running: the dawn

Wow.  Another year?  Seriously?

My favorite thing about this time of year is looking back over the past 365 days and remembering the highs and lows, hoping to learn and grow from another year in the school of life.  I love reminiscing, “at this time last year…”

On that note….

This time last year I was getting ready to take running seriously again.  It had been 4 years since my last full marathon and only three races, two half-mary’s and a 15k, had filled the in-between years.  I talked my dear friend KT into training for a marathon and was beside myself with energy and joy to be reentering the world of running. I got to work figuring out a long run schedule for us to follow that lead from January to June where we would run the San Diego RnR Marathon.

Then, shortly after the first of the year I discovered running blogs.  And a whole new world opened up to me.  I remember an entire weekend devoted to scouring the web for race reports and drinking in the stories of marathons gone by.  I was enraptured.  Something about reading the stories of so many like-minded people who share their wisdom and would allow me to learn from their experiences.  Within a few days I knew that I needed to start giving back to a world that was giving me so much.  So I began my blog.  I had no idea what would happen from there…

• KT ended up not being able to run in San Diego
• I struggled with setting my own goals
• I decided to try and get a sub-4 marathon
• I trained with Pete Pfitz
• I watched Boston

*pause for a brief author’s note*
The day after the Boston Marathon I had a sit down chat with Mr. Dawn.  I haven’t ever written about this particular conversation on my blog, but I think its interesting to throw it in here.  I’ve always had Boston in the back of my mind.  I even remember, shortly after my first marathon in 2006, saying to a few very select people that I would love to run the Boston Marathon before I turned 30 (which obviously didn’t happen).  And then, for some reason, Boston 2010 enchanted me in a way that I can’t really explain.

Anyway, after I got home from school that day, Mr. Dawn gave me Gigit (the Garmin) with a note attached “Hope this helps with your BQ!”  I was breathless.  He believes I can do it?!?  Really?  He was studying outside so I went out to join him in the sunshine.  We talked about my upcoming San Diego Marathon and I told him that if I was able to get under 4 hours then I would try to qualify at a fall marathon.  “Where?” he asked.  “Grand Rapids.”  “No, I mean where do you want to stay in Boston?”  Like it was already a done deal.  It’s so amazing to have a husband who is supportive and believes in me more that I do.  Especially considering that this conversation happened while my best marathon time was 4:28.  I would have to knock 50 minutes off my PR (which wasn’t my most recent attempt!).

Anyway, back to the timeline:

• I finished San Diego in 3:58, a 30-minute PR
• I ran through the heat of the summer
• I found a new FAST running buddy
• We ran a race together and met some friends along the way
• I qualified for Boston taking another 18 minutes off my PR
• I registered for Boston

Wow.  That’s all I can say.  This year has been amazing.  I can’t believe what a difference 365 days has made.  I have so much to look forward to in 2011: plans, goals, travels, and even some changes….but for now I’m content to look back and celebrate all that 2010 was for me.  I started the year as a 4:28 marathoner, and here I am qualified and headed to Boston!!!!

I am so thankful for and to the community of runners and supporters that I have.  Thank you all for being a part of this journey and I can’t wait to continue to learn from each of you!!!

I’ll admit it.  I was a little nervous leading up to today.  I had a LOT on my agenda and I honestly didn’t know how I was going to fit it all in.  Here’s my to-do list for today:

• Jazzercise
• Grading
• Lunch with friends from California
• 12 mile run
• Wedding
• Packing for the mountains

Hmmmmm…..

Jazzercise was amazing.  I just love that I can go to classes where ever I go.  I can just hop online and type in the address and find the schedule for the closest center.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jazzercise people.  They are just as open and friendly as the running community and I always feel at home when I step into Jazzer-land!

Got one of my class’s grading done.  Still have one to go….can’t check that off completely.

Lunch was great.  We went to an Indian buffet and it was delicious!  I may have eaten too much (more on that later)…We got carried away telling and listening to stories.  My good friend is in medical school and she has the BEST stories of all her professors.  Seriously, she could write an entire book, or movie, or something….I know I could listen to (0r read) her stories forever.

