Marine Corps

4:32:04 not a PR, but 11 minutes faster than Steamtown and 20 minutes faster than my 2005 Marine Corps Marathon. I'll take it. But I'm not jumping at the opportunity to run another marathon any time soon. I think a 1 month rest period is in order and then I'll re-evaluate.

Details of the race to follow when I've had sleep and my brain cells stop revolting along with all of the other cells in my muscles.

Top 10 Things I learned today:
1. I can be injured in one place - shins and knees somewhat - feel FINE there but have an entirely new injury pop up mid race - my index and middle toes on my left foot...weird
2. Chugging three powerades after crossing the finish line is NOT a good idea
3. Don't start out too fast...actually I knew that, I just didn't listen to my own advice and paid for it later
4. Oranges really are the best food ever created
5. Seeing friends on the race course makes an entire hour of running worth while
6. A husband really loves you if he runs the last 6 miles with you and just talks to you because you're too tired to "answer questions"
7. Marines DO know how to organize a race...an after-party, not so much
8. A headwind, CAN change directions every couple of minutes to make sure it hits you right in the faces when you change directions
9. Sweat turns into a thin salty coating quickly when a headwind (see 8) is coming at you for fours hours
10. I love marathon medals

Pre-marathon breakfast

1 package of Quaker Oats instant oatmeal (maple brown sugar), to sit in my stomach
1 cup of coffee with milk and splenda (in official Marine Corps Marathon mug!) to get me going

Now to find a trashbag to put over me as I wait for the start...because it's COLD outside!!!!

Next big thing

While I'm getting excited about Marine Corps on Sunday (Please God, let my legs hold out!) I'm also getting really excited about my Spring marathon. I ran the National (Half) Marathon and swore I wouldn't do the full because of the nasty hills in the second half. Of course they went and changed the course this year and now the entire thing is in DC...and through awesome parts of town...and much, much, much flatter. Mmmm, tempting...

So, earlier this summer, I caved in and decided that I was going to do the full and already recruited a gang of girls to train with through the cold winter months. Accountability is one of my biggest motivators. Most of us have done a fall marathon so we're going to take November off and start back up the beginning of December. No better way to burn off those Holiday pounds!

For the National though, I have a personal goal to knock at least 20 minutes off my PR. I want to be a sub 4:00 marathoner!!! I know that means changing a few things with my running habits like adding strength training and getting in speed workouts. But I relate it to how I first learned to sing. I always had a good ear and could pick things up quickly , but I couldn't read music. I knew that if I wanted to get into a select choir and have solos I needed to learn to read music. So I took voice lessons and learned to read music and poof... I was in the select choir the next year. Kept taking voice lessons and poof...got that solo. I kept improving just by sticking to it.

I think I'll be the same way with running. I've done 5 marathons my way (well, 5 after Sunday) so why not find a coach to break me of some bad habits (I know I have them...why else would I keep getting injured) and show me the right way to train. Who knows...maybe I could even qualify for Boston before I'm 80!

As a side note: I work on the same floor as the guys who organize the National Marathon so I always try to get the inside scoop. (I was one of the first to find out that they added the half marathon last year!) Today I was one of the first people to get their new brochure with race map. You can see the PDF here. I totally dig the g-map mapping capabilities from google, I use it when I'm trying to find new courses somewhere new. You can also save all of the courses you like best as bookmarks. But the map for their course is especially eye-catching since it uses the "hybrid" view and you can see all of the monuments, parks and buildings in the city. I'm taking a stack to my Pacer's fun run tonight.

(the picture on the right is of me cruisin' to the finish line at last year's National Half Marathon)

Treadmills

I hate treadmills. But sometimes they are a necessary evil. I started training for my first marathon during the winter of 2003 and we couldn't do our first group long run on the local trails because they were still covered with the snow from the "Blizzard of '03". For the following three weeks the temps didn't get up above freezing and my neighborhood sidewalks were still covered with mountains of snow from the snowplows. I had to do my two firs two long runs (6 and 8 miles) and regular weekday runs on a treadmill in my apartment complex's gym. I was BORED out of my brains, but at least I was running.

When the snow finally melted enough to get out I thought 3-4 miles would be pie since I had already done 8 miles on a treadmill. WRONG!!!! My body was screaming at me the entire time because it hadn't felt that kind of pounding on the joints before. Pavement = hard, treadmill = soft and squishy. Also the treadmill pulls you along so having to actually push my body along was a new feeling. I call it the "treadmill myth": running a mile on a treadmill is just like running a mile outside.

