Monumental Marathon 11.5.16

Since I've started running marathons, my goal has always been to run sub 3:30.  I've come close but just have never been able to run it.

I slept well the night before and felt pretty relaxed at the start. The start was super crowded and I figured the first few miles would be slow going, but I was actually already at goal race pace by mile 1. We ran by the Colts stadium, which was pretty neat and then worked our way to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. This area was really pretty, but it was still crowded and I ended up running on the outside of the circle instead of the tangent like I normally try to run.

I started looking for Jason after this, expecting him to be around mile 4, but I never saw him. I knew our friend, Benji, was supposed to be at mile 6 so I started looking for him after not seeing Jason. I like having people to look for, as it helps pass the time and gives me something to think about other than if I'm feeling good or not.

The 3:25 pacer was up ahead of me and I had decided to just keep him in view and not try to stay with him. I didn't want to run too hard too early and blow up. I figured if he was still in sight around mile 18 then I would try to catch up with him. I hit the half split in 1:42:32 (7:50 pace) and was feeling decent. I never felt great or horrible during Indy - just always felt okay. Around mile 14, I decided to go ahead and pass the 3:25 pacer

The race went through the Broad Ripple neighborhood, which was fully of pretty homes to look at - I often look at houses when I run, so I appreciate courses that have a lot of them! Miles 17-18 went through the Butler campus and Greek Row. Miles 19-20 went by the Oldfields-Lilly House & Gardens and the Indy Museum of Art, which was a beautiful area - definitely my favorite part of the course. I was still feeling strong at the 20-mile mark so started to pick it up. I saw Benji and he ran some miles with me, which helped me to keep chugging along. I knew by then I was finally going to get my sub 3:30 - what a great feeling after years of hard work. I crossed the line in 3:22:01 - over a 9-minute PR just a few months after finishing up radiation!

Erie Marathon at Presque Isle 09.14.14

Back in May, Liz ran the Nashville marathon, but wanted to run another one within a few months, so who does she get in touch with?  Me!  She knows I have a hard time saying no to a marathon road trip.  We decided on the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle.  I was worried about summer training and listened to my cardio doc's warnings.  I decided to keep up with marathon long runs, but do 5K speed work so I wouldn't have to do long intervals in the heat/humidity.  My tempo runs were shorter than usual, but I increased the intensity.  I had no idea how Erie would go after this training, but I didn't have a big goal.  After Carmel, I just wanted to feel good the entire race, so I set two goals - to run sub-4 and to not throw up.

Road trip!

Race days rolls around and temps were expected to be mid 50s for the entire race.  Can't complain about that!  Liz and I got there really early as advised and had no issues with traffic and parking, which is something I always worry about on race day.  Another thing I worry about is if I'll have time to go to the bathroom 2-3 times.  Well, 7:00 AM was approaching quickly and lines were so long.  I realized I'd have to forgo one last trip and just stop at the port-a-john I saw at the 5K mark.  Race starts and I realize I can get to it before mile 1, so I took advantage of the pit stop and still knocked out an 8:30 first mile!

Talk about pretty views!

To my surprise, I settled into a low 8 minute pace.  By mile 3, I knew it was going to be a good day.  I just felt calm and knew that God had some great stuff planned for me.  I have to admit I kept telling myself until mile 25 not to get ahead of myself, but then I would just reply to myself that I felt great and it was going to be a memorable day.   I realized a guy nearby was pacing a girl to 3:35, so I decided to just tuck in with them and see what happened.  My goal for the halfway mark was 1:50.  I figured 1:50 gave me a cushion to still go sub-4 if I started having issues, but it also put me in a good position if I was feeling good.  I hit halfway just under 1:47 and was feeling good so I decided to pick it up.

The course was beautiful (2-loop course with shade and water views), the volunteers were great (best ones I've ever seen at a race), and the miles continued to go by easily and I was passing people left and right, which was a huge mental boost.  I thought about my sweet Bella.  I thought about how Liz would be surprised to see me so early.  I thought about my friends who run so many miles with me.  I thought about how proud Jason and my family would be.  I thought about how life flourishes when you trust in God and the path he has planned for you.  These thoughts kept me moving.  I started to get tired, but knew I'd be close to 3:30, so I just kept pushing it and telling myself to keep moving.  I finished with the last mile in 7:45 and crossed the line in 3:31:02.  Mind blown. 

Happy girls!  Liz rocked a sub 3:27!  PRs and BQs for both of us!

