Late night snacking, watching TV, being bored....those are my downfalls, my weaknesses. Exercise is not the problem, at leaset not in amount or time spent. Intensity, perhaps sometimes, but I'm lucky right now. I have no children, no pets, heck, I don't even have a boyfriend. I work Wednesday night through Sunday and have plenty of time to go to classes, run, and workout at the gym.
So exercise isn't the problem, I can burn calories. I just need to not intake SO many calories that I can't burn through them.
The worst part? I typically watch TV, specifically The Biggest Loser tv show and eat dinner, snacks...and crap.
It's funny. I won't even allow myself to buy boxes of cookies, candy, chips, fast food, any of that crap.
I was a vegetarian for almost 2 years, partly because I was trying to lose weight.
I ran a MARATHON to try to lose weight.
I sweat, I calculate, and I hide. I watch this TV show and it makes these contestants realize what it is that's hiding behind their eating habits, what they're fearing.
I know a lot of my problem is boredom. Stress probably comes next. I don't really like to talk about issues that I have with situations or other people, because I don't want to feel as though I'm complaining, and I dislike confrontation. So instead, I bury the negative thoughts deep in my mind, and eat something sweet. Sugar makes everything better. For a very short period of time.
Honestly, I think my biggest issue or perhaps...fear is the right way to describe it. I never had a problem with weight when I was a child, I was a toothpick. My family always called me the garbage disposer because I could PUT SOME FOOD AWAY! I was so tiny, until 8th grade. That's when I started to develop some serious curves. I never wore a size 0, 2, or even a 4. And to be frank, I never wanted to. I didn't know that I was 'supposed' to. I didn't know that was believed to be 'beautiful' or the 'perfect size'. I was athletic, curvy, pretty and believed in myself.
Until men entered the picture. They were very attracted to me, and I started to feel that the only thing I had to offer them was my physical appearance. It didn't matter how I felt, what I said, or what was real on the inside. Men look at very few things in the first 5 seconds they meet you - period, end of story.
I'm sure it didn't help that a million years ago, when I was married (yes; young, dumb, and stupid) my husband told me that if I was to get fat, he would divorce me. I so wanted to be beautiful for him, and never felt like I was good enough. I would try everything I knew and even things I didn't know. Some of the experiments were probably healthier than others too.
Beauty school was probably the rock bottom, and then dissolving of another relationship with a man that I deeply cared for. I just kept thinking that if I was smaller, he would love me, he would want me. Because in my mind, men want woman that are thin, pretty. I finally figured out how to lose weight, but in a very unhealthy way.
Eating, no eating, eating disorders are a very difficult thing to deal with. Your mind is so obsessed with food at every moment, it just takes control of you. When you look in the mirror, you don't see someone beautiful, you don't see colorful, bright eyes, a pretty smile, good skin. You see tears, frown, broken blood vessels, and pale skin. You begin to distance yourself from everyone because food is a necessity of life, and your friends, family they attempt to bring food into your life. You push them away, making yourself even more alone than before, the only one you can count on. The only thing you have control over, complete control.
There is one thing I have no control over, and I have to relinquish the desire for it. One thing I learned when I was younger, women want to marry their father. Men, when they're dating - look at the girl's mother to see how she will turn out. For better or worse. And as right or wrong as it is, and I know that it's not right, and I'm sorry - but I don't want to turn out like my mother, nor do I want to look like her. I have watched her throughout my whole life, struggle with her weight. Always on one diet or another, never putting herself first, always living for her children, her husband, her relatives, her community, never doing what she needed to do to take care of herself.
It bothers me so much, it hurts so much inside when I see her and I realize that most likely, MOST LIKELY, she's NOT going to be there if/when I have grandchildren. She was diagnosed with cancer last year, and because she was so overweight, they wouldn't do surgery on her. They put her through chemotheraphy instead, with my father beside her every single time. She's in remission now, but she needs to focus on herself and her health for once.
