Oops, I ran a marathon

I ran Hartford yesterday, the whole thing. My big game plan was to drop out at mile 20 and use the race as a training run. Didn't quite happen that way...

It was cold when I woke up (which was a half hour later than I do for training runs). I ate my usual breakfast - peanut butter and banana sandwich with water. J dropped me off at Bushnell. It was still cold and I was a little worried about freezing my ass off. I kept my long sleeve on.

I found my group at the carousel and went to find Allison and Jodi at the corner. We all met as planned and hung around a bit. It was nice arriving only a half hour or so before the race. The lines for the bathroom were ridiculous, so we decided to just wait until a few miles in the race.

Nothing left to do but run at this point. There was no organization to the line up, which didn't really seem to matter. There was definitely a good vibe amongst the runners and everyone was all fired up. It was nice for me not to be stressed about time goals and have zero pressure. Well, aside from making my full 20 miles.

Jodi was worried about finishing and I promised her I would stick with her for the entire 20 miles that I'd be running.

Mile 1 - After some speeches, we were off! It took a couple minutes to cross the mats and we were running. The crowd was thick and slowmoving and I was bumped into a few times. As we rounded the corner out of the park, the speed picked up (maybe too much) and we linked up with Jen and Julie and Kim (who had lost the rest of her group). It was getting hot already and I thought about taking my shirt. Allison took off ahead of us in this first mile.

Mile 2 - Still crowded. Over the bridge and around some highway ramps. I took my long sleeve off and stabbed my finger, drawing blood, in the process of re-pinning my number.

Mile 3-4 - More running, legs still getting warmed up. feeling tired. Like always in those first couple miles.

Miles 5 - Somewhere between miles 4-5 we split from the halfsies. I said "last chance to change your mind" which elicited a laugh from my group and some surroundings. Crowds completely disappeared.

Miles 6-7 - Found my pace and feeling good! Settling into the more rural section. There was a cool rasta guy playing the drums and who had a big bottle of liquor on his table.

Miles 7-10 - Feeling good! Onto the main part of the race. The long out and back. We got to see the leaders pass by at this point. The leaves weren't peak colors, but the street was still pretty and with some patches of fans. My favorite part was hearing Sunshine of Your Love from one of the bands and finding out that the band was a group of 8 year olds in baseball uniforms. I love a kid who can rock out.

Mile 11 - The turnaround. Me, Jodi and Steve fell back a bit at this point. Jodi wasn't feeling it, so we hung back.

Miles 12-16 - Finishing up South Windsor. I was feeling really good. Stopped once to work out a cramp in my foot. We kept pushing, but our pushing became more of a walk/run combo. Sometime in the later miles, I started getting really hungry. Like, I could use a sandwich hungry. A hunger gu or shot bloks just couldn't satisfy. Oh well, I just ignored it.

because we were walking so much, I thought it would be okay to run the full. I told Jodi I would run with her if I could find a cell phone to call J and let him know. I saw a runner with a huge belt bag and figured she would have a cell - she did! I called J and he told me it was a bad idea (as I had instructed him to), but I said I was gonna walk those last miles. Thanks, runner, for letting me use your cell! Runners are the nicest people - at least to other runners.

Miles 17-19 - We kept running in front of these two guys then stopping, they would pass us, we'd pass them and the cycle would continue. We had a good time joking with them about this. I was feeling even better at this point. Strong, ready to run.

Miles 19-20 - Goes through a pretty area around the river where the bridge just taunts you. We'd get close to it, then far away. We also had to run up the equivalent of a highway ramp. Ug-ly!

I decided I should start walking. Jodi and I split on the bridge. Walking when you want to run is so hard! And boring. And almost embarrassing!