I cried when I finished.  A year ago I wasn't sure how much I would be able to run going forward.  I was told that I would run slower and run shorter.  I thought that PRs and BQs were years away, if they ever happened again, but I have always kept a little sliver of hope.  It's amazing what happens when you trust in God, never lose hope, and then just run for the love of running.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

Race notes:  Ran w/orange Amazon water in handheld; 3 honey stinger chews every other mile starting at mile 7; pancakes for lunch and pizza for dinner day before along with lots of water plus Amazon water with salt;  Gatorade day before and morning of; bread & PB plus cuties and part of Odwalla bar for pre-race breakfast.

Black Mountain Monster 6-hr Recap 5.17.14

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." - Thomas Carlyle

I had been wanting to run a 6-hr race for a while and the timing and price of the Black Mountain Monster worked out well.   I had set a goal of 36 miles, 2 loops per hour.  I thought it was a solid goal - not unrealistic, but challenging.  With temps being cooler than expected, I though 36 miles was definitely runnable.

I really had no idea what to expect in terms of the course.  I had seen a few pics of the course, but that was it.  I LOVED it.  It was such a mix of terrain and scenery that it never got old.  There was some grass running, packed dirt running, a little bit of pavement, wide trails, and some non-technical single track.  There was a section where we ran through a field of tall trees; I loved entering that section every loop.  My least favorite part was the grass section towards the end of the loop, right before the course dropped and took a right hand turn around tent town.  For some reason, I just didn't like it.  I didn't mind the grass part right at the finish, but maybe that's because I knew that section signaled another lap complete.  I loved the course though and it's definitely one of my fave courses now. 

Photo Courtesy of Willie and Sarah

I knocked out four laps in 2 hours and had a little bit of a cushion to stay on my goal of 36 miles.  I had to stop after 4 laps to take off my calf sleeves and change socks.  I was afraid I might get too warm with my calf sleeves on so decided to take them off.  My Brooks socks were too thin and I could feel a hot spot forming on the ball of each foot.  I slathered on more Vaseline and went with my Balega socks since they are thicker.  One of the best decisions I made; my feet still look like non-runner's feet!  That break though ate up my cushion and I came in a little after the 3 hour mark to finish 6 laps.  So to reach my goal, I would have to pick up the pace and that wasn't happening.  My legs had no pop to them all day, not even at mile 1.  They had been feeling blah all week, but I thought rest would take care of it.  No such luck, so I concentrated on my mantra that I had in my mind all week leading up to the BMM.  Continuous forward movement. If I wasn't going to hit my mileage goal, I would at least keep moving the whole time.  

When I finished lap 8, I saw that the lead female was also at 8 laps, but it turns out she had come in a while ago and was closing in on lap 9, so I knew first place was out of reach.  She and I ended up running my lap 9 and her lap 10 together and knocked it out fairly "quickly".  Talking about clothes and running definitely helps the tired miles pass by easier.  We came in from that lap with 55ish minutes left in the race.  I came across Jason and we switched to a jog/walk and then to just a walk.  We were both tired and I wasn't feeling too hot; also, by taking more time, I didn't have to decide whether or not to try for more after that lap.  If we had come in with 20 minutes left on the clock, I would have probably tried for another mile and maybe even pushed for two, so it was better that we took our time and finished with just a few minutes left on the clock.

Photo courtesy of Ray Krolewicz

Jason and I ran about 3 laps together; the first one, a middle one, and the last one.  Poor thing had to listen to me again talk about how I wanted to throw up, but I promised him I wouldn't cry this time.  He finished with 27.9 miles and I finished with a 50K.  I ended up being 2nd female and was pleasantly surprised with a $50 gift certificate to a running store.  I thought maybe I'd get a medal at most, so scoring money for running shoes was a nice bonus!  We had a couple of friends running and they did great; Sarah ended with over 50 miles for the 12-hr race and Chas ended up with a 50K for the 6-hr race.

Why else did this race rock?  Aid station was awesome.  The watermelon, pineapple, and crispy bacon all hit the spot.  The shirts are pretty cool too; I love the glowing monster eyes on the shirt.  It had a fun, low-key atmosphere, which I love.  Plus, they encouraged runners to bring food for a local crisis center and animal shelter.  Did I mention the course?  Would love to be able to run it more often.

Photo Courtesy of Willie and Sarah

So, while I'm happy about finishing 2nd and logging my first 50K as a heart runner, I have to admit there's still a little bit of disappointment in my head.  Yes, happiness and disappointment regarding a goal can coexist.  My goal was something I should have been able to run and I just didn't have it come race day.  I don't think anything in particular went wrong, other than my legs just didn't want to go fast.  I stayed away from Gu/gels and my stomach felt better.  I did take 2 s-caps and am not sure if that's what hit me on the last lap or not.  I'm going to cut those out too for future races.  Despite the disappointment, I can't wait to see my doc's face when I tell him I've run a marathon and 50K since he last saw me!      

