I did it! And I'm still walk'n!

Man, what a rush! I just ran 20 miles! I never thought I'd be able to truthfully say those 5 words! Not only did I finish but I ran the entire 20 miles....and finished in 3:44....an 11:14 mile average. HOLY SHIT!!!!!!! It felt awesome until the last mile and then my legs didn't want to work anymore...but I kept shuffling right along....I kept chanting to my self...."keep on going almost there....keep on going almost there"....and "give me a shove dad give me a shove....give me a shove dad give me a shove".....over and over again until the end was in sight. The last 2 pictures were taken at the 1/2 way mark.

For any skeptics out there who still doubt this devine intervention I'm always talk'n about....I've got another story. Got to the park this morning and had actually forgotten during the 1 hour drive about the whole it's my Dad's birthday thing. We were all lining up in the street to start the run and I said to my friend Traci...."oh my gosh, I almost forgot....know what today is?" and she says smiling "yeah I read it in your blog". NOT 2 MINUTES later there were 2 women standing directly in front of us and one turns around and says...."Hey every1 it's my friend here's birthday...she's 30 years old today" and everyone started singing happy birthday.... OMG!!!!!!! I'm not making this up....Traci and Kristina saw/witnessed the whole thing!

So Happy Birthday Dad!....and thanks for the shove(s). LOL!

feel'n great

Ran 6 straight through this morning. Felt really good. Weather was perfect. I'm ready for 20 baby bring it on!

I'm editing this post to add that I just realized today's date....this Saturday is my dad's birthday. He would have been 59 years old on Sept 29th. How ironic that his birthday is on the same day I'm doing my 20 miler.....coinkidink??!!.....NOPE! = )

I cheated....kind of

Woke up this morning to pouring rain and didn't feel like getting soaked. I also didn't feel like running on the treadmill so I ended up doing an hour on the elliptical. I say I cheated by not getting in my 5 miles of running....but I was far sweatier after an hour of that than I ever am when running....it sure didn't feel like i was cheating! I can see my progress in my fitness level even in the elliptical. Before starting this training I would occasionally get on it and always did the same 30 minute program. It's an interval program that spikes in intensity 4 times. This machine has a thingy on it that lights up one of 5 different levels of intensity....the goal is to keep the center one or "target" lit...if 1 of the 2 before it are lit then your not working hard enough....it 1 of the last 2 are lit then you are working too hard. When doing this program before starting this training I could never get up to the center 1 because it was too hard...I was trying to make that my goal but never achieved it...but TODAY....man, I'm a lean mean elliptical butt kicking machine!! LOL! I had it lit at and above the target range the entire time! WOOHOOO!

On another note....I've decided that I'm going to have to make peace with the treadmill before winter hits. Because there are 2 things that are for certain about me....1) I hate winter even more than I hate the treadmill! & 2) If I fall off the training wagon after the marathon and end up losing all the progress I've made in my running abilities by next spring....I can guarantee that I will never work up the courage to start all over again....it has been way too hard to get where I am to fall off and have to start over in the spring. It just won't happen. So I can't let that happen....I have to keep up with this through winter and I will NOT be out running in below freezing weather. SO....I have to make peace with the treadmill! Not sure how to do this. The last time I was on the treadmill...last week or 2....I spent the entire hour 1) trying to count (and recount) the zits on the back of the neck of the guy in front of me....2) trying to count how many times my left foot hit the track in .1 miles.... .2 miles.... .3 miles...etc 3) tried counting how many times the chick beside me said the word "like" to her friend on her other side....it's just mind numbingly boring...I've tried watching movies on my ipod but I have a difficult time seeing the screen because it's so tiny and even more difficult time concentrating on the story line....same thing with the downloaded audio books...I can't seem to concentrate when I'm in a gym on the treadmill. That's why I like the elliptical because I can read a book while on it....I can't do that while running on a treadmill. I have to figure out a way to some how get over this extreme loathing of the treadmill.

Freeing myself of the burden of improving my time!

