I’m half way through my training cycle for my first in person marathon. That’s right- I ran my first marathon virtually in October of 2020 when NYC was canceled because of Covid. I had the opportunity to defer my guaranteed entry and learned that I would have the chance to run in 2021. As the marathon wasn’t run in person last year this is still the 50th running of the NYC marathon. This is what I wanted. I wanted to run the 50th Anniversary year- I wanted to run for my 40th birthday (which was in January), so I guess I’m just extending the birthday fun. When this adventure began it was to honor my Dad, by running and fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Association. Less than two month ago my dad lost his battle with Alzheimer’s. So now I run to honor his memory. I was already a bundle of emotions, when I ran virtually last year, but now my emotions are on overdrive.
I’ve been cautiously optimistic as I started my training cycle that the marathon will go off as scheduled. The closer we get to November 7 and the further I get into my training cycle the more optimistic I am that the marathon will happen and I will really toe the line in Staten Island. Things suddenly became very real this past weekend. I had my first longer run (12 miles) at marathon pace. My biggest challenge when running an in person race is to keep my cool at the start and not go out too hard. I imagine I am not alone with that “problem.” There’s so much adrenaline at the start of race- the excitement of running with others- the support along the route to keep going. I’m not sure I can even begin to fully appreciate what it is going to feel like on race day morning. So here I am six weeks to race day and in full freak out mode. I’m trying to anticipate all the things- what is it really going to be like to wait in the starting village for HOURS? What is the weather going to be like? What throw down items of clothing should I pack? Should I get arm sleeves/warmers? How much water should I carry? How am I going to make sure my phone stays charged? What if my watch battery dies? Will the new Apple Watch come out in time?? What in the world is my family going to do all that time while they wait for me? What am I going to want for dinner when I’m done? We would really go back and cheer on the other runners after I finish. This is just a sample of all the practical questions and thoughts running through my mindI’m thinking about. This isn’t even taking into account all of the emotions- I cried last year as I went out to run by myself. I can’t imagine the emotion as I begin to cross the Verrazano Bridge! Forget about when I see my family and enter the park to finish. This is not a DNF situation. Come hell or high water I will cross the finish line! That said- no pressure right??
I’m also in that window where staying healthy is key. There’s not much time for illness or injury to happen and get fully better without derailing this portion of the training. Granted if I accepted the idea that my only goal should be to finish- I could pack in the training now and know that I could finish a marathon. But I don’t want to “just finish.” I want to enjoy the experience. I want to take in the entire experience and I want to honor my father’s memory with each and every step. Again…no pressure! I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the unwavering support I get from my amazing husband. But for him believing in me, helping with the boys and making sure they were always there to cheer me on I couldn’t do it. I’m truly blessed and grateful.
I looked back at my posts from my last training cycle and felt grateful that I took the time to blog each week about that week’s runs. This weekend after my 12 miler the outside of my left knee feels funny- sore, tight. This isn’t a new pain, just a pain I haven’t had for a while. So I went back to my notes. It actually was’t until week 10 of training that this same knee pain popped up last year, but much worse- like couldn’t run much worse. I opted to lift this morning rather than do my scheduled run. Experience gives you a lot of things- when it comes to training it gives you the confidence to modify your running plan to listen to your body and hopefully avoid a more serious injury. We shall see what tomorrow brings as I go for a nice and easy few miles on the treadmill. Knock wood this go round, I’ve managed to avoid the nagging hip pain that plagued me through most of the last marathon training cycle. That said, I’ve fallen into the same trap of focusing on the miles and letting the cross training/lifting go. The last two weeks I’ve been a little bit better and added one lifting day. Core and strength training are really just as important as the miles so it’s important to make the time to get both the miles and the strength training done!
So what will the next six weeks bring?? Lots and lots of overthinking just about everything. Talking to my friend, Suzy of RunLIftMomPod, who will talk me off the wall and give me some helpful pointers. I will select an outfit…and a backup. I’ll commit to shoes, socks, waist pack- the whole nine yards, while likely packing back ups of everything. Deep down I know I can do it, I just need to get over not controlling the logistics and go with it. I can only prepare so much- the other pieces will fall into place. I will trust my training. I will take in the experience. Less than 40 days until the NYC Marathon!! On your mark, get set- GO!!!
