What I’d do differently: Self Criticism and Analysis

Can you tell I’ve been doing some corporate powerpoints today? Hence the title.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’ll do differently next time I tackle the 26.2 distance– I don’t know when that will be (May 1, 2010) or where (probably Eugene) or why I want to do it again (because I’m a sick puppy and I love it) but I do know that it’s important to think about your cycle as a whole think through everything: running, diet, timing, races, hydration, etc. So…

Things I’ll keep the same:

1. My mileage. 70 miles per week seemed about right for me. Sure, it was a challenge fitting them all in but I really felt an increase in my cardiovascular fitness and running economy. I enjoyed my 2nd runs after awhile and felt the mileage was appropriate for me.

2. Jack Daniels. I love me some Jack. He works me hard but it is hands down, the best training program out there. At least for me! If it’s not broken, I’m not going to fix it. I may modify it slightly but there won’t be any big changes.

3. My work schedule and other commitments are not changing any time soon. If anything, I am going to get busier so the getting up before the sun thing is sadly going to continue.

Things I’ll do differently:

1. Begin tracking food intake sooner. I really do need to get leaner to accomplish my goal. Size is a factor and I got my self-discipline too late. Just to re-emphasize: I think I look fine. This is just for running purposes. I’ll probably eat less meat and say no to more cookies. But I really like cookies.

2. Less booze. I was a little lax with the wine intake– particularly in the beginning and middle of my training. This was really detrimental to my “get smaller” and “get faster” goals. I’m not going on the wagon, but I need to step it back. Booze is bad times for your body. I don’t have a problem, but 2 glasses on a Wednesday? Superfluous.

3. More M Pace runs, fewer races. I think we all know that I love a good race, but next time I want to do more marathon-paced running. I never fell into my marathon pace comfortably and had a hard time holding it for more than a few miles simply because I didn’t have a good feel for its cadence.

4. Incorporate more medium-long runs. I did this too late also. But when my quality workout is less than 10 miles I need to incorporate an 11-14 mile medium long run instead of a double day.

5. Less pressure on myself. Not qualifying for Boston isn’t going to kill anyone. It’s fine. Do I want it? Um, yes. But freaking out is really detrimental to my racing.

6. More hills. Hills make you stronger. They’re about as rare as a unicorn here, but it’s not impossible to run them. I have a few stretches where I can do repeats and I need to do them regularly. It’s just a matter of discipline.

7. Keep up with the strength training. I got pretty tired weeks 10-18 and stopped strength training and doing core work. I could definitely tell it was adversely affecting my running but I just couldn’t fit it in. This time, I will.

8. More sleep. This one is a challenge, but in order to run 70 miles per week, you must sleep. So I will.

9. Up the intensity. I can run faster than I was for a good chunk of my quality workouts. So instead of 7:50 LT miles, I’m going to shoot for 7:40s. Hopefully this helps.

I think that’s it. Still no running but that’s okay with me. I’m fighting a mild cold and just feel tired. Operation Recovery is going well, though.

Some Perspective

Now that I’m a little more than 6 hours removed from my race I think I have a little better perspective on my perceived failure. First of all, finishing a marathon is never a failure. No matter how long it takes you to get from point A to point B, it’s still 26.2 miles and the courage it takes to get to the starting line is immense. It’s not a race you approach lightly, but like they often say at the beginning of wedding vows, quietly, with discretion and the utmost respect.

Secondly, I don’t train and run to achieve a certain time at a race. Ok, that’s a lie, I love PR-ing more than I can tell you, but it’s not my primary motivation for getting out the door in the morning. Having a goal keeps me motivated, but you do not wake up at 4:30 in the morning to do a tempo run because you want to see a certain number on the clock. You wake up, stretch your tired legs and say no to the second glass of wine because you want to push yourself and be the best athlete you can possibly be. Becoming the best you can be is so much more than numbers on a clock. Am I a Boston qualified marathoner? No. Am I an athlete that’s capable of 70 mile weeks, double days, pain, suffering, 21-mile training runs and working hard? Yes. Will seeing a number on a clock change that? No. I know how hard I worked and even a race result that I didn’t want can’t take that from me.

