20 Days until the Marathon

I’m starting to get excited and anxious, only 2 long runs left of 16 and then 12 miles! I ran 17 yesterday, and I can say it was not enjoyable with the cold and the wind.
A couple of weeks ago I was wondering if I would ever be ready. I feel like I am now, as I begin my taper down phase so my legs won’t be too beat up by the time the marathon rolls around. I still feel good, despite some small aches and pains that at this point I’ll have to deal with until the marathon is over.
As Greg and I were running yesterday through some of those aches and pains, he reminded me that the training is the most difficult part of the marathon. He said if you can get through it, the actual marathon won’t seem that bad. The race is only one day and one long run, while the training is 4 months and a lot of people can’t get through it to actually make it to race day. He reminded me of the freezing cold mornings, the hills at Chestnut Ridge in the snow, the injuries that you battle through, the overall fatigue that you eventually get over, the tough runs that you get more out of because you didn’t give up when you really wanted to, and the mornings where it would be a lot easier to sleep in instead. Whether or not he was just saying it to encourage me that I am almost there, it worked!

My Goal

Let me start out by saying that to qualify for Boston, I would have to finish in 3 hours, and 40 minutes. That is NOT my goal, nor do I think I am even capable of that time or close to it at this point. I honestly feel anything under 4 ½ hours would be a success for my first marathon, given that I've only been running for 1 year. However, since I do love a challenge and I didn’t decide to run a marathon to just finish.. I am shooting for 4 hours, although 4:15 might be the more realistic time! I’ve been humbled with some of my long runs. I've had days where I struggle from mile 5 all the way to mile 18. Which is why this past Sunday Greg told me it was going to be a make or break day for me. If I didn't do well in my last longest run before tapering down.. I would have needed to re-evaluate. However, all went well! I ran a strong 20 miles (the first 20 of the marathon course), which gave me a confidence boost. I’m at the point now of trying to get myself past a couple of mental hurdles. The two biggest things I’ve battled in my training: overall fatigue, and tight calf muscles. I just hope everything goes right the day of the race, as several marathon runners have told me a lot can go wrong!

1 1/2 Months to Go

With just a little under a month and a half to go, I now have long runs of 15.5, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 miles in (some I did multiple times if I felt I struggled a bit the 1st time). I built up my long distance a little bit more each week, as my weekly mileage also continues to climb. I’m now running 50 miles a week and felt if I had to run a marathon this week, I would be ready (Something I would not have said 2 weeks ago). Over these next few weeks, I will really be focusing on my pace. I’ve done that the last 2 weeks and have been consistent from mile 1, to mile 20 (or so the Garmin tells me). So now I am going to see if I can pick up the pace slightly, which my husband would appreciate. Give me one more week and I will be ready to announce my goal time to cross the finish line. Did I forget to mention how nice it is that the warm weather is finally here for good (I Hope).

Garmin is the way to go!

I remember seeing a lot of runners at the Niagara Falls Marathon with Garmin watches on. At the time I thought how are they going to get lost, just follow everyone else to the finish line. So here I am 7 months later and my husband is now the proud owner of a Garmin watch. I figured it out! Not only does this watch tell you the exact miles you’ve run, it also tells you your pace, your average pace, calories burned, heart rate.. I could go on. One of the best features I think for a marathon is that you can set the watch to a time/per mile that is too fast and then set it to a time/per mile that is too slow. The watch beeps when you are going to fast and too slow so you can stay on target for your goal time. While there are so many great features about it (that I am sure will take a long time before we ever use) I can honestly say it was a good investment. The next one will be our marathon day outfits. In the last 2 ½ months, I’ve been figuring out the to do’s, and not to do’s. That includes proper running clothes, sneakers, what to eat the night before, how much water, and energy gels to consume during our long runs. I can see why people train 4 months for a marathon. Not only does it take a long time to get your body ready to run 26.2 miles, it takes a long time to figure out what will make you feel your best while you’re doing it.

Running is a Friendly Sport

The training group my husband and I work out with for our long runs has really inspired me. The first day Greg and I joined them, we had no idea what the route was that we were suppose to be running. We only knew the distance. No one knew our names, just knew that we were the new couple. It only took a few miles before we hit the first water stop where everyone introduced themselves. They wanted to know how many marathons we’ve run, what we were training for, and our goals. From that moment, they have given me encouragement and make me feel like I can really meet my marathon goal (which I am not ready to say, until I get a few more long runs in). There are runners of all age in this group from 20 something to their 50’s. Some of these women are incredible runners. They could beat most men I know. I learned 2 weeks ago that one of the women in this group is now 3 months pregnant. She is still cruising along, and while she says she is slower… I haven’t noticed. She plans to still run her marathon in a couple of weeks but said she doesn’t care about time now. How great it will be that she can tell her baby one day they ran a marathon. It gave me new hope for myself. If she could run pregnant.. What was I complaining about? It is one of the very few sports where your competition is actually encouraging you while you are in the middle of a race. Where else can you find that? At first I thought how strange, other runners are saying.. Keep it up, nice pace, don’t give up. Now, I have come to appreciate it and find myself saying those very same words when I pass someone who looks to be struggling.

