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May 30, 2006

Mad City Marathon: More Than Just a Race

First of all, a big thanks to everyone who commented on the short version of Madison. I was pretty bummed out over the race - I knew that I was trained and ready to have a spectacular day out there, and things just didn't work out that way. In a perfect world, I would be superwoman, impervious to a little heat. However, in reality? Not so much. In fact, in reality I don't handle heat well at all. The kind of weather we had on Sunday is the kind of weather that usually inspires me to stay inside, in the dark, with the air conditioning turned on while I drink vat after vat of ice cold water. Preferably while sitting in a vat of ice cold water. Just being outside in the sun and heat is enough to wear me out and make me cranky.

Yet, there I was Sunday morning, running a freaking marathon. Clearly, I have lost my mind. Clearly, I am what my grandmother would call "touched in the head."

At any rate, be it insanity or stubbornness or just good old fashioned stupidity, there I was on Sunday morning, lined up at the start with hundreds of other like-minded maniacs. I had one last decision to make when I got to the start: did I want to push it and try to hang with the 4:30 pace group? Or did I want to take it easy and have fun with the 5:00 group? I'd met the 5:00 pace leader at the expo on Saturday, and she definitely seemed like someone who would be fun to hang out with for a morning. As soon as I stepped out of the hotel, the decision was made for me. I hit the wall of humidity and knew that it just wasn't a day to push it.

The race started off OK. The pace felt nice and easy, although I was absolutely dripping by the end of the first mile. We stopped at every aid station, and I was taking 2 cups of liquid from most of them. I was having a good time, though. We had a good group, and were all joking and talking, making the miles just fly by. Around mile 10, though, I noticed that I wasn't dripping anymore, but I didn't think much of it. I didn't feel overheated, so I just kept chugging right along.

By mile 11, I was starting to get chills and feel goosebumpy. Our pace leader had told us to let her know if we were feeling funky, and I was debating if this qualified as "funky." When the chills hadn't gone away by mile 12, and had in fact gotten worse, I let her know. "You're dehydrated," she told me. She asked around the group if anyone had water and Sammy, one of the other runners, let me have some of his Gatorade. It was, to be honest, the nastiest tasting Gatorade I have ever had in my life, but I sucked a bunch of it down. Around mile 12.5, the leader checked in with me again. I wasn't feeling any better, so she told me to take a gel. I did, and immediately regretted it. The sweetness of the gel totally did my stomach in, and I was officially Feeling Like Crap. I was starting to feel like I needed a break, but I knew that if I slowed down and broke away from the pace group, I'd never catch up to them.

At mile 13, I admitted defeat and started walking. I was nauseous. I wasn't sweating anymore. I had goosebumps and despite the fact that it was close to 90 degrees out, I was chilly. I was in bad shape. To confirm that, the volunteer at the mile 13 aid station took one look at me and said, "Take two," handing me two full cups of water. I drank them both down, and decided that I'd had enough. As I've mentioned before, I don't handle heat well, and I've also learned that when I get dehydrated, it takes me a long, long time to bounce back. I've spent entire afternoons with dehydration headaches after hot morning runs, because no matter how much liquid I drink, I can only soak up so much at a time. I knew that there was no way for me to have any kind of decent race after this. It just wasn't going to happen. I cried a little, frustrated at how things had worked out, and made the decision to stop at the next medical tent and tell them I was dehydrated and done.

Little did I know, though, that the next medical tent wasn't right around the corner as I'd expected, but 4 miles away. I kept on walking. I kept on taking my gels every hour like I'd planned. And at every aid station I passed, I stopped and took three cups: one full of Gatorade, one of water, and one of ice. I drank the Gatorade, washed it down with water, and then drank the ice as it melted. When I finally did reach the medical tent at mile 17, I felt better. My feet and hips were sore from all the walking, but I wasn't chilly, nauseous or goosebumpy anymore. While I certainly didn't want to walk the next 9 miles, I didn't feel bad enough to pack it in, either. I figured I'd keep going. See how things went. If I got really dehydrated again, I'd stop at mile 20.

