In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?!?": Deborah's Marathon Journal

Week 1 – May 4 (3 Miles), 8:00am

I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6:45am on a Sunday, put on my brand-new running clothes and brand-new running shoes (all bought the day before), and then realized it was still cold outside (in MAY, in DC!), so I threw on some sweats and a jacket. I grabbed my brand-new water bottle and belt and walked the three blocks to the Flexcar I had rented. I had decided to drive to the Run Site (Chevy Chase, Candy Cane Park, right off of East-West Hwy) because I wasn’t really sure where it was. I followed my MapQuest directions the whole 10 minutes to the site, parked where they told us to and walked with a new friend to the actual meeting point -- about ¼ mile! We joked that this must have been part of the warm-up 😀

Carolyn, the Site Program Rep, and Coach Tod, the uh, well, the Coach ... duh😎, gave us a good pep talk and explained that just for today, we were supposed to run three miles at our regular pace. It wasn’t a race and they didn’t want us to do the run-walk thing unless that was the way we usually ran. Internally, I laughed: “usually? I don’t usually run at all!”

ANYWAY – they got us started by asking us to put ourselves into whatever group we thought we would belong. They had set up pace times on the fence starting with like 5 min/mile (ARGH!), all the way to 17 min/mile. Well, I knew I was a slow-poke, so I firmly ensconced myself at the way way back! They started off the fast guys first, so we were the last group to run (about six of us).

I started off and actually began jogging a bit. Not being used to that, my legs got a little upset with me, so I started walking fairly soon. But then I started getting cramps in my legs while walking and realized that jogging actually helped my legs feel better. So, I alternated a bit here and there, and finally got to the end.

NOW, a little background: They had told us before we started that we needed to be able to maintain a 17min/mile pace. So, I had timed myself a little during my pre-training walks on the Crescent Trail, and was maintaining a 17 min/mile while just plain walking.

So, when I got in after my illustrious "run" and found out my time for three miles of running AND walking was 64 minutes (you know, 21+ min/mile), I was just a little unhappy with myself. What made it worse was when I got in the car and I had to put up with my legs screaming at me the whole way home. (Loud buggers!)

I got home, took a shower, slathered my legs in Aspercreme, ate a bunch of Advil and anything else I could throw into my stomach, then ended up taking a three-hour nap in the afternoon, followed shortly by a 12-hour night sleep! I was in PAIN! And I was in pain for about three days! Hobble hobble hobble... *sigh*

Needless to say, it took a lot for me to get up the gumption to go try even the mid-week run, much less going back the next Sunday. But I figured that I’d already told myself and everybody else that I was doing it, so I just had to keep it up and suffer through at least one more run… *whimper*

Week 2 – May 11 (4 Miles), 8:00am

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
*smack*

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
*smack*

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-
*smack*

"Urgh, ugh, *groan* OK, OK, I'll get out of bed!"

Happy Sunday morning! I had been able to get a ride with Alesa, who is the Pace Group Leader for her group, so she had to be there by 7:45am... Which meant, of course, that I had to be there too... which meant I had to be downstairs, dressed and ready to go at 7:30am... On a Sunday. Argh.

So, I got by butt in gear and toasted up a couple of pop-tarts (yum!), found my sweats and jacket again and got downstairs to find she was already there (hey, I was only about a minute late!). Luckily, she's really cool and we got along great right away (plus, she had just gotten there, she said).

We both moaned and groaned about how early it was, and suddenly I realized we're going the wrong way! Doh! We laughed about it being too early for either of us and headed back the right way. So, the 10-minute drive took about 20 minutes, but oh well! We got to the Run Site in plenty of time for her to get her instructions from Coach Tod and for me to meet up with Carolyn and thank her for helping me get a ride.

I signed in on the list for my pace group, the "Libby Hickman" group (I think it's Hickman) and strangely enough, I was the first one there. The rest of my pace group showed up soon though: Candice and Edward, who are a couple and are doing this together, and James, a very nice older guy. None of us are in good shape, but James is probably in the best shape of us all.

Since Edward was the one who had the Timex Ironman Triathlon 100-lap watch we needed to do our intervals, we immediately nominated him to be Pace Group Leader. I volunteered to be Designated Driver. Hold on a sec, let me 'splain...

The Pace Group Leader (PGL) is the person who tells the rest of the group when to run and when to walk, based on a certain interval that was determined by the coaches for people to run at a certain pace. Our group uses a 1-3 ratio, where we run one minute and walk three. The fast guys have something like a 5-1 ratio, running five minutes and walking one (we hate them). The whole point is to provide your legs with a rest by using your muscles differently throughout the "run." (For more details on the interval training, see the book "Marathon!" (yes, with an exclamation point) by Jeff Galloway.) ANYWAY: the PGL is not only the Keeper of the Watch, but he is responsible for ensuring that the whole group maintains the pace we're supposed to maintain -- not too slow and not too fast, either (very important on the really long runs!).

The Designated Driver (DD) is the person who volunteers to stay with anyone who is injured or can't keep up with the pace group. We're not allowed to run alone, so the DD ensures that no one is left alone on the trail.

OK -- back to the 4-miler. We started off walking about a ¼ mile to the starting point, the one-mile marker on the trail. Once there, Edward started the interval timer and we began our first 1-minute "run" (aka "jog"). We got up to East-West Hwy and our one minute ran out while we were waiting for the light to change. Oh darn! :-) Once across the road, our intervals were more realistic and I thought we were doing very well. I hung back with Edward while Candice and James pulled away a little in front.

Poor Edward though. Mr. Galloway had indicated quite strongly in his book, that we should be running at a "conversational" pace. Of course, as you know, I'm the shy and retiring type -- NOT! So, I took that "conversational" and ran with it -- literally (heehee). I think I must have talked Edward's ears off! Poor guy. But, he's such a nice guy he put up with me and just kept on yelling the intervals out and responding occasionally. Anyway! Back to the run... (I seem to get distracted so easily! Imagine that! Heehee)

We were running through Rock Creek Park in the Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring area, I think. And it was beautiful! Lovely green trees and Rock Creek trickling by... It was kinda neat that all the other pace groups said "Good morning" and gave us encourage meant as they passed us by. At one point I was reminded of the Monty Python sketch with the fish in an aquarium passing each other in their suits, ties, and bowler hats... "Morning!" "Morning." "Morning!" We all got a giggle out of that...

The four of us were doing pretty well, and when we made it to the 3-mile marker, we realized it was half over! We turned around and headed back on the home stretch, all of us feeling a lot better than we had at the half-way point of the three-mile run the week before. After we passed the 2-mile marker on the way back, I mentioned that several years before, I had run 5K and 10K races, and Edward said that he could never do a 5K.

"But Edward," I said, "you're doing one now! A 5K race is only 3.5 miles! You're doing FOUR miles today!" The look on his face said it all. He was surprised, but amazed that he could say he had run a 5K. It just made me beam -- I wasn't the *only* one triumphing that day! When we hit the 1-mile marker, we all cheered and I started the theme from "Rocky". They all thought I was crazy, but I assured them that this would not seem unusual to them for long...

By the time we finally made it back to the starting point, we realized that our per mile average was nearly three minutes lower than mine was the first week! And when Coach Tod asked us how we felt, both Edward and I answered that yes, we felt like we could do another mile. Wow! (Candice and James were a little worn out, but Edward and I said it was because they started out too fast -- yep, we were feeling superior, you betcha! Ha!) The best part about doing this interval training though was that I had just run four miles and I wasn't in pain! Absolutely amazing!

Yep, I'm sold -- After this run I realized that maybe, just maybe, I really COULD do this marathon thingie after all...

Week 3 – May 18 (5 Miles), 8:00am

Wet, cold. Pouring down rain and FREEZING! It's MID-MAY! *Sheesh!* Jumping over puddles and around masses of mud, ARGH what a mess! We made it to the park bench after the 3-mile marker where "TURN" was written in chalk on the path -- 2.5 miles -- HALFWAY THERE! Seemed like a breeze...

However, when we made it back to the starting point, Coach Tod told us he was concerned because our time was very slow. Turns out last week was closer to 22 min/mile instead of the 18-19 we thought. Whoopsie poopsie! This time was another 20 min/mile run, which was better, but still not too good.

By the way, you can volunteer to help out during our runs in lieu of (or in addition to) donating money. To be a water volunteer, all you have to do is stand at a location along the trail with a bunch of gallon jugs of water and fill up our water bottles so we can survive our runs. Or you can just help put out the food we devour at the end of the run. Of course, you have to wake up bloody early on a Sunday, but we won't talk about that shall we? If you're interested, just contact me directly...

Week 4 – May 26 (6 Miles), 8:00am

Memorial Day weekend. I knew I wasn't going to be able to join the Group Run because I was going down to Georgia to see my gorgeous, amazing, beautiful, smart niece graduate from high school. (Not that I'm biased or anything, oh nooooooooo!) I had a wonderful weekend, but scheduled myself to come back Sunday night so I could run my six miles on Monday. Woke up bright and early on Monday to get my run in... and went right back to sleep. :-)

Got back up around 10am, lazed around the house til about noon, and then finally got my butt in gear and went out to the trail to run my six miles. Walking through downtown Bethesda to get there, I kept figuring out how best to do the six miles. I start at the 3.5-mile marker (where I enter the trail) and go south for three miles and return, but that would mean running UP-hill on the way back. NOT!

I wasn't really familiar with the other direction because I'd never gone that way, but I knew it went through a tunnel and headed toward Silver Spring. I decided to go through the tunnel and start at the 3-mile marker, run a mile to the 2-mile marker, turn around and run to the 4.5 marker, turn-around and run back to 2.5, then finish up back at the 3-mile marker. Sounds complicated, but it got me to six miles and I ended it up running through a nicely breezy tunnel, going downhill.😌

I had finally gotten my Ironman watch, so I was able to do the interval thing on my own outside for the first time (I'd been using a treadmill and just changing speeds every 1-3 minutes). I'd also finally figured out the "chrono" setting, so I could keep track of my "splits" -- and let me tell you, when I was done, I was amazed! First of all, on that last ½ mile, I felt great. When I could see that 3-mile marker looming ahead, I put on a burst of speed and actually RAN that last minute. I checked out my split times and that last mile was the fastest of all of them -- and my average was 16:40 per mile! Unbelievable! And I realized that the only split over 17 minutes was the time I had to wait for the traffic lights so I could cross the road without getting run over.

JUBILATION! I had just cut over FOUR minutes a mile off my time! WOOOO HOOOOO!!!

*Deborah runs around singing the theme from "Rocky," arms pumping the air * (Other patrons of the Crescent Trail roll their eyes and/or giggle...)

Gonna fly now
flying high now
gonna fly, fly, fly...

heeheeheeheeheehee

Splits:

16:03.29
16:58.43
17:24.83
16:29.72
16:59.49
16:02.13

Total: 39:57.89
Average: 16:40

Week 5 – June 1 (7 Miles), 7:00 in the *$&$(#^ am

An ill-omened day to run! :-) It was cold and windy, I had a coughing fit, and then my pace group didn't show up.

So, I told one of the coach-types and they had already sent the next pace group up (meaning a faster group, but close in time) on their way a while before. Since they wouldn't let me run alone, they drove me up to meet with them. Fine, except that I didn't get the half-mile walking warm-up, my legs were freezing and as soon as we started running, I pulled a muscle. ARGH! So, I tried to walk it off thinking it might be just a bad cramp, but when we got to the first water stop, I couldn't take it anymore. So, I got a ride back to the starting point, where there was FOOD! heehee

I've had cramps in the same place, but this just felt really different and more serious. And I was right! Actually, they don't think it's a "pulled" muscle, more like a "strained" muscle, but man-o-man does it hurt! Actually, it's feeling better now, but sitting there with ice on my leg in what felt like hurricane force winds was COOOOOLD! :-D And I couldn't even walk around the apartment, much less the four blocks from the metro to the office.

The real bummer is that I didn't get my run in (seven miles). I've been doing SO well! I've gone from a 20-minute mile to a 16-minute mile -- with no injuries and me feeling great! Until yesterday *sigh* My six-mile run was the greatest so far, because I did that alone and my time was awesome. I was thinking I actually can move up to one of the faster pace groups, but this doesn't help any! :-)

Well, after two days of nursing my leg, it's feeling MUCH better now. I'll probably still have a bit of a limp for a day or two, but it's not as bad as it was on Sunday night...

*sniffle*

I just hope I can still do the eight-miler next week...

Week 6 – June 8 (8 Miles), 7:00am

After a week of babying my leg by icing it, buying stock in Aspercreme, and using the recumbent bikes in the gym instead of doing my mid-week runs, I showed up with Alesa for the eight-miler. My leg was feeling fine, so I felt a little better about my chances. Now that we were in June, our starting times had changed to 7am, and since Alesa was PGL again (her group has 11 people in it, so they alternate PGL), we had to be there by 6:30am. It wasn't cold this week, but it was still gray and wet.

As we walked over to the starting point from the parking lot, we were amazed by the mess. Saturday had been a day of severe thunderstorms, with reports of trees down and power outages all over the place. And here we had physical evidence of the power of those storms. When we met up with Coach Tod and everyone, he said that Beach Drive had been closed and that the trails were an absolute mess. Heck, the road from the parking lot to our meeting point was closed because it had disappeared under about three inches of mud! It looked like we would be alternating between running on the trails and Beach Drive, to avoid mud slides and fallen (and falling!) trees.

I decided that, since I was coming off an injury and since the trail was so mucky, I would stay with my original pace group this week and then decide whether to move up afterward, depending on how I did. This week, it was just me, James, and Candice. Since Candice and I both had watches, we decided that she would be PGL and I'd be DD and keep track of our splits. Because we're the slowest group, they started us off first. That's a good idea, but I must admit it's a little disheartening to be passed by EVERYONE! Ah well! We started off at a good pace, but as we neared the water stop, I hadn't seen a mile marker and our time showed about 25 minutes! It seemed impossible to me that we were going SLOWER than we usually did! As we continued, we realized that I must have just missed the 2-mile marker (we start at the 1-mile marker, so that would be only a mile) -- DOH! :-) As we passed the 3-mile marker, I hit the "chrono" and figured out that we had run two miles in 35:07! That's about 17.5/mile! Not bad! We kept going and hit Beach Drive, where we passed a tree down all the way across -- upended by the roots, which were taller than me. Incredible.

A little past three miles, Coach Tod caught up to us to see how we were doing. I told him I was doing two-mile splits because of my first mistake and as he laughed, he said the marker had probably been on the trail while we were running on the road. Good point, I think! (heehee) He was pleased with our pace and directed us for the next bit, which was definitely different from our usual trails, then off he went to check on the rest of the groups. We hit the next water stop and they encouraged us that it wasn't too much further. In fact, I could see people coming back who had very recently passed us.

