2010 Wrap Up Outer Banks, Route 66 and St. Jude's

Since we're into the second month of 2011, I better post about my last two marathons of 2010.

My most fun marathon of the year was Outer Banks in November. We went to celebrate Marv Winter's completion of North Carolina as his 50th state. The Outer Banks community rolls out the red carpet for all who come into town for the marathon weekend. When we arrived, the winds were gusting to 40 mph and we had an 8K to run on Saturday morning. We were dressing up like pirates and we sure didn't want to freeze our booties! By Saturday morning, the wind had died down somewhat but it was still pretty nippy waiting for the race to start. We were quite the topic of conversation, we thought there was an award for best costumes so we were all decked out but we learned that the costume competition was for the marathon the next day! The 8K went through some beautiful trails which shielded us from the wind. By doing the 8K and the marathon, we got a special Blackbeard's Challenge medal. After the 8K we warmed up and toured the town some, including going to Kitty Hawk (those Wright Brothers had amazing persistence), had great burgers and fries at Five Guys and later went to the pasta dinner for the marathon. The pasta dinner was super fun because a lot of Marv's marathon buddies were there from all over the US. The next morning we braced ourselves for some more chilly weather but the wind was much better. We were bussed from Nags Head to Kitty Hawk where the race started. The first half of the marathon was through neighborhoods, Kitty Hawk memorial, some trails and then the last half went out onto the highway and into Manteo. The course is really pretty and not challenging, you could PR if the wind wasn't bad. Our Tulsa group stayed together and took the race easy and slow and we had a blast. Lots of picture taking and just celebrating Marv's endurance and encouragement to others as he ran 50 marathons. I love how both the 8K and the marathon started-the most amazing, heart-felt prayers of blessing on all involved and singing the national anthem at each race. After the marathon, we hung out in the pretty town of Manteo, then headed back to our hotel and chilled our legs in the surf. We had a wonderful time that evening at dinner and continued to celebrate this big event for Marv. In the morning we went back to Manteo to the best Christmas ornament store and then headed out to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and climbed all 214 steps, all of us climbed to the top! We hurried out of there and barely made it in time to the airport to make our flight...we so hated to go!

The next weekend we ran Route 66, some of my group did the full and I thankfully did the half, what a blustery run!

Then, on Dec. 3, we headed out to Memphis for the St. Jude's marathon. I was super excited to do this one because this was my 3rd marathon in 90 days, therefore, I would be an official Marathon Maniac! I really liked the Memphis marathon course and the charity it supports. The wave start went vey fast. I did not like the fact that there was no singing of the national anthem before the race. I think it is the only marathon of the 11 I have run that didn't have the national anthem, very disappointing. And I didn't like the town, my personal opinion, if you're doing the 50 states, choose Nashville instead of Memphis. Since we had lots of Christmas things to take care of, we were anxious to get back on the road and head back to T-town. What a long drive back and we were so hungry because the hotel didn't allow late check out and we didn't eat when we left Memphis. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel later in the day and when we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a school bus pull up at the same time. You never saw 4 tired, sore ladies run so fast into a restaurant, no way were they going to get in ahead of us starving runners!

What a year of running-5 marathons and made many new friends. No PRs and we'll see what's ahead for 2011. I can hardly wait to wear my maniac shirt at Little Rock on March 6!

Groovin' to Run - Tulsa Run October 31, 2010

For the Tulsa Run, we dressed up in the mod 60s era, Go-Go Girls to be presice. I run with some very creative people and they plan the costumes way in advance. We already have our costumes for next year, but I am getting ahead of myself. Earlier in the summer, one of us saw these cute dresses at Belk's that looked like they'd be perfect for mini dresses and then we would add boots. So here we go, brainstorming about all the accesories. We made the white boots that fit over our shoes, I was amazed at the care and perfection that Carmi had to make sure that the boots fit well, didn't fall down and were shiny enough. We ended up glueing clear tablecloth covers to white vinyl to make it shiny and firm enough. I sewed more the week before the Tulsa Run than I had since I made Halloween costumes for my kids. We had such a blast at the run. Chris showed up looking like John Lennon to complete the package. So many people gave us the thumbs up and it was so fun to see a tired runner look up at us and get a big grin on their faces. The weather was great, chilly and a little breezy, but, I prefer chilly to sweaty. I enjoyed looking at ALL the costumes, Kathy looked adorable as Little Red Riding Hood and Sloan was a Beautiful Snow White.

