - I slept in, I painted my nails, I read a magazine, I watched tv... but I was productive too! I put some laundry away, did the dishes, and even decorated our apartment for Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Best of all was being able to make lunch at home rather than packing a lunch. It was so nice to make something fresh and eat it on a real dish rather than nuking something in a tupperware...

Yummy fall salad at home!

Food was kind of a struggle for me today - I was starving all day long. I was proud of myself for making healthy choices every time I ate, but man.... I ate more than normal that's for sure. Even still, I feel calm that at least I made healthy choices - which meant passing up the pumpkin muffins with maple butter (Satan) and halloween peanut butter cups (pure evil) at the office. I'm going to try REALLY hard not to eat any office baddies before the marathon. I'll only be at the office 8 more days... I can do it!

Andy was the hero of the day. He came in and moved ALL of my office furniture from my old office to my new space. That stuff is heavy! He is so buff!!! It's not all set up or decorated yet, but I thought I'd share with you guys what it looks like so far. :-)

Still a ways to go, but at least it's painted!

After work I went to zumba, which is normally my favorite part of Monday (and it still was) but halfway through class I started feeling really dizzy. Not cool. I think it's because I pretty much hadn't had any water all day long. Lesson learned! I'm putting myself on a strict hydration schedule for the next two weeks. I know - I'm a dork. But it's scary to get so dizzy!... especially when it's happened to me in the past while running. Gotta take care of myself - I'm too close now not to give it 100%.

Day 98

The morning started with my second to last long run before the marathon - since the taper has begun, it was "only" 13 miles. Anna jumped on board to run all 13 with Andy and I (yay!) so we met at the club to start from there. It wasn't until we were pulling out of the garage to drive over to the club that we realized it was raining hard. Needless to say... this was the mood before heading out:

Do we really have to go?

Thankfully it wasn't raining as hard in that area as it was at our apartment.... but it was still raining.

Anna and Andy have accepted the weather. I'm still not thrilled...

But as it seems to happen more often than not, our efforts were quickly rewarded, and shortly after starting our run, the rain stopped and we had about 12 miles of dry running weather. :-)

The plan for the run was rather complicated, but it helped mix up the scenery by sending us off in a different direction than we normally go. Anna, Andy, and I started at the club... ran 3 miles - made it to Sarah's house.... Sarah joined - we all ran 7.5 miles together, ending back at Sarah's house - dropped her off... then Anna, Andy, and I ran 2.5 miles back to the club. Now THAT took some serious creativity to map that route!

It was fun to have a big running party with all four of us, although we did end up going faster than I typically aim to do my long runs. I was paying for it by the end. Even though we didn't have far to go, I was really struggling. A HUGE thank you to Anna for being my coach/cheerleader that last mile.

All smiles now that we're done!

Babs (yes I'm talking to myself) - let this be a lesson to you to not go too fast, even if you feel like you can!

My back hurt a lot pretty much the minute I stopped running... I did some stretches, and then put on a big Icy Hot patch on my lower back after I showered. I think it helped a lot, although my entire body still feels "used" right now. Did I mention that I'm excited to start tapering???

After the run I had to rush to my final concert duty of the week. This one was for a kids concert. As hectic as they are, I think the programs always turn out really well, so it was sort of "fun." Then Andy and I had our celebration dinner at Dinosaur BBQ with the new clarinetist in the orchestra and his wife. I hope I didn't scare them by how thoroughly I cleaned my plate, but I mean... I did basically run a half marathon this morning, so they'll just have to live with it.

Time for another round of Icy Hot - then I'm hitting the hay!

Total Miles Run: 363.48
Total Weight Change: -10.6

Day 97

Today was a rest day, but I'd use the term "rest" lightly. I started the day off working job number two. The heater wasn't working, and thanks to a freezing cold morning (we're talking low 30s), I was basically shivering at the front desk for 4.5 hours. For some reason I also felt incredibly tired, even though I got a somewhat decent night's sleep the night before.

Once job number two was over, I ran some errands, including a much needed trip to the grocery store - then it was time to make dinner.

Not again...

An empty pasta bowl and bottle of water can only mean one thing... long run tomorrow. Tomorrow I have to run 13 miles (starting to taper!!) and then have a pretty involved concert duty - since I won't have any time between my run and concert duty, I spent the rest of my time after dinner getting everything ready for job number one tomorrow afternoon. Andy's help was very much appreciated. :-) And then of course I did laundry too so that we'd have everything we need to run tomorrow. It's pretty much been go go go since I got up this morning, so now I'm reaallly tired - not exactly a very restful rest day!

