T-46 hours and counting...

Trusting the taper, topping off the glycogen stores, and hunker-ing down!

In less than 24 hours I will be arriving in Chicago for my second marathon ever! I am almost too excited to sleep because it feels just like the first.

Today I spent time packing everything from Accel-Gel (gotta go with what works-"never try anything new on race week/day") to arm warmers; planning my trip from the El Train to the hotel so that I know it by heart, and making myself relax (I went to a movie). The best part about it is that my best friend Emily will be waiting for me when I get there...along with the opposite-of-sub-tropical-weather that I am so accustomed to now.

Repeat after me: cold weather good, hot weather bad..."cool weather is a marathoner's dream, and the ideal temperature for running is 48-52 degrees", says Coach Jenny Hatfield of Runner's World Magazine. From the weather reports (which I have compulsively checked all week), it looks like our conditions are going to be perfect as we'll toe the starting line at a crisp 40 degrees and finish at a comfortable 50 degrees.

Actually, the best, best part is that running this marathon is more than the sum of 26.2 individual miles...it's knowing that I've been able to make a difference and ease a burden in the lives of the kids and their families that attend E.S.P.
Thanks to everyone for support along the way. I look forward to continuing to share this marathon journey with you as I press on.

..........................................................

Frank Shorter, 1972 Olympic marathon gold medalist:

"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."

Misadventures in yoga

This is not me :)

"If one could run without getting tired I don't think one would often want to do anything else."
- C.S. Lewis

If I could get up and run every single day, I would. But at some point a body needs recovery. Mom says that I am my father's daughter, and that statement couldn't be more true...

Coming off of the 15K on Saturday, my legs were hoping for a break, and while my heart wanted to be on the roads, my head said "no." I listened to my head this time, though and conceded it was the right thing to do...Sunday should be a day of rest anyway, right?

That afternoon, I was going stir-crazy (there's my Dad in me), but my spirit leapt when I saw that there was a yoga class at the "Y" later. Let me just say that I might actually be the last person on Earth to try yoga, but, again...I needed something, anything, so that I could feel I exercised.

I'm guessing that you've already figured out by the title of this post, that it wasn't a mind-blowing experience. I was definitely the only newbie in the class, too...the instructor asked us to raise our hand if it was our first time, but nobody did...and then I completely chickened out. I was already going to look funny doing the poses, why in the world would I call MORE attention to myself?!

The anti-climactic hour wasn't because of the instructor (who, by the way, was really cool), or the people, or even the poses. In fact, we were encouraged to do only what was comfortable to our bodies. I think the problem is I'm just not yoga-ish. I find it really hard to close my eyes and not look around, "focus" in on a pose, and be "in it." I felt like I was totally missing the point-that everyone else was getting-and wondering why we couldn't just stretch :)

Monday morning, my legs felt fresh and *rested* and I was thankful I didn't run Sunday...and that I went to yoga! It was a lesson in always giving something a shot once, and that resting and doing yoga really does help!

Records...made to be broken; Goals...made to be surpassed!

This morning I ran in the Miracle Miles 15K. This race is extra special because it benefits the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Winnie Palmer Hospital, where I'm a nurse. Our tiny babies can't run, so we do!

Today was another milestone in my training program *yay*! I finished the 9.3 miles faster than last year (which was my first goal), and even set a Personal Record! Another wise runner once told me that every race should have three time goals: the best-case scenario, the realistic scenario, and the worst-case scenario. I'm excited to report that I nailed my time goal for the best-case scenario @ 1:14. I began the race really cautious and conservative because of the high temperature and humidity (shocker, I know). But once I hit the first 3 miles in about 23 minutes, and knew I felt comfortable, I kept it steady all the way in. Here are my splits for each mile:
8:02, 7:47, 7:46, 8:03, 8:04, 8:08, 8:11, 7:56 (after the Power Bar Gel--so glad I brought it along!), 7:55 (now it really kicked in!), and 2:27 (for the last .3mi).

