Single mama, some major knee problems, and still she does what so few people think of doing: half marathons. No one is claiming to be in shape or healthy, just active.
Welcome to the new year. Or I guess I could say that it is almost the third month of the new year. Oops, I guess I should write more about my own world of racing and less on homework. Considering the fact that my fastest race times are nothing on those who race for prize money, I guess I should stick to the homework.
This is a year of less racing for me, but higher goals. I have two registered races for 2015 already. The first race is in June. I will be revisiting the Seattle Rock n Roll, but this time with a race partner: Chewy! Yes, my precocious twelve year old child is joining me for her first half marathon. We talked about doing 13.1 when she was finally 13, but that ended as soon as we saw the date for this year's race which she had already mentioned that she wanted as her first. So the last week before summer break for her will involve a short trip across the state and a nice race. She is so very excited, and so am I.
Race #2 in 2015 is the San Antonio Rock n Roll in December. After that drastically bitter cold race back in November, I vowed that I would never do another race in a potentially cold climate again. Texas sounds like it has the potential for better temperatures, and beautiful scenery. It also appears that I might have two friends from home going with me for a cheering section, and at least one two more friends who live in Texas that will do the race with me. Chewy wants to do it, but as I told her, do your first half marathon and recovery, then we can talk about if this is something you really want to do, or if it is just the idea of going on vacation that sounds great.
Aside from the two halves that I am registered for, I am toying with the idea of doing a race in October in South Dakota, and also thinking about revisiting the CDA half marathon that I did last May. You know, the one where I got my speeding ticket on the way to the race. I will also be doing some smaller races here and there through the year.
My plan for this year is simple. Work on speed and endurance. I would like to be able to run much more this year than I have in races past. Just running a mile straight would be a huge gain compared to now. If I could run a 5K, I would be doing even better. The weather is beautiful in my neck of the woods, so I need to get going on putting out some regular mileage. In addition, I have starting regularly seeing an acupuncturist and have seen some positivity in my own health from that. Everything is in my favor for this year's racing adventures. Now to get out there and start training!
Seattle Half Marathon was on Sunday, and is now in the books. I think I have finally defrosted enough from the race to be able to type this recap of the adventure. This was a race that was more of a battle of my body than my mind. It also reminded me of my own personal strength.
I came into this race with the mentality that I would be fine with any sort of performance, so long as I completed what I started. I had not done much training because of my knee. Luckily I had new shoes to do this race, and I was truly hoping to not have the same knee issues that attacked me during the Everett race. What I did not expect was the bitter cold that had descended upon Seattle during the weekend. Spokane is typically much colder than Seattle, but this weekend was quite the opposite. It had also snowed in Seattle which is something that is very rarely seen in Western Washington. What this had created for the racers on Sunday morning was a special bit of frozen misery.
Just like last year, the race for my group had a start time of 745am. I was there early to be able to check in my items at gear check, do a last minute pit stop, and spend as much time as possible in the warmth of the building near by before heading out into the brisk 27F temperatures for a few hours. The blow horn went off, and so did I, down the cold streets of Downtown Seattle and along a race course I was very familiar with and was excited to see. I could tell that I had started a little too strong and started to slow down slightly, but kept a decent pace. The cold was piercing though, running through my body like a cold saline line placed through an IV. I figured I would be warming up as I continued along the course. Little did I know that this would not be happening until the acupuncture table.
Mile 2 came with the first water station. The road was slick as any water that had spilled was immediately turning to ice. The water in the cups had thin films of ice across the tops of them, similar to a thin sugar crust on creme brulee. At this point I was thankful for some basic science knowledge: salt changes the freezing point of water, and gatorade is contains salt. My water belt was now my only source of liquid refreshment along this journey as I cannot stand ice in my water. I would be okay, but I knew I needed to be very careful and aware of continuing to drink, even when I thought I didn't need anything. Dehydration was going to set in quickly if I went with the idea that I was freezing cold and therefore not thirsty.