This race was also probably the last of my “huge” PRs. Now that I’m a little bit faster (still not fast, but on my way) I can’t take PRs for granted the way I used to. For awhile it was normal for me to chop 10 minutes off of my half-marathon time or 4-6 minutes off a 10k. Now that I have some more speed the PRs don’t come as easily and the marathon was my last distance to tackle since improving. So I need to enjoy that. The PRs are coming in seconds and tenths of seconds not full minutes now so I need to revel in the giant chunk of time that came off. To put it in context, if I took another 20 minutes off my 10k time I’d be competing in the Olympics, so I can’t expect that same jump again.

Another piece of perspective is that this was only my second marathon. It takes years to build up to the kind of endurance and stamina you need to really race a marathon. I actually think I fueled and hydrated perfectly during the race and so the next time I get to that starting line I’ll be confident that my strategy is correct. I never bonked, never cramped and although I certainly didn’t negative split I could have felt much worse at the end. I learned a lot this race but mostly I learned that I have what it takes to run the full distance- I just need to speed it up.

I’m going to do a separate post on what I’ll do differently next time, but if I could change anything about my training, I wouldn’t. I did the best I could with the life I lead and the knowledge I had. Sure, hindsight is 20/20 but I’m still at peace that I did everything I could. Plus, had I not run that much I wonder how much worse I would have felt.

So what now? I still don’t know. And I love that. I’m toying with the idea of a spring marathon but none of the options work well with other commitments I have and I don’t know if I’m ready to throw myself back into the volume of training running a marathon requires. I’m interested to see what happens with my running after my break– last time I ran a marathon I came back much, much stronger. I always run the Shamrockin Half Marathon, and it’s a race I love, so I’ll do that no matter what, but I may just play around for awhile.

Finally, thanks for all the nice comments and emails. They really do mean a lot because I know that the majority of you really get it.

Race Report: 2009 California International Marathon

I don’t really know how I feel about this race. On the one hand, I PRd by an hour (2 years later but still), on the other, I fell quite short of my goal. On the one hand, I ran a far slower race than I’m capable but on the other I toughed out an entire marathon without walking in what I felt were bad conditions when I wanted to quit at mile 9. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I picked up my packet on Friday with no drama. The expo was next door to my office so I was in and out in roughly 20 minutes (and that includes chatting up some booths and walking around. I came home, ate carbs and went to sleep really early– maybe 9:30? I had a great sleep and woke up on Saturday ready to relax and hang out. I actually ended up back at the expo on Friday and had lunch with JackAlberto and his wife. I visited Aron and then we saw Tara, Martiza, Danica and Nicole and just took it easy. It was great– I felt relaxed, rested and ready to go. Maybe a little emotional but ready to go. I fell asleep by 8:30 and slept really well.

I woke up around 3:30 because I was just so excited that the race was finally here! I forced myself to stay in bed until 4:10 but then quickly went about eating, getting dressed and driving to the buses. The ride to the start was great– my roommate and I chatted with 2 really nice guys who work for Nike in Portland (and um, see Kara Goucher all the time which I took as a great omen) and the ride flew by. I knew it was cold but I felt ok at this point. All my systems were firing and I was excited.

I lined up, found Aron at the start (like we do) and was ready to go. I got a little emotional when they sent us on our way but I quickly reminded myself to save my energy and run hard. I fell into marathon pace really easily and felt awesome. Miles 1-5 flew by and I actually had some time in the bank. I was feeling great and then we made the turn from Oak Ave onto Fair Oaks and well… I lost my will to live. Or at least run fast.

Suddenly I was facing a headwind and I was absolutely freezing. Normally I’m a hot runner (not you know, like Julia Roberts would be a hot runner, temperature hot. As in I sweat like a linebacker) but I was absolutely freezing and the wind made me feel like I was running naked. I figured I’d ditch my arm warmers and gloves by mile 3 but I was so cold that when I saw other people’s throw away clothes on the side of the road, I wanted to put them on!  I got so cold that I tensed up and just couldn’t turn my legs over. I don’t know how to explain it other than my legs felt heavy and I couldn’t move– it was like there were bricks on my shoes. My marathon nightmare come true.

First the 3:45 pace group passed me which was depressing but not a disaster but then around mile 10 the 3:50 group passed me. I was not pleased. Mile 10 is usually my favorite (it’s so cute and the crowds are awesome) but this year I was just dying. My lungs were burning from the cold air and I felt absolutely crappy. Just awful. My friend Liz passed me and was trying to chat but I just sort of nodded and felt sad and then my roommate passed me and I just kind of glared at her. I wasn’t mad she was faster, I was just in my own world and so, so cold and miserable.

