No One Runs Alone

Around this time of year, everybody makes resolutions.  For whatever reason, I never do.  Instead of resolving to do something, I like to make optimistic wishes and see how the year unfolds.  About a year ago, Jim and I were sitting in our Manhattan apartment talking with some friends about our hopes and dreams for 2009.  At the time, I was barely 3 months into my running life and I set a wild goal: "I'd like to run a half marathon this year." 

Looking back, I can hardly believe I've reached that distance several times (in my training) and beyond.  And one week from today, I'll complete 26.2 miles.  Now in my last week of training, I've been thinking a lot about the fact that there is no way someone can go from a complete non-runner to a marathoner in less than 15 months without help and support.

So I'm taking this blog entry to thank the numerous people who have shared this journey with me, and provided physical and mental support through the miles:

1. My husband Jim - For supporting this crazy dream.  For the inspiration to get fitter in the first place, and for understanding all the times I came home with more newly purchased running gear that I simply had to have.  For making me warm breakfasts after long runs.  For joining me in several NYRR races (even though you can beat me with your eyes closed and while running backwards without even training).  For letting me have my moment but still challenging me to be better every step of the way. 

2. Mike - For running more miles with me during training than anyone else!  For braving early runs in cold temps.  For meeting me in the last lonely miles of long runs and distracting me with stories and conversation. For bringing me a banana when I needed one at mile 15.  For helping me order Team Turtle gear.

3. Mom & Suzanne- For getting into the game and preparing for your first 5k.  My pride for you is immeasurable, and your training has inspired me to keep going.

4. Dad - For sponsoring my marathon shoes, and for being my biggest fan. 

5. Andi - For always wanting to talk about running with me, and encouraging me to keep running, no matter the pace.

6. Galloway NYC Running Club- especially De, Liz, the 2 Daves, Sue, Christi, & Cindi.  For putting in extra miles with me even when you didn't need them.  For the expertise, experience, and company.

7. Enrique, Stan, & Ed - for waiting with a smile at NYRR runs until I crossed the finish line. 

8. My awesome in-laws- For making signs, reading the blog, and being incredibly supportive through the training and taper period.  For being fans from afar.

9. Gordon Harvey- For your awesome podcast, "Running to Disney".  Though we've never met in person, I've logged a lot of miles with you, my friend.

10. James-Allen- For designing (and redesigning!) my Pink Turtle logo.  For racing the mile, and cracking me up all along the way.

11. My bosses Joslyn & David - For your endless support and the fancy GPS running watch!

12. My extended family and friends - For listening to me talk about the marathon for hours upon hours.  For being interested in (or at least pretending to be!) my training.  For wanting to track me in the marathon.

THANK YOU!

I know I've been obnoxious.  I know I've been needy.  I know I've been nervous.  I know the marathon has consumed more thoughts than it should and more time than it should.  But I was never alone.  My thanks for each of you can't be expressed, and I know I'll think of you all during my 26.2 miles, knowing I couldn't have done it without you. 

Okay, enough sappiness... I've got a race to run!

Sarathon or bust!

Week 19 - Gather the Team

I'm the type of person who can't do anything half-way.  So if I'm gonna run my first marathon, I'm gonna do it in style.

I'm trying to think back at the origins of the Pink Turtle name, and I'm pretty sure Jim came up with it at my first 10k.  I was decked out in pink running gear, head to ankle (darn Stability Shoes...why don't you come in pink?).  So to honor the fact that we're all headed down to the Disney Marathon Weekend together (some doing the 5k), the runners in my family have come up with some names of their own - all of us making up "Team Turtle"!  My sister Suzanne is Blue Snail.  My mom Jean is Purple Phoenix (she says she rose from the ashes to become a runner).  Mike is Red Rhino, and Jim is Black Stallion.  My mother-in law (who isn't able to come to the race but who will be representing on the west coast in support) also got in the game and named herself White Bunny!  James-Allen & Mike worked together to get the Team Turtle logo & names on shirts, pins, and bumper stickers.   Oh yes, a CafePress order has been placed. 

I know this is completely ridiculous and over-the-top, but so it running 26.2 miles for the first time. 

Here in Napa, life is good.  But so is the wine!  Week 19 tapering...both good and bad.

Good Turtle:
1.Eating more protein than usual.
2.Relaxing because I'm off of work.
3.Looking over my marathon plan and getting my head in the right place.
4.Doing my runs in beautiful scenery and weather in which I'm not freezing my shell off.

