The Disastrous 20 miler and a great rebound clinic

So when we last left off, I was getting ready to run my 20 miler. I was stoked, I knew I could do it. I did 18 and still had legs left, I knew I could do 20. So my husband decides he wants to do it with me. As I said before it is nice to have the company. We had such a great long run last time. Off we go then. We get our bottles of Accelerade ready, grab enough GU packets for the two of us, I am ready for this. The dragon inside me is snarling, it wants to do this, or so it misguidedly thinks.

The run started off a little faster then I wanted. Brad had the Garmin on and when I asked our pace, I knew we weren't running 12 minute miles. I made us slow down. I know what speed I need to run distance in. I cannot got faster then that at the start. So we are tooling along, chattering, running through a new development being built behind ours, off across Hull Street into Foxcroft. We are around 6 or so miles. Our strategy was dividing the 20 miles into 4, five mile parts. We ticked off one, on our way to another. At that point we were in Fox Creek another new development, and heading towards Fox Fire after deciding not to run through Fox Field. I believe the developers need a thesaurus or something when they are naming these places. Right now we are surrounded by rapidly (or is it rabidly) growing Fox-something neighborhoods. Let's get original here guys, let's call them something like, "Another Former Farmer Sold His Land, Made a Killing and Now My Elementary, Middle and High Schools Are Grossly Overcrowded Due to Everyone's Greed and Lack of Intelligence By Our Board of Supervisor's to Do Something To Stop It Place". Hmmmm, a little wordy, but sounds right to me, ahhhh, I digress, back to our run.

Well something scary happened at about mile 11, I felt weird. I was quiet, Brad asked what was wrong and I told him I felt like I was in survival mode. Not good, just like I needed to maintain to finish. We continue on a few more paces and Brad asks if I want to do a walk break. I tell him no, because I was afraid I would never go back to running. We continue a minute or two more and then I reached for Brad. He was a few paces ahead and I couldn't touch him. But I said loudly enough for him to hear, " I think I have to stop, I think I am going to pass out" and with that, I had to sit. I was so woozy. Brad looked like he was going to run to St. Francis, the hospital nearby, to get help. He looked so scared! I was kind of freaked. Maybe it was because I was sitting on the sidewalk, with my head between my legs, feeling like I was going to faint, maybe it was because while my head was down there I realized just how many spots I missed last time I shaved, maybe it was I started doubting for the first time that I could finish this stupid marathon I am doing. So many maybes....After awhile I got up and felt okay. We walked, and at this point we are easily 6 miles from home. My heart is racing, Brad is panicked, and I feel shaky. Like I had been lifting weights way too heavy for my to lift in the first place. We did a combination of walk/run for a bit, then jogged to Oasis and grabbed some fresh, cold Gatorade. We walked the additional two miles home. I believe we wrapped it up around 16 miles or so. When I got home I just sat around trying to feel human. We had appts. to get to, back to school nights to go to. I didn't have time to do nothing like I wanted. It also gave me plenty of time to think about why it happened and I have nothing. I can't figure out what went wrong. I hydrated properly the day before. I ate properly the day before. I had 1 GU on my way to my second GU, what went wrong. What the heck????

It was with much trepidation that I headed into my Wednesday running clinic. I was afraid of a couple of things. First that I would pass out, the second that I would hold myself back because of my fear and perform horribly. I didn't want to carry that bad run with me and train like I was a bad runner. Not that I'm a great one, and I am certainly no Kenyan. Anyway, I actually considered not going. But went I did. And as luck would have it it was my night to have a hard work out. Brenda likes torturing us like that. One of us, depending on what race we might have coming up, or what training our coaches have set up for that week, wins the prize. You get to hear Brenda utter those fabulous words, You have a hard workout tonight darlin....So I got to bust my rear, and it was okay. I was doing 5 800 meter repeats and she wanted me to do do them in 4 and a half minutes. Four and a half minutes, ha! I laugh in your face. I was hitting the 800 meter mark at 3 minutes and 50 or so seconds. The last one I did in 3 minutes and 54, it was my worst. I would blow past my 800 meter mark and would keep running. I can't say how much farther, because we were running trails, but it was far enough. I didn't need 4:30 to do it in and the best part was, I didn't pass out! 20 miles, this Sunday, I laugh in your face, or do I? Whatever, 20 miles, here I come!!