I continued along the course and onto the icy I-90 Expressway. It was not until we reached the tunnels that things warmed up slightly, well that is until I was spit out of the tunnels and now off the freeway and traveling along the west edge of Lake Washington. Most of the course was shaded, and so much ice was found in various areas. I still kept pushing on, but I did notice that I was slowing down and my knee, the lovely left knee with the metal screws in it, was beginning to freeze up making movement more and more labored. Not knee instability, but the cold was bone chilling as it hit the screws and this frigged cold was now running down the length of my bone. I kept going though. I did not come all this way to stop just because it was cold. By the halfway point, I looked at my phone to check the time and knew that a race under four hours was not going to happen, and I could have cared less. Insert banana and away I went.
I kept going, and to my surprise I never did hit a wall. Sure, I was freezing, and my knee was freezing up more and more. My hip was now taking over on my left side, overcompensating for the lack of motion that my knee was producing. I had a vanilla flavored bathroom caulk packet at Mile 9, and still kept moving. It was not until Mile 11 that things began to warm up! I saw the sun, and it was shining down on me. Finally warming up slightly, but still not enough to make knee movement happen very well. Didn't matter. In the distance, I could see the Space Needle. This was my landmark to say that I was nearly finished. Follow the freeway, go down the hill, around the corner, up a slight incline, around the last corner and into the stadium to cross the finish line is all I needed to do. And this I did. I tried running, but I was not very successful. I was so cold that I felt as if my running was slower than my walking. I mustered up that last bit of everything in me to run that finish though. Snow and ice covering the shoveled stadium grounds, but I made it and earned that medal. I thought I was going to cry out of sheer relief.
My time: 4:25:00.
Not my best showing. But I still finished! Never again will I consider a race in temperatures less than 36F though as that is the coldest that I have found myself to be truly comfortable in for putting down the miles.
I went to the recovery area and changed into my warm clothes that I brought on purpose. TMI moment: my thighs were so red that they looked wind burned. I warmed up slightly in my toasty clothes, found some snacks, and went in for my acupuncture treatment. Here they worked on my knee some, and covered me in a space blanket as I still was shaking from the cold. Later I went on to massage where I was again warmed up, but they focused on my back and hip. I was, and still am a little sore, but nothing like I was on Sunday. My left calf is a bit tight, and I can feel some tightness in the left thigh as well. Over all, I am doing much better than I have done in most other races. Massage is a must have, and acupuncture is even better!
So would I ever do this race again? The short answer: yes. I enjoy this race. I was spoiled last year with weather in the upper 40s and lower 50s. This year, it never got above 30F. That is ridiculously cold, and not normal for the area. I do plan to do this race again, but right now, my job is to work on healing my knee more from the instability issues I was contending with, and getting back into the idea of training. I have no races planned for the future outside of the Seattle Rock n Roll with Chewy in June. At least we know that it will be so much more comfortable in June compared to what it was Sunday.
With that, since starting this journey, I have completed seven races in 14 months which is an average of a race every two months.
November has quickly passed us by which means only one thing for me, and it has nothing to do with turkey: Seattle Half Marathon is this weekend! I have broken in my shoes decently. I am watching the weather reports so I know what to pack. I am doing intense amounts of homework in hopes that I will not be taking it with me. I am getting adequate sleep so as not to go into this exhausted. Most of all, I am really excited. I have been replaying my first Seattle Half in my mind, thinking about the areas where I need to have energy reserves. I am planning my food for Saturday, and what would be most satisfying, yet not weigh me down on Sunday. Overall, I feel ready for this race. While not well trained, I am in a wonderful mental place that says, "I can and will do this!"
A small bit of shock came to me yesterday as I was printing off my travel information and my race confirmation. I read through the confirmation paperwork and saw that it was February of this year when I registered for the Seattle Half. WOW! I knew it was early in the year, but to see that the date was early February was very neat. The major moment came when I continued reading. Seattle Marathon asks how many fulls and halves you have completed as of the day of registration. At the time, this number was two. As of today, that number is six. SIX! WOW! Who would have ever thought that this is what would have come to be. I look in my living room at my medal display, see all six hanging there, knowing there is a seventh coming shortly, and I am just in awe. I did that! Not only that, my race goal time listed on the registration is 3:59:59. I have also shattered that by more than 10 minutes.
