2014 Chicago Marathon

Oh hello.

 Every mile was NOT magnificent...

Did you miss me?  I thought maybe you did.  I've been going back and forth about just shutting this blog down altogether, but then I also want to remember these races someday... and my life, since my memory is terrible...

So, what have I been up to?  Well, most of you know we moved.  Staging our house, selling our house, moving, being homeless, making offers on several different houses, and finally buying a house, and then moving into said house, have consumed pretty much the last 4 months. 

And guess what?  The house is 100% complete 1973 through and through, which means not ONE change has been made to it since then.  Not ONE.  So we have lots and lots and LOTS of projects ahead of us.  It's exciting and fun but also so overwhelming at the same time that you don't even know where to start because you want to do so many projects at once.  I find it hard even deciding what we should work on this weekend.  Is it the backyard, or painting the hallway, or painting the bedroom, or installing new light fixtures, or getting a new thermostat, or tearing the falling down fence down, or.... (the list goes on).

 

So. Much. Brown. Everywhere.

I also ran Hood to Coast (I should probably post about that at some point?), Baby J turned 1 (that too?), I started a new job, and now, I ran the Chicago Marathon.

 

 

You'll notice I didn't mention TRAINING for said Chicago Marathon.  I did, a little, but it was by far the least amount of training I've ever done for a marathon.  In the 12 weeks before (my normal training cycle time), I did Ragnar Ultra (that's good!), I ran 14 miles, did Hood to Coast, which was 17 miles across 24 hours, ran 10 miles, ran 17 miles, ran 13 miles, and ran 18 miles (in that order).  I should have done the 20 I planned to do instead of 18 but I let myself quit early.  Then Baby J got sick and then I got sick and I did not run at ALL during the two weeks between the 18 miler and the race.  I just couldn't.  Not deplorable but not exactly a perfect training cycle, eh?  

 

 Baby J's first plane ride!

Then let's talk about race weekend.  The day before the race I entertained a baby on an airplane for 4 hours (NO EASY FEAT!), didn't drink any water because I didn't want to have to get up to go to the bathroom on the plane, didn't eat any food until night just by accident because we were racing to get to the expo in time, and then for my one meal of the day I ate a delicious (but not smart!) four huge layers of cheese pizza casserole at the famous Giordano's.  Not exactly a recipe for success. 

So, let's sum up the race.  It was really three different races.

 

 

Race #1: The first 8 miles.  I ran the first half marathon, and although I didn't feel great, I felt okay the first 8 miles.  I knew my legs didn't feel fresh or bouncy or anything that you dream they'll feel on race morning - they certainly weren't raring to go.  But I was doing fine, taking my time, enjoying the crowds, having a blast out there on a gorgeous day.  

5K #1 Split: 31:52 (10:16)

5K #2 Split: 32:01 (10:19)

5K #3 Split: 35:27 (11:25) (this includes the pit stop in mile 9, and here comes Race #2...)

 

Feelin' great (but terrified) before the race!

 

Race #2:  The second 8 miles (miles 9-16).  Now comes the intestinal distress part of the race.  Thank GOODNESS the Chicago Marathon has a TON of aid stations (20 I believe, which is incredible), because I waited for and used the port-a-potty FOUR times during these miles.  Ugh.  I seem to have a race related intestinal disease, because while I didn't have an issue in any of my training runs, I've now had issues at Ragnar, Hood to Coast, AND now Chicago.  I stopped my watch each time and these four stops added up to 15 minutes by the end of the race.  Fun times. 

Despite this, I ran the entire first half marathon (except for these stops and walking through aid stations) and finished in 2:17 (not including stops).  But the last few miles I was promising myself that if I just made it through the first half I could start walking after that.  But after I started walking, it was pretty much impossible to start running again. You can see that I was still trying to hang on, since these include stops.

5K #4 Split: 38:38 (12:27)

5K #5 Split: 35:22 (14:35)

 

Such a great cheerer!

 

Race #3:  From 16 to the end.  After my 4th port-a-potty stop in mile 16, I suddenly felt better!  My stomach problems were gone!  I was ready to run!  YES!  I felt great.  EXCEPT.  Except.  Except when I started running, I had incredible shooting pain in my right knee.  No wait, it was in my right hip.  No wait, it was in my right glute.   Basically, my right leg hated me.  Whoever invented the IT Band has another thing coming.

