Poland Spring Marathon Kick-A-Huge-Dent-In-My-Ego Run

This is absolutely the last time I complain about my performance at a short local race. From now on, I'm just not going to mention it. I wish I had started this blog earlier in the year when I could have detailed some of my good races. But I guess running - like everything else in life - is about taking the rough with the smooth. I swear if I hadn't gotten that great time at Chicago, my favourite pastime may have broken my heart by now...

I don't know what the hell was up with me today. As I set off on my jog to the start in Central Park, I knew immediately it wasn't going to be pretty. I actually thought about dropping out before I began. But I'd paid my money, and the team was expecting me...so I went ahead.

I 'raced' as slow today as I did back when I'd just started running just over 2 years ago. My legs were utterly dead; two solid cylinders of lead. I'm guessing that was caused by the speed work on Wednesday. I have a host of other seemingly valid excuses, such as too many cocktails last night and too few hours' sleep, but my history of pre-race partying leads me to believe that's not it. My ego did not take kindly to being a 'mid packer,' I'll admit. By the 2nd mile marker I'd pretty much given up. I tried to convince myself I'd turned this into a 'training run,' but that line of thinking just doesn't fly with my competitive psyche. I dragged my ass over the finish line and made to get the heck out of there ASAP.

And before anyone says it, I don't buy that I'm still recovering from the marathon. My oft-mentioned running buddy Suzanne - who ran a very similar Chicago to me - outdid herself this morning with a sub 7-minute paced PR, with Janine not far behind. So it's not all bad news. Maritza won 5th in her age group! Thanks to her and the other Hellgate speedsters (& absolutely no thanks to me) the Hellgate girls won 3rd team place =)

I don't quite know where to go now with this running thing. No clue what the 'plan' should be. What I do know however is that my motivation and passion remain as high as ever. And that's the important thing I guess.
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Congrats to all marathon finishers today, including some of the Hellgate crew who ran Marine Core. Just 7 days to New York! I can't wait =)

Random Ruminations

YAY. CONGRATULATIONS White Sox! Chicago is, after all, my new favourite city ;-)

So, I'm watching the game with my hubby, and I bring up my usual baseball complaint. One that is of course, running related (I am annoyingly expert at being able to bring just about any topic back to running!)

How fat are some of these guys?! Now, I know they are unbelievably skilled. I can comprehend how hard it is to throw a ball towards a limited rectangular space at 90+mph. I know how hard it is to hit that small ball coming at you at those speeds with a round bat. I've been in those fast pitch softball batting-cages; I've felt the pain. But my beef is this:-
Ideally these guys should optimize all the required skills of the sport, right? And running is one of them. I can't understand, if you're earning that much money, and everyone knows that lighter=faster, why the heck don't some of these pudges lose a few pounds? Or 20? Don't they want to see how much better they could be? Shouldn't they try to maximize their competitive advantage? More to the point - shouldn't the coaches/managers/fans demand it?

Well, that's my rant over with. YAY, I say again. YAY for Chicago.

So my toes must have known they were being ridiculed. A couple of them retaliated on my recent runs, by growing red and swollen, and throbbing and bleeding. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse :(

I made it to the track tonight for the first time in a long, long while. I was dismayed, if not surprised, to learn how slow I am still. I ran the 1600s over 30 seconds slower (7:08s) than I used to manage. I find it intriguing that I've lost so much speed over the shorter distances (evidenced by all those poor performances in the summer races and this track work) but yet I ran that time in the marathon. I wonder what would happen if I got my old speed back and put in the same (or more) LSD that I did for Chicago.

The prospect of doing that is a little overwhelming right now. I'm going to have to think seriously about it first. One thing I do know - if/when I sign up for another marathon, I'm going the whole way. No half ass effort, no slacking off. No eating like a pig in the months leading up to it. No skipped hill and speed sessions. No cutting 20 milers down to 18. No premature ends to Saturday morning long runs due to hangovers. No 10lbs of extra weight. The Whole Way. If/when I run another 26.2, it'll be to find out what I'm capable of.

Sexy Runner's Toes

Is my husband a lucky man or what?

