Little Rock Marathon race report

I just completed my 8th marathon this past weekend. I choose Little Rock Marathon for Arkansas because of the status of the extremely huge medal.

It was hard this year training for the marathon in the snow. I kept being a pansy about running in the cold. Seems as I'm getting older I'm getting more sensitive of the cold weather on my muscles & joints.

I ran my two 20 miles both in below freezing weather. Both times my water froze in the nipple of the bottle & my eyes froze in the country where the wind whips across the field so strong.

I have also been seeing a chiropractor since last September. I fell in a trail marathon in July, barely finishing but my SI joint got all out of whack. I think he had made a tremendous change in my running. He took X-rays and that showed my hips are twisted. He got to working on that. This winter had also been the first winter that I haven't had a sinus infection. He is a firm believer that his work has been responsible for that. My body is in alignment so my system hasn't need to work hard to fight germs & illness in my blood. When he explains it, it makes sense. He had also helped my IT Band as its connected to the knee & he has aligned it once in a while.

Luke ran the half in this race. I tried convincing him to do the full but he wants to save his one road marathon for Chicago because he knows so many people that had BQ'd in it.

With my runs & the times I got in the runs (been running everything on the treadmill under 9 min/mi & roads were under 9:30 min/mi) Luke was sure I was gonna get a good time in this race. I was just running to get another state out of the way. Sure, it'll be cool to beat my previous time from 2 years ago but I wasn't gonna be disappointed if I didn't.

We drove to Little Rock since it's only a 10 hour drive. We split up the drive down by stopping at my brother's in southern Illinois and staying the night. Left the next morning kinda late and stopped off at a few sight seeing places. By the time we got to Memphis, Luke did the math & realised that we'll be arriving just 15 minutes before the close of the expo! No race day packet pickup! Why they close at 5 pm on a Saturday is beyond my comprehension. We kinda went a lot faster and knocked down the time by another 15 minutes. Luckily it's right off the interstate & I was able to find parking on Google Maps.

Does this sign make my butt look big?

When we signed up for the races, we were given the option of purchasing a ticket to the Pasta Dinner the night before. I've done that with several marathons before & we did it as well with Grand Island in July. We enjoyed it so we signed up again. This one didn't disappoint again. Salad, white & whole wheat pasta, red sauce with meat and white sauce and breads. They even had dessert, cobblers! I wished they had red sauce without the meat & had meatballs instead. Bart Yasso was at the dinner which I was not aware that he was gonna be even at this race so that was awesome seeing him.

Bart freakin' Yasso

It was next door to the expo in the adjoining & host hotel, The Peabody. We decided not to stay there because of the $144/night & 2 night minimum stay. But luckily we found a place just over a half mile from the start/finish line and we did sign up for a 2 night stay with them as well. Because we heard the Post Race Party was pretty fun. Plus this will give me more time after my marathon to relax & not worry about checking out.

When we arrived at our hotel, I realised that I hadn't packed any socks. Crap. I could have bought socks at the expo! Out to Target whet I hemmed & hawed over choices. I choose a pack & hoped they didn't hurt my feet for 26 miles! We did walk to the start from the hotel when we got back to make sure to leave enough time in the morning.

The start, the night before

The race began at 8 am, which meant sleeping in a bit! The hotel even started the breakfast early that morning for all the runners. But we had brought a toaster and so I was able to toast & eat a bagel. Luke ran down to get a banana that we spilt.

Race morning before the pain began

It was chilly, a lot chiller than they had forecasted & it was below freezing when we began. We wore jackets that we then dropped off at the gear check UPS trucks. Standing waiting for my wave to begin, my feet got numb!  Luke got in the Corral A by submitting a previous half marathon time. I decided not to bring my camera with me so Luke could take pictures at the end, he forgot his camera. My phone is now too big to fit in any of my running supplies so I also had to leave it at the hotel. Took me 12 minutes to cross the start line. Bart Yasso was the announcer that morning.

I started out nice & strong, willing my feet to get unnumb. It was pretty bad. It hurts to run on numb feet. I wore gloves but even my fingers were freezing. I was glad I brought my arm warmers & compression sleeves. But the sun was bright, no clouds, so that was nice.

We ran with the 10k runners & half marathon. I almost got to see Luke on a back & forth over a bridge. I thought I saw him when I left the bridge but it was only 2 miles into the run so I didn't want to stop so soon into it.

The half runners spilt off but then we rejoined them again another mile or so later, that was nice. I knew this race had a few long hills. Between miles 13.5-15.5 we were running up a road that was all uphill. Gradual but long. We finally hit the downhill portion after mile 16 that unfortunately wasn't quite as long. The next few miles were along the river so they were flat. I got mile 20 in 3:08 which got me excited, thinking I could finish the last 10k in less than an hour which was my average so far I'll have 4:08! Little did I know that they had two last hills in the race in mile 24 & 25. I did have to walk through those and when my IT Band started acting up so I knew the only way I was gonna get done was to keep on moving.

Every time I saw a photographer in the vests, I seriously had a smile on my face. I was just so happy!

As I came upon the 26 mile sign there was the infamous 'lipstick stop' that the girls around me just passed as so did I. Who wants to stop after 26 miles to put on freaking lipstick?

I scooted over so I could kiss my hand & slap the 26 waving flag. The spectators around it cheered so loud after they saw me doing that, yelling my name. Our names were on the bibs, I heard my name called so many times, especially in the last few miles where I know the pain was showing on my face. I always looked over when I heard my name and smiled at them just to let them know I heard them & it's appreciated it.

I came around a few corners & saw Luke straight in front of me behind the barrier. I smiled so big because I knew he had no idea my time. The clock showed 4:22, he didn't know it took me 12 min to cross the start! Bart freaking Yasso was out in the middle of the course with a microphone cheering for runners. I, of course, gave him a high five and he called out my name. I crossed the finish line with the biggest smile, arms up, no burst of tears, just glistening in the eyes. I clapped my hands then stopped the watch.