 

At Mile 17

 

The weird thing is, I never once had any IT Band during any of my training runs either.  Though I'm sure taking two weeks off before the race didn't help in this case.  So I kept starting to run again, and I would have to stop after only a few steps because my knee would hurt so bad and I would fear I would do real damage, when what I was really trying to do, but get a personal worst by 20 minutes less?  I just wanted to enjoy the rest of the trip and sightsee and I didn't want to be crippled!  So I walked.  But man.  It takes a LONG time to walk that far.  And my knee was still killing me, it was just killing me less.  So those 10 miles were 10 miles of pure torture.  Not to mention that they were pretty embarrassing at first.  As everyone else cruised by and I'm the ONLY person walking.  The last 5 miles or so were a lot better because tons of people were walking by then.  I did try to walk as fast as I possibly could, mostly because I just wanted to be done!

5K #6 Split: 51:16 (16:30) - Yep.  Ouch.

5K #7 Split: 50:41 (16:29)

5K #8 Split: 48:15 (15:32)

But then I was finished!  Thank goodness. My finish time was 5:55:48, my watch read 5:40 (without the stops). 

And marathon #4 was in the books!  Only TWO HOURS off my PR.  Ha.  I'm on the every two years plan (2008, 2010, 2012, now 2014) so I'm relieved I'm off the hook until 2016.  I'll have to plan another bucket list race for then - maybe NYC (if I can ever get in!) or Big Sur?  

 

Lots of delicious pizza & Portillos eating and sightseeing ensued.

 

This race was GREAT though otherwise.  It was flat as a pancake, I can't believe it's even possible for a race to be so flat.  On the one hand, that was lovely, but on the other, I don't think it helped my knee.  I'm more used to the rolling hills of the PNW.  The crowds were INCREDIBLE!  Incredible.  They say 1.7 million people spectate this race which is hard to believe, but there were sooo many people.  I wore my name on my shirt and they were all shouting it and that was so great.  Elvis and the Beatles sang to us on the course and cheerleaders did cheers and people made crazy signs and it was just awesome.  TWENTY aid stations were amazing and I was certainly never hurting for water.  I do wish they'd had more bananas earlier, I think the faster people ate most of those.  I totally recommend doing this race - it's a true bucket list race and I'm so thankful I got to go and experience the race and Chicago with my family and bestest friend.  

So long folks!

So What's Next?

So I just ran a marathon!  So what's next for Ricole?  Well first, let's throw in a bunch of photos that have come trickling in during the week.

Megan, Megan, and I in Corral 11 before the race!

Second, do you want to see what it looks like when you throw away your PR?  Because this photographer thought it was definitely picture-worthy.

Yes this is during the race.  Yes to my right is Saint Robyn being like "uhhh, let's RUN!".  Why oh why did you think the barely moving girl with a look of death upon her face should be photographed?!

Now THIS is what a photo should actually look like:

If only it wasn't $40-freaking-dollars maybe I'd actually consider purchasing it.  $40?  SERIOUSLY!?

This photo's actually not that bad either, considering it was taken during the evil DEATH MARCH up the hill to the finish.  It doesn't really capture the miserableness I was apparently protruding.

Miserableness example: the lovely Becky came and spectated the race, and it made me laugh OUT LOUD to read her recap of seeing me on the course near the end: "Guys, she was moving well and looked strong, except her face. (Remember how at mile 2 she was happy and energetic? Not anymore). Her face made it clear that she was miserable. It honestly kind of terrified me seeing her agony, and I questioned my ability to finish a marathon in a few months. I shouted for her, but she didn’t hear me."  (go read the rest of her post about being awesome and handing out Nuun, and yes you will DOMINATE your marathon Becky!).  Anyway, I thought that was pretty funny.  

Another long-lost photo of Jill and I at the Diving Olympic Trials

Third, let's talk marathons.  As much as the race was agony-filled and despair-intense, by Tuesday I was already tweeting some pretty ridiculous thoughts.

Yes, it's official, I'm PR hungry.  I still WANT that PR, even though I had already determined this wasn't the race for it. 

 

One last long long photo of all of us bloggers at lunch.  

We've got Megan, Lindsay, Tasha, me, Lauren, Erika, Stacie, Adrian, Tri-Girl, & Megan 

Fourth and finally, so what's next for my summer goals?

