THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

Happy Easter!  Mine has been wonderful!  We went to a great sunrise service and then breakfast, gave the kids easter baskets at home, then went to Grandma's for cabbage rolls, and for dinner are heading to firehouse 11 for spaghetti with the tribe--my marathon send-off.  6 days.  I am excited and a little nervous.  This taper week may very nearly kill me.  I want that 3:15 so bad I can taste it.  Oh how I hope the wind is not blowing.  I have a plan  B though for a windy day--if I can't make the time, I am going for place.  After looking at winning times over the past years I have a shot at top 3 and some money, so I am going for it regardless of time.  Maybe I am fooling myself but I feel good about my training.  So, I just need everything else to fall in place.

Ran for about 36 minutes easy--Garmin was dead so just checked the time coming in and going out and did mapmyrun.  This makes 7:39 pace.  Whoops.  Really I was trying to take it easy.  The tribe spaghetti dinner was pretty crazy last night.  Everyone had signed a good luck card for me and they gave me a goody bag with gu, motrin, and other miscellaneous runner items and a pair of nice black sleeves.  I'm quite touched and a little embarassed.    Seems like too much fuss over me.  Wow!  They are too nice!  5 days.

8:17 average pace.  Dress rehearsal day!  2 mile warm-up, 3 at marathon effort, 1.5 cooldown.  I had to majorly adjust expectations since today was officially NIGHTMARE marathon conditions.  According to weather.com, the conditions for my run were 82 degrees, with a 36mph south wind gusting at 43mph.  I have nothing good to say about running straight into a 36mph headwind.  I ran on the rolling dirt hills by my house.  warm up 8:56, 8:56  then start my tempo straight into the headwind 8:10(GEEEEEZ), turn out into 3/4 tail, 1/4 side(7:26), then uphill side wind, then down, then up(7:32).  cool down 8:27, 8:39 pace for .51.

I stayed relaxed and just tried to maintain marathon EFFORT, but not necessarily target pace.  I felt like a freaking leaf blowing all over the place and I was HOT.   It's okay, this let me practice my contingency plan for the marathon come Saturday.  If the wind is there to kill us, then I am going to go out conservative and relaxed and let the jackrabbits go kill themselves in the wind, then once we hit the turnaround and they have worn themselves out I will move in for the kill. Grrrr

It's official, I have a cold.  I felt a little soreness in my throat yesterday and tried to be in denial but here it is.  My options today were get up at 5am to run 4 miles, or sleep in until it was time to get the kids to school.  I opted to sleep in.  Maybe I will run a few after work tonight to keep from getting too stale.  Maybe I will not.  Yesterday's windy run was discouraging.  Weather forecast shows a 17mph south wind for Saturday, but overnight Friday night is 9mph so I am hoping that at 7am for the first half of the marathon it won't be quiet 17mph yet.  I hope.  I hope.  Excuse me while I go blow my nose, pound the Emergen-C, and look for my mojo.

Update:  midnight after work, 4 miles on the treadmill.  ran at 8:34 pace except for several brief accelerations to 7:25, then 6:40, then 6;00 pace to stretch the legs a little.  

Alright here I am--48 hours before showtime.  No run today!  All that stands between me and the big M is a dinky little two miler tomorrow sometime.  I still have a cold, but it is not a bad one.  Nothing but positive thoughts from here out!  I'm just going to get out there and have a good time, and run like I'm free!  I'm going to break this race up mentally the same way I did last time--into 5 sections--4x5-mile sections followed by a 10k.  

Update:  In an attempt to calm my nerves I have gone back and carefully reviewed my training.  I noticed that while my long runs and MP runs were very strong throughout, my speedwork has not been spectacular.  This tells me that I have to be very very careful not to run too close to my threshold.  In other words, if I want my 3:15 then it is IMPERATIVE that I run fairly even splits and do not go out too fast.  If I go out too fast then my second half has big disaster potential.  So I am thinking I should go out ultra conservative, maybe 7:30/miles for the first 5 mile chunk, move to target 7:25 pace for the next 15 miles, and then hammer down in the last 10k.  No trying to put minutes in the bank!  If I shave off time it needs to be in the last 10k while I buckle down.  Regardless, if I don't have the steam to hammer it in the last 10k, I should at least have the steam to maintain and get a 3:15--if I play it safe in the first half.

My cold got worse and worse at work last night.  I can't breathe through my nose, my throat is on fire, and I am hacking up green snot.  I don't have a fever, though.  So, this is just a virus.  I took half a dose of nyquil and 400mg of motrin at bedtime, then washed it down with a cup of chamomile tea, rendering me unconscious for almost 6 hours.  Now me and Vanessa are on the couch again and my plan is to spend most of my day on this couch hydrating. I believe this is the peak so I should be feeling a ton better tomorrow(I hope).  When David gets home from work we will be heading up to Abilene to stay the night and the kids are going to Grandma's.  Maybe I will have moved enough by then to pack.  This is just a hiccup.  I keep telling myself that I am strong and healthy and I will have this kicked by tomorrow.  If I rest all day and eat and drink well I shouldn't be in any kind of weakened state either. Right?

