The quick and dirty race recap.

Its OVER!!! I am so relieved and so tired. I don't have the alertness or mental faculties to give all of my thoughts now, but here's the quick rundown:

Starting line: Zoo. It was a good 30 minutes after the gun fired before I even saw the starting line, and another 10 before I crossed. I think a wave start would be a better system. I did appreciate the Marines lining the streets to give us high fives.

Miles 1-10: Awesome. Pace was no trouble, scenery was beautiful, saw my friends Kim and Matt with their adorable baby in Georgetown. Loved it.

Miles 11-13: A little challenging, but still doable. Very excited to hit the halfway mark.

Mile 14: Wall. Pretty much came out of nowhere. I wasn't breathing heavy or dehydrated, but my legs just stiffened up and I felt like my right knee was going to give out. Tried to keep running, but had to walk a bit.

Miles 15-20: Agony. I started a 5 minute running/5 minute walking game with myself just to keep going. When I ran, my knee hurt. When I walked, my hip hurt. There were plenty of moments when I was not sure I would finish. This was when I literally thought of every person who supported me in this and every prayer I knew was being said for me. So, if you are reading this, you had a very real part in me getting to the finish. I saw my roommate Steve somewhere in here and was both touched that he came and happy that he caught me when I was actually running.

Mile 20: I "beat the bridge," meaning that I got to the 20 mark ahead of the SAG wagon and knew I would be allowed to finish. Still in pain, but certainly relieved. At this point, almost everyone around me was walking and I saw a few start sobbing when they realized they were going to make it.

Miles 21-22: Better. I was able to switch to a 10 minute running/5 minute walking ratio. At mile 22, I saw our coaches Bob and Susan who gave me some encouragement and some Advil. The encouragement kept me running to 23, which is when the Advil kicked in...

Miles 23-25: Back to awesome. I felt a million times better, got back to my goal pace, and knew I was going go finish the thing running.

Miles 25-26.2: Emotional. At 25, I started fighting back tears. I was so happy and relieved, but I really didn't want to cry because I wanted nothing interfering with the groove I had re-established. This was made much more difficult at mile 26 when I came around a corner and saw my friend of 16 years, Pat. He actually ran alongside me in the spectator area to the finish.

Finish: Grateful! I told the person next to me that I wanted to kiss the ground but wasn't sure I would ever get back up if I did. I found Pat, my mom, my sister, my friend Scott (pictured above) and some other Striders and celebrated for a bit, then headed back home for some much-needed food and a bath.

So, now I'm home, getting ready to lie down and hoping that I'll be able to move in the morning. Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting me throughout this process! Thanks especially to those who donated- the total as of now is well over $3300!

Good luck charms.

With less than 24 hours to go (!), I'm making all of the final arrangements and packing up my stuff for the big race. This includes the all-important good luck charms, pictured above. In the first picture, we have the "walk it off" bracelet (which has come to symbolize everything Katie, Erin, Val and I went through to get to this day), a "courage" coin that I received as part of my grief counseling experience, a "footprints" coin (an inside joke from Katie), and most important- a note from one of the Murray girls. I had the opportunity to meet three of Dr. Murray's amazing daughters this summer and I've had this note on my refrigerator for inspiration ever since. In the second picture, you can see the reverse of the note, which is a picture of all the Murray girls. The one in the top right is Sloane, who died along with Dr. Murray. This photo is the most important thing I'll have with me tomorrow because it reminds me of why I put myself through this in the first place!

Speaking of Dr. Murray, the fundraising grand total stands at $3301 right now. Tomorrow, the fundraising sites will close and we would love to have at least $3500 when they do. If you want to donate, do it now and do it on Katie's page (since I met my personal goal already): http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray2. Thanks as always for your support!

Counting down...

As hard as it is to believe (at least for me), the race is less than two days away! My friend Scott joined me at the race expo today, where I picked up my number and got my picture taken with one of the marathon's more illustrious finishers. Good times. I'll post more pre-race photos tomorrow!

