I’ve taken a plunge away from wordpress and into Konamoxt.   I’ve imported all of my old posts from this blog and onto my new one which is located HERE.  I’ll copy all of my posts to this blog for a while, but the other is great because it keeps a training log as well as being connected to tons of fitness/running blogs.

I’m taking a brief hiatus from running and pretty much all other physical activity due to a back injury.  Hopefully I’ll recover soon and be back out on the trails!  I must say, I’m going STIR CRAZY!  What do you do when you can’t run?  Any suggestions?  I do some weight lifting but (incredible as it is to comprehend) I don’t have a gym membership.

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I recently ( with Regina’s help ) finished my first marathon.  No one told me they were hazardous to your health!   As my body slowly recovers,  I wonder when do you start running again?  How much and how often do you train for maintainence?  Anyone know of a downhill Saturday marathon coming up this fall?

Yesterday I ran my first marathon.

Wow.  An incredible experience. 

The weather couldn’t have been better.  It was cool in the morning as we arrived for our 6:30 start, and although it warmed up, it never got too hot.  The announcer said that they estimated 5,000 people downtown for the event, so needless to say, it was crowded!  We ended up parking about a mile away from the start, and as we hit more traffic than expected, RAN that mile.  Consider it a warm-up I guess!

As we got closer to the start line, we lost sight of each other, and I just about panicked!  There was no way we would be able to find each other again in the crowd!  Luckily we were directed away from the main crowd of spectators in order to get to the starting line faster, so we were able to find each other in the smaller crowd. 

You could feel the excitement in the air and after the starting gun went off, I was so eager to get started that I basically jumped up and down in place for the 3 minutes it took for us to finally get moving! 

For the first half, we were staying pretty close to the 4:15 – 4:30 finish pace, and we felt extremely confident!

The first aid station at lucky mile 13 was our first stop.  I had a blister the size of my big toenail on the side of my big toe.  After a dollop of Vaseline and a couple of band-aids, we were off again.  At the half, 13.1 miles, we had run for 2:19:14.  I thought it was amazing how fast that time went.  Little did I know that the next 13.1 was going to take longer (and FEEL even longer!) than that!  Nordictwin (my running buddy, my rock, the one who conned encouraged me to do this) started getting a calf cramp around mile 14.  He stopped to the side and stretched it out and we were off again. 

From mile 14 until mile 17 we were running at “my” lake.  Now I see why it helps to run your course.  I got to the lake and hit my “zone”.  Unfortunately, Nordictwin’s calf was giving him some major problems about that time.  As we crossed the 25K mark (at 3:01:33) I was feeling pretty good.  We’d done a bit of walking, but not too terribly much.  We were diligently gulping PowerAde and water at every stop, sometimes grabbing a pretzel or two as well.  Many of the stops had orange quarters which really tasted great.

After mile 17, things slowed down quite a bit.  We stopped to stretch, and tried to spend a little time massaging the cramped up calf, but nothing seemed to help.  Committed to finishing, off we went to hobble across the finish line.  We pushed ourselves to run those last 9 blocks and ended up actually jogging across the finish line…instead of hobbling! 

Post race we gobbled down cheeseburgers, bananas, orange quarters and lots of water.  We hobbled the mile back to the car, ready to hit the ice bath and the full hour massages we had scheduled!

Next year we’ll be faster.

(yep.  you read that right.  next year.)  

April 19, 1995

If not for the events that happened between 9:01 AM and 9:03 AM, there would be no such thing as the Oklahoma City National Memorial Marathon.  I’d have probably run the Redbud Classic (which took place last week), or some other marathon.

An insignificant change in my life compared to the events of that day which changed and destroyed other lives forever.

I sit here today, one mile from the site and remember with sadness, the loss of 168 lives.  Today, there are not many people in Oklahoma City who won’t think back and remember exactly where they were when they heard what happened.  For some of us, exactly where we were when we heard the blast.  We remember what it felt like to look up at that building, gaping open with a wide wound.  There are no words to explain it.

On April 29th we will run with joy.

 “This is what the Memorial Marathon is about: realizing the preciousness of time, valuing one another, taking life as it comes and making something magic from it. Celebrating Life.”

I know, I know…I’ve been a slacker when it comes to updating my blog recently.  In the past several weeks I’ve spent very few days at home.  A trip to Reno/Tahoe area to visit my sister, which included a lovely run at the Kirkwood ski resort as well as some good “working out” time spent on the treadmill and elliptical (I love those things!).  It’s always fun to run in new places, see some new scenery and die from the lack of oxygen in the air!  Who knew that running at 7,800 feet would be so hard!  Okay, well I knew it would be harder, but man, I was sore for DAYS after a little 6 mile run!

