Rockford Marathon race report

OK, well, it's been well over two weeks since I ran this marathon. I already told all the people that have been curious and asked me about the race how it went. So this is just for my own history sake.

I knew I could get there. It just took me some humble pie, a horrible race 7 months prior and all the pieces falling into place to get it done.

Rockford Marathon:
Place: 229/344
Div/Tot: 11/18
Bib No.: 29
Name: Lindsay Barron
Age: 30
Sex: F
City: Dekalb
6m Spli: 1:01:57
13m Spl: 2:14:12
20m Spl: 3:26:33
Time: 4:28:51
Pace: 10:16

Yep, an under 4:30 marathon. Eat that Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon!

Packet pickup was a joke. Well, I guess I couldn't say that. They didn't advertise it as an expo. Three tables in a gym where people were playing basketball. The half marathon bibs had 7 or 8 stacks. The marathon had 3 stacks. When I saw that I got more nervous. The shirt? Ugly ugly ugly. Burgundy and the logo from the race. And when I put it on, it was huge and I got a small!!! But then again for a $55 marathon, I guess I can't complain too much. So needless to say, no pin and no window cling for my car.

I decided the night before that I was going to run with my Virtual Parter, Phil on the Garmin. I set him for a pace of 10:25. I also set it so that my Garmin will switch between the screens on a medium screen.

I have a lot of photos to include but since I don't know whether or not people like pictures with posts, here's a link to the album. View it if you want to.

2010-05-16 Rockford Marathon

Funny thing happened to me at the start. I was in the port-a-potty when the race started! Thank goodness for chip timing! I left Luke at the start saying I'll see ya when I see ya. I really had no idea but I knew it was going to be much later. He was going to be on his rollerblades.

The first few miles, I stayed well within that pace. Slowly, letting people pass me. Not worrying too much about anything. It was extremely chilly. I had wished that I wore my arm warmers. My hands finally warmed up about 2 miles in.

I didn't start my iPod because there were so much chit-chatting around me. Then I started the chit-chatting myself. Around mile 2, I got to talking with someone, asking them questions about the race. Then I think he started to get mad and stopped talking and raced on ahead of me. By this time, I was about a second or two ahead of Phil.

I had my camera & cell phone in my pocket attached to my SPIbelt but it was bouncing around too much so I grabbed my camera and just tied it around my wrist like I do in all my races. This will be my first & only time seeing my hometown like this, I might as well take pictures along the way!

Mile 5 I heard my cell phone text message sound. I still didn't have my iPod on. I pulled it out and it was my Dad. I sent him a response back saying I'm at mile 5.63. I started passing people at this point but yet I was still going well.

Ran past a woman wearing a Pumpkinfest 10k shirt. We said a few things about that race.

Ran through the one & only toll in Rockford. Speed limit said 5 MPH. It will be the one and only time that I was breaking a speed limit on foot! :-)

Running down N. 2nd St., I came across two taller girls (about an inch or two taller than me) and decided I was going to use them to keep me slow. Then I saw Luke. I was waving frantically behind them. He finally saw me.



I jumped the curb and I told him, I'm not out of breath, I'm doing well, I'm faster than my time, I haven't started my iPod and I'm not out of breath. I kissed him and went on my way.

I kept looking behind me and he finally joined up with me. I was talking to him. He was getting a look on his face but I told him, I'm not doing bad! I did the math wrong in my head again too. I said I had 13 miles left, I didn't, I had 17 miles. We had a good laugh at that.

There was a guy behind us that when I kissed Luke, this guy said that's one way to get motivation for a run. He ended up catching up with us. Asked about the bag that I was having Luke run with from the Illinois Half Marathon I did a few weeks ago. He also ran the half and he & I were talking about that.

This guy passed me and Luke split off when we were getting ready to go on the bike path. I ran into the guy again and about ready to pass him and asked if he wanted to run together. He agreed but didn't know if he could go my pace. I said that I'll slow down.