1.  GET FATTER FASTER!  I want to be as fast as I can for the Nuun Hood to Coast (Go Team Morning!) team come August!  This means speedwork, this means two-a-days. 
2.   Triathlon training!  I have my very first triathlon coming up in August as well, and although it's only a sprint, I want to be READY.  So bring on the biking and swimming!
3.  Heart rate monitoring.  I think this is what needs to be done to take running to the next step.  I definitely seem to have a problem monitoring my pace by feel alone.
4.  Trail running!  Pt. Defiance anyone??
5.  I want to get new shoes.  While I've been through 3 pairs of the Saucony Mirage and they've served me well, I'm ready for something new, possibly something with "less" shoe. 
6.  I want to run more than 3 days a week!  This was an experiment, this "Run Less, Run Faster" business (except for the run faster part!), and it passed with flying colors.  I made it through this entire training cycle without injury, and for that I am eternally grateful!  But now I'm ready to try running more days a week (not running more miles mind you, just spreading them out over more days). 
7.  And, dare I say it, a fall marathon??  Preferably one in cooler temperatures, flatter terrain (possibly even "the fastest marathon in the West?!?!", and NO hills in the last 6 miles??!!!  I'm sure my parents and husband are just loving this statement. 

What are your summer goals?  How many days off do you normally take off of running after a marathon? 

Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon Race Report

Well, it's done.  What I've been training for for the last 14 weeks - the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon - is over, fin, finished, completed, dunzo.

 We did it!

Let's just rip the band-aid off, shall we?  No need to keep you in suspense.  I didn't PR.  I DID hit my B goal of sub-4-ing (3:57:41 to be exact).  I didn't hit my real goal of feeling great the whole time.  Maybe that's not possible for me.  

 The course

And it went... okay.  I'm very pleased with how I executed the first 18 miles.  I did this MUCH better than my last marathon (Portland, 2010) even though the end result is nearly identical.  I forced myself to slow down approximately 500 times in the first 10 miles.  After 10 I decided to just let myself do whatever.  My Garmin is all over the place due to saying I ran 26.6 miles and also due to the 400 tunnels we ran through, but the chip splits pretty much show what happened:

5K -        28:04     (Average Pace - 9:02)
10K -      55:04    (Average Pace - 8:51)
Half -  1:55:37    (Average Pace - 8:50)
17.6 -  2:35:13    (Average Pace - 8:49)
20 -     2:58:23    (Average Pace - 8:55)
End -   3:57:41    (Average Pace - 9:04)

Yep, it appears I did pretty well through mile 18, progressively going a little bit faster and faster until then.  Which makes sense, that's about when I stopped feeling great.  But let's back up a bit.  Hold on folks, this is going to be a long one.

Pre-Race: 
We got to the race pretty uneventfully.  Wake-up call at 4:10am (um, that's TOO EARLY!), sat in traffic on the way to the much more congested new starting point, I unfortunately missed the blogger photo while I waited in a never-ending port-a-potty line, and then we were off!

 Photo Shoot in the Never-Ending Port-a-Potty Line Pre-Race

Miles 1-3: 9:12, 8:33, 8:50
Easing into it.  This worked well because I didn't feel warmed-up right off the bat (in races sometimes I do).  I didn't have to worry about holding myself back much until mile 4 or 5 (mile 2 was downhill so 8:33 seemed still reasonably slow).  The first 5 miles FLEW by because I was talking and running with people the whole time - these miles were GREAT.  Ran with Jordanne and Luke for the first two miles.  Although I hadn't been able to find anyone pre-race I was happy to come up on Zoe, and then in Mile 2 I got to run past the Nuun headquarters and their cheering booth, see Becky and Caitlin, and show off my sweet Nuun tattoo! 

Miles 4-6: 8:49, 8:47, 8:42
I next came across Lauren and her friend, and ran with them until the turn-off for full marathons right after mile 5.  Along the way I got to see Kerrie, Jill, Kim, and probably others I'm forgetting.  It was PERFECT because by then I was ready to speed up but they were running my perfect pace and kept me from speeding off into bonk-ness too early.  Hit a nasty hill in here that had a HORRIBLE downhill after it that was so steep I was worried about slipping and falling.  That needs to be changed (listen up course directors!).  Took GU #1. 

