Keeping it all in perspective

I will admit that I, like many runners out there, get too caught up in the competitive aspect of running.....paces, PRs, splits, finishing places.  For the most part, its competition with myself and usually I feed off this, but sometimes it becomes too much.  

Take Saturday for example.  I decided to run the YMCA Oak Scare 5k that was being held in my town.  I have been wanting to race a 5k for a while but it never fit in my marathon training.  I don't feel my 5k PR adequately shows my abilities (my 4.2 mile and 5 mile race paces are faster than my 5k PR??).  As we started the race, I realized within a mile that my body, exactly 2 weeks post marathon, was not ready to race!!  My heart rate was a little high and my pace was no where near where it should have been.  Add this to the fact that the course ran up one of the steepest hills in my town (I don't even like to run down this hill because its so steep!)  I got frustrated because I was really hoping for a big PR but realized this wasn't going to happen given my still recovering muscles.  

I finished, grabbed some water, and started walking back to my house along the final stretch of the course.  As I was watching the people still running I realized that this was what these local 5ks were all about.....the mother pushing her two kids in a jogging stroller all dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz (more power to her for pushing that thing up the hills!) as the kids chant "Run Mommy Run!!"....the older woman knowing she was close to last place but still having fun and smiling....the disabled man that was pushed in a wheel chair for the first 3 miles who left his chair to be helped by friends/family to walk across the finish line himself no matter how long it took him.  

These people were out there for various reasons known only to them, but I'm going to guess they weren't calculating their splits every mile wondering if they were going to beat their PR or if they would place in their age group.  Sometimes I need to remind myself that there is more to running than numbers and competition.  Sometimes its about brining people together that would never otherwise be connected to share in something so simple as putting one foot in front of the other.  

And as for that 5k PR I am seeking....it didn't happen, but it was a great race none the less!

Some Pictures...Finally!

Its taken me a while to get these posted, but here are some pictures from my weekend at the Hartford Marathon

Carbo loading the night before

The running gang

Our fabulous support crews!

Acting silly before the race

Janette and I around mile 17

BQ smiles!

Post-Race....Still standing and smiling :)

Redemption is sweet!

As you may have figured out from some of the comments left for me since my race, Saturday was a good day.....a really good day! Here's a full recap of my race.....enjoy!

Pre-Race

I'd been dealing with a cold for the week before the race and was doing everything in my power to kick it before the marathon. I drank "defense" tea three times a day, did eucalyptus oil steams, went to bed before 10pm, and ate 2 bags of Cold-Eze. I decided to take the whole day on Friday off to sleep in a bit before heading to Hartford. Bryan and I headed down on Friday afternoon and I was feeling good. Still really calm.

I ran into Paul and his family in the hotel lobby so we all walked over to the expo. I love that Paul's 14 year old son brought an empty backpack to the expo to put all his loot in......unfortunately I think he was a little disappointed as he was used to the Chicago expo and this was Hartford. I got my packet and walked around a bit. I was anxious to get back to the hotel and relax before dinner. My parents arrived after hitting lots of traffic and we headed down to meet everyone for dinner.

Dinner involved great company, lots of water, bread, and a couple orders of pasta.....seriously, what Italian restaurant gives you an actual USDA portion of pasta?? I need the carbs!! We all said good night, wished everyone luck, and headed to bed. Luckily I fell asleep right around 10pm while watching TV and slept pretty well all night.

Race Day

Saturday morning I woke up to sunny skies and temps in the mid 40's. I ate my breakfast and got myself ready. I was excited, a little nervous, but still really calm. My general attitude could be described as "what happens, happens!" I headed down to the lobby and met Janette to walk over to the start area. Once there, we used the bathrooms and met up with John and Paul. After saying good bye to my family, we walked up to the start and tried to find the 3:40 pacer.....why oh why did he have to be this 5 ft nothing little man?? I asked him about his pace strategy and he said "even splits, 8:20's." I could tell he was not going to be the life-of-the-party pacer I had last year.

The National Anthem was sung, the gun sounded, and off we went!! Janette and I planned to stay together as long as we both felt good and we also wanted to stay with our pacer. Part one of that plan worked, but Part two was flawed from the start. After a congested first mile, we noticed our pacer was running really fast....what happened to the even 8:20's? Mile 2 clocked in at 7:56 (Commandment 1 broken.....hoping this doesn't turn out like Vermont!). During mile 3, Janette and I decided to stick with each other rather than our pacer and go at what we knew was the correct pace. I saw my family around mile 5 on their bikes and assured them that we were on pace even though we were pacerless.