Dreamy Run & Nightmarish Literature

The local running clubs of Queens organize the 'blue line' training run every year about this time, which covers the last 10 miles of the New York marathon from 60th/1st to the finish line in Central Park. This is always lots of fun. Volunteers at multiple points along the route provide water and Gatorade, as well as directions for those of us with a bad memory and no internal compass (the Bronx section is particularly tricky). I felt surprisingly good the whole way, running much faster than I expected. But that's probably because my legs were super fresh, having only run twice this week (about 11 miles) thanks to this stubborn, snotty head cold. Breathing properly while running is proving to be quite a challenge, I tell ya. I was very satisfied to discover that 10 miles still feels negligible; I wonder how much longer that perception will last...

As our substantial crowd trickled into the end point by Tavern on The Green, I was amused (in a worrisome way) about the topic of virtually every conversation around me. Aches, twinges, strains, pulls, tightening, limping, throbbing...so many of us are suffering either post-marathon hangover pains, or pre-marathon hightened-sensitivity-to-any-slight-niggle-on-any-part-of-the-body-syndrome (not a name that rolls of the tongue - perhaps I can reduce it to a more catchy acronym?) I myself still have that twingy right hamstring and a peculiar ache in the ball of my right foot. I feel very bad for some New York hopefuls who have serious injury concerns, and I wish them a speedy recovery.

Mary Wittenberg, president of the NYRR, was hanging around the Tavern at that time, and came over to say hello and give us an impromptu marathon pep-talk. There I am, hanging on to her every word, a little (ridiculously) awe struck about being addressed by her in such close proximity. What an amazing women. Now there's a job that's really meaningful and worthwhile. I bet she doesn't go home every night feeling like she's contributed absolutely nothing of value to the world!

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Totally unrelated to running:

I'm reading Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro right now. It's by far the most disturbing work of fiction I've ever come across. Anybody out there read it? I'm only about half way, and I'm finding it very difficult to keep going; it's bothering me that much. Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely fantastic (nominated for The Man Booker Prize) but it's almost unbearably freaky. It's really affecting my mood, even when I'm not reading it. My mum suggests getting it over and done with ASAP and moving on to something light and fluffy like Arabella Weir's Does my bum look big in this? I think I might have to.

Ok, ok, I'm not quite done blogging about it yet...

No, I have no idea what silly thing I was doing with my arms crossing the finish line =)

Runorama Rundown

I volunteered to author a week of the Runorama Rundown - a little summary of what some of our online running community has been up to lately.

This has come at a good time for me, as I have absolutely no personal running to write about due to becoming sick this week, AGAIN. I think I successfully fought off the worst of this illness before my marathon, but now it's back with a vengeance. I thoroughly empathize with hilariously funny Runner Susan who is "feeling like poop" right now, and struggling to recover from her awesome Chicago performance just over one week ago.

Ok, so here goes with the Rundown:

Richard bagged himself a superb PR at the HILLY 2005 Pervasive Power Charge 10 Miler, and was very excited to receive his NY marathon registration card recently, which left me overcome with my own nostalgia for that fabulous race!

Another blogger and runner-extrordinaire Chelle received her NYC marathon registration card too, and is now in a quandary over whether to run the race or not, given the extremely LOW NUMBER she's been assigned. Should she do it? You go tell her!

Rob (who should really start his own dedicated running blog) ran the Columbus marathon and writes "This past Sunday in Columbus I completed a life goal. I'm not quite sure when or why it became a goal, but running a marathon is nothing to take lightly. 26.2 miles is a long way. So after traveling 25.2 miles you see a sign that says 1 mile to go. What a mile this is. The longest one of the day it seems. You squint your eyes and look for the finish line. Fatigued beyond words you desperately want the inspiration that comes from the slow approach of the final goal. Some sign that this will all be over soon enough. Not in Columbus. Nope, you run nearly the entire last mile, turn the corner, and run about 100 yards to the finish. No lengthy stretch of glory."

Quod She also ran Columbus and was delighted to have qualified for the Boston Marathon with a stupendous 3:43:13.

