Saturday, October 28, 2006

8 miles

It was supposed to be 12, but since 4 were with the stroller, I figured that 8 was close enough. IronMo was on this side of the country, and came down to do her 20 with me. Whee! We ran 4 together (she was pushing Max in the stroller) then I turned back and she went on. It was great fun, and I am so excited that we'll get to run together on 11/11. The only downside is I got a stitch in my side (first of the season!) because we were talking up a storm.

We both overdressed, and I was really hot and sweaty after pushing the stroller over DWR and Plank Road's undulations. In fact, I did about as much walking as I did running. Not surprisingly for taper, I felt a little creaky. It's as if every ache and twinge from the whole season is having one last hurrah.

Max was a great passenger, and only pulled off his shoes and socks once.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Zero miles

Taking another day to let my foot heal after Saturday's 20. It felt stiff and downright old when I woke up this morning, but is feeling more limber now. I'll test it out Wednesday morning. Saturday, I'm planning on doing my 12 with (drumroll please) IronMo! She has no idea what a feat of endurance my marathon is going to be. It's going to be a challenge for a Boston qualifier to slog it out with someone who's crossing her fingers for 5 hours.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

20 Miles - take THAT, Dick Woods!

We started in inky predawn darkness. Shooting stars were raining down over us. It was flippin' freezing, and I had on only shorts and a t-shirt. By the end (but that was more than 4 hours later) I was plenty warm.

Claudia, Jim and I set out, and were soon joined by Kelly, who was only doing 8, since her marathon (Marine Corps) is next weekend. A mile into the run, we saw some headlights up ahead and moved to the side of the road. Then, a horrible crashing, scraping noise. It was still pitch black, so all we could see were the two headlights, which had stopped in the road. DWR is pretty narrow - barely room for two compact cars to pass, and no shoulder on most of it. So we slowed to a walk until we got closer to the lights. We discovered a pickup, stopped in the middle of the road. It was, or had been, towing a thresher (I think it was a thresher, it was something farm-y). But it had been towing it on the truck bumper, not a proper trailer hitch, and the bumper had come off the truck, and now bumper and off-kilter thresher were stranded in the middle of the road. We squeezed past it and continued on.

We ran down Plank Road after mile two. We did the whole section, 3.5 miles to 250 and back. It's all pavement, and it felt like marshmallows compared to the stony gravel of DWR.

Somewhere around mile 12, Jim was way ahead of me, and Claudia way behind. A dog, and by dog, I mean fluffy white canine that came up to my waist, loped out into the road. He sniffed around, and looked up at me with pleading eyes. I was walking at this point, but started back to a run, inviting the dog to join me. He declined, and stopped in the middle of the road, and watched me run off into the distance.

Jim, Claudia and I met back up at the water stop at 13 (mile 6 on the DWR stretch). Claudia was hurting, but we continued on, did the .5 mi that brought us to our turnaround point, and then headed back. We were DONE, we just had to get back the 6.5 mi to the parking lot.

Claudia was way behind us, and at the 4 mile water stop (that is, with 4 to go), we waited a bit to see if we could see her. I couldn't stop for long, as my foot was hurting worse when I was stopped than when I was running. So we decided to get back to the cars as quickly as possible, and then drive back up the course to find Claudia.

Those last 4 miles were a doozy, and after the 2 mile water stop, my foot was really hurting, and my legs were dead. It was mostly downhill, but my heart sank at the sight of even a gentle uphill - all I could think about was having to schlep my bum foot up that hill. With about a mile to go, I just quit running. Jim stuck with me, and we kept on walking. One foot in front of the other, right?

With less than a half mile to go, a car pulled up next to us - it was the course volunteers who had Claudia with them in the backseat!! They asked how we were doing, and I indicated my foot hurt. They asked if I wanted a ride, and I said no way, I came here to do 20, and I was doing 20.

The last 200 yards or so is a nice downhill into the parking area. Jim and I picked it back up to a run, and entered the parking area triumphantly. There was lots of cheering (Claudia, the water volunteers, and some other runners were still there), high fives, and pats on the back. It was over 4 hours since we had started - way, way off a 5 hour marathon pace.

