For those of you who follow this blog, I wanted to let you know that I've started another one. This blog was for writing about training for the half, and that's over now, so it's time for something new.
The new blog is a little cheesy, so if that's not your thing, it won't hurt my feelings if you don't follow it. The basic idea is that I need to force myself to focus on the good things in life while a lot of crappy stuff is going on. So, every night I will write about a couple of happy things from the day.
That's it. If you are interested, find it here: http://kelseyshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Kelsey: 1; Cancer: 0
Wow, so I really don't know where to start here.
I finished the Houston Half-Marathon. I did it. I managed to cross the finish line.
I think I am still a little shocked that it is actually over. I don't think the experience will be easily forgotten.
I find that I am actually having some difficulty sitting down and writing about it. I'm just not really sure what to say. Those of you who have done something like this probably understand a bit better than most, but I just can't quite figure out how to get things down right.
Friday, Kelli and I went to the Expo to pick up our bibs and shirts and all that. We were both already completely jumpy (something that wouldn't go away until we were actually running on Sunday morning). Getting our stuff at the Expo was actually a lot quicker and far less painful than I expected it to be (since 25,000 people would be picking up their stuff over the course of 2 days). And we picked up some freebies along the way. We also had an awesome lunch of amazing salads and wine at Churrasco's, picked up stuff for decorating our race-day singlets, and had fantastic frozen yogurt at Swirll (something that I am now totally craving – thanks a bunch, Kelli!). It was a nice day, and it was good to hang out with someone who knew exactly how I was feeling.
I was hoping to get a good night's sleep Friday night, since I knew I wouldn't sleep well the night before the run. Of course, I was already so keyed up, so I really didn't sleep so well.
Saturday really seemed to drag by. We ended up checking into the hotel earlier than necessary, and we were both really, really hungry hours before the pasta party. We hung out and stressed out about the next day together until it was time to head down to dinner. I honestly don't know how I would have handled any of this mess without the support of someone else.
James showed up to join us for the pasta party, and we left the room to head down to the party. We could hear shouting and noisemakers and general insanity from the 19th floor, and we immediately knew it was our group. When we arrived at the ballroom, we were greeted by a ton of people with cowbells and boas and clappy-hands and all sorts of other noise-making devices cheering our names. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but it was really nice that they were so happy and supportive and awesome.
The dinner was nice (lots of pasta!), and the speeches made me cry, of course. Paula's speech had me crying almost immediately. I really enjoyed the reminder that while we were each accomplishing something huge as individuals, we were accomplishing so much more as a group. The amount of money raised by our little group really was quite amazing. There's just something special about knowing that pushing yourself to do something that you never thought you would be able to do also helps people that are going through something so much more difficult. Personally, I have managed to raise $2,575 towards fighting blood cancers. There's still time to donate, if you are interested. I would really like to make it to $3,000 before the month is over.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/houston09/khughesw0s
After dinner, we all hung around and decorated our singlets. Everyone had something different to say or to put on the shirt, so it was fun to see all of the different ones. We decorated ours with sparkly letters. Mine had my name on the front and said "Because I Can" and "Cancer Hater" on the back. Kelli's (which I loved), had her name on the front and "Cancer is my bitch! Survivor since 2007" on the back.
Afterwards, we knew we were still too keyed up to sleep, so the 3 of us hung out in the bar for a little bit. I had a virgin strawberry daiquiri, even though I desperately wanted a "real" drink. I didn't really want my body to be angry at me the next morning.
Eventually, we made our way back up to the room and sat around reading until we thought we might actually be able to fall asleep. I definitely didn't manage to get a decent amount of sleep. I kept waking up convinced that we had slept through all 4 of the alarms/wake-up calls and missed the race. Not that we could have possibly slept through the wake-up call – when it did come (at 4:30am), it was LOUD.
We got up, got dressed, and headed down to the lobby to meet the rest of the group. We all milled around a bit, took a group picture, listened to some instructions, attempted to wake everyone else in the hotel up with a "GO TEAM", and headed over to the convention center. We hung out there in our sea of purple shirts for a while. I ate half a banana and a bit of bagel with peanut butter since I had long enough before the start for it to digest. Then I just stood/sat around being nervous. Having a little under 3 hours between waking up and actually starting the run is a bad thing – we were all starting to get a bit tired again.
At 6:30, we headed out to the starting line, where we stood around some more. Eventually, the gun sounded for the 7:00 start (the faster runners), and I started to get really excited. When our gun went off (7:10), there was a wave of movement towards the starting line. It really was pretty insane. The sea of people was just amazing, and I was only starting with a fourth of the total runners. Several times during the beginning miles of the race you could just see the stretch of people out in front of you. I really don't think that I have experienced anything like it.
So, we crossed the start line and started running. We really had to make a conscious effort not to allow the pace of others speed us up. We are slow, we know it, and we really needed to start slow so as not to wear ourselves out early in the run. I thought that we did a good job of it, and I was feeling great around mile 1. The weather was perfect – little to no humidity and just the right level of cool. It felt like a great day for a run, and I felt really strong.