"God is within her; she will not fail.  God will help her at break of day." - Psalms 46:5

 

Carmel Marathon Recap 4.12.14

This post is a mix of emotions for me, so it jumps around a bit.  I've always been faithful and put my trust in God, but it wasn't until a church service a few months ago that it really hit home that He is the ultimate healer.  A woman (and her two daughters) testified to how prayer had healed her of her illness.  I fought back tears because I wanted so badly to be healed and be back to normal.  Something clicked in me that day and I realized that God would heal me.  It would take a lot of hard work on my end, but I knew He would be with me and would give me the strength and energy I needed.  I have been asking him repeatedly to use me as a testimony to what He can do. 

When I was cleared to run in December, I decided to slowly start ramping up and begin marathon training in January.  I figured if the training was going well and I thought I could finish a marathon then I would sign up about half way through the training.  I knew from my doctor's warnings that my paces would be off and not to expect to be close to my old times.  I ran a 5K in January and was 2 minutes off my PR with little training, so I found that encouraging.  I felt really good at a 10K in February, plus marathon training was going well, so I signed up for the Carmel Marathon in Indiana.  I bonked at a half marathon after signing up for Carmel, which was disappointing, but I didn't read too much into it because I ran it on tired legs.  I was happy to see that my heart rate held constant during the half even when I got tired because that was a concern of mine going into the marathon.  I was afraid as I got tired that my heart rate would run even higher.  The half was a good test for that and gave me a little peace of mind. I had a cardio appointment a few days later and my doctor was shocked at how well I was doing.

I was really happy with how training went.  I followed the Hansons Marathon Method and ran more miles for marathon training than I ever have (just under 700 miles).  I really enjoyed the plan and went into Carmel feeling very optimistic that a 3:35 (BQ) or better was possible.  I had hit all the training times for a 3:30 marathon, but set my goal at 3:35 since I wasn't sure entirely what to expect with my blood pressure/heart rate.  A PR seemed like a very lofty goal, but a BQ seemed reasonable.  

My only concern going into the race was a low back issue from traveling in a car for 10 hours a few days prior.  Thankfully, Jason's friend, who we were staying with, is also a chiropractor and let us use his office so I could get adjusted.  That gave me a decent amount of relief and made me feel like I could make it through 26.2.

Race day came and I felt ready.  Not many people knew I was running and that was how I wanted it.  Temps were in the mid to high 40's at the start, but were expected to climb into the mid to high 60's fairly quickly.  I had plenty of Powerade gels and had my Ultima/salt mix in my handheld, so I felt good that I would have the race fuel I needed.  I quickly settled into race pace and felt like I was just jogging; the miles quickly ticked away.  I took a gel at miles 4.5 and 9 and made sure to stay on top of hydration.  I had been tracking right in front of the 3:35 pace group through mile 12 and dropped back into the group to have company for a while.  We hit the halfway mark in 1:47:20, which was right on goal.  I was feeling decent, but knew the last half would be tough.  

I finished my bottle around mile 15 and refilled with just water because I knew Jason would be at mile 18 to give me a new handheld with my mix in it.  I hadn't taken a gel since mile 9 because I had no desire to intake anything (my stomach felt a bit bloated by mile 10).  By mile 16, I couldn't hang with the pace group anymore.  My desire to hang on was overtaken by my desire to throw up.  A wave of nausea hit me around mile 18 so I sat down for a minute or two with a cop and took a s-cap in hopes that would help.  I had a layer of salt on me so I was worried that my sodium level was low.  Once the nausea passed, I kept on trucking because I knew Jason was nearby.  He ran a mile with me and I managed to jog for about four miles until somewhere around mile 22 when the tiny string that was holding everything together finally snapped.  After running for over an hour wanting to throw up, I finally did.  I sat down for a bit and started moving again once I felt okay.  I knew I didn't have too far to go until I saw Jason again.  My goal was to make it to him and then walk the last two miles.  My upper body was so tight that I couldn't do more than walk because breathing really hurt, but I knew I could finish.  I threw up again at mile 26 and all I wanted was to be at the finish line. 

