Lessons Learned from Patrick Henry

Disappointment.  Frustration.  Anger.  Shame.  Self-doubt.

These were the emotions I experienced as I ran the Patrick Henry Half Marathon this morning in Ashland, Virginia.  Let me explain why:

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I had debated with myself whether to even sign up to run Patrick Henry, because of when it would be.....only a few days after I got back to Richmond from my 7 week absence/vacation to Cleveland, Ohio and Fillmore, New York.  So I finally decided to sign up and was excited, though apprehensive, about running another half marathon.

Then this week, the email was sent out to all the participants which contained all important information.  Included in that email, was this blurb:

"3-hour time limit
All participants must be able to finish the half marathon in 3 hours. In order to do so, you will need to maintain a 13:43 per mile pace. At that time, there will no longer be traffic protection, medical aid, or water stops offered. There will be designated checkpoints at Miles 6.5 and 10 on the course.  You must reach the 6.5-mile mark by 8:30 a.m. and the 10-mile mark by 9:18 a.m. or you will be asked to board the shuttle that will take you back to the finish area."

Now, I know I am a slow runner (and have come to accept that fact), so when I read this blurb in the email, I started to get even more nervous.  After much thought, I told myself that I could do it, as I had finished my previous (first) half marathon in just over 3 hours, including walking the last 2.5 miles.

Thank goodness that I had made plans to carpool up to the race with my co-worker (MaryBeth) Ryan.  We talked the whole 20 minute drive up, which helped calm me nerves this morning.  We arrived at the start line around 5:30am, since Ryan still had to pick up her race bib (she got back in town last night from vacation, so she couldn't pick up her bib yesterday).  After Ryan picked up her race bib, we hung around the start as more and more of the runners started showing up.  It was great to see my running friends (Tammy, Alan, Becky, Brian, Black Amy, Sandy, Shannon, Patty, Dexter, Melvin) and get hugs from them as they welcomed me home and we wished each other luck.

As the race start time neared, I waited in the chute with them.  Black Amy and I decided to run together, but figured out after the start that we wouldn't be sticking together since I was doing the Galloway method and she would be running the whole time.  After some more hugs and "good luck"s to each other, the race started.  Black Amy and I ran together, until my first walking interval.  After that, she kept getting farther and farther ahead.  Other runners kept passing me, but I told myself that it didn't matter and to just go at my own pace.

I felt OK for about the first 3 miles, then I started to slow down and walk more often :(even before my walk intervals started).  By the time I passed the water stop around mile 4, I had a feeling that I would be very close to the time limit at mile 6.  During miles 5 and 6, I walked more and more.  Once I heard my MapMyRun app tell me my mile split time for mile 6, I knew that I wouldn't make it to the water stop just past mile 6 in time (my mile split was around 16 minutes due to the walking).  

As I got closer and closer to the mile 6 water stop, I saw and heard my MTT coach, Lynn.  She walked towards me and as she came right up to me (and I saw the race clock was at 1:32:something), I just lost it and started bawling......because I knew that I was done, they wouldn't let me continue.  Lynn let me cry and walked with me, saying words of encouragement the whole time.  As I tried to calm myself down, Lynn told me to think about what I learned from this, that this was just 13 miles and that my end goal is that Richmond Marathon in November.  There was only one other person behind me, who also did not make the cut off time.  As the gentleman and I got in the SUV that would take us back to the start/finish line, Lynn hugged me one more time and said "you're a good runner, don't forget that, don't let this get you down."

After getting back to the start/finish line and seeing most people struggle to cross the finish line, I realized that I wasn't the only one who struggled during the race.

So, here are the lessons I learned from Patrick Henry:

1. Being away from my MTT team for 7 weeks and trying to train on my own is HARD, especially since I missed about 3 weeks of training due to being at the 2 camps.

2. Don't miss any days (or weeks) of my daily asthma medicine.  My health insurance only allows mail orders for medicine that you take regularly, for which I need to fax the prescription to them (which I can't do until I get the work on Monday because I don't have a fax machine at home).

3. Running in 60-70 degree weather for several weeks, then trying to run in high humidity will take a toll on your body and is hard to adjust to.

4. I have GOT to be better about my overall nutrition, not just the week of a race.  (I was exhausted by about mile 3)

5. Stay positive and adjust to the situation.

Will I allow this setback to discourage me from continuing my marathon training?  Absolutely not!  While I'm disappointed, frustrated, etc. and I know that I failed the mid-term (as my MTT coaches kept calling this half marathon race), I now know what I need to change or improve to ace the final, the Richmond Marathon.

MTT On My Own: Week 3

Week 2 of camp #1 was more exhausting than the first week; hence, my running this week was minimal.

Monday

Today was a "rest day".  As I mentioned in my previous post, rest days at camp weren't true rest days since our form of transportation at camp was walking.

Tuesday

I had every intention of running today, but when I woke up at 5am and heard the leaves rustling in the strong wind, I decided that I'd better check the radar to see if there was a storm approaching; there was one on the way, which would reach us soon, so I went back to sleep.  While I know that I could have run in the rain (as I've done a few times before), I decided that I needed the extra sleep, and so did my running partners at camp.

Wednesday

Since the camp was going on a fieldtrip today to Letchworth State Park in Castile, NY to take a look at the waterfalls and swim at the pool, I decided that I would only run 1 loop around the camp, which was about 2 miles instead of the 4 miles planned for today.  We lucked out with the weather today for the fieldtrip; it had been raining most of the days at camp so far, but today it didn't.  It was still cold, around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so I didn't swim in the pool; after living in Virginia for the past 8 years and being used to the humidity there, I was freezing in the 65-75 degree weather we had during camp.

upper falls

middle falls

Thursday

By this point in the camp, I was super exhausted, since our days consisted of waking up at 7:15am, activities all day long, a nightly campfire that usually lasted until after 10pm, then a nightly meeting with the patrol leaders and adults to discuss how things had gone during the day and what would happen the next day; this meant that most nights I wouldn't get to bed until almost midnight [I always went right to bed after our nightly planning meetings, while some of the other adults stayed up much later].  I decided that sleeping 6-7 hours each night from now until the end of camp would be much better for me than sleeping 4-5 hours each night if I got up in the mornings to run.

