2:36

Today I ran my first half marathon, the Chicago Rock N Roll Half Marathon. Hooray automatic PR! I was actually hoping for under 2:30, which was perfectly attainable based on my training, so I'm a little disappointed with the 2:36. I was feeling good for the first half of the race, it was pretty hot but I was hydrating and cooling as necessary. The volunteers did a tremendous job of keeping us pumped up, and the race organizers added several cooling stations and giving away ice at the medic tents. Somewhere around 9 miles though I convinced myself to take my first walk break, and I kind of fell apart after that. The thing is, it wasn't really my legs or tiredness stopping me, it was me quitting. It was mental. That's why I'm disappointed in myself. 

I have explained to Tim and Adam about what I describe as the little devil on my shoulder. He's the one who tells me "Take it easy, you can walk. See all those other walkers? Just rest, it's okay" when I really could keep pushing. He tells me I'm not ready, I can't finish, I'm tired, it's too hot, it might rain, etc. He makes me nervous before a run because I have a fear that I'm going to somehow fail. He tells me a marathon is ridiculous, I can't do it. Well, the little devil took over a bit today, but several times I did push through and keep going. That's something. Hopefully in the future I can remember how disappointed I felt today when I let him take over, and quit listening. 

Pre race: Sunrise in Grant Park

To focus on the positives---hey I ran a half marathon today! I finished and I didn't need to quit. This is the furthest I've run and while my legs are tired, it's no worse than my other long runs. It was pretty hot and humid, but it didn't really stop me, and that's a testament to the training so far. I tackled all of the hills (or what pass for hills in Illinois) rather than letting up. And let's not forget, I've only been training for 7 weeks!  That fact kind of stuns me. I am halfway there (mileage-wise) and I have 11 weeks left. Also, I have the best athletic supporter ever. Tim is the truly the best partner and supporter. He woke up at 5am to come to the race with me, stayed with me while I stretched pre-race, cheered me on between miles 6-7, was who I was looking forward to see at the finish, and made me feel a lot better afterwards when I was down after the race. I couldn't wish for anything more.

Time for a nice recovery week, so I can come back and prove that little devil wrong--I can do it!

Motivation

Oh hey there! It's been awhile. Last week was an incredibly hot running week here in Chicago, and I felt like I would have been repeating myself if I told you about the 4 hot, sweaty, muggy, sticky runs that comprised the 22 miles I ran last week. It takes some motivation to go for a run in 100 degree weather and they were all completely disgusting, but looking back I am proud of myself for making it through them. Aside from the hot weather, I also had (non-runner) friends visiting from out of town, a mid-week holiday, and various other things I'd rather do than subject myself to these runs. I was also coming off of an incredibly awesome weekend where Tim asked me to marry him, so it's kind of impossible to top that and get back to the real world! But there were several things that kept me going through last week. 

Last week's training runs

Obviously, the most motivating thing is the marathon itself. I won't make it to or through the marathon without a lot of hard work and I can't afford to skip anything, because you can't cram for a marathon. In fact, when I was just running casually before, I would regularly skip planned runs because it was hot, I was tired, I stayed late at work, etc. It seems the walk home from the train to my house is often the time I convince myself to be lazy or motivated. But now I feel 100% committed to the marathon and the training program, so skipping any run is not an option in my mind. 

Another motivating factor is that running in the heat will better prepare me for...running in the heat. Who knows what the weather will be like during any of my runs and during the race, so I better figure out how my body needs to acclimate now. Also, I'm hoping that running in the summer will make me feel like a rockstar when the temperatures get cooler. I am running at much slower paces than I am used to, but I know that covering the miles is the most important thing, rather than pace. I'm probably always going to wish I was faster, but just completing runs in the heat is an accomplishment in my opinion. But even Monday's run in cooler temperatures felt amazing and partially even FUN because it wasn't sweltering. 

