The Lull and the Rain

We're 10 weeks out from Dopey. This is where I find myself in an odd lull between "Oh, these runs are getting easier," and "Crap, I have to run HOW far?" So as I slogged through a week consisting of sudden frigid weather and a seasonal cold that took me out for a day and a half, I was thoroughly aware of what was to come in the near future.

Weather had not yet curtailed any of my training plans, and given that it is nearly November in the Midwest, that's fairly impressive. But my luck ran out this weekend. I generally do my long runs on Saturdays because I work Sundays and doing a multiple hour run without the chance of an afternoon nap and periodic intake of ibuprofen seems a bit like pressing my luck. But this weekend there was something like a 90% chance of rain for Saturday so I weighed the discomfort of running for hours in the rain (and the possible subsequent blisters and/or chafing) with the discomfort of running for hours the same day I work at the store. The dry and fatigued option won out. It appeared, at least as of today, that I made a wise choice.

So as it turned out I have a little free time today as I watch the rain beat against the window. I decided it would be a lovely day to do some reading. This book seemed more than appropriate given what my training schedule looks like.

I also managed to check another task off my to-do list. This particular task has been on my to-do list since early 2010 so I figured today was as good a day as any to finally take care of it. See, back in January of that year I ran the Walt Disney World Marathon and bought a shadow box to display my new favorite medal (and item for which this blog is named). Today I managed to actually put said medal in said shadow box. Better late than never, right?

And while we're talking about medals...runDisney released this year's WDW Marathon weekend medals this week. Assuming I'm successful with this Dopey madness, I will earn the 6 medals in the middle.

So it is with mys eye on the prize(s) that I prepare myself to tackle the next very challenging 68 days. 

Lord help me.

36 Hours Later...

I ran again this morning. Ideally, I would have given myself another rest day after that whole 4 races in one day thing from Saturday, but my schedule did not allow for a Tuesday run, so this morning it was. I figured my quads were going to hurt a lot. After all, that's really the only thing that bothered me during my epic 5K tour of Bloomington-Normal. But on this morning's run they actually didn't hurt.

Everything else did.

Well, that's probably hyperbole. It's more accurate to say everything else below the waist hurt. My shins. My calves. My hip. Even the tops of my feet, which I didn't know was possible. I was barely a half mile into my "run" this morning when I realized it was not going to go well. I hung in for a mile before I allowed myself to walk for the first time. But it turned out that walking hurt almost as much as running. So there I was at 5:45 am thinking if I at least ran with my phone I could have tried to get a Uber ride back home. Since I was phoneless, my only choice was to keep running moving.

And then I realized...this is what I signed up for. Quite literally. I signed up for a challenge which included runs that would be done on tired legs. It is a 4-day challenge that I won't be halfway through until mile 3 of the marathon on last day. So this little 4 mile jaunt this morning was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

It was suck it up Buttercup time.

So I continued on with my run, avoiding temptation to cut it short. I plugged into that part of my personality that my mom calls stubbornness, but which I prefer to call determination. I made it back home an embarrassingly long time after I set out. And for the first time in my life I seriously considered how I could make an ice bath happen.

I Did Something Crazy...Again

I was going to start off this post with the line "I did something crazy," but I'm pretty sure that has already been the first line of another post, which tells me 2 things: 1) I'm already running out of witty lead sentences for this training blog, and 2) I should have my mental health checked by a professional. That is all to say, I did something crazy this weekend. 

But let's start at the beginning. This weekend of Dopey Challenge training called for my first back-to-back long runs. That's a big enough challenge for anyone, but when you run the, uh, shall we say leisurely pace I do these days, getting long runs in on a work day is especially tricky. Luckily, I think ahead. Several weeks ago I alerted my boss that I was planning on taking a couple of hours of vacation on various days to accommodate some extra mid-week long runs, and this was the first time I was putting the plan into motion. 

My friend Sarah has Fridays off so I coerced invited her to get up early and bike alongside me for 7 miles. She showed up wearing 2 coats and was still cold. But she did get the benefit of seeing a glorious sunrise.

Little did I know when I invited her along that she was going to make me work. At various times during the run, she'd say, "We're gonna race. Ready, go!" and she'd take off yelling for me to stay on her rear wheel. There were several times during that run that I questioned our friendship, but she did carry my bottle of Powerade in her backpack so I guess she's still OK. 