Oh, one thing I noticed this time that I hadn't noticed before: there were a LOT more training groups on the trail this time. I think the other organizations that had this sort of training had started and were using the same trails but starting at different locations. It was still pretty cool though -- everyone waved or said "Good Morning" as they passed by. I guess it's like a community of sorts -- we're all training to do something insane, so we all encourage each other. Pretty cool, if you ask me! :-)

Anyway-- back to the run. We got to the turn-around point and noticed some confusion. Why? We were on the road, so there wasn't a mile-marker! Luckily, the group that had just passed us was doing the turn as we jogged up, and one of them noticed the mile-marker on the trail a short distance from the Stop sign where we were turning. Also, you could still almost see the nearly erased "Turn" chalked onto the road. So, we all had a little giggle and congratulated ourselves for finishing four miles! Only four more to go! *sigh* And then I looked at the split for the last two miles... 31:29! That's about 15:45 per mile! WOW! I asked the group how they all felt, and although we were all a little tired, we still felt pretty good. We talked about slowing down if anyone needed to do so, but we all agreed to keep it up... for now, anyway!

So, we turned around and headed back to the water stop, letting them know we were the last group so they could go back to the meeting place. We kept up a pretty good pace, side-stepping again around the major puddles, mud pies, and fallen trees in our path, but all of us seemed to feel pretty good. When we got back to the 3-mile marker, I check the split again, and it was 31:22 (15:41)! I couldn't believe it! However, I had noticed that we had spread out a bit, with James was up ahead and Candice lagging a little behind. Remembering my duties as DD, I pulled up a bit and stayed closer to Candice, asking her how she was doing. She said she was tired, and I realized we had probably been going too fast. At one point, she decided to walk through our run interval, and I told her I'd just jog along with her while she walked. It's funny now, but I realized that even if I jogged REAL SLOW during that interval, it was better for my legs than walking! Our times for the last two miles slowed down considerably, but that was also through the woods, which is a hillier bit of the course, so I expected it to be slower anyway. However, when I saw the 2-mile marker (yep, it was there! Just missed it the first time!), I saw that our time was 18:28... OBVIOUSLY, we had speeded up too much in the middle of our course. We're supposed to try to maintain even splits, so having three-minute differences is an indication that something was wrong. Our last mile was even a little slower, but I'm glad we slowed down. We're not supposed to go fast -- we're just supposed to get there. That was a real big lesson on this day.

In the end, our total time was 2 hours 15 minutes, and Coach Tod was really pleased. The only complaint I had was that the volunteers had already packed up all of the food and Gatorade etc. 😣Sheesh, we'd been out there longer than anyone! It would be nice to see more than half a banana and three half (yucky, sundried tomato) bagels left out for us. I know, I know, "moan moan moan". I don't want to be negative, but... Everyone is supposed to stick around and cheer in the next group. We're the last group, and there's rarely anyone there when we get back. When I was injured the week before, I saw (and partook of) a HUGE buffet of bagels, peanut butter, cookies, Power Bars, bananas, oranges, Gatorade, candy, etc. etc. etc... And this week, we get a half banana and three bagels? I guess I'd just like the encouragement and support they give us the whole rest of the time to be consistent in this respect as well.

ANYWAY -- On to next week! Alesa and I have decided to run together for at least one of the mid-week runs this week, so that should be cool. The weather has turned warm -- FINALLY! Of course, I'm sure I'll be complaining next week about the heat and humidity.😃

I'm just never satisfied! Heehee But, to be honest, I think I'd enjoy a little cool rain during my ten-mile run! heehee

Splits:

17:33.69
17:33.69
15:44.50
15:44.50
15:41.15
15:41.15
18:27.92
18:48.70

Week 7 – June 15 (10 Miles), 7:00am

TEN MILES!!! I made it!

This was such a huge milestone to me! I spent all week telling everyone, "Guess what! I ran TEN MILES! WOoohoooo!" heehee I didn't realize how important it was to me until I was done, but having completed this particular run has given me a lot more confidence about the marathon in general.

So anyway, back to the run... It was difficult, but James and I ran a little ahead and kept our pace pretty slow, so I think we did very well. The day was the first muggy day we'd had, so the coaches recommended that we should be 1-2 minutes slower than our "regular" times, and that's just what we did.

I felt fine afterwards, but when I did my two-miler on Tuesday, I felt TERRIBLE! So, what's that all about? Ten miles-FINE! Two miles? Oh noooooooooooo! heeheehee

I started getting leg cramps every day after that two-miler, so I drank more and more water and Gatorade, eating bananas and lots of carbs. As I headed toward the next weekend, I was a little worried because none of my pace group would be there... but more of that in the next installment :-D

Times:

Total: 3:13:49
Average: 19:06 per mile

The Libbys start the second half of their 10-mile run. And look! We're still smiling! :-)

Week 8 – June 22 (12 Miles), 7:00am

After our ten-mile run, Edward and Candice said that they were going to a wedding this week. Then James piped up and said he had a function at the church this week, so I suddenly realized that I was going to be on my own for the 12-mile run. So, I considered my options:
a. don't run at all (not an option),
b. go to the Chevy Chase run site and run with a faster pace group (not a good option as the last time I did that, I got injured),
c. go to a different run site and run with the Libby Hickmans there (not an option because I couldn't get to them without the metro, and metro doesn't open that early), or
d. running the 12 miles on my own somehow (DING DING DING! We have a winner!)

So, throughout the week, I was trying to figure out how to run 12 miles by myself. I mean, I'd done the 6-miler, but this was just a little different! I mean, I needed to have water refills, pretzels, etc. etc. etc. In the end, I just rented a Flexcar, stopped by Safeway to pick up supplies and parked by the entrance to the Crescent Trail, near the 3.5 mile marker. I figured I could head down the Georgetown Branch to the 4.5-mile marker, and back, and then on the Silver Spring Branch to 2.5 and back, and then repeat twice to make 12 miles. (Clever girl!)

Except, I hadn't counted on the fact that the Georgetown Branch has a slight incline to it... Going to 4.5 was fine! Coming back to 3.5 was MURDER! Feet and calves screaming like little girls, it was pitiful...

Brain snorting in disdain, "Hello? This is only MILE TWO! We've got ten more to go!"
Calves: "Noooooooooooooooooo!"

Very sad... Luckily, the brain got in gear again and reminded myself that the Silver Spring branch was much flatter and would probably not be as painful (Calves and feet: "*SIGH*"). So, after a water and pretzel stop at the car, I headed off to the "easy" trail... I'd started about 8:30-9am and it was an absolutely beautiful morning... cool, sunshine, but ugly dark clouds sneaking in overhead... I trundled through the tunnel under Wisconsin Ave (and the Air Rights building) and was really enjoying the trail because my legs were much more relaxed and thanking the rest of me for getting them out of their previous torment.

I considered running the next ten miles by running five miles out and back on this trail because it was so much easier to run on, and then remembered the whole reason I had rented a car (doh!) and decided to change it to a three-mile loop instead of a two miler. The brain agreed, so we went on to the 2.0-mile marker. Coming back (on mile five now), my body told me something else I had forgotten to prepare for: after all that water, pretzels, and Power Bars, certain bodily functions required immediate attention. Oops! Pretty major thing to forget! Well, as I neared the intersection at Woodmont and Bethesda Ave, I decided that I could really use a big cup of coffee for after the run, and maybe some donuts would be good for extra energy... and Dunkin Donuts has a bathroom.

BTW, French Crullers are an EXCELLENT source of extra energy...

THAT crisis over, I decided to switch the Georgetown Branch leg from a two miler to a one-miler. What's funny is that the 4-mile marker is about 50 feet past the intersection of the trail and a road. So, you could probably just turn around before crossing the road, but I remonstrated myself with "NO CHEATING!" And it's good I did. I had just crossed the road when I heard someone beeping their horn like crazy. I looked around, and there was my best friend Megan pulled over on the side, rolling down the window to shout at me! (Yay!) She said she was going down with extra keys for her father who had locked himself out, and as she neared this intersection she thought, "I wonder if I'll see Deborah" and voila! There I was! Perfect timing if you ask me! I told her I was on mile 6, and she cheered "Almost half way there!" and gave me encouragement and then my watch beeped at me telling me that walking (and chatting) time was over, so we parted with waves and grins.

Megan's encouragement really helped bring back my enthusiasm for the run. At that point, I decided that I would never run without a partner again (if I could help it), because it's REALLY hard to keep yourself psyched up! And people look at you funny when they realize you're talking to yourself... Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic and so am I... What?

ANYWAY... I finished mile six and refilled the water bottle again, grabbed some more pretzels (for salt) and headed back to the three-mile loop on the Silver Spring branch. The weather had started to pick up a bit, meaning a little windier, much grayer, and looking like the beginning of the monsoon season as it has since about April (I'd say March, but I think it was still snowing then). But, after six miles, I'd worked up a pretty good sweat, so I had no problem with it raining. Miles seven and eight went by pretty quickly, but mile nine was a bear. My feet hurt and were making themselves known, my calves AND my thighs hurt, even my shoulders hurt! I'd been running for nearly three hours! And the worst of it was that I had to... well, I had to pee. BAD. It's like a friend of mine says, I had "broken the seal" and it felt MUCH worse this time. And I didn't want to impose on Dunkin Donuts again (bad form that). And with all the other complaints my body had, my brain was weakening so much that all I wanted to do was just quit, go to the bathroom at Barnes and Noble and then go home...

"I'm sorry, what was that you just said?"
"Quit and go to the bathroom at B&N and then... uh oh..."

Brain kicked in again!

"Hey, this is only NINE MILES! You did more last week! And you know you'll never forgive yourself if you quit now! So, let's go to the bathroom at B&N and then run those last three miles!"

Body: *GROAN*
Brain: "Butt! Get in gear! We're nearly there!"

So, with Brain nagging, the rest of me made it to B&N and walked around the street level twice trying to figure out which escalator to use (they switched them around! Not nice!) before accomplishing my mission and getting back to the car for another refill and more pretzels. I also finished off the last of the Power Bar, and amazingly enough (not really considering all the carbs I had just consumed), I had a sudden burst of energy! I whipped off mile ten at a decent pace (considering) and refilled the bottle one last time for the last two-miler. Once again, my brain had to control my body during the run. Poor Body didn't realize just how tired it was and kept wanting to go faster because we were in the home stretch. I had to keep chanting out loud, "Slow it down, slow it down" because my feet were so sore that I could barely lift them off the ground. So, it was with a sort of shuffle-jog that I ended up my triumphant twelve-mile run. But I did it. I actually ran twelve miles, by myself!

But, do you remember those "Rocky" antics I made on earlier runs? Not on this one, baby! My arms were too tired, my legs threatened to go on strike if I even attempted jumping around, and all I could think of was going home. Usually, I try to walk a half mile or so to cool off, but I didn't force myself farther than the parking lot (about 1/8 mile). I drove myself back to the apt building, asked the security guy if I could leave the groceries there while I returned the car (OK), and drove the car back to its parking spot.

And then I walked home. Slooooooooooooowly. Painfully. I've often said that "I'm physically incapable of ambling" -- HA! I ambled that day!

I got back to my building and had just arranged all my bags, etc. to carry them up when the security desk guy informed me of a package. I was thrilled because I knew what it was (HARRY POTTER!!!!) but didn't know how I would carry it up. He mentioned that I could use one of the baggage carts, but I said, "No, then I'd have to bring it down again... and I'm not sure I can do that!" Eventually, I rearranged my parcels and got up to my place, where my cat promptly attempted to trip me (thanks, Calypso). I dropped everything on the ground, stripped off my clothes and turned the shower on hot. I stood under there for about 20 minutes, just letting the heat relax and the water massage my muscles into something resembling normalcy. When I got out, I slathered up in Aspercreme again (really, buy stock!), dressed myself in warm snugglies, then went out into the living room and opened my package.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, about nine-hundred pages of putting my feet up and relaxing! Just what I need!"
Thanks to Harry Potter and advice from the coaches (ice, Advil, stretches, keep walking), my legs stopped hurting after about 4-5 hours. By Sunday, they were completely back to normal.

On Sunday, I went to the run site and volunteered to hand out water and pretzels. What a different experience! It made me MUCH more grateful to those volunteers! As it turned out, James did show up this week because he had mistaken the dates on the church calendar. So, I waited it out for him to finish the twelve miles. Poor guy, he had started out with someone training for the half-marathon but ended up doing the last eight miles by himself! But he did it too! And I was able to give him advice on how to get the feeling back into his legs and how to be forgiven by his feet.

Now, onto next week -- which is only six miles. (ONLY six miles! Remember about four weeks ago when I was so happy about completing six miles? MY MY MY, how attitudes change! Heehee)

See ya next week!

Week 9 – June 29 (Only 6 Miles), 7:00am

Since Alesa had been away in the Caymans all week (poor thing), I decided to call her on Saturday to make sure she would be able to pick me up... So, I called her up and her husband answered -- turned out that he had forwarded their home phone to his cell phone and he was at the airport waiting for her to get off the plane! Which she did RIGHT when I called! Weird timing, eh?

Anyway, she picked me up at 6:30am on Sunday and hauled us over to the site. It was a sunny day, looking to be warm and a little humid. I had slathered on the sunscreen and bug repellent and smelled just like a repellent coconut -- yum! We signed in and I put a few of my Uno's certificates on the food table so that people would come to my fundraiser on Thursday, and then we just hung out until everyone else showed up. There were so few people at the site this week! I guess it was because it was "only 6 miles," but seriously, there were only about 30 people all told. Of the original Libby group, only Candice and I were there, but we had a new member who was working on doing the half-marathon, Lauren. She had started her half-marathon training the previous week, and had gone a little over 4 miles, so she was hoping to run the whole six miles with us. Candice told us that she and Edward had changed their minds and would be doing the half-marathon too, which I think pleased Lauren because that would mean she had some people to train with. It looks like only James and I out of our group are still working for the whole marathon.

ANYWAY -- Candice and I were a little worried about Lauren because she was wearing a jacket and sweatpants, which she didn't want to take off because of the mosquitoes. We shrugged and said, "OK, but you're going to get hot." Candice anointed me as Pace Group Leader and off we went...

It soon became obvious that we were going to have to go much more slowly than we were used to, but I figured it wouldn't hurt us, and it would probably be better for Lauren since she'd only started the previous week. I talked a mile a minute (which comes as a shock to you, I know), trying to give her encouragement and reminding myself of my Rocky moment after my first six-miler. Lauren held up really well considering the amount of clothes she had on. It was already nearly 80 degrees and she still had the jacket on, and then she mentioned that she was wearing tights underneath the sweats! To avoid chafing! Agh! Candice and I immediately brought up the wonders of Body Glide, the magic substance that helps avoid the friction between thighs (that sounds like a bad detective novel or porno movie). We kept up a dialogue of everything we'd been through but how amazing it was that we were still there and still running.