Yet, when mile 20 rolled around? I felt OK. I was actually sweating again, which thrilled me to pieces. There was a medical tent there, but instead of asking for a rescue, I asked for sunblock and vaseline. Although I was still mostly walking, I'd started to jog here and there. It was at that point that I decided I was going to finish the race. I only had 10K left. I could do it. I was going to do it. The only question left in my mind was how much I was going to walk, and how much I was going to run. Would I run it in from mile 21? Or maybe mile 22? I certainly had the energy, it was just a matter at that point of getting my head back in the game and avoiding serious dehydration. I wasn't going to pick it up again only to crash at mile 25.

However, when I got to mile 21, I discovered that despite my newfound commitment to finishing the thing, the universe had other plans. There was a medic waiting at the mile marker with a couple of guys, and he told me that the medical director was starting to shut down the course. I could wait there for a ride, or I could keep going to the next aid station, less than a mile up the course. I opted to keep going - I felt fine, and figured if I got to the aid station I could at least have some water and Gatorade while I waited for my ride.

To be honest, I wasn't too disappointed. I probably wasn't going to PR, and this took that pressure off. Plus, it was nice to be out of the sun. However, when the van dropped us off around the corner from the finish line, my heart sunk. "There's your finish line," they said, clearly expecting us to run through it.

I almost couldn't do it. I took the chip off my shoe and ran through the chute. All my friends were waiting, and they went crazy when I passed by. The clock read 5:15, which would have been a huge PR for me. They were thrilled that I'd manage to not only finish but PR under those horrendous conditions, and I just wanted to cry. I dropped my chip in one of the buckets, grabbed a bottle of water, and turned down the medal from the volunteer.

Then I met up with my friends. They asked where my medal was, and I burst into tears. I told them I hadn't really finished. They'd shut the course down, and I'd gotten a ride from mile 21.5. I hadn't really made it. There was a moment of silence as their hearts all broke with mine, and then someone said, "You need to get a medal. You were out there for 5 hours. You earned it. Go back and get one."

I was, at that point, too emotionally exhausted to argue. One of my friends said, "Let's go. We're getting your medal," and I followed her back over to the finish area. She walked right up to the volunteer and said, "You missed someone." The volunteer apologized and handed me my finisher medal.

I spent Sunday evening and most of yesterday pretty conflicted about it. I kept telling myself that it was OK. I'd done what I could, and I'd made a damn good showing on a ridiculously bad day. I'd run a good, solid 2:30 half-marathon. The training wasn't a waste, because I'd built up a ton of strength and speed and I was going to have an awesome summer racing season. I kept telling myself to focus on the bright side, because that's just what I do. It's OK. No, really, it is.

Then, last night, I decided that it wasn't OK. I worked my ass off, dammit. Despite whatever doubts I might have had before the race, I was ready for that thing. I was robbed! Robbed!

Then I got a number of supportive messages from the friends I'd spent the weekend with. Messages that reminded me how far I've come over the past year. Messages that reminded me that while we may have all gone to Madison to run a marathon, that wasn't why we all went to Madison.

We all went up there to run a marathon together. This weekend wasn't about a single race, it was about spending a couple of days with a great group of people that I feel lucky to be able to call my friends. When I look back on Memorial Day 2006 years from now, the first thing I think of won't be the race I ran on Sunday morning. It'll be the fun I had with my friends all weekend long. It'll be the giant group of 15 people waiting for me at the finish, holding their collective breath and hoping I'd be OK, worrying about whether or not I'd put on enough sunscreen that morning.

Today, I'm glad they made me go back and get that medal. From now on, when ever I look at that medal, I'll remember the amazing group of friends I've made in pursuit of this crazy hobby. The group of friends that has, over the past year, watched me go from this girl who got the crazy idea to run a marathon to someone who ran as much of that race as she could before they made her stop, and been with me every step of the way.

The Mad City Marathon itself pretty much sucked, but the marathon weekend? Is something I wouldn't trade for the world.

Posted by Dawn at 12:46 PM | Comments (6)

May 29, 2006

Madison: The Quick Version

I'm back from Madison - a little dehydrated and sunburned, but otherwise alive and well.

It was not a good day for a marathon - sunny, humid, and temperatures that got over 90 degrees. I wasn't handling the heat well at all, and was on pace for a finish time somewhere around 6 hours.