Me and my torturer friend Sarah

The next day I was supposed to do 15 miles. But a little challenge from a friend changed that. And this is where the crazy part comes in. You see, it was apparently possible on that day to run 4 different races in town. All in one day. My friend Julie, and owner of the local Fleet Feet store, thought someone ought to do it. She tried to convince me that it would be better training for Dopey than a simple 15 mile run. I hesitated at the idea. Then she sweetened the pot by offering a $25 gift card to anyone who did all 4 races wearing a Fleet Feet shirt. I was in. I found 2 other crazy ladies, Jane and Erin, to take on the challenge with me. So our Saturday would look like this:

8:00 am - Town and Gown 5K 

9:00 am - Wishbone 5K-9

3:00 pm - Heart of the Eagles 5K

6:00 pm Dusk to Dark 5K

Jane, me and Erin - the 4 race challenge 'crazies'

Ashley agreed to run the 1st 2 races with me. A decision she probably later regretted.

Race #1 was on the ISU campus to celebrate homecoming. The trickiest part of my day would be running this race, getting off campus through parade road closures and getting across town all in less than an hour. My friend Ashley took on the challenge of the first 2 races with me. We finished within 30 seconds of each other. As I waited for Ashley to come across the finish line a friend grabbed me a bottle of water and a banana and told me to get out of there. We hopped in the car and took off.

Nothing like having to race across town in parade traffic.

After getting stuck at a couple blocked-off streets we were on our way. We pulled into the parking lot at race 2, had time for a quick picture and were off on our 2nd 5K of the morning.

Let's do this...but first, let's take a selfie.

Jane, Erin and me happy to have finished race #2

After race #2, I had the luxury of having a couple hours' break. I went home and showered and then had a bite to eat. Intellectually I knew I probably needed a decent amount of calories but I didn't want to eat too close to race #3 so all I ended up eating was some of the post-race snacks and a bagel about an hour later. I spent about 30 minutes with my foam roller willing my muscles to loosen up enough to make it through the last half of the challenge. Soon enough it was time to put on a new race outfit and head out for race #3.

The Heart of the Eagles race was at Evans Jr. High on the opposite side of town. I still needed to register for this one so I left early. The race organizer learned I was doing this crazy 4 race challenge and offered  me a discount for the race, which I gladly took as this day was becoming very expensive. By this time in the afternoon the wind had kicked up considerably. I spent the majority of my pre-race energy worrying about the crazy wind and the fact that almost a mile of the course was off-road (the threat of injury is ever present for people training for marathons). Given those preoccupations, I completely forgot to worry about whether the course had any hills. It did. 

I was doing pretty well, if I do say so myself, when I hit the 2nd sizable hill and my quads began their protest of what I was asking of them. It was at this point somewhere in mile 2 that people started passing me. Consistently. At one point a little girl, who looked about 8 years old, ran past me. Only a good deal of self-restraint and the inability to form complete sentences prevented me from yelling at her, "Oh yeah? I bet it's your FIRST race of the day. Let's see what you could do after 6 additional miles missy!" Turns out she won her age group. But the big surprise was that I got 3rd place in mine. Who woulda thought I'd place in my 3rd race of the day? Fellow 4 race challenger Jane also placed, as well as our friend Denise who would be running 2 races that day. And not to be outdone, our friend Meta got a PR on that crazy tough course.

Erin, Jane and I met up with Denise at race #3

Look at that - we placed!

Three races down and one to go. It was getting colder and I knew it was going to be rough to get myself out of the house again for the last race of the day. I drove back to my side of town, stopping at the packet pickup for race #4 before heading home for a little bit. By the time I got back there I didn't really have time for a shower, and even if I did I feared getting all nice and warm and clean would negate my ability to go out again. So I changed out of my sweaty running clothes into a new outfit, hit the foam roller some more and headed out again.

At race #4 Jane, Erin and I knew several other people running so we had a nice little group to see us finish our challenge. By now it was getting cold. I knew it was still good short-sleeve running weather for me so I grabbed a cover up for post-race, along my knuckle lights. It seemed that we waited forever for the race start. I was cold. I was tired. I was hungry and I was ready to be done. 

Last race - Meta, Judy and Denise joined our trio.

The three crazies before race #4

The horn went off and we started the race. From step one, my quads made it very clear they were losing patience with me and were screaming in protest. It turns out having a little bit of rest between miles is worse than having no rest. Every step of that race was a battle of wills. Thankfully, the course was near my home and I knew the trail there very well. One of the things I knew about it was that it was downhill after the turn around. Thank the Lord for small miracles. 

I finished, went to find Jane and waited for Erin. Our celebration for completing this task probably would have been more spectacular had we not been barely able to move at this point. So we stood around eating the 3rd set of Avanti's Gondola sandwiches presented to us that day. (I have no idea if the race #1 served them as well - we had no time to enjoy post-race snacks there.) We had done it. We had survived 4 races in one day. And. I. Was. Done.

