Save some Gatorade for me!

For a rest day, I've got lots going on in marathon stuff!

From here on out I shall be officially referred to as bib #50700 (remind me to play that number). I am in the Orange start, wave 3, corral #50. I'm pretty sure that puts me dead last for starting but I'm cool with that. Just more people to pass ;-P

Actually, I know I won't be the last person to cross the start line. This guy will be. I'll even let him pass me, it's for a good cause. Everyone else better get the heck out of my way (kidding). I hope they don't run out of water and Gatorade with all those people in front of me. I think NYC knows what they're doing though, they sure have enough experience with this circus by now.

I don't have official word yet but rumor has it online that the orange wave starts on the upper deck of the Verrazano! That's exactly how I pictured it! I hope, I hope, I hope that's true! Once I found out that I got in I always pictured myself on the ferry passing the Statue of Liberty and on the upper deck of the bridge as part of that beautiful sea of moving people that they always show on tv. My wishes have come true. Now it's time for me to make the rest of my dream happen.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaah, BABY!

Tonight I had the best run I think since I started this whole training thing. I did 9.03 miles burning through the streets of Old Saybrook at an overall 10:29/mile pace. That's the first time I've seen the other side of 10:30 on a long run. FEEL IT!!!!!

I really needed this. Saturday's disaster could have sent me into a wicked tailspin. I had a great run yesterday but tonight's run was a pretty good distance. I felt phenomenal the entire time. The last two miles I didn't even feel like I was running. I love those runs. They're so rare.
My splits are all great. All miles under 11 minutes, the first one always clocks high because I have to start the app and then get my iPhone tucked away before I get going.

I so needed this. My faith in myself is restored. I'm not kidding myself that I won't have another horrible run (or two) before the marathon but at least I know I'm still on track for success. I have 2 rest days now and then the big 18-miler on Saturday.

Now THAT'S more like it!!

New week. New attitude. AWESOME run to kick it off.

I did my 5-miler tonight after work. After taking 2 days off it felt like a treat to get to run. I know! Nuts! After a lousy day at work it just felt so good to get moving and shake it off. I was happy with my pace, 10:34/mile including 4 minutes of walking (warmup and cooldown). I have been worried that I seem to be getting slower, not faster, as my training has progressed so it was nice to feel like I was on the winning side again. I think my pace is going to fluctuate a lot for the rest of training depending on the length of the run and how I'm feeling. I'm less fixated on what my marathon pace will be than I was when I started. As the long runs have become more and more punishing I am seeing that just finishing will be a victory.

In even more amazing news, I am only $109 away from my fundraising goal! I can't believe it! I've gotten in some really generous donations the last few days. I am so appreciative of the faith my friends have put in me to do this. And I'm thrilled to think of the animals these donations will help. I watched this movie last night and I cried uncontrollably for the last 15 minutes of the movie and for about another half hour after. Heck, I just got choked up watching the trailer. Dogs are such amazing creatures. :)

Where's my SAG card?

HAHA! Check me out!

http://nsal.magnify.net/embed/player/container/1264/556/PVFRPQ06RRNS9PTP?referrer=

Of course I had the crazy puppy! I was trying to keep mine from distracting Beth O's puppy while she did her lines. That's my excuse for not radiating on the screen. ;)

It was a lot of fun though. I know this was the 3rd take because the director moved me up to stand next to Beth (I was in the back). I'm hoping it wasn't to put someone next to the model so she'd look even better. That would sting!

6 weeks!!!

I am in the home stretch of training! It feels exhilarating! I know, a far cry from where I was feeling on Saturday. Something about clearing that hurdle of heading into the last third of training, half of which is a taper -- I CAN DO THIS!

Today is a rest day, for me and my hair. We're both enjoying the time off. I love the brazilian blowout even more this time because my hair is a little longer and she trimmed off some of the layers. It totally made up for the bonk on Saturday.

My goal for this week is to get my runs in, eat well, hydrate, and rock the hell out of my 18-miler on Saturday. I'm not sure where I'm going to do it, I have a few possibilities that I'm mulling over. I know a 9-mile route that starts and ends at my house and I could do that twice. There's a ton of hills which will be good training. That mental drag of repeating the same course could be a killer though. Especially if I see my house at the halfway mark. I think that would be even harder than when I see my car at the halfway mark when I do the trail.

