More Race Day Pictures

I finally received prints of the professional pictures taken during the marathon...

Race Day

Here are a couple of shots taken right after I finished. I'm impressed I'm kneeling down in the second shot and I was actually able to stand back up after! I should have some pictures that were taken during the race later and I'll post them. We obviously didn't carry a camera so we have to wait until the professional shots taken are available.

Race Day
We woke up about 4:30am and started getting ready. I had to put nipple guards on Jake. Yes folks, when you are sweaty and running for a long time your shirt rubs against your nipples and can actually become bloody! Then we both applied "sports shield" to all of our friction prone areas....inner thighs, under arms, feet etc. It was quite romantic. Once we had our bib numbers pinned on, iPods in place, running watches on and shoes double tied we headed out. Once we got there we had to go pick up our "champion chips." These are little sensors that register your start, mid-way and finish time. We clipped them to our shoes and headed for the start line. After a short send off presentation we were off, all 1500 of us.
Cheryl and I had decided to walk the first few miles to pace ourselves. It was really hard not to run because there was so much energy floating around, but we stuck to our plan and watched about 1000 people pass us by. The course took us north just over 6 miles to a turnaround point. From there we head back to the starting point to finish while the full marathon runners head south to another turnaround point then back to the same finish line. Just pass mile 3 we see someone running towards us. Yes, can you believe it was the front runner already headed back from the turn around point. We didn't feel so bad when miles passed before we saw Walter and Jake and at one point they were only 20-25 minutes ahead of us. Somewhere around mile 10 we were starting to hurt and it was getting hot. Overall though we felt good. At around 12.5 miles we see Ann-Marie and Jake as I was listening to the last two songs on my playlist, Eye of the Tiger and the Rocky theme song. As we round the corner to the finish line we picked up our pace and the crowd was great, cheering us on. About 30 feet from the finish line Cheryl grabs my arm and we sprint across the finish line. It was really an awesome moment.

13.1 Miles

Details and pictures later.....

Jake's time: 2 hours 25 minutes
My time: 3 hours 18 minutes

Normallcy Returns

What I thought was allergies or just a little case of the sniffles turned into a cold that has kicked my butt for 5 days. Each day I thought I felt better, but it wasn't until yesterday that I began to feel good again.

Cheryl and I had scheduled our last run together before the marathon which is in just 11 days. I was determined to make it. I aimed for distance since I was on the rebound and we walked our 6 miles. The course is such a scenic, quite trail and it was really nice to walk and chat. When we run we don't usually talk since iPods are in our ears and we're trying to ignore the huff and puff of our own breathing.

I haven't posted my weekly running entries simply because there hasn't been much to report. I've really enjoyed my short runs (2-3 miles), but the long ones bore me. The great thing about this training is that I am exercising consistently which has never been a strength of mine and intend on keeping that up.

Catchin-up

Week 12/13...now going on 14:

I gave myself week 12 off. My mind just wasn't in the right place. I allowed myself to indulge in food, escape into a good book (Eat, Pray, Love) and relax. I thought the guilt would set in, but it never did. Once week 13 rolled around in came the guilt....knocking loudly at my door. I had doctors orders not to exercise the few days before my upcoming PET scan, but that got rescheduled at the last minute for this week so not a whole lot of running went on last week either. So as I enter week 14 I squeezed in 5 miles today and will take the next two off before my scan on Wednesday. Which thankfully due my mental vacation during week 12 I'm ready to take on the massive PET scan machine to prove there is no cancer residing in my body. In fact, as I lay there, annoyed to be in a position to need a PET scan I'll be telling cancer it can bite my ass because I'm done with it. Come Thursday I'll hit the pavement and catch up to the 7 mile mark where I should be.

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Jake and I finally found the answer to our furniture dilemma for our upstairs hallway. We have this annoying echo problem in our living room. With every piece of furniture added and every curtain hung a little prayer was said that maybe that was the final something that was needed to hush the echo. No such luck. I even asked the woman who cleans the house (she cleaned this house for the people who lived here before too) if she ever noticed an echo. She said no, she never remembered hearing one. We have the same amount of furniture, maybe even more, than the previous owners, but the echo remains. I even thought back to when we looked at the house and I don't remember hearing one. The only thing we can think is that the previous owners had a bookshelf and toy chest in the upstairs hallway (the living room has a high ceiling with an open staircase so you can see the upstairs hallway from downstairs) and we have not one piece of anything up there. We didn't want a bookshelf for fear it would look too cluttered so we've been on the hunt for a unique, but narrow console-ish piece. Here is what we settled on. I never thought we'd choose a red piece, but I love it!

We also chose an antique trunk and runner for the floor. Here's hoping the echo takes a hike and I like red furniture in my hall.

