As we are partly into December and a month away from flying into Orlando for the Dopey challenge, I wanted to give an update on my training. I just got back from my Sunday morning run (one of my favorite parts of my week/weekend). It was a VERY rainy day Saturday so I was hoping that rain would push away overnight and Sunday would be clear. My alarm went off at 7:00 and I peeked out the window to see everything wet and cloudy but no more rain drops were dancing on the pool cover. I got up, had my tea, got dressed and hit the road. Six miles were on the schedule today and I had the latest pod cast on my ipod from Another Mother Runner which was about the Philadelphia marathon (which I had just run 2 weeks ago), so I had something to look forward to listening to on my run. All bundled up, I hit the road SLOWLY today. I start off walking some of my hill and then began my running intervals.
I headed up to the vineyard and it was peaceful and beautiful. It was a very wind morning so on the hilltop I was getting blasted. But it was still wonderful. At the vineyard I totaled up to 3 miles so I headed back home for the remaining 3 so I could wake up the family and get ready for breakfast with them. On the return trip home I finished my podcast and then switched to music which gave me an energy boost and I had a productive 2 miles return trip home. As I was running home I was thinking of how thankful I am that this year I didn’t need to go to physical therapy for any issues and that I was remaining strong and healthy for this training and also keeping focused. Despite a little burnout during the Philadelphia marathon, I am on the right path to successfully complete my first Dopey challenge and I am happy about that. I have one more group of training runs in the next two weeks which will contain most of the miles that the Dopey challenge will be; but I am making slight modifications based on what I decided after Phillly. I don’t want to do to the full 26 mile training run and then the full marathon at Dopey, that would be 3 marathons withing a 6 week time period and mentally that would just be too much for me. So my plan is to do 20 miles on my last long training run and then the marathon during the Dopey challenge.
So good reports overall and I am happy with my progress.
This year I decided to skip a traditional turkey trot road race and decided that I would do my Thanksgiving morning run in my neighborhood. I wanted to sleep in with my family and not have to worry about rushing to a race start. That was a good decision since I had done the Philadelphia marathon last Sunday, and was still recovering from a nasty chest cough and sinus infection. I am thankful that I was able to sleep in. I slept until 9 am! It felt like noon to me!
I made some tea and toast and watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV with the kids, then headed out for my run. As I was out on my Thankful run I was remembering what I had done during the last 3 miles of the Philly marathon, I was thinking of my family during those last three miles. I used the time to reflect. It was a nice, peaceful recovery run from the Philly marathon. I am thankful for my running to allow me time to de-stress when needed. I am thankful that I took a risk this year and left my job of 24+ years to start somewhere else. It was a scary and risky move, but I can truly say that I love my job. I am so happy. I am now trying to teach my husband how to take a risk and perhaps do something different also so that he can find happiness through work rather than working just to live.
I am thankful for my family and my friends old and new. I am thankful for my health.
My race reports lately are happening in order of most recent to older. I apologize for that; however, it is easier for me to write about today’s race since I am taking multiple trains home with some time to spare. To begin I took a train from the Wallingford station on Saturday morning. The kids slept over my parents’ house so Kevin and I actually got to bed early. The train was scheduled for 9:09 departure but ran over 20 minutes late. When it arrived I settled in and got comfortable with my tea. The trip took about 4 hours and when I arrived I met Jen at a pub across the street from the train station. I had a nice cold blue moon and a turkey sandwich and then we walked to our hotel to check in.
After dropping off our bags we walked to the expo to pick up our bibs and do a little shopping and I really wanted to go to the Another Mother Runner booth. Dimity spotted their 26.2 sweatshirt I was wearing when I approached their booth! She’s awesome. She gave me a big hug and signed my bib for me. I knew she couldn’t run because of her broken foot but she was going to ride a bike to cheer on her cadets. She told me she’d look for me. I bought their city of motherly love hoody and she posed for a picture with me and told me she would look for me out on the race course.
