The heat....oh...the heat

June hasn’t been the best of months for me for running.  I’ve been out of my routine and had multiple guests in the house every weekend.  It has been tough to get back into things.  Not to mention the 90 -100 degree heat that keeps rolling in every other day. 

 Heat just makes me tired.  I don’t want to do anything when it is this hot outside.  I had to pump myself up to go to the grocery story yesterday because I was dreading unloading the groceries in the heat.   I had anxiety about walking those 10 feet a few times back and forth to my car just to bring the groceries into the house.  Mainly because I’m a sweater.  I sweat A LOT.  I know you have heard this before from some people, but I truly believe that I’m different and am a freak of sweat nature.  I don’t glisten or glow, I drip.  Not just during exercise either.  I can break into a full on sweat during a meeting, a stressful situation, if I meet a really hot guy (Sorry Dave!  But if it makes you feel better, I broke out into a sweat 6 years ago!) or just walking to my car.  I wear black most days and most people just think I’m fashionably challenged or depressed, whereas my real friends and family know that I’m trying to cover up the inevitable sweat that will descend upon me at some point in the day.  Classy, right?  This ultimately means that I ruin many a decent outfits, my makeup or have to shower twice a day during these fun summer months. 

 It also means that I’m in a permanent state of dehydration.  I am constantly playing catch up to hydrate.  When I go for a run, I lose a few pounds in water.  Not good.  Although the girly narcissistic side of me always thinks ‘Helllllz YEA!’ when I see those few lbs missing on the scale right after a run.  The smart side of me knows that I’m really dehydrated.  We all have different symptoms of dehydration, but these are mine: Crankiness, Heart pounding, Fatigue, Calf/Leg cramps, Headaches and lack of desire to run (what a vicious cycle that last one is!).

 I’ve got little advice for myself during this time of year.  Some would say to run inside in the A/C, but I know that that my races will be outside and I’m ultimately doing a disservice to myself by not acclimating to the weather.  My only thought is to drink, drink, drink and then inevitably sweat, sweat, sweat while running slow, slow, slow.  The slow part being the most important.  There is no need to get crazy and push myself pace wise right now.  There is no need to beat myself up if I don’t make another PR in the next couple of races.  My only need right now is to train consistently and not get injured.  And I’m pretty sure that dehydrated beef jerky muscles make for an easy injury!  We’ve all snapped into a Slim Jim before and no part of that process is pretty.

So, when you see me walking around dressed in all black, I swear I’m not depressed…I’m just sweating.  Please say hello and tell me to go drink some more water!

The Aftermath of a Personal Record

After I finished my San Diego race and got a new personal record, my immediate thought was ‘Now what?’.  My secondary thought was ‘Megan, now you run another 6 half marathons, like you’ve promised’ and my third thought was ‘But I don’t understand what I’m aiming for?’.   PR’s are probably like weddings, you work really hard, get stupid excited about it, think everyone really cares and when the big day finally comes and go, you are left feeling a little anti climatic and confusedly wondering…what comes next?   

 But not only have I felt a little anti climatic, I’ve felt downright entitled.  Entitled to what?  Well, pretty much anything bad for you…Candy, Pizza, beer, wine, liquor, tv, more candy, cake, jelly beans, too much rest (not running) and the overall entitlement that I think I’m too important to drink water.  That last one was rewarded with a Charlie horse muscle seizure wake up call from hell at 2am where I lay clutching my left calf wondering if I was going to die and trying to Lamaze breathe through it much like I envision what birthing a 13lb baby would be like (not that I have any inkling but I’m trying to empathize).

 I’ve immediately rectified the water situation by realizing that a permanent state of dehydration is not comfortable, nor is it desirable.  So, I’ve been drinking water.  I still have been eating too much sugar, evident by the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup wrapper in my trash can and the look of disgust that my Captain had on his face when he came over to my cubicle today.  Maybe I had chocolate and peanut butter smeared on my dress and I didn’t realize it? 