The best part...seeing Marshall at mile 5! I had no idea he was going to be cheering for me on the course, and it made me feel so special--thanks, Babydoll! THEN he showed up again at mile 9 to light my fire on my way in to the finish.

My original plan was to run 3 miles after today's race to log the 12 miles required as the long run this week in preparation for Chicago, but I gave 110% effort this morning, and I know those extra 3 would not be functional. SO, I'm going to run 12 easy on Monday, which I feel is a better game plan.

Tomorrow we will be 2 weeks out from the marathon...stay tuned for these last days of training as the final preparation is upon me!

Home is not where you live, but where they understand you. --C. Morgenstern

...Where red and black go together (Go Dawgs!), the dirt looks like rust, and the rolling hills are populated with green pines and a few cows. And, to me...the place where you can say things like "y'all", and no one looks at you funny!

A trip "home" to Athens, Georgia was long overdue--we had not been to visit in over 6 months! The drive is around 7-8 hours (depending on how many times I need to stop--sorry, Love) and because we usually can't wait to get there, we typically take off after work and arrive some time in the middle of the night.

We began our first morning in Athens slightly sleep deprived, though. We made it there around 3am, and because my BFF and I had planned a run together that next morning, I had just enough time to essentially power-nap! 13 miles on my favorite roads like Milledge and Prince provided enough excitement that I forgot how little I had slept...the coffee and powerbar didn't hurt either! Our bagels and Diet Cokes at Marti's were the perfect recovery.

The trip home also included my first trips around town in my sister's car-she is *16* and a new driver...but a pretty good one (keep driving with both hands on the wheel, Sarah); a high school reunion of sorts at Clarke Central's football game where my Grandaddy Billy was honored by past players; a Georgia football game Between the Hedges; a movie with mom; lunch and never-ending-hard-as-you-can-squeeze-hugs with my Nana; and a trip to the North Georgia town of Dahlonega for some old fashioned picnic-ing.

Before we knew it, the time had come to leave. Time at home always passes so quickly!

Thank you Mom, Dad, Sarah, Craig, Nana and Grandaddy, and Pop and T (and Nicholas) for such a fun trip back in Athens, and being the place where we're always understood.

20 or bust!

We've peaked!
Emily and me after the 20!

Almost 4 months ago, Emily (the BFF) and I, made a commitment to run the Chicago Marathon together. This will be Emily's first 26.2, and I can't wait for her to love it as much as I do (that is, after she forgets how she feels afterward!)

Even though we are both runners, we have never been able to run together in years because we have always been in different cities. But back in Athens we got the chance to run together twice! Our first was a 13-miler that came on the heels of a "cut-back" week at the beginning of our visit. The second was the infamous-peak-of-marathon-training-20 miler. Funny enough, during our 3+ hour run we talked about everything BUT running... But when we weren't running, ALL we talked about was running! Those two runs have been my favorite of all during these past few months. I've always been a loner when it comes to logging miles, but running alongside Em beats any day on my own.

For the next three weeks we taper and rest as we decrease our mileage from about 50 miles per week to about 30. Our job is to make sure our glycogen stores are topped off and that we remember sleep is precious (and time well spent)! The hard training is over and on October 11th we will be ready!

visiting memory lane...and holland

Saturday is my mom's birthday, but I already sent her a special surprise box full of all things yellow-her favorite color ever. To me, she is yellow. She is inherently giving and unselfish and...just shines. She was the one who first taught me to let my light shine-to pay it forward and shine on others. This is her essence.

Mom received her box early and called me as soon as it graced the front steps of the house. She thanked me and told how much she liked each yellow gift! It was later in the evening and we were both done with the day, so we took advantage of our time "together". The conversation hopped from one thing to the next, but I was especially touched with a story she shared that is close to her heart. It illustrates how finding the joy and promise in unexpected, unsettling situations is the shine factor, if you will. It's exactly the way my mom has lived and taught me to live...and now, I'm going to pay it forward.

Welcome to Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved