My first experience with a real injury has been interesting. It's been 7 weeks of a lot of up and downs. In hindsight I should have just pulled off of running at the first sign of injury, but you need to understand that anything I have ever dealt with in the "injury" department has been very different than this. Up until the IT band issues if I had a issue I'd take a day, a week or just be more careful and bam it would be over. So the first couple weeks of this injury I had the naive mindset that this too was just a little nagger. Maybe just maybe if I would have shut it down right away it would have been but I had all eyes set on that marathon PR so I pushed and I tried everything and now here I am 7 weeks later with a lot of new knowledge.
Lets start with the GOOD
*First I run for arguably the best team ever which I have always known but realized more the minute my hopes were shattered. I was hooked up with a great PT in the Springs and started my journey. An evaluation with a PT will leave you wondering.....how in the world have I not tripped over my feet, fallen on my face and broken my neck and that's just while walking. The GOOD news is we know exactly why I am hurt. I ran through 4 months of tendinitis in my ankle and while I was fine I was not running properly. My right leg that had the tendinitis is my stable leg (and trust me I use stable VERY loosly here) so with it being sore I was not able to use it thus putting all my weight on my left leg which is just pathetic. I think I would have more luck balancing on a pogo stick than on my left leg. After further evaluation I do not use my glutes or hamstrings at all. Result? A quad and IT band that have just been doing too much work over a 6 month period of marathon training. So the GOOD news is we knew the answer. Work on balance, strengthen those hips and teach the booty to do its job.
*Upon learning what I probably already knew I decided to get my little butt to the gym and go to boot camp. This was nothing a million lunges, squats and a bunch of other torture couldn't cure. At Work out West we have the greatest boot camp teacher ever. She knew I had to be in class because I was hurt otherwise I'd have my butt outside running. In a class of 50-90 people she would always make sure to throw something special in for me to not have to run. Upon talking more I decided to hire Kim to train me. We talked about my weaknesses and injury and she knew exactly what I needed to do. My first few sessions have been great! Working with her has made me realize just how bad these weaknesses are. I am going to have to retrain my legs to do their work. Even in a glute based exercise like a squat or a lunge the only muscle that feels the need to work is my quads. YIKES! Kim really makes me work on balance and teaching things to fire, she is going to be great for me! I am going to come out of this injury speedy with a butt that knows what the heck it needs to do.
*One of the best things I've gotten from this injury? My Elliptigo! I am for sure a girl who thinks the only workout worth doing is running. But in my fight to keep myself ready to go for Houston I went and tried an Elliptigo out and I fell in love! Luckily I have a very supportive husband because he decided to buy me one for Christmas. I can not rave enough about this tool. Up until I decided to drop out of Houston I was on it on and off but the minute we realized this was an actual injury I have been on it every single day. On the days I am allowed to run I will use the Elliptigo as my second run of the day. The days I am off of running I will take it out for up to 25 miles and have been doing 110-120 a week on it. My family told me I look like something out of Whoville and I can't argue with that. I look a bit ridiculous. All I know is I can make myself work to the point when I come home I feel like I just went and did a nice long marathon workout and I am spent. The best part is now that I am back to running a bit I feel like I haven't missed a beat! After 7 weeks of only spotty running I thought for sure my first real run out I'd be running 10 minute miles but I am hitting my normal easy day paces with no problem! All of you injured runners should go try one out!
*I found a great Dr in town I never even thought of using. When I became injured and was trying just about every thing out there I heard that Eric Walker does ART and acupuncture. This has been a great thing for me. ART isn't exactly something I enjoy but I can feel the difference in my knee from it and I love the acupuncture. I'll be honest I've never really believed in any of that kind of thing but so far its working out well. I think both of them will be a good tool even as I get healthy.
*When something goes bad in your life you really learn things about your friends, your acquaintances as well as your competition. As a first timer in the injury boat it hasn't been super easy to deal with. Once I got over the fact that yes I was missing the marathon I spent a couple weeks enjoying myself. Spending more time with the kids, more time with my friends more time with my family and than it started to sink in this wasn't going to just be a couple weeks off. In that time I have had a sweet teammate reach out to me and give me great advice. I've always respected Cassie her opinions and advice. She is a very level headed smart women and she always helps me when I feel a little lost in this sport. The other person who really reached out wasn't one I would have expected. Kristen and myself have raced against one another in a lot of races. She is a girl I quickly realized would push me to my limits out on the roads. This is a great thing though! I learned a long time ago you are only as good as your competition and I always know when Kristen is on the starting line with me I will be running all I have that day. Maybe it's because we are both on the injured list right now but she has given me some great advice and I have really appreciated it. It's always good to hear things from someone who has been in your shoes. Knows how you are feeling and can help you figure it out.
*I realized just how lucky I am. There are times while training that I look at other people and think..."Wow how great would it be to be her. She gets to focus on just running. What I wouldn't give to be able to train, sit down for a healthy meal and take a nap. Go get a massage and enjoy it all by myself" After being out for a while now I realize just how lucky I am. If I had all the time to do that other stuff I would be going insane right now! My life is so busy with running around and kids that it has really been a great distraction from my pity party.
THE BAD
*Well number one of this list would be I didn't get to run Houston. Being so ready for a marathon and never getting the chance is awful! I don't know how else to describe it other than it feels like the worlds worst break up. You give yourself completely to this one thing, sacrifice other things along the way and than BAM it breaks your heart.
*Turns out when you are stressed out about your body not cooperating you actually have very little patience. This injury has made me feel like I am insane. One minute I can be all upbeat and positive that things will be OK. The next I am thinking why do I even do this. Lets be honest I'm not getting any younger I'll probably just be slower anyway. I am all over the place. :)
*During this little injury I also had a birthday. Great you say? Nope not great. I am now 34 and all I could think was crap you are really going to start falling apart now. Some of the girls on our team and ones we compete against are younger or as young as my brother. My brother that lived with us while he was still in middle school. My brother that we had a part in raising. This makes me feel very old and slow.
THE UGLY
*When I am not running I feel just evil! Yes I have been on a machine at the gym next to a guy running nice and fast and the first thought in my head was....Oh he is so happy. How happy would he be if I just went over and pulled the plug out. BAM he'd be on his face in a second. HAHAHA that would be so funny. Yeah I know EVIL!
*I've also found myself complaining about the stupid new years resolution's at the gym. Really you all know you are going to be gone in a month anyway. Please get off of this machine so I can focus on staying in shape. The normal me would be happy for these people who are trying to better themselves. The new me however wants everyone to just leave the gym so I can get on my machines and not have to hear anyone.
*On my Elliptigo rides I have witnessed every pace of running out enjoying themselves. Was I happy for them to discover how great running is???? NO! In my head I was playing runner pac man. I would just visualize running them down on my Elliptigo and taking them out. Seriously I don't even like myself at this point......
