Not a Good Sign

My shins were killing me this morning while I ran. 

I even warmed up on the elliptical and stretched before I started running. 

But the shins hurt. The. Whole. Time. 

I set out for 4 miles and stopped at 3.1. A little frustrated but I decided to stop because running is not as enjoyable when you're in pain.

So the fact that I'm in pain when I run concerns me a little. 

It's not a fall down on the ground and cry pain but more like a grimace when I step. I'm pretty sure this is a sign that I need to take a break from running for a little while. My body is rebelling for some reason.

I will take a break, promise. Right after Saturday's half marathon. I'm debating whether I should try and run the rest of the week or just cross train and rest and see how Saturday goes. I'm going for the latter. 

I went through the whole marathon training without injuring myself (except for my nagging plantar fasciits) and I know that I probably didn't give myself enough time to recover but this is a little annoying.

First it was the tight calves and now it's the shins. 

Luckily in the up and coming weeks I will be forced to take a few days off to rest - no working out at all - due to my husbands job so that will be good for my body, but not my mind. No working out for 4 days!! What am I going to do??

Break out the P90X I guess. But then that's not really taking time off is it? Hmmm........

Anyway like I said, this half marathon coming up is not going to be a PR race even though I would love it to be. I just don't know if I have it in me right now. It'll mostly be for fun and that's all that matters.

Saturday's Long Run

It's been 2 weeks since my marathon and my legs STILL aren't quite right. I know I'm no spring chicken anymore but really? Maybe I didn't rest and recover long enough but I didn't want to take a whole week off of running because I have another half marathon this weekend.

I'll be alright, it's really not that bad, just some tight, REALLY tight calves and my darn plantar fasciitis flaring up.

I ran 10 miles on Saturday while my husband rode his bike. I'm generally a lone runner but I have been missing running with people lately. My good friend and former running buddy is 21 weeks pregnant and just found out she's having a girl!! So obviously she's not lacing up the shoes for the next 6 months at least.

The run started out pretty well. It was windy, yet again. I swear the wind is my nemesis. When I try to pick up the pace it starts blowing and I can't seem to get going. So it was sort of a slower run that I was hoping for but that's OK. I did 10 miles in 1:35 avg pace about 9:28. Not too shabby.

I was going to do 12 miles but decided that I was sick of getting my butt kicked by the wind so at 5 miles we turned around and headed back to the car.

Then we grabbed some lunch since our daughter was at her Grandma's house and we went to the gym for a weight session. After the gym we hit the grocery store and had the rest of the day to relax.

Sophie dressed up as a princess and did some twirling for our entertainment:

Yes that's chocolate on her mouth. And yes, I didn't clean it off seeing as 5 minutes later it was bath time.

We all had a case of the Monday's this morning. I think all 3 of us were less than thrilled to be up and at it. I'm not sure what kind of stay at home Mom I'll be but I cannot wait to not have to sit in traffic everyday.

We were going to "start trying" for another baby right after the marathon but that came and went and I started having second thoughts. Only because I still have many items on my to-do list and I was starting to get very overwhelmed.

So we decided to putt it off a month. I have a feeling by the time middle of Feb. rolls around I'll be ready. I just wasn't a few weeks ago. Now the opportunity is kind of passed so we have to wait until after Feb. 11th.

This weekend I'm running a half marathon. I signed up for it before I ran the marathon thinking "how hard could it be?" Well after the way I've been feeling the last week it's going to be interesting to say the least.

I have two friends that are going to be running the 5k so we decided to get a hotel room on Folly Beach since they were having a race special. Friday night we're going to grab a bite to eat and hang out and then roll out of bed on Saturday for the race. The hotel is the starting line. Can't beat that.

The only difficult part will be reminding the ladies that we do not booze it up the night before a race. See we all three have 2 year old girls, with in a few months of each other so we have a lot in common. Like husbands who were less than thrilled with the plan of us getting a hotel room. Sorry guys, mom's need a break too.

I think it'll be a fun night and will be nice to not have to get up super early and drive all the way down to the beach. I am honestly not running for a PR this weekend, although a PR would always be welcome. I'm just going to take it easy, enjoy what will be my last long distance race for a while. When I'm pregnant I'll probably only do the occasional 5k or 10k.