Yesterday was a necessary evil kind of day. I needed to get in a short run before my Tuesday night class and since I usually hit up the local Y for a workout; I figured I'd do a quick 2 miles on the treadmill there. Bad idea. I think my body remembers those three weeks in 2003 and just revolts at the sight of a treadmill because it was an awful 2 miles. Thankfully I had a good long stretch after the run because 2 miles is barely a warm up for me any more.

My co-worker loves working out and can do over an hour on a treadmill. I keep trying to get him out to do a couple of miles on the trails...he has yet to take me up on that offer. I think he knows the truth about treadmills and doesn't want to admit it. :-)

Last long run

We got our last "long run" in today. I was a tiny bit nervous to see how my legs would feel, but after an espom salt bath the night before a good night's sleep, I was ready to get out there and run for more than an hour. I had planned an 8 mile loop starting at Gravley Point, across the 14th Street Bridge, around the Tidal Basin and down into Hains Point...and back.

We had wanted a feel for the solitude we're going to feel when we hit that point during the marathon. Because in Marine Corps you're coasting down Ohio Drive, the crowd starts to thin out a bit and BAM! you hit East Potomac Park (aka Hains Point) and it's empty...except for the two water stops and a couple of brave spectators. The Park is more than two miles long (you run out and back), but it seems to go on forever. Of course it also hits at a difficult point in the race, miles 16-20. This is when a lot of people "hit the wall". Personally, I don't believe in the wall. The wall is all in your mind and if you go into a race saying "I won't hit the wall", then you won't. It's all a matter of mindset.

Perfect example: last year we came up on the 16 mile marker coming into Hains Point and the ball of my right foot hurt in a way I never experienced. I had been a little worried about other aches and pains during the first half of the race, but they were all familiar. This new pain could have easily set me over the edge and pushed me into the wall, but I told myself "well, I only have ten miles left...and I've already done 16 so I might as well keep going." Not logical, but it was the mindset I had for the rest of the race.

We took it easy today, though I couldn't really tell since we didn't have mile markers to do splits. Shoes feel like they're getting broken in and any stiffness in my shins melted away at the magic 3-mile point. My knees were a little sore so they got a good icing when I got home. But it was the perfect temperature for my long sleeve pink Hind top and my cropped running pants, (one of my favorite running outfits) mostly because the wind was really kickin' on the bridge. I hope the weather is similar next week, but only if I have somewhere warmer than the Pentagon parking lot to hang out for the hour before the race!

New Shoes

I know that it is not a good idea to switch anything up in your routine the week before a marathon, but I was willing to do almost anything to ease my shin pain. A runner whom I respect highly said "Change up your shoes, it's the only thing that could be causing you pain like that." He knows my whole routine and how I've run with the same style of shoes and inserts over the past two years - which included two marathons and a half marathon. It didn't make sense that they were all of a sudden causing me pain now...unless they were wearing out...which when I compared them to a new pair of shoes, they were. (see picture, barely any treads on outside of the ball of my foot)

So I went to Pacers last night for the Thursday night fun run, but went in a little early to talk to them about my shoes. The one guy who helped me out said not to worry too much about changing my shoes this close to a race and got me another pair of my same Asics GT-2110 (check out the "explode tech view). I picked up another pair of my Blue Superfeet insoles which I first started wearing when I got tendonitis two years ago. I also tried on a pair of the super light racing shoes, but I just felt like I was wearing air and not a shoe. Some runners may like that, but I didn't.


After my inserts were all trimmed and in my bright white new shoes (which lasts for all of five minutes with me) I laced up, stretched and went out for a run. Lo and behold, no shin pain! I ran a gentle 5 miles along Eisenhower Ave and the only soreness I felt was a very familiar "breaking in new shoes" feeling. WAHOOO!!!!! I'll run two or three more times before the marathon and they should be good to go. Of course I'm going to stay religious about icing and stretching, but it was a good boost to the confidence to get back out running.

Lunchtime run

One of the perks of my office is the gym/locker room in the basement. Not that there's much to it, but 1. it's free and 2. it allows me to go out during the middle of the day and get in a run and shower all in my hour lunch break. I esepcially love doing this during the winter months when I'm driving to work in the dark and leaving work in the dark; I just need a little time outside to remind myself that the sun does exist.

