First Run After the Marathon

I felt a little nervous as I approached the treadmill today. I remember feeling the same way about my first run after the Kiawah marathon. Even though all I had planned was a slow and easy three miles, I felt jittery. Like, what if I couldn't do it? Or what if it hurt so much that it made me not want to run?

[Quick side story. On Sunday after the marathon I woke up and felt great. Minimal soreness. We spent all day gardening and then went for a walk. I was like, "I am a running God.  I must be in phenomenal shape to run a marathon and feel nothing the day after!" Then I woke up Monday morning and set foot out of bed and thought, "Ohmygod." I clutched my legs and hobbled around the bedroom. Boom-a-rang karma for bragging.]

But my treadmill run this evening was fine. Nice, slow 9:30 pace to some of my favorite music. My legs felt strong and, even better, I'm breaking in new shoes and didn't even notice them. They feel like I've been running in them for weeks.

The plan is to take it easy for a couple of weeks. Have a couple of 15 mile weeks then build back up to 25 miles/week by mid-June. Mid-June to mid-July will be semi-serious training, where I'll start throwing in some hills and long runs. Then July 22nd is D-day. That's 18 weeks out from the Richmond Marathon. From there forward, it's focus, focus, focus.

I've been thinking about why I'm so taken by running and have decided it has to do with control. Hi, my name is Dena and I have control issues. (Hi, Dena!) To a great extent, I control my running. I can improve my speed and strength by a series of planned exercises. I do the work, I see the results.  It's as simple as that. This is almost in direct opposition to my life as a writer, where I do the work  and maybe, if I'm lucky and know some people, and the stars are aligned, I might kinda-sorta land an almost book deal. I do the work, but whether a payoff will occur is quite often questionable. It's one of the things about my chosen career that both frustrates and intrigues me. (Give me a challenge and dare me to back away from it. Can't be done.)

Anyway, the beany enchiladas I have in the oven are almost so done, so this concludes our deep thoughts portion of tonight's blog. Here's wishing you speed, strength, and control in your path in life.

Some Marathon Pictures...

These are pictures we took. The first couple are of my running group in our matching t-shirts. When we trained together last year, we'd chit-chat on our runs and our trainer would yell "Less Talk, More Run!" at us. So our shirts say "Less Talk, More Run."

The other photos are me coming in at the finish, me sitting exhausted in a finishers chair having my timing chip removed as I sip water, and Blair and I after the race.

A Day At the Races - Greensboro Marathon Review

Racing to the Finish Line. Click to enlarge.A new PR (personal record) for me! I finished the GSO marathon today somewhere around the 4:20 or 4:21 mark. Can't tell exactly because I forgot to stop my watch at the finish line and results won't be posted online for 48 hours. But I beat my Kiawah time of 4:27 and am pleased.

The hills. Oh Lord, the hills. God and I became close on the last half of the race as I faced down some of those bad boys. By the last 6 miles, I didn't see anyone running them. We all just trudged to the top and forced ourselves to start jogging again on the downhills.

Overall, the race went well for me. I was running 9 minute miles or just under for the first part of the course. That is known as "banking minutes." The second part of the course, when you slow down, is when you withdraw them.  It was funny around mile 9 or 10 when we were running through a neighborhood and crowds of people lined the streets and shouted "Go Dena! Great job, Dena! We love you, Dena!!!" Took me a moment to realize the woman directly in front of me was named Dena and lived in that block. Still, I appreciated the cheers.

I have learned that mile 15-16 is my mental block. That's where I slowed in Kiawah, and that's where I slowed today. Started doing a little bit of walking and by mile 18, was doing quite a bit of walking.  I still haven't figured out how I beat my Kiawah time as I feel like I did more walking today than in December. But, I was able to powerwalk it, so maybe that made the difference.

Around mile 21, I started thinking about giving up running. Thought about how much free time I'd have, and how I would never have to feel like this ever again. I recall similar thoughts at Kiawah.

My friend Dave, the ultramarathoner, met me at mile 20 and jogged with me about a half-mile and then also met me about a mile out from the finish. Here's how tired I was: There is a corner you round near the finish and it's maybe 3/10ths of a mile to the finish on a very mild incline. I could see the finish line. I could see my friends who had already finished, cheering me. I could NOT make myself run until the very last tenth of a mile. In my tired mental/physical state, putting it all out there just did not seem worth it to me.

Blair finished his first half-marathon and I am very proud! He didn't take a single sip of water the entire way, which always worries me. (I passed a red-headed kid about mile 16 with a salt-covered face--totally dehydrated.) He got sick after the marathon, which probably came from eating/drinking on a burnt stomach. I had nausea and stomach cramps as well, so we left soon after I finished. Came home and threw ourselves into bed, got up and ate like there was no tomorrow, then went back to bed.

The weather held. 70's and sunny, but not too hot. A nice breeze that sometimes turned into a wind working against you. GREAT volunteers--friendly, outgoing, helpful, and enthusiastic. I was impressed. The HEED energy drink stayed down okay, but I noticed it left me thirsty. After drinking it, I'd have water, and a half-mile out be thirsty again.

And that was the marathon. I'll post pictures and official time as they become available. The target now is the Richmond, VA marathon in November. I WILL break 4 hours or die trying.  Onward!

Marathon Mind Meld

The Greensboro Marathon is three days away and I am all a quiver. Blair, in a most kind way, called me out for being the hypocrite that I am. I've spent months saying, "Oh, this is just a run for fun. It doesn't matter. If I walk half of it, that's fine. My time isn't important. La-dee-da."

He looked at me the other day when we were talking about the race and said, "Please. I can already tell it's 'Game On' with you."

I love a man who can read my mind.

Yes, yes, yes. Of course I'm anxious to do well. My outside, worst-case scenario is a 5 hour run. My I-hope-I can-do-it goal is to tie my time at Kiawah, which is 4:27. And my kick-ass take-no-prisoners goal is 4:15.  Where I'll fall depends on a number of variables including weather (thunderstorms are predicted), energy drinks on the course (they're using one I've never used before---always iffy trying something new on race day) and how bad the hills kick my butt. 

Regardless, I'm ready to get the fun started.  And if any of you reading this blog are in the GSO area, I'd love to have you come out and cheer on the runners. There's a course map, but all I can tell you is I'll likely run about a 9 minute mile or a bit over the first part of the course, and a 9:30 to 11 minute mile on the second, depending on how things go. If you'd like to try to station yourself at a mile marker on the course, it's a HUGE boost to see a friend cheering me on.

I just finished washing, folding, and putting away my marathon clothes for Saturday.  I did an easy 4 mile treadmill run this morning and so that's it until the race. Nothing to do now but relax and hydrate.

See you at the end of 26.2.