Around mile 9 I started thinking about quitting. Nothing was clicking, I felt terrible and my time goal was long gone. I’ve always kind of made fun of people who run races for the medal (I mean, everyone gets one, it’s not like you WIN) but I knew I had to finish the race and get that stupid thing. Plus, I figured I’d be warmer running than waiting for medical to take me (as it turns out I was right, more on this later). Also, I am not a quitter. Athletes in my family do not quit. We don’t. We just don’t.

I kept motoring and telling myself, “these splits are not that tragic, you’re doing fine, don’t worry. These splits aren’t that tragic, you’re ok.” It was a lie and I knew it, but it kept me going. Around mile 14 I ran into the guy I puked in front of two years ago. I was basically on the verge of tears and really, really wanted to stop running. He grabbed my hand and ran with me for a few hundred yards and told me to keep my shoulders relaxed, arms low and turnover quick. He told me I looked great and would have a great race. All lies, but it was exactly what I needed to harden up and keep running.

At this point I told myself that I was to keep running and then at mile 21 I’d have a conversation with myself about maybe walking or slowing down or quitting. Miles 14-21 were actually my favorite in the race. I don’t know what exactly about them I liked, and calling it fun would be a stretch at best, but I was being a tough runner. Just keeping the legs going. I think I remembered how tragic these miles were last time and I was grateful that although I was having a terrible day, I still felt better than I did 2 years ago! The whole time I was running I kept repeating to myself, “oh marathon, you are a cruel mistress. Tempting and beautiful but so cruel.” Which is kind of funny because that is so not how I talk! I saw a bunch of the elite athletes at the medical station at mile 18 which lead me to believe I was not the only one having a bad day (and the reason I think running to the finish really was faster). I knew once I got to the bridge at J street I’d be ok– I run those streets all the time and feel a kind of ownership over East Sac (I do my quality workouts over there so feeling pain on those streets is not new).

I finally broke through miles 20 and 21 and knew I was going to make it. I was doing math in my head and figured that as long as I ran 10 minute miles I’d come in under 4 hours (side note: a marathon is 26.2 miles and if your garmin is .2 short a sister should keep that in mind!) and be happy-ish. At this point I kept repeating what my friend Andre said to me, “some will break and walk, but it won’t be you.” I just kept repeating to myself, “it won’t be you.” And it wasn’t. Although I was running a much slower pace than I wanted I was still running, still putting one foot in front of the other and still had most of my wits (other than the inability to do math).

When I got to the grid (the streets descend from 59th to 7th streets) I kept telling myself, “get to 23.5 and we’ll talk about maybe taking a break” or, “I wonder what would happen if you ran to 40th?” When I got to 40th, “I wonder what would happen if I ran to 30th?” I think you get the point. I finally got to mile 25 and was just relieved. I wasn’t happy or pleased with myself, just ready to be done.

I tried to soak in the last mile and enjoy the awesome crowds but I was so tired and so sad that it was hard. I did encourage one guy to start running again by shaming his Livestrong T-shirt wearing self by saying, “would Lance walk?” so that was a victory. I figured if I was going to be slow I may as well help others not be!

I finally crossed the finish line in what, according to my watch was 3:59:58 so I’m going with it, and just started bawling. I was a little dehydrated so there weren’t any tears, but I was crying! I bent over and had myself a little cry and tried to regain composure. When I saw my mom I walked over and said, “I just want my mommy” and hugged her. I’m really, really close to my mom (think Gilmore Girls) but I’m not mushy like that but in that moment all I wanted was my mommy and to cry. So I did. Then I saw Katie and got a big hug which I loved and needed. I don’t know why I was crying– I’m bummed about my time but I’m not devastated. I actually thought, “child hunger, war in Afghanistan and military widows. These are things worth crying about. A sub-4 hour marathon is not.” Which is dramatic, but in that moment the perspective I needed. And it has the added bonus of being true.

The thing that is the worst and most frustrating is that I feel pretty good. My shins are a little sore and I’m tired but overall I am not sore. My quads, calves, IT bands, toes, etc are all fine. I just feel like I went on a long run. A really long, cold and miserable long run but a long run. I don’t think I’m going to be very sore and that’s sad. I think I just never recovered from the wind and the cold and I’m going to bed tonight knowing that I was the best runner I could be today. I don’t think I went mental or sandbagged or wimped out– it simply wasn’t my day to hit that 3:40. And that’s ok. There will be other marathons (I love that I said I was going to retire when I finished but 3 hours later I’m trying to see if I can be in shape for the LA Marathon) and I will run 3:40 sooner rather than later. Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll focus on speed and enter some grown up track meets and run the 800 or do a triathlon or trail run or take up adventure races.

