My Treadmill is My Most Prized Possession

Cross training day.  Walking up to incline of 12.0. 

Today I made a life-altering discovery and figured out one of the greatest mysteries of all time--why people in the South are the most obese of anyone in the country, perhaps even world.  In short, though fatty fried foods and lots of football watching from LazyBoy recliners might indeed be contributing factors, they are not the main casual connector between southern people and obesity.  Rather, the problem is that after consuming 5,000 calorie meals while sitting on the aforementioned LazyBoy, even if these ladies and gentleman wanted to exercise there is NOWHERE TO EXERCISE HERE!!!  So let me get on a soap box a little bit about my 17.0 mile journey today and you will get what I mean.  I live in East Tennessee--a beautiful, green scenic area with trees, water, lakes, beautiful homes, rivers that you cross every other street, etc.  So surely, I thought, there must be a plentiful amount of running trails.  As I am a young mom of 2 with husband who does surgery for a living, 99% of my runs on the treadmill, so today I thought I would get a little crazy since husband was at home and taking girls to Little Pony movie, and run outside.  I drove to a park right next to the lake that I have been eyeing having seen a few running people there before and having seen a picteresque looking trail heading towards the 8-10 mile round-trip lake.  I begin on the trail with fresh air in my lungs and good music in my ears and am just getting going only to experience the day's greatest disappointment when no less than 100 feet later the "trail" does a little loop around the park and heads back to the parking lot.  So much for the 8-10 mile round trip run on scenic trail.  My husband mentioned there were some trails a few miles away so I leave the parking lot and my car to run over to these new trails on the roads.  About 1/2 mile into it I figure out this might not have been the best idea.  Roads here in the South are very narrow with about a 6 inch shoulder and a guard rail on one side of the road or a muddy ditch on the other side.  The little bridges I keep hitting every 1/2 mile are even worse.  A 12 inch cement slab to run on and road on right so close that I can literally reach my hand out and touch the Semis flying by and deep lake water on my left so deep and frigid that I will surely fall to my death if I trip and get pitched into it.  However, nothing is stoppping me from running today and, besides, my only other option is the treadmill and my car is now behind me so I figure I will keep going, despite my fear of being run down by cars/semis/and or policemen who will inform me that it is illegal to run outside in the state of Tennessee.  2 miles later, getting a little concerned, I finally find---AAAAAH!  Sidewalks!  At least some of Knoxville believes in them.  I take these sidewalks towards the prominsed running trails for about 3 miles, and after 5 miles of complete disappointment in my first outside-Knoxville running experience I hit beautiful parks, kids playing, and finally see some kindred running spirits and even a few bikers (who I have never been so happy to see before).  Finally I have made it to the promised land!  I am running 50 feet parallel to the big lake and figure I will just run for 4-5 more miles, then head back.  I am smiling, I pick up the pace, life is good.  I am running in such a state of zen that I barely realize when the trail suddenly comes to an abrupt stop right in front of a big cluster of magnolia trees.  The lake, the greenery, and of course the road with no sidewalks and a 6 inch shoulder continues on, almost mocking me as it winds off into the distance for what promises to be an excellent sojourn around the lake that I will never get to experience on my running legs.  The total distance of the promised land: 1.2 miles.  So my IPOD and I take several round trips there and back, there and back, there and back.  I think I did 4 or 5 round trips total (I lost track after starting to worry about bathroom issues towards the end--yes, thats right, no porta potties or other facilities or even strategically placed groves of trees in this town.  I then ended my 17 mile run with a 2 mile sojourn back through the treacherous roads of semis, guard rails, and "Narrow Bridges" (as the signs warned).  I was actually honked at on my way back, even though I was running on slanted dirt at that point, about to tumble headlong into a ditch to try and avoid a head-on collision.  Apparently the white minivan did not appreciate my efforts.  The good news is that I finished the longest mileage I have done since Park City Marathon in August in 9:17s and the longest mileage I think I have ever done outside by myself (Luz-less and treadmill-less).  One long run down, 3 to go.  My nice husband, after hearing the travelogue, drove me around tonight and showed me a University Avenue like road that at least has a sidewalk and runs 3.5 miles in one direction for a 7 mile round trip.  There isn't a lake or rivers to cross (these are reserved for the heavy traffic and railroad tracks of course), but it is safe, outside, and scenic in that there are trees in front of people's houses.  So that is the answer to the age-old question: why are so many people in the South overweight?  Well, because even if you WANTED to head out your door to exercise in your beautiful surroundings, the only place to do it is on a 1 mile trail located in the middle of a town that you cannot safely run to, and even if you DO end up driving to the trail and using it, your total exercise will be, well, 2 miles.  Lastly, in closing, I passed several walkers and even a few joggers on the "trail" (though only 1 did I see more than once meaning the 2 miles really is the limit for most), and also passed 2 bikers--middle age mom and dad with baby on dad's bike.  The bikers looked to need some good quality exercise, not Biggest Loser types, but in need of some serious trimming up.  I was heading uphill RUNNING and they were about to BIKE down the same hill when the wife said "There is NO way I am going down that hill; then I will have to bike back up it."  Yeah.  That's kind of the point.  Anyway, I don't mean to offend any of the Southerners out there in the blogging world, but I would like to know why I live in a gorgeous place perfect for all kinds of physical activity but there are absolutely no accommodations made to encourage people to get up and go do something.  Makes me very happy that our move to Utah is on the calendar and will be here soon.  Signing off from what is surely the longest blog post of all time, Cath.

