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!