Wonder Woman - Let's Make a Deal

When it comes to running, I'm pretty sure this sums things up, at least for me:

Except when I run, I usually think I run more like Wonder Woman:

And really, I know there's not way I look like Wonder Woman when I run. I mean, my hair isn't blue.

But I've been thinking. Maybe I could look a little more like Wonder Woman for my marathon, as in dress like her.

However, I need a little motivation. So, let's make a deal.

You all know I'm raising money for MOCSA education programs to teach young adults in the Kansas City area about what sexual assault really is. So far, we've done a great job and raised $150 for MOCSA.

We can do better.

And here are my terms:

If we can get to $750, I'll become Wonder Woman for my One and Only Marathon:

If we can raise over $1,000, I'll be Wonder Woman for every race I run from the Dublin Marathon through the end of 2014. And just in case you are wondering how many races that will be, this is what I'm considering for next year:

• Rock the Parkway (April)
• Hospital Hill Run (June)
• Bix 7 (July)
• Broadway Bridge Run (September)
• Kansas City Half Marathon (October)
• Turkey Trot 2 Miler (November) 

So what do you say? Do we have a deal????

*EDIT*
To donate to MOCSA, go to www.mocsa.org and click the Donate Now! button. To ensure the money is credited to their education programs, you can put my name in the "in honor of" or "on behalf of" category. 

A Distance PR

... that I wasn't so sure was going to happen.

This week, the second worst fear a runner-in-training could have happened: I got sick.

At first, I thought it was just allergies: sinus congestion and runny nose. Then, Wednesday morning, I woke up to a sore throat and Thursday it progressed to coughing. If it hadn't been one of the 4 busiest weeks of the year at my job, I would have stayed home sick from work - that just tells you how awful I felt. My co-workers were surprised I made it in - that tells you how awful I sounded.

I ended up skipping my easy run this week to opt for the extra time for rest, and I sure needed it. Saturday morning, I had planned to attempt the scheduled 14 with a friend who was visiting from Minnesota, but we both accidentally set our phone alarms incorrectly and didn't wake up until 9.

Ooops.

We decided it just meant we needed the rest.

So when this morning rolled around, I knew I had been feeling much better - thank goodness the brunt of the virus only lasted about 48 hours. I still wasn't 100%, but figured I had to at least try for the 14. If I got 10 or more under my belt, I would consider that a good long run.

I started out with my usual super slow first mile, and saw that the first 3 miles ended up being at warm up pace. I told myself, that's okay, because, hey, I felt really awful just a few days ago. The pace slowly got a little faster, but I was still under my usual long run pace.

I decided to turn around on the out and back a little early, just in case I didn't feel up to the 14. I knew that getting to 7 would be no problem, but didn't know how I would feel at mile 12, for instance, so it would be best to give myself a little leeway. If I felt up to it, there was a little loop on the trail I could use to add the extra mileage.

About mile 8, I was glad I turned around at 5.5 miles. I just felt awful. Terrible. I wanted to stop. But, I kept plugging along, thinking, well, I'll at least get 11 in. That's pretty good.

Suddenly, around mile 10 I felt tons better. So, I made the decision at that point to go for 14. It wouldn't be easy, but I was pretty sure I could do it. I passed my usual turn off on the trail and went for the extra loop.

Turns out, the extra loop wasn't quite as long as I thought it was, so in order to get the 14, I did a lot of back and forth on a stretch of another trail that my car was parked by. I passed my car 3 times in order to get to 13.93 before calling it good enough.

That last stretch of going back and forth was the worst! Ugh, I couldn't believe how awful it was. I will never plan that poorly again. But, hopefully I'll never feel under the weather again when I need to get in a long run so I won't have to worry about it.

Ended up with a insanely slow 13:40 pace. Oh well.

On the bright side, I tried Honey Stinger Pomegranate gels on this run. I actually said "Yum!" out loud while I was eating it.

And then, I realized ...

For as nervous and apprehensive as I was about joining a Tuesday night speedwork session with a local running group (and spending $115 on top of that), I must say, I love my Tuesday night workouts. They are always tough but good.

But, you know me. I like a good ass-kicking every now and then.

Last week, I missed speedwork due to a terrible migraine. I was so upset.

This week, I had to force myself to go by reminding myself how upset I was last week about not going.

The beginning of the workout felt hard - apparently I had some kinks to work out before things felt better.

The last part of our workout was a 2x1.32 mile tempo, first lap at half marathon pace and second lap at 10K pace. I was cruising along with my running partner, just chatting about whatever came to mind when I realized ... half marathon pace was conversational pace!

Never did I think that would ever happen. Not that half marathon pace is anything incredibly fast (we cruised at 11-11:15 mms), but for me, this is a huge sign of the progress I have made over the last two months.

And guess what? Feels damn good.

Hope

Perhaps my lack of blogging about my marathon training has been the inability to exactly articulate how I've been feeling as I've been going through each day the past two months.

At week 1, I was so uncertain as to whether or not I would be able to actually complete the 4 months of training, let alone complete a 26.2 mile run. I mean, just the week before, I took the 5K turnoff on a 10K run because I was in too much pain to go any farther.

I was full of doubts and had very little confidence in my ability to run.

But I had committed myself to the marathon, and I had committed myself to raise funds for MOCSA.

There was no backing out at this point.

I had to at least try.

The first run went well. And then the second run. And the third and the fourth and the fifth ... Every run felt like they did when I first started running: good. I had spent so much time running injured, so much time fighting through the pain that I had forgotten why I loved running so much in the first place.

Now, three days a week, I am reminded.

Even now, I'm not sure I can explain why I love running. There are days when I groan, "Ugh, I have xx miles to run tomorrow morning." Most of the time, I still get up and get those miles in, with absolutely no regrets. In fact, my only running related regrets in the past two months have been 1) not running and 2) getting a little overzealous on purchasing running stuff (whoops).

I rarely listen to music when I run these days. Generally, it's just me and my Garmin, Tjom, and my roadID, and my water bottle. I had a friend ask me how I didn't get bored on runs lasting over 2 hours without anything to listen to.

I honestly don't know how I don't get bored on those long runs. I'm always by myself, minus the runners and bicyclists and occasional turtle or deer I meet on my long run trail. I spend a lot of time thinking about different things, dedicating miles to those that MOCSA serves, and just ... being, I guess. There is no real struggle during these long miles and hours on the trail; it's sorta as if I'm just hanging out with an old friend at our weekly 'happy hour'. I really do just get out there, tick off the miles, enjoy the peaceful mornings out by the lake and head home. It's a ritual I am pleasantly surprised to have, and I want to always have a weekend morning ritual like this.

My confidence in my ability to not only complete the marathon, but to actually enjoy doing so is through the roof, and the only thing I can really say to sum up how I feel is that I feel hopeful. And I'm not just hopeful about the marathon, or about enjoying it or about how wonderful it will feel to see that finisher medal hanging in my apartment. I'm hopeful about everything. It's been a long time since running has given this to me, and let me tell you: it has been worth the wait.