River City Marathon for some, 5K for me

So, as I was looking at life after the Half, I saw the River City Marathon.  It is for St. Jude and since I am all about the St. Jude, I signed up.

Ran the Half, April 27th and then proceeded to run exactly three times before the River City Marathon.. Had a great time hanging out with Ed, Stephanie, their kids, Katie, Paul and Moira Marshall.  Being around positive people who also happen to be runners is SO refreshing.  Note to self, hang out with runners more.  Ed and Katie (brother and sister) both rocked the Full Marathon OUT!

Anyway, started the run, it was a small event.  Only about 2000 runners overall.  Chugged along at my normal pace.  I found that I missed my Half Marathon running buddy Karen ;(  but ended up about the same pace as this lovely lady in a cute running outfit, skirt and all.  We were chugging along and she asked me if this was my first 5K and I happily told her, no, I had just finished a Half Marathon 3 weeks ago.  She was surprised.  I think I could get used to surprising people like that.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will leave work early and head to Champaign, IL for the Illinois Marathon.

Six months ago, this was a "wouldn't it be cool" thought that I shared with very, very few people.

I have done the training, I have run the program. I missed a few short runs, but throughout the winter, I did not miss one single long run AND I ran them all alone, outside during an Illinois winter.

My kids and TGF and my mom and dad have watched me work towards this goal and bless them, they never one single time, discouraged me and let me tell you, that was probably not the easiest thing to do as I was a bear with a sore ass on long run days.

I am contemplating the Victory Pose and the Facebook pictures and running into Memorial Stadium down the chute and crossing the 50 yard line. The Chief danced there and I will stand there too, with a Finishers Medal around my neck.

I and my team have raised enough to fly a kid and parent to St. Jude in Memphis and feed and house them for at least a week. I remember my dad dropping Michael and I off at the airport that first trip to Memphis and I am proud that our team can provide at least that comfort.

My left heel hurts, my right knee twinges, my feet felt like ground beef just over one week ago when I finished my 14 mile run and I'm scared because 13.1 miles is a long way, but today the thought occurred to me, "What if the training was the hardest part?"

I'll let you know after Saturday.

Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon or BUST!

Last Saturday, in the dark of the night after an exciting day of swimming and diver watching at the University of Minnesota, I finally came out of the closet and sent donation e-mails and posted on Facebook that I was running the Half Marathon.

When the first donation came back just moments later, I cried.  I cry every time I get a donation.  If I ever get myself into a place where I think there is no one who loves me or no one cares, I will look at the donations and remember.

http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?team_id=34062&pg=team&fr_id=3842

Glory Days

HAHAHAHAHAHA~! I was looking at the posts that I had composed and never published and this is one that I created at the beginning of my Half Marathon journey 10 or more weeks ago. 3 miles...now it seems so "pedestrian" as I would jokingly tell the kids.


 So, it might not be quite common knowledge, but I am running a Half Marathon, The Illinois Marathon on April 27, 2013. I started this journey to health more than a year ago and I have kept at it now for a year. I started thinking about it in June when Michael was diagnosed and it has gotten to the point of "why not". On one hand it is a crazy idea, I am 48 years old, weigh more than the charts say I should and have never been a runner. BUT, I remember the glory days. I played sports in high school and wasn't all that bad at them. Never the best, but could always be counted on when the chips were down. I have some stellar soccer memories, some goals, some injuries and in fact was inducted into the Serena High School Athletic Hall of Fame a few years ago. I remember during the induction, I was thinking, "I bet no one that knows me now would ever believe that I was an athlete". Well, at 48 years old, I am again transitioning from a couch potato to an athlete and I pray that this time it sticks. The Half Marathon training program is 16 weeks. I just finished week 2 which required a 4 mile "Long Run". I was grumpy about it, I was afraid I couldn't do it, but I know that I need to follow the plan or I will not be successful in my Half Marathon attempt and I will be a Finisher. SO after mile 3 of the "long run", I got to thinking about the fact that I would indeed finish this first long run and that in 16 weeks, I'll be finishing the Half Marathon and how glorious it will be to cross the finish line at the 50 yard line of Memorial Stadium and strike my "Victory Pose". I almost started to cry. It will be so cool at 48 to have an athletic Glory Day again.I'll keep you posted.

From Runners World

This came from Runners World. I wanted to save it, it is NOT my creation.


Hey, Fat Girl Yes, you. The one feigning to not see me when we cross paths on the running track. The one not even wearing sports gear, breathing heavy. You’re slow, you breathe hard and your efforts at moving forward make you cringe. You cling shyly to the furthest corridor, sometimes making larger loops on the gravel ring by the track just so you’re not on it. You sweat so much that your hair is all wet. You rarely stay for more than 20 minutes at a time, and you look exhausted when you leave to go back home. You never talk to anyone. I’ve got something I’d like to say to you. You are awesome. If you’d look me in the eye only for an instant, you would notice the reverence and respect I have for you. The adventure you have started is tremendous; it leads to a better health, to renewed confidence and to a brand new kind of freedom. The gifts you will receive from running will far exceed the gigantic effort it takes you to show up here, to face your fears and to bravely set yourself in motion, in front of others. You have already begun your transformation. You no longer accept this physical state of numbness and passivity. You have taken a difficult decision, but one that holds so much promise. Every hard breath you take is actually a tad easier than the one before, and every step is ever so slightly lighter. Each push forward leaves the former person you were in your wake, creating room for an improved version, one that is stronger, healthier and forward-looking, one who knows that anything is possible. You’re a hero to me. And, if you’d take off the blaring headphones and put your head up for more than a second or two, you would notice that the other runners you cross, the ones that probably make you feel so inadequate, stare in awe at your determination. They, of all people, know best where you are coming from. They heard the resolutions of so many others, who vowed to pick up running and improve their health, “starting next week”. Yet, it is YOU who runs alongside, who digs from deep inside to find the strength to come here, and to come back again. You are a runner, and no one can take that away from you. You are relentlessly moving forward. You are stronger than even you think, and you are about to be amazed by what you can do. One day, very soon, maybe tomorrow, you’ll step outside and marvel at your capabilities. You will not believe your own body, you will realize that you can do this. And a new horizon will open up for you. You are a true inspiration. I bow to you.

