26.2 can eat my dust!

Well it's official.  I'm a marathon runner!  I still can't believe it.  Honestly it hasn't sunk in yet and it's been 3 days!  I'm starting to wonder if it ever will. 

For 2 weeks leading up to the marathon, my running tapered.  I know tapering is meant to help your body store up the energy it needs for race day, but mentally it started to take its toll.  I started to forget what it felt like to run 20 miles and the thought of running 26.2 was starting to really scare me.  I started to wonder who I thought I was.  Was this really my idea?  Did I really want to do this?  Was I cut out for it?  Well now I know I can answer yes to all of those questions. :)

During training my goal was to finish in 4 hours, however a part of me knew realistically it could be closer to 4:30.  As my runs tapered in the last two weeks of training I was averaging 8 minute miles.  My legs were going so fast my lungs couldn't keep up.  It was the weirdest sensation I've ever experienced as a runner.  I just couldn't slow my legs down during those shorter runs (one of them being 8 miles in an hour).  A new part of me surfaced and I started to think maybe, just maybe I could qualify to run Boston (3:35).  So now mentally I was battling the part that was saying, are you sure you're ready to do this?  While the other part was saying hey, maybe you could qualify for Boston.  Then the other part would come back and say, no way, not your first marathon.  Instead of stressing over something so silly, I decided I would just listen to my body.  If I qualified, great!  If not, no big deal - maybe I was just meant to finish.  I even thought about not turning on Map My Run during the marathon, but I knew I wouldn't really be able to do that.  I needed to have some sort of idea about how I was doing.  The funny thing is when I thought I started Map My Run, I had actually pressed pause.  Therefore, I didn't start it until later in the race and of course I didn't start it at an exact mile marker - lol!  I was doing math quite often to try and figure out how I was doing.  The majority of the time Map My Run was saying 8:04 minute miles.  I just couldn't believe it!

As I crossed the start line I noticed a 4 hour pacer so I decided to start the race hanging out close by.  Before I knew it, somewhere around mile 3, I had passed the pacer.  For a second I thought this might be a bad idea, but then justified it thinking if I started to feel bad I'd drop back until I saw him again and just try to keep him in sight.  Well, I never saw him again!  I remember feeling good.  My breathing was even and my legs were in a nice rhythm.  Then I encountered a decent size hill at mile 9.  I probably ran up it way too fast (I was practically sprinting bc I just wanted it to be over) for this early in the race.  Oh well, not looking back at this point.  I remember reaching mile 10 (usually when I start to feel like crap during a half) and thinking I'm actually glad I'm not finished in 3 miles.  I wanted to keep running!  Then at mile 15 I felt amazing...I think I was just on such a high.  There were several down hills up to this point.  I practically sprinted down all of them.  I took complete advantage.  I saw Brent at mile 16 so that was a nice boost of motivation.  It was also nice to think I only had 4 more miles until I would see Leaha.  She was jumping in to run the last 6.2 with me!  Those next 4 miles felt much longer than I anticipated.  When I got to mile 19 I could tell I was starting to get tired.  Right before 20 I spotted Leaha, Parker, my dad, my sister and her boyfriend.  What an awesome feeling!  20 was a turn around so I saw them on the opposite side as I approached it and again when I turned around.  I stopped to give Parker and kiss then turned to Leaha and said, are you ready?  She jumped in with some orange slices and jelly beans (my request).  I was able to eat the orange, but had no desire to eat the jelly beans - go figure.  At this point my thighs started to burn and they felt so tight!  I never experienced this before.  Maybe it was the beer I had right before mile 20 (only a swig) ha!  They were handing out free beer.  Who turns down free beer?  Clearly not me - even if I am running my first marathon!  Or maybe most likely it happened, because not only had I been running my fastest, but also the furthest.  Leaha was very motivating and encouraged me to push on.  Around mile 22.5 she decided to break off at 23 and meet up with Brent.  She felt as if she was holding me back.  This was when it really sunk in.  I had been running faster than I ever had during any long run!  I knew I was close to qualifying for Boston, but at this point my pace had dropped to 8:20 and 8:30.  As I did the math I soon realized, unless I picked it back up to 8:00 pace, I wouldn't make it.  It started to get to me and make me feel like I should just walk because it didn't matter anyway.  My legs were screaming at me to walk, people around me were walking and most of the people looked completely worn.  The motivation I had experienced at the beginning of the race (heck up until mile 20) had greatly declined.  People were just done.  I made the choice to stay in my own head and focus on running (heck I had less than a 5k left).  I didn't walk.  Miles 24-26.2 felt like an eternity.  I pushed on and crossed the finish line at 3:42!!  7 minutes off from qualifying for Boston.  At the end of the day, I can not have any regrets at all.  It's an accomplishment just crossing that finish line, let alone subbing 4 at my first attempt running this monster!

When I crossed the line, it took all I had to walk to get my medal.  My legs were absolutely done.  I had to sit down.  They were on fire and so achy!  I just sat there on the pavement by myself.  I didn't even care where my friends and family were.  I couldn't even grab the free food.  That's saying a lot coming from me. lol!  After about 5 minutes I finally made myself get up and walk the rest of the finish chute - which felt way too long.  I met up with  Sharlene, Leaha and Brent.  Without their support and encouragement, along with countless others (friends, family, co-workers, my students, their parents) I would have never been able to accomplish such a feat.  Throughout the race you would not believe the amount of text messages of encouragement I received!  It meant more to me than most will ever know. 