Let’s be real life is always a balancing act right? Kids, work, working out, volunteering, time for your spouse, the house, laundry, more laundry. As the years go on the balancing changes. For example, when the boys were young and I was a stay home mom- it was balancing finding time to shower and make dinner with feedings, diaper changes and nap schedules. Then they got a little bit older and it was balancing having two kids instead of one. Trying to make their schedules mesh. Then one starts school, one is home and you are doing all the mommy and me activities. You get the idea as years pass by we are just changing the things that are always at a delicate balance. I laugh because Covid has just made the balance like a see saw. Every time we think we are in a good place there’s some sort of monkey wrench thrown into the mix.
Last year for the first time in my years as a mother both of my children were in school full time for the very first time. I had this grand plan for a life of luxury. I would drop them off, have time during the day to train for my marathon, read, write. I laugh, because within moments of them both being in school I started subbing basically full time at school. Let’s be real, I’m not really the take it easy, have a lot of time on your hands kind of person, so this wasn’t a huge surprise. We figured out the balance and it worked out well. I was happy to be at school with the boys and they were happy to have me there. I learned a lot about myself and the fact that I was really ready to go back to work.
Fast forward to July of 2021. Back to work full time- for real. I was a host of emotions- worried that I couldn’t truly find the balance, worried that I couldn’t remain the mom that I wanted to be to the boys. We quickly got into our summer routine and realized…this will work! Not only would it work, it was really important for the boys to see me doing something beyond being their mom. I’m not for one moment saying being a mom isn’t enough. Quite honestly, if you are blessed to be a mom I consider it the number one and most important “job.” That said, it was healthy for them to see me working on projects and doing other things. Once I got settled I realized how much I needed this for me too. So I worked on getting acclimated. The boys enjoyed camp and we got into a routine- a balance so to speak.
Then the balance was thrown out of whack…my dad died. While he had been battling Alzheimer’s for years, this sudden decline and death seemingly came out of no where. Understandably so the balance that we were just holding onto got undone. It would have remained undone but for the fact that school was starting as was marathon training. Time to kick it into high gear when all I wanted to do was nothing at all.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that marathon training began the week after my dad’s funeral. The reason I caught the marathon bug was to fundraise for the Alzheimer’s Association. He was my why for doing this big scary thing called running the NYC Marathon. The week following his funeral I couldn’t have been less motivated to lace up my shoes and run, but I’m a stickler for following the training plan. So in a good way it forced me to get my butt in gear, lace up my shoes and put one foot in front of the other.
Shortly thereafter would come the true test- back to school madness was about to begin. I think we can all agree that September is a crazy month. Everyone is getting back into routine and there are so many new things- new activities, back to school night, etc. etc. Throw into the mix that I had several programs for work in addition to the Jewish holidays along with the back to school madness/marathon training. Oh my goodness- it was a blur!! By the end of each day I am completely exhausted and falling asleep most days when the boys go to bed. But like always, we somehow found the balance and made it work. We still found the time for books and snuggles and movies. We found the time to discuss, highs, lows and buffalos each day. The boys found ways to help me get ready for events at work and we enjoyed more than one golf cart ride together. Was it easy? Heck no. Would I trade it for the world? Also no. Someone recently asked me how I was really doing regarding my dad. The truth is, there are good days and bad days. There are moments that set me off for no reason. I think the crazy schedule and being busy helped. He wouldn’t want me to be sad. He was always hustling and working hard. He’d be happy to know that I am too.
At the end of the day- I couldn’t be happier with my new job or the fact that I get to work where the boys go to school. I joined an amazingly supportive community, where family still comes first. I work hard, mom hard and run hard everyday. All while finding time to read for pleasure- my other guilty pleasure. We’ve found our balance…for now! Until something changes and we work to find the balance again!
Back in 2019 my first “long” race was the Charles Street 12, aka Chuck12. I love the idea of the race starting in Towson, not far from where I used to work, going past the hospital that I delivered the boys, continuing past where I went to law school and ultimately finishing at Under Armour Headquarter in Baltimore City. When I ran this race two years ago it was going to be my longest race to date and I didn’t really know what to expect. But when I toed the line this year, I’ve run a variety of half marathons and a virtual marathon. Plus, there’s nothing like having a real sense of the course. I wasn’t a newbie runner- yet still had that nervous energy as we got started. Even with Chuck 12 being my ultimate favorite race, I almost didn’t go. Last week was crazy- start of school, Jackson’s birthday, big event at work, all on the heels of a long month following my father’s death. But this was a real life racing opportunity, how could I pass it up?
