Sunday, September 26, 2010

We woke up, we ran, we went home.

I ran marathon. I am still in shock. It was amazing. My IT band gave me heck at mile 11 and I thought that was it. However, due to many prayers I was able to run after some stretching and finish the race still running. Molly, Andy, Matt, Aaron, Courtney, and Taylee all come to cheer me on and support me and it was so great and meant a lot to me.   Thank you guys so much!!! Running with Laura was great and her family was there too cheering for us as well.


 Laura is the best friend ever, she stayed with me the whole time even though I had to go slow the last 15 miles because of my knee. 
Cheeseball.
Now, I just need to keep strenghtening my knees so that I can work on getting faster!  Running a marathon is the type of experience that you cannot really understand until you have done it. It is the culmination of months and months of training for a challenge that pushes and streches you both physically and emotionally. I felt the sad valleys of discouragement and the euphoric peaks of accomplishment.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Half Way

Ok well, its been two weeks since I posted.  After my run on June 26 I started to have some pain in my knee and over the next week I learned that I probably have IT band syndrome.

"Iliotibial Band Syndrome is one of the leading causes of lateral knee pain in runners. The iliotibial band is a superficial thickening of tissue on the outside of the thigh, extending from the outside of the pelvis, over the hip and knee, and inserting just below the knee. The band is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running, moving from behind the femur to the front during the ga itcycle. The continual rubbing of the band over the lateral femoral epicondyle, combined with the repeated flexion and extension of the knee during running may cause the area to become inflamed." 

This is not the end of the world but it has made my running life a bit more difficult. I have to do some horribly painful stretches as well as some strengthening exercises. I am going to go see a doctor when I go how in a week too. I took it easy during the week and then on July 3 I ran a slower 10 miles.

I got to Idaho this week and have enjoyed running here. It is beautiful to run past all of the fields of wheat, alfalfa, and potatoes. I love it! Today I had a great run. I ran from my bothers house up to the temple in Rexburg for a total of 13.1 miles! It was great- my knee didn't give me too much trouble either.  I stopped and stretched it out a couple times and it slowed me down a bit but I ran a 11:50 m/m pace. So, considering I feel good about it. I actually felt great other than my knee, tired, but good. As long as my knee doesn't slow me down too much I will be able to deal with it.  The following pics are examples of why I love Idaho and why I love running here.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Shattering Records

Well, not really shattering records... However, I did make better time today. I had a shorter run, seven miles, but it was a great run. I broke past 10 mintues per mile overall today, I ran a 9:42 pace and felt really good afterwards too. Also, I finally signed up for the marathon, it is official now.
Saturday after my run I went to this place in old town Alexandria called Pacers. It is a running store and has a fun local feel. They organize weekly runs and long runs on the weekends in the area. I was just looking around one of the owners was showing me some race gear and gave me some great advice on running my marathon. He said I oughta check specifics about what the race provides for hydration and food and at what intervals and then begin to incorporate those into my long runs to make the transition easier on race day.
Also, I have been tracking some of my training online at dailymile.com and it does some intersting calulations. For example, I have apparently burned about 70 donuts and saved 5.5 gallons of fuel. It is kinda nice to have it calculate my miles and pace and see my progress over time.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

10 down 16.2 to go

Well, this Saturday marked my longest run to date. I dont really have too much to say about it though. I made pretty good time the first five miles but realized I didnt get out early enough because the sun and humidity wasted me the last five. I still managed to roll in with about an 11 minute pace but the last few miles were WAY too hot. I took several walking breaks because I figured that my time wont matter if I cant run anymore due to death.
I am very happy with progress thus far though.
I ran the same trail as last week, just a little father obviously...

I dont think I ever mentioned the that the marathon I am running is the Top of Utah.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Lost

Total weekly mileage? 23! Although, it doesn't seem quite as great once I realize that I am supposed to run all that plus a few more miles in one day... However, I am still quite pleased with my progress.
It is a little high though because my run on Thursday didnt go quite as planned. I went out to try a new trail close to my house and had it all figured out on the map to do a 3 mile loop. It was 8pm and I figured there was plenty of daylight left since it takes less than a half hour for these short runs. But, as fate would have it, I didnt not get home until 9:30pm. I ran about 4 miles more than I had planned. Now, you may wonder why I didnt just turn around after about 15 minutes. Well, that is obviously logical, but I was in the zone and looked at my watch and realized I must be lost or just reeaallllly slow (also, the trail is a little crazy, with all sorts of off shoots and I wasnt sure if I could find my way back!).  I figured I would just run to the next cross road and see if that was where I was supposed to turn or if it even looked familiar.  There were all sorts of signs along the trail and I stopped at them all briefly to see if there was a map- alas, there was not but instead very informative placards about the various botanical wonders along the creek bed... I finally came to a cross roads and low and behold there was a map even! I starred at that map for a good 5-10 trying to decipher it. I gave up and asked someone some questions to try to get my bearings. (When I got home I realized this was about the 3.5 mile marker...) I ended up just turning around and running back. There were fireflies starting to appear and it was quite a wonderful to run along the trail lit by their little glow. However, this meant it was getting darker. I ran faster on the way home and ended up figuring out how to get back on my predetermined course and made it finally. I realized that I had made a wrong turn about 20 feet after getting on the trail which thus led me on quite the adventure...
It was great to find such a nice and well trafficed trail though so close to where I live. That is where I did my 9  mile run Saturday. It ended up being great. I went out in the morning and was able to enjoy the sun without being burnt alive or suffocated in the humidity. Yay!

Next Saturday: 52,800 ft

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Motivation From Mom

So today I was talking to my mom and she was telling me that she had walked a few miles today and I asked her if she was getting ready to run the marathon with me. 
Her reply: "No! Running is close to being retarded." 
I laughed out loud. I cant really blame her though.
I felt that way- like last week...

Happy running!

"Run like hell and get the agony over with."
-Clarence DeMar

I believe that the Good Lord gave us a finite number of heartbeats and I'm damned if I'm going to use up mine running up and down a street.
-Neil Armstrong

"It's unnatural for people to run around the city streets unless they are thieves or victims. It makes people nervous to see someone running. I know that when I see someone running on my street, my instincts tell me to let the dog go after him."
- Mike Royko 

"Life is short... running makes it seem longer."
- Baron Hansen 

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Running and Running, Running and Running...

So, last Saturday I ran around the monuments and almost died. It was a beautiful day outside and it was Memorial Day weekend so there were lots all the typical Saturday tourists + all the holiday tourists down at the monuments... So, it was a little crowded. I didn't get out early enough so the humidity (=death) and heat made it feel like I was dragging a four poster bed behind me for 7 miles (why am I doing this?) but I tried to listen to my Franz Schubert and enjoy Thomas and Abe.
So, this week I only got two runs in -a 3 and a 4 miler- because it was my birthday (I'm 24!!!) and missed my Wednesday run.  But, I did my 8 mile run today and it was AWESOME! Seriously. (As awesome as running can be...)  I am really happy with how I did and how I felt though. Mucho better than last week. After I finished I felt like I could run more, so that is probably a good sign right? My run was along the Capital Crescent Trail which runs along the water past Georgetown (yuppie yup- no metro) and through some very pretty areas and took the metro home (sorry if any of you were there and had to smell me). For the DCites- Rosslyn to Bethesda.
9er next week, you are mine.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

That first mile...

I hate running. I have historically seen little value in it and thought that people who ran marathons have something wrong with them- seriously. What is the purpose in it? I mean peoples hearts like explode sometimes and they drop dead doing this right? How great can running be? Plus, I think I have some minor respiratory ailment. Plus, I am short and in some way have felt that this justifies my distaste for running long distances. However, I hate it less now. I have been running more frequently the last several months and despite thinking "runners high" was a sick joke to get people to keep running until their hearts explode ("Just keep at it and one day you will feel it and be hooked"), I may have actually experienced it. Although its hard to tell because it was only a short (like 4-5 mile) run and it could have been that I felt normal while running as opposed to near the brink of death... So, somehow this made me start thinking "Maybe I could do a marath-. No. Maybe?" So, after doing a lot of research and continuing to run and coaxing a friend into joining me- I am going to run a marathon in September.

I have been running pretty regularly for the last few months, but the last few weeks I have kicked it up but have realized I need to get some support.  My running buddy lives in Denver and I live in DC. I am pretty good about getting out and running, but figured that posting my weekly efforts out where the world can see it (despite the fact that I am pretty sure no one would want to read a blog about running) may provide me with the extra motivation I need to really make this all happen.