Three Things Thursday

1. Track = SUCCESS!

1 x 400 @ 2:00 (actual - 1:59) w/200 rest
1 x 800 @ 4:10 (actual - 4:22) w/400 rest
1 x 1600 @ 9:00-9:30 (actual - 9:15) w/800 rest (ended up being 400 - walked most of it)
1 x 800 @ 4:10 (actual - 4:26) w/400 rest
1 x 400 @ 2:00 (actual - 2:02)
Did a half mileish warmup and cooldown.

I still can't believe that I hit my 400s perfectly. I didn't think I could go that fast, seriously. I couldn't quite hit the 800s, but close enough! It's really fun doing this with a group, rather than solo. I push myself harder than I would on my own. Today, I'm feeling like I WORKED yesterday, and I like it.

2. This weekend, I might run a local 4 mile race. I've never run a 4-miler, so even though it's supposed to be a HOT one, it'll be an automatic PR! (For the local peeps who've run in Highland Park, yes, it DOES include the monster hill. Yay.) It's only 20 bucks, but I need to decide by the end of the day. So what am I waiting for? See number 3...

3. Grandma update - basically, she's fading quickly now. She had a really good couple of weeks, but in the past few days, the decline is evident, and yesterday, she was for the most part, completely unresponsive. I'm planning on us all making the trip back for the funeral...I'm just waiting for that call.

Back On Track

According to Higdon, I'm not supposed to be doing speedwork again yet, but today, I'm saying eff him, and heading to the track anyhow. It's just too perfect outside.

The problem is that the club has been progressively doing workouts each week, and I went to the first session back in May, and haven't been since. As such, the workouts have gotten more difficult, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up. But I figure, I'll do what I can, and some is better than none, right?

On tap tonight?

1 x 400 @ 2:00 (eek!)
200 rest
1 x 800 @ 4:10 (eek again!)
400 rest
1 x 1600 @ 9:00 to 9:30 (this would probably be close to the fastest mile I've ever run)
800 rest
1 x 800 @ 4:10
400 rest
1 x 400 @ 2:00 (I might die right about here)

NOT A CLUE how this will go...wish me luck...

Spreading The Word...

I have often considered running for charity, and at some point, I hope to have the courage. But the truth is, fundraising scares the crap out of me. Yes. I am a giant chicken when it comes to asking people for ANYTHING, but most especially, MONEY.

But, I try to support other people's efforts when I can. Lately, my bank account (and my husband) is not so forgiving of my generosity, but I still try. One thing I CAN do is try to spread awareness.

SO. If you have the means and the inclination, go HERE to support Erin as she raises money to support Team Meb while training for NYC. Erin is a super inspiring mom of 12 amazing kids. She says:

The MEB Foundation stands for Health, Education, Fitness and Balance and helps youth have the opportunities they need to succeed in life by providing access to health, education and fitness to children in the U.S. and in Eastern Africa. As a mom of 12 and as one who works with kids in need, this is a cause near and dear to my heart.

She is offering up some amazing prizes too, so if you can, help her out!

 

Race Report: Sweat Your Thorns Off Virtual 5k

As I said in my last post, I intended to race this. I'm not sure if I've ever truly *raced* a 5k, so I was kind of winging it. As per usual, my day got away from me, so I was smashing it in at the end of a long one...

My day included weeding, mowing, a Menard's run, and some cleaning, topped off with a birthday party at a local park. All 6 of us went to the park, and we ate pizza for dinner there. And cookies. Yum. I ate too much pepperoni pizza. I regretted that lots later.

We got home with 4 whiny kids and started to get everyone cleaned up. Then I did a quick change, and headed out the door, intending on 3 warm up miles followed by the 5k. The first mile was AGONY. I hurt. I was burping pizza. My legs felt like lead. It almost felt like I was at mile 20 of the marathon. I convinced myself that I could skip the warm up and call it a 5k recovery run.

But then? Halfway through mile 2? I was feeling OK. Still burping pizza (I never really got past that) but my legs were getting into it. I stopped my warm up at 2.5 miles and reset my watch. (2.5 miles: 26:49. Average pace: 10:44)

Here's where I need some work: mile 1 was crazy fast for me. I was gasping and had to walk lots. I spent mile 2 trying to recover from mile 1, and it ended up being the slowest of the bunch. By mile 3, I'd found a bit of a groove, but I was over it at this point - I wanted to be DONE.

