Marathon Training Is No Joke!

I tweeted yesterday that I realized why half marathons were so popular, because training for a marathon is no joke!

And many of my fellow twitter friends agreed with me that a half marathon was a cake walk compared to a full. Some also reminded me that it is all about your perspective because they are training for a half and feel it is a lot of work. And I can see that.

But coming from the girl who ran 49 miles in December of 2010, and 88 miles in both Jan and Feb 2011, I can say this: I have never been this exhausted from half marathon training. I ran my first half at the end of February, and I ran another in March just 3 weeks later. I was a bit tired but nothing like this. I finished August with 145 miles!!! That is an all time high for me :)

It is exhausting. Not only does running task you physically but it goes after you mentally as well. For me it is a challenge each day to figure out which fuels work best, how much to hydrate, how to rest, how to stretch, how I will fit it all into my already crammed schedule. Some way, some how, each week I get it done.

I am glad I tweeted about it yesterday because it helped me realize a few things:

1. I am not alone. So many runners out there are training for fall marathons and they are going through the same emotions.
2. It will be worth it. I know I want this. I know when I cross that finish line and hold that 26.2 medal that it will be the culmination of an entire 22 weeks of hard work.
3. I will have accomplished what very few people actually do.
4. I have kicked obesity in the ass, laid it to rest, and not looked back. I can kick 26.2 as well.
5. I will not be stopped. Ever.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support along this journey!!!

Conquering my First 20 Mile Run! Marathon Training Week 10

Whoa week 10!!! We are in the double digits of the big time, the marathon training!!!!

It feels like just yesterday that I started to consider running a full marathon, in fact it was many months ago after my Quincy half marathon :) But after this week it seems very real!

I am not going to bore you with the daily details because I want to talk about my 20 mile run ;)

You can see my week of training here at Daily Mile :)

On Saturday I did my first Spartan Race!!! It was great :)

Then Sunday arrived. Long run day. My first scheduled 20 mile run. The longest I have ever attempted to run. To make it worse, we had a hurricane coming. Yep. Miss Irene was making her way to my home town so I knew I had to get out early and get this run done before the storm hit us. So I set my alarm for 445 AM and went to sleep Saturday night dreaming of miles of running and wondering why the hell anyone does it ;)

I woke up and got dressed and made my way down stairs to do my normal pre run rituals. I packed my fuel belt and set on my Polar FT 60 and headed out the door. It was pitch black outside when I started to run. It was hot and humid. I almost felt like it was a bit stifling but that soon would change.

About 3 miles in I began to relax into a rhythm and I could feel the sprinkles starting... Yep I knew I would be running another long run in the rain and just smiled and welcomed it. What else can you do at that point right?

I kept going and felt great for about 8 miles. I was planning to run to my sisters house and then run home. She lives 10.25 miles away from me so it all seemed like the perfect plan run there have a potty break, refuel and run home. Well you do not realize how hard somewhere is to get to until you are running there hehe. It was hilly, and I forgot that until I was there.

Well I got to my sisters house and rang the bell but she was sleeping! I guess we did not get the timing right haha. By then it was pouring out so I was pretty soaked and headed back home. I stopped at Starbucks to use the bathroom, that was right at mile 11. It was then I realized my stomach was not too happy with me. I guess the trail mix from the day before was not agreeing too well with me.

I hit the road again and just kept going. By mile 13 it really was pouring and I started to wonder what the hell I was thinking. But then I put on some rock star music and just started singing. Yep it was pouring, yep I was cold and tired but I was determined that I would finish. And so I got through the next few miles.

Then I hit mile 17. That is the longest I have ever run, maybe my mind was tricking me but I hit a wall. A big wall. A 20 mile run, you body can handle it but it really fucks with your mind. And at that moment my mind began trying to tell me to stop. By now it seemed the hurricane was coming fast I could see clouds moving and the rain was a steady pour. Then my stomach started gurgling again...

I tried to walk it out for a minute and then start running again. But it got worse. I started to really feel like I may not make it to Dunkin Donuts which I could see in the distance. So I stopped running and power walked to Dunks. I got there just in time and went to the bathroom. It was painful. I will just say I hate my stomach and all the sensitivities it has. I need to be super strict the next few weeks and try to pin point what is making me sick.

I was 18 miles in. I contemplated calling T and having him come pick me up. I thought about it for a good 5 minutes. And then a couple in dunks asked me what the hell I was doing running outside when the storm was here. I smiled and said I am marathon training! We talked for a few minutes and then I headed out the door.