I really ran 9.5 miles?

It's starting to get real now. The long run has been steadily increasing and while it has been hard so far, it has been "doable". I would finish thinking "13.1 won't be that bad". It will be hard, but it is simply a matter of walk/run/walk/run. Endurance, not speed is my goal. Well, yesterday I ran 9.5 miles. Dude it was HARD...I ran out of GU the last 2 miles. I kept thinking 1 minute at a time, 1 minute at a time...My dad came to check on me and I had about 1 mile left and I told him I was fine, but I really, really wanted to crawl into the truck and let him drive me home, but I didn't. When the little voice in my earphones said, "Congratulations, now lets cool down"...I almost cried with relief. I walked the rest of the way to my starting point and stretched and ate and stretched again and again and again. I was stiff for about 3 hours after but by the evening, I was doing pretty well and today, I am HUNGRY, but other than that, I feel pretty good. This linebacker body of mine seems to be doing its thing and getting stronger. Let's not talk about the next long run (11 miles).

My Half Marathon Journey

I am told that I should blog my journey to the Illinois Half on April 27, 2013. Hmmm, well, ok, I'll try...On one hand, I've always thought it would be cool to run. ALL healthy people run, right? And I WANT to be healthy and so if I run, I'll be healthy. I started the C25k program back in....late summer/early fall 2011 and ran the Turkey Trot in Oglesby. I puttered at the Y and half-ass tried to continue the program trying to use it to get faster. I ran the Walter Payton 8k in June, 2012 and then didn't really run much until the fall of 2012. When Michael got sent to St Jude, all I could think of was "I may never get to run a 5k with him". I know that wasn't the right attitude, but I was terrified. When we experienced St. Jude, I wanted to give back. Sure we will be a Partner in Hope until the day we both draw our last breath, but I wanted to do something harder than just donate money. It became a crazy, crazy dream to run the St. Jude Half Marathon in Memphis. You see there is a picture at St.Jude of which I am particularly fond, it is a famous athlete, bit I don'to know who it is, wearing a St.Jude Hero singlet. But that is a long time away. Could I train and focus on a goal that far away?

I started thinking about a "warm-up Half" and found the Christie Clinic Marathon in April in Champaign and THEN, I discovered that I could run the Illinois Half as a St. Jude Hero individually or I could form a team. Anyway, to make an endless story short, I formed a Team "Team Michael and the M&M'S" and thus I am now committed to running the Illinois Half Marathon as part of a St. Jude Hero team. Eeekkkk... The good news is that I can kill two birds with one stone!

SO... When swim season started, I got myself to the Y as often as possible. I did Lose to Win in the fall and started taking Power Hour on Mondays and Wednesdays, a Cardio class on Fridays and started the c25k again. Attempted the Jailhouse Jog in Peoria (benefits St. Jude and Walked the 2012 Turkey Tot because a friend was walking. December 1 I started the training for the Half. I am using the Galloway method. I am at a 1/1 progression. Meaning I walk for a minute and then run for a minute. I am shooting for a pace of 15 min per mile which is extremely slow and kind of shameful for a runner, but it is what it is. I have learned that people run marathons and Half marathons this way or some variation of this method all the time. I had always thought that all marathon runners ran the entire 26.2 or 13.1 miles. This is evidently not the case. When I found out I could run/walk I thought, "Hey! Maybe I can really do this?" and I began training in earnest.

I am scared, scared to death. I don't look like a runner, I look like a linebacker. I have told people, too many people for me to have to face if I don't do the race...I have haters, haters who when they hear of my adventure will scoff and say nasty things behind my back and ask me what my time was. I have a response ready for them. People who love me have said, "oh, you'll cause yourself osteo problems" and "aren't you taking too much time from the children" and "oh, marathons are so hard on your body". In all honesty, many people have encouraged me to the moon and back. I work almost full-time, have a husband, 3 kids, 2 dogs and all the other issues of a busy woman in 2013. But I have decided, I will stick to the training, I will put in the time and log the miles. I will run this one Half Marathon for Michael and when that is over....I'll see if I want to do another one, or not....

Jailhouse Jog

Well, yesterday I was to run the Jailhouse Jog for St. Jude in Peoria. I did run part of it. It was a humbling experience, but I just couldn't finish it. A good bit of it was on grass, I had to pee, I got up a 4am to get there. Only 160 cals for breakfast, 3 one hour workouts last week, one the night before the run. I thought I was strong enough. Afterall, it was only 3 miles...I can do that! Not yesterday. Excuses, excuses, excuses....I just couldn't catch my breath, couldn't get into a rhythm, my calves were cramping, silly head games, I tried visualizing St Jude and the wonderful people and how I wanted to run with Michael someday and I just couldn't focus, couldn't settle down. I am a runner, a badass runner-some say, but yesterday, I was a pussy...