We chit-chatted pretty much for the next 2 miles. His name is Larry and he's a former marine that got his by a grenade and hurt his knee. His friend tripped over a cone in the race and twisted his ankle & knee and no longer could go his 1:45 pace. During those 2 miles with Larry, we split around another fellow runner. Come to find out, he was the guy from Mile 2 who I think got mad at me and took off to leave me behind. He was walking. I tapped him on the arm and smiled and said come on as I passed him.

At Mile 12 water table, Larry had to stop & walk and said that he'll leave me here but wished me luck on the rest of the marathon. When I split off from the half at 12.6, I heard Larry scream my name and said go get em! I pumped my arm in the air.



Right after that I hit a big hill. It was the only spot in the race that I walked besides through the water tables. This hill is a monster. Also, at this time, I got to see exactly how small the marathon field is.

Mile 13 was on top of the bridge. There was a guy taking pictures. I was feeling cheesy so I thew up the peace sign and smiled. Unfortunately, I heard him take the picture after I stopped smiling and was no longer looking at him but at the Mile 13 sign.



Luke totally surprised me not long after that about Mile 14. There were 2 runners in front of me that I've been following for miles now. I knew I was going to pass them but was debating when and how. Then I heard someone exclaim something and I looked over and saw Luke on the corner. I was like "Oh Hai!" We were chit-chatting again. The guy of the two runners beside me looked like he was in utter pain, his face was all scrunched.


Nothing too significant happened in these miles. Luke stopped to pick up something on the ground and told me not to stop. When he caught back up with me again, I told him "don't worry about me stopping. I won't even stop, even if you fall. Haha, just kidding." But he told him that he wouldn't want me to even then cause he'd feel bad. I know where he's coming from.

I was still knocking people off left & right. Passing people. I was still chit-chatting and my pace was still 10:15/10:16. My Garmin was a bit longer than the race course though. I would hit the next mile and a little bit later they had the sign.

Got into a neighbourhood loop and told Luke to stay at the corner and we'll pick back up again. In the neighbourhood, I met up with another runner when I saw the mile 17 sign and said "I've been looking forward to that sign for a few miles now. Only single digits to go!" We got to talking about Chicago Marathon and smaller races. He's doing another marathon in 2 weeks in Rochester, MN.

Luke met up with us right before Mile 18 and from here on out, he was with me on his blades. At one point, we had cars behind us honking on the road. It was a 2 lane road and cones were nowhere along the course but we were going single file along the white line. After 3 honks, Luke & I finally turned around and pointed to go around us. There were about 5 runners in total in the area. Three people behind me and two in front.

Right before Mile 21, I asked Luke for my pretzels. He handed me 3 squares and then I took a cup of water to help mush them in my mouth and swallow. Then I got 3 more pretzels and wash them down again.

Then it was bike path from Mile 21 to just over Mile 24. It was here that someone I passed (he was walking) at Mile 20.5, passed me with a vengeance. It was funny & notable because there's a 180 turn we had to do and as he was coming back towards me, he was looking directly at me. But that turn hurt badly. My feet were taking a beating by this time. I also dumped water on me for the first time.

I was still ticking people off left & right. It was very liberating and felt great to do so. But I was starting to get in pain. And I started to say as much to Luke. I knew I was on a 4:30 pace. Since I was under my goal pace, I thought I could definitely do an under 4:30 but I couldn't do the math too well out there and since my Garmin was over on the distance, it wasn't helping too much. But Luke could do the math and he was saying that it could happen. I started to get choked up, I told him that he can't say anything like that because otherwise I'll start crying!

At Mile 23, I had 3:55. I told Luke that if I could keep up under 10 minute miles from here on out, I could have an under 4:30 marathon. But the ball of my right foot started to hurt badly. So Mile 22, was 9:46. Crazy that I had that in me but then I started to falter. I gave Luke my iPod. I still hadn't turned it on so why bother wearing it anymore? And now looking at my Garmin stats, I can't believe that in Miles 22, 23 and 24 I was able to go under 10 minutes a mile. WTH?!