Just a note: Houston may SEEM flat, but once you start running it, there really are a lot more uphill roads than you would expect. Just a little something I noticed over the course of 13.1 miles of it. It seemed like we were running uphill so often.
We ran through part of downtown and into the Heights. We heard a rooster, which was pretty odd, but it made me laugh, and I needed that. There were people out on the sides of the road cheering us on, and we passed a high school band out to play for us. I really enjoyed that aspect of it – people who didn't know you were out there cheering for you (often by name, as it is printed in large block letters on the front of your bib). The kids were especially fun, as they were all so excited.
We also go several responses to Kelli’s shirt – we would hear people laughing about it and pointing it out to their friends behind us, then people would run by and say things like “way to go survivor”. It was pretty cool.
The running itself went pretty well at first. I actually felt really good a couple of miles in. I was running the whole thing with the exception of water stops and a couple of really step inclines that seemed like a good time to rest. We stopped occasionally to say hello to family and friends. Kelli’s family was really cute with their signs and was nice enough to have Gatorade there for both of us. Though, they do lose some points for stationing themselves at one point in the middle of a steep uphill bit so that we had to run it =)
I was really happy to run into several of my friends. It was awesome of you guys to be out there – thank you so much! I wish that I could have stopped and talked to people for longer! (And I totally forgot to get a picture with Geneva and one with Cassie – sad!) Having a friend run screaming at you definitely does something to pump you up and help you keep going. Cassie almost managed to knock me over =)
We eventually made it through the Heights and ran by my apartment. You could actually see the sign I made hanging from my balcony, and it was nice to run by and see James out by the road cheering us on. Around that point, we ran into Steve (hi Steve!), who wanted to run a couple of miles with us. It was really cool to have him run with us, as he has been saying he wanted to run with me for a long time, and who knows if he will ever get another chance. I hope we weren’t too slow for him! Anyway, the bit of the route on Montrose was the part that we had to loop around and do twice, which seemed a little unfair.
It was at that point that I realized that I had really managed to get to around mile 8 mostly without walking except for water breaks. I decided that I was going to try to run the whole thing, because I knew that if I walked, I would feel the need to see if I could actually run the whole thing if I stayed healthy and got all of the training in, and I really didn’t want to feel the need to do the whole thing over again.
I was excited to run into Erin and her James since I thought she was going to have to be at work, and I wasn’t expecting to see her out there. I don’t think that you guys realize how much of an energy boost you get when you see people you love out cheering you on – thank you all so much for being there!
When we got back around to the apartment, I actually got to stop and talk to James. He brought Corky out to watch us, so I also got to say hello to my sweet doggie. The ran with us for a little while, then he and Steve left to head downtown to meet us at the finish, and Kelli and I started out on our last 3 miles back into downtown.
At this point, my legs were complaining big time, and I hurt all over. It felt like every step was an insane effort, and I started to seriously question my ability to even finish the thing. I don’t think I have ever felt my body breaking down like that. I got slower and slower, but I managed to maintain a job for most of the time.
When we passed the bridge with the “1.5 miles to go” sign on it, I was both relieved that we were almost done and completely horrified that I still had to go another mile and a half. Shortly after the bridge, we were back in downtown. The buildings supplied a welcome shade, as the weather had warmed up quite a bit with the sun out. It was really surreal to run through the empty streets of downtown Houston. Somewhere in there, my legs just quit on me, and I had to walk a little bit. I got back to running before too long, though.
I don’t think I can really explain what that last half mile felt like. When we turned onto the street with the finish on it and could see the finish line in the distance, it still felt like so far to go. The crowds were packed onto the sidewalks, and I couldn’t tell if I knew anyone there, but everyone was screaming and cheering. It felt completely amazing even though I hurt everywhere. I was crying well before we reached the line, so the whole thing is a blur to me – I had my head down so that thousands of people couldn't watch me cry. I was just so full of emotion both because of what we had accomplished and how much we had been able to help by doing so.
So, we finished. We were really, really slow. My official finishing time was 3:37:06. Yes, I know how slow that is, but I don’t really care. I was 8146th, overall (of, it looks like, 8434 half-marathon runners). Go me!
Once I stopped running, even walking was difficult. We picked up our medals, shirts, and food, then headed out to the TEAM tent, where I sat and ate junk food and worried about having to try to walk again. I spent the rest of the day hobbling around with sharp knee pain and legs that didn’t seem to work. Totally worth it, though.
I really can’t express how lucky I was to have Kelli as a running partner. She was a constant inspiration and someone to complain to. I couldn’t have done this without her! She also hosted an awesome “I didn’t die” party afterwards, complete with free beer and Crave cupcakes! Much fun and love!
I posted pictures on my Facebook account. Let me know if I need to post them elsewhere for people who don’t have Facebook. You can also see video of us crossing the finish line (proof!!) here: http://www.finishcam.com/Events/2009-Chevron-Houston-Marathon/
So, that’s that. I know I can’t do the event justice writing about it, but it’s good to have something down.
