Post Marathon
After the marathon, I had an hour car ride back to Lincoln. I drank two bottles of water and a Gatorade on the way home. I also located the second half of the Snickers bar matted inside my shirt pocket. Yuck.
Jeremy was VERY excited for me to do the ice bath and kept talking about how we should stop and buy SEVERAL bags of ice to fill up our big tub. I told him what we had in the freezer’s ice-maker would be just fine. When we got home, Juliet was happy to see me and excited that the big tub was getting filled up. To her, that means she gets to play in the tub with Mom! Jeremy dumped the ice in and I got in. WOW! It was cold. My teeth chattered. I knew I had to lay back as my shoulders were in the most pain. I could hold my torso under for about 2 minutes and that was it. Juliet cried the whole time as she wanted in the tub with me. I gave her a few ice cubes to play with and she was happy again. I went from the tub to a hot shower. I took a dose of Al-eve.
I limped and waddled around the house getting things put away and Juliet ready for bed. Jeremy’s mom came later on. It felt so good to sit down and relax for a while and chat with her.
The next morning, Jeremy and I got up at 4:30 to leave for the airport. I felt sore but not too bad. I had covered my two large blisters with sports pads. I got on the plane for Chicago and was feeling okay. When we arrived in Chicago, I was really stiff. I took 1/2 of a Percocet, ate pizza for breakfast, drank a big Mocha from Starbucks and felt better. Very relaxed. That Percocet was working very well. I had made the long trek through Ohare and boarded our next plane.
As we took off, I didn’t feel so hot. I got out the air sickness bag. I barfed 3 times. By the time we landed in Atlanta, I was better but stiffer. I shuffled to the next gate. My blisters were getting bigger, my stomach felt crappy again and I barfed again before getting on the plane for the Bahamas. By the time we landed in the Bahamas, I was fine, stuff but fine.
I woke up the next morning with sore feet and stiff but not too much else. By day two, I was pretty normal. By day three, I was totally fine. I slept 12 hours at night and took a nap every afternoon. I spent the day floating in the pool and lazy river at the resort. We watched 4 movies in the hotel room. I did nothing more active than snorkeling. Bahamas after the marathon…best idea ever!
Part II-Marathon of Pain…
Okay, so now I was CONVINVED I had completely screwed myself with the NikePlus method of training. I had probably never run even 14 miles, maybe 12 tops. As I kept running, I kept getting more and more discouraged that there was no way I was going to finish this thing, much less run 3/4’s of it or more, the way I planned. In fact, I was going to have to chuck ALL my plans. I had positive mental tapes of me striding past mile marker 22 with barely a bead of sweat on my forehead…that mental image was quickly being replaced by one where I was lost and alone at mile 15, walking with tears in my eyes.
Then finally I saw AND smelled the zoo. Okay, this was good because that meant Mom was close by. I knew her presence would encourage me. I ran through the zoo. I spotted 2 giraffes. I said hello to a police officer on a motorcycle who was patrolling for those of us at the end of the pack. He told me there was still a guy behind me. Good, I was at least not the VERY last person. As I came out of the zoo, I saw Mom at the water stop. I was so happy to see her and felt a lot of peace just knowing she was there. I figured even if I didn’t finish, I could run some more. She filled me up with more Gatorade and I started to run again. A few more miles and she had parked ahead of me and got out and walked with me a while. I was about mile 15. I had started to walk a while.
Jeremy, Brad, Kate and Thomas found us. By the time I saw them, I was about ready to throw in the towel. Jeremy and Brad took over for Mom and walked with me. Neither had a lot to say but they had maps and kept me on course. One thing about the Omaha Marathon, it is one weird course with many turns. I would have been totally lost if not for them.
I didn’t know what else to do but walk and run, walk and run and then walk some more. About mile 17, my friend Steph met up with me. Somehow people just kept finding me and walking with me. With someone at my side, I just couldn’t turn to them and say, “you know what, I am going to quite now.” So I just kept going. At one point, Steph had her 7 month old son in a baby carrier and she was walking with me while she carried him. Kate had showed up in high heels but borrowed her son Thomas’ shoes and walked with me too. Mom drove ahead and people got in and out, switching out to walk with me for a while and then getting back in the car. They passed water and Gatorade out to me.
At 1 o’clock I was at mile 20, they came and took down the marker cones. They map was even more critical. By this time, I was in deep and scary North Omaha. Brad, big and buff, Brad was walking with me and I felt safe. The two old ladies were about 1/2 hour ahead of me. If I hadn’t had my posse, I would have been completely alone. Kate joined us and we ran down a hill and into a park. I had never seen this park before and we marveled at the huge trees. Everything looked so lovely and green. I had half a Snickers and more water. Brad and Kate got in the car and Jeremy got out to walk a while with me.