We had passed the water stop when Lauren mentioned that she hadn't gone this far the previous week. That's when I realized that she had misunderstood "the 2-Mile Marker" to mean she had gone two miles -- but we start at the 1-Mile Marker, so she had really only gone one mile. She said she had gone a little further than the water stop, so all told, she probably did about three miles last week. She was discouraged, but we reminded her that she had already gone nearly all of that today. We kept it slow and I told her to let me know if it was too fast for her or if she wanted to sit somewhere and wait for us to return from the three-mile point (4 Mile Marker).

Eventually, she decided that she would wait for us at the 2.5-mile point because there was a bench there so she could sit and rest while Candice and I ran a mile and returned in about 20 minutes or so. When we got back, she seemed much refreshed and we started back. She did really well, but she complained of dizziness, so we stopped and made sure to eat and drink. We kept going, but very very slowly -- Candice ran up ahead of us a bit but waited for us when she got out of earshot because I had the only watch. What I should have done was ask Candice to go on and let the coaches know that we were going even more slowly than usual, but I didn't think of that. Instead, when Candice and I stopped at the last Porta-Potty before the end, Lauren said she was dizzy again. She was still wearing her jacket, so I insisted she remove it and drink lots of water and eat some more (I gave her the last bit of my PowerBar). We had talked a lot about diet and clothing, etc., but she was resistant to eating carbs because she wanted to lose weight, and she seemed more concerned with mosquitoes than heat stroke. I figured after her experience today, she would have a different attitude! I ended up just saying, "Talk to Coach Tod, he really knows what he's talking about." And reminding her to talk to her doctor about changing her diet and her exercise patterns at the same time, and if it was safe, etc. But I was really worried about her health at that specific point in time... I was thinking that once we got back to the meeting place, she would at least be able to sit in some shade and have ice and food, etc. It was just getting there...

SO, we continued, walking realllllllly slowly, and taking it as easy as possible. I kept telling her that she had just completed FIVE MILES, and it didn't matter how fast or slow she did it. Nobody could take that away from her! We finally got back after nearly 2.5 hours and when Coach Tod asked us how we were, I immediately indicated that Lauren was dizzy. He asked her questions about exactly how she was feeling and basically decided that she was probably overheated. He talked to her and basically said what Candice and I had been telling her throughout our whole run, but hopefully she'll feel he's got more authority than I do!

ANYWAY -- I actually enjoyed running with Lauren even though it's my slowest time yet, mostly because I felt useful I guess. While we were recuperating (with DONUTS!) she said to me, "Deborah, thank you -- I don't think I could have done it without you!"

And that just made me feel -- well, great, but humbled. Lauren is a beautiful, intelligent woman with a lot of determination, and all she needed to get going was a push and some encouragement. Carolyn gave her the push last week by telling her about the half-marathon, and I'm glad I could have been there to give her the encouragement she needed to keep going this week.

I can't wait to see her finish that half-marathon in October!

Week 10 – July 6 (14 Miles), 6:00am

FOURTEEN MILES!!! I can't bloody believe it! But we did it! Amazing...

OK, so yesterday was the division between the people trying for the full marathon and those trying for the half. Edward and Candice have decided to do the half along with Lauren, so Jim and I are going to be running the marathon together.

Almost as soon as we got there, Coach Tod rounded us up and got Jim and I on our way. Heck, we were thinking it would take at least four hours to run fourteen miles, so we were very happy to get going! We started off at a pretty good pace (around 15.5 mins/mile) and then realized that we were huffing and puffing a bit -- which meant that we were probably going too fast, so we slowed it down. I told Jim about how I chanted "Slow it down" to myself during the 12-miler so we kept doing that and giggling.

Jim is a very nice and interesting person and you all know that I'm just a chatterbox, so we pretty much talked the whole way. We got to the first water stop and I don't think anyone had passed us yet, but the speed-demons might have. We thought it was weird, but figured that everyone had probably started at least 20 minutes later than us and we had started off pretty fast...

Welllll, we found out that we were actually making good time. The last groups didn't catch up to us until nearly the 8th mile! It was a long hard run, especially miles 6 & 7 because there were a lot of uphill stretches right there, but Tod, excuse me Lucy (Coach Tod's adorable dog) had written encouragement in chalk for us. After one particularly annoying hill, JUST before the 7th mile, it said, "That sucked!" and that's pretty much how we felt! heehee

Anyway, we made it to the turn-around and were pleased to find that they had soaked paper towels or wipes or something in ice water.... OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, let me tell you how great that felt! Cool off the neck a little, wipe the sweat off your face so you don't itch the whole way back, and Jim even wrapped a couple around his starting-to-swell knee. It's amazing what seems to be heaven in these circumstances: cold paper towels, pretzels, oranges, and COOL water. And those volunteers are the angels -- keeping us going with smiles and encouragement, and just what we need. They REALLY make a difference!

OK, so we paused at the water stop for about four minutes (one full interval) and then headed out as about three groups headed into the stop, and I *finally* saw Alesa and her running partner Jill, who were hating life. This was the first long run either of them had done since the ten-miler, and it was showing. As we kept going, we kept just a little ahead of or close behind these groups until about the eleventh or twelfth mile. It made us feel good that we weren't the ONLY ones feeling so tired! But we both had noticed that our fingers and hands were beginning to swell, especially Jim's. He eventually had to take off his watch because his wrists had swollen so much, it was cutting into him. I was thinking that the swelling probably had something to do with having our hands pointing downward so much while we were walking, so I suggested that we do... um... "spirit fingers." What, you ask, are spirit fingers? Well, if you ever saw the movie "Bring It On" you would know. However, SINCE you ask... basically it's lifting your hands up in front of you and wiggling your hands and fingers to the side -- like one of those silly dance moves. And you know what? It worked! It actually helped our hands feel better, so maybe it's not so silly after all! It also made us laugh, which I think probably helped just as much.

ANYWAY -- Jim and I had a pretty good run, but man, fourteen miles is a VERY LONG RUN! Poor Jim was having a really hard time with his knee -- apparently, he fell on it a few weeks ago and it's been fine, but fourteen miles of pounding was causing some major swelling and pain. We slowed up considerably on the last few miles, but we made it back with a pretty good average of approx. 18 min/miles.

Considering that they had told us we should do about 2 minutes slower than our regular pace, and that Tod and Carolyn kept congratulating us on doing so well, and Alesa said that she had only gotten back about 10 minutes before us, I think we did very well. And my legs were fine! OK, my ankles were swollen and the bottom of my feet felt rubbed raw, but that's nothing a little Aspercreme and Vaseline can't help, right?

Next week is back to seven miles. I think the difference in my attitude now is major. I'm really serious about getting those mid-week runs in, because they help my legs keep going. And I'm getting myself into a schedule of cross-training as well. This is working, and I feel SO much more confident that in about three months, I'll be crossing that finish line in Baltimore!

Week 11 – July 13 (7 Miles), 7:00am

OK, so I completely forgot to update the Journal after the 7-miler. Sue me! Actually, it went very well. Jim and I laughed at ourselves as we kept saying "Hey, it's only seven miles!" and we chatted the whole way. We did about a 16 min/mile average and still felt pretty good when we rolled into the food frenzy at the end. My friend Angela had very kindly come out to volunteer, which I truly appreciated, especially since it was her BIRTHDAY weekend! THANKS ANG!

Onto the 16-miler...

Note from 2018: I believe rhat this was the run on which I found out that Jim's sister was Nora Roberts. I was telling him how Angela got me reading Nora Roberts by introducing me to "J.D. Robb" who writes futuristic detective novels... and who is Nora Roberts writing in disguise. Sneaky, right?
"Yeah, that's sneaky! BTW, she's my sister."
"Angela?"
"No, Nora."
"WHAAAAAT?!?"
You should have heard Ang when I told her...

Week 12 – July 20 (16 Miles), 6:00am

This was an interesting week. My sister and I had a niece and our mother visiting from Georgia for my nephew and other niece's birthdays. We went to King's Dominion on Thursday (which I substituted for a mid-week run -- my feet hurt enough!), parts of the Mall (American History museum and Washington Monument) on Friday, "Finding Nemo" on Saturday, and my mom decided to come volunteer on Sunday. (The best parts of the week to me were riding the rides with two 12-year-old boys and two 14-year-old girls and the night the girls came to spend the night with me... SLEEP-OVER! Heehee)

Anyway -- Mom and I drove back to my house on Saturday night, stopped by Chicken Out for some take-out, then tucked in to watch "A Beautiful Mind" before going to bed... early! The alarm went off at 4:45am -- too bloody early! We got ourselves together and out the door on time, but I forgot to bring the folding chair for Mom to sit on at the water stops -- oops!

I got Mom registered as a volunteer and introduced her to Jim and Alesa, along with Carolyn and the other volunteers (and Lucy, of course). As Tod had done on the 14-miler, he sent me and James out as soon as we were ready, about 5:50am. We started our run at almost 6am on the dot, and we each made sure that we started out slooooowly because we had started out too fast on the 12- and 14-milers, then ended up dying out at the end. So, almost immediately, we started our chant: "Slow it down, Nice and Slow!" And it worked! Tod had told us to try to maintain an 18 min/mile average, and our first mile was about 17.5 mins, so we felt pretty good about it. It was a nice day to run -- clear but cool -- so we thought that it might be a little better than the 14-miler in that respect.

We were doing pretty well but we both decided to make a pitstop at the Porta-Potty just before the 5-mile marker (we start at the 1-mile marker, so that's about 4 miles in), because we weren't sure where another stop was! As we went along, we realized what a good idea that had been! There were several runners heading off into the woods occasionally, but as I said to Jim, I knew that if I did that, I'd wind up in the middle of the Poison Oak patch! And that would NOT be fun!

I kept looking for my mom at the water stops, and when we got to the 7-mile stop, I was surprised that she wasn't there either. I said something to Jim and he said that his wife was also volunteering this week, but that she would be staying at the "Barn" (as he called the starting point -- and I think I'll start calling it that too!). So, I was relieved and realized that they might have thought Mom was a little too old and delicate to sit out in the heat of the day for a couple of hours. I could have told them my Mom is as sturdy as any of them, but I'm also glad that she got to stay at the Barn in the shade. Especially since I had forgotten the chair! Jim and I thought it was funny that my Mom and his wife would be sitting together at the Barn -- we both realized that each of them (and anyone around them) would know our life stories by the end of the run! It made us grin... a lot!

We were doing really well all the way to the 8-mile turn-around, but Jim's knee was beginning to be a problem. I think he was in some severe pain, but he kept right on going. We slowed down a little, but we made it all the way back. I checked our time and average as we walked back the half-mile cool-down route to the Barn -- our time was 4 hrs. 48 minutes... and the average was 18:00.77! Now THAT'S hitting the mark! Heehee

We made pretty good time in that we were still ahead of a couple of groups by the turn-around point. But most importantly, we PASSED NINE pace groups! OK, they had to pass us first and then start walking while we started our run interval, but hey! Small victories are important! And Jim and I made the most of them! Heehee

As we neared the Barn, we saw "Bitterness and Rage" (Alesa and Jill) a little way in front of us. (They were so dubbed after the 14-miler, when they were both in pain and angry about it -- in a good way... sorta... :-) During this run, we had dubbed ourselves "Sunshine" and "Daisies" because we're always laughing... heehee!)

Anyway -- we heard the cheers when they made it back to the Barn and we looked at each other as we hobbled back in some pain and said, "They had better cheer for us too! Or else Sunshine and Daisy will become Bitterness and Rage!" Luckily, they cheered us in ("they saved themselves!") -- led by my Mom and Jim's wife, Mary Ann, of course! THANKS MOM!

Because we took nearly five hours, the Barn was taken over by another group, so our fearless leaders and volunteers had set up a little plastic table on the grass with bagels, etc. What were most important were the popsicles. Whoever thought of bringing them is a genius! Yummmmmm! Jim and I ate and drank and cooled down, and eventually, I drove Mom and myself back to my place. After a quick, relaxing, cool shower, I realized that I had better go ahead and drive Mom back to Cathy's house in Virginia or else I'd fade before I made it back home. We got to their house before they did! :-) But David rushed home to let us in (they were on their way, but he had gotten through faster, so it was no biggie), and give us lunch. Yep, more eating :-) I got one more chance to hug the kids and Mom, and then drove back home, making a supreme effort at staying awake. I crashed for a little bit at home, then woke up and took a walk (hobble) around the area, just to make sure my legs didn't cramp up too bad. Eventually I fell asleep again around 8:30 - 9pm. I'm such a party animal! heehee

It's Tuesday now and my legs are much better. Walking down the Metro escalator this morning was a new experience in muscle pain, but in general, I'm feeling fine. I'm going swimming this afternoon and I'll get up early to do my mid-week run tomorrow. We'll see how I feel after THAT! At least next week is only eight miles! ONLY eight miles! LOL See you then!

Week 13 – July 27(8 Miles), 7:00am

So much for my vow to never run one of these things by myself! Some friends of mine from out of town came INTO town on Saturday unexpectedly and I just knew that I wouldn't be getting to bed early enough, if I went out to see them. So, I called Alesa and Carolyn to let them know I wouldn't be going to the run site this week and just planned to run on my own when I woke up. I figured it was "only eight miles" so I could do it on my own. (That still freaks me out -- "ONLY eight miles"!)

So, I went out to see my friends on Saturday night, but since I didn't get there until after 7pm, I decided to stay until 9pm instead of 8pm (I told you I wasn't going to get home on time!). I really enjoyed seeing them but regret not having more time with them. However, I really did laugh a lot and that sip of peach-blueberry-banana daiquiri *nearly* convinced me to stay and have some more! But, I left at 9pm and got home just before 10pm, and then crashed. I woke up and told my cat to shut up, it was too early, I'd feed him later, and then realized it was just after 7am. I looked outside and remembered the forecast of 95 degrees, 95% humidity... and decided it would be better to get going and then come back for a nap later.

Calypso was thrilled, as was Jamocha, as I tripped over both of them on my way to the kitchen to feed them. Cats munching away, I turned on the news and found a local politics forum show on instead, so I switched to CNN Lite (headline news). I got a shower and started trying to eat my cereal and banana, but just couldn't get through it. I was ready to go and I knew I needed food, but I just couldn't do it! So, I put another Clif bar in my bag and headed out.