Miles 1-13 seemed effortless....this was great! I kept comparing how I felt in Hartford to how I felt at those same miles in Vermont....this time I was more relaxed, happier, and the miles didn't seem as forced. We made the turn around at mile 11.5 and started watching for John and Paul. Paul was a couple minutes behind us and John a couple minutes behind him....they both looked great and we all had big smiles on our faces. I saw Bryan and my parents a bunch of times along the way....it was sort of like Where's Waldo? since I didn't know where they would be cheering from next!

Miles 13-18 felt fine, but I was getting a little tired here. Nothing bad, but I needed to be more conscious of my pace and not letting it slip at all. Miles 18-23 were pretty rough. There are a bunch of little ups and downs in the last 6 miles of the course that aren't bad on their own, but after 20 miles they are certainly not welcome! I kept asking myself "how much do you want this?", "how much does this mean to you?", and "why are you doing this?" I prayed a little here too asking God to make my legs lighter and to give me enough energy to get through the last 3 miles. This gave me the boost I needed to keep running strong.

At mile 24, Janette asked me how we were doing on time. She messed up her watch in the first 10 minutes of the race so we were relying on my time...this put quite some pressure on me as I was trying to do math in my head. Dividing by 8:20 is hard to calculate when you are mentally exhausted! I knew we were fine but told her that we just couldn't slow down at all. So we did just the opposite....we sped up! Mile 25 clocked in at 8:10.....we could see downtown Hartford. We pushed hard in that last 1.2 miles....up the hill, under the arch......there's the finish line! That last 1.2 miles clocked in at a 7:49 pace!!!

We crossed the finish line and I think my eyes were bugging out of my head! I did it.....3 hours 39 minutes and 3 seconds!!! We immediately hugged each other and screamed "We're going to Boston!!!!!" I saw my family and gave them a big thumbs up. I thought I would cry, but there was so much adrenaline and I think I was in shock.

Post Race Thoughts

So there you have it.......my 2008 Hartford Marathon and BQ experience! A couple thoughts on this race:

1. I of course have to thank my wonderful supportive husband!! He continues to tell me how proud he is of me and how he doesn't know how I do this. I say this after every race, but I don't know how I could run with out him! Also, my parents who battled bad traffic just to watch me run. Their support has meant so much to me and it was a great boost to see them on the course in so many places. I'm glad they got to experience my good race after my disappointment in Vermont.

2. Huge thanks and congratulations goes out to my running friends, especially Janette. She reinforced my pacing strategy early on, pushed me when I was feeling tired, and was exactly the person I wanted to celebrate with me at the finish line (even if she did beat me by one second....again!). John and Paul......the two of you are great and I am so excited for you that you surpassed your goals!! I couldn't have gotten through training without all three of these people. Its true that running friends are different in some way!

3. As the title of my post says, redemption in sweet!!! Vermont beat me up pretty badly...both mentally and physically. In the weeks after that race, I was doubting my abilities as a distance runner and was in a real funk with my running. It was so bad that I questioned whether I would even run Hartford. Going into Saturday, I was seeking vindication. The BQ was secondary to running the best race I was capable of. In my opinion, my PR from Vermont did not reflect my abilities as a distance runner and I needed to prove to myself that I was better than that. The BQ is just icing on the cake!! I don't know if I would appreciate it as much if I didn't have such a rough time in Vermont and the weeks after. Having to pull myself back together and remind myself why I am doing this pushed me to run the best race I could.

So mark your calenders....I'll see you in Hopkinton on April 20th!! I'll be the one with the huge smile on my face :)

Stats:
Chip Time - 3:39:03
Overall Pace - 8:22
Overall Place - 461/1941
Age Group place - 21/129

"Ain't nothing gonna break my stride....

Ain't nothing gonna slow me down
Oh No, I've got to keep on movin'"

That song has been in my head all day....a sign?? Its better than "Runnin' on Empty" (no joke, but that song was playing on the alarm clock radio when I woke up for my first half marathon!)

Speaking of music, I got a wonderful "Cupcake" cd from my friend Steph this week full of calming, relaxing music. It fit right in with my mood of the week and was just perfect. Full of lots of new songs that I hadn't heard yet.....she really has great taste in music. The last song is from her favorite movie "Pride and Prejudice"....not sure if I should admit this, but I've never seen the movie. Please don't take my cd back Steph!

Bryan and I are heading down to Hartford in a bit so I just wanted to check in quickly. Last night I spent the evening relaxing and watching "Spirit of the Marathon" that arrived in the mail yesterday....perfect timing. It got me even more excited than I already am! I am still fairly calm about the race......no real nerves yet but just a lot of excitement. I don't know how things are going to play out tomorrow, but I can't wait to see what I am capable of doing!

