Christmas with the Jews -- and running, of course!

The holiday break/vacation began around 1pm on Friday and I could not have been happier.  In my life, I do not remember looking forward to 10 days off more than I did, last week.  So, it’s here and I am still enjoying it. 

Saturday evening mom flew in from St. Louis.  I warned her that there’s typically a 30 degree change in temperature from morning to afternoon to evening – but I don’t think she was quite prepared for it to actually be cold at times.  She’s complained several times that this weather is really no different than St. Louis (eye roll).  Wait ‘til she calls home and my brother informs her that he awakened to snow on the ground – then we’ll see just how “like” St. Louis our weather is .

That being said, I’ve really enjoyed her visit.  On Sunday, I invited my good friends D and Brent over for Christmas with the Jews, where I assured them both there would be a holiday meal and lots of games.  D showed up around 9:30am with all of his presents (from his family) and we had the opportunity to Skype with his entire family in Philadelphia.  Two of the great things about my friendship with D are his parents, Lynette and Mark – oh, and their friends.  It was really fantastic to watch their neighborhood come alive in their living room in Philly.  My good friend, Bob – their neighbor from across the street – has become a pretty amazing runner these last couple of years, so I always love seeing him or hearing his voice in the background, since he and I are merely FB friends.  He pulled his ten miler this weekend with an 8:15 pace.  Oh, how I envy his skill. 

Picture taken during our run in Oct!

Another friendship that blossomed out of a love for running is my friendship with Brent.  We met in July when Ben Davis hosted a 5K in Tempe.  After the 5K, Brent and I were fortunate enough to be sitting at the same table over dinner and became fast friends.  We've remained friends via FB and our blogs (Brent's is here) - and, of course, the 10 miler he joined me for in October as I trained for the St. Louis marathon.  

Brent joined us around 1pm for the holiday.  I invited him knowing he was from out of town and had no family in the area.  And, I was simply thrilled that he accepted my invitation to join us!  

Brent, D, mom and I played Trivial Pursuit and Mexican Train (Dominos) for hours and hours and hours.  I won none of the above, but it was an absolute blast.  I honestly cannot remember such an enjoyable holiday with friends and family.  We even sang the Hanukkah prayer and had Brent light the candles.  However, around 9pm, I announced that everyone needed to leave so that I could rest up for what would be my last truly long run before the marathon – 20 miles – the following morning.

Sadly, I slept poorly – tossing and turning, thinking about the potential success and/or failure of the 20 mile run I was about to do.  I think I slept in 2 hour increments.  It wasn’t terrible, but not the kind of sleep one hopes for before a long run. 

I awakened at 5:30am and thought about my route –  two 6 mile loops, one 4.5 mile loop and another 3.75 mile loop – 20 miles.  In order to make things easy on everyone, I kept my 20 mile run close to home.  The only problem with running near my house – it’s all hill training.  My last 20 mile run was to Anne’s house in Chandler – flat, flat, flat (save a highway overpass or two).  I completed it in 3:30 – and knew that would not be a reality with the hills.  But, I had high hopes.

The toughest hills are in the first two 6 mile loops.  The view and scenery of the Equestrian area of Ahwatukee are fantastic, but I took it easy – my pace was right around a 10:15.  I wanted to be able to finish this run and talk about it today.  I staged water and Gu a block from my house and on the route (for the most part).  The really tough part of the run came in my last loop – there’s an unavoidable hill, 1.5 miles up.  I started to ascend it and mid-way through thought, “Meh, there’s no hill like this in the Phoenix marathon,” so I walked about 3-4 minutes of it.  The walk felt great, but as I saw another runner approaching, I figured it would be awful for her to see me walking, so I trudged my way up the hill.  5 minutes later, I took another small walk break, but knew the finish line was approaching.  My Garmin had been beeping for 4 miles, telling me that the battery was low; I just wanted to finish the run so I wouldn’t lose my data.  It made it to the 20-mile-beep and, although I continued running for another ½ mile, I stopped it as soon as it hit 20.  And, fortunately, the data was intact when I got home to plug it in. 

3:37 – not the 3:30 from 2 weeks prior, but with the hills and necessary water/Gu rests, I’ll take it.   Three and a half hours is a long time to think about anything.  I think I speak for a lot of runners when I say that the thinking part really becomes an issue after the second hour.  It’s almost like we’re all “thought-out” and now all we can do is focus on the pain or the boredom.  This is why having people on the marathon route is so critical for runners.  The distractions are amazing – and looking forward to seeing someone you know is a wonderful boost for the 15-20 minutes of running you do before their mile marker.   I have been VERY fortunate – each and every marathon I have completed I have had a slew of friends and family on the route.  I have no idea who might be willing to be out there, this time around – but the marathon is Sunday, January 15^th – and I would be eternally grateful to any and all who would be willing.

Mom departs on Wednesday morning and I will be sad to see her go.  She was all smiles, yesterday morning, when I walked in from my 20 mile run.  “You look great for someone who just finished 20 miles,” she said.  Ahhhhhh – I needed that!

Just a couple more MUCH shorter runs to go.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Health -- not to be taken for granted!

I was beaten by a horrible cold, this week.  Tuesday night I started to feel it.  By Thursday I was wishing I had stayed in bed – rather than infecting my workplace and all of the people I love dearly.  Every night I went to bed hoping I would wake up healed the next morning.  But, nothing I did seemed to improve my health – I simply got worse and worse.   By Friday at 4pm I was moving in a haze, thinking about my bed and the 14 mile run I was planning to do Saturday morning (so that I could enjoy my BFF Lora’s 40^th birthday festivities Saturday evening). 