Unfortunately, I'll never know how long it would have taken me to finish the race. When I got to mile 21, I was told the medical director was shutting the course down. I could wait at the mile marker for my ride, or I could keep going to the next aid station, about a half-mile away. I decided to wait at the aid station, since I could at least have some water and Gatorade there while I waited.

My very first DNF.

I'll have a full report later, once I organize my thoughts a bit more. For now, I'm just disappointed and glad to be home.

Posted by Dawn at 12:13 PM | Comments (9)

May 27, 2006

Off to Madison

Today was the first day I've run all week. Nothing major - just a few miles to make sure I remembered how, and it felt good.

I'm ready for Sunday. The weather forecast isn't ideal, and I would have preferred to be healthy this past week, but that's all beside the point. I'm still ready to go out and have a great race tomorrow. I've put some good work in these past few months, so now it's just a matter of having faith in my training, having faith in myself, and running the best race I can.

Full report once I get back. It's time to rock and roll.

Posted by Dawn at 08:02 AM | Comments (3)

May 24, 2006

YOU Can Control Your Toast

As I was hoping for, today I sound like I'm dying. My voice is raspy and about 2 octaves below where it normally is. The cold that was all in my head yesterday (heh) is now firmly settled in my chest.

The downside of this is that I feel like crap. I'm exhausted - I was up from midnight until 2 a.m. because it felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest. I sound awful, too, what with the hacking up a lung and whatnot. People are looking at me and going, "You're running a race on Sunday?" with this look of doubt in their eyes. I am not what you would call the picture of health. In fact, I gave some serious thought to calling off work today. The only thing that stopped me was the knowledge that I had some major things to wrap up today before taking the rest of the week off. If I can make it through today, I can sleep through tomorrow.

However, the upside of this is that this is when it stops getting worse. The cold has worked its way as far into my system as it's going to go, and now I just have to kick it out. And I will by Sunday. I've got two days with ahead of me with very little else to do but rest. I've got zinc tablets, and I'm drinking water by the gallon. This is not going to keep me down, by any means.

In non-disease related news, I've made an important decision: my toaster, bread, peanut butter, and honey are all coming to Madison with me. When someone on the TM board first suggested it, I thought they were just messing with me - sitting back, watching the new girl get her first bad case of taper madness, throwing out crazy ideas just to see how far over the edge she's gone. Because, really, bringing a toaster? That's... well, it's certainly non-standard. But then more people started chiming in, and when my hotel roommate voiced her support of the plan, I figured they must be serious. As one woman put it, "YOU can control your toast," and she's right.

The strange thing is, taking control of my toast has actually made me feel much more relaxed about the whole thing. Sure, it could be 90 and humid on Sunday. Sure, trying to hang with the 4:30 pace group could damn near kill me.

Any number of things could go horribly wrong this weekend, but no matter what happens, my toast is taken care of.

Posted by Dawn at 11:20 AM | Comments (3)

May 23, 2006

Finally, It Starts

The obsessing, that is. I'm totally useless at work this week. Partially because I'm feeling a little zoned out from this stupid wee little cold I picked up over the weekend. It's not a severe cold, so I don't think it'll affect me too much even if it hasn't cleared up by Sunday. On the plus side, though, I'm doing lots of sleeping, drinking lots of water, taking my zinc, and it does feel like it's moving through my system pretty quickly. I expect that by tonight or tomorrow I'll sound like I've had a pack-a-day smoking habit for the past 40 years, which means that I'll have almost kicked this thing. I'll be fine by Sunday. Just fine.

I've got my packing list in my head. I did my 20-miler in the clothing I'm planning to wear for race day, and that was all A-OK. I'm still torn on the shoes - do I wear the older pair with 100 miles on them or the newer pair with 20 miles on them? Both rank equally on the blister-causing scale. I'll probably end up taking both and making my final decision on race day, although I'm 95% certain that I'll go with the new shoes because they'll give me a psychological edge (or at least I think they will). Let's face it: I'm a girl. New shoes will do a ridiculous amount for my mental state. With new shoes, I'll be able to take over the world! Plus, they're still all clean and purty.

Then there's the Bodyglide (don't. forget. the Bodyglide), the socks, and my lucky pink hat to remember. There's also the hairstyle question: do I go with the standard ponytail? Or should I bust out the pigtails of power? I'm thinking pigtails. If I'm serious about kicking some ass on Sunday, then it's really the only way to go.