Day 96

My back feels like someone used it as a punching bag. The massage therapist told me I'd be sore today, but I guess I didn't take her very seriously because I was surprised when I was. My lower back is tender to the touch... I'm amazed I don't have bruises. She suggested I ice my lower back today, and then use a heating pad on it the day after. I thought a massage would aid my recovery. I never thought I'd need to recover from a massage!

Even so, it must have done some good, because this morning I ran my fastest 7 miles ever! 

Super fast!!!

Thankfully with concert duty every night my office schedule can be a little flexible, so Sarah and I had a running date this morning! I wish we could run together more often - obviously I enjoy her company, but she also magically gets me to run faster than I would without her. I'm so impressed with myself, haha, especially because I mapped a semi-hilly route for us AND the wind was really whipping around (and for some reason it never seemed to be at our backs). I'd also like to give a shout out to Panera - they gave us cups for water without us even having to ask (guess we looked thirsty). Thank you for not treating us like bums looking for a free handout!

Sarah has the best running shirt ever

Alright, time for me to change into concert clothes and head off for another round of concert duty. Can't say I'm looking forward to it... 

Total Miles Run: 350.38

Total Weight Change: -10.9!!! It seems too good to be true, but I have been a good girl with food so far this month. Gotta hang on until the marathon!

Day 95

This was the view during my run today...

22.5 miles in 55:00 ?!?

Alright alright, I confess. I didn't run today. My knee REALLY hurt (so strange how it feels fine one day and is excruciating the next). It was also super cold outside, so that didn't exactly make me eager to get out there either. Anna suggested that I substitute my run with spinning - since no classes worked with my schedule, I hopped on a spin bike and watched TV. I set the resistance low and tried to pedal at a decent pace... I was surprised that it was actually kind of hard, and most of all I was surprised how bored I was! I thought a change of scenery and being able to watch TV would be a treat. Wrong.

My plan was to spin for the same amount of time that it would have taken me to run 7 miles. I ended up being about ten minutes short of my goal, but I had to stop because... I had a massage scheduled!! After a quick shower I headed off to get my 60 minute deep tissue massage (thanks Mom!!!). It was not nearly as relaxing as I thought it would be. Honestly, I'd say it was about 90% pain, 10% relaxation. I told my massage therapist about my training and that my legs could probably use the most work. She started on my back and then said, "Has your lower back been hurting?" Well now that she mentioned it... yes, my back has been killing me after these long runs. Turns out I apparently have the world's biggest knot on the right-hand side of my lower back - same side my knee hurts... I wonder if there is any correlation there? In addition to working on the knots, she also smeared biofreeze all over my back... that stuff feels so weird! Anyway, by the time the massage was over I felt mentally exhausted from trying to divert my focus from the pain all hour long - hey, I suppose working through pain will come in handy during the marathon... can I count this as training too?

My night ended with another round of concert duty, followed by some negative comments from some disgruntled orchestra members that really ticked me off. Whatever. I just wish I were better at letting things like that roll off my shoulders.

Tomorrow I'm running again! You'll get proof, I promise.

Day 94

I'm happy to report that I ran my 7 miles this morning. :-) Since I have concert duty for the rest of the week, I am able to go into the office a little late, which meant I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to fit all 7 miles in before work. I was especially happy that Andy decided to join me too. It was our first time running since 20 miles - I think we were both a little hesitant so we busted out the foam roller in hopes it would help loosen us up before heading out.

Andy and the roller - It's amazing how much this hurts

The first 2 minutes of the run did not feel very good at all. We both looked kind of ridiculous starting off - I was hobbling again - but I was amazed at how quickly the aches and pains went away. It felt good to run. I felt awake and alive. Our pace was even good, which I find impressive considering it had only been a couple days since our long run. The worst part of the run... no water. I didn't bring any (I know that's dumb) and I probably could have made it home, but I ducked into a coffee shop and bought a bottle of water (thankfully I had money on me, because they weren't going to give me any water for free... rude). I need to be better about carrying water with me on these longer weekly runs. Thankfully there are only two more 7 milers left in the training schedule!

Now I promised to show you proof that I did it... so here I am - sweaty and showing my watch. :-)

7.01 miles - 9:32 pace

The rest of the day was busy (work and then concert duty) but fairly uneventful, except for some exciting news I received this afternoon.