I could do the trail but I'm soooooo bored with it. I could map out a route in Old Saybrook but then it might turn into one of those stressful runs with trying to find my way along a course that I don't know very well. I'd drive it the morning of to drop water bottles but things are different in a car with GPS than on foot.

I'll figure it out. And it will be awesome. ;)

Big ole bonk

Horsesh*t. That's what my run was. Total horsesh*t.

This is the first run I've straight-up blown. I've had slow runs but I always managed to get the mileage in. It was bound to happen and, if it had to, I'm glad it was on a 12-miler and not my 18 or 20. Of course, I'm worried it will happen next week but I have to stay positive.

I haven't used the word "bonk" yet because it hasn't really happened to me. Yesterday, though. Total and complete bonk. I was supposed to do 12, I only got in 8, 4 of those were walking and when I say walking I am exaggerating, I was barely moving by that point. It took me 45 minutes to walk 2 miles. I've never felt more tired and drained in my life. I twittered twice on the walk of shame back to my car for someone to come find me and give me a ride. I wasn't kidding.

While I am completely disgusted with myself and my crapola effort yesterday, I am trying to use it as a learning experience. It happened from a combination of things, most of which are in my control and I need to make sure I don't do them again:

1. I wasn't hydrated. I knew the day before I should up my fluids and I didn't because I foolishly thought that 12 miles was no big deal. Every long run deserves respect and I need to prepare accordingly.
2. I didn't eat enough the day before and I didn't have anything to eat before the run. I'm not saying I need to carbo-load with a giant plate of pasta but I probably only had 1100 calories the day before. Nice for losing weight, not great for endurance runs.
3. I started out way too fast, which is a disturbing mistake because by this point I should be in much better control of my pace.
4. It was ridiculously humid for September 25th. I can't control the weather but I can control the other factors. I trained all summer in the humidity and never failed on my runs. The humidity caught me off guard and, add in the other 3 things, it spelled disaster. I have no guarantees that November 7th will be crisp and cool. I should assume the worst and plan my strategy to handle any weather condition.

So, yes, I'm profoundly disappointed in myself. I'm scared that this happened with only 6 weeks to go. Fear is a great motivator though. I've been afraid of failure since I started this process but yesterday when I experienced acute failure I did not like it one bit and I am determined not to feel that way again. Even when I was plodding miserably back to my car I knew deep down that I was better than that. I knew that I did not magically lose the strength and endurance I've built up over the last 12 weeks. I just need to respect the process more and do the right things to make sure I perform on the level I've worked so hard to achieve.

Go, turtle, GO!

Today I passed 700 miles for the year. I have to say, that's pretty freaking cool! That's like if I ran from my house to Raleigh, NC and then some. Granted, it's taken me 9 months to do that but it's pretty neat to think of all those runs adding up to an airplane-worthy distance. I'm still on target to hit 1000 for the year. What's really amazing is that 300 of those miles have been in the last 11 weeks. Yeah, I know. Crazy.

The fatigue is becoming almost more than I can handle though. I have become a true coffee drinker in the last few weeks. I used to be super sensitive to caffeine and anything more than a small cup was too much for me. My heart would race and I'd get anxious and feel queasy. If I drank coffee at all I usually got decaf because I'd feel sick otherwise. This morning I ordered a large regular coffee from DnD, felt pretty much nothing, and was back at Starbucks at 3 pm for a latte. And I still feel like I could drop. I'm so thankful for only 12 miles this weekend and then a 3-day break.

When I first started running I could only think in terms of minutes. Any extra minute I could hang in there was a victory. As I got better, I started thinking in terms of miles. When I started this marathon training I was thinking in terms of weeks. Now I'm back to approaching this day by day. I can only convince myself to get through this day, this run, and that's it. That's the fatigue. Completely normal, so I gather from everyone else's blogs and tweets, but overwhelming nonetheless.

Closer than I think

I did my 8-miler today at lunch. It was a little stressful like the Branford run was because I wasn't *exactly* sure where I was going and I: A) didn't want to get lost and B) knew I had to be back at work. it's a pretty simple route, half of it being along the shore, but without many street signs I wasn't always confident I was on the right path. Now that I've done it I won't have any problems with it next week.

