Marathon #5

Warning - this post could be extremely boring unless you want to hear me drone on about running. 

I went to bed Saturday night with hopes of sleeping 5 hours. They say the night before the night before the race is most important for sleep - and I slept great Friday. 5 hours is really all you can hope for. 

I woke up before the alarm and ate breakfast with Laura and Sean. We had only about 20 minutes to eat, and I eat a LOT. I shoveled as much food as I could into my mouth and we met Pankers to walk to the train. I wasn't feeling nervous, but Laura and I kept wondering "what if we lost all of our fitness during the taper?" Usually a runner tapers a few weeks before a marathon to rest and store energy. I typically gain a couple of pounds during the taper but this time I didn't. My insane appetite went away for a week or two.  You aren't moving as much, so you feel lazy, like you aren't doing anything to help yourself. Your instinct is to "cram for the exam" and you can't. 

During the taper it's common to get moody or emotional. My two half ironman friends Ann and Anna were laughing about how stupid tv shows or commercials were making them weepy the week before their event.  

We lost Sean at his gear check - men and women have different gear checks at this race.  We found our gear check (they put the women in the woods - women comprise only about 25-30% of this race)

and got in our corrals, laughing at the awesome German announcer. Every race should be officiated in a German accent! 

They were playing pop music to pump us up, and an aerobics instructor got up on a platform to give us funny warm up dances to do. And everybody danced along in the corral. One of those "only in Germany" moments. It was hilarious! The elites took off, then the sub 4 hour people, then we moved up to the starting line while they played a dance version of "zorba's dance", the Greek party song. Everybody clapped along in time. The energy was amazing and I was elated and so excited.  They announced all the major visiting countries who were participating. Denmark, Poland, England and the United States when I yelled a loud WOOO! The energy of 40,000 people in the starting corral is just so overwhelming. 

We got to cross the starting line and I turned my iPod on. My goal was to run 9:40 to 9:45 miles the whole way. My new garmin watch helped a lot. I didn't have to worry about kilometers or think about anything. I would take it mile by mile. Once that mile was finished, it was over and I'd start again. No dwelling about the past mile or thinking about future miles. Be a robot and just follow the watch. That was a new strategy for me. 

Miles 1 - 5 i tried to feel loose and slow down. I always run too fast at first and fade later.  I needed to learn that lesson 

Miles 5 - 11 I felt fantastic. Nothing hurt. I could go like this all day!

Miles 11 - 15 ok, past the halfway mark - got that out of the way. Still feeling good but struggling really hard to keep up the pace after stopping for water and powerade. The watch told me exactly how much aid station cost me. I knew I needed to have water, but I had no time to dawdle. It was slam the water down and catch up. I was noticing all these tall, muscular Northern European men and proud that I could run with them. Still thinking positive! 

Mile 16 - a stupid power gel display. They were handing out large tearable pouches of power gel. I wanted one and could not rip it open. I wasted so much energy trying to rip that stupid packet open or tear it with my teeth. I was so annoyed. Other people were able to open theirs, and all the spilled gel made the street sticky for at least a kilometer. You could hear everybody's shoes sticking to the pavement and making sticky, crackling sounds. Running on sticky concrete wasted so much energy. But after that mile was over, per my rules I left it behind. Leave the frustration of that stupid mile behind and start new on 17. 

Mile 17 - 20 the crowds were amazing! I am just not the kind of runner that likes crowds or feeds off the noise. I do better getting into my own head and focusing. The iPod was a great idea. I could tune everything out. Starting to feel a little tired but still good! 

Mile 20 - I reminded myself that this was usually when things fall apart. I was still able to run mile 19 in about 9:30. The next few miles were miraculously OK. 

Mile 23.5 - I just ran out of steam. I slowed down to a 10 or 10:30 pace. My hamstrings felt soooo bad. They had never hurt before a few weeks ago. At least my stupid plantar fasciitis felt OK. Everyone was hurting. I was actually passing people. I saw people walking. Unless I'm injured, I never walk. It's mile 24, it's supposed to hurt like a motherfucker! If it doesn't, you are either running an ultra or you aren't trying hard enough, I say.  At least pretend to run. 

Mile 24 - 26 I looked at my watch and finally knew that if I could just run 11 minute miles and under, I would PR. Just 20 more minutes of this wretched feeling. Just 10 more. There's Brandenburg gate, there's the finish line! 

Result - 4:15:58. Goal was 4:15. I'm totally OK with that! 

I met Erika, Pankers, Laura, Kimberley and Derek in a beer garden. 

Erika and Pankers both PR'd and Boston-qualified. They are both so fast! 

