Country Music Marathon
Marathon #7
4:19:16
While I did not PR at the Country Music Marathon, it was a pretty special one. I guess I need to find something special about every marathon otherwise I’ll get too bored with them before I make it to 50. So what made this one so special? Let’s see, I once lived in Tennessee so coming back is always fun, especially when I got to bring a bit of Chicago with me (Rachel, Evelio, Kathy, Clarissa, Greg) AND a bit of Wisconsin (Tammy); it was my 5th marathon in a 12 month period; and I think the greatest part was the cheer team: My mom and Aunt!
Taking a step back, let’s recap my training. Last marathon was in January so I had a bit of a time to step back and have a few ‘shorter’ long runs before I got back into 18, and 20 (+) mile runs. Thanks again to Rachel, I had someone on a good half of my long runs. My 18 mile run was on the Saturday of St. Patrick’s celebrations. I had plans to meet Sara Bravo downtown, so I had to wake up a little earlier than winter runs to get my run finished. Rachel ran a good 12 miles with me so by the time she left I only had 5 left. I picked up my pace to get home and shower and get downtown by 11. It felt GREAT! Then there was the 20 mile run. Again, I had Rachel on a big part of my run. I went to finish my run when I ran into Evelio with his pace Team (CARA winter training). I decided to run with them, making the last of my 5 mile run another fast run. My average pace of that 20 mile run was 9:07. My short runs were also getting stronger with lots of treadmill incline workouts so I thought I was on my way to another PR marathon.
But then, right after the 20 mile run, I got sick. For whatever reason, I could not get better. I don’t think I’ve taken more than 2 days in a row off of running since January 2007 (the last time I was REAL sick) and all of a sudden I had a week where I only ran 2 days of the entire 7. I was on Amoxicillin and while I felt better, I was still congested. I had 2 ‘long’ runs left one was a 20 miler that got cut down to 15 miles with walking. My legs were shaking on the first few miles of the run. The wind was strong and I just felt weak and dizzy. The other one, though should have been shorter on a regular taper schedule, I needed a good run for the mental game of it all so I decided to make it a 13 mile run. Once again I started to feel weak and got frustrated and cut it short at 11 miles. I was extremely upset, didn’t know how I’d ever run a full marathon with runs like I had in the last few weeks. I started to get sick again once off the amoxicillin & one week before the marathon. I tried to get better by rest, but it didn’t work. Luckily, my Doctor is a marathoner herself and so when I called her with a few hours before leaving town, she got me on Lavaquin which apparently is supposed to knock any infection out of you (but strong enough I’ve had side affects like loss of sense of taste!).
About two days on the antibiotic and it was race morning. Rachel, Evelio, Kathy, Clarissa, Greg and I had a great afternoon at the expo and downtown. Annita met us out for dinner and had goodie bags for each one of us. We carbo loaded at one of my favorite restaurants in Nashville, The Old Spaghetti Factory. I then picked Tammy up from the airport and we went straight to bed. Tammy and I woke up at 4:00am, left Brentwood by 4:30. It was raining, which made me nervous: if it were to get warm it would make it a humid day. Lucky for us it was a cool day. We were supposed to meet the Chicago Gang at the CARA tent but their shuttle to the start was stuck in traffic. Evelio told me he didn’t care about running fast in this marathon so he’d run with me since I wasn’t doing so well health wise. Though we didn’t visit at the CARA tent, I did find Evelio. We both had to go to the bathroom but the portapotty lines were ridiculously long. (I was with Tammy earlier and moved half way down the line in a half hour!).
