My Second Full Marathon: A Preface

I ran my first marathon on May 18th of this year. Within hours of crossing the finish line, adrenaline still coursing through my veins, I typed out several pages of notes, a ROUGH rough draft, things I wanted to remember about that awful/wonderful experience. I had every intention of writing a beautiful, clever blog post about it. And then I fell asleep.

4 months later...

I have just finished running my second marathon and the days are quickly slipping by. Maybe I'll skip the rough draft step and head straight to the blog post. Though I don't promise it will beautiful or clever. My body is already telling me it's time for another nap.

A second marathon is a very different experience than a first marathon. My first marathon was terrifying. Leading up to it, every time I let my thoughts linger on running *gulp* 26.2 miles I got dizzy and nauseated and usually ended up running to the bathroom with nervous bathroom issues. But it was also glorious. The anticipation was nigh unto Christmas or impending child birth. So much excitement and hope and fear, all churning and bubbling in one body.

Back in May, I crossed that finish line with incredible relief and immediately muttered to my husband, "I never want to do that again. Ever."

But I had already signed up for TWO more. Because somewhere in my twisted brain it made sense that if I was going to run one marathon, I might as well make it a lovely, round three. And I did this before I even knew what it was like to run one. And then I did run one and as great an accomplishment as that was...I was ready to move past it.

Marathons are just too long. Too painful. Too much. Too much time away from my family. Too much money. Too much anxiety. Too too much.

But this dang sense of pride. It just won't leave me alone. I said I was going to run three and by golly I would do three. Even if I couldn't quite get my heart behind the next round of training.

I half-heartedly pounded through four more months of training. And I saw my speed decline. I wasn't nearly as committed to getting every single run in. I just didn't/couldn't care about it. I let summer get in the way of my training. We took off to Mexico for almost 10 days and I didn't get a single run in. We went camping. We went to Idaho. Any excuse was a viable excuse and before I knew it I was only getting in three training runs a week instead of the four that I had been so diligent about the first go around.

As the date of the second marathon drew near, I didn't even feel anxiety. It just felt very old hat and drudgery. Depressing, no?

I don't mean to come across all grouchy and grim. I WAS excited to do it because I would be running with my sister and in my hometown and seeing many friends and family members that I love. That part was going to be wonderful.

It was just the 26.2 miles of pounding on every joint in my body. The pain from the first one was too fresh in my mind.

Imagine having a beautiful baby after a long and painful birth. Then imagine walking out of the hospital, new baby in arms, knowing you're pregnant again and going to give birth in a mere four months. THAT'S about the closest analogy I can think of. You love your new baby and you're excited for the new new baby. You just aren't looking forward to the part where you get the baby here, especially where you aren't feeling completely healed from the first birth.

Anyway...this is turning into a very long and drawn out explanation of nothing more than a bad attitude. That's most likely what this boils down to: A bad attitude.

And runners are supposed to be so peppy...

Read on for a hopefully peppier description of race day.

It's Vlog Vednesday, but...

It's Vlog Vednesday, but I was pretty busy with a million little things, so there's no vlog today. My apologies.

It's a "rest" day, at least a rest day for my legs, which I somehow still managed to use a lot today thanks to my To Do list.

I know it's important that I rest. Monday, I ran 5 miles on the treadmill. Tuesday, I ran 8 miles. And I didn't finish until 11 pm. Told you I was busy. I was worried I would be up all night from the adrenaline of the run, but nope. I slept like a log. Whew.

Tomorrow I plan to get 17 miles in. That will be my longest run to date. Woo.

There's no vlog today, but I did want to share this little gem of a Youtube video. My kids and I love this one. It makes us laugh every single time we watch it. And I laugh partly because I'm really hoping only 50% of it is true as I will be in his place in only 7 and a half weeks. (Eek!)



"Don't pants your poop! Don't pants your poop!"

My Sweet Sixteen

I'm a very lucky girl in that although my husband travels so much he is typically home on Saturdays, the days I do my big runs. He can stay with the kids while I go out and conquer the world, one mile at a time.

