Boston Marathon 2011: Pre-Race

Perhaps a little overdue, but here it is nevertheless.  Working and driving to and from work along with sleeping has pretty much become my life as of late.  I am befuddled as to how to get on a consistent training plan with continuous curve balls at work that delay my 12 hour shifts to 14's and my 8's to 10's. 

Anyway, I worked my 45 hours the week before Boston and definitely felt run down by the end of the week with a little bit of a sore throat.  I thought maybe I was a little dehydrated, but by Friday morning I was achy and my throat was worse.  My sinuses felt a little clogged and I was exhausted.  I talked to e-speed about even getting on the plane (didn't want to spend 4 days away from home with full blown flu and take the chance of making my roomies sick too!), but she easily persuaded me to at least come out and see how I would feel. 

Each day after, I felt about the same crappy, crappy and crappy.  I was torn between exploring the expo and all the awesome places Boston had to offer or just crawling into bed and trying to save all my strength for Monday.  I convinced myself this was such a great opportunity and I made it out for some wonderful Boston moments.

I haven't been on a plane for probably five or six years and there is a reason...I hate flying.  I hate heights and I always think the plane is going down!  I had 2 super cool guys from Canton on my flight who had run Boston before and were telling me their stories.  I was the first girl to arrive from our group and when I got to baggage claim, this was my first sign it was really going to happen -- I was going to get my shot at the Boston Marathon!!

The first night we hit up the hotel restaurant Connexions and I got to try a lobster roll and an Oatmeal Stout beer

The next morning we had our traditional SERC photo:

The Expo (where the famous BB found the last freakin' Boston 2011 jacket for me)

We had an awesome brunch in Cambridge where we met another future Boston marathoner, also a nurse (YAY!!)

The night before the race we had a killer dinner at Pappa Razzi's and on the way home we walked backwards through the finish.  I was able to get one last look at that big blue banner

and the finish line I so desperately hoped I could get to tomorrow morning. 

Lots of nice people in Boston offered to take pics of all the crazy runners and their friends, such as myself who wanted a kodak moment of their trip (this one was the night before the race)

We stopped off at the local supermarket near our hotel and I got more airborne (I had been drinking all of e-speed's), vitamin C pills and zinc in hopes by some miracle I would feel better by 10:30am tomorrow.  I laid down dead tired and passed out within 5 minutes, hoping 5:15 am would not come for another 3 days, but by 4:30 am the anticipation of race morning had crept into our room and some of us just couldn't sleep, so we all got up.  I felt about the same, crappy, my throat was still sore, my joints were achy, my sinuses felt a little clogged and I was still having chills on and off.  I laid in bed watching everybody bustle about the room debating if I should even get out of bed, trying to find the right answer in my heart to run or not to run.  I didn't want to bring anybody down or make them worry, but when your sick you don't do a marathon, you don't do a 26.2 mile training run, you just don't get out of bed, unless you absolutely have to!!

Ready Or Not

I can't believe I am getting on a plane tomorrow for Boston.  It's already here and I have a lot of reservations about this race and my performance.  I have so many doubts about this race.  I am fairly confident I will finish and under 4hrs (which sounds, so slow to me), but the idea of running a PR feels like a stretch. 

When work started a little over a month ago, it really started to cut into my running and I struggled to get in the miles.  I did get in three 20-milers in prep for Boston, but I feel extremely run down and sluggish right now.  I worked about 46-47 hrs this week and the last two nights got home around 1-2 am.  I ran 2 times last week and 2 this week.  And then there was the crash...

Having not run at all until Saturday last week, I opted to go for a 25 mile bike ride on Sudnay with a short run after, but on my way back with only 2 miles to go I crashed.  There was medium traffic through a construction area and as I tried to navigate through it a nice sized pothole presented itself in my path.  I couldn't avoid it so I tried my best to bunny hop it, but I didn't get enough air and the tire just missed clearing the edge.  I flipped over the front end with my feet locked into the pedals.  I felt my right thigh slam into my aero bars and careened down the pavement on my right side.  I laid there for a few seconds stunned and then I got up fearing a driver may have thought I had killed myself.  I could tell I felt off, but the adrenaline and shock was minimizing most of the pain.  I fixed my back brake and assessed the damage.  It was rideable, so I headed home.  My right elbow was jacked up and throbbing really bad.  I was having a hard time straightening it and couldn't sit in the aero position at all.  I arrived home without any further mishaps and went in the house to assess the damage.

I had some road rash down my right arm and on my left butt cheek, but my right leg took the brunt of the damage.  I had a HUGE bruise on my right quad and a few small ones behind my leg, but the worst was my right shin.  It was swollen and had a greenish-blue hue to it.  I poured alcohol down my right arm and it felt like someone took a blow torch to it.  As for the shin and thigh, I could only ice it and hope for the best.  I have been pretty sore all week and when I run I feel pretty stiff, but it is doable, so I am hoping the discomfort will be minimal on Monday.  I have been taking some naprosyn, but truth is I just really need some rest. 

I almost slipped on the stairs and fell down them today too.  I am usually not this clumsy, but perhaps I have an unseen dark cloud following me.  I really hope it doesn't follow me to Boston and by some luck I can pull this off. 

I went for a little "pep talk run" today and although I felt like absolute crap I berated myself a little for being so scared and such a wuss.  I told myself "if you step up to the line, you better stop being such a cry baby and run like a motherf*cker or stay the F home."  I am still going to run hard.  It just might not reflect a PR.  I am going to try, but I never know what I am gonna get until race day itself.  The only thing I know is I will fight tooth and nail to the line, just like I do at every marathon.

Till my legs give out - I will not fall

'Cause sometimes you feel tired,
feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.
 
Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, can't shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out - am I high? Perhaps
I'ma rip this shit till my bone collapse.

Until the roof
The roof comes off
Until my legs give out from underneath me
I will not fall,


I will stand tall,


Feels like no one could beat me.

-Eminem

The Quickness

In my race report from this past weekend, I referred to an "aha" moment with my running and said I would further elaborate. 

My undergraduate years in college touched a little bit on biomechanics, how force plates work, knowledge of the skill, execution and follow through.  Just like anything there are always two sides to an argument, biomechanics is no different.  Their watercooler banter topic is "do you have to do the skill at least 10,000 times or can you be gifted to be an expert?"

I fall somewhere in the middle, while being naturally gifted is almost a necessity at the international/world class level, there is something to be said for repetition and muscle memory.  Although, undoubtedly one of the best to ever ride a bicycle, I am certain Lance Armstrong did not just get on and start climbing hills.  He had to practice!

Anyway, my problem with short distance as stated before is no speed, no power, no "get up and go!"  In high school I broke the school record for steals (of course, someone else has now broken that record) in basketball.  Everybody said it was because I was quick.  The truth is, I don't think I was.  I could see the floor and read the offensive players.  I knew where the ball was going.  Girls were not as good back then and they projected their passes.  It made it much easier to steal the ball if you knew who it was going to.  Of course, in running a 5k or 5-miler knowing who is going to be where does me no good. 

Last week I went for a nice easy 10 miler.  I did 7.5 solo and then picked up "The Bails" for the last 2.5.  Now during these last 2.5 I realized when I run a "comfortable" pace my stride seems fairly short, but the harder I run the more I dig for ground and try to force myself forward.  I spend more time in the air and although my stride length increases, it does not compensate for the loss in regards to my stride frequency.  I decided to literally smash my feet into the ground, and try a few pick-ups. I focused on moving my feet quicker and It worked!  I wasn't out of breath and was running a sub-7:00/mile.  Maybe, I was on to something, so I did it again.  It felt awkward and although my breathing was labored, I wasn't dying!  I was dead set on trying my new strategy in the race on Saturday now.