2 miles of fast walking at 12.0 incline.  Took today as my cross-training day after I woke up like a Zombie after taking Unisom at 12:30 last night.  Can't believe how sore I was yesterday and today from that 17.0 miles on Saturday.  Must have been all the off-road running (trying to avoid being hit by the cars).  Soreness is more prevalent on right side from running on slants/ditches.

Felt much better today/less sore.  Not sure if it was the Aleve I took last night or the pound of chocolate marshmallow cookies I consumed by myself at 11:00 p.m. while watching the Bachelor and feeing ridiculosuly self-indulgent for doing so (husband has been gone and/or out of town for almost a week now so I needed a serious go-crazy night---the good news is that you apparently can't die from overdosing on chocholate; the bad news is that there are still 4 more cookies downstairs calling my name).  As it is a new month, I am ramping it up from a starting pace of 6.6 to 6.7 (did 6.6 in January, did 6.5 in December), to hopefully help with the speed.  Also found out today that I am NOT pregnant (which is a big sigh of relief because I have a marathon in 8 weeks).  Silly, I know.  But its been seriously stressing me out because I didn't want to miss another marathon 8 weeks out (the EXACT same time I found out I was pregnant with Izzy a few years ago--right after a 17 mile run with Luz; it would have been TOO ironic).  Anyway, Scott is coming home late tonight after flying to Utah for job interviews.  Hopefully will hear on jobs this week.  Hopefully they will NOT want a start date before April 15 or I will have to either (a) miss the D.C. marathon or (b) have to convince my husband to fly me out to D.C. weeks after we spend all of our money moving our stuff across the country AGAIN for the second time in one year.  All of these things are not really related to running, but at the same time are all related to running as running is my number one hobby, past-time, focus, and sanity-saver thus all events that might interfere with running and marathons are potential issues that must be considered. 

Watched Dan in Real Life.  Started at 6.7 and bumped up every 10 minutes until finish.  Solid run.

Was pathetically dragging this morning but as soon as I got on the treadmill and got going things were fine and worked through it like a machine.  Hope this means my body is getting in good marathon shape even if my mind isn't there at all.  How does one train for mental tenacity/focus?  Not sure I have it in me these days.

18 miles in 9:20s on a treadmill takes a long time.  I am still feeling in a "machine-like" state in pounding out the miles and feeling great afterwards, so hopefully this means my training is going well.

Once again, physically a machine-like painless run.  Mentally I whined for about 30 minutes in my head before getting on the dang treadmill.  Had a phone interview for pretty much my dream part-time/teaching job at 12:00 and was stressed all morning about it every time I thought about it--like sick to my stomach stressed.  Was SO grateful for the 45 minutes of running and not-thinking about it--just calm, relaxed doing my thing.  So, to the running gods or whoever invented running or treadmills or to the divine heavens for the fact that I have legs that work and knees that haven't gone out on me yet--THANK YOU!!!

Watched a friends 3 year-old twins today then am hosting my sister and her 3 little boys all weekend; just happy to get the run done today...not sure when my 13 is going to get done this weekend.  Good luck to me!  And hope you all have lovely Saturday morning runs...Cath

Miraculously got my run done today.  I watched the 5 kids so my sister could run her 6 miles, then she watched the kids so I could run my 13.  Ran it in 1:53, which I think is about 8:40s or 8:45s which was probably a little fast for my long run, but I was feeling guilty about running that long when my sister was watching 5 kids downstairs (my husband is on-call and working all weekend) so my last 2 miles were actually done in 7:30s.  All in all, felt really good, just wish the run was done in less-stressful circumstances (kids ran in and out intermittently and I had to take a few quick breaks to help them out), but such is the life of a young marathoning mom.  Hey, it may not have been pretty, but I am just grateful I got it done.  Next week have all 5 kids straight while sister is in Spain.  Good luck to me in getting any running done (let alone the 20 miles scheduled for next weekend).

Happy to get my longer midweek run out of the way; praying I can find time this week to get the others done.  Hoping to hear on job for Scott tomorrow---AAAH!

Just happy to get it done today.