Miles 7-9: 8:30, 8:39, 8:49
I was really sad when I had to leave Lauren and all the fun I was having seeing people on the half course.  I knew miles 6-20 were going to be some lonely ones and was wishing I had a running buddy.  I did really enjoy these miles running through Seward Park though.  Beautiful views to look at and the water was just so incredibly calm like glass.  I felt bad the half marathoners didn't get to run through here.  Had some nice flashbacks about the Girls On the Run 5k. :-)

Miles 10-12: 8:39, 8:31, 9:32
Coming out of Seward Park I finally decided to stop and use the bathroom (mile 12's split).  I'd had to pee for quite a while, and I won't lie, I considered just going on the run.  But then when I saw a port-a-potty right before the marathoners were to join the half marathoners again I knew it was now or never (at least not again for a while without a wait).  Lost a minute or so in there, which I worried would come back to bite me because by then I knew I really was in the hunt for a PR (previous PR of 3:55:08) and that it would be close.  Took GU #2. 
 
Miles 13-15: 8:40, 8:37, 8:41
In here I passed by the "Wear Blue to Remember" section which involved pictures of soldiers who have died in the war and the line of American flags - and I was nearly sobbing it was so incredibly moving.  We're not talking a single tear either - which ended up making me not be able to breathe!  We owe our soldiers so much.  Took GU #3. 

Miles 16-18: 8:45, 9:06, 8:41 
We entered my least favorite part of the race, (that's a lie, my least favorite part was DEFINITELY the last 4 miles, but my least favorite scenery / terrain wise), what I'll call the I-90 miles.  We had to cross I-90 and then turn around and cross back and this was over FIVE miles.  I did NOT approve.  By then the sun was out (yes, after my 10,000 weather tweets, NONE of which reported the sun, I appear to have a sunburn and wished I'd had sunglasses), so the sun was blaring with no shade (except for the tunnels), there wasn't much view because we were in the express lanes in the middle so it was just cars on either side of us, and the slant on the road was TERRIBLE for much of it.  Not a fan of this part of the course at all.

Mile 19-21:  9:22, 8:42, 12:26 (a lie!)
I think mile 19 is real though I'm not sure why it's so slow.  Mile 21 is definitely fake, just check out mile 23's split below (lots of tunnels on I-90 and no Garmin satellite reception).  I intended to take my final GU #4 in here but by now my stomach was not too happy.  I took one at the aid station and carried it for at least a mile in my hand debating about whether I thought my stomach could handle it or not.  In the end I ended up throwing it away.  I'm sure this didn't help my poor finish but on the other hand it could have ended in even more nausea disaster. 

Robyn, who is a SAINT I tell you, so wonderfully volunteered to run with me for the last 6 miles.  Even if she hadn't come, the idea of this truly pulled me through the I-90 miles, which were pretty bleak.  It made the end of the race feel like 20 miles instead of 26, since I would keep saying, just 3 more miles until Robyn's here - then she'll pull you along!  So when she didn't show I was disappointed but figured I'd passed her or something had happened.  And sure enough - she couldn't get on the course because of the isolation of I-90!  I felt so bad that she was driving all over the place early on a Saturday!

Miles 22-24: 6:25 (uhh, I don't think so!), 9:02, 9:42
You can see the pain is here.  But Robyn finally showed up!  Thank goodness, seriously.  I've never been so happy to see someone (sorry JMan).  As much as I walked these final miles, I can only imagine how much more it would have been if she hadn't been there.  In retrospect it was really quite funny because she would tell me stories (yes, she is just that AWESOME) and I would have a million questions and / or things to add to what she was saying but by then, even though it was my legs that felt like two 10,000 pound anvils made out of razor blades attached to my body, my breathing was also so labored that I could basically only grunt responses like a caveman.  I'm sure I completely impressed her with my skills at a potential future running partner.  I don't think I'm going to get a second interview folks!  

Miles 25-26.2: 9:47, 9:28, 9:23 (for .51, it says I did 26.51 total miles, .31 extra)
There was just pain.  The last 4 miles were very very difficult.  With 4 miles to go I felt despair - it did not seem possible that I could run 4 more miles or that I would ever have the relief of being done.  There were also a ton of evil hills in the last 6 miles of the race which were sooo not appreciated.  With just 4 miles to go all I needed to do was run 4 miles at around 9 minute pace to PR.  It was so close, I was right there, and I knew it.  I kept doing little calculations at every mile marker (since my Garmin was SO off) and I even had a few minutes of cushion at one point.  I do think I maybe could have done it if the last 4 miles had been pancake flat.  But I just could not make it up the hills without walking.  Okay okay, there was some walking on the flat as well.  So obviously, I didn't run 9 minute miles, and therefore didn't make my goal.  My stomach was NOT liking what I was doing by this point either. 

