Saturday, November 5th

Weather - 34 degrees and sunny

Clothing - Black running capri pants, long sleeve tech shirt (pink shirt), and Camelbak

Nutrition -   Ate Cliff bar before the run. During the run:  approx. 25 oz powerade/water mix.

Route -  Started at the intersection of Oak Green and Burke Centre Parkway, went down Ox to University and turned around.

Distance Completed:  6 miles

Time:  Started at 7:20am, took 1 hour, 13 minutes

2nd to last weekend run before the big day.  Yay!  I was well on my way to run the 6 miles at a great pace and made the 5 mile mark well under the one hour mark, but the last mile just didn't have my heart in it and I walked a lot of it.  I am really over the running right now.  I can't wait for this marathon to happen.  It has been a long 7 months waiting for this day to come.

Anything I'd do different?  I would've added gloves and a hat to my head.  It was cold. 

Mid-week runs - I ran 5 miles on Tuesday and 4 miles on Thursday at the gym.  Both runs went well.

Saturday, October 29th

Weather - 33 degrees and raining

Clothing - Black running shorts and short sleeve cotton shirt

Nutrition - Clif bar before and 28 ounces of water. 

Route -  Treadmill at Gold's Gym

Distance Completed:  7 miles

Time:  Started at 7:45 am, took 1 hr, 21 minutes

Due to the rain, I took the run indoors and did it at Gold's Gym.  I mixed it up a bit and picked a treadmill in the cinema.  I got to watch 'The Adjustment Bureau".  Granted I saw the 2nd half before the first half, but it was great.  Made the time and miles go by faster.

Anything I'd do different?  No, it was great and a nice option to getting my run done without getting wet outside.

Mid-week runs - Took Tuesday off, ran 4 miles on Thursday.  Low mileage overall this week for me, but I am happy that my body feels good and is not in any pain lingering from last Saturday's 26 miler.

Yep, this is me!

Many thanks to Jennifer Guirguis for forwarding this to me.  Every time I look at it, I giggle.

My last long run

Written for Mommy Meltdown's Blog (10/24/11):

I've been wanting to update on how the marathon training is going for some time now. But, with each long training run looming ahead in the schedule, I get seriously freaked out and feel like I am better off not speaking too much about it.  Now that I've just completed my last long run, I feel like I can reflect on what this journey has been like getting me to race day.

7 months ago when I decided to sign up for a marathon, it felt so far away that anything was possible.  I could talk all the 'game' I wanted, but knew that I still had more than half a year before my foot had to actually cross the starting line.  As of today, I've got just 26 days to go  and the countdown is on!  We are in taper city and the mileage I have to log now is reasonable and not nearly as taxing as what has been recently done.

I have discovered a lot in these past 6 months of training.  The biggest thing I found out is that I am not cut out for long distance running.  I think after I get to mile 12, I get seriously bored and am ready for the next activity.  To keep going takes a huge amount of will power and determination.  I've always known that once I am committed to something, I'll see it through to the end and this marathon training had me displaying that type of mental strength over and over again.

Some other discoveries include:

• It doesn't matter how much I run, I will never get faster.  My pace stays consistently slow.  Friends can start out with me at the same pace, but somewhere along the way, they get faster and I get slower.
• I'm okay not wearing underwear under my running shorts or capri running pants if it means I don't get any kind of chafing.  I really thought I would be grossed out by this, but after the first long run trying it, it made a huge difference. (Sorry if this is TMI).
• Training for a marathon did nothing to help me lose weight.  Actually, just the opposite.  I've been gaining weight as the weeks and mileage progress.  I really don't think I am eating more and any different types of foods, but for some reason my body is in starvation mode and doesn't want to let go of my excess fat.  And believe me, I have enough excess to come off and not be needed.
• Running for hours on end in the months of July, August, and some of September really sucked.  That's all there is to it.  Me and heat still don't do well together.
• Going through the training process became a much more enjoyable experience when you have a friend or two to commiserate with.  I can't imagine not comparing notes or venting or doing any of this without J.W.   When you know you aren't in this alone, it becomes more bearable.

I am at the point now where I want this marathon to be over.  I am ready to get my life back and not think about the running I HAVE TO do each week.  Running is no longer something I enjoy.  It has become a chore.  One more thing on a long list of items I HAVE TO DO.  

I admire all those who make a career out of running marathons.  Those who do this year after year and of course the crazies who do multiple ones through out the year.  I can't even imagine what that involves. I said this before at the beginning and feel it now more than ever -- I am only doing this once. 

