Little Miss Runner Pants

here we go:

went home for the weekend (=st. louis) and ran at Babler Park saturday morning. nice park. LOTS of hills. went pretty slow (mostly because the hills were kicking my arse) but for the most part, an enjoyable run (8 miles).... kinda wishin we had a park like that around here, but meh. whatever.

looking forward to this weeks runs... working up to 16 this coming saturday. kinda scared, kinda excited... but for the most part, today... kinda blah.

Posted by a.maria at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Q: What are you training for now?

A: The Nike Women's Marathon in San Fransico

Q: If you are raising money for a cause, what is it and why is that cause important to you?
A: I'm raising money for The Society of Leukemia and Lymphoma with Team in Training. I've met a variety of people/families that have been touched by the disease and am proud to be running to help find a cure!!

Q: What is the furthest distance you've run in your training and what is the furthest distance you will run before your event?
A: Last weekend's run of 14 miles was my longest run to date... I'll get up to 22 miles 3 weeks before the marathon though... and uh.. i'm scared!

Q:What is your favorite flavor of gu? (or other sports gel)
A: Vanilla Bean... although i tried a raspberry last weekend and didnt mind it. I'm kinda scared to start experimenting with flavors...vanilla bean was the first i'd had, so i just kinda stuck with it!

Q: How many days a week do you run?
A: Tuesday, Thursday, and long runs on Saturday... with cross-training on M, W, F. (and on the seventh day, she rests!)

Q: Are you injured in any way right now? If so,what are you doing about it?
A: yes and no? i dont know actually.. my left achilles/tendon thing hurts pretty much every day after i run... (ow! i just moved my ankle to see if it still hurts..yes. it does, feels like a pinched nerve or something...) and i'm kinda getting nervous about it. i'm not sure what to do or if its just pain vs. an actual injury. i might seek out my coach or a doc. here soon... i'm just kinda trying to ignore it currently, though!

Q:What is one item of running clothing/gear (shoes don't count) you can't run without?
A: my totally lame nerdy running shorts with little pockets in the back. they're so not cute or flattering in any way, but i can carry my Gu and I-Pod in there, and keys, etc... they're kind of a must have. also my Garmin Forerunner 201...i love it. i'm addicted. great investment!

Q: Do you have a talisman you are planning on taking to your event? If so, tell us!
A: totally copying running chick here... but i'll probably be writing my power words on my arms/hands. what are my power words? well, those are also stolen from running chick... Onward. After. amazingly powerful words. other than that, i have nothing planned!

Q: Share one thing about yourself we don't know.
i am obsessed with peanut butter. honestly since i started training i've gone through one and a half jars. Jiff. Crunchy. it's my vice!

ok.... so now i get to tag some others huh? running chick and Wil ........you're it!

Posted by a.maria at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

so. why so excited you ask? well...let me tell you.

i ran up the D.B. hill without stopping.... for the first time.... AND KNOCKED OFF TWO MINUTES FROM TUESDAY'S RUN!!! (ok, so like a minute and a half. whatever.)

HOLLAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what's the DB hill? the DB (disciplinary barracks) hill is this GY-NORMOUS hill on Post that i have never NEVER even come CLOSE to being able to run up without almost dying. that is...until...TODAY!

i was on FIRE. it was an AMAZING run. it was cool, clear, beautiful... i finally remembered to bring my i-pod so i was rocking out to some tunes, i remembered to take it easy in the beginning, i thought about posture and proper form while running up/down the hills.....i ran the EXACT same route as tuesday, got warmed up and just hit. my. stride!! it was... was... OHMYGODITWASFANTASTIC! no stopping (except twice at the top of both hills.. i'm not stinkin SuperWoman people, sheesh!), no flies, no out of breath-i-ness (except a little in the beginning, but...it was the beginning. ya know?!) it was awesome...and ya know the thing about it? i just enjoyed it. i didnt try to beat my time, i didnt set out to conquer the hills...i just ran..... and it just FELT SO GOOD!

deep breath in -------- deep breath out-------- ahhhhhh.

well. i suppose thats all i got for today. i cant wipe the stupid grin off my face. i want to go run some more....hell, i didnt want to stop in the first place, but i should probably get some work done!

Posted by a.maria at 06:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

"Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible." - Doug Larson

Running Quotes

love it!