It all depends on how I feel come Saturday. Hopefully we'll make it to sleep at a decent time.

First Run Post Marathon

Hello legs!! Good to feel ya!

I made it to the gym this morning with high hopes of doing a 3 mile run. I'm happy I made it out of bed because I slept so good last night, which I haven't been sleeping well the last week.

When I get to the gym I see people standing outside. Uh oh, not good.

So yep, sure enough the opener is late.

Our gym used to be 24 hours then they wanted to change it to 5 am. I think a lot of people complained and they settled on 4 am. Which I think is perfect and believe it or not there are quite a few people that get there that early. I arrive anywhere between 4:30 and 4:45. I need that extra time to do my thing and make it home in time to get ready for work.

So I wait, talk to some guy that lives in my neighborhood. He leaves and it's after 5 at this point. Hey - I know people oversleep have something come up but when then cycling instructor shows up and is trying to call people, managers and no one answers the phone - that's a little annoying. I could tell she was getting mad.

I go and sit in my car when it starts to rain and tell myself that after 5:30 I'll head home because if they show up at 5:30 I can get at least 30 minutes in.

Luckily I waited till 5:40 and by that tome someone finally showed up.

So I got 2 miles in 18 minutes done. I'll take it, some is better than none.

Legs were really not cooperating so I took it slow. And even then my slow still felt like a lot of effort. After a while I think things were loosening up but at that point I had to stop and get home. Bummer but there's always tomorrow. I think maybe I'll call before I leave the house tomorrow, just to make sure someone is there!

Post Marathon Blues

I hear this can happen. You experience this amazing high from finishing your race, your training is over, and now what do you do?

I think I'm starting to experience this. No I'm not depressed or anything but I tossed the last of my training schedule and then I had this feeling of "now what?"

People at work are asking me if I want to do another one and YES I would however it's not in the life plan this year. Maybe next year but not this year. I think my husband is thinking I've gotten running out of my system, oh how wrong he is, but I don't think he's ready for me to dedicate my time to training for another one. I have to remember as much as I love this accomplishment, there's things we have to do and things that he wants to do, it's not all about me.

I'm having a mental dilemma: Get pregnant or put it off? The only reason to put it off is a selfish one. I'm not ready to lose all that I've accomplished these last few years. Not just with running but the weight loss and feeling good about myself. I'm not ready to lose my body again (sorry being honest). Like I said, it's purely a selfish reason. Oh and there's the thought of having 2 kids scares the crap out of me (again - honest). Then there's the chance I can finally be a stay at home mom but quitting my job and only having one income...scares the crap out of me! Two kids in daycare would be 90% of my paycheck so it would not be worth the stress of my commute. I would be the one to take kids to and from daycare while barely netting anything extra from my paycheck. Plus our tax accountant already told us it would be better if I stayed home. But still, it's very expensive to raise just one kid let alone 2.

On the other hand I'll be 32 this year (ugh!) and I've always said that I want 2 kids by the time I turn 32. I know 32 is not old but I can't imagine being sleep deprived being any older than what I am. It's hard. Sophie will be 3 this year and I would love for my kids to be somewhat close in age. She'll make a fantastic big sister. She's told me twice, when prompted, that she wants a little brother :) Ricky will be 34 this year and I think he's ready to be a dad again.

Deep down I feel this is our year to have another. I've already started taking my folic acid, now I just need to kick the caffeine.

This will also be the last kid. We even said before we got married that we only wanted 2 kids. I'm the third kid in my family and I remember that we were all a handful.

So this is where I'm at with our future plans. It's all on me to say "OK." I have one more half marathon I want to run in a couple of weeks and then it'll be time. If I get pregnant right away like I did with Sophie then we're looking at a November baby. Eww, that means I'll be pregnant threw the summer. Hmm....

The soreness is finally starting to dwindle. I'm still very tired and it didn't help that Sophie woke up at 2 am crying and scared. So I brought her into bed with us and it took her FOREVER to go back to sleep. She kept tossing and turning, hogging my pillow and then asking for water. So by the time we got back to sleep it was after 4 am. And to think I was going to attempt to go to the gym this morning. I guess it's a blessing in disguise because I could probably use another day to rest.

I did go to the gym yesterday and did 30 minutes on the elliptical and some light weights. Seemed to help with the muscle stiffness.

I want to try and run again on Thursday or Friday but for right now my body is saying "no."

I've read a lot of comments on facebook about what went wrong with the race. At the time I was still on my runner's high but I realize that a lot went wrong with the race and how unorganized it really was. There weren't a lot of porta johns along the race course, there was one every couple of miles, but I remember thinking "where the heck are the porta potties?" on numerous occasions. Then I heard the toilet paper ran out. They ran out of cups at mile 4 so people were freaking out that there wasn't going to be any water or Gatorade. Luckily I had my handheld so it didn't affect me and towards the end of the race I didn't have that problem either.

They ran out of medals for the half marathoners. Ouch, that's a biggie! They are sending them to the one's that didn't get one but for you to cross the finish line and not have one that's a big blow. Plus there was either no water or they ran out at the finish. I recall thinking "where's the water" but my husband had one he brought so I drank that.

Overall I didn't have any major problems with the race but I can see why people had problems. I hear that it's the same problems they had last year plus they even hired a race director who apparently didn't do a very good job. I would run this again in the future only because it's local but I think they are going to have a really hard time attracting people to come visit.

The course needs a makeover, more downtown Charleston, less nasty North Charleston, except the Riverfront Park is very pretty - get rid of that last 5 mile out and back, there is nothing motivating out there, need entertainment for those last 6 miles. In response to this course complaint, I read where the city of Charleston was not very good to work with (North Charleston is a separate municipality). Charleston's claim to fame is the Cooper River Bridge Run and they don't really want to be associated with this race. That's a shame, people are coming to your city and spending money. Support it! I don't know if that's true, just what I read somewhere.

I'm making my own medal display, just need my husband to drill some holes and then it's almost done! Still so proud of myself.

I'm a Marathoner

I did! I finished! I can honestly say I'm a marathoner. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever thought I would hear myself say that.

Yesterday I ran the Charleston Marathon, my very first marathon. I have been training for this race the last 4 months. I made the decision last summer to take my running to the next serisous level to see if I could do this.

And I did it.

What an amazing feeling.

Friday I took the day off of work to be stress free and take it easy. To be honest I'd been starting to get nervous all week.

I took my daughter to school, ran errands, picked up my race packet and then came home and cleaned. So I didn't do a whole lot of the relaxing I planned to do.

The race expo was very bare bones. It was basically race packet pick up and nothing else.

Some background to this race. It started 3 years ago as the Riverfront Race Festival. It was a half marathon, 10k and 5k. This was the very first 10k I ran. Then last year they added the marathon. So then they sort of changed it to the Charleston Marathon.

So it's taking some time to get sponsors and work out the kinks. And they have a lot of kinks. To be very honest I really wanted to do the Disney Marathon that was last weekend but it was so expensive, then the travel, so logistically this one is local and fit our budget and schedule. It wasn't bad overall, just was expecting a little more.

Saturday morning I woke up about 5:00 to eat and start getting ready. The race didn't start till 8:00 but I wanted to make sure I wasn't rushed. I ate a bagel and had to force it down. My stomach was not wanting food due to the nerves but I knew I needed to eat.

I showered and was dressed by 6:15. Had all my stuff ready to go so once my husband was ready we were out the door by 6:25, ahead of schedule. We were driving downtown Charleston to the race start on East Bay Street.

It was a cold morning. 30 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We made it with time to spare so Ricky waited with my until it was time to line up. No corrals or anything, which was fine because while it was crowded, this wasn't a big huge event.

It was cold and my toes started to go numb. I hate that!!

Then before I knew it we were off! Ran down along the Battery (a tourist attraction - looks out onto the harbor). Then we ran up King Street (awesome resturants and shops). Then we were headed out of Charleston into North Charleston. Unfortunately it wasn't the prettiest course at this point but it was flat and sometimes it's hard to find all the nice places. Here in Charleston they're mixed in with some not so nice places. A side note: this is what amazes me when people say "Oh Charleston is so pretty." Parts of it are. There's a lot of parts that are not. I hate to talk bad about the area I live but all in all Charleston is not a pretty area. The areas that are nice you have to be able to afford to live there.

OK back to the race. Once we got up into the North Charleston/Park Circle area it started to get serious. The half marathoners broke off at mile 11. Oh how badly I wanted to go with them.

