Still walking

Today is the third morning after the marathon and I think I'm almost back to normal now. Sunday night wasn't too terribly bad after the massage, it felt like my legs, ankles, and backside had beaten with a bag of oranges. Monday morning was pretty rough and things got progressively worse throughout the day...it was such a relief to finally get to go home from work. I could hardly move an inch without my quads, and the majority of my lower body, desperately protesting. Tuesday wasn't much better, but definitely not any worse. And today, I'm pretty much walking normal now.
Thinking back on everything I put myself through during the past 4 months, I'd say I can put up with 3 days of high-level soreness. Today I'm determined to be completely ibuprofen-free! ...for the first time in over a month. If my liver was bleeding, hopefully it will stop soon.
As a result of all this marathon blogging, I got to thinking...I kind of like having a blog. There is a lot going on in my life right now, even outside of the marathon, and it feels kind of good to talk to no one and everyone at the same time. So perhaps this is the birth of a new blog: .
I'll get back to you when I come up with something catchy to title it.

I made it

I'm still not sure if it's actually sunken in yet, but I just ran a marathon. I think I'm still trying to convince myself that yes, it did happen, it's over. And I made it!
I really wanted to write a bit yesterday and release some nervous energy, boy was I getting nervous, but it was a super busy day and I just didn't make enough time for it. Friday after work I drove down to Portland to pick up my race packet, and that's when I officially became nervous. Of course there were a lot of people, but most of them...looked like they've done this before. Seeing my name on that huuge list of people running a marathon was very surreal.
Thanks to everybody who sent me wonderfully encouraging messages, I loved it! It was so nice to know there were so many people pulling for me!
Saturday flew by and luckily I didn't have much time to think about being nervous until later in the evening...when it was time to go to sleep. I did the best I could but I was pretty jittery. 5:00 a.m. came pretty quickly and before I knew it we were in the car driving downtown in the dark to the start of the race.
It was FREEEZING cold out and I foolishly shed my sweatshirt too soon and then stood for 20 minutes with my pace group waiting to start. That was a mistake. I'm a newbie and I got excited. I was too cold for the entire race and I think if I'd just waited a little longer to take off the sweatshirt it would have been much different. Thankfully it wasn't raining, I was so happy about that, it made everything much easier. "Easier".
Typically during a long run I feel my best during miles 5-15, but for some reason today I didn't start feeling good until after I hit 17 miles. It could have been the nerves, the different environment, the weather, or all of the above. I just know that 17 miles is a long ways to go not feeling very good. I was moving pretty slow, but also because I just didn't know how fast was okay for the entire distance of 26.2. I think miles 12-17 were the toughest because there was a very cold headwind coming off the Willamette River and freezing the heck out of me. My arms and hands were aching from the cold. I hit the halfway point of the marathon feeling really discouraged because I was being passed by so many people and just not really enjoying myself. Also the St. John's Bridge comes into view about 4 miles off and it looks soo far away and seems to take forever to get there. I was pretty uneasy going into mile 16 because there the big hill starts that leads up to the bridge (which is not steeper than my Doomsday Hill, but longer), then there's the bridge's ramp which isn't as steep as the hill, but pretty long too. Once I finally came down off that bridge I started to relax because I knew the big hill was behind me, and I now had less than 10 miles to go. And only 2 miles to go until I was hoping to see Coby and his sister Chandra, my parents and Joan. They waited for me bearing gatorade and energy gels and it was such a relief to see them! Seeing them there cheering me on and being so excited was the best feeling in the world and it definitely gave me a boost. Thanks guys!
About the same time I saw them, I started feeling my baby toe on my right foot getting a blister. At that point it wasn't bad and I was feeling pretty good so I kept going without changing bandaids or socks. I survived the race with fairly minimal pain but now I'm wishing I'd taken the time to change...my baby toes on both feet are now very tender. Still attached, but very tender.
Mile 21-23 ish were great and largely downhill which was fantastic and somehow it didn't bother my knees. The bummer part about not flowing until mile 17 is that it's so late in the game that the flow was pretty short-lived. Mile 24 I started really feeling tired and had to walk a bit. I'm not sure if I actually ever "hit the wall" though; I kept telling myself I wasn't going to and I think that helped significantly. When mile 25 rolled around there was no stopping me, I wanted this to be over. Down the straight-away, around the corner and a quick left and there it was! The finish line! My fan club was right there cheering away and got to watch me finish! Boy was that one satisfying finish, I was so happy to be done. I wrapped up in a blanket and began hobbling back to the car with my family and came home to a wonderful ice bath. And then a truly wonderful massage. Man that felt good; and it really helped to relieve my muscles of all the toxins and lactic acid build-up. I'm walking still tonight! (Not sure what will happen in the morning, but for tonight I'm okay...)
While sitting in the tub and reading the last chapter of my marathon book entitled "post marathon" was perhaps when the entire day began to sink in. I just ran a marathon.

Forecast update #3:

Partly cloudy, high of 65, 10% chance of showers.

Forecast update:

A high of 66, partly cloudy and a 20% chance of showers.

Hmm, maybe I won't have to wear a garbage bag after all...