Thank you all for being amazing, supportive, and understanding as I have gone through this process. I have the best people in the world!
I finished the Houston Half-Marathon. I did it. I managed to cross the finish line.
I think I am still a little shocked that it is actually over. I don't think the experience will be easily forgotten.
I find that I am actually having some difficulty sitting down and writing about it. I'm just not really sure what to say. Those of you who have done something like this probably understand a bit better than most, but I just can't quite figure out how to get things down right.
Friday, Kelli and I went to the Expo to pick up our bibs and shirts and all that. We were both already completely jumpy (something that wouldn't go away until we were actually running on Sunday morning). Getting our stuff at the Expo was actually a lot quicker and far less painful than I expected it to be (since 25,000 people would be picking up their stuff over the course of 2 days). And we picked up some freebies along the way. We also had an awesome lunch of amazing salads and wine at Churrasco's, picked up stuff for decorating our race-day singlets, and had fantastic frozen yogurt at Swirll (something that I am now totally craving – thanks a bunch, Kelli!). It was a nice day, and it was good to hang out with someone who knew exactly how I was feeling.
I was hoping to get a good night's sleep Friday night, since I knew I wouldn't sleep well the night before the run. Of course, I was already so keyed up, so I really didn't sleep so well.
Saturday really seemed to drag by. We ended up checking into the hotel earlier than necessary, and we were both really, really hungry hours before the pasta party. We hung out and stressed out about the next day together until it was time to head down to dinner. I honestly don't know how I would have handled any of this mess without the support of someone else.
James showed up to join us for the pasta party, and we left the room to head down to the party. We could hear shouting and noisemakers and general insanity from the 19th floor, and we immediately knew it was our group. When we arrived at the ballroom, we were greeted by a ton of people with cowbells and boas and clappy-hands and all sorts of other noise-making devices cheering our names. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but it was really nice that they were so happy and supportive and awesome.
The dinner was nice (lots of pasta!), and the speeches made me cry, of course. Paula's speech had me crying almost immediately. I really enjoyed the reminder that while we were each accomplishing something huge as individuals, we were accomplishing so much more as a group. The amount of money raised by our little group really was quite amazing. There's just something special about knowing that pushing yourself to do something that you never thought you would be able to do also helps people that are going through something so much more difficult. Personally, I have managed to raise $2,575 towards fighting blood cancers. There's still time to donate, if you are interested. I would really like to make it to $3,000 before the month is over.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/houston09/khughesw0s
After dinner, we all hung around and decorated our singlets. Everyone had something different to say or to put on the shirt, so it was fun to see all of the different ones. We decorated ours with sparkly letters. Mine had my name on the front and said "Because I Can" and "Cancer Hater" on the back. Kelli's (which I loved), had her name on the front and "Cancer is my bitch! Survivor since 2007" on the back.
Afterwards, we knew we were still too keyed up to sleep, so the 3 of us hung out in the bar for a little bit. I had a virgin strawberry daiquiri, even though I desperately wanted a "real" drink. I didn't really want my body to be angry at me the next morning.
Eventually, we made our way back up to the room and sat around reading until we thought we might actually be able to fall asleep. I definitely didn't manage to get a decent amount of sleep. I kept waking up convinced that we had slept through all 4 of the alarms/wake-up calls and missed the race. Not that we could have possibly slept through the wake-up call – when it did come (at 4:30am), it was LOUD.
We got up, got dressed, and headed down to the lobby to meet the rest of the group. We all milled around a bit, took a group picture, listened to some instructions, attempted to wake everyone else in the hotel up with a "GO TEAM", and headed over to the convention center. We hung out there in our sea of purple shirts for a while. I ate half a banana and a bit of bagel with peanut butter since I had long enough before the start for it to digest. Then I just stood/sat around being nervous. Having a little under 3 hours between waking up and actually starting the run is a bad thing – we were all starting to get a bit tired again.
At 6:30, we headed out to the starting line, where we stood around some more. Eventually, the gun sounded for the 7:00 start (the faster runners), and I started to get really excited. When our gun went off (7:10), there was a wave of movement towards the starting line. It really was pretty insane. The sea of people was just amazing, and I was only starting with a fourth of the total runners. Several times during the beginning miles of the race you could just see the stretch of people out in front of you. I really don't think that I have experienced anything like it.
So, we crossed the start line and started running. We really had to make a conscious effort not to allow the pace of others speed us up. We are slow, we know it, and we really needed to start slow so as not to wear ourselves out early in the run. I thought that we did a good job of it, and I was feeling great around mile 1. The weather was perfect – little to no humidity and just the right level of cool. It felt like a great day for a run, and I felt really strong.
Just a note: Houston may SEEM flat, but once you start running it, there really are a lot more uphill roads than you would expect. Just a little something I noticed over the course of 13.1 miles of it. It seemed like we were running uphill so often.
