What Are Friends For....

I've written before how racing with my friend Tina upped the ante on our performance. During the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon, we spent the first mile or so catching up on jobs, school, etc., and the rest of the race pushing each other to an awesome 2:07:17 finish. 

I love racing with people. It pushes me out of my comfort zone while simultaneously distracting me from the pain of racing. Thing thing is...I haven't trained with people all that often. When I prepared for my first marathon, I didn't do a single run with another person. Sounds kind of stupid considering I was about to participate in a race with 12,000 other people. Over the summer I had the opportunity to run with my wife, which I loved. However, winter running in New England isn't really her thing. So I tried something new....

A friend of mine in the PhD program, Mary, qualified for the Boston Marathon this past fall after running a blazing sub 3:30 marathon. We were taking a class together at the time and I enjoyed talking about training or gels whenever we could. However, I have to admit, I never expected to actually run with her. I mean...c'mon, her marathon time was over 1:15 faster than mine. She's got a bit of a kick on me. We had been talking a few times this semester about trainining for our respective marathons and somehow, (I don't know what I was thinking) I suggested we go for a run together and I would show her a route in semi-rural South Hadley. I tried to give her an out, reminding her that I really am a lot slower than her - but she took me up on it. And I don't think I could accurately articulate how helpful and fun it was. I didn't know what I was missing by training alone all of the time...

We had some great conversations, everything from running plans, to classes, to her future wedding plans. She got a nice relaxed workout in and I was able to push myself to my best 10-mile time ever. It was so good to get pushed out of my comfort zone a little. And we could not have gotten any luckier with the weather - sunny and in the 50's. I look forward to being able to run with her again. Because really - what else are friends for? 

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I'm getting down to 39 days to the marathon with only 18 sponsors so far. Take a minute to join the 100 and help fight CF. You can't even imagine how much your sponsorship means to me!  

 

I Want to Run Farther

The title of today's post plagued me a little during my last long run. Here's why. Last week in one of my classes we were looking for images in magazines that were representative of motor development. While flipping through these magazines I found a small picture about 2 in wide and 3 in. tall that has mostly a water background and a small sillhouette at the right corner of the picture of a person running. The caption just above the sand reads, "I want to run further." 

It sounds inspirational, right? And it was - don't get me wrong. I put the clipping into the cover of my binder where my training program was. But as I was hitting mile six and trying to pull myself out of a bit of a mental slump, I realize something. It's grammatically incorrect! You don't run further, you run farther. It's a matter of distance, not depth. I know, I know, I'm a loser right. But I spent a good 15 minutes trying to remember whether the clipping said "further" or "farther" and whether it should consequently be mocked. (It should!) Nevertheless, I still have the clipping in my binder. 

Running farther...I've now down 2 of my 6 big runs. It's odd what happens to you over a period of 3 hours or so. I started off the run feeling pretty crummy. I had been waking up in the middle of the night thinking it was Saturday, not Friday, and I was a bit discouraged to find out that it was indeed Friday. A lot of small things hadn't gone my way in the prior 36 hours and a 16 miles run just didn't feel like it was the best way to improve my mood. Go figure - I was wrong. 

Soon after the further/farther debate, the irksome things of the first few miles (my annoying snowspikes/my skimask/my new sports drink flavor) seemed not too important at all. The final 10 miles sorta just flew by. The sun started peaking out of the clouds and by the last 4 miles, it was almost a clear sky. My body went from fatigued and tense to relaxed and strong. For the second week in a row, my strongest miles were my last miles. I know I'm a Sport Psychology student, so I am supposed to say this - but seriously - exercise makes you feel better. Even exercise that takes over 3 hours (even if I could watch 2 movies during that time...thank you, Katie! :-p). The thing is...after training for this long, I don't know what else to do, but to want to run father.  

And for now, 48 days until the Shamrock Marathon...

Random Memories

Yesterday, I was surprised by the random memories triggered of my sisters. I thought I'd share a few. 

Rocky - Okay, Rocky is like my favorite movie EVER. The greatest underdog story ever written featuring a lefty from Philadelphia, has been a Mullin Family must-see all my life. We used to watch it every single New Year. I once watched 4 out of the 5 movies with Susan in 1 day. (I actually finished the 5 sometime in the middle of the night, but she had already fallen asleep.) 

Miss America - I remember sitting and watching Miss America with Susan when I was younger. We would write down our favorite contestants after each "event," cheering our favorites states to the finish. While I spent most of the time mercilessly mocking last night's competition, I was still smiling a little with that childhood memory. 

The U.S. Figure Skating Finals - Following the Miss America Competition, Lauren and I watched Figure Skating. Again, I fell back into the many hours watching Olympic and National competitions in ice skating with Susan. I would put on my slipperiest socks and twirl on the wooden floor. Alyssa Cizney, coached by Brian Boitano  (a favorite of ours), took gold despite a fall in the free skate. Another smile.  