I’m not going to lie, I was super sad and frustrated when racing got “covid cancelled” for much of 2020 and into 2021. I missed the opportunity to have a race setting push me to run my very best and test my training. I ran all the virtual races and it was just not the same. It took seemingly forever for racing to return to Maryland. It wasn’t really until June of 2021 when races started to happen in person. In October of 2020, I “raced” my virtual marathon and then basically had been in maintenance running mode for months, with no real race on the horizon. The June race that I ran was a last minute entry and a really tough course. I was of course happy that I did it- when I was done. Up next was the Frederick Half. This was a race I had deferred from 2020, that was supposed to be in May but was in July. Ugh- Maryland in July is hot and humid. Overall that day proved to be decent weather conditions, but my time was not my best, nor was it my worst. Again, I was so happy that I did it and my husband and sons were there to cheer me to the finish. But really my two racing experiences in 2021 had proven hard and didn’t yield the time results I had been hoping for. So clearly, I knew despite the long week- month- and migraine I was running the Charles Street 12.
One of the interesting parts of Chuck 12 is it starts and finishes at completely different places- as you would imagine that are 12 miles apart. I’m so fortunate that my husband and boys still enjoy coming out to wait for hours to see me cross the finish line. So they headed to the finish and my friend and I drove to the start of the race. Funny side story- I wear glasses 98% of the time. Maybe on 10 occasions during the year do I wear my contacts. But for whatever reason for races I prefer to wear my contacts so I don’t have to worry about my prescription sunglasses. If I drop or lose my sunglasses I would much rather it be a $25 pair than a $500 pair of prescription lenses. However, since I so rarely wear my contacts I make a lot of rookie mistakes with them. The car ride to the race proved to be one such time. My eyes were super itchy so I scratched them without giving it too much thought. Until, all of a sudden I couldn’t see so well out of my right eye. I thought at first that the contact was dry and tried to generate tears. Then it dawned on me…I had rubbed my contact out of my eye!! Panic set it. I didn’t have glasses with me and I certainly didn’t have another contact. I searched my eye- maybe it was hiding up under my lid. No luck. I carefully looked all around me. No luck. Well, it hadn’t disappeared so where on earth did it go?? We got to the start of the race and did some more searching in the car. As a last resort, I got out and thought maybe looking from a different angle I might see it. Still nothing. So I was resigned to running with on contact, and a migraine that I was keeping at bay with Excederin Migraine. Now if that doesn’t sound like prime condition to run a race, I don’t know what does. Then I got back into the car. Folded up like a creased up taco was my contact on the seat of the car. I then proceeded to break all the contact wearing rules in the book. Took the cap off my water bottle, dropped the contact in and poured some water on in- willing the dried up little contact to come back to life. All of this is quite entertaining NOW- at the time. Not so much. Somehow the contact sprung back to life and I got it back in my eye. Yes, I know it was completely unsanitary. But short of spitting on my contact I wasn’t really sure what else to do. I’ve considered every in person race leading up to NYC a trial run and so the lesson was BRING EXTRA CONTACTS!! I may even bring and old pair of glass that I’m willing to part with too. Something to think about for sure.
Well, now that the contact drama is behind us I could begin to focus on the nervousness and the fact that generates the sensation of needing to go to the bathroom. So I made a bee line for the porta potty line. One would think that one visit would be sufficient as I really hadn’t drank that much, however there was the half marathon when I assumed it was jus the nervous sensation that I needed to urinate- when in fact I really did and I lost nearly two minutes running to a bathroom in the Magic Kingdom. As a result, I never take for granted that it’s nerves and go to the bathroom as many times as possible before the race. This should be really interesting when I have to spend nearly 5 hours waiting to start the marathon in November.
Let’s chat about the weather. The week leading up to the race was hot and humid until the remnants of Hurricane Ida came through and cooled things off considerably. That translated to temperatures in the 50s to start the race, but still some humidity. Overall a beautiful weather day to run a great course. This was part of what got me out of bed the morning of the race. How could I pass up such a wonderful weather day?? That and I’m in a marathon training cycle. The week called for 26 miles and I still had 12 to run as I had planned for the race to complete my weekly mileage. I’m a stickler for following the plan. Either way I was going to be running 12 miles so I might as well make it part of the race.
