2 weeks to marathon

T-minus two weeks to marathon day. My body is slowly breaking down into little pieces, now still not fully recovered after last Saturday's 20-miler. I remember reading somewhere that it takes 26 days to recover from a marathon, which probably means it takes a good three weeks to recover from 20. A quick rundown of my physical state:

• Knee problem is not getting any better. Now I am frequently waking up during the night if I roll over and move my leg.
  
• I didn't blog about this, but I went to see my doctor two weeks ago about a bad pain in my neck. Turns out I somehow pulled my trapezius muscle (the large muscle that connects the head to the shoulders down the back). He put me on muscle relaxers which actually gave me worse headaches, so I've only been taking them intermittently. I'm not sure what caused this (could be ergonomics at work), but I'm sure my tense running form has made it worse. I wake up everyday with a headache and am taking between 2-4 Advil per day.
• I have a new problem with the outside of my right foot. I have absolutely no idea what's going on. Maybe bruising of the muscle tissue? I was freaked at first that it might be a stress fracture, but nothing hurts when I massage my foot, so I doubt that's the problem. The pain sets in at the 4-5 mile mark and generally hurts for a day or so following my run.
  

I took it easy this week, only running once on Wednesday (5 miles) and 10 miles today (in the pouring rain, unfortunate). I'm a little sore but I feel ok. I think another week of light running and some rest will do me good. I'm definitely recognizing the necessity of a full three-week taper (I had considered doing only two) to give my legs the rest they need. I'm not sure what's going to happen on marathon day, but I'm sure I'll cross the finish line, even if I have to crawl.

Ice, ice baby

So earlier this week I went down to Super Jock n' Jill to potentially buy a new pair of shoes. Problem is, according to the shoe people, there is nothing wrong with the pair I have. They said I was wearing the proper shoes for my stride and to come back on Thursday when the in-house Physical Therapist was on duty. This is an awesome FREE service by the way that they provide to the running community. Really, I am so impressed with the service at Jock n' Jill and if you're in the market for some new shoes, please buy from them :)....

So I went in last night and Michelle was on duty to talk with me about my problem. She asked me several questions and had me lie down on the ground to test the strength in both legs. After about 10 minutes of pushing, prodding, and yanking on my limbs, she told me that the left side of my body is much weaker than the right, and that my patella-femoral is most likely due to weak core and butt muscles. She told me that A) if I were her client she would advise against running the marathon, but B) since I'm going ahead and doing it anyway, please do exercises (demonstrated) to stregthen my gluteus maximus, run on soft dirt if possible, and ice like crazy. She said I will most likely not do any long-term damage to the knee, but it will definitely not be able to heal over the next six weeks :(

I have a lot of mixed emotions about her advice, and while I'm not planning to stop training at this point in time, I have serious doubts about my running future post-marathon. I have never felt any overwhelming love for the sport, in all honesty. Participating in these races has always been more about overcoming fear and anxiety and following through with my commitments than anything else. It's always been about my compulsion to keep on reaching higher...and then higher...a little more.... well, you get the idea. In a way, it's become an addiction, albeit a healthy addiction :)

Tomorrow I am running 16 miles, two miles further than last week. My planned route is from Golden Gardens park to U-Village and back, along the Burke Gilman. Wacarra is joining me on my return route to give me water and moral support for the last 4.5 miles or so, starting at Gasworks park. I am hoping to feel stronger this Saturday than last, and pray to the sports injury gods for a pain-free long run :)

Week 8: 26 reasons to celebrate

After logging 30 miles this week, my body is exhausted, my knee is still in pain, and I feel totally beat down and broken. The usual. There aren't really any words to describe Saturday's 14-mile run. That is, it's hard to articulate that kind of physical and mental anguish. I will say that Body Glide is a girl's best friend. And it wasn't until I slipped into the hot shower (that is, several hours after my initial "ice bath" which was every bit as thrilling as it sounds) that I identified instantly every inch of my skin where I neglected to apply the Body Glide. This includes, but was not limited to: my belly button, in between my big and second toes, a small spot under my right arm, under my breasts, and.... wincing with embarassment .... in between my butt cheeks. Let's just say I won't make that mistake again.

