Race Recap: Run for Riley 5 mile

Sunday I ran the 6th annual Run for Riley.  This race was founded by a local runner and benefits Riley Children's Hospital.  Riley is the only comprehensive children's hospital in the state of Indiana, they treat childhood cancer, heart disease, diabetes and also  houses the worlds largest autism center.  I forget the exact dollar amount, but I think they have raised over $70,000 for the children's hospital - which is fantastic!

To say I was dreading this race might be an understatement.  I signed up because it was for a good cause and it was a points race for our local track club.  But the way my training fell, this race came the day after a 16 mile run.  For some more experienced runners that might not be a big deal, but I really wanted my rest day.  Somehow though, despite the rain forecast and the terrible wind I managed to get myself to the start line.  What got me to the start line?  Well, the promise of free frozen yogurt of course!  

I was expecting the worst of the course based what I had heard from other runners about the past years.  Honestly, it wasn't the most exciting run, but it was pretty close to home which is neat, and I got to run on roads that I have always wanted to but been too afraid to run on due to traffic, so that was a win.  

I didn't have any real goals for this race, I knew I would like to finish in less than 50 minutes.  Outside of that I knew I didn't want to push too hard since the goal right now is to get to Memphis injury free.   I started out semi-close to the front since it there were no mats to start our chips, but tried to make sure my pace was maintainable.  Since I have done so many races, I know my competition.. it took all the mental toughness I had to let them go - there will be more races in the future.  

Instead, after about a quarter to half mile I fell in beside a friendly face.  I ran with Gail during my Fort4Fitness recovery run a couple weeks ago, she is a wealth of running (and life) knowledge.  I asked her what her planned pace was and when she responded I was relieved to hear her answer.  I forget the exact numbers now, but she wanted to average under 8:30 min per mile.  I knew this would be a challenging pace, but not crazy hard.  I asked her if it was okay to fall in beside her and run with her as long as possible - thankfully she obliged!  

Honestly, that made the race a thousand times better for me.  I had someone there to keep pushing me when I wanted to give up, someone to reign me in when I was pushing too hard, and someone to carry on a conversation with when I could breathe.  Towards the end I told her I was having "catch syndrome" - I saw someone ahead that I wanted to beat and they were pulling me to run too fast.  She told me to slow down, wait til the end, and then push it....   She was completely right, and I HAD it... I just let my mental toughness crumple for a minute.  Next time, my legs will keep moving no matter what.  Tommy missed my finish for the first time ever - cursed bathroom breaks!   I guess it was for the better, they missed my "near-tossing" episode that cost me at least 10-15 seconds and my sub 42. 

Borrowed from the FWTC facebook page

Not that it matters, because like I said, this race wasn't about winning but I managed to take 3rd in my age group, here are the "official stats."

    Official time: 42:10.6  (official pace: 8:26, garmin pace: 8:22)

    age group place: 3 / 13

    Overall place:  88 / 271

    Splits:  mile 1 - 8:17

               mile 2 - 8:22

               mile 3 - 8:26

               mile 4 - 8:26

               mile 5 - 8:26

Not all races are going to be like this one, typically I push for a PR or to finish on top.  But Sunday I was so thankful for the opportunity to run with and learn from Gail.  She is a fountain of knowledge, seriously.  She saw me struggling after the race with my quad/hip and she asked if I knew what stretch to do to help.  When I said no, she pulled me to the side and gave me some pointers and they really helped.  Runners can be such amazing, generous and giving people and it still amazes me sometimes.  

And, the perfect end to a great day... free celebratory frozen yogurt.  Our local fro-yo joint offered free frozen yogurt to anyone who ran/walked the race on Sunday! 

   

Marathon Monday: Back on Track

If you will remember from my last marathon Monday post, I struggled with some hip/upper leg pain during my last long run.  I was sure it was bursitis based on everything I had read, but now I am not so sure.  I am thinking it may just be something with the IT band and the quads - I have been using the stick and stretching and it seems to be helping - hooray!  Week 11 of my 18 week training plan is complete.

Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: 2 miles
Thursday: 2.25 miles (plus I swam for 25 minutes)
Saturday: 16 miles
Sunday: 5 mile race (recap tomorrow!)
      Total for the week: 29.25 miles

I deviated from the schedule some this week, I should have had two 4 mile runs and my long run was supposed to be on Thursday.  I decided to switch my long run back to Saturday after the hip issue last weekend - I wanted to give myself a bit more time to heal, plus I can only get two hours of childcare during the week so I wasn't sure what to do with Daniel.  And then a stomach cramp mid run Wednesday kept me from completing 4 miles.  But, overall I got the miles in.  So, its a success!

