The MARATHON!!

Sorry for the 2 week delay. But we finished the marathon and it was AMAZING!
We started in Union Square and headed toward the Ferry Building than along the bay past Fisherman’s Warf and to the Golden Gate Bridge. We turned away from the Golden Gate Bridge and into Golden Gate State Park, through the park and on to Great Northern Parkway along the Pacific Ocean to Lake Merced, around Lake Merced and back to Great Northern to the long awaited finish.

It was spectacular. The views were amazing the weather was perfect, the hills were just hard enough and the boring parts were not that boring.

We started early in the morning while it was still dark out, there were an estimated 30,000 in Union Square that morning. The beginning of the race was a slow start, trying to get that many people through the starting gates. But it felt like I didn’t even notice we were running until mile 10 or so.

There was so much to look at and so much to take in that I never even turned on my IPod. And believe me, some people can do it (Scooter), but I never thought I could run 26.2 miles without music in my head. But I guess I didn’t go entirely without. We passed a Bag Pipe Band, a Brass Band a Hard Core Rock Bad, a Rapper and Break-Dancers etc.

And of course the spectators and Fans! We had our names on the front off our jerseys and our honored heroes on the back. So people would yell your name as you were coming up and tell you how awesome you were doing. Some would thank you, some would just cheer, some even called out your honored heroes name as you ran by “Do it for Jeff or Boompa” for example. We obviously had all of our coaches and assistant coaches there, but then we even had our own personal cheering section - a great group of friends. Carlie, Jacob, Kyle, Matt, Jen and Beth’s Parents were a huge help, especially at mile 20 around boring Lake Merced and at mile 25 when you needed that last burst of energy.

We made it without incident, although not without pain. When we finished we were handed a tiffany box by a San Francisco Fireman in a tux and cross trainers (even Scooter got one), then a T-Shirt, and a Bagel as the poor volunteers had to cut out time chips off of our sneakers and wrapped us in a silver tinfoil like blanket. We were immediately ushered out of the “finisher’s only” area and into a SEA of people, the same people I appreciated during the race were now in between me and a chair. I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to stand and I couldn’t find anywhere to sit. We were forced to check in with TNT (to make sure we hadn’t died out there) and there was a small area of ground that we crashed on. It wasn’t 1 minute later when a staff member came by and told us we would have to keep moving, I felt like saying – I just RAN 26.2 miles, I am not moving for the next WEEK, but alas, we had to get up and limp into another tented area where we eventually hooked back up with Beth and Meredith and our cheer squad.

We took a quick “ice bath” in the ocean, although I was very slow getting in, changed into our comfy sweats and headed back to the busses for our trip back to the Hotel. It was at that point I noticed just how much everything hurt.

When we got back to the hotel we already had celebration on the mind. We went to the liquor store and then back up to the rooms for some room service. And then we were really able to enjoy the rest of our time in San Francisco. I would write more, but I figured that we can tell you all about it when we see you.

20 Miles!!!

Well I did it! I really did it!
20 miles, and I didn’t cry, or bleed, or collapse, or vomit. So I am calling it a success.

I was really nervous going into this run, considering that I had not been able to complete our last long run. Last time, my right knee gave out on me at mile 12 and Scooter had to come back and get me in the car (for those of you that are keeping track that is not the knee that was bothering me when we began marathon training). It was a very frustrating situation. I felt defeated and unsure of myself, convinced that I would never be able to finish 26.2 miles if my knee couldn’t carry me for 12.

But I was told that the day of the marathon I will be so excited and so determined that I will be able to run without feet if I need to.

I went to the doctor anyway. Turns out there is nothing wrong with my knees, the knee caps (on both knees) pull to the outside, which causes a little extra wear and tear, but nothing serious. The conclusion was that my knee was just tired of running that day. So with a lot of ice, and a lot of rest I was hoping I was ready for my 20 mile long run.

So we met at 5:45 at Austin High, thankfully we were going to run a fairly flat course with at least 14 miles of it on the Lady Bird Lake Trail (formerly known as Town Lake), which would be nice and soft on our joints. The entire run was pretty uneventful for me. I realized at about mile 6 that my nerves had been making me incredibly tense, because I was running with my shoulders up at my ear lobes. I forced myself to relax and knew immediately, from the shooting pain in my upper back, that I was going to regret not noticing and correcting myself earlier.