Poor Anne had a bad experience and a DNF at the Long Beach Marathon on Sunday, but writes about it with great humor, grace and wisdom here.

If I was reading this one correctly, Chris ran the Toronto marathon in a 3:21 just three weeks after completing the Scotia Bank Waterfront Marathon in 3:34! Now he’s considering the Niagara Marathon on October 23rd. He and I both think he’s getting ADDICTED!

Thomas has decided, after just recently running the 3-Country Marathon, Lake Constance ro run the Connemara marathon on Mar 26th 2006.

My favorite tech-savvy blogger Shore Turtle provides a very detailed mile-by-mile account of his recently raced Seaside Half Marathon. His time was a fantastic 1:48:30, faster than his "secret target goal" (don't we all have those?) of 1:50:00.

Jason starts his brand new running blog off with a bang and an account of his recent Baltimore Half marathon, for which he "turned in a 1hrs. 38min. 43 sec. time (7:33min./mile pace)"

A little closer to my home, Brooklyn did a truly ROCKIN’ near–20-minute PR at the Staten Island Half and is rightly proud of himself!

And let's not forget to mention our very own Derek Rose of this Runorama fame (see now you have to update it!) who also ran the Staten Island Half this past weekend in a 1:36:27.

On to the shorter distances now...

Chad ran a great 10K for 4th place and a 39:02 this weekend. He provides us with some psychological insight into race tactics.

Jack ran the 10K Unicef Oberwald Forest Run Race in a magnificent 49:07 - a new personal best by 5 seconds!

Brent got his first PR! this weekend with a 26:20 5K =)

And lastly, but not in the slightest bit leastly, the pinkest of pink ladies ran an awesome 44:57 6KM race this weekend too.

Big congrats to everyone who just raced, and GOOD LUCK to all you racers for this weekend.
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Hey, so I had an idea while doing this - and I'm positive I can't be the first person to think of it - that the official marathon websites should have a section where people training for that race can list their blog address. How cool would it be to easily find and follow a ton of other bloggers all working towards the same goal? Does anyone know anyone we can throw that idea at?

And yes - it had to happen eventually...I was tagged by both Thomas and Chad today, so my 23rd post/5th line is rather boring: "Coincidentally, four of the six of my vacationing group of friends are training for a marathon, and we all needed to run something substantial while away." I'm really going to have to think about who to "tag" back as I'm sure you've all been done already.

Now I really need to go sleep off this cold.

Thank you and Good Night.

Back in the Saddle Again

Woo Hoo - I ran for the first time Saturday since the marathon. Timing worked out perfectly, as it has been raining cats and dogs here in NY all week, but yesterday was sunny, clear and beautiful. I went out for a sloooooow 40 minute jog down to the East River and back. It was wonderful to get out there again, even with pretty much completely dead legs, and a strangely niggly right hamstring.

I want to say a belated big CONGRATS to Tony, Mike, Maritza, Josh and Eamonn, who made up the rest of the fabulous Hellgate Eight in Chicago. Extra huge props to Mike for his immense 3:08 and to Maritza for doing our gender proud with a tremendous 3:18.

I am compelled to write down some more boring comments, facts and figures about the marathon. I feel the need to get it all out of my system, before I am can properly move on. So to warn you, the remainder of this post is written more for my own selfish cathartic purposes (as well as for future reference) than entertainment value, so I apologize in advance if you experience sudden onset narcolepsy while reading.
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Having completed the 3-"big"-US-marathons-in-under-12-months hat trick, I have to be a geek and compare my stats, so here goes:

The main point of interest to me from these charts is that there was just 23 seconds between the first halves of Boston and of Chicago, but over 8 minutes between the 2nd halves! Keeping Chicago consistent is what gave me my PR I guess.