5 miles in 42 minutes starting at a 6.7 and going up every 5 minutes to 7.3 then up .1 every minute for the last mile (my MO of late).  Felt fine; happy to get the run done with all the kids here.  Plus I forgot to say yesterday that Scott gave me not flowers, chocolates, or jewelry for Valentines, but an official registration for the Utah Valley Marathon.  What can I say?  This man knows me very well.  Everyone at work gave him a really hard time about it, but he kept telling them that is what I wanted and he was 100% right.  Hey, I gave him a KitchenAid Commerical Grade for our 9th Anniversary and he thought it was pretty much the awesomest gift of all time.  Love that we give each other "us" gifts rather than just going with defaults.  So now I have about 8-9 weeks until Washington D.C. then Utah Valley in June which, CRAZY, is only about 4 months away.  Then will hopefully pick up St. George or an alternate in the fall. Would love to do Park City again but can't commit to Park City and St. George (Scott and I have agreed to limit ourselves to 3 big races per year to save on weekends, kids, training, cost, and sanity) and am sure Park City will fill before we find out about St. George.  Anyway, those are my new racing plans as of today.  Sounds like a fun summer to me.

Cross training day walking at increasing inclines on the treadmill up to a 12.0.

Things have been a little crazy around here as of late so I am just glad at this point to be entering my mileage even if I add no fun comments.  Last week I survived 5 children under the age of 7 including an 8 month old baby with double ear infections who is very cute, but was only happy if he was sleeping, eating, or held.  Needless to say, I have made the determination that I am not cut-out for a large family or perhaps even a family of over 2 children.  I am way to OCD and prefer my house clean, organized, quiet, and under control at all times (none of which was happening last week).  I was very happy to do it for my sister, who is always helping me out and really needed a getaway with her husband, and overall the kids were actually great even though the baby was slightly high maitnenance, but it was just the sheer numbers or rather the sheer out-numbering.  Scott and I ate out every single night without exaggeration (no way I was cooking for 7 after long day alone with all the kids) and everywhere we went people just stared and counted as I had baby on hip, Scott had Izzy on hip, I am holding hand of 4 year old and Scott is holding hands of 2 6 year-olds connected together--3 boys, 2 girls.  And since Scott and I look like we are about 24 and 26 respectively, I am sure they were thinking, "Holy crap, have you ever heard of birth control?  Seriously people!"  I am sure the Utah license plates didn't help the situation as we re-inforced every stereo-type people have ever had about Utah Mormons.  Awesome.  Anyway, good experience for a week and very glad it isn't my life.  AMAZED at women who hold down the fort with large numbers of children.  Seriously, they are made out of something different--something much more resilient, less obsessive, more balanced.  So proud of myself for getting the runs down (and of the kids for watching Sesame Street everyday for an hour and the baby for napping) and for Scott-champion of the universe--who watched all 5 kids on Saturday so I could do 12 miles (it wasn't the 20 that was scheduled, but hey, sometimes I am sure even Hal has to make exceptions).  Anyway, this week Scott is out of town AGAIN for another interview in Utah that is tomorrow morning.  This dang job process has been going since January 1 and I am really hoping that this week or next he (a) has a job and (b) we have a moving date.  In good news, since he does not yet have a job it is highly unlikely that we will be moving before D.C. so I am getting excited for me and Luzylew to do that together.  Well, its 11:00 and I need to go watch some dumb TV and eat some brownies in order to feel that I have accomplished and finished the day off right.  Signing off for now.

Cross-training day walking up to 12.0 incline, total of 30 minutes. Woke up feeling like crap having gotten the cold Izzy has had all week.  With Scott out of town and both my kids sick--Madie with stomach flu and Izzy with cold/croup, I was bound to catch one of the two and am grateful I got the cold.  Dragged all day then had visiting teachers come at 8:30 and stay until about 10:00, then I puttered around until 11:20 when I finally got on the treadmill and had some nice relaxation time for the day whilst watching BBC's Pride and Prejudice, which has been my viewing for the past several days (I wish there were more 6 mini-series shows like this as running long distances on the treadmill is much less depressing when you don't have to watch 2 or 3 movies).

AP of 8:30s and happy to get it done since I am still feeling a little under the weather and since Izzy was up at 12:30 and came and slept in my bed then Madie woke up at 2:30 because of this massive thunderstorm at which point everyone ended up in my bed and none of us got back to bed until about 4:00.  Enjoyed watching another hour of Pride and Prejudice and wish it could just go on and on I so love watching Jane Austen.  Scott interviewed yesterday with a job that he really, really, really wants so that has been kind of stressing us out all week but they said they would decide and call today so now I am just waiting for my phone to ring to hear the yes or no from Scott.  All in all, a decent run with only a few interruptions from Izzy for Sesame Street and bathroom issues but I can't complain since she is so good to let me get a solid 70 minutes of exercise in.  Scott still gone tomorrow so will have to get my 12 done somehow...I am usual pretty anti-TV and have a no TV at all during the week rule for my kids but I must say, this marathon training go around with Scott being gone so much Sesame Street has been my saving grace.  Hopefully the 1 hour a day of educational Big Bird is not doing the kids too much long-term damage; I figure that the mental stability the running provides their mother is hopefully worth whatever brain-deadness they are experience while watching PBS as I run...

