Five For Friday Is Now For Monday!

I started this post last Friday, then worked on it some more on Saturday, and now I can't believe it's Sunday night so that means this post will be up on Monday!  I'm not procrastinating, just been CRAZY busy here since last Wednesday because of............

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1)  ...THIS!!!  After signing up 2 weeks ago (yes, 2 weeks before the official March 7, 3pm EST sign up) with Team Lung Love to run Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) this October, I've been going back and forth between feeling scared/unsure and excited/confident.  This IS normal, right?  When you sign up for your first full marathon?!!

Well my anxiety and self-doubt evaporated (for now), as I watched all 30,000 available spots get gobbled up by runners from all over in record time - 2 hours and 41 minutes - becoming the fastest marathon registration sellout in U.S. history.  Fueled by the mass euphoria on MCM's Facebook (FB)  page as tons of runners posted "I GOT IN!  I GOT IN!", I was freaking out like everyone else, and I'm sure we all sounded like we had just won the lottery! 

I successfully peer-pressured another runner friend (so that made it 2 friends I peer-pressured) into signing up for MCM.  Through her, I felt the rush, the suspense, and the triumph over scoring a spot to run MCM.  So ever since Wednesday, my friends "T", "C", and I have been talking non-stop about MCM - training plans, hotel rooms, goals, schedules....never mind that we each have a big race coming up ("T" has Virginia Wine Country Half, "C" has Charlottesville 10-Miler, and I have RnR USA Half) - I think in our hearts we're done training for those races, and we are ready to tackle training for MCM!!!  Isn't that crazy??!!!! Yup, so I've been BUSY just thinking and reading about all things marathon!!!

Just a few of my crazy runner friends from Ragnar DC

2)  ....Non-Stop MCM Talk!!!  With all the talk about MCM on their FB page, the best part was discovering other friends who made it in too!  Like my friend "L" who just started running in November 2010.  After his first race in November 2010, three months later, he signed up for Ragnar DC with me.  To train for Ragnar, he went on to run more 5Ks, 10Ks.  With Ragnar now under his belt, he will soon run his first half marathon with me this coming weekend - RnR USA Half.  Imagine how much I freaked out when I learned he is running MCM too!  His first full!  I can't be any prouder of "L", and I'm SO excited for him!

I also discovered another friend, "M," who also got in - we had talked about running before and even balked at the idea of running 26.2 miles at one point and there we were, screaming over at FB chat, in disbelief that we signed up for something we never thought we would actually do!!!!

So, yeah, I've been BUSY talking non-stop about MCM lately to whoever wants to hear about it, and I can't tell you enough how exciting it is to me!!  Can you tell??!!!

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3)  ....Discovering Red Felt Running Club!  All my MCM talk must be so boring to my non-runner friends and family.  When I posted about running MCM on FB, my friend's brother (who's also running MCM) and I connected, and he added me to this AMAZING FB group called Red Felt Running Club/MCM First Timers.  O.M.G. it's like finding your own kind who understands why you must sign up for at least 1 race every month and don't look at you like you're crazy.  RFRC started out as a group of MCM first-timers last year.  They motivated, inspired, and triumphed together, finishing their first MCM.  They are now 300+ members strong, and already I feel at home, learning A TON, and not feeling as anxious as much knowing I've got these guys and gals to carry me (literally, maybe? hopefully?) to the finish line on October 28.  So I've been BUSY reading all their posts, chiming in when I can (they are a very fun, chatty group!), and taking notes on marathon tips like the geek that I am.

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4)  ....C25K Coaching!!!  As you know, I've been coaching a group of friends to help them run their first 5K.  Last week, we started running 2.5 miles with no walking breaks and this coming week, we are going to do 2.75 miles.  With their first 5K race now just 2 weeks away, I've been posting and answering questions about preparing for their first race and giving tips - tips I wished someone gave me when I ran my first 5K.  I think I am more excited about their race than my own RnR half marathon race coming up this weekend (weekend before their 5K).  There is nothing like watching them run a distance they haven't run before, seeing smiles & high-fives, and hearing cheers!  Do you remember that feeling?  They have come a loooong way from barely being able to run for 2 minutes without walking to now running over 30 minutes!  I am so proud of them, and I can't wait for their race day!!!

