Tag Archive | Marathon

Hang On Snoopy

Well I did it! I finished my first Marathon. I finished exactly where I wanted to finish too. My goal was to finish around 4:45.

Here is the breakdown.

10K at 1:04:49, Pace 10:26.

Half Marathon Split at 2:19:37. Pace 10:39

Finish at 4:46:20. Pace 10:42

Don’t you love how my pace increased? Although, I will tell you, I went out and throughout the course tried to maintain a steady pace between 10 and 11 which my garmin reflects. I’ll be brutally honest. It was hard! It was long! And they are liar, liar pants on fire that it is a flat course. Yes, it starts off nice and flat, and there are some lovely hills to go down. The problem is all the hills to go up are on the end. They should flip the course and end with the flat part, but that’s just my opinion.

I’ll also be even more honest. Shhh, don’t tell anyone, but I walked a little at the end. I kept telling myself that my legs were not tired and would carry me through, but I still walked. I think I did that because I knew that I was going to be in my time zone. I also did it because, damn, my legs were jello!

Now, there is a lot to talk about with this race, but today I want to talk about the cheering fans.

I went down with a bunch of great moms from my local MRTT group. Most of us went by ourselves without any family. I, actually, have never had any family come to my races. It really never bothered me. I still get a kick out of all the cheering fans. I like to think that people who line up to cheer along a race cheer for us all and they really do. You’ve got the people reading your name on your bib, calling out your name and encouraging you all the way. It’s amazing and believe me there will be a whole post on these fans!

Yesterday though, something extraordinary happened. I was reaching a critical part of the race. It was the part where the people running the half marathon get to go to the right and those of us continuing know we have another 13 to go. It’s very disheartening and really a kick in the pants. I was having a dialogue with myself at the time to tell myself to keep going as the thought had popped into my mind to go to the right. Then I heard my name being called and I saw them. My sister who lives in California, my Mother who was screaming the loudest, and a family friend. They had signs and were cheering for me. How could I not finish now? It actually became my manta!

“Your if your sister can fly from California, you can finish this! They came to see you finish”

This is the thrill of finishing with a mother who can’t hold her excitement and brought roses too

There is a video of it that I posted on my FB page. You can see me trudging along, the surprise on my face, the smile that brightens it up, and the best part is the excitement my mother had. What you don’t see is how it lifted my spirits and really did help me to finish. I really don’t know if I could have done it without them!

To finish my first marathon was an amazing experience, but to finish with family there took it to the next level.

Holding It Together

Nov20

So there is a heavyness that it starting to press on my chest. It started this morning as this is the day I am planning to get all my sh*t together. Ok, I will never have it all together, but this is the day that I plan to get all my gear together for this weekend. I need to start getting it together today as tomorrow and Saturday morning is just going to be crazy as normal in my house.

Tomorrow night we are going out with my Middle Guy’s soccer team to celebrate them winning their league championship.

Yeah Middle Guy~

Then Saturday morning I have to wake up early and take Big Guy and Little Guy to pick up their Scouting for Food Bags. Shortly after that I’m off to Philly.

I admit it. I’m nervous. I’m nervous more than I thought I would be. I can’t really put my finger on it either. I’m not nervous about finishing as I think I will. I’m not worried about my time as that will be irrelevant to me as long as I finish. What I’m really most nervous about is how I am going to feel afterwards. One of my running friends told me that she doesn’t think that she will ever do a Marathon because someone she knows did one injuring herself and now can’t run. That thought actually never occurred to me (until now).

Yes, I’m expecting blisters.

I’m expecting pain.

I’m expecting sore muscles like never before.

Why am I doing this again? lol

What never occurred to me though is that I could injure myself and not be able to run again.

You know I worry about my foot.

Now, I know that I am being silly because I know A LOT of 1 percenters.

Not the rich 1%, but the 1% of the population that has run marathons.

None of them has ever been permanently sidelined.

So I need to stop freaking myself out.

I need to start focusing on the important things, like

What to wear?

Yes, that is always important. Seems like the weather is going to cooperate!

But since I won’t be home, I do need to make sure that I take extra just in case the weather forecast is wrong

because we all know that never happens:)

Looking Forward Not Back

Nov18

It’s funny the things that a person can find inspiration in. I was reading to my son before bed. We were reading Geronimo Stilton A Very Merry Christmas because you know it’s Christmas time already. (Yes, we have jumped the shark a little, but don’t worry I don’t have my decorations up yet). Anyway as I’m reading, this jumped out at me.

“I didn’t know if I could go on. I was exhausted. But I couldn’t give up now. I had to prove to myself.”