So…for the first time ever, I agreed with Evelio a few miles into the run I’d stop and use one of the porta potties on the run. The race started, and we crossed the start line about 18 minutes into the race. We started slow as we were warned the first half was the hilliest half. At about 2 miles into the race we stopped for about 2-3 minutes for a bathroom break and were back on our way. We got tambourines from some sponsor and started to play them to every band we passed and would sing (or Evelio would tell me to sing and I would, and he’d laugh). Those first 10 miles were loads of fun! About 4 miles into the run I realized we were going down a pretty steep hill for a mile, it leveled off, and then went back down for another mile. I complained to Evelio, I was not looking forward to the up of that. Luckily, we looped around and as you ran up the hill, you were passing people behind you. Kathy found us just before the up and we took a picture together for one of the professional cameras…. Then we ran the up part. Those two miles of up felt so easy. I was searching for Tammy the entire time on our up that I didn’t realize we made it all the way up.
I was happy with how strong I felt, and at mile 9 I called my mom to let her know we were on our way. Around mile 10 is where we split with the half marathoners. It was like night and day. Once we lost the half marathoners it was like we lost all the crowd support and all the bands…and we had to run further distances for the water. I complained to Evelio about this of course- we are running further, putting our bodies through more work and we get less support- now that makes LOADS of sense!
Luckily, right before another large hill, there was my mom and Aunt with their butterfly Balloons. They took pictures and I threw my tambourine at them. We made our way up another horrid hill, and I got a little more negative. There were nuns at the top of that hill giving us ‘holy water’ then we had a long part of a down hill and no more water for awhile. When we did finally get water, I had slowed down some and Evelio had to use the bathroom again. So while he stopped I just decided to walk until he caught up with me. That’s when I decided I needed music. The next mile was along the Cumberland River. We were on a narrow flat running path, that was elevated and ‘cliff’ like on either side of you. I kept thinking, if you lose step you could just fall down the hill and break a leg (maybe that’s what I need to get out of the rest of this marathon). Once we were done with that part, we were nearing mile 17 and I finally convinced Evelio to leave me. I just wanted to enjoy this run, I made it 17 miles already and felt alright. If sickness didn’t bring me down then, it wasn’t going to, so I wanted him to go on without me, I promised I’d finish. He left me as I started to walk up probably the worst of all our hills. I saw my mom and Aunt again so I ran to them. I stopped, took a picture with my mom and chatted for a bit. It didn’t sound like they could get over to the finish, and I was fine with that since I wasn’t making this a PR marathon.
So, the next few miles I made fun. I’d run for 2 miles and then maybe walk for a little bit. We ran alongside with the half marathoners for a bit. I met a lady in her 50s running the half for her first time (we walked and chatted for a bit). I met another lady from Alabama. This was her second marathon, we ran for about a mile together. The sun came through with about 5 miles left. It was getting warmer as we ran around a pond in a park. I ran up to two older men walking so I decided to walk with them up a hill. The one said it was his first marathon making it a run/walk marathon (but he has run many). He is doing the Ironman in Florida this year so this is just another one of his training runs. As I had about 2 miles left as there was Rachel, walking backwards on the course to find me! She came to run me home and had a bottle of water for me! I poured most of that water on me as the sun was getting hot, we walked for a bit, then we went running. She made me feel good as she said I was pretty strong for being at the end. She assured me we were done with all the hills. With a man telling us we had .6 miles to go, I put on my tunes (and sang to Rachel ‘I’m out of time and all I got is four minutes, four minutes hey!”) and ran it home. Rachel jumped out just before mile 26 where I saw Kathy and I waved a weak wave. Justin Timberlake and Madonna ran out of their four minutes so I finished with Janet’s song, Feedback. Though I thought I heard a huge group shouting my name, I thought I saw all my fans that would be at the finish, so I ignored it, turned the corner and focused on the finish.
I finished feeling like I could have run further, and though I didn’t PR I really enjoyed my run. I went back to where I saw Rachel jump out (and by UPS trucks for my stuff). I called my mom and found out they were right there- they made it to the finish. They saw me, started cheering for me, and had everyone around them cheering for me (the noise I ignored as I turned the corner making my way to the finish)! I can’t explain how happy I was to have them at the finish, and even more so to hear my Mom on the phone with my Dad saying “You have to see this to fully understand how great it is!” It’s like she was saying “Suddenly I See!” (why it means so much to me).