I just know that right now I’m sitting in my bed drinking a lovely glass of Oregon Pinot made by my brother and that my friends and family love me just as much now as they did this morning. Maybe more. My mom and my brother were adorable and said the exact perfect things and my girl Aron, who understands my pain more than anyone (PS. go read her race report. I honestly could not be more proud and get teary just thinking about it) also helped soothe my wounds. I am still a runner.

I don’t know what’s next. Jack (who also missed his goal which makes me feel better although I am so very proud of him for being the best coach and best runner I know plus a very good friend) has mandated 10 days of no exercise and 2 weeks of no running. I’m going to regroup, enjoy Christmas and remember that running is only one piece of what makes me, me. Today’s race was one race in a lifetime of races and I have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I also took SIXTY minutes off of my time from two years ago. SIXTY. ONE HOUR.

So thanks again to everyone for your love and support. I really did think of all of you pulling for me, encouraging me and thinking about me while I was out there and it made a huge difference. And who knows what kind of trouble I’ll get myself into next…

Jack and I being sad about our times

At the finish. Not crying anymore.

More later but…

I had a rough time out there this morning but just to let you all know that I’m not dead…

Finished in 3:59:59 and I’m not sore or tired at all after the race– but I’m sure that I was the best possble runner in these particular conditions on this particular day.

Talk to you soon.

Last One until Sunday

I’m ready. I’ve trained, I’ve worked so hard and I am ready to go. I’m excited. I feel rested (in fact, my facebook status today tells it all: I have as much energy as Buddy the Elf, the Energizer Bunny, the Tasmanian Devil, my mom and the Griswold’s Christmas Display. COMBINED. Let’s go CIM. I’m ready.) and I can’t wait to do this thing.

You all know my goal and what I want to do. I can rest assured that I have put in the hours upon hours of work required to reach my goal and now it is time to do it. Sunday is just a big fat celebration of 18 weeks of that work. It’s funny, although I’m sure when I was in it that training was hard but looking back on it now it just seems like it was a lot of fun. I met great friends, ran in really beautiful places and pushed myself harder than I knew was possible. So no matter the outcome on Sunday what matters is what it took to start- the outcome is just the icing. I’m not nervous or panicked or overwhelmed. I am excited. It’s going to be my day- I just know it.

There are a lot of people I have to thank for these 18 weeks… Jack for answering my questions and being the best coach a runner could ever ask for, Aron for being my constant buddy full of wise words, race invites and hilarious IMs, my roommate for understanding that our house was just going to be a locker room for 18 weeks, my family for trying to understand why on earth I’d do this, my coworkers for putting up with me and all of you for your kind words and affirmations. It’s true that this is an individual sport, but no one runs alone or can reach their goals without the love and support of many. I’m just lucky that my many happen to be all stars. Words fail me here, but rest assured that the gratefulness I feel is spilling from a very real and sincere place that is overflowing with all the love I feel.

Ok, I’m crying now, so I’m going to leave you with an email from a friend. It sums up the training better than I ever could.

So like I know you are about to run a shitload this weekend because I saw
the preview for CIM on the news before. So I thought I would just take the
time to pump you up.

I have never dreamed of running the distance you are about to run. In fact.
I rarely drive that distance. So the fact that you have taken on this
challenge in the first place shows that it is simply your nature to
challenge yourself. Puts you in a good spot.

As you line up, know that you have trained hard for this. All those days of
running all those days of waking up in the morning all those days running in
the evening they will pay off when you hit that finish line. Because you
have trained so hard there will be no doubt that you will put in a great
time. Along the way there will be people who will break, they will walk and
they will quit but it won’t be you, because you prepared. You know down to
the seconds what your capable of, but this weekend with the big crown you
will perform better than ever. Its not a question. You are ready, and you
will do great.

I hope this helps.

Marathon Nightmare!!!

When I first started running I had a recurring dream that I’d be in a race and my legs weighed 200 lbs and I couldn’t run– almost like being stuck in sand or mud. As I got more race experience and grew more confident that particular nightmare gradually faded away and I actually forgot about it… until last night.