I did just that in the race and although it did feel really unnatural to "force" my feet down and onto the ground, it did keep me from reaching and overstriding.  I am not sure how different it makes my running look, but it sure as hell feels weird.  Anyway, gave it another shot the other day running up a small incline and although the Garmin is not 100% reliable as it said I was able to get up to a 4:18/mile, I know for a fact I was moving the fastest I have ever moved in my life before.  The mailboxes and the pavement were going by me like I was on a bicycle!  I felt awesome, tingling all over.  It was like I was electrified with speed.  Then two seconds later, the quickness was gone and  I had to slow down and get some air :)

And totally off subject but if you want to see one of my new favorite and totally inspiring signs go here and leave your thoughts about DNFing too!

Decisions

Hmmmmm, this weekend is presenting a bit of a dilemma for me. I am thinking of putting my choices in a hat and just choosing that way.

Last week I went to the doctor for some, immunizations and had blood tests done. I lost 4 vials of blood and had a really nasty reaction to one of the immunizatioins. I had a fever and achy joints with what felt like the worst hangover of my life. I even managed to pass out on the bathroom floor for a few minutes. I missed an entire week of swimming, biking and running.

Sunday, I managed an easy run of 5 miles and have been able to run everyday since, but due to the weather I have now gone 12 days with absolutely no swimming or biking. I can definitely tell the blood draw put a hurting on me as running is tiring, so the question(s) are do I race and if so what do I race?

Saturday morning there is the JCM 5k
and/or
Saturday night there is the Winking Lizard 2M and 4M (don't want to do the 4 if I am goig to race the sprint on Sunday)

Sunday morning is the Fairport Triathlon Sprint (last year I was 9th OA and have beaten the girl that won the event last year once already this year)
or
The Sweet Corn Ride (I would try the 100 as I have NEVER done a century)

or as I have a final exam on Wednesday do I say screw the entire weekend and not race, save the few pennies I have and study?

I have no chance of PRing as I am undertrained and a bit rundown. I don't know if 2 weeks off from swimming and biking would not only be a disaster in a triathlon, but down right embarassing.

I think I am going to go with the "hat selection method." Ahhh, decisions.

4 days, and less than 11 hours

Finally, at long last it is once again...

RACE TIME!!!

It feels like I haven't raced in forever, when in fact it has only been about 30 days. Since then though, I have worked a 1/2 marathon, a duathlon and (2) 5k's. So just about every weekend I was still getting some kind of race fix. You know how second hand smoke works right? So maybe I got some 2nd hand running :)

I look at my counter and see it say less than 4 days and 11 hours until I find out what I am made of. I had in the past followed a training schedule, but this year I had my own plan of attack. I didn't want to force myself to run for 16, 18 weeks or whatever the books said so I began my plan as soon as January 1st.

I had already run a little less than 20 mpw for a month or so as per doctor's orders. I started running 20-25 mpw through most of January getting in 4-5 runs a week with lots of cross-training, specifically cycling. When February hit I averaged 4-5 days again with about 25-30 mpw still continuing to cross-train. I even got to throw in 2 races.

March was the beginning of the monster mileage though. I backed off for a week and then started my long runs. I count anything over 13 miles as a long run, although most books say 10. I hit 17 miler and a 14 miler all in the same week and followed it up with a hard 30K + 3 miles warm-up and cool-down the following weekend. My legs were hammered. I was worried. I began wondering if I had pushed too hard and would need more than a week to recover and get my mileage back up for more long runs.

April came and I spent the next week running (3) recovery runs, (1) hard workout and a 13 miler that without Twizzle I would have not made it through. I heard the nagging voice in my head telling me to back-off and keep your eye on the prize and with that I bailed and cut my mileage down to 19.30 miles for a week. I did one hard 7 miler at North Chagrin, a 3.2 mile run at sub-12 minute/mile pace with my boyfriend's 8-year old son, a super muddy fun run with my training buddy, Bails and one 5k race. It was a short but memorable week. I enjoyed all the downtime and not having to run hard or worry about anything but having fun. It was worth it as the road ahead was gonna get bumpy.