I don't want to be like that. I want to be happy, I want to love myself. I want to love someone else, to have a family perhaps, if that's what's in the cards. I want to be able to stand in front of the mirror and be confident with who is looking back at me, to see the light shining from within, like it used to, before other type of thoughts consumed me.
Boredom - read a book.
Stress - do some yoga. Talk to a friend.
Fear - discover who I am, who the real me is. Understand that I am beautiful just the way I am.
I am scared though, I became SO obsessed after dating one guy that, once again, told me that I was the biggest girl he ever dated. Why people say cruel things like that, or like the kids in high school did, I will never know. They have no right, just as I don't either, to judge others. We all do, regardless if it's appropriate. I don't want to be fat. I just want to be beautiful. And I wish sometimes, that I could see what other people see. Perhaps one day.
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And perhaps I purposely sabotage myself because if I would allow myself to look like I used to, then maybe, for the first time in over 2 years, someone would become interested, a relationship would follow, and then more hurt would occur once the relationship dissolved. *sad smile* I "happily" say that I'm single, but the truth is that yes, while I enjoy doing exactly what I want, whenever I want, however I want...there is something so amazingly special about finding someone you can connect with, have good chemistry with, and share similiary core values and morals. And see, if I don't allow anyone to get close, then they can't hurt me. Sounds perfectly reasonable, right? A little ridiculous, but it's the perfect shield I suppose. If you don't open the door, no one can come inside. Unfortunately - there are still windows.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Full Moon Run
So I've been stuck a bit. Up and down about 5 pounds for a while now, with the exception of that crazy HCG diet week.
Honestly - I've been lazier. Not as crazy about getting my miles in, getting to classes, calculating every single calorie, allowing myself to have an alcoholic drink. Lazy I suppose equals living life.
Strangeness though - my self confidence is increasing, most of the time. I'm allowing myself to actually socialize with other people and not be so insecure about how I look or my weight not being where it should be. I think for a long time, I was waiting on living life until I achieved this goal, and so I wouldn't allow myself to do anything fun in the meantime.
I've discovered I love yoga. Power Yoga with Keri at Gold's is so hard, but it's so good or my mind, my body, my soul. I started taking yoga at Inner Peace when I can, and even though physically, it's not as hard, it's still great for the rest of me.
I did the Full Moon 5K run last Saturday and ended up taking off almost a full SIX MINUTES off last year's time. 27:30 is the fastest I've ever done a 5K, so I'm SUPER proud of that. I actually saw one of my guy friends beforehand and told him that my goal was for getting below 29. He told me "I've seen your training runs, I know you can run faster than that. You can get like 27." So we 'bartered' back and forth, and he helped me set my watch to make sure that I could check on it while I was running.
Last night I went to the TU Track speed interval workouts. I told the man in charge how fast I did the Full Moon Run, so he put me in the group he thought best, "5" I think. We ran a 1200, 1000, 800, 600, and 400. Each time we ran the different distances, we sped up, with a 200 meter recovery in between each distance. In the 400, I pushed myself up to where I had on Saturday night the last .2 of the mile, heartrate was at 94%. Ridiculous! I looked down and the fastest my Garmin said was 6:53/mile - that's REALLY awesome, especially for me!
So...I'm enjoying running a bit faster and not longer. I do have a few requests to be a pacer for that crazy 50 mile run, which I said I didn't want to do. 2 different people, so that would be 20.6 miles for me. *rolls eyes* I thought I was going to get out of training for long distances this summer.....
Honestly - I've been lazier. Not as crazy about getting my miles in, getting to classes, calculating every single calorie, allowing myself to have an alcoholic drink. Lazy I suppose equals living life.
Strangeness though - my self confidence is increasing, most of the time. I'm allowing myself to actually socialize with other people and not be so insecure about how I look or my weight not being where it should be. I think for a long time, I was waiting on living life until I achieved this goal, and so I wouldn't allow myself to do anything fun in the meantime.