By the time I was hitting the trail for my run, I did the math and there was NO way I’d be able to get all 12 miles done.  I decided to set out and get at least 10 in.  The first three miles were great.  I felt all the pent up energy pouring out through my feet and onto the pavement.  I knew at the time I was running too fast, but it just felt so good!  It felt so good, until it started to feel bad.  In my tummy.  In fact, I’m pretty sure that it was my entire abdominal cavity started to seize up.  My dad was with me on his bike and he was out in front of me when I got the full body side-stitch, so I decided that I would work it out until I caught up to him so I could tell him that I wanted to walk for a bit.  But of course, as soon as I got to him it had settled down and I could keep going.  I did decide that I should slow down and that helped everything stay calm for the rest of the run.  I ended up with 10 miles, and I’ll just be ok with that.

The wedding was glorious.  Congrats to Guy and Becca!

I have one more load of laundry (hate packing dirty running clothes) and then I’ll be done with my packing for the next leg of our vacation.

The bad news?  I’m pretty sure I’m teetering on the edge of a significant illness.  Ever since our 10 hour drive that lasted until 3:30 am where I may or may not have indulged my obsession with chewy sprees (my favorite travel food), I have had a sore throat.  After my run, when I got into the car I started to feel aches all over my body.  Uh oh!  I really did feel great the entire run, and it wasn’t until I stopped that I started to feel awful.  I was able to survive the wedding and haven’t touched a bit of sugar all day.  Hoping that a good night’s sleep is all I need to feel back on top!  We’ll see…

So, on Monday when I wrote my last post, I had NO IDEA what this week was going to be like.  Had I known, I would not have taken the day off from running. I wouldn’t have taken the day off completely.

But I get ahead of myself…

Tuesday.  Also known as the 14 hour day.  I was at work at 7:30 am.  I stopped work for the day at 9:30 pm.  Three of the hours were spent at home, where I was grading papers the entire time.  While driving home at 9:30 I realized that there was no way I would be able to do my insanity or run my mileage for the day.

Wednesday.  Mr. Dawn and I have been going back and forth about whether we should leave Thursday after school, or if I should stay for the school’s Christmas party on Friday.  I made the final decision, which meant that I needed to finish the laundry, pack and clean the house in one day.  Oh, and I gave my first final, which meant I had more grading to do.  Once again, I was driving home at 9:30 pm realizing that running was not going to happen.

Today.  We are packed.  I am getting ready for school.  As soon as our final bell sounds, Mr. Dawn and I are hitting the road for a 10 hour drive.  Guess I won’t be running today either.  <sigh>

So, yeah.  I regret not running on Sunday.  I regret not running on Monday.  But such is life.

In the “win” column, I have an ENTIRE suitcase packed with all my winter running essentials.  Yes, it takes an entire suitcase for all the layers and warming devices it takes to do winter running.  Lets just hope that I do better on vacation than I have been doing here…

Yes, I love snow days EVEN MORE now that I’m a teacher!  It is always exciting to get up, check the computer, and have the option to go right back to be.  And that’s exactly what I did.  Because I was so super productive yesterday with my cleaning, I had very few chores left over to do today.  Which meant…I got to have a true day off.  Ok, so maybe I did some emailing and various other things for work….but it really was just a relaxing lazy day.

My Boston training officially starts this week!  Because the training starts on a Monday (rest day–nailed it!) I decided to skip my long run yesterday [gasp].  I know.  Originally I had  a 15 miler scheduled, but since I did that mileage last week, I thought it would be ok to take another day off.  I wish I could say that I enjoyed it, but unplanned rest days have a tendency to make me nervous.  All day today I kept thinking, “you know, I could go get those miles done now.”  I resisted, but just barely.

I had almost resolved myself to skip my Insanity today and go to bed feeling lazy…but Mr. Dawn knows me better than I know myself and “encouraged” me to get it done.  I did…and he was right.  I feel much better going to bed having accomplished something today.

I’m getting nervous.