The details? Click here if you want to see it all.

Final time: 30:15 Just short of my 30 minute goal, but an unofficial PR!
Average pace: 9:45
mile 1: 9:43
mile 2: 9:55
mile 3: 9:46
last 0.1: 8:30

absolutely sweaty

Not too bad! I can definitely do better, but I'll take this 1 week out from a marathon. Thanks, Adam, for hosting a fun race! (and sorry - no bib - my printer is dead)

Three Things Thursday

1. I have been eating like a crazy person since getting back. Seriously. Burgers, pie, chips, burritos, cookies (the COOKIES!) you name it - I'm ingesting it. Must. Stop. Now. If I don't, I'll gain back every pound I've worked so hard to take off this year! I do admit, though, that it's been fun to indulge in things I've avoided during training :)

2. Saturday I am running Adam's "Sweat Your Thorns Off" virtual 5k. Depending on how my legs feel, I'm aiming for a sub-30 5k. I looked at the numbers in my PR 10k (the one where my average pace was UNDER a 10 minute mile) and the last 5k WAS under 30 minutes. So I need a decent warmup to get it done. But I'm going to RACE it, which is tough for me...

3. I decided to follow Hal Higdon's recovery plan, so for the next 3 weeks, I'm sticking with it as best I can. I may or may not up the mileage a TEENY bit though - I don't know if I'm capable of going out and running just 2 miles. I've hardly warmed up then!

Question for those of you who've run more than one marathon in a season: How did you incorporate a decent recovery to a new training plan? I made up my plan a while back, but now I'm not sure if I need SO much recovery...

Post-Grandma's: The Rest of the Weekend

Are you sick of hearing about it yet? This is the last of it, I swear. Well, I think so, anyhow. I also promise not to use the word "freaking" QUITE so often in this post. That's what I get for trying to write while dealing with my kids at the same time - after getting called away from it 20 times while writing it, I didn't realize how often that word got typed, haha.

I honestly don't have a lot to say about the aftermath. I obviously got my medal. I didn't get a shirt - they were out of my size - but they let you order it, so it'll get mailed to me. Much better than settling for a men's sized shirt (although they gave you that option if you wanted). I looked for Carly, but never saw her.

Then it was off to try to find my sweat bag, and maybe redeem my drink ticket. But after negotiating the chaos and finally getting my stuff, I was feeling kind of out of it, and the post race beer no longer sounded so good. We had a good half a mile to walk back to the hotel, at least, and I made the call. I was freezing. Let's get the hell out of here. After that, I just kind of blindly followed my parents back. We got to an escalator in the skyway that was off. I and all the runners around me thought that was cruel and unusual. Up we walked. At least it wasn't down.

My room was RIGHT next to the ice machine, so once we got back, I set my parents to filling up my tub. I got a quick ice bath (oh my god I was so COLD! I shivered uncontrollably the entire time I sat there.) and then the hottest shower I could stand. While I was cleaning up, my mom got me subway and then made me eat it - I was so not hungry. And then I spent the rest of the afternoon alone in my bed reading a book. It was nice to relax, and NOT have a million things to do post-race.

That evening, I headed out to a daily mile meet up at an Irish pub just a half a block from my hotel. I got to chat with a bunch of great people who'd run either the half or the full that day. I got to meet Nora, who is just as awesome in person as she is online. She ran an AWESOME first marathon! I ate an amazing bacon cheeseburger (which has somehow been my post-long-run meal of choice this training cycle) and have a couple beers. But it was funny - 10pm hit and all of a sudden we all looked like we might fall over asleep at any minute. The half marathon started an hour EARLIER than the full, so we were all pretty beat. I called it a night.

The next day was packing up, having an amazing brunch with old family friends, and a lot of DRIVING. It was after 7pm by the time I made it home, but I still got to spend a LITTLE bit of Father's Day with my family, who all seemed to miss me very much.