Friday

Today was a "rest day."

Saturday

Today was the last day of camp for the kids, so the morning was spent packing and practicing for the end of camp program in the afternoon.  After the program, the parents packed up their kids and left.  While I would have loved to pack up my things and head back to Cleveland, I didn't want to leave the camp director to have to pack and clean all the camp stuff by herself.  So the adults that stayed helped pack up the things in the office, which took most of the evening.

Sunday

Sunday morning, we finished packing away the camp stuff into the storage trailers, then I packed my car with my things and drove the 4.5 hours back to my parents' house in Cleveland.  Even though I had intentionally stayed at camp the night before to help pack and rest a little before driving home, I was still exhausted on the drive back.  The last 1.5 hours of the drive were the hardest; I had to fight to stay awake, even after stopping to buy some coffee at a gas station.

Monday

After taking a regular shower (not a rushed one, like we had been doing at camp) the night before and getting a full night's sleep, I felt almost 100% back to normal today.  I spent the day resting, doing my camp laundry and catching up on my summer shows.

On Tuesday, I had signed up to run the Patrick Henry Half Marathon in Ashland, VA on August 23rd.  I debated with myself whether to sign up for it or not, because it's the weekend right after I get back to Richmond.  My fear is that because I can't be totally consistent with my running at the 2 camps that I'm helping out at during this summer, that I won't be as prepared for the race as I'll need to be.  What made me finally decide to sign up was that (1) I really wanted to run another half marathon, to see how I would do compared to the one I ran in December, (2) that the marathon training plan includes a half marathon distance run for that same weekend, (3) as a Richmond Road Runners Club member, the price for the race was reasonable/affordable, and (4) I wouldn't have to travel out of town for the race.

My goal for the next 2.5 weeks until camp #2 starts is to stick to the marathon training plan.

MTT On My Own: Week 2

This was the first week of summer camp #1 that I'm helping out in.  I tried to stick to the marathon training plan as much as time allowed at camp, which usually meant waking up early for my runs.  Here are the specifics:

Monday

This was supposed to be a rest day, but it's impossible to not do any form of exercise at camp, since our main mode of transportation here is walking.  

Tuesday

I woke up at 5am, got ready, then at 6am I woke up the 2 ladies who said they'd join me on my runs (Eszti and Tünde).  I ran 3 miles today, while the ladies only ran the first loop with me (about 2 miles).

Wednesday

I woke up at 5am again and ran 4 miles today.  Only Eszti ran with me this morning because Tünde said she needed to rest.

Thursday

I decided that it would be best if I didn't run this morning, since I would be one of the chauffeurs that would be driving the group of young adults who are here from Hungary to help out at the camp to Niagara Falls (Niagara Falls is about 2 hours northwest of camp).  I hadn't been to Niagara Falls in probably over 15 years, so it was nice to refresh my memory of it.  The cool thing about this quick fieldtrip was that Eszti, Jutka (the other chauffeur), and I did the Cave in the Winds, where you can walk right in front of the falls.

Friday

As I mentioned before, there is no true rest day at camp.

Saturday

Even though the marathon training plan called of a 5 mile run today, I only ran 1.57 miles because I knew we would be walking down to the Genesee River in the afternoon, which would be several miles.  The hike turned out to be 3.1 miles one way, all down hill on the way to the river.  We spent several hours at the river swimming and playing around.  The hike back was much more difficult for 2 reasons: it was all uphill and everyone was tired from the hike to the river and playing in the river.  The teachers made several loops with their cars to pick up the young campers and anyone else who was having a hard time making the hike back.  I made it about halfway back, before I decided to hop in one of the cars for a ride back to camp (uphills always aggravate my asthma).

Sunday

Today was supposed to be a cross training day, but since I'm at camp, my cross training was walking throughout the camp.

The first week of camp has been very exhausting, for everyone; I'm hoping that now that everyone is used to being at camp the second week won't be as exhausting.

MTT On My Own: Week 1

It's been a week since I started the busy part of my summer break.  Here is how marathon training has gone:

Monday

I spent my rest day by packing 7 weeks' worth of clothes and things in my car and driving 8 hours from Richmond, Virginia to Cleveland, Ohio to my parents' house.  

Tuesday

I woke up early and ran the 3 miles planned for today in the Cleveland Metroparks with my parents' dog.  Though she LOVED the run, she was exhausted the rest of the morning since my mom doesn't run with her regularly.

laying on the floor with the exhausted pooch after our run

Wednesday

I again woke up early and ran the planned 4 miles, this time in one of the neighborhoods near my parents' house.  I decided to not take the pooch with me, since yesterday's run had exhausted her and today's run was longer.

Thursday

The past 3 days caught up with me (up early, things to do all day, then bed after 10pm), so I slept in instead of getting up early to do today's hill workout.

Friday

I repacked my car and drove 4.5 hours up to Fillmore, New York to the first summer camp I'll be helping out at this summer.  This is a 2 week long summer school camp for kids who are of Hungarian descent.

Saturday

I woke up early and went for an 8 mile run along the camp roads.  Two of the ladies who are here at camp to help out came to run with me, but they only ran the first 2 miles with me because they were helping out in the kitchen and with final preparations before the campers arrived at 11am.  [When I had mentioned on Friday evening that I would be getting up early to go for my run, these two ladies asked if they could join my on my run since they were also trying to run regularly.]  Later in afternoon, one of the other young ladies who's here to help out at the camp asked me if I ran in the morning.  When I told her that I did, she said that she and her boyfriend (who's also here at camp helping out) also want to join me in my morning runs because they had promised each other that they would run regularly at camp.  [Sounds like I'm starting my own running group here at camp.]

even though I've been coming to this Hungarian Scout park since I was 4 years old
for various camps and events, this was the first time that I had done a run
workout here.....I ran 4 loops on the camp roads, each loop was about 2 miles

Sunday

Today was to be a cross training day according to the marathon training plan.  Since I'm at camp for the next 2 weeks, my cross training is walking everywhere at camp, which probably adds up to several miles each day.