Last night’s race nightmare was all kinds of special. And I don’t mean special like I dreamed I won the race, I mean special like finding out you overdrew your bank account, you showed up at work and your pants split or throwing up in front of a cute boy kind of special.

Let’s set the stage. I dreamed that I was at the starting line of CIM and although it was cold and foggy everything seemed to be ok. I was dressed in running clothes and ready to go! So the gun fired and we were off! Only the course was grass! And then, about 250 yards from the start line we had to stop running because they forgot the National Anthem. I take America and the anthem very seriously so I stopped to salute the flag but then wasn’t sure if I should restart my watch or count the anthem time in my pacing.

I am not marathon-footwear. I am beach footwear.

Then, I started running for real and felt the sand and mud type of running. I couldn’t get above an 11-minute pace and was getting so frustrated. Well, about 1/4 mile later I looked down and I was slow because I wasn’t wearing running shoes, nope I was wearing my gold Havianna flip flops. I looked all over the place for someone I knew to switch out shoes but no one had an extra pair! And I couldn’t see my garmin!

To make matters worse, the race director had changed the course to run through a whole bunch of buildings that were Frank Lloyd-Wright-style architecture and I kept coming to dead-ends in hallways and couldn’t get out to where the runners were. I could see the leaders, but I couldn’t reach them. And to make things even worse I realized I had no gu! And as if that wasn’t enough i realized I was carrying both my purse and laptop bag and was too petrified to just ditch them along the course. So let’s recap: I was running CIM, in flip flops, with 2 purses, with no gu, inside a building, on a grass course, with no one around.

Would you like to run with me?

I ran and ran and ran and yelled “F you” to quite a few spectators (which is hilarious because I think I’ve uttered the F word out loud MAYBE 5 times in my entire life and that’s if you’re counting quoting others) but couldn’t find anyone I knew to take my purse.

I was there too! You were also carrying me!

After roughly 6 miles of marathon running in flip flops and with a purse I woke up. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that I was not actually running CIM today and that if I was I would more than likely remember to put on running shoes. At least I hope so. I’ve also never forgotten my gu and I highly doubt that I’d take my purse and laptop to a race. I was also kind of sweaty but that could be because I was so cold when I went to bed that I opted to sleep in long sleeves, flannel pants, flannel sheets, 2 down comforters, my uggs and socks. Hot. Literally and figuratively.

Aside from its hilarity, the dream is probably a good reminder that I’m on schedule to have a good race. A crazy race nightmare is standard and it was a good reminder to have everything I need prepared and ready to go before say, the gun goes off! It was also a good reminder not to get cocky and that anything can happen on race day!

I had a good run this morning– we had the first fog of the season (Sacramento gets this really bone-chilling, dense valley fog that sits close to the ground and since I live near the river it’s particularly thick in my neighborhood. I usually like it for about oh, 3 days and then I’m ready for spring.) so I was bundled up like Frosty the Snowrunnergirl but the legs felt good and I was rarin’ to go. I listened to the Ryan Hall “Ole” YouTube and some good music and just kind of had a moment with myself. A short moment since it was only 4 miles, but a moment nonetheless. 3 more sleeps and 1 more run and I’ll be at the starting line!

Between now and then I’ll be eating a moderate amount of carbs with some good healthy protein in there, wearing compression socks, watching my step carefully and doing a lot of relaxing. I’m also going to stop eating the left over turkey from Thanksgiving just to make sure I don’t get food poisoning! I’m so ridiculous.

4 Days!

I apologize for filling up everyone’s google readers but my friends don’t want to hear about CIM anymore and I need to process. So you can skip me if you want.

I’m happy to report that I’m much less mental today. My run, which was all of 45 minutes, was devoid of any hyperventilating and I left my watch at home which I think was smart– you can’t panic about your pace if you don’t know what it is. I took my new arm

These make me feel like Dr. Suess

warmers for a trial run and they stayed up, didn’t chafe and seem to be warm. Because they are wool they are a bit scratchy but I lost my asics pair, so this is what I have. As an aside, they were advertised as a 2-pack which I assumed meant 2 pair, but as it turned out it was 2 as in, we have 2 arms, therefore we need a 2 pack. As in 1 pair. LAME.

I went to my ART doctor for a final tune-up and let him dig around in my glute for about half an hour. It was painful– really painful– but it feels so much better now. I think my pelvis and hips are back where they belong and the knot in my glute appears to be almost 90% gone. I’ll continue with the trigger point roller of evil and the foam roller of semi-evil and it should be good to go.

