2015 Marine Corps Marathon - Moving Forward The Next Step

Well it's been a week since I ran the 2015 Marine Corps Marathon.  I've spent some time doing a little soul searching this week after the disastrous race last week.  I refuse to let this derail me like my last marathon attempt in 2007 did.  So I refuse to brood and dwell on it. I need to heal, lick my wounds, take stock of where I am and figure out where I need to go from here. This was my 3rd marathon, my worst time, my hardest race and admittedly the one I felt I followed the training plan the best on. I didn't skip runs, I didn't shorten runs, I did what was on my plan. So where does this leave me?

1) Looking at the pictures from the race I am embarrassed to realize just how much weight I have let myself gain in the past 2-1/2 years. In January of 2013 when I decided to start training to run a half marathon again with the goal of running a full marathon in 2015 I was within 10lbs of my ideal weight. I looked great and felt great. I also had gotten to that weight on a 900 - 1200 calorie a day diet (don't yell I know that wasn't smart) which was not sustainable with running. Instead of trying to modify it sensibly, over the past 2-1/2 years I eventually stopped tracking what I was eating and didn't seem to care any more. I am now closer to 50 lbs away from my ideal weight and I can tell it. I won't get down to my ideal weight by Dopey, but at least I can start making positive changes in the right direction. An that does not mean going back to a super low cal diet, but I need to cut out the excess sugar, take stock of what I am eating and figure out a plan.  I knew I had gained weight, but it really wasn't until I saw this picture, that I realized just how much weight I'd gained.

This is embarrassing and not acceptable.  I will make positive changes and work towards getting back to a healthy weight.  I'm putting it out there publicly so I have to focus on it.  

To think this was me 2 years ago at Wine & Dine makes me sad.  

2) I think I need to look into my training plan and maybe make some changes. I am not certain that the extra long long runs have been beneficial for me. Building up to the Marine Corps Marathon I had 3 runs that were longer than 20 miles in my schedule. I ran 22 miles, 24 miles and repeated 24 miles (I cut the scheduled 27 back to 24) and after each of those long long runs it seemed to take longer and longer to get the dead leg feeling to go away. I even commented Saturday before MCM that my legs still felt heavy even after my taper period. I think maybe I should look into some different plans that have me running more days but less mile on the longest day. I'm looking at my schedule now and seeing what I need to change to get the miles in and not break my body down before Dopey.  

3)I need to run with someone during Dopey. My sister joined me in Crystal City and walked with me to mile 26. Having someone with me to talk to made those last miles much easier. I have a feeling I'd have been able to push through some of the earlier miles with someone next to me.  I'm very glad that I have a great team in the Mickey Milers and a bunch of people running at Walt Disney World in January.  I will make friends and have a running partner for those races.  

4)I need to not worry about the clock.  For Dopey I my goal is to run all 4 races, finish ahead of the Balloon ladies with a smile on my face.   I'm throwing time goals out the window for that weekend.  My ultimate goal is to finish the marathon feeling like I finished the marathon.

So that's it.  65 days to the start of the Dopey Challenge.  I will have fun, I will complete it and I will be ready.  Let's just keep moving Forward.  

We're All Mad Here! AKA It's Taper Time

T- Minus 12 days (and a couple hours depending on when I post this) until the start of the 40th Marine Corps Marathon and that mean's one things.  Taper Madness is taking over my brain.  It doesn't help that the Astros choked in the 8th today and the Texans and Yellow Jackets seem to have forgotten that it is football season.  So if my sports teams can't keep my focused in the fall, I need something else to obsess about.

I don't remember feeling this way before my first 2 marathons, but I also hadn't put as much effort into my training for those, nor had I experienced that haunting sensation of a bad race that can fester and rock your confidence for years to come.

I find myself going over my training log wondering did I do enough, am I ready?  What pace should I start with during the race?  What intervals have worked best for me?  How should I handle the hills?  Which shoes should I wear?  How much water should I carry?  What does the bridge look like?  Can I beat the bridge?  Can I keep the pace?  How much should I run this week?  Next week?  What is the best way to get from the hotel to the start line?  What parking garage should I use?  Do I need to reserve a spot?  What mistakes did I make before NYC?  What can I do differently to not make those mistakes again?  What will the weather be like?  What can I eat the day before?    What are my goals for this race?  What do I want on my play list?

