Hooray! I did it!

So it is finished! All that I worked so hard for, for weeks and weeks. I gotta say, it was awesome!

The race began at 730 am with 40,000 runners lined (wadded) up waiting for the starting gun...It took me nearly 30 minutes to cross the START line. And then we were off! I started the race with my friend, Abby, and her friend, Betty. Betty had suffered an automobile injury which impeded her training, and before long, Abby and I were running without her. It was cool and shady for a while and Abby and I did well together. About mile 11, though, she began experiencing nausea and needed to slow down. I put my headphones on and waved goodbye to her. Off I went alone. From that point on, it was mind over matter.

I had been watching the weather for a few weeks before the marathon and it looked like it would be wonderfully chilly. Uhh. NO. The day started out at 58 degrees and the first half of the race was in the shade. The temperature rose quickly, though, and the course became completely sunny for the last 13 miles. At one point I saw a temperature sign that read 87 degrees. Geez. Not at all what I had hoped for.

The crowd support was amazing from mile 1 all the way through to the finish. Wow. I was absolutely amazed. There were people lined up on the street 4 and 5 deep the whole 26.2 miles. I had written my name quite boldly on both of my arms, so I had many people shouting encouragement to me by name throughout the race. It is amazing how much that helped. As the day wore on and temperatures got hotter, the spectators got more and more encouraging. At about mile 18 or so, people started putting their garden hoses and sprinklers out in the street and offering cooling showers to the runners going by. At several points, fire hydrants had been fitted with hoses and were spraying in arcs over the street. These were welcome showers, believe me. Best of all, though was when the nicest people of all started coming out into the street to offer runners handfuls of ice. It was SO great!

I saw some great tshirts along the way. My favorite was the one that said, " 18 weeks ago this seemed like a great idea!" I had to agree! It is very inspiring, though, seeing people of all shapes and sizes running the marathon for various causes from cancer research to alzheimers support groups to fundraisers for the humane society. There are also many great costumes and crazy getups worn in the race. There were many tutus and crowns worn, many marines in full uniform, jugglers and the Eiffel Tower. Yup, I crossed the finish line with someone carrying an Eiffel Tower. Go Figure...

The race kind of went by in a blur, but I remember commenting to myself at about mile 22 that this is when the real race began. It was at this point that I had to dig deeper than ever before to find the will to keep on going. I got to see my whole family at mile 25 and it was so great to see them cheering for me. It gave me the strength to keep going til the end. I finally did finish the race in 5 hours and 46 minutes and 2 seconds. I had hoped for less than that ( remember that secret goal). I am really pleased, though, given the incredible heat.

October 10, 2010 is a day that I will always remember. I committed to run this crazy race and worked my butt off to accomplish it. It was one of the best and worst days of my life. One I wouldn't trade for anything! I think it is only fitting that I change the title of my blog, don't you?

JULIE RAN A MARATHON!

Ready or not.

So I have laid out all my clothes and hopefully everything I will need in the morning. The time has come for me to go to bed and SLEEP. ( Please, God). All that remains is to run this marathon.

It will be warm. Up to almost low 80's when I finish the race. Yikes. I had hoped for cold. Oh well. I am certainly used to running in hot weather.

Ready or not- here it comes.

I will post tomorrow - probably after a nice snooze!

I would appreciate prayers!

Thanks for reading!

95 hours to go...

I just completed my last training run before the marathon. It was 62 degrees and felt wonderful. It is projected to be 55 degrees at the start of the marathon and get up to 71 ish in the afternoon. It should be really nice. I am praying for a few degrees cooler -but whatever will be fine.

Alan freaked me out last night by telling me that I need to make sure to get full nights sleep this entire week. So naturally I couldn't sleep last night. I went through every possible mental list I could make for the packing and then mentally calculated every possible pacing scenario.... finally at 130 am I got up and checked email and played around with the Mcmillon race pace calculator on line. I finally got tired enough to go to bed and fell asleep at around 3am. The alarm came very abruptly at 6 am. Geez! Time for a nap!

So we leave Friday morning. I wish it was tomorrow. Oh well. Tick Tock. Tick Tock. 95.5 hours to go til the gun goes off and the race begins.