Don't get me wrong, I am so happy I decided to go for it.  To prove to myself I can do this.  Come November 20th,  I am not going to be the fastest, in the top 50%, or possibly even in the top 75% of finishers, but I will go out there and enjoy it and give it everything I've got.   The t-shirt I will be wearing will say, "You don't have to go fast.  You just have to go." 

The day after 26

Mentally, I could not be more pleased with how yesterday went.  I am so happy that I went for the 26 and finished in the allotted time they give you at the Philadelphia Marathon. Actually I finished an hour before the official end time.  I was super slow, but I got it done.  Plus, I have a benchmark to beat when I do this again on the official day.

I also was able to determine that I only need to refill my camelbak once duirng the run.  So if I hit the water stations, I should be okay in making the original 50 ounces of the fluid in the camelbak last.   And I know that 6 GUs are good for race day.  One at 4 miles, 8 miles, 12 miles, 16 miles, 20 miles and 24 miles worked nicely.

Waking up this morning, my legs were sore!  The area of leg that was in pain through out the whole run yesterday hurt more than ever.  Looking back, I probably should've have taken an ice bath when I got home.  As the day wore on, the pain has subsided some.  I am going to hold off running my 5 miles on Tuesday and really give my body a chance to recover.  I will for sure do the run on Thursday and so forth.

No blisters!  No rubbing!  No tummy issues!  All is good.  I may be slow, but I am ok with that.  I am just happy the long runs are over and I was able to stick to the training schedule. Yay!!

I can't believe I am about to write this, but I think I am ready.  :)

Saturday, October 22nd

Weather - Sun was starting to come out.  43 degrees when I started.  Sunny and 57 degrees when it was over. ended.  Humidity didn't exist!

Clothing - Black running capri pants, Short sleeve tech shirt (rockstar shirt),  and Camelbak. 

Nutrition -   Ate a banana and cliff bar before the run. During the run:  75+ oz powerade/water mix. A GU at mile 4, mile 8, mile 12, mile 16 and mile 21..

Route -  Started at the intersection of Burke Centre Parkway on Ox Road.  Went 2.16 miles towards Braddock Rd and turned around.  Then went 9 miles down Ox to the Occoquan bridge and turned around. Once I got back to Burke Centre Parkway, I turned right on the road and went 2 miles down to Roberts. Turned around and did one loop of Lake Barton.  Came out on Burke Centre Parkway and went to the Kohls shopping center. Turned around and went down Oak Leather Drive for approx. 1/2 mile. Then headed home for the last 1/2 mile. I was all over the place! 

Distance Completed:  26 miles

Time:  Started at 6:50am, took a little more than 6 hours (not including the 1 stop I made).  Overall time was 6 hours, 13 minutes.   When I got to the 23 mile point, I was 23 minutes ahead from my last (horrible!!) long run. Yay!

Our little group had decided that doing a 26 mile training run might be a bit too much for us and we should scale it down to 20 miles.  When I woke up this morning, I planned to turn that 20 miler into 22.  But somewhere along the run, I decided to go for the 26.  There were a few factors in my making this decision.  I missed out going with The Girl's for Spa Weekend in Berkeley Springs because of this training run.  If I was going to miss that, I wanted to know I did everything I could to follow the training schedule.  Also, the weather was delightful and I was really enjoying being outside.  Lastly, I wanted my body to know what 26 felt like, so the next time I did this mileage (the marathon!), it would be more comfortable with it.  I read somewhere that if you are running 26, you should train for 26.  I now know that mentally I can do this.  Plus, I've got a good benchmark in how long it took me and I can work towards beating this goal.

I ended up going out on my own.  J.W. and T. both had various problems keeping them from running this morning.  I walked lots more than I should've.  But at this point, I just wanted to do it.  I don't care how slow I am.  Plus, I had a pain in my lower right leg that was with me when I started.  I was hoping that after a few miles, the pain would go away, but it actually got worse.

Anything I'd do different?   No.  This run went as well as could've been expected.  I am super happy that I am ending my long run training on a high note.  It's nice to erase that memory of the horrible 23 miler and replace it with a better long run. 

All my preparation worked.  The advil, the funky socks, the body glide, the clothing I wore.  No bad rubbing/chafing, no blisters, and I was perfectly dressed for the temps.  Yay!

Mid-week runs - ran 5 miles on Wednesday, ran 4 miles on Thursday; both on the treadmill at the gym.  Both were great runs.