 I went for a little run and it hurt like hell, probably due to the shriveled dehydrated state of my legs.  And I haven’t gotten back on the road since.  I’m feeling like a bit of a hot confused mess if I’m honest with myself.  It’s the emotional equivalent of standing in the rain looking up at the sky in tattered clothing and crying ‘WHAT NEXT? What am I supposed to dooooooooooo?’ while shoving See’s candy in my mouth and then deciding to take a nap.

 I told a fellow runner that I felt confused as to how to run my next race.  Do I take it easy?  Do I push even harder? Do I just go with the flow?  She very matter of factly said ‘You just try to do better than the last time’.  Easy for her to say, she hasn’t run 6 of these already this year.  I’m freaking tired!

 Originally, I had the taste of PR blood and wanted more, wanted to go faster, but now I just want a really good night’s sleep (which ironically probably won’t happen unless I go for a run!).  So, what to do? 

 Well, I’m going to drink more water for starters.  I’m going to try to cut back on the sweets and increase the veggies.  Then I’m going to take a slight pain killer before my next run to lobotomy my body of my previous run.  And I’m going to give some serious thought to my goal for Chicago. And I’m going to seriously remind myself of my big goals…1)Raise $12,000 for LLS  2)Train consistently through 2012.  The PR was a nice byproduct of my big goals but I can’t allow myself to feel done quite yet!!

June - San Diego!!

June Half Marathon- San Diego!

I was soooo excited about this half marathon!!  Everything about this half was lining up to be awesome…  It wasn’t supposed to be crazy hilly and the weather was supposed to be 65 degrees and overcast.  This is a huge Team in Training event and I had the incredible inspiration of Meggie on my jersey to keep me going.  It was in San Diego, which is where my Mom grew up and is literally like a second home to me.  I had my Aunt Linda and Cousin Christine that had planned to be at the race at mile 10 to cheer me on.   Everything was coming together…this was my equivalent of a personal record perfect storm, in the most positive sense.

A huge part of the perfect storm that I didn’t account for was my Virginia Team from Team in Training.   I’ve talked about the wonderful Coach Bob before and he was there  to get us prepped and ready for the race.  But I have to give a shout out to two wonderful men that I’m completely friend smitten by…Steven Jenkins and David Hinshaw.  These two men became such fast friends and the support that I felt from both of them was completely unaccounted for in my perfect storm calculations.  It pushed my perfect storm conditions to Perfect Tropical Storm Conditions.  I have such gratitude to them for taking good care of me.  Additionally, our Virginia Team consisted of the lovely Jennifer and Roger whom also became such a huge part of my experience.  I didn’t expect this level of love and support from seemingly strangers. I hope that I returned some level of support to them throughout the weekend.  They are all amazing people who helped push me to a new level for this race.

There was only me standing in my way of a personal record (PR) on this race and I knew that I had a score to settle with myself.   No more complaining.  No more excuses.  It was time to see how hard I can push myself. This was my half way point in 12in12in2012 and it was time for a hard fought victory. I went into the race telling myself to leave nothing on the field.  It was game time.

As Jennifer, Roger and I stood in Corral 18, Roger gave me a big grin and said ‘I can feel it, you are going to PR this race, you got this’ and a huge smile spread across my face.  And off we went!

I kept a sub-10min mile pace and dropped down to a 9 min mile pace on the down hills overall.  And overall I felt pretty good.  I was smiling and waving.  All the while thinking of my honored hero, Meggie.  The San Diego RnR is known for a horrible stretch that is banked with a bad left-right incline.  And it goes on for a few miles, so your knees and hips start to ache from being at different levels.  But just when I really started to hurt, I looked up and there was COACH BOB!!!  Thankfully, he ran with me for a mile and half and entertained me with stories of a time in Italy where he almost got arrested…almost.  As we stopped at a water stop, my heart completely dropped when I realized that I had lost a GU out of my pocket.  I could have sworn that my perfect storm was about to come to an abrupt halt.  I mentioned it to Coach Bob, who in a seemingly miraculous move pulled out a GU and handed it to me.  Have I mentioned that Coach Bob is one of my most favorite people?  Maybe even a running angel of sorts?  