Ah, my bag! Since I was doing an eight-miler on my own, I needed to have water/Gatorade refills, pretzels, etc. So, I filled up a plastic bag with a gallon of water/Gatorade 3-1 mix, leftover pretzels from the 12-miler, some Twizzlers, and the extra Clif bar. I wrote "Marathoner in Training! Please do not remove!" all over it and added my cell phone # as an afterthought (making sure I was carrying the dang thing, just in case!). I trudged over to the resting place just before the 3.5-mile marker on the Crescent Trail and dropped the bag on the grass. Looking at it, I realized that someone might think it a "suspicious package" especially since the water/Gatorade mix was a cool electric blue. Ah well, what to do? So, I positioned it so the writing could be seen clearly and headed toward Georgetown on the trail.

I had decided to just do one mile on this loop because I hate the return trip. It was a good thing because I was almost 1/2 out of water by the time I finished it! I refilled at my own personal water stop, grabbed a couple of (stale) pretzels and headed toward Silver Spring. As I was leaving the rest area, I noticed a bike security guard stop and look interestingly at my bag. I headed back and explained that it belonged to me so I could train for the marathon. He grinned and went on his way. (PHEW!)

ANYWAY! It was HOT HOT HOT outside. Actually, it wasn't that it was that hot, but it was also HUMID! I was sweating up a storm and drinking up all of my water. I did a three-mile loop on this stretch of trail and ran out of water around two miles. NOT GOOD! I even noticed that people were looking at me funny, which probably meant that my usually unbelievably red face was getting purple... which meant that I was probably over-heating. So, I did some serious thinking about how I was going to do the last four miles. I decided to just run two two-mile loops, making sure to drink lots during the water breaks and fill the water bottle up full. When I got to the water stop, I found that I had been smart enough to bring along my TOFOG bandanna. I put it under the doggie water tap in the rest area and soaked it so I could wipe my face and neck clean of sweat. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, WHAT a feeling! Once I'd had my fill of water etc., I soaked the bandanna again and wrapped it around my neck, then headed back towards Silver Spring. What a great idea! The bandanna helped keep me a little cooler and I could use it to wipe the sweat off my brow so it wouldn't leak onto my glasses again. (I was wearing my cool glasses that have clip-on shades and the sweat had gotten in between them at one point -- ICK! At least at that point the bandanna had been dry, so I was able to clean them.)

So, I headed back down to the 2.5 marker and looked at my splits up to that point... I'd been doing pretty well: generally 16-17 mins/mile except the 18-19 min ones in which I'd refilled at the water stop. I looked around, said Hello to people, and enjoyed the dogs (LOTS of dogs!), but pretty soon got really bored. On the return trip, I was thinking, "I don't want to do this trip again! Maybe I'll just do six miles today..." and started thinking up excuses for doing only six miles. Once again, my will overcame my brain and I decided to do the one-mile loop on the Georgetown Branch, then the last one-mile on the Silver Spring Branch, which would let me end up with the cooling tunnel. Between each of these runs, I stopped and watered-up so I felt pretty good when I finished.

I gulped down more water/Gatorade and still had about a 1/4 gallon left so I offered it around to the other runners -- nobody was interested... and it's not like I was drinking out of the jug! Anyway, I packed up my little bag and started heading home until I heard a little voice telling me I had earned an iced coffee. It's just SO lucky that Dunkin' Donuts was RIGHT THERE! So, I bought the largest iced (decaf) coffee they had, plus all the orange juice I could carry and an egg & cheese croissant... YUM! Everything went into my little bag and off I went. As I was walking, I realized that the actual temperature wasn't too bad, so when I got home, I decided to try to cool down naturally for a bit before plunging into the shower. I took off my wet clothes and put on a t-shirt and some sweats, and after I ate my croissant, I picked up my book and headed for the balcony with my mongo iced coffee. A couple hours later, I was dry and comfy, so it was obviously time to take a shower (heehee).

Actually, there was another reason. I had decided I wanted to see "Seabiscuit" and I needed to shower before I did that... and time was ticking on!

I did go see "Seabiscuit" and rather enjoyed it. I think they did a good job of picking what events needed to go in the movie and which ones could be left out. They kind of elided the truth at some points, but I think I can forgive them in the interests of trying to get everything important in. And I loved it when the whole (sold-out) audience cheered when that little horse won! (That's not a spoiler since the movie is based on a real horse who wouldn't have been famous if he didn't win once in a while, now would he?) The audience also applauded at the end of the movie, so I think it was well received by everyone.

You didn't realize you'd be getting a movie review too, did you? See you next week!

Oh! The times!
Total: 2:15:31
Average: 16:56

Week 14 – August 3 (18 Miles), 7:00am

WOW! What a day!
OK, first I woke up before dawn (what is this DARK stuff out there?) and scrambled around trying to make sure I had everything packed up in my little water belt, then met Alesa downstairs at 5:40am. Yes, A.M. 5:40! That's before the sun rises! ARGH! Luckily, I had gone to bed quite early the night before... like 8:30pm. Why do I feel ten?

I was feeling crappy, but I also realized that I just had to gut it out and at least try to run the 18 miles. Jim was already there when we got there, so Tod just reminded us where we were going (and that there was a big hill in the last mile before the turn-around -- OH JOY!) and we headed out. We actually got to the first mile marker to start off at almost exactly 6:00am.

Honestly, I was pleased about that. Jim and I discussed what we thought our time would be and figured out that with 18 min/miles, we should hit around 5 ½ hours. That means we should be back by 11:30am -- just in time for the main heat of the day! Yay! (NOT!) It was not really that hot, but it was muggy and humid enough to make it feel like a sauna. NOT the best running weather! Jim joked that it was probably a "code orange" day, when elderly and out-of-shape people are recommended to stayed indoors and avoid strenuous exercise. So here we were, a 65-year old man and an out-of-shape 40-year-old, running 18 miles. Not too bright, are we? *SIGH*

Well, it was hot -- DANG hot! Especially in the woods where the air felt so close I could hardly breathe. When we got to the first water stop, we were both dripping with sweat -- it was lovely! We tried to make sure we drank enough water and got some Gatorade mixed in to give us "electrolytes" whatever they are. The pretzels were stale, but the salt tasted yummy. And off we went to conquer the couple of miles to the next water stop. I was cranky, but in general, I think Jim and I were feeling pretty good -- except really really hot! We kept joking around and trying to fool ourselves by saying "It's only a 9-miler there, and then another 9-miler back -- we can do a measly old NINE miler!" :-) Didn't really work, but it kept us loose and silly.

We were doing pretty well all told by the time we got to the second water stop. Our timer went off to run just as we got there so we ignored it and went over to the kind ladies with water and Gatorade. I decided that I just wanted water and was headed over to the side of the path by Kristin (she was handing out water while she waited there so she could start running from there when her group got there) saying "I think I just want water this time." However, before I could get to her, I was bumped away by a sweaty man whose group had come up behind us and, pushing in his bottle to be filled, said, "We're runners and this is for us!" At which point, one of his running partners said, "So are THEY!" at the same time as Jim's "Well, so are WE!" The guy didn't apologize, just got his water and bullied his way back to the path and kept running. I think everybody was a little disgusted with his attitude -- his co-runner who had spoken up shrugged, smiled and rolled his eyes, and Kristin just smirked like "What an idiot!" Jim said he didn't recognize the guy, so it's possible that he doesn't usually run at our site -- and since we had left before everyone had shown up, he had never seen us so he couldn't know that we were also runners. But still -- how obnoxious! Even if the water stop people were offering water to complete strangers, he still wouldn't have had cause to be so rude. Anyway, after a few derogatory remarks about rude people, it sort of became a joke. Don't mess with the Libbys! We might be slow, but we're still running!

ANYWAY... . We were doing about 17 min/mile for the first couple of miles, but that changed as we had more stops during our miles, like potty breaks and (obnoxious *snicker*) water stops. There was a long break at the main port-a-potty on the trail (near the 5-mile marker) because there was a line, but that actually turned out to be a good thing because they told me of another set of potties near the 7-mile marker which I hadn't known about. Important to know these things. Speaking of potty breaks: I've learned that one's definition of "absolutely disgusting" can change when one is forced to use port-a-potties on a regular basis. YECHHH! Thank God for wet-naps!

Hmmm, let's get back to less nasty subjects... Yes, well, James and I were still feeling pretty good as we passed the six mile mark (7-mile marker) and started trying to remember the trail ahead. We knew there were a lot of small hills coming up so we weren't real happy about it. But, we just kept thinking "Almost there!" "Over 2/3 of the way to the turn-around point!" (See, now this is why it's good to have a running partner: if I were running alone and saying things out loud to keep me going, I'd have an ambulance behind me full of those nice doctors with those comfy cozy jackets with long long arms!)

Anyway, we made it to the 7-mile water stop and Coach Tod was there, asking how we were doing. We both said "HOT!" and he responded that it would probably be better if we took off our cotton hats. Now, DUH! Why didn't I think of that? Cotton absorbs wetness and heat! He mentioned something about Coolmax hats, so I'm going to have to look into that. Anyway, I asked him if I could just leave it at the water stop and he suggested that we give our hats to him and he'd take them back to the Barn. Of course, by this time, the hats were soaked with sweat so they were pretty icky, so I really appreciate his offer. I soaked my bandanna in the ice water that held the wet paper towels (with which I could wipe off my face), then wrapped the bandanna around my neck -- Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! And off we went... Into the hills... Argh!

Yep, we already knew that the end of mile 8 was at the beginning of a hill, but what we didn't know was that almost ALL of mile 9 was uphill! This was when Jim's knee began to flare up again. We'd already decided to walk up hills, but even that was painful to him. Coming back, even downhill began to hurt. I felt terrible! Actually, I felt fine, physically, but I felt bad for Jim. I kept asking him how he was doing, and if he wanted to stop or just walk the rest of the way, but he wanted to go on. We slowed down a bit, but not really that much. On some of the more level stretches, we even had a few sub-17:00 min/miles! But it was hard to see Jim in so much pain. He was fine until we hit the hills, but it didn't get really bad until about 10-11 miles. And he still had 7 more to go! Also, it was getting hotter and even more humid (which didn't really seem possible without real rain -- it had spitted at us occasionally, but no rain). I was running out of water between stops and neither of us had really eaten enough during the run. So, I stopped at the water fountain near the 5-mile marker and both of us tried to eat more. We avoided running up hills and sometimes walked through our run interval. What was interesting though was when Jim's knee seemed to cramp up and he could barely walk, he decided to jog a little to see if it would help... and it did! Once again, just changing the motion of the muscles had made a difference. He wasn't cured, but he did seem a lot better after that.

Back in the woods, we picked up our pace a bit -- probably because we both knew that we were nearly done. We counted the bridges until there were none and wondered about Alesa and Jill ("Bitterness and Rage") because we hadn't seen them since we passed them as we were coming back from the turn-around point. The rest of their group had already passed us again, but we hadn't seen hide nor hair of Alesa and Jill. When we got back to the Barn, we were surprised to learn that we WEREN'T the last group back this time! (WOOHOOO!) It was kind of a nice feeling, but I was worried about them. They weren't as slow as us, but then, I didn't know when they had actually started out either. So, I remembered how they had said that they were walking up hills too and thought that maybe they had changed their pacing interval as well, so maybe it made sense. About 15-20 minutes after we got back, they showed up -- and were hungry and in pain. Alesa said she couldn't feel her legs! Tod asked her what her mid-week mileage was and she said she was running about 5 miles twice a week. He thought that maybe she was running too much during the week so her legs were too tired for the long long runs.

Later on, Alesa said that she wasn't really running during the week at all. I told her that I found that if I didn't do the mid-week runs, my legs would hurt until I did -- almost as if my legs were expecting to run. AND, that although I was tired and my feet hurt, my legs were fine after having run 18 miles. She groaned at the thought that her legs would have to grow USED to running and I laughed. I still wonder why she's running a marathon if she hates exercise so much. Something I said earlier ran through my mind when we were talking about the mid-week runs: the only reason *I* do them is that if I don't, the only person I'm cheating is myself. I want to finish a marathon (especially now that I've got a pledge for $10 a mile) and to do that, I've got to follow the program. That's it. I can do the minimum required and have a chance to cross the finish line, or not do it and ... well, not do it!

OK, off the soapbox. So, Jim and I finished our 18 miles in 5:31, averaging 18:23 mins/mile. I think Jim felt like hell (he sat with ice on his knee for at least 20 minutes, and I'm sure he did more once he got home), but I felt pretty good. My feet were swollen and I'd gotten a blister on the second toe on my left foot (very weird place for a blister), but my ankles felt better than they had in previous runs and my legs were fine. I got home, took a nice cool shower, pulled on some shorts and a tank top, and decided to sit on the balcony to watch the rain (NOW it rains!) and read a while. Eventually, I realized my eyes were closing, so I finished my water and crawled into bed with my kitties. I took about an hour nap, in between phone calls, and then got up to finish everything that needed to be done for my fundraiser that evening.

Deborah's Fundraiser later that night

By 5:10pm, I was at Flanagan's Irish Pub sorting out all the raffle prizes and trying to figure out what I else needed to do. Luckily, my friend Angela showed up -- I hadn't known that she was Fundraising Queen, but BOY was I glad for her help! We pulled out a table to set up our tickets and the forms so people could send in donations or sponsor me by the mile, and I talked her through the details. We had two raffles: one for prizes at $2/ticket and one 50/50 raffle where a $5 ticket could win you half the pot. I had been walking around Bethesda for two weeks begging people to give me raffle prizes. I got some good gift certificates and prizes, but Stephen Nugent of Flanagan's outdid himself by getting some very cool prizes from Budweiser and Guinness, as well as a lot of signage (even if they did all say "AIDS Walk" instead of "AIDS Marathon"). Which was the best prize? It was a toss-up between the Bass raft, the Bud Light light-up hockey stick, and the Smirnoff basketball goal table. Actually, I still like the "Get Out Of Hell Free" t-shirt, cards, and stickers that I donated. I figured there would be some people there who could use something like that.

Once everything was all set up was when I started getting nervous (-er). I'd met the band, Idylwood (who so generously donated their time) and they were all set up too. I asked them to just go ahead and start playing at 6pm. I arranged with them to do prize raffles during their breaks and then the 50-50 raffle at the very end (around 9pm). At first there weren't a lot of people there, but friends of mine or the band's began to show up as well as people who were interested solely in the Gaelic football being shown on the big screen TV in the back.

Angela was very (very!) good at pinning people and convincing them to buy at least one raffle ticket ("Hey, it's only $2! What's to lose?"), so even the people who had no idea they were coming to a fund-raiser joined in and donated some cash. I had been nervous before the first time I got up there on the stage in front of everyone because I couldn't think of what to say. Then I remembered what I had been saying to just about everyone all day and looked forward to it. So, I got on stage and thank the band for their music, then looked out at the crowd.

"Hi, I'm Deborah Smith"
("Hi Deborah!" from the crowd)
"and I'm training to run in the Baltimore Marathon on October 18th, as part of the National AIDS Marathon Training Program. I ran 18 miles today..."
("Wow!")
"...and I'm tired!"
(Laughter and appreciation...)