I really did like the route, it's pretty flat, there's a wide shoulder on the road, and the shoreline is gorgeous. Today was a little hotter than I thought it would be, I hope next week is cooler. I'm at the point in the training (and I know I'm not alone on this) where every run becomes a battle of wills. I'm not sure if it's my mind or my body (or both) that are resisting but it's taking a lot more effort to get out there. Today I had two nice little boosts though. There was a woman walking in the opposite direction and she yelled out "Have a great run today!!" That was a first. It was appreciated. Then I started seeing chalk messages on the side of the road, apparently for some guy Mark. "U can do it" may not have been written for me but I'll take the motivation from it.

I'm also officially at the point of training where stuff is starting to hurt. I haven't had one twinge of discomfort in my knees this whole time and now the last 2 days I've felt some pulling around my right kneecap. Also, the pain in my right hip joint is back. It's not terrible (yet) but I'm a little worried about it getting worse. This week works out where I can give myself an extra rest day and my long run is only 12 miles so hopefully that will help. I had to juggle my running schedule this week because it's brazilian blowout time again and I won't be able to get my hair sweaty or wash it for 3 days. So I'm doing Sunday's run tomorrow and that way when I go to my appointment on Saturday I'll be able to take Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of next week off and come back and do Wednesday and Thursday as my weekday runs. Consider it training for my hair. Because lord knows it needs it.

Also, I realized something today that I don't know how I didn't notice 12 weeks ago. It's not a 2-week taper, it's a THREE week taper. Which means I am only FOUR weeks away from it! Hot damn! For my long runs I do 12 this week, then 18, then 12, then 20, then 12, then 8, then the race. I was looking at the schedule and I panicked thinking I was off by a week but when I counted backwards from race day I realized I was where I should be. I just didn't take into account that the week leading up to the race is a super-duper taper -- my longest run that week will be 4 miles. Again, hot damn. I can handle that!

How did people do this before the internet?

I'm on Facebook. I'm on Twitter. I read other blogs about running and the NYC marathon. I find inspiration every day from at least one of these places. Today, it was this:

Amazing. Just amazing.

I can't tell you how many tweets and blog entries I've read in the last few days from people really struggling with their training right now. We're all miserable. It's comforting, in a weird way, that we're fluctuating wildly day to day from feeling like we're going to be triumphant to feeling like we never want to run again. So when I see something like this it takes me out of my own internal battles and makes me root for someone else.

1 down, 2 more to go!

I owned my 16-miler yesterday. OWNED it! Skipping that 8 this week was probably the best thing I ever did for myself. The first half of the run was -- and I'm hesitant to use this word because it will come back to bite me -- effortless. Since I was doing 2 out-and-backs, I wasn't really thinking about miles to go, I was thinking of each segment. When I got to the turn around after the first 4 miles I thought, "Wow. Really?" And since coming back is pretty much all downhill I hardly felt the next 4. It is hard to make the mid-run car stop to refuel though. Stopping really kills my momentum, mentally if not physically. It didn't matter how good I was feeling when I stopped at my car I wished I was already done and could go home. I felt a mid-run slump, which happens just about every time with me no matter what the mileage is, but I picked it up at the end and the last 2 miles were solid.

I can now count on two fingers the number of miserably long training runs I have left. TWO! Suddenly this sounds doable! This coming week is 12, the next week is 18, then back to 12, then 20, then the 2-week taper.

I'm determined to make this a great week. Knowing I get to cut back on my long run is a huge mental boost. As far as the mid-week 8 that tripped me up last week, I'm going to bring my running stuff to work and do it down there at 5 instead of going home first and then driving another 15 minutes to where I park. I can be done by 6:20 instead of just starting. I can't remember if the other 2 runs are 4 or 5 miles but I can squeeze those in. I did 4 today and I know 4 should feel like nothing but it doesn't on the heels of a 16-miler. Plus I did the hill route from hell instead of taking it easy on the treadmill. It's just so gorgeous out and I (*gasp*) really wanted to get some hillwork in today. I know! What a far cry from my whining a few days ago.

I fully expect my energy levels and emotions to fluctuate daily from this point on but, for today, I feel like I'm back, baby!

BTW, when I looked for this song on youtube I found a too-bizarre-to-be-true clip of him doing this while Pamela Anderson pole danced. I kid you not. It had to be a Superbowl thing. It was just that cheesetastic.

My sentiments exactly

This isn't my twitter but this guy feels pretty much how I do about the marathon looming closer.