We ran through part of downtown and into the Heights. We heard a rooster, which was pretty odd, but it made me laugh, and I needed that. There were people out on the sides of the road cheering us on, and we passed a high school band out to play for us. I really enjoyed that aspect of it – people who didn't know you were out there cheering for you (often by name, as it is printed in large block letters on the front of your bib). The kids were especially fun, as they were all so excited.
We also go several responses to Kelli’s shirt – we would hear people laughing about it and pointing it out to their friends behind us, then people would run by and say things like “way to go survivor”. It was pretty cool.
The running itself went pretty well at first. I actually felt really good a couple of miles in. I was running the whole thing with the exception of water stops and a couple of really step inclines that seemed like a good time to rest. We stopped occasionally to say hello to family and friends. Kelli’s family was really cute with their signs and was nice enough to have Gatorade there for both of us. Though, they do lose some points for stationing themselves at one point in the middle of a steep uphill bit so that we had to run it =)
I was really happy to run into several of my friends. It was awesome of you guys to be out there – thank you so much! I wish that I could have stopped and talked to people for longer! (And I totally forgot to get a picture with Geneva and one with Cassie – sad!) Having a friend run screaming at you definitely does something to pump you up and help you keep going. Cassie almost managed to knock me over =)
We eventually made it through the Heights and ran by my apartment. You could actually see the sign I made hanging from my balcony, and it was nice to run by and see James out by the road cheering us on. Around that point, we ran into Steve (hi Steve!), who wanted to run a couple of miles with us. It was really cool to have him run with us, as he has been saying he wanted to run with me for a long time, and who knows if he will ever get another chance. I hope we weren’t too slow for him! Anyway, the bit of the route on Montrose was the part that we had to loop around and do twice, which seemed a little unfair.
It was at that point that I realized that I had really managed to get to around mile 8 mostly without walking except for water breaks. I decided that I was going to try to run the whole thing, because I knew that if I walked, I would feel the need to see if I could actually run the whole thing if I stayed healthy and got all of the training in, and I really didn’t want to feel the need to do the whole thing over again.
I was excited to run into Erin and her James since I thought she was going to have to be at work, and I wasn’t expecting to see her out there. I don’t think that you guys realize how much of an energy boost you get when you see people you love out cheering you on – thank you all so much for being there!
When we got back around to the apartment, I actually got to stop and talk to James. He brought Corky out to watch us, so I also got to say hello to my sweet doggie. The ran with us for a little while, then he and Steve left to head downtown to meet us at the finish, and Kelli and I started out on our last 3 miles back into downtown.
At this point, my legs were complaining big time, and I hurt all over. It felt like every step was an insane effort, and I started to seriously question my ability to even finish the thing. I don’t think I have ever felt my body breaking down like that. I got slower and slower, but I managed to maintain a job for most of the time.
When we passed the bridge with the “1.5 miles to go” sign on it, I was both relieved that we were almost done and completely horrified that I still had to go another mile and a half. Shortly after the bridge, we were back in downtown. The buildings supplied a welcome shade, as the weather had warmed up quite a bit with the sun out. It was really surreal to run through the empty streets of downtown Houston. Somewhere in there, my legs just quit on me, and I had to walk a little bit. I got back to running before too long, though.
I don’t think I can really explain what that last half mile felt like. When we turned onto the street with the finish on it and could see the finish line in the distance, it still felt like so far to go. The crowds were packed onto the sidewalks, and I couldn’t tell if I knew anyone there, but everyone was screaming and cheering. It felt completely amazing even though I hurt everywhere. I was crying well before we reached the line, so the whole thing is a blur to me – I had my head down so that thousands of people couldn't watch me cry. I was just so full of emotion both because of what we had accomplished and how much we had been able to help by doing so.
So, we finished. We were really, really slow. My official finishing time was 3:37:06. Yes, I know how slow that is, but I don’t really care. I was 8146th, overall (of, it looks like, 8434 half-marathon runners). Go me!
Once I stopped running, even walking was difficult. We picked up our medals, shirts, and food, then headed out to the TEAM tent, where I sat and ate junk food and worried about having to try to walk again. I spent the rest of the day hobbling around with sharp knee pain and legs that didn’t seem to work. Totally worth it, though.
I really can’t express how lucky I was to have Kelli as a running partner. She was a constant inspiration and someone to complain to. I couldn’t have done this without her! She also hosted an awesome “I didn’t die” party afterwards, complete with free beer and Crave cupcakes! Much fun and love!
I posted pictures on my Facebook account. Let me know if I need to post them elsewhere for people who don’t have Facebook. You can also see video of us crossing the finish line (proof!!) here: http://www.finishcam.com/Events/2009-Chevron-Houston-Marathon/
So, that’s that. I know I can’t do the event justice writing about it, but it’s good to have something down.
Thank you all for being amazing, supportive, and understanding as I have gone through this process. I have the best people in the world!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
One week left...
