THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

NO watch.  Drove into town in the evening with Vanessa in the stroller.  After about 2.5 miles she wanted to get out and run, so I let her.  She ran a whole mile and I finally stopped her--I figure one mile on her first run is plenty enough!  I don't want to overtrain a 3-year-old!  She wanted to keep going though.  Wow!  So anyways I walk-jogged that mile--don't have the time but think it was probably around 13 minutes or so.  I had to put her back in the stroller kicking and screaming and finish the run.  10 miles in the morning with the tribe and then out pre-marathon cookout tomorrow night at my house.  PARTY!  We are roasting dogs and burgers and making s'mores and washing it down with some nice cold beer.

8:30 AP.  Ran the first 4.5 with Stacy and Eddy and then Stacy stopped since she was going to run 10 with Carlos tomorrow.  He was transferred to another fire station and found out yesterday he could not make the tribal run or BBQ today.  After seeing Stacy off me and Eddy ran to Firehouse 1 and visited Carlos for a few minutes and then ran back to our cars.  I did an all-out sprint at the end and hit 4:12 pace.  Mostly easy miles today but ran the last few 7:20-7:30 pace before the sprint.  Feeling good and ready to start taper week.

8:39 AP.  Very relaxing.  Then I got home.  My phone rang and the doctor's nurse told me Vanessa had e-coli, thus the urinary tract infection, thus all the fevers and illness.  Then the phone rang again and my husband told me he is laid off effective NOW.  This could very well be the taper week from hell.

Dress rehearsal.  Loved the cool morning temps at 46 degrees!  I so NEED those temps for a good marathon Sunday but the forecast has 56 as the overnight low with temps reaching 79 that day.  I ran fast and smooth in the coolness.  It makes everything easier.  2 mile warm up 8:15, 8:18, 3 at MP no peaking at the watch 7:10, 6:59, 6:55,  I tried to run what felt like the conservative end of MP so it's gotta be the temps because these 3 miles were a breeze.  Cool down 7:43.  Maybe I can pretend it's 40 degrees that day.  David is busy today going to a job fair and applying everywhere he can think of.  If he doesn't get something quick then I have to find a different job that offers health insurance--my small company does not, although the job pays well.  Private insurance and COBRA are sickeningly expensive.

8:45 AP.  A very relaxed pace on the rolling dirt roads.  I was contacted by a reporter from Wichita Eagle to be interviewed about the upcoming marathon.  Haha I had fun with that.  So far no phantom taper pains just butterflies in my stomach when I think about it.

Here is the course video of my upcoming marathon.  I have it memorized until about mile 5 so far.  I am still confused about the rest but it sounds like they are going to have a lot of folks out there pointing us the right way.

http://www.examiner.com/running-in-wichita/prairie-fire-wichita-marathon-course-review-video

I have patches of hives in random places--one cheek, my chin, both quads, both ankles, a few patches on my back, and my armpits.  I have no idea what caused them but they itch like crazy.  I finally broke down and took a wopping 12.5mg of benadryl last night which made me sleep soundly for 8 hours.  I still have the hives but this close to the marathon don't dare put anymore of that stuff in my system--benadryl is basically a tranquilizer for me.

David's work called him back and have a place for him in another department.  It's not much money but we get to keep the insurance so it'll hold us!  We are happy. I will run 5 or 6 this evening at a pedestrian pace, then off tomorrow, 2 or 3 miles Satuday to keep the cobwebs off and showtime Sunday! Temps will be a little warm with a low of 56 and a high of 82. 

4 pushing the stroller at 8:50 pace, then 1.12 with Vanessa at 18:00 pace.  These hives itch like crazy, but I am not taking any more benadryl this close to the race.  Nervous!

http://www.kansas.com/2010/10/08/1532359/some-runners-to-watch-for-on-sunday.html?storylink=fbuser

Here is the link for my 2 seconds of fame!

The plan was 2 easy miles.  Got up and took the kids to race the 1 mile at our local fall festival, including my 3 year old.  She took off at the gun but after seeeing all the other people going the other way(out and back course) she freaked out.  We barely made it to the turnaround and she refused to move because she wanted to be on my shoulder.  Well, 31 pounds on my shoulders is quite heavy and even at a slow jog I was huffing and puffing but she wouldn't let me walk.  We finally made it within view of the finish line and put her down and then David coaxed her across the line.  Better luck next year! I figured that was enough exertion for me today.  I am so nervous.