Ran 6.........well.........technically..........oh, never mind!....I'm so damn caught up in listing every single walk break that I take....and every single pee break that I take.....like I'm some how cheating by resting my legs every now and then & sitting down on the job because I have to use the restroom....for PETE'S SAKE!!!! In reviewing my past blog entries I realized how obsessed I've become with this. SO NO MORE!!!! I read an article in a running magazine that emphasized that even the best of the best take walking breaks and it improves their time....but you don't hear these world class athletes saying "yeah, I ran the marathon in 2 hours 43 minutes.....BUT....I had to take a couple walk breaks.....oh, and I had to pee at mile 10"......for cry'n out loud!!! I went out today without my gps watch because I'm tired....so so tired....of staring at my wrist every 60 seconds to see what my pace is. I keep saying that I don't care what my time is and yet I'm obsessed with keeping track of it! So I've made the executive decision to keep the gps at home for the weekday runs and only bring it along on my long runs. And I feel liberated because of it......I'M FREE!!!! And quite frankly I think my window of opportunity for improving my time has been closed for a few weeks now. In my mind this last month of training is about increasing the mileage and not increasing speed.

So today's 6 miles felt ok...legs felt pretty heavy...I'm still very sore from Sundays 16 miler...I could definitely tell the difference this week without the ice bath....last week after the ice bath I had minimal soreness....but this week I didn't do the ice-bath & I'm very sore. The humidity was a little suffocating...but I did it.

This Saturday the TNT group is hosting a 20 mile "mock marathon" somewhere near Ann Arbor....I think.......I'm actually looking forward to it...This 20 miler is the peak of our training and then the training tapers off for the next 3 weeks. That's probably why I'm looking forward to it....it marks the turning point of our training! Hallelujah!!! I'm still enjoying this sport and I'm enjoying seeing the progress I've made in the last 4 1/2 months....I enjoy working towards a goal...I'm a very goal oriented person....it's what keeps me going....BUT.....I really need a break. I'm tired. So very tired. After Sunday's long run I felt Awful....just couldn't get off the couch. I layed there all day thinking....WHY am I doing this to myself?! With that said...I have no doubt that I'll be doing this to myself again next year and probably repeating those exact same words.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Focus on your potential instead of your limitations."

started out good.....but fizzled

Ran 16 today. Ran the 1st 10 straight through and felt awesome. Had a 10:58 average pace going up until then. I didn't want to stop because I feeling so good but I had to refill my water bottle...the parking lot where the drinking fountain is was completely blocked off with a temporary fence because they had some boat race thing going on. So I had to walk all the way around to find an opening to get to the bathrooms where the drinking fountain is. I decided to skip the bathroom at that point because I really didn't have to go and my pace was already suffering because of the search...so I started back up again and withing 1.5 miles my stomach started rumbling....not good....so I stopped to use the restroom and ended up in there for about 10 minutes....now my pace is REALLY suffering!....I'm investing in a super stock supply of Imodium today!....then I get out of there and the last 4 miles were a struggle because of the horrible stitches that I had in my sides...they would NOT go away. I kept trying to walk and bend over pushing on the stitch...I tried to deep breath (all the remedies I've heard over the last several months)....nothing worked...so I'd walk until the pain was bearable again and then run until it became unbearable again....I did that for the last 4 miles. Ended up walking a lot of it. In the end my average pace ended up being 12:04. I was very disappointed...the 1st 10 went so well....I was on a role! Damn it! The good news is...I can run 10 miles straight now...the bad news is I doubt I'll hit my original goal of finishing in under 5 hours. I keep peetering out in the end. But that's OK...as long as I'm not the last 1 over the finish line I'm good!

yuck

Had every intention of running 5 today but by the time I got out there it was already 80 degrees. I only made it 4.37 miles and actually walked 3/4 of a mile of it. Did not feel good. Felt very weak and I just had no energy. Tomorrow will probably be just as ugly because I won't be able to get out there until late. O-well. I think it's safe to say that I will never be training for a summer marathon. Or a hot climate marathon. I may be nuts but I'm not THAT nuts. Some of us running friends are thinking about the Chicago marathon for next year. We'll see.

Maybe dodge park isn't so bad after all

Ran at Dodge Park again...because quite frankly it's much more convenient and close. There are so many senior citizens walking the path that I can't believe anyone would chop me up right there. LOL! I forced myself to not keep looking over my shoulder but it didn't help that I was listening to a James Patterson murder mystery that I had down loaded on my ipod.

Anyway, ran 8 miles in 1:33. Thats an 11:37 min mile average. Took a 3 minute break to walk and use the rest room half way through. My pace has slowed quite a bit in the last few weeks and I'm sure it's because of the number of miles we're putting in now. The next 2 weeks will be rough but then the training intensity slows drastically for the last 3 weeks before the marathon to help our bodies recover and prepare itself for the big day. I'm REALLY looking forward to the last 3 weeks...and so is my body! My feet could use the reprieve.

18 miles!!