I told Luke to leave me at Mile 25 and to go to the finish line. He finally did at 25.25 and then I was left on my own. And of course right at that point, there was a bridge hill and strong winds. I slowed down but I didn't walk! I DIDN'T WALK. Then back down the same hill that I walked up at 12.5 miles. A volunteer said that around the corner is 26 and then a .2 left to go. I wondered if she was in fact right, most people say "Almost there" but you're not even close.

Well, come to find out, she was right. I turned the corner and I saw the Mile 26 sign under the bridge. I kissed my hand and smacked the sign. The volunteer there was sooooooooo motivating, she was talking so much and such positive things. I have no idea what she said but it started to choke me up. Up a small incline and I went in between 2 guys passing them. There was a guy in a van saying people's bib numbers in a walkie talkie. I heard him say my number.

I turned the corner and there was the finish line. The two guys that I passed were talking about turning on the speed and I figured I would let them and they did. They blew past me but the good news is that I was all by myself on the bridge. I looked around for Luke but the faces blended together so I couldn't see anyone. And then I saw the clock. It was 4:29:35. Suddenly, it was my goal to come under 4:30 clocktime. I started pushing it and pushing it. I got to the finish line at 4:29:52.


I think I had a smile on my face. I know I didn't throw up my hands at the finish line. I grabbed the medal that was held out to me as I was still slowing down from my 8:45 pace that I blew past the finish line. I also grabbed a water bottle and let it sink in me.

This is also the first marathon that I don't have a finisher photo of me. :-( Nothing to buy to put in a frame.

I looked around for Luke but I didn't see him. After a few more seconds of just walking around, I finally saw his head from the sidelines before the finish line and started to walk towards him and then I started crying. I hugged him so hard and all I could say is "I did it. I did it." He had the biggest smile on his face.

Someone was nice enough to offer to take our picture. He asked I hope those are tears of joy. I said yes! And his friend was wearing the Lakefront Marathon shirt from last year. I pointed to that shirt and said "I ran that race last October and got 4:53. I ran today in 4:28!" They were very congratulatory after that. After he took our pictures, Luke and I just walked around for a little bit, holding hands.



Finally we walked into Davis Park were I found a spot to plop down. After a while, I got back up and grabbed a banana, cup of water, Gatorade and 2 bags of chips (locally made in Rockford!). I sent out a mass text message. And then looked at Luke and said "So, Rochester in 2 weeks?" He just smiled.

Notes:

• I ate a bowl of oatmeal & one half of a bagel before the race.
• I still got hungry at 9:40 am.
• I had three PowerBar Gel Blasts at mile 6 and three at mile 12 and three at mile 18. Nothing after that but a few pretzels at Mile 21.
• I walked through all the water tables (except for table #1 which I didn't stop at). I also had only water at all the tables. Once I saw Luke, I was having my PowerBar drink that I had stored in my bag that he was carrying around. That helped for the electrolytes.
• At mile 4, I was fantasizing about finishing under 4:30 and I sped up quite a bit at that time. I really had to stop myself from doing that.
• At Mile 20, I told Luke that I'm already thinking about my next marathon and doing the Indianapolis Marathon in November. He laughed. He said most people here are just thinking about getting to the next mile or finishing this one. He said that it was a very good sign.
• Apparently, Luke screamed my name after they said my name over the loudspeaker. Even the announcer said something about my cheering squad. However, I heard nothing. I was so focused on that clock & my time. I heard no screams. It was really an odd thing looking back on it now.
• I did wear my calf sleeves. They're black. My legs got warm from the sun beating on them. I probably should have gone with white.
• I thanked all the cops at the intersections but the first one. I also started to thank the volunteers towards the end by actually saying "thank you for volunteering!"
• Luke was getting more cheers than I was at some points. Around Mile 23 or 24 we passed by a group of 6 or 7 spectators and he got the "Go Support Team!" yell. He also got called my sherpa. In a small race like this, you can definitely do what we did. There was no mention of no rollerblades on the website, just no strollers, dogs or bikes.