We leave at the end of the week.  We’ll be in 4 different states over the course of two weeks.  Will I stick to my plan?  I’ve added all my mileage to my google calendar, and tried to space it out so that it will have the greatest likelihood of actually getting done.   Now, I just need to do it.  Thank goodness for such a supportive husband who will be with me every step of the way (LOVE HIM)!

Go Team Christmas Training!

Anyone else worried about training through the holidays?  It keeps me up at night….

Goodness.  I need to get back into the habit of doing my weekly recap on Fridays like I used to.  Waiting the few extra days really does mess with my memory…

Here’s what I’m pretty sure happened:

Sunday: 15 miles in the snow
Monday: Jazzercise & Insanity
Tuesday: 7.5 miles & Insanity; meant to to 6 miles, but was enjoying myself too much to stop
Wednesday: 1 mile & Insanity; yeah…I must have used all my good running energy on Tuesday, cause I just didn’t have it in me
Thursday: 6 miles, Jazzercise & Insanity
Friday: 10.5 miles & Insanity

Total Miles: 40

I really had several make it or break it moments this past week….I don’t understand how my running emotions could be on such a roller coaster.  Tuesday, I was just running on my treadmill having a great time watching Glee and Biggest Loser.  Then Wednesday there was absolutely nothing I could do to motivate, bribe, or reason my way into running more than that one measly mile.  I had no interest in running.  Period.  Then on Friday, it was so beautiful outside: sunny and 38*.  I was able to get 10 miles in right after work.  I swear, every time I think I’ve got myself figured out something unexpected happens and I feel like I’m back at square one.

Meanwhile, I was tagged again, by Marcia at Running off at the Mouth to answer another set of questions.  So here we go!

Here are your questions:
1. How did you start running?

I used to run a little when I played basketball in highschool and the first few years of college.  I did not enjoy it one bit!  Then, come my senior year, I needed one more “activity” credit in order to graduate, and the only one that would fit with my schedule was a “Running for Everyone” class at 7am.  Needless to say, I didn’t always wake up early enough to make it to the group run (which is really all the class was), so I needed some extra credit.  The instructor was training for a local half marathon the week before graduation and invited people who needed to earn point to run with him on the weekends.  We had to run for a full hour to get the extra credit.  Through that process I decided that I might as well run the half, since I was “training” with him.  I still remember the first time I ran for 45 minutes without stopping, the first time I ran 6 miles, and every step of that first half marathon (in the pouring rain).

2. If you could run just one more race, which one would it be?

Boston.  Which I am.  In exactly 126 days.

3. What’s your favorite post-race treat?

Pizza with green olives.  That’s all I ever want after a race.  And some root beer.

4. What’s your favorite distance and why?

I both love and fear the marathon the most.  I enjoy running halfs, have a hard time taking 5 and 10k’s very seriously cause I know I’m not fast…but I am completely enchanted by the Marathon.  After Boston, I look forward to running some marathons for fun rather than speed so that I can “make nice” with the distance that is so punishing.

5. What’s on tap for 2011?

Right now?  Just Boston, April 18.  I’m toying with the idea of another spring race.  I’d love to do the Holy Half Marathon again, but its the week before Boston…which makes me nervous, but it’s a great race and I love the course.

Shaun T. is trying to kill me.

No really.  He is.

At first I thought we just had a cutely-funny, jovial relationship.  I would fall on my face while trying to do “level 2″ drills and we would giggle about how weak my arms are.  He would chide me for taking so many unscheduled water breaks and I would shrug it off with a laugh.  Even though my feet never moved as fast as, say Tonya, I figured that he would overlook it because of my winning smile and “can-do” attitude.

That was all well and good during the first month.

This is month 2.

AKA, death.

I swear, even though the original dvd’s were copyrighted in 2009, Shaun T. stays up late into the night figuring out how exactly to torture me specifically.  Squat push-ups?  Power push-ups?  Level 3 drills?  Common, seriously?  I mean, this is some kind of practical joke, right?  I’m being punk’d.  There’s no way that someone actually thinks that I’m capable of HALF these moves….