Papers, panic, pasta and prayers.

Hello, friends! I am writing this from my current location under a pile of books and papers. As I may have mentioned before, the week before my marathon of running just happens to include a marathon of homework, church meetings, family stuff and a variety of other distractions. All of this is leaving little time for panic (except about schoolwork) or blogging (boo!).

My toughest assignment is due at 4:15pm today, so I am down to the wire, but I do want to take a minute to say a big thank you to the Noodles and Company in Columbia, MD.  Katie and I had hoped to hold a fundraiser there this week, but all of our work got the better of us and we were not able to pull it together. We were worried that the Noodles people would be angry, but instead they offered us free pasta for our carb-loading week! So, tonight, after Katie and I both turn in this *&%$*# paper, we will be off to Katie's for a pasta party with our awesome running buddies. I can't wait.

While I have nothing else original to offer on the blog today, I had the opportunity yesterday to give a short reflection on my training/fundraising experience before one of my classes. Most of this material is recycled from other blog posts, but I thought I would post it anyway:

Marathon for Murray reflection, 10/27/10

Kelly and Sloane died on a Friday. I didn’t find out about it for a couple of days because I was busy writing a sermon about Mark 5: 21-43.This is the story where Jesus heals a woman who has been suffering hemorrhages for 12 years and also revives Jairus’ young daughter, who has just died. I really struggled with this sermon. Personally, I find the miracle stories difficult because they make me wonder why we don’t see more miracles, and why we see so many good, faithful people suffer and die.


To find a way to talk about the text, I thought about what we mean when we say the word, “miracle,” and I decided that we usually think of miracles as instant, wonderful solutions to our worst problems. Then, I looked back at the Bible story, and I realized that these healings were not instant, wonderful solutions. The people in the stories had to work hard and suffer a long time before their problems were solved. Even then, the solutions they received were quite different than what they originally hoped for.

Ultimately, I wrote:

“I think that the good news of today’s text is that miracles aren’t always simple or immediate, but they do happen. The people in today’s stories have to make long and difficult journeys in order to receive healing, and it might not happen exactly as they want or expect it to. Given a choice, I’m sure that the woman with hemorrhages would not have endured 12 years of sickness and lost everything she had before finding a cure. I’m sure that Jairus would have chosen for his daughter not to get sick and die in the first place. When that moment of healing comes, though, none of that matters. When these people finally feel the healing touch of Jesus, they forget all the struggle and pain, and simply feel awe and gratitude for the miracle they’ve received.”

That Sunday morning, I was getting ready to go and preach this sermon when I turned on the TV and learned that Kelly and Sloane had died. I drove to the church sobbing and I had no idea how I was going to stand behind the pulpit and talk about healing and resurrection. The one thing that got me through it was something that one of my preaching professors in seminary told me. He said that we should always preach the message we most need to hear. The morning that I gave that sermon was the truest expression of that lesson I can imagine. I needed more than anything to believe that healing from the kind of pain so many were experiencing that day could be possible, no matter how long or what form it took.

In the days after Kelly and Sloane died, I thought a lot about what I needed to learn from those losses. I kept coming back to how much Kelly had experienced and accomplished in only 40 years. I was 30 at that time, and I thought about what I would want to do if I knew I only had 10 more years. I decided that I needed to stop holding myself back and push myself to try new things and be as excellent as I knew I could be.

On the anniversary of Kelly and Sloane’s accident, I went to a memorial mass in their honor. Kelly’s husband Sean spoke about how he and his daughters are coping. He admits that they are still struggling, but he said that the thing that gives them hope is learning about all of the ways Kelly and Sloane have impacted and inspired others. I knew exactly what he meant. When I made my resolution to push myself, I was thinking about my personal and professional lives. Running was the furthest thing from my mind. But, as I learned from the Bible story, healing often comes in unexpected ways. I don’t have adequate time or words to explain the blessings that have come into my life since I decided to run this marathon in honor of Kelly. I can only say that it has been transformative, and I don’t know that I would have done it without Kelly and Sloane’s inspiration.