Yesterday was one of those days. I had been pretty grouchy that I hadn't been able to run, but with a gorgeous 70 degree fall day I couldn't help myself. I felt better and wanted to get out and do one of my favorite 3 mile loops. I call that loop the "Monument loop". How cool is it to get out and see the White House, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument (and the Capitol off in the distance) in roughly 30 minutes. When I have more time, often after work, I'll tack on another mile and go around the Tidal Basin to see the Jefferson Memorial. There are very few big intersections to cross along 17th Street so it makes for pretty ideal city running and the shady part along the Reflection pool is awesome when it's a bit hotter. I'm always amazed at how many other runners are out there during the day too.

ouchies

So I promised myself before I even started this that I would post even if I didn't have a spectacular run. Well yesterday was far from spectacular.

I had just gone to my chiropractor/sports medicine doc, Dr. Kathy, on Friday and she had given me a really painful (yet good) shin and calf massage. Besides a tiny bit or soreness in my right knee the only other pain I've felt in my training was tightness in my shin area...but I didn't think that they were shin splints (here's another good shin splint definition) because I have good shoes and stretch often...usually. Dr. Kathy said that my shins was extra tight and sore this week from the marathon, but if I want to do Marine Corps in two weeks I need to ice my shins every day and be much better about cross-training. She also scolded me for doing two marathons in one month. (There are many schools of thought on this one)

Needless to say, I went out the next morning with my running buddy, Jo, for the last 12 miles of her big 24 mile run. It was about 60 degrees and sunny - perfect running weather. But about a mile and a half in my shins felt so tight I thought my legs would give out on me. Normally I would run through it and the tightness would eventually give way by about mile three, but I decided it was more important to run the marathon than a short training run. So I stopped, walked back to my car and drove out to give Jo gatorade. I ended up being able to wrap my leg with an ace bandage and was able to run the last mile with her. The compression helps hold the tendons close to the bone and makes it feel a bit better.

So a little blow to the ego to only do 5 miles when I had intended to run 12, especially this close to a race, but it's all a part of learning to listen to my body and run SMART.

My next marathon I plan on investing in some orthotics to help correct my over-pronation and cute little flat feet.

Washington Post article on the Army Ten Miler

I came across a great article in today's Washington Post about this year's Army Ten Miler. The article "Running with Honor", written by a local ATM runner, told the story of how emotionally overwhelmed he became when he began to pass young Iraq war veterans who were running the race on their prosthetic limbs. He also encountered a team of "Gold Star Wives" who lost their husbands in the war. No matter what your politics (which unfortunately the author got into towards the end of the column) the story was really moving and it just showed how cathartic running can be both physically and emotionally.

Side note: The ATM is one of my favorite races in this area...even though it was the Army 11.2 miler last year. I've run it for the past three years (~1:32 in 2005, 1:34 in 2004, 1:42 in 2003) but I missed it this year to run the Steamtown Marathon up in Scranton, PA (4:42).

On your marks, get set, go!

So here I go with this "blog" thing. Actually I did something similar a few years ago when I trained for my first marathon and I wanted to keep my friends updated on my progress (please pardon the lack of tech savvy). But that was more of an exercise on my part to keep me accountable and to stick with the training. Nearly four years later I can officially say that I love running and want to keep doing it for the rest of my life.

I don't by any stretch of the word consider myself a "super runner". I just enjoy getting out there and being social and accomplishing the goal of training for and finishing a race; it's addictive.

My goal is to turn this blog into a clearing house of information for new and old runners alike. Rate different running shoes, trails in the DC area, races, gu flavors (my personal favorite is Power Bar: Tangerine double caffeine!), etc. I also hope to be able to inspire those who have a jogging habit of one or two miles a couple of times a week (or those who still think running is a four-letter word) to take the next step and run a 10K, 10-miler, half-marathon or marathon!

A bit of explanation on the title of this blog: it's all my husband's fault :-) When he and I first started dating in 2004 he nicknamed me "Running Babe" because I had run a marathon and made our first date a "running date". I thought it was a safe way to get to know a guy, he thought it was a qualifying run. Needless to say he kept up (aka he kicked my butt) and I married him a year later.

So here I go into the wild blue yonder of the blogosphere....