I will say this though, even though he was with me for quite a while, I could still have done this race without him. I told him as much and he agreed with me. Now, I would have gotten probably over 4:30 because around Mile 22 I really started to be in pain and wanted to walk and he kept me going. Although, at the same time, once I reached Mile 23 and saw that I could finish under 4:30, I sped myself up. He had nothing to do with it. I also didn't need the PowerBar drink that he had. They had PowerAde drinks at the tables. I'm not sure how much the six pretzels helped me either.

This finish was a lot better than I had the last time I came close to beating 4:30. With St. Louis last year, I had no one to hug me. No one to hang out with at the finisher's area. I also had to walk back to the hotel room by myself. I was wondering if Luke's parents were going to come out for it. Luke wondered the same thing outloud on our way back home after the race but he said that they're probably so used to him not wanting people at his races that they assumed the same thing. They have offered to go to his races but he's always declined, saying that he's fine by himself.

Later on that day, we took a long-ish walk just to keep my legs loose. But my tummy was not happy with me. Things were not going well down below at all. I finally decided that I needed to get real, solid food in me and we ate at Red Robin for dinner.

I was actually surprised at how well I felt, muscle wise. Usually it hurts to sit down or stand up and I just have to plop down. But I can actually do squats!

Oh and my hyperextended knee? Yea, it's fine too. Not sure how that happened but it's still a bit tight when I straighten out my knee but no pain. I do have the muscle soreness that comes with any long run, especially when I stand up after sitting or laying down for a long time. But once I get up and moving, I'm fine. Luke and I walked to the grocery store the very next night (Monday night). Once we got back, my feet hurt and I took off my socks to take a shower and my toes were swollen. So I'll still have to be careful with the amount of time on my feet even though I feel OK.

Monday, I took off from work and treated myself to a massage & haircut. It was pamper Lindsay day. And I deserved it. :-)

Looking back on my splits from the race, I see now why I was passing people. All those people that finished directly behind me, were going faster than me at 6 miles and halfway. While I ran slow & steady.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 736 ft Location: Rockford, IL Elev. Gain: -10 ft Date: 05/16/10 Up/Downhill: [+885/-895] Time: 07:04 AM Difficulty: 3.9 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 26.35 miles Time: 4:28:50 Speed: 5.9 mph Pace: 10' 12 /mi Calories: 2828 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 18 +0' 06 5.8 -0.1 +10 ft 2 10' 28 +0' 16 5.7 -0.2 +17 ft 3 10' 19 +0' 07 5.8 -0.1 +17 ft 4 9' 59 -0' 13 6.0 +0.1 -20 ft 5 10' 10 -0' 02 5.9 +0.0 -7 ft 6 10' 17 +0' 05 5.8 -0.1 -27 ft 7 10' 06 -0' 06 5.9 +0.1 +26 ft 8 10' 20 +0' 08 5.8 -0.1 -4 ft 9 10' 20 +0' 08 5.8 -0.1 -13 ft 10 10' 15 +0' 03 5.8 -0.0 +7 ft 11 10' 13 +0' 01 5.9 -0.0 -16 ft 12 10' 13 +0' 01 5.9 -0.0 0 ft 13 10' 18 +0' 06 5.8 -0.1 +4 ft 14 10' 07 -0' 05 5.9 +0.0 +23 ft 15 10' 23 +0' 11 5.8 -0.1 +7 ft 16 10' 31 +0' 19 5.7 -0.2 +7 ft 17 10' 15 +0' 03 5.8 -0.0 +14 ft 18 10' 10 -0' 02 5.9 +0.0 -3 ft 19 10' 23 +0' 11 5.8 -0.1 +13 ft 20 10' 15 +0' 03 5.8 -0.0 +30 ft 21 10' 11 -0' 01 5.9 +0.0 -36 ft 22 9' 46 -0' 26 6.1 +0.3 -23 ft 23 9' 34 -0' 38 6.3 +0.4 -16 ft 24 9' 59 -0' 13 6.0 +0.1 0 ft 25 10' 19 +0' 07 5.8 -0.1 +3 ft 26 10' 26 +0' 14 5.8 -0.1 +6 ft end 8' 47 -1' 25 6.8 +0.9 -26 ft Versus average of 10' 12 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: Luke, Rockford Marathon

