Time? What Time?

The hardest thing about training for a marathon is finding time for it. Ever since I have gotten home I haven't seemed to find enough of it. I work two jobs, five days a week. I hardly have time to sleep anymore, let alone run. I've already missed a few workouts, because I overslept in the morning and was late to work. It's the worst feeling to feel like you are failing at meeting your goals when it isn't even to the hard part of training yet. I find myself feeling frustrated at myself a lot lately. It makes matters worse when I finally do go out to run and can't finish the workout, because I am not as strong anymore from missing workouts. Part of me knows I can do it. Somehow that part of me needs to find a way to overpower the other part of me that is exhausted. I asked my bosses to drop my hours just a little, and hopefully that will help. I can't ask for any less or school will be impossible to afford.

On a happier note (I think), the weather here in the Seattle area has been a little crazy lately! The best feeling in the world is pounding through mud and pouring rain on your run. I love when it is raining so hard that my clothes stick to my skin and water drips down my face like waterfalls. It's almost like heaven-- call me crazy.

Last week I was about to go on my long run and saw something similar to what I've seen the past week or two. It looked something like this:

I thought to myself, "Oh, this is Seattle. It'll probably fizzle out after the first couple miles." After all, the weather here can change from raining hard to being sunny within a half hour. Boy, was I wrong. Two miles into my 14-mile run it started hailing outside and showed the beginnings of what soon turned into this:

I had to come home early, because I was not properly dressed for the weather. I had hives on my stomach and ankles from the cold and wet. The weather has been like this long enough that, once again, I am missing workouts. Hopefully it melts away before the long run on Friday!

Backing Off

The best thing about training for a marathon is seeing yourself improve as you climb towards your goal. Ever since I joined cross country in high school I had people giving me weird looks whenever I talked about running in a positive light. Who in their right mind would want to run by choice? In my sophomore year, my favorite cross country workout was interval miles. You had ten minutes to run a mile. The amount of time you had left out of the ten minutes when you are done running the mile is the amount of time you have to rest. As soon as the ten minutes is up, you start the next mile. We did three to five of these at a time. Every week I had a goal to beat my own mile time on at least one of the miles. I got my time down to 6:20 once and have never beat it since, but I will never forget how I felt after that mile. It was better than a runner's high. I felt like I could do anything after that.

Now the next goal is to continually beat my distance. Last week we ran ten miles. This week it was back down to eight. This coming week we are supposed to run twelve. That will be the longest run I have ever gone in my life. It will almost be a half marathon. There is just one problem.

While running the eight miles yesterday I did something bad to my foot. I'm not exactly sure what is wrong with it, just that it hurts. The beginning of my run was painful already, because my shins still felt tight and achy. I tried convincing myself that I just had to stretch them, it wasn't shin splints. That self talk didn't work out so well, especially when I stopped to stretch them and they felt worse than before. Finally I stopped and tied my shoes tighter. They felt loose around the arch of my foot. Surprisingly, it helped a lot. Within a quarter mile after tightening my shoes, my shins felt better.

However, the closer I got to the end of my run the more my feet started to bother me, especially my right foot. My toes started to go a little numb. I was tired of stopping to fix my shoes so I kept pressing on. By the last two miles I was picking up speed a lot. Kal had told me earlier that his time was 64 minutes for eight miles. I wanted to run at the same pace as him and I was determined to do it. I felt like I was flying until the very final stretch, because the course ended on an unhill. My foot was hurt a lot and I couldn't feel my toes. I finished at 65 minutes.

When I hit the eight mile mark I removed my shoes. I'll admit, I was a little worried that my toes had turned purple from cutting off the circulation, but they were still a rosy red when I took them out of the shoes. I walked a little under a quarter mile back home with bare feet to let them stretch out a bit. This probably was a bad idea, because the second I started walking without the shoes the inner arch of my right foot felt like it was cramping, only without a knot in it. I walked slower, but didn't put the shoes back on. I am a firm believer in walking off the pain. Again, dumb idea.

