Running

Well, there are only 2 days left. TWO DAYS LEFT!!!! On Saturday morning, before the sun rises I will be up and ready to run twenty-six point two miles. It will take me at least 4 hours and 30 minutes. I have done all I can do to prepare. I had to start resting up this week, no more running after Tuesday. And then the waiting begun. This is probably one of the longest weeks of my life.

I take it back, though, that there is nothing I can do left to prepare. I can eat things. Lots of things. Carbohydrates. Today was supposed to be the big stuff-your-face day. I ate french toast, 4 bagels, pretzels, pasta salad and ice cream. I don’t think I could eat anything else if you paid me. Now I just have to drink an ocean of water to be super hydrated and then I’ll have done everything I can to prepare.

Just for fun, here is a link to the photo from my last road race. That was just a 7.6 mile leg of the 5 person Marathon Relay last September. It was the official beginning of my obsession with completing my own marathon. An hour before that picture was shot I had decided to run the full Marathon this year. And here I am. It feels almost as significant as giving birth.

I turn 26 on Saturday. Fate dictates that my 26th birthday lies 30 weeks before the Akron Marathon, 2008. That gives me exactly enough time to train for the big 26.2 miles.

I start my training on Saturday morning. 26.2 miles/26 years old, it just makes sense.

As fall approacheth I feel a pressing need to make grander efforts towards exercising with the family. I am running 7.1 miles this Saturday in the Akron Marathon with some friends and acquaintances on a five person relay. Training for that has kept me motivated through the heat of summer but I know that shorter days and colder weather will be biting my motivational bud soon enough.

Thus I instated the Wednesday Walk in which we load the stroller and family (only excluding Rob who is at work) and haul off, dog and all, to the same park where I have been training for the race. The goal of this endeavor is to watch the leaves change, teach my dog some manners with other dogs, namely “they-are-not-your-best-friend-so-stop-dragging-me-by-the-arm,” and to get in a habit of exercise which we can add to if we want, but it will get us out of the house at least once a week.

Our Wednesday Walks are 2 hilly miles with a waterfall at the turnaround point and picnic tables at the end. Today we packed a lunch and made use of the picnic tables, or ships according to Olivia. Then we traveled through Neverland in the trees while flying with Nana, I mean Sherman.

The trees are still mostly green to Olivia’s great disappointment. She is looking forward to snow.

But I didn’t just finish, I finished in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 43 seconds. I was hoping to finish in 2:20. I am so competitive, which isn’t good when Rob and I are playing cards, but is very good when trying to run a long distance.

The weather was great, about 63 degrees and overcast, which is perfect for running. I was pushing it hard at the end, and right when I thought that I was overdoing it and might not make the end, right after the 11 mile marker, I saw my family at the side-line cheering for me! I ducked through the crowd and kissed Olivia on the head and that was the boost I needed to make it to finish strong.

I was so overextended at the finish-line that I was weaving around, and kind of dizzy. I probably looked drunk. But I drank some Powerade, and ate some pineapple and a Popsicle and I felt much better except for the extreme soreness.

But that’s that. It’s done and I did great. I feel great. My family is already encouraging me to run in the Akron Marathon at the end of the summer…

and ready to drive up to Cleveland. As Murphy has decreed Olivia woke me up at 4:30 for no good reason. I hope that I am rested enough to run well.

See you all after my race!

While all of you happy Lutherans are getting ready to go to church I will be running my 13.1 miles. The whole family will be there to back me up, and carry me away in a heap from the finish line.

As soon as I have pictures, and results I will post.

GO MEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sure, running is great for me. In fact one of the reasons that I kept going when the training first got difficult was that while I was out on the road or trail no one was touching me. Moms get touched-out quickly, especially with a new baby in the house. It’s also been a great to watch my pants size drop from 8 to 6 to 4 (and getting baggy in the 4s). So, this race and all of the build-up has definitely been for me.

But in my last post I mentioned that I’m running this race for my family as much as I am running it for me. So how is it that mom abandoning her family up to 4 times a week is beneficial to them?

For starters I come home HAPPY. Like, high-on-endorphins-happy. And I have a ton more energy, so I am less likely to be taking naps all day long (or sitting at the computer which is more likely than a nap). My house is staying straightened up more often. Plus, we are learning discipline together when I suit all the kids and the dog up and plop them in the stroller so that I can get my 2 miles in during the week. It’s not easy, but it has to get done.
But even more so, it’s good for them because it is good for me. I feel so much better about myself because I am doing something. It has helped me forget about the fact that I dropped out of college. I am confident that I can finish what I start if I want to, and I really want to finish this race. And a happy, confident, excited mom rubs off on the whole family. I can be proud of me, and so can my family.

I had always liked the idea of meditating on something peaceful to get me through hard situations. I would have thought it would be easier for me to do since I am an extremely visual person, but I could never slow my brain down enough to think on one scene or topic long enough to relax. I’d often end up feeling even more stressed out as my head either jumped franticly from image to image, or I’d end up thinking some really random depressing thought and that is not at all helpful.

But since I began running I’ve been able to train my head to visualize through a scene and calm down with it. We keep running our 6 mile training runs on the same wooded path so the scene has become familiar to me. Especially the homestretch– that last mile that is so easy to run once the endorphins kick in around 4 and a half miles or so that we gradually gain speed until we hit the finish.

I’ve seen this wooded path of Sand Run Parkway over and over again during training, and now I find myself visualizing it while I’m exhausted and washing dishes. Or while I’m trying to calm down during a certain Two-year-old’s temper tantrums. When we have ventured off the home turf and ran longer courses of 8, 9 and 10 miles I zone out on this image when I get exhausted. It reminds me that I am almost at the finish line.

I can’t wait to be running that last mile in Downtown Cleveland, through screaming crowds of people as Jacob’s Field approaches, and my mind will wander back to the trees on Sand Run Parkway, just as my knees are about to give out underneath me. I hope that I’m not so inwardly focused that I miss seeing my family cheering me on at the sidelines. I’m running this as much for them as I am for me.

The discipline I’ve gained from this endeavor has helped me in many ways (though I still can’t easily wake up before 7am). I’m calmer. I’m more likely to finish what I’ve started. And I’m confident that I can do something fantastic, especially when I take a moment to relax, focus, and keep my eye and my mind looking toward my goal.

There are only seven days left until my big event. I haven’t bothered to write about my training because most people find running boring, so I doubt any one would find reading about running much more interesting. But since this race has been my main focus since January, I thought I’d write a little series about it in the upcoming week, followed by pictures from race day as soon as I am able to post them. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope that it makes you as pumped as I am!

was this week’s accomplishment. It took about an hour and 45 minutes, a little less. Afterwards my knees felt like they might collapse, and the next day I was exhausted.

4 weeks left until my race!

Please pray that I don’t injure myself, get ill, or do anything else that would prevent my finishing this race.

And if you happen to live nearby, there’s a BBQ following, bring your own hotdogs and beer.