'Twas the Day and Night Before the Marathon...

Saturday morning, we headed downtown for the kid's race and Family Festival and Expo.  Andrew and Lauren were both racing at Lincoln HS.  Lauren's race was 1/2 mile and Andrew's was 1 mile.   We got there early, and the kids enjoyed the rock wall, the large inflatable obstacle course, and the sunshine.  Each kiddo did a great job in their race, keeping their pace and not going out too hard.  Both had a great kick at the end!

Ready to Race!

He made it to the top!

After their races, we headed to the Expo to pick up my race bib and check out some of the booths.  I picked up a nice long sleeve shirt, and a coffee mug, but the kids were restless and we didn't really need to spend any more time there.  It was a great expo though, and I probably could have done some more damage had they not been begging to leave.  

Later that day, I was stressing about what I was going to eat, wear, and IF I was going to get any sleep.  I decided I needed what has never failed me before… 2 IPAs and pizza.  DELICIOUS beer and pizza.  Thankfully, I live in Portland.  You can’t throw a rock without hitting a place that serves awesome beer.  Pizza is a different story.  So I made Amy and Audrey and their families drive over to HUB for the celebratory beer and pizza pre-thon dinner.  And pretzels, and hummus, and salad, and veggies, and…  well, I WAS carbo-loading after all.  Happy to report I stopped at the 2 IPAs.  It’s a well-tested recipe for success that I don’t mess with. ;-)  Amy couldn’t wait to give me the beautiful necklace she bought me from Run Molly Run.  She also threw in a 26.2 car magnet… I was super excited to slap that on my minivan the next day!  We finalized our plans for the morning, and headed home to get some sleep.  

Before I closed my eyes, I did a final check of facebook.  I was overwhelmed by the generous and supportive messages from family and friends near and far.  So many notes wishing me well, and words of encouragement and support from those that had been there, done that, so many times before.  Those words meant the world to me, and I held them close to my heart all 26.2 miles...

Cyndie Wants to Run A MARATHON?!?! What?!

It’s a pretty amazing day for the Marathon world. The NYC Marathon is being televised on ESPN.  It’s impressive watching the elite runners, effortlessly cover 26.2 miles and look like they’re barely breaking a sweat.  But my favorite part is watching the wave starts.  Watching the weekend warriors, out there fulfilling a dream, cross that start line with the excitement and anticipation of the day washing over them to the sound of Frank Sinatra.  It brought a flood of memories back to the start of the Portland Marathon, my first, just a month ago.  It was then that I realized, I had never taken the time to write down my thoughts from that amazing day… Or even, why I wanted to do this in the first place.  So I’m breaking this up into two posts.  I feel like each thought deserves its own story.

Cyndie Wants to Run a Marathon?!  WHAT?!

Running a marathon wasn’t something I EVER wanted to do.  EVER.  It wasn’t about believing I could do it, I just never had the desire to go 26.2.  My sister ran the Chicago Marathon in 2005, and while I was super impressed, I was never overcome with the desire to run one myself.   Fast-forward a few years, another baby, and regular attendance at Stroller Strides… I was suddenly surrounded with friends who made their health and fitness a priority.  The races started with a few 5 and 10Ks, and very quickly jumped to that elusive Half Marathon that I had failed to complete.  So fitting that my first Half would be the Girlfriend’s Half, a race that I never miss each year now.   My running buddies and I enjoyed participating in these races, as time spent with Girlfriends is never a dull moment (the post-race beer that follows just about every Portland race makes for a fun morning as well).  

Bridge to Brews 10K... CHEERS!

Shamrock Run 15K... CHEERS! (see the theme?)

Girlfriend's Half... with LOTS of Girlfriends!

“Participating” eventually turned into “racing” and Personal Records (PRs) would never stand for long without feeling that desire to beat it.  In 2012, I trained with one of my Best Running Friends (BRF), Marianne, as she worked her way towards the Portland Marathon.  I would join her for much of her long runs (never more than 14 miles…that one was tough for me), and I was in awe of what she was pushing her body to continue to do after I would drop off.  I was spent after our long runs together, and she still had 4, 5, even 6 more miles to go!  Marathon day, I was fortunate enough to jump in and run a few miles of the race with her.  She was so strong, relaxed and confident.  Proper training had brought her to the start line confident, ready to run and able to finish strong.   I was so excited for her, and I was honored to jump in and run part with her.