Besides the hip pain last week, the 16 mile run was glorious.  This weeks long run was miserable to say the least.  I had to stop at the bathroom only 4.5 miles in, by 6-7 miles in I was dragging, I had nothing left in the tank to keep my body moving.  So, I tried to take fuel and that caused more stomach issues.  By mile 9.5 I was struggling with being light headed.  I pushed on though, trying to balance getting enough fuel to keep conscious  while minimizing the stomach issues. Then, the actual stomach cramps started at around mile 13.  By mile 14 I was walking, I ended up walking most of those last 2 miles.  But I finished and on a day where my body was so adamant it didn't want to do the miles, that is a big fat WIN.  Just for fun, lets check out the splits shall we?

Mile 1:       10:01
Mile 2:       9:49
Mile 3:       9:44
Mile 4:       9:51
Mile 5:       9:52
Mile 6:       9:53
Mile 7:       9:42
Mile 8:       10:11
Mile 9:       9:52
Mile 10:     9:42
Mile 11:     9:48
Mile 12:     10:56 (this is where the struggling really started)
Mile 13:     11:42
Mile 14:     11:32
Mile 15:     14:47
Mile 16:     13:14


Anyone else have as many stomach problems as I do?  It seems like even WATER causes problems anymore.  I have NO CLUE how I am going to run a marathon in 6-7 weeks if I can't get this figured out! :( Any suggestions?  I have tried sports drinks, gummys, jelly beans, gu, chomps, and powerbar energy blasts. I used chocolate #9 with some success, but I can't buy that locally and honestly it still caused problems.  HELP! 

Fundraising Friday!

I reached my "minimum fundraising goal" yesterday thanks to the generosity of my family and friends, and even some complete strangers.  A huge THANK YOU.

However, because cancer doesn't give up - I won't either.  I am on a mission to raise even more!  

St Jude Heroes is holding a fundraising contest that ends today - the 3 heroes with the most donations will win a giftcard to Dick's Sporting Goods.  Any of you who run know how expensive running shoes can be, and I will need one more pair before the marathon - that gift card would really help me out!

Not to mention, any donations you make go to help the kids of St Jude!  All it takes is a $1 donation (its not the dollar amount of donations, but the NUMBER of donations).  If I am a top fundraiser, I will be doing a giftcard giveaway and anyone who donates today will be eligible to win!

St Jude is such an amazing charity and I every dollar really can help change their lives.  Can you spare $1 or $2?  It's less than a cup of your favorite coffee, and it really can save these kids' lives.

To donate, please visit my heroes page.

If you share this post via facebook or twitter it will earn you an extra entry for the giveaway if I win!  So please comment so I know you have shared!

And, last but not least - I am trying to clear out my inventory of bondi-bands.  If I don't sell these I have to mail them back out of my pocket.  I would much rather sell and make money for St Jude... so please, take a look and let me know if you see anything you like.  I am holding a "Friday Flash Sale" - all bands are $5 a piece and only $1 to ship up to 5 bands!

Please check my inventory here and let me know which ones you would like!

Marathon Monday

Again, not much on my mind - what can I say, I am a terrible blogger.

Tuesday:  3.5 miles
Wednesday: 7 miles
Thursday:  4.01 miles
Saturday:  16.02 miles (PDR)
    Total for the week: 30.53 miles

I was terribly nervous for my long run this week. I have never gone over the half marathon distance and for some reason anything beyond that is all "too far" - be it 14, 16, 20, or 26.2 miles.  Crazy enough, in my mind I felt like "if I can do 16 - I can do a marathon."  Now that I have done 16 I realize that was a stupid way of thinking and I am still super nervous.  I am also having some hip/leg issues... I think its either bursitis or a tight IT band.

As far as my long run, it was my first attempt in a while to figure out fueling of some sort.  I ate 4 jelly beans at mile 6 and by mile 8 I had to make a pit stop at the bathroom.  I ate them two other times just to test it out  and it didn't go well - seemed to give me stomach cramps.   I am starting to think I may have to just going into the marathon knowing my stomach will be an issue and eating just enough to get through - timing my fuel around the potties on the course.  So frustrating, but I won't let it stop me.

