All in the family

Last week was Thanksgiving and since Thanksgiving is all about family (well, technically it's about a group of Europeans coming over to this country, taking land from the indigenous people that already lived there, letting said people take pity on them when they were starving to death, thanking them with a shared meal and then murdering them - but the Hallmark version of the holiday is much more pleasing), it's only fitting that several of my runs last week were a family affair.

My dad was my first running partner. When I ran my first race at age 4, he was the starter. When I entered my first road run, he ran with me until I shooed him away saying I wanted to do it by myself. We've shared a run together many times and entered many races together. Not once have I ever beaten him, nor do I expect to. We even ran the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon Relay together. He still complains that it was dark when he started. In any event, it was kind of nice when he offered to do my training runs with me over the holiday weekend.

Thanksgiving morning it was cold, misty and miserable. We hit the road at 8:oo a.m. and did 4 soggy miles. I heard all about his trip to Hawaii and he heard about my training up until that point. Saturday, I had 12 to do. Dad ran the 4 miles to the local park with me and then left me to do my additional 4 in the park before I headed back. As with other long runs, my mom came along to bring me beverages. It was family bonding over sweat and it was actually kind of fun.

All you other families can have your multi-coursed Thanksgiving meal with 63 relatives and 76 different desserts. I'll take a sunny day in the park with my family anyday. Fewer miles wouldn't hurt though...

Does this top 10 list make my butt look big?

Even though it seems like I have endless weeks of training to go before it's marathon day, in actuality there are only about 6 weeks left. Three of those weeks include holidays. So my friends figured that we'd better plan what we're all wearing soon so it could be purchased in time for our trip.

This all started because months ago, I had floated the idea of having my spectating entourage wear some sort of "Team Raegan" shirt so I could easily pick them out on the sidelines even during what will surely be a delirious state around mile 21. Jennie and Bridget jumped on this idea and before I knew it, they had come up with the idea to have a top ten list of reasons why they were NOT running the marathon. They further brainstormed and decided to keep with the Disney theme and tweak actual quotes from Disney movies to make up their reasons. Not surprisingly, they came up with a hell of a lot more than 10 reasons. Edits were made and following is the top ten list that will appear on the back of their shirts:

10. Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s back to bed we go. (Snow White)

9. I don’t have “Hercules” strength to run 26.2 miles. (Hercules)

8. It’s a long race after all. It’s a long race after all. (It’s a Small World)

7. We are simply fans if you please. (Lady & The Tramp)

6. I prefer “Ratatouille” over Gu. (Ratatouille)

5. I would tell you, but there are preschool toys present. (Toy Story)

4. I don’t do anything stupid. Like that. (Pirates of the Caribbean)

3. Cruella de Ville, Cruella de Ville, if she doesn’t kill you the marathon will. (101 Dalmations)

2. It’s all fun and games until someone loses a toenail. (Tarzan)

1. 26.2 miles can give you such a crick in the neck. (Aladdin)

So as you can see, give a girl some free time and access to Google and you'll be amazed what you get.

The rubber met the road a little too often

I've been training for this marathon now for approximately 62 years. Well, actually it's more like 11 weeks but it feels the same to me. In that time, I've spent what must equal the gross national product of a small country. In addition to running shoes and enough sports drink to fill a bathtub, I've purchased things reflective and illuminated, things warm and moisture wicking, things nutrient replacing and pain relieving. This is not to mention the small fortune I'm currently paying off to actually travel to the marathon and a place to sleep while I'm there. So imagine my shock and disgust when I discovered that I was going to have to buy a 2nd pair of running shoes too.

It turns out my body has outlasted my Nikes. After just 6 months, my shoes have gone from nicely broken in to embarassingly broken down. The soles have worn away, the cushiong has worn out and it appears that half the heel has mysteriously disappeared. After exhausting the shoe stores in town (Seriously, a town this size needs more shoe stores. We are pediatorially deprived here!), I finally found my perfect pair at a Nike outlet store an hour and half away. The photo shows my worn out shoes and what shoes should look like.

So now I have my new kicks. Maybe these will be kinder to my toenails...

I Spy...

When you go on a 16 mile run, you tend to have time to look around. You notice things that might be missed if you were driving. On Saturday's run, Runner Wendy and I happened to notice a few things (I am not making this up) that bear mentioning:

1) a man riding a unicycle
2) a partial marching band, in uniform
3) the entrails of a small animal - including possibly an intestine of some sort

Mind you, these are not the sorts of things that one might find on a postcard, but it does make one sit up and take notice. And it gives you something to talk about, besides chafing, during a 4-hour running expedition.

Becoming a morning person?