Posted by a.maria at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

i start my run, and i'm kinda out of breath. dont know exactly why (i think it had something to do with a too tight sports bra or something...ladies, you know what i mean) so anyway, i'm trying to start slow, catch my breath, and lah-dee-dah, i'm running. suddently i start hearing all this buzzing... damn flies are after me. they're just circling my head. so of course, like a lunatic, i start swatting them away... this of course just happens to coincide perfectly with a little army caravan of cars driving past me... so i realize this...then realize what i'm doing (flapping my arms about my head in a maniacal way, trying to dodge flies...) and i start laughing at myself (while still waving my arms around and running in some zig-zag anti-fly pattern) ... the poor army dudes must have been like, "hey look at that chick, she belongs in the mental ward. yippee!".... to add insult to injury just as i think the flies are no longer chasing me (i have a feeling it was my foul smell they were after. i mean i just sweat and STINK when i run... im sure you all enjoy knowing that...but seriously, its kinda gross) anyway... i feel one run into me.....or fly into me..... or i ran into it...whatever. i hear bzzzzz-bzzzzz --- zzzz, and then nothing. i'm like huh? and look down... the damn thing was IN my sports bra...just lollygagging between my boobs, all caught up... didnt know how to get out... i mean... UGH! get OUTTA THERE!!!!!

it was ridiculous, and i wasnt even a mile in. but finally i out run the flies and get to this big ole hill... but i get to run down it, so i'm pumped. things are good. i'm running, running, get to the bottom of the hill. i have two choices. i can go right (flat) or i can go left (very up).... i figure since we're starting hill training this weekend i might as well go up the up, right? well...if you look at my little garmin pace graph thingy (that i just recently figured out how to post, thank you flatman ) you'll see a series of peaks in the purple chart... yeah. that would be me taking many many walk breaks up this hill. it was a beast. some army dude was driving up it at one point, during one of my running spurts and asked if i was ok or if i'd like a ride to the top.... i'm guessing it was a joke (real funny dude, thanks!) but i almost took him up on it.

anyway, at the top i was finally at 2 miles, turned around, got to run down the hill i had just "run" up, but then had to run up that first hill i had run down.... theres really no winning in this game!! but it was a pretty good little run. i felt really out of breath for a good little portion, but i'm blaming that on my running attire.

all in all, it was enjoyable. minus the fly incident, of course.

we've got a cold front coming in (so they say)... so i'm actually looking forward to Thursday's run! joy!

Posted by a.maria at 06:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

ow.ow. ow ow ow ow ow OU-CHA.

::more laughter::

heh. WHEW. yeah.

so 14 miles huh? goooood times.

this run was not fun, easy or enjoyable.... and that pretty much sums it up. but who am i to not give my usual mile-by-mile re-cap right? so here goes...

before our run, Coach K gathers us together for our usual pre-run "hey have fun out there" little pep-talk that he always does.... except this time, it was different..

"alrighty folks. it's gunna be hot out there. i want you guys to take it easy today. make this a nice and easy 14 miles"...(what the? nice? easy? fourteen miles? those three words dont belong in the same sentence together, fyi....but anyway, moving on...).."you all need to be taking in your waters, your gu's, your gatorade. walk when you need to. i dont want anyone getting hurt out there...if you normally run a 10 minute mile.." (obviously he wasnt talking to the likes of me at this point).."you need to bring it down to an 11-11:30 minute mile. be careful out there..."

those were the words coming out of his mouth. but to me, what he was actually saying was...

"you all are about to embark on one of the most grueling runs of your marathon training career. it's going to suck, and you'll probably want to cry. see if you can manage not to die. and by the way, its hot"...

obviously this didnt bode well, and the enthusiam for the run i had somehow mustered up in the last 12 hours quickly dissipated, to be replaced by fear, nerves and basic dread. but what was i to do? i had 14 miles facing me.... so i gave myself a hardly little "you can do this" pep talk, and ya know... game on.

the first three miles were cheese. i kept pace with the girls who just a few weeks ago left me in their dust, and i was going slooo-oow. i said to myself, "self... you got 'dis in 'da BAG!!!"... i was unstoppable. i was a machine. i was.... delusional, but more on that later...

as the water-stops came and went i ended up passing teammates left and right...
Texas Boy and i had a little talk this past week, and we(he) decided that since i wont be running any faster, i need to work on shaving off time at my water-stops. (he decided... he's a bit of a bully. i think he's rooting for me, in his own little way.... but one can never be sure!)... anyway, by doing so i found myself keeping pace with Stripe Shirt Girl. as most of you by now know, i'm not big on running partners..... but running with Stripe Shirt Girl was different. as we ran, our pace matched...our feet were in synch... our breathing was in synch, hell, the bobbing of our pony-tails was in synch, and for the first time in the history of.... me.... i actually enjoyed the act of running WITH a partner!!!
hoorah!!
i'm NOT anti-social!!!
i CAN run and talk at the same time!!!

so that kinda rocked. miles 4-8 Stripe Shirt and i pretty much ran together. we talked about watches and heart rate monitors... we talked about running, training.... we quietly cursed the elite runners that kept passing us by.... we shamelessly oohed and ahhed at the amazingly gorgeous out of control beautiful two male shirtless specimens that passed us (running the opposite direction) and together contemplated turning around ourselves and following them (which we didnt... but we really REALLY wanted to. heh!)... it was good times.