Rockford Marathon preview

Well, here it is. My Rockford Marathon course preview post.





as I already pointed out, there will be no pace groups. I am way disappointed with this but then again, that's what I get for signing up for a race that in the last 2 years it has been around, only has had 300 runners. So I may activate my "Virtual Trainer" on my Garmin GPS watch to see if I can follow along with that guy for 10:30 miles.

And with a low runner turn-out, the spectator support won't be that great either. The only part of the course that I really worry about will be right after Mile 20 (of course they would do it this way). That's when the course goes on a bike path (far left of the map above) and there will be no spectators cheering along the race. Unfortunately, that is also when runner's normally hit "The Wall" and fall apart mentally. Luckily, I know about this point ahead of time and hopefully will have some mental energy saved up! We'll see.

I will be staying with Luke's parents place that weekend so no hotel needed! And I'll have a fridge, microwave and toaster for the morning breakfast. Oatmeal and bagel, baby!

Looks like a warm day is to be had. 50 at the start but 67-70 for a high. And now they are forecasting cloudy skies. I should still probably put on sunscreen. At least on my shoulders. Here's what I'm going to wear in the race.


Packet pickup is available on Friday night, Saturday and even before the race on Sunday morning. I'm going to pick up mine on Saturday and then drive as much as the course as possible.

After my meltdown in my last marathon, I have absolutely no timeline. No goal but to finish. That's it. No, seriously. I don't have that much faith or trust or confidence in myself after the Lakefront disaster.

And I still haven't decided if this will be my last marathon or not. Indianapolis Monumental Marathon will be in November and that will check off Indiana and it's close to home. However, I realised that I have been training for marathons since August 2008. With my longest break of 2 months after October's Lakefront Marathon (but yet I was still training for races, even a 15k!). That's 4 marathons in less than 2 years. While it's not a lot for some Marathon Maniacs out there, it is for a middle of the packer, like myself. I'm wondering if I need a time-out, a break, to gather myself and enjoy running for running's sake. Keeping the races to low-key small events. Maybe even focusing my training on that half marathon PR of under 2 hours.

Categories: Rockford Marathon

Lots to catch up on

I ran 4 times last week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and again on Saturday. I think that's a good way to come back from a 2 week rest period. And now that I'm running more consistently, I should be blogging regularly again.

I'm running quite often at the gym at the college, my employer, more than the YMCA. Mainly because a co-worker and I are kinda using each other for motivation. She's in a 1 credit PE class while I'm just training for a marathon. We worked out together twice last week, Wednesday and again on Friday.

After running at the gym with my co-worker, we've been doing weight machines as well. Just 5 machines. Leg presses, lat pull downs, hamstring curls, tricep pull and then the leg pull up as well. I cannot lift my legs to go horizontal though. So I just bring them up to my stomach. Each one we do 12 reps and 3 sets.

Which has me wondering, do I even need a YMCA membership? It'll save me $34.50 a month. The YMCA does have a pool, 2 of them, with lap lanes. I'm not going to do a triathlon this year I decided. I want to concentrate on solely marathon training to make up for my disastrous Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. I NEED to do well in May!

But there is an indoor triathlon at the YMCA on the morning of the Superbowl. Swim for 10 minutes, bike for 20 minutes and run for 15 minutes. Still thinking of doing that one. I can swim for 10 minutes easy. Each wave only has like 14 people in it, IF that. Luke is interested in doing that as well. But there's no way I can really train for the swimmingin less than 2 weeks

However, the Saturday run was not a good one. Why I agreed to run with Luke at Rock Cut State Park is beyond me. I was nervous about running a 10k and 6 miles in general and then running in a park, with hilly trails that added more apprehension. But silly and optimistically, we both thought I could do it.