I need to replace all the negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
I need to visualize myself with the bridge in my rear view mirror.
I need to trust my training.  I've put in a lot of miles.  I should be ready to do this.  No I am ready to do this.
I need to stay healthy.
I need to relax and try to enjoy the moment
I need to get out of my own head.
I need to sit down and figure out the logistics.
I need to get more sleep
I need to hydrate


Maybe I should spend a little time in Wonderland with the Cheshire Cat.  Maybe I just need a different kind of madness to get through taper.  If I'm this crazy now, it's a good thing I have a cruise and Christmas to distract me during Dopey Taper.

What do you do to survive the weeks leading up to a marathon?  How do you keep sane?

MCM in T-minus 30 days

Yikes - how did that happen?  It's been a crazy 6-7 weeks since my last check-in and I figured I'd update my Marine Corps Marathon Training and the start of incorporating Dopey Training into the mix.

When I last checked in I had just finished my 18 mile training run and had entered the serious marathon training mode.  I was hitting all my training runs and slogging through the summer heat.  I knew the next few weeks were going to be crazy and that proved to be true.

In early August I took the girls on a road trip from Houston to Virginia, hopped on a plane to Wisconsin for work and the back to Virginia to drive home to Houston via North Carolina and Georgia.  One of the fun things about travel is getting to run in new places.  In a little over one week time frame I ran in Houston, TX, Winchester, VA, Madison, WI and Fayetteville, NC.  Look at some of these views.

Bonus of running in places other than Houston - lots of hills.

The downside of the trip was it was a lot of traveling and a lot of time in the car.  All of that got me off schedule a little but I came home and officially kicked of my Dopey training with my first back to back weekend.  I woke up early on Friday and ran 4 miles before work and then got up Saturday at 1:00 am to start my 21 miler at 2:00 am to attempt to beat the heat.  21 miles on August 22nd and I finished it feeling great.  No pain, no soreness, no dizziness, no upset stomach.  I was confident and feeling like I was going to rock Marine Corps.

It was hot and muggy but I pushed through

 I even found time to read a little Huck Finn with Mark Twain outside the library

But it was a 2 shoe - super squishy hot - muggy day.  I ended that 21 miles with a nasty blood blister on my toe and some even worse skin chafing.  I'll save you those pictures.

But even with those minor complaints I felt great after the 21 miler.  I was confident, I finished at a training pace in a pace that would definitely be fast enough to beat the bridge in DC.  I was on top of the world.

Until I went out for a simple midweek run on Tuesday and suddenly I felt like I had dead legs.    My legs were tight, my ankles were hurting and I got nervous and anxious.

That weekend I had more travel.  This time I went to Tennessee for my cousin's wedding.  I managed some more destination running in Tennessee before the wedding and Don Quixote met me at the finish line to let me know just how crazy I am.

I had to really slow that run down because my calf was really getting tight.  I think it might have been one too many hilly runs in the month of August.

Unfortunately I woke up the next morning with a sinus headache and the resulting sinus infection had me unable to run for about a week.

As I was trying to ease myself back into a workout the next week I went to my weekly BodyJam class at the YMCA.  About halfway through the class I felt something pop in my right calf.  I don't normally curse, but the words that came out of my mouth would have made Coach O'Brien of the Texans proud.  I was glad the music was very loud.  I was not glad my calf went pop.

I immediately shut it down.  I hobbled out of the class and down the hall to the exercise room where I found the trusty foam roller.  I rolled out my calf and then stopped at Walgreen's and picked up an ice pack on my way to the dance studio to get Megan.

The next morning I immediately contacted my coach (Jeff Galloway) to see what he suggested.  I was supposed to run 24 miles that coming weekend.  He advised me to continue with the foam roller or the stick and to walk my 4 miler on Saturday and walk my 24 miler on Sunday.  Yes you read that correctly I said walk the 24 miler on Sunday.

Fortunately I got a nice attitude pick me up because Jeff was actually in town that weekend to kick off the fall half marathon training season.

Spending time with Jeff is always motivational.

So the next morning I went out on my 24 mile walk.  The good news was it was cooler and dryer than it had been for the previous couple of months.  

My favorite running partner Shadow joined me for the first 9 miles and then again with James and the girls for the last 3 miles.  