Other boring minutia that I know I'll be glad I wrote down when the next marathon rolls around:

• Race day was preceded by two very bad nights' sleep. I reckon that as long as you're well rested from the week before, the rule about a good night's sleep two nights prior is not that important.
• I ate half a banana, and half a bagel with peanut butter about 2 hours before gun time, and a whole power bar 20 minutes before. For me, that is the absolute minimum I should eat (more if the race starts later, obviously.)
• I consumed 4 Power gels over the course: at 50 mins, 1:40, 2:30, and 3:15. I felt like I really needed them to keep me "sharp." In fact I could have taken another.
• I drank about a half a cup of water at every single water station bar the last. That was possibly slightly too much given the low temperature. I took just 2 gulps of Gatorade - which was far too sweet - that I didn't really need, given that I was getting all that sugar from the gels.
• No injuries/chaffing suffered during the race (I vaselined up big-time in the morning). I did not feel my dodgy left knee at all, which was both a surprise and a relief. With the exception of 4 completely blackened and fungified (I just made up that word, didn't I?) toenails that are bound to fall off soon, I think I came out of this one relatively unscathed.
• Immediately after the race my legs felt fine. I was even able to stretch for 10-15 minutes, unlike after Boston where I could barely move. I popped a few Advil afterwards too, which must have helped.
• My recovery this time felt much faster than back in April. I only had to 'crab' down the subway stairs until Tuesday this week. Commuting was not a time consuming, painful nightmare this time.
• Advice to myself for next time: take a day off work afterwards for pity's sake! You really need to decompress!
• Where was everybody? Except for perhaps at the expo, I never got the impression that there were 33,000+ people running a race that weekend. As far as I could figure, there were no other marathoners in my hotel, the streets weren't teeming with runners, there were no other runners eating dinner at the Italian restaurant the night before. Huh? And when we got to Grant Park and dropped our bag off at gear check, it seemed to me there were just a few hundred other people milling around. Not even as many as at an average NYRR race. I guess with us getting there so early, starting in the preferred corral, and it taking just one minute to cross the start line gave me the impression of it being a much smaller race than it actually was. At no point did I get a perspective on the sea of people behind me.
• The crowds too, although fun and enthusiastic, appeared far thinner and more sparse than in either of the two other cities. This suited me fine, as I found the 6-deep 26.2-mile-long throng of screaming spectators in both NY and Boston a little suffocating at times.

Highlight of the entire 3-marathon experience? I have to be biased and say that the moment that will forever stick with me - not just for being an amazing running moment, but one of those treasured life moments - came at the very start of my journey. I received the local running-club privilege of starting the NYC marathon in a women-only group of just 150 or so - right up front behind the elites. I stood on the upper level of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge that morning, with the clear blue cloudless sky above, and stunning panoramic view. Six or seven helicopters circled overhead, adding to the mounting sense of tension and excitement. I could not believe I was actually there, and about to run this amazing race in this wonderful city. Talk about a first marathon experience! I don't think anything will top it.

Second best memory? Right at the opposite end of the journey of course, with the 3:30!

I wonder how long it will be before I can bring myself to reset my stopwatch?

Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever

...shouted a spectator, just a few miles into the Boston marathon - words that have stuck with me ever since.

The absolutely worst shout I have heard many times while in a marathon is "...you're nearly there...", when you're only at mile 18 or 20, or even 23. NEARLY THERE??? Only a non-marathoner would dream of shouting something like that. Nearly there is the 25 mile mark, or perhaps only the 26 mile mark. At anything less than that, and you are just as far away from the finish line as you were at the start, perhaps further. And only marathon runners could possibly understand that gobbledygook!
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Poll a few million runners, and ask them their idea of ideal weather conditions for a marathon, and I'd bet you'd get a few million descriptions of Chicago last Sunday. Fifties, a cool breeze but no strong wind, and dry. Chicago conditions on October 9th 2005 = bliss + a rash of PRs. And what a blessed contrast to the hellish conditions I trained under in NYC this summer.

Along with bad weather, I had predicted disaster for every single stage of the marathon weekend, from getting to La Guardia, to the flight being cancelled, to being refused my bib number through the lack of a registration card, to having no hotel room to sleep in, to being unable to get to the start line on time, to failing to make it into the preferred start corral on time etc. etc. None of these disasters materialized. On the contrary, the entire weekend up to and including the race went as beautifully smoothly as could be. Now, after the race, that's a different story!