Forecast update:

The weather forecast for Sunday October 4th now says a high of 56 and a 40% chance of rain.

U-G-L-Y

My feet. Are. Ugly. I've been having recurring blisters on the same 4 poor toes, and several other random places on my feet, for the past almost 2 months, and my feet are nasty looking. Fortunately they have been relatively pain-free blisters, because I've treated them so heavily...hemorrhoid ointment and near-casts made out of bandaids while running. (My book recommended this and it worked phenomenally.) Even though I did my best to prevent them with the perfect socks, etc...it really can't be helped if you're running that much. (I'm treating myself to a pedicure when this is over.) I'm hoping that during this next week the new skin will have a chance to toughen up for the big day.
Which is, by the way, only 7 days away. Holy cow. This week calls for a 3 mile run, a 3 mile walk and a lot of resting. A lot of carbs, a lot of water, and a lot of stretching. Should be able to handle that.
I had a really good 8 mile run yesterday. I really enjoy that distance so I had a great time and that was really encouraging. However, the whole time I just kept thinking about how 8 miles isn't even a THIRD of a marathon. And that wasn't so encouraging.
I was able to have a good conversation today with a seasoned marathon runner and he gave me some great tips for running my first marathon; bringing extra socks for if its raining, what to wear, and so on. One thing he mentioned was to be sure and not do anything super goofy the night before and morning of: no pre-marathon celebrations involving alcohol and a late night, don't eat anything funky for breakfast the morning of...just eat what you normally did during training. It was nice to hear those things coming from someone besides my trusted author...now I think I trust my book even more. He also said to be real careful at the beginning not to get caught up in the hype and the adrenaline and go fast; just start out comfortably slow. Even if you are going 30 seconds faster per mile than you normally do and you feel great, you won't be feeling great when mile 20 comes around and that's when it really matters.
If any of my readers are praying folks, I urge you to pray for the following:
The weather. Mid-fifties and overcast would be ideal. As it stands the forecast says a high of 64 and a 30% chance of showers. The highs here don't hit until usually after 2 pm, so all morning it would likely be in the fifties. I would prefer no rain.
My health. Two of the people I live with now have colds. I really don't need one right now. I would take one (almost) any other time of the year except for right now. I'm absolutely mortified scared to death afraid of what would happen if I caught a cold. It would just be bad news.
My knees. Typically somewhere around mile 6 my knees stop hurting and I can start enjoying myself...until about mile 17 or so, and then they start bothering me again. I can't really imagine how much I'll be hurting come mile 26.
My nerves. It's a proven fact that you run your best when you are neither super excited or super depressed. Over-excitement causes you to burn through more energy than you should. The middle of the road is the best place for your nerves to be. I need to stay calm and focused.
I'm sure as the week goes on I'll think of more prayer requests, if I do, I'll post them here. Thanks in advance.
I'd also like to thank a number of extremely important people:
My Mom and Dad for ceaselessly encouraging me and telling me how amazing I am and how proud they are of me. (Thanks for coming down to cheer me on!)
Coby for forcing me to take ice baths and gentley giving me helpful running tips. I love you.
Mrs. Erickson for buying me ice and all those bananas and leaving me the occassional "you're awesome" note out on the curb by my gatorade bottle during my long runs. Also for arranging for the massage therapist to come over after the race. (this will save me.)
Dave Matthews for training with me and helping distract me through all those miles and hours of running. You are a soothing comfort to my ears.
No thanks to Rocky Raccoon.
7 days and counting...

13 days and counting...

I have finally begun the taper, and I was truly thankful for the 9 mile "long" run this past Saturday. It seemed so short, it was rather refreshing. I'm realizing more and more how mental this whole thing is. I knew I only had to run 9 miles and when it was over, I felt exhausted and didn't want to run anymore. But that's the same with every run, regardless of the distance. Unfortunately this wasn't the best run I've ever had...the first 5 miles it poured rain. I was soaked and dripping. However, I do think I enjoy running in the rain rather than the heat (I've started praying for the weather on Oct 4). Also my knee was bothering me almost the entire time which was kind of discouraging, but just like all the other runs, I made it!
This week's training runs will consist only of 3 and 5 miles, with a long run on Saturday of 8 miles. It seems so strange to run 3 miles for a training run...it's been months since I've done that! I also couldn't seem to justify an ice bath after only 9 miles of running, so I didn't do it...but now I'm wishing I had. I keep hearing the more I do it, the better I will feel.
Only 13 days until the marathon, and I know they are gonna go quick! Also after this last week of training I ran past the 300 mile mark! With all the miles strung together I've run the same distance from my current house in Vancouver to my parent's house in Wenatchee. Whoa.
I'm becoming increasingly nervous for marathon day...my book keeps telling me I'm ready...but when I think about standing there at the starting line all by myself in a huge crowd of people getting ready to run the longest distance of my entire life...and the enormous amounts of pain about to ensue...I am frightened.
I'm also becoming increasingly thankful that this is nearing the end. I fear I've lost my gusto. I know that it's probably because my life has changed so much the last few weeks with the new job, and it can't be helped, I just kind of wish I was finishing this a little bit stronger. Until next time.