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

Yes, you lucky ducks, I am posting twice today. I tried to blog last night but I had a daughter that kept trying to talk to me, then I went on one of my favorite forums and well, the rest it history. So I posted my recap of yesterday's run this morning. When my husband looked at me this morning and asked if I'd like to go swimming, I had to say yes. Why not, conveniently forgetting that I had running clinic with my coach tonight. Anyway, I go and tell him I am distance swimming today to prep for the Naylor's Beach Tri we are doing in two weeks. I need to be able to swim at least for a mile right? So I do 100 lengths of the pool, or 50 laps. It's only a 25yard pool, so it winds up being 1.42 miles. I was stoked. And I get all goofy, I get the best endorphin highs from working out. But then I remember, duh, duh duh duh duuuuuhhhhhhh, I have running clinic tonight. What the heck was I thinking? Now I get to go run on legs trashed from yesterday's run and from my swim today. I swear I think I believe I am some sort of athlete somedays...

Tuesday and 18 miles to go

I was supposed to run 18 miles for my marathon training on Sunday. Well if any of you know what it's like around her during this part of the year, you'll know an almost 100 degree day with humidity that's thick enough to drink when you walk outside, isn't an unusual thing. I knew there was no way I would make it that distance when I walked outside at 7:30 in the morning and melted. So I rearranged my melted molecules, went inside and checked the weather for the rest of the week. Monday promised more of the same, yuck, I knew it wouldn't be an option. But true to the freaky weather we get around here, Tuesday promised to be rainy, cool, around 60 degrees, and just perfect for me to run in. I knew I would have to rearrange my work out schedule a bit for the week, but these long runs are so flipping important to my training, I couldn't miss it. Technically it means two long runs in the same week, but oh well. I can't help the weather right?

I ran with my husband which was nice. I love being able to chatter and pass the time. He has the tendency to bolt out of the blocks and push himself to the point of agony with stuff like this. I am always amazed at his accomplishments. Me, I just want to run the 18 miles and do the whole distance, speed is never a factor for me. So we do it my way this time. We walk for five minutes to warm up, then start a very SLOW jog. 12 minute mile slow. I can see him getting a bit itchy, but it's the only way I can do the whole thing. We went through every subdivision, subdivision being built, subdivisions that were just a thought in someones mind for crying out loud. At one point in our run, when we were on a road trying to get back to a neighborhood and the safety of the trails there and this girl almost clipped my husband. He promised me the next time that happened he would throw his water bottle at the car. I secretly hoped someone would come at us again just to see him do it, he was serious!

Miles up to ten were no big deal. I was good. Mile 13, still pretty good, my husband had to point out that just 13 more and we'd have finished a marathon. That didn't comfort me for some strange reason...Here comes mile 14, I am aerobically okay. I can run forever if my heart rate is at 150. Mile 15 I am taking inventory mentally. My legs are starting to cramp and I have like two sips of Accelerade left in my water bottle. Boooo, this is not good. We decide to run to Oasis sports park and get Gatorade, at this point it feels like knives are twisting in my calves and I am dying. So I grab a couple of salt packets, pour them in my mouth, swallow them down with Gatorade, refill my bottles and I am good to go. By the time we reach Hampton Park we are at 16 miles, two more I tell myself, I can do this. We loop around the neighborhood, take a side road and wind up at 18 miles just maybe a tenth of a mile from our house. We walk the rest, Lance Armstrong tells me I just had my longest workout ever, no duh Lance, I was there, I lived it!

Done, I make a glass of chocolate milk, and sit in an cold bath for my legs. Today, they're not so bad although I sound like I have tourettes when I walk down stairs. I do no like that at all. Lucky me, I get to go to running clinic tonight. She promised to do easy on me. I'll probably just have to do 40 hill repeats and a 20 minute threshold run! Hahahaha, Brenda if you're reading this, don't get any ideas from me!

