Sunday morning I ended up at work, instead of doing my 16-18mi planned run. It was storming so I wasn't too upset about it, but I know I would have to make it up Monday... AFTER work.
I was lucky enough to leave work a few hours early. That meant, at 3:30pm, I headed out on my longest run ever done by my lonesome (breaking last week's record of 14.25 on my own). It was overcast, and pleasantly cool, although quite humid from the morning storms. I kept expecting the skies to open up, but they didn't, thankfully.
My route took me south, out of Blue Springs, down 7hwy. There's a wide bike lane and shoulder, so it wasn't too sketchy to run on. Then, in Lake Lotawana, I made a right turn, onto Colbern. Colbern is 4 lanes across, no shoulder, no sidewalk. I ran on the side of the road for about 3.5 miles, then jumped on the path that basically appears from no where on the north side of Legacy Park in Lee's Summit. I continued down the trail as it went south along Blackburn Rd. I went past the LS Rec Center, reminding myself to stop there on the return trip to fill up the CamelPak and potty. I decided I was only doing 16, and right at the 8mi turnaround, my stomach dropped. I had to poop. NOW. In a beautiful residential neighborhood. Shit. Shit. Shit. Literally.
I started walking clenching my butt and waddling. Coach Lady told me cramping and stomach issues can be salt problems, so I was sure to pop an extra endurolyte. It seemed to help and I started running again. I got on the trail that looked to be the "shortcut" to the rec center.
WRONG.
About a half mile in the wrong direction, and exactly across from the rec center (on the other side of a LAKE!) I couldn't wait. I took about ten steps off the path into knee high grass, turned around in a cirle like a dog making bedding, and well. I pooped. It felt AMAZING.
Then I started back in the direction I came from. Again, I had to go off course to make it to the rec center, filled bottles, got the luxury of wiping, and started back.
At about mile 13, I looked down and realized I was only 10min of my best half marathon time (not including the pit stops, but including the near mile walk from 7.5-8.5). Nice. I was keeping it easy, and crusing pretty well.
Things turned around from 13-15. The sun was out and getting HOT. I was getting tired. I was running on the concrete road, and my knees were hurting. My calfs were tight. My back hurt. I was over Orange gatorade.
At mile 16 I picked up someones discarded, nearly full water bottle from the side of the rd. I poured it all over me. I maybe even drank a little. I know, but I was running out of liquids, FAST.
I took solace in knowing that my now death march stride was almost a minute faster than my death march of two years prior. I could stop and walk, but, then it would take LONGER until I got home. Eff that. I wanted home. NOW.
I finally arrived home just over 3 1/2hrs from when I left, arriving at 17.64mi. I guess the extra mile and change was the marathon god's way of saying to do the longest possible planned runs.
I streched and climbed into the ice bath, tears on my face, so happy to be done. Hubs asked why I do this to myself, and that it obviously isn't fun. I couldn't really answer him, but told him deep down I actually like it.
"You're ate up, honey." He said, as he went out the door to walk the dog.
I know, but I'm 18 miles stronger than the day before.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Let Me Crawl Out from Under This Rock
Hi. I'm Courtney, and I have a Blog. I need to stare in the mirror and tell myself this every morning, and maybe someday I'll set aside 10 minutes to update it.
Ok, so let's see here, what have I been doing?
Let's start somewhere back around Kansas 70.3. I had a great race, and decided to take a few weeks off to chill out. I eventually picked up on running again, trying to gear up for the Kansas City Marathon. Then I cut my achillies at the dog park, which made wearing shoes, even bandaged up and double socked, impossible. The deep cut took about two weeks to heal up enough to stand running.
Well now I'm over that. But, I seemed to keep missing (ie: Being lazy, work, having too many excuses) my long Sunday runs. About a week ago I realized I was supposed to be running 14. I did 9. 9 was impressive. Wanna know why? Because prior to my 9miler, my longest run since KS 70.3 was a 6.5 miler. Yes, I know. Roll your eyes.
So, this week I of course missed my Wednesday run. Which I actually did make up, on Thursday. Then I ran my scheduled Friday. Two days back to back. Not fun. Then a long run for Saturday. To get myself back on track, I actually did the 14 (14.85 to be exact). I felt decent, considering I didn't start until 9am, at which point it was already 80* outside. When I finished almost three hours later, it was 94*. Gah. Well, at least I can survive in the heat. Which is good, since next weekend is 16-18.
Also next weekend is a bachlorette party. At this point, the prudent thing to do is to go and not drink, and have my ass in bed before 1am. It will be an early wake up call to get my feet on the pavement. Then, we're heading to the in-laws for lunch. An hour away. This means that if we have to be there by, oh, 1:30pm, we need to leave by 12:15pm. So I need to finish my run by 11:00am in time for me to stretch, ice bath, and shower. Completing my run which will take approximately 3hr and 40 min for 18 miles (not counting a gas station pit stop to refill hydration systems) means starting by 7am. At the latest. That's getting up at 6:15am. With 5 hrs of sleep.
