Why I Run

This is my lovely edited blog post that I wrote for the News & Record. I had asked one of my friends to do her editing magic and this version is much cleaner so I thought it should at least be printed somewhere. Unfortunately, I had to turn in my first edition to the paper in order to stay on deadline. I'm still excited to see the other version show up in print, or at least virtual print. My friend, Elizabeth who edited told me I should expand this and call it Why I Run. So here goes. And a link to the one on the News & Record here.

I've been running off and on since college, but my first running memory is going to watch my mother win her age group at a 10K in Nashville, Tn. I got back into running five years ago, taking a year off during my pregnancy with twin daughters. Now I run to keep up with two 14-month-olds, to set a good example for them, and to help me stay sane on those days when Mommy doesn't get a "time out." The Virginia Beach Rock n' Roll Half Marathon is my fourth half marathon.

After having twin daughters, I wasn't sure if I could run once around the track, let alone run a 5K. That's how I felt when I originally signed up for the Janes on the Run Women's Running Network in January. It was the perfect way to get back into running with a step-by-step plan, along with the support of a running coach and other "Janes." Fast forward to September, and I've now completed one 5K, one 10K, and two half marathons since then. Oh, and let's not forget more than 400 training miles along the way.

Before Janes, I wasa solo runner. Occasionally, I might have gone out with my husband, but we didn't run at the same pace, so I would set out alone, pull down my running cap, listen to favorite songs on my iPod, and just go. I can remember seeing groups of runners talking, laughing, and having a good time. I would roll my eyes — who talks and runs?

Now I am one of those runners, and I can't imagine running without the camaraderie of my friends. My running partners are also working Moms with supportive husbands and busy schedules. Emily is a former cheerleader, and Maria is the best sourdough bread maker I know. I couldn't have chosen the more perfect two if I had tried. I'm still not sure what I bring to the mix — maybe it was my Garmin so I could keep up with our pace. We established a routine early on, meeting twice a week at 5:45 a.m., along with other Janes so we could beat the heat and run before our crazy schedules got in the way. Husbands handled breakfast for the kids, and we ran our weekly training runs, talking about whatever would come to mind. We would meet again on Saturdays with all the Janes for our long runs, enjoying each others’ company, cheering each other on when we needed motivation, laughing over stories of our children, grumbling under our breath up hills, and then collectively breathing a sigh of relief when we were on the downside.

At first, 16 weeks of training seemed a lifetime, but as the big day approached, the time seemed to have flown. I had never felt this prepared for a race before, and I owe it to maintaining a consistent training schedule thanks to my running buddies and the Janes. Short runs, long runs, hill workouts, a little trail running, a week of tapering, and I was finally ready for the big day. The day of the half marathon was nice with a bit of a breeze and what a great feeling to start the race with my friends. We posed for a few photos, adjusted our gear, and we were off. While we didn't cross the finish line together, we had come together as mothers, as friends, and as runners.

Tues. Sept 1 and Thurs. Sept 3

Now I can finally say, VA Beach is almost here! 3 days to go!

The past 16 weeks have been full of memorable runs, some not so memorable runs, great conversation, a couple of blisters, lots of stretching, a few aches and pains, lots of Gu chomps, dirty running hats, squishy shoes, Target $9.99 tanks, my new love of Nike tempo track shorts and so much more!

Our last two runs were 4 miles (Tues) and 2 miles (Thurs.). The 2 miles today didn't even feel like a run - I was just starting to wake up and we were done.

It's exciting and kind of sad that it is all coming to a close this weekend. I'm excited to run (and actually run the whole way) a half marathon this Sunday and do it with all of the Janes. I'm sad because it's going to be over. I think we are all pretty determined to keep running - maybe not quite as organized, but still a couple of times a week. I have loved the camaraderie that I've gained, plus I feel like I'm a better runner from all of this training.

I was thinking today ... how many times have I run up and down the Grease Alley Hill? 16 weeks x 2 times per run x 2 times per week (minimum) = 64. That's it? We were laughing today, because that hill never really gets much easier!

Off for now ... the next post will be from VA Beach!

Saturday, August 29

It has been 3 runs since my last confession, oh I mean post.

Let's see ....

I ran 4 miles on Tuesday and Thursday morning. We actually met at 6:15 on Thursday so we didn't have to run in pitch blackness and that extra sleeping time was bliss.

4 miles now seems easy ... well, at least Tuesday did. Thursday, E and M were way ahead of me and I just couldn't catch back up with them. They promised me that they weren't flying either, but they just. seemed. so. far. ahead.

