Road Trip! Country Music Marathon

A bunch of my pals from the Running Spot decided to run the Country Music Marathon/Half Marathon, which is in Nashville, so we piled in the car for a road trip. I knew I would have to spectate the thing instead of run it, because I have no self control and would end up running too hard. Seriously. If you slap a bib number on my chest, you better get out of my way. Not a smart thing for me to do the week before a hilly race.

Anywho. Tisha and I had fun spectating the marathon, although we didn't see ANY of the 10 or so people from Cincinnati. I don't know how we missed each other given that:

- Most of our runners were wearing Running Spot shirts
- We were holding large obnoxious signs that said "Show us your Nip Guards" and "Running is Cheaper than Therapy"
- Our friend Robert is like, 6'6" or something and he and I are both VERY LOUD :-)

It was kind of funny that we missed everyone, since that was the whole reason we were there, but I think we motivated lots of other runners. Many Nip Guards were flashed our way and the dudes who didn't have Nip Guards just lifted up their shirts and petted themselves. Ok that part was a little disturbing...

In hindsight, we decided that spectating requires more work than just showing up at random mile markers on the course without telling anyone where you'll be. Oh well - lesson learned!

We finally caught up with our runners post race and enjoyed plenty of beer (Yuengling, baby!), naps, greasy food, more beer, and a few too many shots at a bar named after a trailer park. It was a super classy joint featuring girls in tube tops and lime green cowboy boots. In fact, it was such a classy place that some guy felt compelled to get on stage with the honky tonk band and propose to his girlfriend. If that isn't romance, I don't know what is.


The Running Spot Crew after a few drinks...

New buddy + back on the fence

I really did not feel like running tonight. It's rainy, windy, I was in a crappy mood, and I have shin splints from going for a walk last night. (Does that make any sense? I can run 22 miles and be fine. I walk four miles and I get shin splits. #$&%^#!!!!!)

However, I got home from work at a reasonable hour today (6:30) and didn't really know what to do with all the extra time so I decided a run was in order. After dragging myself out the door, I saw my neighbor, who I have met exactly twice, gearing up for a run of her own. Without thinking I yelled "Hey! Can I come with?" like a little kid. Ha ha. Luckily she was really nice and let me join her, even though I huffed and puffed all the way up Torrence. :-)

This is the same neighbor who is in the half marathon Running Spot group. I was looking for a short recovery run but she was hauling it. We ended up doing 5.5 miles at a sub 9 clip...not too bad for a recovery run! We were a little bummed because we were actually trying to catch the half marathon group, who had left from O'Bryonville, but couldn't find the 9 minute pace coach OR any of my old buddies. Boo.

I'm excited to find a new running buddy though, especially one who lives in my building. Plus, she's planning to do a Fall marathon, which means she'll be in the Summer training group. And this reminds me...I'm back on the fence about what I want to do next season. My dad and I are both doing SOMETHING in the Portland, ME Fall race...he's doing the full and I'm still thinking. We'll see how the Pig goes, but after the nice 22 miler last weekend, I'm rethinking taking time off because...

- I would really miss my training buddies (not a good enough reason though)
- I would also miss my marathon legs (yeah. I'm kind of vain. and this still isn't a good enough reason.)
- I might miss calling my grandmother on Saturday mornings and hearing her say "You ran 20 miles? That is ludicrous."
- I'm starting to like ice baths. Kidding.
- I'm 30, single, and my alternative at this point is to become a crazy-knitting-cat-lady-aunt. Except I'm allergic to cats.

In all seriousness, I feel like it's now or never. I look at the people in my training group who have kids, who are going home after 22 miles to sit through soccer games and other non-napping activities and I think, damn, I'm glad I all I have to do today is SLEEP. How do people with actual lives DO this?

Redemption

We had our infamous 22-mile run yesterday morning from Newport. I was dreading this big time for two reasons:

1) We were running the part of the course that I choked on two weeks ago. Yippee.

2) The route instructions took up almost an entire page in Microsoft Word. I know 22 miles is a long way but for some reason, seeing it all spelled out on paper really psyched me out.

Can I just ask who planned the Pig course??? "Let's have the runners do three bridges, then go up Gilbert THEN run through Eden Park! Wouldn't it be funny to make them run up Paxton? They won't be expecting THAT hill! Oh and then let's send them through the East End for the last few miles so that they can see how far away they are from the finish line...mwahahaha."

