Advice Needed!!!

I need advice.

I mean, I pretty much constantly need advice-- but, this time I need it about 1 thing in particular.

Remember when I ran a marathon? No, you don't? Seeing as how I haven't run more than 4 miles at a time or more than 9 miles TOTAL in 16 days (not that I'm counting... at ALL), I can understand. But, I did. I ran the 2012 Chicago Marathon. Really. I did.

Let me refresh your memory...

Yup-- official race pictures are here!! Get excited.

Clearly SOME of these pics were from the first half of the race...

Check out that CHEESY smile. I was SOOO happy to be running!! Little did I know in a few short miles I'd be in a world of hurt.
 

Maybe not smiling, but still feeling (and kinda looking) strong. Reminder, that didn't last.

 

 

While others, are CLEARLY from the second half (aka: death)...

Thoughts in my head at this point: I WANT TO DIE. THIS SUCKS SO BAD. I HATE RUNNING.

Wow. I look like I might legit be dying in this pic. Wowza.

 Oh, you didn't believe that I really finished? 

Yup, that's the BEST pic the PROFESSIONAL race photographers could manage to get of me crossing the finish line of my FIRST marathon... ya know, NBD or anything you'd want photographic evidence of. Whatev. 

There! See- I have a metal and a space blanket thing. CLEARLY I finished. 

So, yes- I did in fact finish my first marathon. We got that.

Now... that advice thing I mentioned...

Obviously, moments after crossing the finish line I was already contemplating my next marathon. I'll admit it-- I'm out for redemption. I want to break 4:15. There, it's out there.

Days later, the feeling didn't go away and I began frantically scouring the web for a possible #2. Unfortunately, I live in northern Indiana and there are NUMEROUS marathons like RIGHT NOW and then not again til Spring. Bummer. Spring it was. That decision brought 2 contenders:  Kalamazoo Marathon or The Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon.

Well, I decided.

 

The Illinois Marathon won out. Why? It's at my Alma mater, it's flat, it's at my Alma mater, it's not TOO hard for friends and fam to go to if they want to, it's at my Alma mater, there's a 10K race as well that my FIL might decided to run and IT'S AT MY ALMA MATER! Did I mention it's at my Alma mater? Ultimately, the whole running across the 50 yard line of the football stadium I cheered many a games at and seeing the city I spent 4 glorious years in tipped the scales. Oh, and the whole LOTS OF HILLS part of the Kalamazoo kinda hurt its case. Just being honest.

So, there's that. 1 decision done.

That was easy. And, to be honest-- I decided that a while ago. I'm not really ever sure it was THAT much of a question.

Then, I ran again. And there was knee pain. And so I rested a bit and tried again. Again, pain. And we repeated that cycle once again. Wash, rinse, repeat, right? BLEAH.

So, that's where we are today. I'm resting it and hoping things turn around for this weekends half that I registered for before the marathon. We'll see.

This is where I need your advice.

Do I register for the Illinois Marathon, even though I'm currently injured? It's $80 and goes up to $85 next week... so, basically if I'm gonna register I'd rather register now and save the $5. The Hubs says I'm crazy and it's only $5 so it's not like I HAVE to decide right now. I get that... but, I feel like if I don't register now it's like admitting defeat to this stupid knee. The race isn't til April... SURELY I'll be healed enough to do training for that. I mean... right??? (Note: SAY YES or I'll likely cry.) But, I don't want to be STUPID and register for a f-ing MARATHON when I can't even run TWO miles right now without pain. I am WAY over thinking this. I know.  I already got the OK from my boss to take a half day on day before this marathon, so nothing's stopping me from pulling the trigger on that end. And, it's only $80, which is pretty cheap for a marathon. I mean-- I spend WAY more than that on a pair of running shoes! So, what if I register and can't do it? I'll only be out $80... and, I could always just drop down to one of the shorter races, if needed. Right? But, why register NOW if I can't RUN at all right now? Isn't that asking for trouble?

Do you SEE just how crazy my brain can be? These thoughts have been occupying a solid 85% of my brain capacity for several days.

So, help a nutcase girl out... what do you think? Any advice?
 

First Run Post Marathon

So, yesterday I went out for my first run post-marathon.

I am loosely following this plan for my recovery. So, as Hal (yup, we're on a first name basis) suggested-- I took Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as full, 100% rest days. No "easy" spin class. No yoga. No 8-minute Abs. No nothing. Except a WHOLE lot of fro yo (hey, lifting the spoon to the mouth so many times has gotta count as exercise, right?!?!).

By yesterday, I was ITCHING to get back out to SOMETHING. Yes, I wanted to run. But, more so-- I just wanted to do SOMETHING. I am SO used to sweating everyday that it felt SO bizarre to just STOP. And, I could literally feel myself become lazier by the second. A body in rest likes to stay in rest. I really didn't want to let doing nothing become a new norm.

PLUS, one of my very good friends was going to be in town and wanted to get a few slow, shake out miles in before her first marathon.

She got into town around 6pm and by 6:15pm we had our Brooks' laced up and we were out the door.

She wanted to do 4 miles around a 10-10:30 pace and that sounded PERFECT to me. I KNEW if I went out on my own, I'd go faster so this was GREAT timing. Ok, ok-- so Hal says 2 miles for novice runners (I count myself as that, for sure)... 4 isn't exactly 2, but whatever.

Look who DIDN'T run too fast? Almost a perfect 10:30 pace! Look at me... LEARNING.