Looking up

I've had two good nights of sleep in a row. I feel like a somewhat-new person. That's got to count for something. I'm ready to take on this 16-miler tomorrow. I'm ready for what next week and the rest of the training brings. I'm not saying this week was going to be the last time I feel frustrated and like I can't go on. It certainly won't be my last whiney post. But at least I feel like I can move on now.

Truth time

When I started this blog I said it would be about the good and bad of marathon training. Mostly, it's been good. I haven't had major problems getting my runs in. I've had some ups and downs but my pace had been consistently improving. Even with surgery I got back to training fairly quickly.

Today I'm being really honest -- I'm spent. Tapped out. I've got nothing. I started feeling depressed on Monday but I thought it was just fatigue. I think it's a little more than that though.

I planned to do 8 miles tonight after work. I got home, fed the dogs, changed, and drove to where I park my car to do the lake route. I got out of the car, looked at the sun and realized I wouldn't make it back to my car before it set, looked at all the tangles in my headphones, and said screw it. I got back in my car, got something to eat, and drove home. I had nothing in me to get that run done and I didn't even care.

Yesterday I emailed a friend who has done a bunch of marathons. I told her I was at the point of training where it just plain sucks and how drained I was. She knew exactly where I was, which made me feel a little better. I guess it's no surprise I feel so empty. In the last 3 weeks I've had surgery, lost my uncle, and my husband started teaching again so he's gone most of the week. That's a lot, I suppose. Add marathon training to that and you end up with the mess I currently am. I'm overwhelmed. I'm tired. And I'm depressed.

I know I'll pull myself out of this. I've come way too far not to. It's not that I don't think running the marathon itself won't be hard but the 18 weeks leading up to it seem like they're so much harder. The marathon is one day. As my friend said, training is a weight you carry around with you week after week. I'm hitting the hardest part of training now so it shouldn't be a surprise to me that I'm hating it at the moment.

I set my alarm tomorrow for 5:30. I HATE getting up early. I'm going to hate doing it to run 8 miles before work. But I've backed myself into a nice corner, if I don't get it in tomorrow morning it's not going to get done. It wouldn't be the worst thing that happened as long as I get the 16 in on Saturday but I feel like this is where I need to gut it out and do what doesn't come naturally. If I still feel so completely exhausted and defeated tomorrow, I will force out 5 miles and move on. I knew these sorta long runs would be an issue once they got up there in miles. With the sun setting earlier, a factor I completely forgot to take into account, they are going to be even more challenging. I need to plan better next week. I don't know exactly how to plan better for the weekday long runs but I need to figure something out.

I still don't know where I'm going to do my 16 on Saturday. I'm sick to death of the Airline Trail but it may my best option. I'll do 4 miles in one direction, head back, then do 4 in the other and finish. It will be mind-numbingly boring but at least it will take some of the stress away by not having to follow a route that I don't know very well like last week. Getting lost on foot is not anything I want to do and I had to always worry about where I was going which made the 15-miler that much harder. Part of the thing I like about long runs is just letting my brain go blank and I couldn't do that last week. Maybe the trail would be a good thing to return to for a week.

So that's where I'm at. I'm miserable. I'm hoping for an amazing night's sleep and a new start tomorrow.

Odds and ends

I started breaking in the sneakers I'll wear for the marathon today. Ow. My calves are sore and my right foot is cramping and that's just from 4 miles. So uncomfortable. It reminds me of getting new Buster Browns (yes, I'm dating myself) and wearing them on the first day of school and getting big ole blisters on my heels. I love this sneaker model and I know once they are broken in they will fit my feet like a glove but getting there is not pleasant. I see some more missing toenails in my future.

The race is 8 weeks away but final preparations are already starting, like starting the arduous process of breaking in my sneakers. I got my transportation assignment to the start line and I got the Ferry! I was so excited! You get assigned either to the ferry or a bus and I always pictured myself on the ferry passing the Statue of Liberty on my way to the start line. Now I have it! Today I got an invitation to a pre-race rally for Team Animal League on Saturday afternoon. The race is coming, it's really happening. I just have to get through the next 6 weeks of relentless, insane training and get to the taper. I can do it. Gotta stay positive.