A week from tomorrow is the half marathon. I am very afraid.
This morning's run was pretty uneventful. We did get to sleep in another hour, for a 7am start. The planned route was 6 miles - leave the park, run to Waugh, take Waugh to Allen Parkway, run to Montrose, turn around and head back to the park. We ended up turning around at the rest stop at Waugh since Kelli needed to get to a work thing, making the run 5 miles. I intended to run an extra mile when we got back to the park, but that didn't happen for several reasons.
The run itself wasn't too bad. We definitely ran more than we walked, and I thought we did really well, pace-wise. I guess we are as ready as we are going to be...
Aches and pains update: I can definitely tell that my sinuses aren't happy, but they are holding up ok; I started out the day with my foot feeling much better, but it definitely hurt by the end; and my knee didn't bother me at all. I definitely tried to take it easy, as I just need everything to keep from falling apart for one more week. The pain in the foot isn't bad enough to make me stop running, but I have been taking it easy on it because I don't want it to get worse and keep me from running next weekend. If I can't walk at the end of the half marathon, that's fine, I just want to make it through.
The big shock of the morning was the weather. It was 70 degrees when we started out, and it was definitely humid. The temperature wasn't so bad, but I was sweating like crazy. After we turned around and headed back towards the park, the temperature managed to drop over 10 degrees, and it got really windy. Since I was wet with sweat, the cold wind was a bit shocking. We got misted on a little bit, too, but luckily, we didn't get any serious rain.
When we got back to the park, I decided to stop with Kelli since it was cold and yucky out and my foot was giving me trouble. It was supposed to be an easy week, anyway, so I think 5 good miles is as good as 6 weak ones.
So, yeah, next week. Crazy. I pick up my Team in Training packet tomorrow and my marathon packet on Friday. Then we do this thing.
This morning's run was pretty uneventful. We did get to sleep in another hour, for a 7am start. The planned route was 6 miles - leave the park, run to Waugh, take Waugh to Allen Parkway, run to Montrose, turn around and head back to the park. We ended up turning around at the rest stop at Waugh since Kelli needed to get to a work thing, making the run 5 miles. I intended to run an extra mile when we got back to the park, but that didn't happen for several reasons.
The run itself wasn't too bad. We definitely ran more than we walked, and I thought we did really well, pace-wise. I guess we are as ready as we are going to be...
Aches and pains update: I can definitely tell that my sinuses aren't happy, but they are holding up ok; I started out the day with my foot feeling much better, but it definitely hurt by the end; and my knee didn't bother me at all. I definitely tried to take it easy, as I just need everything to keep from falling apart for one more week. The pain in the foot isn't bad enough to make me stop running, but I have been taking it easy on it because I don't want it to get worse and keep me from running next weekend. If I can't walk at the end of the half marathon, that's fine, I just want to make it through.
The big shock of the morning was the weather. It was 70 degrees when we started out, and it was definitely humid. The temperature wasn't so bad, but I was sweating like crazy. After we turned around and headed back towards the park, the temperature managed to drop over 10 degrees, and it got really windy. Since I was wet with sweat, the cold wind was a bit shocking. We got misted on a little bit, too, but luckily, we didn't get any serious rain.
When we got back to the park, I decided to stop with Kelli since it was cold and yucky out and my foot was giving me trouble. It was supposed to be an easy week, anyway, so I think 5 good miles is as good as 6 weak ones.
So, yeah, next week. Crazy. I pick up my Team in Training packet tomorrow and my marathon packet on Friday. Then we do this thing.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
2 weeks out...
Well, the half marathon is 2 weeks from today.
I'm amazed at how soon this run is. I'd like to say that I think I'm ready, but I think it would be more accurate to say that I am ready for it to be over.
My sinuses are still a mess, and I always feel worse after a run. Because of that (and the foot issues), I am down to just doing the Saturday long runs and skipping all of the weekly runs. Since we're tapering now, I guess it's not as big of a deal, and soon I won't have to do any runs.
So, anyway, we did 8 miles yesterday. We left the park, ran down to Waugh, took Waugh into the Heights to 8th Street, then turned around and came back.
It wasn't as bad as it could have been since we were taking it really easy. We're both having some issues with pain in various areas, and neither one of of wants to get injured to the point where we can't finish this thing, so we had no interest in pushing ourselves. So we were pretty slow, and we walked a lot, but we managed to get through it.
I laced my shoe a lot loser to try to take some of the pressure off of my foot, and I think that helped, but it definitely hurt as the run went on. I also started to have some pain in the other foot, either because I was over compensating, or because I need to loosen the laces on the other shoe as well.
So, we got through it. Now there are only 2 runs left before the big one (assuming I don't start feeling better and manage to get some weekly runs in). We will do 6 miles next Saturday morning, and then 1 easy mile the following Saturday (the day before the race). Crazy, crazy.
I'm amazed at how soon this run is. I'd like to say that I think I'm ready, but I think it would be more accurate to say that I am ready for it to be over.