So, I want to leave you with the conclusion of that sermon I gave a little over a year ago. I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t sure I believed it at the time. But I believe it now:

“As we sit here [today], I’m sure that each of us is need of some form of healing, whether from physical disease, mental illness, emotional pain, spiritual emptiness, or any number of other hurts. I’m also sure that, at one time or another, we’ve all wished for a miracle. The good news of this text is that it might not happen immediately or exactly how we want it, but if we persevere, believe, and support one another, our own miraculous moments of healing will come. Sooner or later, our faith will make us well. Amen.”

Mission accomplished!

Its official! I have met my fundraising goal of $2500! When I left work this afternoon, I was still $169 short. When I got home, I saw that one of my most generous friends had donated a second time and then some mysterious, generous stranger donated the remaining $119 I needed to hit the goal. Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone!

Some of you may have intended to donate and not managed to do it yet. Fear not! You can still donate to Katie's campaign (supporting the exact same cause) by going to http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray2.

Hooray! The fundraising is done. Now its just the small matter of running 26.2 miles...

Amazing women, part 2.

I am in a period of semi-radio silence here thanks to two major assignments due this Wednesday and Thursday (worst timing ever). I have to take a second, though, to acknowledge the amazing ladies of the United Methodist Women and Women at the Well Groups at my church, St. Andrew's UMC.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how they invited me to their most recent meeting to talk about Dr. Murray and my fundraiser. Since that night, I've been getting notes and cards from various ladies with checks enclosed. To date, I had recieved $165, which I thought was amazing. Then, just this morning, the UMW president came up to me at church and handed me an envelope containing another $300. Unbelievable! So, now I am officially over the $2000 mark and just $279 short of my goal of $2500.

I've been a member of St. Andrew's since before there even was a St. Andrew's. When I was just a baby, the congregation that became St. Andrew's was meeting in the basement of my grandmother's church while our church building was built. My earliest church memories are from that basement, and I can remember when we moved into the building we occupy now. Many of the women who wrote me checks for this fundraiser have been in my life for 10, 15, 20 years or longer. Some of them taught me when I was a child. They are truly my family, and like a good family, they have supported me in just about everything I have ever done.

I have had my ups and downs in how I think about church over the years, but my feelings about these people have never wavered. I really don't know what I would do without them. I will certainly be thinking about them next Sunday and I look forward to sharing this accomplishment with them!

Don't trip!

I have a co-worker who will be serving as maid of honor in her sister's wedding in early November. The other day, she told me that she is taking mega-doses of vitamin C every day until the big day because she is afraid of getting sick. I totally get that. I have only 10 days to go before the marathon, and the closer it gets, the more paranoid I become about illness and injury. I thought that having my appendix out during the heart of training gave me some karmic insurance against further problems, but the cold I had a couple weeks ago killed that theory. So, now I see potential hazards everywhere.

Recently, I saw a Facebook post about a girl who had to back out of her marathon when she hurt herself falling off a Bosu (see above). Guess what we use in our boot camp class every week? That's right, the Bosu. Guess who holds her breath every time she jumps up onto the Bosu? Of course, the Bosu is only one hazard among many. This morning, I survived the Bosu portion of the class and then tripped doing drills on a step. I don't know whose heart was beating faster at that moment- mine, or my boot camp instructor's. She has been super-supportive throughout my training and I know she does not want me hurting myself on her watch. I may just strap on some padding and a helmet for the next week and a half.

On a more positive note, the donations are pouring in! I am only $685 away from my personal goal of $2500. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has donated! If you are still planning to contribute, you have until 10/31 to do it online. If you can't remember whether or not you already donated (a few people has asked about that) let me know and I can look it up.