I can’t tell you much about the next portion of the race.  Coach Bob had peeled off in order to support our other Team in Training runners and honestly, I just kept my head down and stayed on track. I knew the next important part of my run was mile 10 where my family was waiting.  I looked down the road to see a huge sign with Meggie’s picture on it and I knew my Aunt and Cousin were behind it.  I had to mentally slap myself in order to choke down the lump forming in my throat and the tears behind it.   This was the part of my perfect storm that I knew would be a huge pick me up for me.  Miles 10-12 are tough for me and I was starting to wear down.  To see my Aunt and Cousin out there for me was amazing.  It meant more to me than I can ever explain to them.  I gave them sweaty hugs and kisses and they sent me on my way. 

Mile 12 hurt.  I think that my body just wasn’t used to being pushed that hard.  I had to stop and walk a little bit.  I kept asking myself ‘Are you leaving it all on the field?  Are you doing your absolute best?’ and I’m honestly not sure.  I hate that I had to walk a little bit, but at the same time I know my body pretty well and am used to pushing it’s limits.  I picked it up again and pushed to the finish line with a little perceived sprint at the end.  I crossed the finish line at 2:10:43 with a brand new personal record for my best half marathon (my old one being 2:13:59 in 2009)!   

I met up with Jennifer and Roger back at the Team in Training tent. Jennifer finished her very first half marathon in 2:14, which is so awesome!  My Aunt Linda and Cousin Chris came down to the finish line and we all just relaxed and chatted.  But I still had a nagging feeling that I wasn’t happy enough about my PR. I wasn’t celebrating enough.  Why was that?  I knew I either wanted to jump up and down or curl up and bawl my eyes out from the relief.  But I was keeping myself in check because maybe it was stupid and meaningless to everyone else?  Maybe it wasn’t a big deal? 

We met up with my new found friend, David Hinshaw, who came in from his finish and quietly asked ‘How’d ya do?’  I told him that ‘I PRd’ in which he started jumping up and down and yelled a big ‘ALLLLLLLLRIIIIIIIIIIIIGHHHHT!!!  I KNEW YOU WOULD!! THAT’S SOOO AWESOME!!!’ then high fived me and gave me a huge hug.   Sometimes you need someone else to jump up and down in order to celebrate your achievement and his reaction will be something I’ll always hold special about this half. We later found out that Steven had a perfect storm also and PR'd the Marathon!  So awesome!  

You can’t always have the perfect storm race.  In fact, most times you won’t.  Long distance running isn’t for the weak of body, heart, mind or soul.   But occasionally the stars align and God blesses you with the weather, the road, the strength, the support and the inspiration to go further than you thought possible.  And family and friends to help you celebrate when you do!

Williamsburg Half Marathon – MAY!!!

The May Half Marathon was the ‘Run the Achievable Dream’ in Williamsburg, Virginia on May 20th.  What a great race!  If you are looking for a rolling hilly scenic small half marathon that is still done well, this is a great race for you! 

I had planned from the beginning of my 12in12in2012 journey to run with my friend Mayanne during this race.  Throughout Mayanne’s running career, I have assumed the job of coach, mentor, most understanding person in the world and meanest person in the world to Mayanne.  I have straight up told her ‘No’ when she wanted to walk.  But this time around, I told her that there would be no pushing or telling her ‘No’ during this race.  My plan was to just let her feel it out and be there in support mode to entertain her….and maybe do a little coaching! 