More time to take it all in!

My friend, Amy, forwarded me this article.  I love this!  I want to get a shirt for the marathon that says, "Even moving forward is a pace." - on the front.  And on the back -- "26.2 miles?  Hell, ya!"

A Marathon Run in the Slow Lane

After a 10-kilometer road race this summer, a friend apologized for missing me at the finish line. The truth was, she hadn’t lost me in the crowd. She just didn’t wait long enough.

I’m a slow runner. A really slow runner. In that field of 625, I finished in 619th place.

There was a time when I was embarrassed by my painfully slow pace, but not anymore. Since I began training for a marathon this spring, I’ve discovered that the view is a lot more interesting in the back of the pack.

During a five-mile run in Central Park last spring, I paced alongside a double amputee who was using crutches and a single metal leg to propel himself along the course.

At the 13.1-mile Philadelphia Distance Run this fall, I spent a good part of the race alongside an athlete who jumped rope the entire way. Later, I trotted with two women wearing pink feather boas. There was also a “joggler,” someone who juggles and runs at the same time. Nearby was 81-year-old Robert Welsh of Wallingford, Pa. (He won his age group.)

My shirt that day read, “Slow Is the New Fast.”

This weekend, I was again at the back of the pack of the estimated 43,000 who participated in the New York City Marathon, and I was thrilled to be there. About five months ago, I declared that I was going to transform myself from couch potato to runner and complete a fall marathon. I trained using a combination of running and walking, a method espoused by the Olympian distance runner Jeff Galloway and now used by hundreds of thousands of runners around the country.

During my marathon, I ran next to a man wearing an Eiffel Tower costume. Several women raising money for breast cancer drew cheers from the crowds for running in their decorated bras. I also spent time alongside several members of the Achilles Track Club, for athletes with disabilities.

My marathon included four stops to hug my daughter along the route, a quick jaunt into a deli in Queens to buy a banana, and countless high fives with kids along the course. I also spent about three miles talking and walking with Maureen Donohue, 68, of Long Island, who began running at age 56 and was taking part in her 10th marathon. To train, she run-walks a five mile course near her home, takes a coffee break and heads back out again for five more miles. I found her inspiring, and so did the crowd. As we passed by, onlookers shouted, “Go, Mo, go!”

Despite their pace, back-of-the-packers still struggle with leg cramps, blisters and back spasms, and so did I. I finished my first marathon in 6 hours 58 minutes 19 seconds. I know faster marathoners are bothered by so-called plodders. A recent front-page article in my own newspaper quoted a number of marathoners to that effect, saying we had ruined the race’s mystique.

It’s true that marathons around the country are getting slower, as more charity runners and run-walkers take part. In 1980 the average marathon time was about three and a half hours for men and about four hours for women, according to Running USA. Today, the averages are 4:16 for men and 4:43 for women. About 20 percent of the participants in the New York City Marathon take longer than five hours to finish.

But the legendary gold medalist Frank Shorter says the criticisms of slow runners are “snobbery.” “You never hear that from elite runners,” he told me. “Elite runners admire other people’s performance. I find it much better to welcome slow runners to the club than to vote them out.”

Greg Meyer, who in 1983 was the last American man to win the Boston Marathon, says that when he hears such complaints from average marathoners, he replies, “If it wasn’t for the run-walkers, you wouldn’t be finishing in front of anybody.”

The main benefit of the run-walk method is that it eases your body into exercise, makes marathon training less grueling and gives muscles time to recover, reducing the risk of injury. Walk breaks are an ideal way for new runners and older, less fit and overweight people to take part in a sport that would otherwise be off limits.

The downside is that just as you are out on the marathon course about 50 percent longer than the average runner, your training time is much longer, too — four and five hours a weekend for long runs.

About 10 days before the marathon, I began to doubt my ability to finish the race. A flulike illness had sidelined me for a few weeks, and I’d missed some important training runs. I questioned whether it would be worth the effort to straggle over the finish line long after most of the runners had left.

But then, during an easy run on a trail near my house, I spotted another slow runner ahead of me. It took a moment before I realized his off-kilter gait was due to the fact that he was running on a Cheetah foot, an artificial limb that uses a flexible blade for the foot. He was young and fit, and I wanted to know his story, but didn’t stop him to ask. Instead I just watched his rhythmic run, and felt my own worries about race day fade away. It didn’t matter how fast I finished, just that I was out there, enjoying the view from the back of the pack.