Ran 18 miles this morning and considering the fact that I ran that on only 4 hours of sleep I'm very proud of myself. Finished it in 3 hours 36 minutes. It was very cold! 43 degrees. I don't like to be cold! I'm praying for 60 and sunny on marathon day! My pace was pretty slow with an average of 12:03/mile. I took 1 minute walk breaks about every 3-4 miles....2 of those breaks were longer breaks at 7 and 15 to stretch my legs a little. My hips were killing me when I finished. I actually went a little further than the 18 miles but walked the extra 1/2 mile or so to cool down ....walking at that point was very painful....it actually felt better to be running. My left ankle was bothering me more today too. Came home and finally gave the ice bath a try. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it helped tremendously...between that and the motrin my legs aren't aching nearly as bad as they were last weekend. K....I need a nap now.

Night-night

I think I'm done with Dodge Park

Dropped Jordyn off with Aunt Monica so I could get my run in today. Had to do 6. Planned on going to Stoney but after dropping J off I just didn't feel like driving all the way up there. So...I decided to bite the bullet and go to Dodge Park. I can't run there alone anymore. I'm a freak. A paranoid freak! I had pepper spray in my hand and I was still a freak. I had a hard time listening to my ipod because I kept turning it way down thinking that if someone snuck up behind me I'd never hear them. Completely irrational I know...but there you have it.....I'm an irrational freak!

On a positive note...the weather was beautiful! Cool and sunny. I took it very easy today because my legs are extremely sore. The last week has taken it's toll on my legs. I've run 35 miles in the last 5 days. My right heal is still giving me grief and my left ankle is bothering me again. So I took 3 walk breaks and averaged an 11:30/mile pace.

Just another typical day!

Ran 5 miles today - stuck close to home. It'll take me a little more time to get over my trauma drama from last weeks' run in Dodge Park. In the past week my mind has warped that poor man from being an innocent bystander who happened to get injured into a crazy lunatic who had some devious plans to chop me up into little pieces and feed me to the squirrels. I now plan on running with the key chain pepper spray that has been hanging untouched from my key rack for over a year. Some may argue that I'm being paranoid; I prefer to think of it as being slightly overly cautious.

So I finished my 5 miles in 55:05. Ran it straight through without stopping mainly because I was so pressed for time that I had no choice.

I started out the day with a 10 am appointment with another patio estimate guy. Fed Jordyn lunch and got her to school by noon. Rushed home to get my 5 miles in - had just enough time to take a quick shower before picking her back up from school at 2:30. Rushed home again to get dinner started. Yes....dinner....So that when the boys got home at 3:30 they can scarf it down so we can get out the door for gymnastics which starts at 4:30. Only - I hadn't taken anything out for dinner so the gourmet menu for the evening ended up being egg/ham/cheese sandwiches with a side of apple slices. Hey - it was the quickest, easiest, & healthiest thing I could come up with at the last minute. Protein, starch, dairy, fat, fruit - 5 of the main food groups in one sitting - what more could they ask for....I even threw in a vitamin for good measure. Who says you can't eat breakfast for dinner?! Ya know what - I'm thinking pancakes for dinner tomorrow!

Then I realized somewhere in there that I had completely FORGOTTEN that yesterday was suppose to be Jordyn's 1st tap/ballet class - OMG! - WHAT is happening to my brain??!! Believe it or not I used to be neurotically punctual & obsessively, compulsively organized - Yeah - not so much any more. Apparently, I truly am my fathers' daughter...the big joke about my dad is that his memory was horrible.....apparently so horrible that he rented a book from the library entitled "How To Improve Your Memory"....or something of that nature....and lost it....he FORGOT where he put it. I can't figure out if I've lost my organizational and memory skills or if there is simply too much to organize and remember! So, I called the dance studio to find out when Jordyn can make up her dance class..... tonight at 4:30..... which is exactly when her gymnastics class is - so, I now have to make up tonight's gymnastics class tomorrow so that we can make up yesterdays dance class today - Make sense?? So - I dropped the boys off 15 minutes early for their gymnastics class so that I could get Jordyn to HER class. ( They did their homework in the car). When Jordyn's class ended I ran to Target to get Brendan some new "gym pants" (he tried on 4 pairs this morning for school before finding a pair that wasn't flooded by 2 inches...it seems he's grown a little). Then back to the gym to get the boys at 7:30 and home by 8.

-This is my life-

Am I whining? no. Am I looking for sympathy? Absolutely not! Just documenting a typical day in our life for my kids to one day read and hopefully APPRECIATE! and.....explaining to any person reading this why it may be a while before you hear from me again.