On Sunday, Raj and I hit the road at 2am, stopping at Northgate Starbucks to pick up some fuel before driving south to Portland to watch Wacarra run the marathon. I am neurotic about arriving everywhere early, and in this case it worked to our advantage because we had our pick of street parking once we rolled into downtown. We had tons of time to kill, so we wandered around in the dark, people watching, with me paying close attention to the what all the marathon runners were eating prior to the race start. After killing time at yet another Starbucks, we wandered up to the race start at 3rd and NW Salmon. There was quite a crowd of spectators!


We were able to see Wacarra start, in either the 5th or 6th wave, then caught her again at mile 2 and between miles 4 and 5. After than, Raj and I wandered around looking for a good breakfast spot, and settled on Kenny and Zukes across the street from Powell's. The food was awesome! After breakfast, we spent a few hours in Powell's and then headed back downtown to catch Wacarra around mile 26.

We found a good spot to take photos a few hundred yards from the finish line. There was opera music blasting and a huge sign with a lady viking that read "It's almost over!" The crowd support was very inspiring! It was pretty emotional to watch the runners come in. These were the 4 hour + marathoners, the mortals, people you could actually relate to (vs. the 2-3 hour marathoners, aka "freaks of nature").

We spotted Wacarra a few minutes behind the 5:00 pacer - wow! What a great time!!! I was amazed that she was able to maintain such a solid pace throughout the whole race. Not only that, but she looked fresh and pretty damn happy. I snapped these shots at the 26 mile mark, with only 300 yards or so to go:

And then it was over, just like that. Afterwards, I asked her how it went and she said much easier than the training runs (which gives me hope), and miraculously she experienced no joint or knee pain. This completely baffles me.

Tonight I am going to get fitted for a new pair of shoes at Super Jock and Jill. I can't continue to run long distances with my knee pain, and I'm hoping a different pair of shoes will correct the problem (the knee braces aren't working). Switching shoes did the trick in the spring, and when I bought a new pair to train for this race I just bought the same pair of shoes. Maybe my gait has changed in the last 6 months? I guess we'll wait and see what the shoe people say.

Congratulations, Wacarra!

Over the hump

Well, the end of this week marks the half-way mark! Yay! Philly here I come!

Tomorrow I'm set to run 14 miles down at Leschi. This will be the longest distance I've ever attempted to run, and doing so after taking a full week off to recover from my cold (thank god this happened early on). My legs are feeling good though - no pain after two back to back 5-milers this week. I'm going to pick up a new knee brace tonight, this time I'm trying out the IT Band Strap, which I think will help correct what I suspect might be Iliotibial Band Syndrome, a common running injury usually caused by increasing mileage too quickly.

I'm just going to take it really slow tomorrow and finish when I finish :) On Sunday, Raj and I are driving down to Portland very early in the morning to watch Wacarra run the Portland Marathon. I'm SO looking forward to getting caught up in the excitement of the marathon and just milling around Portland for the day.

In other news, Spirit of the Marathon comes out on DVD Tuesday! I can't wait to pick it up from Barnes & Noble.

Week 6: Ouch, my knees!

Saturday's run was the second longest distance I've ever completed: 11 miles. Thank god Wacarra ran with me this week, as I probably would have A) probably postponed the run until Sunday due to the pouring rain B) bitched and complained even more than I did and/or C) had a much harder time finishing. Once the rain let up, I was able to enjoy a beautiful and secluded area of West Seattle that I had never seen before. I'll definitely be back here in a few weeks.

Miles 6-7 were tough and 9-11 were borderline agonizing. Running in wet shoes and clothes didn't help. Wacarra took this photo of me at the finish: HAPPY to not be running (and yes, still raining)... I hope as these Saturday runs continue to increase in distance that I'm able to find the mental and physical stamina to complete them on my own.

Next weekend: Bellingham Bay half-marathon

UPDATE 9/22: Edited to add that, despite the pity party I threw in honor of myself last week, I officially registered for the Philadelphia Marathon on Friday. The hotel room is booked and the race is paid for.... now Raj and I just need to book our airfare and we're ready to go!

Week 4: Nicely done!

Ran my 8 miler this morning with Wacarra, who has lost nearly 100 lbs. in less than a year through running...

