A Marathon & A Munchkin

I have lots of excuses: returned to work full time, kiddos are getting older, part-time job, too much laundry, weather is too cold, The Oldest was home from school, The Munchkin was sick, gym was too far.

At the end of the day though, that's all they really were and are. Excuses. There is always time, it's just a matter of priorities. Do I want to sleep another hour or do I want to get up and haul my happy behind to the gym before the sun rises to run nowhere on a treadmill? What do I want. Do I want?

I sit at my desk listening to the 2014 Boston Marathon and once again I'm transported home - to Patriots Day and watching the Battle of Lexington & Concord, to knowing the Red Sox were playing and beautiful spring days that were filled with warmth and sun. But some of the best memories were of watching The Marathon. Seeing the elites cruise on by powered by legs that, as a little girl, seemed to move faster than most cars were able to drive. But what followed was the most special - the sea of bobbing heads as runners continued their journey toward 26.2 and a finish line. The high 5s. The costumes. The smiles.

There was no possible way I could have appreciated what it has to mean to be able to train for a marathon in the hopes that you qualify for another. But years later, after having completed a handful of 13.1s I get it. It's so much more than a race though - it's a journey and I'm not even sure that a finish line is the final destination. 

 So why write now? Why after almost a year? Because I happened to glance down at the screen of my iPod mini and I saw a little girl, probably the same age as The Munchkin, hanging on to one of the fencing units that separates runners and spectators. One of the announcers said, "I have a feeling someday she'll be running this race for herself."  I'm not sure Eleanor is ever going to see me run Boston, but I sure as heck hope that some day I can stand on the other side of that fencing, raise my hand and wave my arm to try and get her attention, and see her smile just as she takes flight on her own Boston journey.

The Munchkin and I have run sporadically over the last few months after taking most of the winter off. I had been having a hard time finding my motivation back and her 4 year old-I'm-going-to-assert-my-free-will self sometimes was less than thrilled about going with me. On Friday I picked her up from daycare and told her we'd go home and before I had a chance to finish my sentence she said, "And are we going to go running?"

So that's what we did. On a beautiful Friday afternoon, we went for a run. Toward the end of the run, as I always do, I let her out of the jogger and off she went. For 1.25 miles. As we were running she turned to me and said, "Mommy, what's the happiest part of running?"

"It's when I'm running with you, Eleanor," I told her. 

She looked at me and smiled. "I love running with you too!" she said and then took off one more time while squealing, "I'M FASTER THAN YOU!"

Game on, baby girl. Game on.

And time to find my way back to that 26.2 by way of motoring along with my Munchkin.

Reflections & A Resolution

It's been about two months since I've done any sort of regular physical activity and more than 3 since I've been able to log consistent miles running. While my clothes are starting to feel a bit snug from the handful of pounds that I've added, I'm the first to admit that I needed the break because staying in shape is not only demanding physically - but it takes planning and scheduling and sticking to a routine. And quite honestly there have been plenty of times that I've wanted to say screw it. I like sitting on my ass and eating cookies and enjoying french fries and taking a nap in the afternoon when everyone else is napping instead of heading out the door to squeeze in some miles.

Christmas Goodies

Thankfully, my body has reached a point of revolt and revolution and I find myself craving salads, pears, and carrot sticks more than I do brownies and ice cream. Getting back into the swing of things - swimming and running and yes, spinning - is going to take some doing but I know once I do it will again become habit and I will be well on my way to logging miles and swimming meters and happily riding a spin bike going nowhere fast. I'm grateful that the Sports Santa was generous and brought me a nice collection of new swim gear that included a gear bag, paddles, a pull buoy and a waterproof iPod. Yes, you did read that correctly, the iPod itself is waterproofed)

I surprised myself in 2012 by completing 4 half marathons, one 4 miler, a handful of 5ks and a couple of 1 mile runs for fun (okay, maybe it was running for beer but still). Somewhere along the way I actually began to enjoy running but even better was the fact that The Munchkin began to enjoy running with me. We've logged a couple hundred miles this year, she and I.  I have my moments when I enjoy the peace and solitude when I'm alone with the pavement under my feet and the thoughts in my head - running isn't the same without her anymore. We talk. We sing. She yells at me to run faster or pushes me to keep running when I think that I need to walk. She's only two, soon to be three - but in that tiny body of hers is an intense motivation to keep moving if nothing else so I can spend as much time with her as I can because I know these moments (ones like when she looks at me and says, "I yur runnin' buddy")  will slip by far too fast. 

2012 also caused me to look at my training - how I train and what I train for - and re-prioritize what I want to get out of my running. I used to be driven by a need and a desire to beat a personal best. I thought 2012 was going to be the year I pushed myself closer to a sub 2 hour half marathon and then the injuries started to add up. They weren't always mine - but having friends being put out of commission for months at a time to let an injury heal made me appreciate what it meant to run with the goal of running happy and injury free. Ultimately I've started to accept that what's best for me isn't to push for time - it's to concentrate on finishing but having fun in the process because life is, after all, a journey and not a destination. 

I've registered for my first half marathon of 2013 and on New Year's Day will register for my second and possibly my third. Sometime before the end of February I plan on registering for what I hope will be my first marathon. If there's one thing I want in 2013 it's to train for a marathon with The Munchkin - it's a journey I started with her in 2012 and it won't seem right if I don't complete it without her. I'd like to try trail running - but I'd also like to knock off a sprint tri if I can somehow scrounge enough together for a relatively inexpensive road bike.