New socks for the Marathon

Wow. It is really here. I was thinking this morning about how strange it feels to be making my packing list and preparing to leave for Chicago. There is a "real- ness" that has set in. I know that is not a word - but it fits. As you know, I have been training for this since June and it just seemed like a thing out there in the nebulous future. But, dang, it is this coming Sunday.

Saturday was the last long run and I will run twice this week really easy.

I have gotten lots of questions from friends. Am I ready? Am I nervous? Am I excited? Hmm, yes and yes. I am as ready as I am going to be. There are things I would change about my training if I could, like I would run more miles during the week - but I am now going to have to trust the training I did. I am totally nervous - or maybe anxious is a better word for it. I think about the race all the time. Excited? Very. I told my friend, Sue that this time next week I would be one of the 1%. Statistics say that less than 1% of the world ever completes a marathon.

So, I am going to get new socks for the occasion. A friend of mine always says get new running clothes for any race - but I don't want to change anything I have been doing. Socks are safe, though cuz I wear the same size of the same brand always. And I gotta go get all my gels ( nutrition for the race). I am buying an Ipod Shuffle for the run as well. I hope to find people to talk to, but I plan to be prepared with musical diversion just in case.

It is currently forecasted to be 54 degrees at the start and 71 degrees at the finish. Sounds nice - but I am praying for 47 at the start and 65 at the finish.

I will be posting the night before the race to update you on my pre race jitters. I guess that is all for now. As always, thanks for reading.

Let the Taper Begin

This past Saturday's run was the last "long run" of the training process. We started at 4 am and ran 22 miles. It was absolutely one of the most difficult runs of my life. Every step from 9 miles on was painful. By that I don't really mean pain - like you could take a tylenol and make it go away. I mean sluggish muscles, and leg achy- ness and general tired-ness. I don't really know why it was so tough, but I learned a lot during the 5 and a half hour run.

Primarily, I learned that no matter how bad it hurts on the day of the marathon, I have the mental fortitude to tough it out and finish. At about mile 14 my friend, Sue ( aka running mentor) suggested that it would not be entirely bad for me to quit for the day. I made the decision to do the mileage even though every fiber of my being shouted at me to stop.

When I finished, I was really happy that I had chosen to see it through.

We are now less than 3 weeks away from the marathon. The taper begins now with shorter week end runs and a general decrease in mileage throughout the week. I will run 12 miles this coming Saturday and 8 miles the Saturday before the race.

People ask me what my goal is for this marathon. Most marathon runners have a public goal and a secret goal. I will tell you that my public goal is to finish strong and to cross the finish line before they take the time clock away ( they stop the clock after 6 and a half hours from the start.) My secret goal is.....SECRET, DUH....

More along the way. Thanks for reading!

Mid Training yuk Syndrome

Yup. I have arrived at mental burnout. I have been training since June and frankly, my dear, I am ready to be finished! The big day is October 10 and is 26 days from now.

Last week we ran hills in Apopka and completed 14 miles. This coming week's long run is the longest yet and will be the longest for the entire training period. We will run 22 miles starting at 4 am. It seems a little odd to me that you never go beyond this distance - but I am trusting the training.

I will continue to train after the marathon is done - regardless of the outcome. There are two half marathons that I like to do each year and I hope to achieve a personal best in both of them. The first one is the OUC half marathon on December 4 here in Orlando and the other one is at the end of February in Tampa. The training is different for the half marathon distance - with 12 or 13 miles being the longest you need to do prior to the race - and you incorporate more speed drills.

I guess that is really about all I can think of to tell you right now. As we gear up for the trip, I will include you in on the jitters and packing mayhem that is sure to ensue.

Thanks for reading.

Julie

Miles and more miles.

So, it was a holiday weekend and I got to sleep in a little bit on Saturday morning. Rather than our usual 430 am start, we started at 6 am and the starting point was half a block from my house.

This week's distance was 12 miles. I was really happy for the shorter distance and for the "late" start. I have been training for 12 weeks now and really needed a mental break.