Anyone who knows me is pretty much aware that me and morning do not normally co-exist in a peaceful state. So it is with much surprise and awe that I'm writing this: I think I'm liking running in the morning. That's not a typo. I mean morning, as in the a.m., i.e. before noon. I've come upon this decision reluctantly. I think this has happened for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm so sleep deprived that I'm not quite sure what I think anymore, and 2) this damn running in the dark really sucks. A lot.

This was the first week Runner Wendy and I tried running our semi-long run in the morning. Our bosses were so cool as to let us tweak our work schedules one day a week and come in later in order to accommodate getting in a run in during daylight hours. (Shout-outs to Janet and Pam. You guys rock!) Though I had to get up at 5:45 for our morning run, it was a morale booster to see it getting lighter as we ran. It's amazing what a positive effect that had on our run!

We had 8 miles to do this week. Side note: it's really cool to be able to say "Yeah, I got an 8 mile run in before work today. How was your morning?" But I digress. We started out at our normal long run pace of about 11:35/mile. We had 2 hydration stops scheduled where we filled up on water, sports drink and Shot Blocks. Runner Wendy's husband Dan joined us for our last 3 miles. Dan is quite a bit faster than Runner Wendy and I, but he wanted to run with us for a while so he switched from tortoise to hare for the end of his run.

Not long after Dan joined us, I started to notice that we were running faster. A quick check of Wendy's GPS-watch-computer-thingy confirmed that we had picked up the pace about 15 seconds for mile 6. We all felt pretty good so we went with it. We picked up steam as we went. It felt like the farther we went, the faster we were going. Somewhere after mile 7, I notice Wendy checking her GPS-watch-computer-thingy again. Before she could say anything about our quickened pace, I said, "I don't want to know. I want to be surprised." We finished strong. When we finished Wendy announced that our last mile was run in 10:07 - a full minute and a half faster than our average pace! On mile 8. Let me emphasize that the 8th mile is not usually easier than the first 7. This was quite an achievement for us.

The turbo-boost run made my whole morning. Later, one of my co-workers asked me how my run went and when I said "Awesome!" he laughed. Not a quick chuckle mind you, but a full-on, let-me-catch-my-breath laugh. Apparently, knowing my aversion to mornings he didn't think my response jived with the question.

Praise for a wet run

I was really dreading my run last night. It was cold and it had been raining all day. The carrot at the end of my stick was that after I finished my run, I was meeting up with friends to go see a movie. That's what got me through the entire soggy day anticipating a miserable run. "Run for the movie" became my motto.

I took 2 hours of vacation time to get the run in with enough time to shower and change before meeting my friends for a pre-show dinner. So I headed to the trail at 3:15 in my running tights, long-sleeved shirt and wind breaker. It was not actually raining when I started my 4 miles but it soon started - first a mist, then a light rain and then windy, sideways rain.

But a funny thing happened. I was actually enjoying my run. The rain pelted my face, my clothes grew soggy and the wind whipped around me with a November fury but it didn't seem to phase me. I lifted my knees higher, pumped my arms faster and enjoyed the rhythm I was in. I knew in that momen,t as water was streaming down my face, that I was doing something important. I was working toward a goal that few people ever reach. I was proving to myself what I could do. There was something special about me. And that's something I don't remember very often.

The next time my legs are sore, my run too long or my desire to run nonexistent, I hope I remember that run and what it represents.

The first 10 miles were great

This weekend was my 15 miler. The weather was perfect - sunny and warm, but not too warm. I have been nervous before every long run so far and this was no exception. Looking back at my first "long" run of 6 miles, that seems laughable. At this point my middle of the week run is now up to 8 miles.

So this week, I loaded my fuel belt with 2 ibuprofen and a package of Shot Blocks (strawberry this week) and headed to meet Runner Wendy. As is our normal routine, we chatted through the miles about our weeks, our plans for Disney World and what we hoped to do with the rest of our weekends. The first 10 miles flew by. Then reality set in. We started to get hot and thirsty after mile 10. And that's where we made our tactical error.

We had increased our distance 2 miles and we knew that the city water fountains were turned off last week. What we didn't consider was that we should have added an additional water stop. We had water stops at miles 3, 5 and 9 but nothing for the last 6 miles. I remembered that the train station had a water fountain but it was almost at the end of our route. By mile 12 we knew that we were in trouble. We were thirsty and there was no water at any time soon. I felt like a wilted plant. Runner Wendy and I were weaving across the trail and occasionally bumping into each other. All we could think about for 2 1/2 miles was water. We kept repeating to each other "Just a little farther until water." The train station never looked so good as when we spotted it in the distance that morning.