Summer Break

As of June 18th, I am on summer break....woohoo!!  The class I had this past school year, was the best group I had had in my 8 years of teaching; I'm going to miss them dearly next year.....but I'm glad to be on summer break for my own peace of mind.

What did I do on my first official day of summer break?  I woke up at my usual workday time of 5am so that I could be at Deep Run Park by 7am to get my 3 mile run done before the high temps and humidity set in for the day.  (I have always been a morning person; I enjoy the solitude of early morning as the world slowly wakes up for the day.)

Since MTT has started, I have had to miss one or two workouts during the week, due to extreme heat during the day or thunderstorms or time constraints.  I am happy to say that this past week I was finally able to complete ALL the training runs that we needed to!  Woohoo!!

The Bane of My Running

This past Thursday was the first hill workout of MTT.  Because of my asthma, hills are the hardest part of running for me.  Knowing that I would be out of town for the next 7 weeks and training on my own, I rearrange my schedule for Thursday so that I could make it to the first hill workout and learn what a hill workout entailed.  Three of the MTT coaches led the hill workout at Deep Run Park, which is only about 5 minutes from where I live.  We started with a slow warm up loop around the pond.  I had thought that we would be running hills on one of the hills along the paved trail in the park, but once the coaches explained what the workout would be, I realized that we would not be staying in the park; instead we would be in a neighborhood nearby.  Since I wasn't quite sure where the hill workout would take place, I ran the whole warm up loop in order to see where the group was going; mind you, I had been doing the Galloway method so far in MTT, so I was quite tired and out of breath once we reached the street where we would do the hill workout.  This week's hill workout was going to be 4 loops of the hill, running up the hill at about 85% of your effort and coming back down the hill should take twice as long as going up.  I made it to the top of the hill the first time in about a minute and a half, but was wheezing once I reached the top.  As I turned around to head back down the hill, Donnie (one of the coaches) asked if I was OK; my gasping/wheezing reply was, "Asthma."  The next two times I ran up the hill, I made it about 3/4 of the way up before I had to stop running and walk the rest of the way up because I was starting wheeze [I think the wheezing was partially due to me panicking as I had to exert more and more effort to get up the hill].  By the time I made my way back to the bottom of the hill after my third loop, only 3 of us were left (along with the coaches) because everyone else had finished their hills.  [In my mind, I knew that I would be one of the last ones to finish, but it still hurt to see that I was right.]  After finishing my 4 hill loops, we ran back to the park (which was just 2 streets away) and did a slow cool down loop around the pond.  Donnie ran back to me as I was nearing the parking lot to check on me; I'm glad I was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap so that he couldn't see my frustrated and upset expression.  As we walked to our cars, we talked about the hill workouts.  Donnie gave me some pointers on how to do them, and he ended with "Just run at your own pace."  [I know that I'm not a fast runner, and may never become a fast runner, but it still  frustrates and upsets me sometimes to see that I'm one of the last ones to finish a workout or race.]

7 Week MTT Hiatus

Yesterday was my last group training run with my MTT teammates because for the next 7 weeks I will be out of town.  Here's what my next 7 weeks will look like:

- June 30th: drive up to Cleveland, OH to drop off 7 weeks worth of clothes and stuff at my parents' house
- July 1-3: finish any last-minute preparations/packing for Nyári Iskola Tábor and do my marathon training runs
- July 4: drive up to Sík Sándor Cserkészpark in Fillmore, NY to get ready for Nyári Iskola
- July 5-19: help out at Nyári Iskola Tábor (annual Hungarian summer school camp that I haven't been to since I was around 10 years old) with administrative work and try to stick to my marathon training schedule as much as possible
- July 20-August 5: back in Cleveland at my parents' house, working on stuff for KMCsSz (the Hungarian Scout Association), which is my summer job, and hopefully spending time with my Cleveland friends and do my marathon training suns
- August 6: drive back to Sík Sándor Cserkészpark to get ready for VK Tábor
- August 7-17: VK Tábor (reprising my role as my aunt's administrative assistant at the annual Hungarian Scout leadership training camp)
- August 18: back in Cleveland to do my camp laundry and pack up all my things
- August 19: drive back to Richmond

My goal over the next 7 weeks is to stick to the MTT training plan as much as I can, and post here once a week as I recap how training on my own happened for the week.  Check back here each week to see my progress!

enjoying a cold, refreshing Icee pop after yesterday morning's
7 mile group training run with my team

MTT: Week 1, Day 1

And so it begins.....

Yesterday morning was the first group training run with the Sportsbackers Marathon Training Team (MTT).  When I had signed up for MTT back in March, I had accidentally chosen to be in the intermediate team; I think this happened because I was looking at the mileage that the intermediates can run in a week, and I thought, "Yes, I can do that weekly mileage."  While talking to my co-worker MaryBeth Ryan (I call her Ryan), who did MTT last year, she mentioned that the intermediates run at a faster pace and that their mileage increases much faster than the novice team; she suggested that since this is my first marathon that I switch to the novice team.

I was so nervous Friday evening, even to the point of having second thoughts and doubting myself and my ability to actually do this.....but after posting my thoughts and fear on Facebook, my runner friends rallied my spirits with their words of encouragement and faith in me.

One thing that my friends and family know about me is that I'm stubborn; once I commit to doing something, I do it, even if I feel like not doing it.  So, even though I was having second thoughts about doing this whole marathon training and actually running the marathon, I knew that I would show up to the group run on Saturday morning.

