The long haul of training

"To me, the real test of one’s character isn’t defined by completing the marathon on race day, but rather by having the self-discipline and dedication to commit, sacrifice, and endure the months of training required to complete such an event."
Kimberly Pasienza

This week i have been taking it fairly easy, did some interval running at the track last night and going to get in a few miles tonight. I am planning to do 18 on Saturday. I have my route all mapped out. i basically have to run to where i work in Overland Park and back :) The next few weeks of training look a little tough to be honest. 18 this week, 14 next (while i am away on a girls weekend) and then 20 the following week. I just need to get through these next three weeks and it's all downhill from there as we start tapering our training.

In a way it feels like this marathon weekend is coming up really fast and in another way it feels like i've been training for it forever! I have no major time goals for this marathon. It is the first full marathon i have run since 1996 when i was just a little younger. HA! I just want to finish. I would love to finish under 4:30 but i have really no idea if i will be able to do that. I guess we will see how these next couple of longs runs go to no know how my body cooperates with 18-20 miles.

I went and stocked up on my bee stinger chews. I can't imagine running without those things now, goodness they have made such a difference!

My hubby is planning on biking with me for part of my run again on Saturday. I love having his support. He seriously does whatever it takes to help me get my runs in! I'm not even saying this for his benefit because i'm pretty positive he doesn't read or come to think about it even know about this blog.

After December 3rd i am looking forward to training for a few shorter races where my training does not call for 3 hour blocks of time required for training!

KC half-marathon 2011

I stayed down at the Westin Crown Center with my Dad and Mom and sister on Friday night. Having only to walk a block to the starting line when i woke up was fantastic! I never sleep well the night before a race! It's like i take mini naps all night long waking up every hour to look at the clock. None of us in the room were sleeping well...our 15th story window overlooked the finish line so there was a lot of commotion all night long. It really wasn't that loud until around 4 am when they started testing the finish line music! I was pretty much done sleeping at that point!

I decided to start ahead of the 1:55 pacer but behind the 1:50 pacer. Once we took off i never saw either pacer until later... i felt pretty good the first 7 or 8 miles besides my ankle/Achilles that was cramping the whole time. I would have to move my foot up and down a little and then the cramp would go away...i did this throughout the whole race. I haven't had trouble with that in training so i'm hoping that doesn't continue to be a problem!

I drank a little gatorade at each aid station and started eating my chews about 30 minutes in. At around mile 9 i was just feeling really bad and the thought of walking a bit even crossed my mind! I used my sister and her friend's phrase they used a lot in training "thank you Jesus, i feel good!" a lot! I prayed a lot! I fought off the urge to walk or slow down and pressed on...at mile 10 the 1:55 pacer caught me and i stayed with them for awhile. I pulled away a little from them between 11 and 12 and then finished right with the 1:55 pacer.

It is always so encouraging coming in to the finish line to hear voices and see faces of people you know there yelling for you and cheering you in! My parents, brother and sister in law, and my sister were all there (they had run the 5k)...thanks guys! John wanted to be there really bad but we knew it probably wasn't going to happen as he had to come right after Trey's cross country meet and his heat was further into the morning than last year since he wasn't the youngest grade to run.

It wasn't the best run in terms of how i felt, strength wise and all and goodness i had forgotten all the hills...although i remembered them very quickly!!

My goal time : to beat last year's time (and my personal best) 1:57:05
My official time: 1:55:46

Here are a few pictures...

Love these pace bands!! I was 20-30 seconds ahead each mile of where i needed to be until mile 9 when i dropped down a little to be behind by a few seconds.

My sister June took this picture in the first mile. Once she spotted me she had to run up a ways quickly (she has a broken toe mind you) in order to snap this picture. Thanks June!

coming in to the finish (you will have to excuse the look on my face)

my official print out of my new personal best half marathon...just gives me something else to work towards beating :)

and this was our view out of our window the night before...this was before all the setting up began. i have a bit of a new appreciation for all that goes into setting up a race after seeing them work all night long!

Oh and i didn't even mention the weather...PERFECT race day weather!! Love this race and can't wait to do it again next year!

Decisions

Just 4 days till the KC half marathon. I am getting excited/nervous! I am trying to decide which pacing group to run with. Do i start with the 1:50 pace group and chance taking out a little fast but aim to stay ahead of the 1:55 pace group as it is very discouraging to get passed by the pacer carrying your time that you want to achieve and see them pull away?....or do i start with the 1:55 pace group and just aim to stay with them the whole race? Hmm, what to do what to do...i probably won't decide till the day of but right now i am leaning towards starting with the 1:55 and just trying to stick with them. I am running this race solo which sometimes works against me. I just would very much like to beat my last year's time of 1:57:05!

Also i'm super excited that i get to stay downtown at a hotel with my parents (they are running the 5k) so that i can just walk out to the starting line. This takes a lot of stress out of race morning given that last years start to the race was extremely stressful! You can read about that here I am supposed to be running 16 miles this weekend according to my marathon training schedule but just not worrying about the extra 3. What's an extra three miles right?! :)

So looking forward to the fun race atmosphere that this race always has to offer. And, as for the hills? I'm just gonna pretend there are no hills! And if i could order up a little "Eye of the Tiger" for my last mile like last time that would be super awesome!

15- check

I got my 15 miler out of the way Saturday morning! I started before the sun even started peeking out. I felt great. I forced myself to take it slow and save my energy that i knew i would be in desperate need of! I had mapped my run the day before. I had had to start over a couple of times due to unsafe roads for running. I ended up mapping a really hilly route!! I need that but as i was running it i was thinking...what on earth WAS i thinking!? My husband met me for the last 4 to 5 miles and biked with me. That was encouraging but he likes to make people laugh and i had to tell him i did not have enough energy to be cracking up every two seconds so he put his headphones on and sang loudly over my music...i'm telling you this guy of mine keeps life exciting! :)

My legs HURT the last couple of miles but i did save enough to pick up the speed the last half mile. I told my hubby he dare not say i looked like i was "doggin it" or he was in big trouble so he told me i was looking strong...ha!

I have an easy weekend of 10 miles this weekend...ok i know two weeks ago that was not an easy weekend! After 15, that now looks a bit easier :)

Two weeks till the KC half! 8 weeks till 26.2 yikes!!