Suzanne, Janine and I managed to miss our flight home by rabbiting on about the race, while sitting blissfully unaware that they had switched the gates on us. So we had to run, yes run through the terminal to beg to be let on the next flight home. At La Guardia, I managed to get into the one taxi, of all the thousands of taxis in this huge city, whose transmission dies. And of course, it dies about a third of a mile from the taxi rank, in the middle of nowhere in the desolate grounds of the airport. I have to walk, walk all the way back to the rank by myself, with my 4 bags, in the pouring rain. If that had been after Boston, I would still be sitting in the back of that cab now, because my legs just weren't functional a few hours after running 26.2 miles of hills!
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The three of us girls all had a preferred start. Me, being the extreme worrywart that I am, had us all in our corral practically before anyone else, and with a whole hour to go. It struck me then that the three of us are all rather evenly matched, and since we were starting together, there was a very good chance we would run together for a while. It turned out that we ran together practically the entire way.

We set off averaging an 8:00 pace. I knew Suzanne was intending to go for a 3:30, but I really wasn't. I kept thinking we were all going far too fast, and there was no way in hell we were going to keep it up for the 26.2. I kept waiting for the crash to come, the wall to hit, the fatigue to set in. It never did! The three of us crossed the 5K mats exactly together all the way until 25K. At the half way mat, with our watches reading 1:44:40, Suzanne announced we just had to do the same over again and we would make the 3:30. Internally, I laughed and laughed. Keep the same pace for another 13.1 miles! Hahahahaha. Very funny. I still thought at that point we were deluding ourselves. I felt like a fraud running alongside the 3:30 pace group for a good deal of the way. In my negative frame of mind, I actually envisioned them turn to stare at me and tell me to get back where I belonged!

But as every mile passed, and we still hadn't fallen behind in any substantial way, I had to stop my mind from becoming too excited at the prospect of a 3:30. You mustn't think that far ahead Yvonne - focus on the here-and-now for gadsake!

At every water station, I would lose Janine and Suzanne momentarily as they fell back. I find I can plow through the stations barely slowing at all. That is one skill I've definitely developed from scratch in the past few years. Grab the edge of cup as you pass only marginally slowing, squash cup, hold it for 6 or 7 strides while you prepare to imbibe, swallow in controlled manner, scrunch cup, drop to the side. I don't want to sound like a marathon nazi, but I do still get annoyed at water-walkers. Can't they grab, keep running, and then walk when a little further down the road, instead of adding to the already congested bottleneck?

Since I was completely unfamiliar with Chicago, and the route, I found myself relying on the 5K mats as my landmarks. I become a little irrationally obsessed that Janine, Suzanne and I cross them at exactly the same time. I thought perhaps our 'trackers' would find it amusing.

After the 35K mark I had pulled away a little from Suzanne and Janine. I felt terrifically strong. I remember passing a hell of a lot of people, and it seemed to me (a warped perception?) they were mostly men. I recall frequently squeezing through pairs of elbows belonging to men up to a foot taller than me. Why do I get such a kick out of that?!

Just before the 40K mark Suzanne caught up with me again panting that she thought she'd killed herself doing so. Nonsense I thought, and told her to put it out of her mind.

"This is what we're going to do" I announced.

"We're going to hit that 40K mat together.

And then we're going for the 3:30.

OK?"

Suzanne agreed, but of course, didn't need me deliriously yelping orders at her. She had her race entirely under her own control. It wasn't long before she took off, beating me to the finish line by 46 seconds and garnering herself a sub 3:30, a 14-minute PR, and a 46/1832 age placing.

Janine, who trains not much more than 30 mpw, and is far more focused on her many triathlons, came in at an outstanding 3:33:07, for a 6-minute PR and a 66/1832 age placing.

I came galloping in with a 3:30:15, for an 8-minute PR and a 125/2588 age placing.