Freezing open water Friday

Shhhh, no one tell my running coach that I didn't do my running work out and choose to go swim for 30 minutes instead!!! My knee was sort of bothering me, and in light of my Sunday run I convinced myself I need to go easy on my knee and do something non-impact. Hey Brenda, you don't read this do you??

Anyway, all of the sudden I realized that I needed to start swimming more if I am going to get ready for this Naylor's Beach Oly Tri and I remembered the tri club had a group swim tonight. So off Brad and I went. I haven't been swimming since my disastrous last open water swim where all I could muster was a continuous 10 minutes before I freaked myself out and got a cramp to boot. Boo, it was lousy. But I did have a great hour long run after that swim. Brenda are you reading this still, see I ran for an hour that day. I digress...I heard tale of how brutal the Naylor's swim is and the cut off for the swim is 70 minutes. I know I can do this in less time then that, all I can do is try right?

Let me tell you something. All of the rain and the sudden cool temps at night made for some very "refreshing" water. It was pretty darn cold. It was wetsuit legal and Brad and I cursed the fact that we didn't have our wetsuits with, there were a bunch of people that did. It took forever for me to feel my toes. Anyway, we went up current for 16 minutes, turned around and did 14 minutes back. I kept telling myself it could have been worse, it could be cold with jellyfish too!

But I did it, and it felt good to swim that long. I wish it were longer though, now there's something I never thought I'd hear myself say. More on Sunday after my 18 mile run. Brenda, if you're reading this, you might not want to read that one. I might be cursing you on a public forum, hahahaha! Just kidding, I always marvel that I can do everything you think I can. It's just what this reluctant triathlete and subsequently marathoner needs!!

Sixteen mile sunday

Sort of like a death march, but not too bad. I decided to do my run even though it was Heather's birthday. I actually wrestled with coming home about 3 miles into it so I could be there when she opened her presents, but I knew how important this run was and how I totally needed to do it, so I kept running. Plus, I knew she would be sleeping for the most part of my run, which she did. I got out the door around 8 this morning. The humidity wasn't too bad yet and it was actually quite pleasant. I get my water bottle loaded with Gatorade, stuff a handful of granola in my mouth, swallow down some cold coffee from the day befores pot, and off I go. Good nutritional start to a 16 mile run, I bet it's how the big boys train! I had my husband's big, ole Garmin thing on so I could accurately track my pace and distance.

I had a sort of map planned out and there she goes, the greyhound in reverse speed chasing a rabbit that needed new batteries. I started out S-L-O-W. I was running 12minute miles, wait, did you see that gray blur fly by me, why it was my grandmother lapping me with her walker! Go Mary, go!! But I stayed slow, I knew if I planned on making my total 16 miles today that I was going to have to keep a snails pace. Which I did, with a bit of trouble. I am lousy at pacing myself, I always have been, and I think that's why I don't do as well as I hope at some races. Any time the fatigue started taking over, I would check the Garmin and see I was starting to speed up. I also notice that I do this thing with my tongue, like I stick it out like a dog panting, I must look oh so attractive, but I do it when I am really fatiguing. So if I caught my tongue lolling out, I knew either A) I needed my water bowl or B) I was running at too quick a pace.

Miles up to ten were no big deal, miles 11, 12 and 13 were a bit challenging, but again I have run the distance, so it wasn't anything unmanageable. Mile 14 was getting harder, I wonder if my tongue was dangling out of my mouth for most of it. I started bargaining with myself, make it to here, then you can walk if you want. But I never did. I did start counting down mile 15 with tenths of a mile because I didn't think I was going to make it for that last little bit, but I did. I ran 16.1 miles and cooled down with a walk for 1/2 mile.

There, now I was finished, and I couldn't believe it. I ran, I ran so far away, well not really but there wasn't an 80's song that went I ran, I ran thru Hampton Park, Foxcroft, Foxfire and Woooodlaaake.....

I can't wait until next week when I get to run 18 miles, now that's living.