When my watch beeped 25 (about .3 ahead of schedule) I was finally feeling like I could finish this race, and had picked up the pace (well, as much as I could at that point), until the final hill hit me in the last half mile of the race.  HOW EVIL.  Seriously.  There wasn't even a downhill following it to help you recover your strength.  So there was absolutely no finishing strong.  I was probably running a 13 minute mile when I finished.  EVIL.  That part of the course MUST be changed.  

Total elevation gain was 1,154 feet, so really not that bad for 26 miles.  A lot of it was pancake flat though so when a hill hit, it was often a serious one.  Further, as you can see, most of the hills were in the last 6 miles, when you're hurting the most. 

So, I didn't PR, and wouldn't have even if I hadn't stopped at the bathroom.  2.5 minutes off, so 1.5 minutes off without the bathroom stop.  My Garmin says my average pace for 26.51 miles is 8:58 and I like a number in the 8's WAY more than the 9:04 they gave me so I'm going with that!

 Surprisingly - I don't know this girl nor remember her!  Go Team Nuun!

The Nausea:
I've never faced nausea in a race before and it didn't let up until nearly 3 or 4pm that day - when I could FINALLY eat something (a delicious FatBurger burger I might add) which is when I finally felt human again.  I'm not exactly sure why.  Perhaps it was the veggie curry I had at the blogger lunch the day before or the calzone I had at dinner the night before.  I don't think drinking the Gatorade helped - it was strong Gatorade (normally it's nice and watered down in races which I prefer) and this is the first training cycle I have fueled pretty much primarily with Nuun instead of being more varied.  I suppose that means I need to carry my own water but it's so nice not to carry and they did such a great job of having plentiful aid stations.  The last GU I had was an Octane one I'd never had before and I thought it was DISGUSTING but I've fueled with all different kinds of GU all training cycle so I kind of doubt it was that.  Whatever it was - I need to NOT do it next time!  I think being able to stomach at least one more GU would have helped a lot.

 Kerrie took these lovely gems of me after the race.  I just wanted to lie down and never get up!

Would I do this FULL again?  No I would not.  Why, you ask?  Because: a) I don't like to do races more than once with a few exceptions, and 2) I hated the I-90 section so much and that was almost a quarter of the race.  Would I do the HALF you ask?  Yes, of course I would.  It's my hometown race, it seems entirely unlikely that race envy wouldn't take over when everyone else and their mom in this area is doing this race again next year. 

Did you actually read this far?  If so, pat yourself on the back.  Did your eyes glass over there for a bit in the middle?!  If you made it, you deserve some bling.  Maybe even an EXTRA medal for doing both Portland Rock n Roll and Seattle Rock n Roll, kinda like this one:

Ohhhhhh yeah. I like how glittery the Seattle medal is! :-)

The End.

I Finished!

It wasn't pretty at times, but it's done.  No PR, but a sub-4 all the same.  3:57:41 and marathon #3 is in the books. 

Before the race

Though it looks like we're best friends, and there was no one else in sight, I don't even remember this girl.  If she started in corral 14, she executed her race WAY better than I.  

At the finish with my sweet Nuun tattoo.  

 We did it!

Hopefully I'll have more (aka better) pictures and a recap up on Monday.  Happy weekend everyone!

Ode to SWATH

Did you enter my Nuun giveway in honor of MARATHON WEEK yet???

I forgot to mention that when Leandrea was visiting we went to see SWATH.  What's that, you ask?  Why, Snow White and the Huntsmen of course!

I don't know why exactly, but I LOVED this movie.  LOVED LOVED LOVED.  I actually didn't want it to end.  I in no way promise you will feel the same way.  It is obvious from my boredom with The Avengers that my opinions rarely match those of the general public.  However, without any spoilers, here's what I liked about it:

1.  The costumery.  There is no way you can see this movie and NOT be impressed at least with this.  Seriously, the costumes are AMAZING.  Charlize Theron deserves some sort of Oscar for make-up changes.  Her dress made out of ravens is truly amazing.  I promise you will be impressed.

2.  The imagery.  Perhaps this is too synonymous with #1 to be it's own bullet point, but there is a point where Snow White is in the Dark Forest and all these crazy things are happening and I just think they did such a fabulous job bringing fairies and hallucinations and scary trees and all kinds of magical things to life and making them feel real at the same time.  A stag made out of butterflies?  Pure genius I tell you.