Okie dokie here it is. The night before went well enough. I ate some lasagna, hydrated, and got a decent night's sleep. David dropped me off at 7 and I met up with Eddy. We were really nervous. We paced around, hit the port-a-pots, jogged around to warm up and then lined up. Sang the national anthem and shortly thereafter we were off. Miles 1-5 7:19, 7:17, 7:21, 7:15, 7:16. Started off conservative as planned. Legs and breathing felt fine. Hooked up with 3 guys all wanting to run 3:10 so we ran together and talked. Took a gu at mile 5.  It was actually pretty crowded and had to some people-dodging.  Lots of corners--this course has 68 90 degree turns and a hairpin.  I didn't like the patches of cobblestone but at least they were only a block or two long when we hit them.

Miles 6-10 7:11, 7:15, 7:11, 7:21, 7:08  veering around corners still but that's okay.  Our group is intact.  I see my mom and daughter at mile 8 and it is a great boost!  Still feel good.

Miles 11-15 7:07, 7:17, 7:11, 7:11, 7:20  gu at mile 11 and see my husband.  Hi honey!  Two of the guys in our group have surged ahead but picking up the pace feels uncomfortable to me so I hang back a little with the other guy

Mile 16  7:36.  My legs suddenly feel very tired and so do I.  This is a little early for that.  I figure it is just one of those little bad patches and I will snap out of it.

17-20 7:39, 7:51,7:53, 8:05.  My legs go from tired to hurting, and boy do they hurt.  They are tight and hurt all over and I can't drive them any harder.  I watch my goal time slip away and mentally this really starts to kill me.  I see the girls from work at mile 20 and it is so good to have someone yelling for me!

21-24 8:20,8:14, 8:35, 8:48  Not only my goal time but now any chance at a PR slips away.  I start to get  muscle spasms that hart in my calves and in my hamstring.  They are short little spasms like just a second and then they stop and then I'll get another one.  Those little buggers sure do hurt though!  Mentally I have taken a hit and there is no recovery.  This is the closest I have ever been to dropping out of a race.  The girls are at mile 22 and 24 cheering for me and they are WONDERFUL!  How can I quit with such wonderful friends and family?  NO--I owe it to them to cross that finish line.  I am in second, amazingly, until mile 22 and then Lacy passes me.  I have no fight to put up.  I wish her luck and tell her to go get 'em!

25, 26 9:13, 9:10.  Death march.  Shuffle shuffle.  I have nothing.  This is really hard.  This is a looong 2 miles and I want to cry.  A couple of times I actually teared up, mostly with disappointment.   I have worked really hard and this is quite miserable.  I never even felt this bad in my first marathon.  I don't know what the last .2 but I attempted some kind of pick-up at the end.  Miraculously, I hang onto 3rd.

I cross the line and it is over.  My wonderful running tribe, the girls from work, and my family are all there to meet me and give me hugs.  They saw me tear up but I got it back under control and didn't cry.  Some tribe members had a rough day too.  Some had a great day and I am so proud of them! 

I know I should not be ashamed of 3rd place or my time but the fact of the matter is I worked hard towards a better time and it is disappointing and frustrating when a race that you train hard for does not go well.  On the flip side, this is still a far cry from where I started and my life and health are vastly improved.

I am not finished yet.  Houston is on January 30th and I am already plotting my REVENGE!  Time to take a short break, review my training and try to figure out what went so wrong, and then fix it and be bold enough to toe the line again and go for it.

Analysis and reflection today.  In order to run a good marathon you have to train right, eat right, and have your mojo.  Did I train right?  I made some mistakes.  Eat right?  Umm, no.  My mojo? Well, it's been a stressful week.  Husband laid off, no wait, just kidding, transfers to another job 2 days later.  Work--busy. Kids--busy.  Life--overwhelming.  Have been squeezing runs in by a hair.  In fact,  I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for quite some time.  I am TIRED.  I have been tired.  I cope well and like to think I can handle it all but nothing like a marathon to bring it all home and prove to me that I am secretly terribly fatigued.  I'm going to take it easy from now until November 7th when Houston training begins and get things organized with my life and with my family.  Gotta find a little balance in my life.

Beautiful day.  Put Vanessa in the stroller and walked a mile, then shuffled 2 miles, stopped at the playground, then walked a little more to Sonic and she got her tater tots and I had a diet cherry limeade.

8:39 AP.  Must not. Gain. Weight.  Not too sore anymore.

Evening jaunt at 8:01 pace.  Legs aren't sore but are dead as doornails.  I feel fat and bloated.  Must drink more water and eat more veggies I suppose.  There is a fun Halloween 5k coming up on the 23rd and I think I would like to make my debut as an avatar.