but by mile 8, it was well into the 7:00 hour...approaching 8:00, and the sun was just relentless. after our mile 8 water-stop things kinda went downhill, like whoa. Stripe Shirt and i found ourselves playing cat and mouse because we were both taking walk breaks and then getting a second wind at different times, and when we did find ourselves running side by side, neither of us had much energy for conversation. even when we did feel like conversing, our minds (or mine, rather) werent quite up to the task....

somewhere around mile 11 a woman passed us, running in the opposite direction... as soon as she was out of ear-shot i asked Stripe Shirt, "did you see the drip sweating off her of?"... huh? i started laughing, gathered my thoughts and righted myself, but quickly realized i was in no shape to think/run and talk at the same time... so i took a walk break, drank some water and suddenly just hit a wall.

it was something like 91 degrees out, with an index nearing 100. we had been running for well over 2 hours. my body was done, my toes were goners, i felt like i was running on sandpaper.... every step became a struggle. for the first time i really felt the weight of my legs as i ran, and Stripe Shirt and i had a talk... we had 3 miles left. it was 2:17 something and we knew there was no way we were going to make it in by 2:45 (my goal time for the day)... so we kinda said screw it. we took it easy. we ran, we walked, we encouraged each other to just keep going yet also enjoyed the fact that someone else was walking when it just got too hard to keep running...

when we had just a mile left we both agreed we HAD to finish strong. it was quite possibly the longest mile i have ever run, but at about half a mile out i dug deep, kicked it up, and finished my 14 miles in 2:55:48. (=average pace of 12:33.)

::sigh::
tomorrow i'm buying a wheelchair.

Posted by a.maria at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

do you know the first thought that crossed my mind??

"hmm.. its 7am. this time tomorrow i'll be somewhere between my 5th and 6th mile. its stinkin hot out. awesome"..

i then drove to pick up co-worker/friend and we carpooled into work. i rolled down my window to give the guys at the gate our i.d's and suddenly i couldnt see.... my glasses fogged up in something like .0005 seconds of rolling down the window. it was hot. humid. even more so than an hour ago. it was 8:00.. as i got out of the car and we strolled into work i thought..

"hmm. its 8am. this time tomorrow i will be somewhere between my 10th and 11th mile. its disgusting outside. awesome"...

then sometime around 8:20 some fellow designers came in and reminded co-worker/friend and i that it was time for our friday morning ritual (going across the street for breakfast and wasting a good half hour away as we eat really bad for you delicious burger king crossainwiches!!!)... however, as we were paying for our food we remembered we had a meeting at 9:00 so we quickly paid and made our way back to the office. we walked outside and all commented on how thick the air was, and how it was difficult to breathe. i thought to myself..

"hmm. its 8:45. this time tomorrow i will be finishing up my 14 miles. its humid and thick and time is literally slowing down its so hot out. awesome"...

14 miles. according to weather.com tomorrow at 6am it will be 79 degrees, with an index of 83. by 9:00 it will be 85 degrees, with an index of 91.

my dear sweet lovely friends that get to sleep in and stay out late and drink alcohol and be irresponsible... i love you. i love you and yet i hate you, all at the same time!

Posted by a.maria at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

in all honesty, i can't conjure up the energy/desire for much at all today. so, on that note, i wish you all a fabuloso run on saturday, and i'll be back after my 14 miles, as usual :)

Posted by a.maria at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

whoa boy. today did not equal a very good time for this chick... i woke up this morning fine, got dressed and came to work fine, started running fine.... and about 3 quarters into the first mile, things were no longer fine. i dont know what happened, but all of a sudden it just hurt.. i mean it HURT. my shins got really tight, like i couldnt lift my toe up off the ground, and stretching, for some reason, kinda made it worse so..... yeah. it was horrible. my (annoying) watch kept beeping at me to run faster to the point where i just figured whats the point?? and turned it off. and i'm seriously OCD about timing my runs, so thats saying sum'thin. thankfully i had my i-pod with me and Shania/The White Stripes/JEM/Green Day/the Gross Pointe Blank soundtrack and many other lovely tunes kept me going because i was beyond frustrated. all i wanted to do was RUN and it just wasn't happening... i havent had a run this bad since the beginning of training (when this was pretty much an every day occurance) so i dont know whats going on. i'm going to take it easy today and tomorrow and pray thursday's run is back to normal!

in other news... my impending doom.
i came to the office, opened up my mailbox and saw i had an update about this coming saturday's run from TNT. i found the following:

Training this week for the MARATHON GROUP:
All MARATHON groups will meet at 6:00 a.m.
When: Saturday, July 23rd
Where: Roe Park
What time: 6:00 a.m.
How many miles?
Nike Women's Marathon Group: 14 miles for the full marathon and 7 miles for the half marathon
Chicago Alumni Group: 16 miles

ok, but that wasnt the scary part. the SCARY part was this...