I'm still pretty sore.  Monday and Tuesday my back muscles killed me and walking down the stairs was a feat in itself.  I had to brace myself with the railing.  Today I could finally walk down the stairs normally.  Of course, I'm already thinking of running one more marathon before baby number 2!  But where and when?  I don't want to lose everything I've trained my body to do.  And obviously I'm going to bust my butt to qualify for Boston.  Speed work?  Weight training?  The thought of training through the winter for a spring race is less than ideal.  But running a marathon in the summer heat does not sound appealing at all!  Any suggestions? 

I told you they were encouraging!

14, 20 and Parker's first injury

Well 14 sucked sooooooo bad!!  I have never felt that bad on a run.  I waited until 3pm to run that day (I never run long runs this late in the day).  Brent had to work and I didn't feel like finding someone to watch Parker.  Anyhow, it was a pretty balmy day so I set out in shorts and a tee shirt.  In the first half I was warm...well for the most part.  There were occasional gusts of wind that made me pretty chilly.  By mile 10 I was starving!  Then I started to get pretty chilled around mile 11.  By mile 12 my knees were absolutely killing me and I would've done anything to get someone to pick me up.  My knees used to bother me pretty often in the past.  I can remember when I trained for my first half marathon they would kill me on and off.  And during practically every half marathon I've run (excluding the most recent) my knees are shot by mile 10.  However, during training for this marathon I really haven't had a complaint.  I was baffled as to why they were hurting so bad now.  Like I usually do, I pushed through.  It's not a sharp pain that I experience.  It's a dull pain below my knee caps...almost as if my knees tighten up.  When I got home I was freezing so I took a hot shower.  When I got out I looked in the mirror and my lips were purple...so weird.  I was still cold, so I bundled up and got in bed under the covers.  This wasn't helping.  I was pretty nauseous and getting hungry.  Brent soon came home with dinner.  About an hour and a half after I ate I finally felt like myself and the next day I felt absolutely fine.  I dunno, maybe I didn't eat or drink enough all day before I ran.  I also didn't plant nearly as much water or gu chomps.  Thankfully it hasn't happened since.  Of course this mentally screwed my anticipation of running 20 the following weekend.  However, that Wednesday I had to run 10 miles (my furthest weekly run to date) and I felt fabulous.  I averaged 9:00 minute miles.  This definitely gave me the boost of confidence I needed.  I also made sure to eat and drink plenty the Friday before.  20 ended up being quite amazing.  I ended up running my fastest long run of training.  I averaged 9:03 minutes a mile!!  Don't get me wrong it was definitely challenging.  At mile 18 my knees started to bother me again.  What the heck?  I knew this time it wasn't lack of energy or hydration.  I ate 2.5 packs of gu chomps and drank 34 oz of water!  So I tried to bend my knees more without changing how my feet hit the pavement (so nervous about hurting this stupid achilles again).  It helped a little, but they were still really bothering me.  I am so frustrated, because I felt great otherwise, but I really couldn't imagine running 6 more feeling that way.  The only hope I have to hang onto is that the week preceeding 20 I topped out my weekday mileage at 20 miles - making my total weekly mileage 40!  Hopefully having my mileage decrease up until race day will provide my knees with the rest they need.

Now onto Parker.  On Monday I took the morning off to go out to breakfast for Brent's birthday so I didn't get up early to run.  Instead, I ran after school.  When I got back from my run I opened the front door to the sound of Parker screaming and Brent yelling "Kristin, Kristin come up here".  As soon I reached the doorway to Parker's room I see Brent holding a bloody towel up to Parker's mouth.  He had fallen and knocked out his front tooth.  His lip then grew bigger and bigger right before our eyes.  Of course I panic, because that's what I always do in emergency situations.  Finally I got my wits about me and called my dentist who is also our friend (thank God!).  He calmed me down and instructed me to get Parker to calm down so we could get some ice on his mouth and give him some Motrin.  Well I realize I don't have any Motrin, but I could not bear to leave Parker and I was not letting Brent go anywhere either.  So I called my mom to see if she could go to the store and get us some.  Meanwhile, Parker was not letting me get near him with the ice.  Finally I got the courage to look in his mouth and I discover that the tooth is still there.  It is bent straight out and up into his top lip - no wonder he wouldn't let me put ice on it...ouch!!  Poor baby!  I call the dentist back and he tells me to do whatever it takes to get something cold in his mouth...feed him ice cream if I have to and get a pic to send to him.  So I'm feeding him a huge bowl of ice cream and he's crying as soon as it melts in his mouth.  He is not calming down!  My parents arrive, Parker calms down a little so my mom can look and I can get a picture.  I send it and my dentist replies with "I see the root.  You need to bend the tooth down and push it back up into his gums".  HA!  Yeah right!!!  I can't do it!  So I ask him if he would please let us drive over to his house...thankfully he agrees.  He pushes the tooth back in (several different times over the course of an hour) resulting in more blood and cries and sends us home.  Parker crashes on the way home and wakes up the next morning happy as a clam acting as if nothing ever happened.  The tooth is still in tact, but slightly lower than the rest of his teeth.  I let my dentist know.  He thinks it will reattach and all will be good.  Whew!!! I just could not imagine my little boy going to Kindergarten without a front tooth!  I mean seriously he probably wouldn't even get his next tooth until 1st or 2nd grade.  I was mortified thinking about it.  Anyway, we get ready for work and Brent takes Parker to my mom's as usual.  I call my mom to give her an update tell her I can't believe how happy he was this morning and she agrees - he's cracking up in the background and eating a banana.  Then about 20 minutes later I get a call.  My mom says "Kristin, no wonder he's so happy the tooth is gone!  He must have swallowed it." Ugh!  My stomach drops.  My little boy is going to be missing his front tooth for at least 5 years...waaaaaaahhh!!! :(  I know, I know it could be worse and I need to stop being so vain, but really his front tooth!!  Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it.  Time to get over it. lol.  The joys of having a boy.  I'm sure this is just the beginning.