I slept OK Friday night, but work up before my alarm went off at 5:15am.  I got up, got dressed in my running gear, then did my morning ritual of checking my email and Facebook which helped calm my nerves a little.  Ryan had mentioned that before the first group run with MTT, there would be an informational meeting, which had lasted about 45 minutes least year; so even though we were to meet at the Sporstbackers stadium at 7:30am, I figured we wouldn't go for the run until after 8am.  I usually eat my pre-run fuel about 1.5 hours before my planned running time, so I ate a banana with almond butter around 6:15am.

#TeamDuctTape

I knew from talking to my running friends who had done MTT in previous years that several hundred runners would be showing up for the first MTT group training run, so I decided to leave my house early and get to the Sportsbackers stadium shortly after 7am in order to be able to find a parking spot.  As I was driving down the Boulevard coming from I-95, I saw that there were already lots of cars in the parking lot and I had a moment of anxiety thinking that I wouldn't find an open parking spot.  Turns out, though, that only the first few rows were full and there were still plenty of parking spots left.  I found one right away, parked my car, filled up my hydration bottle with Gatorade, took off my long-sleeved technical shirt (even though the sun was shining, the morning air was a little cool, around 60 degrees), and headed over to the stadium entrance.  As I got closer to the entrance, I could see coaches from the various teams ready to help.  One of the gentlemen (who it turns out is one of the coaches for Team Duck Tape and was wearing biker shorts made out of duct tape) asked if I knew what my team assignment was (he had a list, in case I didn't); when I told him that I did know my assigned team (Team Maroon, an intermediate team) but that I needed to change teams, he directly me to the table where I could change teams.  Based on my 10K finish time, and my request that I be assigned to a novice team, I was assigned to Team Duct Tape.  Because the novice team had so many members this year, they split the members into 3 sub-groups: Moose, Goose, and Loose.  I was assigned to the Loose group.  Before I headed up to the stands, I decided to make a pit stop in the bathroom, as my nerves were making my bladder be more active.  After my pit stop, I headed up to the stands and realized that everyone was sitting according to their assigned team.  Turns out that my team was sitting all the way at the far end.  As I made my way over, I spotted my running friend Patty sitting with the team.  It was nice to see a familiar face in the group (Ryan runs much faster than me, so she is on one of the intermediate teams).

Just some of the crowd sitting in the stands.
Thanks to the Richmond Road Runner club for the picture.

We spent the next 20 or so minutes looking around, talking, and watching/waiting for everyone else to take their seats with their teams.  Around 7:30am, Don Garber (the head coach of MTT) started the meeting with some general information.  One of the things Don did was have everyone stand up, then those that had run a marathon before were asked to sit down; it was interesting to see how many other people are also training for their first marathon.  The informational meeting lasted about 30 minutes, then we all headed out to the parking lot with our respective teams.  Team Duct Tape coaches introduced themselves, then we staggered the start of our run.  The first run was only 4 miles for the novice teams (intermediates ran 7 miles), with an easy out and back route down Boulevard to Monument Avenue, then Monument to Malvern and back.  Along the way, the Loose coaches kept checking on everyone to make sure that they were OK and to introduce themselves personally.

Because of the breathing difficulties I had this past spring while training for the Monument 10K, I decided that I would use the Galloway method to train for (and run) my marathon.  Back in the spring, after getting advice from Tammy and Alan about doing MTT, they suggested that I try the Galloway method of running.  The Galloway method was invented by Jeff Galloway and alternates intervals of running and walking; Jeff's research has shown that his method helps prevent injuries because you give your body time to rest during the walking intervals and are less exhausted over when you finish your run.  I had calculated my Magic Mile, and based on that, I decided that my intervals would be 4 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking.  I found an interval trainer app for my iPhone where I could set what my intervals would be, along sound notifications at the beginning of each interval.

During the 4 mile run, I met Therese, who also wanted to try the Galloway method but had not brought a watch with her.  We ended up running about 3/4 of the route together, and agreed to be running partners for the rest of the group runs.  It was nice to finally find someone who runs at my pace!  As we headed back up Boulevard towards the stadium, my mind told me that my body was tired, so I walked parts of the running intervals too.  Therese and I made it back to the stadium parking lot; overall, it was a good run for me, I felt better on this run than I've felt in quite a few months.  I picked up my training booklet and chatted for a few minutes with my team's coaches, letting them know that I wouldn't be there next week (I'll be home in Cleveland for my cousin Peter's wedding, but I'll be running on my own that Sunday morning) and that I would be gone for about 6 weeks this summer.  As much as this whole thing scares me and makes me nervous to do it, I'm glad I am.  24 weeks to go until race day!

Easy route, pace was slower than in the past, but good run overall.
We ran past my first Richmond apartment, which was on Monument Ave near the Boulevard.

This is Lynn, the head coach for Team Duct Tape.
I loved her awesome duct tape outfit!

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening looking through the
training booklet, familiarizing myself with all of the information.

24 weeks seems like such a long time, but when broken down into individual weeks and days, it seems doable.
I spent yesterday evening entering the training schedule into my phone's calendar so that I would know what I would need to do each day.

Celebrating Who I Am Today

Today is my 31st birthday.  I decided to change a little the way I celebrate my birthday this year; I decided to celebrate WHO I am today, who I have become: a runner.

In the past year, year and half, I have joined several running groups here in Richmond, and have become good friends with some fellow runners.  While out on a mid-week run with some friends a few weeks ago, one of them mentioned how much fun we had back in April when we met for a run along the James River one Sunday morning.  I knew that I wanted to celebrate my birthday in a different way this year, not just the same dinner and drinks with friends, so when this runner friend mentioned that it got me thinking: hey, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and it's on a Sunday.  Wouldn't an easy run with friend be a great way to celebrate?