After the expo, Jen and I made plans with Joe and Melissa Pardo to hook up for dinner. We dumped our goodies off at the hotel and Joe and Melissa picked us up in the front. We went to Chickie and Pete’s. Good food, cold beer and a fun time! Jen wanted a Fliers hat so we made plans to see if we could get into the stadium area to go to the gift shop. Well after a little wheeling and dealing through the side door she was able to purchase a hat even though she didn’t have tickets into the game! We all got a good laugh out of that and then went to the Xfinity Center to check the place out. Joe drove us down South Street to show us the sites and then he dropped us back off at the hotel. It was a very fun time! Thanks Joe and Melissa!!
Jen and I were getting tired so we got ready for bed and despite a few coughing fits, the both of us settled down pretty quickly for the night. I never mentioned how sick I was during the week. I started to get a tickle on Monday with some annoying coughing. By Wednesday it was in my chest so I started steroids and used the nebulizer machine. My Tuesday morning run was a challenge but by Thursday I was breathing easier. I made sure all week that I was getting to bed early so that I could get ahead of this cold or whatever it is.
We hit the sack, I read my kindle until my eyes closed and quickly the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. I got ready, ate my oatmeal and had some tea and we walked to the starting area.
We got there very early. I wasn’t sure how to plan for this race since I never ran it before. The paperwork said to be at the corrals no later than 5:30 but the race didn’t start until 7:00. We were there by 5:38. Thankfully I was able to find Danielle, who I was planning on running the full with and we hung out with Jen for a while before we went back to our corral. I was able to switch corrals at the expo and Danielle was able to stick with me so that worked out nice. It was very cold standing at the corrals. I had a space blanket which helped a lot. But I took it off too soon and out it back on again a few minutes later and shared it with Danielle. The corrals had some time between releases so we needed to keep warm.
We finally got to go and I helped Danielle with her knee and hip issue by doing 30/30 intervals with her. We had a great pace for the first few miles. Then I got to a point where I needed to use a potty. That usually doesn’t happen to me during races or training. But if I wanted to enjoy the rest of the 20+ miles I needed to do it. That was a big relief on my mind when I got that out of the way.
We continued on through South Street and through downtown and then ended up in the college area and the zoo. Danielle started doing a funky skip hobble which wasn’t good. Her knee was getting worse over time and we were talking about what she should do. We maintained our intervals but walked up the hills. Again we kept a good pace but I wanted her to be careful. As we were climbing a hill around mile 8 someone had donuts. Now I never eat donuts, but I looked at what there was and the glazed donut called out to me! My tummy was rumbly. I had about half of it and it was wonderful! But I didn’t want it to give me trouble so I tossed the rest.
Danielle decided around mile 10 that she was throwing in the towel. It is a very hard decision to make, especially since she paid to do the full and it was her first but her knee was really behaving badly and I was concerned that she would have major issues just finishing the full or even if she did finish, what kind of damage could be going on with it. We took some pictures before we split off and around mile 11 I said goodbye to her. It was sad losing a pal along the way. But I put on my headphones and hunkered down to complete the other half marathon I had ahead of me.
The course has many areas where you can see the other runners returning back towards the finish as I was just heading towards mile 14. That plays games with my head. I struggle with that. But then I remembered Dimity was going to be near the river so I had someone to look out for. I found her just as Sarah was coming up to her as well!! I gave a yell out to Sarah and posed for a selfie with Dimity and then kept on my journey to the finish.
I wasn’t familiar with the course so I didn’t have a sense for when I would see things. I just knew that eventually I’d have to take the route back along the river into the city. Well the course sighed and zagged a few hills here and there and over a few bridges. I saw Dimity again and gave her a shoutout. I saw Linda Bachand around mile 20 and took a picture with her. I wanted to see Danielle again and she said she would be at the bridge. It helps to know there are people you know ahead to give you a boost.
Around mile 22 I was struggling. I called my husband and talked to the kids and it helped. I decided that for the last 3 miles I would run for my husband and kids. I called him again at mile 25 and he told me to finish strong. That was helpful to me. As I came up to mile 26 I kept repeating to myself, “Finish strong”. It helped. I ran the entire .2 distance to the finish line and was practically alone in the shute. That was weird. Everyone was looking at me but I was so focused at finishing strong. I crossed the line and was very happy to have my 4th marathon completed.