AP 9:00.  Last mile: 8:10.  Woke up feeling terribly again especially after a long night with Izzy who woke up several times and at one point was up for about an hour crying about her hurting ear and missing her daddy.  Sick kids while sick with no husband is no fun.  Anyway, this morning I was trying to figure out when/how to do my run when I saw that Izzy's tongue was white, so of course self-diagnose both her and I with strep throat.  I swear I instantly felt about 10 times worse knowing how "serious" our condition was and figured a medical waiver from my long run was in order.  About an hour later, my mentally imposed suddenly very sickly self felt still sluggish and kind of crappy but figured I really wasn't sick enough to cop out on the run so with Madeline at a birthday party I set Izzy up to watch a Barbie movie (figuring that being 2 and all and sick its the best way to keep her down and relaxing anyway, right?) and pounded out the 12 miles on my treadmill while finishing up BBCs Pride and Prejudice then watching the "extra features" which turned out to be highly disappointing (I like the in-depth interviews with all the cast and at least 2 hours of extra features as this prolongs the duration of films that I watch on the treadmill).  Am now out of Gatorade and had to drink water throughout, so when I was done stopped by the gas station for Gatorade and chocolate milk (running staples of course), and am glad to say I finished it respectably, though now I have the inevitable post-running desire/justified feeling that I should be able to sit on my couch and eat ridiculous amounts of dove chocolates for the rest of the night.  Not really sure 12 miles qualifies for this feeling, since it hardly seems like a "long run."  Aaah, where did the good old days go when 6 was long, 8 was impressive, and anythinng over 10 was a huge accomplishment?  Crazy marathon freaks.

Pace run at 8:15s.  Felt very strong; ran last mile in around 7:30.

AP 9:20s.  Done and done.  The longest mileage I have done since running Park City last August.  Started at 9:00 p.m.  Finished just after midnight.  Scott is on-call all weekend so there was no other way to get it done and I am SO glad to not have it hanging over my head all weekend.  We went out to dinner and did a pizza thing and didn't get done eating until about 7:30 so I was a little nervous about running on a full stomach, but I took an Aleve and an Immodium right before starting and loaded up on the Gatorade throughout.  Miles 1-10 went really well, averaging 9:13s.  By mile 10 I was feeling warmed up and really strong; then around Mile 11 GI issues hit and my stomach started cramping.  Slowed down to 10 minute miles and struggled from 11-15.  Around 15 started to feel better and by 17/18 felt really strong again and finished the last 2 miles very strong with mile 19 around an 8:15 I think.  Got to watch Pirates 1 and part of Pirates 2, which helped with the run.  Overall was very pleased with how not bad it was.  I struggled for those few miles and had to slow the pace, but overall things felt good and it wasn't half as bad as I thought it was going to be given that I haven't done 20+ in 9 months, I was doing it late at night on a full stomach, and its just really high mileage for me.  I kept telling myself before "Its just 20.  Its just 20."--trying to adjust my mindset.  At this point in my running career, mentally for me 12 and under is great; 12-16 or so is okay; but 17+ still gets me a little nervous about how my stomach is going to deal and if I will be able to go strong throughout.  I need to get over that, and hopefully will sometime in my running career but tonight was a good small step because it wasn't that bad--not sure how else to say it.  Hope everyone else's big mile runs go well tomorrow!  As for me, I have earned a cross-training day that I am going to relish tomorrow...Almost 1 a.m. now and time for bed.  Sipping my chocolate milk--nectar from the running gods--SMOOTH I will never be able to thank you enough for introducing me to it post-run--and will be off to bed!

Cross-training day.  30 minutes of walking with increase of .5 incline each minute up to 12.0 incline.  Got to bed last night at about 1:00 then laid in bed feeling the runners gut until about 1:30.  Felt just a titch sore today and have some blistering and definite chafing in the sports bra area--going to have permanent v-neck scars right below my collarbone that show every time I wear a lower cut shirt (you know that I mean--not risque lower obviously, just not high neck :)) but proud of 'em.

AP 8:15s. Last mile was a 7:15 (starting at an 8.0 and going up .1 grade each minute).  Felt strong and good after spending the morning recovering from a sleeping pill the night before. Always forget how hung over they make me feel in the morning.  Luckily by noon (when I finally got around to running) I felt a lot better and once I got on the treadmill the running most have forced it right out of my system.

AP 8:10s.  Last mile was a 7:30.  Still feeling strong.

AP 8:15s; last mile sub 7:30.  Dragged all morning but finally got on the treadmill and felt really strong.

APs 7:50s (did it in 47 minutes starting at a 7.0 to 7.5 by 5 minutes, then up .1 every 10 minutes).  Last mile was 8.0+ .1 every minute finishing strong; maybe a 7:15?