Seeing Luke at the finish line!

Wished they would have gotten the time or at least the sign in this shot. It could be any finish line.

These volunteers actually put the medal around your neck which after running 26 miles was all I want. They had so many goodies of food in the finishing chute. I knew that once you leave the area they wouldn't let you back in so I grabbed all I could/want and headed for where I thought Luke would be. The medal is freaking heavy. They said it was over 2 lbs but man felt like it was more like 5 after running 26 miles. I saw Luke easily. And he was so excited that I got near my time he said. Then I showed him my watch. He said what?! It took you 12 minutes to start? I laughed.

Food food, oh yummy junk food!

Then we walked down to where other runners were gathered. He told me that there was a place that I could get my time printed out. I hobbled over and was excited to see that I came in 610 place. That's almost in the top 25%!

That is one big freaking medal.

After a few pictures & some resting we walked back to the hotel. A few hours rest & we walked to the host hotel where we walked into the Post Race Party & ate! It was a BBQ but luckily they had pasta, potato salad & coleslaw for me to eat. Then they had free drinks. Beer & hard stuff. That was fun! We met a man sitting across from us and talked to him until the three of us left for the night. He plans on qualifying for Boston in all 50 states in 50 months. I wanted more celebrating so across the street to another bar where a semi local beer was had & fried mushrooms. Another stop at another bar we came across and yet another beer. Finally made it back to the hotel a little loopy but feeling fantastic! And finally left the 55 degree weather to head back to northern Illinois where we just made it before 7"of snow fell overnight. Back to reality.

• Apparently there was supposed to be beer at the finish line. There were spots on our bibs that were supposed to be checked off when we got them. I never saw a sign at all. Um, what? But the junk food (Little Debbie) was much appreciated. And the fact that the volunteers actually put the medal around my neck instead of just handing it to me was VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. I just ran 26 miles, I want to feel special.
• The shirts were unisex, not men's and females. I got a small and it's still so big on me. I won't be able to wear it running, only while lifting cause it just hangs on me and bounces all over the place. Sucks.
• Seriously, closing the expo at 5 pm on Saturday? With no race day packet pick up? I realise that the pasta dinner began at 5 pm but at least have the expo go until the end of the pasta party.
• I had no idea where gear check was at. Luckily, we saw Bart at top of a stand & I yelled up at him where it was. He pointed and we headed off that way. They said at the dinner the night before that it was going to be in UPS trucks but we still see them. Following the throngs of people kinda helped but signs would have been helpful.
• The crowd/spectator support in this marathon was fantastic. I mean even the Governor was out cheering in front of his Mansion. There were very few spots where we didn't see anyone for more than a half mile or so. It was pretty awesome.
• Finishing time was loaded on the website by the time we got to the post-race party. The photos were also there! Luke & I sat there after eating, watching everyone dance, drinking our free drinks viewing our photos. That was awesome.

I did hit a funny part right before halfway. I was running behind a guy but not immediately behind him. #703 in the pic below.

I was smiling for the guy who took the above picture. #703 moved out of the way right in time before coming upon another photographer, sitting in a chair, staggered in from the first photographer, closer to the turn. It scared me as I was not expecting to see this photographer, as you can see by the look in my face!

I yelped, said I'm sorry to him and I guess he took another photo and luckily, it's one of me smiling & dodging out of his way! What a great shot right in front of the capital building! :-/

So a 4:10 marathon. I knocked 9 minutes off my previous best time from 2 years ago. I think I hit my pinnacle but I'm OK with that. 4:10 is a great time!

Categories: marathon, races

Wedding: 4 months to go!

Well, 4 months to go before the wedding. Actually less than that. but I decided to do a quick blog post about some of the details.

We went to our final bridal expo/show yesterday. Got a few ideas from it and I had won a book on their Facebook page. Plus, I wanted to see the venue as it was the original place I wanted to hold my wedding at. It's time to get down to business with our wedding ideas that I already have. 

(Stolen idea from another blog) Here we have a list of items that are completed:

• The guest list
• The Venue (ceremony & reception)
• Save-the-Dates
• Wedding Website
• The photographer
• The videographer
• The DJ
• First dance song
• Photo booth
• Guestbook should be with the Photo booth
• Engagement photos
• Groomsmen
• Bridesmaids
• Bridesmaids dresses
• Flower girls /ring bearers
• Activity books for kids
• My dress (should be in next month!)
• Hotel block
• Most of my "Somethings"
• Cupcakes/cut cake - the ones that we went with has their own cupcake stand that will not be charging us to use so yay! Get rid of my crappy version.
• Bachelor party (Las Vegas next month, my maid of honor will be hanging out with me that weekend!)
• Flowers for flower girls (the crepe paper pomanders)
• Jewelery for flower girls
• Gifts for bridesmaids (notice how I'm not saying anything about groomsmen gifts...)
• Groomsmen ties & pocket ties
• Gift for Father of Bride
• Poem & Reader for poem

Still working on...

• A caterer

I think Luke & I finally decided on one. We had 2 proposals from 2 vendors. One $2700 more than the other. But his parents are willing to help us with money & now we're able to afford the one we want! We're waiting to see if we can get food samples from them like we did the other one.

• Candles

This was a DIY gone wrong. I was going to do stained glass. Then that turned into flat marbles. Which has now turned into frosting spray paint. Thank God for Pinterest, that's all I can say. Gotta wait until April/May when the weather is warmer to spray paint them outside.

• Groomsmen/ring bearers suits

This will probably be put off for another month I bet until some of our other more important items are finished.

• Flower girl dresses

I have the dress picked out online. Not sure when to get the mothers to order them since they are little girls & they grow so fast!