A few post race thoughts:

• I am ridiculously thankful that my stomach played NO PART WHATSOEVER in my race.
• I think that my loopiness at the end had a lot to do with how much I gave to the course.
• Not once have I been disappointed in not actually breaking 5 hours.
• For the record, my garmin says my moving time was 4:57 and change - makes me happy :)
• Now instead of just THINKING I have a sub-5 in me, I KNOW it.
• I ran today. I feel really good. I was sore post-race, but not unmanageably so. That said, driving for 8 hours isn't necessarily the best way to spend the day after a marathon.
• Next time, I hope we can actually organize a blogger meetup. There were lots of people I hoped to see, but didn't get to. I guess you can't just hope to run into people you only know online in a sea of thousands. I caught myself looking for them all though!

Now, on to training for Twin Cities!! I'm tired just typing that :)

Grandma's Marathon: Race Report

First off, if you missed the post about all things leading up to the big day, scroll down, or click here.

I didn't sleep well Friday night. No big surprise there - I wasn't worried about it. My alarm went off at 4:20 and I grabbed my phone and laid back down for a minute, listening to the pounding rain. At 4:27, I got a text message from Kim, wishing me luck. It reminded me of randomly seeing her prior to the start of the Chicago marathon last year, and how HAPPY it made me to see someone familiar. I smiled, and hauled my butt out of bed. Time to move.

I settled on a short sleeved tech tee and capris. I wanted to wear a tank, but with a high of 48, rain, and the wind off Lake Superior, I was worried about freezing my ass off. I made a cup of coffee, poured some milk in it, and tried to figure out how I was going to eat a bowl of cereal with no bowl. I'd just decided to use a cup, and I realized I had no spoon. I said eff this, and ate a cliff bar instead. In retrospect, I believe my non-traditional breakfast had a lot to do with the success of the day, and I MAY have actually figured out my stomach problems. Time will tell...

My mom came over a little after 5, and it helped calm me down having her there. I sun screened up, which seemed ridiculous as it was still POURING outside, and since it was cold, I opted to leave the handheld water bottle behind. I packed up my spibelt with all my essentials, tucked some TP, salt packets, and an extra tube of aquaphor in my back pocket, grabbed a water bottle and a banana for the bus ride, and I was off to find the bus.

In the hallway, I chatted up a girl staying a few doors down from me who was obviously heading in the same direction. It was nice to have company. We hopped on the first bus and ended up staying together through the first few miles of the race. She was running her very first marathon, and I'd like to think that I helped her as much as she helped me - chatting and laughing and having someone to hang with really helped me stay relaxed. It was pouring down rain as the bus pulled away from the hotel, and I was kicking myself for not bringing any rain gear or an umbrella or a garbage bag, but as we got closer the rain let up more and more. By the time we got there, it was just a drizzle. By the time we started, there was hardly any drizzle even.

The first few miles were absolutely uneventful. I just settled in and tried to find my groove. The first couple I spent chatting with Lee Anne (from the hotel) and relaxing into an easy pace. We were giggling about 2 ladies who told us we had "a long slow race" ahead of us. Really?!? We were unaware...

• mile 1: 11:05
• mile 2: 10:45
• mile 3: 10:46
• mile 4: 10:46
• mile 5: 10:48

I was aiming for 11ish minute miles, and I knew I was probably going a bit too fast, but I was running more on "feel" and at that point, it felt really relaxed and easy. I was soaking it all in. I was smiling at everyone. I was running happy.

For those of you who don't know the course or the area, Grandma's is a point to point race starting in Two Harbors, MN which is up the north shore of Lake Superior, and it ends in downtown Duluth. Until you get into town, the whole length of it is right along the lake. We had, in my opinion, the PERFECT running weather. It was overcast and cool with a wind off the lake at our backs. I couldn't have WRITTEN better running weather. They had aid stations every 2 miles starting at mile 3 until mile 20, when they switched to every single mile. I walked all the aid stations and took water and powerade from most of them. I gu'd at 6, 11, and 17 and took salt at 13 and 20.

I ADORED running next to the lake. It was such a fixture in my life growing up, almost a source of comfort, and it just felt right running along side of it. The miles flew by early on, and I enjoyed the quiet of this race. There were people out, but they were scattered between the little towns along the way, with people coming out and hanging at the end of their driveways offering support. It was a far cry from the constant chaos of Chicago, and I appreciated it for what it was - peaceful. It let me settle into my head and think of my Grandma and remind myself of G's words and smile inwardly. I saw my first cowbell just before mile 10 and cracked up laughing.