Mile 26

I finally finished, way off goal pace (4:27:04), but I finished and I am grateful for that.  Back in September, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to run marathons again, so each day I'm able to run, whether it's a good run or a bad run, I'm thankful.  I have no idea what went wrong.  I know I needed more fuel, but just couldn't take any in by the halfway mark.  I'm not sure if I had too much salt, or not enough, or maybe I drank too much.  If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know as I need to figure out what went wrong!  (Notes on the race - I would run it again.  Shirts & medals were nice.  Good snacks after the race.  Great course - really pretty parts & *should* have been fast!  No gel/gu on course and powerade was red, which stains.)

HUGE medal!

God still has a lot of work and healing to do with me.  I know He's working in me, for me, and through me.  So, while I may not like how Carmel ended, it's not "The End".  It's part of my journey, part of my testimony, and the best is yet to come.

"But the Lord stood with me & gave me strength." - 2 Timothy 4:17

"God is within her, she will not fail; God will help her at break of day." - Psalm 46:5

Chocolate Blueberry Protein Bars

Dry Ingredients:
Dash of salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 T. nutmeg
1-2 T. cinnamon
1-2 T. ginger
1-2 T. maca powder
2-3 T. cocoa powder
Less than 1/4 c. xylitol/coconut palm sugar
1/4 c. chia seeds
1/4-1/2 c. protein powder
1 1/2 c. flour

Add-Ins:
1/4 c. chocolate chips1/4 c. frozen blueberries

Wet Ingredient:
1 c. applesauce

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients.  Mix in add-ins.  Mix in applesauce.  If too wet, add more flour or protein powder.  If too dry, add more applesauce.  Stir well.  Bake in lightly greased 7x11 glass pan @ 375 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:

-I try to use as much organic ingredients as possible.  The higher quality your ingredients, the better the bar is for you.  

-I use whey protein powder, but if you want to use a plant-based protein, that should work too.  You can add more than recipe calls for.  I plan on adding more in my next batch.

-Amount of xylitol/sugar just depends on how sweet you want it.

-You can use whatever add-ins you like.  I just love blueberries and chocolate. 

-I love the little Boreal blueberries from Trader Joe's.  They are pesticide free and are tiny which works well in bars.

-I use a blend of flour (1 c. Wholesome Chow organic gluten free all purpose baking mix and 1/2 c. of wheat) and I like the consistency it gives (somewhere between bread and a cake).  It's not gluten free, but you could leave out the wheat flour and replace with extra 1/2 c. of the flour you use.  The all purpose baking mix contains tapioca which helps to bind the ingredients.  If you use just straight flour (like brown rice or coconut), I would add in an egg (or tapioca flour/starch or a flax egg) to help bind.

Year in Review: 2013

I had set a lot of big goals for myself for 2013.  I wanted to run a sub 4:30 50K, sub 3:30 marathon, sub 1:40 half, and sub 21:00 5K.  I got off to a great start by running a 4:24:50 at the Frosty 50K in January.  That was followed by a marathon PR of 3:33:39 at Myrtle Beach.  It wasn't the sub 3:30 I wanted, but it was a PR and BQ and I had Richmond in November, which would give me another chance at my goal.  I ran a 20:38 5K and set a new goal of sub 20:00.  This was all by May, so I was feeling good about reaching all of my goals by the end of the year.

The Boston bombings happened, so I signed up for the Lehigh marathon to get a better time before Boston registration opened.  I figured I would need more of a cushion, so I spent the summer training and was feeling confident enough in my training that I thought I could run a 3:25 at Lehigh.  I was sick a few weeks before the marathon and my training runs were rough, but I didn't think much of it (I should have).  Lehigh came around and a DNF was logged.  Shortly after, I realized something was going on with my heart.  

September was spent wondering if I'd get into the Boston marathon while also wondering what in the world was going on with my heart.  Turns out my time was 17 seconds too slow, so there would be no Boston marathon on my 2014 schedule.  As disappointed as I was, I had bigger things on my mind, like my health.  I made the decision to defer FATS 50K and Richmond marathon since I didn't know what was wrong with me.  After a treadmill stress test revealed I was having SVT, I was set up for a cardiac ablation in October.  I still had issues after this, so I had a second ablation in mid-November.  Issues followed, so monitors were worn and more doctor visits were scheduled.  

December brought bad news.  The issues I'm having are due to an autonomic dysfunction; my blood pressure won't get high enough when I move around, so my heart rate is running higher to help bring it up.  I'm the only patient my doc has seen who has had SVT and the autonomic dysfunction.  SVT is curable (thanks to the ablations); the AD isn't.  Thankfully, it's not lethal and the best thing I can do for it is exercise.  I won't be able to run as fast, but the doctor encouraged me to exercise, exercise, exercise.