• Wedding registries

This is not as fun as I thought it would be. We came out of Bed Bath & Beyond with only like 30 items. Crate and Barrel, 9. We found a lot of Home Depot (since we just bought a house) but it's only available that that one particular store in Rockford, no country wide/website registry. Lowe's doesn't even have a registry. Menards is more local than any of them which doesn't help the out of state guests so we added stuff to Amazon Wedding Registry and hope people don't mind buying from Amazon.

• Something borrowed

Something old: Grandmother's Bible

Something new: Dress

Something borrowed: ??

Something blue: my shoes

And a silver sixpence in my shoe: I bought one from 1939 the year my grandparents got married.

I was hoping to borrow a pearl necklace but that doesn't look like that's going to happen so I'll have to borrow something else instead.

• My veil

Gotta wait until my dress is here to see if I should order the white or ivory, it's a ivory dress but has white lace overlay. So I'm confused.

• Makeup/hair person

No idea who to go for this. And should I spend the money for the makeup? Or the test applications for both hair &  makeup??

• Flowers

Met with the instructor here on campus that teaches Horticulture/Flowers. She's willing to help me so I'm excited about that. Shouldn't be that expensive.

• Toasting flutes

Instead of buying champagne flutes that we'll probably never use again, we're going to buy wine glasses and have them engraved. We're definitely more likely to use beer glasses, but wine is more appropriate for the wedding reception! I'll be drinking beer at the wedding but I'll have them fill up my wine glass with beer. Keep the alcohol intake down that way.

• Bachelorette party

I've tossed a few ideas towards the Maid of Honor and we're going to hold it in May, when the weather is warmer. And yes, you bet it will be in Chicago.

• Bridal shower

My wonderful, caring future sister-in-laws have decided to host this for me. That will be in April. I'm wondering if I need to buy them a present for hosting? Anybody know?

• Luke's wedding ring

I went to look at ones that I liked. He went to the same place and checked them out as well. We'll probably wait until I have to go over for a dress fitting to check them out together.

• Dance lessons

Yes there will be dance lessons. For the first dance. I have a Groupon that I'm waiting to use next month. We'll need it!

• Invitations 

Mostly done, waiting to be checked over by a graphic artist & printed. They look so much like a race brochure Luke says that we'll probably have people showing up thinking that it's going to be running involved.

• Programs

Mostly done, waiting to be finalised by pastor & then printed. I'm doing 4 sheets of paper, stepped in a 1/2" increments and tied together with ribbon.

• Alcohol

Have to wait until our caterer is picked for pairing food with the wine. But it'll just be wine & beer. Cheaper that way.

• Bartender

Not sure if we'll get one with the caterer or through the wine store.

• Cake topper

So many different options here. I found a website where they make cute figurines out of clay that look just like you! But at $350 a pop, no thank you. So then I saw on Pinterest the wood birds on sticks wondering if they could make some shoe silhouettes. Then again I saw on Pinterest a crochet heart glued on stick and of course I could totally make that! (I crochet now). Then at the wedding expo yesterday, I saw something that I could make to look like a finish line on top of the cake! So many ideas.

• Honeymoon

I know, it will come as a great surprise but Luke & I are basing our honeymoon around a marathon. I know, I know, shocking! LOL But I decided on Switzerland (which took Luke by surprise, he was thinking Ireland, I told him we'll go no matter what to Ireland, I want to go to a place that we'll probably never get to go again for our honeymoon; plus, he's Swiss). Then we started looking at races and found a marathon near the Alps. Yep, the Alps. So sounds like we might do that one and it's at the end of July.

• Rehearsal dinner

Luke's parents are taking care of this. It will be held at Luke's brother's house because he has a pool and we have kids at the rehearsal, they'll want to swim I'm sure. 

• Favours

These will also be place cards as well. But you know at races how you get bags full of advertisements & food? That's what they will have, only no advertisements! And small, 5x7" bags. I'm waiting to see if I can buy mini Clif Bar to put in them before I purchase the bags but Clif Bar keeps pushing back the production date. Boo! Now not until Mid-March.

• Timeline/schedule

I still need to look up how to do this. All I know is that Luke & I are running in the morning, having a first look, ceremony at 4 pm, bridal party pictures afterwards and reception done at 11 p and we're all out & done at midnight. Other than that, no ideas what's happening or when!

• Gift for Mother of Groom

I have an idea, have to get it soon.

• Songs for: introductions
• Decorations
• and ????? I'm sure there are some items missing!

Erin helped me on picking out engagement outfits for our shoot with our photographer. Thank goodness too, cause they came out great! Here's the link to view a few of them.

Also, here's a link to a photo album I've added that has a few items of the wedding details.

Wedding update

Well, we've been engaged for 8 months now, 7 months to go until the wedding.

Luke & I met at a race. We've run constantly throughout our 3 years. Gone to many races together; where I’ve cheered him on, where he’s supported me, I’ve even got him to run a marathon in July in Michigan! He came in 3rd overall! Running is what brought us together, running is part of who we are as individuals and as a couple and I love that.

So yes, this wedding day will have the running theme alllll thru it!

Categories: Luke, wedding

St. Patrick's Day weekend

Well, it was an interesting weekend, to say the least.

Luke & I signed up for a four race trail series in Rock Cut this past winter. A 5k in December, a 10k in January, a 15k in February and a 20k in March all starting with a noon race time. 5k I ran in under 30 minutes with a fresh dusting of snow on the trails. 10k was my worst showing since 6" of snow had fallen the night before, I was crying after the race. I twisted my ankle so many times on the footsteps already in the snow. 15k was great, sunny, 2 layers on top, 1 layer on bottom and I started early at 11 am to avoid the footsteps. And the last one, the 20k, was this past weekend.

Unfortunately, as all of you know in northern Illinois, we've had this unexpected heat wave for March. It ended up being 80 degrees in Rockford that day and with a noon start, it was hot.

I started the race per usual at 11 am. But before the start, I realised that I forgot my Garmin and called Luke to bring it to me. Alas, he didn't make it in time and I started a minute after every one else. Luckily, he stopped at one of the road crossings and managed to hand it off to me right after the 1 mile mark.

I had a bottle of water with me and used half it before mile 3, knowing I was told that there was going to be water at mile 3. Alas, there was none. So I rationed the rest of it but it was gone at mile 5. Water should be at mile 6. Alas, again, there was none. Now, we're all getting pissed. Make our way around the other 3 miles, I did more walking than running by this point and back to the mile 6 checkpoint which is also mile 9 and FINALLY water! But it was because the noon starters are running so they provided water to them, not the ones that optioned to start earlier.

I reached the final miles, being passed by about 12-15 noon starters in them. I know that passing mile 12, was the 12th person to pass me. I ran up the final hill, also in the chute and finished with the timer saying 1:40 and add an hour to that 2:40. Whether or not that's official, I'm not sure yet.

Luke's parents were there & his brother. I stood around so excited that I finished before Luke! We were thinking that he would either pass me in the last mile or I would be ahead of him by just a few minutes. Then the first girl finished from the noon starters. Luke usually beats her. Then another guy finishes that Luke usually beats. Then we saw an ambulance drive through the parking lot at the finish line. I didn't like waiting, not knowing, so I head back on the course to go on it backwards.

I pass a few people, can't see him and I start asking if they pass anybody who's hurt or hobbling. Someone says yea, there's someone down at the dam. I take off! Then a few more people, I ask again, they said there's an ambulance at the dam. I asked did you see their bib number? No they say but he has black socks on. Well, that's not Luke. I pass a few more people, asking again, no bib number but another description of someone with black hair. No, that's not Luke. I finally realise that I'm doing no where with the runners coming towards me so I get on the road and hustle my way to the dam. Sure enough, there's an ambulance, lifting a stretcher off the ground. As they make their way down the embankment, I recognise Luke and scream his name, he raises his arm towards me.

I went running towards him and the EMTs were asking who I was and where they should take him. Apparently, he said SwedishAmerican Hospital but he goes to St. Anthony's and Luke doesn't even remember saying Swedes. He was sooo pale (he has olive skin and was paler than me that day!) & eyes wide as saucers, shirt off, wrapped in a blanket.

I was able to use an EMT's cell phone to call Luke's dad. Luckily, his number is 1 number off of Luke's. Told them that he's with EMTs and to meet us at St. Anthony's. I asked if I can ride with the ambulance and they allowed me in the front seat.

We made it to St. Anthony's and in the trama rooms. I was wearing my running clothes, drenched in sweat & water. They keep the trama rooms very cold, my socks & shoes were so wet & muddy. I even had to ask for a blanket to keep warm. Luke had white socks on that turned black from the mud and his hair was so wet from the water he poured on himself, that his hair was dark so that would explain why the other runners told me the description they did!!

They diagnosed him with severe heat exhaustion and even gave him a doctor's note for his work for 2 days off. I had been asking him if he remembers certain points of the race and after mile 6, it gets fuzzy for him and he doesn't remember mile 9-12 at all.

After 2 bags of fluid and a 3 hour ER stay, he was released and his parents picked us up and all went home. Later that night, I put on the Coyotes trail running Facebook group what happened to Luke and we heard from several people that he was disorientated, stumbling about, several people stopped their own race to help him out, even took his pulse a couple times.

Well, on Sunday morning, I ran a 5k with his brother, his first 5k ever and we did it together! Luke cheered for us along the way and Brian & I crossed the finish line in 33:44. We came back, I showered and Luke & I went back to the park to see the "scene of the crime," he remembers it one place, I remember it somewhere else. Then we started walking the trails, just finding random ones to go on. I'm wearing jeans, rolled up to my knees & a drug free shirt, not exactly, hot stuff! We get to this spot next to a creek, he's pacing around, walking around and I, impatient and hot, say, can we go up the hill now? He says yes, go ahead and I start heading up, then he says wait, come back here for a second, he pulls out a box from his velcro pocket, which made a lot of sound, and gets down on one knee and says "Will you be my wife?" A man of many words! :-)

Apparently, he meant to do it after the race, but that got changed. :) He also meant to originally hide the ring at the finish line but since I had called him to come out to the race before to give me my Garmin, he didn't have the time to hide it. Which is NOW a good thing since the ring would have been there all night! And he thought of running with the ring in his shorts but decided against it, in case he fell in the mud & it got dirty or he lost it. He's been teased by saying he was nervous of the proposal and had a lot on his mind so that cost him the race.

Also, when he family left the hospital to take his car back home from the park, his mother saw the black box in his race packet bag. She didn't look in it but she knew what it was. She told her husband, who said, well, bring in the bag, we can't leave it in the car. But then she changed her mind and put it back in the car, so Luke didn't know that they saw it. He told me after it was done that he assumed his mother knows because if she saw the black box, she would know. Come to find out, she told us the truth later on and said she assumed as much and was begging me in her head to go out to the park on Sunday, but I kept dragging my feet because I didn't want him to get overexerted so soon.

When we got back to his parents from the park, his family was all there was over there but no one was expecting it. So I thought grabbing the baby would be a good way to show off the ring. But no one saw it. Then I held the baby on my lap and put my left hand on his belly but still no one noticed. Luckily, Luke's father mentioned that they received several of these lawn chairs as a wedding present. I saw my chance! Unfortunately, at the exact same moment, the phone rang & Luke got up to get it and Claire (4 year old niece), went running around the house with her father (Luke's brother) chasing her but I added loudly "Speaking of wedding, Cameron (the baby) look at your new aunt's new ring!" and held my hand in front of his face. It took a few beats but then they all caught on and was soooo surprised!!! Of course, when Brian got back from chasing Claire, he didn't know what was going on, so we had to fill him in.

Anyway, so it's a long story but at least it's interesting, "one to tell the grandkids" as they say.

So a scary Saturday turned into a happy Sunday!

Categories: Luke, proposal, Rock Cut State Park, Rock Cut Trail Series

HOBO 50k training runs

I decided some time ago that I wanted to run 31 miles in my 31st year of life. I had two options for that; a 50k in the woods & on hills & trails or a 50k on pavement in Chicago that was flat. Because I am dating a guy that loves his trail running, and I've been now doing a bit of trail running myself, I decided to give it a go on the trails. I've heard it's softer & easier and the hills will "allow" me to walk up them and not feel bad about it.

I had trained all winter for the Rockford Half Marathon in May. I was all set to run it, and very well believed I could set a good PR in it. I was running my fastest ever on my training runs. I did all of those on the pavement around my home & in Rockford. Then on my way back from vacation in Florida (having run on the beach all week), Luke's brother-in-law went to pick up my race packet but they couldn't find it. I searched in my Gmail but I couldn't find a confirmation email. Uh-oh. I know I signed up at work, I had my credit card out but I must have gotten distracted and didn't complete and hit submit. I had the opportunity to signup on race day, but I woke up and it was overcast, a bit chilly and rain was threatening. I decided to cancel and not even signup. I still kinda regret it to this day. Especially since the rain held off and the temperature ended up good by the time I would have finished! My boyfriend's family even had signs made and everything, they were going to be there at the end! Oh well. I got into a bit of a funk after that and for the next month, I didn't run. Not until the end of June, when a friend wanted me to run a 5k in my town of Geneva. And that was when I started my running again and did a few miles in Rock Cut, even!

When I told Luke of my idea to run a 50k on the trails of Rock Cut, he didn't think it was a good idea. He explained that I have never run a race before on the trails, I have never ran that far before, I haven't been running a whole heck of a lot in the summer in the first place. Unfortunately, if he wanted to motivate me, he didn't. I don't work well with the reverse psychology. Either that or he just really didn't think I had what it took and that's the way I took it.

I had a hard time training for the race since it takes place in Rockford and I live in Geneva. Luke & I travelled to Rockford every weekend just so I could get miles in on those trails. And of course the training was happening during the summer, in the heat. You would think that the woods would keep it cool and it did on some parts but other times, the heat gets trapped in there and it gets a bit humid and stuffy.

I found an older map of the race course on the Internet and was using it for training runs, starting from the starting point, which was not usually where Luke & I start our runs from. It was different. I got a good idea of the beginning of the course based on the map but there were times I got lost. I ended up finding a website for the trail running group of the Rockford Road Runners and asked them for a map that they hand out at their training runs for the races. I finally got a copy and glad I did as the course had changed since my version. The 50k course is one loop of a 25k or 15.5 miles and then you turn around and run the same loop going in the opposite direction.

I started out over the summer with a couple 10k runs on the trails I'm used to just to get used to running on the trails again. Then I slowly increased the mileage going on different trails than we usually run. Luke & I really had to tag team on this because my ending points were not going to be where he dropped me off at, so he would have to drive to another spot to come & pick me up.

I got my max running distance on the trails at the end of July. 7.84 miles. Never ran that far before. Then the following weekend in August, I got 10 miles in, double digits! I followed that run on Saturday with another run on Sunday for 7 more miles. I was only running twice during the week on treadmills or outside and felt like I needed to get in as much time as possible on the trails on the weekends. Second weekend in August I got half marathon in on the trails!

I ended up buying trail shoes. I was using my normal road running shoes and there were times in which I just didn't feel like I was griping the ground too well. I looked & looked & looked around. Trying to decide trail running shoes was tough. Do I go with water proof shoes knowing that I had to cross water twice? Or do I go with normal trail running shoes and bring an extra pair of socks with me? Did I want Salomon brand or go with a different kind? After checking out the local Rockford store and not liking the kinds there, I went to REI. There I found the Brooks Cascadia that had pretty good grip. It wasn't waterproof but that allowed it to be a little lighter. I was worried about the cushioning in the shoes. Will I feel every rock and root and bruise my feet? I got a bone bruise before my first marathon and my race was not pretty. I decided to give it a go and try them out anyway. If I can't wear them for the race then at least I can wear them for the summer trail running when I'm back to running just a 10k around the park.

Luke's family & I left for vacation in northern Wisconsin soon after that. I was a little worried about my training thus far. I knew that if I could run decent mileage up there, I would be set. Luke & I figured out a course and he came with me on his bike for one of the runs. I went 12 miles with that one. Two days later, I did 15 miles and he met me half way with his bike. Two days later I did 8 miles by myself. I rocked the mileage that week. I was starting to feel confident.

Labour Day weekend I did a race on Saturday and followed that up the next day with a 15 mile run in Rock Cut. All I wanted out of the training was to do half the course, one full loop. I would use heart & willpower to get me through the other loop.

I glossed over those runs. I had many many doubts running through my head during all those runs. Every time I got hot and didn't think I could do it, I had Luke's words pop into my head and I remembered how I felt hearing them and how he didn't believe in me. If he didn't believe in me, why should I? I didn't have the feeling of "Well, I gotta show him how wrong he is," instead I just kept on going because well, I had to to get out of the woods.

Once, I even got lost in the woods. I had no idea where I was. I made a wrong turn somewhere. And was walking. I was done with my run, just couldn't go any further and I couldn't follow the map that well. Luckily I had my mobile with me that day and I ended up calling Luke trying to explain to him where I was. He didn't have a map of the trails in his car. I ended up finding a bike path that went through the park and headed towards noises that were cars on a highway. I ended at Perryville Road and had Luke pick me up there.

When I ended my runs, I would explain to Luke the course and what more I saw. The beginning was all new to us. Never ran on those trails before. They were all horse trails too. Ended up running into (luckily, not literally) a couple horses a few times. And it was mostly out in the open. I hit my first hill at 2.5 miles and always walked up it. I knew I had to to conserve my energy. I figured I would be the only one doing the walking up this hill this early on in the race.

There was another part that I hated, it was like this ravine and it was muddy & seemed to never dry out. It was very curvy which was nice because it always seemed like I was going fast around the corners. But it was very tough to navigate, felt like I was putting my feet up on both sides of the Grand Canyon and then scooting my way over the river.

At 10 miles they had stairs to go down. And then stairs to go back up. There were plenty of them each way.

At 12, it was single track and weaving in and out through tight trees, decent footing a little jumps here and there over some small roots. It made it feel like I was flying through that part. Always does, a nice pick-me-up at that point in the race.

At 13, it was flat & along a road in the park. You would think this would be good but after being up & down & in and around, it wasn't so good. Very long, seeing the end of the trail and just open.

At 14, it was back in the woods & around many turns so that made it go by quickly. At 15, across a road and into a new set of woods and knowing that I only had half mile left made it so much better.

I completed my 1 loop, all I wanted to accomplish in my training, on September 4th, day before Labour Day. It was also my last run on the trails. The other runs, 5 in total, were treadmills or a race on the weekend. Was I ready to tackle a 50k with only 25k under my feet?

Race report in the next post.

Categories: 50k training, Hobo 50k, races, Rock Cut State Park

Music

You know that you're becoming a more mature, experienced runner when you leave the headphones at home for runs. When you don't feel like you need the "thump thump thump" of the beat to help with pace. When you'd rather hear your breathing and foot falls than somebody rhyming words. When you feel confident enough that you will overcome any negative thoughts on long runs or in races. When you don't need music to zone out and distract those thoughts from happening in the first place.

I have completed 2 marathons without music, many 5ks and countless runs outside without the earbuds. The only time I wear them now is on the treadmill. After all, it's a mouse wheel for runners.

Try it for a month, you won't even miss the noise in your ears.

Categories: music

MS Blues Marathon race report

Well, I don't even know what to do with the idea of not running marathons.

Remember this guy? Charles in Charge from my St. Louis Marathon? And how he got me to the closest I've ever been to a 4:30 marathon? Well, I ran into him again in this race. And he was pacing another group.

Luke & I took the train down to Memphis Thursday night. They say that the night before the night before your marathon you should get the most sleep you can. Unfortunately, that was that Thursday night. I tried to sleep on a train. Yea, I got 2 hours of sleep, then another 2 hours of sleep. That was it. Poor Luke went up to the observation car and slept on the floor! Then we both napped for an hour or so when we got to Dad's on his couch but it wasn't great.

Drove the 3 hours down to Jackson. Checked in, dropped our stuff at the hotel and decided to walk to the expo. That felt great since so far we've been travelling for nearly 24 hours at that time.

Met Andrew from Twitter at the expo. So we walked around a bit, picked up our goodie bags which had a harmonica and a pair of Elvis sunglasses complete with sideburns. (The race was happening on his 76th birthday.) Picked up our shirts; they were not tech shirts and not soft cotton at all. I will definitely be adding that one to the race shirt quilt I'm making.

Walked around the booths. Luke nearly bought a pair of calf compression sleeves. Shirts were only ones too big for us. Nothing too good there.

We left for our pasta dinner reservation. I had looked up on Yelp a good Italian place and found this one, made online reservations. We were 10 minutes late, and got seated 20 minutes later. Still had some really good bread with olive oil, penne pasta and a southern beer.

Met back up with Andrew at a nifty looking olde tyme bar for more chatting and more beer (I allowed myself 2 the night before a marathon!). Stayed until 9p, where we went back to the hotel and crawled into our king size bed and slept very soundly until 5:45a. We did not want to wake up. For once I slept well the night before a marathon! No tossing and turning.

I choked down oatmeal. I couldn't choke down my half bagel. I only ate a bite out of it. So wasn't hungry! I drank some water. Got dressed and scooted on out of the hotel for our 7am races. We ran down the half mile to the start/finish since we had gear to check and needed to find that. Searched high and low. No sign or banner. Finally found an official near the start and he pointed us to the right direction.

Got Luke out there to the front of the pack. I went to the back and then I realised, dude, it's chip timed, I can start whenever so I headed back out to the other side of the fence to get a shot of Luke starting! Video too! That was awesome!

Then I scooted back around the fence and I started myself. I took off like a demon. I set my Virtual Partner on Garmin but my legs weren't listening to it or my mind. And I blame the hills.

They say that this course has rolling hills. What I took that as is it has a rolling hills throughout the course; maybe like one a mile or so. Not that it has constant rolling hills with maybe 2 miles TOTAL of flat land. I'm not kidding. In the first three miles that both Luke & I ran on we had 6 hills to contend with. The start was on a downhill portion of a hill! I heard someone behind me say that you don't know how hilly Jackson is until you run it. I chimed in saying I think we already ran up 17 hills by now.

I guess about Mile 2, Charles and his pace group came up to me. There were a lot of runners with him, I was seriously overtaken by them. I was trying to slow myself up by this time. I saw his name on the back of his shirt. I heard him talking. Then I saw his stick. 4:15 pace group. I asked him if he paced St. Louis a few years back. He said he did. It was the same guy! I told 2 women with him that this guy helped me out. They said I bet he came in right on time. I said, I looked up his time later, he wasn't a second over 4:30 that's for sure. I decided to stick with the 4:15 pace group for as long as I could muster. That's right, you heard me.

So really nothing too big to talk about but the hills in this course. The hills are the ONLY thing that matters in this course. The hills, oh my, the hills! To look at the elevation chart, you will not understand how bad this was because while you think running 26.2 miles is daunting (or not so) trying running 26.2 with constant rolling hills!

By mile 7 I was starting to feel my hips ache in front. By mile 14, we dropped everyone. It was just Charles and I; picking up random people here & there and then losing them again. We talked and talked and talked. I wasn't hurting breathing wise. It was all legs. It was nothing but a legs course. By mile 16, I was dropping behind Charles on the uphill but catching back up to him on the downhill. He was lucky enough to always stop to walk through the water aid stations.

At the top of one hill, I was behind him and said I can still see you. And he said good! I caught up with him once and I said "If I ever lose you for good, I just want to say thank you in advance for taking me as far as you did." I didn't get that opportunity to thank him in St. Louis (though I did see him afterwards but didn't think he knew I was in his group). I did see him looking behind him twice to see if I was still around. I told him I was still here but I refuse to come a second over a minute behind him. He said ah, you're going to finish in front of me. He really had the confidence that I was going to do that.

I remember the first hill that nearly killed me and made me WANT walk (but I didn't) was 19.87. I remember that because there was nearly just a 10k left and now's the time in which I die and lose all forward momentum? Hitting the wall at Mile 20. I was not catching back up with Charles at this time. He was slipping through my fingers. I just couldn't hang on. He went around the corner and that was that. It was a straight away after that for a while and I could still see him in the distance, up each hill, thanks to his neon yellow shirt. That was so soul crushing.

I was hurting definitely. I think a little worse than Rockford. I walked up my first hill at 20.71. I just couldn't do it anymore. According to my Garmin, I was 14 minutes ahead of my pace that I had set. So I wasn't too worried and seeing that number definitely lifted my spirits, even with Charles long gone!

I kept thinking of Luke throughout the race. How surprised he would be if I came in that early. Would he even be at the finish line? Will he be up in the hotel (it's on the last 0.5 of the course) and won't come down until 11:30, since I told him I'll probably finish between 11:30a and 12p.

I was making faces by Mile 22. I was grunting and groaning. Mile 25, Superman passed me. But I was still on time to make a PR. Would I do it? I ran past the hotel. No Luke outside. I knew the last little bit was all uphill since that's what Luke & I ran that morning. I was hurting bad.

I saw the the 13 mile sign for the half marathoners. No 26 mile sign for me to kiss my hand and slap. :-( Then I saw the metal chutes for the marathoners. Crowds around it. Then I see him. Luke. My scream was more like a loud voice. He didn't look up. He was looking down at the ground, walking on the sidewalk, away from the finish line. I dragged a deep breath in, yelling LUKE!! He looked up. I smiled & waved. He was shocked, I could see it on his face. He smiled. He turned and looked at the finish line time. He turned again to me, shocked more.

I turned away and concentrated all I had on making it up that final damn hill. I tried to push it before I saw the clock flip over to 4:20:00 but since the finish was uphill, I had nothing left in the tank. I crossed the line, hit my Garmin and threw my hands over my head and nearly lost it emotionally yet again for the fifth time crossing that marathon finish line. I was stopped. A medal was put over my head. Then I was handed a water bottle with no lid. Two people stopped me so they can cut my chip off. I was wobbling all over the place. Saying thank you to anyone that was around. The lady was nice to open up the space blanket and put it around me while the guy cut off my chip. I kept apologising saying I didn't want it to fall off. I was still wobbling, couldn't stand still. The medal was so big, it was heavy around my neck.

Then I had to find Luke. But first Charles found me. He called out my name. He said Congratulations! I still couldn't talk to him, I was so choked up. All I could do was smile with tears in my eyes. Then Luke found me, I just started crying soooooo hard. I pointed at Charles as he walked away and I said "It was him. I ran with him in St. Louis for a 4:35. I ran with him today for a 4:19:27!!" Charles was looking behind him as I was talking and smiling. Then I hugged Luke. Luke was so surprised. I just didn't know what to do. If I should smile or cry or both or sit down or lay down or scream.

I called Charles over for a picture. I love this guy!

I had someone take a picture of Luke and I. Luke was wearing his medal and his bib and the race t-shirt.

We chilled around the finisher's area (they had peanut butter & banana sandwiches, ala Elvis' fav food!!!) and then headed back to the hotel for my shower & off back to my fathers. Went out to a nice restaurant in downtown Memphis. Didn't get to show Luke any of Memphis at all. Then we caught the train at 10:40 pm and arrived in Chicago at 9 am. Both Luke & I are very extremely sore. The outward part of my thighs the most.

Here's the Garmin Connect info. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62721128

Pictures from inside the race. http://picasaweb.google.com/lcbarron/20110107MSBluesMarathon

And how did Luke do in his very first half marathon? He placed 9th overall and fifth in his age group with a time of 1:23:55!! The top two places are in his age group so if they don't count, then he got 3rd! I'm sooo super proud of him!! All he wanted to do was come in under 1:30! He crushed it!

Oh and Charles the Pacer? He finished in 4:14:56. I was less time behind him than I was in St. Louis!

Notes:

• It was a chilly 32 at the start. Yet I wore shorts, my calf compressions, sleeveless shirt and my arm warmers & gloves. My hands were freezing and didn't warm up until Mile 5 or so. My thighs were red and eventually stopped hurting as well.
• I was hungry during the race yet again! I ate PowerBar Gel Blasts; three at Mile 6, three at Mile 12 and three at Mile 20. I actually ate pepperoni pizza that had all the meat picked off of it after the race (no cheese only pizza). Oh and I also choked down a gel in the race when they handed them out; I think that was Mile 7. I swallowed it with water, I tried not to taste it.
• Charles allows us to walk through the water stops, which helps us reset. I would have done that anyway.
• Charles tried to help me with the hills. He said lean into it. I managed to stay with him with one of the later hills doing just that but it hurt me too much by that time. I think what he does is speeds up through the hills and then slows down on the downhill to save the quads.
• At one of the aid stations, the Gatorade was not diluted enough. I coughed and choked on it. Way too sweet. That was also in the second half of the race. After that I took water with a cup of Gatorade.
• It felt like I was getting a hotspot on the bottom of my right foot from my sock bunching. I kept my toes moving to try to straighten out the sock but no avail. Luckily no blister or hotspot afterwards.
• I ran with absolutely no music again this marathon. This time I didn't even bring it with me! I was totally fine without it too.
• I thanked the majority of volunteers & cops out there again. When they say "Thank you for racing today!" it gives a little spring in your step. Towards the end of course, I couldn't talk so I just waved and nodded.
• Luke was totally impressed with the hospitality of southern people. He couldn't believe how nice everyone was to strangers!

So there it is. Do I continue with marathons and see where the next one leads to? After all, you see the elevation chart. I can run that in 4:19?? What could I have done with a flat marathon! I'm already thinking of Mardi Gras in New Orleans in Feb or Little Rock in March!! Oh how I wish I could do those! Or do I just take a year off and go with my half marathon time goal of under 2 hours? Now I definitely feel like I could make that no problem!

I really believe the saying is true: You do run better in your 30's! Let the decade commence!

Categories: MS Blues Marathon

MS Blues Marathon preview

This weekend I run my 5th marathon; MS Blues Marathon. It'll be my last marathon for a while. Gonna concentrate on getting my half marathon time below 2 hours. That'll be awesome. Plus, it's a lot more saner distance.

I may do a 50k this September on trails. I turned 31 last December so figured I might as well run 31 miles in the year of 31!

Anyway back to the marathon. I was doing great with this training. There were even two 20 mile runs planned. Never even attempted that before! I did the first one with my best time ever. Then when I started my second one, middle of December, it didn't go so well. It was a 10 mph west wind and 17 degree with a wind chill of 4. I bundled up, headed out there to a 4.3 mile loop that I was going to do 5 times. I did the first loop. I was fine heading east but when I got to heading back west, which was at the end of the loop, it was tough. I couldn't breathe well, my eyelashes were icing over. So I stopped. I was down & out. Beat up on myself. I was supposed to taper after that. I did my other 20 so many weeks prior! Would I be ready?

Some people on Twitter said I was tough. Suggested that if I do 13-15 miles the next week I could be good. I was supposed to do 12 in my first long run taper. So I decided on 15 in southern Illinois, the day before Christmas and lo-behold, it worked! Even in 4" of new snow! Snowed the entire hour drive from my brother's house to Rend Lake. Snowed the first hour of my run. Didn't snow the second hour, then started to snow again the last 30 minutes of my run. It was lovely.

So here I am. Trained for a deep winter marathon in northern Illinois. I did the majority of my weekday runs on the treadmill. With my long runs on Saturday outside on the trail. My 20 miler was at the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Seems so long ago. Will that be enough? Did I get spoiled by the treadmill?

I'm taking the train down tonight for Memphis out of Chicago. Drive from Memphis to Jackson. Will run the marathon at 7am on Saturday. Will take the train from Memphis again to Chicago that very night!

I'm using the Virtual Running Partner on my Garmin 405 again. I'm going to set him for 10:45 min/mi. I don't need to break any records. I'm comfortable finishing 4:30-5 hours. This time, I'm in it to finish it. I realise winter training is not exactly ideal in northern Illinois. I don't care how Polar Bearish you are. Plus, it's a rolling hill course. Just check out those hills!

So here I go.

For my past training runs: http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=lindsaycb

Categories: MS Blues Marathon

20 miles

Well, I completed yet another 20 mile run, this time with a new PR. View Garmin Activity here.

Yes, that's right. I've still been running. Not only running but also training for a marathon. I realised that coming back from India, I would not be able to train for a fall marathon around these parts. However, I would be able to train for a winter marathon in the south! So after some researching, I found one in Jackson, Mississippi in January. So I've been training for that marathon since September. I've been doing most of my runs in Rockford, as that's where I've been going every weekend.

Luke has been great as usual. He drops me off at the starting point and then picks me up at the ending point after a certain amount of time. And of course as my runs get longer and longer, I've been doing out and backs. Luckily, there's a good path that I run on and it's about 9 miles one way so doing today's 20 mile took a bit of finagling and adding other paths to get it expanded to 20.

I've been good at hitting the distance of my training this time. I don't travel during the winter time it seems. So much so, that I may run two 20 milers this time around as the training plan from Runner's World recommends. Shall be interesting especially after today's 20 miler. I can't imagine running yet another one!

I did today's run in 3:18:34. A personal record for me. I did a search for the other 20 mile runs that I've done in Garmin and last one was 3:34 and 3:23. This is only my third completed 20 miler and I'm training for my fifth marathon. My other two 20 mile attempts were fails at 18 and 13 miles.

I noticed that Bones in Motion (the cool website that I used to post all my stats & map) have been sold to adidas (lame-o!) so I guess I won't be using that any longer. So the link to Garmin activity is at the top.

I was a little hesitant doing this run because of the cold weather visiting us. I didn't bring enough clothes for my legs. Luke let me borrow his running pants so I was able to go out and run. Tomorrow looks like better weather but now that I've done the run, I get to enjoy the rest of my holiday weekend with this run out of the way.

Oh and Shot Bloks SUCK. They were frozen on my run and would not melt in my mouth and chewing them got all over my teeth and messed with my breathing trying to get it off my teeth. I'm throwing the other package away. Sticking with Gel Blasts from now on!

Categories: 20 mile run, Guilford Forest Preserve, Rock Cut State Park

MIA

The last time I updated this blog was July 26. Up until last night, it was also the last time I ran according to my Garmin. I can't remember if I ever ran with my Garmin any other time. I was out of the country for half of August. And I know I haven't ran since I got back. And I doubt I was out running beginning half of August before I left.

But this post is to say that I will my hanging up my running shoes for a while. I have something to plan and I'm going to need lots of time to do so. The running last night was just a fluke.

So you won't see anything from me for quite a while. Check back in late 2011 to see running posts.