3.  I had low expectations.  I think this helped.  I honestly was not expecting anything, so with that alone, it was able to blow me out of the water. 

4.  Even though you guessed it would have a happy ending (it is based on a fairy tale after all), I truly didn't know what was going to happen next.

 Plus, Thor's not so bad as a Huntsmen.  I approve. 

5.  Oh yeah, and I'm running a marathon tomorrow.  Did you know?  So I think I'm officially in denial and am trying to pretend like it's not really going to happen by writing this post.  When the going gets bad (which we all know it will at some point, hopefully later rather than sooner), I'm just going to imagine I'm a character in SWATH.  Never give up, Never surrender.

Here goes Marathon #3. 

Hey Girl - Tell Me Your Revised Marathon Plans

Did you go enter my nuuntastic Nuun giveaway yet in honor of MARATHON WEEK?  Go do it!

So freaking SATURDAY is the MARATHON.  Whoa.

 source

So remember when I was all like ooh, look at me, I've got marathon plans and they involve smashing my PR?

Yeah.  Scratch that.  During my 22 miler I had a whole new revelation.  And it involves just SURVIVING this marathon.  And not just surviving it.  But hopefully ENJOYING it.  You see, during this run, in which, you may recall, I didn't just feel fine but I actually felt good and strong at the end, I realized that these two goals are mutually exclusive.  Maybe not for everyone else but they definitely are for me.

 But getting negative splits is too much pressure.  source

Because you see, during the Portland Marathon I felt terrible from mile 14 on.  That's HALF THE RACE.  Of feeling terrible.  Over 2 hours (yes it took me a full 10 minutes longer to run the second half than to run the first half) of feeling awful.  And yes it poured the entire time and that probably didn't help (and might be why I'm freaking out about the possibility of rain on Saturday!), and yes I've suffered from many mini-injuries since then and missed a good chunk of training while I was in Singapore last year, but STILL, I haven't trained for a marathon since 2010.  And before that since 2008.  So you see, in a ramble-ramble-ramble way of getting to the point, I worry that if I don't enjoy this marathon, I may never run another one.  And continuing to run marathons seems a whole lot more important to me than getting that sub 3:55 I'm dying for. 

 I thought so.  source

Don't get me wrong, I have more reasons than just that.  For one, I completely 90% doubt my ability to even run a PR.  My speed workouts in the last few weeks have been less than stellar (okay okay, they've been non-existent), I seem to have more bad runs than good, and my stress level is HIGH due to the data entry nonsense you hear about nonstop.  I feel like I've lost my running mojo and am so ready for this training cycle to be over.  Because of all this, I think the likelihood of blowing up if I go out there running 8:35 miles from the beginning is 80%.  Or higher.  And yes I just made that percentage up.  But you get my drift.  And given that this interacts with my desire to feel good (see point #1), I think I have to let the PR goal go.  If the stars align, they align.  But if they don't, I don't want to be devastated after these months of training and hard work.

Or is this just a case of the taper crazies? source

Am I crazy?  Don't get me wrong, if it's there for the taking, I will go for it.  But if Saturday's not the day, it's not the day, and I don't know want that pressure hanging over my head. 

Do you guys ever think the pressure of getting a PR is just too much pressure?  Like everyone will be disappointed in you if you don't get it?  Isn't that crazy?  Is it crazy / weird that I just want to run without any time goals weighing me down? 

The Loss of My Running Mojo: For Real This Time

So on Saturday I ran 16 miles.  It was mostly pretty - river views and runs through the adorable Bavarian town of Leavenworth.  At least half were on these adorable little shaded trails along the river.  I ran with Jordanne after mile 5 and Amy for a few miles as well, so for the most part I had company.  But although it had the makings of being a great run, it was still just okay.  It was pretty warm out, at least in terms of what I'm used to, and especially as the day wore on (I started around 7:40am and finished around 10:30am) as the sun started bearing down on you.

Look at my gorgeous views!

I realize I'm starting to become a Debbie Downer broken record and I DON'T LIKE IT.  It started after my 20 miler.  Although that went GREAT, the week following it was horrible.  Then there was that whole business with the Portland Rock n Roll Half Marathon sucking.  Even though I tried to come out of that with my guns blazing talking big smack of my marathon plans, although I talked the talk I sure haven't been walking the walk.

Though I definitely have been walking the WINE walk: 

 Bears so rarely get to partake in any festivities.  It's just not fair.  