• mile 6: 11:07
• mile 7: 10:27
• mile 8: 11:07
• mile 9: 11:09
• mile 10: 11:31 (stopped to text my family - I wasn't counting on runner tracking this time)

the only picture I took the whole race - just before mile 10

my Dad took this one

I was on cruise control. I kept checking in with my body and form, and everything was feeling good. I needed to pee, but not bad enough to wait in line at a portapotty for it. Just after mile 13, there was a HUGE bank of portapotties (turns out, this was where the half marathoners started, which is why there were so many) and I made my only pit stop of the race. My stomch never peeped. Not ONCE.

• mile 11: 10:41
• mile 12: 11:22
• mile 13: 10:39
• mile 14: 12:33 (pee stop)
• mile 15: 10:33

Mile 16 was where it started to get a little harder for me. Not *hard* but definitely tougher than it had been up to this point. I talked myself out of it a bit, telling myself that there were only 2 more 2 mile stretches I had to do before the water stops came every mile. My right piriformis was aching now, and my feet were starting to feel beat. I tried not to think about it. I focused on my tunes. After 18 is where we came into town more, and the crowd support increased by a lot. I think mile 19 or 20 was where I saw a girl working a water station that I went to GRAMMAR school with. For real. She's a facebook friend, but I haven't seen her in close to 30 years. She looks exactly the same. "Alice??!?" I asked her, incredulous. What are the odds of that? It distracted me enough, and made me smile.

• mile 16: 12:33
• mile 17: 11:29
• mile 18: 11:20
• mile 19: 11:05
• mile 20: 13:06
• mile 21: 13:23

Miles 20 and 21 were my mentally toughest of the race. At this point, I knew if I could pull off a killer 10k, I could barely break 5 hours, but I wasn't feeling physically able to do that. Everything started to hurt. And then I'd say to myself, "DUH dumbass - of COURSE it hurts! You've just run 20 freaking miles!" And I'd suck it up for a while, and then falter again. After a bit though, I knew it was getting close to where my parents would be. And that was enough to keep me running. Then, at 22 or so, the 5 hour pace group caught up with me. I hung strong with them for a bit.

hanging with the 5 hour pacer

the guy in the gray COTTON shirt behind me?
had bloody spots all over his BACK. felt bad for him.

Then comes the infamous Lemon Drop Hill in mile 22. I ran up most of it, walked the crest, and relished in the enormous downhill on the other side. Until I didn't. That downhill lasted close to a mile, and it felt steep. My quads did NOT like it at all. It hurt. At the mile 23 aid station, I stopped to walk, and the pace group kept on. It sucked, but I had to let them go. For the longest time, I had them in my sights, thinking maybe I could catch them again. Never happened though. So I decided to keep running happy even though I was hurting. I high fived a gazillion college kids handing out beer. I high fived bacon. Seriously. A giant piece of BACON.

Just before mile 24, I saw my parents. I was SO FREAKING HAPPY to see them! As I ran up, my mom had this huge sign that said "Go Bobbi GO" on it, and it was freaking upside down! A runner ahead of me told her and she flipped it over just as I reached her, and we all cracked up laughing. I ran over to give my mom a hug, and Daddy snapped some pictures.

The last 2 miles were just freaking hard. But I was so so so happy with how it all went, I didn't care. I was OK with the toughness. I was OK with an occasional walk break that didn't last very long. I tried to keep running, but my ass and my feet were screaming at me at this point. Did I fade at the end. Oh, yeah. Did I give up? Hell. No. There was going to be no negative split here, but there was going to be no walking it in either. I gave this race everything I had.

• mile 22: 11:43
• mile 23: 11:59
• mile 24: 11:54
• mile 25: 12:21
• mile 26: 12:19
• last 0.37: 10:39

The last mile and a half last for FREAKING EVER. After running in a basically straight line for miles and miles, the last mile and a half are twisty and turning, around corner after corner. Coming around each corner, even though you KNOW it isn't there yet, you want to see the stupid finish line. After 2 turns, the wind that's been at your back for the whole race is now full on in your face. It's a mental struggle to keep going forward. But forward is the only way to go. And then? FINALLY it's there.

My parents made it back to the finish line too, and my dad was able to get some pictures...

can you see me? orange scarf guy's right ear

High 5ing King Kong

getting Mom all salty

 

stole my dad's coat - was FREEZING

5:02:28. So so PROUD. Since this is OBSCENELY long, I'll stop here. I'll wrap all the after stuff up in the next post. If you made it this far, you are a rock star.