What's on the agenda for tomorrow?? More of the same!!

What a day

Getting my miles in during the week is a challenge now. I had to get 8 miles in today. Was originally hoping to get it done while Jordyn was in school but I forgot that I had scheduled an appointment with a company to come out and give us an estimate for a new backyard patio....but....today was Jordyn's first day of school and I had forgotten that I was suppose to stay with her today for her 1st day...I'm so darn unorganized, I'm sure I read that bit of information in her pre-school packet that I got in the mail over a month ago....but who can remember that kind of stuff....if Jordyn had been my 1st child I would have known that and had all the paper work and payment filled out and ready to hand in to the teacher.....but as it turns out poor Jordyn is my 3rd and so the 1st day of school has lost a little excitement in our home....I'm just anxious to get them all off to school....so they can get a fine education of course ; ).......How bad is it that I forgot to take a picture of my boys on their first day of school?....

Anyway....totally off the subject here.... as I was saying...I'm stuck at Jordyn's school and have no way to contact this company....Frank C Construction ....uh-um.....to let them know that I'll have to reschedule because I'm stuck at the school....I tried calling information but they couldn't find a listing by that name..... there was literally nothing else I could've done. So...I get a phone call at 12:50 (20 minutes after the appointment was suppose to take place)....I apologized profusely on the phone explained what happened and that I tried to get a number from information but they didn't have a listing...blah blah....there was nothing I could do and felt horrible UNTIL I said "I'll have to reschedule"....this guy proceeds to get completely irate on the phone and nastily (is that a word...lol?) says..."I am NOT rescheduling....I've been sitting here for 20 minutes (ok....nobody asked him to sit there for 20 minutes)....if you want to tell me what it is you want I'll take a look and leave the estimate".....now I couldn't say what I WANTED to say because I was in a classroom with other fellow parents and my daughters' teacher, I just didn't think my language would have been appropriate....so I kindly tell him exactly what it is that we're wanting and hang up. I get home to find this JA's estimate of almost DOUBLE what our last 2 estimates have been. How's THAT for customer service!? JERK!!

Anyway, this IS a running blog right??!! So I guess I should talk about my run....I eventually got it in later this afternoon...when the kids got home from school my mom watched them for me so I could get my 8 in. My goal was to finish in under 1 1/2 hours and I did! With just under 2 minutes to spare. My average pace was 11:02/mile. Took a quick walk break at 2.5 miles and then ran the rest straight through. It felt really good the last 5 miles...the first 3 are always the hardest for me.

16 miles

It went remarkable well! Not the best run I've had but we did it.....we ran 16 miles....holy sh-t! My body ached like hell for the rest of the day...we left the park and cleaned up and then went scrap'n for 13 hours. I sat there scrap'n with 2 ice packs on my feet and ankles. Now, the day after my legs feel great. Minimal soreness.

Next week.....18 miles! OMG!

BIG NEWS!!!!!

I'm so excited to announce that as of about 3 hours ago I have officially reached my personal goal of raising $2500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! A wonderful friend went on my TNT donation page prepared to donate $25 and saw that I was only $26 dollars short of my goal so she put in an extra dollar!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!! This couldn't have happened at a more perfect time! I've been really anxious about tomorrow's run because we're running 16 miles tomorrow!!! Every time the miles go up I'm filled with anxiety and trepidation wondering how on earth I'll be able to complete it....it always seems to be OK....but that doesn't stop the anxiety from returning. So I've been dreading this Saturday's run all week. But now I have a renewed energy and "BRING IT ON" attitude! I've said it before but I'll say it again...I am humbled, grateful, and brought to tears by my family and friends' generosity. I'm surrounded by incredible people and feel so blessed and fortunate! As of today our little group of 6 marathon friends raised a whopping $9198.00 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! I think that's just incredible!

SO! Say a prayer for me....16 miles.....oh God what have I gotten myself into!??

5.3

Did 5.3 miles on the treadmill. Have I mentioned that I HATE the treadmill! Was suppose to do 6 but I was bored out of my mind and just couldn't do it. It didn't help that I drove to 1 gym and found out that the daycare was closed for "floor repairs". So I ended up having to drive to another gym. UGH! Took the gusto right out of me.

Strange Encounter

Ran 5 miles at the park. VERY slow. Didn't get to the park until 10am and the temp was already 78 and humid. But the time I finished the thermometer on my car said 85. Average pace was 11:50 but it amazingly felt REALLY good. I'm wondering if that's BECAUSE I slowed it down??!! Maybe that's my ticket.