Dylan Campbell Field

Happy birthday Dylan!! And a BIG BIG BIG Congratulations to Emily and Jon. I'm so happy for you guys, and I can't wait to make the trip out to visit as soon as possible. Em - you're going to have to get a running stroller! Then Dylan can do a race with us!! For those of you who don't know, Emily was pregnant with Dylan when we ran the Johnny's 5 mile race together in March. I think it's pretty cool that I got to run his very very first race ever with him. :-)

K - I've got another busy day tomorrow, and somehow need to squeeze in another 7 miles. It looks like we're in store for a cold and rainy morning, so I might do this one a little later in the afternoon. Or maybe even inside... *shudder* 

Total Miles Run: 343.38

Total Weight Change: -8.9

Day 93

Well - today turned out to be ok, but it sure felt like a struggle.

I was in no mood to run this morning... the backs of my calves were as tight as tight can be. That didn't feel good. Plus the temperature was down in the 30s and I haven't unpacked my cold weather running gear yet so it just wasn't going to happen.

Job number one is super stressful this week. I was on the verge of a mini meltdown at the office, so Andy rescued me and got me a coffee and a vegan pumpkin cookie with chocolate chips (it was really delicious). It was just what I needed before going to a meeting that I was really dreading. I was also having one of those "I'm constantly starving" days, so it was good to have an extra snack too.

Job number two turned out to be fine... it's just exhausting to run from one to immediately work the other. I actually brought a change of workout clothes for after my shift - I thought I might run until I realized I forgot my knee strap... so then I thought maybe I would do something different like the elliptical, just to give myself a change of scenery... but by the time my shift was over, I couldn't get in my car fast enough - I was just too tired.

A couple of good things happened at job number two. Marcia told me all about her husband's amazing ultra he ran this last Saturday (it was 31 miles). If he can run 31 miles... I can probably get my butt out the door to do my 7 tomorrow morning. Also Tim, one of the members who is a super runner and very friendly, stopped to talk to me about my training. He said he asked his friend, who just ran a marathon, if he would have done anything differently. I guess his answer was that he wouldn't have slacked so much in his last two months of training. I wouldn't say I've slacked yet, but it sure is tempting. Tim's story helped me accept that I need to suck it up and do it. 7 miles tomorrow morning friends. I AM GOING TO DO IT!

And now I'm going to eat this delicious dessert snack Kristin brought me tonight... thank you Kristin and Pinterest! I know I've already had a pumpkin cookie today, but eh... it looks tasty and I'm tired, so my willpower is pretty much shot at this point.

Chocolatey Marshmallowy Cereal Goodness

Good night friends. If I do not post proof of my 7 mile run tomorrow, you are all allowed to call me bad names and make me feel sad. If my own motivation won't get me out the door, maybe the fear of feeling ashamed will!

Day 92

Not much to report today. I woke up and definitely felt sore all over, but honestly it wasn't too bad. Maybe the cold plunge actually worked? I'd have to say the part of my body that hurt the most were my feet. Surprisingly the body part that didn't hurt at all was my knee. Go figure.

This week is an especially busy one for me at job number one, so I was pretty busy at work (and still have sooo much to do). I did get a nice break midday when Andy came in - next thing I knew we were painting the rest of my office while everyone was out to lunch. It's finally done! I would have taken a picture, but the room is full of boxes... somehow people thought I was painting the room to be a new storage area.... I work with such slobs. Clean up after yourself!

After work I ventured to Trader Joe's - it just opened a few days ago - and did some shopping. I am so glad we have one here now... I won't have to ration out my buffalo jerky! It was funny to watch people shop there - it was like they'd never seen food before, haha.

Yay!!!

The rest of the night was spent cooking dinner, eating with Andy (that never happens during the week), and just hanging out. I think I'm going to head to bed now - I've been pretty tired all day, even though I got enough sleep last night. I guess it takes a lot of energy to repair 20 miles worth of damage.

I should probably run tomorrow, but it's supposed to be freakishly cold in the morning and my cold weather running clothes are packed away. I need to pull them out, but I don't think it's going to happen by tomorrow morning. That's ok - tomorrow's going to be busy and frustrating work-wise - plus I'm sure my body would appreciate a second recovery day. :-)

Day 91

TWENTY MILES!!!!!!!