I got my medal, space blanket, water and snack bag and headed back to the room to meet Jen and have my chocolate milk! This was my first non-Disney race in many months so I ran for Team Chocolate milk. I was glad to run wearing the gear that my sponsor gave me. I felt special, like maybe what I am doing actually means something. I took a shower and packed up and we left to go to the train station. Since wet didn’t have much time, we grabbed lunch at the station. We relaxed and had sandwiches and then said goodbye until next time! Jen had a great time and told me that she really felt like her old self this weekend. I’m glad she had fun and also finished the race despite her fear of not being trained enough for it.
My next marathon is Dopey. Jeff Galloway has my cluster of runs near Christmas where I do 3, 6, 13.1 and 26, but I think I am going to do a 20 or 23. I am feeling marathon burnout a little bit and don’t want to do 26 miles through my neck of the woods and then do it again at Dopey. It’s just too much. Mentally I struggle so I want to enjoy dopey and not feel the training burnout. I know my performance won’t be spectacular but my goal is to finish Dopey. Hell after my first marathon on 2013 I had no idea all this would have taken place for me!!!
This was a good race and now that I have had time to think about it, I think I would do it again as a training run. I struggled with it a little during the race. I didn’t know the course, but the point was to run on new streets and get a new view for a long training run. I have to remember that I was sick and I did great considering that. I think I am benefiting from doing multiple training runs (3, 5, 10, 26) that Jeff has on my plan and it seems to be keeping me loose and also strong at the same time. It was a beautiful day and I did enjoy it. I had a great time finally meeting Jennifer in person. I also got to hang out with Joe and Melissa and met a new Mickey Miler, Danielle! So it was a great weekend! I also recovered very quickly. I didn’t have much pain at all post race and during the following day I was able to go up and down stairs like it was nothing different. That makes me suspect that I didn’t push myself hard enough. Then when I think that, I keep reminding myself that I did what I was supposed to do and use it for a training run to remain injury free and able to do multiple miles in 4 days. Mission accomplished!
Thank you again to everyone who voted for me in August to get me into Team Chocolate milk. I recently received my Team Chocolate milk runner’s pack and will be proudly wearing my gear while I run the Philadelphia Marathon November 23.
As I have mentioned in several other of my blog posts, this year has been about growth for me and becoming a member of Team Chocolate milk was a big deal for me. I’m no one special, I’m just a 42 year old mom of two children and a wife of 12 years to my husband and I enjoy running. I’m not an Iron Man, I haven’t competed in a triathlon, and I hardly consider myself an athlete, but I try hard at anything I do and I never give up. I always strive to do my best and challenge myself. I push myself through difficult times and see the results of my hard work and dedication when I reach my goals.
Follow me on my journey as a member of Team Chocolate milk!
I have been training for the Dopey Challenge in January, but in reality I have a real (non-Disney) marathon to do in just three weeks! I am running the Philadelphia marathon. I made arrangements back in March for a room. I was’t sure how many of my friends were going to run the race, so I booked two hotel rooms in different places. I needed to put aside time this week to find those hotel reservation confirmations, identify where the hotels are, gather up my paperwork for the race registration, research into train times and take a look at the course map.
I have been successfully training, but it sunk in that I am going to be running a marathon soon. I’m a little excited about getting a new race medal and seeing how well I do at this non-Disney race. I was listening to the Another Mother Runner podcast on my way to work Wednesday; and Sarah’s story about her BQ race in Victoria was so amazing. It really made me think of what I want. I had given up on the thought of qualifying for Boston. But I haven’t completely given up on the thought of running Boston one day. Kim told me something and I have been thinking about it.
“As Kathrine Switzer told me – her first Boston she finished in 4:30 the second she was around 3 because she worked hard. It’s as simple as that. U have to work hard to get what u want. Unless u are gifted which we aren’t. And Kathrine says she is not as well. She worked hard.”