The rest of this week will include homework, packing, spending time with my family here at home, and then traveling for this race. As for future races, June 2015 is the only one I have planned at this time. We will call that "Chewy's First Half" as she will join me for the Seattle Rock n Roll.
Twenty two days until the Seattle Half Marathon, and I really feel like I am reliving last November with talks about shoes. This time is different though for a variety of reasons. I have realized a few things over the last month. I really like a tighter fit on a shoe, and hate wide toe boxes. I have a cute pair of every day shoes that I don't wear often, realizing only recently that it is the toe box that I dislike. My New Balance shoes are nicely supportive and great for 5K races, are not appropriate for half marathons and long term use. Reality is, I need way more support than those shoes provided, and again, wider toe box. I scoured the internet, asked for the help of others, and now I should be having a new pair of shoes any day now. This will be my third pair of Saucony Guide 6 shoes, and they will truly be a blessing. The sad part is they are a soon to be two year old model, and I am hoping to continue finding them here and there. Or, even better would be that the Guide 8 would be a shoe I like and find comfort in, something that the Guide 7 was lacking. I guess I should have listened to Chewy and bought the ones I saw at the Seattle Rock n Roll trade show back in June. Don't tell the 12 year old that she was right.
Another thing that I have realized is that my knee is unhappy when I am wearing less supportive shoes. The more I wore the New Balances, the worse the issues in my knee. Add in a pair of cute worn out loafers, a pair of shoes with okay support but wide toe box, and the running shoes, and my knee would be screaming at me! Even just one day of wear with any of those shoes was a recipe for disaster. Out of curiosity, or maybe a little desperation, I pulled out my miled out Sauconys. They were dead by the end of the Seattle Rock n Roll for distance racing, but have plenty of life in them for puttering around town like normal people. My knee has been in heaven. No pain! No funny weird twinges. All has been well. And my feet have felt great as well. This is why I decided to buy another pair of them. I really dislike the color of them, white/blue/silver, which would be pretty if they didn't look just so boring. The comfort makes it all worth it though.
Every time I am out is another learning experience for me. As of late, I have finally understood how much shoes make a difference. My fear now is if I will have enough time to break in a new pair of shoes before a race.
It is official, I have what is known in normal people speak as Runner's Knee.
Seeing my orthopedist was nice today. He was so surprised and proud of me for all the progress I have made over the years. I had to explain to him my last half and the pain I had encountered. His look of amazement that I had done a half was great, but then telling him that it was my sixth half was even better. He knew me as the very much more sedentary me. I think of him daily as I am able to do so much now compared to before surgery.
My recovery from this should be easy. Relax another week, but continue to do those exercises I had already begun doing. He gave me a large list of exercises to do, instructions to do them three times daily. And he also have me his blessing that should I not have any continuing issues with the knee in the next few weeks, Seattle Half Marathon is a go. In a week, I can go back out and start walking and jogging as tolerated, but still do those other exercises. I will be ready for the end of November.
I knew it would be nothing serious, but it is nice to be reassured of that.
This journey of half marathoning began with a successfully healed knee reconstruction that was completed in 2011. Prior to that, my left knee would chronically dislocate. How bad? Every time I bent my knee, my knee cap would slide out of place. Most of the time it would go back in place but there were the special moments, such as the one that landed me flat on my back in the mall and being loaded into an ambulance that proved to be much more severe. For the most part, the last three years have been uneventful. I had occasional annoyance from something hitting my shin where my hardware was imbedded in the bone, or my running limitations due to the hardware (why I run such small amounts), yet otherwise, I have been living a normal life.
Here is the bad news...
Sunday's race in Everett was not uneventful. My knee began to ache in a spot I knew all too well. I attributed some of it to the sloping of the ground as I know from past experiences that side sloping ground is horrible for me to walk on comfortably. I also thought that some of it might be my shoes. I bought some new shoes in August. These are New Balance shoes, and while they are great and comfortable, I do not find them as supportive for my needs as I do the Saucony shoe I have typically bought. So I thought some of it might be that the New Balance shoe was good for a 5K but not a half. But then the weird instability began. Anyone who has had knee instability can tell you that this is a horrible and scary feeling. I finished the race on Sunday, and as you know, I ended up running a lot towards the end. No issues other than the initial knee pain that seemed to go away, or so I thought.