Celebrating Marianne's STRONG finish of 26.2!!!

Marianne and I after our first Sub2 Half!

After one particular training run with Marianne a few weeks before race day, I came home and registered for my first 26.2.  Portland Marathon 2013.  That “runner’s high” is strong stuff.  It makes you do crazy things (like register for a Marathon over a year away!).   I decided that after a few years of running, training for, and eventually racing plenty of Half Marathons, it was time to tackle the full deal.  And I was going to do it before my 40^th birthday.   

So at the end of 2012, 2013 was already shaping up to be a challenging and rewarding year for my running.  I was registered for the Eugene Half (April 2013), which I planned to train hard to break my own PR on, I was registered for several other half marathons to run with friends for fun, and I was looking forward to Hood to Coast with my Girlfriends!  The Portland Marathon was going to be a culmination of an amazing year of running and training and time with my Girlfriends.  I had no expectations for the Marathon (yet), I was just excited to see what I could do…

Guest Post on Another Mother Runner

I was thrilled to be asked by Sarah Bowen Shea, of Another Mother Runner, to run the Happy Girl Half Marathon in Bend, OR over Memorial Day Weekend and then write up a Race Report for her.  Loved the race, loved the experience of writing about it.  I need to remember to take the time to do this more often.

Here is the race report from the Happy Girl Half, edited by SBS. ;-)

Fun Run…Girls on the Run Helping Others

This is my second year of coaching Girls on the Run at Oak Hills Elementary, and each year has been so rewarding and meaningful.  As part of their curriculum, each group is required to develop and implement a Community Impact Project.  We start this process by asking the girls to discuss ideas they are passionate about.  Then they form groups and present one big idea that we, as a team, can do within the time frame of our Girls on the Run session, to make a difference in the community.  After presenting three great ideas, the runners up were:  1) Environmental clean-up at the school, and 2) Making toys for the animals at the Humane Society because, as one girls said, “Not everyone can have a pet, but everyone can make a difference in the lives of animals.”  My eyes are still a little misty after hearing that one.  

The winner, that almost the entire team voted for, was to organize a Fun Run for the Food Bank.  The girls wanted to host a 1 mile run at our school track.  They decided to charge $2 or pantry food for the race entry.  They made posters to hang all over school, and asked permission to go into all the classrooms to make an announcement about it.  Such great lessons and experience!  As their coach, I took the liberty of blasting the information all over Facebook and in emails.  My dear friend, and co-coach for the other GOTR team at Oak Hills, Amy Little (Race Director of Cause + Event Portland), graciously offered up extra Cause + Event race bibs for us to use and feel “legit.”  The girls planned to have an aid station with water cups, and a start/finish banner.  

Race day rain didn’t dampen their spirits.  It was pouring for much of the day.  We all showed up at 4pm to set up the course.  The girls brought chalk to write inspirational phrases all around the track.  We set up a canopy with an aid station, filling Dixie cups with water.  The girls set up the registration table, ready to make change and collect food.  Several of the girls brought their collections of silly bands to pass out to the runners as they completed each of their four laps, before heading down the finish chute.  They thought of everything, and a little rain didn’t seem to matter much.  For us Oregonians, it almost made it perfect. 

Aid station crew

Marking the course

The registration crew

We had advertised registration to open at 4:15pm, and we had people waiting with food and money in hand!  The girls were practically giddy!  My parents were in town, so my Dad grabbed my camera and started taking pictures.  I was so happy he did!  By 4:30pm, when we had said the run would start, there were still people lined up waiting to register.  Wow.  I was so humbled by our community.  We had families, friends, strangers who had heard about it on Facebook, and teachers come out to support our Girls and their mission.  So so so grateful to everyone.  I counted at least 65 runners!  Amazing.