My sinuses are still a mess, and I always feel worse after a run. Because of that (and the foot issues), I am down to just doing the Saturday long runs and skipping all of the weekly runs. Since we're tapering now, I guess it's not as big of a deal, and soon I won't have to do any runs.
So, anyway, we did 8 miles yesterday. We left the park, ran down to Waugh, took Waugh into the Heights to 8th Street, then turned around and came back.
It wasn't as bad as it could have been since we were taking it really easy. We're both having some issues with pain in various areas, and neither one of of wants to get injured to the point where we can't finish this thing, so we had no interest in pushing ourselves. So we were pretty slow, and we walked a lot, but we managed to get through it.
I laced my shoe a lot loser to try to take some of the pressure off of my foot, and I think that helped, but it definitely hurt as the run went on. I also started to have some pain in the other foot, either because I was over compensating, or because I need to loosen the laces on the other shoe as well.
So, we got through it. Now there are only 2 runs left before the big one (assuming I don't start feeling better and manage to get some weekly runs in). We will do 6 miles next Saturday morning, and then 1 easy mile the following Saturday (the day before the race). Crazy, crazy.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Health upate
Well, I had my CAT scan today. I will be having endoscopic sinus surgery on January 27. He says I can put it off until then since I've basically had this problem for a long time. I opted to put it off because I need to get a massively important project finished at work by then, and I would really like to get through the half marathon as well.
I'll be completely down for a week after the surgery, and then it will be about 6 weeks before I am actually healthy again (and that is 6 weeks of no physical exertion). Joy. But, after all the healing, I am supposed to feel much better, and I am all for that. I just want to feel normal again. I miss normal (though, apparently my normal is a little crappy compared to most people - who knew?).
So, that's that. Sinuses will be dealt with after the run, and I'll just have to push through until then.
As for my foot, it's still a mess. My sister and brother-in-law (physical therapists, the both of them) had a look at it when I was home, and they say I've irritated a tendon or something (they were more specific). There's a bump, it's uncomfortable, and there's an awful creaking when I move my toes. There's some pain when I walk - nothing serious, but it's still not good. I worry about it, but I figure I'll somehow limp through come race day.
For now, I am trying to ice it and rest (as prescribed by the sis and bro), and I'll have to see how it feels for the long run Saturday.
I am a mess.
I'll be completely down for a week after the surgery, and then it will be about 6 weeks before I am actually healthy again (and that is 6 weeks of no physical exertion). Joy. But, after all the healing, I am supposed to feel much better, and I am all for that. I just want to feel normal again. I miss normal (though, apparently my normal is a little crappy compared to most people - who knew?).
So, that's that. Sinuses will be dealt with after the run, and I'll just have to push through until then.
As for my foot, it's still a mess. My sister and brother-in-law (physical therapists, the both of them) had a look at it when I was home, and they say I've irritated a tendon or something (they were more specific). There's a bump, it's uncomfortable, and there's an awful creaking when I move my toes. There's some pain when I walk - nothing serious, but it's still not good. I worry about it, but I figure I'll somehow limp through come race day.
For now, I am trying to ice it and rest (as prescribed by the sis and bro), and I'll have to see how it feels for the long run Saturday.
I am a mess.
Friday, December 26, 2008
12 Miles
So, I'm a bit behind on posting this, but it's the holidays so what can you expect? I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and has a fantastic beginning to the new year.
So, last Saturday we had our big 12-miler. I was not excited about the run at all. In fact, I was a bit terrified. It definitely didn't help that I have been so off of my schedule because of the illness.
I didn't run all week leading up to the run. I planned to, but things just didn't work out that way. We had to be out at Terry Hershey Park by 6am, and it's a fair drive from home to get out there, so I woke up at 4:45am. WAY too early. I had to leave a holiday party really early the night before in order to get enough sleep.
They make a pretty big deal out of this run, and I'm glad they do it that way. It is a scary distance, so the support helps out a lot. All of the separate Houston area training groups come out for this run (we all generally train closer to home), so it is a pretty large group. We got there, signed in, and milled around for a bit. Then we had an awesome inspirational message from Kelli (she makes me cry every time), warmed up, and headed out.
I liked running the trails at Terry Hershey better than our normal routes. They are away from roads and much more peaceful and spacious. We never had to run single pace to let people by, which was nice for us.
We did managed to make it through 12 miles. We definitely didn't run the whole way, but I think that we ran more than we walked. I don't know what I would have done without Kelli - it really is easier to get through these things with her there.
We made it to the first water stop without too much trouble, but the second water stop was WAY further than I think it should have been, so we had to stop and take our gels without water. We were crashing without them, so we really didn't have a choice. Knowing how far we had to go on the way back, we took the gels earlier, which wasn't so great on my stomach.
I was already feeling pretty exhausted by the halfway point, but it was nice to know that we were on the way back. At some point, I became focused on just getting through the distance somehow. 12 miles is a really, really long way.