After that, I didn't feel so nervous about getting up in front of everybody, even though I usually had no idea what I was doing. But it was a fairly small and very good-natured crowd which made it a LOT easier. And as always, the beer was good, the food was good, and the music was good too. Darts were played and prizes were won and sometimes auctioned off. All in all, we had a good time and raised nearly $500 in cold hard cash.

Something happened at the end of the night that just amazed and humbled me. Angela and I split the 50-50 take for the final prize, which came to $62.50 (total = $125), which I advertised as just enough to pay their tab (heehee).

However, when I announced the winning number, there was no answer -- whoever had it must have left. I called it out a few times and then delved into the bag to try again, but the crowd started yelling, "No, just keep it!" I was astonished! I tried again, asking if they really wanted to just donate the winner's 50% to the charity and the crowd yelled "YES!" I was almost speechless. (Almost.) I just stared at these wonderful people and said (humbly) into the microphone: "You guys rock." And they do!

Week 15 – August 10 (9 Miles), 7:00am

It's ONLY nine miles!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Isn't that weird? Just a few months ago, I was dreading a measly little three-mile run, and there I was facing a run that's three times longer and -- no problem! I couldn't believe how easy nine miles was to run. Jim's knee started to hurt a little at the end, but I was fresh as a daisy (a sweaty, muddy daisy, but... oh, you know what I mean!). I felt great! I've realized now how much my body has changed since those shuffling days in May. I have endurance now, and my body trusts me not to overwork it. (Or, I guess, I trust myself not to overwork it... whatever!) I know I've done more than nine miles before, so doing it this time is just ... EASY!

Unbelievable...

So, anyway... next week is the 20-miler and I'm a little nervous about it. I know I shouldn't be since I was able to do the 18-miler, and this is only two miles more, but... I just am. It's a big day! See ya then!

Week 16 – August 17 (20 Miles), 7:00am

Don't count your chickens before they hatch...

So, the 20-miler... I had reason to be nervous. The Friday before the run, I came down with something very weird (I think caused by a large highly caffeinated "decaf" iced coffee from Starbucks) and was shaking and nauseated and just not very happy. I was fine on Saturday, when my friend Joyce came over for a Russell-a-thon prior to being a water volunteer on Sunday. We got up before dawn (and got there before dawn) for my last 6am starting time, Joyce checked in and I found Jim. Coach Tod was on vacation this week for his birthday, so Rick from College Park was subbing for him. We went up to him after he had given everyone the strange directions we would be taking and said that we were just going to go ahead and start. I think he was startled because he asked, "Don't you start after the speeches?" We just laughed and said, "Oh no, we're the slowpokes! Tod usually gets us out first thing!" So, with a wave to Joyce and Mary Ann (Jim's wife), away we went...

Because they didn't want us having to cross Veirs Mill Road after running for nine miles (for which we are eternally grateful), they changed the trail a little bit this time. We started at the same point (the one-mile marker), but we ran back around the soccer fields to the zero-mile marker, and then forward again to the ten-mile marker and back to the one. (Trust me, it comes out to 20 miles!). Anyway, Jim and I got going as the sun began to peek through the clouds and were coming back from the 0-mile marker when we saw the Speed Demons on their way to it. They caught up with us as we were getting water from the "Barn" on our way to the 1-mile marker. Bahstahds! (Just kidding, of course! Heehee)

We crossed East-West Hwy and headed into the woods and I noticed that we weren't talking as much as we usually do (we're usually complete chatterboxes). I also noticed that Jim was already limping a little and I was also having a few dizzy spells, which I'm sure were left over from Friday night's illness. We weren't in good shape. Jim told me of how he'd had a bad week and hadn't been able to do his training runs, and how he had had to sit working lights with his legs dangling instead of steady on something. We kept going, but my dizzy spells got worse and he limped even more. Between the 6th and 7th mile, I said that I didn't think I was going to be able to finish 20 miles. Jim said he didn't think he could either. So, we decided to get to the 7th mile marker and turn around. It ended up that we still did 12 miles, which is respectable, and I think BOTH of us are glad that we didn't force ourselves to try for 20. The funniest thing was the look on people's faces as we passed them going back... "WOW! You guys are already coming back?" "Oh yeah, we did eight miles in NOTHING FLAT!" And Carolyn's face when she looked up at the Barn, and there we were chowing down on goodies... (which, by the way, were quite yummy! Snickers, cheese & peanut butter crackers, popsicles... YUM!)

I talked to her and she worked out that we will still be able to do the marathon. What we'll do is the 10 milers for the next two weeks as scheduled and then instead of 23 miles, we'll do 21. And then instead of 26 for the last training run, we'll run 24 miles. Then three weeks later, we'll run 26 miles in the marathon itself! She said that the way we've been training, we should have no problem working up to 26 miles without having done it before the race. I'm inclined to believe her, but I must admit I'm still a little worried about the timing thing. According to the Baltimore Marathon website, you have to finish in 7 hours, which is almost exactly a 16 min/mile average. Jim and I have averaged 16.5 min/miles at BEST. So, will we be able to finish the marathon in the time limit? I guess we'll find out on October 18.

Meanwhile... next week, I'm running on Saturday by myself. We're supposed to run either 10 miles, or a 5K race. I'm thinking about running a 5K race against myself... We'll see!

Final distance: 12 miles

Week 17 – August 24 (10 Miles or 5K race), 7:00am

Sorry this is so late! It's been a hectic two weeks!

In order to be able to attend a dinner party on Saturday, I decided to run on my own this weekend. So, I have a choice of running either 10 miles or a 5K race... let's see... 10 miles will take me about 2.5+ hours, a 5K race? About an hour. Hmmmmm, what to do, what to do... (duh!) 5K it is! So, I woke up fairly early on Saturday morning and headed out to the Crescent Trail with my trusty water bottles. Actually, I had just bought the double bottle fanny pack so I put Gatorade in one and water in the other. I figured that should be enough for 3.5 miles, especially since I was planning to go as fast as I could.

SO... I decided to start at the 3-mile marker, run to 1.5 and back, and then run to the 3.5-mile marker. Well, as I got close to the 2-mile marker, I realized that getting to the 1.5 marker involved crossing a major intersection... nah, didn't wanna do it. So, I turned back and decided to do another mile loop and then head to the 3.5 marker. I had started off really well, running 2 minutes and walking 3 minutes. After a while, I realized that I had over-estimated my ability (no, I wasn't wrong! I just over-estimated!), and I was tired! It was also a fairly usual hot and humid day, so I was sweating a lot and didn't have my usual pretzels to give me back my salt. So, I slowed down. Since I couldn't figure out how to change the interval on my watch while I was running, I decided to just run 1 minute and walk 4 for the rest of the time (this was on the 3rd mile). Still, I was doing really well, time-wise. I started out with a 13:40 mile, and my per mile average was 14:59! So, I think I did really well on my 5K experiment.

I was tired out afterwards, but at least I felt pretty good about myself. I went home and showered, then headed over for pancakes before going home and taking a nap. I woke up around 5:30pm, just in time to get dressed and ready for my friend's dinner party. The dinner was good and the company excellent -- but I was dead tired. I'm not sure what time it was that we left, but I think it was around 10pm! Fairly early for our little group, but not if one of them is a dead tired little runner!

My big worry though was the next day when I woke up not just tired, but feeling achy and oogy just like I had the week before when I had been sick. "Just what I need," I thought. So, I took it easy, slept a lot, and drank lots of fluids. I was still feeling oogy on Monday but ended up getting to and staying at work all day. By Wednesday though, I was just so out of it, I went home during the day and then called in sick the next day as well. I was worried again that I might not be well enough to run on Sunday. But I figured I'd just have to see how it goes...

Week 18 – August 30 (10 Miles), 7:00am

On the Friday before the run, I found out that our group was supposed to be providing the post-run food and fruit, etc. I tried contacting Jim and Candice by email, and never heard back from Jim re: fruit, but got a commitment from Candice to bring pretzels and candy. I called Bethesda Bagels and was able to pick up their end-of-day bagels at 5pm on Saturday (including the cranberry-raspberry bagels... YUM!). I went to Safeway and got some Snickers (for me) and Starburst (for Alesa) as well as more Gatorade and some peanut butter, and I figured that was the best I could do. In addition to all that, I had been sick a couple of days during the week and had not been able to do my mid-week runs. But, hey, it's only ten miles! Right? So, Alesa picked me up and was happy to hear about the Starburst (heehee), and we headed out to the Barn. We walked up with bags of bagels and goodies, and suddenly Lucy (Coach Tod's dog) was our best friend! 🐶 We got everything settled and Tod sent me and Jim on our way. Candice showed up as we were heading out and decided to join us for 10 miles, since she would need to do that for her half-marathon training anyway.

I must say, it was good to run with Candice again. We were probably a little slower than Jim and I alone would have run it on a usual day, but that didn't matter one bit. The main thing was to ensure that we did the miles and still felt human afterward. Since I had been sick the week before, I was very glad to be keeping the pace down and not getting dizzy during the run. And it was good to have someone else to bring some new life to the conversation! Candice told us that Edward had decided to quit training, but that she was still doing it -- except that she had to kind of make up the training schedule as she went along! She hadn't gone farther than ten miles, which she had last done with us (see picture above!). I kept telling her that if she could do ten miles, she should definitely be able to do thirteen! I think she will be able to do it easily.

To be honest, I'm writing this nearly a week later and can't remember all the little things that I usually remember during a run. I remember it was a fun run because the three of us were together again. And I remember that Alesa made me grab a bagel (cranberry-raspberry) or two and run so she could meet Jill for breakfast at the pancake house. I don't remember our times (Shock! Amazement!), or even how long it took us to do the whole thing... although I know it was pretty long. But I just don't really care about our times -- we did the ten miles, and this was after not running any of the mid-week runs!

I just remembered something... which might explain why I don't remember much else! (heehee) I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival with my friends that afternoon! I figured since it was a holiday weekend, I could recuperate on Monday, right? It was fun and much beer was had by all... But as always, I was a bit tired-out and was happy to get home and fall into my bed...

Week 19 – September 7 (21 Miles), 7:00am

Oh, what a beautiful mooooorning, oh what a beautiful daayyy...

MAN! What a beautiful weekend! It was dry and almost cold this morning, and boy was I glad! My friend Joyce picked me up because she has generously volunteered at the last minute as a desperately needed water volunteer. So, she picked me up at 6:40am and we headed over to the run site, listening to TOFOG's rendition of "Folsom Prison Blues" -- a great way to start the day...

As soon as we got there, Joyce went off to sign in as a volunteer and I headed off to sign in as a runner. Jim was already there and Candice showed up just as Tod was trying to send us out. Since we were planning to do 21 miles instead of 23, we had to figure out how to do it. So, Tod suggested that we start at the 0-mile marker (DC line) like everyone else, going back to the 1.5-mile point in DC (basically, the -1.5-mile marker) and then heading out to the 9-mile marker and ending up at the 1-mile marker as usual.

Candice decided to join us for the first eight miles, which would take her to the 5-mile marker on the trail and then come back to the 1-mile marker for a total of 12 miles. We headed back to the DC line and talked about how this was the route we had taken when we ran those horrible three miles so long ago. We weren't real happy about the hill, but we did it without getting run over by a car or a bike! We were passed by the "speed demons" and a couple of other groups because they must have started not long after we did. The worst thing for me was that my legs were feeling really crampy when we started off. They eventually felt better, so maybe it was just that it was cold... I don't know!

We were making pretty good time, around 18.5 min/miles, which is close to the 19 min/miles that they told us to aim for. It was fun to have the three of us running together again. I was on antibiotics to get rid of a persistent sinus infection and Jim had been to the doctor and was taking 800 mg of ibuprofen every four hours which helped him feel no pain in his knee, or anywhere else, I'm sure! Candice didn't have any ailments to complain about, so we just chatted and talked about life, the universe, and everything, and then suddenly Jim realized that if we took the route Coach Tod had given us, we'd only be doing 20 miles instead of 21. We considered running back to the 0-mile marker to give us the 21 miles but decided to see how we felt later on. Our times were a little slower in the wood, partially because we ran more slowly, but also because we had more stops (i.e. the 4½ mile port-a-potty, especially important because the 1½ mile port-a-potty had been knocked over!). But it was truly a beautiful day, which makes it a lot easier to be out there... at least that's what I think!

So, at the 5-mile marker, Candice reluctantly turned around and headed back to the barn. I'm not sure if she wanted to keep running with us or if she just didn't want to run back four miles on her own. I know she was tired, because this 12-miler was the longest she had run so far. The good thing is that I *KNOW* that she will be able to do her half-marathon! But I missed her presence, especially since that cute guy we had both drooled about *did* pass us again coming back!

So, Jim and I headed on... into the trees, under the bridge, and over the hill to Joyce's water stop a little after the 6-mile marker. She was at a picnic table this time (since she had displayed a tendency to confiscate water tables the last time ... heehee), and she was well supplied with water, Gatorade, pretzels, candy, and my favorite water spritzer fan! She also had a cooler full of cold paper towels and ice, for which we were very grateful. But the best thing was the big smile on her face and her cheery encouragement -- things like that really do help! At her request, I told her about the 4 ½ mile port-a-potty and told her she could probably go between groups, and definitely after we returned because we'd probably be last in. Of course, the speed demons were probably on their way back already, so she didn't want to leave the table un-manned... so to speak. Anyway, Jim and I grabbed a bunch of pretzels and decided to ignore that beeping interval timer that was telling us to run while we ate. I mean, really! How unhealthy would that be?

We made it over the hills to the water stop at the 8-mile marker (11 miles total at this point) and realized we only had one more mile to go before we could turn around! And luckily, we didn't have to do that last two miles which included a bunch of MAJOR hills! We got to the turn-around point and headed back with smiles on our faces (only eight more miles!), but I think both of us were really, REALLY tired. Soon after we turned back, Jim came out with one of his bad jokes... man, I love that! He saves them for when we're headed back, every week. And OH, are they groaners! I'd tell them to you if I could remember them, but I'm hopeless with jokes. I either remember the set-up or I remember the punchline -- never both at the same time. *sigh* I guess I just have to put up with being funny-looking instead. heeheeheehee!

With Jim's jokes to sustain us, we were still doing pretty well, but our feet were beginning to really really hurt. Around two miles out, we met up with a girl from one of the other groups who had an injury and was walking the last few miles. Both of us were dead tired so we decided to join her. We still went the whole distance, it's just that we walked (hobbled) the last two miles. When we got back to the Barn, we told them that we were really tired so we had walked the last part.