I've discovered I love yoga. Power Yoga with Keri at Gold's is so hard, but it's so good or my mind, my body, my soul. I started taking yoga at Inner Peace when I can, and even though physically, it's not as hard, it's still great for the rest of me.
I did the Full Moon 5K run last Saturday and ended up taking off almost a full SIX MINUTES off last year's time. 27:30 is the fastest I've ever done a 5K, so I'm SUPER proud of that. I actually saw one of my guy friends beforehand and told him that my goal was for getting below 29. He told me "I've seen your training runs, I know you can run faster than that. You can get like 27." So we 'bartered' back and forth, and he helped me set my watch to make sure that I could check on it while I was running.
Last night I went to the TU Track speed interval workouts. I told the man in charge how fast I did the Full Moon Run, so he put me in the group he thought best, "5" I think. We ran a 1200, 1000, 800, 600, and 400. Each time we ran the different distances, we sped up, with a 200 meter recovery in between each distance. In the 400, I pushed myself up to where I had on Saturday night the last .2 of the mile, heartrate was at 94%. Ridiculous! I looked down and the fastest my Garmin said was 6:53/mile - that's REALLY awesome, especially for me!
So...I'm enjoying running a bit faster and not longer. I do have a few requests to be a pacer for that crazy 50 mile run, which I said I didn't want to do. 2 different people, so that would be 20.6 miles for me. *rolls eyes* I thought I was going to get out of training for long distances this summer.....
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Another Marathon Down & Dieting Disaster
OKC's marathon - 4:55:14 I believe is my time. 3rd marathon in 4 months. It was a beautiful day, a little windy, and a bit TOO EARLY in my opinion to start. I say that of course, because I was cold when I started, but by 11:30 when I was finishing, I was plenty warm. Plenty!
This one...actually wasn't too bad. I ran with Tad, my roommate for the first 6 miles. He headed off to the bathroom though, so I ended up losing him between 6 and 20. He found another couple girls to run with, so they ended up passing me later on with her.
I'm not really sure WHAT was going through my head this whole race - I was just kind of in my own little world, watching people, not really thinking about anything in particular. I met one nice man that said that me dancing along to my music was keeping him motivated. :-) That made me feel pretty special, I love the idea that I have helped someone else accomplish something.
I feel like I had a great race, there was A LOT of water stations, and I usually walk through them because it's easier to drink out of those cups, but this time, I started skipping some of them, just because I didn't want to go over 5 hours in time. I was really proud though, that at the end, I could still run all out the final .2 of the mile to the finish line, under a 9:00/mile at one point when I glanced down at my Garmin. :-) Super stoked about that.
So I tried that diet....yeah, no. Didn't happen. I lasted for about 5 days, on a 500 calorie diet. I lost 9 pounds, which is awesome, but I had 0% energy level too. I was sleeping at least 8 hours every single night, usually 10. I tried to run, 3 times. The first time was the day after the marathon, which I've never tried before (just to see if I could do it and I COULD!) and I did about 5.5. The next run was 3 miles, and I was pretty exhausted afterwards. I did a "light" Power Yoga class, and some lifting on my own and went through those workouts by myself. Then I tried again to run another 3 mile run, and 3 miles to me is a warm-up. By the end of mile 2, I HAD to stop to just get my heart rate back down, and I felt like I was going to pass out by the time I got home. So I decided after the girls out south told me that I looked really sad, never laughing, that I was going to discontinue that craziness.
Later, I talked with one of my clients that had done it, and she said that it sounded like I wasn't using a good form of HCG (the hormone for energy)....so she said if I decided to try it again, to call her and she would get me the one she uses and loves.
This one...actually wasn't too bad. I ran with Tad, my roommate for the first 6 miles. He headed off to the bathroom though, so I ended up losing him between 6 and 20. He found another couple girls to run with, so they ended up passing me later on with her.
I'm not really sure WHAT was going through my head this whole race - I was just kind of in my own little world, watching people, not really thinking about anything in particular. I met one nice man that said that me dancing along to my music was keeping him motivated. :-) That made me feel pretty special, I love the idea that I have helped someone else accomplish something.
