What is harder than running a Marathon?

I will get to the answer to that question. But first.....

A Year in Review

I've taken a pretty solid break from running during the past 2 months. It was actually a good 2 months to take off. The weather has been complete crap, motivation has been pretty low, and it was Holiday time which means my focus was on eating, drinking, and finding the best twist-off-cap Chardonnay on the market. I managed to find the motivation for a couple races: Turkey Trot in Belleville, IL, Frosty 5K here in town, and an Impromptu Fayetteville Half Marathon that I ran with the husband (so fun! and so cold).

Here are some thoughts about the previous year and the the year to come:
- I struggled throughout marathon training with intense stomach pain after any run over about 10 miles. On any long run day, my husband had to take care of the kiddos not just for the 3 hours I was out running, he had to take care of them for the entire day. I would liken this experience to have the flu. Once a week. For 4 months of marathon training. It was mentally and physically exhausting (for both of us no doubt). It is an amazing thing that our kiddos are super awesome and don't really require too much parenting. So after the Impromptu Fayetteville Half when I was doubled over in pain and trying not to vomit everywhere, I came to the very sad conclusion that I could no longer run any distance over 10 miles without some pretty stellar consequences.
- I'm super stoked about both of my marathon experiences! Signing up for two marathons was a great idea. The weather was perfect for both: 60+ degree days for Chicago AND Philly. You can't beat that. The experiences of both were unforgettable and I'm so grateful for all my family and friends that were a part it.
- The marathon goal was a sub-4:00 marathon and I ran a 3:54. I still don't believe it. I mean, a 3:54 marathon is like an 8:45 minute mile for 26.2 miles.... that is unreal. But I did it. When people talk about things they've accomplished and they aren't really sure how they did it, this is one of those. Even though I had the goal and the focus and the training, I really never thought that kind of pace for me would be possible. Crazy. And Amazing.
- The 5K goal was more of a moving target. By the end of this year I really wanted to run under 23:00. I never made it. 23:20 was about as close as I got. I'm going to keep the sub-23:00 goal on the back burner. I'd really like that one to happen.
- My dad is getting back into running which is super fun! He was like a little kid at the Chicago Marathon- I think he was more excited than I was! :) We bought him a fancy new Garmin for Christmas and I'm excited for the weather to turn around so he can really get out there and use it.
- My brother has started running too- also super fun! I will be interesting to see where and how far his running journey takes him. Probably all the way to the Cross-Fit gym :)
- We have officially entered into the Year of the Husband. Well, if our family was the country of China, that is what it would be called. He's supposed to run a marathon but hasn't signed up for one yet. My guess is that he's afraid he'll get "chicked". Or I guess "wifed" would be more appropriate. He's afraid he won't run a faster time than I did. This is clearly a legitimate fear ;)  I'm totally joking (kind of). I bet he runs super fast. Like 3:35. He's pretty awesome like that.
-There are some races I'd like to do this year. Even though I said I wouldn't run anything over 10 miles, I really want to do the Bentonville Half Marathon in April and the unofficial Square to Square Marathon in May. We'll see how that works out.....


Now, after 2 months of eating, drinking, and Chardonnay, it's time to get back on the wagon. Unfortunately, it is also the time when the rest of the world has decided to get back on the wagon. At least the majority of the rest of the world will only be on the wagon for a month or two and then they'll go away and the treadmills at the gym will be free again.

So now this brings us back to the original question of this post:
What is harder than running a Marathon?
Answer:
Running while pushing your own weight (or at least close to it) of kids and stroller for over 2 (yes, just 2) miles against 25+ mile per hour winds. Think that doesn't sound too bad? Try it. Just try it. You will probably die. I'm not even talking about gusts here- just wind. I was both hands on the stroller, head down, trying to run forward, and was barely moving. Three different times I had to stop, turn the stroller around, and walk backwards. It was intense. All I could think about was how much easier it was to run a marathon. And then I thought wind schmind: I'm a mom of 2 who works full time, I run more miles in a day than most people drive, I ran 2 marathons, I have an awesome husband and awesomer kids, and hell if 25 mph winds will get the better of me and my kiddos on a 60 degree day in January on our way to the park. Bam!

Side note: What's more Fun than Running a Marathon? (other than everything)
Answer: Running while pushing your own weight (or at least close to it) of kids and stroller for over 2 miles with 25 mph hours winds :)

The End of an Era

I just called the last 18 months of my life an ear. No, wait. Typo. Era. An Era. "A time marked by distinctive events." Running. Lots and lots of running. And some yoga. And a little bit of parenting. A smidge of work. Stir it all together and what do you get?? A sub-four hour marathon in Philly. BAM!! 3:54 to be exact. That is a 12 minute PR from Chicago. This is a big deal for me. Huge.