After that trip, I headed out to Washington DC to see the cherry blossom trees in full bloom.  The trees weren’t the only thing blooming, my new relationship was as well!    Besides the miles and miles of walking to see the sights, Chris took me on a run along some of the trails there in DC. 

Next stop was central Texas, and my friend Mark came along with me on a 4 mile run in the dark (it was 6 AM), cold (40 degrees) and wet (it was drizzling). 

So although I haven’t been getting in my daily training runs, and even fewer long training runs, I’m still feeling fairly good about the upcoming marathon which takes place in 18 days.  Eeek.  Only 18 days?!? 

Luckily my new shoes (Saucony ProGrid Hurricane 9) are broken in and feeling quite fine and I’m not having any problems with the top of my left foot anymore. 

18 days and counting down!

Ten weeks to go and the miles are piling up! 

Thirteen was the magic number on Saturday.  Thirteen very windy and very cold miles.  Twenty mile an hour winds with gusts up to double that and a chilly 34 degrees!  As I heard someone comment, it didn’t seem to matter which way you turned, the wind was always against you, sometimes even blowing a lifted foot into a leg!

I’m fortunate in the fact that the OKC running club, OKC Landrunners, host free marathon training runs in preparation for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.  “The Runner” so helpfully provides water stops, and the camaraderie is a great incentive to get out there and run a set mileage.  They run on Saturday or Sunday mornings, Sundays if there is a major race on Saturday.  I’ve been wanting to get in on the runs, but either because I was out of town, or because the runs were on Sunday, I have missed all of them prior to this last Saturday.  As I was a new runner in the training group, I’m even in the picture on their website!   

John’s blog today really struck a chord with me.  On some of my longer runs, I try to imagine the thrill of crossing the finish line of my first marathon.   The thrill isn’t from the victory of completion, it’s from envisioning my friends and family gathered there to cheer and scream wildly as they see me finish.  Alas, besides my running partner NordicTwin, there will be nobody there at the end or even toward the end of the marathon. 

I wish there was a way to convey how important running is to me.  When people ask why I run, my response is generally “because it keeps me sane”.   And it does.  It makes me feel good.  It’s a sense of accomplishment.  It’s the feel of the pavement under my feet.  I am a runner and it’s the rhythm of my life.  It’s the struggle against the wind and the struggle against my own laziness.  It’s the chance to grin (or grimmace!) and lift a finger in acknowledgment of other runners on the trail.  There’s a sense of freedom, a release of my cares and stresses.  It’s selfish.  It’s so I can wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and say “I am a runner!”  It’s “me time”. 

So why do I imagine my friends and family at the finish line?

Like John said:

Why does it matter ? Because in the end it’s not all about me (us runners), it’s why we blog/share tips/ask for advice… because we want it to at least matter to others.

I visited the OKC Marathon site today and it hit me quite abruptly: It’s less than 100 days now (99 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 30 seconds when I checked) until my friend “Nordictwin” and I run our first marathon! 

Nordictwin, will we be ready?   I’m feeling a little less than ready since the weather kept me from my normal running routine, but I slid through a 4 miler yesterday evening and it felt really good (the running, not the sliding).  I hope to do a 10 miler again on Saturday or Sunday, but we’re supposed to have 5-10 inches of snow this weekend.  Snow…much better than the ice we’ve had the last week.

Less than 100 days!  I’m getting excited!

I’m so excited to find that OKC has a training group for the April 29th marathon.  I’ll be running with them every Saturday morning at 8 as long as I’m here in town! 

Although I’ve done 10 mile runs without the benefit of either water or camaraderie, I was dreading the longer runs by myself.  A local running shop “The Runner” is coordinating water stops for our Saturday morning runs and they anticipate between 40 and 100 people to show up (based on the previous years).  This will definitely be a help and encouragement for the long runs.

I had a nice 7 miler on Saturday, averaging a little under 9.5 minutes per mile.

Asics: 7 so far this week, 79 total

Much like Regina, I’ll be running my first marathon, with her support (that means get ready to drag me).  I started a cleanse/fast this week but so far it hasn’t affected my runs.  45 min on Mon and Tues.  I’m feeling stronger on my runs which may have something to do with the New Year, new goals, renewed energy…what ever it is I like it.  A positive attitude can make a big difference!  Keep pounding the pavement.