November 1st.

Lately, Katie C. and I have been discussing our plans for November 1st, aka: the day after the marathon. This momentous day will mark the end of six months of preparation, training, and fundraising, as well as the end of our heaviest month in terms of school work. Apparently, our professors don't realize that we are supposed to be tapering right now because the readings, papers, and presentations just keep coming. We have both coined lovely terms for this month, but this is a family blog, so I will not be writing them here.

On November 2nd (after I vote of course), I will have to turn my attention to everything I have neglected over the course of training. November 1st, though, is just for me. Katie has her own plans, conceived during her last long run, which involve a gong, a bottle of champagne, a shetland pony, and a pinata. Mine are not quite that exciting, but here you go:

November 1st

5:30am Wake up smiling. Immediately down some Advil. Put multiple ice packs back in refrigerator.

5:45am Go to gym for Group Power. This sounds crazy, but I'm dead serious. I have gone to this class the morning after just about every big race I've run, and I swear it makes me feel better. I lighten the weights big-time and it gives me a chance to stretch and move every muscle that is screaming at me. Also, people in the class are always very congratulatory.

7:00am Eat a light breakfast- something like steak and eggs. And maybe some homefries.

7:30am Nap. 

9:00am Snack. Maybe a grilled cheese sandwich. I'll be starving by this point.

9:30am Sports massage. If you have never had one of these, they are amazing. Basically, someone stretches you out for an hour. Its exactly what you want after a long run- someone to just grab your leg and pull until it feels better.

11:00am Go to the mall and buy a piece of clothing that is not moisture-wicking.  While there, stop at Chipotle for another snack.

12:30pm Write triumphant blog entry. It may be nothing but several screens full of the words "I DID IT!"

1:00pm-5:30pm Loaf. Order a pizza (or two) and sit on the couch catching up on DVR'd TV and napping.

5:30pm Go to DC for dinner with some of my favorite former colleagues. Order obscene amount of food and eat it in 10 minutes. Attempt to distract friends so that I can sneak additional bites off their plates.

8:30pm Hit McDonald's drive-thru on way home from dinner for a milkshake and maybe some fries.

9:30pm Head to bed with my two best friends: ice pack and Advil. Go to sleep smiling.

Counting down the days...

I just sent the following message to all my friends and family. The big day is fast approaching- please help in any way you can!

Dear friends-

Its hard to believe, but the Marine Corps Marathon is a mere 13 days away (gulp)! The bulk of my training is done and my practice races are run. All that remains now is two more weeks of "taper" training, the race itself, and one last fundraising push.

I do not have adequate words to explain how much your support has meant to me over the course of my training. There have been some low moments (fatigue, illness, the removal of a minor organ) and the
thought of all of you cheering me on has definitely kept me going.

I am writing one last time to ask for your support in two ways:

1. If you have not already done so, please consider making a donation to the Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund at Loyola. To date, I have raised $1490 toward my goal of $2500, and Katie and I have raised a combined $1940 toward our goal of $5000. This money is going to make a huge difference in the lives of students in the PhD program, which was a real passion of Dr. Murray's.

Through October 31st, you can make a secure online donation at http://www.active.com/donate/marathonformurray. Or, you can send a check made out to Loyola University to:

Annual Giving
Loyola University Maryland
4501 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21210

If you donate by check, be sure to write "Kelly Murray Scholarship Fund" on the memo line, and let me know about it so I can add your donation to my total.

2. If you live in or near DC, come to the race! Spectator info is available at http://www.marinemarathon.com/race_info/spectators.htm. The race starts at 8am, and I expect to finish somewhere between 1 and 1:45pm. My bib number is 20398. After the race, I will be meeting family in the "B" family meetup area at the Finish Festival, so that's a good place to look for me. If you are planning to come, let me know so I can look for you, though I may leave my memory and abilty to think clearly on the race course!