I survived 24 miles.  Walking 24 miles was much harder than running 21 miles 3 weeks earlier.  Not physically but mentally.  It was a long long long time on my feet by myself.  Fortunately I had some great podcasts to listen to.  I definitely wasn't going to beat the bridge at that pace.  I finished up around a 19:45 min/mile average pace.  It was slow.  But my calf  didn't hurt and I was able to stay on schedule and on track.

Later that week I started easing back into running with some short run intervals.  It was slow but at least it was running. 

Sunday September 27th I officially kicked off the fall racing season with the Houston Texans Running of the Bulls 5k.  I'm going to attempt a full race review later in a separate post but from a marathon training perspective I learned a few things.

1) do not attempt to run a 5k at 5k race pace when you have done all your speed work and training sessions for the past 6 months at marathon race pace

2) do not attempt to run a 5k at 5k race pace when the temperature is in the upper 70's/low 80's and the humidity is high

3) do not attempt to run a 5k at 5k race pace when you are 11 days out from an injury and not fully recovered.  

In case you couldn't tell I did not finish the race at a 5k race pace.  I started it that way for about the first 1.25 miles.  My ankle was tight, my legs were like lead and it was hot and humid.  I slowed down for the last part of the race and finished up with a 11:59 min/mile pace which is slower than my 10 mile race pace or 1/2 marathon race pace which leads me to my next decision.

The Huntsville 10 miler on 9/27.  I was thinking about running this to try to improve my corral placement for Dopey.  The deadline to submit an updated time is 10/6.  The time I have submitted predicts my marathon time at 5:32.  I figure if I want to move up a corral I would have to get that predicted time under 5:30 and to do that it would require a 10 miler in 1:55.  That would be a PR for me and 11:30 min/mile pace for 10 miles.  Theoretically it should be doable based for me to run 11:30 pace for 10 miles, but at this stage I know I would need things to align perfectly for that to happen.  Perfectly would mean a 60°F or cooler race day, no injury and probably a true taper for that race (which I can't afford to do right now with the marathon in 30 days).  Well the 60°F isn't going to happen in Huntsville in September.  The current forecast is a low of 68° and a high of 90°.  The calf tightness is still lingering and I have a flight later Sunday afternoon for work.  So for all of these reasons I am glad I held off on registering and I feel no obligation to race this weekend.

So where am I with MCM in T-minus 30 days.  I'm not sure.  Mentally I'm struggling.  The last month has taken me out of my game some.  I'm working on the mental training and mantras I need to get through the last push to the marathon and to get through the race.

Next week I'll be in Branson so I'll have one more opportunity for some real hill training during the week.  Then I have my last long run scheduled on 10/3.  The training schedule calls for 6 miles on 10/2 and 27 miles on 10/3.  No that was not a typo I will be running 27 miles in just over a week. 

After that we will see how I finished, how I feel and where I'm at and at that point I will set a few goals for Marine Corps.  The ultimate goal is to beat the bridge and finish the race.

And when my last long run is finished it will be taper time - the time where I try not to go completely crazy and get healthy in preparation for the race.  

Welcome to fall and the start of fall racing season.  Good luck to all those fall marathoners getting started in the next few weeks.  Good luck to anyone running a race of any distance this fall.  Enjoy the nicer weather and get out and run.  I hope your training has been well and your races are successful.

Marathon Training is in full swing

Technically Marathon Training for the Marine Corps Marathon started in May but Marathon training didn't really get real to me until this week.


I've been running a lot of half marathons over the past 2 years and the half marathon distance while not easy is manageable now.  I pretty much have kept myself in half marathon shape for the past year so even though I've been on a Marine Corps Marathon training schedule it didn't really get real until today.  Today I had 18 miles on the books.  18 miles is not typically a normal distance for a half marathon training plan so it felt like today was really the start of my Marine Corps Marathon training plan.

I was a little nervous heading into today.  I ran a 19 miler in March but it was 50 degrees in March.  That was not today's weather forecast.

That is not 50 deg weather.

I was a little anxious about the long run today.  Okay I was a lot anxious about this run.  My summer runs have left me a little defeated lately.  Running at night in 90°F Temps is no joke.  It's left me feeling slow and sluggish.  Speed work I was able to complete with ease in the spring I can't come close to completing now.  I struggled through the last 3 miles of my 15.5 mile run 3 weeks ago and started questioning my ability to train for the Marine Corps Marathon and Dopey.

