The Big Day Part 2

It's Saturday night at 7:42pm and we're about to TRY to go to sleep and get ready for our first ever marathon. Kristen is feeling good and confident and is hoping she'll BQ at this race. Me, I'm just going to humbly run my race and hope for the best. It's gonna be fun and I'm really excited. Wish us luck!

Goddammit!

Six months of training and one week before the race I get a head cold! What the hell? Like any good runner I'm stressing about still running on the last few days leading up to the race to maintain fitness, but I know it would be stupid to put in a few miles right? Right? Maybe tomorrow? Ugh! Why? Should I run? It's not a bad cold. It first hit me Monday afternoon. It's Wednesday. Should I run a few tomorrow or wait? Damn.

The Big Day

Well, the big day is almost upon us. Our first marathon is this Sunday, the Long Beach International. I'm excited and anxious. Anxious mainly to get it over with. But I mean that in a positive way. This being my first marathon I've taken the 6 months of training leading up to this day seriously. But jesus. 6 months. I'm bursting with the anticipation of putting an end to the training schedule that has had me obsessing over every foot step of every day of every week. I'm ready to rock. And luckily, so is Kristen. Her foot is healing and she's been pounding the pavement and she thinks she's ready to go. So do I.

We ran the MCRD Boot Camp Challenge in San Diego two weeks ago and had a blast as usual. And, as usual, even on an injured foot Kristen was second place in her age group and third place overall. Here she is just finishing one of the obstacle courses.

I was about 42nd in my age group. Oh well. At least I kicked this old man's ass. Barely.

I have some blog catching up to do with some more stories about our alternative 20 mile days so stay tuned and keep running!

Skin and Bones

I know a lot of people would kill to have this "problem", but for a guy like me it's a little disconcerting. I've never been a big guy. The most I've ever weighed was 165 and that was right after college when all I ate was beer. Well, okay, beer, pizza, ramen and whatever else crap I could find. You know how it is. At that age your body can process plastic, but time catches up with you and you have to change your habits. I believe in healthy habits in moderation, but I was graced with a body type that didn't really "over"react to the food and drink that drive most people to the scale. Regardless, lifting weights eating enough to put on a little muscle has always been my goal. Let me get to my point.

When I started training 6 months ago for this marathon I weighed 152 pounds. As of September 14th I weigh 140 pounds! My uncle used to tease me and call me "bean pole". Shit. These days it's more like "pole". I'd like to have that bean back. I know, anybody reading this (does anybody read this?!) probably wants to punch me in the teeth. But seriously, EVERYBODY that knows me always pauses a moment when they first see me and I can read it in their eyes: Geez, did Mike become anorexic? NOOOOO!!!!!

Man, I can't wait for this marathon.

18 and counting...

We ran 18 miles last week on our long run and I have to say that I think I have things figured out. My pre-run prep is good and I know when to take gels to keep from bonking. It's been hit or miss, but I had those long 18 miles to see if I was on the right path (pun intended) and lo and behold me thinks I'm just about ready to cut this fat bastard open. After 18 I felt good and realized that going the full 26.2 is in my sights. It's not as daunting as I once thought and I can't wait to run the race. I also can't wait to get this thing over with.

Some people (I'm looking at you wifey, Billy and Danica) have no problem signing up for marathons (or more!) and just going out and pounding the pavement. The 6 months of training for this is starting to get a little old. I just want it to be over. I want my Friday nights back and my Saturday mornings. Soon enough.

16 and counting...

Ran 16 miles today on the long run. I beat my dead leg syndrome, but another enemy reared it's ugly head today and I know a lot of you out there have been down this road. GI pain. 4 miles in I had a cramp in the lower left abdomen and it would not go away for most of the run. Painful. My legs felt great. I was running with 3 other people that I enjoy keeping pace with and everything was on the up and up except for my stomach. Damn. If it's not one thing it's another. I made a pit stop and caught up to the group. This left me a little winded, but it was a good thing. Sometimes during a run you need to drop the hammer to get the juice going again. About 6 miles of the run took us through a part of the actual marathon course so it was nice to be able to get an idea of what to expect come race day. But the gut pain took some of the fun out of the run. I made another pit stop and felt better for the remaining 5 or so miles, but this is definitely going to be the issue that I'll be grappling with for awhile. Oh, and a new pain in my right ankle that I've got going for me which is nice. Maybe if I could just replace my real legs with robot legs. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Dead Legs

Argh. Dead legs again. I've been kinda dragging lately, but last Saturday was a 12 miler with the club and my legs were crap from the get go. That was a long, miserable 12 miles. So I went for my Monday run and again, no energy. Lethargic. I was pissed too. I probably looked like a crazy man on the path because I kept bitching out loud about my legs and I think I even threw my arms up in the air at one point because I was so frustrated. I hate this. I read online that there can be several reasons for dead legs: not enough sleep (very likely), not enough fruits and vegetables (very likely), not enough iron (possible if it's true that fruits and vegetables are necessary to aid in absorption of iron from other foods), more massages (possible, but definitely desirable), need new mattress (not likely), overtraining (possible, but not likely).

Anyway, I'm working on the fruit and vegetable thing and you all know how getting enough sleep can be hit or miss sometimes. I also supplement with a multivitamin so we'll see what happens in the future. The miles are adding up as we get closer to the marathon so I'm worried about this a little. Any advice out there?