Once again, I can't thank you enough for all of your love and support!

Take care,
Alicia

Rules were made to be broken: the 2010 Baltimore Half-Marathon

Yesterday was my last race before the big one, and my first time running the notoriously hilly Baltimore Half-Marathon. My training has been pretty rough for the past few weeks, and my last few races have been under far less than optimal conditions. In July, there was the Riley's Rumble Half-Marathon, which took place on a day when the heat index was over 110. In September, I did the Parks Half-Marathon 16 days after surgery. Then, earlier this month, I did the Annapolis Striders' Metric Marathon with a wicked head cold. In all three of these races, I really struggled, walked a lot, and finished feeling like I could not run another step. Its been awhile since I actually finished a race feeling strong and happy with my performance. So, that was the goal for Baltimore: get my head back in the game and finish feeling like I actually ran a race, as opposed to just survived one.

The Baltimore Running Festival includes a marathon, half-marathon, relay, 5K, and kids' run, all starting at different times. The marathon starts first at 8am, and the half doesn't start until 9:45. I heeded the race organizers' dire warnings about parking and street closures and got to the starting area of the half-marathon well over an hour before the race. This turned out to be a great decision because it allowed me to watch the elite marathon runners cross the 13-mile mark of their race. The first two passed at 9:04am, meaning that they had essentially run a half-marathon in just a little over an hour. Amazing! Watching them run was truly breathtaking. I learned later that the top runners all ran at under a 5 min/mile pace for the entire 26.2 miles. They looked like they were running a 100-meter dash and they kept up that pace for over 2 hours. What was even more amazing was how easy they seemed to be running- no panting, minimal sweating. They all looked light, strong, and very fast. I watched the highlights on TV later but it was nothing like seeing it live.

After the elites passed, the half staging area started filling with all of the mere mortals. This was the biggest race I've ever run, and it was very exciting to be around so many people with real announcers, TV cameras, confetti, etc. That excitement lasted until about 30 seconds after the start, when we rounded our first corner and saw that the first mile of the race was straight uphill. That first hill was a fitting introduction to the rest of the race, which alternated between killer uphill sections and merciful downhill breaks.

For me, the first 6 or 7 miles of this race were really tough. By mile 3, I felt pretty terrible and wanted to slow to a walk. I was determined not to give into that urge, so I reached into the bag of mental tricks I wrote about a few posts ago. Something must have worked, because right around mile 7, I suddenly felt great. The pain abated and I started really enjoying the scenery and the great crowd support, which included people in every neighborhood sitting on their stoops to cheer, a pastor preaching on a microphone, a police officer who sounded like a life coach, a group of day laborers who sang to us in Spanish, and the locally famous "Eye of the Tiger guy" who stands on the top of his truck in a tiger suit dancing to the song from "Rocky." In all parts of the city, it seemed like people really felt a sense of pride about the race and enjoyed supporting the runners, which was wonderful to experience.

Around mile 10, I looked down an my watch, did some quick math, and realized that I might be on track to beat my half-marathon PR of 2:24. I ran that time in my very first half-marathon, on an easy course with only one hill. I had not expected to beat that time until I return to that course next year. I felt good, so I sped up a little, helped along by the fact that the last 3 miles of the course were downhill (thank you, race organizers!). As I headed toward Camden Yards and the finish line, the streets were literally thronged with cheering people, which was great motivation to keep up the pace. In the end, I crossed the finish line at 2:26, so I didn't quite beat my record, but I was very happy with my performance on such a tough course.

In the process of running this race, I ignored a whole lot of conventional training wisdom. Rule #1: rest the day before a long run or race. I had a lot of energy Friday afternoon, so I went to spin class. Rule #2: don't run a long distance in brand-new shoes. I ran this race in shoes that came in the mail on Wednesday. Rule #3: take it easy as you get close to your marathon. I felt good, so I decided to go ahead and push it.  Apparently, rules were made to be broken, because I am very happy with this race. It was a great confidence booster as I close in on the marathon- two weeks from today!