Many of my friends (including Mayanne) and family were starting to doubt whether I would be able to quell the need for speed and just be laid back about this half.   But I’m pretty good about knowing when to give myself a break.  And I enjoy having a purpose, and my purpose was to run with Mayanne.

So, honestly, I had a BLAST!!  It was a beautiful course and a great running weather day, just slightly overcast and a little cool.  We jogged along and enjoyed the view, people watching and just being with each other.  During the out/back portion we were able to look for our fellow friend runners in which we screamed at them and high fived them.  We got to see my husband Dave as he was doing the out/back portion of the race.  This was Dave’s first half marathon and he rocked it with a 1:51 time!!  So proud of him!  But, I’m pretty sure that he had an excellent coach! Then we got to see our friend Jim and Mayanne’s husband Anthony.  Jim was doing his 2^nd half and Anthony also was doing his first half marathon and they also rocked it out!

Mayanne and I have a tendency to get philosophical during our runs, so we can use quite a few miles to talk about our life dreams, politics or whatever comes up!  I was so impressed and like a proud mama when Mayanne took every hill and ran up them!  She was such a trooper and her perseverance during the race really inspired me.  I’ve been complaining so much about hills and she didn’t complain once, she just did them!  No more complaining for me!

Initially, Mayanne had stated that she was going to push her competitive nature down and not allow herself to get worked up with people passing her.  But around mile 11, I noticed that this one girl would fly past us on the downhills, only to stop and walk slowly up the hills where we would in turn pass her.  Everytime we would pass her, she would look over and glance at us.  We all know when someone has you in their ‘cross hairs’ and this girl definitely had us in hers.   So I pointed this out to Mayanne and said ‘Now don’t get too worked up, but that girl really wants to beat us and I want you to beat her’.  It was pretty much GAME ON at that point and the poor girl really had no chance after that.  Mayanne picked up our pace and passed her pretty quickly for good. 

If you read my blog, you know that I like to sprint the finishes.  Some people would say that you didn’t give it your all in the race if you can sprint the finish.  But no matter how hard I run a race, I can almost always sprint the finish.  Honestly, I think my ability to do this is just from playing soccer.  In soccer, you train yourself that no matter how tired you are, you must always have another sprint left in you.  That sprint at the end is my dessert.  I will eat and eat but you always leave room for dessert.   And most times the crowd freaks out when you sprint the finish because you stand out to them.  It is a bit of a glory moment and I’ll take it!  But when I run with others, I have a horrible loyalty moment toward the end when I realize that I have room for ‘dessert’ and they don’t want dessert at all.  In fact, ‘dessert’ is literally going to make them vomit!  But I’ve finally learned that you run your own race and I need to do whatever makes me happy in my race.  So, when we entered the stadium to make the final lap, I left Mayanne and took off at a full out sprint! 

And it was awesome!!  As I ran around the track at my perceived sprint, there was a bunch of girls there cheering who started screaming ‘You get it girl!’ and as I sprinted toward the finish line, the announcer said ‘We need to find out this girl’s name!’.  I could hear my husband and our friends Anthony and Jim cheering.  And I had a huge smile on my face.

This was the race I needed at this stage of my journey.  I needed something fun and lighthearted.  All of a sudden, I realized that I never verbalized the 12in12in2012 goal of having fun.  This race reminded me that races are fun!  I know that I knew that deep down.  But my race times and my disappointment in them had completely overshadowed that.  

I have to thank Mayanne for this race because she made it a blast for me.  She took care of all the logistics and set me up to have a good time.  She has always been very intuitive as to my moods and sometimes your friends just know best.  Thanks to her, I was reminded to have some fun in this journey. I am so proud of her for having completed her 2^nd half marathon. 

San Diego is this weekend!  I’m so excited that every time I read an email from Team in Training, I get nauseous!  My amazing cousins will be out there to cheer me on and I just can’t wait to run this race!  This race will mark my half way point for 12in12in2012. 6 races down, 6 to go!!  Pretty crazy!!