Mile 21 - 23 Back in Hartford. Junk food station was pretty much the best thing ever. I had some gummy bears and some jelly beans. I turned down some flat coke (ick!), tootsie rolls, skittles, etc. I kept walking, which was awful. People kept saying things like, "good for you for sticking with it!" which I know was nice of them, but just frustrated me. I wanted to say "I'm not running on purpose - this is a training run!" or "I'm not supposed to run anymore!" but that would be obnoxious. I would run in spurts when i couldn't help myself, but for the most part I was good. I connected with two ladies for a mile or so and we walked and talked, which helped me keep walking. I picked up an orange gu at the mile 23 water stop and took off on my own.

Mile 24. I kept walking for awhile, but at a faster clip. At about Mile 23.5, I ran a little bit by the river. I noticed that my time wasn't that bad and I could easily beat my NYC time if I ran a little. (Kind of sad, huh?) I tried to be good and walked a good portion, but ran when I was really bored. I kept a good eye on my watch so my PR didn't completely escape me. The water stops were a good .2 of a mile from the mile marker, which was kind of annoying. this part of the race follows along the river, so it's a pretty run. One I wouldn't mind running on my own sometime.

Mile 25 - 26.2 - Finally, I can run again! I picked up my pace at mile 25, right around the Blue Onion. Runners are pretty thin at this point. I go by the Wadsworth Atheneum and know I'm getting closer and push even harder. By Vito's and I know I'm on the home stretch. Push Push Push. I see the turn and focus on it. Wait, that's not the turn? Oh, the next one. Grr. Keep going, keep going. I make the final turn, curse the minuscule hill, see J waving to me. Push harder and cross the finish!

I beat my NYC time by almost 6 minutes and I walked a good portion of the race!

This race really boosted me for NYC in three weeks. I find I run conservatively in races, but found out I have so much more in me. In NYC, I'm gonna try to keep to 10:18 - 10:30 miles and just walk through the water stops. And my new goal is 4:30. I'd rather run hard and crawl over that finish line than worry I still have more in the tank.

As for injuries, I'm feeling okay today. Sore, but nothing like after a marathon. I took an icebath yesterday and have been babying myself, which I'm sure helps.

Some things to remember:
-I drank water at almost all the stops - usually two cups. I barely drank any gatorade, probably just a bottle, bottle and a half.
-Walking at water stops completes reinvigorates you.
-Bring more gels / gu. I ran out.
-Sports Beans are almost like food when you're hungry.
-Start slow, but not too slow.
- Relax!

And now - it's taper time!

Hartford Marathon Eve

Just got back from the expo where I loaded up on runners' goodies, got a ticket, and picked up my registration. I'm a bit rattled for tomorrow because of some shin splints. Before I get into all that, let's do a catch up on some of the long runs I never wrote about. Oops.

Before I even start that, I was all happy running, feeling good about my runs when I took a spill during an am run with J. We were running along, about a mile or so in, just getting into the groove, when an orange construction fence came out of nowhere, grabbed my foot, and I went pummeling down in the hard concrete. I laid there a second, confused, hurting, ready to vomit. I was nauseous a good while, but finally surveyed my injuries. Blood down my leg from a cut on my knee, some road rash on my elbow, and a deep cut on my palm. All on the right side. two months later, I still have scars. Ugh. I later went to the health center at work to stock up on free bandaids. When I walked in, they suggested I get checked out. Good thing as the NP removed a bunch of gravel from my wounds. Sick!

Anyway, running.
12-miler at the reservoir. alone . rough rough rough. this was the day after my big spill (or maybe two days?), so I was pretty sore and nervous on my feet.

18-miler. I ran this one myself. That sucked. A lot. I took off work to run it. That ruled. I'm not sure if there's any physical reason this run was so tough. OH, wait! So, within the first 1/2 mile (according to Mr. Garmin), I tripped on the sidewalk and fell on my bad side. Sure enough, all my cuts were cut open again. Grr. Ran back home, cleaned up, set back out... The run definitely got better from there, but what a way to start! I trucked on and on and on. For some reason, that garth brooks song "low places" was pumping me up. I know, ??? I was just happy to get that run over so I could go on my cruise the next morning. woo hoo.

