Half Marathon

Well, well, well. Here I am, 8 weeks into my marathon training. Today was a true test of endurance. Half marathon. Well, ok, the training schedule said 13 miles. A half marathon is 13.1. We ended up going about 13.5. But shhh, don't tell my running partner. I don't think she'll like knowing that I accidentally tacked on an extra half mile.

Now, usually I run alone. Actually for this training I have exclusively ran alone. The reason for this is I don't have any friends who 1.) are training for a marathon or 2.) if they are, run the same speed I do. I've gone on one 6-mile run with Erich and I'm pretty sure he was bored as heck with my slow speed, despite the fact that he is not, "a runner." But, since this was going to be quite the milestone in my training, I thought I should find myself a buddy. It made most sense to turn to my new co-worker, Michelle, who is also participating in Run to Stop MS. We talk almost daily about our training. We talk about our accomplishments, downfalls and straight up disasters during our runs. We also happen to run at the same pace. Woot!

We scheduled our run to be at 6:30 a.m. Michelle coaches a high school soccer team in one of the suburbs and had a game at 11:15. This meant we had to start early. It was a little difficult for me because I had to "work" until 11:30 p.m. Saturday night at the U2 concert at TCF Bank Stadium. I say "work" because all I was doing was answering questions about the facility and this was the view from my post. Let's just say I got paid $10/hour to watch the greatest rock show I've ever seen. Yes, the stage is a giant space claw, and yes it was even fun when it started pouring rain.

Surprisingly, I didn't have a tough time getting up and out the door. We met at Minnehaha Park, my favorite place to start a run, and were on our way. The weather was in the 60's while we ran and boy did that make all the difference! Holy cow. No instant sweat today! I barely had to use my Amphipod, unlike last Sunday when I had to refill at each drinking fountain (bubbler?) I came across. Today was absolutely gorgeous for running.

Since running cross country in high school, I've known that running with a buddy helps with motivation. I'm pretty competitive with myself, and constantly challenge myself to push a little harder in my runs if I'm feeling good, but having someone with you offers a completely different type of encouragement. Just knowing someone is there and probably feeling the way you do is helpful. Having someone to talk to makes the miles fly by. Now, I'm not usually one to talk during my runs. I'm typically huffing and puffing too much to do any sort of talking. Not today. Today we talked about all sorts of things. We talked about why we're crazy for doing this, Michelle's love life, and stuff at work. Before I knew it, we were halfway done. We continued to talk for most of the other half. You could tell when we were getting tired when it gradually got quieter at the end of the run. The last mile or so we were really pushing each other along. I felt like I was back on Coach Greeno's cross country team. When we finally reached the end, we gave each other big high fives and congratulated each other on a job well done.

Now, I'm not saying that it was suddenly easy because I had someone with me. But, it was certainly easier. I found myself having less negative thoughts about the course and how I was feeling. I was either too distracted, or too busy encouraging Michelle along to have those thoughts. Telling her that the impending hill wasn't so bad made me actually believe it myslef. We now have a standing date each week to do our long runs together. Next week it's only ten miles. Hah, only! We're also going to be running together during the marathon which is such a relief. Michelle is a pro when it comes to hills despite her displeasure upon approaching them. I am not so much. She just powers up them, with seemingly no trouble. I think she has some things to teach me. :)

Upon returning home and posting our accomplishment on Facebook, my friend, Erin, from the National MS Society, Illinois Chapter asked if I want to participate in the Madison Mini Marathon. A half marathon on August 29th, in Madison, WI. I told her I'd think about it. But, the more I think about it, the more fun I think it would be. I haven't seen her since last summer and would love to get in a long road race. Hopefully It works out. I'm having more positive thoughts about it now than I was 12 hours ago. :)

The upcoming week is a "step back" week. I run 3-7-4 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, then 10 on Sunday. I'm looking forward to a little bit of rest. The following week peaks at 15 miles. 15! That'll be over half of the marathon. I'm really excited to see how well I do in the upcoming weeks as I approach my peak training mileage of 20 miles.

Further than Ever

I've been incredibly remiss in my postings lately. Mostly I haven't had a lot to talk about and when I did, I've been quite busy. Since my last post I've been through 4th of July festivities, a 10-mile run, my farthest since my 18th birthday, and a 12-miler in over 80 degree heat with 75% humidity. Whew!

It's become a tradition for Erich, my friends and I to head up to my friend's parents for the 4th of July. Jenna's parents live on a lake in Detroit Lakes, MN. For the past three years we've gone up there and spent the weekend. We tube down the Ottertail River while toting a cooler of beer and various mixed drinks with us. We also play plenty of yard games and cook out. Needless to say, this wasn't a big weekend for training. I pretty much postponed my long run until we returned and I had a day off. Traveling, high heat, drinking and all around "vacation time" wasn't great for fitting in some runs. But, despite that, it was such a great weekend. I already want to go back so I may have to plan a late summer visit with Jenna. :)

After returning from up north, I was facing a 10-mile run. I planned my route and set out on a Tuesday morning after dropping Erich off at work. Luckily for me we got both the 4th and the 5th off so I had time to get in this run. The last time I had run 10 miles was on my 18th birthday. I vividly remember arriving at cross country practice that day to find out that on the day I became a legal adult, I'd get to celebrate by running 10 miles. Swell. Now, at 25 it was even more difficult. The run was tiring that's for sure, however not awful. I got done and felt pretty good. During this run I decided that I needed to procure some sort of hydration belt.

After a couple more weeks of small training runs, today I faced the longest run I've ever had in my 25-year existence. 12 miles. In preparation, I went out and bought this:

It turned out to be a very good purchase. The temps were in the 80's with 60% humidity at 7:00 this morning when I took off. I also picked up some body glide and some GU gels to try out. I thought the hydration belt would annoy the crap out of me during the run. Having extra things on my body is always annoying to me, however this really didn't bother me at all. Maybe it's because I knew it was ultimately good for me. I'd read many reviews and consulted many other runners to find the best hydration belt available. This one had some bad reviews regarding the bottles falling off since they snap in. However it came recommended by a couple of people, as well as the guy working at Marathon Sports. It was also the most comfortable. Turns out I made a great choice. I'm very happy with my purchase. I got Body Glide because chafing is a real issue with most runners. I have some pretty good thighs so I'm hoping to try it out there. Also my toes have been rubbing quite a bit so today, I put it all over and between my toes. It was incredibly helpful and I highly recommend it to anyone who's having problems with chafing or rubbing to pick some up and use it. It really works wonders. Lastly I used some GU energy gel. After almost bonking on a mere 7-mile run, I took all precautions to not have that happen again. In addition to eating good meals, I also packed a couple of these pretty foil packets. Well, they may look nice on the outside but they are disgusting on the inside. I tried a lemon-lime variety. it was not very lemon-limey. I don't really know how to describe the taste, other than terrible. Good thing I had water and Gatorade on me to wash it down. But, despite this, it turned out to be helpful and I had enough energy to get through the run. I have a berry-flavored GU saved for my next long run, which happens to be next week, when I run a half marathon for my training. Thankfully, my co-worker and I have decided to do this together to help each other along. 

For now, there are other huge feats of athleticism being broadcast around the world, specifically the Women's World Cup so I think I'm going to watch that. GO USA!!!