so, i was just reading back through some old posts on this blog, and marveling at how different things feel in my fourth season of marathon training than they did in the first. now i know i can gut it out, even if i'm not totally prepared for it. so i'm unafraid.
i know there will be a lot of work over the next five months, but... in the end, i'll enjoy the time with my teammates, and i'll enjoy the races. even if i'm not particularly fast.
herein comes the note of explanation...
i wrote several times through the course of the winter that i was really struggling. struggling with fatigue, mostly... but also with the feeling that i was not only not improving, but getting worse at running as the weeks went by.
there is a reason. and it's not the unkind one that i had been telling myself (mutter mutter, fat and lazy, mutter mutter...)
i've been diagnosed with Lupus.
and now, it all makes sense.
so i'm kinder to myself now. a little more forgiving on the bad days.... a little more delighted on the good days. i'm still a runner... just one who listens to her body more, and is okay with the fact that she'll never be a fast runner.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
running, running...
last Saturday was a "hills clinic" for the team.... which essentially means we ran up and down hills for three miles while the coaches watched and gave us tips on how to be more efficient both going up and down.
fun stuff!
but i got to meet some of my mentees, which was great... and got some positive feedback on my Mission messages, as well as a tentative offer to volunteer at the Life With Cancer Family Center event on the 28th.
then later that afternoon, i drove to Annapolis with my former TNT mentor Ronda, as we had signed up to run the Zooma Half Marathon on Sunday morning.
it was already over 80 degrees F/ 27 degrees C when we left the hotel at 6am... and humid.
ugh!!!
upon arrival we met up with another former teammates, Laura... chatted with a bunch of TNT peeps, decked out in their purple singlets... and then made our way to the enormous line ups for the port-a-johns. where we stood for the next 20 minutes. and where we were still standing when the starting gun when off.
fortunately there were enough runners that we were still well in the thick of things when we finally did join the runners.
by mile 1 we were already, as Laura called it, glisteny...
by mile 3 we were all beat red and over-heating.
by mile 5 we started to hear the wail of the ambulance sirens.
around mile 8 we were held up because the road was blocked by the paramedics and their vehicle trying to get an iv into the arm of a runner who had passed out from heat and dehydration.
i was about ready to kiss the little boy around mile 11.5 who was standing out on the sidewalk with his hose, spraying the runners as they struggled by.
and when we made our way past the finish line to collect our finishers necklaces, we were all dismayed to find that there were no more bottles of water or bananas... just some dry bits of bagel.
however, once into the finishers expo, there was shade, a cool breeze, a cool boxed lunch and cold water and we were happy.
no more half marathons for a while, just regular training... as i've run a ten miler, 4 half marathons and a marathon in the last 11 weeks.
fun stuff!
but i got to meet some of my mentees, which was great... and got some positive feedback on my Mission messages, as well as a tentative offer to volunteer at the Life With Cancer Family Center event on the 28th.
then later that afternoon, i drove to Annapolis with my former TNT mentor Ronda, as we had signed up to run the Zooma Half Marathon on Sunday morning.
it was already over 80 degrees F/ 27 degrees C when we left the hotel at 6am... and humid.
ugh!!!
upon arrival we met up with another former teammates, Laura... chatted with a bunch of TNT peeps, decked out in their purple singlets... and then made our way to the enormous line ups for the port-a-johns. where we stood for the next 20 minutes. and where we were still standing when the starting gun when off.
fortunately there were enough runners that we were still well in the thick of things when we finally did join the runners.
by mile 1 we were already, as Laura called it, glisteny...
by mile 3 we were all beat red and over-heating.
by mile 5 we started to hear the wail of the ambulance sirens.
around mile 8 we were held up because the road was blocked by the paramedics and their vehicle trying to get an iv into the arm of a runner who had passed out from heat and dehydration.
i was about ready to kiss the little boy around mile 11.5 who was standing out on the sidewalk with his hose, spraying the runners as they struggled by.
and when we made our way past the finish line to collect our finishers necklaces, we were all dismayed to find that there were no more bottles of water or bananas... just some dry bits of bagel.
however, once into the finishers expo, there was shade, a cool breeze, a cool boxed lunch and cold water and we were happy.
no more half marathons for a while, just regular training... as i've run a ten miler, 4 half marathons and a marathon in the last 11 weeks.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Blue Nose Half Marathon
I went back to Canada for a few days... to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday, and to run the Blue Nose Half Marathon.
Not exactly part of my Team In Training training.... but a good long run in part of the overall training scheme of things.
I missed my TNT buddies the morning of the race. It is amazing how much psychological and emotional support one gets from participating in a team. Even if you never say the words out loud, it is reassuring to have people you know standing beside you, giggling with nervous excitement.... reminding you to pin your bib on right side up, etc.
Still, it was wonderful to run in a city that I am familiar with.... running past places that already hold memories for me. It was not my fastest race time, but probably my most enjoyable race ever.