*Probably the most entertaining of the Ugly was me out on what was suppose to be a 24 mile Elliptigo ride. When I left my house it was a beautiful sunny Colorado day. A bit chilly but peaceful. Sadly at my turn around point it began to snow. At first it was beautiful. I actually remember saying to myself. "This is why I love CO. Beautiful snow flakes on a crisp winter afternoon." That quickly changed when five minutes later it was crazy windy and snowing like mad. I probably don't need to say this but my cute green Elliptigo doesn't exactly have snow tires. Trying to get home as fast as I can I take a turn in what has now become 3 inches of snow and take a nice little spill. This was not a spill of a coordinated person. My Elliptigo went in one direction and I went in another laid out like a starfish flying through the air. I didn't catch myself I just biffed it. Right at a four way stop. Now what am I going to do deny it and say oh no it must have been the other girl in town riding an Elliptigo around. Um.....this is a very small town people know its me.
Now its time to look ahead. What is on the horizon? At first I wanted to get back into a marathon ASAP, but now I realize that would be a bad idea. I need to work on my form and weaknesses first jumping back in would mean Id be full steam ahead and chances are I would end up really hurting myself. Instead.....I am going to drop back down in distance. I want to hit the track a couple times again this year. Yes you heard that out of my mouth. The girl who hates it so much is actually excited to give it another go. Maybe my new found booty will help me be super speedy. Or it wont and I will just enjoy running some laps with friends. Regardless I am ready to get back to the happy go lucky Wendy who loves to run and wouldn't actually pull the plug on anyone on the treadmill. The fact of the matter is I really love running. I am in this sport because even as I get older it gives me a way to be competitive, meet amazing people and experience things I never would have without it. I'll be back out there at races soon and this time I will have more of an appreciation for it!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
When life gives you lemons
Make lemonade........that's how the saying goes right!?!?! Well it turns out I am not a big fan of lemons or lemonade. Back in November when New York got canceled I tried to make this little saying in a positive way. I already had a trip planned to Mexico so I decided to turn it into.....when life gives you lemons you order a nice drink at the bar and ask for a twist of lemon. It worked right?
Well it really seemed to work when I jumped back in to marathon training immediately after Mexico and things were going so well. When NY was canceled we decided right away Houston i ran well there for the trials, the course, weather and timing were perfect. It was a perfect plan. First week back to training seemed rough but than. Things just started clicking. I can not tell you how excited I was.When I first decided to run NY Scott and myself decided to take the whole year and be a marathoner. At that point we talked numbers. The numbers he threw out made me want to throw up.....are you kidding me. That's what the professional girls run not this mommy. Now fast forward to NY training. Things were good. Despite having tendinitis in my ankle I was hitting workouts far better than I had training for the trials. Ok now fast forward just a couple more months and I was starting to think those numbers were not only going to happen some day. They were going to happen now. In Houston. This is what I work so hard for. For things to click and my dreams to come true.
Here is where it gets tricky. Running was going well, I am super competitive even when it comes to out doing myself in workouts. It was just a normal Tuesday. Drop the kids off at school at 8:05 get back to the house by 8:10, put out all your bottles and gels and off on the 23 miler. There is no time for slacking on these days. My youngest gets out of school in just a couple hours. We start our warm up and I tell my training partner "wow my IT band feels pretty tight". Having dealt with this before after the warm up Tyler had me stretch. Now we are off, on this particular Tuesday things were really clicking. Our first 7 mile loop goes by we grab our first gel and drink from our water station and drop them up the road as the neighbor looks at us funny. This is normal. I look down at my watch and tell Tyler oh man we may end up regretting this, our pace is pretty fast this early. Long story short we never paid for the fast pace we just kept picking it up and finished under marathon pace. Holy cow I am so pumped......but I could hardly walk. My knee was in so much pain. No worries I just ran my fastest 23 of course something hurts. Next day....ouch my knee is not happy. Hobble through a easy run and get home to my R8. Before I know it it's Friday and time for a workout. Hmm.....knee is a little tight. No worries roll it, run a kick ass predator run followed by even faster mile repeats. Sweet! Night time brings a short easy run and some pool time. Saturday was an ugly run and than every day after that just seemed to be worse. I took it easy, got an Eliptigo, saw a PT and tried a workout the following Saturday in the Springs. The workout started good I was hitting some great splits than bam. There it is knee is "locked" up. Stop massage stretch and try to finish. Got one more mile in and bam.....
At this point we weren't worried. My base and fitness was there. I could take a few days on the Eliptigo, stay fit cross training at the gym, I would work on strength training the weak spots and get treatment. Inthe last couple of weeks I've gotten graston, dry needling, massages like crazy, ART and acupuncture. Every day I was trying to be positive, I was way too fit for this to not work out. Sadly after every treatment I got didn't seem to help I felt a little defeated. Finally on Thursday last week I got ART and what do you know. I could run! I didn't push it at first just 6 miles and on the treadmill to make sure i could do it. It wasn't pain free
but my leg wasn't locking up either. Next day I tried again I got a little farther. Yes this was smart. I was going to make it to Houston. Next day......pain....next day more ART.....today......run a few stop to stretch...run another stop to stretch...run.....knee locks up. Lot of tears on the side of the road.
Tonight I got a call from Scott. We both realized things weren't getting better like we needed. I know I'm moving in the right direction but sadly I've run out of time. My leg will not let me finish the race. I feel so horrible! I feel like I let down the race that was kind enough to let me in after NY, I feel like
I've let down everyone who has worked so hard to train and support me. Yes I realize I am not the
first person to get injured and have to withdrawal from a race. That being said it didn't feel any less awful emailing the race director to tell him how sorry I am. Nor did it feel great when I got a phone call to interview me on my withdrawal. The question has been asked.......what now? My first thought was I can just take a week get healthy and jump into a smaller race. You know why not Mardi Gras that way I could do two before the end of May. I am in such good shape I need to take advantage of this. Sadly the reality is I need to worry about my leg getting better. I have the exercises from the PT, I'll keep getting ART from Dr Walker, I am going to start working with a trainer to correct weaknesses and I won't push my IT band. Maybe it takes a week, maybe it takes longer. When it is ready I can make a plan. I'd love to do Boston? Or I'm sure there are a lot of other fabulous Spring
marathons. All I know is I won't let this ruin my spirit. I love running and competing!
So I guess I am going to take those lemons and make...............pie? Bread? I am not sure but I'm hoping I've had my fair share of lemons for a while.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
It's been a while
In the last couple of days I have been asked a few times why there hasnt been a new blog in so long. In every case my response was "Well I haven't done anything worth blogging about". Today as I was out Christmas shopping I realized that my statement just wasn't true. In my mind I only think it's important to blog when I have had a great race but truth is maybe it's just as important to blog when I haven't had a great race or in this case any race at all.
These two just make my world complete.
One of my favorites this year....Chase as an immigrant heading to the US
The boys in NYC
Halloween......Ultimate Warrior and AJ
Our babies....Molly and Layla
Ahhhhhhh......Mexico
Charity event for abused children
2012 ugly sweater party
Let's recap the year.
My first six months were amazing! The Olympic marathon trials, USA 1/2 champs and my first season on the track ending with the Track trials. The runner in me will tell you after that.........well I had a lot of great training and crappy racing. Seems like 2012 came in promising and left with no marathon to show. But here is the thing. I am a mom, a wife, a sister, a neice, a cousin, a friend, a school volunteer all before I get to become the runner. So while running left me frustrated, sad and alot of times angry the last six months the rest of my life hasn't.