I feel like I had a great race, there was A LOT of water stations, and I usually walk through them because it's easier to drink out of those cups, but this time, I started skipping some of them, just because I didn't want to go over 5 hours in time. I was really proud though, that at the end, I could still run all out the final .2 of the mile to the finish line, under a 9:00/mile at one point when I glanced down at my Garmin. :-) Super stoked about that.
So I tried that diet....yeah, no. Didn't happen. I lasted for about 5 days, on a 500 calorie diet. I lost 9 pounds, which is awesome, but I had 0% energy level too. I was sleeping at least 8 hours every single night, usually 10. I tried to run, 3 times. The first time was the day after the marathon, which I've never tried before (just to see if I could do it and I COULD!) and I did about 5.5. The next run was 3 miles, and I was pretty exhausted afterwards. I did a "light" Power Yoga class, and some lifting on my own and went through those workouts by myself. Then I tried again to run another 3 mile run, and 3 miles to me is a warm-up. By the end of mile 2, I HAD to stop to just get my heart rate back down, and I felt like I was going to pass out by the time I got home. So I decided after the girls out south told me that I looked really sad, never laughing, that I was going to discontinue that craziness.
Later, I talked with one of my clients that had done it, and she said that it sounded like I wasn't using a good form of HCG (the hormone for energy)....so she said if I decided to try it again, to call her and she would get me the one she uses and loves.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Soon - It Shall Be Over
Sunday is OKC's marathon. My 3rd marathon in 4 months. I am over it. I am tired. I want my LIFE back!
My roommate, Tad and I went out and ran 19 miles last Thursday. So far I've done a 16 and 19 mile run between Little Rock's and OKC's. Hopefully that's enough. If not, I suppose it's all mental anyways right? :-( I will probably be hating myself Sunday about 11AM, but oh well.
I wonder what I'm going to do after this....actually, I am excited because I'm going to try a new 'diet'. Something that's supposed to 'reset' my metabolism; we'll see if it works. I would love to see that high school figure one more time. I've come to the conclusion that I look pretty good now, but as a woman we always strive to look like the models in the fashion magazines. Although, it's funny, that's not what men want anyways, so why do we push for that? How silly we are.
Life is going to happen - soon!
My roommate, Tad and I went out and ran 19 miles last Thursday. So far I've done a 16 and 19 mile run between Little Rock's and OKC's. Hopefully that's enough. If not, I suppose it's all mental anyways right? :-( I will probably be hating myself Sunday about 11AM, but oh well.
I wonder what I'm going to do after this....actually, I am excited because I'm going to try a new 'diet'. Something that's supposed to 'reset' my metabolism; we'll see if it works. I would love to see that high school figure one more time. I've come to the conclusion that I look pretty good now, but as a woman we always strive to look like the models in the fashion magazines. Although, it's funny, that's not what men want anyways, so why do we push for that? How silly we are.
Life is going to happen - soon!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
First Long Run Since Little Rock's Marathon
I'm Back!
After Easter dinner and eating WAY too many calories, AND taking a 2.5 hour nap....I decided that it was time for some 'Me" time.
I have been very tired since Little Rock's marathon. I have just been 'over' running and have seriously considered NOT doing OKC's marathon. I've still been going to the gym a lot and have even joined a yoga studio to do yoga an extra 2 times a week, after work on the weekends. I have really been wanting to do Yoga at least twice, Pump class at least once, and spin class more. So I've still been very active, but up until yesterday, I hadn't run farther than a little over 7 miles.
I had been having a few knee problems again, and I went and bought new shoes (the same kind I had 2 pairs ago). I decided to not buy the inserts that I had for them the first time around, but I ended up returning after 2 runs to spend the extra $40 to relieve the strange way my foot was feeling.
So I became proud of myself again after accomplishing a 16 mile run at a 10:52 pace. My first 'really long run' for the last month. I want to do a 10-12 mile run this Thursday and then I have an 18-19 mile scheduled for next week. I am back on track!!!
