The Seven Mile Snob

It’s funny. Today I was reflecting on my running miles and remember when I found 7 miles scary. Seven miles is nothing. I laugh in the face of 7 miles now. HA I’m so over 7 miles. I’ve turned into a seven mile snob. I can do seven any day. It’s the high miles that kick your butt. 13-14-15-16-17-18. Here it is finally. This is what the marathon is about. Not 7 miles. But double digit, humid, hot, hilly, long miles. Here they are. This is where you are tested. The miles really challenge me physically. I’m still having issues with my left calf and right ITBand. I had to opt out of the Patrick Henry Half. It took me 4-5 days for walking to NOT be painful. Why run another half only to suffer the same another week. What is the point of running if I’m injuring myself. I decided to skip it. Run at home. Let my body heal a big and then try the Va Beach rock n roll half next weekend. Give myself a rest. Then run a half and see how my body feels. And run slower. It’s a flat course. Gee, maybe I need to start listening to my body. What a novel idea. I don’t want to. I want to run the marathon and I want my body to shut up. BUT that’s not what’s happening so I have no choice. I’m late to the knowledge that you should run 1-1:30 slower on the long runs than your normal pace. I think I heard that once mentioned early in training, but I really didn’t get it. “A lot of first time marathoners make that mistake.” Okay. Think I'd better implement that into my training plan. I may even move to a novice level running group. Why run 20 x 3 during training as an intermediate and risk hurting my obviously moody bones, muscles and ligaments. Novice only do 20 once. I found the slowest group and may be joining soon. I’d rather make it to the starting line healthy and slightly trained and ready to run. But not so broken I can’t even start. What is the point of running if I’m hurt the whole time? It’s so frustrating having to deal with the constant issues of injury, PT, and wondering if I’ll be able to run it. We'll see! Stay tuned and find out what will happen in the Saga of Karen Runner. My whole marriage I was so attached to my maiden name, Brodie. Rarely used Runner. Now that I'm running I find it irresistable NOT to call myself Karen Runner. It's funny.

Tale of the Lone Ranger

If I didn’t come out and run with the group, I would never successfully run 13-14-etc miles on my own. Well maybe because I'm reaching so many firsts... my first ever running x-y-z miles. And now we are taking further. My IT Band had started to act up last week. So today’s run was challenging for me. It was much warmer. And the novelty of running longer distance had worn off. I was tired. I knew immediately I was going to be at the back of the pack. I didn't mind it. I just didn't want to be running alone. It took a good 4-5 miles before I found my stride. The whole time thinking I'm going to cut this short. Why not cut back now on the Boulevard and go home? While those thoughts bounced around in my brain, I did not bail out. I ran the miles. This week the "bike babysitter" was replaced by Ken and Leon who were the coaches running at the back. They worked in tandem to make sure I didn’t drop off the face of the earth. And I met Angela. She, too, had IT Band issues. So I wasn't alone afterall. We chatted but we mostly we ran. It was a tough one. Part of the run included crossing the Nickel Bridge (Boulevard Bridge) and down Riverside Dr. (hills hills hills) until it connected to the Lee Bridge. Leon kept running ahead and then he’d circle back to where Angela and I were running. The last 2 miles felt like 20. But I did it. I was so glad when it was over. Came home and iced the legs. Relaxing right now drinking a cold beer.

Old Friends Are New Again

I haven’t been blogging and I haven’t been able to run with the group. I’ve had a calf injury that has sidelined me and slowed me down around June 15th. It got better and then eventually required a sports doctor and physical therapy. Then I was sick on top of it so for two weeks I barely ran at all. I picked back up at 7.3 miles on July 12th. This was my first group run since then. And we went double digits. I was so nervous. I barely slept. Decided at 2am I wasn’t doing the run. Woke up at 5am and felt strong enough. Realized that if ever I was going to be successful at running long distance, it would be today. It was in the 60’s and low humidity. The weather and the power of the group made it happen for me. It was good to be there with the group again. I did it. I ran. I eventually ended up in the back of the line. The “bike guy” who stays at the back of the pack and makes sure there are no strays. I also chatted with a number of nice women who I never would have met with had I not been slow. My leg hurt slightly throughout the run. But not enough to make me stop. My ipod died at mile 4 so I had no musical crutch to lean upon. We ran by Brown’s Island. I was all alone. But eventually I caught back up with the group. As I reached the last 1.5 miles on Boulevard I started chatting with one of the back of the pack women I had met earlier. I looked at her and she was so familiar. I said I know you… she asked my maiden name, Brodie. Turns out she grew up in the same neighborhood as I did and we used to hang out in Junior High School and get into trouble. There were a number of others in the neighborhood… Nancy C., Jimbo, Pam B., Todd G., Ted R., Whitley C., and Nancy P. now T. and myself who have just reunited after 30 years. Many mornings spent together waiting at the bus stop. For good reason (trouble), my mother banned me from going to their bus stop. I would hide behind the bushes in the morning until she drove by on her way to her nurses position at the third floor of Chippenham Hospital Tuckers Pavillion as a nurse. Nancy and I chatted about Ted R. who had died suddenly of a heart attack when he was 36. I couldn’t believe I ran into her. I was struck by the absolute feeling that there are no accidents. Running into Nancy again after so long. We are on the same training team. We are both going through a divorce. And now life has brought us back together. It felt ordained. Wow this marathon training is definitely giving me so much more than I could ever have imagined. Even though it has sucked to be sick and away from the group constantly wondering if I could even get to the STARTING line ready for a marathon. This run was the first time I really got the feeling of what it is like to run long distance. I had no idea what mile I was at and didn’t ask. I really focused on the moment. Most of my earlier runs have been about doing this or that mile and when is it over? If you are going to run long distance you have to focus on what you are going through now. I really learned that lesson today. I’m sure that “be here now” will continually butt heads with “where is the finish line” throughout my marathon training. Especially as the miles increase. I walked away for the first time with the feeling that it may be possible for me to run a marathon after all. I just did half. That’s what it is about. Relax. Slow down. It was so hard to run and yet it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.