20-miler. My first really long run after the cruise, which wiped out all my fitness. Or at least, it felt like it. I got lost on the way to the parking lot, then my garmin was out of batteries. Oh, and I had to pee. I got directions from Shaun, bugged the hell out of my fellow runners asking about out distance, so those parts got better fast. The pee situation was another matter. I was practically delirious, ready to pee behind anything I could find - like trees in front yards! 10 miles into the run, I finally found an acceptable place (behind a dumpster at the Board of Ed building!). The rest of the run was fine. We slowed up a bit towards the end, but me and Rosin kicked it for the last couple miles. I just wanted that run to end. Oh, and when we finally got back to Bushnell Park, we learned that we had another loop to run. Many dropped out there, but me and R stood strong!

15-miler. This run ruled. Really ruled. Everyone else was just doing 12, but I did a couple extra because I wasn't tapering like them. I ran 9 - 9.30 min / miles those last couple miles, which I'm still paying for.

Okay, I don't even have time to write about the race tomorrow now! Real quick - I'm just running the first 20 as a training run. My shins are in some pain now and I've been cutting back on running and icing a ton. let's just hope they hold up tomorrow!

15 miler and the new garmin

Garmin is my new BFF. Seriously. BFF. I spent my first run using it - a 4.5 miler last Tuesday - with my eyes darting back and forth between the road and the watch. It's really freeing to just head out of the house and start running until I run the miles I planned, rather than guessing how far I'm running or planning out a route beforehand. And, of course, I'll be able to see how much I'm improving as time goes on (there will be no going the opposite way).

On Thursday, J went for a nice 3+ mile run, the first run he's been on in well over a year. It's good that he's getting back out there and I think he already feels better from that one run. Let's see if he can stay with it.

So, Saturday was our first 15-miler. I don't know about most people, but the 15-mile hurdle is a big psychological one for me. 13 feels like a lot, but nothing close to a marathon. 15 miles feels like that marathon is attainable - even though still a good 11 miles more. Plus, after two crushing 13-milers, my confidence level was low.

After last week's stomach woes, I made a strong effort to watch my food intake staying away from fiber and dairy. I made mashed potatoes and a tuna sandwich for dinner on Friday night and had my usual, pb on bread for breakfast. My stomach was already out of whack before I left the house on Saturday morning and I was mildly concerned. It's happened before and I've had great runs, so I wasn't terribly nervous, though.

The weather was prime running temps - 60s and clear skies - that morning. A lot of the group was absent with it being one of the last summer weeks and lots of people on vacation. Jodi, Roishine, and I started off slowly to keep some energy in the tank for those later miles. The first 3 or 4 miles flew by. Then we hit the hills. They lasted forever, but with only a slight incline, so we were able to maintain pace. Somewhere along this hill, I gave up on my fuel belt. (It's really been giving me issues with it riding up and bothering my stomach. I think I'm gonna have to shorten the belt. I definitely got the wrong size.) We hit the first water station and ate some animal crackers and set off again. We've been taking a long time at the water stops, which has me a bit nervous we're not preparing properly for the actual race. We'll worry about that later. We pressed on still feeling good. We ran, kept running, ran some more. Nothing too eventful. Actually, that was an event in itself. I was wearing new shoes, which felt great, and I was worried about heel pain that had surfaced earlier that weak, but feet were fine on all counts. Phew.

The route took us into some backroads of Glastonbury, beautiful country roads I wouldn't consider running alone for their lack of shoulder and surplus of sharp, hidden turns. Strength in groups, though, right? Oh, and there were hills. Lots of them.