I'm starting to feel worn down though. I'm tired all the time now. On Saturday when I got home from my aunt's I took a nap, ate dinner, went back to bed and slept 9 hours, went out on Sunday morning, and took a 2-hour nap. I wish I could take a nap every day. I don't think this is abnormal at this stage of the training though. I feel bad because now that my husband is back to teaching and I only get to see him on weekends I feel like training is consuming a lot of that time. I don't want to stay up late on Friday because I have my long run on Saturday, then my long run on Saturday takes up the whole morning and by the time I shower and eat, it's already late afternoon which limits what we can do for the day. Then if I sleep all day on Sunday that's not really fair to him. I knew this would happen, I'm just grateful that he's so supportive and hasn't complained.

Oh, in the most important running news of all, my hair is finally long enough that I can pull it back into a high ponytail WITHOUT the need for a headband, McEnroe sweatband, or bandana! YES! Of course, I have a trim scheduled on the 26th but I'm not getting layers again. Could it be that the epic battle of what to do with my hair when I'm running is finally over? Could it be that I'm victorious?! Seriously, I'd take hassle-free hair over shaving 15 seconds off my pace any day. For realz!

Mixed bag

Today was the big 15-miler. Let's just say it wasn't as triumphant as my 20K on Monday. I honestly don't even know what my pace was because I had to make a pitstop at Krauzer's to buy some Gatorade and use their bathroom (a first, fortunately, on a long run). That was at least 8 minutes right there. I didn't bother to stop my running app because I figured if I had to make pitstops during the marathon NYC certainly isn't going to stop the clock for me for my pace to be better. Now that I'm doing the serious distances I have to take all that comes with it, the good and the bad.

I did my run in Branford. My aunt called me on Thursday to see if I could housesit for the night and be there for her 2 teenagers. I won't say babysit because I hardly see them, they're teenagers, but it's just to be there in case they need anything. I always JUMP at these chances because she has an amazing home on the water. I told her that I should pay her for staying there -- I use her pool, her hot tub, and listen to the waves at night when I go to sleep. It's such a beautiful place to be.

The problem with doing my run in Branford, even though it was good to have a change of scenery, is that I don't know the town well enough to easily plot out a 15-mile run. So I went on mapmyrun.com and did a search for 15 miles in Branford and a route popped up that I thought I could do. So last night, while I was waiting for the girls to come home, I drove the route making little notes on my taped-up, pieced together map I printed out. An obvious problem with that is that things look different in the daytime. Also, I should pay more attention to where I drop my Gatorade bottles. I spent more than a few minutes bushwhacking today trying to find the bottles I placed (and, in once case, threw out the window into the woods -- no surprise I never found that one, hence the stop at Krauzer's). After I got home I studied the map with my notes and hoped for the best that I wouldn't get very lost. I even wrote a cheat sheet on my arm with all the road names. Good thing it didn't sweat off before I was done!

I didn't sleep well. I was really preoccupied with the run. When I woke up I didn't have the dry heaves like I usually do, I just plain didn't want to do it at all. I know my pace for the first 3 miles was pretty much where I usually am but after that it totally slipped away from me with all the times I had to take out my map, find a Gatorade, and the stop at Krauzer's. I also did more walking today than I ever have before on a long run. In the last 5 days I've run 40 miles (with 4 more miles to go tomorrow). I think that might have something to do with it. Next week, thankfully, cuts back to something more manageable. If this was the 2003-2004 version of me I'd be all over myself for a lousy run. Today, I am kinder to myself. A bad long run is the one you don't do, that's my new attitude. I did it. Miles are miles. I've had bad runs before and come back and had phenomenal ones. It happens.

The day vastly improved after that though. I went for a 75-minute sports massage. As soon as my aunt asked me to come down I immediately called a spa in Branford that I like and they were able to get me in today. It. Was. Amazing. The woman is finishing up her degree in exercise science and used to be a long-distance runner. She knew exactly what my beaten-up body needed. It's funny, I've been trying to make a massage appointment for weeks. I didn't really care for the guy I saw a few times earlier in the summer so I called 2 new places and apparently the economy is so good that they're turning away people because neither of them ever called me back. That's just fine because I have found the right therapist for me and when I left I set up 4 more appointments before the marathon. She tried to stretch me out but I was super tight. One stretch, the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation one (I learn new stuff all the time from exercise professionals!), had me seeing stars when she first did it but eventually I could feel my whole hip/quad area loosen up and that's where I always have problems. The woman knew her stuff.