Today we ran almost 7 at Salem Lake. Plan called for 8, but Liz suggested 7 and no one was opposed. Great run with the exception of dashing through the flooded out dam so our last 1/2 mile was in squishy wet socks and shoes. Gross.

Next week is going to seem like a cake walk. (hopefully - don't want to jinx myself) 4 on Tuesday, 4 on Thursday, 1 on Friday and then .... race day!

Saturday, August 22

So today was "the" day. Not "the the" day, but that one on the training calendar that has brought some dread and "ugggghhhhs" since I received the training guide over some three months ago.

13 miles.

Really? I have to run the half before I run the half? I have always done training programs that ended at 10 miles, so these last few weeks have all been new to me.

As Saturday drew closer, I was actually kind of excited about it and not as nervous as I almost felt like I should be.

I packed up my supplies the night before - tons of Gu chomps in my SPI belt, water bottle, hat, moleskin for my blisters, etc.

We met that morning, chatted, stretched, and were off. Basically our plan was to run to Summerfield and back. (!) We lucked out with overcast skies and shade on this course.

We had a pretty big group that was all sticking together and it started breaking up when we got further into Bur Mil. All of a sudden, M. and I noticed that E. was a little further back then she had been. We knew she wasn't a fan of big packs like we were in, so we didn't think much about it. We looked again and she wasn't there. Liz caught up to us and told us that she wasn't feeling well and they had stopped and called her husband to come and pick her up. This was awful news ... we knew how devastated she would be, but she's also one of our group of three! We've all become so used to running together that it's hard when one of us isn't around. Her son had been sick, so we thought she must have caught this bug. Yuck. We had to keep going, but we both just felt so bad for E.

We made it to our turnaround point and then had to run about a mile or so back to get to the cooler with Gu, bananas, Gatorade, etc. We hit the restroom, fueled up and were back on the Greenway.

It took me a while to get my legs going again ... they felt like they just weren't moving. I ate a couple of Gu's and felt better. It was still hard to believe that we were going to do this!

On the way back, we had some welcome rain. It was really beautiful - not a downpour, but just a nice heavy sprinkle. I was worried that it would get steamy after it finished, but it didn't.

We hit the stoplights and I stopped Garmin for one of them. Bad mistake - I looked down and realized that I never restarted it. Luckily, we figured out that it had been 1/2 mile since we run this course all the time. After some mad math skills, we figured out where we were and what we needed to finish up. We headed to do the "little loop" and then onto Grease Alley.

I think by this point, I just wanted it to be through. We caught up with some of the girls going 12 and made it back to the cars. It was hard not to want to really push it on GA, but we had a little further to go than usual. When we made it back, we asked others what their distance had been and we realized we should do a little parking lot loop. M. and I looked at each other and we were off. Crazy, but I didn't want to have run that far to end up at 12.5. So, we did a little loop and were back to enjoy some much needed Gatorade.

M. had also brought along some ice cold water that was wonderful. E. had left me her bottle of Gatorade that had been chilling in her car. So, so nice.

While the run wasn't easy, it definitely gave me the motivation to know that I can do this in a couple of weeks. I am still worried about heat, humidity, and lack of shade in VB, but what can I do? I do hope I can quicken my time by a little, but if I can finish and feel good, I'll be happy with that as well.

DISTANCE / TIME: 13.09 Miles 2:28:36
FUEL: Pre: Nutrigrain waffle with peanut butter and banana, 1/2 cup of coffee, During: Gu chomps, 1/2 banana at turnaround

Wed. August 19 & Thurs. August 20

I didn't run on Tuesday morning (Maddy up all night long = Mommy with no sleep = Mommy too tired to drag her ass out of bed at 5:00AM to run).

So, I decided I would go on Wed. night with the scheduled pace run / show & go.

Wednesday -

First, it was hot.
Second, I hadn't eaten a lot that day.
Third, I kept up with Liz, Susan L., and Abbie for the first mile.

Needless to say, this wasn't one of my better runs and I couldn't really run a faster pace, because I had already been running a faster pace. I ended up doing 4.25 which was still respectable I guess, but I just didn't feel good doing it.

I just hate having bad runs this late in the game and it makes me worry about the heat & humidity for Va Beach. Oh well ... I will happily stay in denial that at 7AM on race day we're somehow going to have cool temps and overcast skies. A girl can dream, right?