Snacks. Don't forget my on-the-run snacks of Clif Bloks and Gu. What about breakfast? I'm giving some serious thought to packing a peanut butter and honey sandwich to take with me. It's pretty close to the peanut butter and honey toast I've been having for breakfast before my long runs, and it'll travel/keep well for a day. Or do I wing it? I'm sure that the hotel will have some sort of continental breakfast with a suitable alternative, but I'm not sure I trust it. I like my peanut butter and honey toast. I'm totally going to end up just packing the sandwich. Crazy? Perhaps, but at least I'm not taking a full cooler full of food for the weekend. It's just a sandwich.

Lastly, there's the pace group situation. There's no 4:45 group, but there is a 4:30 group. Do I go for it and start with the 4:30 group, falling back if I need to? I think I just might. I'll run it by the coach, but I'm pretty sure she'll tell me to go for it and just pay attention to how I feel. She's far more confident in my abilities than I am, but so far she's been right. Apparently she knows more than I do about these things. 4:30 is certainly an ambitious time goal, but it's not out of the question, and if the pace leader is a good one? I might just surprise myself. I think I'm a little scared of it, but I think I'll do it and fall back if I need to. No guts no glory, right? Plus, a pace group means company! People to run with! That could make a huge difference for me. Still, 4:30. Eeek. I'm sure I can do it, in a very abstract sort of theoretical way. I've even been thinking of my goal for this race as 4:30 - 4:45. Still, when it comes down to the matter of actually getting out there and running a 4:30? Um, yeah. Eeeek.

Five days out. Two days of work left. I hope no one actually needs me to do anything useful.

Posted by Dawn at 08:31 AM | Comments (6)

May 22, 2006

T-Minus 6 Days

Yesterday's run was just plain awesome. It was only 12 miles and, amazingly, it actually felt like "only" 12 miles. The plan was to do the first half easy, and the 2nd half at MP (which has mysteriously crept down to 10:19 - 10:30, from the 10:53 it was the last time I did one of these fast-finish runs. I'm trying very hard to Not Think About That), and it was no problem at all. It took me a couple miles to get settled into a good 11:40 pace on the front half, and then I took it down to 10:30s with no problem. OK, a couple of miles in there were more like 10:10 - 10:15, but they were still no problem.

I'm ready to rock this thing hard-core.

The only "problem" with the run was when I hit downtown and ran smack into the "walk" portion of the American Cancer Society's Walk & Roll. The path was full of walkers, and it was... interesting to navigate. I wound up running on the grass next to the path, which was OK. After a mile of that, I hit my turnaround point, and the crowds were a bit thinner going the other way. By the time I got back down to the museum campus area, the walkers had all turned off the path and I had it to myself again. Ahhhh. Free open road!

Lesson #1 for the weekend: Be aware not only of what events are using the lakefront path on the weekends, but what time the events are. If I'd gotten my ass out of bed before 10:00 Sunday morning, I probably could have been done with my run by the time the walk started. Oops.

Lesson #2 for the weekend: No sleeping with the windows open. I opened a bunch of windows in my apartment on Saturday afternoon, as it was sunny and 70+ here in Chicago. Absolutely beautiful. However, it was far cooler on Sunday, and the temperature dropped enough overnight that I woke up with the beginnings of a cold on Sunday morning. Oops. (Cool evening air + open windows overnight = cold for Dawnie is not new information. I just didn't think it would be an issue, since it was so warm on Saturday.)

The good news there is that it didn't affect my run at all, and I took some decongestants before a very early bedtime last night. This morning I'm still feeling a little loopy from the drugs, but overall much better. As long as I rest and keep it up with the fluids (which I should be doing anyway), I'll be fine for this weekend. Just fine.

Like I said, I'm ready to rock this thing hard-core.

Posted by Dawn at 06:49 AM | Comments (3)

May 17, 2006

Wussing Out

No speedwork for me tonight. I got home a bit late - not because I left work late, but because I had to wait 20 minutes for a bus once I got off the el. Ah, the joys of the CTA. I left my apartment with exactly enough time to get to the track, provided there wasn't another 20-minute bus wait. I saw the storm clouds in the sky and almost headed directly back inside, but decided I'd at least get there and see if the weather held before bailing.