So this morning, 6 of us met at Tredegar for my birthday run.  We started the run by jogging across the suspension bridge to Belle Isle, then ran the trail that loops around the island.  We regrouped at the end of the loop, and after throwing some ideas around about where to run next, I decided that we would run back across the suspension bridge, then head to Brown's Island and along the canal walk.  The boys decided to continue on to The Dairy Bar Restaurant (where I had decided we would meet for a post-run breakfast), so us girls continued on.  It was a gorgeous day: sunny, warm (but not hot).  Once we got to the end of the canal walk, I was going to suggested turning around and going back, but then Becky mentioned the pipeline, so I decided that we should head there.  I have not run the pipeline in about a year.  For those Richmonders that have never done it, you should, it's really cool.  You literally walk or run on top of the pipe that runs above the James River; when the river gets high, the pipeline is closed off because it is under the river.

As we got closer to where the railing on either side of the pipeline ended, I noticed that a heron was sitting on the pipeline, just chilling.  We crept closer and closer.  We were able to get quite close to it, about 5 or 6 feet, and then it flew off.

Once we got to the end of the pipeline we had a dilemma: the river was still flowing over the pipeline at the part closest to Brown's Island, so we decided it was best to just turn around and head back the way we came.  We walked back along the pipeline, then jogged back along the canal walk back to our cars.

After the 4.6 mile run, we headed over to The Dairy Bar Restaurant, which I had heard has great breakfast food (and milkshakes, which unfortunately I can't have).  When we arrived at the restaurant, we saw that it was closed.  There was a sign on their door that said that they were closed all weekend due to the the Memorial Day holiday.

After some discussion, we decided to head to Galaxy Diner, since Brian was set on getting milkshakes.  We all enjoyed a delicious post-run breakfast there, and discussed who's birthday is next so we could plan the next birthday run and the start of marathon training, which starts in 1 week (eek!).

Thank you Amy, Becky, Brian, Mike, and Sandy for joining me on my birthday run.  What a great way to celebrate my birthday and who I am today!!

Starting from Zero

Before starting this blog, I debated with myself whether or not I should.  The main reason that I was hesitant about starting a blog is that I am a shy, private person; I don't feel comfortable sharing my deep thoughts and feelings.  However, in order to truly document my entire journey, I must be brutally honest.....about the good AND the bad.  If at some point, my honesty helps someone else in their journey, then going out of my comfort zone is worth it.

Brutal Honesty

So why did I title today's blog post as "Starting from Zero"?  Because I am back to square one mileage-wise in my running.  As tends to happen to me between times when I'm officially training for a race, I fell off the wagon and stopped running.  Some of it is due to just life getting in the way (I had a sinus infection during/after the Monument 10K which put me out of commission for running for about 3 weeks, then things at work got hectic as I was preparing for being out of town for 4 days and missing 2 days of work because of that); but the major reason I tend to fall off the running wagon between race training seasons is that I don't have that structure that I have during training.  While I have learned a lot in the almost 2 years since I started running again, I tend to second-guess myself when I have to decide how many miles I should run and I'm not as motivated to run as I am when I'm following a plan.

Yesterday morning was really the first time I had run since the Monument 10K on March 29, 2014.  I had gone for a run with some friends along the pipeline near the James River on April 13, 2014, but I had just finished the antibiotics for my sinus infection and the pollen was still raging, so thanks to my asthma I ended up only running about 10% of the distance that we went; I walked the other 90%.  What finally kicked my butt in gear yesterday is that marathon training starts in 3 weeks, and I haven't kept up my mileage, so I'm scared that I won't be ready when the training starts.  Yesterday morning I worked out at the Pocahontas Middle School track with some other runners, as part of a group that meets the weeks between training seasons to work on keeping up with running and increasing core strength.  This group was started by Coach Dan Blankenship, who is the Head Coach for the Sportsbackers' 8K and 10K training teams.  While we call it a bootcamp, it's not your typical boot camp; we usually run a few laps around the track, then go through a circuit of core exercises and lunges, then run some more laps, and then do the core exercise circuit.  Because I have not kept up with running, my running stamina has decreased a lot; therefore, my leg muscles are super sore today from yesterday's run.  My goal over the next 3 weeks is to run 3-4 times each week, about 3-5 miles each workout.  The closer the days get to marathon training starting, the more nervous I feel.

If the shoe fits

Today I did something else in preparation for marathon training: I went to Lucky Foot, a local running specialty store here in Richmond, to make sure that the running shoes I have been wearing so far are the correct ones for me.  One of the gentlemen working there today, Blair, spent over an hour helping me (turns out that Blair is one of the Marathon Training Team coaches).  Blair first took a look at my current running shoes, at the wear pattern on the soles, and my orthotics.  Then, he put me in a pair of neutral shoes and had me run on the short track behind the wall in the store so he could see what my feet do as I run (assess my gait).  First he had me run without my orthotics, then with them.  Blair was happy to inform me that my gait is very neutral, and that I was pretty much wearing the correct shoes, but he wanted me to try one some other shoes to compare.  Turns out that my current shoes are no longer being sold by Asics (I have been wearing the Asics Gel Cumulus 14), and their latest version (the Gel Cumulus 16) was a bit narrower in the toes.

So I tried on some other shoes; some I like right away and others I didn't as soon as I took them for a quick run around the store.  The shoes I ended up liking the best, to the surprise of Blair, were the Mizuno Wave Rider 17, because in those I felt the most cushioning, even under my toes, whereas in the other shoes that I tried there was similar cushioning but not in the toe area.

Blair not only helped me find the correct shoe for me, but also answered any questions I asked:
What is a neutral shoe? (it has to do with the support under the arch on the sole of the shoe)
How many pairs of shoes will I need throughout marathon training? (about 3)

While I didn't buy any new running shoes today, I now know which shoes to buy next so that I can start budgeting for it (and share it with my family since my birthday is in 2 weeks).  Here's to hoping that I'll be prepared enough in 3 weeks for marathon training!

What do you mean you can't breath??