I also have a lot of quiet time on my runs--2 hours on the Lakefront gives you a long time to think. Most of the time I'm content to look out at the scenery, people watch, listen to my own feet and breath, but at some points I need a little something extra. Then I find my brain going rapid fire through a litany of things to motivate and inspire me. My friend Adam showed me his motivating phrase that he keeps as the background on his phone when he runs. I thought of his phrase this weekend, along with a whole list of other motivating things: Tim, my sister, working on not being a chubby bride, the people who have donated so far to my fundraising, the upcoming water fountain, only 4 miles left (when did 4 miles become an "only" distance??), hanging out with my friends later that day at the house we rented, the cold Vitamin Water waiting in the fridge, the fact that in two weeks my Mom would be walking 60 miles so 10 couldn't be THAT hard, a nice breeze, the Gatorade at Diversey (near the end of my run...it was delicious), and hoping for some sprinklers on the last mile from the Lakefront (bless those people who water their lawns). I got through it, thanks in no small part to the many things my brain kept reminding me of to keep me going. 

Each time I finish and make it home, after a bit of hydrating and stretching, I'm amazed that once again, it's not so bad. I can do it. 

What motivates you?

Race Report: Chicago Women's Half and 5K

Yesterday was the inaugural running of the Chicago Women's Half Marathon and 5K. Not quite ready for the half marathon, I stuck with the 5K. Our group long run on Saturday was 8 miles and the conditions were less than ideal on Sunday (pretty hot and humid), so I wasn't expecting much more than a nice morning run. 

I went to the race solo--Tim stayed home for this one. He is normally right there with me, but I told him he could stay home (since it was a women's race and all). I also feel kind of bad making him come out for every race, especially if I'm not really pushing myself for a goal or time. The pre-race festivities included massage stations, fancy water, warm-ups, and a variety of vendors. Lots of smiling happy faces, camaraderie, and empowering speech surrounding the race--June 23rd marked the 40th anniversary of the passing of Title IX. The benefiting charities of the race were the American Heart Association and the Go Red for Women campaign. For all the attention breast cancer gets from the world, there are many other issues that women face that cannot be ignored. Heart disease is the number one killer for women over the age of 20, and it is the cause of death for 1 in 3 women. I guess the moral of the story is we all need to be taking better care of ourselves, and I hope that my running in the last couple of years sticks with me for the rest of my life. Sorry Tim, if all goes well you still have many more races to attend in the future! In fact, I signed up for the Chicago Half Marathon in September after the race. I had planned on it, since the timing is excellent preparation for the marathon.

Because of my long run the day before, I did a lot of stretching beforehand. I'm glad I got there early because normally I'm kind of frazzled and sometimes barely make it to the start on time, let alone get good stretching in. After all of my stretching I watched the half marathoners start. I got a little weepy then, watching friends, bridal parties, sisters, mothers, and daughters heading to the start line together. I love running races with my Mom, I am so grateful for the races I got to run with both her and Megan, but I am sad about the fact that I will never get to run a race with Megan again. At just the right time though, the announcer reminded us to be kind to each other and run empowered for all the women who can't run and couldn't in the past, so I made it to the start line and focused on the race ahead of me. 

Mother/daughter team at the race

My goal for the race was to only take 1 walk break at the halfway water stop, as I have been struggling with my pace/walk breaks recently. I succeeded in that--I ran to the turnaround, mixed the water and Gatorade, walked for about a minute, and finished the race. My time was 33:46 (10:53 pace). I've definitely run faster 5Ks, but not after running 8 miles the day before! I'm totally happy with myself, and it was a great day. The race finisher prize was a yoga mat, which is actually the most useful goodie I've ever received, and they did a yoga session after the race. I wish I could have stayed for that, as increase in running and decrease in yoga has made me pretty stiff, but I was pretty beat and just wanted to get home. 

I've done a fair amount of 5Ks and this one was pretty great. Next year, let's hope for the half marathon!

There and back

Whew, what a week! I ran in 3 states, starting last weekend in Atlanta where I was visiting some of my knitting friends, Marianne and Erin, and then to Las Vegas for a conference. Atlanta was fun. I had a nice run in my friend's neighborhood, except for the damn hills! They may not seem like hills to the natives down there, but to this Chicagoan they were huge. I made it though, even with a bit more walking than I hoped. I'll take it. 