Special Note From Coach Karl:
This will be your last FLAT course for awhile! We will be doing serious hill training for the next several weeks.

heh. i'm scared. i've heard stories of Karl and his hill training, and they make me want to curl up, grab my blankey, suck my thumb and hide in the corner!

so, i'm going to be sucking down water and gatorade like its my job this week... eat right, sleep well and hope to high heaven my legs get back in working order, because i have a very good feeling that the next few weeks (months?) are going to be the death of me!

ahhhhh, aint marathon trainin' grand?!

Posted by a.maria at 06:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

it was ungodly muggy/humid out today and wow did i get salty.... sweat was running down my everything by the buckets and seriously... i dont know the last time i smelled that bad. ew. sick. gross. i'm officially disgusting.

but today wasnt about that, today was our Silent Mile (the first and last mile of our run was done in silence, as explained in an earlier post).... it was a time to think about why we're out there running, who we're out there running for and what it means to us, etc etc....

during the first mile i did my cursory "i am running for kyle chadwick, this makes me proud, he is my inspiration" mantra for a good 2 minutes and went on about my usual business. the run itself was pretty par... nothing special or out of the ordinary, a pretty flat course compared to what we've been running, it was hot, i got tired, what else is new. fast forward to the last mile.

for whatever reason the last mile hit me like a ton of bricks.

as i was running (out of steam) i started thinking about my honor patient, kyle. i started thinking about how he's so young, and he's spent so much of his life in the hospital, missing out on so much of what little kids do. i started thinking about his family, the expense of having a child with this disease... emotionally, spiritually, financially. i started thinking about how many kids there are, just involved in our mid-west region TNT program, going through the same thing... how all of this goes on, on a daily basis across the globe, and the rest of us just live our lives taking so much for granted... our health, our youth.. just going about our business, not a care in the world.....i started thinking about my family. my mom. she was diagnosed with breast cancer when i was five. i was five years old and all i remember is playing hop-scotch in the hospital hallway, not having any idea that my mom was in the next room over, sick with cancer. i had no idea. and she never let on... she was always my big strong mom, my mommy, who held it all together and got through breast cancer and i NEVER KNEW. and it killed me. i was suddenly hit with so many emotions i could barely hold it together... but i was running, and quickly realized crying and breathing dont so much go hand in hand so i sucked it up and started thinking about my own life. about the obstacles in my life that i've over come. about the goals i've set out for myself, what all i've accomplished and how this marathon fits in... it was a good mile. it was a GREAT mile.

and then? then was the best part... i rounded the last little corner to see hoards of people milling about, cheering on their family and friends to finish their run. i saw signs that said "my mommy rocks" and "run sarah run", balloons, finger paintings by cute little kids and all of a sudden, out of nowhere i see this sign that says "GO ALEJ GO" and i'm flabbergasted. what the CRAP is Lizzie (best friend) doing here holy CRAP what the CRAP is going on????!!!! (and oh yeah, my name isnt maria, its alejandra, hence the sign, incase you're all just really confused right now)...
my very wonderful beautiful amazing friend was out cheering me on with the best ever little homemade sign and again, i wanted to cry. it was without a doubt the best finish to a run i have ever experienced.

i was tired, and salty, and hot, and extremely emotional but doing my best to keep it in and i dont think i fully expressed my appreciation to Lizzie for coming out there... i dont think she knows how much, how absolutley much i appreciate the small gesture of just support and how much she means to me and how great of a friend she is and how much of a cry-baby i am and my GOD could someone get me a tissue because my eyes wont stop leaking.

but i'll let her know, i will definitely let her know. anyway... that was my run today. i cried the entire drive home.... smiling.

and lizzie, incase you're reading this... you are the sister i never had, and i love you. thank you so much... for all of it.

Posted by a.maria at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

ok, so theres a pace graph, and a speed graph... ok, fine. that i understand... but what i dont get, is on the pace graph.... well i dont get the pace graph (ohmygod i'm retarded. i swear i went to college and graduated and am generally speaking not a moron... but sometimes, like this, i'm just retarded)... it has my distance at the bottom, ok fine... and my pace on the left... so la-de-dah... it goes up in intervals of 4... merrrr... i dont get it. how does my pace shoot up to 32 and then down to 0. huh?

and okay. i just exported it to xml (why? cuz i didnt know what that would do!) and saved it, blah, and opened the xml file and it opened up in Dreamweaver?????? what? i dont get it.

ohhhh...OOOOOOHHHH... yeah, mm-hmm, yeah ok. we're all set here. no problems, i had momentary mental diarrhea but its all good... nothing to look at here kids... keep moving... everything's fine...

Posted by a.maria at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

today marks my first 100 miles run!!!! :) who's a dork?... i am! but its fun!