After Easter dinner and eating WAY too many calories, AND taking a 2.5 hour nap....I decided that it was time for some 'Me" time.
I have been very tired since Little Rock's marathon. I have just been 'over' running and have seriously considered NOT doing OKC's marathon. I've still been going to the gym a lot and have even joined a yoga studio to do yoga an extra 2 times a week, after work on the weekends. I have really been wanting to do Yoga at least twice, Pump class at least once, and spin class more. So I've still been very active, but up until yesterday, I hadn't run farther than a little over 7 miles.
I had been having a few knee problems again, and I went and bought new shoes (the same kind I had 2 pairs ago). I decided to not buy the inserts that I had for them the first time around, but I ended up returning after 2 runs to spend the extra $40 to relieve the strange way my foot was feeling.
So I became proud of myself again after accomplishing a 16 mile run at a 10:52 pace. My first 'really long run' for the last month. I want to do a 10-12 mile run this Thursday and then I have an 18-19 mile scheduled for next week. I am back on track!!!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
How to Calculate Your Calorie Intake
I found this at http://www.healthandfitnessadvice.com/fitness-tips/calculate-your-basal-metabolic-rate.html
I don’t believe in counting calories in order to restrict caloric intake. Rather I promote caloric awareness in the effort to get people to realize that they usually don’t eat enough food, not that they eat too much.
Calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is quite simple. Here’s the formula.
Convert weight in pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2.
Convert height in inches to centimeters by multiplying by 2.54.
Plug in kilograms and centimeters where appropriate in the following formulas. The numbers that result the calculations are the calories that you need in a day to maintain current body weight with little or no exercise.
Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Males
66 + (13.7 X kilograms) + (5.0 X centimeters) – (6.8 X years)
Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Females
665 + (9.6 X kilograms) + (1.85 X centimeters) – (4.7 X years)
Let’s use the example of a 38-year old woman who stands 5’ 3” and weighs 125-pounds. Here are the calculations.
665 + 559 + 296 =1520
1520 – 179 = 1341 needed per day just to maintain without any additional energy expenditure.
Note the emphasis that 1341 calories are need just to maintain the status quo if this woman were just to sit around doing nothing during her waking hours. To approximate the true daily caloric requirement taking into account activity level we can use the Harris-Benedict Formula, which applies a factor to the BMR. Here are the factors according to activity level.
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Moderately active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
Using the above example, apply the Moderately Active factor to the BMR of this working mother of three children who trains at least as hard as specified in this category.
1341 x 1.55 = 2078
I can guarantee that 99% of the women who fit the description of the example do not get anywhere near 2100 calories per day. I’ll also wager that of these women, most are engaged in a regular struggle to lose 5-10-pounds, and do so by restricting rather than adding calories. And keep in mind that these calculations under estimate the requirements for people are either very fit or very fat.
So calculate your BMR and gain an appreciation for how many calories are needed in a day to fuel your body.
I don’t believe in counting calories in order to restrict caloric intake. Rather I promote caloric awareness in the effort to get people to realize that they usually don’t eat enough food, not that they eat too much.
Calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is quite simple. Here’s the formula.
Convert weight in pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2.
Convert height in inches to centimeters by multiplying by 2.54.
Plug in kilograms and centimeters where appropriate in the following formulas. The numbers that result the calculations are the calories that you need in a day to maintain current body weight with little or no exercise.
Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Males
66 + (13.7 X kilograms) + (5.0 X centimeters) – (6.8 X years)
Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Females
665 + (9.6 X kilograms) + (1.85 X centimeters) – (4.7 X years)
Let’s use the example of a 38-year old woman who stands 5’ 3” and weighs 125-pounds. Here are the calculations.
665 + 559 + 296 =1520
1520 – 179 = 1341 needed per day just to maintain without any additional energy expenditure.