It has been a day and a half since I ran, and my foot still hurts. I let my mom see my foot today and she said, "Your foot is swollen! Put some ice on that!" I had already iced it three times that day. I may be walking my "run" on Monday. I'm stobborn when it comes to pressing through pain, but I don't want to ruin all chances of running the whole marathon by being an idiot right now. I am starting to feel stressed just writing about backing off, so I will end here. I hope this is just a small injury and that it will heal quickly.

Stress Fractures and Other Nightmares

On Friday Kal, Meesh, and I ran our last run together before we leave Rexburg for home. We left just when the sun was rising for a ten-mile run. I decided it would be nice to end on a downhill, so we were going to run the course backwards from the way I had mapped it out. I found out later that running it that direction actually had a whole lot more uphill than it would have had otherwise. Meesh was not happy with me. It started with one huge hill. We reached the top of it to see a small downhill before we would have to run another hill. This pattern repeated a few times and I kept assuring her that the last three miles were nearly all downhill. After the third or fourth hill we went over, Meesh yelled in anger. I asked her what the problem was and she told me she was angry at the hills. "I hate hills!" She exclaimed. I told her to try to stay positive. Negativity never helps anything. In high school my cross country coach used to say that running was 80% mental and only 20% physical. I am a huge believer in that statement.

The last three miles were more flat than downhill. At one point I turned around to check on Meesh, because her breathing changed. She was gasping for air and a tear slid down her cheek. She gasped, "hill..." in reference to the small incline ahead. She was working herself up way too much, and I was afraid she would stop breathing altogether, so I yelled out to Kal and told Meesh to stop and walk with her hands on her head. This position opens up your lungs wider, making it easier to breathe. Hunching over with your hands on your knees when you are struggling with breathing is never a good idea.

Kal had been a ways ahead of us for most of the run that day, because Meesh and I were both struggling a bit. He came back to us when I called his name, though. I always feel safe running with him, because he would never leave us behind. Having Meesh as a running partner is really useful too. I doubt she knows how much it helps me to have her run with us. Urging her on during our ten mile run was just as much for me as it was for her.

I've discovered this especially in the last week of being home. Two of my best friends, my running partners, are gone now. It is a whole lot harder to give yourself encouragement when you are running alone. Today when I was running, I imagined that Kal was running just ahead of me and Meesh right beside me. It helped me finish the run. My shins have been feeling tight and sore all week. I am trying not to worry too much about it, but I can't help but remember the shin splints I had during my junior year of track. They got so bad that I walked with a limp all day, and running was agony. My mom took me to a physical therapist to look at them to make sure it was a muscular problem and not stress fractures.

A stress fracture is one of the biggest nightmares of a runner. It's caused by thousands of steps and weak bones, or a weak spot in the bone, or a part of the body that takes more pressure than the rest. The more pressure put onto the soft spot, the weaker it gets. Finally, it reaches a breaking point and it cracks or breaks. It has to be extremely painful, but I am blessed enough so far to have never experienced it.

Kal and Meesh have both been diligent in running. Meesh told me this morning that she thinks she may have hurt her thigh, but she isn't slacking off. She ran an extra mile today. Kal said his run had some good hills in it. I hit some pretty big hills myself today. The long run this week is back down to eight miles. Hopefully my shins and Meesh's leg hold up.

Running During Finals Week

This week was the most hated week of the semester by students: finals week. I remember when my family used to watch "The Biggest Loser" on TV together, and the contestants always had the hardest time keeping weight off when they went home and had to return to their regular lives again. It's hard to balance all your everyday tasks and still make time to exercise. I haven't had too much of a problem finding time to exercise until this week. It was finals week. All my finals were due on Monday and Tuesday. The good news about this is that I get done with my finals by Tuesday. The bad news is that I only have until Tuesday to get ALL of my finals done. I did what any student would do if they wanted to get decent grades on their projects and tests. I didn't go to sleep Monday night. I stayed awake nearly 40 hours straight aside from twice when I fell asleep for ten to twenty minutes.