Chase has given me many things to be proud of. My little man is an amazing football player. The whole family (ok maybe not Tripp) enjoyed watching him play on two football teams all fall. He was scoring touchdowns left and right and we had to try and fit his head in the door. In July he turned 8, yeah I am old enough to have an 8 year old......CRAZY! For Chase's birthday the whole family went to a WWE event in Denver which isn't exctly my thing, but seeing Chase and Tripp light up was well worth the headache I had later. As parents we dealt with our first travel team tryouts. Kevin and myself were a complete wreck. Luckily all of our worries were put to rest when he made the team.
Tripp, my little fire ball, is nothing like his brother also gave us a lot of joy. Tripp is my little comedian, my little trouble maker, my little brawler and mommies little boy. After dealing with t-ball last year Tripp made us put him in "real" baseball. Poor little guy was way smaller than anyone else out there, but did a great job of holding his own. Even though he is a little munchkin he insisted on also playing flag football. Well as he isn't old enough I had to stretch the truth a bit and he ended up on a team. Unlike his mom Tripp has some wheels. It was fun to watch him run up and down the field. A huge milestone this year was Tripp starting kindergarten. It was so hard to let him go, my babies aren't babies anymore!
Every week I spend my Wednesday in school with the boys and really enjoy seeing what amazing kids they are. Which as all parents know makes me breath a little easier.....if only I could get them to act like little angels at home too!
We had a very exciting summer as Molly, our English mastiff, gave birth to 11 little pups. Sadly only 8 survived, but it was an amazing adventure for me. Luckily we found homes for every pup and even kept one for our own. Little Layla has fit nicely in to the family! And yes if you are counting....that makes 4 dogs in our house :)
Even though the marathon got canceled the whole family was still able to make the trip out to NYC. The boys absolutely loved it! Time Square, Statue of Liberty, Central park, room service, Central Park Zoo, Rockefeller and street meat ended up being the highlights.
Since I was suppose to be recovering from my best marathon we planned an adult only trip to Mexico with a lot of our friends. When things didn't go the way they were suppose to we decided that going to Mexico was still going to happen. There aren't many times I get to spend time with my friends without being the odd one. You know....I am off to bed (at 10) I have a workout tomorrow. No beer for me tonight....I have a long run. The list goes on and on. I was excited to hang out with Kevin for 6 days of nothing. We laid on the beach, went snorkling, I got on a boat for the first time, went zip lining, 4 wheeling, played some beach volleyball, pet a shark and most important just good guality time with my husband. The kids, his company and running seem to keep that from happening too often and it was nice to be able to get some time alone.
The year was capped off by our "Annual Thomas ugly sweater party". I invited a lot of people that I have been introcuded to throughout the year as well as our go to group. The turn out was amazing. The sweaters were hilarious on both the adults as well as the kids. Our house was filled with laughter, cheer, kids, adults, dogs and good times. It was something as parents I think we all needed after the tragedy in CT the day before. Just to see the kids really enjoying themselves was a blessing. Of course I went over board and made the boys sweaters as well as my dress just to be out done by my Uncle's dog. Yes Lacy won the womens ugly sweater division.
So yeah this blog is boring. No exciting news to talk about with running. No new PR's, no new races, but I am not going to allow myself to say that nothing exciting happened in 2012. A lot of exciting life things have happened. The rest of my life roles just seemed to over shadow the runner role and honestly after the time I put in to running in the first half maybe it was time. I'll keep training away and shooting for goals but for the rest of the night.........I'm going to be a freaked out mom who hasn't wrapped the rest of the Christmas presents yet, dinner still needs to be made, dishes need to be done, house needs to be cleaned and I should probably have a beer at the table with my husband while we discuss all the funny things the kids have said in the day.
These two just make my world complete.
One of my favorites this year....Chase as an immigrant heading to the US
The boys in NYC
Halloween......Ultimate Warrior and AJ
Our babies....Molly and Layla
Ahhhhhhh......Mexico
Charity event for abused children
2012 ugly sweater party
Let's recap the year.
My first six months were amazing! The Olympic marathon trials, USA 1/2 champs and my first season on the track ending with the Track trials. The runner in me will tell you after that.........well I had a lot of great training and crappy racing. Seems like 2012 came in promising and left with no marathon to show. But here is the thing. I am a mom, a wife, a sister, a neice, a cousin, a friend, a school volunteer all before I get to become the runner. So while running left me frustrated, sad and alot of times angry the last six months the rest of my life hasn't.
Chase has given me many things to be proud of. My little man is an amazing football player. The whole family (ok maybe not Tripp) enjoyed watching him play on two football teams all fall. He was scoring touchdowns left and right and we had to try and fit his head in the door. In July he turned 8, yeah I am old enough to have an 8 year old......CRAZY! For Chase's birthday the whole family went to a WWE event in Denver which isn't exctly my thing, but seeing Chase and Tripp light up was well worth the headache I had later. As parents we dealt with our first travel team tryouts. Kevin and myself were a complete wreck. Luckily all of our worries were put to rest when he made the team.
Tripp, my little fire ball, is nothing like his brother also gave us a lot of joy. Tripp is my little comedian, my little trouble maker, my little brawler and mommies little boy. After dealing with t-ball last year Tripp made us put him in "real" baseball. Poor little guy was way smaller than anyone else out there, but did a great job of holding his own. Even though he is a little munchkin he insisted on also playing flag football. Well as he isn't old enough I had to stretch the truth a bit and he ended up on a team. Unlike his mom Tripp has some wheels. It was fun to watch him run up and down the field. A huge milestone this year was Tripp starting kindergarten. It was so hard to let him go, my babies aren't babies anymore!
Every week I spend my Wednesday in school with the boys and really enjoy seeing what amazing kids they are. Which as all parents know makes me breath a little easier.....if only I could get them to act like little angels at home too!
We had a very exciting summer as Molly, our English mastiff, gave birth to 11 little pups. Sadly only 8 survived, but it was an amazing adventure for me. Luckily we found homes for every pup and even kept one for our own. Little Layla has fit nicely in to the family! And yes if you are counting....that makes 4 dogs in our house :)
Even though the marathon got canceled the whole family was still able to make the trip out to NYC. The boys absolutely loved it! Time Square, Statue of Liberty, Central park, room service, Central Park Zoo, Rockefeller and street meat ended up being the highlights.
Since I was suppose to be recovering from my best marathon we planned an adult only trip to Mexico with a lot of our friends. When things didn't go the way they were suppose to we decided that going to Mexico was still going to happen. There aren't many times I get to spend time with my friends without being the odd one. You know....I am off to bed (at 10) I have a workout tomorrow. No beer for me tonight....I have a long run. The list goes on and on. I was excited to hang out with Kevin for 6 days of nothing. We laid on the beach, went snorkling, I got on a boat for the first time, went zip lining, 4 wheeling, played some beach volleyball, pet a shark and most important just good guality time with my husband. The kids, his company and running seem to keep that from happening too often and it was nice to be able to get some time alone.
The year was capped off by our "Annual Thomas ugly sweater party". I invited a lot of people that I have been introcuded to throughout the year as well as our go to group. The turn out was amazing. The sweaters were hilarious on both the adults as well as the kids. Our house was filled with laughter, cheer, kids, adults, dogs and good times. It was something as parents I think we all needed after the tragedy in CT the day before. Just to see the kids really enjoying themselves was a blessing. Of course I went over board and made the boys sweaters as well as my dress just to be out done by my Uncle's dog. Yes Lacy won the womens ugly sweater division.