Dragged again this morning.  I don't know why I have such a hard time in the early mornings.  Not that I get up that early--usually 7:00ish but it takes me until 9 until I feel like I am really awake, then I catch my magical morning wind and feel great.  The problem is it takes me 2 hours to get there.  Can't figure out if my 7-8 hours of sleep isn't enough, if I need more iron, or if I am just tired from running and training or life in general right now (which is somewhat stressful given the last year's events and the pending move).  Getting very excited about D.C. though.  Booking hotels today and starting to plan our family trip.  Haven't been there since we moved from there when I was probably 9, which would make it about 20 years. Crazy.  Think we are going to try and make time to drive by all my old houses and my old elementary school.  Excited for my kids to experience it.  Luz sent me an email wondering if I wanted to race D.C. rather than just hanging out for it.  Can't make up my mind.  Looked up Boston times and saw that they weren't half as bad as I was expecting (the new times).  This year they are the same (for 2012) but the faster you do it, the sooner you can register, so I would guess most will need to run 10 minutes faster than qualifying to get a seat; in 2013 my time drops to 3:35 but it seems feasible since my PR is 3:29.  Then I watched Biggest Loser last night and one of the girls ran a 7.5 for 3 minutes and she is still like 80 pounds over weight.  Every time I see stuff like that on the show I think, "How much harder could I push myself if I really pushed?"  So today I tried to run fast despite headache lingering from last night on right side of brain.  Was proud of my 7:50s.  Wanted to save racing for Utah Valley in June but am now toying with the idea of trying to run a marathon like Sasha recommends--hard for 20, then racing the last 6.  I always start as fast as I possibly can (like sub 7s for 6 or 7 miles) then start to slow, then slow, then slower and never have a negative split (even on my PR of 3:29 I think my first half was a 1:30, then my last half was almost 2 hours).  Wondering if I should try running what would hopefully be comfortable 8:30s at D.C. for the first 20, then ramping it up for the last 6, but maybe I am overestimating my abilities and the only way I could really do that is to run comfortable 9:30s or 10s for the first 20...Anyway, things I am mulling over today.

9 minute AP.

Jogging miles with sister in Atlanta.

8:15 AP.  Last mile: 7:15.

AP 8:15.

AP 8:20.  Left bottom half of leg muscle on outer side that runs from foot to knee (between shin and calf) has been tingling for a week or so. Today when done with run it definitely hurt.  Has been hurting all day like a strained muscle.  Took aleve this morning and this afternoon.  Not very happy about this.  Can't remember if you are supposed to heat or ice?  Getting bugged/slightly stressed because I am only 10 days out from marathon time and have been training so well and injury free.  Taking tomorrow off.  Lots of massage.  Ice I think?  Advice on that injury area would be helpful.  Can't figure out how to stretch it except for rolling my foot and still doesn't seem to get to that muscle.  Sure Luz has a great stretch for it.  Smooth has experienced it at some point.  And RAD is simultaneously dealing with it.  Right?  BTW, thanks for all the running advice on the race, ladies.  It was just what I needed to hear, especially Smooth's comment about "dont worry if you are starting to feel worn out."  I do.  This whole week I have been dragging.  Spent last weekend in Atlanta with sister.  Had mother in law in town for 3 days and Madeline's birthday yesterday.  St. Patricks day tomorrow and birthday party this weekend, then move in 3 weeks.  Yes.  Definitely feeling worn down and am not sure if its running or life in general, but am hoping that magical second wind previous to the race is about to hit...Signing off for now to go turn my fridge full of food green.  Cath