Thank you so much, everyone who has been able to participate in my "One in One Hundred" campaign. We're fighting a good fight. 

16 Miles Later

16 miles does something a little crazy to your head. No kidding. With just under 2 months to go to the marathon, I am hitting the hardest part of my training. Friday's 16 miler was both exhausting and exhilirating! 

(1) It was really nice to be running in a temperature above 35 degrees. You know you're getting cold and desperate when you become jealous of people who own ski masks. So - a "warm" run felt really great! 

(2) As a follow-up to warm temperatures, it was also really exciting not having my water on my fuel belt turn to ice as I ran. When you need to hydrate in 16 degree weather, sucking down ice chips it not the way you want to do it. 

(3) The first 12 miles felt like a normal long run - pounding and tiring. You try not to run too fast because you don't want to burn out too quickly. On the other hand, you do eventually want the run to end -- so taking to really slow isn't an option either. Then I hit the last 4.5 miles or so and suddenly it wasn't my legs pushing me, it was my head. I was making up cheers (really, really dorky cheers.) I was singing "rat-a-tat-tat" to myself in my head in time with my foot steps. I kept convincing myself that I could do it and would do it. It was self-talk at its best. I was not running those last few miles - I was thinking them. And at the end of the run, I let out a gutteral yelp. It was the first time I had done that since the first 5 miler I ran when training for the first marathon. Suddenly I found myself in what some people would describe as a "runner's high." Well - I don't know if it really was or not, but it sure felt like it. 

See - the weird thing is, I am working towards a PhD in Sport Psychology and most often I am usually the last person to remember to use it when working out myself. But it was amazing. Hopefully this week will be as successful, despite a sub-20 degree front moving in for the week. 

For now - 56 days until the Shamrock!  

One in One Hundred

Hello all -- 

Yesterday I found myself running 14 miles in 16 degree weather. Crazy -- yes. But most of you know this already. And those of you who don't will soon find out why...

On March 16th 2009, it will have been 10 years since my sister Susan passed away from Cystic Fibrosis.She played a key role in raising me. She was one of my closest friends and she still is one of my biggest heroes. In memory of her and my older sister Teresa, I will be running the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach (one of the last places Susan lived) on Sunday March, 22nd to both raise awareness and money for those still fighting against CF. 

In honor of this 10 year anniversary, I am hoping you will consider pledging $10. With you and 99 other people, we will be $1,000 closer finding the cure. Join My Race Against CF by reading my training blog, forwarding this email, and keeping up my morale as I trek through the cold temperatures and snowy streets (we just got another 5 inches today!) 

Love, 

Liz  

Running (or not) in the Snow

I'm currently scheduled to run the Shamrock Marathon in Va. Beach in 81 days. I thought this race was a great idea. Susan lived in Virgina Beach for a while after college and I spent multiple weeks down there with her over the summers. I have a niece and nephew in Virgina that I can visit the week preceeding the event because it's my spring break. This all made a lot of sense to me. 

I did not, however, consider the part where I live in Mass. and training all winter will be a necessity. Shoot. Okay...my training hasn't been entirely thrown off course, but pretty close. I threw my normal, carefully crafted excel sheet out the window and learned to improvise. (Improvising a scheduling isn't exactly a strong suit for me - so  I'm doing the best I can.) Here's the plan - if it's not snowing - RUN. If it is snowing - well - that's when it gets tricky.

When I started this whole running thing, I said I wouldn't let the weather get to me. I didn't want to wimp out on a running simple because it's raining. But this - this is too much. I am a crazy runner. I do show signs of withdrawal is I got more than 48 hours without a run. But I figure my knees will thank me in 30 years if I stay out of this. And my wife will just plain not yell at me if I stay out of this today. Oh, for running (or not running) in the snow. 

The Hairy Gorilla Half

It had rained 3.5 inches the night before the race. Typically this would mean wait pavement and a few puddles - nothing to worry yourself too much about. Well - that's if you are not running on the side of a mountain in upstate New York - and I was. 

The Hairy Gorilla Half (HGH) was just about the craziest course I can ever imagine encountering. It was a trail race with the conditions made about 20x more intense. A puddle wasn't just a puddle. It was at least knee deep and 10 - 30 feet long (and FREEZING!) The mud felt like quick sand...literally. For approximately a quater-mile patch in the second half of the race, I was trapsing through 8 inch deep mud that felt like you were running through soft sand. The mud stuck to your shoes. You couldn't get a flat footing. And people were coming in the opposite direction - so you knew that you'd have to do this all over again. 

I spent the racing both laughing hysterically and being ridiculously exhausted. But I couldn't help smiling as I splashed through the water and waded through the mud. I had hoped to give my medal to "Medals for Mettle" but it turns out that the "Gorilla shaped medal" they talked about on the website was actually a 6 inch tall stuffed gorilla with cheap gift ribbon safety pinned to it. But, I earned that stuffed animal, darn it! 

For now...112 days until the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA!