Hey, Jealousy...

Sure, I can get a little bit jealous.  The good part about jealousy is that it comes from passion.  It's also the dangerous part and it's an ugly emotion that hurts. -- Matthew McConaughey

So yesterday was a huge 10K race in town - the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K...I've done it a few times but this year I didn't sign up for it because 1) I wasn't sure if I would be on mom duty and 2) I knew it was only a couple weeks after the marathon and I wasn't sure I would be able to actually run.  Well, since the marathon, I've actually done two 6-mile training runs, so I probably would have been able to do the 10K and our schedule worked out so I was free, but since I didn't know that until just a week ago, I didn't do the race.

Husband, on the other hand, did the race (and one daughter did the kids' mile before the 10K) so I got to spectate and what I realized is that it made me insanely jealous.  I wanted to do the race.  I wanted to cross the finish line.  I wanted to try and PR.  (I'm also a little jealous of just how fast my husband is - since he spent 35+ years pretending he wasn't a runner...sucks.)

I guess, if you can trust Matthew McConaughey, and that's a big if...jealousy isn't all bad, because it comes from passion - and I really do have passion for running.  I love to run.  Not saying I don't want to do triathlons, but I think if I had to someday choose between one or the other, I might say run.  Or maybe not, because I'm also rather passionate about the tri season I have planned for this year.  And I realize the silliness of being jealous of my hubby's speed, since his legs are twice as long as mine and he's a guy and all...

OK, I got the jealousy out of my system.  But it was a pretty good excuse to listen to the Gin Blossoms.

Takin' Care of Business

Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. -- Thomas Carlyle

The marathon is done.  The week of sloth that followed the marathon is done.  And it's time to get back to taking care of business.

Raleigh 70.3 is just over two months away, and my "20-week" plan for IMLOU starts next week (with an extra week for our vacation).  Time to be accountable to my plan.  I'm going to look at the workouts for the week and get them in; it's a little tricky to plan enough ahead to know what workout I'm doing each day...although I try...but I often move them around, so it just seems easier to list them and cross them off.

Oh, and you know what...I'm thinking about running another marathon.  :)  I've been looking at late fall marys, like maybe OBX in November.  What kind of nut job am I?

I Shamrocked It!

When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time. -- Haile Gebrselassie

I am (again) a marathoner!  Yeah!  Even though I ran one back in 2009, it was horrible.  I had hurt my knee prior to the race and I ended up kind of crab-walking the whole back half.  It wasn't pretty.  But after yesterday, I am a proud marathoner...even though I didn't meet the time goal I had for myself.

After the times I had been getting on my half-marys and my 15K in January, I thought I might be able to go sub-5 hours.  All the calculators said I should be able to.  5:12:21.  Not sub-5.  And even if you only count my running time (subtracting out the time I spent in lines waiting for porta-potties), I was still at 5:07.  So that sucks.  But even though I didn't get the time I wanted, I'm still proud of how I got the distance.  I can say I've been there, I've done that, and I've got the medal to prove it!

A little bit of a race report...I was planning on staying with the 5:00 pace group - and I left the start line with them, but the pace wasn't really comfortable to me and the chitter-chatter isn't really my style, so I sped up a little and was running at a good clip, about 0:10-0:20 faster than the pace group.  I took a quick potty break around mile 6 and lost a couple minutes there waiting, but got right back into my rhythm.  The course took us through a reserve military base and that was pretty awesome.  Nothing better than having service folk cheer for you (and cheering them right back).  Entered back into town around 10 miles and then they sent us to the boardwalk where it was windy as all get out.  I turned my baseball cap around somewhere at this point so it wouldn't blow away, so my race photos are going to look all punk.  Ah, well - better than losing my hat.

Between miles 12-14 you run right back through the center of town, where all the half marathoners are leaving, so there's a good cheering section.  In fact, let me just say, Shamrock is awesome for cheering pretty much the whole way.  I don't think we ever went more than a half mile without some sort of fan support.

Anyway, around mile 13-14, I took a gu (per my training)...but then my stomach felt all icky, so I walked a good bit of mile 15 to get to the water station/bathrooms.  Lost another couple minutes there, but my stomach felt better.  I drank some water and as I was leaving the water station, my Masters coach came up to cheer me on.  He asked if I had a goal; I told him 5:00, but that the pace group had already passed me.  He said they had just walked through the water station and I could catch them easily.  So I did.  I ran just behind or just ahead of the pace group until mile 18, when I got a pretty bad cramp in my calf.  Same calf that has given me problems all along.  I was wearing my calf sleeves (neon yellow) but I need to be a lot more diligent about rolling and stretching even when I'm not feeling tight.  By the way, at the expo I bought a cute pair of compression socks (full foot) - they're pink with butterflies.  Cute, right?

From mile 18 to about mile 23, I ran/walked as best I could.  This portion is also in a military base at the other end of town - and it's right along the ocean.  WINDY as heck.  I've done the half marathon here before and it also goes through this base.  It's always windy, but yesterday seemed particularly so.  Anyway, I ran until it hurt too much, then walked a bit.  It always seemed to feel better running a little more than walking, so I kept at it.  Finally we came out of the military base and there were only 4 miles to go.  Yeah.