I was fine at that point but once we got out of downtown there was a serious and nasty headwind. The. Whole. Way. The. Whole. Race. And it was COLD.

You could see all the runners around just head's down and pushing forward.

I was doing very well, keeping my pace conservative. I had to resist going out fast and reminding myself I was not running the half, my time would come to go faster (it never came but that's ok).

Around mile 15-16 I started to get tired and I thought "not yet!! 10 more to go, just make it to 20." There were no spectators, not many runners around me so I was started to lose motivation.

Fortunately the pacer for the 4:30 came up behind me and I started running with them for a long time. She was awesome, I didn't catch her name, but she really helped pep me up. Running with a group again got my legs moving. Actually she said that we were 6 minutes ahead of schedule. I passed mile 20 with ease and felt great.

Around mile 20 we head into the Riverfront park area. So the wind picked back up because we were next to the water and no trees around. At that point I saw Ricky, my friend's Pam, Earl, Jill and Steven. And they had signs. Made me feel so good to see them!!

I was still feeling good at that point so I knew I could finish this race strong. 6 more miles? Piece of cake!! Ha! Actually I made it to 22.5 before I really started to feel it. I wouldn't even really call it hitting the wall, more like I was tired of fighting the wind.

The bad part of the last 5 miles is you go all the way down on this desolte road, it's an out and back so you see the runners that have already made the loop and you are very jealous of them. This road seemed to go on FOREVER!!!!! There was nothing pretty about this road and the wind just wipped right through there. I stopped many times to get gatorade and fuel but by this point my legs were just so tired. After I made the loop it was another 2.5 miles back to the finish and I was determined to make it.

I got a little bummed when the 4:30 pacer passed and took off. I could not catch her no matter how hard I tried. Damn wind!! I walked twice and then told myself to hurry up and get out of this wind. It was time to finish. I wouldn't make my 4:15 goal but at that point I didn't care.

Once I hit mile 24 I stopped and walked one last time and then ran till the finish. Still windy but when I saw 25 I picked up the pace some (or tried to). At 26 I saw the rest of my family gave them high fives and then took off to the finish line!

Chip time was 4:34:06! Avg pace 10:26.

However my Garmin time was 4:33:55 and I started it right as I crossed the start so I'm not sure what happened there.

My daughter and me above. She was so happy to see me and I her. My family said she was so good the entire time they waited.

I was so happy to be done! I got my marathon medal! I ran a marathon!!

In hindsight I would have loved to hit my goal time of 4:15 and I really think I was in good shape to do it but that headwind was a killer. Many runners on facebook commented how bad it was so I know I was not alone. I think there were only 3 areas of the course where I remember feeling relief when the wind wasn't blowing and that's when I was able to pick up my pace. But once it started blowing it took all my energy and effort to keep going. And like I said that last stretch of 5 miles it was really kicking everyone's butt. I could see it in their faces.

I felt really good and strong overall! I am so proud of myself for this accomplishment, I felt on top of the world when I finished. Many times over the last 4 months I wanted to quit just because of life. Work got stressful, husband, daughter, things to do. I really poured myself into this training but towards the end, I have to admit, I was getting burned out. I missed running for fun and am looking forward to not being tied into a training schedule.

I would love to run another but it's going to have to wait. I really want to have another baby so we are going to concentrate on that the next couple of months.

I am running another half marathon in 3 weeks. I haven't decided if this is going to be for a PR or for the sake of running. Depends on how I feel when I do my first post marathon run. For today I am resting. I can barely walk. I have sore muscles that didn't even know existed :)

I would have to say the half marathon is my favorite distance. But I will never say never to another marathon!

5 Days To Go

I'm getting together my "race plan" this week. There's a lot to think about. Friday I'm taking the day off of work to relax but that's really what I'm not going to be doing. I have to take Sophie to school, go to the grocery store. Then I'm going to head over to the race expo and pick up my stuff. Then I'm going to head home and get my house in order for company. My parents, sister and her two boys will be here Friday night and then my brother and sister in law are driving down for the day on Saturday. I love my family. I even told them if they want to make signs that would be OK :)

Saturday the race doesn't start till 8:00 so I don't have to be up too super early. I'll probably wake up about 5 am just to eat and let it settle. I'll probably spend about 30 minutes in the bathroom (hey - just keeping it real. I get a stomach ache when I get nervous). I shower to help wake myself up. Then I'll get dressed and we'll head down to the starting line. Ricky is going to drop me off and it'll take about 45 minutes to get down there. I want to be at the start about 7:30 or so. I hate being rushed. Just have to make sure I have an outfit laid out for Sophie and directions on how to get her ready.