No I am not a mouse on an adventure in New York City, but these words jumped off the page at me. I thought immediately that this is probably how I am going to feel on Sunday. Hopefully I won’t feel this way till well after mile 20, but one never knows. I need to remember these words. When I think of the actually number of miles that I will be running on Sunday, it boggles my mind. So I try not to think of it. It’s just another long run with lots of people in a big city. I wonder why not only am I doing it, but why I’m paying good money to do it. It really is a strange concept but to know that I will be willingly pushing myself to the limit as never before is both exciting and scary.

I have been inspired by many Mama runners some that I know personally and some that I only know from what they share on their blogs. They push themselves inspiring me to push myself like never before. Because of them, I believe that I can do things that were unimaginable to me before. It’s a beautiful thing when instead of constantly telling yourself that you can’t do something that you start to asking yourself,

“Why Not?”

Honestly,

Why Not?

All my life, I was typecast. I allowed it to happen. I’m breaking the mold now. I’ve been doing it for a long time, but there has always been a part of me still stuck in the mold. This is my time to prove to myself not to anyone else but myself that I can do anything I want. Totally shattering the mold. I am no longer the “fat kid” who when I look at pictures really wasn’t that fat. I haven’t been that person in a long time even before I started on this journey, but I always carried a small part of her with me. A tinge of her doubts. She has made me the person that I am today and I owe this to her. I owe it to the strong determined woman that I am today. I will push myself like I’ve never pushed before all the while knowing that there is no reason I can’t do it.

I’ve also been told by a few people recently that my journey is inspiring them to start on their own personal journey as each journey is unique and personal. If you had ever told me that there would be a day that I would be inspiring other people, I would have flat out told you that you didn’t know what you were talking about. There was a time that I couldn’t even inspire myself but those days are gone. Long Gone. It’s not that I am some super athlete because I’m not. Not even close. It’s not because I am super knowledgeable about running because I’m still learning. But I think I make up for not being a “traditional athlete” with sheer determination. I’ve said it before, I can be one determined SOB.

Eye on the Prize.

You Asked me What???

Nov15

As I’ve mentioned before, the word is out about next weeks Marathon.

Yes, Next week?

Whose freaking out???

But I digress….

Anyway, it really is interesting some of the questions being asked me about my Marathon attempt.

The first one always makes me scratch my head.

Do you think you will finish???

Really, did you just ask me that????

Do I think I can finish?

Maybe. I hope so. I’ve been running my @ss all over town, so I have a pretty decent shot of being able to finish. I didn’t just decide on the fly (ok that part is true) to run this race. It’s not like I was sitting on my couch eating a bucket of chicken and thought, let me run a marathon. I’m running it because I do think that I can finish it. It might not be pretty. It sure as Hell is going to be hard, but I do think I can do it. Thanks for asking though and planting another seed of doubt.

Question 2

Are you going to run the whole thing?

Really. If I answer that I may walk a few steps does that somehow diminish the fact that I will be moving 26.2 miles in around 5 hours or so? I don’t think so. Besides, there are people whose whole running strategy is based on walking every couple of minutes (think Jeff Galloway). When I ran my last Half Marathon, there was a guy in my pace group who was following the Jeff Galloway plan. You know what, he finished with his pace group. He finished well too. So the fact that someone walks (and I might even though I’m not following this plan yet), does not take away from anything. 26.2 miles is 26.2 miles.

Will you place for your age group?

No. Not even close. Yes, for elite athletes and some this is important and what they train for. But most of the people I know, it is more about competing with themselves than worrying about placement. The competition is with your own PR, bragging rights and not everyone else. We are all just running the best we can at this point in our life.

One of my many motto’s is

“There will always be someone faster than you and with any luck there will always be someone slower.”

Middle of the pack is a nice place to be.

But even if I were to come in dead last, I still finished:)

My personal favorite

Why?

That’s a loaded question. I don’t really know what inside me is driving me to do this. I think that might require more time and maybe a therapist couch to dig that deep:) It’s just what I want to do. Everyone has something that they make time for in their life that they enjoy. This is my time. This is what I want to do. The better question is…..

Why Not?

What is your favorite question you’ve been asked about your fitness journey?

Just Let The Legs Carry You…..

Nov9

I’ve got this little thing coming up in two weeks.

Just this little race that I recently signed up for.

This Philly Gore-Tex Marathon.

It is literally 2 weeks from today. Let’s just hope that by this time of night I am actually done running it and am soundly asleep!

I was talking to my friend who I am doing Philly with today. A couple of the women who were signed up to run it won’t be doing it now. Can’t really blame them at all seeing as they just both ran in the NYC Marathon. They both were amazing and rocked it! One even qualified for the Boston Marathon. They have more than earned their weekend at home and are most definitely excused even though they will be missed!