Note the emphasis that 1341 calories are need just to maintain the status quo if this woman were just to sit around doing nothing during her waking hours. To approximate the true daily caloric requirement taking into account activity level we can use the Harris-Benedict Formula, which applies a factor to the BMR. Here are the factors according to activity level.
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Moderately active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
Using the above example, apply the Moderately Active factor to the BMR of this working mother of three children who trains at least as hard as specified in this category.
1341 x 1.55 = 2078
I can guarantee that 99% of the women who fit the description of the example do not get anywhere near 2100 calories per day. I’ll also wager that of these women, most are engaged in a regular struggle to lose 5-10-pounds, and do so by restricting rather than adding calories. And keep in mind that these calculations under estimate the requirements for people are either very fit or very fat.
So calculate your BMR and gain an appreciation for how many calories are needed in a day to fuel your body.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Little Rock Marathon Rundown
We left Saturday from work, about 12:30 and made it to the Expo about 5PM. Shelley, Shanan (her hubby) and Lynn (another girl friend) and I got everything taken care of and were going to stay together at Shelley's dad's house.
We all went out to dinner, PASTA night and then came back and got everything laid out for in the morning. I actually TRIED to go to bed about 9:30, 10 o'lclock, but I just laid in bed. Different scenarios of the race playing through my mind, what if I forgot something? What if I crashed? I slept pretty fitfully, waking up at 2AM, thinking that it was time to get up to get ready. I tried to sleep more, waking up with my alarm right before 6AM.
I got up, showered just to wake up, got ready and excited that I actually had a "buddy" to get ready with - Lynn. (She's ran like 9 marathons.) Hot tea, oatmeal, banana in hand and we jump in the vehicle and head down to the race. I think I went to the bathroom about 4 million times before we even got to the race line. We had ordered a "Perks package" and so we were able to get in to get little bagels/bananas/goos/coffee/etc. I probably could have gotten a massage too, but....I didn't want to wait in line.
Tad, Shanan, Lynn, Shelley and I all lined up together in our little group and gave each other Good Luck and hugs. :-) And then we were off!
Tad, Shanan, and Lynn all stayed together for a while, but they run faster than Shelley and I, so we stayed together. We ran through Little Rock with Shelley pointing out different places that she went to school, daycare, friend's houses, and so on. We stop at mile 10, use the restroom and continue on. Shelley and I walk through almost every water station, since trying to drink out of those little paper cups and running is just ridiculously funny. :-)
We run through people singing, saying my name (it's beside my number), and eating the goodies they've put out (the animal crackers were my favorite!). The hills were 13-16 and yes, they were trying, but I knew they were coming. I made it through, bounding down them as usual and then waiting for Shelley to make it back up to me. Then the next step was the 'out and back' - that never seemed to end.
We stopped and got water and then at mile 22 stopped again to use the restroom. Stupid me decided to take some ibProfen to help the cramping in my legs. But on an empty stomach....not a good combination. I immediately felt naseous and knew that I made a mistake.
Shelley and I saw the 4:45 group leaving the water stop and I really wanted to stay with them, so we hung on for about .5 mile. But by this point, they were just going too fast for me to stay with them. Shelley and I stayed together for about another .5 mile and I'm glad that she went on without me. I had to walk a little bit, specifically up the HUGE hills at mile 24 and 25. From mile 22 on, it was definetly NOT as fun -run/walking more than I would have liked. At about mile 25, there was a "lipstick station", where you could 'touch up your makeup' before your photo finish.
Mile 26.2 was accomplished with a time of 4:58:00. I was tired, quads cramping and hungry. I was pretty disappointed with myself, because I really didn't want to take longer than my last one, but....it's okay.
I went over a few things, and I've determined that at certain times of the month, especially if a race is near, my iron intake needs to go up. Although I probably need to look over my multi-vitamin to see if it includes 100% of what I need with the iron.
I need to NOT do as many long runs before my upcoming marathon. Phoenix and Little Rock were only 7 weeks apart and I did a 18, 21, 16, 13, and a couple other longer runs in that period of time. I think this time, I'm going to do just a 18 and 22 mile long runs.