After that, I went back to my aunt's and swam and sat by the water on this gorgeous, gorgeous day. No matter how challenging the run was and the week in general any day that has this going on is a pretty awesome day.

No walk in the park

Weekday runs: done. I'm always so relieved when I've gotten them both in. It's going to be even harder from here on out because one of them is going to keep going up in mileage to get up to 10. That's tough to do before work. Hopefully the weather will keep moving toward the deliciousness that is Autumn so it won't be so grueling to get them in after work. Today's run was 8.3 miles. In the beginning of training that was my LONG run. I'm happy to have made it to the point where 8 miles isn't a huge deal but I am nervous to think that those super long runs of 18 and 20 miles are coming up pretty soon.

I did the lake course again and did much better than last Saturday. I was 10:32/mile. I looked at my splits and none of my miles were in the 9-minute range which is good and bad. The good is that I'm running more consistently without big variations in pace. The bad is that I wish I was faster. But I always wish I was faster. I think I got a better GPS reading of the elevation than the last time and there literally is no flat part of the course. It's rolling hill after rolling hill. But that's good, hill training is good. There will be plenty of them at NYC.

I have 15 miles planned for Saturday. I also have a massage appointment planned for after my run on Saturday. :) 75 minutes. "Sports" massage. If 15 miles doesn't qualify for a "sports" massage then I don't know what does.

Don't count me out yet!

I am cautiously saying, "I'm back!"

When my surgeon came to see me before the operation, he told me I'd be able to get back to running within a week. I told him I planned on doing the New Haven 20K on Labor Day and he said he thought I could do it, it probably wouldn't be my best time, but I could do it. I have been looking forward to this race all summer. It's a huge deal, there's great crowd support, the course is nice, and there's a great party on the Green afterwards. I've only done it once before, in 2003. Every year after that I thought I'd get myself back in shape so I could do it again but I could never pull it together so this year I was really looking forward to being a part of it. I didn't make up my mind if I was going to go until pretty much the night before. Finally I decided that even if I had to walk I had to get out there and do it. The weather was magnificent so I really had no excuse.

An embarrassing running truth: I almost always get the dry heaves before a race. Sometimes I even get them before a long run if I haven't done that distance before. I try not to let my nerves get the best of me but I am constantly battling self doubt, no matter how physically prepared I am. I've never actually thrown up (yet) but I do get myself pretty worked up. After I registered I had about an hour to kill before the race so I snuck into the Omni to use their bathroom. There were a bunch of other runners there stretching so I joined suit to start preparing myself mentally. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I thought, "Jesus! No wonder I feel sick. I'm so tense!!" I love this picture because you can see how nervous and focused I am before a race.

I planned to go out slow when the race started and I stuck to my plan even though I felt like an ass when the whole world passed me. I kept telling myself "Just finish. Just finish. Don't worry about pace, just get through this."

Around mile 3, I felt nice and warmed up and started to relax. Around mile 5 a lot of those people who flew by me at the start were walking and I started passing people. Miles 7 through 9 flew by and I was still feeling great.

Just before mile 10 there is a big hill, West Rock. When I did the race in 2003 I had to walk up it. This time I went right up and was picking off people left and right (which I will never tire of, being a back-of-the-packer, it's such a unique feeling for me). Just as I crested the hill my phone rang and it was my aunt, who knew I was doing the race. She was calling me to pick a meet-up spot because she heard my name announced at the finish line (turns out there's 2 of us, only one of us is much faster, haha!). I didn't know she planned on coming so knowing her and my uncle were there at the finish was a HUGE boost. That and a nice downhill finish pulled me through the last 2.4 miles.

My finish time was 2:13:52, my overall pace for the 12.4 miles was 10:47/mile. I was PSYCHED. Of course, I had to compare it to my 2003 time and I was a minute slower and I thought for quick second that if I just pushed a little harder I could have beaten it. But I got over that really fast when I reminded myself that I pushed SO hard in 2003 to get that time and I was 7 years younger and didn't have gallbladder surgery 10 days prior. I didn't kill myself for this race and I still came in around the same time. That is so encouraging to me.

After the race I fully enjoyed the post-race swag. I got my free hot dog, some free ice cream, and a free beer. I don't even like beer but having a sip was as good as the finest champagne. It was truly a magnificent day. I am so ready for the next 59 days!