One thing that seems extremely, extremely odd is that I am losing weight hand over fist this week. I’ve lost about 6 lbs since last Thursday and it’s consistent day-to-day and doesn’t seem to be a water-based thing. I’m eating a fair amount especially given my reduced mileage and I’m not really holding back on snacks if I feel hungry but I keep losing weight! Normally I’d be throwing a party, and believe me I’m not UNhappy, but I want to make sure I have enough glycogen in my system and that I’m not underfueling. So, starting tomorrow it’s going to be a carb party. I’m sure all those carbs will bloat me up nice and big.

Last night I drove to an event in Folsom and um, it’s far away. It took half an hour to DRIVE there.  And I’ll be running from there! I also drove miles 21-24 today (not intentionally, I just live here and needed to go to Trader Joes for post-race candy cane joe joes and also yogurt) and started to get really excited about the race. The road closure signs are up and I saw spray paint for the mile markers.

So for now it’s all about staying positive, obsessing but in a good way, and reminding myself that hey Sunday? Get ready to be DOMINATED.

Oh and here’s my race outfit for anyone wondering:

This plus arm warmers ok?

Freaking Out

In the interest of “keeping it real” as the kids these days are saying, I wanted to let you all know that I’m losing it and freaking out a little bit. I mean, on the surface I’m okay (if you can ignore my twitching eye), but internally I’m a basket case. I’m trying to stay calm and using every trick I know– deep breathing, distraction, putting the mind elsewhere… but to be honest, my mind keeps coming right on back to mile 22. And how I think I might feel, what time it’ll be when I get there… you get the picture.

In fact, this morning while I was running I started hyperventilating a little bit. This is NOT normal for me– I’m one of the most even-keeled people I know and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve panicked or raised my voice– it is just not how I roll. But this morning, I panicked. It’s good I’ve done some yoga because I was able to to channel some, “be present” breathing and get myself back to neutral. The thing is, everything was fine. I had 4 x 1200 at LT pace this morning and I was actually pretty speedy. My warm up was slow, but my intervals were in the 7:35-7:50 range which is actually a little too fast. And while I was running my LT intervals, I was fine– I was running too hard to panic. It was just when I was running “easy” that my mind wandered and I freaked out.

Interestingly, I’m not worried about the external factors like start-line logistics, the weather, my outfit, hydration, etc. All of that has been figured out for at least a month. I’m just nervous. But I figure that the best thing is for me to be nervous now than say, on Sunday. And I’m an excited nervous– I only get the 2009 CIM one time and I’m determined to enjoy it, damn it so I will. You know? I think part of it is that I’m just not used to having all this energy– running 60-80 miles per week took a lot out of me and now that I’m back to my energizer-bunny self I feel like I’m coming out of my skin. Like a puppy or something–  maybe I need a chew toy or rawhide to focus on Or maybe I’ll ask my roommate to throw the tennis ball for me!

Despite my even-keeled nature I think this might be a normal pattern for me. I remember feeling nervous for finals in college but once the studying was done I would walk into the test pretty confident and usually nail it. I’ve always been a good test-taker and I think this will be similar– mentally it feels similar, it’s just a physical test rather than a mental exercise. And I remember my high school music teacher telling us before recitals that, “fear is just the absence of preparation and if you’ve prepared, there is absolutely no need to fear.” And Mr. Duarte was always right– the man was a legend. And it’s true that I’ve prepared, so there’s no reason to fear, right? Plus if it doesn’t hurt, you’re not racing (thanks Aron!).

Finally, I was in the Sacramento Bee’s runnng blog yesterday– you can click here to see the article. I’m also blogging for “Girls on the Grid” which is a Sacramento-based lifestyle blog and a project of a bunch of my friends. I’m not sure how I feel about all of Sacramento seeing me in my spandex-ed glory, but it’s pretty fun and makes me feel legit. I love that they called me “Sacramento marathoner” like I’m some kind of established runner instead of a hack gearing up for my 2nd marathon. But hey, if “The Secret” is to be believed (oh and I’m so not into it) if you say it, it will happen. So repeat with me, “I’m going to run a 3:39, feel awesome and meet the man of my dreams at mile 18…” Right?