Luckily, there was a bus coming along right as I got to the main road. However, when the bus got to the el station, I saw lightning and the skies opened up. Pouring rain and lightning? Not part of my deal. Especially not when I have someplace indoors to wait for a bus to take me back home.

While I was waiting for a bus home, hail came crashing down, and the pouring rain continued. It was then that my relief at not being out in that weather overwhelmed my guilt at skipping out of speedwork. Sure, by the time I got home, the worst of the rain had stopped and it was just windy, cold and drizzly, so I probably would have been fine, but that's OK. There's always next week.

(Well, really there's always the week after next, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it.)

Posted by Dawn at 08:24 PM | Comments (2)

May 16, 2006

Fan-freaking-tastic

On the schedule today was an easy 4-miler. Now, recently I've sort of come to hate these short easy runs. They haven't been feeling good, I can't get settled into a pace, I don't feel like I'm warmed up until I'm done, etc, etc. As a result, I wasn't too excited about this run initially.

Then I had an idea. Forget the "easy" pace. Let's just go out and run the darn thing at whatever pace I feel like. Sure, I'll take the Garmin, but only so it can tell me when it's time to turn around and head home. No pressure, no goals, no expectations. Just go out there and run 4 miles like I used to - before I knew about things like race pace and training pace and long run pace and all that crap. Just me, a new pair of shoes, and getting off my butt and outside in the spring weather for 40-45 minutes.

It. Was. Awesome. Sure, it was harder and faster than it was "supposed" to be, but it wasn't all out. It was just the pace that felt good at the time. And it wound up being surprisingly fast. After an first mile at 10:30, the rest clocked in at 9:30 - 9:40. I almost couldn't believe it. That makes it my fastest non-speedwork non-race run ever. It was just what I needed.

Posted by Dawn at 07:40 PM | Comments (3)

Good Advice

I got an e-mail from a friend this morning that contained the following gem:
I think you need more rock climbing. Stop thinking about running. You have done the training and are READY!

I'm totally going to put that on a pillow, because it is spot-on.

Posted by Dawn at 12:55 PM | Comments (2)

May 15, 2006

At Least It Was Educational

I don't really want to talk about yesterday's 15 mile run. So I won't. Instead, I'm going to talk about the few, yet very important things, I learned from it:

While the last 5 miles of yesterday's run pretty much sucked - I got to a point where I just didn't want to be running anymore and instead wanted to be at home, in bed, taking a nap... immediately - the first 10 miles were great. I was shooting for a 11:30 pace, but had a hard time hitting it - I'd alternately hit splits that were either too fast (closer to 11:00) or too slow (closer to 12:00), but it felt pretty good. I was in a groove, the sun was shining, it was all good.

Then I just got tired. Not so much physically tired as completely mentally unfocused. The only thing I can think of is my week of being busy at work and home and flat out not getting enough sleep (I slept in until 11 on both Saturday and Sunday, which never happens) just caught up with me. At least it was yesterday, and not last weekend during my 20-miler.

Here's hoping this week is better.

Posted by Dawn at 12:07 PM | Comments (2)

May 12, 2006

Diversion

It's Friday! Looking to kill some time before the weekend arrives? Test your knowledge of The Dawnie here. There may be prizes!

Posted by Dawn at 01:07 PM | Comments (3)

May 11, 2006

Track Night

For the past few weeks, I've been hitting the track on Wednesday nights. No, I haven't been playing the ponies. Instead, I've been going to speedwork sessions. A track coach from one of the local universities runs these over the summer, and they're at a nearby high school. Every Wednesday at 6, about 10 of us gather, pay the coach, and then he takes us through our workout. The specifics are a little different every week, but we usually end up running about 5000m total, at or under 5K pace.

It is, without a doubt, a total ass-kicker... but I love it. The cost is minimal, and it's so completely worth it. For starters, I get to run with other people. Since I do nearly all my training solo, this is huge for me. Now, most of the people there run much faster than I do, so it's not so much running with people as having other people out on the track running while I am, but it's still far far better than doing it all on my own. Plus, there's someone to call out the splits every lap, which is awesome. I don't have to worry about what to do or keeping track of it on my own. The coach takes care of all of that for us.