Asthma Diagnosis

Ever since I can remember, I have always struggled with my breathing, never able to take a full breath.  The winter I was 8 or 9 years old, I became sick with a cold.  This cold turned out to be different.  My mom noticed that I was having trouble breathing, to the point that I was wheezing.  We went to the emergency room, where the doctor decided to give me a breathing treatment.  Now, for those of you fortunate enough to not have done a breathing treatment before, count yourselves lucky.  A breathing treatment involves using a nebulizer machine that changes the liquid medication into a mist so that it can be easily inhaled into the lungs.  The nebulizer looks like this:

There are two ways to have the patient inhale the misted medicine:
1. a t-piece

2. a mask

For whatever reason, the ER doctor decided to administer the nebulizer treatment to me using the mask.  Now imagine that you're 8 or 9 years old, you can't breath, you're scared.....and this futuristic looking mask is handed to you that has smoke coming out of it.  Needless to say, I freaked out.  My mom finally calmed me down enough for the doctor to put the mask on me.  I did feel better after doing the breathing treatment.

Turns out that I had ASTHMA.  What is asthma?  Here is a picture that explains it best:

Living With Asthma

Triggers

As I mentioned above, I don't know what it's like to take a full breath of air.  While I don't always feel that my asthma effects me, cold weather and exercise are my triggers.  I dread the winter season, because I know that being outside and breathing the cold air could trigger my asthma and make it more difficult to breath.  Anytime I catch a cold, it goes straight to my lungs; I have learned to use my albuterol (rescue) inhaler as soon as I feel ANY tightness in my chest, whether I feel symptoms of a cold or not.  I also use my albuterol inhaler before each exercise session, whether I'll be running or doing some other form of cardio.

Lung Capacity

I never knew how bad my lungs were, until I started going to an allergist.  My allergist (who is AWESOME and very knowledgeable) is also an asthma expert, so during my first visit he had my lung capacity measured.  I had to blow as hard as I could into a T-piece, similar to what is used during a nebulizer treatment.  This was connected to a computer, which records the amount (volume) and speed (flow) of air that I inhale and exhale.  This is called a spirometry test:

During that first test, we found out that my lungs were working at 60% capacity; normal capacity is 80% and above.  Because of this, my allergist put me a daily steroid inhaler, hoping that it would increase my lung capacity.  In subsequent visits over the past 2.5 years, my lung capacity HAS increased to 80-something percent, so we tried decreasing the dosage of my daily steroid inhaler.  Because of the cold, wet winter that we've had this year, my lung capacity has decreased to 79%; while that is still good [higher than what I had started at when I first started going to my allergist], it is below the 80% that my allergist wants me to be at.  As of March 21st, my daily inhaler has been changed from a steroid to a combination steriod/bronchial dilator.  We will see at my follow up appointment at the end of May if this new medicine is working as it should, increasing my lung capacity.  My albuterol inhaler was also switched to one that works my whole lung, not just the top part.

One of the things I love about my allergist, besides his true knowledge about allergies and asthma, is that he wants to eventually get my lung capacity high enough to be able to wean me off of all asthma medicine.  I can hardly wait for the day when I can breath as well as the majority of the population!!

The Start

The Idea

My running journey started right before high school.  The street we lived on at the time had a hill at the top, leading to one of the major roads that ran through my hometown of Lakewood, Ohio.  One day during 8th grade, my siblings and I were walking back home from somewhere with one of our uncles.  My brothers and sister took off running down that hill towards our house.  I was running behind them, with my uncle.  As I lengthened my stride to get down that hill, he mentioned that I have the perfect stride for a runner and that I should consider joining the cross country team in high school.  By this point in 8th grade, I was already super nervous about starting high school in the fall [there would be too many students.....what if I forget the combination to my locker....etc.], so when my uncle mentioned joining the cross country team I immediately jumped on it, figuring it would be a great way to instantly belong somewhere in high school.

High School

Cross Country Team

During the August right before my freshmen year started, I joined the cross country team.  The first practice I went to was brutal, running about 3 miles in the Cleveland Metroparks; the team had already been practicing for a week, but I missed that week due to attending the Hungarian Scout Association in Exteris' annual scout leadership camp [where I became a certified patrol leader].  I felt out of place, and true to my shy and quiet personality, I didn't talk much with my teammates.....but the good thing is that they initiated conversations with me and included me in things that they were doing.  Seeing my teammates in the school hallways and the camaraderie we had at practice helped me get through those first few months of high school.  I was always the slowest runner [I always ran in the JV races at the XC meets] and felt frustrated by that, but I stuck with it.  I admired and hero-worshiped the juniors and seniors on the team, so when several of them told me that they admired my determination and stubbornness [Thank you, Tanja, Maggie, Helen], I was on cloud nine.

I ended up only being on the cross country team for the first 2 years of high school.  I joined the team my junior year, but the difficulty I was having in my AP [Advanced Placement] Chemistry class affected my GPA, so when the cross country coach pulled me aside to tell me that I may be kicked off of the team due to my grades, I decided that it was best for me if I left the team on my own decision, especially knowing that my classes would only get more difficult in the 2 years left until high school graduation.

Track

I also ran track in high school, but only my freshmen year.  I knew before I joined the track team that I wasn't a sprinter, I was a distance runner, so I competed in the 1600 and 2 mile events.  I quickly realized that even though I liked being on the team, and the camaraderie, I did not like running on the track as a distance runner; during the events at the meet, I would lose track of how many laps I had run, especially once the front runners passed me because, just like on the cross country team, I was the slowest runner.

Post High School

After high school, I didn't run at all, focusing instead on my college classes and working, since I was paying for my own college education.  After college, I moved 9 hours away from Cleveland to southern Virginia [where I didn't know a single person] for my first teaching job. My first year of teaching was rough, to put it mildly.  When the school district decided to not renew my teaching contract for a 2nd year with them [which was a blessing in disguise], I was offered a teaching job in Richmond, Virginia.  Moving to Richmond was the best thing that has happened to me so far.  

2010 Monument Avenue 10K

Shortly after moving to Richmond, Virginia in August of 2007, I joined Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church (GCPC).  Not knowing a single person in Richmond, I was looking for something familiar and found it at the church.  GCPC is located in the heart of Richmond, on historic Monument Avenue between Allen Ave. and Lombardy St.  

