hbbc - week 2, and a potential goal

I may have found a replacement for my beloved Oreos.

Ugh, a tough week for me training-wise. But a very successful (albeit exhausting) week work-wise.  So I guess that was the trade-off.  

Turns out it's a lot easier for me to run and workout when I have three days off of work, despite having family visiting from out of town for four days and hosting a dinner for 25. Looks like I need to make some changes if I'm going to meet this challenge head on!  Oh well, onward and upward, right?

Oh, and since part of the HBBC is healthy eating, I must come clean about my latest treat obsession. Surely you remember my unhealthy love of Oreo cookies.....  I have pretty much given them up because I have proven incapable of portion control. I've found a new love and it's like a match made in heaven - salty and sweet, chocolate and crackers, carbs and sugar....soooooo white trash!  I LOVE them.

Ok, back to running/healthy stuff.....

Pull-tabs.  Yeah, we're classy like that.

So the husband and I are toying with the idea of a destination marathon...... anyone run the Manitoba Marathon in Winnipeg?  Looks like a pretty cool race, and quite small (675 or so finishers last year). And FLAT!! Only a 3 meter elevation change. Perfect to attempt a PR, no?

Speaking of the husband, he was also suffering from the effects of a highly challenging work week. We celebrated the end of the week by having a very low-brow date night - dinner at a local pub that has spectacular sandwiches. And pull-tabs. Lots of pull-tabs.  They're like hope and possibility-filled paper Oreos to me. Good thing we only go there once every 7 years or so. (Have I ever told the story of how we used pull-tab winnings to pay for our marriage license? It's true! Don't judge.)   

Anywhoo, Here are my stats of shame for HBBC week 2:

Runs: 0
Walks: 2
Miles: 4.73
Strength/Core Workouts: 2.5 (50 minutes of yoga)
Elliptical: 0
Fruits/Veggie Servings: 2!!
Bonus points: 3
Total HBBC Points: 10.23 (Please note that I although I sucked at being active, I did manage to meet my freggie goal TWICE this week. It's a little miracle!!)

Here's hoping for a better week 3!

chicago marathon race report

Bling for Marathon #3

Spoiler alert - I finished the marathon!

5:19:43 is my official time.  I started slow and ended slower.  But I finished! It was a tough one, no doubt about it.  The last few months have been tough for me on a personal level, and training really took a backseat to everything else going on.

My long runs saved me.  Good thing I know myself - I'm both lazy and a bling whore. (Because I know that about myself, and because I obviously need external motivation to get my ass out the door, I signed myself up for a ton of races so I wouldn't have to map out my long runs or carry my own water, and then when I'm done, I get rewarded for running, with things like food, medals, shirts and sometimes jewelry. Winner!!)  Anywhoo, it was all those races that kept me in some semblance of running shape.

The husband and I flew to Chicago on Saturday morning.  Race or no race, we were going to be celebrating our wedding anniversary on October 7th (which just happened to be the same day as the marathon.....the man loves me so much he agreed to travel to a distant city to watch me run a marathon ON OUR ANNIVERSARY. I'm a lucky woman) and then spending a few extra days to prolong the celebration.

Unless you're new here, you know that my training for this marathon has been, shall we say, less than ideal. Until I went to the race expo, I wasn't even sure I was going to run the marathon.  But damn, it was hard to not get all caught up in the excitement of the event and being a part of it!

So I was waffling.

I bought a pint glass (had to - it's tradition).

I bought an official Nike Chicago Marathon shirt.

See if you can spot my name.....

Ok, there's a back story here.  I wanted the shirt in day-glo orange. I looked and looked for a medium but all I could find was XL and XXL. I tried on the XL and it was ginormous. Pretty much all women's shirts in size medium were hot property. Then suddenly a woman holding my desired day-glo orange top says, "Hey, is anyone looking for a size medium?" I said yes and she was handing to to me when some ballsy beyoch RIPPED IT RIGHT OUT OF MY HANDS. Unbelievable. The husband looked her in the eye and said, "REALLY??"  She didn't even flinch. In retrospect however, she probably did me a favor. Day-glo orange shirts and red hair do possess a bit of a conflict.) Aaaaanyhoooo......

I think there were about a bazillion people at the expo. Seriously. I counted.  Can you say clusterf*ck? But that's a subject for another post....

You know what sealed the deal for me?  Finding my name on the wall of runners. How could I NOT run now??

Pre-race. "Hey stranger, would you please take our picture?  It's our anniversary!!'"