Had a very weird encounter in the park. I'm running back from the 1st 3 mile loop and notice this guy about 100 feet ahead of me on the ground in roller blades very obviously in pain. So I yelled to him before I reached him "are you ok"....he shakes his head...I say "can you make it back"....he shakes his head...."what did you hurt?".....no answer....he starts to stand up but he's still not saying anything....obviously nothing is broken because he's now standing upright....but I say "nothing's broken?"......he's still not talking and now I'm starting to think maybe he hit his head and he's got a closed head injury or something because why the hell isn't he answering me.....I was slightly alarmed.....and now I notice he's grabbing the right side of his crotch....so now I'm thinking.... oh, maybe he pulled a muscle......groin muscle perhaps?.....after an incredibly long and awkward silence (because at this point I just don't know how to help this man because he hasn't spoken) he finally says....very slowly.... "it.... got..... me...... in..... the...... special..... place"...... WTF!!!!!!!! OK......1) How does one hurt their "special place" while falling off roller blades? 2) What is the "it" he's referring to? & 3) "Special Place"???........really????!!!! I honestly can't say that I have ever heard a grown man (or anyone over the age of 5) refer to it as their "special place". So I say....and I quote...."can't help you there buddy...sorry"....and took off running. I felt like a paranoid bitch but this guy was just a little bit "off" shall we say. So now I'm running and thinking that if I glance back to see if he's following me I'll look paranoid....but I can't resist....I glance back and now he's following about 100 feet behind me skating very slowly and gingerly....now I'm freaked out because I feel like he's following me. Then a couple people pass by & I think ....alright I'm ok because there's still people on the trail....he can't do anything as long as people keep passing by....then I turn around and he's not there....where'd he go??....is he hiding in the trees? Eventually, I give up on the paranoid thoughts and continue my run knowing that I'M the freak. UNTIL, I turn around to back track to get in my last mile and HE'S RIGHT THERE!!!! He stops me again and asks for directions to Clinton River road....I didn't stop, I just kept running and yelled "just keep going straight". Maybe that's why my run felt so good...I was so freaked out by this guy that the thought of stopping for a walk break never even entered my mind!

Big Apple Bagel Day!

Did 9.5 miles with Diane & her crew this morning. I'm thinking the extra driving time is worth having a group to run with. We started at 16 mile and Crocker and looped around through Metro Park...It's just beautiful at the water....meant to bring my camera along but forgot it. I was having flash-backs to the days when I was younger and we used to have our DeStefanis family reunions there. I remember the exact spot right by the boat docks. I remember walking near the boat docks when my younger cousin Traci was first starting to walk and my Aunt Renee (the one who passed away from Lymphoma) was holding Traci's hand and trying to see how far she'd walk. So I asked if I could hold her hand and walk her and she said yes. I felt so "grown - up". Weird how that's one of my only memories of those reunions.

Anyway, we averaged out about an 11 min mile. They're just as bad as me with the potty breaks so I felt right at home! Then when we finished we went to the Big Apple Bagel....mmmmmm...that's all I could think about the last 2 miles. In fact, that was the only thing that kept me going the last mile because I was only suppose to do 8 miles today. When I hit 8 miles I kept thinking that technically I could just stop and walk the rest of the way....but I didn't want to miss out on the Big Apple Bagel!

Diane says I'm a weeny!

And so I am.....and I'm OK with that...LOL! Was suppose to run with Diane's crew this morning. Was planning on meeting them at 7 this morning. Ended up deciding against that as I sat at my kitchen table last night playing euchre until 2 am in the morning. Who'd a thought that 3 long islands and an evening of gluttony would have such a negative impact on my motivation??!! ...(note to self.....no long island or food binges night before marathon....and stay the HELL away from garlic!....my list continues to grow)! I am here-by swearing off alcohol until this marathon is over. My body just can't be abused like this anymore.

I went out to do my 14 mile run on my own this morning. Didn't make it to the park until 8:30. I was slow as molasses this morning! Stopped at 5 miles for a LONG bathroom break....(Grandma could be on to something.....but then again maybe it was the long islands)........water breaks at 6.5 and 9.5.....a LONG walk break at 12 miles...and I was all but crawling the last mile. Average pace was about 11:30 min mile...felt OK.....I finished the 14 miles....it wasn't pretty, but I finished.

THEN, I came home and had a wonderful massage! A friend of a friend is a message therapist and does a 1 hour message for only $35 and comes right to your house. It was a wonderful thing to have when your body is still aching from the long run. Blissful I tell you....simply blissful!