I was at school today when I had some more instability. My knee is visibly inflamed and a bit tender. As I was shopping in the University bookstore, I felt my knee wiggle that all familiar "I'm going to think about going out on you" wiggle. NO!!! Not now! Or ever! I have another race in 6 weeks, and this is not going to be something I want in my way. As stubborn as I am, I can also be realistic. I scheduled an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon. He knows my knee inside and out. I suspect that some could be an overuse injury. I suspect that it is just a weak VMO muscle which is common and easy to rehab. But no matter what, I refuse to be stupid about this. I look up at my six medals and know that #7 is on its way. It is time to talk to my surgeon though before this gets out of hand and I land back on his table for a third surgery on this knee.
As I wait for next week, I am doing my VMO strengthening exercises that I learned in physical therapy; resting as much as possible; and wearing good supportive shoes. I will not be letting this end my half marathon experience.
The Biggest Loser Half Marathon, or also known as Half Marathon #6 has been conquered. I have to say, this is one race that made me respect the distance that 13.1 miles covers. Looking back, it was even harder than my first. I am glad to have had this, and also humbled. In the end, I survived, learned a lot, and can say that I pushed myself in ways that no other race has forced me to do.
First of all, I should be open and honest. I haven't put in as much energy in training as I have in the past. Shame on me. I need to make more time for this, making it more of a priority. Going into this race, I had no exceptions of my own time. I wanted to do it in around four hours, but reality is, I was going to be pleased with anything that was not as slow as my first. This was going to be my new base line race that told me where I was now: better shape yet no training. I made travel arrangements with my race friend I had met in Phoenix to do this race with her; together we would make it ours. This was my third half marathon in Western Washington.
Mile one seemed to drone on and on. We know that I hate the first mile in any race as they are the longest. Mile two was pretty much a mile long incline; the first of many uphill battles. In fact, up, down, up, down, flat, down, up, up, and repeat was the name of the course. It was brutal! I never have done so many hills in a single course before. The CDA Half Marathon was also hilly, but this was even more so. Think along the lines of a roller coaster track. This kept things interesting for both my feet and my head.
I knew that I was towards the back of the pack, yet I had no qualms about this. At Mile 4, things changed a lot. My walking partner had to stop for the restroom, and if you have kept track of my own journey, you know that I will not stop for anything. My walking partner told me to keep going, and I was sure I would see her again later. At this point, I felt myself s-l-o-w d-o-w-n! The thought crossed my mind, "Who is crazy enough to do this distance, and why am I?" My walking partner still had not shown up. I was alone, and losing steam. Insert a banana and hope for the best.
I kept going, but I hit a wall. A horrible, blinding, almost caving
in wall, ready to collapse on me and hold me hostage. I did not travel
five hours to not finish a race. I must keep going. Miles 5 and 6
were a blur. Mile 7 came, and so did the ambulance sirens. Now I was
scared. My girlfriend was doing this race as well, but had sustained a
knee injury two weeks prior. She had intended to do the race in a
wheelchair, but the tires were flat at race time, so she pulled out the
crutches. I knew she was far behind me, but hearing those sirens
terrified me! And then I heard an all familiar ding: my cell phone
telling me I had a text. It was her, and the message was that she was
okay. She knew I would be worried and texted me to say she was not in
that ambulance. That gave me a little bit of steam, but it too began to
fizzle out. Insert the frosting flavored bathroom caulk and again,
hope for the best.
Mile 9 came, and I knew that once I saw the
Mile 10 sign, I would only have a 5K left. I had looked at the clock on
my phone earlier and had estimated my time to be around 4:20-4:30 for
finish. I was okay with it as at this point, I just wanted done. And
then music could be heard. Some house in the neighborhood was playing
80's music and it was invigorating! As soon as I could not hear it
anymore, I realized that my cell phone had Pandora, and I could play an
80's station for myself. Why on earth had I not done this until now???