A number of people, including blogger Chad, have asked me if I was disappointed not to break 3:30. First, it's got to be said that I'm a little confused how exactly I managed not to. I looked at my watch when I hit the '1 mile to go' sign and I swear it read 3:21:17, which gave me 8:42 to make it. I hadn't run a mile anywhere near that slowly up to that point. Why would I suddenly slow now, with all the psychological benefits of the home stretch? Well, Runner's World did recently warn of an "obnoxious hill" just before the 26-mile point. I had been assured the day before that there was no such thing, but it turns out there was. Nothing serious, but obviously serious enough to thwart my 3:29:xx effort. Sadly, my first feeling when I crossed the line and stopped my watch was that of shock and letdown. I think I even let out an audible groan. I did however, quickly get over it when I realized I had come into this race hoping for a 3:35 at best.

It might sound weird to some that the three of us ran together for so much of the race. I know our coach on the sidelines was concerned that we weren't running our 'own race'. And he yelled as much at us from the crowd. But I, for one felt that it really benefited me. I had had no intention of setting out a such a strong pace for the first 10 miles, fearful that it would come back to bite me later on. So obviously now I'm glad I didn't squander precious time by taking it too easy in the beginning. I'm not convinced however that Suzanne or Janine weren't slowed down by the tactic.
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Frighteningly not-mediocre Mike talked recently about the point when runners "open their minds to break down the mental barriers of what is and is not possible." I truly feel that this happened to me on Sunday. While I was happy with my Boston performance back in April, I realize now that after it, I had kind of categorized myself as a 3:40-ish marathoner. Now I know I am not. Although - happily - my performance on Sunday is possibly the best I could have hoped for at that exact point in time, given my training, my weight, and the summer-from-hell that preceded it, I now believe I still have not yet reached my peak. In spite of the title of this post - dare I say it - I was not actually in pain at any point throughout the race. I was surprisingly comfortable the whole way.

Hence, I'll say publicly that one day (and I've no idea when yet), I'm going to lose the excess 10-15 pounds I'm dragging around, I'm going to put in closer to 60 miles a week - including some quality speed work, and I'm going to run another marathon.

And I'm going to smash that 3:30.

And then. I swear. I'll be satisfied very happy ;o)

Happy Anniversary

I'm still digesting all the details of the great race on Sunday, and will write it all down here soon. In the meantime though, I have work and an anniversary dinner to go to with my lovely hubby tonight. Nine years (12 in total) and still going strong...

It's only relatively recently that I realized how rare it is for a young woman (19!) to get swept off her feet by a gorgeous, super-smart, hilariously funny, liberal, honourable, caring, loving hunk; and then for them to go off and live happily ever after.

I think often about the topic mentioned recently in a post by my favourite fellow-blogger Chelle, about the sources of happiness. I may not have the job of my dreams (haha, far from it), and the running are the apartment are pretty darn good right now. But if it came down to it, I would ditch the lot of it in a heartbeat to keep my wonderful marriage.

There's a reason it's a 4-letter word

Do you know what's worse than going back to work after a holiday? Going back to work the day after running the race of your life, that's what. A race that's been the focus of most of your attention and energy for months and months. With the exception of the accolades received from some lovely colleagues, today (Columbus Day, no less) was the most miserable, soul-destroying, frustrating, anti-climax of a day, ever.

If I loved work even a small fraction as much as running, my daily life would be infinitely brighter!

Race report to follow, I promise.

YEE-HAW!

Thank you all for your encouraging comments! They really helped, and meant a lot to me.

Exhaustion precludes me from writing a longer race report until later, but for now I'll let the updated chart below tell the story, and let you know that I've got a huge grin plastered all over my face that wont come off for a long, long time =)


PS, my words back in April were indeed prescient, as Suzanne Super Star broke 3:30, PRing by 14 minutes!

(Not Very) Famous Last Words

This summer of training has been a humbling experience. I haven't coped well with the heat, and even less well with the humidity. My left knee has been troubling me consistently, although I haven't mentioned it more than once for fear of sounding like a broken record (besides, I'm superstitious.) I have not run what I would consider to be fast (for me/my potential) in months. I've completed no successful speed work, no intervals, no fartlek, no structured hill work. I've fallen short of PRs in every race distance by at least 2 or 3 minutes. I've fallen over twice while running (yes twice - I was too embarrassed to admit the second time - it happened just a week or so after the first time) and scraped myself up pretty bad. Ironically enough, given the very last line of my very first post, the 10K open win back in June is my last run of which I can say I am truly proud.