Laura and I realized that we didn't turn our chips in. We'd be charged 25 euros each if we didn't. We decided to limp back to the race and turn them in. It took forever. We got lost. Finally we convinced some race employees to take them from us.  Now we had the daunting task of taking the train home (read: steps, lots of steps!) I said "I wish we had a riskshaw to take us home" a few minutes later, we SAW A RICKSHAW and a nice lady biked us home for 16 euros. It was worth every penny and so much fun. 

We couldn't walk far so we drank beer in the hostel bar across the street. Later some of us got curry wurst and I accidentally spilled some on my bed while I was eating and it left a yellow curry stain. It was a great end to a day I'll always remember! I love running around one of my favorite cities in the world. 

Limping to the start line - Amsterdam! (and 2012 racing/travel review)

2012 has been a bit of a disaster for my favorite hobby, but I've had a lot of fun along the way.  

To pick up where I left off after Berlin  - In December of 2011, I visited my dad and ran the Las Cruces, NM half marathon during a freak cold snap.  It was much colder in New Mexico than in Chicago.  The race was amazingly fun (and small).  The other runners were so friendly.  Many of them came from HOURS away and across the state just to run it.  We are so lucky to have so many in our back yard!  This was the morning of the race.  Straight out of a ricola commercial!

This was also the first time I've had a parent come to one of my races.  Dad was very supportive but completely bored by all the running.  He sat in his van during the race and read a philosophy book, but did come out to watch me run across the finish line and took me out for some green chile enchiladas afterwards. It was fun to introduce him to my my favorite sport.  And I PR'd at this one, despite the high altitude -  2 hours even.  After I came home, I signed up for the October Amsterdam Marathon with several other CARA-based friends.  I am so lucky to have friends that like to travel as much as I do. 

We started 2012 with the March beer mile.  Our very own home-track beer mile was featured in Runners World later in September.  I was mentioned in the article as the last place finisher.  In a beer mile.  You can see me in the front row among much more serious contenders:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297-519-14498-0,00.html

In May, while training for the Brooklyn half marathon, I took a nasty fall during a run and thought I broke my arm.  The hospital was pretty suprised that I did not break it, because I fell in such a  precarious way.  And look at my arm bone - isn't it cool?!

I healed up enough to run the Brooklyn half.  I have some good friends in New York so I combined it with a visit.  After the race, one of my friends met me at the finish line in Coney Island so that we could eat hot dogs and ride the Cyclone.  It was a crazy good time!  I love destination halves.  They are a great way to see a city and not be completely destroyed for the next week.  I saw a lot of traditional Brooklyn culture during the race, which I loved.  My plantar faciitis in my right foot was really terrible after this race - a sign of what was to come..

After Brooklyn, I went back to Michigan to meet my new niece!

In June, I ran the Ragnar relay from Madison, WI to Chicago with 10 friends.  A few of them were the crowd from Berlin and a few others.  Ragnar is a series of 200 mile relay races across the country.  There were hundreds and hundreds of teams doing the same.  We leapfrogged in two vans over 37 hours.  I ran three legs that totaled 20 miles.  We slept in a field, ate pizza in a small town, listened to a lot of bad yet good music, got to know eachother really well.  It was amazing and one of my favorite 2012 memories.  I was a bit afraid to do it, but I'd do it over again anytime. 

It was all county roads and state parks.  I was lucky enough to have mostly parks.  We had to just look at maps and figure it out, nobody followed you in a car.  Sometimes it was just me, the heat (it was upper 80s all weekend) and crickets.   Hello, Wisconsin!

My van spent the night before the relay in a hotel overlooking the WI capitol and had a few too many beers. But we sucked it up and ran just fine the next morning, that's just how talented we are.  During my downtime of that weekend, my foot started to hurt terribly.  Sometimes I had to just stay standing to keep my foot stretched out, or it would curl up like some foot-binding victim.  The first half mile of every stretch was really bad.  It was during Ragnar that I knew something very wrong was going on with my foot and I would need to go to a doctor soon.  But I ran all three legs at exactly the pace I had promised the team.  

In early July, during one of the hottest days I can remember, I met Bart Yasso, who wrote one of my favorite books about running + travel. 

July got hotter and my foot got worse.  I really don't mind running in the heat, though.  I needed to start putting in the miles for Amsterdam (top photo).  I had some lovely sunrise bikram-style runs along the lake.  My friends and I started running in the suburbs for variety (and to review races for CARA).  I started going to physical therapy twice a week for the injury.  Here I am at the Waterfall Glen 10 mile trail race.  It was a beautiful course, and I had a blast. At this point in the summer, I was considering dropping out of the marathon and doing the Amsterdam half, instead.  Luckily they have a half marathon the same day.  Two other members of our party were also going to run the half.  I was still feeling kind of sad and pouty and mopey about my injury, though, and was stubborn about dropping out.  