So yeah this blog is boring. No exciting news to talk about with running. No new PR's, no new races, but I am not going to allow myself to say that nothing exciting happened in 2012. A lot of exciting life things have happened. The rest of my life roles just seemed to over shadow the runner role and honestly after the time I put in to running in the first half maybe it was time. I'll keep training away and shooting for goals but for the rest of the night.........I'm going to be a freaked out mom who hasn't wrapped the rest of the Christmas presents yet, dinner still needs to be made, dishes need to be done, house needs to be cleaned and I should probably have a beer at the table with my husband while we discuss all the funny things the kids have said in the day.
Monday, October 8, 2012
What the?!?!?!?
It's so easy when something goes wrong to immediately start questioning yourself and lowering your expectations. The hardest thing to do is remembering to believe in yourself. Yesterday I ran the usa 10 mile champs and came away feeling really upset and discouraged. I got a lot of support from people and while it made me feel loved the excuses frustrated me. "You just had the flu", "you have been worried about your ankle" on and on. I think it's natural to want to blame it on something...at this point ANYTHING. I mean I've run a faster 10 mile in route to a half, I've run almost as fast at altitude, even in workouts. All this left me feeling like wow what is going on with me.
Last year was an amazing progression for me I was rocking and rolling. Running PR's left and right. It was amazing! Now I'm left with feeling like every race needs to be a PR or earth shattering. Sadly that's just not running and sadly running is 90% mental. What does this mean? It means I go in to every race thinking oh crap that last race was a real sh** show this will be the same. Trust me I do everything I can to stop thinking about it, to try and put the last race out of my head, but it never fails to still haunt me. It's also really hard to not compare yourself to people you race a lot. For example usually I'm ahead of so and so, or just behind this person. In running anything can happen on any given day so comparing yourself is not ideal. Yet again it's the nature of the beast.
After 3 races in this marathon build up and 3 disappointments I'm left to feel "what is going on". Do I need to do more? Do I need to do something different? I've been training hard but I'm the first to admit this build up has not been perfect. I've had some hiccups and some set backs. This is hard for me as I feel like the marathon is more "my" thing. Granted I've only done one but it was the most I've ever enjoyed training as well as racing.
True to our schedule the ADP group set out yesterday afternoon to do our second workout of the day. We hit Fort Schnelling in MN for a nice 10+ mile workout. This is when my spirits were lifted. I felt just as good if not better than the race. I was hitting the same paces or faster than I was during the race. It felt smooth and controlled and I felt indestructible. While this does little to make me feel better about not being able to get my turnover going during the race it gave me 100% more confidence for NYC! Like I said I don't want an excuse I want an answer so I can change it but maybe just maybe for me to be FAST like I was during the summer I need to focus on it. Lets be honest my stride is not exactly made for speed. So take a couple months of doing marathon pace and I think my body just settles in and has a hard time adjusting back down to the speed. It's not good of me but maybe something I can work on for down the road. It could be just being so "young" in running my body just hasn't learned to jump up and down. So while I'm super frustrated and worried I also remember YES I am the same runner that ran 32:48 for 10k and 72:56 for the half not that long ago. I'm going to try to learn to shut that little voice up that keeps saying "that whole thing must have been luck because now holding sub 5:30 pace would take a miracle" the fact remains I'm in great shape just not for anything other than the marathon. It still stinks to have raced these other races so slow yes.......but at the same point in my build up to Houston when I ran a half I ran two minutes slower than I did when I ran rock n roll Denver a couple weeks ago. So maybe just maybe I'm better off than I thought?!?!?
I'll see you with my two crazy kids and hubby in NYC!!!!!!! I'll be ready to rock! Until than I have 3 solid weeks of kicking my own butt in preparation!
Last year was an amazing progression for me I was rocking and rolling. Running PR's left and right. It was amazing! Now I'm left with feeling like every race needs to be a PR or earth shattering. Sadly that's just not running and sadly running is 90% mental. What does this mean? It means I go in to every race thinking oh crap that last race was a real sh** show this will be the same. Trust me I do everything I can to stop thinking about it, to try and put the last race out of my head, but it never fails to still haunt me. It's also really hard to not compare yourself to people you race a lot. For example usually I'm ahead of so and so, or just behind this person. In running anything can happen on any given day so comparing yourself is not ideal. Yet again it's the nature of the beast.
After 3 races in this marathon build up and 3 disappointments I'm left to feel "what is going on". Do I need to do more? Do I need to do something different? I've been training hard but I'm the first to admit this build up has not been perfect. I've had some hiccups and some set backs. This is hard for me as I feel like the marathon is more "my" thing. Granted I've only done one but it was the most I've ever enjoyed training as well as racing.
True to our schedule the ADP group set out yesterday afternoon to do our second workout of the day. We hit Fort Schnelling in MN for a nice 10+ mile workout. This is when my spirits were lifted. I felt just as good if not better than the race. I was hitting the same paces or faster than I was during the race. It felt smooth and controlled and I felt indestructible. While this does little to make me feel better about not being able to get my turnover going during the race it gave me 100% more confidence for NYC! Like I said I don't want an excuse I want an answer so I can change it but maybe just maybe for me to be FAST like I was during the summer I need to focus on it. Lets be honest my stride is not exactly made for speed. So take a couple months of doing marathon pace and I think my body just settles in and has a hard time adjusting back down to the speed. It's not good of me but maybe something I can work on for down the road. It could be just being so "young" in running my body just hasn't learned to jump up and down. So while I'm super frustrated and worried I also remember YES I am the same runner that ran 32:48 for 10k and 72:56 for the half not that long ago. I'm going to try to learn to shut that little voice up that keeps saying "that whole thing must have been luck because now holding sub 5:30 pace would take a miracle" the fact remains I'm in great shape just not for anything other than the marathon. It still stinks to have raced these other races so slow yes.......but at the same point in my build up to Houston when I ran a half I ran two minutes slower than I did when I ran rock n roll Denver a couple weeks ago. So maybe just maybe I'm better off than I thought?!?!?
I'll see you with my two crazy kids and hubby in NYC!!!!!!! I'll be ready to rock! Until than I have 3 solid weeks of kicking my own butt in preparation!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Trying to figure it out
It's been forever since I've blogged. Mostly because I haven't really felt like what I've been doing is anywhere near "blog worthy". Just to catch up.......
The biggest highlight was the USA half champs. The half is by far my favorite distance. I had no idea what to expect from it as it was at the end of my season which was full of 10k training and a lot of racing! I was racing back to back weekends and traveling a lot to try and get my trials time of 32:45. It turns out not having any expectations of myself was the best thing ever! My goal was to run smart and try to pace myself with the Hanson girls. Having raced them in longer distances before I know they are by far the smartest racers I've ever seen. They go out controlled and end up kickin butt every time. I figured I'd just try to hang with them as long as possible. Long story short they ran smart like always so with them and the other few girls in my group I was able to pull of a new PR of 1:12:56. With the exception of the Marathon I've never been more happy with a race outcome before. This race was when the seed was planted and I started to believe that maybe just maybe with some good quality long runs and longer progressions I could possibly have a chance at the World Half team by running well at the 20k champs.