I also think that OKC's marathon will be my last marathon for a while. I'm looking forward to the Full Moon Cafe's 5K in May - one year from the time I began running last year. Let's see how fast I can do it! :-) Then I think that I'll do the Tulsa Run again and Route 66 Half marathon (once again, a full year later, to see how much I can improve my time). Shelley talked about wanting to do Houston's marathon in January; she says it's flat, so I'll probably join in that one as well.
We'll just see what happens.....
We all went out to dinner, PASTA night and then came back and got everything laid out for in the morning. I actually TRIED to go to bed about 9:30, 10 o'lclock, but I just laid in bed. Different scenarios of the race playing through my mind, what if I forgot something? What if I crashed? I slept pretty fitfully, waking up at 2AM, thinking that it was time to get up to get ready. I tried to sleep more, waking up with my alarm right before 6AM.
I got up, showered just to wake up, got ready and excited that I actually had a "buddy" to get ready with - Lynn. (She's ran like 9 marathons.) Hot tea, oatmeal, banana in hand and we jump in the vehicle and head down to the race. I think I went to the bathroom about 4 million times before we even got to the race line. We had ordered a "Perks package" and so we were able to get in to get little bagels/bananas/goos/coffee/etc. I probably could have gotten a massage too, but....I didn't want to wait in line.
Tad, Shanan, Lynn, Shelley and I all lined up together in our little group and gave each other Good Luck and hugs. :-) And then we were off!
Tad, Shanan, and Lynn all stayed together for a while, but they run faster than Shelley and I, so we stayed together. We ran through Little Rock with Shelley pointing out different places that she went to school, daycare, friend's houses, and so on. We stop at mile 10, use the restroom and continue on. Shelley and I walk through almost every water station, since trying to drink out of those little paper cups and running is just ridiculously funny. :-)
We run through people singing, saying my name (it's beside my number), and eating the goodies they've put out (the animal crackers were my favorite!). The hills were 13-16 and yes, they were trying, but I knew they were coming. I made it through, bounding down them as usual and then waiting for Shelley to make it back up to me. Then the next step was the 'out and back' - that never seemed to end.
We stopped and got water and then at mile 22 stopped again to use the restroom. Stupid me decided to take some ibProfen to help the cramping in my legs. But on an empty stomach....not a good combination. I immediately felt naseous and knew that I made a mistake.
Shelley and I saw the 4:45 group leaving the water stop and I really wanted to stay with them, so we hung on for about .5 mile. But by this point, they were just going too fast for me to stay with them. Shelley and I stayed together for about another .5 mile and I'm glad that she went on without me. I had to walk a little bit, specifically up the HUGE hills at mile 24 and 25. From mile 22 on, it was definetly NOT as fun -run/walking more than I would have liked. At about mile 25, there was a "lipstick station", where you could 'touch up your makeup' before your photo finish.
Mile 26.2 was accomplished with a time of 4:58:00. I was tired, quads cramping and hungry. I was pretty disappointed with myself, because I really didn't want to take longer than my last one, but....it's okay.
I went over a few things, and I've determined that at certain times of the month, especially if a race is near, my iron intake needs to go up. Although I probably need to look over my multi-vitamin to see if it includes 100% of what I need with the iron.
I need to NOT do as many long runs before my upcoming marathon. Phoenix and Little Rock were only 7 weeks apart and I did a 18, 21, 16, 13, and a couple other longer runs in that period of time. I think this time, I'm going to do just a 18 and 22 mile long runs.
I also think that OKC's marathon will be my last marathon for a while. I'm looking forward to the Full Moon Cafe's 5K in May - one year from the time I began running last year. Let's see how fast I can do it! :-) Then I think that I'll do the Tulsa Run again and Route 66 Half marathon (once again, a full year later, to see how much I can improve my time). Shelley talked about wanting to do Houston's marathon in January; she says it's flat, so I'll probably join in that one as well.
We'll just see what happens.....
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