As I ran past an old friend's house, I knocked on the door... gave my very surprised friend a sweaty hug, chatted for a few minutes, and carried on my way.
When I reached the corner where my mom and brother were directing runners, I stopped to have a chat and a laugh with them...
My dad called just as I was passing the 19 km mark to tell me the whole family had come in to see me finish.... my grandad, my aunt and cousin, my sister and her kids, my foster sister and her boyfriend.
My nephew was waiting for me a couple hundred feet from the finish line. As I reached him, he grabbed my hand and ran with me to the finish line. I hung my finishers medal around his neck and he nodded as he held it in his hand and said "i AM pretty fit for a six year old...."I love that my family is all proud of me and supports my running, even though I will never truly "compete".... I will always be a long distance plodder, and they think that is great.
Every race holds its own special memories, and I have loved (and sometimes hated) them all. But I think this one will hold a special place in my heart for a long long time...
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
i must be mad...
i've signed up to run with the Team again for the fall season. which starts next Saturday...
i thought i'd take a break, maybe do one Team In Training event per year from now on.... just so i could recover from fundraising fatigue, really.
but, since i'm already signed up to do Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October anyway... (due to medical deferral last year)... and because i know i will find it difficult to train through the heat of the summer on my own.... and because i love my TNT buddies.... and because it is a great cause....
i signed up to be a mentor again. this time for the Virginia Beach Rock & Roll Half Marathon in September.
so... the blog stays open. as long as i'm working to "save lives, one mile at a time".... i'll keep writing about it.
you lucky ducks!
i thought i'd take a break, maybe do one Team In Training event per year from now on.... just so i could recover from fundraising fatigue, really.
but, since i'm already signed up to do Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October anyway... (due to medical deferral last year)... and because i know i will find it difficult to train through the heat of the summer on my own.... and because i love my TNT buddies.... and because it is a great cause....
i signed up to be a mentor again. this time for the Virginia Beach Rock & Roll Half Marathon in September.
so... the blog stays open. as long as i'm working to "save lives, one mile at a time".... i'll keep writing about it.
you lucky ducks!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
a wild and crazy season...
this last training season has been... an adventure, lets say.
we trained in snow storms. we couldn't train because of unsafe roads and trails and mountains of snow. we trained in pouring rain. we raced in record high temperatures in March... we trained some more, it got cold again, it got hot again...
it's no wonder that on Country Music Marathon race day we had thunder, lightning, heavy rain, heavy winds... and a tornado warning that had us all pulled off the course before we could finish the race.
some people might take that as a sign... as in, mother nature's way of saying "give it up already!"
but we didn't.
a few determined TNT teammates and i decided we really wanted to get that 26.2 mile run in.
this season.
so we signed up for the Potomac River Marathon, which took place last Sunday. just one week after attempting to run Country Music Marathon...
when we left the house at 5 am to get to the marathon start... it was hot. And raining.
it got hotter.... once again, record high temps for this time of year. and it rained off and on. sadly this was not really a respite from the heat... it just made for an over all sense of running in a steam room.
for hours.
and hours.
people were getting sick from the heat. i gave my gatorade and pretzels to a guy that was rolling on the trail in absolute agony from cramps and exhaustion... he wasn't even coherent to start with. we waited for the medics to arrive to take him off the course.
many of the participants simply stopped at the halfway mark.
our little TNT group didn't all finish together... but we all finished.
what a season!
we trained in snow storms. we couldn't train because of unsafe roads and trails and mountains of snow. we trained in pouring rain. we raced in record high temperatures in March... we trained some more, it got cold again, it got hot again...
it's no wonder that on Country Music Marathon race day we had thunder, lightning, heavy rain, heavy winds... and a tornado warning that had us all pulled off the course before we could finish the race.
some people might take that as a sign... as in, mother nature's way of saying "give it up already!"
but we didn't.
a few determined TNT teammates and i decided we really wanted to get that 26.2 mile run in.
this season.
so we signed up for the Potomac River Marathon, which took place last Sunday. just one week after attempting to run Country Music Marathon...
when we left the house at 5 am to get to the marathon start... it was hot. And raining.
it got hotter.... once again, record high temps for this time of year. and it rained off and on. sadly this was not really a respite from the heat... it just made for an over all sense of running in a steam room.
for hours.
and hours.
people were getting sick from the heat. i gave my gatorade and pretzels to a guy that was rolling on the trail in absolute agony from cramps and exhaustion... he wasn't even coherent to start with. we waited for the medics to arrive to take him off the course.
many of the participants simply stopped at the halfway mark.
our little TNT group didn't all finish together... but we all finished.
what a season!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Country Music Marathon Weekend
this past weekend I :
~ joined 500 other Team In Training runner in Nashville to run the Country Music Marathon (and half marathon).... we raised over 1.25 million dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, putting our Team Fundraising Total (over all the years) at over a billion dollars.
~ went to hear a concert at the Ryman Auditorium... original home of the Grand Ol' Opry.