Week 11

Gym Manager Need To Go Poo

My gym managers, Nate and Reese, so graciously watched Cars while I knocked out my 5 mile run. Amazingly, my only interruption during the hour and 10 minutes was Nate informing me Reese need to go poo. I told Nate I'd give him a buck to walk Reese down stairs and help him. Nate loves money right now so he jumped at the chance to earn a dollar. No sooner had I asked him to do me this favor I remembered we had stashed their birthday presents in that bathroom and immediately jumped off the treadmill and told him I'd take Reese to the bathroom. Reese pipes in and says he wants Nate to take him to the potty not me. I started to get irritated thinking the rest of my run would be screwed if I didn't get back to it...quick. Just then I remembered our training potty was just down the stairs in the garage and I ran down and got it. Reese immediately thought sitting on his potty while watching TV was a cool idea and he was sold. Nate started to wonder if he was still going to get his dollar. I told him if he made sure Reese didn't make a mess and he helped wipe his bum he'd still get the dollar. I handed him some paper towel and hoped back on the treadmill. A few minutes later, Nate popped his head in and told me Reese went potty, but that he was upset his "pretend flusher button" didn't make the poo go down the drain. Cracked me up. I finished my run and promptly paid my gym managers a dollar each for being so good and handling the potty situation on their own.

Week 9/10

This morning Cheryl and I made our second attempt at running the marathon course. We met at 6:45am (to beat the heat) and were shocked to see one parking lot already full and a number of folks stretching. Turns out the running store sponsoring the race has a "training camp" on Sunday mornings and had already set up water stations at 2.5 miles and 5 miles. We were aiming to make it to the 2.5 mile mark, then run back for a full 5 miles.

After several people had told me the run/walk method to running a marathon we decided to give it a try. I picked up a cheap running watch at Target to help us keep our pace. We ran 5 minutes, walked 1, ran 5 minutes, walked 1 etc. And it works! We ran 5 miles in an hour and 10 minutes. While it was hard, it was manageable since we knew we had that 1 minute to recover. Both of us agreed that when we would run a good distance (2-3 miles), then stop to walk it was really hard to get going again. That didn't happen doing it this way. We plan on meeting next Sunday to do the same thing.

Week 8

I had a good week. I thought I'd have a tough week fitting in all my runs around the conference, but I managed to keep up. I even used the gym at the hotel...a first for me. I always admired those folks who kept up with their workout while on vacation or away with work. I always opted for extra sleep!

I'm up to a 4 mile run and a 7 lb. weight loss. Yes, I couldn't resist the scale. I had a good couple of weeks so I couldn't pass up the urge to see my progress.

Before I Go

I'm headed out tonight for an American Cancer Society Volunteer Conference. Initially, I was excited about going, then not so excited about missing a few days with "my boys". Saturdays are such great fun around here....soccer, swimming and hanging out at home with my men...and I won't be here. However, I'm starting to get excited about the conference again. Last week I was asked to speak at a Making Strides meeting and after my little talk (it really wasn't a speech) I received so many thank yous and comments about how I was inspiring. I some how have to make sense out of all that has happened to me and having little moments like that make it all feel okay. I even had the executive director of the local YMCA offer me three sessions with a personal trainer to help me get ready for the half-marathon....just from a 10 minute ad lib that night. Very cool.

At the conference I'll be part of a session regarding my volunteer work for Reach to Recovery. Reach to Recovery is a program through the ACS that provides support for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Most of the volunteers are older, since let's face it...most people diagnosed are "older". I'm obviously the youngest volunteer in our county so I provide support to women under the age of 45 who need someone to talk to...someone who knows what they are going through. They also wanted me to invite a "patient" I had spoken to that would be able to discuss the receiving end of Reach to Recovery. I instantly thought of Tatiana. Several years ago when I got the call for the ACS to call her I thought her name sounded familar. Turned out we briefly worked together about 12 years go. She's young with kids and had a similar breast reconstruction so we've stayed in touch. We're driving over together and I think it will be fun to have someone I know to hang out with.

An update of the kids:
Nathan is adjusting to Kindergarten well. He LOVES his teacher and has made a few new friends. When I pick him up I'm itching to hear all about his day...in detail...and he replies, "I don't want to talk about it." Like he's 14 instead of 5. What is up with that? I've backed off and stopped asking so many questions. Now, I play Betty Crocker and have a cool snack ready for when we get home and while we sit at the table he opens up and gives me enough information that I'm content. I still probe for more, but try not to play 20 questions....it turns my litte "teenager" off.

Reese flew by his first week of school like a champ. Friday of the first week his teacher tells me he's doing so well, is ahead of the other kids and she wants to put him in the next class up. Of course, Jake and I beamed and said, "He's so smart he's already skipping a grade." This new class does seem like a better fit for him, but he's cried (just a little) each day I've dropped him off. I watch through the window in the door and he stops right after I leave so I'm hoping he'll stop soon. He tells me about his new friend, Jessica, and how pretty she is. So sweet.