It was nice to have people out cheering us on, and it made us run when we maybe wanted to walk because we didn't want them to see us walk.
I started feeling a pain in the top of my right foot about a mile from the finish. It lasted for quite a while after, hurting every time I put my foot down. I'm a bit worried about what is going on with it.
We did somehow manage to finish. For the last couple of miles, we just couldn't believe we weren't at the end yet. We came around every turn expecting to see the end and seeing only more trees and more trail. It was tough. Finishing felt really fantastic, though. They had a big tent with lots of snacks and drinks at the end.
It took us over 3 hours (including stops) to get through it, but we were happy with that. We came in behind some of the insane people training for the full marathon (they did 21 miles).
I was so happy that we managed to finish. I wish that I could have hung around and talked to people longer, but I needed to get myself home. I was starting to crash, and I hurt in so many different places. It was really rough.
Recovery had to wait, as I had to pack and clean up and do laundry the rest of the day in order to drive 7 1/2 hours home the next day. I did get to rest some over the holiday, though.
I had a pretty frustrating attempt at a long run this morning. I decided to do my weekly long run today (Friday) instead of tomorrow since I've got a long drive back to Houston on Sunday, and it's not fun to drive when everything hurts.
I knew it wouldn't be good when I started out. My health seems to be declining again, and I woke up feeling pretty questionable. I decided to attempt the run anyway.
There's a roughly 3 miles loop around the lake in my parents' neighborhood, so I planned on running around it 3 times, with rest stops at the bottom of the driveway (I left Gatorade and gels in the mailbox). It was a good plan, and should have been a fairly nice run. It was nice outside - the ground was wet form last night's rain, but the rain had passed and the temperature was just slightly cool. Great running weather really.
It is really, really hilly here. I felt like the entire loop only contained one small distance of flat road - the rest was either up or down. It wasn't exactly an easy route, but hills are good for training, so I thought I would do the best I could and walk when I needed to.
Well, it didn't go well. It wasn't far in before the pain in my foot got pretty bad - a stabbing pain right at the top of my foot whenever I stepped. Then my sinuses started pounding. It wasn't a heavy pounding, just a light, dull one far in the back.
By the time I made it around once (walking several times), I had decided to call it quits. I have my CAT scan on Tuesday, and it wouldn't be smart to do anything to make myself more sick before they take the scan. The doctor wanted me as healthy as possible for that, and I definitely seem to be getting worse. So the sinus issues, paired with a bit of worry about what's going on with my foot, put a stop to the running for this weekend.
I am pretty frustrated with the fact that I needed to stop. A little under 3 miles is at least something, but it is definitely not the 10 miles I was supposed to do. I guess I'll see how this week goes and then try to get through the 8 miles next weekend.
Really, though, the big frustration for me is that I was on track to be able to run the full distance. I made it through the 10 miles without having to walk, and I was getting most of the assigned runs in. Then I got sick, and that all got really screwed up. I feel like I'll be lucky to finish at all now, and I will definitely be walking a chunk of the distance. It's just really frustrating to me. I was so close.
Oh well, I have to get healthy. Hopefully this week will be full of answers.
Thank you all so much for all of your support. So far, you have helped me to raise $2250 to help fight blood cancers. We are so close to my goal of $3000, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You are all amazing.
So, last Saturday we had our big 12-miler. I was not excited about the run at all. In fact, I was a bit terrified. It definitely didn't help that I have been so off of my schedule because of the illness.
I didn't run all week leading up to the run. I planned to, but things just didn't work out that way. We had to be out at Terry Hershey Park by 6am, and it's a fair drive from home to get out there, so I woke up at 4:45am. WAY too early. I had to leave a holiday party really early the night before in order to get enough sleep.
They make a pretty big deal out of this run, and I'm glad they do it that way. It is a scary distance, so the support helps out a lot. All of the separate Houston area training groups come out for this run (we all generally train closer to home), so it is a pretty large group. We got there, signed in, and milled around for a bit. Then we had an awesome inspirational message from Kelli (she makes me cry every time), warmed up, and headed out.
I liked running the trails at Terry Hershey better than our normal routes. They are away from roads and much more peaceful and spacious. We never had to run single pace to let people by, which was nice for us.
We did managed to make it through 12 miles. We definitely didn't run the whole way, but I think that we ran more than we walked. I don't know what I would have done without Kelli - it really is easier to get through these things with her there.
We made it to the first water stop without too much trouble, but the second water stop was WAY further than I think it should have been, so we had to stop and take our gels without water. We were crashing without them, so we really didn't have a choice. Knowing how far we had to go on the way back, we took the gels earlier, which wasn't so great on my stomach.
I was already feeling pretty exhausted by the halfway point, but it was nice to know that we were on the way back. At some point, I became focused on just getting through the distance somehow. 12 miles is a really, really long way.
It was nice to have people out cheering us on, and it made us run when we maybe wanted to walk because we didn't want them to see us walk.
I started feeling a pain in the top of my right foot about a mile from the finish. It lasted for quite a while after, hurting every time I put my foot down. I'm a bit worried about what is going on with it.