Me on the other hand, I’ve got no excuse. Yes, I haven’t been plotting this run out for a year, but I think (hope) I’m ready. I’ve been following my training plan and doing what needs to be done. Yet, the doubts still creep in. The “What was I thinking?” doubts. I don’t know why. I think it might be normal or at least normal for me. To be honest, I think my legs will hold out. It’s the feet and mind that worry me. Running really is a mental game. Many don’t realize it, but it is. The body will do what the mind tells it to do. If the mind tells it to give up, it will. If the mind tells it to keep going, it will. They key will be making sure my mind doesn’t give up.

I’ve got to work on my Manta.

My normal – “You’ve got this” won’t really work in this situation. How am I supposed to know that I’ve got this when I’ve never got this before. So that one is out.

I think I’m going to go with – “Don’t think and just let your legs carry you.”

In the whole scheme of things it really amazes me how far I have pushed my running in the last year. I didn’t run my first half until May and since then I’ve run two more and am getting ready to run my first marathon. It boggles my mind. If you had EVER asked me if I would ever run a marathon, I would have firmly told you that you were crazy. Whose the crazy one now? I guess me because I’m going to do it.

Part of me thinks that this might be my one and only marathon, but then there is the other part of me that knows this is just the beginning…….

You Knew It Was Coming

Nov1

I think in the back of my mind, I knew it was coming. I knew it was inevitable and I knew there would be no going back. If not, why would I run 20 miles. I did my 20. I was sore from my 20, but I survived my 20 and really within a day felt fine. Once I crossed that barrier, there was no going back. It was just fighting the inevitable and it was a logistics game.

I casually brought up the subject with Dear Hubby. Mentioning that friends were trying to get me to do run a marathon with them, but it was in Philly and I would have to sleep there the night before. I think part of me was hoping that it would be a problem for him, so as to have an excuse not to run one till next year. Just my luck, Dear Hubby was totally supportive and fine with it. Nope. No problem with me going to Philly and running 26.2 miles. Damn, that supportive husband of mine!

Now the only excuse left was that maybe I’m a big ole chicken who still doesn’t think that she has what it takes to cross the finish line and become part of the 1% of the population who has completed a marathon. I guess the only way to find out is to actually attempt it.

So I did it!

I signed up!!!

Not sure who was more excited, me or my cohort in crime. She called me and left me a very excited message about it. She is the excited one. I am the nervous one. But what’s done is done. I’ve signed up and if you no nothing about me, know that I am one determined SOB. Now that I’ve signed the dotted line, there is no going back. If I have to crawl accross the finish line, I just might. Eye on the prize. Eye on the prize. (which reminds me, Is there bling for this race? I will have to check into that!)

One of my many motto’s is

GO BIG

GO BOLD

GO HOME

Luckily, I’ve trained my @ss off for the Hat Trick. I did my 20 with a fair amount of hills. I’m in taper now! So it’s all easy training till the starting line.

Sent to me from my very exited friend whom I could not do any of this without

That’s what I’m going to try and do now.

Game on!

Can’t Always Get What You Want

Sep16

As you know by now, I started on this journey that I’m on by total chance. I was NEVER that athletic kid. I was never the one picked first or even second (third, forth, ect) in gym class. I never dreamed of running races of any types. Then sometimes things present themselves to you and you begin to think, “Yes, I would love to do that!” That’s what started it all. I never would have done my first Tri if it weren’t for someone asking.

Such a thing happened to me this week. I had heard of a potential opportunity to possibly be able to run this years 2014 New York City Marathon on a charity team. It was only a possibility but seemed so real and in my grasp. I plotted out how to take my Hat Trick training up a notch to Marathon training. I will also not lie that the thought of actually running 26 miles In NY was (is) both beyond frightening and thrilling. I was literally moments away from signing up. I sat down to register, when I got the email that the opportunity was no longer available.

Was I disappointed?

No doubt.

Was I relieved?

absolutely

Am a I a little sad?

of course.

Am I still dreaming of the possibility?

You bet!

I honestly don’t know if I will ever run the NY City Marathon. I might. It could happen. What is amazing to me is that I am actually at a point where I even think I could run a Marathon with training. There was a time only two short years ago where I didn’t think that I would even complete a 5K. Now, I’m running all kinds of things. It’s amazing how things change if you want them to.

I think the blessing in disguise here will be that when I do finally run a Marathon which I think will be in 2015, I will we be able to go into it feeling more confident and not rushed in my training. I am also a firm believer in that things happen for a reason. We may not always know the reason, but that is just the way life is and there really is no point questioning it. So even though I was not able to get in this time, I will support my friends who were able to get into the race and cheer them on every step of their journey.

The Accidentally Running Mama

Run, Bike, Swim and Have a Life!