Then off to Vegas. Well....that was an experience. I was staying in Excalibur, which is at the south end of the strip for my conference. I figured instead of just using the gym, I would run on the strip. When else would I get to run on the Las Vegas strip? Let me tell you, it was interesting, starting with walking through the casino and out the door around 5:15am (since it was wicked hot when I was there, highs of 105). At first I felt strange walking through a casino in my workout clothes, but then I walked by a group of people seeing 5am from the other side, dressed in neon and furry go-go boots. I saw lots of characters on the strip: other runners, people stumbling home, women of the night (or dawn, as it was), people giving me the thumbs up, a few hecklers, a "nice booty", a guy tried to run with me (he didn't last long), and someone who should have been in bed yelling "Why are there so many runners?!" It was interesting I tell you! 

View of New York, New York hotel on my run. 

On the con side, if you haven't visited Vegas recently (or ever) there are lots of pedways (escalator/stairs up, bridge across the street, escalator/stairs down) to cross the major streets. I'd say there and back for 3-4 miles I must have come up to 6-8 of these. That kind of put a damper on my pace. The first run, I wasn't really expecting that and I was extremely frustrated. There was NO WAY I was going to run up and down all the stairs, so there was a lot of walking. Also one set of stairs were being cleaned, so I ran through a building and rode an elevator in another spot. Pretty crazy! 

I hated the bridges so much I didn't take a picture, so this pic is from here. 

Despite my grousing, it didn't stop me from running the strip again a few days later. The next time I tried to think of it as an obstacle course, it worked (sort of). Even though they weren't the greatest runs, last week's certainly weren't boring. Because the training schedule is so aggressive (at least for me--I'm not used to running 4x per week), I'm finding it easier to get out and do the runs, moreso than when I was just running casually. I know even if my runs aren't the best, I've got to get out there and do them I'll never make it. I was actually really surprised at myself for waking up at 5am in Las Vegas, of all places, to run.  

And now I'm back to good ol' flat Chicago. We had a group long run last weekend on the lakefront, where I met more of the Bright Pink team, I went for a nice long bikeride yesterday to McCormick Place, and another run today. I'm still trying to find my pace, but at least my only obstacles in the near future are the heat and myself!

Anyone else want to run the Chicago Marathon?

Seriously, if you want to, there's still time! It's only the first week of training:

Run the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon with Team Bright Pink We have additional bibs for Team Bright Pink for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon being held Sunday, October 7, 2012. All kinds of perks are being offered - FREE registration, FREE 18 week FFC Tri-Monther Training Program. 24 hour injury hotline through NovaCare, goodie bag, pasta party, celebration party and lots more. Plus, if you are signed up for the Marathon and sign up another runner, you will receive a FREE pair of running shoes and a pair of Lululemon pants. Sign up two runners and you will receive the new, awesome MOTOACTV watch. Remember, if you can run a mile, you can run a Marathon. Don't be left out! Email wendy@bebrightpink.org today for all the details. 

I could use the new pair of running pants :) Team Bright Pink 

Training Week 1

This week marks my first (of 18) weeks of marathon training. I started off my running (or attempted to) with 3 miles at Miller Beach, IN on Sunday, where Tim and I were staying for a little vacation. It was pretty hot and I hadn't hydrated (unless you count whiskey and beer), so it was kind of a slog. Not a good way to start my training, but I figured it could only get better. 

And it has! Yesterday was a good run, we were supposed to do a 3 mile tempo run (where you have a warmup, then 20 minutes of hard running, little cool down). I decided to run around Graceland Cemetery by my house, which has the benefits of being a 2 mile loop (approx 4 half mile segments) with no stop lights. I had trouble keeping up the hard pace for the required 20 minutes, so I kind of went easy for one segment, hard, easy, hard. For the first few hard segments my pace was better than I've ever seen! Hopefully I will get better at those hard segments, but I know it doesn't happen overnight. I also ended up running over 4 miles (whoops), which is further than I have since before my first surgery in February. I'd call that a win. 

I have my first Team Bright Pink group run on Wednesday, and then this weekend I will be out of town (visiting my friend Erin in Atlanta, then off to the NFPA conference in Las Vegas). After this trip I will have trained in 4 states in a week and a half! It's pretty hot in Atlanta and Las Vegas, so I'm not expecting any stellar times, I just want to put my miles in and start getting used to the heat. 