Now it's time to hunker down and taper for Outer Banks Marathon and Blackbeard's challenge...and more costumes!

Mother Road Race Report

My first marathon of the fall season was finally here. This one was kind of wierd because I wasn't running it with the group I usually run with. I registered on a whim after I had a good 20 mile training run. But there were some other people I know and we ran together and had a fun time, not during the marathon, but before and after. The marathon was HOT, HOT, HOT. They need to move the start time earlier, 8:00 is too late for this time of year. We ran in 80 degree shadeless, cloudless heat for 2 hours of the race. Ugh! I was the dizziest I had ever been at a marathon and I was well hydrated. I think it was the heat. I am very glad that I did the race though, I really enjoyed the thrill of running through three states and the medal is really pretty, the "66" spins and it was an inaugural marathon. The race goes through small towns, It started in Commerce, OK, goes thru Quapaw, OK, Baxter Springs, KS, Riverton, KS, Galena, KS and finishes in Joplin, MO. It does have a long hill at 18.5 and hills continue until almost the end of the marathon. Considering all the small towns you run thru, the crowd support is excellent and the aid stations are well-placed. The expo was nothing but registration items which we thought was really funny because they kept posting on their website that only cash would be accepted at the expo but there was nothing to buy anyway!

Tis the season

I have a friend who cannot wait until Oct. 1 to start playing her Christmas music. Sure enough, this week on FB, she is asking us what our favorite Christmas album is. Now, I love her enthusiasm for Christmas and all that the season signifies, but for me-I can't wait for cool weather because that means it's fall marathon season! Maybe I should be singing Springsteen's "Born to Run!"
So, I've been itching to run a marathon, haven't run one since May. I considered Mother Road this summer but my training in the heat had made me doubt my readiness for the race. After I ran my 20 miles last Saturday and got a look at the medal, I began to think about signing up for Mother Road. I was sitting the fence on whether to jump from the R66 1/2 to the full, a cheaper option, or do Mother Road. Mother Road won out because of it being in October, which gives me some rest for the Outer Banks Marathon, and for the medal and last, because it goes through 3 states. I am really looking forward to it, the weather is supposed to be between 60-70 and I have several friends running in it. The only downside is that it doesn't start until 8, so it will probably be in the 70s for the last past of it, but after all the heat and humidity this summer, I think I can get through it.
I did a short 11 miles today, the downtown loop of the R66 marathon route. It has a couple of good hills but I averaged a sub 10 pace and I felt really good about that.
So taper time now and carbo load.
Yay-marathons, and I'll be an offical certified marathon maniac after St. Jude's, assuming I finish all three marathons.

How much sweat can you wring out of your clothes?

Today was sweltering. Our plan was to run 16 and we ran hard and did 12.50. I didn't see any benefit in going further, by 8:30, the sun was beating down and we were soaked with sweat. We should have started earlier to avoid the sun but I am pleased with my workout. I pushed myself harder than I have in months for a long run, even though it was so humid. I am so happy to have the umph to even want to press on, I've been in such a slump this year. I have a good reason for that but I have been getting frustrated with my sluggishness and I am encouraged that some of my drive is coming back.
I listen to a great podcast, Marathon Training Academy. It's a husband/wife team, she is an experienced distance runner and he is training for his first half marathon this fall. The information is very helpful and they have a very good one on yoga stretches and the video is on their blog: http://marathontrainingacademy.com/ You can listen to the podcast directly from there.

Are we there yet?