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5)  ....Speaking of the RnR USA Half Marathon that I've been training for.... It's going.....ok.  Actually, I've had to change my race goal and strategy.  Due to my PF prone left foot, I'm going to have to run/walk this race, if I want to avoid getting PF again.  Playing it safe, because now my big picture goal is my first full marathon in October AND to keep running well into my 90s!  I really wanted to PR, to get a 2:15 half marathon time, but I'm going to have to let that go and just finish this race.  I *think* I'm ok with it.  I tried the run/walk method with a 4:1 ratio this morning and did ok.  I wasn't any faster, but I felt no pain, so that's good! 

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The best part about today's run?  I figured out why my left foot has PF.   My left shoe is a tad bit big for my left foot!  This happened to me last winter and I can't believe I forgot.  I bought my shoes last summer when my left foot was "bigger" and come winter months, since my left foot is not as swollen, the extra room in my left shoe meant my left foot is sliding in them....the arches aren't where they're suppose to be, etc..So this morning, I doubled up on socks - well, I wore a thinner socks over my regular running socks and no pain!  Knock on wood.  So during my run, my left foot was nice and snug and felt fine.  My right foot has always been bigger than my left, so it was just fine.  I am really hoping this is the cause so I can put an end to this darn foot pain.  Still stretching and icing. 

When do you all buy shoes?  Do your feet change in size from winter to summer months?  Or is it just my feet?  

Have you had to change your race goals and strategy due to an injury?    Have you tried the run/walk method before and how do you like it?  

Are you also running MCM this year??  

Motivational Mondays

I'm a day behind on this, but that's what happens when the kids don't have school on Mondays.  I am really liking this idea of "Motivational Mondays" to carry me through the week.  It's so easy (at least for me) to fall into a rut during training.  So every Monday, I'm going to post people, photos and links I find inspiring and motivating!

1)

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2)  I ran Ragnar Relay Washington DC last year (2011) and didn't learn about Holly Mitchell's story until after the race.  Holly's husband died the year before (2010) while he was running his first Ragnar leg.  Holly's return to the same race where she lost her husband is a remarkable story of strength and determination to complete an emotional race to honor her husband.


3)

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 ""It's impossible" said pride. "It's risky" said experience. "It's pointless" said reason. "Give it a try" whispered the heart."  If you haven't "liked" I <3 to Run on Facebook, you must!  They post the most inspiring and motivating photos there.  This is just one of them.


4)  Last but not least, Kerrie from Mom Vs. Marathon!  Kerrie's blog was the first blog I started following a year ago.  She inspired me to start blogging then, when I got the running bug.  I wasn't blogging regularly last year, but her FB and blog posts about her training, her first Hood to Coast Relay Race experience and her first full marathon experience brought me back to the blogging world and into this wonderful community of blogging runners.  If you're not already following Kerrie, you have to!  She keeps everything about running real and amusing, even the parts about getting injured.  Thank you, Kerrie!  She tagged me to do the 11 Random Things, so that will be up sometime tomorrow!

Hope everyone had a great Monday!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Porta-Potty Punch!

I saw way too many of these at my Ragnar DC 2011 relay race last year

Instead of calling out, "punch buggy," my boys call out, "port-o-potty punch!"  Ya think the hubs and I drag our kids to too many races, or what?  ;)

Monday Inspirations - The 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials and Derek Redmond Chasing The Blahs

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Up until this past weekend, I was feeling a little unmotivated and uninspired.  2011 was such a huge running year for me (1st Ragnar Relay Race, 5k and 10k PRs, 1st half marathon race).  I swear, I think I got runner's high every time I ran when I trained for those races, and it spilled over to every aspect of my life - I felt like a better mom, better wife, a better friend and I finally hit my goal weight!  If I could bottle up that runner's high, I would.  I'm sure you all know what I mean.

Then my enthusiasm came crashing after my first half in November, which, I've heard and read, was normal and expected as my running season came to an end.  I was missing following a training plan and the excitement of looking forward to a race.  The crazy holiday prep slowly replaced my runs, and thus found myself in a huge rut, absent from running and guilty from the holiday indulgences.

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I'm signed up to run my first Rock N Roll race in DC, the half in March, but my last training runs have been so....blah.  Could it be because I've already done the distance?  Or is it the cold weather? It's like the PMS that won't go away.  Blah.

