There is Always a Way

Marathon photos are in!

I know, you all are just as excited as I am;)

This is probably my favorite photo:  (about mile 20 or 21?)

Gravity up:

Gravity down, lol:

And this is me concentrating, about to turn right, and hoping my right knee did not give out on me on the turn:

I was so darn happy to cross that finish line:

4:34:35
Recap and pics later. Can I die now? When does this feeling pass? Lol.

Working with the lights off today. (although it is hard to tell in the picture since my laptop screen is so bright!)  Migraine is the theme today for some reason.  I took an excedrin a bit ago, hopefully it kicks in soon.   

I haven’t felt the best the last couple of days.  I am definitely over my illness I had last week and now I am sure it is just mainly due to bad diet.  My body does not do well when I don’t give it what it wants.  Right now, it wants vegetables….green vegetables to be exact.  Vegetables have been seriously lacking in my diet lately and I have been craving them so much.  But, have been too lazy/busy to just buy them, cook them, and eat them.  Yeah…sad. 

I was going to cook dinner last night, but it was Cheer night and we ended up having leftovers for dinner since Charly and I had to be out of the house so quickly. (I get off of work at 5, practice is at 5:30) I had some pasta, marinara, and grilled chicken.  No veggies… 

Tonight I plan on cooking up some pork chops and probably mashed potatoes.  And since I went to the store the other day (finally), I do have collard greens, broccoli, or asparagus to choose from as the side.  I may just cook up a couple of them.  I really could ditch the pork and potatoes and just eat an entire bowl of collard greens with sriracha.  That sounds so good right now!  (my mouth literally started watering.  amazing what your body tells you it needs!)

So, with my tiredness, and over all feeling ill.  And last night I was really dizzy (from standing or sudden movements).  I thought it was because I was overly tired, but I was the same way this morning.  I am pretty sure that it is due to bad diet as well.

I got home from cleaning the church from 9-11pm and laid on the couch.  I couldn’t move after that.  I ended up sleeping all night right there in my clothes.  I haven’t been that tired in a while.  (over)tiredness is probably from bad diet as well!  (I sense a theme)

So, today I ate my shredded mini wheats (iron!), I am pounding the water (cuz I have been bad about that as well), and for lunch I had at least some corn with my food…but later will have all the green veggies that I can handle.  I am sure my digestive system will thank me for the greens.

I only have 4 days to get myself back on track for the marathon.  I don’t want to go in to Sunday feeling anemic and all that.  I can do this…focus Kari, focus.

What I learned from the Chicago Marathon

Spectating the marathon was a lot of fun and it was great to meet so many people.  I wish I could have met more, but Chicago is big and crazy and well I am just thankful for the people that I could run in to!

But, I also learned a few things while I was there.  I am running my own marathon in less than two weeks.  It will be my first, so any pointers that I can take with me, helps be that much more prepared and will hopefully have a “good” race.

1.  Don’t beat myself up over my training.  I have got in miles, maybe not enough, but a lot.  And every bit helps.
2.  Goal time?  Irrelevant.  To have or not to have, it does not matter.
3.  Eat well the day before and the morning before. 
4.  Plan a potty break during the course…or expect one at least.
5.  At mile 23 nearly EVERYone walks.  Its ok.
6.  Bring comfy pants for after the race.  The warmth will be welcoming and looking like a hobo is just a bonus.
7.  Post race food.  Bring some and plan more for later.
8.  ANYthing can happen on the course.  Just run with it. (pun maybe intended)
9.  And of course, hydrate.  But, that was already a given.

I am sure there should be more here, but that is all I can think of right now.  I am excited and nervous about the race.  And I am sure those feelings will just build as it gets closer to the date. 
As the Chicago race started, I began to cry.  I am not sure why.  I think there was just so many emotions involved in the day and then with me reflecting on my own training and journey. 
I don’t doubt that I will cry at the end of my marathon.  If I don’t cry, I will be really surprised. 