A "hollow day."

For awhile now, I have been obsessed with the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, along with a decent chunk of the late-elementary through high school readers in the world and quite a few adults. If you have not heard of these books, you really owe it to yourself to check them out. You can put yourself on a sure-to-be-very-long waiting list at your local library, or pick them up on Amazon at http://amzn.com/0439023521.

I won't spend too long summarizing the books here; I'll save that for a later post. For my purposes today, you only need to know that the heroine is a 16 year-old girl named Katniss who has spent her life struggling to get by in a poor coal-mining community called District 12. For much of the first book, she has to struggle to find food. At one point, she thinks "I know I'm going to have what we call a hollow day back in District 12. That's a day where no matter what you put in your belly, its never enough."

Very fortunately, I have never struggled with actual hunger in my life. However, I think pretty much anyone who has ever trained for a marathon or other serious athletic event can relate to the idea of the "hollow day." Just this Saturday, I discussed it with Katie C. and her lovely training partner Erin. During our training, we have all experienced days when, no matter what or how much we eat, we never stop feeling hungry. Often, this happens when we add mileage and/or speed to our longer runs. After some of my runs, I have eaten a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel (which is a decent-sized breakfast) and felt like it literally fell through a hole in my stomach. When that happens, I know that it will continue for at least the rest of the day. I will eat like crazy and still feel hungry. 

Today is one of those days. I increased my usual weight in Group Power yesterday, and then I took a spin class last night. This was a pretty decent activity increase compared to my usual Monday, and I am feeling it today. I ate lunch at noon, and was starving by 2:30. This is inconvenient because I am meeting a friend for dinner at 6:45, and the only snack I have available is an apple. I ate the apple around 3:30, and immediately realized that it wouldn't hold me for 3+ hours. So, a few minutes ago, I broke down and ate the Lean Cuisine I had packed for tomorrow's  lunch. Guess what? Still hungry. When I ate Lean Cuisine #2, I deluded myself that I would just get a salad when I meet my friend, but right now it feels more like a steak kind of evening. Hollow day indeed.

*Quick fundraising update. As of today, our combined donation total is $1940 and we have a little over 18 days to go. Keep the donations coming- you could be the person who pushes us over the $2000 mark!

A long weekend's worth of updates.

This long weekend could not have come at a better time. I'm not a big fan of Columbus Day and I don't really understand why my office (which is all about social justice and loving the stranger) celebrates it, but between the recent illness and all the schoolwork, I definitely needed an extra day at home. Here's what I've been up to:

Thursday night, I got a lovely package in the mail from my former roommate Katie, who now lives in Hawaii, containing the shirt pictured above. As much as I don't want to go through marathon training again, I may consider it as part of a future visit to her new home of Honolulu. Especially if I can convince her to run it with me. She doesn't think that will happen, but I can be very persuasive...

Friday, I tried to take it easy and go to bed super-early in order to shake off the last of my cold and gear up for Saturday's 18-miler. When I started out on Saturday, I thought it had worked. My first few miles felt really good, and I was appreciating both the week of rest and the fact that I was moving again. Around mile 7, it started to get tough. At 8, I decided to slow down a lot and try to recover for the second half of the run. That got me to about mile 11. At that point, things really started to fall apart. I just didn't feel like I could run anymore, so I switched almost entirely to walking. By mile 13, even that was difficult. I was exhausted,  pretty much everything hurt, and the 5 miles back to my car felt like a really long way. Fortunately, one of our coaches noticed that I was taking too long to get back to the start and drove to the trailhead to look for me, cutting the last 1 1/2 miles off the end of my return trip.