A couple days later I found out I was number 24 for the Olympic track and field trials. The trials were a great experience for me. I was seriously so excited to be there not so much for my race but because I wanted to be there so see my teammate Alisha rock it! The race itself was just blah......I tried to help set the pace for Ali to have an honest shot at the Olympic "A" standard but knew from half a mile in my legs were dead. Probably a result of the half a few days before or more than likely just a long haul of a season full of hard training and PR racing. But I do have to admit it was pretty cool to look up on the screen and see myself next to Shalanne. Not to mention of all the things I've done my boys will still tell people "My mom was winning the Olympic trials.........for a little bit" :)
Back to the seed that was planted. Together with Scott we decided I would take a week off (hello Las Vegas!) and than just put in a good stint of training before I raced again. This was hard for me as I REALLY like to race and I do feel better and better if I race a lot, but on the flip side when I do that I tend to race myself out of shape. This stint was going to be 9 weeks of solid efforts, I knew this would mean I was going to have an amazing race at the 20k's. Workouts were going so well. I even had a 10 mile progression that was just a tad slower than my ten mile race PR for altitude. WOOHOO! If only people would come and time my workouts.........
What I had been ignoring was this little stupid thing I had going on with my ankle, or at this point my kankle.
We've all done this, come on admit it runners, I fought with myself thinking this is no big deal. Running ALWAYS hurts something. Just keep training it will go away. SO for 6 weeks I did, for 6 weeks I'd hobble around the day after my good solid eforts, but to me it wasn't a big deal because my hard efforts were going great! I think as runners it's a non stop battle of toeing that injury line. I've been so so blessed not having had any problems yet, but I guess it's the nature of what we do. At some point more than likely we will all deal with it. I unfortunately am not good at dealing with it because I have this little voice in my head that tells me if I do I am WEAK! So I just kept plugging away.
The 20ks came and I was not excited. This is a weird feeling for me because racing is so much fun. However I knew my ankle was pissed off. Well I ran the 20k's, I fell apart, I had an awful race, got stuck in New haven an extra night, didn't even come close to making the world half team, I came home I let myself have a good cry and than I started training. My next long run resulted in a very fat ankle and I realized I needed to do something about this now. So I sadly pulled out of Philly did a lot of pool running, Alter G running and went to the doc. X-ray came back ok, I now have a normal size ankle and was determined to get in the half marathon I missed. Sadly Philly had come and gone so I had my amazing agent get me in to the Denver half a couple days before and moved on.
Welp I'd love to say I ran the half today, it was awesome and I rocked it. Instead I'll tell you I ran the half today, I ran a lot slower than I know I am capable of 1:17:11 and I'm disappointed. But I will also tell you I will shed no tears over my frustration, I mean hey I made it through the half and I have a normal sized ankle. Thats a victory! So I'll just (as Kevin says) "put my nose to the grind stone" and focus on what is important the New York City Marathon. I have time for some good training and I want to kick some butt there.
I have a hard time when I don't race like I should. I start telling myself I'm out of shape, I don't deserve to do this or that, so and so is going to kick my butt. In reality I know that non of it is true, but sadly running is 90% mental. The next couple weeks I'm going to spend my time trying to train the thing between my shoulders and cross my fingers that the 10 mile champs goes better than the last two!
The biggest highlight was the USA half champs. The half is by far my favorite distance. I had no idea what to expect from it as it was at the end of my season which was full of 10k training and a lot of racing! I was racing back to back weekends and traveling a lot to try and get my trials time of 32:45. It turns out not having any expectations of myself was the best thing ever! My goal was to run smart and try to pace myself with the Hanson girls. Having raced them in longer distances before I know they are by far the smartest racers I've ever seen. They go out controlled and end up kickin butt every time. I figured I'd just try to hang with them as long as possible. Long story short they ran smart like always so with them and the other few girls in my group I was able to pull of a new PR of 1:12:56. With the exception of the Marathon I've never been more happy with a race outcome before. This race was when the seed was planted and I started to believe that maybe just maybe with some good quality long runs and longer progressions I could possibly have a chance at the World Half team by running well at the 20k champs.
A couple days later I found out I was number 24 for the Olympic track and field trials. The trials were a great experience for me. I was seriously so excited to be there not so much for my race but because I wanted to be there so see my teammate Alisha rock it! The race itself was just blah......I tried to help set the pace for Ali to have an honest shot at the Olympic "A" standard but knew from half a mile in my legs were dead. Probably a result of the half a few days before or more than likely just a long haul of a season full of hard training and PR racing. But I do have to admit it was pretty cool to look up on the screen and see myself next to Shalanne. Not to mention of all the things I've done my boys will still tell people "My mom was winning the Olympic trials.........for a little bit" :)
Back to the seed that was planted. Together with Scott we decided I would take a week off (hello Las Vegas!) and than just put in a good stint of training before I raced again. This was hard for me as I REALLY like to race and I do feel better and better if I race a lot, but on the flip side when I do that I tend to race myself out of shape. This stint was going to be 9 weeks of solid efforts, I knew this would mean I was going to have an amazing race at the 20k's. Workouts were going so well. I even had a 10 mile progression that was just a tad slower than my ten mile race PR for altitude. WOOHOO! If only people would come and time my workouts.........
What I had been ignoring was this little stupid thing I had going on with my ankle, or at this point my kankle.
We've all done this, come on admit it runners, I fought with myself thinking this is no big deal. Running ALWAYS hurts something. Just keep training it will go away. SO for 6 weeks I did, for 6 weeks I'd hobble around the day after my good solid eforts, but to me it wasn't a big deal because my hard efforts were going great! I think as runners it's a non stop battle of toeing that injury line. I've been so so blessed not having had any problems yet, but I guess it's the nature of what we do. At some point more than likely we will all deal with it. I unfortunately am not good at dealing with it because I have this little voice in my head that tells me if I do I am WEAK! So I just kept plugging away.
The 20ks came and I was not excited. This is a weird feeling for me because racing is so much fun. However I knew my ankle was pissed off. Well I ran the 20k's, I fell apart, I had an awful race, got stuck in New haven an extra night, didn't even come close to making the world half team, I came home I let myself have a good cry and than I started training. My next long run resulted in a very fat ankle and I realized I needed to do something about this now. So I sadly pulled out of Philly did a lot of pool running, Alter G running and went to the doc. X-ray came back ok, I now have a normal size ankle and was determined to get in the half marathon I missed. Sadly Philly had come and gone so I had my amazing agent get me in to the Denver half a couple days before and moved on.
Welp I'd love to say I ran the half today, it was awesome and I rocked it. Instead I'll tell you I ran the half today, I ran a lot slower than I know I am capable of 1:17:11 and I'm disappointed. But I will also tell you I will shed no tears over my frustration, I mean hey I made it through the half and I have a normal sized ankle. Thats a victory! So I'll just (as Kevin says) "put my nose to the grind stone" and focus on what is important the New York City Marathon. I have time for some good training and I want to kick some butt there.
