Irrational Fears?

5 days until the big day and I’m all kinds of nervous and excited at the same time. In the last few days day I have found thinking about things I’m afraid of happening before this mammoth event.

#1.  I will forget to pack my running shoes, shorts, bra and/or top. Any one of these items left behind would be disastrous on many levels. You can’t just slap on any old pair of sneakers and expect your feet to reward you with a blister free marathon. No my friend your feet want the shoes they know and love. Try a new pair on marathon day and you are likely to end up like this:



Same goes with the outfit. You need to test drive all garment choices pre-race. Failure to do so could result in chafing so badly you will be making deals with the devil himself to make the burning pain from the rivulets of sweat running over the raw, exposed skin go away.

#2.  I will get sick. Son #1’s girlfriend texted me this morning to tell me she had to be tested for strep throat this morning. What the heeeell?? Let the Lysol-ing begin, stat! I told her I love her but stay away from me. In addition two of my students are sick ( I only have 9). In first period one of the two students came in all snotty and sniffley after being absent yesterday. I handed him the hand santizer and asked him not to breathe or touch anything in the room until the bell rang at the end of class. Unreasonable you say? Well how about you try running for 26.2 miles with a clothes pin clipping your nose shut and a small hammer pounding away at your brain and see how you feel, mmmmkay? Running with a head cold is no joke and I’ve worked too hard this year to get to this place thank you very much.

#3.  Mother Nature will pull some crazy stunt and send Aunt Flow for an early visit. Sorry dudes I know you are cringing right now. But we’re all runners and body functions go with the territory, am I right? Anyway this isn’t the worst thing that can happen but it would be a game changer all the same.

#4.  What will I eat? We will be a couple hours from home in a city I am not familiar with. Should I bring my meals with me? Will there be a trusted chain restaurant where I can find a decent pre-race meal? The last thing I want is some dinner that wreaks havoc on my delicate gastrointestinal system. One of the golden rules of racing is do NOT try anything new during race week. Ever. Period. I have a friend that broke this rule the day before her first marathon and she tried an energy shot at the race expo. Guess what happened. That’s right she spent the night in her hotel bathroom hugging the porcelain. She also spent 6 ½ hours on the marathon course in agony. Lesson learned!

Also on my mind: Am I prepared enough? What if H gets sick of hearing my incessant talking? What if I fall down, again? What if I can’t sleep? What if my snoring keeps H awake?

Sheesh! Neurotic much?!

Marathon Countdown

Marathon week has arrived without so much as a single post by me about the long and sometimes arduous miles.  Geez I feel like such a slacker!  I started working full-time in for the first time in 18 years in mid-August and it’s been an adjustment for me.  Some days it takes all I have just to get through the day so blogging has been pushed to the back burner.  However, I did update my Dailymile profile after each run so if you want to see what I’ve been up to you can check it out here  http://www.dailymile.com/people/KellyV3#ref=tophd

My right (gimpy) foot has held up amazingly well!  But I made the mistake of wearing a single pair running shoes all summer.  What a rookie move!  I put nearly 500 miles on those bad boys and that has resulted in some ankle pain in my left foot.  Nothing that some Motrin, ice and stretching can’t fix but annoying none the less.

Saturday was my final “long” run before the big day.  My marathon partner, H, spent the weekend in the majestic Lake Tahoe area and a few other runners in our group wanted to run hills so DG and I decided to take an easy 11 mile lap around Lake Natoma.  It was a b-e-a-u-tiful morning.  The temperature was perfect and the sunrise absolutely gorgeous.
DG and I ran a leisurely first 5 miles until we got to “the clean bathrooms”.  We stopped to use the facilities, refuel, and stretch.  After about 8 or 9 minutes we decided it was time to get down to business.  We set off towards a set of switch backs that I affectionately call “Big Bertha”.  Mind you this is a small section of the trail leads up to the Auburn-Folsom Bridge but I was dreading the hill all the same. She routinely beats me down and forces my tired legs to walk up her steep incline.  But not this time, I ran every single step!  Of course I was toast by the time I reached the top and had to walk a portion of the bridge.   But hey a victory is victory!

We crossed the bridge and considered leaving a message for BC out of twigs and leaves on his car parked in the lot at Karen’s Bakery.  We giggled like second graders at the thought but decided that we should get serious and run so we did not make the detour.   We dropped back down to the bike trail to do some work and push ourselves harder.  We ran at a 9:30-10:00 min/mile pace even on the rolling hill sections.  We slowed and sometimes even walked after a particularly tough stretch.  We stopped briefly at the sight of a bicycle crash that H and I directed traffic around just a couple of weeks ago.  The stain on the path is a grim reminder of how quickly a nice day on the trail can turn into tragedy. 
Just as the temperature started to rise we finished up our 11.25 miles.  It was a great run and I felt like I could continue on if I had needed or wanted to.  That feeling has eluded me for much of the last month and I was beginning to doubt my love of running.  But I it turns out that I do still love it and I’m excited to run my 4th marathon this coming Sunday!