I still ran on Monday, though. We ran four miles. I could feel food in my stomach as I ran and I was already pretty tired from the day, but we did it, and that's what counts. It is more of an accomplishment to go out an run when you don't feel like it. On our run last Friday we went eight miles. I was pretty tired the first few miles of that run too, but picked up some speed by the end. Meesh was hurting towards the end of the run, and with about a mile and a half left we had to make a stop to a building on campus so she could used the restroom. Even with the discomfort, we were all proud of ourselves for running eight miles. This Friday we are running ten! That's the farthest I have ever run before, and that was at the end of cross country season when I was in top shape. I can't wait to go that far again.

One of the best parts of training for a marathon is the bragging rights. It is a common occurence, when weekends are coming up, for us to just throw it out there during conversation around people about how much we are running. "How much are we running this week, Kal? Oh, ten miles? Sounds awesome! I can't wait!" Our roommates shake their heads at us when we bring it up. Just wait until we are running twenty miles. It'll sound more like, "So are you excited to run twenty miles?" "Heck yes! It'll be epic!" What would your face look like if you heard that conversation?

During our eight mile run on Friday the sky looked incredible. To the west the sun was sinking towards the horizon and it was glowing red. The entire sky was neon. On the other side to the east was the moon. It was full and bright. I couldn't stop staring at it. It almost made me forget that I was extremely tired. Later that night when we were back home, I saw a post on Facebook that there was an eclipse that day. No wonder it looked so incredible! Every day following that day, the sunset has been stunning, with the sun glowing neon red.

After a nice nine-hour sleep last night, I felt ready to run again. We only ran four miles, but it felt a lot better to run than it has felt in a long time. It snowed this morning for the first time in weeks, so we had a nice inch-layer of fluffy snow to run on. It was slick in places, and Kal had fun running and sliding on his feet down the hills. I am known to fall, so I decided against sliding around too much on purpose.

Friday is our last run all together before being seperated for four months. It'll be more challenging to go out and run on our own, but we can do it. We have to be ready for when we run our marathon in June!

"I'm On a Diet"

I think the one thing about training for a marathon that is harder than kicking your butt to go workout everyday is eating healthy, so that when you finally get your rear-end out the door you don't want to vomit ten minutes into your run. We all have weaknesses, and mine is my sweet tooth. One of these days I will conquer it all the way, but I have not experienced that day so far. I am also gluten-intollerant, so eating bread, pasta, pizza, and any baked good you can think of will suck the energy from my body for about ten times longer than sugar ever could. After four days at home for thanksgiving I definitely felt the effects of the junk food I had eaten.

Kal and I ran four miles on Monday. It was really nice to have my running partner back, but we both felt pretty tired. Kal hadn't eaten all day, because he had classes. I had eaten right before we ran and was still recovering from a 12-hour drive back to Rexburg the day before. Our time was still under 34 minutes, despite feeling lesser than usual.

When we got back from our run we sat at the kitchen table drinking water to rehydrate. My roommate, Shazaam, offered Kal a fruit snack and he raised his eyebrows at her with the response, "I'm on a diet." I had to laugh. If only we were always that dedicated to the marathon diet. I know that more than one of us has slipped up big time on the "marathon diet." I really am no expert on dieting, but I do know that I need to work on the whole disipline thing. If only food with sugar in it didn't taste so dang amazing. That would solve this problem entirely.

So Near, Yet So Far

The three of us are all in different states entirely right now for Thanksgiving break. It's lonely having to run without my friends to push me along. Luckily for me, I am at the lowest altitude so it felt a little bit easier to run today. At the same time though, I was a bit dehydrated and running off of only a few hours of sleep, because I spent twelve hours in the car yesterday, driving late into the night.

Before I hit the road I went to two classes. I was wearing my marathon t-shirt that I made a couple weeks ago. One of my teachers noticed it and asked if I had run one. I told him that I was training for one with a couple of friends. He looked so excited and his whole face lit up so I asked if he had run one before. He smiled and nodded and held up all five fingers from one hand. "You've run five?" I asked. He nodded again. I think he is my hero. He said the feeling you get when you finish is unlike anything you've ever experienced. I think talking to him made me at least six times more excited than I was before to run a marathon.