After chowing down on cookies, bananas, and Gatorade, Joyce took me back home. It was nearly 2pm, so Joyce wanted to get home in time to watch the Giants play (boooo! hisssss! heehee) and all I could think of was: BED. SHOWER. BED. And that's pretty much what I did. I cooled down by reading on the balcony for a bit, then took my shower, slathered myself in Aspercreme, and crawled into bed. What was amazing to me was that on Monday, I got up and went to work -- and my legs were FINE! My feet hurt and my Achilles tendons were sore, but my LEGS were fine! Maybe I *will* be able to do this marathon, after all!

Week 20 – September 14 (8 Miles or 5K race), 7:00am

Um.

er...

Aha!
No...

Drat! This is pathetic! It's only a week later, and I can't for the life of me remember this run! I know we did eight miles, and I think it was a nice day out... I know that afterward, I went over and watched the first half of the Redskins game with Megan, George, and Anne... it's just that the past week has been one of the weirdest weeks ever and it seems to have knocked out my memories of the Sept. 14 run! Doh!

Ah well, onto this week's run...

Week 21 – September 21 (10 Miles), 7:00am

Witnessing the wrath of Isabel...

OK, I left work early on Wednesday to attend doctor appointments, and then I found out that the Metro was closing at 11am on Thursday because of Hurricane Isabel. Later on, I found out that the federal government was closing on Thursday because of Isabel, and boy did I cheer! Because my office follows the Feds, so that meant that MY office was closed too! (YAHOO!)

So, did I head to the grocery store for bottled water? Did I batten down the hatches? Well, of course not! I headed to Barnes & Noble and picked up a couple of DVDs and books. I figured if the power was on but the cable was out, I could watch the DVDs. If it was all out, I could read the books by flashlight. No worries, mate! I sat out on my (dutifully emptied) balcony most of Thursday, just waiting for the winds to start. Apparently, Isabel waited until late that night because I never saw them. But, the next morning, the Feds were closed again, there were power outages, trees down, cable outages, no hot water, and LOTS of leaves and debris all over the streets.

I was lucky in that my power did not go out. The lights did a bit of a flip Thursday night, but it all came right back on. However, I had no cable (that's what the DVDs are for!) and no hot water. But, I was quite happy with watching "Casablanca" for a while. Eventually, I decided to head outside, so what did I do? I went to a movie! Well, I wandered around a bit too, seeing what was open and what was not. It looked like half of Bethesda was without power. But the other half was hopping!

The line out of the bagel place was halfway down the block. Other stores and restaurants had either half power or had their own generator to keep them going. Someone told me that Haagen-Dazs had stayed open until 3am on Saturday night -- because people just kept coming in!

ANYWAY! Back to the purpose of this journal...

My friend Karen spent the night with me on Saturday night because she had graciously volunteered to give out water for the run. Angela, who had volunteered before and was joining Karen to do so again, was picking us up on Sunday morning. Luckily, she (Ang) got her power back on Saturday afternoon so she didn't have to worry about alarm clocks! After Karen arrived, she and I went out to rent a movie and came back empty-handed, but when we got back... there was my new computer! I could see the boxes behind the security desk, so Karen helped me get them up to my apartment and then she enjoyed watching the giggling kid with her new toy. About an hour and a half later I remembered that I had promised her dinner! Doh! Luckily, I had made up a big batch of pasta and meat sauce earlier that day, so I nuked up a bowl for her... and a littler one for me just because I couldn't resist the smell! Heehee

The morning was just lovely -- no hot water, remember? So, I just splashed my face and put on my running togs. I ran around the house like crazy, trying to make sure I didn’t forget anything. I had the bagels I had bought for the run... I filled up my water bottle with Gatorade and water... I made sure I had a new Clif bar in my belt... I had my watch, shoes, etc... I had my little backpack and an extra shirt to wear... Karen had all she needed... I put an extra bottle of water in my backpack... WHAT was I missing? Well, I couldn't remember, so we just headed on downstairs.

And then Alesa showed up. I said, "I'm guessing you didn't get my message?" Of course not! Her power was out so she couldn't check messages! Ah well. She said that she wasn't really planning to run today anyway, because her knee was still not working properly. I told her that Angela was picking us up, so she could go back home if she wanted to, but she was still debating whether to be a water volunteer or not. She stayed for a little while and we realized that it was getting really close to 7am. I also suddenly realized that I had forgotten my cell phone! (THAT'S what it was! Of course!)

So, I ran back upstairs and got my cell phone, but I still had that weird feeling that I was forgetting something. I turned the phone on when I got in the elevator and I got the beep meaning I had a message. It was Angela, of course. She was running late, but only about five minutes away. Since Alesa was going to the run site anyway, I asked her to go on ahead and let them know that I'd be there in a few minutes. As Alesa was getting into her car, Angela drove into the driveway in her brand spankin' new (2 day old) car. Soooo, we were a few minutes late, but no biggie!

We drove up (carefully avoiding messy mud puddles) and noticed that our group was in the middle of the parking lot instead of in the "Barn" -- apparently, there was a 5K charity event going on that was using the Barn for their gathering point. Since it looked like our runners were getting ready to leave, Angela let me out before parking the baby (car). I walked up and Tod told Jim and I to get on our way. Jim looked at me and said, "Are you ready?" "Yep! All set!" "What about your water?"

DOH!!! After carefully preparing my water bottle and getting all my stuff together to get out here... I had left my water bottle and belt at home! That meant no food either! ACK! I just about freaked out, until Tod said, "Well do you have any water?" And I remembered that I had the extra bottle I had put in my backpack. I'd have to hold it for the whole run, but at least I had water! With that settled, off we went. (I had already pointed out Carolyn to my water volunteers, so I didn't have to worry about that!)

As we walked to the 1-mile marker to start our run, we almost got run down by one of the "Mad Drivers" as Jim was calling them. Apparently, the ladies organizing the 5K run had forgotten that you're not supposed to drive 55 on access roads... After that little adventure in death, Jim explained our route to me. Apparently, because of the recent hurricane, the road between mile markers 5 & 6 was impassable with downed trees. So, we were going to run to marker 5 (4 miles), back to 0 (DC line) and then back to the Barn, making almost 10 miles.

Both of us were feeling pretty good, although my legs began cramping in my shins again. I've just about decided that I'll be in pain for about two miles and then my body will be warmed up and everything will be fine. (Weird body!) After we'd completed one mile, I thought it would feel better, but instead I started getting like pins and needles in my right knee. "Maybe I need Gatorade," I thought, and looked forward to the first water stop at about 1.5 miles.

We came up to it and I first thought it was Angela's car, but then I decided the girl beside it was too thin to be Angela. And then I realized it WAS Angela! She's lost 44 lbs and man, does she look great! I waved as we got closer and told her what had just happened, to laughter. The only problem was that they didn't have any Gatorade or pretzels... and the pains just kept getting worse. I was really getting a little worried because I didn't think I could keep going for much longer. But I was also side-tracked by the sights around me.

Hurricane Isabel had definitely had a good time in Rock Creek Park! There were trees down all OVER the place! At one point on the trail (approximately 2.5 miles in) there was a tree across the trail! It had obviously fallen over and gotten caught on another tree on the other side so it was kind of an upside-down U-shape. We had to duck under it to keep going, and I must admit, that wasn't one of my most secure moments! And neither were the several miles inside the woods, hearing the trees bending and creaking around us! It was a beautiful sunny day, but we sure had evidence of different weather all around us.

SO, we're running along, I'm still getting the pains in my knee and I'm a little wary of the trees around me. But then, we got to the branch in the trail that either goes over Connecticut Avenue or under it through a tunnel. We had been told to go through the tunnel because the traffic lights were out and they didn't want us getting killed. As we headed toward the tunnel, we saw Linda walking across the grass with jugs of water and Gatorade, and a jar of pretzels. We called out to her ("PRETZELS!") and she came over to fill up our bottles and give us pretzels. Apparently, she had been on the other side of the road and had kept missing people because of the tunnel. So, she decided to move over to where the path branched. Smart woman! Anyway, I grabbed about four pretzels because I was hungry and these were the good ones: Utz Sourdough Pretzels. Oh yum! And you know what? The pain in my knee started to go away! I ate another one, and it disappeared completely! Methinks I needed some salt!

Once we got a little sustenance, the run just got about ten times better. Our times were rockin' (we even had one sub-16 min/mile! Woohoo!) and we were feeling pretty good. (We started off with some 17 min miles and our final average was 16:30, so YOU figure it out! ) As we turned around at the 5-mile marker (4 miles), I cheered, saying something like "Half way there!" until Jim reminded me that we were adding another two miles on at the end. What a downer! heehee Oh well, no biggie, right? As we got closer to the Barn, we noticed a rampaging horde of walkers (OK, I *might* be exaggerating a bit... but not that much!) heading toward us. Now see, one of the things that has been hammered into our heads since Day One back in May is that you MUST, absolutely MUST be courteous to your fellow exercisers! Which means you MUST follow the rules of the trail. This means that you do not run (walk or bike) more than two abreast and you always stay to the right to let the faster people pass on the left. If you are a faster person, you make sure to let the slow-pokes know that you're coming up on them so they can get out of the way. Apparently, these charity walkers were not given the same instructions. Even though Jim and I were running towards them in single file on the left, they barely gave us an inch. I was actually saying "excuse me, pardon me, excuse me" JUST to be able to run on the path! They were walking five abreast and completely unconscious of anyone else existing in the world. RATHER annoying, if you ask me. OK, rant complete... heeheehee Just remember the rules of the trail if you're ever out there, OK? Thanks!

Sooooo, we passed the one-miler marker and I kept trying to convince Jim that we really should just head back. But he's a tough nut to crack so I just gave up and kept running. We went around the soccer fields, noticing the smell of the 5K grills puffing out really enticing smells. To my surprise, we had one more water stop right where the path separates around the fields, and I almost didn't recognize Sarah with her hair down. But we headed over the bridge, commenting on how fast the creek was running, enjoying all the dogs out walking their owners, and around another soccer field, through the woods to the DC Line and the 0-mile marker. We went up to the marker and slapped it as if it was a relay race or something. I think we were just delirious. Maybe I was just hungry. On the way back to the Barn, I started thinking about what I would have for breakfast. See, I was taking Angela and Karen to the Original Pancake House (which I knew had electricity) for breakfast after we got back, so I knew what decisions I had to make... Blueberry pancakes? Or Continental Crepes? Definitely a side of bacon... (uh oh, now I'm drooling again!)

So, we got to our make-shift "Barn," and the first thing I said was, "Blueberry pancakes!" Angela and Karen started laughing and I made my way over to the bagels and bananas for something to tide me over until we got there. There were a lot of left-over bagels, so I decided to take them back and give them to the security desk in my building. I figured there were people with no electricity who might enjoy a bagel or two! We got back home and I braved a cold shower: before heading over for Pancakes. We had an hour wait but let me tell you... it was WORTH IT! Man-o-man-o-man, do I love pancakes and bacon...

So, the important points of this week's episode are:

Isabel did more damage than I thought she'd do.
I will put my water belt on the door knob of my apartment on Saturday nights
Paaaaaannnnnnnnnnnccaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeesssssssssss
Baaaaaaacccoooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Why do I feel so... Homerish? (Doh!)

p.s. Karen was kind enough to take some pics from this run, so I've posted them below. I'm the one in orange

Strike a pose

Beep! Time to run!

The (First and) Last Water Stop

Almost there!

See? We really DO run!

Interlude - 09/29/03

I realized there were some things that I had wanted to mention along the way but never had, so I thought I'd mention them here.

1. I think I’m the poster child for Body Glide: Body Glide™ -- the best stuff known to runners and women with fat thighs. Prevents chafing and doesn’t rub off. Buy some today! heeheehee

2. I've really enjoyed running through Rock Creek Park, because it's absolutely gorgeous! It amazes me that I've run from Chevy Chase to Rockville, and I'm going to try to get a map of that so you can see what that means. I've seen deer close up and personal, in fact, Jim and I were walking about 30 feet away from a beautiful 4-point buck once. He just lifted his head and watched us warily as we kept walking, then he bounded back into the woods. Beautiful! We also saw a mother deer and fawn once (BAMBI! Awwwwww!), just barely into the woods off the path. They scurried away very quickly, but Jim and I were both going "Awwwwwwwwww!"

3. Another thing about Rock Creek Park is that it's been so cool to have seen the effects of the wildly different weather we've had this year. Back in the Spring, the creek (pronounced "crick" of course! heehee) was a raging torrent, with broken trees and debris (NOT pronounced "derbis") caught around the bridge supports, and mud slithering across the path, making even walking treacherous. For most of the Summer, it was just the beautiful green green green that all that rain made possible, plus bugs (and more bugs), but the trails dried up and so did the creek. The water level fell and several inlets went from pools to mudbaths to dirt. And then came Isabel! Ka-BLAM! We thought we'd seen a lot of trees down during the Spring, but man, what a difference after the hurricane! The creek was raging again, the water level up again, and the evidence of it breaking its banks just a little scary! Trees were broken over the trails, in the streets, and all over the forest. Now the weather has turned cooler again, so I can't wait to run the last two maintenance runs through the park and enjoy the green sunlight fluttering down through the leaves, and the breeze keeping me cool as I run by the soccer fields. Heck, I might even wear that long sleeve running shirt I bought too late to wear in the Spring! (Ahhhh, nature!)

4. The people I've met and have run with throughout the training program have been outstanding! I'll have more comments about Carolyn in particular in my *next* installment, but down to a person, the volunteers and "site reps" and coaches and EVERYONE associated with the AIDS Marathon Training Program have been so supportive, friendly, helpful, concerned, and they just made it so much easier to come out and run like crazy. I know that I would not have made it as far as I have without them! And then there are my running buddies: Jim, Candace, Edward, Aperna and Laurel from Chevy Chase; Shirley and Pearl from College Park (more about them later), all of whom put up with me, sometimes pushing me to keep going, and always there with a smile or a joke to make those miles just a little bit shorter.

5. And WOW! Look at how FAR I've come! I now go to the gym regularly (last year, I think I used the dang card once! If that!), I've lost 12 lbs, and I'm in much better shape (hey! My clothes fit!) I'm happier, and not at all afraid of showing off my lily-white legs and hopping, er, run/walking down the trail. And I'm gonna run a marathon! OMG!

OK -- off the bully pulpit. I wrote down notes from my 23-miler, so I'll be posting that as soon as I can. I just need to get my new computer set up and then I'll get it posted... I promise!

Week 22 – September 28 (24-26 Miles), 7:00am

Twenty-three miles? HA! Piece of cake! (Cake? Where?!?!?!?)

OK, so it wasn't really a piece of cake. But, I'm glad I did it on Saturday instead of Sunday because it gave me an extra day to recuperate... and mad at myself for doing it on Saturday because the weather on Sunday was about 10 degrees cooler and nicely gray and breezy! One can never win...