This was a tough week, both mentally (watched far too much political coverage) and physically (my knee was hurting like a mofo all week). I'm afraid the old "knee issue" has reared its ugly head again, despite running with new shoes and a knee brace. I think I've pinpointed the problem which is doing my short runs on the treadmill. I think there must be a problem with my small muscle fibers and tendons compensating for the movement of the running surface... honestly, I have no idea, but I'm going to stay off the treadmill for a few weeks and see if that helps the situation.

The bad news is I took a 4 day break from running and missed my Thursday run in order to ease the pain a bit. I was having difficulty climbing stairs at work and even pushing the clutch down in my car was causing me to wince. After icing my knee and taking the rest it was back to business this morning. Wacarra, who is in the process of tapering down in her last month of training for the Portland Marathon, ran with me this morning on my 8 mile run along Lake Washington in Leschi. We had a great time! I'm not sure if it was the jelly beans I ate beforehand, or just having someone to talk to for a change, but the hour and a half breezed by and I felt like I could have easily done a half marathon today. Some days are just like that I guess.

Next weekend I am off to Bellingham for the Fairhaven Runners Waterfront 15K and I'm pretty jazzed to #1 - look at something besides Lake Washington and #2 - run in an actual event with people cheering us on. Looks like I will be doing this alone, as Raj has to work and my other friends will be MIA. Saaad :(

More unfortunate news - we found out yesterday that we will not be able to stay with one of Raj's friends in Philadelphia as planned (long story), so we will have to book a hotel room, which will run around $200/night for 3 nights. And I was really looking forward to touring Philly with a local! Oh well....

Wacarra told me about a cool little gadget called the Garmin Forerunner 305 today which is a running watch that measures pace, distance (by GPS, so it's accurate), calories burned, and heart rate. I've already checked craigslist and there are several, so I might pick one up today. I do love my gadgets. Looking forward to trying it out and posting a review soon.

Week 3: 3/4/0/7

Not much happened this week run-wise. I was highly distracted by the DNC/Barack Obama speech/CNN commentary/Sarah Palin debacle, and it was hard to focus this week. Regardless, I managed to log 14 miles and finished with a strong 7-miler at Leschi on Saturday.

My left knee is still hurting day of and day after my long runs, even if I wear my patella brace. The dull pain usually subsides 2 days after my long run, and I hope this isn't going to be an ongoing and/or worsening problem. Keeping fingers crossed.

Week 2: Getting easier...

East Lake Sammamish Trail

Week two kicked off with a new gym membership. After heading into my old gym, Anderson's Nautilus at Greenlake, to run on a treadmill during a particularly rainy evening, I knew there was no way this was going to work. Five of their six treadmills were occupied by huge football player type guys, and the temperature in the treadmill room was hovering around 80 degrees.

So I did some research and settled on L.A. Fitness up on 134th and Aurora. Alex had been in a few times and told me it was great, although too far of a trek for her. This gym is awesome! Pool, racquetball courts, millions of treadmills, and it's spotlessly clean. Oh, and the monthly membership is almost half of what I was paying at Anderson's. The choice was easy.

So I settled into a gym routine this week - just in time for several days of Seattle rain. Running on the treadmill is fine for now while I'm still doing light weekday runs of 3-4 miles. In a few weeks when those increase to 5-8 miles, I'll need to come up with a better plan.

So I finished out the week with a 3/4/3/6 schedule, 16 miles total. On Saturday, Raj and I had to get up early to watch Alex compete in her first triathlon, also in the city of Sammamish where he lives, so I got up early from his place and ran the East Lake Sammamish Trail. It looked good on the website, but the loose gravel trail really screwed up my knees, particularly the left knee, which I had problems with in the spring. I won't be running there again.

Later on Saturday, Raj and I drove out to Port Angeles and camped at Heart o' the Hills in the Olympic National Rain forest. We took it easy and just relaxed all day, ate some awesome mexican food, and settled in our tent fairly early. On Sunday, my knee was still hurting and as it started pouring rain, we decided to scrap our hiking plans (and omelette plans....saaaaad) and head home.... which took 5 hours due to a massive car accident on the 101!

Overall, much improvement this week with my runs. I am running between a 11:35-11:50 minute pace, which was close to my half-marathon time. Aside from the physical progress, I am making a huge effort to up my calcium and iron intake, and of course plenty of carbs. It is nearly impossible to "watch my weight" while I am in training mode, so I'm just focusing on eating the best foods I can to give me optimum energy to complete the runs.

Ok, off to the gym for my Monday night run....