This has been a hard road.  I won’t even try and make it sound easy.  I may have an easier time pushing myself than other people.  But, there are definite days where I just want to throw in the towel. 
Between 3 jobs, 4 kids, and a husband, it is very difficult to put in the miles.  Finding time is hard, but what I find even more difficult is the mental aspect.  Getting my mind wrapped around the miles…and finding the balance between being a mom, a wife, and a runner. 
I am sure I will be taking a break after the marathon.  I would absolutely love to run every day.  I would love to continue to pound the pavement as much as I possibly can.  But, in my life right now…doing that requires a lot of sacrifice at my family’s expense.  That isn’t something that I am willing to continuely do. 
So, I will continue to run.  It will definitely always be my hobby.  It will just take more of a backseat to my family after the marathon. 

There is a run in November that I plan on doing.  It is at an airforce base.  It is a 5k.  I have ran it the last two years.  And I really enjoy it.  I think I can swing this race and make it something fun to do and not too taxing on me.  A great wind down to the running “season”. 

If you have any marathon pointers that you want to share, throw them at me :)

Grand Rapids Marathon

Ok, it is officially official!  I am running a marathon on October 21st.  I have been planning this, of course, but I didn’t budget well and I am just now actually registered for it. 

I will be running this with my brother and cousin.  This marathon will be a first for all three of us and I am so excited!!!!  Scared, yes.  But, excited too!  It will be amazing to share such an accomplishment with family.  Brett and Zack will both be running much faster than me, but they will be there to cheer me on at the end…and maybe bring me water and not let me fall over. :) 

Oh, and I love that whoever put up the info for the race has a bit of a sense of humor:) :

Although, I am sure he isn’t “really” kidding and would love it if people brought him beer:)

Oh, and this is the advice the race director put in one of the emails:

Some are getting nervous.  Some are doubting themselves.  Don’t! You’re trained for this.  Just go up to the closest mirror, look yourself directly in the eye and tell yourself in no uncertain terms that your are amazing!

And if that doesn’t work, try saying, “Hello.  My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father.  Prepare to die.”

I don’t know.  It works for me.  Try it near the end of a long run too.  Remember how he said it over and over, and continually got stronger each time.  It’s part of the magic of nonsense.  Use it!

Marathon Training….getting closer :)

9.95 miles (can we just round to 10?)
1:36:27
9:42 pace

The weather was perfect.  I think it was about 70 degrees and the sun was out and about.
Here is some of my gorgeous view on the run:

The last time I ran this route, I broke down crying. This time, I took the route backwards hoping to not hit such hideous hills. It didn’t work.  But, I did just fine anyway. 

I kept a pretty steady pace and I am proud of that.  I don’t have the splits to prove it because my GPS hiccuped, but my overall pace matched what I started out with…or wasn’t too much more.  My first mile or two were about 9:25 and my overall was 9:42.  Not too bad considering the hills. 

And let me talk about the hill around mile 5.  I don’t have the best graph due to the GPS issue, but you can get a good idea below:

It was long and just steep enough.  But, I just kept my arms down, found a nice rhythm with my legs and tried to start up the beast mode.  That hill felt like FOREVER.  Of course it wasn’t, but the mile AFTER the hill seemed like a breeze!  I love how that works out. 

After I got home and got a shower, I took Peyten out for some special time.  She has been missing her mom lately since I have been gone so much, so we got a little one on one time at McD’s.  Peyten had a chocolate sundae.  She shared a little with me.

After we got home, I was able to sneak in some dinner since I ran when I usually eat dinner.  So, post 10 mile run fueling = Dirty Bastard beer, leftovers, and Charly photo bombing.  :) 

Now, we just need to get the kids in bed and then I probably should head to the grocery store…unless I want to procrastinate that one more day.  We do have 2 gallons of milk in the fridge…so the whole world won’t collapse for at least two days :)

Run Tumblr Run

I gotta say, all this tumblr chatter about the Chicago Marathon has me a bit jealous! 

That is ok though, I will be running the Grand Rapids, MI Marathon a couple weeks later.  I am sure it will be fun reading everyone’s updates!

Running ramblings

It is late, but I want to write up a run recap real quick. 

I will start out by saying, it took A LOT of gumption to get my rear out there tonight.  I didn’t have to work today, but we did some running around and by the time we put the kids in bed, I was ready to fall over.  I even laid my head down and passed out for ten minutes or so.