Jeremy kept saying how proud he was of me. By this time, I was really hurting. I didn’t think I could run anymore. I didn’t think I could really walk but as long as I was in motion, I was okay. Step by step, I was completing it. Steph came to walk with me and she kept saying, “you are doing it, you are doing it.” And I realized I was DOING it. I was, right then, completing the marathon.
I approached what I knew was the area of the finish line. Jeremy was with me. The entrance to the area was confusing. He was on his cell phone with the support in the car, who had the maps. Even the map was confusing and Jeremy and I walked about 1/2 mile onto a running trail before we realized that a 6 foot fence now separated me from the finish line. We had taken a wrong turn. I couldn’t walk all that way back. I could see where I was supposed to be but could not climb the fence. Mom drive up and I got in, she drove me to the exact spot on the other side of the fence. I got out onto the correct rail and kept walking. With 1/2 mile to go, I started running and crossed the line. They gave me my medal and shook my hand.
I was so happy to be done. I had completed it. It took me over 7 hours but I had done it.
Part I-26.2 Miles Completed-I finished!
Marathon day started at 4:30 am. I woke up early and got going. I had everything laid out and ready. I kissed Jeremy good bye and headed to Omaha by 5:15. The hour drive was peaceful. I arrived in Omaha ready to run. Amazingly, I found decent parking and walked to the starting area. It was still pretty dark and I had already put on my prescription sun glasses which made it even darker. Every body was surprisingly quiet. Bad news…the port-a-potty lines were 20 people deep. I had to improvise between two parked SUVs. I was hoping it just looked like I was stretching.
I walked far back in the line. Two old ladies were standing by me. They were from Missippi and had come to run. I mentioned this was my first marathon after finding out they had run several. They told me I would do great. We started. I went out at a slower than normal pace. But I was being passed, a lot. I was among about the last 50 people. It seemed weird as I was running about 11 minute miles by the Nike Plus. I was soon to find out the problem.
I noticed quite a lot of people passing me. I started to get anxious but I just kept going, telling myself my goal was to finish-that was all-just finish. Around mile 7 (according to the Nike Plus) we were still no where near the zoo which I had noted was about mile 10 on the course. It seemed strange to me that we were so far into the race and yet I was not yet even headed to the zoo. Why wasn’t I yet on the road to the zoo? Where were the freakin’ animals. Where was Mom who was meeting me at mile marker 10? Wasn’t I close to ten miles?
As the Nike Plus told me I was at mile 9, I was finally on the stretch of the course that I knew took me to the zoo. I just kept going feeling a little lost. Nike Plus told me 12 miles, then I saw the course sign that said 10 mile marker. My heart sank. Not only was a two miles less than what I thought but if the Nike Plus was so off now, had it been off during my whole training? Had I ever even run 18 miles? No wonder everyone was passing me, I didn’t run 11-12 minute miles. I realized, with a big lump in my throat that I had more than likely been undertraining the whole time. I felt completely unprepared to run this marathon…
Holly Crapole, The Marathon is Tomorrow
I am getting ready to run the big one in the morning. I have been running around like crazy since the day after the marathon, ShoeMoney and I leave for vacation. I am getting packed, got my nails done, went to Omaha to pick up my race-day packet with my number and tracker. Unfortunately, my tracker just records my time and does not track me on an Internet site like I have heard they do at some marathons.
So I have set Jeremy up with a color-coded map and a Google pack full of stuff I might need during the run. My mom will meet me at mile ten and then Jeremy at all the miles after that. The Aldermans, our great friends will be there too to chear me on and also drive my truck back to Lincoln as I am not so sure I can do it after I finish the race.
I have been hydrating today, carb loading, and plan on going to be about 7 or 8 pm. I have been thinking about actual race day quite a lot recently. I think one thing that will help me is running in a city I love so much and yet I will be seeing it from a different perspective than I ever have before. I will have my cell phone on me and I will text Jeremy and Mom every once a while to let them know where I am on the course.
So many people have gave me help and advice along the way. I have been preparing for this for about 4 months. I have done what I am supposed to do and I feel ready to just bust it out.
Tapering
The next 20 days, I am tapering. That means I run less miles overall, shorter distances with the longest run being 9 miles. That is cake to me. I can run 9 miles barefoot if needed.