I spent most of the Waterfall Glen race thinking about that decision.  Somewhere around mile 8, I knew in my heart a marathon wasn't going to be in the cards this year.  But I smiled anyway and managed to take a great race pic for once!

I dropped out of the marathon, took three weeks off running entirely, grieved it a little bit, kept going to PT, started wearing a foot brace every night and started to focus my attention and excitement for the Amsterdam Half.  13.1 is my favorite distance anyhow, 10 miles or 13.1 is perfect for me.  I do love marathons, though.  I will do another one next year.  They aren't pretty but something about them gets addicting and they are extremely satisfying to do.  I won't philosophize about them here, but the 4 that I have done were very meaningful and I'll be proud of them forever.  So anyhow, goodbye marathon 2012. 

This is how I felt taking three weeks off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MitGV7bomY0&feature=youtu.be

August - Here I am at another suburban race, the DeKalb corn classic!  This one had the best t-shirt I've seen in awhile.  I can't stop wearing it.  Seagull of the corn with Kim and Jen:

I love our big breakfasts after races like this.  I spent the rest of the summer enjoying food as only I do.. Here are some xiao long bao I had with Jen:

And the best dish I've had in recent memory at NEXT with Brian:

I leave for Amsterdam October 17.  I'll spend a night in Edam, 4 days in Amsterdam with friends, then on to MOROCCO for 11 days, then one final gluttonous day and night in Paris.  

May I just make it to the start line.  Most runners get injured at some time or another.  Plantar Faciitis is a really stubborn injury with no guaranteed beginning, middle or end.  But I'm hopeful!  I can still run 5Ks, 10Ks (I've really come to appreciate a good 10K this year) and do 13.1 next month but each run comes with the price of limping and icing the next morning.  I just can't put in the miles required for a full marathon at this time.  I'll still have fun even if I'm not going to break any personal records this year.  I do have the PT's blessing and am not causing further injury to myself.  I've discovered this year that also love bodypump, pilates and spinning as alternate ways to stay in shape.  But there's nothing like running races.  If anything, I appreciate them more after this summer.

See you in AMSTERDAM!

Where did you come from, Cotton-eyed Joe? The Berlin Marathon race report

OK, I promise. PROMISE that after today, no more running talk. This is it!

Nerves were high at the Circus hotel Saturday night. Lots of marathon runners staying here! I ate dinner around 4 and just wandered around the neighborhood. I can't sleep on a full stomach, and I really wanted to sleep. I met up with C & J in their room downstairs early in the night to discuss details, then we all tried to go to bed at 10. TRIED. I got hungry at 10:30 and went across the street for a panini sandwich. Embarrassing and gluttonous, I sat in bed and just shoved it in my mouth. It was a pretty amazing sandwich, though. The hotel restaurant brags that Germany has the best bread in the world. That might not be an exaggeration. I read and tried to sleep. I slept for about 1.5 hours.

The next morning I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to eat the breakfast buffet. I eat a lot before marathons. Everyone says, OMG Sara, how can you eat that much before a race? I feel awful if I don't. My blood sugar gets all wierd and I feel light headed.

I've never run a marathon in only kms before. I had to have a strategy. Miles are second nature to me and I never have to write down my pace. I decided to tackle this 10 kms at a time. I would only look at my watch once an hour, which is crazy! I would run by effort only. Here is what I ATTEMPTED to do, by writing on my arm for crib notes:

Here I am the last time I felt normal, this morning!

Km 1 - 5. Feeling OK. Not great, but OK.

Km 8 - My old boss, Ellen is in town with HER friends, one who also ran today. She comes to every chicago marathon and is always in the same spot. I always spot her right away. She told me she'd me at km 8 and I was so happy to see her. Even for a split second, it gave me a little lift. We tried to meet for a drink the other day but we are staying on opposite sides of town and our schedules didn't jive.

km 9 or was it 11 - ran right past our hotel!

Km 10 - 20. Right on pace, but feeling awful. During a marathon, I never ever feel awful until mile 17. I started feeling awful much earlier today. My head got cloudy, I was coughing, I got goosebumps when I wasn't cold, I just felt off. Lots of fun signs like "lauf, Klaus, lauf!"

Km 20-30 Losing steam and slowing down. I had no idea where we were going. I tried to think, OK now I am on the madison bridge heading east to UIC. Now I am heading north to Pilsen. I passed the time by trying to figure out where I would be on my beloved Chicago course that I know so well. I started to think about an email that my friend Laura K sent me yesterday to pump me up. I pictured her there talking to me. I thought about my friend Elaine and how she attempts any race and never gives up. I thought about all of my close friends from various corners of my life. I saw guys that looked like people I knew in Chicago and had imaginary conversations with them. Oh hey! How are you! blah blah blah-f-ing blah! We actually ran over a HILL. There were supposed to be no HILLS here. Ran past some factories and over some bridges.