I went to bed at 7pm on Friday night with a box of tissues at my side and a vile of Nyquil at the ready.  When I dragged myself out of bed at 6am on Saturday morning, I still felt dreadful.  Between the coughing and the nose blowing, NO ONE was sleeping in my house (that included Brunhilda, the dog, and my roommate, Claire).  I hope they have both forgiven me.

By 7am, I had texted Lora to give her the bad news – no 40^th birthday festivities for me.   I was falling into a pretty significant depression and by 11am was sound asleep on the sofa – with a roll of toilet paper at my side (yep, I’d gone through all the tissues and did not feel well enough to drive across the street to Walgreens to get more).  Claire must have moved around the house like a mouse, because I didn’t rise again until about 2pm.  However, when I woke, I felt better – seriously better.  5 days of poor health and here it was 2pm on Saturday and I actually felt better.

I had purchased a Wii several weeks prior, but it just sat there – like a doorstop – all plugged in and ready to roll.  By 3pm, I was knee deep into Season Two of The League on Netflix, thinking the Wii was the greatest purchase of my life.  Claire made me a nice dinner and we watched some crappy “straight to DVD” flick called Bed and Breakfast before retiring to our rooms around 9pm. 

I set my alarm for 5am, hopeful I might feel well enough to push out my 14 miles.  (I was also aware that the weather forecast for the morning was rain, rain and more rain.)  When the alarm went off, I let the dog out – yep, in the rain.    I looked at the forecast online and, low and behold, the weather was supposed to clear for a few hours.  So, I decided to attempt my mileage. 

8 miles of serious hills + 6 miles of relative flatness (save climbing the I10 overpasses) = 14.  I was feeling ok for the majority of the run, but petered out a lot in the last 3 miles.  My body reminded me (1/2 way into mile 12) that I had been death’s door for the prior 5 days – and I moved through the last couple of miles with several small walk breaks.  But, dang it – I made it!  My nose dripped, my chest was not thrilled, my body was tired, but I made it.  Not my best time – but I am not remotely displeased.  I would still pull a 4:40 marathon if I’d kept up my pace.

 

Clearly I am on the mend.  Next week my mom will be in town to help me pull out my last 20 mile run.  I am super excited for her arrival.  Thinking about having my friends over for a little wine soiree on Tuesday the 27^th – so mark your calendars, friends! 

Bring it!

Vindication!

I spent most of yesterday completely stressed about my 20 mile run.  I consumed copious amounts of water ALL day, ate smartly and went to bed at 830pm.  This all means that I was so anxious I awakened 30 minutes before my alarm went off – oh, well. 

At 6am I texted Anne and let her know I’d be on time to our meeting spot between miles 7-8.  Even with 2 babies – she’s still my rock!  As I stepped foot outside, I realized that short-sleeves would be a mistake, so I grabbed a long sleeved running shirt (which I had just acquired the day before – so I was excited to try it out).  I thought I could wear it to our first meeting spot and then probably ditch it (with Anne), but it never happened. 

When I saw Anne in front of Whole Foods, it was still really cold – and moving from the city into the suburbs just meant it was getting colder and colder as I moved away from Phoenix.  Poor Anne – she was a mess.  She showed up in her PJ’s all panicky!  Evidently, baby Lyla kept the whole house up for the entire night – her husband finally took the baby at 3am and gave her an opportunity to sleep.  This meant that she overslept her alarm and worried she would not make our meeting spot/time.  But, she was there – as she always is.  I hope she knows how much I appreciate her (love you so much, Anne)!

As I left her I said, “Ok, see you in an hour and ten minutes.”  I was having a particularly good run.  I continued on and only struggled a little between miles 11-12.  This just meant I knew I should take some additional supplements by mile 12 or 13 and not wait until my meeting spot with Anne (at 14).  And, as I approached the park at mile 14, I realized I was early – OOPS!  No Anne in sight – but I had already taken my Gu and water and was really not in the mood to wait – I just wanted to finish.  My goal was to hit 20 miles in 3:30 – something I knew I could do if I remained focused.  I quickly grabbed my cell from my Camelbak and let Anne know I beat her to the park and that she should stay home and sleep.

6 miles left and I was still feeling pretty good.  As I continued on my route, Anne came around the corner about 5 minutes later in her car and asked if I needed anything.  I waved her off with a smile and pushed on.  I was really great until about mile 17.5.  I took another Gu and thought, “I am ravenous!”  There are so many points I can cut my mileage short on these runs, but I knew that I had already had one tough week (last week), and couldn’t really afford another.  So, although I walked 30 seconds here and there between miles 17-19, my watch still told me I was going to make my goal.

Little Lyla - 2 weeks, 2 days old!

I stayed focused in my last mile as I approached Anne’s street – 20 miles in 3:29!  I did it!  Vindication for last week’s crappy run!  YES!  Next week is only 14 and should be a piece of cake…

And, look at who I got to hang with right after finishing my run (picture on right)!!!  

(Also giving a HUGE shout out to my good friend, Brent, who ran the Tucson Marathon, today -- making it his second marathon!  Go Brent!!)

Disappointment...

I have little say, today, except that I failed on my 18 mile run, yesterday morning.  The temps were in the high 30's in Ahwatukee, so I dressed as warmly as possible - given that I did not want to be uncomfortable for 18 miles.


I headed out at my usual 6am start time -- and within the first 4-5 miles I began feeling a tightness in my right hip flexor that I had never felt before.  Hoping the hip would loosen up, I carried on.  20 minutes later the pain in my hip was excruciating.  I had planned to stop for some water and Gu around mile 9, but decided it was probably best to abort this mission and rest for the day.  


I walked home after the 9 miles ... VERY disappointed.