Sorry to be writing this a day late, but my computer is upstairs, and after running 20 miles, stairs are not my friend.

So! On Sunday I woke up at 5:30am because I was so anxious/excited for the run. I laid in bed for an hour trying to get a little more sleep, but it wasn't happening so I got up and started getting ready. I'm really surprised that I wasn't nervous. I was actually slightly excited - I think mostly because I knew it would be the last time I'd have to go this far until the real marathon, and I also knew that I needed to do this to feel more confident on the big day.

Andy and I headed to the club to do our run, and Anna met us there to join us for our first 10 miles - the plan was to do a 10 mile loop, and then two 5 mile loops. After two trips to the bathroom :-) I was ready to get started! I tried to do what the worker at the store suggested... to not think about the first 10 miles too much. The three of us ran together the whole first 10 miles and talked (I didn't bring music) - it was really a lot of fun... plus we tried out a new route than took us in a direction we'd never gone before, and I actually really liked it. During this loop I had a Vanilla Gu w/Caffeine @ 5 miles. It was ok, but not as tasty as the Cliff Vanilla Gel... except that one doesn't have caffeine.

Back at the club we refilled our water bottles, I took another Gu - this time Espresso Lovers w/Caffeine (it was ok but not my favorite). Then Anna decided she would keep going!!! We ran another 5 miles together and talked the whole time. There were about two moments during that 5 mile loop where I thought, "I'm not going to be able to do this," but I just tried to shut out that voice and kept going. I can't believe Anna just came out and ran 15 miles with us. She is an Anna-mal!!!!

Still smiling after 15 miles

Now I'll take a quick pause to talk about my outfit. In addition to wearing my new knee strap (my knee hurt for about the first 6 miles, but then the pain went away), I also tried out some awesome calf compression sleeves for the first time.

Check out those legs!

I will definitely be wearing those for the marathon. If only they made a compression unitard that I could run in! Haha, now that would be a sight, but I bet it would feel pretty good!! Depending on the weather during the marathon, I imagine I will wear an outfit very similar to what I wore for my 20 miler.

Ok, back to the run! Before heading out for our final five miles, I had my last gel - Chocolate Gu w/caffeine (so delicious). Then I grabbed my iPod... I knew I'd need music to make it through the end. Andy and I headed out together. Those last 5 miles were a mental roller coaster. At some points I felt great and thought I would be able to keep going forever. Then other times I thought it would never end and I really wanted to stop. It was sort of incredible how many ups and downs you can go through in 5 miles (although 5 miles doesn't seem that long to me now, I suppose it is still about 50 minutes). I know the last 6.2 miles of the marathon will be much tougher, but I'm just going to focus on the moments when I felt good and trust that a little extra adrenaline will carry me to the end.

I'm so incredibly proud of both of us :-)

I knew I kept a good pace for the first 10 or so miles, but then I focused on just moving forward, so I was shocked at the end of my run when I realized I did the entire thing in under a 10 minute/mile pace.

Is it odd that I want to print this picture and frame it? haha

Andy and I had packed our bathing suits and an extra set of clothes, so we hobbled into the club and headed for the hot tub. It was amazing how "fine" I felt while running, but the minute I was done and we walked, I felt like I could barely function. My back was killing me, my legs felt shaky, and it felt like a metal rod was travelling from one hip to the other - through my butt - which just made that whole area feel really weird. Anyway, the hot tub felt amazing except for the initial shock of the water hitting the chafed spots (sports bra strikes again!). I spent my time in the hot tub letting the jets massage my back and the bottoms of my feet - such a good idea. Then... because I know it's good for me... I headed to the cold plunge. Andy followed and witnessed probably the longest string of swear words I've ever said in my life. That thing was SO COLD. I stood in it shivering until my lower body went numb... then stood there a little longer. I couldn't get up the guts to sit down, but the water still came up to my hips, so I think that's good enough.

It wasn't until we got back to our apartment that I examined my feet and realized this had happened.... WARNING - incredibly gross picture about the appear.

Absolutely disgusting

Guys - that's NOT a blister! The skin is hard... like a callus. But it's puffy! Not liquid-filled like a blister would be. Air filled! What is that!?! The pedicure people are going to have a heyday with me once this is over.

We ended up celebrating our big accomplishment by having dinner with friends at Monte Alban. Andy and I both put a serious hurting on some mexican food. It was well deserved.

Ole!