The first couple of weeks were tough mostly because I was still figuring out what I was doing and how hard I should be running. However, by last week, I felt like I had the hang of it. I went out there, kicked out my five 1000m repeats and got a little faster with each one. It was good.

This week was 2000m repeats, which sort of scared me. There were only two of them, but 2000m? That's... kind of a lot. All at once. However, just two of them? I could totally handle it. I figured I'd shoot for 11:15 or so for the first one, and then take it from there. I went out, I ran hard, but I didn't kill myself, and finished the first 2000 in 10:48. All righty then. Not so much 11:15, but, whatever. Better faster than slower, right? I pushed the second one a little harder, and finished in 10:39, which... rock on. I'm not quite sure how I managed that, but I'll take it.

We had a few minutes to recover, and then we ended the workout with 4x400. The 2000s were tough, but these were another beast all together. I figured I'd be happy with keeping all 4 of them right around 2:00. I finished the first one in 1:57, and, man, that was just rough. I thought there was no freaking way I was going to be able to keep the next 3 at that pace, never mind get faster. I went out at what felt like a similar effort for the 2nd one, and came in at 1:52. Awesome, although I wasn't sure about finishing two more. I started the third one a little easy, but picked it up at the end for a 1:53.

Then I got a wild idea - could I finish my last one in 1:45? I was tired, it was horribly humid out, but, hey, no guts no glory, right? Besides, it was the last one, so it didn't matter if I left it all out there. I took off like a shot, intent on catching one of the guys that was running just ahead of me. I was tired. I was feeling the effort, and, around the 300m mark "feeling the effort" turned into "feeling like I was about to toss my cookies." I backed off a bit, but still finished strong. I didn't hit 1:45 like I'd wanted to, but I came close with a 1:47.

It wasn't until I was jogging my cool-down laps that I did the math. A 1:45 quarter works out to a 7:00 pace.

Excuse me? 7:00 pace? I believe that falls under the category of "faster than I have any business running." If I'd done the math before that last 400, I never would have gone for it like I did, because, seriously, that's ridiculous. 7:00? That's for, like, fast people. Not me.

Except... well... a few months ago, I thought an 8:40 pace was faster than I had any business running, and that was pretty much the pace I ran the 2000s at, with enough left in the tank to kick out those 400s. Maybe someday, a 7:00 pace won't seem quite so ridiculous. At any rate, after a full summer of this? I should be able to run one hell of a 5K.

Posted by Dawn at 10:51 AM | Comments (2)

May 08, 2006

Taper Time

Yesterday was my 20-miler for Mad City. I am now officially tapering, and all I can say is FINALLY.

Work has pretty much exploded in my face the past few weeks, and it's just been crazy and stressful and with no end in sight. Lately, just making it through a week without having to kill anyone has been an accomplishment. So, even though running isn't contributing to the stress in any way (and, in fact, is probably what's keeping me from killing people, now that I think about it), it's nice to have something in my life easing up for a bit. It'd be much better if my job, which is the problem, had a scheduled taper, but I'll take what I can get.

As for the run itself... it was pretty good. It hurt a lot more than I was hoping for (my legs, apparently, were not so much down with the idea, and started feeling achy around the 11-mile point, which, well, could have been better), but after I stopped and took an actual stretch break at the 17-mile mark (not just a "stop and stretch the quads" but a "stop, stretch the quads, sit down, stretch everything out" kind of break), they felt totally fresh for the last few miles of the run. Unlike the 20-miler I did for Detroit back in October, I didn't feel totally and completely exhausted when I got done. I definitely felt like I could have run a few more miles, and I was actually functional for the rest of the afternoon, even if I did spend it sitting on my butt watching TV.

The best part, though, was that I think I finally got my pre- and during run fueling right. I never got hungry during the run, which was a first, and I didn't have to make any pit stops, either. I couldn't believe it - I'll try and follow the same pattern I did this past weekend for next weekend's 16-miler and see if it works again. I really hope so, because it would be a huge thing to have that one thing set.

So, now it's all downhill until the 28th. It feels totally strange to be able to say, "I'm running a marathon in 3 weeks." Is it that close already?

Posted by Dawn at 12:23 PM | Comments (2)