Bad Turtle:
1.Eating lots of Christmas cookies and junk.
2.Not sleeping enough...too much fun to be had here!
3.Too much wine tasting...cause that's what you do in Napa!
4.Freaked I'm going to get sick, since Jim has come down with a nasty cold...and see points 1-3 under "Bad Turtle".

On Monday, I had a fabulous run.  30-minutes around the streets of Yountville, no problem.  My pace was pretty good, considering I did 2-1 intervals.  I was so excited and happy on this run...the marathon is almost here!

On Wednesday, my 3-minute run felt completely different.  For no reason, my legs were sluggish and my breath labored.  It's a good reminder that I need to be getting extra sleep and take care of myself.

Thursday was New Years Eve.  We spent an amazing day hitting several wineries - tasting and laughing with dear friends.  We rang in 2010 with the family over a beautiful dinner and a Texas hold 'Em match.  I almost won a whopping 25 bones to spend at the Marathon Expo, but the Turtle came in second.  Oh well, that's what credit cards are for:)

On Friday, I quit alcohol.  Not forever, but just until the race. 

VERY HARD TO DO IN THE NAPA VALLEY.  I miss you already, buttery chardonnay.

But I have less than 10 days to go.  As I can't improve my running fitness in this time, I may as well start hydrating and detox.  On Saturday, I did my final "long" run - an easy 6-miler.  I ran by mustard flowers in bloom, a hot air balloon launch, cabernet sauvignon vineyards, and an ancient Indian burial ground. 

Toto, I don't think we're in Manhattan anymore!

I listened to Gordon's Disney Marathon race recap from last year, and I got all choked up just thinking about it all. I am ready (or at least I will be next Sunday)!

Only sixty minutes of running separates me from the starting line.

Sarathon or bust!

Week 18 - California Dreamin'

When I got married, I won the in-law lottery.  My husband's parents and sister's family live in the Napa Valley.  What a great place to have to visit twice a year.  Lucky turtle!

So I just had two runs to complete in cold NYC and then off to wine country for Christmas!  On Monday, I didn't even attempt to be outside.  I had earned a nice treadmill run at the gym, for sure.  My legs didn't feel like I'd done 22 miles two days before, so I even worked in some speed intervals.  Later in the day, my legs started feeling it.

On Wednesday, I met Mike in Central Park at 8:30 AM.  It was 20 degrees!  The roads were clear, but the bridle path was a sheet of ice, so we had to stop and walk that when we crossed West to East.  The run was great, though.  The park was beautiful, covered in a sheet of snow. 

I was kind of sentimental -  thinking the next time I'd run Central Park, I'd be a marathoner. 

But Napa was waiting!  We'd spend the next two weeks there, and I couldn't wait for the change of scenery and the warmer temps! 

The day I got there, a package arrived...my custom marathon shirt!!!  A shout-out to #1 designer/super friend James-Allen for designing me a custom Pink Turtle "Sarathon 2010" logo & race shirt!!! You gotta look the part, right? 

On Saturday (the day after Christmas), Jim and I got to hit the streets of Yountville, CA for a 10-miler.  It was a little hilly, but the scenery couldn't be beat. My pace was a steady 12:40, and the weather a pleasant 50 degrees. Like a good little marathoner, I wore my complete outfit that I plan to wear in the race. Besides my fancy new custom tech shirt and pink visor, this includes a black Adidas running skirt and long, black running arm-warmers. James-Allen called this my "costume" when I tried it on for him in NY - pointing out that the skirt plus arm warmer combo makes me look like the Eliza Doolittle of running.  I like it!

I had a little Christmas food/Napa wine sluggish-thing going on, but all-in-all it was a good taper run.

I write that as if I know what a taper run should be, and in reality- I have no idea. I read that tapering means run less, eat & rest more. 

In that case, I highly recommend tapering in the Napa Valley.

Sarathon or bust!

Week 17 - Beating the Storm

My right calf is still tight.  Really tight.  Super tight. But I figured something out - if I wear shoes with small heels when I'm not running, it feels better since it takes pressure off the achilles.  Note to self: do that.

This week I worried a lot about the weather.  A storm was promised, and I was praying every day that it would hold off until after my 22-miler on Saturday.  This was my final week before tapering.  My weekday runs went just fine.  It has been in the 20's and windy, but the marathon isn't going to run itself, so I just bundle up and go. 