Anyway... since Alesa’s knee was still hurting, she decided not to run at all this weekend *and* since I didn’t need to bring any water volunteers, I decided to rent a car for the weekend so I could get down to East Falls Church by 7am for the run. This was the last “really long” run of the training, so everyone would be running at East Falls Church, regardless of their usual training site. Before I left the office on Friday, I made sure to print out the directions so I wouldn’t get lost... and then promptly left them at home on Saturday morning. Luckily, I knew we had to park at the East Falls Church metro station, which was right off of I-66, so I figured I’d find it (and I did). Shortly after I pulled in and parked, CJ and the other woman whose name I can never remembered pulled up right next to me. There were some other people in the parking lot looking a whole lot like runners, so we ended up following them up the street where we saw the ubiquitous yellow shirts of AIDS Marathon Training Program volunteers.

Following their directions, we crossed the street and followed the path to the basketball court where everybody (and their brother, it seemed) was waiting until 7am to get started. As usual, we had to sign in, but I was all turned around because the Libbys were closest to me instead of on the other side. The clipboard had the list for East Falls Church, so I started to write my name in as a visitor. Then my brain kicked in and I lifted the sheet to find all the other sites’ lists. So, I signed in on the Chevy Chase page, and then joined the growing line for the Porta-Potty (there were two of them... for about 400 people, great!). I was only about five people from the front when one of the coaches started calling for Pace Group Leaders (PGL). I realized that only one other Libby had signed in, and when I talked to her, she said she was walking the whole way. Since I might just be doing this one alone, I’d have to be my own PGL, so I got out of line and headed for the group around the coach. There were so many of us they split it up into two groups and went over the route etc. The 26-milers would be starting at the 5-mile marker and heading back towards Arlington for three miles (to the 2-mile marker), then looping back and continuing up to the 15-miler marker, and then back to the 5-mile marker for the finish. Since several people would not be doing the full 26 miles, he directed us over to Carolyn and Pam for instructions on how to start off.

I was doing 23 miles, but I still didn’t have anyone to run with – which is a BIG no-no and wouldn’t be allowed. I was beginning to get really worried that I wouldn’t be able to run, and then I saw some other people hanging around the Libby sign and asked them what their pace was. They were in the next faster group, the Khalids (named after Khalid Khannouchi and they were running “officially” at 16:30. Shirley was planning to run 20 miles and Aperna was doing 13 miles because she was training for the half-marathon. I figured I should be able to run with Shirley, but we needed to find out how to arrange the different distances. Aperna’s other half-marathon training partner showed up, so Shirley and I ended up deciding that I would go run from the 5-mile marker to 3.5-mile marker, then come back and pick her up for the last 20 miles. This worked out well, especially because the first water stop was at the 3.5-mile marker.

When I got back to the basketball court a little over 45 minutes later, groups were still heading out for the first six miles! I found that Pearl had joined Shirley while she was waiting for me. Apparently, Shirley and Pearl have been running together at the College Park run site, so they knew each other quite well. Pearl was pleased that Shirley hadn’t left yet, so it really did work out well that she had to wait for me! As soon as we got started again, I asked my usual question of why they decided to do this training, and their responses were a lot like mine. We talked about diets and losing weight (apparently, Dr. Beale is the way to go!), problems with our various body parts, men, problems with men, etc. etc. etc.

The trail was very different from what I was used to because it ran next to soccer fields and then onto residential streets! At one point, we almost got completely lost because the trail split and one way went to the stop light and across the street, but the main part kind of just ended and became sidewalk. Of course, we went the wrong way, and then realized that something was wrong. We looked around and saw another group coming and decided to follow them. They crossed at the light, and voila! There was the trail again! (Amazing!) Usually, the site reps or coaches would make sure to indicate which direction to go in chalk, but I guess they forgot this time! Anyway, we were on the W&OD trail, which was created by pulling up the old train tracks for the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) railway. So, the trail actually went through towns at places! It was pretty cool to run/walk through Old Town Vienna and its old railway station, etc. And there were these really beautiful viney things all along the trail – they might be blueberries, but none of us knew. They have these berry-like things on them that run the gamut from lime green to teal to lavender to deep blueberry purple. Just absolutely gorgeous!

Of course, the weirdest and wildest thing was crossing over all the highway bridges... Now let me say one thing first: I hate bridges! I have a strange and irrational fear of bridges. I’m usually OK with the kind of bridges you walk over because they are generally short and fairly sturdy. But I hate driving over (or just being on) bridges like the Bay Bridge, and all that. Why? There is no WHY! It’s an irrational fear, remember? They’re just not SAFE! (pant pant pant... OK, I’m fine!)

ANYWAY... I was OK on most of the bridges, even the ones over I-66 with its six lanes of traffic. They were pretty sturdy and I just kept talking to Shirley and Pearl to keep my mind off of it. Then we came to the Beltway. We were walking over the Beltway, and I was actually looking out at the traffic – there was a very tall fence above the stone wall so I didn’t feel I would fall off. And then a semi rolled past beneath us and the bridge started swaying. Shirley grabbed my hand and we both screamed and began running – and I mean RUNNING to the other side! Pearl was beside herself with laughter and so were we, once we caught our breath. I think Shirley and I both had cartoon eyes at that point – big, huge, and googly! I’m not sure how long it took us to stop saying “OMG! OMG! OMG!” But we kept going...

I kept missing mile markers, so my “splits” were for two or more miles at a time and I’ve gotten completely confused as to where we were at what point in our trek. I’ll just tell you about it and you’ll just have to forgive me if I got the timeline or location wrong, OK? Good.

So, there was a 5K being walked that day too, and they joined us on the path for a little bit, until they turned off at the nice policeman on his big huge bike (of the motorcycle variety). I think that was at the 10-mile marker, but to be honest, I really have no idea! The last couple of miles to the turn-around seemed very straight and dry. Hmmm, to think about it, I guess a railroad track normally would be pretty straight, eh? Anyway – I had a great time chatting with Shirley and Pearl, hearing about their run site, telling them about mine (and about Jim and his great bad jokes), talking about serious subjects as well as the not-so-serious ones. Ogling all the handsome young (and not-so-young) men running, riding, or walking by. Those two were a riot!

We kept being passed by groups of runners, both AIDS Marathoners and others, bikers, and by the “angels.” Oh! I forgot about them! Some of the coaches and program reps had yellow halos around their heads and cardboard wings on their backs... I kept calling them the “angels of mercy.” They were riding their bikes back and forth on the trail, as well as occasionally running, to make sure everyone was OK. It was funny in a weird way, because there were SO MANY of us on the trail! Some people had started before I did, some started afterward (remember, some were just starting when I came back to start the 20 miles with Shirley and Pearl), some doing a full twenty-six miles, but many of us doing less. So, we were spread out all over that trail! As we got closer to the 15-mile marker, we saw more and more people coming towards us, all with the good news that “it’s not much farther!”

The turn-around was pretty unremarkable, just a mile marker with one of the AIDS Marathon volunteers there to let us know the good news. But it SURE made a difference! I think all of us got a bit of a lift just because we were on the way back “home.” Poor Pearl said she was hitting her 10-mile doldrums, but that it would eventually pick up. I was starting to wear down... my feet hurt, especially my left foot, I was tired, I was really really hot. It had turned out to be a beautiful day – warm, sunny, hot, humid, sweaty... hmmm, maybe not the best day for running 23 miles, eh? When we turned back home, we turned into the sun. I could feel it burning into my forehead, so I put my hat back on, even though it made me feel hotter... at least I wouldn’t get completely fried, right? Also, it’s a white hat (yes, made with CoolMax), so it should reflect the sun and help keep me cooler, right? Well, it was worth a try.

As we passed the Porta-Potty off the trail at around the 14-mile marker, I had the thought that I should probably have had a pitstop there. But, I really didn’t need to. I was just thinking of where the next one was... and if I recalled correctly, it was a long way off! “Ahh, never mind, you’ll be fine!” I told myself. Well, it turned out the next bladder break wasn’t for another five miles or so! Luckily, it wasn't a Porta-Potty, but a recreation center that had three stalls, because all three of us were close to bursting! Pearl and I were both close to quitting at that point, but after relieving ourselves, we both felt a lot better and decided to keep going for a bit longer. We stuffed ourselves with more pretzels and I grabbed some more Starbursts (love those things) for the road, and we headed off again, all of us sucking on ice or candies to keep ourselves going.

After that pitstop, the going got harder and harder for me. We had gotten to the “shuffle shuffle crawl crawl” stage, so instead of doing a walk/run ratio, we were doing a walk/shuffle ratio. My foot was just about killing me, and I was worried that I was getting dehydrated, even though I had my two-bottle water belt on. I didn’t think I was eating enough, so I tried to make sure to take a bite or two every so often. At the water stop, I had filled up one bottle with water, the other with Gatorade. Usually, the Gatorade at the water stops is very diluted because Gatorade itself doesn’t have enough water in it – but I think this Gatorade was full strength. Whatever. We were running (shuffling) next to I-66 at this point, which I remember was the 8.5-mile marker (only 3.5 miles left!), and then up a huge hill to the last water stop.

One of the guys there was a true angel – he had hand towels soaked in ice water in one of the coolers. HEAVEN! I took off my hat and just pulled the towel over my head and let it drip all over me. I sat down and started thinking and decided that I’d had it. I looked over at Shirley and Pearl and told them that I was quitting there. I figured I had already run nearly 20 miles, and that was just going to have to be good enough. My feet hurt, I was sunburned and hot, and really thirsty... and just didn’t think I could keep going. They were very kind and tried to convince me to come with them. We figured I’d get a ride back with one of the water stop people, so I promised I’d wait for them at the finish line. They went on with my best wishes, and I sat back down on the bench, drinking my fill of water and the purple Gatorade (good stuff that), and wallowing in the glory of an ice cold wet hand towel.

I was disappointed, but I was also just beat. Rick, one of the coaches (College Park, so he knew Shirley and Pearl), talked to me for a while to make sure I was OK, as did another coach (really cute guy with brown curly hair and nice eyes – one problem with training with the AIDS Marathon group though: All the cute guys are gay! (or probably) so *sigh*). Anyway, I assured them that I was OK, except that my feet were killing me and that I was really hot. Another woman was sitting there too – she had been driven back from the 13-mile marker water stop and was waiting for her group to come back so she could join them. She suggested that I rest with her and then run back with them because they were only one or two pace groups faster than me, but at that point, I just couldn’t see me making it. I was really discouraged! And I really didn’t want to quit! But my feet just really really hurt.

So, I reached down and loosened my left shoe. I knew better than to take it off completely because I’d never get it back on, so I just untied it and pulled back on the laces a bit (you know the part where they cross each other), then retied it. Hmmmmm. That feels... good! I did the same with the other shoe... and you know what? It felt better immediately too! Hmmmmmmmmmmmm! So, I stood up and walked around a bit. WOW! What a difference! I kept walking around, drinking water, and wiping my neck with the cold towel, and started smiling. I looked up at Rick and said that I thought I’d like to continue! At that point, another group came up for their water, and Rick asked me to wait until they were gone so we could discuss it a bit more. So, I did.

But then he realized that I probably should have gone with the three last girls of that group because they were Khalids also and I could have probably stayed up with them. So, at that point, I headed back out to the trail, feeling much better physically, and a WHOLE lot better mentally! My feet still hurt, but at least I could feel all my toes! And I knew I was sunburned, but I’d been able to put on some more sunscreen at that last water stop, as well as having the amazing cooling power of those wet towels. Plus, I’d pulled myself up by the bootstraps and made myself do what I had to do. That felt really good!

Since I had decided to quit earlier, I had turned off my timer and chrono, so I had to start up again. Because I hadn’t started off with that group of girls in front of me, we ended up leap-frogging for the rest of the way! I’d run and get ahead of them, and then start walking, then they’d run and get ahead of me... etc. etc. etc. My main thing was to keep sight of them to make sure I wasn’t alone on the trail. Apparently, that was a concern for the coaches too, because Cute Guy came riding up on his bike about a mile later, just to see how I was doing. He was also concerned because I had mentioned being overheated before. I assured him that I was doing much better and that my real reason for stopping had been my foot hurting so much. He laughed with me when I explained that loosening the shoe had done the trick! Just one of those things you don’t think of if you’ve never done this before! I was walking for most of this, but he rode by me when I started my run segment too. He had to continue on to the end to make sure of something, but he said he would be back to check me out... “You’re coming back to check me out?” I said, evilly... we both laughed and he said, “Uh yeah!” As he left, I realized that I should have gotten his name... and found out if he were straight or not. *sigh* (heeheehee)

Oh well! I was training for a marathon, not trying to pick up guys! *smack* Oh yeah, I knew that! I kept running and walking, and was still feeling pretty good, like I had a second wind. Rick ran up to me about one mile out from the end and stayed with me to keep me company. At this point, all that water and Gatorade I’d had at the stop had well, worked its way through, so to speak, and I was fair to bursting again. So, I decided to stop running. Why? YOU try running on a full bladder! It AIN’T pleasant! I didn’t say anything, but Rick kept trying to get me to run, especially at the end... I started suspecting something and asked him if there was some big to-do at the end. Without actually saying so, he said there was. So, I explained how I didn’t think my bladder could take the pressure of running at this point. Luckily, he knew the area and the trail much better than I did and advised me to hit the Porta-Potty on the soccer field just before the bridge at the end, and then run the rest of the way. After that, he ran forward to advise some other runners that they should end up running too... I turned off the trail at the 5-mile marker (which was officially the end) and found the porta-potty by the soccer field. I headed back to the trail, started running under the bridge and just laughed at was in front of me!

Those wonderful psychos had put up cones to lead the runners under a balloon arch, with signs all over the place saying “Congrats!” “You’re the best!” and “You’re a hero!” and such like that. I ran in, grinning like an idiot, and there was Carolyn. I saw her saying to the other program reps, “Oh no, this one is mine! She’s definitely one of mine!” And she jumped up, grabbed a medal and met me at the end with a HUGE hug and a medal! Her eyes were huge and proud and well, it just made me feel SO glad that I had completed the 23 miles after all!

Another group was coming in, so I looked around to find the food that’s always there at the end and to see if Shirley and Pearl were still there. They were! I grabbed a PBJ sandwich and some chocolate chip cookies and made my way over to where they were sitting. They didn’t even see me come up, probably because they weren’t expecting me. I got their attention and told them that I had decided to keep going after all. Apparently, they had just gotten there about 15 minutes before me, so I made the same pace after all. Afterward, when Carolyn asked, I figured out that I’d run 23 miles in about 7:15 – including that 15 minutes I sat at the 3.5-mile water stop. And that works out to a pretty good time, just over 18 min/mile – which is what I was supposed to run! Yay!