Anyway, let's get on with it.  I've been thinking a lot about why my running mojo has been slim to non-existent this past month (yes a whole month, I looked it up, my 20 miler was on Cinco de Mayo).  And I've come up with a few theories.  

1.  Marathon Training Burn-Out.  14 weeks is too long for me.  I know that's not even long compared to other people's training plans.  And in another world, in another situation, it might work for me.  But in this case, I think 9-10 weeks would have been perfect.  It's my fault, I was all gung-ho to get started and so excited and enthusiastic.  And I did GREAT for the first half.  I ran nearly all of my speed workouts, had great runs, and was like YAY MARATHON TRAINING!  But after my 20 miler I've been on a downward spiral with many more bad runs than good ones.  I haven't been doing my speedwork, my legs constantly feel heavy despite being rested, and I feel like I'm getting slower and slower, which isn't exactly motivating.

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2.  The Loss of my Training Buddies.  In the first half of my training (maybe #2 is synonymous with #1), I ran nearly all of my runs with Jordanne and Lisa.  We met 2 if not 3 times a week (and I only run 3 days a week on the Run Less Run Faster plan, remember?) and I felt good nearly all of those runs.  I never gave up on a run because I always knew someone was waiting on me and I couldn't let them down.  Running with them made me want to do extra mileage instead of cut my runs short like I do now.  Track workouts done with friends are 99% more likely to be completed.  Then Lisa got hurt (poor Lisa) and Jordanne and I got busy.  Turns out Lisa was the glue that held us together.  And now I rarely run with anyone.  However the runs I DO run with other people are 90% GREAT (like my 22 miler with Jordanne, my 20 miler with Zoe and the blogger crew, the Mt. Si Relay 18 miler, the 15 miler with Lisa, Jordanne, and Amy, etc. etc. etc.).  The runs I run alone suck and are cut short and blah blah blah.

3.  I'm ready for something new.  And I think I know what that new thing should be.  Okay it's two things.  A) Remember how I won that Danskin Triathlon entry?  I'm ready to try my hand at a tri.  B) Remember my random but glorious 10 mile trail run?  Well I'm ready to try trail running for real.  And although it's not until October, I may or may not have just signed up for my first trail race!

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4.  I'm busy.  You know that already.  Way back in January I had little going on at the time - it was crappy weather January, there was a lull at my job, I was waiting on things to be approved for my degree, etc.  So I started this blog, became a Girls on the Run coach, and signed up for a marathon.  Well now things are crazy at my job, BEYOND CRAZY in my degree world, etc. etc. etc. 

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5.  This is the longest I've gone in a LONG TIME without getting at least a mini-injury (knock on wood knock on wood KNOCK ON WOOD!).  2010 and 2011 each had SEVERAL intervals where I had to take 1-2 weeks off because of injury scares.  So far I've been going strong since November, 2011 without ANY breaks.  Obviously I LOVE that.  Except I think those breaks keep my constant love and desire to be running alive. 

Anywho, this is a long list of excuses, and that's annoying.  Sorry team. 

Have you ever lost your running mojo?  How did you get it back? 

Injuries Schminjuries: An IT Band Story

First of all - thank you all SO much for all of your encouraging words on my pity party post yesterday.  I promise I am already in higher spirits and am working on a "movin' on" plan.  I'm also working on that Girls On the Run post I promised you today... I PROMISE PROMISE it will be up tomorrow. 

But in the meantime, I've been working on this post for a long long time, but since I just finished talking about my 2010 Portland Marathon race AND I just read poor Robyn's struggles with the evil ITB (illotibial band, for those of you lucky enough not to know), I realized it was time to FINALLY finish it.

After Portland I was ridiculously sore, but not anything out of the ordinary for having just finished a marathon.  I must also preface this by saying that I did not have ANY ITB pain during the race itself, or during much of my training.  I did a short run on Thursday after Sunday's Marathon, and on Saturday, while I was just walking down a steep hill (one of the ones by Pike Place Market actually, that's how vividly I still remember this, I even know that I was wearing my fake-Ugg boots), I felt this crazy painful pop in the side of my knee.  After that it hurt to take every single step.

That crazy pain faded, however, and it left me with the common ITB problems I'm sure most of you have faced before - you know, that crazy stabbing pain that comes on only after you've run a bit.  For me it was about 1.5 miles.  I would feel great for the first 15 minutes, and then, like clock work, STAB STAB STAB IN THE SIDE OF THE KNEE.  It. Was. Horrible. 