Marathon #7
4:19:16
While I did not PR at the Country Music Marathon, it was a pretty special one. I guess I need to find something special about every marathon otherwise I’ll get too bored with them before I make it to 50. So what made this one so special? Let’s see, I once lived in Tennessee so coming back is always fun, especially when I got to bring a bit of Chicago with me (Rachel, Evelio, Kathy, Clarissa, Greg) AND a bit of Wisconsin (Tammy); it was my 5th marathon in a 12 month period; and I think the greatest part was the cheer team: My mom and Aunt!
Taking a step back, let’s recap my training. Last marathon was in January so I had a bit of a time to step back and have a few ‘shorter’ long runs before I got back into 18, and 20 (+) mile runs. Thanks again to Rachel, I had someone on a good half of my long runs. My 18 mile run was on the Saturday of St. Patrick’s celebrations. I had plans to meet Sara Bravo downtown, so I had to wake up a little earlier than winter runs to get my run finished. Rachel ran a good 12 miles with me so by the time she left I only had 5 left. I picked up my pace to get home and shower and get downtown by 11. It felt GREAT! Then there was the 20 mile run. Again, I had Rachel on a big part of my run. I went to finish my run when I ran into Evelio with his pace Team (CARA winter training). I decided to run with them, making the last of my 5 mile run another fast run. My average pace of that 20 mile run was 9:07. My short runs were also getting stronger with lots of treadmill incline workouts so I thought I was on my way to another PR marathon.
But then, right after the 20 mile run, I got sick. For whatever reason, I could not get better. I don’t think I’ve taken more than 2 days in a row off of running since January 2007 (the last time I was REAL sick) and all of a sudden I had a week where I only ran 2 days of the entire 7. I was on Amoxicillin and while I felt better, I was still congested. I had 2 ‘long’ runs left one was a 20 miler that got cut down to 15 miles with walking. My legs were shaking on the first few miles of the run. The wind was strong and I just felt weak and dizzy. The other one, though should have been shorter on a regular taper schedule, I needed a good run for the mental game of it all so I decided to make it a 13 mile run. Once again I started to feel weak and got frustrated and cut it short at 11 miles. I was extremely upset, didn’t know how I’d ever run a full marathon with runs like I had in the last few weeks. I started to get sick again once off the amoxicillin & one week before the marathon. I tried to get better by rest, but it didn’t work. Luckily, my Doctor is a marathoner herself and so when I called her with a few hours before leaving town, she got me on Lavaquin which apparently is supposed to knock any infection out of you (but strong enough I’ve had side affects like loss of sense of taste!).
About two days on the antibiotic and it was race morning. Rachel, Evelio, Kathy, Clarissa, Greg and I had a great afternoon at the expo and downtown. Annita met us out for dinner and had goodie bags for each one of us. We carbo loaded at one of my favorite restaurants in Nashville, The Old Spaghetti Factory. I then picked Tammy up from the airport and we went straight to bed. Tammy and I woke up at 4:00am, left Brentwood by 4:30. It was raining, which made me nervous: if it were to get warm it would make it a humid day. Lucky for us it was a cool day. We were supposed to meet the Chicago Gang at the CARA tent but their shuttle to the start was stuck in traffic. Evelio told me he didn’t care about running fast in this marathon so he’d run with me since I wasn’t doing so well health wise. Though we didn’t visit at the CARA tent, I did find Evelio. We both had to go to the bathroom but the portapotty lines were ridiculously long. (I was with Tammy earlier and moved half way down the line in a half hour!).