After dinner the two of us headed to the movies and saw Taken 2. It wasn't nearly as good as the first one, but it was still a fun way to cap off a very big day!

I think I'm actually going to be able to run this marathon, which is still somewhat mind blowing. I just have to be diligent with the training during these last three weeks - it's going to be tough but I have to do it. You all have to make me do it, ok??!?

Total Miles Run: 336.37
Total Weight Change: -8.5

Day 89 + 90

ANOTHER PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But before we get to that I need to play catch up, so here's a rewind to yesterday. I'm sorry this is going to be a reaaaaaally long post. Please read it though! It gets better as you go. :-)

Friday: Today started with what will now be a regular Friday 10am meeting for the rest of my life. :-( It was over at Eastman and I was not expecting it to be very great (it wasn't) BUT the most amazing thing happened. While one of the ladies was pulling her lap top out of her bag, she also pulled out some of her lunch... she was just reorganizing things... but as she was doing this, out came.... A single serving bag of Tim's Cascade Jalapeno Chips. Now readers - right now some of you are going... uh... ok. But there are other's out there that will gasping because you know 1) how delicious these chips are, and 2) how rare they are away from the Pacific Northwest. I obviously had to ask where she got them - and five questions later I realized she is from the same town I grew up in!!!! The meeting was still lame, but afterwards we reminisced about Costco, Ikea, Fisher Scones at the Puyallup Fair, Almond Roca, and Market Spice Tea. If that weren't enough to bring a huge smile to my face.... she gave me her bag of Tim's chips. BEST MEETING EVER!

After work I ran a bunch of errands, including a trip to a local running store to find out if there was something I could do to help my knee issue. Even though I chose not to run that day, my knee was still causing lots of pain just walking around. I ended up getting help from one of the workers who not only hooked me up with a knee strap, but who also had done the Marine Corps Marathon and he was FULL of good information. Here's some of the stuff I can remember (I honestly wish I'd had a notepad while he was talking).

1) Bring toilet paper to the race (this is now the second time I've gotten this advice... those VIP porta potties are looking better every second). He suggested taking a roll from my hotel. 

2) Don't start too fast no matter what (I have read and heard this about 1,000 times now) 

3) Don' try to weave in and out of everyone at the beginning... it will be really congested and that could waste a lot of energy. Instead, stay in one lane of the road, and only worry about getting around those people. 

4) Wear socks for mittens and a trash bag or old sweatshirt if it's cold - that way you can toss them to the side once you warm up and won't care what happens to them. Also, if you wear an old sweatshirt, cut the neck hole bigger so it isn't so hard to take off while running. 

5) Divide the race into three sections. During the first 10 miles, relax and enjoy. For the next 10 miles, start to focus. And finally know that the last 10k is going to be hard and really hurt - he said the mental part would be more challenging than the physical, but you just have to keep going. 

6) Be prepared for a major hill at the very end of the course. Whoa what?!? I knew there was an incline at the end, but when he compared it to Cobbs Hill (some of you will know what that means) I was shocked. That is not cool. 

7) Since I'm flying, pack everything I want for my race in my carry on. Better safe than sorry. 

8) And lastly, he told me to try my hardest not to freak out during my taper. That if I could do 20 miles, I'd be just fine.

Thank you mystery running store worker. That was all great advice!

Friday night ended by celebrating Alyssa's birthday. Happy Birthday Alys!!!! Andy and I went together (he's finally back from a two week trip to Canada in case some of you were wondering why he disappeared from my stories). It was not only fun to hang out with Alyssa, but it gave us a chance to see friends we hadn't seen in awhile, including Lisa Shaw!!

Lisa, Alyssa, and Babs

Now, onto Saturday!

My morning started dark and early, and I was NOT happy to see it was pouring rain. I was signed up to run a 5k this morning to represent job number one. Thankfully a little (or a lot) of rain didn't scare off Sarah, Katie, or Scott (Katie's boyfriend) because we all still got out there. Actually by the time the race started, the rain was pretty much gone. I sure get lucky with race weather!

Sarah, Babs, and Katie - ready to run!