Km 30 - out of a speaker at a deafening volume, a familiar song. Back in 2004-ish, my friend Kathy and I went to Belgium and we were entertained by a group of sloppy drunk 50 year olds in Brugges singing along to a dance version of rednex "cotton eyed joe". We had to learn the song because it was so catchy and stupid, and I think one of us bought it. ONLY in northern Europe will you hear that at a marathon, being blared through speakers with ladies in oktoberfest outfits dancing along. I laughed. It perked me up and I sang along.

KM 30 - 40. this is where you do the classic DIG DEEP. Another really bad song appeared, this time in my head. "I think I can I think I can I think I can come and ride the train.. ride it.. come and ride the train it's the choo choo train.. if you feel like dancin! come on, it's up to you!" Yes, the mid-90s hit by the Quad Cities DJs! I can't control what comes into my brain during a marathon. What a bad song, I thought. OK then sing something else. Something a lot more acceptable. Where did you come from, cotton-eyed joe? da da da da long time ago! (synth-fiddle solo here). Yeah. km 30-40 were bad. My legs felt like lead. I was trying to amuse myself and not succeeding. I enjoyed seeing random people spot their friends and family in the crowd and hearing them all cheer and slap hands or hug. We ran past some old fancy houses. In and out of downtown again. I feel some blisters and chafing. Lots of coughing and sniffling.

km40-42 - not pretty. I imagined myself running up north Michigan avenue, waiting for the turn at Roosevelt. Until I saw Brandenburg gate. Then I was filled with that happy accomplishment and rush you get after a long race, a long internal battle. I did it! I love Germany! We really are enjoying the food, the people, the attractive men, everything about Berlin. It's a big thumbs up.

End result: 4:22. My goal was 4:10. PR is 4:19. Not bad for a sick girl!

It's time to RUN, then roll out the barrel

It was only a matter of time before I combined travelling with racing!

I always said I'd go to Germany when I had a good reason - I'm quite German by ancestry, but I'd always been more tempted by mediterranean countries and did my share of travelling through them before the dollar really fell in 2003-2004. I just never made it back to Europe, but boy I have been craving it! When a friend of mine said that she was going to run the Berlin marathon last December, I thought about it for about one day and entered. There is so much amazing history in Berlin, AND it has the fastest marathon course! It all fell into place - I've done the Chicago marathon three times and am starting to feel more comfortable with the distance, if that's possible. Two more good friends signed up, and several extended people I've met or heard about through the Chicago running community - now we have ourselves a party!

2011 has been a great year for running and racing. It's always been a part of my life. High school cross country holds some special memories for me - and I still stay in touch with my XC friend, Karenn (who also still runs amazingly fast). Some years I barely run at all. When I first moved to Chicago at 25 I ran a lot of races but never had the discipline to attack anything longer than 7 or 8 miles. I couldn't fathom getting up early to run. In 2007 I ran my first half marathon and loved it. Running has been there for me though high school, college, moves, family drama, birthdays, relationships good and bad. It empowers me and makes me happy. How many people can still practice their high school sport at 40 and LOVE it? I became hooked on the longer distances, and now can't imagine my summers without it. I've made some close friends through the marathon - especially in the past year and a half - we get together for dinners/drinks, enter races together and laugh. My marathon friends are particularly obsessed with food. Facebook posts have food pictures that are discussed at length. We never tire of discussing food, relationships, going to the bathroom and running. We even secretly meet at a park district track a few times a year to hold a one mile race while drinking a PBR each 400 meters:

I never do well in that race. But it's a great time!

What do I love even more than running? Travelling! I will spend 4 days in Berlin with the Chicago friends, then we take a train to Munich for Oktoberfest. After that, I'm going to recover alone in Cesky Krumlov for a few nights, then meet two of my friends up in Prague for a few more days of revelry. After that, I'll just go wherever I feel like in the Czech Republic, making my way through Slovakia and ending in Vienna. Goals for the trip:

Run a 4:10 marathon

Sing Oktoberfest songs

meet random Germans and feel related to them

sit at cafes for hours and ponder life

eat currywurst, sachertorte, spaetzle, and any encased meat that comes my way!

OK the meat goal sounded a little dirty.

watch european scenery go by on long train rides

meet strangers, have drinks with them and learn their life story (happens on every trip)

try wine made in Germany and the Czech republic

come home stuffed, happy and full of stories

which I will write about here. Please feel free to comment any time! I love hearing from friends at home while I'm on vacation.