Oh, and my resolution?

It's not to lose weight or to get in shape or to run a sub 2 hour half marathon. All I want to do is conquer and master the making of a perfect lemon meringue pie. I'll keep you posted as to my progress :) 


 

Salt Lick

Yuppers. This is about how I felt after my run this afternoon. Temps at run time? In the low 90s. Humidity? High. Me? Sweating like a mofo.

Ask most people who know me and I'm blessed to be the kind of person who sweats, but doesn't smell. I've been out for 2+ hour runs to return home, clothes soaking wet but no stink on me at all. Hooray for small miracles, right?

I do, however, seem to become quite the human salt flat once said sweat evaporates. Last summer I'd get the fine, telltale, white squiggly outlines on my skin that indicated salt crystals. I think the only thing worse was realizing my then 13 month old Munchkin would actually lick my shoulder after a run because of it.

I ran with a friend, Kara, today. I used to be a pretty solitary runner, but after running two half marathons with friends, and then a one mile "fun run" with Kara I've come to find I really enjoy having the company, conversation and companionship. Admittedly, when I pulled into the parking lot I couldn't help but wonder to myself whose brilliant idea it was to run 4 miles in this kind of heat (read: mine) and what the heck I was thinking. It's days like these that send me back to my initial months of running when my inner monologues were robust and I often wondered what possessed me to think I could ever become a runner. But then something happened. I actually began to enjoy running. I looked forward to it. I would run because I wanted to, not because I had to (which is another story for another time). And as much as I may have whined and complained a little throughout the four miles - I really did enjoy this workout.

Our miles were slow. 4 miles in 41:55 for an overall pace of 10:28/mi, that's about what I had been running in the spring on my long training runs pushing The Munchkin, but they were solid. I felt somewhat wimpy when I ended up downing the two bottles of water on my hydration belt but in these types of conditions is much better to be smart than to be stubborn.

I have speedwork on the schedule for tomorrow and I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to take it outside early in the morning, or if I'm going to go indoors in the afternoon and then get in a quick swim for active recovery. Week 1 of Marathon Training is almost over... already looking forward to Week 2.

To Plan or Not to Plan, That is The Question

June 18, 2012

Marathon plan called for Sunday off and 20-30 minutes cross training today. Usually on Monday's I both run and swim - and I did so during my half training without much trouble but I also know that a marathon is an entirely different beast. In the interest of being smart, at least for now, I cut out the run and stuck with the swim.

I'm still not entirely sure of how I'm going to proceed over the next few weeks while my running mileage remains lower than what I've been putting in. Before I decided to make the leap into 26.2 I spoke with Charlie at my trusted running store, Blue Mile and found that my average mileage of about 20 to 25 per week is my "base". I had spent some time building up to that over the course of my last half marathon, but continued to run longer every other weekend after in an attempt to keep up my fitness. Admittedly, after all the work that I've done to lose weight and get fit, there's also something intensely gratifying to know that I can call on my body to run 13.1 at any given point in time.

Charlie did advise that between my half and starting up marathon training it'd be okay to cut back on mileage some - part for the mental break of sticking to a training plan day in and day out, but also to give my body the opportunity to recoup and recover.  I still consider myself to be a novice runner, but what he was saying made sense to me so over the last couple of weeks I reduced my mileage pretty considerably (or what seemed to sot me).  Of course now... now I've got nervous twitches that somehow I'm not going to be able to build back up or that I'm going to struggle doing so. In my HEAD I know this is nonsense. The Type-A, overachiever in me debates that.

What I may do is throw in lower mileage, truly easy run one day a week (like Monday) and keep that up until my midweek mileage catches up. Of course, I think the best advice I got on Daily Mile came from Olu when he said:

I would follow the plan as closely as possible at least for the 1st one. There's nothing remotely intuitive of marathon training until you've done it before.

I'm realizing that everything I know how about running - fueling, hydration, recovery - is about to get shaken up, but that's okay.

So in keeping with my plan I stuck with cross training only and made my way to the gym where I spent close to 45 minutes in the cool, calm, waters of the lap pool. If there's one thing about swimming indoors during the summer it's that most people have made tracks to be outdoors, so there's less lane comedy or chaos. There's something amazing when it's only me - the water is smooth and my swim is more like gliding through the water than trying to power through it.

My choice of music changes when I'm swimming - I tend to favor Coldplay, Enya, maybe Enigma but by far what I listen to the most is Maroon 5. Thinking about Adam Levine waiting for me at the end of my lane doesn't hurt - but the music, particularly from the Hands All Over album, seems to be perfectly paced and sets just the right "mood" for me to find my Zen in the pool.

Being in the water is where I feel most at peace. Whenever I've found myself feeling particularly challenged, emotionally vulnerable or just having a difficult time in general I've turned to water - the shower, the tub, the pool, a lake, the rain, the snow. Water cleanses, rinses and renews. It flows along gentle and easy or churns and roars with power and might or freezes into crystalline beauty that floats from the heavens and covers the earth. Much like the road and the path have become an old friend that welcomes me back whenever I lace up my shoes - so too is the water, but it envelopes and surrounds and comforts.

Had hoped for 2000m but it wasn't in the cards but that's okay. Was more important to hop out, collect The Oldest from kid care and spend some time pool side with her. She's growing and changing every day - I want to capture memories and moments and time spent with her while I still can because I know that it's going to seem like only a nanosecond and she'll be all grown up with kids of her own.