MCM 2012......

One week from right now I should be celebrating my 3rd marathon finish & Kevin's 1st marathon finish....but instead we'll be right here at home watching football (which isn't a bad thing....maybe just maybe the Bills will win....). 

Kevin and I deferred our MCM entries to 2013 and will plan to run it next year.  While training, Kevin was having massive knee pain and after a series of dr visits in August he learned he needed knee surgery to repair the damage.  I was still on the fence, hadn't been training much with the move and the job search, but was thinking I may be able to do it.  That thought abruptly left my mind on Labor Day when I had a serious fall while playing tag at the park with Kevin's son and a bunch of other kids.  We actually thought I broke my ankle and immediately headed to the emergency room.  It wasn't broken, but it was a severly sprained foot & low ankle.  Awesome.  Ankle wrapped, air casted, and on crutches with several doses of ibuprophen in my system and I got to go home.  Rock on.  Oh, and they found an old running injury in my heal and are now concerned that I have calcification of the bottom of my achilles.  Pretty sure that's not good, but oh well! 

At that point, I knew there was no way I could sneak in enough training to get ready for MCM.  So, we both deferred to next year.  :(

Right now, I'm fairly out of any kind of running shape and have lost a great deal of muscle tone.  I have a lot of work ahead of me to get back what I've lost physically.  I haven't really gained much weight, but I can tell my body is different, weak, and I'm not loving it.  I don't feel as strong and solid as I had been prior to all this moving/job searching/ankle busting/etc.  I've been back in the gym the last 2 weeks, easing into it, and wow can I feel it!!  Sore sore sore!  My goal is to be ready for a Thanksgiving day run.....so I have about 5 weeks.  I should be able to handle that!!

So, no marathon for me in 2012 :( but that's OK!  I'll get it back and Kevin & I will be ready to rock MCM 2013!!

MCM 2011 breakdown....

Better late than never!!  October 28-31, 2011 marked my second marathon, Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C.

This will be short because it's been nearly 11 months since MCM 2011, but I want to get a few things out there.

MCM weekend was awesome!!  Especially being able to experience it with 2 awesome running ladies, Diane & Patti!  We left early friday morning, drove 7 hours and arrived at our hotel in Alexandria, Va.  We quickly checked in and zipped off to the expo to see what fun running gear we could find!  We all picked up some sneaker jewels from BeeCause Charms, along with our race bibs and packets.  Dinner was fantastic at a downtown D.C. restaurant and then we headed back to the hotel to get that 'best night of sleep'! 

Saturday brought on some nasty wintery weather and made us rethink our running attire for the next day.  We just relaxed on saturday, visited a running store, went to my brother's house to say hi, and then to Target to pick up some disposable baselayers because the startline temp was going to be in the 30's!!  Yikes......  Along our travels, we found a little italian resturaunt in Old Alexandria and decided that is where we would carbo load saturday evening.  Dinner was fantastic and the resturaunt was filled with runners shoveling in their carbs in nervous anticipation of sunday!  Once we were fully carbed, we headed back to the hotel, made sure each of us had all that we needed for the big day, and hit the hay.

We were all up bright and early sunday morning and nervous as hell!!  We got suited up, boarded the hotel shuttle, and headed to the bus taking us to the start village.  It was FREEZING!!!  High 20's at best.....we had so many layers on at this point! 

 The start village area was starting to buzz in the darkness of the wee hours of the morning and the tent began to fill with runners just trying to stay warm before the run.  The military chaplain then began his morning prayer that we all had a wonderful and healthy run.  It was still in the low 30's and I'm pretty sure I was beginning to lose feeling in my toes....yikes....

As the sun came up, we headed over to check our bags (I was trying to hang on to it as long as possible because I wanted to stay warm in my post run fleece!!).  We headed to the startline, met a bunch of super fun runners, and tryed to calm our nerves.  The energy at the start was incredible!!  There was also a flyover, which just made the event even more exciting!!