It is tough to go from a marathon as epic as Chicago to the one in Philly. I mean, Chicago is so.... grand. I shouldn't blame Philly, it's really not her fault. Chicago would have ruined it for any marathon even close to it.

Pre Race
Shake Shack. Dunkin Donuts. Philly Cheese Steak. Beer. That pretty much sums it up.

Race Day
This is where I got serious. And by serious I mean focused. Like, super focused.

I'm a believer in visualization. I think if you truly believe that you can achieve your goal and you stay focused on it, you can totally achieve it. Like, totally, man. Disclaimer: I'm not crazy. I didn't wake up one morning and decide I could run a marathon at a certain time. I trained for a long time. So yeah, don't be stupid. You probably can't wake up one morning and run a sub-four hour marathon. Unless you're Dean Karnazes.

OK. So a friend of mine ran one of her many marathons at some point in time. Clearly. Anyway, so she posted a picture of how herself after this particularly super tough marathon and it really stuck with me. I kept thinking, "that is how someone looks when they run a marathon. That is how I should feel when I cross the finish line." I would say that is how I should look when I cross the finish line, but in all honesty, I will never be that photogenic. The point is, it was a reminder for me to leave it all in Philly, to really push myself for 26.2 miles, and as a reminder that this is my one chance to do what I set out to do.
So thank you, Rachel, for being my reminder during the last few miles when my right butt cheek felt like it was going to explode and my feet hurt like bitches, that it's all part of the game and that it's ok. It's ok to be spent at the end. And isn't nice to know that someone thinks of you at mile 23 when they have an intense pain in their ass? ;)

The very vague ins and outs of the Philly Marathon:
The half and the full started together. I counted down the miles until the half runners split from us. The aid stations were only 2 tables long and it got a little crowded. It was much better once we parted ways. I really want to make a comparison here to Chicago, but I'm pretty sure you got the picture from the first paragraph.

There were hills. Philly Marathon people need to stop saying this is a flat course. Chicago is flat. Philly has hills. Not HILLS, but hills. Enough of them for it to not be considered a flat course.

Philly does win over Chicago in 1 part (surprise!). Because the last half of the marathon was, more or less, an out and back, it meant I was able to see the top finishers go by which was super cool! Everyone running with me was clapping for the first few dudes and the first few ladies as they basically sprinted past us on the other side of the road. And man, talk about pained faces. Those runners leave everything out there. It's intense. And awesome.

Post Race
Not much here. We flew home the same day as the marathon. The first and longest leg of our trip was in first class. I highly recommend doing this if you're flying home after a marathon. All they do is feed you and fill up your wine glass.... for the entire flight. It's amazing. Did I mention they feed you?
By the time we got home I had discovered a whole new level of tiredness. And this is coming from someone who's had two kids. I can't even put into words how tired I was... but I sure will try. You know that time, usually around 4am, when you've been up all night because your tiny child has decided they are incapable of sleeping unless they are in your arms and you are standing up? It was sort of like that kind of tired. Except mix in a pinch of drunk, a smidge of drugs (I didn't take any but it sure felt like either I did or I should have), and 26.2 miles. Eghbleh.... that about sums it up.


It was so great to see old friends (Maja!) and meet new ones in Philly. The food was great, the company was greater and I laughed a lot. It was a win for sure. It feels awesome to be able to travel to a city you've never been and meet so many super people. What a blast.

I have two more races on the books. A Thanksgiving 5k and another one in December. After that, it will be on to a new adventure. I'm not quite sure what it is yet, which is a little (a lot!) scary. But I am excited to pass the reigns onto the Husband and see what sort of awesomeness he can accomplish in the world of marathons!!

Philly Marathon Countdown- 5 days!!

The Final countdown has begun. Philly is in 5 days. Yikes! I'm super excited about this marathon. I'm feeling good- like I can totally run 26 miles in under 4 hours. This is a vast improvement over my feeling for the past 2 weeks of just wanting it all to be over with.

I've been doing a lot of reflecting on running over the past few weeks. I think about how far I've come and how long it's taken me to get here. Perspective is a funny thing too:
A year ago my legs about fell off trying to do a 10 mile run. Sunday morning I was super excited because I only had to run 12 miles.
A year and half ago my pace for running speed sessions wasn't even listed on the board.* Now my pace is three quarters of the way up the board.
*(So at our speed sessions there is this neat board that has all these different paces/distances so you always know, no matter the distance, how fast you are supposed to run. It goes as fast as about 4 minute/mile and as slow as about 10 minute/mile. It's awesome.)
A year ago I didn't think I would ever be able to run significant distances at a pace that begins with an 8. Shoot, I was just trying to get my 5k splits down to that pace. Now my long run splits are fairly consistently at an 8-something pace.