I have a hard time when I don't race like I should. I start telling myself I'm out of shape, I don't deserve to do this or that, so and so is going to kick my butt. In reality I know that non of it is true, but sadly running is 90% mental. The next couple weeks I'm going to spend my time trying to train the thing between my shoulders and cross my fingers that the 10 mile champs goes better than the last two!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
I didn't get the purple pants!
The last few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster. After dropping out of Peyton Jordan my head was just not working in my favor.
First up was Bolder Boulder. I've already explained how it was a dream come true just to be in the race, but sadly the race was anything but a dream. It did little to help my confidence as I ran TERRIBLE! The whole race I just kept telling myself how much I wanted this and getting to run the whole race with Magda kept me plugging along. It was pretty cool just to hang out with Magda, Deena, Janet, Adriana and Sara. They are all ladies I really admire. Deena even has an awesome Mastiff just like we do! After the race I had my awesome support system of family and friends to help remind me this one race wasn't the end of the world. They even gave me a hard time for not being able to push harder and finish in front of Magda which would have made me a LOT of money.
First thing my kids said after the race was "Mom your hair is CRAZY! and can we take a picture with your friends now who were in the Olympics"
Not going to lie I have never been so happy to finish a race. Getting into the stadium is something I will forever cherish
Oh yeah that space there cost me a hell of a lot of money!
After Boulder I was pretty mentally down on myself. I think there are some time for all runners when they just feel like the work just doesn't seem to be paying off the way you hope. Luckily for me I have the worlds greatest coach and support system that keep me plugging away. So just 5 days after Boulder I talked Scott into letting me do my 3 mile uptempo at one of my favorite local races, Sierra's race in Loveland. For me it is so important to remember everyone who has supported me from the start and the family and friends of Sierra are very encouraging. This was my third time racing there and I will continue to do it as long as possible. Typically I run my 3 mile uptempo at 5:30's as it's a workout that is put in between races to keep the legs moving but not pushing to hard. Having run Sierra's before I knew mile 1 would be fast as it is downhill and than the last mile and a quarter or so are uphill. Since it was only a workout I wore my garmin so I could focus on paces. Doing this showed me why I NEVER race with a garmin. I was looking at it way too much slowing down speeding up, it would make me crazy. I ended up winning the race, setting a new course record and having a great time. Even the boys raced. It was just an all around great morning. This was the best choice I could make. It taught me that I need to stop getting so worked up before races. It taught me I need to stop worying about anything outside of myself and what my legs need to do. The result will usually be a great race.
Beautiful morning for a race!
That's Chase in the black doing a great job of kicking to the finish
And Tripp on the left with a giant smile coming in strong!
I wanted to take the lessons I learned from Sierra's race and carry it over to Portland which happened to be just 6 days later. In the last month I have learned a lot of lessons mentally. Going in to Portland I was scared. I'm not going to lie, after Peyton Jordan I wasn't ready to get back on the track so I did my workouts at a local park that has a dirt trail. We have everything marked out there from 400 up to a 2 mile. It is for sure slower than the track as it has some hills in it, but mentally I could take hills more than the track. Not to mention ever since the 25k champs I have had a nagging groin thing going on. So as I was heading out to race my final shot at the Olympic trials I had little confidence in my ability. My mental state was not helped when I arrived at the airport to find out the hail storm the previous night meant that our plane got downgraded. After a long wait I ended up giving my seat up to a nice grand mother who needed to get to Portland for her Granddaughters gradutaion that night. I only neededto make sure I got there sometime before my race the following day so it seemed like the right thing to do. The result was a connecting flight and arriving 6 hours later. Normally this would send me in to a freaking panic but I was reminded by Scott "what would Pooh do?" So I just rolled with it.
Once I finally made it I found out I had great roommates, Adrianna Nelson and Kelly Callway. These two ladies were a ton of fun. We just hung out the day of the race not really stressing. Portland did it's best to try and freak me out by pouring rain on and off all day.
Are you kidding me? I didn't even know it could rain like that! Luckily though Craig ordered perfect conditions for the race and by some small miracle the skies cleared as the meet started. My pre race ritual was a lot different this time. I didn't stress over eating exactly what I had at Stanford I just went with whatever was available. I even (and hold on to your chairs when you read this) did my hair and nails different! I threw the damn superstitous thoughts out of my head. I wasn't nervous or excited or dreading I was just ready to get on the track. During the warm up I felt pretty crappy even running to the bathroom to throw up. Pretty sure I just had too much coffee during the day. Like most races before I knew it the gun was going off.
The start of the race was a bit nerve racking. All of us were ready to run 32:45 so it was crowded. I found myself in lane 2 so I decided to sprint up to the front so I could at least be in the outside of lane 1. I sat just behind Kim (our amazing pacer!) and Dani from Iowa state. The next two miles flew by but again with the field being so close in ability I was getting clipped like crazy. I decided to slow up a bit to sit on the back of the pack so I could not be clipped and I could be on the inside of lane one. This seemed to be fine as miles 3 and 4 really flew by. I felt amazing! For the first time I was able to do what Scott wanted. I literally turned my engine off and was along for the ride. Sadly I was a little too zoned out. I looked up to notice that Kim was in lane 4 which could only mean one thing, we were coming on mile 4. Since I have done this before I knew this was when the pack was going to make a move. Sure enough as I glanced to the front I could see that the first 4 of about 8-9 of us were breaking away. This time I was determined to not settle. I slowly ran around the girls in front of me, but by the time I got to the front the pack of four had gotten away from us. This is when it was going to get tough. I spent the next 9 laps on my own just focusing on them. I needed to catch them and I just couldn't do it. Looking back maybe I should have made a bit of a surge to force myself, but after races there are always things you know you should have done. The next mile was ok I slowed up a bit but was still on pace, than I lost it mentally. For some reason I though I had 4 laps to go when I heard the announcer say 5. I know it is ony 400 more but it really took me out of my zone. When I finally came around with one lap to go the announcer said 31:32 she needs a 73 for the final lap. At this point I knew I couldn't do it, but I pushed as much as I could and finished with a 32:48.45.
After the race with Adrianna
Luckily this time when I crossed I pushed Eeyore out of my head! Sure I was bummed I JUST missed it and it was my last mile that cost me, but I had just run a PR! Given the month I have had and the thoughts I had pre race I was honestly excited. I mean I gave my dream one last shot. Now I really have mixed emotions. When the season started I was really against running on the track. Mostly I think it was just going to prove to myself I wasn't good enough and I didn't want to deal with the disappointment. Now I am very glad I did. I gave it a go, I put myself out there and this time it wasn't enough. Does it mean all of the work I have put in the last 6 months was for nothing? Heck no! This new speed is going to transfer over to a kick ass fall marathon. I'm excited for what the future races holds. I am coming up on my first year of training with Scott and the ADP and look how far I have come. I can't keep comparing myself to any other runners. I'm on my own path and it is unique from others. Sadly my whole motivation to push myself toward the trials was getting the awesome Elite Adidas kit. The super cute purple pants have been on my mind since January! I won't get them this year but just the motivation to get them got me to a new PR. Now what? Well I entered myself into the trials and I will just have to wait until everyone declares on June 18th to see. The chance of me making the trials aren't very good but I am going to keep my fingers crossed that maybe just maybe some other girls decided to not run.