Earlier in the week I was curious if I could get a PR, but as the week went on and my knee felt worse and worse, I didn't think it would be possible. I decided to give it a good effort, but that I wasn't going to kill myself or my knee. With the help of my new knee strap... I actually felt almost normal while running, so I tried to keep a good pace. As the race went on I realized my knee wasn't going to give me problems - I went for it! I'd say I ran fast enough that it was tough and I was working hard, but not so hard that I felt like I was going to puke. Towards the end I pretended I was doing one of my strides and sprinted through the finish. My official time was 27:08!! That's an 8:45/mile pace!!!!! YAAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!! Sarah - our resident cheetah - smoked it and finished in 23:15 (7:30 pace). And guess what... She came in 4th place again!!!! Noooooo!!!!! Katie did a super awesome job too, finishing in 25:27 (8:13 pace). I'm so proud of my fast friends.

The second best thing besides running a PR with friends to see me finish was the post-race food tent! Sarah and I did a little grocery shopping. Hey... gotta get back some of that registration fee!

I got 2 yogurts, 2 granola bars, 1 bag of trail mix, and 1 bag of popcorn. Score!

I couldn't stick around long because I had to rush to work at job number two. I wish I could get a PR every morning before work - I was in a great mood during my shift. :-)

Sorry this has been such a long post, but I need to write about one last thing. While I've been training for my marathon, my friend Sheena (in Chicago) has been training for a race of her own. Sheena has been into crew since college and hooked up with her friend Courtney to do an erg marathon relay. Basically that means she and Courtney traded off back and forth on a rowing machine until they covered 26.2 miles (barf). Well today was the big day, and Sheena did it!!! I'm really proud of her. :-)

Way to go Sheena!!!

Tomorrow is long run day, and Andy and I are finally going to venture out for 20 miles in one shot. Holy Cow. I better get started on making some pasta. I can't wait for the day when I get to eat pasta for dinner and not have to run over three hours the next day. It will be here soon enough!

Total Miles Run: 316.23
Total Weight Change: -8.1

Day 88

I originally planned to make a trip to Canada today to hear Andy's concert, but after talking to him this morning, we both decided it would be better if I came up to hear him next month when he plays again. With my evening now free, I knew I had to run. I was actually a little excited to run because it was a gorgeous warm fall day.

Pretty day for a run

After work I headed to the club to run 7 miles. As soon as I parked I realized - I forgot my watch. AHH!!!! How am I supposed to know how fast I'm going? How far I'm going? BIG FAIL. I have a few standby loops that I know, so I started off on the "mansion route" which I know is 3 miles. When I started running I was instantly in pain. My knee hurt soooo much... I was limping more than running. After a mile or so my stride evened out, but I still felt super slow and sluggish. I was miserable. I wasn't breathing hard and my leg muscles felt perfectly fine. It was so frustrating that I couldn't go faster just because of a stupid knee. I stopped after about 2 miles just to try to calm myself down. I was on the verge of bursting into tears. It's amazing how a few days ago I ran 14 miles and felt perfectly fine, and then today... 3 miles makes me have a breakdown.

Anyway, I collected myself and finished my three mile run. Anna loaned me a knee brace, which I had in my car. I grabbed that and decided to test it out on a treadmill. It didn't feel good at first, but somehow I managed to finish the last 4 miles on a treadmill. I'm glad I did it all, but I don't know that I'd say I enjoyed more than 2 minutes of it. So much for running outside on a pretty day...

I'm feeling really frustrated with running this week. Last week I was really sore, which was annoying, but at least I felt like I was doing something. This week I barely feel like I've exercised at all... my muscles are completely fine. But my knee. My knee! I've gone from feeling strong and ready to feeling crippled and very nervous/worried.

Obviously my knee isn't going to get better with just one day of rest, but anything is better than nothing. I needed to do one more 7 mile run this week before my long run, and I had originally planned to do 4 miles tomorrow and then a 5k Saturday morning. Time for an adjustment. In hopes that it will help my knee, I am not going to run tomorrow - I will only do the 5k on Saturday. This will be the second time I've skipped 4 miles during the training, but I'm not being lazy and then saying after the fact, eh well my knee hurt. No. I'm making this decision now. No running. Knee must heal. Please heal. :-/

Total Miles Run: 313.12
Total Weight Change: -7.1

Day 87

When you think about how much different sports cost, you'd think running would be just about the cheapest one. No special pads, no balls or equipment... You also might think someone would have to pay you to run 26.2 miles. At least a lot of people would think that. Me??? I feel like I've found the most expensive sport on earth. Let's add up the (approximate) cost of this marathon.

