OKC Memorial Marathon

Wow. What an amazing experience. I loved every second. My time from crossing the start line til hand off for relay was 1 hour, 7 minutes! Personal best for 10k. I felt very strong. More to come later...duty calls.

Ran 10k this morning!

I am so super pumped. I ran the race route this morning. 10k. 6.2 miles. Actually it was more than that as I ran on the other side of Lincoln (which took me on a big bend around the other side of the capital) so my husband could keep up with me. He drove the car along with me, staying ahead and giving me water breaks every 1.5 miles, like it will be on race day. He cheered me on, gave me cat calls, it was great. Actually, I was very glad he did it, as some of that route is pretty...how can I say politely....a bit dicey.
I wore the gear I'll wear on race day-all worked great! Loving those new shoes.

The second mile was probably the worst. Not sure why. Once I hit mile 4 I started bookin it. I really knew where I was and how far I had to go. Through my neighborhood went great and when I imagine the exchange coming up, I all out sprinted.

I can only imagine what my time will be without having to wait at crosswalks and having the ability to use my ipod. I am so pumped!!!! WEEEEEEEE!!!!

I can hardly wait to pick my next race. Yes, this one is not passed, and I am thinking to the future.

One week!

Well, all is well here! I am so excited for next weekend. I decided not to do the half. Realistically, I am just not ready. Thankfully, my friend offered me a relay spot with OKRunner and I think it will be perfect for me! I am doing the 10k first leg of the OKC Memorial Marathon. (click on enlarge map to see my route!) So, I get to start the race-6:30 am and run through my neighborhood. It's perfect! And it will give me a better base to prepare myself for a half down the road.

I got some new scoots. Very excited to have met Craig at OKRunner. He got me set up in some Saucony Omni 6's. He was able to tell right off the bat what my problems are. I roll in. I have almost flat feet. I need support and stability. He hooked me up! Also got my race gear. The OKRunner relay teams are wearing the Nike Livestrong collection. I got shorts and a shirt-awesome. The cool part about that collection is that proceeds go to the Lance Armstrong foundation. I am all in for beating cancer. It's a beast. My dad beat his battle with prostate cancer and my 2 year old nephew (Brandon) fought his hepatoblastoma battle and won. Read his Caringbridge journal. What a fighter!!!!!! He is an AMAZING inspiration and sometimes when I run if I'm hurting I actually think of him and he pushes me through it.

Been keeping up running, last night I only did 2.5. Had to try out my new shoes, and I didn't want to get blisters. No blisters. No rubbing and I could really tell that the shoes tried to help me from rolling in. The inside of the heel on these shoes is a bit taller-so the shoe tries to correct this problem for me.

I have been searching around online a lot for articles. This one bothered me. The Most Annoying Runner Ever at Runner's World. While some of it is funny, and I even agree with some of them, I think most of these people are runner snobs and seem to have forgotten they they too were once beginners. At least these annoying new runners are RUNNING! We are not sitting on the couch. We are works in progress. Help us along. I don't know, it just got under my skin.

So, those Redbud results....38....gulp 05. 92 out of 149 women for my age group. 573 out of 970 women. Blech. Not typical and I'm not going to let it get to me. Everyone has a bad day and that was mine. My sweet husband told me, forget about it! I did...sort of.

Bummed

I am my own worst critic, but I am bummed! Met my dear friend Chandra yesterday an hour before the race yesterday. It was a beautiful day-70 something degrees. I'm guessing there were about 5000 people or so. We made our way to the line up and inserted ourselves around the 9 minute pacemark. I had just run a 5k in 32 minutes on Thursday, so I was wanting a 31 minute goal finish time.

Didn't happen.

I had my worst time ever. I couldn't even run the whole thing. My body said no, no, no! I was dehydrated. Hit mile 1 no problem, but I was really needing that water. No water. Then all my mind kept thinking about is, where is that water? Water, oh water!? About a half mile later there was water, but she couldn't even keep up with the people, so I waited for about 30 seconds. I picked up my pace again... ran about another mile and body said...you need energy. Your gas tank is almost empty! I don't know what was going on with me! I'm really not trying to make excuses, but I didn't eat that much-worried about an upset stomach. I guess I am just used to running in the morning, so I know how to fuel myself for that. Anyway, I walked again and not even Kanye could get my butt moving. 3/4 mile out I ran again. I was tired. I could hear the finish line. I glanced at the clock feeling defeated. We'll see the final results online, but I saw 38.something. BLAH!!!!!

Found Chandra and her husband-looked for mine and my boys. Finally caught up with them and they looked so proud. That made me feel better, but I couldn't help but beat myself up all day. I just have to tell myself I did it. I did finish and hopefully I'll also have learned something from this. Eat more, drink more and return to my old playlist, lol.

Will post pics and official time later.

Recovery

Where has the time gone? Seems like we've been sick forever. We've all had something, passing it along back and forth to one another. I have also been battling serious headaches with dizziness. I finally saw the doctor. While I do have fluid in my ears, and my nasal passages are swollen, he does not believe that to be what is bugging me. My headaches are not sinus. They come up my neck and settle into the back of my head. He believes it is muscular and to see if that is what the problem is, I am on muscle relaxers at night and I am to log any headaches. I am also not to lift anything above my head-really past my arms extended straight out. So far so good! Could it really be this simple? I will probably have to seek physical therapy to learn some stretches, etc. Don't want to stay on meds forever!

Running has slowed down. I am running the Redbud Classic 5K tomorrow and am very excited about it. Here is my playlist:

1. Do the Whirlwind-Architecture in Helsinki
2. Over and over again- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
3. Simply Being Loved- BT
4. One More Time- Daft Punk
5. I Love My Sex- Benny Benassi
6. Intergalactic- Beastie Boys
7. Where's your Head at? Basement Jaxx
8. Stronger- Kanye West

Pumped! I hope I run my tail off! I have a personal goal time in mind, but I'm not going to worry about it. Well, not too much.