We finished our run without losing consciousness. During our post-run stretching, discussion turned to what was next for us. We couldn't decide whether we wanted to eat first, shower first or rest first. I opted for food. I stopped on the way home and got a drink and 2 doughnuts - and yes, I ate them both.

That night I slept for 11 hours. Ah, the glamorous life of the athlete...

TGI...M?

One of my marathon books refers to this point in the training as the "emotional plateau" and boy am I feeling it. I feel like I've come so far but then I look ahead and see I have soooooo far yet to go. I'm tired, various parts of my body hurt at all times, my social life is all but non-existent. I have to take 2 hours of vacation time Monday in order to get a run in before I join friends for a movie. But the thing I think bothers me the most is my loss of love for the weekend.

Now that my mileage is getting pretty high, the long runs are getting, well, long. And that has started to make me dread Saturday mornings. This new Saturday morning dread has happened for a number of reasons.
1) I have to get up early. Saturday mornings used to be for sleeping in and maybe a leisurely breakfast with friends at a cafe. Now it's getting up early and eating Cliff Shot Blocks with Runner Wendy at hydration stops.
2) My run takes up half the day. By the time I meet up with Wendy, run double-digit miles, go home and shower, half the day is over. The requisite nap afterward takes another chunk out of my day.
3) I can't go away for the weekend. I normally am out of town approximately 2 weekends a month but now I have standing running appointments every Saturday with Runner Wendy. At this level of mileage it's hard to run the long runs on your own so having someone your relative pace to run with is extremely valuable and you want to avoid missing out on your shared runs.

So here it is Friday night just after 7:00 and I'm getting ready to enjoy some dinner and head to bed before 10:00 in preparation for my 15 mile run in the morning. I'm too young and too much fun to go on like this much longer!

Oh and to add insult to injury, while I'm running 3 back-to-back 5 milers (as I choose to think of it) my parents will be on their way to Honolulu. Sigh...

Shocking me into reality

My friend Bridget sent me an email today letting me know that exactly 2 months from today I run the marathon. That means that, according to our Excel spreadsheet, at this point 2 months from now, I'll be in Florida taking a well-deserved vacation day at the Magic Kingdom. Yes - we have Excel spreadsheets for this kind of thing: one for which parks we hit which days, one for which parks offer Extra Magic Hours on which days, one for which restaurants we are eating at on which days, etc. In case it wasn't obvious, Bridget is an accountant.

Can you see me now?

I've been in the dark for a week now - running that is. (I've been in the dark about other things for a lot longer than that.) It still sucks but I'm adapting. In order to make the best of a dark situation I decided to do what I do best: go shopping. So Friday after work, I headed to the local running store to stock up on "serious runner" accessories. There I picked up a reflective band that goes around your arm or leg (in hot pink!) and a couple packages of Cliff Shot Blocks. Side note: for those unfamiliar with running cuisine, Shot Blocks are dense gelatinous blocks of nutrients that someone somewhere thought would be good for athletes. I sampled Cran Razz on Saturday and it was a much better experience than my Gu-induced vomiting back in '02. But back to all things reflective.

After my stop at the running store, I headed to Dick's Sporting Goods. Upon my inquiry about a running vest, I was directed to the reflective accessories section. Who knew they had a reflective accessories section? It was vast. There were reflective vests, blinking lights, arm bands, and even slap bracelets. It would have taken me long enough to decide what to purchase on my own but the Dick's employee and apparently my new best friend, kept asking me questions about running a marathon. Thankfully another customer had a question for Dick's guy and I was able to quickly select my fashionable vest and disappear to the cashier. Seriously though, check out the selection of reflective items! Monday night I was ready to put my chic new vest to the test. I mapped out a 4 mile route, slipped on the vest and headed out. It must have worked because nobody ran over me. I decided to skip the head lamp as the vest made me feel enough like a big, reflective dork already. However, due to popular demand, I did model the illuminated look for a quick photo.

Marathon Training by the Numbers

After tomorrow's run, I will be halfway through my marathon training. So I figured it was a good time to take stock of where I've been and where I'm going. What better way to put things into perspective than with the black and white language of numbers? Normally, numbers and I don't mix but this seemed harmless enough so here goes!