Running is fun. Watching other people on their running adventures is fun too. My dad is starting his running adventure again and it's hilarious to see how excited he gets about it. We'll be doing a Turkey Trot this year together with one of my brothers.... I'll kick both of their asses but it'll still be fun ;) A friend of mine just did a 50 MILE trail race (crazy!).  And my husband is starting to plan out his next marathon adventure. I love it.

I think my own adventure is going to start winding down after Philly. I want to focus more on halfs, 10ks, and 5ks. And yoga. And sleeping in. And doing laundry less often.

Lessons learned from Chicago to take note of for Philly:
-keep track of my damn silicone YurBuds covers. It's just not the same without them.
-Audiobooks are fine for training runs, but Jersey Shore fist bumpin' songs are way better for races
-Remember the Glide. I actually did remember this for Chicago I'm just afraid I'll forget in Philly
-S-caps are your friend. Almost as much as ibuprofen.
-Find a place for the chapstick. For some reason I really need this when I run.
-eat

Post Marathon

It's been just over a week since The day. Recovery has been pretty smooth considering my legs covered more ground in 4 hours than some people drive in a weekend. I gave myself this past week to make excuses and be lazy. And eat lots of pizza. And peanut M&Ms. And pink sparkly cupcakes. I did manage to find enough motivation to get 4 miles in on a treadmill last week, but only once. Then I ran 10.5 miles yesterday. I was going to jump back on the full speed bandwagon by going to speed session tonight, but a sick kiddo and other things foiled my plans. So instead I will be jumping back on the frozen bandwagon tomorrow and running in 35 degree weather at 5:30am.... theoretically.

Other recovery notes:
Running a marathon made me tired for a week. I was in bed by 8:30 for a solid 5 nights in a row last week. I still feel more tired than usual, but I'm pretty sure that's an extension of the peanut M&Ms diet and laziness and will hopefully subside after I'm back on the wagon.

Signs I saw while running for 4 hours:
Some signs were really dumb. Some we've all seen a million times- even if you've never ran a marathon. Some were funny.
"My boyfriend is faster than your boyfriend." This sign was not funny. But I thought it would be funny if I stood next to her and held a sign that read "my husband is faster than your boyfriend."
"Your training for this race lasted longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage." It's funny because it's true.
"There's no time for Walken" with a big picture of Christopher Walken. Can you really look at a picture of him and not smile?? No. No, you can't.
While running through Boys Town there were a bunch of drag queens on a stage. I thought about saying, "we don't see that down in Arkansas", but decided I would just smile and run on. And think about how funny it would be if we did see that down in Arkansas.
"Worst parade ever." Yeah, you know what- worst sign ever! I should run with jolly ranchers and just throw them at people with that sign.

THE Chicago Marathon

I meant to do a pre-race post, but life and my to-do list got in the way. Shocker. So needless to say, this will be an unnecessarily long post chronicling the pre, during, and post of The marathon.

The Pre
First, I have to go back to my last post where I mentioned that my next run would be a 22 miler. It was. And it was awful. Kind of. What I was supposed to do was a 5 mile warm-up, 12 miles at an 8:30 pace, and a 5 mile cool-down. What I actually did was just run. And then try to go faster sometime part way through. It was a terrible idea. I ended up going too slow in the beginning, then running too fast in the middle (8:30 was probably too lofty a goal to begin with), and then hitting the wall at the end. I'm sure there are many different kinds of "walls". The bricks of my wall are made up of knee and hip pain. Apparently my bricks are 80 year olds. Anyway, this will all come back up in the "during" section.
OK, so back to the "pre".
The expo was neat and ridiculously efficient. I was impressed. I met Dean Karnazes and was impressed again. He was someone who genuinely wanted to have a conversation with every person in line and seemed like he actually cared about what they were saying.  
We had a pasta dinner the night before with lots of family. It was awesome. I say "we", but really "we" all just ate the food and my mom did everything else. She is a master at food/party efficiency. I never actually see her cooking in the kitchen, but food magically appears when it's time to eat. I did not inherit this ability.
*Sidenote. We got all the way to expo and had the car parked before I realized I left my id back at the house. It wasn't really a big deal, I just feel the need to admit that I did that.

The During
Eek! The during, the actual race, the big kahuna, the accumulation of 4 months of training. Here's the low-down. I slept fine. I woke up wide awake. The morning was good- not too rushed, not too early. Perfect timing. Perfect weather. The morning was super efficient. I wondered how it would go with all the security, but it was completely smooth. It was pretty much like what I think herding cattle would be like. "Red through gate, blue down the street. Corral E here, corral C up the road". Pretty simple.
The start was great. The speakers kept going out when the lady was singing the national anthem and once the runners realized what was happening, everyone started singing.  It was a neat moment in my history that I won't forget.