Definitely better to blog about a race the day of or after, but life has been so crazy that now a week later I am finally getting to it....Lets see, where to begin.  I was SO excited to run this marathon pretty much since we signed up last fall.  My life was kind of falling apart in more ways than one and knowing that I had a marathon to train for and to look forward to was kind of the thing that kept me tethered and sane for many, many days, so if nothing else I am grateful for that.  Then in February I started really hitting my stried, feeling strong and feeling fast.  Come March I am feeling even better.  Tiger in a cage, right Luz?  The 3-4 weeks before the marathon I am running 8:15 AP and doing 7:00-7:30s for my last mile.  I am thinking it is totally time to BQ for the summer.  And then, of course, the injury hits.  Twinging in my leg for a few days.  Turns into pain in my leg for a few days.  Turns into can barely walk for a few days.  Talk to the doctor at church (nice, I know--but I was leaving for the marathon 2 days later and have no doctor or physical therapist here in Knox).  He says likely stress fracture, go ahead and run, fix it later.  So I take 10 days off before the marathon and do nothing.  Then we are off to D.C.  At this point I don't care about the running fast part.  I am just happy to be on vacation with my family in my birthplace--a place I had not visited for almost 20 years.  I got to see my old house and my old school.  We had dinner with our dear, dear friends from Iran.  We went to all the cool museums and my daughter got to see Amelia Earhart's plane.  We swam in hotel pools and rode the metro.  And best of all, on Friday we got to see one my bestest friends and favorite people--none other than the famous LuzyLew!  So it was good and by Friday I just didn't care about the run, just happy to be here.  Then I remembered that we had come to run after all and that all those months of training had to somehow make up for my dang stress fracture, so Luz and I headed out early Saturday morning for the marathon, both of us feeling a little bit of trepidation about how the dang leg might hold up.  And then came the biggest rookie mistake of all time never to be repeated.  I have been taking Aleve morning and night hoping that this ritual will somehow not ruin my intenstines, liver, and other digestive organs and that it will magically heal the fracture through its anti-swelling properties.  The morning of the race I figure I should take 2 for good measure, and I remember hearing a few years back from PT Steve Oreck that it digests in a different part of your stomach, so no worries about stomach pain.  Yeah.  He was wrong.  At least for me.  Luz and I ran a glorious 3-4 miles towards the capitol feeling good and taking it slow and just reveling in the fact that we were in D.C. RUNNING A MARATHON!!!  Then it started to hit.  The bathroom urges.  The uncontrollable stomach pains, the cramps, the, "I want to sit on a toilet, pass out, and die" simultaneously.  To save you the stop-by-stop Porta Potty recap, lets just say it started at about mile 6 and continued until mile 12 stopping almost every mile at every Porta Potty and a Starbucks in between.  Luz kept saying I needed to decide by Mile 13 if I was going to do it or not.  I kept worrying that because of the dang 5 hour time limit that if I didn't speed up, which felt impossible to do given the churning of my stomach, that we were going to get swept off the course and for the first time ever I would be a non-finisher on my first dang marathon out of the state of Utah.  I hate to quit and would pretty much die rather than quit, but what do you do when they force you off?  I have to admit that the serious horribleness of my stomach and digestive feelings, however, just about did me in.  At around mile 9, while in the porta potty, I just leaned against the door and wanted to cry and die.  I felt so horrible--like I usually do AFTER a race when I lay on the floor for a few hours, and yet here I had 17 miles to go.  I had apparently lost my mental capacity at this point because I started to try and think of creative solutions like waiting it out for 8 hours in a local restuaraunt, then running the course by myself, or coming back the next day, or anything to get passed this horrible feeling but still finish what I had started.  And so I ended up doing what Cath does best when all else fails...I just kept plugging along and plugging along, stopping and stopping and stopping as needed.  I kept telling myself, "It has to pass.  It has to pass.  It WILL pass if I run long enough."  By Mile 12 I was feeling slightly better.  By Mile 13 I was telling Luz in my strongest words that there was NO WAY I was quitting.  By Mile 14 the stomach issues had mostly resolved, and though I was left feeling weak and dehydrated, at least I could run without feeling the need to pass out or lay down.  Miles 14-19 passed in a blur.  I asked Luz how far we were and couldn't believe when 14 had magically become 17.  I talked and talked about who knows what just to keep my mind off the mileage and to try and make up for months of being Luz-less.  Poor Luz had to listen to my half-crazy (blaming it on dehydration) rambling about everything under the sun.  Then suddenly, we were at 20.  (Memo to race directors: MILE MARKERS WOULD BE NICE--I will even pay $5.00 extra next year to pay for some dang balloons to mark the race).  At mile 20, as is the case always for me, I started to feel it and things were starting to hurt. At this point, I was actually starting to get blurry vision as well.  Not good, but couldn't remember why it wasn't good (Scott later told me this means serious dehydration--most likely caused by the expungement of all bodily fluids at the 5 porta potty stops).  Decided not to tell Luz.  She has a mother-hen instinct that I dearly love but I didn't want her to tell me to stop or slow down; we were so close.  Then we didn't have the choice to slow down or not because we were running through the hood--full on Anacostia and a gang funeral with police lining the streets.  Luz motioned for me to speed up; I was so close to delirious that I didn't realize it was to avoid serious bodily harm.  Run or be shot was pretty much our only choice at that point.  As we came to the last few Luz looked so good and so strong; I felt guilty for making it such a slow and messy race for us, but was slightly comforted by the thought that last year I got the 2 marathons where Luz felt like crap and I felt like running some more and doing those kind of marathons all day long, so maybe it was her turn to have a nice, easy marathon, if there ever was such a thing.  In the last mile I saw my husband and kids waiting.  Madeline ran out and ran the last 1/4 mile with me holding my hand.  I felt like a proud, cool mom and was happy to finish without getting kicked off. 

All in all, a messy, messy race and for reasons not expected.  The dang Aleve just about killed me but I was glad I made it through it.  I learned several lessons from this race.  1.  Don't experiment ever on a race day and definitely NEVER take meds on an empty stomach again.  2.  Even on your worst most horrible days, you can still finish.  3.  Mental strength and focus; I didn't have it this race--I literally think back and all I can remember is crazy crazy crazyness in my head, and though I would like to berate myself for the lack of focus while running a freakin' marathon, I am glad that even given the lack of any mental discipline, I finished anyway.  4.  Best friends are the best; they stick with you even in the dumps (literally in our case).  And finally 5.  Sometimes its good enough just to show up and finish.  Who cares how long it takes or how messy it is?  I didn't come for the race; I just came to finish what I had trained for.  And I did.