We did somehow manage to finish. For the last couple of miles, we just couldn't believe we weren't at the end yet. We came around every turn expecting to see the end and seeing only more trees and more trail. It was tough. Finishing felt really fantastic, though. They had a big tent with lots of snacks and drinks at the end.
It took us over 3 hours (including stops) to get through it, but we were happy with that. We came in behind some of the insane people training for the full marathon (they did 21 miles).
I was so happy that we managed to finish. I wish that I could have hung around and talked to people longer, but I needed to get myself home. I was starting to crash, and I hurt in so many different places. It was really rough.
Recovery had to wait, as I had to pack and clean up and do laundry the rest of the day in order to drive 7 1/2 hours home the next day. I did get to rest some over the holiday, though.
I had a pretty frustrating attempt at a long run this morning. I decided to do my weekly long run today (Friday) instead of tomorrow since I've got a long drive back to Houston on Sunday, and it's not fun to drive when everything hurts.
I knew it wouldn't be good when I started out. My health seems to be declining again, and I woke up feeling pretty questionable. I decided to attempt the run anyway.
There's a roughly 3 miles loop around the lake in my parents' neighborhood, so I planned on running around it 3 times, with rest stops at the bottom of the driveway (I left Gatorade and gels in the mailbox). It was a good plan, and should have been a fairly nice run. It was nice outside - the ground was wet form last night's rain, but the rain had passed and the temperature was just slightly cool. Great running weather really.
It is really, really hilly here. I felt like the entire loop only contained one small distance of flat road - the rest was either up or down. It wasn't exactly an easy route, but hills are good for training, so I thought I would do the best I could and walk when I needed to.
Well, it didn't go well. It wasn't far in before the pain in my foot got pretty bad - a stabbing pain right at the top of my foot whenever I stepped. Then my sinuses started pounding. It wasn't a heavy pounding, just a light, dull one far in the back.
By the time I made it around once (walking several times), I had decided to call it quits. I have my CAT scan on Tuesday, and it wouldn't be smart to do anything to make myself more sick before they take the scan. The doctor wanted me as healthy as possible for that, and I definitely seem to be getting worse. So the sinus issues, paired with a bit of worry about what's going on with my foot, put a stop to the running for this weekend.
I am pretty frustrated with the fact that I needed to stop. A little under 3 miles is at least something, but it is definitely not the 10 miles I was supposed to do. I guess I'll see how this week goes and then try to get through the 8 miles next weekend.
Really, though, the big frustration for me is that I was on track to be able to run the full distance. I made it through the 10 miles without having to walk, and I was getting most of the assigned runs in. Then I got sick, and that all got really screwed up. I feel like I'll be lucky to finish at all now, and I will definitely be walking a chunk of the distance. It's just really frustrating to me. I was so close.
Oh well, I have to get healthy. Hopefully this week will be full of answers.
Thank you all so much for all of your support. So far, you have helped me to raise $2250 to help fight blood cancers. We are so close to my goal of $3000, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You are all amazing.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
And we're back...sort of
I didn't run all week. It was actually a huge relief to come home after work and not have to run. I've been slowly feeling somewhat better. I still don't feel good, but I don't feel as bad as I have. I finished the antibiotics on Thursday, and I'm almost done with the steroids. It is a relief to know that the effects of the drugs will be gone soon, but I am also a bit worried that the symptoms will come back. Here's hoping.
I went out to Memorial this morning for the group long run. I was a bit worried since it had been so long since I got a decent run in, but I really felt like I needed to get back into it.
Luckily, Kelli was there this week, so I had company. It really is so much easier to run with someone there to distract you.
We did somewhere between 8 and 9 miles this morning. It was pretty rough, and we definitely walked chunks of it, but we finished. It wasn't fun, and my knee started to hurt about halfway in, but it felt good to get through it. It made me think that I will actually finish in January, one way or the other. I don't feel bad about the walking, because my body is still not healthy, and I need to make myself take it easy. I can't push myself as hard as I would like right now.
But I got through it, and that's what matters. We'll see how this week goes. I'm going to try to get 3 daily runs in, then Saturday is our big 12-miler. Crazy!
I went out to Memorial this morning for the group long run. I was a bit worried since it had been so long since I got a decent run in, but I really felt like I needed to get back into it.
Luckily, Kelli was there this week, so I had company. It really is so much easier to run with someone there to distract you.
We did somewhere between 8 and 9 miles this morning. It was pretty rough, and we definitely walked chunks of it, but we finished. It wasn't fun, and my knee started to hurt about halfway in, but it felt good to get through it. It made me think that I will actually finish in January, one way or the other. I don't feel bad about the walking, because my body is still not healthy, and I need to make myself take it easy. I can't push myself as hard as I would like right now.
But I got through it, and that's what matters. We'll see how this week goes. I'm going to try to get 3 daily runs in, then Saturday is our big 12-miler. Crazy!
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