I feel a little hyped up-full of energy and raring to go-which is the whole plan with this tapering business. So I decided that if these runs are short in length, I should run them fast as I can with a goal of getting UNDER the 11 minute mile mark. Yeah, I know, experienced runners might laugh at that last statement, but hey, I am getting better, stronger, faster and that is the whole plan.
The other thing that is happening is that all sorts of people who have run marathons are coming out of the woodwork to give me little tips. I like to hear what they have to say. Even if someone has only run ONE marathon, that is one more than me so I love to hear what they have to say. I also like hearing their stories, about their pain and trials.
Here are some tips I have gotten:
1) Do an ice bath after running the marathon. Yeah. Like put a bunch of cold water in a tub and add a couple bags of ice from the Quickie Mart. Get in. Now I have to say the ice bath sounds pretty freakin’ unpleasant but several people have sworn by this technique to stave off inflamation after the run so I might have to give it a try.
2) Loosen up your shoes. Okay this might be a good idea for me as I usually get some toe cramps around mile 15. Maybe this could help increase blood flow and reduce cramping.
3) Eat more carbs during the run. Now I think this could really help me push through at the end. I uasually eat nothing or just a protien bar in the morning so I think I am just out of carbs after a long run. The CarBoom gels I eat only have about 100 cals in each one so that isn’t much. I eat one of those every three miles. So…I went out and bought three Snickers Bars for the marathon. Jeremy has already eaten one! I had to tell him what they were for to keep the other two safe.
Okay, anyone got some other tips? Bring ‘em on! I need the coaching. Most people train with other people and I am on my own, so help a sista out!
Bliss run-9 Miles
I am doing my long run a bit early this week since I am on call over the weekend. I can’t run that long or that far away from home in case I am needed at the hospital.
I got started about 6:30 which meant it was getting pretty dark for my last few miles. I had never run in the dark before and it was GREAT! The air was so light and cool. I floated over the sidewalk and felt my legs just moving without any effort at all. I just let the positive thoughts flow:
I am strong.
I have trained.
My calves are like rocks, hard and strong.
I can run forever.
I also thought of all the positive things friends and family have said to me about this marathon:
Jeremy: “You have don’t have any quit in you.” “Bust it out baby.”
I thought about Brad and Kate encouraging me and their son Thomas, amazed that I can run farther than his dad, the most in-shape person Thomas knows. Thomas looks at me with respect and awe-like I am an athlete!
The other runners I know, Noel, Shannon, Lori, giving me tips, asking me how it is going, treating me like I am one of them…a runner.
I am a runner and an athlete. I have run over 325 miles. I can do this.
I am going to remember these people when I am running.
Last Long Run-18 Miles, I need a ride home.
So I started out with high hopes for this run. I had conquered last weeks 18 miler and lived to tell the tale. I decided I was not going to do 18, I was going to do a full 20! A nice, round number, at my pace of 12 minute miles, an even 4 hours. It all seemed oh so, well planned and oh so easy. Yeah. It didn’t work out that way.
The first 14 were nothing. Cake. Easy. Routine as they should be at this point. Going into mile 15, I was out of water, having drained my Camelbak. I decided to do one more lap around Holmes Lake, a mere 2 miles and then head to the gas station for water. That was a poor choice on my part. I started to feel a knife blade in my left shoulder-it was a nagging stress-related pain I often get. My legs ached. I was thirsty. I was suddenly very, very tired. I decided to walk a little and then stop and rest and before I knew it, I was lying down next to the trail, and then walked some more and laid down on a bench. I actually laid down three times. Each time drawing some attention and at least one, “ya all right?” But I had no choice, I had to keep moving or else I had no way home, which by the way was another 2-3 miles at least.
I called Jeremy who was at home with Juliet. He sounded stressed out. His blog was down, Juliet was crying, the dog was barking, I was pretty sure he was not going to be picking me up. I called our friends and neighbors who did not answer their phone. I decided to keep walking.
As I walked up the hill to the gas station, I passed SHANNON! She was running a 14 miler and I was indeed grateful she stopped to chat. I told her I was really struggling. I could not even go a full 20 miles and the marathon was in 3 weeks! She told me how she has had many bad long runs, how I was doing well, how I should just keep going. She just made sure I was all right. It just helped to have someone care about my well-being. Running can be a lonely sport. I felt bad for interrupting her long run and collected myself and sent her on her way.
By the time I reached the gas station, I had hit the 18 mile mark and decided to throw in the towel on the foolishly planned 20 mark. My program didn’t call for it. I was just being cocky trying to do it. There was a lady buying a paper at the gas station. I asked her for a ride and she said, “Yeah, I saw you laying down by the lake.” She took me home.