I do want to give it up to the crew at Portland Track Festival! This was my kind of enviroment. There was music playing as we ran which was awesome! The laid back atmosphere is much more my style! Most of all I want to give a big, huge, gigantic thank you to my awesome teammate Loren! BRC is the absolute best team to be on! Loren was out in Portland to run the steeple and helped me more than he can know. He was encouraging as he was cheering my name. I had absolutly no idea who was cheering me on as I ran around but he kept me from falling apart!
It feels a little weird to not have the Olympic Trials on my schedule. I'm actually not too sure what I will do next. It feels a tad empty. In the short term I am going to head out to MN this weekend and run the USA half champs. It will be a really great time. I truly enjoy the distance and I will get to see a lot of friends!
First up was Bolder Boulder. I've already explained how it was a dream come true just to be in the race, but sadly the race was anything but a dream. It did little to help my confidence as I ran TERRIBLE! The whole race I just kept telling myself how much I wanted this and getting to run the whole race with Magda kept me plugging along. It was pretty cool just to hang out with Magda, Deena, Janet, Adriana and Sara. They are all ladies I really admire. Deena even has an awesome Mastiff just like we do! After the race I had my awesome support system of family and friends to help remind me this one race wasn't the end of the world. They even gave me a hard time for not being able to push harder and finish in front of Magda which would have made me a LOT of money.
After Boulder I was pretty mentally down on myself. I think there are some time for all runners when they just feel like the work just doesn't seem to be paying off the way you hope. Luckily for me I have the worlds greatest coach and support system that keep me plugging away. So just 5 days after Boulder I talked Scott into letting me do my 3 mile uptempo at one of my favorite local races, Sierra's race in Loveland. For me it is so important to remember everyone who has supported me from the start and the family and friends of Sierra are very encouraging. This was my third time racing there and I will continue to do it as long as possible. Typically I run my 3 mile uptempo at 5:30's as it's a workout that is put in between races to keep the legs moving but not pushing to hard. Having run Sierra's before I knew mile 1 would be fast as it is downhill and than the last mile and a quarter or so are uphill. Since it was only a workout I wore my garmin so I could focus on paces. Doing this showed me why I NEVER race with a garmin. I was looking at it way too much slowing down speeding up, it would make me crazy. I ended up winning the race, setting a new course record and having a great time. Even the boys raced. It was just an all around great morning. This was the best choice I could make. It taught me that I need to stop getting so worked up before races. It taught me I need to stop worying about anything outside of myself and what my legs need to do. The result will usually be a great race.
I wanted to take the lessons I learned from Sierra's race and carry it over to Portland which happened to be just 6 days later. In the last month I have learned a lot of lessons mentally. Going in to Portland I was scared. I'm not going to lie, after Peyton Jordan I wasn't ready to get back on the track so I did my workouts at a local park that has a dirt trail. We have everything marked out there from 400 up to a 2 mile. It is for sure slower than the track as it has some hills in it, but mentally I could take hills more than the track. Not to mention ever since the 25k champs I have had a nagging groin thing going on. So as I was heading out to race my final shot at the Olympic trials I had little confidence in my ability. My mental state was not helped when I arrived at the airport to find out the hail storm the previous night meant that our plane got downgraded. After a long wait I ended up giving my seat up to a nice grand mother who needed to get to Portland for her Granddaughters gradutaion that night. I only neededto make sure I got there sometime before my race the following day so it seemed like the right thing to do. The result was a connecting flight and arriving 6 hours later. Normally this would send me in to a freaking panic but I was reminded by Scott "what would Pooh do?" So I just rolled with it.
Once I finally made it I found out I had great roommates, Adrianna Nelson and Kelly Callway. These two ladies were a ton of fun. We just hung out the day of the race not really stressing. Portland did it's best to try and freak me out by pouring rain on and off all day.
The start of the race was a bit nerve racking. All of us were ready to run 32:45 so it was crowded. I found myself in lane 2 so I decided to sprint up to the front so I could at least be in the outside of lane 1. I sat just behind Kim (our amazing pacer!) and Dani from Iowa state. The next two miles flew by but again with the field being so close in ability I was getting clipped like crazy. I decided to slow up a bit to sit on the back of the pack so I could not be clipped and I could be on the inside of lane one. This seemed to be fine as miles 3 and 4 really flew by. I felt amazing! For the first time I was able to do what Scott wanted. I literally turned my engine off and was along for the ride. Sadly I was a little too zoned out. I looked up to notice that Kim was in lane 4 which could only mean one thing, we were coming on mile 4. Since I have done this before I knew this was when the pack was going to make a move. Sure enough as I glanced to the front I could see that the first 4 of about 8-9 of us were breaking away. This time I was determined to not settle. I slowly ran around the girls in front of me, but by the time I got to the front the pack of four had gotten away from us. This is when it was going to get tough. I spent the next 9 laps on my own just focusing on them. I needed to catch them and I just couldn't do it. Looking back maybe I should have made a bit of a surge to force myself, but after races there are always things you know you should have done. The next mile was ok I slowed up a bit but was still on pace, than I lost it mentally. For some reason I though I had 4 laps to go when I heard the announcer say 5. I know it is ony 400 more but it really took me out of my zone. When I finally came around with one lap to go the announcer said 31:32 she needs a 73 for the final lap. At this point I knew I couldn't do it, but I pushed as much as I could and finished with a 32:48.45.
Luckily this time when I crossed I pushed Eeyore out of my head! Sure I was bummed I JUST missed it and it was my last mile that cost me, but I had just run a PR! Given the month I have had and the thoughts I had pre race I was honestly excited. I mean I gave my dream one last shot. Now I really have mixed emotions. When the season started I was really against running on the track. Mostly I think it was just going to prove to myself I wasn't good enough and I didn't want to deal with the disappointment. Now I am very glad I did. I gave it a go, I put myself out there and this time it wasn't enough. Does it mean all of the work I have put in the last 6 months was for nothing? Heck no! This new speed is going to transfer over to a kick ass fall marathon. I'm excited for what the future races holds. I am coming up on my first year of training with Scott and the ADP and look how far I have come. I can't keep comparing myself to any other runners. I'm on my own path and it is unique from others. Sadly my whole motivation to push myself toward the trials was getting the awesome Elite Adidas kit. The super cute purple pants have been on my mind since January! I won't get them this year but just the motivation to get them got me to a new PR. Now what? Well I entered myself into the trials and I will just have to wait until everyone declares on June 18th to see. The chance of me making the trials aren't very good but I am going to keep my fingers crossed that maybe just maybe some other girls decided to not run.
I do want to give it up to the crew at Portland Track Festival! This was my kind of enviroment. There was music playing as we ran which was awesome! The laid back atmosphere is much more my style! Most of all I want to give a big, huge, gigantic thank you to my awesome teammate Loren! BRC is the absolute best team to be on! Loren was out in Portland to run the steeple and helped me more than he can know. He was encouraging as he was cheering my name. I had absolutly no idea who was cheering me on as I ran around but he kept me from falling apart!
It feels a little weird to not have the Olympic Trials on my schedule. I'm actually not too sure what I will do next. It feels a tad empty. In the short term I am going to head out to MN this weekend and run the USA half champs. It will be a really great time. I truly enjoy the distance and I will get to see a lot of friends!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Sometimes dreams really do come true!