Pre-Grandma's Marathon: Travel, Family, Expo

While this is not the exciting stuff, I figured I'd start at the beginning...sorry for the length, but I want to remember it all. Feel free to skip it if you are so inclined - you won't hurt my feelings.

My last post was Wednesday, which proved to be a chaotic mess of packing and finishing up everything that needed to be done before leaving my poor hubs in charge for the next 4 days. Because of a snafu with my daughter's new cell phone (just let me reiterate that for a minute...my DAUGHTER'S new CELL PHONE. Ugh. My husband caved - it's all his fault.) an emergency extra shopping trip was necessary, and I didn't make it out the door until 8:30pm for the drive to my parents' house in Wisconsin (they live about 90 minutes from me).

That was the scariest drive ever. Pouring down rain, pitch black, and my night vision sucks on a good day. It was white knuckles all the way. Flat out SUCKED. But I made it intact, sat down and had a beer with my Dad, and was in bed fairly early. We were up and out the door the next morning by 7 or so, for the trip to Minnesota.

The drive was blissfully uneventful. We made it to my Mom's apartment (she works in MN during the week) by lunch time, had a sandwich, and the 3 of us headed to see my Grandmother. It was a short tough visit. We chatted with my aunt who has been doing the bulk of the day-to-day care until she woke up from a nap. She came out for a bit, but kept nodding off while we were visiting and then startling awake again. She kept drawing up her knees and looking uncomfortable. It was tough to see her like that. After a bit, she decided to go lie down again (I was proud of her for saying that - she tends to be a people pleaser even if it isn't in her best interest). We all gave her hugs and I told her I loved her. She wished me well on my race. And then we left. I didn't cry until hugging my aunt on the way out. But it was tough, even if it was less than a half hour. I was SO SO thankful to have the chance to see her. It meant and means a lot to me to have had that time with her.

Back to the cities we went. It was a gorgeous day so we decided a walk was in order. Mom's apartment is within walking distance of Long Lake, which has a nice trail around it. Mom bailed after a mile or so, but my Dad and I decided to walk all the way around. He estimated that it was 3 or 4 miles, but I'd bet it was closer to 5 or 6. It felt good to stretch out after all that driving - my legs thanked me for it. After that it was dinner and chatting and I headed to bed early. I slept like a ROCK Thursday night - I was beat.

Friday morning came and we were on the road by 7:30 headed to Duluth. We were going to do some visiting before checking into the hotel. We toured Mom's work (the company originated in Duluth, and it's gotten huge since I'd seen it last) saw my parent's old place (and a TIMBER WOLF - too cool) and had lunch with my cousins. Then Mom headed down to the hotel (we drove separate - she stayed to work this week) and Dad and I headed to one of my favorite places growing up, Enger Tower. It was REALLY foggy, but had started to burn off, and we took a couple pictures.

My Daddy

After wandering around (without climbing all the stairs to the top) we headed down to meet my Mom at the hotel. She'd upgraded us to 2 suites (I HAD A SUITE TO MYSELF!) next to each other at the Holiday Inn, an old hotel, but nice, and more importantly, within walking distance to EVERYTHING. I didn't move my car once until we left on Sunday.

After getting our stuff up to the rooms, Mom and I went down to the expo, while my Dad took a little snooze. I was disappointed with the expo though. It was probably my own fault - we should've gone there MUCH earlier in the day. To say it was packed was an understatement. And the exhibits were crowded together. I felt claustrophobic in there. So I didn't even shop. We picked up my packet and my sister's (even though she wasn't running) and I sat down to watch Dick Beardsley speak. He was amazing! I was glad I stuck around to hear him tell the story of his first Grandma's race (he still holds the course record) and of his "Duel In The Sun" with Alberto Salazar. He is a phenomenal speaker.

Then it was back to our hotel to eat dinner (I had a grilled chicken sandwich and a few fries)  and obsess over the weather. They were predicting rain, rain, and more rain. With some thunderstorms thrown in for good measure. And a high of 48 degrees. A far cry from the 65 and sunny they were saying earlier in the week. I was sure glad I threw in everything I could think of as far as running clothes when I packed on Wednesday.

