so... what's next?

Fortunately, I've de-railed my post-marathon blues by having another race lined up this weekend.

I'm running a 200 mile relay race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz.

Meet the runners here.

more marathon memories

Marathon weekend wouldn't have been so memorable if we didn't get to spend time with our friends Chuck and Liz. We spent most of Saturday in the Monterey Bay Aquarium, took a drive along the coastline, consumed a carb-loaded dinner and caught the first half of alvin and the chipmunks on HBO.

This is me the night before the race, testing out the warm clothes to wear at the start. I left these on the course, and the marathon crew picked up them up and donated them to charity.

I couldn't have been happier to see Unkle Karl, Mimi, Adam, Kylie, Ken, Chuck, Liz and Mike at the finish line! Here are some shots from Unkle Karl




Before you start the race you can leave your things in a bag at the start line and they truck it to the finish for you. Here they are all lined up



Post race snack basket: muffin, strawberries, carrots, grapes, peanut butter cookie...



having a rest while ken drinks a tall glass of michelob ultra...available at the finish line for "runners only".

results!

I finished!

Overall: 1388 out of 3078
Women: 407 out of 1242
F 25-29: 89 out of 219
Finish: 4:25:32
Pace: 10:08
Half: 2:14:50
Pace: 10:18

Check out some pics from marathonfoto

Here are a few that Fred took

See you at the finish line!

Andrew Molera State Park, Big Sur CA. July 2007.

A BIG Thank you to all of you who have supported my efforts to raise money for Parkinson's Disease through this race!

Mom, Dad, Jack, Terry, Fred, Uncle Manny, Adelia, Rosa, Tanya, Kevin, Andrea, Taylor, Cheryl, Anna, Clara, Becky, Steve, Mackenzie, and Austin!

I'm off and running! Love you so much!

rethinking the wall.

fallen log and clover spiral.
big creek reserve, big sur. may 2008.

On sunday, I will push my body to an impossible limit. I'll get to a point where I will feel every muscle. Where every step will hurt. I'll hit my wall and spend every painstakingly ssssssllllow second that passes trying to cope with the awful realization of how incredibly hard I have to work to get to the finish line.

Oddly enough, I expect to feel very alive in this moment.

Maybe it's that my heart is racing at a magnificent speed when I'm running...the rush of adrenaline, and an onslaught of dormant chemical reactions happening in my body feel really good... erhh maybe it's not that fancy. maybe I'm just plain old tired, losing it, and in reasoning sadistic pleasures, the reason is always the same.

Being able to control my body on the brink of absolute panic is a dangerously addictive high.

hippity hopp

The long run I did 2 weeks ago made my hip flexor really tight. Since the second half of the marathon is downhill I need to stretch out these muscles as much as I can before race day or I could be hippity hopping on one foot all the way to the finish.

My cousin Jenny says "Grand Plie" but I'm adding on some of these stretches too.

down the rabbit hole.

cave dwelling. pinnacles national park, october 2008.
(photo by Mike Arkus)

It's friday and I'm still trying to wade through a post-run funk that set in after sunday's attempt at 26.2.

Monday and Tuesday I made the decision not to run, but wednesday? thursday? and today, now, friday? still can't run more than a mile without feeling like I'm going to throw up.

I don't usually feel nausea from too much running....and I've always got a super appetite after longer runs. This time though, it's just not there. I've forced myself to eat all week. nothing is satisfying, and I've come to expect a stomach ache after I do eat something.

So here I am at the end of my week with a lousy 2 mile total and a marathon a week away. My legs feel fine! They're ready to go! They WANT to go! What if it's just nerves that are making me sick? What if I'm really sick? What if I still feel like this a week from sunday and I can't even run more than a mile?

still recovering from sunday's big run

but just as a reminder of the road ahead, here is a photo looking north from Willow Creek.

just a taste of 26.2

Dinner: walnut crusted salmon with oven roasted potatoes and prosciutto wrapped asparagus.


the alarm went off way before the sun came up.

Breakfast: water, sprouted wheat bagel with peanut butter and kelly's delicious homemade fig jam. coffee (i neeed it), and then more water.


and this is what I packed for the run:

Luna sport pomegranate moons and a chocolate larabar.


I definitely hit my wall at around 22 miles. I wasn't so much hungry as I was looking to take my mind off of the pain I felt in my legs, so I finished off the bag of Luna Moon chews and continued on for a few more miles.

After 5 hours of running this morning, I'm feeling pretty exhausted. I spent most of the day selfishly napping in all of the sunny spots of the house.

now it's time for a steak and some lasagna.

rosebud

last weekend saw an off the cuff road trip down to hearst castle. i could have spent a month sniffing around the place with my camera...

hill week

(life on the hill, east campus)

The track on campus runs a half mile around and is perfectly placed with a 200m hill behind it. This week, my lunch hour tempo run included this hill with each lap around the track.

I didn't plan to do this everyday, but I think the spring weather (and a quick glance at my calendar) inspired me to make it a week of hills.

monday: 6.5 mile tempo run with hills
tuesday: 7 mile tempo run with hills
wednesday: 7 mile tempo run with hills
thursday: 7 mile tempo run with hills

(A Big Sur Inspired) April Resolution

Do you remember counting down the last few seconds of 2008 and welcoming the New Year? That sense of rebirth? The glorious wave of relief coursing through your veins when you start over? What did you propose as your "resolution"? Save more money? Shed those holiday pounds? Use up some of that vacation time? Run a marathon?

Oh, by the way...

How's it going with that?

I'm not so good with New Years resolutions. I certainly dream of having it all... my health, a well fed savings account, weekend getaways, a working car, land in Montana, glowing skin, peace of mind, and a fired up social life.

But let's be honest here...it's just too hard to have all my ducks in a row. Work is stressful and I'm tired when I come home, so I'm lucky if I even get a shower in before I head back the next day. By Wednesday, dinner looks like tortilla chips and cold pasty noodles because I can't afford a microwave, and my dog is glaring at me because it's been a few days since she's been to the beach. The shame is too much to bear when I'm this cranky so I force myself to take a nap, hoping that things will be better when I wake up.

(they never are)

So please take my advice, and don't be so hard on yourself if those resolutions fell to the back burner! Life is hard!

Fellow blogger at The Kim Challenge is in the habit of making monthly resolutions and stickin' to em. A month is a far less overwhelming time frame to work with when you're needing to change a deeply ingrained behavior. So if you're feeling guilty for not being as superhuman as you thought you'd be by now, why don't you try a smaller goal? Baby steps, right?

This month, I've been inspired to make my own april resolution to soak up as much spring sunshine as possible! Spring officially started last month...but I didn't feel it until this past weekend at Big Sur. The wildflowers were in full bloom, the sun was shining, and there were SWARMS of butterflies!

That means,

Media Detox. (sorry Tina Fey...but we need to take a break.)

1. No more mindless surfing on the internet after work. It's pretty much sunny all the time here, and I sit in front of a computer all day long. There is no excuse to not be outside after the whistle blows. I am always a much happier person when I get more fresh air and sunshine.

2. This means getting a full night's rest so I'm not craving a nap after work...and missing out on crucial daylight hours. When we set up camp last weekend we shared some smores at the fire and then went straight to bed. It was probably 9 or 10 by the time we were asleep...and we were up by 7/7:30 without an alarm and feeling fully refreshed. I do enjoy watching marathons of the Office and 30 Rock, but I think it's making me lose sleep.

3. What better way to enjoy spring than with plenty of running?! With less than a month to go before the marathon, there's really no way out of this one!

Unlike most detoxes, this media cleanse will include blog updates.