On Friday, I had a huge surprise...my bosses gave me a Garmin GPS Running watch for Christmas.  Thank you, Santa-Bosses!!!!!  I've never been able to completely track my actual mileage/speed before.  Since I started Gallloway interval training, my Nike Plus has been somewhat off.  I am so happy to have this new running toy!  I rushed right home after work and got it all figured out to use on my Saturday run.

Saturday morning, my friends Christi & Dave met me at 6:45 AM.  It was 25 degrees. I repeat: It was 25 degrees.  The storm was on its way to NYC, having already hit Phili with a foot and more coming.  I needed to get running and get it over with! 

Drumroll...I made it!  TWENTY TWO MILES IN TWENTY FIVE DEGREES.  It took me four hours and forty seven minutes.  This is a minute per mile over what I hope marathon pace will be, so I'm right on track. 

There was an NYRR 15k in Central Park, so we signed up for it just to break up the run.  Jim had to get in his 9+1 volunteer slot that day, so he was waiting at mile 7 (which was 12 to me, since we had done 5 before the race).  It was soooo good to see his face at this point (well some of it- he was bundled up too)!

Mike also came and took some pictures.  Thanks, Mike!  I look completely frozen, but happy.

I'm the one in pink, of course.

After the race, Liz joined us for some windy miles around the reservoir.  Christi left at 16, Dave left at 17, Liz left at 18...and then there was 1.  They're all veteran marathoners so the distance was enough, but the Turtle needed to finish 22.

So I completed miles 18-22 by myself.  At this point, my hands were completely frozen and I couldn't bear the thought if taking them out of my gloves to get out my iPod, so I did it music-free.  I thought a lot about my training, my goals, and how a non-runner like me got to this point.  I would have cried, but I think my eyes were frozen.

As I was coming around the bend of Harlem Hill, the first snowflakes started to fall.  But no matter, I was DONE.  We got 8 inches of snow that night as I slept peacefuly, knowing I'm off to taper-land.

Sarathon or bust!

Week 16 - In Like Flynn

Besides my right calf still being insanely tight, Sarathon training is right on track, Jack. 

Two runs during the week.  You know the drill by now...Central Park...3 mile loops...blah blah blah..... 

Absolutely loving the Galloway intervals, if I can only get over the guilt of doing them.  I know I shouldn't care, but every so often that little inner voice creeps in and whispers, "You're not a real runner....".  Whenever that happens, I just usually buy more cute, hip, pink running stuff and get on my way.

On Saturday, I missed the Galloway group run because I had to truck my butt to Prospect Park at 8AM for my NYC Marathon 2010 Qualifier Volunteer Duty.  I was miserable at the thought of it.  I have no problem volunteering, but the only slot I could get was in Prospect Park.  For those non-New Yorkers, that's Brookyn, baby.  It couldn't be the big giant park that is steps from my door.  No- I had to board a slow-moving subway car at 6:45 AM to make it on time, as I had to rock the F train. Again for those non-New Yorkers, this means nothing to you.  But to my fellow Gothamites reading this, you know that a root canal might be more preferable than having to rely on the F train to get you to Brooklyn on a weekend morning by 8 AM (Did you know I co-wrote a new Off-Broadway musical all about the "joys" of the MTA?...But that's another subject)! 

Besides being 30 degrees, the volunteering proved to be ok.  I was a course marshall at around mile 3 of a holiday 4-miler.  I loved cheering for the back-of-the pack runners...it's a special fraternity of which I'm a proud member:)

With this volunteer slot, I finally completed my 9+1 guaranteed entry requirements for the 2010 NYC Marathon!  So now I'm in like Flynn.  I still can't believe I started running only 14 months ago and during that time I ran NINE official races with the NY Road Runner's Club in order to guarantee myself a slot in another marathon!

Where is Sara, and what has running done with her?

On Sunday, I got in my "short" long run, with an easy 6-mile loop around Central Park with Andi.  Hills and all, this run was great.  Only 4 weeks from today, I'll line up at the start of 26.2!

Sarathon or bust!

Week 15 - Legs, Don't Fail Me Now!

My Tuesday run of this week was an interesting one.  I forgot to charge my IPod, and the battery died within the first few minutes.  It wasn't as bad as I thought, though- I somehow was able to entertain myself and push through a little more than 3 miles. Central Park is great for people watching.  And dog watching.  And runner watching.  And tree watching.  And taxi watching.  And squirrel watching.