So…for the first time ever, I agreed with Evelio a few miles into the run I’d stop and use one of the porta potties on the run. The race started, and we crossed the start line about 18 minutes into the race. We started slow as we were warned the first half was the hilliest half. At about 2 miles into the race we stopped for about 2-3 minutes for a bathroom break and were back on our way. We got tambourines from some sponsor and started to play them to every band we passed and would sing (or Evelio would tell me to sing and I would, and he’d laugh). Those first 10 miles were loads of fun! About 4 miles into the run I realized we were going down a pretty steep hill for a mile, it leveled off, and then went back down for another mile. I complained to Evelio, I was not looking forward to the up of that. Luckily, we looped around and as you ran up the hill, you were passing people behind you. Kathy found us just before the up and we took a picture together for one of the professional cameras…. Then we ran the up part. Those two miles of up felt so easy. I was searching for Tammy the entire time on our up that I didn’t realize we made it all the way up.
I was happy with how strong I felt, and at mile 9 I called my mom to let her know we were on our way. Around mile 10 is where we split with the half marathoners. It was like night and day. Once we lost the half marathoners it was like we lost all the crowd support and all the bands…and we had to run further distances for the water. I complained to Evelio about this of course- we are running further, putting our bodies through more work and we get less support- now that makes LOADS of sense!
Luckily, right before another large hill, there was my mom and Aunt with their butterfly Balloons. They took pictures and I threw my tambourine at them. We made our way up another horrid hill, and I got a little more negative. There were nuns at the top of that hill giving us ‘holy water’ then we had a long part of a down hill and no more water for awhile. When we did finally get water, I had slowed down some and Evelio had to use the bathroom again. So while he stopped I just decided to walk until he caught up with me. That’s when I decided I needed music. The next mile was along the Cumberland River. We were on a narrow flat running path, that was elevated and ‘cliff’ like on either side of you. I kept thinking, if you lose step you could just fall down the hill and break a leg (maybe that’s what I need to get out of the rest of this marathon). Once we were done with that part, we were nearing mile 17 and I finally convinced Evelio to leave me. I just wanted to enjoy this run, I made it 17 miles already and felt alright. If sickness didn’t bring me down then, it wasn’t going to, so I wanted him to go on without me, I promised I’d finish. He left me as I started to walk up probably the worst of all our hills. I saw my mom and Aunt again so I ran to them. I stopped, took a picture with my mom and chatted for a bit. It didn’t sound like they could get over to the finish, and I was fine with that since I wasn’t making this a PR marathon.
So, the next few miles I made fun. I’d run for 2 miles and then maybe walk for a little bit. We ran alongside with the half marathoners for a bit. I met a lady in her 50s running the half for her first time (we walked and chatted for a bit). I met another lady from Alabama. This was her second marathon, we ran for about a mile together. The sun came through with about 5 miles left. It was getting warmer as we ran around a pond in a park. I ran up to two older men walking so I decided to walk with them up a hill. The one said it was his first marathon making it a run/walk marathon (but he has run many). He is doing the Ironman in Florida this year so this is just another one of his training runs. As I had about 2 miles left as there was Rachel, walking backwards on the course to find me! She came to run me home and had a bottle of water for me! I poured most of that water on me as the sun was getting hot, we walked for a bit, then we went running. She made me feel good as she said I was pretty strong for being at the end. She assured me we were done with all the hills. With a man telling us we had .6 miles to go, I put on my tunes (and sang to Rachel ‘I’m out of time and all I got is four minutes, four minutes hey!”) and ran it home. Rachel jumped out just before mile 26 where I saw Kathy and I waved a weak wave. Justin Timberlake and Madonna ran out of their four minutes so I finished with Janet’s song, Feedback. Though I thought I heard a huge group shouting my name, I thought I saw all my fans that would be at the finish, so I ignored it, turned the corner and focused on the finish.
I finished feeling like I could have run further, and though I didn’t PR I really enjoyed my run. I went back to where I saw Rachel jump out (and by UPS trucks for my stuff). I called my mom and found out they were right there- they made it to the finish. They saw me, started cheering for me, and had everyone around them cheering for me (the noise I ignored as I turned the corner making my way to the finish)! I can’t explain how happy I was to have them at the finish, and even more so to hear my Mom on the phone with my Dad saying “You have to see this to fully understand how great it is!” It’s like she was saying “Suddenly I See!” (why it means so much to me).
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