The crowds were amazing. I mean, it is Chicago after all. You almost don't even need headphones. Almost. I mean, for 26.2 miles there are people lining the streets. It's unreal and it's awesome. I think I smiled like a creep-o the whole time.
I felt great the whole time. I wanted to go faster, but all I could think about was that last 22 mile training run I did. During that run, I felt  great around 18ish miles and busted out 8:30ish miles. And then I got hit by the 80 year old bricks a couple miles later. I was terrified that would happen again so I ran on the conservative side.  

The last 8 miles played out differently than I would have guessed. Surprisingly, the second most difficult part of the whole marathon was trying to maneuver around everyone for the last 8 miles. The hardest part was the last 200 meters. By the time I passed the 26 mile marker, I was done. More mentally than physically I think, but done nonetheless.

I ran negative splits which I'm super happy about. My first 13 miles was 2:05 and the last was 2:00. I'm really looking forward to Philly and seeing if I can break 4:00. I really want to push myself on this one and see what happens.

The whole race really was awesome. I'm stoked with my time. I'm beyond grateful that I was given the opportunity to run. I'm super blessed to have a badass family that cooks pasta dinners, runs all over the great city of Chicago to cheer me on, and throws super awesome birthday/marathon/celebration parties.

The After
Recovery has been just fine. My joints hurt if I stand up after sitting too long. I'm super super tired at night which is unusual for me. I'm pretty sure I went to bed at 8:30 last night.

I've decided that signing up for 2 marathons is a good idea. You work so hard and train for so long for 1 run..... what if something goes wrong? All that work for less than desired results? I like the idea of a "practice" marathon. We'll see if I'm singing the same song in 5 weeks after Philly :)

<------------------ Almost done!!


1 less than happy child, 1 happy momma, 1 confused child------------------>

 

Countdown to Chi-town

I was just going to say that Chicago was 4 weeks away. Then I looked at the calendar and realized it's 3. Three weeks! I'm freaking out now. I can feel the anxiety building up as I type, so I opened the only medicine I knew would help settle me down.... the beer fridge. KC Pils it is. Did you know Boulevard Brewery makes a grape beer? I thought it would taste like grape juice trying to be a beer; which would be super gross. But it's not. It's more like if red wine and beer had a baby and that baby tasted like beer with an aftertaste of red wine. It's pretty cool. The guy in the gift shop said they should call it "Infidelity" and I think he's right.

I haven't been able to run this week. Monday we had a sick kiddo and I couldn't bring myself to leave her to go to speed session. I did manage to get 6 in Tuesday morning. And that's about it. My next run will probably be 22 miles on Sunday. 22. I don't think I even drive 22 miles during the week.

I'm still listening to the same audiobook and I still highly recommend it; in case you were wondering.

My dad went running with me this past weekend! It is nice to have company when you have a long run in front of you that you aren't super excited about :)

Back to the topic of speed sessions. A couple weeks ago they did a 1 mile time trial. I didn't know they were going to do this, but man am I glad they did. It was surprisingly fun! We split into 3 groups: A super duper fast group, a group that said their time would be sub-7:45, and everyone else. I ran with the sub- 7:45 group. Now guess what the "slowest" sub-7:45 runner's time was. Guess. 7:15. Bam! It was unreal to see and hear how fast everyone thought they could run and how they actually could run. I'll put myself in that group too. I thought I could run just under 7:00 and I ran sub- 6:30. Ridiculous and awesome.

18.1 miles of pure running bliss. And audiobooks

Let me first start off by saying how proud I am of the fact that I remembered the word "audiobook" for the title of this little tid bit. For some reason I keep saying "book-on-tape", like it's 1980 and I'm running with my walkman strapped to my hand and wearing neon tights with a thong on the outside.

So the book-on-tape audiobook was a Fantastic idea and I highly recommend it! Those 18 miles felt like.... well, nothing. It was like listening to a book while I happened to be running for 3 straight hours. No big deal. I've found my new Saturday-long-run-day-tradition. And the great thing about audiobooks- they are sooooo long. Not like an awesome song that only lasts 4 minutes. Audiobooks last hours. And hours. 16 hours.
I decided to go with the Cuckoo's Calling. It was at the top of every bookly list I looked at so I jumped on that bandwagon. So far so good. *Sidenote: I did Tina Fey's audiobook too on a long car trip. I lol'd multiple times. So did my husband. But don't listen to it if your parents are in the car. Or your children are capable of understanding what she is saying.

Chicago Marathon is creeping up on me. It's two months away. Eek! I'll be good to go. I'm just nervous. But I have new running shoes which means I'm ready to take on the world! New running shoes are so delightful.