Being new to Richmond, I didn't know about the annual Monument 10K race.  The spring of 2010, my church friends starting gearing up for the race.  Because GCPC is on Monument, right on the 10K route, we were going to have a hospitality station on the front patio of the church.  I decided to help out with the hospitality station, not knowing at the time what a huge impact it would have on my life.  

The morning of the race, it was FREEZING cold [in the 40s] but sunny.  After helping set up the tables on the patio with the food, I walked over to Lombardy St. to watch the 1 mile kids run.  Then the 10K run began.  I soon realized, as the waves and waves of runner, joggers, and walkers went by, that everyone was having so much FUN.  Back in high school, I had never thought running could be FUN, but here were THOUSANDS of people running/jogging/walking with smiles on their faces.  Right then, I made myself a promise that one day I would run or jog or walk in the 10K too.

2011

I had been having pain on the outside edge of my right foot, so I finally went to see a podiatrist.  After sending me for an MRI on my foot, he said that I had partially torn the tendon that runs along the outside edge of my foot [probably due to a rolled, or sprained, ankle from several years ago].  After giving me a cortisone shot for it, and fitting me with orthotics, I thought the pain would disappear.  After several months of the pain still being there, I went back to see my podiatrist again.  After a physical examination of my foot, during which he squeezed my toes together and I jumped out of the chair, he diagnosed it as Morton's Neuroma.  Morton's Neuroma is when the nerve gets pinched and then enlarges and causes discomfort/pain.  I'm guessing, based on what he said are the causes, that wearing high heels that were too small and ill-fitting pinched my toes together and in turn caused the nerve between my 3rd and 4th toe to enlarge.  My podiatrist suggestion for treatment was a shot of alcohol to the area to try and kill the nerve; I would go back every 2 weeks for a shot, for a total of 3 or 4 shots.  Let me tell you, those shots HURT like the dickens.  After getting the 4th shot, and the pain not lessening, I asked him when we move on to the next recommended treatment [surgery to remove that part of the nerve].  He stopped, looked at me, and said, "No more shots, we need to do the surgery."  I almost had a nervous breakdown right then [I had never had surgery], and told him no, I wouldn't do the surgery; but after going home and thinking about being in pain for the rest of my life, I decided to go ahead with the surgery.

Removing the Morton's Neuroma

After the surgery, I would have to stay completely off of my foot for 3-4 days, so I scheduled my foot surgery for the Friday before Thanksgiving, knowing that I would only have to miss a few days from work with the shortened week.  My surgery was on the morning of November 18, 2011.  The surgery went well, but waking up from the anesthesia was horrible for me......I had a reaction to the anesthesia, so I woke up nauseous, and the anti-nausea medicine the recovery nurse gave me in my IV slowed my heart rate down and decreased the oxygen in my blood to the point that I fell asleep and couldn't be woken up for 2 hours.   

Let me just say that recovering from surgery did not happen as quickly as I was expecting [this was the first major surgery, with anesthesia, that I had had].  My foot was in a surgical shoe for 3 weeks, and one of my co-workers was kind enough to lend me some crutches so that I could get around quicker.  I had to wear a plastic boot over my foot that was vacuum-sealed to my leg whenever I showered, so that my stitches would not get wet.

2012

Even after those 3 weeks were up, and my outer stitches had healed, my foot did not feel 100% back to normal until about 6 months later.  After finally feeling that my foot was back to 100%, I saved the money I received as birthday gifts in May of 2012 so that I could buy a new pair of running shoes and start running.  Life happened instead, and I had to use the $100 I had saved to buy a new wheel rim for my car [a huge pothole that I ran over had bent the rim, and so it needed to be replaced].  I was quite sad and frustrated to not be able to start running.  A kind soul at my church heard about what happened, and so anonymously gave me a $100 Visa gift card to use towards the purchase of new running shoes.  Needless to say, I was shocked and grateful when I saw the gift card and note that accompanied it:

I went to Road Runner Running Store in the Carytown section of Richmond and bought myself a pair of running shoes with that gift card:

First Race Since High School

And so, in mid-June of 2012 I began my running journey.  My mom had starting running back in February of 2012 using the Couch to 5K app, so she recommended that I use that app to get myself started in running.  That summer, I diligently followed the program, working on my running 3 days each week, slowly building up to running 3 miles by alternating running and walking.  What surprised me the most is how much I LOVED those running workouts, and I would look forward to them each time.  Towards the end of the 8 week Couch to 5K program, I was looking for a 5K race that would take place in the area right around the time that I would finish the program.  I had heard about the Sportsbackers organization here in Richmond, which organizes several events in Richmond throughout the year (mostly related to running), so I decided to search on their website for a 5K.  Turns out that I had missed all of the 5Ks, which took place at the beginning of the summer......but they had an 8K race in November, the morning of the Richmond Marathon.  Seeing as there wasn't a 5K, and I had never run an 8K (5.1 miles), I decided to sign up for the 8K training team.

So on November 17, 2012 I ran my first race since high school, almost exactly a year after my foot surgery.  I was so proud of myself when I crossed that finish line in an exactly an hour [the time goal I had set for myself based on my per mile pace during the training runs].  

2013

Bucket List Item

When I began my running journey in June of 2012, I had told my mom that I wanted to run the Monument 10K in 2013.  Since she had also been running, she decided to run the 10K with me.  I again knew that I would do a better job training for the race by following a plan, so I joined the 10K training team through the Sportsbackers.  My mom and I did end up running the Monument 10K together on April 13, 2013; even though I had trained for the race, I stuck with my mom throughout the race [even when she said to go ahead and run at my own pace, she'd see me at the finish].

A week after the Monument 10K, I did the Color Me Rad fun run with a group of my friends.  I had a blast doing this run, though it wasn't much of a run, since most people walked it.