At about mile 12 my hip starting bothering me again, which I have since come to find out is my "peri-something" muscle in my butt. At mile 12 I felt a little discouraged because it felt like we should have been at 14 at least. But I took a Power Bar Runners Goo, hoping it would help a little. A half hour later, the Goo hit me! My body was exhausted but my mind was ready to go. At mile 16 I got really excited, ONLY 4 MILES to go! Easy, right?

Well the next 2 miles hurt a lot, we were still on the trail, but I could feel every little pebble I stepped on, and man those pebbles hurt. But suddenly, there we were, mile 18.
Now I was really excited, ONLY 2 MILES. I could do that in my sleep, 2 miles was easy and I was feeling GREAT. Okay, maybe not great, but I was still running, which I was actually pretty surprised at. With 1.5 miles to go I took off into a sprint, well, I am sure you couldn’t call it a sprint at that point, but it felt that way. I knew the finish was just up ahead and I was almost there. I had completed 20 miles. I had really done it.

I headed to Barton Springs and jumped into the 63 degree natural spring that morning and treaded water for as long as my tired muscles could stand it. Then I went home and packed for Dallas. Scooter was coming back from Houston to pick me up and take me to the Texas State Fair so that I could have my VER FIRST CORN DOG. Yes, ladies and gentleman, that is right, I had never had a corn dog. But that is a different story for a different time.

Scooter ran 15 miles that morning in Houston, and was feeling pretty good. I talked to our Coach about him and she said that studies have shown most men only have to train up to a 16 mile run (which we have both done before) in order to be able to complete 26.2 miles. Women on the other hand need to train at 18 or 20 miles to have the same results. How UNFAIR is that. Oh well.

So now we have started our “back down” or “tapering” we have just over 2 weeks until the marathon. I am really excited, as is Scooter. We are trying not to let the fact that we are $3000 short of our fundraising commitment get us too down. $3000 is worth the experience and training, or at least I keep telling myself that. Now might be a good time to make a last ditch effort for fundraising,,, HELP, we need money!! (if that doesn’t work, I don’t know what will, hahaha)

Well thank you to everyone who has donated, and everyone who has helped support us through our training. It means so much, and I can hardly believe that it is almost over. I have no idea what I am going to do with myself after October 21st. Maybe I should start thinking about the wedding.

10 miles.....

The mileage is creeping back up and this past Saturday Stacie and I ran 10 miles at Terry Hershey park in Houston. She had come down (with the dogs) to visit me over the weekend while I was working and we were determined to get our Saturday run in before the heat! 6am start and we made a very consistent 10 minute/mile pace, only stopping for water at the fountains on the path. Overall it was a nice run, not too crowded at the beginning but as we were getting closer to the car, the amount of traffic seemed to increase.
Not to rant, but I am always amazed at the audacity of people using the trail (runners and bikers) who do not have any common courtesy. (stepping up on my soapbox and clearing throat) There are some people who, for one reason or another, need to run 3 and 4 abreast all the time. To pass these people you have to run off the trail and in the weeds. As I both ride and run, I understand that runners have the right of way on the trails but show some courtesy when being overtaken by a bike and file up until they are past. That being said it also irks me when bikers do not “announce” their intentions nor how many are in their group. I realize that these are not laws but are done out of common courtesy to fellow people who are all just trying to stay healthy while having some fun. I also realize that they are not necessary all the time when the trails are not that crowded, but on a weekend morning or weekday afternoon I feel it necessary. (stepping down)
Sorry about the rant, but it has always been something that bothers me and I am sure that I am not the first one to go on about it…..and I could have kept going on.
So back to the running……or well training. Happened upon a great single-track trail on the opposite side of the bayou where we have been running in Terry Hershey park. Checked it out yesterday and was very surprised to find how nice of a trail it was for my mountain bike cross-training. Only got to ride for 45 min because I got a late start and it was pretty well dark when I was coming out. The trail was nice, some technical spots mixed in with some nice cruising; overall a nice combo. The ride was a little wake-up call that I need to get on my bike more often than I have been, had to stop and rest a couple of times after some pretty good climbs. Check cross training off my list for this week.
Tonight is a 5 mile run which I am anticipating will go well. I am shooting for 15 miles this Saturday here in Houston. That is the full park trail from Hwy 6 to Beltway 8……Will keep you posted
Scooter

7 miles!!!