View my Marathon Training map in Google Maps

Meeting the team

Last night was the Team Bright Pink introductions, where we met each other, the Bright Pink coordinator Wendy Avner, Andrea Metcalf (a celebrity lifestyle trainer), and our trainer Joy Miles (quite an appropriate name if you ask me) from Fitness Formula Clubs. We also got the lowdown on our training schedule, which starts June 4. We'll have the opportunity for group workouts 3 times per week (one regular, one track workout and one long run), and also the best part (in my opinion) is a membership to a FFC (Fitness Formula Clubs) workout club in Chicago. I love my regular gym, but these gyms are swanky. The location I signed up for has a pool! And showers! It will be nice to try it for a few months and shake up the group fitness routine.

Also as part of the training program, we have access to injury prevention and rehab programs with Nova Care, as well as a partnership with Running Away Multisport for deals and gear assistance. There will be lots of team events, larger group runs, seminars on stretching and nutrition, pedicures (just don't scrape my calluses!), a pre-race pasta dinner, post-race massages, post-race party (WITH SHOWERS!) and the list goes on. I also met with some of the other members of the team, who aren't all marathon experts. Not to knock experts, they're fantastic and motivating, but I don't want to always feel like the "slow one." One woman is a breast cancer survivor and has run 22 marathons (we just met, already had a few tears, shared a hug), one woman who began running only 1 year ago and completed the Chicago Marathon last year, and another first timer running her first half next month. I feel very encouraged. 

But my major concern was still my running. I told the trainer Joy about my thin skin and asked what she thought. She seems to think I can do a lot with the cross training and is willing to tweak the schedule for me if I'm not able to run right away. I asked her what I would do if I can't train and she told me "Can't is a cuss word." I feel much more motivated that barring something bad that prevents me from running altogether, I can still do this. It may not be the most ideal training, but my goal is just to FINISH. And it could be just my imagination, but I do feel my thin skin starting to thicken up. 

Anyways, I have my new motto: CAN'T IS A CUSS WORD!

Happy Mother's Day!

For Mother's Day, Mom came to Chicago to run the Y-ME Race at Your Pace 5K downtown. I ran the race, and it felt great! My (new) Garmin tells me I finished in 32:08, which is pretty good considering I've only been back at it for a week. I'm really not pushing myself yet (except to pass all the walkers today), so I think this bodes well for future training! After we came back, Tim had brunch prepared for us (mango parfait and sweet & savory crêpes), and it was a delight. 

Mom and her best friend, Penny. Mom's allergic to cats but is a mega trooper when it comes to my furball

Enough about me. Mom is training for the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk, which is 60 miles in 3 days, in Boston from July 27-29. Her team is Miles for Megan, walking in memory of my sister. My Mom has blown past the fundraising minimum for the event ($2300) and has raised about $11,500 to date! The event itself is no small feat, Mom has been training diligently, when she was in Chicago taking care of me after my surgeries, at home, and this weekend. Yesterday we walked to two fabric stores in Evanston (almost 9 miles), today we ran a 5K, then walked back to my house from the race downtown (7.4 miles). The mimosas at brunch were well deserved. 

I am so inspired by my mother's training. Walking may sound easy, but it's a lot of work training for this event! I have really enjoyed walking with her, especially since I can't run long distances yet.  Our family was never one of athletes, so both my Mom's event and my marathon are a big deal. Four years ago, we ran our first race together in Chicago (Mom, Megan, and I), which was both my Mom's and my first 5K. We have done a handful more with each other and the three of use ran the Y-Me race last year on Mother's Day. I will admit to being emotional during parts of the race today...I felt a void where Megan should be and I'm sure Mom feels it too, especially being Mother's Day. But I know she is with us and I hope she knows she is an inspiration to us, as we both train for these events. 

Megan, me, and Mom at the United Run for the Zoo, 2008

Mom and I at the Y-Me race last year.

So here's to my Mom, a wonderful inspiration, and a crucial member of my support team. I wouldn't be here without her!