I headed to my own room early. I attached my chip to my shoe, sorted my stuff, still undecided on what to wear. Hit the store quick for a bottle of milk for my cereal in the morning. Checked in with my family. Set my alarm for 4:20. Read through the race instructions one last time. I was surprisingly NOT stressed out. I was ready.

1:06:32

It's going to take me a few days to write up everything that's happened in the last week, so here's the end of the story...

Marathon = AWESOME

Finish time = 5:02:28

That's a PR by one HOUR six minutes and 32 seconds.

I RULE!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!

Peaceful Chaos - One Last Check In

First off, thank you for your kind words on yesterday's post. It means a lot to me - your words give me a lot of comfort. And to Karen who reminded me that I'm running Grandma's marathon for my Grandma. Love.

A special thanks to G for her post today. I've already read it countless times. I'll read it again when the crazy creeps back in. And I'll remember it on the course Saturday. Awesome.

I'm packing and organizing like mad. I leave for WI tonight to stay with my Dad, and then together we're heading to MN bright and early tomorrow to see my Grandma. We're staying in the twin cities and then heading up to Duluth Friday morning.

There's so much going on between now and race day, I won't have time to make myself nuts.

That, my friends, is a good thing.

I'm bringing my laptop, but I honestly have no idea when I'll be able to update again. I'll be back home late Sunday night.

See you on the flip side!

Brave

When I started running last year, and then started training for the Chicago marathon, and then FINISHED the Chicago marathon, people told me all the time how brave I was. How courageous. How they could NEVER do that.

It always took me back a bit.

I mean, brave?

Sure, I worked hard. I put in lots of time. I read lots and learned a ton and screwed up, and learned some more.

But, brave?

I never felt very brave - determined, yes. Accomplished too. But the scariest part was clicking "submit" on my race registration. The rest of it was just REQUIRED to get me across a finish line in one piece.

Yesterday morning I answered the phone. It was my Mom. Right away, I asked her what was wrong. I know her voices, and I didn't like the one she was using.

Turns out, my teeny tiny 88 year old Grandmother, who's been in assisted living and on dialysis (she only has one barely functioning kidney) since just after my Grandfather passed away more than 3 years ago, had made an important decision.

My Grandma has had enough.

She is discontinuing her dialysis, which means that she only has maybe a couple weeks to live.

She is leaving it in God's hands.

Now, THAT, that is brave.

I will go to see her on Thursday before heading to Duluth for the race. It will likely be the last time I get to spend with her. On Saturday, if I get to run, there will be lots of miles dedicated to her...

F.A.B. 5k: Race Report

Well, with the week that I had, I was a little nervous about this. It was the first time I'd run in 8 days! But it turns out, I needn't have worried at all.

Originally, I was going to race this. I haven't raced a 5k since last year, so I was excited to see what I could do. I was pretty sure that I could come in under 30 minutes But after convincing a couple of my friends to train and run it, and after having the week with my calf that I did, I figured it'd be much smarter to play pacer, a role I'd never really played before.

I picked up Sarah and Christine, and we got to the race in plenty of time, which was nice because there wasn't much for parking at this school, and they were expecting 500 participants. We got our bibs and goodie bags (with a really nice water bottle and ONE wright sock with a breast cancer logo - you had to go to the local running store to pick up your other sock. Clever marketing.) and had plenty of time to hang out before go time and check out all the awesome raffle prizes they had. The school was unlocked, so we had use of indoor bathrooms. Score!

I heard about this event through the Run Like A Mother facebook page  and since it was local and supporting a cause I believe in (breast cancer research) I signed up right away. The 4 organizers of the F.A.B. 5k have all been touched by breast cancer in some way. When we lined up at the start, the announcer went briefly through their stories and recognized the breast cancer survivors participating and also the people lost to breast cancer recently. It was VERY touching, and I got a little teary before we started.

Then we were off! Sarah and I were running together, and I was to pace her to a sub 35 minute finish. Christine was running her own race, a bit newer to running and a bit slower than we were going to go. Right away, I pshawed Sarah's 35 minute goal - I'd run with her several times, and I knew what she could do. She was underestimating herself a little.