Although I have not been writing, I have been running (and stretching). Slowly I am building my mileage back up and keeping myself injury free. Last Saturday I ran with the team for the first time in well over a month. Ran with the 1/2 marathon group as they were doing 7 miles and felt really good the whole time. The course route took us through the Hyde Park area of Austin which has some really cool houses to look at. Felt like running in New Orleans again with the early craftsman style houses on big lots (instead of the current trend of big houses on small lots). Felt like I was keeping a good pace until I was passed very quickly by the Rouge Training group that is for the Austin Marathon in February to qualify for the Boston Marathon. They thundered past me like I was standing still.......I did not even try to keep pace with them! Finished up my 7 miles in a little over an hour which put me in the high 9's but I am happy with that.
Will be shooting for a 10 mile run this Saturday.......look forward to that!
Scooter

Fundraiser Tournament

Ok, I know that I promised that I was going to be more diligent about posting new blogs on here but life has not slowed down enough to give me time.
On September 9th we (myself, Stacie, Meredith and Beth) had a washer tournament fundraiser at our house in the greenbelt. For those of you not familiar with this game, it is like horseshoes but you use 1” washers and try to pitch them into a hole in the ground. Simple enough……. We had a great turnout and some really awesome prizes for the winners, but I am getting ahead of myself.
Started on the red beans Friday night and let them cook all day Saturday. Had never made that quantity of red beans before and I ended up firing up my high pressure burner in the backyard to get the water to a quick boil!
We had a “set-up” party on Saturday afternoon to get prepared for the fundraiser. Kyle (Meredith’s husband) and I were in charge of making the washer pits in the greenbelt and the girls took care of the Costco and grocery store trip. Kyle and I got the pits made, set up the floodlights in the trees and did some damage to a keg of beer. The girls came back loaded down with groceries and we had to get creative to fit it all in the fridge. We worked on blanketing the house and neighborhood with Team in Training posters and banners that were donated by out local chapter and even hung one up over the washer lanes.
Woke up at 3am Sunday morning to start my smoker and get the brisket on. I had never smoked a brisket before but I was up to the challenge. Took naps till 8 or so waking up every 40 min to check the firebox and temps on the smoker. Stacie and I picked up some large tables donated for use at the fundraiser and got them moved into the backyard. Beth showed up with the donated keg (which was already iced down) and we moved it to the back to let it settle for a while. Brisket came off the smoker a little ahead of schedule but I held it in the oven till the party started.
The tournament got underway at 4pm amid a great deal of laughter and good-natured ribbing. Food and drinks were flowing well during the games and even after the tournament ended there was plenty to graze on. Some grand prize for the tournament were a football autographed by UT head coach Mack Brown, massage gift certificates, and a gift certificate to one of Austin’s fine dining establishments. In the end we had enough door-prizes to make everyone happy!
The guests slowly trickled out, floodlights were turned on to light the washer lanes and we had a couple more games just for the fun of it. In the end, everyone had a great time; we had some good laughs, good food and good drinks all while raising money for a very worthy cause.
I will post some pictures when I get a chance.
Scooter and Stacie!

2 Miles!!!!

What's the big deal about 2 miles.....I remember in the recent past that I though it trivial to run just 4 miles but when coming off an injury it is like starting over again. So I tested things out yesterday to see how my legs are responding to the stretching. Good news is that I made it two miles before I started feeling my IT band tightening up again. I was not in pain and feel pretty good this morning but I did not want to push my luck and injure it again. I feel that in this period of my training it is better to err on the side of caution as I cannot afford to be out of the game for another injury. My plan for this coming week is to stretch twice a day everyday and run every other day. Distances will be quite short, compared to what I am used to running but feel that I lost a lot of ground while I was out of commission and do not want to jump right back into it. Think this setback has been more mentally draining on me than physical. I have never had anything slow down my running to this point and am fighting the realization that I cannot just bounce back like I used to. Quite the eye-opener for me as to the necessity of proper warm-up routines as well as stretching......which used to be like flossing to me in that it was always recommended but somehow I was just fine without. Keep checking back and I promise that I will continue my updates Scooter