Runners waiting to register

Girls excited to get this run started!

Some last-minute instructions...

At 4:35, I gave the runners a few instructions, thanked everyone for coming out to help us help those in our community who are hungry, sent the girls off to their posts, and headed up to the track.  An anxious group of boys (my son included) were at the front of the line, ready to take off.  The girls counted them down, and they were off!  Each lap, runners were given a silly band so they could keep track of their distance.  After they collected 4 bands, they were led off the track to the finisher’s chute, where two of the girls waited with a finish banner and many lined the chute with High 5’s!  The aid station was a hit, and the girls even kept the track clean of cups for the runners.  

And they're OFF!

So many community members came out to support our cause

Lauren and I running our laps

The Finish Line!

Girls on the Run is SO much FUN!!!

Future Girls on the Run

When all of the runners had finished, Caryn and I gathered the girls together, and we ran one lap as a team.  As we rounded the corner of the track to the finish chute, we noticed that all of the participants had lined the chute with their arms in an arch for us to run through!  Smiles all around, and our hearts so so happy!  

Happy Girls...Happy Hearts!

When it was all said and done, we raised just over $200 and 3 wagon-loads of food (totaling 185 pounds) for the local food bank!  Now our girls have one last week before hitting the streets of downtown Portland with their Running Buddies for the Starlight Run 5K!

Doing good FEELS good!

13 Weeks to Clarity...

Dates are important to people.  We connect a lot of meaning to important dates in our lives.  Birthdays, anniversaries, losing loved ones, medical diagnosis, triumph over tragedy… some dates we celebrate with smiles, and others with tears.   Today is one of those days.  April 9^th.  But I’ll get to that part in a little bit… 

I am training for a Half Marathon.  I’ve done 8 half  marathons (and countless other races, relays, and even a few triathlons).   This half marathon is different.  I have a goal.  A big goal.  One that, just a few short months ago, seemed insurmountable.  Unreasonable.  Un REACHable.  Until now.  Until today.  April 9^th.

On January 28^th, 2013, I began following my first Training Plan for the Eugene Half Marathon.  It’s a 13 week program from Train Like A Mother.  I’m a big stalker fan of the Another Mother Runner authors, I follow their Facebook page, and have been to a few of the book readings and get-togethers here in Portland, as one of the authors lives here.  I had developed a nice base of miles, and felt like taking on the “Own It” plan would be a good fit.  I had a big goal, after all.  At the time, I just wanted another PR.  Maybe even shed a few more minutes off of my previous best of 1:56:36.  At least, that’s what I would say out loud.  “I’ll be happy with 1:53.”  But in my head, I knew what I really wanted.  And those first two weeks on the plan were a shock to the system.  No workout was tremendously hard, but when I was asked to push my pace, I just didn’t feel like I had it in me.  I couldn’t reach down and find that extra something I needed.  I had done the math about 1,000 times.  I knew what pace I would need to average for 13.1 miles if I wanted to achieve my REAL goal.  My silent goal.  And I couldn’t even push the pace of the goal I kept saying I wanted.   I was trying to convince myself that I didn’t really have it in me to be a faster runner.  Maybe I had capped out?

I plugged along with the plan.  Honestly, I really really enjoyed following a training plan!  I loved having my workouts laid out for me.  I knew exactly what I needed to do, and I trusted that following this plan would eventually get me to where I wanted to be.  It mixed easy runs, tempo work, intervals, hill repeats, and long long long mileage runs on the weekend, with sections of miles where you were to push race pace.  This was new to me.  Normally, I just picked a number and ran that many miles, and checked it off.  I quit my swim class after a while, because it just got to be too much.  I wanted to focus on running.  My body was keeping up, so I figured I would just go with it and see what happens.  

The plan capped out in mileage on week 9, with a 15 mile run.  Leading up to this week, I had been doing double digit weekend runs for 8 weeks.  15 miles was the longest run I had ever done, AND I was supposed to push race pace for 6 of those miles.  Um, whuck?!  My BRF, Amy, and I headed down to my favorite place in Portland to run: the waterfront loop.  She needed to do her long run (10 miles!), so we planned to do the loop, and then I would head back out for the last 5 miles on my own.  It was a beautiful, glorious spring day in Portland.  And being on the waterfront made it more beautiful.  So many people out enjoying the day.  Cherry tree blossoms falling like snow (aaachooo!), and lots of friendly waves.  

We stopped to take pics, fuel, drink plenty of water.  I pushed the pace hard for my last 6 miles, and my last mile was close to race pace!  That run pretty much wiped me out for a week.  If you listen to the AMR podcasts, a recent discussion they had was with the woman who developed their training plans.  Sarah asked her MY question, which was “My friends all want to know why on earth I am running such high mileage when I’m just training for a half?”  Her answer: on the Own It plan, your goal is usually time related, and not just about crossing the finish line.  When you run 13, 14, 15 miles during your training, you aren’t concerned anymore about weather or not you CAN do it.  You already know you CAN.  Instead, you can focus on pushing your pace.  Hmmm, sounds about right.  I wouldn’t know just how RIGHT she was until the next week.

Like I said, that 15 miler wiped me OUT.  I slogged thru my training runs the next week, and even skipped one day!  Interestingly enough, the plan backed waaaay off during this recovery week.  Almost like she knew we would be wiped out.  (She did.)  The next Saturday was a 12 miler.  Nothing special about it.  Just 12 miles.  This one I did on my own, I had to fit it in before Andrew’s baseball practice.  So I ran my miles around my house in the Bethany area.  It ain’t flat around here, folks.  When it was all said and done, I looked down at my watch and was shocked at my pace.  I had just banged out 12 miles at darn near race pace, and had enough left to kick it in at the end.  I felt like a rock star!  And the whole time, you know what I was thinking?  “12 miles is nothing after that 15 miler!”  Yep, those gals know what they’re talking about for sure. 

Which brings me to today.  Today was what I considered the hardest training run on the plan.  Even more difficult that the 15 miler.  It was 7 miles, with 5 straight miles at tempo.  Now, it took me a while to completely understand what tempo meant.  Basically, it’s pushing yourself past your comfort level for longer distances.  Uncomfortably hard, is what some will say.  About 15-20 seconds faster than your goal race pace.  And today, I needed to do that for FIVE MILES.  I was nervous.  But after my rock star 12 mile run, I knew I could do it.  And I wanted to see if I could push my pace a little faster.  So I got on the mill, did my warm up, set the pace for 7:47, and found my rhythm.  I had 5 miles to think, and a lot of things went through my head during that run.  Never once did I think I needed to stop, or that I wouldn’t be able to finish.  In fact, I sped up during the last half mile.  I thought a lot about the date, and what it was supposed to be and what it had become…

Today, I should have been celebrating my 2^nd child’s 7^th birthday.  7 years ago, today was the due date of our 2^nd pregnancy.   I remember the date that I knew we would not be celebrating this birthday.  August 14^th, 2005.  The months following were difficult.  I was looking for an outlet for my sadness.  I don’t want to dwell on this, because this date has come to mean so much more to me over the years.   It is the day I became a runner.  The funny part is, I didn’t actually run at all on that date.  I had signed up to run the Race for the Roses on April 9^th, 2006.  That was supposed to be my due date.   During my training, I became pregnant with Lauren.   Lauren, my light, my love, my special girl.  God had a plan for our family.  And Lauren was a part of that plan.  Good things come to those who wait. 

And all of the sudden, my five miles were up.  I had done it.  I had pushed myself faster and farther than I thought I ever could a few short months ago.  I am more confident in myself, I am stronger, and I am faster.  And my goal for Eugene is 1:48.  I am so excited for that weekend.  So many people I know are going down there to tackle the half and the FULL marathon.  Some hoping to BQ for the first time!  I’m looking forward to spending time with my girlfriends that I don’t get to see nearly enough anymore.   I don’t know how I will feel on race day.  If I don’t make my time goal, I can still be so proud of my training and hard work.  I know now that I am capable of that time.  I just need to go get it.  

And then head for 26.2…