I knew right then and there all that was left was 2 miles. 2 miles I do that all the time, I told myself I can do this now. By now the rain was pounding and the wind had picked up. The rain was being blown so hard by the wind it felt like needles against my skin. I could see trees swaying and branches were being blown about. I thought wow mother nature is a strong bastard, but I am a wee bit stronger! And I headed home the last 2 miles in that way.

I finally made it home and just could not believe it!!! 20 miles, I had conquered the beast I had feared all week. I walked into my house and there was hot coffee and dry clothes waiting for me :) That was really all I needed at that point.

So I can check off 20.5 miles done in 3 hours and 38 minutes off the list of things I need to do. :)

I did not look too pretty but I was glad it was over!

And of course my Polar proof of a job done ;)

How do you feel after tackling a long run?

Spartan Sprint Race Recap

How can you describe a Spartan Sprint? Honestly I have been wondering how I will recap it to you for 2 days now and am stumped.

I have been running for about a year now and have completed many 5Ks and even 5 half marathons this year, but nothing compares to a Spartan Race. Yes running on pavement is a challenge and yes adding distance increases that challenge. But what comes beyond that? For someone like me who is always looking for a new obstacle a Spartan Race seemed to be the next best thing. It is not just a running race, it is an all out mud bath of obstacles and challenges.

The day was beautiful out not too hot not too cold. I was ready to go with my number sharpied on my arm and home made number head band. Why that? Well if you want race pics and to be identified you should do this because yes a paper race bib does not last long on that course.

That is me and Meghan before the race! She is a kick ass mom who I have been working out with at the Y Fit classes! She was in the 2:30 heat.

I got ready to go and got into my group. Spartan divides the race up by heats of about 250 people and my time was 3PM. I was ok for a few minutes and even gave T back the thumbs up when he smiled at me and gave me the sign.

But as I stood there gazing at the looming course in front of me:

I guess I got nervous because T got a good shot of this:

But you know me and no matter how nervous I am I do not back down hehe. So that horn went off and away I went! You begin the race running up a steep hill and then head into the woods. For me this was the annoying part of the race. The trails were so tight that it was single file and I wanted to run faster than I was able to. I knew I may be slower at the obstacles and that the running would be the easy part for me so I wanted to gain as much speed as I could during the running stretches.

I began to gain speed and get ahead in the running when people realized I was passing them they began to move out of my way LOL. There is a saying you have been chicked when you pass a guy on the course and I certainly was chicking many guys!

The obstacles were not too bad in the beginning there was mud pits we ran through, steep hills and rocks to run over, and a cargo net to climb up and over. Those things did not bother me much. Then we came to a wall with a rope on one side but nothing on the other. T got some great action pics!!!

Next obstacle was to fill a bucket half way full of pebbles and carry it up and down a big ass hill. I am proud to say I did not stop once!

I love this pic! I had slammed down that empty bucket and felt so strong after doing that obstacle :)

The rest of the obstacles were in the woods, there was walls to climb over, a swamp to wade through, a rope pulley, bear crawling, cinder block carry, leaping over fire, and more. The worst part was the barbed wire. I think this is where most of my cuts and scrapes came from. You are rolling under barbed wire for what seems like forever and then you have to scale a wall. And then more barbed wire. And it is the second to last obstacle so you are dog tired by this point. The final stretch of barbed wire was going uphill at the same time. Watch the videos at Spartan TV it is pretty insane! But I loved it!!!

In a spartan race if you cannot do an obstacle you must do 30 burpees! I had to do burpees 4 times. Once for the rope climb, coming out of the swamp are ropes and you have to climb up. I simply could not do it. Then the spear throw. I hit the bale of hay but it bounced off and you only got one shot! Then I had to do burpees on the tree stumps. my legs were not nearly long enough to jump through them. But I did make it all the way through the adult monkey bars which I was proud of because I have a weaker upper body.

The final obstacle was a side ways wall. I tried my best but I slipped off so i had to do my final set of 30 burpees:

And that was it!

Meghan and I post race! Much different than pre race LOL

My time!! By the way the number 1 female who "beat" me in the heat was named Robert, so I am thinking I was number one female to finish in my heat.
The one problem with the race is they do not have rankings of over all how you did for the day. They only rank you within your heat, so I am not sure how I ranked out of all the participants in the day. But I am pretty darn proud of my time!