Injury Report

I have not been writing recently due to an injury (or combination if injuries) that I incurred following the 16 mile run on 8-11-07. I felt great all throughout the run and made it in a respectable time but when I woke up the following day I had a lot of pain in my left leg on the inside of my knee. I just wrote it off and figured it would get better and until then I would just hobble around. Felt a little better after my massage on Monday with Holly. She worked on it a little and said that she could feel some swelling on the tendons and that it was inflamed. Made an appointment with my sports doctor on Friday to get it checked out and hoped to be running the next week. By the time Friday rolled around, I was noticing tenderness in my right leg IT band and brought that up to him as well. He listened to my symptoms and poked at it a little before quickly diagnosing it as Pes Anserinus Syndrome. For those of you that are not doctors I will quote from the medical text that he gave me to read :
“The pes anserinus is the tendon insertion of three muscles of the thigh into the upper leg (tibia), just below the knee to the inner side of the front of the leg. Where the tendon attaches to bone, there is a bursa sack between the bone and tendon. The bursa functions like a water balloon to reduce friction and wear of the tendon against the bone. With this syndrome there is inflammation and pain of the bursa, tendon, or both.”
The paper he gave me to read is a couple of pages long so for the sake of time I will not continue with the exact quote. The doctor did think that since the IT band problem is in the opposite leg that I aggravated it by running on uneven surfaces (side of the road) where the curb and pavement meet. Sounds logical to me!
Treatment is simple with stretching daily (he gave me a few stretches to help), Advil 3 times a day and resting as not to continue aggravating it. He told me that I should not start running again until it felt better. Unfortunately it has been a while since I have been running and it was only a couple of days ago that I could walk without much pain.
I decided that it was time to start running short distances again after 2 weeks of recovery and “test the waters” to make sure that it was feeling better and not cause further aggravation. Did an extensive stretching routine after warming up and felt pretty good when I first started out. Well I made it about ¾ of a mile when I started feeling my IT band tightening up again to the point that I noticed that I had adjusted my stride to compensate. I stopped running and walked the ¾ of a mile back to the truck; a very disappointing start.
I have started going to the gym in addition to the stretching and can use the elliptical machine without any discomfort. The plan is (as of today) to try running again this Thursday…..wish me luck!

Stacie's Honored Hero

This update on the marathon training is unfortunately one I wish I didn’t have to write. But it is very likely the most inspiring and motivating part of my training.

I found out this weekend that my good friend (and I like to say “mentor”) Celeste’s husband Jeff was just diagnosed with Lymphoma a little over 6 weeks ago. Until now I was strangely able to say that, unlike a large majority of the population, my life had not been touched directly by either Leukemia or Lymphoma. I was one of the few members of the Team In Training program that did not have a personal connection to the dreadful cancers that we are running to hopefully cure.

I let Jeff and Celeste know that they are my new inspiration and official “honored heroes.” In one of Jeff’s first blogs he mentions the treatment that he is going through. He is traveling to Bethesda, from New Orleans, every 21 days for treatment. He is participating in a clinical trial between two long-standing protocols called R-CHOP and DA-EPOCH-R. Jeff’s blog is much more adept at explaining the trial itself, and I listed the web address below so that you can check it out too.

Jeff’s courage and strength to participate in a clinical trial seems to emphasize the importance of the fundraising that Scooter and I are doing. 75 cents of every dollar we raise goes directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for research and patient financial support. And if Jeff is strong enough to sign up for a clinical trial offering two very different approaches at treatment, without know which one he would ultimately be assigned, I think I can find the strength to voluntarily run 26.2 miles.

So this one is officially for Jeff, my Honored Hero!
Jeff is one of the funniest and nicest people that I have ever met, and even reading his “cancer blog” seems strangely uplifting and motivating. You should all check it out at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=jeffreyanding

Still Running

I am still running, and running and running. I have to admit that I am not having the time of my life, but I am not hating it either. During the week we are now meeting as early as 4:45 AM to get in 7 miles before work.

We increased our mileage two weeks ago to 16 miles. The run was actually pretty enjoyable until mile 13. We had a long stretch without water and aid, and the temperature increased to about 90 degrees with the sun beating down. Needless to say that the remaining 3 miles were awful, and I really struggled to finish in a good mood. Okay, maybe I didn’t finish in a good mood, but I only hated the world for about 10 minutes.

Shortly after the run we found out that the coaches had decided to start the “back down.” Back down is when we decrease our mileage before the race and slowly start to increase again. So last Saturday we only had to run 12 miles. I know, I never thought that I would be saying “only” 12 miles, but it felt like a nice break.

Scooter had to take the week off. After the 16 mile run, which he finished without any pain, he burst a fluid sack in his knee and is unable to run on it for a while. But Natalie and I ran the leisurely 12 miles and headed to Barton Springs.