The weather was gorgeous, the company was fabulous and I felt pretty good overall.

Kinda.

My left hamstring was still pretty tight before we started and it definitely got tighter and tighter with each step. By the end of our 4 it felt about as tight as it can get. Not so good.

Worse? Yeah... there's a worse. My right knee started HURTING around mile 2.5 and didn't let up. I've never had knee pain when running. I had LOTS of knee issues when I was a kid, but never since. My knees don't hurt when running. They just don't. But, man... this time, it did. I toughed it out and finished the 4 miles. Maybe that was stupid, but hey-- we were running TO dinner... I had to keep going!? Food was on the line. Anyway-- the knee definitely started hurting more and more as we neared the 4 marker. Not good.

I was hoping it'd fade by the time we were done with dinner, but sure enough when I stood up from the table I immediately felt it.

And, it hurts.

NOT GOOD.

I was going to run again this morning (Against Hal's plans. Sorry, Hal.), but didn't. Instead I was punished with the elliptical. I took it easy. Really, I just wanted to move and start getting back in the 5am wake up call habit.

So, after a few curse words at my alarm, I got up and hit the elliptical for an easy 60 minutes. Luckily, I had some interesting reading material.

This man is crazy, but it's a great read so far. Super interesting and... I mean, he's just crazy so there's that.

Anyway... I was hoping the elliptical would kinda loosen it up. And, while it didn't HURT when I was doing it or make it hurt any more-- the knee's definitely still hurting just as much. Going up and down stairs feels is like torture right now. Can't lie-- it's making me a bit nervous. Hopefully it's just kinda a fluke-y post-marathon thing and will go away with a bit more rest. I'm going to ice like a mad woman tonight as well. I'm taking today off running. I was HOPING to do a few (3-4) slow miles again tomorrow, but now I'm definitely teetering on that idea. We'll see. If there's any soreness still in the knee tomorrow, I'm going to pass. I really, really, really don't want to be injured. The idea of not being able to run for an extended period of time makes my skin crawl, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed, committing to not doing anything stupid like pushing it while the knee is still acting up and really listening to my body right now. I have a half in 2 weeks that I'd really like to run hard on... but, if the knees still acting up and not 100% then it's not in the cards. Bleah.

So, I did my first official post-marathon run. Hopefully the issues are just a few small kinks/cobwebs and will fade quickly.

Anyway... happy Friday, all! And, a special GOOD LUCK to my very good friend on her first marathon this weekend! Run smart, run hard! GOOD LUCK!!

WIAW - The Day After a Marathon

 

This edition of WIAW is brought to you by the 2012 Chicago Marathon... kinda. Below are all my meals from the day after the day I did the hardest thing I've ever done: The 2012 Chicago Marathon.

 

Breakfast:

I took the day off work and got outta bed (very painfully, I might add) around 8am. My tummy was already growling, so I headed straight to the kitchen and made this: a 3 egg white, 1 egg omelet with chicken sausage and low-fat cheese and 1 small pumpkin muffin left over from a batch I made last week (SUPER hard recipe: box of spice cake + can of pumpkin) with a spray of spray butter (SO healthy) on each side. HUGE glass of water and a Diet Pepsi to drink.

 

 

Lunch:

I was actually surprised how full breakfast kept me all morning. Maybe it was more because I kept myself busy grading papers, so I just didn't notice my grumbly tummy. Either way, by noon it was definitely time to eat again: 2 pretty big pieces of left over sausage and green pepper pizza. Powerade Zero to drink.

 

 

Snack:

FRO YO for the win. Vanilla fro yo with oreos, reeses, and a few gummy worms. OMG- so healthy I can't even stand it.

 

 

Dinner:

(old pic, same exact meal)

Brown rice with red/orange/yellow peppers and onions sauteed in TJ's peanut salad dressing, reduced sodium soy sauce, and siracha. I'm 100% addicted to this meal.

 

 

Dessert:

Dark Chocolate Raspberry ice cream bar. So good.

I was actually VERY surprised how (for me) little I ate. I was HUNGRY, but got full pretty fast. It definitely wasn't a low-calorie day by any means, but based on some of the post-long run days hunger level, I thought this day would have been legit non-stop shoving food into my face as fast as humanly possible. Man, the lessons this marathon is teaching me are endless.

 

As always, thanks to Jen, our WIAW host.

Post Marathon-Pocalypse Day 2

 

A wise man, Frank Shorter, once said, “You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.”

 

Well, Frank... not sure about that. I may or may not have googled "Spring Marathons" this morning.

 

I also may or may not have googled "How long to wait between marathons" this morning.

 

I'm going to go ahead and say it: DANGER!

 

But, don't worry-- I haven't registered for one. Yet.

 

  

And on a (semi) unrelated note, guess who slapped this sucker on the back of her car last night after the Hubs got home from work?

I may or may not have drug the Hubs out with me after he got home from working late to have a little "26.2 sticker-ing ceremony" (even though technically it was a magnet). Lucky guy. I'm sure that's EXACTLY what he wanted to do at 10pm after working 14 hours on a Monday. LOVE YOU, Hubs!!!

My little sister texted me today: "How is post marathon-pocalypse Day 2?" and I gotta say... MUCH better. At least mentally. I think I'm getting DORH. Delayed Onset Runner's High. I'm SO proud of myself and excited that I really did it!!! Now, my muscles-- they're still screaming. And, my belly-- it's still rumbling constantly. Hey, baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Now... anyone know of any good local marathons this spring?!?!?