When Life Shows Up With a Vengeance

Due to a crazy work schedule, my oldest starting high school, and a BIG lack of motivation, I haven't posted in a while.  Even though Boston was all I ever dreamed it would be, I have not had the goal to requalify.  I have done more biking, swimming and now I find myself in the middle of marathon training again.  How did that happen?
However, Thursday, September 6th, 2012, life showed up with a vengeance and stopped me and my family in our tracks.  Isn't ironic that when tragedy strikes, all the "important" stuff ceases to matter.  We drop everything and focus on what is really important.
September 6th, Gwen Phelps beat cancer.  She beat it by receiving the ultimate healing from God.  She had lived with Primary peritoneal cancer (also known as primary peritoneal carcinoma) for some time.  Her body finally said "enough" and she let go. She is now singing with the Angels and praising our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Gwen is my sister's mother-in-law.  However, this family is part of my family.  We vacation with them, care about them, and now grieve with them.  We grieve not because she is in Heaven, but because we are left here without her.
So here we are..... left without her, trying to figure out how to go on.....
So I decided to do what will keep me out of therapy.
I run!
I run to forget.
I run to make since of it all.
I run to remember.
I run in her memory.  This next marathon I run, I will run for Gwen.  She has blessed my life in so many ways.  She gave freely without expecting anything in return so the least I can do is run a race for her.
The Thunder Road Marathon is the next race on my list.  This is the same race I qualified for Boston on.  However, this time the run will not be about qualifying, it will be about Gwen's memory.

To find out more and how you can join the fight, go to http://www.primaryperitonealcancer.org.
I hope to help raise awareness and some money.
I hope to honor Gwen's memory!

I will now be posting in my See Spot Run, Bike, and Swim Blog.  It is my main blog!  So go read and have fun!

Week 5 - 1/22/12 - 1/28/12

This week of training was what I call a step back week.  A step back week simply means I step back on my long run miles before I increase.  For example, last week, my long run was 14.  This week 10.  Next week, it will go up to 16. MERCY!
This week was also the week I receive much unwanted advice about my weight and my running.  People LOVE to say crazy things to me.  No really, just ask some of my closest friends. 
Here are a few running and health related comments that I get most often.

1. I look like I have an eating disorder.... Really?  Now as some of you know, I am a Mental Health Therapist, so I know the criteria for Anorexia and Bulimia.  I do NOT meet the criteria for either.  However, people love to tell me I need to eat more.  If they only knew how much I eat!
2. Running is really bad for me!  I just chuckle when I hear this.  I know that not running would be bad for me, because I would become a danger to myself and others.  I am actually healthier now than I was when I was younger and not running.  Now I am not saying that I couldn't get hurt, but I could get hurt walking down the stairs too.   Here is a short writeup that refutes this notion.
3. And the funniest of all...Yes this is said to me, is "If I continue to run like I do, my uterus will fall out".  My response is, "Well that's OK, I don't need it anymore anyway".

So there you have it.  Now how can I say this, without it saying rude?  Well I can't, so as teens say (before saying something offensive), "No Offence",  but I really don't want to hear advice like that.  So with all that said.... here is my insane training for the week.  I hope I still have a uterus after it! =)
As always, whatever is highlighted has a link.  The days of the week that are highlighted have a link to my garmin.

Monday was a Tempo Run!
I woke up to the pitter patter of rain on my windows and knew that a good tempo run would not be happening outside today.  So I drug myself to the YMCA and pounded out 7 miles (5 of it at tempo pace)on the dreadmill. 
1 mile warm up
1 mile at 8:00
1 mile at 7:53
1 mile at 7:47
1 mile at 7:53
1 mile at 8:00
1 mile cool down
I HATE THE DREADMILL!  But I LOVE running!

Tuesday was 2000 meters (or 1.24 miles) of glorious lap swimming!
I met Bree (my good friend who I ran my 1st marathon with) at the NOMAD to swim.  This is where my Abigayle swims for her swim team.  We jumped in the pool and I really thought I was going to go into hypothermia.  After about 15 minutes, I want numb so it wasn't so bad.  But really, they have a wonderful pool and it was a joy to swim there.