You would think that the humidity would have dropped by now but such was not the case today. One of the drawbacks of running so early in the morning is fighting the humidity but I'd rather deal with that than the sun. So, our plan was to run 10 miles, some on Riverside and the rest around Jenks. After the first hour, I was dripping wet, I wasn't expecting this and didn't put any Glide on and I was anticipating some wincing in the shower when raw skin was kissed by water. The good news was that we had already done 6 miles and had escaped the burning heat. As we headed through Jenks, I began to tire and tried to focus on my mental training. I looked at my surroundings for distractions and this proved to be helpful. We stopped to drink some water and I was encouraged to discover that we had only 3 more miles to go. At this point my legs were beginning to feel heavy and tight and I realized that pushing so hard on my short runs this week was taking a toll on my long run, yet, I need to get stronger. So, on I plodded, focusing on a technique I've been practicing of raising my knees higher and making sure that my foot plant does not start with a heel strike. I had been commenting to my neighbor, who coaches students for track, that my abductors and adductors were stiff and weak and he told me that was because I shuffled too much, that I needed to pick up my feet more. So, particularly in my short runs, I have been working on picking up my feet more.
When we got to the Jenks bridge, I shouted, "how much further," thinking that we were probably at 9 miles and I was right (my Garmin is not working). That last mile seemed to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r, when we went under Riverside, by Starbucks, I thought, puh-leez, only a little bit more and after a short loop around the parking lot, we were done. The best part about this run was that we were done by 7:30, can you believe that? It's been ages since I got home before 9:00 after a Saturday run. But, now that the temperatures should be dropping, we will probably be starting later and our runs will be getting longer since we're getting closer to our marathons.

Golden Days of Running

I was excited about running a new route on Saturday. We decided to run with Runners World and check out the scenery of a midtown run. I was excited until I heard my friends say we were going for 18. Gulp, I really didn't want to go any further than 16 and the 2 others I was running with were the faster ones in my group so I knew I had to try and stay up with them so I didn't get lost. This was going to be a good mental trial. We had received an email earlier in the week about the mental aspects of a long run, particularly a marathon. We were given several tips about how to overcome the mental fatigue that you experience as you add miles to your running routine. This email was timely for me. My last 4 marathons have been mentally overwelming. I just run out of motivation after the 18th mile. I still want to finish the marathon but, I begin walking and not caring about my finish time. This dilema has been perplexing me but the email really helped because I saw that a veteran runner had challenges staying focused too but she had also learned how to overcome her mental fatigue. So, I applied what I had read, I thought about what I would do if I got really tired and as I got tired, I began to practice these new strategies. One thing that really helped was to breakdown the route into smaller segments, so instead of thinking that we had four more miles to go, I would focus on only the next mile. I can't believe what a difference that thinking made in how I felt about running. Another thing that really helped me was being inspired by the people I am running with. The girl I was running with was in considerable pain but you would never know it. When we got close to the hill at 21st and Yale, going south, and she kept on going on that hill and I really wanted to stop; it was then that I realized that I didn't really want to stop but I needed someone to supply me with motivation to keep on going. Well, I got motivation when I saw her staying strong through those hills. I thought, if she can run through pain, I can run through my motivation issues. Before I knew it, 18 miles were over and done.

We started at the fairgrounds and then ran over to University of Tulsa and then back to the fairgrounds. We did this twice and when we got to TU the second time, we ran all over the campus, trying to get 3 miles out of that part. The campus looks absolutely beautiful, the landscaping is gorgeous and the buildings, both new and old, looked stunning, especially the new performing arts center. We run the same route this coming Saturday, shorter, I hope, and I'm pleased that we'll have another opportunity to get familiar with this area.

On Monday we ran the Run into the Son 5K. This is a super event, lots of fun things for the family and an emphasis on the FREEdom we have in Christ. The route was hilly and I was happy with my time, considering that I had run 18 miles on Saturday. A shout out to Stacy, she PR'd. What a hard worker she is on our weekday runs and her persistance paid off.