Week 7

Somehow this week got away from me and I didn't do my regular posting. I caught myself thinking many times that it was my first full week of having the kids in school and I should be blogging, blogging and more blogging. But, obviously, that didn't happen. I had all these things I had saved to do once I had some free time and got ahead of myself.

Twelve weeks until the marathon.......I woke up Sunday morning before everyone else, put on my new running gear (running shorts with a cool pocket for my cell phone and house key, a pink fit-dri shirt and my Nike iPod armband). I headed out just before the sun with a route in mind, not knowing how many miles it was or if I could even run the entire thing, but I looked like a runner so maybe I was a runner. I passed a few walkers and a few early risers getting their newspaper, waved "Hi" and smiled and thought to myself, "Yea, I'm just an athlete out for a run. Can you see my muscles?" Who the hell was I kidding? However, it did seem to pump up my confidence and kept me running. I ran and ran and ran, stopping briefly at the pavilion for a visit to the water fountain and then right back to running. I didn't bring a watch so I had no idea how long I had been gone or how far I had run, but I came to a point were I stopped and walked for a bit, caught my breath and started running again....all the way back home. When I got in the house everyone was up and I gathered up the kids while Jake stayed behind to read the paper. We hopped in the car to retrace my steps and see how far I managed to run......4 miles! I was so #%$@! impressed with myself!

I'm in love with my iPod. Jake and I stayed up late Saturday night listening and downloading songs. My running play list starts with Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's and ends with the Rocky theme song. Just when you feel like you can't run another minute the song hits you and you just keep going! I love it.

Week 6

Yippee my foot/ankle seem to be better. I ran last Friday after a full week of sitting on my butt. It was a short run, but it felt great. I was feeling my progress slip away and am so glad whatever happened to my foot has healed and I'm back in the swing of things. Cheryl and I met up this morning after getting the kids off to school and ran outside for the first time together. Of course by the time we got the kids off and met it was nearly 9:30 and VERY hot and humid. I can't stress this enough. We met at the marathon starting point and headed out on the course, only to be done in by the heat, just shy of a mile. We walked the mile back to the car and by the time when made it we were soaking wet in sweat. We agreed that until the Florida heat and humidity take a hike we'd meet at the crack of dawn on the weekends.

I didn't bother to weigh myself today and have contemplated not weighing in at all until after the run. I just get discouraged when the scale doesn't say what I think it should. I find myself making up for it with a few too many trips to the kitchen. Oh, how I love food.

Week 5

This will be a brief post because it has been less than a productive week. Somehow, I'm not even sure when, I hurt my foot/ankle and it began to swell. I'm taking Cheryl's advice and staying off of it for a week before I resume training. I'm bummed. And because I'm bummed I've been eating too much. Today I resolve to suck it up and eat right, take care of my foot and try to run again Friday.

Music to my ears

I invested in an iPod today. I'd been thinking about it since I started running. I need something in my head so I'm not focused on my run or my exhaustion. Ironically, a year ago I wasn't completely sure what an iPod was! I'm no techy that's for sure.

I need to pack it full of fun, motivating songs....got any ideas?

Week 4

Well, I made it to 3 miles, except I had to stop twice and walk a minute or two to catch my breath. I've been playing around with my speed on the treadmill, hoping to find that perfect pace to make it without stopping. Cheryl and I figured out we have to master the 3 mile run by September 2nd to officially start the half marathon training program.

I've discovered I have a calf muscle, not just a calf. I found it while shaving my leg. I thought to myself, "What is that lump I'm shaving over". I look down and there it was....a muscle. Yippee!

I've dropped 5 pounds so far. I'd love to drop about 5-10 more.

Week 3

I'm starting to get into a pretty good routine of exercise now. I'm actually enjoying it. I'm still on the treadmill and haven't attempted an outdoor run yet. That will have to wait until the kids start school. I've worked up to 2.5 miles and hope to run my first 5k by the end of the week. As my runs get longer I have to make sure I find something good on TV so my mind doesn't focus on the running. Commercials are torture to run through!

I've always been good at setting a goal and sticking to it so I'm already brewing up my next challenge once the half marathon is over. I'd hate to see myself work so hard just to let it all go after the run. Ann-Marie said she's always wanted to do a mini-triathlon so we've tossed around the idea for 2008. First, she has to give birth to that little baby growing in her belly and I have to finish this run I've committed to! I think I can handle the biking and running I'm just not sure about the swimming. I have a thing about swimming in river or ocean water. I'm always concerned about what's lurking below that I can't see. I guess I'll have to get over that.

Week 2

I'm fighting the munchies a little more as I start week 3, but I did great last week and dropped another 2 pounds. That's 3 1/2 pounds I don't have to drag 13.1 miles! I'm now up to a 2 mile run which isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I have to be able to run 3 miles before I can start on an official training program. I invested in a pair of running shoes. I read about people loosing toe nails if they weren't in a good shoe. Ouch! And did you know guys have to lube up their nipples before a marathon because they'll bleed from the rubbing against their shirt. Yikes.