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Blaming it on my blahs, I almost forgot about the Olympic Marathon Trials.  Thanks to Facebook and Twitter, who came THIS close to spoiling it for me in the morning, I claimed the upstairs TV for the 3pm recorded broadcast on NBC.  No football game or Wii game or recorded Cat in the Hat TV show.  It's mom's turn in front of the TV.  If I was as smart as Run With Jess, I would've done some cross training while watching the trials, but I was so...blah (You go, Jess! ;) )

For someone like me who never watches TV, who knew that TV would pick me up and inspire me?

Inspiration #1:  The Men and Women at The 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials.  Yes, all of them.  Watching all the men and women Olympic hopefuls at the starting line made my heart swell.  Gosh, even for someone who qualified but knowingly had no chance against the elites toe'd up at the start, their dreams ahead of them....  I felt so proud of them all!

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Deep down, I had my hopes on Kara and Deena, who both just had babies and are getting back to racing again.  I wanted them to prove that they can make a huge comeback, that they are more badass than ever as mother runners.  I was in awe of Desiree Davila who made 26.2 miles look like a fun run.  She was so calm and cool the entire time.  LOVE her running form.  Kara, to me, has this way of looking both vulnerable and strong at the same time.  I identify with her a lot - emotions so close to the surface.  She is so real to me.  LOVE her.  Shalane's mantra, "cold execution," matched her face the entire race.  Once in a while, though, a grimace would pass over her face.  It was only after she crossed the finish line, taking first place, did I notice the chafing under Shalane's arms.  Ouch!  Oh and who doesn't grimace after running for that long?

Other memorable moments for me:  seeing the other women qualifiers cheering for the lead men as the men lapped them; Meb's victory lap;  the top 3 women crying, huddled under our flag, telling each other, "I'm so proud of you!"  It was painful to watch the fourth place runners - Dathan Ritzenhein and Amy Hastings - to be SO close.  

Inspiration #2:  My second inspiration came Sunday morning:  Derek Redmond back in the 1992 Olympic Games (not crazy about the song, but the words totally made up for it).

I just learned that Derek's dad is going to carry the Olympic torch at the 2012 London Olympic Games!  How cool is that?

Start of a new week.  I hope to face this new week with renewed energy and hope.  I'm thinking I might just need to change things up a bit, like run with friends more, or find new routes to run, to keep things fresh.  I was so inspired by these athletes to keep doing what I am doing.  To not give up.  To work my way back up again, and that it's ok to falter, just don't give up.  I was reminded of why I run - that positive and uplifting community of runners, that scary, exhilarating moment at the start line, and the triumphant feeling at the finish, no matter how fast or slow, injured or not.  

"If you can't fly, then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward."  - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I hope they inspired you as much as they inspired me.  What inspired you lately?  Enjoy your MLK, Jr. holiday.

It's Official! Ragnar DC 2011 or BUST!

It's done.  It's official!  I just registered my team for this year's Ragnar DC Relay!  I am excited, a little scared, but more excited about this adventure!  Our team's goal is to finish and have a blast!  I'm not sure how to train for this race, whether to follow Ragnar's training plan or train for a half marathon.

Has anyone done a relay race before?  How did you train for it?

OMG. I want to do Ragnar.

So I saw the movie (Hood to Coast).  And I am hooked.  I want that kind of experience.  I want to see if I can do it (even though I'm scared as crap).  I emailed my best friends who also run and basically said, I will run Ragnar DC only if they do it.  One of them ran it last year and had been pushing me to do it.  So now we are talking!

But then why does it sound so crazy, scary, exciting and fulfilling all at the same time?  What is the allure of being one of 6 stinky runners in a van, running in pitch darkness at 2am, running when it's 100 degrees out, and feeling like crap?  Why WOULD I want to do that, right?

Not sure exactly, but a huge part of it is the huge bonding moments and everlasting friendships that could come out of it - but then again, we could all end up hating each other's guts in the end too.  It's expensive, there's a lot of logistical organizational stuff that has to happen, I have to be away from home for 2 nights, it's going to be one of the most challenging runs I will ever do.....there are so many reasons that keep coming to mind as to why I shouldn't.

But somehow I keep going back to why I SHOULD RUN Ragnar DC:

- Experience
- Camaraderie
- Adventure
- To get out of my comfort zone
- To see how far and how long I can go.
- To show that "I can kick a**!"
- If not this year, when? I am not getting any younger! LOL
- I need a running/fitness goal.
- Because I love to run!
- Because I think can do it.
- Because I know I can do it.

I think that's enough reasons to do it, no?  I'm still a little freaked out,  but we'll see how this journey goes.  Excited!!!