So. Done. What's to eat?

And so after 19 miles in two days, today I unabashedly wore compression socks all day for recovery even though I looked like this.

Such is the price of glory.

Today I Rest

I have dubbed today "self care day."

Yesterday I was up pre-dawn to get my run in first thing and then left for a 12-hour work day. What got me through that exhausting day was looking forward to today. See today was an 'off day' - I didn't have a run scheduled and I only had to work one job. I was positively giddy over the prospect of today.

I let myself sleep until 6:00 this morning. It turns out when I give myself an inch, I take a mile. I'm kind of jerk that way. So the alarm goes off at 6:00 but I could not seem to pull myself out of bed until after 7:15, negating the option of a shower. I ended up coming home at lunch and showering, thus creating the shower lunch. Not as much fun as the shower beer, but whaddya gonna do?

Adding to today's awesomeness, I got to go straight home from work. That never happens. I had had a frustrating afternoon so I decided to go for a walk when I got home. I slipped on some running shoes, a pair of capris and an old race t-shirt and set out for a leisurely stroll. I didn't have to go a certain distance or maintain a particular pace. I could just walk until I didn't feel like walking anymore. And. It. Was. Lovely.

I got home early enough to actually prepare a real dinner and eat before 8:00. I grilled up some crab cakes and ate an honest-to-goodness, adult dinner.

Today was all about taking a little time out of my crazy schedule - the multiple jobs, training and other adult types of things people expect me to do - and take a little better care of myself. Tomorrow I'll be up again at oh-hell-no-o'clock to get in my run before I head to job 1, followed by a shift at job 2. It will be tiring but I can do it. But that's tomorrow. Today I rest.

I Am Officially Fearless

My mom once told me a story about something that happened when I was a small child. I was maybe 3 or 4 and was with my mom at the grocery store. A kindly older gentleman came up to us and started talking to me. At one point he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Having recently made my first overseas trip, I apparently answered that I wanted to work on an airplane. The man said "Oh - you want to be a stewardess?" I'm told my reaction was to be a little confused and respond, "No. I want to fly the plane." From an early age, it never occurred to me that I couldn't do anything I wanted just because I was female.

What is the purpose of telling this story? After all this is a blog about running. I tell this story to illustrate why I've been an admirer of Kathrine Switzer since I learned about her years ago. If you don't know who Switzer is, take a moment to read about her. I have been lucky enough to hear her speak on more than one occasion, and last April I gave her a copy of my book because I had mentioned her in it. To my surprise, she read it. The whole thing. She even wrote me more than once telling me how much she was enjoying it. I was flabbergasted and beyond honored. And then one day she writes me that she was in the process of starting a new movement that she thought I would be perfect for. 261 Fearless is a community of women who find strength in running and encouraging each other. The purpose of the group is lift up other women and help them discover how running can be an outlet for strength. A few weeks ago I was informed that I was selected to be an inaugural 261 Fearless ambassador. 

This honor means a lot to me. Showcasing how strong and powerful women are has always been a passion of mine and running was something I've done almost since before I could walk. This was a match made in heaven. I'm proud to be part of this organization. But there's another reason why I feel called to join this movement and it has to do with what running has done for me.

In 2002 I successfully completed the Chicago Marathon. It was my first attempt at 26.2 miles. The day I ran my first marathon was one of the best days of my life. It was a sweet victory because I wasn't entirely sure I could do it. As a matter of fact, I didn't sign up for the race until I'd been training for almost 2 months. Back in those days you could do that. But it was what happened after the marathon that changed my life.

Perhaps it's time to share part of my running story.

You see after I successfully finished the marathon, I had a realization. For the first time, I believed that I could do whatever I set my mind to. I was never sure that was the case up until that point. It's not that I had low self-confidence. I was confident at the things I was good at, but I was always a little scared to do things that were hard for me. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have attempted to go to graduate school without that running victory. I know I wouldn't have attempted studying business - a subject that I had no background in as a undergrad. And one that required courses in math-heavy subjects like finance and accounting. I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to buy my own home or take up the sport of triathlon. My outlook on what I am capable of completely changed after I finished that marathon back in 2002. Years later, I got a tattoo on my wrist that serves as a reminder of the fact that I am stronger than I might believe on some days...and that it all stemmed from running one race. 

So now as a 261 Fearless ambassador, I hope I can assist, inspire and encourage other women to find their strong. I want to help other women realize what I did after I crossed that finish line years ago. After all, there will be days I think I'm not able to run a marathon...but I have a lifetime of knowing that I have. 