That’s what led me to the conclusion that he must want me dead.  I haven’t figured out his motive…but I’ll leave that to Grisom and the Gang after I’m gone.  Don’t be surprised if, when they find my body, I appear to be in some sort of jumping jack position

KPH tagged me in a fun little question-answer-survey-ish-thing…niner…Basically, I answer the following and then can ask my own questions of whomever I wish…

1. What are you most excited about for the coming new year? What resolutions will you make and do you think you’ll stick to ‘em?

I am most excited to train for and run the Boston Marathon.  I started running 6 years ago and even though I had dreams of running Boston, my first marathon finishing times were just under 5 hours, so it seemed pretty laughable.  I’m so excited to stand on that starting line and drink it all in, remember the days, weeks, and months of preparation that lead me to that singular moment.  I plan on crying.  And dancing my way to the finish line!

I don’t really do resolutions…I just try to be awesome all the time

2. When you go into a coffee shop, what do you order? (not necessarily coffee)

I get a hot tea and put honey in it.  Mostly herbal (I don’t really drink much caffeine), but sometimes I’ll get a green tea.  I did just recently try the salted caramel hot chocolate at Starbucks, and it was yummy!

3. What was the first blog you followed? Do you still? And what is your favorite blog to read?

The first running blog that I found was chicrunner.com.   I was looking for recommendations on what arm warmers to buy and she’d done a review of some zensah ones.  I started exploring her site and realized that she’d run the San Diego RnR marathon the year before and I was training for that same race.  I started reading her race report and then did a search for others because I wanted to read as much about the race as possible.  I do still follow her.  I can’t imagine picking my favorite blog, there are so many great runners out there!

4. Do you speak/read any other languages?

Nope, I’m lame.

5. This spin off of FB: If you and your mom/dad ended up in jail together and you could only say 4 words, what would they be?

it was worth it!

6. What was your favorite show growing up? Can you sign the theme song? (I don’t think Fresh Prince should count on this one…. everyone can sing that theme song)

I loved Duck Tales.  And yes I can….d-d-d-danger!

7. What is your most memorable race moment?

Crossing my first marathon finish line.  My BFF Andi by my side, our hands raised together.  Tears.

8. What’s the coldest you’ve ever run in and what did you wear?

7, I think.  Lots of layers.  with everything covered except a slit for my eyes.

Here’s my list of questions to pass on to the ladies below:

1. If you could live in any home on a television series, which one would it be?
2. What’s the habit you’re proudest of breaking?
3. Where do you go for advice?
4. What’s your favorite Web site?
5. Name five songs to which you know all the lyrics.
6. What do you bring to running?  A lot of people ask why you love running, or what do you get from running, but I think it’s interesting to talk about what we each bring to the sport.
7. Since I’ve had trouble sleeping lately, what do you do if you can’t sleep?  Count sheep?  Toss and Turn? Get up and do something?

I’m gonna tag some blogs that I’m new to so I can get to know everyone!

Dawn @ Racing Dawn
Nellie @ Midlife Cruiser
Lindsey Ann @ Run, Lindsey Ann, Run!
Mallory @ Sit for your job. Run for your life!

Can’t wait to read your answers

Yesterday morning I went to the informational meeting for the running club starting in January.  It was really fun and interesting to walk into a room of people that love running as much as I do.  We were all strangers and yet I felt like they had the potential to be come my dearest friends.

Nothing terribly exciting happened during the meeting.  We talked a bit about our goals as a club, winter running tips, training schedule examples, and discussed the varying levels of skill and/or experience.  I did discover that there is one really fast guy (31:00 10k pr!) who has run Boston 5 times.  I wanted to introduce myself after the meeting but he was caught up in conversation with some others.  I thought about waiting, but figured that I’d have plenty of time to pick his brain when we’re running come January (if he’s willing to slow down some…) So I put my name on the email list and headed home.  It was already snowing….and I still had 15 miles to run….

I made a good breakfast: tofu scramble with zucchini and squash.  Then lazily got ready to run while watching football (its an obsession, really).  I tore myself away sometime in the third quarter because if I didn’t get started it was going to be dark before I finished my run.