No big news or stories about the run - it was just another training run. There was, however, some entertainment. At about mile 8, we saw a street fight. Not a knockdown drag out - but a verbal volley of more expletive deletives than I have heard in a long time. On our return, the police were there to settle things down. At about mile 9 we were greeted by a gaggle of dachshunds out for a walk with their dog sitter. There were at least 10 of them and one was in a stroller while an injured one was assisted by a wheelchair. It looked like a wiener chariot! All this before 8am!

Of late, I have been obsessively checking Chigago weather, trying to project what temperature it might be for the race. As best as I can tell, it is likely to be between 30 and 45 degrees at the start and up to 60 degrees more or less at the finish. Exciting!

We are winding down our training. The remaining long runs are: 16 miles, 22 miles, 9 miles,8 miles, race.

Only 5 weeks left!

"If you're going to stagger in front of a car, make sure it's an Aston Martin and not some dishwasher haulin it on his way to work on Park Ave."

20 Miles. I did it! I did it! Woo Hoo!

This run was historic for me and I was a bit concerned and nervous going in. The mindset is completely different for 20 miles than for 16. At least it is for me. I have a tendency to experience the "middle mile yuk syndrome" . During these miles, I feel tired, my quads hurt and I am generally grumpy. It usually lasts for a couple miles and then some weird second wind comes into play. This week it happened at mile 7 and again at mile 13. Honestly, at mile 13 - everything in my body was screaming at me to stop. I was able to muddle through it, though and continue on.

Today's run was actually quite fun! I can't say I expected it - but when you trek with great running buddies anything can happen. We had some pretty funny (delirious) moments. Sue, Tim, Rachelle and Beth were all there making it super fun! We giggled so much between miles 15 and 18 that I had to run away from Rachelle so I wouldn't (to put it delicately) pee myself! The headline of today's post is a direct quote from the run!

The aforementioned group was running fewer miles than I had committed to. Tim did 14, and Rachelle and Beth did 18. Sue was our supportive cheerleader on her bike as she was recovering from a 50 mile run the previous weekend and had some wicked blisters. After Rachelle and Beth finished their 18, I was momentarily tempted to call it a day. But I dug deep and with Sue's help, knocked out the last 2 miles. We got back to our starting point with half a mile yet to go and I obsessively ran around the block so I could see my garmin cross over the 20 mile mark. I have the picture to prove it!

So, the run was complete, ( 4 hours and 30 minutes later) and I was so happy! I took off my shoes (aaaahhhh), hobbled to my car, drove to get a chocolate milk and headed home for a delightful nap. When I woke up at 1230 pm, Caleb ( my wonderful, caring son) made me french toast and bacon! Yummy! After burning 2000 calories, it hit the spot! I did get out of bed to eat - and my legs were not as sore as I thought they might be.

Today ( Sunday) my legs are sore - but not dreadfully so. All in all, I am really pleased. I feel confident that I can complete a marathon now. I wish I had started training sooner so I could have gotten a bit faster but I will just have to be okay with it. I won't break any time records - but I will finish.

I am hoping to do one more 20+ miler (preferably 22) during the training. We are down to 6 weeks till the race.

I guess that is all for now. Thanks for reading!

Jules

Early to bed, early to rise...

So it is the night before the longest run yet. I am scheduled to do 20 miles tomorrow. I must say it dominates my thoughts the closer it gets! I went to a concert tonight with my sister and had to leave early because all I could think about was how I needed to get to bed. I feel like I have entered crunch time with my training and since I have worked so hard to build a solid base I don't want to do anything to screw it up.

So, it's off to bed with me. ( 945pm). The alarm is set for 330 am. All my running gear is lined up and ready to go!

Wish me luck!

I will post soon to tell you how it went.

As always, thanks for reading.

Julie

Sweet 16

Yesterday's 16 mile run rocked! Not every run is great, as I am sure you have gathered from my posts, if not from your own experience. This one, however, was. Pretty much everything that mattered went well. I stayed on top of my nutrition and with exception of the middle mile yuk syndrome I felt strong the whole run.