And now to cap off the longest post in the history of the blog no doubt (I would request that a record be posted in my name as I am unlikely to ever hold any other record on this blog) the aftermath...apparently small stress fracture then marathon equals big stress fracture.  The following Monday I could barely walk.  Wednesday I made official visit to aforementioned doctor.  I have now been officially BOOTED.  3 weeks minimum.  But, in the spirit of new lessons learned, "Frankly, I don't give a da**."  I will live to run another day, and so long as I know this boot is temporary, I will enjoy the prescribed time off by packing up my house and moving BACK across the country to the home I hope to never leave again--UTAH HERE WE COME!!!

Finally back to running!  After 3 1/2 quality weeks in the boot and 4 weeks total of no running post-D.C. Marathon (plus the 10 days before the marathon), for a total of about 6 weeks out, I am back in the game.  Luz and I did an easy 4 though the slight uphill around the Temple just about did me in and made me realize how out of shape I am (at which point Luz kindly assured me it was just the altitude change from D.C. to Utah--not sure if there is any merit in that but its a nice thought).  Today, Sunday, was the real test as stress fractures evidence themselves by pain the next day but this morning I woke up and was miraculously pain free in my lower left leg so I have the green light to start slow and try to get in a little bit of mileage before Utah Valley Marathon in about 6 weeks.  At this point, running schedules are out so I am just going to try to slowly get a little bit of mileage to take off the extra weight I swear I have gained the last 6 weeks between no running, moving my family across the country for the second time in less than 10 months, and 8 family birthdays in the last 8 weeks.  Crazy times I tell you.  Anyway, random thoughts aside, I loved running again, loved being out with LuzyLew again, and loved that I am reaching a new level of running commitment where 6 weeks neither depressed nor derailed me; it was simply a short-term obstacle to wait out.  And if I totally suck it up on Utah Valley, who cares?  It will be marathon number 10 and I will finish it gosh dang it even if it takes me 10 hours.  So long as my leg is healthy and I don't risk re-injury, I will just be ecstatic to run. 

Biked 4 miles.  Not sure how to blog that.  Trying to remember what RAD does...

Biked 5 miles.  Stress fracture has put me down for the count.  Hoping magical running class will teach me everything I need to know and fix me up before UVM...

Biked 6 miles.  Read comments from RAD re: blogging biking and agree with her about keeping it "clean" and only blogging running miles.  RAD--here is the short version.  10 days out from DC Marathon I developed stress fracture.  Ran the DC marathon anyway, then put a boot on for 3 1/2 weeks after but moved my entire family and broke my boot in the process (had to get a new one), so not sure how effective that boot time was.  After 3 1/2 weeks off, I did a few runs here and there as we moved into our house, then about 3 weeks ago, started running with Luz at 6 am daily.  Loved the early morning runs doing 4-6 at the crack of dawn and just being outside and just running with Luz.  Anyway, we did 18 one Saturday (quite a jump for me since I hadn't run anything over 6 since DC but I felt great and the leg was fine), then 12 the next Saturday (last Saturday) and by that Friday the day before I felt some twinging, then I think the 12 just did me in.  Probably too much, too fast.  I took Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off, hoping it would go away, but it hasn't.  So new plan is to bike until UVM, run UVM with stress fracture, then boot for another 4 weeks (for reals this time and take it easy), then be back in the game in time for St. George in October.  I know running UVM is not the smartest thing in the world, but it is #10, which is a big goal of mine, it is on our home turf, and I figure I am going to have to be down for 4 weeks either before or after to get this dang thing healed, so I might as well slip in one more quick marathon.  Since I have more time between UVM and St. George (I think?) then I did between DC and UVM, I am hoping that it will really heal this time before I am back to the marathon madness.  Thanks for the support and comments.  Hope we can get together and run soon.

Biked 7 miles.  Leg feeling slightly better.  Advantage to not running is that I actually have time to do other things besides running like lift weights, do some sit-ups and do some push-ups.  Only been 4 days of this strength traning and I swear its making a difference :).  Love running but with 2 young kids cant justify more than the hour of exercise I already do a day, so trying to enjoy the new regime.

Played tennis for an hour with Scott.  Sister took kids for 24 hours since I took her kids for a week in February when she was in Spain.  Serioulsy enjoyed our first 24 hours non-kids that we have had in 18 months.  We went a little crazy--3 movies, shopping in Park City, tennis, massages (hot stone, my favorite!), and eating out in between.  Pretty sure I almost suffered death from movie-popcorn toxemia and gained 10 pounds in 24 hours if possible, but I am happy to report that today (Sunday) after that hour massage my leg is painless.  Not sure if it is the almost week off from running or the massage, but am hopeful that it will only improve until Saturday.  In the mean time, happy tapering week doing biking to me and heres to the worst marathon training of all time.   Me and Luz will have a great time regardless and hopefully NOT set a new worst PR. 

Biked 5 miles.

Biked 5 miles.  Couldn't figure out why my dang leg was hurting today given my non-running status, but then remembered that playing Wii-Micahel Jackson last night at my parents house must have done it.  I seriously get into it (don't worry--I beat out my sister, husband, and brother so it was worth the re-injury :)).  Who knew that dancing to Thriller for a total of 4 minutes could be so intense?