Soon the music was playing, loudly for anyone around me to hear as I
did not have ear buds, and away I went! I was starting to pick up the
pace. Song one played and I crossed the Mile 10 sign. And right after
that, my new half marathon theme song played...
"I'm Gonna Be
(500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers was blasting around me. And this is
exactly what I needed. Again, the pace picked up, and now I was
running! I ran the rest of that mile which is estimated at about 3/4 to
4/5 of the mile. Me! The person with screws in the leg who feels pain
from running too much. ME! The one who was out of gas at Mile 4!
ME!!! I was running and singing!!!
"But I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more..."
And
you better believe that those words coming out of me were felt deep
down to my core! Just so you know, I don't sing. If I do, I tend to
have the charming melodic voice of a dying seagull mixed with 20 cats in
heat. It really is that bad. But I needed to sing, and I didn't care
who heard it.
That wall was crumbling! The energy was there but
only in heart. Digging deep into my soul was the only thing getting me
through, and then some music. Mile 11 came and started to get hard
again, until I saw someone ahead of me on crutches and I knew exactly
who that was: my girlfriend. I ran up to her, and she explained that
she was picked up by the race crews and moved forward a few miles. Then
she looked at me, knowing I wanted to stay but that I was fading and
told me to go. She knew that I was struggling, but seeing her and
hearing her blessing was enough to give me the last bit of steam.
Around the rest of the curve I went, running ahead until I saw the Mile
12 sign. This was the hardest moment for me. Mile 12? But the finish
line was RIGHT THERE! I could see it! A quarter of a mile away, if
that, yet the sign said otherwise? And then someone in the sidelines
yelled that the sign was wrong and I was indeed done. I ran with
everything left in me. I crossed that finish line a winner. I gave it
my all, pushing through so much, and here I was now with a medal around
my neck! I did it! A few tears started to well, but I cry in public
even less than I sing. It was truly emotional for me to finally be
done. Then I spun around and was talking to race staff. I wanted to be
able to present my girlfriend her medal. I may have had a hard time
with my race, but it was nothing compared to hers. They agreed, and so I
waited. It was during this time that I finally looked at the clock and
was confused. The time was reading 3:59:some second. This was
impossible I told the staff. They told me that no, it was based on the
first wave of half marathoners to leave, and so they asked what wave I
was in. I was in the last, but still, I was due to come in way after 4
hours, and the clock was reading in the three hour range. My interests
were piqued but I needed to watch for the winner of my heart and medal.
About 15 minutes or so later, there she was, and amazed to see me
waiting for her. She fell into my arms and I just knew that it was time
for a trip to First Aid. Blisters on the feet, extreme swelling of her
knee, and a horrible amount of pain, but she could say she survived.
Ten minutes after her came my friend from the Phoenix race. I was also
allowed to present her with her medal and a giant hug. It was now
official: All three of us had finished!
My finishing time was a huge surprise to me: 3:53:35!
I
couldn't believe it when I saw that I was under four. How could this
be? All I can say is that if it was not for my realization that music
was needed, it would not have been this good. The surprise for me was
seeing how close my time was to the CDA half in May. One minute, two
seconds off! That had been my most challenging course until this one,
and to see that time showed me that I am doing well, and with training, I
can do even better.
So what did I learn? First of all, 13.1
miles needs to be respected. This was becoming to be easy for me, and
well, it's not! This race humbled me to a place that needed to be
reminded of and should keep in the front of my thoughts. Secondly is
that music is my friend. I have never done music in my other races as
there was often many bystanders cheering us on, or music being played
that I was kept alive and motivated. Here I was stuck in my own head
and this was not a good place as I was getting tired. Thirdly, training
is so important. I have another race in about six weeks, Seattle Half,
and you better believe that I need to train. I also realized that
recovery post race is important. I am sore today and had a massage done
this evening to help work out some of those knots that formed. Reality
is, post race massage and acupuncture have been so great for me that I
think in the future, this will be a requirement of mine before signing
up for a race. If massage or acupuncture is not offered, I will not do
it. This race was definitely harder than even my very first race, but I
would not trade it for the world.