#2013point1

During the summer of 2013, I became lazy and did not run at all.  Towards the end of the summer, I knew that I wanted to get back into running again, but I knew that if I didn't have a goal to work towards I wouldn't stick with running.  I knew that the next race I wanted to do was a half marathon, but I was scared because I had never done a half marathon before.  After looking at training plans, I knew that I would not have enough time to train for the Richmond half marathon in November, so I swallowed my fear and anxiety and signed up for the Virginia Runner Blue & Gray Half Marathon in Fredericksburg, Virginia in December.  This would be my first race that I would train for by myself, without a group......but thanks to my participation in the two Sportsbackers training teams, I had made several friends in the Richmond running community, whose expertise and advice I would ask for several times throughout my half marathon training.

I started my half marathon training on Labor Day, with apprehension and excitement.  Just like I did when I started my running journey, I used an app [the Half Marathon Trainer by Zen Labs] to get myself back into running again; this app alternating walking and running, just like the Couch to 5K app.  At the end of September I developed a really bad sinus infection, which put me out of commission of running for 2.5 weeks.  Because I had missed so much training time, I feared that I wouldn't be ready for the half marathon.  After talking to my running buddies, they all agreed that I should just continue where I left off and that I should be good to go for the race.

The weekend of the half marathon race, the meteorologists were predicting an ice storm for this area of Virginia.  The few days leading up to the race, I kept praying that the race would not be called off; I had worked/trained too hard for this race.  The morning of the race, December 8, 2013, it was freezing cold but no precipitation had fallen, so the race was on.  I had driven up to Fredericksburg the afternoon before with my friend Vanessa in order to be prepared for the race in the morning [Vanessa was there for moral support and to drive my exhausted body back to Richmond after the race].  Since up to now I had only run races in Richmond, and races organized by the Sportsbackers, I was expecting several thousand runners.  To my surprise, there were only about 500 runners waiting at the starting line.  In order to calm my nerves, I struck up conversations with the runners around me, and learned that this is always a small race and that most had run it at least once before.  One of my co-workers was also running the half marathon, but knowing that she's a faster runner, I didn't think I'd see her [except for maybe at the start].  Sure enough, only a few hundred yards passed the starting line, she passed me with a tap on my shoulder and I didn't see her after that [even though the race course was an out and back].  The precipitation held off for a little while after the start of the race, but then the snow started to fall.  I had run in snow before, back at the beginning of the year while training for the Monument 10K, so I wasn't worried.  I stuck with my race plan, which was to alternate running for 4 minutes, then walking for 1 minute.  After awhile, most people had passed me [this seems to be a recurring thing for me], but I kept plugging along.  Then the sleet started.....and then the rain.....then back to snow.....and it continued to alternate.

I was not prepared for the constant hills that were along the course.  Around mile 7 or 8 my hamstrings and quads were starting to cramp, but I pushed through.  Around mile 9, there were only a handful of people running near me, either in front of me or behind me.  At mile 10 I hit a wall, so after completing my 4 minute run, I stopped and walked.  I almost had a meltdown [it was FREEZING, my legs hurt, no one was around me], but I decided to just walk the last 2.5 miles.  The snow turned to freezing rain right around that time, so my mantra became "One foot in front of the other.  Just put one foot in front of the other.  Don't stop."  I knew my friend Andrea was waiting for me back at the finish line, but it seemed so far away, especially since I had to walk back up the hilly street we had run down towards the beginning.  Another thing that had me almost freaking out was that there was a 3.5 hour time limit on the race; since I had never done a half marathon before, I didn't know if I would make this cut off time.  Up until I stopped running around mile 10.5, I was making good time, even with me walking/jogging.  I did finish the race, crossing the finish line in 3 hours 8 minutes.  By this point I was so cold and numb that I was moving on autopilot.  I'm so glad that Andrea was there to capture me finishing my first half marathon!

2014

Monument 10K- Round 2

Because I had run the Monument 10K with my mom last year, at her pace, I wanted to run this year's 10K at my pace.  I again joined the Sportsbackers 10K training team, but this year I joined the Manchester Y group, which is coached by some of my running buddies [Tammy Harrison, Alan Harrison, Dexter Ramey]; this year I wanted to train with friends, instead of with a bunch of strangers.  I knew it would be different to run and train with friends, but I didn't realize how much different it would be.  Each week's group run was like running with family: everyone was so positive and encouraging, and we all had fun.  This winter's extreme cold and dryness took a toll on my lungs and affected my 10K training.  During each training run I would hope and pray that this would be the run that I could run the whole way through, but each time I would have to stop and alternate running and walking.  But through it all, I stuck with the training schedule and kept up, though a bit slower than last year.  

This year, I decided to join The Massey Challenge while I trained for the 10K.  Cancer runs in my family and I am tired of hearing about friends or family friends being diagnosed with some form of cancer, so I decided to help the VCU Massey Cancer Center reach their goal of raising more than $500,000 to fuel Massey's life-saving research.  My goal was to raise $600; by race day, I had raised $620!

My parents came down to cheer me on during the 10K; my boyfriend Jason was also there.  Even though I had been dealing with congestion the week before the race, I still finished 6 minutes faster than my mom's and my time last year.

Biting the Bullet: Next Goal

Back during last fall, several of my running friends ran in the Richmond Marathon, which got me thinking.  Could I run a full marathon??  Who was I?  What happened to Miss Scaredy Cat who is afraid to do anything??  I met with Tammy and Alan for lunch one weekend during 10K training to get their advice on whether or not I could train for the Richmond Marathon with the training team, considering I'd be out of town for about 6 weeks this summer.  They reassured me that I would still be able to do it, especially since I had trained for a half marathon by myself and that the tougher/longer runs would be in the fall which I would be back in town for.  The day after the Monument 10K, I decided to just bite the bullet and sign up for the Marathon Training Team.  

This blog came to fruition at Tammy's suggestion, to help keep me accountable about my training this summer while I'm away at Hungarian Scout camp and home in Cleveland visiting family and friends.   Check back frequently to see how I'm doing!