The morning started at 430 with my running pal, Emily. We got 2 miles in before the group set out for 12 together. I finished it off by myself on the Cady Way Trail with the final 2 for a total of 16. I did all this in under 4 hours. I still haven't really figured out how long it might take to do the marathon. There are a lot of variables. Temperature, adrenaline, crowd support, nutrition etc. I know I can do it in under 6 hours but I would really like to get closer to 5 hours.

Next week is 18 miles and I am not afraid! That is huge. My training schedule has the longest run of training at 20 miles. I am hoping to get a 22 miler in, though - for mental reasons. I think I will feel more confident if I accomplish a 22 mile run prior to the marathon.

Countdown: 7 weeks.

More later. Thanks for reading!

Long time, no post. Sorry

I have been a slacker. Not on the road, but in blogging. So let me catch you (all 5 of you) up on my progress and continued training. Last we spoke (you know what I mean) I was preparing for my first 16 mile run. We started at 430 am and it was already hot. I really love running in the pre-dawn hours, really love it. When the sun rises and you have already done 6 miles, it makes the rest of it go by so much faster and, for me, better. Anyway, the run was really great. I always start out a little stiff and it takes me at least 2 miles to get loosened up. I also usually experience what I call "middle mile yuk syndrome" where I find myself struggling and feel pretty tired in my quads (front thighs for you non runners). This 16 mile run was no exception. I came out of it pretty quickly, though, and finished strong.

I was really not terribly sore the next few days which is a testament to the way we are training. I am not sure if I have talked about the specifics of the interval training that we are doing yet. We run for 5 minutes and walk for 1 minute throughout the entire mileage. There are water stops along the way as well and are usually every two miles. This interval approach keeps your legs from getting totally spent during the run. I can't say I completely understand the physics of it - but I totally believe in it.

I will run the marathon using this interval approach as well. Interestingly enough, my pace has not become slower employing this method of training.

Last week's long run was 10 miles and was ok. It wasn't a great run - but not awful either. Suffice it to say, it is done.

Here comes Saturday again and this week is the second 16 mile run. I will post to let you know how it goes.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other...

That was great advice from my friend Paul Duckett (former YMCA downtown running group coach). He told me that several years ago when I first started running and it has kept me going through some tough runs. This morning's run was very tough. Six miles on the beach. I repeated that mantra, counted to 1000, prayed for clouds, bribed myself to just run to the lifeguard chair, etc etc...

I only ran 6 miles, but having slept in, had to run at 10 am. Geez, it was hot. I won't do that again! At first I was running into the wind, so I thought that I would have a nice tailwind coming back. NOPE. It was just hotter. But, I made it through - so another training run down, 10 weeks of them to go...

More and more, I find myself believing I can run a marathon. I hope I am right! This week's long run will be 16 miles. We start at 430 am. I am guessing it will take around 4 hours - with the frequent water breaks and bathroom stops. Last week's 14 mile run was 3 hours and 44 minutes with all the stops. We keep these runs on the slow side - with the heat.

I am starting to consider ( obsess) what sort of time I might be able to run the marathon in. In my dreams, I would do a sub 5 hour marathon. I can't even to begin to believe I could pull that off, though. My running mentor tells me that after Saturday's run, I should be able to calculate a pretty accurate estimate of what to expect. I will post about that this weekend.

Off to the beach...

14.25 miles during heat advisory

OMG it was hot. (84 degrees at 5 am with a "feels like" of 98 degrees). This past saturday, we started at 5 am for a 14 mile training run. The first 4 miles were tough for some reason. The rest was hard - and hot - but I managed to finish strong.

I did better in my training last week and this week is starting out well. I did pool running with Alan again last night and will run 6 on the beach early this evening.

This coming Saturday the 7th will be a 16 mile training run starting at 430 am. It will be the farthest run ever and in a strange way I am looking forward to it. Perhaps it is the accomplishment I look forward to...

Countdown: 10 weeks til Chicago Marathon.

A whole new week!

Well, I bailed on an early morning run on Tuesday. It was supposed to be a track run where I would do 3-4 sets of 1200 yards ( I think - how is the track measured?) Anyway, each 1200 is 3/4 of a mile. So 4 of these would equal 3 miles run. I HATE 1200s. Just hate them. So, when morning came and the alarm went off, and I knew I would be doing this solo ( my running partner couldn't come), I just turned the alarm off and went back to sleep. Geez. So much for my resolve to do better...