The next weeks were going to be the key to Cleveland. I had planned on doing (2) more 20-milers and then tapering. I got them done in back to back weeks as my NCN schedule was interfering and so was the Hermes 10-miler. I ended up running the 20 milers on weekdays and pacing a friend at the 10-miler. **Let me tell you I had one of the nastiest frickin' hangovers of my life at that race!! and that was the 2nd day of the hangover!!!** Anyway, got in 2 weeks of ~40 miles of quality running. I was done no more high miles...or so I thought.

May 1st arrives. My roommate, Twizzle is running the BR100 in August and needs to run at night, so I just throw it out there that we should run from our house to my parent's one night. It is probably 15 miles...no biggie. Twizzle jumps at the idea and at midnight on May 1st we set-out for what turns out to be about 19 miles. We were both exhausted, but it was so different and I will never forget it. We ran by a pond with a water fountain that Twizzle swears she will jump in one day, learned that I am better at guessing distances to traffic lights at 2:15 in the morning than she is and people will honk at you for anything (weirdos). We finally get to my parents around 3:00am, shower and literally pass out. Needless to say I opted to take the next 3 days off.

That brings me to last week in which I ran EZ, trying not to run too fast. Most of my runs were focused on that 8:24 pace just trying to put the legs in automatic and make that my default speed. I also got a massage and it was super fantastic. It was my first one ever and it was 2 hours and the guy is great. I don't generally like being touched and especially not by strangers, but this guy was heaven sent. He was easy going and funny and I felt relaxed and rested when I left. Sunday however was a 10 miler that brought me out on pace until about mile 7 when the drowned rat syndrome sank in. I gained about 5lbs., of soggy shoes, shorts and underwear (which is so gross)and at times thought the rain was turning to frickin' snow. It was so hard. It hit me in the eye a few times and I thought goggles would be really helpful right NOW!! I also thought about how in one week's time I would be done with my marathon and have a qualifying time for Boston on my resume. I finished my run still faster than any of my 10-miler race times in past years. It just kills me my training runs are faster than my race times of the past...damn that anemia!

And here we are. with 4 days and less than 11 hours to Go time. I have seen the finish and the clock in my head so many times that I believe I am going to do this. It is "Do or Do Not" as Yoda says..."there is no try."

Joe Newton is the winningest high school cross-country coach ever and in one of his workouts the kids run 5x1 miles with 3:00 min recoveries and his mantra on the last repeat is "1 mile to Glory." I like that. Mine is "26.2 miles to Glory!!"

Our Days Are Numbered Ladies

E-Speed and Daisy: Enjoy the oldest and most prestigious race in the US. And if you see Lance "Hands off!!! He is mine!!" ( I am not kiddin' Daisy :)

AS1 and (the hubby): Week after week you have reached new goals with your running. You have fought off the fatigue, the weather and the injuries. Every step you take will be worth that last one you cross the finish line with. (then get your ass over to the hoot-nanny for some moonshine and toosh-pushin')

To AS2: Busting your ass and training on those hills will carry you to a PR. And all those nerves....well those make the first 5 miles go by, just like that.

To MN: The most determined red-head I have ever met. You will rock the pig! Remember it is the courage to continue that counts. You WILL do WELL!!!! I know it.

Ahh Cleveland!!!

Starting with MT: Unfortunatley for you, it is ONLY 26.2 miles so don't forget to stop after 3.5-4 hours. They will post "FINISH" signs. Love ya.

Moving on to Daisy: If your "guns" are any indication of the mental training you have been doing there will be absolutely NO stopping you.

TriSaratops: Continuing on with the LL Cool J theme: "You're gonna rock this land, you're gonna take this itty bitty world by storm And you're just gettin' warm!!!

And the wrap up: E-speed again....funny how you're last and just like in a relay the last person is the fastest (strange coincidence). Burn up the course, burn it up!! However, please note: asphalt melts at 250 degrees F and there will be many other runners behind you ;-)