Man I am happy!  Really really happy! As bad as I felt last night I just didn't know how this was going to go.  I didn't make the time that I trained for, but last night I was questioning if I would even start or finish.  I had finally come to the conclusion that I was going to go out very conservative--slower then planned, and then pick it up at the halfway point if I felt okay.  I don't know if the slow start hurt me or saved me!  Either way it worked out and I have $500 in my pocket that I didn't have before and I finally got to break the tape!

Pre-race:  As we drove to the hotel I was miserable--hacking, congested, sore throat.  Ugh.  Didn't take any cold medicine because I knew it would stay in my system too long and make me groggy.  I did take 2 motrin to ease the sore throat, drank a cup of chamomile tea, and crawled into bed. at 9:30.  Nighttime:  Bad.  We would have been better off sleeping in the car.  The bed sagged in the middle, the pillows were really flat, I couldn't breathe through my nose, and our neighbor upstairs sure did a lot of walking around.  We tossed and turned all night, and gave up at 3:30 am.  We turned on the television and watched the news and brewed some coffee.  At 5:30 we left for the starting line.  We were there by 6am.  I choked down a few cups of water, a banana, and half a bagle.  I could breathe better through my nose when upright, so I was a little hopeful.  10 minutes before the race, last year's winner asked if I wanted to warm up with her and we jogged around a little and then got on the line.  Just as the sun came up, the gun went off.  I pulled my sunglasses over my eyes, and we were off.

1-4: 7:09, 7:33, 7:25, 7:31  Lezlee takes off.  I am holding back--I am going to stay conservative and run the first half holding back and see how this is going to go.  Right at around mile 4 I catch up to Lezlee again and we run about the next 8 miles together and chat.  She is really nice!

5-12: 7:35, 7:31, 7:36, 7:36, 7:38, 7:30, 7:42, 7:31 Lezlee has a hamstring injury that is starting to bother her and she starts to slow down.  I decide to open up a little bit and pull ahead.  I hit the turn around feeling decent in 1:39 something so I try to pick it up. 

13-20: 7:25, 7:33, 7:44, 7:29, 7:21, 7:21, 7:14, 7:20 I run miles 13 and 14 alone but can hear a loud group of men coming up behind me.  I decide when they get to me I am going to latch on and hang for the ride.  They catch me at 14.  Most of them are going for sub 3:20--sounds good to me!  I chat with Greg who is drying to BQ, and Hawk from iceland.  As we reach mile 20 fatigue is setting in and nobody is talking much.  One guy announces that the second half of the marathon has begun.  So true!  I wonder how far behind me the other women are.

21-22: 7:21, 7:29  Our group splinters.  Greg and one other guy pull ahead, two guys fall back.  Me and Hawk from iceland stay together.  We are not talking much anymore but I am glad to not be running alone.  I feel the sense of impending crash.  At mile 22 I suck down a gu, hoping it saves me.

23-24: 7:45, 7:59  Nosing up against the wall and fading now.  This was the worst part.  My legs hurt, my mental stamina is suffering, the air is thick and I feel like I am swimming instead of running.  Me and Hawk share the water bottle he is carrying--such a nice guy! As we turn down the home straightaway the radio station guy asks me how to pronounce my last name, tells me I am the lead lady, and wishes me luck.

25-26: 7:44, 7:43  Maybe the gu is kicking in but mentally I begin to feel better.  I can win this, and that is what I am thinking about right now.  I try to rally and push my stiff legs as fast as they will go.  I can win this.  I can win this.  Somewhere in  mile 26 Hawk fades back, but he yells at me "you go girl!".  The radio station guy is driving in a truck next to me.

.2  I forgot to stop my watch and the Garmin is measuring a little long anyway.  All I know is I see the finish banner.  I try to do some kind of pathetic sprint and then I am running through red tape and it is over!  I threw my arms up and whooped.  They cut my chip off, put a medal around my neck,put the blanket on my shoulders, and I walk over to my husband.  He hugs me and my legs seize up a little bit so I lean on him but after a few minutes I can walk again.

Aftermath: Got interviewed by the local radio station and a couple local papers.  So crazy!  After a while I am hacking up a lung but I only coughed once during the race.  I got $500 and two medals and an Eisenhower head statue thing and a sweet shirt.  2nd and 3rd were 9 and 10 minutes behind me.  The second place woman this was her first marathon and she had to do all her training on a treadmill! wow!  Our friend Amy finally BQed with five minutes to spare!  It was a good day!  I am ready to take some cold medicine and collapse now!