Wednesday was Hill Work!
This was 7xhill!  I really thought I was going to die!  After consulting many people about the Boston course, I have decided that it would be good to practice running up and down hills.  Now I have been told that up hill running is easy.... it's the down hills that get you.  I was a sceptic.  However, after a few downhill repeats, I believe.  Here is a write up on down hill running just in case you want to know more!

Thursday was a rest day from training and I needed it!  My quads were trashed from my hill repeats!

Friday was my Long Run!

This was 10 miles with the middle 7 at a faster pace! 

I know, guys, you don't care about my running outfit rambling....but.... I wore my PINK LuLu Skirt today!  My sweet hubby got it for me.  I have to say it was almost too much because it is tooooooo cute!

Anyway, back to the run!  It was really hot and humid today so the first 2 miles were a warm up where my heart rate was out the roof and I couldn't breath!  (Maybe running is bad for me... HaHa!)  But after we picked up the pace I was fine.  I just wish I could run a full marathon at this pace!  Now that would be cool!

Saturday was a Pace Run!

I had to do 7 miles today.  Because I ran a bit faster on Friday I decided to make this a recovery run.  The only problem was that I only had an hour to complete 7 miles.  I had dropped Abigayle off at swim practice while I ran.  I find it amazing how getting back to pick up my baby girl pushes me to run faster.  So this run was run right at marathon pace.  My legs were a bit tired, but all in all, it was a good run.

So, at the end of the week, I completed all my workouts, felt pretty good, and still had all my vital organs in tact.  So I guess it was a good week.

I want to hear from you!  What is the craziest thing someone has said to you?  It can be running related or not!

Week 3 - 1/8/12 - 1/14/12

So here we go again.... Going into week 3 I feel good.  My cold is mostly gone and no foot issues.  I am feeling confident that this will be a good week of training.
If you only care about the true training, click on the day to see the garmin info!  Otherwise, enjoy my ramblings! :)
Monday was a tempo run.
I was excited because it wasn't freezing outside.  So I wore my new Lulu skirt that I got for Christmas (from the cast of the Attic....thanks guys!) Very exciting.  It is amazing how fast I feel when I wear cute clothes... but I digress.  My goal was to run 6 miles.  35 minutes of this 6 mile run was to be at tempo pace.  My tempo pace is between 7:43-8:03.  I ended up doing around 4.61 miles a bit faster than my tempo pace.  I blame the skirt!  Brian, one of the guys that runs with my running group found me and Michelle and ran with us.  He had just completed the Frosty 50k on Saturday and still kept a fast tempo pace.  AMAZING!  It was a wonderful, fun run with my friends and my skirt. :)
Tuesday I swam.
Really nothing to say but I did laps.  1900 yards of back and forth, back and forth.  I swim like a rock but it helps me recover from the hard runs and makes me feel like a triathlete.  Well not really but it does make me a better runner.
Wednesday was a threshold workout.
This was supposed to be 6Xhill repeats.  However, the pouring down rain and cold deterred me from attempting this run outside.  So I decided to do a Threshold workout on the dreadmill.  Three things about this workout.  1) It is HARD!  Click on the garmin link to see the deets.  But basically you run fast and on an incline 3 minutes at a time with a 1 minute recovery period.  2) It is on the dreadmill!  I don't like the dreadmill (thus the name).  It is boring and I feel like it is mentally harder than running outside.  3) However, it is a shorter workout.  And I think I did not do it fast enough.  My "fast parts" I did at a 7:41 pace with incline.  I chose this because I did this pace last year in my training and it really pushed me.  Now don't be fooled, I was pushed, but think I could have gone faster.  I will know next time it rains. Ha! 
Thursday was a rest day, but I did an easy swim.
No need to include the garmin info..... But I felt like I cheated yesterday because it was a shorter workout.  So I swam an easy 1000 today.  Plus I had some cool new bungee things to go on my goggles to hold them on.  I got them because of Abigayle (my 13yo daughter).  She is on a year round swim team and all the kids use them because they work so well.  So I wanted to try them out.  I LOVE them!!
Friday was my Long run of 13 miles.
Goal was to keep the first 10 miles around a 9:00 pace, then run the last 3 miles on the King Tiger Route at a faster pace.... While and after running UP David Taylor.  This is to help me prepare for the uphill second half of Boston. 
Now after saying all that, this run was amazing! However, it was COLD!  It was also windy and this took my breath away while running.  The only way I can describe it is, when I breathed in, it was like the oxygen could not get into my lungs.  So I had to get used to this feeling.  This was mainly the case when I was running to the Mallard Creek Greenway and after coming off of it.  When I was on the greenway, I was more sheltered from the wind.  I never warmed up though.
All in all, my plan worked.  I only stopped my garmin 1 time when we had to cross Harris Blvd.  Took a gel around mile 7 and stopped to walk at this point.  However, I was trying to do this at a good and slow pace.  At the end, I had enough steam (even with the wind) to speed up.  This taught me a great lesson.  Start out slow and build!
Saturday was a pace run.
Now Saturday I had to go back out and hammer out 6 miles at marathon pace (8:29).  I have to be honest, I did not know if I could accomplish this.  This meant running down and then up David Taylor.  I started out a bit slower and started to build.  I ran this run with the University City Road Runners.  A great group who is very encouraging!!!  By the second COLD mile, I was having fun and running way too fast.  But I was having so much fun with the group that I continued on.  I knew at mile 3, they would keep going and I would turn around.  I knew I could slow down at that point.  I sorta did, but not too much.  I did slow up, going UP David Taylor, but not too much.  I felt good, however, need to slow down on my pace runs so I don't get hurt.
Sunday is always the Big Attic!
Overall, I felt really good this week.  I hope it continues as I start increasing my miles.  Next week I up the mileage a little bit to two 7 mile runs, speed work,  and a 14 mile long run!

