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.