Okay-so I didn’t make 20. But I have run all my long runs. I have skipped three runs of the 16 week, 4 runs a week program. That means I have done 95% of my runs. I have done them well. I have practiced the mental techniques. I have prepared. Now I tapper. I have shorter runs from here on out. 3,5,8, and 9 miles. I can bust those out like I can walk to my car in the parking lot. Easy.
18 MILES! Longest Yet!
After last weeks long-run disaster, I was determined to make this one, my first 18 miler, a success. I laid everything out the night before with a plan on getting up about 6 am and hitting it by 7am. I declared my bedtime at 7:30 and went to bed-that was it, lights out. I had paid attention to hydration the day, ate well, no alcohol and plenty of rest.
I hit the trail by 7 as planned. I broke it into chunks of distance. I planned to stop after the first 8 for a potty break which I did. I was an hour into it and was tired but I planned on another 6 before another stop so I did that. One thing that really helped me eat up the miles is paying attention to my surroundings. My friend and partner, Noel had suggested I pick a new place to run. I was on some familiar ground but much was new or areas I had not run in a while.
It is amazing what you see when you cover the city by foot. One guy was doing obedience training with his dog who he had on sit-stay. When I ran past them again later, he was tossing decoys in the water and they dog was retrieving. In the early morning, there where old men out on boats in Holmes Lake, fishing. There was a roting dead catfish by the lake, about a 7 pounder. I didn’t know the lake had fish like that. All these little distractions kept me going. Before I knew it, I had just 2 miles left and was passing my longest run mark of 16 miles.
Then…I hit mile 17. Actually, 17.5. I am thinkin’, that was the wall. I felt exhausted, drained, I started to walk, really more like pace as I felt like I was going to puke. I was next to Old Cheney. I really wanted to just lay down on the side walk but I thought that would attract a lot of attention. I couldn’t think of anything better to do so I started running again and counting. Counting is my last ditch effort to keep going. So I just went. And soon enough, it was over.
I stumbled into the house and lay in on the kitchen floor. I gasped, “Gatorade!” to Jeremy and he got me one while Juliet smiled and crawled over my sweaty, exhausted body. I remained horizontal for about 15 minutes, sipping fluids. I felt horrible. How much worse would I feel after 26 miles!? I like to keep Jeremy in the loop on what to expect and so I told him, “honey, there is a good chance you will have to take my to the hospital after I run the marathon in 4 weeks.” He said, “If you think something is going to land you in the hospital, maybe you shouldn’t do it.”
Well, I have run almost 300 miles training for this thing so I am not giving up now, no way. So I have to train a little better. Here is the plan:
1) I had to start running faster, sprinting at times and doing more hills. The idea here is to train my body to handle stress. My GF Shannon does something called “running splits.” I don’t know what that is but it involves going fast then slowing down to increase your endurance.
2) No more skipping runs. Yep-I have skipped a few runs lately. I feel tired, maybe over trained but obviously I need to practice the hard stuff so I can do the REALLY hard stuff.
3) More fluids, more ibuprofen, more sleep. Those last three are probably something I should do ALL the time, whether training or not.
I am not just a mother…I am a tough mother f***er and I can do this!
Worst Run Ever!
Last week, ShoeMoney and I were in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. My weekly long run was a 16 miler and I hammered it without any problem. We were there for a wedding. Since the Nike Plus is so handy for charting miles, I brought that along to track my progress. Unfortunately, I somehow “lost” the ram chip among my luggage and couldn’t find it among all my stuff. So I ran by time-not by the Nike Plus. I did went up and down the streets, racking up the miles until I had run for 3.5 hours-which I figured was about right for 12 minute miles, plus potty breaks.
We came home and I continued a pretty good streak, hitting all my mileage goals for the short runs for this week. I am starting to feel worn down and tired but I just kept pushing it. Today, I got up about 7 am for the planned 16 miler, my long run of the week. This is the last 16 miler and then I bump up to 18 for the next two weeks before starting to taper for the marathon. I choked, big time.
I did pretty well the first 11 miles but I felt down, tired and wiped out before I even hit the ten mile mark. I started to really struggle about mile 12, started walking and running a little and then kept walking. I was going around Holmes Lake at that point and a group of high-school runners were going around the other direction. They looked all chipper and fit and just made me feel all old and weak. I had developed a corn on my toe earlier in the week and now it was killing me. I could feel some blisters popping up too. I was just hurting-all of me was hurting. Plus I had to go to the bathroom and there was none in sight.
I mostly walked to the corner of 70 and Pioneers and went into the gas station. I used the bathroom. Sitting felt great-I could rest, finally! But I had two miles to go to get home. There was no way I was going to call Jeremy to come and get me so it was either walk it or run it but I had to do it. I bought and drank a Gatorade and headed home.