On second thought, I'll be home before midnight. Sigh.
Other things on the agenda:
Swimming in Moonshine 2mi Open Water Race. It's the tail end of August and will make a great camping trip. Now, if I could only get my ass in the water to do a little swimming before hand.
I Got Older:
I had a birthday last Monday. Thus, I realized that unless I decided to do another race other than the marathon, I am approaching the end of my 20-24 age group career. Wow, so strange to think that when I started at 20. I'm actually ageing up! Welcome to the fast girls, huh?
For my birthday I got a fancy new phone, and a Garmin 305. I heart them both. Oh, and I can't forget. Neon blue Asics. Yes, back to the (b)Asics. I like the Zoot Ultras, but they're really just flats, and can't support a second season, let alone a marathon. I may pull them out of retirement for sprint triathlons if I ever enter another one.
Can't shake that (ironman) feeling:
I'm still sad that I decided to back out of the Redman full. It broke my heart and as race day nears, I'm feeling like I should be getting ready. It's definitely less time consuming training for marathon only races, and it worked out better for my schedule. Now, I'm looking ahead to 2010. Will it be Cozumel or Arizona? Both are held at the end of November. This would place a 20 week countdown at the begining of July. May thru the start of August were crazy work months for me, but I've seen things taper off as I gradually got a hold of it. I'm looking forward to next summer, as I feel like I now have the tools I need to get thru both training, and work.
Congrats:
To Julie. She finished her fourth marathon over the weekend at the ET marathon outside of Vegas. Crazy thing- they start at effing midnight! She's also got Chicago coming up this year.
Ok, so let's see here, what have I been doing?
Let's start somewhere back around Kansas 70.3. I had a great race, and decided to take a few weeks off to chill out. I eventually picked up on running again, trying to gear up for the Kansas City Marathon. Then I cut my achillies at the dog park, which made wearing shoes, even bandaged up and double socked, impossible. The deep cut took about two weeks to heal up enough to stand running.
Well now I'm over that. But, I seemed to keep missing (ie: Being lazy, work, having too many excuses) my long Sunday runs. About a week ago I realized I was supposed to be running 14. I did 9. 9 was impressive. Wanna know why? Because prior to my 9miler, my longest run since KS 70.3 was a 6.5 miler. Yes, I know. Roll your eyes.
So, this week I of course missed my Wednesday run. Which I actually did make up, on Thursday. Then I ran my scheduled Friday. Two days back to back. Not fun. Then a long run for Saturday. To get myself back on track, I actually did the 14 (14.85 to be exact). I felt decent, considering I didn't start until 9am, at which point it was already 80* outside. When I finished almost three hours later, it was 94*. Gah. Well, at least I can survive in the heat. Which is good, since next weekend is 16-18.
Also next weekend is a bachlorette party. At this point, the prudent thing to do is to go and not drink, and have my ass in bed before 1am. It will be an early wake up call to get my feet on the pavement. Then, we're heading to the in-laws for lunch. An hour away. This means that if we have to be there by, oh, 1:30pm, we need to leave by 12:15pm. So I need to finish my run by 11:00am in time for me to stretch, ice bath, and shower. Completing my run which will take approximately 3hr and 40 min for 18 miles (not counting a gas station pit stop to refill hydration systems) means starting by 7am. At the latest. That's getting up at 6:15am. With 5 hrs of sleep.
On second thought, I'll be home before midnight. Sigh.
Other things on the agenda:
Swimming in Moonshine 2mi Open Water Race. It's the tail end of August and will make a great camping trip. Now, if I could only get my ass in the water to do a little swimming before hand.
I Got Older:
I had a birthday last Monday. Thus, I realized that unless I decided to do another race other than the marathon, I am approaching the end of my 20-24 age group career. Wow, so strange to think that when I started at 20. I'm actually ageing up! Welcome to the fast girls, huh?
For my birthday I got a fancy new phone, and a Garmin 305. I heart them both. Oh, and I can't forget. Neon blue Asics. Yes, back to the (b)Asics. I like the Zoot Ultras, but they're really just flats, and can't support a second season, let alone a marathon. I may pull them out of retirement for sprint triathlons if I ever enter another one.
Can't shake that (ironman) feeling:
I'm still sad that I decided to back out of the Redman full. It broke my heart and as race day nears, I'm feeling like I should be getting ready. It's definitely less time consuming training for marathon only races, and it worked out better for my schedule. Now, I'm looking ahead to 2010. Will it be Cozumel or Arizona? Both are held at the end of November. This would place a 20 week countdown at the begining of July. May thru the start of August were crazy work months for me, but I've seen things taper off as I gradually got a hold of it. I'm looking forward to next summer, as I feel like I now have the tools I need to get thru both training, and work.
Congrats:
To Julie. She finished her fourth marathon over the weekend at the ET marathon outside of Vegas. Crazy thing- they start at effing midnight! She's also got Chicago coming up this year.
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