Not finishng that run was one of the lower points of my training. I didn't cry or panic, but this was one of the only times in the past few months where I actually thought "maybe I can't do this." Oddly enough, someone from my gym made me feel better this morning by asking how I'm feeling and commenting that I looked awful last week. She was right. On my one and only visit to the gym last week, I had to run into a bathroom mid-class and splash water on my face to keep from throwing up. I was really sick, and I obviously needed more time to recover before attempting such a long run. If I continue to take it easy, I will get back to where I was before.

For the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday, I got to really enjoy the extra dose of weekend. Saturday night, I went to Baltimore to celebrate the lovely Katie Cashin's 26th birthday. Yesterday, I spent a few hours making some fall dishes: corn fritter casserole and shepherd's pie:

Yum! Then, I actually went to a movie. I've been to maybe 5 or 6 movies in the past 2 years, which is so sad. Going on a Sunday, which is usually homework and laundry day, felt downright decadent.

Finally, this morning, I went to the launch of the new Group Power release. Earlier this week, I discovered that the company behind GP actually puts up trailers on YouTube, so here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkApJe4XQI8. I am grateful that our instructors, Bill and Kelly, are a little more low-key than these guys. They still make it fun, but I think they understand that there's only so much enthusiasm a person can handle at 6am.

Now, its time for deferred laundry and homework day... but maybe a nap first. 
  

Mementos, mantras, and mind games.

Last Saturday, training and fundraising buddy extraordinaire Katie C. turned 26. This was very exciting for me because it gave me an excuse to present a surprise marathon good luck charm several weeks early (see above). As I mentioned previously, "walk it off" has been our favorite mantra throughout this crazy ordeal. I had a feeling we could both use those words right where we could see them throughout the race. Enter the matching engraved ID bracelets!

Running books, magazines, and coaches often suggest that you pick a significant word of phrase to get you through tough moments in training and races. Counselors will often suggest that you do this to get through tough moments in life. Katie and I are both runners and counselors, so we are all over this. When I presented her with the "walk it off" bracelet, we had a conversation about some of our favorite mantras and mind games. We even speculated that we could choose one word or thought to focus on for each mile of the upcoming race. So, here are a few of my favorites. If you have some of your own, please share!

-"Walk it off." (no surprise there)

-Repeating powerful words. For me, these include "strong," "relentless," and my new favorite, "robust." (According to my stats professor, a "robust" psychological test performs well under non-optimal conditions. I think that applies to a lot of my training these past few months!)

-"You got this."

-Reviewing past accomplishments. Counselors love this one. This is where you encourage youself by calling to mind anything and everything you have ever achieved, particularly at times when you had to overcome great odds. On a 4+ hour run, you have a lot of time for this. On a good day,  I can get all the way back to elementary school spelling bees.

-Chapel songs. I never gave it much thought while I was in seminary, but there are a lot of church songs about running, races, and journeys. I definitely catch myself humming them on long runs. "Guide my feet, Lord, while I run this race," "Don't turn around, we've come this far by faith," "I don't believe God brought me this far to leave me," etc.

-Visualizing the end. Sometimes this means hugging and crying at the finish line. Other times, its getting a massage. Many, many times, its hitting the bagel shop on the way home. Mmmm... bagels.

Some amazing women, and a reminder to watch what you say.

I am still battling my annual fall cold, as well as a poorly-timed deluge of school work, but I dragged myself out of the house last night to visit some amazing ladies from my church. All United Methodist churches are supposed to have a chapter of a group called United Methodist Women. My church had a very active group when I was young, but it fizzled out many years ago. Then, just a little over a year ago, some terrific women got it going again. Now, a group of 20-40 women gets together every month for wonderful social and outreach activities. My crazy schedule prevents me from going as much as I would like, but I get there when I can, and I never regret it. They are such a fun, energetic, interesting, and spirited group!