You'll look at anything when you're panting through 3 miles in 37 degrees with no IPod.

I noticed thought that my right calf is super tight again. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get that thing to loosen up.  As a result, my right ankle is feeling kind of stiff as well.  In general, I'm getting kind of sick/bored of the Central Park Hills!  I live on the North End of the Park too, so my short runs during the week always begin and end with the steepest hills in the park.  Give me a break!  The good news is, Disney is largely a flat course- so I'll probably be better conditioned than I'll need to be.  Take that, Minnie Mouse!

The next day I was an idiot.  A downright idiot.  I bought some new shoes (they didn't have my favorite Asics in stock in my size...the Turtle is 5'10" and has a big foot to match) and immediately went to the gym and did a speed session with them on.  Doh!

My knees and ankles were feeling it by the end (and I hadn't even given myself a day of rest as well).  This was not my most intelligent workout ever, but I'm learning what my body can and can't handle.

At leat I was smart enough not to run again until Saturday...my first ever 19-miler!  Shout-out time: Sue from Galloway NYC started the morning with me (6 AM!) on the West Side Greenway for 10.5 miles.  Then she handed me off to Galloway's Dave for a 5-mile Central Park loop.  Mike then met me at mile 15.5 (with a much needed banana- yay!) and we finished it out.  When I got home, I mapped it all, and realized I had done a total of 20.28 miles.  Good God!  It took me 4 hours and 17 minutes...which is about what I expected.  I think I'll be a little faster on marathon day,  but who knows?  My right ankle and calf had loosened up during the run, but in the aftermath I felt them just a bit. 

I'm pretty psyched about and surprised by how much I enjoy these long runs, and how quickly the time passes.  Who knew I'd love long-distance training so much?  I sure wish I could bump into my high school gym teacher one of these days.  She'd probably faint from the shock.

By the way, on Sunday I returned those shoes and was able to track down the new release of the Asics I love in my big old size.  Hello, old friend.

Sarathon or bust!

Week 14 - Carving the Turkey, Carving Out TIme

This was Thanksgiving week, and I knew it would put my training to the test.  Would I have time to fit my runs in?  Would I feel guilty taking time away from my family, who I don't see all that often?  Would I be able to pull myself away from the Fa-la-la-la-Lifetime cheesy movies?  Happy to say I got my runs in- but it wasn't easy.  I've learned that when the pumpkin pie and the couch are calling, it takes a lot more dedication than usual to lace up the Asics. 

In NYC on Tuesday, I did a typical 30-minute run in Central Park.  I wanted to do some speed work at the end, but my right knee had a slight twinge so I backed off and just had an easy day.

I travelled down to see the family in the Deep South (of NJ) on Wed night.  I was trying to talk my mom and husband into running a 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  Given that the weather was rainy, 40 degrees, and we weren't even going to bed until after 1 AM, they looked at me like I had three heads when I suggested the 8 AM race on the boardwalk.  So the turtle reluctantly did a run on her own.  While the rest of my family slept, I just did a quick 3-mile run around the development.

The old 'hood looked really different now that I'm running it.  Or now that I'm an adult.  Or both. 

The good news is, by 9AM I was already showered and watching the balloons go down Central Park West on TV.  And then then rest of the day, I ate.  Guilt free!  I love the running to guilt-free eating ratio, although I probably severely overestimated it on Thanksgiving.  Hey, it's the holidays.

I was super proud of myself on Saturday.  I actually got my "long run" of 7 miles in!  I really didn't feel like doing it, but once I got going it flew by.  Once again, enjoyed Gordon's podcast.  Listened to a GREAT old episode in which he interviewed a frequent Disney marathoner.  It was so cool to hear a breakdown of the race mile-by-mile, and tips on what to expect.  It won't be long now!

Overall it was a decent week, although not my best for motivation and time. I didn't get any cross training in while in NJ, unless you count lugging the fake nine-foot Christmas tree and about 40 oversized plastic crates down from the attic to help my mom decorate. But I guess fitting the training into your life (even during holidays and vacations) is all part of the game.  Plus, I got a sneak peek into how difficult it might be to find the time and energy to get my runs in over Christmas vacation...but by then I'll be tapering. What a delightful word.

Sarathon or bust!