The gun went off and we were off and running.  Diane started in a different coral, so it was just Patti and I at this point.  We started off with the 5:30 finish group, not realizing they had planned a run/walk for the marathon.  That wasn't how either of us trained, so we left the group and went off on our own.  After about 3 miles, Patti and I split and wished each other a great run!!

I was feeling AWESOME!!  I was running well ahead of my planned pace and felt strong.  I was easily hitting the checkpoints ahead of schedule and continued to feel incredible.  I made a point of taking in all the sights and sounds of Arlington/D.C. and was enjoying every step.  It also turned out to be an amazing weather day, even though it was a bit cold, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  I still felt awesome even after I had a near wipe out at a water table around mile 7!  I went for the water, but there were so many runners around me still (30K runners so it was kinda packed) that I didn't notice the huge pot hole in front of the table (way to go on the planning of that one) and just about went down.  Thankfully, the runners near me grabbed my and made sure I didn't hit the ground and that I was able to continue running.  That was a close one!! 

After about 15/16 miles the tables turned for me....I started feeling every step in a very bad way.  I couldn't believe how fast I went downhill in this run.  I felt like I could run forever and then I felt like I wanted to cry out in pain with every step.....and I still had 10 miles to go before I had a break.  I really tried to focus on running through the monuments and by the capital but I couldn't get past the pain in my feet/knees/legs/hips.  It was as if everything just shut down at the same time.  All I kept thinking about was the finish.  I wanted to cry.....yep, I said it.  I wanted to cry....during a marathon....it was awful.  How could it go from SO good to SO bad?  But, I gave myself a little pep talk (that included 'THERE'S NO CRYING IN RUNNING') and kept my feet moving. 

The big goal was to 'Beat the Bridge' at 20 miles.  Once I got to the bridge, I knew 2 things.  1. I would make it to the finish and not be removed from the course, and, 2. I only had 6.2 miles left!!  Unfortunately, they were the longest and most challenging 6.2 miles of my life.  I gave myself a significant walk break as I crossed the bridge and then tried to run a bit when I got into Crystal City. 

At this point, I made 2 fatal errors.  First, the food station around 21 miles was Dunkin Donuts....and they were giving out munchkins.  Seriously, I thoughts donuts would be awesome running carbs!  But alas....after running 21 miles, a munchkin is a horrifically bad idea.  Probably would have been better followed by a beverage, but it wasn't and so I was choking on the dryness of the donut and looking for anything that would quench my parched self!  Second fatal error.....the first beverage I found was beer.  Yep, I said it.  Beer.  There was a table of people with a keg around mile 22 and they were giving out shots of beer.  Rock on!!  So of course, I took some beer.  I figured what the hell....I was in excrutiating pain....parched from the damned donut and 4 miles from the finish.  Another bad idea.....hahahaha!  I just didn't care anymore!!  I wanted it to be over.

At mile 23 I had enough.  I physically couldn't make my body run another step.  3.2 miles to go.  Ugh.....I made the tough decision to speed walk the final 3 miles.  I just couldn't take another running step.  I wasn't the only one....I made some new friends as we all shuffled our way to the most welcoming sight....the finish line.  As we approached the final hill (the finish is straight uphill to the Marine Corps Monument in Arlington) I found the strength to run to the finish.  The hill is lined with Marine's cheering you on and pushing you to finish strong....how could I not run with that kind of motivation!?!?  I made it up that final hill and there it was, the finish.  What an amazing sight....I started to feel the pain wash away as I crossed under the arch and walked toward the Marine's who were ready to place the medal around my neck.  Now I really wanted to cry.  What a trying day.  What a challenging run.

I made my way to the monument, had my finish picture taken, and then shuffled off to find Diane and Patti....but not before I stopped at the med tent to get some tylenol.  After I was medicated, I got my post run food box and met up with Diane to decompress.  Patti joined us after a little bit and we all started reliving the event. 