My “training” has been pretty sad lately, almost nil, and I knew that I needed to get a couple miles in today, at the least.  I had hoped for a long run, but the way the day went, it just didn’t happen.  I had the kids with me most of the day and Mark and I were two ships passing in the …day.  Bad planning on my part. 

Anyway, I needed to clean up at the church, so I knew I could squeeze some running in beforehand.  Of course, as I was heading out the door, I couldn’t find my arm band.  I have no idea where it went.  I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the kids took off with it.  I almost threw in the towel right there.  I thought it was a sign that I wasn’t supposed to run.  Of course, I know that is hog wash.  So, I grabbed my Nathan belt and that works pretty good, just not as convenient. 

So, I was tired and I wasn’t excited about the run, as you can see from my face. 

But, I put Girl Talk in my ears and started my Runkeeper and I was off.

And then an amazing thing happened.  Almost immediately I felt GOOD.  Great, even.  I felt like my body was in perfect form and a form that it was just happy being in.  And then I realized that I was actually moving at a pretty good speed.  And my body didn’t really “want” to slow down. 

Here I am coming up on mile 1.  You can’t tell in the picture, but the sky was absolutely gorgeous.

I was surprised that my splits were sub 9 minutes even with stopping and fumbling around with my Nathan belt and putting my phone back in a couple times. 

As I ran, I started to think about everything that led up to this run.  Of course, there have been many many runs, but this one…well, it was like my jump start back in to marathon training (or I hope). 

I had Charly take some video of me the other day and I got to check out my form in slow motion. 
One thing that I noticed is that I go a bit too vertical too often.  Definitely a wasted motion.  It was like I was jumping straight up in the air, lol.  And then I saw a video featuring Michelle Jenneke hurdling.  I used to run hurdles in high school and the video made me miss it.  But, it all helped me remind myself to keep my center of gravity low while running.  Even if I am not running over hurdles….
And then I saw a video about running form a while back and I remembered one thing that was mentioned was arms and keeping them at 90 degrees and pumping them to actually help you along (in a way).  I have pretty good form when it comes to my arms, but I don’t use them too much while running.  So, I tried that out as well. 

Here is mile 2-1/2 or so.  Sometimes I love living in a place that doesn’t have big lights and sky scrapers.  The sky seems so much more vast and amazing.  And of course, you can see so many more stars at night. 

Ever since mile 1 or 1-1/2 I did some walking.  I was running at a faster pace and a pace that I wasn’t really used to.  I decided to keep the pace but take turns walking as well.  It worked well for me, I think.  I actually think I will stick with this and see how long before my body gets used to the faster pace.  I was clocking sub 9 minute miles even with walking involved.  So, while running, I am not sure what my pace was. 

And then at mile 3 or so, I came up to the school and they had their sprinklers on!!! yeah :)

You better believe I ran through the grass and hit every sprinkler :)  It was refreshing. 

I managed to get home before it got dark and I was feeling good about the run. 

It was one of those runs where I wanted to remember “the best feeling in the world”. Sometimes runs suck. This was the exact opposite of that. I was happy with how my legs worked, how they felt, and my lungs could feel the strain, but it was a welcome strain. 

Oh, and let me add that before this run, I was feeling rather defeated.  I was starting to question if I should even shoot for a marathon.  Should I just stick to 5 and 10k’s?  And maybe a half now and again.  I mean, my life is not really ideal to fit in long runs.  It takes a lot of effort.  I was starting to wonder if it is worth it or not.

Well, I am not sure how I will feel tomorrow, but tonight I am sticking with it.  I am shooting for that marathon and after that…we will just see what comes. 

3.77 miles
8:52 pace
33:22

Marathon Training Day 22

3 mile run
9 minute pace

I ran from the church to the school track.  Did some “gentle pickups” for 2 miles.  And ran back to the church. 
Then I did my cleaning.  It worked out well.

I was pretty darn tired today, but I pushed through. 
Sunday, I blogged about.  It was a long day and I didn’t get my exercise in. 

I had high hopes for Monday, but that didn’t work out either.  Mark ended up needing to be gone all day, so I had work and the kids all day.  Let me tell you, that makes for a long day.  Stay at home and work at home…well, it is quite the balancing act.  By the time 5 o’clock rolled around, I was getting dinner ready.  We ate.  And then of course, more dishes and cleaning up. 