My running felt good until mile 12 when my hip started bothering me.  I stopped to stretch it out some and attempted to run again, and it was still bothering me.  I stupidly kept running because darn it this 16 was hugely mental for me and if I had failed it would have been a huge hit to my training. I did try to keep it to an annoyance more than a pain.  However, still today its bothering me.  Its weird I notice it more sitting then standing - its like a tightness/numbness in the quad and down the leg to the knee which leads me to the whole IT band thing.  Either way I am taking it easy and stretching lots - hoping its better by tomorrow, if not it may be time to go see a doc!

Anyone else experience any hip issues?  What were they and how did they resolve? :)

P.S.  St. Jude is holding a fundraising contest this week, I would LOVE to be one of the top 3 this week - the prize is a gift certificate to Dick's and I could really use another pair of shoes!  How can you help?  I need as many donations as possible.  Amount doesn't matter, its based on the NUMBER of donations, so even $1 donations help greatly!  If you can help, please donate here.

Race Recap, Double-Header Style

Maybe the title isn't 100% accurate, but I was struggling to come up with a clever title so you are stuck with my corny attempt.  Last year, the Fort4Fitness half was my first half marathon and I ran a very solid time of 2:01 and change.  As weird as it sounds, I knew running that same course slower than last year would be a huge mental/emotional roadblock for me in my marathon training so I decided to forgo the half and sign up for two of the other events instead.

We were downtown about 6:30 for the 7:30 am start of the 4 mile race.  I lined up in corral C and waited for the start - it was very chilly (40s) but perfect running weather if you ask me!  They start the race with a canon and we were off.  My only real complaint was trying to squeeze through the "start arch" they had set up - it was significantly narrower than the road we were lined up on.  I didn't have any goals for this race, I was running it in conjunction with the later race more as a way to get my training miles in than anything.

That being said, I started out a bit faster than I intended, not a "fast" pace but faster than the 9-10 minute miles I had figured I would run. Being that I was in a front corral, there wasn't a whole lot of weaving after the first few minutes.  I was passing people pretty much constantly - as mile two clicked off  I decided I was going to hold onto the speed as long as I could.

By mile 3 I was tired but I told myself I was half done to suck it up and keep running.  So, I pushed harder.  As I neared the end of the race, I recognized the course from my half last year.  I remembered falling apart that last half mile and how it cost me my sub 2:00 half marathon.  I put that frustration and anger into my running and picked up the pace even more.

As I entered the stadium and saw the finish line I decided to put it all out there, which is very difficult given the surface - I find it very difficult to get traction and felt my feet slip with nearly every step.  I crossed the finish line proud of myself for leaving it all on the course the last two miles.

Mile 1: 8:15
Mile 2: 7:59
Mile 3: 7:55
Mile 4: 7:27
Last .1:   27 seconds if my math is correct*
      Official Time: 32:03
      Age Group Finish: 4 out of 244
      Gender Finish: 21 out of 2158
      Overall Finish: 96 out of 3196

      *I forgot to stop my garmin, so I subtracted miles 1-4 from official time

The downside to all of this is I came in 4th in my age group.  Now, don't get me wrong, fourth is FANTASTIC, but I was so close to 3rd and if I had any clue I had a chance at placing I know I could have run the first two miles faster and probably taken 2nd or 3rd place. There were only 14 seconds between myself and 2nd place!  Ah well, next time!  I also won't look up race results online between races if I do this again - sort of psyched me out for the next one.

I ran to my van and switched shirts and bibs to get ready for the 10k that was to take place at 9 am.  One last visit to the port-a-potty and I got into corral D to prepare myself mentally for the next "race."  Again, this wasn't meant to be a race, more so just miles.  I actually lined up at the back of corral D hoping to run this a bit more conservatively.

Again, we started with a canon and we were off through the crowded "arch" - I said good luck to a friend and started on my way.  I am terrible with remembering specifics from the course, but somewhere in the first mile there was a large, very encouraging group of individuals from a charity raising money for Congo.  They played music and cheered on the runners.  I believe also in the first mile or so was a clown juggling plungers - yes, toilet plungers.  

Other than that I don't remember much, the 1.25 or so miles and the last 2 miles were the same course I had run earlier for the 4 mile.  This was both a blessing and a curse.  On one hand, it was hard to not having something new to look at to keep my mind off the miles but on the other it was nice to know exactly how far I had left to go!

