Marathon Dreamer

pouring outside and ran this in the parking lot outside of the gym!

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Some easy running before the longer run tomorrow

easy running with weights and abs done

Ran with "Ironman", Cade and Liam. Hard running with kids that are less than half of my age but I can hold my own with them ;-)

easy recovery 3 miler on the mill followed by weights.

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5 miles easy on the treadmill... felt good after mile 3.

some faster running thrown in there. weights and abs done.

2 miles ease, 3 miles at mid 8's 

so tired

8 miles with Ironman (my son Kyle), and his young friends Liam and Cade.  I was ahead the whole time and turned it into a tempo run... not bad and by the time I finished, I was tired.

off... taper time!

8 mile bike easy... took 4 miles of it as credit... taking it easy.

off... so tired this morning that I turned off the alarm at 4:30 am and reset it for 5:50 to sleep longer.  Taper allows for more rest so I took it!  I am running PF chang in AZ on Sunday and running another marathon the following Sunday in Carlsbad... 2 marathons back to back and doing this challenge with my son "Ironman" (Kyle).  Excited for him as PF chang will be his first official and big marathon!!!

I was really looking forward to this race because my son Kyle Aka "Ironman" new to this blog, was going to run his debut major marathon. I had been helping him train and he and his friends helped me on those long training runs pushing me to run them quickly. We arrived in AZ on Thursday late afternoon. It was going to be a busy 4 days for us as we planned to see family, spend some time at the Barrett Jackson Auto Auction and also run the marathon. Friday, we went down to my Mom's and spent the day with her and had a wonderful lunch at the San Tan Flat Saloon. Later, we returned to Scottsdale to our hotel and then went to the auction. We even were on stage for several of the auctioned vehicles and had been seen on TV a few times! Lol! Our youngest son Evan (9 yrs. old) bid on a few cars and brought one vehicle up to $110 k when we called it quits. It was hysterical and the bidders around us were thoroughly entertained by it all.

Saturday, we had a delicious breakfast and then headed over to the expo. It was a Typical expo and it seemed a bit smaller this year. I got a glimpse of Frank Shorter and heard him speak about training. We picked up a few gu and we were on our way back to the auto auction for a few beers and another fun evening. Later, we met up with my in-laws for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. One of my favorite places to eat!!! I had a delicious pasta dish and lots of their dark bread with the oats on top. Yummy!! We got back early and were in bed by 9pm. Kyle wasn't feeling that well and our run on Friday morning at my Mom's was not great for either one of us, but I had experienced that before and knew that it would come together on Sunday God willing.

Sunday, we woke at 5am and got ready quickly. Kyle still wasn't feeling right but he pulled it together during the race running. 3:19!!!! I can't begin to say in words how proud I am of him!!! He pushed hard and even ended up in the medical tent :-( afterwards but he is doing well now except for the post marathon limp and hobble that we all have. My husband was also running but had not trained hardly at all. He ran 20 miles and had to call it a day, yet still an amazing accomplishment considering he ran 17 miles total in the past 2 months!!! My friend Rebecca ran a 4:23!!! She and I ran together a few weeks ago when she ran her 20 miler in training. She prepared with running a lot of hills which I think made all the difference for her. She is like a little train... She is the little engine that CAN!!!! I was really impressed by her first marathon time... Way to go Rebecca!!!

So, what can I say about my race? Somewhat uneventful but I have learned that my comfortable race pace for a marathon is 8:30's per mile. Although I couldn't sustain the pace (which was due to lack of speed work because of my hip flexor injury which I am still feeling), I have the potential to run a faster race. After several marathons, I have only broken the 4 hr a few times and this was my third. I had no idea what shape I was in because I had not raced since my 100 mile attempt this past October and that race completely wrecked me. I had made it 72 miles and had to stop because I could no longer even walk because of the pain in my hip.

It was a big surprise for me to run sub 4 at this race and it really helped boost my confidence after being totally beaten down at Javelina 100. My hands were freezing at the beginning of the marathon and I had forgotten gloves. I have Reynaud's Disease and my hands were killing me by mile 5. I saw some people throwing off their gloves to the side of the road. One young girl threw off some hot pink knitted ones in front of me and I quickly grabbed them off the ground and put them on. It saved me from a lot of misery with the cold and I wasn't able to take them off until mile 22. I popped a squat at mile 15 behind a stucco wall on the side of the road... Yeah... I'm one of THOSE girls. ;-). My last 8 miles became very tough for me. When I saw 2:58 at the 20 mile marker, I knew that I would break 4 hours. It was my goal but I had doubts going into the race about meeting it.

Kyle and I will be recovering this week as we prepare for our back to back marathon challenge next weekend. We both plan to just have fun with it!! Carlsbad will not be as kind to us with its hills... This is going to be interesting!

Resting... Ouch and driving back to California today. It is a long ride and makes for very stiff legs :-(.

Woke up this morning with the beginnings of a chest cold and not feeling well. Will take it easy today but I do plan to hit the gym for a gentle bike and a jacuzzi soak. I haven't done weights since last weekend... Maybe some ab work today.

OMG... I have the flu!!!!!

In bed.... no energy, hurt all over and my head is going to explode.

My head has not exploded yet, but my nose is going to fall off.

Feeling better and my nose is still attached.  Contemplating running the marathon tomorrow... I just have to get it done.

I suppose many people are wondering why I ran 2 marathons in 7 days.  I did it as a challenge, and even though I had run the first one and had come down with the flu afterwards, it couldn't keep me away from completing my back to back marathon challenge.  I had signed up to do both races as my oldest son had decided to do the challenge too.  I couldn't let him go into the second race without his crazy Mom, so since I am a nut, I had to be there.  The first 6 miles were a blur.  Cold and rainy at the start, I wondered if I was going to die of pneumonia after running this race...LOL.  I questioned myself standing at the start with my husband.  He was also attempting his second marathon in 7 days.  The first, ended at 20 miles for him.  He was running under a friend's bib that had a last minute injury and could not run the race.  He just wanted to see if he could complete the distance, and he did this time running a 5:35 or so.  Good job!!!   Carlsbad is full of hills and I knew that this would challenge my recovering body.  With some residual soreness in my quads, I ran cofortably never feeling taxed cardio-wise.  The pace was a breeze but my body was just so tired still not only from the previous race but from the flu.  I had missed 3 days of work the past week.  That flu laid me out in bed but suprisingly, I was pulling off marathon #2.  My left foot strain which I had felt a bit toward the end of the RnR AZ Marathon last weekend, felt healed but it came back to haunt me in this race. At mile 14 or so, I found myself running along the coast highway finding solace and pain relief in the soft shoulder of my old running route.  I ran there alone as others ran in the road and I was happy that I had no one in front of me or following me in my foot steps. The last 8 miles became hard for me as my left foot screamed with each foot fall.  The mid arch just hurt the whole stinking time but I changed my stride and found the change helpful in getting me to the finish.  Despite the pain, I ran a consistant pace throughout the race even into the later miles and even with all the hills. I had anticipated about a 20 minute difference between last week's marathon and this one because of recovery, illness and residual fatigue but somehow I managed to run it faster than expected.  I was very pleased crossing that finish line.  Sad to later see that my son could not finish as his left hip was hurting to much to continue on, but he walked about 18 miles before calling it a day.  I am so proud of him for his efforts and sure that rest will serve him well. I feel very confident that the foot issue is just a strained tendon in the arch and that it will heal soon.  I also feel that qualifying for Boston is definately do-able this year if things continue to go the way I plan...God willing.  It is not the most important thing to me, but it is on my "to do" list this year. Happy running!
Split Times
9.4 Mi: 1:29:44 Pace: 9:33 13.8 Mi: 2:10:22 Pace: 9:27 18.0 Mi: 2:53:46 Pace: 9:40 19.9 Mi: 3:11:51 Pace: 9:39

Back to work with a sore foot, limping and I walk like I have a load in my pants.

Day 2 of work... everyone is questioning me and asking if I should consider making an appointment for psych visits.

Day 3... working... still recovering and limping around.  Glad I can rest tomorrow.

So.... I worked the past 3 days on a very sore foot and I suspect I have done more than just pull something. Heading for xray.