The halfway point was at the top of the hill. I tried to eat some powerade gu chocolate (noting for future reference), but my stomach just wasn't into it, so I ended up carrying it through most of the next few miles. I ate little bits of it to try and get some calories, but my stomach wasn't feeling hot at all at this point. The next couple miles chipped away and we finally hit the last water stop. We hung around here for a bit. I just wanted to get going so we could finish this thing up. Those last couple miles stretched on and on. My legs were getting tired and my spirit flagging. 15 miles is just a long time to be on your legs, you know? We even took a short walk break on a downhill! That's just lame of us.

We kept pushing and finally finished up. I'm not sure our actual pace because I let the garmin run through all the water stops, but I will be sure not to do that next week. I'd like to have a real idea what kind of pace we're running.

I feel so much better being able to check that run off the list, like we're officially into the big miles now or something. And what's even more of a confidence boost? I felt pretty darn good through that run (aside from the stomach) and only minimally sore the next day.

This week we have a 16 on Saturday and I'm just trying to get in some of the weekly runs. Getting up early is getting harder and harder for me lately. I'm just SO tired. I could probably fall asleep right now!

Long Hill Rd. Training

I should have known when the coaches gave us our direction cards with a bulk of the run on a road called "Long Hill Rd." that Iwas in for some trouble! Okay, I'm being dramatic, the run wasn't so bad and I finished the 7 mile run in 1:06. Not bad at all! It's actually kind of fun picking up the mileage. Last year, I followed the more aggressive NYC Marathon training schedule and it kicked my ass from the start. I feel much more comfortable with this build up, comfortable enought that I'm eager to start some speed training. I'd really really like to finish this run up with a 10 min/mile pace = finishing time of about 4:20, but that's not a feat I'm counting on. With my 5:02 finish last year, that would be more than 40 minutes off my time! Also, i'm already concerned about my hip. The achyness is back and I don't want to aggravate any old injuries. Better to play it safe than have to take a few weeks off.

Anyway, Saturday's run. The weater was perfect running weather, chilly at the start, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. The area we ran was pretty boring...started in downtown, turned down a sidestreet and ran in some neighborhoods for the rest. Some pretty houses, but no trees for shade or anything. Oh, and the hills were a challenge on the way up. As it was an out and back, it was a nice downhill second half, though. I ran with the two girls from last week along with another girl in our pace and we chatted the entire time, so we couldn't have been that bad off. Although, I must admit the last half mile was pretty quiet. :)

I ran this morning with Christina and hope to get in another run on Thursday am with her. Tomorrow, I'm thinking of going for a 7 miler at the reservoir. I kind of miss running alone - how weird is that? It's just nice to have that time alone dedicated to just my thoughts and my iPod. Or the sound of my feet when my iPod's out of juice, which happens too frequently.

Not too much on the docket for the 4th tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get a run in early, then we're going to a party at David's, then relaxing a bit before we go back to the grind. Oh, and a neighborhood parade! That should be entertaining at least.

Trail Running around the Reservoir

I've been on a couple runs since my last post. The first on WEdnesday night with my friend, Holly. It was our first run together, so there's always the question of whether we'd be compatible runners. Regardless of all that, I knew it would be nice for us to catch up and chat. We decided to run one 3.7 mile loop at Reservoir 6, off Rt. 44. The trail is completely unpaved, but still well-maintained. This is important for a clumsy goof like myself who rolls her ankles way too often.

We started off and I quickly realized Holly's pace was probably a minute + faster than my comfortable pace. I ran the first mile pushing through, but it was killing me. I asked to hang back a bit, to probably a 9 minute - 9:30 minute pace. This still felt fast as the trail was pretty hilly and not packed down in all places. The run was definitely kicking my ass. Holly, of course, was barely breathing hard!

Overall, a great run! I've grown pretty good pushing myself with distance, but not so much with speed, so this was just what I needed. We're going to make it a weekly date, too, so hopefully it will help in the long term. I've been sore since the run, but that still didn't stop me from running my usual 3+ with Christina on Thursday morning.

Tomorrow morning, I'm meeting in Glastonbury for our running group. I think we're scheduled for 6, but Jodi and I are striving for 8. We'll see how that all goes down!