Unfortunately he has a lot of two week long trips coming up, meaning I need to find other ways of getting my training in. I really hate asking people to watch my children. I know how inconvenient four extra little ones can be. And it's no small task to take on my little brood, especially with their food issues. But if my long runs are going to get done, I'm going to have to start asking for help.

I'm also a very lucky girl in that my sister lives about half an hour away and is brave enough to take on my clan. I'm very grateful to her today for letting them terrorize her house for four hours. Yikes! Thanks Erin!

Driving half an hour away today meant a change in scenery for me AND a new running partner. I "met" Becky on my running group and have really been wanting to meet her in person for a long time. Her lovely personality just radiates from her typing so you can imagine what she's like in person. Even lovelier.

In the two plus hours we ran together I'm pretty sure I spilled my entire life story to her. In detail. She was very gracious to listen, especially at the end of our run when I started to get whiny about achy knees and hips. Not to mention the patience she had with my natural ability to get lost as we tried to find each other at the beginning of the run. (At least I only ran 1.5 miles in the wrong direction before realizing my error.)

It really is fantastic to chat with someone while you run. Those 16 miles zoomed by. It would have been rather treacherous without the good company. The wind and cold temperatures, aches and pains were a little easier to ignore. It's always fun to talk to someone who you've felt like you've already known for a long time. All in all...it was a great way to start a Saturday!

That being said...I was pretty spent by the end of my 16 miles. New personal record! But, oh my poor toenails! Four Ibuprofen and a couple of hours kicked back in the recliner later and all was well.

16 miles down. Only 10.2 more to go!

P.S. How could we forget to get a picture, Becky?! Next time...

Dashing through a Dozen



Things you see on a 12 mile run: Domestic Elk

I normally do my long runs on Saturday when Joe is home to watch the kids. I wake up early to get out the door and get it done, but it still takes up a big chunk of my Saturday and I spend the rest of  the day recuperating from the pounding miles.
This week Joe got back into town early Friday so I jumped on the opportunity and did my run Friday afternoon instead.

Thus far, I have started my runs from home, running out in a straight stretch half the distance and then running down a block and returning back on a parallel straight stretch. It's effective. It's predictable. It gets me where I need to be. And it can get awfully boring.

So this time, since I had Joe around, I asked him to drive me out 12 miles away from home and I would run all the way back. It seemed like a great idea...when I was sitting in my warm, comfortable home. And then we started driving.

12 miles seems so much farther when it's done in one straight shot.

My stomach started to squirm as we got farther and farther from home. We passed from our town to the neighboring town to another town and even another town.

Gulp.

When we reached 12 miles, he asked me what I wanted him to do.

"Take me home", I said, only half way joking.

But I got out of the car with the thought that the only way 12 miles is going to happen is one step at a time. And so I ran 12 miles home. It was marvelous. And it was cold, much colder than I had anticipated. Yet still marvelous.

My legs stuck with me. The music was good. I felt pretty comfortable, as comfortable as one can be jogging, until mile 11. Then it got extra uncomfortable and dark and even colder, but with the thought that there was only one mile to go...I got through it.

I ate a couple of Clif Blok Shots and anti-fatigue pills before and half way through. I think that really made a difference. My ten mile run a couple of weeks ago was miserable. This 12 mile run with that mid-run nutrition went much, much better!

I still haven't committed to a hydration belt. I just carried a water bottle with me and refilled the two times I stopped at convenience stores to use the bathroom. That would have worked okay except for the cold water sloshing out of the bottle making my already freezing hands even icier.

And with that run I'm almost half way to marathon distance! That's exciting and very motivating. Next week I'm scheduled to run 14 miles, the longest distance I will have ever run in my entire life. After this run...I'm game!

Oh, and it was very satisfying to wake up this morning and NOT have to go running. Especially when a huge snowstorm came plowing in. I sat quite comfortably in my recliner, watching the snow blowing horizontally, feeling very smug and relieved that I was already done with my miles!