We headed for the beer tent and met some awesome finishers, shared some beers, and then found our way back to the hotel.  Along the way, we also met a flight crew and had some super fun witch finger cookies!  :)  People are so much fun....and I'm pretty sure they thought we were crazy in our post marathon delerium!  Once we were showered and rested, we headed out to a little Irish pub in Old Alexandria were we tried not to fall asleep in our food and replenish our bodies.  We continued to relive the day and plan for our departure Monday morning.

In hind sight, it was an incredible experience.  Even though I had a difficult time, I still overcame and finished.  That is what matters most and that is what I've taken from this marathon.  Overcome & Finish. 

Congrats to Diane & Patti on completing your first marathon....I'm so glad I was able to be there with you.

Boilermaker 2012....and the start of Marathon #3 training!!

It has been a while!!  So much to update from Marine Corps Marathon this past October, but I'll get to that another time.  As for right now...I have some Boilermaker 2012 updating to do!! 

Smiling the night before Boilermaker!

This years Boilermaker was an absolute blast because I got to share it with someone very special to me.  Life has thrown a few curve balls over the past few years and now I have a new man in my life who is loving the running world I've introduced to him!  Boilermaker marked his first official road race!!  Whoo Hoo!! 

We got there Saturday, just in time to catch the tail end of the expo and pick up our packets and race bibs.  Once we left the expo, we headed to the hotel, and took in some pool time to just chill out a bit before dinner.  We enjoyed some fabulous carbo loading at the always wonderful Micheal T's in New Hartford, NY.  Kevin enjoyed his first experience with Vodka Chicken Riggies while I feasted on rigatoni and meatballs.  Once we were done with dinner, we headed back to the hotel to prep for the morning and relax watching the Red Sox game!!)

Boilermaker Startline!

Race morning was perfect!  We were up and out of the hotel by 6:15, stopped for coffee at the gas station and zipped over to Whitesboro St. to park and catch the morning shuttle to the start line.  We were both starting to feel our nerves kick in and took some time before the start to take in a bit more water and stretch our legs.

14,000 people waiting for the start!!

We stood patiently with 14,000 of our closest friends as the national anthem was performed and the announcer prepped us for the starting cannon.  8:00am and we are off....well....actually 8 min after the cannon we finally crossed the start line!!  Kevin and I started together and then he went ahead so we could both run our own races (he's a tad bit faster than me...which isn't hard!).  I had one of the best experiences running this race!!  I felt good the entire time, ran the majority of the course (only took a few short walk breaks) and just focused on enjoying myself and taking in the experience. 

Post Race Party!

I saw all the things, people, and animals (we go by the zoo!) that I have seen every year!  The mother daughter team who runs every year in matching sequined running outfits, the Blues Brothers, the donkey, the volunteer on stilts between mile 7 & 8, the band that greets us at the top of the golf course, and the list goes on and on!  I just LOVE this race.  And when all was said and done and I met up with Kevin at the finish, he also had fallen in love with it! 

Once we met up, we headed to the finish party, got some lunch (PB&J...thank you Price Chopper) and met up with some friends of mine who had come in from Rochester.  We celebrated, danced to Nik & the Nice Guys (so much fun to have them back this year!!), watched the military flyover, and just enjoyed our first post race party together! 

Celebrating with the Eagan's

We left the party around 11:30, headed back to the hotel to take a dip in the pool and chill our bodies before we got on the road to head home to Massachusetts.  All in all, it was a fabulous weekend of running!  Now on to MARATHON #3 TRAINING.  Bring it on MCM 2012!

Blog Revamp!!

Please stay tuned as I rework & reorg the blog! 

New stuff & lots of training coming soon!!

MCM 2012!!!!!!

Get Moving!!

It's been a long time since I last checked into this blog and actually wrote something!!

I'm getting back into running and hoping to get back into blogging!  I think I needed a break because life had taken over, but I'm back now and ready to pound the pavement over the upcoming months!!