Posted by a.maria at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

well, Stephanie was right... running your normal hilly route backwards (i.e. going up the downs and down the ups) kinda blows!

the route i have been doing the past week-ish is run, run, down a big hill, run run, up a big hill, run, run. so today, since i did it backwards, it was run, run, down, run run.... UP UP UP UP UP UP UP, run run.

apparently that first hill i normally run down is mega-ultra-super-duper-steep, something i dont really notice too much when i'm going down (its also really wind-y, so its deceiving)... but going up??? uhhhhh, yeah. holy MOTHER my hams were en fuego!!! i was all about running up it for a good, oh... two minutes, and then looked up and realized wow. i have like 72 more miles to go till i get to the top, i think i'm gunna walk. and even walking sucked. some dude was walking into some building and saw me barely walking and sucking air like it was my JOB and started laughing... if i'd've had the energy i'd've walloped him... but alas, i was barely able to manage breathing, so i just gave him my biggest baddest meanest glare and hoped that would suffice.

anyway, 3 years later i came to the top of the damn hill and ran/jogged/walked my way back to the gym.

whew. i still cant get over that hill.... but one things for sure, my arse is gunna be in tip-top shape if i keep this up!!

Posted by a.maria at 07:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

SO, all you Kansas City dwellers out there, if you're interested, i will be at Wal-Mart grilling my heart out from 10-2 this coming Sunday, July 17th. come get a dog, or a soda, or chips (or hey, be crazy and get all three) or just come and say hi, put a face with the blog name, all that good stuff.

its a great cause (leukemia/lymphoma) and who doesnt love a yummy hot dog, right?! right.

Posted by a.maria at 07:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

come to find out, the damn thing is a pain in my ass. i set my "fast" and "slow" pace alerts without really thinking this weekend, so about 3 minutes into my run, my watch starts beeping at me... i look down to see what it wants, and it says "run faster!!"... i'm like WHAT?! who the hell are you to tell me what to do, i'm going up a HILL for crying out loud (yeah. i talk to inanimate objects, what of it?!)... so i'm like whatever, stupid watch, and i keep running, thinking ok, its told me i'm going too slow... but now its done.

nope.

apparently, if you dont follow instructions (run faster) it'll just KEEP beeping at you. my GOD thats annoying... so eventually i was like okay! fine! i'll go faster! get off my back..jeez... well, at this point i've come to a down hill section.... so i'm going down hill, and now it starts beeping at me to SLOW DOWN! i'm like for crying out loud make up your friggin mind... well no way am i going to oppose gravity, so i continue running "fast" and it continues beeping.... this pretty much cycles for the duration of my run.

so, 4 miles (new route, good hills, kinda liked it!) 46:24 which is an 11:36 pace.... however, with my zoopah coo' new (annoying) watch, i now know that my pace varies from 9:30 (last half mile- i really wanted to be done!!) to 12:00, with some walking sprinkled in for good measure. kinda cool... oh and apparently i burned 419 calories!! i love new gadgets!

Posted by a.maria at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

its 4:30, i'm at work, extremely mega-frustrated with a lesson i'm designing, and have i no idea what to do. i'm inspiration-less, hitting that proverbial "creative wall"... i'm feeling antsy, i can't concentrate... and do you know what my mind keeps thinking about? running. running, for cripes sake. all i can think about is how i want to get outside, "get away from it all," ... and go for a run. and go for a RUN? what?!

i've been noticing this for about a week or two now... every time i feel myself getting frustrated by something/someone and i'm sitting at home, or even in the office, i feel myself eyeing my running shoes. actually contemplating going running... no, not because its on my training schedule...but because, i want to! um... its kinda freakin' me out. never in a million, trillion...BAJILLION years did i think i'd start enjoying the act of running.. this was never really even my intent, it was just something i was doing. so what's going on here?

its..... bananas i tell ya. bananas.

Posted by a.maria at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

oy.

Posted by a.maria at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

10 miles = 2:11:47
12 miles (today) = 2:14:02

uuuuuuuummmm??? okay?

i woke up today, at 4:45am, rolled outta bed at like 5:10, scrambled to get my running gear on and somehow made it out the door by 5:25 (all the while cursing my coach for making us run at 6:00am). its about a half hour drive to our meeting spot and on the way i passed a golf course, at like say 5:45... with people already out there GOLFING. i was in disbelief. who golfs at 5:30am? why would anyone in their right mind volunteer to wake up that early? i wanted to yell at them to go back to bed... but figured that might be frowned upon, so i refrained.

anyway, i get to our meeting point, get my newly bought hydration belt thing on, and i'm all set. it's just getting light outside and i get a feeling of like... i dunno. like hey... this is cool. i feel like i'm part of some super cool ultra dedicated runners club (which i am, but you know what i mean).. so 6:10am we take off. we're running...running...and things are going really well.