My toughest Challenge

I’ve been an athlete all my life. I played Division II field hockey, and was a swimmer. I remember the 2 a days in college getting ready for field hockey. I remember sprinting the hills on my college campus. We had this one called cardiac hill, and yes the name fits the description of what it really looked like. Cars had a tough time making it up this monster. With that in mind, we use to sprint that hill day after day, several times.. until we all were about to fall over (the coach also made us carry our sticks through all of this.. like we needed to be holding onto something.. we were exhausted). I use to think that it was the hardest physical thing I would ever do. Then we’d head over to the field and sprint more. We sprinted until we were about to throw up (some did). We ran for miles in the mornings, and miles in the afternoon. At that time I said I would never forget how exhausting all of that was. Part of that was because I was not a good runner back then, I just loved my sport and wanted to be the best at it. I thought I was in the best shape of my life. Little did I know, I would be in the best shape of my life at 32 years old. Honestly, training for a marathon has humbled me. Running never meant anything to me other than a way to lose weight, and a way to train for the sport that you were playing. Now that I am doing it for the competitive reasons: I can truly say I have never in my life done anything this physically exhausting or challenging. I had no idea what I was going to put my body through when I decided to do this.

Running the Strip in Vegas

I broke away from the cold Buffalo weather, as my husband I spent the last few days in Las Vegas. We took our running shoes with us, and took advantage of the beautiful weather and the quiet Vegas strip at 8am. The best part was the fact that we were able to wear shorts and were not hampered by the cold weather gear, gloves and hats we’ve been sporting the past couple of months. It was an opportunity to see just how much those hills and running through the snow has helped. Wow did it ever… my pace was great, and I felt great. We did our long run on Saturday and I enjoyed the entire thing. It was great to see all the hotels in the daylight. The strip was still quite busy: there were a handful of other runners, and those who had not yet gone to sleep. It was also a nice way to burn off those big steak dinners we had the night before. So now that we’re back in Buffalo and it’s spring (even though it does not feel like it), I am rejuvenated by the warm weather… knowing it is coming our way soon!

Running with Asthma

I don’t like saying it, because I feel like it’s an excuse. I do have asthma, and I do not let it stop me from doing what I love to do. I guess I should have mentioned this in one of my earlier blogs. With my doctor, I have found the right combination of my inhalers that allows me to run without having attacks. I usually find it’s the recovery period after I stop running that is the toughest on my lungs. It is still very difficult outside in the cold, and a big reason I prefer to run in the warmer weather. Because of that, I have a full mask that covers my nose and throat when I run outside. I do feel like a bank robber with it on, but it has made the difference and allowed me to run at my normal pace without feeling like I will never be able to catch my breath again. It basically warms up the air before I breath it in. With that being said, I was able to get outside twice this week. The first was Wednesday afternoon, and it was 35 degrees. What a difference from running in the low teens that past few weeks. By the middle of the run, I was taking my gloves off, and pulling up my sleeves I was so hot. Everything I read, says to plan on 20 degrees warmer than what it actually is outside. I didn’t on Wednesday. Then reality set in that it is still winter when my Sunday long run came along. Today we did 15.5 miles out at Chestnut Ridge with those pesky hills again. The temperature when I started was 29 degrees, and there were constant snow flurries throughout the run. After a few miles, it turned out to be a light snowfall, to the point where it felt like I was running with snow shoes on.. making it harder to pick up each foot as the bottoms of my shoes were building up plenty of snow on them. As much as I hate those hills, I do feel like they are making me a stronger runner. I didn’t say they get an easier to run, but at least I know what I am in for unlike the 1st time I ran them. I have been getting faster and I can feel my endurance building. So the prize at the end of the run: (after I warmed up) another great big stack of pancakes… Hey, they say to get carbs back in your system to help fuel your muscles!

Long runs on the Treadmill

Our long group run was cancelled this morning because of the winter storm. I was ready for it too, despite the snow and the fact that I anchored last night and we turned the clocks ahead losing an hour of sleep. We were supposed to run hills today which I hate running, but I do always feel great afterwards. It also helps me in my regular long runs the following week. So that only meant one thing: The BORING treadmill. I still got up early this morning, and I jumped on the treadmill for what seemed like an eternity….. 12 miles! I would have been running 16 outside, but I just didn’t have it in me to do that inside. I don’t know how everybody else gets themselves through it, but here’s what I do. I start by finding something on television. that will entertain me, I mean I can only watch so many re-runs of SportsCenter. I turn the sound down, and then turn the radio on to something upbeat. I know this sounds strange, but I was in for a long morning. I have the remote controls in one cup holder on the treadmill and a bottle of water in the other cup holder. Did I mention it’s still BORING, it’s just better than staring at a wall for the entire time. I also find by changing the speed on the treadmill every so often really helps, mainly so I don’t fall off because I was so bored. I did complete all 12 miles, and then treated myself to a nice plate of pancakes. In fact, I was thinking about the pancakes for the last 2 miles. I think that was what motivated me to stay on. Let me know what you do for these rare days that you’re stuck inside for your long runs.

My 2nd month of Training

I am officially through one month of training and I feel good. I have still not set my goal of what time I would like to finish the marathon in, but I am at the point where 10 miles feels like running 4 miles. I am o.k. with the fact that my long runs are going to be cold and usually snowy or raining. Well, I am not o.k. with it.. But I have learned to deal with it and not complain about it. My weekly mileage has surpassed 40 miles a week, something I thought would be impossible in the beginning. The best part of this week: Greg bought me a new spring running outfit. While I can only wear it on the treadmill for now, it did make me feel good about my training and made me think about how nice it will be to run the marathon in warmer weather!
Does anyone have any cold weather running stories they want to share?