Biked 7 miles.  Trying to figure out when to start tapering since I am only biking?  Thinking I will bike tomorrow to keep my legs moving, then take off Friday.  Not like I am trying to qualify for the Olympics on Saturday, right?

Hmmm.  Thoughts are very scattered tonight as I read others' race entries and sit on my couch with a boot on.  UVM was a good race.  Restored some confidence and allowed me to finally hit the big #10.  Started out feeling good.  Heard the gun shot go off while in the POP.  Good times.  Ran first few with Luz and was feeling optimistic about both of us finally running a race together where neither one of us was stopping at every POP or throwing up on the sidelines.  Enjoying the beautiful, beautiful scenery.  Thinking how glad I am to be back in Utah and loving the mountains and snow and loving the race.  Start to feel stomach pains around mile 4 or 5 so I pop another Immodium and a mile or so later I feel better.  Feeling great and feeling no pain, but a little worried about Luz when we stopped at mile 9 for a POP and she tried to get me to head off without here.  Averaging around 9s and thinking we are heading for a 4 hour marathon if we keep on pace.  A few miles after 9 Luz starts feeling not so good.  Around 11 or 12 we catch up with Smooth and Lowell who starts telling me all kinds of fun law stories from his early days.  At 13 Luz stops to use the POP, I say I will wait, she says no, go, go, go and I can tell she is serious.  I debate, then decide to head off.  Hang with Smooth and Lowell for a few miles, then start to lag at around 15.  By 16 the leg pain hits.  I should have known it was coming.  The leg ached all the days leading up to the race and even ached the morning of.  By mile 17 I am pretty worried.  Leg is hurting pretty bad and I am worried that if I press on it just might break or cause some long term damage so I do what I always do and start praying that it will subside.  Sure enough a mile or so later, the leg feels better, then of course, everything else starts to hurt.  By mile 18 or 19 I am really feeling it in my knees and legs.  Turns out NOT training for a marathon, despite how many you have done before, always catches up for you.  From 20 on I could tell that I hadn't put in the mileage and hadn't done the work to prepare my legs for it.  Not really my fault given that I couldn't with the dang "Summer of the Stress Fracture" but still a good reminder that you can't fool a marathon.  Or at least you can't fool miles 20-26 of a marathon.  By mile 20 I am thinking I just need to get to the mouth of the canyon because my friend, Wendy, said she will be there at around Riverwoods to meet me and run with me till close to the end, then Madeline (my 7 year old) is meeting me at 25 to run me in.  Things are starting to hurt and as I get to 21 I am looking and looking and can't remember where exactly she said she would be.  I get to 22 and start wondering if she forgot.  I get to 23 and am really hurting and figure by now she isn't coming.  Good thing I didn't know she wasn't going to be there because 20-23 would have been even worse.  At 23 I lean over an orange cone and stretch the pain out.  I feel slightly better and start up again slowly.  Then I see Scott, Madeline, and Isabelle honking at me and driving by.  This cheers me up and gets me running again, even if slowly.  At 24 I lean over another orange cone.  At 25 I lean over another orange cone and can see the finish line.  I keep hoping to see Madeline and, as with Wendy, keep running waiting to find her.  Turns out they couldn't get parked and to the finish in line, which I figured out by the time I am at 25.75 or so and can see the finish.  My brother and his wife and kids are there.  I bite my lip and speed it up.  I finally cross at 4:25 and figure I did a 4:20 with the chip time factored in.  I lean on a nice volunteer as I breath asthmatically and try to regain my balance.  Never ceased to be amazed by these volunteers and all they do for us crazy runners.  I grab a creamy and head back to the finish to watch people come in.  Wish I had it in me to run back for them but figure I would only slow them down.  I get to watch my brother and sister in law finish their first, then Scott's sister finish her first.  I watch for Luz and watch and watch.  I see RAD strolling through the running area in the distance.  I don't see Smooth and wonder if I somehow missed Luz.  I call her as soon as I get in the car and hear about her race.  Funny that we are always so worried about each other.  Nice to know I have one of the bestest, dearest friends in the universe.

All in all, not my finest race.  Was neither trained, mentally prepared, nor physically fit due to stress fracture, but happy to have finished the big number 10.  Did not expect to run half the race by myself without music and without mental preparation, but figure it was a good experience.  Had, of course, several of my usual, "This is the dumbest thing I have ever done" and "I will never do this again" moments, which I have to wonder if I will ever NOT have, but figure that since the time between those thoughts and thoughts of repeating the race shortens each time (about 5 minutes after finishing I was already thinking about St. George) that I am getting tougher.

Happy to have finished.  Happy to see so many first timers.  Happy that my leg worked enough to run.  Happy to be in a boot now and headed towards what will hopefully be permanent healing this go around in the boot.  Happy that I have my stationary bike to keep me sane in the meantime.  SO happy to be now living again in the running mecca and to have chatted with so many awesomely great people and have met new runners on the road.  So here is to the next 90!