37 minutes later (3.1 miles later) i'm at the 1st water stop, and its Gu time. now, this is my first experience with gu, and being the super picky eater that i am, i wasn't exactly looking forward to it. so i picked out Vanilla Bean and... yeah. i thought i should just down the whole thing at once (not something i recommend), and as soon as it was in my mouth i started doing that stomach pump about to throw up thing.. some TNT'ers saw me and did the whole "you can do this, just swallow it and drink water" pep-talk so i managed to get it down without puking everywhere... but it was a definite close call. however, that being said... i could DEFINITELY tell the difference of running with Gu and i officially love whoever invented the stuff.

so, after the Gu adventure i'm off running... somewhere around the 5 mile mark we're going down this big hill along a golf course and turn a corner and i see, i dunno, a hundred runners infront of me. (that might be a slight exaggeration... i'm really bad at gaging #of people in a group) but... it was awesome. i was coming down this big hill, and all these people (Runners Edge running group, come to find out) were running UP the hill, and it was so motivating. i started thinking about all you guys out there on your saturday morning runs, and all the people out EVERYWHERE that train on saturday morning, and the camaraderie between runners and it was awesome. AWE-SOME. all these people i dont know were just smiling as i passed them. "good morning" and "hey how are ya" and "wow this is a big hill" and it was like the fact that we were out there at, at this point, 7am, running... it was like we were all buddies and it just gave me warm fuzzies. and i know thats totally lame, but it was SO motivating and i loved it.

anyway, half way point came and i was feeling great. gu'd myself one more time (figured out that if i put the water in my mouth FIRST, then suck like a third of the Gu packet and then swallow...its not so bad. more like frosting... gotta be careful not to end up drooling everywhere, but it works!) anyway, so then i'm off again. this time going up the huge hill i just ran down... but i'm all gu'd and hydrated and honestly... i felt pretty good.

all of a sudden, i'm at the last water stop and i have THREE MILES left. this is where i got confused. why wasnt i more tired? how did i get there so fast? i'd been running for 1 hour 37 minutes.... and i had THREE miles left. thats it. ????? i started going "holy shit.. what if i come in at 2 hours? what if i'm running a 10 minute mile? that means i could run the marathon in just over 4 hours!! it'd be some sort of record. i'd be some sort of hero".... and yeah, kinda on and on like that for a bit. i was tired and delusional and pretty much outta my mind... i also TRIED to run the rest of the way in at a 10 minute mile pace (because, ya know... i figured at this point i was some sort of mega-athlete) and totally over-did it and had to slow back down and ended up coming in at, as i said earlier, 2:14:02... but not near as tired as i thought i'd be.

so... i dunno what happened. 12 miles in 2:14:02 is an 11:10 pace, which is some sort of insanity for this chick. i'm not going to go too crazy, i'm going to assume this is some sort of fluke.... but... what if its not?? what if this is, roughly, my pace?

what if i'm progressing as a runner and ohmygod.... enjoying it? nuts!!!

Posted by a.maria at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

i just thought you all should know!

Posted by a.maria at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

3.6 miles/42:02/11:41 mile

however, the second half had a major, and i'm talking MAJOR hill (steep and long. i swear it went on for like 17 miles...), which i walked up, (that still managed to kill me...) so that obviously slowed me down. i did however catch my time at the 1 3/4 mile marker....

1.75 mile/18:32/10:35 mile
which is good. very good for me actually, because at the 1.25 i thought i was at the 1.5 mile mark, then i walked and got to the actual 1.5 mark, cursed at myself for having f'd that one up and ran to the next marker... 1.75....

so apparently incorporating some run/walk makes me go faster... and i'm diggin it. i was feeling some pain (shin splints, maybe or maybe i just didnt stretch well after my last run) in the beginning but ran through it (something a month ago i was incapable of doing, hurrah!) and all in all, it felt pretty good.

funny though, while i'm running, the running very rarely "feels good"...i'm usually battling myself the entire time, kinda like this:

"you can do this"
"no you cant"
"yes you can, dont be a wimp just keep going"
"what am i nuts, why am i even doing this.. who RUNS???"
"look how far you've come!!"
"sh*t...look how far you still have to go"

it just pretty much loops around like that... however today, while i was making my way up the hill, i started thinking about all you runners out there who's blogs i read with much interest and started wondering what y'all think about when you run...?? people always say running "clears their mind" and that they "work through their problems" etc.. and i've tried that, i have, but for some reason (that i'm still trying to work out) as soon as i stop listening to the rhythm of my breathing and start thinking about... well, whatever's going on in my life... i start getting really short of breath and start feeling like i'm going to...ya know... die.

so i ask you, you runners... what is it y'all thing about while running... or are you like me, and just happy to be breathing and running at the same time?!

Posted by a.maria at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

next saturday, on our 8 mile recovery week (july 16th) we will be running a silent mile.... here's what it's all about....