I ran the last mile. I just forced myself to do it. I counted to 100 and then counted to 100 again and then my Nike Plus was telling me I had 400 meters to go so I just kept running until I was done. The whole thing took me about 4 hours. Even then, I had another 1/2 mile to walk to get home. My feet were killing me. When I took off my shoes, the blisters were worst then I imagined. I hobbled to the shower and can barely walk much more than that.
I started to think about what happened today. I really go scared because I realized that if today had been race day-I think I would have given up with ten miles left to go. I don’t know how I could have done another 10 miles today. I have 5 more weeks to prepare-and this is crunch time. I am not screwing up now so I better fix whatever went wrong today.
So what went wrong? I think I failed to prepare for today’s run well and next week, I am going to pay attention to these key items:
1) I got up a little later than planned, by 10 am it was pretty hot which made my run even harder. An hour earlier would have made a big difference.
2) I wore uncomfortable high-heels last night to dinner. So this morning, my feet were already hurting from with blisters starting from last night. My feet need rest and comfort from here on out.
3) I did not practice my mental techniques to keep myself in a positive state of mind about the run. Instead I let myself get anxious and upset about the coming week (which is going to be difficult) and other life stresses. I did not use my mantra, I did not replay my “positive running tape” in my mind. I basically lost it mentally. At one point I even cried a little because I was feeling weak and worthless and my run went to shit. WTF!? I am MARATHONER and marathoners don’t cry! I need to set up a chit-chat with my sports psychologist, Brandon and reinforce good mental habits to keep myself focused on positive even when it gets hard.
4) I need to eat and drink better. I did okay on the hydration. Drinking plenty the day before the run, puts me on the right track for hydration during the run. I have been more lax with my diet-just eating too much crap. I also had a Banzai last night at ShoGun-no alcohol before a run from now on.
The game plan here is not just to get better everyday but to really improve. I want to hammer out the first 18 miles of this marathon with no problem. I can tackle the last six after that. But I should not be struggling with the first 16-18 miles. That should be old hat by the time I hit marathon day.
I was watching a profile on Olympic Skater Christi Yamaguchi today-her coach was talking about how great athletes are forge during the bad times. Everybody can get through the easy workouts, the easy wins are fun-it is the hard ones, the ones where real struggle takes place that realy growth also takes place. So I have hit my truly hard weeks, the long ass runs ARE tough-but this is where I earn it.
16 Miles In Billings. MT!
I spent the past weekend in Billings, MT with my dear friends Julie and Corey and their lovely little Carolyn (4 months). My program called for a 16 miler. Since Corey and Julie were the ones who turned me onto running a marathon, they got excited about helping me. Corey had a whole map, plus a full, single-spaced typed page of directions for me. He had mapped out a flat, 16 mile course that passed many major landmarks of their courtship-like their college, the bars they hung out in, places they committed wild acts of…well, you get the idea.
I headed out Saturday morning with the Camelbak filled up and my hopes high. One good thing about running in a place you have never been is that all the unique scenery distracts you during the run. I stopped a few times for short breaks. The whole thing took me a little over 3 hours. An average pace of 12 minutes a mile, certainly not fast but my goal is to finish this marathon, not get injured or prove myself an great athlete.
I had forgotten my running tank top and Corey loaned me one of his. Corey is someone I consider a truly gifted athlete. He could do minimal training and bust out a marathon about anytime-he has ran two so far. So I felt like I was wrapped in his strength as I crushed those miles.
The next day, I flew home. I reflected on how so many barriers I thought were just insurmountable, are really not. They have been revealed as a mere mental boundary I have placed on myself. I never THOUGHT I could run that far so I never dared to TRY to run that far. If you put my photo up in front of the average person, I certainly would not be picked out of a line-up of people most likely to be able to bust out 16 miles-but I can and I DID.
I just sort of started to think about all the people out there who are probably capable of doing something like this and they just don’t even try-accepting limits and mental messages that are just not true. I grew up asthmatic and overweight kid. I honestly never saw myself as someone who could compete, who could run, who could do some major athletic feat-but I am pretty freakin’ far into running this marathon. What else could I do that I didn’t think I could do? Under what other pointless limits am I burying my true potential?!
I have about 7 more weeks of training to go. I have 2 more 16 milers and then 2, 18 mile runs and a bunch of shorter runs in between. Then I begin to taper for the race. It is September 23 in Omaha, NE. The walls are coming down and you will see me hammer out 26.2 miles!