Registration (plus an MCM hat) = $130... hat came in the mail and looks stupid on me. Anyone want a hat?
New shoes + Inserts = $140
Handheld Watter Bottle = $20
iPod armband (I lost my old one) = $25
Body Glide = $10
Gel Packs = $40
Gatorade = $20
Pasta and sauce = $30
Plane Ticket = $180
Hotel for 3 nights = $450
Mid-training and post-race massages = $120
New outfit for the race (yet to be purchased) = $100
26.2 magnet for my car (yet to be purchased) = $5
Post-race pedicure = $30

Total = $1300

That's almost $50 per mile.

But wait!!! I got an email from the Marine Corp Marathon today and learned about this...

Brooks VIP Porta Potty for a Super-Deluxe Start

Potty Like a Rock Star!

Take your pre-race potty break in luxury with the Brooks VIP Porta Potty. As a thank you for choosing Brooks and Moving Comfortgear, Brooks is setting up tricked out toilets on race day at theMarine Corps Marathon starting line.

Enjoy a spacious, climate-controlled restroom with running water, a flushing toilet, and some Run Happy® surprises. To claim your VIP access, come to the Health and Fitness Expo by GE on October 25, 26, and 27 purchase $200 in official Marine Corps Marathon merchandise, Brooks apparel or running shoes, or Moving Comfort apparel.

What's another $200? ;-) I kind of want access to the VIP potty station... I think I'm going to need it because just reading the email got me so nervous, I had to run to the bathroom! I'll be accepting donations between now and October 26th if anyone would like to support my cause.

Anyway, onto my day. It was pretty uneventful, although my knee was hurting a lot more than it has been lately. I think a lot of it has to do with my stupid work shoes, but I'm going to start an ibuprofen and icing regiment from now until the race.

After work I headed to Alyssa's for brinner! It was probably the last time I'll get to hang out with Elizabeth before Jackson arrives (only about a month to go!), so that was really special. I love those two girls so much and miss getting to spend more time with them.

Breakfast for dinner with Alyssa and Elizabeth

Great way to spend an evening. :-)

Day 86

300+ miles!!!!!! It almost didn't happen today... I waited for the last possible second but I did it! Let's back up....

So the night before I was nervous I was getting sick. I was in bed before 10, which was great because I got a lot of sleep. When I woke up in the morning I still felt iffy, mostly because I woke up covered in sweat. Now I will admit... I am an occasional bed-sweater, so it might have been a normal occurrence, but I was paranoid it was more, so I decided not to run right away. I ended up just getting ready and going to work.

Job number one went by pretty fast, partly because I got to eat lunch with Anna and Lisa, and partly because I had to do a site visit at one of next week's concert venues. No time to sneak off for a "lunch time" run.

Then I was off to job number two, but before I went, I stopped back at my apartment and picked up... my running clothes. I needed to run today so I decided to run after my shift. I knew I would have an incredibly hard time sticking to this decision once my shift ended, so I was beyond thrilled when Katie agreed to go with me. Do you all know how much I love Katie right now? It's a whole lot. If I hadn't gone running, I would have been upset with myself and probably would have come home and had a baddie fest. Nope! Thanks to Katie's motivation, I am happy, freshly showered, and will definitely get a good night's sleep.

Katie and I consulted with a member during our shift to figure out the safest place to run at night. We also gave Kristin instructions to call the cops if we weren't back by a certain time. But is that enough for this safety queen? No way. Bring on the headlamp and flashy red lights!!!

We're not afraid of the dark!

I'll admit I didn't feel too hot for about the first 4 miles - it was only a 6 mile run, so that's not exactly a great stat. For some reason my lower legs were burning - my achilles felt especially tight... I'd much rather have knee pain/hip pain/back pain/any pain than burning achilles. Once our 6 miles were done, we did 6 strides. I've had a few people ask me about strides recently, so here's a quicky explanation. Basically you gradually build speed over the length of a football field. By the end of that build up you should be at an all out sprint, and then you hold the sprint for 5 seconds. Katie and I have never really measured our strides, more like.. ok let's speed up to the fire hydrant and them sprint to the second tree past the lamp post. Same affect. :-)

What was maybe weirder than running so late at night was the weather. Even though it's October, the temperature was in the 60s, and the air was foggy/misty. It really wasn't too bad! I'm so so so glad I did it. And I can honestly say, I've probably never left the club after my shift feeling so energized.

It's 10:00pm and I feel alive! Although I guess I look a little tired :-)

Total Miles Run: 306.12!!!!!
Total weight change: -6.4