As an aside... I mentioned earlier that I grabbed a PBJ sandwich... Generally, I don’t like PBJ sandwiches. But I’ve found that there are a LOT of foods that I generally don’t like that are REALLY good during or after a long long run! Pretzels, bananas, PBJ sandwiches... What’s next? Cilantro? (Bleechk, ptui!) NOT!
OK, back to your regularly scheduled journal...

After getting my sweat jacket back (and seeing no need to put it on), I grabbed some more food and water and walked back to my car. Along the way I walked with Jacques (pronounced “Jack KWEES”) who was very nice and whom I hope to meet again. We both were parked in the North parking lot, but when we got there, I couldn’t find my (rented) car! It was a bright red Ford Focus, so it should have been fairly obvious, but nooooo, it was nowhere to be found! “Oh great, now I’m going to have to walk 25 miles home!” But no, Jacques was smart enough to realize that there was another parking lot “over there” and voila! There was the car! OK, so maybe my brain was a little fried at that point. I was sunburned and I had just run/walked 23 miles, my body hurt and my brain was a little fuzzy. I think I’ve got an excuse!

Anyway, Jacques waited until I got the car started and headed out of the lot, we waved at each other and I followed her out. And then I realized I had no idea how to get back to I-66 West. I-66 East had all the signs in the world, but I didn’t want to head back into Arlington! I kept looking for road signs and recognized Washington Boulevard, so I turned onto it. I used to know that road pretty well because I worked off of it. Sure enough, I started recognizing the area... and sure enough, I was heading straight into Arlington! Doh! Well, at least I knew how to get to I-66 West from there! I turned onto Glebe Road and got on the highway headed home. I was proud that I remembered the turn from I-66 to the Beltway, because it’s a little sneaky, but driving along the Beltway, I was wondering why there was all that traffic. And I realized my head was still a little fuzzy. I kept wanting to go to sleep – and that would be a bad thing. So, I turned the radio up loud, rolled down the window, and turned the AC up. And I stayed as far right as I could. Eventually, I was nearly home and I heard the weather report... “Today is bright sunshine, highs in the mid-80s, but tomorrow will be a big change. Tomorrow, look for gray skies and winds, highs only in the 70s!” I groaned and realized that Sunday was going to be a PERFECT day to run! Oh well, at least my run was over!

I dropped everything off at my place and then parked the car in one of the Metro lots so it wouldn’t get towed in 12 hours when I forgot to re-sign it in (as would have happened in my visitor’s lot). On the walk back, I realized that I actually felt pretty good, except for the swollen feet. My legs didn’t really hurt, but I did have some chafes etc. I got home and turned on a mild shower and that’s when I learned every reason they talk to us about Body Glide for chafing, sunscreen, bug spray, etc. Once the nice cool water hit me, I felt burning pinpricks on my back (where my bras had chafed), under and inside my arms (bras and shirt), the back of my neck (necklace), and all over my face, neck and shoulders where I was sunburned, and my ankles were itching like crazy.

I made it through the shower and glopped on aloe and lotion, plus Neosporin on the chafes, Cortaid on the itches, and SportCreme all over my legs and ankles. My Achilles tendon was hurting like crazy, so I put some of that blue stuff that had worked so well last weekend. Did I tell you about it? It’s one of those travel size tubes of “Icy Blue” or something nebulous like that. On the back it said, “Instant results” and I was like, “Riiiiiight!” But at the time, I didn’t have any AsperCreme or SportCreme to do the job, so I put some of it on my ankle. And voila! The pain was gone! Amazing! Found out later it’s basically pure menthol. Probably really bad for me. But it works! heehee ANYWAY... My legs started hurting a little on Sunday, but I kept going out for walks around town, but then ended up getting really tired around noon. I’d woken up at 8am, of course (of course???) but it could have been that manicure and pedicure... (just possibly! heehee) Anyway, I took it easy and slept most of the day, watching the Redskins win in between. So on Monday, I was well rested and my legs didn’t really hurt at all. What’s amazing is that even my feet didn’t hurt!

So now, I’ve got about 2 ½ weeks until my marathon. I’m really feeling confident about it now because I’ve gone so far already. When Jim and I ran the 20 miler, we did it in about 6.5-7 hours. I did the 23 in about 7 hours. Hopefully, I can keep my pace up and do the 26.2 in about 7 hours as well!

No problem!

See ya next week!

Week 23 – October 5 (8 Miles), 8:00am

2nd to last training run, and I’m running on my own...
I had friends coming into town this weekend and plans to go to the Renaissance Festival, so I decided to run on Saturday morning instead of Sunday. Soooooo, I woke up without the alarm around 6:30am, put on warm running clothes (it was about 45 degrees outside!) and packed up a bag with munchies and a gallon of diluted Gatorade. I headed out to the Crescent Trail with my double bottle water belt and my cell phone thinking it would a very boring run...
Wrong!

I left the keys at the security desk and walked through the tunnel (see below) to the 3-mile marker. The marker was almost hidden by downed trees and I looked around more closely at the major destruction that still abounded even two weeks after Hurricane Isabel. The trail was pretty clear, but there were chopped up trees on the side and snapped trunks and branches all over the place. I looked down the trail at just before the 2.5 marker and saw a HUGE tree over the path (see below again!). There had been mystical and mental roadblocks to my run... now there are really big physical ones! The first tree was about five feet off the ground, so even I had to duck under it! About 50 feet later, there was another tree. (That’s the pic with the lady and her four PBGBs – note the people climbing through the branches of the tree behind her.) Pretty amazing stuff!

Isabel damage, w/ PBGBs

Probably because of the devastation surrounding me plus the lovely rainy cold weather, there wasn’t as much traffic as usual... not that I minded! I felt it was perfect day for a run, and I was doing very well. Shortly before the 2-mile marker, I realized that I usually start from the 3.5 marker and the 2-mile marker is my turnaround point. Doh! So, I decided to keep going to 1.5 so I could still get in a three-mile loop. So, I crossed Connecticut Ave at the light and looked around for a continuation of the trail. Seeing none, I jogged down the sidewalk until my way was barred by an excavation in the street and sidewalk (another downed tree). “Right,” I said to myself, “I’ll take that as a sign to turn back!” Und I did... (OK smarty pants, where’s that line from? Heehee)

I was waiting at the light to cross back over Connecticut Ave when I noticed the Starbucks and Einstein Bagels RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET! Wooohooo! I love Einstein Bagels, and now I found out they were just over a mile from my house! I decided that I would definitely need some Einstein sustenance after my run, so I stopped into the bagel place and bought a chocolate-chip bagel with honey-almond cream cheese... YUM! But, I was a good girl and didn’t eat it right then. I held the bag in my hand, all the way back to the tunnel where I had stashed my bag of goodies – but it was tempting! Heehee

So, once I got back to my stash, I refilled with water/Gatorade and headed to the other side of the street for the next three mile loop. I just had to get down to the 4.5 marker on the Georgetown Branch and come back, and then I’d do the last two miles on the Silver Spring Branch again. NO PROBLEM! I was feeling in good shape and doing quite well on time. There wasn’t as much destruction on this side of the trail, but at one point, I was walking just ahead of some guys talking baseball when I noticed headlights ahead. Headlights?!? It’s a pedestrian/bike trail, why would there be headlights? Because it was so gray and misty/foggy, it was hard to see anything but the headlights, but as we got closer, I saw it was a Park Police vehicle. I crossed over River Road and met up with the police on the other side of the bridge and asked if everything was all right. The one guy smiled and said, “Just checking things out” and they went down the stairs to the street. I couldn’t see anything amiss, but maybe there was something on the street level that required attention.

I ran all the way to 4.5 and then headed back up the hill to 3-mile marker. I was feeling very strong and commented to myself how much easier this was after the 23 miles the previous week! I stopped off for a potty break (stopping the watch and restarting before I got back on the path), but even with that, my average mins/mile for the last three miles was around 15 minutes each! And half of that was uphill! Wow!

I refilled my water bottles once more, grabbed some very salty bagel chips and headed out for the last two miles. I was still gawking at all the damage, and resolutely decided I would come out again on Sunday morning with my brand new digital camera (see evidence below). Especially on the way back when I saw those cool purply blue berries! I wanted proof of them! Heehee

I ended up finishing the eight miles in 2:08:01, or almost exactly 16 mins/mile. Granted one of those miles might be a short mile, but that mile’s time also includes that little side trip to Einstein’s! So, NOT BAD! And I felt GREAT afterwards. I went to Dunkin Donuts and got coffee, then went home and savoured my sweet sweet bagel... I wrapped up in sweats and fleece to cool down/warm up before I took my shower for the rest of the days’ activities: going to the Renaissance Festival with a bunch of my out-of-town friends.

The Faire was a lot of fun, but my feet started hurting around 4:30ish, so I decided to just stake a claim at the bar for everyone and get off my feet. I did this for a while, but then remembered that they have massages! So, I scheduled myself for a foot rub (ohhhhhhhhhh, did that feel good!), and hung out at the White Hart Tavern either enjoying the music or chatting with friends. It was fun and I spent far too much money... as usual. Afterwards, we went to this restaurant in Laurel called “Pasta Plus.” I highly recommend it! REALLY good food, and nice people! We showed up at 8:30pm with a table for 12, and they set it up in the deli portion of the restaurant with good grace and humour. Very nice.

I had rented a car from Flexcar for the day, so I had to return it to the Silver Spring metro. However, it wasn’t right at the metro station, it was down the hill at the Blair Tower apts. I was debating whether to call a cab to take me home from there, or just try to make the last bus or train home from the metro station. My feet still hurt and I was carrying a bag of groceries plus a very cool drawing my friends had given me of a running dragon, so trekking a mile uphill wasn’t looking too good for me. But, I saw a bus go by so I decided to see if I could catch another one to the metro. Yeah, right! Apparently, that was the last bus for that stop. *sigh* So, I trudged to the corner, and up the hill. I hadn’t really realized how far away it was, but I felt every bit of it. Actually, my feet fell every bit of it – my legs were actually fine with the exercise. That taught me just how much my body has changed since May. Back then, there’s NO way I could have done that walk! NONE! But now, it’s not really a problem except that my feet hurt from running 8 miles and then walking around the Faire all day!

I finally got home around 12:30pm and immediately crashed. So, why did I wake up at 7am this morning? I grabbed my brand new digital camera and decided to go out to the Trail and take the pics I wanted (see below). Walked about a mile in all, and then ran out of memory. I came back home after getting Dunkin Donuts coffee of course, showered, changed, and went to Flanagan’s to watch the Redskins (lose... *sigh*)

What’s the biggest thing I learned in this run? After 23 miles, 8 miles is a breeeeeeze! heeheeheehee See you next week!

Damage from Isabel (Capital Crescent Trail-Silver Spring branch)

More Isabel damage

Isabel damage

Mangled trees

Those gorgeous berries!

Capital Crescent Trail - an undamaged part

Week 24 – October 12 (8 Miles), 8:00am

The LAST training run! *sniffle*

Alesa picked me up at 7:40am, and told me that she was planning to walk with Jim and I because the doctor had told her that she had a torn knee ligament and running was RIGHT out. I told her that I had been *planning* to take her out to Original Pancakes after the run this week, but my friend Angela had gotten tickets to the Redskins game and invited me to go along (actually, it was her husband who got the tickets and said, “Ang, I’m a Steelers fan. Don’t you think Deborah would enjoy these more?” – WHAT a guy! Heehee), so I wouldn’t be able to this time. We decided that we’ll have to go there sometime after we HAVEN’T run!

We got to the run site and Tod and Carolyn started giving us pointers on the Marathon; what to wear, how to strip (Tod’s very good at it! ), make sure that you don’t start off too fast, etc. etc. etc. They brought up the Baltimore Marathoners (just me and Jim!) and everyone applauded and then they brought up the Libby Hickmans (me and Jim) and how great we were... and everyone applauded... and then they brought up the Baltimore Marathoners again (applause) and just one more time for good luck, the Baltimore Marathoners! Heeheeheehee We thoroughly enjoyed the attention. 😄

Then came the best part. A runner named Helen (who has obviously done this before and had gathered $$$ ahead of time) presented them with our Coaches gifts. We gave the site assistants fleece throws with their names and “26.2” embroidered on them and we gave Lucy (Coach Tod’s ever-present dog) a dog-print throw with her name. We gave Carolyn an engraved pilsner glass with a certificate announcing that we had given her six-month membership in the Beer of the Month club (a six-pack of import and a six-pack of microbrew – every month!) which she really enjoyed (she’s a Hasher aka “a drinker with a running problem” heehee), especially because it will be delivered to the office! And then we gave Coach Tod an engraved crystal pillar thingie with a 3-D globe inset in it, because he means the world to us. It was quite lovely and very emotional -- he was so grateful he got all teary... and that did it! So did everyone else! For once, Coach Tod was speechless – until someone yelled out “He’s verklempt!” and we all started laughing. It was a great morning, but it did get us started pretty late.

So, we started around 8:30am with Alesa decided to walk while Jim and I ran/walked. Then Jim said he had to turn around early because he had to be somewhere by 10am. Okaaaaaaaaaaaay... So, he turned around at the water stop under the bridge and Alesa and I went on by ourselves. After a while, I realized it was very difficult to talk to someone when I was running and she was walking about 15-20 feet behind, so I decided to just fast-walk with Alesa. We still decided to turn around at the three-mile point because I also had to leave by 10:30am because of the football game, and we had started so late, I wasn’t sure we’d finish the full eight miles in time.

But it was really fun to walk with Alesa on this last training run! She’s been my ride to nearly ALL of the training runs and I had yet to spend any time on the trail with her. She’s a very funny and interesting woman and I truly enjoyed walking and laughing with her. And, it was an absolutely GORGEOUS day, sunny with just a nip in the air – you really couldn’t ask for better weather!

We got back to the Barn pretty early (just after 10am) and chowed down on the bagels and pumpkin spice mini-cupcake thingies (YUM), talked some more about marathon stuff, and then headed home. As I was walking away, I realized that I probably wouldn’t see these people again! Of course, Tod and Carolyn will be at the Marathon on Saturday, and I’m being a volunteer cheerleader for the Marine Corp Marathon, so I probably will see them... but it just won’t be the same.

This has been such an amazing experience for me. In fact, so much so that I’m sure I will do it again... maybe not next year, but definitely the year after. (Have to give all my friends time to recuperate from my fund-raising efforts!) The other thing is that I have proven more to myself than I ever imagined I would. I’m proof that this training *does* work and that anyone can get to the point where they feel confident that they’ll finish a marathon. Next week, I hope to say more, but until then...

Thanks to all of you for your support!

Click here to read about the marathon...

In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?!?"

Deborah's Marathon Journal - Posts