I decided to do more pool running with Alan that night so I could salvage the day! We "ran" for an hour. I am told that pool running and road running burn the same amount of calories mile for mile -- or minute for minute. I can run just under 6 miles in an hour so I counted the hour in the pool as 6 miles. Thus 600 calories. Nice. Pool running is cool -- literally. If you have a partner to pool run with ( hint hint Lynne and Tara) it is actually fun.

So, with new resolve this morning, I hopped (not really - it was more of a begrudging climb) out of bed and went for a 5.5 mile run this morning. I thought 7 am would be early enough to avoid the heat. NOT. It is 87 degrees right now with a "feels like" of 98. It could not have been much less than that at 7. Yikes -- I think I will have to start at 6 tomorrow.

My goal this week is to run twice and cross train (pool running) twice before the long run on Saturday. I am planning to run 14 again on Saturday with a 5 am start. Fun times!

More as the week progresses!

Thanks for reading,

Jules

Only 12 miles today. Who says that?

Yesterday I actually said, "Yay, only 12 miles today." I had to laugh because I remember Alan saying such ludicrous things.

I have always heard people say to trust the training and I really do believe that now. The training schedule goes up and down in seemingly random patterns. For example, one week the long run will be 10, the next week 14, the next week 12, the next week 16 and then back down to 12. It is the weeks after high miles like 14 or 16 that you might feel blessed to only have to do 12 miles. You actually start thinking that 12 is easy. Weird, huh?

Last Saturday was a 14 mile run and was somewhat difficult. (Running 12 in Erroll Estates "hills" was worse). Anyway, this week, very few differences in conditions and preparation, I ran 12 with relative ease. I also have very little residual soreness too. There were three variables:

1. My running mentor/helper Sue was back from running an ultra race last Saturday.
2. I drank a zip fizz before the run - which has electrolytes in it and a few calories.
3. We kept a slightly slower pace in the first few miles. (Ironically, the pace for the overall run was faster than last week.)

There was one negative variable: I had not slept much at all the night before.

So. After an amazing cool off in the Cady Way Pool, Alan and I went home to take our rutual post long run nap. These are not to be trifled with. After running for 2.5 hours in the Orlando summer heat, a nap is required and sacred!

This week I am striving to do more running during the week, more cross training during the week and to eat such that I actually begin losing weight. You always expect to lose weight during a process like this and I have not yet done so. Grrr.

That is all for now. I will post soon with mid week progress. Thanks for reading!

pool running

Today I did 45 minutes of pool running with my husband. I was kind of a slug this week and up til today had only run once. So in an effort to go into tomorrow's run with fresh legs, and yet get a run in, I decided to pool run with him. Alan is doing a fair amount of pool running lately as he has had some trouble with his i.t. band. Running in the pool allows you to get the workout with no stress on the legs.

I wondered about its validity as a training run - but once during training, Alan needed to do a full month of pool running. He did not run on treadmill or road at all during that time. When he returned to regular training, he was happy to find that he went right back to running the same pace and duration as before.

All that to say, perhaps I pulled it out and won't have suffered such a setback after all. For me 45 minutes of pool running is probably equivalent to 4 miles. So now I can loosely say that I got in 7 miles this week. I was shooting for 10. Including the 12 miles for tomorrow - I will have 19 for the week.

I will do better next week!

Tomorrow's alarm is set for 5:10 am. Can't sleep. It is this way most Friday nights. Thank God for Saturday morning after run naps.

More later on tomorrow's run.

small setback this week

I had a little setback this week when I woke up this morning not feeling well. I chose not to run and am now second guessing myself. I really want to get in 10 miles in each week prior to the long run on Saturdays. As it stands I have only run 4 miles this week. I don't think I want to run more than 4 tomorrow because I want my legs to be fresh for Saturday.

Stuff happens, I guess.