It’s true, I am not a gifted runner, I do it because I enjoy it. But if I do want to do something I have to work hard to get it. So I am going to take the time to think about it and run some more marathons and see what happens with my finish times. I have been successfully training for Dopey with no injury so far and I’d like to keep it that way.
So for me Philadelphia will be a test to see what my time will be compared to the Providence Marathon in May. I will be running this race alone, but I am hoping to hook up with the Mother Runner Dimity and her cadet. I believe their finish time will be around 5:20 and that’s a big push for me. If I could get 5:30 I’d be blown away. Time will tell!
I have heard that this course is really fun and many people have said that the race is really great. I’m looking forward to it.
Recently I have been having issues when I fly. I am having migraines every time I travel by plane. I finally came to the conclusion that it was from flying when I went to California and the migraine was so bad that I begged and pleaded with my stomach to keep my food down and not throw up just several minutes before we had to walk out the door to the race start. Well, sadly, it happened again when I flew to Florida for the Tower of Terror race. I was anxious before I had to get on the plane for that race because I didn’t want to be as sick as I was in Disneyland. I took Tylenol ahead of time and it helped take the edge off, but I was still a sad panda for the first 24 hours of the trip.
After the Disneyland race, I went to my kidney doctor. It had been a long time since I saw him so I figured I needed to check in with him and decide if I can go off my chemo medication. I had been feeling well, hadn’t had any issues with petechia or illnesses. When I was at this appointment I didn’t mention the migraine to him. But when the nurse took my blood pressure it was high. Then when the doctor took it, it was still high. I thought that it was high because I was in the process of interviewing for a new job and waiting for the news of that new job. My doctor and I talked and the plan was to monitor my blood pressure for a week or two and see if it goes down. It did not go down on its own, so he prescribed me some medication to help. That was successful.
We don’t know what is causing the pressure to be high so the next step is to watch my pressure and urine protein levels and make sure nothing crazy is going on with those little kidneys of mine. It’s important to go to your doctor, especially if you have a condition like mine. I tend to neglect my doctor visits because I am busy with the kids and work and don’t want to take more time off for my own visits to the doctor. But now that I have seen the pattern with flying and migraines I am making it a point to figure out what is going on with that. I made an appointment with my GP and she is sending me for a heart bubble test. What the heck is that? Well, she told me you get an IV in your arm and then saline is inserted into your vein and they watch your heart to see if there is a tiny hole where the oxygen may not be getting from one side to the other. Strange…. but I don’t want to deal with these headaches ruining my trips. I mentioned the test to my kidney doctor and said he never heard of it before. He looked it up on his computer and said it’s actually a legit test and to go for it. So I’ll see what comes up of it. I don’t know if I will have my answers before my next trip but I will be proactive again and load up on Tylenol and rest prior to leaving and when I land I’m going to make sure to eat well and get sufficient rest.
I figured that since I train often and run marathons that I am “healthy”, but you never know! Lately I have been hearing about runners who collapse during or just after they finish their races, and sadly I saw it happen at that Happy Haunted 5K race during the Tower of Terror weekend. I saw the medics surround someone at the finish line and they were administering CPS and shocking the runner’s heart. It wasn’t a good scene and really made me realize that I have to take care of myself. My family needs me and I have to be sure all is well, especially when I travel and run these races. Sure I believe that when your time comes that’s it; but if I can do the right thing to take care of my body then I need to do that. So if you have issues you have been ignoring, go see your doctor!
As we are partly into December and a month away from flying into Orlando for the Dopey challenge, I wanted to give an update on my training. I just got back from my Sunday morning run (one of my favorite parts of my week/weekend). It was a VERY rainy day Saturday so I was hoping that rain would push away overnight and Sunday would be clear. My alarm went off at 7:00 and I peeked out the window to see everything wet and cloudy but no more rain drops were dancing on the pool cover. I got up, had my tea, got dressed and hit the road. Six miles were on the schedule today and I had the latest pod cast on my ipod from Another Mother Runner which was about the Philadelphia marathon (which I had just run 2 weeks ago), so I had something to look forward to listening to on my run. All bundled up, I hit the road SLOWLY today. I start off walking some of my hill and then began my running intervals.