"....Saturday, July 16 will be a special training day for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training Program. This day will be a special training day because it is called the Silent Mile. On this day, the team will run or cycle silently the first mile of their run/walk/cycle and the last mile of their run/walk/cycle while they remember the true meaning of why they are out there- training in honor of their local blood cancer survivor. The Silent Mile is an opportunity for TNT participants to run or cycle in silence and reflect on the men, women, families and friends dealing with blood cancers and who face a much greater challenge. There will be several mission moments this day and I can promise you that this is a day that you will NOT want to miss. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE come to this training day...."

i guess i just wanted to share this will all of you as a reminder, more to myself than anyone else, that this whole thing is about more than the running, more than the pain of the blisters on my feet, more than beating someone else's marathon time... and i so easily forget that. and i'm not trying to be totally sappy, b/c you can count on me being right back here tomorrow groaning about my upcoming long run... but this really is about helping to raise money for a cure.

so, i thought it only appropriate i let you all know about my honor patient, Kyle Chadwick.

Kyle is an eleven year old boy who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia when he was 6 years old. He has a twin brother, Keith, and two other brothers, Tyler and Brett, who have all been touched by this disease, having to watch their brother, Kyle, suffer through three years of chemotherapy and over twenty surgeries. currently, however, he is in remission and doing well... and he's so cute!! he's a die-hard KU fan (hells yeah....go Jayhawks!!!) and ironically enough has been trying to get himself into shape to join his school's track team. unfortunately his leg muscles are weak due to the surgeries/chemo, etc, so he's struggling a bit there... but he's this beyond precious kid, kinda shy and quiet, who has been through so much in his 11 years.... and i am truly honored to be running for him.

Posted by a.maria at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

1. What is your favorite long run pace?
ha. favorite long run pace would imply i enjoy long runs...what are you nuts? but okay, okay... my best time so far, combined with my most enjoyed run was at an 11:18 minute pace, if you wanna get specific!!

2. What is your favorite (or typical) pre-run meal?
easy. bagel with peanut butter and banana slices.. i've done that before about half my long runs...(i need to buy more bagels, speaking of...) but i also enjoy banana/peanut butter/oj smoothie. no really... it's good!

3. What was the distance of your first ever, official race?

umm... seeing as how i'm a "non-runner" i havent actually been in any races... but i DID race my gym class back in 8th grade...the mustang mile. and i beat the tall blonde beautiful girl (Miss Popularity) by like 8 seconds...it was the highlight of my year. truely. (8:29 minute mile. yup, still remember it. ::sigh::)

4. Do you typically run in groups or run alone?
alone... even when i'm in a group, i run alone. its not that i'm anti-social, i just cant do the whole run/breathe/talk/pace myself thing!! (as we learned this past saturday....ughhhh)

5. Name one or two NEW running experiences (occurring within the past year), that you have grown the most from.
alright, again, little miss "not a runner" over here doesnt really have much to choose from, but actually, kinda.... today's run was the first time i ever really pushed myself (ok yeah... 10 miles a few weeks ago, hell, 6 miles is me pushing myself, but thats not what i mean).... today was different. and when i was done running today (how lame is this) i was actually pretty proud of myself. ya know, pat on the back and all that... made me feel like maybe i've been selling myself a little short with this whole running thing. so i guess today's run would be my answer!?!

6. What is your least favorite structure to run on/over?
ok well brent (developer of the survey) commented on running on bridges, and how he doesnt so much enjoy it... so since i cant think of anything specific i thought i'd comment on how much i actually like running on bridges. they make me feel like a little kid. and i like the sound they make (he and i are probably talking about different kinds of bridges, but meh...whatever!) so i'm making an executive decision to change this question from least to most favorite... and mine is bridges.

ok so fun right?! who doesnt love surveys!! now all of you can fill yours out and it'll be a good time had by all!

Posted by a.maria at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

well, to win this bet i have to run an 11:00 minute mile... something i thought was an admirable goal until yesterday evening...

did you know that oprah, as in op-rah, ran her marathon in 4:29:20????????? UNDER FOUR AND A HALF HOURS????????? wtf ? thats a 10:17 minute mile. thats 43 seconds faster than my goal mile. thats insanity... and i cannot let her win. i cannot.

so in that vein, today, i did my version of "training to run fast"... (which is laughable, but i dont have a stinkin personal trainer/chef a la Oprah, so i gotta work with what i got, ya know?!)

so i set out to see if it was even humanly possible, at this point, for me to run a 10 minute mile... um.. its not. well... it kind of is. i dunno. here's what happened..

i ran. fast. (my version of fast, which is probably your version of a warm-up, but leave me alone. i have short legs!) until i got to the track (1.2 miles away) then i ran around the track as fast as i could once, walked it once, ran, walked... then ran back to the gym (another 1.2 miles)

come to find out, when i actually push myself, i'm not as horribly mind-numbingly slow as i thought i was. i also dont have the endurance to run that fast for very long...but we'll work on it.

so today's stats are as follows...