For those of you who are not familiar with Barton Springs, it is a natural spring here in Austin, that stays at a constant 68 degrees all year long. It was a nice change from the weekly ice bath. It stung quite bad when we first jumped in, but treading water for 10 minutes in the icy water felt nice, and was a lot less hassle than buying 20lbs of ice, and emptying the bags into a bathtub you know you are about to get into.

Scooter and I bought our third pair of shoes for the season, hopefully this will be the last pair, and I have started breaking them in. My shin splint is getting better slowly, but Scooter is still not yet running.

I sent out my emails for donation because they have started to slow significantly and we still have over $2000 each to raise. We have a fundraiser and washer tournament planned for September 9th that will hopefully get us a little closer.

13.2 Half Way There

Well, it has been a while since I have updated the blog, and we have definitely put in some mileage since last time.

We are currently up to 13.2 miles. That is right ladies and gentleman, we have passed the half way point and I have to admit it wasn’t to bad. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me back up a week or two and fill you in on what we have been doing.

Because I am writing the blog I can really only speak for myself and let you know how I think Scooter is doing. However, from the amount of time we spend talking about running I think I have a pretty good handle on his situation as well.

2 weekends ago, we woke up late, and in a panic!!
We were supposed to start our group training and 10.5 miles at 6:15 and it was 6:20 when we rolled over. I was irrational and distraught, because I did not know how I could possibly run that long without support from the team and WATER/AID STATIONS. Scooter was convinced we could make our own up ad we would be fine. (he is definitely self motivated, unlike me). Luckily enough Beth called from the starting point wondering where we were. I explained the alarm problem and we came up with a solution. She would leave the maps under her windshield and we could head to the starting point and do the run as well.

We got there about 45 minutes after they started and were shocked to find that every single one of the volunteer aid stations had heard we were close behind and waited for us!! We ended up coming in just before the last walkers, not to bad for a late start.

The week after that was kind of uneventful. I went to an abs class at Jack and Adam’s bike shop on Monday. I was definitely tired when I left, but kind of disappointed about the work out, because I did not feel it in my abs at all.. UNTIL NEXT DAY! I definitely ate my words, it hurt so bad to even drive to work. But hey, a marathon is run from your core. You can have the strongest legs in the world, but if you don’t have a solid core you wont make it. But 3 weeks later I think I am still recovering.

We sent our 1st and 2nd batch of checks in (although we have yet to see them actually post). And we sent our first batch of thank you cards (only 2 have come back to us).

The week later we were in New Orleans for the long run. We were supposed to run 12 miles. It ended up being about 11. But it was by far the worst 2 hours of my life, and I say that with no exaggeration. Scooter mapped a run that looked beautiful (on a map) it was in Slidell, LA on the water, through upper class neighborhoods and golf courses. Well the run was AWFUL. It was flat and boring, and sweltering hot. The traffic was bad and there was nothing to look at. At about mile 10, I really thought I was done. I had not given up yet in our training, but I knew this would be it. Before passing out I stopped to walk and Scooter was smart enough to find a water spigot at an apartment building, where we re-hydrated and were able to make it back, to the much needed ice bath.

The week after was a slow one. We were kind of beat up (and down) from our run on Saturday, we may have taken more than one day off to recover. Scooter headed to Houston, where he was forced to take another couple days off, due to weather and lack of sleep.

Saturday came and it was the “half marathon” We ran the Motive Bison course which is a half marathon run here in, North Austin, Riata area to be exact. Lots of hills, okay maybe only 4 but they were awful hills. We climbed 250 feet in less than 2 miles.
I also had my first real experience with the runner’s goo. I found 2 flavors I actually kind of enjoy, “double latte” and “vanilla bean.” But at mile 10 I realized that the goo can go right through you if you are not careful, or not used to it. Something about the mile 10 and I, we just do not get along well. We made it in finally, and I made it to my car and home just in time. I didn’t have time for an ice bath, so needless to say I am definitely feeling tight.

This week has started slow again, the morning runs are actually getting harder and harder, not easier. We are meeting at 5AM now, in order to get done in time. The August schedule came out today and it looks like we are increasing mileage again. We will be running 6 and 7 miles in the morning, which will probably mean a 4:30 start time.

Oh and most importantly, we have reached our recommitment point. We have to look at our donations and “recommit” which basically means deciding whether or not we should quit now, or try and raise the remaining money. We still have quite a ways to go, but there is no stopping now. We have come too far, hundreds of miles to be honest!