So its that time again....I am carbo loaded, hydrated, and ready to run! I wish all the best to the other runners that are racing this weekend. Have fun and remember to JUST RUN!!

Marathon Comandments

1. I will not run any miles faster than 8:15 pace until I am past mile 20.


2. I will not freak out if any of my miles are a little slow and try to even it out by running the next one faster.


3. I will not freak out if I look at my Garmin and the pace is a little off.....this happens and there is no reason to speed up to correct it.


4. I will not mentally give up.


5. I will not allow myself to walk (except briefly at water stops so I don't get water up my nose!).


6. I will run the best race I am capable of running.


7. I will not make excuses for myself.


8. I will not feel sorry for myself.


9. I will trust my training.


10. I will have fun!

Ok.....so they aren't quite Moses-on-a-stone-tablet worthy, but then again....I don't remember Moses ever running a marathon :)

Mellow Taper

The term "taper madness" is common among marathon runners. It comes with anxiety, stress, hypochondria, and feelings of self doubt......its really a great time :) However, this taper I don't seem to be suffering from the madness I have felt my past three marathons. I would actually describe my mood as quite mellow. My massage therapist even commented today that I seem really relaxed compared to last time. Don't get me wrong, I am really excited for this race and to put months of training to use but I not stressing about things.

Some say its because I've got more experience.....I'm not sure if that's the case because there is always something scary about running 26.2 miles no matter how many your have run. Some say its because I am well trained....while that is true, I have learned that nothing is a given come race day.

Here's what I think.....last race I put so much pressure on myself. I was measuring my sole success or failure on running that 3:40 to qualify for Boston. When it didn't happen, I considered it a bad race and started analyzing what went wrong. While there were things that went wrong, I have realized that the race wasn't a failure....I still took almost 6 minutes off my time from the previous fall and that's pretty huge! I lost sight of why I was running.......after all, if its not fun then why do it? I forgot that I actually love to run!

So now I am approaching this race with a different attitude. Goal 1 is to have fun and run a good race.....that is what is most important to me. Sure I am hoping to run fast enough to get my BQ time and I plan to put up one hell of a fight for that.......but if it doesn't happen I will be okay with it. Boston will always be there and there are many other marathons I have yet to run!

Only 3 more sleeps until race day.......let's hope this mellowness continues until then!

Looks like it runs in my family

So usually parents pass their traits down to their children, but I am proud to say that I passed this one up to them :)

My parents completed their first half marathon three weeks ago at the Philadelphia Distance run!! They trained all summer to walk it and their goal was to finish in under 3:15. Its safe to say they beat that goal finishing in 2:58:19!!! That's a 13:37 pace.......I sure don't think I could walk that fast!

GO MOM AND DAD!!!!!

Patriotic Runs

I know I have been bad about keeping you updated on my training. Life and work has been pretty busy lately so when I do have free time, the last thing I want to do is write about how busy I am :)

I am officially in taper mode now after a successful final week of high mileage ending with my final 20 mile long run and 57 miles for the week. Overall feeling strong and looking forward to the cut back weeks of taper.

Last week my taper was a little more than I would have liked, but weather and travel plans forced me to skip a run and shorten another. I made sure to get in my important runs though....an 8 mile track workout with 5 x 600m repeats with 90 second recoveries. The repeats averaged 2:34 and I was okay with that.

On Friday, I headed down to our nation's capitol to visit Bryan who was there for work. Two things I didn't realize before heading down there....(1) walking around all day is exhausting and (2) its still freakin' summer down there! It was much hotter compared to Boston and oh so humid. We spent Saturday walking around downtown and spent a lot of time in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. That afternoon we went for a nice 5 mile run in a hilly park near where he was staying.

Sunday we got up early and heading to the National Mall for my long run of the week. Bryan ran the first 5 miles with me and then I set back out on my own. I had my phone in my pocket in case I got lost but I also used it to take pictures of where I was running. These are just some of the sights I ran past.....

The Capitol Building.....our Senators and congress people were hard at work on the bailout plan

World War II Memorial

Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool....even with the clouds you can see the reflection

Lincoln Monument

Washington Monument (up close)

I was supposed to run 16 miles but stopped at 14....I was drenched from the humidity, thirsty, and tired (all that walking around sight seeing!). We headed back to shower and did some more sight seeing in the afternoon. Overall a great trip to DC and a good first week of taper!