168...................miles run so far
9.......................weeks of training left
284..................miles left to run
4......................settings on my head lamp
125..................dollars I spent on the marathon registration fee
3.......................ice packs in my freezer
72.....................training runs on my schedule
15,000............runners in the Disney Marathon
7.......................people in the Raegan/Wendy entourage traveling to Florida with us
13....................hours of sleep lost to early morning weekend runs
20....................miles in my longest training run
61....................days until the marathon
1400...............calories burned on my last long run

I'll take a moment to savor the fact that I've reached the halfway mark in my training before my thoughts turn to the realization that this fact means I have halfway yet to go. So I will get up early in the morning and I will pack my sports drink before heading out the door in my spandex. I will do all these things with the knowledge that I have 284 more miles to go but that there are a lot of people cheering me on along the way.

Got a light?

Marathoners suffer a variety of indignities. There's the chafing scars, the losing of the toenails and the sports-bra induced uni-boob. And now I can add another to the list: the head lamp. See my mother is not particularly thrilled with me running alone in the dark so when we were shopping at Eddie Bauer several weeks ago and she saw this lighted contraption she decided that was exactly what I needed. This fashionable device is comprised of an elastic band attached to a 2 inch LED light. The light, I soon discovered, has 4 settings 1) bright white LED lights, 2) brighter white LED lights, 3) red LED lights, and 4) blinking red LED lights. The last setting makes it appear as if I'm trying to land a 747. (Side note: the item was advertised as a "climbing light." I'm not sure who rock climbs in the dark but apparently Eddie Bauer customers can be a thrill-seeking bunch.)

So tonight I wore my head lamp for the first time. Early in my run I passed by a couple on their evening stroll. As it wasn't quite dark-dark yet, I could see the expressions on their faces. The woman's eyes immediately darted to my forehead where a bright beam of light was protruding like the horn of an enchanted unicorn. At this point, my inner monologue went something like this: "Hi. How are you this evening? This? Oh, well this is the latest in cranial illumination technology. You can get one too. All it will cost you is $20 and your dignity."

It turns out that lots of people are concerned with my running in the dark. Friends have suggested affixing reflective tape to my shirt and wearing a reflective vest. Of course, mom contributed the infamous head lamp. A coworker even wished aloud for a big, strong man to run with me. I pointed out that if he was big and strong, he probably wasn't very fast. She conceded my point.

I made it safely home after my innagural lighted run. I don't know how many runs will find me wearing the head lamp but if you happen to see a small light bobbing up and down along the side of the road while you're driving please slow down!

Who turned the lights out?

I did my first dark run tonight due to the time change. And you know what, it sucked! I thought I'd be in good shape because I had a full moon but sometime after I started running and before I finished, the entire enormous moon went behind the clouds all spooky like. I was just hoping that the good people of my city were vigilant about sidewalk safety.

I ran to Bloomington Gail's house tonight. Thankfully she lives just off a street that's lit up like an airport runway. But the cool thing happened as I was running towards her house. It turns out I arrived just as she was chatting with a neighbor on her driveway so the last block or so I had 2 ladies cheering me in. Not a bad way to end a run that started out with me thinking, "Nah, I don't need the blinking light tonight."

Becoming a Carnivore

This week was one of milestones. I reached the half-marathon distance in my training runs, I've run out of weeknight daylight hours and I'm pretty sure it's time to switch from capris to full length running tights. Also, I skipped my first run this week. I'm not proud of missing those 3 miles but it was raining AGAIN and I swear I was starting to look like a raisin.

A challenge arose this week too. I tend to have back problems and Thursday morning was greeted with another one. These "episodes" tend to come out of nowhere and this week was no exception. The good news was I had two consecutive rest days on the schedule but the bad news was I needed to be in decent enough shape to run 13 mile by Saturday morning. The next two days included a fair amount of muscle relaxers, pain pills and anti-inflammatories. My friend Jennie (part of the Team Raegan cheering section at Disney) came over Thursday night in the midst of my self-medicating. I heard from her on Friday about my amusing conversation skills the night before. I vaguely remember her being there.

So Saturday morning before I left for my run, I fixed myself a breakfast consisting of a breakfast bar, a glucosomine pill, 2 ibuprofen and a prescription anti-inflammatory - the breakfast of champions. Or at least the breakfast of champions with debilitating back pain. The distance itself wasn't too bad. During the last 4 miles my back gave me problems but I made it. I then went home and spent some quality time with my heating pad.

Another odd thing I noticed this week has been my change in appetite. I generally avoid red meat but since I started logging some serious weekly mileage I found myself craving cheeseburgers (the good kind - McDonald's is still a forbidden zone for me). Before my training, I might have a burger once or twice a month. This week alone I had 2.

The week ahead includes adjusting to daylight savings time and dark runs. It's also the halfway point of my training schedule. At this point I just have to increase my mileage 4 more times - to 15, 16, 18 and 20 miles over the next 9 weeks. Just think how many cheeseburgers are in my future!