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

Day 85

Running rest day, woot woot!

I was nervous/excited to go to work this morning to hear everyone's take on the front page article published in Sunday's paper airing all of our dirty laundry. Scandalous! I'd say the range of emotions ranged from suicidal (our CEO) to angry/dramatic (the annoyings) to entertainment (my friends). I'll be honest, it's not a good thing for our organization at all, but people have short memories... I'm sure there will be some other front page news soon enough that will make people forget about how disfunctional we are. At least I hope.

For some reason, everyone at job number one became deathly ill over the weekend and still showed up today (yes Rebecca, you are the leader of the pack). I don't know if it's paranoia or what, but I feel like I'm getting sick now! Stay away from me sick people! I have a marathon to train for!!! If only I could get away with wearing a surgical mask for the next four weeks...

After work I went to zumba where I got to give Sarah the special present I made her the night before.

4th place ribbon!

Considering she's come in 4th in the last two 5ks we've done, I thought she deserved some official recognition. ;-)

It's early, but I'm going to crawl in bed now and read a book. If I really am getting sick, then I should get extra rest. Plus I have to run in the morning. I hope I feel ok... at least the first few steps will be exciting because I will cross the 300 mile mark right away!!