1.2 miles/12:14.... splits work out to be (according to nike.com, if wondering)
1st mile : 10:12(hurrah!! it can be done!! and i only sorta felt like i was going to puke at the end!!!)
.2 mile : 2:02

then my first lap, running as fast as i could.... 2:09:35.
second lap....2:03:44

!! however, i think if i did two laps, fast, in a row, the average would probably come way down. but thats ok, i decided, b/c i'm still new to this whole running thing and up until now i havent really been pushing myself. i've been concentrating on finish my distance without walking.... but who says walking is a terrible thing, right?!

then my run back to the gym...12:08 minutes.....splits are...
1st mile : 10:07 (oooh, a couple seconds faster. hollah!)
.2 mile : 2:01

so now that i'm over the whole no-walking issue, i think this "train to run fast" thing might actually even be fun?! you never know, right?!

Posted by a.maria at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

i woke up today, 5:45am and thought to myself #%@$#! i have to run. thats never a good start to a running day, so i kinda had a feeling i might not be as raring to go as i normally am... but i sucked it up (what else was i to do?) put my running gear on and headed out to our meeting point...
because it's a holiday weekend the normal group size (~60) was cut in half and for some reason, i decided this was a good thing. it meant i would run faster... why?? i dunno. b/c i'm a moron.

anyway. one of the chicks on my team (we're split up into teams of about 8-10 people, we all share the same honor patient and fund raise together, etc...) one chick, Carrie, and i, were talking about how we feel like we run too slow, so she decided we should run together to try and... go faster??? i dunno. i had a feeling this was a bad idea (i dont really run well with others) but in the spirit of "there is no i in team" i said, "sure!!! lets GO!!!!" (mildy over enthusiastic, i know.) so we're running...running, and i'm doing great. we're going a bit faster than my normal pace, but i'm keeping up and in my head thinking "oh hell yeah, i'm the sh*t, look'a'me go!!"...

yeah. that did NOT last long.

typically, as in every other time we've EVER run as a team (TNT as a whole) there has been a water break every 2 miles. so we're running and its about 24 minutes in and we've both kicked it up a notch b/c we know just around the corner (there were lots of corners) we would have our water break.... 5 minutes later we're still running in high gear and theres no water in sight. my team mentor (dude that has run, roughly, 50 marathons, is our..well, mentor. duh, i'm retarded. sorry for that) comes up and is like how are y'all doing? and we're like WHERE IS THE WATER...so he tells us (as though its no big deal)... its at the turn-around spot (3miles) and we're at roughly 2.07 miles right now... so its a ways out (he says this AS we're going up a HUGE hill).

what the @&%@#%$%$#$$&*^%$# ugggggghhhhhhhARRGGHH. i was not pleased.
so in between breaths i manage to get out "sorry......gunna.....drop.....back...." because at this point i'm going way faster than my normal pace and i feel a mild heart attack coming on.... eventually, (37 minutes after i started) i arrive at the water spot. funny how a little table with some cups can come to be such a blessed sight...almost makes you wanna cry out of sheer joy... but anyway, i drank my gatorade, caught my breathe and headed back. (i dont like to dilly dally at the water. drink, digest, go is my motto).

coming back was mostly downhill (i.e. heading there was mostly UPhill) so i quasi-enjoyed the second three miles... i ran just about as fast as possible while still breathing on the hills, walked a few 3 or 4 times (a first for me... though not the last, i'm sure) and somehow made it all the way back without dying.

so, stats:
6.2 miles PLUS HILLS (yes. major difference here and they've definitely earned my respect): 1:14:11
pace: 11:58 for miles 1-6,
2:24 for the last .2 mile.

so thats a bit slow, but i'll... do better next time, right? i just gotta conquer those hills...

ooooooh the hills

Posted by a.maria at 07:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

tomorrow i have to run 6 miles. my reaction? "meh. no big deal"

HA! six weeks ago the thought of having to run 6 miles made me want to curl up in a ball and cry in the corner, but now, NOW, running "just six miles" is a relief... its "not that bad/far"... its... well by jove, its a miracle!

looking back at my running times, i have progressed in the following way

first 6 miler (was actually 6.2, and yes, it makes a difference) : 1:13:47
second 6 miler (this time running sans team) : 1:14:47
third 6 miler (again, 6.2 and WITH the team) : 1:10:05

ummm... that, my friends, is what we call PROGRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!! yesssss.... i am zee champion!!

so what do i say to tomorrow's six mile run??!! bring. it. on.

(but dont hurt me please!)

Posted by a.maria at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

so yeah. that's done, now i can focus on my long run tomorrow!! joy.

Posted by a.maria at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)