I will end today's post with a funny running story:last week during my longest run yet, I was the last one at the water stop before we headed out for the last few miles. Just as I was about to head out, a guy came to the water station -- another runner from a different pace group. He was looking as exhausted as I felt. As he approached, I said, "Hey, how ya hangin?"

It was then that I realized what I had said. Oh No. I was horrified! I quickly said, "Oh dear, I didn't mean that to be crude. I am sorry." He didn't even look at me or acknowledge me as he ran off! I think I laughed the rest of the run! Mortifying!!!

I will post tomorrow or Saturday after the long run. This week we are back to 12 miles.

Jules

Weekend long run and Speed Training

I am writing this mostly so my non running friends will be able to follow along with me as I train. I know this is much too basic for my running friends -- and they might even need to correct me on a few things.

This past Saturday was the first really long run of the training cycle. We ran 14 miles. I have run half marathons in the past (13.1 miles) but have never trained like this in the summer. The previous half marathons were in the winter and thus the training runs took place from October to February. Let me tell you, summer training is a whole new deal.

We started at 5 am so we would finish our run before it got too hot. The Track Shack staff puts water out for us about every two miles- so we don't have to carry our own water. There are several different pace groups and we run with the same pace group from week to week. I started out fine and ran merrily along for the first 8 or so miles. Out of nowhere... BONK. My quads started yelping and my butt joined in with them. I was a little worried about finishing the run, but I slowed down significantly for a couple miles and was able to pull it together enough to finish the run. I can't say it was pretty - but I got it done.

Speed Training:

Once a week we do speed training. We do different distances each week with a specific pace in mind. We run faster during these drills than we do on our other runs. The goal is to maintain a consistent pace for all of the repeats throughout the workout. Even as your legs get tired, the pace stays the same - and so you learn to run while fatigued.

Today we did 800's. I love 800's. The only thing better than 800's is 400's! What you do is run 800 yards around the track followed by a walk rest for 200 yards and repeat. Each week, the track workout amounts to at least 3 miles.

The Track Shack group does their speed work before the crack of dawn on Tuesdays and after work. I have a friend (thanks, Abby) who runs with me at 630 am instead. Much better.

Why do I run?

People often ask me what made me start running. I started running in December of 2007. My husband is an avid runner and has done many marathons including Boston. Anyone who understands running and marathons knows that means he is fast. You have to qualify for Boston - and he did so in his first marathon ever. I accompanied him to Boston to watch the race and to support him. I must say I got caught up in the excitement and decided then to try running. I had this delusion that I might one day get fast enough to run with Alan ( husband ) and that we could have many great talks and times together whilst running. Ha ha ha. Not gonna happen. I cannot ever imagine the day that I will run as fast as he does.

BUT...I am a runner now and I really love it. When I first started just 2 and a half years ago, I could barely make it from one driveway in our neighborhood to the next. I will never forget my first 5k. I have now completed 4 half marathons and several shorter races. This past aturday, I ran 14 miles and burned 1500 glorious calories!

I am in training for the Chicago Marathon and actually look forward to running those long runs on the weekend. I have joined a great running group from the Track Shack and have made lots of really great running friends. I do share running with Alan - just not side by side on the road!


Next post will be: Why am I training to run a marathon and what is my training regimen?

Okay, here goes.

My name is Julie Lawson and I have just turned 49. That is dangerously close to 50.

I am a runner.

I have never blogged. I am technologically inept. Just ask my 21 year old son. But here I am anyway, creating a blog.

I am doing this to chronicle the training process to run my first Marathon. I capitalize the word because it deserves to be revered.

Marathon.

It is a big deal. I only just began believing I could do it. The race is the Chicago Marathon and it is on October 10 2010. 10/10/10. Cool, huh?

I am starting this blog for several reasons. I want a place to record my thoughts and musings about the process. I want to encourage other beginner runners to go for it.

I want to provide fellow type B personalities a place to go for suggestions and to see how another type B person does it! I am type B married to type A. I train so much differently than he does. More on this later.

So here we go. I will likely post again later tonight or in the morning with my training schedule to date and some of my thoughts along the way.

I will learn as I go and will, hopefully, make this blog fun to read and aesthetically pleasing in the coming days.

Julie