Ok, despite all these things, I actually had a good run yesterday thanks to perfect weather, free Gu from the Running Spot and my die hard running buddies. I really don't know what I would do without these people who laugh, growl, poke fun, and celebrate through each mile with me. We are the world.

Anywho. I struggled through the first 12 miles or so, but once we finished the ascent, I felt a lot better.


Since when do we take pictures at water stops?? Me and Tisha at mile 12ish...


In fact, I think I ran a negative split because I caught up with the speedy kids right before Eastern and kept up with them all the way back to Newport. Yay!

My finish time for the 21.7 miles was 3:16...roughly a 9:03 minute per mile pace. My goal was really just to finish without crawling, laying down somewhere, and/or hallucinating. (I was nonsense after the last 20 miler). So, I'm feeling a little more confident that I might be able to pull a reasonable finish time out of my @ss in three weeks. But who knows? The marathon is an unpredictable beast and any number of factors can throw the best-laid plans out the window. :-)

Sunshine Makes Me High

Heard that song on my way home from today's run and thought it was pretty appropriate! It's 48 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and I finished my 18.6 miles without begging for mercy...what else could I possibly ask for? :-)

The workout today was up and down, literally and figuratively. We started from Crossroads and ran down Madison to Erie, where we followed the Pig course all the way through HP, Mariemont, Fairfax, the ever-scenic East End, and then hopped on Delta/Linwood for a long climb back up to Madison. I got to run with Tisha, and since we did kind of an early pit stop, it was just the two of us for most of the run. I always have fun running with her because we have the same silly sense of humor and she never rolls her eyes at me, even when I'm slappy and singing the Gummy Bears theme song, tap-dancing at crosswalks, etc.

Also, I love when we run to Mariemont. I used to live out there (moved away one year ago this weekend, actually) and I get a kick out of trotting around my old stomping grounds. Running on Columbia Parkway was also interesting. I don't even know if you're supposed to do that, what with it being a functioning highway and all, but it's something I haven't done before (this particular part of it anyway) and I like running new places.

Plus, my legs felt pretty good...until we hit Eastern that is. I can't tell if I need new shoes or if that stretch of the course just sucks the life out of me. Maybe both. I wasn't grouchy though, and by the time we hit Delta, the dead legs came back to life and I enjoyed the rest of my run.

Pace was a 9:16 average today...I'm getting slower (yes Dad, I know these runs are for endurance and not speed). The pace was comfortable and I don't want to push it. I'm in preservation mode I think. I'm watching the damage I'm doing to my body (don't read this if you're easily grossed out) - the blisters, the black/falling off toenails, the stress on my GI system - and it's bugging me more this season than last (or maybe I blocked out the memory). I'm seriously considering just doing a half marathon this Fall. I don't want to give up training completely, but I want to take a break before I burn myself out. I don't want to end up hating running (and I don't hate it...yet) so I think some time off will be a good thing. Not to say this will be my last marathon (I hope not), but do I really need/want to do two per year? TBD.

Sandbagging?

So, last night's group workout was structured a little differently than usual. Instead of Groups A and B meeting at different places, we all met at Lunken and divided into THREE groups based on pace: sub 9:00, 9-10:00, and more than 10:00 minutes per mile.

It was supposed to be a speed workout...technically I should have gone with the sub 9:00 group. However, my legs are still a little tight from Sunday (my left leg actually kept me up all night after the race) and I really don't want to provoke an overuse injury (I can feel at least two brewing right now). Luckily Tisha was in a similar boat so we decided to run with the 9-10:00 group.

After getting over the initial shame of watching our regular running buddies trot off towards Eastern Avenue (no Lunken for them), Tisha and I jumped in with our new group and enjoyed a nice run around the airport. Well, mostly nice. I got accused of sandbagging (and later found a similar comment on my Wall from the same person) but whatever! I am seriously trying to be careful of my legs...I need them to get me through 26.2 in five weeks! I'm noticing more and more people who are either out with injuries or running slower than usual to try and nurse a sore IT band, etc. And, muscle injuries aren't the only problems cropping up. Last night as we were finishing, the guy next to me turned to his buddy and said:

"Hey, how'd it go? Did you sh*t yourself"

I didn't hear the buddy's response but the first guy replied with:

"Dude! Take some Immodium!"

LOL. I really shouldn't laugh...

Anyway, we ended up running just under a 9-minute pace for the 6 miles, which is perfectly fine with me. Not sure I ran hard enough to deserve the Big Boy and onion rings I devoured afterwards though. :-)