Davis Moo-nlight 12.2 Half Marathon

Last night I ran my 19th half marathon. Well almost half marathon. A 12.2 mile half marathon to be exact. I’m sure you are sitting there reading and wondering “did I read that correctly?”  Well my friend you did so read on.

HP and I headed out of hometown to Davis for the Davis Moo-nlight Half Marathon around 5:30 p.m so we could pick up our packets and have plenty of pre-race time. Upon exiting the freeway we ran into some serious traffic. Although there was official event parking the race directors did not provide enough parking for the 3,000 participants and traffic had backed up. Our friend DG had beat us there and texted that there was parking at the IHOP. Cool enough except that I missed the turn for IHOP. I drove a couple more blocks made a u-turn and pulled into a full parking lot. Fail. I found a spot at the hotel behind IHOP. Score!

We made it over to packet pick-up and picked up our bibs and t-shirts. My last name falls at the end of the alphabet and the line is usually very short. With only two runners ahead of me I thought I’d have my bib in no time. But I stood and stood some more. There was some sort of problem with the registered runner at the front of the line. Finally it was my turn I was handed my bib by an adult volunteer and a pre-teen volunteer tossed my tech tee at me from the far side of the table. Hmmm, so much for customer service.

Back at the car I dug my running shoes out of my backpack and pinned the bib to the front of my tank. HP ran into the hotel for a quick potty stop and DG went in after HP returned. While waiting for DG this rude little man comes out and tells me that customers are complaining that the lot is full and to move my car. I did my best to keep my spot just a couple of blocks from the start but finally gave in and moved.

I made the short jog to the start to find my buddies and we watched the end of the kids race and headed to find the start. The start and finish were kind of hodge podged together and it was actually a little challenging to find the start. Another lit bit of frustration was that the 5K, 10K and half all had the same start time. This was yet another move by the race director that needs improvement.

I find that I must stop the story here and give my opinion of running a race with a stroller. Don’t. That’s my opinion. Don’t do it. Especially if you have not ever raced before and have no idea what your pace is. To the guy who easily breezed by me with the stroller just before the first mile marker you get on with your bad self because I am not talking about you. But to the all the others and to the walkers I applaud you for getting out there and doing work like the rest of us but please move to the back of the start line. The traffic at the start beat out the traffic on road coming to the race. While HP and I started at the 10 minute/mile marker we were forced to fight our way around strollers and walkers alike for much of the first mile. Very frustrating, I’m just saying.

So now back to the story. HP and I stayed together for the first 2ish miles. We were both running too fast and it was hot. We were on a stretch of road that paralleled a major freeway and it was somewhat stifling. HP said she was going to pull back a bit and we said our good lucks and see ya at the ends. For most of the next four miles I was running a comfortable pace and enjoying the scenery of the beautiful Davis park we ran around and through. The sun started to set and it began to cool some. Around mile 6 the 10K and half marathon runners were directed to split from the 5K runners. As I made the climb up the freeway overpass I came to the 7 mile marker. Huh? My Garmin had only logged just over 6 miles. What the freak? Did I miss a turn? How could I have? I never strayed from the group I had been running with. I figured the sign was placed in the wrong area and that the next mile marker would be in the appropriate place. That did not happen, ever. At each subsequent mile marker my Garmin was short a full mile. How could this be? I started losing sight of my goal of 2:15 (not a PR but still a decent time for a rehabber like me) and trying to figure what the hell happened. Just as my Garmin beeped to signal mile 12 a volunteer cheering us on said “3 blocks to the finish”. Ummm what? No sir I have a mile to go not 3 blocks. As I rounded the corner there was the finish. The clock read 2:06 and I was nearly 10 minutes ahead of my goal. I crossed the mat and a volunteer tossed a finish medal at me, (literally tossed) thanks a lot I thought.  I searched out the water station and I looked around for DG who had a goal of 2 hours in his sights. I walked around a bit dazed and confused. Had my Garmin failed, had I failed, or was the course really a mile short? Mind you this was an USATF certified course. I sat down feeling deflated. Then I caught a glimpse of DG. He runs low tech, no fancy water bottles or watches, and I asked if he thought we were off. He thought so but couldn’t figure out how either. A few minutes later HP comes in and she is just as perplexed about the mileage. Now I know something is up because the chances of both Garmins failing was like zero to none.

So my official result is this: 12.2 mile Half Marathon 2:07:10. This would have been a PR by nearly a minute if I had of actually run 13.1 miles which I did not.

Needless to say I will not be shelling out any cash next summer to go and run this poorly managed event.