Except then my mind went south.  Around mile 23 I realized there was no way in heck I was going sub-5.  My calf hurt.  My eyes were tired from the wind.  I was bored.  I wanted to quit, but that would be stupid.  So I walked a lot of miles 24-25.  Way slow.  Once I hit mile 25, though...ONE MORE MILE.  I could do this - and besides, I didn't know if anyone I knew would be at the finish area and I wasn't going to walk it in, so I ran (or more likely woggled) the rest of the way in, even hitting a sub-10minute mile pace for the last 0.2 miles.  I am a marathoner!

I had bought myself a present at the expo - 26.2 magnet/stickers for my car and my office door, to celebrate going sub-5.  And then I was a little bummed because I didn't and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with these stupid things.  But then I gave myself an attitude adjustment and realized that I still got the distance.  I beat 26.2 and I beat it standing up and strong.  I earned those stickers.  Here they are - they are totally going on my car/office door - right next to the 70.3 ones I bought after the HIM:

Now I get a couple days to recoup and it turns into time to seriously start training for Louisville (with pit stops in Raleigh and Muncie on the way).  Bring it on!

Spring Cleaning

I have sporadic OCD cleaning moments around the house.  But then I get lazy and I'm cured.  It's a very inconsistent personality trait.  -- Chris Hemsworth

While I'm waiting for my article to place and before I start my next writing project, I thought I'd do a little bit of spring cleaning.  Yesterday I tried on all the clothes in my closet - good news, I can wear my "skinny" suits again.  Today I went through my dressers -- tossing the worn out or ripped, finding a better home for the ugly or non-fitting.  Here's are piles of stuff I'm not keeping:

I went through my two triathlon drawers.  Figured as long as I had everything pulled out, I would organize it a little bit.  Look at all the cool little piles I made.  Then I just had to find spaces for them in the drawers.

Believe it or not, these piles are AFTER I got rid of stuff.  :-)

Finally, since I had everything out anyway, I decided to pick out my race clothes for this weekend:

Depending on the weather, I'll either wear my capri leggings or my shorts - probably with my skirt over either.  Of course, I have to rock my neon calf sleeves (and pink KT tape that you don't see here).  Since it's Shamrock, I'll be sporting a green long-sleeve shirt.  It looks to be a chilly morning, so I'm going to take another shirt along with me that I was planning on donating anyway to drop when I get too warm.  I might try to find a pair of green throw-away gloves too.

I think I have nearly cured my OCD cleaning moment...unfortunately, I'm not quite done with the clothes.  Can't imagine hubby loving the pile sticking around too long...and I really should do a little decluttering of the rest of the house.  But not until after the race!

NERVES!

A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous. -- Alexander Hamilton

OK, there probably has never been a reasonable argument that I'm well-adjusted.  I'm signed up for an Ironman, for goodness sake.  That's textbook maladjustment in my opinion.  And it's not just my athletic life.  I've been absent from blogging (and barely getting by with my training lately) because I've been struggling to get an article out to see if I can get it published.  I didn't sleep the night before I sent it out.  It made me a complete nervous wreck for the last two weeks...and the strangest thing is, I have tenure - my career doesn't depend on this article.  I mean, it does - articles are signs of continued productivity.  They make your dean happy.  They get you invitations to speak, etc. - that's how I get to travel so much.  But having a complete meltdown getting this article out is total maladjustment.  I've been doing this for 10 years now.  I've been around that block.  And I'm still a bundle of nerves - worse so getting it out, but a little nervous now waiting to hear where it will publish.

Anyway, this coming weekend will be my 2nd ever marathon -- possibly the same mistake twice -- and I'm nervous as all get out.  It doesn't help that my training the last week or so has been less than I would have wished.  Plus with all the snow days, etc., I don't feel like I'm ready.  I've hit a 20-miler.  I hit my long runs leading up to that.  But instead of my 12-miler last Monday, I only got 8 on Tuesday because off the snow.  And this week, all I'm trying to do is keep from getting hurt.  Because that's all I can do now.  Yikes!

...All night hearing voices tell me

That I should get some sleep

Because tomorrow might be good for something

Hold on

Feeling like I'm headed for a breakdown

and I don't know why...

I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell,

I know right now you can't tell

But stay a while and maybe then you'll see

A different side of me.

I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired

I know right now you don't care

But soon enough you're gonna think of me

And how I used to be...me.

TAPER!

I demanded two weeks of rehearsal because to me as an actor, that's the most important time. -- Christine Lahti

Two weeks from tomorrow is the Shamrock Marathon!   I'm so excited, I can hardly wait.  This week I got in a good, solid 20-miler...no cramps, no pain, nothing bad - I'm ready to go.  These next two weeks are just dress rehearsal - I got the training in, I've worked hard, and it's time to taper.  As long as I don't get too hurt or eat too many brownies (yikes!), I am going to Rock the Shamrock!

By the way, who sends brownies with their daughter to a slumber birthday party?  Not only is there cake and ice cream in my house, but some really tasty brownies!  :)