So that's how I ended up in corral L early on Sunday morning. Me, along with 44, 999 of my closest friends.

It was cozy at the start.

It was a fun run, if you can believe it.  I had my earphones in just in case I decided I needed some music, but never did turn the music on.  (Yurbuds - the best, most comfortable earbuds EVER.)  It was much more interesting listening to the crowds!

My timing chip.
I should probably leave it on my shoe as a reminder to help keep me upright.

Did I mention that there were 1.7 million spectators at this marathon?  Yeah, one point seven MILLION. It was amazing. The various neighborhoods take their cheer sections seriously.  My favorite section was (I think) in Old Town. A bunch of crazy enthusiastic people in yellow shirts yelling out encouragement to us slow runners. I loved it!

Mile 2.  Still feeling fresh as a daisy.

Though it was a fun day, as I mentioned above, it was a frickin' tough run for me. No lie. I had to dig deep for this one. On the upside, I think going sooooo slow prevented me from having any GI issues.  That was a nice change! (I did still have to take two potty stops but no 8+ minute breaks in the action like at Grandma's last year.  Oh, sorry, I guess that qualifies as TMI......)

Around mile 23 or so, I saw Bobbi and her sister Michelle.  That was a huge boost for me - I was pretty tired at that point and seeing Bobbi's familiar face was fantastic!  Michelle was running her first marathon; her knee had pretty much given out on her but she was determined to finish. And finish she did! I took a picture of the three of us and Bobbi & Michelle look adorable.  I on the other hand, look absolutely hideous.  Even the husband when looking at the photo said, "You're beautiful!  Buuuuttt, that picture isn't your best." God love him, he's the king of understatement.  

Mile 25.  Sore as hell but still smiling. And still running!

I kept going and saw the husband at mile 25. Only 1.2 miles to go!  He gave me a kiss and sent me on my way.

Finish line!
(Actually, now that I think about it, this is just the painted photo-op area about 2 miles from the finish.  But whatever.)

I pushed on, turned the corner to the finish line and powered on through. My goal (had I been in shape) was 4:30.  I crossed the finish line almost 50 minutes slower than that.  But it was a most satisfying marathon finish.  I'm pretty damn proud of myself.

Actual finish line photo.
This must be my "happy marathoner" pose.
(I'm the one in the grey shirt.)

My slowest marathon time to date, but I think it's the one I'm most proud of.
So far.  But perhaps I should rethink the headband. <sigh> At least my ears stayed warm.

Damn straight I did!

And now for the big question: Which marathon should I set my sights on next?

ai yai yai

In two days, I'm going to attempt marathon number three.

A bucket list marathon.

Chicago.  Shi-Ka-GO!!!

How's my training been going, you ask?

Ummmm, honestly?  Not so great. Remember how I was whining about life getting in the way of my training? Yeah, well, I'm still whining about that because it has continued to do so. I've managed to do several long runs but my weekday runs have been practically non-existent.

Despite that, I figure I may as well toe the line Sunday morning and see how it all shakes out.  I mean, what's the worst that could happen? A DNF? That would suck but in the grand scheme of things, not the end of the world. Besides, I think I'll feel worse if I don't even try. So I'm going to try.

The weather looks just about perfect.

I'm told it's a pretty flat course.

As long as the body holds up, I know I can do the miles.


Ok, I THINK I can do the miles.....


So it will most likely be extremely slow (but the course is open for six and a half hours - I can WALK the whole way and still finish in that time, right??)......

And I'm guessing it's not going to be too pretty.......

But what the hell.  It's not like I have anything else planned that day! (Well, except that the husband and I will be celebrating our anniversary, but that's why we're staying a few extra days in the windy city)

It's going to be more of a test of my mental toughness than my physical fitness.

I'm ok with that.

But if you have time on Sunday morning, would you do me a favor and toss a prayer or two my way?  Especially around 1:00 CST.  I'm guessing that's when I'll be needing them the most.

Thanks!

grandma's - race day recap!

There was a plethora of porta-potties.  Yay!

So..... back to race day.

We were on one of the school buses taking us to the start line (and getting passed by the fancy-pants luxury buses filled with runners and heading to the same damn start area. I rode a school bus last year, too.  I need to find out where the fancy buses line up and go there next time.)  But I digress.... Anyway, we were on the bus and we saw a wolf - a frickin' WOLF!! - come out of the woods and look at us! That was very cool.

We made it to the start area where they drop us off and we're left to entertain ourselves for the hour or so before the start of the race.  Not sure why they feel the need to drop us off so early but whatever.