Sure enough, 2.09 miles I got bad lower cramps. I stopped for about 5 minutes walking around in a circle but it didn't help. Kept on going. They finally went away by mile 3. But by that time, I was walking and often.

All in all, it was a bad horrible run. Luke did just a 10k and of course was done long before I was. I finished in 1:17. I walked up to the car and a cross country skier was behind me. He got my attention and said that I shouldn't be on the trails. The trails are only for skiers now. I was so blah blah by that time, I just nodded by head. He pointed out a sign that says the trails were closed. Well, dude, it wasn't my fault, I was just following my boyfriend who was no where around so he couldn't take the blame or tell him that there was a race on those trails just last weekend. I couldn't talk, I was on the verge of tears.

I got into the car and folded my arms over my knees, put my forehead on my arms and weeped. It was horrible. I was sobbing. Eventually Luke was in the car and I was trying not to let him know I was crying but then when I told him about what the guy said, I broke down again and again just sobbed into my arms. Luke was rubbing my back and he finally reached over and tried to hug me as best as he could in a car. Once the cross country skier left, we went to check out the sign. Sure enough, says THAT trail was closed. Well, I saw other foot steps on it besides Luke so WTF.

Then Luke said that we needed to go down to the frozen lake. I was in no mood to go anywhere but we did and come to find out, he wrote my name in REALLY BIG letters in the snow on the lake. It made me smile and feel so much better. I wish I had my camera. It was so sweet & lovely. Though he did put the S backwards, which was a bit odd but didn't mean to do it.

I was in a funk all day long after that of course. He went out for another run on Sunday, I was not joining and stayed in with his parents that morning, who asked why I wasn't running. I told them that I was starting my marathon training on Monday, so I needed a rest day.

And yes, you heard that right! So begins yet another marathon training period. Starting today, in 16 weeks, I will running the Rockford Marathon. I have not yet signed up but will soon in the next few weeks. I already have signed up for the half marathon in Champaign/Urbana on May 1st.

First long run of the training? 8 miles on Saturday. We'll be doing that one together down in southern Illinois where he will meet my family. He says that he'll even run with me and not take off, even though I told him that the path has mile markers. Which I'll be glad he'll be running with me. I'm sure I'll need the help to get to 8 miles!

Tempo run on Wednesday!! I'm back in it baby!

Categories: Rock Cut State Park, Rockford Marathon

Holiday runs

Welcome to 2010! I've been behind in my blogging and kinda on my running. At least so far in January I am. I was still on hiatus in December so I never felt like I had to run. I was just running when I wanted to.

To catch up a bit:

Weekend before Christmas, I did get a run in southern Illinois while Luke ran his 5k in northern Illinois. I knew I wanted to run farther than him so I did 4.55 miles. HA!

After that, another run of mine was not until the following week (Christmas) again in southern Illinois, this time on a treadmill that barely could hold me! It was scary to say the least! I have NO IDEA how far I ran just how much time I was on the treadmill. Luckily, it was out in the garage so I didn't really have to worry about overheating and I still have to wear my gloves and one layer of cold weather gear.

Then the last full week of December, I spent with Luke. Which meant a lot of running. Monday was 3.5. Then Tuesday was all day skiing. Wednesday was a very stupid late night run at 6pm. And my winter running clothes is all black. Genius. Luke allowed me to borrow a bright orange race shirt of his to try to stand out to the cars. It was an interesting run. I guess I better pack a headlamp just in case from now on. Thursday (New Years Eve) was a 15 mile hike that turned into a 10.10 mile hike. We were trying to follow a 25k course race in Rock Cut. But the cold got to us and we were a little hungry since we didn't eat lunch. I was still pretty impressed that we made it that far and now Luke has an idea of what his 25k is going to be like in September!