Bed time came quick for the kids.  But, shortly after, there was an incident with a mouse in the house.  Yeah.  I have seen a couple mice in the basement over time, but never one upstairs.  He was a little guy.  He didn’t “show up” until after I had put Peyten and Aydan to bed.  But, the mouse ran through Aydan’s room and freaked him out.  And Peyten was up still, so I just brought both of them out to the living room.  I put in The Tale of Despereaux.  Because, when there is a mouse loose in the house, you should watch a movie about a mouse, right?  As we were watching the movie, the mouse ran across the floor.  He seemed to be trapped in the living room because it is a “sunken” room and I think he couldn’t figure out how to get over the step.  He just kept running between couch, tv, etc.  Finally, with the help of Charly, I got him trapped.  Garry and Cindy helped scoop him up and took him outside.  The animals out there can have their way with him.  Charly was funny, she was so hyped up about it.  I think she wanted to catch more mice, lol. 

So, after all that, none of the kids wanted to sleep in their beds….of course.  I let them sleep on the couches in the living room.  It was almost 11 o’clock at night by the time they settled down and went to sleep.  I was tired and in dire need of a shower.  Being the only one home with the kids all day makes it difficult to do things like, shower…go to the bathroom…ya know, the necessities. 

So, today Mark was home with the kids and I was grateful for that, after yesterday.  Plus, work was even busier today than it was yesterday.  I had training to do, so I was on the phone with a client for about 4 hours (2 different session).  I find that exhausting.  I am not really a people person and don’t really enjoy talking on the phone for that length of time and training someone.  I get antsy and irritated pretty easily.  But, it is part of the job.  And between the training sessions, I had quite a bit to keep up and catch up with.  It was just non stop and by the time the day was done, my eyes and head were killing me.  I warmed up some leftovers for dinner.  Mark had already taken care of the kids for dinner.  And then I laid on the couch and passed out.  It was probably only ten minutes.  But, it was just what my body needed. 

We watched the movie, Soul Surfer.  Me missed the beginning, but caught most of the movie.  Wow, what a good movie.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out.  I cried multiple times….

We put the kiddos to bed at the usual time and I laced up my shoes and headed out the door.  3 miles and then and hour and a half of cleaning at the church.  Came home, took a shower, and now I am typing away and sipping on a glass of wine.  I can not believe it is already after midnight.  I am still winding down.  Tomorrow is going to come fast. 

Marathon Training Day 19

6.34 miles
a little over an hour
slow and easy pace

Mile 6 included some walking due to some digestion issues.  Frustrating.  Other than that, the run was uneventful.  The temperature had dropped some.  When I was finishing the run, the fire station said it was 77 degrees.  I could definitely feel the “coolness” in the air. 

I did have some tightness/pain in my left calf and left shin.  But, nothing too major.  I will just have to ice, roll, stretch, watch my form…ya know, the usual. 

I am still a bit baffled how I think I am going to run a marathon.  After my half, I was beat and I had blisters all over my toes.  I definitely could not have ran more than 13.2 that day.  Of course, for the marathon, I will be running at a much slower pace.  But still…so many miles.  I am more than curious to see how I do.  October is a long way away though.  I have lots of training to do. 

Tomorrow, the schedule calls for “cross training”.  I  haven’t scheduled anything, so we will see what I can fit in.  We have church in the morning and Youth Group in the evening.  Maybe I can get a bike ride in after the kids go to bed. 

Marathon Training Day 17

4 miles
91 degrees
36:53
9:13 pace

Tonight’s run went much better than Tuesday’s run.  I didn’t even attempt a run yesterday.  It just didn’t fit in to the plans easily, and I didn’t try very hard to make it.  But tonight, I made an effort to get out there.  The schedule called for 3 miles.  I did 4.  But, that doesn’t really make up for the 4 miles I missed yesterday.  Ah well. 

Tomorrow is a rest day.  I could try and make up the miles tomorrow, but we have small group and I doubt I will be able to sneak one in. 

Now, I try and finish watching Avengers.  We started it last night and I fell asleep.  I remember a time long ago when I could actually watch a movie in its entirety in one night.  We will see if I can finish it tonight, or if it will end up being a 3 parter.