It All Started With A Mouse

January 11, 2012, marks the 8 year anniversary of my marathon debut. In January of 2004 I ran my first marathon. The Walt Disney Marathon to be exact.

How things have changed from that first marathon. How I have changed.

First I have lost about 50 pounds! This is a significant amount of weight. It was a battle to shed these pounds. I had to change how I coped with stress! I used to use food as a coping mechanism. When things got tough, I ate. That did not work. I only felt bad about myself and gained weight. I started teaching myself to deal with stress in a healthy manner. Run! Running is my therapy. I had to decide which was more important... That brownie and how good it tasted, or being fit and running faster. I decided I wanted to run faster.

That marathon ended with a time of over 5 hours. I was proud that I finished, but felt I could do better..... However in the weeks to come, my aspirations of getting faster had to be put on the back burner. Immediately after I ran my first marathon, Matt and I flew back to Charlotte and went to Presbyterian Hospital. Matt's dad had a major stroke and was dying. We went straight to the hospital and for the next week, Matt lived at the hospital. Ernie, Matt's dad died a week later. This was a hard blow. Very unexpected. Very shocking. In comparison to Ernie's death, my marathon was not important so I never got excited about my accomplishment. It was like the marathon never happened.

Boston will be my 15th marathon. From the 1st marathon at Disney to my 14th at Thunder Road, I have gone from 160 pounds to 113 (as I write this). I have gone from a 12 minute per mile marathon pace to an 8:30 minute per mile marathon pace. I have grown closer to God! I have been privileged to see His mighty hand work in my life. I have survived the childhood years of my children and now I am entering the wonderful teen years. I have grown closer to my wonderful husband and have even helped him train and run 4 marathons.

I thank and blame Ron Horton for this madness. He trained me and Bree Horton for the first marathon.... Then he signed up and ran it with us. I did not understand what that meant at the time... But now I understand that he had to put his training (and budget) on hold so Bree and I could be successful. He made the marathon fun and took a ton of pictures!! So now I can remember it.

I like who I have become because of running....