Things Learned Before Dawn

So I've been doing this early morning running thing for a couple of months now and I must admit, my body has reluctantly gotten used to the idea. And while running before the sun comes up is never going to be a natural thing for me, I will say it's gotten a little easier. The first thought that pops into my head every morning is doing a mental calendar check to see how many hours there are until I can sleep again, but I still contend that I'm making progress on the early riser thing.

So after many weeks of my new morning routine, I've started to notice some things. Turns out you can learn some new things when get up this early. Some things I've learned from my early morning runs:

1. It's dark at 5:30 am this time of year. Really dark. I kind of feel like this is God's way of telling me I should still be sleeping, but I digress. I run with knuckle lights but I may have to upgrade soon to something a little brighter. On a run earlier this week, I literally jumped because I thought I saw something cross my path. It was a shadow of a bush.
2.  The local Casey's makes their doughnuts at 5:30. As I run past the convenience store I can smell the doughnuts baking. Depending on how I'm feeling that morning the smell is either repulsive or tempting. Sometimes both. I'm waiting for the day when I just say "Screw it," take a sharp left, run straight into the store and eat a handful of doughnuts in my place of continuing my run. 
3.  There is a freight train that comes through town pretty consistently at 5:40 in the morning. Unfortunately the route I usually need to take in the dark requires me to cross train tracks several times. One morning I managed to cross at the first place about a minute before the train came through but realized I would get stuck at at least one of the other places the train crossed. So I headed in a new direction to see where it took me, which leads me to....
4. The sidewalk ends 2.25 miles from my house. Unfortunately I discovered this on a run where I needed to go 2.5 miles before I turned around. You know, there's only so many places that are well lit enough to run at this hour. I don't need trains and lack of sidewalks taking away the few options I do have. 

There you have it - you learn something new all the time. Now if you'll excuse me, I think there is a doughnut calling my name...

Jelly Legs and Aggressive Rubbing

My half marathon last weekend was cancelled (thanks Hurricane Joaquin!) so this weekend I tried again. I was out of town visiting my family and was planning on running while I was there.The weather was perfect for running so I was looking forward to enjoying being outside for a good run. What I wasn't looking forward to was running 13 miles alone. Luckily I didn't have to. My family jumped in and made it a team sport.

My mom took the first shift. She dropped me off part way to the park so I could run there. Then she drove around and found me a couple different places to give me water. Then she handed me off to my dad. Dad had cross country practice that morning but once he was done, he was ready to bike alongside me. I put a basket on the handlebars of his bike so he could carry my Powerade, water and Huma gels. He stuck with me for most of the last 11 miles. (He somehow managed to lose me for 3 miles on a trail running from the park to the nature center, even though there is only one path there and back. It's not the first time he's lost me and I'm sure it won't be the last. It's tradition, really.). Then as I got to mile 13, my 6-year-old niece Addison joined me for the last 1/10 of a mile. The run was a family affair. I dubbed it the first ever Rinchiuso Family Half Marathon.

Since I live in the land of flat, running anywhere else seems like scaling Everest. And that is what happened this weekend. On the route that I was using, I knew there was one particularly steep hill and as we headed down it on the way out, I said to my dad, "I'm planning on walking up that on the way back." What I didn't realize at the time was there was another hill in my future - this one a good half mile long. I ran the whole thing, felt fine and continued on my way. That was not the last hill. Not by a long shot.

I finished my run, enjoyed my vindication of getting my half marathon in despite mother nature's plans to the contrary and even came up with a slogan for the first ever Rinchiuso Family Half Marathon: "No shirt. No medal. No Hurricane." Hey - I had lots of time to think and less oxygen getting to my brain.

After the run, I hopped into my mom's SUV and asked if we could stop to get a fountain soda. There's something about several hours of running and drinking water and electrolyte beverages that make me crave a sugary drink. We stopped at a gas station a few miles away. We arrived and I was ready to hop out and grab a drink. Let me re-phrase - my spirit was ready. My legs, however, had already turned to jelly. Using the "oh crap" handle above the door of the car, I eased my way out of the vehicle and limped to the door of the gas station, my niece walking ahead and turning around every few seconds to stare at me limping along behind. She would ask several times that afternoon if I was ok.