And now that I’m to the bottom of this post, I’m actually feeling a little saner. Somehow writing out that I’m nervous calmed me down. So if I continue to be nervous I’m either going to write a blog post or drink a beer. I have both options in my office (yeah I have beer in my office– it’s awesome).

Where Have I Been?

I thought it might be fun to make a list of everywhere I’ve run in the last 19 weeks in order to achieve my mileage while working and traveling. The list ended up a little bit staggering– thank goodness for Garmins that allow me to run anywhere!

The Embarcadero in San Francisco (x3)
Downtown San Diego
The Silverado Trail in Napa
Chico, CA (x3)
Pre’s Trail in Eugene, OR (x2)
Long Beach, CA
A treadmill in an 85 degree hotel room at the Picadilly Inn in Fresno
Iron Horse Trail through San Ramon, CA
Lafayette/Moraga Trail
Healdsburg to Lake Sonoma
Santa Rosa, CA
And I’m pretty sure that there’s more! And for those keeping track at home that was 1,031 miles in 18 weeks.

My run was total crap this morning. I felt really anxious the entire time and I was really slow. I’m not worried about it, but I need to chill out. Feeling anxious is only going to waste energy that I’m going to need for the race. The ankle still hurts but is feeling better every day, so that’s good (thanks for all the reassurance everyone!).

Yesterday I had coffee with Alberto and it got me so excited for the race. We talked a little bit of strategy and I think I know what I’m going to do at the start– of course it all depends on how I’m feeling that day but I feel good about the direction we talked about. He also said, “the odds of you doing what you want to do are in your favor. You still have to go and do it, but if you’ve done all the training and put the work in, the odds of failure are very minimal. The only way you can fail is if you get mental.” So note to self: NO GOING MENTAL.

I’m also pleased to report that despite Thanksgiving, a reduction in mileage, feeling gigantic and being worried that I might eat my arm off if left alone too long that I’m the lowest weight I’ve ever been in my entire life and a pleasing 18% body fat. It could be lower but given my life and the fact that I spent the last 3 months in a constant state of hunger, I’ll take it. Also, I went to buy jeans on Saturday and realized that the last time I bought jeans during taper I couldn’t wear them 3 weeks later. So I held off, haha.

I guess now it’s just hurry up and wait. I’m going to try and keep my life super mellow, focus on Christmas shopping, getting my house ready for my Christmas party and not obsess over the race. Ummm, what else? Not much. Get ready for me to obsess a lot this week. I mean, I don’t know if you got the memo, but I’m running a marathon in 6 days.

Of course.

Every taper or big race it seems like something goes wrong. I trained really hard for a half marathon back in march and was hit by a motorcycle jogging to the start (I was fine but my head wasn’t really in the game during the race and it really scared me). Last CIM I hurt my hip the week before and today… well today I rolled my ankle on a stupid 5 mile run.

I’m at my mom’s and was running on a dirt trail in the huge park that’s around here. I was just running along, not paying very close attention to my footfalls and I think I stepped on an acorn just wrong and went down. I figured it was the kind of ankle roll that feels better if you run it off so I did (and I actually had a decent run) but now that I’ve stopped it definitely hurts. I am certainly not happy about this but it’s my own fault for not paying better attention.

The good news is that it’s not swollen or bruised too badly and it’s definitely not broken… and I guess I have my one thing to obsess about between now and the race… it just underscores the need to be very, very careful between now and Sunday.

Speaking of careful, I’m not one to take germs very seriously. I have a decent immune system and am sort of of the “God made dirt and dirt don’t hurt” school of thinking. Whatever the opposite of a germaphobe is, I’m that. But the last week or 2 I’ve actually been using hand sanitizer and telling people to stay away. No sickness, please.

Other than that, tapering continues to go well I guess. I mean, I’m not running very much… my legs feel pretty fresh (other than the stupid rolled ankle) and I totally feel like I’m getting out of shape and bloated which is part for the course.

Tapering during Thanksgiving is hard though! Everywhere I look there’s food (even though I don’t like Thanksgiving food I do like dessert and that keeps appearing) and good wine and I feel like a freak for constantly saying no. But that’s ok because in 8 days my all cookie, beer, wine and burrito diet begins!

Anyway, 8 days. Weather is looking solid, outfit is planned… just need to get this ankle back to 100%.

Finally, some photos from the turkey trot in Davis. If you thought I was kidding about being in pain, these should convince you otherwise.

Ow this hurts!

Where is the stupid finish?

FINALLY. The finish! Longest 10k ever!