Speaking of training cycles- when I ran the Chuck 12 last time, I trained for it like it was a half marathon. Did the proper tapering, etc so I would have fresh legs to run on. As I just mentioned I’m in the middle of a marathon training cycle. So there was no taper and I had already run 14 miles this week, including speed work earlier in the week. The week after the race has a key run of 10 miles. So I’m considering myself ahead of the game with having the 12 miles done early. There are those who say don’t race during a training cycle as racing taxes your body differently than training runs. There are others who would say that two months before the marathon having a race like experience isn’t detrimental. I knew I had two options when I showed up on race morning- treat it like a training run and take it easy or run it like a race. Training my mind to have easy runs was a work in progress for a long time, so it’s definitely not at the place that I could have treated this just like a training run…it was a RACE!
Whereas my goals in 2019 were to finish races, I have more specific time goals now. Most of the time they are conservative. Sometimes, like for Frederick because of the heat and humidity I knew I needed to bring my time goal down to a safe number to not over tax my body. In the end I met that goal, but overall didn’t feel solid during the course of the race. When it came time to plan for Chuck 12, I couldn’t quite figure out what I thought my time could be. In 2019 my time was 1:52:28. At the time, that was 5 minutes faster than what I had anticipated would be my finish time. I was beyond shocked when I finished that quickly, as was my family who weren’t expecting me for another 5 minutes or so. Based upon my utter exhaustion and not tapering I was considering 1:48 a solid finish time for 2021. That would be more than 4 minutes better than last time and seemed like a realistic goal. But my reach goal was 1:42. Now that is a broad range! Six minutes faster would mean shaving 30 seconds or so off per mile from my 1:48 goal. That’s a lot of time. That said, 8:30 a mile isn’t too far off what I was doing when I hit my stride before Covid shut everything down. I’ve never run with a pace group during a race, but I’m intrigued by the idea. There were pacers at the race which got my mind thinking. I lined up with the 1:40 pace group. Yes, I know this is even faster than my reach goal, so I needed to have my head examined. But they looked like a fun bunch. I knew I couldn’t really hang with them, but went out with them for the first mile and then settled into my pace. I continual remind myself that I need to run my own race and pace. But here’s what I figured, I would maintain my own pace that felt comfortable, as comfortable as a pace can feel at race pace and try to avoid getting passed by the 1:45 pace group. If however, the 1:45 pace group came up on me I would run with them and still beat my 1:48 initial goal.
After learning to race and take water when it was offered, Covid had me wearing water to train and race. Each is a mental mind shift. Truth be told, I don’t love carrying my own water, but there’s something to be said to be able to drink whenever you would like. It also allows me to have a nutrition pouch whenever it’s convenient because I need some water to wash it down. All this to say, when push came to shove I opted not to carry my own water. It felt good to be traveling light!!
While the course is advertised as down hill, the first six miles or so have a series of hills. I play mind games as I tick off the miles during a race. At first it’s to get under 10 miles. Then I start adding my mileage. Usually once I get to four miles I’m in a solid rhythm and feeling pretty good. So for this race my mental mind games were to get to 6 and I would be halfway done. Then focus on getting to 8- then 10- then at 11 which is when I call to say I’m a mile out and boom I’m done. It’s really not quite that simple, but that’s literally how my mind was working Saturday. At the end of the day- it’s all about what works for you. This is what works for me! This was the first race in a long time that I wasn’t questioning my sanity. I felt solid pretty much the whole time. That is not to say that I wasn’t extremely happy to see the finish line because I was in fact very happy to finish. But the best part of the finish was that it wasn’t super crowded and I had a great view of the boys with their signs. I was waving and smiling to finish up 12 miles. Who would have ever thought?? There is truly something to be said to having family support at the finish line. Sometimes it’s what gets me there and times like Saturday it’s fun to celebrate together!
Best cheering crew!
Because I’m all about the numbers- how did things shake out?? I averaged 8:35 a mile for 12 miles. Not too shabby. There were 953 participants. I finished 247. So not quite the top 25% but not too far off. There were 479 women who ran. I finished 74th. (PS my 8 year old had counted all the women who finished before me and was able to tell me within one of what number woman I was to finish). In my new masters age category of 40-49 there were 152 women. I finished 17th. So, all in all a solid showing, a good race overall and I can’t wait to do it again next year!! The Charles 12 will always hold a special place in my heart.