I quickly realized I was in for a painful afternoon. I have never before been so sore after 13 miles. Here is a partial list of things I could not do without pain:

• Sit down
• Stand up
• Bend over
• Pick up something I had dropped
• Get into a car
• Get out of a car
• Walk down stairs
• Walk in any way

Not related to the sore legs but still painful, I had discovered 10 miles into my 13 mile run that my shirt was rubbing my right arm in such a way that it was producing a good deal of chafing. Every distance runner knows and dreads that feeling - knowing you're causing yourself pain but knowing there's nothing you could do about it until your run is done. So I continued on for my last 3 miles, dreading taking my shower and the crazy pain that would come when the water hit my raw skin. A little Body Glide before the shower helped, but my moving arm at all caused rubbing against my t-shirt. I had to spend the evening and all of today with my arm bandaged. At least it looks a little badass - like I have a legit injury and am not just a victim of aggressive rubbing.

So to sum up my weekend - good run, family support, jelly legs, aggressive rubbing.

We marathoners are an odd bunch.

Frustration Sets In

Theodore Roosevelt said that comparison is the thief of joy. I have heard this phrase many times of course. I always assumed that the comparison referred to was the comparing of yourself to someone else. Maybe that is what Teddy meant. Maybe not. What I have discovered in my recent training is that comparison is also the thief of joy when the comparing you're doing is between reality and your expectations.

Training has been going well lately. I've actually been looking forward to my runs, even though it requires me to wake well before dawn. I'm ready to start my day with a nice lung-clearing run. I've reached the point where a 5-mile run is nothing and is considered "short". In addition to all that, I've been feeling good on my runs.

But despite all this, I find myself rather disappointed.

Because despite all the work I've been doing and how good I feel and how much distance I can add, I'm not getting faster. For the last year I've been in "comeback" mode. I've been coming back from injury, from illness and from major abdominal surgery. As much as I see progress on many fronts, the clock won't budge much at all. And it's starting to get to me.

I know, I know...it shouldn't matter. The Dopey Challenge, after all, is about endurance, not speed. It's about time on your feet and the ability to go and go and go with little recovery. It shouldn't be about speed. But I know I'm capable of so much more. And I just can't get it out of myself.

I'll still be out there in the dark early morning stillness putting in my miles. I'll do it because I need to and because I can. I just hope someday soon I'll be happier with the numbers on my watch when I'm done.

I had a Plan

Well, this is a first.

Having lived in the Midwest my entire life, I can honestly say I have never had a half marathon cancelled due to a hurricane. Until now.

Remember that plan I had? That year-long prep work I had planned out in advance of the Dopey Challenge? The one where I was supposed to do a half marathon every couple of months to keep my mileage base up and have some options to submit proof of time for the challenge? Yeah - that all went down the toilet.

A little refresher...

1. I signed up for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Half Marathon during the first week of May. A week and a half before the race, my hip suddenly hurt so bad that I could barely get out of my car. I was determined to finish the race and ran-walked it to a record slow time. 
2. I signed up for the Chicago Rock N Roll Half Marathon to be run mid-July. Previously-mentioned hip injury will not go away, doctors are perplexed, not one step is run in preparation for the half marathon. Heat wave/high humidity strikes. I did the race anyway and got a new record slow time. 
3. Hip gets better, sign up for Carolina Beach Half Marathon to be run on October 4th, 2 days prior to the proof of time cutoff for Dopey. Training is going well. Times are finally starting to come down. I'm ready to race. Which brings us to...

Hurricane Joaquin.

Less than 12 hours before my flight was to take off for North Carolina, a major storm heading for the East Coast gets upgraded to a category 4 hurricane and is headed straight for Carolina Beach. Race directors cancel the race.

So on Wednesday night I found myself with a cancelled race, a flight in a matter of hours and non-refundable plane tickets. After much thought, a beer, and a consultation with a friend, I decided to still go to North Carolina and try my luck.Thankfully the hurricane didn't make landfall in the US but the area I traveled to experienced record rainfall and flooding.

Even though it wasn't the vacation I was planning - running a race, touring the city, hitting the beach - I could still visit my friend and eat some seafood. Which I did. In the rain. Every day.

Every. Single. Day.

Sometimes it rained hard.

Sometimes it rained less hard.

But it seemed never ending. 

At least it was obvious that the race directors made the right call, as evidenced by the photo in Monday's paper of where the race would have taken place.

So now I'm back from North Carolina and I have no last-chance race to submit proof of time. I do have a time submitted but it was from a race a week before I had surgery to remove a 12.5 inch, 10 pound cyst from my abdomen so, yeah, it's not my fastest time. Unfortunately it is the fastest time I have in the allowable time frame. It's not the end of the world. I shouldn't be in the last corrals. But I had a plan...

Oh...and the day after I get back from North Carolina it looks like this there:

Sigh...