But that week was a great way to cap off 2009.

First run of 2010? I ran at Luke's gym and got in about 7 miles in an hour. I was booking it! Even got up to 8mph. It was crazy. I was on such a runner's high. Luke & I ran together for the first 16 minutes since he was just doing a 5k. What I noticed is that our stride was the same length. His foot would land when my foot would land. How odd is that considering he's 6'3"? I wasn't purposely doing that as well. Eventually we did get off so that it was my right foot and his left but we were still doing the same for a while and then we got off again. So it was like even 1 in 20 strides made us get off.

And I haven't ran since that day, the 2nd of January. :-( Nearly 2 weeks. I got sick the following Monday with a sore throat and congestion. The congestion and green mucus has stayed with me since then. Well, over a week. On top of that, Sunday I woke up with a sore back. Not just sore, in pain. It's my SI Joint. Not a fun thing. When I went skiing day before New Years, I landed on my outside hip pretty hard. No, not during skiing, I never fell on the slopes. It was walking in my ski boots in the cafeteria, on wet concrete hard floor. Genius. And even though it was a week since that happened, I wondered if it just built up??

Rockford Marathon training begins at the end of the month. I was supposed to be base building during these weeks. I can't now. I also in no way, will be joining Luke on the trails for the 10k in Rock Cut. I'm a little disappointed about that. I'm a little nervous about running now with this back problem of mine. It hurts to get in and out of my car, to roll over in bed, to arch my back. It pretty much sucks.

But I'm excited to start this marathon training with Luke by my side. Just gotta remember to be a lot more diligent with my gym workouts! Maybe I'll even incorporate a few machines workouts in with that too.

For Christmas, Luke gave me the Perfect Push-up. Which I have been using and it has been a great relief on my left wrist. A lot easier to use and I can get deeper into the bend as well which made me weaker earlier. Luke said it's not the number that's important, it's how deep you can go. So I have to get that in my head I guess.

Categories: hiking, holiday runs, Rockford Marathon, sick, sore back

Blisters on my toes

So the blister popped today at work but didn't split open. And I put a bandaid on it before my run. But even before my first mile was completed, I could tell that the bandaid had moved away from my toe. I finished and took my shoe off it hurt that bad. Got home, took off my sock and the bandaid was over on my big toe and my blister had split open. Great.

Here's are the blisters before they popped.


So I definitely need new shoes then. I'm forgoing my rent until Friday just so I can get these new shoes.

Tonight's run though was nice though. Fast pace. I was really surprised. Maybe because it was at night and I feel a lot more free to run at night. No one is watching my jelly bounce up and down. I ran what would be a 5k (3.1 miles) in sub 27 minutes. That has never happened before. The closest I came was On The Waterfront race beginning of September and that was 27:06.

I did wear my headlamp too and it didn't work. I think my head is too small. It kept falling down. Especially once I got going and started to sweat. It kept creeping down to the bridge of my nose and just stayed there, pinching. I ended up holding it, which was a bother. So I don't know what I'm going to do for my running now. Even if I go in the morning it's still going to be dark then too.

Also, mental note: I need clear glasses to wear at night. I had a bug in my eye again around the first mile mark. Hurt me something bad but I kept on going! Came home, checked the mirror, couldn't find it until I rolled my eye around and luckily it moved to the inside corner and I got it out with tissue but man it did hurt and it still feels like it's in there! *shudder* Gross.

I watched this last night. I think I'm going to do the Rockford Marathon now. They say it only takes 4 months to train for a marathon. I'll already be halfway there on December 1st and 5.5 months later is the Rockford Marathon. So I think I can do that. Plus, it's WAY Smaller than the Chicago Marathon which has like 30,000 people. They are only expecting 2-3,000 participants which is more like it for me!



Tonight's run: 7:00 PM, 70°F to 69.5°F, gear: running tights, short-sleeved shirt, headlamp.

Categories: blisters, headlamp, marathon, pace, Rockford Marathon, shoes