We hit the first mile in 10:49. Sarah was doing great, and I had finally worked out all the kinks (I spent the first mile thinking, stupid knee, stupid calf, why is my hip hurting? stupid ankle. wtf!?!) so I decided to pick up the pace a bit. They had a water stop at 1.8 which we walked, but otherwise we ran it all. We hit 2, and I looked down at my watch and laughed. I asked Sarah if she wanted to know (10:28), and she said, "No - it'll just freak me out!" The course was REALLY flat, but there was 1 little hill in mile 3. I noticed Sarah was breathing really hard, so I checked in with her, but she assured me she was fine. After that, I just pulled her hard. Why not? We were almost done! We hit 3 in 10:09, and I started to kick it for the end. Sarah was just behind me, but she was keeping up. We gave it all we had, and I stopped my watch at 33:13. She killed it!! I was so proud of her!

We walked around a bit and waited for Christine to come in. She had run the whole thing and finished in 38 and change. Again - I felt so proud! I had such a good time worrying more about others' performances than my own, and it felt so good to think I had a part in inspiring others to run. The event was so nice, with a FANTASTIC crew of volunteers - the whole community cam out with Brownies handing out breast cancer pins they'd made and Daisies selling lemonade. The raffle was outstanding, and by the end, we'd all won something (I got a Mizuno tech tee!).

All in all - a GREAT day. I'd definitely do this event again. And I'll post pictures as soon as I get some (I did NOT bring my camera - I suck like that).

Goal Post

And, no, I'm not talking football. No one will be talking football unless everyone on that end GETS IT TOGETHER, which I hope they do. If not, this will be a very unhappy place to be come fall - we are all football, all the time here.

Since my wonky calf decided to improve enough that I'm no longer convinced my leg is broken, it's time to start talking about what I want out of this race...

1. I want to conquer my stomach issues. Now I know that sometimes, that's out of my control, but I want to control that which I CAN. I can eat right. I can hydrate and prehydrate. I can fuel properly, and on schedule. All of these I am committed to doing right.

2. I want to run a strong mental race. There will be no giving up on myself in the middle of this one. I WILL NOT. I have come so far mentally during this training cycle. I am READY.

3. On to time goals. My last marathon was my FIRST marathon. All I wanted to do was to finish. And finish, I did. But I walked a TON of the last 10k and I gave up on myself mentally and it was hotter than hell. SO. I can (and WILL) do better.

• My "holy shit you'd better or I'll be PISSED" goal: sub 5:30
• My "I know you can do this based on training" goal: sub 5:15
• My "if the stars align and I have the race of my life" goal: sub 5:00

I am truly SO excited to run this race. I have visualized the finish in my head so many times, I have pictured myself on the course, I am more mentally prepared than I've ever been for any race. As of right now, the forecast is predicting a low of 53 degrees and a high of 71, and sunny skies. I'd take that!

My bib number is 5707 (love!) and I think I've got my race outfit picked out. If you want to stalk me, you can sign up for text/email updates here (Bobbi Welch). One week from now I'll be expo-ing it up.

So.

Freaking.

Ready.

Three Things Thursday: Calming The Crazy

1. Yesterday's post may or may not have been partially inspired by James - he's had a tough couple days, I think because he's done with school and his siblings have until tomorrow before they are finished. Anyhow, he spent a good solid 40 minutes screaming at the top of his little lungs at me and refusing to do anything I needed him to do yesterday, culminating with me fireman carrying him shoeless ("NO SHOES!! NO, I NOT!!!") to the van and forcibly buckling him into the 5-point harness while he thrashed. It took me 10 minutes, and I decided I couldn't care that he'd unbuckled the top part. I was exhausted.

So last night when the storms hit and he freaked the eff out, I secretly enjoyed snuggling in next to him. I needed that time to reconnect to my sweet boy, more than you know. And when the storms raged all night, I broke one of my cardinal rules and dragged him into bed with me (it totally beat sleeping in his toddler bed). This morning, we are friends again.

2. Looking at the bright side of no running for 6 days, I totally missed the whole running in 100 plus degree heat with a million percent humidity thing. Go me!! I am going out for a nice 60 degree run this afternoon. Hopefully, my leg (which seems to be feeling a bit better today) behaves itself.

3. I'm running a 5k this Saturday with a couple friends. I'd originally thought about racing it, but I think I'm just going to pace Sarah and run it easy. I'm really looking forward to it - hopefully it doesn't pour down rain on us!