The husband and I got into the porta-potty line and each did our business then headed to the hill to find a place to park our asses until it was time to line up.  I have to say, it felt a little bit like we were in a WWII movie, or maybe a movie about wandering through the desert for 40 years..... anywhoo, all these refugees sitting around waiting until we were told to move someplace else....

The husband waiting patiently to stat our trek
to Duluth.  Funny, I have NO IDEA where the red
Solo cup came from.  But hey, party on!

So, we're sitting there, minding our own business when the husband says, "Don't look, but there's a guy by the porta-potty with a massive vat of Vaseline completely lubing himself up."  Of course, my head snapped around as soon as he said that, and I shouted, "Where!!" His response, "DON'T LOOK!!" (That phrase typically has the opposite of the desired effect on me. Race day was no exception.)  So of course I looked, and there was this guy of a certain age (not terribly young), behind a porta-potty and thus facing the multitudes and just going to town making sure NOTHING was going to chafe on him. He applied several coats. He's probably still protected. That stuff is not easy to wash off.

It was pretty disgusting really, but that's one of the things I love about runners.

Oh, and there was another guy who was laying on the ground RIGHT NEXT TO the porta-potty.  It looked like his head was close enough to touch it. And he was all zen-like and just resting up before the marathon, not noticing the wobbling of the structure as folks went in and out. I don't even want to think about the sounds he was hearing. Blech.

More marathon refugees.

Eventually, folks started shuffling towards the start corral so we joined the throngs.  We were on our way when we heard the national anthem so we stopped to listen and sing along.  Just before the singer was done, two fighter planes did a fly-over. Also very cool!

We continued to the start corral and could only get so far before the crowd was just too tight.  Couldn't even get to the 5 hour pace group.

And then we were off!

The first 10 miles or so were fabulous - the miles just clicked by.  But it was HUMID and pretty warm. I was loving the ice cubes and sponges at the water stops. And I was happy that the humidity didn't totally drain me like it usually does.  Maybe I'm finally getting acclimated??

Pre-race: waiting in the incredibly crowded starting
chute to get moving.  We were packed in like sardines.
I don't remember that being the case last year.
And whoa!! See that ballon above the husband's head?
Look at the other pre-race picture of him.....
creeeeeepyyyy

But OMG, the folks who needed to pee but couldn't wait for the porta-potties....  I'm used to men taking off to the side of the road and letting 'er rip, but this year, I saw two different women drop trou FACING THE ROAD IN FULL VIEW OF ALL THE RUNNERS to do their business.  Go behind a frickin' tree for pete's sake! No one wants to see that.  Even the guys around us were all, "Ewwwww!!"

We stopped at the half-marathon start to hit the porta-potties.  I was in and out in less than a minute.  No 8 minute stop this year - success!!  Thank you, Immodium. I heart you.

Our official half-marathon split was 2:20:53 which was a PR for the husband. We probably shouldn't have been going at that pace, but oh well.  Another lesson learned!

It was also at about the 13.1 mark that the weather went from humid, sunny and warm to cloudy, windy and cold. Huge shift.  The tail wind felt good but I was actually getting chilly as we walked the water stops. My ankles started to bark at about mile 15 or so, and then the knees and hips followed suit, so walking was a blessing.  But it was also harder to get going again each time.  I blame my three week old shoes.  The husband was having similar pains so we started adding more walk breaks when we needed to.

Almost to the finish!

The husband said after the race that he was actually worried we weren't going to finish.  He was having lots of pain - way more than I was aware of.  It never occurred to me that we wouldn't finish. Or even that it would take us more than 5 hours. It's my delusional nature that lets me think I can do things like run marathons so I'm ok with that.

Turns out, the husband had a secret goal of finishing under 5 hours.  He had always said he just wanted to be ahead of the police car and had no particular time goal in mind. Liar!

We did find ways to keep ourselves entertained during the race.  Listening to a guy hit on a girl while running was pretty funny.  He considered himself something of an expert on St. Paul and told her that he had compiled a list of 200 of the coolest things to do there. She eventually walked to let him go ahead of her. That was around mile 18, I think. 

The spectators were fun too. There seemed to be more in the first half than in the second half, though. Last year once we hit town it seemed like wall to wall people. This year, not so much. Maybe the weather change?  It went from hot to cold so people probably weren't dressed for the wind coming off the lake.

Over the finish line!!!!

But I did see the troll doll display again!

And there was an older guy running just ahead of us all through town. He was either a local legend or had his name on his shirt. Alllll along the route people would shout, "Rudy! Rudy! ROOOOODEEEEE!!!"and Rudy would wave at the admiring crowds. That was fun to watch.