A Plea for Help

Today I put out a plea on Facebook.

I'm single-momming it this week and would love a chance to run outside. Would anyone be interested in taking my kiddos for an hour?

I didn't expect much, but within an hour I had four offers. One came at the perfect time. My two big kids were off at school, child #3 had just left for preschool, and my chores were done for the morning. The window of time was wide open and perfect. I pushed Cee in the stroller over to my visiting teacher's house and counted that as my warm-up. An hour later I returned, having completed my 6 miles in record time. All before noon. Talk about feeling accomplished.

Running outside was just what I had needed to make it through the rest of the week flying solo. It's such a stress-relief to be out in the air and the sunshine, stretching my legs, getting my heart pumping, and moooooving.

How grateful I am for other moms, neighbors, friends, visiting teachers who are willing to reach out and answer my plea for help. They may very well have saved my children's lives this week.

It's a good day.

The Terror of Ten Miles

Last Saturday I ran ten miles.

If my training schedule hadn't said "10" I would definitely have quit at 7. Those last three miles were t.o.u.g.h. My legs, especially my calves, and the bottoms of my feet were not happy with me. My entire body just felt tired. It was pretty miserable. Towards Mile 9 I found myself talking out loud to...myself.

You can do it! You can do this! Just move. Keep going forward. You can do this, girl!

And I did do it, but instead of feeling proud of my accomplishment, I felt fear.

If I'm struggling this bad to get through ten miles and hurting this bad for the entire day after, how in the world am I going to make it through 26.2 miles? Heck! How am I going to make it through the 11 that I need to run next Saturday?

It's disheartening to let that fear settle in and eat at your confidence. But my hope is that with a bit of education and some new "toys" I can overcome some of the struggles I had with this run.

It's time to bite the bullet and shell out some cash for new shoes and a hydration belt. I've only ever bought one pair of running shoes from a real running store where they watched me run and advised me to buy a certain type of shoe. (I guess I "over pronate"?) That was just last year and it cost me over a $100 as well as some respect from my husband.

He is so not fond of my favorite hobby. The time and money spent on training, gear, and races drive him nuts. It's going to be hard to convince him it's already time to buy more shoes. And then even more money on a "fancy fanny pack". He's going to be thrilled.

Oh and then it's also time to delve into the world of mid-run nutrition.

Shudder.

It's very overwhelming to me. Shouldn't running be simple? Why do I need to learn biochemistry and sell my first born just to run, or at least run comfortably? I guess I'm kind of a lazy runner. I don't want to put much work into it beyond moving my legs.

100 Days

Today was the 100th day of school for my school kiddos. Coincidentally, there are (only!) 100 days left until I run my first marathon.

And here's another coincidence...Last year I ran my first half marathon in the 13th Annual Portneuf Gap Marathon. This year I'm running my first full marathon in the 13th Annual Ogden Marathon!

Hmm.

I have my marathon training schedule posted on my fridge so that I can look at it every day and GET ABSOLUTELY FREAKING TERRIFIED!

Some days I catch myself thinking, "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING?!" Other days I find my thoughts are a tad more positive: "Maybe, just maybe I can do this...And live."

Needless to say, training for a marathon is a daunting thing. But then again, so is training for a half marathon and I did that. And lived.

Pfft. What's a full marathon to a half? Well, Evelyn. It's twice. It's run a half marathon, then turn around and do it again. No naps. No ice cream chocolate sundaes. No. 

I CAN DO THIS. I just need to stick to my training schedule and put in the hours. I remember last year being astounded at how quickly I could build up my mileage just by adding a mile or two on my long runs each week.
At one point I was elated to be able to run 3 miles at a time.

Then 5.

Then 8.

Then a double digit 10!

Then--gasp!--12!!
And then I was on my way to running 13.1 in my first half marathon.

26.2 miles. I CAN DO THIS!

And then I die or I go on to conquer the world.

100 days!