I still hope to do a 5 hour marathon. My last 3 long runs (14, 17, and 20) have been less than ideal. Heat and humidity (14). Driving rain and cold (17). Hurt foot (20). I'll rest my foot over taper, let my body heal, and hopefully I'll be a well-oiled machine by Richmond, and the weather will cooperate. Plus, I'll have IronMo with me. I'm holding on to the 10:30 pace I held at the last track workout. I know it's there inside of me somewhere, and I only need 11:27.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Foot update #2

And then it started hurting again. So I wasn't miraculously cured. But it wasn't hurting as badly. I skipped my run this morning, and made my way over to the shop after work. I ran laps around the store, in sock feet, in my shoes, in my shoes with different inserts, in shoes with the same inserts. Three salespeople listened to my tale of woe, and finally the great and powerful Oz himself took a look. Mark assured me that my inserts were fine, and then gave me a good dose of perspective. Running seventeen miles in the wet and the cold is bound to make something hurt. So I walked out of the shop with the shoes and the inserts I came in with, and headed home to take another dose of Advil.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Foot update

Yesterday I wrapped it up in an ace bandage, and when I wasn't laying on the sofa with it propped up, I was hobbling around. At bedtime, I took a big dose of ibuprofen, and left the ace bandage on. I couldn't sleep. A searing pain overtook my foot, accompanied by cramping. I pawed off the ace bandage, and managed to fall asleep. This morning when I awoke...I was cured. My ankle's sore from compensating for it over the past week, but the lump is almost gone, and there's no pain at all. Weird. I'm still going to try to take it easy this week - my big 20 mile run is Saturday, and I don't want to jeopardize it.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

8 Miles

Frosty morning. We started in the pitch black. There was just enough moonlight to be able to avoid potholes. The sky lightened and the sun began to rise somewhere around mile 2. The light was filtered by the turning trees, and dappled the frosted pastures with silver and gold. At water stops, steam rose off our bodies. It was tranquil, and passed by far too quickly.

Yes, my foot still hurts. But I was able to keep an 11:30ish pace without pushing too hard.

Monday, October 09, 2006

1215 Miles

Well, not exactly. Mama's gone to Dallas for a conference! No running today - just a lot of flying and sitting around. I did read the new Runner's World, which had a bit about running in, of all places, Dallas. And then I left it on the plane. It's just as well - I'm resting for a few days, if you can call schlepping around the conference center resting. My right foot really, really hurts and has a lump on it. Am I freaked out? You betcha. The upside is, other than the sharp, excruciating pain in my foot, I was surprisingly un-sore after my big run on Saturday.

Max's papa called a while ago, and apparently bedtime did not go well. That hurt worse than the lump in my foot.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Seventeen Miles

ROCK ON!!!

Today's run was wonderful on many levels. I ran the whole thing with Claudia and Jim. I was powering up hills for about the first 2/3. I did the 17 miles I set out to do. I felt like I'd accomplished something significant when I was done. I got a chocolate mint Clif Bar.

But it was not without adversity. Two words: Driving rain. Oh, and one more: Cold. I ran 17 miles in the driving rain and the cold. I am not kidding or exaggerating. It was about 45 degrees, and the radio was rife with flood warnings on the dark and winding drive over. I was completely soaked by the end. Heck, I was completely soaked by about three miles into it, despite sporting my brand-new fluorescent "water resistant" top layer. My feet were so wet that at the end, they were white and wrinkled. I have blisters on the bottoms of my toes. I wore a fleece toque the whole time, and still had a few moments where I was shivering. My legs got so cold that they started cramping up with about four miles to go and I walked/run-shuffled to the end. The last three miles were the longest @$#%^#&^ three miles of my life. Longer than the last three miles hiking out of the Grand Canyon.

I can't imagine that I'll feel any happier or more emotional at the end of 26.2.

Sunday evening update: 36 hours later, my shoes are still wet.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Four miles*

*with stroller

Max's papa had Important Work to do this morning, so I took the boy with me on my run. I do this rarely, despite having not one but two jogging strollers. We set out in the big ole purple Baby Jogger II with the 20" wheels. It was a bit nippy, so I put socks and a hoodie on Max. He pulled off his socks before we even got out of the subdivision.

I surprised myself by actually getting a rhythm going while pushing the stroller. And all that extra weight meant a great upper-body workout. Max got to watch birds ("buh") and cars ("buh") and trucks ("buh") go by, so overall it was a win-win.

When we got home, he was all tuckered out. I gave him a snack and some water, and put him down for a nap. He slept for almost two hours, and woke up with a sweaty head and one side of his face all smushed.