Training will be harder and slower, but it will be done.  I don't have plans to race much in 2014.  No PR goals are being set.  I won't know if I'll be able to handle a marathon for a while; I have to see how the mileage build up goes.  I'll mainly be logging miles, getting back into shape, and being grateful for the ability to be active.

Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. - Romans 12:12

Running Hiatus/Broken Heart

The Lehigh marathon didn't go too well, as I had to pull out at mile 12 due to health issues.  I was really disappointed, as I had been feeling great during summer training and really thought a sub 3:30 was going to happen.  Jason and I went running the following weekend and about a half mile in I felt really tired and thought we were running at 5K pace.  Too bad we were running slow.  Jason checked my heart rate and it was almost maxed out.

I ended up going to the cardiologist where a treadmill stress test and echocardiogram were performed.  The structure and function of my heart were fine, but the stress test triggered an PSVT.  Essentially, my blood was pumping through "bad" pathways that shouldn't have been there and that was causing rhythm problems.  The doc told me my choices were to live with it (it's not lethal), medicine, or cardiac ablation.  I was quickly scheduled for an ablation and was looking forward to getting back to running soon. 

For an ablation, you go to an electrophysiology (EP) lab where they insert four wires into your heart via catheters inserted into a vein on the left/right side of the groin.  Once the wires are in the heart and are attached, the docs pretty much shoot adrenaline into you to get your heart racing.  If something is wrong with you, your heart will do "something"; in my case, trigger PSVT.   Once triggered, they map out where the bad places are and ablate them. 

I was nervous as all get out come ablation time (10/17/13).  I was afraid I would feel the wires moving through my body and the thought of that made me want to throw up.  I had asked to see the wires and they were bigger than I thought they would be, so that didn't help, but since I'm otherwise healthy, they were able to make me really comfortable.  In other words, I was knocked out.  I don't remember anything from the procedure other than waking up after and asking if it was over and if I was fixed.  The doc said the procedure went well.  They were able to easily trigger the SVT and were able to fix the one bad pathway they found.  I was really, really happy with this news.

The next couple of days were extremely lazy days since I had to stay off my feet (to let the veins/catheter insertion sites heal) and had minimal chest pain.  The weekend didn't go very well though, as I ended up in the ER.  My doctor prescribed me a Holter monitor to wear for a few weeks to see what was going on.  My heart rate was still getting really high with light activity, but since I wasn't about to try maxing it out, the Holter monitor didn't really pick up anything. 

My doctor was really surprised that I was still having issues since he and the other doctor thought my procedure had gone so well.  He said that it was possible that the tissue swelling (side effect of it being burnt) blocked part of the bad pathway which caused it not to re-trigger when they tried to during the procedure.  The other option was that this was just how my heart was going to be and I'd have to deal with it - ugh.  He said I could go for another treadmill stress test or I could bypass that and go straight back to the EP lab for possibly another ablation.  I decided to go on back to the EP lab since that was the most efficient; they can figure out what is wrong more accurately AND fix it. 

I wasn't nearly as nervous for the (possible) second ablation (11/14/13).  I put possible because going into it I knew there was a chance they wouldn't trigger anything and there would be nothing to ablate.  I was praying they would be able to trigger something.  So the nerves were a lot lower since I knew what to expect and was confident in my doctors to find and fix the problem.  Once they had me in the EP lab, I realized the anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist were missing.  Turns out, they were using a different sedative.  I had to fight back tears because once again I was afraid I'd feel the procedure.  I didn't feel anything, but am 99.9% sure I woke up during and asked them how long I had been in there.  I do plan on asking why a different sedative was used; I'm wondering if they wanted me less knocked out than last time.  Everything after the procedure is pretty hazy, but the docs told my mom that they had to burn 4 more bad pathways and 1 was closer to the AV node so they couldn't burn it as long due to the risk of injury and pacemaker.  They said it was very possible the pathway they fixed in round 1 was masking these other ones and were confident that I would be good to go now.

I didn't end up in the ER this past weekend, which I will take as a positive sign that things are fixed.  I've had more chest pain, but figure that is due to having more places fixed.  The catheter insertion sites have been more tender so I haven't attempted to even go for a walk.  I'm hoping to get out this weekend and see how I feel.  Everything I have read says to expect a high HR for a few months after an ablation, so I'm not sure if I'll be confident I'm fixed until I'm able to max out my HR and see what happens.  That attempt will be a few weeks from now though, as I need to heal up some more and get some miles back on my legs.

I've been finding a lot of comfort in the following verse:
  

"Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  And if worry can't accomplish a little thing like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things?" - Luke 12:25-26