Marathon training is probably 75% mental and 25% physical and the mental part was struggling right now.  Last year I let the mental part win and made the smart choice to drop my marathon.  I wasn't ready yet, but getting this 18 mile run in was crucial to my mental running state.

I know the temps are crazy and I know they drop over the nighttime hours, what you don't see is how quickly they go back up as the sun comes up.  And once that Houston sun gets above the horizon the same temps suddenly seem unbearable.  

Knowing that I calculated how long it should take to run 18 miles at a 14 min/mile pace and determined a 2:30am start time was needed.  No that is not a typo, I said 2:30 in the morning.  

My Galloway Training group is training for January Marathons so the long miles right now for Marine Corps are on me.  Fortunately I have some great running friends to help me and keep me company.  

I laid out my routes in multiple different loops.  It's dark - so scenery really doesn't make a difference.  My goal with the route was to run by the car multiple times to refill my water, well lit and safe streets with even sidewalks.  I can rralistically only carry enough water ib the summer for 7-8 miles.  Running at 2:30 in the morning requires some logistics beyond do I have enough water, to make sure things are safe and that you run by places that are open if the need for a pit stop arrises.  

My friend Amy had volunteered to run the first 10 miles with me.  Unfortunately she was nursing an injury and couldn't run, but because she is awesome she volunteered to ride her bike behind me to keep me company, provide sag support and a little extra safety in numbers.  We were both decked out in our headlamps and flashing lights.

It was definitely hot this morning but it never felt as bad as I feared it would be.  There was a nice little breeze, it was hot but not as muggy and it was cooler than the 97 it was earlier in the week when I decided to forego my speed work for a casual 3.5 mile run.

The first 10 miles went great.  A nice easy pace.  We looped back by the car at mile 6.75.  I refilled all my water balls.  We headed out for the next 3.25 miles and finished up right at 10 miles right on time to meet Kami for the next 5.

The next 5 miles went well at all.  It actually felt almost cool.  (Ok not really cool - but not as hot as it could have been).  The only problem on this five miles was that my feet were super wet and squishy and my arms were starting to chaff from my soaking wet shirt.  I realized about half way through this loop that I should have changed my shirt and socks before starting this loop.

The pace stayed constant and easy for the 5 miles.  My arms were really getting sore.  I wished there was a med tent to grab some vasoline.  Lesson learned - more body glide needed - dry shirt needed.  Don't wait to change it.  I know I can't change shirts mid race, but I'm hoping it won't be quite as humid in DC in October as it is in Houston in August.

I took a quick break before the last loop and changed shirts, socks, shoes and visor.  Yep all new dry clothes.  (well except for my skirt which was soaking wet but it's harder to change).

The group was there for the last 3 miles.  Having people to run that last 3 miles with was a huge bonus and really helped me to finish strong.  I slowed down a little on the last 3 miles.  It was closer to 14:20 for most of those miles.  I realized during those miles that I really hadn't fueled enough during the run.  The first 15 miles I had a small pack of fruit gummies and a couple of pretzels.  The pretzels were good to get a little something salty, but they are also dry and hard to eat.  Do not try to eat without a water stop straight ahead.

We finished 18.15 miles - total time 4:14:38.  Admittedly there were 3 stops to refill my water bottles, change running partners, and find dry clothes which would have added 15 minutes to my total.

I finished upright with a smile on my face at the distance and pace I intended.  I actually felt like I could have run further when I was done.  I needed more fuel.  I needed more body glide and dry clothes were a must but I will work on those for my 21 miler in a few weeks.

Amazingly other than being tired from the early morning wake up, the only negative from the run yesterday was the blood blister on my toe from my wet socks and the chaffing on my arms from my soaking wet shirt.  Both are healing up nicely already.  My legs felt good.

Finishing my 18 mile run left me feeling much more confident moving forward on my Marine Corp Marathon Training Schedule and my Dopey training plan.  

Next up 2 fun weeks of runs in maybe 5 different states and during those 2 weeks I will cross the 500 mile mark in running miles for 2015.  

Then it's Dopey training start time.  I'm sure as I get close to my first back-back with a 21 miler as the 2nd run on 8/22 I'll start getting anxious again.  Until then it's time to embrace a few weeks of travel running,  hopefully cooler temperatures and some real hills.  Of course it's always a good time to remind myself that these summer miles will make for a stronger faster fall marathon.