Believe to Achieve

Since I am NOT running today...I will post my POST-marathon race report, NOTES-to SELF and others.  No regrets because you got to realize you run with what you got the day the race is.  I knew I was trained well for a sub 3:10.  I even know (barring the below pointed out items) that an under 3:05 was WELL within reach if things went differently.  But after years of running and knowing myself I give myself a break because I can't change what happened the week before the race and come what may THAT kind of WEEK WILL NOT happen before SGM.  Here are the things that RED-flagged me and things for SUB three at SGM won't/will be happening:  

Umm I won't have the longest bout of a nervous system FLARE.  I couldn't even fuel right all week.  I wasn't even hungry.  Man did that hurt.  Going from facial pain on Thursday and extreme pain in my right calf radiating down my neck, butt and foot.  Wowsers. That gave me too much NEGATIVE energy

Second, I won't be coming off a STEROID taper. I don't do well on steroids.  I was already NOT sleeping.  Thursday night I got only 6.5 hours of BROKEN sleep.  For SGM I will be sleeping much better as I regulate the hormones I don't have.  No period for a while now.  Also reading more into prednisone (it saved me from extreme nerve pain, however) it is what caused my diuresing because as I tapered off of it my kidneys started working more.  My sugar was probably high (because prednisone does this) and hence at mile 21 I felt GUed out.  I was doing deep breaths and had a fluttery heart when earlier miles it was so easy to run that pace.  I attribute that to a high blood sugar level.   Oh, OKAY I WON'T  CHAT AWAY for 6.2 miles EITHER.  I will sign that I am FOCUSED  : D.   BTW I don't eat any CAFFEINE gus.  And NO caffeine jump starters.  I RUN SANS CAFFEINE BABY!!   

THE diarrhea was probably the MOST depleting along with the diuresing from the steroids.  I started taking magnesium, 1/2 dose cause I am sensitive to everything.  Well....hmmmm the "milk of magnesia" sounds familiar here?  Why oh Why would I take a NEW supplement two days before a race?  Talk about a LAXATIVE.  The abdominal cramping was no fun.  Funny though the magnesium contributed to taking away my leg cramps.  So no magnesium for me.  Someone suggested I take calcium with it to balance it out.  I will mettle with that way before RACE week. 

Lastly, I FEEL SO GOOD.  Besides nerve pains down the base of my neck to my right shoulder this is THE VERY BEST RECOVERY EVER.  After the race I could do lateral raises and kick backs and even could run to the podium.  That is how I like to run a race.  I don't like to feel SPENT so I run just under that pace to make it feel like I can run again by Tuesday without doing damage.  Seriously THIS IS SO AWESOME.  The great first place gal was hobbling to get her award.  Obviously AT SGM I am going to have to feel that badly.  Oh well.  But really this marathon felt more like a training run for 22 miles and then it was about the race the last 4 miles.  So I talked and slowed down but KIM was just so fun to have there like I was out on a every day run.  So nice.  I am all over that sub 3 at SGM.
VERY LASTLY--- I just downloaded my GARMIN---  54 SECOND POTTY STOP!!!!!!  WHAT THE HECK?     NOT GONNA HAPPEN AT SGM (I just downloaded my garmin for all the facts).  Plus with this long course or my poor tangent-taking I should shave off a lot of time.  Elevation gain at UVM 943 ft!!!  Elevation loss-- 2127ft.    So only 1184 ft overall loss.  That was some ROLLER coaster RIDE.  Will definitely do this marathon again!! SO VERY BEAUTIFUL.  Will be prettier without abdominal cramping  : D. 

NO swelling until.....back at work standing all day and HORMONES galore....Elephant legs by the end of my shift.  I went from peeing every 20 minutes last Friday before the race to 1 pee stop in a 12 hour shift.  Legs no longer sore.  But legs too heavy to consider running with them.  Basically my body waited for this DOWN time to explode.  You know the usual things women have to deal with.  Holy moly I haven't felt this swollen since  I was 8 months pregnant in the heat of July.  I sure wish I had some lasix.  I think my kidneys stopped working overtime and decided to take a break as well.  So glad I also work tomorrow so I can blow up some more.  No running until Thursday when I am off.  I am trying to acutally sleep this week.  Would have been nice last week. 

Another long work day on pediatrics at UVRMC. Worsening swelling.  Gained 5-6  pounds since last Friday.  Pelvic pressure/swelling is very uncomfortable to stand with.  Must be those varices I have in there (my pelvis).  I was supposed to get coils up in there to end their misery but I didn't want surgery to put me down nor little metal coils in me.  Wowsers, I feel like I am about to have a baby.  This too shall pass.  So excited to go running tomorrow and try to sweat some of this off.  

Make sure to read below : D.  Ahhhhh RUNNING!!  so wonderful.  So did not feel like I ever ran a marathon last Saturday at 3:09 pace.  If the swelling were down I would be 100 percent but boy did these legs feel fluidy.  My pelvis felt swollen as well but I felt so good otherwise.  No nagging muscle pains, a little hamstring tightness but nothing that made me ever feel like I was over doing it.  Ran 10 miles at easy pace of 8:18.  I left my house at 8:15am.  It was a very warm morning.   Oh I did stop and talk to Stacy for about 15 minutes (she was outside her house along my route) and then I saw Kim with one mile to go and we talked for about 5 minutes.  Enough of this let's move on to the MOST EXCITING NEWS OF ALL-   I GOT INTO THE ST GEORGE MARATHON by RUN 13.  They had a contest after their Memorial Day 10 k race for their SGM entry they had.  I had to write them about why I think I deserved the SGM Slot.  YIPPPEEEEE!!!  That was 2.5 weeks ago.  I had to be patient but I got in.  So SUB 3 here I come!!!  It is SOOOOOO happening.  

14.2 miles from my campsite to my house up at Granite Flats in American Fork Canyon.  Met up with Kim and Jane at their mile 8 going up from where I live in PG.  Camped last night in freezing cold.  Brrr.!!!  then I had the "runs" again and had to stop twice before getting to mile 5 to meet those two and then two other times with them.   Luckily they had to go too.  Then I didn't quite make it to my house when I got .3 miles from my house!!  Perhaps I have a bug in my system?  AP in a run that I never fully warmed up in 7:44 for 14.2 miles  :D.  Iced in river x 1 minute x two.  ICE WATER for sure straight from the mountains up Grove Creek.   It took a bit for our toes to come back to life in the sun.  Kim was great company.  Back up the canyon I go.  Then I work the next two days.