9 down, 9 to go

I can't believe I'm at the halfway mark of training. I feel like last week was kind of a cheat because of, you know, having had GALLBLADDER SURGERY, but -- regardless -- I'm halfway there. In 7 weeks I will peak, getting in over 40 miles for the week, then a 2-week taper, then it's on.

When I was on vacation in July I bought a starter charm bracelet. I didn't think of making it a "thing" at the time, I just thought it was pretty. I bought 2 beads, a glass one and a silver one, and coincidentally I happened to be on the second week of training. Then I thought it might be a fun idea to turn the bracelet into a training bracelet -- each week I'd add another bead. I did a charm bracelet similar to this years ago when I was on Weight Watchers. I added a charm for every 5 lbs I lost. It actually got pretty heavy! Of course, when I regained the weight I couldn't bear to take the charms off but it made me feel bad to wear it so it's stashed in a drawer somewhere. By the time I got around to re-losing the weight those bracelets were out of style and these Pandora/Troll/Chamilia ones were in.

Adding a bead each week has been my fun little Sunday night tradition. The beads are stupid expensive, so I get the glass ones off of eBay for a zillionth of the price of the ones in the jewelry stores. This weekend we went to Mystic and I bought a new silver one: the turtle. I thought it was fitting that my little turtle mark the halfway point because I may not be fast but if I go slow and steady I will get to that finish line. Plus it's super cute. ;)

I also bought a little sneaker bead but that will be the last one I add. By then I'll have a gorgeous bracelet and a special reminder of 18 weeks of hard work.

Back in the saddle (sort of)

Today was my first real run post-gallbladder. I decided to do 8 miles and do a new course that wraps around a lake that I drive by all the time. On my way there I dropped off 2 Gatorades. I didn't want to take any chances with getting dehydrated, I don't need any more setbacks.

It went okay. It wasn't fast, it wasn't pretty, but it got done. My overall pace for the 8.25 miles was 11:49/mile. I'll take it. When I drive home from my long runs I go over my run in my head and ask myself if I could have given more, pushed harder. Today that answer was "no." Plain and simple. I gave what I could give. I feel like I made a solid effort and, more importantly, I don't feel like I did anything to injure myself or delay my recovery.

The course was beautiful. I look forward to doing it again when I'm stronger. Since I clearly wasn't doing it for pace today I took the time to take a picture.

So pretty. I've driven by this lake a zillion times since we moved here and this was the first time I got to really see it up close. The route was challenging, too. There were some serious hills there (the green).

Tomorrow I rest. Hopefully next week I can get back on track with following my schedule more closely. Considering I had my gallbladder out 8 days ago and I didn't think I'd get any mileage in today, this week wasn't all that bad.

Second verse, same as the first

I got my second weekday run in, 4.18 miles. Of course, the 2 together equal what I should have done on 1 day but considering I thought I'd get zero mileage this week I guess I'm doing okay. The first half mile was full of sharp, stabby pains that would have taken down a lesser warrior than me (sarcasm). But no, it really did hurt. I realized I was running kind of hunched over maybe as a way of protecting my abdomen. That's not the way to run but I didn't want to stop either so I kept going, my legs scuttling underneath me like a crab. Not my best form but whatevs. I could have been in bed all week if I chose to. I moved up to running 8 minutes/walking 2 minutes for the most part but by the end I felt pretty good so I did the last running block for 14 minutes and didn't feel any worse for the wear because of it. My pace wasn't terrible considering I was less than a week out of surgery: 11:32/mile. I remember when that would have been a spectacular pace for me so it's all relative.

My *plan* is to get in 8 tomorrow, doing run/walk. I was having a freak-out moment this morning in my kitchen thinking about running and I realized that this week was really not going to kill me. There's a TWO-WEEK taper at the end of the marathon training and if that doesn't blow your chances at the 26.2 then a mid-training taper won't either. I haven't lost anything. Except a gallbladder.

I'm following INGRUNNERNATION on twitter and they are hysterical! I don't know how ING emerged as the preeminent race sponsor but they have the NYC marathon, Miami, the Philly 1/2 (not sure about the full) and probably more that I'm overlooking. Anyway, whoever does their twitter feed is hilarious and they have made me laugh many times this week about running stuff.