DISTANCE / TIME: 4.29 miles / 45:31


Thursday -

So I met our small group of ladies on Thursday and this time, it went better. It was still humid, hot, and muggy. I don't think I had a dry spot of clothing when we were done. We were a much smaller group than normal. I think everyone is over training at this point and just trying to get through it. This was our last "long" run for the weekdays, so it's nice to look forward to an easy 4 miles next week.

We ended up going 5.5 of our scheduled 6. We made it back to the parking lot and we could have run circles in the parking lot or gone to GA. Neither sounded good and no one was dying to do another half mile, so it all worked out well.

I received my confirmation for the race last night, so that is always exciting to see it in print. I put my finishing time at 2:20. Not so sure about that anymore, but I don't think it's too far off to switch it either. I'm still debating about signing up for one of the pacing groups ... need to ask the other girls.

Now, to stay positive for the big 13 on Saturday! It is crazy to think that I'm running a half marathon (give or take a tenth of mile) in 2 days! And then another one in two weeks!

DISTANCE / TIME: 5.51 miles/ 1:00:53
FUEL: Pre-run: waffle with peanut butter and 1/2 banana, water. During: 1/2 pack of GU chomps.

Saturday, August 15

Our plan on Saturday was 12 miles. It just doesn't seem possible that we are already there.

It was a little overwhelming to think about the number, but also kind of exciting. I knew if we could do this distance on Saturday, then there was no doubt that we could do the half. Not that there really has been any doubt, but I really just want to be able to feel good during the race, have fun, and hopefully finish strong.

We were doing a 7 mile and then a 5 mile loop. I wasn't too thrilled about the course at first, but it ended up being great because after the 7 miles, we took a short break, ran to the bathroom, ate 1/2 banana, and kept on going.

This was honestly one of those runs that I really don't remember. There were some hard parts, some easier parts, some parts that I thought felt looooong, but honestly I remember looking down to see our distance and we were already at 10 miles. That felt wonderful and I knew we could get through the rest fairly easy. Maybe it was my caffeine in my Gu Chomps, but I felt pretty good as we were coming into Country Park and that is normally the part that I hate.

I tried to push it at the end, but didn't feel like I had that much left. My right hip was hurting and my feet were a little sore, but all in all, I felt pretty good. Surprisingly, I wasn't as exhausted as I expected to be when it was all over.

I really stretched out when I got home, rolled on the foam roller, and even used some of my topical ibuprofen on my hip. It all seemed to help, because I really wasn't that sore today (Sunday).

I hope I'm not being "that girl" and blabbing the entire time. Some days I feel like I am, so I hope my fellow running buddies will speak up and tell me to shut my pie hole if needed! : ) We did see "that guy" i.e., biker who basically buzzed Liz and also "that guy" who was flopping his feet so hard that it made us all hurt for him. We also saw barefoot guy again and he just really amazes me. It *almost* makes me want to try it once just to see what it feels like, but I think I'll just imagine that one instead.

Oh, and a little coffee with breakfast may = breakfast of champions for me and no tummy issues.

DISTANCE / TIME: 12 miles / 2:14:12
FUEL: Pre-run: Whole Grain waffle with peanut butter and 1/2 banana, water, some coffee, during: Gu Chomps and 1/2 banana.

Thursday, August 13

How is it that our training almost over!?!

We set out this morning fully expecting rain. Lucky (if you ask me), we had a cooler morning, but no rain. It was probably the coolest morning since our training started. We set off for 6 miles and there ended up being 5 of us that stayed together.

Luckily, we all remembered Gu and we decided to do a few hills, but take the more scenic route.

We were all pretty quiet the entire run, but it was nice to be out there and feel good.

Garmin must have been a little bit off, because we ended up going 6.55 instead of 6. Whooops. I hadn't checked our time, but everyone else was freaking out that they were going at a snail's pace based on their time. Luckily, it all worked out.

Nice run today ... still a bit nervous for Saturday's 12 miler. And I have to go out and celebrate a friend's birthday that evening. Not that it won't be fun, but I'll probably need to dress up, wear cute shoes, and try not to hobble around like an old lady!

DISTANCE / TIME: 6.55 miles / 1:12:19
FUEL: Whole wheat bread with peanut butter & banana, water. 1/2 pack of Gu Chomps during run.
ACHES & PAINS: Right hip. Did some stretching this morning and also this evening, but it feels like I have a big knot in my hip. Blisters are OK. They flare up a little in the mornings, but are generally under control.