The last 1.5 miles were kind of tough. I totally forgot about the downhill on Lake Drive to the little uphill over the bridge. That downhill left my quads a bitchin' I must say. Then we were wandering around the DECC to the finish.  That was when I had the nasty toe pain with the resulting bloody Injini. I was trying to elevate my mind above the pain when I heard someone shout my name.  It was Bobbi!! I was so excited to see her smiling face!! The husband was dealing with his own aches and pains and got his own lift as we were heading into the finish chute - SSS2 had made the trek to Duluth with four friends and they were cheering us on!  We cruised over to them for high fives and then heard our names called out by the announcer as we ran the last couple of hundred feet to cross the finish line.

Marathoners!

I had a great time!  I think the husband did too.....well, maybe not a GREAT time, but at any rate, he hasn't ruled out the thought of another marathon so I'm taking that as a positive sign.

I'll do a post-race recap too, but here's a little preview:

Post race.....
Me at home looking for more balloon pictures of the husband.

made it to grandma's 2012

To the finishers go the spoils!

You know me, this is the first marathon post.  I can never sum it all up in just one measly post.

So.....Grandma's marathon was just as fun this year as I remember it being last year, but for different reasons.

The husband rocks.  He's been so unbelievably supportive of me through all my training over the past couple of years, and this year he quietly trained for Grandma's....no dailymile account, no blog....(I guess there's only room for one attention-seeker in this marriage).....he just logged his miles and mentally prepared to run 26.2 miles.

As soon as he signed up for his own marathon adventure, the husband always said he wanted me to run my race and he would run his, and we would meet up at the end. So on the eve of the marathon, I was all set to try for my 4:30 goal,

5:15 a.m Ready to get the party started.

But then, on marathon morning, I had the realization that this may be the only marathon he ever does and as such, my only opportunity to run a marathon WITH him, not just be in the same marathon on the same day.  That made the PR not very important. I decided I'd much rather share the experience with him from start to finish and save the PR attempt for another day.  Hell, I can try for it in less than four months!!

So we ran together. And it was awesome! We kicked ass in the first (warm, HUMID) 13.1 miles, and then needed to dial it back significantly in the second half.  We walked every water stop from start to finish (and those water stops are lonnnggggg) and threw in additional walking as needed.  Our splits were all over the map.  See for yourself:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	4:52:18.6	26.31	11:06
1	10:14.4	1.00	10:14
2	10:10.1	1.00	10:10
3	10:38.1	1.00	10:38
4	10:06.8	1.00	10:07
5	10:00.9	1.00	10:01
6	10:51.8	1.00	10:52
7	10:07.8	1.00	10:08
8	10:47.5	1.00	10:47
9	11:34.0	1.00	11:34
10	9:50.5	1.00	9:50
11	10:32.9	1.00	10:33
12	11:47.9	1.00	11:48
13	10:25.8	1.00	10:26
14	11:21.2	1.00	11:21
15	10:17.4	1.00	10:17
16	11:40.1	1.00	11:40
17	13:07.5	1.00	13:07
18	10:35.5	1.00	10:35
19	11:17.9	1.00	11:18
20	12:43.2	1.00	12:43
21	12:45.3	1.00	12:45
22	11:56.6	1.00	11:57
23	11:57.0	1.00	11:57
24	11:12.7	1.00	11:13
25	12:06.7	1.00	12:07
26	11:00.4	1.00	11:00
27	3:08.9	0.31	10:00

When all was said and done, we had a PR for the husband and a PR for the bitter hag!!  Our official times were 4:54:09 for me and 4:54:10 for the husband.  Not sure why I beat him by a second but he's a good sport and seems ok with it.

Post-race!  Ready to nap and then go out for a meal of red meat.

More to come on the day itself.  But I just had to share the proof of my war wound from the day:

Is it dirt?  Nope.

Yep, that's blood on my precious Injinjis. Around mile 25 it suddenly felt as though my toenail had been ripped off.  Nothing so dramatic actually happened but it hurt like a sonofabeyoch. But at mile 25?  No way was I walking at that point! I just kept on going to the finish. I even managed to smile for the MarathonPhoto folks. Yeah, I'm a honeybadger like that.

More stories about marathon day coming up, including the visions of the guy lubing up with vaseline in full view of everyone, and women dropping trou to pee mid race, also in full view of everyone. Runners are gross.  But that's part of the fun!

The honeybadger at mile 25.5.