Last night I talked to Kal and suggested we make our four-mile run a race the following day. We would base it off of our times since we were all different places and couldn't physically run together. I needed a reason to push myself. It's harder to keep up a steady pace when you run by yourself, at least for me. I told Meesh about it and she said she was pretty sure she would lose, but she was willing to do it. Her course was a little over 4 miles so I said to get her mile pace and we would judge off of that. I was sure Kal would beat me, because years of cross country taught me how hard it is to beat a boy at running.

This morning when I woke up, I was excited to see that it was pouring rain. That is a typical Seattle day in the winter for you. I love running in rainstorms. There is something about the droplets running down my face and having my hair and shirt soaked through to the skin to the point that it sticks to you. It feels amazing. I geared up to go run with a bright yellow, water-repellant jacket and my Brooks running shoes. It didn't take long for me to get soaked, but I was flying up and down hills as I ran. The rain couldn't keep up with me. The front of me was soaked and my back was dry.

When I got back I texted Kal and Meesh. Meesh's mile pace was 9.33, Kal finished his four miles at 32.04, and I finished mine in 31.19 which is a mile pace of 7.48. I was so excited that I won the race! I don't know if I would have won at the altitude level we usually run at, but I was still proud of myself.

The second I walked in the door of my house, my sister said, "Did you get my text?" I hadn't had my phone with me. She explained that my dad was taking my mom to the ER. She had gone running at the same time as me and slipped while she was gone. When trying to avoid sinking her foot into a deep puddle, she stepped on the wet grass and took a fall onto her right elbow. It was dislocated. Later, my dad asked her if the pain was worse than child birth, and she said, "Actually, from what I remember, yes." She has to wear a cast for four to six weeks. I remember several times during my run looking at the wet leaves on the sidewalk and thinking, "Hmm, I really hope I don't slip on that stuff." Now I am REALLY glad I didn't slip on it.

Service and Safety

People started leaving for Thanksgiving break today. Kal left this morning so he couldn't run with us this afternoon. When I got out of class I came home to meet Meesh and change into running clothes. I warned her that I had a food-baby in my stomach, because I didn't want to run too hard and throw up. It had been an hour since I ate, but I was still super full. Luckily the temperature was up to the high twenties today and I was able to run without a sweatshirt. We started out slow, but I kept picking up the pace. My stomach felt like it was about to cramp, but I kept my breaths deep and it slowly went away. The pace slowly got faster and faster. Meesh and I were hauling. I felt so amazing and made a mental note to eat a huge meal an hour before my run everyday.

When we were passing Porter park I looked around and some movement caught my eye. Across the street an old woman in an orange sweatshirt was waving to us. It took me a second to realize that she was trying to get us to come over to her and she was yelling, "Excuse me! Can you help me?" I tapped Meesh and took my headphones out. She followed me. The woman told us she had been waiting for someone to come by to help her for a while. She pointed to the overhang of the roof. "I need to put this," she held up an electronic thermometer, "up there, but I can't reach it." I took it from her with a smile and climbed up the ladder to clip it onto the roof. Meesh and I lifted the ladder over the little garden fence for her and were on our way with smiles on our faces. She told us thank you over and over again for helping her.

The one downside to this was that I forgot to stop the stopwatch so we automatically had about a minute added to our time. When we were finishing up our run we got yelled at by a security cop for not stopping and looking both ways before we crossed the street. What are we, in third grade again? If she was a runner she would have known that we were looking for cars long before we reached the street so that we wouldn't have to stop running.

Despite stopping to help the old lady by the park, Meesh and I got a personal Record today (a PR) of 25.33! I can feel myself getting stronger everyday. Kal sent me a text to tell me that he went running when he got home. By the sounds of it he ran a whole lot of uphill. I told him about the lady we stopped to help, and he said we got blessings for giving service and that's why we ran faster today.