I have a large spectator group so I'm happy and now the pressure is on! Not really but mentally it is, I want to do well.

This week I'm PMS-ing. Isn't that a swell thing to look forward to right before you run a marathon? Gotta love  mother nature.

I've planned out my meals for the week and am feeling pretty confident about it all. I'm not going crazy over pasta but I'm trying to incorporate good carbs where I can. And I decided I want pizza Friday night. Not nasty Pappa Johns but Trader Joe's pizza dough and my own yummy toppings. Either way I'm going to be nervous so I don't think it matters what I eat.

We got our kitchen painted on Saturday. I love the color, will post a picture soon.

For Christmas my mom made Sophie a pair of ruffle pants. Yesterday she finally wore them for the first time. She looks so stinkin cute!

I did a 2 mile run yesterday, then some elliptical and light weights. I'm not doing any weights this week except for abs. Tomorrow I'm going to do 5 miles, then 3 on Wed. and debating whether I should do 2 miles on Friday. To be decided.

Someone at work asked me today if I'm ready. I said that I am physically ready but not quite mentally. Getting there though. I know I can do this!

The Countdown Begins

T minus 8 days until the marathon.

Holy cow, I can't believe it's really almost here. Tomorrow is my last long run before the race and I'm planning to do between 8 and 10 miles.

The taper thing is scary to me. I understand it and I realize it's important but still scary. I feel like I should run more tomorrow but I'm afraid I'll be tired next Saturday and my body won't be very recovered.

So I'm sticking with my plan and trusting in my training.

Next Friday I am taking the day off to take it easy. My parents and sister are coming into town Friday evening and then my brother and sister in law are driving down for the day on Saturday. I have spectators!! Very exciting. The plan is for my hubby to drop me off at the start and cheer me on. Then he's going to head up and camp out at the 20 mile mark and hopefully that's where my family will meet him. Then I think they are going to high tail it over to the finish line.

What really is special to me is that my daughter will be there. I can't wait for her to see her mommy crossing the finish line. I hope when she's older she looks back at that picture with me and gets inspired...for anything. I don't care what she does as long as she's inspired.

I really want that medal:

Even though I'm nervous and starting to have performance anxiety, I really can't wait to participate and say that I've run a freaking marathon!

Depending on how the race goes this may be the only one I run. Only for the fact that training is time consuming! And I only had one child. Next year I might have two!! I know it can be done but I really stretched myself thin this year trying to do everything.

I mean tomorrow after my run I'm re-painting my kitchen. Why? Because it needs it. We just got new countertops and the current color doesn't go. And I'm semi OCD and cannot have mix matched colors when company comes. Even if company is family.

As much as I've enjoyed this training, pushed myself, cried :), and changed my body, I'm looking forward to running for the fun of it and not because I have to.

However, I just signed up for another half marathon on February 4th. The Save the Light Half Marathon. That gives me about a week to rest and recover and then another week to get back into it, with one long run. I'm not really doing this for time (or so I tell myself) but because it's on Folly Beach, it's scenic, it raises money for the Morris Island Light House that is close to being washed out to sea. Plus they have a cool t-shirt, and they are giving out medals this year. It's kind of a no frills race. But sometimes those are the best ones.

The REAL reason is after this race I hope to get pregnant so I just want one more race under my belt before I take the plunge.

However there are several 5 and 10K's in the spring :)

Just. Can't. Stop.

Actually there is a blog I read often, Mile Posts, and Dorothy ran throughout all her pregnancies so there is a lot of good information out there. As long as my doctor says it's ok an I'm feeling good I'm going continue. I exercised throughout my entire pregnancy with Sophie (well that is until my feet wouldn't fit in my shoes anymore) and I think it has fantastic benefits so I'm doing it again this time around.

So far 2012 is going great! It's been cold here the last few days and I'm ready for Spring!