I tried EVERYTHING.  And because I tried everything, and because this awfulness continued on and on for 3 freaking months, it's difficult to know exactly what worked for me.  But I'm going to tell you everything I did, in the hopes that it too, will help you.  Obviously I don't think I need to say that I'm no doctor and therefore interpret my results cautiously.  This is pretty much the order in which I did things. 

1.  Foam Rolling Like a Boss.  Seriously, foam-roll like its your job.  I did it twice a day. 

Spoiler alert: It will HURT.  If it hurts, that means you're in desperate need of it.  source

2.  Stretching Like a Boss.  Seriously, stretch at any and all opportunities.  You're in the shower?  Stretch that ITB.  Waiting for the elevator?  Stretch it out baby.  Brushing your teeth?  Stttreeeetttchhhhh. 

This is my #1 go-to ITB stretch.  There are others, but I like this one best.  source

3.  ART / Graston from the Chiropractor.  The Active Release Technique, or ART, is a soft-tissue massage technique not too different from what you do with the foam roller.  Basically the chiro presses into "pressure points" and then moves your leg around accordingly, trying to get the muscles to release and loosen up.  The Graston Technique, on the other hand, is similar to using The Stick on your muscles, except imagine The Stick is made of metal that is used to "scrape" your muscles and it hurts like no other.  Graston is seriously TORTURE.  It wasn't that horrible on my IT Band but I've had it done on my shin before and it pretty much reduced me to tears. 

They should call it the Torture Technique instead.  source

I do think that both of these things helped a bit but I think it would have helped so much more had I been resting and ibuprofen-ing at the same time (see #6 and #8).   The worst thing about this was the chiro was adamant that I could keep running through this as long as it didn't hurt.  So I kept running to that point of pain (15 minutes on the dot...) for WAY TOO LONG.  This was a huge mistake. 

4.  Physical Therapy.  I learned all about funny exercises to work your glutes and side glutes, like crab walks, clamshells, and the like.  I also went crazy on that machine at the gym where you open and close your legs (twss).

Clamshells: except to work harder put a resistance band around your thighs.  source 

Go to town on this machine.  Hint: make sure your shorts aren't too short!  source

5.  MRI.  After all of this, I was feeling hopeless and like it would never get better and the chiro agreed and thought maybe something was torn.  Nothing was torn.  He was just dumb for telling me to keep running through it.  This was a waste of money except for peace of mind. 

6.  Rest.  I finally decided I was going to rest for 2 full weeks.  I cross-trained on the elliptical and swam during (biking aggravated it as well so I stayed away from that).  I think if I had only done this sooner I would have been better way sooner.

 Cooper is a professional rester. 

7.  Doctor.  He was extremely unhelpful.  It took forever to get the appointment and I had already mandated rest for myself (FINALLY) by the time I went to see him.  He did tell me to do #8 though, which I do think helped.  I mostly just went to him to get my MRI read. 

8.  3 Advil 3 Times a Day for 10 Days.  I was seriously concerned about my kidneys and liver but the doctor said it was totally fine.  He acted like I was crazy for even being concerned.  Apparently I should eat Advil in the same fashion I eat candy.  This overlapped with #6 (resting) and I really do think that this combination helped. 

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9.  New shoes.  Here is when I went minimalist and my husband got me a pair of Vibrams for Christmas.  I've since transitioned out of these because of shin problems and because they don't stop my heel strike.  But that's a story for a different post.  If your shoes are old, I'd get new ones.  If they're not, not sure this will help you. 

10.  Come back SLOWLY.  I came back very slowly, starting with 1 mile and adding half a mile at a time.  I could have come back more slowly (like I did 1 mile on Tuesday, 1.5 miles on Thursday, 2 miles on Saturday, etc.) but this worked for me.  I also incorporated stretch breaks every 5 minutes, lengthening these out to every mile, every 2 miles, etc.  I took longer at eliminating the stretch breaks.  I still remember how happy iI was the day I ran 6 miles again.  Make sure you're not running on a cambered road or running on a track because this can aggravate the ITB. 

So?  What's the verdict?  Obviously all injuries and bodies are different and there's no guarantees that what worked for me will work for you.  I read 100's of pages of forums about ITB problems on Runner's World and they all confused me.  But not one of them said what I really really REALLY wish someone had told me: that I needed to FULLY rest for 2 weeks.  I hope this helps you in some way!

Have you ever struggled with ITB issues?  Do you have any recommendations or ideas to add to this?