One other "highlight" of this race (as well as the 4 mile) - towards the end, about 1.5 to 1 mile before the end there was a great neighborhood that decorated the streets with paint, had tons of people out cheering, people dressed up, and even beer shots (not that I took any).  It was nice to have that encouragement towards the end.   That's about it... for my reference, splits are as follows:

Mile 1: 9:06
Mile 2: 8:54
Mile 3: 8:49
Mile 4: 8:46
Mile 5: 8:52 (curse you, I was so close to having negative splits for both races)
Mile 6: 8:33
Last .32: 2:10 (again, assuming my math is correct)  *course measured a bit long again
   Official Time: 55:12
   Age Group: 14 out of 183
   Gender: 81 out of 1216
   Overall: 269 out of 1801

Up next, a 16 miler on the schedule for this weekend.. I am TERRIFIED!  Any pointers on how to make it a successful run?

Marathon Monday:

I am excited to say that I have officially finished half of my marathon training - week 9 went much smoother than I anticipated.  I am still nursing some soreness in the lat area of my back but nothing that I can't deal with.  But, I got all the scheduled runs in plus some so I am happy about that!

Monday: 0.4 mile with Natalie
Tuesday: 3 miles + 1 mile with Natalie
Wednesday: 7 miles + 1 mile with Natalie
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 1.27 miles (with Natalie, final leg of her kids marathon)
Saturday: 4.1 miles (race) + 6.32 miles (race)
Sunday: 4.14 miles
  Total for the Week: 32.23 miles (new high)
  Total for the Month: 120 miles!  (new high)

I don't have much time to go into detail right now so this is all for now, will try to post about the races (which I used as my long run for the week) tomorrow.

How was your weekend?  Any new milestones in your training?

Marathon Monday

This week started out according to plan, I was logging my necessary miles plus a few extra with my daughter as she runs to complete her kids marathon.  (Mommy note:  I can't wait until Friday to run the final 1.2 miles with her and watch her receive the medal!)  Then Thursday I had a case of "don't wannas" and I guess I should have listened to them because I ended up injured as a result of my run that day.  I managed to strain my latissimus dorsi  - LOVELY.  I couldn't stand up straight for nearly two days! I was determined to not let it derail my training too far though.

Tuesday: 3 miles with the BOB plus 1 with Natalie

Wednesday: 6 miles plus 1.72 with Natalie

Thursday: 4 miles with the BOB (should have been 35 tempo but I wasn't feeling it so I ran 4 miles "easy")

Sunday: 10.03  miles in 3 separate runs (13 scheduled)

   Total for the week: 25.75

The "long run" Sunday was split into shorter distances.  The first run was 1.5 miles and I stopped due to pain my back.  Later in the day I decided to give it another shot and run with my daughter as long as my back and her legs would allow - we made it 3.5 miles before she pooped out (a distance record for her). Then after dinner I decided I wanted to try a few more miles so I set out to run what I could - ended up with a 5 miler.  Not the 13 I had scheduled but I will take it given the injury.

This injury has really affected me mentally.  I am trying to push past it, but its a struggle.  All I have wanted to do since it happened is eat.  I know its the past "fat girl" pushing her way back in.  In the past I have always used food as a coping mechanism.  I am trying hard to push her out of my head, but I have to admit I haven't done well so far.  So in addition to coping with the injury I may gain 10-15 pounds! :(  

I try to keep reminding myself that my time doesn't really matter in December, but the truth is I do have a time goal in mind and I really hope to hit it.  I worry if my training is derailed too far I won't be able to meet my time goal.  On the other hand, I do have faith that I could finish the 26.2 miles.  It may be me being cocky, but I would like to think that I could complete 26.2 miles tomorrow if I had to - it would just involve more walking than I desire. So, I just keep saying, "You are completing 26.2 miles for those who can't...." and your time doesn't matter. 

As far as how I am dealing physically, I have muscle relaxers and vicodin but I haven't been taking them much.  I can mostly stand up straight.  When I am fatigued, though, I still lean a bit to one side.  I am wearing an ace bandage around my rib cage supporting the lat muscle as best as possible.  It seems to help so I will keep doing that until I feel better.  I am also using the heating pad quite frequently.  

I am still debating my plans for this week, per the schedule I should have 3 runs during the week: 3, 7, and 4 milers.  Then I have two races on the schedule Saturday for a total of 10 miles.  I am debating not running the scheduled runs this week to rest up for the races on Saturday (which I don't plan to race, I just want to complete without pain).  However, there is a part of me that is tied to the schedule - I HATE not doing what I am supposed to.  Only time will tell I suppose... 

Any exciting racing going on this weekend?  Any tips on getting this muscle healed quicker??