My dream of running started back in May of 2009. I jumped into my first Bolder Boulder after not training all winter and only a few runs in the Spring. Oh yeah and the two days before the race were spent with the stomach flu. Not exactly the ideal situation, but probably the most "fun" I have ever had in a race. I crossed the finish line completyly spent, I had no idea how tough the course was or even what a 10k felt like. My time was ok, I ran a 37:55 for 11th place female but man did it hurt! It wasn't so much what had happened in the last 38 minutes that changed me but more what was about to happen in a couple hours.
After I crossed the finish line I found Kevin and the boys so we could get a good seat to watch the Memorial ceremony after the races were over. We both thought our kids would love watching the jets, parachuting men and all of the festivities. As we sat in the stadium we ended up seeing the elite race come through. I remember hearing the crowd cheer these runners on as I watched Tera Moody and Alisha Williams run for team USA into the stadium. With goose bumps on my arms and tears in my eyes I looked at Kevin and said "I want to do that!" At the time I'm sure Kevin thought I was nuts. These women were running considerably faster than I had just run. Not to mention THEY were real runners I was just a mom who ran on the treadmill. The next day I went in to Doug Bell and told him I want to be in that race someday, I want to give running what I can and train. I had no idea at the time how this was about to change my life!
Fast forward to now. This weekend I will be running in the Bolder Boulder International team challenge! I am going to get to finish in that stadium with my family and friends cheering me on. I can't tell you how much this means to me! I know to a lot of people it sounds cheesy and goofy, but it's the whole reason I am who I am today. That one race changed my life! There have been races in the past 3 years that I have had the honor of being a part of. Many USA championship races and most important the USA Olympic Marathon trials. All of which have been amazing and a dream! But for me Bolder Boulder is the race I feel the most excited and honored to be a part of! It is the place I started, it's always been the thing I have strived to have the honor to be in, not to mention it's a local race! I know it's a little nuts. I mean who would choose to run at 11 in the heat verses at 7 am in the cool weather? Who would prefer to run with 20 or so women instead of a huge field that you can tuck into men to help you out? Chances are you could end up alone. Chances are you could end up at the back for a bit. The thing is is this. Running is full of ups and downs. I have had a year of so many amazing ups. Joining the American Distance Project has turned out to be the best decision I have ever made. No it wasn't easy! I had to disappoint some people and leave what I was comfortable with behind. But it has brought me to the place I stand in today. The last few weeks I have struggled with myself on a physical and mental level but once again God knew how to help me. On Monday I will run my little heart out and give 110% to finish in the stadium with all my loved ones around! This is the biggest "up" I could have! I feel like I have really given a lot to running in the last year. Lots of sweat, pain, tears and sacrifice from both me and my loved ones. Plus lots of work from my teammates, my training partner and coach. So in a weird way I feel like yes it is all worth it. It's the little victories in running and life in general that keep us plugging away!
I have so many people to be thankful to for all the joys and gifts I have been given in life! God has really blessed me with so much more than I ever dreamed of. I have an amazing supportive husband, two beautiful children, a brother who probably thinks I am 100% insane for doing this but still comes along to cheer me on, family who supports me, amazing training partner and friends, awesome sponsors in the Boulder Running Company, Adidas, and Powerbar, and freaking awesome teammates!!!! I do look back now and find it funny how it worked out. That day I looked at Alisha and Tera and idolized them! That hasn't changed a bit they are two of the most amazing runners, but now I have had the honor of being their teammmates. They have given me advice, encouragment and support. I'll still always look up to them as runners but now I look up to them as women and friends. It's funny how God will put you in the right place to help you make the decision to change your life forever!
Can't wait to see you all out there on Monday! You better believe I will be out there drinking my coffee cheering you all on to a great race! Than as I run no matter how the race turns out for me I will listen for all of my friends encouraging words and remember just how blessed I am to be in this race!!!!!
After I crossed the finish line I found Kevin and the boys so we could get a good seat to watch the Memorial ceremony after the races were over. We both thought our kids would love watching the jets, parachuting men and all of the festivities. As we sat in the stadium we ended up seeing the elite race come through. I remember hearing the crowd cheer these runners on as I watched Tera Moody and Alisha Williams run for team USA into the stadium. With goose bumps on my arms and tears in my eyes I looked at Kevin and said "I want to do that!" At the time I'm sure Kevin thought I was nuts. These women were running considerably faster than I had just run. Not to mention THEY were real runners I was just a mom who ran on the treadmill. The next day I went in to Doug Bell and told him I want to be in that race someday, I want to give running what I can and train. I had no idea at the time how this was about to change my life!
Fast forward to now. This weekend I will be running in the Bolder Boulder International team challenge! I am going to get to finish in that stadium with my family and friends cheering me on. I can't tell you how much this means to me! I know to a lot of people it sounds cheesy and goofy, but it's the whole reason I am who I am today. That one race changed my life! There have been races in the past 3 years that I have had the honor of being a part of. Many USA championship races and most important the USA Olympic Marathon trials. All of which have been amazing and a dream! But for me Bolder Boulder is the race I feel the most excited and honored to be a part of! It is the place I started, it's always been the thing I have strived to have the honor to be in, not to mention it's a local race! I know it's a little nuts. I mean who would choose to run at 11 in the heat verses at 7 am in the cool weather? Who would prefer to run with 20 or so women instead of a huge field that you can tuck into men to help you out? Chances are you could end up alone. Chances are you could end up at the back for a bit. The thing is is this. Running is full of ups and downs. I have had a year of so many amazing ups. Joining the American Distance Project has turned out to be the best decision I have ever made. No it wasn't easy! I had to disappoint some people and leave what I was comfortable with behind. But it has brought me to the place I stand in today. The last few weeks I have struggled with myself on a physical and mental level but once again God knew how to help me. On Monday I will run my little heart out and give 110% to finish in the stadium with all my loved ones around! This is the biggest "up" I could have! I feel like I have really given a lot to running in the last year. Lots of sweat, pain, tears and sacrifice from both me and my loved ones. Plus lots of work from my teammates, my training partner and coach. So in a weird way I feel like yes it is all worth it. It's the little victories in running and life in general that keep us plugging away!
I have so many people to be thankful to for all the joys and gifts I have been given in life! God has really blessed me with so much more than I ever dreamed of. I have an amazing supportive husband, two beautiful children, a brother who probably thinks I am 100% insane for doing this but still comes along to cheer me on, family who supports me, amazing training partner and friends, awesome sponsors in the Boulder Running Company, Adidas, and Powerbar, and freaking awesome teammates!!!! I do look back now and find it funny how it worked out. That day I looked at Alisha and Tera and idolized them! That hasn't changed a bit they are two of the most amazing runners, but now I have had the honor of being their teammmates. They have given me advice, encouragment and support. I'll still always look up to them as runners but now I look up to them as women and friends. It's funny how God will put you in the right place to help you make the decision to change your life forever!
Can't wait to see you all out there on Monday! You better believe I will be out there drinking my coffee cheering you all on to a great race! Than as I run no matter how the race turns out for me I will listen for all of my friends encouraging words and remember just how blessed I am to be in this race!!!!!
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