~ ate a lot of barbeque
~ resisted the urge to buy pretty cowboy boots, 'cos i know i'll never wear them once i get them home... but i sure did want them at the time! all the other cool kids were buying them...
~ met John "the penguin" Bingham while picking up a bagel at Panera for Saturday morning's 4:30 am start
~ arrived at the race starting place in the dark, in the rain, with lightning dancing across the sky.... and a tornado warning threatening to cancel the race
~ skies cleared and the elite runners were off the mark by 7 am... there were over 33 thousand other runners to cross the starting line, so it was 7:26 by the time I got started
~ it was a hot and humid morning, until the clouds rolled back in and the winds picked up... and the racers were all diverted back to the finish line, no matter where they were on the course.
~ shed a tear or two and said a few bad words that are not fit for public consumption
~ accepted my marathon finishers medal, but didn't much feel like i had earned it
~ ate more barbeque in the pouring rain, thunder and lightning
~ had an awesome phone call of support from my six year old nephew
~ drank quite a lot of gin and tonics, participated in some line dancing lessons at the post-race party, and danced the night away (something i likely would not have been able to do if i had been allowed to run the full marathon!... hello silver lining)
~ got a ride home from the airport with my coach and friend, only to find that i had brought the wrong key and was locked out of the house for the next 5 hours or so, until my husband got home from work at 11:30pm
~ feel like a million bucks today, and am looking for another full marathon to attempt in the next couple of weeks, to make up for not being allowed to complete the one i had trained for.
~ joined 500 other Team In Training runner in Nashville to run the Country Music Marathon (and half marathon).... we raised over 1.25 million dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, putting our Team Fundraising Total (over all the years) at over a billion dollars.
~ went to hear a concert at the Ryman Auditorium... original home of the Grand Ol' Opry.
~ ate a lot of barbeque
~ resisted the urge to buy pretty cowboy boots, 'cos i know i'll never wear them once i get them home... but i sure did want them at the time! all the other cool kids were buying them...
~ met John "the penguin" Bingham while picking up a bagel at Panera for Saturday morning's 4:30 am start
~ arrived at the race starting place in the dark, in the rain, with lightning dancing across the sky.... and a tornado warning threatening to cancel the race
~ skies cleared and the elite runners were off the mark by 7 am... there were over 33 thousand other runners to cross the starting line, so it was 7:26 by the time I got started
~ it was a hot and humid morning, until the clouds rolled back in and the winds picked up... and the racers were all diverted back to the finish line, no matter where they were on the course.
~ shed a tear or two and said a few bad words that are not fit for public consumption
~ accepted my marathon finishers medal, but didn't much feel like i had earned it
~ ate more barbeque in the pouring rain, thunder and lightning
~ had an awesome phone call of support from my six year old nephew
~ drank quite a lot of gin and tonics, participated in some line dancing lessons at the post-race party, and danced the night away (something i likely would not have been able to do if i had been allowed to run the full marathon!... hello silver lining)
~ got a ride home from the airport with my coach and friend, only to find that i had brought the wrong key and was locked out of the house for the next 5 hours or so, until my husband got home from work at 11:30pm
~ feel like a million bucks today, and am looking for another full marathon to attempt in the next couple of weeks, to make up for not being allowed to complete the one i had trained for.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
taking it off
so, in order to stimulate a flurry of donations... i made the commitment to cut off all my hair and donate it to the Locks Of Love, to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to medical treatment... as long as i made my fundraising goal by today.
well, i have made my goal of raising $3000... even though it doesn't all show up yet on my fundraising website. it takes a while to process donations that were not made online...
so, i will be cutting off all the hair that it has taken me two years to grow... and sending it to Locks of Love for someone who cannot grow their own.
i thought it was a fine idea at the time, but now that i actually have to do it... i have been looking at the box of hair clips and pins and elastics and sticks and ties, etc sitting on the shelf in my bathroom and finding myself feeling nostalgic for long hair already. even though i still have it... and even though i was looking forward to how cool i was going to feel in the heat of the summer.
will post photos next week when i get it cut. and in the mean time, i think i'll go brush it for a while... maybe give myself an up-do or something... celebrate the fact that i have long hair for a few more days.
well, i have made my goal of raising $3000... even though it doesn't all show up yet on my fundraising website. it takes a while to process donations that were not made online...
so, i will be cutting off all the hair that it has taken me two years to grow... and sending it to Locks of Love for someone who cannot grow their own.
i thought it was a fine idea at the time, but now that i actually have to do it... i have been looking at the box of hair clips and pins and elastics and sticks and ties, etc sitting on the shelf in my bathroom and finding myself feeling nostalgic for long hair already. even though i still have it... and even though i was looking forward to how cool i was going to feel in the heat of the summer.
will post photos next week when i get it cut. and in the mean time, i think i'll go brush it for a while... maybe give myself an up-do or something... celebrate the fact that i have long hair for a few more days.
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