But you know, what's the point in going into the marathon with a negative attitude? That can do nothing but harm. I'm going to approach Chicago the same way I approached NY and Boston. And that was with brazen naïve optimism. Why? Because, at heart, I feel I am a marathon runner. For some strange reason, even though I didn't come to this sport till after I hit 30, and even though my times are not exactly jaw dropping, I feel that marathoning is 'me' - I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing.

And, heck, check out the weather report - if that's not reason to cheer, I don't know what is!

What's more, I have actually worked pretty hard this season. I have five 18+ training runs under my belt. I hit the 50 mpw mark three times, which is three times more than I ever have. I got out there and did it. I ran with club mates, friends, race competitors, but most of the time, I ran alone. I ran to work, home from work, on the track, in PA's countryside, in New Orleans - before the chaos, on Roosevelt Island, Randalls Island, Central Park and around the boroughs Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. I did it when it was 90F, I did it when it was 90% humidity. I did it when every ounce of my being was telling me to skip it. And for that, I am proud.


So, while things have not exactly gone right for me this summer, neither have they gone completely wrong. Hence, I truly don't know what to expect on October 9th. But I'm going to stay sensible, keep the first 16 miles under control, then see what I've got. I think I've become pretty expert at knowing what my body needs in terms of hydration and fuelling. I've got a ton of common sense when it comes to the 26.2. I have the common sense, but do I have any more speed?!

Whether I come back defeated or elated I'm going to go out there and do the best I can at what I love to do most. That's not just running, but running a long, long way.

I re-read my own double-sided legal-sized 8-page Boston race report last night for the first time since scribbling it back in April. I was hoping to remind myself of what went well and what went badly, and what I should be doing differently this time around. I wasn't expecting to come away so pumped up, as I'd totally forgotten writing this very last line:

"I can't wait for Suzanne and me to take on the Chicago marathon. I think our best is definitely still to come."

Against the Odds

At this point, I can only hope that I make it to the start line of the marathon.

• I am still pretty sick: my recovery optimism was somewhat premature. I feel feverish, achy and weak.
• My registration card never did appear in the mail.
• The hotel in Chicago had no record of my room reservation via Orbitz.
• My sports watch broke - in a bizarre way - yesterday, prompting an emergency repair.
  

Is someone trying to tell me I shouldn't be running this race?!

Because TOO BAD - I'm running it, damnit!!!

A moment of genuine panic

At 3am Thursday night, I awoke with a painful chest, itchy throat and phlegmy cough.

AAAAARGH.

This was not freaked-out pre-marathon paranoid jitters - this was for real. My tendency is to get ill about once a year and stay very ill for a good three weeks. I had good reason to become panicked and upset. Not just for the potential waste of months of physical and mental training and preparation, but also (says the cheap Scot) - all that money! The entry fee, the flight, the hotel...

These are the risks you take signing up for an out-of-town marathon, I suddenly realized.

So I load up on drugs, wrap myself in a scarf and jacket for the day (much to the amusement of fellow commuters and colleagues), drink water and juice by the gallon, and pray to the running gods to make me better.

I think it worked :o)

Last night was our Hellgate pre-Chicago pasta bash in Astoria, and this morning was a 10+ miler with a small club consortium, both of which I took part in as originally planned. Hurrah! And I'm happy to report that the run was a cinch. It should be the case that almost 11 miles feels like absolutely nothing, when you're just one week out from attempting 26.2.

My run was followed up this afternoon with an indulgent but very reasonably priced 90 minute deep tissue massage, which reaffirmed to me the messed up state of my left illiotibial band. It's a little frightening how sensitive it is, especially in comparison to my right. Motion control Brooks and orthotics can't even mitigate the damage caused by severe over-pronation. I gotta go back and get that worked on some more later...

I had to laugh the other day when I checked out this site to be informed that the record high temperature for around Chicago marathon weekend is 92F, while the low is 32F. That really doesn't give me any solid clue as to the possible metrological challenges next Sunday. Hopefully we'll avoid the extremes and settle for the very pleasant sounding average of 58F.