7:56 AP.  I cannot believe it is still 80 plus degrees in freaking October.  Bring me some 50 degree running weather!  Legs felt good today--ran on my rolling dirt hills.  They made me strong before and they will make me strong again.  I got my avatar costume today.  Can't wait to run a 5k with a tail and make-up!(and perhaps holding a spear)  Nick and Ian are ninjas and Vanessa is going to be a little avatar(she is sooo cute in the outfit but was a little freaked out by the tail).

8:07 AP.  County line road plus sienna ranch.  Windy!  Got this Kings of Leon song stuck in my head..."I could really use somebody".  Actually they are a pretty awesome band.

8:06 AP.  Nice cooler temps.  I am so tired and sleep deprived that I figured this run would stink and it first it was very lethargic but enjoyable.  My legs and mind seemed to come alive a little at the end though.  Mile 7 in 7:20 and last .49 at 6:37 pace.  First time my legs have ventured to sub-7 pace since the marathon.

8:13 AP.  All dirt roads. county line route plus 143rd.  still freaking hot in the afternoons here.

8:00 AP.  mostly dirt but 4 miles running into and around town. It is still freaking 82 degrees in October!  Bring me some fall weather PLEASE!  Felt sluggish and hot but the last few miles began to feel a little better as the sun started to go down and the temps started to cool.

8:08 AP.  Windy day!  Just jogged around Sienna Ranch.  5k tomorrow.  I am not expecting a PR or even a decent time since my legs are still pretty blah but it will be nice to at least get them cranking a little bit.  As for the Avatar costume--remains to be seen.  I tried it on yesterday and then decided to go running around the yard to see how it felt and my mom took pictures because we both wanted to know what the tail would do.  I think it was too tight on my big freaking butt and I tore a seam.  So, we will see if it is fixable tonight.  Oh yeah, and the tail looks hilarious.

I debated on even making this a race report but what the hey, may as well.  Basically,  a good friend of mine's husband just got back from US Marshall school and his coming home party was last night, and I had more beer than is ideal before a morning race.  Legs are so freaking stale from the marathon.  Wow.  So anyways, I could barely drag myself out of bed and I didn't much feel like running but Eddy was going to be there and I really need to drag out of this slump and at least run some sub-7 minute miles.  There is a giant hole in the butt of my Avatar costume, so needless to say, I didn't wear it.  Temps were lovely at 64 degrees but the 24mph wind with 33mph gusts was not lovely.  I decided to truly run this for fun and just keep it sub-7 and be happy.  We lined up and were off.  About 100 people bolted off the starting line in front of me like it was a 400 meter race.  I trotted along and eased into what I felt was a sub-7 pace and by the end of the first mile caught about half the rabbits.  After that I mostly held position.  The wind sucked and I didn't fight it too much.  I never reached oxygen debt and never really pushed.  I crossed the finish line with my worst 5k time in a year and a half and didn't care.  It did feel good to stretch the legs and it did make me more interested in truly racing again, because I have been flat and burnt out.  Oh, and I won a 13 pound turkey out of the whole deal!  Two more weeks of kicking back and then Houston training starts.  Hopefully after two more weeks of slacking I will have some motivation again, since it is sorely lacking right now.  I am still fighting this issue with generalized fatigue and I don't know what the deal is. 

7:38 AP.  Watched "Without Limits" for the first time and it made me want to go on a run.  So I did.  Felt good!

7:54 AP.  Dirt roads--county line + 143rd.  It was chilly and windy--and it felt awesome!

8:16 AP.  19mph wind out of the West, which is unusual wind direction.  I watched Chris Solinsky take down the American 10k Record on youtube again--before running.  Ran very easy except for one fast-but-controlled mile in 6:27 south through town.  Legs felt good.  I am starting to feel really really good running again.  I swear my body must love the beating because I feel best under piles of miles. I even like the blustery wind now, it wicks that yucky heat off of me.

8:12 AP.  Another blustery day, but I am beginning to really enjoy it. First 4 miles felt sluggish, than I began to feel really good.  I concentrated on good strong push-off on my stride but kept the effort very easy.  Last mile in 7:27 with no perceivable increase in effort, although I did have a tailwind!

7:48 AP.  Yet another windy afternoon run. Mixed route--dirt roads to 170th and back and then two loops in Sienna Ranch.  First loop was 1.5 at a comfortably hard pace in 10:04(6:42 pace).  I was okay with that.  I am just giving my body a heads up for the longer, harder, tempo runs to come.

7:07 AP.  Had to work late and had very little time so had to make it short and sweet.

8:03 AP.  7 miles dirt, 3 miles in Sienna Ranch.  Started off at a sluggish 9:00 mile but felt good cranking a 7:24 at the end.  Looking forward to an 8k next weekend and I am pinning the butt of my avatar costume for my husband's work party tonight!  I guess I'll just wear blue underwear.