It had been snowing off and on all day but by the time I started running it was in a lull between the snow.  The first two miles I was kicking myself for over dressing.  I had worn two long sleeve tech shirts, a fleece jacket, fleece lined pants (hoping to get a pair of actual running tights for Christmas), wool socks, two pairs of gloves, ear warmers, and a wool neck-gaiter.  I was pretty warm while running through the neighborhood.  Then, I turned and headed out of town and over the highway and into the wind.  Wowza.  Took my breath away.  Windy.  Cold.  Brutal.

Just when I thought I was through the worst of it after mile 4, I turned and headed north.  For the next 5+ miles I was running into a combination of cross- and head-winds.  The snow was coming down pretty thick at this time and I was glad I had worn my bright red fleece for visibility purposes, but that thing did nothing to block the wind.  In the summer, I love running around the back roads.  There are so many vineyards and farms, its beautiful!  Yesterday, the vineyards were not my friends.  The wind would just howl across the fields unencumbered by any tree or house to slow it down.

There were several times where I literally had to put my arm up to my ear and hunch over just to keep from getting knocked down by the fierce wind.  It was pure craziness.

The wind and I battled until I got to turn my back on it around mile 9 or so.  Then I faced two monster hills, that I’m pretty sure I should get credit for running up twice with all the slipping and sliding I did.  Love me those hills!  This was my first long run that I’m running in reverse from last training cycle so that I’ll have to run UP the hills I used to always try to run DOWN.  They are tough, but I know its good for me.

GG (my garmin) lost battery power around mile 14.  Up until then I’d been keeping a fairly steady pace somewhere between 8:35 and 8:50.  Not nearly as fast as my last 15 miler…but I’ll take it!

I’m trying to get down in writing last week’s workout information before I totally forget it.  Especially since I just finished my long run for this week.  Don’t want to get all my numbers mixed up…

This week:
Sunday: 12 miles & Insanity
Monday: oops…rest?
Tuesday: 8 miles & Insanity
Wednesday: 5 miles & Insanity
Thursday: 7 miles & Insanity
Friday: 4 miles & Insanity

Total Mileage: 36

Now, to be completely fair and honest, I did do Insanity this week, but according to the schedule it was my “recovery” week for that particular program.  Their prescribed recovery week includes doing a “Cardio Core and Balance” dvd each day.  I missed Monday.  Oops.

Truth be told, I’m a little worried.  I’ve talked to several people who’ve done the Insanity program before, some multiple times, and they say that the second month feels like starting back at square one.  The intervals increase by 50% and therefore the overall workout is longer.  So, this comes at a time where I’m also building up my mileage…perfect.

Basically, I just got done running 15 miles in a mild blizzard and now I’m supposed to pull myself together enough to do 45 minutes with Sean T.  Hmmmm.  We’ll see if that happens.  I really do want to stick to the program.  I have been curious about plyometrics and specifically the Insanity program and I feel like I can’t really formulate a complete opinion unless I’ve followed their instructions.  I have already noticed some marked improvement in my core strength, hip strength and overall leg power all of which I believe will help me stay injury free.  So, yeah.  I’m going to do it…I just might complain about it more…

So I have two more weeks until Christmas Break!  I’m so excited!!!

Yeah, I know that I’ve been pretty single minded lately: Boston, Boston, Boston, hills, Boston, running, Boston, oh yeah and more Boston.  Needless to say I pay pretty close attention to the latest buzz around the B.A.A.  Did anyone else hear the exciting news?  Ryan Hall, fastest American to ever run Boston, is planning on racing Boston again!  Oh, and I’m going to be there too, btw.  Turns out that he was debating between running London and Boston.  Ummm, yeah, I totally believe he’s going to win!  Its going to be historical.  It’ll be like all those people who ran the 1983 Boston and were able to say they were there the last time an American won the race.

The only drawback to this situation is that I won’t be able to watch the race live to see the drama unfold.  I’ll definitely need someone to record that for me.  I love watching marathons more than watching football (if that’s even possible).