Last night, the UMW generously took up a collection in support of my marathon fundraiser. Not only is this wonderfully supportive to me, it also really honors Dr. Murray. Dr. Murray was all about women coming together and pushing one another to do amazing things. One of her pet projects was a summer camp called GirlsUp, where pre-teen girls build self-confidence, leadership skills, and citizenship. Fortunately, the camp has been able to continue since Dr. Murray died, and you can learn more about it at http://girlsup.org/.

Speaking of amazing and supportive women, I got an update from Val earlier today. Unfortunately, its not good news. She has a sprained ankle, needs PT, and may not be able to run the marathon. Please send her prayers, positive vibes, healing energy, and whatever else you can muster! I know how badly she wants to run this race, and I frankly can not imagine doing it without her.

Val's situation is where "watch what you say" comes into play. For the past several weeks of training, I've told numerous audiences that I'm not sure I'll ever run another marathon. I love running, but the long distances and training time are really wearing on me. In fact, I told several of the ladies at UMW last night that this marathon may be my one and only. That was an okay plan when I knew I would be doing it with Val. Now, I know that I can't train with Val all these months and not run a marathon with her. So, if Val isn't able to do MCM, it looks like I'm in for another one. Next time, I'll keep my thoughts to myself!

Is nobody healthy?: Metric Marathon 2010

As I mentioned in my last post, my fall race season began in earnest this morning with the Annapolis Striders' Metric Marathon. A "metric marathon," as the name suggests, is a 26.2K race, which comes out to 16.3 miles. Pretty much the exact distance I failed to run last week, a thought which pushed me to work harder than usual on my weekday training this past week. 

Thursday, I had dinner with the lovely Katie Cashin and learned that she is currently struggling with a hip injury. Yesterday morning, I woke up with a sore throat, which quickly developed into a full-fledged cold. Yesterday afternoon, I logged onto Facebook and learned that Val fell and twisted her ankle on her Saturday morning run. What is going on? The month of the marathon arrives and we are all dropping like flies. I took some cold medicine and went to bed early, uncertain whether or not I would be racing today.

The alarm went off at 6am and it took a Herculean effort to drag myself out of bed. Once I did, though, I pretty much went into auto-pilot. I started the teapot to make some Thera-flu, put on my running clothes, and started packing my gym bag. I had to at least try to do the race. The Thera-flu and some breakfast were enough to get me to the race, and the pre-race crowd energy got me to the starting line.

For me, today's race was divided into two distinct sections: the part where I struggled to keep down breakfast and the part where my hip hurt like crazy. Miles 1-12 were all about fighting my cold. I spent about 1-7 in a dopey, nauseous fog, willing myself not to throw up and/or drop out. I kept thinking of my supervisor at the morgue, who told me about how she tells her body not to throw up whenever she faces anything particularly gruesome at work. She has developed an uncanny ability to give her stomach orders and have it obey. I tried employing that technique this morning and it seemed to work. Mile 7 was a milestone because, at that point, I decided that I had gone too far to drop out. Miles 7-12 were probably the best of the day, especially when I realized that I was actually hitting my time goals despite the illness.

Then, somewhere between miles 12 and 13, the hip pain started. This has been a problem for me ever since we passed the 14-mile mark in training. Whenever I pass 13 miles on a run, my left hip starts screaming in protest. To add insult to injury, I've done some online research on hip injuries and every website seems to agree that I should start doing exactly the strength exercises that I have already been doing for the past year. Helpful. The pain was really bad in miles 13 and 14, and I had to walk a fair amount. As I approached 15, though, it seemed to ease up (or perhaps the thought of finishing helped me push through it). I was able to run from the 15-mile marker to the finish, where the 3:10 on the clock told me that I had better-than-maintained my marathon goal pace of 12 min/mile. Hooray!

So, now I am home in bed awaiting pizza delivery because I don't have the strength to get to the grocery store. I wish I could say that I somehow ran down my cold, but that does not seem to be the case. Oh well. Best wishes and healing thoughts to Katie and Val! I hope that we can all meet at the starting line of the MCM smiling and feeling strong!