Loony

I have never been one to succumb to taper madness. Not that I've been running super long, but still - I tend to enjoy the wind-down before a big race. It probably has to do with me tending towards lazy piece of crap.

But this time? I am freaking losing my mind.

For the record, I have not run since Friday's slog-fest, so I KNOW that not running is contributing greatly to my madness. I KNOW it. But knowing it and finding a way to manage it seem to be 2 wildly different animals.

I am cranky.

I am STRESSED out.

One minute I am in full on PANIC mode that there's no way I'm going to be able to run this race.

The next minute I'm convincing myself that this leg thing is no big deal.

Followed by 5 minutes of OH MY GOD IT MUST BE A STRESS FRACTURE I'M GOING TO DIIIIIEEEEE.

There are many many benefits to reading a zillion running blogs. But the curse is learning about a zillion things that go wrong and convincing yourself you might be suffering from ALL of them.

Good Lord - It flat out sucks to be in my house right now.

*breathe*

Marathon Training Week 17 (Um, 12 Days To Go. EEK!)

Let's just say that this one didn't go exactly as I hoped. Either taper madness is taking over, or my body just needed a BREAK. For the first time since week 5, I missed my long run, and had a weekend with no running whatsoever.

Monday: Rest (Memorial Day)

Tuesday: 4 easy recovery miles with Sarah (Average pace: 11:08)

Wednesday: 6 miles - legs pissed off (Average pace: 10:47)

Thursday: Rest - my left calf is really feeling sore

Friday: 4.5 hilly miles with Kim. (Average pace: 11:08) My calf went from feeling sore to loosening up to screaming at me. It felt better when we went fast the last half mile or so. But more than that, it was FREAKING HOT AND HUMID. And I just couldn't get into it. But I got to explore a brand new section of trail, really beautiful trail, and then we went back to her place, cleaned up, and ate homemade deep dish pizza and gabbed for a couple hours, so it was still a good day, just not a good run. John gave me a stellar leg massage when I got home and I slept in a compression sleeve, which seemed to help some.

Saturday: Rest - I woke up with a leg that was NOT HAPPY. I wore my sleeve for most of the day, and it was better towards the end of the day, but still sore. We ended up heading to Great America for a few hours after dinner - it had cooled off a little and the park was not crowded at all, so we had a really nice time. I was hoping to run the next day, but it wasn't looking promising.

Sunday: Rest - Julia had a Daisy Girl Scout picnic, and it was a gorgeous day. But my leg was still aggravated, so I pushed off my long run again.

Week total miles: 14.5 Not cool, but I can't worry about it. I need to get to 100% for 6/18, and right now, that's all that matters.

Three Things Thursday: Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

1. Last night, instead of going to the track, my family all went to see James' end of the year preschool program. It was short and sweet - 6 songs with animal themes - and they did a beautiful job. My son - MY SON - stood there with his class, doing the motions and singing the songs, all with a smile on his face. Had you told me even 6 months ago that he'd be capable of this, I'd have laughed at you and looked away wistfully, wishing it for him. It's damn near miraculous. Blessed.

2. We had such a nice Memorial Day with my sister's family. I can't begin to express how much I love having her nearby. It was so tough not being able to watch my nieces grow up. I am in awe that they are HERE.

all the girls...♥

bubbles!

3. I don't know how anyone does this running thing without a supportive partner. I am so thankful for John, who rubs my feet, and tells me I'm his hero, and schleps everyone to finish lines, and picks up the slack when I'm running long. He goes above and beyond to help me be a successful runner. I love him so much...

June 1 Goal Check In

1. Run More: May miles totalled 137.73!! By FAR my highest mileage month ever.

2. Lose 8: Down 2 pounds. Only 3 to go!

3. Sub-6 marathon: I should revise this to sub-5, THAT'S how well everything is going.

4, 5, and 6 - no progress whatsoever. I'm hoping that with school ending for summer, these will be easier to maintain. We'll see.

Everything has been going so so well as far as running is concerned, that I'm starting to get paranoid, waiting for the WHATEVER to happen. I came out of my 20 confident as hell, but after watching a few strong runners struggle with the beast that is the marathon, I was quickly reminded that ANYTHING can happen on race day.

But I am SO SO hoping that 6/18 is my day. We'll see, I guess!

Happy Running Day!! I'm heading out for 6...